The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

The four of them idly chatted for a while and I focused on what Hestia told me. I don't know how long I was sitting in silence, gathering all the knowledge and organising everything in my head. I revised the notes I had had in my secret library, but after I finished, all four women were laughing and sipping their alcohol, looking at me from time to time. I smiled at them and decided to ask about something that required clarification. There were some things I wanted to ask about for a long time... in fact, I should have asked them right after coming to this world.

"You said you are not omnipotent. Isn't that what defines a god in the first place?"

"Not really... *sigh* We are also not omniscient. This is a misconception because of Him. I don't really want to talk about that." She looked down, but shook her head and tried to smile warmly. "To put it simply, we are the eternally living entities that use the faith of Mortals to fuel our existence and powers. To some extent, you can say, we are shaped by the beliefs of those who worship us. For example, I could assume a new image prepared by this new cult. However, I still can't fathom how they could change me into a cruel and cold bitch, as their new version of me is. The problem with assuming that image is, if I do that, I would just change into... That."

"Hmm... You can't take over and then try to tone that down, and with time, make the people see you again as you are now?" I asked, intrigued.

"Ha! No chance. The image created by whoever manipulated their beliefs leaves no room for any changes once I take that role. I am not interested in becoming a self-centred, hateful, horribly jealous and manipulative nymphomaniac!"

"You have a point," I agreed.

"It’s a very bad idea for all sorts of reasons. According to the Cult of Hestia, she is the enemy of the gods of other countries' main religions. With this kind of temper and characteristics, it would be bad..." Irene sighed.

"I like her as she is," Luna added, and Hestia laughed.

"Likewise. I prefer myself the way I am."

We laughed, and all the tension left Hestia, as she finally managed to relax. She swirled the mead in her glass and, with her legs still folded, she leaned back in her large cushioned armchair, smiling lazily.

"It's incredible to have friends like you all." She smiled softly, and we sat a bit in silence while I was already thinking about something else.

"Hestia, what kind of monsters could attack us?" I asked and looked at the wine glass under the sun.

"Hmmm... I'm not an oracle... But I think the Mountain Dungeon is going to support the Cridians. He has Giants, which are eight meters tall brutes. But I don't know what else they could bring besides the trolls or cyclopes. But still, these are all very similar monsters, and I don't expect them to give you any trouble." She tapped her lips in a similar way to my wives' habit when they thought deeply about something.

"Any aerial threats?" Luna finished her drink and exchanged the empty glass for one with orange juice.

"Like dragons?" I added to the question.

"I don't think so... The last time I saw the dragons… it was over six thousand years ago." She replied and after I looked at her, I realized she was serious.

"So the dragons existed..." I weakly rubbed my eyes. Damn it...

"Oh, absolutely! But they disappeared so long ago that only we Eternals remember them." Hestia shrugged as if that was some minor detail. "Anyway, I don't expect anything that your Eagles couldn't deal with. Gryphons, maybe some firebirds, but I wouldn't expect phoenixes."

"Right..." I slowly nodded. "May I ask you for a favour?"

"Of course!" She smiled brightly, but quickly added. "As long as I can help..."

•••

Cahrona Ashes was sitting in her surprisingly comfortable cell. It wasn't big by any measure, just enough room for a bed, small table and chair, with a bit of empty space left to make a few steps freely. The wall on the left side had a door leading to a smaller room, called a toilet, with a place to relieve herself and a thing called a shower. She was living now in far better condition than she used to. Her favourite place to kill time was a place where she could sit in a chair near the surprisingly large window. From there she could observe the City she was imprisoned in. Cahrona expected to be tortured, mutilated and, in the end, executed by the King of this castle. At first, she was furious and tried to break free, but it was futile, since the walls were made from enchanted stone and doors from enchanted wood. After her anger, she started to be worried so much that she almost fell into despair. But even then, no one came. Finally, when she thought the time had come, the guards who shackled her took her, for just a moment, into the Shadow Land. But yet again, she was quickly returned to her cell. From behind this strange translucent material, so similar to glass, but far stronger, she observed the City.

One day, the people of this city arrived, changing the silence and stillness into a place of laughter; a buzzing hub of seemingly everything. The craftsmen created wonders she wouldn't have believed to exist. The children played carelessly around, as if the danger of this world had no access into the walls of this city. Even during the night, this City was brightly lit, never allowing the darkness to take reign over it. Her hatred changed into anger, her anger then turned into anxiety, her anxiety into uncertainty, and uncertainty finally into fear. Each day, it was more obvious that she was forgotten. That she would just die in this small room, watching the unbelievable sights just out of her reach. She sighed and started wondering what she would get for lunch today. Her only break and chance to talk was that brief moment when the warden opened a smaller hatch in her prison cell door and put her food there. While he somehow was immune to all her magic and natural charms, he tended to exchange a few words with her. Even this part confused her and made her question everything she knew about the surface dwellers. They were nice to her. Their food, even the food served to prisoners, made by the cook's apprentices, was far superior to anything else she had ever eaten in her life. Her captors were cruel in their mercy.

But today was different from all the previous days. The door to her cell opened and four black-clad knights took her away. She was terrified that she was not forgotten, after all. Now when she was led through the clean and well-lit corridors, where no one reacted to her presence at all. The anxiety was killing her. But even then, she couldn't make herself fight against these knights. They were no longer the same opponents she faced in Shadow Realm. They were far stronger and on a much higher level than she was herself. Her heart was pounding like a hammer when she entered a bright room with a large mirror on the one wall and a wide table. She was forced to sit in the lonely chair on one side, while on the other side, several empty chairs were waiting for whoever was going to ask her questions. The muffled thud of the backs of the halberds resting on the floor reminded her that her wardens were just behind her.

The silent seconds painfully and slowly crawled into minutes, but still no one came. She felt she was being observed, but she couldn't guess the direction and primal fear of the unknown gripped her heart. She tried to breathe slowly to calm herself, but she couldn't. The doors on the opposite side of the room opened, and she paled when she saw the man who killed her brother. He was tall for a Human and was so well-built that he couldn't be that smart. He couldn't have enough statistics points for that. But she hesitated and condemned her own judgement on the mere reminder of her previous failure; that man was dangerous and somehow he was resisting her succubus charms as if she was nothing. His deep blue eyes glowed even in the brightness of the room, and she gasped in fear when she realized it was mana so dense and immense he couldn't be a Human...

"Cahrona Ashes. Are you ready to talk?" He asked calmly, sitting in the big chair.

His presence was not menacing, yet she knew that one wrong word from him meant her death. She had to play along and perhaps, somehow, she could run away one day.

"Yes, I will." She said timidly, trying to play the victim, but when she saw his face she realized how terrible that idea was.

"Explain everything you did from the moment you arrived there," he commanded, and she was sure he used some sort of skill because she felt the urge to tell him the entire truth.

"We were sent there by the Patriarch with orders to seal the Dragon Gate forever. It was our only hope to save this world. But you have interfered. You ruined all the sacrifices and pain we had to inflict in order to succeed!" She was afraid, but angry as well. Decades of effort were lost...

"You are wrong. Sealing the gate would cut off this continent and perhaps the entire world from the flow of mana. You would kill yourself in the process because your kin needs mana to live." He sighed when he picked up a piece of paper and tossed it her way.

She slowly picked it up, realizing he wanted her to read it. With growing fear and a pounding heart, she read about the situation when one of the Demonkin tried to break free and he started casting his spells around in a vain hope of breaching the wall. The wardens used an artefact to drain all of his mana and he just lost consciousness after his mana ran out, but before the wardens came to throw him once again into his cell, he was already dead. According to the report, the artefact prevented him from regenerating mana, and his body failed. She looked with scorn at the thing before her.

"You monsters!"

"What have you done to the people you abducted?" he asked, ignoring her remark.

"We sacrificed them during precisely selected times. I don't know how the process was performed and wasn't allowed to see it, but our shamans and priests ensured me that the sacrifices died painlessly," she spoke once again before she could prevent herself. The interrogation skills of this person were terrifying in their simplicity.

"Then your kin lied to you as well." He tossed her another report, from which she learnt that victims in sacrifice chambers were tortured, women often raped, and their agony lasted as long as was possible.

"That's a lie! I often waited..." She shut up when she recalled that when she wanted to wait for the priest to finish the ritual, her brother or someone else always asked her to do something. "I don't believe you."

"I don't care. Your beliefs won't change the truth." He looked at her and shook his head in disbelief. "However, you are telling the truth. You had no idea about the extent of the cruelty you have participated in..."

She looked at him, and the seed of new doubt started taking root in her heart. Was it possible that... he possesses truth or lie-detection skills? She trembled and decided to not test her luck if she ever hoped to avenge her brother's death.

"You are wrong about everything you have done so far. Even the things you believed are lies." He looked at her without any sympathy or mercy. "I can feel the murderous intent from you. What other lies have you also believed that cling to the very depths of your soul? Who really sent you here!?"

"I already told you! The Patriarch, the ruler of the Demonkins, sent us there!"

"And you just went to kill and murder the people who had no idea about your existence? You waged a one-sided war with the powerless inhabitants of the lands above. How brave of you!" He yelled, and she trembled in fear.

"We received the prophecy from Goddess Hestia! You have no idea about the powerful enemy you have now earned!" she screamed, waiting to see his doubts and fear, but he just laughed.

"I am more than sure that Hestia would never ask you to do that." She could hear how cold his voice was, terrifying her.

"What do you know about the Gods?! Cease your blasphemy!" She grabbed the table tightly.

"Blasphemy? Hahahaha! I was sent here by an Angel and someone who reluctantly admitted that he, technically, is a god. A few times I almost hit a god with a stick and put a geas on another with the help of a goddess. Tell me, Cahrona, do you want to see a God? I could ask the one you seem to worship to come here, if you want."

"You are insane..." she managed to whisper, fearing that man even more.

But he just laughed at her when the door to the room opened again as a brilliant light enveloped her sight.

"Goddess Hestia?!" Cahrona dropped to her knees, unable to move or stand. She just stared in pure awe into the face of her Goddess.

"Indeed, child of shadows. I am Hestia." She sat near the man who resisted the presence of the Goddess, which made her realize how powerful he had to be.

"I have sad news for you." Hestia lowered her voice in sadness. "Whatever voice your priests heard, it was not mine. According to what you had told us, your kin were exploited by the forces of evil that dwell in the Void."

Cahrona wanted to yell and scream in absolute defiance, but she couldn't. Not now. Not in the presence of the Goddess Hestia. She started bitterly crying, thinking at least she was allowed to do that much. She looked at the man through her tears and gave up. Everything that she believed and fought for was a lie. She had the blood of innocents on her hands and the gaze of her Goddess confirmed her sins.

•••

"Humpf!" Luna pouted angrily. "I would like to remind you she wanted to kill us!"

"Oh I am sure, Theon remembers that." Irene giggled. "Could she be useful?"

"Unfortunately... *sigh* she is a succubus, so naturally she can be an excellent spy." Luna crossed her arms angrily. "But don't expect me to train that bitch!"

"Luna, calm down." Amber put her hand on the angry Kitsune's shoulder. "She only has two choices. She will serve Theon or she will die. If she chooses servitude, which is more likely, she wouldn't dare to do anything funny. If she chose death, you can ask Theon for permission to kill her yourself."

"She knows so much and could be very useful... Do you see her title? Fallen princess."

"Mhm... But I don't think it's worth more than just the World's Words entry." Irene shrugged and started playing with her long black hair.

"We can use her for the subjugation of the Devilkin race." Amber smiled coldly. "If that proves to be necessary, she is going to become a princess of Avalon. I will make sure she understands how bad her situation is."

Luna and Irene laughed coldly, imagining their revenge. Amber, however, looked without any emotion at her beloved man and Hestia, who proceeded with the interrogation.