“What is it Vim…?” Martin asked.

He stood beside me, with Tressi’s daughter on my other side. We were alone up on the deck of the boat’s stern, staring out at the open ocean behind us. It was the very early hours of morning, right as the sun peaked over the horizon to our east. The kind of early that, thanks to being out on the open ocean, allowed one to see a lit up world and a dark one opposing it, since the sun’s light hadn’t reached that section yet. Darkness.

Or at least, that was supposed to be what we saw facing west.

But the west right now was brighter than the east.

Far off in the distance, a bright pillar of light was illuminating the still dark world. It was so bright even the clouds looked see-through, and the ocean was glimmering something fierce thanks to the distortions it made. The light was not natural, in any shape or form, and was the same shade and shimmering of a saint’s eyes. The same glow from within a monarch’s heart.

Unmistakable.

Damn Light and all her kin. Had she known? If she had she should have said something…

My jaw was tense as I calculated the distance. Not just from the ship to the light, but the ship to the shore.

We were still a day away, even with the rear sail fixed. And that didn’t include the fact that it would take them several days to disembark the ship, since they’d have to port off distance without a proper docking point. They’ll have to use smaller boats to shuttle everyone, and the stuff they carried, to shore.

But… in theory such a thing shouldn’t matter. Since I should be killing the monarch being summoned right now before it had a chance to harm them in any way.

Yet this was no longer just a monarch was it…?

“Vim…?” Fressi grabbed my sleeve; her rough voice sounded concerned… but if it was because she understood the situation or had simply overheard Martin’s worried voice and thus was now worried too, I couldn’t tell.

I gently patted the young duck on the head to reassure her. “All will be well,” I promised her. Then I turned to look at the stoic knight who looked as if he was seeing a ghost. “Martin, that’s the monarch. I’ll take one of the smaller rowboats and head out there before it has a chance to get too close,” I said to the knight.

“Um… sure? I hope you’re not going to ask for any help, I’m not really sure what I’d be able to do out in the ocean like this…”

“It’s fine. Keep the ship on course. I suggest, unless I show up and tell you all is fine, that when you make landfall you focus on getting everyone off the ship first and to a safe distance. You can worry about material goods once it’s safe to do so,” I said.

Martin nodded and sighed. “Many won’t like that, but I agree.”

It doesn’t matter what people like.

The bright light began to dim, and with it doing so I began to grow anxious. I should have leapt overboard and started swimming towards it the moment I had seen it.

If it was finishing then I needed to hurry. Gods could only cast their spells one at a time, and summoning a powerful monarch as they had obviously just done took a lot out of them. But how I’d get my hands on a god who was likely floating high in the sky over the ocean, I wasn’t sure yet…

“Vim…!”

We turned to watch Pleck hurry towards us. She wasn’t wearing a robe, but instead just shorts and a loose shirt. Not the kind of outfit one should be wearing in the cold morning on a ship like this, where the ocean spray occasionally doused those on deck. But I knew it was because she’d just jumped out of bed, she had been asleep.

“A prophecy?” I asked as I stepped towards her.

Her glowing eyes were bright. Far brighter than normal as she quickly shook her head. “No…! But I just felt something terrible and…” she then went silent as she finally noticed the beam of light off in the distance, and Martin had to step forward as she nearly fell to her knees in shock.

“No…!” Pleck screamed at the sight, which told me even from this distance she could feel the divinity.

“Alert everyone, prepare for the worst. I’m going,” I said as I stepped away. There was no point standing around on the deck watching people shout in confusion any longer.

I hurried down the stairwell and headed for starboard side of the ship where one of the smaller boats was fastened. I first checked to make sure there were oars within it, and then undid the pulleys to let it begin falling to the ocean. As I undid the smaller boat, lowering it to the ocean with pulleys and ropes, the main deck began to grow noisy as people started emerging from inside the ship. The pillar of light in the distance was fading, but it was doing so slowly. Methodically. It wasn’t like a candle being snuffed out by a harsh gust but instead a slowly dying ember. The light alone would have drawn such interest, but since everyone on board knew full well that they had been prophesized to be sunk and killed by a monarch… well…

“Protector, what is that…!” someone shouted worriedly nearby.

“The monarch. Stay aboard. Don’t panic. Stay alert, I’ll handle it,” I said as I finished readying the smaller boat. It had been lowered completely, but the little ropes it was connected to via the pulleys were connected to little metal bracket hooks. Which meant I’d have to clamber down there and unhook it from the boat itself. Which wouldn’t be a big deal, but then someone would have to pull the ropes back up else they’ll get tangled up in the other nearby mechanisms and the ropes for the sails…

“I’ll do it, Vim. Get going.”

I turned and nodded to Kapni, the old fox. He had a stern expression which told me he knew exactly how much danger they were all in.

Wasting no time I leapt over the railing and down to the boat below. It made a loud splash with me landing in it, but didn’t sink or break since I had been careful. I quickly undid the ropes, and then pushed off against the ship’s side and grabbed the oars.

They weren’t as thick or wide as I had hoped, so as I went to rowing I made sure not to do so too strongly. Didn’t need them snapping on me.

Although not able to use much strength, I still quickly grew the distance between me and the ship. And not just because it was sailing the other way. The little boat was not really a sea-faring one, meant only to help shuttle people and goods to the ship when it was docked, but it was still better than a simple canoe or something found in rivers and lakes. I quickly picked up speed, mostly thanks to the lack of choppy water, and headed for the pillar of light that was quickly disappearing.

A newly born monarch. Although weaker ones were feeble and small when first born, there were methods around that. It was what separated First Born monarchs from the typical ones. They were created into existence not as children needing to grow, but full-grown and fully ready for battle.

I had no misconceptions here. I highly doubted this one was going to be like Stance’s creations. That light had been far too bright. Too big. Too obvious.

This was a real monarch summoning. Not some half-baked one done for amusement, or an attempt suffering from a lack of ability and strength thanks to a corrupted and broken mind and body.

I was about to fight something akin to Miss Beak. Or rather her parents. Something I’d not had to face in… well, since before the Society.

And that didn’t take into account the monarch’s creator.

Really. How was I going to fight a god while out at sea like this? Usually during such moments I had assistance. Either in the form of Miss Beak and her wings, or war fleets, to use as platforms for the battle, or even little islands.

“Should have brought my spear,” I groaned as I rowed.

I’d left it with Renn because I had worried for them. Lilly had told me in private that without that spear they might not have been able to beat that monarch they had faced without sacrifice. And with Renn seemingly getting so involved in the fate of the world, in prophecies and whatnot, I feared leaving them defenseless.

Of course I wasn’t foolish enough to think a single spear, even the one my mother had created, would be able to save them from something like a god… but it was better than nothing. Armor did not save a soldier on a battlefield from bullets or arrows, but it increased their odds of surviving by many fold when compared to having none.

Yet there was no denying that having that spear would have made this upcoming battle a lot easier…

“Should have had mother made two,” I said as the sun started to rise fully. I wasn’t facing the pillar of light, rowing the way I was, so I was instead facing the sunrise. I could see the ship still, though it was now a small speck on the horizon.

Had I already gone that far…?

“Hello Vim.”

I stopped rowing.

Looking up, I heard and felt one of the oars snap and break in my grip… as I stared up at a man. One standing a few dozen feet above me, standing in the air.

Although I’d stopped rowing, the boat kept floating onward. It still had a lot of momentum. Yet even with me moving at a good pace, the god didn’t get left behind. Although standing still, visibly, he stayed right above me. Keeping pace.

The man was broad shouldered. Wore something like a cape, though it didn’t flap in the wind… and I knew who he was.

Standing up, I dropped the oar I hadn’t broken into the boat. The one I’d broken was now floating somewhere on the surface of the ocean behind me.

“Havoc,” I greeted a god I had once torn in half.

“Hm… Can I land on your boat, so we can talk?”

My eye twitched, but then I glanced down a little… and saw the ship still. Still within range. Still there on the horizon. Likely less than five miles away.

“You can,” I decided, though I didn’t move from where I stood.

Havoc slowly floated downward, and then stepped down onto the other side of the boat. It rocked a little heavily with him landing upon it, and he had to extend an arm to steady himself.

“Before you laugh at me, I’ve not stepped on a boat in over a thousand years,” Havoc said as he slowly bent down to sit.

“What do you expect when you defy the natural order so much? You rely too much on your crutches,” I said.

He chuckled at me as he nodded. “That I do. We do. Can’t deny that…”

By my parents it really was him. That laugh, that chuckle, had been unmistakable. He had laughed like that before I had ripped him apart last time too.

Havoc relaxed a little now that he was properly seated… and then he looked up at me and smiled. “Thank you for not attacking me on sight, Vim. Really.”

“I’d not thank me just yet…” I said.

He nodded, but still smiled. “Maybe… but still.”

“Where’s your new monarch?” I asked with a small glance to the sea around us. I didn’t feel its presence. Either it was distant, or far… far below. With one as strong as I expected it to be, I usually could sense such monarchs from quite a distance. From miles away, sometimes.

“Coming. I uh… well, I made a mistake. I summoned it in the ocean, and displaced a lot of the water around it as I did. A giant whirlpool had formed because of it, and it got stuck in it for a moment,” Havoc said.

“Tormenting your creations from the moment they’re born are you?” I asked, disgusted.

“I’d not meant to do it, Vim…”

Sure. “So? What is it you wish to say?” I asked.

Havoc held my gaze, and nodded gently. “I’ve come to… find out if you killed Stance.”

“I had.”

Havoc blinked. Heavily. And then he looked down and sighed. “I see…”

“He had been creating monarchs. Ones that were harming innocents,” I said.

“You need not justify your actions Vim. Your birth does that well enough…” Havoc shook his head and raised a hand, speaking gently… and then took a deep breath. “I just wish you hadn’t. We had… needed him.”

We…? By my parents there really were a bunch of them, weren’t there?

How had they hidden all this time from me? And why now, after nearly a thousand years, were they finally showing themselves again?

“Then you should have found him before I had. He had been searching for you,” I said.

“Yes. He had been. But…” Havoc hesitated, and I knew he had been about to say something he didn’t want to tell me. I debated beating the information out of him, but knew if I just… waited then…

The god then looked up, at the sky. I didn’t follow his gaze, and instead studied he himself.

It really was Havoc. He had a thin beard, one he obviously kept clean and tailored. His hair was shorter, and like most gods he looked utterly healthy and clean. Not a speck of dust was upon him, nor was there a single blemish upon him. He had typical clothes that a god wore, though that cape was odd. It looked like a large rain jacket, but seemed to have a purpose beyond just clothing. Was it some kind of armor, maybe? It moved oddly when he did, as if it wasn’t real. As if it didn’t obey the laws of physics, as if gravity didn’t affect it at all.

And most importantly he was in one piece. I wasn’t too surprised to see it, since when I had ripped him apart his upper half had been taken by his fellow gods… but I had back then been hoping the damage would have been enough.

Obviously it hadn’t been. Which meant this time I’ll need to do more than just tear him into two.

“So… I’m here to make a deal with you, if you’ll hear it,” the god then said as he looked back down at me.

“I’ve never been one for deals,” I said simply.

“No. But I have a feeling you’ll be interested in this one.”

I felt teeth stress and crack under pressure as I clenched my jaw for a moment, and then briskly waved at him to go ahead and tell me what it was.

Havoc nodded back… and then lifted a hand and swiped it in the air. He made a few motions, and then extended his other hand forward… palm open and wide, as if to display something.

And then a haze appeared. One so familiar to me that it forced me to push aside memories of my father. He had used a similar spell to teach me since he had not the skill mother had to do it without such tricks of light. The mist-like haze emerged from his hand, flowing upward and outward… until there was a large circular area floating over his open palm. The thick haze was see-through, but only to a point. And then, like from a distant projector or light source, an image appeared within it.

The boat shifted as I saw a wagon. A covered one. On a brick road, one being pulled by two horses and by the looks of it, entering a city.

“Before you outright attack me, I’m not threatening her. Not yet, anyway,” Havoc said.

Yes. That was Renn sitting on the front of the wagon. Next to Lilly. She looked happy; talking to Lilly about whatever topic had them seemingly so enthralled. Even Lilly looked like she was enjoying it, which said something since it looked like they were surrounded by people. They were either already in Telmik, or entering it from one of the gateways. It looked like they were waiting for something, maybe to be given authorization to enter the city.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

I couldn’t see Merit and Lellip, who should be with them, but the image only really showed the front half of the wagon. And only a few feet around it. They could be on the other side of the wagon, or inside or behind it.

“Hard not to see it as a threat,” I said stiffly.

“I know. But, honestly… I swear on your parents, I don’t mean it that way. Not myself, at least.”

“Then who?” I asked. The group he represented maybe? Or was a part of?

“About two dozen of us survived your genocide, Vim,” Havoc said. He hadn’t stopped his spell; Renn and the wagon were still visible. She was now talking to an armored guard, verifying she was in Telmik. That was their emblem on his chest.

“That many?” I asked, a little embarrassed to hear so. How’d I let that many escape me this long?

Havoc scoffed. “Considering we arrived here with almost two thousand, I’d not sound so crushed over hearing so. Listen… the survivors have split into two groups. One still wants to go home, the others don’t.”

“And which side do you belong to…?” I asked carefully.

“I want to go home, just as I always have, Vim,” he answered with a heavy voice.

Well… “I can respect that,” I said. Having that same desire for thousands of years, and even after all I’ve done to him…? Yes. I could respect that level of dedication very much.

“I’m sure you can. That said, thanks to Stance waking up and broadcasting his thoughts so wildly, your little secret is out now,” he said.

“What…?”

“I don’t know what was wrong with him. But he woke up one day and just… started sending everyone his thoughts. What he saw. What he heard. It was annoying. So annoying we… or well, most of us at least, started to block him out. We put up barriers to save us from his incessant mind of chaos. Well, just so happens a few of us hadn’t done so. Or at least, hadn’t done so constantly. A few had been keeping an eye on him, I guess… and well, noticed something.”

“Renn,” I whispered.

He nodded. “Quite a weakness, Vim. Though I can understand it. You’ve thought we’ve been gone all this time. At least, so I assume. So you finally let your guard down. Finally relaxed,” Havoc said as he shifted his hand and the image too shifted. It went from overlooking the wagon to a close up on Renn’s face. The wagon had begun to move again, having been given permission to enter Telmik, and she was giggling at something Lilly had said.

Her utterly adorable smile did not ease me in the least.

“So…? Either threaten me already or let me kill you,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Hardly, Vim…” Havoc scoffed and snapped his fingers. The misty image disappeared, and he waved his hand to clear the air of the mist that was now floating wildly all over. “I’ve come to bargain. As I said.”

“Bargain then.”

Havoc nodded and gestured at himself. “I want to go home. As does the group I belong to.”

“Some bargain. You know I can’t give you that. You ask for the impossible. That’s not any kind of negotiation in good faith.”

A thin smile formed as he nodded. “I know. But the other side, the other group… well…”

Well…? Well what? “Just get to the point, Havoc.” My mind was half a moment from slipping into pure rage; I wasn’t in the mood for this.

“If I gave you their location. The others who have been sabotaging us, I’ll guarantee that none of the others ever find out about her.”

The boat went still.

Utterly still.

Havoc shifted and glanced around with just his eyes, not moving his head. His eyes narrowed when he realized the sea had just gone absolutely still.

No waves. No currents.

Not even wind.

“Explain,” I whispered.

He looked back at me, and then with a small gulp he nodded. “Only I and one other know about her. I’ll never reveal who it is, or where they are. As you know, since we’ve been hiding all this time, you’ll never find them. But they will let everyone know of Renn, her location and her importance, unless…”

“Unless I kill… what? Those who don’t want to go home anymore?” I asked.

He nodded.

“This makes no sense. Why not just reveal their location to me in a more natural way? Lead me to them? You’d need not threaten me like this.” Not to mention all the other flaws in this plan. Why would I even abide by it? Did he think my love for Renn would be enough to control me like this? Did he not think I didn’t know they’d just kill her anyway, even if I obeyed? Did he not think I’d just expect more orders and commands later on and eventually be forced to disobey anyway…?

I loved Renn. Dearly. I’d die for her and more. But I would not allow that love to be used to control me in such a way. I’d sooner kill her myself than allow such a thing to happen. Even if I did allow it, and bend the knee to such a threat, all such a thing would do is corrupt that love. Invalidate it. Make it hollow. Doing such a thing would just end up ruining the relationship, inevitably.

And that was not to say the least to the fact that Renn herself would not permit it.

The moment she learned I was, or would potentially, allow someone to control me in such a way thanks to such a threat would just result in her doing something drastic to put an end to it.

Even if I was willing to sacrifice the world for her, I’d still lose her in the end. So there was no point.

This was a losing situation for me, no matter what happened.

“Because we all live together, Vim. If I revealed to you their location, I’d be revealing my own and those alongside me,” Havoc then said.

Ah… well, that made sense and answered that question at least.

If I found them I’d just start slaughtering them. I’d not wait in the least or care who was who. So him doing it this way, so off-handedly, at least made a little more sense in that context.

“And… why would you want me to kill them? After all this time? Haven’t you been trying to keep each other alive in hopes of finding another method to go back?” I asked.

“They’re sabotaging our attempts, Vim. And the only reason I’ve even figured it out is thanks to the same reason I know of your wife.”

Stance. “How did Stance even…?”

“Go insane? I have no clue. He had attempted a spell a few hundred years ago that sent him into a coma. He woke up and was all broken. Probably his own doing,” Havoc said.

“And I take it he had been on the side that no longer wants to go home,” I said. In his broken mind he must have told those like Havoc secrets he’d been keeping all that time, not realizing what he was doing.

He nodded. “Yes. That’s how we figured out what they’ve been doing for years. Hundreds of years, even!” Havoc’s voice grew louder as he clenched his fist. “You slaughtering us, stopping us from what we need to do, is at least understandable… You have a just reason for it. But them? Those two-faced fools have been poisoning us all this time! While living amongst us and…!” he went quiet as he allowed his rage to flow through him. He released a deep breath, through clenched teeth, and shook his head. “Betrayal is one thing, Vim. As I’m sure you know. But this is more than that. They’ve been living amongst us, some of us forming relationships and more, and all this time they’ve been manipulating us. Our world. Our goals and hopes. I’ve never wished you on any of them, but now I wish you had gotten more of them,” he said.

I smirked at him, since even though I didn’t believe this little negotiation or deal at all… I firmly believed in his rage. His hatred. His disgust.

It was very real. “Then why are you upset I killed him?” I asked, pointing out an inconsistency in his words.

“We could have used him for proof. Real proof,” Havoc said.

Ah. That meant there were members amongst his group that didn’t outright believe or agree with him. Likely because, like he said, only a few people had been paying attention to Stance’s ramblings. It was hearsay, basically.

“Sounds like a personal problem to me.”

“Ah… it is… I’ll not deny it. And even more so I cannot deny that neither I nor the rest of us can do anything about it. Thus my coming here to you,” he said with a point at me.

My eyes narrowed at that. “You speak as if this other group is… what? Powerful? So much more to the point you don’t even dare to face them openly?” I asked.

He nodded.

Well that wasn’t something I wanted to hear. “So… what? I kill this other group, and you vow to leave Renn alone? Is that what you’re offering?” I asked.

He nodded again.

“I’m sure you can see why I can’t trust you on this,” I said carefully.

“Of course not. But my alternatives are extremes I can’t risk. So here I am.”

Feh. I shook my head and glanced away from the stupid god. I checked the distant horizon, under a rising sun, and was glad to not see the ship any longer.

“Really, Vim. I’m being serious. If you agree to this, I’ll guide you to where we all live. Where we’ve been for over half a millennia. Only under the agreement that you only slay those I tell you to.”

What a stupid scheme. For all I knew he just wanted to gain power and leadership over his group or something, and was going to use me to cull those he couldn’t force to obey. Or it was just a trap to get me to go wherever they all were. A place they’ve been for hundreds of years…? Yeah sure, I bet that place was definitely not riddled with traps and spells. Even if they hadn’t cooked up something in our thousand year war that could defeat or seal me away didn’t mean they didn’t finally do it another thousand years later.

“You’re threatening me over a woman who will be dead of natural causes in the blink of an eye,” I said stiffly.

“That doesn’t work, Vim. I know damned well how precious even just a few years can be, you can’t use that against me.”

Probably right. “And how do I know you’re not just going to betray me afterward and kill her anyway?”

“And risk your wrath? We’ve been hiding from you all this time Vim not out of some fancy spell or scheme, but thanks to an anomaly. Once I reveal the where and how, it will never work again on you,” Havoc argued.

Possibly. “And if you so desperately still want to go home, to the point you’re willing to allow me to slaughter a handful of your precious survivors… why should I not find that to be conflicting? You need every ounce of mana to open your gate, yet you’d let me cut that reserve in half?” I asked.

“I would when it’s because of that half that we’re not already home, yes.”

Hm…?

I studied Havoc’s eyes, and the seriousness in them. That had not been some scheme or ploy he had just said, but his honest truth.

“You’ve found a way,” I whispered.

He nodded.

“Then why?”

“Why haven’t we left yet? Why haven’t we just done it? Because of them, Vim. They’ve been sabotaging us.”

I didn’t like the fact that I believed him.

Going home had been their whole goal. Everything all of them had wanted. To the point they had been willing to conduct terrible experiments and to even torture lesser life forms in such vile ways that even amongst their own members there had been suicides from the guilt.

For a group of such people, of survivors of my genocide against them, to actually actively sabotage a viable way for them all to finally return home… It led me to believe they likely were doing so for good reason, as hard as it was to believe it.

“Yes. If you do this for me then shortly after we’ll be gone. The rest of us will leave. We’ll go home. All of us. Leaving you and the rest to this world without quarrel,” Havoc offered.

So… they had found a solution to the mana problem. Or at least, a method around it.

And… there was a group who was impeding it from working.

But why…?

Even if the method had been terrible. Even if it risked destruction of the whole world and all its inhabitants, I couldn’t see that as being justification for them to interfere with it. They’d already been willing to go to such lengths before, after all.

So…

“I’m threatening your wife. I know. But what else could motivate you? What else could stay your hand? Can’t you see? This is fate. Stance reveals the truth thanks to his insanity and in doing so revealed your weakness. At just the right moment for this to come to pass. For this agreement to happen. If you are willing to agree to this, and do what I ask of you, this will all be over. Seven deaths. That’s all I ask of you. Kill seven more of us, and then let the rest of us go home. And never again will you ever have to see, hear, or think of us or us you.”

Seven. Just seven…? Yet he had said a few dozen earlier. Even if Stance had been included in that, the numbers were off.

If Havoc and his group were the larger in number, even if those seven were the stronger… I couldn’t comprehend how they were having so much difficulties they needed to resort to using me this way.

Unless…

“I’d not turn down an opportunity to kill one of you, let alone seven,” I said simply.

Havoc smirked and scoffed. “No doubt. So…? Do we have a deal?”

No. But did I want to risk not playing along?

There was no denying the risk to Renn… and thus too everyone else around her. Around me.

But that risk was now guaranteed. Whether I agreed or not to this stupid deal, Renn’s life was now on the ledge, and until I found and killed every last one of these bastards that was how it always would be.

Yet…

“How long have you been watching me?” I asked carefully.

Havoc scoffed. “Tracking you used to be near impossible. But ever since you’ve dedicated your time to that non-human society, it’s been easy to monitor you. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to speak to you since a few days after you killed Stance, but I had to wait until it was outside the sphere of observance.”

I shifted a little as I understood his meaning. “You waited until no one else would notice us meeting,” I said.

He nodded. “I summoned the monarch for the obvious reason. To attack you and keep you at bay if you chose not to talk to me. I’ll unsummon it once you let me go.”

Studying him, I wondered how much I could believe.

I knew none of it was true. But there had to be a way to find the truth by dissecting what he’s saying and doing. But did I have time to do so?

I mean…

He was here.

Now.

In front of me.

Not within arm’s reach, but that could be fixed rather easily. And although I knew he had a very powerful monarch, just waiting to attack me on his order, it wasn’t close enough to stop me in time. I couldn’t sense it, which meant it was deep beneath us. Maybe even on the ocean floor.

Renn’s life would be in danger if I killed him… but at the same time letting him go wouldn’t outright fix that. If anything killing him here and now would bring her closer to safety. One less god was better for everyone, not just her.

And now I knew that I was being monitored. I wasn’t sure to what level, though.

He had said only he and one other knew of Renn. Which wouldn’t make sense if they’d been actually monitoring me this whole time. Anyone watching the two of us, especially when we were alone, would be able to tell how close she and I were.

Which meant they were monitoring me, but not in a very direct way. Or at least, hadn’t been the last few years… It was possible, I suppose, that no one had been watching closely lately. Since for the last few hundred years I’d been basically doing the same thing over and over. Going to the same places, traveling around the Society… maybe after my life had become somewhat routine they had simply ensured I was still doing what I was doing but hadn’t watched any closer than necessary. And then with Stance’s death and him noticing and seeing… Or well, odds are it wasn’t that Stance had noticed Renn but instead with his death and I the one granting it to him, the others had started paying more attention. And while doing so had noticed Renn that way.

Stance’s arrival, and my killing of him, had put these events into motion. Which meant Havoc’s offer, even if a hundred percent genuine, wasn’t worth the spittle speaking of it gave. It meant eventually others will notice Renn no matter what. It was an inevitability. Even if it took years, eventually the other gods who monitored me would pay a little more attention at some random time and see the truth.

Which meant there was no reason to agree, other than by doing so I’d get to possibly learn of this location where they’ve been hiding out this whole time…

“I don’t want to harm your wife, Vim. I really don’t. I just want to go home,” Havoc then said.

My finger twitched, and I bit back some words.

They always said such things. Twisting their words in a way to make people believe their lies.

They had said similar back then too. When they had killed my parents.

“I kill those seven. You leave,” I said.

He nodded quickly. “Without hesitation. And I vow we’ll leave her alone.”

“How long will it take you?” I asked.

“To open the gate…? A few years at most,” he said with a frown. His shoulders had softened a little. He was no longer tense. Calming down.

He thought I was about to agree with him.

And why wouldn’t he? My entire existence, everything I was and am, was dedicated to their slaughter. He wouldn’t have shown up this way, getting so close, if he had not believed highly that I’d agree to it. And in truth, in the past, I likely would have. Because I wouldn’t have cared about the details. I’d have focused on the seven lives I’d be able to end, and the possibility of grabbing a few more in the process as I did.

“And if I required you to let me watch? To oversee your return home? To ensure you do as you say you are?” I asked.

Havoc actually smiled. A big one. “Done,” he agreed.

I did not like at all how quickly he had agreed to that.

“The rest will agree too?”

“They will. I’ll ensure it.”

I shifted as I felt a heart beneath me. It moved quickly, and was not close by. The monarch, his monarch, had just swam past. I focused on it for a moment, and then felt it turn to the left, and begin circling us.

Damn thing was strong. Like usual Havoc was no pushover. The man was a fool in certain ways, but when it came to his creations he was nothing but a perfectionist and it showed.

“Destroy your monarch, and we can talk further about this,” I said after a moment, taking a chance to see if it’d work or not.

“Deal,” Havoc instantly lifted a hand and went to do as I had asked. My heart thumped heavily for a few moments, apprehensive, as I watched him manipulate the world around us. “You know if you helped we might even be able to get the gate open faster, Vim! Might not even take a year at all if you did, and…” Havoc began to ramble happily as he swiped at things I couldn’t see. Then, with a final gesture of a waved hand… I felt it.

Or rather, I stopped feeling it.

“Done. It’s dead. Or gone, I mean,” Havoc said with a nod.

Yes. It was. I no longer sensed it, and it had been close enough that I knew it hadn’t just disappeared or something. The feeling of its heart had been strong and noticeable, and now it was nonexistent. It had happened instantly.

I nodded. “Okay… um… should we talk here or…?” I started to ask as I stepped backward, pretending to look around.

“I know it’s annoying but we can’t go back to land. The others have their own network of observing spells all over it, so we’ll have to,” Havoc started to explain as he started to stand, either to join me in standing or to do something else. He had started to lift a hand, maybe to make an island or something for us to talk on.

But I never got to know what he had planned to do, for I stepped down hard with my back foot.

Hard enough to cause the boat to flip. The side I was standing on went downward, into the sea, and the side Havoc was on went flying upward, and he with it.

With the ship going vertical, I was able to easily reach out and grab the god by the leg. Not his pants. Not his cloak.

His leg.

“Wha…!” Havoc shouted out in a startle, completely caught off guard… and I squeezed and pulled.

With all my might, as the boat dipped straight down into the ocean and sank, I pulled Havoc close to me. I tore off his leg right as I grabbed him by the throat with my other hand.

I thought of Renn as I stopped his airflow. I thought of her bubbly smile I’d just seen, as she talked to Lilly… and steeled myself.

“This time I’ll tear you into many tiny pieces,” I said as we both fell into the ocean, and I began to tear him limb from limb.

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