While Rolas and Zarel fled Cryzxlle in their hijacked shuttle, their sister Mitra had settled into a rhythm far removed from the chaos of space voyages and prophecies. Back on Cryzx, in the ancient bog that had claimed her body, Mitra, or what remained of her former self, had fully embraced her new role in life. She wasn’t just the Bog Queen anymore, she was the Eternal Bog Queen. The Bisa Sisters, Brae, Bryn, and Bree, had kept their promise. They treated Mitra with reverence and nobility, ensuring all villagers honored her as the protector of their world. In no time, creatures of Cryzx would line up at the edge of Mitra’s bog with offerings of all kinds, hoping that by blessing their protector, she would in turn bless them with whatever they requested, whether it be for a good harvest or a bountiful sex life.

Early on though, Mitra had no way of receiving the villagers blessings or words of endearment. Her transformation was still just aesthetic. Yes she was attached to the bog and felt connected to it in an indescribable way, but she had no sight, no sense of smell, taste, or hearing. All she felt was isolation as she dissected memories of her and her sister’s crazy space voyages, wondering how she got stuck in this position.  Anchored to the bog’s depths by her grimy, narrow, stem-like neck, her massive, spherical form bobbed gently on the surface, her slimy green exterior glistening under the dual suns of Cryzx. Her crown of twisted wood and vines still perched atop her spherical form, a symbol of her unintended ascension.

However, over the months of her sisters’ absence, Mitra’s senses began adapting in strange ways. She still couldn’t see, hear clearly, or speak, but the bog itself became an extension of her being, a vast pool of rippling sensations. She began feeling the vibrations of villagers footsteps as they approached the bog. These vibrations over time became ripples throughout the bog, carrying whispers of the world beyond her throne. Eventually taste returned to her, as she filtered the air through the mossy film on her surface, sensing shifts in the planet’s ecosystem.

Before long, Mitra tapped into these new sensations and began to influence Cryzx itself. As days passed by, Mitra learned to decipher what each vibration and each taste hid within it, and soon she was able to tell the difference between creatures at the edge of her bog and creatures that shared her bog and called it home as well. She could tell when a villager would bathe in her pool, as the ripples would be more intense and have a certain pattern to them. She also memorized the smaller more subtle ripples that came from her own form bobbing in the bog, as well as the smaller bog dwelling creatures, that shared residency with her in the bog. Eventually her senses expanded passed the edge of the bog and out into the nearby village and beyond, allowing Mitra to utilize her newfound heighten sense of taste and vibratory hearing to feel what her kingdom felt and gain a better sense of companionship with them. She finally felt like she belonged again and wasn’t alone.

Month after month went by with Mitra still firmly anchored to her bog. But her internal thoughts had long shifted from her memories of her sisters. She had other duties in the world, a whole new family to protect. Cryzx was her home now and she wanted to make sure she tended to her people’s needs, which meant she had no time for nostalgia or dreaming of her past life.

And as Mitra focused more on her new family, her abilities as the Eternal Bog Queen evolved. Villagers who bathed in her waters emerged with more concise mutations as she was able to influence the Bog’s transformative properties. If a villager seeked to gain enhanced empathic abilities, the bog would listen, giving them bioluminescent skin that glowed in harmony with the planet’s rhythms. Some villagers wanted more specific physical transformations, which led to the villagers and nearby residence slowly morphing into a true melting pot of beautifully bizarre and intricate creatures.  Brae was the first to notice this staggering new ability of Mitra’s, and announced it to the village. “The bog’s alive in a new way, my friends!Our Eternal Bog Queen has ascended beyond the restraints of her boggy throne. Through the endless blessings we have bestowed her over the last few months, she has grown and evolved once more.  No longer is she simply our Queen. She is now our Goddess. And through this new status, she has rewarded our devotion, By harnessing the Bog’s latent transformative abilities as her own, she is able to answer our prayers and requests more intimately, allowing us all to transform in ways we believe will enhance our existence, and in turn improve our villages way of life. So come, and bless with me our new Goddess of the Bog, Mitra.”

With her kingdom’s full embrace, Mitra, through trial and error, learned to communicate with her devotees. By pulsing her form up and down, she created ripples that formed patterns on the water’s surface. They were simple at first, only allowing her to answer yes/no questions, but within weeks, this ability grew, allowing her to create shapes that conveyed emotions or warnings. Bryn, the buzz-cut Bisa sister with her striped hair, spent hours interpreting them, and before long, the village and Mitra was engaging in more personal communication.  One day, Brae, approached the bog alone and slowly drifted out into the middle where Mitra rested. Mitra, sensing an approaching figure, could visualize that it was Brae, seeing her entire shape in her minds eye.  As she prepared to answer Brae’s transformative request she realized this visit did not have any request at all. Brae was coming out to greet Mitra without ulterior motives. When Brae finally reached Mitra’s spherical form she opened her arms and embraced Mitra in an empathetic hug. “You’re not alone anymore Mitra. You’re the heart of Cryzx now.” Mitra felt an overwhelming sense of fulfillment and happiness from this. She knew this wasn’t how she had envisioned her life, but it was the life she was given and she felt comfort in knowing her kingdom loved her.

Yet, for all the peace and growth of Cryzx, darkness slowly crept in. Strange tremors occasionally shook the bog. They were extremely subtle at first, but Mitra’s ultra sensitive body could pick them up, and they were  growing day by day. Mitra sensed them from below. They were unnatural disturbances from beneath the planet’s crust, as if something ancient was stirring. She shared this news only with the Bisa Sisters, who dismissed the early signs as “aftershocks” of her ascension, but Mitra knew better. As guardian of the planet, she had to get to the bottom of these fluctuations, and come up with a plan to protect her people from what was to come.  And sure enough, by using her bog-bound senses to probe the depths further, she was able to uncover a terrifying truth. What she was sensing was no ordinary ripples, they were veins of corrupted energy, perhaps remnants of an old cosmic rift tied to the Prophecy of Three. What’s more troubling was that villagers began reporting having visions, dreams of shadowy triplets encroaching on Cryzx, mirroring the prophecy’s warnings.

One night, under a canopy of stars, Mitra pulsed a urgent warning. The Bisa Sisters watched as Mitra violently bobbed up and down, creating massive ripples that formed the outline of a ship descending. Brae, standing vigil, gasped. “Intruders? But who? Who would attack our peaceful planet?” Mitra had no way to specify, but the bog’s ethereal properties surged through her again, granting fleeting clarity. In this moment she had a vision of her sisters returning, pursued by a vengeful force. She thought that her past had been erased from her purpose in life, but Mitra now knew that to be a fool’s belief. Her sisters never give up and would never break their promise to her, and with that renewed determination flowing through her, she prepared to wield the bog’s power as Cryzx’s defender. The prophecy’s threads were weaving tighter than ever before, and Mitra’s fate would soon entwine with her sisters’ fates once more.