The snow began to fall within the mountains as the sounds of swords clashing against one another rang out among the peaks. The source of those sounds sprung from the sparring upon the top of a flat plateau in the midst of the stony rang, surrounded by sturdy cabins, canvas tents and cook fires. And in the middle of that ring stood Renya, Heir to the King of the Northern Kingdom, and his General, Thessan.

"Your balance is off," Thessan yelled at the female before him, pointing his sword towards her legs already spread in a ready stance.

The Princess scoffed in return, raising her sword to eye-level. "Your eyes are going, old man, if you think my balance is anything but superb."

"And your mind is going if you honestly consider me old," Thessan mused.

"Aren't all immortals old in the grand scheme of things?" she countered.

He gave her nothing more than a smug grin, and at that, she lunged again.

Renya's forward momentum was halted, however, when a wind like nothing the mountains had ever seen began to swirl in the ring between them, accompanied by what appeared to be blue flames, crackling like the warmest of embers, but no heat emanated from the conflagration.

With instinct carrying him, Thessan had leapt across the ring, taking a protective step before the Heir and the heatless fire burning before them. Renya was too distracted to reprimand him for thinking she wouldn't be able to handle herself, especially when she already had a blade ready in her hand. Instead, she had to bring a hand to her eyes as the snow hit her face while the maelstrom pummeled them. Others in the camp had already sounded the alarm, shouts erupting around them, but neither Renya nor Thessan moved from their places while they watched the scene unfold before them.

As the heatless flames died down, in their place stood two individuals, the likes of which Renya had never seen before.

It was a male and a female, with rounded ears and determined eyes. Fighters, they were - she could sense it by the way they held themselves. And though they wore cloth rather than fighting leathers, the dark-haired male wore a sword at his hip, while the female was only armed with a knife in her boot.

"Who are you?" Thessan commanded with the voice of her father's General, deep and authoritative. Something about it sent a shiver down her spine, but the thoughts were quickly dismissed when the female stepped forward without fear or hesitation.

"I am Alexstrayna, Queen Empress of the Empire, and this is Treyan, its Crown Prince. We have been tasked to search out the greatest warriors in all the realms in our journey to meet the Creator."

"The Creator?" Renya questions as she stepped around Thessan. "Are you speaking of the gods?"

The man- Treyan- shook his head as he moved to stand next to his companion. "No, this is greater than any diety your world has ever known. This is the Creator- one who gave life to even your gods."

Renya heard Thessan suck in a breath, and she turned to look at him. "You know of this Creator?"

His eyes remained on the two strangers, even as he spoke. "There are stories - texts - of a time before our world existed... being created by the mere thoughts of an all-powerful being with the ability to make and destroy the gods..."

"I never knew you to be the religious type, Thess," Renya murmured, and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"This goes beyond religion, Ren," he muttered before his attention returned fully to the pair standing before them. "What do you need from us?"

The mall was quiet for a Saturday evening, and even though the holiday season was over, the decorations still hung upon the pillars that surrounded the food court. Someone should probably take care of those, Bethany mused as she sipped on her chocolate milkshake from Jimmy Burger.

She was almost done with her shift at Clancy's, taking her last fifteen-minute break before the home stretch to closing, and found the snow fall upon the skylights above her much more entertaining than the thoughts plaguing her mind. Returning to the department store, facing friends who gave her knowing glances, and not to mention, the source of her dilemmas...

No, staying there, sipping on her milkshake, looking at old holiday decorations and watching the winter snow from the comfort of the uncomfortable plastic chair within the food court sounded much more enjoyable.

She sighed as she looked at her phone for the third time in the last two minutes. No new texts. There hadn't been a single one all day, either. Nick's growing jealousy over her friendship with Jason sent her over the edge the night before - she couldn't remember a fight like that between them. Ever. And seeing Jason that morning, with his bright smile and blue eyes and adorably flirtatious ways made everything all the more difficult to stomach. She even turned down lunch with Liz and Tim because Jason was going to join them. It was a mess...

With a final glance to her phone, and another dramatic sigh, Bethan finally steeled herself into returning to work and stood from her chair, just as a loud thunder crash erupted from the center of the food court, which sent her reeling, tripping over the chair, and having it fall down with her.

"Shit," she whispered, pushing herself to her knees, noticing the mess of her milkshake on the floor with a sad sense of loss before she remembered what had her lose her balance in the first place. Slowly she grabbed ahold of the edge of the table above her and pulled herself up into a crouching position until she could see just over the edge.

It was like a scene out of one of Nick's tabletop fantasy roleplay gaming sessions.

There were four of them all together, two women and two men, though they definitely were not of this world. Back-to-back, they formed a right circle as they appeared to survey their surroundings. Two, the man and woman with pointed ears like elves, wore leather that covered their entire bodies, and all four had some sort of weapon strapped upon their person.

"A mall?" the more human-looking woman exclaimed, and her voice echoed through the empty food court. Surely someone would have heard them by now, Bethany hoped, even though it seemed as though no one else cared enough to find the source of the commotion.

"These were the calculations Reylor gave me," the human-esque man next to her assured her with a foreign purr to his accent. "Though I'm not so certain how one can calculate where a Key sends you, but he's the best at what he does."

"You said we were on a search for the Creator," the elf-like female said in a much harsher and thicker lilt. "This does not look like the realm of an all-powerful being."

"We're making a detour," the first male said, taking a step away from the group and glance up at the darkened sky through the snow-covered skylights. "We have another to join us on our mission."

"How many, exactly, are you searching out?" the pointed-ear male asked in a similar harsh accent as his female counterpart.

"Just a few more," the other female responded, who sounded like she was from Boston than anywhere else. "Here, we are in search of a woman named Bethany Sampson-"

The gasp was out of Bethany's mouth before she could stop it, and her hands covered her lips to keep herself from making any further noise. Maybe they hadn't heard. Maybe...

The Elvish female had leapt top the table, kneeling to peer over the edge to where Bethany hid, her eyes wide as she met the steely gaze of the female before her. Her sword was drawn and angled precariously at Bethany's throat.

"Identify yourself," she said brusquely, and Bethany had no doubt that she would run her through if she delayed in answer.

"I'm.. I'm Bethany," she stammered, raising her hands away from the phone that had fallen to her side. No use in calling 9-1-1 now. "I'm Bethany Sampson."

The human female had run to her side, her dark eyes aglow as a smile spread across her face, while the two men followed. "Excellent!" she exclaimed, offering Bethany a hand, which she took to stand, even as her eyes remained on the sword and the female who wielded it. "You've just saved us a hell of a lot of time searching for you."

"Why is it so damn cold?" Cass asked as she rubbed her hands over her arms, trying her best to keep her teeth from chattering. She glanced up at the dark grey clouds and had to wonder if it would rain as they stood on the roof of the tallest building in Lathos' harbor.

"No one asked you to come," Wil reminded her as his attention remained on the horizon. He held a spyglass up to his eye once again, and once again removed it. "At least Lathos is south enough where an ice storm is the worst you'll get."

"A watched ship never appears over the horizon," she mused as she peered in the direction he was facing, ignoring his comments about the freezing weather. "Remind me again what we're waiting for?"

"You're waiting for nothing, other than for that ship to arrive so that you can run back to Baz and let him know he can start filling my coin purse."

Cass glared at the assassin beside her. "I am not your message boy."

"No, you most definitely are not," he confirmed as he glanced at her. "You're a hell of a lot more attractive, and probably ten times better in bed."

Her jaw dropped at his insinuation - and admission- but before she could counter, or inquire further, he continued.

"You know, as well as I, that Baz is looking to maintain the bid for this year's Summer Solstice festival."

"That is common knowledge," she huffed irritably, and was able to see her breath float our before her in the cold morning air.

"Then you also know that there are a handful of other Lords within Lathos who also want that bid. And Baz will go to any extent to see to it that those lords suddenly find other reasons to have to spend their bid money."

"Please get to the point, Wil - preferably before Yule arrives," she ground out through her chattering teeth.

Wil gave her an amused smirk as he handed her the spyglass- how the cold didn't bother him, she would never understand. "Tell me what you see, Lady Cortova."

She blinked at him, glared, and then snatched the spyglass out of his hand, holding it to her eye as she aimed it towards the horizon.

And screamed at what she saw, dropping the glass to her feet as she leapt back. She couldn't get her hand to the knife in her boot fast enough, but Wil was already on his feet, dagger at the ready, as what appeared to be five strangers all but appeared out of thin air.

They stood upon the ledge of the roof, three females and two males, and none of them dressed for the winter weather of Lathos. The two in front, a woman about Cass's age, with auburn hair and dark eyes, scanned the two of them curiously, while the dark-haired, blue-eyed man next to her looked at their surroundings.

"William Debrosia and Cassandra Cortova," the woman said, which had both assassins to their feet and even more on their guard.

"Who wants to know?" Wil shouted next to her, but she could hear the unease in his voice, as loud as the pounding in her heart. Who were these people? Spies from Thuria? Bountymen from across the Great Sea?

"We mean you no ill will, William," the blue-eyed man insisted. "Instead, we are here to offer you a task - a mission, if you'd prefer- and in that, your questions will be answered."

"Questions?" Cass asked, stepping forward. "What sort of questions can we have answered?"

The woman looked to her at that. "Have you questions that need answers, Cassandra?"

"Cass," Wil hissed by her side in warning, but she ignored him.

"And who would give us these answers?" she heard herself ask, curiosity getting the better of her.

"The Creator," the second strong, yet beautiful, female behind the group spoke up. "For we have questions that need answering as well, and the Queen Empress and Crown Prince have rallied us to join forces to seek them out."

Cass's eyes fell back to the woman and man at the front of the group, and they nodded in agreement.

"And what about you?" Wil called out, and Cass noticed the smaller, quieter and unarmed woman behind them all. "Are you in this willingly, or are you a captive?"

Realizing the assassin was addressing her, the girl moved forward, but not too far away from the protective cover of the rest of her companions. "I... I was just taking my break and then they arrived. I assume I'm dreaming, so I'm just going along for the ride. But this has got to be better than retail, right?"

Cass and Wil cast a glance between them, having truly no idea what the girl could had been talking about, when the auburn-haired woman stepped closed and Cass immediately positioned herself with her dagger aimed at the her throat, her training and instincts kicking into gear as she addressed them both.

"Cassandra, we know there are questions you need answers. People who you miss..."

"Lilia?" she asked quietly, and Wil swore under his breath.

The woman nodded. "We know someone who can tell you what's happened to your sister."

It had been a while since Alex was in Boston, and she wished she had dressed warmer. As it was, the wind was blowing and the snow fell steadily around them as their party stood before the one-story house in the early hours of the night.

Here they were- the Empireborn, the Heir and the General, the Accidental store clerk, and the Assassins. And what a group they were, she mused to herself as Treyan stepped up next to her.

"You're certain this is it?" the Prince murmured just loud enough for her to hear.

Alex nodded as she looked at him. "Though I didn't expect the Creator to live somewhere so-"

"Mundane?"

"Normal," she corrected. "You're not doubting the mission now, are you?"

"No," he said defensively, glancing over his shoulder at their shivering companions. "But they might."

Alex snorted as she followed his glance. "No, they'll follow. We are all in this together- we all want the same thing."

"And what is that?"

"Answers to questions. Endings to unfinished matters. Resolution. Completion-"

"Okay, okay," Treyan sighed, cutting her off, and she smirked. "Let's go."

Without another word, he began walking up the driveway of the small, gray house, Alex following, and the others behind them moving just as silently. It was true - the last place she expected was this Creator to reside somewhere so close to where she came from, but when you have the power to make and create worlds at the tips of your fingers, perhaps keeping yourself hidden in plain sight was the best way to go about it.

"Do you sneak into other people's houses undetected often?" Wil, one of the assassins they picked up in the realm of Lathos, murmured over her shoulder.

"I don't," Alex mused, "but he's got some experience."

She glanced to Treyan as she spoke, and he glared at her as he ascended the steps to the back entrance of the house.

"Do you think perhaps we should take a little more caution?" Thessan asked. "The place may be trapped, or-"

"Not trapped," Treyan announced, as he opened the door without resistance or hesitation.

"After you," Alex offered to the others behind her, each curious in their own way about the answers awaiting for them within. She would be lying if she wasn't interested in what the Creator had to say about her own fate, but this wasn't about her, not this time. This was bigger than all of them, and together they would be able to persevere.

The Empress shut the door behind her, and listened. They all huddled in a kitchen, but it was cold and dark, with the only visible light coming from a stairway that led down instead of up.Alex noticed her husband glancing back at her, and she nodded. This was it, Alex felt it in her heart, and down they would go.

Slowly they walked down the stairs one at a time, Treyan leading them while Alex took up the rear. All had their weapons out except Bethany, but they assumed it would be safer for her to not hold a weapon anyway, lest she harm one of them instead.

But they had all stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking at something and Alex found her steps quickening to wonder why they would stare rather than proceed.

Once she was next to Treyan, she understood why.

Before them, in a high-back black chair, facing away from them was a woman in her mid-thirties, with what looked like headphones on her head, which would explain why she hadn't heard them come in. She had a glass of wine in one hand and her other hand on her computer mouse, playing what appeared to be an online fantasy card game. On the desk surrounding her were books, lined pads of paper, pens of different colors, thick binders and, yes, another computer.

"This is the Creator?" Treyan whispered.

"Let us find out," Renya stated, and with the flat of her sword tapped the woman on the shoulder.

Slowly, she spun in her chair to look at them, her dark reddish brown hair in a messy bun while her green-brown eyes blinked at the unexpected visitors. She wore a hooded sweatshirt over leggings and fuzzy socks - not the Creator Alex was expecting at all.

And before they could ask their questions or demand their answers, she looked at each and every one of them, recognition blossoming in those wide eyes, and in the thickest Boston accent Alex had ever known, exclaimed loud enough for each of them to hear...

"Oh, shit."