With the world being thrown into turmoil once more, Nemesis weighed his options on his next move. He couldn’t feel any sort of negative feelings, fear in particular from the realm. It was as though the very essence was sucked away from it. It was bothersome, to say the least, so he would have his churches house those that were in need, although his generosity wouldn’t be completely free. Each person that would be taken in would be taken down into the records and when the situation was resolved, then payment through devotion or some sort of currency would be due. Reaver and the other priests would see to it. Maalik was sent out to further inspect the situation but instructed to flee the moment something happened to him.

Meanwhile, Nemesis decided to head to Elysia to see how Angela was faring off in her research. But of course, when he made to her realm, he was told by one of the attendants that she was in a camp aiding those that were coming to help solve this problem. So he ventured there and could see that the forces have been rallied as many of them carried the vial of liquid that he had previously gained back at that fountain. Cladded in black and gold armor, the lord made his way through to a large tent where he felt her presence, but something was off here. He couldn’t put a finger onto it, but something was wrong here. Had she got struck with what the others had?

Nemesis pushed open the entrance and was welcomed with columns of books as high as the ceiling. It felt like a maze as he navigated through to where he spotted the redhead, buried in one of those books. “Care to explain what plight we are in this time, dearest?”, he spoke as he glanced over various notes and scribbles. “And what’s with this contents here?” He pulled out the vial with the strange elixir, balancing it between his index finger and thumb. Up until now, he had no bloody idea what it was meant to be used for. But he did trust that it had something to do with getting them through this.

“Essence of mandrake had no effect on the malachite. It just seemed to piss it off more,” Angela had a hushed down as she wrote down her experiments. “Concentrated acid mix using the mushrooms from the invasion… Slightly more successful.” The quill was moving fast now as she wrote everything out in detail. She put the quill in the ink well before she picked up her cup of coffee. It heated instantly in her hand before she took a sip.

She flipped through the book more as Nemesis walked in. Her green eyes looked up at him. “Remnants of the eldritch attack. It’s somehow managed to get through the aether and latch onto my sphere. It’s killing me slowly.” She said it so nonchalantly as she sipped the coffee. “I’m trying to figure out how to kill it. I figure I have about twenty days before it finally kills me.”

The goddess looked at an hourglass that moved weirdly. “…Make that eight teen days. It’s speeding up how much it can actually take my sphere from me. Lovely, it’s learning.” She thought about it and shrugged as she continued to write something out in her book. “Most likely, it latched onto my sphere when Dalanesca shanked me and almost killed me. It was dormant until recently. If that isn’t how it happened I don’t have a theory otherwise.”

She pushed herself up and closed the book as she walked it over to another stack. “I’ve read the entire library of Adeluna… I should call them to remove it so I can move on to Mamlak’s library.” She put her hands on her hips. “I have a feeling it won’t be found in a book. A spire has appeared and at the very top is a chrysalis that houses the pearl that is attached to me. That’s the source of what’s happening. It’s eating my sphere of Love and it’s affecting everything and everyone.”

She pointed to the container. “It will protect one from the malachite and miasma this thing is putting off. It might have my sphere of love but not my sphere of life… It has fucked with the wrong goddess.”

It was hardly surprising that the Goddess was busied in one of her books; she was as bad as Celeste was at times when she preferred the company of literature to him. In this matter, he figured it was to combat whatever the devil was going on in the continent. He circled around her to get a better view but paused when she so kindly revealed bits and pieces of the situation. Namely that she would perish because of events related to the out worldly being they dealt with not too long ago.

“I have no idea why all the dangerous things are attracted to you”, he grumbled, “Makes me think that you have a death wish or something.” So they had such a short amount of time to solve this problem (which was made even less when she was corrected by the hourglass), and she was carrying on like it was another day. Her fate had always been a paradox when it came to death- she would merely rise again like phoenix where others fell and most didn’t recover. It was a fascinating concept that would be talked about later but at this moment, he was much more troubled with seeing that Angela didn’t die.

“So everything’s tied together- it manipulating Dalanesca to attack you, and then have a follow-up plan if you hadn’t died. Vindictive little bastard.” He had to nod and agree that the solution wouldn’t be written by someone from the realm at all- this was something out of their league several times over. He turned to look at the container that housed a pearl that carried her other sphere. “My question was why chose that of Love’s than Life’s? Was it easier for it to start with that, or is it testing its limits?”

He crossed his arms against his chest and lowered his gaze, “Whatever the case, don’t overdo it. Heavens knows what this world will turn to, otherwise.”

Angela looked up as if it was an everyday thing for her, and surely it was not but the goddess was poised. “Take out the one who can bring back gods from death. I’ve done it once though with the consequences I doubt I’ll do it again unless I need to. I can also replenish the ground quickly and continue to feed the people even if plants can’t get nutrients or sunlight. There’s plenty of reasons to want my spheres gone for good. I asked the Voice and he theorized I was perhaps the only one capable of the feats and I probably shook something to the core. Great power comes with consequences, we all know this but we don’t know the price. So maybe this is the price for doing what I can do.”

She nodded with his theory. “That’s my theory anyway. I’ve been proven hard to kill. Who knows how long it had been observing us before the attack. I survived the God Slayer War when most of our kind was killed, I survived Dalanesca raining hellfire at me, I survived being stabbed by Dalanesca with gods know what, and now I’m dealing with this. Things have certainly gotten a lot more dangerous since I took Life’s mantle.”

Angela approached her second sphere and studied it. Her eyes seem to go distant. “Because at the base of everything is love in some shape or another even the will to live. Desires, motivation, and anything else that gives you the feeling of you… It all stems from that little emotion even if others don’t think they can. If you wanted to grow yourself by eating the world, you wouldn’t attack Life but you would Love as a way to get stronger before killing those before you. It’s smart honestly but I wish it wasn’t that smart. If it was life I could have Serafina counteract it with death and stop this.”

Her eyes looked up at him. “But currently in the conclave? We don’t have anyone who could counteract Love. I absorbed the counterpart of it when I killed Dal. Simply put, it’s watching us or rather was. The pearl itself I believe is a fragment left and it isn’t actually truly alive but it can adapt. It’s adapting to me and taking what’s mine as a lifeline and tapping into everyone else through that. Right now, it’s still weak enough where a large group of us can resist it but if it got any stronger I would fear for the world more than I do.”

The goddess finally looked back up to her lover and put her hand up to cup his face. “Why do you think I’m calm? It most certainly isn’t because I’m not scared. It’s because if I panic there will be mistakes. If I make mistakes right now it can cost the lives of what people we have left. It could speed up the loss of my own life. I need to remain calm and I can break down about it after this is over.” She was shielding her fears from him and perhaps that was to ease him more than anything.

“Shiloh is working on a way to help break down the malachite. The formula I’m working on is part of the base. I’ve already spent almost a week working on this watching the properties of this malachite. It looks like malachite and tastes like it too but the way it’s built structurally isn’t malachite. All I’ve done is take the base from an acid that breaks down malachite and changed it slightly. It’s not enough to make a complete breakdown but once I figure it out I’m going to turn it over to Shiloh. Right now, we just need to focus on fighting the spire. If I can’t come through on this end, I need to make sure you all can at least get through this. Hopefully, after this, it will be the last time I have to worry about my life for a while.”

The reason for it to select her as the target made sense; she was the oldest and most resilient of the gods to this day. The rest of them, including Nemesis, were simply fledglings in comparison and the loss of a few good deities in recent times only weakened their united front. If they were to lose Angela, then they were surely doomed without someone adamant that could take charge. The spheres that would be lost would be devastating to boot. If anything, she needed to be safeguarded, but knowing how stubborn she was, the damn woman would work herself to death before that happened. Of course, on the opposing side of the coin, that’s what he adored about her.

“So I take it a good chunk of the world is feeling this voidness that the entity has done by attacking your sphere?”, Nemesis questioned as he mentally calculated his next couple of actions. He wasn’t sure how long it would be until the rest of the family felt into this despair as he moved most of them into the Bastion, hoping that they would be spared in his own realm. But it was hard to determine how strong its reach was, and should it be able to trespass into their territories, then there was no safe place.

“The closest thing would be Fear, but I do not know it that’s truly close enough. The afflicted don’t seem to feel anything at all. They feel like empty husks to me, Angela.” Was he worried about the realm overall? Of course, but he was especially concerned should Angela not make it through this time. He didn’t shy away from her touch nor did he scuff at her words, both were truly sincere.

“The problem in fighting against the spire is the unknown at this point. We have no idea on how else it plans to protect itself those walls. If it was able to resist you…” Nemesis sighed before shaking his head. It was pointless to look at things that way now. What mattered was that she made it out alive and he would use his strength to help see that through. He took her hand and squeezed it tenderly, “In any manner, you are right. I can leave the mental workings to you and this Shiloh person. I can deal with the fieldwork and head for the spire. You won’t have to worry about your life because you will not die, I will see to it.”

“

Angela nodded, “People from all over are being effected. My daughter Yucca made the travels from Parvpora and her companion pig was feeling it. I did my best for him and he seems a bit better but he is definitely being affected by it.”

Gently she shook her head full of red curls and thought about it. “Because they are… Fear is close but it isn’t enough.” Her fingers rubbed against his cheek as she offered up a smile. This was the very least she could do as a supporting figure.

“I imagine it was able to resist me by using my own powers against me. It isn’t the same for the rest of you,” her green eyes locked with his. “But it is the unknown right now.” The goddess tenderly squeezed his hand back and was thankful for the gesture. At least he was supporting her and that made things all the better.

“I believe in you just as much as you believe in me,” Angela’s voice was soft as she reached up and kissed him. “I’ll keep being hard at work to solve this puzzle. There isn’t a potion or elixir out there I can’t figure out given enough time and energy.”

The flap to the tent opened and it was Yucca who’s chest was heaving. She had Eno in her arms who looked rather delighted to see Angela again now that he was feeling better. “Mom, you won’t believe this,” Yucca was catching her breath before looking at Nemesis.

“You said… To keep a lookout for Lucian right? Well, he’s here and he’s throwing a royal fit trying to find you right now. They are directing him this way.”

Angela let out a soft click with her tongue. “I made sure not to tell anyone who would tell him so how…”

Yucca shook her head and shrugged, “Something about a toddler.”

“…Angelette…” Angela hissed a bit and sighed. “Looks like I’m going to have a babysitter.”

“A…pig?” He couldn’t quite keep the humor away from his tone but in a serious case, the effects were now reaching animals as well. All life seemed to be in danger at this point, regardless if they walked on two, four or even no legs. Now wasn’t exactly the time for him to question these things. What needed to be done was to fight this thing on two fronts- Angela was doing well on her battlefield right here and he would take a more direct approach. He was hardly surprised that his sphere wasn’t enough to counterbalance it- at this point, none of the other gods could fight against it.

“And breaking things is my specialty”, he returned in a much softer voice than he mustered since coming here. He wasn’t one to wear his feelings on his sleeve on the battlefield, but he was going to make sure that he rose fire and brimstone to make this thing pay dearly. He returned the kiss back to her right before their conversation came to an end when someone came inside the tent. It was clear that the girl knew Angela and once she opened her mouth, he had his answer of who she was might have been. The pig in her arms also helped quite a bit.

“Well, at least you won’t have to worry about his whereabouts then.”

Lucian had been traveling with Steele and Jayden accompanying him towards the camp. The young king had wondered where his mother ran off to, and when this epidemic came about, he knew that she had to be someone working on fixing the problem. The only thing was that he wasn’t told of the entire situation, so he decided to hunt her down after Angelette had spilled the beans- her ears were almost as big as her mouth. Jayden went along to keep an eye on his cousin and Steele was already heading to the battle anyway so he would see them off until that point.

Making it there, he marched all the way to Angela’s hunt and flung the flap wide open. “Mother! There you are! What the devil is going on?”

Nemesis moved passed the group and waved to Angela. “Good luck. See to it that she doesn’t overdo it.”

“Heard loud and clear”, Lucian replied as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot lightly. “Angela, he’s been like this since everything started. He practically was driving the house bonkers”, Jayden spoke up, All three of them were in armor with Lucian and Jayden wearing their houses’ color and sigils respectively. “I did my part, now if you’ll excuse me…”, Steele spoke up before he headed off to fight as well.

“I had to learn from Angelette of all people…just how the hell did she know before I did?”

“Lucian, please. She might have a good reason not to have told you.”

“It doesn’t matter now, I’m here. So spill the beans, mother. Just what is going on this time?”

Angela chuckled a bit as he answered her back. She would explain to him how Enokitake came to be another time but for now, there was a fight to do and things like this could wait. “Oh I know… You excel at it.” She was proud of him for that at the moment and she would need that skill to help everyone else out.

“No… I won’t have to worry about that at least.” Of the twins… Lucian was normally the level headed one of the two. However, when it came to his mother he was swiftly protective and it could be seen as he marched into the tent with Steele and Jayden.

Angela waved to Nemesis and finally, her hands settled on her hips as she looked at one of her youngest sons. “That doesn’t shock me Jayden. He’s always been protective of me especially since Dalanesca blew me up.” Angela was swift as she came in and kissed her son’s forehead. “Stay safe as you can Steele.” The goddess watched as the sin of wrath left them. War was something he lived for and he was useful to them like this.

Thinking about how the toddler could have heard she sighed a bit. “I guessing Angelette overheard someone talking about it. Very few people know the truth so panic doesn’t happen.” She ran her fingers through Lucian’s hair. “The fragment of eldritch that’s doing all of this is leeching my sphere and in doing that also put me at risk of dying. I have eighteen days to figure out the solution or I’ll probably disappear into the aether.”

The Mother pointed to the hourglass. “That’s my lifeforce that’s falling from the top. The bottom is the amount the creature has leeched from me already. I’m working on a concoction to destroy the malachite so we can break the pearl. Once we break the pearl I’ll get all of my power back.”

Her eyes were glued to Lucian. “Your father is going out to fight it and hopefully maybe he can kill it before I run out of time. The other choice is that I push myself as hard as I can to finish the formula.” Yucca was looking in between her brother and then her mother.

“I’m going to make you all some food. Everything will be fine,” Yucca’s cheerfulness was also followed by Eno’s oink in agreement.

“That’s your sister Yucca. She’s a chef and she’s been cooking for everyone all day.” Angela looked up at Jayden and smiled at him. “Surprised your mother isn’t here yet.” Now someone else pushed past the two. “What now?”

She could see the panic on the clergy member's face. “Your sister has lost her marbles! Apparently Furtuna fired Princess Tempest from one of her cannons so Tempest could breach the spire.”

Angela was facepalming and she didn’t know who to blame more. Was it Furtuna… No, Tempest probably bothered her until she did it. “She’s still alive. Tell Toya that Tempest appears not hurt and is fine. I can sense her in the spire so it worked… Whatever it is she did.” Looking over at Jayden she sighed. “Your niece has huge balls.”

Anemone came in with a tray that had two cups of coffee and a large pot of it. “I made you more coffee so you don’t fall asle–” Seeing Lucian made Anemone freeze.

“It’s alright he knows.”

“Does he know you haven’t slept in two weeks?!” The high priestess was ready to throw her goddess under the carriage as Angela showed her unhappiness in a facial expression. “Please make sure she rests. If anyone can talk her into it… It’s you King Lucian.”

Clearly, he wasn't pleased with her- keeping things from him was only going to make him more anxious over the situation. Her sweet words weren't going to save her this time from him. He was readying to let her have it before she greeted him. She was right though- ever since her first "death", Lucian would watch her like a hawk when he could to see to it that it didn't happen again. Although it had, it was in a place that he simply couldn't get to when she got stabbed by the same woman. Steele nodded and left, heading for the spire as instructed by his father. His sisters would be arriving shortly on their own to accompany him. Jayden, in the meanwhile, stood by and let his aunt speak freely about what they were dealing with.

Lucian's face turned to pure horror once she mentioned death. "Not again. Why does this always happen to you?" He leaned his head against her shoulder, unsure of what he could do for her.

"Angelette probably overheard it from Mother", Jayden sighed. "Our court was told of this a little bit ago. Also, we were instructed not to tell you, Lucian." His cousin mumbled something, but other than that, let it pass. He was sure that his mother told people not to tell him so that he didn't over worry. Shame that plan flopped hard at the hands of a toddler.

They were on a timer and he peeked about to look at it. They didn't have much time to play with and Nemesis was already out there heading to the spire. "Then…I will too. I will go and fight as well." Jayden gave him a straight look, "Oh no. It's bad enough that your mother is taxing herself. We can't afford to lose you, little cousin."

Lucian stared hard at him, "I can fight, and I'm not that little anymore. Tell him, Yucca."

"Still, you need to be here with your mother. If anyone's going out there, it's me." He turned to Angela, "Mother already went ahead with…"

The clergy member beat him to the punch and informed them that Tempest took a unique route for the spire. Jayden couldn't groan hard enough to express his frustrations while Lucian's mouth hung low. "That little…mother will have her in a small casket yet", he swore. "Why the hell did Furtuna even…"

"They are both psychos! This is why I had people watching over her inventions!", Lucian exclaimed though it was clear that they should have just watched her in general.

"Yes, well, one day my mother will but her through a fucking wall."

The men settled down as Angela's high priestess came in. "Don't worry, I will make sure that she doesn't get too crazy. She's gonna take a nap right this moment…" Jayden could only offer his aunt an apologetic shrug as Lucian shooed his mother towards her cot. "I have Taimi, Emmanuel, and Bakura over at Aunt Cathrine's place with her and Kyrel looking through the library there to see if they can find something." He did pause for a moment but pressed through it, "And also Marin and Hendrix, much to Bakura's disappointment. We all have our hands in this, for the realm and for you too, Mother. You aren't alone in this fight."

“Your father asked the same thing,” Angela chuckled a bit and could see Nemesis and Raeguel in Lucian. She was so proud of him. “Simply put, my spheres are important Lucian. I’m a sound structure in the conclave and I’ve been in the conclave for almost two thousand years now. I can rally the conclave in ways others can’t and I can also resurrect gods when given the power to do so.” Angela hugged her son and kissed his head. “My precious boy.” There was a whisper from him to her.

“From the mouth of babes… Angelette probably told Lucian because she would want to know if something happened to Crystaline.” Angela couldn’t fault the little girl. “She is actually a real sweetheart when she isn’t swindling people. It wasn’t that she had a big mouth… It was that she honestly believed that Lucian deserved to know.”

Yucca shook her head at her little brother. “No, Mother’s filled me in on enough about back home. You are the king Lucian and what we need you to be doing right now is making sure that Mother stays rested and not stressed.”

Angela listened in to everything and put her hand to her chin. “…If… Tempest made it into the spire that means the density of the malachite isn’t much thicker even for the walls.” There were wheels turning in her head but Lucian had other plans for her. “WAIT,” Angela yelled a moment startling everyone even Eno.

“I’ll take a nap but the density of the malachite for the spire. It’s hallow. It’s not solid malachite. So the force that Tempest went at it is why she made it all the way through unhurt.” She had spaced out on the rest of the conversation. “Can you tell them that? This pearl is incapable of making solid objects. Meaning it only has the basic understandings of what malachite is.”

Anemone looked thoroughly lost on the matter. “I’m no gem or rock expert my lady… but…”

Angela was being forced into the cot and she was looking up at everyone. “If it’s hallow that means the acid doesn’t nearly need to be as strong as I thought. I can have this solved in five days unless something changes it.”

Once Lucian got her down for a nap Yucca covered her up. Angela was immediately asleep when her head hit the pillow. “She’s been running herself so dry… She really hasn’t changed at all since the last time I saw her.” Yucca gave Lucian a smile. “Are you hungry? You have to be with all this commotion. It’s not good to not eat even if you are worried. You too before you head out," Yucca directed the comment at Jayden. The caring nature was something most of the Red Court had in their blood.