Thirteen powerful creatures lurked in the darkness, hours before dawn approached. Taveran horses kicked the dirt impatiently, ready to start moving, sensing the imminent danger. To linger too long among the ancient ruins would seal their Fates. Among the group, the downcast souls spoke tearful farewells.

  Keshiema swallowed her despair, reminding herself she would see her friends again. "Thank you, Ayperos, for the training, for helping with Tommy, and saving Ipos. Just... For everything."

  Patting her on the head, Ayperos nodded. "Of course, Keshiema. I know you were thrust into this destiny unwillingly, and I hope I didn't cause you too much grief. It was a pleasure training you, and I want you to know I consider you an equal and a friend." They shared a quick hug before both moved to say goodbye to other comrades.

  As Keshiema looked around for Ipos, she found him speaking with Snow Lily. The two looked quite grief-stricken, and Keshiema could not help herself to eavesdrop. She kept herself looking busy by petting one of the horses, using her sensitive ears to hear them from afar,

  "I'm sorry, Damien," Snow Lily choked out. "I should have known I was asking too much of you. You were so young, I should never have asked you to be her guardian."

  "Don't make excuses for me, Snow!" Ipos still could not forgive himself for his treacherous actions. "I was selfish and made horrible decisions at every crossroad. I could have taken her somewhere, but instead I erased her memory and let them surrender her to those vile creatures."

  "Where would you have gone? No villages would have accepted two demon children." She reminded him. "You made the best decision you could at the time."

  "It happened on the solstice, I could have taken her to Celera."

  "Hush, you know the Primordials are not welcome there!" With a deep breath, Snow Lily calmed her temper. "Please, don't blame yourself. Now get to Celera and get the rest you need. I've raised you twice already, don't make me do it a third time."

  At the corner of her vision, the two shared a tear filled hug before parting ways. Keshiema's black hair reflected no ambient light and her eyes looked like pools of endless darkness. "You know," Ipos whispered next to her ear, making her jump. "That color is best suited for ravens, not little sparrows."

  Sensing the tension, the horse twitched its ears and flicked it's tail before trotting off to graze. Turning around, Keshiema faced Ipos with an unapologetic glare. "What do you have against him?"

  "Jealousy, mostly." The Incubus-Daemon shrugged. "I should have been a better person, treated you properly. Instead, I betrayed your trust, abused my powers, and repeatedly hurt you. I know I don't deserve your friendship, let alone your heart. But it does not mean I don't still long for it."

  The admission caught her off guard, sending her emotions reeling in every direction. "The memories still feel detached, like everything you erased happened to someone else." Her chest hurt as she opened the wound. "But deep down, I know that, within those dreams, I loved you."

  She could read nothing in his pitch black eyes, but deep inside, the cracks within Ipos's heart deepened into ravines that had him wondering if he would ever truly heal. "Your memories will feel like your own eventually, but it will take a long while. It's part of the spell, so you can process and heal from the trauma while maintaining distance."

  "Look," Keshiema massaged her temples, "I don't want to hate you, but I know I'll never feel the same way I did before. I can give you friendship, but for now at least, it will need to be at a distance. Like, two separate realms distant."

  "How convenient," Ipos smirked. Here she was, always shouldering everyone's pain, protecting her friends well beyond convenience. "It just so happens I already have a bit of a far away trip planned."

  "And when you return, then we can pick up the pieces. Just don't go getting any ideas while you're gone." She said with a serious face. "My dreams are my own. Unless it's an emergency, stay out." She pointed to her temple for dramatic effect.

  "Of course, I would not dare hurt you again." He reach out to pat her arm, but hesitated before lowering his hand.

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  Not wanting to leave things on a sour note, she opened her arms, smiling softly, "One last hug wouldn't hurt."

  The embrace was gentle and warm, a tender mercy to the pain in both their hearts. "Don't trust Eurynome," He whispered before letting her go and walking away with nothing more to add.

  As Keshiema watched him go, Stolas approached her cautiously, making sure not to frighten her. "So you're really leaving?" she asked as she watched Ipos and Ayperos take flight and disappear into the heavens.

  "We shouldn't be gone for too long. Mom wants to look into breaking the Primordial Curse." She turned to face her brother, seeing him brushing a hand through his hair, fidgeting with the cuffs on his horns, gnawing at his cheek, altogether uncomfortable in his own skin.

  "I'm sure she misses my father." Keshiema said bluntly.

  "More than that. She wants to help you." Stolas argued. "You've never met your father, or Fotiá."

  "I have." She corrected. "I spent an entire day with them in Ethera. It was a good chunk of the time I spent there. More than I've spent with Snow Lily in the twenty years I've been here." The bitterness in her tone coated her words like a thick venom.

  "I'm sorry," Snow Lily said, from behind her, making her jump again.

  Keshiema turned around, hiding her frost covered hand behind her back. 'Stars, I wish everyone would stop sneaking up on me!' A storm bubbled inside of her, a swirling chaos of indecisive emotions. She could practically feel her color changes. "There are too many things I want to ask you." She stated coldly; her mind, unable to handle every emotion, settled on none. "But we're out of time. Maybe when you return, we can talk."

  "Keshiema, being a Priestess for a Primordial is full of many responsibilities. I am bound to my temple, and can never leave it for long. The king sent his task force to capture me many times. I could not raise you in such a risky environment. You could have been discovered and taken away."

  "I'm not ready to hear your reasons," Tears escaped Keshiema, but her tone remained flat. "Maybe one day, but not right now. Take care on your way to Auroras, so we can have that talk when it comes time."

  As she walked away, she heard Samael tell Snow Lily and Stolas he and his guards would join them on their journey North. They quickly mounted their demonic horses and galloped away with Samael taking the lead on a steed who's armor matched his own.

  With the goodbyes out of the way, she could relax. Shaking her hand, she focused on getting the ice to melt. It took a moment, but the frost eventually evaporated.

  Finally, she looked around for Dásos. She found him finalizing the plan with the princes. "Hey," she poked him, "What'd I miss."

  He gave her black and red hair a lingering look, but said nothing about it. "Just getting the riding buddies sorted."

  "Oh?" She grabbed the clipboard and looked it over. The system looked like someone threw darts at the names to decide the pairs. "Pyro with Lilith on Asmoday's bike?" She questioned.

  "Asmoday needs to ride with Eurynome, given he's immune to the Reaper's touch."

  She almost pointed out that they were both immune, too, but not only was that not completely true for herself, but she had no desire to pair with Eurynome. 'He's fine, he's your friend,' she scolded herself again. "Cresil with Gaap? Shouldn't he carry the lightest person?"

  "So, you?" Dásos's eye twitched, ever so subtly.

  "Ah, yeah, but he's with Neró." When Dásos raised his brows in surprise, she explained, "Well, I assume, by the way they asked about him when I was there."

  "Yeah, they're together," he confirmed, "in a polyamorous sort of way."

  "Oh. Well, that makes sense, with the way they both flirt," the look in Dásos's eyes had her worried he might kill someone. "Well I can't put those words back," she mumbled.

  "Hey," placing a hand on his cheek instantly cooled the angry Primordial. "There was no reciprocated feelings." His eyes softened. "Though Neró is beautifully handsome." She smirked, unable to resist prodding him.

  "So how did you see them? " Dásos poked back. "Do I even have a chance?" He brushed her hair back, causing her to turn pink and blush. 'Every time.' he smiled, beyond entranced by the woman before him.

  Clearing his throat, Asmoday interrupted their playful flirting. "We're ready. And we have a gift for you, K." With a creased brow, Keshiema followed the Serpent-Daemon, with Dásos right behind her.

  Gaap stood with his wings outstretched, hiding the surprise. "Now, this may be a bit bittersweet, but we deliberated for a while, and decided, he'd want you to have it." Letting his wings down, he revealed a matte black motorcycle with Beelzebub's Sigil engraved on the side fairings.

  Kneeling next to the motorcycle, she delicately traced the Sigil. "Oh, Beelzy," she whispered, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry. I hope you find peace in the afterlife until you reincarnate. Please know I don't blame you."

  With everyone else ready to go, Dásos mounted Beelzebub's, or rather Keshiema's, bike, with Keshiema sitting behind him. She was not comfortable driving herself quite yet.

  Hiro put on his Kitsune mask, transforming into a black twin tailed fox with glowing orange eyes and jumped into Uvall's backpack.

  Cresil stood his ground, still unhappy about the setup. "Impure are earth based demons, we don't fly," he stated coolly before Gaap scooped him up and took flight. Too terrified to even scream, Cresil held onto Gaap for dear life.

  Keshiema told Dásos to start the bike as she focused her aura on its runes. She needed to practice maintaining the slow release of aura powering the motorcycle demanded. It roared to life, as did the other three bikes around them.

  As they cruised to the front of the group, she could feel Eurynome's icy glare through his darkened visor. Holding tightly onto Dásos, she swallowed her fear and told herself, again, Eurynome would never hurt her.