Grey shook his head, "I feel like a quick bath first........of course.......if you'd like, you can join me my dear........"

Draklin yelled in anger, "I'm a survivalist.......I'm no one's pet, my name is my own, and no one has a right to command me!!!" He began to generate a portal within himself.

Draklin maintained his stance somehow, "I'm not a simple vampire, nor am I a simple being.....I can't kill mortals unless my life is threatened, don't make me do it!!!"

The blade wavered - then shattered into a thousand fragments.
It then reformed.

"CHASTITY, YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED ENTRANCE TO THE NEXUS. INFERNO, ARCHANGEL -"

The blade shattered again.

"INFERNO, YOU HAVE BEEN -"

"Yeah, I know, come on."

He led Vareesh and Chastity past the statue, looking at Chastity's face a little worriedly.
As they reached the door, he stopped.

"Welcome. To the Nexus."

The door opened wide.


Inside, one thing was the main feature of the huge room within.
And that was the tree.

A great, colossal, endless tree, stretching into the sky higher than could ever be seen - and, through the glass floor on which they stood, they could see roots stretching out down and down to the point where there was no point even trying to follow an individual root.
Branches protruded from everywhere, some gnarled and old, some young and healthy. The tree itself appeared to have no type, different kinds of wood showing throughout the tree's bark.

And carved into the tree's trunk, on the floor on which they stood, was something that could only be described as a throne.
And sat on this throne was a woman dressed in white and green robes, who smiled at them.
She walked forwards to greet them, then stopped upon seeing Chastity.

She leaned forwards and to Inferno's astonishment took the tear from Chastity's cheek.

"How did he describe it? Ah, yes - rarer than diamonds and more terrible than a hurricane," she said softly, examining it.

"Now then, Inferno, Chastity, Vareesh, how may I help you? What is it that you seek?"
She gestured with her free hand to the tree.

"Anything you could wish to know. For a price. But ask, and you shall know..."

Inferno waited for Vareesh to speak first, knowing the lich would want his cut of the deal first...

Draklin felt the Rulebreaker activate once again, "Looks like your Rune isn't stronger than my ancient weapon.........." Instead of shooting the barrier, he fired a shot into the collar, completely obliterating it, "Unlike you creatures, I don't much care for being someone's pet, only mindless idiots would!!!"

Upon hitting Alexis's barrier the beam split in two, one half striking the collar, the other striking the Vampire.

"Naughty Edward, now you have gone and shot yourself..."

Alexis smiled, still approaching the barrier, further increasing its effects,
"I told you, my barrier is similar to the one around Ellundril, who knows what effect it will have for it is an entity of its own"

Fluffy laughed,
"You won't break Alexis's barriers so easily as ours Edward!"

The blast that hit Draklin did nothing, "The Rulebreaker isn't a weapon that can kill, nor can it harm flesh, its meant to destroy barriers and seals, even runes......I'm not surrendering, I'm not putting on a fucking collar, I'm leaving, I'm going home!" Just another two minutes, and the self sourced portal would be ready.

Fluffy put on a sad face,
"But this is your home, Edward..."

Mittens mirrored Fluffy's expression,
"Yeah... and if you leave you might turn into a fish sandwich... then we would not be able to see you again"

OOT: Off to bed, will most likely reply tomorrow

The woman paused.
"For such knowledge... the total price for such a boon would be your sight in one eye, and the inability to regenerate damage done to your physical form on the night of a full moon. In return for this price, all you have asked for would be yours. The most obscure arcane rites lost to time, the tomes in which their dark secrets are written, and in one swoop becoming the greatest expert on the undead the mortal world will have ever known - or will ever know."

She looked at him.
"For such a boon, would you pay the price? I am open to bargaining, do not be afraid to ask..."

Draklin felt the portal activate, and before they could react, combined with the power of Rulebreaker, he vanished from their site, landing in a hotel room within a destroyed building in Colera. "You've gotta be kidding me.......my hotel room was even destroyed........"

Inferno winced - but one look at Chastity told him that no matter what, he'd bear the results of introducing a lich to the Nexus.

The woman smiled.
"Then it is done. From Vareesh, I take, and to Vareesh, I give."

In Vareesh's right eye, the light suddenly died and the iris turned white and milky, blind forever.
On full moons now, too, provided he faced a strong enough opponent he could be trapped temporarily in a salt shaker if the situation called for it.

However, a root from the darkness below slid up through the glass as though it was barely there, tapped Vareesh on the forehead - blasting him with the knowledge he'd asked for - and then split open along it's length, revealing the tomes he'd asked for.

Leaving the lich to marvel and enjoy his new works, the woman returned to Inferno and Chastity.

She was still holding Chastity's tear, and she smiled at Chastity.
"Would you like to know what Mawthrough said? I know that's why you're here, to understand what Mawthrough was thinking when he lied to you, when he deceived you. I will tell you for free that Mawthrough meant nothing of harm to you. I cannot say more, unless you agree to pay my price..."

She cocked her head.
"Will you pay my price to learn the fate of Mawthrough, Chastity? Any price at all?"

Inferno wanted to interfere, but he felt he didn't have the right - so he kept silent...

chastity stepped back a moment and thought
"yes i... i do want to know but... what will it cost me?"
she looked up at the woman


serenity nodded
"i would like that, it would be nice to have a nice hot bath"

Grey smiled, "Truly......" Looking to Livia, he removed his coat, and placed it over her, which she promptly hugged tightly, smiling happily within her own little dream world. He gently helped Serenity up off the couch, without waking Livia, and walked with her to the bath in their new home. It was modeled after their one at home, only a little bit larger. He turned on the hot water, and slipped off his shirt, revealing all the veins of his chest, and that they were bulging due and strained due to his overuse of Omega in order to protect himself.

The woman smiled again, but this time it was a generous smile.
"When I and Mawthrough met, he already agreed on terms for you. And I have already collected payment."

She suddenly grinned, and held up the tear that still shone on the end of her finger.

"Mawthrough convinced me of the value of your tears. Like I said - like he said - more rare than diamonds, and more terrible than hurricanes. He told me that he was going to be the cause of your crying, and that that was a greater pain than anything Friend could inflict upon him."

She stepped back, the tear vanishing from her finger.
"From Chastity, I take. To Chastity, I give..."

A sudden light blinded Chastity for a second - and when it cleared, Mawthrough was standing in front of her.

The only way she could see that he wasn't real was because he was holding an unconscious version of her - a past version of her - in his arms, gently...

Inferno nodded thanks to the woman, and looked at the past Mawthrough.

Mawthrough spoke, his voice echoing around the chamber.
"Chastity, Inferno. If you're hearing this message, that means that what I feared has happened. Friend has taken me back with him, or I took him there. The bottom line being, I'm probably being tortured this very second. Agonisingly, I might add."

He looked at the tree.
"I asked this about Friend, and if we can beat him. Took ten years off my life - but worth every second. I learnt someone would need to drag him back. Seems in this case, that someone was me. I also asked a few other little questions, which I will elaborate on soon."

He looked down at her body, and stroked her.
"Another thing I also learnt - cost me my wing, at some point in the future -" Inferno winced, "is that time actually travels faster in the Nexus - you age faster and faster the longer we stand here. By the time I finish talking to you, you will both have biologically aged a week. Freaky, huh?"

"Any idea what he's going on about?" Inferno whispered in Chastity's ear...

Within a great fortress for Knights, one large enough to hold several thousand troops, and tens of thousands of prisoners, the Knights Council had begun a meeting, something which hadn't occured since Grey and Zigera's birth.

chastity nodded
"i think i do but i want to hear more"
she looked up at maw and her unconscious self waiting to hear the rest


serenity looked at the veins
"what happened, your veins their.."

Grey looked down at his chest, noticing the bulging veins, and a deep pit in his chest, "I see.......despite my new heart.....and despite my control.........overusing Omega......had a consequence.......I think I'm done fighting for a while......if that's okay with you........" His words were faint. He slipped off the rest of his clothing, and quietly walked into the water, his entire body looking like it'd been through hell.

Inferno looked back at them.

Mawthrough was looking up at the tree again.
"Another question I was sorely tempted to ask was, in the final battle with Friend, if I brought you back to help us fight, would you be safe? Would Friend hurt you? I was sorely tempted, Chastity. My other wing... a glad sacrifice in the place of certainty. But... I realised if I made the sacrifice to know, I'd lose more than my wing. I'd lose my faith in you. I'd lose my faith in your ability to fight, to defend yourself. And nothing's worth that.

"I believed in you. I hope that was the right decision. You've done nothing but believe in me, so I can't do anything but the same for you, then."

He looked down at her body.

Then a look of sorrow came over his face.
"Chastity, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for what I'm going to do to you. I'm sorry for what I just did to you, before we came here. I'm sorry for knocking you out, treating you like an infant. But you're not an infant, you're special. We're special. You're my everything. And now, you're more than that to me. But... Chastity..."

He gave a growl of anger at himself.
"I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed at tricking you. I'm ashamed at using your love for me as a way to deceive you. I'm ashamed and I'm full of hate and in a round-about way I deserve every second of what Friend's going to do to me. Because I did more than you think, Chastity. I did more than you think, to you, my..."

He couldn't go on and just started crying.
He was crying over her unconscious body, and Inferno could only wonder what the hell Mawthrough did that was so bad.

"I used... you. I took...advantage of you. I played you. I took from you, something that I had no right to, and gave you something that you had no choice but... to accept..."

He was now on his knees, burying his face in her body, sobbing fit to burst.
Inferno was now starting to feel very, very scared.

"Chastity..." he said quietly.
"What the hell is he talking about!?"

chastity looked at her father confused and scared
"i- i dont... know what he is talking about, but im starting to worry, ive seen him break down before but not like this"
she tried to remember anything that happened but she couldnt
"all i remember was waking up in a field and he said a few things to me, that we would be together..."
she stepped closer to maw forgetting for a moment it was the past him and looked down at him
"what did you do, what did you take and give me thats got you soo upset?"
she kneeled down in front of him to see his face looking at him with concern but scared at the same time wondering what had him this upset
"please tell me"

serenity slowly followed pursuit
"i am fine with that, i actually want to see you rest for a while and spend time as a family "

Cys continued to smile warmly. "The stories of the heat masters, and flame masters are tales still told to this day to the pups of this pack." Cys said, then looked at Cereza. "I'm afraid I cannot speak for any other packs." She added, then looked back at Pyro. "I believe you possibly made a lasting impression on a decent of mine, and when they became Alpha, they greatly changed how this pack's Alphas are chosen." She continued. "You see, both my daughter and myself, lack the ability to set our fur aflame, like the rest of our pack...however, for what we lack, we more than make up for in ability."
Cereza placed her hand on her mother's shoulder. "Perhaps, we can discuss our history later?" She suggested.
Cys nodded her head, then looked at Pyro. "Stay as long as you desire to, you and your family are more than welcome here." She added, then looked at Kye, with a smile on her face. "I hope you guys leave something for me to do." She laughed softly, then turned and walked back towards the pack...dispersing the crowd that had formed.