And there she was.

He walked up to her, staring down at the cracked jewel rested between her breasts. She was in the same place she had always been for centuries. It looked as if she was simply asleep on the stone table she was laid on. But Erebus knew that wasn’t the truth.

“Stop playing games,” he said aloud. Erebus lifted his eyepatch and stared into the farthest right corner at the mass of mana that was there. “Who are you trying to fool?”

It was Fate’s soul. Well, her real one. The gem on her chest had been keeping the dangerous side of Fate sealed away, and it had broken.

The soul quivered and flew around the room before absorbing into Fate’s body. Her body shook before it stilled and her amethyst eyes flashed open. She slowly pulled herself up until her knees met with her chest.

She smiled broadly, the skin of her face stretching tight. “Erebus,” she cooed in a faux-innocent voice. “Where have you been? I’ve been so lonely...”

He repeated his previous question, “Who are you trying to fool?”

Fate’s eyes shimmered with humor. “Hmm, I wonder?” Fate rested her head on her knees and wrapped her arms around herself. “You’ve changed. And I’m not talking about your hair.”

“And you haven’t changed.”

Fate’s face contorted for a moment, morphing into something monstrous before smoothing itself back out. “And whose fault is that?”

Erebus shrugged lightly. No one knew how the stone on her chest had broken. It was still something completely shrouded in mystery despite the investigations that they had carried out. But it was hard because Fate was less than cooperative to help them “fix” her. “That’s what I want to know.”

“I’ve been asleep for so long,” Fate whined, closing her eyes. “But it won’t be too long until I’m out of here.”

He laughed. “We both know that you can’t leave here. You aren’t strong enough.”

“Eh? You haven’t noticed it... have you? That my mana has spread farther than it ever has.” Her smile broadened if that was even possible. “Does that worry you?”

“No.”

She pouted her lips and opened her eyes once more, a familiar sharpness in them. “It should. It won’t be long, it won’t be long, it won’t be long,” she started to sing, repeating the words over and over again while bobbing her head left and right. “Or will it!” Fate threw back her head and laughed loudly. She froze then turn looked at Erebus. “You’re in my dreams. Did you know that? For years, I’ve been dreaming about you.” Fate reached out to touch him and Erebus drew himself away, clearly disgusted. “Oh, my beautiful, beautiful Erebus.”

“I’m not yours, wretch.”

Fate blinked slowly. “Well, I suppose that’s true.”

Erebus glared at her. “It’s time for you to go back to sleep.”

“Wait!” she cried out loudly. “Erebus, won’t you just join me? It’ll all be so much easier if you joined me... We’ll be able to have so much fun together, won’t we? Just like the old times.” Fate’s eyes were wide and unblinking, crazed. “Erebus, I love you.”

“I don’t,” he turned her down easily. “And unlike you, my allegiance still is bound to this world. If I wasn’t outvoted, I would have killed you by now but the Dragon Council is full of saps,” he spat. Erebus wrapped his hands tightly around her throat, choking her. And Fate didn’t stop him. “They’re weak to you, Fate. But I’m not.”

He began to activate his magic, the light started to drain from Fate’s eyes and her eyelids began to close. Erebus’ magic had the ability to siphon away her mana and he absorbed into his own, it was a unique property to his Lost magic.

The others were incapable of doing so, which was why Erebus was tasked with taking care of Fate despite how troublesome it was for him.

She finally went limp, her body falling back down and her chest rising and falling steadily.

Erebus stepped away, the weight was finally lifted off his shoulder once more. He could see the corrupted mana begin to be cleansed.

He stared at Fate for a count, his features softening. But then he remembered who she was and who she wasn’t.

Erebus turned on his heels and headed to the exit. His enjoyable fight had been interrupted and he was no longer in a good mood... Not to mention his four toys probably turned tail and ran by now.

He sighed heavily. He was exhausted, perhaps he would sleep for a while when he arrived back at his castle.

He took another step forward. And then everything felt wrong--very wrong. “It couldn’t be.” He spun around, his eyes landing on the sleeping woman.

Then her body began to lift up once more, her eyes slamming open and her head jerking in Erebus’ direction. She smiled.

“Thank you, Erebus. It took me a while to figure out how to counteract your magic, but I finally figured it out.”

Erebus’ narrowed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists, ready to take her down.

“Oh? You want to fight?” Fate asked, her grin broadening. “Too bad! I don’t have any time to deal with you and I’m not quite myself yet.”

Erebus felt her magic begin to activate and shot forward so that he could grab her before she escaped. But he was a second too late.

Fate was gone.

...

Rolut roared, “What do you mean she’s gone!”

Erebus plugged his ears and glowered at Rolut. “You don’t have to yell at me, I know exactly what this entails.”

Ayirn murmured, “To think that she would trick even you, Erebus. How did she manage to do it?”

He shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter how we have to find her immediately!” Midrn shouted, slamming his fist down onto the table. He turned his glare towards Erebus.

“Because of your incompetence--”

“While I do agree that we have to find her immediately, it’s not like any of us could have stopped her either,” Azure spoke up. “Besides, if she slipped past Erebus’ magic once she can do it again. What we need is to figure out how to counteract that.”

Midrn lurched towards her, jabbing an accusing finger in her direction. “We cannot afford to be so calm right now! We don’t have time. We need to eliminate her.”

“I’ve been saying that for centuries,” Erebus muttered.

Frize cleared his throat before Midrn could start up again. “Erebus, are you able to find her!?”

“No,” he answered. “She knows how to hide from my sight.” Erebus rubbed his temples in annoyance. Because Fate was an anomaly, it wasn’t easy for him to search for her, let alone find her exact position. One would think that it would be easier to find the one out... but Fate knew how to conceal herself and max the aura of others.

“My, my... What a troublesome child,” Ayirn sighed the words.

“She could be anywhere... or in any time for that matter by now,” Rolut began.

Erebus shook his head. “Though she was able to teleport herself to a different present, I don’t think Fate has the strength to be moving through time soon. She’s still recuperating and that’s one of her most powerful abilities. And it isn’t as if my magic had no effect on her at all.”

“So we have to catch her before Fate can restore enough power, huh?” Massath murmured sleepily. “Well, if she can escape from Erebus’, this is practically a lost cause.”

“Yeah, but it’s not li--...” Dissolve started to speak then cut off halfway, his head lowering before snapping back up. “--ke we can let her run around.”

Erebus frowned. “I’ll continue to try and search for her, but I’ll need to concentrate since she knows I’m looking.”

“I can help,” Lisset suggested. When Erebus gave her a silencing glare, she changed her words, “Or not.”

“Erebus isn’t the only one that can see this world,” Ayirn proclaimed in her sweet voice. “I’ll use my magic to supplement his search. Lisset, you can help me instead.”

Lisset nodded, glad that Ayirn had saved her from mild embarrassment. She didn’t want to be like the others who were, well, virtually useless in this situation until they found Fate. They had an entire world to explore and she didn’t want to be a part of the group sent out on a wild goose chase:

“Greur and Midrn, Azure, Dissolve, and Massath, you all will search everywhere while Erebus, Lisset, and Ayirn attempt to find her exact location. If you find her, or anything suspicious, call us immediately. We must get to her before her corrupted mana destroys our world. And do not let anybody find out, understood?” Rolut boomed.

“Understood!” the Council all yelled.

“Then, I’m going back to my castle,” Erebus said, standing up from his seat.

Rolut stood up also. “I’m coming with you.”

Erebus frowned, not bothering to hide his displeasure. “Why?” he asked pointedly.

“As am I,” said Frize.

Erebus’ head snapped towards Frize. He guffawed. “Seriously? You too?”

Frize and Rolut exchanged a look, it’s meaning was clear: Erebus wasn’t trusted on his own. He clicked his tongue, it was understandable but still frustrating.

“Well, whatever, just don’t get in my way.”

Midrn exploded. “Show some shame, Erebus! You’re the one who put us in this predicament in the first place!” He ground his teeth together.

“Would you just shut up?” Erebus questioned, his voice quiet. “I’ve been listening to you ramble on for a while now, isn’t it time you closed your mouth? Do you think I don’t understand what’s happening?”

The room stilled and a heavy atmosphere settled over them.

“That’s not,” Midrn finally managed to say. He lowered his eyes as he could feel the gaze of everyone on him. “That’s not what I was trying to...”

Erebus smiled darkly and a shadow came over his face. “It doesn’t matter... it’s about time we put this rampaging beast to sleep.”