By the time Serenity checked in on the Underground again, the fight was almost over. There were a few pockets of resistance left; each seemed to be a Tier Five person the soldiers had left until they could concentrate their forces.

Priestess Alanaeon was not one of them; Serenity could see a charred bloody mess that had to be her. The soldiers had left one person to guard her body, just in case. There were several other places where other individuals watched dead bodies with similarly extreme injuries; Serenity could only guess that somewhere one of them had done something to trigger the paranoia.

Another Tier Five fell as Serenity watched. The soldiers gathered enough people and enough weapons together that they simply overwhelmed the mage; his shield held out for a little while, but when it failed, he was simply incinerated by multiple beams.

The process wasn’t free. Unlike the people they were fighting, the soldiers didn’t have their own shields; all they had was items with a limited charge that could give temporary protection. Serenity saw a number of injuries happen during the fight. While no one died, it was enough to make Serenity check the areas of the other fights.

There had been deaths.

Serenity felt somewhat responsible; he’d kicked this off, after all. On the other hand, this was war. People died in a war. From what he could tell, the soldiers were doing excellently; they were, on average, losing less than one person per Tier Five mage and that was an excellent rate for soldiers that were probably only about Tier Two in their physical abilities. They were likely only Pathed to Tier One, but the greendust seemed to have had a significant effect on them physically.

Serenity watched for a while longer but there really wasn’t anything he could improve without being there personally. Even then, he worried that he might be more of a hazard than a help. He might be Tier Eight but he wasn’t sure he could handle them all on his own, and that was what he needed to do if he really wanted to keep them safe. On top of that, he wasn’t fully recovered from the fight with Lykandeon. He’d had a good bit of time so his mana was no longer worryingly low but he hadn’t slept.

He’d probably be a net help, but he wasn’t sure what the right decision to make was. He was sure that making any decision while short on sleep was probably the wrong one.

Could he even get there in time to help? Delaying their attacks would also open up a risk; he’d be leaving relatively powerful people unhandled for however long that was.

Serenity watched for a few more minutes and came to the conclusion that no, he couldn’t. When he’d first checked in, there were eight Tier Five mages still standing; there were now only three. He’d probably missed Alanaeon’s death by only ten or fifteen minutes. They were working quickly.

Strangely enough, many of the soldiers that were injured seemed to be healing faster than they should. It wasn’t nearly as fast as Serenity’s healing or the healing of a proper healer; instead, it was like there was a low-grade area healing spell on the area. When Serenity took a closer look, he realized that the injured who were healing so quickly were either in the hazy area where he’d found Lykandeon or near the World Core. It was obvious that they’d figured out that those locations helped.

It also meant that he didn’t need to hurry to bring them help. They’d need to handle the prisoners, but it looked like they had that well in hand for now. Serenity didn’t have a destination for them yet, so it was best to let the soldiers handle them for now.

There was nothing more to say. He needed to concentrate on his part, which was figuring out what came next. He couldn’t set the final goal for the greendust-affected soldiers but he could try to solve the problem of the planet. He had the perfect contacts to handle it, too.

Serenity walked over to the room where Blaze was healing Karin. The door was unexpectedly open; Karin was asleep, fully dressed, on the bed while Blaze sat in a chair nearby and sipped on a cup of tea. Jenna slept quietly in a cradle against the same wall as Blaze’s chair.

Blaze looked up at Serenity, smiled, and stood. He moved slowly, like he hurt, as he shooed Serenity away from the room. “What do you need, Serenity?”

Serenity led Blaze away from the door before he asked the obvious question. “How is Karin? How well is she recovering?” He couldn’t ask the question he really wanted to ask, but that one was a good start.

Blaze sighed. “I knew it when you killed Lykandeon. Many of the bonds snapped. Others didn’t, and the ones that did were no longer anchored correctly. I pushed that into a full Pathbreaking. She’s Tier Three now, essentially, and I’m not sure she’ll ever recover enough to rise higher. With that said, she won’t need me for much longer; she’ll need support but not healing. Not directly, at least. I’m not a full MindHealer, and that’s what she needs now.” Blaze shook his head sadly.

Serenity doubted there were any MindHealers on Aeon or Lyka. If there were, he didn’t think he’d trust them with Karin’s health and future. They’d have been too likely to discover Lykandeon’s control, and Serenity didn’t think Lykandeon would let that pass without challenge. “We’ll have to look for one after we leave. I’d hoped she’d be able to help stabilize Lyka, but if she’s not up for it, that won’t work.”

Serenity needed to move on. He’d achieved his goal here; there were decades worth of work left, but it wasn’t his work. He’d help, certainly. Hah, he could implement a new Marshall Plan, maybe even a swap with Tzintkra. That still didn’t get him a new government for Lyka and Aeon. “Rourke?”

Blaze looked dubious. “He was never as badly hurt, but I’ll have to check him before I can pass judgment. Lykandeon’s death will have weakened all of the Priests; their Paths were partly based on him, after all.”

Serenity had forgotten that small fact; he clearly needed sleep. It definitely helped explain why the soldiers did so well against the Tier Five mages; they were weakened.

Serenity closed his eyes for a moment. Whatever Blaze found, Rourke would make a better spymaster than ruler, anyway. That left only one possibility, the person he’d been hoping he wouldn’t have to tap. If he did, he fully expected that he’d lose Blaze as well.

There wasn’t a better choice. Serenity opened his eyes and looked at Blaze hopefully. “Ekari, then?”

“She’s healed as well as I can manage.” Blaze shrugged and tried to look professional, but even Serenity could see the fond smile encroaching on Blaze’s face at the thought of Ekari. “I’ve already recommended that she see a MindHealer but truthfully she’s doing well.”

Serenity suppressed a chuckle. He was fairly confident that the only person who didn’t know that Blaze was interested in Ekari was Ekari herself. He sometimes wondered if that was really true or if she’d simply decided to ignore it for some reason; she was generally good enough with people that she ought to have noticed, but people could be weird when it came to their own feelings.

Serenity had the feeling that Rissa was tired of the tension and wanted to say something. If he tried to leave Ekari behind, she almost certainly would. He wasn’t sure if that thought made him happy or not, but he wanted to be nearby when it happened. It would be something to watch.

She’d handle it better than he would, especially if Ekari knew and just wasn’t saying anything for some reason.

“That’s good to hear. I’ll definitely want to check with her soon then.” Serenity started to ask Blaze where Ekari was, since he usually kept track of her. Before the words came out, he wanted to smack himself on the forehead. Blaze wouldn’t know, he’d been busy with Karin the whole time. He changed his question to the other thing at the top of his mind. “Are you headed to bed?”

Blaze nodded and yawned. “I was going to finish my tea first, but I think I don’t need it. See you in the morning, try to keep the emergencies to a minimum until then.” He set his teacup down on the central table then headed to his own room.

Serenity looked at the central table. One of Rourke’s devices was set under it. It still made Serenity want to laugh when he realized how similar they were to something out of a spy thriller. It was a clear case of function being what mattered, no matter the method that was used to achieve it.

“Rourke, I need to talk to you about the future and your place in it. I think I also need your help with that Underground facility. I’m going to head to bed soon, but can you come see me tomorrow?” Serenity knew Rourke would get the message, but he wasn’t sure how long it would take. With luck, it wouldn’t be more than a few hours. It was a surprise that Rourke hadn’t already turned up, really, or that he hadn’t at least sent Deek.

Serenity quietly detoured around the couch Rissa slept on as he headed towards Ekari’s bedroom. Like Karin’s room, her door was open. Unlike her mother, Ekari was still awake. It took Serenity a moment to realize that she was reading the Book of Karit and silently crying. He paused in the doorway, suddenly uncertain if he wanted to intrude or not.

He didn’t stand there for more than a few seconds before Ekari put the book down, composed her face, and turned towards him. “Serenity?”

She sounded surprised.

Since he’d already interrupted, Serenity supposed there was no reason not to go ahead and ask. He might as well start with the big ask, too; starting small would just be confusing. “Are you interested in taking over Lyka and Aeon?”

Ekari opened her mouth and stared at him for a moment. “You mean that, don’t you?”

Serenity shrugged. “Someone needs to. I can’t stay but this is your home. You seem to have as much right as anyone, and I should be able to give the planets to you. If I can’t, I can at least give you full managerial rights.” Aeon in particular might be like Tzintkra, after all; it’d asked him for help just like Tzintkra. He wasn’t able to fully give Tzintkra away. He’d tried.

Ekari glanced at the Book of Karit. “High Priestess … I mean, Mother would be a better choice. She’s already been managing things for years.”

Serenity shook his head. “I’d rather not give that stress to someone who’s still trying to put herself together after what Lykandeon did to her. She’d make a better advisor, I think. And before you suggest Rourke, I think he’d make a better spymaster.” Maybe Chief of Intelligence was a better title? Well, whatever the title was, it was the same role.

A frown crossed Ekari’s face, then vanished as fast as it appeared. “I wasn’t going to suggest Rourke. He’d suggest Mother anyway.”

“Then will you handle it?” Serenity’s other option was to simply abandon Lyka and Aeon; he didn’t really have a backup plan after Ekari. That could work, but it was far more likely to be a disaster.

Ekari set her hand on the Book of Karit. “I’ll think about it. Are you sure you want a Tier Three in charge? Can I even do it?”

Serenity smiled at that. “Check your Paths. I’d guess there’s a good chance of a Tier Four in there. With that said, yes, a Tier Three is fine. A world doesn’t need someone like Lykandeon to rule it. Personal power is useful but it doesn’t actually make for a functional government. That takes other people and skills other than being the strongest. At least, it does in any society I’d want to live in.”

He’d seen the other side of the coin, what being the strongest really bought. All it bought was ashes. Simply because you could kill everything didn’t mean you could rule it.