The Hunters have not replied… again.

  Do you think it was them that downed out drones?

  Who else?

  Great. Anarchia in the West and now Guguo wants to start ag up. Send more drones, atmospheries this time. If they want to hide themselves, we’ll just go so high they ’t reach us.

  - Interception of transmissioween Karainan authorities.

  Maisara sat in front of Kassandora as the two Goddesses stared at each other in silence. Kassandora leaned back, crossed her arms and flicked her crimson hair back. Maisara pretended not to be bothered, the two ihe Goddess of War had over her shouldn’t be this bothersome, but those eyes stared down at her in the same way Alsaria’s did. “I would have not e were it not for Fortia.”

  “You’re smart enough to know why I wao talk to you.” Kassandora said coldly. Maisara didn’t reply, she just readjusted her posture. From her stomach down, she was covered in bandages. Fortia was almost healed by now, but Fortia didn’t take the brunt of Alsaria’s blow. Maisara avoided the oddess’ eyes and looked around the prison.

  Nothing, just a bed, this table, two chairs, all simple wood. Grey stone walls, all reinforced with steel. A single mp and the tai crystal in the middle. Freeing Kassandora would be as easy as simply knog that stone over.

  “I do.” Maisara said. “But you kly why I don’t want you to be freed.”

  “War is a tool, I think you’ll find I’m not so hard to work with.” Kassandora replied.

  “Spare me the g Kass.”

  “Everyone likes being buttered up.”

  “I’m not particurly in the mood.” Maisara replied and sighed. “Why? Why do you want to join us?”

  “I don’t know Mai, why would I want to be free?” Kassandora replied ftly. Maisara merely shook her head.

  “Tell me what you know and I’ll think about it.” She said and Kassandora crossed her arms. Maisara tried to hide her distent, it was ohing to be less lovely than the Goddess of Love, it was another entirely for the Goddess of War to have a rger armoury than the Goddess of Order.

  “No.” Kassandora said. “Promise me no word of this discussion will leave this room.”

  “You knoromises do to me.” Maisara replied.

  “I know you’re the Goddess of Order, yes.” Kassandora said. “Why would I ether discuss business with fickle Peace over stable and ho Order?” Maisara’s sigh voiced her displeasure again.

  “You’re no less fickle than Peace is.” Kassandora leaned forwards and spread her arms out.

  “But it’s better for me to be on your side than Alsaria’s.”

  “Alsaria won’t take you.” Maisara said and Kassandhed.

  “You’ll be surprised how popur I am.” Maisara shook her head. That wasn’t a lie either, of the White Pantheon, only Kavaa and Iniri were directly opposed to Kassandora. The forces weren’t ideological in their retionships, but all the abstracts were far fonder of War than they’d want to admit. Maisara herself wasn’t even opposed to Kassandora, the women was merely a fact of life. Like a disease. There was no reason to hate disease, simply deal with it. She closed her eyes: what was a vaation? Merely a disease made to fight another disease. “If you don’t free me, then when we finally see your precious Pantheon, Helenna will free me to protect herself.”

  “Helenna ’t do anything.” Maisara replied and Kassandhed.

  “Love is easy to blind.” Maisara shook her head.

  “You do have a way with words.” Kassandora bowed her head.

  “I try.”

  “I’ll need a backup pn.”

  “Battles are won before they’re started. Of course you do.” Kassandora flicked that crimson hair again.

  “For you I mean, I need a way to make sure you don’t betray us.” Kassandora shrugged.

  “You free me, I’ll be tied to you, we’ll be on the same team, is that not insuranough?”

  “Civil wars do happen.”

  “I’m too old for them.” Maisara shook her head. The woman had a damn reply for everything and anything.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I’m older than you by at least ahe term simply did back then.” Kassandora said and Maisara felt her eyebrow twitch. The Goddess of War kept up her assault. “Part of your foundation is a ck of war.”

  “Thanks for the reminder.”

  “I don’t sider you a na?ve girl Maisara. We both know that once we form, we’re eternal. If the world ends tomorrow, as long as there’s people around, they’ll be cmbering for Order and they’ll use War to achieve that.” Kassandora said.

  “You should have been a schor.” Maisara said ftly, it wasn’t a pliment. Kassandora merely waited. “I need proper insurance, something you’ll give me to show respect.”

  “Do you want a salute or a rank?” Kassandora asked. “I give nothing because there’s nothing to give.” Maisara leaned bad sighed. That much was true. Kassandora had too much will to be colred, eveical sve-brands would reject her.

  “I will not promise to free you.” Maisara said slowly, choosing her words carefully. Another cursed promise, she hated promises. Promises to mortals at least eventually expired, old age would eventually cim them if nothing else did. “But… I promise, regarding this issue, I will not say anything to anyone in the White Pantheon, for ten years.” Kassandora crossed her arms and smiled again. Of course she’d be popur with a chest like that!

  “No.”

  “No?” Maisara said.

  “Not good enough. Regarding this issue is the problem, that stipution is too easy to sidestep.”

  “I’m not binding myself to you for eternity!” Maisara smmed the table.

  “You will not repeat the words we say here to anyone, nor unicate them in any way to anyone who isn’t me or yourself.”

  “That’s a binding!” Maisara shouted. The Goddess of War followed up without even a pause for breath.

  “It ends when the words bee on knowledge among the majority of the mortal popution, or when Alsaria dies.” Kassandora added.

  “When the ideas we spout bee on knowledge, not the words.” Maisara said. Kassandora thought for a moment and shrugged.

  “If that’s the way you want to phrase it, then phrase it that way.”

  “Words could be literal and…” Kassandora waved her hand.

  “Don’t expin yourself to me. I trust you.” Maisara did not know if that was a lie or not. She certainly did not trust Kassandora. She took a breath and made the promise. Word for word, exactly as they had agreed upon. “Just so you know, I also promise not to say a single lie throughout this versation.” Kassandora said.

  “So what did you want to tell me?”

  “One, you ot kill Alsaria with just you and Fortia.” Maisara rolled her eyes.

  “I made a binding just for that?”

  “My help tips the bance slightly in our favour, but any assistao Alsaria tips it back.” Maisara stared ftly at the woman. She was really just tricked for only this? This is what trust brought. “Those words, I do not sider part of the promise, they are already on knowledge.”

  “Thank you.” Maisara said, slightly taken aback.

  “I assume you want to use something based off the Fading Light pn, yes?”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I was on the same team as two of the partits a thousand years ago. Knowing you, you wouldn’t have thrown it away.” Kassandora clicked her tongue. “And it seems like I was right.”

  “We do.”

  “It won’t work, Irinika is crucial poo that. Don’t throw your lives away for nothing.”

  “Get to the fug point Kass. I’ve already given you what I .”

  “tact Arascus, he will help you.” Maisara blinked as her hands twitched.

  “Arascus is dead.” Maisara felt the blood start to drain from her face. Impossible. She saw Kassandora’s red eyes glow as if they were burning. For a timeless moment, the Goddess before her looked like the terrible General she was a thousand years ago. Kassandora stood up and did a cursed salute. Ohat no one should even know about, ohat had been written out of the history books.

  “Arascus adopted me as a daughter.” She ughed like a maniac. “Do you think that the Goddess of War would have not disappeared in the most peaceful age of existehere es a point when words bee delusion. I am not delusional Maisara? Is a versation war? Is an argument war? Let’s not py pretend philosophy as if we know what we’re talking about. War has not been fuellihese past thousand years, it ride.”

  “Arascus is locked in Godstone Kassandora. He’s grown weaker with Waeh about! He ot break out! He must be dead!”

  “Not from the inside and not him.” Kassandora looked at her with all the delusional prideful fidence Arascus held ba the day when they finally captured him. “Arascus, God of Pride, is free. Or I am not Kassandoddess of War.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “The bonds of family are strohan you’ll ever know. There’s a reason it became a taboo after he started us on.” Kassandora’s smile was so lovely it would have put Helenna’s to shame. “But I’m not against taking on a new sister.” Maisara shook her head as she colpsed into her arms oable. The pain from the wounds seemed to fade away as she did her best to dig herself out of the pit of shock.

  “How do you know?” Kassandora was just delusional. That was the ahat made sense.

  “Family knows family.” Kassandora said. “Each of us knows the general state of the rest. Every single one of us knows that he is free.”

  “I’ll ask Anassa!” Maisara shouted. Kassandora merely looked down upon her like a child.

  “Go ahead. Do you think the Goddess whose sorcery is all tied to bloodlines would break a familial vow?”