--Astarte and Gilgamesh stood in Hecate’s dark villa waiting to speak to her. Gilgamesh couldn’t help but stare at the décor. The columns were carved with crude and horrifying human shapes, their faces and bodies twisted in monstrous agony. Such a horrendous display sickened him. He was startled by a voice from behind, deadly and smooth.

--"Fascinating isn’t it, warrior? Hecate has glorious taste. Look at their faces—the pain and fear. You can almost hear them cry out for death, cry out for me." She was jet-black with stone-white eyes. Despite the necklace of skulls around her neck, she moved silently around the pillars, touching them with her four hands. She was clothed in the rich jewels and fabrics of India. Astarte recognized her.

--"Kali, Death-Bringer. I am surprised to find you here with Hecate. I thought you shunned the company of other gods."

--"Times have changed. There are so few of us left in this world that have the ability and vision to bring the old order back. Let the other gods sit and dream of their glorious power long gone. I will not wallow in memories like an old woman. Now that you have returned, Goddess of War, our Dark Sisterhood is complete. The mortal world will know fear again." She caressed the columns, ecstasy on her face. "Beautiful."

--Hecate appeared in a swirl of shadows. "I knew you would appreciate the artwork, Kali. What do you think, Astarte?"

--"It looks like the battlefield after the fighting is over. Half the soldiers are dead, the other half still spilling their blood onto the ground." War was often inevitable and Astarte always fought to win. But delighting in the suffering of the fallen had never amused her.

--"You are too serious, Astarte. You must learn to enjoy the benefits of godhood again. But let us speak of other things. Together we are strong, but we do not have the power we need to plunge this world into darkness and take control. There is an ancient stone called the Jewel of Life. With its mystical energies I can cast a spell of darkness that will bring the world to its knees. But the Jewel must be brought to me."

--"Where is this Jewel? What obstacles stand in our way?"

--"The Jewel is in the hands of a young boy named Uli. He is not a problem."

--"Then what is? Why couldn’t you simply take the Jewel from him?"

--"That is where you come in, young Astarte. The Jewel can be used for good or evil, but the longer it is in someone’s possession, the more it takes on the characteristics of that person. This boy has had the Jewel for a while now, infusing it with his purity and goodwill. Kali is a goddess of death. She could never touch a talisman that draws its energy from life. It would destroy her. And while I have great power in this world, I am made of the darkness of the universe itself. I have no physical substance to grasp it--and the Jewel is so full of purity now that it blocks my attempts to move it with my dark magic. You have in your time, Astarte, been worshipped as a goddess of life as well. You will be able touch it.

We also face another obstacle. He is a friend of the ex-Ronins. They once wore armors made from that fool Talpa’s Dynasty armor. While they currently do not possess these, there is no guarantee this will continue. Once that interfering witch, Kayura of the Ancients, senses what we are doing, she will return the armors to them so they can fight us. I have been blocking her from physically entering this realm again, but she may be even now devising a way to breach the barrier enough to send the armors. That is where Gilgamesh becomes important."

--"What of him?"

--"He wears the Armor of War, one of the Sentinel armors forged by the Ancients long ago to fight Talpa’s threat. They became dormant when Gilgamesh left this realm. Now that he’s returned to this world, the other Sentinel armors will have awakened. We will find them first and bend them to our cause."