Aster, Wren, and Senya waited on the wastes as the gods assembled. Aelen had settled in the desert a few hours ago, standing nearly still and clearly waiting. Word had gotten about from fleeing refugees that Aera was coming now too, passing through Sved at the moment and seeming to head right towards the wastes.

It was getting to be night. Freezing cold for those who weren't Aster. A crowd had gathered to watch Aelen, but most people were wise enough to seek shelter as far away as they could from the beast.

Wren and Senya had found a blanket from somewhere, and were huddling for heat. However, neither had the patience Aster had been gifted.

"I'm going to freeze to death." Senya complained.

"You'll just come right back!" Wren cautiously whispered back.

"Only to freeze again a second later, I'm sure."

Aster was standing, dramatically, a few feet ahead of them and staring at Aelen. She turned around to look at her friends. "Here. Do I give off any heat? I will join your blanket." She placed a hand on Senya's forehead.

He reeled back. "Ug! I think you just sped my death up tenfold."

Aster looked at her hand and frowned. "I hate this non-scientific science." She sat down on the sand. "Whatever."

"I know we can't die, but don't you think we ought to back up a little more from the fighting area?" Wren asked. "I don't fancy getting hurt."

"They're just... giant monster things. I'm not sure their fighting is going to have a large area of impact." Senya said. "They'll probably bump into each other a few times until one of them dies."

"I think Aera is going to lose." Wren said.

"Yeah. Probably going to get thrown into the sea or something. I mean, water versus fire? It's not a very even match." Senya said. "Hey Aster? How is this plan supposed to work again?"

"They'll defeat each other and the world will be saved."

"Except Aera is clearly going to lose."

Aster sighed. "I don't know. You'd hope Ikina made them equals, being equivalents and all."

"Sure, but... land. Sea. And we all know how this went down last time they supposedly fought."

"Did you have the same creation myth we did? I would have thought a Lailanic country like Iixo would have had a story where the Earth killed the Sea."

"Guess not. I mean, worshipping Laila was never about being superior to Silan. It's praising her for... providing land."

The general panic brought by having a very large beast appear had temporarily allowed for a truce between Svedian nations and Aeis. A series of guard towers marked Aeian borderlands, and they had in addition to allowing fleeing Svedians into the country, they had opened communications with similar guard posting in Sved. A simple method of fire was the undiscussed method for tracking Aera's path.

A soldier ran into the desert near City Twenty-Three and shouted. Aera was in Aeis. Making its way down. Some of the people gathered decided now was probably a good time to get moving. One concerned family even stopped and asked if Aster's group wanted a ride east.

There were still a few people left watching when Aera came into sight. One soldier with a camera was quite dedicated to capturing the scene, relying on several rolls of film which she quickly would wrap up after a few shots. Quantity over quality.

Aera, like Aelen, was absurdly large and surprisingly fast moving. It walked on long and skinny spider's legs, trailing ashes in its wake.

It still took a while for it to arrive in the wastes, but once it did, the heat it gave off made the night feel like a particularly hot day. Wren and Senya were thankful, but not overjoyed at the presence of the monster.

It walked right past Aelen at first, who simply continued to stand still. Then, carefully, Aera stepped to a precise spot across from its counterpart. It too stood very still.

The humans watched as nothing happened. Far off, the gods of the universe were beginning to do that too- the waiting and the watching.

Somewhere away from Daliis, there was Artemis and Eii, sitting at a very long table in a room surely grey for some deliberate reason. The others in this room, creators of planets, watched with interest the images displayed on the walls. Ikina Ioro couldn't be here today, what a shame. But the others would watch in their stead.

"Very nice." Artemis suggested to the crowd. A couple of voices echoed the sentiment.

There was a shiver that only Aster reacted to, and then a tone that she didn't. A single note, not high or low, rung through the crowd. Someone screamed, and no one but Aster heard it. There was a shaking light, and then there was a new person in the crowd. Wide-eyed and golden haired, with just a couple of scales and a pair of inconspicuous horns.

Ikina sat down next to Aster. "I hope you always remember what I've told you to remember?"

"What?" She said.

"Y-You were meant for this. You always have been, and you were never meant to be anything less."

"Right." Aster held her knees to her chest. "I've been working on taking it to heart. It sounds... nice. But I don't know if I can get used to the idea. Eii promised to make me human again once this is all done. I've maybe changed my mind a little. But never, I think, all the way."

Ikina placed their hand on Aster's shoulder. It was soft, and for the first time in a while she could feel heat radiating off of them. "You were meant for more."

Aster further balled herself up. "I'm sorry."

There was a rumble through the earth, and a few standing people fell to the ground. Aelen and Aera were moving again, running at such a slow speed that they really were just walking. But each dashed forward with jerky and fluid body movements to give emphasis to a seeming hatred they held.

The god of the sea smashed into the god of the land with so much force that the latter fell to pieces for a second, lava guts falling into the sand. Then its body reformed, and it charged Aelen again. Its horns caught the cracks in Aelen's body, filling the watery beast with a steady red glow.

Aera tried to throw Aelen, but failed the second it tried. Aelen bashed against Aera, who again easily shook off the attack.

Without being aware of it, Senya and Wren had moved to sit next to Aster. Ikina was gone. "This isn't a very exciting battle, is it?" Senya said.

"True." Aster said. "I'm not sure what Aera is trying to do. Throw Aelen into the sea? This really isn't... fair." She sighed.

Aelen ran into Aera's legs, and the land creature fell onto its body, legs tangled together. It let out a cry, a thing which it felt like it shouldn't have been able to do- but it did, and it made a strange cry like a train horn in the midst of a hailstorm.

Aera was not having a good time. It tried to reshape its body and roll off of Aelen's back, but before it could, the more advantaged god stabbed it with spikes of ice that formed on its back and pierced through the fire of the land god's skin. Aera cried out again.

Aelen jerked forward, taking a shape more like a dog. It threw Aera forward, where the deer collapsed on the ground, fiery horns falling to the earth in chunks and features melting. Aelen grew tusks of sandstone and sea, and charged its eternal foe, cutting right through the beast's body. Then it threw Aera forward, where it splattered in the sands, body all at once dissipating into bones and stones. The magma of its blood hardened into new rock, and the trees on its back withered and were soon covered by the sand.

Victorious, Aelen howled- another uncomfortable sound. It was like a man screaming after losing his lungs. The sea god howled again, and stood about looking very proud, if such a thing was possible. Then, it paused again. Stood absolutely still.

"Is that it? Is the world saved?" Wren whispered.

"I doubt it." Senya declared.

"I was kind of hoping they'd just kill each other..." Aster said.

"And I was betting it'd go something like this." Senya said.

"Well, it's not moving right now. Maybe after besting Aera, its just going to go dormant again?"

Aelen continued to stand still.

"Maybe?" Senya shrugged.

Aster stood up. "I can go check."

"Sure?" Senya shrugged again.

Aster looked about as she walked, seeking some sign of Ikina. She took a few steps forward, and someone tried to stop her. She did stop walking, but only because her mind was preoccupied with Ikina- if she could just find them again, she could speak to Eii again.

She didn't know how magic was supposed to work, so she closed her eyes and thought. It seemed like the right thing to do, somehow, like magic was some function of the brain she only needed to learn to unlock.

It almost seemed to work. Like she had been able to tap into Aelen's mind, Aster felt she could almost tap into the earth- but it still wasn't perfect. She only could sense some sort of clacking network- not enter it.

But there was definitely a sense there, a voice that ceased the second she started to listen. She opened her eyes, and Ikina was again next to her.

"I've said what I had to say." Ikina said. They looked bedraggled, with heavy bags under their eyes and a face so gaunt it was quickly leaving the realm of resembling a human.

"Ask Eii to come here, please." Aster said. "The world isn't going to die." She looked at the still standing Aelen. "...Maybe. You're not going to die. And I need to reclaim my humanity."

A weary Ikina turned their head and smiled. An actual smile, but it was weak. "Very well."

They disappeared. Aster waited. In a minute, a slightly upset Eii appeared. She was a lot less human than usual, her eyes even larger and her lipless mouth seemed to be sporting a number of thin and sharp teeth.

"The world is better now." Aster said.

Eii looked concerned. "Well, what, you lost the entirety of the north? But otherwise, sure, world saved."

"So." Aster swallowed. "You know. Aera is dead. Aelen is revived. The world is saved."

"Yeah." Eii wasn't looking at Aster, staring straight ahead.

Aster leaned over to look her in the eye. "Yes."

"Yeah." Eii said again.

With a great heave, Aelen howled again. And then it flung its body back into its sea-faring form, long and many limbed, with a heavy historic shell and a tail of sea foam. It howled, and the sea howled back, the sky whipping up a frenzy of wind that churned the ocean until great waves were lapping at the ocean god's heels.

City Twenty-Three panicked and scattered, but Wren and Senya loyally ran towards Aster instead of away from the threat. However, this didn't seem to matter anyways, as the tides only lapped at Aster's ankles- and seemed bent on avoiding Eii altogether.

Aelen walked north, into the desert, and the ocean follow in its wake, tearing the Eastern Wastes apart as it stepped.

Eii moved only her head and looked at Aster with pale blue eyes. "Looks like you still have your end of the bargain to fulfill." And she disappeared with a spin and the sound of bells.