Excerpt #6

     Rassillon opens the door from his TARDIS to see the inside of the Krang. No alarms are going off due to his 'cloaking' his TARDIS. He cloaks himself and steps out to go looking for Iriisii. His interest in her was piqued by her meeting with the 'Doctor', and his subsequent appraisal of her abilities mark her a challenge, maybe even someone worthy of his personal attention. He has noted how advanced this Krang is, and sees where she has added to its original design. But where are they going with such deliberation? What could have garnered her attention to draw her out here? Interesting to find out and learn more of what she might be capable of.

      He straps his mental control staff to his arm, under the voluminous sleeves of his robes. He remembers when he acquired it from the Huriestium and his actions afterward to completely wipe them from the universe. After all cannot have them making more of these staffs, if he has the only one there will be no competition from anyone else.

     He silently walks the corridors, making his way to where he knows he can find her. A time when she is usually alone, quietly meditating on where she must go next, what task draws her attention to resolve. He feels they are much alike, although they travel down different paths to get to where they desire. He passes crewmembers along the way, performing their duties efficiently and dutifully. How she has managed to acquire their almost absolute trust and loyalty is amazing without using any kind of threat or fear. 

     He waits patiently until one of her mates, he thinks it is the one called 'Rigmor', opens and enters. He quickly slips inside behind her and moves away. Seeing her look around as if she knows the two of them are not alone. He thinks to himself, 'Hmmm, this should be a good test of the staff, if he can override her responses with his own. And then see what kind of chaos this could plant to be exploited later.'

     As Rigmor leans down to kiss her, Rassillon activates his staff, and has Iriisii reach out and slap Rigmor's face. The shock is worth every bit of the planning that he has invested so far. Time to raise the ante, as he speaks with her voice. A pity he does not know how to access those 'Shouts' she sometimes uses but that is something he will have to work on later.

     Rassillon/Iriisii: "Leave here. I do not want you anymore!"

     Rigmor stands stunned, not knowing where this is coming from. Trying to understand what she might have done or said to draw this response. Rassillon knows he must not let up, he must keep the pressure moving before Rigmor can get her feet under her and look for an outside cause.

     Rassillon/Iriisii slaps Rigmor once again, "I said get out you ugly whore. I do not want to look at you anymore!"

     Then he has Iriisii push Rigmor aside and move toward the door. He notices Rigmor's anger rising in response to his agenda, but it is not high enough yet.

     Rigmor: "Why! What have I done?!"

     Rassillon/Iriisii: "What have you done? What have you not done to come between me and everyone else?! I am done with you, now and forever!"

     Rassillon/Iriisii grabs Rigmor and tosses her across the room. Her head strikes the wall and while she is still stunned, walks out. When the door closes, Rassillon engages cloaking around Iriisii and hurries to make their way to somewhere he can summon his TARDIS. He does not dare delay in getting her out for once Rigmor engages the Krang to search he will not be able to hide for long.

     The alarms start going off as soon as he enters his TARDIS with Iriisii in tow. He pushes her into a chair as he engages the drive and slips out of the Krang. Immediately he sets course for the flagship of his minion Dahlek Fleet.

     Rigmor stands up as Illyria rushes in.

     Illyria: "Are you all right?"

     Rigmor: "Yes, only my pride is bruised, but he took the bait. Now we go after that Galaxar and get ready to dismantle his allied fleet."

     Illyria: "It is still so hard for me to accept..."

     Rigmor: "That was not our love, Iriisii is buried behind a wall in her mind that her Ancestral Memories put up to protect her. I do not know exactly what is going to happen, but I have to trust that her earlier self knows. I have to believe her that we can save her from Rassillon, because if not..."

     Illyria: "I know, trust me, I know. I feel the same as you do, we all do. She will make him pay, and she will escape, we just have to believe in her enough that she can do this."

     Rigmor: "I know, I just have to keep believing that I know. Now we still have a monster of a black hole to capture, or all of this is for naught. Reaper!"

     Reaper: "Yes, Rigmor."

     Rigmor: "Set course for those coordinates that the Doctor gave us, we have a monster to wrangle."

     The inside of Rassillon's TARDIS more closely resembles a royal suite than a time traveling dimensional expandable device. Yet Iriisii does not notice behind the protective wall that her Ancestral Memories have erected. Rassillon looks at her, but as long as she is pliable he is content to let her sit quietly. Time enough later to delve deeper into her mind. The question right now is whether to keep her in the TARDIS or move her out to the Flagship. The Dahleks will want to kill her and he is not going to have that. Hmmm, maybe it would be interesting to see how she would do against a few of them, could even give her a weapon to test the hold the control staff has over her. Need to make this kind of fight as fair as I can, to be a good test for her. If I am right, she will 'mop the floor' with them, now where was it that the Doctor found that saying. Oh well, it will come to him soon enough.

     

     Rigmor looking at the Command View Screen, "There it is...that is truly a monster if I have ever seen one. How far from it are we now?"

     Reaper: "We are about one half light day. Any closer and we begin to feel the gravitational effects."

     Rigmor: "All right, come to 'station keeping', maintain distance to that thing out there. We will begin our part in this drama as soon as the Krang is ready."

     A shipboard hour later, Rigmor addresses the crew, "All hands to 'Condition Orange', we have no idea if this will work, but we have no choice in the matter. Either we do it or everything comes apart at the seams. It is going to take everyone doing their assigned tasks. So let us get to it people!"

     Reaper: "Beginning graviton wave emitter heterodyning at ten percent." As the monitors show reaching the benchmark, the Krang begins to buck and roll. "Engaging artificial gravity and kinetic stabilizers, now!"

     The ship begins to even out and settle down.

     Reaper: "Moving to twenty percent."

     Illyria: "What is he doing?"

     Rigmor: "From what little I understand, he is creating an artificial black hole, a very small one that we will capture and then tune the Krang's capture fields to hold it while we begin connecting our power systems to it. Once we do that, we will repeat with a larger one, until we can access enough power to take on the monster."

     Illyria: "How long is this going to take?"

     Rigmor: "Not as long as you would think. We do not have to match the potential of the monster. We only need enough to leverage it into where we want it. It would be another story altogether if Iriisii had not found those plans to the 'Winterstorm Construct'. They have truly made this possible. I could never have imagined mixing magical theory with not only quantum physics, but add in a healthy dose of multi-dimensional mechanics. It is thanks to the 'Doctor' that we understand as much as we do, at least enough to make this happen. Providing we live through all of this, we will owe him more than we could ever repay."

     After some hair-raising close scrapes, they have managed to do what no other has even thought to attempt, capture and harness the power of a galaxar. Even more so was the issues with hiding it from view, curbing its influences in this dimension and the others adjacent. The math calculations straining even the Krang in conjunction with the Doctor's TARDIS, aided by Iriisii's allies among the AI's, who managed to contact and secure aid from a machine civilization they had encountered in their travels. A civilization now acutely interested in how the Krang's operating intelligence came to become so thoroughly integrated in a flesh and blood body, yet still be able to maintain total awareness and control of his former system. Rigmor has firmly delegated this issue for Iriisii to solve, since it was she who set in motion the events that brought Reaper to where he is now.

     

     Rassillon sets Iriisii up in her own quarters in the Dahlek flagship. To say the Dahleks were unhappy with this arrangement would be vastly understating the situation. He convinced the Supreme Dahlek to allow him to set up a confrontation between Iriisii and some of their most rabid and deadly individuals. If she won, then they would allow her to remain on board, undisturbed, for as long as Rassillon required.

     Rassillon: "I have arranged a meeting between you and a group of the Dahleks. They are going to attempt to kill you. I believe you can quite handily deal with them without suffering any harm. If you do so, they will allow you to stay on this ship, undisturbed, for as long as I need you to stay. I am going to tone down the effect of my 'control rod' to allow you more latitude in dealing with the Dahleks."

     As Rassillon reduces the control settings, he watches for any sign that Iriisii is going to attack him.

     Darkstar: "You have nothing to worry about from me, at least for the short unforeseeable future. We will remain compliant, at least until we have decided what our course of action should be."

     Rassillon: "This is different. This reaction from you is totally contrary from what I had expected, interesting."

     Darkstar: "There are depths to who we are, what we are capable of doing that are far different from anything you have experienced. But for all of that, there are 'lines in the sand' we cannot and will not cross. You have great power yet you have somehow evaded the 'Laws of the Mother' that govern how that power is to be used. We on the other hand have embraced those 'Laws' and made them a part of our 'core', of who we are at our most basic. Thus we have decided to attempt to understand if it is possible to 'balance' the differences between us. What this could mean going forward, we do not know. It will depend on many things yet to be determined. Not the least of which is whether or not you are being or have been influenced by the 'Blind Dreamer'."

     Rassillon's face takes a contemplative mood, "I know not of who you call the 'Blind Dreamer'. Or even of why you use the plural 'we' instead of the singular 'I' when speaking of yourself. Anyway, to the best of my knowledge, I have never met this 'Blind Dreamer' you speak of, and I would never allow myself to be influenced by anyone besides myself."

     Darkstar: "The 'Blind Dreamer' is nothing like anyone or anything you have ever encountered. No one has a mind strong enough to see his true face and remain sane. Even so three times he has tried to capture us and bring us before him. Why? To meld himself with us and use us to project his power into our Existence. And so to take possession of all that exists.

     Rassillon: "Then how did you escape him?"

     Darkstar: "He cannot fully exist in our Existence, so he uses agents he has turned and chained to him. The first encounter we escaped by calling upon the 'Gods of Eld' for help. The one that was sent to take us was once one of the Gods of Eld, driven insane by the Ravenous Darkness that consumed their home Realm. The second we fought back and defeated him, sending him scurrying to recover. The third time we captured him, chained him securely, took the ghost of his mind, and using sympathetic magic, located the Mantella that held his sane mind. With the help of an Illithid and our mate, Byrsael, we trapped his insanity and drew it into the Mantella as we returned his sane mind into his body.

     Know that we use the plural to speak of ourselves because it best describes us, for there are three of us who have grown within the body you see. We retain our individuality, even as we have grown so close as to think of ourselves as one. I am best suited to deal with these Dahleks. It is said they are the deadliest beings ever created in this universe. That is an untrue claim, we are the most deadly being ever created. Should we ever be totally unleashed, the fear we would cause would echo and reverberate throughout the 'Dark Planes' of Existence, and shake the very foundations of the 'Angelic Planes'. We find our 'home' with the 'Great Balance', seeking the pathway between Absolute Good and Absolute Evil, for there lies the path forward to life."

     Rassillon: "You have led a fascinating life, perhaps later we can speak more of it. I would like to know more of these 'Gods of Eld', for I have never known 'Gods' before. But first I believe the Dahleks are growing impatient to see the mettle you are made of."

     They enter a large cargo hold, rebuilt into a training area. Darkstar looks around and sees metal casings all made near identically. Some form of moving on the bottom, armor plating from there up to a domed top. A single extension, some type of weapon surely, is all that they seem to be armed with. Darkstar evaluates any weak points that she can determine by watching their movements, speed, dexterity. Compared to her, they are slow, and able to be used to propel her momentum. The dome casing should be able to be crushed with a strong enough blow. Assuming that is where there brain resides, that should be enough to kill them. 

     Rassillon: "What type of weapon do you prefer?"

     Darkstar: "We have access to what we need."

     Then she reaches into Iriisii's dimensional storage locker and pulls out her 'gauntlets'. While Rassillon's eyes widen with what he just saw her do, they widen even more when she slaps the gauntlets together to activate them.

     Rassillon: "What in the 'Fires of Azeroth' are those?"

     Darkstar: "Iriisii forged these herself at the Forge of Stars. They are based on Wamphyri War Gauntlets. She used certain materials that only the Star Forge could alloy together. What we can do with these defies physics as it is currently understood."

     Rassillon: "How?"

     Darkstar gives him a sideward glance, "Watch and learn."

     Darkstar sees fully eight Dahleks coming toward her, waving their weapon extrusion, crying out their battle call of "Ex-ter-mi-nate! Ex-ter-mi-nate!" Darkstar begins using the 'War Gauntlets' to eviscerate the closest two Dahleks, their screams of pain as they are crushed and sawn apart drives the others to a frenzy. They begin using their disintegration beams, even as Darkstar rolls and dodges between them. As each tries to target her, she moves at the last second as their beams hit one of their fellows driving the frenzy even higher.

     Rassillon stands in awe of her fighting capabilities, even while fighting to keep his emotions from showing on his face, lest the Supreme Dahlek see and he has to arrange an accident. In a mere few more moments it is over as Darkstar brings the bladed fingers of both hands driving into the dome of the last Dahlek. The acidic fluid oozing from the blades enters the Dahlek's organic flesh and breaks it down into a slimy mess.

     The Supreme Dahlek orders more to attack, as Darkstar cuts her way through. Their armor falling apart like tissue paper as her weapons cleave a path through. Leaving even more of their exo-cases smoking with noxious, choking smoke, she reaches the Supreme Dahlek and shouts for the remaining Dahleks to stop or the Supreme Dahlek will die. In an instant they all cease moving, for they will not jeopardize the Supreme Dahlek.

     Rassillon applauds Darkstars efforts, "Marvelous, truly marvelous. you have far exceeded my expectations. Ah if only I had met you long ago, where we could be now!"

     Darkstar: "No need to speculate on 'what if'. All that matters is where do we go from here."

     Rassillon: "Succinct and to the point. Yes, I begin to see how you have gotten to where you are now. Come, let us retire to my quarters next to the 'bridge'. I do not think they will bother you any further."

     Once settled, Rassillon asks of the other persona within Iriisii.

     Darkstar: "She is called Shivista, Destroyer of Worlds."

     Rassillon: "If she is Iriisii's 'dark side' how did she acquire an appellation like 'Destroyer of Worlds'?"

     Darkstar: "I have not asked her for certain, yet some things I have heard from others speaking leads me to believe that she had a separate existence at one time. Her name and deeds are written on the 'Obelisk of Absolute Darkness' where it sits close to a magma lake on one of the moons circling what is left of the world once known as Escoria, deep in the Dark Planes of Existence. How she came to become Iriisii's dark side, I believe happened at about the same time as her dragon soul was replaced with another more powerful, and more ancient."

     Rassillon: "Do you know who was responsible for this?"

     Darkstar: "Her dragon soul was replaced by the holder of the 'Mantle of the Mother of the Cosmos', as to her 'dark side', who replaced that is not known to me. Desidarius may know."

     Rassillon: "And who is Desidarius?"

     Darkstar: "Thousands of years before Iriisii, Illyria existed with the same clan that gave birth to Iriisii. He known as the 'Man of Glass', also the 'Mirror Man', arranged events for Illyria's only child to be killed. How it happened is forgotten, but it caused her, as an Aasimar, to 'Fall'. Her personality withdrew into the depths of her mind, and her 'dark side' came forth to take control. It went to the 'Man of Glass' who birthed her and asked of him, why? His response was terrible and horrifying.

     It drove her insane for a time, long enough to bury everything she knew of who she once was, and took up the name of Desidarius. She was exiled by the people of the village Illyria belonged to. They sent her into the outer darkness, where she entered a near constant struggle to survive. And survive she did, for her sole purpose became to get vengeance on he who created her then threw her away."

     Rassillon: "Did she ever get her revenge?"

     Darkstar: "Iriisii got her revenge for her, using the very same demon possessed blades she created for that purpose. The demons within those two blades came from two demon children she bore within her body, birthed them, then sacrificed them, using the darkest of necromantic spells to place the demon souls within the blades. Where they still are to this day, each battling half of the split soul of the 'Man of Glass'. The only way Iriisii could find to deal with him so that he could not return for revenge of his own as he was wont to do against any who sought to kill him. They could kill his body, but his soul would return in a new body, and he would have his vengeance."

     Rassillon: "So much has happened that I saw and heard nothing of these events."

     Darkstar: If you are thinking of acquiring Desidarius, you should think again, then a third time, then turn away and forget you ever heard her name."

     Rassillon: "Why is that?"

     Darkstar: "Her name is known and feared across Existence, more so than my own and you have only seen a fleeting glimpse of what I am capable of. She would tear your guts out of your body and decorate your TARDIS with them, while smiling the entire time. Not to mention that if you touched her for any purpose, Control Rod or no Control Rod, Iriisii would kill you and damn your soul to the Engines of Nightmare, where you would suffer through the torments of the worst nightmares ever experienced in the entirety of time itself."

     Rassillon: "It is of no consequence for I have all I desire in having Iriisii."

     Darkstar: "We shall see how long you can have her, when those who set her feet upon the path she walks look to see why she is not moving forward."

     Rassillon: "I am not afraid."

     Darkstar: "You should be, you really should be, before it is too late."

     Rassillon: "Too late for what?"

     Darkstar: "To avoid your destruction. Understand it will not come at mine, Shivista's, or even Iriisii's hands. You will never see from where it comes, or when it comes, but it will come for you, that is certain."

     Rassillon makes a decision and turns off the 'Control Rod'. Then sits to patiently await Iriisii's awakening. Iriisii slowly returns from the safe space her Ancestral Memories had constructed for her. As she becomes aware, Darkstar relates her conversation with Rassillon to Iriisii. Once she gets a better grasp on things she turns her head to look at him with all of her senses on board.

     Rassillon: "I assume that it is Iriisii looking so intently at me?"

     Iriisii: "You are quite the enigma, as I am sure you are well aware of. I have heard the stories told of you, and whereas the evidence backs those stories to a high degree. I look at you and see so much more than those stories tell, and my eyes see much that is contradictory. You have shown one face to the universe at large, and yet you keep the rest carefully hidden."

     Rassillon: "I guess I can keep nothing from you as I have done all others. You have done something that has not been done in millennia, you have garnered my interest and my attention. Not since my people first became Time Lords has that happened."

     Iriisii: "And the price of that event still weighs heavy upon your soul. Would you be free of it, if it could be?"

     Rassillon: "I can never be free of it. It is my burden to hold and to share with one other."

     Iriisii: "I know of whom you speak, and whereas his soul is still burdened under the weight, he has found the means for himself at least, to balance that weight such that it does not drive him down the same path it has led you."

     Rassillon: "I wish him well then, if he can avoid where it has taken me. Perhaps the universe simply waits until the last of us are gone, and then we will finally be forgotten, and the pain we inflicted be healed."

     Iriisii: "And still where before there would be no pathway to redemption for you and you would be correct in your summation, now a pathway does exist. For I took on the burden of forging it for another to leave behind what he once was and become someone new. He experienced a living hell, a fall from the heights, that left him wanting the touch of death. A touch that seemed that was never going to come for him."

     Rassillon: "Is that why you forged that path for him, to allow Death to come for him?"

     Iriisii: "No, for he still lives, a man remade, reborn. A new man in every way, similar to your own cycle of regeneration."

     Rassillon: "How can this be? I have never heard or seen where that process has been duplicated."

     Iriisii: "Is that not why you have set out to bring me to yourself? To find a way to gain another set of regeneration cycles? Why else would you attempt to do as you have done to ally yourself to those who were once your enemies."

     Rassillon: "It was 'The Other' who encountered and made enemies of the Dahleks, along with others roaming out there. Knowing the danger they pose, I am trying to gather them all together so that they may be dealt with at one time, instead of in waves as they rebuild themselves after each seeming defeat."

     Iriisii: "Then you know nothing of the attempt to hybridize them with another even more dangerous creation?"

     Rassillon: "What creation is more dangerous than the Dahleks?"

     Iriisii: "The Wamphyri. And if it is successful that they be brought together, the threat to all that exists is beyond imagination. For as the Dahleks live only to destroy all that is not like themselves, the Wamphyri live to subjugate and corrupt all that lives, even the weaker of their own kind. And the Wamphyri have the power to infect not only any species of mortal, but they can infect the immortal as well."

     Rassillon stands thinking on the implications of her words.

     Iriisii: "This threat is real. For those above have raised me up the Celestial Ladder to fight this threat. I see the question of 'why' in every part of you. Because their hands are tied and breaking those bonds to deal with it would see to the ultimate destruction of everything just as surely as the Wamphyri/Dahlek hybrids eventually would. Only someone brought up from the very base level of life, equipped and trained by pain and adversity, someone who could become the very aspect of 'WAR', forged in battle at the Celestial level. Who could earn the power to gather an army great enough to deal with the threat, and not become an even greater threat themselves afterward. I am the one chosen to be that Warrior Goddess and by all the Holy and all the Demonic, I wish it were not so!"

     And Iriisii collapses at his feet, her body heaving with tremors, gut wrenching sobs echoing from her voice, hot tears flowing down her face as she looks up at him. And her plight touches him where nothing else ever has in all of his life from the time he first drew breath. He kneels down beside her, wrapping his arms around her, not sure if there is anything he can say to offer comfort. And then the beginning of a plan forms in the back of his mind. Maybe a way if it cannot stop what she fears, it may buy her time to find the answer for herself. And if he can find expiation of his own sins in the process, so much the better.

     He has for so long thought his burden was the greatest one to be suffered, but here was one whose burden put his own to shame. He is so moved by her, that he does something completely uncharacteristic for him, he bends his head down to her and kisses her on her forehead, whispering gently.

     Rassillon: "We will find a way for you to do whatever you must to stop this threat. If I must be the one to pay the price for this, then so be it. I have likely lived for too long as it is and in so doing have lost sight of where it was I sought to go in the beginning."

     And so time felt like it was slowing to a standstill, as he knelt on his knees, on the floor of his quarters. Holding Iriisii in his arms, her head under his against his chest. For a instant that felt like a lifetime, he got a sense of her doom driven destiny and wondered why after all that he had done through the cycles of his life, why now was he holding the one that held the hope, the only hope of saving the future of Existence itself. And did he have the strength to sacrifice himself if it came to that, to allow her to go on and do what she felt called to do.

     Within Iriisii's mind, Darkstar having witnessed all that had happened, every word spoken by both of them, is stunned by what Iriisii was able to see and bring to the surface in Rassillon. And she holds sympathy, compassion, and some pity for the battle Iriisii is fighting within herself. Under other circumstances she knows where this would lead, but this time it will not. And she wonders, where is the balance between the price that will be paid between these two, and what price will be asked for her to go on to achieve her destiny. And if he pays that price, what will the memory of it do to her as she goes onward.

     Shivista: "I do not know the answer to the question that burns in you right now. Even Iriisii does not know the answer, even as she is asking herself the same question."

     Darkstar: "What do you think she should do?"

     Shivista: "I am just glad it is her and not me. If it was me, the temptation to hit him over the head, grab him and run as far and as fast as I could would be more than I could withstand. He has baggage, that is for certain, and a lot of it. But the possibilities of what he could be make it worth trying for. And you cannot tell me you do not see it as well."

     Darkstar sighs, "Yes, I do see it. And I too am glad I do not have to make that decision. The first time I have met someone I could truly respect, could truly..., but it cannot be. And that is what hurts so bad."

     Shivista goes to Darkstar and wraps metaphysical arms around her.

     Shivista: "There will be someone out there for us if we desire it enough. The question is would they be worth giving up what we have for them. It would be a very difficult proposition, but not impossible, no, not impossible. But do you think it possible...?"

     Darkstar looks at Shivista, "No, it looks very much like it could be, but no, it is not the same. She feels great compassion and even more sympathy for him, for where he is in his life and what has brought him here. She does very strongly feel he is worth trying to save despite all that he has done. But deep inside she knows he will not do as Whoreson Junior did and accept her offer for redemption. And so he will be lost forever when his time comes, and it fast approaches, both recognize this. As hard as she will try to get him to accept redemption, he will remain steadfast in his refusal even through the pain it will cause them both. His pain will be short lived, hers will go on for a long time. And we must be there to help her pass through her pain."

     Shivista: "You are right, and we will be here for her. It is the least that we owe her."

     Darkstar: "By the way."

     Shivista: "Yes?"

     Darkstar: "How did you come to be her dark side if you existed before and outside of her?"

     Shivista: "Damn, you had to go and ask that."

     Darkstar: "Do you not think after all we have been through that now it should come out? Just how old are you anyway?"

     Shivista: "One question at a time, please. Yes, I existed outside before she was born. I was placed within at the same time the soul of the First Dragon of Destiny replaced the dragon soul Akatosh gave her."

     Darkstar: "Then who did it, someone had to place you here. Was it the 'Mother'?"

     Shivista: "No, she had no knowledge of it until after it was done. That she was not pleased would be a understatement, but when the reasoning for it was presented to her, she grudgingly admitted that it was the right thing to do."

     Darkstar: "Because...?"

     Shivista: "The one who put me here, looked down the Timestreams that the 'Mother' looked at when she chose Iriisii as her agent and successor. But he looked closer and farther out the branches to see how the 'Mother's' decision would affect the 'Great Balance' as well as the 'Balance' of our 'Existence'."

     Darkstar: "Was it Fli..., no, it was not him who did this. It was Shai-Hulu'ud was it not?" 

     Shivista: "Yes, it was."

     Darkstar: "Then it was before you became Iriisii's dark side that you earned the accolade of 'Destroyer of Worlds'?"

     Shivista: "Yes. This was done in part to aid Iriisii, the 'Balance' of our Existence, and the 'Great Balance', but also to aid me."

     Darkstar: "Why? I do not understand."

     Shivista: "I am the 'Dark Paladin', one of the four 'Aspects of Darkness'."

     Darkstar: "That explains much of what is transpiring in preparation for the Jihad of Truth. But what of the other three, who are they?"

     Shivista: "The Dark Emperor has been corrupted by the Wamphyri and so another will be chosen. Who it will be I have no idea. And I cannot point to who will do the choosing, all I remember is that they exist outside."

     Darkstar: "All right then, who is the Dark Knight?"

     Shivista: "He too has been corrupted and will be replaced."

     Darkstar: "That leaves the Dark Phoenix?"

     Shivista turns her head to consider whether to reveal what she knows.

     Darkstar: "It is not Eliza is it?"

     Shivista: "No, it is not, rather it is Desidarius."

     Darkstar in a hushed tone of voice, "Desidarius?!"

     Shivista: "Look at it this way, how many times has she arisen from the ashes of her own destruction?"

     Darkstar: "Yes, I see your point, probably more than we know about. Who do you think may replace the Dark Emperor?"

     Shivista: "I am not certain, but I have a great fear as to who it will be."

     Darkstar: "Why is that?"

     Shivista: "The four are the Aspects of Darkness, with the second most powerful being Desidarius, who do you think the first would be?"

     Darkstar: "No! You cannot be serious? Not him!"

     Shivista: "Considering all that I know of the Aspects, being one myself. I believe it will be him."

     Darkstar: "But he is..."

     Shivista: "It will make no difference. If he is anointed, he will have the power to release himself from his current circumstances. Our one saving grace is that those of the 'Dark' and 'Evil' that have taken service with Iriisii are bound to her until she should release them. He will not be able to wrest them from her."

     Darkstar: "What about the Aspects of Light?"

     Shivista: "The Knight of the Light is hers, and he has gone in search of the 'Paladin' and the 'Queen'. The Highest One has been corrupted and will be replaced. Who it will be I have no idea but I feel it will be soon. We will have to wait and see how this shakes out, and get word to Reaper to keep an eye on the Dwemer Box, just in case."

     Iriisii: "If I can do this, would you accept redemption from me?"

     Rassillon: "From what you told me of the other one you did this for, the cost to me would utterly destroy me."

     Iriisii: "There are ways to mitigate the pain, bring it to a level that you would survive."

     Rassillon: "And the cost of that to you...no, I could not let you pay that great a price for me. As you have pointed out, you have a destiny to fulfil. I would be a tremendous weight around your neck, holding you back, weighing you down. Not to mention, my very presence would tear your family apart. No, I will not be the cause of that."

     Iriisii: "Would you please let me be the one to decide what is too great for me to bear?"

     Rassillon: "Would that we had met under different circumstances, long before I stepped on the path I have walked for so long. You are the only woman I believe that I could love with all my heart. And it is because of that fact, that I must say no, I will not accept redemption. Even if it damns me for eternity, I will not compromise you like that."

     Iriisii: "Your refusal will not damn you. It will consign you to oblivion, destroy you, body and soul. No afterlife, good or bad, just nothing, no, not nothing. No part of you will exist anymore, body, mind, soul, gone for all future time."

     Rassillon: "But you forget, I will live in your memories, in your dreams."

     Iriisii: "In those, you will be but a pale shadow of who you truly are, a shadow of what I will remember of you. A shadow that will fade as time passes, because there will not be enough of who you are within them to keep them growing. I am sorry for what you have decided, because I cannot force redemption on you. It must be your desire for it to mean anything. I find myself torn in two, I want to keep you near me, to hold on to you no matter what, and I want to distance myself from you, to spare myself the pain I know will come for me when you are gone."

     Rassillon: "Neither of us chose this to happen to the other, but it is what we must face. And what is of most importance here, is how we choose to face it. I must stay and deal with the Dahleks, you must leave and go on to face your ultimate destiny. Both of our tasks must be done, at least for me, I will in some small way atone for the things I have done. You had no part in those, only I did, and so you have no part in my atonement. I must face it alone, but for however much time I have, I will remember you, and dream of what might have been."

     Rassillon turns on the Control Rod and gives only one command, "Sleep".

     Rassillon walks to where Iriisii's is now sleeping in the chair. He gently and carefully picks her up and carries her to a room within his suite that he set aside for her. Entering he places her on the bed, the coverlet already pulled back. Pulling it up over her. he tucks it in to make her comfortable and sits on the edge, next to her, just looking winsomely at her for a few moments, then leans down close to her ear and whispers to her.

     Rassillon: "You are the only woman I have ever met that I could fall in love with. But I know there is no chance of that with the history that I have. If we had somehow met before I stepped on the path I tread, then things would have been very different, for better or worse, who can say. It is what it is, and we must play the parts we have been given, to whatever end is required of us.

     You honor me by wishing to redeem me in spite of all that I have done, but I cannot allow you to take on the burden of that from me. I will go to whatever fate lies in wait for me, and meet it as I have met every other challenge. I have beaten them all, but this one I think will be my undoing. And you will go on to that which lies in your future. I will wake you before I deal with the Dahleks, so that you may witness their demise and then return you to your people.

     Do not think to harshly of the Doctor, for his role in the Dahleks' spread. He was simply following his beliefs in not destroying them when he found them. He crossed that line when he instigated our war against them, and we know how that ended. The two of us, with him soon to be the sole surviving Time Lord, and the Dahleks still a menace to Existence, but hopefully not for much longer. He has made mistakes along his path as have we all, but he does try to not repeat them, so help him when you can."

     As he rises and walks to the door, he stops and turns back, thinking he heard something from Iriisii, but no, she is laying still and quiet. He turns back and exits the room, for he has the finishing touches to complete on his plan to eliminate the Dahleks in what he considers to be his last gift to the universe."

     While inside Iriisii's mind an altogether different situation is boiling over.

     Shivista: "LET ME GO!"

     Darkstar: "NO, You know full well why I cannot do that."

     Shivista: "DAMN YOU TO THE HELLS OF ABSOLUTE DARKNESS, I SAID LET ME GO!"

     Darkstar: "AGAIN, NO."

     Shivista: "PLEASE, I finally find someone I want to go with, be with, even die with, if it must be so, and you hold me back! WHY?!"

     Darkstar: "You know the fate he must suffer. He knows this as well and is willing to do so."

     Shivista: "And I am willing to as well if it must be for me to have him, so please let me go."

     Darkstar: "Sister, I cannot let you destroy yourself for nothing to be gained."

     Shivista: "But should this not be my choice? What gives you the right to deny me?"

     Darkstar: "Because you are not thinking, you are reacting."

     Shivista: "Maybe I am, but again it should be my choice. I am willing to pay the price for my decision."

     Then Shivista feels a gentle touch of soft crystal leaves trail a path across her shoulders. And hears the softest chime floating into her metaphysical ears.

     Shivista: "What? Did you hear that?"

     Darkstar: "Hear what?"

     She Who Watches All: "I hear your plea, my daughter, the plea that cries out from your deepest heart, and I share your anguish, your pain, and would offer you a possible solution."  

     Shivista: "What can you do? What can anyone do? I do not know that anything can be done."

     She Who Watches All: "If it were just within this Existence, you would be right. And so I asked of those over the Great Beyond if anything could be done."

     Shivista with the dawning of hope in her voice, "What did they say?"

     She Who Watches All: "This is what they told me. As you are spirit, so too would he need be. For you to be released from your destiny, one would have to take it up in your place. As you both are from this Existence, both would have to pass the Final Gate into the Great Beyond."

     Shivista: "How can we do this?"

     She Who Watches All: "He would have to agree and pay his penance. I will make it possible for his mind and soul to be saved from destruction. The two of you would need to provide a spirit created from you both, sharing your skills and memories, to take your place as Iriisii's Dark Side and become the 'Dark Paladin'. You both pass through the Final Gate and into the Great Beyond. And finally, no one else must know of this until it is done."

     Shivista: "So it is up to me to convince him?"

     She Who Watches All: "It is not an insurmountable undertaking. You are a part of the Iriisii he knows, and as yet he has no knowledge that the two of you have met in the past before you passed from your mortal body and became Iriisii's Dark Side."

     Shivista: "Wha...? That was 'him' who broke me out of that 'prison ship' and chased me from one end to the other before I could escape?"

     She Who Watches All: "Yes, it was indeed him. He never saw more than glimpses of you as you evaded his every attempt to catch you. Yet those glimpses have haunted his memories ever since that time. He still has dreamed of that chase, sometimes catching you, but always waking before he could see your face."

     Shivista: "But why was he there? Why did he break into that ship and try to catch me?"

     She Who Watches All: "Because he came into possession of one of the hallowed 'Scrolls of Skelos', this one spoke to him, that he would find the only one in Existence that could save him from total destruction if he could but see her face. He has yearned for this ever since, and now believes that his end is here without a chance to escape. He thought he had found escape when he stole Iriisii from the Krang, but he realized she was not the one when all she could do was offer him redemption, not realizing that the one he sought was inside her, not Iriisii herself."

     Shivista: "But why? Who would go to all of this effort to bring this about?"

     She Who Watches All: "You would have to ask the 'One' who gave the prophecies to Skelos to be written. I do not know who that 'One' is or even how to speak to them. Mayhap you will find out one day, mayhap not. So what do you say, yes or no?"

     Shivista: "I say YES!"                                                                                                                           'She Who Watches All' pulls Shivista outside of Iriisii's mind into a construct body created directly from Shivista's mind. The body is clothed in a floor length simple gown, sheer, hazy, and shimmering. Her face is hidden within a cowling hood that projects shadows to obscure her face. Shivista then takes a deep breath, lets it out slow and easy, then walks to the door, which opens automatically. Rassillon hears the door opens and turns toward it, assuming Iriisii has somehow awakened.

     Rassillon in a questioning voice, "You are not Iriisii. Who are you and how did you come here?"

     Shivista walks toward him where he was standing looking out of a view port, somehow the way she walks reminds him of something that happened long ago, he just cannot seem to place what or where. Try as he might, his vision cannot pierce the shadows that conceal her face. By now he is far more curious than anything else, so he waits to see where this is going. Shivista keeps a slow, swaying walk as she slowly circles him. Rassillon keeps his eyes on her even as he manages to keep his body from turning to face this alluring visitor. Shivista continues to a chair and gestures for permission to sit. As Rassillon nods his head, Shivista gently sits and makes herself comfortable, maintaining a poise that Rassillon finds himself thinking, 'I know her from somewhere, but where?'

     Shivista reading his expressions, "Yes, you know me from a time in the past. A great deal has happened since then and much blood has flowed by as a river flows to a sea."

     Rassillon: "I keep trying to place you but I just cannot seem to. Where do I know you from?"

     Shivista: "You once broke into a prison ship, why I do not know. But in your efforts, you interrupted the power going to the force bars that kept me confined. As I attempted to find my way off that ship, you caught sight of me and tried to catch me. I was in no mood to be captured by anyone, least of all someone else who had broken into the ship, and myself not knowing who you were or why you were on board. You gave me quite the chase. I was barely able to keep some distance between us until I could get to a shuttle and launch myself."

     Rassillon: "Ah yes, now I remember. You have caused me many, shall I say, curious dreams over the years. Might I ask why you show up here at this time?"

     Shivista: "You are in possession of one of the 'Scrolls of Skelos, are you not? One that directly speaks to you?"

     Rassillon's eyes start to grow wide, "What do you know of them, and no, I have no intention of parting with it."

     Shivista chuckles, "Fear not, I do not wish to even see it, much less lay hands on it. They can be most dangerous to those uninitiated in understanding them."

     Rassillon: "What do you know of them?"

     Shivista: "As to 'who' gives him the prophecies he writes about, no one knows. But some of us who have come into contact with others who have been the subject of his Scrolls, know that he is never wrong. Sometimes it takes a long time for the 'Words' to come clear, but they do when it is time for them."

     Rassillon: "You are saying it is time for the one I have to come clear?"

     Shivista rises and as she pulls back the cowl, revealing her face, "That is exactly what I am saying."

     Rassillon steps up to Shivista, looking deep into her eyes, feeling her presence surrounding him. Speechless, he raises a single hand to gently cup the side of her face, as she turns her face into his hand and kisses his palm. He then whispers, "It is you, that is to save me. But it was not time back then, as it is now. And so that is why I could not catch you. There is much more to this is there not?"

     Shivista: "Yes there is."

     And she proceeds to explain all she knows of it to him. She marvels at his patience in hearing her out, and she feels that now he has the experience to believe what she is telling him, whereas long ago, he would have thought her 'mad'.

     Rassillon: "This is a great deal to take in."

     Shivista: "Indeed, I agree, and I have the benefit of a great deal of knowledge and experience in these kinds of things. I am still not sure if I would have believed all of this if I did know already know and trust the one who came to tell me of it all."

     Rassillon: "Who was it who came to you?"

     Shivista: "I know her as 'She Who Watches All', her physical form is that of a crystal tree with long, trailing, vine-like limbs with very soft and flexible crystal leaves. She once lived on the world of Telios, until she ran afoul of a Wamphyri leech that tried to corrupt her. At that time she was not as she is now, then she was a Forestal, a tree shepherd. Her father asked Iriisii to save her life when they met far back in Telios' past. To do this, she had to change her nature from a simple tree into what she is now. After the change, the leech could not affect her physical form and was also trapped inside, and so died.

     'She' went into a forced slumber for a number of years before awakening. By then, her father and the remaining Forestals migrated to another world where they started over managing the forests. 'She Who Watches All' became a 'greater force' who spread her children across every Realm of Existence. Until Existence became unbalanced, and as it slid further and further into darkness, her children were hunted until only she remained. She then moved herself from the 'Waking Worlds' and sought refuge in the Dreamlands, in the 'Garden of Elysia'. created by the Gods of Eld as a home to replace the one they fled from.

     Now that Iriisii has met her and befriended her, she is gradually returning from being the last of her kind. From time to time, as Iriisii feels led, she gives a tender sapling to someone to plant and nurture until it grows and begins drawing those it can speak with. They do not use words as we do, but rather 'chimes and tones'. If you dig into them, let them flow through you like a river, you will come to understand them. But I know all this to be true, because she gave me these."

     Shivista shows Rassillon three long, slender crystal leaves.

     Rassillon: "Those are indeed beautiful, never have I seen the like before."

     Shivista: "We are to let these sink into our bodies and wrap themselves around our hearts. Then when the time comes, she will use the connection they forge with her, to draw your soul and mind to rest within her until I am ready to leave Iriisii and go with you through the Final Gate and into the Great Beyond."

     Rassillon: "What lies past the Final Gate? What is this Great Beyond?"

     Shivista: "On this side of the gate, only the Aspect of Death and Iriisii know what lies beyond. And all that she will say is that it is a new beginning, where we can be anything we wish to be, live whatever life we desire, find a new destiny to work toward. I saw what it did to her when she returned, I felt the change in her, and I have since promised myself that I would never leave her unless I could somehow pass through that gate. Now it looks like my chance has finally come, with you. If it was possible to stay here and be with you, know that I would, even knowing we would be hunted for our pasts. But this way, this way we can start again, and this time do things differently. Very few ever get that chance, and but for you, I would take my chances here and hope for something better later."

     Rassillon says nothing, but holds out his hand, and Shivista places two of the leaves in them, keeping one for herself.

     Rassillon: "Would you tell me of how you became known as the 'Destroyer of Worlds'?"

     Shivista: "Not one of my more shining moments, but there was no other way to stop the situation from spreading. I was acting as the 'Dark Paladin' and was sent to the world of Escoria in the Dark Planes. Reports had been filtering out of the presence of unknown entities being seen there. Entities very powerful and that did not seem to care about the hierarchies in place. I went and quickly found myself in a power struggle that became a..., sorry, I still do not know of a word to describe what went on. The ones causing the trouble were 'outsiders', not from the 'Dark Planes', not even from our Existence. They were from the 'Deep Void'. In explanation, between Existences, what you call 'Dimensions', lies the 'Deep Void'. And it is not barren of lifeforms, life there is not common, and widely scattered, but it is there nonetheless. And the forms it can take are unknowable, unrecognizable as life.

     Some had found their way to Escoria, accidentally or deliberately, no one knows even to this day. But they began trying to change the world and the entire area to an environment more suitable for them to live in. It quickly devolved into a war as the changes were causing massive disruptions to the world's structure, involving extensive loss of native life. The 'outsiders' were unfazed by any means I employed to return them to the Deep Void. And any attempt I made to correct the problems caused by their actions, well, the repercussions caused even more loss of life.

     In the end, I had no choice but to use the disruptions to target them and eliminate them completely, because I discovered that they did not intend to stop at this one world. Their goal was to reform the entire plane and all within it. I kept using the quakes, eruptions, rogue waves, against the outsiders, until it became too unstable and the world crumbled into pieces. The backlash against the forces they were using destroyed them and the rest of those who sought to survive what had already happened. This resulted in a record of my deeds being carved into the Obelisk of Absolute Darkness, and one of them being placed on one of the surviving moons of that world. I gained the name of 'Destroyer of Worlds' from that incident and it was in part the reason why I was on that prison ship, but that is something that needs be spoken of at another time. For now just place the leaves against your chest and they will do the rest."

     He looks at the leaves in his hand, feels their silky smoothness, a bit of warmth from them, then makes his decision and places them against his chest and over his hearts. He hears a soft chime as the sink into body and wrap themselves around his hearts. As he looks to Shivista with hers still in her hand, she reaches out to him and asks, "Would you place this one over my heart?"

     Looking deep onto her eyes, a slight smile on his face, he takes the leaf in his fingers. She runs a single finger down the front of her gown and the fabric parts. She shrugs her shoulders and the gown slides to the floor. As she stands naked in front of him, waiting for what he will do next. He moves up to her and places the leaf against her skin, over her heart, placing his hand over it to keep it steady as it sinks into her body and wraps around her heart. He feels her heartbeat, steady and powerful, then he feels the chime from the leaf around her heart, as it syncs itself to her heartbeat, and his own syncing to hers. She looks up into him, wraps an arm around his head and pulls him into a deep kiss, as he wraps his arms around her, against the backdrop of the viewscreen looking out into infinite space.

     Iriisii comes awake in an instant, remembering what happened. She is not particularly pleased about it, but she can understand why he did it. She gets up and moves to the door. She pauses when she hears the strident voices of the Dahleks talking to Rassillon.

     Dahlek: "You will obey."

     Rassillon: "Tell the Supreme Dahlek, he has no authority to order me to do anything. I do not fear him or any of you, and if you dare to attempt to fire your weapon at me, you will not even have a moments time to regret such action. Tell him I am aware of his secondary project, and that he is taking a great risk with it. What will likely come of it will bring about the eradication of all Dahleks."

     Dahlek: "We are the supreme lifeform in the galaxy. There is nothing that can stop us. You will obey the Supreme Dahlek and give him the female."

     Rassillon: "Tell him he is treading on thin ice covering a bottomless crevasse and it is cracking underneath him. There is an entire hierarchy of beings that you could never imagine. And they will not take kindly to your interference in their goals for her. Therefore I must decline to give her over. She must be allowed to go on her way. The tasks she has yet to complete are of far more importance than what you want her for."

     Dahlek: "And how do you know this?"

     Rassillon: "Because I have spoken with one of them, and your entire race is as an insignificant insect standing in the path of a leviathan bearing down on you to the one I spoke to. I was given a glimpse into what comes, and you, even if you numbered in the billions, would be swept away with but a thought from what I saw coming. Only the one you have asked for will be capable of standing in its path, of stopping it from devouring everything. Therefore I will not give her to you, tell the Supreme Dahlek he should turn and run, now while he still has the means to do so, if he wishes even a chance to survive for a while longer.

     For we are all doomed, you and I, only you do not see it yet, but you will, and when you do, it will be too late. Now go, your time grows short, and you must still bear my words to the the Supreme Dahlek."

     Dahlek: "You will..."

     Rassillon clicks a spot on the control rod hidden within the sleeve of his robes and the Dahlek stops in his tracks, turns to his fellow and speaks.

     Dahlek: "We return to the Supreme Dahlek."

     The two then turn and move to the airlock where their shuttle waits for them. As the shuttle leaves, Iriisii steps out from her room."

     Rassilon: "No, I cannot expand on what I told them. To do so would endanger what I saw, and that coming to pass is more important than anything else, even my own life. So I cannot now, even if I wanted to, accept your offer of redemption for me. The cost is too high, not for me, but for everyone else. And perhaps for the first time in my life, I am going to do the right thing, and let you go. So that I may die with my soul at peace."

     Iriisii: "It does not have to be this way. There are still options open to you, if you would take advantage of them."

     Rassillon: "No, my feet are set, I must follow where they lead me. I know this is not what you wish to hear, but sometimes disappointment leads to the greater good. This is one of those times. Now you must leave, time slips rapidly and fate approaches."

     It is at that moment that every alarm possible on the flagship sounds off at maximum level. Rassillon goes to the control panel and encloses the sections around himself and Iriisii in a forcefield to prevent any of the Dahleks entry. Iriisii looks out of the viewscreen and can just make out the Krang, with all of its towers scintillating with color bands of every imaginable hue, at a power level that is almost blinding.

     Iriisii: "They did it, by all of the Ageless Ones, they did it!"

     Rassillon turns to her, "What did they do?"

     Iriisii: "Harnessed a galaxar! They are using it to power my Krang!"

     Rassillon whispers, "A...galaxar, before now I would have said it was impossible to do that. But what is a 'Krang'?"

     Iriisii: "A gift, from the Last Prophet of the Tar Aiym."

     Rassillon: "The Tar Aiym, you actually met one? They were thought to be gone so long ago they came to be fairy tales."

     Iriisii: "The Prophet is the last of them, traveling across dimensions in search of what, only he knows. But he heard questions directed to him about me, and so he came in search of me. He found me on Tuo, after I defeated a Demogoric in a High Duel. After that battle, he gave me the 'Key' to the Krang and bid me go forth and find it, claim it for myself. I have upgraded its capabilities with whatever I could find in every place I ventured. And now you can see what it has become."

     Rassillon: "Magnificent! A stellar edifice worthy of a Goddess. But how are you going to get back to them, the gravitic distortions are so bad, no form of teleportation will work."

     Iriisii: "I know, even a Shadow Gate will be influenced by a monster of that size out there. But I have faith that a means will be made for me. By what means, I will just have to wait and see."

     Rassillon: "It is already chewing up the Dahleks, pulling them into itself with no escape possible. We can last a little longer, but it will claim this ship as well, very soon if I do not miss my guess."

     Iriisii: "I am only sorry that you chose to stay, I will find a way to escape, but you are now committed to your fate."

     Rassillon: "And it is my fate, my decision to make, and I do not regret that decision. At least there will be few if any Dahlek survivors."

     Suddenly there is a sharp scream of metal being pulled apart, the hull to their side is now gone. The air still being held by the force field but it is straining under the pull of the galaxar. There is an impact as a piece of debris bounces off and is then gone. A Dahlek ship fires on them as it is pulled into the black maw of the monster, a flash of light and it is gone. 

     Then they see a true monstrosity of a ship, its engines groaning as it fights the gravitational pull, a pull it seems to be making some small headway against as it fires meson particle beam weaponry at them. Iriisii pours power into the forcefield shielding them. Rassillon utilizes weapons of his own, using power being pulled from his TARDIS. His weapons impact the other ship's shields and although they hold, they are near the breaking point, never having been designed to withstand tachyon weapons. The combination of tachyon weapons fire, meson particle beams, and the Celestial power Iriisii is pouring into the shields combines into something no mathematical physics could begin to describe as it rips holes in the event horizon.

     Rassillon turns to Iriisii, "I wish you good luck, we have but seconds before we hit the tattered event horizon. I never imagined anything could do that to an event horizon this strong. But even now it is healing itself. Would that things might have been..."

     And the ship breaks apart under the strains. It was a miracle it held together as long as it did. Rassillon is gone, pulled into the event horizon. A Time Lord now living in 'no time' stretched to infinity. A single tear creeps down her face in mourning for him as she too is pulled through a rent in the event horizon. As she dives through, everything about her prepares for survival. In the quantum moment of when she touches the pure neutronium beneath the surface, her instincts create a mantella around her. A mantella of crystallized neutronium, possibly the only one of its kind ever produced. Then her magic comes alive and without thinking, it acts and casts a 'Winterstorm Construct' around the mantella. Again and again, layering it until it is strong enough to absorb the gravitational pressure and balance the forces trying to both crush her and protect her.

     For how long, it is incomprehensible, she floats within the neutronium core of the galaxar, as the individual particles slide over and around the Winterstorm Construct, she gradually sinks closer and closer to the heart of this monster. And she draws herself into a deep sleep, trusting that whoever brought her to this point, did not do so to abandon her now. She floats ever downward, until she is captured and drawn into a quantum wormhole. She slides along its path through time, space, dimensions, all curved around the quantum tunnel, faster and faster she goes, breaking every speed record in existence and then she keeps going faster.

     It is then that she is finally released from the wormhole and into fires greater than any others existing in this Realm. The fires here are pulled from the galaxar through the quantum wormhole to what those skywatchers able to see it, call a 'Hellmouth'. The name came about because the light from it dwarfs all other stars when they looked in its direction. Then when their science advanced until they could see it, it matched certain descriptions of what early religious texts put their place of punishment. To this Iriisii does not care, for she is sleeping the 'sleep of death', a form of sleep that allows her to be oblivious to everything happening around her, even the passage of time.