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As the battle broke loose, the Solars jumped into action.

The goal, save as many Sidereals as possible, including those that had been turned to the enemy.

Grant rolled back and started firing arrows to clear the doorways so that any of those unarmed Sidereals could escape, and he also started picking enemies off amongst the crowd. Rath ran to engage an enemy near a door, and Isha immediately taunted and engaged one of the badass, controlled, elder Sidereals popping heads off his comrades.

It was devastating, how they would kill a person or two every second while the Solars struggled to slow them and engage. Too many were lost that could've been saved. But it was obviously a matter of preparation, too. Eventually the three elder, controlled Sidereals were non-lethally brought down by the Solars, and the other, less-dangerous controlled Sidereals were brought down safely as well by their own comrades.

The devils blocking the doors were taken out and the Infernals who had sealed the exits escaped the meeting hall to be hunted down later.

As things settled down and the allies and Sidereals attended to the wounded, helping to save as many as possible, four of the five maidens appeared in the center of the meeting hall.

The hall quieted, and they spoke.

Venus was dead. All her chosen were killed and she had faded out of existence. They said this was foreseen, that one of the maidens would die to usher in the new age. It was now the 3rd age.

Venus would be replaced by their younger sister (unnamed), and that the bronze and gold factions were now disbanded. All remaining Sidereals were now to resume their positions as Solar advisers because war now that war was declared upon hell, the forces of creation could not remain divided.

The maidens also relayed that all manses on the imperial island were now controlled by the Infernals, and that the Infernal essences seeping through them corrupted all on the island attuned to them. All calibration gates to the island were sealed, forcing any would-be armies to attack via water/land. All dragonblooded descendants not part of the orphan rebellion were now controlled through the Empress's bloodline. The island was truly lost now. It belonged to the Ebon Dragon now.

The alliance of creation needed to gather as many allies as possible in as short a time as possible and prepare for war.

A Sidereal named Hani was appointed as the emissary to the Solars, and was at their disposal for any thing that needed to be communicated to the maidens or to perform any function of heaven that was needed. Meanwhile, Rathimund was given the spell to summon the floating calibration gate and the four Solars; Isha, Grant, Rath, and Az; were specifically allowed entrance to Heaven at any time.

After a long discussion about logistics with the maidens, the group returned to the flying citadel on creation, located a suitable manse for Isha on the big map and headed straight there via tornado.

Inside a cave, they whacked down a handful of hungry ghosts and a single golem, before a person emerged, asking what the four Solars wanted. He was an Abyssal. A runaway Abyssal, so he indicated. Isha wasn't sure she could trust him. But they were in the business now of gathering as many allies as possible so she was willing to entertain the idea until given a specific reason not to trust him. The circumstances upon which they'd found him did indicate that there was truth to his story… unless he and his boss were able to read the future, as the Sidereals could or the Infernals could. Then again, Song had said they were a wild card and could not be predicted. If the best of prescients couldn't read them… who could?

His name was Alabaster Twilight, and his “former” master was a Deathlord called the Duke of Lamentations. She definitely wanted to talk to him more before just letting him sit on her manse while she was away.