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Final Part: Vyra Muses
The Grand Admiral	October 25, 2022 8:42 am

It was a busy day in the mining caves. In the distance, the former all-powerful Overlord could hear voices, paws on hard ground, and the sounds of scraping and digging. The excitement that had taken over these dark, deep…dirty…caves seemed to be mellowing out, though the strange little pebbles still seem to be materializing. But their appearance was decreasing by the day. Fewer and fewer were being carried out of the shadowy depths. As the denizens of Lunaria pondered what else could be done with them, now that the Mad Scientist had gathered as many as he had space for…and perhaps a little more… Vyra ignored the distant commotion. Her observations of the last few days had been meticulous, patient, thorough. Where she sat, in this hidden secluded little hollow, she reclined on the cool hard stone as she regarded the small selection of stones in front of her. They glittered and glimmered with her absorbed power, mirroring the sparkle in the small waterfall-fed pool just beyond. Laying there, chin resting on one paw with a claw of the other slowly turning and rolling the stones, she considered what she had observed. What her intentions had been, and what had actually happened. When she had infused Artemis’ precious little seed with a bit of her glitch, she had expected a whole array of antics from the resulting sproutling. Something so deeply connected to the very earth beneath her paws, a direct descendent of the mother tree…so many possibilities had played through her vivid imagination. But nothing had come of it. The sapling had simply…grown. Boring, normal, not a hint of what she had done to the seed that had birthed it. A frustrating mystery. One that was only complicated when these funny little stones—cocoons—had been discovered. Her power, her immense, boundless power…choosing to infect bugs? Well, she knew the story of the little menaces. They had caused so much trauma and heartache in Solaria, and had darn near done the same here in Lunaria. Only the great power of the Pear Tree had rendered them back to a state of dormancy. That and the lessons of love, friendship, loyalty, bravery, yadda yadda yadda. What all did mothers tell their pups now? It made Vyra shudder. Poor things, growing up rotting their brains on all those candy-sweet fairy tales. There were far better lessons to teach. Like the story of a certain beloved Overlord who once ruled over all. Who was loved and praised. A much better example of forgiveness and rising up after being cast so far down. Because of course, Vyra in her goodness had forgiven the ones who had wronged her a long time ago. And even though her power had been absolutely boundless in that infernal digital prison, nothing would ever convince her to go back. Not even to reclaim her old glory. That was the whole truth of the matter, the primary reason these ridiculous cocoons irritated her. This had not been her intention, and yet it had happened. Her power had not bowed to her will. From seed to bug, and with nothing to show for it. Nothing that had anything to do with her, anyway. The way the creatures contained her power not only kept it from obeying her, it also tamed it. Turning her beautiful glitches into simple stable energy, which is what the Mad Scientist had been so desperate for. The last key he needed for a permanent portal to Solaria. Vyra growled softly, swiping one of the rocks and watching it bounce into the pool with a small splash. She had grown tired of trying to explain it, both to herself and to that old fart of a scientist that she had grown thoroughly bored with now. In the end, what did it matter how it all happened? If there was one thing Vyra could never do, it was change the past. And if she couldn’t change it, there was no point in dwelling on it. She had at least gained some advantages. Even more praise, more respect, so many counting her among those to be honored for the success of the portal. She had even gotten grudging respect from the hardheaded Artemis. She rather liked that. But the portal was old news to her now. The Mad Scientist wasn’t even done with it yet. It was built, it was powered, but more time was still needed for him to make absolutely sure it was stable and safe. Which left the reason she had been coming to this dark and wet place for the last few days. She could not get her old power in these cocoons to bow to her will anymore. She could get the cocoons to hatch, that was true. She could break the indestructible little things with nary a thought. But the bugs contained within were still dormant. Only the breaking of the power of the Pear Tree could awaken them, as their brethren had proved so long ago, but now that they were fully digital, they were…stuck. Permanently glitched. After all, there was no digital Pear Tree to break that could awaken them. And that was fine by her, because perhaps the true awakened isopteron was a bit too much of a menace for her plans. She did not want these lovely lands destroyed. What kind of benevolent Overlord would she be if she allowed such a travesty? See? She was a thousand times better than Artemis already. Slowly, one by one, Vyra swiped each stone in turn until they bounced into the pool and disappeared. Soon, only one remained. This one she picked up and held in her paw. Such a disappointment, a complete deflection of all her plans. …at least, that had been her initial belief. Until she had started coming here, into these dark and dank spaces, and started her own observations, her own experiments. And she had discovered that the fact that the power no longer strictly obeyed her did not matter. There were still options here. Ways she could turn things to her will. All that was needed…was to return the power back to the earth. Once again, she shifted a glistening pebble in her paw until one claw was running across its surface. Slowly, carefully. She watched as the glitch glimmer began to react to her touch, just as it had done before. There was still fun to be had, even in power that was beyond her immediate command. The cocoon trembled in her paw. Glimmered. Gave one little twitch. Then began to crack. Vyra tossed it into the pool along with the others. And grinned as she watched the water ripple, shimmer. Fall still. And in the distance, amidst the voices, a new sound. Pop. Pop. Pop. The cocoons meant little to her. Even the isopterons meant little to her. Let her beloved denizens do with her new gifts to them as they will. After all, they were harmless, were they not? Dormant. Asleep. But the power…she could feel it starting. More slowly, more carefully this time. She stood, stretched, and made her way out of the dark and the cold, back into the warmth and the light. The things she preferred. All the while listening to the steady pop, pop, pop. Pop, pop of cracking cocoons. Power leaching away. The shells would not survive this time. Drained as opposed to burst, they would simply crumble away. The little beasties inside? Well, Vyra was generous. Let them serve the amusement of others. The real fun will start... …soon. Stay tuned for final summary.

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