"Shared suffering is the surest maker of friends. Ideally. But as with all general principles, the specifics will never fail to muck it up. A good man may empathize with the suffering of others. But happens when a Good Man is alone? What if he has no one to aid, and none to offer support of their own. This is made even more difficult, by the fact that a "good man" is not so easily defined.

You might search for the classic virtues, and see if they lie within a man. Yet kindness so often devolves into complacency, bravery into recklessness, and love into obsession. You as mortal creatures, cannot so easily define virtue without seeing the vice in its absence. Above all, human virtue is, like all facets of humanity, fallible. And as bright as a virtuous man may burn when surrounded by darkness and sin, he burns alone. And like all untended flames, he will sputter out.

Excerpt from "Power in Obscurity", a philosophical text penned by one Dio Cremesi.

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"I've no wish to be here anymore, I want to leave. I always let mother drag me every which way and she always hurts me. I want to leave; I need to leave..."

Mordred was no match for her Mother in the sorcerous arts, but she did have some skill. She'd placed wards that could block out the different defensive magics and attempts of scrying from the Unseelie. And of course, there were traps at the door, and failing that she held tight to the sword she had made for herself and was hiding in the corner with bed lined as a wall between her and the rest of the room.

It was pitiful, and Mother would of course break through. And then the yelling and the beating would begin again.

"You're just as weak as your father" "How can someone so stupid be my child." "Why are the simplest tasks beyond your power? You filthy creature."

Mordred didn't even know who her father was, but she knew Mother hated him. She said that the old religions practiced by the Fae and their slaves would allow Mordred to ascend the throne. The young girl had then dared to voice concerns about maintaining control of the country without the support of the church, and how to combat the inevitable crusade that might be called upon them when Rome caught word of a full pagan uprising.

"It still hurts..." As punishment, Mother had taken Mordred's right hand and thrust it into a vat of boiling wine. She then used her magic to heal the hand. But to this day, the hand felt as if it were still burning.

She could still fight though, and she was proud of that. She had her mother's sorcery and her father's skill, that's what Uncle Xavier had said when she still trained with him, under the watchful eyes of Mother and her own master.

"If I can find them, maybe they'll take me in. I can be strong, and I can be power-"

"Mordred?" There was a knock on the door, and the voice accompanying was familiar. "It's Markus, Markus Lancaster." The voice matched the man Mordred knew, but Mother could always parrot such things.

"Leave me alone, please." Mother was coming for her, she may have sent someone else to collect her, but the result would be the same. But it was worth it. To have even a few minutes of solitude away from Mother, however fearful they might be, was worth it. "I'm not coming out, not willingly."

"I don't want you to get in trouble with your Mother."

"What do you care? You're just another indentured creature of hers." That last comment felt wrong, even as she said it. Sir Lancaster was the only mortal man to actually stand up to Mother, let alone on Mordred's behalf. "I'm sorry. You don't deserve that, please understand though...I need every moment I can away from her."

No noise from the other side of the door.

"I bet you've blocked out all the magic in there, right? No way anyone can see or hear anything in there?" Markus' tone was a bit exaggerated now, and that made Mordred wonder at his true intentions.

"Yes." There was no point in hiding that information, Mother knew the routine by now. "Why?"

"I don't have any choice then. I'm going to break down this door, and my friend here's going to rush after me and carry you out. You hear that?"

"Wait...Yes, yes I understand now."

"Come and get me then!" Mordred had no trouble making a convincing shout of defiance, she'd been holding it in the entire journey here.

And right on cue, Markus Lancaster broke the door down with a mighty charge. Mordred had dropped the wards just long enough for him to do so without much trouble. She then brought them up again when the fae retainer ran in. He received a nasty dose of blinding light for his trouble, before being beaten to the ground unconscious by a right haymaker from Markus.

"Alright, now that's do-shit!" If Markus was hoping for open arms and happy cheers, he was in for a surprise.

Mordred had already leaped from behind her bead and placed her sword squarely against Markus' chest. She then waved a hand to replace both the door and the wards around it to their proper place.

"I don't mean to repay your kindness with treachery, sir. But why would help me? I am a stranger to you." Markus could just be another test from Mother, even if he didn't know it. So, Mordred kept her blade pointed straight at this man's heart.

"I'm not a fan of parents who slap around their children." Mordred knew that much to be true already, and Markus saying it aloud certainly rang true. As did what he said next. "Do you really need any more than that?"

"Perhaps not." She lowered her sword, but still edged closer to the bed, in case she needed to re-barricade herself. "I am sorry, I'm not sure if you can understand, but Mother has...ways of keeping everyone obedient. Many of them rely on trickery."

"I figured." The man from the future had relaxed now, though his eyes were glancing to the door now and again.

"Why are you helping me now though? You were smart enough to know I would make traps. So you wouldn't try to escape now unless you have a way out."

There was some hesitation before Markus gave an answer. Whatever it was must be a source of worry for him. Of course, Mordred knew anything involving Mother was a source of worry for everyone.

"I had chat with someone named B. She said she was a friend of yours?"

"B? Of course, she must have spoken to Lord Zenith on my behalf." For the first time in many years, Mordred felt a surge of excitement. She would finally be free from Mother's grasp and be trained by the most powerful creatures beyond existence. "But what else did she say? Did she give you anything? Anything that might help?"

"We talked a little, and she then shook my hand." He thought for a moment, he had more questions. Of course, he would though, and Mordred was only happy to oblige.

Which Markus must have been counting on.

"Who's Zenith?"

"Lord Zenith is the most amazing person I've ever met. He used to teach Mother sorcery, and then tried to teach me as well until he and Mother quarreled." Mordred struggled to say the rest, these were not happy memories after all. But B had sent this man to rescue her, so could it really hurt? "She threatened me and used me as leverage against him. That's also when Mother ordered me to pretend to be a boy. She dyed my hair and used magic to halt my growth...I'm eleven years old now but before Mother did what she did, I was an early blossom. At least that is what I was told."

Mordred remembered other things Mother said.

"You would only grow uglier than you are now. You should thank Mother for granting you this favor."

"What else did B say?" But those memories would soon be passed. Mordred was eager to escape and knew she would have time to ponder her worse experiences later.

"Well, she shook my hand. And then I felt something drop in it." Markus extended his hand for a shake. And without any sign of obvious magic, a small carved talisman materialized in his palm.

"How the hell did that get there?"

"It the power B has. It's not magic, or the sciences, or anything like that. It is primal, like the forces of nature." Mordred over the talisman, a single oval of stone with a steel-engraved image on it. "I think I know what this is, it's the Greek symbol Omega (Ω) with the Nippon symbol for "Empty" (空) within it. This is the sigil of Zenith. Of course, even a novice like me could use my power to teleport to...well, wherever it's tethered."

"Ok, well you better do it quickly. Your Mother's probably getting impatient."

"Of course. Just after so long..." Tears were forming at the corners of Mordred's eyes, and it was all she could do not to scream out for joy. But she wiped those tears away and made ready her incantations. "Alright, ready yourself."

She remembered her earliest lessons with Mother. Then she changed to more advanced magics, she spoke the words she read in the books Lord Zenith had shared from his library. He did not need to read of course, but he made books just for her, so she could learn at her own pace.

At last, the incantation was finished, and the symbol in the stone flashed with amethyst light.

When the light abated, Mordred found herself standing atop a great hill overlooking the town they'd been in just a second earlier. Two miles away perhaps? Markus was making a similar examination of their surroundings.

"I guess it was too much to hope I'd just end up home." His disappointment was great indeed. But his surprise was even greater when an old friend appeared.

"Hey, kids!" There she was, B! After all these years. Her arms were open for a big hug and the smile on her face, while small, was warm and sisterly.

"B!" Mordred ran straight into her friend and nearly tackled her with a tight embrace. "I knew he'd send for me again, and of course I knew you'd miss me."

"You bet I missed you." B was still hugging back tightly but tapped Mordred on the back to let her know when to finally stop. "Sorry hon, but the old man over there is getting restless."

"He's been very kind to me, and he's very smart. I believe Lord-"

"With all due respect:" Markus held up a hand to interrupt Mordred's praise. "-I have no desire to join up with anymore interdimensional whatever. I'm sure this Zenith guy is wonderful, but I just want to get back home."

"Yeah, sure." B shrugged and clapped her hands together in a big display, before making a very overstated "Oh, wait a second" expression. "Actually, there might be one hiccup with that."

"Of course, there is." Markus could do little else besides throwing his hands in the air and kick some of the smaller stones on the ground. "What else do I need to do?"

"You kinda need to die." B was always the master of mixing apologies with horrific news. This might have been her masterpiece though, as she grimaced and bent askew as if to signal this was all out of her hands.

"You can't be serious." This time it was Mordred who was fearful, while Markus had already dropped his hand to the strange projectile weapon on his belt."

"I'm not going to kill him, or try to kill him, or anything messed up like that. But he does need to die, in front of people. Otherwise, porting him through the time stream could cause some serious issues...which would then need some major fixing which means chaos across the whole time-space continuum and all that stupid shit."

"But why do I need to die?" His hand was still near his pistol, and there was no indication of his relaxing. He certainly had no reason to relax, even Mordred couldn't blame him.

"Because if you die, then my Dad can just take your soul and resurrect you. Then he can put you back in your actual time period." B spoke as if she'd done all this before. For all Mordred knew, she had.

"Markus, Sir Lancaster, I know you have no reason to trust any of this, but I swear on whatever worth my life might have, that you can trust what B says." The runaway girl was standing up for her own hopes as much as B's, and besides that had no ill will against this man. "If you don't trust their goodwill, then trust this. They would gain nothing from hurting you, they are beyond such petty cruelties."

"Not sure that's the best thing to say about us." B frowned a little and was looking back at the town expectantly. Know her, she was expecting a response from Mother, or maybe even the knights from Camelot.

That was another thing.

"I've never met Father...That's why I snuck off, that's why Mother attacked him while I was there, so I'd look complicit. But if she hates him so much, perhaps he might have some love for me." Such thoughts were comforting and almost took Mordred away from the crisis at hand.

"Do you know how done I am, with working for promises?" Markus was quick with his hands, for he drew his weapon and aimed it with lightning speed. "I'd rather take my chances on my own. I could just...find another wizard."

"And you think you can do that while outrunning both Morgan and the Knights? Both of them will want revenge now." B's grimace had turned into a pitying and toothless smile. She'd won, and of course, must have set the entire scenario so Markus and Mordred would have no choice but to comply.

"B, I love you as a sister, but sometimes-"

"Don't worry, Hon. You'll catch up."

Markus looked likewise defeated. He did not sheathe his weapon, but he did turn it to the ground.

"Fine." He was resigned to his situation now. Not exactly defeated, but desperate and focused. "How am I gonna die?"