“Major Elinsys, would you kindly tell me what ‘it’ is?” Bea’ti asked, steering coldy at Elinsys who was now sitting down in her own interrogation chair. Melora was sitting next to her, glancing between Elinsys and her sister-in-law, “Bea’ti, come on. Are you really going to believe the words of a lunatic over someone who has proven time and time again their loyalty and determination to-” “She wants a wannabe goddess that is stuck in my head.” Elinsys replied, interrupting Melora. Melora looked at Elinsys, her face stiff and forcing a smile. Bea’ti didn’t share Melora’s expression. Leferia was standing behind Elinsys. “Oh no, the jig is up.” She raised her hands as if surrendering. “Do not mock me, what does Keresa want from you?” Bea’ti asked again. “Maybe it is not Elinsys in particular, but rather, us. We as the whole, the Empire.” Melora said, facing Bea’ti. “We did revoke her doctor’s license, I would be quite mad too if someone took it away.” “I told you the truth, as crazy as it sounds, it is the truth. The Dust makes you talk to the gods; which one you get depends,” Elinsys said, turning her head slightly to see Leferia. “I got a bitchy one.” “Oh, I love you too, not as much as Nilni, but you are still well above my brother.” Leferia said, walking over to Bea’ti. “Sadly she won’t believe you, unless you got some Dust lying around.” “Hallucinations masquerading as something of higher grandeur, I would question why your doctor would let you out of the bed, but then I do know it was Mrek. So I suppose that answers that.” Bea’ti sighed and lowered her head slightly. “I always get stuck with the crazy ones.” Melora was facing Elinsys, her face revealed her worry. “Elinsys you told me you don’t have hallucinations anymore, why would you lie?” “Nilni has them too. We share her.” Elinsys responded. “Her?” Bea’ti asked. “Yes, she calls herself Leferia.” Elinsys answered the question. “Elinsys, are you sure you want them to know about me? Are you one hundred percent sure? Melora I can understand, but Bea’ti? This is not wise.” Leferia leaned into Elinsys face, putting her claw below her chin. “Yes, how do I do it?” Elinsys asked. “It will not be pretty.” Leferia said, lowering her claw down Elinsys neck. *** Melora was freaking out, Elinsys was talking nonsense, she made no sense and Bea’ti was getting angry. Bea’ti will lock her up in the med bay and do tests on her. Melora will probably be brought in for questioning, someone will talk about the Dust, all that happened will be written down and brought before the court. The crew and the Admiral will be tried for treason, Kar will hate Melora, Bea’ti will seduce him and then they will… “Elinsys are you okay?” Elinsys was not okay, she was gagging on something. Blocking pathways from her mouth to her lungs. She was choking. “UH!” “Major, what are you doing?” Bea’ti asked, raising one of her brows. “She is choking, you bitch.” Melora stood up and started to hit Elinsys on her back. “Fuck, I don’t know first aid.” “What do you mean you don’t know first aid? You are a Commodore!” Bea’ti asked, now standing up too and coming over to Elinsys. “You don’t just hit her, we need to-” Elinsys at that moment started to cough. “Oh look, she is fine.” Bea’ti said. “She is coughing.” Melora said, looking down at the table. Which slowly became golden. Melora felt fear. “What the-?” Bea’ti asked, looking closer at the table. “Is that the Dust? By the Sea of Souls why is it inside of you? Melora you said you didn’t have any!” Bea’ti shouted, then laughed, but with a rather uncertain voice. “This is worrying, but also great.” “Oh, it gets so much better, darling.” Leferia whispered into Bea’ti’s ear, her claws on her shoulders. Bea’ti looked at Melora, who was looking back at her, her wide eyed and Elinsys, who had passed out. “Melora...” She said gently. Melora wanted to scream, behind Bea’ti stood Leferia, her wings spread wide, not covering her. Melora wanted to look away, but she couldn’t move her neck; no, she couldn’t move her body. Leferia’s skin, pitch black with shades of grey, was covered in some hard material. It was like her skin had reformed itself into armor made out of plates. Her head looked like an animal, but when her mouth opened, it had rows of teeth moving about. Her jaw looked like it could split open or unhinge itself. Her wings were not made of feathers, but skin. She had four of them, two which served more as support right now than actual wings. Leferia was currently using these as a makeshift chair. Her feet and arms had claws rather than fingers. "Has your mother taught you to stare?" She laughed, but Melora could hear multiple voices. Female, Male and some which sounded too deep to belong to anything or anybody who was real, echoes of voices. Bea’ti turned around, then she fell to the floor, backing away as fast as she could until she reached the wall, nowhere to go, no way to escape. “Melora! Help me!” She screeched. Melora could feel her body again, there was only one thing on her mind. Save Elinsys… and Bea’ti, she supposed. Melora lunged at the abomination, hitting Leferia in the face, snout, maw? Whatever it was. Leferia pulled back, not out of pain, more out of shock and surprise. A smile crept up her maw, her teeth moving slightly. “Wonderful, I knew I liked you. Always told Elinsys that, though she never quite believed me.” Her voice sounded more normal, singular. “Who are you?” Melora shouted, preparing another hit towards Leferia, this one Leferia blocked by grabbing her hand. “One, I am Leferia, the wannabe goddess as Elinsys calls me, pleased to meet you face to face finally. Second, please halt your attacks, I mean you do no harm and I do not wish to harm you.” Melora didn’t respond, only tilting her head towards Elinsys. “Oh, she is just tired, the coughing fit was rather hard on her.” Leferia said in a wonderful, soft voice, which made Melora calm down. “Melora! Hit it again!” Bea’ti said, Leferia looked at her and rolled her eyes, sadly for Melora and Bea’ti she did this quite literally, rolling not her pupils, but whole eyes. “Calm down.” Leferia raised her hand towards Bea’ti, which caused the panicking woman to be quiet, her breathing slowed down. “How did you do that?” Melora asked, she should be panicking, but she can’t. Was Leferia doing the same to her as to Bea’ti? “No need to worry about anything, as I said, a few times now, I am sure, I wish to help you. I do not wish to hurt you.” Leferia said. “When is Elinsys going to wake up?” Melora asked, turning towards Elinsys. “Soon enough, but before she does, we have to talk, explain a few things. About myself, about Keresa, about my brother.” Leferia looked at Bea’ti and Melora, who shared an expression of confusion. “Now, either that is the Dust kicking in or you have no clue what I am talking about.” Melora sat down in a chair. “My head feels so light. This must be a nightmare, that is it. If I go to sleep, all shall be well.” “No. No you don’t, we need to talk, this is real! I am real!This is not a dream.” Leferia pulled in closer to Melora and clapped her claws before her eyes. “Do not go to sleep. Do not.” She grabbed Melora’s face. “Listen, no sleep! You need to focus.” Melora wanted to listen, but her mind refused. “Night, night.” *** Elinsys woke up, her clothes washed in sweat. She raised her head from the table, only to see Melora before her, with her head on the table and Bea’ti sleeping in a corner. “Leferia what the hell did you do?” “I made contact, but now they have to get over the initial high. Their resistance to the Dust has to be created, otherwise each hit will be like this.” Leferia responded, sitting on the floor, her larger wings reaching the ceiling, the lower ones once more being used as a chair. “Hit? Will you do this again to them? How long will they be able to see you?” Elinsys asked, then she noticed the two crystals in her hands. “What is this?” “Dust, in crystal form. If you feed it to them I will be able to talk to them forever, or until I leave. And they will see me for about a day or two, they will need another hit soon enough.” Leferia responded and stared at Elinsys. “So… you're going to go and… do it?” “No! No. I won’t stick a crystal down their throat!” Elinsys shouted. “You don’t have to stick it down their throat, you could smash it and put it into water, smash it and have them sniff it up would work too.” Leferia smiled. Elinsys could see her new form clearly now, after her vision decided to stop swirling around. “Did you get an upgrade?” “Long time coming darling, a long time. Still not at my best, hopefully we get to see that soon.” Leferia used her claw to move her ‘hair’. “Yes, sure.” Elinsys was tired. “How do we explain all of this? How do we get Kar back?” “And the others.” Leferia said. “Excuse me?” Elinsys asked. “You know, Gelln, Rixva, Henera and Kar are gone.” Leferia said. “And how the hell do you know that?” Elinsys felt a fire in her chest. “Nilni is freaking out about it, they never made it back from their pub crawl. I am trying to calm her down, explain to her that you guys are on top of it and will soon set off to save them.” Leferia looked around. “But instead of being heroic and all… you are all passed out high. Shameful.” “Enough, tell me what you know right now.” Elinsys demanded. “Shouldn’t we wait for them to wake up?” Leferia asked. Elinsys grunted, and started to gently shake Melora’s shoulder. “Wake up, come on.” With the other hand she grabbed a pen and threw it at Bea’ti, hitting her in the face. Waking her up instantly. “WHAT?” Melora sat back up, awoken by the scream. “What? What is going on?” She looked all around, then her eyes settled down on Leferia once more. Leferia raised her claw and waved. “Good afternoon darling, you ready to save Kar, Henera, Rixva and Gelln?” “What?” Melora asked, looking at Elinsys, then at Leferia. “My head-” Bea’ti spotted Leferia and silence filled the room. *** “So, you are a goddess?” Bea’ti asked Leferia, sitting opposite of Elinsys next to Melora. Leferia nodded her head. “And you live in Elinsys’ head?” Melora asked. “And Nilni’s.” Elinsys added. “This isn’t a dream?” Bea’ti looked at Leferia, trying to ignore the rather horrifying physique. “No. This is quite real. I do understand the confusion. My beauty has been described as dreamlike.” Leferia laughed, but stopped when Elinsys gave her a look. “Elinsys, why did you hide her?” Melora asked. “I didn’t-” Elinsys started, but Leferia raised her claw to stop her. “No, no. I must take full responsibility. I am the one to blame, I was worried you would lock me up again and do experiments on me.” “Again?” Bea’ti asked. “Yes, you see Keresa, that vile woman, has experimented on me. I was barely able to escape.” Leferia answered, her voice frail. “But you have no real physical body, so how could she-” Bea’ti asked. “She placed me into one, lured me into a willing host and then killed the host. I took over, believing they wished to help me, but in truth they wished for my power, my godhood.” “Why did you trust them?” Melora asked, meanwhile Bea’ti was considering what she was told carefully. “I was young, naive. I wished to live and breathe again, but instead of happiness I received pain.” Leferia was on the verge of tears. “Turoxshit, you wanted to control them. Just like whatever is controlling Keresa right… now.” Bea’ti was quiet. “If we go and save Kar, it will be a trap.” Realization came over everyone in the room. “Then we will have to be ready for it.” Melora said. “No, you don’t understand, if we don’t listen they might hurt him, if we do listen we are basically surrendering ourselves.” Bea’ti said. “And then Kar gets hurt either way. A lose lose scenario, but your best bet is to go along until a good chance shows itself.” Leferia added. “Until you get to take over or are you two working together, are there two of you all? Who is this other god?” Bea’ti asked. Melora and Elinsys turned to Leferia. “If by ‘god’ you mean my brother who is weaker than a larva and as pathetic as a worm, then yes.” Leferia said with a sour tone. “Well, your brother kidnapped my husband, best friend, my Head of engineering and Gelln. So how about you tell us how to defeat him?” Melora said, sharing Leferia’s sour tone. “By killing the host or hosts he might possess. Keresa is one, but knowing him he has backups.” Leferia responded. “He is powerful, he had the crew of Wasted Hope sacrificed to him. That has to count for something.” Elinsys said. “Probably more, depending on how long he has been kidnapping people. That is why we have to be ready. We must act quickly and deal a deafening blow before he has a chance to… do anything.” “And how do we do that?” Bea’ti asked Leferia. “Full frontal attack with the EXOs supported by our crew is gonna do it. That is of course after we pretend to work with them, acting as a distraction." Melora said. “We make sure Kar is safe.” “And who the hell is mad enough to lead such an attack? I am quite sure Elinsys will have to go inside, you probably will too. So who is left?” Bea’ti asked, before realizing everyone was looking at her. “Hell no.” “Yeah I agree, you aren’t leading the attack. Fera will do it with the efficiency and ruthlessness we require.” Leferia said. “You simply aren’t trusted enough for that. It is the harsh truth, but you would probably run.” “How dare you?” Bea’ti stood up. “How dare you insult me like that?” “You can assist Fera, maybe lead a small squad. We will get you the glory you wish for. Then you can leave me and Kar alone.” Melora answered for Leferia. “Who should control the Javelin? Fera will take over the Veneration, but we are missing a captain.” Leferia raised her claw. “I nominate Major Elinsys, high time she got a promotion.” Leferia smiled. “Stop trying to set yourself up, you and I ain't staying together after this is done. And I got promoted to Major not two months ago, I lack the experience for such a position. We will have to trust Henera’s second will handle it. Someone from our ship could be placed with them to make sure they are ready for anything, but Javelin has its own crew.” Melora was quiet for a moment. “When will we tell Fera the truth? We should get her to see Leferia before we leave the station, we need to make sure she is ready.” “Speaking of seeing me, you two will need more Dust if you want me to be heard during the attack. Unless of course you consume these crystals and then we-” Leferia pointed to the crystals. “Leferia, no.” Elinsys said. “Just so you know, if you ingest those, you might be stuck with her forever.” “Would that be so bad?” Leferia asked herself. “Me helping you in your daily life, an angel on your shoulder.” “A demon is more likely.” Elinsys said. “You are close, but no. I am fighting against the evil god here, not with him. I am going against family. You know how hard that is?” Leferia asked Elinsys. “You called him more pathetic than a worm.” Melora said. “Not important, still family.” Leferia rebuked the fact. “In the Void, you don’t go against family as easily as you people do. Even if they try to kill you and trap you in a crystal for centuries.” “So about Fera, how bad will the… process be?” Melora asked. “I have good news and bad news. Bad news I have no idea. Good news...We get to test it right now.” Leferia smiled. A knock was heard on the door before it swung wide open. In the hall stood Fera, panting. “Kar has been kidnapped, so have Henera, Rixva and Gelln and few other security guards.” Nilni appeared behind her. “Hi girls, I got Fera here as requested.” “Requested? They told you to bring me here?” Fera asked, still panting. “Well, Leferia did. She told me to slow you down a bit, make sure all is clear.” Nilni responded. “Who the hell is Leferia, Nilni? Are you feeling fine?” Fera asked, glancing between Nilni and the three women she could see. “Let me.” Leferia stood up and walked up to Fera. “Nilni get the door, and get the Dust ready, if you would kindly?” “Sure thing, Lef!” Nilni slammed the door closed behind herself and Fera, who was now slowly backing away from Nilni. “What is going on here?” Fera glanced at Elinsys and Melora. “I don’t know anymore, but we are planning how to save Kar, Gelln, Rixva and Henera.” Elinsys responded. “I don’t have a clue, but hopefully Nilni can help with that.” Melora responded second. “Fuck if I know.” Bea’ti responded last. “Goodnight Fera, sleep well.” Nilni blew some Dust in Fera’s face. “What the fuck is wrong with-” Fera stopped. “Oh good, you are more resistant, this is your second time, yes?” Leferia asked. “First time was rather bloody. This one, hopefully, is more peaceful. Fera slashed with her claws towards Leferia, screaming. *** “This is insanity. This is madness, but it will have to work I suppose.” Fera said, standing next to the table, trying to see any obvious chinks in the plan. “I can lead the assault to rescue you all, but we will have to find you all some weapons, something you can sneak in. Question Commodore.” “What is it, Fera?” Melora asked. “Can I pilot an EXO myself?” Fera smiled, the Dust only increased her bloodlust.