Darkness fell upon the Vigil's camp, and whispers ran through its ranks like wildfire. In hushed tones, the fanatics spoke of plots everywhere: plots to poison them, to kill them in their sleep, to betray them to the enemy. To bring the fury of the Gods they were arrayed against upon them.

With tensions running high, it was inevitable that this discord would soon wear the guise of open conflict. It was impossible to say where it began, but an argument precipitated shoving and shouting. Before it could grow to a whole conflagration, the captains of the Vigil strode from their tents with weapons in hand to quell the growing unrest.

They stalked to and fro, searching for the instigator. When a cultist lost his nerve and turned to run from the captains, the nearest of them beheaded him with a single swipe of cold steel. The head rolled, and the camp truly fractured, with small groups splintering the assembled force. Paranoia and mistrust only grew as the worshippers hurled accusations of treason at one another.

In light of the captains' failure to bring order to the camp, a ternion hiss rang out to announce the appearance of the Vigil Trinity. The murderous Spectres hemmed in the dissenting voices, bringing down a tense silence that grew more expectant with every passing second.

A foolish voice soon broke that quiet. This prompted an attack from the accused, and it seemed that the entire camp would break into a brawl when an unrestrained giggle brought it all to a halt. In response to such mocking laughter, the Trinity all struck the ground at once to shake the earth, putting all the cultists on one knee.

All save One, who remained on Her feet.

Pandora lowered Her hood, and the Vigil Trinity turned to assail Her. Beset by these mighty foes, She raised Her hand and fractured the air, cracking it as if it were a mirror's surface and making it impossible to see Her clearly.

The Spectres of the Vigil could not break through this mirage of Her making. Every blow they struck hit nothing but an illusion, and the Goddess got on with Her appointed task. It was not until the Knight of the Trinity stopped to watch Her visage intently that the artifice was exposed.

It was too late, however. The Goddess hefted the Equilibrium Gem in Her hand, Her pleasure writ clear upon Her youthful face. The enraged attempt of Her Spectral foes to reclaim it was halted by the voice of the God of Darkness, whose proclamation rested heavily upon those who had dared to oppose Divinity.

"Your time has run out."

The Darkness He had been sowing laid thick upon the ground, an umbral miasma for Him to draw upon. Everything became panic and confusion as the dark hearts of the Vigil cultists were turned to His purpose. It took some time for the screams to die as brothers in arms slew each other in droves, and the sheer terror of the unending Dark did its cruel work.

Only the Trinity remained on their feet by the time the Darkness lifted. They lunged at the Wayward Heir, who was opening a rift through which to step to safety. They nearly got there in time.

Twilight's control of His realm proved absolute in the end. The Darkness threw them back just enough that their weapons caught nothing but wispy blackness as Pandora stepped through the rift and withdrew, prize in hand.

All the Spectres were left with was the Goddess' parting barb, a final token of Her esteem: "Fare thee well!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Summary: Pandora and Twilight infiltrated a Vigil camp upon Memory and stole the Equilibrium Gem from the Spectres that held it.

Penned by My hand on the 3rd of Daedalan, in the year 923 AF.