Randidly couldn’t help but laugh at Azriel’s rather ridiculous claim that this was all part of the plan. Which drew a sharp glance from the Creature, but the unexpected release did a lot to improve his mood. Even with the Nether howling above and large chunks of the Nether Ritual falling away and deteriorating around him, Randidly Ghsthound grinned at Azriel. “This was your plan?”

Then he reached out mentally, sliding easily through the thick aura of Nether that had seized Azriel’s body to reach her mind more directly. Even if the Creature had somehow inserted itself into the fabric of the Alpha Cosmos to resist his eviction efforts, Randidly still possessed the same intimate connection to all of the beings of his Soulskill. When Randidly reached, his mind and Azriel’s touched to each other.

They connected instantly.

Time slowed around them as their thoughts accelerated. Not fast enough that they had an infinite amount of time to discuss what was occurring, but enough for Randidly to check in on how Azriel was doing. And to find out why the hell she would plan for this.

To his surprise, when Randidly entered into Azriel’s mind he found himself sitting in a small room lined with warm-colored stone pillars. There was an ornate table accented with gold and two couches upholstered with a bright and lively colored pattern reminiscent of spring. Azriel primly took a sip from a bright orange teacup and regarded Randidly with her typical serious expression.

“Well, although the details were a bit more convoluted than I would have liked,” Azriel admitted, as though her ending up being warped into an open vessel by Nether was as simple as misreading the weather. “But… yes. I had a sense this would come to pass. That there was trouble stemming from this place.”

“Knowing there was trouble… you came here anyway. And you didn’t mention your sense to me at all when we met while you were heading to this place.” Randidly did his best to push down his rising irritation. “I could have helped, Azriel. If I had a little warning, could have ripped the Creature out of me before it had the chance to do this. And now-”

“Weren’t you rather busy with your own problems?” Azriel asked dryly. She set her cup down on the saucer and rotated it so the handle was point slightly away from her person.

To that question, Randidly didn’t have any satisfactory answer. To be honest, he had spent the last several days either resting or fighting against the huge Nether attack. But before that, since the time that Randidly had returned from the Great Rift to his body, there had definitely been some downtime that he had spent training or working on his images.

But still, the point was valid. Randidly had his own concerns in the outside world. Problems that he couldn’t make light of, despite Ileot Swacc’s strange insistence that he only wanted to be friends. And yet-

Randidly forced his hands to relax. It hadn’t even registered when they curled into tight claws. He walked slowly and sat down on the opposite couch from Azriel. “You know that’s not the point. If the Alpha Cosmos was in trouble… and you knew about it, you should have told me. I would have made time to help.”

Azriel picked her perfectly angled orange teacup up, took another long sip, and then set the cup down on the table with a soft click. Now that he was near, Randidly could smell the gentle touch of mint wafting up from the two steaming orange cups and the teal and orange striped pot between them. “Randidly, I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to answer it as honestly as you can.”

Blinking in confusion, Randidly nodded in the affirmative.

Azriel responded with her own sharp nod in response. “Do you think you can solve everything yourself?”

Very quickly, Randidly’s mouth twisted. “What sort of question is that?”

“The sort of question that lies at the heart of what is going on here in your Alpha Cosmos,” Azriel said lightly. Even though her hands were folded neatly in her lap, the tilt of her chin and her straight spine were positively combative as she held him in her crimson gaze. “And honestly, it should be a quite simple question: do you think you can solve everything on your own?”

“...obviously not,” Randidly finally said. “But this is my Alpha Cosmos. It’s not that I can handle everything alone; you obviously could have asked me and we would have worked together. Do you expect me to simply let these things happen without comment?”

“No, I do not expect anything of the sort. The question is just a simple matter of philosophy that I’m going to use against you in the discussion that follows.” A small smile crossed Azriel’s face. “So, let’s begin. I believe that even you cannot deny that what this… Creature has accomplished is only due to a growing flaw in your world, one that emerged after you allowed these… Nether energy into your existence. It became a part of you, but you did not give them an outlet here. And this world is physically you, so their presence could not be avoided. By acknowledging them, it appears the Creature has taken on a necessary role.

“So I suggest you take this new knowledge and find a way to use those energies in the way that you desire. And honestly… use the broader lessons the Creature is teaching you about this Alpha Cosmos so you don’t make a similar mistake again.”

This time, Randidly had an easier time relaxing the muscles around his jaw. He even took a moment to sip on the tea in front of him. “...I think I can see how that would work. I hadn’t thought about it, but… Nether is a part of me now. Perhaps that’s why… well, why I’m torn about how to solve the current problem. Now that things have developed to this point, there are only bad outcomes in front of us.”

“Is that really the case?” Azriel flicked a fingernail against her orange porcelain teacup. In this strange mental world, the noise was a strangely loud and pleasant chime. “I have a thought about you, Randidly Ghosthound. You have been forced to accept so many things in the past several years that you refuse to compromise or accept an offered shortcut when it isn’t absolutely necessary. And honestly, your greatest strength may very well be understanding when it isn’t necessary to compromise-”

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“Are you really suggesting I compromise?” Randidly asked frostily. “The Creature… it has killed so many individuals. It experimented on thousands of people. Most, if not all, of those individuals but I met terrible ends. I was one of the few to survive. It bound and manipulated thousands more to give itself those opportunities. Even just talking about the souls in the previous iterations of my Soulskills- No. This is one of those situations where we need not compromise. And we cannot afford to. Not when the Creature always has the capability of making such callous decisions again.”

Azriel flicked the teacup again, lower. The sound was muted and dull in comparison to the former clear ring. “So the possible power you may gain from accepting the Creature’s image doesn’t even enter into the discussion? Is that really the attitude of one who believes that he can’t solve everything…?”

“Azriel, she wants to sacrifice your body to do it.” Instantly, Randidly frowned, finally letting the whole of his annoyance with Azriel through. “How can I stop and weigh some theoretical power when your life is on the other side of the scales? Sure, power would be useful. But I don’t need it. Even if I cannot solve everything, I can solve this problem in front of me-”

“Listen to yourself. ‘I don’t need it.’ So can you solve every problem that manifests itself in front of you?” Azriel interrupted. Her eyes glittered as she lazily spun her teacup in her hand. “Forget the theoretical problems that threaten the world. The problems that line up in front of you… if you devote yourself to them, can you solve them all?”

“What are you trying to say?” Randidly asked slowly.

After taking another sip of tea, Azriel gave Randidly a frank look. “I said it to you once… and its the reason that I stopped pursuing martial power. The more novelties I’ve experienced outside of the thin experience of my early life, the surer I have become: if you could build a better future by simply being strong… wouldn’t we have reached it already? Some things aren’t about the sort of threats you can deal with by being strong.”

Randidly experienced an echo of the same shock he had felt when Azriel had said that to him originally, sitting in that manicured garden in the Armgrast Capitol. Even now, Randidly didn’t know what to say to the confidence in Azriel’s expression. Because there was some part of him that wanted to argue that she was wrong. It was only due to the fact that increasingly powerful foes were circling viciously around him that Randidly needed to continue to stay strong and grow stronger. Someday, theoretically, he would be able to set aside that power.

For now-

But those words died stillborn on his lips as he looked at Azriel’s firm expression. He disagreed with her on this. Yet he also trusted her and recognized her intelligence. And Randidly had spoken honestly when he had said earlier that he didn’t believe he could solve everything on his own.

Even if he understood that Azriel was likely trying to guide him off of the same Path that Randidly had saved Donnyton from, his voice was bitter when he spoke. “So you are saying… be weak. Allow… the Creature to influence me for the possible benefit of its power.”

“I’m saying you shouldn’t be so inflexible as to refuse to take a loss here,” Azriel said with amusement. Then she raised a hand as Randidly gritted his teeth. “Peace, I only mean a loss from your current perspective. I wish to raise two points as to why it is actually not such a loss as you think.

“First… you fear allowing the Creature to have a measure of control over you. This is… honestly naive. Do you think that your image hasn’t already been indelibly marked by her? And your Class as well. But perhaps even more than that…” Azriel leaned forward. “This is just a projection, yes? This projection’s image would be fighting against the weight of everything that you have built so far.

“If you let that fragment of the Creature’s will into you, it will be bound by the bones of this place. You will influence it just as surely as it will influence you. Likely more so; this is your home turf. Just like the Creature made it here because of your past Soulskills… do you think your past Soulskills have truly died? You underestimate the past. The Path stretching behind you has not disappeared, Randidly Ghosthound.”

A tremor ran through Randidly.

Azriel straightened. “My second point… the Creature pointed out both the problem of Nether in your Soulskill and provided a certain type of solution: use the vacuum of Nether power in your current Alpha Cosmos to produce a potent weapon. Even if she has hurt you in the past… those two things alone are a tangible benefit you have received. You don’t have to be on the same side eternally, but do you not have the same goal? To overthrow the Nexus? Is it truly that unthinkable to work together?”

Gritting his teeth, Randidly spat out, “More likely than not she doesn’t truly believe I have the power to damage the Nexus. She just wishes for me to be a distraction so she can hide.”

“Is that true? Does she not currently seemed resolved?” This time, Azriel tapped her fingernail against the gold molding of the table. “Even faced with the knowledge that her main body is being pursued, she did not falter. In fact, she seemed even more determined that you pick up her blade.”

“I-” But again, as soon as Randidly went to vehemently deny the prospect, to insist that he didn’t need to work with the Creature, some part of him awakened to the fact that what he would be saying was that he could handle the problems alone. Which was why Azriel had started the conversation by asking him that.

Because that was the choice he was facing.

And it wasn’t that Azriel was insisting that Randidly allow a partnership with the Creature. No, she just wanted Randidly to look at the opportunity with clear eyes. Was he not taking similar risks by using the two Fates he had obtained as foci for his own Fate?

“...the Path you choose is your own, obviously.” Azriel took another sip of her tea. “You have made it thus far by relying on yourself. But do not lie to yourself; if you continue down this Path… you are the piece that will come under greater and greater stress. Everything stems from your own power. You will need to become strong enough to overcome everything. If not as an individual, as the fulcrum by which many forces meet. All that stress will run through you.

“This is another Path. One where you become the core of a larger assembly seeking to destroy the Nexus. Not to touch a sore subject… but is Vualla your partner… or a partner for now? A partner for before the time that you become strong enough to completely protect her?”

Still Randidly remained silent as emotions seethed inside of him. After a hesitation, Azriel spoke again.

“Do you truly resent the Creature that much…? You won’t even acknowledge that this is a woman that you are dealing with, however old and monstrous she may be. How different will you be from her if you continue down this Path for a couple of thousand years? Because all you need to do is look at her to see that she followed this same logic of yours during her life and lost. I’m not asking you to forgive her because of this… but can you at least acknowledge how that could have broken her?”

In his Alpha Cosmos, standing on the platform of jade, obsidian, and silver, Randidly slowly raised his head and gazed at the slowly unraveling seed that contained the Creature’s image. Unwilling to give, Randidly barred his teeth.