TO Rewrite: B4 — 8. War-Torn Requiem

PoV: 1. Rachel Park (Our Lunar Hare!) TO Rewrite Index Previous Chapter In-line Edit -------------------- The Montana morning cut through Ra

PoV:

1. Rachel Park (Our Lunar Hare!)

TO Rewrite Index

Previous Chapter

In-line Edit

--------------------

The Montana morning cut through Rachel’s senses, ears flaring as she caught whispers of change on winds from the anxious soldiers. In the background, she smelled diesel fuel, sweat, and something indefinably otherworldly from Butter’s proximity, likely from [Divine Beast Empowerment - Seventh Sense].

Butter happily skipped beside Scarlet and her, taking in everything with childlike enthusiasm and without an ounce of fear. On the other hand, Scarlet was looking skyward, taking in the bright sun filtered through Butter’s protective barrier.

Rachel’s gaze drifted to her hand as they walked, twisting it around to see the skin-tight film of divine Life Force.

Butter could kill Scarlet with a snap of her finger right now… I don’t think I’ve ever felt so totally at ease, though. Is it her own total confidence or total transparency? The closest thing to her would probably be…Maria. The real question will be how Maria handles Butter’s personality with her lie detection. Both deal with healing and Life Force… Maybe Butter could help enhance her attributes.

Her attention was diverted to the Crystal as it came into view, its prismatic glow casting a shifting hue of blue and violet over the military encampment. Soldiers moved cautiously around it, clearly lost as to what their next move was from the conversations that tickled her ears. 

The tones and topics ranged from mistrust and existential crisis about reality to a more ‘roll with it’ mentality than she had initially thought. There was fear, but the First Oscillation had already laid the initial groundwork for them to accept this second one, even if it was far more potent and intrusive.

“Your soldiers are remarkably disciplined, Rachel, or…are they your soldiers?” Butter observed, eyes picking specific individuals with genuine delight as she surveyed the military installation. “My big sister, Elinor, handles almost all of our soldier needs with her undead, but there are those humans who yearn to contribute and have a hand in their own destiny.”

She paused as Rachel picked apart her statement and the words left unsaid. “Mmm… I can feel so much anxiety that I’ve caused. Pressure is good, and without chaos, nothing adapts, but there must be relief in a pendulum shift… What do you think I should do to set their hearts at ease?” the woman spontaneously asked, catching Rachel a tad off-guard, which wasn’t a typical feeling for her.

Rachel rubbed the back of her neck, following the blonde’s gaze. It wasn’t a question based purely on the surface-level subject; this one inquiry provided insight into her culture, perspective, hierarchy structure, personality, and general temperament.

“That’s…a hard thing to answer,” she honestly responded, catching Scarlet’s fang poke through as her anxiety skyrocketed, trying not to be obvious. “A group exercise and a show of good faith is a good start, but I think consistency is the only way. You’ve shown that you can basically mind control—even if you say it isn’t—that’s what they see and understand.

“As for leadership. No, I’ve done a lot in the past two months that has sort of made me a…national talking point, I suppose you could say. You might see better effort in spending time with Barbara, the general, and the president than walking with me.”

Butter’s lips curved into a tiny smirk, illuminated, sharp eyes drifting to her. “Trying to get rid of me, Ms. Hare? Testing to see if I shift my position if you don’t have the influence I seek? How cheeky and presumptuous! The reason I’m with you isn’t for political gain but pure interest in Scarlet and your complex souls. Truly, I think I can help…and you can better support me in what is to come. Any details you want to add, dear?” she asked the vampire, curiosity sparking in her tone.

“Me? Uh… I still don’t know if I should trust you. But, as for them…” Scarlet hesitantly nodded, shifting closer to Rachel’s side, crimson eyes darting between the antsy personnel. “Plus, they expect action… I can feel it. They’re pumped and fully ready to engage a threat, but right now they have…really nowhere to release that built tension.”

Way to go, Scarlet, Rachel internally cheered, bumping hips with her and smiling to show her support.

Nia chimed in right after, ‘picking apart the stitching,’ as she might say.

“She’s been growing. Hmm. Do you think Butter, wanting to ‘train’ or, more accurately, give us a chance to see her personality on a deeper level, will help? She obviously zeroed in on you, Major, because she instinctively knew you had a large amount of public trust with the authority figures, like Tom and the president.”

Yes, but she’s not subtle about it. That’s the problem, in a way… The fact that she doesn’t have any need to hide anything, with her power, automatically breeds distrust with the masses. There’s a real problem with genuinely sincere people being rejected wholesale for being ‘too pure,’ and that can create its own villain if not handled carefully.

Butter’s hair bunched around her left shoulder as her head tilted, her smile falling ever so slightly as she analyzed their words. “That is an extremely astute observation, Ms. Scarlet. Simply trying to do a personal exercise with them won’t do… Perhaps, a joint mingling where they can speak to the susime. Believing in me, and by extension, my twin, allows them to speak any language her Feats are connected to, which includes English. I’ll need to bring this up with your general…”

“Immediate adaptation and solution proposed,” Nia noted with a strained laugh. “I think you’ve found a resonant soul, Major. She’s sharp.”

Dangerously so… Maybe we can direct that.

“You think she’ll notice?”

Absolutely…and she’ll love it.

“Do you have an initial direction?”

Of course I do, she snorted. Answers we need now before putting a bookmark in old problems or making time for their resolution, if needed… Ali Baba’s family. We’ll test that after this introduction.

Coming closer to the Crystal, Rachel immediately zeroed in on the scene. The jungle foliage that had previously obscured the other side of the Crystal had been cleared away, revealing a military camp that appeared to have been through a war zone—collapsed tents, destroyed equipment, and debris scattered across the ground.

Grace and El Santo had exited just before they’d left the bunker itself by conversations around them, and they weren’t alone as Butter jumped in without a prompt.

“We’ve already cleared out most of the debris and collapsed infrastructure, despite how it looks. It’s interesting how these Crystals capture infrastructure and environment, not souls,” she pondered, somehow following Rachel’s focus, despite her wide field of vision not giving away her first note.

A lamenting note entered the blonde’s softening tone, sounding truly heartbroken. “Sadly, due to Death Energy being used to steal the very connection that unified the corpses to their spirits, I couldn’t resurrect any of your soldiers the Death Cult took before I conquered them.”

Rachel winced, ears snapping to the left as she heard Green pause outside of the tent, half-engaging Snow about their plans.

“You…know there is such a thing as being too transparent and speaking whatever is on your mind, High Queen. There are a lot of individuals with heightened senses that can hear you speak, and that is probably a detail you should keep to yourself,” she murmured.

“Emotions can run high when context isn’t added…and everyone needs a villain to place their hate. Don’t add more gasoline to your ‘glamorous introduction.’ Luckily, Nungal seems to have taken a lot of heat with her deity revelation, which…almost seems planned, now that I’m looking at it.”

Scarlet’s head bobbed, brow furrowing and looking back up at the sun, clearly still trying to figure out if this was all just a dream. And, honestly, Rachel couldn’t blame her. For all they knew, Butter had trapped them in some kind of zone or soul trap…just like the Black Moon.

But that wasn’t high on her current list.

Butter’s smile became strained, her usual cheer flickering. “I don’t disagree. There are certainly positive and negative results that come from my showmanship. I can own that. And Nungal is a mystery to me, as well.”

Her bright gaze drifted to the sky. “I’m not quite sure what to think about the goddess of chains, but she is involved in my twin’s and my resurrection and multiple lives, so…there’s something we can work toward answers together! Oh, and look, there’s my lovely Adoncia!”

Butter pointed toward the small figure in an immaculate black and white maid outfit who stood with attendant-like grace beside the Crystal.

She reflected on the maid’s blue oni-like appearance, having a decent understanding of Eastern mythology compared to Western mythology. From gossip, the soldiers hadn't missed her change from red to blue: red oni representing wild, destructive rage, while blue symbolized disciplined control and loyalty.

Butter used El Santo to tame and help her maid learn how to use her powers… An opponent that could stand up to her rage and buy time to adapt. Her instincts are sharp. 

However, instead of the intense oni, she currently looked like a very attractive, disciplined young woman in her early twenties, who happened to be wearing a maid’s outfit.

Naturally, Scarlet picked up on that subject, derailing them.

“Uh, so…what’s with Adoncia’s look. That’s her name, right? Spanish? And she’s what, an oni maid? Where…did she get that power? ”

“Way to go, probing for information, Major Fangs!”

You’re really focusing on us instead of my brother and Alexa, Rachel internally chuckled to her Living Denier.

“I can’t help it. Butter radiates with that outfit… I dare say she’d look good in just about anything. And it almost feels like… I don’t know, like I’m naked in front of her. Not in a bad way, which is weird,” she swiftly defended. “Like she’s actually seeing ‘me’ and not an outfit.”

Rachel let the statement hang as Butter engaged the vampire on their approach.

“Oh yes, when you lose all civilization, are taken captive by toad people, and your only form of grounding and stability comes in the form of a gothic, hyper-focused, and structured lich empress—ahem, my big sister—then she tends to have an…impression on those who were traumatized," Butter giggled. “Should I be laughing at that? I mean, it is reality,” she hummed, thoughtfully.

“Bah! In any case, she’s absolutely precious to me and constantly asserts her opinion to me in private,” she winked.

That made the maid’s perfectly neutral face crease with a scowl that Rachel took to say, ‘Why are you revealing all of our secrets, High Queen?! We are in hostile company!’

Rachel couldn’t help an internal chuckle at the sheepish smile and light scowl that passed between the mistress and maid. It must be hard working for someone as confident as Butter… It also reveals very sensitive information.

“They can speak telepathically or through their souls, like us.”

Not just that, Rachel noted… It likely extends to everyone within their circle, or that is something we have to entertain, she muttered to her outfit, vision sliding between the unique individuals.

As they drew closer, Rachel’s tactical mind automatically assessed the gathering.

The maid stood with the perfect posture of someone trained in formal service, but her grip on the iron kanabō and the way her bright blue eyes tracked movement spoke of a fighter in training. Beside her, a figure in gleaming armor sat astride an alabaster horse that seemed to radiate its own inner light.

That has to be Conquest, Rachel voiced to Nia, studying the silver-haired woman whose very presence seemed to command the space around her. She carries herself like someone who’s never doubted her own authority, similar to Butter herself. I don’t know if her name has anything to do with their master, but we need to give weight to that notion.

“Grace! El Santo!” Butter called out cheerfully, waving toward two familiar figures near the Crystal’s base and showing them that she had an excellent memory. “How wonderful to see you again so soon! I’m happy that you were able to get acquainted with my entourage.”

Grace looked up from the smooth, almost reflective asphalt that now looked more like obsidian, yet somehow had grip, after Butter’s purification. Her brown hair was disheveled by the wind, her new black Stetson in place, and her typical preference for a flannel shirt was evident. There was a lot Rachel needed to catch up on with her organization.

“Well, that was quicker than a flash flood,” Grace drawled. “High Queenie, darlin’, you sure know how to make an entrance. Half the boys I’ve talked to are still tryin’ to figure out if they dreamed that whole golden light show or if this is all some elaborate illusion of the perfect woman.”

“Oh, you’re so sweet! I’m sure that isn’t the only thing they’re discussing,” she noted, with a knowing gleam as she fingered the amulet between her bust. “I can feel their desires, wrapped in uncomfortable guilt. The troubles of the flesh… Nothing a good dance can’t cure!”

Grace opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out as she tried to process that line of thinking. In that time, El Santo stepped forward, his massive frame somehow managing to look both imposing and respectful as he performed a slight bow.

“Su Alteza, it is an honor to meet you properly. Your…demonstration was quite impressive and confusing,” he stated with a pained laugh. “I am still attempting to…process the sublime glory that infused me that is…challenging to express.”

“I can have that effect on people,” she laughed, shrugging as if it were a helpless reaction to her glory. “Often, your own worst enemy can be your very nature. I fight my baser instincts every minute!”

“What does she mean by that?” Scarlet mumbled to her.

Rachel shook her head; it probably meant a dozen compounding things.

She passively followed Butter’s playful banter, clearly enjoying making Scarlet flustered at her comments, as Adoncia took her mistress’ side. The maid’s composure was breaking by the minute, looking like she wanted to slap her lady to get her off the subject of her own objective beauty and its effects on others.

In reality, Rachel could see the purpose. Butter needed to build a foundational grounding on culture and appropriate interactions by engaging with people who wouldn’t immediately recoil. Once again, it was self-enjoying testing that reflected every action she took.

Rachel’s attention was drawn to the Crystal, noting what wasn’t there—the toad people Butter had mentioned. Only Conquest and Adoncia had joined Grace and El Santo, but they’d no doubt report to her later their experience.

As intrigued as she was about the race she’d first encountered on that first, fateful day that she’d become a Lunar Hare, and the disturbing link forming in her mind, she had other things to focus on that needed direct responses. But the fact that Scarlet’s old teacher—the Scarlet Hand’s mole who used a hidden razor in her glasses to cut a Green Beret’s throat—had written a message to those toads had stuck with her.

Rachel’s ears wandered to the right, catching the sound of precisely the situation she’d been waiting for from conversations she’d been passively following. Particularly, the daily visit of Ali Baba’s family to Princess Layla’s jail cell in the local prison that the military had commandeered.

“…Butter,” she interrupted.

The blonde turned with obvious delight, practically bouncing on her toes as everyone gave her the floor. “Yes? Oh, please tell me you have something interesting for me to look at!”

“I do, actually. There’s a situation I’d like a second opinion on, if you’re willing,” Rachel tested, noting how Butter’s eyes immediately lit up with curiosity.

“How mysterious! You’re getting efficient at manipulating my desire for adventure and need to be helpful,” the blonde bluntly stated with a coy smile, that said she knew exactly what she was doing, as everyone’s breath froze in their lungs. “And I approve!”

“Ooh!” Adoncia’s composure finally snapped with a frustrated growl, shooting her mistress a glare that could have melted steel. “High Queen, you are feeding into it again! Every time someone presents you with a ‘challenge’ or ‘mystery,’ you dive right—”

“Oh, Adoncia!” Butter laughed, waving off her maid’s concern with obvious affection as the young woman appeared to want to twist her club into a pretzel. “I keep telling you, there’s no harm in it, and it’s so much fun to see where I’m pulled next! It’s been quite educational. I’m having the time of my life, and you know I’m not like my twin. Even Priss would recognize that trying to act her typical totalitarian, rule-of-law, gloomy goth self, with all her stability and security, would only bar doors, not open them! Trust me. This is my stage and passion.”

There it is, Rachel thought with a growing smile. She’s not trying to isolate—she’s pushing into uncomfortable territory even for her own people. Connection over control. That is counter to her Conquest ideology…but not on a grander scale. Ultimately, she aims to conquer Earth. Only on everyone’s terms, which is…unique.

“Lead the way, Rachel,” Butter said with a grin.

She nodded in the direction of the military converted structures. “It’s about an hour walk, so we’ll need to take a vehicle. The situation involves some survivors from a collapsed realm. They’re currently being held at the local jail—well, what used to be the Yellowstone County Detention Facility before the military commandeered it.”

“Wait… Yellowstone?” Butter’s gaze darted to her surroundings with sudden interest. “We are in Yellowstone? The place with Old Faithful? I’ve heard of it from some of our citizens from the U.S.

“There is a place similar to it in our world that surrounds a truly colossal city fortress, approximately twenty miles by fifteen miles, built by giant gorilla people… Speaking of which, do you have gorillas here?! I’ve only seen partially destroyed picture books of Earth gorillas.”

The information filed into Rachel’s brain as the woman practically bounced on her toes and told Rachel exactly what she wanted to know. Butter was a total outsider to Earth. It connected the final piece of the puzzle.

Nia hummed inside. “That…is bigger than a colossal city. It’s like a whole region that’s a castle? From what I understand, that’s bigger than some small nations on Earth. And this means…”

Yeah… Elinor was actually from our world. Butter has no lived experience here and has heard nothing but stories. She’s here basically as a tourist. She truly wants to experience it…so her big sister can’t hang it over her head anymore, or she doesn’t feel any kind of inferiority toward her sister. This goes deep…and totally in our favor.

Showing a bright smile, Rachel chuckled. “I’m sure we can find some time for that at some point. Later, though.”

“Okay! I’m a very patient sun elf,” she beamed, showing perfect teeth. “I’m right behind you. Find us a, eh…taxi?”

“Haha. Something like that.”

She waved down a Humvee, which reluctantly took them after the officer inside gave the green light, recognizing her. The group took them through the converted, defensive sections of Billings, where military checkpoints had replaced normal traffic patterns. Rachel could hear the conversations she’d been tracking grow clearer as they approached their destination.

Wow… Layla’s worse than I thought she was. Now that she got what she wanted…it’s hollow without her friends, servants…and her father. Knowing she was a part of the catalyst that created the destruction of her entire fictional world is…heavy, too.

The Yellowstone County Detention Facility was a stark, utilitarian building—beige concrete walls and narrow windows designed more for function than comfort. Military vehicles surrounded it now, and guards in tactical gear had replaced the usual county deputies.

As they climbed out of the vehicle, a sergeant approached with the cautious respect Rachel had grown accustomed to when dealing with military personnel who’d heard the stories but weren’t quite sure what to expect. After a short exchange, he radioed in and got authorization from a captain who vouched for them. 

“Ma’am,” he cautiously addressed Rachel as the radio fell from his ear, then his gaze shifted nervously to Butter, whose radiant presence seemed to make the drab concrete surroundings look even more institutional by contrast. “I’m Sergeant Mills. I’ll be escorting you inside. The, uh, prisoners you requested to see are in the modified holding area.”

“I appreciate it, Sergeant,” Rachel replied, noting how the man kept glancing at Butter as if trying to process what he was seeing; he’d probably heard stories through radio chatter.

Butter beamed at him with obvious delight. “Oh, this is all so fascinating! So this is what a typical prison is like on Earth? Does it always smell like industrial cleaner and anxiety?”

The sergeant blinked. “I… Not exactly a ‘prison,’ ma’am. But the smell, yeah, that’s pretty standard.”

“How educational!” Butter chirped, following as Mills led them toward the main entrance. “You wouldn’t be trying to lure me into a trap in your ‘detention’ facility. Would you, Ms. Ears? I feel…corruption in the air. Heavy…Edlritch?” Butter asked, her tone shifted as she seemed to sample the air. “Intermediary, linking dimensional barriers to bypass the 4th Wall? Wow! That just came to me out of the blue,” she clapped before her brow furrowed, head tilting to the side.

“Is that…a Seed that feels similar to Snow’s? A Fable Seed…only rotten and fragmented. An infestation, harboring a tiny fragment of a whole.”

“Interesting,” Rachel hummed, glancing at Scarlet, who looked nervous now. Grace and El Santo were engaged with Snow and Conquest, trying to be friendly. “That’s the kind of insight I’m looking for. Her name is Princess Layla, and there is an Eldritch entity called Black Hat, who infected her.”

They passed through security checkpoints where nervous guards waved them through with barely concealed relief at not having to interact directly with Butter. 

Butter’s smile gradually fell. “That sounds serious… This poor fictional soul. An illusion of a false reality that is as unstable as smoke. And the other one smells…rancid. I’m invested,” she mumbled, pinching her nose with a grimace.

“Tell me what you can.”

The blonde glanced at her group, who hung back, prompting El Santo and Grace to stay with the horsewoman and maid.

Once inside, the interior was exactly what Rachel expected from a county lockup—fluorescent lighting that cast everything in harsh white, polished concrete floors that echoed with every footstep, and the perpetual smell of industrial disinfectant, which failed to mask more unpleasant odors.

The sound of quiet conversation drifted from one of the modified cells as they approached. Through the reinforced glass window, Rachel could see Morgiana sitting across from Princess Layla at a small metal table, with Kassim and Yasmin standing nearby. The cell had been converted into something resembling a secure interview room, but the bars on the windows and reinforced door made its true nature obvious.

“Oh my,” Butter breathed, her aquamarine eyes immediately focusing on the princess through the glass. “I can feel it from here—woven through as her soul. An idea made real is…not something that should exist. Not naturally.” Her usual cheer faltered as she studied Layla’s hollow expression. “I can understand the desire to breathe life into an image of such a unique woman…but this way? No. How tragic. I assume this is the Crimson Tide’s work,” she whispered.

“That’s my understanding,” Rachel said grimly, watching as the family inside noticed their arrival. “From what we understand, he’s essentially what’s keeping her tethered to reality now. Remove him, and she might simply cease to exist.”

A guard unlocked the door at Rachel’s gesture, and they entered the cramped space. The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, casting harsh shadows that made everyone look pale and tired.

Morgiana’s hand immediately went to her necklace as they entered, but Kassim placed a restraining hand on her arm. “Wait. It’s Rachel, Morgiana. I know you’re still adjusting. It’s okay…”

“Right… Hello, Rachel,” the former slave said with a strained smile, still looking as if she stole her new fiancé’s father away by the rings under her eyes. “…Who is this…goddess?”

Butter approached Layla and Morgiana with surprising gentleness, despite the institutional setting, her divine presence causing the harsh lighting to seem somehow warmer as Scarlet and Rachel watched from a distance. She wasn’t just focused on the princess. 

“My dears, may I see what has been done to you both?”

“Me?” Morgiana mumbled, shrinking a little and holding her hands against her chest. “I… What’s wrong?”

Butter’s expression grew deeply sorrowful as she studied both women. “I can feel it… The Fable realms. It is different than Snow. She removed a core poison… This is…not the same.”

She sat across from them, showing an honesty that seemed to strike at both women’s hearts with how the former goddess studied them.

Layla’s vision dropped, a single tear running down her cheek. “I…gave up everything for a false promise, didn’t I?”

“No, it is worse… A promise with teeth.” She paused, letting the silence fold in as she looked between each of them, deliberately, looking at a truth that appeared to cut her own soul with just the sight. “What a cruel dream…feeding poison to each other. Built up to be torn down…and never to be fit together again.”

Pain framed Layla’s eyes as her trembling fingers linked together to stop the shakes, like a hurricane was drowning her. “What does that mean for my father? What…were we, if we weren’t souls… What does it mean that we weren’t real?”

“Are you sure you want to face the truth?” Butter whispered, “…Or look away, and neglect the wounds? It’s too hard to look away once you know…and easier to endure the suffering, settling for…nothing ever after.”

Layla looked toward Morgiana, Kassim’s supportive hands resting against her shoulders. She nodded encouragement, whispering, “No step can be taken if we don’t know what direction to walk in… Even if there are no steps to take.”

“…Tell me.”

Rachel’s ears tilted forward, hearing Green go silent in the distance, moving away from the group and likely listening in now; after all, this information connected to all of Fable.

“Oh, Snow… This will kill you inside.” Butter took a moment to respond, her bubbly charm reduced to a solemn, contemplative note of someone who had to deliver a tragedy.

She looked up, meeting the princess’ cracking composure. “Fable realms are beautiful illusions, fashioned from the collapse of horrific failure…and built on an incomplete foundation. A foundation fashioned from a blend of Greater Seeds, transplanted of real souls and people onto…Lesser Seeds. You had souls, once…every one of you.”

“What?” Morgiana mumbled, vision narrowing as she tried to piece the puzzles together. “So, we did exist?”

“No… Not you,” Butter whispered, a bright, gem-like tear falling from her eye, “you are what is left of the soul… Fumes, fading away slowly. Morigiana, you were given reality…for one life before facing the truth of…absolute oblivion. Currently, the damage is done. The truth does not hurt you…but the Fables themselves.”

Butter looked toward her, causing Rachel’s tail to stiffen at the suffering on her face. “When creating a Fable, they take the foundation of multiple Greater Seeds—a failing realm in itself, as I can tell—and tie their damaged corpse to an Eldritch dream to feed it…and those within are merely the ghosts of the ghosts that are left… In creating a Fable, you massacre countless souls…and, as far as I can tell, as I am now… There is nothing left to save.”

Scarlet’s arms dropped loosely to her side, eyes defocusing as Rachel leaned closer to pull her in, knowing exactly where her heart and brain were going: “My mom created the Fables. She taught Snow how to create them. Did she know? Did she think it was worth the sacrifice? Or is she a victim, too?”

Morgiana’s legs nearly buckled, but Kassim’s firm support helped steady her.

Green literally collapsed to her butt, Red rushing to her side to see what had shaken her. Snow swiftly followed, concern etched in her voice about what she’d heard from Butter.

Layla released a depressed laugh, rubbing at her cheeks. “So, we were granted real souls…but you’re saying it is stolen, unstable, and we only have one life in reality before we go the same way as the rest of the fog…”

“Not…necessarily,” Butter said, drawing everyone’s ear as the blonde breathed a heavy sigh and gripped her elbow, looking uncomfortable. “I am not trying to grant you vain hope, but there are many things I do not know. It is not as if I have every memory of my time as a goddess…

“Nungal would have a more complete answer. I can only tell you the surface understanding at this moment,” she continued, looking at the two women with a serious face. “And, instinctively, I do not know…but I feel as if Scarlet, you are the key to finding a solution.”

“It’s…always me!” Scarlet half groaned and laughed. “It’s always my parents… ruining all of reality. This is messed up. Why can’t someone like Nungal or Fate just…fix it! Just…fix it all? Why can’t I fix it…”

“Scarlet…” Butter whispered, compassion softening her face before she stood. “Reality is cruel, but it is how we respond to it that matters. Do not close yourself off, but expand like a supernova and burn the restraints that bind you.”

Rachel smiled, feeling Nike and Nia resonate with that message within her, the Personification’s wings practically billowing at her back. The blonde, former goddess’ aura shone bright as she held out a hand to the two women.

“Despite reality, ladies, never accept defeat.”

“What can I do?” Scarlet cried. “Everything is my mother’s fault…but she thinks she’s doing the right thing.”

“And what does that matter?”

“What? What do you mean?”

Rachel’s ears rose at Butter’s strengthening voice and genuinely bewildered composure, a radiant hum seeming to vibrate the air.

“Why does that matter?” Butter replied, wiping away her tears and showing a defiant smile as Rachel felt the threads of misfortune expanding, unlike anything she’d felt in the past, literally stretching colossal paths out of her way with that blinding grin. “What can you do? Why, do you not have free will? Don’t fall back. Orchestrate the fallout. Score the end of the world on this battleground and survive another assault.”

“You’re saying screw Fate,” Rachel chuckled, feeling her blood begin to surge.

Aquamarine shining like stars, a golden radiance filled the room as Butter’s voice spun gold. “Fate? Who is fate? I know no such concept. Conquer the high heavens themselves if that is what it takes! Long live our symphony. We echo, reverberate, then leave a thousand stars dimmed in our wake. ”

Scarlet’s eyes widened as Butter strolled over to her, placed two hands on her shoulders, and looked directly into her eyes with a fervor that made the very foundation of the building quake.

“There is always hope in the symphony. When it's so hard to see the harmony, it’s time to stop the choir and change the key. Bring their fanfare to its knees. Amplify or die; it’s us or them, screaming a war-torn requiem:

“Be. Not. Afraid.

“This is our war-torn requiem.

“Be. Not. Afraid.

“The dawning of a new age, these aren’t just notes on a page.

“These are the weapons of rebirth in reality’s hypocrisy.

“The dawning of a new age, where we will take back the stage.

“Us. Or. Them.

“To score the ending of the Earth,

“We’re. Not. Afraid.

“So,” Butter asked, looking at Rachel with an infectious fire, “are you afraid?”

Rachel placed a hand on Scarlet’s back, feeling the literal Spirit of Conquest surging through reality on a scale that clashed with unapologetic momentum. This was why Adele moved Heaven and Earth to get rid of not a soul Spirit of Conquest, but a twin. At some point, she had to see Butter and her big sister united, taking in that level of unapologetic force of nature.

“Long live the symphony.”

Rachel soaked in the fire within Butter’s eyes; yes, they could be friends.

No. Scratch that.

If this was what it meant to ‘inspire loyalty,’ then she was on to something.

Great friends.

Her hand firmed against Scarlet’s back, showing her that she had more support than she realized, seeing the passion ignite in the vampiric girl’s eyes.

She turned her gaze to the princess and former slave, drawing upon the energy around them. “What you are is impossible, isn’t it? So why not bend the rules a little more?”

Morgiana’s eyes hardened to steel as she firmed her ground, showing some of the flames she’d let blaze during the collapsing realm. “It’s the Eldritch or us. I’m. Not. Afraid.”

“Good. With that in mind,” Rachel laughed, glancing at the blonde, “I have an idea.”

“Excellent! I love ideas.”

“I think it’s time we milk our cowgirl for a quick Legend Quest. Something tells me we can get some real results before the Crystal opens. We need to build teamwork anyway and get to know your team.”

“I don’t know what that is, but I’m excited! Lead the way,” Butter cheered, the quakes easing and the cursing officers in the other room wondering why the whole world was tinting white and gold.

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