"That's correct. I am what the Persequions call The Wanderer." The cloaked figure placed his hands behind his back and sighed as he looked at the two Dragons at his side. The Wanderer gazed at the dimensional tears and waved his hand. Those tears instantly healed, and he turned his attention back to the two Dragons.

"Are you here to stop me?" Cefketa asked.

"Yes and no. I'm here to complete a favor I owe your mother." The Wanderer chuckled as he regarded Cefketa.

"What favor?"

"To prevent collateral damage from your outburst."

"Are you the reason the city is empty?" Mythara asked, unwilling to make a move against a being that had easily walked through the black energy Cefketa had released.

"The city isn't empty... well, not the real one. You are simply in a well-crafted mirrored-spaced Seattle. It was crafted by Nina to contain your inevitable outburst. Honestly, it's rather well done. All I did was redirect you here." The Wanderer chuckled.

Mythara's eyes widened as he realized what he had seen earlier. Cefketa's darkness had torn through the space created by Nina, revealing the true world beneath. Cefketa frowned at The Wanderer.

"She wouldn't care about collateral damage to these humans."

"You're right. But she didn't do it for them." The Wanderer turned his head toward Cefketa and let out a chuckle. Cefketa floated there in silence, unable to bring himself to say anything. In the wake of Cefketa's silence, Mythara frowned at The Wanderer.

"If you're strong enough to trade favors with Nina, why didn't you stop any of this from happening?"

"We all have rules we must follow. That applies doubly so to me. I can guide, but directly interfering is a no-no." The Wanderer responded.

"And you interfering now isn't breaking those rules?" Cefketa frowned.

"It does, but it seems I'm being given some leeway. No doubt because I'm dealing with Gteju... hehehe, favoritism is a thing, even on a cosmic level." The Wanderer responded.

"So how about we just call it a day?" The Wanderer asked.

"Why should I?" Cefketa asked.

"Will you really be satisfied with this? Mythara hasn't even undergone his first shedding, and you're not in the greatest condition yourself." The Wanderer's eyes glanced at the center of Cefketa's chest. It was covered by his Veridahn suit, but the damage did not escape The Wanderer's eyes. The Wanderer smiled at Cefketa, who frowned as he looked over at Mythara.

"Giving him more time won't be beneficial to me," Cefketa said.

"Oh please, we both know you didn't show everything you have today. You didn't even unveil your true form." The Wanderer tilted his head, and Mythara's breathing began to pick up again. That's right—after his shedding, he'd be able to truly turn into a dragon. But Cefketa had never even attempted to do so.

Cefketa grabbed the necklace around his neck, signifying the reason he had not tried to transform, for fear of losing the necklace in the process.

"How long until he sheds?" Cefketa asked as he looked at The Wanderer.

"And how would I know that?"

"How long?" Cefketa ignored The Wanderer's coy games.

"Two to five years." The Wanderer said while shrugging his shoulders.

"I'll give you three," Cefketa said as the others finally made their way over to where Cefketa and Mythara had been fighting. However, while they could clearly see Mythara and Cefketa, The Wanderer was not visible to them, nor could they hear his voice.

"Well, it looks like my work here is done. Once you all leave, I'll get rid of this pocket space. Mythara, come to find me once this is all over." The Wanderer smiled as he started to pixelate.

"How will I find you?" Mythara asked.

"Tell Seren to bring you to me." The Wanderer then vanished, and Mythara looked over at Cefketa. They stared at each other in silence. Mythara was the first to break it.

"I think if we just talk this out..."

"We're past the point of conversation, kid. Look how Heka, a human organization created to meet monsters on equal footing, responded to my existence. How do you think normal humans who have no chance against them will respond?" Cefketa answered him.

"Firmatha Sanguar has been just fine for thousands of years," Mythara countered.

"Do you think that's fair? To share the same space but not be able to truly experience it?" Cefketa asked.

"I don't. But do you think it's fair to kill off humanity just to allow them to live the way you think they should?" Mythara asked.

"Like I said, I'll give you three years. No more, no less. See what the humans think of living together with Monsters. But no more hiding." Cefketa said as he floated down toward the ground. As he landed, the 8 Seats and The Twins followed behind him. Cefketa created a portal for them to walk through, but before he entered himself, he turned toward the Tiny Tots and said,

"You are all welcome to join me." Cefketa waited for their response. None of them moved, even though a few of them looked like they wanted to. Cefketa nodded his head in understanding. He didn't expect them to join him in this—it wasn't fair. But he had hoped. Only one of them walked out of the crowd and headed toward Cefketa.

"Ume... Ume!!... Sage!" The Conductor called out to his cousin, who finally turned around.

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"What?" Sage asked.

"What are you doing?" The Conductor asked.

Sage looked at Cefketa, who turned his attention toward Mythara. He shared one final look with him, then turned toward Sage.

"Take your time..." Cefketa walked through the portal as Sage responded,

"This won't take long."

"Sage... you can't possibly think this is the right decision, can you?" The Conductor asked.

"And why not?" Sage responded.

"Zac sensei rage is justified, but destroying humanity? That's beyond justifiable. This goes against everything Zac taught us," The Conductor responded.

"I have paid attention to sensei's teachings more than any of you. We simply have come to two different conclusions," Sage responded.

"And what are those conclusions?" The Conductor asked.

"You believe humanity is worth saving. I do not." Sage turned around to head through the portal, and then Mythara called out,

"Sage... did you ever think humanity was worth saving?"

Sage stopped in her tracks and fell into deep thought. She thought about every moment she had spent on this tiny blue ball. The more she learned about it and its mysteries, the smaller it became, and the more disillusioned she became with her own species. However, if this species could produce someone like herself and Kenji, perhaps...

"I'm not really sure. But it's always been a bore," Sage concluded as she disappeared through the portal. Mythara looked with trepidation as he watched the portal close. The others all looked at him.

"What now?" Roratha asked.

"He's given us three years," Mythara responded.

"Three years for what?" Shango asked.

"To convince humanity they can live in peace with Monsters," Mythara answered.

"Bollocks! Fuck me, mate! Fighting a Dragon might be easier." Shango rubbed the back of his head in frustration. The Chasers had ties to the UN, but they were seen more as a cleaning crew than anything else. So it was already a given that they saw the cryptids as something dirty and dangerous to humanity.

"Forget humanity, it will be a chore to convince the Persequions of that," Roratha interjected.

"What about you all?" Mythara asked as he looked at the Theronites gathered there.

"Your will is our way. Regardless of what that may be," one of the Theronites responded, and the others gathered there nodded.

"Whatever we do, we will need to bring Selistar on board," The Conductor added.

"That shouldn't be too hard... Sensei Zac didn't kill Seren, and she seemed rather agreeable," Amaterasu added.

"She's agreeable when it suits her," Roratha smirked.

"After everything we just witnessed, I don't think you'll receive much resistance," The Bone Collector added.

Mythara turned away from everyone as he thought about all of their options. As much as he would like to believe otherwise, bringing humanity and Firmatha Sanguar to a table of peace was a long shot at best. There was also the problem of distribution of land and resources. Although Mythara was certain Firmatha Sanguar could provide solutions, would the nations of the world listen?

"Fuck..." Mythara sighed to himself. He turned around to face the others with a cocky smirk on his face and said,

"What did Zac always say? Hope for the best... plan for the worst. Let's start preparing. Three years is a lot of time."

Back in Firmatha Sanguar, everyone was now standing in the Veridahn office. Cefketa winced and grabbed his chest before calling out for Glow.

"Give me a status report."

"Yes, Lord Cefketa. The Veridahn have all returned, and we are getting reports that the Basilisks are en route."

Cefketa nodded his head and then continued,

"Make sure to revoke all of Mythara's privileges from now on."

"Understood." Glow then vanished.

Cefketa walked toward his office as the other Seats, The Twins, and Sage followed behind him. The Numbers and the other Veridahn dispersed as they began reviewing today's missions. Once everyone had gathered, the Seats stood there in silence until the 1st Seat Zyvaroth spoke.

"Why did you have us leave? We could have handled them."

"Are you sure about that?" There were quite a few Theronites, and they were all the cream of the crop. Even the Seats would not have been able to defeat all of them.

"A few of these soft bodies would have died, but who cares?" The Titan Orc leader bellowed with joy.

"I do... I don't want to have to establish a new world order while simultaneously mediating your replacements," Cefketa answered.

"That's not the only reason, is it, sensei?" Sage asked.

"No, there are three reasons. The first and most important being, The Wanderer was there, and it seemed he made some sort of deal with my mother." The Seats all took in a deep breath at the mention of that creature.

None of them knew who or what he was, but they all knew it was something they couldn't deal with, and if it was something strong enough to make a deal with Lord Cefketa's mother, it was something none of them could contend with, yet.

"The second reason is this." Cefketa opened his suit to reveal a nasty wound on his chest. But it wasn't the wound that was cause for concern—it was the fact that it wasn't healing and there was dark coagulated blood oozing from the wound.

"Scale rot... dammit," The Elven 4th Seat Sylvaira grumbled.

"You mentioned Scale rot before... is it serious?" Sage asked.

"Serious? Yes. Life threatening? Not really. For Gteju it usually happens when there's a complication during shedding. Like getting blasted in the chest repeatedly by spatial blasts, or taking an antimatter explosion strong enough to destroy a small moon to the face." Sylvaira answered as she chided Cefketa like a disappointed aunt. Cefketa shrugged his shoulders, pretending he didn't know what she was talking about.

"It usually solves itself during their second shedding, but there are ways to treat it," Sylvaira explained. There was no need to point out how dangerous it would be for him to fight with that. It might as well be an open wound.

"We will treat him!" Surprisingly it was the 2nd Seat Vaerros, the Gorvath (Titan Orc) War Chief, that spoke up.

"Ah... The Blood Pool. I always dreamed of seeing it myself," Zyvaroth the Vampire 1st Seat spoke up, as he licked his lips.

"Well keep dreaming, parasite," Vaerros growled.

"Yes... yes, that could work. Given the severity of his rot and the Pool's potency, it shouldn't take more than two, two and a half years. But are you sure you want to share it?" Sylvaira asked Vaerros.

"Share? This is a mutually beneficial transaction. He heals, and the Pool is blessed with Gteju blood." Vaerros began to laugh. The other Seats narrowed their eyes—the big brute was smarter than they gave him credit for.

"What's the third reason?" The Twins' curiosity got the best of them.

"I want to give Mythara time to shed, no... I need him to shed," Cefketa answered, as he stared blankly up at the ceiling.

"What exactly are you looking to do, Lord Cefketa?" Lunara asked. He had seen the look in his eyes when Cefketa and the others first found him in his home. His eyes were distant and filled with rage that masked an unthinkable sadness.

He had gotten his revenge—it wasn't quite the perfect vengeance he hoped for, but Lun didn't see that rage in his eyes anymore. Cefketa's eyes were now filled with purpose and resolve. What that resolve entailed he couldn't possibly understand.

"What am I looking to do? Hmmm... how should I say this?" Cefketa continued to look at the ceiling and began to say,

"The Chasers and the Persequions have fancied themselves gods for a long time. So, I want to reveal them to humanity. I want to uplift them. Have humanity worship them like the gods they believe themselves to be." Cefketa chuckled.

The room began to rumble as Cefketa lowered his head. His eyes glowed with power as scales began to cover his face. His fangs elongated.

"Then I want the world to watch me as I feast on divine flesh!"

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