Lua gazed down at her only blessed human. She was not actually watching his physical form but was instead looking down at a spiderweb of wisps of possibility. The currents of fate and luck were shifting. One of the wisps was the color of freshly drawn blood and it thrummed as it touched against the black orb that represented Isaac's soul. Quite a few blackened purple wisps had just evaporated as they came into contact with Isaac, and it saddened her, but Lua knew that it couldn't have been avoided. One of the strands suddenly swelled and then burst apart which caused the blood red wisp to thrum once more.

"Oh, that is not going to be good." Lua spoke aloud to herself. She noticed a soft ripple down another wisp from far away as it went towards Isaac. It had a long way to go but she could tell that it was going to cycle through Isaac's close acquaintances and friends before it reached him. Lua hummed in thought and then smiled, she just might have found a way to avert a grand disaster. She would have to wait a little longer though, it was nearly the time when she was at her peak. The first full moon of the year was on its way and she was not going to waste it, not that she ever did.

—

"Can I? Can I? Can I?" Martha pleaded with her mother. James had arrived to ask Margaret if she wanted to enjoy the festivities with him, it was the New Year's festival after all, and Martha had assumed that he had invited the entire family.

"I, uh…" James shared a pleading look with Margaret to which the woman just chuckled. Margaret was older than James by around five years, which was well within his age range but Margaret preferred older men than herself. That preference hardly mattered though as after her husband had died, she had decided to never remarry, even if the fellow servant of the V'Nova Wexler household had made a commendable attempt to get on her good side.

"Master James, Madeline and Martha both look like they have been dying to enjoy the festivities. With Master Shamesh currently indisposed, I neither have someone to watch over the manor nor the girls. As I can only do one of those things, if the girls were to leave to enjoy the festival, I must request that you guide and watch over them as you have made it clear that you wish to enjoy the festivities yourself." Margaret verbally danced around James in such a way that he had no counter. Nothing he did would get him what he wanted which left him with only neutral options and bad ones.

James smiled and shook his head. He had lost and could take a hint. It was just a hint though so there was always a chance that she would change her mind in the future, but even if she didn't, it paid to be on the head maid's good side. "I'll hold down the fort." He told her. "Go, enjoy the festival with your girls, I have seen almost thirty of those already."

"Ye-HA!" Martha exclaimed and jumped as high as she could.

"Thank you, James. You didn't have to, and I appreciate it." Margaret told him. "We'll make sure to be back in time for dinner and you can join us if you would like."

"Thank you, I'd like that." James replied with a smile that was only a bit forced. He was an adult and could handle a gentle rejection like that without crumbling, at least she had been nicer than the last woman he had made a move on. He was even going to get good food out of it this time.

—

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Nearly all of the world stopped whatever it had been doing and partied for nearly thirty hours straight. It was the new year and bars were drunk dry, food stalls were sold out or collateral damage in drunken brawls, confessions were made, prayers about the future were cast towards the heavens, and countless children enjoyed an entire day without being forced to help provide for their families. On the night of the first day of the new year, at exactly midnight in each part of the world, nearly every mortal stopped to pray. As Lua's light shone down on them, elves, humans, dwarves, gnomes, lightfoot, goliaths, dragon-kin, and every kind of anima all sent her their prayers. Some asked for frivolous things like prettier skin, some asked for unreasonable things like for their fallen loved ones to come back to life, but plenty just asked for a better year than the one that had just passed.

Lua usually used all of the influx of power that she received from their prayers to grant as many of them as possible. Every prayer was organized by how much of her power it would take and how necessary it was for the mortal in question to have it granted. Out of all of those prayers, only around one percent of them could be granted, and that was mostly thanks to all of those who just wished for a better year to come. This year, only point nine nine percent of those prayers would be answered. This was because she needed to contact a few people directly.

Jane was a demigoddess known for extreme acts of violence that tore the world asunder, a hot temper, a mana potion addiction, and for the ability to create mana potions en masse. She had simply done as she always had, sent a prayer toward Lua asking for a better year to come, which was why she was extremely surprised to get a message back from the goddess of the full moon.

"There is an army coming from-" Lua began without preamble as Jane's mind was assaulted with the exact coordinates and direction that the army in question was going to come from. "The leader of that army will kill you. I want you to take two of my blessed with you when you are called upon to end that threat. Isaac Wexler and Lenna V'Nova. They will fight and kill the leader in your stead but they cannot overcome the army that will stand in their way."

After a brief pause, Jane bowed her head a bit deeper than it had been. "As you wish, Auntie Lua." Jane replied with a slight smile. It wasn't every day when she was specifically told that her penchant for obscene levels of destruction was necessary to resolve a conflict, and it was even rarer for it to be someone who wasn't an over zealous mortal to be the one saying it.

—

Gilgamesh did not pray to the gods. The dragon gods, with two singular exceptions, were just older dragons than he was. They did not deserve his prayers and the one that did, did not wish to be disturbed over trivial matters. That was why he was incredibly surprised when a divine presence descended upon his mind at exactly the strike of midnight. Before Lua could even begin, Gilgamesh's mind had already deduced who it was so he started before she even had a chance to. "To what do I owe this pleasure, Great Goddess of Moonlight?" Gil questioned with nothing but respect in his voice, heart, and mind. He respected Lua, but he would never worship her. Soon enough he would find himself living in the realms of the gods along with her, even if he would never be as strong as she was.

"There is a calamity coming from your East. Call Jane to handle the army and Isaac Wexler with his mate Lenna V'Nova to handle the master of it." Lua told Gilgamesh.

"Is this a formal request from The Divinity of Beauty?" Gilgamesh asked. He was going to do it regardless of what she replied with but a formal request brought with it an expectation of a favor being returned in the future.

"This will benefit you." Lua simply replied. "So I do not see why I should owe you a favor for the best advice you will receive all year."

Gilgamesh's booming laughter rattled the chandeliers. "I understand, Divine Lua, and shall act on your advice." Gil confirmed with a respectful nod of his head and a mirthful toothy grin.

—

Isaac and Lenna's first night of the year was spent four hours away from Ben's End. The caravan had stopped for the night and Isaac and Lenna had been mildly surprised with how the entire camp had become utterly silent as the midnight hour approached.

"They are praying to Lua." Lenna said just as much to herself as to Isaac.

"Then we should join them." Isaac told her with a smirk. "It is the first full moon of the year after all, and I am sure she could use some prayers to help replenish all of the power she has used on us."

Lenna nodded. "Agreed."

Both Isaac and Lenna closed their eyes and sent Lua their prayers of thanks. Isaac wasn't sure if it was the time to ask for trivial things or not but he gave it a shot anyway. He still wanted to learn how to play the organ but the opportunity hadn't arisen. Every time he might have been able to learn, they had been in a rush or otherwise predisposed. Now they were back in the Innerworld and there weren't any organs for him to use. He loved the piano and would continue to play it for as long as he could but there was just something about an organ that made the instrument itself resonate with people's souls. At least he had the tact to wait until after all of his thanks to ask Lua to help make learning the organ a 'soon' opportunity and not an 'eventually' opportunity.

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