A part of me wished I could stay in this peaceful place, to let someone else deal with the Demons. Bellator was a land free of all the troubles of the world. It felt like not even the war could reach me here. Unfortunately, it was just a dream. No matter how much I wanted it, I could not abandon my responsibilities. Nowhere was truly safe from the war. If I wanted to protect the peace of this place, I had to fight for it. So, despite my reluctance, I knew it was time to leave Bellator behind. We trekked back to Dragon’s Nest with four new Domain warriors and a few crates of local delicacies in tow. Nothing could inspire soldiers better than alcohol and Bellator had some of the best. We cleared out much of Dom’s stock in preparation for the downtime before the fighting became serious.

As I left the flowering forest, I picked a single petal from one of the trees as a memento and carried it with me onto the floating island. I looked back at the small village for just a moment before turning away. So long as I won this war I could always return.

Once we were all on board, the floating island began to silently fly away. As our new domain soldiers organized the supplies and made themselves at home, I grabbed Charly and dragged him into my room. He watched me curiously as I locked the door and told Mare to make sure nobody tried to eavesdrop on our conversation, not even Donte.

After double checking to make sure we were alone, I opened the small sack hiding a couple items I secretly grabbed from the caverns under my old home while everyone else was picking out various equipment. I pulled out a small block that looked to be made of pure jade. An elaborate carving of a tree decorated the jade block. Every single leaf was etched in immaculate detail. I pressed the block to my forehead and closed my eyes. After a second, a seam appeared in the block. I opened the jade box to reveal inside was a single fruit. It looked like a ripe plum and immediately, a vibrant citrus smell filled the room.

I hesitated for a moment before placing the fruit in Charly’s hand. “Eat it,” I commanded.

“What is it?” Charly asked as he looked at the small fruit with curiosity.

“I will explain afterwards. Eat it now.”

Charly was skeptical about my insistence but ultimately agreed and bit down on the plum-like fruit. The sweet smell of citrus instantly intensified to a dizzying degree. I ignited both green and blue flames to burn the smell before it could escape the room. I did not know how good Vissna’s sense of smell was in her human form but I did not want to risk her getting a whiff of this fruit. Even for a dragon, the value of what I had just given Charly was far too high.

After taking the first bite of the fruit, Charly’s eyes lit up. He was almost ravenous as he devoured the entirety of the flesh in an instant. He even licked clean every drop of juice from his fingers. All that remained afterwards was a single, perfectly clear, marble where the pit should have been. Charly might have eaten that too if I had not stopped him.

“That was the most delicious thing I have ever eaten!” Charly cried out excitedly, “Do you have any more?”

I shook my head with a chuckle and took the clear marble seed from his hand. “That single piece of fruit cost enough to buy this entire planet three times over. Even for the Thirteenth Division, it is not an investment that comes easy. Just getting that one nearly cost me my life.”

“What… What did you just make me eat?” Charly asked in shock.

Looking at the marble seed with some remorse, I carefully placed it into the jade box. When I closed the lid, the seam disappeared again, as if it never existed.

“Most people call it the fruit of life,” I said with a sigh, “It got that name because it can heal almost any injury and bring the elderly back to the prime of their life. The tree it grows on only bears fruit once every thousand years and usually only three or four fruit at a time. It is a legend that everyone seeks but very few ever find.”

“Why did you want me to eat something like that? Shouldn’t we have saved it for when someone was injured?”

“No,” I said firmly, “Unless they are a division leader, using the fruit of life to heal someone is a colossal waste. Honestly, under normal circumstances, using it on you is an even greater waste but I cannot wait for you to grow stronger naturally. Mom and Dad already have a domain of their own and Donte has Dragon’s Nest to protect him. You have nothing but a crossbow and your glyphs. While the fruit of life is famous for its restorative properties, that is just a side effect. The true gift of this fruit is its ability to strengthen your blood, or more correctly, your genetic code. Once your body finishes digesting the fruit of life, you will be your body will be stronger and your mind will be faster than any normal human. You are also almost guaranteed to awaken a domain of your own, a domain stronger than either of our parents.”

Charly looked down at his hands in amazement. “If this fruit of life is so great, why didn’t you eat it?”

I shrugged, not quite wanting to meet Charly’s eye. “The effect of the fruit on me when I regain my full power would be minimal. Besides, I die too often to use it on myself. It would be a waste to use something so valuable on a body I might not have in fifty years.”

Charly bit his lip and it looked like he wanted to say something but could not find the words. In the end, he just lowered his gaze and whispered, “Thank you.”

I smiled and slapped Charly’s shoulder. “Thank me by staying alive through this war. That is what is important. Oh, and stay away from Vissna for a few days. I do not know if she will be able to tell you have eaten a fruit of life, but if she does before you completely digest it, she will probably try and eat you.”

Charly’s face paled and he nodded. “I will stay in the library. She never goes there.”

“Then go,” I said as I shooed Charly out of my room. He hesitated, obviously still having several questions but I did not want to answer any of them. He would come to understand the full benefits of the fruit in time. My remorse at losing something so valuable left me in no mood to discuss it with him.

Once alone, I sighed and collapsed onto my bed. The walls of my room pulsed purple as a shadowy figure took form. Despite having grown more powerful, Mare’s shadow did not appear any more corporeal than before. I still could not see what her face looked like but it felt like she was grinning at me.

“I am surprised you were willing to give something so valuable to Charly. If you had used it on yourself, the fruit of life would have fixed many of the problems plaguing your body.”

“The survival of my family is more important than my comfort,” I replied dismissively, “My own self-healing is more than enough to prevent the disease that once plagued this body. Using the fruit of life on myself would be a terrible waste.”

“Because you think you will die fighting Envy?” Mare asked as she floated closer.

“Just tell me what you want and get out of my room,” I growled in annoyance.

“Someone’s in a bad mood,” Mare said with a laugh, “Fine, I will get to the point. I want your help conducting a… test.”

“What kind of test?” I asked skeptically.

“Do you know much of how the ability to see the future works?” Mare replied with a question of her own.

I shook my head. “The Aevus family has never been fond of seers. I admit my knowledge is limited.”

“I will keep this simple then, shorty. The future is never set in stone. What our enemies see is not what will absolutely happen but instead, what is likely to happen. They see an ever expanding web of possibilities. Nothing is guaranteed. They are just good at pulling at the threads to make the possibility they want a reality. My little test is rather simple. I want to create so many possibilities that our spying friends cannot possibly begin to see them all.”

“And how are you going to do that?”

Mare laughed as she floated through the room. “In a few days, you will be meeting with the many nations and powers resisting the Demons. Our fortune-telling friends will be paying close attention to this moment. The army gathered will be massive and the soldiers will all look to you for guidance in this war. When that time comes, my test will begin. I will give you a random number generator. I have created millions of variations. Each number will be a different order for each troop of soldiers. A random number will decide where the soldiers move, when they move, and what they do when they get there. If my test is successful, not even the greatest mind in the universe will be able to handle the overwhelming amount of information that would flood in from all the possibilities.”

“I know I have asked this before, but are you insane?” I replied as I rubbed my temples, “Even if your plan does work, our army would become a complete mess. Without the proper preparations, the Demonkin will tear through any soldiers caught in a bad position. Your plan will send countless men and women to their deaths.”

“After all this time you still don’t trust me?” Mare said with a sigh, “You should at least give me some credit as a Preateritum remnant if nothing else. I can calculate far more than you can imagine.The troop movement will be random but that does not mean they will be walking into danger on their own. Each and every possibility has been accounted for. The soldiers will always be within range to support each other.”

I thought about Mare’s plan carefully for a moment before nodding. It was a good idea. I had thought about something similar by deciding my actions by flipping a coin. Mare’s idea just took that uncertainty to an entirely different level. If I really could hurt the ones trying to move me around like a chess piece with such a simple ploy, I had no reason to say no.

“Alright Mare, I will trust you this once.”

“Excellent!” the ghostly figure of Mare exclaimed with a loud clap of her hands, “While I cannot guarantee the effect, we will have… have had… on the one that set all this up, I can say with some certainty the little Demon bothering you will be miserable for quite some time. If you are planning to take some action to trick the Demons into a trap, it will be your opportunity to act.”

The figure of Mare faded away and I could not help but frown. I had discussed setting a trap for the Demons but we did that in Bellator. Dragon’s Nest had been safely hidden on the other side of the mountain’s ridge. Unless she was seeing and hearing everything Donte saw, she knew too much for someone not present at the time. Neither possibility was very encouraging.

Not for the first time, I found myself wondering about Mare’s origin. She knew too many things that she should not while I knew almost nothing about her many secrets. Mare said for me to trust her but the more I talked to her, the less trusting I became.