Master of The Wandering Palace

Cate, a formidable master sorcerer, found herself in a perilous confrontation with a Shaman. Despite her power, she knew Shamans were uniquely dangerous, their methods arcane and their very presence a threat to most supernaturals. Facing one in their own shrine was a risk she wouldn't have taken if she'd inspected the place properly. Even a successful kill, she knew, would likely result in a deadly dying curse.

The moment Cate appeared, the Shaman, caught mid-sacrifice of a child, stopped his blade. He looked at her with an unsettling confusion, his eyes devoid of fear or shame despite being caught red-handed. Cate understood there was no turning back. She swiftly plunged her dagger into the earth, muttering a spell that conjured sharp metal spikes. The floor, cemented with dried cow manure, offered no resistance as the spikes, moving with a life of their own, attacked the Shaman. Cate wanted him dead as quickly as possible, to prevent him from casting a single spell—the best way to deal with a Shaman.

The old man, clad only in a simple piece of dried bark cloth, leaped into the air. He spat at the spikes, speaking in a language Cate didn't understand. Instantly, his saliva increased in volume, becoming a tank-filling torrent. The moment it touched the metal spikes, it ate through them like the most corrosive acid. Cate was disappointed her sneak attack hadn't worked, but there was nothing to be done. She moved her dagger through the air with incredible speed, and before the Shaman landed, she had drawn a magic circle that conjured a stream of hell flames. These were among the deadliest flames, summonable only by a few powerful supernaturals into the world of the living.

The Shaman's eyes went wide. He landed on his head and began to flee, using his head as legs—a truly bizarre sight. He didn't even use the door, passing through the walls and sending rocks flying. His speed was incredible, but he had chosen the wrong moment to flee. He should have fled the instant he saw her. Now that Cate had conjured hell flames, there was no escape. The flames defied the laws of physics, appearing before him and, in a matter of seconds, reducing his body to nothing more than green ash.

Most people would assume the battle had ended there, but Cate had dealt with Shamans before; their means were terrifyingly mysterious. She calmed herself, breathing deeply. The room had partially collapsed, and a child's cries filled the air. Cate was certain people would be attracted to the commotion soon, but she didn't panic. She knelt, pieced her dagger into the floor, and opened her arms wide.

"Come here, child. Let me take you to your parents," she said in ancient Greek, a powerful spell automatically translating her words into any necessary language. This was why she rarely bothered to learn other tongues. The young girl, surprised Cate knew Yoruba, stopped crying and moved to hug her. She was a truly cute child, with braided hair and big eyes. Cate hugged her tightly, even closing her eyes at the warmth she felt from the young girl.

Suddenly, the girl let out a cry filled with pain. "I once had a friend who was a Shaman. She taught me a few tricks." Cate pushed the dagger deeper into the young girl's body. Cate had stabbed the young girl in the back.

"The moment I appeared in your shrine, your soul jumped from your old body and entered this young body. Your former body then fought me half-heartedly before trying to flee. You knew you couldn't defeat me, so you chose this cowardly trick for your survival. If I was anyone else, I would have taken the innocent young girl back to her family, and you would have gotten a second chance at life. Too bad for you that you met someone as old as me. I have seen countless tricks like these, and they no longer impress me." The young girl tried to say something, most likely to beg for mercy, but Cate didn't allow the Shaman the chance. She plunged the dagger deeper into her heart, turning it into mincemeat. With the Shaman now truly dead, Cate collected blood from the young girl and left the place as fast as she could.

Back in the Wandering Palace, Ion looked at her as though finally seeing the true Cate. "Let the ritual begin," Cate said. The Wandering Palace rearranged its rooms until Cate found herself in the core hall. Here, she discovered a large pool filled with a red liquid. Calling it blood seemed too far, yet calling it anything else didn't feel right either. The liquid bubbled as if heated by an invisible flame. This was her first time being allowed into this room. She looked around and saw nothing unexpected.

She removed her clothes, and once fully naked, poured the collected blood into the pool. The liquid became more excited after this. Cate slowly entered the pool, and after taking a deep breath, immersed herself. She felt as though she left the world and entered some foreign land where up was down and good was bad. In this place, she saw countless beings that were clearly inhuman. Some had horns, others were completely non-humanoid. There were countless beings, but they all seemed unable to perceive her.

She fell deeper into this world until she forgot who she was. She was no longer Medusa, and she knew nothing about Cate. All she knew was that she had a desire, a goal she couldn't give up on no matter how much she tried. In this place, time was not even an idea. The past was the future, and both together were the present. She lived in this one moment for so long, yet she couldn't tell how long it had been. When she finally accepted that this was her home and there was nothing else beyond, Cate began seeing something new.

She saw her life from when she had first been human. She saw the decisions that led to her doom, how she was pulled in by the allure of love. She loved her goddess so much that even when she was betrayed and turned into a monster, she had still loved her. Even after seeing everything that happened to her, Cate realized that her desire for revenge against the gods was birthed from her unending love for the woman who had stabbed her in the back. She also understood that she would never not love Athena.

With the realization of her love, Cate's thirst for revenge grew even thicker. This, in turn, made her crave power. Only with power could she make the gods regret and despair. With this realization, her heart was firmed, and the world around her fell apart. The pool of blood had been calm for the past few minutes, but at this moment, the pool exploded, and Cate flew out, covered in blood, her face filled with a coldness that could burn down worlds.

She landed on the floor, making the room shake. She was now the master of the Wandering Palace, and her will was law in this place. She knew all the secrets that lay within, and more. Just by closing her eyes, she could see everything going on in the palace simultaneously.

With the ritual completed, Cate and Ion plotted their next move. Cate wanted to open the Vault of Souls to gain power beyond compare. To open the vault, she needed to collect the Twelve Keys of Chaos. She had one key, but this was far from enough; she needed all of them. From her own failures and those of her dead parents in this life, Cate had learned a few things, the most important lesson being that the keys had to be collected in secret if possible. This was the best way to get what she wanted. If the other supernaturals were to learn of her plans, they would never allow her to reach her goals. Everyone wanted the power inside the vault, and this included the gods.

After another year of scheming, Cate settled on a plan to get the keys. Since she had the Wandering Palace and could use it to summon the other keys, she had to acquire at least six of them. She had one key, and she knew where the other five were: they had been taken by the Avalon Society during their invasion of the Wandering Palace. All she had to do was get back those five keys, which would give her six. Using the palace, she would then summon the other six keys to complete the twelve. With these keys, she would open the Vault of Souls and gain ultimate power. This was her plan, but she understood that it would be far more complex than it seemed.