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Unexpected Detour (Razgriz x Wingshadow)

Sam could feel the energy hurtling toward; even though he expected her to be serious, he didn't imagine that she would try to kill him right off the back. The time he spent on this planet conditioned his mind away from the possibility for the most part, but this was most certainly an effective refresher that his presence was NOT welcomed by all. Even with the Flow aiding him, his lack of total control over it strained his ability to maintain the enhanced state as he dodged the claw swipes and lunging bites the Light Lion took at him.

The blocks hurtling toward him were no major obstacle, his body doing quite well to avoid the additional assaults; however, the change in the Pharaoh's energy definitely took him by surprise. What made it more difficult was that he knew the Flow was useless as a physical assault technique, its inherent nature more suited to defense. However, as Sam and the Lion danced about for what seemed like hours, playing cat and mouse with each other, his concentration faltered. He felt his connection with the Flow sever; only because of quick thinking and the will to survive did he call out "Stoneskin!" His flesh hardened almost instantly to something akin to a thick layer of diamond as he then waited those few fractions of a second for the Light Lion to strike, knowing he couldn't avoid it. Stoneskin would allow him to live; it wouldn't mitigate all of the damage, though, so that meant he was definitely going to feel it.
 
The lion of lightning lept toward Sam, its jaws snapping at his neck just as the layer of diamond lept up to protect him from the brunt of the attack. The top layer shattered like glass from the power of the strike, sending Sam flying backward with the force similar to that of a cannon. Gnome hissed in pain as she attempted to channel some of the damage to herself rather than let Sam take the brunt of it himself, which would likely render him incapable of moving for some time. Undie lent her friend a supportive hand and helped hold her up as the two then attempted to guide Sam through the fight.

"She's not going to let you get an opening unless you go on the offensive... For as long as I have known of her, she has always tried to overwhelm her opponents with constant attacks since her defenses are comparatively weak, especially when in her human form. Force her to transform into her true form and we can use the time she takes to change to seal her," Undie suggested, "If we draw this fight out too long, we can't afford to take too many hits... At least not of that power."
 
Sam grunted as he flew off his feet, feeling the maw of the Lion close around his neck just before it detonated. His back collided with the wall, making him gasp out in agony and surprise before sliding to the floor. "Damn it......" Sam grumbled as he weakly got to his feet, his back hunched over as he tried to think of another way to make her open up; his Stoneskin armor crumbled around him from the force of the attack, leaving a patchwork of diamond-like stone plates to cover parts of his body. Naturally, he couldn't think of a single way. Damn it, he was a businessman, not a combat strategist!

Upon hearing Undine's suggestion about making her transform to her true form - which would likely bring her to full power - and using the period to seal her, Sam was understandably hesitant; she was strong enough as it was. What if the changeover period was shorter than what the Seal needed to activate? Right now, the only Sam had going for him was that she likely didn't know he had a seal; however, he was operating under the presumption that she did. She was right, though; they couldn't drag this fight out. Sam's power was immense, but he couldn't hope to match the Pharaoh in terms of one-to-one combat. Not as he was now; even if it was the truth, it didn't stop him from feeling pissed off.

But he would press on - either through sense of duty or sheer stupidity, he would press on. "Not like there's a lot of choice" he said in reply; he was deeply thankful to have Gnome and Undine with him to back him up. He would surely be lost without them both; however, his aggravated mentality didn't immediately show it. "No more games then" he added to no one but himself; he called upon the power of Earth to aid him, the characteristic green aura flaring up around him and making his Stoneskin armor seem to heal and reform almost instantly. What happened next was something Sam would not normally do, but seemed to do given his current situation.

The amount of Earth power he drew was enormous; not anything unsustainable, but the draw was uncharacteristically large compared to what he normally used. Soldiers armed with swords, composed entirely of compressed sandstone layers from the surroundings, rose from the ground on either side of Sam; there were easily a baker's dozen of them. They all raised their blades and threw themselves at the Pharaoh, Sam following closely in their ranks; the contractor just hoped that this would give him a good distraction to use the same technqiue he'd used against the Lizardman and Hannah, except with an increased power output. It worked the last two times....Why wouldn't it work now?
 
"Do you think clay dolls can stand up to a goddess?" the Pharaoh laughed, and with a swing of her left hand a blade of darkness swept across the room, slicing several of the soldiers into tiny slivers. She then held up her right hand and formed an orb of dark energy, out of which flew a barrage of jet-black arrows which pierced and destroyed the remaining soldiers and flew as a swarm toward Sam. The elemental knew that this wasn't a fight that they could take lightly, and materialized beside Sam in an attempt to assist him more directly. Gnome was still somewhat battered from absorbing some of the last blow for Sam, but she stood firmly and slapped her palms against the floor, causing a giant ripple to form in the blocks below them, unsettling the Pharoah's footing and launching some blocks into the air. Undie caught on quickly and held both her arms forward, palms open as she used her own body to absorb the arrows before they could hit Sam.

"Go, do it now!" both elementals shouted in unison, "attack!"
 
Sam kept up his momentum, his eyes so focused on the Pharaoh that he didn't notice his soldiers getting ripped to pieces. Stone debris flew around him, his arms encasing themselves in rock, massive pylons jutting from his elbows, as he readied to use the Mass Driver technique, only now a double strike. Basic, yes, but with enough power, he was hoping it would be enough to make her transform. Of course, he was hoping it would defeat her, but even Poseidon said he couldn't beat her. He knew this was an insane plan; piss her off to make her even stronger? It was suicide, but it was the only thing he had at his disposal.

As he closed the distance, he saw Gnome inadvertently creating a series of steps while Undine used herself as a shield. A pang of guilt struck his heart at the sight of this, but realized - after both of them shouted at him to attack - he couldn't stop. His body sprang from one stone to the next as the Pharaoh's body lay in the air, parallel to the once-flawless surface of the Pyramid's throne room. Sam's heart was going a mile a minute, his blood feeling like it was pure adrenaline as it raced through his body.

And soon he was airborne as well, launching himself towards the Queen of the Deadlands; he delivered a swift kick to her abdomen, sending the Pharaoh into the ground on her back. Before she might be able to recover, Sam cocked back both arms and hands - each now colossal in size thanks to the stone casing. "Earth Technique: Double Barrel Drive Cannon!" he cried out as both of his earth-covered fists lodged themselves in the Pharaoh's gut; the force alone made the floor crack and crater, but what happened next would devastate the room. Both pylons from his elbows crashed down, delivering an enormous kinetic blow to his foe. Shards of stone and plumes of dust were thrown about the room, hurricane-force winds bursting from the zero-point of Sam's attack and blowing about the entireity of the throne room.

As the winds died down and the dust clouds cleared, Sam and the Pharaoh were both at the bottom of a perfectly hemispherical, thirty-foot-deep crater. The contractor lifted his arms off the Pharaoh, the stone casing crumbling before shattering as he fell onto his back, exhausted from the massive energy expenditure, his broad chest heaving as he breathed heavily. Dust clung to his sweat-covered body in patches, cuts from the blowback of his technique having shredded part of his robes and lacerating parts of his skin. He just prayed it was enough, and that he would have enough strength and time to seal this most formidable adversary.
 
"D... Damn you... Damn you all..." the Pharoah hissed as her hands gripped the cracked and brittle fragments of stone which made up the crater in which the two of them now lay. Her face was curled into a enraged snarl, the glare of pure hatred and unmitigated wrath filling those eyes which had at one time been glaring down at this very man who had dared to trespass and demolish her pyramid. clearly she had been wrong to underestimate this man... No, this elemental contractor.

"How DARE you strike me... You ought to worship and reverence me, bow down and throw down yourself with awe but instead you foolishly challange me," she sat up, placing her hands upon her knees as she finally pulled herself into a standing position. Although mentally shaken, she seemed largely unwounded from the devestating attack which had laid waste to her once wonderous throne room, "I have no need of such a man... I will strip you limb from limb and feed your flesh to the dogs!"

Her clothes were likewise torn, and her left breast was exposed to the dusty air. Her legs, although dirty and dusty from the crumbling of rocks and leaking sand from her cracked ceiling, were just as firm and powerful as before. Her hair was disheveled and her headdress long gone, but there was nothing at all sexual about her appearance... She wished nothing more than to kill Sam in the most painful manner conceivable. The Pharoah reached for her staff, which had somehow managed to remain in one piece throughout the entire ordeal, and attempted to press it to her forehead in order to initiate her transformation into her true form. Undie, who had liquefied her body in an attempt to prevent herself rom being caught up in the blast, wrapped part of her body around her ankles, wrists, and neck before the goddess could complete the motion. with a twist of her shoudlers she shrugged the water spirit off.

"Hurry, perform the ritual! Its our only chance," Gnome called to Sam, shoving a block off of herself as if it were made of Styrofoam, "Complete the circle by drawing the symbol for earth and the symbol for water over each other and mix our energies together... Then press the seal to her forehead!"

"You tried to seal me? Fools..." the Pharoah found the prospect amusing rather than threatening, "it will take a lot more than the likes of you to defeat me... Perhaps semen extracted from a dead corpse is still viable. That would be an interesting experiment."

Just then, one of the Pharoah's Anubis attendants re-entered the throne room through a hidden passage and addressed her queen, "A... One of the prisoners has escaped!"

"What are you talking about? I'm a little busy here," the Pharoah snarled, not even turning to look.

"Its the strange one... The one which surrendered herself to us willingly," the Anubis continued, "And she's-"

The rest of her words were cut off as the entire back wall of the throne room burst open, the crumbling of the wall causing the ceiling to slant slightly and the horrifying sound of thousands of stone blocks shifting causing the Pharaoh to clap her hands over her ears to stifle the sound. Long, thin appendages reached toward her and wound about her arms, pinning them to her sides as the distinctly familiar voice of someone that Sam doubtless believed he had left far behind echoed through the wide opening in the wall.

"I will traverse the very sands and emptiness of the wilderness for your sake... I will destroy anything that threatens your life or that of our children... I will stand by you when all hope itself seems to have been lost... When you say that you love me, I feel like I have already conquered the entire world, de geso!"
 
(Wow, that is some SERIOUS dedication XD)

Sam grunted and rolled onto his side, resting his over-exerted form on his right elbow whilst his left hand planted itself on the floor. His gaze peered to the Pharaoh, who stood ragged but clearly unharmed. Her words of seething rage barely registered for him, mostly due to the exhaustion he was experiencing, but he managed to catch enough to know she was beyond angry with him. As she claimed that he would soon become dog chow, he had managed to turn to face the Pharaoh, but was still on one knee; if it weren't for the fact that he hit her with just about everything he had in that attack, his pose would signify submission to her will.

He stood up, hearing Gnome's plea to seal the Pharaoh; to be honest, he wasn't really sure if he could. But he had to try, else the trio's efforts would be for nothing. As Undine tried to restrict her from transforming, Sam began mixing the energies of Undine the Water Elemental and Gnome the Earth Elemental, ignoring the disgusting words leaving the Pharaoh's mouth; Poseidon's Seal came to life on his body, every inch of visible flesh soon covered in lines of ancient text. A bright red symbol, its meaning loosely translated to 'Eternal Resonance Bind', glared out to the Pharaoh on his forehead. His right hand held a green earth symbol, his left hand held a blue symbol, each composed entirely of the energy associated with the Elemental in question. They now stood before each other, each ready to use their trump card to defeat the one that stood before them.

The interruption did not go unnoticed as Sam, unlike the Pharaoh, turned to focus as the servant burst into the room; a look of surprise crossed his face at the Anubis declaring that a prisoner had escaped. Before anything else happened, the good Contractor had to turn his head and cover his ears as the screeching and dust assaulted him; when he turned back, he noticed the Pharaoh bound by strange blue tendrils, his eyes widening at the voice he heard. It couldn't be......

"Marina......" he uttered, in shock that she'd be here; she must have been the one that had been captured. However, he quickly snapped out of it; there'd be time for a reunion later. He somehow managed to gather the last bit of energy he could muster and charged forward, his left hand clasped the Pharaoh's forehead, his right overlapping it and causing the two energies to resonate together. "Twin Element Seal: Eternal Resonance Bind!" Sam cried out; a cyan-colored wave of energy burst out in a circle, the two of them located at the center. The text that had been on Sam's body seemed to come to life, flowing off of his skin and serpentining up to cover the Pharaoh. The enlarged red character was the last to leave, dissipating into red dust before reforming on the Pharaoh's. The wave of energy then seemed to collapse on the Pharaoh herself, completing the process.

As the spell took its effect, Sam felt his legs give out from under him and he collapsed once more. He didn't know if he could so much as even twitch right now, he felt so drained. If anyone were to come after him, he'd be incredibly vulnerable.
 
The Pharoah let out a horrifying scream as the letters began to converge on ehr body and seal her, able to feel the burning of her magic as it was severed from her control and pulled from her by force. The power of the sea goddess herself was hidden within that seal, and when she looked up she could see her stern yet pleased face gazing down at her with satisfaction.

"Damn you, Posiedon... I will have my vengeance! I will-"

With that, the Pharaoh was rendered incapable of speaking further has the seal had compressed her human form down until she seemingly vanished in a brilliant burst of light... Leaving behind what appeared to be a small Egyptian clay vessel, one which was commonly known as an organ vessel as it was used to house the soft parts of a mummy after extraction from the body. Until this simple yet highly effective encasing was broken, the Pharaoh would never again be able to spread her terror across the Deadlands... the queen of the desert was no more. When their leader was done away with in such a fashion, the remaining Anubis simply fled and the mummies slowly fell asleep and rested like they should... Their ever-thirsting souls could finally rest at peace, at least for now.

Marina carefully made her way down the side of the crater and stepped over toward Sam, kneeling down and picking up the Clay jar and placing it into her pocket for safekeeping as she stroked his cheek. Gnome instantly recognized her as they had met before, but Undie was yet unfamiliar with his strange yet highly affectionate and devoted creature. Marina gently wrapped him up into her tentacles and carried him up toward the hole she had made in the throne room wall, motioning to the two elementals to follow her. They simply nodded to each other and went into spirit form back inside Sam, deciding to watch over him from inside. There was something different about her... She seemed much more confident, and above all else powerful. Her mere presence made them feel a bit threatened, although she hand no hostility in her bearing.

Marina brought him to a small cave which acted as a natural wind trap, gathering moisture from the wind as it blew across the desert. She laid him down on a soft bed of rushes and snuggled up beside him, trimming the small lamps that lit the interior while some of her tentacles began setting out fruits for them to eat once his appetite returned. Small voices further back in the cave began to make their presence known, and the soft sound of pattering feet approached at a rapid pace.

"Hush... he's very tired, so please try to let your father rest," Marina called to her children but they still peered over at him with large, curious eyes. They were now about a foot tall, but they still had quite large heads relative to their bodies but otherwise looked like identical replications of their mother. Their tentacles wiggled in an excited manner.

"Mother, mother," one of them tugged on her dress, "May I give him a kiss on the cheek when he feels better?"
 
Sam's form lay limply and largely unfeeling as Marina extricated him from the crater in the floor; he'd just accomplished something huge, but he wouldn't be awake to see it. There were sensations that washed over him: the slight swinging of his arms, an embrace unknown, energy pouring into him. His muddled mind couldn't make sense of any of it, so he simply let himself fall into a state of medium-heavy slumber, letting his body recover from the extremely high use of both Elemental's power and his own energy.

The minutes turned to hours, his body laying deathly still on the grasses that Marina had used for cushioning. Before long, as night began to set upon the Deadlands itself, Sam stirred and groaned lowly. His eyelids twitched to reveal the golden coloration of his hues; his vision hazy at first, it soon began to sharpen as he blinked away the fog. He shifted his focus to his right, seeing Marina laying next to him. "M..Marina?" he muttered; as Sam tried to shift, he found he couldn't move himself just yet. Each limb felt like a lead brick, making the tired Contractor give up rather easily.

He seemed rather confused, his eyes wandering the cave lazily, seeing faces all around him. Where was he? How did Marina even get here? The last thing he remember was hearing Marina's voice and seeing the Pharaoh wrapped in light-blue tendrils, before he laid the Seal on her. Did that mean he won? "I d...don't understand...I mean, I'm grateful...But.....So many questions....Did I win?.......Where'd you come from? Where's Gnome and Undine?"
 
"Yes, its all over... For now, at least," Marina placed a tender kiss on his forehead, "I heard from Posiedon what your plans were and I decided to become even stronger, strong enough to assist you when the time came to confront the Pharaoh. I trained with Posiedon for months, toiling endlessly to increase my power sufficiently to be of use, and when she thought I was ready I traveled with our children to this cave. We brought enough supplies to last us a few months, and when rumors began to be spread that you were headed this way I presented myself before the Pharaoh and surrendered. That's the funny thing about Egyptian construction... With enough force you can break the blocks apart rather easily since they don't use mortar."

"Undie and Gnome are fine... They are quite weak from how much power you drew from them, but with a little rest they should be just fine," Marina smiled, showing him the small clay jar, "This is all that is left of the Pharaoh... Oh, and her staff started to react strangely when she was sealed, so I brought it along as well. Do you think its important?"
 
Sam wanted to scream at Marina, yell at her for acting so foolishly and endangering herself and their children in such a fashion. But, given everything that happened and the fact that she'd left with Poseidon's blessing, he figured she knew exactly what she was getting herself into. Plus, she was the one who facilitated the sealing of the Pharaoh, so he couldn't be all that mad at her; it just would not be right. Mostly, he was relieved that this arduous task was over with.

He was glad to know that Gnome and Undine were OK; when she mentioned recovery for them, he nodded, understanding that they'd gone back into him to rest. They deserved it for fighting so hard beside him. "Thanks, you two...." he spoke mentally to his Contracts. When Marina showed him the small clay jar holding the Pharaoh within, a hand came up to weakly grasp the vessel. "Well, I'll be damned.....We really did it" he breathed out, disbelieving even now that he'd managed to pull it off. She was trying her damnedest to kill him, and yet he and everyone who helped him had now triumphed. Even still, his increasingly-resharpening mind recognized this was but one small step in the grand scheme of things. There was still much to be done and likely many more trials more difficult than this to overcome. But he didn't think about that for now; he needed to rest, get his bearings again and recover before trying to continue.

When she mentioned the Pharaoh's staff, Sam grunted and with much difficulty, managed to sit himself up despite any protests from Marina. "Staff? What staff are you talking about?" Sam then asked the devoted squid-woman, his face showing signs of clear confusion through the heavy fatigue.
 
"This thing that the Pharoah was wavign around at you, remember?" Marina held up the scepter which the Pharoah had been holding throughout the fight. The black falcon-like wings and brushed metal gave it a somewhat other-worldly vibe, and the floating rings glowed dimly and quivered as if seeking to be released from some sort of spell. All at once the staff pulled itself out of Marina's grasp and hovered before Sam's face. In a brilliant flash of light which would temporarily blind them, it vanished and in its place stood a tall woman with large black wings sprouting from her back. Her skin was fair and clear, as white and pure as the freshest snow from the mountaintops. Her hair was long and black as a raven's while her feathers on her wings were of the same color, a few falling from her wings and landing upon the cool cave floor. On her wrists were broken chains which had apparently bound her in the form of a staff for those many years... For she was the goddess of the air herself.

"Thank you, Samuel, defender of the weak and lover of Rachel. I owe you a great debt for freeing me from my eternal prison. I would grant you anything which you desire, but as of now I am still quite weak. However, I may answer any questions that you may have at present," her eyes remained closed as she spoke with a soft, soothing voice which echoed throughout the cave. Marina's children all bowed themselves in reverence to the deity which stood before them wearing a gold-gilded robe of white draped over her distinctly feminine curve. Marina was at a loss of what to say or do before her... Even in her weakened state, the goddess still possessed far more power than any of them.
 
Sam's head cocked in slight puzzlement upon seeing the staff; he then remembered seeing the Pharaoh hold it, slamming the end on the ground before engaging him. His puzzlement turned to surprise as the object wrenched itself free, hovering at face-level below Sam's feet. He had to turn his head as an explosion of light erupted before him; after shaking and blinking the spots from his vision, he turned his head back to see a very beautiful and regal figure standing in front of him.

Naturally, he was able to put together who it was: So the Goddess herself was now free. He couldn't bow like the others had, given the state of his body, but he stared at her in awe nonetheless. She stood about his height, maybe an inch taller, but her beauty.....went beyond words. And her power......It genuinely scared him. Her words, however, snapped him out of his stupor; she was so soft-spoken and...well, holy. What could he say? Though he wondered how she knew of Rachel, provided that she'd been confined this whole time, but decided to let it go.

Questions.......So many.......But what could he ask? How to defeat the Succubus? Was Rachel OK? And there were so many others; his head hung as he let out a sigh and dropped himself from his elbows to lay on his back once more. His mind wandered to how Poseidon basically offered her sister up to him as compensation for sealing the Pharaoh, but he wouldn't do it. And even if he wanted to, his energy was zero at the moment. Before he could ask anything, though, his stomach growled rather loudly; food was needed, and badly for the poor guy. "This is...probably a bad time....But does...anyone...have anything to eat? I'm starving" he then asked as he tried to sit up once more, only to find himself faltering under the strain.
 
"That is certainly not the request I expected to hear of you," the goddess seemed genuinely amused, "Good squid-woman, would you happen to have something for your lover to eat?"

The divine being sat down on the ground and folded her legs up below her on the stone floor, her wings foldign slightly so as not to require her to bend forward. Marina snapped out of her momentary trance and nodded to her, sending some of her tentacles to fetch a leather pouch of water and some fruits that resembled apples and oranges. She laid them down beside him and began to peel the skins from the orange-like fruits before presenting them to Sam.

"I know of many things... Both in the far past, and some of the future. It is a gift that I possess beside my powers as a goddess. Although I am practically blind as my sight scarcely allows me to see three feet in front of me, I can see and understand through this gift of foresight and intricate knowledge of this planet over which I rule. I would ask that you help me regain some of my lost powers, but I understand that you are in no shape to assist me in such a manner... Besides, those close to you, your dear Gnome and Undie, have much greater use for you than I," the goddess reached over and picked up an apple for herself, giving Marina a grateful nod before biting into the crisp fruit's flesh.

"I didn't know goddesses needed to regain power... I mean, I do not intend any disrespect, de geso, but I didn't even know gods and goddesses even needed to eat. Aren't you the source of power for the entire planet, or something like that?" Marina spoke up a bit nervously, but nonetheless in a familiar and friendly manner, "You aren't exactly what I expected when I realized you were the goddess herself."

"I can't say what all gods or goddesses are like, but on this planet it simply denotes a certain level of power, authority, and of course immortality. I don't need to eat, but its a pleasant experience and it helps build my stamina. Normally my followers would tend to my needs, but I'm afraid they must have disbanded when I was bound into that scepter," the goddess replied. There was something sad and distant in her words, as if she were intentionally omitting some details concerning her followers which she was uncomfortable divulging. Marina seemed to catch on to this and did not press the matter.
 
Sam peered over as Marina laid out food for him; he pushed himself up from his elbows and into a sitting position, his back now resting against the cave wall with his butt on the bed of desert grass. His fingers soon curled around one of the orange-like fruits and brought it to his mouth, where the watery and semi-bland juice flooded his mouth after his teeth pierced the flesh. These fruit would help rejuvenate him, but it was a certainty that he would need a fair chunk of time to fully recover.

More than likely though, he'd try to push ahead even when he wasn't at his peak; in his mind, every moment wasted meant that the filthy Succubus did who-knows-what to Rachel. But, he put it out of his mind for now to an afterthought; he wasn't going anywhere yet, he was having a hard enough time just trying to sit up and eat. Her words about assisting in recovery brought a barely-noticeable smirk to Sam's lips; he wondered if the Goddess knew about her sister offering her body to him as more than ample compensation for sealing the Pharaoh and freeing the deity from captivity.

As Marina and the Goddess spoke, Sam was questioning whether or not he could really pull this off; he'd just faced down the Pharaoh, and he was left in such a sorry state in the aftermath of it all. Sure, he might get stronger, but what if it wasn't enough? What if he put in all this work, all this energy and effort, and he still failed? From what he'd heard of the Succubus, he would likely become a toy for her to play with. And the comments he'd heard in the past suggested she took a rather pronounced interest in him; but why?

"Goddess....." he then said, directing his soon-to-be-asked questions at the holy figure seated before him, "There's one thing.....I still don't understand about....all this. What happened to this world? Everyone I've talked to says the Succubus....is to blame for everything that's happened. But.....What is her goal? Has no one tried to stop her?"
 
"From the time before my own, this world was rich in life and culture, the magnificence of the cities stretching from beyond the horizon till they reached the sea. Although we lacked advanced technology, farming methods, and the like, we were happy. None of the gods ruled this world, for there was no need for anyone to guide us... Until the Succubus appeared," the goddess's voice became more grave and soft, pausing to collect her thoughts and keep her sorrow from welling up within her.

"She came to us weak and frightened, alone in this world and seeking shelter. We had no idea where she had come from, and it is highly likely that she did not know as well. She was taken in under the tutelage of the Sphinx, whose age and wisdom far surpass my own... Although at times she may be lazy and scatterbrained, " the goddess once again paused and turned her gaze toward the floor, "However, as her strength returned, her desire for power grew as well. Through subtle influences, the rate of male conception among our species began to plummet, which led to conflicts among our peoples. This eventually led to war, and the planet required that those which had the power to maintain order should step up and become the gods of this world. The Succubus, my sister Poseidon, and myself stood up to rule, but by then many of our greatest cities had been laid waste in the struggle for males. As you have doubtless come to know by now, this world has slowly lost its ability to continue, and with it the Succubus' thirst for power further increased."

"Unsatisfied with her position, she sought to throw me down as I was the greatest threat to her reign... With deception and vice, and some assistance from the Pharaoh who later stole my powers, I was sealed, but my all-seeing knowledge could pierce even the most complete sealing and I could watch helplessly as she continued her plans... not merely for domination of this planet, but the entire populated universe," the goddess looked back toward Sam, her eyelids still shut but directed toward the wiry man.

"Her desire is to hold all living things in her captivity, by enslaving them to lust and desire. As soon as my sister and myself are out of her way, she wishes to leave this world with its inhabitants and send them among the populated worlds to ensnare them without a drop of bloodshed. How you fit into this plan of hers, I can only conjecture. She took a strange and knowing interest i you from the moment she knew of your presence here. It was almost as if she expected you to be here... I believe she wishes to groom you into her personal mate, as her own power has grown weak over the many years, " the goddess placed her right hand on her chest as if to indicate the succubus' desire to hold him in a tight, eternal embrace, "Much of her power is spent maintaining the parallel plane in which she lives while she sends her minions to do her bidding. Even I cannot reach her there, as only those whom she wishes to pass through may create a portal there."

"She wishes to try you... While at the same time relieving her boredom as she sees all of us, including myself, as beings inferior to herself. She is a twisted and vile being, whose long years have led to the corruption of her mind. For as long as I have known her, I thought that she was merely a lonely and confused girl, lost among the stars from whence she had come, but I now understand that I was wrong all along. She prayed off my empathy, which led to my downfall. Do not trust in her words or promises, for her one true wish for you is to have you fueling her relentless thirst," the goddess sighed, "I believe that is all that I can tell you on that matter... There are some things that you must come to understand on your own, which are not my place to speak of."
 
Sam could only listen as the Goddess explained the story of how this planet came to arrive in the sorry state that it was in; her description made it seem like a utopia. But her telling must have been before the humans came into the picture, as there was clearly plenty of technology on this planet to be had. So through the Succubus' own cunning and playing everyone like a fiddle, she managed to seize control of this world. The Goddess' description of her plans made Sam's eyes widen; so her plan was to turn everyone into sex-crazed shells of who they were before? Maybe if Sam was incredibly naive, the obvious implication of the Succubus' success would have eluded; for the Succubus to win, the entire civilized world would die off.

And it was after the Goddess explained her theory that the Succubus was merely testing and playing with him in order to make him into her ideal mate that Sam realized he too was playing right into her hands. She wanted him to contract the Four Elementals, make him incredibly powerful, then use that power for her own selfish goals. "I see....." was all Sam could reply, seeming cowed by the Goddess' revelation of the misfortune that plagued this world.

But there was one glaring inconsistency, or maybe he was missing something. Why did she choose him? Why not someone else? What did he have that someone else didn't? How did she even know about him? So he decided to ask. "I still don't understand; how did she even know about me? I mean, sure, I formed contracts with Gnome and Undine, but I'm sure anyone could have done that. What makes me so special to her?". Of course Sam didn't mean anything bad by that; however, from his own point of view, there were probably a million other humans who could done what he'd done. And there were some that probably could have done it even better.
 
The Goddess appeared visibly distraught at his question, turning away and gazing down toward the stone floor for a few long moments which soon turned into minutes of careful contemplation before voicing her reply, "You really do not understand, do you? The Succubus may be power-hungry, but she is very careful in every path that she walks and every choice that she makes. How she obtained this information remains a mystery even to myself, but from the time before until now she has known about you. When you traveled through this remote and forgotten patch of space, it was she who felt your presence and guided you to this very planet and caused this most unexpected detour..."

She then lowered her voice and added, "It is an ironic twist of fate that the person whom you sought has also been brought to the same place as our adversary. You have been chosen, Sam. Among all the people in the universe, she chose you. That much must mean something... Nothing that happens is an accident or coincidence. From all that you have been through I would think that you of all people would realize this by now. It is your fate to confront her, for delay will merely seal our fate of extinction, both for our kind and humans as well. I wish that there was some gift or power that I could bestow upon you that would aid you in your quest, as I am greatly indebted to you... But, for now I have only this left to give."

The Goddess reached down and picked up one of the many scattered feathers which dropped from her wings, and placed it beside Sam on the floor, "I have imbued my blessing upon this feather... Call upon my name in your time of need while holding this gift, and I will appear before you. Only use it in the most dire of straights, for my strength is such that I may have to exhaust my own in order to give you aid."
 
Sam didn't like at all the way the Goddess was reacting to his question; just how exactly did she expect him to take this? He was no warrior, his entire family had been business and science. They were a family of letters, not swords or guns; Sam only received basic firearms training because of his (now former) status, and his hand-to-hand skills were basically all learned during his time here out of necessity, and even that was laughable.

When she finally responded to his question, Sam was about to chew her out; of course he didn't understand! He'd only been doing this out of a survival need! Well, that and a desire to pay off all debts. Her words, however, stayed his tongue and made him sit quietly and listen. He'd been chosen for this? Chosen by who? Or what? All of this made him so confused; even the Goddess herself didn't know why or how the Succubus chose him.

Sam just somewhat stared at her, as if in shock over this revelation; just how she expected him to understand this was beyond him. He knew the situation was a dire one indeed, but only now did come to realize the true gravity of it all. "So, basically, it's all on me to save the entire populated universe from the Succubus or extinction, huh? Alright, alright. No pressure or anything, hehe" Sam thought to himself, something he was almost barely able to do given his fatigue and the sudden information shock.

However, he snapped out of his little daze to see the feather that the Goddess had given him; well, that would certainly come in handy. A shaky hand went to reach for it, but stopped, his mind having a moment of clarity; should he really take this? Yes, it would help him immensely, but what if he used it at the wrong time? What if the enemy he needed help to fight was strong enough to defeat the Goddess? Then where would he be? No, there was too much risk involved. "I appreciate the offer...ngh...Goddess" Sam grunted out as he sat up more with great difficulty, then continued, "But I cannot accept this gift. My mind may not be clear right now, but I fear that I would call upon you at the wrong time and waste what energy you have".
 
The Goddess was once again rendered temporarily speechless at his words, holding her right hand up by her mouth in surprise, "You... would give up my gift in order to ensure my own safety? Even when you are so sore and broken from your battle, you still think so much about others. In all my years, I do believe that I have never met such a man before."

She reached out and took back the feather, causing it to vanish as she bent forward and began to creep over to his side on her hands and knees. She slid up next to him and rested on her side, her wings folded carefully behind her so as not to rub against the stone floor of the cave. She reached over and stroked the side of his face affectionately, her very touch helping to sooth any discomfort that he might feel in his body. She couldn't restore his strength, as she was lacking much herself, but she could help ease away the discomfort. The Goddess then brushed her hand lower, across his chest as she nestled herself against him and smiled.

"If... Times were different, I would ask for your hand in marriage, in order to secure your place as one of the defenders of this planet alongside my sister and myself. In time, you will be able to hold your own against even the most fearsome of foes... I know that you are worthy of such an honor, but I acknowledge your love for Rachel. I wish you both happiness... Simply allow me to do this much to assist your recovery," the Goddess laid her head on his shoulder, and although Marina was starting to feel jealous about the attention he was paying the Goddess, she couldn't exactly blame him. Not only was she very powerful, majestic, immortal, and very beautiful... She also apparently had a thing for him as well.
 
Her reaction was certainly one that he wasn't expecting; he started to worry that he might have offended her by refusing her gift. However, her response dispelled that concern almost immediately; in fact, she seemed somewhat pleased at his denial of her charity. Her offer was most certainly a generous one, but Sam would have likely argued with her over it until the end of time. The fact of the matter was that what he said was true; he knew deep down that he would have likely poorly judged a time to use her gift and wasted the little strength she said, however much it had surpassed his own.

Sam's body tensed up a little as she moved towards him, feeling the velvety skin of her hand running over his face; he could feel a gentle warmth run through, almost as if he were sitting against a water jet in a Jacuzzi tub. The energy that coursed through seem to serve as a mild anesthetic; it didn't take away all the pain he was feeling, but its presence was significantly reduced. He took in a deep breath, his toned chest rising as his body relaxed from the deity's touch.

Though he paused noticeably when she said she would gladly marry him under different circumstances; he should be used to this by now, but he simply wasn't. The truth was, even with all the encounters he had with the other girls, he still wanted to be back with Rachel most of all. He wanted to save her, to take from the greedy claws of that damned demoness. His face flushed a bit at her compliments; she might think he was worthy, but he still needed to convince himself of it. "Don't overexert yourself" he warned; she needed her strength to recover, not wasting it on him.
 
"I should say the same to you, Sam," the Goddess giggled, somewhat amused by his flushed expression, "Do not worry, for I am not in any danger of harming myself. As I am right now, I'm simply as physically strong as a human woman but I would have to use quite a lot of my power to drain myself to a dangerous degree... I would very much like to travel with you on your adventures, but I fear I would merely be a burden to you so I will return to my domain above the clouds to watch over you from my proper place. I only wish that I could be of more use to you, after how much trouble and danger you went through in order to rescue me."

She pecked him on the lips briefly before standing back up off the floor and withdrawing from him. She held her hand out toward the far wall as a white ring appeared before her, the mirror-like interior of which showed a glimpse of clouds, through which could be seen the planet below. The Goddess turned back one last time and spoke but one last mysterious word of encouragement, "When the time comes, and the measure in the balance returns... Remember that even the best dreams must come to an end, and wrongs done cannot be undone. Let the one that speaks, speak her mind, but in the end it is you who must decide. No one rules your fate for you."
 
Well, that was good; at least now he wouldn't have to worry about her passing out or anything from using up too much power. He was fairly cognizant of just how strong the Goddess truly was, but he still didn't want her to do too much. If Sam failed, there needed to be someone who could hopefully try and pick up the slack. It wasn't the best-laid backup plan, but it was all he had right now; Sam was aware of how disadvantageous this was, but that was only in the short term. He started to say something about her needing to just get her power back, but froze as the Goddess planted a small but tender kiss on his lips. His eyes watched her fantastic figure as she stepped back and created a portal to travel back to her own plane.

What Sam didn't know was that this was but a glimpse of the White City, the realm of the forces of light and home to the Goddess herself. It too was a parallel plane; much like the Succubus' Demon Realm, it was unable to be seen from the mortal world. With sufficient energy and purity of heart and mind, one could travel into the alternate dimension. However, Sam had neither; the battle with the Pharaoh had drained him severely and the darkness he'd encountered in the Pyramid and throughout his journey had marked him to the extent that he would not have been able to go there. However, that was an issue Sam did not have any awareness of, and would likely continue not to for some time after this. And truthfully, it wasn't even a real threat to anyone.....Yet.

Regardless, Sam listened to the Goddess' words of wisdom as she turned to face him once more; he could only nod as she reminded him that he was still in control of what happened, but should be mindful of the obstacles that he would have to face. He already knew that not all the decisions would be easy, and that there were those who could get hurt if he wasn't careful. "Thank you, Goddess.......I guess, I'll see you when this is all over then, won't I?" he then replied, feeling at a loss for words. What else could he really add? He knew what he needed to do, and now it was all on him to make sure it got done.
 
"The end of one thing is but the beginning of another... Do not speak as if this is our parting, for this is our meeting and I will see you again soon," the Goddess glanced over her right shoulder, although her eyelids were still closed, "At that time, I wish to see you with my true eyes, and wipe away the darkness that is gathering within your soul... You have the potential of becoming a god, Sam, but even gods have their limits. I pay that you will be successful in all your pursuits, both great and small. Fare ye well, until we meet again."

With that, the fair Goddess vanished in a brilliant flash of light as she stepped through the portal and the door of passage vanished, leaving nothing but the memory of her presence and a few forsaken black feathers scattered about the cave. Marina and her children found themselves utterly awed by the entire encounter, although the little squids were much quicker to recover than their mother. They huddled about their father, smiling up at him with wide, beaming faces, while Marina remained in deep contemplation. Had the Goddess seen Sam's future? What clues and hints of advice had she hidden within her words... Most of what she had said seemed fairly straightforward and to the point, but there were a few instances in which she seemed to become intentionally vague.
 
Sam could only watch as the Goddess returned to her domain; so that was it then. He laid back against the cold stone wall, contemplating what had been revealed and said to him. He was to either become the savior of the planet and the universe, die trying, or become the toy of the Succubus herself. Definitely not the most appealing set of options, but given that there was no way off this planet without going to the Succubus, he didn't have a whole lot of choice. The deity herself may have said otherwise, but he felt fairly restricted on this ordeal.

As if he didn't have enough to deal with already....Even with the confidence the Goddess spoke of him, he still didn't know if he would be able to do this. And if it weren't for the fact that he knew Rachel was being held by the Succubus, he'd probably have given up by now. However, those thoughts left his head as Marina's children surrounded, smiling so innocently at him. He managed to smile weakly in return; Sam then managed to say, "Hello, my dear children. Sorry I can't be more lively....."
 
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