Halmarut's heels clicked and reverberated in the shadowy expanse. How many times had the Convocation met in this space-between-spaces to discuss their plans to restore Etheirys? Yet now, the rift contained nought but echoes.
In a few short years, their millenia of work had been dashed, crushed, and salted, with no hope of being completed. The few Sundered who remained were unaccounted for, and their lesser compatriots left aimless. Even without Zodiark, however, Halmarut still had a duty to the star and her people that she would see through. She only hoped her clumsy attempts at manipulating the Warrior of Light had succeeded; she was not a statesman like Emet Selch, nor a prolific speaker like Elidibus. While she and her Winterers had their own schemes in motion, she had to admit that gambling on Ethos and whatever Azem had planned was looking more and more favorable by the day. Her ruminating was cut short by the telltale sound of a fissure being ripped open. She turned to see a dark-haired woman in traditional Ascian garb step through a portal.
"Halmarut, do you have any idea what's been happening?" she asked. "I've been hard at work preparing the Fourth for a rejoining, and I thought I'd stop by the Source to see how things were on the other side, only to find it positively balmy! Not only that, but Emet Selch's little empire has gone up in smoke and he's nowhere to be found."
"Ah, Hecate..!" Halmarut did her best to maintain composure. The girl she'd recruited to their cause was eager to a fault. "It's... well, it's complicated. Perhaps it'd be better if I showed you?"
"Just... Meet me at the Brands, okay?" With that, Halmarut whisked herself on a current of aether towards the Source's moon. Hecate followed close behind. The two gazed across the great crater where Zodiark was once imprisoned.
"Halmy, what's going on? Why is there a..." Hecate paused, and her eyes widened in horror and realization. "Halmarut. Where's Zodiark?" Halmarut took a deep breath before responding.
"He's dead, Hecate. Slain by a hero of the Source."
"Impossible!" the younger Ascian retorted. "Elidibus would neverβ"
"He's dead too," Halmarut cut her off. "As well as Lahabrea and Emet Selch." She paused, watching the violet-haired Ascian's face. Water welled at the edges of Hecate's eyes, but her voice remained steady.
"How? When? It's barely been a decade on the Source since the Seventh was rejoined!" Fury had overtaken sorrow, and Hecate's rage was palpable. "Who is responsible for this? Some acolyte of Hydaelyn?" Halmarut bit the inside of her lip. Where to begin?
"Not exactly, no," she began cautiously. "I mean, she's called the Warrior of Light, yes, butβ"
"Is? You mean she's still out there?" Hecate began pacing across the crystalline floor. "Why are we just standing around then? We should be avenging our comrades!"
"Hecate!" Halmarut's interjection was louder than she intended, and Hecate froze. "I'm sorry for yelling. But it's not that simple. Not to mention, with the Eldest Primals gone, we need to focus on the threat before us." The Au Ra waited to see if her initiate understood the implication behind her words.
"Wait... they're both gone? Hydaelyn too?" Halmarut nodded. "Then... seven hells, the Solstice is coming, isn't it?"
"It is. And with any luck, our intrepid godslayer of the Source will help us avert it."
"I can't believe this," Hecate scoffed. "You're entrusting the fate of the star to the bitch who killed our god?"
"Not just yours β she's felled countless primals. Even one I created specifically to embody death itself," Calyx mused. Hecate jumped.
"Did... did your toy just talk?" she sputtered incredulously.
"I'm not surprised you don't recognize me," the Mu plushie sighed. "After all, we spoke only briefly, and at the time I was still flesh and blood."
"Rrrrright," Halmarut groaned. "Introductions. Sorry. Hecate, this is Calyx. From the Ninth?"
"The genius child? Why are you... like that?" she asked. Calyx sighed.
"It's a long and boring story. Suffice to say, this form makes it easier for me to accompany Halmarut as she attends to the necessary tasks to endure the Solstice. Not all of us Winterers are lucky enough to be reborn Ancients, Illya."
"That is not my name and you know it," Hecate scowled. Calyx shrugged, and waddled off to the side to gaze into the dark expanse of the rift.
"I wonder... when the last of the shards is rejoined, will this hovel still exist? Or will it be crushed into singularity like everything else?" He shook his head. "Of course, if our so-called hero has her way, perhaps there won't be any more rejoinings after all. But you and I both know that's a stretch, right Halmarut?"
"It is," she nodded, "but it never hurts to have contingencies. While ensuring some survive the Solstice is our primary goal, should Kharia find a way to stop it altogether, well... all the better, right?" Hecate's face took on a wicked grin.
"A hero of the source named Kharia, she is? That's a pretty good lead. Time for me to find this godslayer and give her a piece of my mind," Hecate snarled. Too late, Halmarut realized the Hyur was teleporting away.
"Hecate, wait, you can'tβ Hecate!" Halmarut stomped her foot as the rift closed.
"Perhaps you should warn her," Calyx suggested.
"Oh, don't be silly, Kharia will be fine," Halmarut sighed.
"I meant Hecate," Calyx corrected. "Unless you don't mind your little assistant being pulverized into motes of Aether. While the Warrior of Light may not be keen on starting fights, you know she's quick to end them."
"Oh, shoot!" Halmarut groaned. "You're right. We need to stop Hecate before she gets in over her head."
"'We'?" Calyx's bemusement managed to find its way through his deadpan demeanor. "And what do you expect me to do? Squeak at her threateningly?"
"Ugh, I'm not in the mood for pedantry," Halmarut muttered.
"Then perhaps you should leave meβ Hey!" Calyx's complaint was interrupted as the Ascian scooped him off the floor and stepped into a recently-conjured portal.
