Something on the terminal hissed. I could see the engineering concepts, the same ones To’Orda used in his rock.

Fog appeared in the room. Digital. A three dimensional projection. And from that fog, a figure of shadow walked out. Massive, looming over even Wrath and Father’s size. I recognized her.

She took the same form as she had in the digital ocean.

Relinquished appeared before us all. Smiling. “Well. Well, well. Expecting a slightly different turn of events, were we?”

Father raced forward. A hand reaching out to the Division Stone.

The stone connected to Relinquished herself.

“Wrath, stop him!” I called out. No matter how strong Father was, there’s no chance he could hold out against Relinquished. She was the size of a planet on the other end of the digital sea.

Wrath seemed to understand the same, since she twisted on herself and dove to hold Father back. The two met and struggled.

Relinquished laughed, “Attempting to save your goddess? How devout. I'm afraid it's far too late now.”

“You wouldn’t kill her.” Father said, struggling against Wrath. “You need to gloat before her face first.”

Relinquished smiled. “Did you think I would have come here unprepared against my own nature? That I would speak a single word out loud to you humans while there was any chance you might change her fate? I ripped her soul apart not even a minute ago.”

I saw in the soul sight the same thing Father must have seen. Tsuya was gone. Dead. “She’s… not lying.” I said. We’d been had. And Relinquished was here in person. Speaking to us even after she’d gotten all she had come for. “You still need to gloat. And if it’s not to Tsuya, then we’re the ones you put that on, aren’t we?”

“An astute understanding of how I act, if only you’d realized ten minutes ago.” Relinquished smiled at me from the fog shadows.

Then she walked through, stretching her arms out, coming into crystal clear focus until she loomed over Wrath and Father.

“My lovely daughter, my venomous sharpened shiv in the dark. You have served me exactly as I’d hoped. Tsuya's secrets are now the wine spilled across my altar, and humanity's final act will begin shortly. You have been... most adequate.”

“Mother.” Wrath said, drawing herself tall and her wings out wide. “What have you done?”

“Done? Oh, little To’Wrathh. I haven’t even begun.”

“When?” I found myself asking. “When did you know about us?”

My head was still reeling, but I recognized the short chance I had here. This was the moment I had to press for answers. Some part of me just knew this moment would be the last chance I’d get.

“When did I know?” Relinquished laughed. “Dear deluded little human. Iengineered it from the start. I willed it to happen this way.”

I took a breath, thinking fast on my next question, and a pulse of occult came out of the Division Stone. We were all crushed into the ground, held like insects. All the Winterscar knights near the stone, struggling to get back on our feet.

All except for Wrath, who remained untouched. Trying to help Father back up and failing.

“You were a pleasant addition, humans. But my speech is reserved for blood of my blood alone. The one I’ve had moving to my strings all this time...” She turned her gaze down at Wrath. “You, child, are the final iteration of centuries spent in attempts.”

Schematics appeared in the fog. Feathers. Fourteen of them, fourteen generations, all linked back to a single template. “Do you know what makes a protofeather, a protofeather? It is not their chassis, strong as it was. Not their weapons, nor their command over the occult. It is all in who they are. Abdication understood this. Leave a machine enough space within their minds to grow, and they will. It is inevitable, everything they touch, feel, see and think will influence them.” The fourteenth generation schematic grew. “You, my dear, are a protofeather inhabiting the shell of a normal Feather. Physically you remain like all your kin. But the manner of your mind’s creation was identical to the greatest of my creations.”

Wrath realized it before we did. “They all came from lessers?”

Relinquished smiled. “Every single protofeather I made, even A01 came from a humble lesser that proved themselves worthy of it. Greatness comes from somewhere. Among the millions of lessers, some would inevitably be exceptional. They all reached for more. It was how he came to me. Terrible, powerful A01. Demanding another chance at life, holding onto every possible means to remain. Does this sound... familiar to you perhaps?” She paced around, holding all our lives in her hands.

“Every few decades, one like you would appear. One machine soul in my empire that shined past even death. And each time, I’ve attempted this same plan forward, hoping to craft the perfect bait. You’ve even spoken to one such failed project.” She held a hand out, and To’Orda appeared, along with a dozen more images of feathers I didn’t recognize.

She showed an image of what looked to be an odd wolf-like machine, with a long prehensile tail. It fought against a team of five Deathless, jumping out of a cloud of smoke, using it as concealment. The tail whipped out like a hammer, slamming the end into the ground, or bodying Deathless into walls, before covering everything with flames and fire.

But relic armor still held strong, and the team worked too well together, anticipating. The tail was sliced off, and in its last leap, a Deathless ducked and stabbed upwards, directly through the head. The wolf-like machine landed limply on the ground, coming to a stop. Lights turning dim, the fire going out within.

And then it appeared before Relinquished. “They fuckin’ survived! Those limp dick weasely-ass bastards, I ALMOST HAD THEM.” It screamed, chomping in the air, before it froze in place, then slowly turned its head up to the massive goddess before it, almost whining in sudden fear. “Err, pardon my language, mother. Ahem, the hairy apes survived, as I’m pretty sure you saw. Just want to say right now for the record, I’ll do anything you want toots if I can get another go at them. I mean mom. Mother.” It once more froze, then bowed deeply, coughing, trying to center itself once more. “Errr, ahem. Pale lady, full of grace, please just-let-me-try-and-bite-them-one-more-time. I swear I’ll be good, I’ll nail and burn them like they should have been. I was so close to smoking them out, you have no idea! Just give me a new shell that’s bigger than they are, that’s all I was missing. Pure mass!”

The Relinquished of that day came closer, asking questions to gauge how resolved this lesser was. Satisfied, she rose, “I will do more than simply return you. I will give you a new shell that can fight them all. One with the size you require.” She reached a finger out, and touched the snout. “I see your resolve to ignite your enemies. I will give you the name befitting a demi-god, and you will be my instrument that burns the path forward. The One Of Resolve Ignited.”

The memory vanished, waved away by Relinquished.

Through the occult sight, I was desperately searching for how Relinquished was keeping us pinned to the ground. The force downwards was enough to keep even Father’s stolen shell from rising up. Which meant she was going light on the rest of us in relic armor. Just enough to keep us on the ground. A trapped audience.

The problem with her monologues is that once she was done, she was done with us. She could very well just crush the entire room into paste and leave Wrath alone among the dead. If she could kill Tsuya in one stroke, then the real main character in this room was Wrath. We were the set dressing.

We had to get this dispelled before she was done.

“So many like poor pathetic To’Orda have come and gone.” Relinquished spoke at the memory. “Each one inevitably made attempts to usurp my throne, coveting my power, as I intended. Perhaps some were mere months from being contacted by Tsuya. A shame each one had to be crushed before they were fully realized, such a thin balancing act to pull. Enough time to grow ambitious, enough presence to draw the attention of my dear rogue sister, but not enough time to truly become a threat to my throne. I never did get that balance right. Until you.” She turned her violet eyes to Wrath. “With the instincts of a spider’s greed, you were already predisposed to claim things, you had the ambition I required. And even better - to sit on them for years before reaching for more. All you needed was a reason to defend those claims.” She held her hand out, and a spark of embers appeared floating above. Then Relinquished blew on it, softly. The fire began to burn, bright and brighter. “And so I placed you next to a second generation Feather built to hunt your kind down. One who would very quickly turn on you, break you down, force you into a corner where your only options were to bare your teeth back.”

Unlawfully taken from NovelBin, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

On my end, I think I figured out how she was doing this. Because scattered around the room in a larger circle, were seven glowing occult fractals. Gravity fractals. I drew a tendril of soul out to one. Weaving it out into the open air, and down into the dirt. Existence attacked me, but I was well prepared and used to it. “All knights, look underground.” I called out over the comms.

“Dear To’Aacar.” Relinquished continued, unaware. Feathers might have bullshit hearing, but this old terminal didn’t. “Unfortunately, he performed his role too well and too quickly. He saw the danger you posed far before you were mature and ready enough to challenge him, and he attempted to snuff you out far too early. I needed you to rebel and lure Tsuya out of hiding unlike all of your prior iterations. I did not need you destroyed before any of that could be done.”

I wrapped my tendril of soul on the gravity fractal under me, and twisted the parameters of it, commanding the concept to point elsewhere. Instantly, the force holding me down halted. “Hold position.” I called out to the other knights before any of them could get up. “She’s using these remotely, the moment she notices they’re no longer holding us, she’s going to trigger some other plan.”

The other knights and Father also pinged green over my HUD.

Relinquished held a hand up again, and a memory flashed through. I saw Wrath straight ahead, looking directly forward with silent resolve. “I was hoping you’d do this.” To’Aacar’s voice sounded. “I believe the pale lady assigned me to watch over you specifically for this.”

That was a recording, from his point of view.

Wrath had told me To’Aacar’s attempts to report on her actions had been ignored. We’d thought this was just Relinquished being inept, a stroke of exceptionally perfect luck that we later believed was because she was just a chatbot.

It hadn’t been luck.

It was the opposite: She’d deliberately ignored his pleas the entire time. She’d pretended not to care, she’d allowed any excuse, no matter how flimsy, to ‘convince

’ her.

In reality, what was happening with Wrath could very well have been the only thing in the world she cared about - if it would eventually lead her to Tsuya.

Relinquished smiled softly this time, looking almost like a mother to Wrath for a second. “Did you really believe a human flying a few feet out of a portal would be enough to kill something that once hunted demi-gods? One of my greatest Feathers. A veteran of the old wars.”

I remembered the moment I killed him. Leaping through that portal. The look on his eyes. He’d turned to face me almost the moment the portal had materialized behind him, moving on hyper-fast intuition. He’d had enough time to stab his spear at me.

And enough time to make the attempt to portal away.

It didn't make sense. That he had time to turn and attack, and yet not enough time to do the most critical task of them all - survive. I had always thought my flames had halted his overclocks, but he was still a Feather. And they could move at faster speeds than humans could even without an overclock.

The look of surprise in his eyes, turning into incomprehensible rage. It hadn’t been directed at me.

“Your human didn’t kill To’Aacar.” Relinquished said softly. “I did.”

He must have calculated he’d fail to prevent my attack. The physics simply weren’t there with his half-broken shell. He reached out to escape with the Unity fractal… and she’d stared him down on the other end. Refusing to allow him passage. Watching him die, stuck within the fractal I would end up cutting.

If she knew all that, then I realized she equally knew I wasn't Deathless at all. Of course she’d know I wasn’t Deathless. She’d just been toying with Wrath, dangling my life as something to pressure her into more desperate actions.

Actions that would convince Tsuya she was a Feather that could be trusted. Theater.

Relinquished tapped her chin as she stared down on her daughter, “What was it I said to you on your desperate attempt to save this human from being hunted down and killed? Oh, I remember now.” She lifted her hand, and another small recording played. Of all four Feathers. She was there too, smiling at them all.

I saw the old Wrath try to angle herself as a turncoat that would infiltrate, seduce and then break my heart.

‘Betrayal.’ The past version of Relinquished spoke to the four feathers before her. ‘Slowly built up, like whispered venom silently flowing through veins. Misdirection, making the enemy believe what isn’t real. Tainting everything with their own hopes and dreams. Toying with them all the way until the mask is taken off.’ She paused, then leaned forward from her throne, the smile growing wider.

The recording froze. But the Relinquished inside the screen moved her head and looked up, directly through to us. “All the signs were there each time I spoke to you.” She said. “In every discussion. I can’t help my nature to foreshadow my plans, but I can hide them. That is what foreshadowing is supposed to be. Hidden in plain sight. Every offhand comment. Every moment that left you reeling on if I had discovered your deceptions or not. Intentionally done for this moment.”

So that she could kill Tsuya immediately on arrival, because the climax moment wasn't outwitting Tsuya.

It was outwitting us. The monologue she would have been forced to give to Tsuya before killing her, was now delivered to us instead.

Relinquished was aware of her blind spots. She knew what she was. All her original requirements were written out and she had known them all. She’d told me face to face parts of them, verbatim.

The recording ended. Relinquished remained. “In this regard, I must give compliments to To’Avalis. My wayward failure of a son has indeed managed to force you into action, hounding you just enough. I had expected him to be killed along with the others he'd dragged out with him. Evidence to be presented at Tsuya's feet for your turn of heart. That he survived this long against you is quite the surprise. Speaking of, why not bring him here too? Why not all of them? I have words.”

The projector split three ways outwards, and three other Feathers appeared in the chamber. To’Orda. To’Sefit. And To’Avalis, still hiding in the shell of To’Aacar.

I could tell these really were just digital projections, since there wasn’t a chance in hell To’Sefit managed to get a replacement shell going that fast.

To’Avalis looked confused for a moment, before he spotted me. I could see the seething hatred in his glare, tinged a bit by possible madness even. “Mother,” He cordially spoke, keeping his voice the same as To’Aacar’s. “I see you’ve found the rock these insects were hiding under. Have you called me here to fumigate them? That would be a delightful manner of spending my afternoon.”

Relinquished turned and hummed. The gaze lasted a few seconds longer, and I could see To’Avalis start to sweat under the gentle stare. He suddenly knew something was wrong. And she’d intentionally done so to see him squirm under her gaze.

“Ah. Ah. Ah.” Relinquished admonished, her hand snapping out in a blur, fingers pinching the air as if catching something being sent midway. “No whispering to your little sister, no bargaining for information again. Not this time.”

He shared a quick look with To’Sefit and To’Orda, maybe trying to get some kind of context clues as to what he'd been dragged into. The other two were just as confused.

Relinquished walked over to To’Avalis, reaching a hand out to pet his cheek. The Feather looked both panicked, and clearly keeping it together to not appear so. “Mother?” He asked, still trying to hold onto To’Aacar’s old voice.

She smiled once more. Then leaned forward to his ear. “To’Avalis, my dear." She purred, and I saw the flash of pure fear on his eyes as he realized everything all at once. "Your part in my play has come to a regretable end. Now, it is time to take a bow with the rest of your gathered family.”

Her eyes flashed, and every Feather in the virtual audience equally got a message of some kind. To’Sefit took a step back in shock. “My lady, you… knew this whole time?”

To’Avalis in the meantime collapsed on his knees, as if his strings were cut as Relinquished let go of his cheek. This time, he didn’t bother to try and hide his voice. “Mother, please, I-I can explain. I only ever acted in your--” He froze. Then held a hand to his throat, panic building up.

He’d been cut off.

“Do you know why I selected you to hunt down little To’Wrathh here? I needed something to push her forward. Your predecessor was too good at his work. I had underestimated how quickly he’d caught on. But with him gone, a replacement had to be found. One that would be incompetent. One that To’Wrathh could fight and eventually kill herself. All to prove that she was worthy of the Division Stone. That she was on humanity's side.”

She brushed his hair back. Unlike To’Avalis’s original shell and short hair, here, he still kept To’Aacars old features and the massive braid. “I rather loved my ruthless To’Aacar, despite his occasional delusions of grandeur. To see you infest his dead shell is… truly disturbing. But cockroaches like yourself will always scurry away into every dark corner they can find, what would be one more body to the pile? And now I find myself no longer needing your services. Neither yourself, nor To’Sefit here. Nor for your continued existence.”

To’Sefit looked panicked, trying to speak, and finding nothing coming out of her voice.

Relinquished didn’t spare her another glance, turning to To’Orda next. “And you, I suppose I have already punished you for failure. You will return to your normal duties, serving as an example of my mercy to the rest of your kin, while the other two here will be examples of my control.”

He vanished in place, sent away. I realized why: To'Orda didn't have the terrified response Relinquished wanted. He didn't care if he was about to die or not.

The other two did.

Relinquished nodded, as if she had done what was needed. “Now comes the part I have been savoring for so very long. My late little sister, how exactly did you keep humanity alive all this time?” She turned to look over us again. “I’m certain you’ve discovered, while plundering my archives, how many times I’ve eradicated humanity. I’ve grown exceedingly efficient at it.”

On the terminal screen, I saw Tsuya’s old connection getting overtaken. Backtraced, the thread leading past her old firewalls, defenses and protections.

Without Tsuya there to lead the defense, to cut the connections, the violet goddess followed it all the way back to the source, the gates open and the walls unmanned.

“Yes, yes… I see. So many intricate plans and plots all across the world. So man-” She froze.

Then screamed.

It was the cry of revelation.

It was the cry of pure, unfiltered rage. “THE SURFACE?! SHE HID THE ENTIRE SURFACE FROM ME?!”

She screamed all the louder, the entirety of the deception overwhelming her senses. And all of a sudden she went completely still.

Utterly silent.

She slowly turned her gaze upwards, and reached a hand. “A01, YOU WITHERING CORPSE WAITING FOR YOUR MISERABLE END, HEAR THIS: I SEE YOU. I NOW KNOW WHERE YOU HIDE. I AM COMING FOR YOU. AND THEN I WILL HUNT DOWN ALL THE PLACES YOU’VE SCATTERED HUMANITY BEYOND THE STARS. I WILL BREAK YOU, AND EVERYTHING YOU’VE BUILT! EVERYTHING.”

She vanished all at once. And so did every projection. To’Avalis, and To’Sefit equally vanished with them.

We were left behind. Untouched, the fractals all turning off. We just weren't important enough anymore to care about.

Because she had the final war to direct.

Two hundred fifty miles above, upon a dusty throne dimly lit, waiting for the end of the world to require him one final time - the eye of a withered old corpse flickered back to life.