Wish upon the Stars (Original Superhero cultivation sci fi litrpg)

[Malcolm Tent]

"So," Stanley said as we took our seats across from him. "We have your meeting scheduled for the Moonfiend Grotto. We're not on the best terms with the owner, but he's not EXACTLY an enemy. You'll need to pay the entrance fee yourselves, but without us, you'd never have gotten the chance."

I nodded. "The Moonfiend Grotto is one of the four? What about the other three? The ones you CAN get us into."

Personally, I doubted the Moonfiend Grotto fit the bill, given the whole trees thing, but Stanley knew what he was doing. He seemed to notice the brief hesitation, but didn't mention it, moving on to answering my question. "Autumn Dusk, Red Desert, and The Burning Plains. That's what WE call them, anyway. Most of them are HUGE, mind, but they all have trees somewhere in them. Regardless, those three are held by allied forces. Moonfiend Grotto is owned by the Bad Doctor, and he's no friend of ours, but like I said, we got you in to see him."

I cocked my head. "The Bad Doctor?"

"He owns the local hospital," my father said grimly. "Not that anyone goes there on purpose. It's the kind of place you take people who are probably going to die anyway. Sometimes he saves them. Sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes the former is worse."

"Sounds lovely," I said dryly. "Are we going to have problems if we go in there?"

He shook his head. "The Doctor is a scavenger. He takes people who can't fight back, but he tends to avoid dealing with the healthy. He CAN do it, mind, and it's messy when he does, he just considers it a waste of his valuable time."

I grimaced. "Got it. So what does this have to do with a gala?"

"A formal dinner," Stanley corrected sternly. "It's ostensibly a fundraiser for the hospital, but in reality, he holds them to identify potential subjects for his experiments. It's not unusual for an offer of expensive materials or medical aid to be tendered in response to him spotting a subject he takes a shine to."

"And people just LET him do this?" I asked in disgust. "No one stops him?"

Stanley grimaced. "Bloodcrest is…fraught. Danger around every turn. But more than that, it is a place of darkness and despair. In such venues, certain in demand skillsets can be difficult to come by."

Violetta rolled her eyes. "He means healers don't stick around. The Bad Doctor is a Bad doctor, but he's still a doctor. They're in short supply here. Alienate the Doctor and maybe the next time you get sick you don't get better. Maybe you die of your next injury. Maybe while you're IN the hospital. Or maybe you don't and just wish you had."

I gritted my teeth. That was horrible. Holding medical treatment over a whole town like that. I had the urge to take him out myself, but given the rest of them didn't bother, I was assuming that it would just make things worse. I'd just need to make my deal with him and be on my way. For now. On the way BACK however…well, that was a whole other ballgame. "So, when is this dinner?"

"He has them regularly," Stanley shrugged. "But the one we got you into is tonight. That was why I asked you down here. If you're going to be attending, there's a certain…dress code. I'm afraid your current apparel is unacceptable."

I scowled, looking down at my armor. The seal was an important part of my kit, though it was in dire need of an upgrade. I supposed I didn't need to have it on me, in any case. I could store it in Gehenna and still get the benefits. "How much are these clothes going to run me?" I asked him cautiously.

"Not much," he assured me. "My tailor is under contract, and she can just adjust some of my formalwear. Shouldn't be more than…six crystals?"

Without moving my head, I glanced over at my dad, who shook his head minutely. I let out a snort. "Six? I wasn't born yesterday. I think we can do a little better than that, don't you?" I left him hanging on purpose, since I had no idea of the actual value I was aiming for.

He chuckled at that. "Just testing. How about five?" Another head shake. I shut him down again. Finally, he sighed. "Four," he said with a sour look. "And you can keep the clothes after." That got a nod, so I agreed, and we shook on it. After that, I was sent upstairs to a cramped room with drapes along the walls and too many mirrors. An elderly woman who was so thin she looked like a skeleton with a cloth draped over it. I was kind of shocked, because she was A-rank, and that level of aging meant she was OLD, but I didn't say anything, just letting her poke and prod me for about twenty minutes.

She stuck me with way too many needles for someone who had to be rocking at least a Mythic skill in tailoring, but I kept my mouth shut and let her do her thing. Finally, when it was over, she quickly slipped me into the new clothes and showed me to the mirror.

I stared at myself in the reflection with interest, turning back and forth to get a good angle. "I look hot," I said smugly.

"Are you done?" Crell groaned from behind me. "Because we need to go or we're going to be late. Not that I mind the idea of not spending more time with the creepy murder doctor, but I'm pretty sure we want to make a good impression."

Sighing, I nodded along, following him downstairs. Outside the manor, to my surprise, a vehicle waited. Not a car or anything, but rather an honest to gods horse and buggy style stagecoach. It was a handsome vehicle, made of dark wood with gilded edges, and the horses hooked up to it were strong and fierce.

The whole thing was B-rank, obviously, because what lunatic would make an A or S-rank mode of transport that only moved on land for short distances, but still, it was a stylish way to travel to our destination.

"This is pretty nice," Crell noted as we climbed in. "I could get used to this."

"I don't disagree," I admitted. "I might look into getting one of these for the WCP. Could you imagine me rolling up in this thing to an elder's council meeting? Just tell the guards to watch my horses as I swagger inside."

"Yeah, the elders seem like the kind of guys who love finding horse crap in their hallway," Crell said dryly.

I shrugged. "Well then they'd better not keep me in the meeting too long, then. It's like a built in timer for any social events I have to attend. It's genius. I wonder how hard it is to drive these. Hey, driver, how-" I leaned over, pulling back the curtain of the window separating the padded interior box from the front of the coach and froze.

"Um…is that a dog?" I asked dumbly.

Blinking, Crell leaned around me, staring for a moment, then nodded. "It is. It's a dog." The dog in question, a small terrier of some kind, nodded to us calmly, a pair of reins in its mouth. As it did, its big floppy hat slid forward slightly, though it stayed mostly in place.

"Sorry," I said politely. The dog gave a short bark and a nod, then turned back to the front of the coach. I closed the curtain. "So we're just going to pretend that didn't happen," I told Crell bluntly. "Because I'm very confused and I don't think that dog can answer my questions. Anyway, you remember the plan?"

He groaned, but nodded anyway. "We need access to the Moonfiend Grotto. The Bad Doctor controls the gates."

"Yeah, did anyone say WHY he does that?" I asked after a moment. "Because I feel like the Moonfiend Grotto doesn't seem very medical. Like what exactly does he use the place for? Or does he just sell access?"

"Nope, he uses it," Crell grimaced. "I asked Stanley about that while you were off getting fitted. Apparently there are several venomous sea creatures in the grotto's ocean area that produce toxins the Doctor uses. Paralytics, pain relievers, even a few mutagens. Shady stuff, and he pays people to collect it for him. Charges samples for the exit."

I grimaced. "Great, the ocean. My favorite place. And that'll be in the opposite direction of any trees I assume, which is annoying." I didn't know Callie was near trees, but I didn't know exactly how near them she'd be if she was. I had no real way to check because Callie, in her messages, had revealed that she was currently inside of a large castle complex and wasn't really allowed outside the walls.

Belsara claimed it was for her and the babies' safety, but Callie was pretty sure she was just being held hostage. She didn't seem to mind though, because the babies WERE safe, and she was gaining a lot of stats from it as she waited.

We were still discussing what to do exactly when we arrived when the coach stopped. I frowned at Crell, then pulled the curtain to find the dog gone. Sighing, I climbed out, patted the nearest horse, then gestured for Crell to follow me. We headed up to the door of the large, creepy looking building, greeting the guards. "We're here for the formal dinner," I told them bluntly.

The first guard, a large red haired man with a nasty scar over one eye and what looked like a permanent scowl on his face, raised an eyebrow. "You got an invite?"

Crell did, it turned out. He reached into his coat and handed the man a piece of dirty grey paper. The guard read it, scowled, and then handed it back. "Fine. Go in then. No fighting and don't touch the wisps."

I had no idea what that meant, but I nodded anyway, and we slipped past them to hurry inside.

When we got there, I realized that the whole 'don't touch the wisps' thing was self explanatory. The building was ancient, covered in mold and rotting wooden boards, but the lights were coming from floating clouds of multicolored gas that cast the whole thing in an eerie, almost haunting spectrum.

"Which way do we go?" I asked worriedly, looking around for some sort of guide.

As if summoned (and maybe it had been), a flash of grey light the exact color of our invitation flitted up to hover in front of me. It circled me three times then zipped away, only to come back when I didn't follow. It waited impatiently, and then as soon as I started moving toward it the little thing zipped off, just slow enough to be kept in sight. "Nevermind," I said dryly. "I think I got it."

We trailed after the wisp for about ten minutes, trying to stick together in the twisting run down hallways. Finally, we reached a large open room with a dining table, red carpets, and chandelier. As soon as we entered, the lights flared, transforming the world around us from a creepy run down hospital to a well lit party. Even the air was warmer. I shot Crell a look and noticed he looked as unsettled as I felt.

"Ah, our guests," came a booming, amused voice. "Welcome." We turned to find a man standing up from the table. "I've been looking forward to meeting you." The man was huge, face covered with a long beaked mask that hid his eyes behind blank, birdlike lenses. This, I realized, was the Bad Doctor. "Please," he said, gesturing us inside. "Come and sit. Come and eat. We have so much to discuss, you and I." I grimaced, but eventually nodded. I had a feeling this wasn't going to be much fun. Best to get it over with so we could get going. Callie was waiting.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The formal dinner was unsettling. We were offered seats of honor next to the Doctor, which was odd on its own because he shouldn't have even known who we were beyond 'friends of Stanley'. Despite that, though, he was fawning over us as politely as possible, making it clear he recognized us as important for some reason. I didn't like it.

Luckily I wasn't here alone. Crell was infinitely better at this game than I was. The former spymaster of a ruthless despot who ruled over a sealed world, and who planned a coup against said despot which we helped pull off, Crell was a political beast, and I knew I could trust him to handle this.

Unfortunately, the Doctor himself hadn't gotten the memo.

"We're so pleased to have you here," he said silkily, pouring me a glass of wine I definitely didn't trust him enough to drink. "I admit, when I heard the son of Elijah Wyndham was in the city, I didn't quite believe it."

Ah, that was it then. He didn't know who I was, exactly, he just knew my dad.

"Did he really make that big of an impression last time he was here?" I asked, genuine curiosity in my voice.

My dad had clearly done some impressive things in Bloodcrest, but I hadn't really had the time or inclination to ask about them. Judging by the Doctor's attitude though, my dad's antipathy was…well, maybe it WAS still shared, but there was clearly a one sided respect there. I couldn't help but be curious what he'd done to deserve that.

The Doctor, it seemed,wanted to avoid talking about what my dad had done almost as much as I wanted to hear about it. He smoothly changed the subject. "So, you're hoping to gain access to the Moonfiend Grotto?" He asked casually. "What might you be searching for inside?"

"Fish," I answered immediately. "There's a very rare type of trout we've heard about in there. The Fiendwrack Trout. I'm told it can directly strengthen Impact."

We'd done a bit of research on the place before coming here, because we all agreed it was a bad idea to confide in the Doctor. The Fiendwrack Trout was real, in fact, though not worth enough for me to bother searching for. Impact was great, but it wasn't getting my wife back.

The Doctor chuckled. "You haven't touched your wine. Please, try some. It's my favorite vintage."

I frowned behind my mask, but decided it was better to be accommodating. Of course, I wasn't an idiot. I reached for Zagan silently, and as I picked up the cup and tilted it toward my mouth, I breathed a long stream of green flame into it. The flame hit the wine silently, rolling through it and purifying the drink. Not just of toxins, but of all poison, essentially turning it to clear water. I tipped it back, draining the glass in one pull before slamming it back down. I smiled at him through the gap that had opened in my mask. "Delicious. Now, we're hoping to get access to the Grotto sooner rather than later. Can you tell me what you'd require to let us do that?"

He nodded cheerfully. "Of course, I'd be happy to share that information with you. But first, I hope that you might be willing to help me with a small project."

"We don't really have time for a project," I said bluntly. "We really need to go, maybe when we come back we can help. We can leave as soon as we contact my friends. They're waiting for us now so I don't want to leave them hanging."

He chuckled again, but this time there was something ominous about it. "Why, I don't think that will do. You see, the wisps have faded. You need a guide to get out again. I'm afraid the halls can be a tad confusing. You know, I was so excited to hear Elijah brought his brat here. His power was so…fascinating. But unfortunately his relationship with the Ralkyne was too complex. You, however, have no such protection. I half expected you to bring guards, but instead, you just brought this diplomatic fop."

"Hey!" snapped Crell. "I'll have you know that I can be very impressive!"

I grimaced at the Doctor. "What the hell do you want? Don't think we're so easy to contain. I can leave here anytime I want."

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure," The Doctor grinned. "You see, I've prepared rather thoroughly for this little game. You came here to request entry to the Grotto? Well you'll be pleased to know you need look no further. You entered the Grotto minutes after passing the front door. Outside realspace you have no hope of spatial shifts or recovery artifacts returning you to your previous position."

"So what?" I spat. "You turn us into one of your little experiments? I heard all about those."

Laughing, he just shook his head. "Silly child," he cooed. "I'm not going to turn you into anything. You're ALREADY one of my experiments. You have been since you entered. Drinking the wine I gave you was simply the icing on the cake, as it were. But don't worry. The paralytic you ingested will slowly penetrate your bloodstream as you run from the monsters currently coming to catch you, and only once you've completely collapsed will they finally retrieve you and bring me to me for study."

I blinked at him. "You…you're not nearly as smart as people seem to think, huh?"

He just sneered. "Enjoy your false confidence while it lasts, boy. Even an S-ranker would fall before that toxin. It's only a matter of time before-" He was cut off by the thump of my staff smashing into his mouth, sending his mask spinning off into the distance. Glancing behind me, I casually released ten of my A-rank demons. "Kill the monsters he mentioned, and capture any of the experiments that seem like they might still be people."

Crell just snorted as I turned back to the Doctor. "So, I didn't drink your paralytic," I said conversationally. "And as far as I can tell, you leaned WAY too hard into Focus. I could almost see you getting lost in your own thoughts just then. You have no chance of beating me in a fight under almost any circumstances." I had almost as much effective Might as I had TOTAL stat points thanks to my triple point bonus, not to mention my Vitality and the power of my Domain.

The Doctor stared at me in horror, his expression empty and shocked. Crell laughed as he stepped up beside me. "You know, I was half expecting this to turn into some kind of locked room escape trial when he started talking."

"Nobody has time for that shit," I said coldly. "I have a wife to rescue. The Doctor here is going to be as helpful and friendly as possible in accommodating us, because if he's not, I'm going to beat him nearly to death with my staff, then heal him up and do it again until my arms get tired. And I have very strong arms."

He glared up at me bitterly. "What do you want to know?" he gritted out.

"I want to know where the entrance to this place is," I said immediately. "I'm letting some people inside. Then you're going to take me to the nearest forest inside the Grotto." I needed to use Yama, but I REALLY didn't want to look at the karmic lines inside this hospital. Karma was more than just a map, it was a reflection of the world as it was, and I had a feeling the karma in here was not particularly pleasant to look at.

Obviously, the smart move would be to wait to get to the actual woods before checking on the chain. If Callie was here, I would see it immediately and be close enough to search, if she wasn't the chain would lead me right back to the exit, most likely. Seemed like a win win.

The Doctor staggered to his feet, glaring, but didn't dare to try anything. Instead, he turned and skulked out of the room. I shot Crell a look and followed, trailing behind the malicious medic as we were led through the seemingly endless hallways. I silently cursed myself for not activating Dantalion on the way. The wisp had distracted me by moving JUST fast enough to force me to hurry, which I suspected was the point.

This time I didn't make that mistake, I triggered my information demon, not bothering to boost it with my staff, because A-rank was plenty for this. It didn't take long to arrive at the front door. When we did, I glared at the Doctor, considering what to do…but eventually I remembered what Stanley had said. I cracked him upside the head, knocking him unconscious as I stepped past him to push the door to the outside open. The chill air of Bloodcrest hit my face as I noticed the pair of guards from earlier rushing me for an attack.

My staff snapped out, crashing into them like a meteor and putting them both down temporarily. Knocking people out at A-rank wasn't easy, exactly, but having more than my normal share of Impact helped give my attacks that little bit of extra heft. The two of them dropped and I reached for my scan ring, placing a quick call.

Within twenty minutes, reinforcements arrived. My whole crew as well as Stanley, who had come in person. He glanced at the unconscious guards and Doctor with a grimace. "Well at least they're alive," he sighed. "I assume this was a trap?"

"Apprently he remembered my dad," I said dryly. "Making friends wherever you go, huh old man?"

My father sniffed loftily. "Lions do not concern themselves with the opinions of sheep."

"Do they concern themselves with sleeping on the couch?" my mother asked sweetly. "Because I can have a den made up for his highness if that's his preference."

I snickered at their antics, then turned back to Stanley. "So, did you know the hospital was IN the gate? This place is a shallowing apparently. Once we entered we ended up trapped in some labyrinth we didn't even realize was part of the Grotto. Dr. Dumbass there used wisps to disguise the spatial distortions by pretending it was all part of the dinner. Then he tried to poison me."

"You have a life nova bloodline," my mom said in disbelief. "You could just burn it clean in a second if you wanted to."

"If he'd gotten me," I pointed out. "Which he didn't even manage. I used Zagan to breathe fire into the cup. Ended up drinking pure water. Once he was convinced I'd been drugged, he lapsed into the stereotypical villain speech, so I smacked him in the head with a stick and made him bring me to the door to get you guys."

She grinned at me. "That's my boy. So, have you checked if this is the right place yet?"

"I don't think using Yama inside that place is a good idea," I grimaced. "He's going to bring us out into the woods and I'll check from there. If we're at the right place it'll give me a line right to her, if not the chain will lead back to the entrance."

"Except," my dad sighed. "If there's another gate in there. Remember the land of endless summer is a Webworld. It's connected, even broken. Don't take for granted that this will be the last stop. Chances are good we're only on the first step of the journey. Even that requires us to confirm we're in the right spot though." He turned to glare down at the Doctor. "Hey, jackass. Wake up and bring us inside. We've got places to be." I tried not to laugh at the twitch when he heard my dad's voice. Admittedly, I didn't try very hard.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Entering the Moonfiend Grotto was definitely an experience. One moment we were in the spiraling hallways of the labyrinthine hospital, and the next we were emerging onto a small, dark sanded beach.

The grotto, or at least the part of it we'd stepped into wasn't exactly what I'd expected. I'd pictured a big open shoal like the ones back where I'd met Crell, but the beach we stood on was a relatively cramped affair, just ten feet or so of curved shore wrapped around a tiny cove that was pushing inward.

"It's this way," Stanley said, gesturing inland. "The woods are in that direction."

"How do you know all this, anyway?" I asked as I glanced around. "And why did my dad specifically come to you to be our guide? I admit, it seems weird that you decided to tag along given your position."

Stanley chuckled as he led us away from the shore. "He came to me BECAUSE of my position. I've currently all but accepted leadership of Ralkyne, but back in the day, I was still just the heir. I used my clout to fund and enable my hobby of exploration, and I've been through more of the gates of Bloodcrest and explored more deeply than anyone else in the city."

"He means he used to be a lazy good for nothing who spends all his time running away from home," my dad added wryly. "Though he DID manage to make it sound really impressive."

"If I was good for nothing," Stanley replied loftily. "You wouldn't have hired me."

My dad shrugged. "True, but 'good for only one specific thing and mostly ass at everything else' doesn't really roll off the tongue the same way." He grinned at the other man, clearly teasing, and Stanley just rolled his eyes.

The walk to the forest was surprisingly pretty uneventful. We didn't get attacked or stopped by anything, which kind of shocked me. When we arrived at the treeline, I had everyone step back and I reached out for Yama. To my delight, the chain from my chest did NOT lead back the way we came. It led off into the distance, heading mostly northwest. "What's that way?" I asked, pointing toward the spot in question.

He grimaced. "A nest," he said slowly. "And one that I really would have preferred to avoid if possible. That's where we need to go?"

I didn't love the sound of that, honestly. "A nest?" I prodded. "Of what, exactly?"

"They're called Alakriyas," he winced. "Imagine a hyena mixed with a scorpion, with the jaws of an alligator and the talons of an eagle. They're highly territorial, so most people just avoid them, but they're VERY dangerous. They nest in large groups, kind of like colonies. They build their nests on veins of infinity crystal and similar items, weaving the spatial energy into complicated constructions. They also EAT the stuff, and it makes their armor freakishly hard to pierce."

I groaned. Of course there were space eating monsters nesting on top of the spot where Callie was. Or rather, the spot that could get me there. Because while it WAS possible that my chain was just leading far past the nest, his introduction made it clear there was another, more likely possibility. There was another gate deeper into the Webworld, and the Alakriyas had built their nest on it.

"How many of these things are there?" I asked grimly. "And what rank?"

"The queens are S-rank," he grimaced. "The soldiers are A-rank, and the workers are B-rank. The nest has been there for a while. People don't go down there much, the Alakriyas mostly eat spatial energy, but Domain capable Ascendants are FULL of that, so they've been known to grab and immobilize travelers and drag them down into the nest. To my knowledge, no one has ever come back."

"Well now," Lark said excitedly. "What an interesting species. I'd love to capture a few. I'm something of a taming hobbyist, you know."

I had not known that, but I DID know his daughter, so it didn't surprise me at all. "How many queens are there?" I asked worriedly. Lark was a monster, and I was sure he could take care of himself against almost any number of those things, but I was less sure he could hold them all back at once if there were too many. If they went around him and got to us we'd all be screwed.

"About a dozen," Stanley grimaced. "There's a reason no one has cleaned the nest out after all these years. It's not worth the cost."

I glanced at Lark, and he nodded casually. "Well, maybe we can help with that," I said slyly. "If we can, would you be willing to make an arrangement with us to take over this place. I have a feeling the Doctor won't fight us too much on gate ownership. And if he does…well, my dad is always looking to make a deal. Leaving him alive doesn't mean leaving him active."

He blinked at me. "Wait…you're proposing you CLEAR the nest and hand it over to Ralkyne as an asset?"

I shrugged. "I mean, I'm not planning to use it for anything, and I try to make good use of effort when possible. If we have to clear the place anyway, I don't see why I wouldn't want to make some money on it. Assuming you have assets you want from them and things you're willing to trade. Crell can take care of the details, he IS my master of contracts."

Of course, this assumed that the nest was our actual destination, but given the way my life worked, I kind of figured it would be. Lark didn't seem to care one way or the other, and my dad looked pleased, so I guessed he was happy I'd considered it.

We headed off in the direction of the chain, moving through the forest quietly so as not to arouse the Alakriya before we arrived. Finally, we came to a cliff overlooking a large rocky valley. I grimaced at the site. Where the surrounding area was full of trees and greenery, the valley was the polar opposite. Barren and desolate, even the rocks it was made of looked dead, crumbling away into dust the blew desolately over the flat expanse of nothing at the bottom.

"This is where the nest is?" I asked, eyes scanning the valley. I didn't see any nests. Or animals. Or anything except dust.

"Beneath this place," he corrected. "The destruction is from the constant microquakes that accompany their construction. They reinforce the substructure but the ground around it gets quaked into powder. Careful with it. If you fall in you'll pass through the dust like air. At first. Once you sink a bit it covers you up and suffocates you."

Frowning, I slipped into Yama, checking on my connection to Callie and the twins. Sure enough, the chains led right down into the valley. I eyeballed the exact spot, checking the angles. Using Dantalion and some clever motion to triangulate based on the changes in the chains, I was able to estimate how far down the gate was. "Alright, give me a minute. I need to check some things before we start this off."

Dantalion, boosted to S-rank, allowed me to slowly map the nest, discovering exactly where the majority of the Alakriya were. "He was right about there being twelve of the queens," I noted. "And…damn, about a thousand soldiers. I can't even count the workers, but they're B-rank so it basically doesn't matter."

"So how do we draw them out?" Stanley said, scanning the deceptively smooth floor of the valley. "If we drop in we'll be vulnerable. They can move through the dust like its water, and see in it too."

I smirked, reaching into myself for access to Brad's power. My staff surged with strength, pushing the demon a tier higher, and I held a hand out dramatically. "What dust?"

There was a SURGE of energy as Brad's power slammed down on the valley like an orbital strike. All the others could see was a cylinder of bare space driven into the dust like some angry god pounded it in with a mallet. Between one breath and the next, a huge open hole was exposing the interior of the valley.

It looked weird. Loops of twisted space reinforced with crystalling fractures of infinity crystal and hard packed dirt spiralled in shapes that defied explanation. I followed the chain down to the bottom of the pit, where the twisting tunnels got denser until the condensed into a sphere of pulsing spatial energy, crystal, and rock. From the empty space, screams echoed out. Deep within the pit I could see the strange skittering forms of the Alakriya emerging. I grimaced. Stanley hadn't been wrong about the description, but he'd undersold how weird they looked.

"Lark," I told Morgan casually as a series of the monsters exploded up toward us. Grinning, the vampire exploded into a TORRENT of bats, the creatures wrapping around the S-rank monsters and whisking them away to another battlefield. The rest of them were still coming toward us, but rather than wait for my say so, Abel took it upon himself to act.

A blood red ocean burst out to cover the space in front of us, intercepting the beasts, and I heard their screams as they were subsumed. To my shock, even as I watched they started to decompose, dissolving into even more blood to feed Abel's Infinite Blood Sea.

"Domain," I said as I stared. "You created your Domain. Why didn't you mention it?"

He shrugged. "Just more of the same. No reason to brag. It'll hold them for a bit. I assume we're heading for that rock orb?"

"We are," I nodded. "But I'll get us there. Keep them off me." He agreed, and I focused on the paths between us and the entrance to the gate. Cosmic Waltz emerged, and I pushed myself a little by elevating it to S-rank. I was able to handle the strain a bit better because of the powerful strength of my igniting blood as I tapped into the Cosmic bloodline.

Rather than focus only on that though, I also called up Yama. I'd had an idea I wanted to test for a possible Archdemon. Sure enough, as I watched the threads of karma manifest, I was pleased to see the paths of space followed them surprisingly closely.

"I've got us a path," I said absently. "I'll open it up." Cosmic Waltz wasn't really meant for this, but I was hoping the combination would enable me to create a stable way to connect two points so my friends could move safely. I raised a hand, focusing, and grabbed hold of the connection between me and the gate (my target). With a heave of effort, I flooded the strand with Cosmic Fire.

The link caught ablaze, coating it with the spatial flame, and I gritted my teeth and HAULED on the fire. Slowly, like a line expanding into a straw, the flame began to open, tearing a tunnel through the world. I clamped down on the groan of effort with a heroic burst of willpower as I tore the tunnel open wide enough to fit a person. "Go," I spat, gesturing to the now open portal in front of us. Through the circle, I could see another door, sitting in the middle of a stone chamber waiting for us.

The others nodded, beginning to file through. I held it as long as I could, but eventually the strain was too much. "LARK!" I bellowed up into the sky. "Let's GO, we're leaving!"

A maniacal cackle rose over the valley as a swarm of bats funneled into the gap in reality. I watched until the last bat was through, and then, without pausing, I hurled myself into the gap, not letting up until I fell out the other side of the spatial pathway, hitting the ground with a loud grunt. I groaned as I lay there, head swimming. I was NOT doing that again without an Archdemon form. Still, proof of concept. I couldn't wait to tell Callie.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

"Shane, you ok?" Abel called as he stood guard in front of the gate. The others had fanned out, securing the entrances to the chamber, and he was the closest to me personally. "That was…really impressive actually. And trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I know enough about space to be shocked you pulled that off."

"New trick," I gasped. "Work in progress." Honestly, the fact that I could SEE the destination physically and that it was close enough was the only reason that had worked at all. I had MASSIVELY underestimated how much effort that would take.

My mom knelt down next to me. "You know, just because Calliope isn't here to yell at you for attempting dangerous experimental moves in combat doesn't mean you should DO it. I'll be telling her about this, and I'd expect to be yelled at. Which you deserve, you self destructive idiot."

"Sorry Ma," I grimaced. "It's been a long time since I hit a wall like that. Gotten used to pulling off my nonsense on the first try."

"That's not as reassuring as you seem to think it is," she huffed as she helped my to my feet.

Chuckling, I triggered my life nova bloodline, burning nine drops to flood my body with energy. "Lark," I called to the vampire. "How did you do? I know I cut off your fight early, but did you manage to take out any of the queens?"

"Ten of them, actually," he said cheerfully. "I only had two left when you told me to disengage. They were injured though. I kept seven of the ones I beat, and even grabbed a couple workers. Lovely little monsters, I'm planning to start a breeding farm on one of my empty planets. I'm curious to see what they'll do with a full planet to terraform."

"Well that seems safe," I said dryly. "But sure, go nuts. Just maybe make sure the planet in question is at least a galaxy away from me or anyone I know."

He sneered. "Back in my day, we had more spine than that."

"Probably because you had to keep growing them back after people ripped them out when you did something stupid." I pointed out dryly.

"That's not…" he trailed off. "That didn't happen that often. My spine has only been ripped out like…eight times. Nine tops. But hey, we're getting off track. Shouldn't we be going through this creepy giant door? It seems fun. What do you say guide-man, do you know where this goes?" He shot Stanley an arch look.

The other man shook his head. "Not even close," he said bluntly. "I told you no one has been down here. The nest is too dangerous. Actually, should WE be down here? We might want to leave, if they come back-"

"They won't," Zeke, my dad, Lark, and I said at the same time. We all locked eyes with a chuckle at the unintentional echo.

"They won't," I repeated. "They lost eighty percent of their main combat force. More, technically, but still The last two queens are injured, and they'll be retreating to gather their strength. Besides which they're animals. Animals don't attack a superior predator when they're injured. Lark kicked their asses up and down the valley with ease. They're S-rank creatures. They're smart enough to know when they're beat."

My mom nodded. "It's true, we're safe for now. But don't underestimate the territorial instincts of a prideful beast. We shouldn't stick around too long. Even if you don't know exactly where that door leads, can you make any guesses? Maybe based on some other gate that looks similar? Anything is better than nothing."

Stanley grimaced, but nodded. "I can take a look. The gates do tend to reflect their interiors. Reading them can be a bit of an artform, but I daresay no one has seen more of them than I."

I frowned. I hadn't really considered that. In fact, I hadn't known the gates were all doors. I hadn't seen one for this place when we came through the hospital, but to be fair, they might have just left it open. We hadn't noticed where the breakpoint was at all, so use missing the entry was understandable.

Stanley stepped forward running his hand over the carved white surface of the door. Despite being down here in this literal mudhole, the door was pristine, almost glowing, and it had delicate scrollwork and designs carved over every inch of it.

"A city," he said slowly. "A huge and beautiful city of gold. That's all I can find."

"Better than nothing," I smiled, patting his shoulder. "We appreciate the help. Are you coming along with us? If not, I can have Lark run you home. You've lived up to your end of the bargain and then some, and you still need to make arrangements to take custody of this place."

The Ralkyne weren't all A-rank, they couldn't have held onto power without someone at the peak. Stanley's father was an S-ranker, albeit one that rarely showed his face, and I was sure he would come out of retirement to take control of this gate. To my surprise, he shook his head. "No," he said firmly. "I've spent my life exploring the gates of Bloodcrest. I'm not missing the chance to be the first one through a newly discovered gate."

That shocked a laugh out of me. "Wow, I wasn't expecting that. But fair enough. Everyone get ready, we're moving out as soon as possible. We need to explore beyond the gate. Lark and I will be going through." With Mornax bumped up to A-rank (he hadn't hit tier nine yet), I would be the most durable person here besides Lark, and that was without my armor. It was safest for the two of us to be the first ones in. "The rest of you will be here waiting in case we run into trouble. Post up and prepare to fight if we end up retreating."

My mom looked unhappy, but surprisingly didn't argue. I was glad she trusted me enough to let me do what I needed to do. I nodded to Lark, who stepped up next to me, and we moved toward the door carefully. I incarnated Mornax, releasing my hold on Brad to push him a rank higher. It wasn't much of a strain since Mornax was only tier eight, a rank higher was easy to withstand.

Grabbing the door, we pushed it open, stepping inside. I had my hands up, staff summoned, and was ready to fight, but to my surprise, when I stepped through, I found that there was no one inside. In fact, based on the dust patterns, it looked like there hadn't been anyone here for a very long time. I looked around slowly, studying the place. It was massive. Huge vaulted ceilings, white marble floors veined with gold, it had a deeply sacred look to it, aside from the dilapidated appearance.

"Blood," Lark said immediately, nostrils flaring. "I smell blood. And lots of it."

My staff snapped up as I let Dantalion gather information. "Which way?" I asked him slowly. "I think we should check it out."

He gestured off to the side. "Through there," he said, eyes locked on that spot.

We crept forward, door still open and friends still waiting there just in case. When we reached the corner, I leaned around. What I found on the other side confused me at first, then made me sick. A splash of gold was painted across the wall. It was splattered across the surface, some of it tossed like liquid, some of it sprayed in an almost arterial fashion.

Which was what gave it away. The golden blood. There was no body there, nothing besides Lark's word and the pattern, but I trusted Lark to know blood. I swallowed hard. "What is it?" I asked quietly. "What did it come from?"

He sniffed lightly. "Smells like angel," he said in a casual tone. "Big boy too. That's a lot of bird juice."

"Charming," I grimaced. "Can you tell how long ago it's from? It doesn't look recent."

He shook his head. "I'm good, but I can't date blood spatter by smell. There are a few scent markers that denote age, but they're very general, and after a certain point they degrade too much to be usable at all. This is from at least five hundred years ago. I can't tell you any more than that."

"Do you smell any more?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer. Stanley had said this was a city, and we'd only seen one small part of it. If no one had been here to clean up the blood, chances were good this wasn't the only abandoned spot. Maybe the whole city was abandoned. Or maybe it wasn't and whatever had killed this angel was still here.

He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. "I'm getting…something. Not close."

Turning, he started walking, past the corner, the door, and into a hallway. I hurried to catch up, staff at the ready. He led me down a long corridor with colossal vaulted ceilings and high stained glass windows, emerging into another, even larger chamber.

This one…well, I didn't wonder what the gold stuff was. It was clearly blood. And it was dripping from the corpses of angels.

Impaled against columns, slumped against walls, some lying on the ground seeming crawling for the doors. Easily a dozen angels, and all of them at least A-rank. I could still feel their Impact, trapped in their bodies in a way I hadn't seen before. "Huh," Lark said cheerfully. "Someone should fire their decorator."

Rolling my eyes, I turned to glare at him. "Can we not make fun of the mass murder site?" I asked. "Like I get being disaffected, but there should be a limit. These are angels."

"Rats with wings," he said bluntly. "But I'll forgive your ignorance because you're so young. Trust me kid, angels are just flying people, and they suck just as much. But fine, I'll be…nice. I assume you're about to ask me how long ago this happened?"

"I was going to guess five hundred plus years," I shrugged.

He snorted. "Pretty much. Again, no solid timeframe, but I can assume that they were killed around the same time. That's obvious. Now tell me what isn't. You're spinning up that information power right now, right? Use it. Tell me what you don't see."

I frowned at him. That was surprisingly…generous. For him at least. But I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I decided to humor him. My eyes scanned the room, looking for commonalities, information, or like he said, gaps. I saw nothing but death. Corpses scattered around willy nilly, all in different-

"The bodies," I said in surprise. "They're all dead, and mostly in dramatic ways. But there's no damage around them. No blood that isn't theirs. At least I don't think."

"Show your work," he prompted.

I pointed at the nearest corpse. "All the blood near that one is coating his chest and wings. It pooled under him, but it's in close proximity. Not to mention-" I cut myself off, unwilling to continue the thought.

Lark wasn't having it. "Not to mention?"

"All the blood in here is angelic," I finished. "And most of it is around the bodies. That means one of two things. Either the person who did this was ALSO an angel…or they butchered all these high ranking warriors without taking a scratch in return. Judging by the condition of the bodies and the lack of structural damage my guess is the latter. This wasn't a fight. It was a slaughter. Whatever did this was MUCH stronger than the angels in this room."

He nodded in satisfaction. "We have a winner. The question becomes, when you add that to the earlier scene, why did it do this at all? Why was that body missing when these are still here…and where is the creature that committed the murders." I swallowed hard, eyes scanning the room around me. I wanted to know that myself. Because if it was still here, I had a feeling we needed to find it before it found us.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

We headed back to the doorway slowly, keeping watch for any surprises. When we arrived, we found my parents waiting there for us. They hadn't come across, but they were posted up inside the door, my mother's body flickering with white flame and my father sheathed in a mirror plating that told me he'd manifested a powerful soul to use.

"Shane, thank the gods," my mom breathed out in relief when she saw us. "I was a little worried. What happened?"

Grimacing, I told her about what we'd found, our suspicions, and more importantly, what I'd learned after. She winced. "So Yama confirmed that this is the right place? But we need to enter the city to get to the next gate?"

"Not SURE it's a gate," I admitted. "But Dan helped me get a rough distance estimate based on the changing angles of the chains and triangulation. Whatever I'm connecting to is about a hundred miles in that direction. Based on what we caught through some of the windows, this city IS huge, and that would be well within the city limits. So yes, I'm assuming it's a gate to the next fragment in the Webworld."

"What are the chances the danger is still relevant?" my dad asked, staring through the doorway cautiously, ready to fight.

Before I could answer, Lark cut in. "One hundred percent," he said immediately. "I've been feeling it out while we were over there. It was kind of subtle, like a frog boiling, but the longer we stayed there the more I caught the scent of a predator. As soon as we crossed back it became obvious by its absence. Something is still over there. Whether that's one thing or a bunch of things I can't say. But whatever it is, it's a threat, even to me."

"Beyond that, I have concerns about the city," I said apologetically. "Mostly, the residents. The angels who died…they were preserved in an odd way. The Impact was locked inside the body. I've never seen it before, but-"

"But things like that are rarely good," my dad sighed. "You think it's some kind of ritual?"

I shrugged. "I don't know what it is. I do know that there might still be some of them alive. And I know my wife would never forgive me if I abandoned a bunch of her distant relatives to be butchered by some horrible monster. The fact that if it IS using a ritual it might become a problem for us later is almost academic."

"Almost," he agreed. "But fine. This is your show. What are we doing then, oh fearless leader?"

"Waiting," I told him with a grimace. "I sent Beelzebub to look around. I'm worried about possible deaths, and regenerating demons is a pain. Beel makes clones that are a lot more disposable. He's exploring the nearby area to find a safe path and when he reports back we move out. I'm planning to have us all under Murmur. Boosted as high as possible."

My Stealth field was nearly impenetrable at the same rank, but if this thing made Lark wary it might be too big of a gap to bridge. Still, it would minimize our chances of running into trouble, and that was probably the best I could do in this situation. Any way we could stack the deck would be helpful. I was about to continue when I heard a fluttering of clothes. Someone was running, my guard went up, staff coming to bear as I waited to see what was on the way.

Beel turned the corner at a sprint. He pushed off the ground as he came into view, whipping his body into a flip that tucked him up and over the whistling scythe blade coated in black flame that had come scything across the hallway, hooking around the corner as it tried to bisect him. Beel snarled, whirling his staff to smash into the haft of the scythe, sending it off to one side.

Before the scythe could retract, Lark was there, hand locked around the handle of the weapon like an iron vise. He tugged contemptuously, pulling the figure behind the scythe around the corner and tossing it into the wall.

It hit with bonerattling force, cratering the stone slightly, then bounced to its feet, ready to attack. As it did, I was finally able to get a good look at the monster, and I frowned in confusion.

"A scarecrow?" I asked in disbelief. At my words, its head whirled to stare at me, turning a full one hundred eighty degrees at the neck without moving its body. The thing's pumpkin her glowed darkly, menacing black fire flickering within that matched the scythe it had been swinging. Its triangular eyes were sharp and menacing, and its jaggedly carved mouth bared in a rictus of razor sharp carved fangs.

It lunged at me, but Lark appeared, grabbing it with that iron grip, holding it up by the scruff like a naughty puppy. It writhed and snapped, neck spinning in a way that was frankly disturbing to watch, but it couldn't get loose. A-rank. Surprisingly strong for it, but still A-rank. Enough to menace Beel and maybe me if I wasn't ready, but it was basically a baby in front of Lark.

"I assume this isn't the predator you sensed?" I asked as I stared at the snarling monster.

He shook his head. "Nope," he confirmed. "But it's not NOT the predator, either. In fact, it doesn't feel like anything at all. Some kind of construct. I have a feeling whatever that thing watching us was, it knows what this thing knows." He leaned down to glare into its eyes. "You listening to me, rat? Why not come out and face me directly. Why send these pathetic little wind up toys after me?"

The monster began to struggle harder, screaming like a dying thing as the flames flared. Lark rolled his eyes, flicking his wrist and sending it hurtling down the hall. It exploded in a cloud of black fire before reaching the end, and he huffed with annoyance. "I hate the squirrely ones."

"Well that was dramatic," I said as I stepped up next to him to stare down the hall at the smoke cloud. "I don't suppose you were able to tell what that thing WAS? The controlling entity, not the scarecrow."

He shook his head. "Like I said, squirrely. I got a bit of a tang off the flame explosion though. I think I tasted corruption, maybe incorporeality."

I sighed. If anyone else had said that I'd have been annoyed or disbelieving, but I'd seen Bethy do stuff like that too. "Any idea where it might BE?" I asked dryly. "Like can you track it from the scent?"

"I'm a VAMPIRE," he said scathingly. "Not a bloodhound…" he paused. "Although, some vampires can turn into wolves. And we do smell blood." I was halfway sure he was going to try to actually do it for a second, but sadly it was not to be. He shook his head. "No, I'm not turning into a dog. I won't-"

"I'LL DO IT!" Bethy squealed excitedly as she bolted through the door, appearing beside us in an energetic blur. "Oh PLEASE daddy, please let me be a dog. I'll be the bestest puppy in the whole universe, I'll sniff out all the bad guys and then go fetch!"

Rolling his eyes again, he flicked her on the forehead. "Are you insane?" he demanded. "I JUST told him that this thing is squirrely. I'm not letting you run off after it. Besides, chances are good it'll lay low now. It got a look at me, and it clearly didn't feel up to picking a fight. I imagine Shane has a plan anyway. One that doesn't involve you becoming a canine."

I snorted, turning to Beel. "What did you find?"

"We checked a few passages," he said immediately. "About half of us died immediately, then another two within ten minutes. I narrowed it down to four and met back up with the others, and that thing jumped us and butchered them. I took the chance to escape, because I knew that you needed to hear what we found."

"Angels?" I asked with interest. "Did you find some still living?"

He shook his head. "Not that. It's hard to explain, I have to show you. Come on." He gestured for me to follow and headed back the way he came. I nodded to Lark and Bethy, who followed on my heels. We walked for about fifteen minutes, taking turns left and right, until we finally came to a small alcove. When we reached it, he stepped aside and gestured me in. I frowned, but since it was one of my demons pushing me along I didn't have a reason to refuse.

The alcove was about the size of a walk in closet, covered with a mosaic of colorful pictures. Angels with wings and flames of all different colors, a rainbow of powerful warriors sallying forth across the universe to do battle. But that wasn't what he wanted me to see. What he wanted me to see was what was BEHIND them. Or rather, who.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I groaned as I stared at the image. "What are the chances of that?"

The being standing behind the angels in the mosaic wasn't too surprising. It was Belsara, and considering we were in her Webworld, the fact that she had angels on tap wasn't a surprise. What WAS a surprise, however, was what she was holding in her hands. The image of Belsara stood behind the figures, red hair blazing, and above her head she held aloft a cup.

I'd never seen the cup before. Not exactly. But I'd seen something that looked alot like it. Something much bigger and more terrifying than the chalice in the image. The Angel Tower.

I thought back to my meeting with Isaac, the S-rank Throne in charge of the Tower. He'd told me that the tower was a cup that had belonged to the god who originally created the angel species. I thought back to Atlas and his easy creation of the Archangel trait. Sure, gods used angels as messengers and minions, but I'd met a whole bunch of gods and not that many angels in their service. In retrospect, it wasn't quite as common as Atlas's explanation had made it seem.

This was complicated. For one, it meant that we needed to warn the Tower. If that cup was one of Belsara's objects of power, retrieving it would allow her to restore some of her lost power. And that was a normal foundational object. The tower had been the angel home base for centuries, if not longer. They constantly fed and strengthened it.

More than that though, it confirmed my desire to find any angels around here. Because in a very real sense they WERE Callie's relatives. We needed to find them and help them get away from whatever this monster was. Callie wouldn't have it any other way.

Grimacing, I called out Dantalion. "Scan it," I told him immediately. "Get every second, and I want you working this. Mine it for every bit of information you can find end then study the data."

"Of course," he nodded. "I'll need cover."

Without missing a beat, I called Mornax and Sammael out. "Keep an eye on him," I told them, pushing them both to S-rank with a flex of my will. Using the staff twice in a row was tough, but it was necessary. I turned back to Beel. "That all you found? You mentioned a route."

He nodded. "This way," he gestured past the alcove. "My clone got about a mile up the path before he noticed something weird and came back. Pretty sure there's something up there, but it didn't attack, unlike the others. We weren't sure why but we figured you'd want to know."

I nodded, eyes focused on the chain I could now see as I incarnated Yama. Right down the path. Of course. Sighing, I pushed my will to the brink, using the staff one more time as I incarnated Murmur. Then I sat and waited as he gathered information. I wanted to be as thorough as possible with this. It would be dangerous enough as it was. After an hour or so it was finally time, I sent Lark to get everyone and when they got back, we all set off. Time to find the angels.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

We kept the trip slow as we made our way down the hallway that Beel had located for us. It was a long hall, made longer by the sense of creeping dread and the slow pace we needed to keep Murmur effective, and the distance wasn't helped by the deafening silence of our group as we moved.

The halls of the city felt…haunted. Not by ghosts, but by tragedy. It felt like this place had been profaned in a way that precluded speech. Like the perversion of this holy space was so complete that speaking words here would only add to the abominable events, and worse, make us a part of that bloody legacy. I was still ruminating on that when I felt a hand smack me upside the back of the head.

I flinched, spinning around, staff coming up to point at…Abel. "I figured Callie wasn't here to do that, so it fell to me by default," my mentor said blithely. "Get out of your head, Shane. It's dangerous to be in there instead of out here."

Snorting, I rubbed my head, even though it hadn't really hurt. I appreciated the wakeup call, though I would obviously never admit that to him. I was about to respond when I felt…something. Only a flash, a split second disturbance I'd have missed if it hadn't twigged the edge of my Murmur field.

I spun on my heel, eyes snapping to the spot I'd felt. I caught Lark's eye. "You felt that?"

He nodded slowly. "Barely. Whatever it was, it was fast, and damned sneaky. I've got better senses than most and I couldn't get a proper lock. I'm surprised you picked it up at all, honestly. But it only went one way. It's still there."

Our eyes turned to the small alcove the disturbance had been heading to, waiting, watching, and finally, a sigh rang out. As we watched, a slight form emerged, a small girl, only fifteen or sixteen by the look of it. She was strong. A-rank. And she was an angel, with wings of crystal clear glass.

Her eyes were an unsettling glasslike sheen, hair like crystal filaments, and the whole thing, combined with her fragility and the pallor of her skin, made her look like the slightest jostle would break her to pieces.

Of course, I knew better. Aside from the absurdity of her being A-rank at such a young age, I knew that an angel's wings and eyes were reflections of their power. The unique angelic flame that each angel possessed, each able to perform strange feats that defined their capabilities. I was betting the glass wings had something to do with stealth, if she could hide from an S-rank Murmur and Lark's senses.

"Who are you?" she asked, in a voice like the whisper of wind through glass chimes. "And how are you here?"

"My name is Shane," I told her kindly. "And this is my family and my friends. We came looking for someone. We thought we might be able to find her here." I tried not to talk too fast, this kid was squirrely, and I was almost worried she'd pop like a soap bubble if I wasn't careful. Just a flicker and then gone for good. She had information we needed, she had to.

She shook her head. "There's no answers here. No people you would know. Only death lives here. You should go."

"We can't do that," I said apologetically. "The person we're looking for is my wife. She's pregnant, actually. I'm trying to find her and my babies. Are you sure you can't help us…sorry, I forgot to ask your name."

"It's Amandine," she said softly. "But my dad calls me Amy. You're looking for your babies?"

I nodded. "I am. They haven't been born yet, but I'm really excited to meet them. We all are. I'm worried about them though. Do you think you can help at all? Anything you can tell use about this place would be useful."

"Shane," Lark said quietly. "Why is she out here?"

I frowned at him. "She's just…" I trailed off. "Actually that's true, why ARE you out here? You must have a safe place to hide, right? Why come out and risk being attacked by those things? Shouldn't you be with your dad? Is he still around?"

"You're looking for food," Lark said quietly. "You're hungry, aren't you?"

She tensed, eyes going wide. "I…no, I don't know what you mean. There's no food here! Leave me alone!" She spun, looking ready to bolt, but she was stopped in her tracks by the familiar foreboding castle in the distance. She might be sneaky, but I'd seen Lark's Domain hold a hundred enemy S-rankers. She wasn't going anywhere.

"Whoa!" I said quickly, holding up my hands defensively. "Don't run! It's fine, we're not going to take your food."

"She's not afraid of that," Bethy said quietly, her tone more somber than I'd heard from her in a long time. "She's afraid we're going to kill her when you find out what she's been eating. Think about it, Shane. She's a little kid. How is she so strong? How is she so high rank at such a young age?"

I frowned. "I don't know, she probably has a bloodline, or a mirror soul or…" I trailed off, floundering for anything that might explain it.

"Think it through," Lark murmured. "Think about what we've seen."

I frowned, considering what had happened since we got here. We'd seen the monster. Seen the bodies. Well, except that fir- I froze. "The body we didn't find," I said in slowly dawning horror. "And the growth. Their Impact was stored in their flesh. Somehow. I don't know how that happened, but…you ate them." She wilted under my horror, curling around herself like she was waiting to be attacked, and I flinched back, horrified at myself this time. "That's not…it's ok, I won't hurt you."

"I didn't mean it," she sobbed, her eyes spilling crystalline, sparkling tears. "I didn't want to do it, but I was so hungry. Daddy said I had to. He said it was the only way I could be strong enough to survive."

Bethy was there, from one blink to the next, putting her arms around the girl. "It's ok," she murmured, stroking Amandine's hair. "They were already gone. You didn't hurt them. You just did what you needed to survive. No one is mad. Can I see your teeth?" Amandine looked scared, but she nodded, baring her teeth.

"Ghouling," Lark said distastefully. "That's not optimal."

"It's not advanced," Bethy said dismissively. "Her nails aren't blackened yet. Her trait isn't corrupted, it's still in the body." She glanced over at my mom. "Sasha, do you think you could help?"

I raised a hand. "Ok, so…what's happening? She's an angel, not a ghoul."

"Ghoul is more of an umbrella term," Bethy corrected. "There are a lot of kinds of ghoul, but it's not really a species as much as it's a condition. If you eat enough the ghouling process corrupts your trait. You turn into a ghoul, though what KIND of ghoul varies. Some really desperate people do it on purpose for power, but ghouls are extremely low level undead so only idiots bother."

My mom stepped forward, stepping in front of Amandine. "Sweetie," she said softly. "Do you mind if I help you? My power is for purification. It's fire, so it might be a little scary, but it won't hurt you. It's just going to help repair your body a little."

The girl sniffled, but nodded. My mom gave her a kind, encouraging smile, raising her hand to begin the purification. While she did, I decided to press on with the questioning. "I'm sorry you're hungry," I told Amandine warmly. "I'll go ahead and cook you something once you're finished washing up, ok? While we wait though, do you think you could tell me about this place? You live here with your dad?"

"Yeah," she whimpered. "My mom got lost a few years ago. It happens sometimes. People go missing. One by one, they all vanish. There aren't a lot of us left. Most of us are kids. The monsters don't target the kids. We're too small and weak. We don't have whatever it is they want."

I winced. That was…horrible. They'd been stuck here long enough to have GENERATIONAL fear of these things. That was heinous. I reached into my Domain, manifesting a version of me to task Cooking to put together a meal for this girl.

Then I refocused. "Alright. Can you take us to your dad? Once you've eaten I mean. We'd like to talk to him."

She looked scared, but eventually nodded, and I turned to talk to Lark as Bethy and my mom took care of her. "So, what do you think?" I asked him quietly. We were still inside Murmur, so concealing the conversation was easy enough.

"I think there's a lot going on here and very little of it has to do with her," he said bluntly. "Her being forced to eat bodies is unpleasant, but the fact that it caused her to get STRONGER is concerning. Especially at this rate. Ghouls eat flesh for power, but as I said, it's an imperfect path. You can't just EAT a person's Impact. If you could everyone would do it."

"Do you think it has to do with the condition of the corpses?" I asked worriedly. "The Impact being preserved?"

He grimaced. "I do. Which is very bad. Because the fact that they're looking for something and leaving behind something as valuable as easily harvestable Impact means that I believe I know what they're looking for. They're harvesting Domains."

"You can do that?" I asked in an appalled voice.

"Not easily," he corrected. "Or safely. Your Domain is…it's part of who you are. There are methods to strengthen a Domain, but harvesting Domains from the dead implies they're attempting grafts. Domain grafting is a stupid, perverse, thankless process. You stitch together a patchwork monstrosity of a Domain, then you force yourself up a rank and let the resulting boost sublimate the result. Or you die. Which is what happen ninety nine percent of the time."

I grimaced. "Then why even do it?"

"The Domain connects to the soul," he explained. "If you can integrate the pieces, it forcibly elevates your soul past the stable state. It's a last resort measure for high rankers who failed to break their shackles. Based on the situation here, I would guess that something horrifying is on the other side of that gate, and whatever is stalking these halls is trying to gather enough power to get past it."

"You got all that from a few random factoids?" I asked in disbelief.

He shrugged. "You get a feel for these kinds of incidents. What causes them, where they're heading. It's just pattern recognition. Regardless, if the gate guardian requires a grafted Domain to handle, I suspect it's probably Demigod strength, at least. I doubt it's a full deity, otherwise it wouldn't have stuck around. But if it's a problem for this thing, it'll be a problem for us too. I can probably handle it, but it might be smart to make sure."

Sighing, I nodded along. "Agreed. Besides, we're not done here. I wanted to save Callie's people, and I still do. We're not leaving without helping. I'll take them out personally if need be."

"Alright," my mom said from nearby, a tone of false cheer in her voice. "You're all set. Let me see those teeth?" Amandine bared her teeth, which were now white and straight and NOT razor sharp like a shark. "There we go, perfect smile."

I smiled as I approached, withdrawing a plate from my Domain that Cooking had prepared. "Hey, you said you were hungry, so I thought I'd make you something. Just some pasta with alfredo sauce, you ever had that?" She shook her head, and I passed her the bowl. She tore into it, and I smiled, letting her eat. Once she was done we'd get back to the questions and then she could take us to her dad. Hopefully he'd have some of the answers we needed.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Amandine (my mom insisted on calling her Amy) led us back through the hallways with a shocking level of speed and familiarity. No wonder her dad had her out looking for food on her own, between her stealth and this level of skill, anything short of me or Lark wouldn't have had a chance at catching her.

It didn't take us long to arrive at a blank stretch of wall a few miles from the alcove where we met Amy. She stopped in front of the white and gold marble, eyes cutting either way in a gesture so obviously ingrained I doubted she noticed it even happened, and then she raised her hands and conjured a shimmering, glasslike flame. She pressed it into the stone in a few places, and as it made contact, runes lit up across each of the stones she touched.

Before our eyes, the runes, burning with glass fire, began to move across the surface of the wall, assembling into an archway shape. When they had formed up, they pulsed once, and the flames spread, consuming the wall and burning away the visible stone to leave only a smooth glasslike portal.

We stepped inside quickly, and Amy flicked her fingers, letting the runes go out and the wall return to normal. "Ok," she said quietly. "We're safe now. They can't get in here."

I looked around, expecting to see more of the same open cavernous architecture of the vaulted halls outside, instead, I was shocked at how small and cramped the space was. It wasn't exactly a tiny area, mind, it was just that compared to the exterior, it seemed almost claustrophobic. Lots of sharp corners, dark marble, and thick carpet.

The place wasn't dirty, either. But it was worn. The carpet was threadbare, the walls were scuffed. I dropped Murmur as I looked around, taking Amy at her word about our safety. I was more interested in taking in the walls. They'd obviously been polished or washed recently, but the wear and tear of constant use or exposure had taken the shine off them and ground away some spots, leaving indents and dips. "Amandine!" came a shout. We turned to watch a towering, gaunt looking angel with a tattered set of blood red wings racing toward us.

He stopped about ten feet out, eyes narrowing. His irises were that same bloody scarlet, and without a second of hesitation, he reached behind him and drew a long, jagged looking red sword that flickered to life with crimson fire. "Who are you and what are you doing with my daughter?" he snarled, taking up a guard stance.

"Daddy, wait!" Amy said frantically, stepping between us and her father. "They're my friends! They found me wandering around and fed me. They even helped get rid of…" she trailed off, wilting slightly.

"Getting rid of what?" he asked quickly. "Amandine, were you-"

She looked away. "I didn't want to tell you. I thought I could fight it off. But I was getting so hungry. I needed more and more food. And I couldn't stay at home, because everyone started to…smell. Like food."

"Ghouls," Lark grimaced. "Sounds like her trait was taking to it bad. She was turning into one of the rabid ones."

My mom glared at him. "There's no need to scare her," she snapped. "We purified her body. She's fine now. No use speculating over something that didn't happen." She paused uncertainly. "I take it she wouldn't have been the first?"

Her father looked shocked and horrified. "I…no. No not the first. It happens sometimes. The transformation. But mostly it's just cosmetic. Sometimes though, they turn bad. Wrong."

"Ghouling is a trait modification," Lark shrugged. "Not all traits are made to withstand it. Even the same species has trait differences. It's why you have different hair and eyes. Why your wings and flames are odd colors. But I'm surprised it didn't happen to you. Inborn traits are combinations of the parent's, if she was-" he cut off that sentence immediately, but everyone's eyes snapped to him.

I sighed. "Amy's mom didn't just get lost, did she?" I asked her dad. "She started turning the same way Amy was. Why did it take so long, though?"

"Adults eat less," he said gruffly, eyes doing their best to avoid his daughter. "We don't need as much sustenance. Delia and I have been here since before the city fell. Our Vitality was already high enough that we only had to feed once or twice a century. Besides, even when it happens, it's not immediate. Not always. One day you just wake up and it's like a switch got flipped."

Sighing, I called out Cooking. "Feed everyone here," I told him firmly. "Everyone. Pasta again. Let's avoid meat for the time being. Amy, can you show him where to set up his cooking station?"

She blinked, eyes looking lost and hurt, and then nodded, leading the demon away. I blew out a breath as I turned back to the man. "Sorry, that wasn't intentional. I imagine you've been keeping that to yourself for a while. I'm Shane, by the way. We're here looking for someone. My wife is missing, and she's carrying my kids, so it's kind of time sensitive."

He just sighed. "Explains why Amandine chose to help. She's always been a sucker for a sob story. But it's fine. She was bound to find out someday. I'm surprised she hasn't already. Though I suppose the things IT makes out of those ghouls aren't exactly recognizable. Maybe I wouldn't even know if I met my Delia again."

"Wait…" I blinked. "That scarecrow we met was a former ANGEL?"

"It corrupts their flame after they've turned," he said sadly. "They're unrecognizable as who they once were. But yes. They are our kind."

Lark cursed. "That's not good," he said sourly. "Rabid ghouls aren't unknown, but there shouldn't be a way to convert them after. Not easily. That implies that the corruption isn't natural. Have you noticed the incidence of the rabid ones increasing?"

Amy's father nodded. "I have," he said hesitantly. "We weren't sure why. It's still not common, mind. There aren't many of us, but it's still fairly rare even then."

"How many exactly?" I asked, looking around. "I don't see more than thirty or forty."

"We don't tend to congregate," he smiled grimly. "There have been a few too many incidents of the corrupted ones going on rampages. Better to spread ourselves out. There are a few dozen places like this. Some bigger. Some smaller. We don't interact much. The city is big enough that we don't run into each other too often."

He turned, gesturing for us to follow. He led us deeper into the refuge, seating us at a table. "I'm Connell, by the way. Thank you, for helping Amandine. She's…since I lost Delia she's all I have. I should have realized she was corrupting, but honestly I'm glad I didn't. I don't know what I would have done. There are still a few angels with purification flames, but they're not nearby, and they tend to be protected fiercely."

I tried to imagine living with the knowledge of a slow, creeping rot spreading through your people that sometimes turned them into ravenous murderers. It sounded like all of them dealt with ghouling, albeit at different speeds for the adults, but the added terror of the corrupted was another layer of hell.

"Tell us about the thing you called 'it'," I said slowly. "You mentioned earlier that 'it' turns the corrupted into those things we saw. What is it?"

"That's somewhat complicated," he said with a sigh. "But the broad strokes are simple enough to share. Basically…it's an angel. Or it used to be. I don't know its name. No one does anymore. It killed the ones who knew it first. But I've heard the stories. A few people passed down the tale, and word of mouth has kept it alive."

I winced. "Are you ok sharing it?"

He shrugged. "It's not my story. Doesn't bother me to tell it. So, the way I heard, it started a few millennia ago. This was back in the heyday of the city. Heliovant was the shining jewel of the land of endless summer. People came from all over to walk its halls. Angels were born in a rainbow of colors and with all the powers under the sun. We were adored, shining beacons of power, culture, and wisdom."

My head snapped up at his use of the term for this Webworld that Atlas had mentioned,, but I let it be for now. The story seemed more important. "The creature was born to a small family of angels. A father who was a local counselor, a mother who was active in the community. It had three siblings, all older.

"At first, its parents were thrilled," he said, eyes losing focus as he remembered a story I was sure he'd repeated in his head ad nauseum. "It was born sickly, pale and fragile, but they didn't care. Angel parents are fiercely protective, as are most childbearing species. They cared for the child, raised it, nurtured it. They tried everything to restore its health, but nothing they did worked. Food, magic, it all did nothing. As if the creature was just MEANT to be frail.

"The child grew up sheltered by his family, at first, and didn't interact with any other children. They wanted to fix it before they let it socialize." He shuddered at some mental image I couldn't guess at. "Eventually, when all else failed, they chose to allow it to interact."

Despite having not been there, it was clear he was very invested in the events. "The creature follow its siblings out to play that day. And it met other children for the first time. It was unusual looking. Its wings were ragged and made of bone, its eyes a pale, milky white. But angel children aren't known to be particularly mean spirited. They welcomed it with open arms.

"It was three weeks before the first child got sick," he said that part coldly. "Nothing serious. Just a cold. But it happened to another soon after. One by one, they all started to fall ill. Meanwhile, the creature was, for the first time in its life, beginning to recover. Its wings started to fill out, its fragile body strengthened. The only thing that made it different from the other children was its flame. Despite now being a decade old, the creature had never shown any signs of an angelic flame.

"Still, when it started to recover, its parents were thrilled, their child was going to be whole." His chuckle was sad and bitter at the same time. "They didn't even think about the rash of illnesses. Why would they? Their child had no power."

I grimaced as I figured out what was coming. From the outside, the story was obvious. But I let him continue. "The first child died later that month. Then the next. They started going missing. The bodies were never found. No one suspected the creature. It was normal enough now. Its sickly pallor faded, its wings healthy and strong. It was quiet and unobtrusive, and spent most of its time with its siblings."

"Its parents found it killing them on its eleventh birthday," he said in a haunted voice. "It decided it wanted a treat. It drained them of their flame, siphoning away the very fire that gave them life. It was draining the oldest when they found it. The other two lying unmarred, Impact still preserved within their bodies."

"So that's how it destroyed the city?" I asked in horror. "It just, what, got loose and started hunting people down?"

He shook his head. "Oh not at all. The creature didn't destroy the city. It was just the weapon used to do the deed. When they caught it, it was young enough to be subdued. They captured it and locked it away beneath their home, walling it up in the basement where it couldn't hurt anyone else. It was still waiting there when the traitor dug it up a thousand years later. And that day was the beginning of the end of Heliovant."

 

[Malcolm Tent]

"Ok back up," I held up a hand. "What traitor? We need to know more about the city before this is going to make sense, I think. What happened here? What is the land of endless summer you mentioned?" I tried not to show my fixation on that last question. I knew some things, but not enough, and playing dumb might help me dig up some information I might not otherwise have been able to get.

"It's a long story," he sighed. "The land of endless summer is the name of the world this city used to be part of. Or is part of? It's hard to say, really. No one has been able to leave the city since the Lady died. The lockdown protocols sealed us inside. There are only two doors out of this place, and the creature guards one. The other is unprotected, but no one who has gone in has ever come out."

I nodded. I assumed that was the one we came through, the nest having taken care of anyone who came through from this side. With their scattered state, it was even more unlikely they were ever going to make it through that mess.

"How long has it been since the fall?" I asked. The timeline was odd, because Belsara had fallen ages ago, but the Webworld was clearly still coherent, so it was possible it had remained functional for some time after her death. Still, having some idea when all this happened might help us understand the scale of the threat better.

Sadly it wasn't to be. "I honestly don't even know anymore." sighed the broken down man. "It feels like eternity. The fall was…well, slow and fast at the same time. It started a while before the actual events took place, but the final destruction of Heliovant, at least to its current state, took a matter of weeks. As for the traitor, it's not too complicated. After the death of our Lady, the city was ruled by council for generations. The traitor obtained a seat and decided it wasn't enough. He unearthed the creature to wield it against us."

"You seem more sure about this part," I pointed out. "Did you happen to know him?"

"We weren't close, but yes," he nodded. "In fact, he was my wife's brother. His name was Niles, and he was a fool. He died early in the collapse."

Lark spoke up. "If you knew him, then you might know more about this creature than you think. He must have mentioned it at some point? Anything you know about how it functions would be helpful. We can infer a bit based on what you've told us so far, but the more information we can gather the better our chances at taking this thing out."

"Take it out?" he said sharply, eyes snapping up to meet Lark's. "You think you can destroy it?"

"I think we don't have another choice," I cut in. "It's guarding the gate. We need to get through the gate." We also needed to know what was on the other side, but I decided to stay focused. "Now, you were going to tell us more about the creature? What happened when your brother in law unearthed it?"

He grimaced at that, but decided to answer. "Nothing at first. Like I said, the fall took some time to enter the final phases. We managed to piece some of it together after the fact. From what we can tell, he found and dug up the creature, but it was very weak. It had been starving for years, unable to feed its disgusting hunger. He brought it food, kidnapping angels to nurse it back to health."

"How does that work, exactly?" I asked. "The feeding. It takes the flame and leaves the Impact lodged in the flesh? Why?"

"We don't know," he admitted. "But I've heard some theories. Most people believe the creature was born…Empty. It came into being with a hole inside it, one that desperately needed to be filled. It has no flame because the flame is an expression of the spirit, and it has no spirit. It has a SOUL, mind, but it isn't whole. You see it in certain kinds of Ascendant sometimes. Spiritual damage wears away at the soul, depriving it of all feeling."

I thought about Felicity, my cousin who had been tortured to make the perfect warrior. I wondered if it was like that. "So he absorbs the flame to feed himself, and he never developed one of his own. I imagine he gets strong fast when he's well fed?"

"He is an emptiness in the world," the other man said. "I know of no limits on his hunger. He grows unchecked."

"Not unchecked," Lark said immediately. "If he grew unchecked he'd have become a god and left. I imagine he's run into an issue at S-rank. His Saga is most likely unfinished or unbalanced because of the predatory nature of his growth. Shortcuts are fine, but at some point you need to know what you're doing. His Domain is most likely incapable of bearing the weight of his Saga combining with his physical body."

I frowned at him. "So…what's the move? Obviously we need him gone, and if we can free and restore the corrupted all the better."

"That still bothers me," he said slowly. "The corrupted don't fit. Not based on that story. There needs to be reciprocity if he's influencing them. Something they're taking in. You can't take in lack of flames." He froze. "Unless there isn't a lack at all. Maybe the flames are there. Maybe they're just…invisible."

It took me a second to get it, but my dad didn't have any problem. "The kid," he said in understanding. "You said her flames let her walk in perfect stealth. You and Morgan were the only ones who even noticed her. Her flames are glass, not invisible, but if they're related somehow…" his eyes narrowed at Connell. "IS she related to that thing?"

He averted his scarlet eyes. "Yes," he admitted. "That was how the traitor knew where to find the creature. He was descended from the oldest surviving brother. The one who didn't die. And so was my wife."

"I really hate Ascendant bullshit," I sighed. "Why does everything have to bend over backwards to be as dramatic as possible?" I glanced at Lark. "So what does that do for us? Knowing her flame is probably related to the creature? Can we study it, use it to prepare?" Because if that thing had a scaled up version of Amy's stealth, we were gonna have a VERY rough time killing it.

"It doesn't always work like that," Lark said skeptically. "But it's not impossible. With the right analysis ability. You might manage it. I have to admit, seeing what the girl can do makes me wary about facing that thing. I doubt it can do anything to me, but I'm a bit worried about what it could do to the rest of you. Just because it can't stop me doesn't mean it can't get past me. And the rest of you would be screwed if it got its hooks in you."

I frowned, but there was still one more thing we needed to know. The political drama of the traitor was interesting but not relevant. What WAS relevant was the second door. And more specifically what the hell was on the other side. "What's through the door?" I asked finally. "And why is the creature afraid of it?"

He froze. "It's…that's not…" he sighed. "We don't know," he admitted. "No one knows. No one has tried to go through it for so long. When the Lady died, the city sealed itself. All of our vaunted wisdom, culture, and kindness, thrown away. We kept up the pretense, but it wasn't the same. We were isolated. Alone. And the longer we were kept separate the more the facade started to crack. Endurance became stagnation, wisdom became arrogance. We walled ourselves off inside this place and declared it our kingdom, and that we need never leave."

"That's why your brother in law really tried to overthrow the council?" I asked, reading between the lines.

"No," he snapped. "He was an idiot. There were better ways. Safer ways. Declan was an arrogant, entitled pissant who only cared about himself. His death was the first useful thing he ever did for the world."

I snorted in amusement. "Tell us how you really feel," I said dryly. "But fine. So you have no idea what's over there? Because Lark seems pretty sure that it's got to be at least Demigod level or else the creature wouldn't be bothering with all this buildup." I was starting to get hungry, honestly, and the pasta smelled good.

"What I don't get," Zeke cut in. "Is why convert the corrupted instead of eating them? Like it eats angel flame, right? Why keep them around and alive instead of just…doing that?"

"Probably a hard limit," said Lark with a shrug. "It's not uncommon with consumption powers. They have to have limits and drawbacks or else the user would have already become a god. I'd imagine he can only feed on pure angels. Most of the remaining ones are infected with ghoul, right? Hell, he's probably starving at this point. Maybe that's why the Domain is taking so long. He can't finalize it until he pushed into S-rank proper for the Impact surge. He needs a meal to push him over the edge."

I snorted. "Well, now I know not to bring Callie back through here until we get rid of him. Lucky the rest of us aren't angels, at least aside from Sam, and I'll keep him hidden away until we leave."

After so long trapped in this enormous terrarium, the creature had no food sources left if he couldn't feed on ghouls or ghouls adjacent species. The only cleansed angel in the whole place was…I froze. My instincts were screaming at me to pay attention, that something was wrong, and my eyes snapped up, looking for Amy.

"Where's Amy?" I asked, disrupting the talks. "She was with Cooking helping set up dinner, right? Where did she go?"

Connell looked around frantically, then yelled for a nearby angel boy with moss green wings and hair. "Devlin," he said as the boy approached. "Where is Amandine? Have you seen her anywhere?"

"Amy?" the boy said. "Oh, she went out to get Clover. She left recently to hunt, so it shouldn't take long, but Amy didn't want her to miss the meal."

My face went pale. "What happens," I asked Lark quietly. "If the creature manages to consume the flames of an A-rank relative who has the stealth capability to nearly sneak past US?" My blood was ice in my veins as I waited for his answer, not only because of the danger, but because of my fear for that poor girl.

"Let me put it this way," he said quietly. "If he ranks up and sublimates that pathwork Domain into a stable one, and if he merges his Saga with his body, he's going to be strong enough to take on a Demigod. And with the matchup as it is, I don't think I'd be able to stop him."

My mom shot to her feet, eyes wide with panic. "Forget the creature, we have to save Amy. That poor girl has already been through so much, we can't let that monster eat her like he did those others." Her eyes filled with tears at the thought of the kid ending up like those still, unmarked corpses we had seen, and I wasn't far off.

I stood, turning to the others. "She won't," I said firmly. "She'll be fine, because we're going to make her fine. Everyone get ready, we're going out on a hunt of our own. We'll find her before that thing does, and once we do, we'll learn EXACTLY how to kill it." One way or another, this city would be free by the time we left.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

I used Dantalion to track her, obviously. But it wasn't fast or easy. Her flame was VERY impressive, and while I'd been able to catch her inside Murmur's radius, tracking her through an abandoned hallway was a lot less viable. I could still do it, obviously, but it wasn't exactly a walk in the park.

"So, who is Clover?" I asked as I stared down at the floor, searching for traces of Amandine. It was probably smart of her to be under stealth when she was out, but it was making this a lot harder than it should be.

"Clover is Amandine's best friend," he said quietly. "She's been…agitated lately. I didn't think much of it, but now that I know what Amandine was going through, I suspect Clover may also be undergoing corruption. Rather than just finding her for food, it stands to reason she hopes you might be able to cleanse her friend as you did her."

I grimaced. That made a lot more sense. Running off for some snacks seemed stupid, and Amy hadn't struck me as an idiot. But if her friend was in danger and might be saved…that I could see.

Oddly, that little bit of information seemed to help. Dantalion was filtering the info from our surroundings, using all the parameters he had access to, including our interactions with her and her time spent inside Murmur's radius. This was new information though, and any little bit of that was helpful for narrowing down our parameters.

As I watched the floor, I was able to see a slight flicker. I'd been slowly excavating footsteps one by one as we went, and despite how easy that sounded, it had been taking all my considerable focus to achieve it.

Now though, it was like a subtle wave of force rolled across the floor, blowing a layer of dust away that suddenly revealed the clear impressions of small feet on the marble. "Got her," I hissed. Reaching into myself, I pulled on Bennu, the five colored fire flooding my body as I clad myself in phoenix flame for protection. Wings unfolded from my back, and without a second of hesitation I took off in the direction of the footsteps.

Despite the absurd level of stealth it might be capable of, I didn't think the creature could take me at this level of power. The staff had bumped me to early S-rank, and given the five colored fire's outstanding properties, I was pretty sure that would be plenty to take that bastard on.

Luckily, I wasn't an angel, despite Sammael giving me a bump in that direction at times. Given what we'd surmised about the ghouls (still a guess admittedly, but one that made sense the more I thought about it), my phoenix bloodline would make me a firm no thank you for the creature's devouring ability.

I took the hallways in a blur, staff raised and power gathering to strike. I was ready to cut loose on anything I saw attacking Amy, but I was forced to slow down and then stop when I finally came around the corner and found her. She was sitting on the ground, legs curled under her, glassy eyes trained on a strange creature in front of her, tears running down her face.

"Amy?" I asked as I touched down and hurried over. "Are you alright? What's going on?"

She didn't answer, just stared in horrified despair at the thing in front of her. Paying closer attention, it looked…odd. It was small and sort of ethereal. The top half had a blank, smooth face with a flicker of black flame coming up from the head, and it transition down to legs covered by that seemed to be an inverted flower blossom.

That was what made it click for me, oddly. The flower blossom skirt. Which was absurd, because Clovers aren't even a flower. I sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "This is Clover, isn't it?" I asked quietly.

She nodded, eyes horrified. "She just…changed. I don't know how it happened. She caught fire and I couldn't put it out. Why couldn't I put it out?"

"Because it wasn't something that just happened out of nowhere," I said sadly. "It was something it did on purpose. It wanted you to see. I assume it was hoping you would be vulnerable and easy to take if you were distracted. Which means-" I whirled on my heel, Dantalion having detected SOMETHING behind me, and smashed down with my staff as hard as I could.

There was a ripple in the air, a coughing roar, and an explosion of flame as the creature was forced backward, losing its stealth as it blurred backward to crouch against the wall above us, glaring down hatefully.

I grimaced up at the monster, hands tightening on my staff. It was…disgusting, honestly. It was skeletally thin and gaunt as wax paper, its hair was long and lank, looking almost dead as it hung from its patchy scalp. Its fingers had twisted and elongated into what looked like syringes, and its mouth was less a mouth and more a large jagged tear in its face lined with ragged badly aligned teeth.

The worst part though, was the eyes. They were almost pretty. Large and blank white, with long lashes and a calm, peaceful look in them that belied its screaming visage. I imagine those were the eyes of the fragile little boy that had tricked his parents into letting him go out to play with the other kids.

Behind it, wings of jagged bone stretched out behind it, casting disturbing shadows on the wall behind it as the light passed weirdly through the nearly invisible clear feathers I could see as the phoenix fire danced over it.

"You thought that was going to work?" I said coldly. "You'll need to do a bit better than that. Why don't you-" the monster vanished, and I cursed as Lark appeared where it had just been, swinging a large, cruciform black sword I had never seen before. I blinked in shock as the thing sheared through the marble wall with a screech, leaving behind a line of red hot melting stone. "You MISSED?" I demanded in frustration. "How the hell did you MISS?"

"Because it wasn't really there," he spat in annoyance. "It was a Domain clone."

That brought me up short. "You can make clones with your Domain?" I gaped. "Why the hell didn't anyone tell me that?"

"Because it's stupid and wasteful and no one does it," he grunted as he touched down. "You have to tear off a portion of your Domain. It's kind of a halfway step to forming a Domain seed. I'm guessing it left one behind to take that hit when you noticed it and then ran. The clone was unstable anyway, it fell apart after a few seconds. Probably because it used a fragment of scavenged Domain to make the damn thing. Like I said, squirrely."

I groaned. "Damn it. I thought we had it."

"Good instincts keeping it distracted," he complimented. "I would have hit it sooner but I had to lock it down with my Domain without it noticing. It's harder when they're paying attention."

I knew that the monster's absurd overstacked Domain had probably played a role as well. Still it was frustrating it had run so quickly. I had a feeling that sword wasn't something it would have walked away from. "What IS that sword, by the way?" I asked with interest.

Lark raised an eyebrow, gesturing with empty hands. "What sword?" he asked innocently.

My guess was that it was probably a foundational object, but I wasn't going to push if he didn't want to share. Instead I turned to where Amy was still huddled, staring at the flowery flaming form of her former friend. I gripped her shoulder. "I'm sorry," I told her in a soft voice. "I might be able to help, if you want me to try?"

Her head jerked up. "What? You can…you know what happened to her? You can fix it?"

"I can TRY," I stressed again. "I do know what happened, and I think I might have a fix. But it won't be quick or easy. And it might not work at all." Based on what Connell had said, the corruption process seemed to be based of the rabid ghouling, which reminded me of Felicity's situation. I had a soul repair demon who could work on that, and Zagan was the best at purification.

She stared at me in a mixture of confusion and suspicion, before finally nodding. "I…I want you to try."

I glanced at Lark. "Any chance this will ALSO help us figure out how its power works?"

He shrugged. "Can't hurt. How are you planning to contain that thing anyway? Keeping experimental subjects on hand is only viable if you're WAY more powerful than they are. Especially ones you're trying not to hurt."

Focusing on the world around me, I projected Gehenna. Amy stilled, while Lark raised an eyebrow. I glanced at the flower creature calmly, then I reached into the dust below it and flexed my connection to Brad. There was a flicker and a pit opened up. The creature fell in, and before it had a chance to even process, I clamped down with the sealing power I'd eaten from Deveskane, then shut the pit behind it, leaving the creature trapped in absolute confinement.

"Huh," Lark said with interest. "What did you just do? That felt strange. Where did that pit come from?"

I grinned at him wolfishly, even though he couldn't see it behind my mask. "What pit?"

He burst out laughing at that. "Well played, kid. Well played. Oh hey, the rest of them caught up. I was wondering when they'd finish killing all those goblins that attacked us. Hey, you idiots missed all the fun!"

Bethy appeared in a swirl of bats, saw Amy sobbing, and swept her up in a tight hug, cooing to her softly. "What did you do?" she demanded of her father. "Nothing YOU think is fun is anything a child should be exposed to." She glared at me. "Did he say something to her? He can be so blunt sometimes."

Lark threw up his hands indignantly. "What the hell? I didn't say anything to the kid."

"He didn't," I assured her. "We saw the creature." I nodded to my parents, Abel, Fade, Connell, Alanna, Stanley, and Crell as they arrived. Then I filled them all in on what happened while they were lagging behind. "So basically we need to head back so I can look into this. If I can really reverse the process…"

I let that hand, but everyone knew what I meant. Connell in particular looked awestruck. His wife was still alive out there somewhere, and if we could reverse the transformations, he might be able to get her back. When I explained about Clover, I saw him flinch as he stared at Amy. I suspected there was a long conversation in their future. Amy had already learned the truth about the corruption, so I was assuming she'd mostly figured it out, but I still didn't envy him that talk.

We took up a defensive position around Amy as we made our way back, unwilling to risk her given the danger she was in. Once we reached the wall she opened it and we stepped inside.

I said goodnight to everyone, then headed for a corner to curl up in, and once I was alone, I wrote out a note and slipped it into my ring. Once Callie confirmed she was there, I wrote out a much longer explanation and sent it to her. I knew she would want to hear about all this, about her people and their history and the state they were in. She wrote back a few times, and I enjoyed the chance to spend time with my wife, even via writing. Finally, I settled in and went to sleep. Tomorrow would be soon enough to begin my attempts to cure a spiritual contagion.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Returning to the refuge was a matter of about twenty minutes. We took our time, but it wasn't that far without needing to track Amy. When we got back, I headed to sleep for a quick recuperative nap and when I woke up, I stockpiled my scrolls and then dug into the Clover problem with Genesis Burst.

We spent a few hours working on cleansing the corrupted girl, but it quickly became clear that we weren't going to fix anything today.

Sighing, I returned Clover to her pit, turning to smile apologetically at a patiently waiting Amandine. "I'm making progress, but it isn't fast. This…whatever it. Infection? It's not easy to deal with. I should be able to purify it, but I'll need to spend some time. At least the first one. Once I have the process down I can reverse engineer it and figure out the proper purification method."

She didn't flinch or sigh, she just nodded quietly, her face remote. It hurt to see. I hadn't known Amy long, but the kid struck me as an energetic person. She was inquisitive and sharp, and seeing her suddenly shut down like this was jarring in a deeply uncomfortable way.

Once I was finished with my attempt I went to find my parents, who were huddled up with Zeke and Lark grilling Connell. "You know, I don't think he knows anything else," I said as I dropped into a seat at the table where they were talking. "He'd have told by now if he did. You can't make people cough up information they don't have."

"People always have more information than they think they do," Lark said bluntly. "Humans are stupid and worthless, and ignore about 90% of what their senses tell them. No matter how high your Perception is, if you're only using scraps you're unlikely to see as much as you can."

Zeke nodded. "He's right. Hearing, smell, even touch. Our senses are all heightened, and just because we use Focus to drown them out doesn't mean they aren't still operating. Certain types of questioning can dredge up impressions or small details the subject isn't even aware of. In situations like this where there's a lifetime of information to sift through, there's an even better chance."

"It can't be that easy," I protested. "Like I can't just summon abstract fragments of sensory input, why can he?"

My mom held up a hand, white flame gathering on her palm. "Purify the mind, clarify the thought," she intoned smugly. "Little trick I picked up from dad. He uses it on himself pretty frequently, but it works for interrogation, too."

Her voice rings in my head, echoing between my ears like a tolling bell. I feel myself start to fall away, and my mom says my name but I don't really hear. I know what's happening, though it's not the same as last time. I don't fight it, letting it carry me away.

I remembered my grandpa mentioning using his flame like that during our trip to visit Judgement. That felt like so long ago now. It had been what a few days? A few weeks? It all kind of blurred together. It was just more time without my wife. More time that my children were getting closer to being born without me.

And oddly, rather than force me into a panic like it had at the beginning, that helped ME clear my mind. Because I knew she was safe, was waiting for me, and that I was doing everything I could. I nodded absently to my parents, moving to an open space as I left them to do their questioning, and I began to move. The Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art could and did often work best when sparked with a moment of epiphany.

My newest template was Gaze of Certitude, the demon who represented the Clear Mind Fire. I knew what I needed to do for this one already, the template already waiting, and Nine Phoenix had already refined the movements. I just needed to literally go through the motions.

My hands and feet moved. I didn't use the staff, not for this. Body tempering wasn't a staff art. It was motion, resistance, force. I pushed the flame through me, burning it through my body in a very specific pattern as I worked my muscles against each other. It felt like…firecrackers, like tiny explosions going off between my muscle fibers, lighting fuses along every nerve in my body as I was consumed.

Clear Mind Fire. The crystalline flame of mental clarity. It sharpened my thoughts, enhanced my vision, honed my Perception. I'd been too distracted before, on the trip, to really process what my grandfather had shared. Only now, listening to my mom describe the interrogation, with my thoughts at least partially salved by knowing my wife was safe, did the epiphany really click.

Just like the spatial flame, I experience this moment of consequence as I move. It's not quite the same, of course. No illusions of phoenixes or galaxies. This one is more…abstract. My vision crystallizes, turning inward to view the diamond reflection on the inside of my mind. I view a hall of endless mirrors refracting my image into eternity, and my stomach plummets as I tip over the edge and into a fathomless chasm of possibility.

I see a million versions of me in this moment, a million expressions and emotions. It's not like the times I've seen alternate futures like did in the ruined soul temple. These aren't possible destinies ahead of me. They're possible presents. Other me's. The sum total of the singularity of my being laid out like a kaleidoscope of self across the back of my eyelids.

The diamond filled with images, my body burned, and I felt the blood ignite as I began condensing the drops. I burned. Like a cosmic burst I burned, and as I did the refractions multiplied until…

A crash resounded behind my eyes, the crystalline tapestry of self shattering into a rain of fragmentary starlight, and I collapsed to my hands and knees with a gasp.

I was wheezing through the pain and the heat. I forgot how much that could hurt. I'd gotten lost in the epiphany but body forging still sucked either way. Still, I could feel the change even without checking my stat sheet. Of course, I still wanted to see, so I checked it anyway, and I wasn't disappointed.

Body Forging: Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art- 41/81 drops- First Layer (Life Nova) 9/9, Second Layer ( Cosmic Phoenix) 9/9, Third Layer (Ruin Phoenix) 9/9, Fourth Layer (Arcadian Phoenix) 9/9, Fifth Layer (Clear Mind Phoenix) (5/9)

Five drops in one session. Obviously it wasn't a full bloodline layer, but it was still damned impressive. It would make my five colored fire with Bennu so much more powerful. That fifth colored fire would have a corresponding bloodline now, would ignite in my heart just like the others and fuel the fires of the phoenix inside me to new heights.

Then I got smacked in the head. I yelped, skull slamming into and bouncing off the ground, and I sat up quickly, wondering if I was being attacked. "Did you just undergo enlightenment in the middle of an abandoned city full of hostile monsters?" Zeke asked me in exasperation. "Gods kid, time and place!"

I blinked at him. "I…I had an epiphany."

"Yeah, I assumed," he said dryly. "Did you consider that maybe you should have had it literally anywhere but here?"

"But epiphanies aren't common," I protested. "Shouldn't I just go with them when they hit?"

My uncle rolled his eyes. "Most people only have a few epiphanies in their life," he agreed, not really agreeing at all. "Though the number varies based on certain complicated factors. But you know who NEVER has epiphanies? Corpses."

"That's not true," my dad called from the table where he and my mom were still sitting.

"It's close to true!" Zeke yelled back. "Now shut up and let me make my damned point so he doesn't get himself killed, you pedantic idiot!" He snarled, turning back to me in frustration. "MOST corpses don't have epiphanies. Way less of them than living people. The ones who do are an exception and not relevant here because you're not undead and your nitpicking bastard of a father KNOWS WHAT I MEANT!" He shouted that last bit over his shoulder at my dad, who raised a middle finger back without looking at him.

My mother rolled her eyes. "Stop tormenting my son, morons. He's here with his parents, his uncle, and the strongest mortal in the universe. Not to mention we're in a secure area. He didn't do anything wrong. You're both just jealous he got an epiphany so easily when it's only happened to you like…twice in your lives."

"Three times!" Zeke protested. "And I'm not jealous. I was just concerned with him developing bad habits."

"Well he listens to the two of you," she said dryly. "I'm not sure habits get worse than that."

My dad threw his hands up in outrage. "Why am I getting dragged into this? I didn't even DO anything this time!"

"Guilt by association," my mother said mercilessly. "You were the one who brought him into our lives, so you're responsible for everything he does." She shot me a wink, but her face remained stoic, completely ignoring her obvious urge to burst out laughing.

"I get no respect," Zeke complained dramatically.

My mom just laughed. "We respect you plenty. We just don't always like you much. You saying you don't feel the same about Eli sometimes?"

"I…I actually have no response to that," he admitted. "That's totally fair."

"Literally nothing," my dad repeated in annoyance. "Not a single thing. Just sitting here minding my own business."

My mom giggled and pecked him on the cheek. "Poor baby, did the mean family hurt your feelings? I'll make it up to you later. Besides, it worked, didn't it?" She turned a raised eyebrow to me. "How's your head feeling, Shane?"

I blinked, processing the lack of aftereffects from the epiphany and the vision. My head had been a bit fuzzy before, but now it felt fine. "That's…how did you do that?"

She shrugged. "I know a trick or two," she said in amusement. "I've had six epiphanies, after all."

"Oh, here we go," my dad groaned. "Damned godspawn and their absurd natural talent. You had to get her started about the epiphanies."

"Jealousy is such an ugly emotion," my mom said airily. "Can't we all just get along?"

My uncle snorted and grinned at my dad. "Now I'm sympathizing with her guilt by association position. You're responsible for bringing this egomaniac into our life."

They laughed, and I felt…warm. Seeing them like this was comforting. They reminded me of Benny, Callie, and I. It gave me hope for the future. Combined with the clear mind phoenix fire, I was feeling pretty at peace.

Sadly, all good things must end. "As amusing as this all is," Lark said as he turned away from Connell. "I think we got the very last of the info we need. Cross referencing it will be a nightmare, but luckily we have a guy for that, now don't we?" He shot a glance at me and I nodded quickly, glad to be able to help.

Groaning, I stood, stretching, and walked over to sit next to them. Lark passed me a small notebook full of detailed notes, and I dropped it into my Domain, making sure it flopped down in front of Dan and Wisdom of Solomon.

"We'll need some time to collate the data," I informed them as I closed my eyes and entered my Domain directly. "Once we're done, we'll head out to take the door. I think it's about time we moved on from this city, just as soon as we take out the creature and free the people here." One way or another, this ended tonight.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Dan and Wisdom did their thing. It didn't take too long, but what they came back with wasn't exactly encouraging. "A manticore?" I groaned. "How would that even WORK? Where did they get one of those? Like I feel like that should be hard."

Based on a whole bunch of disparate bits of information we'd been able to puzzle out shocking amount of data. My parents were pros, and had mined Connell's brain for a frankly shocking amount of facts. When strung together, we had figured out several important aspects of the upcoming fight.

One of those was an understanding of exactly WHAT was on the other side of that damned door.

My mom grimaced. "They are. Manticores are…they're complicated to deal with. Chimeras aren't exactly unheard of, but manticores aren't just ANY chimera. They're special. If this one is really Demigod rank, or even close…" she glanced at Lark. "This will be a hard fight. Even for you. Manticore venom is legendary."

He nodded grimly. "There are a few creatures I genuinely don't want to mess with, and Manticores are on the list. I can take one but it won't be easy. A Demigod level Manticore will require every bit of my attention."

"Which means the creature is going to bust that door open as soon as we approach," my dad said dryly. "And try to use us to distract that thing while it flees."

I sighed. "Which means the fight with the creature itself is up to me."

My mom didn't look happy about that, but I shot her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry too much," I told her confidently. "I might not have been able to handle it before, but I definitely can now." After my epiphany, my chances against that thing had gone WAY up. With my cosmic phoenix flame enabling fast mobility and gaze of certitude to break the stealth, my new clear mind bloodline drops should empower me to take that thing on in my five colored phoenix form.

Mom nodded slowly. "Well then, I suppose that leaves us to deal with the monsters," she didn't sound happy. The fact that I could operate at S-rank with my staff and armor to help push me there meant I was the second strongest member of our little group at the moment. Unfortunately I was also still her little boy, and I could see her helpless rage at letting me take the lead here in a combat sense.

"It'll be fine, ma," I told her gently. "I'll be careful. Without you all to keep them off me I wouldn't be able to focus on my fight."

She stepped forward and wrapped me in a tight hug. "I'm sorry honey," she murmured sadly. "I know you're an adult, and that I have no right to try to micromanage your life, but I just…this has all been so fast. Even faster when I missed so much to begin with. I love how driven you are, but seeing my son outstrip the need for my protection so young is a hard pill to swallow…and dear gods I finally understand my mother." Her face twisted into an expression of partial nausea.

"You ok mom?" I asked her with a grin.

"Fine," she said absently. "Just coming to terms with some things I had never considered." She shook off the distraction. "Nevermind. Not important. We're just waiting on your father's scouting contracts to return. Once that's done we can-" her head snapped up. "Speak of the devils and they'll appear."

My dad tapped his cane once, a quarter of shadows flickering across the floor to rejoin his. He paused, processing, then nodded. "Alright, I've got it," he said confidently.

I called out to Dantalion, allowing him to approach and siphon the information from my dad with permission. Once I had it, I passed it to Dan, letting him formulate the plan as we moved out. To my surprise, Amy tried to come along. Dan had already been studying her flame during the night, so we didn't need her along for tactical reasons, and more than that."No," I told the kid bluntly. "I get that you want to come with, but it's not happening. Too dangerous."

"But I can help," she protested. "I WANT to help, my mom-"

"If your mom is there we'll get her locked up in a pit," I told her bluntly. "But I won't let you risk your life. You're a kid, stay with your dad and keep everyone here safe. If it shows up your stealth flame might be the difference between life and death for someone. Do you want what happened to Clover to happen again?"

She flinched at that and I felt like shit. It wasn't fair to put that on her, I didn't think she was responsible, but I wanted her safe back here, not with us in battle.

Turning, she stalked away, and I winced at the tears streaming down her face. My mom looked frustrated, and I couldn't help but defend myself. "I had to," I protested. "She can't come with us. She's a kid."

"Did I say otherwise?" she sighed. "I agree it isn't safe. She should stay behind. I just think there were kinder ways to convince her."

"Were there faster ones?" I asked tiredly. "Because I didn't see any and we're about to leave."

She looked at me inscrutably for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't think there were," she admitted. "The fact that you considered that impresses me. You know, with instincts like that I think parenting might come easier than you think."

"I hope I never had to break my daughter's heart like that to keep her safe," I said, a sick feeling churning in my gut.

"I hope so too," she said softly. "But I'm also glad to know you will if you have to."

Sighing, I gave her a quick hug, and then we all gathered at the entrance. Amy didn't come to see us off. I was still feeling guilty, but I pushed it away. Now wasn't the time. I'd make it up to the kid by bringing back her mom and curing her best friend. But before that, it was time to handle our business.

We stepped out into the hallway, heading in the direction dad's scouts had indicated. The direction of the door where the creature was posted up. We arrived in a large chamber just outside the room in question about ten minutes later. I looked through the door, wincing at what I saw.

Monsters. So many monsters it boggled the mind. I reached for Bennu, triggering the five colored flames. I also triggered my staff, upgrading this, my strongest form, to S-rank. With the boost from my last stat dump helped quite a bit, empowering me to the middle of S-rank rather than the beginning.

Calling my staff, I spun it up, the flames flickering over the surface of the weapon. "The plan is to subdue as many of these monsters as possible," I informed everyone. "The point is to fix what's broken, and we can't do that if we finish breaking it. I'll take care of-" I felt it before the attack happened this time. It was like before, but magnified, the clear mind fire enhancing my ability to detect.

Whirling on my heel I lashed out with ruin flame, and there was a crash as my staff collided with the creature, sending it flying towards the upper right of the room. Gritting my teeth, I spread my wings and took off, five colored flight driving me toward the monster.

The creature vanished as I reached it, flickering away into nothing. It was annoying, but not unexpected. I focused hard on the clear mind fire, Gaze of Certitude pushing me to greater heights. I vanished, cosmic flame allowing me to step through the world and strike with ruthless efficiency. My staff cleaved the air, dark fire tearing through space, but I wasn't able to land a hit. It was too damned sneaky.

It went like that for about twenty minutes. Cat and mouse, tag, whatever you wanted to call it. Staff strikes whirling through the air as I tried to catch hide nor hair of the creature. I could tell he was here, in fact, I was pretty sure I was keeping him here, forcing this behavior. But it unfortunately meant he was controlling the tempo of this feet.

We fought back and forth like that for a while. I was waiting for Lark to engage, but a quick peek told me the lock on the door had already faltered. With Lark here to take the heat, it was clear he'd already opened the door for the monster on the other wise, something I really wished I didn't know, because it was distracting the hell out of me when I was supposed to be fighting the creature properly.

Still, even if the door being opened hadn't caught my attention, what came OUT of the damned thing certainly would have.

The beast was colossal, easily the size of a large car. It prowled through the door, unnatural grace in every sinew as its razor sharp tail coiled and flexed. I felt a hint of malice, an attack coming in, and I teleported again, avoiding the blow from a random unimportant monster the creature was clearly trying to use as a distraction.

I ignored it. Distractions served no purpose. Eye on the price. I'd been working this whole time to get a hit off on the creature, and something about that entire series of events just made it…click.

My staff flashed up, crashing sideways into the head of the monster, knocking him flying as he bared his misshapen teeth at me in rage. I didn't let up. I activated the Goetia Staff Art, slamming my weapon against the creature's defenses with the speed and surety of a veteran warrior, riding the clear mind epiphany yet again, but this time without my body tempering technique.

The creature screamed, not in pain, but in rage. Its claws raked at my face, slashed at my hands, went for my eyes. I ignored it. Deflected, dodged, wove out of the way. This thing had been stripped of its only defense. Anonymity. I sent out a series of probing strikes, hoping to narrow down its weakness.

It took me about fifteen minutes to perfect what I needed to know. Once it was done, I reached for another demon. This one less about combat and more suppression, but more than just that, it was about binding. Keeping him pinned so I could call on one of my trump cards. Namely, the card of being able to suppress him entirely in a pit. I called for Brad, pushing him up a rank just to make this easier.

The use of the staff strained me. It was exhausting and tiring to my soul, but I knew it was necessary for this. The creature attacked again, screams echoing off the walls as it swept for my face. I tried to intercept, but it dodged. It didn't matter. It was close enough for me to snap my Domain around it. The creature froze, horrified by what it sensed as its eyes locked on me.

I didn't care. I pulled on Brad's power, opening a pit below the monster, then I teleported again, staff slamming down to drive him into the pit below. With a mighty heave of my power, I flooded all five flames into the dirt on top of the pit when it closed, using my full strength, bloodline and all, to suppress the monster.

He strained, struggled, and roared at the indignity. I didn't care. I'd caught him, and looking around the other members of my team had managed to subdue the monsters he'd surrounded himself with. My parents appeared, my mom sweeping me up into a tight hug. Looking around, I realized this wasn't over yet. Above us, Lark challenged the Manticore for safe passage. Mom dragged me out of the firing line so we could watch from the sides. I saw him draw his sword, and I was almost positive this would be a SERIOUS fight. I couldn't wait to see how it plated out.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

I'd never seen a manticore before. Not like this. When it first emerged from the door, it was almost underwhelming. I spotted the sleek, powerfully built monster prowling through the sky like a fish winding through a river, and I wasn't impressed. Except the more I looked, the more terrifying it became. What I thought was a blocky, kind of threatening lion thing, upon closer inspection, became…more.

The leonine aspects of the body were the first thing I focused on. It took me a second to figure out why they unsettled me so much, but when I focused on them, I realized the muscles under the skin were twisted into almost grotesque ropes of sinewy power.

Its human face was next, and it only took a second to identify that the mouth was FAR too large and full of sharp teeth, and the eyes were set too deep and flashed in the shadows of its skull like vicious, carnivorous jewels. Lastly, the tail was too long and segmented far more than any real scorpion's should be. About the only part that wasn't existentially creepy was the wings, which, while large, were mostly just wings.

Meanwhile, Lark was standing in midair across from the monster, and he looked WAY more menacing than usual too.

Lark was mostly kind of sloppy, to be honest. His hair was long and dark but mostly messy, he had a five oclock shadow almost perpetually, and he almost universally looked bored or half asleep. Even when he'd been fighting GODS (or at least stalling them with help), he hadn't seemed to putting in too much work for it.

That Lark was gone. Lark the layabout, the sleepy sarcastic dad who sometimes menaced people for his own entertainment had been laid to rest, and what had climbed from his grave was something conceptually horrifying. His hair was still black and messy, but now it seemed darker, like the twisting shadows of a haunted forest clawing for your back as your ran through dying trees.

His skin had seemingly become paler, going from normal person pale to a chalk white so colorless it reminded me of bleached bone. In his hand, that same cruciform sword I'd seen last time glittered a menacing black, a fist sized ruby winking in the pommel as he wielded it against his enemy. Rather than his normal beataround clothes, Lark had exchanged his outfit for a strange black armor made of overlapping scales, and a long red cloak fluttered behind him in a nonexistent wind.

The worst part though, was his eyes. They glowed a hellish, unearthly red. It reminded me a bit of Bethy in that I could see a predatory glint, but it was so much more than just that. It was like his eyes were windows to a burning hell dimension full of apex predators. The bloody gleam of his crimson irises seemed to reflect the deepest fears in my heart, echoing them back to me a thousand times more strongly until my muscles refused to move under the weight of my sheer terror.

All around us, his Domain bleeds into the world, that horrifying black castle towering over us under that blood red sky. The Manticore roars at him angrily, fleshing forward faster than should be possible. Even sitting in S-rank and with my Perception based bloodline still burning, following that unholy monster's strange, stilted motions is hard to manage.

Luckily, I don't need to follow, I can just watch the end, because when that tail comes around from the back to gut Lark, his sword appears out of nowhere to deflect it.

The Manticore did not appreciate that, and it howled with unearthly fury as its tail began an all out offensive against Lark. Rather than dodge, Lark's sword flickers up and meets each strike, dancing through the air in a clear demonstration of supreme skill. Strangely, while it IS impressive, it's also clear Lark doesn't actually know how to use a sword. His style isn't so much swordsmanship as it is 'physical bullying featuring an edged weapon', and while he's certainly competent, it's not the same kind of intent heavy blademastery I've seen from Uncle Moon or even Callie.

Fade made a disgusted sound. "That's just disgraceful," he said in a disapproving tone. "That sword is a work of art, and he's just hacking away with it like it's a butcher knife."

"Because it IS a butcher knife," my dad said wryly. "At least when he's holding it. Always remember kids, everything is a butcher knife when all your enemies are pigs. Case in point," he nodded to the fight, where the Manticore had managed to disjoint its tail just the right way to stab it into the blind spot on Lark's back. There was a flutter wings and the vampire exploded into bats, sword and all, fluttering around the monster as it writhed and lashed out.

"Why isn't this harder?" I asked quietly as I watched the battle unfold. "This Manticore is supposed to be a monster, right? Some kind of super beast. Even Lark was worried. Still he seems to be crushing it."

My dad chuckled. "Comparison is the thief of joy," he said wryly. "It's hard to track, but based on the feedback from my mirror soul guardians, this fight is only barely within the bounds of S-rank. The physicality on display is appalling, and most of us can't even see what's happening right now. Mostly though, you're currently watching Lark cheat his ass off. That armor and sword are two of his foundational artifacts. They're the pillars of his future realm, which he is currently standing inside of. He has a massive homefield advantage. One that appears to be growing as we speak."

Sure enough, even as we watched, Lark reformed, driving his sword in under the wing of the Manticore as he grabbed it and yanked it up with the other hand. It roared and lashed out, and he vanished again, but as we watched, the blood from its wound seeped out as a sort of red smoke and rose…to bleed into the red sky above.

"Wait…is that where the red sky comes from?" I gaped. "Does his Domain absorb blood like Abel's?"

"No, my Domain absorbs blood like his," Abel corrected. "As does Bethy's."

My vampire friend snorted. "Not even. Daddy stole that ability from something called a redcap. He ate a bunch of them and decided he wanted to use the power for himself. Mom said he wore a beret for like twenty years before he realized it looked stupid. Then he decided 'the only thing that can sit atop my head is the sky itself', which is just dad for 'I don't like hats anymore, shut up'."

Speaking of dads, my own started snickering at her little diatribe, and I could literally feel the killing intent blasting from the air around as Lark's bloodlust seeped out of the surrounding sky. My dad cleared his throat and looked away, whistling innocently.

The bloodlust faded into nothingness, and we all snickered a bit. Surprisingly Lark didn't actually stop his fight or even seem to get distracted. It gave me some interesting ideas, actually. "Hey ma?" I asked her slowly. "Can you control your Domain? Like make things happen there? Like I can put stuff in and pull it out, but that seemed more…granular."

"It comes from the saga," she said with a shrug. "The Domain is an extension of the soul, in a way, and so is the Chronicle. The saga connects all the disparate elements of your abilities when it becomes one with your body. It gives you much more fine control. You should be able to do little things already, like you said, moving and placing, plus manifesting an avatar inside of it, that's a pretty simple one."

I realized she was right. I could already do a lot of things with my Domain I hadn't really considered before. Though speaking of the Saga and my eventual boost to S-rank, I realized I still had a lot of work to do. Pages aside (I could author those to redistribute some of that power to new places), I also needed to complete my body tempering before the breakthrough. S-rank, as I had known since day one, was when your power and body merged, creating a legitimate bloodline that could be inherited by your children. Of course, that would be MY bloodline, not the phoenix, which I had already forcibly engraved, that had already most likely passed at least partly to the twins.

Still, I was curious to see what kind of bloodline I would end up with at S-rank, though I was pretty sure it would be separate from my phoenix bloodline. Maybe I'd end up with half of each. It was certainly interesting to think about.

Speaking of interesting, the fight had gotten a lot LESS so in the last minute or two. I could see now why Lark was so scary. It wasn't just the overwhelming physical power, though that was there, even against a similarly outlandish enemy, Lark's combat style was BRUTAL. He was everywhere, vanishing and reappearing at seemingly random, bleeding and whittling away at his enemy until there was nothing left but a lumbering corpse for him to put down.

The Manticore, during our little conversation, had been basically sucked dry. Its twisted musculature had been drained to the consistency of dry straw, its human face was gaunt and emaciated, and its segmented tail waved drunkenly in the air, its formerly deceptive and terrifying jerkiness replaced the twitches of a barely functional organ.

Rather than tear it apart though, Lark was just floating across from it, glaring that hellish red glare into its eyes. At least, that was what I thought. Until I realized the red glare wasn't coming from his eyes, at least not exclusively. My own gaze flicked up, taking in the massive image of blazing red irises reflected on the bloody sky. I'd seen this before, Bethy had used it on Dayna, some sort of mental manipulation- "KNEEL!" Echoed a ringing voice through the entire Domain.

And then…I was. We all were, Lark had just hammered us flat with the force of his will. Comparing that mental assault to Bethy's mind tricks was like comparing a raindrop to rod of pure tungsten being dropped from orbit. My mind shook, my teeth rattled, and I felt my brain haze out of a second under the sheer power of the blow.

The wild thing was that it wasn't even intentional. I could tell. Lark had aimed that attack at the Manticore, and he'd controlled it pretty tightly. We hadn't been hit by the Domination, we'd been hit by the slight sloshing of the spillover as it washed across its actual target.

For its part, the Manticore is just hanging there, eyes glazed as it stares into the sky in paralyzed horror. Next to me, Bethy squealed with delight, clapping her hands excitedly. "Daddy it's so CUTE! Can I have it? Please? I want it so bad! I'm going to name it Apples and bring it home to play with all my pets and they're going to be so happy!"

Lark, who had been floating above us like the unsheathed edge of an executioner's axe a moment ago, just rolled his eyes as he descended. His armor faded away with the Domain, the sword vanished, and his porcelain pallor faded to the more usual tone of his admittedly still pale skin. As he floated down, he flicked his fingers, and the Manticore swept down towards us. Mid air, it started to change, and by the time it threw itself into Bethy's arms, it had shrunk to the size of a tiny kitten, its human face becoming babylike.

"I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!" Bethy howled excitedly as she swept her new pet up and whirled him in a circle. "I'm going to teach him so many fun games!" Lark just sighed, letting her do whatever she wanted. Which, to be fair, was pretty much the only option with Bethy. With that out of the way though, it was time to deal with the aftermath. I turned to glare at the still bound creature. We still had a few questions that needed answering.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

"So…you're refusing to talk, eh?" Bethy said menacingly to the creature as she loomed over it. Despite her being a full rank plus lower than it was, it looked DEEPLY uncomfortable with her attention. Of course, the currently babyfied Demigod Manticore on her shoulder probably didn't help its level of ease. Not to mention-

"He can't talk, Bethy," I sighed. "He's bound. I am literally preventing that from happening."

She pouted. "I'm trying to do a thing here, boss. You're really undermining my whole vibe. Ugh, fine. Once he unseals you, you'd better tell us everything, or I'm going to have Apples sting your in your weird little eyes. Now, tell us the first thing you remember."

Taking that as a cue, I unbound him enough to speak, and he hurriedly volunteered. "I was four years old and I found a rabbit in the garden! I think it was tan! Please don't let that thing sting me in the eyes!" His terrified gaze was locked on the Manticore, which was fair, since he'd been eating people for centuries to prepare to fight that exact monster, and he wasn't strong enough to actually manage it yet.

"What?" Bethy frowned. "I didn't…I don't care about that. I want to know…" she trailed off. "What DO we want to know? I didn't really think this through. I'm not sure what information we're trying to get here."

Lark patted her shoulder. "It happens to the best of us," he comforted his daughter. "I once spent six months interrogating a goblin king for the location of a treasure trove. We found it in the second week, but I had my people keep a lid on it until I could break him properly. It was just too embarrassing to let him die on me just because my scouts were good at their jobs."

She nodded sadly. "Don't nod to that," I protested. "That's a RIDICULOUS reason to torture someone! And you, we want to know everything you can tell us about Belsara, the lands of endless summer, and what's on the other side of that door."

Honestly, I was kind of disappointed. I knew he was afraid of the Manticore, (admittedly it was a menacingly little shit, even in mini form) but him crumpling like wet tissue paper at the first sign of questioning was a little sad. I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but Bethy and Lark really were kind of a cheat when it came to questioning enemies, apparently.

Fortunately for my estimation of him, the creature's eyes narrowed dangerously at me as he turned to regard my face…for the ten seconds it took for Bethy to whistle at Apples and the Manticore to shoot its legendary venom at the ground next to his head.

The monster yelped, trying to scramble away from the melting marble of the flooring. I allowed myself a petty little smirk at his predicament, but I wiped it away before he looked back my way.

"Lets try this again," I said slowly, my voice dripping with menace. "We want to know everything you can tell us about Belsara, the lands of endless summer, and what's on the other side of that door." I repeated it in the exact same cadence as I had last time, using the repetition to make it clear how annoyed I was to have to ask a second time.

He swallowed hard. "I don't know much about Belsara," he admitted. "She was the lady of these lands, she vanished quite some time ago, the connections to the outside world became much less stable around that time. The doors were always there, but they used to be more…casual, from what I've been told. It was why the council planted deadly beasts around each door."

"Right…so you're useless to me," I said bluntly. "Cool, Bethy, melt his face."

"NO WAIT!" he screamed frantically. "Don't melt my face! I can help you! The corrupted! I can reverse it. I can turn them back!"

I squinted at him. "That seems awfully convenient," I pointed out.

"It's true!" he said quickly. "I swear. I've been experimenting with cleansing them. Turning them back into normal people. It's slow but I can do it."

"Why would you do that?" I asked skeptically.

He looked away sheepishly. "I can't eat the corrupted ones. The conversion ruins them. I've been experimenting with reversing it to expand my menu again. I was planning to keep them with me as travel snacks."

"Ok, now I REALLY want to melt his face," Bethy said acidly. "Just because you feed on people doesn't mean you can treat them like objects. Abominations like you give vampires a bad name. You're lucky you're useful right now." Her fangs had extended, eyes glittering like angry rubies. This wasn't Maenad Bethy, but it was closer than I'd seen her in quite a while.

Of course, it made sense this would be a touchy subject. Bethy could only feed on her thralls without causing extreme discomfort, which meant barring combat or punishment, she couldn't bite anyone she didn't already know and trust.

"I understand your anger, Bethy," I told her softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I think he's a scumbag too. But I don't think we can do anything to him until we figure this all out. If we can get Amy her mom back…" I'd have preferred to put him down, personally. He was a monster and way too dangerous to leave alive long term. But for the moment we needed him. I wasn't sure that his help would do much good, but I also wasn't sure it wouldn't.

Her shoulders sagged as the wind went out of her sails. "No," she said hurriedly. "No of course not. You're right. I'm sorry, I just…I need to go for a bit." She turned and bolted across the chamber.

Lark glared down at the monster, then whistled. The Manticore leapt off Bethy's shoulder, swooping into a long, low glide over to where we were standing. As it moved, it returned to its huge, unsettling form, landing above the creature. Its tail snapped up and over, coming to a stop so close to the center of the creature's forehead he had to hold his breath to avoid accidentally scraping the sharp point.

"I'm going to go talk to my daughter," Lark said conversationally. "If you cause any trouble while I'm gone, I'm going to have Apples here inject that venom into your bone marrow and eat popcorn as you melt slowly from the inside out."

He didn't bother to wait around for a response, just turned and strode off to find Bethy. I was glad someone was doing it. If Chelsea was here I'd have told her, but Lark should be just as good at helping cheer her up. I turned my own icy glare on the creature. "My friend Bethany is the kindest, sweetest, most energetic person I know," I said in a voice like frozen cyanide. "The fact that you managed to be so disgusting even SHE hates you is a testament to your excellence in your chosen field. I hope that achievement brings you comfort during the slow and painful death you'll experience if you're anything less than perfectly helpful to me."

Despite the Manticore, the creature had dropped the pretense of fear. I was pretty sure he was playing it up for Lark, hoping to avoid being killed casually. For some reason that made me even angrier. "I have more to offer than just the cure," he said coldly. "I said I can't help with news of Belsara, but I do know what's on the other side of that door."

"And that is?" I said casually, not really caring too much.

"The Phoenix Foundry," he said smugly. That…actually did bring me up short. He saw me pause and grinned widely. "It was one of the most legendary places in the summerlands, from what I'm told. Its forges are lit with the dying ember of Lady Belsara's summer phoenix, Halcyon."

I felt my mouth go dry, though I tried not to project that interest. "That's certainly interesting," I said slowly. "Something to look into, at least. But honestly, you might be right. That might be enough to keep you around." His smug expression intensified, clearly thinking he'd gotten the better of me. "In fact, I think I'm going to keep you around for a VERY long time," I said with grim amusement. "Hey DAD!" I called across the room. "Come help me with something?"

The creature didn't seem to understand exactly why that was supposed to be scary, but he was at least smart enough to know that it was. My dad strolled over casually. "What do you need?" he asked cheerfully as he shot a glance at the monster.

"I need to make sure this guy does some things for me," I informed him. "Important things. Do you think you could make that happen? Remember, he wants to make sure we keep him around after this."

My father, whose ability was making contracts that the other person didn't necessarily need to agree to, grinned nastily. "I can make sure he's around for a long time." He turned his dark grin on the captive. "Why don't we talk over your options." I clapped him on the shoulder with a nod, then left them to negotiate. My dad was the perfect person to handle this, he'd subdued S-rankers before, so I wasn't worried, especially with Apples right there to watch out for him.

I considered heading over to talk to Bethy, but she was over with Lark, so instead I went to find my mom. I found her easily enough, standing over several of the corrupted we'd subdued. "Hey," I told her quietly as I stepped up next to her. "You doing ok?"

"I'm just thinking about Amandine," she said quietly. "About how afraid she must have been when she lost her mother. About how desperate she was to have her back."

Her eyes were wide and bright, pain flickering behind them as she remembered something from her past. I had a decent idea what that might be. "I think that she'll be grateful," I told her casually, eyes fixed firmly on the monsters. "I think that sometimes, the relief of having someone back means more than the fact that they were gone in the first place. Some people make your life better just by being in it. Moms are like that."

She stiffened, eyes overflowing. Her face didn't change, nor did her voice, and we both pretended she wasn't crying. "You're going to be an amazing father," she said in a calm tone. "Your children are going to love you so much, and I can't wait to see it."

"They're going to love you too," I corrected her. "In fact, most of the time they're going to love you more than me. You'll be the one sneaking them candy I tell them they can't have and letting them stay up way too late. Parenthood isn't the only issue our family has run into. Most of us don't meet our grandparents until way too late. Chelsea did, but that's only half that set of twins. Mine are going to know all their grandparents from day one, and I need you to spoil them rotten for me."

Laughing happily, she wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "I think I can do that," she beamed. "But remember, I'm telling your wife we had this talk if she ever brings it up. That girl scares me sometimes."

I shook my head in amusement, but before I could respond, my dad stepped up beside us. "He's mine now," he said, tapping his cane. "His soul is in my service. Correcting the corruption should be easy enough to do. He'll work with you on it." I nodded, eyes going to the crowd of monsters. He followed my gaze to them and sighed. "Alright, better get started on this. I have a feeling it won't be quick." He was right. It wasn't.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

It took me three days to successfully undo the corruption. Well, it took US three days. I used Dan to deconstruct the process and Wisdom of Solomon to simulate possible solutions, and between them and the soul of the creature (whose name was apparently Steve, of all things, though my dad refused to let us call him that because he said it was underwhelming), we were able to reverse the corruption of all the monsters and return them to their prior angelic states.

This was extremely important because while Amy's mom WAS among the corrupted, there were also several very old angels who had firsthand knowledge of the Phoenix Foundry, and they were more than willing to share information on the subject once we fixed them up.

Still, the wait for the three days it took to fix them, despite being objectively worthwhile, ate at me a little. If not for Callie's excitement when I told her about all the new angels, I don't think I'd have been able to stop myself from spiraling at the wait. Three days was about two weeks at our current timescale, which was closer to five to one than the seven to one it had been outside, but two weeks was still two weeks. I didn't like it.

Despite that though, I had to admit the heartfelt video thank you from my teary eyed wife, not to mention the long letter she'd sent to Amy after hearing about everything the girl had been through, soothed a lot of my discomfort at waiting. Callie wasn't just ok with me taking my time, she was happy about it. My wife was a true hero, and knowing I was helping her people had lit a fire under her in a way I was almost shocked about. The gleam in her eyes in that video almost made me feel sorry for Belsara. Almost.

"Credit for your thoughts?" Abel said as he sat down next to me. I raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "We might be on different levels now, but I was your teacher for a while. Your buddy, sister, and healer asked me to keep an eye out while we're on this trip. They asked Bethy too but, well…"

I grinned. "Bethy is Bethy," I agreed. "She's currently putting on a lion taming show for the angel kids with Apples. The fact that none of those children is even remotely worried about the cat is honestly scarier than fighting the ACTUAL Manticore. Bethy's powers are truly great and terrible. I'm glad she's doing better after her run in with Steve."

"Your dad said not to call him that," Abel said, in a voice that told me he cared even less than I did.

I just laughed at that. "Because he likes to seem powerful and mysterious, and after he converted Steve into one of those mirror souls, he's an asset."

"Pretty sure he was an asshat well before that," Abel said solemnly, and we both burst out laughing. "But yeah, she kind of took that whole snack pack thing personally. I get it though, she's got her issues with that kind of thing. I was mostly coming to see how you were doing. You've been keeping a lid on it but you've got to be getting a little antsy."

Chuckling, I shrugged. "It helps that we got so much information on the Phoenix Foundry. Not just the flame, mind, but information that might help us bypass a few links in this endless nonsense chain of webworld fragments as we head to the central area. The Summer Palace."

Because that was its name. We knew that now. Some of the older angels we'd saved DID remember Belsara, and they'd been happy to share what they knew. Admittedly that wasn't as much as I'd have preferred, but it also wasn't nothing. Beyond that, the Foundry was apparently where Belsara's forces had forged their weaponry. It probably wasn't full of perfect quality gear waiting to be cleared out, but it was likely SOMETHING had been left behind, and anything from the realm of a god as powerful as Belsara had been would be at least competitive in today's forging environment.

My eyes trailed down to my armor. The Seal had been falling behind since I hit A-rank, and while I didn't have the old smith who made it to do the upgrade, I DID have Zeke, who was not only a master craftsman in his own right but had participated in the last upgrade.
On that note, I approached him directly about the possibility of upgrading the suit. "So, this Foundry place should have some useful materials and maybe some forging equipment intact. Did you learn enough during my last armor upgrade to push this to S-rank if we find the right mats for it?"

"Not personally," he admitted. "But then, I don't need to. I have a mask with a crafter in it, and your dad should have at least one soul that can pitch in. I learned enough about the process that we can pull together to make something workable."

My mother weighed in. "I can help with that," we all turned to stare at her, and she rolled her eyes. "My father's bloodline is a type of fire that purifies things. You don't think he ever tried applying that to forging? Dad went through a long blacksmith phase, and I learned quite a bit about making and maintaining arms and armor as a girl. I'm a bit out of practice, but I'm sure it's as easy as welding the frame of a bike."

That got a nod from my dad. "She used to have a forge back at our old house on Callus when you and your sister were small. Not sure if you remember it, but she spent quite a bit of time out there."

"I don't," I admitted. "I don't remember a lot from that time in my life. But having more help can't hurt."

"It definitely can," my mom warned. "Communal projects only work if there's a strong sense of direction in the forge. Tempo is key when working with metals, as is timing in general. But given your father has at least one mirror soul in his collection with forging abilities, we should be able to manage something if we plan it out first. That said, while we COULD muddle through, we have better options for this than you think."

I raised a brow at her. "What options are those?"

"Well it seems to me," she pointed out. "That what we're doing is a form of information sharing. We're gathering disparate skills and techniques from different parties and mashing them together alongside specifications for materials and your current gear and trying to create a result that gives us the best possible result. Sound like anything you have a solution for?"

I blinked, because when she put it like that…"Dan," I said slowly. "And Wisdom. We know Dan can take information from people and objects directly, as long as nothing is fighting him, and Wisdom can iterate with that information in different configurations to find the best usage for it. Hell, I bet Celestial Fabrication could help too, might help him get a tier or two, and probably improve the overall quality of the armor."

My mom nodded approvingly. "It is important," she said firmly. "To remember that there are often more ways to solve a problem than you think. There are many kinds of Ascendant, but those of your particular inclination especially need to remember to make the best possible us of the tools you have. Your forms and archdemons are one way to do that, but not the only way."

She was right. I'd gotten so used to stacking my demons together to create compound effects that I didn't even consider just having them work together. Although…"Actually, do you think archdemons are off the table for this?" I asked cautiously. "Because thinking about it, creating a forging demon from those three would probably be the best way to maximize our results on that armor redesign."

"You're not wrong," she admitted. "Are you sure that will work? You need time to get that together, don't you?"

"Less than I used to," I corrected. "Celestial Fabrication helps with designing new timepieces. It'll take us a while to gather materials and search the Foundry anyway. Wherever the summer phoenix flame is, I somehow doubt it's going to be easy to get at."

She nodded grimly. "That flame…if what they told you about it is true, you might be the only person who can use it properly."

"It's definitely terrifying to think about," I acknowledged. Aside from information on Belsara's palace, at least one of the older angels had been able to tell me the details about that flame, or at least the phoenix it came from. It was a familiar, if counterintuitive concept. The flame of the Summer Phoenix, Halcyon, was the flame of progress. Which was to say, it was a flame that embodied time's ability to allow for growth.

My Ruin Phoenix was the exact opposite of that particular concept, and I couldn't help but think of the sheer variety of possibilities for something like that. Of course, I still wasn't sure exactly the side effects of that bloodline would be. Maybe it would boost Fantasy? Or Creation? Whatever the case, if it was like Ruin that would just be the icing on the cake. The real benefit would come from the flame itself.

In fact, I could already think of a dozen applications for something like that. Applying it to something like Zagan or Genesis Burst, for instance. A temporal shift with additional benefits to positive effects involving growth and improvement would make any healing ability I mixed it with exponentially more effective, I was betting.

Of course, I still needed to complete my template for the clear mind flame, not to mention a few others before I could hit S-rank, but that was something to worry about later. For now, identifying my sixth flame was progress, and finding a solid place to look for it was even better.

"You know, as much flack as I gave your uncle about his criticism," my mother said dryly. "It really IS a bad idea to space out in the middle of hostile territory."

"THANK YOU!" Zeke bellowed from across the room.

She just rolled her eyes. "Stopped clock, twice a day, etcetera. Statistically he had to be right about something eventually." She winked at me when Zeke yelled a wordless objection, making it clear that she just liked teasing him. I knew him well enough to know he wouldn't take it personally anyway.

"We should be leaving soon," I finally said as I focused on the door nearby. "But I don't want to abandon Amy so soon. She still seems a bit shaken. I'll stay and work on my new archdemon, so we have it ready when we head in. We can set off for the Foundry tomorrow."

Laughing, she pulled me into a hug. I knew she was a bit worried about making sure Amy was ok too. I hadn't talked to the girl since we'd gotten back, since I'd assumed she'd want time with her mom, but I couldn't deny she made me think about what my own daughter might be like. Daughters? Now that I knew we were having twins I was completely in the dark again.

Chuckling, I headed off to find a private place to work on my archdemon construction. Dantalion, Wisdom of Solomon, Celestial Fabrication, maybe even Agares. I had so many ideas for possible additions to this one, and once I made it, I had a feeling we were going to see some serious benefit to this whole situation. I ran a hand over my forearm, feeling my armor as I considered my options for the future. Yeah, I couldn't wait to see how this would turn out.