If Randidly thought that it was painful to swallow a planet while he had neared his interior spatial limit, he was not prepared to force a needle to go through the imaginary hole in his Nether Core and be absorbed into his body.

A lot of the sensations were the same: the feeling of being filled to bursting, the pressuring aches through his whole body, the strange desperation of choking and being unable to do anything about it. With his First Authority holding only to the offending piece of statue, he just railroaded his body to flee before the encroaching reach of all those statues. All that same potent Willpower he used to open up the door now crumpled himself into a ball and stuffed it through the exit.

He slammed against a wall of himself as his Nether Core complained that the needle couldn’t fit. The Alchemist’s Passport could work wonders with his awareness, but his Nether Core noticed him trying to sneak in contraband. Randidly’s eyes blazed. He felt the possibilities laid out before him. Somehow, he knew it would be very bad to allow the hole in him to remain so swollen and open, with all those veins reaching for him. He needed to settle this quickly.

His options were to abandon the needle from the statue or to rip a hole in his Nether Core. Obviously, neither of those were palatable.

Randidly’s Nether Core seemed like a sun on the cusp of going supernova, spinning so quickly it became luminous and fiery. He looked decisively down at his Seize’d prize. The Third Authority, Intangible Burial. You have no size.

His Nether Core coughed and sputtered, but he immediately felt the burden lighten. He pulled as quickly as he dared, everything squeezing through the imaginary hole in the Nether Core, being refined by the process. This time, the size fit, but the Weight of the needle continued to be a burden. His Nether Core whined at the abrupt demands upon it. Randidly pressed his lips together and just shoved.

It only took a half second to force himself through, but those moments left him agonized and nervous. The needle carved a smoldering path through his psyche. With his last bit of awareness, he slammed closed whatever strange door he had made when he enlarged the opening in his Nether Core.

He found himself on the hillside in the memory with the Upper Sonora, the first sprinkles of rain hitting his face. Notifications popped up in front of him.

Congratulations! You have condensed your Second Authority: The Hollow Needle!

Warning! Unable to determine origin. Foreign entity detected-

Error, cannot follow security protocols-

Pantheon intervention. Recalculating…

The Hollow Needle: A profoundly meaningful tool, the second regalia of the Primordial Goddess Nyx. With both, user can channel some of her raw power into everyday activities. Effect of this is currently unknown. The Needle was used to sew together the Tapestry of the Sky as well as the Three Fates, who oversaw the lives and deaths of all mortals. Below the Pinnacle, none can rival the particular power wielded by this needle. With imagination, it is possible to create any sort of future you desire.

PANTHEON WARNING: You have obtained the original of a powerful Regalia! Usage of the Hollow Needle might possess lasting consequences. Theoretically, the vein between Randidly Ghosthound and the statue will be strengthened with each activation. It is impossible to determine without returning to that strange area within the Nether Core what the consequences of that might be. Proceed with caution.

Randidly huffed out a breath. His vision spun and he allowed himself to sink down onto his elbows. “...okay, well at least my Nether Core isn’t about to explode any longer… haaaah…”

*****

Devick blindly flipped her half-eaten biscuit back over her head when they crested the ridge and could finally see to the lowlands spreading out in front of them. “Well, chaps, we’ve made it. Mission accomplished. Now we get a whole new area we need to save.”

Then she twisted around and saw Lowanna there to catch the biscuit. Some of the other soldiers laughed and applauded politely. Devick’s aide smiled and gobbled down the rest of the breakfast. There was a poise to Lowanna that hadn’t been there before, settled into her after their talk a few nights ago. The other woman winked at her as she brushed the crumbs away from her mouth. “More like you are going to save it, Group Leader Devick.”

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“Please, a speech now, that hardly seems appropriate,” Devick drawled as she hopped sideways and landed on a nearby boulder. She held her hands to ward off the accolades, but obviously they were overwhelming. In the end, she heaved out a heavy sigh as the rest of the soldiers gathered around, even the wounded ones, rolling their eyes and nudging each other with their elbows. “Yet the people want what they want! Now, we all know that the Nether bastards sent hell our way-”

The soldiers grunted in recognition, some of their cheer fading. And Devick stalled briefly, wondering why she had brought up the wound on all their hearts, having to bury so many of the comrades they had been fighting side-by-side with for the last month. When she took a breath, she found her next note. “...and only some of us survived it. But we are sharper now, aren’t we? More aware. More determined. If they try that again, if they try to pull that shit here, around Homewell, we will make them pay in blood.”

The soldiers straightened and slammed their fists into their chests. Meanwhile, Devick’s mind wandered. It’s not the only way to be the leader, but it’s a part of it: simply demonstrating what’s possible.

Illuminating the Path. If they want, these people can take it on their own…

Without anything else, Devick hopped down off of her stone. Lowanna gave her a long look but fell into step behind her as the column set off. The slopes down toward the heavily walled city of Homewell passed easily. They soon reached the place where the edge of Homewell’s signature Lifeseal sat. Devick remembered some of the claims that Lowanna had made and felt slightly worried there would be a response when she passed through the edges of the barrier, but the other woman moved without difficulty. As a group, they quickly trotted up to the open gates.

A sharply dressed young man with light blue hair had been talking to two guards with oversized, muscular arms, but straightened when the group approached. “Ah, reinforcements from the North? You are the first to arrive. I’m Colonel D-ahh…”

Midspeech, the Colonel’s gaze landed on Devick and his jaw dropped. For several long, awkward seconds, his eyes widened and he simply stared at Devick. At first, she felt annoyed at how poorly trained the soldiers around Homewell were, but then she realized the parts of her where the Colonel’s eyes lingered.

Then she rolled her eyes at how unprofessional the soldiers here were.

“Yes, Colonel Dah?” Devick said with as much sweetness as possible.

“Oh, err, I- well I mean my name-”

The guard standing on his knuckles came to the rescue of the flushing Colonel. “This is Colonel Domon Matteo. A man of below-average verbal ability, but rigorous virtue and honor on the battlefield. He has been tireless in the defense of Homewell. And is in charge of the minor offensives to prevent a larger Nether Ritual from cracking us like an egg. He welcomes you to Homewell.”

Devick smiled wickedly at the guard; this individual she liked immediately. And it was the strangest thing, but the aura around him seemed vaguely familiar to her. “And what about you soldier? Who might you be.”

“A nobody.” The Homid proudly announced. With delightful comedic timing, another Homid individual loped his way out of the gate, clutching a small pie in his arms. He addresses his fellow animatedly. “Moish! They were selling some of yesterday’s old pies for- oh, I’m sorry Colonel, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No problem,” The Colonel said. By this time, his blush had crept up his pale skin until it reached the base of his blue-grey hair. He pivoted and smiled stiffly at Devick. “You have name too.”

It didn’t sound like a question.

“He’s really not so bad,” Moish said apologetically. “Not usually.”

Devick waved a hand. “Well, Moish the nobody, let me ask you this: what sort of individual are you? Surely not the type with too tight a fist to share a slice of your stale pie with weary travelers, here to reinforce the city.”

“If you are free, I can pie with you,” The words continued to tumble out of the Colonel’s mouth with no oversight from a brain.

Devick gave Moish a long look, as though to say, would you really leave me with this fool?

The Homid scrunched up his face. But in the end, he relented. And then relented again, to give her a second piece of pie when Devick dramatically wheedled him over how horrendously hungry her assistant Lowanna was. Lowanna rolled her eyes but remained silent as to where the pie was actually going to go.

Devick waited until they went inside the city to eat half of Lowanna’s piece, savoring the plundered treats. And it was only once they had been settled by an aide that she realized that the blushing, bumbling young man with blue hair wouldn’t just be around, but would be her commanding officer.

“Yup,” When they had set up in their new room, Devick struck a pose with arms akimbo. “I guess I really will be the one who needs to save the day here.”