Willow stopped right before the temple, careful not to touch anything near it. Barbossa had been very stern on the fact of not touching anything related to the Sanctum. In his own words, "You’ll sacrifice your future, your past, and your present."

Yeah...the warning had creeped Willow, and as much as she wanted to ask why Art was able to enter it, she didn’t. Everyone had their secrets, and on top of that, saying anything seemed to cost Barbossa.

The man turned deathly pale after each revelation, as if he had seen the reaper. He was weird, but also incredibly powerful. Willow doubted that she would be able to beat him, simply because he could see the future.

There was a reason seers were so coveted; all 13 Circles wanted to get their greedy paws on them, asshats who wished to monopolize the future.

Willow clicked her tongue in distaste, then focused on her task. She only had mere moments to somehow get Leonidas’s attention without nearing the Sanctum.

What should I do?

Her mind felt empty, the same as the sudden silence that had blanketed her the moment she had stepped into the Sanctum’s vicinity. It seemed even pilgrims feared the place.

I could do that... let’s see.

Her Mark, Shepherd, allowed her to partially interact with each Source Element, granted that the use was fairly simple.

Willow focused on the sound around her, or rather, the lack thereof. She wanted Leonidas to hear her, but she knew that her voice wasn’t nearly loud enough to catch his attention. The Sanctum seemed to have some sort of mystical property, too, and Willow was damn near sure that it dampened sound, too.

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again...a whole other world unfurled around her. It was similar to what she saw when she gazed directly at Insenium, only much stronger.

A plethora of minuscule particles hovered in the air, saturating it with the elements. A total of 27 different shades. Some were faint, barely visible, while others were as luminous as the stars themselves.

Her gaze landed on a particular one, a bright white star. It burned with such intensity that just looking at it hurt.

Smiling, Willow extended her hand, grasping as if it were physical, she pulled it forward, and put it in her mouth. The sensation felt similar to eating ice.

"ART! GET OUT HERE!"

Her scream tore through the surroundings, a beautiful melody, yet loud enough to rupture eardrums. The clear sound rang across the surroundings, breaking the haunting silence like a hammer to glass.

At that exact moment, a dozen massive roots burst into the clearing, each thicker than her body. Willow turned to them, the smile on her face deepening, turning abyssal. Fire burst around her body, sword shifting into a gaseous state that wrapped around her body like a second skin.

"You better save me later, Art...or I’ll kill you!" Her voice was no longer enhanced by the sound elemental, yet she was sure Art would have heard it all the same.

I’m counting on you...We all are.

The next second, the massive appendages dropped downwards, blotting out the sun, and Willow’s desperate battle began.

* * * * * *

* * * * * *

* * * * * *

I’ll rest for a little while, and then try to get out...I own this place now.

Or that was his plan. Not even a few seconds had passed before he heard a scream...someone screaming for Art. It had taken Leonidas a few seconds to realize that it was he whom Art was.

The voice was unmistakably feminine, belonging to someone he knew all too well. And as it turned out, he was missing her as well, which just made it all the more convenient.

Too convenient.

Is it a trap?

There was a high chance that the sound was some sort of beast with a mental Edict trying to pry him out of the protective embrace of the Sanctum.

But it might also be Willow.

The woman was stubborn, and Leonidas had no doubt she would have survived the damned wave. If he could, why would she be unable to?

What do I do...?

No matter how much Leonidas thought, he could not come to a decision. He was simply too paranoid, especially after a DEAD god had read his mind and threatened to punish him. She was dead!

I guess I have no other choice.

Resigning himself to his fate, Leonidas grabbed Blush, his wicked pink blade, its sharp edge glimmering under the blue flames.

Leonidas walked forward towards the altar and cut off a corner. A plain black circle sat in his hand. On that, Leonidas carved two words. On one side, the word ’DO’ and on the other the word ’Don’t.’

It was his makeshift coin, and the thing was now going to make all the hard decisions for him. Flipping the coin in his hand, Leonidas threw it upwards.

It spun, and spun, shining like a beacon in the dim lighting.

The coin landed on the ground with a dull ’thunk’, breaking the tense stillness that had enveloped Leonidas. He bent down and picked it up, and the answer was...

I see.

It wasn’t entirely unexpected, after all, there was a 50 percent chance of him getting this particular answer. Sighing, Leonidas started packing up his stuff...which was just him, his sword, and his newfound coin.

Ahh, right, my clothes.

He didn’t have anything he could actually wear, which was less than ideal. His current clothes could barely even be called that.

So many problems.

How annoying it was. With a sigh, Leonidas called upon his Edict...only that it didn’t belong to Bloom, nor did it belong to Peace. What he had called upon was his newest Edict, [Infernal Knight]. Because, although it was just a placeholder, it was also the way Leonidas would call upon Savior.

With a flash of silver fire—the same fire that had eaten her in the first place—Savior manifested in all her hellish glory. He didn’t have much time, so Leonidas immediately got to the point.

"Make me some new clothes, in a hurry, please."

He summoned a plethora of crystalline roses and handed them to Savior.

The infernal knight nodded, understanding immediately. She grabbed them, and then touched her chest, and then passed through, armor rippling like black water. From the rippling metal, she pulled out a new set of crimson clothes, similar to those Leonidas had before.

[Ambivalent], an ability marked her heritage as two ends, two opposites. But that was not all, she possessed the ability to change other things, working in a similar manner to Leonidas’s [Free Will], only that she had to put the objects inside her body.

She pushed the roses physical attributes to an end, so that they became soft like fabric.

Then Savior had interpreted the flowing fabric as an entirely different object. Cloth.

She pushed that cloth into the clothes.

An essentially limitless ability.

Edicts were truly amazing if used well.

Leonidas donned the clothes, his long coat fluttering behind him, he turned towards the exit and walked out, after all...

The coin had landed on "DO."