“Where the fuck were you?” Claire demanded the moment the golden doorway closed behind me.

The whole gang were arrayed on the Command Deck: Claire was ready to get in my face and point a finger at me, Chrys sat at one of the nearby consoles reading, Remy and Miyuki had their palms pressed together and orbs of fox fire circled them in some kind of fancy magical ritual. Xian stood to the side, his right hand grasping and then releasing the hilt of Viper in repetition.

Amaranthine stood behind Claire, a brow arched at me.

“Well, I’m pretty sure that was what was left of the Tenebrous Dragons hidden Exoverse or whatever you called it, Arx Maxima. Not that there was anything left but ghosts.” I answered with a shrug, a little annoyed Claire was in my face. I chomped at her finger, and she pulled her hand back after she made a rude gesture at me.

“I was only gone for a few hours, anyway.”

“Thirty-five hours,” Arx Maxima interjected.

“What?” I asked.

“You were gone for thirty-five hours. The anomaly that swallowed you had dangerously thin connections to the Gossamyr. It took a considerable expenditure of time, energy, and exploitation of sympathetic linkages to open a doorway at all. You may cease your ritual now, thank you.” The last Arx Maxima directed at Remy and Miyuki. The flames around them had ceased, and they were stretching out their limbs.

“Big adventure, eh Emery?” Remy asked me. He seemed relieved to see me.

“No, not a big adventure. I fought the ghost of Mikhail, he ranted and raved, that was it.” I repeated myself.

“Mikhail? The claws must have retained a link.” Arx Maxima stated the obvious in grave annoyance.

“They’re only made out of his bones, what could possibly happen in a Universe with intermittent-at-best access to the Great Cycle,” the black diamond snarked. Corvusol’s sarcasm put a grin on my face since it was aimed at someone other than me for once.

A dangerous silence wrapped around Amaranthine even more tightly than the raven feather cloak she wore.

“Time is not a luxury we can afford to waste. The other forces are arriving, and it is time to make your final preparations for the assault on Havenstone.”

“Surely we could delay a little?” Claire asked hopefully, but everyone else shook their heads.

“Chrys, Remy, hang on. I’ve got some stuff here from the Vault.” With everyone in a hurry, I quickly handed out the hammer and staff to Chrys and Remy. Both eyed the weapons appreciatively, and stashed them away.

“Arx Maxima can tell you about them if you need to know anything,” I said. Arx Maxima wasn’t likely to complain about being volunteered in this way.

“Go down to conference room #3. Amaranthine, Emery, and I shall be along shortly,” Arx Maxima instructed the others, and in moments only the crystals, Amaranthine, and I remained on the Command Deck.

Amaranthine’s frigid gaze put a cold pit in my stomach.

I looked into those red eyes, but I didn’t see any anger there.

“You are becoming strong. You faced a trial and overcame it. That is good and befitting an Emperor. Yet if it had not been for your uncle and Miyuki working with Chrys and Xian, we would not have been able to retrieve you. You must be both strong and clever, going forward.” For all that Amaranthine praised me, it felt almost like she had failed a trial herself, and then the praise ended, and it was my failure.

“You’re right,” I said after a moment. I wanted to point out Arx Maxima had suggested I do it, or that I’d barely been gone a few minutes, or I would’ve found another way back. True or not, I’d been gone long enough to almost miss the launch of my own mission to save my brother. If I was going to be the Mist Lord of Monados, I had to think beyond myself. To say nothing about my responsibilities as they related to Amaranthine.

I noticed that I looked down on Amaranthine. Physically. I estimated I must be close to 6’8”. The burning transformation of the Claws of Mikhail must have increased my height, or perhaps the awakening Lord of War did? I checked the contents of my belt to see if Mikhail’s Greatsword would need to be put into some kind of vault, but there was no sword in my storage, nor anything that hadn’t been there while I was in the Vault. Weird, but I guess it had been a ghost.

“I’ll work on being cleverer,” I promised.

“Not too clever, though,” Amaranthine suggested, her lips finally twisting into a wicked smile.

“Yes, yes, you’re both meaty bags of hormones who desire fornication. Alas, you’ve missed your opportunity and now it’s time for violence. A great tragedy. Terrible. A true tragic story for the ages. Let’s go shank Mithras in the eye,” Corvusol said. I half tuned out most of his blather, and instead luxuriated in the warmth of Amaranthine’s fingers as they entwined with my own.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

What I didn’t expect was a mental interrogation from Arx Maxima, in our one on one line. It had been quite sometime since the world seemed to freeze in place around us.

“What actually happened, Emery?” Arx Maxima demanded.

“The ghost of Mikhail bitched about Samael, Lucifer, and Azazel. Claimed to have seen Samael’s reflection in Lucifer when he killed him, and in me. He recognized Delirium of Ruin. I had to overcome some strange emotional effects, but I beat him. Then he came back with four friends, but I beat them no problem after I learned how to deal with Mikhail the first time.” I answered with the truth.

“Samael. I have no records of this entity, and the Tenebrous Dragons refused to speak of their past once they joined the Stellarae Enclave. I had full confidence you could escape that place on your own with a Portal,” Arx Maxima said.

“What even was all of that? Did you trigger it, or did Mikhail, or the Mask?” I asked, not expecting much of an answer.

“Enabling the Lord of War power triggered some connection between you, Mikhail, and that place. I cannot confirm that was the home realm of the Tenebrous Dragons due to the cataclysmic forces that reshaped the Universe. What you describe aligns with historical record, and Azazel did destroy everything in their sanctuary on our departure. As for a link between Samael and Lucifer, there is nothing to corroborate that in my memory. Lucifer belonged to the founding race of the Stellarae Enclave, who called themselves Messengers. The Messengers were winged humanoids with natural affinity to sacred light.” Arx Maxima explained her reasoning to me in some detail, instead of offering me only a few words response like I expected.

“Mikhail seemed certain Samael was not defeated, and that either I was Samael, or that he was near. Let me replay everything for you.” I focused on the memories of the encounter, the emotions, and tried to communicate them all directly to Arx Maxima.

“Over the years death could have weakened Mikhail to this level. In life he managed to best Lucifer, but I agree with Mikhail’s recollection: Lucifer allowed himself to be beaten to ensure the cooperation of Azazel and his followers. His death led to the greater victory for the Enclave and the incorporation of the Tenebrous Dragons as a cornerstone of our strength under the newly motivated Azazel. Their technological advancement shaved centuries from the timetable on the Cosmogenesis project.” Arx Maxima didn’t play coy.

“Did you encourage him to sacrifice himself?”

“That was not the plan, no. The plan was that he would reincarnate in the worst-case scenario,” Arx Maxima explained.

I didn’t see how that was different from planning to sacrifice himself. Was Arx Maxima playing word games with me?

“The unique nature of the Exoverse they had created interfered with my ability to retrieve Lucifer’s essence, and he could not be restored despite all efforts. If Azazel had not brought ruin upon his home perhaps I could have salvaged him and others.”

“Why did he do it? It seems extreme to burn everything down.”

“Only Azazel could say. He indicated he believed the promise of their people lay in the unity the Stellarae Enclave dreamed of, and that the Tenebrous Dragons had similar origin stories as the Messengers. Belief is potent weapon. So potent that he left the survivors of Mikhail’s followers to burn with their Exoverse.” Arx Maxima seemed annoyed by the waste, more than by the heinousness of the actions.

“Wait, he left people to die and sealed it? There was nothing in that place except a clear platform.”

“Yes. Azazel’s Wrath was quite legendary, and very thorough.” Arx Maxima praised her favored envoy, but I wanted to bonk her on the head. If she had one I would’ve given her a good bop.

Everything about the Tenebrous Dragons felt like a horror story told around a fire late at night to convince little children to mind their parents, so that one of the scary dragon people doesn’t eat them in the middle of the night. They were powerful, scary, and strangely barbaric for a people with technology so advanced.

Why would a race that isolated in a utopia of their own design have a leader with a power like Lord of War? Azazel seemed awfully proficient at combat for a race of isolationists, too. Had they started at the peak of power, somehow, or had they worked their way there through slaughter and bloodshed? How many of their people had been abandoned to a certain death for the remnant who made it to the Exoverse to survive?

I don’t like to think about these things. I wanted to think about how to fight with my spear, how to evolve my powers, how to undress Amaranthine… things I liked. Yet the troubled history of the Stellarae Enclave always came with questions, red flags, and mysteries. I didn’t want to wonder in the dead of night what happened to Samael, where had the very real sword of Mikhail gone to, or what were these Flames of Purification the Claws of Mikhail had transformed me with.

“Are you prepared to save your brother? You still have the dagger?” Arx Maxima inquired when I fell silent.

“Yes,” I answered shortly. The dagger appeared in my hand, the same as before. I returned it to the Belt of Diana. “Yes, I’m ready to save Etienne, and make Mithras regret shunning me, mind controlling my brother, and turning the people of Solarias into thralls.”

The idea of punishing Mithras fixed a smile upon my lips. It was a shame I wouldn’t be able to finish him off. He could have given me magic, he could have been the savior humanity needed, but he had chosen to be a puppeteer bent on making a mockery of the past at the price of humankind.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I repeated eagerly.

“I am restoring the temporal flow,” Arx Maxima warned me. Then the world jumped into motion.

Amaranthine looked askance at me, and I realized I’d lost my grip on her hand at some point. I took it back in my own, but waved at my shadow behind her first, then we marched towards the elevator.

“Already over your last Trial, and eager to face the next?” Amaranthine asked me. She seemed amused that I was so eager.

“I’m ready to put the past to rest, so we can focus on building a future,” I answered as earnestly as I could.

“Looking forward to something in particular, after this?” A coy question. Too coy. Danger bells rang in my head.

Luckily, even I was smart enough to know what Amaranthine wanted to hear.

“Making you an Empress,” I answered.

The smile that lit Amaranthine’s face filled me with a flurry of emotions. Even without her glamour, her beauty made my hearts ache and my brain sputter. She wrapped both arms around one of my large armored arms, and brushed a kiss against one of my horns. I barely felt it, because, horn, but the warmth that spread through me from the gesture washed away the worries of the day.

Sadly, the elevator dinged and whooshed open all to soon, at which point we returned to only holding hands, as we joined the strike forces for the attack on Solarias.