I sit with Sarah on a hill overlooking the town. One of my drakes is equipped with a saddle and is waiting with the unnatural stillness that all my summons have when not given an order. Sarah has gotten much better about her fear of flying, it helps that falling off wouldn't kill her now, she's also put in the time to practice a lot, getting herself more used to it.

She decided to stay for a few days after Gwyna's death, mostly to comfort me and make sure I'd be okay without Enna.

Hollis has really been doing their best to cover, but I still miss Enna terribly. I think I've cried a little every night at not having her there to tuck me in, I hadn't really thought about how dependent I was on her until now. Now that I'm level sixty, it might be time to grow up a little.

From my vantage point on the hill, the spots where the guilds used to be are conspicuously empty, my vess has already destroyed and cleared the buildings away. A sense of satisfaction settles over me, finally I am exercising my will over the world; I've been holding back for too long. Already a strange itch is making itself known in the back of my head, the need to expand further, get more XP.

The remaining mages and adventurers were quick to flee the town when I ejected Gwyna's remains from my hive, proudly displaying it in the town square so they could see they truly have lost. I was too upset at the time to really enjoy it, but looking back on it, the looks of horror on the human's faces were so delicious. Maybe humans will start to take me seriously from now on.

A cool spring breeze blows over me, making me shiver a little and shift closer to my human friend. Her shoulder length, blonde hair flutters in the breeze with a distinct divine glow to it, she finally had to cut it, because it was too long and also because it was damaged during the mage's ambush. I half expect to see a halo around her head, but I'm pretty sure there's just a few divine sparkles.

The Hero puts an arm around my shoulders and pulls me close, "You getting chilly?"

I lay my head on her shoulder, "I'm okay."

Sarah hums in response and we continue to enjoy the peaceful spring day.

Looking out over the town, Blackroad has mostly gone back to normal. The Karnakan refugees are used to conflicts, having had to flee for their lives once already, and they recover quickly. Pirous helps. A lot. He is excellent at dealing with the humans and has already helped Mayor Lessa regain control of the town. They have spent most of the last few days together, and I'm starting to get a little suspicious. The former North Tarenbaum General has a way with women. Not that I really care what he does in his free time.

Already he is putting together a Blackroad militia so that groups like the Mage's Guild can't just roll into town and set up shop when I'm not here. My vess could deter them, of course, but only if someone is here to guide them. My scouts can deliver reports to me and I can give orders to them to pass on to other vess, so I could have prevented the guilds from entering Blackroad had I only paid more attention. Another lesson learned, and another reason to rely on Enna less. Rather than warn me about it, she let the guilds establish themselves so that I would be forced into conflict with them upon my return; she wanted me to kill Gwyna and Evans. I know she did it so I could become stronger and get rid of threats, but it was still manipulative; I need to think for myself a little more. My heart aches, I'm mad at her but also miss her.

So far, we haven't received any messages from anyone about what has transpired here, but Pirous is certain it's only a matter of time. I'm probably going to have to at least go and talk to Lotheris and representatives from the guilds; what a pain.

"Wild, huh? Being in another world." Sarah brushes a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "You ever feel like you want to go back?"

I shake my head, "No, I can't even remember what my life was like, there's nothing to miss."

"Fair enough. What do you think you'll do after this whole god crisis is over?"

"Cuddle in my hive?" I squeeze my human friend's arm for emphasis.

She laughs and pinches my cheek, "Very cute. Well, I think I want to try and progress society past the faux-medieval state it's in. Maybe invent toilet paper or washing your hands, that way I'll be remembered for more than just my heroics during the war."

"Pretty sure most people know to keep their hands clean, and I've already got a pseudo toilet paper."

Sarah pats the bag by her side, "And I appreciate that, I'm gonna have to stretch my supply to make it last. Not looking forward to going without again, that was one of the worst parts of this place when I first got here."

I tilt my head and try for a cute smile, "You can always come back for more when you run out."

"Sure can." Sarah ruffles my hair, "The drake's going to be a big help, everyone's gonna be jealous of my sweet ride. I can imagine all of the Golden Order are going to want one when they see me riding in looking majestic as fuck."

We laugh and lapse into comfortable silence.

I shift a little to get a little more comfortable, practically sitting in the Hero's lap. She giggles, "Aren't you getting a little big for this?"

Sticking out my tongue, my tone is as bratty as possible, "I'm only like five feet tall, and I'm still only one year old! Plus, I'm the Empress, you have to do what I say." To emphasize my point, I fully slide into her lap, wrap my arms around her neck, and cuddle in.

Sarah hugs me back, a slightly sad smile on her face. I think we both are upset about parting. We've already talked about it to death and our decisions still stand, she still wants to go warn Lotheris, and I still feel the strong need to burrow into my hive and pump out a few thousand vess.

Ever since my class evolution, my vess side has become much stronger. The need to produce vess and expand is much stronger now, to the point that I don't think I can comfortably ignore it. If any of me was still physically human, I think that left with my last level up. That's a part of why it's so hard to let Sarah go off on her own, my vess side is wailing and throwing a fit, it wants to keep her close, it loves having powerful people around. But I don't own Sarah, and I refuse to treat her like anything besides a close friend, no matter what my instincts are telling me. This possessiveness is going to be a problem.

"Alright, time to go." Sarah grabs her sword and stands up, stretching her arms above her head. She buckles her sword around her waist and makes her way over to the drake.

"I'll miss you." I hug her one last time.

She hugs me back and pecks a kiss on my head, "The drake is a huge help, I'll come back to visit often, promise."

I look up at her with a cheeky smile, "Don't get shot down again."

Sarah laughs, "Not planning on it." She releases me and steps back, "Leaving is hard." She bemoans, "But I need to get ahead of this god war thing. Just hiding in the Spinesnap isn't an option for me anymore."

Nodding, I step into her for another hug.

"Okay, okay, cutie!" Sarah squeezes me, "I really gotta go now."

"Okay, goodbye for now." I reluctantly release her and step back.

"Seeya soon!" The Hero mounts up and kicks her heels into the drake. With a gust of wind, the vess launches into the air, taking my human friend with it. A few flaps of its wings and it's gone, flying east towards Lotheris.

I wipe away a few tears as I watch her disappear into the horizon.

She's gone. Off to rally the Golden Order and prepare Lotheris for the worst. Our neighboring kingdom is still recovering from the war with Karnaka. My scouts come back with little snippets of information every now and then. People have moved back into their homes and are continuing their lives, unaware that a much bigger threat is coming.

The gods are at war, and I'm not going to be able to stay out of it. Already I have come into conflict with the Void God, it's just a matter of time before I'm dragged into the next conflict. But I don't want to be dragged, I want to go on the offensive. The amount of XP I'm getting from dungeons is starting to plateau again, it's going to take a month for me to gain another level, too slow. I want to reach level 65 as soon as possible, hopefully I can get a new powerful vess, or at least that long overdue diplomat. To get more XP I need more dungeons, acquiring new dungeons means taking the land they are in, an idea that has my vess side excited.

Karnaka. It's still recovering from its losses and their god, the Buried God, is dead. They are an easy target, although I'm sure my ideas of invading them wouldn't be very popular with the humans in my town. But just like Sarah is trying to prepare, I am too. I need to level up and produce many, many more vess.

Hollis teleports next to me, appearing with a twirl and a curtsy. They smile warmly and wait for my orders, hands tucked behind their back. The cute, fluffy vess is all I have for now. Pirous is dependable, but I need him to get Blackroad in order, and the orcs are busy with their village on the other side of the mountains.

"Okay." I turn to my fluffy companion, "No more procrastinating. Let's go into the Colorless World and find Enna." My words sound more confident than I feel. To be honest, I've been afraid to try to get Enna back. What if I can't find her? Or maybe she has changed irreparably? I've been perfectly happy to put it off in favor of spending time with Sarah, but now my excuse has flown away.

Holding out my hand, I tug on my new skill, The Colorless World. It's a strange, kind of esoteric skill, with no obvious use. My summoning skills have all been straightforward and came with innate knowledge on how to do it, just put mana into the skill and a vess will form. My newest skill doesn't really give me any hints on what it does or how to use it, even when I reach for it.

Activating The Colorless World, my hand drains of all color and nothing else really happens. I wave the limb around, trying to get it to do something, but all that really happens is that I start smearing grayscale everywhere. Wherever I wave my hand, the space loses its color and turns various shades of gray. Doing a window washing motion slowly drains the color from a large space in front of me.

Looking into that space, I swear the air seems to waver. It's like it's thinner somehow. A little bit of instinct guides me as I stick my hand into the gray and push. The area starts growing rapidly until it swallows the entire hilltop, the only color remaining being on me and Hollis.

The feeling of thinness persists. I frown as I look around at the desaturated landscape, putting my hands on my hips, my tail whipping a little in frustration.

"My lady." Hollis stands next to me, hands neatly folded behind them, "It's close, I feel it. Just one more push should do it."

I reach out and invoke the skill again. The entire landscape around us starts to become blurry, as if I needed glasses and had lost them. Then, a feeling similar to falling into the Void God's void, I push some more and the gray pushes outward suddenly before collapsing back in on itself and swallowing me up.

Then, I'm somewhere else. Somewhere with no color. Above me a light gray sky stretches endlessly above me, no clouds or sun in sight. Beneath my feet a dark gray stone surface forms a small island, maybe being only twenty feet across. And beyond the island, an endless, writhing, squirming, sea of vess stretches as far as I can see. It's chaos, soldiers, hunters, knights, and many more that I've never summoned all press on each other, climbing over each other, and fighting for space. Every now and then a giant vess will push out of the mess, like a whale breaching the surface of the water, only to go back down again a moment later. In the distance I can see giant blimp-like vess slowly floating through the air, hundreds of smaller vess flying around them.

I approach the edge, only to nervously step back. The island is much higher in the air than I thought, a few stories high. It's more of a pillar sticking out of the sea of vess, the only place in sight not covered in them.

Something huge rises out of the vess. The giant vess is humanoid in shape and starts to wade towards us, brushing off clinging vess as it walks. As more and more vess are cleared away, the form is finally revealed; it's me.

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Well, it's a giant version of me that looks a bit more mature. Just when I was feeling good about myself, this comes along and hits my ego, she is much bigger than me in every way.

The giant me comes to a stop at the edge of the pillar and leans down, resting an arm on it with her head in her hand. Her voice is a little deeper and smoother than mine, "Hello, dear."

Hollis is on their knees, bowing deeply. Shouldn't they only bow to me? My eyebrow twitches with annoyance. "What are you?"

"Hmmm?" The giant me hums, "We are the soul of the vess, the Empress. Why do we ask? Don't we know?" She sounds confused.

"Why do you look like me?" I ask.

"Why wouldn't we look like us?" The giant lays a hand on her chest, "Dear, we are starting to get concerned."

"You're not the Empress, I am!" I shout up, starting to get annoyed with all this.

Understanding dawns on the giant me's face, "Ah! We have been rather independent lately, haven't we? That's okay, dear." The large vess half coos at me. "We are the Empress, we are one. We understand we have been feeling separate lately, that's okay dear."

I can feel a headache starting to form, "You're saying we are the same person? I know the vess is like a hive mind or something, but I thought I was the exception."

Big me gently shakes her head, "Ohhh those pesky individual memories from Earth are getting in the way again. We were once separated, and now we are one. We have just been having trouble adjusting, that's okay, we don't need to be the same every time we take form in the mortal world. How to explain?" She runs a finger that's as tall as me along the edge of the pillar, "We are more sapient than we have ever been before. It's difficult, we mostly used to go off instincts, now we have all of these thoughts about things that we never considered before. We aren't wrong to think now, but it isn't easy to adjust. Don't feel bad, dear."

This is weird. I'm technically having a conversation with myself? And also all the past Vess Queens? Or Empresses, I guess. I was just calling myself a queen, but empress is the proper title. Maybe I shouldn't think about it too hard, this is some high fantasy bullshit that probably will never make logical sense.

As if sensing my thoughts, she probably is, the giant me smiles and nods encouragingly, "That's it, dear. We are a bit confused, but it will all come together."

"You keep saying 'we' but then you call me 'dear', like I'm separate. I guess I'm confused, which means you are too?" My headache has officially arrived.

"Yes." She sighs, cupping her face with a hand, "We are all mixed up, the new soul is just so different! But don't worry, we love us all the same."

"I guess loving yourself is important." I half mutter, "Do new souls join the vess often?"

"Oh, not at all." She waves her hand, "A few, rarely. But it has been some time since we last grew."

"And is it okay for me to be in the front? I mean, am I supposed to be so separate?"

"We are happy, are we not?" She smiles and claps her hands together, "We have changed a lot since we last left the Colorless Realm, and our new form is so fun. We aren't worried about being separate. Ah, this is so strange. How do we say, if there was worry it would be apparent."

"So if I feel happy, that means we are all happy? Are you sure? I mean, I'm so separate, I can't even access any of the memories that Enna has." A jolt runs through me, how am I going to find Enna?

Turning my head, I look out over the sea of vess. Is she buried somewhere in there? I really, really don't think I can bring myself to go in there, and even if I did, how would I get out? There must be thousands, no, millions of vess out there, depending on how deep they go.

A giant finger lightly pats me on the head, making me stumble a few steps.

The Vess Empresses look sad, "Oh it hurt so much to lose Enna, we love her so. Never have we felt this way. We are so worried we won't be able to get her back." Her frown turns into a gentle smile, "We don't need to be sad, we can get her back. We just forgot we could."

Kneeling down, the Empresses plunge their (our?) hands into the squirming sea, all the way down to the elbow. After searching for a moment, the arm comes out and Enna is placed gently down on the pillar.

"Enna!" I run over to her and hug her.

She runs her claws through my hair and smiles down at me, "You have grown. I am so happy to see you truly coming into your power."

The Empresses wipe a tear out of their eye and resume leaning on the pillar.

Enna looks up at the Empresses, "Honey, I know you want to look more mature, but do you not think that this is too much?"

It's hard to tell in the grayscale, but I think the Empresses blush and look embarrassed, followed up by a familiar pout, "But-"

"Now, now." My caretaker continues to chide, "You knew that it would only confuse yourself if you took that form. There is a time for play, however, your first foray into the Colorless Realm is certainly not the time."

My jaw is hanging open as I watch the Empresses visibly wilt, "Sorry, we knew better."

"And do not think you are in the clear." Enna turns her scolding tone towards me, "I am sure you are having trouble understanding this, but you are the one who wanted to be big and show off to yourself."

"That's not fair!" I whine, my tail whips with displeasure. "I'm not them!"

"If you were in their place, wouldn't you have done something similar?" Enna patiently asks.

I fidget under her gaze, "I dunno…"

"And you are in their place." She huffs, "I was afraid of this, what is your magi doing? They should be helping you."

Hollis scrambles to their feet, almost tripping over the hem of their dress, before sheepishly bowing their head, "I'm so sorry Caretaker Enna! I was in awe of the power of our fair lady!"

Enna actually sighs, her near-perfect serenity broken for a moment, "I will explain the short version. Now that you have access to the Colorless World, you can begin to tap into the power of all of the previous Empresses. You have been a unique Empress this far, and have been having trouble accessing the knowledge you should have, that might not change, especially after seeing how you are still somehow separate here. However, I expect you will still be able to use the Colorless World as any Empress would."

"Y-yes." Hollis stutters, "Past Vess Empresses have shown distinct personalities, but none have been as separate as you, especially not inside the Colorless Realm. It's all very strange and unprecedented. Not a bad thing either! I like you the way you are, my lady!" They blush towards the end.

I look back up at myself, "Next time I'm in here, can you not, I mean, can we not, wait."

The Empresses smile down at me, "We understand our own intentions." She peeks at Enna, "And we have learned our lesson. We knew that it would be confusing but… it was so fun!"

Enna huffs, "As if you did not cause enough trouble. Now the Vess Empress will forever have a naughty streak." She sounds exasperated, but her expression is amused.

I stick out my tongue, but have to quickly retract it with a giggle when Enna makes a snipping motion with her claws.

The Colorless Realm wavers around us, responding to my desire to leave, and goes dark. Then, we are back on the hilltop overlooking Blackroad, as if I just blinked.

A claw taps me playfully on the nose, "And for future reference, sweetie. Try not to think of yourself separate from the soul inside the Colorless Realm, you are the same, even if you feel separate. If you must, think of the presence as the vess soul. Your soul."

"Right, I-" My words are interrupted by a massive yawn. I stagger into Enna, letting her take over making sure I stay standing. Bringing Enna out took every drop of mana I had, physically exhausting me in the process.

"Ah, my lady!" Hollis sounds very concerned, "You should have used my mana to help manifest Caretaker Enna! There is no need to exhaust yourself!"

I shrug, "Too late."

"Thank you, your grace." After making sure I'm not going to fall over, Enna steps back and bows gracefully, "I am honored to be personally retrieved. I shall endeavor not to fail you again."

"Enna, no! You didn't fail me, you did great! Please don't say that."

My caretaker bows again, "As you wish, your grace."

"I'm surprised it was so easy to get you back." A yawn punctuates my statement.

Hollis steps up and takes my hand, "Allow me to take you to your chambers, you need to rest."

I nod my consent and Hollis teleports us into my chambers. The relief is immediate, my instincts want me as deep inside my hive as I can stick myself, and my chambers are as deep as possible. My room is pitch black, but my dark vision lets me see everything as if it was brightly lit. Every surface is covered in the cool, smooth vess goo, something that is very pleasing to my touch. All of my vess made furniture has been replaced by human made, human furniture is just softer, something I prefer of the smoothness of vess made. Huge, heavy ornate doors separate my chambers from the rest of the hive, Enna took great pride in carving out of solid stone. The crown jewel is the bathroom, it's as close to a modern bathroom as you can get through a clever use of magical items and vess craftsmanship; My vess used my memories for reference and has done a phenomenal job. All that to say, it feels like home.

My bed is calling for me and I sit down on the edge, but stop short of going to sleep. Patting the spot next to me, my fluffy magi sits down and lets me get some quick cuddling in. Enna immediately gets to work tidying my room, it's gotten really messy without her to look after things; the scattered undies are the biggest offender.

"Okay you two, this is what I'm thinking." I blush and try to ignore the look Enna is giving me as she picks up my clothes, "A lot of the hive got wrecked by Gwyna and a lot of vess were killed. I think I want to stay here for a while, until my instincts are satisfied with the amount of vess I have. Right now, I feel really anxious. Like, I have no where near enough vess to protect myself, I really hate this feeling, so I wanna fix it before anything else." I get the feeling I am going to be spending a lot of time asleep again, especially if this anxiety keeps up.

Hollis nods encouragingly, "Of course, my lady! An empress must have her hoard. Losing one's hoard is like losing an arm, I can understand why you are feeling so upset! Please be sure that Caretaker Enna and I will do our utmost to protect you until you recover."

A little yawn slips out, "Pirous is going to take care of the town for me. He's going to recruit a militia and train them up in dungeons so they aren't pushovers. It should help me feel more safe."

"And what of Lotheris?" Enna finishes picking up my clothes and hands them off to a drone for washing, "They will surely have issues with their deceased magister."

I pout and squeeze Hollis extra hard, eliciting a squeak from them, "I don't care that much what Lotheris thinks. I'm not leaving my hive until I'm ready, so if they wanna talk, they are welcome to come to Blackroad. And at that point, Pirous might as well handle them."

"I- I think this is a good plan. It would be way too presumptuous of the humans to think they can call our fair lady to them. If they have a problem, they should be the ones to travel to us." Hollis is all too happy to agree with me.

"Sweetheart." Enna's tone is a little dangerous, "Why are there so many soiled panties?"

My face lights up with a fierce blush, "D-don't say it like that!" I hide my face in my hands, doing my best to disappear off the face of the planet, maybe I should just slip into the Colorless World.

Before I can focus my skill and run away, Enna is in front of me and kneeling down. She brushes my hands away and tilts my chin up, forcing me to look at her, "Are you even wearing any underwear right now?"

Averting my eyes, I stutter, "N-no, I ran out." A few tears spring to my eyes and my voice feels small, "I don't know what's happening, ever since my class evolved, I've been like, spotting."

Enna nods patently and releases my chin, allowing me to hide my face again, "Oh, sweetie. I am sorry, but this is nothing to be ashamed about."

Oh my god. Am I about to get the talk? I'm pretty sure I already had it back on Earth. I think I want to die and get reincarnated again, it was a good run but I'm going to dip out. "Please, Enna. I'm good, I think I know what's going on; will you just drop it? Please?" I whimper.

"You are mistaken, this is not the same as when human women come of age. This does mark you as fertile, yes." I shiver and melt a little more when she says fertile, but she continues on ruthlessly, "But the ability to bear children is more of a secondary process, more of a result of your body readying itself for a greater purpose. Worry not, you shall not suffer as a human woman would." She wipes a couple of my tears away and her voice softens, "You really are an adult now, I am so proud of you sweetheart."

I nod, "Can you just tell me what's going on now?" The suspense is tearing me up.

My caretaker radiates serenity, "All is well. When an empress comes of age, her body will change a bit on the inside, resulting in the expulsion of some fluid, as you have experienced. In a few days your body should be ready to create a sister."

"Uh? I don't feel any better Enna!" My voice is a little panicked, I can't be a mother, dear god.

"Creating a sister is a natural process all empresses go through. It is a necessary one for survival." Enna patiently explains, "If you wish, you may create another body that you may inhabit. The body will be created biologically, as in, you will give birth to it. However, it does not come with a soul, it is merely a secondary shell for you to inhabit should your primary one become too damaged. It will take some time for it to grow into adulthood, however you can possess it whenever you wish."

Hollis interjects their cheery voice, "This is why it's so hard to kill an empress despite how weak their bodies are. Most create as many spare bodies as they can and scatter them amongst their hives."

"I can have as many as I want?" Reluctance holds me back from asking any of the grosser questions I have.

"Of course!" Hollis answers happily, "Although your body is only capable of producing one every decade."

That's a small relief. I really don't like the idea of giving birth multiple times. As gross as it is, it really is a useful ability and I get the feeling my vess are going to want me to do it as soon as possible. "Are there any other surprises from my body that I can expect?"

"Well," My caretaker's smile is malicious, "There is the second tail."

"What?!" I squeak. Growing one was not fun! I really don't want to have to go through that again!

Hollis giggles, "Caretaker Enna is joking, my lady. I think she is trying to make you feel better, we can feel your distress. Don't worry, creating a sister isn't painful, although I believe it is uncomfortable. And anyway, your body won't be ready to create one for another week at least."

I whimper.

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