Diablo 3: Hell's Eclipse

Chapters

Prelude: A New World
Fallen Star: Into the Cathedral
Caldeum: Kulle's Archives
Epilogue: End of the Road
Interlude: New Tristram
Interlude: Training
Interlude: The Fallen Star
Fallen Star: The Missing Crown
Fallen Star: The Trapped Templar
Fallen Star: Skeleton King
Fallen Star: Fields of Misery
Fallen Star: Home of the Nephalem
Fallen Star: Danger in Wortham
Fallen Star: Spiders and Khazra
Fallen Star: Depths of Leoric's Manor
Interlude: New Information and Arrivals
Interlude: Farewells and Departure
Interlude: Sea Travel
Caldeum: Chasing the Coven
Caldeum: Sewer Discovery
Caldeum: The Hunt for Kulle
Caldeum: Water, Sand, and Blood
Caldeum: The Lord of Lies
Interlude: Discovery in the Gatehall
Interlude: Mock Battle
Interlude: Leah's Discovery
Bastion's Keep: Salvation has Arrived
Bastion's Keep: Breaking the Siege
Bastion's Keep: Into Azmodan's Realm
Interlude: Betrayal
Heaven: Invasion
Heaven: Fallen Angel
Heaven: The Prime Evil
Interlude: Aftermath
Interlude: Hunting Adria
Interlude: Visitors
Equus: Back Home
Equus: Information and Clash
Equus: Reapers

Prelude: A New World

It was night in Equestria, a few hours after Celestia lowered the sun and Luna raised the moon, where Luna knew that the majority of the ponies would be asleep or getting ready for bed, while the night crowd, like her Lunar Guard, were getting up for their nightly routines. Such a thing caused her to smile as she looked out at Canterlot, as there were ponies who loved her night and even went out to enjoy themselves, just like those who enjoyed Celestia's daytime, and it warmed Luna's heart to see ponies gazing up at the stars and just having fun. She was sure that the likes of Vinyl Scratch were out there, heading to one of the party venues that were scattered throughout Canterlot, and suspected that the ponies would be having fun throughout the night, even into the early hours of the morning. The city itself was peaceful, which was a side effect of what her sister had done since her absence, despite some villains returning from their past to wreck havoc, but Celestia's method of dealing with them had worked wonders for her.

Such a thing caused Luna to sigh for a moment as she sat on her balcony, as Twilight Sparkle and some of her friends were now missing, in fact she and Celestia had been looking for them for quite some time now, and yet neither of them had found a sign of the various missing ponies.

Not only did that mean that some of Luna's personal saviors were gone, since Twilight and her close nit group of friends had been the ones responsible for saving her from the control of her darker side, Nightmare Moon, but they also happened to be the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. She had asked Celestia why they didn't just take the Elements back and use the six gems together, three each like they had done in the past, and her sister claimed that they had no connection to the gems anymore, she had tried multiple times over the years and failed every time. With just one of them missing the Elements were basically worthless, since they now required six users, and based on what Celestia had said previously four of the users were missing, meaning they had no way to use the Elements. Of course both she and her sister were more interested in saving the ponies that had simply gone missing, even though she also knew the Elements were a secondary reason, but it still annoyed her how neither of them had found a sign, like the ponies had simply vanished into thin air.

In fact the only clue they had found was a magical anomaly in the cave that the Tree of Harmony, where the Elements had been returned to, rested in, and every so often she or Celestia, or even both of them, would return to the cave and talk for a time, in an area that was safe and sound, even if part of her wanted to argue with her sister about things.

As she thought about Celestia, however, Luna noticed her sister take flight and head in the direction of the cave, which was due to the fact that tonight they were supposed to meet up and talk, maybe even discuss a new plan of attack to try and find the missing ponies. With that in mind Luna gave her sister a head start, mostly because she wanted to enjoy the fact that the ponies in Canterlot were enjoying her night, before eventually sighing as she got up and opened her wings, as this was very important for the both of them. After that she lifted herself off her balcony and departed for the cave that was in the forest that was outside Ponyville, an enchanted forest called the Everfree Forest that seemed to rebel against the rules that the rest of Equestria lived by. It was here that they built their first castle, before she grew increasingly annoyed with her sister being in the spotlight all the time and transformed herself into Nightmare Moon, resulting in her attacking Celestia and being sent to the moon for a thousand years, a castle that was now falling apart.

Part of her was still saddened when she laid eyes on her former home, as she didn't like seeing it like this, while the other part was more focused on ignoring it and the memories it held, causing her to land outside the cave and head inside, only to find her sister standing in front of the crystalline tree at the end of the passage.

"I just don't understand how ponies could disappear from this place." Celestia commented, where Luna found that her sister looked around the area that the Tree was in for a few moments, and when she did the same thing she found that there were a number of purple cracks in the air, the very ones Discord told them about, before Celestia sighed, "What are we missing? Why can't we find the missing ponies?"

"Still can't make any progress?" Luna asked, where she stepped out of the shadows and let her sister see that she was here, even though both of them agreed that this had to be where everything started, the root cause of the displacements, even if they had no idea how to use this information to track down the missing ponies.

"Yeah... I know this place is important to our search, but I haven't been able to figure out the reason why." Celestia replied, where she turned her head again and focused on some of the other cracks, even though Luna knew that not even Discord had any information on what they could be, he had no idea what these were and had no idea what they could do, "If only Twilight were here, I'm sure she would understand what we're seeing and have an explanation for us... I'm afraid that I don't understand what's going on."

"I agree, she would have all sorts of answers for us." Luna remarked, where she glanced out at the cave as well, she knew it felt different than the last few times they had been here, in fact it was like part of her was drawn to what was going on right now, before she focused on her sister as an idea came to mind, "You don't think this is a trap, do you? That Discord was lying to us so he could finally do away with us and the Elements of Harmony?"

She knew Celestia was going to say something about how they should trust Discord, since he was worried about Fluttershy, but before they could say anything there was a cracking sound as one of the cracks opened, revealing a swirling portal to who knew where. As her sister turned to face her, however, a dark mass formed in front of Luna's chest, surprising her since this wasn't her magic at work, before a dark phantom that took the shape of Nightmare Moon, in fact Luna was sure that it was her darker half as she took in the transparent look, flew out of her. It was like the specter was being fired from a cannon, the force of which sent Luna tumbling backwards, towards one of the now opened cracks in reality, meaning she was going to be sent somewhere, just like the ponies that had gone missing recently. As she opened her mouth, to call out to her sister, Luna found that Nightmare Moon slammed into Celestia's chest, sending both of them tumbling into the open vortex that had opened up behind Celestia.

Luna could do nothing as her sister and Nightmare Moon were sent to an entirely different world, while she herself fell into her own portal and rushed off for parts unknown, something that only made her wonder what in the world the future had in store for her and wherever she ended up.

Leah was bored out of her mind, which was nothing new in her dull life in New Tristram, as most days she was either helping her uncle out in his research into old tales and legends, none of them she believed in since a good majority of her uncle's stuff revolved around angels and demons, or helping around town. There wasn't much she could do in town since she had no real skill in blacksmithing, she wasn't a warrior and couldn't join the guard, she didn't have any priestly powers, and she had no abilities when it came to farming. Her only real talents were in helping her uncle with his studies, sifting through all of the ancient tomes and scrolls that he was interested in, and yet that got boring after some time because she didn't have his faith in the Horadrim, an order he claimed to be the last of. The reason they were here, in New Tristram, was because her uncle was convinced that this was where the 'Fallen Star' would land, that it would crash into some part of the town, or even the old cathedral on the outskirts of the town.

She sighed for a moment as she finished walking up the path that lead out of the town, which would head off into the woods for a time, and turned to glance back at the town that was her home, where she idly swatted at something that was near her right leg for a few seconds.

"I wish something exciting would happen in this town... it's too boring." Leah commented, as she preferred it when she and her uncle were out exploring the world, at least there was something new to see and new places to explore, because New Tristram felt like a cage at times.

For a moment nothing happened, not that she was expecting the world to respond to her wish, before she noticed that there was something in the sky, a comet or maybe just a rock that was coming in hot, she could see the fire coming from it, which was when she realized what she was seeing. In that moment her uncle's stories came to life before her eyes, it was the Fallen Star, it had to be, because it happened to be coming right towards New Tristram, just as her uncle's stories said it would, a fact that made her wonder if he was even seeing this right now. In the next moment she found that it wasn't going to crash on the cathedral, like her uncle thought it would, nor was it going to crash somewhere in the town, like some of the stories claimed, which caused her earlier excitement to die down a little. It was in that moment that she realized that the Fallen Star was heading right for her, for some reason, and Leah freaked out as she wondered what she could do to prevent the object from hitting her.

As Leah thought about that, however, the Fallen Star slammed into the ground off to her right, smashing through some trees and leaving flames in it's wake, where Leah waited for a few moments to let her heart stop beating like it was a drum, and the moment she was sure her heart was calmer she investigated the Fallen Star.

She honestly wasn't sure what she was expecting the Fallen Star to be, the tales really didn't go into great detail on that part of the story, but the form that was in the crater was definitely not something she was expecting, as it was a woman that was slightly older than her, likely twenty or twenty-one. The was attractive, not that Leah had any examples since she was used to the older ladies that lived in New Tristram, yet she had a blue coloration to her body as she noticed that the woman's body was like a human had been mixed with a pony. Her legs ended in what Leah assumed were hooves, her face had a little muzzle, she had pointed pony ears on her head, and her hair was like a mane, especially since the lady had a tail, despite the fact that her hair and tail were two different tones of blue and almost looked like the night sky from a certain angle. There was also the fact that she had what Leah assumed was a horn in the middle of her forehead, not to mention a pair of wings that were feathered and bared the same coloration as her body, and she wore what appeared to be a ragged robe, parts of which were ruined from her violent entry.

Leah's thoughts were interrupted as she heard the woman moan for a moment, causing her to step down into the crater before coming to a stop near the figure, who didn't seem injured from what she was seeing, like some sort of magic might have protected her.

"Ugh, where am I?" the woman asked, where Leah found that she had light blue eyes when she opened them, though at the same time the confused look on her face told her that the woman had no idea where she was, which made her wonder how she could be connected to the Fallen Star.

"New Tristram. Who are you?" Leah replied, because while she was confused on whether or not this woman had anything to do with the Fallen Star, as her earlier excitement over seeing it had vanished, she was curious about the newcomer that was in front of her, and maybe she could get some information out of her to share with her uncle.

"Luna, Lunar Princess of Equestria. Have you seen anyone else like me?" the woman inquired, something that caused Leah to raise an eyebrow for a moment, as she had no idea who the figure was and had no idea what she called herself a princess, since she didn't have a crown or anything.

"No, I've only seen you." Leah answered, though in that moment the woman, Luna she reminded herself, let out a sigh that seemed to be one of frustration as she rested her head against the ground once more, something that caused Leah to get up for a moment, "Wait here, I'll be back with aid."

Leah had no idea what was going on right now, nor did she understand anything that Luna had said, but something told her that things were going to be more interesting in New Tristram for the foreseeable future and it made her interested in what the coming days and weeks might have in store for them.

Fallen Star: Into the Cathedral

Upon returning to New Tristram it didn't take Luna long to land outside the Slaughtered Calf Inn, where she and Leah quickly headed into the room that they shared, since all of the buildings had been taken and there was nowhere for Luna to call home, hence her current arrangement. Fortunately there had been enough room inside Leah's room that they were able to add a second bed so they could both sleep soundly at night, though for right now neither of them focused on that as Leah grabbed her bow and quiver, her only weapons. Luna, on the other hand, slipped on a few pieces of mail armor, bits that Haedrig had been able to make her over the last week, which was mostly bracers and the leg guards, though supposedly he was working on lightweight plate armor for her. In addition to that Luna had a few weapons, such as a greatsword, a pair of swords, and a battleaxe, all of which she collected and put on, as she made sure to have extra weapons in case one broke on her while she was fighting.

Once they were done the pair emerged from the inn and headed outside, where Luna snapped an order at the Militia that were still in the town, making sure they were at the walls in case danger came knocking, because if what she had seen was any indication the Militia would be needed to keep an eye on things.

"Where is Rumford? He'll be acting as the one in charge while Captain Daltyn is out." Luna asked, as she had dedicated a bit of her time to learn the names of the members of the Militia, even though right now it was clear that Daltyn and fifteen of his men were no longer in New Tristram, since they had hurried off towards the cathedral.

"He went with the Captain, Ma'am." one of the other Militia soldiers replied, which caused both Luna and Leah to look at him before nodding their heads to allow the soldiers to focus on their tasks, as Luna was surprised that the Captain and his Second would leave together, instead of just one leaving and ensuring the other remained to watch the town.

"Fantastic, there's no Third for the Militia." Leah commented, because Daltyn had only specified Rumford as the next one in line to lead the group, should something happen to him, but neither had said who might replace both of them, so for the time being Luna snapped a few orders at the Militia and made sure the soldiers were ready to defend New Tristram, "It's a shame you never actually joined the Militia, you could have taken Daltyn and Rumford's place."

"Sure, I could have done that... but I'm a mare of action... woman, sorry... and I'm tired of sitting around while others are in the middle of fighting." Luna said, referring to the fact that most of Celestia's plans recently had involved using the Elements of Harmony and their Wielders to resolve the various obstacles and messes that Equestria got into, like the time that they had been invaded by the changelings, she had been elsewhere that day, or when Sombra returned, "Though flying might have to wait for a time, as we should deal with the undead that are getting close to town, cut down on the dangers that the rest of the Militia might face while we're gone."

Leah sighed and nodded her head, as while she wanted to go after her uncle she also knew that cutting down on the horde of the undead was the smartest move for them to make right now, especially since it would make it easier for the Militia to defend New Tristram from whatever was happening. As they started down the path, however, the pair confirmed that the risen dead had reached New Tristram, as there were decaying bodies shambling towards the gate that the Militia were going to defend, plus female ones with red cloth hoods that were puking some substance onto the ground. Luna realized what that substance did, it was spreading the undead plague on the ground, as the ground and foliage that was around the female risen was literally dying before her very eyes, something that awakened the dead that might be buried in the ground. This told her and Leah that the retching risen needed to be targeted first, least they spread the undead plague to everything and everyone that was around them, something that caused Luna to nod to Leah before rushing at the risen.

She was putting her faith in Leah, because while she knew that Leah hadn't fought anything like this before, save for maybe hunting when she and Deckard traveled in the past, Luna suspected that having someone trust her like she was would bring out the heroine that was inside her. Luna focused on swinging her smaller weapons at the risen, finding that they were able to cut through their undead bodies with ease, which made sense due to the fact that they were literally rotting and didn't have the natural defenses a living body might have. As she expected Leah had her back almost immediately, loosing one of her arrows into the head of a risen that was near the group Luna was cutting down, causing it to stagger backwards before Luna spun and cut it down as well. The one that was more interesting for her happened to be the bloated one, which was an odd thing for a corpse that had been buried within the last year, and when she cut it down the upper portion of the body came free and crawled after her while the lower half remained still.

"Good to know: the bloated ones can split in half." Luna commented, taking a moment to swing her swords and clean them of the blood that had gotten on them, before she glanced back at Leah for a few seconds, who was looking at the slain risen with a look of disgust on her face, even though it was likely mixed with the urge to throw up since this was the first time she had attacked a living thing, despite it being the risen, "Leah, breathe. I'm here, you're fine, and the dead have been returned to their graves, in a sense. Do you remember how to use the fire spell I taught you?"

Leah locked eyes with Luna for a couple of seconds, grateful for the lady being there, before nodding as she carefully held a hand out and forced herself to calm down as she let out a tiny bit of flame at the bodies of the risen, setting them on fire so they couldn't rise again. Luna nodded and did the same thing, using a small bit of her own fire magic to ignite some of the other corpses that had been slain, ensuing that none of them came back to bite the Militia or the people of the town, plus it gave Leah more practice with her magic. In addition to that she found a few more risen that were feasting on slain cows and other once living animals, it was easy to see their bodies as the undead tore out their organs and devoured them, spilling blood all over the decaying ground. For Leah it was a sickening and gruesome scene, especially when she found someone from the town that had been out before the Fallen Star collided with the cathedral, but for Luna, who faced nightmares for the ponies of her home world, this was nothing compared to their nightmares.

As she thought about that, however, she and Leah found Rumford resting against one of the fence posts that were ahead of them, looking like he had been through Hell itself, something that caused Leah to pull out a healing potion and let him drink it, healing his wounds as he coughed for a few seconds.

"Rumford, what happened to the others?" Leah asked, because she was hoping that they were near the cathedral, since that had been Daltyn's plan from the very beginning, and to find one of the Militia out here, with no one else nearby, meant they might be in trouble.

"Dead. Some idiots broke rank and got the Captain and everyone else killed... I'm honestly not sure how I escaped, given the chaos that was going on." Rumford replied, which was definitely not good news for them, especially since it meant Luna had wasted her time training people who just died instantly and hoped that the rest of the Militia would be able to protect the town while they were looking for Deckard.

"Follow this path and head back to New Tristram... and tell the Militia that burning the bodies of the risen will help keep their numbers down." Luna stated, where the man nodded his head and forced himself to stand once more, though as he walked down the worn path, heading to the bridge leading back to the town, she and Leah continued up the path that would bring them to Old Tristram.

The ruins were of the original town, where a lot of madness and death happened in the past, Deckard had told her a bit of what went down in that place in the past, though Luna shelved those thoughts for a time as she rushed at the risen, cutting through the thinner ones as she beheaded the retching one first. Leah provided support in the form of flaming arrows, as Luna had told her how she might be able to use her magic to make arrows and fire had been the first element they landed on, as it was the one that she had the greatest affinity for. Such a thing allowed her to strike some of the other risen without wasting her actual arrows, showing Luna that she was taking the lessons seriously and was listening to her suggestions, to which Luna spilled the corrupted blood of the risen and they set the corpses on fire as they continued down the worn path they were following. Luna considered themselves fortunate, as none of the burning piles they left behind were near the trees that happened to be in the area, so they didn't have to worry about a forest fire and allowed both her and Leah to focus on taking care of the risen.

Old Tristram itself was packed full of the risen, a number of retching undead, some of the splitters, while the majority were the normal ones, and she found that there was a regal looking one, maybe the former Queen or something, where Luna just sighed as she flashed through the ruins. Leah found that the figure slashed through some of the risen, while also releasing what appeared to be bolts of fire that slammed into some of the others, though she steeled herself and loosed a few fiery arrows into the enemies that Luna wasn't targeting. Such a thing reminded her of the fact that Luna was an alicorn, one of the strongest forces on her home world, and she was the warrior princess, who fought enemies while her sister usually sat on her rear all day, even though she suspected Celestia only fought when absolutely necessary. She still hated the smell of burning flesh and blood that was in the air, from all of the risen foes that they were hitting, though while this happened she also found that Luna's sword snapped in half, causing the warrior to shrug as she discarded them and used the greatsword next.

In the end it took them no time to actually wipe out the rest of the risen that were in the collapsed ruins that happened to be Old Tristram, where Luna looked through some of the old weapon racks and the weapons that the risen had on them, most of which she left behind, save for a nicer looking sword and mace.

"Can't you hold back a little more?" Leah asked, not because she wanted more of a challenge, rather her comment was due to the fact that Luna had a habit of breaking weapons and discarding them, often leaving her to collect the pieces so they could be delivered to Haedrig to be melted down.

"Sorry, I'm just too used to wielding Nightfell... I kind of want a weapon like that, without summoning it." Luna replied, as her personal weapon was the only one that could withstand her full power, and none of the weapons of this world had come close to matching it's power, before she used her magic to force open the gate that was in front of them, where she quickly understood something, "This should bring us to your mother's old place, right?"

Leah nodded and said nothing else about the subject, as Luna knew that Adria, Leah's mother, was supposed to be dead and all this meant was that they would be trespassing in her mother's past for a short while, before Leah reminded her that the only thing she knew about her father was that he died when Old Tristram fell to the demons. Other than that there weren't any risen on the other side of the gate leading out of the ruins, allowing them to make their way to Adria's hut, which just so happened to be where some risen were waiting for them. Luna cut her way through them with ease, a single hit cut them all down, before Leah found a hidden cellar that no one else had found before, it was easy since one of the risen moved part of the floor out of the way, allowing them to head down into what appeared to be a witch's cauldron area. It was then that they found out the fate of Captain Daltyn, as he had been slain and raised into a powerful risen, as he now wielded the power of ice to freeze those he fought, which Luna found to be a bad match up as she let Leah release a burst of fire that torched his body to ash.

Leah huffed after that and leaned against one of the earthen walls that were around them, leaving Luna to search the area for anything that might be useful for their mission, before she located what appeared to be an important key and a journal from Adria herself, something Leah decided she'd look at later, when Deckard was safe.

Following that they left the cellar and headed up the hill that was behind the hut, where Luna realized that this must be a different path from what Deckard usually used, but that didn't stop her and Leah from cutting and burning through the risen that were between them and the cathedral. When they finally returned to the cathedral it didn't take them long to open the door and approach where the smouldering crater was located, where Luna pulled Leah close before opening her wings as she floated down the hole, which was definitely large enough for her wings. She could have probably jumped down into the depths, but with Leah she needed to go a little slower, though fortunately it didn't take them long to reach the elegant stone floor of the cathedral's first underground floor. Such a thing allowed them to see that the Fallen Star had fallen far lower in the structure than Leah had been expecting, in fact Luna could tell that it went down into the deepest and darkest depths of this place, causing them to separate for a moment as Luna readied her greatsword for battle.

The oddest thing about the Fallen Star's hole, in Luna's mind, was how it changed to light blue energy, almost like one of the Archangels had fallen to Sanctuary or something, but either way she was sure that this confirmed her thoughts, that they might have to fight the darkest foe that was buried in the depths of this place.

As they started to explore the cathedral, however, Luna realized that it was like a labyrinth, the path they were following was connected to a decent sized chamber that had three more paths linked to it, meaning they could head in three different paths, and from what she could tell there was no map for this place. It was also around the same time that they found a new type of risen, a large bloated one that was like a large fat person, though Luna honestly had no idea how an undead could take on such a form in the first place, given that they were dead bodies given new life. Either way that didn't stop her from hacking it up and then backing away with it exploded into a mass of parts and some slippery dark grey eels, risen like the rest of the creatures they were fighting, emerged from the destroyed body to attack them. Leah continued pointing out any enemies that Luna might be overlooking, often hitting her targets with a flaming arrow to help pinpoint where she wanted her to look, something that caused Luna to nod as she cut down the risen, and when they cleared a room the pair paused so Luna could magically gather the bodies for burning.

One other thing odd thing they discovered was that there were a few chests that still had loot inside them, meaning they had likely been missed when all of the adventurers came through to loot the cathedral a lifetime ago, though they were full small bags of gold and a few lesser items. In addition to that there were large bats that were decaying and risen as well, likely pour souls who had taken up residence inside the cathedral and had paid for that with their very lives, though the pair put them down and set fire to the pile of corpses that they left in their wake. It amazed Luna that there was so many risen inside this place, despite it being cleared out by the groups of adventurers years ago, though she also spotted smashed desks and the empty shelves that once held knowledge, making her wonder how much knowledge had been lost over the years. Luck was on their side, though, as the first floor didn't seem to be too large and Leah found the stairs leading deeper, causing Luna to head that way before discovering an area that seemed to have a large locked door and an area where the Fallen Star just smashed through.

Deckard came running up one of the side passages and happened to be fleeing from the ghost of what appeared to be the old King, confirming Luna's thoughts that the Skeleton King was rising, and this time it summoned skeletal warriors to hunt down the old man, where Luna jumped down and smashed them to dust with the greatsword.

"Luna, Leah! Oh, thank the Heavens that you've arrived." Deckard remarked, though at the same time he found that Luna cut down the skeletal warriors that had been formed from the specter's magic, while noticing that Leah was actually fighting this time around, instead of remaining in New Tristram, and together the small group of skeletal warriors perished in no time at all, "Come, I know of a secret way out."

Deckard walked over to one of the shelves and pulled something that was hidden on it, causing it to pull back and move out of the way, revealing a staircase leading upwards, one that happened to bring them right to one of the tombs outside the cathedral, where Luna found that there was a teleportation device and they used it to return to New Tristram, to help the old man recover before they figured out what their next move might be.

Caldeum: Kulle's Archives

After taking a quick break at the hidden camp, and allowing the others to check in with the members of the caravan, Luna and Leah brought everyone back to the teleportation device as they warped into the heart of the Desolate Sands once more, as their next target was very close by. Kulle lead the way once more, since he knew where the Archives were located, or at least the main entrance, though once more Luna and the others tore through the Lacuni and all of the other enemies that were in the Desolate Sands. It made sense as to why Kulle would make his base in this area, since all of the enemies were like a line of defense and it no doubt gave him some peace and quiet, at least until the Horadrim used this place to seal his body away, but the spirit was okay with this discovery. Other than that there wasn't much for them to worry about, since they were used to the enemies that were hanging out around the Desolate Sands, so Luna focused on following Kulle to the northeastern tip of the area.

In no time they found what they were looking for, a bridge that was connected to a large circular area, the latter having one of the circular portals like the ruin they found while looking for Kulle's blood, and all of it was designed in the style of the Archives, meaning they were in the right place.

As you can see, this is the entrance to my Archives. Let me reactivate the portal. Kulle commented, where he used a bit of his magic to ignite the magic inside the portal device, causing it to light up with the swirling magic that Luna had seen on the one they used to find one of Kulle's blood vials.

Such a thing was followed by them stepping through the portal and entered what appeared a fully pristine version of what they had seen after passing through the last two portals, only this time the shelves were pristine and there were statues of what appeared to be large guardian constructs.

Good, you're making progress. a voice said, which turned out to be the magical projection of the Emperor, something that caused Kulle to raise one of his spectral eyebrows, a fact that told Luna that this place was protected against intrusion like this, meaning the boy ruler had to be Belial, a final nail in the coffin for them, I wanted to inform you all that I have confirmed the identity of Belial's disguise and will be able to lead you to him once you have the Black Soulstone.

"You have our thanks." Luna replied, letting the magic of the projection fade away before she turned to the others, where it was easy to see that all of them were very disappointed in this particular Lord of Hell, it was clear that Belial likely didn't even know that he had revealed his disguise to them with his choice of words, "Belial's stupid, that's all I can say. He doesn't even realize that we're onto him... I hope Azmodan offers more of a challenge, because so far I'm disappointed in his brother."

Normally I would chastise you for looking down on a Lord of Hell, but I am inclined to agree with you. Kulle remarked, as he found that he liked Luna, she was a breath of fresh air and he suspected that they could do great work together once he was back in the world of the living, before he brought them down to an area that looked like it had two working portals, what appeared to be an inactive third, and a hidden portal to Kulle's inner sanctum, Now, these two portals will lead you to two relics that were powered by my blood, which will open the way to where my body was imprisoned. From there Leah can use her power to bring me back to life, then I can bring you to where the Black Soulstone is held... it is also where that armor is resting, Luna.

Luna nodded as she, Leah, and the others headed into the portal that was on their left, teleporting themselves deeper into the Archives as they found that it was also dark, no doubt because Kulle hadn't been here for a long time and things were trying to slip through the cracks. Kulle did follow after them, telling Luna that the angels were no better than demons since the Angiris Council, which was the ruling body comprised of five Archangels, voted to wipe out humanity and only one vote saved them from Tyrael, because he was Justice itself and there was no justice in murder. Luna immediately got the feeling that Kulle was trying to say something without actually saying it, as he had a gotten a good look at their group and this told her that he didn't trust someone, most like Adria since Kulle trusted them, reluctantly trusted their allies and crafters, and knew Tyrael could be trusted. With that in mind it stood to reason that the one who stood as the odd one out was the only one who knew about the Black Soulstone, as Leah had to dig through Deckard's tome to find even a small entry on it, which was why the spectral mage was offering a sort of warning to them.

After that they found more of the construct pillars that were sounding out the spider and thin constructs, joined by groups of skeletal warriors, not that any of them were surprised by this since these enemies were common in the portions of the Archives they had passed through before this point. The group also found that some of the stone statues were alive, just left in some sort of deep sleep until someone came and bothered them, where Kulle informed them that these ones were stone constructs, tougher and much more sturdy than most of the other constructs that guarded the Archives. Luna grinned as she challenged it to a fight, metal and enchanted stone clashing as the rest of the group watched, while at the same time Kulle observed as the two clashed, the stone construct shook the walkway, and Luna gracefully moved around the attacks as she struck it in turn. Kulle came to realize something by watching her fight on her own, without the others getting involved, as he now fully understood that Luna really was in a league all her own, in fact he was sure that the only ones that might give her a challenge would be the three Greater Evils or any of the Archangels.

Eventually Luna cut down the stone construct with a smile on her face, showing that she had enjoyed fighting a new strong foe, before they continued to move through the portion of the Archives they were in, discovering more of the same enemies that she left to everyone else to make up for her taking the stronger foe.

It took some time for them to track down the relic device that Kulle wanted them to access, a magical engine based on what Luna was seeing since it had metallic rings, a central core made of magic and metal, and a place for the blood to go into, so the moment the blood was in place the device became active. Fortunately for them they didn't have to backtrack to the area that held the portal they entered through, as there was a side area that had a return device that brought them back to the main portion of the Archives, allowing the group to head through the portal on the right. The second area was a basically just a mirror of what Luna and the others found in the left wing, save for the addition of what appeared to be frozen foes that had apparently broken out of their containment cells, as Kulle admitted that he had been using the native dangers as most of his test subjects. Instead of going after people he went after the monsters and dangers, while at the same time making sure not to eliminate the defenses of his Archives, thus allowing him to do his research and create his masterpiece, the very soulstone they were seeking.

"You know, it's interesting: the stories paint you as a monster, but the reality is that you were misjudged." Luna commented, something that caused her to really realize that she and Kulle were kindred souls, they had been misunderstood by those that were around them and were unfairly treated, both of them even served punishments for what they had done, "Really reminds me of myself."

In what way? Kulle inquired, because he was dying to learn more about Luna, she was a unique person in a world that he had thought he had learned everything about, but with her he was learning more and more, especially when she told the tale about how her current weapon came to be in her possession.

"Oh, I was Nightmare Moon, once. I went from a barely recognized princess, often overlooked by my own sister, and turned into... well, a being of darkness." Luna replied, where Leah sighed as she loosed some flaming arrows into the enemies that were ahead of them, leaving the others to just stand there and stare at her for a moment, causing her to shrug before she focused on the path once more, "I was sentenced to a thousand years on the moon... and let me tell you, that was boring as all hell... but it did allow me to realize that my dark emotions had given birth to my 'dark side'. Funny thing, Nightmare and I are no longer one, but she's not on Sanctuary... I have to wonder what happened to her."

Kulle realized that his viewpoints on Luna were no longer valid, not when she was a thousand year old princess who had the power of the moon, great magical spells, and skills that would put the greatest warriors of Sanctuary to shame, and that was before he thought about her own dark side, a being of equal and devastating power no doubt. It made him wonder if it was even right to call her a 'princess', as she seemed more like a Queen that wielded the power of the moon, even though Leah called Luna an 'alicorn', a being who possessed the strengths of the three clans of her home world and none of their various weaknesses. This told him that there were two of Luna's kind at first, her and her sister, so now there were three, due to the fact that this 'Nightmare Moon' existed, before he learned from Luna that there were three more back home, one called Twilight Sparkle, another called Cadance, and Flurry Heart, Cadance's daughter. It was a shock to his spectral body, that he was discovering the existence of so many powerful beings that could very likely give the greatest forces of this world a run for their gold, causing him to wonder what other wonders this 'Equus' had to offer.

Other than that there was nothing stopping them from reaching the second engine and using the second vial of Kulle's blood to power it, just like they did with the first one, and once that was done they returned to the main entrance, where he used a bit of his magic to activate the portal between the portals to the two Wings.

This brought them into a shadowy wing of the Archives, what Kulle referred to as the 'Shadow Realm', where they found that the shadows moved and attacked them, like specters of some kind, that were definitely stronger than the constructs that had been guarding the Wings. Luna nodded to Leah, who lead the way forward as she loosed her magical arrows at those who dared to get in their way, allowing her and the others to start tearing their way through the Shadow Realm as Kulle just floated beside them the entire time. He was still surprised by how well Leah was doing, as he had pegged her as just a simple girl who had no idea what she was doing, save for bringing him back into this state, but traveling with her allowed him to see that she was a fine archer and a decent mage, even if she used elemental arrows. Then there was the fact that she had a tail, a demonic one at that, but he wasn't too worried about that since there were tales of people being born differently, often due to their demonic heritage being stronger than their angelic heritage.

Other than that there wasn't much for him to worry about as they tracked down the location of his body, where they found that the Horadrim left a large construct of their own to defend his body, but Luna slashed it in half before it could even move from it's spot, allowing them to return to the entrance of the Archives with everything they needed.

Now then, Leah, it is time to perform the ritual. Kulle said, where his body and head were rejoined in the sand that was the final portal of the Archives, allowing him to channel his own magic as Leah summoned her power, causing beams of red energy to lance about before he felt a tug, causing his spirit to vanish before his body, with his soul returned to it, rose from the sand, full and pristine as the day he died, "My blood... thunders within me! This fetid air... fills my ravaged lungs! I. AM. ALIVE! Come, join me in the chamber that holds the Black Soulstone!"

Sure enough Kulle empowered the portal that was below them and the group used it to reach what appeared to be the very heart of his Archives, a circular area that looked like it doubled as an engine of some kind, and floating in the center rested a fair sized black crystal with multiple points: the Black Soulstone.

"There it is. Is it ready to be used on Belial and Azmodan?" Leah asked, because if the stone was ready they could use it and seal away one of the remaining Lords of Hell, where Kulle floated over to the other end of the chamber and tapped into the stone, where it violently reacted as five strands of demonic energy coiled around the stone and entered it, "What did we just see?"

"The souls of the five slain Lords of Hell... are stored within the Black Soulstone." Kulle replied, as this wasn't something he had even considered a possibility when he created the stone, that it could contain and hold more than one Lord of Hell, and yet here he was, staring at five resting in the artifact, even though he was sure this was an impossibility, "Someone must have tagged the souls of Diablo, Baal, Mephisto, Andariel, and Duriel, as all five of them are stored inside the stone... if we use the stone to trap the other two, Belial and Azmodan, all seven would be in the same place for the first time in ages... it would be like Tathamet, the Prime, all over again."

"Sounds like someone is trying to play us. Kulle, can we add more seals to it? Prevent the Lords of Hell from reacting until we find a way to fully erase the stone and their souls?" Luna asked, because while this wasn't good in her eyes, that five of the Seven were inside the Black Soulstone, she knew that this was the only soulstone they were aware of, so it would have to be used on the remaining Evils, and she had some spells in mind to keep the artifact quiet.

Kulle thought about it for a moment as he watched as Luna formed what appeared to be a seven point seal, which looked as if it was designed to hold down seven points, or seven beings, that seemed to be made out of lunar magic, and together they were able to use it to bind the soulstone even greater than before. He was sure that it could hold the Lords of Hell for much longer than he originally expected, that was the sheer power of Luna's lunar magic, making him more willing to let them take it from him, especially since he trusted Luna more than Adria. After that he brought Luna to the container that was behind him, which held a very familiar suit of armor inside it, finely crafted silver armor that almost seemed like forged moon-light, fitted to Luna's old pony form no less, and yet Leah could see that it seemed like something a stalker of the shadows might use. Kulle undid the seal on the container and they watched as the armor floated over to Luna, where each piece changed form before their eyes and slipped into place on Luna's body, almost as if it was a second skin of some kind, and when the process was done Kulle thought Luna looked like one of the Archangels, without the plate look of their armor... in fact she looked like a warrior goddess.

Luna stepped to the side for a moment and Leah found that she swung Ashbringer around while testing her armor out, as in she wanted to be sure everything was in order before they fought Belial, and once she was done Luna smiled, it was perfect, causing Leah to smile as she collected the Black Soulstone, as it was time to bring down a Lord of Hell and see what the next couple of hours held in store for them.

Epilogue: End of the Road

Once the battle was over, and Luna understood that she and Leah had a lot of work to do to catch up with Flurry and even Twilight, she and the two Archangels returned to the group without wasting time, where they found that a portal back to Equestria was open for them to use.

"Now that your adventure is over we will construct a portal frame in the Nexus that will allow you to travel back to where you were sent, the world known as 'Sanctuary'." Twilight stated, speaking as they returned to the area outside Ponyville, which seemed to be the common area that all of the Displaced happened to return to, before she weaved her into into a brand new image, a spherical platform that was missing the upper half, "I took the liberty of moving the portals leading to all of the other worlds into a single area and had more frames created, for the remainder of the worlds that the Displaced were sent to... didn't feel right having all of them in one easily accessible place. You'll find that there is one portal frame still outside Ponyville, one that connects to the Nexus, but it's in a more realistic place that is out of the way and out of danger, so you are free to come and go as you wish."

"Your world is fascinating. There is so much we could learn from each other." Kulle commented, though he was already in the middle of imagining what he could do with the knowledge that was available to him now, how he could weave together even stronger constructs to finally bring peace to Sanctuary, all while they stepped out into Ponyville once more, causing him to look at the sky and found that the sun hadn't moved yet, "How odd, the sun has yet to move... I would have expected it to change position after all the time we were watching those matches."

"That's because Equus doesn't work by normal rules: we raise the sun and moon here." Luna remarked, causing her to turn her head to Twilight for a moment, because now she was thinking of something she hadn't thought before and it was a slight concern when she thought about what it meant, "Celestia and I have been missing for some time... whose been moving the sun and moon while we were gone?"

"Discord, originally. Went he went missing I took up the mantle." Twilight answered, though at the same time she let some of her magic surround her as a smile appeared on her face, because according to the clock she had it was actually about time for the day to give way for night, and she could see that Luna understood that as she readied her aura, "I've got the sun, so I'm ready when you are."

Luna nodded and together the two of them reached into the sky with their magic, where Leah and the others watched as the sun started to move across the sky while the moon rose to bring night to this strange world, leading to the sun being on the other side of the world with the moon being on this side.

"And now I've seen everything." Kulle remarked, because this world was definitely breaking all of his expectations, though he had a feeling that such a thing would be common if he explored Equus, as Twilight called it, and did his best to mentally ready himself for whatever the future held in store for him and his various studies.

"You mentioned that Discord used to move the sun and moon... what happened to him?" Luna asked, because that was very interesting and deeply worrying at the same time, especially considering the chaotic power that the Spirit of Disharmony had access to, so as she and Twilight dismissed their magic for the time being she figured that she would ask the question while they headed back to the castle.

"He's been displaced as well. He went out looking for Fluttershy, who actually ended up with Sombra and Radiant Hope, and next thing we knew he was just gone." Twilight replied, where it was easy for Luna and Leah to tell that she was annoyed by this, especially since Discord had a lot of power and now he wasn't present, meaning if they were ambushed by the demons they would be missing one of their main fighters, before she sighed, "We've been trying to find him as well, but his magical signature has dropped off the face of the universe itself... I've also checked all of the other universes, and he's not hidden in any of them... who he's either hiding himself, or something has stolen his power and scattered it."

"I see." Luna said, mauling over that information for a moment as they walked through Ponyville, though as she did that she paused for a couple of seconds as she realized what was odd about Twilight's statement, and she could see that the others were glancing at the figure at the same time, "Twilight... what do you mean other universes?"

"That, Luna, is a question that isn't easily answered, not without going into a whole lot of information that would simply fry your brain." Twilight stated, and she knew Luna was smart, and some of her companions were the same, but this was just a can of worms for someone who wasn't used to the layout, structure, and godly hierarchy of the nineteen universe that made up the multiverse, "Trust me, I'll tell you guys all about this later, once you've had time to digest all the information I've been able to gain from our universe."

Luna nodded as they took in that information, that there were more universe out there than the one that they were part of, before she heard the sound of something else coming their way, where she found Rainbow riding their way, one some sort of device she had never seen before, though Rainbow was near Twilight's build, had two horns growing out of her head, and had this twisted green energy coming from her.

"Princess Luna! I'm glad your back." Rainbow said, speaking as she came to a stop near them, allowing them to see that her ride was a mechanical thing that had two wheels, a golden frame with a green skeletal design, a place for Rainbow to sit in, a skull design on the front, and a curved spike or horn coming from the skull.

"It's... good to see you as well, Rainbow." Luna replied, where she found that Rainbow was definitely a warrior now, her body was toned like a warrior and while she didn't have weapons Luna was sure that they could be summoned at a moment's notice, before she glanced at the strange ride that Rainbow was riding, "What is this?"

"It's the Incognitro, Ratts' prize for the most intelligent of Azeroth... they all agreed I deserved it more." Rainbow stated, all while having a smile on her face, making Luna realize that it was likely a mix of fear and respect that caused the people of the world she had been sent to to give her this thing, whatever it was, though she also knew there was a story behind all this, another to add to the growing list, "It's a motorcycle, but runs on Fel energy... since I have plenty to go around, and I regain it at an extraordinary rate, I can use it for as long as I want."

"You know what, I'm just going to shelve all of this for later... there is far too much going on for me to keep up with." Luna said, because she was still getting used to all of the basic knowledge she had gained from meeting up with Twilight and the others she had seen so far, and right now she really didn't need all of the excess that was going on right now, plus she knew she'd have to ask about Fluttershy at some point, especially since Sombra was involved, "First things first, Twilight, I would like to return to Sanctuary with Leah and the others, as we need to make sure the High Heavens and the Burning Hells come to an understanding... with the Prime Evil and the greatest Archangel working together I'm sure we can make a lasting peace, especially with a new threat coming our way. Kulle, can you help us track down Lilith's prison?"

"I can, but why would you..." Kulle started to say, though in the following moments he understood, as Luna was banking on trying to unite the creators of Sanctuary into a unified front as well, which meant finding both the Mother and the Father, and maybe even the First Necromancer that was their son, and getting them to set aside their differences, "You'll be playing a risky game, Luna."

"Maybe so, but Lilith wants what's best for Sanctuary and might be able to help us." Luna replied, as Mephisto's daughter had been sealed away at some point, she wasn't entirely sure on the story and it's various specifics, but she was sure that if they presented her with the situation Lilith might join them and that meant the demonic followers would have more reason to side with them, "It's Inarius I'm worried about... according to the tales he's got a few screws loose."

"It would seem that you have a lot of work to do, Luna." Twilight commented, where she nodded her head and created one of her portals in front of them, bringing them to the Nexus, the strange half spherical structure that seemed to be floating in the air, yet Luna was sure she hadn't seen it from Ponyville, and they found that there were a number of portal frames, each a different style with a sign to indicate which world it went to, before she found one that was a mix of angelic and demonic designs, "There you go, a portal back to Sanctuary. I'll come along later and make a portal frame in a safe area that you set up, that will connect you to this place so you can come and go whenever you want... and, if you find the time to do so, you can visit more of the universe by using the other portals. I'll also be available from time to time, to share information with you, swap stories, or train, especially since I know that you and some of your allies will want to explore the vast amount of knowledge that I've gathered over the years."

"Thanks Twilight. I'll be back once I've got a grasp on the situation." Luna said, and that was the truth, now that she knew of the threat she wasn't about to leave Twilight and the others to fight this battle on their own, even though it seemed like they had an armada or a large amount of forces waiting to attack the demons when the event happened, "For now, we'll focus on preparing things on our side and then join up with you when we're done."

As Twilight nodded Luna found that the portal currently brought them out in Westmarch, a decent place since they would start their work to unite Sanctuary into a single united front, but she did make sure their first order was to find a permanent base of operations, all while Tyrael focused on the Archangels and Kulle focused on tracking Lilith down, something that caused Luna to smile as she and Leah braced themselves for whatever the future held for them and their newfound allies.

Interlude: New Tristram

Luna had no idea how long she was out, though when she finally opened her eyes again she discovered that she was in what appeared to be a bedroom, one that was lit up by candles and had a number of books scattered around, on shelves and on a few small desks. She was resting on a bed, though it was far less than what she had used in the past, just a simple frame and what she guessed passed as a mattress, and she found that there was a fireplace nearby that was currently lit, and the roof above her looked like a second floor. Luna realized something in that moment, she was either in someone's house or in a building that was more like an inn, despite the fact that this room seemed far too much for an inn room, especially since it seemed larger than what the owner might open. She then moved her limbs and found that her body had been changed by the magic of the vortex, as her front limbs were now arms, like a minotaur, and her front hooves were hands, before quickly realizing that she looked like a hybrid between a human and a pony, the former a creature Twilight had told her about.

She then found the figure she had seen after arriving in this world, sitting at a desk with a red shirt on, brown leather pants, and had short brown hair that she had braided in one spot, and right now it seemed like she was wiping something with some sort of liquid, but what that something was she had no idea.

"You... are the one I saw earlier." Luna said, where she struggled to move her body, since it was totally different from what she was used to, while at the same time finding that the figure stopped what she was doing and turned to look at her, no doubt having assumed that she would be out for some time, "You said... we were in New Tristram, right?"

"That's correct. My name is Leah, and right now we're in my room, in the Slaughtered Calf Inn." the figure replied, though as she said that Luna knew the name of the place sort of matched what a griffin might have named their place of business, or at least a few would have done such a thing, before Leah noticed something, "You aren't familiar with your body, are you?"

"If we were talking my old form, I'd be a natural... this, not so much." Luna stated, where she tried to move her new arms, as she was using the terminology that the minotaurs and what Twilight had told her about her time on the other side of one of Starswirl's mirrors, yet it seemed hard for her to do anything, "Ugh, how did Twilight do this so easily?"

"Sounds like there's a story there. Here, let me help you out." Leah said, to which she got up and walked over to where Luna was resting, as she was on her side she finally realized, no doubt because of her wings, before the lady stopped in front of her and offered her a smile as she rested a hand on Luna's shoulder.

What Luna discovered was that Leah started to demonstrate how one moved their body and even sat by her from time to time as she showed her how to properly move her arms and legs, which Luna was still getting used to since this wasn't her natural form. Leah was a nice person, spending her valuable time teaching her things that most of the people of this world knew and learned when they were little, though as Luna figured out how to properly move her body, and learned about the mounds on her new chest, one thing became clear. That was the fact that Leah seemed bored of her life, because when she went back to her table there was a sense of boredom, like she had been doing this for a long time or just wasn't interested in whatever it was she was working on, but Luna, herself, was a person that stimulated her mind. Of course Luna didn't like being thought of like that, but at the same time it seemed to have a good effect on Leah, she was engaging with someone new and that meant she had stories to tell of a new land, a new world, and that caused her to smile.

It reminded her of Twilight, in a way, and soon Luna found that she was able to walk somewhat, so Leah handed her a robe made of cloth as they headed out through the opening, which lead out into the rest of the inn, allowing her to see a bunch of 'humans', as Leah called them.

"As I said, this is New Tristram, which was built near the ruins of the old town, and it's protected by the Militia." Leah said, all while noticing that many of the people were looking at Luna, which was fair since she was looking at them, everyone being interested in the other since this was the first time they were seeing each other, "Used to be a popular destination for both adventurers and travelers, back when people were still looting the cathedral, but once they determined that all of the good stuff was taken the town fell into decline."

Luna followed Leah outside and found that there was a central area that looked like it had a teleportation pad of some kind on it, one that wasn't in use, an area for the local blacksmith to work in, a few merchant stands that seemed to be focused on the few travelers they still had, and all of the houses looked more like depressing shacks.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, why do you live here?" Luna asked, though at the same time she had to focus on her legs as they stepped outside, as she wasn't used to the new weight she was dealing with, and Leah caught her to make sure she didn't fall face first into the dirt.

"It's not by choice, honestly. My guardian Deckard Cain, or Uncle Deckard as I call him, believes that the prophecy known as the 'End of Days' will come true in the near future, and it will start here." Leah replied, where Luna noticed that most of the people seemed unconcerned by the comment as they walked down the street a little, no doubt heading to her uncle's place, even though Luna thought it was weird that they would live in two different areas, "Supposedly a 'Fallen Star' will collide with part of New Tristram, though Uncle Deckard thinks it will happen in the old cathedral, and that the 'Evils' will rise to action once more. Honestly, I've thought of his tales and prophecies as nothing more than stories to be read and enjoyed, nothing to be taken seriously, but he thinks they're going to come true... I almost thought they were coming true as well, when I saw you falling through the air as a meteor or comet, but then determined that you couldn't be the Fallen Star. I've thought about leaving, but I can't just leave my uncle alone, not with his failing age, so I've resolved to be with him to the end of his days, and once that happens I'll think about what the future holds."

"I am not wrong, Leah. The armies of Hell are on the move." an elderly voice stated, something that was followed by Luna noticing a hunched over man that had a long white beard, scholarly robes, and a cane that likely helped him with walking, as he seemed about the age where she assumed he'd be unable to move on his own, or at least he would be soon, "The Fallen Star is the key to the prophecy, of that I have no doubt. Ah, our guest has awakened. I am Deckard Cain, last of the order known as the Horadrim."

"Luna, Princess of the Moon... or I would be, back home. Still... trying to figure out how I got here." Luna replied, taking a few seconds to shake the man's hand softly, since she didn't want to cause him any harm by being forceful, even though it was easy for her to tell that he was interested in her, like her species was an unknown in this world, "Long story short, I'm what's known as an alicorn, a being having the powers of the earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi mixed into one body, all of their benefits with none of their weaknesses. What makes an alicorn special is, well, they're linked to a very specific thing, like how I'm the Lunar Princess, connected to raising and lowering the moon, plus I help my citizens with their nightmares... my sister, Celestia, is likewise connected to the sun."

"So... each alicorn has a specific aspect that they're connected to and draw power from?" Leah asked, because this was very interesting, even though she was sure there was a lot more to the information they were being given and that they could spend days going on and on about the world Luna came from, which would delight her uncle to no end.

As Luna opened her mouth to reply, however, the blacksmith started to move a shipment of swords and halberds that were no doubt slated to go to the Militia, though he tripped and ended up sending all of the weapons into the air, something that caused her to move before the others even reacted. Luna moved through the air, grabbing each of the weapons before they could hit the ground, where Leah and Deckard found that she landed behind the blacksmith with ease and moved each of the weapons around like she was a natural with them. Even the two handed weapons were nothing, as Leah found that Luna was able to swing them like they were nothing, as if she was used to using them despite the strangeness of her new body, a fact that made her wonder who they were actually dealing with and what sort of powers Luna actually had. She also knew that her uncle was no doubt wondering if Luna was the key to defeating the armies of the Hells, since that was his focus at the moment, but she was more interested in the figure and the stories she could offer them.

A few seconds later Luna helped the blacksmith up and returned his weapons to him, while at the same time everyone that was outside just stared at her in shock, since they clearly weren't expecting such a thing to happen in the first place, and as soon as that was done Luna returned to the pair.

"To answer your question, yes: each alicorn has an aspect they're connected to. Mine is the moon, Celestia's is the sun, Cadance's is love, and Twilight is magic itself... then there's Flurry, but she's too young to know her aspect." Luna replied, as she felt it was best to answer the question that hadn't been answered, even though she could tell that they were stunned by her show, in fact she was surprised by how well she could move with her new body, like her old instincts had come back to life in a mere matter of seconds, "Celestia is more known for being a teacher, a wise protector, and often the shield between our citizens and the dangers of the world... I'm more recognized as being the warrior, a sword if you will, a huntress in the night that seeks to protect our citizens in my own way. Cadance and Twilight are too new to things, so they're not known by other titles."

"Fascinating. Maybe you can share some tales of your home with us? Maybe while you train the Militia... it looks like they're interested in learning from you after that show." Leah commented, where Luna turned her head and noticed the people in armor that looked like they wanted to train, confirming her thoughts on the matter, though at the same time Luna let out a light chuckle as she decided that this might be a good thing.

She could learn about this world from Leah and Deckard, they seemed knowledgeable on the subject, while using training with the Militia to hone her skills with her new body so she could be ready for whatever the future held in store for them, as the Fallen Star worried her and made her wonder what the coming days might have in store for them and New Tristram.

Interlude: Training

Luna found that Leah wasn't joking, as the day following her arrival outside New Tristram she had the majority of the Militia waiting in the training area that they used to practice their skills in, confirming that they wanted to train under her, and even their Captain, the man called Daltyn, was with them. She also found that the blacksmith, Haedrig Eamon, had taken some time to make some simple clothing that fit her unique body, due to the fact that there was no one else in the town that had the skills to do such a thing. Such a thing told Luna that the town was destined to die out, since they didn't have many of the essential professions that she had seen back in Canterlot, Ponyville, and the various towns and cities she had visited, as it was only a matter of time until the farms that fueled this place died out. Leah knew this as well, in fact many of the current residents knew that their time was limited, especially with the looting of the cathedral in the past, but until then people were doing their best to live in their declining town.

With that in mind Luna grabbed one of the practice weapons, as Haedrig found some old ones that were going to be used as scrap in the future, but for the time being they would serve as tools for her to show the Militia how to improve their skills, while at the same time allowing her to adapt to her new form.

"Remember, this is a good way to defend yourself and surprise your enemies." Luna remarked, showing the Militia how to defend blows with a shield, to save themselves from being harmed, while at the same time opening the guards of their foes so they could deliver powerful blows to save their lives.

"Understood. You are quite good at this." Daltyn stated, because they had seen Luna's moves when she saved the gear the previous day, and yet when they heard that she was from someplace that was peaceful he refused to believe it, as her skills were far better than what one would expect from a peaceful person, or whatever she was, "What sort of weapon are you the most skilled with?"

"That, Captain, would be the battleaxe. My sister and I carried weapons that became myths into battle, and mine was the battleaxe known as 'Nightfell'." Luna replied, taking a moment to set the practice gear down before drinking some water from the waterskins that were resting nearby, as she knew that staying hydrated was important and made sure the others understood that fact as well, and she knew Leah was watching nearby, eager to hear more, "It and it's counterpart, Celestia's broadsword known as Solarion, are mythical grade weapons, forged in a time that can no longer be replicated by the various artisans of my world. They are extensions of ourselves and respond to our wills, as we could summon them to our sides in a moment's notice... considering that I'm in an unknown area, it'll likely take some time for it to reach me now. Had I known I'd be sent to this place, and be given a new body, I would have collected it before the magic warped me here."

"So why don't you summon it now?" Leah asked, because if Nightfell was Luna's personal weapon, and responded to her will, while being one of the strongest weapons in her home world, it made her wonder why she didn't just summon it now and wait for it to show up.

"Because I don't think I'll need it's power." Luna replied, though at the same time she and Leah walked down the road and headed towards the exit that would bring them to an area that lead right to a crypt, but it was the empty road and the empty area, save for a few structures that seemed vacant, where Leah found that they walked to a new training area, "Now then, it's time for me to really test myself. Leah, stay behind me."

Leah did so and watched as Luna closed her eyes for a moment, where her horn glowed for a moment, as if she was silently gathering her magical energy, since the figure had said that she could use magic, before her eyes snapped open as she let a bolt of energy fly into one of the ruined trees. Since it was a small thing it left a small burn mark on her target, but Luna was pleased by this as she let out a breath and shifted her focus, where Leah found that she was collecting the power in both of her hands right now, like she was changing up her approach. Flames danced around her right hand while ice formed on her left, allowing Luna to release a small fireball and a small shard of ice at the dead tree that was her target, giving it a bit of a burn before the ice froze the area it stuck, causing Luna to smile as she observed her results. She had been interested in if she could use her new hands to channel her magic, like she had heard from Leah and Deckard when they talked about some of the people that lived in the past, and she was happy to see that she could add more ways to fight to her arsenal.

Such a thing made her wonder if she could use magic while holding onto one of the weapons that she was learning how to wield in her new form, but she had a feeling that she would be able to do a lot more when she had more mastery over her new body, something to look forward to and push towards.

"You know, Leah, I can help you control the power that's inside you." Luna commented, as there was something she felt that she had to address, as she could sense that Leah had potent magical power inside her body, in fact it reminded her of how Celestia first sensed Twilight's power, save for the fact that Leah hadn't used magic since her arrival.

"I... I can't do what you do. I can't summon it like you can... it only manifests in times of grave need, and leaves me exhausted after each usage." Leah replied, though while she wasn't sure how Luna had felt her magical power, a part of her that she had tried to forget about and couldn't since she also had nightmares that seemed more like prophecies, she also knew that she didn't have the power to do what Luna had done, "Whatever power I have is a burden..."

"Nonsense. Let me help you." Luna stated, where she gathered a small bit of magic into her right pointer finger and tapped it against Leah's forehead, who staggered backwards for a moment before her eyes widened in surprise, something that was followed by Luna smiling for a moment, "This is a feeling sharing spell, in terms of magical power, that the unicorns of old had used to help integrate newcomers into the groups that raised the sun, in the days before Celestia gained her power... for you, well, it'll allow you to sense how I use magic, how I draw on my power, and will allow you to do the same. Sure, you'll still need some training to master the basics, but this is the first steps that will help you control your power."

Leah stood there for a moment before nodding, where she watched as Luna shifted her stance once more and started to draw on her magic again, though this time around Leah could sense the movements that Luna took in drawing on her power and how she formed her various spells. The spell was working as intended, she could feel the sensations and feelings that came from it, and she could tell that Luna was keeping it basic this time so she really understood how to draw on her power, instead of letting it control her. Such a thing was followed by Leah nodding as she nervously raised her hands, which shook for a few moments as she considered what she was doing to do, this was insanity when she thought about it, before she let out a sigh as she tried to do what Luna did. Since there was a stream nearby Leah decided to try drawing some of it out and moving it, she was confident that something like that could work, and when she asked Luna it wasn't long before she felt the sensations on how to do such a thing, like she had a mentor that was willing to teach her.

In the following moments she managed to draw out what barely passed as a sphere of water, it's form was messy and just plain bad in some cases, but it caused Leah to smile a little as she forced herself to move it over to them, where it exploded and showered her in a bit of water.

"Damn, I thought I had it." Leah remarked, though while she was annoyed that the spell had broken on her, and she needed to get cleaned up thanks to all the water that had gotten on her, part of her was actually happy that she had been given one of her first true lessons on how to wield magic.

"Don't worry about it, you did good for a first attempt. It takes time for most individuals to master the basics." Luna replied, which was the truth, save for cases like Twilight and Starlight, the latter one she still had no idea how to comprehend since she matched the former somehow, before she noticed that there was a slender tail that seemed to be attached to Leah, one the girl was either ignoring or had no idea it was there, "Looks like your invisibility ink got washed out."

"WHAT?!" Leah stated, where she turned her head and found that Luna was right, the appendage, which was the width of two of her fingers and was a dark red coloration with a spade tip at the very end, though at the same time, as she grabbed it in an attempt to hide it, she noticed that Luna wasn't judging her at all, she was merely curious, "Okay... I've been using some of my uncle's invisibility ink to hide this from everyone, and before you ask let me tell you that Uncle Deckard knows about it, in fact this was his idea. As far as I know I was born with this, and my mother... or who I thought was my mother at the time... suggested that I hide it by wrapping it around my leg, which was easier to do when I was a kid since it was smaller, but since I've grown up it's become what it is now, requiring a new way to hide it. You can't tell the people of New Tristram, because they won't understand why I've hidden it for so long, and I'm worried that they might cause me out for being different..."

Leah stopped as Luna pulled her into a hug, showing her that she had some support and that there was someone here for her to talk to, someone other than her elderly uncle, something that caused Leah to smile a little as she let herself be calmed by the figure's hug.

"Don't worry, I'll do what I can to help you... both in terms of magic, and in helping you with your uniqueness." Luna said, as she knew that turning away from people could have serious consequences, she was a living example of that since her sister had turned her back on her and that caused the birth of Nightmare Moon, and right now she knew that if people turned their backs on Leah, and abandoned her, it would spell disaster in some form, before she pulled back and helped Leah wrap the tail around her leg, "Come on, let's get you back to your room and apply more of the ink to your tail... we'll resume your magic lessons tomorrow, after you've had a chance to calm down."

Leah nodded and walked beside Luna as they headed back into the town, a slight blush on her face since Luna was the first person she had shared this secret with, outside her uncle, and yet she seemed attracted to the figure, something that made her wonder what the coming days had in store for her, Luna, and New Tristram.

Interlude: The Fallen Star

Luna found that the next week was more of the same, meaning she spent some of her time training the Militia so they could be prepared for whatever the future held in store for them, while also mastering her new body over time, answering some of the questions Deckard had, and training with Leah. She found that the Militia were well trained, despite the lack of any real excitement going on, and her teachings for them only heightened each of their individual skills, a good thing since that meant they should be able to work together better in the future. Luna also found that there was someone else in the town, a young man that seemed to be the blacksmith's apprentice, but if she was being honest he seemed like a fool, constantly heading out into the deeper part of the path heading to the tomb, putting himself in greater danger. He seemed fine with this, since there wasn't a lot of danger to be had in the immediate area around New Tristram, but she had a feeling he had a death wish, since he happened to be ignoring his mentor's warnings.

The part that excited her the most was training with Leah, because some of their lessons were simple, she wanted to learn a few more tricks with her bow and Luna was willing to oblige, and others were focused on helping her master the more simple types of spells, the beginner ones to help her get used to the idea of using magic.

"Good, you're getting the hang of it." Luna remarked, as she found Leah to be a quick learner when it came to her lessons, it was almost like the girl wanted to be more useful to her uncle or even to the town, even though she knew Leah was doing this to control her powers so she wouldn't be ruled by them when the next surge happened, and right now the girl was simply repeating the mater moving exercise.

"It's... only because I have... a wonderful mentor." Leah replied, letting go of the telekinesis spell after depositing the water inside the bucket they were using to hone her precision with the spell, where she wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, but there was a smile on her face, as it felt good working towards controlling her magic.

"Careful, Leah, or the townspeople will start talking about us." Luna said, though she meant it more in a joking manner, more to have a bit of fun than anything else, despite the fact that she was still working on her actual jokes and whatnot, but she did have a smile on her face as well, due to how well Leah was taking to her training.

"Oh, I'm afraid it's too late for that, as many of them have started talking about us already... not a lot happens around here, remember?" Leah stated, because some of the elders in New Tristram had talked about her and Luna being too friendly, even though it was mostly just training and going over old information, to try and help her uncle with his studies, and some thought they were an item, not that she was going to deny that she liked the idea of such a thing, "Plus there's the fact that we're almost always together, in some manner, is helping fuel their various stories... not that they can blame me, since you are an interesting person, from a world that sounds like a myth, and yet I believe you more than I believe Uncle Deckard."

Luna knew what Leah was talking about, as her uncle told tales about wars between the angelic forces of the High Heavens and the demonic legions of the Burning Hells, who were engaged in something called the Endless Conflict since both sides seemed to have immortal soldiers, to some degree. The reason she thought about it like that was due to the fact that there appeared to be no end to either side, and even if there was a time period for them to be reborn it only fueled their desire to wage war on the other side, until one force was totally wiped out. Deckard had claimed that each force had a heart or core of some kind, where taking that out would forever weaken or even eliminate the side in question, but he had no way to confirm if such a thing was true or not, they were merely thoughts of his that he shared with them. Luna believed him, the forces of Heaven and Hell were no doubt still at play, even though he confirmed that only two of the seven Evils, the heads of Hell as she discovered, remained, the demons known as Beliel and Azmodan, while he didn't have much information on the five Archangels, those who ruled the Heavens.

She believed that the two forces were still at war with each other, using this world, Sanctuary, as a middle ground to try and gain a foothold that their foes would lack, to turn humanity into pawns to use against the other and win the war, which was why she was eager to do something other than remain in this decaying town, even though she was fine with training Leah on how to use her powers.

"Still, there is some truth to what your uncle says: there are enemies out there, lurking in the shadows, and it might very well be up to us to deal with them." Luna remarked, as it was the truth she had arrived at, there had to be a reason that she was sent to this world, and not somewhere peaceful, and after listening to Deckard speak for a time Luna was sure her purpose for coming here was to not only train Leah, but to deal with the Eternal Conflict, "Though I will admit that I wish something interesting would happen around here... don't get me wrong, living in New Tristram has been a change of pace, but I'm ready for some true excitement."

Leah opened her mouth to say something, as this was exactly like what happened when she got bored of New Tristram and made the wish that seemed to bring Luna into her life, something she didn't regret, but before she could say anything there was an explosion of sorts that drew their attention to the air. Just like when Luna fell towards New Tristram there was either a meteor or something falling out of the air, and this time it looked like there were smaller fragments near the large one, as if it was breaking up upon entering the atmosphere. This time, however, things were different as she and Luna found that the new falling object, which had to be the real Fallen Star, was on a collision course for the cathedral, something that caused her eyes to widen in terror as she remembered something else. That something happened to be that they were supposed to regroup with Uncle Deckard in the cathedral, to go over some of the texts he had found, and had only gotten him to agree to allowing them some time to train before catching up with him.

Of course Leah was still surprised that Luna had done the same as her, wishing for excitement and the world literally giving them what they wished for, though following that Luna grabbed onto her back, spread her wings, and took off without any delay, allowing them to fly over the land before watching as the Fallen Star slammed into the cathedral.

"NO!" Leah shouted, where Luna landed outside the cathedral and let her go, allowing them to head inside and discovered that the area that her uncle would have been studying in had been smashed and blown to bits by the Fallen Star, leaving a large gaping hole in the structure that seemed to be heading down into the depths of the structure, "UNCLE!"

"Oh, this isn't good." Luna remarked, picking up the Horadrim tome that was always in Deckard's possession, which meant if it was here and he wasn't, as she was seeing, there was a fair chance he had been forced down into the depths of the old cathedral, which told her that he likely used his own power to keep himself safe from harm, though at the same time one of the support pillars shattered and fell into the massive hole, "Leah, we need to go. This place is collapsing!"

"No, we can't leave without my uncle." Leah replied, because she was sure that they could figure out how to get around the dangers that were in the depths so they could rescue her uncle, or at least recover his body if the most likely thing came to pass, and this was counting the fact that she and Luna had the skills to do so.

"Trust me, I'll come right back, but both of us left our gear back in New Tristram... I'd rather not go into the depths of this place without my weapons and armor." Luna said, as she understood that Leah wanted to go in after her uncle, in fact she wasn't kidding around when she said that she'd come right back once she was outfitted, because something told her that the Fallen Star was going to bring about something bad and that she would need to be prepared for whatever it was.

Leah sat there for a moment, staring at the flaming hole that had been left by the Fallen Star, before agreeing with Luna, it would be best to return to the town, grab their gear, and she would either come with the figure or stay in the town to aid the people in facing whatever side effects this was going to have on them. As they departed from the cathedral, however, both she and Luna found that patches of ground cracked and opened up, where her eyes widened in surprise as corpses of the recently slain and skeletons of the long dead started to rise before their eyes. Luna was both shocked and surprised by this, as she wasn't expecting the Fallen Star to have the power to raise the dead like this, and it made her wonder if the tales of the monster in the depths of the cathedral would be proven true, a monster that might be awakened by this event. She did made sure to grab hold of Leah so she could fly them back to New Tristram, though as she did so they found that the event wasn't isolated in just the cathedral, there were strands of magic reaching out across the entire land, as if something dark and powerful had crashed into the land.

Luna knew that the undead would be waking up in the very near future, and she could see Daltyn and a group of the Militia already heading out to see what the disturbance was, something that made her eager to see what the immediate future held for her, Leah, and the rest of Sanctuary.

Fallen Star: The Missing Crown

Thanks to the teleportation device, a warp pad or whatever the ancients called it, they were able to get Deckard back to New Tristram without wasting too much time, where Luna found that the Militia was following Rumford's orders and the dead they were able to kill were being burned to prevent them from coming back to life again.

"Uncle, I'm so glad you are safe." Leah said, and that was the truth, there was relief on her face as she stared at her uncle, who was no worse than before the Fallen Star slammed into the cathedral, meaning he had likely used a spell of sorts to save himself from some serious injuries.

"Yes, it is due to the timely arrival of you and Luna." Deckard replied, though this time he wasn't joking, Luna's lessons had boosted Leah's confidence in using and controlling her powers, the very powers he had dreaded for the longest time, due to the potential of them being linked to one of the seven Evils, before he sighed, "I'm afraid that the Prophecy of the End Times has started to come true, the Fallen Star came from the Heavens and now the dead are rising once more."

"Aye, the Skeleton King... Mad King Leoric, raised into undeath once more." Luna said, as she knew the tale, it was one that Deckard had told her when she asked about the history of Old Tristram, so she could learn more about New Tristram and the surrounding area, and his return wasn't a good thing for them, "Fortunately he's just a specter, otherwise we might be in real trouble... but judging from the passage the Fallen Star carved through the cathedral's various floors, it looks like it might have fallen all the way down to his tomb. Meaning we'll have to put the Skeleton King down once more, before we can even begin to understand what the Fallen Star actually is... unfortunately there's an elegant door blocking the way deeper, and while I could deal with it with my magic, I would rather find the key first."

"I would suggest speaking to Haedrig, as he and his family are the only one who know where Leoric's crown was hidden all those years ago." Deckard said, as that happened to be the key to opening the locked door that Luna had mentioned, in fact he was positive that it was the only one, so since they needed to know what the Fallen Star was, and what it meant, that told all of them that dealing with the Skeleton King was important for multiple reasons now, "I noticed that three smaller objects broke off of the Fallen Star, before it slammed into the cathedral, and I am curious as to what clues they might have for us, so while you deal with the Skeleton King, and the risen, I shall see if I can track down the fragments."

Luna nodded and turned towards the blacksmith's portion of the market area they were in, since that was where she was expecting Haedrig to be in, only to find that he wasn't at his workshop, causing her to ask the Militia if they knew his location, given his knowledge on the crown's whereabouts. As it turned out Haedrig had been tasked with looking over those who had been harmed by the risen, who had been locked in a basement near the edge of New Tristram that went in the direction of the graveyard, as in the tombs that no one visited anymore. When Luna questioned why there were hurt people she learned that a few of the people had been out when the risen first arrived and had gotten away with a few minor cuts and scratches, but they were worried that they might turn into more risen, hence why they had been locked up. With that in mind Luna and Leah headed for the northern part of New Tristram, where the pair found that many of the people seemed worried about the risen, Luna even found that the Mayor was trying to flee and his wagon wheel had broken, leaving him stranded on the side of the road.

It didn't take them long to track down Haedrig, who was standing under one of the lights with a worried look on his face, a fact that told Luna and Leah that he must have received bad news while they were gone, though both hoped that it wouldn't stop him from telling them where the crown was located.

"Haedrig, can you spare a moment? We need to ask you something, and it's not about my weapons." Luna said, because she knew that the blacksmith had to be annoyed by the fact that she had a habit of breaking her various weapons over time, or not since he seemed to like working with gear, but hoped he'd be willing to speak with them.

"Sorry, I'm... well, conflicted. I've just been ordered to eliminate those who have been bitten by the risen, as we've confirmed that they are capable of turning into walking corpses." Haedrig replied, causing the pair to stand there in shock for a couple of seconds, as neither of them had been aware of how bad things were getting, which meant that the infected must have been in the area leading to the graveyard, before the smith sighed, "Look, it's... it's my wife. She was bitten while she was out gathering herbs for the Militia... I can put my friends to rest with ease, even though my heart will be heavy, but... but how can I put down my own loving wife?"

"You can't. No one could ask you to do such a thing... so let us do it instead." Leah said, as working with Luna had awakened many things inside her, especially the sense of doing the right thing even if the person who should be doing it couldn't, so in this instance she was willing to offer their services in hopefully letting the infected go before they turned, or eliminating the risen if they had turned, "All we ask is that you tell us where to find Leoric's old crown."

Haedrig nodded and lead them down the street that was behind where he stopped, bringing the pair to a cellar that he just stared at for a moment before opening it, allowing them to descend into the cellar and discovered that most of the people down here were already dead, and Haedrig's wife was in agonizing pain. Luna realized what was going on immediately as she called out for Leah to get ready, where she and the blacksmith watched as the dead and wounded clawed their way into the realm of the undead, becoming risen as their flesh rotted before their eyes. Mira, Haedrig's wife, screamed in agony as her body twisted and contorted, her lungs filled with the same vile substance that the retching risen had possessed, which she coughed up as she turned into a risen, and it wasn't long before the life in her eyes was replaced with the desire to spread the curse of undeath to New Tristram. Haedrig, naturally, couldn't do this task, he couldn't raise his axe against his friends or his wife, even if they were now counted among the risen that sought to devour the living, where Luna and Leah attacked in his stead, the former cutting through them and catching their bodies with her magic as the latter stunned them with some of her arrows.

Together the two of them were able to stop the risen from spreading the undead plague to the rest of the town, and once Luna was sure there were no more left she magically hauled the remains of the risen out of the cellar and headed across the bridge, out into the area that she and Leah trained in, before setting fire to the bodies, after retrieving Mira's amulet so Haedrig could have something to remember her by.

"Th... Thank you. Both of you." Haedrig said, though he was surprised by how Leah had actually jumped into battle, despite the fact that she had far less training than the Militia did, he was eternally grateful to the pair for stepping in when he should have, taking care of the risen that had once been some of New Tristram's residents, "I can help you find the Mad King's crown, as my grandfather was his councilor and the crown was buried with him, and you'll find his tomb in the graveyard, in one of the larger tombs... I don't know which one, but he's there somewhere. And if you see my fool apprentice out there, tell him to come home before the risen get to him."

Luna nodded her head, even though she wished the man had more information to share with them, but this just confirmed that no one cared about the Mad King or those associated with him, meaning they were going to have to guess which tomb had Haedrig's grandfather and the crown. As they headed out, however, the pair came into contact with the scavengers, a hideous beastly creature that was like a vicious badger and feasted on carrion and corpses, so now that New Tristram was being plagued by the risen it made sense that the scavengers would come out as well. Leah eliminated them with flaming arrows, setting their bodies on fire as a precaution, while at the same time Luna focused on the risen that were nearby, due to the fact that there were many of them in the fields, more than they were expecting. It was like the entire graveyard had been raised from their graves and were now being sent against the living, where Luna rushed forward and slashed her foes apart with her greatsword, making sure to crush their bodies and then set some on fire, those Leah didn't target.

As they started to move across the field, however, the pair spotted a ruined house and discovered that Haedrig's apprentice was laying dead on the ground, only to rise with all of the other risen that were in the area, so the pair simply sighed as they granted him mercy before leaving a pile of smouldering corpses behind.

The amount of risen that were out here really gave Leah a chance to practice with her spells, as Luna knew that she had a large pool of mana, no doubt because of who her mother was, since Adria had been focused on magic and Leah had likely inherited many of her talents. Such a thing included hurling chunks of ice at her targets, trying to summon lightning on the risen, or do whatever came into her head, as she had the power to do more than she ever thought, and Luna had allowed her to tap into her true power, which she was using to protect people. Luna also released a bit of her magic as well, striking enemies in the distance to avoid ruining Leah's progress, and made sure to burn the bodies as well, where she found that they were leaving a long line of burning bodies. In addition to that she found that the risen really didn't weaken her weapons all that much, allowing her to maintain the edge of her greatsword for the time being, while cutting through the risen so she and Leah could reach the decaying and collapsing graveyard.

"So, which one should we look in first?" Luna asked, as there were three large tombs, mausoleums she noted, in the fair sized graveyard, and she guessed that either they were connected to the same massive underground system or each one was linked to their own area, so she was willing to ask Leah for her opinion on the matter.

"I think that one." Leah replied, because while she didn't know which mausoleum that Haedrig's grandfather had been buried in, in fact she was sure only her uncle knew that fact given the amount of time he looked into the past, before she paused for a moment as she realized what she had been thinking, "Wait, Uncle Deckard might know... we should act him if he knows."

Luna considered that for a moment and agreed with Leah, her uncle was likely the best person they could ask, and based on what she was seeing there was one of the teleportation devices nearby, to which she carefully activated it and allowed Leah to warp back to the town on her own. As she expected Luna stood there for about five minutes before Leah returned with a smile on her face, as she happened to be right, her uncle had told her that the very mausoleum she had guessed at was the one that held both Haedrig's grandfather and the crown. Of course Luna wasn't annoyed with Deckard, he had no idea that Leoric's crown had been buried with the old councilor and clearly hadn't thought of that possibility, and she was happy that Leah had guessed the location correctly, allowing them to enter the mausoleum. Sure enough there were risen inside it, not that they were surprised by that fact since every corpse and skeleton in the area seemed to be rising from the dead, which caused the pair to engage their foes once more as they kept their eyes out for the crown.

As they delved into the depths of the mausoleum Luna slashed her way through the bloated risen and the lesser ones, all while Leah provided constant support as she focused her magic into arrows and then loosed the flaming arrows into those she was focused on. In addition to that they discovered that the ghosts of those who had been buried here were also forced into undeath as well, as there were ghosts of graverobbers and people who were likely wrongfully slain wandering down the halls of the mausoleum, and they hated the living as well. It was a surprise to see just how much influence the Skeleton King had, how far his power reached, especially since he was someone who had been forced to serve the Lord of Terror, Diablo himself, after his human body was slain, but Luna focused on the battles ahead of her. She also made sure to stop every now and then for Leah, who wasn't used to fighting this much and she could tell that the girl was huffing every now and then as they moved against the risen, but she was doing well for her first real adventure.

Despite running into some dead ends, due to the tunnels collapsing over the years, Luna found their destination, stairs that moved down into the next floor of the mausoleum, causing them to repeat fighting the risen that were down here while they searched for something, anything really, that might belong to the councilor.

Fortunately the path was short and it brought them to a regal looking door, one that was smashed open by a monster of a risen, a large one, far larger than the bloated eel carriers, which looked like it was a bunch of bodies that had been buried in a mass grave, mixed with soil and earth. Luna found that it's 'skin' was tougher than she was expecting, which she blamed on the unholy magic that had given it life, because when she swung her greatsword the edge cracked instantly, much to both her and Leah's surprise, to which Luna swung it again and let the blade shatter. She then used her magic to force the shards of the greatsword into the unburied, or whatever this risen was called, causing it to roar in pain before she and Leah lashed out with their magic, tearing into the vile beast. This combination allowed them to bring down the massive undead, which was followed by them pausing for a couple of seconds, just to be sure that there were no more enemies in the immediate area, before Luna found a few lances, blades, and some axes that were dropped from the beast.

"Good, I'm going to need these in case more of those show up." Luna said, collecting all of the weapons that fell from the massive risen beast, choosing the pair of axes this time around as she and Leah moved into the passage that was behind the now ruined door that the beast had torn through.

Leah said nothing to that as they delved even deeper into the mausoleum, finding magical risen that had the power to raise even more undead to do battle against the living, something Luna had Leah destroy with one of her arrows, which Leah did gladly since more summoner types was something they didn't need right now. Following that they discovered a crown on a pedestal, though that was when the spirit of a councilor, Haedrig's grandfather no doubt, appeared before them and just attacked them without saying a word, like he thought they were here to raise Leoric from his grave. Luna discovered that the spirit had a bit of magical power to keep the crown from thieves, or Leoric's followers, and since he didn't seem interested in talking Luna dodged the weak spells that were coming her way before cutting the spirit into fourths with her axes. With that done she put her axes away and walked up to the pedestal, an altar she realized, where she took the damaged crown, likely a final defense mechanism, but a single shared look between her and Leah was all they needed right now, Haedrig could help them fix the crown.

With that in hand, and no more risen coming, Luna had Leah stand nearby as she used her magic to warp them out of the mausoleum and brought them back to the center of New Tristram, where they found Haedrig back at his workshop, who agreed to help fix the crown, causing the pair to rest for a time while they waited for him to reform the crown, and then they could tackle the Skeleton King and see what the Fallen Star might be.

Fallen Star: The Trapped Templar

It took Haedrig some time to mend the breaks in the crown and restore it to what it had been before it was reduced to the state Luna and Leah had found it in, but the pair were more than happy to wait for him to do his work, especially since Leah was still getting used to being an adventurer.

"There... it's finished. It's now as new as it was when it was first placed on the Black King's head." Haedrig said, where it was easy for the pair to see that he wiped the sweat from his brow for a moment, which was understandable given the state of the black crown they had brought him, and once it was fully cooled down he picked it up and handed it to Luna, "There, it should be able to break through that barrier that's in the cathedral, the one Leah mentioned... honestly, I wish I had more materials to work with, to give you some armor to wear."

"I'm fine, Haedrig, your work is better suited helping the people and the Militia." Leah replied, which was the truth, she felt that it was better if the blacksmith focused on New Tristram and not her, especially since most of their enemies focused on Luna, so there was no reason for her to wear armor right now, "Still, thank you for fixing the crown. Now we can head into the depths of the cathedral, track down the Fallen Star, and deal with the Skeleton King... should be able to stop the risen if we take him out."

Haedrig nodded and returned to the forge, just in time for Rumford and the rest of the Militia to return with the gear they had been able to salvage from the slain members of the Militia, since they didn't need it anymore, where he got to work on fixing things up and making new items for everyone. Luna and Leah, on the other hand, wished Deckard well before using the teleportation device to return to the outside of the cathedral, to the device the old man had brought them to, before stepping into the secret passage once more. Once they were back in the chamber that they spotted the old man in, and had discovered that the Skeleton King was in spirit form, Luna held out the crown to the large door, only to watch as it's lock just turned and opened, allowing them to head down some stairs and reach a new level. To Luna's surprise they found more of the hulking risen, the ones she called the unburied, surrounded by some of the lesser risen, to which she had Leah focus her fire on the lesser foes as she slashed through the hulking undead, this time imbuing her axes with a bit of magic to help cut through the unburied's thick skin.

After dealing with those enemies the pair spotted what Leah called 'treasure goblins', demons who were greedy and carried sacks of gold and treasure with them, and if they were slain they could obtain whatever loot the pair had, where Luna used a bit of magic to trap them so she and Leah could cut them down and loot their sacks.

"Plenty of gold, a couple of enchanted weapons to add to the arsenal, a few gems, and some bits of armor." Luna said, which in her eyes was a good haul, even though she hadn't been expecting to find the treasure goblins down here in the first place, which meant they must have been after the rest of the treasure that the adventurers hadn't been able to loot, "Maybe we can bring some of this back to Haedrig, the armor anyway, and let him break it down so he can have the resources he needs for the Militia?"

"Or me, since he seemed serious about making me armor." Leah remarked, as she trusted the blacksmith to remain true to his word, if he felt that she needed something to keep herself safe, even if Luna was the main target of their enemies, then she expected him to make some gear for her, but she also agreed with her friend, there was a chance that the blacksmith might make stuff for the Militia.

The pair made sure to collect the gear that was around them before continuing to explore the rest of the floor they were on, where Luna found weapon racks and armor stands, each possessing bits of gear that had been left behind, to which Luna raised an eyebrow before coming up with an idea. She channeled a bit of her magic into a bag, like she was creating a bag of holding, before teleporting herself out of the cathedral for a moment, surprising Haedrig in the process, before she picked one of his containers and linked some magic to it. She made a warp system, allowing her to slip the excess items into her new bag and they would end up in Haedrig's workshop, allowing the blacksmith to have all the materials he could ever want, causing him to smile and nod before she teleported back to Leah's side. She made sure to explain things to Leah as well, so she understood what was going on, and while Leah was surprised by this discovery she didn't question it at all, since she had learned that there was no questioning an alicorn or their magical powers.

Neither of them were surprised to find large groups of risen and skeletons as they explored the new floor of the cathedral, where Leah focused on bringing down any and all necromancers that happened to get in their way, as she noticed that there were some human ones in addition to the risen summoners. She honestly had no idea why someone would want to devote themselves to the dark arts, to bring down the people of the lands and just bring despair to everyone else, but she decided to think about it later as she loosed her arrows into the groups of enemies. Luna tore through the skeletons and risen with ease once more, finding that the only difficult ones were the unburied and the skeletal warriors that were no doubt guards for the Skeleton King, an indication that they were getting closer to their target. She also noticed the human necromancers that were down here and had to wonder where in the world they had come from, since there was no other way down into this place, at least not according to Deckard and those in New Tristram.

As she thought about that Luna released a burst of magic into the heart of one of the unburied and destroyed it, but before they got moving again she pulled Leah back into one of the side rooms so they could rest a little, as she didn't want to totally overwhelm the girl.

"I don't understand... how are there necromancers here?" Leah asked, taking a moment to huff as she drank some water, as she and Luna had some waterskins with them and her friend was in the middle of drinking from hers, though she couldn't stop thinking about the strangeness of what they were seeing.

"And not just any necromancers, ones that are no doubt former holy users... one was wearing plate armor, something you usually don't see on them." Luna remarked, because while the few necromancers back home had worn robes, and there had been a few that she and her sister had dealt with over the years, she had noticed that some of the necromancers in this dark place were wearing armor that made her think of the plate hearing heroes Deckard had told her about, "As for how they got down here, I can think of two possibilities: first, they found another way in, either via a secret passage known to Leoric's own followers and passed down the generations, or by digging into this place before the Fallen Star even happened. Second, I would guess someone might have teleported them down here... how, I have no idea, but that's the best answer I have right now."

"At least they can't wake the Skeleton King... Uncle Deckard said that only the crown can let his spirit rejoin his body, giving him full control over himself and his powers again." Leah said, though this was one of the few times where she was glad to have listened to her uncle's many tales and theories, as some of them had come true and this one had a nugget of wisdom that actually benefited them and the rest of New Tristram, before she sighed as she put her waterskin away, "Come on, now we've got one more reason to be down here."

Luna nodded and they emerged from the room without wasting time, where she rushed out and hacked into the risen that were nearby, opening the way for Leah to loose a few arrows into the fallen bodies and caused many of them to ignite, just as she planned since that made others get set on fire as well. She also checked the area that was around them and found that the cathedral's underground area was definitely far larger than she had been expecting, made into a labyrinth like what they found in the tombs previously, so finding the way forward was definitely a challenge. The downside to this, in addition to the danger that the town was in while the Skeleton King remained alive, was that Luna's weapons continued to get weaker as time went on, none of them were made to withstand her might and that saddened her. It also made her long for her own weapon, even though she was resisting the urge to call Nightfell to her side, as that would take some of the fun out of this, even if the skeletons and risen weren't much of a challenge to her and Leah right now.

One thing became clear to Luna as they finally found the stairs leading deeper into the structure, this was more like a base of power than a place of worship and prayer, it was like the Skeleton King had this place built to gather his army to prepare for whatever Diablo's will might be. If she went forward with that in mind the sudden maze-like nature of the cathedral made a lot more sense, as it would then be in the sense of stopping intruders and forcing them to die so they could be raised by the dark magic of the one who ruled over this place. The necromancers were definitely focused on serving the will of the ruler of the dead, that much she could see as she beheaded one and let their blood spill on the ground, before chopping them up to make sure they stayed dead, because Luna didn't trust them to not have something to raise themselves as undead servants as well. Leah continued to loose fire arrows into the risen, they were the easiest for her to use and she was going to use her power as much as she could, though at the same time Luna found that she was getting used to combat and was figuring out where their enemies were located to help her out.

Eventually Luna sensed something in the depths of the cathedral, where she had Leah stop for a moment as a massive red creature, dressed as a butcher and wielding a large cleaver, moving through what appeared to be a massive hole in the area that the cathedral was built in.

"And there's our answer... as well as something to watch out for." Luna remarked, though at the same time she found herself wanting to clash with the demon at some point, because that was what the creature was, it just radiated demonic energy, not to mention the horns that were on it's head and everything, all while the demon moved through a large hole it must have dug to get down here previously.

"Um, Luna? We've got more necromancers." Leah said, gesturing to the area in front of them, where there was a sunken part of the chamber that had a number of the dark magic users channeling their energy into what appeared to be a buff warrior, no doubt someone they caught beforehand and were trying to corrupt.

Luna nodded and they dropped down into the area, where she crushed the necromancers with her axes as Leah loosed four arrows into the air, pinning her targets to the ground in a flaming heap, and when enough of them were slain the warrior was freed from his prison, allowing him to crush the last with his bare hands.

"You two fight well. These necromancers have stolen my gear, and I have need of my gear to complete my mission... will you aid me?" the warrior asked, where Luna stared at him for a moment, he was definitely clean of dark energy, meaning they had either stopped the conversion process or stopping the necromancers had liberated him entirely.

"Sure, I have a feeling we're after the same thing: the destruction of the Skeleton King." Luna replied, where she found that she was right, part of the warrior's mission must have been to come here after hearing about the necromancers, likely to do whatever he could to stop the dark magic users from raising the figure, even if the Fallen Star had partly done that, and the moment the warrior nodded she did the same to Leah, "Very well, let's get a move on."

Sure enough there were more necromancers ahead of them, where Luna pulled out a sword and tossed it to the warrior, as he needed a weapon and she had some to spare, to which the three of them tore though the dark magic users and all of the skeletons they had raised into undeath. Some of the skeletons were slightly stronger than those they had fought previously, one even shattered the axes that Luna was using, though she didn't mind that as she pulled out the battleaxe she had picked up previously and crushed her foe. The stronger one happened to drop a glowing sword, where she handed it to Leah, since the warrior insisted that he would be fine once they found his gear, and while Leah wasn't very skilled with a sword she did know that having something to fall back on in case she ran out of mana was a good thing. After that it wasn't hard to track down the location of the warrior's gear, as there was a pair of necromancers down to the left, beyond a hole that was part of the Fallen Star's path of destruction, and they freaked out when they realized the warrior had been freed.

Luna and Leah took out the necromancers before they could escape, allowing the warrior to approach the chests they were guarding and opened them, putting on impressive looking armor with a good looking shield and a powerful lance, and once he was armed he smiled.

"Now then, allow me to introduce myself: I am Kormac, a warrior of the templar order." the warrior said, his expression one that told them he was pleased to have his gear back, since it meant he would be able to do battle more effectively, while at the same time Leah found another teleportation device for them to awaken, which Luna did while Kormac had put on his gear, "I have business with one of the necromancers in this place, a traitor to the templar order, but I will help you destroy the Skeleton King. I know not who you two fair ladies are, or what you might be my winged friend, but I would like to fight by your side for as long as you'll have me."

"I'm always open to having more allies on the team. I'm Luna, and this is Leah." Luna replied, gesturing to herself and then to Leah for a moment, allowing their new friend to understand who was who, before she glanced down the path and found that the necromancers were already calling more skeletons and risen to do battle with them, "And it looks like we're going to have some fun while we hunt down this traitor of yours, not to mention seek the tomb of the Skeleton King."

Kormac nodded and followed Luna into battle, where Leah found that he was just like her, a melee fighter that used a shield to protect himself from harm, while at the same time opening holes in the defenses of his enemies, and with the pair at the front of the line Leah knew she could focus on ranged combat. It was actually a far better lineup than Leah could as for, as it definitely made sure none of the risen or skeletons could reach her, not that any could get by Luna in the first place and the addition of Kormac reduced that probability to zero. In addition to that they learned a little about their first target, the traitor known as Jondar, who had been captured by the Coven, who these necromancers were a part of, and was tainted by evil, a fact that meant death for those who betrayed the templar order. Fortunately it didn't take them long to find the figure, who was a dark version of Kormac in terms of armor and weapons, so the group smashed the barrier, dark spikes, and walked down to where the traitor was standing.

Jondar, upon seeing them, lashed out at the group without really saying anything, causing the two templars to clash while Luna cut down the skeletons he raised to aid him, and she found that the battle was over rather quickly as Kormac cut down his foe, showing them that the pure templar was far stronger than the corrupted former templar.

"P... Please spare me, Kormac. My vision was clouded by the Coven's dark magic, making me see them as my brotherhood and forcing me to believe that their masters would rule this world." the fallen templar said, where Luna could see that he was lying, about being corrupted by this 'Coven', rather it seemed like something else had convinced him to betray his own brotherhood and the Coven had been the ones to take him in after he left the Order.

"Betrayal cannot be forgiven." Kormac replied, where Luna could tell his mind was made up, that Jondar had to die and that he had to be the one to do it, to which he stabbed his lance into the fallen templar's heart, killing the traitor in seconds, and once that was done he pulled his weapon out and faced the pair, "Thank you for your aid, and for allowing me to finish my business with Jondar. As I said earlier, I will join you in your quest to destroy the Skeleton King, but I have a request: if we discover any sacred tomes, that belong to the Templar Order, they are to be given to me."

"Well, I'm honestly not sure if we'll find any, but if we do you can have them." Luna stated, where Leah agreed with her, this seemed like a decent trade off in the grand scheme of things, in fact both wondered if Kormac might continue to fight beside them once they figured out what the Fallen Star was, but that was something they could worry about later, before she and her friends glanced down the next set of stairs, "Now, let's go find the Skeleton King and the Fallen Star."

Leah and Kormac nodded their heads as they followed Luna down the stairs, as they were eager to bring down the Skeleton King and bring peace to New Tristram, even if Kormac was just learning about all of this while traveling with them, as all three of them wondered what the next few hours held in store for them and the town.

Fallen Star: Skeleton King

After ensuring that Jondar had nothing on his body, save for a journal that Kormac collected since it might have valuable information on how he became the traitor that needed to be slain, the trio headed down the stairs and entered another floor of the cathedral's domain. All three of them were still surprised by how much was down here, as not even Leah knew the full extent of the Skeleton King's domain, making her wonder if her uncle knew how large the cathedral's lower levels actually were, since he knew more about the figure than she did. None of them were surprised to find more risen and the assorted skeleton as they started to explore this floor, since those seemed to be all the Skeleton King had in his army, but Luna knew his greatest forces would be guarding his tomb. Luna and Kormac slashed their way through the undead that were in front of them, doing what they could to avoid the damaged or destroyed portions of the cathedral, as it looked like the Fallen Star had damaged the structural integrity of this place.

As they moved, however, Luna glanced out at the surrounding pillars and support structures, where she could tell that the majority of them were slightly cracked in places, meaning they would have to pick up the pace somewhat, otherwise she had a feeling she would be using her magic to keep them safe.

"You know, despite the danger that New Tristram is in, it's still amazing to see the sheer power of the Fallen Star... to bring back all these undead with such ease." Leah commented, though at the same time she loosed a flaming arrow into one of the bloated risen and set it on fire, causing her target to run around in pain before collapsing into a heap, before letting out a sigh as she glanced at the others for a few seconds, "I just... wish we hadn't lost so many since it crashed into this place."

"Forgive me for being out of the loop, but has something happened to New Tristram?" Kormac asked, taking a moment to stab one of the risen with his lance before swinging and crushing it, before he glanced at the pair and found that neither of them required healing, which was within his powers as a templar, among other skills and abilities.

"You could say that. After the Fallen Star crashed into this place, after falling from the Heavens it looked like, the undead all over the region started to rise." Luna explained, backing away from the enemies they had taken out, mostly so she could make sure the area was clear of foes before they continued exploring, and she could see that both of her friends were doing what they could to make sure they were safe, "The Skeleton King was affected as well, and Leah's uncle, Deckard Cain, was able to determine that the Fallen Star, the key to potentially solving the End of Days prophecy, fell all the way down to where the Mad King was buried. So we'll kill two birds with one stone, take out a threat to the town and learn more about what the future holds in store for us."

Kormac nodded his head before they continued down one of the other side passages, he understood the danger that the town was in, not to mention the rest of the land if they failed to stop the Skeleton King from raising his army, hence why he joined them in tearing through their enemies. While that happened Kormac asked Leah about her abilities and she told him that she was still learning how to use her magic, a power she had been so fearful of since it had been uncontrollable for the majority of her life, but meeting Luna changed that. She spared some time every now and then to mention her training, all of the various methods Luna had used to teach her how to channel her power, and the week she had spent doing so had given her far more control than she had ever thought possible. Sure, she knew that there was more to her magic that she hadn't unlocked yet, a week was too short for Leah to learn everything that was available to her or even master her powers, but she had figured out the flaming arrow with ease, fire was just her element apparently, hence her current moves.

As he cut down another risen, avoiding the vile liquid that came out of the retching mouth, Kormac asked Luna about her own powers and abilities, since this was his first time seeing someone like her, though that was met with some laughter as Luna chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Kormac asked, as he wasn't aware of anything he had said that could have been taken in a funny manner, while at the same time Leah loosed a flaming arrow down one of the passages and he found that she was trying a new tactic, it separated into multiple smaller bolts that slammed into the risen and skeletons.

"There's too much to explain to you right now, but know that I am the Princess of the Night back home, and that I'm known as the warrior princess between me and my older sister." Luna said, though that was really all she could say right now, due to the fact that she was more interested in the Skeleton King right now, before she considered something as she glanced at the templar for a moment, "I'll tell you and the others more later, once we're no longer dealing with the Skeleton King."

Kormac agreed with that fact, it was a fair trade in his eyes, though following that Luna located the path down into the next floor of the cathedral, where they noticed a shift in the air as they walked down into a darker crypt that had more cobwebs and more coffins. Luna could feel the change in the magic as well, the Skeleton King's power was more potent down here, to which she rounded the corner and opened a gated frame, revealing a slightly lowered area that had a phantom sword in the center, and when she touched it the magic disappeared. It did, however, create a scene around them, four knights, a fifth figure that looked like a captain or something, and an armored figure that seemed more like a king, causing them to realize that they were seeing what had to be Leoric's last living moments before he was executed. Sure enough that was what went down, the captain, Leoric's son no doubt, stabbed the Mad King and Leoric told them that the armies of Khanduras would serve their King no matter what, be it in life and in death, which is likely what gave way to him rising as the Skeleton King in the near future after this event.

Following that Luna moved up the path behind where the phantom sword had been resting and found an area that had four dark pillars, not connected to anything other than the floor, and as they entered the area a specter rose out of the ground, the ghost of the Skeleton King.

You DARE to bring the warmth of life into MY tomb?! the Skeleton King stated, where it was easy for them to tell that he was annoyed, like he expected only the dead to roam this portion of his dark domain, and before they could respond he just raised his hands and necromantic energy gathered inside the four pillars, causing the skeletons of long dead warriors to rise from their graves and attack them.

Luna found two things out immediately, the first being that the Skeleton King's spirit fled as soon as the pillars were powered by his dark energy, while the second was that as long as the pillars were active there was an endless horde of skeletal foes to fight, something Leah and Kormac noticed as well. With that discovery made the three of them separated from each other, targeting one of the four pillars and lashed out at them with their powers, Luna crushed hers with her weapon, breaking it as she switched to a halberd, Kormac smashed his with holy energy, and Leah's flaming arrows tore hers down. After that they wiped out the group of skeletons that were coming at them, just to open the area a little, before they crushed the fourth and final pillar, causing the undead who were rising to collapse once their power source was gone. Following that Luna tore the door that was in front of them down, revealing a new path for them to follow, and her friends continued after her as they just tore through the skeletons, scattering them as they tracked down the final door that would bring them to the resting place of the Skeleton King.

Fortunately it wasn't long before they found their target, a black ornate door that matched the one that was near where the pair had found Deckard previously, and while Kormac was confused Luna raised the crown and opened it, allowing them to enter a chamber that was collapsing under the destruction that the Fallen Star had caused.

"And there he is." Kormac commented, gesturing to the large throne that was resting in the raised arena that was across the way from where they were standing, the main bridge collapsing as they walked forward, though Luna used some magic to lift them across the gap, as on the throne rested the large body of the Skeleton King.

"He's... larger than I was expecting." Leah remarked, as Leoric's undead body was definitely larger than a human's, in fact, if she believed her uncle's tales, the Skeleton King looked like he had been empowered by Hell in some manner, causing the growth they were seeing, before she switched her stance and readied her bow, "Luna, place the crown on his head. Let's take him out!"

Luna nodded and used her magic to place the crown on the skeleton's head, where they watched as the pieces of armor that had fallen from his form were pulled back into place, causing the large figure to pull himself from his throne as he cracked his neck and pulled out an imposing two-handed mace. It was clear that his spirit had merged back with his body, especially with the cackle he gave when he was fully in control of his body once more, and in the next moment Luna switched weapons as she used a sword and shield, the latter raised to block the incoming blow. She found that the Skeleton King, despite being just bone, magic, and armor, was incredibly strong from the single attack, yet she was fine with this as she pushed him back and slashed at his chest, finding that the blow cut into him while the magic seemed to heal him. Such a thing informed her of what they needed to do, they had to whittle away his mana, that was what was powering him, and if they did that he should be unable to heal himself, where Luna suspected they would be able to crush his soul and put him to rest at last.

Leah and Kormac seemed to understand that fact as they lashed out at the Skeleton King, the former staying some distance from their target as she loosed flaming arrows into his individual bits of armor, it was better than targeting the bones, where her attacks blasted into his defenses. Kormac followed Luna's lead, using his shield to block attacks, even though the power caused him to stagger backwards a little, as he was surprised by the Mad King's physical power, but that didn't stop him in the slightest, not when an entire town was in danger. In addition to swinging his mace around the trio found that Leoric had the power to vanish and appear in another area of the arena, which he used to get away from Luna and tried to trap Leah in an area with a few skeletal soldiers that he magically summoned into the area. Even though it was to even the odds the trio found that it really didn't chip away at the magic that was keeping their foe alive, which was annoying, but Luna was fine with this, since the figure's summons were easy for Leah to wipe out, plus she rolled to the side to avoid Leoric's swing.

Luna smiled at that, as Leah had come a long way since they started training, she was even improving while they fought the various enemies they faced, even when she wasn't in melee range, though following that Kormac and Leah damaged their foe with their attacks, causing Leoric to let go of his weapon, which Luna used to smash his body into shards and dust.

"Good, that hellspawn is dealt with." Kormac said, as they could see that the fragments of Leoric's soul were gone, Luna had smashed him good enough that the magic keeping the figure alive had been disrupted, though at the same time Leah picked up the dropped crown, as it was a relic of the town and she was sure her uncle would want it back.

"Yes, and now we can focus on the Fallen Star." Luna remarked, which was when they found that the throne sunk a little, just after their foe collapsed due to her attack, before moving out of the way to reveal a path down, another set of stairs to be exact, causing her to glance at the others, who nodded their heads in agreement.

In the deepest and darkest depths of the Skeleton King's domain the trio found the crater of the Fallen Star, which had a vast amount of blue energy swirling around it, and when they approached Luna discovered that it was another person, a man this time, who was dressed in a brown robe as he laid there.

"Wow... deja vu." Leah said, as this reminded her of when Luna fell out of the sky, which had been the greatest thing in her life, while this person falling had been one of the worst moments, even if it allowed her to gain more confidence in fighting and using her magic, to which she knelt by the Stranger, "Are you all right?"

"I am... I was... I remember falling." the Stranger replied, his voice definitely weakened from falling, though at the same time it was clear that his memory was fractured, unlike how Luna fell and knew everything about herself and her powers, but as he said that Leah gently helped him onto his feet, "I... I know that I am not your enemy. I... came with a warning, about the darkness, but... now I cannot remember what that warning was."

"Let's bring him to Deckard. Maybe he'll have an idea on what to do next?" Luna commented, it sounded like a good idea in her head and she could see that Leah agreed with her, bringing the Stranger to New Tristram seemed like the best plan right now, and fortunately she spotted a teleportation device nearby, meaning they could return to the town quickly, where Kormac helped the figure walk.

Luna waited until all four of them were near the device before activating it's power, allowing them to warp out of the depths of the cathedral and return to New Tristram, where they found Deckard standing in the same area they had left him in, like he had been patiently waiting for their return.

"Uncle, we found the Fallen Star. It's a person." Leah said, though at the same time Deckard looked over the figure that was brought to him, where they found that the Stranger was able to walk after some time and offered some thanks to Kormac as he was let go, "He said he came with a warning, but cannot remember what that warning is."

"I see. Let me and the healers tend to him... I imagine we'll be back in a few minutes, as no mortal could have survived such a fall. You three should rest while you can." Deckard replied, though at the same time he was proud of Leah, she had faced her fears, about using her magic, and was now a confident warrior in her own right, enough to face down the Skeleton King and win, as he took the crown back from her.

Luna and Leah sat on one of the benches that were nearby, after getting some fresh waterskins and some food from one of the citizens who wanted to help them out, while Kormac talked with Haedrig about upgrading his gear, since he insisted on following them into battle again, making them wonder what the Stranger might reveal and what the coming hours had in store for them.

Fallen Star: Fields of Misery

Luna and Leah waited for a short period of time before Deckard emerged from his house with the Stranger, the latter now looking more healthy despite the fact that he seemed out of sorts, due to his missing memories, and once Kormac was done with Haedrig they approached the pair.

"I have determined that the Stranger fell with a weapon, a sword, which he says he remembers seeing fracture as he fell to our world." Deckard said, as he knew that Luna and Leah would be able to deal with whatever dangers were out there now, if they were able to wipe out the Skeleton King, plus they now had a templar with them, increasing their power and ability to survive the horrors of the wilds.

"That would explain the three smaller flaming objects that were near him when he fell." Luna commented, as she recalled seeing three items around the Stranger's body, when she and the others were under the assumption that a meteor or an asteroid had fallen, and now they had confirmation on what she, at least, had seen, "A sword split into three fragments, no doubt the handle and blade shards."

"You know, one of the Militia reported that the khazra were rampaging in the Fields of Misery. Could one of the pieces fell in one of their dens?" Leah asked, as it made sense to her, the man in question had commented on the goatmen acting slightly differently after the Fallen Star crashed into the cathedral, and she had only learned about it after they returned from saving the Stranger.

"Yes... yes, that would make sense. Just as the dead rose around the Stranger, the khazra are being driven to madness. We must recover the blade fragments." Deckard stated, because not only would the completed sword restore the Stranger's memories, and uncover whatever message he had for the people of this world, but removing the fragments would cut down on the power that was affecting the rest of the land, silence the dead and calm the goatmen.

"Good, then we'll start there. Deckard, why don't you and the Stranger talk more while we're gone? Maybe you can figure out where the other two pieces went." Luna said, though she knew the Fields of Misery would take some time for them to simply explore, they were a large place that wasn't very good for the people of New Tristram, hence their title, which was why the farms on the town's side of the river were just fine.

Deckard nodded his head a little, causing Luna to nod to Leah and Kormac as they headed for the exit that would bring them to the entrance that brought them to the area they had found the crown in, which Leah had told the templar about during their brief period of downtime. Fortunately for Luna and her friends they didn't have to worry about fighting through more risen, since they had dealt with the enemies that were near New Tristram, and it wasn't long before they reached the area in question, leading to Leah breaking the lock on the other grated door. With that done they stepped out into a new path and crossed the bridge that was on the other side, one that looked like it was getting close to collapsing, so they carefully crossed it before stepping into their new destination. Luna had known that the Fields of Misery had once been fertile farmland, but due to the constant attacks from the khazra clans, and the various carrion nests that were uncovered, the land was now a permanent smoldering place of ruin and despair, with few still living out here.

It wasn't long before they found their first khazra, the bipedal goatmen that were more common out here, who wore little on their bodies, save for loincloths, and carried spears into battle, though Luna knew they had mages as well and those ones had staffs, which might be useful for later.

With that in mind Luna found that the khazra weren't too terribly tough, a single swing from Leoric's weapon was enough to smash one into a bloody paste on the ground, while Kormac sliced one's stomach open with his lance before impaling it with the tip, even though he defended himself with his shield after that. Leah, true to form, channeled her power into flaming arrows and loosed them into the goatmen that were in the distance, where Luna smiled as the arrows separated into a set of five each, a volley, that slammed into their targets with deadly accuracy. One would have thought that Leah would have had problems with killing another living creature, but Luna had to guess that dealing with the risen and skeletons, and those that had been infected, had prepared the young lady for dealing with all sorts of other enemies. She could also see that the more Leah used her magic the more in tune she was with it, allowing her to draw more of it out and lessen the strain she felt, so when she tried to learn more magic she would be able to do well with ease.

After dealing with the first group of khazra the group found one of the carrion nests, which were vile nests riddled with dark energy that spawned out the undead bats they had fought in the past, only these ones seemed to be poisoned, which Leah just hurled a fireball into, blasting it into oblivion.

"Right... remind me not to annoy Leah at all." Kormac remarked, as he was realizing what she had told him previously was the truth, she was crazy skilled when it came to using fire based magic, given her ability with her bow and the volleys, and now there were fireballs for them to worry about, even if Luna wasn't worried at all.

"Good work. When we have a chance to rest, and can train some more, I'll show you a few more fire spells... if you do well I'll even show you other spells as well." Luna said, as Leah had proved that she was good at using this type of magic and she felt that mastering some of the other spells in that category would allow her to master herself more, eventually leaning into her learning how to use and master all of the other elements she knew about.

Leah said nothing to that, as she was more focused on the fact that she was actually growing with her magic, even though it did confirm something for her, that learning from Luna had been the best thing to happen to her, causing her to nod for a moment as she glanced at Luna, since the other spells might help her in the future. Luna, on the other hand, spotted a pair of new enemies, in addition to the khazra, where the first was a massive tree that turned out to be evil and wanted to crush them, to the point that it ripped itself out of the ground to attack them. The other was a large imposing ram beast that was more like a siege device, or it would be back in Equestria based on what Luna was seeing at the moment, though to crush the chargers she leapt into the air and brought her weapon down on their heads, crushing their skulls to paste. Such a thing did mean that Leah and Kormac had to make sure they were out of the way, before Leah set fire to them to be sure none of them rose into undeath, while she also used her flaming arrows on the large walking trees, turning each to ash.

One of the areas they walked by happened to be an old farm, where a cluster of carrion nests had formed, four to be exact, to which Luna nodded to the others as she and Kormac cut into the bats that came at them, including the small scavenger beasts, which opened the way for Leah to burn the nests with her arrows.

"You know, this weapon isn't Nightfell, but it's a decent temporary weapon." Luna remarked, spinning for a moment as she brought down the head of Leoric's weapon on a large scavenger that came out of the ground while they were standing still, to make sure there were no more enemies in the ruined farm, and other than the large scavenger there wasn't anything else for them to worry about.

"Nightfell? What's that?" Kormac asked, though as they relaxed a little, mostly to drink some water and rest for a bit, he had to ask about the weapon that Luna had mentioned, especially since it seemed to be her preferred weapon, something that wasn't present right now.

"Luna's personal weapon, a battleaxe of great power... her sister, Celestia, has such a weapon as well, the blade known as Solarion." Leah answered, though she had to admit that the stories she and her uncle had heard about the weapons told her that they would likely be weapons that would utterly wipe out those who threatened Sanctuary, while glancing at the lady for a moment as Luna cleaned the head of Leoric's warhammer, "Nightfell didn't come with Luna when she traveled to New Tristram, but she's convinced that she could summon it if she really needed it... and right now she doesn't need it, despite the fact that it seems to be the only weapon capable of remaining intact. Luna's a weapon breaker, thanks to her... well, her insane levels of strength... and you've seen her break a few so far."

Kormac nodded, he had seen such a thing and guessed that he'd be seeing it once the dark weapon finally shattered, since it was only a matter of time until it fractured under the weight of Luna's power, and wondered about her mysterious weapon, her true weapon, before noticing that Leah was constantly looking in one direction.

"Is trouble approaching?" Kormac asked, because if it was he would be ready for it, his shield and lance were ready for more, while at the same time he reflected that it would be nice to have someone who could detect enemies, save them some effort while on the battlefield, given the amount of enemies they had seen so far.

"No, just... Luna, can you fly up and check something to the southwest?" Leah asked, as something was bugging her, she felt something that she couldn't explain and was curious if her increasing magical power was allowing her to sense the bits of the blade, which might make things easier for them in the grand scheme of things.

Luna raised an eyebrow before nodding, where she lifted herself into the air and got a good view of the smouldering ruins of the fields that the people of New Tristram used to work in, noticed the amount of khazra and enemies that were around, and, more importantly, a cave den that was glowing with the blue energy of the Stranger, causing her to lower herself down to Leah and Kormac.

"I spotted the cave that the fragment fell into... I'm not sure how you knew it, but you definitely felt a blade piece." Luna said, which was rather interesting when she thought about it, in fact she was sure Leah was the key to figuring out where the rest of the pieces were, once they had reports from the rest of the Militia, which would make this quest more interesting for her and her friends.

"It's... hard to explain. It's like I'm feeling the tug of the Stranger's magic, for some reason." Leah replied, she couldn't explain it herself, not with her limited knowledge on magic, and suspected that once she had more lessons from Luna she might be able to accurately explain what she had felt, and yet, with confirmation on the fragment's resting place, the tug seemed to die down for some reason.

Luna nodded for a moment, allowing the others to get a little more rest before they collected their gear as she started to lead the way over to where the khazra den rested, where she smashed her enemies into paste, Kormac sliced them down, and Leah continued to release flaming arrows and setting corpses on fire. Thanks to Leah's new ability, despite the fact that she had no idea how she had come to possess such a skill, the trio reached the den Luna had noticed and headed down into the lair of the khazra, Sure enough the area was more narrow, to force enemies to move two at a time, but Luna and Kormac kept their guard up as Leah tried her best to focus on the magical tug she had been feeling earlier, and as they walked Luna could see a great deal of dried blood on the ground with bones scattered here and there. Part of her hoped that the bones were from animals and not the people of New Tristram, though it was hard to say based on what she was seeing, causing her to focus on the enemies that were lingering in the shadows of this place.

What they weren't expecting to discover, however, were more robed figures, these ones in dark yellow robes that seemed to be cultists, higher members of the Coven that tried to corrupt Kormac no doubt, and when the cultists noticed them they quickly ordered the khazra to kill them.

"Good, we get to kill more of the Coven. Bring them on." Kormac said, where he wasted no time in slashing through one as Luna swung her warhammer and let it crush her enemies into paste while Leah did her best to target the enemies that were further down the tunnels, to avoid hitting her friends.

While they fought the cultists and khazra, however, they found a group trying to claim the power of the blade fragment that had struck this area, one even mentioned that a 'Maghda' was on her way to claim it, though they slaughtered the cultists in no time, causing the phantom of a lady in dark robes and an odd head piece, a witch, to appear in front of them.

Who are you to take what is rightfully mine? the witch asked, her tone suggesting that she believed that she was of the opinion that everything was hers for the taking and that anyone who took something she had her eyes on would be met with swift justice, or death to her followers when Luna thought about it.

"Sorry, but this doesn't belong to you. Get lost, before we track you down as well." Luna remarked, she had no want to face someone like this right now, as her focus was on recovering the blade fragments and figuring out what the Stranger had to tell them, and she could see that she annoyed Maghda, since that was who the lady had to be.

Sure enough more cultists and khazra were summoned into the area to fight them, where Luna took one tunnel and used her new warhammer to smash her enemies into the walls and into the ground, leaving bloody smears and crushed bodies in her wake, just like before. Kormac continued to do what he did best, he used his shield to block incoming attacks, while also dodging magical attacks since he didn't want to get hit by the dark magic of the Coven again, before skewering his enemies or slicing open their stomachs. Leah let her enemies come to her as she loosed volleys of flaming arrows at her targets, just blasting them into oblivion or setting them on fire, and when one got close to her she switched to the sword Luna had given to her, insisted on her having it, and sliced the cultist's head off. While they did that Leah also noticed that the magical image of Maghda just floated there above the blade fragment, where there was a slight bit of shock on her face, like she had no idea they were this strong, but Leah was sure that the witch was looking at her and not the others, but that only confused her even more.

In the end the cultists and khazra laid dead at their feet, and hooves in Luna's case, where the witch's image floated there for a time, no doubt debating whether or not she should even send more forces at them, before growling as she simply stated that they could have this fragment, since the second was within her grasp, which caused her image to vanish.

"Come, let us get this back to Deckard and the Stranger. They need to know that we have more enemies to deal with, and see if they know anything about Maghda." Luna remarked, where she produced a cloth bundle and secured the fragment of the blade inside it, where this time the energy seemed to disappear as the item was picked up, like it was now contained in the piece and wasn't leaking out, but that meant the khazra might calm down a bit.

"I don't get it... why was she so interested in me?" Leah asked, as she knew that Luna had seen the looks on Maghda's face, the witch seemed to know her in some manner and that worried her, because it meant she and Deckard might have been being watched by someone evil for a long time.

"Simple: she sees your power and not yourself. She likely sees another to corrupt, though I know you are made of study stuff and won't fall easily." Kormac stated, as it was a lot like what happened to him, the Coven had been interested in his power and not in himself, so he could see the Coven's leader being the same way, even though he had a feeling that they would see more of this Maghda in the future.

Luna nodded as she gathered her magic and opened the portal back to New Tristram, as it was time to regroup with their allies and figure out if they could track down the second fragment, and deal with whatever madness was rising around that portion of the Stranger's powerful weapon, causing her to look forward to what the future had in store for them.

Fallen Star: Home of the Nephalem

It took the group a few moments to return to New Tristram, thanks to Luna's portal, and when the trio arrived Luna gently handed over the fragment of the Stranger's sword they had just recovered, where Deckard looked at the fragment with a smile on his face.

"We were right, there's another force chasing the fragments: a Coven, the same that tried to reach the Stranger while also trying to raise the Skeleton King." Luna remarked, even though this meant the Coven was large enough to have more than enough followers to split them between four different areas, the three fragments and the main Fallen Star, and while they could see that Deckard had no idea about Coven it was clear the Stranger knew something.

"I... do not know of any Coven, but I do sense something darker guiding them." the Stranger said, though there wasn't much he could do right now, since he had no idea what he had been trying to warn the people of this world about, despite the fact that his words allowed them to know that his mission was definitely important, "I know that the second fragment fell to the north of the first, towards a... temple, I think."

"Temple? Must be the old home of the Nephalem... right, uncle?" Leah remarked, as she had heard the tales of that place, all due to the fact that her uncle had so many stories and many of them were stuck inside her head, while Deckard nodded his head in agreement with her statement and told her that this would be another good experience for her, before she glanced at Luna, "We've never been able to get inside the temple, as the bridge was either destroyed or lowered in the distant past, so there's no telling what might await us once we actually reach the old structure."

Luna nodded before asking Deckard about the potential leaders of the Coven, as someone had to be leading Maghda, and he informed them that they were likely remnants of the Triune, a cult that worshiped the Greater Evils as gods, but since Baal, Mephisto, and Diablo were dead, and both Andariel and Duriel had been slain, that left Belial and Azmodan. She found it to be interesting that five of the seven Evils had been slain already, to the point that it would be years before even one of them returned, and Deckard seemed to think that most of them had been banished entirely, permanently slain. Part of Luna wanted to share the old man's thoughts on the Evils, that they were mostly destroyed and that it was possible that she, of all of them, would bring about the end of the remaining two, permanently ending Hell's threat on Sanctuary, but she couldn't share his thoughts. From what she had learned the demons were a persistent bunch, they were always doing things in their attempts to take over this world, and something told her there had to be more plans in motion than what the last two Evils had in mind, something she would worry about later on.

For the time being she, Leah, and Kormac returned to the Fields of Misery, where Luna warped them outside the den that they had found the first fragment of the Stranger's blade in, and once everyone was ready to go Leah started to point them in the direction of their next destination.

Such a thing meant that they had to engage the khazra some more, who were either still enraged to madness by the power of the fragment, like it hadn't worn off yet, or they were just pissed off that the trio had slaughtered their tribe members, in fact Luna was betting that it was actually the latter this time around. Luna continued to swing at the goatmen, crushing each and every one of them who happened to get in her way, once more proving that Leoric's warhammer was a great addition to her arsenal, for as long as it was in her hands anyway, especially when she crushed a khazra into paste. Kormac continued to block incoming attacks with his shield, which he had Haedrig look at while they were talking to Deckard, before piercing his foes with his lance and then tossing the bodies into the piles that his companions set up to stop the slain from rising as more of the undead. Leah, true to form, focused on the carrion nests and the plagued bats, loosing volleys of flaming arrows that just rained down on her targets, setting many of her foes on fire while destroying the nests so she could cut down on how many plagued bats they had to worry about.

Leah wasn't even surprised as they tore through the first couple groups of enemies, and while she dealt with the dangerous walking trees she found that Luna crushed the chargers that were wandering around the Fields, not that she was surprised by this turn of events, it was just like Luna when she thought about it.

The surprising thing was the amount of khazra and enemies that were in the Fields of Misery, as now it looked like the name made sense with just how many dangers were wandering around the place, especially when they found a farmhouse that had been overrun by various enemies. It was sad to see this sort of thing, how the khazra and monsters were willing to just tear down anything and everything that stood in their way, though Luna simply sighed as she made sure there weren't any survivors cowering in this place, or travelers hiding from the dangers. Kormac commented on the fact that they were seeing so many khazra and reflected that the Coven might have corrupted them all, in fact they were likely using them as tools to recover the blade fragments, so they would likely be fighting more of them in the very near future. Luna and Leah agreed with him, they would no doubt find more of them in the future and would no doubt have to tear through them to get to one of their other targets, they just had to wait and see what might be coming their way next.

Eventually they reached the path that lead to the small settlement that was right on the outskirts of the area that the temple of the Nephalem used to reside in, and standing outside the wooden gate they found a man, a rogue of sorts since he was wearing light armor and seemed to have a crossbow, who seemed worried about something, due to his hands being tied behind his back.

"Ah, you three, I need your..." the man said, locking eyes with Luna as he realized that she was different from everyone else in the group, though instead of saying anything about that he seemed to come to the decision that moving onto the main topic was better than wasting time, "I require your assistance: a friend of mine is about to be killed in this settlement. Her name is Sasha, and she has a relic that some bandits are after."

The trio glanced at each other before Leah used her blade to slice though his bindings, allowing him to join them as Luna pushed into the settlement, but instead of talking to the bandits they found that the bandits took one look at the newcomer that was with them and attacked the group. Such a thing told Luna that the well dressed rogue was likely a thief and might have made some enemies before this point, though she made sure Sasha, the girl that was in the center of the bandit group, was safe from what was coming next as she smashed one bandit into a bloody paste. Kormac continued to do the shield and stab routine, Leah focused on those that were hanging in the back of the pack, and the thief used his crossbow to wound his enemies, effectively allowing them to wipe out the bandits. That even applied to the newcomers that were hunting the thief down, since a few more showed up to fight them, though the group wasted no time in slaughtering them, where Luna found that the thief was surprised by this turn of events.

In fact when the coast was clear the thief talked to his beloved friend, convinced her to hand over the relic so he could join the group and sell it when he was next at town, and when they moved beyond the next gate he discovered that the relic was just an elaborate fake, causing him to toss it away when they found a new teleportation device.

"So, who are you people anyway?" the thief asked, because he figured that there might be riches if he traveled with them, as having two dedicated warriors and a ranged fighter meant that there was room for someone to check for traps and all sorts of other hazards, before he bowed his head a little, "I am Lyndon."

"I am Luna, this is Leah and this is Kormac. We are traveling to the ancient temple, to find something that landed up there." Luna stated, though as she said that she and the others glanced at the structure that was beyond where the teleportation device was located and found that it was definitely a decent sized temple, a small outpost most likely, causing her to glance at the thief for a moment, "You are welcome to join us... just be warned, we move fast."

Lyndon locked eyes with her for a moment before nodding his head, he understood, causing Luna to head down the path in front of them before noticing two ancient pedestals that were missing something, one on either side of the passage that would lead into the temple, and yet there was nothing for them to use, save for a floating blue spirit.

"You must be Alaric the Guardian. I've heard the stories about you, but I've seen enough to believe them." Leah remarked, as traveling with Luna told her that there had to be some nugget of truth to what her uncle had told her in the past, causing her to glance at the structure that was behind the blue spirit, "How do we get inside?"

To get inside the temple you must find and recover two orbs from their resting places in the nearby forest... doing so will prove who, and what, you really are. the spirit replied, where Luna and the others found that a stone bridge raised up for them to cross into the forest, connected to the stone walkway that was behind them, and after that happened Alaric didn't seem interested in saying anything else.

"It seems that he thinks we're Nephalem." Luna stated, speaking as they stepped away from the figure, it was a good guess in her eyes since that seemed to be what this place was made for, before the battles caused spirits to be trapped here, or at least that was what Deckard claimed, where she readied her warhammer once more, "Very well then, he wants to test us and I'm more than willing to play along."

Leah said nothing as they moved into the darker forest, where they found that the dead were walking and that the spirits of those slain in the past were wandering around, the latter seeing them as enemies, and this time there were more enemies for them to fight than before. Fortunately having Lyndon meant that they could focus on four different directions now, so all of their enemies had a harder time getting close to the group overall, though at the same time Lyndon admitted that his own reserve of bolts was far lower than what Leah had. Leah told him that she had stopped using physical arrows, rather now she was purely focused on magical arrows that possessed the magical element that she wanted to use, something that first caused the thief to just stand there in shock, before asking if he could have her spare arrows, since he did have a bow in case he ran out of bolts. Leah loosed a volley at some of the spirits and blasted them into oblivion before withdrawing a number of her spare arrows, which she tossed over to Lyndon, as she kept a few for herself in case she ended up running low on her mana, but she had a feeling that might not happen for a long time.

Luna wasn't even surprised by the fact that their melee weapons were able to beat up the specters and ghosts, this world was just full of interesting things to see and experience, and since she was from Equus, a world of magic that had things that were even weirder than this, she didn't even question what she was seeing.

Fortunately she found that the two resting places of the items they needed were easy to find, there were only two places in this area that looked like resting places for special items, and when she brought them to one they found that it was just a small underground area that curved around a pillar of stone. Finding the orb was easy, it was on a pedestal, out in the open, and when they approached it a group of specters came out to defend it, though again none of them were even phased by this discovery and smashed their way through the defenders. With that in mind Leah grabbed the orb once the defenders were dealt with, finding that there were no traps for this sort of thing, meaning once they beat up the spirits claiming both orbs would be easy to do, so she stored it away in her pack before they headed out to track down the second structure and the second orb. Thanks to Luna they were able to find the second area without wasting too much time, even though Lyndon did have to catch up with them after he looted the containers they had passed by, and that was followed by them simply just repeating what they had done previously, smash all of the defenders and then claim the second orb.

Thanks to them working like a team, even with someone new among their number, Luna and her friends were able to get back to Alaric, where Leah placed the two orbs on their respective pedestals and watched as they raised into the air for a few seconds, before a new stone bridge raised out of the water.

Such a thing allowed them to head into the temple, where Luna confirmed that part of the Stranger's sword was here, she could see the energy that was coming from the fragment, and Leah also did her own thing to confirm it was present, due to the fact that she could feel it. Of course there were guardians inside the temple as well, ghosts and skeletons of those who had defended this place at one point in the past, plus the basic skeletons had large dark icy blue shields that required Luna to beat them even harder to smash them. These guardians were definitely slightly tougher than the other ones they fought to get the orbs, and when they collapsed into shattered piles Luna collected their blades and even one's magical item, since it never hurt to have a good arsenal. Alaric appeared after that and nodded, as if he was pleased with their abilities, like he thought he had confirmation that they were Nephalem, before the door opened and allowed them to walk over to where the second blade fragment was resting.

What wasn't even remotely surprising was that they found the magical image of Maghda floating near the fragment, as if she were trying to claim it while being far away from it, and when she heard the door open she turned and faced the group for a few moments, as if debating her next plan.

You know, I finally recognize who you are, girl. You are Adria's daughter, aren't you? Maghda remarked, focusing more on Leah than anyone else at the moment, though at the same time she noticed how Leah carried herself and how she was mastering her magic thanks to Luna's teachings, I was right, you really do have some wonderful power... I have your dear old mother, child, and soon both of you will be meeting the same fate: death.

Luna found that the knowledge that her mother was alive somewhere, and was being held captive by Maghda, ended up just triggering Leah as she pulled out the blade Luna had given her previously before slashing her way through the undead that were sent to destroy them, the edge set on fire, like her rage was personified, and when the undead were defeated Maghda cut off the spell instantly.

"Adria... my... my mother's alive?!" Leah remarked, though at the same time she huffed for a moment as she released the rage that had powered her for a few moments, as that took the wind out of her, just as Luna had described to her when she mentioned some of the potential training they could do.

"Could be. I don't trust Maghda, but I did sense a nugget of truth to what she was saying... which part, I can't say, but Adria could very well be alive." Luna replied, where she took a few seconds to pull Leah close, to let her know that someone was there for her if she needed a shoulder to cry on or something, but for the time being her gesture seemed to be more than enough for Leah.

Once Leah was ready to go Luna wrapped up the second blade fragment and wished Alaric well, since she had no idea what the spirit would do now that the temple had been entered, before they returned to the teleportation device and returned to New Tristram with the fragment, all while eager to see what might happen next.

Fallen Star: Danger in Wortham

"We've recovered the second fragment." Luna said, handing over the cloth that held the second piece of the blade, which Deckard and the Stranger were glad to have since it meant they were one step closer to restoring the Stranger's memories and see what sort of information he had to share with them, "Any idea where the third one might have fallen?"

"As I feel, I vaguely remember seeing one glowing fragment falling towards... a fishing town, I think." the Stranger replied, though the look on his face told them that he wished he could be more helpful in figuring out everything that was going on at the moment, but Luna was fine with this since they had plenty of people that could determine what he meant.

"The closest fishing village near here is Wortham, across the river. We can talk to the ferryman." Leah stated, though while this was a stroke of good luck she also knew that the Coven was after the sword's pieces, and if one fell in Wortham than it was only a matter of time until chaos consumed everything that was around it.

Luna nodded and followed Leah as she lead the way down to the docks, where Kormac and Lyndon followed behind them, leaving Deckard to talk to the Stranger in his house some more, because now that he had another fragment of his weapon it was possible he might help him figure something out. Most of the people in the town were fine now, thanks to the downfall of the Skeleton King and the culling of the khazra, so the group was able to reach the ferry in no time, which was a simple wooden barge by the looks of it, modified to be large and carry people across the river. The ferryman was willing to take the four of them over, he knew what Luna and Leah had done for the people of New Tristram and knew that their friends were allies in whatever fight they were in, but he had a warning for them. That warning happened to be the fact that smoke was rising from Wortham, something that made them wonder if it was just the blade fragment or if the fishing village was going to be under attack by the Coven, causing everyone to get aboard without delay.

It didn't take them long to discover the terrifying truth, Wortham was ablaze, the Coven's members were summoning what appeared to be either khazra, the risen, or even demonic creatures to kill those that stood in their way, and the moment the ferry reached the now burning village the group disembarked.

"Everyone, flee to the ferry!" Leah shouted, though at the same time she noticed some Coven members and loosed one of her arrows at her target, taking down the foul individual while Luna drew her warhammer once more, leaving their allies to ready their weapons as well as they advanced on their enemies.

"Whenever we find Maghda, someone should take her head." Kormac stated, smashing his shield into some of the khazra that were following the orders of the Coven, while at the same time stabbing the cultists that charged at him, where a couple of them lost their lives thanks to Lyndon providing supporting fire, because while they had conflicting views they knew that such a thing was no reason to ignore the other on the battlefield.

"Trust me, I'm already planning on taking her life." Luna remarked, swinging the warhammer around as she smashed some of the cultists into a fine paste, though this angered her, that the cultists literally had no love for life and just slaughtered anything and everything that they desired, even going so far as to raise things into undeath to wreck more things.

They discovered that nearly everyone in the village had been slaughtered, due to the amount of corpses that happened to be on the ground, ordinary people to be exact, something that prompted them to continue fighting their way through the flames while trying to save whoever was left. The cultists, however, declared death to anyone who dared to defy the power of the Coven, confirming that they believed themselves to be above everyone else, and yet when they screamed for mercy, as a few of them actually dared to do such a thing, Luna and the others offered them none. Normally Luna might grant one such a thing, but after everything she had seen from the Coven she had placed all of their memories on the 'kill on sight' list, with their leader being at the top of the 'must kill immediately' list, since she was ordering her people to do all this. One of the survivors even spotted them at one point, mentioning how his family was taking shelter inside the chapel, but before the group could do anything the cultists killed him as well, summoning a trio of tall pale skinned warriors from Hell to do battle with them.

Of course the Coven failed to account for the fact that Luna was with the group, as she smashed her way through the trio of pale warriors and crushed them completely, while Leah and the others dealt with the rest of the cultists that were around the damaged chapel, and it wasn't long before they cleared out the area.

"I don't like how easy this has been." Leah commented, because she knew that Maghda knew of their strengths and knew all of the forces that she had sent at them would do little in the grand scheme of things, rather it had merely slowed them down a tiny bit, not enough to really accomplish anything, before she felt something in the distance, "Luna... He's out there."

"Who is this 'He'?" Lyndon asked, though at the same time he found the way to the cellar of the chapel and knew that they would be opening it once Luna was sure the coast was clear, but he had to admit that the brief mention of something, which only Leah seemed to sense, didn't calm his nerves in the slightest.

"When we were dealing with the Skeleton King, well, Leah and I found a large red demon that seemed to be a monster, and right now I'm going to hope he's somewhere else." Luna replied, because she didn't want to deal with the figure that the pair had found before they dealt with the Mad King, not when he would only slow them down and might cost them time, but as soon as the blade was reforged she was sure she would have time to fight him, "Come on, let's get the fragment."

There was a priest outside the chapel, who must have been inside the structure before their arrival, and he confirmed that the fragment they were after was in the basement of the chapel, though when he opened the way the group headed down into the basement and found that there was nothing save for an altar and a teleportation device down here.

Fools! While you were busy being heroes, I swooped in and captured all three fragments, plus the one who bore the blade in the past. Maghda stated, her magical image appearing before them once more, taunting them with the fact that she had stolen this particular fragment before the other two and only attacked Wortham to distract everyone, annoying Luna even more than before, Not that any of you will be alive to see what happens next!

In the following moments Luna summoned a magical barrier around them, just in time for the ceiling to collapse as a large butcher's cleaver tore through the material, and when the weapon was pulled back she found that the large demon was now in the village, confirming Leah's comment that he was close by.

"Fresh meat!" the demon, the Butcher as Luna decided to call him, declared as he raised his weapon and slammed it down on the barrier once more, flattening the area for a moment as they heard the sounds of the people screaming in terror in the streets, while Luna extended the barrier to cover the teleportation device.

"Kormac, Lyndon, take Leah and go back to New Tristram. Make sure the others are safe." Luna stated, where she turned for a moment and forced the demon backwards with her magic, sending the Butcher into the woods that were outside the area that Wortham was in, but she knew that he'd be back if she wasn't fast enough, "Go! I'll deal with the demon."

Leah stared at Luna for a moment, torn between helping her and going to her uncle's aid, before nodding her head as she and the others rushed to the teleportation device, allowing the three of them to warp out of the area, just in time as Luna found that the Butcher smashed through the ceiling and grabbed onto her barrier. Luna turned and used more of her magic to hurl the demon back away from the chapel, finding that it collided with some of the trees as she called for the survivors to get out of here, while she held off her foe, who came rushing at her. This reminded her of the time that she and Celestia dealt with Tirek, they were like ants to his impressive stolen height, and the Butcher had an impressive height that seemed at least twice her size, if not triple in total, hence his large butcher's cleaver. With that in mind she shifted her stance as she used her warhammer as a shield to block the incoming attack, only to find that the Butcher smashed through the handle of Leoric's, breaking the weapon, and when she used the head of the warhammer she found that the demon destroyed it like it was just a twig.

That caused Luna to backup for a moment as she discarded the pieces of the weapon, still surprised that the demon had the power to break such a powerful weapon like it was nothing, as she drew out a pair of blades from her arsenal and rushed at the Butcher. She found that the demon's hide was stronger than she was expecting, as the moment Luna brought the blades down on it both of them shattered like brittle clay being thrown against a hard rock wall, causing her to drop out of the air as her foe swung at her again. Luna suspected that she was going to run through a lot of her weapons while she was stalling this demon, plus she couldn't just warp away since the Butcher seemed like the type that would rush her if she tried to do such a thing. With that in mind she went with the heavier weapons first, the ones in her arsenal that might be able to stand up to the demon's power and his hide, like the battleaxes, greatswords, and warhammers, yet she found that none of them seemed to do much as the Butcher tanked her blows and smashed through her weapons like they were nothing.

The Butcher, on the other hand, continued to advance on Luna, each powerful swing of his cleaver breaking the ground and shattering each weapon she brought to bare against him, leading her to wonder if it was time to summon Nightfell to her side, even if it would take some time to do so.

As the last of her weapons clattered to the ground, shattered and broken, the Butcher punched Luna in the chest and sent her flying through one of the buildings of Wortham, a place that was now evacuated and deserted, meaning it was just the two of them, causing her to groan as she realized that this demon was far stronger than she had assumed. As she thought about that, however, the Butcher seemed to stop, as if Maghda was commanding him to flee, though before Luna had time to react she felt a surge of energy coming from New Tristram, Leah was angry at something, or someone. Sure enough not a few seconds later the teleportation device became active and she found Leah angrily marching out of the ruined chapel, but the moment she laid eyes on the large demon she didn't back down, rather she just glared at it like her hatred and anger would be enough to burn it to ash. The funny thing in Luna's eyes was that the Butcher actually backed up a tiny bit, almost as if he could sense Leah's power, everything that she was capable of, as Leah angrily growled at the demon as she pulled out her bow and focused a lot of magical energy into one arrow.

This one tore through the air and slammed into the Butcher's chest, sending the demon flying into the air, as in his feet were lifted off the ground as he was tossed into another part of the area they were in, before Leah huffed as Luna pulled herself up and walked over to her, wrapping her arms around the girl.

"Leah... what happened?" Luna asked, though she had a terrible feeling that she knew exactly what the answer was, since there was only one thing that could make the girl this angry, and she was hoping that she was wrong, even though she also found that Leah was no longer hiding her slender tail, it coiled around her leg for a few seconds.

"Uncle, he... Maghda tortured him, tried to get him to repair the blade, and when I arrived she fled with the Stranger. Uncle Deckard was able to repair the blade, but died shortly after doing so." Leah replied, confirming Luna's fears, plus the fact that the Butcher was merely a distraction to make sure Luna couldn't be there to save Deckard, and yet Leah's anger just melted away as the two stood in the embrace of the other, like she was the only one who could calm Leah now, "Kormac and Lyndon are making sure the Coven is no longer in New Tristram, and I brought you this, the Stranger's sword... an angels' weapon... to carry while we search for him."

Luna nodded as she took the blade from Leah, who had been storing it inside her backpack, but for the time being she just focused on making sure Leah was able to calm down and cry as she grieved for her uncle, all while thinking about ways to make the Coven, the Butcher, and Maghda pay for their crimes, something to look forward to in the coming days.

Fallen Star: Spiders and Khazra

Luna held Leah for a time, letting the girl sob her heart out over her uncle's death, while Kormac and Lyndon caught up with them by using the teleportation device that Leah had used to get back to Wortham, in time to knock the Butcher back, and only stopped when Leah was ready to go.

"Okay, I'm... I'm ready to move forward. We have to rescue the Stranger, and then stop Maghda and her master, the Lesser Evil known as Belial." Leah stated, allowing Luna to understand what was going on and fully understand what needed to be done, even though this was an interesting turn of events in Luna's eyes, since she wasn't actually expecting to clash with one of the remaining two Lords of Hell, "Maghda admitted that she wanted the sword for her master, named him even, before... well, you know."

"You don't have to tell me that twice, save yourself the pain of remembering. At least we have our objectives." Luna said, to which she looked at the path that was leading out of the ruins of Wortham, as the Butcher had ruined the village before he clashed with her, where it looked like there was a mountain passage that cut through the insides of the mountain, only for her to glance at Leah again, "I suspect that they went to Leoric's old manor, far away from New Tristram. Leah, what do you think?"

"I would agree. I'm not sure how I did it, but when I chased Maghda away I saw into her mind, and she was definitely going to her base in the Highlands." Leah replied, though she was glad that Luna wasn't chasing her away or telling her to go home, the alicorn knew that she wanted to hurt the Coven and get revenge for her uncle's death, causing her to ready her bow as she turned to face the other exit.

"So... we're not going to talk about why Leah has a tail now?" Lyndon asked, following behind the pair as they headed for the gate that would bring them to the mountain passage, while at the same time Kormac walked by him with his weapons at the ready for whatever challenges might be in their way next.

"Friend, we're traveling with Luna, an unknown being that's unlike anything we've seen before... Leah having a tail is the least interesting thing right now." Kormac stated, because Luna's unique nature was what he was more focused on, even though he was a little interested in why Leah had a tail and suspected that they would learn about it in due time, but for now most of his focus was on avenging Deckard and rescuing the Stranger.

Luna and Leah continued out into the open while their friends talked, where they found more cultists gathering the tall dark warrior creatures to fight them, where Luna drew the angelic sword from it's scabbard, which seemed to have formed after the blade was remade, and sliced through the dark warriors with ease. Leah, on the other hand, released flaming arrows at her foes and let them rush through the air, each slamming into the cultists without missing a beat, blasting each one of her targets into oblivion as the flaming arrows detonated on them. Kormac wasn't surprised by this at all, Luna was a beast on the battlefield and Leah was a girl dealing with her anger, but he still found that he and Lyndon were able to deal with some of the missed enemies, allowing them to clear the area as they walked up the stone carved path. There was also a short stone bridge connecting this area to the cave's location, one guarded by more cultists, though the group wasted no time on them, leading to the cultists being slaughtered in no time as they entered the cave.

What they discovered was that it was a web infested area with a massive amount of spider eggs and spiders, some small that could be stepped on and plenty of large ones that looked like they would kill a single person each, though this time Leah just stepped forward as she raised her bow.

"I'll take care of this." Leah said, where it was easy to tell that she was still angry over her uncle's death, even though Luna knew it would be some time before she calmed down and actually dealt with her emotions in a healthier manner, and each of her arrows burned with her anger.

Luna watched as each arrow burst into a volley of flaming bolts that were directed all around the area, where Leah set fire to all of the spider eggs and spiders that were blocking the way forward, and when the young lady started to move Luna and the others followed. Their job right now was to take out the rest of the survivors that were in the cave, killing the spiders that Leah missed, while at the same time the smaller spiders scurried around while on fire, very clearly in pain, while they also set the webs on fire. It wasn't long before everything in the cave was on fire, where Luna shielded them from the smoke with her magic, though she found that Leah seemed to be following the tug of whatever magic she had used to peer into Maghda's mind earlier, a spell their foe didn't know about since it was still active. Of course one could argue that the witch did know of the spell and had come through here to try and get them killed, but she failed to account for Leah's power and the burning anger that was fueling her right now, and right now Leah was ensuring they took Maghda down as fast as possible.

Thanks to Leah doing that they were able to find a large chamber that seemed to be the home of the spider that was mother to all of the other spiders, a queen spider, and sure enough they discovered a large beast that was twice their size resting right in the center of the area.

"There's someone trapped in the webs behind the queen spider." Kormac commented, which appeared to be a woman that was dressed as a traveling magic user, who no doubt came into here for something or was hiding from someone, though her presence meant that Leah couldn't just fire an arrow through the queen spider, not without risking burning the lady alive if the spider moved out of the way.

"That's true. Luna, can you shield her as well?" Leah asked, showing them that part of the anger was already burning off, she was thinking more like her normal self, where Luna nodded her head and did so without delay, while at the same time using a bit more of her magic to make sure no one was harmed by what was going to happen next.

The next flaming arrow that Leah loosed slammed into the side of the spider queen, as she seemed to realize that she had more people to feast on, and when it made contact the spider seemed to shriek in pain for a time before collapsing in a heap on the side of the chamber, allowing Luna to tear the webbing apart to free the woman.

"I... thank you, for saving me." the woman said, totally shocked and surprised by what she had just seen, which was far due to the fact that Leah's magic was more potent when she was running on rage, though they did move through the passage that was behind the area that the woman had been trapped in, stepping out into a flat area that was on one side of a stone bridge, with their destination on the other side of the bridge, "I will admit, being down there was terrible... but what would bring the four of you to a place like that cave?"

"We are seeking a Coven who wronged us, and the trail lead to that cave." Luna replied, which was the truth, especially since she and the others could see Leoric's manor in the distance, a place Leah was staring at while they stood there, confirming that Maghda and the Stranger had to be up there, "They've taken someone important to us hostage, and we're trying to get him back."

"Ugh, those people... well, they were dragging some man towards Leoric's old manor... but you'll have some trouble getting up to it." the woman stated, almost as if she hadn't seen how Leah had slaughtered the spider queen on her own, in a couple of seconds after the creature noticed their arrival, but none of them felt like correcting her right now, especially since the woman seemed eager to get out of the area and do something else with her life, "You see, I'm not proud to admit this, but I did steal the staff of a powerful khazra shaman and they chased me into the caves... I'm not sure if they'll let you pass if you recover it from my wagon and offer it to them, but you might be able to convince them to let you through."

"Considering what we saw of the khazra in the Fields of Misery, I doubt they'll let us through... but you never know, stranger things have happened." Kormac remarked, which was due to the arrival of a heroine in the form of Luna, thanks to the fact that she was someone who wielded magic that they haven't seen before and had a form that was beyond anything that they had seen in the past, so with Luna around he had no idea what to expect.

The woman nodded her head before taking a seat on the stonework of the walkway they were on, apparently needing time to think of what she was going to do next, though Luna made her way down to the stone bridge and started to cross it, since she didn't want to waste time. Of course everyone else followed after her, where they discovered that there was a few foe for them to fight, large moths that seemed to have the power to control lightning, enough to coat their bodies in the element based on what everyone was seeing right now. Such a thing gave Luna a chance to use the angelic weapon again, the sword just slicing through her foes with ease, as it was lighter than most of the weapons she had used in the past and it told her that she could use it more like her own weapon, given what she could do with Nightfell. Once the moths were dealt with the group crossed the bridge that was in front of them and found their way to the large Highlands that were between them and where the manor was located, and from what they could tell their enemies were khazra, the savage beasts, and more of the angry large trees.

With that in mind the group found that it wasn't hard for them to cut and clear their way through the Highlands, Leah and Lyndon loosing bolts and arrows at the enemies that were far from them while Luna and Kormac cut their way through this place, just like they did previously. They knew they were in the right place when they spotted some cultists trying to either enslave the khazra or empower them to new heights, though Luna smashed both types of groups as they came across them, since there was no reason to let their enemies become stronger. Other than that there wasn't too much for them to worry about, though there was an ancient tower that Luna ignored, since it looked like it might collapse at any moment, and none of the caves seemed important since she confirmed the main path would bring them to the manor. The fact that the cultists were here just confirmed that Maghda knew they were following her and was doing everything in her power to make sure they were stalled, to give her all the time she needed to break the Stranger and turn him into a demon, or whatever it was that she was planning on doing.

Fortunately finding the woman's wagon proved to be rather simple, it was near the path they were following and Luna found the staff easily enough, it was the only piece of wood with magic inside it, though an idea formed in her mind as she took the item and approached the khazra barricade that was at the end of the path.

Sure enough the goatmen didn't care about them trying to return the staff and attacked them on sight, causing Luna to put the staff away as she and Kormac tore through those that were guarding the path, leaving Leah and Lyndon to deal with the ranged foes or those that were running away. This did disappoint Luna, she had been hoping to get through the khazra and not spill their blood all over the place, but there was little she could do as the group dealt with the aggressive goatmen like usual, leaving their bodies on the ground as they spilled all sorts of blood. It was interesting to see how the khazra had just built their camps into the Highlands, especially since the goatmen didn't have to worry about the guards killing them or just chasing them from the land, but it was still sad to see that they were following the cultists who were sending them to their deaths. One cultist even commanded a group of them to make sure Luna's group didn't touch him, and while the others dealt with the goatmen, however, Luna crushed the cultist with magic, allowing them to progress through the rest of the very straightforward Highlands with remarkable speed.

In the end the group crossed a bridge that brought them to the locked gate of the manor's outer wall, a gate Luna slashed her way through, and they discovered a teleportation device in the center of the courtyard, where she sat near it for a few seconds as she glanced at the others.

"Let us take a few minutes to rest... I suspect we'll need our full strength for whatever rests in this place." Luna stated, as she suspected that one of the foes they would have to fight would be the Butcher, since he was definitely on Maghda's side, and she wanted to be ready for whatever else might be in the depths of this dark place.

Leah nodded and sat beside Luna, resting her head on the alicorn's shoulder, because right now she was the only thing that was keeping Leah from falling into the depths of her hatred and rage from the Coven and it's leader, while the others sat on the other side of the device, resting up before they delved into whatever horrors the manor had in store for them.

Fallen Star: Depths of Leoric's Manor

After resting for a few minutes, during which they weren't attacked which was an interesting move in Luna's eyes since she was sure that Maghda would have attacked them, Luna and Leah got up as Kormac and Lyndon joined them, causing all four of them to enter the old manor. On the other side of the entrance they found that there was a small group of cultists, who seemed surprised to see the group, though Luna cut through them as Leah and the others dealt with the dark warriors that they summoned, crushing all of them in no time. Luna found that the inside of the manor was rather elegant, despite the rot and decay they were seeing right now, especially since no one had been here for a long time, though it looked like most of the passages had been collapsed at one point. With that in mind they could only walk up the left side of the grand staircase and continued deeper into the manor, cutting down the cultists while keeping an eye out for the Stranger or Maghda, but for the most part it was just the lesser foes.

In the end they made their way to what appeared to be the back end of the manor, where a stained glass window rested, all while cutting down a few more cultists as they saved someone who had been in the middle of being tortured by the group of enemies, who coughed as Luna gently helped him to his feet.

"Thank you. I dread to think what they wanted with me." the older man said, which just showed them that he was totally caught off guard with the fact that he had been abducted by the cultists, while at the same time happy that they had come by to save him, even if he wasn't their target, "You must have come seeking the man with the golden eyes, the newest of the Coven's prisoners... Maghda took him into Leoric's torture chambers, which are below us."

"I see. So we were right that she came through here." Luna remarked, where she used her magic to warp the man back to his home, which was New Tristram right now since he was actually from Wortham and placing him with the survivors was the best move right now, before she closed the portal and glanced at the others, "Shall we head below?"

"Yes... as much as I don't want to, we should end this now." Leah replied, as she was already tired of Maghda and wanted to bring this adventure to an end, but she knew that this would only be the end of the first chapter in their story, especially due to the fact that there were two Evils out there for them to deal with.

Luna nodded as she lead them outside, one of the panels in the window doubled as a door, before heading down the side of the cliff by using the carved staircase that brought them to another elegant opening, though on the other side they found a large underground dungeon that was combined with a torture chamber. It was a sign of Leoric's madness, that he would go through the effort to make such a large place to contain and torment his supposed enemies, where they found that there were all sorts of torture instruments around them, like the rack, flaming cells, stretching wheels, spike falls, and everything else that Leoric had installed. Sure enough they found more of the cultists hanging out down here, in addition to what had to be demonic hounds that were vicious little beasts, more of the unburied that looked like they were covered in dried blood, and dark warriors who happened to be more demonic this time around. This was all the confirmation they needed that the Coven was linked to one of the Evils, even though Maghda had damned herself by revealing that she was allied with Belial, which only fueled them tearing through the cultists and their demonic minions, while Leah and Lyndon focused on loosing arrows and bolts at all of their foes.

Instead of wasting time Luna decided to expand her magical power, like a bat's sonar, though at the same time she swung the angelic sword and sliced through the enemies that came to kill them, including the charred undead as well, which was just strange, but they figured it was just the Stranger's angelic power leaking out of his body still.

"So this is what you guys fought before you found me..." Lyndon commented, loosing a bolt into the head of a cultist while he and the others followed Luna deeper into the torture halls, where he trusted her magic while watching as Leah loosed one of her flaming volleys into one of the other tunnels, blasting the enemies down there into oblivion, "I'm not surprised that you were able to take them down, with how often she's firing off those volleys."

"You must remember, friend, the volleys are new." Kormac stated, though at the same time he jabbed his lance right into the chest of a demonic summoner, before it could summon anything else to fight them, before they joined the two ladies as Luna found the exit tot his portion of the halls, "Just remember the event."

"Right. Though I do have to ask: with how deep this place is, can't we just jump and have Luna carry us down into the depths of this place?" Lyndon asked, because he just realized something, Luna's magic was beyond anything they had seen before and that meant they could do things that hadn't been seen in this world before, or at least for a long time, and he found that all of them stopped and glanced at him for a moment, "Time is of the essence, right? Especially since we have no idea what Maghda is doing to the Stranger... so, why don't we bend the rules and take the fight directly to the end of this place?"

"You know, that sounds like a good idea." Leah replied, where she huffed for a moment, as she was using far too much of her magic right now, in fact she was sure that she would reach her limit in the very near future, and with how deep this whole place was she suspected that Lyndon's idea would save them time and energy.

Luna nodded and used a bit of magic to smash open part of the railing to their left, which seemed to be above the drop that would bring them into the depths, before making a magical platform for all four of them to stand on, and once all four of them were on it she expanded it into a sphere. Once they were shrouded by the barrier Luna lowered them into the depths, finding what appeared to be another floor of the halls of agony, or whatever Leoric called this place, a floor that appeared to be the main prison where the souls of the dead were trapped by the Mad King's lingering power, and a final floor that was just like the two halls of agony. Leah had Luna open the area in front of them a few times and loosed flaming volleys into the ranks of Maghda's Coven, blasting the necromancers and cultists, she had both apparently, and all of their minions while Luna lowered them into the depths. It was clear that she was just venting some of her anger into the Coven, sending them all to Hell where they belonged, as Luna assumed their allegiance to Hell classified them as demons, especially the ones that turned themselves into demonic summoners, causing their allies to nod their heads as that happened.

Eventually Luna brought them down to what appeared to be the lowest portion of the dark halls, a massive area that had a number of smashed and ruined passages that looked like the Butcher had passed through this area recently, where she set them down outside the entrance to what had to be the final chamber and dismissed her magic, before they entered the area and found Maghda's image floating above them.

Oh... I wasn't expecting you until much later. You, dear, are making this boring. Maghda remarked, focusing on Luna for a few seconds, as she was the thorn in her side that the witch hadn't been expecting to discovery and was really wishing she had known about her sooner, so she could have wiped her out much sooner, before the witch sighed, Either way, you and your allies will be dying here and now. The Butcher is waiting for you!

"FRESH MEAT!" a familiar voice declared, where the massive red demon smashed through the wall that was in front of them and brought his cleaver down on the area that everyone was standing in, forcing Luna to block the attack with the angelic blade, while at the same time extending her magic into the floor to shatter the flaming devices, since they didn't need that at the moment.

This time around Luna found that the battle with the Butcher was more like the previous one, he swung the cleaver down on her and she either dodged the attacks or parried them with her weapon, something that caused the air to shudder while the walls around them cracked. Once again Luna realized that the Butcher was likely one of the strongest demons in Hell, nearly on the level of an Evil, a Lesser anyway, and understood how much of Belial's favor Maghda likely had if she was able to use this demon, without it turning on her. Luna also found that their proximity to the angelic Stranger made the blade stronger, like it wanted to go home to the one that wielded it and was ensuring that she was able to survive the Butcher's attacks, but that was easier said than done as she lashed out at the demon for a moment and found that her attacks only left light cuts in the red flesh. Then she found something that annoyed her, the magical image of the witch chained the others to the ground, no doubt to force Luna into defending them since this made them easier targets for the Butcher to go after, though she did that without delay, forming three barriers around them while deciding to keep her magic on keeping them safe.

As she thought about that, however, the power of the sword seemed to dim for a moment, likely a side effect of the angelic Stranger being tortured by the cultists, and as that happened the Butcher slammed his fist right into Luna's chest, sending her into one of the walls while the sword went flying off to another portion of the area.

"LUNA!" Leah shouted, as this was worrying, the Butcher really was one of the stronger enemies they had encountered, she knew that fact after seeing how the demon had smashed and shattered Luna's entire arsenal of weapons, and since she had none, as most of the gear they had found was teleported back to Haedrig for breaking into materials, this meant there was nothing protecting Luna from harm, and all Leah could see was another dead figure, "We... We have to find a weapon... there has to be one somewhere... please, I don't want to lose her either!"

It was as if the universe itself was listening to Leah, as Luna found that a vortex of energy opened up nearby and a weapon flew through it, though at a glance it wasn't Nightfell since it was a sword with a flat edge, like a greatsword, with a curved head that was like a normal sword. It also had this strange circular indent with a floating orb, or maybe it was a flat orb that was like an icon, that had a hand symbol printed on it, while the guard was like an L or a P, it was a letter of some kind, but Luna wasn't about to argue with it as she snatched the blade. A single word came to mind as she grasped the weapons' handle, 'Ashbringer', and swung it at the Butcher's cleaver, where she found that the weapon stopped the cleaver before it could do anything to her, yet the blade itself was pristine and okay, leading to her forcing the demon backwards. In the next moment Luna looked at the sword and moved her arms a little, testing the various stances she had learned since arriving in this world, and yet none of them felt wrong, the blade was like an extension of herself, rather Luna was sure that the blade was like Nightfell, a weapon that wouldn't break if she used her full power.

With that in mind Luna grinned as she rushed at the Butcher, where the demon swung at her repeatedly and she avoided all of them, though when she attacked both she and everyone else found that the blade was definitely stronger than the rest of the weapons she had used, as she was able to scar the Butcher's body instantly.

"Oh yeah, I can get used to this." Luna remarked, where she found that one of the attacks caused the Butcher to stagger backwards for a moment, to which she held the blade out and let her magic gather inside it, causing the sword to glow for a few seconds, before swinging the blade at the Butcher's chest.

Sure enough a wave of silvery lunar energy erupted from the blade and tore through the Butcher's chest, causing the demon to glance down at his sundered body for a moment while Maghda's magical image just floated there, in total shock by what she had just witnessed, before the demon exploded into blood and guts and caused the image to vanish. Once the image was gone, and Luna was sure of that, she summoned the angelic blade back to her side before dismissing the magic that had kept the others safe, causing Leah to run up to her and embrace her, where Luna smiled and embraced Leah as well. A few moments later they pulled apart as Leah continued into the final staircase of the halls, where they found their way down to an area that some cultists were tormenting the Stranger in, where Leah sighed as she released a single volley into them, as all of them deserved to die. Kormac and Lyndon watched as the cultists died, cutting their magic off, while the Stranger let out a pained noise that indicated that something was wrong with him, causing them to walk down to where he was resting, all while noticing how there were no more enemies for them to deal with at this point.

The Stranger coughed as they approached him, in fact it looked like he was coughing up blood, though Luna knew that if this was an angel than this was just his body adapting to having an actual mortal body and the bodily functions that he wasn't used to having, but before he could say anything Luna slipped the angelic sword into his hand, engulfing him in a burst of pure light for a moment.

"I... remember now. I was an Archangel of the High Heavens... I was the Embodiment of Justice... I was... I AM... Tyrael!" the Stranger stated, where angelic armor formed over his body, turning his robes into a cloak that he could now wear over his body and armor, while at the same time the fog fully departed from his eyes, showing them that the figure was fully aware of his true name and duty, and what he had come to tell the people of this world, "I remember the message that caused me to come here in the first place."

"That's good to hear. Let's head to New Tristram, and you can tell us everything." Luna said, using her magic to open a portal back to the town, where Tyrael looked at her for a moment before nodding his head, causing the others to follow after him without delay, as anything was better than staying down here.

Luna and Leah were the last ones to step through, allowing them to return to the town in no time, and when they did so they took the group to Deckard's place, giving them a place to rest and talk while they listened to Tyrael's information, all while wondering what the coming days might have in store for them.

Interlude: New Information and Arrivals

"So, Tyrael, what's this message you came to deliver?" Luna asked, while at the same time she and the others had set up the table that she, Leah, and Deckard had sat at while talking about this world and her own world, allowing everyone to sit down, after Kormac made sure the body of Leah's uncle was hidden in the other room, "Is it about the last two Evils?"

"Yes. Belial and Azmodan have been spreading their darkness for some time now, and Caldeum is suffering because the shadow of Belial has fallen of it." Tyrael stated, though his attention was on Luna right now, as she was beyond anything he had seen before and she knew she wasn't a demon or even an angel, she was something else entirely, and her new sword seemed like the perfect match for her, "I know Azmodan is plotting somewhere, but before my fall I was unable to track him down, so I only know where his brother is currently hiding. My plan is simple: we're going to travel to Caldeum, investigate the city, and kill the Lord of Lies, while hopefully learning where the Lord of Sin is located so we can eliminate the last of the Evils and save Sanctuary... fortunately we won't have to search blindly, as Maghda will lead us right to her dark master."

"Two birds with one stone... we avenge uncle Deckard and learn about Belial's location." Leah remarked, where she had to wonder how long it might take them to track down the first of the two Lords of Hell that Tyrael wanted them to take out, as he no doubt recalled everything he had heard about each of their powers, during his time as the 'Stranger', and no doubt suspected that they were the force he was looking for, before she sighed, "I know time is of the essence, but... I'm not leaving until uncle Deckard's been buried. We should have plenty of time, since arranging transport for such a trip will take some time and effort."

"Sounds fair to me. Did the old man have any rites he wanted performed, in the event of his passing?" Kormac asked, as he knew this was going to be hard for Leah, she was literally going to be letting go one of of the most important people in her life, leaving her with just Luna to rely on, as he didn't trust Maghda's lie about Adria being alive somewhere.

"Yes, he... he said he preferred cremation. No doubt to ensure there was nothing for the forces of Hell to use." Leah replied, as that was the excuse she thought her uncle liked to give her, that he had no real reason for his actions, but after seeing the Skeleton King, and fighting both the Coven and the Butcher, she was beginning to see why her uncle would want her to do such a thing, before she sighed, "When Maghda attacked us, and I had a chance to cry over his body, I... I noticed that my uncle's locket wasn't around his neck, meaning it must have fallen into the depths of the cathedral. I don't need it to burn his body, but it would be nice to have something to remember him by, besides his Horadrim tome."

Luna pulled Leah close and told her that they could go back into the cathedral together, it would be quicker with just the two of them, though following that there was a knock on the door and Kormac opened it, revealing the form of Rumford on the other side, which meant he likely had a report for them.

"Luna, Leah, we've received additional reinforcements... and some people have arrived to see you." the guard stated, which caused the group to emerge from the house, finding that there were more people eager to join the Militia and take down all of the enemies that were still in the area, but there were seven unique figures that seemed out of place when compared to the group of people.

Luna found that the group consisted of five females and two males, where one of the females was dressed in what appeared to be light plate armor, another wore a mage robe, one looked like a doctor from a swamp, the fourth wore leather bits on all of her intimate places while showing off her muscles, and the last wore dark leather armor, while the two men wore what appeared to be the attire of a monk and bone armor respectively.

"I am Valla, a demon hunter. These are my companions Johanna, a crusader; Kharazim, a monk; Li-Ming, a wizard; Nazeebo, a witch doctor; Sonya, a barbarian; and Kara, a necromancer." the lady in the dark leather armor stated, where Luna found that each of them were armed, with crossbows, axes, swords, wands, and whatever else they might have brought with them, something that caused many of the people around them to eye the group up and down before giving them space, "Each of us have heard of the Fallen Star, in one form or another, and have come to investigate it's arrival, as well as fight against the darkness it brings."

"Well, you guys are a little late for that. We've already done that." Luna replied, where she beckoned to Tyrael for a moment as he looked at the assembled group, who, in turn, glanced at him for a couple of seconds, allowing her to see that they were curious as to what was going on right now, "New Tristram is safe from the Skeleton King, though the Militia is gathering to take down another other threats that are out there, but we are preparing to travel to Caldeum so we can do battle with one of the remaining two Lords of Hell. You are more than welcome to join us."

"And I'll be coming as well." Haedrig said, approaching the group as they talked, where he pointed back at someone who had arrived with the Militia's reinforcements, a guy who appeared to be another blacksmith, and Luna was sure there were more looking to join up now that trouble had found New Tristram again, "The Militia has enough metal workers to make their gear, plus you'll need someone to outfit everyone and make new weapons or armor for all of you, especially since you're planning on going after the Lords of Hell."

Luna suspected that Haedrig was also thinking of the fame that one would gain by being known as the one that worked on all of the gear that heroes used to slay the last two Lords of Hell, but decided not to comment on that, because Haedrig was one heck of a blacksmith, he had mended Leoric's crown like it was nothing. With that in mind she would be foolish to turn him away and have him remain here, though while Leah was worried about how he'd work, since it didn't look like his stuff could be moved, only for him to surprise them by showing them that he had a wagon nearby. Such a thing meant that he had the ability to pack up his entire workshop into a wagon, which was like a carriage back home when Luna thought about it, since so much fit in one space, and he even had a small sleeping area near the front. It was incredibly impressive when she thought about it, while at the same time Leah nodded her head and watched as Valla's group dispersed into the town for a time, some helping Tyrael plan their journey and caravan while others went off to gather supplies.

With their new allies busy, and Kormac and Lyndon focused on preparing for the trip as well, Luna and Leah were left alone, to which Luna nodded as she brought her friend back to the teleportation device before teleporting both of them outside the area that the cathedral's secret passage rested in. Her reasoning was simple, there was a path Deckard had come from when she and Leah went in search of him, a path that had shattered after he crossed it, and since the skeletons were done for, thanks to the downfall of the Skeleton King and Tyrael's power was back in his body, Luna was sure they would be alone to search for the missing locket. Even with that in mind she had Ashbringer on her back in case she found enemies to fight, as she loved her new weapon, it was a worthy replacement for her battleaxe, but even though Luna was looking forward to using it again she suspected that there would be no skeletons or undead to fight. While they walked down the stairs she also found that Leah was distracted, it was easy to see in how she walked and how her tail moved, and she understood why, the thought of actually saying goodbye to her uncle was bothering Leah, since he had been the only family she had known.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, however, Luna stopped and pulled Leah into a hug, surprising the young girl at first, it was out of nowhere, before Leah started to sniff and cry as she rested her head against Luna's chest, her walls falling as she finally let the floodgates open at last.

"It's okay, I'm here for you." Luna said, as she knew that sometimes all people needed was a shoulder to cry on, though at the same time there was more she could do, but with someone like Leah she didn't want to go overboard, before taking a few seconds to glance at the area that Deckard had been in the first time they were down here, "You don't have to do this, you can just tell me what the locket looks like and I can..."

Luna didn't have a chance to finish her statement as Leah did something she wasn't expecting, she leaned forward for just a few seconds and actually kissed Luna on the lips, where she returned the favor for a few seconds, especially since it helped calm Leah down, so it wasn't long before Leah pulled herself back with a blush on her face.

"Luna... thank you. For being there, for listening to me, for offering me all the help you've given me... I honestly don't know where I'd be without you." Leah softly said, because she considered herself lucky to have someone like Luna in her life, even with all of the chaos that was unfolding with Tyrael talking about the Lords of Hell and the loss of her uncle, as the alicorn was a rock she needed right now, least she lose herself to her chaotic emotions, "I... I can continue. I'll mourn uncle Deckard once we finally cremate him."

Luna nodded as she held onto Leah and leapt over the collapsed walkway, bringing them down the other side, and once she was on the ground once more she let the girl pull away, though she sensed there was more to Leah's gesture than just her mourning her uncle. It had been a long time since Luna had had a lover, and while she wasn't totally sure about many things she also had to admit that there was something about Leah that drew her to the girl, in fact part of Leah reminded her of Twilight Sparkle, who Luna had crushed on a little when they first met. Of course Leah was no longer like Twilight, Leah was a fighter and a survivor, though that had to be why she was drawn to the girl, almost like how Leah was drawn to her, which she suspected they would explore in greater detail during the journey to Caldeum, in addition to their training. She had the feeling that their training would include her showing the newcomers some of her moves and magic, to make them better as a whole, even though she doubted that everyone would be in the same area at the same time, but it would make everything more interesting during their travels.

Eventually Leah came to a stop as she spotted what she was looking for, a silver locket that, when opened, held two pictures inside it, one of her uncle and one of herself, though this time Luna gave her some space as she sat there with her uncle's tome in her lap, since she had been carrying it in her bag this entire time.

"Oh uncle... what am I supposed to do now?" Leah softly asked, speaking more to herself while noticing that Luna was giving her some space, as she had to wonder what her uncle would have done, even though she was committed to going with the angel so she could avenge her uncle, at the very least.

She wasn't expecting a response, but yet it seemed as if the light and dust almost formed a faint image of her uncle as he pointed at the tome, where a faint light was coming from the Horadrim icon that was on the front cover, something she was only now noticing. She looked over the symbol for a moment before finding a small latch that, when released, allowed her to extract something from the icon, which appeared to be a small red crystal that held some sort of power inside it, almost like her own power at times. Leah had no idea what the item was or why her uncle had hidden it in such a way, but she had the feeling he meant for her to find it when she was ready and might have left a bit of magic to let her know it was time to take it, where she found that the crystal was no longer than her pointer finger, like it was a sliver of another crystal. She felt that this might be a catalyst for her, a way to increase her power and maybe control it far more than she had in the past, causing her to offer some thanks to her uncle as she pocketed the small red crystal, before getting up and turning to Luna.

With the locket collected, and a new item secured, the pair returned to New Tristram, as there were new people to talk to and items to acquire so they could prepare for the journey ahead of them, yet this time Leah was looking forward to what the future held for her, Luna, and the others.

Interlude: Farewells and Departure

"Are you sure that you want to leave, dear?" the innkeeper asked, as she and the rest of New Tristram had been watching the ordered movement of the Militia gaining new people, new adventurers coming in after hearing of the Fallen Star, by either knowing about the event like how Cain knew it was coming or by following someone they knew, and Tyrael getting his caravan ready to depart, and she was worried about Leah.

"Yes, uncle Deckard would be disappointed in me if I didn't go assist Luna in aiding Tyrael." Leah replied, which was partly the truth, though the other part was due to the fact that she and Luna might be a thing now, she honestly wasn't too sure at the moment, but Luna was her mentor when it came to magic and that, alone, was another reason for her following, since Luna was joining the angel, "New Tristram should be fine, with Captain Rumford and the expanded Militia to watch over the area and keep all of the remaining dangers at bay."

"You guys are doing a brave thing. Foolish, in the eyes of the rest of the Militia, but brave in my eyes." Rumford stated, as he was present as well, to say his farewells to Leah and Luna, since this would likely be the last time he saw either of them for a long time, or maybe it would be the last time for real, but he was hoping they would destroy the Lords of Hell and return with tales of their victory, "I wish I could go with you, but someone is needed here to watch over the rest of the Militia and maintain order with the new arrivals... but you two had better come back with grand stories of your travels and your victory over the Lords of Hell."

Luna nodded her head to that, there wasn't much more she could say to the people of New Tristram other than 'farewell', as she didn't have Leah or even Deckard's connections to this place, but it had been a home away from home and the people had been welcoming, so she was sad to see them put this place behind them. With that in mind she shook the hands of the people who came to see them off, letting everyone else say farewell to Leah since she had been part of their lives for so long, before focusing on the caravan that was outside New Tristram, a convoy of carriages that were like Haedrig's. They knew the angel had been true to his word, he had used all of the resources available to him to ensure they had enough food to last all of them to the port town that would let them cross the sea so they could get to Caldeum, along with room for everyone. He had explained everything to her previously, they would be using a ship to cross the sea and reach their destination, it was far faster than going to the north and then curving around the coast to reach the city that Belial was hiding in, and he assured her that the ship would carry even their carriages across the water.

Other than that there wasn't much for Luna to worry about, to which she pulled out the item she had been working on while they formed their caravan, she had been focused on carving the khazra staff into something else, since she found that they still had it once Tyrael was back in control of his power. She had come to the decision that Leah needed something to help her in her training, a focus that could even double as a weapon, so she was carving the staff down into the handle of a bow and designed it so that when Leah used it her magic would form a bow of whatever element she was using. That was what she intended for the item, hence why she was focusing all of the magic inside the staff down into the core so she could make the handle, though even she knew it would take some time before she was ready to hand it to Leah. Other than that she had trained a little more with Ashbringer, just to make sure it wasn't her imagination and she confirmed that it was like her own battleaxe, which was good to see since it meant she didn't have to summon Nightfell to her side.

After thinking about that, however, Luna found that the rest of New Tristram was allowing them to depart at last, it was time for them to get going, and sure enough she, Leah, and all of their new allies gathered outside with Tyrael, each climbing onto their carriages before he got the caravan moving for a short while, stopping near the hill that Deckard Cain's funeral pyre was resting on.

"You know, for the longest time I had always assumed that uncle's stories were just that... stories. Nothing to be taken even a little seriously." Leah commented, though it was only her, Luna, and Tyrael on the hill, Kormac and Lyndon had stayed back with the others to give the trio some privacy, where she held the tome that her uncle had spent his life on, containing his life's work and attempts to find the remaining Lords of Hell, not to mention deciphering the End of Days prophecy, "But now, after meeting an angel and hearing that one of the seven Lords of Hell is real, I realize how foolish I was to ignore him... that I didn't see the truth that was right in front of my face. I guess... I saw what I wanted to see, just like how many assumed that uncle Deckard saw what he wanted to see."

"Deckard Cain was a good man, and he sacrificed much to save this world... I don't know if he was willing to sacrifice his life, but he would do anything to bring down the Lords of Hell." Tyrael said, looking at the dead figure that was in front of them as he held a torch in one hand, which he would use to light the pyre once they were done talking, before he glanced at Luna and Leah for a few more seconds, "He left the two of you the keys to finishing his life's work."

"He left us his tome, containing everything he knew and everything he researched... even his musings about me, despite the fact that we barely knew each other." Luna remarked, in fact she remembered how they had encountered each other after Leah found her in the crater she had made when she landed outside New Tristram, a small crater compared to the mess Tyrael had made during his own descent, before she glanced at the angel, "Tyrael, you look like you have something you want to share with us."

The angel nodded and handed her the torch for a moment, which she took, and once his other hand was freed he placed one on her shoulder and one on Leah's, allowing them to be pulled into a vision of sorts, in a golden and angelic place that had to be the High Heavens. In fact the vision seemed to be of Tyrael, with his hood up and still having energy wings, being put on trial by an imposing angel that seemed to be the highest ranking, an Archangel like Tyrael, potentially a being that was above Tyrael, and his statement was about how their ally had violated the laws of the High Heavens to help the mortals of Sanctuary. Luna's reason for believing such a thing was because the imposing angel had a halo above his hood, which all of the others in the area didn't have, and soon they had a name for this figure, 'Imperius', who Tyrael accused of hiding behind his throne while he brought justice to a world, causing the annoying angel to actually rush down to the area that their ally was in and attack him. The interesting thing was that Tyrael, being justice itself, viewed angels as humanity's saviors, to aid the innocent, and since none of the other Archangels were willing to break their laws he decided to no longer stand with them, as he said he would no longer be 'their brother'.

Following that he actually broke his shoulder pads and discarded his wings, discarded his angelic nature to become a mortal, which is why Tyrael now had a head and a face instead of the hood, which was followed by tendrils of energy grabbing him before the now mortal angel was ejected from the Heavens, his sword breaking while he did so.

"I fell, willingly, and became a mortal of my own free will... because humanity is the key to saving this world." Tyrael said, as once the pair knew what he had done to reach this point there was no reason for him to hold their shoulders anymore, to which he took the torch from Luna while Leah contemplated what this meant for them.

"So, I'm going to say it: Imperius seems like a prick." Luna remarked, though that was mostly due to the fact that she didn't have all the information on the Archangel and the High Heavens, so with her limited knowledge she was quick to label him as a donkey and an annoying figure that she didn't want to deal with, least she be tempted to knock him down a peg, before she sighed for a few seconds, "And it sounds like the High Heavens won't be coming to our aid."

"No, and even if Imperius were to take my warnings seriously he would most likely try to destroy Sanctuary." Tyrael stated, as his brother really hated this world and the people that called it home, given the fact that humanity was the offspring of an angel and a demon, both powerful in their own right, and while the current humans weren't as powerful as the very first generation of Nephalem he knew some in their group had slumbering powers inside them, "We are on our own, facing the last two Lords of Hell... this is how it must be, with Heaven bound to inaction by their laws."

"We'll make due, just as we did when you fell into the cathedral." Leah said, because she and Luna were good at that sort of thing, especially given how they tackled everything that happened since Tyrael made his grand entrance as the Fallen Star, so she had a feeling they would be ready to do anything and everything to assist the former angel in his quest.

Luna nodded for a moment as Leah told Tyrael to do it, where the former angel set fire to the funeral pyre and they watched as Deckard Cain's body was engulfed in flames, where Luna wrapped an arm around Leah and held her close, so she could have someone to lean on for support in this moment, as she wondered what the future held in store for them.

Interlude: Sea Travel

Luna found that traveling with a caravan was quite interesting, as everyone had their own tasks to do when the carriages eventually made camp, as Valla and Leah, for example, hunted for extra food while Kormac and Sonya walked around the perimeter as guards. Everyone else kept their guards up while Lyndon and Li-Ming focused on their meals, something that confused Tyrael since he wasn't used to eating like a mortal, or even at all since this was likely his first time eating on his own since the villagers weren't here for force him to eat. Luna had to explain to him that mortals ate three times a day, usually at breakfast in the morning, lunch at noon, and dinner in the afternoon or night, another else was just snacking, and the drink most preferred was water, save for relaxing at an inn or tavern and having some ale. It was really interesting to teach Tyrael about mortals, especially since he now seemed to be one himself, yet Luna knew it would take some time for them to get him to fully adapt to his new life and new body.

The major thing they did while they traveled, however, was training, as Luna insisted on making sure everyone was ready for whatever dangers would be waiting for them in Caldeum, because while she and Leah would be hunting the Lord of Hell, not to mention Maghda's coven, there was plenty of things the others could help with.

With that in mind Luna had the melee individuals come at her when they stopped to rest for the afternoon, giving them a bit of practice before dinner was ready, and when they were done she made sure that the magic users practiced tapping into their various elements to master themselves and new spells. Tyrael, despite his initial reaction to such a thing, eventually joined them, which was good for Luna since he was a seasoned warrior and the two of them clashing made her work up a bit of a sweat, something she was perfectly fine with. It gave her a good chance to confirm that her new weapon was great since it stood up to the might of Tyrael's blade, even though it was clear that the former angel was getting used to how he had to use his new body, since he wasn't used to getting tired like everyone else did. It was one of many lessons Luna had to give the former angel while they traveled, as she intended to make sure he knew everything he needed to know about his body so he wasn't caught off guard in the future.

The majority of her focus, however, was on training and improving Leah's skills, and when they were a few days out of New Tristram, stopping at a camp area for the night, Luna pulled her aside for a time, causing everyone to stop what they were doing to see what she was going to teach the girl next.

"I've been working on this for a while now, but it's ready." Luna said, pulling out the wooden item she had been working on, to which Leah took the handle and found that it was actually a mix of metal, wood, and magic, she could see the runes that were on the edges, while everyone else raised their eyebrows for a moment, "With this you'll be able to make bows out of the element you're using, which will strengthen the spells and arrows you use of the same element. Let's start with a couple of basic arrows to start with, then we'll move onto something else."

Leah nodded for a moment as she focused on the focus, as Luna had described something like this to her in the past, and a few seconds later the magic ignited as she formed a flaming bow in front of her, like she was holding onto it without burning herself in the process, causing her to smile. Such a thing was followed by their usual training, where she targeted the magical targets that Luna formed with her own magic, though they were designed to disappear when they were struck and simply cancelled out the magic that Leah packed into each arrow. This meant she didn't have to worry about harming the area with an arrow, and even if she missed she knew that Luna could catch the arrow with her magic and cancel it out, yet she could see that everyone was surprised by what they were doing, like they couldn't believe what Luna was capable of. Leah wasn't even surprised by that anymore, it was generally the reaction people had to her magical powers, her body, or anything else that made her different from everyone else, and yet everyone accepted Luna for who she was.

It was that very acceptance that caused Leah to reveal the truth to those who didn't know her secret, letting everyone see her slender demon tail that she had hidden for her entire life, something her uncle had agreed with in the past, but now she didn't feel the need to hide this part of herself anymore, and she found that she was accepted in no time.

"I don't mean to pry, dear, but how did you hide this for so long?" Li-Ming asked, because so far Leah had shown them only offensive magic, which seemed to be her forte, yet at the same time she didn't think Luna would waste her magic on hiding such a thing from everyone, so she was simple curious and hoped Leah was willing to share.

"Invisible ink. Uncle Deckard used to purchase a large number of vials of it at once, and often he used half of it for studying and looking for ancient texts." Leah explained, though at the same time she pulled out one of the vials from the crate that was in her and Luna's carriage, as she didn't want to leave them behind in New Tristram, before she pulled out a brush that happened to be the item that formed a pair with the containers, "The other half ended up with me, where I would use this brush to paint my tail, hiding it from view whenever I went out, and due to rain, random water being splashed on me, and the occasional fall into the water... well, you can guess why we ordered so many at a time."

Li-Ming and the others nodded their heads to that while Luna got started on another part of Leah's training, that being the ability to tap into other elements, because while it was nice that she was so skilled with fire there were also elements that she could learn about and maybe use as effectively as fire. So while they traveled Luna had Leah make attempts on the rest of the elements, focusing on the wind that was all around them or trying to tap into the earth that was around their camps, though it came with the knowledge that Leah struggled to use those elements at first. It was as she suspected, Leah was in tune with fire, which she and Tyrael attributed to the demonic side of her blood, since Leah, too, was a Nephalem, Tyrael was sure of that fact, even though the tail worried him. Either way Luna continued to train with the others while pushing Leah to master the other elements, even though she knew it would take some time for her to do such a thing, but Leah was fine with that since it helped her master more of her magic.

Eventually they reached the harbor town that would take them across the sea and it wasn't long before they were positioned on the ship that would bring them to Gea Kul, where they would then travel to the north for a time to reach Caldeum, which would be when they would start their search for Maghda and Belial.

While they traveled on the water, however, Luna was presented with another opportunity to train Leah, where she focused on trying to manipulate both the water and occasionally the lightning, and, sure enough, she had a hard time mastering the pair of elements. Luna wasn't too surprised by that fact, because if Leah was attuned to fire to such a degree it made sense that she would have a harder time tapping into water, and lightning was one of the toughest elements for someone to use, though she suspected someone like Twilight would master such a thing in no time. Either way Luna continued to teach Leah to the best of her ability, showing her how to tap into the five elements that she knew how to wield, save for ones like the intense darkness and others that were beyond her ability, as Leah slowly figured out how to actually use the elements that she wasn't in tune with.

Luna also kept an eye out on the surrounding area, flying around the ship while they traveled across the water, and for the most part it looked like no one was interested in messing with them, so she was able to focus on training, and showing their allies a few new things, or just relaxing in the ship. The journey also gave her and Leah some time alone while they traveled, where they slept near each other while in their carriage, cuddling in the room in the ship, or just spending time together, a fact that allowed both of them to confirm that their kiss was just the first of many. It was clear that love was blooming in the two of them, even if they were still surprised by such a thing, but either was complaining, rather it was a nice thing to have while they traveled across the land, displacing Leah since she was now far from the only stable home she knew. Luna knew that once they were done with the last two Lords of Hell, and found a way to dispose of their souls so they never came back to threaten Sanctuary, they could settle down and focus on the future, and let her focus on finding a way home so she could bring Leah with her, but for the time being Luna focused on their quest and Leah's training.

Such a thing put a smile on her face as they sat on the deck of the ship one night, staring up at the stars, as both she and Leah were looking forward to what the future held in store for them when their group finally reached Caldeum, and they were eager to greet whatever might happen in the coming days.

Caldeum: Chasing the Coven

It took them some time to reach Gea Kul, the port town that would bring them to Caldeum in no time, and Tyrael watched over the carriages as they were pulled off the ship that brought them across the sea, so while he did that Leah and Luna bought plenty of waterskins. The reason for that was due to the fact that they were heading into the desert and there was no reasonable way to restore their water supply, not unless they found a river or an oasis, so they tracked down a vendor and bought enough for everyone. After that it wasn't long before Tyrael had them depart for the north, as there were contacts he had, likely potential Horadrim hopefuls, who told him about a hidden camp that overlooked Caldeum, an area they could set up their base of operations in. Luna helped him track down the exact location it was resting in, flying ahead before reporting back what she had discovered so the former angel could follow the landmarks, and soon it wasn't long before they found the area that seemed to be a cliff area that allowed them to look out over the city.

To go one step forward Luna even carved three rune stones, magical artifacts that housed a single spell, and set them up in a triangle pattern around the camp, deploying a barrier around the area that was large enough to make sure everything was hidden from view, and sure made sure to power them with enough magic to last a long time.

"It seems that there are more people here than we thought." Leah commented, as there were a few merchants and even a few nobles in the hidden camp, but upon noticing the group both groups accepted them as the owners of this place and just fell in with them, as some had skills that Luna knew would be useful, like those who shaped wood or manipulated other types of materials, meaning they could improve their camp and do other things, "Uncle Deckard loved Caldeum... but we have work to do."

"Yes, we do. Belial is definitely here, I can smell his stench on the wind." Tyrael said, because he had fought the Lord of Hell, all of them, likely a magnitude of times since both sides were born and likely had a good understanding of what to feel so he could track one of them, which was good news for Luna as she, Leah, plus Kormac and Lyndon got ready to move, "Where are you going?"

"We're dividing our forces: you will search for Belial, the others will help the people of the city as best they can, and we will go murder Maghda." Luna stated, as she wasn't going to sugarcoat what her group was doing, they were going to crush both the witch and her Coven for what they did to Cain, New Tristram, and the surrounding area, and then her group was going to come back and deal with the Lord of Hell, "Once we're done, well, then we'll come back and help you with Belial."

Tyrael looked at the group of four for a moment and knew that there was no stopping them, they were dead set on hunting Belial's follower and the dark Coven she was in control of, to which he nodded and the trio followed Luna down the side path that brought them into the outskirts of Caldeum. Upon entering the city proper, or at least the outskirts, the group found a group of refuges that seemed on their way out of the city, where a red armored lady noticed them and stopped them for just a few seconds, allowing them to find out that she was Asheara of the Iron Wolves, their Commander. Apparently she was the one in charge of the organization and they had rescued the group from the Coven, who were rampaging in an area called the Borderlands, giving them an area to hunt for their target. Their target was located in a place called Alcarnus, but they would have to go through Khasim Outpost to get to it since the main road was blocked, causing Luna to nod her head as the lady pointed out exactly where they were supposed to go, and even ordered the eastern gate for them to depart.

As they departed from Caldeum, however, the group found a lady standing on the road, a sorceress of some sort, though her attire looked more revealing and more suited for the desert, and she carried a staff in one hand, though when she saw them she walked up to them.

"Take heed, travelers, the Coven's cultists guard these roads and will..." the lady said, though at the same time there was a sound as a number of cultists appeared further down the path, where Leah and Lyndon silenced a few with head shots, all while Luna and Kormac silenced the rest with some swings of their weapons, causing the lady to stand there in shock, "Oh, I was going to say 'kill all trespassers', but you seem to have everything under control. May I join you? I can locate things that are hidden from view, and might be able to help you track the Coven."

Luna found that the lady, Eirena they learned, was true to her word as she used her staff and magic to undo the rock wall that was down at the end of the path, revealing more of the path for them to use, to which Luna took the lead as they fought some new enemies, poisonous wasps that shot poison from their tails. The other one was more impressive, the panther-like lacuni, ferocious wild creatures that definitely had some intelligence to them, where the females were more lithe and fast while the males were bulky and more powerful looking, but their strength wasn't to be underestimated. Luna found that the stronger ones really put forth some effort to crush them into dust, yet they were unable to dent the Ashbringer, rather she was able to slash through their bone armor with ease, while the others dealt with the rest of the enemies that were in the rocky area they were passing through. Eirena continued to prove her worth as she fought their foes as well, casting magic at them while using her power to shatter the mirages that the Coven had cast on the area to fool whoever was following them, allowing them to move out into the open sandy area that had to be the Borderlands.

This was where their new friend truly shined, she was able to utilize her power to undo the magic hiding the track that they needed to follow, where she told them that they were looking for two cellars that the cultists were hiding in, causing Luna to face her for a moment as she studied the spell.

"Here, let me empower your spell." Luna said, holding out a hand for Eirena to take, where the enchantress, she told them that she wasn't a sorceress, took her hand and found that she wasn't kidding, the alicorn magic empowered her spell for just a few seconds and she was able to use it to cover a far wider area, revealing the entire path, "Well then, let the hunt begin."

Eirena found that Luna wasn't kidding, the strange figure followed the path that was in front of them without missing even a single beat, as if she wasn't even winded from using that much power, and it made her wonder who Luna was and how she came to have this much power in the first place. While they followed the trail Luna and Kormac left a trail of bodies in their wake, while Leah had Lyndon and Eirena join her in taking out the ranged enemies, which was when Eirena found that the tailed girl was using a bow made of fire, as in literal fire, while her arrows were the same. Of course that wasn't the only thing she discovered, rather Leah forced herself to wield the other elements that Luna had taught her, turning the bow into one of wind and striking her targets like a huntress in the wild, though she was still struggling with the other elements. Luna made sure that Leah knew she was doing well, there was a lot to learn about magic and Leah was a wonderful student, she just needed time to figure out how to master the art of calling on the other elements.

With Luna and Eirena's combined magical power they were able to permanently unveil the trail, tracked down both cellars that the cultists were hiding in, and slaughtered Maghda's followers before they could defend themselves, they deserved as such in Luna's eyes, and Luna even agreed as she butchered one with her sword. This was revenge for everyone that the Coven had slain and used in the past, that they suffer in some manner when their end came, and Luna could see how each death quelled some of the inferno that was in Leah's heart, allowing her to find some peace with her uncle's death. She also knew that this wouldn't fully quell her anger, not while Maghda walked this world, and Luna was determined to hunt down the witch and execute her for her crimes, not to mention the Lord of Hell that she served. Of course she did have to tell their new ally why everyone was so angry with the Coven, but in the end Eirena understood that they were here for vengeance and joined them without delay, as she understood that this would free the land from the Coven's influence.

After dealing with the two cellars, and breaking whatever magic the Coven had been using, Eirena brought them to what looked like a damaged bridge and restored it with her magic, breaking the mirage, allowing them to cross and head into the small area known as Khasim Outpost, which made sense due to it being near a wide chasm.

It was then that they found that the guards and people of the outpost were actually serpent demons, servants of Belial most likely, who looked like they were mages of some kind, though the group wasted no time in slaughtering them, Luna used her magic to shield them while the others killed the surprised demons. Following that Kormac found the real residents of this outpost in one of the cellars, trapped in cages, and they freed them without delay, allowing the few Iron Wolves to return to their duties while the group headed out through the outpost's eastern gate. On the other side Luna, Leah, and the others found that there were more cultists and the dark warriors out in the Borderlands, guarding the way to Alcarnus no doubt, to which the group rushed at their enemies without wasting time. It was like a battlefield of sorts as Leah and Lyndon opened fire on all of the cultists that were in their line of sight, elemental arrows and bolts rushing into the hearts of their foes, while Kormac stabbed and based the melee enemies, Eirena blasted her foes, and Luna bisected the larger demons that were sent to stop them.

Fortunately it was easy for them to track down the path to the dark city or town that was called Alcarnus, and Luna opened the way by butchering the tall demon that was in her way, scattering it's limbs as she landed, causing the cultists to shout at the others in the town, a warning that intruders were here.

"Slaughter them. Leave none of them alive." Luna stated, rushing forward as she swung the Ashbringer through her targets, cutting down the cultists that dared to stand in her way while hacking apart the demons that were summoned to fight them, just more of the dark warriors based on what she was seeing.

Leah and the others joined her, the five of them turning the tide against the Coven, though she also made sure to save the people that were trapped inside the cages that lined the street, though Maghda's forces really didn't offer much as they cut through them and centered the core of the town, an arena that the witch was floating in.

"Leah, this is a surprise. I expected you to be hunting my master, so his guard could capture you and harness your power for his grand schemes." Maghda commented, as this wasn't part of the plan, she expected the little witch, whatever she was, to be too focused on the Lord of Hell and not on someone like her, though at the same time Luna flashed behind her and just slammed a spell into her back, silencing her magic as she fell into a magical prison block, her head and hands on one side of the wooden block, "What the?"

"Maghda, for your various crimes, I won't give you the dignity of defending yourself." Luna replied, where she positioned herself near the executioner's block, as that was what this was going to be, as she held the Ashbringer at the ready, as once Leah gave the word Luna was going to behead the witch so they could focus on Belial, "Is there anything you would like to say, Maghda, before we put you down?"

"Wait just a moment... Leah, I speak the truth: your mother, Adria, is alive and is somewhere in Caldeum. That much I know for certain." Maghda stated, as if that would be enough to convince Leah to have her life spared, that her information would save her life so she could no doubt betray them at some point in the near future, causing the group to glance at Leah for a few seconds.

"Even if you speak the truth, I can't let you live: you brought about uncle Deckard's death, and so deserve death." Leah said, where it was clear that there was a hint of anger in her voice, since it was Maghda's scheming that brought about the death of Leah's uncle and the deaths of who knew how many other people before they even realized she existed, causing her to just nod to Luna for a moment, "Do it."

Luna nodded and brought the Ashbringer down as Maghda cried out for them to stop, where the weapon severed her head and hands with ease, though once the body was on the ground Leah used her magic and set Maghda's lifeless body on fire, just to be absolutely sure she was gone, and once she was nothing but ash Luna hugged Leah before opening a portal back to the camp so they could rest and plan out what their next move should be.

Caldeum: Sewer Discovery

With Maghda's death the group returned to their hidden camp and found that the others, as in Valla and her friends, were out, as they were no doubt helping people while Luna's group dealt with their main objectives, though Tyrael was present, hence why Luna approached him.

"Maghda and her Coven have been destroyed, but she told us that Adria is alive and is somewhere in Caldeum." Luna said, something that caused Tyrael to raise an eyebrow for a moment as the others joined them, as it was clear that he wasn't too sure what to make of this information, especially after everything that Leah had told him on the way to their camp, "If she really is fighting the forces of Hell, as we've been told, would it be worth devoting time to tracking her down?"

"Hm, it might. I have no idea what she's been up to, other than what we've been told, but it would seem that the Imperial Guards are interested in her as well." Tyrael replied, where the group glanced at each other for a few seconds, because that meant either Belial knew of Adria's presence and was hunting her or the Emperor wanted to capture her on his own, or both parties were eager to get their hands on the lady, "Maybe we can convince the Emperor to aid us in tracking Adria down, on the pretense that we're dealing with a threat to the city... we can bring her here, once we've found her. Leah, what do you think?"

"Honestly? I don't know what to think... I don't know her, after all, save for the fact that she's my mother." Leah remarked, as it was easy to understand why she was lost on this fact, as her mother had abandoned her at a very young age and she had no idea if she wanted to waste time on hunting Adria down, before she sighed as she came to a decision, "But... we should try to find her. If she really has devoted her life to battling the forces of Hell, she might know of a way to help us bring down the last two Lords of Hell and end the threat of the Evils once and for all."

Luna nodded, even though she really didn't like the idea of working with someone who tossed aside her own child, because it told her that Adria hadn't been ready for such a thing and that lack of commitment really rubbed her the wrong way, so if they did find the lady she wasn't going to trust or like her for a time. Tyrael decided to remain in the camp, going over what they knew, while the group headed back into Caldeum so they could try to get an audience with the Emperor of the city, only to find that there were people struggling to survive and some were complaining about being robbed. It was like something was happening in the city and that meant Valla's group would be busy for some time, which was why they focused on the Captain of the Iron Wolves, Asheara, who was talking with the Captain of the Guard. Luna decided to tell the lady that they were here to assist the Emperor and that there was a good chance that Maghda might have sent someone to deal with the Emperor, which wouldn't be surprising, and it was their good deeds that convinced her to aid them.

With that in mind they walked through some impressive iron doors, headed down what appeared to be a path outside the palace, and came to an area that seemed to be like an audience chamber that was exposed to the open area, with an area for them to stand on and an area for the Emperor to stand on.

"So, you are as bold as the stories claim." a voice said, which turned out to be a young kid that seemed ill suited to being the Emperor of an area city, much less the entire region that he was actually in control of, and Luna felt that there was more to this than what they were seeing, even though he dressed in dark green robes, "But, ultimately, you are foolish for seeking this audience with me, since my guards have already delivered unsettling tales and eye witness accounts of you slaughtering the innocent people of Alcarnus. And don't try to claim that you are innocent, not when you have a spy in my sewers. Now, I will leave this matter in the hands of my guards... I detest violence."

Sure enough the group found that the guards attacked them the moment the Emperor was no longer in the area, quickly turning into serpent demons who attacked everyone, causing Luna to hack and slash her way through her targets, Leah used magic to blast her foes, and their friends tore down their demonic foes. Asheara did stab one demon in the chest while she understood that the heroes were telling the truth, if demons were this close to the Emperor that meant there was no telling when they'd attack him, causing them to leave the audience chamber. Such a thing meant they had to retrace their steps so they could return to the main portion of the city, but that was when more reinforcements showed up, Imperial Guards that transformed into serpent demons, confirming that the entire guard was infested. That didn't stop Luna from leading the charge against their enemies, cutting down the demons that dared to stand in their way, but being out in the open did allow Leah to use her bow again as she powered down her elemental arrows to avoid wrecking the city or palace.

"We need to head into the sewer, since that's where Adria seems to be." Leah remarked, causing Luna to nod as they cut down the rest of the demons and pushed themselves back into the main city, where they made sure to be presentable while Asheara focused on how she was going to save the Emperor from all of the demons that were around him.

Luna weaved a spell around them and everyone vanished from the eyes of the people of the city, allowing them to reach the nearby sewer lid without being seen, thus allowing everyone to head down into the sewer without delay, where they found a bunch of the swarm insects and feral beasts that looked like they were poisonous. Such a thing made Luna wonder just how many deadly creatures were in this world, as there seemed far too many in her eyes and made her curious about the rest of the provinces of Sanctuary, but she focused on cutting down the foes that came at her. Leah focused on manipulating the bits of sewer water into water arrows, which seemed rather strong when Luna saw them, though at the same time she could see that having to maintain them was difficult, something Leah seemed okay with. There were even serpent demons down in the sewers as well, which told everyone that they were on the right track since Belial's servants had to have Adria down here, and it wasn't long before they found an opening that had screams coming from it.

That was followed by them discovering an area that had a few serpent demons inside it, though one was in the middle of torturing a red robed woman with a staff, who had to be Adria since she was still down in the sewers, and none of their foes seemed to realize that they had entered the area.

"Tell us about the Black Soulstone, witch! We know of the ones that imprisoned the Greater Evils, but what does this 'Black' Soulstone do?" the main serpent demon asked, where it shocked Adria with lightning, light enough to avoid doing any sort of lasting damage but potent enough to be incredibly convincing, and based on the fact that Adria was resisting him it seemed like the demons weren't making any progress.

Leah, as it turned out, moved to act before anyone else as she created water arrows with her magic and released them at all of the serpent demons, hitting all seven of them before even a single one realized that the group was present, and the one that was tormenting her mother was struck in the head, releasing Adria as she stared at Leah with shock on her face.

"Leah... I can't believe my eyes... you... you used magic." Adria said, though this told Luna something important, Adria must have kept taps on Leah over the years for her to be able to recognize her daughter so quickly, while at the same time she seemed surprised that her child was capable of using magic, despite the fact that Adria, herself, was a witch, before she let out a cough as she stood up, "I'm sorry for not contacting you over the years, even though I was watching from time to time, but I did so because I didn't want the dark forces we are up against to use you against me... though honestly I wasn't expecting us to meet up like this, or that you would have such interesting company."

"Adria... mother... this is Luna, my... close friend... and our friends." Leah stated, where it was easy to tell that Leah wasn't too sure what to say right now, especially given the closeness that she and Luna felt for each other, so she was going at simple things right now, but she did glance at Luna, who nodded and opened a portal back to their hidden camp, "Come, we can talk more at our camp."

Adria nodded and followed them through the portal, allowing her to see the camp on the other side after she entered it, as she could see everyone that was doing their own thing while they appeared nearby, while Tyrael moved away from the map he had been studying to approach the group.

"Adria, there is something you should know: Uncle Deckard has passed, but I have taken on his work." Leah stated, which was the truth, she was going to complete Cain's work so no one else would have to worry about the Lords of Hell, and had to hope that taking them out would stop Hell from invading Sanctuary, enough to give them some peace, "We know that one of the remaining Lords of Hell is here, in Caldeum, but you already know that since you were caught searching for Belial... none of us have figured out where Azmodan is hiding, but Tyrael is working on that. Now, those demons mentioned the Black Soulstone, but uncle's tome has only a few references to it... what does it do?"

"The dark mage Zoltun Kulle made it to hold the souls of demons, but unlike the other soulstones this one was designed to hold multiple souls at once." Adria replied, which caused Tyrael to raise an eyebrow for a moment as he heard that, which told them that there was either some truth to the tale or he was interested in what the witch had discovered during her time away from Leah, "If we can claim the Black Soulstone, and imprison the last two Lords of Hell inside it, we can then destroy it in a safe place that would remove the threat of the Lords of Hell, forever... while I was searching for Belial I uncovered a few bits of paper from a Horadrim tome, indicating that Kulle's head was buried somewhere in the Dahlgur Oasis."

"So we've got to track down the head of the Dark Horadrim, no doubt use magic to revive it, and then ask him for help in tracking down this Black Soulstone." Luna commented, thinking about it for a moment, as she had read parts of the tome that Leah kept with her and knew about the figure in question, it had interested her when she found the passage about him, before she considered the rest of his tale, "He'll most like ask for a deal, no doubt to be revived, but allying with someone like him might be the key to bringing down the Lords of Hell... it's like a minor evil helping to bring down a major evil, when you think about it."

Of course Luna had to wonder about this plan, it seemed like there might be something dark hiding in plain sight, but for the time being she decided to shelve that thought as they went over the information that was being given to them, so they could be prepared for whatever the future had to throw at them.

Caldeum: The Hunt for Kulle

Luna discovered that Tyrael was the only one who didn't seem to like the idea of raising Kulle from the dead, even if it was just his head right now, because of his 'crimes' against nature and everything else, but Luna insisted that he tell them what Kulle had done to earn his fate.

"He was a great man who was driven mad by his long quest to hunt evil, and he delved into powers that weren't meant for men to use." Tyrael stated, eventually giving Luna what she wanted, since time was wasting and he figured that if he told her what Zoltun Kulle had done it might convince her that this was a bad idea, even though he didn't have another one that could match using the legendary Black Soulstone on the last two Lords of Hell, "He sought to capture the souls of demons and angels to fuel his empty heart, seeking to gain immortality and power for his own schemes... that is why he was slain, even though the order never recovered from his demise."

"Look, just because someone learns about an enemy and wants to use their power to bring them down doesn't make them a mad or insane person." Luna said, though she resisted the urge to groan from this information, because Tyrael's lack of a true answer, like he didn't want to go into detail about what Kulle's crimes were, made her wonder if the other members of the Horadrim were just jealous of Kulle's power and responsibilities, "But, for the time being, we should focus on tracking his head down... we can worry about everything else after we've secured his head."

With the others aware of what they were doing Leah brought them back into the city and tracked down one of the other sewer entrances, as her mother had found one that would bring them to the area that Kulle's head had been stored in after he was slain. Luna, again, shrouded them from view as they tracked down the entrance and opened it, allowing everyone to drop down into the sewers without delay, and once she was sure that everyone was present Luna dismissed her magic, as the shroud wasn't necessary at the moment. From what they could see there were a few unfortunate people who had to be peasants or even beggars, though for the most part it looked like they were sleeping and weren't aware of the fact that the group was even there. The only thing that seemed out of place was the locked door with a magical projection standing near it, a projection of the Emperor himself, causing Luna to glance at her friends for a moment as they nodded, the Emperor had proven himself to be a potential enemy and that meant they had to keep their guards up.

Luna, at the very least, didn't trust him since he had sentenced them to their deaths and he felt like there was a power to him that didn't belong at all, like a demon, but for now she was keeping her guard up as they walked over to the locked gate and stopped in front of the projection.

Listen to me, I cannot talk for long: Belial's guards are keeping a constant watch of my movements, but I was able to find a way to slip away for a time. the Emperor stated, though as he said that he reached into his neck area and withdrew what appeared to be a necklace of some kind, like he was explaining something, but since there was no way to sense things right now Luna couldn't tell if it was a magical amulet or a normal necklace, I took this from a member of the Vizjerei Clan, and have learned how to use it to speak with people I deem important to the survival of my domain... I apologize for the act, back when we first met, but it was important for me to appear loyal to Belial's schemes. I will help you now, to the best of my abilities.

Sure enough he undid the lock that was on the gate, which seemed to have been magical in nature, before vanishing, like a guard had been close to uncovering what he was doing, but for the time being Luna opened the gate and they walked into the other portion of the sewers, which should bring them to the oasis. Sure enough they found more skeletons roaming in their way, which wasn't much of a surprise if they were being honest with themselves, so Luna cut through them with her sword while the others focused on clearing out the path that was beyond the skeletons. That wasn't the only enemy down in the sewers for them to worry about, as there were more of the powerful poison wasps and even some of Belial's serpent demons, one of which had a yellow glow around it as it summoned lightning to defeat them. It provided Leah with a brand new way to utilize her magic, as Leah focused on channeling her magic into a shield that stopped a small bit of the lightning that was coming towards her and the others, while Eirena helped deal with the rest before showing her a few things on how to use protection type spells.

Luna also showed her a few things as well, since there was no harm in allowing her to grow stronger and use her magic in more ways, in fact Luna encouraged such growth since Leah had a lot of latent power inside her, though Leah did find piles of diseased bodies that she set fire to, to make sure they didn't produce new enemies. At the same time she thought about how weird it was for them to have more of Belial's serpent demons down here, since only the Emperor knew where they were right now, meaning he was either betraying them or someone had traced the magical connection. Luna had no idea which one was accurate right now, but either way she didn't trust the Emperor, there was something about him that simply rubbed her the wrong way, and her friends were keeping an open mind on the matter. She did have to wonder if the boy Emperor was actually Belial, as this would be an effective way for the Lord of Hell to keep tabs on what his enemies might be doing, even though he wasn't doing a great job of keeping the suspicions off his host if that was the case.

Eventually they found the way out of the sewers and Luna used a bit of magic to banish the sewer smell, where they quickly discovered that it had brought them to the right place, water was flowing behind them and the area in front of them seemed to be a large open area.

"So, we've found the oasis... how are we going to find Kulle's head?" Kormac asked, because from what they would see there were caves, houses that doubled as mines or farms, potential tombs that could hold who knew what, altars for enemies to gather near, and who knew what else.

"That, I don't know. The Horadrim never wrote it down, out of fear that he would be raised by Hell." Luna replied, which was a smart idea, because if Kulle was betrayed by both the Horadrim and the Archangels, those he was working with to bring down the Lords of Hell, there was a chance he could be corrupted by demons and turned into a true terror, hence why his remains were so well hidden, "Leah, are you feeling anything?"

"Yes... I think so." Leah said, because this was just like before, with the fragments of Tyrael's blade, she could feel something calling out to her, in fact there were multiple somethings that were scattered around the area of Caldeum they were in, but one was stronger than the others and it was far closer than the others, before she pointed towards it, "There's something in that direction that's drawing my attention... something that wants to be found. I think it's Kulle, leaving one last trick to make sure he could be found in case someone had need of his services."

"How does she know that?" Eirena asked, though at the same time Luna patted Leah on the head as they moved away from the passage they had emerged from, tearing through some of the dark warrior demons, fallen they realized, forcing her to catch up with the others as she hurled a bolt of magic at one, "I'm not feeling anything."

"Leah is special, as she was able to track the shards of Tyrael's blade... plus she's been trained by Luna, who has all sorts of magic that we haven't seen yet." Kormac replied, which was followed by him blocking an attack with his shield before he used his spear to pierce the heart of his demonic foe, allowing him to shove the demon onto the ground before facing the confused enchantress as she dealt with another enemy in the distance, "Trust me, you'll get used to it."

Lyndon, on the other hand, remained quiet as he loosed a bolt into the head of a cultist in the distance, as it looked like the Coven had been split to cover more ground, before they destroyed it anyway, so these were survivors that had only learned of their mistress' death. In addition to that discovery there was another they made, a tall demon that could spin around and use the bladed edges of it's robed attire to knock back projectiles, as if it was using the wind itself, causing Luna to grin as she clashed with one to test it's power. She found that it could, in fact, use it's attire and it's magic to manipulate the wind to attack it's enemies and defend itself from harm, it was actually a refreshing enemy as she used the Ashbringer to turn back it's attacks, only for her to be surprised when the demon actually lightly cut into her arms. It was amazing, that their foes were now capable of harming her, which only put a smile on her face as she applied a little more power and slashed the new demon in half, surprising it in the process, and once the coast was clear Kormac quickly mended the minor injuries.

"I'm going to need to be more careful, as it seems like the demons we're fighting are getting stronger... also, I need to talk to Haedrig about some new armor." Luna commented, as she hadn't changed her armor since she and Leah started searching for Deckard, which had turned into a massive adventure that neither of them had been expecting, but she also knew that it was only a matter of time until she was forced to replace her gear for something better.

Leah nodded as she resumed leading the way to their destination, where they cut and blasted their way through the rest of the enemies that were in front of them, and there were plenty to pick from since this was a watering hole that many species gathered around, both natural and demonic. She brought them to what appeared to be an elegant stone circle area that had a bit of magic attached to it, where Luna tapped into it and a portal opened in front of them, one that could only be held open for a short period of time, causing Leah to step through so it could be held open on both sides. Such a thing allowed everyone else to step in and Luna brought up the rear, so when she was on the other side she closed the gate, preventing their enemies from realizing where they had gone, before finding that they were in some sort of shadowy realm that looked like an elegant stone archive of some kind. With a look around she realized something, this was only part of the domain that Kulle must have created, a secret only he had known about before he was slain and his body was beheaded, which had to be when the rest of his former allies learned about his archives.

She glanced at the others and they nodded, after she confirmed that she could return them to the camp in an instant, which was for when they located Kulle's head, before Luna stepped forward as she held her weapon at the ready, allowing the rest of the group to do the same thing as they started to explore this strange place.

That was followed by them discovering a few things, such as the large groups of skeletal warriors that seemed to have been placed by the Horadrim to ensure that Kulle remained in his current state, but the real surprise was the spires that came out of the ground, like constructs, and summoned tall slim constructs that looked like skeletons. It spoke volumes to the power that Kulle possessed while he was alive, he had done something no other person had, mastering the art of summoning and even likely created something that allowed him to mass produce the spider-like constructs. Luna had to wonder if there was a heart or core of some kind Kulle had made and this place was partly linked to it, so he had guardians to defend his work from potential intruders, and resolved to ask Kulle about it if they were able to revive him from the dead. She also found that cutting down the spires prevented the constructs from entering that point of the archives, at least for a time, while Leah did note that some came equipped with fire, some with frost, and others with poison.

After some time the group discovered that this portion of the archives was actually smaller than they assumed, as each of them spotted a floating severed head bound in magic, and when Leah claimed it a large stone construct appeared to defeat those who would seek to revive Kulle. Luna found that it was definitely stronger than the others of it's kind, both in terms of strength and it's defensive power, but fortunately it didn't take long for Ashbringer to cut through the creature, allowing the group to make sure there was nothing else in the area before getting ready to leave. With that in mind she opened the portal back to the hidden camp and they stepped through, where Adria was pleased to see that they had returned with Kulle's head and Tyrael didn't seem happy with how they were calling on Kulle for aid. Adria approached Leah with a spell for her to use, which would bring back Kulle in spiritual form, and Leah channeled her magic into the head without wasting time, as in she took one look at the spell and then cast it.

Sure enough a phantom figure appeared before them, a middle aged man who was dressed as a mage, fitting Kulle's role just before his death, where the spirit took a moment to realize what was going on before he glanced at the group, no doubt pleased that his spell had worked, someone had found him at last.

"Zoltun Kulle, we have brought you back in spirit form to request your aid in retrieving the Black Soulstone." Tyrael stated, as he wanted to get this over with while silently hoping that this didn't come back to bite them, since he didn't trust Kulle after all of the things that happened in the past, but for the sake of Sanctuary he was willing to hold his tongue and work with the Dark Horadrim, "We plan on using it to trap the last two Lords of Hell."

Tyrael, I would recognize your voice anywhere... be it as an angel or as a mortal. This is interesting. Kulle replied, though in the following moment he laid eyes on Luna and floated around her, taking in the fact that she was unlike anything he had seen before, and yet she had a feeling that he had a good feeling about her, before he came to a stop nearby, You... you are different. An unknown in our tale. What are you?

"I am Luna, the Lunar Princess, and I'm an alicorn from another world." Luna stated, as most of the people in their group already knew those facts, in fact she was still surprised that many were willing to accept such a thing, even though Sanctuary was linked to the High Heavens and Burning Hells, "I take it we have to recover your body before you can grant us access to the Black Soulstone?"

Yes. Come, speak with me for a few minutes while I adjust to my current form, then I'll tell you what to do next. Kulle said, showing that he was a scholar who was more interested in a new creature, even though she suspected that he wanted more information before fully dedicating himself to Tyrael's schemes, no doubt a remnant from the time when he was alive, but she nodded and walked to the side as Leah sat down to recover.

She had a feeling that things were going to get more interesting now that Kulle's spirit was part of their group, yet she had a feeling that this was going to be a good thing for everyone, so she decided to humor him and answer some questions before facing whatever else the rest of Caldeum could throw at them.

Caldeum: Water, Sand, and Blood

Luna found that Kulle was quick to adjust to his new form, he could appear and disappear as necessary, and his head was placed in a bag of sorts, one he could see out of, to make sure they were on the right path, while also being invisible so no one else could see him.

Now then, to revive my body you'll have to travel through the Aqueducts to reach the Desolate Sands, where I will point you to where my blood was stored. Kulle stated, upon them returning to the rest of the group, where Leah and the rest of the main group gathered around to hear what he had to say about the next leg of their journey, even though Tyrael was still of the opinion that this was a bad idea, Once we have my blood we will need to travel to where my body is being held, which appears to be the main archives, where you will combine my head and blood with it so Leah can use her power to bring me back to life. As soon as I am brought back I can open the way to the chamber that the Black Soulstone is resting in, to fulfill our bargain.

"Okay, so we need to return to the Oasis and track down the Aqueducts. Good to know." Leah said, as she had looked over the map of the areas that made up Caldeum and could see many that could have held the pieces of Kulle's body, but since he clearly knew where they were, or at least in which area they were in, that really cut down on their travel time.

Luna nodded as Kulle returned to his head for the time being, allowing them to utilize the teleportation device that was in the middle of their camp to return to the Oasis, where everyone faced the eastern direction since everything behind them had been cleared out already. After that they resumed what they normally did, Luna and Kormac tore through their enemies, while Leah, Lyndon, and Eirena used their ranged attacks to deal with those that were hanging in the distance, eliminating foes so they could move forward at a quicker pace. Lyndon also made sure to loot any chest or container they walked by, as he didn't want to leave any potential loot behind, especially since some of it was helping to pay for the caravan's needs, so it was part greed and part helping others. So far it looked like all of the enemies they fought when they first entered the Oasis were the same now, where Luna made sure to deal with the dervish demons, as in those that controlled wind, since those happened to be the strongest ones she had faced so far, as some were definitely stronger than the ordinary demons.

Other than that there wasn't much else for Luna to worry about, the dervish demons provided her with entertainment while the other enemies were well within the power of the rest of the group, and when they reached a short stone bridge Kulle appeared for a moment and unlocked the magic that was resting on the gate at the end.

"So, this is the Aqueducts." Luna commented, as it was a stone area that had two levers that seemed to be blocking the main path forward, because she spotted two levers that seemed to be at the end of some passages, based on how this place was set up, causing her to nod for a moment, "We just have to head down the only available path and get to the levers. Simple."

Ah, there you are. a voice said, which turned out to be the magical projection of the Emperor, where Luna felt Kulle for a moment, like he was watching them without revealing himself to the figure that had appeared, as if both of them felt that the Emperor was lying to them in some manner, I wanted to inform you that I may have uncovered the identity of Belial, and am closing in on confirming that fact. By the time you have the Black Soulstone, I should know who he is.

"I see. Thank you for the heads up... and stay safe." Luna stated, as if speaking to an ally, though once the projection was no longer in the area Kulle appeared nearby as well, where she and the spirit simply nodded their heads before she faced the rest of the group for a moment, "And just like that, we're already a step ahead: Belial has revealed himself to us."

"Of course, the Emperor wouldn't know about the Black Soulstone, and 'Belial' wouldn't be so foolish to reveal the fact that such a thing existed near his tool... the Lord of Lies has failed." Leah said, though while she had to wonder how their foe knew where they were, enough to send a projection like this, she found herself confident in their abilities now, especially since it looked like Belial had no idea he had ruined his own cover while talking to them.

Yes, he is not as crafty as he thinks he is. Kulle remarked, as he had noticed the odd magic around the projection and now understood what he had sensed, in fact Luna had sensed it as well, it was demonic magic, and the only one that had a lot of power in Caldeum was the Lord of Lies, so now they knew the truth and Belial was in the dark, We must hurry, for it's only a matter of time until he realizes that he's messed up.

Luna nodded as she stepped into the passage in front of them, where they found more skeletons, corpse flies, the plagued corpses, and serpent demons, the same enemies they had fought so far, though it didn't stop them from waging war on the dangers that were ahead of them. The interesting thing was that there were some of the thin constructs down here as well, a fact that caused Kulle to study this development as the others fought their way through the Aqueducts, and Luna found out why as they progressed along the path in front of them. Apparently Kulle had once worked with someone else and they were responsible for something called the 'Loom', a great alchemical engine that could turn one type of matter into another, and they had used it to make constructs, along with a great network of Halls and other items. Of course Kulle had been forced to leave it behind, a minor demon had infected it, but before all that he had created his Archives and linked them to what he called the 'Greathall', but without his attention it looked like the constructs were appearing outside the areas he had set them to guard.

Such a thing interested Luna and Leah as the group fought through the Aqueducts, because it sounded like the Loom might be a worthwhile thing to reclaim, though while Kulle didn't see a reason to believe such a thing he did know that the pair had great power, so it might be possible to reclaim the Loom at some point.

After that they tracked down the passage leading to the lever, pulled it, and then headed into the next passage to repeat the same thing with the other passage, which was just fighting more enemies, scattering their bodies with ease, and clearing out the Aqueducts completely. With that in mind it wasn't long before they found and activated the second lever, cutting off the water while revealing the main path, and when they stepped down it's stairs they found a barrel with some trapped inside it, being attacked by more of the plagued corpses. Clearing out the enemies proved to be child's play, where they found that the figure inside the barrel seemed to be a jeweler, a middle aged man by the name of Covetous Shen, or Shen, and he was seeking a magic crucible that was somewhere in this place, but his student had betrayed him to keep it for himself, since he wanted to use it for his own work. Apparently he wanted to deal with them, if they helped find his student and the crucible he would become their jeweler, which interested Lyndon since the magic crucible could merge gems into greater ones, but Luna suspected that there might be more to this than what he had said so far.

Either way they agreed to help him out, since it looked like Shen's path was along their path as well, where they found more of the same enemies and Luna paid them no mind as she slashed through them, while at the same time everyone else did what they did best, dealing with the rest of their foes. Shen was a strange man, that much Luna could tell, but he was smart enough to get out of the way and let everyone deal with their enemies, while stating that he had been in this place many times in the past and had only found his way down to this hidden passage. There really wasn't much for Luna to care about right now, all of the enemies really weren't that imposing and she cut through them without wasting too much time, but her main interest was in the constructs and what Kulle had said about them, and what they could do with them. Even Shen's young student didn't amount to anything, as when they found him he had been corrupted by the energies inside the magic crucible, the dark magic inside it, causing Leah to crush him with a burst of fire arrows, thus allowing Shen to claim his prize now that it wasn't corrupted.

With that done they made their way out through the exit and stepped out into what appeared to be a very sandy and very dry area of Caldeum, the Desolate Sands no doubt, causing Shen to use the nearby teleportation device to return to their camp, while Kulle appeared without delay.

I hid my Archives out here to avoid detection, and it seems the Horadrim felt it was wise to leave my blood close to where they laid my body to rest. Kulle commented, floating by them as the group made their way to the edge of the wasteland that was their destination, and area full of bones based on what Luna was seeing, though it was also far hotter out here than what she was expecting, Come, I will show you the way to where my blood is being held. It is in two locations, so we must be swift before the heat harms any of you.

In addition to the poisoned corpses, accursed as Kulle called them, there were more of the Lacuni, in fact it looked like there was a tribe of them living in this portion of Caldeum, and Luna found that the hawks wanted a piece of them, no doubt they were of the opinion that the group was going to die soon and were trying to peck them to death. Leah spend some time just hitting the hawks that were circling overhead, blasting them out of the air with her fire magic, she found that it was very easy to hit them with her magic and it allowed the others to focus on following Kulle. He revealed that the Archives rested below the Desolate Sands, that the Horadrim could only lock the doors behind them while he still held all of the keys, so he could get them inside without wasting time once they tracked down his blood. The other interesting thing was the size of the piles of bones that were around the area, some reminded her of dragons with how large they were, but she had learned that no such beasts existed in this world, as odd as that felt to her.

Eventually they tracked down the first area that the blood was stored in, a cave leading into the ground, where Kulle told the group that it wasn't low enough to reach his Archives, he had made sure to build them deep below the Desolate Sands to make sure nothing invaded his domain.

Once inside the cave they discovered that it was full of spiders, what appeared to be worms that were digging through the ground, more of the corpse flies, and the accursed, though the group could handle these enemies since they were anything new and didn't have any unique powers to worry about. In addition to that they found a number of egg sacks that Leah used her arrows on, blasting them into oblivion to make sure they weren't overwhelmed in the future, while at the same time the group discovered that sections of the rock walls spat out poison at them. Eirena dealt with those as her companions delved even deeper into the cave, in fact they even found a passage leading even deeper, but the enemies were the same as before and that meant they were able to deal with them without wasting too much time. Eventually they uncovered the area that Kulle's blood was stored in, it was surrounded by magic like how his head was contained, trapped in time based on what the group was seeing, so Luna bound the magic to the large head sized vial to ensure it remained fresh for when they infused it into Kulle's body.

After that they found a blue magical pillar that allowed them to teleport out into the Desolate Sands, where Kulle floated off to the side as he started leading them to the area that held the rest of his blood, causing the others to continue to decimate the enemies that were out here as they followed him.

The other location that Kulle's blood was stored in part of his Archives, where they found more thin constructs and even a new type, small spider constructs that were infused with fire, frost, and poison, something Kulle noted since it meant that his engine was still operational and was cranking out constructs. Luna resolved to help him track down the Greathall and the Loom once they were done with Belial, because it really sounded like the constructs would be useful in the future, once Kulle was alive and back in control of everything. Such a thing made her think about something she hadn't thought about since her banishment, an old suit of armor of hers that had gone missing during her exile, and part of her had wondered where it had gone since she confirmed that it wasn't on Equus anymore. Part of her had wondered if Celestia destroyed her armor or if she had banished it herself, but after confronting her sister Luna had learned that even her sister was confused and had no idea either, and it wasn't until now that she had thought about it.

"Hey, Kulle, I've got a question for you: did you ever find an armor made out of truesilver?" Luna asked, falling back a little as Leah and the others continued to tear through the defenses that were protecting this portion of the Archives, though she did discover that the spirit floated nearby as he thought about how to best answer her question, with his limited knowledge on the subject, "It's... well, a magical metal that is attuned to the arcane, to magic itself, as armor made from it can withstand dark magic and even improve the casting power of the wearer, while weapons of it can bypass magical enchantments and are some of the lightest and strongest. It has a silvery, almost moon-like, glow to it."

Then yes, I have seen it. Made for a horse of some kind, based on what I could tell... I have it stored inside the main portion of the Archives. Kulle replied, though he was fascinated by the armor, he had found it during the years he constructed his domain in the Desolate Sands and stored it inside his Archives, had tried to work with it or even study it, but he had been unable to do anything with it and stored it inside a case he had the keys for, Why do you ask?

"I once wore a set of armor like that... I'd like to see it, if at all possible." Luna answered, because Kulle seemed like the type of person who would remain true to a bargain and could see that he was interested in what might happen if she got her hands on the armor, so he was willing to show her it once they were inside the Archives.

Kulle agreed to let her see the armor once they were inside the Archives, though following that they found the second vial of blood and claimed it, allowing them to return to the camp for a few minutes so they could rest, recover, and prepare for the dangers of the Archives.

Caldeum: The Lord of Lies

With the Black Soulstone in their possession, and given to Leah since she was the best one to keep it safe, the group quickly returned to the camp, where Adria seemed surprised that Kulle was still alive, while Tyrael seemed to be on guard, but both stopped when Leah held up their prize.

"As per the bargain, you now have the Black Soulstone... which holds the souls of the five slain Lords of Hell." Kulle stated, a fact that was followed by Tyrael raising an eyebrow as he considered what this meant, while Adria seemed unfazed by the information, something that both he and Luna noticed immediately, "Adria, you don't seem surprised. Did you know of this?"

"...Yes, I did. Twenty years ago Cain told me of your soulstone, so I left Leah and tracked the Lords of Hell to the places that they died in, making their souls in the process." Adria admitted, though that immediately caused Luna to consider things as everyone stood there, listening to her reveal information that she should have revealed in the beginning, especially since the arrival of the five souls had been a surprise to all of them, "I sacrificed much of my life, and a life I could have had, to make sure the Lords of Hell were sealed away in something so they could be banished forever... though I will admit, the Black Soulstone seems... different... from what Cain told me."

"Oh, that's because I added my lunar magic to it, in the form of a seven point seal to ensure the Lords of Hell stay quiet for a long time." Luna said, where she could see a look of shock appear on Adria's face, the type that was usually seen on those who had a plan and a piece of information had broken their plan, before she turned to Tyrael as the Valla's group joined up with them, "But now that we have the soulstone in our possession it's time for us to visit the 'Emperor' and track down Belial at long last... but be prepared, our foe will no doubt unleash Hell upon us to try and stop us."

Tyrael nodded before they descended into the city once more, where they found that the sky turned dark as small meteors fell from the sky, causing Luna to call for everyone to save the people of the city, to escort them into the sewers, and, sure enough, serpent demons came to attack them. The Captain of the Iron Wolves was there as well, her forces were attacking the demons as well, and her brief talk with Leah told her everything she needed to know, they were here to slay Belial and most of them would help her in keeping the people of the city safe. Sure enough there were people who didn't want to go down into the sewers, since it was filthy, but when the options were that or death most chose to head down into the sewers so they could live to see another day. Other than that Leah disobeyed her mother by joining in on the fight, using some of her normal flame arrows to pierce the demons and destroy them, before Luna found that the door leading into the palace was now enchanted to be unmovable.

Luna grinned as she saw that, because that was followed by her nodding to Leah as the girl held her hand towards the large gate and shattered it with her magic, something that caused Adria to pause, since she wasn't expecting her daughter to be this skilled, in fact Leah didn't need her mother's assistance.

Tyrael stayed back to aid the others in keeping the city safe, same as Valla's group, so Luna and the others tore through the army of serpent demons that were in front of them, those who had been guarding the area as royal guards, meaning Belial had changed out the entire guard without anyone noticing. While they fought Adria came to understand something, Leah was definitely in her element, she could use enchanted arrows to deal damage to her foes and even use her magic to form a barrier around her in case she felt that she was in danger. Add in the power to crush physical barriers with ease and that let her know that Leah's power was definitely stronger than she was expecting it to be, though for the time being Adria simply followed the group as they tore through Belial's various guards. Some of the serpent demons even tried to use illusions to stop them in their tracks, but the group cut through them as well and brought down their various barriers, allowing them to reach the edge of the Emperor's domain so Leah could crush the gate that was in their way.

Sure enough they discovered that the 'Emperor' was standing in the same area they had first encountered him in, with many guards to keep him safe, but this time around Luna could truly feel the demonic energy that was coming from the boy, which just confirmed what they already expected.

"Oh good, you've arrived just in time. Now, show me the..." the Emperor started to say, though in the next moment he and his guards found that the group stood at the ready, like they were expecting a battle to happen, and Leah had an arrow at the ready, one that looked like it was being aimed right at his forehead, "What are you doing?"

"You can drop the act, Belial. We had you figured out shortly after our first meeting." Luna stated, where she and the others found that the guards morphed into the serpent demons and attacked them, where she slashed through some while the rest of the group did the same thing, "Come, Lord of Lies, let us end this."

The 'Emperor' growled for a moment before shifting into a dark blue floating slender demon that seemed to be a master of illusions, befitting his position as the Lord of Lies, looking like a mage of some kind with no feet, though after his minions were slain Belial warped down to where they were standing. Luna found that she was immensely disappointed in Belial, as his powers seemed to involve summoning illusions of swarms of flies or swinging his arms at them, before he realized that this wasn't working at all, forcing him to use more of his powers against them. It seemed like Belial's powers involved trying to use their own minds against them, in an attempt to slow them down or even force one to kill the others, but he found that Luna was slashing her way through the illusions he sent her way. Belial even loosed a bolt of demonic energy into Luna's chest and found that it did nothing to her, she simply tanked the blow like it was nothing, though at the same time he found that Leah was definitely stronger as well, the two were moving in unison and attacking him like it was nothing.

It really didn't take them long to slash through Belial's defenses, cut down his reinforcements, and knocked him back up into the area that he had been standing in when he was the Emperor, causing him to huff for a moment as he looked down at all of them for a moment as he made up his mind.

"I CAST OFF THESE PETTY ILLUSIONS!" Belial shouted, where Luna found that the Lord of Lies sent out his power and made a dome around the area they were in, forming a barrier around this portion of Caldeum, before he transformed into a form that looked like a massive hulking version of his base form, positioned in the center of the area, while dark green energy just swirled around them, "Now you face the true power of a Lord of Hell!"

In the next moment Belial brought his thick bladed arm down on where Luna was standing, though Leah smiled as she and the others found that Luna had blocked the blow with her blade, as Ashbringer was more than enough to stop the attack in it's tracks, causing the Lord of Hell to pause.

"Seriously? Is this it? I know you're a Lesser Evil, but... this is just embarrassing, really." Luna remarked, as she expected to be pushed backwards and forced to use some of her stronger powers to stand up to this demon, but right now Luna was of the opinion that Twilight, as a unicorn, could crush Belial with ease, causing her to twist her arm and knock the bladed arm back for a moment, "Here, allow me to show you a fragment of my true power."

Leah knew Luna was being serious and it excited her, because Luna had a lot of spells and powers that they hadn't seen yet, though in the next moment she found a barrier going up around her and she called for everyone to gather around her, for it was one of Luna's, she could fell by how the magic felt. Once everyone was inside the barrier, which included Adria and Kulle since they had come to help take down Belial, Luna raised Ashbringer until it was level with the demon's head, before letting a smile appear on her face as silvery energy ignited all around the blade. It wasn't just a tiny bit of energy either, rather it was a large amount that seemed to be gathering around the weapon, and when Luna swung her blade in a diagonal manner they found that she loosed a crescent wave of energy without wasting even a single moment. Leah found that it was more like a torrent of Luna's energy, one that just cut through Belial, both his true form and the illusion he was using, while the wave just disappeared into the air, hence why she aimed at the air and not at the city, making her wonder what sort of damage it might have done had it connected with something physical.

In the following moment Belial's illusions faded away, restoring the area to it's pristine condition, as the Lord of Hell turned into a dark green swirling mass that had to be his soul, where Leah pulled out the Black Soulstone and channeled her power between the two, sealing the sixth Lord of Hell inside it in no time.

"It is done: Belial has joined his siblings in the Black Soulstone." Leah said, holding the black crystal close to her after the deed was done, where she could see that Luna's seal had pinned down Belial's soul has well, in the sixth point, leaving the last portion of the seal for Azmodan, and once all seven were inside it they would find a good place to shatter the stone to eliminate the Lords of Hell at long last.

"Good, now only one remains. Luna, what was that attack of yours?" Kulle inquired, because he hadn't seen anything like it during his many years, in fact he was sure none of the Lords of Hell had something like that in their arsenals, though at the same time he wondered how Luna would fair against one of the Greater Evils, if this was how quickly she took out one of the Lesser Evils.

"It is a condensed wave of magical energy, shaped like a crescent, while using my weapon as a starting point." Luna said, all while Adria seemed like she was going to have a mental breakdown, simply from trying to understand her and her powers, a fact that made her grateful that Pinkie hadn't come here, otherwise the witch would have gone insane by now, "It's pretty destructive, which is why I aimed it into the sky... makes me eager to see what sort of powers Azmodan has to offer, though we have no idea where he's currently hiding."

"We should focus on making sure the city is safe, before checking the archives for clues as to where he'd go... also, you and I need to have a training session, I feel ready for the next level." Leah stated, because with all of the magic she had used since arriving in Caldeum, and even utilizing new ways to use said magic, part of her realized that she was stronger than before and was eager to see what she could do against Luna's might, "Kulle, will you be joining us?"

"Yes. I made it my life's work to bring down the Lords of Hell and to save Sanctuary. Now that we're so close to succeeding I would be a fool to step aside." Kulle replied, though while he and Luna suspected that Adria was false, there was something about her that both of them didn't trust, he could see the light at the end of the tunnel, that all of his hard work was about to bare the greatest of fruit, before he turned to face Luna and Leah, "I would like for the two of you to travel with me later, as I am thinking of returning to the Greathall to reclaim the Loom... if we're going to fight Azmodan, the Lord of Sin and the one known as the greatest military general in all of Hell, we will need an army to fight him, and the Loom would be able to give us what we need."

Luna nodded her agreement to the plan, they would help Kulle, have a bit of a sparring match, and then figure out where in the world Azmodan was hiding, along with figuring out where they could shatter the Black Soulstone to permanently kill the Lords of Hell, but it only made her look forward to what the future held in store for them and the rest of Sanctuary.

Interlude: Discovery in the Gatehall

With Belial sealed inside the Black Soulstone, and they confirmed that Caldeum was safe at last, Tyrael and the majority of the others stayed in the camp while talking with the officials of the city, no doubt to arrange for supplies for when it was time to leave. Of course that was when they discovered where Azmodan was hiding, but for now they focused on helping the rest of the people while trying to stabilize the government, since the Lord of Lies had been possessing Emperor Hakan II's body, as Luna found that the boy's body was in his room, unconscious. He was in a coma from being used like a suit by the foul demon they had destroyed and sealed, so it would be some time before he regained himself, but that was something for the others to worry about, in addition to everything else. Luna and Leah, on the other hand, joined Kulle inside his Archives, as he had something that he required their help with, so they could even the odds against Azmodan in the future, which was the Loom he had mentioned previously.

As they gathered inside the Archives, which was now safe thanks to Kulle strengthening his wards and control once more, Kulle weaved his magic into another portal frame, one that was contained inside a wall and seemed to be more powerful than all of the others.

"This will take us to the Gatehall, where I worked with Ayuzhan on the Vaults, our constructs, and the Loom." Kulle said, to which he stepped through it and the pair followed after him, warping through space as they appeared in what appeared to be an old ruin that was similar to Kulle's Archives, only more smooth and light than the Archives, "A word of warning, there is a demon by the name of..."

Malphas. a voice said, where they found an older man standing in the middle of the chamber they teleported into, but his eyes seemed to be possessed by the powers of Hell, which meant that the one Kulle was going to warn them about was in control of the man, Kulle... you have returned, to the engine you abandoned... and you brought bodies for me to take over.

"Oh wonderful, a parasitic demon." Luna remarked, as this reminded her of Nightmare Moon, due to the fact that some of the ponies had gotten it into their heads that her dark side was actually a parasite she had been infected with while she was fighting the dangers of the night, which was the furthest from the truth, "Well, if that's all you're after, then come and get me."

Kulle wondered what Luna was doing and found that Malphas twisted Ayuzhan's face into a twisted smile, like he was going to take great pleasure by doing this, which was followed by a red mist surging out of his friend's body before rushing right for where Luna was standing. This confirmed one thing for Kulle, that Malphas didn't have the power to fully use the Loom's might against those who entered the Gatehall, otherwise he would have made constructs to fight them, or at least stun one or more of them so the demon could possess them. In the following moment Leah made her move, rushing in front of Luna as the mist slammed into her chest, though while Kulle was initially worried, since the girl was the only one who could use the Black Soulstone now that it had so many Lords of Hell sealed inside it, he found that his worry wasn't needed. Leah got up like nothing was wrong and it didn't seem like there was anything different about her, rather she seemed happy about something while he found that Ayuzhan seemed to fully regain himself over the next couple of seconds.

He wasn't totally sure what had happened, but it did look like Malphas had been beaten by something that Luna and Leah had prepared ahead of time, though when Leah turned to face him and Luna he found that she had a necklace, with a shard of a soulstone inside the setting, a red one that the demon had been trapped in.

"Well now, that is an interesting surprise. You had a shard of a soulstone." Kulle commented, though at the same time Luna did what she did best, she laid another of her seals on the crystal, forever binding Malphas to the shard, where he could see that the darkness that was the demon's taint was starting to fade away, banished with their master's downfall, "Ayuzhan, how are you feeling?"

"Groggy... or maybe like a puppet that's had it's strings severed." the older man said, who was also dressed like a mage, or at least some other magical force, before he glanced at the pair and focused on Luna for a moment, where Kulle chuckled as he found that Ayuzhan had the same glint in his eyes as when he first saw the alicorn upon his revival as a spirit, "Kulle, who is she and what's going on?"

"That, my friend, is Luna, an alicorn... there is a lot more than that, and there is too much going on for me to explain it all in a single setting." Kulle replied, that was the truth, he was learning as much as he could about Luna and yet there was always more to learn about her and her kind, both alicorns and the ponies of her home world, causing him to wonder if he would be able to learn everything about Equus and it's races, before he glanced around the area for a moment, "Looks like Malphas was using you to restore this place. Tell me, is the Loom operational, or do we need to repair it?"

Ayuzhan stood there for a moment, surprised that Kulle, the one who ran away when the demon infested this place in the first place, was actually talking about restoring and repairing the Loom, where he nodded and activated the portal frame that was nearby, allowing them to warp into the depths of the Gatehall. It was there that Kulle understood that he didn't ruin or even destroy the Loom when he left, the large orb with alchemical runes in the rings that floated around it was pristine, now free of the demonic corruption that had been attached to it. The Loom itself was floating over a large pit of lava, safely out of danger, and yet he could feel everything from here, his first masterpiece was operational, but there were things that they needed to fix, causing him to nod to Ayuzhan as they stood on the left and right portions of the edge. Such a thing allowed them to channel their magical energies into the orb, where only they, and they alone, fully understood how to use the orb and it's vast power, and yet he also nodded to Luna for a moment, who weaved a layer of her magic into the mix.

That caused a surge of energy to resonate throughout the Gatehall, along with the Vaults and connections that linked their entire system, Luna was ensuring that the entire system was protected from further corruption, adding a silvery color to the Loom itself, and in no time their work was done.

"You were right, Kulle: alone, it would have taken decades of hard work to repair the Loom... but together we were able to do it in mere minutes." Ayuzhan said, as he could feel that the Loom was restored, the magic and power that was in here was just like it had been when he and Kulle first succeeded in creating the orb, before he realized something, to confirm that the Loom was back at full power they had to make something, "We need to test it. What should we make?"

"Allow me." Kulle replied, where he held a hand out to Leah for a moment and she slipped the shard into his hand, causing him to channel the energy of the Loom into the center of the chamber, where Luna and Leah stepped to the side as they watched what happened next.

The power of the Loom was brought to life before their eyes, metal and components weaving together before their eyes to make what appeared to be a frame of a construct, one that looked like the Lacuni they had fought throughout Caldeum, but it also had bone armor. Luna could see that, even though it wasn't like what the clan in the deserts wore, rather it almost looked like the bones were part of the body and were coming out of certain parts like the arms and legs, though at the same time she knew Kulle was altering things to match his desires. Even Ayuzhan was surprised by this turn of events, no doubt due to the fact that they had likely made more peaceful constructs before Kulle created his guardians, and the mage added a pair of bone horns with some bone plating on the back. It was like he was making a demon, the claws on it's hands and feet were definitely made for combat, and while she could tell his creation was definitely a construct, she had witnessed it being made after all, part of it seemed almost natural, similar to a living person.

It was like a demonic Lacuni, maybe 'empowered' or even an 'ascended', and there seemed to be a slot inside the chest area, where Kulle slipped the shard into it before it disappeared into the core of the construct, where they watched as his creation came to life before their eyes.

"Malphas, can you hear me?" Kulle asked, because this was part of something that had come to him while he was watching Luna and Leah with their skills and listening to them talk, he wanted to see if there were demons that might turn against the forces of Hell, like the Mother of Sanctuary, Lilith, and this demon was a good first step.

"...Yes... I can." the demon construct replied, where they watched as the figure flexed it's hands and arms, shifted it's legs and claws, and even moved the tail that was attached to it, just like the species that it was based on, even though it was very clear that Malphas was surprised by this turn of events, "Kulle... what do you want?"

"We're gearing up for a war with Azmodan, the last Lord of Hell, and since you were expelled from Hell I was thinking of us coming to an arrangement." Kulle stated, where Luna smiled for a moment as she understood what Kulle was doing, he was gathering more allies and knew that a demon of Malphas' ability, to invade the Loom like he had done, would be a worthy ally in the days to come, especially since he might have information for them to use against Azmodan, "We have need of the information you possess, and when the time comes you can go to war with our army, fighting against the demons of Hell... and maybe the angels of Heaven, if Imperius ever decides to come at us... not only do you get revenge, but you get a body of your own, and maybe even a force of constructs to lead against the forces of Hell."

"So, I become a turncoat, a traitor to Hell, and get to take down some of Azmodan's forces? Sounds like fun." Malphas said, as the demon had stopped checking out it's body, or rather 'his' body, and it looked like he was ready to get to work, which was a testament to Kulle's skills in turning potential enemies into allies, especially since the demon had been cast out by the rest of his kind.

"You know, now I'm really glad I went to find uncle Deckard's locket... finding that soulstone shard really came in handy, even if it was in a way I wasn't expecting." Leah commented, though at the same time Luna nodded her head in agreement, that one shard had been what allowed them to take down a demon before it could really do anything, and Kulle turned that into an advantage by giving the demon that had been possessing his friend his own body.

"And with the Loom in our possession Kulle is going to start making an army of constructs." Luna said, watching the pair of mages interact with the reborn demon, who seemed pleased with this turn of events since Kulle had guessed what Malphas wanted and was giving him the means to have his revenge, "Azmodan is going to be surprised when we use this against him and his forces."

Leah nodded as they walked out of the core of the Gatehall with Kulle and their new allies, no doubt so they could begin to plan out what else needed to be done to find the last Lord of Hell, though Leah was eager for her training with Luna while she wondered what the coming days held in store for them and their allies.

Interlude: Mock Battle

The day following their venture into the Greathall, and restoring the Loom while gaining new allies, the group headed out into the desert that was beyond where Caldeum rested, the very area they had moved through while they were hunting down Maghda, before Luna stopped them.

"What are we doing out here? We should be inside the city, checking the archives for clues as to where Azmodan might be hiding." Adria asked, because she knew their time would be better spent focusing on the last Lord of Hell and the end of the quest that many of them had been working towards, especially since they were so close with Belial's death, so she was hoping there was a good reason for this delay.

"Luna and Leah are going to train, and this is the best area to do so. Nice and open with little to get in the way." Kormac stated, as he and the others of the group had seen this during their journey to Caldeum, the pair had trained many times over the course of the journey and it always ended with Leah learning more, thus becoming the skilled magic user she was right now, even if she mainly focused on arrows.

"Indeed, plus barriers to keep all of you safe and to avoid breaking the entire area." Luna added, where Adria found that the figure was right, her magic washed over the area and formed a large circular zone or area for their training to take place in, all while another area formed around her and the others, meaning that the observers would be safe from this.

Leah stood off to the side for a moment, as she could tell that this training session was going to be different than the others, she couldn't place her finger on what that difference might be but she could sure tell that Luna was going to change things up on her, especially as Luna set Ashbringer to the side while drawing a spear she had Haedrig make.

"Really? You don't want to use Ashbringer this time?" Leah asked, as she was so used to Luna using the greatsword during all of her battles and during all of their training sessions, but she also knew that part of her training was to adapt to whatever Luna used against her, and this discovery meant she might be having a more balanced session, instead of one with a core lesson like she was used to.

"I don't want to overwhelm you this time." Luna replied, where she stepped off to the side as Leah followed her, keeping her distance from her since it allowed her more time to see what Luna was doing and plan accordingly, while at the same time she casually spun the spear around while they walked, though Leah found magic dancing around the head of the weapon, a sign that their training was about to begin, "There will be no theme for this session, just do what you feel is right, be it going on the defensive or going on the offensive. Now then, here I come."

Adria and the others watched as magic flared to life around the head of Luna's spear, which she grabbed with both hands like it was just a staff, before she rushed forward at speeds that were on par with what she used to bring down Belial, which told her that the session was over without Leah being able to do anything. What happened next, however, was that Leah held out her hand as she accessed her own magical energy, creating a magical shield in front of her, covering a wide enough area so the head of the weapon couldn't slip through her defenses. Luna smiled and shifted her stance for a moment as she delivered multiple thrusts with the magical head of her spear, where the others found that Leah did the same, she held out her other hand and copied her barrier spell, creating a larger shield in front of her without wasting time. Adria was stunned, as she really didn't think Leah had been taught all that much by Luna, just enough to let her daughter fight on the battlefield, and yet here she was, going toe to hoof with a being that was clearly holding back for her benefit.

Leah shifted her stance and went on the offensive, using her magical shields to protect herself, as when Luna attacked from the left she used a barrier there and when Luna tried right the right the same was repeated, the shock of their collisions making the ground around them shake in the process.

"She's stronger than I thought." Adria commented, though at the same time Leah gathered flames into her right hand, using the left to keep a barrier up, before thrusting her hand towards Luna's chest as she fired off a powerful fireball, one that had the side effect of breaking through the barrier Luna was using and pushed her back, but that worried Adria since it meant her plan might actually be in danger.

"Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet." Lyndon remarked, as he had gotten used to this, since the day he encountered the group that came to be his friends, it was odd for him to see them that way, but the training and everything was nothing new to him and the others, in fact they were waiting for things to reach the next level, especially since Leah was constantly growing her powers.

"Your reflexes have improved. Good, let's kick things up a notch." Luna stated, spinning the spear around like it was simply a staff and nothing else, where the others could see that there was some magic lingering on the head, before she brought the base down on the ground below her, causing the ground to shake for a moment as everyone braced themselves.

Adria found that a surge of earth erupted from the ground, spikes that were reaching for Leah like they were enemies on the battlefield, an attack that seemed designed to actually bring an end to the lesson and not give her foe a chance to react, as that was how she saw it. What surprised her, however, was the fact that Leah seemed to anticipate Luna's attack and leapt into the air, she was actually above them and the spikes, where she channeled her power into her flaming bow before she let a flaming arrow fly down into the cluster. Such a thing was followed by the arrow blasting the entirety of Luna's attack into bits, rocks flying everywhere based on what she was seeing, yet the barrier kept them safe and sound, allowing them to watch the 'training' that was going on, as Adria was starting to this as more of a 'mock battle'. Luna, on the other hand, was pleased by this turn of events as she spun her spear around to clear up the smoke that came from the explosion, though as that happened Leah used her magic to grab a nearby boulder and hurled it at Luna, forcing her to swing the weapon and let the tip blow the boulder into fragments.

Leah, however, had been expecting that as she did something dangerous, she used two elements at the same time, fire and water since she had two arrows, and when she let them fly they merged into a shimmering arrow that raced through the air, blasting a two person sized crater into the ground as Luna avoided it.

Luna was smiling as she landed nearby, as letting Leah come with her and the others continued to bear great fruit, mostly in the sense of allowing Leah to get over the obstacles that happened to be in her way, letting her manipulate the other types of magic they had worked on before reaching Caldeum. This meant Leah was definitely stronger than before, and she had a feeling that keeping track of the Black Soulstone, and the souls of the six slain Lords of Hell, was allowing her to expand her powers as well, hence the sudden growth spurt they were seeing. That wasn't the only thing Leah did, rather while Luna was clearing out this latest attack Leah held her hand out and lightning crackled, forming seven thin pillars around the area that her friend and mentor was standing in, before the energy turned into lightning bows with lightning arrows. Luna couldn't help but smile as she witnessed this, because it showed her that Leah was thinking ahead, using her magic in unique ways while observing her for tips and tricks, and it meant that she would be formidable when the time came to fight the forces of Azmodan.

In the following moment the arrows came rushing at her, the bows themselves being pulled into the arrows when they were loosed, where Luna spun around and parried each of them before they struck her, even though it broke the head of the spear in the process, before a light flashed as Leah started to replicate one of her moves, since she was holding her sword in her extended right hand.

"Really? You want to use the condensed mana wave?" Luna remarked, where she held her hand out and Ashbringer came to her, in a matter of seconds, allowing her to spin it around for a moment as the air shook as magic surged out of the blade, just like she had done when she attacked Belial, only this one was less powerful to match Leah's attack, "Very well, let's see if you can handle such an attack."

Luna found that Leah's attack was red colored, just like most of her magic, a fact that caused many to wonder if her demon side was stronger than her angel side, especially with her tail, but this only excited Luna as she found that Leah's energy, while struggling to maintain it's form, was definitely powerful. It was clear that she wasn't used to this type of attack, since her lessons hadn't covered such a thing, but Leah still had enough control to maintain the core of the wave, where it's power rested, which was still interesting to see as Luna stared at her. In the following moment both of them swung their weapons, Leah's imperfect red wave crashing into Luna's perfect lunar wave, though Luna couldn't help but grin as she found that the lesser one was holding it's ground as the two struggled in the air for a time. As she thought about that, however, Leah did something Luna wasn't expecting her to do, she shifted her stance and then loosed a second wave into the back of the first one, creating a cross that smashed through the weak wave Luna had sent her way, surprising those that were watching them train right now.

She was proud of Leah, she was using her mind when it came to training with her, coming up with attacks and moves that a novice wouldn't normally use, but she held her empty hand out and let the cross wave collide with her palm, allowing her to shatter it instantly, blasting the ground around her as a crater formed in front of her, and in the next she rushed Leah with her faster speed, knocking her to the ground in a second.

"Okay, okay, I yield." Leah remarked, though she couldn't help but smile as she looked up at Luna, her girlfriend was simply the best person she could ask for when it came to training, there was so much for her to learn and every time she thought she was catching up to her the more she realized just how much Luna had to share with her.

"You did well... honestly, I never thought of stacking energy waves like that. Keep at it and you'll have a perfect energy wave in no time." Luna said, where her smile was still on her face, Leah was a fast learner, much like Twilight was, and she knew it would benefit her when the main event finally arrived, their battle with Azmodan, though that was when she put her blade on her back and held a hand out, allowing her to help Leah onto her feet, "That's good enough for one day. Why don't we head back to the camp, get some rest, and recharge before we try to track down the last Lord of Hell?"

As Leah admitted that she liked the idea, however, Adria tried to keep her emotions in check as she realized that this was a major blow to everything she had been planning, forcing her to think of new ways to achieve her own goal, all while she had to wonder what the future held in store for them.

Interlude: Leah's Discovery

Following the training session with Luna, which had been incredibly interesting, Leah focused on seeing what was inside the archives of Caldeum, as somewhere in there likely existed the key to figuring out where Azmodan was hiding or where he was planning on striking first. There were a lot of tomes in the archives, that much she could see as she entered the portion of the city that held all of the information, complete with candles to light the way, where she set down both her uncle's tome and the Black Soulstone while she worked. Kulle was in the middle of making a new army of constructs, so they hadn't see him since the training session, otherwise she was sure he'd be here with her, helping her track down the enemy that they wanted to kill so they could finally cripple the forces of Hell. Leah also knew that her mother was doing everything she could to track down their foe in her own way, especially since she had been at this for a long time, while Luna and the others were keeping an eye out for more demons or troubles to vanquish.

As it turned out there was an endless amount of material to go through, but at the same time she was struggling to find any useful information on the demon they were hunting, none of the tomes and scrolls had anything that would tell her where they could find Azmodan, nor what his intentions were, or how he'd react to the deaths of his kin.

"I could spend my entire life in here and not get any closer to understanding where Azmodan is hiding, and by that point I'm sure he would have sprung his hand." Leah remarked, taking a moment to sigh as she set her quill down on top of the ink well that was resting off to the side, where she accepted the cup that Luna offered her, since she had come to check up on her and make sure she was getting the proper amount of rest, allowing her to drink some water, "Luna, what do you think about this?"

"Well, from what I've learned each of the Evils, both Lesser and Greater, seem to desire hosts, since a Nephalem's body, even a 'normal humans', is the best thing to hold their power." Luna replied, where she sat nearby and stared at the black gem that Kulle had created, as if she was staring at the six Lords of Hell that were contained inside it, going over each body that the Evils had stolen when they wanted to wear a mortal guise for various reasons, "Realistically I can use Azmodan going with one of two options: first, he does what the others have gone and is hiding somewhere in Sanctuary, amassing an army under the pretense of defeating a rival clan, city, or nation. The second option is that he's in Hell, building his army, and that he'll likely open one of the 'Gates' that was mentioned in Deckard's tome, the doors between the seven realms of Hell and Sanctuary... like how the Gate to the Realm of Hatred is located in the depths of this palace."

"Wouldn't Belial have been nervous being so close to Mephisto's domain?" Leah asked, as she knew Luna had read the book while they traveled to this city, during their time off, because having multiple people who knew what was inside it meant there were more considering every angle to this series of events.

"Sure, if Mephisto was alive. Since the Lord of Hatred was dead I imagine Belial was perfectly fine since he wasn't in danger of Hatred's Gate opening on him." Luna answered, it made the most sense to her, even though she knew that Cain had a few theories as to where the other Gates could be located and where their keys, actual demonic keys that could unlock each one, might be located, like how Mephisto's Gate was below Caldeum and Hatred's Key was with Rathma, "Though he theorized that a Gate could be destroyed, but to do so one of the Evils had to do it, and the Gate would reform in time... so Azmodan could potentially destroy his own Gate and invade Sanctuary in a moment's notice."

"Hell is so confusing... seven Gates, seven Keys, each missing in some manner." Leah said, letting out a sigh as she leaned back in her chair for a moment, staring at the Black Soulstone while she did so, as there was something on her mind and was curious about the gem, but for now she liked to talk with Luna since the alicorn had all sorts of experience to use while her insight might aid them in some manner, "Did uncle Deckard say where the Gate of Sin was located?"

"He theorized that the Gate was near or inside Mount Arreat, and the Key of Sin was in Westmarch." Luna replied, causing Leah to sigh again while they sat there, thinking about the information they had in the Horadrim tome and the notes that Cain had made before his demise, while she joined Leah in staring at the Black Soulstone for a time, "I wonder... your power allowed you to seal the Lord of Lies inside the soulstone... do you think you can use my seal to tap into their knowledge and see if they know where Azmodan might strike from?"

Leah considered that option for a few moments, it was crazy and potentially dangerous, but tapping into the demonic power could be the only way they figured out where their foe was hiding, causing her to nod as Luna lifted the Black Soulstone and placed it on a stool that was about level with Leah. With that done she sat behind Leah as Leah closed her eyes and focused on the gem that rested in front of her, allowing her to draw on her powers once more, though this time she was trying to use a power her mother was said to have, the power to see things, a power Leah had used without meaning to when she was a little girl. Luna's presence was soothing, allowing her to focus more sharply than she intended, because in the next moment she felt her soul, or a piece of her, being drawn into an imaginary place, a vision of sorts that was coming from another place, that much she could tell as her eyes snapped open. It was like she was in two places now, her vision self standing in a large underground chamber that looked like an ancient tomb with seven tall thrones, the center one the highest of them all, and only the tallest was empty as she found six ghostly figures sitting on the other six, the slain Lords of Hell, as she felt bits of hatred, pain, anguish, lies, destruction, and terror from them.

As she considered that the smoke took form as something massive landed in front of her, where Leah found a four eyed demon materializing in front of her, a sort of crab demon, due to the four legs it had that seemed crab-like, that was large, fat, had jagged teeth, and felt similar to Belial.

You thought you were so clever... that you had outwitted us all. Azmodan said, his voice commanding despite the fact that this was a vision, in fact Leah could tell that he wanted her to know something by the time they were done talking, and as he pulled himself to his full height she found that he seemed to be the same size as the Butcher, an imposing demon who served as the general of Hell's armies, One by one, our brethren fell into your trap... but not me. I defy you!

As Azmodan said that he struck the ground and the cavern shattered around Leah, where one wall broke and revealed what appeared to be Mount Arreat in the distance, a volcanic mountain that matched the descriptions she had read about it, but she showed no fear as she looked at the vision of the last Lord of Sin.

I know the Black Soulstone is the key, and I shall have it. Azmodan stated, confirming that he wanted Kulle's gemstone at all costs, while at the same time an army of demons started to pour out of the vision of Arreat, Hell's armies were on the move, though while this was designed to install fear into someone Leah just smiled, as this would be a field day for Luna when they got to the battlefield, Soon my armies shall pour forth from the shattered mountain, and they will ravage this world and destroy all hope of resistance as they seek the Black Soulstone... you won't be able to hide it, brother. Soon I, Azmodan, will be the Prime Evil!

"Brother? You really think that I'm Diablo reborn?" Leah remarked, because that was hilarious, that a Lord of Hell thought she was one of them, enough to confused the demonic side of her with the essence of a slain Evil, though at the same time Azmodan paused as he realized that this was a two way communication, which she likely had to thank Luna for since she training had allowed such a thing, "I defy you, Azmodan! You will die, just like the rest of your kin, and then the forces of Hell will be crippled at long last."

As Azmodan realized that he was being threatened Leah held her hand out and summoned a phantom version of her sword, where she swung it and sent a wave of energy that crashed into the vision, allowing her to sunder the vision as the Lord of Sin howled in pain, like she had wounded him, before she breathed a sigh of relief as she returned to the waking world.

"Leah? Are you all right?" Luna asked, as there had been a surge of magic for a moment before she felt the connection that was established between Leah and the seal being sundered, so she was worried that something had gone wrong, hence why she was happy to see that her girlfriend seemed to be just fine.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. More importantly, your idea worked." Leah replied, where she got up and carefully returned the Black Soulstone to where she kept it, the bag that she carried with her since they recovered the item, before she collected her uncle's tome and beckoned for Luna to follow.

Luna followed as they made their way back to the hidden camp, where they eventually discovered that their friends were gathered and seemed to be getting bored of waiting around, plus Kulle had returned as well, no doubt to get an update so he knew where to deploy his army when the time finally came.

"Leah, you and Luna must have discovered something based on the smiles on your faces." Kulle commented, which meant they must have been successful, one or both of them must have uncovered where Azmodan was hiding, something that was followed by everyone else gathering around to hear what sort of information they had discovered, "Don't keep us waiting. Where is the Lord of Sin hiding?"

"Mount Arreat. Luna suggested that I use my power to tap into the lunar seal she placed on the Black Soulstone, and when I did I had a vision, and Azmodan was waiting for me." Leah stated, something that caused everyone to stop what they were doing and give her their full attention, because she was about to tell them where they were going, even if it meant going to war, and she knew that was what they would be doing, especially given Kulle's preparations, "He told me that his armies will be marching out of the shattered mountain soon, meaning he'll be heading for Bastion's Keep before coming to find me and the Black Soulstone so he can become the Prime Evil."

"He must have shattered his Gate... Belial's death must have forced his hand." Tyrael said, as he knew about the Gates, in fact all five of the Archangels knew and very few of the lower ranking angels, such as Inarius, had been told of their presence, causing him to realize that this was bad news for everyone if he was freely able to let his forces march out of Hell, "We had best hurry to Bastion's Keep. Luna, can you fly ahead and then open a portal or something for us to use to catch up with you?"

"No need. Part of the Loom's domain rests below that area, so I can bring your caravan out near the safe side of Bastion's Keep, then bring in my construct army later." Kulle replied, where he floated into the air and beckoned for them to move, as time was wasting now that they knew where Azmodan was striking from, something that caused Luna, Leah, and the others to start moving as many realized that he was being serious, "Come, the fate of Sanctuary hangs in the balance!"

Luna and Leah climbed onto their carriage, made sure it was ready to go, and then followed after Kulle once more, though both of them were eager to surprise Azmodan and bring an end to his plans at long last, and to finally save Sanctuary from the forces of the Burning Hells at long last, and Luna wouldn't stop until that was made a reality.

Bastion's Keep: Salvation has Arrived

True to Kulle's statement the group found that there was a gate in the Greathall that would bring them to the edge of the area that Bastion's Keep was located in, an area known as the Dreadlands, and when they used it Luna found that the whole caravan was warped to an area to the south of the keep. With that in mind they continued to the north as Kulle retreated to the Greathall and to the Loom, no doubt to put the finishing touches on his part of things, while Luna flew ahead to see what sort of chaos they were dealing with. In that moment she found a large army of demons marching south from Arreat Crater, where a demonic citadel or command center was resting in the core of the crater, which was where Azmodan was waiting, she could practically feel him from here. Bastion's Keep was large and prepared to deal with other assaults, but clearly the army of demons was making them reconsider their options, or even their ability to survive this ordeal, especially since she could see all sorts of siege weapons being made on the demon's side.

With that in mind she returned to the others and they moved the caravan through the south gate, allowing them to make their way to the center of Bastion's Keep, where most of the soldiers were gathering with some protecting the innocents that had come here for safety, while Luna and Leah joined Tyrael on one of the watchtowers.

"Azmodan has definitely shattered his Gate... there are too many demons here for him to have just left it open." Tyrael said, as this confirmed a fear he had been having since Leah uncovered where their foe would be attacking them from, that the Lord of Sin was bringing everything he had in his domain to attack the defenders of Sanctuary, "Thanks to Kulle's actions we arrived before the main portion of his assault force has reached the walls, but they'll be here in no time... we must light the braziers and let the defenders know that salvation has arrived."

"Before that, I have something to do." Luna stated, where she gathered her magic for a moment before placing her hands on the stones below her, causing Tyrael and Leah to watch as her power spilled over the walls and fortifications of Bastion's Keep, as in all of it as Leah observed it happen, like a shimmering wall that rested in front of the keep, before she let out a breath as she stood up, "There, area secure."

"Do I want to know?" Tyrael inquired, because when it came to the alicorn he had realized that trying to understand them was a difficult task, as Luna's magical power was far more than he had assumed and knew she had more hidden away in her reserves, especially since she didn't look winded in the slightest.

"She used her magic to place a barrier on the walls of the keep and below the structure... like a bowl." Leah said, as she took her magical studies seriously and knew what Luna had done by just watching her, even though it was staggering to see her use that much magic and not be worried in the slightest, "Looks like the only way for a demon to enter is by coming over the barrier... interestingly enough this also means our siege weapons can be used against Azmodan's forces."

"Indeed, meaning we must spread word to the soldiers of the keep, while Kormac and the others lead the defenses in doing what they can to hold the demons back." Luna remarked, though at the same time she glanced out at the horde of demons that were coming towards the keep, confirming that Kulle's method had allowed them to get here before Azmodan's forces had a chance to get into position, before she glanced at Leah for a moment, "Leah, darling, shall we get started?"

Leah nodded for a moment as she raised her hand, summoning her magical bow once more, before readying one of her flaming arrows, where Tyrael watched as she pulled the flaming string back before loosing the arrow into the air, almost as if she was setting off a beacon of sorts. In the next moment he was proven wrong as the arrow burst into a volley before they rained down on the demons, striking her targets in the head and knocking them down without delay, and yet he could see that none of them got back up. Despite having seen her and Luna fight previously Tyrael was still surprised by her control over her power, even if it was demonic to a degree, something that made him wonder how skilled she might be in the near future, once they were done with the Lords of Hell and brought peace to Sanctuary. As that happened he could see that the soldiers guarding the walls of Bastion's Keep were surprised by the sudden assault on the incoming demons and seemed to be confused as to what was even going on right now, which was understandable given what was going on.

In the following seconds Luna took to the air and spread her wings, allowing her to basically float there as she looked out at the demonic host that was marching towards the keep, full of warrior demons, flying scavengers, the small fallen, a number of dervish demons, demonic worms that doubled as siege beasts, and many others.

"Soldiers of Bastion's Keep, hear me: the last Lord of Hell seeks to take your lives and destroy your homes, but we are here to stand in defiance to his wishes, and we are backed by Tyrael himself!" Luna shouted, her voice echoing all over the keep, a fact that caused Tyrael to hear that people were starting to chat his name as the soldiers seemed to understand that this was a battle for the fate of their home and for Hell itself, "Man the battlements and turn our siege weapons on the demons, while keeping the demons from entering the keep! For Sanctuary!"

Tyrael found that this was a rallying cry for the people of Bastion's Keep, they understood that Luna's usage of 'last Lord of Hell' meant six of the seven Evils were dead and that killing Azmodan meant no more problems in the future, causing them to set fire to the various braziers around the keep's walls. Sure enough he found that the siege worm demons tried to attack the walls and failed, they bounced off the barrier that Luna had set up and she just smiled as she saw it, especially since one fell back before spewing demons out of it's mouth, indicating that it was good to stop them from reaching the top of the walls. While that happened he also discovered that the soldiers started to turn the cranks all over the walls, raising their own siege weapons up out of the keep so they could be turned on the demonic army, where the fact that he was present was just a boost for them, a kick in the rear to get them started. In addition to that the ranged soldiers focused on ballista and other ranged weapons that existed on the walls, taking aim at the demons while all of the archers rained death on the flying foes that were coming at them, something that caused him to chuckle for a few seconds.

He had assumed that things were going to be bleak and full of despair, that they were going to arrive in the middle of the demons' assault on the keep, and yet he couldn't be further from the truth, Kulle had gotten them here before Azmodan had a chance to start the assault while Luna had provided them with the means to hold the demons back.

"She's right. Salvation has arrived!" Tyrael said, readying his sword for a moment as he realized that it was time to kill more demons, this time potentially opening the way for the total destabilization of Hell once the Evils were finally destroyed, to which he nodded to Leah for a moment before the girl paused, pointing out at an area that was to the right of the keep, as Kulle was floating there, "Come on, Kulle, uphold your end of things."

"Awaken my construct army, and tear down the forces of Hell!" Kulle stated, where they found that he amplified his voice so that everyone could hear him speak, though the area behind him shook for a moment before a number of large gates, like the ones from his Archives, opened behind him as the mage stood at the ready.

Tyrael knew that Kulle had been busy building a new army of constructs and outfitting the ones that were still active, but the sheer amount of them was stunning since it looked like a second army was marching out of the portals, metallic spiders, wasps, and literally every type of demon they had seen, all made of metal. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of constructs emerging from the portals, especially when he laid eyes on Malphas' new form, the fearsome form that was like a demon despite being a form that the lacuni of Nahantu could take on. In addition to that there were a group of constructs that were different from the others, one seemed like a heavily armored knight, another a skinny magical being, another was a large figure that seemed to be an icy beast with a greatsword and wings, and the fourth was a elemental type creature that had the power of fire. They were like generals, making five when he considered Malphas, and once the army was in position Kulle sent the constructs down into the side of the demonic army, where he and the others watched as they tore through their foes and blasted the demons with their elemental powers.

As Tyrael watched this, and came to terms with the fact that Kulle really was on Sanctuary's side and that it had been wrong for the Horadrim to put him down, Luna picked up Leah and him before flying them down to the front lines, allowing him to join Kormac and the others in defending the main gate while she and Leah moved forward.

"Azmodan will no doubt be worried about his chances, given our combined forces." Leah commented, though she did have to worry that the last Lord of Hell might try to open the other six Gates from his side, to spread the full might of Hell around the rest of Sanctuary to divide their forces, or maybe bring them together in the crater, meaning they had to be fast before something terrible happened, before the ground shook, "And it looks like one of the big guns is coming to us."

"I am Ghom, Lord of Gluttony!" the incoming demon stated, where they found that it was larger than even Azmodan, Leah could tell that sort of thing since she had seen the Lord of Sin in her vision, where the demon had a mouth in the middle of his stomach and likely had a few more they couldn't see, plus he had a fat figure and seemed to be eager to feast on those who had been slain, "And you two shall be my first appetizers!"

"Right, Azmodan was said to have six 'Sin Lieutenants': Ghom for Gluttony, Cydaea for Lust, Vidian for Envy, Bholen for Sloth, Greed for Greed, and Zaboul for Wrath... he, himself, was Pride." Luna remarked, as she had read about the information that Deckard had on all of the Evils and their forces, because each one had their own set of Lieutenants, or whatever they called their main followers, and Azmodan, being the leader of his forces, was Pride itself, but if she was being honest she was more interested in the Lord of Wrath, not Gluttony, "Leah, you may fire when ready."

Leah nodded as she raised her bow, which was when Ghom noticed that she had already formed an arrow and readied it as they were talking, and she loosed it before the demon had a chance to move out of the way, allowing the flaming arrow to pierce his chest without delay as it left a smouldering hole, causing the demon to collapse.

"One sin down, six more to go... honestly, I'm hoping for something tougher." Leah said, because she had also grown to be a good warrior and sometimes she acted a lot like Luna, wanting a better challenger while holding back from time to time so things weren't too easy, before she sighed as she focused on the army that was in front of them, "Let's do this."

Luna nodded as she and Leah stepped forward, ready to brave the dangers of the Dreadlands and the demonic army that stood between them and the Lord of Sin, because it was time to put an end to the Lords of Hell, and Luna was looking forward to the fights to come.

Bastion's Keep: Breaking the Siege

As soon as Luna and Leah stepped out into the demon infested portion of the Dreadlands, where Azmodan's forces were clearly readying siege weapons while more were on their way out of where his shattered Gate had once rested, they found that the demons were upon them. Luna, again, took on the role of tank as she swung Ashbringer around and slashed her way through the foul demonic warriors that were coming their way, doing what she could to dodge attacks while keeping herself safe, since there was no telling with the demons. At the same time Leah continued to provide support as she used her bow and loosed elemental arrows at her targets, making sure to blow up groups of demons before they got close while also using seemingly normal projectiles to eliminate those that Luna missed, which wasn't very often. It was clear, to those that knew them, that their training allowed them to work like a team, knowing how each moved and when to cover for the other, plus the constant growth Leah showcased meant she was able to tackle more and more foes at a time.

Such a thing caused Luna to chuckle as she swung her weapon around and took down another demon by removing it's head before it could react, before lobbing a ball of magic into the heart of another group and blinded them a little, opening the way for Leah to loose a volley into their chests.

"What's so funny?" Leah asked, stopping by Luna's side as she loosed another pair of basic magical arrows into the chest of a demon that was coming their way, dropping it to the ground as Luna blasted a trio of flying demons with her magic, which was another reason why they worked so well together, they were always keeping each other safe.

"Nothing, just... I'm proud of how far you've come, in such a short period of time." Luna replied, which was the truth, Leah's growth made her a formidable warrior in her own right and she was sure that she would be able to fully master her powers in no time, though in the following moments a beam of fire energy tore through several demons to their right, coming from the direction of Bastion's Keep.

"The Nephalem have arrived." Valla stated, loosing some of her seeker bolts into the air as they slammed into the heads of several demons, tore through them, and then snaked over to one of the other ones, while at the same time Li-Ming froze a few more of their enemies as Sonya smashed through them with her battleaxe, "I know you two wanted to be alone, but we figured that we'd even the odds: eight Nephalem, the seven of us and Leah, plus an all powerful alicorn, against an endless army of demons from Hell."

"Kormac and the others are defending the Keep, under my orders." another voice said, where they found Tyrael walking up to them, though he parried an incoming blow from another demon before splitting it in half, reminding them that he was still a great warrior, even in his mortal form, before he looked at the demon infested field that rested between their location and where Azmodan was hiding, "I failed to kill Azmodan once, I will not make that mistake again."

"Okay, then our first order of business is to destroy the siege engines the demons are creating... I'm counting three large ballistae and a single massive trebuchet." Luna remarked, though at the same time she found that everyone was serious, as in they were willing to sacrifice themselves to secure the safety of Sanctuary, but right now this was war and she wasn't going to tell them to stand down, especially since there wasn't much for them to do with Kulle's army fighting near the north gate of the Keep, "Once their weapons are dealt with we can cross the great bridge and reach the edge of Azmodan's area, which will allow us to invade Hell at long last."

The group nodded without delay as they charged after her, magic and voodoo flaying into the faces of the demons in front of them as everyone separated into three groups, three were heading for the ballista off to the east, three were headed for the one to the north of them, and three were targeting the one to the west. This left Luna as the odd one out, which was fine with her since that meant she could take to the air and weave her magic into magical shields that she intended on using to block the incoming attacks, to give the others enough time to break the siege weapons. Sure enough she found that many of the demons were focused on the Nephalem, all of them, and yet it gave her a good view of their abilities since she hadn't fought by their side much, Luna had essentially forgotten about them for the most part. Valla was excellent in sniping each of her targets in the head and using the shadows to hurt her foes, Sonya just ripped and tore through the gore, Li-Ming used fire and ice to destroy those that got near while lightning was reserved for others, while Nazeebo, Johanna, and Khazarim tore through their foes with voodoo, fists, and the light.

Kara, the necromancer, used her necromancy to raise the fallen into serving her, though it was hard to see if they were those who had been slain recently or the ancient dead, maybe it was a combination of both, but that really didn't matter much as the undead tore through their foes as she wounded her enemies with bone magic.

With their powers combined with Tyrael's might and Leah's potential, plus Luna's own, it wasn't long before the first group tore down the ballista they were fighting towards, shattering the metallic structure and causing it to fall on some demons in the process, crushing those unfortunate enough to be there in the process. As that happened Luna swung her shield around and blocked another volley from the remaining siege weapons, as she could see the demons now gathering around them to protect them from the invading force, a small group that the demons weren't ready for. She simply smiled as the eastern group tore through all of the demons that were in their way and shattered their ballista as if it didn't matter in the slightest, once more demonstrating just how strong a single Nephalem was, even if this was a watered down version, and multiple Nephalem were just making short work of their enemies. The northern group wasted no time in following the lead of their allies, crushing and obliterating the third siege weapon before it could be used against Bastion's Keep, and once they were all done with their duties Luna pulled her magic into a spear and hurled it at the trebuchet, blasting it into oblivion before the demons could use it again.

"It would seem that I was mistaken in believing that only a single Nephalem had awakened during this time of crisis." Tyrael remarked, as he had been sure that Leah was the only one, she certainly seemed like it when he observed her training with Luna, and Luna herself was a special case, but after fighting beside the group for a short while he was starting to see that there were far more Nephalem than he initially realized, before noticing that more demons were gathering, "Well then, shall we continue our battle?"

"Of course. We have a Lord of Hell to slay, after all." Luna stated, though in the following moments she found two powerful demons marching towards them, or rather one seemed to be marching and one seemed to be focused on hanging off one of the support structures for the bridge that connected to the edge of where Azmodan's Gate had been resting, "Looks like we've got Bholen and Zaboul coming our way."

Bholen was like a demonic sloth, which was why he had been picked to be the Sin Lieutenant of Sloth, while Zaboul was far taller and more imposing, he was almost as tall as Ghom, was decked out in powerful demonic armor that was a mix of red colors and what could be bronze, and carried a battleaxe that looked like a demonic butchers cleaver. Luna grinned as she stepped forward, leaving Bholen to the others since he seemed like a boring foe, where she spun Ashbringer for a couple of seconds before lashing out at the large demon, who swung his weapon down at her and the two collided in the space that was between them. The collision of their weapons and energies caused the air and ground to shake instantly, where Luna let the smile remain on her face as she realized that the Lord of Wrath was definitely stronger than Ghom had been before Leah took him out, and she could feel the wrath radiating from his battleaxe. Luna and Zaboul clashed with each other again and again, their blades colliding with each other over and over again, while at the same time Leah wounded Bholen so the others could cut him down, totally ignoring the aura of slowness he cast on them, where she nodded and let them start across the bridge that was their destination.

Following that she and the demon started to move around the battlefield, their weapons clashing with each other as both of their energies collided, causing the ground to shake and crack while they danced, because this reminded her of the Butcher a little, only she was able to enjoy having a tougher opponent. It wasn't long before they were fighting on the edge of the chasm that the bridge had been built to cross, where Luna could see that there was a horde of demons marching across it, a fact she wasn't even surprised by, nor did she have to worry about it since Leah and her companions were tearing through all of their enemies. Her focus was on Zaboul, who wasn't even saying anything despite the smile that was on his face right now, he was enjoying the fight as well, and while he might be frustrated that Ashbringer was holding it's own against his own weapon, it wasn't even nicked in the slightest, that was overshadowed by facing a skilled opponent. They even crashed into a part of the bridge that Leah's group had passed through previously, where Luna shifted her stance and pushed the battleaxe back before slashing open the demon's chest, something that caused Zaboul to smile as he fell to his knees.

"You... were a worthy challenger. I look forward to facing you again." Zaboul stated, reminding Luna of the fact that demons couldn't really die, they were merely displaced before reforming in their realm of Hell, rather according to Deckard's tome one had to kill a demon near the 'Black Abyss' or contain their soul in a soulstone and then shatter it upon a hellforge to send the to the former.

"Same. You were a good opponent, Zaboul." Luna replied, where the moment the demon smiled and surrendered she took his head, she would have dishonored him as a warrior had she left him alive, plus in a war there was no way they could let such a powerful demon loose since he might attack the Keep while they went after Azmodan, but once that was done she took the battleaxe and flew through the air to catch up to Leah's group.

She found that they were fighting in front of the main gate that would lead them into Hell, facing off against a large demon that was wearing armor forged for battle, a massive four-legged demon that seemed to be designed to turn the tide of battle in an instant, and yet Luna found that her presence was unnecessary. Sonya and Johanna were tanking the blows while also keeping it's attention on them, while Li-Ming, Nazeebo, and Valla assaulted it from afar with their powers, leaving Kharazim and Kara to attack it with all their might in whatever way they saw fit. Tyrael moved around the battlefield and slashed at the demon, using his knowledge of it to his advantage, while at the same time Leah rushed from point to point, never stopping in one place for more than a few moments as she loosed elemental arrows at the demon. Luna simply smiled as they, as a team, brought down the siege beast and slew it, allowing Leah to huff for a moment before she blasted open the gate that lead into Azmodan's realm of Hell, causing Luna to land beside her and pat her on the head.

"Well done, everyone. Now, let us descend into Hell and bring an end to this madness." Luna said, though she did hand over Zaboul's battleaxe to Sonya, she looked like she could handle such a weapon, before turning towards the path that would lead them towards their final target and the end of this assault.

Leah nodded as she and the others followed Luna into Hell, as she was looking forward to facing Azmodan, sealing him in the Black Soulstone, and then shattering that stone to end the Lords of Hell, all so they could bring peace to Sanctuary, and it made her eager to see what might happen in the next few hours.

Bastion's Keep: Into Azmodan's Realm

With the siege beast taken care of, and they were sure there were no more enemies in the immediate area for them to deal with, Luna and her friends descended down the path that happened to be behind the fallen beast and found that it brought them into Azmodan's domain. As Luna expected Hell was filled with burned and cracked ground for them to walk on, with flames dancing all around the place, though in the distance there were demonic spires that crackled with demonic power, in fact she was sure they could hear heartbeats from them. From what they could see it appeared that the path leading into the depths of this portion of Hell was like a maze, or at least branching paths that mostly ended in dead ends with a single one being the one they needed to take to reach their target. She knew that this was the end of their journey, six Lords of Hell now resided in the Black Soulstone and the last one was within their reach, and soon Sanctuary would be safe once his soul was trapped inside it as well.

Once that was done it would be a matter of figuring out how to actually break the Black Soulstone in a way that made sure the souls of the seven Lords of Hell were forever destroyed, unable to come back for real, but for now her focus was on the task at hand as she readied her weapon once more.

"It would seem that Azmodan has pulled out all the stops, if he's pulled a few Sin Hearts out." Tyrael commented, though none of them were surprised that he had knowledge that could be of use to them, he was the most familiar with the forces of Hell, which was why they braced themselves while listening to his explanation on what they were hearing, "They are the demonic spires you are seeing, with enormous hearts inside their cores, which empower and strengthen Azmodan's forces... I imagine our success has forced his hand, and that this will be the last obstacle for us to break through."

"So we have to march through Hell, destroy the two Sin Towers he's summoned, likely kill the other three Sin Lieutenants, and then kill the last Lord of Hell." Leah remarked, where she simply stared at the landscape that was in front of them, just taking in the fact that they were actually here, standing in Hell to track down Azmodan and bring an end to the battle at long last, before she shook her head a little before taking a step forward, "Well then, we had best get started."

As they started to march into Hell, finding more of the demons they had fought on the way here, they heard the voice of one of the other Sin Lieutenants, likely Cydaea since it was a feminine voice, informing them that they had slain one of her many 'playthings' and that they had her undivided attention. Luna thought it was a stupid thing to say, since Cydaea and the rest of her group had no doubt been tasked with fighting them and that meant her attention should have been on them from the very beginning, but decided not to question the demon. What she did, however, was allow the others to step forward for just a bit as she gathered her power into Ashbringer and then fired off a wave of energy into Hell, letting it cut through demons that were off to the left of where they entered through before blasting a crater into the demonic army. She figured that one of them might as well deal some damage to the enemies that were trying to tear down Bastion's Keep, though she found that it hardly mattered since the demons were actually converging on their location this time.

It was interesting that their enemies were changing tactics, which explained why the angels had such a hard time killing them and ending the war, though Leah was fine with this as she readied her bow and let an elemental arrow fly, which pierced the demons in her path before blowing up when it reached a demonic summoning device. It was clear that Azmodan's forces were trying to call in more forces from the other regions of his realm, maybe even the other provinces of Hell, where Sonya and the others focused on destroying those items to make sure the Lord of Sin was unable to stop their advance. Luna also found that the rest of the group targeted the demons that dared to stand in their way, it was an absolute slaughter based on what she was seeing, though in Tyrael's words this was the power of a Nephalem, even though they weren't as powerful as the first generation had been, but Luna was fine with this since they cleared the way for them to advance.

As they did that, however, Leah found a blade stuck in a demonic rock and Tyrael froze when he laid eyes on it, as it was a curved blade of angelic origin whose edge was darkened by the power of Hell, and yet Leah was able to draw it easily, which allowed them to confirm that it was a weapon from the High Heavens.

"Verathiel's sword... he fell in battle a long time ago, and we never recovered his blade." Tyrael said, as the owner had been one of the many angels who fought the Burning Hells since the start of the Eternal Conflict and had fallen into the depths a lifetime ago, he wasn't even sure when Verathiel had fallen, but he could see that the blade seemed to embody both forces, angelic covered by demonic, "It will serve you well, if you decide to wield it."

Leah moved her hand for a moment, feeling how the weapon felt in her hand, before turning as she loosed a crescent wave of energy that coiled around itself and tore through the demons that were blocking the way forward, blasting an opening in the top of the Sin Tower they were heading towards, much to Tyrael's shock.

"It's perfect... like it was made for me. I know it wasn't, but it sure feels like it." Leah remarked, though this discovery did give her a weapon to use in case demons got close and none of the others were nearby, or if she wanted to wreck something with some of her magic, before she glanced at the rest of her group with a smile on her face, "Come on, let's go show the rest of Azmodan's forces who they're messing with."

Thanks to Leah's actions they were able to break their way through the demonic defenses and invade the first Sin Tower, the large structure that would bring them deeper into Azmodan's realm, where large beings were chained inside the structure's insides and they could hear the heart much more clearly now. Interestingly enough there were stairs and smooth paths for them to follow, doors to use to head deeper, and even a new foe that was capable of warping from one point to another, all while being twice as tall as everyone in the group, but Leah paid them no mind as Sonya and Valla lead the attack in killing the phase beasts. While they did that Luna spotted a floating demon that seemed to be a mage of some kind, Vidian based on Tyrael's comment, meaning another Sin Lieutenant had come to deal with them, though Luna and Leah barely had to do anything as Sonya caught him with spectral chains, likely one of her abilities, and yanked him over. Following that they just watched as the Nephalem tore the demon down before he had a chance to really do anything, his magic failed him, and as soon as that was done they continued their descent, killing demons of all kinds that happened to oppose them.

While they did so Luna found a demon that seemed like a spider centaur, a drider she believed they were called, that was far too interested in them and was female, with silk formfitting armor on her chest, and the laugh that came from her told Luna that Cydaea was following too closely.

The demon did depart before Luna could grab her, though they decided to continue focus on their descent and found their way down to where the heart of the tower was located, where Luna and the others fought off the demons that dared to come their way. Leah, on the other hand, gathered some power into her new sword and drove it down into the enormous heart, plus the barrier that was around it to keep it safe, allowing her to blow the heart up before it could do anything else for Azmodan's forces. Once that was done they headed outside through the entrance in front of them and stepped out into another portion of the realm they were carving a path through, but off in the distance Luna could see another imposing foe that was larger than even the siege demon from earlier, and was dressed like a baroness. Based on the golden attire and the large mace in her hand, or at least Luna was sure it was a 'she', Luna had to assume that Greed was coming after them, no doubt to smash them and take their stuff for her hoard, though she wasn't too impressed by this demon since it looked like Greed might be slower than the others.

Greed seemed to be guarding the second Sin Tower, or maybe it was just a coincidence that she was in front of it, though it became clear that she wasn't used to fighting since she charged from place to place when the battle started, causing Luna to watch as the group simply dodged and tore her down, before Luna magically captured the portal that owned on her death, a portal to 'The Vault'.

"Kulle will love looting Greed's realm, no telling what treasures she might have stolen and hidden over the years." Luna said, though none of the others were even surprised by this anymore, rather they let her do what she wanted as she bound the portal spell to a red pendant that had been attached to Greed's hand, before pocketing it as they headed into the second Sin Tower at long last.

This time around Cydaea followed them through the tower, observing them while they made their descent, and Leah simply retaliated by using her bow as she loosed arrows at the demon, blasting holes in the sides of the tower while the others cut through the demons that were blocking the way forward. Based on what Luna could tell this structure's heart was linked to Cydaea, meaning it was powering her to make her stronger, and when they reached the heart chamber she came down and attacked them, where Luna stood back as Leah pulled out her new sword and lead the charge against the demon. She and Tyrael found that Leah, despite having less skill with a blade than some of the others, swung the weapon and parried the incoming attacks like they were nothing, which had to be due to the fact that the last Sin Lieutenant had the Nephalem to deal with as well. With that in mind it wasn't long before they brought the demon down and shattered her barrier that was covering the heart, allowing them to break the heart and cripple Azmodan's forces before they even knew what was going on right now, and as soon as that was done they marched out into the last portion of the Lord of Sin's domain.

There really wasn't much difference between this area and the previous ones, save for the fact that there was lava in places down here, and the more interesting thing was that the demons, much to Tyrael's shock, stepped out of the way so they could walk down into the core of the crater, where Azmodan was waiting for them.

"Ah, you have arrived... and you brought the Black Soulstone. Good, victory is mine!" Azmodan stated, all while they found that the area was flat and had sections that had chains going through them, why Luna had no idea and honestly she had no desire to find out, which was why she and the others readied their weapons as the Lord of Sin faced them, "Know this: once the Black Soulstone is embedded in my flesh the Seven shall become the One, and I will be reborn as the Prime Evil!"

"No, Azmodan, there shall be no Prime Evil. Hell's threat ends today!" Tyrael replied in kind, as he knew that the rebirth of a Prime Evil, of Tathamet itself, would bring the end of both Sanctuary and even the High Heavens, since not even Imperius had the power to stop such a being, which was why they were here to kill Azmodan and break Hells' plans.

Luna and Leah wasted no time in starting the assault, rushing at the large demon as he brought some of his spider legs down on the area around him, forcing them to dodge before he could hit them, though at the same time this opened the way for the others to attack him as well. His attacks seemed pretty straightforward, as Azmodan had the power to create a cluster of large fireballs, one could almost call them meteors, and hurled them down at the group, while at the same time he used his power to make corpse-like items drop from the sky to try and deal damage to them. Leah took care of the meteors with her arrows, blasting them into oblivion before their foe could even realize what she was doing, while everyone else just avoided the rain of corpses while lashing out at his legs and chest. The only other powers that the demon showcased was him firing beams of red energy from his eyes and summoning portals to call in demons to assist him, like he couldn't defend himself or something, meaning his arrogance would be his downfall since he might be holding back the lion's share of his own power to make sure he didn't wreck the Black Soulstone.

She knew why he didn't want to ruin the stone, he had revealed his true plans to him, but that opened the way for Leah to leap into the air and used her new weapon to cleave the demon's head in half, much to Azmodan's surprise, and once the deed was done she pulled out the stone and channeled her power, sealing the demon's soul inside it while his body seemed to explode into a rain of blood and parts.

"Too easy. He was too arrogant, and too focused on keeping the stone safe." Valla commented, as even a Lesser Evil should have taken more out of them, but it seemed like Azmodan had been far too focused on keeping the Black Soulstone safe so he could absorb it later, before she turned towards Leah as the Lord of Sin's soul was trapped inside the last portion of the seal Luna created, "Let's return to Bastion's Keep and share the good news. Adria should know how to fully destroy it so the Lords of Hell remain vanquished forever."

Luna nodded as she opened a portal back to the Keep, though at the same time she felt like they were missing something, a foe or threat that none of them had discovered yet, which made her wonder what might happen when they brought the full Black Soulstone to Adria and finally brought an end to the seven Lords of Hell.

Interlude: Betrayal

With the defeat of Azmodan, and the Black Soulstone now filled with the souls of the three Greater Evils and the four Lesser Evils, Luna and the others returned to Bastion's Keep with their heads held high, with victory echoing on the faces of those who defended the keep.

"The deed is done. The Evils are dead, at long last." Tyrael said, where the soldiers and people were happy with the news, it meant they had won in the end, their struggles, even with the army and Luna's defenses, had allowed them to prevail over the forces of Hell.

"Good, you have the stone with all of the Lords of Hell trapped inside it... this is good, now Leah and I can finish the binding spell, so we can deliver it to the Forge and wipe out the Evils." Adria remarked, with a hint of joy on her face, an expression that was echoed on the faces of many others, though at the same time Luna suspected there might be something dark under her smile, causing her to turn towards her daughter, "Come, I have prepared the watchtower for the binding ritual. We can bring this war to an end at long last."

"I'll go pass word to Kulle and his forces, let him know that the war is over." Luna stated, because she had no doubt that her seal on the Black Soulstone would hold and that it was enough to contain the Lords of Hell, but at the same time she knew there was a chance she could have missed something, where she found that the others were fine with this information.

Luna headed outside the Keep and glanced around for a time, finding that the demons were retreating to Hell, maybe they had felt the death of Azmodan or were just terrified of the forces they had fought against and wanted to flee before all of them were taken out. With that in mind she held a hand out and dismissed the barrier she had placed in front of the Keep, as it was no longer needed since the war was over, and once the barrier was down Luna spread her wings and took off, as it was time to spread the news to the others. Sure enough she found that the defenders of the Keep, those on the walls that had been manning all of the siege weapons, were also cheering for their victory as their platforms were lowered into the depths of the Keep, so they could be kept safe in case this place saw another battle in the future. Other than that there really wasn't much for her to worry about, the demons had fled back to Hell and it looked like they were planning on staying there, and she could see that the construct army was marching back to the portals Kulle had opened, no doubt returning to their homes or workstations.

It was clear to her that everyone thought they had won, they had smashed the demons and pushed them back, humanity had beaten the forces of Hell and saved their world from utter destruction, and it wasn't long before she landed near where Kulle was floating.

"So, the deed is done... the seven Lords of Hell are sealed within the Black Soulstone." Kulle remarked, he had seen the signs of Hell retreating, though while he was pleased with this discovery, that Sanctuary was safe for the time being, he still felt that there was a darkness they hadn't accounted for, something that might turn this victory on it's head.

"Indeed. Leah is aiding her mother in ensuring the soulstone is ready to be transported to the Hellforge." Luna said, tucking in her wings for a moment as she found that Malphas and the General level constructs were ensuring that their forces were ushered back into the portals, to be send elsewhere once Kulle was done making sure everyone was accounted for, before she glanced in the direction of the crater Azmodan had been hiding in, "Since Azmodan destroyed his Gate, and opened a bridge between Sanctuary and Hell, I might be able to use that bridge to travel to the Realm of Destruction on my own, so we can bring an end to the Evils without giving them a chance to free themselves."

"I originally intended for that soulstone to help elevate humanity to a new level... never thought it would be used to house the Evils before being destroyed." Kulle commented, as it was funny how things turned out sometimes, his plans had given them a weapon that all of the Evils wanted, he had no doubt that the other Evils had known about it since Belial and even Azmodan knew about it's existence, and yet it was being used to hold all of their souls, "Still, this is what I intended from the start: the downfall of Hell. Without the Evils, both Greaters and Lessers, the forces of Hell should be unorganized for a long time, and those who currently remain will no doubt tear into each other to determine who the next 'ruler' should be, since there are some strong lord and general level demons left. There is no telling what the Heavens will do in this situation, but knowing Imperius there is a chance he'll either wage another war on Hell, to finish off the remaining demons and figure out how to stop them from reforming, or he'll come and annihilate Sanctuary to make sure we can't use the powers of Hell for our own purposes... personally, I hope for the latter so you'll take him out."

"Honestly, I would rather have the Heavens leave Sanctuary alone... but I guess time will tell." Luna replied, which was true, it was hard to determine what the angels might do since this was the first time that Hell was without a single Evil, meaning the angels could finish their war or they might not care anymore and were just watching, before she felt something dark that was coming from Bastion's Keep, "This power... it's Adria's!"

"She's betraying us! This feeling that lingers on her magic, it bares the influence of Diablo." Kulle added, though that meant he had been right, there had been something about Adria he didn't like from the beginning and now they had confirmation, the witch was in league with one of the Greater Evils, potentially the worst one of them all, meaning Diablo was planning the same thing that Azmodan had been planning, "Luna, you must stop them. NOW!"

The words were barely out of Kulle's mouth as Luna burst into the air and zeroed in on the watchtower that Adria and Leah were on, though Leah was being consumed by a torrent of demonic energy that had to be Diablo's soul, it had a dark aura of terror attached to it. In addition to that Luna found that there were butchered guards around the roof in question, where it appeared that Adria had used their blood to form a demonic seal, connected to a wand that pulsed with energy that rested in the lady's right hand since her staff was in her left. She recognized the shard at the top of the wand, it had the same glow as the shard they sealed Malphas in when they went to investigate the Gatehall with Kulle, meaning it was a fragment of the Worldstone, one she had kept hidden for this very moment, and it looked like Adria had absorbed the power of the shard to help bring down Leah. In that moment Luna felt something inside her crack, something she hadn't thought about for a long time, not since she first transformed into Nightmare Moon, it was the bottle she had stuffed most of her potent emotions into, this scene had cracked that mental bottle in her mind.

Luna knew why she was feeling this anger, because Adria was sacrificing her own daughter, a lady that Luna had bonded with and became attached to, all so she could revive Diablo as the Prime Evil and bring destruction to the High Heavens, and the moment Luna reached her destination she swung Ashbringer down on Adria, only to find that her blade bounced off a barrier.

"You know, you nearly ruined twenty years of hard work... I didn't go to Tristram to 'save the day', I was drawn there by a great and terrible power." Adria remarked, where Luna glared at her as she assaulted the barrier, which was clearly starting to fall apart as she delivered several powerful blows to it, all while Leah's body floated in the air behind her, though the Black Soulstone was missing, meaning it was already inside her chest, "A power that was defeated by Aidan, Leoric's oldest son, who then imprisoned that power inside his flesh and became known as the 'Dark Wanderer', and when we met I realized that it was Diablo inside him and pledged myself to his service. And now, thanks to all of your efforts, his grand plan is about to be complete: the souls of the seven Lords of Hell, contained in the greatest creation that Kulle could offer us, and placed in a vessel of his choosing... a vessel WE, as in Diablo and myself, created. Leah is Diablo's daughter... and now she shall be the instrument of his return as the Prime Evil!"

In that moment a burst of demonic energy erupted from Leah's body, far more than what Leah had before this point, and in the next her body fell to the ground with a faint red heartbeat in her chest, though as she got up Luna noticed that each of her movements were akin to someone who was moving for the first time in years. As Luna realized what this meant she just swung Ashbringer into the barrier and shattered it, her anger fueling her power to new heights, and wasted no time in her next move, striking down Diablo before he had a chance to even do anything. Yet she knew that her heart wasn't totally in this strike, not when the demon was wearing Leah's body and using her form like it was his own, something that the demon no doubt sensed as Diablo forced his new body to move out of the way. In the next moment he punched her in the chest, a fact that made Luna glad that she had found her old armor since the sheer power of the blow sent her flying into the pillar that was behind her, which was where one of the braziers rested, causing her to cough as she laid there.

As that happened Adria stood still and bowed her head towards the figure that was in front of her, who was now testing out the body that had been provided to him as the red energy danced around Leah's old body, though it was clear that the witch was pleased with her efforts.

"I... LIVE!" Diablo stated, where Luna could tell that the demon had taken over, in fact it didn't seem like Leah was inside her body at all, rather it seemed like the Lord of Terror had ripped her soul out of her body and destroyed it, plus there was the fact that Leah's voice was now tainted by the dark echo of Diablo's own voice, "And I am more than I once was... the Seven are now One... I am the PRIME EVIL! I can feel the power coursing through my body."

In the following seconds Diablo turned and swung his right hand, which was holding Leah's new sword, which allowed him to tear open a gaping red portal that showed a shining golden heavenly place on the other side, the High Heavens as Luna quickly realized, which was Diablo's ultimate goal so he could destroy the angels at long last.

"Faithful Adria, you have done extremely well. Now be a dear and dispose of our unwanted guest." Diablo said, though he didn't even wait for a reply as he dropped the sword and stepped through the portal, traversing to the doorstep of Tyrael's home, meaning the Prime Evil was planning on wiping out his enemies before they had a chance to react to his ascension, all while Adria kept her head bowed

"I must thank you, Luna, because if you hadn't fallen in love with Leah I'm sure you could have harmed my master, but even with the danger in front of you, well, you failed." Adria stated, where she walked over to Luna with a smirk on her face, as it was hilarious that the one person she had been so worried about, the one person that could have ruined her plans, had also brought about her own demise and was now allowing the Heavens to be destroyed by not cutting down Diablo, "Just so you know, I never cared about Leah... my daughter was just a means to an end, a sacrificial pawn to be discarded when the time was right, and she served her role beautifully. It didn't matter if she was male, female, capable or not, or anything else, as her only purpose was for this moment and this moment alone... and now the pawn is knocked off the board, just as Diablo and I planned."

Luna felt the bottle in her mind shatter as she listened to Adria, her anger and hatred for the witch was beyond reason right now, to the point that one would claim that 'rage had blinded her', and yet, instead of the intense heat that came with anger, this time all she felt was a numbing chill. Maybe it was due to the fact that she had already felt such a thing once before, the day she turned into Nightmare Moon, and that reaching that level a second time was totally different from the first time, but in that moment she found that she didn't care all that much. Adria, on the other hand, noticed as a change washed over the figure in front of her, as Luna's hair took on an icy sheen, almost like it was made of ice now, which her tail mimicked, yet her skin seemed to lighten a tab bit, like ice or something was affecting her in some manner. As she thought about that Adria found that the area around them shifted as she and Luna appeared in what appeared to be the crater Azmodan had been slain in, like they had been teleported by someone, which was impossible since no spell had been cast, causing her to look around for a moment.

In the following moment Luna frowned as she appeared behind Adria, energy gathering into a transparent sphere around her left fist, and when she swung her fist it collided with the witch's chest as her target turned to face her, the energy simply transferring into a brand new attack. The air around her fist cracked and shattered like it was nothing, like glass breaking as cracked lines spread out all over the place, while at the same time Adria found her chest and body cracking as the energy surged through her being. In addition to that she could see that the hell landscape that was around them was breaking, like an earthquake was going off in the area they were in, though as Adria coughed up blood, enough to tell her that her body had been ravaged by a single attack, she realized that Luna's full power was incredibly devastating. She could feel even her bones cracking, to the point that it would be incredibly painful to move, maybe even impossible given the damage to each of her organs, and when the attack was over Luna grabbed her head before slamming her back onto a metal spike.

This caused the spike to go right through the left side of Adria's body, somehow missing her organs even though she had to scream in pain, and before she could react Luna grabbed her staff and shattered it, dropping the pieces on the ground while Adria tried to stop the bleeding, all while the witch noticed the chilling red eyes Luna now possessed.

"You will stay here, while I hunt Diablo." Luna said, as she had no mercy to give to Adria, the witch could remain in the place and just bleed out for all she cared, or maybe the demons would tear her apart while she was trapped on the spike, which was when she turned and flashed up into the air, only stopping when she was above the battlefield, as she raised her left hand towards the sky, "Now, Nightfell, come to me."

Luna floated there for a moment, fully expecting her battleaxe to show up so she could march on the Heavens and slay the Prime Evil with her weapon, and yet when she reached out for it she found that the battleaxe just wasn't there, almost as if someone else had taken it, likely her sister or someone else in Equus.

"Interesting. I'll have to look into this later." Luna commented, though at the same time she focused on Leah's new blade for a few seconds and held her hand out, where the blade jumped off the roof and came to a stop in her left hand, while also noticing that Ashbringer's icon had changed to match the moon while the blade now reflected the moon, like it was being influenced by her own powers, before she focused on the portal Diablo had left behind, "Just you wait, Diablo, I'm coming for you."

It didn't matter if Diablo was a Greater Evil or the Prime Evil, she was going to hunt him down and kill him like the bastard he was, for taking Leah from her and for his plans to ruin everything, and she wouldn't stop until she had fully broken him, causing her to step towards the portal and whatever the next few hours had in store for her.

Heaven: Invasion

It didn't take Tyrael or Kulle long to reach the watchtower that Adria and Leah went to, the one Luna investigated when she and Kulle found that the witch was betraying them, and they plus the Nephalem found a demonic portal to the Heavens sitting up there.

"And our worst fears have been realized: Adria was in league with Diablo the whole time, they created Leah to be a vessel for her father, and now Diablo is the Prime Evil." Luna stated, landing nearby as everyone stared at the portal and the area that was beyond it, the Heavens were in danger as it looked like Hell was finally matching on Imperius and the other angels, all while both Kulle and Tyrael noticed the change in Luna's appearance, "For some reason Nightfell is refusing to come to me, but that won't stop me from having my revenge on Diablo."

"The Prime Evil, reborn after all this time... I don't know how to feel about this." Tyrael said, because this was horrible, as the existence that Diablo now existed in was akin to the First Prime Evil, Tathamet, meaning his power was now beyond that of what the Heavens had to offer, even if he was an Archangel still and Malthael was among them he had a feeling that none of them could defeat their new foe.

"I suspected Adria might be planning to betray us, but this... this exceeds even my expectations." Kulle remarked, as he had been wondering why someone would seek to have all seven Lords of Hell sealed within the Black Soulstone, but never did he consider the fact that it was to birth a newer Prime Evil, which he really should have seen now that he thought about it, but as he considered that he glanced at Luna, "I know this will be painful for you, but I must ask: how did Adria overpower Leah in the first place?"

"She used a shard of the Worldstone, one that had been attached to a wand she had collected long before meeting us." Luna replied, where she could see the gears in Kulle's head turning as he put the information together, allowing him to see why Leah had been captured despite having so much more power than even her mother had predicted when she was born, to which she focused on the portal as a large imposing gate on the other side collapsed.

The portal gave them a good view of Diablo, as it looked like he had burned away Leah's form and had taken on a lithe form, almost feminine, with a fierce almost dragon-like tail, four spikes growing out of his back, powerful looking claws on his feet and arms, with a demonic head with a set of horns that almost looked like a crown, all while he disappeared into the domain of the angels.

"So, that is the Prime Evil." Kulle commented, while some of the Nephalem shivered, which was to be expected since even he could tell that Luna's new form was slightly influencing the weather around her, chilling the air while it looked like the stones beneath her hooves were starting to frost over, before he reached into his robe and withdrew a bundle of daggers, where it took Luna all of a second to realize that their blades were crystalline, "Yes, these are made from shards of the Worldstone, a set of seven that were made a lifetime ago by artisans who no longer exist and with skills that are no longer in use... I know you are strong, but you might have need of the remaining strength of the Worldstone. Do what Adria did, if you need them, just absorb their power and boost your own... you'll be facing the Prime Evil, so there's no reason to hold back."

Luna nodded her head a little as she had her smaller sword float nearby for a moment, so she could collect the daggers and place them inside her pack without delay, and once that was done she collected her second blade before walking up to the portal, showing them that she was definitely making a move against Diablo. In the following moment Luna stepped through the demonic portal and appeared on the other side without delay, where she found that the golden and elegant floor had been tarnished in demonic ooze and bits, showing that the Prime Evil was spreading his influence. She could also tell that the forces of Hell were marching on the Heavens, as it looked like Diablo's forces had been secretly waiting for this day to come and had responded to his call as soon as he was in the domain of the angels, as they were flying all over the place while the golden armored and energy winged angels fought to protect their home. There was fire and brimstone in the air, which was to be expected given the destruction that was happening right now, and standing on the edge of the walkway she was on Luna could see Imperius, she recognized him from Tyrael's vision, trying to heal the gaping hole in his armor, an area that Diablo must have struck in their battle.

This told her that not even the Archangel of Valor could hope to stand up to the terrifying might of the Prime Evil, but at the same time Luna found that she didn't care about Imperius at all as she stared out at the Heavens as the demons tore down whatever stood in their way, even stringing up angels to corrupt them into demons.

"YOU! Fiendish devil creature! The Heavens burn, and it's all your fault." Imperius stated, showing that he suspected that she was the one behind the destruction they were seeing, the rebirth of the Prime Evil, and the utter chaos that was unfolding in his domain, causing him to turn on her with what appeared to be half a spear, a weapon broken by Diablo, "This is why we should have destroyed Sanctuary and the Nephalem... your kind are a blight on creation!"

"You know, it would be best to know who you are talking to before speaking. I am not a Nephalem, rather I am an alicorn." Luna remarked, though her attention was on the destruction that was in front of her as she found that a single force was in the middle of moving towards what appeared to be the core of the High Heavens, causing her to realize what Diablo's goal was from just a glance, "So, he's going after the place that all angels come from, the literal core of the High Heavens... if he takes that out you can bet all of you will lose your divine protection, the ability to be reborn here, and be fully susceptible to demonic corruption. If he takes it out, you lose and the Eternal Conflict ends... I wonder if there's a core in the Burning Hells as well, that does the same thing... but that hardly matters to me. Time to chase Diablo."

Instead of waiting for Imperius to say anything Luna spread her wings and leapt through the portal that was beyond where the wounded Archangel had been waiting, where it spat her out on what appeared to be another walkway that served as a connector between two parts of the Heavens. Sure enough she found that the corruption had spread all over the place, like the demons were making sure to cover everything and ensure the angels were unable to recover from the invasion, and yet it seemed like Diablo was expecting someone to follow him. The reason for that was due to the fact that demons surged out of the dark holes in the flooring and rushed at her, where Luna found shadowy skeletal figures rushing at her, causing her to swing the modified Ashbringer at some of them and watched as frost shot off the blade, carving a freezing path through the shadow vermin. It wasn't just that she cut through them, but the ice froze them, even the ones that she didn't touch with the edge of the blade, which allowed her to smash her foes with ease, and she even found that the chilly aura she had seemed to slow down the enemies that were coming towards her.

There was a lizard-like demon that seemed to be one of Diablo's servants, how high on the totem pole Luna had no idea and honestly she didn't care too much, though it did allow her to see that the smaller blade also carried the power of frost now, hers was overwhelming the power the weapon originally had and made it mimic Ashbringer in appearance, where two quick slashes froze and shattered the demon in an instant.

"You are quite skilled." a voice said, where Luna found another of the Archangels, who appeared to be male based on their build, and she noted that he carried a scroll of some kind that seemed incredibly important to the Heavens, though based on what she was seeing this Archangel didn't get in her way at all, "I am Itherael, Archangel of Fate, and I am bound to write what is and what will be... you are not written in the scroll at all, so your fate is unknown... meaning you should be able to do the impossible: defeat the Prime Evil. I must ask of you a favor: if you can free Auriel, the Archangel of Hope, from the foul demon Rakanoth, the Lord of Despair, we can hold off the demonic invasion and carve open a path to Diablo."

"Thereby allowing me to focus on my quarry." Luna replied, as she wasn't sure if this was necessary on her part, she could just fly through the Heavens, collide with Diablo, and fight him away from the core of the High Heavens, causing her to sigh as she realized that not having hope was crippling the angels, "Very well, I'll lend you some assistance."

Following that Luna rushed out into the area beyond where she fought the shadow vermin and found that there were more demons waiting for her, stronger demons than any she had fought in terms of minions of the Lords of Hell, because there were tall demons that were outfitted to be oppressive warriors. Next up were flying demons that struck the ground like they were projectiles, and when they dislodged themselves from the ground she found that those ones used their bulky arms as shields, which were rather interesting in her eyes, even though she slashed through them with ease. In addition to that she found that some of the angels were definitely corrupted, demonic energy was coming from those that were coming at her and she could see that some happened to be turning into demons, with dark spikes growing out of them. The twisted angels were definitely somewhat faster than some of the other foes she had fought, but that hardly mattered when they entered the area that Luna was in, her chilling aura slowing them down as she slashed through them.

There were also succubus among the demons, though Luna wasted no time in slashing and freezing her way through all of the enemies that were in her way, so it didn't take her long to track down an area where an Archangel was chained down by demonic energy, trapped in spikes and whatnot.

"I don't know who you are, nor do I care... you are are not free from the chains of fate, for all shall belong to Lord Diablo in due time." a voice said, where Luna found a tall demon standing in the center of the area that Auriel was trapped in, one that appeared to be like a butcher or something with the long dark cloth armor that was over it's body, or maybe that was just dark armor plating that was it's body, with both of it's hands being long carving blades, "And once this Archangel falls we shall cripple the angels at long last and sow despair among their ranks!"

"You're wide open." Luna remarked, not even wasting a moment as she appeared in front of the demon and quickly swing Ashbringer towards the ceiling of the chamber they were in, the blade cutting through the demon's chest before freezing his body before he had a chance to move, causing a sound of shock to come from Rakanoth's mouth, "Now, begone."

In that instant the ice covered the rest of the demon's body before shattering, leaving nothing of him left as his prison also broke, allowing Auriel to go free, though as Luna let the Archangel recover she turned her attention to the Heavens and the demon that was running through them, and braced herself for the hunt of her life.

Heaven: Fallen Angel

With the Archangel of Hope freed Luna found her way out of the area that she had found the figure in and stepped out into the area that she had passed through previously, where she found that Valla, Sonya, and everyone else, the Nephalem to be exact, were catching up with her.

"Diablo is calling in the forces of Hell through portals called 'Hell Rifts', and right now it seems like there are two of them in the Heavens." Auriel commented, floating behind Luna as she stepped out of what seemed to be a library of sorts, despite the fact that it didn't have books inside it, not normal ones anyway, where she held a hand out towards the group that was following in Luna's wake and empowered them, "Nephalem, you should be able to find the Hell Rifts and destroy them, as it will help cripple the demons that are infesting the Heavens."

"And let me guess, Luna will be waging war on the higher reaches?" Valla inquired, though she wasn't remotely surprised by that fact, right now it seemed like the alicorn was on a plane of existence that was beyond what she and the others were capable of, despite them being Nephalem, where she found that the Archangel nodded her head, "Figured. Oh well, let's get started and kill some demons."

Sonya roared as she turned around and rushed into the demons that were gathering near the large demonic points that were scattered around the level of the Heavens that Luna had fought through, swinging her weapon as she sliced through a few of them and allowed the others to catch up with her. At the same time Luna simply focused on tracking down the next portion of the Heavens as she moved through the oppressor demons and the shield demons, her blades slicing through her foes while her aura slowed down the attackers and iced the bodies of the slain. The interesting thing was that the demons had a beast of war with them, several of them based on what she was seeing, because they were four-legged beasts that she could tell were outfitted to do battle, while also having savage looking teeth, wicked spikes on the arms and legs, and a small human-sized demon riding them. Luna guessed that they were more like cavalry, a demonic cavalry, though she wasted no time in rushing at the newcomers, slashing through their legs and crippling the movement of the war beasts, allowing her to use her magic to form icicles that pierced the heads of the riders.

As Luna cut down the first group of war beasts she found that the others were doing well on their own, they were killing the demons that were surging out of a red portal they had uncovered, though what was humorous about this was that they were able to wipe out the defenders and push inside the Hell Rift.

While they did that Luna continued to move through the group of demons that were coming at her, wasting no time in using her blades to cut through each and every one of them, much to the surprise of the enemies that were in her way, and yet it looked like there was no end to them. She understood why that was the case, they were now servants of the Prime Evil, who was stronger than all of the Lords of Hell in their individual forms, so it was obvious that the demons wanted to live since to defy their new master meant he might strike them down once he accomplished his goal. At the same time she knew that the other Archangel, Itherael, was paying close attention to this sequence of events, as he was just an observer and guessed that he must have seen the downfall of the High Heavens, but with her on the case Luna knew she had unseated that future and left a glimmer of hope. She could also tell that Diablo was observing them as he made his way towards his destination, the core of Heaven, Luna could hear his mocking laughter as he tore through those that were defending the path, yet she knew he had placed obstacles in their way and that she would have to destroy one or two on her own to advance.

While she thought about that Luna noted that Tyrael was nowhere to be seen, either he was fighting the forces of Hell or he had grabbed onto Imperius to stop him from ruining his life, not that she cared about the Archangel of Valor, though in that moment the air shuddered as the Hell Rift collapsed, the others appearing nearby.

"So, you destroy the Hell Rift and it spits you back out." Luna remarked, though this was a good thing, because if more of her companions suffered or perished she was sure that her mind would never recover, even if she destroyed Diablo, so Valla and the others being warped out meant they could live to fight another day.

"Yes, and the rifts are full of demons, such as oppressors, the war beasts, and the large mallet lords... really tall demons with mallets for hands." Valla replied, as the last one had been interesting, especially since it had been faster than they thought at first, but with their power and skill they had brought it down before wasting too much time, even though there was more for them to explore before they tracked down the other Hell Rift.

After that the Nephalem used the blue portal that was at the end of the path to warp over to another portion of Heaven, all while Luna just flew through the air and slammed into some of the taller demons that were in the way, opening the way for the others to catch up with her once more. The angels were fighting back far better in this area, some shouting at their foes for their brazen assault on Heaven, but Luna wasted no time on them as she moved above the pathways, swinging at the demons that dared to get in her way. She also discovered that the winged demons that were part of Azmodan's forces were here now, along with the serpent demons that had served Belial, and sure enough there were other demons that served the other Evils, meaning each region of Hell was responding to Diablo's call to war. It was a reminder that the Prime Evil had full control over the forces of Hell, each of the seven regions, and their foe was using that to his advantage, in an attempt to slow them down, though it hardly mattered to Luna as she slashed through her enemies and froze those that tried to attack her from behind.

While she did that Valla and the others did what they did best, they tore through the demons and slaughtered them as they searched for the second Hell Rift, eventually destroying a demonic growth that revealed the way forward, allowing the seven of them to head inside it as Luna continued to tear through her incoming foes.

Luna found that more and more demons came rushing towards her without wasting time, like they knew she was a threat to their master and that bringing her down was the best thing they could do right now, but instead she just moved through all of them without slowing down, scattering their severed bodies in the process. While she did that Luna gathered her power for a moment and loosed a wave of energy that crashed into the demons that were on a platform off to her right and simply blasted them into oblivion, even though it did leave a hole on the platform as well. Such a thing would piss off the angels, as it was their home she was wrecking, but right now she honestly didn't care as she focused on wrecking her foes, where she found that some of the demons actually backed away from her before attacking again. It was an attempt to make her lower her guard, like she would forgive the 'defenseless' or 'fearful' demons, like they were trying to make it seem like they were forced into this war, but she knew she couldn't be deceived and crushed them with ease.

Eventually she found an interesting sight, Tyrael was standing next to the portal that would bring them deeper into the High Heavens and floating next to him was none other than Kulle, who seemed like he wanted to say something but also knew it was best to not distract Luna from her mission.

"Luna, I have decided to join this battle... you have shown us that there is a chance at victory, even in the face of betrayal." Tyrael said, where he glanced at the higher reaches of his home and gazed at the area that served as the core that made sure the angels were able to recover, and be reborn, which he knew Diablo was after because if that was taken out he would cripple the High Heavens and end the Eternal Conflict.

"Speak for yourself. I always knew that Luna represented our best chance at destroying Diablo." Kulle stated, because he had faith in Luna's great power, especially since she had treated him like an actual person and not the villain that the Horadrim had labeled him as in the past, so he had a feeling that this form and power of hers would be the key to stopping Diablo in his tracks, "I'm just surprised that you haven't gone after him yet."

"Despite the past, the angels deserve a chance to defend their home properly, so freeing the Archangels was necessary, as my target isn't close to his target." Luna replied, where she stepped through the portal that was in front of them and quickly appeared in a new area, an area that was fouled by Diablo's corruption and was swarming with demons, the same ones she had fought so far, so there wasn't anything new for her to worry about, "Though he's certainly trying to waste our time... after this I'm going to fly ahead, no matter what we find in this place."

As it turned out there really wasn't much for them to worry about, Luna carved her way through the demons that came her way, Tyrael focused on cutting apart his enemies as he lead the way to the next portal, and Kulle focused on loosing spells at the enemies that were the furthest away. Together the three of them were a formidable force, cleaving their way through all of the demons who happened to be in this portion of Heaven, and Luna found that they had some backup in the form of Valla and the Nephalem, plus all of the angels they freed had regained themselves before joining the assault. Imperius was absent, which wasn't too surprising since he was terribly wounded, not that Luna cared, but from what she could tell it did look like the two Archangels she had aided were blessing their growing force, allowing them to carve through the corruption as they sought out the next portal. Fortunately Luna didn't have to worry about tracking it down, as Tyrael recalled the way and lead her right to it, bringing them to what appeared to be a bridge that connected one portion of Heaven to another, and this time it seemed like Diablo had jumped ahead to cover more ground.

In the center of the bridge, in a circular area, Tyrael paused as a hulking demonic angel, his old lieutenant Izual, who took joy in their meeting since they were both fallen angels, though Luna barely wasted time as she flashed through the air and just swung her sword down at the demon, the wave of energy slicing him in half and blowing his remains up, though he did drop a blue angelic sword, his old weapon that Tyrael collected.

"I am done wasting time." Luna said, spreading her wings for a moment as she floated into the air, allowing her to focus on the area that Diablo was heading towards, because after everything they had done she was sure that Valla and the others could deal with the rest of the demons that were invading Heaven, so her focus should be on Diablo, "Kulle, you, Tyrael, and the others should be able to take care of the remaining enemies on your own... I'm taking the fight to the Prime Evil."

Kulle nodded his head as Luna turned and flew through the air, the air of Heaven chilling as she rushed towards the area that the Crystal Arch was resting in, as she was going to meet with the Prime Evil and do battle with him, and he was eager to see how she decided the fate of the realms with this battle.

Heaven: The Prime Evil

Luna wasted no time in flying though the air of the High Heavens, focusing less on the demons that were running around as her mind focused on the single target that she was after, the Prime Evil himself, and in the end she located the Crystal Arch, the core that powered all of Heaven. She ignored the angels that were guarding the Arch and flew above them, landing in the center of the area as she waited, where Luna could sense the dark power that was coming her way and braced herself, since this was an important battle, for both herself and for Sanctuary. All she cared about was destroying Diablo, the rest of the demons she was leaving to Valla and the others, and once she was done here she would go finish off Adria, if she hadn't bled out while her master was assaulting the Heavens. Fortunately Luna didn't have to wait too long as demonic energy tore right through the defenders and knocked them backwards, sending the angels flying in every which direction, and Diablo, in all his dark glory, stepped up the elegant stairs as he approached the Arch.

She couldn't tell if he was annoyed she was alive, disappointed in Adria, or amused that she dared to come back after what happened when he took over Leah's body, but at the same time she found that she didn't care in the slightest, as she was going to crush him no matter what happened.

"It would seem that you have a death wish, fool." Diablo remarked, showing Luna that he didn't even consider her enough of a threat to even speak her name, especially since he had forced her to the side previously, before her awakening, though his focus was on the floor that she was standing on, because if he focused his demonic power into the Arch he would begin to damage the Heavens.

"No, Diablo, all I seek is your death." Luna replied, glaring at the Prime Evil as he stepped up onto the portion of the Arch that she was standing on, as it was a good thing that he was underestimating her power since it meant she could surprise him in the next few minutes when the battle finally started, before she shifted her stance a little bit, "Come, Prime Evil, and meet your doom."

Diablo let out a dark chuckle for a moment as he activated his power, vanishing without a trace for a few seconds before he reappeared behind her, she could feel his heat clashing with her chilly aura, where she turned around as she swung both of her weapons, the blades catching his fist before it could hit her again. As he understood that his attack had been halted, but before he could react, she thrust them backwards and opened a hole in his defenses as she let go of the smaller blade and punched the Prime Evil in the chest, the force sending him into the wall behind him. In that instant, as she caught the smaller blade, Diablo seemed to realize that she wasn't weak anymore and responded accordingly, releasing his power as the area around him appeared to heat up, which Luna wasn't even surprised by since he was a demon. Luna made the next move as she used her magic to warp both of them into one of the lower reaches of the Heavens, where there were plenty of pillars and walkways, mostly it was to get Diablo away from his target and keep the Crystal Arch safe.

Following that Diablo got up and rushed her, where Luna raised her blades and parried the incoming attacks from Diablo's arm blades, which caused the air around them to shake and vibrate as bursts of it were pushed outwards, so if anyone was watching them they would be pushed away. Since there was no one else in the area the two simply engaged each other yet again, blades swinging at each other as Luna's icy aura clashed with Diablo's fiery aura, causing a surge of energy that simply caused this portion of Heaven to shake and shudder as they attacked each other. The Prime Evil threw a punch to knock her backwards and Luna parried it with the Ashbringer, though she did move herself backwards and allowed Diablo to focus on chasing her, because now that she was on par with his power he knew she needed to die before he made his move on the Crystal Arch. She was fine with that, because it meant that his focus was entirely on her and no one else, and it lead to her knocking her foe into the air before rushing after him, allowing them to clash with each other and dance around the air for a time before the force of their blows knocked both of them backwards.

This caused them to crash into two different pillars and shatter them as the pair burst off of the stone structures, breaking them in the process as Luna and Diablo clashed once more, causing the pillars near them to shatter under the weight of their power, and a few moments later they landed on the walkway.

"I don't know how you did it, but you are far stronger than you were when I took possession of Leah's body." Diablo stated, as it was a true fact, his foe was stronger than the Archangel of Valor since he had bested his old enemy in no time, and he was pleased with this discovery, because it meant he had the opportunity to test out the powers of the Prime Evil before he destroyed the Heavens at long last.

"If you say so." Luna remarked, where she briefly shifted her stance before she rushed forward once more, this time her icy aura started to chill everything that was around her as she clashed with Diablo, forcing him backwards as he realized that she wasn't backing down in the slightest.

The two of them continued their dance around the pillars that were in this area, the collision of their energies causing many of them to crack and a few to break in the process, but Luna paid little attention to what was happening around her as she danced around where she had brought them. She was able to confirm that Diablo's power and speed was stronger than the other Evils she had fought so far, it was befitting his existence as the Prime Evil, and she found that he still had the power to slip attacks through her defenses, even though she made sure not to give him an edge after each one. When Diablo planted such a punch in her chest she found herself being thrown backwards, smashing through several of the stone pillars that were in the way, and she came to rest right in the center of one of the thicker pillars, one that stopped her in her tracks as all of the other ones collapsed. Diablo, seeing that happen, burst into the air as he delivered a powerful kick down on where she had ended up, but Luna stopped the attack with the edge of Ashbringer, allowing the power of the attack to be transferred into the pillar around her, breaking it under the strain of their energies.

Luna turned the tables on Diablo as she forced him into the air and followed after him, the two of them continuing to fight as their energies tore a hole in the ceiling, allowing them to fight and tear through the material that went into making this place, and it wasn't long before they reached the roof of the structure.

In the following moment Diablo landed nearby and brought his hands together, gathering his power into a single point that looked like he was preparing a beam of fiery energy, where Luna landed nearby, spun around, and loosed a wave of energy at the Prime Evil. The crescent wave collided with the beam of energy without delay, the two attacks struggling against each other in the process, and Luna found that her foe tried to extend his power onto where she was standing, trying to trap her in a shadowy realm that represented all things terrifying, a realm of terror. Luna wasted no time in expanding her magic in response, shattering the temporary realm in an instant as the two attacks finally shattered, blasting a hole in the roof of the structure and forced both of them away from each other, allowing them to put more distance between them. She rushed at Diablo a few seconds later and kicked him in the chest with the side of his leg, where she pushed him out into the open air, forcing him to float in the air as he considered his next move, since she was holding her own and this meant he needed to do something else to bring her down.

As Luna thought about that Diablo held his hand out as twenty crackling pillars of energy formed around her, the very move Leah had used against her during their training, and sure enough she found that the magic formed red demonic bows that were pointing their arrows in her direction.

"You might have gained new power, but not even you can hope to avoid all of these attacks." Diablo stated, where he stared at Luna for a moment and let the arrows fly, as he knew that there was no way for her to block all twenty of them, he felt that at least five of them would pierce Luna's body and deal some devastating wounds to her body, 'Now die and return to darkness, fool."

Instead of responding Luna simply closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, as the moment the arrows were loosed she spun around, where Diablo watched the impossible happen, she struck each and every bit of magic that was coming at her, scattering the magic like it was nothing, and as he realized that fact he noticed that Luna's eyes were open again.

"My turn: Heavenly Shocking..." Luna replied, where she righted herself so she was standing with both hooves on the roof of the structure, allowing her to swing her smaller blade from her left side to her right side, creating a shimmering crescent of energy in front of her, this one containing a lot more power than she had used against Leah in her training, and as she did that Diablo made his next move.

"Demonic Sanctuary." Diablo said, his energy rushing out of him to form a magical circle around him, emblazoned with the demonic runes that were common with the cults that worshiped him and the other Evils, which had seven pillars that were around the outer edge and connected that circle to the one above him, creating a magical barrier of sorts that was likely the best defense that the Prime Evil could create with his newfound power.

"...Cross Slash." Luna finished, bringing Ashbringer down, from the area that was in front of her head down to the area that her knees were in, creating a second shimmering crescent wave on top of the first one, both containing the same icy color as the rest of her attacks, showing her foe that she wasn't done with him yet.

In the following moment the cross enlarged itself, becoming at least three times the size as Luna herself, before it rushed through the air like a powerful arrow that was loosed from a bow, the air was giving way to her attack, and slammed right into the face of the barrier, blasting the entire structure apart and sent the Prime Evil flying into one of the other buildings with a number of cuts all over his body. Luna stood there for a moment, staring at the destruction she had caused, before realizing something important about that exchange, that being Diablo's actions in creating a barrier to stop her attack in it's tracks, when he could have dodged it much easier. Instead of following through with her next attack, however, Luna reached out with her magic and tapped into the seal she had placed on the Black Soulstone, which she could still feel inside Diablo's body, because there was no reason for Diablo to do what he did. With that in mind Luna came to the decision that there was someone else behind that split second decision, someone the Prime Evil likely thought he and Adria had destroyed, who she had thought was dead before this point in time, and yet, despite that fact, her magic was telling her something else.

With that discovery made Luna withdrew the crystalline daggers Kulle had given her and rushed at Diablo, though as her foe got up she switched the smaller blade for one of the reforged shards of the Worldstone, driving it down into her opponent's chest, the tip touching where the Black Soulstone was resting.

Sure enough she found that the power of the shard responded to her desire and it surged into the seventh portion of her seal, into the soul that was resting in the place that Diablo's soul had been imprisoned in when she used her magic on the stone, and when she pulled the handle out the crystal was like ash. Of course Diablo attacked her again, but this time around he found that something was going on with his body, it felt weaker, slower, making him wonder what in the world was going on since Luna's sudden power up, as it seemed like her icy aura was now affecting him somewhat. Luna wasted no time in continuing with her series of attacks, using either of her blades and her magic to block incoming attacks, and whenever she spotted an opening in Diablo's defenses she stabbed him with one of the remaining crystalline daggers, targeting the same area of the seal. Each time she did that the Prime Evil found his own power weaken, even though she could tell that her foe had no idea what was going on since Luna was making sure Diablo couldn't see what she was doing and struck him from all sorts of angles, and when he really slowed down she made her move.

What she meant by that was that she grabbed her opponent by the head and rushed through the air, slamming him down into the ground of the Crystal Arch, planting him between the core and the stairs leading to this area, and she landed right in front of the core, while the others finally caught up as they ascended the flight of stairs.

"What... What have you done?!" Diablo asked, as now he could feel that something was wrong with his body, it was like his control over the powers of the other six Evils had been severed in some manner, like Luna had enforced her will upon that cursed seal that was resting on the Black Soulstone, one that Adria had messed with a little to ensure he was able to make himself the Prime Evil.

"Me? Plenty." Luna replied, not bothering to go into detail about what was going on right now, though in the next moment a scaly hand burst out of Diablo's chest, like someone had stabbed him from behind, yet as the Prime Evil growled in pain the group could see that no one was behind her opponent, rather the hand and arm came from inside his form, "But you should be more focused on what she's doing."

Diablo growled in pain as a second hand joined the first, followed by arms as he realized that a portal or something had been opened in his core, before both hands moved and started pushing on the sides of the hole they had opened, like they were tearing him open from the inside out. It was like someone had been trapped inside his personal realm or something and was breaking his way out of his body, where the gaping hole was forced even wider than before as he discovered that he was right, something or someone was entering this world. In that moment his worst fears were realized, Luna had been able to damage the seal she put on the Black Soulstone, it was like the Evils were tearing their way out of his body, and in the next moment a head emerged from the gaping hole that had been opened in his body. It was a dragon head, he recognized it based on what little information Luna had shared with Leah, yet feminine at the same time, and in the following moments the figure fully emerged from him, where Diablo's life was snuffed out as someone forced his soul back into Luna's seal.

Luna let a smile appear on her face for a moment, as the new figure was a humanoid dragon, red scaled with elegant black horns that mimicked the crown of the Prime Evil while fitting her smaller frame, they were definitely smaller than Diablo's had been, and she had digitigrade legs, a powerful slender scaly tail, and elegant wings that were just like a dragon's.

"I... I'm alive?!" the figure asked, where Tyrael and the others paused for a moment as they recognized it, as it was Leah's, to which the figure looked down at herself for a moment, because while her body looked similar to what Diablo's had been when he was the Prime Evil, in terms of form, Leah looked like an anthro dragon, "Luna... what did you do?"

"I realized that Adria had forced your soul into Diablo's portion of my seal, an exchange of sorts, so I gave you the power to seize control over the other Evils." Luna replied, where she set aside her weapons as Kulle realized what she had used the shards of the Worldstone for, she had channeled their power into Leah's soul to empower her, allowing them to launch a pincer attack on Diablo without Diablo realizing what was going on, and it ended with Luna embracing Leah, "Welcome back to the land of the living, Leah."

Kulle knew that this wasn't what he had been expecting when he gave the crystalline daggers to Luna, he had been thinking she'd use them to empower herself to destroy Diablo, and he guessed she did that in her own way, before he and the others left Luna and Leah alone for the time being, as now they had to deal with the angels, and Imperius, before facing whatever the future held in store for them and Sanctuary.

Interlude: Aftermath

As the others came to terms with the fact that Leah was alive and well, despite her transformed form, Luna placed both of her weapons on her back before holding out a hand for her love to take, which Leah took without delay and allowed herself to be pulled up onto her new feet.

"Okay, just... need to get used to my new weight and form." Leah commented, as she knew how to walk, given everything she had done before meeting Luna, and yet now her body felt alien, totally different from what she was expecting, since her legs were now structured differently and the dragon claws just felt weird, but it also felt right as well, and that wasn't saying anything about the new tail, her wings, or her new head, "One question: why am I a dragon?"

"Because the original Prime Evil, Tathamet, was said to be a seven headed dragon." Tyrael replied, which was just a guess on his part, since there was no reason for Leah to do something different than Diablo, but at the same time he really wasn't about to question it, because Luna was involved and that meant things were crazy, "I will be honest, I'm honestly not sure how this came to pass, but at least Diablo has been defeated... the Eternal Conflict is over."

"No, Tyrael, it is not." a voice said, where they found that Imperius marched up the stairs and leveled his weapon with Leah's chest, like he still saw her as the monster that had invaded the Heavens, while at the same time his angels stood behind him as the group turned to face the Archangel of Valor, "So long as the Prime Evil exists, and the forces of Hell still threaten the rest of creation, our battle is not over... I WILL destroy our foes."

In the next moment Imperius rushed at Leah and thrust his spear forward, where she raised a single finger and stopped the weapon it's tracks, much to the surprise of everyone that was around them since they weren't expecting such a thing, before she pushed the spear backwards and punched her foe in the chest, not damaging his armor while sending him flying into the angels that were behind him.

"I would rather you didn't try to murder me, since I just got my life back." Leah remarked, though at the same time she did have to glance at her hands for a moment, since she was surprised by the fact that she had been able to push Imperius back like that, before guessing that this was the power of the seven Evils in a single body, or seven sealed in the Black Soulstone with her being above all of them thanks to Luna's special seal, "Luna, this is a random thought, but... do you think we can, I don't know, split the Black Soulstone into smaller shards, each containing a specific Evil but none of their power, and then using the Hellforge to permanently erase the Evils?"

"My creation wasn't designed for such a thing... you would have to break it into seven smaller shards and an eighth, a core of sorts to hold their collective power." Kulle stated, because he knew the ins and outs of the soulstones by this point in time, but at the same time he didn't know everything about Luna, her power, or even the seal she had used on his creation, so his mind was open to the possibilities, "Luna's seal might be able to help you do such a thing, though with the two of us working together we should be able to remove the leaders of Hells at last... we'd have to track down Adria, to be sure she doesn't do anything stupid again. Wouldn't want to try and remove the Evils, only for her to bind them together again."

"Then let us return to Bastion's Keep and see how she's fairing... I left her in Azmodan's domain, on a spike." Luna said, since she had been so burdened by anger when Adria betrayed them, yet now that anger was finally burning away and she was feeling more like herself again, even though she knew that she could call on the chill, where she mentally labeled it as her new 'Aspect of Winter' form, "Do you want your sword back?"

"I... don't know? I think it'll be some time before I'm ready to use a weapon again." Leah answered, there was too much for her to recall and remaster, skills she had known before her mother's betrayal, and right now she was feeling like learning how to use her magical bow and arrows again would be a good start, before she held a hand out and watched as the magic formed into her bow, "Let's test this out."

Luna barely had time to say anything as Leah recalled how to use her bow and loosed an arrow, where the flaming arrow just tore through the floor in front of Imperius, as she had aimed it in front of where he was resting, blasting a large hole in the walkway and the structure that was diagonal from where she was standing.

"Hehe... oh boy, that's not what I was expecting." Leah remarked, as that was a nervous laugh, she had known that her new power was greater than what it had been before she was betrayed by Adria, but now her power was on par with Diablo's, or even stronger thanks to all the power Luna had poured into her soul to make her stronger than her father, "Luna... I think we'll need to resume our lessons... immediately."

Luna nodded, as it seemed like both of them were in need of some lessons to make sure they could control their newfound powers, though at the very least she could see that this did cause the lesser angels to reconsider their actions, since even those that followed Imperius were no longer in trying to murder Leah. With that in mind she had Leah focus on returning all of them, their group anyway, to the battlefield outside Bastion's Keep, where Leah decided to do a bit of practice first, she took some small bits of rubble and warped them from one part of the Crystal Arch to another. Interestingly enough none of them had to worry about anything, as she figured out how to make sure her spell worked as intended, allowing Luna to do what she could to help Leah master her newfound powers, but this was a good step in the right direction. Once Leah was ready to go she brought everyone together and formed a magical circle around them, where Kulle and the others watched as they were surrounded by magic before vanishing from existence, only to appear in the battlefield Azmodan's forces had been marching across previously.

This allowed them a chance to help Leah remaster how to walk, since walking across the snow meant that she didn't have to be worried about hurting herself if she fell, though Luna did see that Leah balanced herself with her arms out to make sure she got used to the new structure of her legs. It reminded her of when she landed in New Tristram, she had spent some time figuring out how to move her new body and mastering skills she had mastered back when she was living in Equestria, and this time around she could return the favor that Leah had given her at the time. Valla and the Nephalem decided to return to Bastion's Keep, to tell everyone else that the battle was definitely over and that the Evils had been defeated, they didn't need to know how the details about how they were betrayed and that Leah was now the Prime Evil. Tyrael and Kulle followed the pair, mostly to sate their curiosity on Leah's new form, her powers, and everything else that had been discovered so far, all while thinking about what this meant for the future of Sanctuary.

"You know, there was a spell Celestia used quite often, one that allowed her to disguise herself as an ordinary pony for some amount of time... I believe she called it a 'vestige' form or something." Luna commented, speaking as Leah struggled to get used to her new form, though at the same time she and the others gave her some clothing, mostly rags, since Imperius had burned away her clothes and Leah had only just now realized that she was in the nude, meaning they should get her some new clothing in the near future, "I used a similar spell to transform into Nightmare Moon's form once, but it didn't last long since I set the spell for only a handful of minutes... I also used the vestige spell a few times as well, to blend in with ponies and act like a normal pony for a time. Celestia usually picked a pegasus, I usually went with a unicorn or pegasus... I should be able to teach you the spell, help you take on a vestige form to avoid showing everyone your new form."

"I see. That's actually quite wonderful." Leah remarked, and it was, because it meant she could head into cities and towns without worrying about frightening anyone, she just had to learn and master the spell, though she also knew that Luna had refrained from using the spell since everyone had accepted her despite her unique form, before she thought of something they had talked about in the past, "You know, you said that you would summon Nightfell when you needed it... why don't you have it now?"

"Honestly? Don't know... I tried to summon it, but it never came." Luna answered, which had been on her mind since she tried such a thing, this was the first time her weapon had failed to come to her call, and it caused her to think about a fact she hadn't considered before this point in time, "In fact I've been thinking about it and I think it went to Nightmare Moon instead... remember how I told you how she jumped out of my body and attacked Celestia? Well, it's possible that she was sent to another world, either the same as my sister or an entirely different one, and since both Solarion and Nightfell have wills of their own... we've seen them from time to time... it's possible that Nightfell realized that I didn't need it and went to Nightmare Moon's aid. Just a guess, mind you."

Leah didn't know what to make of that fact, especially since what she had learned was that Luna's other side was dark, as in an 'evil' side of herself, so it made her wonder what sort of damage the figure could do with the weapon, before focusing on the path in front of them as they continued forward. She eventually got the hang of walking with her new legs and feet, so she no longer fell over or was threatened by such a thing, allowing them to cross the border between Bastion's Keep and the outer edge of Azmodan's realm, since his Gate was still shattered and the way was still open. This allowed them to see that the demons of Hell continued to do what the rest of the demons had done when Diablo was the Prime Evil, they seemed to acknowledge Leah's presence and bowed their heads, as if fearing that she would smite them where they stood. Leah did bring up that they needed to come up with a new title for herself, she didn't want to be known as the 'Prime Evil', giving them something to think about as Luna helped them track down the path to where Azmodan had been resting, before they killed him and sealed him in the Black Soulstone.

Sure enough they tracked down where Luna had left Adria, the bloody spike that was now soaked in her blood, and yet the witch was nowhere to be seen, causing the pair to frown for a moment as they found a trail of blood that wandered off for a time before cutting off, meaning Adria had forced herself to warp out of here.

"So, she's still alive... I guess we have some hunting to do as well." Leah commented, though part of her had been hoping for them to find her mother dead on the spike, she was still angry over being betrayed like that after all, since finding Adria dead on the spike would have allowed them to move on with their lives, and she could tell that the others sighed as they vowed to help them track the traitorous witch down.

As Luna nodded she spotted a few wisps of something, or someone, who was connected to death vanishing from the area, no doubt someone had been watching over them, it was hard to say who it might be, but she knew that things would remain interesting for some time and made her interested in what the future held in store for them.

Interlude: Hunting Adria

After discovering that Adria had survived being stabbed onto a spike in Azmodan's former lair, where Luna did have to take a moment to wonder if she'd still be alive if her organs had been pierced, she and Leah returned to Bastion's Keep, gathered their allies, and departed without delay. It wasn't that they didn't want to celebrate their victory with the soldiers that had helped stop Azmodan's forces from tearing down the Keep, both of them wanted to relax and spend some time with those who risked their lives to save the world, but there was another threat out there. Interestingly enough the soldiers of the Keep had acknowledged their desire to save the world and let them go to track down another threat, while at the same time Luna found that many didn't seem to worry about why Leah had a new form. Kulle returned to his domain to continue his construction of more constructs that would help them defend Sanctuary, while Tyrael remained with the group to keep an eye on them, mostly to make sure Leah didn't go into a rampage with her new powers.

Tyrael trusted Leah, she was a good human and had a strong will, but they were talking about the power of the Prime Evil, the greatest demonic power in the entirety of creation, so he wanted to make sure she knew what she was doing and was also ready to jump in to stop her if Luna couldn't.

On their first night away from the Keep Kormac and the others found that the two lovebirds went to bed early, while also discovering that, despite the ordeal Leah had been through, there were no screams throughout the night, where Tyrael had to remind himself that Luna was also connected to dreams. As such he realized that even if Leah had nightmares, since she had experienced death thanks to what her mother had done, Luna would be able to tear down those dreams and let Leah have more peaceful ones, so no one disturbed them as the night went on. Tyrael also found that the other Archangels, save Imperius since he had locked himself in his portion of Heaven to heal, were more than willing to allow him to continue what he was doing while also indicating that they were willing to allow him to remain the Aspect of Justice. Kormac had asked why Tyrael wasn't given Wisdom, the other missing seat at the table, and Tyrael said it was due to the fact that Malthael, who was the Archangel of Wisdom, was still alive, somewhere, and that they were sure he'd be back in due time.

Following that Tyrael found that the pair spent the next week training as they traveled away from the Keep, close enough for them to visit any cities or towns to restock on their supplies, but also made sure to stay a good distance away to make sure no one called attention to their presence. The training consisted of Luna setting up a zone where they could practice magic while ensuring that Leah's powers didn't shatter the surrounding area, and it definitely took some time for her to gain some sort of control over her newfound powers. They could feel the shuddering in the air as Leah used her powers, where they had to assume that the more magically inclined might be able to feel or sense her training, and yet, at the same time, Leah was able to reign in her powers, which was all thanks to her patience and hard work, plus Luna's teachings. This meant she gained the power to set restrictions on her magic, decreasing it and making her overall spells smaller in scale, until she was able to replicate what she had done when Tyrael first met her, Luna, Kormac, and Lyndon.

Once she had the control she was after Leah was able to use the spell Luna had been teaching her, the vestige form, where Leah disguised herself as the form she had before her mother's betrayal, though it was more slender than before and he was sure that her chest size was larger as well, a side effect of her new nature, but both she and Luna were fine with it, and she also had a pair of horns growing out of her head that matched those of her dragon form.

Luna, likewise, focused her efforts on controlling her new powers, effectively making it so that her 'Aspect of Winter' form was just that, a transformation for her to take on when she needed her full power, thus allowing the alicorn to return to the level of power she had been using before her own transformation. In addition to that the others found that Luna's weapons maintained their frosty nature, as they seemed to be fully attuned to her newfound power, and when she trained with the others in melee combat they reported that there was a chill coming from the blades. With that in mind Luna also made sure to bind the aura of the weapons to the blades, so while they were practicing no one had to worry about it, but whenever she had to fight they would see her reveal the elemental power of the weapons. Other than that there wasn't too much more for them to do with their training, but it was good to keep their guards up and their skills sharp, otherwise someone might do damage to them when they least expected it, and no one wanted a repeat of Adria's betrayal.

Eventually, however, Leah stopped on a hill and knelt down for a moment, running her hand on the ground for a time, and only stopped what she was doing when she heard Luna approach her, plus the sound of Tyrael since the others were back with the caravan.

"You've finally tracked her, haven't you?" Luna asked, because one of the things they had been practicing was Leah's ability to feel magic, regardless of what type it was since she had Leah practice with angelic energy, demonic energy, normal magic, or Luna's own magical powers, and right now she knew what Leah was doing.

"Yeah, I've found her. Adria's in the marsh outside Westmarch." Leah replied, where she suspected that this was due to the fact that she had her mother's blood inside her, though it could also be due to the fact that her newfound powers were far greater than anyone had originally assumed, both options were potentially the truth, before she got up and glanced at the pair for a moment, "And she's gathering a lot of demonic power... I think she's going to open a portal into Hell."

"That much power generally means a summoning... knowing Adria she's got one last gambit to regain her master and the Black Soulstone." Tyrael said, because while he didn't have his angelic powers anymore, as they were more like what mortals could use despite being slightly stronger, his knowledge from his days fighting on Heaven's side meant he was able to give them information on what was going on, "If she's actually pulling in 'a lot' of demonic power that means she's going to bring in something truly devastating... what that could be, I have no idea, but it can't be anything good."

"Then Leah and I should head ahead and deal with her before she invites doom into this world." Luna remarked, as this told her that Adria had something in mind to do something, what that something was she had no idea, though since demons had a thing for blood, and the witch was linked to blood, she had to assume that the witch wanted to crush Westmarch so she could harvest a bunch of blood for some unknown reason, "You guys should head into the city, keep an eye out for danger... we shouldn't be too far behind."

Tyrael nodded as Luna and Leah spread their wings, Leah let hers come out of her vestige, again thanks to Luna's teachings, before they took off without delay and headed in the direction of the city, heading down into the Blood March, while he did his best to direct the others towards the city. Luna let Leah lead the way down into their destination, where they found that many of the inhabitants, a bunch of poison and disease focused individuals from what she could see from the air, were all dead, blood was splattered everywhere from the looks of it. In addition to that they found dead demons everywhere as well, meaning Adria must have used most of the power Diablo had given her, long before she went on her quest to mark the souls of the Lords of Hell, to exterminate the swamp's inhabitants, mixing demonic blood with the blood of the creatures that had called this place home. In addition to that they discovered that a magical circle had been woven into existence, a massive one based on what they were seeing right now, and it wasn't long before they found Adria standing in the center of it, and the sweat on her face seemed to be from exerting herself too much and the damage from Luna's attacks.

With that discovery made the pair flew down into the marsh, landing near where Adria was standing, who stopped as soon as she noticed that they were there, and the concerned look on her face told them that she really wasn't expecting them to be here, or if she was expecting them they were here too soon for her liking.

"Hello, Adria. Miss me?" Leah inquired, because at this point she wasn't going to address her mother by her title, rather she was just going to use her name and nothing else, even though she did know Luna had some words she would like to throw at Adria at some point.

"Leah, my daughter... you have messed with the natural order of things. Only Diablo is worthy of wielding the power of the Prime Evil." Adria said, where she raised her new staff, one that looked like she had stolen it from another magic user, likely a cultist of some kind if Luna was right about the craftsmanship, and the magic in the ground responded as a vile sickly gate started to crack open in the area behind her, not Duriel's gate but a portal, "Allow me to introduce you to one of the greatest war beasts of Hell: Ashava the Pestilent, a gigantic creature of pestilence, capable of rending the life from the angelic host and poisoning the very ground around her. Even you, Luna, would be unable to stop her!"

Sure enough the demon in question was gigantic, something they were able to confirm as she tore through the portal that Adria had opened, as Luna noted that the creature was roughly as tall as Twilight's castle, at least three-fourths of it anyway, she also had two massive forearm blades and was covered in both fur and tough scales. This was definitely a war beast, one that could spell disaster for more than just a city, rather the sheer power that was coming from the demon meant that it had to be one of Duriel's, either one he had been working on or she was one of his children, because Luna realized that Ashava could wipe out an entire province if left alone. Luna also realized why Adria had come this way, as it seemed like she might have chosen Duriel's Gate, the door to his realm of Hell, and while she didn't know where his Key was located the witch had been hoping that she could do something, such as summoning a gigantic pestilent war beast. At the same time she knew this wouldn't do anything for Adria, because while the beast was powerful she knew that both she and Leah could topple it in no time, though Luna stepped back as Leah focused on Ashava.

Leah said nothing as she shifted into her true form, letting Adria see her humanoid dragon from, before she burst into the air, gathered some of her power into a single point, and released a volley of energy blasts that rained down on Ashava, red shards of power that tore through the war beast and blew it up, causing the demon to screech in pain as it collapsed.

"What the... NO! What have you done?!" Adria remarked, though as she realized that Leah did, in fact, possess the power of the Prime Evil, trained and focused to a point that allowed her to use whatever level of power she wanted to use, which told her that she was in danger as Ashava's corpse crashed into the water of the marsh, before an icy blade erupted from her chest, the thin one Luna carried.

"You got away from me once, Adria... I won't make that mistake again." Luna said, letting the icy nature of the angelic blade seep into Adria's body, where she could see that the skin around the blade was starting to freeze, the ice was spreading through her veins while slowing down her movements, and she could feel the chill in the air as Adria's breath turned foggy as well.

She held the blade in place for a few moments, watching as Adria was frozen from the inside out, then yanked out the angel sword before smashing the witch's icy form with Ashbringer, scattering Adria into chunks of ice that she eradicated with her own magic, and once that was done she and Leah regrouped.

"So... the deed is done. You know, I thought I'd feel something after witnessing my... well, after witnessing Adria being slain like that, but her betrayal had made me feel nothing for her." Leah said, reverting to her vestige form without delay, though she knew she still had emotions, she had experienced them in the hours following her being revived by Luna, she just didn't care about her mother's death in the slightest.

"Don't worry about her, Leah. She's no longer a threat to anyone." Luna replied, draping an arm over Leah's neck as she pulled her close, allowing them to leave the marsh and head towards the large city known as Westmarch, even though she had a feeling someone else was watching them right now, "Come on, let's go tell Tyrael what we discovered and check in with the others."

Leah nodded, as it would be nice to actually relax for a short time before worrying about whatever else the future held in store for her and the others, and yet she found herself actually looking forward to what might happen next, causing her to smile as she looked forward to what the coming hours held in store for them and their friends.

Interlude: Visitors

After dealing with Adria, and ensuring that Ashava was unable to do anything to Westmarch, Luna and Leah headed into the city without delay, because it was time to regroup with the rest of their group and figure out what they were going to do now that the annoyance was dealt with.

"Tyrael, we bring news." Luna said, speaking after she and Leah found out where their caravan was resting, in an upper area that was near a chapel, which could be a rarely used market area by the looks of it, yet the others were set up for a short stay in the area, and it wasn't long before they landed near the former angel, "We found Adria, she found out where the Gate of Pain is located and used the blood of the creatures of the marsh to summon a powerful demon, Ashava, into this world with the sole purpose of rending Westmarch into oblivion."

"I take it you two stopped her?" Tyrael inquired, because knowing the pair he knew they would have done something about this discovery before coming to see him, otherwise they would be more worried about what was coming, and since neither of them were panicking he was sure that Ashava had been wiped out.

"Yes. I wiped out Ashava, while Luna froze Adria with her smaller blade before smashing her to bits." Leah stated, showing the others that she had stopped referring to the witch as her 'mother', she had lost that right, though at the same time she sat down on one of the stools that had been brought out of their caravan, "Now that we've dealt with her, however, I'm not too sure what else there is to do... you know, besides drawing out the shards containing just the souls of the seven Lords of Hell and crushing them on the Hellforge, while keeping their power inside my core."

"We'll probably have to clean up Hell as well, inform them that their Lords are dead and that you've taken over." Luna said, as she was sure there would be those who would refuse Leah's claim to rule over Hell, so they would need to do something about it at some point, before she felt a new chill in the air, which wasn't hers as she quickly realized, and turned towards the path that was behind her and Leah, "Though it looks like we've got some company to worry about."

Tyrael found that a dark figure emerged from the mists that suddenly showed up out of nowhere, before he recognized the armored form, it was hard not to after everything he had been through, yet it was darkened in some manner, plus the wings the hooded figure had were like skeletal wisps, and the sickle-like weapons in his hands were all he needed to see to figure out who was in front of them.

"It can't be... Malthael?!" Tyrael inquired, as this was the missing Archangel of Wisdom, the actual leader of the Heavens who had just disappeared one day, thus allowing Imperius to seize control of the High Heavens and lead to their current state, all while he held a hand out to stop the people from panicking or the Nephalem from engaging.

"You speak of me, but I don't know you." the Archangel said, where Luna got the feeling that Malthael was speaking as if he was coming from beyond the grave, like he had imbued himself with the power of death itself, and if that was the case she had no idea if she would be able to harm him, or if her attacks would do nothing, before he focused on the figure that was standing beside the one that radiated altered demonic power, "You. Winged one. Why are you helping these people?"

"He may not look like his old self, but this IS Tyrael, the Archangel of Justice, who willingly let himself fall to Sanctuary as a mortal to help bring down the Lords of Hell." Luna stated, as that would address the figure's first question, meaning he must have been busy and didn't see the events that caused what was going on right now, where she found that Malthael tilted his hooded head as he looked at Tyrael, contemplating this information, "As for me, I am Princess Luna of Equestria, and I hail from a world that is entirely different from this one... now, I know people can been foolish and stupid at times, even make a bunch of bad decisions and side with the demons, but the opposite is true. They can be righteous, working towards helping people and forging a better world for all those who are innocent, righting the wrongs that they can while doing everything in their power to resist the temptations of Hell. Take Leah, for example, even when she was unaware of her true strength she threw herself at corrupt humans, undead, demons, and even two Lords of Hell to bring an end to the Evils that plagued the world... it also helps that we've taken out the Lords of Hell and their newly created Prime Evil."

"And then created one of our own... still getting around to removing the souls of the Lords of Hell so I can have the power all to myself. Or at least that's the plan." Leah added, though while she knew that Imperius hated demons, and the other three Archangels seemed to have differing opinions on them, she could see that Malthael wasn't jumping at the mention of what she was and didn't seem aggressive right now, but she knew that could change in an instant, "Mind you that I didn't ask for this power, nor did I seek it out... I was actually betrayed by the woman who birthed me, giving way for Diablo's return as the second Prime Evil, but Luna figured out how to combat his power and found a way to save me at the same time."

"The Hellforge." Malthael said, showing them why he was the Archangel of Wisdom, he understood the information that had been given to him and knew the course of action that they would be taking now that Leah was more in tune with her new powers, crushing the shards containing the souls of the Lords of Hell, "What will you do after that?"

"To be decided. Maybe we'll figure out how to make an order of people and angels, and maybe even passive demons, that will keep the darker demons in check." Luna replied, they really hadn't gotten that far in what they were planning, and while she knew that some people might not be happy with the idea of working with demons she was sure that if Leah gave them such a command they would follow her orders, given her new existence a primal demon, "Like the Horadrim, I guess, but on an entirely different level... it's just an idea, mind you, so we can always change it for something else if that doesn't work at all."

Leah was sure that this was just wishful thinking on Luna's part, even though she could tell that the new Archangel seemed to be both conflicted and interested in what was going on right now, he floated over to Luna and Tyrael as the others just stood there, confused by this turn of events. In the next moment everyone felt the power in the air shift as a purple crack appeared in the air where Malthael had been floating previously, a crack that branched out like a window was breaking, that was what it looked like, until it formed what appeared to be one of Luna's portals. After that it burst open like something had broken it from the other side, where they found that it was a portal to an unknown area, she wasn't sure what was on the other side, though everyone stood at the ready in case something dangerous came through it. What emerged from it was a feline creature, female by the looks of it, with white-blue fur with blue stripes in certain places, like her large ears, though she did have a golden metallic right arm, a scarf around her neck, and attire that didn't match the world around them, plus a metallic backpack of some kind.

The figure was also armed, she carried what appeared to be a metal hammer of some kind that was beyond what she and all of the others had seen, before the creature stopped as she stared at them and the surrounding area for a moment, totally surprised by what she was seeing right now.

"Okay, not sure what I should have been expecting, but this is definitely something new." the feline commented, taking a few seconds to look around, where Luna and Leah found that her backpack had eyes, in fact it might be alive, before she locked eyes on the pair for a moment, staring at the latter's horns before looking over the former's body, "Princess Luna? My name is Rivet, this is Kit, and we've been helping Twilight locate the 'Displaced', as she calls them. We've come to escort you home, so you can learn about the demonic threat that everyone has been preparing for... not the one that's going on on this world, we've confirmed that fact multiple times."

"Did someone say demons?" a voice asked, where Luna and Leah sighed as Imperius appeared out of thin air, like he had been watching them and caught wind of the fact that demons were apparently threatening Luna's home world, which was news to her if she was being completely honest.

"Hold on, you said you've been helping Twilight? She's been found?!" Luna asked, because that was part of the reason she and Celestia had visited the Tree of Harmony a lifetime ago, there were missing ponies and one of them had been her sister's own star student, which was why she had been so eager to help since her own friends had gone missing.

"Right, she told us that some of the Displaced went missing after she and the others did. Yes, several of the Displaced have been found." Rivet replied, something that caused Luna to smile, because she knew about those that had gone missing so far and could only hope that all of them had been found, including her sister since she was sure the same happened to Celestia, "And yes, there are more demons... an entire galactic empire of them, to be exact. We've been carefully finding and bringing the Displaced back to Equus, to avoid drawing their attention until Twilight says we're ready to face them."

Imperius jumped at the chance to have more demons to fight, he might be tired of the forces of the Burning Hells, while at the same time Tyrael and Malthael seemed interested in what they might learn from this encounter, leaving the Nephalem to watch over the city while they followed Rivet and her apparently living backpack. Luna knew they were going to learn a lot more than anyone thought possible before, though she did use a bit of her magic to contact Kulle, as the mage teleported to Westmarch after sensing both her power and the opening of this portal. She and Leah, on the other hand, were interested in seeing the Displaced, as Luna wanted to make sure everyone was all right while her lover was interested in seeing the world Luna had come from and the various species she had learned about in the past. Of course there was more for them to do in Sanctuary, to truly make it a better place, but right now both of them were interested in taking a bit of a break and seeing what was waiting for them on the other side of the portal.

Luna suspected that Rivet's information was only just the tip of the iceberg, that there was far more for them to learn from Twilight and the rest of the Displaced, and that fact made her eager to see whatever might be waiting for her, Leah, and the rest of her allies on the other side of the portal.

Equus: Back Home

Luna found that the portal Rivet brought them through was connected to an area outside Ponyville, a sight that she had long since wondered if she was ever going to see it again, with Canterlot resting on the mountain it had been build on in the distance, which the others stared at for a time. Her focus was on other things right now, such as the fact that there were a number of metallic frames that appeared to be portals, permanent ones by the looks of them, and each one seemed to go to a different place. After looking at them Luna turned her attention to Ponyville itself, where she paused as she discovered a sea of unfamiliar faces, species no one in her group had seen before, and armed forces that she was positive weren't here the last time she had been to Twilight's home. There was so much to look at that Luna didn't even know where to start, as this reminded her of when she first arrived in Sanctuary and found Leah, how everything had been so unknown at the time, and she could tell Kulle was already having a field day with all the new information in front of him.

After making sure that Luna's group was on this side of the portal, and no one was on the other side, Rivet joined them and closed the portal, the cracks reversing into a window before fading away, like the portal never existed in the first place, before noticing that everyone was surprised by what they were seeing.

"Yeah, Ponyville gets that a lot these days. It's a hub for our forces." Rivet commented, though at the same time she simply glanced around the area as Luna spotted what appeared to be robotic pirates hauling stuff to a workshop that was on the outskirts of the area, "You'll get used to it, in due time. We were sort of scattered in the past, even when the first couple of Displaced were discovered, but when Twilight returned things changed... she made sure to whip us into shape, forming a united front unlike anything our universe has ever seen. We're just looking for the remaining Displaced before we focus on waging war with the demonic empire, because Twilight doesn't want the others to be in danger of being attacked while we're in the middle of a full blown war."

"What are those?" Leah asked, focusing on the armed cluster of dragon humanoids that were nearly identical to her own transformed state, though they wore a variety of armor, in a number of different colors or from different types of metals, to which she noticed that the newcomers were training like they were a unit, despite having all sorts of powers.

"Those are the dracthyr, a very powerful species from the world of Azeroth... I'm not too familiar with their story, but from what I know they were an experiment or something that went right." Rivet answered, before she let out a sigh as the rest of the group glanced at Kulle, as it seemed like something he would do to make the world a safer place, causing the feline to think of something that might help them out, "If you want to know the whole story I'd recommend talking to Twilight, since she knows literally everything about every species that's part of our armada... even the species that she created."

"Hold on... Twilight made a whole new species?" Luna inquired, because she knew Twilight was smart, and that the younger alicorn would have literally spread her wings and her inquisitive mind in whatever world she had been sent to, but this was something she wasn't expecting to discover, that Twilight brought life to an entirely new species.

"Lady Twilight, to be exact." a feminine voice replied, where Luna found that a tall yellow fox creature landed nearby, or she had appeared out of thin air, or maybe she was a stealth person and appeared by stepping out of the shroud she had been wearing, it was hard to tell, whose hands had three fingers and she wore interesting purple gloves that reached back to her elbows, making Luna think she was a ninja or something, "I am Rena, of the Digians as Lady Twilight called us, but due to some circumstances on Earth the name of my species was changed to 'Digimon'. I've been working with the trainers to make sure that everyone is well trained and ready to go, and learn from the other groups as well since it helps expand our various arsenals... we definitely keep learning a lot from Flurry Heart and her other family."

Luna was surprised by this turn of events, she wasn't expecting Flurry, of all ponies, to be among the Displaced, even though it sounded like the baby alicorn had been sent to a family of warriors and that she had done well during her time away from home, before she and the others found someone walking towards them. She quickly realized who it was, because despite having an anthro form like Luna's new form, and a much larger chest for some reason, Luna recognized the lavender coat to the figure's body and the purple hair with highlights. Twilight's attire seemed to be casual themed, yet at the same time she had an air around her that suggested that she was ready for anything, while carrying a dark or demonic looking staff, and yet Luna noticed something else, she couldn't feel Twilight's power. This wasn't something she was expecting, rather it was like Twilight was on an entirely different plane of existence than what Luna was used to, and at the same time she could see that the others had no idea what to make of Twilight, making her interested in what they might learn from her.

In addition to that there was a black bipedal figure walking behind Twilight, with magenta lines on his arms and legs, plus he had a slender tail with a harpoon tip, it sure looked like one, two thunderbolt shaped horns with a drill-like horn right in the middle of his head, and he wore a blue cloak over his body.

"Luna, it's good to see you again." Twilight said, a smile appearing on her face, while at the same time Rena bowed her head as the other one simply stared at the group, as if he was judging them or sizing them up, it was hard to tell, and yet he also seemed like there was more to him than what they were seeing right now, "It seems that you had an interesting adventure, and have gained some allies of your own."

"Friends, a lover, allies, and some reluctant acquaintances." Luna replied, referring to Imperius and Malthael with the last part of her response, who didn't seem at all worried or bothered by her remark, while Twilight raised an eyebrow but kept the smile on her face, before Luna focused on the piece of information that was bothering her, "So, we've learned about the Displaced, and I know some ponies went missing before I was sent to Sanctuary, but I have to ask: how many of us are still missing? And what happened to Celestia?"

"That's not an easy question to answer. Plenty of us have finished our adventures and have returned, while a few have come to the decision to stay in their new homes." Twilight answered, beckoning for them to follow as she lead the way back to her castle, allowing the others to follow after her as she dismissed Rena, who headed over to one of the training areas, all while the silent one followed along without wasting even a second.

Luna found that there were a number of species, in addition to the normal ponies that were walking everywhere, there were humans with what Twilight called elves, dwarves, vulpera, worgen, and many others, plus all sorts of dragons that weren't the dracthyr, since they were dressed differently and acted differently.

"Spike and Ember were sent to a world filled with dragons, all types of magic, and a lot of danger... but they came back with a brother, friends, and a living legend." Twilight commented, knowing that the group was interested in what they were seeing right now, she couldn't blame them at all since she had spent weeks delving into the information from their world, it was rich in history, knowledge, and everything else she loved, before she brought them inside the castle, "I've changed the ballroom to be a viewing area, so you can see the worlds that the other Displaced were sent to... or at least the ones that we've been able to find. Some of the viewing orbs are only what we're allowed to see, otherwise we would have gone to collect the rest of the Displaced... we've learned that we cannot recover a Displaced until they've completed their adventure, or we run the risk of screwing everything up, but I've bent that rule once to make sure a danger to the universe was wiped out."

Luna nodded as they entered the ballroom, finding that there were floating orbs in the room, exactly as Twilight had said, to which she, Leah, Tyrael, and Kulle stared at them, while Imperius and Malthael seemed to wait outside the room, not doubt due to their interest in the demonic threat and not the rest of the Displaced. One she found was about Tirek, in a world that seemed to involve him dying a lot and being reborn so he could suffer again, even if he had two allies, a warrior and a rogue, helping him out, while another seemed to show Twilight's human counterpart with Starlight and another pony that seemed to be Cozy Glow. The general theme she found was that each Displaced had either an anthro form, like her, or were human, plus each one seemed to gain some sort of power during their adventure, allowing them to dominate their foes and claim victory, or alter the course of history for the world they were sent to. Each orb held a story, one that they could learn from the Displaced that were in each one, and she was impressed as she stared at Flurry's, the little one had grown into a warrior of incredible skill, before she found the one that she was interested in.

It showed a girl that looked like Celestia that was walking by a green haired body and a pony girl that caused Luna to pause for a moment, as all three of them were dressed in near identical uniforms, like they were going to school together, but it was the pony girl's appearance that made Luna pause.

"That's Nightmare Moon... she ended up in the same world as my sister." Luna said, focusing on that orb and none of the others, it was the most important one in her mind, while at the same time the others turned to look at it, while Twilight came to a stop near them and studied it for a moment, "But... I don't understand. I expected her to be hunting my sister, but here she seems... I don't know. Happy? Content?"

"It is very interesting, and makes me eager to see them when it's time to meet up with them." Twilight remarked, though she didn't have Luna's concern about the situation, because with some of the worlds it was hard to tell if the Displaced had their memories or if they were entering with a blank slate, like how her memories had been sealed or how Spike and Ember knew nothing before eventually recovering their old memories, so this could be a new person they were looking at.

"And who is this?" Kulle asked, referring to one of the orbs that were in the section that seemed to be for those who hadn't returned to this world yet, which seemed to have two Displaced traveling together with a group of what he assumed were either teenagers or young adults, since they appeared to be about Leah's age.

The one they were focused on was a tall figure who seemed muscular, as far as they could see, though she was busty, like Twilight as Luna discovered, and had a wide smile on her face, while the second one was slightly shorter, almost like a teen, who had pink hair and seemed to like riding the former's shoulder, but the first's flame-like hair stopped Luna.

"No... no, it can't be! That's... that's impossible." Luna commented, because the figure was a myth, someone she thought to be a legend or even a creation from the ponies of Equestria, even before her own transformation into Nightmare Moon, and yet here was evidence that she was wrong, that a far more dangerous force was free to roam the worlds.

"Celestia's own dark side, the mythical Daybreaker in the flesh." Twilight answered, laying eyes on the figure as she traveled with Pinkie Pie and the group that they had encountered, wondering if they had made friends with the group, and yet she was very interested in what sort of information they might learn from the figure when she returned, "Celestia is now much younger than you, Nightmare Moon seems to be having fun, and Daybreaker not only exists but is having the time of her life by the looks of it... it's very interesting, wouldn't you say so?"

Luna sighed as she sat in a nearby chair and stared at the orbs that were in front of her, the ones they could see, because this was already a lot of information for them to take in and she had a feeling she was going to need her full attention for the rest of it, plus there was the chance they might fight Twilight or some of her allies to prove their skills, making her eager to see what the coming hours might throw at them next.

Equus: Information and Clash

Luna found that she ended up staring at the pair of orbs for a time, one containing her sister and Nightmare Moon while the other held Pinkie Pie and Daybreaker, because it was just a surprise that she wasn't expecting to discover when she and her friends returned to her home world.

"Tell me about this threat that you face. This... demonic empire." Kulle inquired, because from what he could tell Twilight was the most knowledgeable when it came to the enemies that would be threatening this world in the future, and all worlds if her forces were to launch a preemptive strike against the demons.

"What we know is that they span a significant portion of the universe, at least a sixth of our total mass is under their direct control, countless planets are at their disposal." Twilight replied, as the empire was definitely a great threat, their army was massive and a single miss step would cause the destruction of both Equus and the worlds the remaining Displaced had been sent to, where she waved a hand and a new image appeared before them, of seven shrouded figures and a king, "What we know is that they are ruled by a single figure, the Demon King Dymalis, and he has seven general level demons who follow his orders to the letter, each incredibly powerful in their own right. There is another demon who is equal in power to the seven generals, a mechanic who has created a world of machines and is responsible for many of the technological advances the empire has achieved... when the war begins I'll take him out, cripple their systems and networks."

"How long do we have until their arrival?" Imperius asked, because that was what he was interested in, killing demons, as he was leaving the rest of the stuff to those that were experts in their fields, and right now he suspected Twilight was only good for information gathering and nothing else.

"No clue. Right now they seem focused on conquering another galaxy... but after that we're next on their list." Twilight said, as she knew that she could peer into the future with her time powers and see what the demons were up to, she had tried it a few times since discovering the truth for herself and found that whatever visions she saw ended up being changed due to the decisions of the Demon King, "What we know is that the manner of their invasion depends on their ruler: some of their Kings and Queens have launched surprise assaults on the planets that they're interested in taking over, giving them no time to defend themselves... other times the rulers will send an envoy and give the defenders of a world some time to gather their forces, to wipe them out in one battle."

"Honorable demons, that's... new." Tyrael commented, though he wasn't sure how to take this information, as the demons of this empire seemed far different from the ones that he and the forces of the High Heavens were used to fighting, while he found that Imperius didn't seem to care, rather the Archangel of Valor seemed excited for the challenge.

"Explains why you're training everyone so much, you want to be ready in case the demons finally reveal their hand." Luna said, though she had to wonder which camp this 'Dymalis' fell into, was he dishonorable and attack them during the night or was he honorable and give them a chance to defend themselves, the latter she suspected would benefit them greatly, since there were so many worlds linked to Equus now.

"Indeed. And, speaking of training, you two come with me." Twilight replied, gesturing to both Luna and Leah for a moment with the tip of her staff, allowing them to see that she was focused on them and none of the others, before weaving some of her magic into the air nearby as she effortlessly made a portal for everyone to use, "As for the rest of you, you can hang out in the protected area."

They discovered what she meant a few moments later as they followed her through the portal, as it brought them to what appeared to be a mountain area that Luna was sure was in an entirely different dimension, it didn't feel like they were in the same dimension they had been in moments ago.

"During my adventure I went to a place called the Null Realm, or the World of Void, where there is no time or space... I found a way to replicate it and make my own dimension." Twilight said, gesturing to one of the mountain peaks, allowing them to see an area that was protected by a magical bubble and had a number of people inside it, fighters by the looks of it, where she chuckled for a moment as she turned towards them again, "This isn't the Digital World, where my Digimon were made, rather this is a new private dimension I created to make sure the strongest members of our forces can train without tipping our hand... wouldn't want the demons to sense us and come running before we're ready. Here you can release your full power and not worry about damaging the rest of Equestria, much less the rest of Equus... Luna, Leah, I want you two to do so and come at me."

This excited Luna as she and Leah followed Twilight down to the area she wanted to start in, Leah unfurling her wings so she could follow, while the others made their way to the protected section, Kulle lifting Tyrael with his magic, before Luna found someone standing in the arena.

"Flurry Heart?!" Luna remarked, as she recognized the hair and tail coloration, plus the coat color, of Cadance's daughter, and yet the youngest alicorn looked like she was wise beyond her years, dressed like a warrior of some kind, she wasn't sure what sort of attire she was supposed to be wearing, and she was using a bow on some targets, hitting the targets with a shocking display of accuracy.

"Luna, it is good that you have returned as well... and with such interesting company." Flurry replied, where Luna found that Cadance's daughter was like her and Celestia now, an adult who had seen years worth of experiences, potentially even a thousand like the sisters had, before her bow and quiver vanished into the bag she carried on her belt, a belt that happened to have two interesting sickles on it, "Maybe I'll have a fight with one of your allies later... one of them seems interesting and might give a decent challenge."

Luna said nothing to that, as it seemed like the younger alicorn was definitely a warrior now, and an archer based on what they had just seen, and it wasn't long before Flurry returned to the bubble, leaving her and Leah with Twilight, who just stood there with her staff in her hand. Instead of transforming right away Luna went on the offensive with her weapons, as she wanted to test Twilight first, though she found that the dark staff constantly got in her way when she swung both the larger blade and the smaller one, as in Twilight parried each blow with ease. It was actually a surprise, because she honestly didn't think that Twilight was a fighter, she was a student of magic and that meant she was likely to be focused on training her magical powers, and yet, despite that fact, here she was, moving like she was an expert in the art of battle. She found that Twilight was actually studying her movements and seemed to be planning ahead, before she even figured out which of her moves she wanted to make next, and not even Leah was safe as Twilight spun the staff and shattered the elemental arrows with ease.

The interesting thing about that was that Twilight never even saw the arrows coming, rather it was like she sensed them or something, and while she never looked at Leah directly, who was constantly behind her, Luna noticed that Twilight seemed to know where Leah was at any given moment.

Based on this discovery Luna decided not to waste time, she suspected that her base power would do nothing, especially since Leah's enhanced based power didn't seem to bother Twilight at all, where Luna tapped into her newfound power and let the air around her grow cold. It really didn't take her long to reach the form she had used when she bested Diablo, which caused Twilight to raise an eyebrow for a moment as she took in the chilly air and Luna's more icy form, though it did look like she was interested in her newfound power. Leah, on the other hand, let flames dance around her body for a moment as she transformed into her Prime Evil form, something she was still getting used to, where she found that Twilight nodded as she took in this form, like she had seen it time and time again. In the next moment Leah held her hands out and copied Luna as she called on her magic, forming two blades made out of red energy, sized to match the smaller blade since they were more her size, as they focused on Twilight, who shifted her stance and beckoned for them to come at her.

This time around both of their speeds and powers were far stronger than before, where Luna found that Twilight kept on the defensive, tracking their movements as she swung the staff like it was second nature to her, likely a weapon she had gained during her own adventure, yet at the same time she gave up ground as she moved backwards. Leah also backed off at one point and summoned her flaming bow, rushing into the air as she pulled her magic into a single flaming arrow, though Luna knew this time around it would break the area it collided with, given the amount of power that was in her body. In the next moment a powerful arrow tore through the air, the flaming arrow rushing towards Twilight as it set fire to everything that was around it and even shattered some rocks in the process, demonstrating Leah's great and terrible power. Twilight made her move by summoning what looked like a barrier around her, no doubt designed to keep her from sustaining damage, to which Luna decided to join in as she released her new technique, the Heavenly Shocking Cross Slash, letting the powerful energy slash rush through the air as well as it collided with the barrier at the same time Leah's arrow hit it's mark.

As expected the resulting collision of the two attacks tore up the surrounding area and blasted a large crater into the area that Twilight had constructed, enough to make a decent sized lake, though as Luna and Leah landed nearby they found that Twilight was unharmed, floating in the air above the middle of the new unfilled lake.

"My turn. Essence of Power: Light. Essence of Power: Darkness." Twilight said, where Luna and Leah watched as two orbs appeared behind their opponent, one of radiant light and one of pulsing darkness, orbs that spun in different directions as they moved towards each other and merged into a deep bluish-purple sphere with a grey outline that actually caused black lightning to flash around it, "Eclipse Cannon."

In the following moment Luna called for Leah to dodge as they threw themselves out of the way, the sphere tore through the area that was around it and threw the mountain that was behind them, as in it tore a tunnel through it like the mountain was nothing to it, leaving a gouge in the ground, and yet, as they came to terms with that, Twilight appeared between them in an instant. Luna attacked without delay and found that Twilight spun her staff in a way to catch her and redirect her right into Leah's chest, causing them to fall backwards together, but before they could figure out what she was going gravity just crushed them into the ground. She came to understand why a moment later, there was a circle around her hooves and Leah's feet, like Twilight could place points of darkness that influenced gravity to the point where it crushed those that came at her, and the air around their opponent shuddered as shadows parted from Twilight's form. Her attire turned into a black set of armor with golden trim, with bracers on her wrists and shins, a dark blue sash, and she gained three horns, the central one demonic while the two near her ears looked more like a ram's horns.

Luna realized that Twilight also had the power to transform and that she had been holding back the entire time, and yet this form was far beyond anything she or Leah were capable of, meaning if she had multiple transformations she had skipped some to reach this point.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself: I am Twilight Sparkle, Dark Queen of the Demon Realm, Empress of Universe 7, Ruler of the Time Wardens, and Mistress of the Infinites." Twilight said, where Luna got the feeling that this match was over, that the power in front of them was far beyond what she or even Leah could produce, like they were strong enough to force her to use either the peak of her power or the step right before it, "I have four transformations, this is my third... I skipped two of them to respect your powers, but the fourth is... well, it is out of your league, sadly."

"And yet, I feel like training with you will make us worthy of fighting this form for real." Luna remarked, because right now she and Leah didn't seem capable of fighting this form, but since Twilight seemed to be training people she had a feeling that they would be able to catch up with her in no time.

Twilight nodded and dismissed the magic that was holding them down, all while quickly reverting to her base form like it was nothing, demonstrating her power for them in the process, something they replicated as they got up, because now they were even more eager to see what the coming days had in store for them and their newfound allies.

Equus: Reapers

"You two did great for your first time fighting my aunt." Flurry commented, speaking to Luna and Leah as they entered the bubbled area and stepped into the protective shell that Twilight had created in the past, even though she could see that both of them were just surprised by what they had seen, "Don't worry, Twilight has that effect on everyone... no one is really ready to fight her the first time, regardless of the training they did before coming back home."

"She's definitely in her own dimension of power, that's for sure." Leah remarked, as not even the power of the Prime Evil seemed to do anything to the powerful figure she and Luna had fought, or rather it was like they had struggled against her power, since they had done nothing to Twilight while she could have taken their heads in an instant if she wanted to.

Luna, however, knew that this would be a kick in the pants for her and Leah, because while both of them were strong this discovery meant that there was far more for them to learn, more room for them to grow, and who knew what else, which just made her more interested in what the future had in store for them.

"Now then, Flurry, you wanted to challenge some of Luna's allies?" Twilight inquired, glancing at the two that would be the ones her niece was interested in, the ones called Imperius and Malthael, where she knew they were strong but were also below Leah's strength, but should be a decent challenge for Flurry.

"No need. We shall beat her." Imperius remarked, spreading his wings as he burst out of the bubbled area and flew down into the open area that was below them, while at the same time Malthael seemed to do the same thing, just more gracefully, something that caused Flurry to shake her head as she opened her own wings and flew out without even making a single sound.

"Oh, he has no idea who he's dealing with." Twilight commented, though at the same time she simply smiled as the three warriors landed in the area below them, because she knew Flurry's true strength and knew that Imperius would constantly underestimate her niece, causing her to glance at the others, "Better get some popcorn, this is going to be interesting."

Flurry stood there for a moment, staring at the two figures, Archangels as Luna called them, seeing one holding sickles while the other had a spear, where she shifted her stance and pulled her own sickles off her belt as she glanced at them, silently beckoning for them to come at her. Luna watched as Imperius rushed at Flurry without delay, his spear at the ready like he was going to impale her right then and there, yet in the following moments she moved out of the way while using her sickles to knock back the weapon like it was nothing. Flurry followed it up by bringing the base of her sickles together and twisted, causing them to merge into a sickle staff, spinning it around as one curved blade slipped under Imperius' collar area before he could stop her, and it wasn't long before she lifted him over her head and slammed him down into the rocks behind her. In the next instant she spun around and dismantled her staff into the two sickles, the two blades coming into contact with Malthael's own sickles, as the Archangel of Wisdom saw what he perceived to be an opening and struck, only to find that she actually didn't lower her defenses in the slightest.

The ground around them cracked a little before Flurry shifted her stance and knocked Malthael backwards, where she raised her hand towards the bag on her belt and summoned a spear with a crystalline head, one that she spun around and used to move into a flurry of blows that forced Malthael to step backwards.

Luna noticed how odd that was, as she had assumed that the sickle bearing Archangel would be able to avoid such an attack or not even be affected by it, yet Flurry's attack had struck the figure like it was nothing, making her wonder what Flurry's power might be, like how she was the moon and Celestia was the sun. Malthael summoned what appeared to be a deathly fog that spread around the area he was in and sent it at his foe, no doubt to weaken her movements or something, and yet, as the fog reached her, Flurry just stood there with an eyebrow raised. She did, however, step out of the way as Imperius tried to bring down his spear on her, missing her without her even noticing him coming her way, and yet Flurry reached for her bag as she switched the spear for another weapon, a pair of large fist weapons that looked like they had lion heads on the front of them. They were large, like they had been made for a giant or someone close to that size, and yet she wielded them with surprising grace as she used the outer edge of the weapons to parry another couple of jabs from Imperius before punching him in the chest, sending him back into the rock wall behind her.

In that moment Luna also noted that Flurry's sickles and bow remained on her at all times, but any other weapon seemed to come from her bag, making her wonder how many weapons were actually contained inside the bag, before she heard the sound of someone chuckling and found that it was Twilight.

"The answer to your question, Luna, is 'yes'." Twilight said, where at the same time they found that Flurry went on the attack as she assaulted Malthael, the sheer power of the fist weapons forcing the angel backwards as she dominated both Valor and Wisdom with her power, and Twilight noticed the look on Luna's face, "Flurry's been collecting powerful weapons since her adventures started, and the ones she's pulled out so far aren't even the strongest ones... but make no mistake, while each weapon is powerful in their own right, even legendary so depending on which one it is, Flurry is still more powerful."

As Luna thought about that Malthael and Imperius attacked Flurry at the same time and knocked her backwards, where she simply slipped the fist weapons into her bag as she withdrew a new weapon, a warhammer with a crystalline head, though in the following moment she swung it downwards at Imperius and the Archangel dodged. The instant the head connected with the ground Luna and the others watched as the ground around Flurry cracked and shattered, as if the weapon itself caused a minor earthquake that transferred into the area around them. Twilight wasn't even surprised by this, rather she called this weapon 'Earthshaker', a warhammer that had been reforged by the God of the Forge from the land Flurry had been sent to and empowered with this power over earth, which was just amazing to Luna. Flurry's speed allowed her to keep pace with the two Archangels that were in front of her, swinging the weapon like it was nothing, and when it collided with Imperius' chest it actually cracked his armor like it was nothing.

In the following moment, despite having no place in this fight, Luna descended on the battle and found that Flurry parried the Ashbringer before it could even find it's mark, but she wielded a golden greatsword that seemed far beyond what the warhammer was capable of, where she found that she was forced back as well.

"What is that?" Luna asked, though at the same time she shifted into her true form as she felt Malthael summon his greatest power as well, because the unveiling of this weapon seemed to indicate that Flurry was planning on bringing an end to this fight, as she determined that it was far stronger than the other ones from their brief clash.

"The Blade of Olympus, a weapon that ended ended wars and killed gods, reforged by Hephaestus as well." Flurry said, but at that point Luna wasn't even surprised, as this God of the Forge, or maybe it was more appropriate to call him the God of Smiths, seemed to be a really talented individual, but even then she wasn't expecting the weapon to be so powerful or have such an impressive history, "Here I come."

Luna found that Flurry was able to move with the Blade like it was nothing, that the weapon was light and didn't weigh her down in the slightest, and when she swung it Luna found that she moved like it was just a light one handed sword, yet none of her movements were wasted in the slightest. Both of her blades parried the weapon as Malthael went on the offensive as well, where one would think that they would have a greater chance to bring her down since Luna's new full power chilled the air around her and slowed her enemies down, yet Flurry wasn't bothered in the slightest. In fact when both Imperius and Malthael came at her, as the Archangel of Valor wasn't done yet, but as that happened Flurry glanced at them and snapped her fingers, summoning an imposing battleaxe with what looked like a dragon design on it, so when she jumped away from Luna she could parry both incoming attacks with ease. This made her wonder many things as Flurry landed on the ground, as everything she had seen so far suggested that she was a seasoned warrior, like she had spent her life fighting and even training, at nearly every hour of the day, and it amazed her when she found that Flurry was so skilled.

It also looked like she wasn't the only one surprised by this fact, as both of the Archangels landed beside Luna, both likely assuming that together they might be able to uncover a hole in her defenses, or at least force her to give up if they wounded her, though as they stood there Flurry tilted her head for a moment.

"So, Malthael, what sort of Archangel did you say you were?" Flurry asked, because she knew that Imperius was Valor, he had said such a thing while she was watching her aunt fight Luna and Leah earlier, but Malthael had remained silent, and while she could guess at what aspect he represented she wanted to hear it from him.

"I was Wisdom, originally, but now I am the Archangel of Death." Malthael replied, something that surprised Imperius while Luna just nodded her head for a moment, because she had suspected that the missing Archangel had tapped into some sort of new power and it looked like she had been right in thinking such a thing, but him being Death itself was definitely not what she was expecting.

"I see. Well then, we are a terrible match, aren't we?" Flurry remarked, though before any of them could say anything she let a wave of energy wash over her, enveloping her body as Luna realized that their opponent had been holding back the entire time, that what she was revealing was her true power.

Luna noticed something else as that happened, the power that surrounded Flurry was deathly, much like Malthael's power, and as that happened they heard the sound of what seemed to be an eerie whistle, one that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up, before she realized what they were seeing.

"Flurry... you are no mere extraordinary warrior... you are..." Luna said, as she understood what they were seeing, in fact she could tell that Malthael had come to understand this fact as well, while Imperius just stood there as he struggled to figure out what in the world was happening.

"Death." Flurry replied, the act of her saying that caused the magic to crystalize and shatter into a thousand pieces, but when the magic cleared Luna found that Flurry's attire had changed, she had a dark grey shirt now, brown trousers, and a black robe over both that could pass as a shroud, with a hood that was pulled back, and she moved her sickles a little, "And I don't mean it metaphorically, or rhetorically, or poetically, or theoretically, or in any other fancy way. I'm Death, straight up."

In the next moment Luna found out something familiar, Flurry quickly rushed at them and overpowered each of them, as in she used her sickles to block Imperius' spear before knocking him into the rock wall again, she dodged and moved out of the way before sending Malthael into the ground, and she ducked before delivering an uppercut to Luna's chin, knocking her to the ground.

"You know, I know when I'm beat. I couldn't touch Twilight, but I'm not foolish enough to challenge Death itself." Luna said, letting out a laugh in the process, while Malthael stood and bowed his head in respect, as one wielder of the power of Death was showing respect to another, even though Luna suspected that in the world Flurry had been sent to she was known as the 'Goddess of Death', "Though I must admit, I'm looking forward to training with you again in the future... with your arsenal I can imagine that each training session would be different than the last."

Luna could only look forward to what the coming days had in store for her, because there was so much for her to learn and see from the rest of the Displaced and their allies, so much for her and her own friends to improve upon, and it really made her interested in whatever the immediate future held in store for them.