A/N: Sorry for the delay. I didn't notice but... this chapter got unintentionally long. Nearly twice as long as my other chapters. I could split it in two, but there's no point in doing so. So, here you go:

Tear was happily preparing for her love’s return. After he returned from dealing with that wretch, she would say something like, “It was hard, right? You’re tired, right?” and Erebus would respond with “Yes, no one has understood that until now...” and Tear would lead him to the bed and then she would dig in.

She smiled victoriously.

That’s because she was kind! She was the favorite! She was beautiful!

Erebus would no longer be able to deny himself of what he truly wanted.

She pursed her lips and examined herself in the mirror. Tear struck many “seductive” poses that she had read about in books. But indeed... the Great Plains were flat.

Well, that minor inconvenience didn’t matter. Erebus didn’t seem to be the type who cared, anyway.

As Tear raised her hand to flip her hair out of her face, a strange sensation washed over her for a moment then it was gone.

“My, my,” she murmured. “Is Vyne doing some unpleasing experiment again? I’ll have to give that sadist a scolding,” she pushed herself off of Erebus bed (she had been rolling around in it for good luck) and started to head towards the dungeons.

At a time like this, Vyne was still preoccupied with his own silly experiments.

Ha-ha, what else could she expect from that sadistic child? That insensitive man would never understand how fragile Lord Erebus currently was. But lesser beings were lesser beings, after all.

Tear snorted and reached for the door just as an unfamiliar female voice said, “I’m jealous. Erebus has such a splendid woman at his side. I suppose I can understand why he didn’t miss me.”

She spun on her heels and was faced with a raven-haired beauty. “You... Who are you? Why are you here? How did you get in here?” Tear started to bombard the mysterious woman with questions. How had she not noticed her presence?

“I have already gathered the others for the grand finale. You’re the last one, Tear of the Moon Goddess.” The woman closed the distance between them before Tear could even fully process what had been said. She placed her hand on Tear gently.

Their location changed within a fraction of a second. They were now in the throne room where Xaltiq, Wolf, Amber, Dark Mist, Vyne, Lilian, Stone, Magnus, Mae, the Four Princes, and Weryn were all gathered. Except none of them were moving or blinking, they closely resembled realistic dolls. It was because Fate had frozen time for them.

Tear looked around in confusion. What was going on? “You! What have you done? Why are we here?”

Fate held up in hand as if to signal for Tear to stop. “Now then,” she stated as she snapped her fingers. Dark Mist, Amber, and Mae all were freed in that moment.

Mae closed the distance between them and pressed her hand against Fate’s delicate throat. She smiled coldly. “Nya, you must be Fate. Correct?”

“Yes, I am Fate,” she introduced herself politely. “This is a timeline created by me. Even if you kill me, you won’t be able to escape,” she continued on.

Mae narrowed her eyes. “Nya, you’re quite tricky, aren’t you? I really want to take that pretty face of yours.” Mae licked her lips hungrily. She then frowned. “Nya... I suppose that can wait. What are you intentions?”

A refreshing smile blossomed on Fate’s face. “Our esteemed guests won’t be able to arrive until I open the door... So let’s begin with our preparations, yes?”

Fate appeared behind Tear and stabbed her hand through Tear’s abdomen before anyone could stop her. “Let’s start off with the filthy woman who wants to get close to my man.” Fate tore her hand out of Tear’s stomach and shoved her aside.

Tear gasped in shock, clutching at her profusely bleeding abdomen. She had been... Stabbed? How? Tear hadn’t felt pain like this before. It was agonizing. She open and closed her mouth, mimicking a fish out of water. Help me, she wanted to say.

Blood poured from between her fingers and she could feel herself losing strength.

Dark Mist rushed to her side. He was the only one here that knew healing magic. He would save Tear.

His body fell to the ground. Blood leaked out from the stump of his neck while his head rolled.

“Do you think I’d let you rescue her?” Fate questioned, her eyes burning. “Don’t try to ruin my plans!” she shrieked, kicking his decapitated head and sending it flying where it splatted on the wall.

“Oh dear,” Mae stated, her eyes narrowing.

Amber screamed shrilly at the sight, clutching her stomach as vicious memories resurfaced in her mind.

Thank God her baby wasn’t here. She wouldn’t want him to see such a horrid sight. Thank God--eh? Where was he? Amber had been holding his hand when this woman touched the both of them and took them there. He had... He was here before.

She surveyed the room slowly. Where was he? Where was he? “Where is he?” she wailed, her voice cracking and undulating. “Where is he? What did you do to my baby!” she yelled, grabbing her hair. Amber started wandering, looking everywhere for him with no regard for her own safety.

“Here.”

Fate appeared before Amber, everyone else freezing instantly as she stopped time. In her arms, she held a limp and small body. Carefully, she placed the child into Amber’s arm while smiling.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Blood trickled from the hole in his chest to the floor.

“Oh.”

Just.

Like.

That.

She broke.

Amber’s blood-curdling shrieks sounded a terrifying melody and Fate laughed and clapped along to it.

“Wonderful, wonderful! What a great setting!”

Tear was bleeding to death, Dark Mist was dead, Amber had lost her heart. Everyone else was still under the control of Fate.

“Nya... This is quite the predicament for me.” Mae shrugged weakly. Everyone else was still grouped together and frozen in time. Which obviously meant that she was the only one left capable of fighting against Fate.

Why had Fate only released the three of them from her magic? Perhaps Fate would be overwhelmed if all of them were let loose at once. Mae frowned and clucked her tongue.

Mae walked over to Tear without glancing over at Fate. Unlike Dark Mist, she did not know how to heal. The most she could do was help Tear slow the bleeding.

She’d be dead soon, Mae knew that was the truth of the reality. Fate wanted Tear to suffer, it would seem.

“Nya? Are you going to kill me, too?” Mae asked Fate as she walked up behind her.

“No, harming you would be the same as harming him.”

Mae hummed. “Izzat so?”

“It is.”

A count of silence passed between them. The only sound came from Amber’s endless wails.

“The child and the High Human male were both unnecessary,” Fate remarked.

“And the human woman?”

“I thought that her screams sounded nice.”

Mae looked at Tear’s face, a deathly pallor had set onto it. “Oh, my.” She felt sorry for the child. She stroked Tear’s forehead kindly. “What are you going to do to the others?”

“They’re decorations. I might break the bunny-eared girl, I think seeing her face contorted in pain would be interesting.”

“Izzat so?”

“It is.”

“He’ll kill you, you know?”

“Mmm.”

“But that’s what you wanted, right?” Mae questioned.

Fate bent over next to Tear and placed her hand on the wound. Instantly, the bleeding and Tear’s labored breathing stopped.

“Why would you do that?”

“Having her die without Erebus being able to see the light vanish from her eyes is pointless.”

“Ah,” Mae murmured. “Are you prepared to die?”

“Yes,” Fate spoke. “That is why I’m here.”

“Ah,” Mae repeated. “Well, it’s about time.”

“Hmm?” Fate tilted her head in slight confusion. What was this fake-nya woman on about?

“For your esteemed guests to appear.” Mae laughed loudly. “You’ll pay,” she spoke, her voice carrying fury that it hadn’t before.

Fate’s smile tightened. “They cannot enter this p--! How?” she yelled, whipping around just as a portal opened in front of her and Mae.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Powerful auras gushed out of the portal. She could almost taste the malice that exuded from them as they stepped out.

For the first time in history, all of them had stepped off of the Dragon Continent. The ancient beings who ruled over this world, they all were there.

The entire Dragon Council stood before her.

Even Amber silenced and clutched her child’s broken body closer to her chest.

Fate felt fear flare up in her heart. She had been expecting one or two, maybe even three. She had not prepared herself for this, even though she was so readily accepting of her death.

But now, it felt real. She knew that these would be the last few moments of her entire existence. There was no escaping. She did not have enough power for that luxury.

And he would find her. He always found her.

“Ah... ah.... Ah,” Fate gasped, trying to get her breathing under control.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

They weren’t supposed to be here.

“Let them loose,” Erebus commanded Fate as he walked towards her steadily. “Now.”

Fate swallowed her saliva. Ah, her love... He never acted within her expectations.

He did what he wanted. Whenever he wanted.

Wild and uncompromising, that was her love.

Even as fear accompanied every beat of her heart, she found herself bursting with joy.

She reached up and touched his face, smoothing her thumbs against his soft skin. “Erebus,” she breathed.

“Did you not hear me?” Erebus questioned her, pressing his own hands against her face.

Except, they didn’t carry the same gentleness that Fate’s had. No, they were crushing her.

Pain split through her head, she could feel her bones creaking.

“I said... Let. Them. Go.”

Fate did as she was commanded. The moment they were released, everyone started to talk and ask questions in an excited fashion.

But their murmurs were quickly cut off when they saw the scene laid out in front of them.

Their eyes followed Ayirn as she walked over to Tear, then their eyes flashed to Dark Mist’s headless body, then to Amber desperately holding onto her baby. To the other members of the Dragon Council who all stood there, their suffocating auras unrestrained and palpable.

Finally, Erebus and Fate.

Even the dramatic Stone and Magnus had no words that they dared to utter

Erebus’ grip didn't loosen on Fate’s head. “What have you done?” he asked her softly.

“I...” Fate trailed off, she couldn’t conjure up the proper words.

His eyes reflected her demise, she could see it so clearly.

“You idiotic, hateful woman! What have you done?” Erebus roared, the entire throne room shook furiously with his words. "You're existence was already an eyesore, and now you've done this?"

Tears welled up in Fate’s eyes. This wasn’t what she wanted. No, it was what she had wanted... just not what she had imagined.

The reality of the situation, it was far scarier than she ever could of dreamt of. Erebus had never so openly displayed his anger in front of her. He was always so cold, so cool and collected.

“Answer me!” Erebus demanded. “Have you gone deaf? Has that stupidity of yours destroyed your cognitive functions?” His grip tightened.

She was going to die. He was going to kill her. He really was going to kill her.

“No,” Fate whispered, her voice cracking.

Erebus said nothing, his rage continued to make Fate feel sick to her stomach.

“It was just a game. You had always told me to do whatever I wanted to do. Why are you so mad? I was just having fun...” the words gushed out of her mouth. She sounded like a child desperately trying to cover up their mistakes.

Fate wanted to turn back time. But that required more mental and physical power than she could muster right now.

“You broke my belongings... because of your stupid game?” Erebus ground his teeth together, barely able to restrain himself. Save for the Dragon Council, the others would be sucked in if he let himself loose.

With his raging emotions, it was hard for him to keep that deathly aura of his under control. He would suck the mana that kept them alive straight out of them and into himself.

If she hadn’t broken those precious toys of his, he could have crushed her skull already.

“Take it back,” Erebus said carefully to Fate. “Bring them back.”

Fate knew who he was talking about. “But if I do that... I’ll die, Erebus.” Reversing time, bringing back a life, that required an immense amount of energy. Even if she only moved herself back, she would certainly end up dying due to overwhelming her capabilities.

She didn’t want to die anymore. That fantasy that she spun up inside of her mind was just a fantasy, after all!

“So?”

“Eh?”

“So what if you die?”

“Ah...” Fate lost feeling in her legs, she would have collapsed if it were not for Erebus holding her head.

“Do it, Fate,” Erebus ordered.

It didn’t matter anymore, Fate thought to herself. My life, it doesn’t matter to him.

Then, did that mean she was truly worthless?

No... If she brought them back, then she would become nothing to him. “I don’t want to.”

“Huh? Did I ask?” His hold became tighter.

“Erebus,” Ayirn stated, walking up behind Fate. “You’ll kill her and she won’t be able to reverse what she’s done.” She spread out her arms. “Give her to me.”

He glared at Ayirn but listened. She was right, he would end up killing her at that rate. Lilian could revive Dark Mist and Amber’s child if she wanted to, but they would be brought back as undead monsters and slaves thralls to Lilian.

Fate melted into Ayirn’s arms, her embrace was warm and soft unlike Erebus'. "There, there," Ayirn whispered gently. Ayirn lead Fate over to Dark Mist’s corpse as if she was escorting a small child. “Now, fix it.”

Fate shook her head numbly.

Ayirn repeatedly sweetly, “Reverse what you have done.”

“I’ll die,” Fate protested weakly.

“Ha-ha,” Ayirn laughed kindly. “I don’t care.”

Fate looked around the room, everyone was staring at her. Their eyes were cold, they gazed upon her with such unfeeling eyes.

None of them cared that she would die.

Most of them didn’t know her. And yet they hated her, they’d prefer her death.

What a terrible plan. How had she concocted such a delusion?

Fate smiled, it was a broken smile.

Who cares anymore?

“Ah... I’ll bring them back.”

The child and the High Human were set before her. Fate sighed, and activated her magic.

I don’t know if I can say I fully enjoyed my life, she thought to herself.

Fate clasped her hands as if in prayer and began the relatively slow and agonizing task of reversing time and bringing back their souls.

“Nya... Are you satisfied with this?” Mae asked Erebus as she crossed her arms behind her head.

They watched the scene unfold before their eyes as time reversed in slow motion.

“Destroying her myself would have been more gratifying,” Erebus answered easily.

But he could not bring back the dead. It was a shame. He was still incomparably angry; however, those emotions would get him nowhere.

“Still...” Erebus’ eyes cut to Mae. “You were playing around, weren’t you?”

Mae spluttered. “Ha,” she heaved a sigh. “I was found out?”

“Did you think you could hide it from me? You could have stopped her from taking those moves... she was weak enough for you to do so.”

Mae pursed her lips. “I was super duper scared.”

“Tch, you’re a terrible liar.”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“I expected this much from you anyway,” Erebus answered. “I’ll make you pay for it later.”

Before Mae could respond, Amber let out a sob of joy as her son woke up and pulled him into her arms. Dark Mist, too, jolted up and began rubbing his neck in confusion.

And what little Fate meant to Erebus had finally vanished. She had served her purpose. She exhaled, feeling the last bit of energy she had as it was expelled from her body.

Quietly, Fate passed away.