It was a little surreal for Vixus to watch the interaction between the two groups. Especially since one of them had the identical aura signature as their progenitor and mistress. Yet, Vixus was also almost sure that this would help Her Majesty substantially in the future, should they be able to put aside their obvious differences.

Of course the Living Shadow was not slacking off on their duties. While they had been momentarily needed to resolve an immediate incident, in which they had to show more power than they were comfortable with, in truth Vixus was currently busy trying to infiltrate and understand the institution called “The Christian Church”. They had simply used one of their many bodies to teleport to their mistress as she seemed in dire need of assistance to prevent an utter bloodbath.

The fact that the Church had been able to smuggle a spy into the apprentices by the Paranormal Council spoke of said Council’s ability, at least in Vixus eyes, but they had not yet been ready to reveal their hand, especially since the small tidbits of information they were able to gather ever since arriving on this strange world were more than interesting, but also dangerous. Not for Vixus, but the rest of both their mistress’ charges and the local species as a whole.

While they couldn’t definitively prove it yet, it seemed that the Church was dabbling in magic that was often frowned upon and etched dangerously close to soul magic, even if they hadn’t crossed that particular line yet.

Although Vixus had to be fair and say that it wasn’t the entire institution as a whole that was at fault, even if they had jumped to the conclusion previously, it seemed only a small faction called “The Golden Cross” was involved in the undertaking, a distinction they only made unhappily, but fairness where fairness was due. While Vixus had not been born a dragon, they were obliged to uphold a few of their tenets, and fairness was, if not always, often one of them.

Honesty, however, was not. They had learned early on that the best way of serving their mistress was often dishonesty, if only indirectly, to prevent Her Majesty from worrying even more about things that she didn’t have to.

To an information broker like Vixus withholding information was even more important than revealing it, even if it went against the immediate wishes of their mistress, but possible repercussions were a small price to pay for the ultimate service to Her Majesty and the Kingdom of Thelvadore.

Especially if things were teetering on the edge of involving a side of Her Majesty that she was desperately trying to run away from.

Vixus had never understood their progenitors' wish to escape the clutches of divine worship, but as it was her wish, they would do all in their power that she would never have to involve herself in that role ever again.

Yet, despite their best efforts Vixus was slowly realising that this time it might not be possible for things to go the way they planned. Especially since the Church, while worshipping a god that didn’t exist, was a divine entity with divine power easily eclipsing even that of the Goddess of the Shadow Armory, a feat which they had seldom seen.

The only divine entity they had met that managed that feat was Her Majesty's draconic mother, Schatten de Thal, who was only able to achieve it because of her longer life.

And since the god in question didn’t exist Vixus couldn’t just go ahead and assassinate them to make their problem vanish. It wouldn’t be the first time they had killed a divine being, far from it. Yet, alas, this time it was not to be.

The core issue still remained. They had to deal with an institution that they had no way to deal with, without revealing magic to the public, which was a definite no-go considering that Her Majesty tried to remain in the good graces of the government, despite her feelings on the matter, and they wanted magic to remain secret.

Vixus also didn’t want to involve their progenitor or her close circle, since that would inevitably involve her either way, and they also couldn’t directly solve the problem themselves, not without a lot more information that was starting to get hard to come by.

One could say what one wished, but the Church was taking secrecy way more seriously than even the military, which had been child’s play to break into in comparison.

So Vixus brooded over the issue, unsure of what to exactly do. They had read about the gods of old, pantheons from thousands of years ago, but they had seen no evidence of them still being around, which made sense in a way, since magic was hidden and hiding divine power was not something done easily.

The only reason Her Majesty had managed to do so was time, waiting for centuries, after she had outlawed her own worship and penalised it, under some conditions even to the threat of death, which by her standard was a drastic measure to be sure.

And even then there were also a few who continued to pray to her here and there, not foolish enough to actually petition her, but enough for her divine power to grow, even if it was only ever so slowly.

The gods of old on this planet didn’t look like the kind of deity to do such a thing, not that Vixus could say for certain, having never met them. But they would be surprised to still find them around.

So what were they to do? They could invoke the Seeker, but predicting her actions correctly was about as probable as finding ice mana in a volcano. And while Vixus was willing to sacrifice almost anything in service to Her Majesty, if that sacrifice would work against her agenda it would defeat the point.

As they watched the two identical dragons recover from the fight in the pocket dimension, they were still brooding on the issue. Something had to be done, and it sounded like drastic measures had to be taken. Drastic measures that they didn’t like in the slightest. They would hate to upset Her Majesty, but needs must, and sometimes one was not left with much of a choice.

Perspective: Vuthe

Vuthe was still standing in the pocket dimension, breathing heavily and returning to her Humanoid form. Her body was littered in wounds, top to bottom, black blood running down her like a macabre fountain. Yet despite that, she was smiling wide.

Adrenalin was slowly subsiding and over a couple of minutes she was able to slowly calm down. This last clash had cost everything she had available and for a moment she was almost certain that she had still lost, only the fact that she managed to inflict fear on Scythe led to her win. If Scythe was able to train all her weapons correctly, Vuthe was certain she would have been knocked out. And it was an exhilarating feeling.

Before her, the unconscious form of Scythe lay, black Blood littered the ruined ground and only the faint raise of Scythe’s massive chest indicated life. She truly had put up a worthy fight, and while Vuthe ultimately came out on top, she had to recognise the other dragoness as on the same level as her, which was a little surprising if she was honest with herself.

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Next to her a portal opened, leading into the room where the others had watched the fight, and Tizanta and Scarlet stepped through.

Her sister gasped in horror as she saw the wounds, but Vuthe couldn’t stop grinning.

“You look like you had fun”, Tizanta said with a smirk, looking over Vuthe and then Scythe.

“Oh hell yeah. It’s been a looong time since I was able to unwind, this was so refreshing. I owe Scythe big time”, she said, still much more relaxed than her usual royal person, and started laughing out loud, “Oh man. I really needed a good scrap.”

Scarlet looked at her, even more horrified. “Ri-... Vuthe, what the hell?”, she asked, looking around.

Cluster and Grunt made their way through the portal and over to Scythe, who’s obvious wounds were already slowly closing. Draconic resilience was incredible, and her augmented body was even more resilient.

Vuthe looked at her sister, “Well, Sis. Now you know what dragons do best. And this really was an amazing fight. Scythe nearly had me there at the end, she’s definitely at least on par with me, especially once I train her right.”

That statement caused Cluster and Grunt to turn to her, Cluster looking surprised while Grunt looked more… introspective.

“You’d do that? After she attacked you multiple times?”, he asked in a calm tone.

Vuthe took another deep breath, before slowly letting it out, finally letting her body relax completely. “Yes. Honestly, she is on par with me in pure fighting prowess. She has her weaknesses, yes, but so do I, despite being trained for decades. She has earned my respect, and therefore I will do my best to support her. And all of you, since I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t hear the end of it if I didn’t include you”, she added with a smirk.

Cluster snorted, “You truly are very much alike, despite your differences. Yeah, I doubt Scythe would just accept that without you helping us to. She’ll probably skin you alive.”

Vuthe noted in passing that Cluster looked a lot more relaxed now, although what exactly the reason was she didn’t know. However, there was still some reserve in her, which was only fair.

Scarlet rubbed her face with her hands, obviously suffering a headache. “I cannot believe any of this… I mean… I knew… You told… But this… Oh god, Vuthe, this is too much. You spooked like half the district out there”, she said finally, looking at her sister and letting her hands fall, “I don’t even know how long it will take Vladimir to get them back in check.”

There was a moment of silence in which Vuthe looked at Scarlet with a smile, before she shook her head. She didn’t reply immediately, instead walking over to Scythe and giving her a good kick. “Aight sis, time to wake up”, she said before kicking her again.

Once more Scarlet looked horrified, but nobody else seemed to worry, even if Cluster’s expression was a thin line and she obviously wanted to protest.

The giant dragon moved and a deep grumble ran through the ruins making the ground shake slightly.

“What… the… shit…”, Scythe mumbled when she raised her head, shaking it a little. Her giant eyes looked around before settling on Vuthe. There was a moment of silence, before she bowed her head slightly in a show of respect.

“Hmpf… I lost. I hate it, I still think you’re a bitch, but you at least can back it up”, she said, before she got up on shaky legs. She shook herself off for a moment, before she was surrounded by black smoke and moments later she stepped out of the smoke, her heavy wounds still closing.

She noticed her sister present and stopped, an uncertain expression on her face, before she looked back at Vuthe. “Now what. I won’t be licking your boots, but shit, you can fight and you earned at least a bit of my respect. Just keep in my, I’ll look out for my own before you, don’t go thinking I’ll follow your every whim”, she said and despite the pleased smile on her lips there was a note of threat in her tone, which Vuthe could definitely understand.

Vuthe in turn shook her head, “No need to worry. It would be nice to have your cooperation, but you are not, and will never be my subjects, therefore I have no right to give you any orders. All I can do is ask for favours”, she said, finally a tone of her authority returning to her voice.

Scythe nodded once, then looked unhappily at Scarlet, who returned the gaze with one of unfaltering disappointment, arms crossed.

With a sigh Vuthe waved Scythe over, and despite her obvious displeasure she nodded, knowing that she has to deal with this at some point or another. The other three stepped back, until only Vuthe and Scythe stood in front of their sister, who still eyed Scythe with disappointment, her gaze never wavering.

While it seemed a little unnecessary to Vuthe she also didn’t know her sister all too well after such a long time apart, and there may very well be some kind of reason for her behaviour, but at the same time it felt a little… displaced. Yes, Scythe had been rude when they first met, but Vuthe could still see Rin underneath all that.

“Well?”, Scarlet asked, piercing the dragoness in front of her. She might have been fearful of the two dragons in terms of power before, but when it came to social interaction she was just as, if not more, powerful than even two ancient dragons. I’d love to see her in action in politics, Vuthe thought to herself with bemusement.

Scythe averted her gaze, taking a few moments, before she spoke, “I’m sorry”. The words were barely audible. Vuthe wasn’t too surprised to see she wasn’t one to apologise for anything.

“What? I didn’t hear you”, Scarlet said in a tone that said she had understood Scythe perfectly, was making a point.

“I’m sorry! Okay, I’m sorry I was being a cunt!”, Scythe said in exasperation, throwing her hands in the air, but still not meeting Scarlet eyes.

There was a moment before Scarlet smiled, finally relaxing. “Good. I forgive you. I know you’re better than that”, she said, before stepping closer and taking Scythe into a hug.

Scythe for her part had no idea how to react, her eyes growing wide and her body going stiff. After a moment she relaxed and closed her eyes, reciprocating the hug slowly and carefully, as if unsure of herself.

They stayed like that for a while, and Vuthe could see Scythe slowly losing her battle with tears. She obviously wasn’t used to this, yet deep down she had still dreaded all of this, as was shown with her first rude comment when she had first seen her sister.

Eventually she couldn’t stop herself any longer and she cried, sobs rocking her body, her mind finally coming to terms with the fact that despite her greatest fears, not all was lost.

After a few minutes the two women separated, the dragoness looking exactly like the younger sister she appeared to be, despite being orders of magnitude older than Scarlet. Not much more was said, an awkward silence between them, before Vuthe stepped forward and spoke.

“Glad to see that that is resolved. Scythe, I need to apologise as well. You know what for. I should not have done that. Truly, I’m sorry”, she said with a small bow that Scythe acknowledged with a dismissive gesture.

“Oh fuck off, it’s alright. I’m not one to get hung up on shit, even if it did get to me in the moment. I got a nice fight as recompense, so just forget it”, she said, trying to act a lot more distant than she actually felt, at least from what Vuthe could see in her aura.

She chuckled, “Okay. Anyways, I could use a drink, and we also need to see what’s going on outside, since apparently we might have frightened a bunch of civilians.”

Tizanta nodded, stepping closer, “Yeah, you did. A lot of people are fearful of the feeling of impending doom that suddenly befell the city.”

The two Shadow Dragons looked at each other in bemusement, “Oops”, Scythe said, obviously not regretting it in the slightest.

“Aight, let’s go grab a drink. I don’t much care for the shit going on outside, but I know you will want to do somethin’ ‘bout it and I ain’t stoppin’ you. So let’s get going, that fight made me thirsty”, Scythe said before making her way over to the portal after waving to Grunt and Cluster, hands in her pockets.

Vuthe looked at Tizanta and Scarlet, smiled and shrugged, before following her twin. Like she had said earlier, she could use a drink, and honestly, right now she was not yet ready to slip back into her role as the Dragon Queen.