The relentless movent of the central avenues continued to pulse around them as they slowly walked away from the train station. The heavy sound of locomotives still echoed behind the industrial buildings, mixed with the tallic clang of workshops and the constant murmur of the urban crowd. Asgard seed unable to slow down. Every street carried workers, rchants, engineers, and guards moving at an almost chanical pace. The entire city breathed expansion.
And, for the first ti since his return, Strax was slowly beginning to realize the true magnitude of the problem they had created.
Asgard was growing too fast.
Much faster.
Kali still held his hand as they crossed a busy avenue lined with newly built shops. So shop windows displayed imported industrial equipnt. Others sold weapons, agricultural tools, fine clothing, and even magical artifacts newly arrived from other realms. rchants loudly hawked their wares while small urban locomotives crisscrossed side tracks carrying supplies between the comrcial districts.
Everything seed too functional.
Too organized.
Too alive.
Strax observed this in silence while ntally organizing dozens of problems at the sa ti. Attacks on trade routes. Migrating monsters. Nobles beginning to appear. Accelerated population growth. Military expansion. Continental instability.
And, at the center of it all, Monica slowly destroying herself from overwork.
He let out a small, tired sigh before finally speaking:
"Kali."
"Hm?"
She raised her red eyes to him imdiately, still walking close enough to keep part of her body pressed against his.
"Find Beatrice."
Kali blinked a few tis.
"Now?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
Strax slowly ran a hand through his white hair as he watched so patrols crossing a nearby street.
"I want her to take Monica’s place temporarily."
This made Kali slow her pace slightly.
"Temporarily?"
"A week."
Her eyes widened imdiately.
"You managed to get Monica to accept this?"
"More or less."
Kali started laughing almost instantly.
"Oh, I needed to see that."
"She tried to argue."
"Of course she tried."
"So I didn’t let her."
Kali slowly narrowed her eyes, clearly noticing the suspicious tone in his voice.
"What did you do?"
Strax smiled dangerously calmly.
"Nothing much."
"What did you do, Strax?"
He remained silent for two seconds that were far too long.
Kali imdiately started laughing harder.
"You did sothing."
"Technically it wasn’t serious."
"STRAAAAX."
He finally shrugged.
"I kissed her."
Kali continued laughing.
"That doesn’t seem like enough to leave you with that face."
Strax casually looked away.
"I also slapped her butt."
Kali simply stopped walking.
Then she started laughing hysterically in the middle of the avenue.
So nearby rchants looked at her in shock as the woman practically doubled over with laughter.
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
Strax maintained a perfectly serious expression.
"It was strategic."
"STRATEGIC?!"
"She ran out of argunts."
Kali had to lean a hand against the wall of a nearby store as she tried to catch her breath.
"My God..." she laughed without any dignity. "I REALLY wanted to have seen that."
"She turned red."
"I imagine!"
"It worked."
"Of course it worked! Monica’s brain probably shut down."
Strax finally let out a small, low laugh as they continued walking.
Kali still chuckled to herself from ti to ti, clearly unable to overco the ntal scene.
"She’ll kill you later."
"Probably."
"Was it worth it?"
"Completely."
That only made Kali laugh again before finally regaining so composure.
"But why Beatrice specifically?"
"Because she can organize people without turning it into an industrial dictatorship."
"Fair enough."
"Besides, Beatrice knows how to handle crises without ignoring her own physical existence."
Kali nodded slowly.
She understood exactly what he ant.
Monica functioned like a machine.
The problem was that machines broke down when they operated non-stop.
And Asgard was demanding far more from her than anyone should bear alone.
"Beatrice will accept," Kali said after a few seconds. "She likes Monica."
"I know."
"It’ll probably force her to rest too."
"Even better."
They crossed another avenue teeming with trams and small comrcial carriages as the cold wind carried industrial fus through the central neighborhoods. So children ran through the streets holding small, freshly printed newspapers. Workers left factories for their morning break while street vendors distributed hot food near the transport stations.
Strax observed the city’s industrial skyline while ntally organizing his words.
Because that situation still deeply troubled him.
More than he showed.
"Keep it discreet."
Kali imdiately beca serious.
"What happened?"
He slowly exhaled through his nose before answering:
"Sothing temporarily took over her body during the trip to the Celestial Capital."
The silence that followed was imdiate.
Kali stopped walking completely.
The movent of the city continued around them, but in that small space the air seed heavier.
"What?"
Her voice ca out low this ti.
Strax continued looking ahead.
"I still don’t fully understand."
"Ouroboros was possessed?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
He finally turned his face to her.
"It didn’t seem like a common possession."
Kali remained completely still.
This was rare.
Very rare.
Because few things truly shook Kali to that extent.
But Ouroboros was different.
They all knew it.
Ouroboros wasn’t just powerful.
She was ancient.
Too ancient.
And ancient things rarely ca without consequences.
"What exactly happened?" Kali asked in a much lower tone.
Strax was silent for a few seconds before answering.
"She lost control for a few minutes."
"Did she attack you?"
"No."
"Then?"
"She... changed."
The word ca out slowly.
As if even he wasn’t entirely sure how to describe it.
Kali narrowed her eyes.
"Change how?"
"Her eyes."
She remained silent.
"Her voice too."
"Another personality?"
"No."
"Then what?"
Strax finally ran a hand slowly across his face.
"It felt like sothing was looking through her."
That sent an uncomfortable shiver slowly down Kali’s spine.
She knew Strax well enough to tell when he was genuinely worried.
And he was.
Very.
"Does Ouroboros know?"
"She partially rembers."
"Is she hiding sothing?"
"Absolutely."
Kali slowly exhaled.
This was terrible.
Because Ouroboros was usually the calm one in the group. The rational one. The one who understood magic, ancient entities, and absurd phenona better than anyone.
If even she was avoiding talking about it...
Then the problem was probably much worse than it seed.
Strax resud walking slowly, and Kali followed soon after.
"I don’t want to alarm anyone," he said calmly. "But I also don’t want to ignore it."
"Do you think it’s dangerous?"
"I think we don’t know enough."
"That’s scary coming from you."
"I agree."
The cold wind swept across the avenue as locomotives whistled in the distance.
Strax kept his eyes on the city as he continued:
"I want you to tell the others."
Kali imdiately looked at him.
"All of them?"
"Yes."
"Without hiding anything?"
"No panic. No exaggeration."
She crossed her arms slowly.
"And what exactly do you want them to do?"
Strax finally smiled slightly.
A small smile.
Dangerously calm.
"I want them to watch her."
Kali raised an eyebrow.
"You want to watch Ouroboros?"
"Discreetly."
"She’ll notice."
"I know."
"And she’ll hate it."
"Probably." "Then why?"
Strax was silent for a few seconds before answering.
"Because if it cos back..."
His golden eyes grew colder for a mont.
"...I want soone near her."
Kali observed his face carefully.
And she imdiately understood what was really bothering him.
It wasn’t fear of Ouroboros.
It was fear of what might happen to her.
This completely changed her expression.
"Do you think she’s suffering?"
"Yes."
The answer ca too quickly.
Without any hesitation.
"She tried to hide it from the whole trip," he continued calmly. "But it was noticeable."
"She seed scared?"
"She seed... tired."
That worried Kali even more.
Because Ouroboros rarely showed emotional weakness.
She hid everything.
Always.
So the re fact that Strax had noticed sothing already ant a lot.
"Is she sleeping?"
"Hardly."
"Eating?"
"A little."
"Damn..."
Strax nodded slowly.
"I think she’s trying to understand what happened on her own."
"That’s so like her."
"That’s exactly why I want you around."
Kali remained silent for a few monts as she watched the industrial smoke rise between the city buildings.
Asgard was growing.
Monsters were appearing.
The kingdoms were watching.
Monarchs were dying.
And now even Ouroboros was beginning to show sothing strange.
It seed the whole world was slowly falling out of balance.
She then looked at Strax again.
"And what are you going to do?"
This finally elicited a tired expression from him.
A genuine expression this ti.
"Now?"
"Yes."
Strax slowly exhaled as he ran a hand through his hair.
Then he casually pointed to the enormous administrative fortress in the distance.
"I’m going to my room."
Kali blinked a few tis.
"That’s all?"
"Yes."
"And then?"
He looked at her with utter existential weariness.
"Kali."
"What?"
"I just crossed a continent, killed a monarch, discovered my city had beco an industrial tropolis, encountered a possible unknown entity using the body of Ouroboros, and was inford that half the northern trails are infested with monsters."
She remained silent.
Strax then concluded with the utmost naturalness:
"I’m going to sleep."
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