It must have been a week by now. Hollis is smart, they think it's been that long, at least. Finally, finally we see something that isn't the same crumbling city ruin.

Darkness. All of the buildings have crumbled into dust here at the edge of the city. Before us an empty void yawns into eternity. Sarah, being the hero that she is, isn't afraid and steps confidently out into the nothingness. It probably helps that she is level 60 now.

If I was cheating to level up, I have no idea what to call this. I mean, she has been fighting basically every second we have been here, and the fights haven't been easy either. If I was taking the slow and steady method, she took the fast and dirty. Literally, she was getting covered in so much oily blood, that Hollis gave up on cleaning them after every battle, saving their mana and only doing it when Sarah asked.

Sarah said she was getting increased XP, but she was underselling it. She gained, like, twenty levels! And it takes soooo much XP to gain levels after forty. I'm still level fifty five and I have a huge amount of XP passively delivered to me constantly. I might be a little jealous. Her new class is Hero of the Golden Goddess, by the way, yeah she is locked in now.

"Ren? Why are you pouting so hard?" The cheating Hero turns and walks back to me, a slightly amused expression on her face.

"It's nothing." I mutter, slipping down from my pillow, I lightly land on my feet and dart around Sarah. The only silver lining is that Enna popped onto my radar yesterday and has been getting steadily closer ever since, I guess not being able to teleport really slows a vess down. She is very close now.

Stepping out into the void is a really strange feeling. It doesn't feel like solid ground, but I don't seem to be falling either. I continue walking out into the nothing, only to be instantly overtaken by Sarah who takes the lead. Stupid long cheating legs.

We don't walk very far when Sarah suddenly stops, causing me to bump into her back. "Huh." She is looking intently at her phone, "The arrow stops here. This is it."

Stepping back, I look around. Yep, nothing.

"Behind us." Hollis quickly puts themselves between me and-

"Josh!" Sarah exclaims, "Finally! I figured you were the destination."

There he stands. Josh seems to be wearing Earth clothes, a hoodie and jeans. While my vess can mimic certain Earth materials, he seems to be wearing the real deal.

He hides his hands in his hoodie pockets, "Yo, took you long enough. Although I guess your god wanted to pump you up before confronting me."

"My god?" Sarah asks, walking to stand in front of our group, "So, you're also god touched?"

"Duh." Josh says it like it was obvious, "Can't believe you got snatched up by the golden bitch. You do know that now she has her hooks in you, she isn't going to let you go."

"Same goes for you." The Hero counters.

Josh rolls his eyes, "Can we hurry up and get this over with? I'm sick of this place. I don't get why our gods can't just measure dicks from the comfort of my castle."

"I won't fight you. I won't fight someone else from Earth, we already got a shit hand, I won't make it worse."

The Lord pinches the bridge of his nose, "That's very heroic, but not going to work. What don't you understand about this? Our gods want us to kill each other so the opposing god has less of a grip on the world. Unless you can offer an alternate solution to that, we gotta fight."

"Renounce your god." Sarah takes a step forward, "I know, it'll cripple you, take you back to level one." She takes a few more steps, placing her right next to her supposed enemy, she puts a hand on his shoulder, "I'll take responsibility, I'll protect you and help you level again. I promise."

Josh smiles bitterly, "Hah, I actually believe you, y'know."

"Which god are you sworn to?" I ask.

"The Void God." Hollis answers instead, "One of the nastier gods. The god wishes to consume everything, until nothing is left and all are at peace in the gentle void. Or at least that's what their followers say."

"Better than a goddess that just goes around smiting everything she doesn't like." Josh spits bitterly, "She hasn't even offered you anything good in return, has she? Not that my god came through for me." He laughs darkly, "The Void God said he would get me home. Turns out, this place was the best he could do."

"So why are you loyal to him?" Sarah is starting to sound desperate.

"I'm not!" Josh shouts, "Sarah, get it through your thick head, gods are all bastards, and I hate them. But we took their power, so now we're stuck. And what a time to serve the gods! We get to fight their dick measuring war, all over the world! You should be pissed!"

"Fight their war?" Hollis interjects, "So the gods are waking up?"

"At least one of you has a brain." Josh motions wildly at the vess, "Yeah, as far as I know, all the gods are going at it. That's what the Void God made it sound like. Golden Goddess in Lotheris, Void God in Tarenbaum, Buried God in Karnaka, Endless God in Isoban, The Many Headed God in Majular, and oh yeah, the Great States has the freakin' Goddess of War! This world is going to tear itself apart, we are fucked!"

The Hero takes a step back, "I understand you got a raw deal, but that doesn't mean all the gods are evil. So far, my goddess has delivered on her promises, and I don't see anything wrong with fighting to stop a god who literally wants to destroy everything."

"Seriously?" The agitated man is pulling at his hair, "Ren? You can't be brainwashed too? I know you don't know me but help me out here! We need to fight against the gods, not with them!"

Josh and Sarah are both looking at me very expectantly, "Um, Sarah, I don't think now is the right time to try and convince Josh that your goddess is righteous."

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Sarah blinks then shakes her head as if to clear it, "Right, sorry. I got kinda caught up." She relaxes her posture and lowers her voice, "Josh, listen to me. I want to help you, tell me how I can help you."

The Lord takes a deep breath in, "I already rebelled against my god once. In response, he put some serious restrictions on me, I can't renounce him, I'm fucked."

"Come on, there has to be a way," Sarah urges.

Josh just shakes his head.

"Hollis? Any ideas?" The Hero tries.

"Sarah…" Hollis looks genuinely sad, "I'm sorry, I know this is hard. He is likely an anchor for the Void God, someone who is deeply steeped in the god's magic so the god may more easily manifest in the mortal realm. Such magic is beyond me to remove. Even if we could remove it, doing so would kill him."

The void seems to gather around Josh, condensing and forming a pistol that floats down into his hand. The gun is raised and pointed at Sarah, "Sorry." Is all Josh says before there is a deafening boom that echoes in the emptiness around us.

A bright golden flash signals the arrival of Sarah's raiment, catching the bullet and deflecting it with a bright flare. Still, the Hero doesn't draw her sword, "Wait! Wait!"

Several more bullets slam into the Hero's armor, each hit sending her stumbling back a step. Still, she doesn't retaliate. There is a pause in the gunfire, followed by an extra loud shot that rattles my bones. It slams into Sarah, sending her onto her back.

Slowly, Sarah gets up onto a knee, blood flows freely from a hole in her breastplate.

I run in between the two god touched. I'm pretty sure Josh won't shoot me right away. If Sarah won't fight, then I will. She'll get to keep her morals, and I'll get a nice chunk of XP, win win.

"Get out of the way, Ren. I'll let you go after she is dead." Josh's voice is cold and distant.

"Can't believe you're going to fall for the same trick twice." I mock the man, sticking my tongue out at him.

Enna's claws wrap around his neck and slam him into the ground. Hollis quickly wraps chains of magic around him, binding him to the nonexistent floor.

This time, the chains are broken instantly, and Enna is thrown back, Josh gets to his feet looking pissed. He points the gun at me and pulls the trigger, only for his aim to be knocked off target by a claw swipe from Enna.

My caretaker keeps up the pressure, throwing claw after claw at the Void God's anchor. He doesn't seem confident taking the blows, as he ducks and dodges out of the way of the attacks. Enna doesn't give him enough time to aim his gun.

A bolt of lightning throws Josh off his feet and into a smoldering heap. Hollis follows up with several more bolts, pounding the same spot with an unreasonable amount of magical power. They hold their small hand up in the air for a moment, gathering themselves, and then the hand is dropped, unleashing a huge spike of lighting from the sky, leaving my ears ringing.

Josh stands up. "Good try, but in case you didn't get the memo, god touched are extra powerful here."

Sarah steps in front of me, sword drawn. Josh has time to look surprised before Enna slams him into the ground again. My vess send the Lord through a second round of pounding, with Sarah joining in this time. Her sword always striking non-lethal areas.

The poor guy can't keep up. He dodges a claw only to get sent stumbling forward by a lightning bolt to his back, right into the waiting sword of Sarah. She knocks the gun away from Josh, opening a shallow cut on his hand. Taking one indomitable step forward, the Hero connects the pommel of her sword with Josh's face, sending him into the nonexistent dirt, unconscious.

"We're done here." Sarah's voice is cold as she steps back and sheaths her sword.

I trot up to her, "Isn't your goddess going to be upset?"

Sarah doesn't respond, she just stands still, staring at the unconscious man. Does she really think the gods will bend to her will?

I suddenly find myself scooped up into strong arms and thoroughly cuddled, "I missed you so much sweetheart! I am so sorry it took me so long to locate you!" Enna proceeds to rain kisses down on my head.

"Ennnaaa." I whine and squirm for show, but it doesn't take long before I feel some tears pooling in my eyes. Turning in her arms, I wrap my arms around her neck and hug her tight, tears fully spilling over. I felt safe with Sarah and Hollis. But now I feel safe.

"Oh sweetie." Enna coos, "There, there. All is well." She bounces me lightly in her arms and hushes me. I would be embarrassed if I wasn't sobbing and it wasn't so comforting, it's been a while since I've been babied.

"Enna." The Hero's voice sounds dead, "Sorry to interrupt, but I need your help. Please, give me a way out of this."

While I sniffle into my caretaker's chest, Enna walks up to stand with the hero, looking down at the unconscious man. "Your god would grant you much XP for slaying him." She points out.

"No." Sarah instantly rejects.

Enna sighs, "Very well, hero. Simply call upon the power of your goddess and slowly push your blade into the boy's chest."

"What?" Hollis squeaks, "B-but, Caretaker Enna!"

My caretaker holds up a claw for silence, "Be at ease, the Void God would rather release us than lose his anchor."

"So, we are bluffing?" Sarah deadpans.

"No." Enna denies, giving Sarah a sharp look, "You will be seriously intending to end the boy's life. We are simply letting the Void God know he has a choice if he wants to keep his pawn. You must intend to take his life, otherwise Renna will be trapped here with you forever."

"Are you making me choose between them?" The Hero looks pissed.

Enna is as serene as always as she gives a gentle nod, "Indeed. Who is more precious to you, hero? Will you doom an innocent life just because you cannot compromise on your ideals?" My caretaker peels me off her to show Sarah my tear stained face. I sniffle.

"You're a manipulative bitch." Sarah growls and places her sword on Josh's chest. It shines with an eager searing light, the sword begins to easily slip through flesh, spilling bright red blood.

Still, Sarah hesitates, and the sword stops. We are still trapped in the void. Enna reaches out a claw, places it on the pommel of the sword, and pushes.

Sarah screams and everything breaks. My eyes are blinded by the offensive sunlight that forces itself into my sight, making me bury my head in Enna again.

"You are such a bitch! Fuck!" Sarah screams.

I lift my head and blink away the afterimages. We are at the lake again, in the same spot we left, I think.

A golden sword is thrown to the ground, and Sarah is kneeling next to Josh, both hands placed desperately over a gaping hole in his chest. Blood pours out, but the golden light flees the Hero's hands, refusing to close the wound. I've seen Sarah heal with her power before, at least she has healed herself.

"Sarah." Hollis gently bumps her to the side. The vess' hands replace Sarah's and magic starts pumping into the gushing hole. The black gooey vess material flows over the man's chest, sealing the wound shut and stopping the blood. "I can only do this much. Actually healing is up to him." The Magi gently lays a hand on Sarah's shoulder, "It'll be okay, Sarah. He's a god touched, he'll pull through. The Void God wouldn't have released us only to let his anchor bleed out after."

The Hero is taking deep breaths, her eyes are manic, and her hands are shaking. "That was so fucked up. Enna, I can't."

Enna doesn't respond. She is radiating happiness and contentment over our link as she bounces me up and down, humming a pop song from Earth. She pauses to look down at me, "We must get you back to the hive soon. I thought the gods might be waking, but now we have confirmation, the world has just become a much more dangerous place."

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