I stood steadfast as I gazed upon the black void that had encroached itself onto the world. The once well lit area of the meadow darkening as the plants withered and the sun was eclipsed. The icy winds of deceased souls bellowing out of the rift, my hair fluttering in the breeze. I smirked as the very embodiment of death stepped out of it.

A towering figure at least twice my height stepped out of the portal, the two large skulls that made up its heads being that of a human and an ox leering at me while it stepped out. It was cold, yet also a warm embrace. An old friend that carried people across to the other side, yet a scourge that tore the best away with cold neutrality.

"So...You chose to challenge me mortal." It spoke, the voice sending a chill down my spine. Yet also filled me with a sense of serenity.

"You got that right." I smirked wider. "I already placed what remains of my life as a wager."

"Very well. But I must warn you, to those I guide across to the other side I inherit the skills they had in life. I have never lost a challenge." Death spoke, walking through the portal. A large spine made up its body, with a distended ribcage that was rumored to forcefully seize the people that attempted to flee from death. It's hands being withered, as more aged than the oldest man, yet still tender and careful.

I wouldn't flee, this was the challenge I had been looking for.

"What is it you wish to challenge me to?" It ask stepping ever closer to me.

My smirk didn't falter however, as my lips parted to say the words...

"I challenge you to a game of Drop Ball. An extremely addictive, high-intensity game designed for people everywhere..."

Death then fell to its knees realizing...

It had just been beat.

Time began to pass, as Constantine accepted what may have been the truth. He wanted answers, and even though I didn't have them he studied as hard as he could.

I taught him how to use a bow, and even though he was awful at first he gradually became a master. Although, nowhere near the talent that I had. He must've been one of the finest archers humanity ever managed.

The forest nymphs helped to teach him survival, how to track down animals, how to tame them, how to confront them, and how to flee. Aypio teaching him how to blend into the environment and wait patiently for hours on end. Callisto teaching him how to make a fire, use every bit of a kill, and how to cook. He had slowly shed his noble origins, even giving himself a new name: Scamandrius

However, he never gave up his desire for answers.

The once frail child stood on a hill on the outskirts of the forest, he had strengthened his body and became a proud young man. His bow made from a sturdy branch he snapped off a tree years ago when accompanied by a nymph. With arrows inside a quiver he had made himself.

"I hope you find your answer, one way or another." I spoke, from behind him.

"Thanks Lady Artemis. I really am thankful for everything you...everyone. Did for me, as far as I'm concerned this place is my home."

"Callisto said to keep us in your heart, she's really going to miss you."

He chuckled and seemed to reminisce.

"Tell her that I'll miss her too. I'll miss you all."

"But you already said that to them."

"I know. But I just want them to hear it one more time."

"Very well. Now go forth, you frail, frail child. Return at any time." I spoke as he walked out of the forest.

Every fletching leaves the nest eventually, so I wonder what will become of that one. Will the truth be what he wanted? Will he carve another path for himself? Whatever it may be, I am glad I got to be a small part of it.

A child with a frail looking body staggered through the thick flora of the forest. Sunlight dancing through the thick canopy up above serving to make the shadows of already dark areas jump out more. A twig suddenly snapping right beneath them making them flinch and look around, their terrified expression becoming more prevalent.

"H...Hello..?" The child cried out, I had been stalking them for a few minutes now unsure of how to approach a lost and terrified child. While I did have a soft spot for children, it was a completely different matter when they were scared like this. How do you approach something that will not listen no matter what?

Furthermore, from what I could gather from the child's high end clothing and a crashed carriage I had found on my hunt. This may have been what people called "Nobility".

I kept a low profile, moving a fair distance ahead and stepped out into the open. My bow secured behind my back along with my quiver.

"I can see you are lost. I can guide you out." I spoke softly, not daring to approach the child. Children would sometimes get lost, and when they were terrified like this could be just as aggressive as any animal.

The child looked at me and clumsily staggered backwards, falling onto his back letting out a weak groan. Usually, they had some inkling on how to tread the ground of a forest. But this kid simply didn't, whether he had been extremely sheltered or was just highly clumsy I couldn't tell.

"Don't worry. I'm just a lowly hunter, I'm very familiar with this place." I offered out a hand, the child looking at it then rapidly glancing around. The child then scrambling to reach for it as he jumped at the sight of a shadow. Once we locked hands I pulled the child up. I at the very least wanted to teach this poor soul some basic survival tricks.

"Child, what's your name?" I asked with the child staying very close to me, uncomfortably so.

"C-Constantine...m-ma'am!"

"Constantine? Very well, I'm Art...Ariadne."

I lead the kid deeper into the woods, to where my residence would be. Through previous encounters with lost people, I had figured out my true name was a word of alarm. They would effectively prostrate themselves in the presence of someone they found out to be a God.

"What's your story, Constantine? How did you get out here?"

Constantine shifted his gaze and trembled.

"My...My carriage was attacked on my way back home. And...And it crashed. No one was...was around when I woke up..."

I had to think for a moment. Was he just unfortunate and attacked by bandits? But then, why not just take him as ransom?

"Did you see anyone?"

Constantine shook his head.

"The curtains were...were drawn."

So was he just abandoned then?

"I see. Because you were attacked, perhaps you should pick up a few survival skills. I'll teach you."

Constantine seemed shocked

"But...But isn't that barbaric?"

"Survival isn't anywhere near barbaric. Who instilled that idea into your head?"

"My...My...My parents and instructor..." He murmured

"Then they are wrong."

Constantine immediately recoiled and remained silent, even as we reached the cabin I resided in. It was deep within the wilderness, and obscured by the local floral but was in a clearing which exposed it to the sunlight.

"Other...buildings..?" Constantine asked puzzled

"I don't reside here alone. They are some of my dearest friends, so please be nice to them."

He nodded slowly and looked around. A beautiful young woman, one of my Forest Nymphs named Aypio, gracefully approached me almost gliding across the floor.

"My, my. This has to be the first time I've seen you not guide a lost child out. Did you perhaps take pity on him, Artemis?" Aypio spoke, people would often describe her voice as sweet honeydew, and it was annoying that she knew me well.

Constantine immediately going pale and freezing in place staring at me with fear. Humans called it reverence, but I knew better. I knew that people were terrified of Gods. And I hated it, ^(even if I had turned people into deer in the past for certain reasons.)

"Aypio..!"

"Oh...OH! You were trying to be covert again? Better he finds out now rather than later if you intend on teaching him~" She smiled waving and starting to walk to the direction of the hot spring.

She may have been right, but I still though it could've been done in a better way. The kid was already terrified as is.

Constantine flinging open the door of my cabin and tripping into it.

"Are you ok..?"

He nodded yes but still held the same fear in his eyes.

"Are you mad that I lied? And, sorry to say, but I don't think you'll be seeing your parents for a while."

Constantine's eyes beginning to water and he began shaking.

"You...You intend on kidnapping me..? Am I a sacrifice? Am I going to die..?"

"I'm trying to make sure you survive. Your parents abandoned you, I'm sure of it." I spoke sitting down to be on level with him.

"They...They...What..?"

Constantine looked at me in disbelief.

They were speechless, with Devin rushing to the body and checking for a pulse. "The body's warm, but he's long gone. I can guess when..." He said, somberly looking at the body of his friend. They were all supposed to arrive at this planet together, as a group of friends that had escaped certain doom.

Noah grabbed the orb, and through the tears in his eyes attempted to make sense of it. It was an audio recording.

Upon playing it, a set of mysterious sounds played at once while they weren't anything musical there was an odd sense of melody to them, but what was once a band slowly tempered out into a quartet, then a trio, a duo, a solo, and then nothing.

"We...We need to have a proper burial for him on the planet!" Joshua yelled gesturing at the body with tears streaming down his face. Devin taking a quick glance at the orb and then sighing.

"No. The body stays here." Devin said, with Gavin clutching his fists upon hearing it. But easing up, he knew his friend, and knew that there had to be a good reason.

"Cole...Upload this to a hard drive outside the Observer." Noah said giving him the orb, without a word Cole snatched it and went to the lake. Placing the orb into the water, and a display popped up before fading away.

"I'm torn. I don't know if it was a suicide or if his body gave out naturally." Devin sighed finally exiting the Observer, silently grieving for his fallen comrade.

They all left out of the Observer, and on a display read what the orb really was. A recording of the Solar System destroyed by its own star. And a final message from Abel in its description.

I won't be making it to the end of this journey. Take care of yourselves.

It seemed in the end, his body just gave out naturally.

"Lockdown the Observer, make sure no one can enter it ever again." Noah commanded, and Gavin with a few swift movements locked the only way into the Observer. All the lights of the Observer's external control systems going dark. Cole removing the hard drive that had been connected to it. The small device being dropped into his pocket.

Silently, they all went to the canteen and awaited for the ship to land at a table.

"I can't believe...That he's gone." Noah looked at down at the table.

"Died with the Earth. So it's slightly better." Cole replied, looking out the window by the table as the planet rapidly approached.

"We have the sounds of Earth and the entire Solar System! So we have a piece of it with us!" Gavin triumphally yelled.

And then silence fell, the loss of Earth now weighing heavily on them. A home they'd never see again and loved ones that they would never hear anymore. 500,000 years had passed, they were now nothing but a long gone echo.

ATMOSPHERE REACHED

ACTIVIATING LANDING GEAR

They entered a room full of terminals, switches, and wires covered with some thin plating. The lights were glowing orange.

Currently Active

A terminal next to the entrance to the pocket dimension of the Observer typed in an orange font against a black display. The entrance being bronze in color resembling a vault door with a large lever a few meters in front of it. It was easy enough to enter, and to exit as all had demonstrated the first time they entered it.

"Holy crap. Still in there? We gotta get him a cake for going 500,000 years of constant observing." Gavin blinking his eyes several times to see if he wasn't delusional.

"His fault for never leaving it." Cole shrugged moving next to the lever and rubbing his hands. Ready to pull the thing open.

"It likely has a stasis mode? We never saw him in all our previous awakenings either." Joshua said starting to worry facing the entrance.

"I still don't know how this thing works." Noah sighed looking at a lifeless display.

"It projects space into a bubble within it, creating a pocket reality, and can use that to observe stars. Or am I missing something?" Devin asked approaching the lever, which Cole was already grabbing.

"No, no. That's all there is to it...ARRGGGHHH!!!" Cole began pulling the lever, but it didn't budge. Even with all his strength it refused to move. 500,000 years had made the joints of the lever harder to move.

"Stupid...Defective...Piece of shit!" Cole yelled continuing to pull on it. Noah signaling him to stand back, as Joshua and Devin both grabbed in. With one synced and powerful pull, they made the lever flip. Causing Joshua to nearly fall over from the sudden shift.

The entrance groaning and letting out a hiss, as the vault door separated into two halves emitting a green light from what was beyond.

Gavin quickly rushing into it, followed by Noah, then the others.

"What the fuuuccckkk..?" Noah muttered. What once was a vibrant tree in the middle of a meadow beside a lake, then went into a breathtaking forest. Was instead a bare tree, the grass having wilted into a yellow color resembling more so hay than vibrant grass, and dead leaves scattered at the base of the now bare trees in the forest.

At the base of the centermost tree, was Abel. Slouched over beside a palm sized yellow orb with some kind of wave recorded inside of it. He was dead, yet hadn't decayed perfectly preserved by the pocket dimension.

This is sorta like a prequel to this although not directly

LOCATION REACHED. LANDING SOON.

ENGAGING AWAKENING PROTOCOL.

The voice of the AI echoed throughout the halls of the ship. Joshua slowly opening his eyes, as his pod opened with a slight hiss. The perfect temperature air of the ship embracing his skin. This had happened four times during the journey, it was necessary to get out of the stasis pods after a certain amount of time. Otherwise some ill effects could happen, nonetheless the feeling still felt great to Joshua.

Joshua stepped out of his pod and took a deep breath, he couldn't help but smile as he looked out the large bay window into the vacuum of space. Unlike the previous times, where it was just stars and nebulas. He saw a planet, likely Earth sized, in full view it had a large amount of green water on the surface. He strained his eyes, but he could've sworn he saw another ark descending to the surface.

Four more hisses caught his attention from the other pods. Devin, Gavin, Noah, and Cole. When they were still on Earth together, they managed to repair a defective ark that had never left the Earth's surface. A special device was found on board that acted as an advanced observatory, the one tasked with it to find where other arks were going was one of their friends, Abel.

"We...We finally reached WASP!" Gavin loudly exclaimed pumping his fist into the air. A big smile across his face as he looked at the others. He was the debatably second tallest of the group, only beaten out by Abel although only by an inch or two. Devin was about the same height.

"Guess our old chum was right after all." Cole contently smiled looking out the window. Noah had his face close against the window. To believe that the ark HE found would end up being a ticket to a new planet.

Devin was looking out the window with a smile, then turned to look at a pod beside his own. The last pod of six that was reserved for Abel. He quickly rushed over to a black screen that had white text showing when the pods were used.

"Let's see...500,000 years!? Holy crap!" Devin yelled, before noticing a line of text at the very bottom. His heart sank as dread began to set in.

Stasis Pod 6 - Vacant

There was no record of it ever having been used. Unlike the others in which it recorded each use without fail.

"Abel...Never used his pod..." Devin choked out.

"So he must still be in the Observer then?" Joshua asked turning his head to look at his friend.

"Maybe he just wiped the use of it and woke up before us?" Gavin suggested, no longer looking out the window. They all began crowding around the terminal.

"He'd be fine if he stayed in the Observer...I think. Isn't it sorta like a pocket dimension?" Noah said starting to walk to another part of the ship. To where the Observer was, the rest starting to follow him. There was only one way to make sure.

Ah yes, The Time Paraglock

The general before me stood at least twice as tall as I was and was practically a wall of a man. His crimson armor was heavily ornamental, medals most of which I couldn't even decipher the meaning of, some sort of cape and various fine cloths fit for nobility, and some other weird choices.

Even a lower ranked general was a high position to be in, how could he not recognize the very person he claimed to be fighting for? Well, it likely wouldn't be long till High General Astaroth arrived for a surprise inspection considering he loved handling these matters, I tagged along and happened to arrive early. I liked playing an act, so this was going to be fun.

"Right away, sir!" I exclaimed immediately standing firm at attention with a salute. I had spent a lot of time with even lowest ranks of the army, but with all the bureaucratic work and being the years of being the highest authority. Doing this now felt off.

The general frowned his brow and made a guttural growl. "Tch. Thought so you worthless imp. Here's a little reminder for those that don't follow my orders!" He shouted raising up his right arm and smacking me across the face. I had to suppress my since natural instinct to go ethereal and let the hit pass through me. I covered the part of my face that had been hit, and immediately ran to go get a uniform.

That was too harsh, for something so mild. I searched the barracks, armory, even warehouses yet couldn't find the proper uniform, or armor for that matter. Just some rags and twisted pieces of thin metal that I wouldn't even make a pan out of. Even the weapons were of poor quality, they weren't standard issue. A soldier found me rummaging through a warehouse, on a single glance I knew that for some reason they were being forced to wear this...filth.

"Y-Your Majesty..?" The soldier staggered dropping his spear with a loud thump. "I-It's an honor w-why are you...?" He asked, he was visibly nervous even shaking.

"Be at ease, my subject, what is your name?" I asked with a smile. "G-Guidonis...M-Ma'am!" He shouted.

"Guidonis, what is the situation here? Why don't you have any standard issue gear?" I asked

"G-General Malum said the gear hasn't arrived yet! That's all I know I swear!"

That couldn't have been right, supplies did arrive here. At least it was supposed to, nothing indicated there had been an attack on shipment. Even if supplies were scarce, why waste what little you have just to look better?

"So he's been...Ah, Guidonis, I promise to set things right around here. Also please don't tell him who I am." I spoke, holding back my desire to go rip Malum's head clean off his body. General Ruby Red had been selling off supplies, treating the people he was supposed to command horribly, and daring to hurt me.

I went back outside departing from the soldier, I needed a more thorough inspection of this place but I could sense the presence of a friend rapidly approaching the base. Astaroth was arriving.

I reached the main gate just as the carriage arrived, it was a very small force that came with Astaroth. It made transport easier, but it was also because he himself was as strong as a calamity. He always favored his small guard composed of people he trusted unquestionably.

The carriage door opened up, a man entirely covered in dark green armor with the insignia of the now united Demon Kingdoms walked out. Two equally armored figures holding shields walking out behind him. Malum looking around frantically with worry, finally standing at attention and saluting. Soldiers rushing to formation behind the low ranking general.

"Welcome High General Astaroth! It's a pleasure to meet a man of such prestige as yourself!" Malum yelled, his voice full of nothing but praise.

I then stepped out and approached Astaroth. Malum's expression going from pure anger, to sheer terror in one single instant.

"As expected, you arrived here before me, Demon Lord Asmoday." Astaroth bowed.

"Glad you are here, High General Astaroth..." I spoke touching where I had been hit earlier, only a light mark was left.

"I'm sure you've already noticed the current condition of this place, but I also have more to tell you. I already have a punishment in mind for that general."