The natural light of the stars began to dim all around us. The air becoming at once more damp and more hushed. The oxygen feeling scarce as our minds began to perceive walls of solid, unmoving stone closing in all around us.

"What is this exactly?" The Golden Cruelty asked. Her tone more curious than condemning.

"Seems. Like. Cave." The Moving Mountain Observed. Her body still far, far beyond the enclosing walls and not shrinking at all while the Veil continued to degrade and the vision became clearer.

I considered asking her to at least shrink down to half our size so I could accentuate the point more clearly, but I soon decided against it. The massive Savant might not be the Seeking Drake, but they would still be a master of the Shifter Type. One who had not only survived this long on her own power, but who managed to do so while still holding on to some semblance of principles.

Impressive, since I threw my principles in the bin within, what? A little over four months?

'In any case, she wouldn't shrink. You don't get to be that old without at least a little bit of paranoia.'

The reality of her size wouldn't help her in the least of course, as I wouldn't even try a direct confrontation at this point. Why would I? When I had so many better ways to handle this?

I sighed within the confines of my mind and kept my attention on the opening ground. The earth parting like a big maw as if to swallow me and the Golden Cruelty whole.

For my part, I merely used my new Projector abilities to float in place. The Golden Cruelty waited a bit longer to react. Willfully experimenting with the new reality brought about by the Veil degradation.

The many hairs on her spider-like centaur body stood on end as the air between us gained a violet hue. The very winds beginning to whisper niceties and cruel oddities in my ears and in hers.

She turned her head. The Enhancer looking almost disappointed that all her superior Tier 10 senses were not helping her discern what the whispers were saying.

"Are you curious?" I asked her plainly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "You of all people should know that you don't need to be a seer to glimpse the future. Sometimes, when the Veil is thin enough, the very nature of the twisted realm will whisper in everyone's ears. And you can gleam much from the errant whispers floating about."

Her many eyes bore into me. Her mandibles clacking.

"Sometimes, the very people who claim to be seers will give you the future upfront, before then interpreting in a way that is wrong, due to them not having all the information. It is better to hold on to these whispers, oh Inescapable Tyrant. You never know when they might reveal more than you expected. I myself have profited much from being patient and open-minded."

There was a shuffle from the side. One who came in somewhat muffles through the half-real walls.

"Prophecy. Favours. Patience." The Moving Mountain agreed.

I nodded.

"In that case, would you like me to make the whispers more clear to both of you?"

Golden Cruelty mimicked a human nod at once. Bobbing her head up and down as I had done.

The Moving Mountain said nothing, but she did not reject the offer.

I began narrating them. The whispers in the air becoming much louder and more discernible as the words left my mouth.

"Star and Moon. Strength and Chariot. The Hanged Man. The Emperor is the Fool. He dances with a paper crown and the bells in his motley jingle to mark his passing. The Empress is under the sea. Upside down where the Sun can't reach. Her face is black and blue."

There was disappointed grumble from the side as the Moving Mountain gnashed what she had for teeth in frustration.

The Golden Cruelty merely gave me another human nod.

"Well, that's a damned shame." She muttered. Purposely voicing the sentiment so that I and the other Savant could hear.

"I rather liked Lady Agony. Always figured she would ascend sooner or later and I worked hard to have a good relationship with her."

She clacked her mandibles in frustration. Perhaps making a dramatic show of the motions to get her point across.

"Spent quite a pretty token on gifts too. And left a lot of Kenari and other allied masters alone when they displeased me. All for nothing it would seem."

The Moving Mountain growled. The expression resounding like a series of small earthquakes.

"Justice. Is. Its. Own. Reward." She repeated.

Golden Cruelty turned her many eyes to her figure, hidden by the half-solid wall.

"So you think she is still alive?"

There was a pause and the feeling of air rushing back the other way as the colossal Shifter breathed in.

"No." The giant admitted. "Have. Heard. Prophecy. Before. Thought. It. Someone. Else. But…"

The Shifter grumbled and pebbles fell from the walls to fall into the unreal crevice in the ground.

"Fits. Too. Well."

I nodded along. Sensing just how frustrated the massive monster truly was.

Despite her arrival here for this meeting with Golden Cruelty, the Moving Mountain wasn't exactly on the fence when it came to this whole conflict. If anything, she was merely waiting for her chance to enter the conflict on the Dragon's side.

'Preferably in concert with two or three other Savants or old Masters.' I reasoned. 'She might be big and lumbering, but she isn't stupid.'

"Would you like me to continue?"

"Please." The Golden Cruelty hissed. In a friendly enough tone. "Don't leave us in suspense. Oh Tyrant."

I kept going. The whispers once more rising to the occasion as I spoke more clearly.

"Fat birds are playing in the snow. Hiding a fox under their skirts. The Magician slays the dragon with her silver wand. Men cheer and Women weep. Her armor glitters and sparkles. The chains. Oh, the chains. They strangle me. They strangle you. But are they touching us?"

The Golden Cruelty snapped to attention now. Far more than before.

"What?" I said in a joking tone. "Would you like to know what fat birds the sentence refers to? Or would you like to know what a fox is?"

I purposely emphasized that part over the whole section about men cheering and women weeping, as it had dawned on me just how many of those who would oppose me and the Drake and the other supporters I'd bribed to our side were… well… female Savants.

'Not all who oppose us are female of course, but I have a distinct suspicion the ratio will remain skewed towards that direction. There's only so many Savants and Masters interested in getting involved after all.'

Luckily, the two of them did not even stop to consider that point. Or if they did, they gave no indication.

"The Magician…" She began. Not daring to finish the sentence.

"It. Cannot. Be." Moving Mountain continued. "Refuse. To. Believe. It."

I turned to Buddy and pretended to wipe away dust and debris from the form of his white suit.

"I take it you're familiar with whomever the Magician is?"

Golden Cruelty paused. Genuinely hesitating for the first time during our meeting.

"I would not feel comfortable speaking about such issues at this moment." She said cautiously.

"The Divine of Singing Metals?" I asked, pressing the issue.

Golden Cruelty's face did not become an expression of shock, but her beady spider-like eyes became bereft of any visible emotions.

To the side, no further comment came from the Moving Mountain. Her bulk becoming as still as the actual stony peaks in the distance.

"What?" I asked. "I have some of the Drake's memories and I know there have been several other prophecies about her where she's been referred to as the Magician. Why would I not make the connection?"

"She. Would. Never." Moving Mountain's voice rang out. Resolute in her confidence.

"Perhaps." I reasoned. "Perhaps not. There are many factors of this conflict that the two of you are not aware of. Factors that the Dragon refused to consider even when I almost spelled it out for him. You do not know the Veil as I do. You do not know the world beyond the Veil as I do. You have lived long enough to imagine that you have a more or less complete understanding, but that is a delusion on your part."

I paused to let them digest the statement.

"Past and future are intertwined in the Veil. More so than I realized at first. There are many places in my realm where my own intruders are not following my orders. Not that I noticed when I first arrived. In these spots, the Intruders are different. Lankier and taller and thinner. Like versions of my other Intruders who were pressed against a table and stretched out using a rolling pin. Until their side profile was as strips of paper. These Intruders follow me and not me. They were created by the thing I am destined to become, not the me that lashed out as a child. They were created with a purpose in mind beyond protecting me and making the world I was born in a better place that fit to my ideals. These Intruders work tirelessly around a knot where I feel my influence waning. A spot where my realm ends and chaos begins."

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I paused once again.

"There is a thing there. Asleep and not fully formed, that scares even me. A thing that seemed concerned only with keeping the knot intact because it was created at the moment where the knot being tied became inevitable. That knot, which connects my realm to others, has been undone now. But it will be re-created. That I assure you. I know it will be re-created because I know I would not be the person I am without some intervention from the knot. It will be again, because my re-creation was the original creation. Both the original and the repaired version are one."

"You. Make. No. Sense." The Moving Mountain interrupted. "You. Rant. And. Rave. Lunatic. Madman."

"Prophet." Golden Cruelty finished. "I had a feeling you were a little too sane-sounding for someone so young and powerful. No wonder. You merely kept the madness tucked away beneath the surface."

"I do not think I am being mad at all." I sighed. "It's you who are ignorant. I will become something else in the future and this thing already exists in Pandemonium because there, I already became it. I have been that way for eons, because I would eventually become it."

"If you survive the coming conflict." Golden Cruelty pointed out. "That is a rather poignant, if."

"You delude yourself if you think I can be killed at this point." I stated in a flat, emotionless tone.

"At worst, you and other Savants might be able to corner me. Press me until this body disintegrates. But I already have all four Types and I am on the 9th Tier in three of them. I will reach the top and any deaths my corporeal form suffer will only serve to delay me. And to what end?"

I balked.

"To prolong the conflict? When you know I will win in the end? When you know I have to win because the System would not exist otherwise?"

There was a pause then. Both Savants choosing to become mutes as their faces, or what passed for faces in either case, stopped dead in their tracks to consider the implications of what I'd just said.

"Think on it as much as you like." I continued. "I'll just be here, finishing the verses."

I degraded the Veil some more and let the whispers grow louder. The child-like giggling of my Solomonlings accompanying some of the stanzas as they half-sang along to my narration.

"Under the sea and over the stars. A thousand maggots slither. They grow big and they grow fat, before the great corpse withers."

"Juices fall and juices rise, dancing to the beat. Yet none will stay and none will sing, all will turn to meat."

"He comes and she comes after, burning with a vengeance. He will die and she will smile, passing down her sentence."

"The spider looks, the spider sees, everywhere and nowhere. It is there and it is here, watching from the corner."

"I see you. I know you. You cannot escape. None can run and none can hide from the Coffin or the Drake."

"The shadows come to play and sing and dance. They stroll about the cobweb, tearing its expanse."

"The mirror cannot hold. The mirror cannot stay. The shards of glass will all fly out and blind those in the way."

"The Coffin is still empty, very musty and very cold. Its owner hides behind the veil, eyes glittering with gold."

"The Drake is loud and furious. Terrible in wrath. Its tendrils invite horrid doom to all within its path."

I began to raise my voice, as the whispers grew even louder. Yelling as they yelled while the other two Savants backed away. The nearest one skittering up along an unreal, half-solid wall, while the other one sent shockwaves along the earth with every minor movement.

"The butcher will come! With fire and sword! To cast you out of your homes and burn all that you hold dear! But I won't be here! You'll have driven me away! You'll have no one to defend you! No one!"

"You are all blind! Your eyes are yet to open! See the world now! See it through my eyes! Feel it through my blood!"

"Under solid Earth! Under boiling Seas! Under burning Skies!"

I stopped. Drew in a long breath, and held it.

When I exhaled, the Golden Cruelty's eyes seemed less predatory than before. As if she were preparing herself for a fight to the death right then and there. Consequences be dammed.

I did not have to look the other way to know that her peer was already Shifting her form around. Beneath the layers of stony armor.

All that bulk would come flying with stunning alacrity the second I made a single wrong move.

"There's no need for that." I assured them. "I said I wanted to talk, not to fight. I promised you both as much when I invited you here. I keep my word whenever possible."

I paused again to chuckle dryly.

"Unlike some Dragons I know."

I then clapped. The motion making Golden Cruelty's spider-like body flinch. The hairs on her legs and body standing as tall as needles while her black orb-like eyes followed every minute movement.

"But enough of that my dear comrades. It would seem that we have gotten a bit off track with the whole business of the whispers. I'm sure you've heard some sections of the prophecy before and I'm sure you've tied them to different events before this point. Therefore, you struggle to think of them as predictions that could be applied to our current scenario. That is fine. I am not going to stand here and try to convince you that what I'm saying is the truth or that it applies to this ensuing conflict. You are old and set in your ways and no doubt both of you have people you trust tucked safely away back home. They will confirm what I'm saying, or they won't. But such trivialities can be left until later."

I waved to the empty space before me.

"Let us return to the cave for now. Can you tell me what this is?"

No one said anything for half a minute. Golden Cruelty's eyes never leaving my form for even a fraction of an instant.

"It seems like a normal crevice." She stated plainly. Her voice now guarded and devoid of emotion. Or even the pretense of emotion.

"Correct." I confirmed. "In a way. There is nothing abnormal about this rock formation. None of the walls have been infused with Psy. None of the creatures here have any kind of psionic power. No student has ever sought to meditate down here in order to reach enlightenment."

"Then why show it to us?" She pressed. Again keeping any kind of emotion from her tone.

"Because my maternal grandfather died here." I answered.

Neither Savant gave any indication that they heard me, so I kept talking.

"There are people in my world. In my species. Called cave explorers. The proper term is Spelunkers, I believe. These are people who will, under no direct threat or pressure, choose to venture deep into the darkness of cave systems to explore them. To see their…"

I chuckled dryly once more.

"Natural beauty."

I paused to smile.

"Not my thing, mind you. But some people are inexplicably driven to such things. Normal, everyday people who have families, jobs, friends, children, homes, prospects for the future. Risking life and limb for these extreme experiences."

I shook my head, as in dismay.

"My maternal grandfather was such a man. Not content with having been a caver all his life. Or with being far more fit than he had any right to be for his age. Or with having a warm, fully paid-off house to sleep in. Or with having a loving wife and children and grandchildren to visit him. He sought the thrill of caving time and time again. Choosing to spend much of his pension to travel to places with colorful names such as… and I am quoting here… 'The Organ Squeezer. Ra's Squeezing Sphincter of Doom. Underground Glasgow. The Demon Gloryhole. Lydia's Horrifying Shriek. Brittania Creek Cave. The Vampire's Bleeding Taint. The Many-Spider Hole. Caveman Killer. The Orphan Maker.'…"

I stopped to catch my breath.

Actually, knew an Enforcer by that name but whatever. Let's move on. There was also the… 'Widowmaker. Harry's Horror. Tiamat's Birth Canal. Kali's Strangling Grasp. The Drowned Man's Hole. The Many-Snake Hole. Hades' Rectum of Inescapable Despair.'…"

I coughed into my hand.

"And worst of all, the Nutty Baby Cave."

That one did get a reaction out of the ancient Savant at least.

"The… what?"

"The Nutty Baby Cave." I reiterated. "Named as such because the wind hits the stones in such a way that one imagines the giggling of long-dead children ringing in one's ear. As if you were surrounded by ghosts. You have to pass the glowworms to get there but I hear it's quite the experience."

There was a brief silence after that.

"That's where he died, by the way. Took a wrong turn and ended up stuck upside down. Emergency services actually managed to get to him while he was still alive but no one could get him out. He died there. Surrounded by people and aware that none of the help that got to him would be of any help. I think I must have been something like four at the time. Almost five. Because I remember mom crying during my birthday when I asked why grandpa Joe wasn't there."

There was another brief silence. One that stretched out further and further as I refused to be the one to break it.

"Why. Tell. Us?" Moving Mountain asked. Obviously confused.

"Because I wanted to draw attention to the point that sometimes, sometimes, people have inexplicable reasons for doing what they do."

I shrugged.

"But sometimes those reasons are very, very simple and it doesn't take much to convince someone to pursue a course of action. No matter how dim the odds seem and no matter how pointless and hopeless you believe that course of action to be."

The Golden Cruelty gave me the most subtle of face twitches in response.

I kept speaking.

"You two could become neutral. Or not. Though both of you have deeper ties to the Dragon and his daughter than to me. Either due to how much effort you've spent getting in their good graces or simply because you agree with their particular brand of justice."

Another twitch. Another slight movement.

"But the Drake was not like you. In truth, I offered him more Types to make sure he wouldn't betray me halfway through the whole ordeal, but he was pretty much on board the second I mentioned screwing Hazimon over. He didn't need much convincing."

I paused, but only for a few seconds this time.

"He is not the only one who despises the Dragon. Though the others have been wise enough to not make any overt moves."

The other Savant out in the distance let out a smaller grumble. The air trembling with the small enunciation.

"Also, there are the other kinds of Savants."

"Other kinds?" Golden Cruelty asked. "How do you mean?"

"I speak about the ones who aren't immortal. Like you two or Hazimon or the Drake." Her eyes shimmered in the purple-tinted air.

"Yes. Madam Cruelty. The ones who were unlucky enough to only have Telepath or Projector as a Type. I can tell you right now, it isn't fun. Knowing a single hit by any errant monster could end your life. Or any accident in any Excursion. It isn't a fun prospect. And while some people accept it and die when their time comes, yet others blow billions of Tokens into advanced Symbiotes and bionic implants and healing provided by other Masters. And those tend to be rather interested in any new ways to continue living. So much so that an offer from, say, me, looks a lot more attractive than a prolonged existence of trying to scrape a few more years off their crumbling body. So much so that I can demand other things beside neutrality."

"Who?" Moving Mountain asked suddenly.

"Harrowing Wail and Silent Stillness have joined me completely." I asserted. "They have already received payment and they have already begun to hunt down the loyalists they are aware of. Crushing Void and Benevolent Mercy have agreed to join, but they have not moved against the Dragon or his loyalists as of yet."

The Golden Cruelty let out a vicious, horrifying sound through her mandibles. What I assumed was her very first genuine laugh.

"Mercy has allied herself with you?" She almost seemed to choke on the words. "You!?"

"I can be very persuasive when I want to be." I spoke plainly. "That, and her goals are perfectly aligned with mine. Right down to the business of sanitizing the multiverse of gnomes. We both seek the betterment of living beings, even if it costs us our own well-being. We both seek to ease the suffering of thinking species and we both seek to solve conflicts through peaceful means, rather than bloodshed. It's just that she prefers that [Benevolent Prescence X] of hers while I rely on my boosts to give people the power to help themselves. Yes, she was allied with the Dragon and yes, she helped train many of his apprentices during the last century, but she is also able to prophesize the future, as I do. In her own way, she might be slightly more accurate than even me. She knows what caused this mess and she knows how it will end."

I gave the Golden Cruelty a meaningful look.

"If she and I fight, she dies and I win anyway, continuing to do good. If she and I don't fight, she regains her youth and continues to do good, this time alongside me, until she ascends and gains even more power to help the downtrodden by directly affecting the System. She has no reason to hate me, beyond my conflict with the Dragon, and I have allowed her to predict my own future and to see my own past. I have nothing to hide, after all. She knows I did not start it. She knows I want nothing but to help my people and all the people of the Labyrinth. To allow them to live meaningful, happy, productive lives where they can pursue happiness for themselves without fearing the boot of some despot."

"You are some despot." Cruelty pointed out.

"Only when I need to be. As is she." I paused. "She will mourn the Dragon. After he has passed. His death will not bring her any kind of happiness as she does truly love him as a mentor and a friend. But she also knows there is little choice now that the dice have flown from our hands."

I repaired the Veil and brought the stars back into focus. The wind now surging from all directions before scattering as the purple glow and the whispers fled in unison.

"She has made her choice, despite it being painful for her. Now it is up to you to do the same."

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