Cereza smiled softly to Kye, then looked at Pyro. "It should be more than enough for us." She replied. "Thank you." She bowed her head slightly to Pyro.

Pyro chuckled, "Wanted to build it big enough for your whole pack in case you needed to find some place to defend during a siege, always thinking ahead......."

While they spoke, the tree which Grevian had grown began to spread its roots along the walls, and created two floors to the house, both approximately nine feet high, Pyro had misjudged his cuts into the mountain.

Kye looked to the tree, "Now isn't that a miraculous power you don't see every day?"

Cereza looked at Pyro. "That's a good thing to do." She said to Pyro, in retort to using the mountain as a kind of panic room, if needed. She then looked at Kye. "I didn't know anyone could harness the power of the earth like that."

Kye chuckled, "Well, that's what happens when you piss off the wrong wiseman of a tribe in the northern forests, they curse you, my brother had natural talent before, but now....well.....he can take that form for extreme feats, and for traveling, but he also has a flesh form, he's less weak to fire, but his natural abilities aren't as potent, still, they're strong either way......and he's my older brother.......actually, I've quite the set of siblings, if you ever wish to talk about them.......which reminds me, do you have any siblings?"

Cereza looked at Kye, as her ears twitched. "I have two older brothers." Cereza replied. "I don't remember much about them, all I know is they left...as part of the lone wolf thing, they wanted to do. One is mated to an Alpha in a pack far to the East, and my other brother...we don't know what became of him."

Kye tilted his head, "I see.......maybe I could go looking for him someday with you.....your brother that vanished......another of my brothers is an excellent tracker........you can't hide from a reaper, as they say........."

"I'd like that." Cereza smiled softly, then pressed her nose on Kye's nose.

Kye felt his blood stir whenever she pressed her nose up against his, "Then we'll make sure to do so very soon......I warn you though, Reap's a bit.....cold......not just in how he acts around people, but, if you approach him, no matter how warm you are, you'll feel as though all the warmth has been drained from your bones, that's a consequence of his blood....which, you don't ever wanna get on you, its explosive........when exposed to heat............"

Cereza kissed Kye gently. "Then I will have to take care when using fire then; won't I?"

Kye nodded, "Yep, though luckily, as long as his blood stays in his body when heat strikes it, it won't blow up, he tends to use his blood when someone really won't go down, he's also close friends with Grimm......also known as the Grimm Reaper........."

"You're family is so interesting." Cereza said with a smile on her face. "I look forward to meeting everyone in your family."

Kye pressed a single finger against his mouth, "Hmm, I don't think you've really been aquainted with my brother Grey, nor my niece of my mother, or my aunt, probably not my little sister, knowing her, she'd probably have groped you just for the hell of it.....hmm......I never want you to meet Rave, the little traitor, I'll crush his throat when I see him........umm.....hmm......I'll have to make the list later........"

Cereza smiled and pressed her nose on Kye's nose. "You can invite them when my mother names us Alpha if you wish." She whispered.

Kye nodded, "I'll invite the welcome ones of course, might also invite a few friends too......twill be a great celebration, for sure......hehehehe, then you'll get to see how small I am compared to all my siblings, my mother's even taller than me, she's over six feet high."

serenity looked down
"it was that bad huh?"
she looked back at him after a few moments
"what happened in the battle, who all was involved"


chastity waited anxiously hoping to see maw appear
"please maw, please come out"
she placed her hand on her belly
"we both need you"
she looked up at her father
"how long do you think it will take?""
shr looked back at the portal

Deus sat in the center of three rings. The rings were made of simple smooth stones like those found on a beach, all arranged neatly on the grassy ground. Low light rose a few inches above the stones, creating what appeared to be a somewhat hazy field on the stones and in the air.

"I'm bored...",

Alexis appeared from a white light,
"That is your fault for not holding back... You know full well your abilities are limited outside of Ellundril's barrier",

"Yeah I know...",

"If you had been patient then I am sure Jenny could have thought of a good strategy to take him out without you losing it",

"...",

"The corrupt form may be less restrictive but it relies on dark energies... You know full well you cannot control that form yet...",

"...Understood...".

Grey sighed, "A lot occured......in the end, we may have lost Mawthough, Draklin killed one of our allies through friendly fire, but that's because Friend was using her as a shield.......that's another mark he's going to make.......and I ended up being the least hurt out of everyone..........."

Inferno didn't know what to say.

"Chastity...I'll be honest. By now, Mawthrough's been in there for over a thousand years. He could have gone mad, he could have forgotten who you are, he could have killed himself, he could have-"

"Please."

The portal shimmered.

"Stop underestimating me."

His one wing, black as night, extended out to the side of him like a cape.
His claws, before long and black, had now shrunk to cruel carved gauntlets that looked deadlier than the last ones.
His muscles were much leaner than before, much more efficient looking.

His body was now marked with scars, jagged ones, carved streaks along the previously flawless skin.
His hair looked unkempt, and had been roughly cut, probably with his own claws.
His face now bore a few scars of it's own, as though it had been through years and years of constant pressure - which, in a way, it had.

He looked thinner, older, more lethal as opposed to dangerous, a killer as opposed to a warrior.

But his eyes - the diamond purple that looked at them - hadn't changed. Not one bit.

He looked at Inferno first, his eyes so piercing the archangel had to look away.
"You could have told me."
The unsaid words, the suffering he'd gone through, the loneliness he'd endured, the confusion upon waiting so long, the anger at feeling abandoned, were clearly audible.

Then he looked at Chastity as the portal behind him closed.
He didn't say a word.
He just opened his arms for a hug, almost looking like he was too scared to see if she was real...

serenity smiled
"well im glad you made it out safely"


chastity ran towards maw when he opened his arms, she wanted nothing more then to feel his touch
"why, why did you go into the portal"
she nuzzled her head in his chest
"i was soo worried about you, promise me youll never leave me again?"
she looked up at him
"is he gone?..friend please tell me he is gone"

Grey held his wife's hand, "As long as you and Livia are here, there will be no one to keep me from coming home to you two......no one......I swear it........." He turned her around, and kissed her gently upon the lips.

He didn't say anything for a few moments and just held her close.

"Why did I go into the portal...?"

He looked down at her.

"That's maybe the one thing I never forgot. I couldn't remember after a while... anything... but I never lost track of why I was there."

He smiled.
"I jumped in to make sure you were safe. And that's all that mattered. All that matters."

Then his eyes lowered and darkened.
"Yes... Friend is dead. But he took too long to die. He kept torturing me. Pulling the flesh from my bones, searing my organs, ripping me apart, tearing out my eyes... I kept longing for death, only to find I kept healing. He took far too long to die... and then I was alone."

He closed his eyes for a moment.
"I don't know how long I was in there, but it was too long. Years, and years, maybe a hundred, maybe five hundred. I had only Friend's corpse for company, and even that rotted and became nothing. Sometimes... I saw you. Hallucinated you. Some days I knew you weren't real, some days I called out to you, longing to talk to you, to hear your voice... I forgot my name. I forgot what I was. I forgot, I forgot everyone. I forgot my mother, my father, your father, I even forgot what your voice sounded like. But the hallucinations made sure I never forgot what you looked like. And I never forgot just how much I missed you. How much I wanted to touch you again."

A tear fell.
Then another.

"It was so long... I thought Inferno had refused to bring me back after seeing my message in the Nexus... I thought maybe you couldn't. I thought maybe you'd abandoned me, maybe you'd died somehow after the battle and Inferno blamed me... I thought of maybe you not wanting me back, not wanting a liar, a trickster, a soul stealer... I remembered how I'd taken your soul, Chastity, and I thought maybe - maybe - you had told Inferno not to bring me back. I thought of every conceivable scenario why you hadn't come for me. And I cried... I couldn't help it, I cried...I lay on the floor for hours, days, crying."

He looked at her, the tears now falling freely.
"I can only ask for your forgiveness. I've suffered enough for what I did to you. And I can promise that if you want me, I will never leave you again. You..."

He reached down and placed one hand, the gauntlet retracting to reveal his human hand beneath it, on her belly.
"...and our child. After so long away, I will not leave you again... just as long as you want me. Because there's no hiding it, Chastity - I took your soul and gave you a child to carry. I didn't ask you for any of that, because I knew you would never have let me go. You would have gone with Friend instead, and I couldn't allow that. I couldn't. So, I'm..."

He looked into her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
He closed his eyes again, waiting for her to say something, anything.
He'd taken from her. He'd given to her.

The only thing remaining was to see if she still loved him...

Draklin, within his home base, returned to his original body, and sighed greatly. Days before, he had lost a true comrade, one that could never be replaced. And just yesterday, he had killed an ally. This, in his eyes, was unforgivable, but he had to live on. Taking Rulebreaker from his body, he removed his shirt, and converted the weapon to its dagger form. Next, he recited a set of demonic verses, and as he did, a circle appeared on his chest, which had numerous glyphs carved into it, and around it, and within it. He then began to carve into his flesh, first, carving Occidio's family glyph into it, and then Kiadrad's, so that he would never forgot the loss of those comrades.

serenity kissed him back wrapping her arms around her husband breaking the kiss moments later
"i will hold you to that"
she smiled
"i dont ever want feel lik i did when i thought i lost you when"
she looked down
"those 6 months were horrible"


chastity placed her hand on his and smiled
"just dont do it again ok?"
she looked up at him
"i cant bare to lose you, i love you maw, and im not mad at what you did, you did it to save me, i just wish you wouldnt have gone through the portal and left me to worry about you"
she looked back down at her belly
"you gave me the most precious gift you could have ever given me, even if you had to take my soul, i know you would never do anything to harm me in any way"
she looked over at her father
"tho i cant say he feels the same way, he didnt want to bring you back bu i pleaded with him, and he did"
she hugged maw even tighter with her other arm
"thank you father for bringing him back"

Grey shook his head, "You'll never lose me again.......even if I die, I'll fight the hordes of heaven and hell to get to you and Livia, no one is going to ever keep us apart, you hear me, no one......because I love you so damn much.......you and Livia mean the world to me.......truly....and I don't ever wanna see you sad.........."