Hecate's Orphanage

by BlackRoseRaven

With Foes On Every Side

Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen: With Foes On Every Side
~BlackRoseRaven

In the past, Cadence would have protested being put on guard duty, especially knowing that they had invited other worlds to help with the defense of Endworld. Now, instead, she treated it like an honor, double-checking her equipment as she and her team finished setting up their checkpoint inside the secure facility that served as Hel's home.

La Croix was seated in a turret, resting back against the handles of the massive machinegun that had been mounted in the middle of the square lobby. His Mission Drive was linked up to the network, giving him access to their data and letting him run communications between their team and the rest of Endworld, although Cadence had her Rex Prox uplink as well.

Moonflower was adjusting his satchels for the thousandth time, shifting anxiously in his heavy armor, and her father was calmly reading, almost meditating in one corner of the room. Cadence herself stood in front of the massive vault door that served as the only way in or out of this secure facility: it was magnetically-locked and only the first in a line of many, many heavy security doors that could be easily opened from the other side, but required a dozen different codes and verifications to access from outside. Even Cadence couldn't come and go as she pleased.

Well, not by physical means. The Swan, however, was standing at the heart of the facility, watching as Hel hummed cheerfully to herself in her little kitchen in the pretend-apartment she had in the bunker a thousand feet below the earth as she rolled out cookies.

“End of the world, dear! End of the world, so of course I'm making cookies!” Hel cackled, then she smiled as she spun around, hugging the rolling pin against her apron. Her hands and arms were protected by long, thick cloth gloves, her hair balled up under a tight cap over her head, her eyes shielded by thick goggles that looked more like they were meant for welding than baking. “It's wonderful! For the first time in my life, I don't have to worry about the mess!”

Hel swung the rolling pin out, but stopped short of knocking over the flour container, only giving it an almost-hesitant tap, then giggling wildly at the tiny puff of flour it sent up, hugging the rolling pin against her stomach again with wide, childish eyes before she scowled horribly as the Swan asked: “Then why have you gone to such lengths to keep yourself clean, all the same?”

“Well... because! What if I'm wrong? Even worse, what if I'm right? Would you really want to leave a dirty corpse behind?” asked Hel pettishly, and then she grumbled as she tossed her rolling pin into the sink and grabbed a spatula to carefully begin transferring the cookies she had rolled out onto a baking tray.

Hel picked up the tray and limped quickly across the kitchen, yanking the door open to fling them into the oven before she grabbed a towel and used this to quickly yank out a tray on the lower shelf, almost carelessly tossing it on top of another empty tray on the stove. She gestured absently at the Swan, and the entity calmly strode across the room to fetch the spatula for the goddess as Hel continued: “You people all have such funny ideas about regret, like, how you're going to regret what you never did. Well, I'm sure as my name not, because I'll be super-gone, just like Thanatos! Or at least I hope so. I don't want to go to the Void, no sirree-bob! Hey, did you hear about Freya and Bob? I spy on them all the time. Cute kids.”

Hel took the spatula when the Swan got close, then she began to quickly and efficiently shovel cookies off into the cooling racks that lined the counter, which were already piled high with cookies. “Hey, I need more space! Get one of those plastic box thingies out of the cupboard and clear off that rack at the far end, then bring it over here. Cookies should be that nice, right temperature by now!”

The Swan obeyed, and Hel chuckled before she said fondly: “Never thought I'd be here. Never thought I'd bake again! Losing all my powers, my dominion, my domain, it's not all bad, you know. And well, technically, I guess I never lost anything. Just got out of prison. Sure, I can't command infinite power anymore, but hey. That gig was getting old, anyway. And I still totally got it, if I really want it. My body will probably just explode.”

Hel made an exploding noise and gesture with her arms, before she grimaced a bit as a few crumbs pattered to the floor, visibly fighting with herself before she shook her head firmly and murmured: “It's not important. If there's one thing that I've learned, it's that a little dirt isn't all that important. Everybody's got dirt. Everybody.”

All the same, Hel awkwardly brushed at the crumbs with one foot, trying to dust them away into a manageable pile before she glanced over at the Swan as the entity said quietly: “We will protect you with our life.”

“Sure you will, but you really shouldn't. And we all know why you're really here, Swan. Loki's going to go for me or for Hecate when he gets here, swingin' in like a wrecking ball. Won't be long now, oh no, not at all.” Hel chuckled a little, and then she said softly as her eyes slid towards the Swan: “Loki's sly, though. I bet he'll send some other nasty assassins first. I bet he's targeting dear little Cadence, too.”

The Swan tilted her head, but Hel only waved a hand absently, saying mildly: “But enough fearmongering. Take your other half some cookies. Bet she and her team really need 'em.”

The Swan studied Hel for a moment longer, then she simply nodded before turning, phasing through reality at the same time to appear beside Cadence. Cadence stared at the Swan, and the Swan looked back at her before she calmly held down the plastic bin of cookies, and Cadence sighed, then said dryly: “Cookies.”

The other members of her team looked up in surprise as Cadence took the box and held it out, and Moonflower scampered over and greedily grabbed two before he yelped when Cadence smacked him, saying flatly: “Hel made those. Who knows what the hell's in them.”

“But... cookies!” Moonflower whined as he levitated the cookies, before he asked almost defensively: “Does that mean I can't eat them?”

“I'm just saying Hel made them. Go ahead if you want, but don't blame me if you end up crapping your pants or turning green or something. She's immortal, powerful, and juvenile.” Cadence said dryly, and Moonflower looked uncertainly at the cookies for a moment before he craned his head forward and nervously nibbled at one.

He wrinkled up his muzzle for a moment, staring at the cookie, then he devoured it in three quick bites before he stuck out his tongue, complaining: “They're raisin, not chocolate chip!”

Cadence looked sourly at Moonflower as La Croix rolled his eyes and Sombra cocked an eyebrow, and Moonflower huffed before he reasoned, even as he very loudly ate the second cookie: “Well, I though they were chocolate chips! That's not very fair, is it?”

“Have you ever learned manners, ever?” Cadence asked grouchily as she leaned away from flying crumbs, and Moonflower smiled lamely, which only served to show off all the cookie in his teeth. “Goddammit, Moonflower. Swallow.”

“Bet that's somethin' he hears all the time.” La Croix remarked, and Moonflower gave the Loa a flat look. “Also, pédé, if that makes you malade, I ain't gonna fix you 'cause it be your own damn fault.”

“Oh, shush, you. They're quite good, actually.” Moonflower answered, before he awkwardly looked over at Cadence, and the mare rolled her eyes before she shrugged and simply gave him the container of cookies, the unicorn smiling at her embarrassedly before he half offered them to La Croix, who winced and leaned away.

Sombra, however, gently took one with telekinesis, and he took a bite out of one and chewed thoughtfully before he remarked: “Buono.”

Cadence smiled a little at her father, then she shook her head before she said finally: “La Croix, if you're hungry, you might as well take a food break for five. I think it's been...”

“Two hours and thirty four minutes, mi amore. But we're all alright for now, I think.” Sombra glanced back at La Croix, who smiled wryly and nodded as he settled back against the turret.

“Oui, we been on stakeouts a whole lot longer than this one. And to be honest, I... I don't wanna screw this up none. I guess that's why I might be a little testy, mes amies.” the Loa admitted, rubbing absently at his wooden leg before he asked hesitantly: “What... what do you think our real job is gonna be? Taking down Loki? Somethin' else fou?”

“Yeah. I think... one way or another, we're going to have to be ready to face Loki. I don't know what that means, but... I trust Hecate. And I trust us and that she trusts us.” Cadence said, fumbling her words a little but hoping she was getting the point across.

The others nodded, Moonflower continuing to stuff cookies into his face before he asked apprehensively: “But are we really ready for it? Loki's power was... it was beyond anything I've ever imagined.”

“Hey, you beat Melinda, didn't you?” Cadence replied pointedly, and Moonflower blushed a little and almost shyly hid behind the plastic box. “We can do anything we set our minds to. And don't forget, we stopped Loki from getting that shard of his soul.”

“We lost Thanatos.” La Croix murmured, and Moonflower glanced down at this as well, chewing slower on the last of the cookies as Sombra smiled faintly.

“I do not think 'lost' is such an appropriate word. He sacrificed himself, yes... but Loki is both between and beyond life and death, a state that Thanatos cannot affect with his powers, mighty as they are.” Sombra hesitated for a moment, and then he said softly: “And we were unprepared for that. I do not think even Thanatos was prepared for what Loki was capable of.

“But Thanatos was not surprised by his defeat, or his own demise. I do not wish to say that perhaps he intended to die, or lose the soul furnace... but while he delayed Loki, his Reapers did save the Hall of Heroes, and we were able to destroy the shard of his soul. Loki destroyed the soul furnace in retaliation, but... I wonder.” Sombra murmured, looking down meditatively, and Cadence frowned. “I do not wonder what Loki was truly after, what else he stole from World Without End, but what else Thanatos prevented, what further steps he may have taken.”

Cadence nodded slowly: he was right. Thanatos hadn't run away, had seemed to know Loki was coming... had been smart enough to give us that journal, and then feint Loki out with the other two books. “I don't know what else he could have done, but... let's hope it was enough. Hecate said twenty hours and it's been more than twenty two now...”

“I don't know if I'd give him that much credit, Cygne. But I guess it ain't bad to hope.” La Croix said wryly, before he watched as Moonflower shoved his face into the plastic container, snuffling around for crumbs. “There's somethin' wrong with you, y'know.”

“Well, pardon me for wanting to get the most out of life while I still... am alive.” Moonflower wilted a little as he looked down into the empty plastic box, and then he glanced up and said, blushing faintly: “If we die, I want you all to know that I've greatly enjoyed our time together, and I love-”

“Don't you say it, pédé, you gonna give me the mal au couer.” La Croix said dryly, and Moonflower scowled before the Loa looked down, then rose his head and added quietly, with a small smile: “We ain't gonna die, Moony. You too dumb and stubborn to die. And Cygne and Papa Sérénité be too strong. And me, well, I'm just gonna hide behind y'all. But, y'know... if the impossible does happen... it's been real bon temps. And you know me. Laissez les bon temps rouler! But... y'all taught me there be more than life to that, and the best times you have ain't by yourself, it's when you with your family.”

He smiled at them, and Cadence smiled back before Sombra said genuinely: “It's been an honor to know you all. And a joy to spend these days with you, daughter.”

Cadence laughed a little, looking down and rubbing the back of her head, before she looked up at her friends, her family, and said finally: “Thank you for... for making me who I am today. Moonflower, La Croix, Daddy... I uh... I know... without all of you, I wouldn't have become who I am now. And... I would never have been willing to take the risks I did. So... thanks.”

She smiled a little, hating that she could never be as eloquent as her father, as honest as Moonflower, as smooth as La Croix, but they all smiled at her bluntness all the same.

Cadence cleared her throat, then she straightened and added firmly: “Now come on, let's get ready. We still have a mission here, and-”

“Your mission has changed.” came a smooth voice, and Cadence looked up in surprise as Thespis and the RED Replicants entered the room. The antelope Replicant looked arrogantly down at Cadence for a few moments as she glowered back, and then he shifted ever so slightly, grudgingly lowering his head with the slightest hint of respect to her as he grumbled: “We've been assigned to guard the priority target. Empress Hecate wants you withdrawn to the Orphanage.”

“Let me check with Seneschal.” Cadence said, reaching up towards her visor, and then time froze as Thespis twitched.

Danzsöngr strode calmly in front of Cadence, studying Thespis as Cadence stared with disbelief, realizing that yes, that looked like Thespis, but really- “Yes. It is Auriculos. He has likely infected more than just this Replicant.”

Yes. Cadence could see him through the Astra, wearing Thespis like a suit: maybe he knew that the Replicant had access privileges that would let him infect other systems and command the rest of the RED, maybe he thought it was an excellent way to spy on them, or maybe he was stupid enough to think it would make Cadence hesitate, or give him an edge in battle. She could see what he was going to do, how the liquid metal body of Thespis was already transforming, forming blades instead of hooves, armoring itself for battle.

“There will be no battle.” Danzsöngr said, and Cadence agreed.

“Finem et elusus.” Cadence ordered as Thespis lunged at her, and the Replicant staggered to a dead halt in front of the fearless, unflinching mare.

For a few moments, Thespis shuddered violently as the other RED stared in shocked, before the color rapidly started to fade from his body, his form shaking violently as his mouth gaped open. He rasped helplessly for breath as streams of liquid metal spilled down his body, horns melting away, hooves dissolving into sludge as he gargled and rasped, and Cadence smiled thinly before she said coldly: “Thespis is kept coherent by nanomachines, Auriculos. Guess you overlooked that they can be remotely shut down by any Prox.”

“H-How... how did you... know?” Auriculos rasped, before he snarled through the melting face of the Replicant, growling: “You're t-too late, I've already s-s-scrambled Endworld's defenses and... Loki will... no, no, the voices are back, I can't hide in Thespis anymore and the voices have found me!”

Auriculos screamed as he grabbed at his head, rolling helplessly back and forth as he dissolved into sludge before he looked up, shrieking at the horrified Moonflower: “You did this to me! I'll... I'll kill you!”

But it was an empty, useless threat, as Auriculos dissolved wholly after a few moments, and Cadence grimaced as she stepped away from the puddle of silver sludge bubbling around a titanium frame that was all that was left of Auriculos. Not that the Replicant was dead... but he's not going to be giving any more orders any time soon. “Seneschal! Alert!”

Seneschal appeared on her visor, and then he nodded hurriedly, saying quickly: “Yes, scanning now... of course! Are the other RED infected?”

The other RED all saluted, even Karsilamas looking strikingly professional, but all of them looked frightened, too. And Cadence didn't really mind respect through fear with these Replicants, as she took her time eyeing them even as the Swan assured: “They are clean. They are not like Auriculos, more machine than living thing.”

“No. I don't think so.” Cadence said, and the RED all looked visibly relieved before the ivory mare said: “I need someone to come clean this mess up. Auriculos said he scrambled Endworld's defenses, you better make sure he hasn't uploaded himself-”

“I know my job, Cadence, I am already in the process of combing through the automated systems and tracing all of Auriculos' previously-visited locations.” Seneschal said grumpily. “I'm sending a security team to-”

Cadence winced as Seneschal suddenly cut out in a blare of static, everyone present flinching as their Mission Drives gave loud blares of static before 'CONNECTION LOST' blinked across Cadence's visor, the mare swearing under her breath before she shoved it up.

“What do we do?” asked Gesicht, and Cadence was struck by how the Replicant sounded suddenly afraid: then again, with their commander gone and the uplink to Seneschal down, she couldn't blame them, as much as she hated them.

“You're going to stay here and keep this area secure. I'm going to take my team and see if we can do anything to reestablish communications. Manes, is short-range communication working?” Cadence asked, and the zebra blinked but then quickly checked his Mission Drive, then he nodded hesitantly. “Good. Stick to common frequencies 100, 100.2, and 100.5. Hopefully at least some of the other Orphans and Dogmatists will be scanning the same.”

Manes nodded, looking more confident now before Cadence pointed at Faunus, saying firmly: “You're in charge.”

Faunus' eyes widened in dumb surprise as the huge enforcer looked blankly around at the other three Replicants, but Cadence only gestured at him to be quiet. “Manes will be running communication and information detail, he's got too much to handle already. Karie is useless and Gesicht is no leader.”

The hippogriff didn't look thrilled at this assumption, but he didn't argue either, and Karsilamas smiled and shrugged amiably before she said, surprising Cadence: “I trust you, Lizard. And if Cadence says you can lead us, then I believe her. She's Rex Prox for a reason, after all.”

Cadence smiled a bit at this unexpected show of support, before Karie added kindly: “Besides, we're stalling, aren't we? Go, Commander Cadence. We'll do what you ask, whether we like it or not. Call it my way of an apology.”

Cadence nodded quickly to the illilleap, then she gestured to her team, and they fell in behind her even as La Croix asked uncertainly:”You sure 'bout this, Cygne? Just leavin' that puddle o' goop there and abandonin' our post?”

“Isn't abandoned if there's someone there. And I don't think there's much love lost between the RED.” Cadence said dryly as they hurried down the hall of the facility. “Besides, none of them have security clearance for the first door, let alone all the traps on the way down to Hel. Believe me, even if Auriculos had made it through... he would've been in for a very nasty surprise.”

Cadence smiled wryly, half-regretting not letting the RED past: she doubted very much that Auriculos, even in Thespis' liquid metal body, would have made it past the disintegration fields. But as much as she loathed him, she didn't hate the rest of the RED nearly as much: not even Karsilamas, who had been the only member of the RED to pass on condolences over Thesis.

She thought of Thesis, briefly, and there was sadness, and pain, but also renewed, ferocious determination. Thesis had wanted this to be a better world, a better universe for all of them. She was going to carry on that dream, and she wasn't going to let Loki tarnish this world.

They exited the facility, and Cadence looked up before her eyes widened in shock at the sight of several transports and some other large, broken thing hurtling through the sky high above. One of them exploded in the air, sending flaming debris raining down over the neon city of Exoterra, but the others survived even as they crashed against the fiery, falling object and pushed it away from the city, just enough to send it towards the wasteland...

“A satellite. They sacrificed themselves to stop it.” Danzsöngr said, seeing everything in the Astra: seeing inside the ships, seeing the sole surviving Kirin pilot wreathed in flame and choking on smoke and yet leaning his dying body into the control sticks to force the transport to tilt up into the wreckage of the satellite-

There was an explosion in the distance, and Cadence shuddered before she looked up with a snarl as the ominous, awful shape of the living warship, the Ahriman, swam slowly through the air over their heads. A terrible voice sang through their minds as the ship rumbled overhead through the sky, chains clanking around it as it sailed slowly through the air above their heads, impervious to the cannon fire pelting it from the AA batteries around Exoterra-

There. breathed the Swan, and Cadence saw. Cadence saw what Loki had been after, Cadence saw what Thanatos had hidden away, Cadence saw how the Ahriman had crossed into Endworld, a feat impossible by normal means... but there was nowhere that a Valkyrie's steed couldn't go.

And there charged on a dozen ghostly Valkyrie horses, screaming silently as they cantered through the air, dragging the awful husk of the Ahriman behind them. Chains and bonds of iron and hideous Voidbeasts held them captive and kept them under control, forcing them to bow to Loki's will and drag his ship onward as Cadence stared in horror at the sight, until her father grasped her by the shoulder and said quietly but firmly: “We have to move.”

“Yes. Yes, we have to get in contact with Hecate.” Cadence answered, shaking her head quickly before she gestured for her team to follow: she knew she could just jump to Hecate's location, but... I don't want to leave them behind, and I can't use up all my energy taking them with me.

“I will find Hecate.” Danzsöngr said, and Cadence blinked dumbly at this solution before the Swan advised: “Find an interface.”

With that, the Swan vanished, and Cadence grunted moodily before she looked back and forth: her eyes locked on an office structure across the street, immediately starting towards this-

Portals ripped open in reality, and Husks in heavy, scale-like armor stormed into the streets, charging heedlessly for Cadence and her team. The ivory mare snarled as she flung a hoof-full of knives into the face of the first, sending him down in a burst of steaming energy as she shouted: “Hostiles!”

Sombra stomped down, creating a wall of black crystal that knocked the group of Husks tumbling backwards and bought them a few extra moments to prepare, before he looked up in surprise as some gaunt, hideous thing leapt up on top of the gemstone fence, screaming at them through rotten jaws before it lunged at them. But La Croix flung a burst of powder up into its face, and the living corpse collapsed to the ground even as he said disbelievingly: “Where the hell did Loki dig up these fou things? They be some kind of ghoul like I ain't never-”

Another one of the monsters rapidly skittered around the fence and lunged at them, and Cadence leapt past to slam a hoof through its face, knocking it crashing backwards in a broken heap as she said sharply: “We have to get across the street to that administration building! Moonflower-”

“I have an idea!” Moonflower blurted, then he snapped his horn sharply out, and Cadence stumbled in surprise as the road exploded on either side of them, twisting violently upwards into massive, rocky barriers as Sombra's crystal wall collapsed. It gave them a narrow corridor straight to the other side of the road, except the ghouls were already scrabbling up on top of it, and she could hear the Husks clomping their way around.

“Go, go, go!” Cadence gestured sharply at the others, and La Croix took off in the lead, with the others following. Cadence came last so she could blast ghouls off the top of the rocky walls and protect their rear as more of the monsters came around behind them, screaming in fury.

La Croix turned ethereal in front of the sealed doors, passing through them before he spun around and became physical as Moonflower uselessly plowed face-first into them. The Loa winced, then hurriedly grabbed at the locked doors, cursing his luck-

Cadence simply barreled through one of the massive glass windows on either side of the doorway, and La Croix flinched back in dumb surprise as a klaxon blared. Sombra came through a moment later, dragging Moonflower in behind him, and the two narrowly cleared the window before heavy shutters slammed down: not just over their window, but over all of them around the room as the building went into lockdown at the breach.

Still, Cadence knew it wouldn't hold forever: she could hear things smashing through glass and hammering against the shutters. Hopefully they wouldn't need that long, though, as she quickly made her way through the lobby, looking back and forth until she locked on to the terminal at the reception desk.

She paused only slightly as she felt the Swan connect with someone else: Danzsöngr had found Hecate. The Empress of Decretum was heading down from the Tower of Etemenanki, and she seemed completely unsurprised by the Swan's presence or its first words to her: “Cadence wishes to know what you would have her do.”

“Since I assume she's smart enough to figure out Loki's managed to destroy most of our communication satellites, I need her to activate the Ground Level Antennae in that sector, at the data hub. That should allow us to resume broadcasts throughout that section of Endworld.” Hecate said calmly. “Shortrange frequencies are working and Kirin are dropping mobile transmitters to piggyback signals.”

Hecate didn't so much as glance up even as the castle shook under fire from the Ahriman, the Jötnar mare smiling thinly before the Swan reported: “I do not sense any Primordials. But Loki has brought ghouls and abominations in their place.”

“There are other things present as well. I can feel their presence. They are... familiar to Valthrudnir's powers.” Hecate grimaced in disgust as the elevator doors opened, the Jötnar mare striding out into the hall beyond before she narrowed her eyes as she found two lifeless wooden puppets floating eerily in the air above a pile of broken drones and murdered Dogmatists.

One of them looked up, dressed all in wolf furs and with a crude, dog-shaped head marred with a crooked grin, a voice blurting out: “Valthrudnir! That's a funny form you've taken on!”

“No, no, not Valthrudnir. Just an animal, an animal.” rasped a voice from another puppet: this one was in a suit, with a fearsome skull crudely tacked on over its head. “The herd-beast he petted and potted.”

Hecate narrowed her eyes slightly at this as the other puppet cackled before it exclaimed: “Is that true? Are you not Valthrudnir, but his sow, his-”

Hecate flexed, and a pulse of power ripped down the hall: the puppets, to her surprise, barely flinched at the explosion of force that cracked the walls of the hall and knocked corpses and drone-bodies rolling and clanking away, the skull-puppet snarling: “Heedless! Just like Valthrudnir was! Little wonder he petted this one! Little wonder he seeded-”

Then the skull-puppet went rigid as Hecate's horn glowed, seizing it with telekinesis before she slammed it savagely into the wall, then bounced it repeatedly up and down between the floor and the ceiling, cracking and tearing the brittle wood of its frame apart. The other puppet squawked, either about to attack or flee, but before it could Hecate simply glared at it, hellfire exploding across its body and rapidly consuming it in a tremendous conflagration.

She slammed the skull-puppet down into the ground in front of her, then stomped forwards, crushing its head and bone-mask beneath one hoof, and there was a sound like a welcome exhale, a feeling of gratitude as some sort of energy ripped free from its body. A moment later, the second puppet collapsed into ash with that same exhale, although this energy was more primal. And while there was gratitude, there was nothing of true sentience, which told Hecate everything she needed to know.

“So this is what Loki brings against me. His final weapon.” Hecate smiled thinly, striding down the corridor before she slammed the doors to the lobby open as the Swan followed her, knowing and yet not daring to believe it until Hecate said coldly: “Warn Cadence and have her tell Seneschal so Thorn can relay the warning throughout Endworld. These puppets are infused with the energy of gods and giants. How much, I can't say.”

“Enough.” hissed a puppet, and Hecate glanced coolly towards the construct that mocked the appearance of another god as it jerked and hopped towards her, pulled along on invisible strings before it roared, and Hecate leaned back slightly in distaste as, of all things, massive trees ripped up through the floor of her facility in a deadly path towards her, roots lashing out and shredding tile as branches whipped through the air and punched through the stone ceiling like spikes.

Trees tore up around her, but Hecate only tilted her head back as her wings spread, shielding herself inside an invisible barrier that disintegrated the ironwood that tried to spread around and crush her. She waited patiently as the puppet danced towards her, hopping through the corridor of overgrowth as it rasped: “Nature always wins.”

“Progression and evolution is part of the natural order.” Hecate retorted, before she flicked her horn, and the trees exploded into flames, the puppet screaming in shock before it howled in misery as the very trees he had tried to crush Hecate between twisted and bent in on all sides, smothering the puppet beneath their burning bulk.

Hecate simply strode out from the conflagration, unfazed and unharmed before her eyes flicked distastefully towards the Swan, asking: “Why haven't you left?”

The Swan studied her for a few moments, and then she nodded once before she said quietly: “Do not lose yourself, Mother Hecate. We would not relish you as our enemy.”

With that, the Swan vanished, and Hecate gave a thin smile before she closed her eyes, forcing herself to breathe slowly as she felt all that power flowing through her, how seductive it was, how she could make the world beautiful again, how she could fix things and make them all right...

She took a breath, then she looked up to find that four puppets had surrounded her, the Jötnar mare glancing back and forth before she asked distastefully: “Where is Loki? I have a proposition for him.”

“There will be no negotiations, Valthrudnir. There will only be your death, so that you will become like us.” replied one of the puppets in a strange, sad tone, and then the puppet lashed a claw out, spikes of ice ripping out of the ground at Hecate's throat.

Reality warped, and the spikes of ice twisted themselves away from Hecate into two tendrils; these tentacles of frost transformed into massive serpents that launched themselves at the puppets on either side of her as Hecate smiled thinly, saying contemptibly: “Fine. I could use the exercise.”

Cadence could feel the force of Hecate's power even before Danzsöngr reappeared beside her, saying calmly: “Hecate is battling puppets. They are infused with the embers of Gods and Jötnar. Shards of Astra that Loki could not control.”

“Not precisely shards of soul, either. I get it.” Cadence muttered as she hammered away at the terminal on the desk, before she sighed in relief as Seneschal finally appeared on the narrow glass screen in front of her, the AI staring stupidly at her as Cadence felt all the other information Danzsöngr had gleaned from Hecate spilling into her brain. Wish we could make that smoother... “Seneschal, I'm going to bring the antennae in this sector online. There are monsters on the loose as well as Husks, and puppets that are infused with the energy of Gods. Loki is controlling them-”

“Cadence, where are you?” Thorn's voice cut in, and Seneschal scurried to the side as Thorn's image appeared on screen, the stallion likely finding her coordinates before she could even register the question. “I see. Understood. Data suggests that Loki is using monsters retrieved from worlds he previously visited. They're likely meant to serve as expendable shock troops to disrupt our forces while he concentrates his Voidborn on priority targets, such as-”

Thorn glanced up as there was a banging across the ceiling of the control room before a claw smashed down through it, a wild cackling filling the air. Thorn grimaced in distaste at this before he winced as Necrophage grabbed him by the shoulder, shaking him violently as she blurted: “Breach! Breach, we gotta go!”

“Thorn?” Moonflower exclaimed, leaning forward and almost shoving Cadence over. “Thorn!”

The image and voices both blurred and crackled with static, but Cadence could faintly make out laughing and screaming, and Moonflower's eyes widened with horror before he gritted his teeth and shoved himself back from the monitor, visibly gathering himself before he looked at Cadence and whispered: “I... sorry. I lost my head.”

“It's okay.” Cadence shook herself, then she grimaced as one of the shutters nearby screamed as the bottom of it bent upward, eager hooves clawing wildly into the lobby. “We have to get going.”

“Wait!” Seneschal blurted as he reappeared on screen, and Cadence looked towards the monitor before she gestured quickly for the others to head towards the stairs, and Moonflower shivered before he turned and hurriedly led the way, half-determined and half-terrified. “The Ahriman is moving into attack position and we've detected massive energy disruption: it has to be preparing to fire its disruptor!”

“Seneschal, there's nothing I can do-”

“Yes, there is! Loki thinks he dismantled all our defenses, but at least one Orbiter is still functional! If the Swan can go there-”

“Seneschal, the Swan can't teleport wildly into space!” Cadence blurted out, before she blinked when Danzsöngr grasped her shoulder and smiled at her, and the mare said disbelievingly: “No way.”

“The Swan can sense the energy emitted by the nuclear reactor powering the Orbiter. We've isolated one vulnerability in the Ahriman.” Seneschal said urgently, before he smiled at Cadence through the screen, the AI seeming to press his hands against the monitor as he said in a shaky voice: “You have to target the Ahriman manually from the Orbiter, then wait for it to fire before you launch a B-Series rail at it. It's the only way to guarantee this will work. Repeat it! B-series, after the Ahriman fires on Genesis!”

“That weapon will destroy-”

“It won't destroy Exoterra. And that is what matters. Now go!” Seneschal ordered, although it sounded more like a plea as static ripped across the screen, and he vanished from sight.

Cadence swore under her breath, then she looked back with a grimace as screaming ghouls began to force themselves under the shutter they had managed to bend upward, the ivory mare shoving herself away from the terminal and running for the stairs. She leapt up them and through the door to the second floor, slamming it behind her moments before ghouls flooded the room below.

Sombra sealed the door with crystal, and Moonflower swallowed thickly before Cadence said quietly: “I... I have to do something. Danzsöngr and I have to take another little trip. You guys need to head to the antennae and get it online. And... take cover. Keep away from the castle.”

“Be safe, mi amore.” Sombra said, and Cadence smiled at her father as La Croix and Moonflower both nodded, nervous, but trusting her. Believing in her.

It hurt.

Cadence turned her eyes skyward, and a moment later, she was simply gone from one place, and suddenly in another, in a place she had thought was impossible for even the Swan to go. She was inside a satellite a thousand miles above the planet, standing on a walkway, her mane floating weightlessly around her as she looked out a window at the dark planet of Decretum below.

She breathed slowly in and out, then glanced up in surprise as a Worker Drone calmly strode past, not so much as acknowledging her as it cleaned the walkway. She hesitated for a moment, then looked up as Danzsöngr murmured in her mind: We must find the controls for the weapon.

Cadence bit her lip, looking for a moment out into the vastness beyond the window, and then she nodded quickly before she flapped her wings, pushing herself through the air. The Orbiter wasn't very large or very complicated, however: it was essentially a tube with small jets and wide solar panels that stretched out like wings, shaped to catch the light of the distant sun, and of course, the massive, nuclear-powered rail cannon, and the separated compartment that contained the irradiated rails it fired.

At the bottom of the tube, Cadence found a cockpit-like room with a set of complex controls, but she only grimaced as she plugged in her Mission Drive, then called up a holographic screen that served as an aiming module as she muttered: “Okay. It's just about the same as the artillery, just a whole lot more buttons... let's see, I need a B-series rail...”

She flicked her visor down, which automatically synchronized with the holographic screen, giving her information about everything in front of her until she managed to find the right switch. She flicked this, then tapped in a quick console command on the control board, grimacing a bit as she heard the railgun beginning to charge as the rail was loaded into it, but why this rail, and why did Seneschal want her to wait?

Her team trusted her to save them, to protect Endworld. How many people were going to die when Loki targeted the castle?

What would the explosion from the rail do to Exoterra?

She gritted her teeth, forcing those thoughts away as the Swan reassured her mentally: Look through the Astra. See what will happen, what must happen, what has happened. Know that they believe in you, that they believe this is best.

Cadence breathed slowly, then she opened her eyes to the Astra, and she saw. She saw devastation, and death. She saw a thousand Orphans and Dogmatists fighting against ten thousand more enemies, enemies that poured in on them from all sides, enemies from every world. She saw Loki, laughing on the prow of the Ahriman, grinning a wild grin and his eyes mad with the power, the possession, the misery of the Prime as they swam through the skies towards the castle. She saw Hecate, surrounded on all sides, and Thorn, and sparks as his metal hoof screamed as slid down a broken elevator rail with living destruction chasing behind him.

She saw a roaring, raging Valkyrie riding her mount, which howled with equal if not greater fury, and reckless, so reckless. She saw Hel, laughing as she spun through the kitchen, and the kitchen was on fire, and the world was on fire...

And yet she saw hope in spite of the flames. She saw giants fall beneath the hammer of a hero. She saw a Queen leading an army of warriors against a horde of monsters. She saw death defied, and Death defying.

She saw herself, in a future that must be, dying.

She saw herself, in a future that must be, dying in the ruins of a burning castle.

She saw herself, in a future that must be, failing.

She saw herself laying bloody on the earth, and yet smiling.

She was smiling because she was watching as Loki was overcome by the friends she had saved. She was smiling, because it wasn't gods and their monsters that would bring down Loki and his monstrosity: it was her friends, her family, who would put a stop to him, once and for all.

That was the future she saw.

That was the future she wanted to believe in.

Cadence stared at the projected screen in front of her, and then she bit her lip before she grimaced as warnings flashed across it. She quickly tapped on the buttons that controlled the aiming module, zooming in as much as possible, until she was watching as the Ahriman slowly closed in on Genesis.

She swore under her breath as she quickly grasped the aiming handles, hearing machinery rumble and feeling the Orbiter shake as she drew the cannon's aim toward the Ahriman. She watched, wanting to squeeze the trigger, hating every moment that passed that she spent unable to do anything as the Ahriman charged its weapon...

She almost heard it, and she saw the flash across the planet as the Ahriman fired. It whited out everything on screen, Cadence cursing and flinching before she swore as she squeezed the triggers of the cannon as hard as she could even while still blind.

And there was a second tremendous flash that shook the entire Orbiter, the systems across the satellite going offline for a moment and leaving her in total darkness. And yet below, the Swan watched as the Ahriman listed suddenly, violently to the side, Loki thrown off the head of the ship with a curse to plummet towards the rubble below as the Terror squalled in pain and surprise.

The whole ship shook violently, the living voidflesh unaffected by the blast, but the ship's mechanical systems overloading, either shutting down or exploding throughout its body. The overheated, overloaded Godhammer that Loki had used to reduce Genesis to a crumbled ruin sparked violently, then exploded inside the voidbeast, and the monster vomited nuclear fire before it screamed as one of the magnetic arrays that helped it fly gave out, the beast listing to the side before the hideous Ahriman plummeted to the earth as explosions tore through its ugly shell.

Across Exoterra, systems flickered wildly from the massive electromagnetic shock that the rail had released upon crashing into the living ship, scrambling both Drone systems and security protocols. But the Dogmatists fought on, not forgetting their orders, not turning on their masters and their makers: if anything, fighting all the harder to protect them even as automated systems failed, and Seneschal clutched at what little safety he could as his systems were heavily damaged and erased.

“It doesn't matter.” Loki growled, as he picked himself slowly up from the ground, tossing a disgusted look back at the Ahriman before he grinned as he looked back at the damage that had been done: Genesis was still crumbling on itself, its now-frail towers shuddering as they gave away one after the other, collapsing into a broken crater in the earth. The Tower of Etemananki was nothing more than a crumbled ruin beyond the castle, Loki straightened and gesturing out at the pile of stone and shale and ashes and shattered reality as he shouted: “Do you see what I have done? Do you see what I can do, with just a few of your own toys, Hecate? I know you're there! I know you tried to stop it, and you failed! You're no Jötnar! You're no Valthrudnir!”

“You're right.” Hecate said quietly, as she slowly pushed her way out of the rubble, gritting her teeth as she dragged a mangled hind leg behind her, ichor leaking from one of the vents in her side as she rose her head proudly as her mane swirled around her. And Loki stumbled backward in spite of himself as the mare tore herself loose from the destroyed castle. “Valthrudnir would have wasted his energy saving a worthless hunk of stone that can always be rebuilt, instead of all the lives inside that can never be replaced.”

Loki frowned, before his eyes widened slightly as countless bubbles rose up from the ruins, the trickster snarling in disgust as he realized that there were ponies, Orphans, dozens of people inside each sphere. And all of them were being floated away and to safety as Hecate smiled at him thinly, her mane blazing with energy and her eyes glowing. “And Valthrudnir was never as cruel as I am.”

“You don't scare me anymore.” Loki growled, clenching his hands into fists as Astra boiled over his body, wrapping him in multicolored essence as he grew larger, transforming into the Prime. “All the energy of Thanatos' furnace has become mine! All those years spent gathering the Primordials, all that time spent planning to bring them all to one place, where all at once they could be sacrificed, outer shells burned away, inner spirits dissolved back into the raw energy they once were... the energy of the Prime!”

Hecate halted, tilting her head before she snorted in disgust, saying coldly: “So that's really all they were to you. Cannon fodder. Tools, to be used and sacrificed.”

The Prime laughed, voice echoing, body expanding as the unfathomable thing straightened and gestured outward contemptibly, replying: “In the beginning, All was One and One was All. Each and every Primordial was nothing more than a fragment of the true being, the One, the Prime. And it was time to bring them all... home.”

The Prime stepped forward and shoved a hand forward, a massive blast of force shooting through the air, but Hecate slapped this aside like it was nothing. Loki flinched the slightest amount at this, and Hecate snorted before she rose a hoof above her head, saying disgustedly: “You are a fool, Loki.”

“Not as stupid as you.” the Prime retorted with a grin, and Hecate had a moment to frown before she snarled in shock as puppets shattered through reality around her, tackling her from all sides. She struggled against them, then arched her back, snarling in agony as her body burst into blue flames, feeling the puppets attempting to devour the energy of her spirit. “I knew you would call all my enemies into one place. This is it, right? The final battle! And childe, childe, born to dream and to defy...”

The Prime rose his arms, then flinched in surprise when Hecate flung a puppet into him, staggering backwards as the wooden toy shattered uselessly before colors rippled rapidly across the Prime's body as Hecate snarled: “You will never earn your father's hatred, let alone his love, and he is dead, Loki. He is dead.”

The Prime trembled, then he roared in fury before he thrust a hand out, slamming Hecate backwards and sending puppets flying in all directions to explode like fireworks. Hecate crashed down into the rubble with enough force to make the stone shift and collapse, but that wasn't enough for the Prime as he flung several balls of force into the wreckage after Hecate, ruins exploding upwards and then crashing back down on top of the Jötnar mare like meteorites as he shouted: “You know nothing about me! You know nothing about what I've been through, or what I've done, or all the things I will do!”

He snarled at the ruins of the castle, then he looked up with a frown before his eyes widened a moment before a hoof slammed into his face, crushing the Prime down into the ground before the sapphire shape leapt off him, only for two massive fists of ice and fire to begin violently pummeling him down into the earth.

“Stupid stupid stupid idiot, how dare thee, how dare thee lay thy wretched claws upon my sisters' steeds!” roared Brynhild, before she snarled when the Prime managed to catch her Jötunnfang: she forced slowly down with them all the same, then snapped her horn out, her spear appearing in a burst of blue flame to slash viciously back and forth through the magic that Loki sent at her, deflecting each and every attempted counterattack.

“So you're serious, huh?” The Prime laughed sharply before he suddenly phased down through the earth, vanishing into the ground. Luna's Jötunnfang uselessly punched into the ground where he had been a moment ago, before she looked up with a snarl through the raging fire of her mane as Loki phased out of the earth some twenty feet away, arms spread almost mockingly. “Well, I always wanted to fight a Valkyrie at her best!”

“Then here is thy chance to have that regret and more.” Luna growled, as Morgan and Scrivener landed on either side of her.

The Prime laughed loudly, cruelly, as Loki set himself, his body thrumming with a strange, destructive eagerness as he snarled: “Oh, yes, I can sense how excited you are, Brynhild! And arrogant, too! Do you really think sucking your husband dry will give you enough of an advantage over me to win? Or have you failed to recognize, just like Hecate did, that this is all a part of my plan?”

“Fools plan, Loki. And a fool, I see, is all thou shall ever be.” Luna replied coldly, refusing the provocation, and Loki snorted in derision even as he visibly fumed.

And then there were no more words, as the Prime charged forward to meet the Night Maiden and her partners on the burning battlefield that Endworld had become.

Sombra slammed the door shut behind Moonflower and La Croix, then rapidly traced over it with a hoof, sealing it with crystal. Moonflower wheezed loudly as he dropped back against the wall of the office, while La Croix had already plugged in his Mission Drive and was hammering away at a terminal, muttering: “Fou. Damn idjits nearly took out the whole damn city... we just lucky that-”

“La Croix!” Seneschal gasped from the screen, and La Croix flinched as the static-riddled AI appeared on the monitor, leaning against the side of the screen as he rasped: “What are you... I see, the antennae. We... we still might be able to reestablish basic communication but the antenna's systems were heavily damaged, it... has to be done manually...”

“You okay, M'su? You ain't lookin' so hot.” La Croix said uneasily, and Seneschal laughed shortly.

“My... my systems are far below operational value, I've been fragmented, but... even if I've lost system control, I can handle this!” Seneschal said firmly, before he grimaced visibly as something crashed into the sealed door. “I can't access local security. But... but ha, I can... override emergency access and give you a quicker route to the hangar. Yes, you should be able to access the control panel for the antennae from there, you just need to bring me to the main operations terminal.”

“I... yeah, I'll do my best, mon ami. You just rest up, or whatever it is you computer folk do.” La Croix said uneasily, and Seneschal smiled wryly before he vanished from sight as La Croix unplugged his Mission Drive, then he grimaced a bit as something smashed into the door again.

“What do we do?” Moonflower blurted out, and La Croix looked back at the sealed door before he took a quick glimpse around the office, and then his eyes locked on the small window in the wall labeled 'EMERGENCY ONLY.'

He hopped over to this and shoved on it, and it clicked easily open, La Croix scowling as he let his eyes draw down the narrow ladder mounted beneath it that led down into the massive mostly-empty hangar. “Well, might be fou, but we gonna do what he said. Look, I think that be the control terminal just down there. We make a break for it, we should be able to get to it.”

Sombra nodded as Moonflower grimaced a bit, looking back over his shoulder as a bit of crystal hailed down from the office door when something pounded into it, muttering: “Well, what do we have to lose anymore?”

“My thoughts exactly. I'll jump ahead. Y'all follow.” La Croix said quickly, and then he turned ethereal, leaping through the wall and gliding down through the air to the hangar floor below.

It was eerily empty, but he supposed that made sense: he could see plenty of fresh tracks and some debris where the machines had pulled out and run over some supplies, but the armored shutters had been sealed shut again after they had left. At least it didn't seem like there were any hostiles, either... although He Above knows that could change...

La Croix grimaced before his eyes locked on what looked like a satellite dish in one corner of the room. He headed over to this, turning physical as he drew close to the terminal that sat beside the large elevator it sat on, and he plugged his Mission Drive in before he grimaced as Seneschal appeared in a blur of static.

The AI fizzled and crackled, then wheezed: “This will do. Yes, I can activate this antenna. It will take a bit of time, though, and you'll have to stay here, I... need to borrow your Mission Drive's processing power.”

“Great. 'Course it ain't easy. You do what you gotta do.” La Croix grunted, before he looked up as Moonflower and Sombra came quickly towards him. “Hey, we gonna have to stay here while Seneschal does his thing. Or I guess I do.”

Sombra nodded, then he turned around and shoved his hooves down against the ground, spikes of crystal tearing up out of the earth and slowly forming into a latticework barrier as Moonflower charged his horn with magic as the antenna began to loudly rise, the unicorn grinning a little as he said: “Well, you don't have to look so stressed, La Croix! Of course we'll stay back and protect you. I wouldn't want to lose such a good sidekick, after all!”

“You real thoughtful Moony. Real thoughtful.” La Croix said wryly, before he grimaced and looked up through the crisscrossing crystal bars to watch as a shutter trembled as something crashed against it: something large, it sounded like.

The shutter trembled again as a vent cover popped off, and ghouls leapt in, screaming and charging at them: La Croix grimaced as he Kirin among their number. That was why Loki had brought those monsters with him, the Loa thought as he grabbed a powder horn. Because while they ain't all that tough, they can make the dead mighty hungry...

The ghouls crashed against the barrier Sombra had created, trying to bite and claw through the holes, and Sombra grimaced as he threw out the powder in an arc, driving many of them back with hisses. Sombra, meanwhile, calmly knocked down the ghouls that attempted to leap over the fence with telekinesis, while Moonflower forced away others with short bursts of magic, asking disgustedly: “Why, why is it always walking corpses?”

“Easy to get more of 'em, easy to put 'em back together, easy to move 'em around!” La Croix answered, before he winced as one of the ghouls threw itself so fiercely at the crystal barrier it nearly cubed itself, collapsing in dead strips halfway through the fence. “Ain't too smart, though.”

Sombra started to speak, and then the shutter was smashed down before a monster staggered over the broken metal, looking up with blazing, hellfire eyes as a mane of glowing tentacles snapped around its features, flail-tail crashing against the ground as it roared: “Moonflower!”

Moonflower's eyes widened in horror as Stronghold came lurching towards them, her eyes blazing with hate and fury and madness, her bloodsoaked armor clinging tight to her body as she bared her teeth in a furious snarl. She stormed forward, vomiting out short blasts of holy fire that drove the ghouls away with squeals and shrieks, careless of the monsters she incinerated: anything that got in her way, she smashed or flung aside.

She roared, eyes blazing, a twisted grin spreading over her face as she locked onto the ponies caught in the cage of corruption, and her horn glowed violently as she leaned forward-

“A little too loud for my liking. It's a battlefield, not a concert hall or a flyting.” came a wry voice, and Stronghold snarled over her shoulder, rasping out a hot breath of flame as golden-armored Freya strode calmly into the hangar, a Draconequus striding easily along at her side.

The one-eyed mare smiled, then glanced past Stronghold, calling clearly: “I should say sorry that we're late, but I'm not at all. I'm disappointed! Where's Danzsöngr, she should have been done with Loki and his-”

“Don't ignore me, wench!” Stronghold roared as she spun around, slashing her horn out to send a massive blade of golden energy at Freya, but in a flare of energy, massive Tyrfing appeared and slashed savagely down through the magic, dispelling it into harmless motes.

Stronghold's eyes widened in surprise, and Freya smiled before she said softly: “You aren't the first dragon I've slain, and I doubt you'll be the last, either. Do you really want to pick a fight with a woman who fights back, little screamer? Wouldn't you prefer to run along and play another day when there isn't a mother around to spank you?”

Stronghold roared in fury, then she spun towards Freya and charged recklessly at the Valkyrie: she was so fast and powerful that any normal pony would have been caught by the savage stampede. But Freya, however, was no normal mare.

Freya caught Stronghold's lunge against Tyrfing before hooked Gæfa appeared in a flash, snapping around one of Stronghold's horns and jerking her roughly off to the side, the Draekin hissing in surprise before her eyes bulged and head snapped to the side when massive Dómr smashed across her face, and then sawtoothed Drengr sliced across her foreleg, knocking her flat on her face. Her massive mace-tail snapped up over her shoulders and slammed down towards Freya, but Discombobulation caught this with a grimace in a gauntlet-hand of metal, shoving it roughly backwards before Freya blasted Stronghold backwards with a laugh.

“That's very kind of you, Bob, but I don't need any help to deal with this little lass.” she said easily as Stronghold rolled back to her claws, flushed with humiliation, her body steaming with rage and energy.

Stronghold roared wordlessly as she charged headlong at Freya, but Freya only waited patiently for the Draekin to draw close before she suddenly slammed Dómr out: Stronghold ducked with a grin, but then screamed in fury when Tyrfing stabbed viciously down through her breast instead, the blade ripping through her body to pin her to the floor before Freya caught her wrist with her hooked sword when Stronghold tried to claw out at her.

The Draekin's eyes widened a moment before Freya slashed cruelly down with Drengr, cutting halfway through Stronghold's foreleg before she sawed viciously through the rest of her limb, and Stronghold roared in pain before her eyes flashed as she unleashed a massive shockwave of force and golden flame. Freya cursed as she was knocked crashing backwards, weapons flying in all directions before she rolled and caught herself, then she swiftly lunged backward when Stronghold followed after her, frighteningly fast.

All the same, Stronghold's already-regenerated claws tore across her face, leaving shallow cuts and shredding her eyepatch to reveal the crystalline orb beneath. Freya was forced to backpedal further as Stronghold pursued her, before she flinched when the Drakein breathed a gout of golden flame over her before she plunged her claws into the inferno, grasping blindly at the Valkyrie-

Both her wrists were seized before Stronghold was slammed roughly down on her face, but the Draekin rolled herself sideways as she grabbed back at Freya, twisting her roughly by the legs to slam her painfully down on her back. And in a moment, Stronghold rolled backwards on top of her, straddling the Valkyrie as she slashed savagely back and forth across Freya's features, flaying her face open before a wild swing shredded one of her ears and sent her key-earring flying-

Freya blasted Stronghold off with such force that it shook the ceiling above, the Draekin flying limply into the air before the Valkyrie launched off the ground like a golden meteor, smashing bodily into the Draekin to knock her flipping out of control before the Valkyrie viciously slammed both hooves down into her gut, spiking her out of the sky to send her crashing face-first into the stone floor of the hangar with enough force to leave a crater in the cement.

The Valkyrie dropped to the ground, eye cold, face covered in bloody cuts before she glanced up as Discombobulation calmly offered her both her key-earring and a hanky, saying gently: “Be careful, dear. Every dog has their day, you know, and that goes for the Cruella de Vils of the world, too, because my is she ever a bitch.”

Discombobulation paused, then he smiled as he flicked the key lightly into the air, dabbing some of the blood tenderly from Freya's face with the cloth before he tossed it away, the bloodstained cloth transforming into both a dove and a cardinal that fluttered quickly away into the air as Freya said softly, her eye softening as she met the Draconequus' gaze: “I know. I should be better than this. I'm glad you push me to be a little better.”

“Only a little.” Discombobulation said pleasantly, as he caught the earring, then carefully pinned the key to Freya's ear, and the mare smiled at him before Stronghold gave a bitter laugh as she pushed herself slowly up to her feet, body pulsing with energy as she glared at them with hate.

“Weak. Pathetic. Disappointing.” Stronghold growled, before she asked coldly: “Where do you think you're going?”

La Croix and Moonflower both froze in their tracks, while Sombra only looked calmly up as he said quietly: “Our business here is done. We do not wish to interfere-”

“Your very existence interferes with me. Especially yours, Moonflower.” rasped Stronghold, as she spun around to glare furiously at the stallion. Then the Draekin snorted as Tyrfing slammed into the ground behind her, glancing back over her shoulder with contempt as she growled: “Don't worry. You'll get yours, too.”

“I get mine whenever I please, girl. And it's disappointing to see such a strong woman acting so pitiful and weak.” the Valkyrie said contemptibly, and Stronghold looked slowly back at her before Freya continued mockingly: “Oh, I find the boy handsome too, but he likes to lay with men and I accept that, strange as I might find it that he doesn't want to at least try the pleasures of this woman's body. Even I would give this mare a try if I had my old shape.”

Stronghold laughed shortly, turning towards Freya and opening her mouth before she snarled when she heard movement, spinning around as her horn glowed violently. “Don't run-”

Moonflower stood in front of her, swallowing thickly, staring into her eyes as Stronghold stumbled a little in surprise, the glow dying from around her horn. They looked at each other, Moonflower biting his lip and Stronghold snarling in fury, before Moonflower whispered: “I'm sorry.”

Stronghold laughed shortly, opened her mouth, and then her eyes narrowed as she felt something. Something touched her, brushed against her as Moonflower clenched his eyes shut, struggling to hold back his tears, and the Draekin frowned before she snarled, then almost shouted: “No! No, not like this! You can't!”

“I'm sorry.” Moonflower repeated as Freya frowned and Discombobulation leaned back in shock, and Stronghold snarled and shook her head violently even as she staggered and struggled to hold herself upright, her eyes blazing with fury as Moonflower whispered: “I'm too much of a coward to fight you, Stronghold. And I don't... want to give you another reason to come back.”

Stronghold gurgled, her body quaking with fury before her eyes rolled up in her head as her legs buckled beneath her, collapsing in a heap on the ground. She rasped weakly for breath, and Moonflower grimaced as his head swam before he looked up at Freya, almost pleading: “Please don't kill her. Not like this. The hex won't keep her down for very long, but please don't-”

“I don't kill in cold blood, boy, and I don't like when my toys are played with without permission.” growled Freya, and Moonflower winced before the Valkyrie shifted slightly, then said grudgingly: “But aye. She wouldn't let you leave otherwise. Run out of here while you still have the chance, she's already waking up.”

“K-Kill... you. Don't... leave me...” Stronghold struggled to reach up a claw, fighting against the hex, and yet... not, Moonflower knew. Because he could feel – and how it hurt! – how much Stronghold just wanted to sleep. How truly, how hopelessly, she wanted to surrender: how much she prayed for death, but she needed a reason to die. She was addicted to the fight, to having that moment, that single moment of meaning that came with the violence, but she was terrified of it, too.

He had never realized how deeply the hex connected you to someone. How you didn't just offer it: you saw them, at their most bare, their most vulnerable.

“Moony.” La Croix said quietly, and Moonflower blinked before he gave an uncertain smile, then he nodded and turned, stumbling away after the Loa, rejoining Sombra to head towards the broken shutter, doing everything he could to ignore the howl of rage from Stronghold that could no longer cover up how wounded, how hurt she was.

All he could do was move forward, and focus on staying alive, and swear to himself that he wouldn't let war break him the way that it had Stronghold Halfdragon.