You know, sea monsters weren’t that bad after you realized they can’t get on land. I watched with waning interest as another tentacle tried to grab us again. “So… how much longer tell it gives up?” I asked turning the Demon Slayer into a long spear that I used to swat it away.

“We know not if it will retreat but we shall finish this soon.” Stella said before notching a faintly glowing arrow. “See if thou can keep them in place.”

I let out a bit of noise before nodding my head. As another tentacle lashed out at me, I moved forward. DS changed and merged with my gauntlet that I used to grab the beast with a grunt I dug the other sword into it. The sword pierced through it and dug into the ground. It tried pulling back but my grip on it and the sword kept them in place.

“We got this!” Koromaru said leaping forward and digging their teeth into it. They hung off the tentacle while letting off a growl. Stella let out a sigh before letting off a shot at the beast. With a single shot bit of giant squid went flying everywhere.

“Well I know what we are having for dinner.” I said with a sigh. “Then we can figure out where we are.” With a nod I dragged the large mass behind me.

“Fishy tonight?” Koro asked trotting behind me. “So, you know how to cook it?”

“A little…” I admit trying to think how to pull it off and make it edible. “Never really liked fish.”

“We know little to about how to cook it.” Stella said having grabbed a chunk that landed nearby. “Shall we set up a camp for the night?”

That caught me off guard but sure enough I saw the sun nearing the end of its journey. “Well looks like we don’t have much of a choice. Better find a place to rest.” Letting out a sigh I turned back toward the forest. I felt the keys inside my head shuffle as Chronos was replaced with Comet. I felt a power cover my eyes as they were drawn a little bit… west? I was never good with direction and now I don’t really need to be thanks to the mini map I got with these powers. “That way.”

“What makes thou sure?” Stella asked picking up more mass of fish as she followed.

“One of my Demons, Comet, offers an ability to help me find things.” I tried to explain which just got me a confused stare from her. “Please just trust me, if this doesn't work, we can just cut down some trees and make a primitive shelter with Alchemy.” I was going to use it anyway to make a bed. What I’m not sleeping on the ground if I don’t have to. I saw her narrow her eyes at me.

“Hey what do I call you two? I mean I called you daddy but are you really?” Koromaru asked trotting up to us with a tilted head. “I don’t think I came from the egg but my memories are fuzzy.” While happy for a break from Stella’s glare I was now left more confused.

“Listen just call me what comes naturally. But if I’m being honest just call me Oz, not ready to be a dad just yet.” I waved it off as Koro let out a hum of thought. “As for miss moody she is Stella, she is in a bit of a mood right now.” Stella let out a sigh and appeared to go back to what she was thinking. Looking forward I elongated the claws of my gauntlet and with a few slashes started cutting my way through the foliage. “I think we are getting closer, Comet is pushing a little more.”

“Oh, good I’m a little tired. Can’t wait to get some fishy.” The dog said happily trying to get past me but kept getting blocked by fallen trees and shrubs. “I already ate some on the beach but I still want to try some cooked.” Within a few more seconds I was able to cut some last vines and saw a nice clearing leading to a cave.

“Alright gang let’s have a nice careful look.” I said feeling the energy leaving me. That fight with the Fallen finally seems to be catching up to me. “Don’t want to barge in on some bears or dragon or worse a Beargon.” I let out a pity chuckle at my horrible joke upon seeing Stella and Koromaru’s blank stare.

“We believe scene thou have a shield they shall go first.” Stella said while casually tossing me under the bus.

“The fun talking lady does make a good point.” Truly man’s best friend has betrayed them.

“Okay I get it, but if I die, I’m haunting you guys.” With a bit of work, I managed to work Aegis Shield into the hand that had once held the Fallen blade. With careful steps I felt Comet try and fix my vision but the cave was starting to get dark and the setting sun wasn’t helping. Holding my hand out I used the SIVA to generate some light and was relieved to not see any life beyond some spiders. “We’re good!”

“Well make a fire we shall prepare the meat for consumption.” Stella said walking slowly into to cave. I let out a sigh as I started getting to work. I walked back out and was happy to find that the fallen blade was able to chop down trees with one slash, along with all nearby trees around.

“Oh boy! Are those for me!” Koro asked bouncing up to me. Not waiting for an answer, they charged ahead and grabbed one of the bigger sticks and started trying to drag it inside. I let out a sigh as I grabbed two myself. Upon getting near I clapped my hands together and laid them on the ground. With a flash Alchemy took place the wood was turned into something close to paper. Didn’t need to be exact here just needed a nice fire starter. Grabbing the other broken-down tree, I dragged them both back in. With another blue flash of lightning I had made a nice hole in the ground for a fire pit.

“Why do you not use that more often?” Stella asked while I started throwing in the fire starters.

“I thought I had explained it, I’m scared of the rebound.” What can I say I like my body intact and don’t want to find out if Heal can replace limbs? “Plus, it requires more knowledge then I currently have. You need to know the very makeup of the thing you are creating.” Might call Ed about that later and see if he could give me another knowledge dump.

“We see,” Stella said with a nod while she was working on the meal.

I heard a yawn off to my side. “Night new family.” Koromaru said as they laid down. As they did though I saw them break off into bits of light. A quick mental check showed that they now had taken another slot in my head I didn’t know existed. I guess they were treated as some sort of Demon for the time being. Might take some experiments but I would figure it out. But for now, there were more pressing matters.

“So, you given up on your revenge yet?” It had been more than a week, if I remember right, since she was created and had the talk with Simon. I had planned to have this talk with said individual present but, eh, intergalactic wars apparently happen what can you do?

“Are we not going to talk about thou’s dog?” Stella asked but upon seeing my blank stare let out a huff of irritation. “What do you want me to say? That we forgive her? That we learned Sir Simon’s lesson and will follow his point of view? That our heart and mind has changed?” Stella yelled at me with growing irritation. “Then idiot Oz we hate to disappoint you but our answer is no. No, we cannot forgive them so easily or quickly!”

You know I somewhat expected that answer but… yeah there was still a little shock. “Figured as much and I can’t say I get it. Because really, I doubt there is anyway expect for a mind share, which we are not doing, for me to understand.” I said with a shrug only to pause at seeing Stella’s glare.

“Thou are right, thou shall never understand what we went through.” Her words came out through clenched teeth like water being forced through a small grate. “To be made, no we were always there. We were just held back by that weak puppet that was too afraid. Afraid of what WE could do.” Was that the royal we or the inclusive we? What I’m not interrupting to ask, I prefer my body parts attached. “Then when we were let to shine, to truly shine and show the whole world what we can do. Oh, how we shone and OUR moon shone with us. It was a true sight to see. The moon, stars and me.” Stella slowed down as a found smile came to her face. I could see a mist start coming to her eyes.

“That was our first true memory you know?” I bit my tongue to not interrupt but instead subtly moved closer. “Before we only remember snippets of the puppet’s life, or blackness.” I barely caught the last part that she muttered. “But that night, when the moon and stars that we put up shone their brightest, that moment we shall always remember. Too sad for us it all lasted as long as a moment.” Now the anger returned in full. “OUR sister charged in and demanded we lower our art and turn back to the weak puppet we were before. ‘Let our real sister go!’ she shouted at us, like we were some kind of fake! We attempted to show her who was the real but her head was like her sun, among the clouds. As you know we then fought, lost, and were sealed in our very moon for a thousand years.” Stella finished her voice a mix of anger, betrayal and sorrow.

Meanwhile my mind was hitting the book I got from Shining. It had nothing in it about THIS! That secret librarian weapon was not the complete history if it missed this! I saw her start to turn to me. Crap need to keep her talking, “Thousand years, how did you keep yourself entertained?”

A slow chuckle escaped her lips. “We planned our revenge. We knew Celestia would never accept us as her true sister so we knew we had to deal with her. The puppet,” Stella let out a breath of air before going forward, “well guess she is the real Luna now, would not assist me so I mainly left her alone. I saw no use in her expect to as entertainment for when I wished to fish around for memories. When not doing either of those either slept or were left with our thoughts.” Damn sounds lonely, Stella seemed to agree with me. “Yet it was all for naught. That, that, BITCH Celestia made it all worthless. A thousand-year plan ruined due to incompetent minions and friendship.” Was this what Ed and Simon were talking about with the whole Elements thing? Side note, existing on a planet where the power of friendship was real and could kill you was wired.

“Then I employed our plan B. We laid low, modified and strengthened our selves and the nearby wildlife with the power we discovered.” Was she talking about Star Power? Star Power seemed the most reasonable sense she seemed to be treated as a Demon from the second game. “But then thou and that stupid Crimson Butcher came and ruined everything! We were broken and laid low! We could have recovered but that too was taken from us when that accursed eye of thou’s bound us! Now look at what we have fallen to! A mere servant with our legacy tarnished by a smear!” Stella continued on not seeming to need any further producing, not that she needed it more than once. She let out a couple more breathes as she turned toward me with her full force. “So, tell me Demon Gazer should I forgive them. Forgive them changing my name then dragging the new one through the mud! Forgive the Luna who would beg on her hands and knees for forgiveness when we did nothing wrong! Forgive the sister who wronged us more times than we could count! Forgive the people who even now spit at us and tell their children horror stories about us!” Man, that was a loaded question if I ever heard one.

I sat in silence near her for a bit before coming up with what I hoped would be a good answer. “I would be a hypocrite to day I never want revenge. Hell, I have a list of people of revenge and yes before you ask yes Simon is on it. No idea how I’m going to do but I might, hey he is on it.” I start with letting out a huff. “And like I said before there is no way for me to understand what you went through so I can’t tell you to just get over it. But I have to ask, and yes this does relate to revenge, is Celestia and Luna really worth this. The subjects from a thousand years ago are gone and the only one carrying on this thing is you.” Man, I floundered that out badly.

“What do you mean? Of course, our revenge is worth it! When our dear sister is brought low, we shall rule over Equestria and its people! How is that not worth it?” Stella yelled at me still running on the energy from her earlier rant.

“There right there is why it’s not worth it.” I say confusing Stella. “If or when you defeat Celestia you then have to rule over the people whose ruler you just killed. From what I understand she has been doing this for around a thousand years. So, upon killing her you would just wind up with a whole lot of revolutions that would stop at nothing to kill you or your followers. It would just keep going on till whatever few remaining subjects live in terror over you and start to try and find other ways to kill you.” I saw Stella take a thinking pose as if going over something might as well try something else. “Then what do think would happen with the other kingdoms? They would smell the blood in the water and try to take advantage of the weakened state to seize control. See what I mean about your revenge being pointless. Even if you get it against Celestia all that would happen is you would wind up hurting yourself the most. Plus, with that in mind you would be left with almost no subjects and an empty throne.” I point out as Stella fell further into further thinking.

“Now like I said before I have people, I would like to get revenge on but you know what? I don’t get or even if a chance comes, I might not take it. You want to know why?” I leaned forward so I could look in her eyes. “It’s because I truly want to be better. Better than them and better than the me who wanted to get that revenge.” I saw her focus a bit more on me now. “Now do I fail. Yes, most of the time I do. Like today after Twilight put me in that ugly as outfit and somehow messed with my Star Power I was pissed. All I did was open my mouth to make a joke, yes, she took it the wrong way and yes, I could have phrased it better but point still stands. So, in return I got revenge by making her first act a bit of a joke with the child joke.” Now that was a memory.

Stella seemed to focus on me a bit more. “So, thou did that on purpose? Here we thought thee just opened up thou’s mouth to let thee’s words cascade out so thou wouldn’t choke on them.”

One: ow, that hurt. Two: was I really that bad? I mean yeah, I seemed to piss of most people I came across in this world. Huh, when put that way, I should probably watch my mouth more. Ed did mention it when he was leaving. “That is true, unfortunately. But hey nobody is perfect.” I say shrugging my shoulders. “Back to you though with the whole forgiveness thing… I don’t think at this point if it’s possible for you to truly forgive them. So how about instead of truly forgiving them you try… maybe moving past them?” I offered weakly. Stella glared at me now with an expression demanding I explain myself.

“Listen you said it yourself, you are the ‘True Luna’. So why not prove it by doing what she couldn’t. Well what I assume she couldn’t do. Move past the past, stop giving so much of your energy to two people who you don’t believe worth it. After all, as a wise goat once said ‘Your story may not have not have such a happy beginning but that does not make you who you are, it is the rest of it - who you choose to be.” I’m not sure how much the quote fit in but I always found it helped me at points. After all I could only be the best me, and maybe try to be a better me that has control of my mouth.

“We thank you for the talk we are going to bed.” Stella said before getting up and walking over to a corner. With little talk I throw some blankets and pillows her way, what after Simon heard about what I could store in it we both shoved as many things we could in the item pouch. I am now ready for most things. So, I now head over to my own spot and get set up for first watch.

Turning I saw Stella quickly fall asleep so now with an actual moment to myself that doesn’t have me laid out died it is time to go over things with my helper. “Terra that nuisance that you mentioned when we first met. Is it a dragon star demon, a thing made of a lot of souls?” I asked the demon.

I saw some of the shadows on the wall darken as a red glowing eye appeared. “I don’t know how you know but yes, it is as you described. It is a somewhat lesser demon then the ones you are used to wielding.” So, Terra can’t go through my memories. That is very good to know, or maybe he just sees it as below him to do so. Next is the implications of having the Demon from game 2 in my head. One of which is how I would go about getting more Star Power to use the abelites it could offer.

“Yeah like I said it is a collection of Star Power and souls while you are some type of god corrupted by Sol or something.” I wave off as I moved my legs hearing them pop. “So weird question. Any idea on how to get more Star Power? I think I somewhat remember how to get some but that requires a radio and things we don’t have.” I knew my spotty memory would come back to bite me but to think it would be about video games… Man this is so, something.

I shook my head trying to keep awake as I saw the eye tilt and squint. “I don’t think we need to do much. This world seems to overflow with the energy. You should be able to draw it in to a certain amount while I work on increasing the amount you can hold.” Man having a powerful Demon in my head seems helpful at certain points. “Just remember that this is for my own purposes. The more Star Power you have the more I can use upon coming free.” Man, and I thought I was good at killing a moment.

“What about Koromaru? Is he somewhere in there?” I had to make sure I didn’t lose the dog on the first day of owning it.

“The creature born of chaos lies around here but it shall be a few days till it can be summoned again. I shall let you know when you can next use it.” The eye started fading, “Now I must go I have work to do. I doubt that the King you met doesn’t realize the damage him and the chaos disciple did to our souls.” I don’t know whether to believe him or not. On one hand if anyone would know our soul best it would be him. On the other he might be trying to get me to lose some trust in Simon. Seeing him disappear and whatever constituted as our bond vanish, I was left alone. Man, I hate being alone.

Trying to pass some time I started shifting through my item pouch. It was the only thing I could do at the moment and seemed to function more like a Pokémon bag then the one from DG. My hand let me know what things it came across as I continued to rummage around in it trying to stay entertained. “Wonder if the mini radio from two is in there?” As I said this, I pulled out not only the radio I was looking for but also some small crystals. “Oh, maintenance crystals? I almost forgot about these.” In the second game you could perform maintenance on the Demons you acquired. These would allow the Demon new ability and raise their states. “Do I need to use these on Stella? How would that even work I think I’m missing some equipment to do it.” Dang it so many questions, none of which I could answer. Mainly because the book about this subject was written in ancient elf. Maybe Stella knew the language but not me. With a sigh I dropped the shards into the bag while rolling the radio around in my hand.

“Why is this my life?” Wow, pity party for me. See this is why I hate being alone, I self-reflect and my past actions weren’t the best recently. “You know I never figured out why that Lightning chick got mad about me asking about here numbers.” Following up on my time from the ship what did Azure Zap give to me. Reaching back into my bag I pulled out the rings and sheet of paper. Looking over I slipped the rings on while unfolding the sheet. “Wait is this what they thought I was talking about?” I felt my face slowly start lighting up. “This somewhat, might, justify why they are mad at me. But, no why did they freak out about everything.” Whelp I got Lightning something’s measurements now. “Whelp, at least this is a somewhat good distraction from other things.” Yeah like the way we might never see our friends and family again. Or how we have a Demon bent on bringing about the end of the world. I might need a therapist or two. Maybe Ed knows one, or I could just talk to him about other things and hope my problems sort themselves out. That works to and doesn’t require me confronting touchy subjects I would rather throw in a hole and ignore them.

Author's Notes:

Don't know if I'm quite happy with all the exposition in this chapter but I gave it my best. On another note sorry for being gone for so long I have no excuse for this taking so long other than the fact that I decided to take way to long a break. I hope you can forgive me I will try to get back on a somewhat regular schedule.