A.N: Double update today because I missed one on christmas

Askarune's voice whispered at Emrick constantly as Rina talked to her brother and his few followers. It told him their fears, not just his new friends, but Rina's and Isiah's too, even though he didn't want to hear about them. In the overwhelming numbness that washed over him, he had no control of his recently gained power and succumbed to his confused thoughts.

Isiah stood next to him, just as quiet, just as overwhelmed. His hand was in his, tight and sweaty, but Emrick didn't want to let go. He needed something physical, something to keep him grounded to reality instead of getting lost in his thoughts. Isiah was happy to be that for him, even if neither of them spoke.

Teremtys stood by the closed door, waiting patiently for them to finish up what they were doing. Benj wanted to know what was going on so as best she could, Rina explained it all to them. How all three of them were the Beast that was Promised, how they had to kill Ishin by entwining their souls together, how they were the same soul in three different pieces.

It was all too much for him to wrap his head around. Souls were something he had believed in but to think that the Old Gods really had created him, it was something even Turian wouldn't believe. That too was strange, looking at Teremtys and finding Turian instead. It wasn't fair, being reminded of him in such a way. All he wanted to do was run over to the God and demand that they change their face.

"She's taking too long," Isiah whispered next to him. If Teremtys was to be believed, the battle for Ziya had already started and Rina of all people was the reason they weren't on their way there.

"Give her a moment," he replied. She had to make sense of it all too. It wasn't fair that the three of them had to jump straight into battle mere minutes after finding out the truth of who they were. But they had no other choice. Harudan had already attacked and it was their duty to stop him.

He and Rina being the Beast with Isiah made sense when he stopped to think about it. Even though it was confusing and there had been a lot of information all at once, when he thought about it, it was the only logical explanation. There had been a reason why they could use the stones when they'd thought Isiah had been the only one who could. All three of them were the Beast that was Promised.

As if she knew they had been speaking about her, Rina turned and walked back over to them, her hands shaking at her sides. "I'm sorry. He needed to know," she said, glancing back at Benj. "We'll take them with us when we go to Ziya."

"If we're going to leave, we had better do it soon," Emrick said. If the battle was already raging, then there was only a small window of time for them to make it.

Isiah shook his head. "It's more than a day away," he said with wide eyes. "We'll never make it in time."

By the door, Teremtys laughed with Turian's voice and it made him sick. "You're the Beast, you can move faster than any creature. You'll make it in time," they said, narrowing Turian's eyes in something akin to curiosity. At least they didn't have to worry about not making it in time, if the God was telling the truth.

They had no chance but to believe them. There was always a chance that Teremtys was working with their brother, but there hadn't been any sign of that, considering they wanted Ishin dead. Even though Emrick didn't trust them one bit, he had to listen to everything they said.

"So what do we do?" Isiah asked

"The stones need to be broken. You can't combine your souls unless you are at full power," Teremtys explained. Isiah fiddled with the purple stone in his hand. He might be the Beast as well, but Emrick couldn't feel anything from except for a vague sense of power, the same as the others.

Rina sighed and rubbed at her eyes. "How was your stone broken, Emrick? You said someone smashed it, yes?" she asked and she sounded exhausted.

"Aye. With a rock," he answered. It flashed in his mind. He'd been so worried at the time that it would ruin everything, but it was what was supposed to happen.

"It's that simple?" Isiah asked, staring down at the creation stone. He hadn't used it yet for a reason Emrick didn't know, but he didn't bother to ask.

He shrugged, ignoring the whisper in his mind. "Only one way to find out," he said. "But it knocked me out for hours, we don't have that much time." It hadn't even been an hour since Teremtys told them that the battle had started, but that was more than enough time for Minisia to lose.

Once again, Teremtys was there to answer their questions. "Because you weren't prepared for it. Now, you will be," they said and frowned down at the new stone in Isiah's hand. "You haven't had mine for long, it will not be easy to take. I wish you had more time to learn, but some things are impossible, especially at a time like this. You were supposed to have mastered them by now."

He had mastered the flame stone at least. It was better than nothing, but it was far from enough. With a sigh, Isiah pulled the orange stone from his coat pocket and glanced at Emrick nervously. He didn't say a word, just squeezed his hand reassuringly and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Rina wandered off into the trees. She hadn't said much but he didn't know what to do to get her to speak more. All three of them were struggling and there wasn't a chance to stop and breathe and figure out what it all meant. They had to do everything right then and there if they wanted to save Vishera. Any thinking had to be done afterwards, when it was all over and there was no point anymore.

"Are you ready?" Rina asked, appearing before them with a large rock in her hands. Teremtys watched behind them in silence with Turian's dark eyes. Emrick had to look away again, catching sight of Isiah's panicking face.

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Isiah asked and handed her the stone. Once he had told him that it would burn if he touched it, but Rina held it without issue.

She placed it on the ground and nodded to both of them. Knowing what was coming, Emrick wrapped his arms around Isiah's waist to hold him steady. "Brace yourself," he whispered in his ear.

Then the stone was shattered and for the first time, Emrick was able to see what he experienced by Fovatia more than a week ago. It took a second for the power to escape, but when it did, it swirled in the open air like glowing streams of dust. For the first time, he could see it, bright orange like fire. It balled together in front of them and Isiah gasped into his ear. He tightened his grip on him, ready to catch him if he fell.

Isiah held out his hand to the ball of fire glowing in the air and it dove towards him between one blink and the next. Then it was gone and Isiah was still standing as if nothing had happened. "Are- Are you alright?" Emrick asked.

"I feel... Heavy," he replied.

"Is that all?" Of course it was, Isiah was far stronger than him, than both of them. He'd been prepared for it too, unlike Emrick, but even so, it was a huge weight. As if to prove that he was truly alright, Isiah conjured a ball of flames in his palm, bigger than any he had seen before.

Rina's stone was next and he held her in much the same way he held Isiah, but she had a better reaction than him as well, almost falling to the ground, but staying conscious. The whole time, Teremtys watched them with the same expression Turian had when he was watching an experiment. It was awful to look at and every time the memories threatened to resurface, he looked away to concentrate on his partner and friend.

When she was standing again, Rina wiggled her fingers. "There's so much," she whispered and looked him up and down. "I can see where you're injured. Inside too."

And then all at once, he felt good, like he had gotten plenty of sleep. Nothing ached or stung or even felt slightly stiff. It had been so quick; when she'd healed Isiah, it had taken a long time. They were all so powerful, more so than he had ever expected.

There was no time to stop and talk about it, they had to keep moving. There were still two more stones left and while time felt like it was passing at a slow crawl, when he looked to the horizon, the sun had nearly set. They still had two stones left and there was more to do, too much to do.

Isiah had a worse reaction to the strength stone than the fear stone, and would have fallen if Emrick hadn't been holding him up. His eyelids fluttered and he groaned, his grip on Emrick's arms was loose. To think that in the end, they were supposed to smash the stones, it was strange, but it made them all so much stronger. Their reactions were only because they weren't ready, and even Teremtys had wished they'd had more time.

"Last one," he said as Isiah pulled out the creation stone. He hadn't even been given a chance to experiment with it, but the final battle was upon them. He would have to learn it once they were done, if they survived.

"This will take a lot out of you," Teremtys said in warning. "Be ready." But how could he be ready for something he had never used before?

Isiah was silent for a moment, barely given a chance to catch his breath after the strength stone. "Do it, Rina," he said and held tight to Emrick's arms. The scream he let out when the stone broke chilled him to the bone and he clutched Isiah tighter to him. Hopefully, he would never hear him scream like that again. Seeing him bleeding on the pavement of Liman had been more than enough.

He fell with a tired sigh into his arms, leaning all of his weight onto him and sagging towards the ground. Slowly, Emrick lowered him, waiting for him to wake up and comment on how odd it all felt, but he didn't. Sitting on the cold ground as the sun set above them, he cradled Isiah's unconscious body, the panic quickly setting in. It was just like the fear stone, which meant Isiah wasn't going to wake for a long time.

Footsteps pounded towards them and Benj and Orvo crouched next to them, Rina standing above them, her face pale. After a few seconds, Orvo frowned at him. "It's like what happened to you," he said. "I can't see anything wrong."

"Can you?" Emrick asked Rina, trying to hide the worry in his voice. Isiah needed to wake up as soon as possible. They couldn't afford to waste any more time.

"No," Rina said with a shake of her head. "It's like he's asleep."

Even though he didn't want to, he looked to Teremtys in the hopes that they would tell him something, anything, but for the first time since they'd found them, they stayed silent. Rage threatening to burst his heart, he tore his gaze away and ran his hands up and down Isiah's still arms. He whispered in his ear, urged him to wake up, told him that he needed him and that the realm needed him.

For half an hour, they sat around Isiah, waiting and whispering and watching the sun sink towards the horizon. The air grew stiffer, tenser. Every single person there knew that every second they spent waiting for Isiah to wake up was a second where Ziya was being destroyed. By the time they finally got there, there wouldn't be anything left.

Isiah groaned as he stirred and the group let out a sigh of relief. "How long was I asleep?" he asked, looking around in worry.

"Not long," Emrick answered. "How do you feel?"

"My head hurts, but it's not too bad," he said and rubbed at his temple.

Teremtys cleared their throat, a strange noise for a God, and looked at them pointedly. "As much as I would like to give you time to get used to your new powers, there isn't time," they said as they wandered over to the group. "You have to become the Beast that was Promised. Are you ready?"

He wasn't, but he had to do it anyway. Benj and the others took a step back, leaving the Beast to stand in the middle of the clearing with Teremtys. Silence washed over them and a sick feeling settled in Emrick's stomach. It wouldn't be much longer then they would be fighting for the safety and survival of all Vishera. Everything they had done over the last few months was coming to a head and it felt far too soon.

"You should be able to feel the other's powers now," Teremtys said. For a moment, there was nothing, then everything. It was just like the fear stone, he could feel the different powers flowing through Rina and Isiah. "Grab them like you do your own, pull them towards you."

It was far easier said than done of course. The powers were within another person, not a stone and they resisted coming towards him. He was tentative, not wanting to accidentally hurt either of them and there was so much to hold onto, four different powers between two different people. His heart and stomach lurched as if something had reached in and yanked on each organ in turn. He gasped and Isiah hissed an apology, but the pulling sensation didn't stop.

Something within him moved and in response, he pulled harder on the magic around him. He was completely still but everything within him pushed towards Isiah and Rina. The magic moved towards him and he towards it, the feeling of it making him shut his eyes tightly. In a matter of seconds, the feeling grew worse and worse, stronger and stronger and it was getting hard for him to breath. It was as if the air was being pulled from his lungs.

And then a voice that wasn't his filled his mind. It was Isiah's, it was Rina's, talking to him, wondering what was going on. When he opened his eyes, he floated high above the world, but his body was no longer there. Teremtys met his gaze and even though he hadn't moved, his head turned down to face them. No, not his head, their head. Their arms were a mass of swirling colours and when he looked at it, the fingers turned into claws and back again.

"Emrick?" a faraway voice asked. It was Isiah, speaking in his mind. "Rina?"

"I'm alright," Rina replied, sounding just as muffled.

He tried to breathe, but he didn't have a mouth to breathe with. "As am I," he thought and that was all they needed to be able to hear him.

They were together. They were the Beast that was Promised, their souls floating together in the mind of a creature he could not see. But there was no time to linger, all three of them agreed on that, he could feel it. Nearby, the final battle was raging. They needed to hurry.

Rina was the one to control their arm as they bent down to allow Benj and the others to climb on. They would carry them to Ziya, leave them at the palace and fight Ishin. Benj would find Harudan and defend their parents from him. The King and Queen had wasted much of their strength on Rina's illusions, they would be too weak to fight for long periods of time. It wasn't something he should know, but their connection forced it. Everything one of them thought, the others saw.

None of them wanted to look back at Teremtys as they took the first huge steps towards Ziya. Slowly, their walk turned into a run and in less than a minute, they were bounding through the ocean that had once taken them a night to cross. Waves lapped at their torso, but it felt like splashes from the rain. They were above everything, more powerful than anything. Nothing could touch them.

"Don't worry about a thing, Isiah, we will look after it," he told his partner. "Do what you must to bring peace."

As Ziya drew closer and closer, Isiah thanked them both and Emrick could feel the love flowing from one soul to the next. There wasn't much time to dwell on what it meant, only to reciprocate the action. The people in their hand held tightly and it was like holding ants. They had to be careful. Within half an hour, Ziya was in sight, the crystal pillars sparkling with the light from the thousand fires burning around them.

And in the middle of it all stood Ishin, a tower of flame and death. The Beast's body tightened, magic flowing through them for any of them to hold. It should have been overwhelming, but it wasn't, it felt right. In silent agreement, the Beast stopped and tilted their head towards the sky and in unison, the three souls within it's swirling and changing body roared.