“So, all along it was Ballard…” Gwyneth mumbled. “Our Almighty god or whatever.” She clenched her fists at that last part, tearing her eyes away from Ares. “And my ancestor, the King of Aeceria hundreds of years ago… He was no better!” She paused as she composed herself. “I can’t condone what you did to Aeceria. But I at least understand the reason behind why you did.”

“I suppose there isn’t really much more I could ask for.” Ares shrugged from his place on the ground. He was stretched out supported by his hands.

“I do want to thank you, though.” Gwyneth stood from her position on the ground to approach Ares.

”For what?” he asked, a twinkle in his eyes.”

”For stopping Ballard. …And for telling me the truth.” She smiled sincerely. All this time she had hated Ares. It was her sworn destiny to defeat him. Yet, here she was standing in front of him thanking him.

“It’s not like I did it for you, but you’re welcome nonetheless.” He gave a lopsided grin.

“I do have a few questions though. With you… dead, how has Halcyone had nights all of these years?”

“Even though I “died”, my power likely continued circulating throughout Halcyone until I was able to reincarnate. That’s my guess anyhow.”

“What about life and death? How has that cycle remained with Ballard definitely dead?”

“That’s something I’ve wondered as well. I killed him with my own two hands, that much I can say with utmost certainty.”

“And why haven’t the Spirits recreated the world with you, Ballard, and Thea out of the picture for so long?” Gwyneth became frustrated with how many questions she had and the lack of definitive answers from Ares.

“That one I can answer. Recreating the world requires all four Spirits. With Earth trapped under Aeceria castle sustaining it, it would be impossible for them to recreate it.”

“Why haven’t the Spirits rescued Earth, yet? And why didn’t Earth see the futility of saving Aeceria assuming they share the same opinion as the others?”

“Earth is likely oblivious to everything that has happened since they left. They made it impossible for anyone to reach them.”

Gwyneth sighed. Her brain was spinning with questions and answers. It was as if her whole world had once again been turned upside down. Each revelation revealed how little of her world she truly knew. She wondered if this was the case for those in Eyris as well.

“What’s Eyris like?” Gwyneth asked. “You mentioned something about technology like Zetheria.”

“Yeah, I guess most of Eyris is like Zetheria. Though, maybe not quite as developed. So, like, a diet Zetheria.” Ares shrugged.

”Diet?” Gwyneth raised an eyebrow.

“A mini Zetheria. Not quite as grand.”

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“Zetheria was many things but grand isn’t a word I’d use to describe it.” Gwyneth chuckled airily. She had found Zetheria extremely depressing, mostly due to the lack of people. Hearing the way Ares described it she could almost understand why he’d say that.

“Eyris is… big,” Ares stumbled. “It has five continents. Oh, you probably don’t know what that means… Think of it like five Halcyones.”

“Five Halcyones?!” Gwyneth gawked. “So, there’s like… five different worlds?!”

Ares shook his head. “You know how Halcyone is one large land with multiple countries— err, kingdoms? It’s like that, but there’s five of them.”

Gwyneth struggled to wrap her brain around Ares’ explanation. To her, this was still no different than worlds. “Can you travel between them?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

”By traveling across the water.”

“You mean… something exists beyond the water?!” Gwyneth’s eyes lit up. She remembered in Ares’ story that the five Eyrians had fallen into the water, but she had assumed they were still near the shore. But now she realized they were traveling to different continents! Or so she thought.

“In Eyris, anyway. For this world, Halcyone is it. I think.” Ares added the last part after not fully recalling if he had had this conversation with the Spirits before.

“That’s a shame.” Gwyneth pouted.

A gentle breeze caressed Gwyneth's skin, swaying her hair ever so slightly. Since learning more about the Elemental Spirits, she often wondered if the breezes she felt were signs that the Wind Spirit was watching her.

She shook her head. There was wind across all of Halcyone; there was no way the Wind Spirit could be in so many places at once.

She glanced at Ares who looked so calm and serene. It was hard to believe he was the evil she had to... "I don't understand," she mumbled.

"Huh?" Ares turned to her cocking his head to the side.

"What do we do now? I mean, are you the evil I'm supposed to defeat? I don't think you are. Ballard matches that description more than anything, but he's already gone. How do I fulfill the prophecy now?"

Ares' expression relaxed. "Have you ever wondered where prophecies come from?"

"Huh?"

"Someone has to write them, right? So that they're not lost and are able to be passed down from generation to generation until it comes time to fulfill the prophecy."

Gwyneth hated that he wouldn't just answer the question for her. He wanted her to think about this and find the answer for herself. So many things she couldn't even dream of had happened. She felt the answer could be literally anything at this point. Thinking was hard and she was tired. But she didn't trust Ares to actually give her the answer if she gave up, so she had to think. "Someone wrote it, but how did they get that prophecy to begin with?"

"Now you're asking the right questions." Ares smiled.

"You're not going to tell me the answer?" Gwyneth asked exasperated.

"No. I'm going to let you figure it out." He smiled smugly, his smile broadening as he saw how much it frustrated her.

"Answer this question then. Where do we go from here?"

"Where indeed." Ares sighed. "In theory, we don't have to do anything. Earth is supporting Aeceria and it will likely be hundreds of years before it crumbles. At that point, Earth will be free and the Spirits will likely decide to recreate the world."

"What other options do we have?" She asked, not entirely satisfied with that response.

"We save Earth right now and let Aeceria crumble. The rest of Halcyone would likely crumble along with it in the upcoming millennia, but the Spirits will likely recreate Halcyone before that happens."

"What happens to everyone when the world is recreated?"

"Some of them are brought to the new cycle via cryostasis."

"Some or all?" Gwyneth narrowed her eyes.

Ares sighed heavily. "I don't know."

"My ancestors were the ones that drained the Spirits of their energy, hastening the destruction of Halcyone. Because of them, Earth had to sacrifice themself because of that, while their own life was being drained. It doesn't sit right with me that we're still using them to support our kingdom. I say we evacuate the Aecerians, free Earth, and go from there."

"Really?" Ares raised his eyebrows in surprise. "So, you're going along with my plan after all?"

"No, this is our plan now. Your plan just needed some tweaking." She winked causing Ares to chuckle.

"Well then, almighty savior, how shall we proceed?"

"Just follow my lead."