November 30 2040

“Calypsis has been taken, and Occudium has been compromised. We are two Acolytes down. We are clearly dealing with more than a mere cult.”

Atlantis slammed his fists down onto the stone table, shaking the steaming glasses of tea placed for each of us by Goddess Tenebrin’s veiled ladies.

“Calm down, Atlantis. Nobody ever said it was a mere cult. We only said it was a cult- a group of people who worshipped gods other than ours.”

Chirus pointed his black staff at Atlantis, almost beckoning him to sit. He begrudgingly sat down, trident clenched in hand.

“Well, we have to do something,” whispered Vana, his usually cheery personality shook by the events. He lightly gripped the table, green nails tapping the wood. Ianis sat next to him, unfazed. He occasionally reached to comfort his partner, but withdrew under the looks of others.

“Shouldn’t we consult the gods for this?” I whispered.

“They say to commune among ourselves. It’s our job, anyway. The gods sit upon their high thrones and commandeer us, while we actually fight.”

Atlantis mumbled, averting my gaze. He lowered his trident and sat back. We were in Ianis’ room, two seats unfilled. Occudium slumbered in her room at the Ferira Praetorium, Lord Morrow angered at me for not keeping her safe. A period of silence began, only broken by the whisperings of Ianis and Vana, or a quiet shuffling of whatever was under Chirus’ robe.

“We should do something.” I whispered, voice faint, fragile.

“Like what?” muttered Vana, the air whipping into a frenzy.

He creased his brow and clutched Ianis, a bead of sweat flowing down like a river.

“We’ll start by finding out where they went.” said a voice. One of Lady Tenebrin’s veiled ladies materialised behind me, carrying a warping black purse. It shifted uncomfortably, as if carrying a dangerous load. Undoing the strings, Tenebrin’s handmaiden procured a talisman- the one we found on my exploding guard. It now glittered with a reddish sheen, a carved moon sneering at us.

“Look at this.” the handmaiden said.

11 dull orbs encircled the greenish-metal edge, the 12th illuminated a vibrant red.

“We’ve discovered a link. A magical one. This talisman appears to be bound to many others in Russia.”

“Well let’s go to Russia, then!” exclaimed Vana, suddenly eager.

“Not so fast. Russia has set up anti-acolyte wards around their country. We aren’t sure how, or why, but it’s believed the Farci are involved. In other words, we can’t get in.”

-

Ianis knelt over the black gilded coffin, Occudium slumbering inside. He placed a hand on her temple, a small puff of shadow evaporating like steam.

“It’s no good. Auva, you try.”

I did the same, channeling my soul into her body. Shimmering glitter dissipated around my palm, and I withdrew.

“Not working for me, either.” I whispered.

Lady Tenebrin theorised energy magic could wake Occudium. She was wrong.

“Well you just have to try harder!” exclaimed Lord Morrow. He towered over us like an army sergeant, with his black cloak and large scythe.

“I apologise, Lord Morrow, but we can’t. There’s a powerful force keeping us out.”

Lord Morrow frowned. He slunk to the back of his summoning circle, and whispered, “You may leave.” before vanishing.

-

Me and Ianis ambled from the Ferira Praetorium, meeting Chirus outside. He raised a gloved hand, motioning us to stop.

“Ianis. Vana wants to know if you’re free to go hunting. Auva, you’re invited too.”

“Sure thing, Chirus. How about you, Auva?”

I‘ve got a meeting with Celestia and her court… no, that’s tomorrow. I need to reposition Deitiorana. Eh, I can do it later.

“Yeah, I’m free.”

Ianis nodded his head, turning back to Chirus.

“Where does he want to meet?”

“Exit dock 5. I’ve got Rot to tend to, so I’ll get going. Have fun.”

Chirus plodded further down the hall, walking into a large room with doors marked by a rat. We heard the faint sound of gurgling and groaning, but thought nothing of it. Ianis led me out the building, and I once again entered the void. My wings materialised, now ghostly white in this monochromatic place, lifting my body off the ground. Ianis disappeared into a white, normally black, smoke cloud, leaving a bright trail as it swam into the void. Flickering street lamps, stray benches, and fragmented, floating pathways stood unmoving in empty space, which we flew past, out of the void. The shadow membrane snapped back with a pop, and light flooded our eyes once again. Amazed pedestrians of many different shapes stood, watching us, as we flew to Exit dock 5.

Detiorana was a huge place, a city suspended in Earth’s orbit. There were 4 sections, the housing district, the shopping district, the technology district, and the void. We were heading to the Exit docks, located in the shopping district, where servants were warped onto Earth and reclaimed by the Entry docks.

The wind whipped around me, my body hurtling at massive speeds to keep up with Ianis. He flew, unaffected by air resistance, towards the Exit docks. Soon a figure clothed in green came into view, frantically waving at us from Exit port 5.

“Hallo!” he said, as we touched down. By his side was a threatening golden bow, studded with rubies and cold, green Virtionite. He held it carelessly, dangling the weapon from one finger.

“Hello, Vana.” mumbled Ianis, a little smile spreading across his lips.

“Hey, Ianis! And Auva.”

He bent over to mockingly kiss my hand, which I snatched away, laughing.

“Thanks for coming. I needed a break.”

“No problem. What is this exactly?”

“We’re going hunting. Specifically for a certain pesky Magitech company bugging us.”

“Ok. We going now?”

“Yes!”

Vana spread his butterfly wings and leapt into the wall of light labeled “Exit port 5”. We followed soon after.

-

Celestia’s moonbeam dropped us off in the heart of Switzerland, atop a building such that no attention would be drawn to our otherworldly appearances.

“Soul-tec. That building over there. I’ve put in a request for its disposal, and that request has been approved. Only attack the building, but Lady Aera doesn’t care about… collateral damage.” Vana pointed to a bright, flashing building hanging in the cusp of two cliffs. It sat, suspended by glittering cords- no doubt enchanted metals. The occasional employee would hop out a window, drift upwards, and climb through the window on a higher floor.

We flew towards it, and though we tried to be discreet, we saw the occasional human glance our way, but ignore us. As we approached the building, a tingling sensation spread through my body.

“An alarm system. We’ve been spotted.” Ianis broke his silence, partially emerging from his smoke cloud. He held out his hand, drawing a ribbon seemingly from nowhere. It was a deep black, about the length of my wingspan, and ended in a white hilt. Ianis noticed my curious stare, and mumbled something.

“Dunkcel. My Godly Machina. I advise you pull Ceres.”

Reaching out, my hand gripped something cold. Ceres was pulled into my grasp, her freezing gems glittering like stars.

“Hello, Lady Auva. Ceres, at your service.”

Hello.

Vana already cradled his Godly Machina, a gold bow studded with rubies. He held a small green crystal in his hand, whispering ‘Aera’. The wind picked up slightly, shattering the crystal and becoming a miniature projection of Lady Aera.

“Permission to subdue the Soul-tec headquarters?”

“Oh, hon, don’t just subdue it. Raze it to the ground. Permission granted. Go have fun!”

I’m not sure about this.

Vana squeezed his bow as Aera faded away, a small grin spreading across his face. He spread his wings, and dived towards the rooftop. Plummeting at what must’ve been his terminal velocity, Vana landed with a bang, breaking through the roof, and into a room. The building was much bigger now than when viewed from afar, the floor Vana landed on being at least the size of four football fields. Ianis dropped beside Vana, settling gracefully on the white tiles. I followed, landing in a similar fashion. The room was crowded with dozens of office workers, magic weapons at the ready- they were expecting us.

“Hello, hello, all! I, Vanarius of the ever-blowing storm, am gracing you with my presence. Please don’t rush to kiss my feet, there will be time for that later.”

Vana laughed, a childish laugh, wind dramatically blowing his clothes.

“Just kidding! There won’t be time for feet-kissing. You’ll probably be dead.”

Vana readied his bow, and the office workers did too. One ran forward, and the skirmish began.