Chapter 239 Keep The Balance

"What do you mean that my work is only beginning?" Tallia asked as she stood up with her shadow cat in her arms, walking up to join her mother. This was all still too fresh for her to be able to form any emotions about what was going on other than utter confusion.

"If Galio only takes the high road, and falls for Kadeons tricks, then Kadeon will be crowned the True God of the new world. If he takes the low road and sinks into darkness, I will become the new True Goddess," Nemoria explained as she looked out over the chaos that stretched as far as the eye could see.

"But then, why do you want Galio to become the True God? Would it not make sense for you to be and push him into darkness?" Tallia asked, but Nemoria shook her head.

"No, that is even worse than if Kadeon won. I do not have full control of my facilities right now. I won't hurt you while you are here, but when you go back, I have no idea what I might be forced to do. Angelios controls me, but if I win, all three of those abominations will absorb into me, and I will no longer be me. I will become a true Queen of darkness, and that is not something that anyone wants. Galio is the only result that this test can provide where we all get to go back to normal lives and live them how we want," Nemoria explained, and Tallia nodded slowly.

"That makes more sense, but then we just have to tell Galio that Kadeon is the Pretender, right?" Tallia asked, and then added, "He is already suspicious of him."

"The Guides will not allow it because it will interfere with their test, nor should you try. This is the most important thing. Do not reveal this to Galio, no matter what happens. For all we know, the guides may choose to reset everything. They are the ones that hold all the power; even if Kadeon thinks he can control them, that is not the case. The three will not do anything that they don't want to. You should know how strong they are after being sealed from telling Galio anything useful for five hundred lifetimes now. Do not test them," Nemoria warned.

"Then what can I do?! I am starting to feel really useless. If I can't warn him, what am I supposed to do?!" Tallia griped, and Nemoria turned and pulled Tallia into a hug.

"Child, you just need to do what you are best at. Guide him with your love, but he needs to embrace both sides. There are times when he is going to have to kill, and there will be times when the best option is not the most pleasant. The guides will not let him take any other road than the one they want him to take. What you can do is help him find a balance in what order he does things as well as which title he chooses for himself." Nemoria explained, and Tallia nodded from her mother's comforting embrace.

"I can't watch Galio suffer if I know that I can guide him, so that doesn't happen," Tallia said with conviction, and her mother smiled at her proudly before letting go of the hug but keeping their hands clasped together over their stomachs.

"You are strong just like your father, girl; there is no denying that," Nemoria said as she squeezed Tallia's hand gently before letting go of it completely and turning back to look out over the chaos again. "Even if he is an idiot, you are better than him, and now it is time for me to send you back. You can't change Galio back as he is now, but Umbra will protect you from him and give you the strength plus more to hold him back while he regains control. Because he is two halves, he will be able to control all aspects of our Positive and Negative Energy, but this is one thing he can't call on past memories to conquer. This is something that only he can do, so you will have to keep him busy," Nemoria explained, but Tallia pulled back in shock.

"What? You want me to fight that thing?! I mean, won't I be hurting Galio?!" Tallia explained, but Nemoria laughed.

"You can't hurt him like this, just like he won't be able to hurt you. Your job is just to keep him busy and to show the world that my Daughter is the strongest, of course. It tickled me to watch Galio put that Elf in her place! I never really liked her, but his tastes have always been varied. Regardless, take good care of Umbra; she will keep you safe from my Blood Witches and Riftwalkers. I would also like to thank you for stopping him from killing Xena. She is not a bad person; I made her one, just like the other Blood witches. There are really bad people that are just like your father, pretending to be good, so you need to be careful," Nemoria warned.

"Like who?" Tallia asked, but Nemoria shook her head sadly.

"You will see in time. Just be ready; I have a feeling that you are going to need all the strength that you can get when you two face Kadeon again," Nemoria explained, and Tallia got a strange feeling that she was holding something back, but she had to trust her mother not to lie to her any more than what she had too.

"I understand," Tallia said as she nodded, and Nemoria leaned down and hugged her tightly one last time before pulling away from the hug completely. "Be careful with yourself," Nemoria instructed as she started walking away from Tallia towards another area of Nornheim, Nemoria's domain. It looked like a giant rock garden with huge statues of mythical creatures hidden amongst them, plus more buildings made out of stone built into ledges in the sides of the mountains surrounding them. As soon as Tallia could no longer see where her mother went, a door appeared in front of her, but it opened on its own before disappearing behind it completely, leaving no trace at all except for an empty doorway floating alone inside complete darkness.

It was time for Tallia to return and help the man she loved, even if that meant having to fight him.

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