My frigid bones wail complaints as I pick myself up, put on a defiant face and sneer down at King in her chair— which may as well be a miniature throne. She glowers right back at me, likely satisfied by my attempt at defiance as much as she tries not to show it— she’s always respected a show of strength, the last embers of a dying fire, one weak but capable as any spark to set the world ablaze.

My fire isn’t burnt out, it may be weak and under an onslaught of oppressive winds but I figure wind may be just the thing I need to set that blaze.

“My plan? Frankly, I thought this was our plan since you’re the one who got me to even think of it in the first place.” King raises an eyebrow at this. “The pact, I reasonably could’ve kept running but I didn’t because you said to make the pact work to my favour and I have. There’s a lot to gain from helping them win this war and as much as the pact is unbreakable I don’t think it’s a good idea to kill Valery.”

At this she sneers, “That needle-ear wench is the reason you’re barely able to stand right now, I’d cuddle you but you’ve made it obvious you don’t want my guiding hand.”

“I hate her too but this time she’s just doing what I would’ve done.”

“It’s the second time she’s trapped us; you’ve been in control both times…is that a pattern forming?”

“Admittedly I let my guard down, I wasn’t even all that prepared when I took back control and then your pet monster grabbed me, I thought you said you couldn’t command it?”

King switches her crossed legs and smirks, “What? You want me to tell the enemy the truth?”

“You didn’t tell me the truth.”

“Why do you think you’re not the enemy? You’ve been extremely antagonistic since you got your memories back, awfully cold too, and here I thought you’d miss me.”

I choke out a laugh at that, “I’m not the enemy, but I can be.”

“So can I, but I can also do things that you can’t such as being an exceptional ally. If your plan is to blindly follow every one of Lumina’s command and be their war dog, then you’ve got more pride than shame.”

“I’m not going to follow e-”

“Prideful, because you still think you’re in Reais, this isn’t Reais where you’ve got Gerim looking out for you, or Calridian pointing in the direction of lovely little demons for you to prey on. This is Ire, and aside from be dry of the most essential substance to your existence as a demon, it’s chuck full of humans, elves, several other hideous beings and the central point of Divinity.”

“I know what I’m up against.” I protest, trying to get a word in.

“Do you? I think you’ve forgotten, maybe in getting back your memories you’ve forgotten some important truths like I’ve forgotten spells. So I’m going to spell it out for you; you are weak as shit.

“What would you have done against the Prince’s battalion? Blood Orange is only the third tier of demon and you’re just a starter. Like the Vampires you revelled in prosecuting, you will be hunted and put down. A simple cast from Valery and her team have shackled you already-!”

“Okay listen!” I scream, slapping my hand over her mouth. She glares behind it and I pull back.

“That’s an assertiveness you’ve never shown before.” She snorts, “I guess Reais was some good after all.”

“Can you please stop talking to me like I’m a child? I’m not, I know what I’m doing, what I’m thinking. Let me explain.”

She blinks, takes a breath and folds her arms as she nods.

“You’re right, there’s no Essence in Ire and I obviously can’t rely on Valery. So that leaves the place I sensed the moment we woke up, there’s a place, somewhere on this plane with Essence rich enough to call to me.”

She holds a finger up, “There’s also the ritual I taught you, all you need is a few hearts and some mana.”

“I’m doing this my way, like you never existed to begin with.” She shakes her head at me but allows me to go on. “I remember a few spells from my days as lancer, unfortunately most of them are Necromancy related thanks to you.”

“Not my fault you never took an interest in magic beyond the dragons. You learned what was necessary for our ambitions.”

“Sure. Still, that means the first thing I’ve got to do is make Seeker stronger, the lance form will be best for combat.”

“Melee is overrated you know; you win more battles when the enemy doesn’t get a chance to get close.” King says.

“You’ve lectured me on this before, but I’m pretty sure I have range attacks and defences covered. Lumina was teaching me a good spell, with my memories and understanding of magic returned, well, I guess you can say I figured it out, besides I’ve got Seeker and my illusions.”

“Which already don’t work on the enemies we’ve met.” She drawls.

“Some.”

“If there’s an exception then it’s not very reliable is it?”

I sigh, “Either way, with the Essence I get from that place, I’m sure I’ll be able to grow stronger on my own and from there I’ll help Lumina end this war and be head back to Reais.”

“Head back to Reais and do what?” she levels me with an expectant look, one filled with the sad knowledge that I’m going to disappoint. It’s the same look she’d use to let me know I’ve dug my grave with my mouth.

Fuck.

She plants both her feet down, disappointment radiates through her being as she leans forward, fingers intertwined to whisper, “Have you forgotten why we’re even a demon? Who sent us here and why? They want to stop us from achieving the best reality for this world.”

“King, I’m as pissed at Reinmer and the others as you are but you have to know that I can’t go up against them, not anytime soon at least.”

“Not without me.”

I sigh but don’t say anything. She scoffs, shaking her head, “I can’t believe this. Are you saying you’d rather let Reinmer and those hypocrites run around because you don’t want to work with me? Am I that bad? What have I ever done to you that you hate me more than the beings who had you murdered?”

“You put me in a position to get murdered!” I scream, “If you hadn’t met that Necromancer and read his book you wouldn’t have pursued this idea…I wish I’d been the one to stop him instead but there’s no changing the past.”

“This idea you speak of, is the one thing that’ll bring true justice to the world. And I thought you agreed with me, I thought you understood that the gods had to be stopped and if they couldn’t be stopped then we had to escape them and offer that escape to as many as possible.

“Our new species will empower us if you let them, let me take control now and we’ll rise to divinity before Lumina’s war ends, we’ll return to Reais or Reais will come to us, and either way we’ll be stronger than anything ruling there even at the lowest ranks of divinity.”

I pull myself onto the bed as my head starts to ache, her persistence is driving me nuts right alongside the cold. Swaddling myself in the duvet I curse as warmth doesn’t find me. King sighs and sits at the edge of the bed.

“You’re still in control of the body but the Soul Crystal is mine to manipulate.” She snatches my hand out of the wrap and fills me with warmth, “Even if you choose not to pursue Reinmer in the next century you forget this is Ire, agents of gods run amok and they will come for a demon progressively getting stronger and when they do the gods eyes will find and recognize us. What do you think they’ll do then? Let you keep running around? The souls of the pair that threatened to unseat the gods in an immortal demon body?

“I am the only one who can help you succeed out here, Nil, you have to see that.”

But that’s just the thing, I have seen it, seen it first-hand what happens when I don’t know what to do, when I can’t do anything but rely on someone more powerful than I. I’ll get swept up in her ambitions again, I never wanted to challenge the gods— I hated them but that doesn’t mean I was so foolhardy to cook up a plan to unseat them.

“I just wanted a world where prayers don’t go unheard.” I say, “I never wanted to be a god, I never wanted to fight the gods.”

“Did you think I wanted to? I don’t remember picking a fight with any of their lot.”

“King, you had me capturing and killing their priests and acolytes for the spark of divinity hidden in their souls. I think that warrants a reaction from the gods.”

She shrugs and pulls my chin up so she stares in my eyes, “But isn’t it so selfish of them, that they know what we want to build, the utopia for souls I’ve envisioned and they won’t let it happen even at the cost of their power?”

She smiles and I smile back. “Nil, the mark of a King is their ability to use power to the betterment of others and to give it up for the sake of others. A King isn’t stubborn or proud or even the most powerful, a King is-”

“A King is who loves the most.”

“Haha, yes, you remember. I love you, Nil, I love this world and I love its people and I love its future the most. That’s why I’m King and that’s why you can’t do without me. So let’s do this together, for the future?”

She lets my hand go but set out her palm for a handshake. Staring at it I know it means another chaotic partnership with King, but she’s been there with me since the beginning, beyond that even. She’s been my oldest friend, enemy, ally and lover, she’s been…everything to me.

And I can’t say no to everything.

“For the future then.” I mirror her grin and the room— the environment breaks reorganizes itself into something new, familiar and quite frankly, historic.

The basement of the castle Reinmer killed us in, where we attempted to create a new species that’d fuel us with power reserved solely for the gods.

It’s not exactly as I remember it— the piles of priest and acolyte bodies I racked up when we worked from here isn’t present any longer. The bloodstains are nowhere to be found either but the single corpse lying on a slab— the puppet— but most important is the mesh of organs, flesh and the great spark of divinity we accrued from the priests and acolytes— the Incubator.

King looks up at it with a forlorn smile, “You may not know this…actually, I’m certain you don’t, you were far too busy trying to fight Reinmer to take note of what I was doing, what I was telling our first child.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m sure Reinmer destroyed the Incubator once he was done with us, but I made sure it did what I was supposed to, at least…half way…maybe quarter way.”

I stop and face her, “What did you do?”

“Nil, we have a child out there, not the Incubator, not the puppets…the first of our species is out there. I sure hope they’ve multiplied.”

I blink, closing and opening my mouth as words fail me.

King giggles, “I told you we’d be parents.”