A few rapping sounds were heard from the window, as Mark stood up from his desk to walk over to allow the carrier bat inside. He took the bat in one hand and took the message from its pouch.
"More news?" Janet placed a book to one side, as she rolled upside down on her fur rug.
"Yes. I hope it has to do with the rumbling and light show earlier... Cross your fingers."
Mark rolled out the message and read it. Soon, he laughed out loud with satisfaction, as he walked back over to his desk to slum into the chair.
"What does it say? I want to laugh too!" Janet chuckled too, as she heard the crazed laughter.
"It worked! I can't believe it worked, but it worked, hahaha!"
"The skull thingy or the three god peoples?"
"The Sun Skull! My people have actually recovered the skull! I just don't know what to say... The Mountain Ape Hermit did what Jakahn couldn't in an afternoon! Just... Where is the justice, hahaha!"
"Well... In Jakahn's defense, they were going to take over the lands as well." Janet spoke with humor in her voice.
"I know, I know... I'm just being narrowminded at the moment. When I first thought about this... I didn't think it was going to work. It just seemed too easy. Remind me to provide extras to the one that spoke with the Mountain Ape Hermit. They did a fantastic job of convenience him." Mark continued to laugh, as he found this to be ridiculous... He didn't even have to blow up the Sun Skull! It was in one piece!
Janet nodded, and then spoke, "Now that we have it... What now?"
"Well, we don't have it juuuust yet, but soon. My people will be bringing it here soon. After that, I will need to get the Lavegrim Geoshark fin from the Church of Three Gods, and after that... The rest will be fine. I will be able to restore you as you were previously."
"Will I get my memories back?" Janet asked as she righted herself back up on her rug.
"This... I'm not sure. It would be best, but it will be fine if you don't."
"I see... I would rather get them back to know the truth personally."
Mark stood and walked over to Janet and thought for a moment. He reached down and picked her up and placed her in her wheelchair.
"I know a great restaurant here, in Bineham. Would you like to go?" Mark asked softly.
Janet put her hands over her stomach, as she looked up, "It has been a while... I would love too," She spoke as she smiled widely up at Mark.
*******
"Priestess... The God of Deagoth won against the Mountain Ape Hermit." The Third Bishop of the Church of Three Gods kneeled before the Priestess, inside a danky dim room in the bowels of the Main Church, here on the Ruined Continent.
"I figured, as much... Nothing is ever easy, and the Dead Tide?"
"Another wave looks to have formed and is heading to Souigak... This one will be must larger than the second one they defended off."
"Good... The more souls we can destroy the greater our gods will be pleased." The Priestess laughed, as she looked at the mural on the wall. She looked at the various carvings on the walls.
"The Faceless one, The Beyond one, and the Dark one..." The Priestess called out one by one.
"Third Bishop... Who among the three is the most powerful? Do you know?"
"...It's not that I haven't thought of it before, but... Should I say? I fear retribution from the three divines."
"They, of course, will do no such thing... They themselves question everything, so why would the question you? Speak now... I am curious." The Priestess propped her hand under her chin, as she looked down on the Third Bishop.
"Ah... Well... If I may be so bold, I believe it is the Faceless one." The Third Bishop looked up to see if he could catch a glimpse of her face... Alas, the three colored veils did not allow his gaze to pass.
"The Faceless one." The Priestess nodded a few times, but then spoke, "I can see how you might think so... Old than the other two, and the messenger of the Blind Idiot, himself... But... I believe it is The Beyond one."
"...But the Beyond one... He cannot come into our world... So, I don-"
"Just because he himself cannot come and go of his own accord doesn't mean he doesn't have his own... The Beyond one and the Dark one are a married couple... Married by the Blind Idiot, THE DEAMON SULTAN HIMSELF!"
The Third Bishop shivered when he heard this information... He was getting a lesson on the beyond... He knew this was because of his contributions, and he also knew this would aid in his Cultivation if he could understand this information without losing his mind.
"Yes... Priestess." The Third Bishop squeezed out, as large black beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
"He has thousands of young with his mate... Thousands of Thousands... They are his messengers of him and his wife. They come and go as they please one by one, but if you wish to see many a blood offering has to be made."
"Then... Have we ha-"
"Yes, Third Bishop. Yes, we have. I will tell you some great news. News so great that I may be able to return to the mainland."
"Yes, my Priestess?!"
"After many years... The Beyond one has answered us, and has sent us... One of his Dark Young."
A fierce cold breath was drawing in a hiss by the Third Bishop into his vestigial lungs. He knew what this meant... A dark young?! A messenger from The Wedded beyond the Veil!
"Do... Do we know if it's from The Beyond one or from The Dark one?"
"It seems that fortune favors me... My two sisters must be furious, haha. It's as you guessed. It's from The Beyond one."
The Third Bishop bowed his head in thought... If he could gain the favor of this Dark Young... Maybe... Maybe it would give him some secrets to the beyond, and his cultivation would go well beyond... Forget becoming the First Bishop! Perhaps he could have this Priestess dwell within his evening tomb every night! But... How does one please a Dark Young... And could he even meet this one, as it was on the mainland?
"...Wanting to meet the Dark young?" The Priestess laughed, with her darkly toned reverberating inside the small room.
"Of course! Such a being! Divine! What knowledge do they have, and what could they pass to us!"
"To you, you mean?"
"Without question! If I were to get information straight from the source, then I could become more powerful. Do you wish for me to lie?"
Behind the three-colored veil, the brows of the Priestess twitched, but she spoke aloud and agreed, "That's how it should be. If the mainland sees fit to call me back, then I will have you stay here. I will promote you at that time to First Bishop. I look forward for the both of us, my Bishop."
"Thank you, my Priestess." The Third Bishop rose and walked from the room, leaving the Priestess behind.
Inside of her thoughts, the Priestess thought of her next move, as she looked around the room at the various awful depictions on the walls. She muttered to herself, "I'm just as much a prisoner, as I am in power... Third little Bishop... This Priestess has lived longer than your parents... Do you think I don't know your plans?"
"It looks like I will need a new pawn... What was his name? All I remember is that they called him Monocle? Meh. It doesn't matter. All will be dust in the end." The Priestess smiled, at the thought of sweet release.