The End said nothing for a good long while. It simply sat there, ruminating while its ribbons fluttered as if on a soft breeze. I held my ground, even when I started to get the feeling that just maybe I’d pushed a little too hard. But The End’s titanic sigh and small gesture with its wrist cut that line of thinking off completely.

YES, IT IS AS YOU SAY. AND IT DOES NOT JUST APPLY TO ME–NOT A SINGLE ONE OF OUR FAMILY ON THE OSSUARY CAN DESCEND TO THE ALL-WORLD. AND NO, IT IS NOT JUST BECAUSE OF SIMPLE RULES.

It drummed its fingers on the table, shared a glance with Overseer, then nodded at what it saw.

LONG AGO, I CREATED THE ALL-WORLD AS A REFUGE FOR THOSE WHO HAD THEIR HOMES DESTROYED BY THAT WHICH DESTROYED EARTH. AND I DID NOT DO IT ALONE. STAGNATION AND FLUX WORKED ALONGSIDE ME TO SHAPE MATTER INTO THAT WHICH COULD GIVE BIRTH TO A UNIVERSE, AND EVEN NOW WE LIVE ON ANCHORS THAT KEEP THE ALL-WORLD SAFE.

“Those anchors being the Ossuary, Impermanence, and the Diamond Frigate.” Archivist cut in. “These ships far beyond even my understanding keep the all-world and the universe it inhabits whole, but if even a single one of the primordial three were to descend, the balance would be shattered.”

Overseer audibly shuddered, drawing the attention of everyone at the table. “I saw that happen when it was first finished. Things didn’t go wrong–they just… didn’t go. Parts of the world stopped moving through space, parts of space stopped letting things move through them, and then we had to comb the universe to salvage the pieces.”

The End nodded in solemn agreement.

THE ACCORDS WERE ONLY MEANT TO TIE THE EMBODIMENTS TO THEIR HOME. FOR THE SAKE OF A TENUOUS PEACE, WHICH WE ONCE HAD PLANS FOR IF IT WERE TO BREAK. BUT THE MILLENNIA MADE US… CONTENT. CONFIDENT IN OUR OWN ACTIONS. STAGANATION CLAIMED OUR RULES WERE SUFFICIENT, FLUX INSISTED THAT THE EMBODIMENTS DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH TO INCITE A MEANINGFUL CHANGE, AND I COULD NOT SEE AN END TO THE PEACE.

The End chuckled sadly.

HOW FOOLISH I WAS. BUT NOW I HAVE YOU TO ACT IN MY STEAD, SEBASTIAN. YOUR POWERS ARE GREAT BUT LIMITED, AND YOUR ALLIES IN JUNIPER AND MORTICIAN CAN TAP INTO THOSE STRENGTHS UNDER THE PROPER CIRCUMSTANCES. …AT LEAST THAT’S WHAT FLUX AND STAGNATION INFORMED ME.

“So you have no idea how I can access that ‘great power’.” I stated with a sigh.

“You had some power when we cleared the oilsea.” Jun offered. “Maybe clearing hazards makes you stronger?”

I shook my head. “When we cleared the oilsea, I felt something with Mortician. Almost like a stronger link to you through them. But when we ‘cleared’ Acasiana’s hazard, I didn’t feel anything like that. Even in the oilsea, that power only lasted for a few minutes, and I can’t access it again even with Mortician’s around.”

“There has to be a link somewhere.” Overseer said thoughtfully. “Strength never comes without a catalyst, even if that catalyst isn’t proportional to the power you get. In the oilsea, it came when you connected to Mortician and actually gave them a home on the Ossuary, right?”

That sounded right to me. “As far as I know, yeah.”

“Then you just have to repeat that.” Overseer laughed. “How hard can it be to rediscover a species everyone’s completely forgotten about? I mean, there has to be a couple hundred of them just lying around Rainbow Basin for you to find.”

“Sarcasm does not help the situation at hand.” Archivist chided. “Mortician’s situation was a very unique one, and one that I do not expect Sebastian will ever be able to replicate exactly. When he granted Juniper access to the Ossuary he did not receive a surge of power, so even if he could find another lost species there isn’t a guarantee that it would help their cause.”

Overseer spread its hands in surrender. “I know, I know. Just trying to lighten the mood that I helped dampen. Serious thought–what if Sebastian did something with the facility under Rainbow Basin? There are a lot of forgotten Staura memories there that could help him.”

Archivist considered Overseer’s suggestion before slowly nodding. “Sebastian, Juniper, and Mortician all had reactions to the waters that contained the concentrated Staura essence. It would reason that they could gain even more from said essence, though I am not sure how they would go about it. And with the time constraint they are under, I highly doubt they could figure something out.”

“Then they have to be ready to fight for their lives.” Overseer said seriously. “They’re stronger than their enemies, but not by much, and they’re really outnumbered. Strategy might be the only thing they can count on.”

“We’re still sitting right here, you know.” Jun said. “We know Scalovera doesn’t have a real army–just a bunch of mercenaries and Endra’s puppets. There are a few stronger ones like Danday, but we can deal with them. What we really need to know is what’s happening outside of Rainbow Basin.”

I nodded in agreement and turned to face The End. “We haven’t actually seen Endra since we got to Rainbow Basin. If she doesn’t show up, we have a much better chance at winning. But if she does, then I don’t know how we’re supposed to fight. Do you know where she is?”

The End hesitated. That couldn’t be good.

SHE IS NOT CURRENTLY IN RAINBOW BASIN, BUT SHE WILL BE VERY SOON. FOUR DAYS, TO BE EXACT. IF YOU CANNOT GET A PROPER FOOTHOLD, ENDRA WILL REINFORCE SCALOVERA AND YOU WILL BE FORCED TO RETREAT.

Four days. Not much time, but if everything went smoothly, we could be in and out by then. Though the real problem was the state we’d be in after we took Rainbow Basin–if we were too weak, we’d pretty much be handing her the city on a silver platter. And that obviously wasn’t a part of the plan.

“We really need more allies.” I muttered. “If we live through this, we’ll have to actually start building up some influence. Unless we somehow end everything here.”

I left the ‘which was highly unlikely’ unspoken, but everyone nodded anyway. Overseer and Archivist shared a look, then both rose from their chairs at the same time.

“We’ll see what we can do for you.” Overseer said as he reassuringly patted my shoulder. “A word of advice–don’t piss Keratily off any more than you already have. Once those crystals shatter she’s going to get a lot weaker, but she’ll be a lot angrier too. You could get lucky and she might cut her losses if you look strong enough, but if she’s just a little too angry…”

Archivist stepped away, but turned their head to get in one last thing. “Rage dulls the mind and hones the body. Do not sharpen Keratily any more than you have to.”

Overseer gestured at Archivist and moved to join them. “That exactly. Hopefully we’ll have some good news for you soon, Sebastian.”

With that, Overseer and Archivist disappeared into the hallway, leaving us alone with The End. Jun and I shared a look, and I could tell that she was thinking something similar to me. That this really didn’t help at all, and just served to tell us more about things instead of providing solutions. The End sat motionless as its ribbons fluttered in the empty air–except for its hands, which fidgeted as if it were nervous about something.

“I guess we should go, too.” I decided. “Thanks for the conversation, but we have preparations to get to.”

YES, I KNOW. I JUST WISH I COULD HAVE BEEN OF GREATER HELP. UNFORTUNATELY I WILL HAVE TO RETURN TO THE EMBODIMENT SITUATION, THOUGH I WILL KEEP MYSELF CONNECTED TO YOUR INTERFACE. OH… AND THERE IS ONE MORE THING. JUST OUTSIDE OF RAINBOW BASIN TO THE WEST, A SMALL SKIRMISH RAGES THAT COULD BENEFIT YOU.

That piqued my attention. I raised an eyebrow and was about to start my sentence, but the Ossuary started to bleed away into Acasiana’s hazard. The End’s ribbons swirled together as it waved goodbye, and I could feel the regret in its motions.

I APOLOGIZE FOR YOU HAVING TO CLEAN UP MY PROBLEMS. IF NOTHING ELSE, I WILL WORK TO AID YOU WITH GATHERING CONNECTIONS ONCE RAINBOW BASIN IS BACK UNDER YOUR CONTROL. GOODBYE, SEBASTIAN. GOODBYE, JUNIPER. MAY THE NEXT TIME WE MEET BE UNDER KINDER CIRCUMSTANCES.

Acasiana’s hazard completely overtook the Ossuary. I rolled my shoulders as text appeared on my interface–a warning that I had a checkpoint, and a note from Acasiana that it would be a very bad idea to try and clear the hazard at the moment. Something had riled up Moricla, and Acasiana wasn’t exactly safe herself. A change that was obvious the moment I took one step towards the mountain far in the distance.

“Whoah.” Jun said quietly as the intense power washed over us. “Moricla must be really angry. Which means its time for us to go.”

“That it is.” I agreed and made my desire to withdraw obvious. Jun echoed my desire, and the hazard wiped away to a split-second blink of the Ossuary before it deposited us back around the hole in the ground. “Ready to go west?”

Jun nodded. “Anyone Scalovera’s attacking is at least worth hearing out. Unless it's Keratily. Then we should let them destroy each other.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another hour later, the sounds of battle were growing increasingly intense. Far above us on top of the cliffs that surrounded the basin, fiery chunks of rock and an unearthly glow illuminated the world as functions and sparks flew. I nodded at Jun and summoned my huge hydra, waited for her to clamber up on top of its head, and shifted my weapon into a spear.

{Be ready to run.} I warned as my hydra set to climbing the cliff with startling speed. {People like saying the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but you can easily have a triangle of hatred.}

Jun snorted and tapped the side of her gun. {I’m more than aware. What’re the chances that this is a group of Addia’s chosen?}

I shrugged and swept my spear through the air four times. The slashes hovered in the air, and oil coursed through my armor in a burst that sharpened every aspect of my being.

{I guess the fire does look like Inopsy’s.} I said without much confidence. {But I don’t remember any of her chosen having light functions.}

My hydra let out a bellow of triumph and hauled itself over the cliff, rock shifting under the titanic mass of oil and scales. The fighting didn’t dull in the slightest, but as I scoured the forces, I couldn’t find a single suit of armor that I recognized. Heat and light burned through the area, warping and twisting the very air around us. A cold hand of grim anticipation gripped my heart as memories flashed before my eyes.

{Glow-moss.}