House of Amarin

"This is big..." Arcus whispered while looking at the giant, blob-like entity before them, sprouting hundreds of tentacles, stretching into the clouds of No-Space.

"Not as big as mine." Erias joked, making his brother laugh like a kid while Somia simply rolled her eyes. "But damn! This looks like a living being, not a sub-realm!"

"I have been studying it since getting flung here by the explosion. This form is between a living thing and an object. It looks as if it is alive and made out of flesh, but it isn't. What you see here is a perfect combination of the elements of water and nature. What makes it almost something that is alive is that I discovered there is a soul somewhere within it. Bound to this... created existence."

"That must be Camyu." Erias hummed, explaining it quickly.

"I see. Then that explains a lot. This thing is like a suit of armor that surrounds their home, and Camyu is the one wearing it. They have become inseparable, and if you try to do that, both will fall apart. I am not so sure that it was an accident, either. This thing looks to be designed that way!"

"I wouldn't put far from that old bitch to sacrifice her own daughter." Arcus scoffed, making his brother nod his head in agreement.

"Can they exist here indefinitely?"

"For sure. Even though it is an ingenious design, it is wicked. I wouldn't have done it. But... With a soul controlling it, it could travel the Cosmos! This is like a giant ship... a mother ship. If you will."

"Well... I am not in the mood to let them go. To let them travel to a different part of the Cosmos, get strong enough, and come back for revenge! We are gathering armies in secret so we can invade!"

"That is one thing..." Somia shrugged, biting onto her ethereal finger, "An invasion could kill the people inside. You could empty it out, but you could also be trapped within! Camyu can do whatever she wants with you in it! Do you see the tentacles and the suction cups? Through it, she can draw in an infinite amount of energy from No-Space!"

"Meaning?" Arcus asked, and it was Erias who answered.

"Remember how it felt within their Sect?"

"Of course! I slept in that shithole for thousands of years!"

"What my sexy girlfriend here is saying is that Camyu is a God within. She can manipulate the laws as their sub-realm is separated from Meriath. We can easily find ourselves unable to cast any spells within!"

"Depending on Camyu's understanding of the elements," Somia added quickly. "Her knowledge is still based on our Meriath. What she doesn't understand, she can't block or modify."

"I see..." Erias whispered, crossing his arms, and it was Arcus who cleared his throat, looking sheepish. 

"So... what... does that mean?"

"That attacking the inside must be done with combined elements. Even those may fail, so we need people who can do it well and in multiple variations."

"Good thing that Lia is teaching them right now, eh?" Arcus laughed, finding it hilarious. 

"Maybe... The question is how many of them can grow to strength in time... tsk." Erias whispered to himself, hearing his brother.

"There is a Plan B," Somia added after she deemed that Erias had thought about it for long enough. Just when she opened her mouth, Erias did the same, echoing the same sentences. "We need a two-pronged attack. A group bombards the tentacles, injuring the sub-realm itself, while a specialized strike force attacks from within! We need to hit hard and quick, tearing this thing apart."

"You two should get married!" Arcus stated, flashing a thumbs up at the two after they fell silent.

"Oh, we will! Isn't that true, my love?"

"If you want to marry a ghost." Somia answered plainly, "First, come up with a method that makes us able to bring people into No-Space in its current form and let them do their job while another group enters from one of the tentacles."

"I dealt with the Undead... Give me time, baby girl, and I will deal with this too!"

...

....

.....

"Is this really it?" Lia asked, her mismatched eyes largening, watching a giant, holographic projection of the monster-like Realm. She and many of those who knew about Paman were there, standing in a circle, watching the same image.

"Yes," Erias explained, detailing everything he recorded, and Hajna was making adjustments to the picture based on his descriptions. "Somia truly mapped most of it."

"I have never seen it from the outside." Cael whispered, just as amazed. "This must be the Sect Master's work."

"Then we need to eliminate her before she returns to strength." Lakhmu added, looking at Lia, "How's Reyra doing? Any idea?"

"Not much. Paman has been evading me, always shrugging my calls off, saying she has much to deal with after the summit. I think she fears me or what type of effect I have on my Mother's psyche. Still, my brothers are doing their part, and Razael told me that Father has been noticing that something is off. We may also inform him."

"The old bear may not be the strongest, but-" Arcus tried to praise him, but Lia couldn't help herself, letting out a giggle.

"Razael expressed that Father said my Mom is not as active in bed as she used to be. She doesn't even moan much!"

"..." That sentence very quickly silenced the people in the room, making Lucian knock on Lia's head.

"Ah... so that is why you are loud..." Rinzen murmured, adding a cute, soft yelp when Lucian's knuckles landed on her head, too. "Owie..."

"Focus." The white fox added, his expression remaining unperturbed. 

"Here is what we should do!" Erias pulled their attention back onto the image. "With Somia's help, we identified four tentacles and where they are connected to Meriath! We can launch an attack simultaneously from those, but the people who will go in must be our most powerful mages! Arcus and I will take the route we entered first. We will be the loudest and most aggressive!"

"So we never really thought about letting them go?" Rinzen asked not to blame them, but it was coming from honest curiosity.

"I don't trust Camyu!" Lia answered her, still watching the image of the tentacles. "She had so many opportunities to do this. Why now? Why wait until the Undead is gone? While waiting until her Mother is in a difficult situation? She was lost in No-Space for such a long time; she could have easily made up something to prevent her reincarnation. Or just slowly turn everybody to her side."

"Maybe she couldn't?" Albert chimed in, drawing the other dragons' eyes to himself as their stance was clear. Kill them all. They didn't need a reason why.

"Or didn't want to, not until she was sure she could do it. They let the Undead happily thrive. Hmph! I do not trust them!" Lia answered him with a snort.

"The answer is probably in her psyche and the mental lock from the Sect Master," Cael said, not taking his new Master's words onto himself. "With her mind damaged and being contested by Lady Reyra's soul, her grip loosened. Camyu can go against it now."

"Of course, you would defend them..." Arcus grumbled, but Cael gently shook his head and was about to answer when Hajna interjected.

"Camyu was once marked as a traitor."

"Huh?" The others flinched, and Lia waved her hand to silence the group, letting Hajna continue.

"It was the reason why she fled to the Soulbound Sect and was almost consumed. The real Hajna was part of the delegation that smoothed out the conflict between the two after her Mother rescued her out of necessity. I have some records, and they say that Camyu wanted to take over the Golden Claw from her Mother but failed. Then she fled after her plans were busted... and you can all guess which of the Sects tried helping her."

"Politics..." Lucian chuckled sarcastically, making Lia and Rinzen nod in agreement. 

"So!" Erias clapped, drawing attention to himself once more, "Are we in agreement that we won't let them get away?"

"Yes." Answered everybody, raising their hands, coming to a unanimous decision. 

"Good! Back to the plan, then! While our strongest people will attack from the front, the collected armies will go into No-Space and make sure this thing can't flee! Got it? We need as many openings and wounds on it as possible! If its integrity fails, it will fall apart, and their home will be destroyed!"

"For that," Lia stepped forward, and Hajna changed the image, displaying her destroyed, now even more chaotic sub-realm. "We will start training people to withstand it! With Erias's help, I will enter first and stabilize it to our best efforts so it can welcome students and anyone else! It will be the perfect training ground to prepare our people for what is to come!"

With the decision not to let the Golden Claw ever leave Meriath, the leaders of the Realm quickly began their plans and preparations. They all knew it would take years or even decades, and there was no time to waste. But they were not the only ones planning.

"Lady Camyu..." A whisper traveled to her mind, and she appeared in her ethereal form before a middle-aged man kneeling in one of the meditation rooms within the Golden Claw Sect. 

"Grandmaster Tiuron."

"I made contact with Grandmaster Paleid. I determined that he wouldn't join our side, so I never brought it up. This makes all the reincarnated Grandmasters accounted for. Of the five, three are with us."

"Mhm. I will relay this information to the other side. Good work, Grandmaster."

"Can we trust those barbarians?"

"We don't need to." Camyu answered, shaking her head, "They won't be able to find us. Focus on getting rid of Paman first! We will succeed with what I failed to do previously and leave Meriath!"

"Are we really... leaving?" Tiuron asked, still feeling it hard to believe. They have finally 'returned,' and now they were going away? Again?

"For a time, yes. I realized that our home was lost to us. No matter what my Mother thinks, we won't be able to conquer it. We live in the present while she is stuck in the past. She already led us to ruin once! I won't let it happen a second time. Not when a chance came knocking on my door! I am the Golden Claw, and we will survive!"

"Yes, Lady Camyu!" Tiuron bowed his head, letting his forehead touch the ground. 

"Don't be disheartened, Grandmaster! Given time, we will return! We ruled over the others once. We can do it again! Only our starting point will be elsewhere. Go, continue surveying our people, and recall those who are essential. Only leave those up on the surface who are loyal to my Mother! Let the current powers fight it out; we just need to lean back and wait..."

...

....

......

"Troubled?" Reyra laughed mockingly within her own mind, disturbing Paman while she meditated. "Fewer people report to you than expected? Pfft~ Too bad! Your dominance is waning!"

"What do you even know about dominance? Wiggling your bum to that animal of yours like a good little whore..."

"Ooooo~ Angwy bawby girlw cwan't handwle biggie carrowt, uwuuuu~ It huuurts, uwuuuu, pwease hewp, I can't twake it all~"

"SHUT UP!"

With a roar and heaving laboriously, Paman realized she was now standing in her training room, leaning against the wall, her nose bleeding heavily. She tried summoning her powers to stop it and calm down, but it wasn't answering her. Instead, it began building up strength, making her head hurt so much she collapsed.

"What's the problem bitch? Can't control my body as well anymore? Face it, you vapid whore... you can't even please my hubby with this perfect and snug body I have! You are done! You scramble for crumbs while I am slowly growing stronger and stronger! Ahaha! What? Are you pushing me down again? Don't worry! Even if you silence me now, I will be there when you go to sleep! You will wake to my laughter! Ahahaha! I am your nightmares... welcome to my world... BITCH!"