The primordial realm slipped away behind Lilyanna, letting her leave. At the same time, the barrier around Quinlan remained intact, carried with her.
Her home dimension received her without protest.
The space opened into a vast interior that had never been shaped by mortal hands or mortal needs. There were no walls in the mon sense, only planes of structure that defined direction and hierarchy. Light did not fall from above. Instead, it existed everywhere at once, layered in bands that shifted slowly, never pausing. The floor beneath her feet resembled polished metal from a distance, yet it responded faintly to each step, acknowledging her presence through subtle changes in texture and lighting up.
This was where the Goddess of Thalorind resided, the place from which the whole world was administered.
Lilyanna walked forward at an unhurried pace, posture relaxed, fingers still loosely curled at her sides. The barrier drifted behind her, keeping pace without needing guidance. The path ahead rose in a broad incline, shallow steps forming themselves as she approached. Each one aligned beneath her foot at the moment it was needed, then faded back into the surface once passed. At the top waited her throne.
It was manifested rather than built.
A convergence of form and authority shaped into a seat that looked almost simple until one paid attention. Lines of force anchored it into the dimension itself. Patterns similar to those on her skin traced along its surface, moving slowly, never repeating. From there, the entire space fell away in a wide, descending view that reinforced exactly where one stood when facing it.
Lilyanna allowed herself a small smirk.
She could already picture it. Quinlan, kneeling below, contained, forced to look up as she settled into her throne. Distance doing its work. Perspective restored. A clean reminder of where he stood in relation to her, no words required.
She released the barrier at the base of the incline, making it remain behind her, floating where it was at the base of the stairs. She did not spare Quinlan a glance inside of it. That would e after. Timing mattered.
She placed one foot on the first step.
The surface formed beneath her sole, firm and obedient. Her weight shifted forward, spine straightening as she began to ascend, already shaping the words she would use once she sat above him.
Then the barrier behind her ruptured.
A hand tore through it with a violent snap, forcing its way out. Fingers clawed into open space with knuckles whitening as the arm locked in place. Bulging veins, thick and dark, could be observed beneath skin that was pulled too tight to hold them.
Before Lilyanna could even react…
The hand seized her hair.
"!!!" The Goddess's breath hitched hard. Her head jerked back a fraction, teeth clacking as the sudden pull wrenched her neck.
"What-?!"
The word broke off sharply as her body reacted on instinct. Power surged into the step beneath her feet. The surface hardened instantly, locking her stance in place as the dimension bent to her will.
The pull stopped there.
Her body did not move another inch.
She stood rigid, neck strained, hair stretched tight in the grip behind her. The force was still there, but it could not drag her back. It pressed, trembled, and held.
The difference in strength was absolute. The only reason she was even moved a fraction of an inch was that she got caught pletely off guard.
Lilyanna's jaw tightened as she turned her head just enough to look back. And then she saw the arm.
Her expression froze.
The veins along the forearm were wrong. Far too wrong.
Not just swollen, but thick and roiling, pulsing in heavy beats that distorted the skin around them. They were dark, almost pitch black in color. The flesh looked stretched past what it could endure, each pulse sending a visible shudder through the muscle.
Her lips parted as she screamed, "What have you done?!"
The Goddess moved to pull away, but the motion never finished.
Pain detonated through her.
Her back arched violently as a scream ripped out of her, shrill and raw, stripped of control. Her face twisted, eyes squeezing shut as her fingers clawed reflexively at empty air. The sound echoed across the vast space, sharp and piercing, carrying far longer than it should have.
The Goddess wailed in utter agony.
And it did not stop.
…
A few minutes ago.
Quinlan floated in place.
The barrier around him was smooth and plete, pressureless yet absolute, holding him suspended a short distance above the ground. There was no strain on his body. No sense of confinement pressing against his skin. It was closer to being imprisoned than hurt.
But that didn't change much, as far as Quinlan was concerned. The Goddess had taken a hostile action against him. That was all Quinlan needed to know to decide he wouldn't be sitting around waiting for her to do with him as she pleased.
He folded his arms loosely and exhaled once through his nose.
His awareness shifted inward.
The soul realm opened to him instantly, its structure stable despite the external interference. The tree at its center stood firm, roots sunk deep into bedrock, its branches supporting the layered seeds. The elemental seed remained sealed as always, inert and contained.
The corruption seed did not.
It writhed.
The thing had been restless the moment Lilyanna acted, reacting violently to the presence of a higher authority. Tendrils of influence pressed outward from it, rippling through the soul space in tight, uneven pulses.
Mimi hovered near the tree, small hands clenched in her dress, eyes wide as she watched it.
"Scary Uncle!! It's really mad now! I'm trying to keep it from pushing out, but it's hard!"
Quinlan's mind drifted closer, mind's eye fixed on the blackened seed lodged beside the sealed elemental one. Even now, he felt the familiar weight of it. The pressure at the edge of his thoughts. The constant reminder of what he was carrying.
He had never trusted it.
From the moment it had taken root, he had treated it as a loaded weapon buried in his chest, aimed straight at his internal organs. Power without restraint. Influence without permission. He had sealed it away because he understood exactly how dangerous it was to touch something he could not yet control.
Corruption did not negotiate. It did not scale politely. It consumed, or it hollowed.
So he had pushed it back, and with Mimi's and Rosie's help, contained it.
Quinlan had his plan already set in stone.
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