The great city of Ithaca stands like a glittering diamond above the great fields of grain sprawling in all directions from it. A strange city for the general technological level of the world it finds itself in, towers of carved marble and glass fill its skyline rather than low-lying brick structures with a central castle like everywhere else.

  A city of progress, focusing on artifice and magic, pushing the boundaries of their world's magic system and developing technologies for the entire world to enjoy. A city-state composed almost entirely of magic-users and their families, a place where capability decides rank rather than any bloodline. A strange place indeed for the world it calls home.

  Today, it shines even brighter as fireworks and other celebratory pyrotechnics are utilized to show the jubilation of the city. This celebration they share with the rest of the world, and this celebration is for good reason since only a few days ago the world had been saved from a terrible fate.

  Four heroes summoned from another world had vanquished the Evil Gods who sought either the destruction or domination over all life, and in a final climactic battle, they had fully defeated the leader of the pantheon of wickedness. A job that the good dieties had been unable to do because of an ancient pact the wicked ones had abused in order to fulfil their evil desires.

  Each of the three main races of the world had been able to summon a hero: the Humans, Elves, and Orcs, but due to the multi-racial nature of the city of Ithaca, and their unique status as a power representative of all, they had been allowed to summon a hero themselves, thanks to their patron goddess, who according to her had to pull massive favors from the others in order to bring in this fourth hero, and in the end, all were thankful for this decision, not just the people of the shining city.

  Sitting upon her throne within the highest tower of the city as their god-queen, the war goddess Atrani smiles gently to herself, watching the celebrations below. Great cannons once used in defense are now repurposed as launchers for fireworks. Despite her title as goddess of war, she is also the goddess of peace, as she represents the defensive nature of warfare as well as its innovative aspects.

  She watches her most favored wizards and artificers scuttle around the party surrounding her, happily watching the lower beings enjoy this newfound peace. She feels accomplished in her duties as a goddess, fulfilling all of her roles in this world during the great war against the evil deities. She had helped develop one of the heroes and had been very important to their overall success, thus she has gained some slight leverage over her peers, especially the war god, the one who represents the more offensive and brash aspects of war.

  She could be partying with the others of the pantheon, but they are mostly busy enjoying victory with their favored races and the other three heroes, plus she does want to be able to gloat over a few aspects of this victory, and that would probably ruin any ongoing festivities, so she stays with her chosen people, and will save her boasts for later.

  Although she has received multiple visitors from other gods and goddesses during this time, all of them congratulating her and wishing her well, a fine sign of respect in her mind, although some have been a little salty about her accomplishments, and there was one strange meeting.

  It was the god of the sea; he had arrived suddenly in a rage, asking for her chosen hero, but the hero was running late by a few days, and had only sent a message stating that he had been seeing the other heroes off before returning to the city and his goddess. The sea god had left in a huff, and even from where she sits now, she had felt some sort of massive disturbance, most likely the vengeful sea god attempting to do something to her hero. Atrani smiles to herself with wicked glee, imagining the look of horror on the briney bastard's face when he learned first-hand how the heroes had vanquished their wicked brethren.

  One of her subjects approaches her carrying a cup of some wonderful-tasting drink, which the goddess takes with a smile, yet it doesn't reach her eyes as she has noticed something approaching from a distance. Her divine eyes spotted a figure dozens of miles away. A presence that feels hollow, yet somehow teeming with power. Her hero has returned to her.

  She finds herself at a crossroads, her mind conflicted over a few things the hero had said on an earlier date when they had a bit of a disagreement, and now she has an answer for him, but it probably won't be the one he wants to hear, but as his goddess, he must listen to her.

  With a thought, she is out among the fields of grain, in front of her, walking down the road in a leisurely stroll, is her hero. A large, framed man clad in matte-gray armor, the helmet resembling a hoplite warrior and the rest of it a series of articulating lames interlocked with one another, offering no weakpoints in the armor. Upon the top of his helmet isn't the plume of the warriors of old, but instead a series of reflective, red spikes aiming skyward like the points on a crown. He is the Lonely Emperor, the chosen hero of the war goddess Atrani.

  He notices her and seemingly jumps out of deep thought. He waves to her and happily greets her, saying,

  "Ah! So you're the one who came to greet me first! It's always nice to have a beautiful woman awaiting your return!"

  Atrani can't help but laugh at his innocent jests, but she corrects him,

  "You know, you're supposed to prostrate yourself in front of your patron, god, right?"

  The Emperor laughs, responding,

  "Yeah, yeah, but we're buddies, so I get a pass, right?"

  The goddess shakes her head and waves off his insubordination, hesitation clear on her face. She then begins her hard conversation, her face steely,

  "I have my answer for a question you asked me a while ago."

  The hero laughs, responding jokingly,

  "Well, I've asked lots of questions, and I'm sure a few of mine were dooseys, gotta narrow it down."

  Not sharing his humor, the goddess then answers,

  "You asked me what my plans were after you leave and go home, and I'm ready to answer."

  The hero nods, asking curiously,

  "Okayyyy... but wouldn't this be a conversation better had over dinner or at least a beer or two? I mean, I'm fine talking out here if you wanted the privacy, but this seems like it might be a long conversation."

  Atrani frowns but keeps her cold demeanor going as she corrects him,

  "This won't be a long conversation if you understand your place in everything, and if you truly are who I molded you into."

  The Lonely Emperor laughs heartily, his body heaving at a joke she doesn't get, but she does notice his hand slowly tightening around the pommel of his sword, a nervous habit maybe, but his tightening grip shows he senses something more dire in her tone, something he can infer he will hate. Just as the goddess expected, she finds herself proud of her hero, noticing the tone of the situation while still pretending to be at ease. He then explains the joke he heard in her words after he calms down,

  "Molded me? I mean, kinda, but I am me at the end of the day. You are a great guide and all, but I really disagree that you changed who I was fundamentally. You are pretty smart, and so there probably was some manipulation, but hey, our friendship is based on a business one, so it's only fair. After all, we did use eachother. So what's that answer?"

  In the last sentence, there is a harshness to his voice, the weariness of his journey getting to him. The goddess diverts the conversation for a moment,

  "First, I must ask why you are so much later returning to me compared to the other heroes returning to their deities? I am supposed to be your greatest priority."

  He shrugs, his stance casual but awkward, clearly confused and trying to figure out her goals. He then responds,

  "I was taking a victory lap. I wanted to see the beauty of this world one last time before I went home. I also visited some old friends and said my goodbyes to the other heroes after we shared contact information with one another. In the end, this place is gorgeous; we don't get views back home as we do here, all the magic and stuff make this place uniquely wonderful.

  I mean, I'm not on a strict timeline to get home since it has been two years, a few more days or a week or two of being gone probably doesn't mean too much."

  The goddess smiles, hoping she was right, but asks something else to be sure,

  "So... the sea god asked for you. How did your spat end?"

  He shrugs, answering,

  "A little bit of an emotional rollercoaster, but I prevailed... he isn't dead by the way, he's way too powerful for that, but that also made him a major pansy since he hasn't felt pain in like a few millennia. What an ass, all of this grudging and hating on me, all because I stole his girl."

  This catches Atrani off guard, and she quickly asks,

  "What the hell?"

  The Emperor laughs again and explains,

  "No, I didn't actually steal a woman from him. I just protected one from him... kinda strange that in my homeworld, there are old legends of sea gods also being massive perverts. Odd that there is that similarity."

  This time, the goddess can't help but laugh, but his answer did put her in a better mood, hopeful that her answer won't be a problem. She then bites the bullet and enlightens her hero to her answer,

  "Back to the original point. My answer is that I ask you to remain here, in the world. To not return home."

  The hero freezes. No sign of aggression or any form of negative emotion, she can imagine the blank expression on his face as he processes the answer from the blue. He then responds,

  "I don't think that's an actual answer to the question. Explain."

  The goddess sighs in relief, seeing that his curiosity has won the conversation, meaning she may just convince him. She continues,

  "I guess you're right. My actual answer should be that I wish to save this world, to rid the world of all the so-called good deities who are no better than the evil ones you came here to defeat. You noticed it too, the gods act more as hedonistic rulers rather than guides such as myself. They aren't considered evil since they maintain the current status quo of kings and queens. It's safe, yes, but look at the city I chose, a place of reason and equality. A model of what a world should look like.

  I want to ask you to remain so that you may one day awaken as a god like me, as an equal, and as a companion, as we rebuild the defective pantheon."

  Striking a graceful pose at the end, Atrani hopes to have convinced him. He seems to have a long internal conversation with himself before he looks up at her, his voice not accusatory or angry, just tired... tired beyond his years by centuries as he responds,

  "You are right... this world is... screwed in lots of ways... but despite its splendor and beauty, I have to go home...Thank you, though. I am honored to have this offer, but I miss my parents. I miss my brother and sister... I miss my friends back home...I miss my dog...I miss... my peaceful life."

  Atrani feels her heart sink and break at his answer. She had been prepared for an indignant response, one she could shut down with her divine power and intellect, but the great and powerful hero, the one she had developed and designed, now looks and sounds like a lost child. His desire to go home isn't a stubborn drive or just a random end goal, but instead it's a goal to find rest. But her goal is of higher importance, so she bargains,

  "I remember you had said to me that your old life was awful. That you sought an escape where you had more control, had the power to achieve your goals, no matter what. You claimed you saw your life going nowhere. Why return to that?"

  He retorts,

  "That was two years ago. I've had enough time to reflect. It was all teenage angst. I saw no future because my present at that time sucked. I was overwhelmed with school, athletics, and personal relationships all seemingly going wrong at once, and maybe they were, but after my journey here I have come to understand the insignificance of what was going on and if I just put my nose down and decided to work through it, everything would've gone well in the end... maybe not perfect, but definitely it was possible to overcome... hell I beat a god of this world in a fight. A few friendship dramas are nothing compared to that."

  Atrani grimaces as she continues,

  "You stated you felt unwanted and uneeded, but here you can become a subject of adoration. Worshiped and loved by all."

  He shrugs it off with an answer,

  "I felt that way, yes, but that was just my parents being strict. I, like most boys my age, don't like getting told what to do, and I had felt as if their strict parenting meant they only cared about my results rather than me, but I understand now it was all for my benefit. They love me more than the world itself, and I do feel the same back... it was just a rough patch at the time. They were under lots of stress too, and maybe could've guided me better, but at the same time, I never tried to discuss it, I simply rebelled, I need to apologize."

  The goddess takes a step back as her argument fails one step at a time. She then offers,

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  "You stated you had trouble with women, and here you were able to taste romance. I can offer this to you. Anyone you want, elf, human, orc, or even goddess, I can grant you the love of your life if you remain. If love isn't your poison, but more lustful desires, I can see that you have a massive harem if you want it.

  You have made statements about my beauty, so if all goes well enough, I could even offer myself if that is your price."

  The hero shakes his head and responds,

  "Yes, I've tasted romance here, but it ended in tragedy each time. I think right now I wish to wait until the right one comes along, something I didn't believe two years ago would happen, but I learned if I am just myself and don't shut everything down, then it will come to me...

  As for the second half... well, very few men would turn down that offer as it's sort of a fantasy each of us holds in our hearts, but I don't know how long I would find any enjoyment in that, and yes you are very beautiful, but I cherish our friendship more than any... deeper thoughts I have late at night."

  He snorts at his own joke, and Atrani tries another route,

  "Your friends you have made will miss you dearly. Would you trade the comrades who fought alongside you for some friends you have back home?"

  He shakes his head, another retort ready,

  "Neither are less important than the others to me... but we are from different worlds. I am an alien to this world, and while I can adapt, we wouldn't share the same experiences and culture. We have separate lives ahead of us, and there are no hard feelings, but I left my friends back home on a bad note. I have some things to atone for."

  Now, frustrated, Atrani moves to more drastic measures, her voice now scolding,

  "You have grown weak, and I had noticed it in the past. I never guided you to be a sentimental fool. I designed you to do what is the right thing, no matter the personal cost. This is why many of your comrades died, because you failed to do what was needed when needed. Your hesitations and internal conflicts are what have caused your pain here when you could've easily saved everyone; those men and women died for this world because of your failings. Are you going to let their deaths be in vain by allowing this world to slowly rot? Will you spit on their bones by simply leaving rather than taking care of their homes and families as a divine protector?"

  Ba-dump

  A short sound like a heartbeat, but it's not. A very distinct sound, different from the heartbeat of the hero, as it could have been heard by a human from multiple yards away. Atrani can hear the hero's heart, rhythmically pumping blood, the rate increasing as he becomes upset with her statement. She knows what the sound means, but there are no further beats, meaning he had let it slip as he became frustrated with her statement. He then growls back, his grip on the sword no longer on the pommel, but the hilt,

  "Shut the fuck up... what does an immortal being know of loss? A simple setback in your plans, but for me, it is a great loss, every single time. Do not lecture me on who I could and couldn't save, as they knew the risks themselves and still chose to face battle. I am not divine, I do not know the future. I am simply human, and I have my failures, and this can result in the deaths of those I cherish. I will admit my faults there, but I will not stand here and allow you to even mention that I may be disrespecting their deaths by not wanting to go along with your selfish scheme."

  Atrani barks back with a scoff,

  "Selfish? Is it so selfish to want to save the world?"

  He laughs cruelly, and he answers her with a sneer audible in his voice,

  "I was simply placating you earlier, but yes, it is selfish, just like your damned city. Yeah, it's equal under the law, but not equal in how it behaves. While rank by merit can be good and all, it also has a flip side. Your society so greatly focuses on ability and power that it results in a cult of strength. A society where the greater always trample on the weak. There are no civil protections in the city, and despite your belief that everyone has an equal opportunity, oppression still exists. The ones already on the top stifle those on the bottom; murders, threats, bribery, and even actual slavery occur. Human rights abuses that would make my world's worst dictators seem like innocent puppies!

  If it weren't for your direct protection, I would've been dissected or sold as a menial slave by your so-called enlightened thinkers. You didn't create a society where the ambitious and capable win; you created one where the cruel and immoral can fulfil their worst desires under the guise of progress. You made a society based on yourself, high and mighty, where your mind and body mean you are always right.

  So yes. I find your plan to save the world very selfish, because you don't have an ambition to save it, you have an ambition to make it under your rule because you believe yourself above the other deities... You believe yourself above their failings, when you are the most prideful of all... because unlike the rest, you cannot see your own pride."

  The hero stands there, practically panting after his rant, and Atrani finds herself at a loss for words, surprised by the hero finally opening up to her. He had always been bullheaded and would disagree with her, but she hadn't realized what he actually thought of her. The worst part is, she can't disagree with him... but she is a goddess, and he is just a man. Letting her divine power expand, Atrani speaks with her authority, a hurricane wind forming around the pair,

  "You call me a prideful goddess and a cruel master, then so be it. I shall be one. I am your goddess, your master, and your designer. I hereby command you as a lowly human, one who would have no power if not for my actions and commands, to remain here as my loyal subject, and to become what I demand of you."

  Her voice is like thunder and her presence like the sun. She expects an angry retort or an attempt to fight her, but instead his response is quiet and sad,

  "I had seen you as a friend... not as a master or goddess... You just said you wanted an equal, but now you're lowering me to a slave."

  Goodbye, Atrani."

  His words cut her. Deeper than any divine attack from the other gods. She can feel her heart shattering as he ignores her and starts walking toward the city once more, his hand off of his sword...

  It should look pitiful... she should feel pity and shame, but instead Atrani feels white-hot rage at the man's refusal of her divine decree, and she appears in front of him, blocking his way, stating flatly,

  "Learn your place, mortal. I never saw you as a friend for that would mean us equals. I allowed your insubordination because I saw it as useful in your development. I see now I was wrong for this, and you need to relearn your place in this world."

  ba-dump...ba-dump...ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump dump dump dump dump dump boom boom boom boom boom boomboomboomboomboomboomboom

  The sound rapidly increases in pace as heat rises from the Lonely Emperor. His face is hidden by a thin veil of chain underneath his helmet, but she can hear his teeth gritting against one another. He now grips his sword, ready to draw as his body coils up like a snake, ready to strike. She knows his power and ability, and of the heroes, she is the hardest to fight. This is because, unlike the others, he isn't reliant on a god to grant him his magic and other abilities. Atrani had made sure of this. It made him weaker than the divinely powered heroes, but it made sure he could always fight no matter what, but id does come with a few major costs.

  First, it is not native to him. He had to be modified by her people of Ithaca in order to use magic since his world has none. Second, there is a time limit. His modifications allow him to passively store and compress mana to work as magical fuel within his body, and the artifice that allows it to be used can consume it rapidly. This means the more power he uses, the faster he runs out, but it also means his output limit is the entirety of what he can store, meaning he can do massive attacks. The final flaw is that it produces lots of heat. His armor, while protective, is actually designed mainly to radiate heat at a faster rate so he doesn't boil. Under the plating is an undersuit designed with active cooling in mind, and the lames of his armor work as radiators.

  This all means Atrani, in a fight, just has to outlast him in the event she doesn't just humble him down in the first exchange, which she is fairly certain she can do. While spooling up the Lonely Emperor states,

  "I'm going home... back off."

  Atrani laughs, grabbing her own sword, a large single-edged blade, and states,

  "It's time to learn your place."

  Atrani drops to the ground as she feels a disturbance right in the middle of her head. There is a loud "pop" right where her brain was nanoseconds ago, and the world seemed to "blink" for a second. She felt something pull her hair from that spot, and she found the ends of her hair missing, not burned or cut, but gone. The Lonely Emperor had opened the fight with a kill-shot, attempting to form a micro-singularity in the middle of her head.

  She sends a slash his way, which he dodges at the last moment before drawing his blade, the demonic sword, "Angron," named after a fictional character of his world, and a weapon containing the shattered soul of the evil god he personally killed, the great blood-god. His sword growls as a row of rotating teeth whir to life, another analogue to a fictional weapon of the Lonely Emperor's world. It screams with fury as if it personally hungers for blood, as the hero returns the strike of the goddess, who effortlessly parries it away, but the hero rotates his wrist, sending the blade back toward her.

  In less than a second, hundreds of slashes and stabs are shared between the two combatants. Each attack parried, and the shockwaves from the powerful attacks began tearing the ground up, shredding the fields around them. In a final clash, there is practically an earthquake as the Lonely Emperor injects mana directly into his muscles, granting him the strength to match the goddess.

  Despite the goddess being taller, she is thrown away during the clash as the hero still outweighs her. His armor adds extra mass while she wears what he, at one point, called a "battle bikini with leggings," which grants her better mobility at the cost of armor. In this moment, Atrani realises something, and that's the fact that she and the Lonely Emperor have never actually fought aside from his early training in swordsmanship. She is frustrated by the fact that she is now forced to go on the defensive as the Lonely Emperor presses his advantage. She is forced to move backwards as their blades practically form a tornado; the attacks themselves are too fast to see by anyone without enhanced vision and reaction time.

  The road is annihilated where they go, each step cracking stone, and blades being parried into the ground, creating canyons. As the two fight, the Emperor's temperature increases, his gray armor starting to glow red as they rapidly radiate heat. Atrani can feel the heat against her skin, the few hairs there burning away in the presence of the living inferno forming in front of her.

  She fires off a spell at close range and watches in horror as the hero wades through it, a fractal barrier reflecting the attack up into the air and into the ground, creating a massive explosion, sending the goddess backward toward the city. She lands only to have the Emperor in her face once more, and another exchange of attacks keeps them moving toward the city. Their fight passes multiple groups of celebrating civilians; they don't see or perceive the two fighters, but they feel the aftermath as the ground beneath them erupts from the cataclysmic forces. Some never perceive the fight as stray slashes cut them to ribbons faster than a blink.

  Atrani continually dodges more of the singularity attacks, designed to end the fight immediately, but she is able to sense the flow of mana just in time, every time, her head ringing from the collapse of reality. The Lonely Emperor fires off a spell of green lightning, the goddess is forced to dodge, and where the attack hits, an entire building begins disintegrating as the molecules of the building switch their polarity and begin leaping away from one another.

  The fight continues to pick up as the pair enters the city proper. They practically teleport from building to building, their attacks shattering the architecture as they attempt to use the steel and glass as weapons against one another, as they slam into the skyscrapers. Magic flies wildly, carving perfect spheres from the buildings as small black holes appear from nothing, consuming all matter and light for a moment before exploding violently as they collapse.

  Hundreds of people are killed in an instant as the goddess and her hero fight, both responsible for the stray attacks and the magical blasts. Atrani clashes with her supposed lesser, the blades locked, and then the Emperor cannons a headbutt into her face over their locked blades. His armor is so hot that it immediately vaporizes skin from the face of the goddess, causing her to scream in pain. The first blood of the fight has been drawn, although the wounds heal quickly.

  Atrani notices that glass and stone have begun melting around the hero as he fights, and even clashing for a second can cause the goddess's flesh to become burnt. Everything about him is dangerous, as she designed, but she can hardly fathom his capabilities as he cares only for her destruction at the moment. He doesn't speak during the fight, only focused on victory, something the goddess is proud of, except that she is the target.

  After another few moments of fighting, Atrani notices something is off with the fight. While the hero is physically capable of keeping up, his reaction time and senses really shouldn't be able to keep up with hers. Even when magically enhanced, they cannot match those of the divine, but Atrani is noticing that he is seemingly moving and reacting as fast, if not faster, than she is, almost as if she were moving in slow motion and he were on fast forward. She then notices the reason why and almost laughs because of the genius of what her once-pupil is doing.

  Atrani, as a goddess, can slow down her perception of time, and the hero knew this before the fight and knew it was a massive advantage in a swordfight, so he found a way to negate this ability. Atrani tests her theory while dodging the small singularities designed to lobotomize her and figures it out.

  While the singularities are small, they are still massively dense, resulting in not just light and matter being warped or destroyed, but time itself becoming runny around the edges when affected by the intense gravity. He is using the gravity from his attacks to dialite time around her head, affecting her senses, turning what for him are nanoseconds to full seconds on her side. This levels the playing field as her ability to slow time for herself means nothing when he puts her very perception on a delay.

  Not only this, but he fights dirty. The goddess has the aspect of bladework as part of her, so she is unmatched in swordsmanship, but her pride in her skill means she only uses her sword; the emperor, on the contrary, attempts grapples, punches, and other underhanded attacks in order to win. Using every advantage he can create in order to beat her. Not just affecting her very perception, but creating clouds of obscuring smoke or irritants to harm her vision. Nothing is off the table for him as he fights.

  Around them, the city is destroyed violently as they clash. The entire skyline is now shattered and burning from their battle. Thousands are dead and dying from the intense forces filling the streets. Seeing her work destroyed, the goddess goes for broke and commits a grave offense in the eyes of the other gods, but uses full divine might in a single exchange of blows.

  The demonic sword falls apart in the hands of the hero, the trapped soul releasing in a massive torrent of boiling blood as the evil god is finally destroyed permanently. The blood fills the streets below, scalding hundreds. The hero is cast back into a building where he is trapped by a structural collapse. He frees himself quickly but stands unarmed in front of the goddess, who stands before him, posed gracefully. He is breathing heavily and has taken massive damage, and Atrani feels he is almost out of magic. She then scolds him,

  "Look at what you've done! My city is destroyed! The people who made you who you are, as powerful as you are, are now dead or dying! Is this how you thank us for all we have done for you?"

  The hero laughs bitterly, nearing hysterics, and he responds,

  "Thank you all? No... this is what they deserve after what has happened to me. You claimed to have built me, but I'd argue you have destroyed me. Perverted my form and made me a monster, so this is what you all deserve. I don't know if you understand what has become of me... how twisted I am, mind, body, and soul...

  I need to go home... to be human again. To be myself again... and .... and..."

  His voice cracks as he sounds almost on the verge of tears, but he continues,

  "... and I need to hope my parents will even still love me after all that has happened... once they see what I've become!"

  Atrani growls back,

  "You have destroyed the only ones who would love you. The ones who would worship you and the ones who would care for you for all eternity.

  That armor you have... it isn't yours... it was built by the hands of those you just slaughtered. I shall return it all."

  The hero tries to defend against the attack, but at this point, the goddess is using full divine power, the power to affect the very rules of reality, and there is no mortal who can defend against that attack.

  There is a sound like glass shattering as the goddess uses her signature "armor-shattering strike," and the scorching metal falls from the body of the hero. The goddess stares at her hero as he says,

  "Gaze upon what you've done..."

  The dust of the shattered armor settles, revealing her hero, not nude but stripped to the waist, his helmet missing. Atrani's eyes go wide as she stares at the hero... the monster she had created... and in that moment, she felt an odd feeling... guilt. An emotion gods aren't supposed to feel. The pounding of the hero's internal artifice has stopped as he stands there surrounded by destruction, his body a horrorshow... and his face...what face?

  Atrani loses all will to fight as she fights the soul-crushing guilt for what she was directly responsible for, and the hero states,

  "Please... I just want to go home."

  His voice is weepy as tears fall down not cheeks, but exposed and burned facial muscles. The goddess says all she can at the moment, a justification for herself.

  "I just wanted to save you... trust me... your home... It's not worth it."

  He responds,

  "And this is better?"

  She doesn't respond; she simply drops her blade, which clatters to the ground loudly in the silence after the devastation of Ithaca. The hero doesn't respond either. He simply starts climbing down the building and heading toward the central temple of the city, where the ritual can be completed.

  He stands in the circle, the threatened priests working quickly to send the monster home, and in a sudden flash, he is gone from the alternate world he had called home for two years. Deep down inside him, he is scared... scared of what will become of him once he returns to the world he abandoned... he wonders what he should say... if anyone would listen to him now....