"The strongest and most effective force in guaranteeing the long-term maintenance of power is not violence in all the forms deployed by the dominant to control the dominated, but consent in all the forms in which the dominated acquiesce in their own domination."
- Robert Frost.
Lupus was healed and he was ready to enter the realm of Umi he began to nag Nova as soon as he got out of the hospital bed. "Nova, are you almost done with the ship?" Nova replied: "Yes, in approximately two hours I'll be done with the device and make sure to get your daughter and Nelly to go with you. Lupus was excited: "Finally, and when I defeat the Demon King I will achieve more power than I previously could have ever dreamed of." Everyone was about to leave when Naris Martreya appeared, "Hold on, I'm going with you," he said. Nova nodded, "Understood." After this had occurred. Lupus, Nelly, Kazan and Narcis, got on the ship. It began to take off but there was a hiccup, the ship began to shake and it fell back to the earth, Nova sighed, "Back to the drawing board.
Back in the realm of Umi the group of six began to get closer to a small village past a group of marshlands. The marsh was damp and the water was low but it would occasionally become a little bit deeper perhaps up to the shin. Ebisu laughed: "Well, I guess we've almost reached the ocean; it certainly feels that way." Mark smirked: "I wouldn't count on it. We still have a good way to go." Yedala pointed ahead. "There it is," she said. In the distance, a collection of low, mist-covered huts stood scattered on stilts above the water, barely visible through the rising fog. The village looked like it had been forgotten by time—there were no lights, no signs of life, just the whisper of wind through the reeds and the occasional ripple from something unseen beneath the surface. Talus's ears twitched again. "We're not alone," he said quietly. Hermes stepped beside him. "Something feels… off." Ungar nodded. "This place is old. Older than it even appears. The marsh remembers things long after people forget them." The group trudged through the water, which thickened with each step. It wasn't just mud—it was memory, like the marsh clung to their legs, trying to pull them backward. By the time they reached the edge of the village, the sky had darkened unnaturally, the clouds sinking low and heavy. A voice cut through the fog like a thread pulled tight: "You've come far for truths none of you are ready for." The group froze. An old woman stood in front of one of the huts, barefoot in the water. Her cloak was made from moss, feathers, and bones that clicked softly as she moved. Her eyes glowed the faintest green, not with power—but with memory.
Ebisu bowed slightly, instinctively. "You must be the Witch of the Marshland Colony." "I've been called worse," she said with a grin that didn't reach her eyes. "And better, though not by many. Come in. You're tracking footprints that don't exist anymore." They followed her into her hut, a small round space filled with hanging herbs, jars of preserved light, and scrolls written in languages that whispered when looked at too long. Talus crossed his arms. "You said we weren't ready. Why?" The Witch turned her head toward Hermes. "Because the moment she learns what I know, things will begin to unravel—not just for her, but for all of you." Hermes stepped forward. "Then let them unravel. I need to know." The Witch looked her over, like a tailor eyeing a bolt of cloth she wasn't sure would hold a stitch. Then she nodded. "Very well." She moved to the back of the hut and returned with a small stone basin filled with what looked like ink—but shimmered like oil under moonlight. "This is a memory. Not mine. Not yours. Everyone's. It bleeds through cracks in time, gathering here in the marsh. Dip your fingers." Hermes hesitated for a breath, then plunged her hand into the basin. Visions struck. A thousand timelines. A thousand selves. Hermes as a warrior, a queen, a tyrant, a healer. Some lives ended in triumph. Others are in ruin. But in all of them, one thing remained the same: she was always at the center of something massive—something that couldn't move without her. The basin shattered. Hermes stumbled back, eyes wide, gasping for breath. The Witch sighed. "You've seen it now." Hermes' voice cracked. "Every version of me... still alone. Still chosen. Still watched."
"Because that is your curse," said the Witch. "And your power. You are the anchor in the ocean of shifting timelines. The one fixed point. Even Ozzy can't look away." Ungar's voice was calm, but tight. "Can she change it?" "No," the Witch said. Then her smile returned, a little softer this time. "But she can choose how she bears it. The journey at least in this form does not end until her last breath. If you think you'll have peace before then you are sorely mistaken." Yedala whispered, "That's not nothing." Mark looked at Hermes, who still hadn't spoken again. "We'll bear it with her." Hermes finally spoke, her voice low but steady. "I don't want fate. I want purpose." The Witch leaned in, eyes bright. "Then listen closely. The Demon King has already remembered you from a timeline that no longer exists. And he's searching for you—not just in this world, but across all the versions of it. You are his only true threat. Well you and Ebisu I suppose. Because where he believes in power, you carry possibility. And possibility breaks certainty." The group was silent. Finally, Hermes nodded. "Then I'll stop him. In every timeline if I have to."
The Witch placed a hand on her shoulder. "And that, child, is the first real truth you've chosen for yourself." Outside, the fog began to lift. The group stepped out into the marsh again, the village quiet behind them. The sun was returning, casting long shadows across the water. Ungar adjusted his cape. "Well… looks like we just met the only woman creepier than the Caterpillars." Talus grinned. "I liked her." Ebisu snorted. "That says more about you than her." They walked on, the path ahead uncertain—but now, Hermes wasn't just walking in the world.
Then in a flash Hermes was transformed. She woke up as Daniel, Daniel was holding his sword and she was confused, "Why am I in Daniel's body?" Before her stood Lord Nytahtrotep. He began to laugh, "If Tatu could not stop me what hope do you think you have? You don't have a prayer boy!" Hermes was thinking but her voice spoke without her, "I'll do what I can. To put an end to you." Lord Tep stepped forward again, "Hehehehehe, verywell. Its time I bury you once and for all." Lord Tep leaped into the air, and Daniel charged in return both their magic auras imitating with incredible energy. The clash shook the air like a storm made flesh.
Hermes—now Daniel—felt every heartbeat as if it belonged to someone else. She could sense Daniel's instincts pushing forward, his grip on the sword automatic, his movements trained and relentless. But she was inside it now, behind the wheel of a body forged for war, caught in a fight that wasn't supposed to be hers… and yet absolutely was. Lord Nytahtrotep, all jagged robes and impossible angles, moved with inhuman grace. His aura wasn't just magic—it was wrongness, a tear in the fabric of reality that refused to be stitched. With each motion, time hiccupped. Lightning bent away from him. Trees leaned, terrified. Their first clash cracked the marsh open, sending water sky-high, splitting land and thought. Hermes gritted her—Daniel's—teeth. Every strike exchanged wasn't just steel-on-steel but reality-on-willpower. Lord Tep wasn't fighting to win. He was fighting to erase.
"You think this is your story," Lord Tep hissed mid-swing, "but this is a rerun, child. I've killed you in more timelines than you have names."
"Then you've had practice losing," Hermes snapped back, twisting under a spell-slicked slash and driving the blade up through the gap in Lord Tep's guard.
But instead of blood, there was smoke. Tep evaporated around the blade like an illusion unmasked. A whisper rattled in her skull: This body won't last. But we'll meet again. We always do. Suddenly, Hermes fell forward—falling out of Daniel. She landed hard, gasping on her hands and knees back in the marsh. The group surrounded her, concerned. Ebisu helped her up. "What—what the hell was that?" Hermes coughed. "You went still," said Yedala. "Eyes open. Not breathing. For almost three minutes." "Lord Tep," Hermes said, steadying herself. "He's close. Too close." Ungar's eyes narrowed furrowed. "He was already here." "I was him," she said, then corrected herself. "No—I was Daniel. I was inside the fight. But it was more than a vision. It was real. Somewhere." Ungar replied: "That was when Daniel and Tep fought over 1,000 years ago, I was there, but Tep is here right here, 30,000 years before. Don't you feel him?" Ebisu rubbed his jaw. "He's bleeding through. Pulling threads across timelines. If he can do that… he's not just watching anymore. He's moving." Ungar laughed: "Not him. Her (pointing at Hermes)." Hermes looked down at her hands, still shaking. "We need to find Daniel. If he's alive. He might already be facing Tep." Ungar laughed: "He just did. You just missed it." Hermes was flustered: "You just said it happened 1,000 years ago." Ungar and the others disappeared into mist.
From this a large slug appeared that began to talk: "I am a jealous God. Thou shalt have no gods before me. Thou shalt not bow down unto any graven image, or any likeness, or anything than is in heaven above. Or that is in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Thou shall not bow down to any idol of worship or anything else, for I thy Lord God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me," - Exodus 20: 3-5. Hermes asked the slug, "are you God? Are you this God?" But the slug simply replied: "Any Tao (way) that can be described, is not the eternal Tao." With this the Slug turned into mist, and then a hand touched her. Back in the real world what had actually happened was that a water demon who had sealed away the witch had attacked the group, its claw had sliced Hermes' jugular. She was on the ground slowly bleeding to death in Marks' arms.
Everyone was being bogged down, meanwhile back in Hermes' mind she had another division. This time it was shadows, one was a shortish shadow lying on the ground and another shadow standing before him and taunting him: "Crawl like the insect you are." The voice responding was unclear but it was a voice of defiance. And then one of the shadows was destroyed by the others which was close to death. Another vision of a shadow fighting another shadow on top of a tower full of ice, one shadow defeated the other while the shadow saved a third shadow from destruction, in a third vision a shadow witnessed the destruction of another shadow enraging him in a battle against the opponent shadow, in another vision one shadow dropped an object into a fire by accident as he wished to keep this object. A voice could be heard behind Hermes. "This is what Ungar sees in his mind, though much more clearly." Hermes turned around and saw Ozzy. Hermes replied: "What on earth do you mean?" Ozzy replied: "It will make sense soon enough." Ozzy pointed to a well full of water, "Look into that and all will become clear." Hermes walked over to the water starring inside. An image appeared in her mind. It was a brief scene of Hermes fighting a strange goat-like monster and then stars and galaxies began to flood her mind. And then she was staring at many faces. Finally things became clear and her vision returned. She said: "It's all so clear now. For I am you. And you are me." And then the images began to flood her mind. Finally an old friend named Niffy appeared. Hermes' mind began to be clouded yet again.
Hermes woke up and she was riding a cloud through the air. She had her body but she was flying through the air while surfing on a cloud. She began to climb higher and higher through the clouds. She knew the name of this building; it was the Tower of Mirrors. She was chasing some kind of strange demonic fish. She was right on its tail and nearly about to catch it. She entered the tower. She entered the tower and immediately fell through the floor falling for what seemed like an eternity. Finally she regained her wits and found herself in the Emerald Green World, which was the abode of the Little Moon King and his imperial city. Then Hermes entered the world of the Ancients which corresponded with the Qin Dynasty of Ancient China arriving around the year 230 BC. Then Hermes jumps hundreds of years forward into the Song Dynasty and finally to this strange planet full of purple aliens with slug like eyes where the dirt was purple and then finally to another well that was before her. A voice could be heard, "Look into the water, and your mind will become clear."
She stared into it and it was clear she finally understood her mind had become one with herself. "I am the way. I am the truth," she said. Back on Planet Helios, Nova had finally prepared the ship and the four were ready to take off to Umi. The ship indeed powered on and the four heroes: Lupus, Kazan, Nelly and Narcis Martreya entered the ship and were on the way to Umi the ship took off and in mere moments they felt as if they had crashed somewhere. Lupus was furious, "Dammit it didn't work." He was expecting to open the door and see Nova but instead it was endless green grass where the wind sang a song as old as time. Lupus and the others disembarked from the ship. Lupus noticed something beside them. It was what looked like an old Pirate Ship; it crashed up on the grass where no water could be seen for miles. "That's strange," said Lupus. "Not really, around a million years prior to this this whole landscape was ocean. It figures a sunken ship would be left behind in its wake," said Narcis. The other two being Nelly and Kazan were captivated by the beauty of this land. But Lupus could only smile: "Perfect, I'm one step closer to achieving my goal."
Hermes woke up exploding with energy. She shot upright with a gasp, heart pounding like war drums, her body thrumming with fire and motion. Every nerve sparked. Every thought pointed in one direction. Find the water demon. The world around her hadn't caught up yet. Mark was still checking the wound on her neck, Yedala's hands glowing with healing light, Ebisu swearing under his breath. Ungar had that distant look again, like he was watching three timelines at once. But Hermes was already ten steps ahead, already halfway into the next fight. "No more visions," she said, standing. Her voice was hoarse but sharp. "No more symbols. No more riddles. I'm done watching. It's my turn now."
"You shouldn't even be standing," Ebisu said. "You almost died." "I did," Hermes replied, not even looking at him. "But I came back for a reason. That much should be clear." She walked forward, eyes scanning the mist ahead. The fog was thick now, humming like it was alive. Somewhere in there, the water demon waited—old, cold, and smug with its borrowed victory. "You're going after it now?" Yedala asked, shocked. "Alone?" Hermes nodded once. "Not alone. I carry every version of me. Every one of them fought and lost and kept going anyway." Ungar narrowed his eyes. "Finally talking like the anchor." Hermes didn't reply. She was already moving, stepping into the marsh like it was nothing. And for her now—it was. Let the timelines shift. Let the gods speak in riddles. Let demons bleed into the world. She walked up to the waterline, "I'm going in alone, If I am not back in five minutes, then you may follow me." Hermes dived into the water, following after the water demon. Large Shrimp like creatures tried to attack her but she swatted them away like flies. Eventually she saw it, the Witch of the Marshlands was being carried away by this gigantic fish demon. Hermes took out the Spirit Blade, slicing it into the flesh of the beast. The Water Demon was over 50 feet long and had two Giant Squids escorting it. The thing turned around.
It swallowed the witch and smirked. It turned around and transformed into a sort of fish-like man. "Well, you wish to be devoured by a demon as well. I think I can fulfill that desire. If that's what you really want." Hermes hovered in the water, blade in hand, eyes locked on the monstrous fish-man. The squids flanked it like loyal hounds, tentacles twitching with anticipation. But Hermes wasn't afraid—she was focused. Deadly. "You've already made your mistake," she said calmly, bubbles rising with her voice. "You swallowed the one thing in this swamp that still remembers how to kill you." The demon's grin widened, its gills flaring as its form pulsated. The water around it thickened, warping with dark magic. "Big words, mortal. But you've tasted death once already today. You really want to tempt it again?" Hermes adjusted her grip on the Spirit Blade. The water bent around it, drawn to its edge like it knew its purpose. "I didn't come here to tempt death. And I am no mortal. I came to deliver it." With that, she surged forward. The demon responded instantly, the squids attacking from both sides. But Hermes wasn't just fast—she seemed almost invincible. She twisted through the water like it obeyed her, not the other way around. One stroke of her blade severed a squid's tentacle, sending the creature writhing. The other tried to wrap her in its limbs, but Hermes spun and drove the Spirit Blade through its mantle, cutting it clean.
The demon snarled. "You fight like one who's seen too much." Hermes launched herself toward it, blade flashing. They collided with the force of a crashing wave. Steel clashed with scale, magic clashed with memory. The demon slashed at her with claws longer than her arm, but she slipped beneath them, dragging the blade across its belly. Black liquid spilled into the water like ink, but the thing laughed—loud and wet and hideous. "You bleed, but you don't die," Hermes said, circling it. "I don't die easy," the demon hissed. "And I don't die alone." From the shadows behind it, more shapes stirred—mutated forms, half-man, half-fish, with eyes like shattered mirrors. The demon's drowned children. They shrieked silently, surging forward. Hermes steadied her breath. Think like Ungar. Fight like Daniel. End it like me. She pointed the Spirit Blade toward the heart of the beast. "You want to bring all your past with you? Fine. So will I." The blade began to glow. Time and even space seemed to flickered around her—herself in armor, cloaked in fire, cloaked in ice, cloaked in nothing but defiance. The demon and its children struck.
And time broke. The swamp churned, screamed, split. Everything stopped moving—except Hermes. She weaved through the frozen chaos, each step precise. She walked past the shrieking children, past the blade inches from her throat. She walked straight to the heart of the demon. And she plunged the blade in. The world resumed. The demon howled, flailing as its body crumbled from the inside out. Its children melted like wax in flame. The water exploded upward, then stilled. Hermes floated above the wreckage, the Spirit Blade still humming with power. The Witch's body emerged, untouched, cradled by glowing strands of magic. Her eyes opened slowly. "You killed it," she said hoarsely. "No one's done that before." Hermes sheathed the blade. "Well I did." Back on the shore, the others had rushed to the water's edge. When Hermes emerged, soaked but alive, there was a moment of stunned silence. Then Mark let out a low whistle. "Remind me never to pick a fight with you." After this occurred, the water began to recede and beautiful trees began to grow, people began to appear and in a matter of minutes this destroyed waterfront town became a thriving village again. The people ran through the streets cheering with endless joy. "What's going on?" said Ebisu. The witch explained: "This village has been under the spell of this demon for over two hundred years. When Hermes killed it she ended its curse. The people and their souls have been stuck in a state of limbo but now they are able to return back to life.
The people were cheering but Ungar couldn't help but stare at Hermes. She turned around and smirked and then turned back towards the people. And then it struck Ungar like lightning. "It all makes sense. That explains everything." He remembered: "That's why when she saved Talus from that wolf alien out of nowhere I didn't even suspect or feel her aura, it explains why when she powered up recently I couldn't feel her essence inside me despite being from one of those worlds and why Ozzy met with her, it all makes sense. Of course." Ungar stood there shaking not with fear but with realization: "It all makes sense. But why is He here now?"