Six hours later...

"You must like this room" Ichiro said entering the dojo. Hikari was sitting down with her eyes closed. "They're worried. They were worried before but now they're really worried. This isn't some suicide mission is it? Some way to regain your honor?" he asked. He sat down and twisted her big toe. "Oww!" she yelled. "Stop ignoring me" he said. "I was meditating!" she yelled. "BULLSHIT! You were moping and hiding yourself like you always do when you fuck up badly. They told me what you did" he said. "It was stupid, irresponsible, and borderline childish. I lost sight of the bigger picture" she muttered. "Damn right you did" he said taking her foot in his hand. He began to massage her sole. "I've taken so much for granted. My home, my title, my mother. It's never even crossed my mind once she could die. I'm like she's 5000 years old, she not going anywhere" she said. She placed her other foot in his lap. "I know how that feels. I didn't realize what I had until I lost my wife and kids. It doesn't even feel real at first. But when it sets in its...oh. No wonder you lost your shit. Crying and fucking isn't going to fix that hole" he said letting her feet go. "...what will?" she asked softly. "Finding your purpose. That's not easy Hikari" he replied. He pulled her in and kissed her deeply. He held her until they needed air. "But you will if you don't destroy yourself in the process. Come, dinner is being served" he said standing her up. They walked to the dining hall where Skylar, Alicia, and Selah were already seated.

Hikari bent down prostrating herself. "Forgive my foolish words and actions. They were uncalled for and put you in danger. Alicia, the things I said to you...I understand if you do not wish to associate with me no longer" she said. Alicia scooted over to her. Alicia put her finger under Hikari's chin and raised her head. "Deko-pin rocket!" Alicia yelled suddenly plucking her in the forehead hard. Hikari nursed her forehead. "A secret technique passed down through Ichiro's family to deal with troublesome princesses. He was kind enough to teach me it" Alicia said. Ichiro covered his mouth as he stifled a laugh. "Apology accepted. Let's eat shall we? Can't mount a rescue mission on an empty stomach" she said. They ate dinner and once done assembled outside in the twilight air. A young girl approached Hikari and gave her a headband. Hikari read the kanji on it. Hikari bowed before her. The girl was shocked the imperial princess bowed to her a peasant. "You honor me" Hikari told her. The girl began weeping Hikari tied the headband on and knelt down to her. "You must be strong. All of you! Be strong for if I die and you weep for me...I will find no peace. Mourn for as long as it takes for a sun to rise and set and then no more. This I command" she said. Each one bowed before her. An attendant carrying a tray of sake bowls approached him. She gave Ichiro a bowl, then Hikari. She paused looking at the foreigners for just a moment before handing them bowls as well. Selah watched as Hikari and Ichiro drank and then shattered the bowls on the ground. Following suit, the others did as well. "Congrats. You're honorary koonago now" Hikari chuckled. "What does the headband say?" Skylar asked. "Victory" she replied.

"We good to go?" Alicia asked. Ichiro gripped his scabbard. Hikari held her naginata in one hand and the transformation driver in another. "You seriously taking that? Faith said it's dangerous without that green gem" Alicia said. "Be as it may, I might need its power. That's assuming it even works. It hasn't even been tested" she replied. "That inspires confidence" Selah said. Hikari summoned it away. "I'm not in the position of being choosy. Let's go everyone" she said. The people watched as they walked out of the village to the spring. "Last one in is a rotten manju bun" Hikari said after opening the portal. She jumped in, followed by Ichiro, then Alicia, Skylar, and Selah. They appeared near a riverbank near the edge of the forest to the north side of RIKEN. They slowly walked out cautious, yet it was near impossible for anyone to see them in their tiny state. "Skylar, Selah, cancel your shrink spells" Alicia said. The three of them grew back to human size. "Well damn" Skylar said looking at the facility. "What? What do you see? Hikari asked. "A nice chunk of the JSDF. Better part of a battalion. Hundred soldiers outside, probably just as many inside. Armored vehicles, five tanks, four snipers" Alicia muttered using clairvoyance. "Can you see inside the facility?" Ichiro asked impressed. "No, there's a spell barrier on the building itself" she replied. "Shit!" Skylar hissed. "No this is a good thing. You don't use this many troops to guard a low priority facility" Alicia said. "Or they could be doing sensitive research" Skylar said. "With spell barriers on the building? No, they don't want something that can portal out from escaping" she said.

"What's the plan?" Selah said. "You stay right here" Alicia said. "Nuh uh. I can cast attack spells too and you need all the help you can get" Selah said. "You held your own a little against Lilith kid but that doesn't make you a big gun" Alicia said. "And I can heal. If Hikari's people are in there they could be hurt or worse. You need a magic medic with them" Selah said. Alicia looked at Hikari and Ichiro. They nodded. "I will guard her with my life" he said. "You better or I'll cut something precious to you and Hikari off your body. Get me buddy?" she asked. "H...hai" he squeaked at the giantess. "And for the rest of us?" Skylar asked. "You follow them into the building. I'll make a way for you to slip in" she replied. "Slip in? They're crawling down there" she said. "Not for long. Now you and Selah pick up our friends and head to the fence. Wait till you get your chance" she said. Before Skylar could ask how'd she know when that was, Alicia was already walking down the hillside.

Alicia calmly walked to the gate entrance. She cracked her knuckles and cleared her throat. She hid her right hand behind her back. "Adet..." she muttered summoning her zodiac artifact, Harmony Bangle, onto her wrist. Someone blew a whistle and spotlights centered on her. A team of soldiers ran out of the gate to her weapons drawn. "A foreigner here?" one asked. "Report it to the commandant. YOU! On ground!" a soldier yelled in broken English. "Now fellas. Ain't this extreme for a young woman walking the road at night?" Alicia asked. Their guns were trained on her. Alicia took a deep breath and let out a powerful blast of wind magic through her voice. The wind literally shredded the soldiers before her. "A sharp if you were wondering. Now for my next trick..." she smiled. Her eyes glowed as spells weaved around her body. Fortification, healing, and growth. Her artifact giving her the power to sing three different notes at the same time as she grew and grew. Astonished, they opened fire on her. Their bullets doing nothing as they bounced off a barrier. Now before them was a foreign giantess every bit of 150 ft. tall. The sheer power Alicia was putting out made her toes tingle. Alicia took two steps forward and kicked the fenced gate so hard it flew clear into the air. The center had been breached.

Her kick had thrown concrete and pavement dust into the air blocking their sight, but it did not stifle her laugh. "Puny little things" Alicia chuckled. She turned her attention to the sniper towers. She sang and a sonic pressure wave amplified so strongly it caused the dust to ripple. Suddenly it forcibly expanded literally crushing all four snipers where they stood. A rain of blood and gore showed those below. "B flat" she muttered. The soldiers panicked and let loose all they had on her. Alicia kept singing softly as she walked forward. Soldiers retreated behind the column of tanks. Lightning arced from her fingers striking the tanks. Made of iron and steel, they easily conducted the charge until their own ammo stores exploded violently. "My god. Is that really her?!" Selah asked. "Faith told me that she was far more powerful than she looked. I thought she was exaggerating because they were married. Now I feel stupid" Skylar replied. "She's drawing them away from the east entrance!" Ichiro yelled as sirens made it hard for them to hear. They made their way to the east loading dock.

Their best defense was no more but still they stood their ground. Alicia moved forward but more careful as she didn't want to risk damaging the building itself yet. She raised her shoe over soldiers and crushed them easily. It felt glorious to her. "YOU'RE NOTHING TO ME!" she growled smashing more. An RPG struck her in the face, and she paused. They looked on helpless seeing the giantess was unharmed. More soldiers appeared and tapped the badges on their uniforms. "Uh oh" Alicia muttered as they held out their hands and fired disturbing black lightning. Alicia was brought to her knees as two dozen dark magic bolts pummeled the giantess. "Fuck!" Skylar yelled as the air was torn from numerous thunderclaps. "Should we help her?" Selah asked. "No, we stick to the plan" Skylar said as they approached the east loading dock. It was barely defended. "Invoke" Skylar said powering into her Valkyrie form. Selah went to follow. "No, your form is still unstable, and you need to save your energy. You're the team white Mage" Skylar chuckled. "Rush them" Ichiro said hopping off Skylar's left shoulder. There were four soldiers on the dock. Ichiro armed for the throat of the far right one and slashed it. His razor thin blade cutting the giant's throat so keenly, at first there was no blood. Then a pressurized cloudy spray. Ichiro landed on the back wall and used his momentum to push off and flip attacking the soldier once more strapping the back of the neck digging his two-inch sword into the soldier's brain stem. The koonago held on as the giant fell to the concrete dead.

Hikari leaped off the right shoulder and summoned her treasured naginata, slashing a soldier upwards on the side of her jugular. A vicious cut causing to giantess to bleed out within seconds. The two soldiers shocked by losing their friends aimed their rifles at the two women they could actually see, although seeing Skylar in white holding a sword gave them pause. Pause that was fatal. Skylar ran the first soldier through, pulled out her sword and swung cutting the hands off the other one. One groaning, the other shrieking, Skylar cut the head off the shrieking soldier. "SKY!" Selah yelled as the other soldier aimed his pistol. Skylar deflected the shot so fast a gust of wind pushed everyone back. She finished him off a second later. "Incredible speed. I barely saw you move" Ichiro said yanking his sword free. "Wind and lightning magic boosts my speed and reaction time to twice that of humans. It's good in short bursts but fucks up your joints and muscles after extended use" she said. She kicked the reinforced door open. "Let's go" she muttered.

"You know. That black lightning was impressive. Not the first time I've been hit that hard but it's very rare. That lightning, tainted by malice and evil. Like putting a full metal jacket on a bullet. But here's the thing about your magics" Alicia said standing back up. "Arcane magics can't compare to the genuine article" she said grinning. Her eyes glowed intensely. Alicia brought her fingers together forming a circle. She sang a high note into her hands collecting magical power. Terrified, they attacked her once more only to find their lightning ricocheting off an even more powerful barrier. "You're so fucked!" Alicia laughed at them. She opened her fingers and the collected spell craft drifted down. Impacting the ground, all of them screamed in pain clutching their ears. They shat themselves, pissed themselves, brought to their knees screeching as a sound well beyond human hearing tore them apart from the inside out. A cone of pulverized pavement surrounded them. One by one they fell dead after their hearts of brains were turned to mush. One, one that had protective earplugs on barely survived. Blood oozed out of his nose and mouth as he crawled. He looked up blindingly as her sound had obliterated his eyes. "...Godzilla ain't got shit on me" she said coldly crushing him under her shoe and twisting it.

Almost immediately after entering the building, Hikari sensed something very off. "Not possible! I sense hundreds of koonago here!" she yelled. "Isn't that a good thing?" Selah asked. "You do not understand. My attendant saw them kill most of the males and kidnap the rest. That's 200 at the most taken. I'm sensing better part of 500 koonago here. How is this possible Ichiro?" Hikari asked dumbfounded. "I know not princess" he replied. "Then we should find out" Alicia said stumbling down the hallway. "Jesus you look like shit" Skylar said running up to her. "Growing like that takes a shitload of energy. I'll be fine. Hikari, what does those signs say?" she asked pointing to the, on the wall. "Lab 5 to the left. Main lab forward" she replied. "Main lab then?" Selah asked. "If 500 koonago really are here, they would need a good amount of room to monitor them. It would be too dangerous to keep them spit up in different rooms" Alicia said. "Wouldn't it be the opposite?" Selah asked. "Multiple rooms means separate monitoring and more chances of something going wrong. Since we're talking about a magical race, it would make sense to have them in one place just in case you have to...kill them all" Alicia said quietly. Alicia looked behind her. "Head to the main lab while I head to the security office" she said walking away. "Something is really wrong with her" Selah said. "Her shoes were red with blood. Whatever happened outside must've been graphic. We should press on before whoever is left in here calls for help" Skylar said. Skylar and Selah carried Hikari and Ichiro with them as they made their way to the main lab.

Alicia made her way to the security control room. It was locked but not for long as she blew it open. A man was frantically yelling into a phone in Japanese when the door was blown open. He nearly pissed himself seeing the once giantess before him slathered in the blood of his coworkers. "Who did you call?" she asked. "Goddess Izanami. You will die whimpering in your own shit" he chuckled half mad. Alicia shrank him where he lay and picked him up. "The password to unlock this terminal" she said. "I will never..." he spat until the sound of a sweet melody filled his ears. Alicia gently sang as she weaved a hypnotic spell on him. "7...14...23...4...zero" he said softly. "Alicia typed the numbers in and the computer unlocked. She quickly cycled through the security cameras outside. Nothing but her devastation could be seen on them. She cycled through the internal cameras. "Hmmm" she said as she turned on the PA. "It's me. There's a lot of transparent containers hooked to medical devices in the main lab. Looks like we were right. The other rooms are storage, separate labs, and....heads up. You got incoming" she said.

"Halt" Hikari commanded. She stepped off Skylar's shoulder. "Cover me" she said as she took her time growing. Moments later, their progress was blocked by soldiers. "Apparently some stayed inside" Ichiro said. "It matters not" Hikari groaned as she passed a foot. They opened up with M4 rifles. Skylar cried out as 5.56 rounds by the dozens assaulted her barrier. She was the best Odin had. Her attack and defense the envy of her peers. However, she was not invincible. Rounds slipped past her barrier luckily not hitting anyone, but one round hit her shoulder just as they stopped to reload. She fell to her knees applying pressure to the wound. If it wasn't for her defenses, it would've taken her arm off. "You did enough" Hikari said behind her. The soldiers aimed their weapons and paused seeing a koonago as big as they were. "They can grow..." one muttered. "They can do more" Hikari hissed raising her hand. An ominous groan came from the ceiling. The groans got louder until there was a bang. Hikari grinned as her hand came down. Dozens of sharp icicles erupted downward from the ceiling tiles killing the soldiers before her. "What did..."

"Burst the fire sprinkler pipes. Alicia! If you can hear me then activate all the sprinklers inside!" she yelled. "It's going to be okay" Selah said half panicked as she began healing Skylar. "Calm down squirt. It's just a flesh wound" she said. "Even so, that bravery was remarkable" Ichiro said. Every 15 ft, a sprinkler popped on spraying water. "Guess she heard you" Skylar said standing up. "So it would seem, I hope it's enough though" Hikari said. "I don't think there's that many left in here" Selah said looking around. "Looks are deceiving child" Hikari said taking her sandals off. Her bare feet stepped into water running across the floor. "Yes, there's more here. Some not moving, others moving very fast" she said. She began walking to the lab once more. Stragglers of soldiers tried ambushing them as they walked. Hikari would kill them within a second with water magics, usually with ice. "You're not shrinking them" Skylar said. "I need them later" Hikari said cryptically. "You don't mean..." Ichiro said. "An abominable power I know but I have ceased to be so picky" she said. Finally, they reached the lab. It was bolted closed but no match for their combined attacks. The lab doors were blown open. "By the Kami..." Hikari muttered.

"This...this cannot be" Ichiro said. "But it is" Hikari said. Researchers trapped inside tried to run past then only for Skylar to blow them back onto the floor with wind magic. Hikari bent down to one of them, a young man, and shrunk him. She plucked him up and carried him closer to what had disturbed them so badly. "Hikari, the cages on the walls" Skylar said. "He will explain that too but before that he will explain this" she said with cold anger. Before them was plastic containers connected to oxygen tanks and various medical equipment. Inside those containers were very tiny infants. Hikari peered down finding some of them as young as a few weeks. 20 babies in each container with a shrunken researcher monitoring them from the inside. The researcher looked at the Asian giantess in terror. "What have you done?" Hikari asked. "Please don't kill..." his pleading silenced as she squeezed him tightly until a rib broke.

"We, we were commanded by the holy Izanami to breed koonago with human DNA" he croaked. "All of them are mixed bred with your humans? How many?" she asked narrowing her eyes. "314 as of this morning" he replied. "Why? WHY?!" she yelled. "She wants her subjects to share in your power! She wishes to elevate us!" he yelled. "She's breeding a magical race she can fully control. A force that can enforce her will without arcane. An army" Skylar said. "They're still half koonago. You sensed them so that proves it" Selah said. "How many died? How many of my sisters did you condemn to death?" Hikari asked. Ichiro hopped down and entered the container. He paid no heed to the woman trying to hide from him. "I don't...know" he replied.

"More than a few" she said. He nodded quietly. "You killed them?" Skylar asked. "Not out of hand. We did what we could to extend their lives" he whined. "Extend? I'm not following" Skylar said. "A koonago giving birth is a dangerous life draining event. Even worse when they are very powerful. A koonago exiting the womb is like giving birth to a star. It is why our numbers are not very high. To have so many here, they impregnated them over and over. Isn't that right?" she asked the shrunken man. "My god, so they kept giving birth until their bodies have out?" Skylar asked. Hikari nodded. "How many carry your blood? Do you even know?" she asked him. "No..." he replied. "How many times did they beg you not to shove an eyedropper into their pussies and squirt your unworthy seed into them? How many lost their virginity to your cruelty? HOW YOUNG DID YOU GO?!" she howled. The man sobbed in her grip. Hikari threw him on the floor hard. Not even checking if he survived, she stamped her bare sole over his body over and over. "Princess, they are healthy" Ichiro said to her. "Hikari, they did not ask to be born but be as it may..."

"Say no more Ichiro. Begin the process of ferrying them back to the homeland. In the meantime..." she said walking off. "We'll help you" Selah said bending down over him. Ichiro had the shrunken assistants leave the containers while Selah and Skylar stacked them onto carts. "So many" Selah said. "Two dozen easily and not counting the cages" Skylar muttered. "We're going to have company very soon. They got off a distress call to Izanami and... oh damn" Alicia said entering the room. "They used us as incubators. The females were violated constantly since April. The young males, probably for their sperm" Ichiro said softly. Alicia looked at Hikari. "And her mother?" she asked. "Over by the cages looking for her no doubt" he replied.

"Will none of you answer my question? Where is my mother?" Hikari asked shaking. None answered as most of them sat in their cages naked in a broken mental state. "Please...anything..." Hikari wept. "Pri...ncess. I am sorry. They have gone through cruel things" one finally said. Hikari did not recognize the woman that spoke. "If I had been there..." Hikari said. "You may have ended up like us. Like your mother. She was the silver; you were the gold prize in their eyes. They never stopped searching for a koonago that carried human imperial blood" she replied. "My mother. I cannot find her in any of these cages" Hikari said. "Because she is no longer with us. She passed a month prior" the small woman said softly. Hikari opened the cage and placed her in her hand. Hikari sat down. "Tell me" Hikari said softly. "She held out longer than most of us. She kept our spirits up saying one day her daughter wound come for us. Even as the human pushed his eyedropper into her and inseminated her womb, she did not cry, beg, or whimper. Even when they took turns using her as a sexual object, she did not break. She was glorious. She endured as her belly swole. Her nipples leaked milk. And only shed a tear when they took her baby from her. A week would pass by and they would do it again. Do it again like they did to the others. Her body grew weaker with each birth. The fire in her eyes dimmed. Her life gave out giving birth to the fourth child, a girl. In her delirium, she thought it was you. She called out your name as she looked upon the newborn and breathed her last breath" the woman said. "And what of you... Lady..."

"I am Kagome of a lower class and a nobody. I have birthed three" she replied. "...did they at least honor our dead?" Hikari asked. "They were burned with the trash" Kagome replied. Hikari placed her back in the cage. "Ichiro. Grow to human size and prepare to ferry the cages. They cannot move on their own" Hikari commanded softly. "...as you wish" he replied. With help he did grow to human size. "We're having trouble finding enough carts to..."

"Get it done" Hikari hissed. "I don't want to sound like a broken record, but the Japanese goddess of death is coming, and I swear I hear a chopper approaching" Alicia said. "Then it's a good thing that we have someone who can translocate them. I will deal with unwelcome company" Hikari said sitting down on the floor. By this time, the fire sprinklers had long since gone dry but Hikari had decided it was enough if she needed it for a pitch battle. To everyone but Ichiro, it appeared she was meditating. She was not. Hikari was gathering tools for battle. "Just push them through Ichiro" Alicia said concentrating. "And they'll arrive safely?" he asked. She simply nodded. Cart by cart, gurney by gurney, they pushed them through. The shrunken assistants and lab techs had fled as the giant and giantesses around them had bigger things on their mind. However, what they saw in the hallways was far more harrowing than the main lab. Dead soldiers, dozens upon dozens, stood on their feet in the hallways in line. Their eyes utterly soulless. The small people at their bloody unmoving feet screaming in terror. Then, the sound of thunder...

Black lightning crashed through the reinforced glass ceiling striking the floor knocking everyone back. Black smoke circling the impact zone until it was dissipated. "Izanami" Hikari hissed. "Princess Hikari and... well that's interesting. You three should've been swallowed by the reversion. Why have you not?" the grim woman asked. The air grew cold just in her presence. She wore a black kimono with black wooden geta sandals. Her eyes dark as night but shined oddly. "Keep working Ichiro" Hikari said. Izanami glanced at him. "Stealing my precious property? Can't have that" Izanami said firing a black bolt of lightning. Hikari moved with shocking speed deflecting it. In her hand was her prized naginata which burst into black flames. She dropped it. "Impressive but that was barely a fraction of my power" she said. Drop lines came down around her as soldiers repelled down. Four of them in all black. "You ask humans to do your bidding? Cowardly" Hikari said. "Pot calling kettle" Izanami grinned looking at Alicia, Skylar, and Selah. "Friends while yours are slaves to power. A difference that will tip the scales foul Kami" Hikari said. Izanami glared at the four soldiers and nodded. They pulled out phones. "Order of Shi. The Four Deaths confirmed. Authorized for combat" they said.

"Honorable Death. Dishonorable Death. Forgotten Death. Revered Death. Henshin" they said on after another. A dark aura filled their bodies as the kanji for "four" turned to "Shi*". "Leave the princess alive" Izanami told them. The dark soldiers rushed them, but they stopped dead in their tracks seeing what was marching right behind their targets. "Oh fuck Hikari. Are you actually controlling them?" Alicia asked. "Blood puppetry. A distasteful use of my water magics" she said as she led them in. "Oh gross..." Selah said seeing their faces frozen in painful death. "What are you waiting for fools?! Eliminate them!" Izanami yelled. They raised their hands to fire off dark lightning magics incinerating them on the spot. Selah, Skylar, and Alicia gagged at the stench of burning flesh and uniform. Hikari simply grinned as she willed her burning dead slaves to aim their weapons and fire. One went down, then another. Their magazines dry now. "Advance" she said. The still burning corpses marched onward absorbing lightning magics. Their putrid bodies exploding, their limbs blown off but still they advanced. There were two dozen when they entered but now five remained as they piled onto the remaining two powered up death mages. One screamed as he was torn apart. "Enough of this" Izanami hissed blowing the other one along with the dead soldiers to smithereens with a lightning blast.

(Authors note: The Japanese word for death is Shi and is written in a way that resembles the kanji for the number four. It is this reason why the number four is considered bad luck in Japanese culture like 13 is in western culture)

Now you have to fight on your own" Hikari said. "Gladly" Izanami said summoning her weapon. Hikari and Ichiro (who had not dared to stop pushing carts through the portal) paused briefly to gaze upon it. "Amenonuhoko, the legendary jeweled spear of creation" Ichiro muttered. "Come forth, Kusanagi" Hikari said summoning the revered katana of legend. As soon as it touched her hand, a mighty gust of wind filed the lab. Even at half the size of a warehouse, the lab howled as mythic power filled the air. "We must hurry! A clash of this magnitude will surely destroy this place!" Ichiro yelled fetching another cart. "What the fuck is happening?!" Skylar yelled. "It's a contest of mythic armaments! The spear of creation versus the sword of divine force! The fact that Hikari summoned Grasscutter means she can sense the danger we are in!" he yelled over the wind. They hurried with evacuating the last surviving koonago as Hikari readied herself. "The Grasscutter? Surely you do not think it will win this contest" Izanami said. "There is a reason this sword changed the fate of my ancestor so very long ago. Underestimate this blade at your peril" Hikari said. "Not the blade I find lacking! It is the user!" Izanami yelled attacking.

Their clashes shook the very room. Thunder and the screech of metal. Izanami slashed to the right making Hikari lean back hard. The tip of the spear cutting her kimono open as if it was toilet paper. Hikari discarded it and kept on. Three very long minutes passed before they were locked in a parry. "Your strength wanes little mortal. Your muscles weaken, your heart pounding, even your nipples cry milk from exhaustion" Izanami sneered. "It goes as planned spurned lover. Tell me, how did it feel to be sealed in hell by your own husband? Say what you will about me, but my mates stood by my side at my worst. Even now one scurries to save our race" Hikari said grinning. Izanami turned her attention to Ichiro. "You can fend off my attack but what about him. Watch the puny male burn like a matchstick" Izanami said breaking the parry to fire off a powerful blast of lightning. Hikari swung her sword summoning a gust of fake force wind blowing Ichiro and mercifully the last cart of survivors through. Izanami's attack struck the portal causing it to collapse and sending an abrupt feedback right at Alicia. She screamed as she fell to her knees.

"You cost me my property" Izanami hissed. Hikari slammed her sword into the floor and began her next gamble. She had been concentrating on it the entire battle with the goddess as she knew already she would not win a sword duel with her. "My people are NOBODY's property! Come forth Mizu no Kagatsuchi!" Hikari yelled summoning her next to best water magic spells. A mighty roar shook the research center before a massive dragon made of every drop of spilled water Hikari could find in the building. Water from toilets, coolers, refrigerators, sprinklers, even the blood that had been spilled made up the construct. Hikari willed it to trap it within its coils. "You dare use this cheap imitation of my own child!" Izanami howled. "I dare" Hikari replied. Hikari willed it to constrict harder and harder to crush her body. "Lighting magics!" Hikari yelled to the others. Alicia fired a continuous storm of lightning as did Skylar and Selah. "It's working!" Skylar yelled as the water surrounding the goddess began turning redder by the second. Then an implosion stained the water pure crimson. "Yeah! Fuck you and the horse ya rode in on!" Alicia yelled. Then, discharges of black lightning began to arc out.

"No...no!" Hikari yelled feeling her grip failing. A tremendous explosion of water blew them all back hard. Alicia slammed her head into the wall knocking her clean out. Skylar was thrown through a computer terminal nearly breaking her neck. Her Valkyrie power gone. Selah was thrown hard into a desk dazing her. Hikari was the only one holding on but severely weakened now. "Forgive me everyone" she muttered summoning her last trump card she had...the transformation driver. "Enough of this shit!" Izanami yelled firing off a quick blast of dark lightning knocking the driver out of her hands. The device skidded across the floor right next to Selah. Izanami stepped over to Hikari and gripped her neck. She discharged her evil magics at point blank range making the koonago shriek in pain. Her tired body being electrocuted by a maliced hand. Her cries of agony reached Selah and she looked upon her.

"No..." she muttered trying to stand. She could not. She looked to Skylar and Alicia to save her Asian friend only to find they were barely alive themselves. "No..." she hissed moving her hand which bumped into the driver. She remembered that it could bestow great power but also in its current state without the gem would probably kill the user. She loved each one of them. Alicia like a mother, Skylar like a big sister, Hikari like a cherished friend. "I'm not losing anyone else. I won't live through that again" she muttered as she held the driver in her hand. She pressed it to her body and sensing a user, buckled around her waist. It gave off a whirring sound. Hikari shrank from the sheer pain and was dropped on the floor. Now that he screams didn't fill her ears, she heard the whirring sound and looked. "SELAH NO!" Hikari yelled seeing the driver bonding to her. Selah screamed in pain as her own innate power was drawn to the surface. Then...she collapsed dead. Hikari whimpered seeing the young giantess go still. "Fool. Killed herself with her own weapon. A weird one at that. And here I was looking forward to killing the pretty young thing slowly. But you always get what you want..." Izanami said coldly as she slipped her right sandal off. She hovered her foot over Hikari. Hikari didn't have to look back to know it was there. She could smell it. The smell of grave dirt, sweat, and memorial wood.

Selah opened her eyes to find herself surrounded in white. "Is this heaven?" she asked. A young woman appeared before her speaking in Japanese. "I'm sorry I don't speak Japanese" she said. The woman blinked. "Switching to English. Hello, I am the Artificial Mapping Interface or AMI for short. Do you wish to resume registration?" she asked. Registration? This isn't heaven?" Selah asked. "No. This is the mental landscape provided by me AMI" she replied. "I have to go back! Oh god she's probably killed Hikari by now. How long was I out?" Selah asked panicked. "Local time 12.3 seconds. Relative time 0.000123 seconds" Ami replied. "Relative time?" Selah asked. "Here time moves approximately 10,000 times faster than the real world. Now resuming registration of prototype driver. Selah McCormick. Base magics are...Norse and unknown. Default weapon found. Registering Last Stigmata. Configuring driver to optimum performance. Configuring complete. Driver is now Hero Driver. Please select verbal password for transformation" AMI said. "Slow down! Jesus slow down. You saying mom's sword is really in me?" Selah asked. "Yes" AMI replied. "And this Hero Driver can tap into my magics and make me some superhero?" Selah asked. "Yes" she replied. "And verbal password?" Selah asked. "Verbal command used to transform. A verbal command is needed to safeguard against accidental transformations" she replied. "Any word?" Selah asked. "Any word or phrase. It is recommended a word or phrase that is not commonly used" AMI replied. "Verbal password is..."Be As Gods" Selah said. "Registering Verbal Password. Registration complete. Please agree to the terms of service by Sony. Sony is not liable for accidental death or loss of limbs due to the usage of the Hero Driver. Do you agree?" AMI asked. "...agreed" Selah replied. "Full registration is complete. Exiting registration. Hero Driver online. You may now transform by placing your hand on top of it and calling out the verbal password" AMI said. The world she saw faded away.

The jolt of power restarted Selah's heart. In reality, not even one second had passed since it stopped. "Fool. Killed herself with her own weapon. A weird one at that. And here I was looking forward to killing the pretty young thing slowly. But you don't always get what you want..." Izanami said. Those words were heard by Selah. Painfully, she got up. Just as Hikari was about to have her life snuffed out by a giant sole, Izanami paused. "Alive little one?" she asked. "You're not hurting anyone else here. I swear it" Selah said placing her hand on the driver. "Hero Driver on!" a female voice said. "Be As Gods!" Selah yelled. The device whirred as Norse Runes glowing in the air circled Selah in an ethereal band of light. It started at the top of her hand and slowly traveled down. As it did, silver armor appeared on her body. A silver band around her forehead. White cloth and silver plating. A long skirt with a silver girdle around her waist. Her feet clad in white boots. "Brynhild the warrior in silver. Presented by Sony" the driver said. "...what?" Izanami said. She looked at the young woman in armor. She could feel power off her but dismissed it. "Older body and shiny armor won't win this fight" she mocked. "You're right. Come forth Last Stigmata" Selah said. The sword slipped from his hiding place in her soul. Izanami backed away slightly. "Selah?" Alicia groaned coming to. "Take Hikari and Skylar to cover mom" Selah said. "No! I can't just let you fight her alone! What...what's happened to you?" Alicia asked. Selah glanced to look at her. "Do as I say" Selah said coldly as lightning flickered in her eyes. Alicia scrambled and grabbed Hikari. Izanami went to strike her with dark lightning. Selah easily deflected it away. "Still want to laugh?" Selah mocked. Alicia helped Skylar to her feet and has then take cover behind a heavy lab station.

"You dare mock me?!" Izanami yelled summoning far more dark lightning into the point of her spear. "Shieldmaiden" Selah muttered as the goddess fired off her attack. A barrier of symbolic runology deflected her attack. The sheer pressure pushing Selah back on her heels. The thunder shattering what glass has remained intact until then. Once over, the surrounding lab was on fire. "I dare" Selah said. Selah sensed the increasing danger everyone was in and went on the offensive. With a burst of speed, she struck Izanami with a slash. The goddess blocked it, but the sheer force blew her clean through the concrete wall. She was finally stopped hitting and bowing down the fence perimeter. "Evacuate the building before the fire ignites the gas lines" Selah told them before pursuing the goddess. They staggered outside as the lab was being engulfed in flames. "My god" Alicia said seeing Selah's and Izanami's battle had entered the mountainside. As it was nighttime, all they could see was flashes of lightning and feel the thunderous booms. "You think you can win?! I'm being empowered by over 500 million worshippers at this moment!" Izanami said striking Selah hard. Selah crashed through a tree and slowly stood up. "And yet you still bleed" she said pointing to the cut on Izanami's arm. They clashed over and over and as they did, the goddess began to feel fear. She had stared into the eyes of countless mortals in her time but as she looked into Selah's. She could see unbridled power within them. Power straining to break free. Runes she recognized as she was far older than any Norse magic but there was something else behind them. Something more ancient than she was. Something that she didn't know. And the unknown frightened her.

"It was foolish to let your true name out" Selah said holding her ground. "What of it? Lilith consumed the last Campione that could possibly challenge us. And you child are no Campione!" Izanami yelled blowing Selah backwards. "No, I'm something more. A heroic summon. I am Brynhild! A champion among Valkyries and killer of the god Sigurd! Your pathetic attempt to scare me will find no purchase!" Selah yelled slashing her sword and firing off a large blast of lightning and wind. Izanami let out a painful yell as she was blasted through the forest. Her body impaled on a fallen tree branch. The goddess pulled herself off it as Selah went to attack again. Selah watched silently as the gaping hole in Izanami's chest closed. "Arrogant whelp" she hissed. Izanami willed herself to grow as she fed off the life energies of those most devoted to her. Seemingly random people across Asia stopped dead in their tracks and killed themselves to feed her malice. A housewife in Hokkaido took her kitchen knife and sit her wrists. A man in Beijing jumped in front of a bus. A teenage girl in Taipei jumped off her apartment balcony. Selah watched as she grew and touched her Driver. "Brynhild Joutenheim" she muttered. Selah began growing and growing...

"This isn't good. She expending too much energy. It's going to kill her!" Alicia yelled. "I think she knows" Skylar said. "How can you be so calm?! Don't you care?!" Alicia yelled grabbing Skylar by the collar. "Of course, I care! I love that little squirt! She's the sister I never had. The sister I should've had..." Skylar replied. "Alicia. We can only pray that..." Hikari said before sending something behind them. "Get down!" she yelled at them. They ducked just as Kusanagi, the Grasscutter sword zipped through the air past them. "Surprised? I also killed frost giants as well. It amused me to do it when is as their size. Better to look them in the eyes as they died" Selah said holding her sword over her head. Kusanagi's power connected with that of Last Stigmata and like a magnet was drawn to it. Kid ago was absorbed by the now gigantic Last Stigmata and with their power combined, transformed. "Last Kusanagi" Selah muttered as her sword was that of a katana with runic symbols on the blade.

Their footfalls turned trees into kindling as the death goddess struck at her over and over to no effect. Then, a mighty strike sent the goddess crashing. The divine spear spiraling into the air and crashing with a boom near Hikari, Skylar, and Alicia. "By the Kami" Hikari muttered seeing the humongous weapon sizzling from the power it had channeled. Selah staggered to her knees. "Running on fumes? Well, I'm not!" Izanami yelled standing up. Her bare feet sank deep into the mountain dirt and was ripped asunder as she dashed to kill her. Selah knew she had one last attack in her. An attack that had a 50% chance to drain her life dry but if successful could kill the goddess. She slammed her hand down on the driver engaging the magic circuit to launch it.

"BRYNHILD MAXIMUM BURST!" it yelled out for all to hear. "Oh god Selah!" Hikari yelled out. Lightning was channeled into Last Kusanagi building to charge over and over. The tunes on the blade glowing red hot to white hot, and then violet hot. The very air superheated as trees at their giant feet burst into flames. Izanami grinned wickedly as was sure her attack would end Selah's life. But her dash misstepped ever so slightly, just a half second off as she caught a glimpse of something impossible. Selah brought down her sword right on her unleashing a sonic boom that could be heard dozens of kilometers away. The mountainside was blinded by a flash of lightning unseen before. Her blade released its charge incinerating her magics, her defenses, her Authority. Izanami mortally wounded fell to the ground shaking the mountain for the last time. She shrank down to human size as did Selah. "Don't just stand there! Kill her!" Izanami yelled coughing black blood. Selah looked to who she was talking too. "We are not here for her. Her soul is not ours to take. Also, you are the goddess of death, but we are not yours to command. We simply are" a Shinigami, a Japanese harbinger of death said. It was she that Izanami had seen and just now confirmed her worst fear. "Greetings sister" the Shinigami said to Selah.  

"S...sister?" Izanami asked. "We are not just warriors. We also ferry the dead to the afterlife. You were fighting a harbinger of death the entire time" Selah said softly. She watched as the Shinigami walked over to Izanami and raised her burning katana over her. "Please...I just wanted to be free of my role. Is that so much to ask for?" Izanami begged. "That is not for me to decide" the spirt replied plunging her blade into Izanami's black heart. The death goddess went rigid and gasped before going still. "Hero Driver disengage" Selah muttered reverting to her natural form. She watched silently as the goddess slipped into eternity and her body burst into black flames. Selah stepped back and sat down. Her body took weak to stand again. It seemed forever as footsteps came to her location. "She's here!" Alicia yelled. "Mom...I feel cold" Selah said so weak she was no longer human sized. "It's okay. Momma Alicia is here" Alicia said scooping her into her hand. "Jesus. Look at the destruction she unleashed. Never in my life have I seen such a lightning strike. The very sand in the dirt was turned to glass" Skylar muttered. "Her life force is very weak. We need to return home immediately" Hikari said. "Yeah, yeah I know. Hold on honey. Just hold on..." Alicia said as she made a portal. Selah felt her warm hand under her shrunken body. She felt safe. "I got her. You saw me get her?" she asked weakly. "Yeah. We all saw it" Alicia said stifling her tears. Alicia and the others hurried through the portal. Selah didn't remember much of what happened later. Some frantic voices. Hands on her naked body starting with her bare feet and ending on her forehead. Then...soft crying. After that, darkness.

Selah awoke thirsty and needing to pee. Alicia was asleep next to her. Selah got out of her futon and went to pee. "Hello? Can someone get me some water? Fucking Sahara Desert in my mouth" she asked an attendant passing by the room. The woman nearly screamed and ran off. "Selah!" Hikari yelled coming to her. She hugged the girl tightly. "Hey not so rough" Selah chuckled. She was hugged from behind. She turned sprung to find Alicia weeping and shaking. "Hey squirt. You've been out of it for three whole days" Skylar said entering the room. "Whoa. Explains why I'm so thirsty" Selah said. "The driver just about sucked your life energy dry. You're extremely lucky" Hikari said. "But you have to admit it was fucking cool" Selah grinned. "Fucking cool indeed but it's a problem now. It's biometrically bonded to you now. Only you can use it" Hikari said. "So what? I kicked major ass" Selah said. "This is serious child. That makes you public enemy number one to the others. I'm sure they've noticed what has occurred in the last 72 hours here in Japan" Hikari said. "Like what?" Selah asked. "You stirred a hornets nest kid. When you killed that chick, you cut her followers off from her magics. Turns out her magic was bonded with the on...onmyoji magics?" Skylar said. Hikari nodded. "Indeed. That's a good thing as nobody is being shrunk for incessant things anymore but with that no longer in play, men have begun to riot. Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Amori, to name a few have seen violent riots. It's more a revolution now" Hikari said. "Really that bad?" Selah asked worried. "Joseph said we would be the bad guys in this world. In the eyes of Japanese females, we would probably look like terrorists" Alicia said. "Or god killing heretics" Skylar said. "Fear not child. It is what it is. We knew it would come with a price" Hikari said. She stood up. "I will prepare a bath and food" she said leaving them.

Selah soaked in the hot spring and sighed contently. "You don't have to keep worrying you know" she said to Alicia who bathed next to her human sized. "I can't get the image of your cold body out of my mind" she said. "Sorry for worrying you mom. I just couldn't watch everyone die" Selah said. "Yeah I get it. What was it like in that form?" Alicia asked soaking her feet in the water. "Glorious. Brynhild was in my mind. I felt everything between us. The raw power. The battle experience. Even her lust" Selah said blushing. "Lust?" Alicia asked. "Yeah, she was a very passionate spirit. Her lust and desire guided her. I can still feel it inside me" she replied. Alicia grew worried. "I can understand that feeling. When I was killing those soldiers, the old me began emerging. All that power over them, their weakness before me. It was intoxicating" Alicia said. "Like when you were a zodiac?" Selah asked. "Just like it. When their bodies popped under my feet I damn near came. I was just like back then when I would gather humans by the dozens to feed my selfish desires. I almost lost myself, but I remembered that I'm not that person anymore. I'm a wife and a mother" she said. Alicia petted her tiny head. "Hehe...that feels good" Selah giggled. Selah climbed out of the spring and Alicia carried in her hand. "You sure you're okay?" Alicia asked bringing her to eye level. "I'll be fine. I just need to adjust is all" Selah replied. Alicia shrugged and carried her back to the mansion.

They all ate and relaxed. When it was over, they sat and talked. "Any progress about all those babies?" Alicia asked. "Each woman here shall be assigned three infants. As you can imagine they are not keen on the task but it's a matter of survival and morality" Hikari replied. "You said a few might be your siblings. Any idea which ones?" Skylar asked. "Not offhand. One day my son Yuusha with his borrower sense of smell may find out which ones are his aunts or uncles, but that is some time away" Hikari replied. "About our mission..." Alicia said. "I'm needed here more. My people teeter on chaos and Japan burns" she said. "I was going to say to stay here" Alicia smiled. "Wish we could stay and help" Selah said. "I know child. Take care of that driver and apparently my sword" Hikari said. "Forgot about that. We were so caught up bringing Selah back we didn't look for it" Alicia said. "Her sword absorbed it" Hikari pointed out. "Uhh...Norse magic doesn't do that" Skylar said. "That was something the driver did on its own. It's designed to learn, adapt, and grow with its user. That fact it didn't spit it back out concerns me though. As if it's planning to use it for another purpose" Hikari said.

Pfft. I think you're giving Sony too much credit here" Skylar chuckled. It's not Sony that did this. They only provided the architecture not the spellcraft. Onmyoji magics are rooted in the energies all around us. Constantly shifting and changing like a living thing. Hiro, the man who designed it told me even he does now know its limits. Be very careful Selah" Hikari warned. Hikari faltered slightly. "Maybe you should rest. You been running around nonstop for days" Alicia said. "I believe you're right. I'll see you in the morning" she said before leaving them.

Hikari returned to her room to see Ichiro sitting quietly watching her son sleep. "Thank you for looking after him. I've been so busy..." she sighed laying down on her futon. "You don't need to apologize. Everyone can see how delegating all these infants to families here was not easy" he said caressing her face. "Just crafting spellwork to have women lactate was a chore. How will we live as a people with so many half breeds?" she asked. "The same way you do. It will be a difficult change, but we are a people rooted in truth, justice, and love. But...with so many mixed bloodlines, we cannot have a caste system anymore. This may be the Kami's way of pushing us forward" he said laying down. "Since when have you been such an optimist?" she chuckled. "I am if you're involved" he said softly. He kissed her. Hikari looked into his eyes and pulled her yukata off. Ichiro did the same and scooted to face her. Hikari nodded to him what she wanted and slipped his cock into her.

Ichiro was gentle with her. He has thought of fucking her for decades so delaying his orgasm for a few minutes was no big deal. Hikari was stranger to sex having a kid after all but even her tiny heart fluttered knowing who was mating with her. Keith was a fantastic mate to have but Ichiro knew her in ways Keith never could. She half whimpered as he kissed the soles of her feet. Giggled as he sucked her big toe. And gasped as he bent down on plant a gentle kiss on her nipple. She blushed furiously as he licked up her leaking milk. He held her hands as he slowly sped up. Soon, he had to hold her steady as he pounded her. "Hikari...I'm going to cum" he warned. She locked her legs around his waist. "What's one more baby among us?" she giggled. He looked deep within her eyes and let go. Hikari whimpered as she came feeling his warm semen shooting deep within her. Her pussy milking him for as much seed as it could get. Once it was done, he laid down and pulled her close. He looked at her once more. "As long as we are alone, you are permitted to cry" he said softly.

Ichiro had known her long enough to see when she was holding her emotions in check. "Mommy!" Hikari sobbed into his chest. "At least you brought justice to them. Her loss is not a hollow one" he said softly. "She's been in my life for over a century. She's been the heart and soul of our people for 5,000 years. I cannot possibly live up to that" she cried. "Then don't. We need you not a replacement of your mother. Just like the humans have a beginning and end of an era, so must we. The time to call you our princess has ended. All hail Queen Hikari. Daughter of Queen Himeko and Emperor Meji" he said. Hikari stopped crying. "...your right" she said. Hikari said nothing else that evening.

That morning, all attended her coronation. Astoundingly, it was the second coronation in all their history. The last one 5,000 years prior. Hikari stepped forward, her bare feet walking on a sheet of spring water. Taiko drums beat for each step. Those before her bowed including Alicia, Skylar, and Selah. "By rite of succession, princess Hikari claims the throne! Do any object?!" Ichiro yelled. None did. "Then prepare the anointing crown!" he yelled. The adults pricked their fingers and shed a drop of blood. Each drop stopped in midair and flew towards Hikari. The drops combined and the princess formed a crown made from the liquid blood of her people. "Whoa" Selah said. Hikari placed the crown on her head. "All hail Queen Hikari! Ruler of the koonago!" Ichiro yelled. Drumbeats. "My people. I wear this symbol of your lifeblood with a heavy head. The cost was great, and we have lost so much. It is because of what we have lost I will issue the following edict. No longer will you be bound by a class system. No more will merchants marry only merchants, nobles only nobles. With our bloodlines so fractured, it is pointless. Times have changed and we must change with them. We will endure. We are koonago" she said sternly. Hikari turned to leave. "Dismissed" Ichiro said.

"Look at you sounding so regal" Ichiro chuckled as they entered the mansion. "Later on, I will make another announcement after some of the dust has settled. Speaking of dust" she said removing all the water from her blood crown turning into fine red dust. She discarded it into a memorial urn of her mother. Igniting incense sticks, she clapped twice. He waited for her to finish. "What the announcement?" he asked. "Our wedding" she replied. She smirked. "The redoubtable Ichiro left speechless. This truly is a momentous day" she giggled. Soon it was time for Alicia, Skylar, and Selah to depart. "No goodbyes. See you later is more appropriate. When the time comes, call on me. I still have unfinished business with the woman" Hikari said. "Will do. Take care prin... Queen Hikari" Alicia said. Skylar nodded to her. Selah hugged her tightly. "Don't be a stranger" Selah said kissing her. "I shall not. Take care of yourself Selah and mind the power bestowed on you. Treat it like water. It can save your life or drown you" Hikari said. Selah quietly nodded and they left through the portal to home.

"What's next?" Selah said sitting on their sofa. "Yorkshire to get that green gem. We'll leave in two days. In the meantime, I need to check on something" Alicia said. Alicia went downstairs and sat in front of the computer terminal. "It's done" she muttered pressing send. Throughout the world, phones began downloading a tiny update to their software. A new spin on an old plan was brewing.

Meanwhile in New York...

Lilith dried herself off from the shower. It was just past 9 pm as she walked out of her bathroom naked and looked out of her penthouse window overlooking Manhattan. It didn't bother her that her reflection was of someone else. She was bored until a few days ago. Having sex with cute boys and then killing them had lost their charm. Especially when they didn't beg for their lives. Find a cute teenage boy, a virgin if possible, fuck them and drain them of their cum, then shrink them and do away with them. How was standard phase at first. Eat them, crush them under her feet or ass, drown them in her pussy. But that grew boring as the wash, rinse, repeat feeling crept in. Then she simply had them commit suicide in ghastly ways. Swan diving in her toilet. Leaping off her balcony. Watching with anticipation waiting for a hawk to carry one off. Her boredom grew worse after obliterating Vatican City. A place she despised for centuries. A mix of cathartic as she squashed bishops and cardinals by the score. Anticlimactic as the Pope himself just glared at her as the giantess rose her bare foot over the building and smashed him along with it. What does someone that lived with so much hate do when the focus of it is no more? A question that plagued the old evil goddess. Then, three days ago she felt a disturbance in the balance she had crafted when Izanami died.

She dispatched loyal servants to Japan immediately to investigate. It would've been faster if she had done it herself, but she had not gotten this far rushing into the unknown. She was a cool calculating woman if ever was one. Word got back that Izanami's body had been found on the slope of a mountain that reeked of magics. The trees destroyed, massive footprints and crushed bodies found outside a burned-out research building. Lilith didn't know what Izanami had been up to nor did she care. She did care about who was powerful enough not just to grow so huge but to slay a death goddess. As far as she knew, only a Campione or a fellow deity could do it. The remaining goddesses and gods were pretty much accounted for. Morrigan was in the UK. Persephone in Athens. The remaining gods and goddesses slowly starving to death as their worshippers taken away and the spell she had used removed them from mortal minds. Right now, she waited as she received word that her loyal servant has returned with a damaged hard drive containing security footage. There was a knock on the door. "Enter" she said. A young man no older than 17 entered. "Good evening exalted one. We have finished analyzing the hard drive" he said. "And?" Lilith asked walking up to him. The young man stiffened as her naked body came closer. From her pedicured toes to the top of her hair, he found her stunning. Too bad it was really Faith's beauty he was seeing. "Well, the fire that destroyed the building also damaged the hard drive from the security systems, but we were able to pull one uncorrupted video file off it. It's only five seconds long though" he said. He typed on his tablet and freaked it to her 80-inch smart tv. Lilith watched the short video.

"Rewind and slow" she said. She watched again. "Pause!" she yelled. He did and she walked closer to the tv. "Well, well. The missing princess of the koonago and... crop and enhance" she said seeing something. "Impossible. Selah and Alicia McCormick as well?! They should've been swallowed up by the revisions...unless they were spared just like Vatican City" she muttered. In the beginning, Lilith had been sure her revision was complete success until she found that Vatican City had been spared by it. She concluded correctly that the city's barrier protected it somehow. She wondered if anywhere else had been spared. "When was the last time you looked upon Yorkshire Manor?" she asked wary. "Every week milady. It's the same thing, just a massive crater. Nothing at all" he replied. Lilith was no fool. After discovering Vatican City was spared, she turned her attention to Yorkshire Manor where Keith and more importantly Hope lived. If anyone could destroy her now it was the Etherion user. Curiously, the borrower colony and the mansion itself was completely gone. Not a trace remained. Thinking that Hope had spirited it away, Lilith ordered her servants to keep an eye on it every week. And for 10 months there had been absolutely nothing. Lilith began to think they had hidden themselves forever. But now, now all of that was in question. Lilith didn't like being left in the dark. She had no other explanation for their disappearance other than fleeing her. Yorkshire was Morrigan's domain. "Dismissed" she said coldly.

Lilith sat down and picked up her phone. "Morrigan. We have a problem. Are you sure Yorkshire Manor is abandoned?" she asked. "I have my own servants check every week. Even have one living in the town. Nothing" Morrigan replied. "Very well. Be on guard. Izanami is dead and her killer is at large. If you sense anything unusual you are to summon me" Lilith said. "I can take care of my own domain. I do not need your help" Morrigan said hanging up. "Goddamn fool" Lilith hissed tossing her phone across the room. She walked back to the penthouse windows.

"Problem?" Faith asked internally. "Nothing we can't solve" Lilith replied verbally. "We'll see. My family has a way of...taking care of business" she laughed. Lilith looked at herself in the window once more. It was laughing at her until she punched the glass shattering it. The crisp October air hit her immediately. The pain in her bloody hand ebbed as it healed leaving her with anxiety. An anxiety mixed with...fear. 

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