A week had passed since the events the Persequions were now calling the Fury of Dreams. To most of the Persequion, it was the day Lord Cefketa, the Dragon of the End—consumed by his rage—came to lay waste to Heka. But from that tragedy, hope was born as Auranthos' Threnos revealed themselves and fought the enraged Dragon Lord to a standstill, buying them time to form a proper resistance.

However, for those who actually witnessed those events, a much darker cloud hung over their heads.

"Are you sure this is the path we should be taking?" an Elder asked Selistar as they sat in the meeting chamber. Selistar, who now occupied the seat once held by his "father," spoke carefully.

"We have minimal choice in the matter. I would be spitting in my own face by denying Mythara is Auranthos' Threnos. He already has control over the Theronites."

"Is there even a reason to deny it? Whether peace or war lies before us, that boy is our best option," Stefan Müller—also known as Fenrir—spoke up from his seat. Selistar sighed as he looked at Fenrir.

"I agree with Mr. Müller," Leonie chimed in.

"There's no need for all this unnecessary concern. Roratha, as much as some of you despise her, will not let Mythara exceed the purview of his authority. It would be in our best interest to find the most effective way to work with the Theronites and Auranthos' Threnos, rather than finding ways to manipulate them. We all saw what unchecked power led us to... correct?" Seren added, and all the Elders present bowed their heads in shame.

A good number of them had been complicit in Aron's actions. Selistar looked at the Elders and then at his mother.

"Assuming Roratha still has some sway over Mythara, we would need to focus on sowing peace on our end." Selistar sighed.

"Sow for peace. What a farce. We all know that's not going to go anywhere," Stefan groaned.

"I disagree. We could convince the UN, especially with the footage we currently have," Leonie said.

"Not in three years, and certainly not with Mythara on our side," Stefan countered.

This was a catch-22 situation. If they didn't have Mythara on their side, sowing peace would be easy—but then Firmatha Sanguar wouldn't need to negotiate; they could simply take over as they pleased. However, because they had Mythara on their side, mankind would think they had a chance, greatly reducing the prospects for productive peace talks.

"We could always omit the existence of Mythara," Leonie suggested.

"That's true, but ultimately I don't think that would be a good choice," Seren responded.

"Why not?" Leonie asked.

"Because if we fail to negotiate peace and go to war anyway, Mythara's presence will be revealed, putting us in a precarious position with the UN," Seren explained.

"What's the situation with the 'Tiny Tots'?" Selistar asked.

"Surprisingly, they aren't resistant to undergoing Dr. Hamilton's experiments. And the good doctor seems excited to begin," one of the Elders reported.

Selistar didn't feel comfortable with that realization, but at the moment, beggars couldn't be choosers. The Tiny Tots were likely their best bet if those experiments proved successful. He thought he should be thankful to Cefketa for making their decision to stay with humanity easier.

"What about Frank, Helena, and Hachiman?" Selistar asked.

"It's rough," Mawu, who sat next to Duendes, spoke. Both had been added as Elders to replace some of those who had died.

"They've recovered physically... well, there's no healing the wounds inflicted by Zac, but they're in no danger," Mawu sighed.

"However, their mental state... that might take some time. And even then, I wouldn't expect them to be the same as before," Duendes added.

"I'll deal with that later. For now, let's focus on putting together a delegation to the UN," Selistar began, but was interrupted by his mother.

"A moment, if you please. While we're on the topic of personnel, Roratha has asked to take the one you call Pocket under her wing. What do you say?" Seren asked.

"You speak for Roratha now?" Selistar asked.

"Well, she's not too keen to interact with the Elder Council. I'm sure you can imagine why," Seren responded to her son, who had nothing to say in return. Selistar then looked over at Leonie.

"Does she plan on making Pocket a Theronite?" Leonie asked.

"I'm not sure. Even if that were the case, ultimately the choice would be Pocket's. While rare, it's not uncommon for Theronites to take Persequions under their tutelage," Seren informed her, and the other Elders nodded in confirmation.

"Then I see no reason to refuse. If anything, this could serve as a step to mend ties that have been strained by recent events," Leonie responded.

"Very good," Seren nodded, then yielded to Selistar.

"Leonie and Stefan have dealt with the UN more than anyone, so I want them to take point. Mother, as the most affluent Dyrithon, goes with them. It wouldn't hurt if we could convince Mythara to accompany you," Selistar commanded.

"Let's end things here for now. I have some friends to check up on and some much-needed training to do." Selistar waved his hand, signifying the end of the meeting, then vanished from sight as he slipped through space.

The Tiny Tots walked into Dr. Hamilton's lab. They heard her cursing as Subject Alpha floated through the area with Systems surrounding him, working quickly to repair the damage done in Dr. Hamilton's absence.

"Sorry about the mess, but it's good to see you're all alive. I heard about everything that happened," Dr. Hamilton said.

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"I think we should be the ones apologizing for the mess. We really messed things up here," Bloody Mary spoke.

"No... it was good that you did. It helped me hide my findings." Dr. Hamilton smiled, turning toward the Tiny Tots.

The Tiny Tots looked at Subject Alpha and observed his work.

"It looks like he's fine now," The Conductor said.

"He still has episodes here and there, but not nearly as bad as before. Don't tell anyone else that, though." Dr. Hamilton placed her index finger over her mouth.

"You asked us to come here after you returned. I assume there's something you didn't share with the others during dinner," the Conductor said.

"Yep... Alph, watch the door," Dr. Hamilton commanded.

Subject Alpha nodded and floated toward the door. After tapping it, a system appeared on its surface. The Tiny Tots' eyes narrowed—this guy seemed able to manage these "Systems" almost as well as Kenji, despite only getting hints from Kenji beforehand.

Dr. Hamilton cleared her throat as a screen appeared, showing the scene when Subject Alpha was given the Nevilara Mystara. Alpha's body convulsed, and a black liquid began spilling from his pores. His body was encased in this liquid, which hardened instantly. On the screen, Dr. Hamilton was visibly flabbergasted and didn't quite know what to do.

She began to panic as the life signs on her datapad showed no signal. The doctor immediately tried to pry Subject Alpha free. Eventually, she succeeded, finding that Alpha was fine. She ended the footage and sighed.

"I screwed up with Alpha," Dr. Hamilton said.

"How? It looks like you saved his life," the Hoarder responded.

"You broke his chrysalis," Amaterasu said quietly.

"Exactly..." Dr. Hamilton pressed a button on her datapad, displaying a 3D image of Alpha's body.

"He was only in that chrysalis state for a few minutes, and as you can see, he underwent tremendous change. I suspect the transformation is instant, but the chrysalis state helps the body adjust to its new state and abilities. I suspect that's the reason for Alpha's episodes. Sorry, Alpha." Dr. Hamilton explained.

"There's nothing to apologize for. I was nothing and no one before your experiments. Now I am the key turning point for mankind's evolution," Alpha said, a bright smile stretching across his face.

"So how long was he supposed to be in this Chrysalis Stasis?" the Conductor asked.

"Chrysalis Stasis? That's good—that's what I'll call it. Now, keep in mind I'm essentially analyzing residue from the failed chrysalis, but if my readings are accurate, about one to three years... give or take a couple of months," Dr. Hamilton responded.

"When do we start?" the Conductor asked.

Dr. Hamilton looked at all the Tiny Tots' faces. None of them seemed concerned. She didn't know whether it was because they trusted her completely or were determined to become stronger. Whatever the case, she would not betray their resolve.

"Once you square things away with your families, we'll begin whenever you're ready. It will also give me time to finalize some code. You guys will need an update."

In the back offices of the Veridahn, Cefketa stood before glass pods containing the Twins and Sage. All three had entered Chrysalis Stasis.

"Glow, what's going on here?" Cefketa asked.

"Ms. Sage instructed me to play this recording when you arrived," Glow spoke, and a screen showing Sage appeared.

"Hello, sensei. During our attack on Heka's base, we found some heavily encrypted files."

"We didn't find shit! I found it!" Roisin shouted from behind Sage. Sage sighed and continued.

"After the files were decrypted, we discovered what they were forcing Dr. Hamilton to do. These are the results." Rows of data filled the screen as Cefketa instantly processed the information.

"It was easy to decrypt—like she wanted us to find it," Zidane added.

Cefketa looked through all the data, his eyes widening. If everything here was accurate, this was a breakthrough for the Chasers and Persequions.

"This could lead to substantial enhancements. We compared it to all known data Firmatha Sanguar has on Gteju. If this is successful, while on average we may not be able to compete on a physical level, our understanding of Vaylora could rival or even match that of a Gteju. Admittedly, that statement is impossible to quantify," Sage explained.

She was basing her assumption on how Cefketa and Mythara described their connection with Vaylora and how Subject Alpha was behaving. Cefketa smiled at the idea. Perhaps things would be more interesting than he'd thought.

"No need to worry. Everything should be safe—we went over the Nevilara Mystara composition extensively and ran countless simulations before injecting ourselves."

"Yeah, plus me and ZiZi made some upgrades to our nanites, so it should be fine..." Roisin looked confident, but her voice was anything but.

"And we know what you're thinking, so we had Glow stow away some nanites we made along with some Nevilara Mystara. It's enough to make about twenty Chasers. We could have made more before going under, but we didn't want to waste time—and the three of us will be better than a hundred newbies anyway," Zidane smiled from behind Sage.

"Do with it what you will. If the calculations are right, we'll be in a sort of chrysalis for about two years. See you then, sensei." Sage signed off.

"Glow, I want you to look through all the human applicants who took the Veridahn trials. Sort them by physical, mental, and creative abilities. Place the most well-rounded ones at the top, but highlight any special cases—like abnormally high physical or intellectual abilities. Send it to my personal folder. I'll look over them while I take my dip."

"It's done, Lord Cefketa," Glow responded, having completed everything as Lord Cefketa spoke.

"Lord Cefketa, it's time. The Blood Pool is ready for your first dip," the Sixth Seat Veydris, leader of the Kitsune, spoke as she entered the back room.

Cefketa looked over his shoulder at her. "Why are you always acting as my personal little assistant? Surely you could assign someone else." He stared at the seductress and grabbed her jaw.

"You won't get what you want," he told her flatly.

"All I want is to have a little fun and provide you with a bit of distraction," the multi-tailed vixen reassured him.

"I could use a few distractions. Fine, lead the way." Cefketa released her jaw, and she smiled.

"With pleasure." She turned around, letting her tails caress his face. Cefketa snorted as he grabbed his necklace.

After the Elder meeting, Seren found herself guiding Mythara through the halls of the Persequion base. As they moved through the corridors, the walls constantly shifted and moved as they passed.

"That equipment they left where we imprisoned your father—it's quite advanced, but do you think it's safe for us to use?" Seren asked.

"It should be fine. They have far more complex and high-tech machinery in Firmatha Sanguar. What's in there was just some hastily assembled tech," Mythara answered, and Seren sighed. This was going to be an uphill battle.

"When are you planning to visit the UN?" Mythara asked.

"I would appreciate it if you came with us," Seren responded.

"I don't really have much choice. I'll be there," Mythara assured her, and Seren nodded with a smile.

"We're here." Seren motioned at a very unassuming door in front of them.

"This is it?" Mythara asked.

"Yes... at every major Persequion base, a door like this appears, and it constantly changes location. Only members of the Dyrithon clan can track it," Seren explained.

"How?" Mythara asked.

"I don't know. It's innate."

"So can Selistar track it down?" Mythara asked.

"I'm sure he can, but it wouldn't matter. It only opens for those it's meant to open for. No amount of strength can change that. That's why there are no guards. Just touch the door, and if it's meant to open, it will," Seren explained, motioning for him to continue.

Mythara touched the door, and it burst open, revealing a nebula that seemed to stretch endlessly. As he stared into the nebula, he felt himself becoming disoriented. Just before he could gather himself, he was overcome by an irresistible pulling force and swept into the door before it shut behind him.

"I wish you luck and pray for your success. The Wanderer can be rather fickle," Seren sighed as she walked away.

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