Marcus d'Lardick cursed as he scaled the cliffs, looking for something else to kill. There must be more gargoyles, or even stoneghasts. Something to vent his anger on. He found a naturally formed cave and marked it in his mental map for later.

 

Blood exile. Did anyone think to tell him he was torturing an informant from Celest? Did anyone actually look over the dossier and accounts which he worked ages on? Nil, they should be grateful he even BOTHERED to do paperwork. No, just 'You did this bad thing, it's not our fault, you are banished.' He knew the Heresiarch was behind it, and swore when he got back he'd remove her head and do unspeakable things to her stump.

 

Climbing back up onto a walkable level of the mountains of madness, he felt a change in the magical air. Above him, on the highest peak, rested the stone citadel. Any allies would go that way, not the alternate method through the Catacombs. Enemies then?

 

Excellent.

 

It was not the first time they had come for him. For some reason, the North always thought because he was exiled that meant he was weaker and incapable of fighting. But Geochemantics was about survival, and resilience, even when you lose everything. They wouldn't know what it was like.

 

Time for some fun.

 

He jumped down effortlessly, landing with a loud thump on a bottom rung of the mountains and seeing figures in the distance. A flash of yellow, and he knew who they were. Something winged flew over his head and dropped beside him. A helmet and armour covered the form of Kalliel, staring at Marcus with stern eyes. He didn't bother with words, just lifted up an ensorceled blade, glowing with white light, and stabbed it through the undead human.

 

Marcus gasped awkwardly as he was stuck to the side of the mountain. He didn't recognise all of the people who followed, but he thought one of them was familiar in some way. The leader held himself with such a haughty and arrogant demeanour, Marcus didn't need to see the regalia he wore to mark him as the Ecclesiarch of the Celestines. "Your time has come, tainted scum. We will bring you into the Light's embrace, and perhaps then you can start to repent for what you have done" announced the Ecclesiarch and Marcus spat in his face. It sizzled against the merian's skin, causing him to cry out and stagger back.

 

The others lunged, and Marcus gripped the sword, launching himself sideways so that skin ripped. As his body healed he punched Kalliel in the face. His nose broke, and Marcus' foot came out in a roundhouse kick that sent the others sprawling. He twisted a valve on the back of his iron tanks and was soon engulfed in smog.

 

Something terrible and winged rose up behind him, grabbing the Geomancer with pale yellow arms and shining with a blinding light. It burnt his undead skin, and he gripped it by the head, crushing the skull like a ripe melon. The other Celestine cried out in horror, and Marcus hurled the archangel to the ground, reaching for his magnum. A blast of yellow light scorched his right arm to nothing, and he roared, filth pump launching a disgusting stream of waste at his attacker. They too were burnt, but the Ecclesiarch had healed himself and advanced on him. They weren't playing about, and yet Marcus felt the power level in them vary a lot. The Celestine was the weakest.

 

Marcus increased the intensity of his fumes, and now it was a thick smog that rolled across the mountains of madness. "Be aware of your surroundings. He is conniving and doesn't play by any rules. We just have to resist his attacks" revealed Kaliel, picking up his sword and looking around carefully. The earth shook violently, and there was a strangled cry, followed by a gurgling sound. Turning as one, the Ecclesiarch and Kalliel saw Tratorria stagger through the smog with a hole in her chest and a line across her throat. Her heart pumped blood out of the wounds, quickening her death, and she collapsed, choking on the breath she couldn't take.

 

"No!" cried Ecclesiarch Torael, rushing forwards to grip the body of his daughter. A scuffle broke out to the left of Kalliel followed by a cry of pain and they turned to see Raphael punching it out with a hazy figure. Kalliel rushed forwards, but the earth tilted violently, throwing him to the ground. He felt Tratorria die and heard Torael's anguished wail just as Raphael screamed loudly. Jumping up and dashing through the smog, he cut off Marcus' arm as it grabbed onto Raphael's. Although the limb fell to the ground, Raphael's arm was still covered in rock, and Marcus jumped back.

 

"Enough of this" growled the Enginseer, and gripped Kalliel's face. Power surged through his body and Kalliel was completely trapped in a statue of stone, body held temporarily suspended. Marcus' arm regenerated itself, red hand and all, the regeneration in his veins pumping around his body. A torrent of water crashed into the Geomancer, but he punched his hand with a fist, a rain of stones falling down with lethal brutality. Raphael darted through it, and the Aquamancer laughed. Then the rock slide caused by the stone rain collided with him. Torael marched forwards, dried tears on his cheeks. He knew she shouldn't have come, but she had wanted to avenge her aunt so much. He knew Salara would never forgive him. But at least he could kill the tainted bastard who had caused so much suffering.

 

Raphael twitched beneath the mountain of rocks and began to manipulate the earth with what elemental magic he had. Slowly he eroded the surfaces around him. At the same time, Torael pointed. power surged and Marcus' skin was blasted off. He staggered back, and the Ecclesiarch stared at what was beneath rotting skin. A rust stained skeleton filled with mechanical parts, a window fused to the bone showing his heart. Still though Marcus stood up, grinning maniacally. 

 

The Handmaiden of Shakiniel took advantage of Marcus' state and struck at him with its sword, cleaving partway through the tainted bones and stopped only by divines resisted iron. Torael launched a blast of yellow light from his symbol, a double edged attack. It scorched the remaining undead skin, and Marcus kicked him in the chest, spinning around and ripping the angel's skin on his rusted spikes. It grunted in pain, and he wrestled it to the ground. "Where are your Supernals now? Ahahaha!" laughed Marcus madly as he pummelled the handmaiden with fists of tainted iron. He gripped its wings and pulled. Skin tore, the handmaiden cried out, and Torael unleashed a massive blast of Divinus energy in Marcus' direction. He was thrown off, landing in a half crouch with her wings still in his hands.

 

"You… you monster!" cried Torael, perhaps wondering if he had underestimated his opponent. Then Kalliel's thrown sword sliced Marcus' head in two, and the human fell to the ground. "Save it. He has no empathy, no pity" seethed Kalliel, and closed his eyes.

 

Marcus' body rotted away, and his undead soul shrugged, moving away into the smog. "He will return, in the meantime, get Raphael out from the rocks."

 

Marcus leant against a rock, panting, and put up all his defences once more. Should he switch skills? No, it would be dangerous, even for him, to do it so soon after switching to Geomancy. Maybe he could have a little bit more fun with it, however, and punched the ground with both hands.

 

The ground around Kalliel and Torael rumbled, and stone walls popped up out of the ground. One shot up, splitting Raphael in half and spraying the ground with his blood. As they looked in horror, Kalliel saw a wall form beneath him and jumped back, separated from Torael by a gigantic stone barrier. As he banged on the wall, Marcus appeared behind the Ecclesiarch, and they met in battle.

 

Yellow light blasted into Marcus' face, and he responded by hitting Torael with his staff, aiming a kick at his lower leg. Torael lifted it and gripped the Geomancer by the shoulders, turning and flinging him to the ground. The symbol flashed once more, but Marcus had gone into the earth, and hands reached up to grab Torael's feet. With a cry, he went into the earth and the Geomancer took him deep through the ground. "I'm going to bury you alive!" laughed Marcus, and left him in a cramped grave, digging back up. The earth parted for him, and he erupted out of the ground, facing Kalliel on his own. The coral staff swept across, bringing a tidal wave of manifested water down upon the Geomancer. A moment later he reappeared behind Kalliel, grabbing his body. The mercenary brought his hands together and slammed them down on the Geomancer's back. He grunted, but spun and then fell back, kicking Kalliel into the air to fall a long way down to the bottom of the Mountains of Madness.

 

Proud with himself, he walked over to finish the Ecclesiarch and saw him erupt out of the ground weakly, covered in wet mud. Yellow light trembled through his body, healing him to perfection, and Marcus just kicked him in the jaw. Flung back, he sprawled near the edge and tumbled down after his friend. It was quite comical really. Stretching his limbs and taking out cures, the Geomancer began to cure himself. Just as he had drunk a few sips of allheale, a figure appeared in front of him. Marcus frowned, not even hearing the figure arrive, and walked forwards.

 

A man sat on his knees in the middle of a circle. He wore an odd suit that was reversed from top to bottom. Trousers filled out his arms while a shirt and jacket hung upside down for his legs. Barefoot, the man was chanting something, drawing within the circle. "Be warned, self-proclaimed Enginseer. I fear not the Taint, nor what you have done to your body" spoke a booming voice that tore through the air. He still knelt down, and Marcus sneered, firing his magnum. A bolt of energy struck the ground at his feet, and Marcus tore at the air. The pentagram shattered and then Marcus was distracted by something to his left. There was a little twinge in his head, and he saw nothing, turning back to his opponent. It was hard to focus, and his eyes seemed to roll slowly in their sockets. "I am Null" spoke his opponent, and Marcus felt something familiar tug at his mind. Infused with the tainted smog and gases he lived in, and having seen the terrors of what the Soulless could give, he pretended to be disoriented, shaking his head. When Null left the circle, Marcus leapt, his entire body crashing into Null's sternum. The Chaosmancer cried out and scratched the Peorth rune sketched onto the glass showing Marcus' heart.

 

Marcus felt the current of magic leading from the rune falter and stutter, madness infesting his mind. Rolling onto the ground, and hearing the hallucinations and insanity that came from a Geomancer's touch with the tainted earth, he just partly saw Null do a manoeuvre with his hands. Feeling the intrusion into his mind, Marcus smiled at the usage of the static behind reality, the nothingness that existed beyond the void.

 

The rune on his forehead glowed brightly and Marcus opened his eyes. Grey whispers and centuries of desolate pain struck straight at Null's head, causing blood to spurt from his nose. He went down on his knees, and Marcus leapt at him. Null slashed the air with his Gnosis gauntlets, psionic claw marks flying at Marcus and only stripping away some skin. Tainted iron resisted the attack, and Marcus punched Null in the stomach.

 

The Geochemist went for another blow but his mind begged for rest, so staggered back instead. His mental configuration, something he had spent ages meditating on, was wrecked, a broken machine causing more damage while trying to fix itself.

 

Both veterans got to their feet at the same time, looking at each other with renewed respect. "They didn't want to pay me. The Celestians, as always, thought they were too good to hang around with someone like me. But Kalliel, he knew of your horror, so footed the bill. I've been meaning to face you, Enginseer. Such arrogance... I will enjoy teaching you a lesson in humility."

 

"You talk too much" muttered Marcus. Slowly they shuffled forwards, watching the other, then a formless shape ambled from the smog, grabbing Marcus' body from behind. The Homunculus latched onto Marcus, and the Geomancer laughed, insanity and whispering voices mixing together to create nothing different. Instead he turned, looking the Homunculus in the eyes, and closed his own. It collapsed into a pool of flesh, the psychic link to Null extinguished. Null whispered once more, and knowledge opened up Marcus' mind. His true name.

 

What had gone before, what had been revealed, and what had been worked. Geochemantics was a skill born from regrets and a bad future, the past forever lost to them. With the true name, given at birth and the first constant about them created, the oldest thing coming along with them as they grew, it reached deep into the part of Marcus that felt regret. Memories of ancient Magnagora and childhood eroded the stone walls of fortitude and chaos. Cogs spun uselessly as the engine of Marcus' mind slowly rusted. Barricades fell under an onslaught of despair and memories, an ocean of runes being dried up as Marcus became more unhinged. He felt the levy break, and then it was too late. He could not stop it, although he tried. Marcus struggled to stand back up, trying to think of runes and protective enchantments, then tried one more method. "You don't know… what you're doing" he muttered quietly, but Null heard him and walked forwards. More whispers filled the Geomancer's mind as Null shook his head, now mixing the soup of Marcus' sanity into a tainted broth of shame and regrets.

 

"I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm making you suffer" replied Null, taking a slight satisfaction in what he thought was Marcus asking for mercy. Slowly he stripped away more of Marcus' sanity, and Marcus cried out, finally feeling the chaos in his mind tear it apart, eradicating what was left. Marcus gave one last message before he lost himself, head bowed as if in supplication or regret.

 

"What comes next is your own fault."

 

There was a great shudder through his body, which confused Null, as usually his opponent would be a drooling vegetable by now. Instead, Marcus just stood still in the harsh winds of the Mountains of Madness, body swaying a little. The Geomancer raised his head, and an ecstatic smile came over his face. The staff was twirled slowly through the tainted air, and Null braced himself. A moment later it was thrown up, spinning around as it went up and came back down again, the bottom of the staff stabbing deep into the Earth. "Let's rock!" yelled Marcus happily, and the earth erupted.

 

Null could find no other word for it as the ground cracked and blasted upwards. Tainted gases released their pressure underneath, poisonous steam erupting as Earth itself seemed to tremble. Marcus laughed, the mountains trembling behind him and collapsing, creating a gigantic rockslide that screeched and rumbled against itself. A tidal wave of rocks and stone came like a horrifying vision of the end, loud cacophonous noises and breaking land a tortured cry of anguish from the elemental plane. A stone wall behind Marcus stopped the worst, but even that crumbled. Marcus was battered, and just laughed, to Null's amazement.

 

The rock slide continued on, threatening to crush Null, and he didn't find it at all amusing. Suddenly the earth gave way beneath them, saving both fighters from certain death. Null tried to orient himself, but now pieces of rock lay suspended around them, everything free falling. A massive chasm had opened before them, and from above it the large cracks made the shape of a Lagu rune. Split by the raw power of unrestrained Geomancy, Null found himself in a completely unpredictable situation. Order returned in the form of Marcus grabbing onto him from above, grinning widely. His skin had been torn and bloodied, flecks of blood flying up behind his head. It was a horrific sight, and Marcus' head butted Null. He felt his nose break, and then felt teeth of iron grip his facial skin and pull up, removing his face to hurl it away. He screamed, and Marcus swung them both into a spin. Null felt himself get sick and nauseous, Marcus just grinning madly throughout the entire thing. He lost all sense of direction, then the impact came. With enough G-forces to force steel apart, his body exploded as it hit the hard ground. The Geomancer was thrown off, covered in blood, and giggled insanely. A few twists of his fingers and his staff returned.

 

Null came back to life and staggered back, trying to run and recoup. The ground opened, and Marcus grabbed Null by the neck. He hurled him to the ground and then brought his foot down. Null rolled away and saw Marcus was still stamping the ground, laughing uncontrollably. What the Nil was going on? He seemed to notice the mercenary now and let out a whoop as he ran forwards. Null kicked him back, sending a chaos butterfly at him with the last of his power. A rock crushed it to nothing, and sent a torrent of boulders which were like gnats to Marcus. "It's a shame my staff cannot do much! So weak, and pathetic, look at it!" laughed Marcus, and hurled it at the ground. It bounced towards Null and then exploded.

 

Null was hurled into the wall by the blast. Ironic, he was being taken apart by a chaotic attack. There was no thought behind the attacks, Marcus was now just a beast. This hypothesis was confirmed when Marcus gripped the ground and broke it. "Let's go on another trip!" Null jumped at him, muscular hands punching what they could. The Geomancer grunted with each hit, not even fighting back. A jaw was dislocated, and an arm was torn off. Marcus punched him in the face with the other hand and strode forwards.

 

"For Gods sake, man, you're missing an arm!" cried Null, forgetting himself, and Marcus just cackled.

 

"I can kill you with just one!" boasted Marcus, and reached down. Null grabbed it, and then saw something in his body tremble. Marcus vomited waste and sewage onto Null, harvested from his own filth pump. "Taste it. Taste my filth pump! Ha!" cried the Geochemist as it went inside his mouth.

 

Null spluttered and gagged, horrified at what was happening. Just before it became too much, Marcus let out a howl of pain, and the sword through his chest glowed. Kalliel was standing a few feet away, panting heavily and with a bloodied lip. Despite the rigorous amounts of healing and regeneration, he still felt sore, but the warrior had unfinished business with the Enginseer. Marcus turned, and Null twisted his mind once more. As if in a seizure he jittered and was thrown off, trembling across the floor.

 

Null went on all fours, coughing out what he had consumed, the horror still fresh in him. This man… was insane. That was what he had meant, and Null had not known what he was doing. Still coughing, he gagged and retched, still feeling the taste. Kalliel popped open a bottle and shoved the contents into Null's mouth. The Firemead potionburnt his throat and cleared his sinuses. It reoriented his mind as the raw heat of the Fire plane cleansed what remained in Null's body. He took a deep drunken breath.

 

"When will you start earning your payment?" chuckled Kalliel, and Null rolled his eyes. Both warriors stood up then, and Marcus followed suit. He shivered and shuddered, mechanics in his body popping and bones creaking as he seemed to contort. Turning around, they saw a nightmarish face of skin and metal.

 

"Owls… owls… two owls, three owls, no two owls… owls… owls… hello, owls. Can I see you twist your heads around?" giggled Marcus, and reached out like a drunk person, hands grasping at the air.

 

"What did you do to him? He's an idiot."

 

Marcus must have heard the comment because a spike was ripped out of his leg and hurled into Kalliel's foot. He yelled, and the pistons in Marcus' legs shot him forwards like a frog. He slammed into both of them and they went through the wall, crashing into the caverns of doom. Or at first it seemed like it, but when they knocked him back, the system seemed to be hexagonal rather than spherical. Kalliel drew two new swords, having left one in Marcus' body, and advanced with Null, who had slammed his gauntlets of flesh together.

 

The Geomancer looked at them, a sly smile on his face. "Did you enjoy my filth, Null? It had been sitting in my body for gods knows how long. Oh, hey, Kalliel, did you give my respects to Raphael and Tratorria?" spoke Marcus, his mind starting to reassert himself but at a slow pace. He should back away, should regroup. He could lose them in the caverns, but, he didn't want to for some reason.

 

"Your tricks won't work on us, abomination. They have passed on, to a good place. One you hardly deserve."

 

"Their souls, yes, but I can still do things with their bodies. Ooh, especially the girl, think of the fun!" Marcus spoke at speed, calling on basic techniques and mind-screws to unsettle his opponent. Just stall. STALL.

 

Kalliel clenched his fists and felt his body vibrate with anger. Tapping both sword tips together, he called upon the power of the Light and charged forwards. The ground gave way beneath him, and Marcus kicked him in the chin. Null hurled a cloud of hexes, and they stuck to his body like bits of wet paper. A cacophony of pain and afflictions rocked his body, but Marcus tapped a rune on his body and the skin shed off, removing the afflictions. Marcus called his staff and threw it into the ground. Null cursed, but instead of the earth exploding like before it just trembled there. Marcus then grabbed the top of it and closed his eyes. "DO you know… why you are fools, gentlemen? Because you came to Earth."

 

On his back, Kalliel picked himself up, swaying a little.

 

"The Taint corrodes, it decays. It is destruction, and corruption. Those who cannot brace themselves for it find themselves weak. Why do you think, as you remain here, you find your minds deteriorating? Why is it, that you are losing your senses, and why is it, you now hesitate and feel fear." Marcus crushed Kalliel's hand as it tried to stab him. The arm came off a moment later and Marcus swung it, backhanding Kalliel with his own limb.

 

"Your minds are not strong enough, gentlemen. Mine was, but thanks to your retard magic, the walls fell. It was all I could do to slowly remember my old teachings. Those years and decades of pouring over the ancient books and writings of Holocho." Marcus paused to breathe in slowly. The Enginseer exhaled, and his body quivered. The staff glowed with a green light, and his bones repaired themselves. The fortress of his mind closed its doors, and he seemed to shake with pleasure.

 

"Transmology. Paradigmatics. Unknown skills, because not even their practitioners know the full secrets. You act like there is some terrible truth, a hidden secret that you take to the grave, but nobody knows about Vortex. You just do what you can with it. How silly, to think your crude flesh magic could go up against the old and impossible art of Geochemantics? Imbued with the ordered structure of knowledge, your nonsense is nothing!"

 

Kalliel used true heal on himself and swept a hand across his cord, embracing the arts of a Sentinel. Time warped around his frame, and the sword he held thrummed with the power of time. Null made his hands and gloves even bigger, two great hammers ready to smash Marcus. On either side, they struck at the same time, Kalliel bringing his sword down just as Null gave a three-tonne punch. Marcus spun, pulled something out of thin air and blocked the sword with an iron shield, his staff halting Null's attack. The shockwave cracked the earth around them, and Marcus grunted. His sword pulled Kalliel's in and thrust it away, allowing Marcus to focus everything on the Illuminatus. Fist hit steel, and his staff sent a cloud of dust straight into Null's face. The shield came across, slicing down Null's arm with jagged edges.

 

While Null healed the Geomancer turned and deflected Kalliel's swing. They traded blows, the two of them just testing the other's strengths with their respective weapons. Kalliel's katana swept through the air powerfully, and Marcus moved the staff like a sword in itself, the end shaving itself to a sharp point. His shield was swept across, slicing off Null's scalp. Shields were meant for stalwart defence and repelling attacks, and Marcus swung it around like it was nothing. He pushed forwards, Kalliel brought the sword in close, and Marcus spat a load from his filth pump into his opponent's face. Kalliel dodged it and head butted Marcus. His metal helm caused Marcus' cranial plate to vibrate briefly, and he sliced an artery on the Geomancer's leg. Marcus went down, and Null punched him in the head.

 

Sprawled on the floor he gasped, jaw dislocated. The two of them stood over him, fury in their eyes. "This is a long time coming" spoke Kalliel, and drew back his sword. Null reached out to hold him in place, and Marcus suddenly lunged forwards, dragging Null into the sword's path. Kalliel didn't stop in time and sliced off his friend's arm. As Null cried out in pain from his limb being removed again, Marcus flung a Gyfu rune at Kalliel's head. It struck at him, but already he was curing it and the Geomancer struggled away through the cavern. He twirled the staff and set up his demesne once more, facing them head on. Lodestones reached out with their magnetic pull and dragged Kalliel's sword down. Despite this, however, he kept it raised, advancing with effort. Null had reattached his arm and they both advanced, again from different sides.

 

Marcus surrounded himself in an octagon of stone walls, sixteen more appearing around that. His power was drained absolutely, but he cracked a powerstone open and absorbed the power. Already he felt it begin to make his body convulse. Powerstones were raw power, for use in crude magics and enchanting. Still, it would be enough. Blood vessels burst and he took out the runes needed for his prophecy.

 

Outside they slammed into the walls, battering one down and finding the inner circle. These were tougher, and Null punched them with his gloved hands. "I can feel the magic inside there, something is going on. We have to stop him" explained Kalliel desperately, wanting Marcus' blood now and pounding on the wall with his shoulder. Cracks appeared, and they both focused on the weak point.

 

Runes popped out of the bag one by one, floating in the air in front of Marcus. The magic generated by their force caused a faint smell of ozone, sharp and tangy in essence. He grabbed some runes and threw them around him, creating a barrier, and reached for five now. He chanted harsh magic, and all five turned jet black. Othala was on the far right, and he made them float in front of him like a pack of five cards spread out. They arrested themselves in an arc above his head, and he saw the first wall start to crumble. Looking up, he took a deep breath, and then spoke with reverence. "I, who has escaped death, now bring it to myself, ready to return finally. Decades have passed beyond when I should have died. Runes of old, I beseech you, draw me into the Fate's embrace" chanted Marcus, and the runes around him started to glow. It didn't matter that he didn't believe the words, but what was important was the state, arrangement and magic hidden within them.

 

Both warriors crumbled the wall, and they saw runes suspended in mid-air. "Come, let those with me embrace the Fates, and carry us all onwards." Above them, the groups of runes spun around rapidly, creating churning energy above Marcus. Null charged, gauntlets changed to an ethereal state. He slashed, trying to get through, and nothing happened. With a growl, he pulled back the gauntlets and channelled the magic needed to cut off floating gems from Hallifax. He cut the psionic links; some runes falling, some remaining. As the two of them focused, Marcus screeched, buffeting the two of them with a cacophony of mix-matched runes. Then the energy exploded, and Marcus died. His body seemed to age a thousand years in a second, iron dissolving and skin crumbling to dust. Only a skull was left, chattering its death, and the runes above it shattered.

 

There wasn't even a scream allowed as a wave of death erupted around the area. Marcus fell to the ground, now a charred husk that turned to dust, drifting on the fierce winds. Kalliel tried to run while Null was too shocked to bother. The Sentinel saw him fall like his heart had been ripped out, then he too stumbled and died. Around them, only death remained.

 

<<>>x<<>>x<<>>

 

Marcus reappeared in Victor's train, the ur'Stone of Cankermore thrumming with power. A gift from his brother, and worth it, although he had lost much. Battered, and beaten, his mechanics malfunctioning, he needed to regroup. Any more thoughts were ceased by his mind shutting down with finality, unwilling to let its host do any more damage. He collapsed.

 

Elsewhere, Null and Kalliel completed their individual paths through the Fates' trial. They mmed and aah'd like always, but finally sent them back. Both were thrown out in front of the portal of fate, and winced. No words needed to be said.

 

On the way to the Aetherplex, they paused. "I was careless. I just... couldn't predict what he was going to do" commented Null calmly, and Kalliel let out a deep sigh.

 

"It's fine. I'm the one who did worse. Once again, I led a group of people on a journey and got most of them killed. Trattoria was a good woman, and kind. Raphael was... taken too soon. We need to have a rematch with him, perhaps even bring down the full might of our cities."

 

"Well, we'll see what he does. He must have other enemies who will be after him, and for now he hasn't got the support of Magnagora. Time will tell what happens."

 

They nodded together and walked back to the Aetherplex.

 

Back home.