Devick felt curiously light as she moved through the familiar impacts and momentum of a long-distance jog. With the benefit of the forty-eight Levels in her new Grand Fate, Maverick’s Barbaric Imperative, she now could keep abreast with the rest of her squad during patrols. The flickering movements of Vandla still left her stunned, but the rest of the squad began to seem a bit more mortal to her eyes.

She felt streamlined, like a sleek cast-iron falcon, cooling into a gleaming form. Her loping cadence shifted closer and closer to the violent ideal she had once glimpsed in Nether King Hungry Eye.

Yet at the same time, Devick felt insulated, wrapped in layers of strange isolation. She felt almost outside of her body, watching it move, watching it flash a thousand-watt smiles at her companions and sever the limbs of her enemies. She almost felt like the Grand Fate had begun to take over her decisions, leaving her just to watch the progress of her form.

Perhaps it would be better to say that the Grand Fate had become like an arresting robe; that part of her had become the first impression any who looked at her would see. And, naturally suspicious by nature, she suspected the Grand Fate was even now laying out plans to completely alter her to suit its whims.

Still, Devick couldn’t deny the results; the rapid increase in power mollified her opinion on the unmooring and muffling. So she sat in her own body, watching with detachment as it moved without her. Her subconscious reached out and felt the familiar, soft fur of the crimson hare crouching next to her, also observing the process. The hare leaned forward, eyes narrowed and ears pinned back. Having the image remain at her side took away the rest of Devick’s doubts.

Look how we dance. Look how we strut. Devick clicked her tongue. Still, isn’t this nice? Now my body exercises by itself. Ah, what luxury~

She floated, she petted her image, she waited. Malice, Hare of the Crimson Foot and Barbed Heart, liked her hand, patiently watching the body move. Because for all the posturing done by the strange Grand Fate since its inception, Devick was very sure of one fact.

In my body, I will always have the final say.

Outside, in the real world, the Squad Leader and Vandla fell into step next to Devick. The Squad Leader eyed Devick up and down, satisfaction lurking beneath the stern veneer with which she lacquered her expression. For all that the muffling felt uncomfortable, it did add a small amount of space to all her interactions. With the tiny adjustment in perspective, Devick found it much easier to intuit the emotions of those around her.

Mentally, Devick raised her hands to her cheeks. Ah, Hungry Eye, how do you truly see me, I wonder?

However, that thought quickly soured her mood. The Grand Fate changed things.

It didn’t change enough to make her necessary in the Nether King’s life, however.

The Squad Leader spoke to her body, heedless of the emotional squirming going on within. “You have improved by leaps and bounds, Devick. It is gratifying to see; your assistance has helped advance the studies of Grand Fates, at a time when the Aetherlands need dedicated soldiers quite badly. Have you experienced any side effects?”

“None,” The outer Devick confirmed, favoring Vandla with a wink. “Aside from an increase in certain… appetites. There’s just something about war, isn’t there? When any day might be your last, couplings become much more appealing.”

Congratulations! Your Grand Fate Maverick’s Barbaric Imperative has grown to Level 49! Due to the development of your Grand Fate, +2 free Stats!

Vandla’s sharp and jittery features showed no recognition for the blunt innuendo tossed his way. Floating within her own body, Devick yawned. The flippant sexuality almost seemed puerile, observed from a distance. Beside her, Malice flicked back its ears, sending a thought to Devick: would the strange Grand Fate persona follow through with the offer of sex with Vandla?

He would be like a jackhammer having a seizure.

Devick giggled, her amusement leaking through the small film the Grand Fate had created around her; she might feel strangely separated from her body, but she wasn’t, not truly. Luckily, the Squad Leader and Vandla didn’t seem to care about the developing schism. They exchanged a long glance as he stifled a giggle, but didn’t press the issue.

The Squad Leader cleared her throat. “We will be turning South, heading down to help of the defense of Homewell in the next day or two. Most of the Nether forces are congregating in that area. I understand you used to be stationed there?”

At least in this, both Grand Fate and Devick were united in a vicious sneer as she thought about Colonel Matteo. She wondered how they would fair now, facing off against one another. “Yea, but the differences which led to our separation were more than philosophical. Most of the Turtlelines are corrupt. For all that its Lifeseal makes it a defensible position, dealing with the population is a chore.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“It is known-chi,” Vandla snorted.

The Squad Leader nodded slowly. “Luckily for you, we fall outside of the Homewell structure. Even if they might hold a grudge over the way you left, your work helping the Aetherlands understand Grand Fates more than makes up for any transgressions. I am also told… you have a particular relationship with Nether King Hungry Eye? While you participated in Malloon’s Hobfootie tournament, he sponsored you.”

Devick’s skin prickled. The sourness returned. Next to her consciousness, Malice raised its head. Unrelated or distracting thoughts drained out through Hare’s inky eyes in the mental space, seeping out of existence and leaving Devick’s mind occupied only by a crackling silence. She nodded with care. “Yes, I know him. Why?”

“How well do you know him?” The Squad Leader urged. The frame of the perspective shift, Devick could feel the slight tingle of eagerness from the woman.

Her eyebrows squeezed together, trying to understand the point of the question. Then it hit her, all at once; these patrols were an auxiliary part of Cerulean’s army. They had already sunk a hook into her with the process of creating a Grand Fate. Now, they wanted to know if she could be dangled in front of Hungry Eye to motivate him.

Fatia Cerulean definitely wanted a more reliable way to compel his behavior. Perhaps part of the reason she had been so easily accepted into the patrol in the first place was that she was being groomed for this role.

Until moments like this, Devick forgot how volatile she was. Her vindictiveness and mercurial emotions seemed almost to be exaggerated, an endearing quality rather than something dangerous. And then a moment like this tossed a spark of sizzling plasma into the core of her being.

She tore through the veneer of playfulness, hell belching out sulfur and bone-melting flames, ready to welcome this new sinner to eternity.

Congratulations! Your Grand Fate Maverick’s Barbaric Imperative has grown to Level 50! For reaching the milestone of Level 50, the efficacy of your Grand Fate has grown! +4 free Stats! Skill Levels will accumulate .5% more quickly.

Yet Devick’s control remained impeccable. The only signal of her inner fury was a dilation in her pupils. Her hands twitched, but she didn’t reach out and rip off the bottom part of the Squad Leader’s jaw.

Meanwhile, her Grand Fate swelled with glee like a mosquito slurping down thick rivers of blood. Glee animated it, causing a wild grin to stretch across her face. Devick watched herself, diagnosing herself in real-time. The Grand Fate magnified the worst part of her impulses, the shortsighted, violent self-absorption that savored the power she did have over Nether King Hungry Eye. Devick’s body smiled knowingly for several seconds, teetering on the brink of sharing the truth.

Even while her blood evaporated and thick, boiling hatred curdled its way through her veins. The sense of muffling strengthened as the two perspectives diverged.

This foolish version of Devick would speak not because she wanted to extract the benefit, but for the indulgent satisfaction of having it known that she, despite her weakness, could influence such a powerful figure.

It was a selfish impulse, born of her own fear of appearing useless. It was the same sort of impulse that had distracted her from Tell, when he had been broken on the Hobfootie pitch, right next to her.

She opened her mouth, the body unable to resist the bubbling temptation to prove she was more than her weakness. Yet the Devick within herself, watching the farce, narrowed her eyes. She opened her mouth and leaked out faint wisps of hellfire. You will not, you dumb piece of shit.

Malice smiled next to her, revealing a mouth full of thin, hollow teeth. With surprising daintiness, the Hare leaned forward and stretched its jaw into a ghastly maw. Then it bit down, just slightly, upon the essence of the Grand Fate in Devick’s chest. The oily otherness squirmed wildly within the grasp of the image, while Devick blinked and smiled.

The seething, volcano of emotion reasserted control. Her brow twitched.

“Heh, luckily we were not close at all. That Nether King… he has a horrid sort of aura. Oppressive.” Completely beyond me, Devick offered a shrug but spoke with a very real undercurrent of bleak bitterness. Her Grand Fate bubbled and struggled in protest, only causing Malice’s teeth to dig in more deeply into its essence. “I’m pretty sure he just used the Miracle’s, that was my team, as a vehicle to get entrance into Malloon.”

Congratulations! Your Skill Malice, Hare of the Crimson Foot and Barbed Heart (M)(U) has grown to Level 391!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Malice, Hare of the Crimson Foot and Barbed Heart (M)(U) has grown to Level 429!

Congratulations! Your Skill Malice, Hare of the Crimson Foot and Barbed Heart (M)(U) has grown to Level 430!

“I have not met Nether King Hungry Eye… but certainly, his brutality is widely acknowledged. Anyway, be ready. We will not have much time for training once we reach the city. The Nether Army nears as we speak.” The Squad Leader’s even expression didn’t waver; she did not express her disappointment. But she moved smoothly away, with twitching Vandla in her wake.

A heavy-lidded Devick felt the strange covering of her Grand Fate casting its gaze at her, practically buzzing with the promise that she wouldn’t be able to suppress it like this for forever. A smile danced across her lips as she looked toward the horizon. Her body felt vast, unexplored and wild, primordial and dangerous, even while she gave her emotions time to cool.

Her heart began to quicken. She still felt those same feelings of inadequacy; she had only run away a few days ago. Yet now she headed right back toward Homewell.

Toward a war, the largest war ever conceived. But also back toward Nether King Hungry Eye. Toward the reason she felt so inadequate.

Did you think of me while I was gone? Devick wondered. She pinched the flesh of her arm, annoyed that the prospect of seeing him again gave her such a rush, even though her mosquito brain had been in his presence and surly just last week.

She smiled all the way back to Homewell.