The confining darkness felt very different compared to the void Leslie had left behind recently. He also recognized the suffocating feeling it gave...

"What do you want, Faith?" he asked from the surrounding darkness, or rather... shadows...

"It's not she who wants something," said a calm, confident voice. The voice of a leader... His leader and friend...

Leslie turned around, a knowing, and a bit surprised glinting showing in his otherwise impassive crimson eyes. Before him sat Sera on a shadowy throne with Faith, Bea, Lilith and Adam all standing beside her.

"I think you've many questions, and I'm here to answer. A safe space, hiding us from... Our enemy..."

She spoke with hesitation, as if afraid this so called 'enemy' would hear her words. However, this reaction didn't surprise Leslie. He still remembered that even the all-powerful being showed fear and didn't dare name the origin of his fears.

While Leslie wasn't the smartest or most cunning, even he could connect such obvious dots. Whatever the eye feared was the same being Sera was afraid to name.

For a moment, Leslie's trust in Sera shook. However, noticing Bea's earnest gaze and slight nod of confidence, he was quick to calm down.

He and Bea knew each other long before either made their first Evolution. They were always close friends, so while he couldn't fully trust Sera, Bea would never betray him.

"Fine, I'll listen... First, what was the being I've met?"

Sera breathed a tiny sigh of relief as the confident smile became genuine. It seemed she also didn't fully trust Leslie, which again... wasn't surprising...

"I've my guesses, but describe what you've seen." She said while leaning back on her throne.

Leslie told her everything about the crimson eye and the ceaseless void. Strangely, none of this information shocked Sera, as if she had already heard about it.

"Your soul was transported to the corpse of some Universe or Realm, whatever you want to call it... As you know, nothing lasts forever. Life leads to death. Creation leads to destruction. The entire world is a giant cycle of birth and end. We're nothing but specks within this eternal, inevitable loop!"

Her words didn't make the most sense, but Leslie got the gist of their meaning...

"The being though... That thing is outside of this cycle... One of the Conceptual Gods, or at least its avatar. I think you can already guess Their name, so I'd rather not say it out loud... It can draw unwanted attention..."

"Whose attention?" He asked, jumping immediately to the most important and worrisome question.

The smile continued to widen on Sera's face until she began chuckling. Her laughter was humorless, veiling a layer of pain and anger.

"I can't name Them... I don't even know Their names, since even thinking about Them could ruin all my plans... This Being, is something unimaginably powerful. They stand above all reality, controlling its passing, making sure its lifecycle continues uninterrupted!"

"All the Realms will pass eventually until nothing remains... Then the loop continues forever... I want to break that loop!"

Her voice stayed even, but Leslie knew Sera long enough to see the signs of her uncertainty. Their friends standing by her side also looked less than confident, and why wouldn't they?

"Well, that's a fucking insane plan... I felt the power of that eye, and even that guy seemed afraid of whoever you're talking about... How will you defeat something on the level of Conceptual Gods? They're far above Empyreans, which means they'll forever be out of your grasp!"

Sera didn't deny or disagree. She simply shrugged and nodded...

"True, I've no clue about how I'll achieve it, but... we both know how determined I can get...

"I'll create a plan when the time comes. It's unnecessary to think so far anyway, since even the best plan could fail because of something unforeseen... If I could see the future, everything would be easier..."

A thoughtful expression appeared on Sera's face, but Leslie's exasperated sigh and next question brought her back to the conversation.

"Why though? What's the point? Everything and everyone will die once. We already knew that. Why is this... Loop of Universes so horrible? You said it's the natural order, so why are you trying to go against nature?"

This time, full confidence and determination returned to Sera's golden-green gaze. She glanced to her side, at her closest friends, and a melancholic smile grew on her lips.

"Why? That's easy to answer!... I don't want to die. I don't want my friends and family to die. I don't want to see my children die. I don't want to lose anyone!... I don't care if it's an impossible goal, or if it goes against the natural order...

"The Conceptual Gods sat up that order, so I might as well break it! How dare they decide whenever I or anyone else lives or dies!"

The smile on Sera's face turned into a hateful grin. It was obvious this wasn't her only reason, but Leslie didn't quite care about that anymore... Instead, he asked what interested him the most...

"How do you know so much?"

Her grin disappeared as a calm and collected expression settled on her face. She shrugged and, after a moment of thinking, said, "Isn't it obvious? If you want the most reliable information, you need to go straight to the source!"

Leslie's usually slower mind caught up quickly. His crimson eyes widened as he understood the meaning behind Sera's words...

"You don't mean... Death?" he asked, a slight tremble creeping into his voice.

Sera nodded once while both she and Bea giggled at Leslie's expression.

"I mean, Conceptual Gods know the most about Their Kind, but... I first learned about this Being from someone else..."

Deep sorrow appeared in Sera's eyes, surprising Leslie. However, the shock was nothing compared to her next words...

"'Beware of change or we'll all die! Promise me you'll break the loop!' those were one of Bran's last words. I'm still not sure how he learned about Them...

"I didn't even understand the deep meaning behind his words, but throughout the months I spent killing in North America, they always stayed with me. And after Nick's birth, I finally had a chance to ask someone who might know... That's when Death revealed... a lot..."

Sera's expression became troubled, and Bea placed a calming hand on her shoulder, which further confused Leslie.

"Wait, why is Death helping you?" he asked, trying to wrap his head around this crazy situation.

"It's complicated," she said, while a humorless smile appeared on her face. "The Conceptual Gods are strange and powerful Beings. They're both what determines nature, but Their essence is nature itself!"

Upon seeing Leslie's dazed and bored expression, Sera chuckled and elaborated further.

"Okay, for example, Death is the Conceptual God responsible for ending every being's lifecycle. However, He's also obsessed with the idea of everything needing to perish... Funnily enough, that includes the Conceptual Gods too!"

"He doesn't help because of His free will. It's more of an addiction, which forces Him to reap every living being. During each of our talks, I can see it in His eyes. He sometimes hesitates to answer my questions, which reinforces this idea... He doesn't want to help me, yet He can't help himself!"

Leslie nodded in understanding as more dots connected in his mind. This must've been the same reason that eye offered to help... Destruction, who wants to destroy everything, including the other Conceptual Gods...

While he was thinking, silence reigned inside Faith's shadow. Eventually, his crimson gaze met Sera's awaiting golden-green eyes.

"So I guess you want me to keep this a secret from everyone else. What I don't understand is why? We're all your friends. Hell, we're closer to an actual family! Everyone trusts you, so why keep all this from us?"

A small frown grew on Sera's face. She glanced away, ashamed, her eyes jumping around as she searched her mind for some convincing lie.

However, she brought Bea here for a reason, to keep her from doing anything dumb, like making useless lies.

"She won't admit this to you," began Bea, while gently brushing Sera's head. "She's quite stubborn, as you know... Sera doesn't have any bad intentions towards everyone. She's simply afraid of their answer..."

"It scares her... That all her friends and family, whom she loves dearly, would leave after hearing about her scheming and keeping secrets."

Sera glanced at Bea, her expression was a mix of annoyance and thankfulness, causing Bea to chuckle and turn towards Leslie.

"The poor Angel doesn't fear anything, but she still has abandonment issues. We're trying to work on it, but the process is quite slow. Give her some time, and she'll share everything eventually!"

Leslie glanced at Sera doubtfully, but seeing the sincerity in her gaze convinced him.

"Okay, fine!" he said with a sigh. "I'll keep it a secret for now. It would only disturb the tournament anyway, leading to possibly catastrophic consequences... We'll talk about this after our victory."

With that, Sera nodded, and they soon left Faith's shadow. The others questioned them, but Sera masterfully evaded the questions and instead changed the subject to Leslie's overwhelming victory and Evolution.

Another round of celebrations began, which Sera watched from her usual place in the corner. A comfortable smile stretched across her face, yet inside her mind, thousands of thoughts flew around.

The tournament was closing on its final days, bringing her closer to the end. She felt uncertainty creeping upon her, but she kept her calm façade, only revealing her worries to Bea in the safety of their bedroom.

Luckily, she didn't need to worry about tomorrow, since none of her friends would fight... It was time to take a breather and watch her enemies kill each other!