New Beginnings

I was alone again. Always alone. I have walked this world on my own for so long. I missed my brother and my friends but there was not time for that. I had some work to do. Soon, my life would change forever but it was not this day. I sat in my office, trying to perfect my craft. I didn't know why I tried to impress her, she obviously didn't care...she never really cared about me but I still tried. Maybe one day we would have a relationship, I hope, but not this day.

Another craft fail. I threw it in the garbage. A knock at the door startled me.

"Enter."

"Excuse me, but your mother is wondering when the invitations will be sent out for the Panathenaea Festival, we must get the invitations ready and delivered."

"Yes, I have created a first draft. I feel it fair that the winner would get a free semester at our craft school, would that be acceptable to you?"

With a wave of her hand, a large pile of invitations appeared on the floor next to her desk. Hermes stood by the pile..."

"Whoa! That is a lot of deliveries. You'll owe me," said Hermes jokingly, I hoped.

"Yes, I know. Thank you Hermes. I really appreciate it."

Hermes winked and disappeared with the pile of invitations. Alone again, trying to impress the Goddess of Wisdom and Strategy with crafts. This is my new life in Greco. My life used to be filled with adventure and danger now it was all paperwork and official duties. I was not meant for this...I was meant to be out there, in the world, making a difference, using my gifts. I stopped trying, I would never achieve greatness in crafts. Absently, I started working on a small statue. As I sat at my desk and looked at the stack of papers that needed my signature, I sighed and laid my bored head down on my desk. When I closed my eyes, I felt an odd tingle in my head. I remembered that feeling from my mortal days. I was getting a headache. I haven't had a headache in a long time. I closed my eyes. That is when the weirdest thing happened.

I decided to go out for a walk and clear my mind. I was surprised to run into an acquaintance. Potatocis was in the middle of the square waiting. I walked up to him and said hi!

"Mia? Can I ask you something?

"Sure, what would you like to know?"

"Why did you free Ps?"

"I did no such thing."

I never understood why he kept blaming me for freeing Ps. I did not even know Ps when he was mysteriously released from his cell in Potatocis' sword.

"I can restore your memory. I want to know why you did it."

Potatocis looked anguished, which was odd for the Emperor. He always looked confident and steady. I told him he could try to restore my memory but I was pretty sure it was intact and that he was mistaken. Sure enough, he was right.

The tingling sensation increased as memories, ancient memories rolled through my mind. Memories of betrayal. These were my memories from my first meeting with Ps.

I remembered everything, even the original plan and how I was counting on a son of Hermes to be my last resort. I remembered the secret meetings and planning session with my brother. I remembered wanting to let Ender know about Mark but him saying it was a bad idea. I remembered making Greek Fire and feigning allegiance with Ps. Even sacrificing cookies to Ps as a distraction. I also remember how important the timing was, the planning, how I had to loose the fight...the only way I could pass the Greek Fire and Physician's cure to Ender and finally freeing Ps.

We were unsuccessful in our attempt to destroy Ps but we still had an ace in our hand. No one realised that I was feigning the allegiance with him so we could try again later.

I explained all this to Potatocis, he deserved to know why. Ps was dead, I did not need to hold this secret anymore. We were naive to think that we could destroy Ps if Potatocis could not do so but we did not know of this Universe and Potatocis and Ps' powers. As most demigods, we were cocky and thought we could succeed where others had failed.

After my explanation of my motives, the Emperor seemed both angry and disappointed. He was right, I know but it all ended well. Ps was gone now and the Republic was peaceful. We all got what we wanted. We had obviously made a mistake and underestimated Ps but a part of me felt that, if I hadn't gained his favour in the very beginning, then I probably would not have been able to play my cards right later on...

Before Potatocis left with his answer to the question he had asked many times and I got scolded like a child, he asked me if I would mind if he created a portal on Greco. I didn't see why not so I told him to go ahead. I decided to just keep walking, my head hurt and I was annoyed that my memories had been altered. As I walked, I came upon a visitor. She seemed lost. Might as well introduce myself and find out how I could help.

" Hello, welcome to Greco. I am Mia . You seem lost, can I help you with anything?"

After we exchanged pleasantries, I found out her name  was Aelin and that she did not come from the Republic. She came from a locked planet and she could not return home. I decided to show her around a little then took her to the City centre where we ran into Yasmine, who was also a daughter of Athena. She had come to Greco for the festival. I returned to my office. I had a lot of work to do to prepare for the festival and I had to reflect on the issue of the naiads disappearances. I will need to investigate. I let my assistant work on the festival while I sneaked to the newly created portal and left for Brooklyn house.

I didn't make there as Carter Kane and Felix were waiting for me on the other side of the portal. I guess we would have a training session the next time I came by. I was greeted by penguins waddling around. I had been visiting Brooklyn House fairly regularly trying to learn Egyptian magic. I learned a long time ago that sometimes, being yourself is dangerous and I had learned of the Egyptian magicians could create near perfect copies of people and that could be useful, plus, my thirst for knowledge was insatiable. This time, it was going to be a simple pick up, a refresher of divine words and a quick practice in storing and accessing magical items in the duat. It went well. I picked up my clay, the ribbons and practised the activation words for the shabtis. I was good with storing things in the duat. I quickly returned to my world and returned to Greco.

Rumours of a traveller, Yasmine, daughter of Athena, having a seizure in the city centre came to me. Apparently, it lasted quite a while. She was with the other traveller I had met earlier and there appeared to be a creature that kept her company. The seizure did not concern me. It was possibly some sort of vision but the creature...there hadn't been any abnormal activity since the destruction of Ps. I needed to know more.

There was also the issue of the missing naiads and the tainted waters. I needed to get to the bottom of these two mysteries. I decided to go to the city centre to find out if I could talk to Yasmine. Instead of Yasmine, I found the traveller from a different planet that I had come upon during my previous walk. She was sitting alone at a table outside a Bistro. I decided to join her.

"Hello Aelin, can I join you?"

"Yes"

"Are you enjoying Greco?"

"Yes"

"I heard about an incident here with Yasmine yesterday. I was told you were with her. Would you mind describing to me what happened exactly and that creature...what was it? Did it seem...dangerous?"

Aelin described the events as follows: She was speaking to Yasmine having pizza for the first time when Yasmine fell to the ground and appeared to have a seizure. An insect like creature appeared and seemed to be comforting Yasmine because the seizure seemed to diminish, although she did not recover completely.

"Thank you Aelin."

I realised I was going to be here for a while and I still needed to find out what exactly happened to Yasmine and the naiads. I tried to separate discreetly. I kept talking with Aelin as the naiad part of me left the conversation and headed for the tainted River. When I got there, the River felt dangerous, I was not sure I wanted to touch it but I needed to investigate, too many naiads had gone missing. For some unknown reason, Potatocis was still keeping tabs on me and he put up a shield around the river so no more naiads would be lost. I took a sample of the water and  headed back. I still had no idea what had happened but the sample would help. I would need to call a meeting with the naiads and tell them to avoid the area at all costs. I took the vial of water from Lake Triton and broke it, which immediately sent me back to my closest life source which was at the Bistro in the city centre.

Yasmine and I had not crossed paths very often, I knew of her but I didn't really know her. All I knew was that she lived in Yasville and had come here as a traveller with no intention of living in Greco. I knew that she was also a daughter of Athena so she was my half sister, I suppose. I needed to know exactly what happened and if it was in fact a vision. To my surprise, I received a letter from Yasmine asking me to meet her at her home. The very next morning, I leave for Yasmine's Palace. I announce my arrival at the gates and meet with her. She informs me of the events of the previous day. She tells me that her people will come here to kill her and that she is Queen of a place called Pratsinia. She also alludes to the fact that she grew up with our mother for some time. I try to push my jealousy down. Athena has never stayed with any of her children, what made Yasmine and Ender so special? She tells me about the creature at the Bistro when I ask. She informs me that the creature was helping her through the vision.

Something is not right here. I couldn't put my finger on it but things just didn't add up. There had been no odd creatures since the destruction of Ps. Why would there be one now and who had created it, or perhaps, it had been roaming Greco in the wake of Ps' death and had just not shown itself. I made a mental note to ask the Emperor about it. Now that I understood that Yasmine was going to be murdered, I owed it to my sister to try and help. She said that it was fine, she had a plan but a back up plan is always good to have also. I gave Yasmine my Raptor's cap so she could disappear if need be. I was surprised when she gifted a beautiful leather bound book to me. She told me it was Athena's book of knowledge. It would answer any question after I answered a riddle. The book would only work for Athena's children. Again, jealousy crept up but again, I pushed it down. This book would be very, very useful. It may even help with the situation with the River.  It seemed that, every time I got something crossed off my list, a new task was added. I better get to work.

I thanked Yasmine and although I wanted to return to Greco, I knew that this book had to be kept in a safe place so I took it to my cottage on Mount Olympus. I sat at my cherry wood desk and opened the book. Immediately a riddle appeared:

*Penny has 5 children,*

*1st is January, 2nd kid is February, 3rd is named March, 4th is called April. What is the name of the 5th child.*

*" The answer is What."*

I asked my question mostly just to see if the book of Wisdom actually worked and if it did, then maybe I could cross one more item off my to do list. It couldn't hurt.

"Where is the creature that spoke to Yasmine during her vision?"

I guess I was expecting the book to answer clearly and, most likely use words but I guess it wanted to be cryptic. It showed images of the dark, corrupted River that had taken so many naiad recently. I decided to go back to the River and search. I then created a shabti of myself knowing there was no way I was not going to investigate. I grabbed some supplies and stuffed them in a bag which I then stored in the duat for further use, including the one of myself.  I did not want some tainted water to destroy me after so many have tried. That would be the worst insult. I teleported back to the River and was surprised when Potatocis joined me but I hid my surprise. He appeared broken and hurt. I did not comment on his appearance. He already knew he was broken and there must have been a reason for his appearance. He had an air of sadness about him. I told him about my meeting with Yasmine and the creature but I withheld the gift of the book of Wisdom. I told Potatocis about the missing naiads, the corrupted River and my intention to investigate. When he heard of the creature, he told me a very important secret. Something that changed my life forever.

Potatocis' appearance was concerning, he was burned extensively, battered and broken. He looked tired, sad and ashamed. I waited patiently for him to reveal this secret. He informed me that Ps was not dead but that he was chained in some sort of a prison. This whole time, the people believed he was dead, when in reality, he was being held captive where he could do no harm. I was not so sure that was true, the creature proved that he still had some kind of pull in the Republic, I just did not know what his goal was. Potatocis spoke of the guilt and embarrassment he felt for not being ready to kill Ps because that meant his own death and he did not want to die. He told me that part of Ps was trapped into his body and that he had come from visiting him. Ps had been bidding his time. Apparently, Ps had just escaped his bonds and had left the Republic. Although I was alarmed and confused by the news, I knew that the guilt and shamed weighed heavily on the Emperor.  I immediately told him that there must be a way to destroy Ps without Potatocis having to die. I started thinking of ways...then I thought of my old plan, back in the day, I could still do that and possibly save the Emperor also. Potatocis was adamant, he needed to die to kill Ps because part of Ps was inside him...this made things harder but still not impossible. Let's start by killing the creature then take care of the second problem.

At the sullied river and Potatocis told me that the problem with the issue may have been a multidimensional portal that is leaking. This seemed odd to me but we needed to figure out where this portal led to, seeing as water nymphs went missing recently in these areas, I poured some water from Lake Triton to clear the River long enough to enter it, which we did. Well, technically, I didn't but he did. I had made a shabti ( clay statue that contained all my memories and powers that was activated by divine words. Yes, I used Egyptian magic.) Back in the day, when my alliances were iffy, I had decided to have a back up plan, in case Ps went back on his word so I made a deal with the Egyptian magicians at Brooklyn house. I would teach the initiates battle strategies and they would teach me Egyptian magic. Anyway, I digress. The shatbi went with Potatocis. When we arrived in Erilea, we appeared in a small River. There were no water nymphs that I could sense but we needed to explore. Potatocis sensed that Ps had escaped to this new unexplored world.

This created a problem. I was informed that Potatocis had met with Aelin who is a fae and Queen in this world. They had gotten off to quite the rough start. Potatocis wanted to expand his Empire and include Aelin's world but Aelin was firmly against it. They had words and, long story short, there was no love lost between the two. So here we were, inadvertently teleported to her world in search of Ps. What to do? Go the diplomatic route and announce our arrival here or just go straight for the threat. The problem was that, if we went the diplomatic route, Ps could do so much damage and odds were in the favour of Potatocis getting kicked out. By this point in my life, I am completely aware that there was no one other than Potatocis who could destroy Ps but Aelin would not believe that so I advised against the diplomatic route because it would be a waste of precious time that we just did not have.

I followed Potatocis North as we discussed possible strategies in order to defeat Ps without Potatocis having to forfeit his life. I did not understand why he felt so guilty about not dying in the latest Ps battle. This time he wanted to make sure he destroyed any trace of PS. I tried to find solutions I guess Potatocis humoured me because he accepted the use of Shabtis of him. When we approached Ps' land, I stopped and pulled my bag out of the duat and set to work creating near perfect replicas of him. We talked as I fashioned the shabtis to his likeness. I tried to convince him that he did not need to die. He said it was his duty, that, because he was too weak to die last time, this world was in danger. I understood that there wasn't much I could do but stand by and watch as he fell but the shabtis still had a purpose. A diversion, a strategy to weaken PS so Potatocis could gather his strength while Ps crushed the clay statues.

And so it began, then end. The end of an Emperor, the end of the Ps creature. Once the clay statues were ready, I used my newly learned Egyptian magic and spoke the divine word. The statue grew to a full size Potatocis which was then imbued with Potatocis' power and the first attack began. I worked on making more, hoping against hope to overwhelmed Ps.

"I think I can get you 7 or 8 more."

I set to work and activated 5 more. I was being drained, I could feel it but I had to continue.One after the other, the shabtis were destroyed. We were sent back to the portal from from whence we came. On the other side of the portal, my real self was holding the power though the portal trough the touch of the water. I had 6 shabtis going. I was exhausted and I couldn't fail. All of a sudden Yasmine arrived and helped me hold the portal and tried to share her power. I could no longer see what was going on on the other side, the only solution was to go through.When we crossed into Erilea, we found Aelin there. I tried to explain the situation the best I could she had to understand that the only way to save her world was to help Potatocis defeat Ps. I told her not to do with for the Emperor but to do it for her world. She decided to follow. When we returned to Potatocis, I asked what we could do to help. The shabtis were almost all gone. He looked at me with resolve in his eyes. Hold a shield, protect the area. Although I was filled with sadness and regret for past actions and Aelin was still angry at Potatocis, Yasmine was eager to help.I asked for their elements, trying to see how best to organise but there was no time.

Potatocis turned and ran at Ps. He lifted them into the air where they battled. We took our positions and raised a large shield hoping to protect the living things in the area. We had never worked together before, they didn't know how much power would be needed. I struck my spear to the ground pushing almost all my power into the shield. Ps attacked Yasmine and he spoke of my past actions, calling me a traitor. I knew he was referencing the pact we had made many moons ago and Aelin listened while Yasmine was attacked. She asked if it was true.Deep inside me, I regretted that deal but, I had not interfered, as was part of the deal. Turn a blind eye, do not tell Potatocis what Ps was doing. I did not tell him. I did not break my word.

I told Aelin that he was messing with her mind and that these were lies. Ps also said that I had been his ally. This, I was still unsure of because my intentions had been to make sure Ps did not win over Potatocis. When Aelin attacked the remanent of the Ps creature, the shield was less powerful but it had to be stopped. Then Yasmine fell. There was only one thing to do. I quickly separated. Pallas holding the spear. I appeared near Y asmine and did my best to hold her part of the shield.It was going to have to end quickly, I couldn't hold it for very long, Pallas was fading while Yasmine was regaining her strength. I returned to my place as Pallas fainted. I looked up for a moment and saw Potatocis absorb Ps into him as I collapse, seconds before the great explosion, the end of Ps and Emperor Potatocis, I heard him say:" don't die on me now Pallas."

Those were his last words to me.

When I regained consciousness, a large shadow stood in front of me. I was certain, the person standing there was Potatocis and that he had miraculously survived. I looked up and realised quickly that it was not him. I looked back down quickly, guilt and sadness filling me. I should have done more. There was surely another way but I was not enough. Not smart, enough, not fast enough, not strong enough to save him. Before me, stood his son, the new Emperor. Behind him was a large crater. My heart broke but I held it together because, if his own son could do it, I had to be able to do it too. He extended his hand and I took it but I did not meet his gaze. I had failed his father...again and this time, there were no more chances to right the wrong.

I stood and looked at the crater. The new Emperor invited me to go to Potatocis' funeral. I had no place there, I was not worthy. Potatocis had apparently not told his son about me. When he insisted, I agreed. He took us to a grave yard filled by tombstones. Empress Samirah joined us. There was a ceremony. It was hard, so soon after the death. The new Emperor stood strong and silent. When it was over. He asked me what happened. I had to redeem myself and be honest instead of keeping it to myself. All the progress Potatocis and I had made, it was all gone but I wanted to do better. I looked Frankus in the eyes and told him to read my mind. He seemed a little startled by my willingness to show him all. I told him that words could not do justice to what had happened and that he deserved to see how his father had fallen. I showed him everything. Hoping he wouldn't go too far because Potatocis asked me to keep his secret and I intended to do so.

Luckily, he stopped before he learned of his father visiting a chained Ps. When it was over, I saw him...really saw him for the first time. The man behind the title. The boy I had heard of long ago that I thought had perished at the hands of Ps.

Frankus was so much like his father. Strong, tall, confident, a leader but he was also different. He was untouched by the corruption on Ps, he was more sensitive. Nothing in his appearance or stance let it on. He was wearing his father's broken armour. Some would say it was to honour him, but I felt that it was a deep love and feeling of loos that encouraging him to do what Potatocis would do. When the funeral was over, he took me back to the Republic. He wanted to show me something. In Greco, a giant golden statue of me was erected. I felt so, overwhelmed. For someone who does not like too much attention, this was far past too much. There was also the issue with the guilt. I had failed, failed to help, failed to keep Potatocis alive, failed to double cross Ps, a long time ago and I was now immortalised in gold in the city I govern. A reminder of my failures.

"I-I don't know what to say. It's too much. I don't deserve this."

"Of course you do, Pallas. I want to show you something."

Frankus took me to a large palace and told me that I was now adviser to the Emperor and this palace was mine. So many emotions ran through me. That is all I had ever wanted, someone to listen to me, to have some value in someone's eyes. My mom didn't care, Potatocis just wouldn't listen. No one ever listened. Ender tried but it went against his personality to actually heed my advice and here I was...a failure...a rewarded failure? It felt so wrong. Frankus excused himself, after I thanked him profusely and a servant named Yarl appeared to explain how things worked and where things are. I would not have a servant do I decided he would be my friend instead.

The palace was absolutely incredible. It was too big, too grand. It even had an indoor pool of massive proportions. The library...it was the most beautiful library i had ever seen. It was three stories high with beautiful wooden bookcases and stairs. Wooden ladders against every wall. The sheer amount of knowledge was inspiring and exciting at the same time. There were comfortable leather chairs everywhere, a large couch, worktables everywhere a worktable was needed. In the middle was a grand waterfall. He beauty was breathtaking. Yarl then introduced me to a secret hologram of Potatocis. Yarl left the room.

It was odd but Potatocis explained how things worked in the palace. When he said that he was here to serve me, it made things terribly uncomfortable. I didn't deserve any of this and I knew it. The hologram apparently could read feelings, maybe even thoughts because it tried to comfort me and tell me that I did in fact deserve it. It was a lie but to get over with it, I accepted his efforts to try to make me feel better. I couldn't very well leave or refuse the Emperor so I decided I would stay and do my job. The job I always wanted. If only I hadn't made that deal with Ps. If only I could have found another way. I needed time, there was none. That was just an excuse. My big mouth and stupid brain brought me here, to all these things I didn't want and Potatocis was gone, lost forever, because of me. Frankus was so kind and generous. I needed to find a way to thank him. When I apologised to the hologram Potatocis, I dismissed him...again, very uncomfortable. I couldn't imagine myself dismissing the real version of the Emperor.

I sat at my worktable and summoned Athena's book of Knowledge. I still didn't know where the nymphs had gone or if they had simply disappeared. I answered the riddle and asked where the nymphs had gone. I was shown the same area as where the creature had disappeared to. This made me wonder if the book was ever wrong or if it showed the future. I decided to visit Yasmine in Yasville and ask her. When I got there, she explained that the book was never wrong. It usually answered questions but sometimes, it would show the future. This was an interesting development. Yasmine also informed me that she was an outcast from her home planet, where she had lived with Athena for many years and she was going to be queen then she was going to be assassinated. I told her that I would help but she refused and decided to come investigate the river in Aelin's world in search of the missing nymphs.

When we arrived near the River, Yasmine and I were met by Aelin. We searched the River bank and the stream and found no sign of the missing nymphs. They must have simply faded back into nature. I sat on a large rock,upset about the loss of so many of my sisters, when someone literally dropped out of the sky. Aelin went to investigate. I was about to join her when some eccentric man carrying a cup tripped and splashed me with the contents of his cup. He apologised profusely. Said it was some sort of purple soda and he was heading to his son's birthday party when he was distracted by the falling boy and spilled his soda. I was nice enough about it and he went about his day. Aelin returned to investigate what had happened and to ask for advice in the boy. I cleaned myself off in the River and walked back to the boy but he was simply gone.

Aelin informed me that this type of occurrence is not unheard of. I had never even heard of anything remotely similar to this, apart for some fallen angel lore. I wondered for a moment if this boy was in fact, an angel. Only time would tell. I started feeling a little groggy. I knew I was tired. Passing out did not equate rest and I had not slept in a very long time and expended a large amount of energy. Aelin questioned me on the things Ps said. The broken promise, the betrayal, being on Ps' side. I claimed innocence and returned to my rock where I passed out, once again.

When I came too, a familiar vision awaited me. A large man in golden armour was standing in front of me. We have to stop meeting like this, I thought to myself. Behind him, I could hear Yasmine defending me and excusing herself to Aelin. She had some business to attend to in Yasville.

"Pallas," he said, "are you ok?"

For a moment, I thought it was Potatocis. I was quite confused. Why would he call me by my last name? No one, absolutely no one called me by my last name. It was always Mia. Oh, Potatocis spoke of me to his son. This wasn't good. I gave myself a mental shake. Why would I care? Anyway, I answered.

"Yes, i think so. How did you know I was here?" I asked as I brushed myself off and stood slowly.

"I keep tabs on you." he replied.

I wasn't sure how I should feel about that...thankful or a little concerned. Perhaps he didn't trust me. That would make sense if his father spoke to him about me. I promptly decided to ignore my concern. I explained what had happened. He had also met the man who had dropped the purple soda on me. Well, there was nothing more I could do here. Aelin walked up to us. She seemed weary of Frankus, like she mistrusted him only because he was Potatocis' son. While they shared a word, I stood by uncomfortable and exhausted. I just wanted to lean on him but I held myself up. I should probably help Yasmine but she said she had a plan so I had to trust in her. I thought of the conversation we had as I held the shabtis in the River, Yasmine had lived with Athena and her family for years...years. They were close, she spoke to her sometimes. Yasmine had also told me that Athena was proud of my accomplishments and spoke of me highly. I started wondering why? Mother had never even paid me any attention. She was always disappointed in me, only helped me once, when I was thrown into space. She was always cruel and uncaring, yet, she lived with one of her daughters for years. It did not make any sense to me. My head was starting to hurt. Frankus pulled me from my thoughts when he announced he was taking me home. I was thankful that he had come because I was unsure I could even teleport back without falling  asleep. When I got home, Frankus encouraged me to have some rest and I went to my room and immediately fell asleep.

When I awoke,the next morning, a giant spider was standing at the foot of my bed. Normally, the smallest spider can make me feel faint but this one was the most terrifying creature I had ever seen and my entire life. It clicked and hissed as it approached me with it's menacing eyes. I couldn't help myself. A scream escaped me as I started trembling. Fight or flight...there was no time, no exit...I was trapped so I summoned my spear and stood next to my bed. I could felt nauseous but this thing would not best me. I dodged the legs of the spider as it tried to skewer me and it's large, disgusting mandibles tried to snatch me up but I thrust my spear into it's mouth and the beast, who was wounded, snapped it. I then summoned a sword and ran underneath it's disgusting belly and ripped the giant insect open. It turned into purple dust and vanished. I was still catching my breath when Yarl knocked at the door.

I opened the door and he asked what happened because he had heard my scream. Embarrassed, I did not tell him about the spider and blamed it on a nightmare. I went to the library to research giant spiders and Frankus appeared shortly thereafter. He wanted to show me something and asked if I was busy. Together, we went to his lab. I knew of this lab because Ender had broken in once and had a look around. Of course, Potatocis was not aware that I knew about the GK24 and I was not ready to mention it yet. I did not understand why he was bringing me here. If I were him, and I knew my back story, I would definitely not trust me so fast. Apparently Potatocis had not filled Frankus in on my mind games because he handed me a "key" to the laboratory. The place was impressive, so many weapons I hadn't seen and the top notch equipment. I was impressed. There were artefacts that were considered lost to the general population. I tried to take everything in, memorise it, in case Frankus came to his senses and banned me from the lab. I sat at a counter and looked into a microscope. I saw an actual person in stasis, a clone. Ender had mentioned this clone but it was just so unreal to be here. Then the whole place kinda unfolded and Frankus brought me to a museum wing and showed me more. I was in heaven. I had almost forgotten about the vial of purple goo I had in my pocket. I asked if I could use the equipment to figure out what it was and I got to work. He watched for a little while and then he told me of a project of his, which caught my attention. He wanted to retrieve the essence of the chaos gods. He asked me if I was willing to help.

My hesitation was evident. I had no concern over Nurgle, Slannesh or even Khorn but if I was asked to come close to Tzeentch, I knew I was doomed.He is a sly one and I know that I love the thrill of trying to outsmart the game master. I decided to ask exactly what would be asked of me before I made a decision. Frankus told me that all I had to do was to walk up to the chained chaos god and extricate some of its essence and trap it into an amulet. This was an interesting challenge but still, what if I came to face off with Tzeentch. I quickly decided to step on my pride and tell him of my concern.

"I would never ask you to go to see Tzeentch. I only want you to get Khorn's. I cannot trust myself not to be influenced by him as you don't trust yourself around Tzeentch."

I thought to myself, Khorn...yeah, I don't really see a problem...bloodlust...not at all, therefore I agreed and offered to go to Slannesh also...it's not like I would be affected by lust and debauchery but Frankus was confident he could do the three other chaos gods.

I walked into a portal, I was surrounded by rivers of blood and images of disgusting murder and corpses. I felt him try to sway me but it was useless. I was far too sad to see these horrible images and to imagine these poor souls dying for the pleasure of Khorn. As I approached his throne, where he was chained and broken, I felt him reach deeper into my conscience but there was nothing to feed him, nothing for him to hang on to. I opened the amulet and his essence come flowing into it. I closed it and turned my back on him and walked back through the portal, unfazed.

At my return, Frankus had already gotten the essence from Tzeentch and returned shortly from collecting Nurgle's essence. The poor Emperor was covered kn welts but it cleared up rapidly. I told him that, if he preferred, I could get Slaneesh's essence. I was not concerned about her. I had spent centuries all by myself so a god of debauchery and excess was not an issue for me. Frankus insisted on going. I stayed behind, at the lab, and waiting for him to returned. I looked around but did not touch anything, really. I inspected the shards of swords, interested by its history. When he returned through the portal, I burst out laughing. He seemed indignant as I tried to control my laughter. His face was covered in lipstick and his cheeks were getting redder by the second.

"So...how did it go?" I asked playfully.

"He scrunched up his face a little and said:" Well, it was Slaneesh soo..." and he gestured to his face and chuckled a little and turned serious quickly. His cheeks were still red when he told me that he had work to do. I was unsure of what it was that he had planned to do with the essence of the chaos gods. Perhaps extract he demon souls from the broken sword of Fulgrim. I squashed my curiosity and wished him good night and returned to my far too large and very lonely Palace.

I was nervous about the events of the previous morning and had yet to do proper research so instead of going to bed, I went to the library to read up on the giant spider. I hate spiders not in a violent way, it is an ingrained fear passed down from my Mother. If only she had given me the good gifts. Some kids got to control water or air or even the earth and I was here with War Strategy and a crippling fear of Spiders. If you thought about it, it made absolutely no sense that my mom would turn Arachne into a spider for being extremely talented at weaving. Unless of course it was because she was terrified at loosing the title of best weaver o she turned her into something terrifying. I should mull that over but I digress. There was a possibility that the giant spider, which dissolved into a purple smoke was created by the purple potion. I started taking notes.

**-Mia Pallas**