I summoned the goo to me once more to create my paladin armor.
And once more, I became the Father, Cepheus, Prophet of the Gods.
Shadowboon did the same and gave me a nod.
Showtime.
With a burst of radiant propulsion, I dove downward, angling toward the collapsing street where Catherine and Regan were still smashing through buildings with each other's bodies.
The air screamed past me as I descended. I was definitely going to leave a crater of my own. Falling from so high with no repercussions was admittedly fun. But I felt bad about all the destruction we caused - all the splintered stone and wood, and everything Medea's lightning had burned or outright liquefied. I could smell the smoke and see some of it rising from the streets.
I could imagine the misery awaiting the people who'd have to fix all this.
My fight with Shadowboon caused the least destruction - just a few roofs and parts of the clock tower.
Not far away, a voice rang out: "High-Priestess, Tower, Sun."
Shadowboon's girls froze mid-motion. There was an oppressive pressure in this command as it rippled through the battlefield, and in the next instant, they disappeared.
The girls staggered as the last traces of their enemy withdrew and vanished, steadying themselves for whatever might come next.
To them, it might've been a trick - or a signal for the next stage of the enemy's plan.
"Leo, Lepus, Aquila!" I also called.
Catherine rushed forward first, breathless, blood on her cheek. "Fa- Cepheus," she said, unsure. "We almost had them! We can still push-"
I raised a hand.
She stopped instantly, and the others went still with her.
"We retreat," I announced.
Their faces fell as one. Their fingers tightened around their weapons until their knuckles turned white. Their jaws locked.
Elizabeth twitched. She wanted to say something until she forced herself still, shame coloring her face.
"What?" Juliet asked, sullen. "Retreat? But Father, we're holding them back. We can win."
"No." I shook my head with grim weight. "We lost."
Shock carved itself across their faces - sharp enough that it almost hurt to look.
"Lost…? But you - Father, you're you. How-?"
Juliet stepped forward. "What happened? Did he - did he beat you?"
"No," I said quietly. Of course he didn't. I had to make it clear to the girl that it wasn't really my fault that we lost or that I was weaker than Shadowboon. But how?
"Light will never be beaten by dark. We were… simply too late," I said.
The words hit them like arrows.
"Fighting will do nothing more except put more people in danger. Or worse. This is just a petty victory, but I need you alive and ready when I need you next."
Across some ruins, I could spy Shadowboon performing his own theater - dark wings of shadow flaring behind him. He really had the whole goo-prop theatrics perfected.
The girls trembled, not from fear but from the purity of their disbelief.
"We failed you," Juliet whispered.
"No." I gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "We did our best to protect Astar. Trying is never failure. Never."
She swallowed. "What now?"
I lifted my helm.
"Now we regroup. Heal. Train. And when the time comes," I said, letting determination harden my tone, "we will challenge him again."
The three girls squared their shoulders, drawing on my confidence like a lifeline.
"Yes, Father," they answered together.
I turned, letting the armor flare to life around me, casting a bright white glow.
"Fall back," I commanded. "Your Father has spoken."
They moved immediately - still shaken, still confused, but loyal without question.
The journey home was quiet.
They followed me like ghosts, with blank faces and heavy steps.
When we arrived back home, they wordlessly removed their armor and cleaned it.
Catherine's gauntlet slipped from her grasp and hit the floor with a sharp metallic crack. She didn't pick it up. She just stared at it, eyes empty, until Juliet quietly lifted it for her and set it on the shelf.
No one spoke.
They tended to their wounds and the dirt that clung to them.
When I offered, they didn't want me to heal them, which I usually did after a hard day out training or when they had hurt themselves any other way.
"I'm proud of you all," I said in a last-ditch attempt to lift their spirits, but no spark returned to their eyes.
They just bowed their heads and went to bed without another word.
And not long after, I heard sobbing - from more than one of them. I also heard some destruction, like one of them threw things around her room, and then it was quiet.
They were warriors, yes.
But they were also children. And this time, things really didn't go their way.
God damn, I felt awful.
Even a few days later, their moods didn't lift.
They trained, yes - more rigorously than before - but there was no edge anymore.
They were lost in the shadow of that "defeat."
And I could not allow that.
Not when their belief mattered so much.
On the third morning, when I came to check on them, I found them sitting at the long table of their kitchen. They didn't cook or train or anything.
It seemed that their perceived failure had really upset them. I couldn't endure this.
They did nothing wrong!
It was time to fix this.
Seeing them like this hurt me in the deepest parts of my heart.
I never wanted to break their spirits - maybe just wound them a little.
But I guess their belief in me and the mission was so strong that a failure like this was a heavy blow.
Did I build myself up too much in their eyes? Too infallible. Too strong. Too "can do no wrong"?
That wasn't right. I was too godly and angelic in their eyes. I should be much more human and fallible, but still wise and all that stuff.
I'd never had this much responsibility in all my lives, and it seemed that I kind of sucked at it.
Books weren't like little girls. What was I supposed to do?
I only knew they were hurting, and I couldn't have that.
I stepped into the room with purpose and breathed in deeply.
"I have been working," I said, letting the words drop with deliberate gravity. In truth, I was thinking of a lie - but a necessary one. Something that could focus them on something other than the defeat.
Their heads lifted slowly, but attentively.
"Since that day," I went on, tapping my fingers against the tabletop in a slow, measured rhythm, "I have devoted every spare moment - morning, night, and in between - to study. And to experimentation."
Catherine straightened, tension sharpening her posture. "Studying… what, Father?"
"The poison."
That one word struck them. And I had their full attention. There was a tension in them at the mention of it.
"The poison the Child of Darkness released into Astar's water," I said, lowering my voice as though the walls themselves might overhear and betray us. "I have been… devising a cure."
Juliet inhaled sharply, a spark flaring behind her eyes. "You… you can cure it?"
"In time," I answered, with a weight heavy enough to sound honest. "But to complete it - " I exhaled slowly, letting a weary man's frustration bleed through and raising a finger as if trying to figure out what I needed, " - I require alchemical ingredients."
Their sadness began to shift - wariness turning into curiosity, melancholy turning into hope.
Elizabeth pushed to her feet so quickly her chair fell backward to the floor. "Tell us what you need," she said fiercely. "We'll fetch it. Everything you need. All of it, right this moment."
I nodded solemnly. "Good. Then listen closely."
The three leaned forward as one.
"I need…" I paused dramatically, letting out my next words carefully as I pretended to weigh a list too complex, too grave, too arcane for them to fully grasp. "I need… well… basically everything."
Catherine frowned. "All kinds?"
"Yes."
Elizabeth raised a hand. "Father… could you be more specific? Plants? Minerals? Animal parts?"
"I need everything. Much of everything. The poison is unknown. And I need some samples of the water from the harbor in Astar." I folded my arms, giving the impression of a man carrying far too much on his shoulders to bother explaining. "We cannot spare time. Every moment we dawdle, people might be in danger, and the Child of Darkness grows bolder. You must gather anything and everything with alchemical potential. Herbs, metals, mushrooms, salts, roots, powders - anything. Fill the pantry. Now go."
Juliet straightened with renewed resolve. "Then we won't waste time. We'll search all day."
Elizabeth clenched her fist, determination restored. "We'll find everything you need."
I softened my tone. "I knew I could count on you."
They scattered through the house at once - pulling on boots, buckling armor, ready to venture out.
Catherine snatched up three maps and unfurled them at once, muttering routes to Juliet.
Elizabeth slung two empty barrels over her shoulders like they were nothing.
Their spirits rose - just enough to ignite that fire again.