Enneya had not met The Janus before and the woman was older than expected. She had expected Shjacky's mother to be younger, closer to her daughter's age and appearance. However, the world leader looked to be in her late 50s, a stretched and salient face showing her elegant ageing. She wore a maroon cloak with gold trims, the colour of her country of representation. Whatever that hid under the frame of her dressing was inscrutable. If she had a weapon with her, Enneya could not see it.

The Janus gave a sly grin. “Enneya Devini and Joachim Kerr. If you're here then that means you kids must have figured out about my connection. Very well done, I must say.”

At that moment, she decided to keep the involvements of The Watcher a secret. If she knew the man was holding back her plans, she might send her men to speed up the process. But even then, they were short on time to stop her.

“Now,” the world leader began, gesturing to a door to her side. “Would you like to come in? We can have a civilised chat.”

Joachim grunted and took a step forward, his weapon gleaming from his back. Quickly, Enneya took a step and stopped him with a hand on the shoulder. He looked back to her, confused.

“Calm,” she replied simply.

She could see Joachim's rage fade slightly from his eyes. Reluctantly, he nodded in agreement and stood down.

The Janus smiled. “Very mature of you, Miss Devini.”

Enneya had read about seers. Throughout history, many had pulled strings of the world behind-the-scenes, using their powers to anticipate and change the future. But at the same time, record showed that seers were also powerful warriors, holding their own against Spellblades of their time. Though the reason for their capabilities were never well documented, their feats were nevertheless renown.

Even so, or maybe, because of, Enneya was not about to underestimate the abilities of their opponent. The corridor they were in restricted them by its cramped size. Neither she nor Joachim were well equipped for enclosed combat, and the certainty The Janus exuded did not seemed to be from overconfidence, enough to make her think twice about a direct offence.

“Come now,” The Janus said, opening the door next to her. She stepped through, expecting them to follow.

The two teens looked around. There were no guards visible. A nearby window showed that outside, the soldiers were sweeping the area. They could not see the rest of their classmates through the trees, which was a good sign to them as it meant the rest of them were safe.

Enneya wanted information. Joachim wanted vengeance. The two mutually agreed that the situation, while strange, did not seem to put them in immediate risk. In fact, the risks from retreating were higher, especially considering themselves having been surrounded. So together they stepped into the room after The Janus.

It was well lit. The guardroom was turned into a chamber for the world leader. The rack where weapons were once held now only kept the finest of clothings like the one The Janus wore. The shelves which once housed equipments were replaced with jars of food. A rickety bed at the side had its linen replaced with fresh ones that shone. An old table was covered with red cloth fit for kings with a cup and pot of hot tea sitting on it. Opposite them, an archway led out to an open rampart, like a balcony made for speeches. The room had been retreated for royalty.

“Mind the mess,” The Janus casually said, taking a seat at the table and then a sip of her tea. “It is a drab place, but I made do. It was the only place without blood.”

It was then Enneya realized that they had not seen a sign of the local guards. Rubicum's forces, despite the unspawns, should have some form of defence stationed there. It was, after all, one of the main entrances into the city.

The Janus must have read her face. “Don't think too hard about it, Miss Devini. We killed them, of course. Rubicum's finest did put up one bout of a fight, but split between us and the unspawns? Well, let us just say they did not last long.”

“How could you do this? All of this? To your daughter?”

“Margaret renounced herself from me.”

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Enneya spat, “Her name's Shjacky.”

For the first time since they've met, the calm facade broke on The Janus's face but she quickly wore it back. “Does it matter now? I assume that since she's not here, that my daughter is dead?” she said it matter-of-factly.

Joachim launched his yo-yo, blades whirring out as it spun across the room towards The Janus's head. The woman simply leaned back in her chair calmly, letting the weapon sweep pass her. She raised a hand through her cloak, letting slip underneath, which Enneya saw no weapons. Dextrously, The Janus grabbed the string of the yo-yo in her fist. Joachim tried to pull the weapon back, but was surprised when he could not outbid her strength. The yo-yo dangled out of her hand. Losing its momentum, it slowed and came to a halt, its blades retracting back into itself.

“Fascinating equipments this is. The tinkerers of Lutvvin must salivate looking at all of your toys.” She picked up the plaything weapon to examine. When she had her fill, she threw the weapon back to Joachim unceremoniously. “I encourage you to try that again, though I doubt you'll find much success. After all, I have good instincts.”

“Then answer us, why?” Enneya asked, calm despite the outburst.

“Why what?”

“The unspawns. Us. Everything.”

“That's quite simple, really. I saw an opportunity and took it. As for why you kids specifically? Well, you got lucky. You were all connected by the war and brought together by my daughter. I knew she had betrayed me a while ago, thus I set this plan in motion. A string of time so neatly tied, how could I refuse?” She took another sip of her tea. “Unless you're asking my reasons for actually wanting to set the world ablaze, well, I'm afraid you won't understand.”

She was mad. Enneya was sure of it. The woman had an otherworldly glint in her eyes that spelled logic incomprehensible. It was the kind of sense of insanity given from the conformity of nonsense.

Nevertheless, Enneya pushed, “Try me.”

The woman nodded patronisingly and stood up to face them. Her tone was condescending. “I'm sure the two of you know of the gods? You should have studied them, being Spellblades trained to protect Tearha and all that nonsense.” She looked to them for a reply.

They knew of the gods. Of course they knew. But a stubborn part of them refused to give an answer to her haughtiness. The first and second War of Gods were fought because these interdimensional creatures came to Tearha to enact some form of game of conquest.

The Janus trailed on regardless. “We're pawns in their games, mere pieces to be manipulated. What hope did we have of fighting them? How many of them have we beaten back? And every time, it took the combined powers of nations to fight just singular amounts of them, yet we are expected to battle them for eternity?” She began pacing, occasionally turning to face the wall as if looking at someone not there. “My ancestor, the first Janus, decided against fighting them. So we joined the winning side.”

Joachim was stunned. Even if he had been able to speak, Enneya was sure he would not be capable of doing so. Instead, she spoke on his behalf. “You betrayed all of Tearha.”

“No!” She maniacally exclaimed. “I am here to save it! I'm here to usher us into godhood! To join these beings in their plane above planes with the power to destroy worlds and usher in royals!”

Then, a thought came to the forefront of Enneya's mind. “The power of a seer that all Januses have... is hereditary.”

“Once again, very well done, Miss Devini. We were granted this power with a change in our genes. A gift from the go – what?” She turned calmly to her side, speaking to a figure not there. “Is that right? Yes. So I shall continue? Very well.”

Enneya felt a chill down her spine and readied her weapon. “Who are you talking to?”

Aside her, Joachim reeled back his yo-yo and prepared to fight as well.

“Someone you will be meeting soon, I assure you.” She took the cup of tea of the table and finished the remaining before putting the crockery back. “Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Gift from the god. A genetic trait to be passed down, helping us plan for the best time to enact a coup against the entire planet.”

“Insanity,” Enneya emphasized.

“Quite so, yes. We waited hundreds of years for the optimal opportunity, but kept passing it up as none was quite our standard. We did meddle in the grand scheme of things though, I assure you.” She contemplated a moment, once again turning aside to look at air and continued to speak without facing them. “Sadly, I find myself impotent, and thus our time draws short. This scheme of ours was the best we could find in this generation, and thus, we enacted it post haste. I'm sorry, what did you say?”

Enneya looked confusingly to Joachim who shrugged. “We didn't say anything.”

But The Janus was no longer speaking to the teens. Instead, she nodded to empty space, agreeing and understanding what nothingness said. Finally, The Janus turned back. “I just received confirmation that Ishumi Nato was indeed killed. Which means my stall for time is over and I can kill you with confidence. Now number Nine, it seems you're up next.”

The Janus pulled at her belt from behind, revealing a handle attached to something under the leather. The whipblade unsheathed with glints from the belt scabbard. The weapon had sections of blades connected by chains. Each piece of metallic material on it had the blue tinge of mithril. Its hilt was covered in gold and the handle in amber red wood.

They readied themselves to fight. “No matter how strong you are, you cannot hope to win. It's two against one, Janus!”

The mad woman smiled as a white robed figure slowly appeared translucent beside her, floating gently above the ground. It carried an otherworldly glow to its robe and skin akin to bones given life. Enneya and Joachim could only watch – mouths agap – as the creature descended and merged into The Janus's body.

“You wondered who I was talking to? Meet Moira, The God of Fate.” The Janus introduced. She then shouted, “And I am Clotho Hari Janus! Spinner of Destiny!”

Not waiting for another surprise, Enneya dug her staff into the stone floor and fired off a projectile of rock.