The Emperor fought, again and again, trying to tear back the walls of darkness that were encasing him.

"It would be so much easier if you just let yourself fade. You mind would meld with mine and you would be a part of me, seeing as I see, living as I live. You wouldn’t be erased, as I’ve told you before," came the surprisingly clear voice from everywhere, something the Emperor had heard time and time again as it tried to lure him to sleep.

"This Emperor has never backed down from a fight, nor will I back down now and let some mount take control of my consciousness. You will let me out of here beast, even if I have to destroy you from the inside out," the emperor said as lightning lit up his hands, his hair and his eyes and he drove it forward, striking down wall after wall of the darkness. He didn’t know how long he had fought, nor how successful he was. All he knew for sure was the more the beast was talking to him, the more he was affecting it.

"Ha ha ha. You won’t be able to escape. At some point even your feeble mind must understand that point. If I have to completely refine your soul, so be it. But then you will cease to exist. I’m offering you a partnership and not a slave contract. But my patience is wearing thin," came the response. The shadow dragon was actually a really intelligent creature, but it truly failed in understanding the thought process of non-beast like creatures. As such, it had screwed up a little while ago and it was paying for it now.

’Foolish human. If your mate is taken care of, what is there to worry about? You spoke of the queen and your family needing you... well... the ones you didn’t kill yourself. And yet when I showed you that your queen was being taken care of, you just got even more angry. At least act the way you say you’re going to. Foolish human...’

But thoughts didn’t change results and so therefore the shadow dragon needed to come up with a different solution. After all, it was worried. It knew that if it melded with the soul of this human, it’s ascension to a Ancient God would be assured. While draining his soul would probably also work, there was a higher chance it would since more of his soul would be damage or destroyed in the process. What’s more, it took time, a long time, to absorb someone so close to it’s own level. While the emperor couldn’t escape, it could resist. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but that one human made it uncomfortable. It was so weak when it had chased him in here and even having to sacrifice many of it’s levels just to enter the restrictions on the door, it still was many level above the human. So much so that if it didn’t get ejected far away thanks to the entrance, it would have killed the boy and been back home in mere minutes. Sadly though, it had found itself in the middle of a beast jungle with several god realm beasts that didn’t like it’s intrusion. Had it not been hurt, it would have solved them all within a day at most. Instead, everything had to drag on and when the beast had next encountered the boy, he had already grown so much.

’Is this the real reason why master was so worried about him?’ The shadow dragon could only wonder to itself. The Nameless God, it’s master, had told it to kill the boy at all costs. When the dragon asked if it should also kill the one who stole it’s temple, it’s master told it that ’it didn’t matter,’ and that was that. After that, it’s master would regularly be in contact with it as it tried to find a time when the boy would be vulnerable. It’s master had warned it that the boy was protected at most times and that even it’s master didn’t want to draw the attention of the boys master, which shocked the beast as it had never seen it’s master fear or avoid anyone. But orders were orders and when the time finally came, the shadow dragon sacrificed whatever it needed to to kill the boy, but only ended up wounding him deeply. Even then, the boy shouldn’t have lived, but to the dragon’s surprise, he did.

At that point, the dragon was cut off from it’s master and could only keep going on it’s original mission, unable to leave this dimension for now, as crossings made the gates unstable and time would be required before it could be opened again.

Everything after that followed the path to gain strength enough to end the boy. Although he had found strong allies, so had the shadow dragon, taking control of the beasts in this world. With it’s intelligence, it could see the value in this world as well and thought that despite it’s failures, if it could kill the boy and claim the dimension, then it’s master should reward it for it’s service and not punish it for it’s failures.

While the dragon continued to ponder on it’s current situation and solutions as the boy’s allies were proving stronger than it had anticipated, the Emperor was still lashing out at the darkness it had been consumed by. He understood that it was inside the dragon as it had taken the opportunity while the Emperor was distracted by his killing sprees to attack and consume him, made easier as the dragon was able to bind the emperor by way of his affiliation to the nameless god.

’I shall destroy this creature as soon as I finish digesting the energy from the blood rituals. And once I get out of here, I shall show that boy and my slut of a wife just how foolish they are to make a joke out of me. Even if I was dead, that bitch should have remained celibate for the rest of her life. Still... why do I, even in this situation... feel a little... aroused at the thought of it? True... I haven’t been taken care of lately, but this is hardly the time for such things... and yet when I see them going at it in my head... the shame... the... anger.... I can’t help but just wonder.... how it would feel to watch? BAH! This place must be messing with my head. I need to focus and digest this power before the beast realizes what I am doing. Just wait you dog.... I’ll tear you apart soon enough...’ The Emperor thought to himself before sitting within the darkness and focusing on his cultivation, closing himself off to everything else.

As both the personalities within the beast calmed down, it settled itself on it’s rocky outcropping and laid to rest, no longer keeping an eye on Laz who had been drinking and chatting with the group of women who had surrounded him. Athena, Clio and Erato had spoken at length about the things which had happened during the dream while Pooja and Hera listen in, asking questions and laughing along with them as they spoke about being moms, being wives and all of the duties and complaints that went into such a thing. For the younger women, it was enjoyable to recount all of the excitement and wonder that went along with it while Pooja and Hera enjoyed being the knowing moms who had experienced it all before.

After a while though, they noticed Laz not speaking up as much as he was, but instead they could tell he seemed to get a bit saddened as the talk continued.

"What’s wrong?" Athena asked, feeling the slump and tension in his shoulders.

"Nothing... nothing... just..."

"Baby... Tell us... please?" Clio said as she put a hand up to his face to get his attention.

While Athena, Clio and Erato seemed concerned about his thoughts, Hera and Pooja were more worried about his mental state and therefore listened closely.

"I... as you’ve been speaking, I knew everything at the beginning... but now... it seems like it’s fading. All of it... the memories, our children. It’s like it’s being washed away even while I tried grasping at it. I still remember their faces and their names... but the things we experienced, the stories you’re telling... it’s almost... all gone..." Laz revealed, much to their horror.

Once he finished speaking, nothing greeted him but silence. Then Hera leaned forward and drew him into an embrace, rubbing his head like a child.

"The girls will write everything down for you, ok? Just relax for now and sleep. It’s been a long day for you," Hera said, her voice containing a warmth none of them had ever heard before.

"Yeah. Maybe your right," Laz said, feeling suddenly tired. He closed his eyes and was again asleep, as though the world just fell away in a instant.

Pooja was the first to speak.

"That’s not good..."