The soft, slow clop of boots against rock were the only thing heard as the Miracles’ goddess paced slowly around. Her hand fiddled with a necklace she held between her fingers. She never bothered to put it on. 

“Even with the speed of your pacing, you are still making me anxious, stop moving.” The god of Myths grumbled.

“You have been looking at that scroll forever, as though Shine herself will light up the answers to our problems.” she retorted.

“Pardon me, but this wouldn’t be a problem if you had just checked on Abyss when I asked you to.”

“You know it wouldn’t allow me to. I tried to enter the realms for weeks, and each time I was denied. There was nothing I could do.”

The Myths’ god sighed, dropping his head for a second.

“The new wielder has not shown even a bit of face. How are we to know there even is one?” his fists slammed onto the screen surface, corrupting it for a second.

“Abyss’ power is not gone, only its presence. If it was smart, it most definitely passed over the power before going into hiding.”

The deities locked eyes for a second.

“You don’t think…” the god whispered in slight fear.

“There is no proof.” the goddess briskly assured, holding her head high. He doubted they were thinking the same thing.

That did not soothe his fears.

“It is greatly unlikely. Spirits cannot die, only fade. The same is with us. We will be fine, Anber.” She sauntered over and squeezed his shoulder. He shook his head.

“No, that is not my worry. Uncertain death is not my worry, Kem…Abyss’ absence was sudden. There at one point, gone the next. We have no idea where or who this new wielder is, and everything is suspiciously in place and quiet.” Anber looked into her eyes again, hoping she got his implication, as he was too scared to say it.

Her brows furrowed for a second, confusion still clouding her eyes. Then, it cleared, and her expression turned as fearful as he felt.

“You think Abyss was overthrown…”

“Overthrown, or forced into hiding by something stronger. Both would require a power transfer.”

“How are we certain it doesn’t still have access to its power?”

“Like you said, the power is still there, lingering strongly. Abyss is not. One cannot exist in one place without the other.”

Kem looked over the scroll displayed in front of the others on the holographic screen in front of them. 

‘The deities of my Moons are one with their power. This power is an element extracted from the cosmos, an energy that cannot be erased, only transferred. It connects them to their realms, and to each other. If a deity is to be stripped of their power, they will be weakened beyond recognition, and eventually fade. The power, once extracted, will look for its former host, or dissipate almost immediately. The exception is gaining a new host within minutes of extraction. It is not renewable.

I conducted this study by….’

Anber had this same scroll open for days now. He looked over the same parts again and again. ‘They will be weakened beyond recognition, and eventually fade.’ ‘The exception is gaining a new host within minutes of extraction. It is not renewable.’

He knew how possibly short of a time he’d have with Abyss and Kem. He just never imagined that he would face it so suddenly, so soon. Then again, is there really a way to ever prepare for the loss of a friend?

“You have studied these scrolls religiously, since you were born. Read them over, and over…Abyss and I would have to drag you out of your realms sometimes, the way you always were staring at a book or screen. Always reading, trying to understand.”

“No one ever explains why we are chosen. No one ever has the answers to why we are who and what we are. When our time is up, where do we go? Do we decide when that is, or does something else? Shine? Something higher? Do we feel the shift in power? The pull of another host? I’ve asked all of these questions. I’ve only been around three millennia, and yet…I have the same knowledge of someone who doesn’t know where to even begin reading about Shine and her creations.” Anber ran his hands through his ashen gray hair. He was not old, the color came with the power.

“That is not true, and you know it. This situation is just…frustrating. Abyss was only four millennia in. Usual Monster overseers last at the very least five. They willingly pass on the power then, as they have the most straining job, and it takes a lot away from the sane mind. Abyss, though…they showed not a single sign of deterioration. It is all peculiar, it is all frustrating.” the goddess informed. Anber figured it was supposed to be comfort, but Kem was always more factual than emotional.

“What kind of unusual strain would cause one-thousand years early resignation?” he muttered to himself.

“That is what we will try to figure out. It can’t have naturally gotten tired that quickly. There must be more to the story. In the last week that I saw them, they were fine. Or…as fine as you can be, being the bridge between anarchial chaos and absolute order. For now, let’s assess our theories and plans in response to each.”

“Okay, well, we know Abyss was either overthrown, forced into hiding, and now we’re throwing in a possible stress element that forced early resignation. That means that there is an obvious source to these issues, and it’s in the Dark Realms.” Anber supplies.

“Which would mean, the beginning of all of our plans start there…” Kem put together.

“We have to infiltrate the Abyss’ realms in its current state…”