• Published 19th Sep 2016
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Hecate's Orphanage - BlackRoseRaven



Cadence and other ponies from across countless parallel worlds work together to protect their universe from monsters.

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Dreams Of A Swan

Chapter Ninety Four: Dreams Of A Swan
~BlackRoseRaven

Veliuona was waiting for them at the top of the mountain path with an escort of six Nzambi, the fog floating all around her but never touching her, and thin enough in this high field for them to be able to make out the shapes of structures in the distance. A new collar gleamed around her neck, but she only surveyed them with interest as they approached, in spite of the way the Nzambi shifted suspiciously on either side of her, scowling under their masks and helmets.

Thesis grinned as he loitered out towards the mare, then he grunted as he carefully shoved himself up to his hind hooves, cracking his back loudly as his exoskeleton sparked for a moment, before he said wryly: “It's really stupid that you insist on standing like this, you know.”

“You know I would never expect it from you, Thesis. I've learned not to expect much at all from you.” Veliuona replied with a quirk of her lips, and Thesis feigned a hurt look before the Queen of Cursed Shades bowed her head slightly and added quietly: “It is good to see you again. It's reassuring. I hope all of us can escape the Prime's grip one day.”

“I'm sure you will, Veliuona. Don't worry, I'm a lot more afraid of you than Melinda, too.” Thesis added with a small bow, and the zebra smiled in amusement, although she admittedly looked rather pleased by his remark, too. She was vain, although that didn't really lower Cadence's opinion of her. There are worse flaws.

Veliuona's eyes roved over them, and La Croix smiled awkwardly as he took off his hat and bowed his head to her. She bowed her head back to him politely, then asked something in that strange language the Nzambi all seemed to speak, and La Croix chuckled before he replied in the same. Veliuona looked further gratified by whatever he said, before she turned her eyes towards Cadence, smiling at the ivory mare as she stated: “Loki has taken quite an interest in you. Greater than I had anticipated, as a matter of fact.”

Cadence smiled awkwardly at this, before Veliuona continued, as her eyes shifted to Moonflower curiously: “And Melinda has much to say about you, child. Kind things and good things all. You should be pleased that she is so impressed with you.”

Moonflower laughed a little, and then he dropped his head and mumbled: “Well, I... thank you. I... do hope to live up to her expectations. It's confusing for me, but...”

“It's hard for all of us, don't worry.” Veliuona said softly, gesturing absently at the Nzambi who were stalking moodily back and forth on either side of her, before she absently reached up and touched her collar when it sizzled. “I fear that we don't have much time for conversation, however: Loki has grown... frustrated.”

“I see that. That's a much-heavier collar than the others are fitted with. Although I expect Loki isn't dumb enough to think he can put anything on Melinda that she couldn't burn out, anyway, and I'm sure that you can fry that one yourself pretty fast if you want to.” Thesis said, and Veliuona smiled wryly.

“You would think so, but it has a... cruel trick.” Veliuona said after a moment, grimacing a bit as she silently stroked along the bottom of the collar, and then she shook her head and said softly: “But Loki is still blind to us, even if his agents are everywhere. We have a little bit of time yet, and I will not fight you here. Although I cannot convince my friends, of course, to do otherwise.”

Veliuona gestured calmly around at the Nzambi, who all shifted slowly; eagerly, Cadence thought moodily, as she looked over them. Some actually had armor on, others were only in what looked like fine suits, and all of them were armed and outfitted with additional equipment that varied from knives to large rifles... “The Nzambi are not... my first choice for disciples. But they are what was offered to me, and so of course I have been as gracious as possible in accepting these children into my fold. These eight here are very eager to prove their loyalty to me and to Loki... all for the sake of betraying it, of course.”

There was a visible, apprehensive shift from the Nzambi as Thesis smiled wryly, before he asked quietly: “So if this isn't desperation from Loki, now that he's been unmasked and forced to work with these uh... less-than-charming people who all want to ignore him or stab him in the back, then what is it?”

Veliuona looked meditative for a few moments, and then she said slowly: “Loki works on deception and distraction. I would think it one of those.”

“I'll have to keep that in mind. Thesis said softly, before he tapped a hoof a few times, then looked up and asked bluntly: “So is this just a delaying tactic?”

Veliuona smiled slightly at this, placing her front hooves together as she answered calmly: “I am no warlord, Thesis. But I have learned a few things about strategy in my time. I have matched wits with more than my share of dangerous ponies, after all.”

“More than just dangerous ponies even.” Thesis added glibly, smiling slightly at the zebra before he bowed his head and asked politely: “Will we be able to parley further at the tower, or are you going to have a welcome wagon waiting for us?”

“I am afraid this time we will have to do more than just speak. But you have my very best of luck, rafiki. You and your kasuku mdongo have great things ahead of you, I don't need to read the bones to see that: the only thing that remains uncertain is how you will get there.” Veliuona replied calmly, before she politely bowed her head, then simply vanished in a burst of smoke and blue embers.

La Croix's eyes widened slightly as the six Nzambi began to prowl forward, but Thesis only grinned as he cracked his neck, saying amiably: “Hey, don't worry. I can count.”

A Nzambi ripped out of the earth in front of Thesis, lunging upwards with a poisoned, gleaming dagger, before it squeaked when Thesis simply stomped on its head and drove it back down into the rocks as his exoskeleton crackled to life on his back, declaring: “One!”

Thesis vanished from sight, and then a Nzambi flinched in surprise as his rifle was shoved towards the sky before a hoof slammed into his face. “Two!”

Thesis leapt over the falling Nzambi, ducking under a slice of a blade before he slammed an uppercut in response into the zombie's stomach, knocking it bonelessly into the air before he jumped up and tomahawked it like a meteor with both front hooves into the startled face of another. “Three! Four!”

The stallion grinned as the Nzambi as others rushed towards them, shouting and swearing, but without losing a beat, Thesis flipped smoothly sideways, rolling over one of the Nzambi as he twisted to slam a hoof into another, who yelped as the savage punch snapped his rifle in half before it crashed into his face and knocked him sprawling in a hail of shattered mask. “Five!”

The Nzambi Thesis had sprung over began to spin around, but Thesis simply rammed an elbow up under his chin, knocking his head back in a spray of teeth and blood before he leapt forwards and slammed a straight hoof into the chest of the last standing Nzambi, knocking him flying backwards with a gargle as the stallion skidded to halt with a grin. “Six! Seven!”

He grinned, before wincing as another Nzambi tore out of the ground with a snarl, raising a rifle-

Cadence stomped savagely on the back of the Nzambi's neck, driving him flat before she stabbed her dagger down into its throat and wrenched hard to the side, nearly beheading the Nzambi as it twitched once before falling still, the mare grumbling: “Eight.”

For a moment, all eyes simply stared at the ivory mare before Thesis held up a hoof and said mildly: “See? That's why I'm the nice one.”

A Nzambi leapt at Thesis' unprotected back, and then the zebra swore violently as Thesis easily spun around to scoop it into the air before he flipped it around and slammed it face-first into the ground with a resounding bang, leaving it in a stunned, broken heap as he added: “But I guess for you undead types it's way more humiliating to be beaten into submission than killed, huh?”

“We will never bow to you, mjinga!” snarled one of the Nzambi before it lunged for one of the fallen rifles, but then it screamed in agony as green lightning slammed into its body and crackled across its form, driving it back with a hiss of pain before it looked up in humiliated fury at La Croix.

“Whoa now, all y'all! Taisse-toi and listen up!” La Croix snapped, before he pulled something out of his cloak, waving the totem back and forth, and the Nzambi scuttled backwards as they all looked warily at the strange object the zebra was holding in his hoof. “Y'all know what this be! In the past, if I used this, Bondye would have dropped down on my head like a chat on a souris! But there ain't no Bondye, no more, and I don't got to hesitate to make all y'all vanish, y'hear?

“Sure, it'll take me time. But y'already all been beaten, and just by these two alone. Cygne and her beau be more than enough to take y'all on themselves, even before you look at these two unicorn mages and Papa Sérénité here, who got the blackwater in his veins. So let's make this real simple-like: hurry up and scat. Leave those bodies behind and get yourselves gone, don't make this any more painful than it has to be.” La Croix ordered, and the Nzambi shifted slowly and uncertainly as Thesis smiled slightly and Cadence couldn't help but feel maybe the slightest bit impressed with the Loa.

One of the Nzambi began to open his mouth, before his eyes widened in horror as red lightning ripped across his body, stumbling backwards as his form rapidly withered away before it simply collapsed into dust, leaving the zebra spirit trapped in a cage of crimson coils that danced and sparked across his ethereal body. Cadence's eyes widened as she looked sharply at Aster, but even though Aster was pale and trembling and sweating profusely, even as her eyes bulged from her head and those ugly veins throbbed across her body, she seemed to be in some sort of control as she rasped: “You might not care about one-another. But I can hurt this one. If I can hurt him, what stops me from hurting the rest of you?”

This seemed to decide things for the Nzambi, the zebra corpses stepping backwards before collapsing, one after the other, as the evil spirits fled in fear and contempt. Finally, all that was left was the pinned spirit, trapped and frightened and helpless in the cage of red lightning, and Aster almost slavered as her eyes focused in on him, seeming to lose her mind even as her focus on her prey sharpened, jaws opening- “Madame. Mademoiselle, sil vous plait?”

Aster blinked a few times, turning towards La Croix, unseeing, uncomprehending at first, but then her face slowly cleared, and she nodded slowly before she shook her head quickly, her magic sparking out from around the Nzambi spirit, who wasted no time in bolting away into the ether. And after a moment, Aster gave a shaky smile before she said with a forced laugh: “I... pardonnez-moi, I got caught up in the moment. You... y-you know how it is, when you play a role... it... consumes you.”

Aster trembled for a moment, then repeated in a whisper, as she stared at the corpses of Nzambi sprawled across the foggy road: “It consumes you.”

She was quiet for a few moments, then she shook her head slowly before she straightened, breathing slowly as she said finally: “The tower is just ahead. We should keep going. To the tower. The tower is above and ahead.”

“Yeah. See, I had it under control.” Thesis said mildly, smiling over at Cadence, but his eyes gave her a warning, and the ivory mare nodded ever-so-slightly in return before she signaled to him with one hoof. “Okay. Cadence will continue to scout ahead, just in case there are any more Nzambi, while we regroup and get ourselves ready to move.”

Cadence nodded, smiling briefly to her friends and father, her eyes lingering for a moment on Sombra before she turned and headed into the mist. And it was a mist now: a thin veil that she could see through, that only faintly muffled the sounds she made as she walked down the gravel path.

It was almost peaceful. Not suffocating, quiet but not silent, safe beneath the mist even here in enemy territory. There was nothing to be afraid of. There was calm, and silence. There was...

Cadence frowned as she stumbled a little, and then she shook her head slowly before she looked up and scowled in distaste, reaching up to adjust the white mask that protected her face, her cold eyes flicking back and forth through the slits in the hard steel. There was laughter above, but there was always laughter above. Even at this time of night.

Her dress of white feathers fluttered around her body as she strode forward, her pale skin gleaming eerily in the dim light as she made her way to the heavy iron door at the end of the hall. Her hands were almost scaly: just one of the many marks of ugliness among the flawed beauty of her kind.

And they were all aware of it, yes. They were all aware that they had been meant to be perfect, and instead they were... this. Ugly. Ugly, in mind and spirit and body and soul. So ugly they had to hide behind masks and sheath themselves beneath the flowing feathers, to hide the deformity of their bodies, to live up to the make-believe that they were perfect...

That was why they only ever came out at night. Why they only bathed when the full moon cast its glow, drenching them beneath false beauty, hiding their imperfections beneath the veil of Mani. They were as ghosts: illusory and perfect at a distance, but nothing but cold and lifeless corpses up close.

No, it would not do to think such thoughts. Whether she was a success or a failure was for her betters to judge, not for herself. If she was decided a failure, then a failure she was; but thinking too greatly on her imperfections, what made her a failure, would lead to questioning why she had been a failure in the first place, why her masters had not made her perfect. And to question the Fathers and Mothers was heresy.

The Swan did her job: she patrolled these dark, remote halls beneath Asgard endlessly, the deep veins that fed through the innards and organs of their world. Some of these secret halls stretched out beyond Valhalla: some of them led into the walls and even to the highest towers by secret paths that went unseen even by the eyes of the noblest gods, just the way it was meant to be.

Their kind was not meant for prying or beautiful eyes. They were meant not to be seen, not to be heard, unless the Mothers or the Fathers called upon them. They were built for duty, not for pleasure, not to be pleasing. The Valkyries thought they were the guardians of Valhalla, but they were wrong: they were only the visible pawns, the pretty decorations that roamed the bright world, the playthings, the dollies of the gods...

Danzsöngr paused halfway across a large underground cavern, looking slowly back and forth. Something wasn't right: she felt a presence that did not belong here. Her eyes roved back and forth across the open room, past the heavy crates, then up to wander along the ceiling, studying the stony stalactites before she reached back and drew her daggers.

They gleamed dangerously in her hands as she said contemptibly: “You are not supposed to be here. You are not wanted here.”

“I am not wanted anywhere.” grumbled a voice, before a Valkyrie dropped down from the stalactites above. The Swan's eyes narrowed further behind her mask, her expression curling in disgust under the steel veil: how dare the Valkyrie set foot in the domain of the Mothers and Fathers, and dressed in unflattering furs and hide clothes at that.

“You are not in your battle dress. You are dressed as a man. This is against the rules of the Fathers and the Mothers.” Danzsöngr stated, and the irritating, irksome, loathsome Valkyrie rolled her eyes, throwing up her hands in distaste. “Leave. Redress yourself. Go to your duties.”

“You are not my officer, Swan, and I do not need to listen to you or any of your kind.” retorted the Valkyrie, before she sniffed disdainfully as she reached up and flicked her blonde, curly locks out of her face. She was pale white, smooth-skinned, full-lipped, beautiful... what the Swans were supposed to be. Or... closer to what the Swans were supposed to be. The Valkyries were not perfect, Danzsöngr reflected; their faces and their bodies were as if carved from marble, but time had still made flaws in what had once been stone-chiseled perfection.

She grinned, teeth gleaming, her eyes half-lidding mockingly: they had the faintest iridescent green gleam that complimented her rosy red lips as she mocked: “And what are you doing down here anyway, hidden away in these old cellars? Shouldn't you and yours-”

“Leave immediately, Valkyrie. Go to your duties. You do not belong here. You will not be asked again.” Danzsöngr interrupted heedlessly, and the Valkyrie narrowed her eyes before she snorted, then reached back behind her with both hands.

Danzsöngr tensed as the Valkyrie produced what looked like a rod in one hand: but with a flick of her wrist, it extended to a full spear with a loud snick, and the Valkyrie leaned on this arrogantly as she rose an apple in her other hand and took a bite out of it, saying mildly through the food in her mouth: “I have no duties to go about, Swan. We are not automatons like you, you know, but real women. And it is quite an exhausting job, you know, caring constantly for the men. That is why we are given freedom to rest ourselves and wander these halls as we see fit-”

“These are not your halls, Valkyrie.” Danzsöngr said shortly, and the Valkyrie smiled wryly.

“I have a name, Swan Maiden. It is Brynhild. And while the servant corridors may not be frequented by the master of the house, they are all the same still his.” she countered, and then she leaned forwards and said contemptibly: “And I will not be spoken down to by a construct so unfit to serve the Aesir that-”

Danzsöngr lunged forward, moving like lightning, but Brynhild flung the apple at her, the hard fruit hitting like a rock against her mask and bouncing into the air as the Swan Maiden stumbled in surprise. It gave Brynhild the chance she needed to sweep in her spear from the side, knocking one of Danzsöngr's ankles out from beneath her before the Valkyrie pounced.

But Danzsöngr twisted her body like a cat, catching herself on all fours before lashed outwith a savage kick that caught Brynhild across the face and knocked the Valkyrie staggering. Before Brynhild could recover, the Swan spun around and lunged at her stomach, slashing both daggers out, but Brynhild dropped onto her back as she swung a knee up, smashing Danzsöngr under the chin and snapping her head back before a second foot crashed into her chest and knocked her sprawling on her back.

Her mask clattered to the ground several feet away, and Danzsöngr scowled slightly as she sat quickly up, the Valkyrie flinching in surprise at the sight of her face: nothing but flat ugliness, with two serpentine slits for nostrils and no real lips or mouth, but only a cut. And above, those beautiful and terrible, enormous eyes, that saw everything and nothing all at once as the Valkyrie said distastefully: “Well. I see now why the Gods decided that it was better you were out of sight and out of mind. I fear that, however, will be a face I will never forget.”

There was silence for a moment, and then Brynhild simply extended her hand, and she grinned as her now-bruised apple landed in it. She idly bit into the fruit, crunching loudly as the Swan stood up, before she asked mockingly as the Maiden's scaly hands tightened slowly, dangerously, around her daggers: “So tell me. Are you Helbeasts? You do not have the look of any angels I am familiar with. Or are you truly, purely nothing more than constructs? But if that is all you are, why were you never fixed? Because if there was ever a face that needed fixing-”

The Swan Maiden lunged forwards, and with barely a flinch, Brynhild used her spear to block both daggers, shoving forwards even as Danzsöngr struggled to pin the Valkyrie. But the Valkyrie was stronger, muscle flexing under hide and furs, grinning widely.

She stank. She stank of sweat and flesh and blood. And her emotions were wild, uncontrolled, her will untampered-with, but of course the Gods found more pleasure in controlling things that did not want or bow to their control, Danzsöngr thought bitterly.

“Weak!” Brynhild pronounced, and then she twisted her spear suddenly and shoved the Swan Maiden backwards, snorting in amusement as Danzsöngr was sent stumbling, before the Valkyrie laughed as she flicked the pole of her spear back and forth, the Swan's daggers uselessly clanging off either end of the weapon as Brynhild easily blocked further slashes. “Like a child!”

“I will kill you if you continue to mock me.” the Swan said coldly, tonelessly, and yet inside she was enraged and furious, screaming, almost tantruming: her body simply couldn't express such emotion. She was too ingrained in training, too designed, and as it was, engaging the Valkyrie at all pushed the limits of her free will-

Brynhild suddenly flicked her spear up and snapped it almost playfully against the side of the Swan Maiden's head, knocking her staggering before Brynhild spun the weapon around and slammed the butt of the pole into her stomach with enough force to heft the guardian off the ground, the air whooshing out of the Swan Maiden's lungs as the Valkyrie held her just above her head, saying contemptibly: “That would have killed you, if I had chosen it to.”

The Swan Maiden stiffened, and then her eyes gleamed with malice and viciousness as she realized that yes, that was true. The Valkyrie had threatened her life. And that gave her leave to respond in such.

The Swan Maiden flung herself backwards off the pole before her eyes began to glow eerily, her daggers lighting up with white flames, and Brynhild grinned widely before she snorted as she swung her spear out when Danzsöngr lunged, but she was underestimating her, not knowing or expecting that Danzsöngr had seen that attack already coming.

The Swan Maiden ducked, skidding under the strike before she sprung forward like a snake, forced to obey the old rules, the old laws that had been written into it as she leapt past the surprised Valkyrie instead of on top of her, as she slashed out and knicked her thigh instead of plunging her dagger into her heart or her throat.

Danzsöngr landed and spun around, but there would be no further warning as Brynhild stumbled in shock, clutching at her wounded leg for a moment: it wasn't the blood that bothered her, but the wisp of her spirit that went up. But there was no fear in this Valkyrie: there was fury, and anger at herself. Yes, at herself: at least she could acknowledge that she had made a mistake.

“That is a little better, Swan. But don't think I'll let it happen again.” Brynhild growled, before she cracked her neck, then spun her spear at her side as she dropped back to a ready position-

Vulnerability.

The Swan Maiden lunged forward, and Brynhild fumbled her spear as she slashed it quickly in front of her, letting Danzsöngr easily smash it out of her hands before she drove towards her throat. But Brynhild twisted sharply out of the way as she immediately drove an elbow into the Swan's solar plexus, the construct hissing breath out before Brynhild slammed both fists in a upward spike under her chin, knocking the Swan crashing painfully onto her back before the Valkyrie stomped down on top of her.

The Swan vomited blood, but then slashed a dagger up, and Brynhild swore as she was forced to leap backwards as the Maiden rolled quickly back to her own feet, her eyes flashing before she sliced through reality, and Brynhild only had a moment to react before she staggered to the side, eyes widening in shock as something ripped across her arm, flaying her clothing open and sending up a spurt of thick crimson blood.

The Swan Maiden made a wide, hard slash through the air, but Brynhild ducked, narrowly avoiding her throat being torn out by the tremor that ripped through reality above her. And before the Swan Maiden could slash down again, the Valkyrie flicked her wrist hard, and the Swan Maiden didn't have time or sense to react before the remains of the apple slammed into her face, knocking her staggering off balance in surprise and disrupting her concentration.

Brynhild leapt forwards, and a moment later, Danzsöngr was pinned to the ground by a boot crushing down into her head. She attempted to drive a dagger up into Brynhild's leg, but the Valkyrie dropped down on top of her, catching her wrist as her knee crashed down on top of her skull with an awful, painful crunch.

But still, in spite of the blood flowing from her ears and nostrils, Danzsöngr continued to struggle, even as she felt her wrists forcefully pinned above her head. Brynhild studied her with contempt, but she was no longer underestimating her, keeping her trapped as she said quietly: “Whatever you are, it is nothing good.”

“What do you know of 'good,' Valkyrie? Your kind are betrayers. We have all seen it. We all know that you will turn on the Fathers and the Mothers, given the chance.” Danzsöngr said contemptibly, and Brynhild frowned at this.

But before the Valkyrie could ask, a voice asked angrily: “What in the name of Helheim is going on here? Brynhild! What are you doing here, and why do you have a Swan Maiden... Swan Maiden! Kneel!”

Brynhild huffed loudly, but allowed herself to be shoved off, stumbling back to her feet and straightening with a scowl as Danzsöngr rolled quickly over and dropped her head low, not daring to so much as turn her eyes up to look at Mother Freya even as Brynhild answered arrogantly: “Don't blame me! Blame Gunnar, she told me about these silly-”

There was a series of clanks, a squawk and a wheeze, and Danzsöngr would smile if her face allowed her to at the sound of Brynhild flailing uselessly in the air as she wheezed through the fingers no doubt clenched around her throat, as Freya growled out: “What. Are. You. Doing. Here?”

“I... came to test the Swan Maiden! I was curious! You cannot blame me for being curious!” Brynhild whined as she managed to tear herself loose, and then she huffed as she brushed at herself, and the Swan Maiden was outraged and disgusted and a little impressed all at once by Brynhild's fearlessness as she grumbled: “You don't need to be so... damned grabby, Freya. Not everyone likes having hands all over them.”

“You came down here to fight her?” Freya clarified, and Danzsöngr could hear the scowl in Freya's voice.

“Well, it is still better than you, Freya, you would have fought it or f-” Brynhild started reasonably, before there was a loud, fleshy thud, and a moment later Brynhild fell to her knees with a loud wheezing.

The sound of hair, being caressed, then squeezed into by strong fingers. Whispers. And then grumbling, before Brynhild was yanked up to her feet, stumbling off with a huff. The sounds faded, until finally, Freya asked curtly: “Did she ambush you?”

“No. I sensed her presence. I called to her. She attacked me. We fought.” Danzsöngr answered, before she grimaced inwardly as she felt Freya grasp into the back of her head, digging her fingers through her long hair into her scalp.

“Why did you try to kill one of my daughters?” Freya asked, her voice like ice, and Danzsöngr didn't dare to move.

Yet all the same, as much as she didn't want to, she was impelled to answer: Freya was not just a Valkyrie, after all, but a Mother, someone she had to obey. “She refused to leave. She proceeded to fight. She was a threat, and she angered me.”

Danzsöngr could sense the frown on Freya's face as the Valkyrie asked slowly: “Angered you?”

“Yes. She angered me.” the Swan said quietly, and there was silence for a few moments before Freya gave a thoughtful snort.

“Well, if there was ever a woman who could anger even a stone wall, it's Brynhild.” muttered Freya, before she finally sighed and said reluctantly: “Go back to your duties, Swan Maiden. I will talk to you about this later, after I've had another word with Brynhild.”

Danzsöngr rose her head, and the mare blinked as she found herself staring up at a tower of brick and stone that stood on a mountaintop, overlooking a sea of fog and craggy peaks that peeked up through the mist. She mouthed wordlessly for a few moments, her eyes roving back and forth in disbelief, before she stiffened as Veliuona said musingly: “I did not expect to see that.”

Cadence snarled as the Goddess of Cursed Shades slowly strolled out in front of the tower, studying Cadence calmly as the ivory mare snapped: “What the hell was that? Stay the hell out of my memories!”

“Curious. You answered your own question, and yet still you look at me as if I guard the answer you seek.” Veliuona remarked, and Cadence scowled, but the zebra only smiled slightly before she placed her front hooves together and said quietly: “It was a minor... I would not even call it a spell. You have been seeking answers, and I too, seek answers, bata-maji.I did not think the effect would be so strong, that is all... not that it mattered.”

Veliuona gestured idly past Cadence, and Cadence frowned before her eyes widened in shock at the sight of the dead and dying Nzambi. Her mouth worked slowly as she stared over the carnage, dark blood coating the earth, a severed limb here, a severed head... oh god... “N-No, I...”

“Yes. You did.” Veliuona said gently, and then she smiled and held up her hooves in a gesture of contrition when Cadence's eyes flashed and the winged unicorn set herself. “It's alright.”

“It's not!” Cadence shouted, and then she gritted her teeth before she forced herself to calm down, taking a slow breath as she carefully straightened, closing her eyes for a moment. It made her vulnerable... but if she wants to screw with me, I don't think I can stop her anyway. Get your head on straight, Cadence. You're useless if you're not thinking right.

Finally, the ivory mare looked up, this time gazing past Veliuona at the ruins of the tower. She studied it uncertainly for a few moments, before she frowned a little as her eyes roved over the half-collapsed roof of the tower, leaving the grinding rails visible, the faint squealing and screeching of metal-on-metal making her ears twitch before she said slowly: “This is a portal tower.”

“Yes, and it is being aligned as we speak.” Veliuona said calmly, gesturing towards the tower behind her, and Cadence narrowed her eyes. “No, bata-maji. Loki himself will not come here. He is wounded. He is still weak, and-”

Veliuona cursed as her collar sparked and sizzled, nearly falling to a kneel from the energy that it glowed with, before she grimaced and slowly pushed herself back up on her hind hooves as Cadence looked at her uncertainly: she didn't know where she stood with Veliuona, but she did know that she didn't want to be pushed into fighting a Voidborn all by herself on a lonely mountaintop, even if she had apparently just slashed her way through a group of Nzambi literally in her sleep... no. The Swan. You did that, didn't you? You killed them... please tell me you killed them.

But Danzsöngr was silent inside of her, and Cadence cursed mentally at the Swan before she turned her eyes back towards Veliuona as the zebra said quietly: “I apologize. Loki is not pleased with us. As much progress as we have made against you and yours, he feels it is not enough. And he has become more paranoid. But in a strange way: he is not protective of his power, rather his...”

Veliuona seemed to search for the word, and Cadence hesitantly ventured after a moment: “Secrets? His privacy?”

“Privacy... yes, his solitude. Not his secrets, no, but rather where he goes. There is a place he hides, between reality, where he stores the power of the Prime, where the Prime hides.” said Veliuona, and Cadence frowned in surprise at this. “That is why he fears your Queen. As she split the Prime and Loki into two beings, the Prime's powers were drained into the Void, made useless. Loki draws from the Void, and Loki can travel through the Void, but he cannot bring the powers of the Prime into the Void, because the Prime cannot survive it.”

“Wait so... what?” Cadence asked stupidly, trying to make sense of what the mare was saying. “I thought Loki was the Prime, though: how can he... separate from himself?”

Veliuona smiled cryptically at this, and then she countered: “How can someone who has died seven times have an eighth life?”

“Because I've got a lot to do.” Cadence said shortly, but to her surprise, Veliuona laughed at this answer, clapping her front hooves together slowly.

“Don't we all?” she said as her merriment died down, giving a wan smile to Cadence before she said softly: “Not all of us serving Loki willingly. And not all of us are capable of stepping between realities, even as Voidborn. Sometimes we must improvise, to ensure the safety of our most dangerous weapons.”

“Okay. I get it. I have to go through you to stop that portal.” Cadence said quietly, squaring her shoulders, and Veliuona smiled wryly.

“Now, bata-maji. You are strong, certainly, but you know that you are no match for me alone.” Veliuona said gently, before she cocked an eyebrow and rose her head slightly with a curious look.

“Except for the fact that, you know, she's not alone.” Thesis said mildly as he led the way up the path, smiling slightly as he stopped beside Cadence and gave a little wave to Veliuona before he remarked: “Also if she did that to those guys, I would rethink the whole 'getting in the way' thing.”

Veliuona waited for the others to join them: Moonflower, La Croix, Aster, and Sombra, all standing at the ready, all beside her, all willing to fight beside Cadence as she straightened slightly. Veliuona studied them intently for a few moments, before she said softly: “This is strength. This is why my people failed. Because when the crisis came, we did not rise to meet it as a whole. We were a thousand splintered tribes with ten thousand different beliefs. But just to have someone standing beside you, that gives us the strength to walk another mile. How many miles could the tribes have walked if we had put all that power together?”

“It ain't all your fault, Madame. It ain't at all. It be on us, who.. misguided y'all.” La Croix said quietly as he stepped forward, smiling awkwardly at her as he took his hat off and nervously played with the brim. “If it be any consolation, though, I... I think y'did better with your own than we did with any of y'all.”

“No. I wish that I had, but no.” Veliuona murmured, and then she smiled faintly and shook her head briefly as she reached up to wipe under an eye, saying softly: “Valthrudnir's gift did not come without a cost.”

“We were all manipulated by him, Regina Nox; but we cannot let the past bind or blind us.” Sombra said gently as he stepped forward, smiling faintly at the mare before he shook his head slowly, murmuring: “We are not so different, you and I. In my first life, as I think of it now, I gave in. I did what I could to save them, my family, those important to me, but... I became a monster to do so. I had to, I tell myself: and yet...”

Sombra paused, then he shook his head again and said softly: “But it was easier, wasn't it? To be il monstro and to give in and not worry and never fear. Now, always, I am afraid. I am worried. But I am also alive. I ask you not to fear, Regina Nox, and I ask you to be alive with us. Even if you must fight us, that does not mean you must be enemy, that you cannot be friend; even if you fight us, do so as our equal, not... merely servant, nor as what you were in the past.”

Veliuona studied him for a few moments, and then she smiled slightly before she said kindly: “Perhaps it was foolish of me to compare myself to La Croix. Not that we are not similar, but... yes. You and I are perhaps more similar than I allowed myself to see. But we are all blind, aren't we?”

Sombra smiled, before Thesis grimaced and looked up sharply as his visor flashed, saying sharply: “Hey, hate to ruin the friendship festivities, guys, but-”

“Yes. Of course. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't give you a fighting chance, anyway?” Veliuona asked pleasantly, before she spread her forelegs, and Cadence's eyes widened in shock as a wave of green force erupted across the earth, making the ivory mare flinch and her teammates stagger.

The air itself seemed to thrum and glow with eerie eldritch effervescence, crackling around the ponies as the world became dark and toxic, the earth beneath their hooves twisting and churning, walls of green flame trapping them inside an arena with the Goddess of Cursed Shades.

Veliuona smiled at them, and then she slowly dropped her front hooves together, murmuring a quiet prayer before her eyes glowed with power as she said calmly: “Do not fear. I will not send you to the Void. I will bind your spirits to your bones and keep you safe and hidden, in my embrace.”

“That sounds great for everyone. Except, you know, me.” Thesis said blandly, before he grimaced as half a dozen skeletons slowly rose up out of the ravaged earth in front of them, bubbling black tar and water spilling across the mucky, churned-up ground. “Velites? Really?”

Veliuona only calmly bowed her head as runes violently etched themselves over the bones, and eerie light flared to life in the sockets as the skeletons set themselves with snarls. “I have always been able to call upon help from those who worship me. Even now, even across space and time, my children come to me when called. Please be gentle with them: I will not fault what you must do to their bodies, but leave their spirits in peace.”

“Glad to hear it. We're gonna smash your kids now.” Thesis said mildly, and Veliuona huffed before she gave a sudden sharp order, and Thesis grimaced as the Velites rushed towards them, ordering sharply: “Disable!”

Cadence lunged forward, sweeping the foreleg out from the first Velite in line before she slammed a hoof up under the chin of the second, and she winced in surprise as she punched the skull literally off the skeleton, the rest of the bones collapsing as the magic whiffed out from the runes. The moment of surprise let another Velite tackle her backwards, and Cadence swore as she rolled with it before she flung it off, then looked up just in time to watch as a fourth Velite hurried back to the one she had beheaded with its skull, shoving its head quickly back into place.

The moment the skull was back on the skeleton's shoulders, it staggered back up to its hooves, Cadence scowling before she winced as one of the Velites simply exploded in a blast of crimson lightning. Veliuona gave a shout of disbelief and pain at this, and Thesis winced even as he leapt forwards to engage the other skeletons, snapping: “I said disable! Disable!”

Moonflower blasted another Velite into the air with a burst of gravity, and La Croix grimaced as he vanished from the spot as Sombra stayed back beside Aster, who was staring blindly back and forth, struggling to control her magic as red lightning surged and crackled through the air around her, the mare whimpering and gasping before she suddenly snapped her horn out with a cry, blasting apart another Velite.

Veliuona snarled, beginning to raise a hoof, before she reared back slightly in surprise as La Croix appeared in front of her, yanking a pouch out of his cloak and flinging it at her.

It exploded in a burst of black dust, but Veliuona swept this away with a sharp gesture before her eyes widened as the powder twisted in the air, violently swirling around her and blinding her in a fog of ash and chalk.

The Goddess of Cursed Shades grimaced in disgust as she reared back slightly, raising her forelegs uselessly before her eyes flashed, forcefully parting the cloud of smoke with raw psychic power. But before she could turn her attention on La Croix, she felt another bolt of empathetic pain, looking sharply up to see Cadence smash the skull of a Velite to shards before the ivory mare heedlessly plowed through another and charged towards her-

Veliuona flicked her wrist, and Cadence was blasted into the air before a barrage of wild shapes slammed into her, crushing her down into the ground and burying her under the stampede of spirits. They passed right through both her and the ground, but it felt like she was being stomped on by very real hooves as they did so, and worse, like pieces of her very spirit were being torn away.

She struggled helplessly, before she choked and coughed when a noxious smoke wafted over her: it stank and made it hard to breathe, but it drove the spirits away as La Croix grimaced before the Loa turned; he didn't even have a chance to react before a blast of green lightning hammered into him and hefted him into the air, however, leaving him floating helplessly as Veliuona said coldly in the language of Bantu-Dunia: “My revenge will be merciless.

You called them to fight, and they fought for you. You would do the same to us.” La Croix rasped out, before he gasped as he was flung savagely into the ground, Veliuona snarling in fury.

“I would save your souls! Your mage is burning their souls away! The bata-maji pierces the spirit!” Veliuona shouted, before she looked up and gestured sharply, the life whiffing out of the Velites still struggling against Thesis and Cadence, before the rune-covered bones all suddenly floated up into the air, whirling in a violent maelstrom before they slammed together, black ooze and stone gushing up to fuse into the bones as they reshaped themselves into a monstrous construct.

La Croix winced as a monstrous, three-headed hydra of bone and sludge stomped to the ground, snarling furiously before it lunged immediately at Cadence, but Thesis leapt in and slammed a hoof across its far head, distracting the construct.

As it half-turned, Cadence leapt up and slashed a dagger into the base of its throat, sending up a splatter of ooze and water and bone fragments, and the monster staggered with a snarl before it roared in fury, swiping a claw made from of a multitude of bony hooves at Cadence even as one of its heads fell to the earth.

The mare dodged backwards, then snapped her horn out, driving the hydra back with a flare of white flames before she leapt after it. But to her horror, a new head burst forth from the stump of neck, made of muck and filled with hellish green fire, lunging at her with jaws of rock and magic-

Black crystal ripped out of the ground in front of her, and the hydra's muck-head smashed uselessly off this as Sombra said sharply: “The shell sustains it, but spirits empower it!”

“Smash the bones, but it'll get more mad when we do, got it!” Thesis said sharply as he leapt forwards, before he swore in pain when the jaws of one of the hydra heads clamped into the scruff of his neck and flung him sharply upward, the stallion flailing his legs wildly in all directions before another head lunged towards him.

But Thesis suddenly spun himself downward, tomahawking the head violently and shattering the skull into fragments before he dropped, hooves crashing through the beast's neck column and shattering it away. He was almost immediately driven back when two more heads sprung forth from the wound, however, the stallion swearing in pain as black fire seared him before gemstone jaws bit viciously after him, harrying him violently.

La Croix, meanwhile, struggled in the grip of Veliuona as she held him off to the side with telekinesis, her other hoof glowing with malevolent emerald energy as she snapped it back and forth, countering every blast of red lightning from Aster with her own eldritch powers. Then her eyes flicked sharply to the side as she realized that Moonflower was trying to sneak around behind her, but with a stomp of one hoof, the earth beneath the unicorn ripped open and vomited up a spray of emerald flame and black water that knocked Moonflower crashing and rolling backwards with a yelp.

He blinked dazedly several times, then looked up before his eyes widened in horror as he watched the roiling spouts of water condense and twist on themselves, becoming tentacles that slashed viciously down towards him, the stallion squeaking as he leapt out of the way before he enshelled himself inside a bubble of black energy, the tentacles uselessly battering the outside of this as he winced and his horn flickered with the effort it took to keep up the shield under the barrage.

“No... no!” Aster shouted suddenly, stumbling as if she had just woken up from a dream before she winced as a barrier of crystal erupted in front of her just in time to block a blast of green lightning, the black gemstone shattering away before Aster snarled and snapped her horn down, unleashing a blaze of crimson fire in response that tore through Veliuona's magic before slamming across her body.

The Goddess of Cursed Shades stumbled backwards in surprise, her eyes widening slightly before she looked almost disdainfully down at her own naked bones, flexing a foreleg that was covered in strange, glinting runes slowly as blood bubbled over the bone and charred muscle flexed uselessly. Organs pulsated beneath her smoldering ribcage as she straightened slightly, before she looked up with a thin smile as Aster gathered her magic with a primal roar-

Veliuona shoved a hoof towards her, and Aster was blown off her moves, her unfocused, overpowered magic erupting from her horn into the air uselessly. And by the time Aster looked up again in shock, Veliuona's body and clothing had completely restored themselves.

But as Veliuna began to raise her hoof, a blast of power erupted from the ground beneath her, Veliuona swearing in frustration as she staggered backwards in surprise, the goofer dust eating at her flesh and glammer. She snarled as she blasted it away with a thrum of psyhcokinesis, but then she cried out in shock and surprise as La Croix tackled her, staggering backwards and pinwheeling her forelegs for balance before she hissed when his hornet needle buried into her throat.

She barely managed to shove him away before her eyes widened in shock, a moment before a massive black sphere of magic rammed into her. She winced, half-covering herself with her forelegs automatically, a moment before she realized she was now surrounded by some sort of force of essence that pressed in on her from all sides.

Veliuona had a moment to figure out where she was before the bubble of gravity jumped into the air, then slammed itself violently down into the ground, the Goddess of Cursed Shades shouting in her native tongue as Moonflower bounced her violently back and forth around the battleground, slamming the bubble into objects and the earth with as much force as he could muster as he shouted: “I don't know how long I can keep this up!”

“Keep it up! Papa Sérénité, need your help here!” La Croix said sharply as he threw down his satchel, digging hurriedly through it as Aster groggily picked herself up, watching as Sombra hurried to join the zebra.

She blinked a few times, rubbing at her aching head before she flinched away, falling over and scrambling helplessly at the mud as the hydra stormed by, roaring and furiously snapping at Cadence as the ivory mare harried it from above, swearing in frustration. They had torn off all the beast's heads, but it had sprouted no less than six more, all of these made of black fire and gemstone, bleeding dark water and green essence whenever they were struck, and reforming within moments if they were destroyed.

The hydra leapt at Cadence, biting and clawing after her: it wasn't very intelligent, at least. And every so often, Thesis would smash into it from below, distracting it or knocking it off balance: but he could never get too close to the monster. Its chest of mangled and fused bones had to contain its core or whatever was keeping the foul beast moving, but its claws of fused limbs and hooves kept stomping and stamping and slashing out, pushing at them constantly and keeping them always on the move.

Thesis grimaced as he ducked under a swish of its long, flayed tail, then he leapt at its back; almost instantly, however, a head snapped around to gnash savagely at him, Thesis wincing as he narrowly managed to roll his body out of the way and shove quickly off the head.

He swore as he landed on his hooves, stamping them wildly as they smoldered from contact with the hellfire body of the monster alone, before he looked sharply up as Cadence gave a short snarl as a head crashed against her, denting her armor and knocking her off-balance. Immediately, the hydra pounced, but Thesis leapt forwards and caught the end of its tail, yanking firmly down on it and stopping the beast in its tracks with a frustrated roar, heads snapping in all directions before it jerked its tail free and scrambled around to bite savagely at the stallion.

Thesis dodged gracefully backwards, but grimaced as he realized that whether the beast was intelligent or not, it was going to eventually herd him into a corner. It was much larger than he was, and the battlefield they were trapped in was small and unfriendly, charged with Veliuona's powers and doing everything it could to impede them while enhancing the monstrosity that the Goddess of Cursed Shades had summoned to destroy them.

Thesis ducked under a swipe of fused hooves before he winced when the monster suddenly batted out with its hoof-claw, slapping the stallion away like a toy. He barely manage to roll himself backwards in midair, skidding to a halt just in front of the curtain of green hellfire before he looked up with a wince as the monster charged at him, roaring-

Cadence slammed down into the center of the hydra's back, knocking it flat in the muck with a splatter, and the hydra howled in misery before it violently shoved her off, even as its bony back all-but-exploded in a storm of black flames. The monster staggered, bleeding toxic green essence into the air as its six heads lashed in every direction, and Thesis quickly bolted around it while he had the chance, rejoining Cadence as the mater dropped to the ground with a grimace, covered in magic burns. “You uh. Okay there?”

“I can't tell if we hurt it or we just made it even more mad. It must have some kind of magical core inside it, but I don't have any idea how we're going to yank it out of there.” Cadence grimaced, brushing quickly at herself before she asked: “Why isn't my magic affecting it?”

“I saw you use your magic to blow its heads up. It's affecting it. But whatever it's made out of is absorbing your magic before it can penetrate to the core.” Thesis said quickly, before he winced as the hydra spun around, roaring furiously at them, now little more than a raging maelstrom of dark fire and vaguely-serpentine heads that were all focused once more on them. “It responds to stimuli, we have to-”

“You're not Thorn so talk normal!” Cadence snapped as the hydra charged at them, and Thesis winced before he and Cadence quickly broke to either side, and the ivory mare was somehow unsurprised when the monster continued to pursue the stallion. The one goddamn time I need him to use his brain...

Thesis winced as he dodged back and forth under the stomping, fiery fused hoof-claws of the beast, swearing under his breath before he leapt to the side and tried to circle around the hydra. But with most of its body shattered, its necks slid unnaturally across its own body, letting it lash a head into the ground in front of the stallion and forcing him to wince and leap backwards, before he swore in shock as two more heads lunged down towards him a moment before his exoskeleton crackled with power.

He vanished from the spot and reappeared behind the hydra, springing off it with both hooves and launching himself away even as the roiling mass of necks and heads and fire twisted impossibly around on itself to lurch after him. But this time, it was met by Cadence, who pummeled it with a short volley of magic, making it hiss and turn its attention towards her.

Heads snapped at her, but Cadence dodged back and forth, weaving between the lashing necks and chomping jaws and grimacing in surprise as its necks passed without a ripple through its own flesh, letting it pursue her that much faster and more unpredictably. “Thesis! What the hell do we do?”

“Working on it!” Thesis shouted, hammering at his visor, but it only sizzled with static, the stallion unable to get any readings except that they were surrounded by toxic magic. He finally swore under his breath, then gritted his teeth before he focused his powers in spite of the thousand worries and fears that burst through his body as he did so, his exoskeleton crackling warningly as he snapped: “Hit it low in three!”

Cadence didn't question, only trusted, arching her back and twisting herself in a sharp, sudden C as Thesis slammed his hooves into the ground, and two enormous spikes of crystal ripped up out of the ground, slamming into the underside of the hydra and hefting it upward as it howled in pain and confusion, flailing for a moment before Cadence slammed into its revealed, bony underbelly.

The hydra screamed in agony as fused bone and stone shattered in a burst of dark, marshy water, Cadence grimacing away before her eyes widened slightly as they locked on a sickly, pulsating emerald heart in the chest of the hydra. And even as the hydra tore itself forwards, roaring as it dropped to try and crush her under its weight as its heads snapped viciously down, Cadence trusted in instinct and ferocity, lunging not away from it, but to the ground before she kicked off and slammed herself up into the gaping wound, a hoof punching savagely into the magical heart of the monster.

There was a tremendous explosion of black flame, Cadence gasping in pain as she flew like a comet through the air to crash painfully down on her face and skid to a halt in the mud. She twitched weakly, her whole body on fire with pain, burns twisting like living things across her pale skin before she forced herself to sit up as the remains of the hydra finally collapsed.

“Not bad.” Thesis grabbed the surprised mare, Cadence blinking before she realized that wasn't just the world around her: her head was ringing and the world was spinning and black lights were dancing in front of her eyes. “You functional?”

Cadence looked blankly for a moment at Thesis, and Thesis smiled awkwardly before correcting: “You-”

He was interrupted as Veliuona finally shattered the prison Moonflower had held her in, the Goddess of Cursed Shades glaring furiously at the black unicorn before she shoved a hoof out towards him.

Moonflower gasped in shock and pain as a blast of green energy erupted over him, before he grabbed wildly at himself as his body began to petrify. He shook his head vehemently as Veliuona smiled thinly, before she cursed in pain as a spike of black crystal jabbed into the back of her leg, just enough to draw blood.

She waved her hoof out to the side, blasting Sombra away, before her eyes widened in shock as Aster suddenly screamed at her and snapped her horn forward to send a hellish wave of crimson fire rushing over the Voidborn.

Veliuona hissed in pain, covering herself as flesh steamed and blood boiled, until the flames finally burned themselves out, and left behind nothing but a charred skeleton covered in pulsating runes. Flesh-webbing crawled over her bones as organs pulsed beneath the safety of her gnarled ribcage, and Veliuona gave a long, loud sigh as she straightened, voice echoing faintly as she said coldly: “I must admit I am disappointed. You are only attacking my magic, not me directly... shredding not my body, but only the glammer I conceal myself with. Disappointing. And the last thing you will do, child.”

Veliuona rose a hoof, before she frowned as she noted a strange, spreading grayness. She tilted her head curiously before her eyes looked up sharply at La Croix, who smiled wryly as he held up a charm made out of black crystal, saying quietly: “Sorry, Madame.”

Dunia magic. So you haven't forgotten it, Loa.” Veliuona said softly, as her eyes roved to Moonflower; Moonflower, who was gasping and wheezing as the pertrification gradually faded from his body, and instead spread over her own. “Well, La Croix, at least in the future I know to treat you and your friends with a bit more care...”

Veliuona grimaced as she rose her head slightly, Moonflower tumbling backwards with a wheeze before he watched in disbelief as the goddess completely petrified. The unicorn grabbed at himself dumbly, but La Croix only smiled wryly as he muttered: “Don't you step out of that circle yet, Moony.”

Moonflower looked down in surprise to see runes in black crystal surrounding him in a wide circle, and then he looked dumbly up at Sombra, but the stallion only smiled gently and bowed his head politely towards La Croix. La Croix, however, had turned his full attention back to Veliuona, saying quietly: “She don't need her body to survive, but we got enough threats to her spirit here that I don't think she'll want to stick around, neither.”

“No. But I am bound to the collar. You will have to destroy my body once it completely petrifies.” Veliuona's voice echoed softly, and La Croix nodded quickly as Cadence frowned in surprise. “I am not foolish. The noble Loa is offering me a way out. It may be strange... but even now I fear death. And perhaps, for a few moments while my spirit remains coherent, I can do some good.”

Cadence shifted uncertainly, but then she nodded once before La Croix said quietly: “There. Her body's gotta be destroyed anyway, or all that evil mojo will flood back into Moony. And much as I don't like the rein de la nuit, I like even less the idea of carryin' around a giant statue. His ego already be enough to carry.”

Moonflower smiled briefly, before there was a faint glimmer as the Voidborn wholly petrified, a shift-

Black spikes of corruption erupted through the statue, shattering it into pieces, and Cadence flinched in surprise before she wheeled towards first her father, then Thesis, staring in disbelief. Sombra, too, turned surprised eyes to the stallion, as Thesis stared blankly for a few moments at the statue before he murmured: “The threat has been neutralized. I... apologize. The...”

Thesis breathed slowly, and then he flexed his hooves slowly before he smiled awkwardly under the gazes of the others, even as the malign magic faded from the air around them with Veliuona's presence. “Sorry. The corruption makes me... do dumb things.”

Cadence opened her mouth to answer, but then the world went white, and the Swan screamed.

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