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

[Malcolm Tent]

The process of training my Celestial Fabrication was not going to be fast. Firstly, I needed materials. One would think, given the nature of the library, that there would be plenty. One would be wrong. Most of the stuff that made it into the promethean library was high end mats or items with naturally occurring flame attributes. Weak artifacts had long since stopped manifesting anything interesting, so there were hardly any, and the ones that were there were important pieces that couldn't be spared.

This was a problem, but also not, because on the one hand, I couldn't do my work, and on another, when I told Terry that he ordered me a MOON of junk. I had been unaware, up until this point, that a moon was a unit of measurement. Apparently I had been missing out.

Sadly, despite that upcoming resource dump, I was unable to work at the moment, so I was forced to do the one thing I least wanted to do: relax.

"You know, you were just taking a break for a few months," my wife said wryly. "You're not allergic to downtime. You can take some time off to process and decompress once in a while. There are many relaxing things you could be doing that don't involve crafting."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?" I asked with amusement. "And is one of those things cooking for you?"

"I have no idea what things you may find relaxing," she said loftily. "If for some reason making nourishment for the love of your life, the other half of your soul, and the woman currently carrying your unborn baby daughter is something you find fulfilling and worthwhile, then I, as your wife, would support you in that endeavor."

Laughing, I put an arm around her. "Relly? You would do that for me? Truly, I am blessed in life and in romance."

"As long as you know," she said with a serious nod. "Regardless, jokes aside, you should do-

She didn't get to finish her thought, because before she could continue, an earthshattering SHRIEK split the air, making me react instantly. I tossed her on the bed, climbing over her and shielding her and the baby with my body as best as I could without putting pressure on her, triggering Mornax with a push to S-rank despite the burn of overuse I got from the staff after my previous crafting session so recently gone.

We sat there like that, still and waiting, for about three minutes, the wail of what I could now process was an alarm going off in the background. "So…what are the chances that's a false alarm or some kind of drill?" I asked my wife sheepishly.

She sighed. "Considering you're here, not high. Though admittedly, my fate has been pretty nonsensical lately too, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm contributing. And Bethy. And wow, we basically travel with a horde of danger magnets. Alright, I love you for putting yourself in harms way for me, even if I'd have kidney punched you if you actually got hurt, but you can get off me now. We need to go find out what terrible but unlikely event we've somehow managed to trigger."

Laughing, I stood, helping her up. We walked to the door, pulling it open to show Benny with his hand raised to knock. When he saw my face, he just glared at me. "What did you DO?"

"I literally haven't done a thing since I got here except take a tour and do some crafting," I said dryly. "I should be asking what YOU did, Mr. Mad Scientist. This is a science place, after all. Maybe you did something scientific and angered the science gods. Everyone knows the forces that govern science are mysterious and arcane."

"You stop that right now!" he snapped in annoyance. "You know that was all nonsense, and that this isn't my fault. I won't fall for your word sorcery!"

I frowned contemplatively. "I don't have word sorcery, but that does sound useful. Maybe I should invest." I turned to Callie. "What do you think, hon? Word sorcery? That could be a hit at parties. If we ever threw any."

"You hate parties," she reminded me. "You got impaled at the last one."

"Stop ENABLING him," Benny groaned in annoyance. "This is serious. You're pregnant for the god's sakes. It's dangerous for you to be here without anyone to protect you." I was taken aback by his worried tone, though I shouldn't have been. Still, his concern for my family was obviously more extreme than for himself, and I couldn't mock that.

I put a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be fine," I said soothingly. "I can protect her from anything short of a god, at least passively. And she has Atlas's gem for that. We're not nobodies who can be pushed around anymore, Ben. We're strong, and we can take care of ourselves. And you too."

"What are we protecting Benny from?" chirped a happy voice. We all jumped, spinning to find Bethy behind us, dragging Chelsea with her.

"Shane," Benny said dryly. "As usual. Where's everyone else? We were all in the same general area of the guest wing, right?" I noticed that Abel, Dayna, my grandparents and El weren't here, though the latter I was less worried about.

Still, finding them was our first priority. "I saw El with Terry this morning," I said slowly. "Anyone know where he is?"

Benny did, luckily, having been curious about the processing of the flames here. Apparently, he'd figured out where the control room was, and he was able to easily lead us there within a few minutes. When we arrived, we banged on the door, and it flew open to reveal a flustered looking Terry, Elonwy on his heels. "Shane," he said with relief. "Oh good, we were about to send someone to come get you. Come inside, quickly. It's not safe."

"You know," I said wryly as we entered. "That tracks. I was getting a very not safe vibe here. Any chance you can tell us WHAT isn't safe?"

He grimaced. "It's not really…I don't have a term for it in common parlance. The closest approximation you'd understand is something 'fire ghosts', which is needlessly dramatic and not really-"

"They're fire ghosts," Elonwy said from her spot studying the display. "Or at least, they're close. These ones are a special flavor. Namely, Void."

I froze. "What do you mean VOID?" I demanded. "How did the Void get in here?"

"They followed you," Terry said calmly. "Or rather, they waited for you to arrive and slipped in. We have a tolerance for anomalous pyroclastic entities here, and we're nowhere near capacity. Frankly, we didn't even bother screening the ones that slipped in because there's no reason to worry about them until they start to condense."

"APEs?" Bethy said with interest. "Are they primate ghosts?"

He groaned. "No, and that's why I don't use that name. I just don't know how this happened, our screening methods are impeccable, they never should have-"

"Stop," I said firmly, holding up a hand. "No time for the blame game, and if there was, I'm sure I'd win. This stuff just happens to me, and if they followed me in this is my bad. So tell me what to do. It's not like they're gods, right? We have four S-rankers here, five if you count my boosted forms. Can't we just destroy them?" Peaceflame was made for this exact situation, in my opinion.

He grimaced. "The problem isn't what came IN," he said anxiously. "It's what's already here. We have things in the library that require constant suppression. Sentient flames that desire the death of all worlds, fragments of evil fire gods dredged up from the Void, cursed flame weapons that possess their wielder to steal the heat from stars. Some of them are S-rank, but some are higher. There are no complete deities in here, of course, but barring that…well, the sheer number of them is alarming."

I froze. "That's…would they KNOW about that?" I asked urgently. "That you use this place as a fire prison?"

"Some of the Void Children have ended up here," he confirmed. "And escapes have happened. Not many, but it's occurred. We increased security, but you know what Void stealth is like. With so many of them loose in the library there's no telling what they might release."

I looked around quickly. "Shit, we're missing people. Where are my grandparents, where's Abel? If there's things loose in here-"

"Your grandparents went to find your friends," Elonwy told me reassuringly. "Then stop in to check on some of the more obvious problem areas."

"Do we know what they're going for?" I asked worriedly. "Or do you just think they'll try to break out anything they can find?" In my experience, incursions like this usually had a purpose. A mass jailbreak was possible, but the Void tended to have targets. They were surprisingly organized for insane silence obsessed nothing ghosts formed from primordial darkness.

Terry grimaced. "There are a few options," he admitted. "But I suspect they're here for Bitter Conflagration. Of all our prisoners, she's the most deadly. A fragment of a god from before recorded history. Moonlight found her in Void Shallow a few millennia ago and barely survived a fight with her. We suspect when she was alive she was someone on the same level as your father in law. Even as a fragment she's deadly and terrifying. If she were to get loose…"

"So we don't let her," I said firmly. "I can't take a god, even a fragment, but I can take a fire ghost. Tell me where she's being held and we'll go make sure she stays there."

He looked uncomfortable, but eventually nodded. "Fine, if Elonwy goes with you."

"Agreed," I nodded. "Cal, you're staying back." Her eyes flared with outrage but I held up a hand. "This isn't safe for the baby. I get that you want to come with, and you know I wouldn't stop you if it were just us, but our daughter can't protect herself out there. I know it's not fair, but she needs you to do this."

Her eyes bored into me like hot pokers, and I could FEEL her desire to lash out, but ultimately she could tell that I was really worried. She sighed, nodding along. "Fine," she said softly. "I'll stay back. For now. But you'd better keep in contact."

I put a hand up. "I swear. You can talk right into my head the whole time. Chatter away, just really let me have it. I could use the distraction."

She chuckled, leaning up to peck me on the cheek. "I'm sure," she said in a quiet voice. "But try not to get TOO distracted. I need you back here in one piece. So be careful out there. If you run into anything you can't handle, leave it to El. Don't push yourself too much. I can tell you're still sore from all the rank boosting."

I nodded an admission. "I'll try not to let myself get dragged into anything. My grandparents are out there, and I'll probably meet up with them before we even get there. Don't worry about a thing, love."

She wrapped her arms around me, holding tight, and I patted her back. Then I turned to Elonwy and nodded, gesturing for her to follow me, and left without looking back. I tried not to think about what was happening or where we were going too hard. Not because I was afraid (I was largely immune to sensible things like fear of my own death at this point), but because I was getting a bad sinking feeling.

Something about this whole incident felt…intentional. Not like a plan. Like fate. I couldn't shake the feeling that we were supposed to be here, and that our presence was building to something bigger. Something important and relevant to us personally. And unfortunately, none of my premonitions of doom had been wrong up to now. This was going to get complicated before it got simple.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Elonwy and I made our way through the halls of the library with purpose. I wasn't taking any chances, making sure to wield my strongest combat power that wasn't likely to burn me out. Sammael, at tier nine, incarnated with a boost from the staff, had me at a fairly stable S-rank for this little incident, and I made sure to prepare for anything as we walked through the halls of flashing light.

Beyond Sammael, I had manifested Mephistopheles, the Ruin fire mixing with Sammael's black flame and enhanced by the boosting nature of the demon's power. Sammael had been my strongest combat form for a long time, and while he definitely wasn't anymore, he was still easily my most adaptable.

Elonwy watched my wings spread behind me with casual interest, I couldn't remember if she'd seen them before, but given my bloodline, if she hadn't seen these she'd definitely seen at least one set.

"They'll be fine," she assured me as we walked. "Your grandparents are unusually strong, even for S-rankers."

I shook my head. "It's not that," I hedged. "It's this 'Bitter Conflagration'. I had a bad feeling about her. Like this is going to lead somewhere bad. We need to make sure she doesn't get out. I'm not sure why, but I can feel that her release would be terrible for us."

My fate sense was screaming at me. Something was wrong. Something I didn't understand and something far more consequential than yet another attempt by the Void to swing things their way. I was so caught up my doomsaying that I nearly missed the swipe of congealed flame that flashed towards my neck as I stepped around the corner. Nearly.

The Pillar of Goetia flashed up, slamming into the flashing edge and neatly deflecting it before whirling back up from behind to strike at the creature who had swung at me. Even as I struck, my eyes focused on the being I was attacking, revealing a floating red robe or cloak full of condensed fire. Free floating red gloves held a long halberd made of glowing red metal with a flameshaped blade at the end.

Despite being A-rank, the creature managed to actively put pressure on me with its attack, and it took me a moment to figure out why. "Shit," spat as I looked around. "This fucking thing is a fire spirit. It's getting powered up by all the fire attribute energy in here, isn't it?"

Elonwy, unfortunately, was already engaging another four combatants, but she had time to shout back a confirmation. I grimaced, preparing to counter it…and realized I COULDN'T. Cursing, I triggered Mornax as I considered my options.

Fire. Every ability I had was fire based at this point, or close enough. I needed a way to suppress fire. Or at least…bind it.

I was familiar with fire. In fact, I might be more familiar with fire than anyone. So many flames I had, so many ways to burn. But because of that, I understood the heat, could predict and control it. And because of the power I'd gotten from devouring Deveskane, that meant I could BIND it.

Dropping Sammael and Mornax, I stood exposed, calling for Dantalion as I closed my eyes, trusting Elonwy to protect me as I arranged my counter to the threat.

Dan was all about perception and processing. Understanding the composition of what surrounded me. I didn't boost him to S-rank, because I didn't need to. I just focused my mind entirely on the flame. On all flame. I shut out the unnecessary and pointless distractions, reaching only for the core, the singular fire that bound all varieties of flame together, just like Terry was searching for.

Obviously, I couldn't find that. But I found a few fairly core attributes to the fires that all of them seemed to possess. Then I reached out with the power of sealing inside me and locked. Slamming it shut and throwing the key away.

There was a ripple around us, and the heat just…ceased. My eyes opened slowly. Nearby, I could see frost forming on the walls and floor, see the fire spirits attacking beginning to slow as the heat was drained from their bodies. A-rankers like me, which meant even without the boost, they were well within my strike zone. And strike I did.

A pair of quick slams with my staff shattered one of the frozen fire spirits and then another into pieces, shattered remnants of frozen flame tinkling to the floor. I felt the power burning through me, and I felt the world respond to my domination, if only for a moment. For a few seconds, it felt like the world held its breath…and then it ended, and the heat and motion came rushing back as I stumbled to the side, catching my nearly boneless body against the wall.

"Woah there," El said as she caught my elbow. Blinking, I glanced to find hers down too. She'd taken the opportunity to take out the three I hadn't gotten while they were frozen. I was relieved. "Impressive moves there, kid. That's a scary Domain you've got there. I didn't know you could suppress attributes."

"Neither did I," I admitted. "It was spur of the moment. I'm not sure I could do it with anything but fire, but with so many phoenix bloodlines in me I'd have to be idiot not to have picked up a talent for the stuff." Every bloodline I'd developed gave me a deep and intrinsic understanding of the relevant type of fire, and since all of them had fire as a base…combined with my various flames and Dan's analysis, I'd managed something cheap on the fly.

That said, I was interested in exploring possible future uses for that ability, especially here where we were ass deep in every conceivable kind of fire. Whatever I chose to do though, it would need to wait a bit, because I was wiped from that little party trick.

I spent a few moments letting myself recover, calling on an old friend to help. From my Domain, a shriek of challenge erupted, and then Archimedes, my Life Nova Phoenix, emerged. He glared down at me in irritation, taking in my condition, then reached up with his wing and slapped me in the face with a green flaming wing.

Coughing, I jerked back as the Life Nova Flame flooded my body, igniting the nine drops of Life Nova Bloodline in my heart and flooding me with energy. Archie wasn't A-rank, he hadn't been able to keep up with my insane pace recently, but he WAS B-rank, and we had the same bloodline. Much like a single spark could light a bonfire, his burst of life nova flame could ignite my bloodline…only: "Why the hell did you HIT me?" I demanded as I spat out a few flaming feathers.

He let out a shriek of defiant annoyance and I grimaced. "Ok, yeah, it's been a while, but it's not like I left you alone. There's been a lot going on." I ignored the disdainful snort. Or tried to. "Hey you benefitted from all this nonsense too. Not as much, but you're pretty deep into B-rank now."

Elonwy snickered at us. "Are you two done? I think we need to go."

"Yeah," I said sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm good." I turned to Archie. "Here, one second." Reaching for Asmodeus, I called forth the demon of enhancement. He laid himself over Archie, and my Phoenix let out a screech of triumph, wings flaring as the feathers changed and horns erupted from his head. I scoffed. "So dramatic. No idea where he gets that."

Archie, now rocking an A-rank power level himself, screeched challengingly and swept away in a blaze of green-black fire. Chuckling, I followed behind him, waiting to see where he would lead us. With his A-rank power, he was faster than I was, and smaller, and had wings, so he was the natural pick for a scout, and he knew it.

He swept out ahead, ranging down the corridors and circling back. I held up an arm and he landed on it, trilling excitedly. "He found something," I told Elonwy. "Apparently it's a…wait, what? What the hell do you mean you found a lakeside villa?"

Frowning, El raised an eyebrow at me. I ignored her, aiming that same question internally at my wife, who passed it on to Terry. I expected to play a game of telephone, but to my surprise, Terry himself appeared around the corner moments later, dressed in a bright red three piece suit. I got a seriously scary vibe from that suit, and I assumed it was some form of armor, S-rank for sure.

Raising an eyebrow at him, I gestured down the hall. "What's up with the lake? You guys have one of those here?"

"No," he said grimly. "Which means it's PROBABLY a Domain projection. We're inside an S-rank formation with suppression elements designed to ensure space and energy stability. Which means if there IS a Domain being projected here, the Domain itself has to be stronger than the formation. One of the god fragments is awake."

"See," I sighed. "I was afraid you were going to say something like that. Just out of random curiosity, which direction is the place where the Bitter Conflagration is imprisoned? You know, the place my grandparents probably went first?"

He smiled tightly, raising his hand and pointing the way Archie had just come.

"That checks out," I sighed. "Alright, let's go then. Everyone stick close." I triggered Mornax and boosted it again, hoping my S-rank defenses would be enough against a fragment of a god that had been described as being on the same level as Atlas. Mornax was supposed to be invincible at the same level, and a fragment wasn't a real god…but there were degrees to everything.

We made our way down the hallway, slowly, and I kept my staff ready in case of combat. We turned the corner and sure enough, as soon as we passed the edge of the wall, there was a subtle shift in space, and suddenly we were standing at the edge of a huge lake. I froze, looking around worriedly. "Ok…this is really big," I said warily. Staring off into the distance, I saw the lake was surrounded by an endless sea of evergreen trees.

Size and Domain strength weren't DIRECTLY correlated, at least not one to one, but larger Domains tended to be capable of bearing more pressure, which could easily translate into power. I knew that from personal experience.

"This is a realm," said Terry in a tight voice. "An actual fragment of a world manifested by a deity. It's basically a hanging land." In front of us, a towering wooden villa climbed into the sky, set at the edge of the lake with a long dock leading out onto the water. Despite the danger though, we all knew what we had to do. We advanced, moving forward slowly toward the villa.

There were no defenses, no guards, no traps or hidden dangers. We were able to just walk across the yard unaccosted. When we reached the door, we knocked, and it opened on its own, letting us inside.

Glancing at each other warily, we all nodded firmly, and then we stepped inside. We could hear speaking off in the distance, and I recognized my grandfather's voice. Without any hesitation, I headed in that direction, following the sound to a large open concept dining room where several people sat having tea.

Dayna, Abel, my grandparents…and a woman I'd never met before. A woman who I didn't know at all…but whose face was incredibly familiar. She looked almost exactly like my wife. Or rather, more accurately, like my wife's older adopted sister and ancestor, Alara. The red haired, slightly older version of my wife turned to lock eyes with us and smiled warmly. "Oh, guests! Please, come in and have some tea." Damn it. Not another one.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

I swallowed hard at the appearance of the Bitter Conflagration. She looked like Callie. I knew, in this universe or the others I had interacted with, exactly ONE person who looked like my wife who was not Callie herself. Her sister Alara.

Despite calling themselves sisters, Callie's actual relation to Alara was mostly unknown, at least via number and function of relatives. Ancestor was probably a closer term, but even Alara herself couldn't say how many generations separated the two of them. Callie's appearance had, most likely, been a strong motivator behind Adam Atlas, the Heretic God, deciding to adopt my wife when he performed her racial trait upgrade.

Alara, who had supposedly been dead until we found her in the chaos chasm post vampirism, was nearly identical to my wife in looks, with only small differences between the two. This woman, obviously, had her own deviations from the template the two sisters established, mostly via her apparent age (late twenties early thirties rather than the late teens early twenties or my wife and her vampiric sibling), not to mention her fiery red hair, but she still looked close enough to identify the relation at a glance.

She wasn't slow on the uptake either, she noticed my reaction to her. Smiling warmly, she leaned forward to pour another cup of tea. "You're running low, dear," she said kindly. "Oh, it is SO lovely to have guests. It's been quite a while since I've seen visitors. Well, except those Void spirits who came here before you. But they were very rude, they wouldn't even sit for a drink."

My grandfather tensed. "The Void spirits were here before us?" he asked nervously. This woman was…scary. I could feel the power rolling off her like a bonfire.

"Oh yes," she said cheerfully, taking a long sip of her tea and sighing a happy sigh. "I do wish they might have shared a cup with me. This is my favorite blend, you know? I've been so cramped down here, and their loosening of my shackles was so very kind. It was a shame they decided not to accept my hospitality. But I repaid their kindness at least, they died quickly, and the pain was only horrible."

Everyone at the table froze at those words, except the woman herself, who seemed oblivious to the disruption her little admission had caused. I swallowed hard, reaching out to Callie to try to stop her from coming. As soon as she'd caught my emotional response to the woman, she'd set off to join us. She'd even shut the bond to prevent me from trying to convince her. Whoever this person was, her obviously unstable worldview was NOT something I counted as safe to have around my wife, resemblance or not.

I kind of wanted to run, to meet Callie outside and block her. I didn't know what she thought she could do to help and I didn't care. It wasn't safe here. Unfortunately, I was beginning to get the strong sense that if we tried to leave without permission very BAD things were going to happen.

"The tea is lovely," I said blandly as I took another sip. It actually was delicious. "Might we be so forward as to request the pleasure of learning your name, miss?"

She giggled, like she hadn't just admitted to butchering S-rank fire ghosts for the sin of not being polite enough. "Well aren't YOU the dashing little gentleman. Of course you may. I am Belsara, the bitter conflagration, goddess of the creeping fire, vessel of the burning heart. And who might you be, little gentleman?"

"Shane Wyndham, ma'am," I answered politely. "Wishmaster of the Wish Curse Palace." I kept my response as sanitized of anything to do with Atlas as possible. I felt like I was dealing with Black Sorrow again, only worse, because Black Sorrow cared about my relationship to my grandmother, and Belsara had no idea who I was. Although, the name did make me curious. It kind of reminded me of Alara's in a way, and made me even more certain that there was some relation there.

Nodding like she had any clue what that was (though I wasn't really convinced) she favored me with another smile. "How impressive. You're a very accomplished young man, aren't you? I can sense the fire of your vitality, and it burns strong. I'd put you at…perhaps twenty years of age? Maybe a bit more? And already A-rank, how precocious. Tell me, are you godspawned, child?"

"Not exactly," I hedged. "I have several deities in my family, but my parents are not gods. Nor are my grandparents, who sit here before you."

If she could sense how OLD I was, I wasn't confident I could lie to her, or even hide anything particularly big. I was starting to panic a bit. That panic was magnified exponentially when I heard a bang at the door outside. The link flew open, and a flood of terror and desperate worry washed over me. Belsara looked up with interest. "Oh? More guests, how lovely." She frowned. "But how will I answer the door? My guests are already here, and if I get up and leave it would be horribly rude. I suppose I'll just have to kill the new visitors, musn't neglect my company. One moment," she raised a hand, fingers beginning to glow, and I barely stopped myself from tackling her.

"WAIT!" I yelled frantically. "I mean, wait," I adjusted my tone as she cocked her head at me in concern. "I can send someone to get them. I have demons in my Domain, quite a few of them. They would be happy to help. If I could have your permission to invite one out into your home."

"Hmmm," she hummed indecisively. "I suppose that would be alright. I don't know if I have enough tea though. What if there are too many of them?"

"It's only two," I assured her quickly. "My wife is worried and came looking for me."

Her face lit up. "A FAMILY visit! How novel! Yes, yes, send your retainer, I would welcome your wife into my home."

While that SHOULD have made me ecstatic, and I was definitely happy Callie wouldn't be casually incinerated by an insane goddess, I had a knot in my stomach I couldn't get rid of. Callie shouldn't be here. I didn't know why she would come…ok, that was a lie. I did know. She'd been scared for me and given her interactions with her dad and sister she figured Belsara might be more likely to let us go if she knew Callie was involved. She might even be right. But I couldn't shake the feeling that this was all very wrong. Something bad was happening, was happening to all of us RIGHT NOW, and I couldn't stop it.

My wife shouldn't come into this house, but if she didn't she'd die. And then I would die, because I WOULD attack Belsara if she hurt my wife, goddess or not. I conjured Azazel, hoping he would have some way of influencing things, though I realized that was unlikely. Then I sent him to get the door and let Callie and Terry inside.

At the very least, she hadn't come alone. If Terry had let her run off into a base under attack without protection I'd have blown up his stupid formation myself. There was very little wait from the front door to the dining room, or at least, there shouldn't have been. I frowned. Azazel was walking further than he should have to. Which meant either she was enlarging the space to the door or she had SHRUNK the space to the door when we arrived.

And suddenly this whole thing felt wrong. Belsara's weird casual crazy about manners didn't make sense, not when we'd just walked into her house and joined in. And the Void Spirits must have been able to enter easily to get in before us, but they'd been dead before my grandparents arrived. She'd killed them quickly, and most likely not over manners. She'd wanted them gone before we showed up.

Beyond that, her earlier threat didn't make sense. Fragment or not, she was a god, and a strong one. If she wanted to kill Callie and Terry, I wouldn't have seen her start the attempt. Everything that was happening here was being carefully curated. Nothing we'd done since we entered this Domain had been unscripted. She was manipulating us. But why? What was the point? If she was free, why not just leave? Why involve all of us in whatever this was. What was she hoping to gain?

In fact, how had she done this so easily? Thinking back, I remembered the changes to the bond. Had Callie actually shut me out at all? Or had Belsara hijacked it somehow. Because that series of events had been far too convenient to be a coincidence.

My heart hammered in my chest. This was wrong. All of this was wrong. We needed to leave, NOW. But we couldn't. None of us could. We weren't strong enough.

I watched in horrified fascination as Azazel arrived at the door, somehow visible from where I sat, and opened it to admit Callie and Terry. The look on Belsara's face as they entered was one of such glee, such profound triumph, that I knew I'd been right. She'd known this would happen, all of it, and had arranged us like pieces on a chessboard to achieve this exact result.

Which begged the question…why? I could assume that there was some reason she couldn't just walk out and grab Callie, maybe something about the formation? Could there be some way to beat her contained within the suppression of the library? Obviously it was capable of restraining her somehow, and had been doing so for a long time. Was there some way to activate it again? I was reminded of the tower with Drexel, only this situation was a thousand times WORSE. Drexel had been massively suppressed by the Chaos Chasm, but while Belsara too had been bound in captivity, the formation clearly wasn't on the same level as the chasm.

"Shane!" Callie yelled as she spotted me, bolting past the insane goddess and my grandparents and throwing herself into my arms. "What happened? One moment I was trying to talk to you and the next the bond just slammed shut! Why did you close it?"

My eyes flicked to Belsara, whose eyes were wide and glittering as she stared at my wife. Yeah. Just like I suspected. She'd jammed Angelic Bond. Which realistically should be nearly impossible, but then again, the bond was based on the angel trait that Atlas had created for Callie when she formed her Chronicle. Assuming Belsara KNEW Atlas (which was all but certain at this point), it would be completely reasonable for her to have figured out a way to jam it inside her own realm.

"Must have been some kind of interference," I said flatly, shifting my body slightly to put myself between my wife and the dangerous trapped goddess. "Why don't you say hello to our host, Cal. This is Belsara."

She frowned, turning to look at the other women and…froze. "Oh," she said in a small voice. "Hello,"

Belsara's eyes BLAZED with fanatical excitement. "Hello little one," she said, soft enough to not spook my wife. "Welcome to my home. I hope you weren't waiting too long. It's truly wonderful to meet you."

As expected, she'd known. She'd known all of it from the first moment we arrived. I frowned, considering my options…but eventually decided that the time for treading carefully was past. "Who exactly are you?" I asked quietly as I drew myself up to put further distance between the two of them. "And how do you know Adam Atlas and his daughter Alara?" Her eyes snapped to mine, narrowing in anger, and I sighed internally. Sometimes, I really hated being right about things.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

I thought Belsara might attack me for a moment, her eyes lit with incandescent rage…and then it passed, and her smile, which hadn't actually changed during the dangerous moment, warm and inviting. "Why, what a peculiar question," she said airily. "Though I suppose hardly a surprising one, considering the obvious resemblance. Very well, why don't you all sit down. Calliope, darling, would you like something to eat? I have these DIVINE finger sandwiches I can whip up."

She didn't seem to care that I hadn't mentioned Callie's name, and with a flick of her fingers, she conjured a pair of chairs behind my wife and Terry, knocking into the backs of their knees and depositing them in the seats. In the blink of an eye, a cup of tea appeared in one of Callie's hands and a plate of tiny sandwiches with the crusts cut off in the other. Terry got tea too, but it just appeared in the air in front of him and he had to fumble to keep it from spilling all over him. But hey, at least she wasn't biased.

Callie watched warily, scooting her chair over so it was next to mine, instead of behind me where she'd ended up due to my protective stance. She took a sandwich, biting it gingerly, but her eyes lit up as she offered one to me. If Belsara wanted us dead we'd be dead, and poison would be pointless, plus my Danger Sense wasn't warning me about the sandwiches, even if it WAS going apeshit right now.

I took the offered sandwich and bit into it, impressed by the depth of that flavor despite only really tasting cucumber and cream cheese. "These are amazing," Callie gushed. "What's in them?"

Belsara preened, and I frowned internally. I didn't think Callie was as aware of the danger here as I was. Possibly because she wasn't IN any danger from Belsara, but I didn't think she could sense my emotions through the bond if she was this relaxed. Which meant Belsara could not only SHUT the bond, she could probably tinker with it. That was VERY bad.

"The secret is finely chopped watercress mixed into the cream cheese," Belsara said modestly. "It was my daughter's favorite summertime snack as a child. I'm so glad you like it."

Callie swallowed hard, her face apprehensive. "Your daughter…Alara?"

Hot rage swam through Belsara's eyes. "My lucky star," she said roughly, her teeth clenching like she was in incredible pain. "Dead too soon because her failure of a father couldn't be bothered to pay attention."

I blinked at that. Right. Alara had been presumed dead when we found her. Even Atlas hadn't expected her to come back. I tried to decide how smart it would be to tell Belsara that…but unfortunately my wife was having a very different experience right now, and she didn't have that reservation. "But Alara's not dead!" she said excitedly. "She DID die, but there was an accident, and she came back as a vampire!"

Belsara, who had been taking another casual sip of tea…froze. Now, some people would use that term to mean that she went very still, but that wasn't what happened. Belsara FROZE. Not into ice, but almost in time. In fact, everything that wasn't US froze. It was like the world just stopped. "What did you just say?" she asked calmly.

"Alara is alive!" Callie gushed. "She was in stasis for a long time, so she's still pretty young, too. She ended up sealed in the Chaos Chasm!"

Belsara's hands shook slightly, the only sign of disturbance on her serene face. "That is…you're telling the truth. I can hear your honesty," her voice was shaky, despite the complete lack of facial expression, and I couldn't say I blamed her. I didn't even HAVE a daughter yet and the idea of something happening to her broke my heart. Maybe my premonition of doom didn't take this into account? Maybe things were turning around.

"What happened, exactly?" I asked her slowly. "Between you and Atlas? What happened to Alara?"

It wasn't too big of a leap to assume she and Atlas were an item if she was Alara's mother, not that I'd had much doubt before. But the sheer MALICE she expressed when talking about him gave me a not so nice feeling.

"My daughter was always daddy's little princess," she said in a shaky voice. "Ever since she was a little girl, she was Adam's pride and joy. I loved how close they were, of course. We were a family. But we were never his first priority. Not really. You see, Adam hated the Void far more than he loved either of us."

Callie looked confused by that. I didn't blame her. Atlas was an attentive father, even to Callie, who he had adopted later in life. He doted on Alara too. But then, if this story was going where I thought it was, maybe that was the point. Maybe he'd lost his family because of his hatred and tried to change. It would explain why he was so resolute about claiming Callie as his after giving her the archangel trait. "How did Alara die?" my wife asked in a small voice. I could tell she had never considered the question before. Honestly neither had I until today. I knew Alara, and she was still around, so I never bothered to ask.

"Treachery," she said coldly. "Adam was blinded by his hatred and trusted someone he should not have trusted. My husband was always far too emotional. We drifted apart after that, I'm afraid. I never could forgive him for letting her die."

That was truth, I could smell it. But it wasn't the WHOLE truth. I could almost feel the unspoken words behind that statement. The tragedy, the anger, the betrayal. How had she gone from that situation to this one? How had she been shattered and then trapped here? I somehow doubted she was the kind of god that any old divine being could destroy. And she had been very careful just then to change the subject when the fallout came up.

If I had to guess, I would have bet that Atlas himself had killed her. And I was willing to hazard a guess that she wasn't exactly blameless in that incident.

But I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't tell Callie, not with the bond being interfered with, and if I said something out loud she would probably just kill me. So I decided to play along until we could get out of here. "Well, I'm sure you're excited to see her once you're free," I said cheerfully. "I'm sure she missed you terribly."

Her face shut down, going blank. "Perhaps," she allowed. "But who knows what stories her father has been filling her head with? After I lost my lucky star, I was inconsolable." She reached out to take Callie's hand. "I'm afraid I did some things that I regret. You're going to be a mother soon, Calliope, surely you can understand my pain." She lowered her eyes in shame. "I'd love nothing more than to reunite with my daughter, but I'm not sure she would want to see me."

Callie, being one of the kindest, most empathetic people I've ever met, naturally melted. She squeezed back, offering Belsara a comforting smile. "I think you're underestimating my sister," she said softly. "When Alara came back, and found out that dad had adopted me, she didn't hesitate to embrace me as part of the family. If you're truly sorry for the things you did and work to change, I'm sure she'll forgive you. Family means everything to Alara. And I'm sure dad will be happy to see you too-"

"No," Belsara snapped, breaking the spell (metaphorically, I was almost positive). "I refuse. He can't be trusted. It was his fault. I warned him his crusade would end her life, and he ignored me. It was his fault she died. I wouldn't have needed to betray him to the Void if he had kept her safe!"

And there it was. I had kind of figured it would be something like that. Callie's face went pale, and she tried to pull away, but Belsara's hand clamped down on her wrist like an iron vise. I didn't hesitate, I blurred forward, calling on Bennu, pushing him to S-rank, flooding my body with as much power as possible as I funneled that five colored fire, now enhanced by my new flame, into and through my Domain, hurling the power into a seal designed to clamp down on Belsara and hold her long enough for us to escape.

I made it five inches before I froze in place. I raged against the binding, throwing every ounce of power I had at her, but it wasn't enough. Not at A-rank. Even with the boost, I could only barely breach the S-rank threshold. She was a god, even if only a fragment, and even my grandfather was helpless to do anything. I screamed and twisted and pulled, calling on every demon I could think of, but the solid hold of a god's Domain was beyond my power.

Callie, for the first time since she saw I was ok, looked afraid. "What are you going to do to me?" she whispered.

Belsara reached up with her other hand, cradling my wife's cheek. "Oh my child," she crooned. "I'd never hurt you. You OR your baby. Blood of my blood. I can see your spirit, how strong and beautiful it is. All I could ever ask for in a child. Alara will forgive me in time, I'm sure, but you said it yourself, she'd do anything for family. For her new little sister. I won't return you to Adam. Won't let him twist you the way he did her. Won't let him fail you. You OR your daughter."

"So…you'll let me go?" Callie asked hopefully. "You won't hurt anyone?"

"Of course I won't," she purred comfortingly. "I won't need to. After all, you're going to be a good girl and come with mommy, aren't you? I'll take you somewhere wonderful, where you and the baby will be safe."

My mouth was full of blood, I was clenching my teeth so hard they had cracked, my bones were groaning under the strain as I hurled every ounce of power inside me against the hold of her Domain. I couldn't let this happen, I couldn't let her take my wife, take my baby. My blood was blazing, all my bloodlines ignited, my soul was screaming, my demons were raging, Gehenna boiled inside my skin to explode into reality and rain down hell on anyone who threatened my family. I was blazing with more power than I had ever even considered possible…and it did nothing.

Callie turned to me, tears in her eyes, and I could see the trust, the love, the faith she had in me. I heard her whisper through the bond, telling me to find them. To be safe. That she loved me.

And then the house was gone. The table was gone. And both of them were gone. We were alone, kneeling on hard brown stone in the library, everyone except my wife, and the goddess who had stolen her.

The seal was gone, the fire erupted, and I screamed in loss and unbearable agony as I drove my fists into the floor, smashing through the stone as I unleashed every ounce of stored energy I'd failed to use to save Callie into the rock below. I punched, and I punched, and I punched. The energy faded, the power left me, my hands shattered, but I kept punching, like I could smash my way through the floor and into a tunnel that would take me to her.

A hand landed on my shoulder, then the other, my grandparents comforting me, but I never looked up. I fell forward into the crater I'd made, into the slurry of my own blood and the dust of the shattered stone, and I started to cry. That was the last thing I remembered before the darkness swallowed me. Mercy at last.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

"Shane," Benny's voice washed over me, but I didn't pay attention. My eyes remained locked on the ceiling, staring up at a single spot on the stone like it held the secrets to the universe. Or a universe. Any universe but this one. "Shane," he said again. "I need you to respond, man. Say something. Anything."

I didn't move. Didn't speak. I just stared. "Damn it Shane," snapped my sister as she stalked over and grabbed me by the breastplate, yanking me upright. "What the hell are you doing?" she demanded.

"Who knows," I said dully. "What have I ever done? Really? Callie's gone, Chelsea. A fucking GOD took her. I don't even know where. I've been trying to use the bond, but it's been shut down. I can't find her. My wife and unborn daughter just got kidnapped and I have…nothing. No leads. No heading. No idea where to go. So what am I doing? Nothing. I'm doing nothing. Which is all I'm good for."

It wasn't reasonable. I should be getting up, getting ready to charge off on another quest. I should be preparing to go punch a sun or something until it told me where she was.

But I couldn't. I couldn't move. Couldn't think. Couldn't BREATHE. She was gone. Callie was GONE. Not in the sense of being missing, we'd been away from each other before. But I couldn't FEEL her. Her soul and mine were constantly connected. Even if the bond was closed, I could still feel it pressing against my spirit, but I didn't. I was alone. Truly alone for the first time in years.

And I couldn't deal. Callie was my heart, my motivation, the source of my strength. I could sit through literal torture if I had her, had done so a dozen times. But this…I didn't know how to do this. How to process her and the baby being gone.

"Shit," my grandfather muttered. "He's in a recursive loop."

My grandmother sighed. "There's a reason people don't usually have soulmates. Not that I suspect it would be much better without the bond. She's carrying his child. Can we break it?"

"From the outside?" he said warily. "Maybe? But given how wrapped up their souls are I wouldn't want to try. Better to have him do it." He knelt down in front of me, grabbing my chin and jerking it up to meet his gaze. "Shane, you need to get up. It's a lot, I know. Your stats are heavily wrapped up with Callie, nullifying your bond unbalanced your recursion. You're spiraling. You need to pull up if you're going to find her."

I froze. That was…right. Find her. I should be finding her. Callie was ok. She was just lost. I needed to find her. I staggered to my feet, heading off…somewhere. I'd figure it out. I started to call Dantalion, but my grandfather's hand cut me off. "Whoa there," he said quietly. "Calm down, kid. I get it. It's scary. But we both saw what happened. That crazy goddess won't hurt your girl. She WILL hurt you if you push things. Which means we need to do two things. One of them is obvious, and the other won't take much thought. What are we doing? Think it through."

I clamped my eyes shut, forcing my brain to work. It wouldn't. So I triggered Piece of Mind. And again. And again. I filled my mind with parallels, with noise that could distract me from the pain and the fear.

My eyes opened, calm and rational. "We need to find out where she went," I enumerated. "And we need to learn more about Belsara. The second one we can solve by going to find Atlas. What about the first?"

"Judgement," he said immediately. "Belsara might be able to mess with your link, but there are deeper ties than skills. She won't be able to block your Karma. Especially not to the baby. That's your blood. Judgement CAN help. But that's just a direction. We need more than that. We need Atlas. Which means we need Alara. Unless you plan to make the trip over the Void Roads down to the Chasm again. I'm sure she had some method of contacting him."

I nodded quickly. "Yes," I said in relief. "Yes. Alara. She can help." I forced myself to focus, trying to shake off the fog in my head. "Shit. Recursion can BACKLASH? Why the hell didn't anyone tell me that?"

"Because most people don't build their recursion around material things," he said wryly. "Paired Ascendants aren't common. But it's not just you. It's obviously to a much lower extent, but you see similar spirals from swordmasters who lose their sword, or tamers whose bonded companions die." At my glare, he held up his hands. "I'm not comparing your wife to a pet or a weapon, Shane, I'm just telling you how the mechanism works."

"Sorry," I said after a moment. "I'm just…my blood feels like it's on fire. I need to be doing something. Anything. This isn't enough. I already wasted who knows how long spiraling-"

Benny cleared his throat. "About an hour," he informed me. "Wasn't that long. I don't…" he trailed off. "Shit, man, are you ok?" He sounded unsure of himself, and not at all like the Benny I knew, but I understood. Seeing me break down like that must have been weird for him. Hell, it was pretty weird for me and I'd been the one doing it.

"Not really," I said bluntly. "But I'm filling my brain with noise to make it easier to focus. Kind of glad I didn't manage that Perception balance yet. This would be way worse if I couldn't distract myself so easily." I turned to Terry. "Look, I need to go. With Song of Arcadia and Celestial Fabrication working together I should be able to get those timepieces going soon. Is it ok if I have yours delivered later?"

"Of course," he said firmly. "Family first. Go take care of it. You've gotten what you needed."

Nodding, I turned to my grandmother. "Speaking of going, can the Acheron get us back to the battlefront faster than the trip here? I need to get in touch with Atlas as soon as possible."

"It makes more sense to consult Judgement first," my grandfather pointed out. "We're in the Holy Dominion as we speak, and his lodge is nearby. In fact, we might not even need the ship to get there." He glanced at Terry. "Can we borrow the Starcannon?"

"To TRAVEL in?" he said uneasily. "I mean, maybe? I guess your Domain should be capable of withstanding it. Are you really that concerned?" At my sharp glance he shook his head. "Of course, my apologies. Yes, you can use the cannon." He shot me a sympathetic smile. "It'll get you where you need to be fastest. We use the cannon to launch flame fragments into nearby stars to test them. It's a complicated process, but barring a Domain like Nicholas's, I wouldn't recommend using it as a means of transport. I was simply concerned for your safety, I'm well aware of what's at stake."

Nodding, again, I let him go ahead, leading us toward this 'Starcannon'. I frowned at my grandfather as we walked. "Ok, what did he mean seeding stars?"

"The Starcradles aren't just called that because they make fire," he said as we hurried along behind Terry. "Those spheres you saw ARE stars. Or at least prototypes of them. They're suppressed to that state by the formation, but the actual manifestation process involves firing those small flames, called 'Starseeds' into nearby stars. If the seed takes root, it begins to convert the star, consuming its flame as it alters its core properties. Then it's harvested with the formation and condensed into an orb like the ones you've seen around."

"So, we're about to climb into a cannon that can fire small seeds of flame at a high enough velocity to drive them into the heart of STARS in neighboring systems?" I asked cautiously.

He nodded. "We are. Unless you'd rather take the long way."

"No, the cannon is fine," I said immediately. "But we need to be ready to head back as soon as we're done. Can we have-"


"Your grandmother meet us there?" he cut me off. "Of course. I was planning on it. Our arrival and consultation with Judgement should provide enough time for them to arrive to pick us up, and if not it should be close."

Swallowing hard, I nodded. I was having trouble processing everything, even with all the parallels running to distract me. I had shifted tactics to try to improve my response times, stacking my parallels to have them all repeatedly run through each thought so I could process them faster. It seemed to help a bit, grinding away some of the fog the distraction wasn't doing much about.

I didn't care too much about the cannon. If my grandfather thought it was safe I was sure it was fine. I just needed something to latch onto to keep me going.

My grandmother followed behind us, her face pinched with worry. "Nick, are you sure-"

"He'll be fine," he assured her. "My Domain is more than up to the strain. And it IS the fastest way there. I can exert control as we approach and land us safely, but the distance will pass almost instantly."

She frowned. "If it were anyone else I wouldn't allow it," she said bluntly. "Even I wouldn't be confident, and you know how much I've researched stellar travel. As a Demigod, you should be up to the task, but be careful. I want our granddaughter and great grandchild safe as much as you do, but not if it costs Shane his life. Urgent but not reckless, Nicholas. Please."

His expression, which started so resolute, softened a bit. "I know," he said quietly. "I won't take any stupid risks. But I WILL help him get his family back. If it was you, or Sasha…I don't know what I'd do, but it wouldn't be safe, that's for sure. With me there, he'll be better off."

She stepped forward as we came to a stop. Wrapping her arms around me, she pulled me into a tight hug. "She's going to be ok," she murmured into my ear. "They both are. And so are you."

I squeezed her back, then stepped away while she hugged my grandfather. "Watch out for him," she warned him again. Then she turned to Terry. "Can you set the vectors to pass Delraune? Nicholas can derail their passage easier than he can slow an atmospheric descent."

He nodded quickly. "I can do that. Should I adjust the parabola? With a Domain descent it should be feasible to curve the shot. Would cut down on deceleration trauma, even with a Domain to soften the blow. I'll have to rework the flight path slightly to account for the curvature, but it shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

"Too long," I said bluntly. I called out Dantalion, triggering the staff to push him to S-rank. He emerged solemnly, and I didn't even need to speak for him to know what to do. A jerk of my chin and he followed Terry off towards what I assumed was the control room for the cannon.

Speaking of which, the doors to the room we'd arrived at opened not long after they left, admitting us into a huge metallic chamber. The rooms was in the shape of a cylinder, and looking up the barrel I could see a faint gleam of light. It was WIDE too, almost a mile across at the widest point.

"Be safe," my grandmother said as my grandfather led me to the center of the room. She stepped out and he manifested his Domain around us. I waited for a moment or two, and felt Dantalion return to Gehenna. I tapped his shoulder to tell him to get ready, and we prepared for launch. There was a countdown, off in the distance, almost out of earshot, and then, with an almost physical roar, the room dissolved into a sea of fire.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Space is big. Now, one might consider that an obvious statement, given the place in question, but you don't really get a grasp on HOW big until you travel via Domain. Ships are enclosed, it's like a building, and while you can look outside to see what's going on, you're not ACTUALLY in the middle of the cosmos.

Domains are different. My grandfathers Domain was huge, to be clear, at least a thousand miles wide. But even THAT was so insignificant it was basically a speck in comparison to the void between stars. Seeing the endless dark of space flash by outside the Domain's boundaries was, quite frankly, deeply unsettling. We were moving so fast that I could occasionally catch glimpses of stars in the dark, moving like comets shooting over the skyline of a planet. Only they weren't moving, we were, and probably faster than I'd ever moved before.

While we traveled, I took the time to look around my grandfather's Domain for the first time. I'd never been inside of it, or even seen the inside. I had expected something grandiose like mine of Lark's or even Callie's, but shockingly, it was mostly just…empty. As in literally empty, his Domain appeared to be a huge open canyon.

"So…" I said slowly as I looked around. "What is this place?"

"Canyon of cleansing," he grunted, eyes still fixed on the distant starline. "I found that purification didn't lend itself so well to construction. Rather, I felt more in tune with the idea of stripping away layers bit by bit as I grew stronger. I DID build a small cave mansion at the bottom, if you need to sleep or anything, though I doubt we'll be mobile for that long."

I nodded and flopped down on the ground, leaning back on my hands. "You need me to leave you alone while you steer, or we good to talk?"

He shook his head. "Nah, it's not complicated. Just hard. Like lifting something heavy. I don't need to concentrate on how, I just need to do it. Besides, I won't deny I'm worried, I've been hoping to check in with you a bit. How is your head?"

"Empty," I admitted. "But not like nothing is inside. More like it's full of nothing, if that makes sense. I tried to take up some of the lack of space with parallels, but now that we're moving like this…it's sneaking up on me. Don't suppose you can purify some of this recursion for me so I can focus better?"

He shook his head. "Not how it works. I can't purify just any old thing. Recursion is tied to stats, and if I could purify THAT…well, let's just say people aren't so friendly to those kinds of abilities. They call those 'refiners', and they're considered pretty dangerous."

I made a mental note. "So what do I do?" I asked him tiredly. "I just can't focus. My head is a mess."

"No advice for that, I'm afraid," he said with a sad sigh. "I've been where you are. Celia in danger and unable to do anything. It's not a situation I envy, but you never know how you're going to deal until it happens. Everyone processes it different. Some people need to rage, some people need to calm down, some people need to get distracted, some people need to swim in it. I can't tell you which one you are, much as I'd like to."

I sighed, not having expected much. "It's fine. I get it."

"The older I get," he said. "The more I realize that all the worst fights of your life you don't get any backup for. I thought when I got to the top I'd be untouchable, that I could fight anything. That's why I created my Fist of the Final God. It was a statement. A call to arms. I would impose my will on the world, cleanse anything that stood in my way. I'd be the strongest and keep everyone safe."

I nodded along to his rant. "Yeah, I get that feeling. I'm the same way."

"Except the really scary stuff, you can't fight," he said sadly. "It feels like there's always higher to go, like you can keep growing and improving until you can handle anything. But once you run out of room, once you finally slow down, you realize there's just as much to be afraid of when you're strong. More in some ways."

I scowled at him. "You suck at making people feel better," I said bluntly. "If this is a pep talk, it's not working."

"It's not," he laughed. "Just honesty. Because you need to know what's coming for you. You're a lot like I was, you know. I know you look like Eli, but you take after me in terms of attitude. Your father was always a cold bastard, no matter what his little buddy or your mother tell you." He frowned. "Truthfully I never much liked him with Sasha. But when those two met…well, you get your stubbornness from Celia, and Sasha puts her mother to shame. So I put on a smile and played nice. Even if your dad is mostly a smarmy little twit I'd like to slap in the mouth."

I let out a surprised laugh. "Really? You always seem so…relaxed. Even around him. I didn't take you for the type." I didn't point out how similar that sentiment was to my OWN feelings about my father for most of my life.

He snorted. "I'm not made of stone, kid. I'm just more centered than most. Function of my abilities. Cleansing my mind and all that." He shrugged. "Plus there's no point in making things awkward with the brat. Sasha's crazy about him, always has been. Making a fuss would have just pushed her away, and I love my daughter. If I had to smile and play nice with him to make her happy it was hardly the end of the world."

"Do…do you think I'll be a good dad?" I asked after a moment. "You seem to have it down. Do you think I could be like that?"

"Can't say," he said gently. "It's not something you can predict. There's nothing quite like being a parent, you know. No way to prepare. No way to be ready. You can't train for it, at least not the first time. It DOES get easier after you've had a few tries. Samuel and I butted heads like you wouldn't BELIEVE when he was young. It's harder with sons, I think. Too much like you. Celia was always better with the boys. She and Sasha have their friction, of course. You've seen as much."

I nodded. "I remember. Nothing crazy, but they like to argue. So if there's no way to be ready, how do I…prepare? Like I can't just do nothing, right?"

"There is a secret to parenting," he said after a moment. "Well, not really a secret. It's pretty obvious. But it's a good thing to hold onto. If you want to be at least a decent parent, just remember one thing. Love your kids, and let them know it. Don't assume they can tell, don't keep it to yourself, don't let pride stop you from saying it out loud.

"Love doesn't fix everything, of course," he warned. "But there aren't many ways to screw up your kid that can't at least be mitigated by really loving them. At least in my experience. Try to do right by them as best you can, make sure they know you're trying, and try to listen to them when they tell you something. Do those three things and maybe, just MAYBE, you'll manage to raise a kid as amazing as I did. Though, to be honest, your mother turning out the way she did was about ninety percent dumb luck."

That drew a surprised laugh from me. "Aren't you supposed to take credit for everything?" I said mildly. "That's Ascendant 101."

"Being an Ascendant doesn't have much to do with being a parent," he said gently. "That's another thing to keep in mind. Your kids don't need power. They don't need skills or weapons or tools. Not at the start. Giving them those things is great, but if you do it too early, you're just passing the buck. Keeping them safe is your job. You're the one who needs to be strong. Their job is to be whatever they want to be. That can be tough to remember."

My face flattened, the smile fleeing as I remembered the circumstances of this trip. "Yeah," I said quietly. "I get that too. Seems like maybe I won't be so good a parent after all. My kid's not even born yet and I'm already fucking up."

"I could tell you that you didn't," he said bluntly. "But you wouldn't care. So I'll just ask the obvious. What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to get them back," I said, a cold, dark anger bubbling in my gut. "And I'm going to tear apart anything that gets in my way. I've killed gods before. I don't care how far they ran, or where they hide, or how many people they have. They took my family away, and I'm going to get them back."

He nodded approvingly. "Damned right you are. And we should be ready to begin the process shortly."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he chuckled, pointing up into the sky. "That you were so distracted talking about the meaning of life you didn't notice our approach. We're coming up on Delraune now. Judgement's lodge is in a forest on the east side of the planet. As long as we come in gently and land in the right spot, finding it won't be much of an issue."

I watched in awe as a shining mass in the distance came closer, enlarging as we approached. A huge sphere of landmass, mostly covered in water. I hadn't even been able to tell it was a planet when I first saw it. The whole planetary body was wrapped in some kind of shimmering golden mist that I'd never seen before. My grandfather noticed me looking and chuckled. "You can see it, huh? Most people can't. It's the mist of gathering Karma."

We approached the planet in a streak, not heading AT it but slightly to the side. As we did, my grandfather stood, cracking his neck and narrowing his eyes. As we were flying past, he stepped forward, drew back his fist, and PUNCHED. The Domain stopped on a dime. There was a loud crack and the whole thing froze completely, like he'd just LITERALLY shattered the momentum keeping us going. Then he reached up and grabbed the air. The motion revealed a deep crack in space, and with pure, brute force, my grandfather slipped his fingers between the fragments and PULLED.

There was a sort of strain on the air, like someone trying to suck something through a straw, and the whole Domain shuddered. Then we lurched forward, through the cracks in space, and with a pop like a soap bubble bursting, we were suddenly on the ground in a clearing among a whole bunch of very tall trees.

I gaped at him, but he was too busy doubling over, wheezing lightly with hands on his knees. "I forgot," he panted. "How deeply unpleasant doing that is."

With a flicker of will, his Domain vanished, recalled into himself, and he groaned and stretched like a cat waking up from a sunbeam nap. "Ugh, holding that for so long was NOT fun. But we're here now. If my heading is right, we should be going…" he scanned the horizon, then pointed off to the left. "That way," his tone was firm and confident, though I was pretty sure he was guessing. Either way, I just sighed and set off walking. If we were going the wrong way, we'd figure it out quickly enough. Better than sitting around doing nothing.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

"So, how is this a lodge?" I asked gruffly as we stopped on a hilltop, staring down at what was the least lodgelike building I'd ever seen in my life. Huge and made of crumbling stone pillars, moss overgrowing the sides, the building looked like nothing so much as a-

"He doesn't like the word temple," my grandfather shrugged. "He feels it's disrespectful to my teacher."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "He…knows the point of being an Ascendant is to reach godhood, right?"

"He disagrees," my grandfather said bluntly. "In fact, I suspect if he wanted to, he'd already have done so. Moon is the strongest of my teacher's students, but besides being the oldest, Judgement is by far the most talented. I firmly believe the only reason he isn't a god is because he doesn't want to be. In fact, I suspect he's spent quite a few centuries finding other ways to gain power. I'm not certain Moon or I could beat him at this point."

That brought me up short. "You can do that?" I asked. "Just…find another way?"

"You can do almost anything," he confirmed. "Judgement has an almost unhealthy amount of reverence for our teacher, and believes godhood to be his sole purview within the church. He considers the fact that no other member has reached Divinity to be proof of that fact. As such, he's never tried to reach it himself. Despite his complete lack of stat gain over the last few centuries though, I can never shake the feeling that he's getting stronger every time I see him. Harder to see through."

I frowned at him. "Are you sure we can trust this guy? Everything I've heard about him is kind of shady."

"Judgement is easily the most trustworthy of the lot of us," he shrugged. "He doesn't play the same games as the others. No need to compete for renown or resources. Not sure what exactly he DOES compete for, but he always comes through when we need him."

I nodded tiredly. Honestly, I normally might have pushed, been a bit more suspicious, even if just because it was my first instinct, but now…I didn't care if he was shady. My wife and unborn child were missing, I'd work with Morwenna herself if I thought it would get them back. "Then lets go and ask our questions," I said grimly.

We made our way down the hill, climbing the small mountain where the temple rested with purpose but no haste. I considered just flying up, but my grandfather stopped me. "It's a pilgrimage," he said gently. "A karmic bond that connects you to all those who have come before and will come after. Even we don't get to skip it. Not if we want his help." I could tell he was aware of how frustrating that was for me, but he didn't budge.

So we climbed. One step at a time, up the side of the mountain, along the steep and winding path. I had to admit, it felt…weighty. Not like Impact did. But like every step brought me closer to my destiny. It was the spiritual equivalent of a massive spire towering over us, expanding in the horizon as we drew closer to it. Of course, there was no actual spire, but that's how it felt.

Finally, after what felt like hours, we reached the top, arriving in a flat, overgrown courtyard of mosaic glass. The platform was beautiful, red and gold and white glass mixed with obsidian and dark blue. The tapestry of color swirled and blended into a dizzying and barely recognizable image. Beyond the mosaic lay a large stone door, cracked and faded with age, but thrown wide to reveal an interior that was in much better condition.

The inside of the temple was like another world. Not by virtue of magic or ascendant nonsense, it wasn't bigger on the inside or an open sky. It was just…maintained. Well cared for and cherished.

At the door, waiting, was a tall, willowy young man with a black cloth tied over his eyes. His clothes were worn and battered, but sturdy, and his hair was long and as dark as the cloth, likewise tied, but in this case back into a ponytail. He stood motionless, hands behind his back, as we approached, and then nodded. "Nicholas," he said in a soft, ethereal voice.

"Percival," my grandpa said with a nod. "It's good to see you."

"There's no need for lies, Nick," the Judgement Pope said lightly. "But you're welcome all the same. And this must be your grandson. A strapping lad, but carrying more weight than one would hope. Lay down your burdens here, young man. There'll be time enough to shoulder them again once you've gone."

I grimaced. "It's not that easy to lay down a burden," I said bitterly. "And I don't have time to lay this one down. I need your help. My wife is missing, taken by a fragment of an ancient goddess. I need a way to find her."

He stared at me. Or at least, I think he did. It was hard to tell with the blindfold. "You have the tools you need," he said softly. "If you learn to use them properly."

I frowned at the cryptic answer. "Tools I don't know how to use aren't exactly helpful."

"Truth," he nodded simply. "We are all equipped for so much more than we think. But it is only the tools for which we have understanding that show their worth. You have many tools, and very little understanding."

"Fuck you too," I snapped back, annoyed at the dismissal. "Look, I don't have time for this dime store wisdom bullshit. Normally I'd play your games and bow and scrape, but my wife is in trouble, as is my unborn child. If you can't help me find them how about you do me a favor and say that so I can stop wasting my fucking time."

My grandfather winced, but to my surprise, the Judgement Pope didn't get angry. "Haste makes waste," he said sadly. "The fire that burns you now is consuming your reason. I said to lay down your burdens, but I think perhaps you aren't carrying them at all. Perhaps your burdens are carrying you. Despite what you may think, I am not wasting your time, I am showing you a path. Your ability to walk it depends entirely on yourself."

I almost snapped back, but my grandfather put a hand on my shoulder. I paused, turning to look at him. "Listen to what he's SAYING, Shane," he said gently. "Listen to the words he's speaking, not just the ones you want to hear."

Forcing myself to calm down, I reached for Piece of Mind. What an ironic name. The more parallels I ran, the easier it was to distract myself. I really could give myself peace of mind. I closed my eyes, splitting off multiple parallels. Finally, I opened them slowly. "Karma," I said in a serene voice. "You mean I'd need to use Karma, and that my emotional attachments were going to make it harder."

He smiled proudly, nodding his confirmation. "Well reasoned," he said simply. "Many think the intricacies of Karma require a lack of attachment. They do not. Connection is the heart of Karmic communion. That said, certain types of connection are harder to see past than others. With rage predominant in your spirit, finding the links to the ones you love would be much more difficult. The Karmic connections of rage carry the Karma of vengeance, of hatred. Emotions are part of Karma, and to find the connections you seek, you must find the emotions they carry."

Having calmed myself down a bit, I could understand that somewhat. Still, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do here. "Well, that's good to know, but I don't have any Karmic abilities. Like I can't see the threads of…" I stopped.

Threads. Lines. Arrows. I blinked in stupefaction, then reached out with my mind, calling up Owen's power. My Overlay was the first of my powers, and it involved time and fortune in ways I didn't understand. But thinking it over, those arrows were…distinct. The lines of probability, yes, but also of connection. I should have known that, I'd created a timepiece for that one already. It seemed that my timepieces could still improved as I learned more, even beyond just adding complications.

I triggered Overlay, and then Dantalion, pushing both of them to the next rank. Then, considering my strategy, I triggered Azazel. Oz had access to some fairly obscure divination powers, and if anything would let me tap into Karmic lines, it would be his nonsense.

I didn't think that Overlay WAS Karma. I'd have realized that sooner. But I didn't think the lines were a coincidence. I opened my eyes to take in the world, trying to see beyond the Overlay, beyond the data, beyond even Oz's divinations. To the spot where it all collided, where every ounce of information swam behind a sea of possibility, swirling through tides of destiny and potential.

A hand landed on my shoulder, and I heard Percival's voice. "You seek what need not be found, young man. Karma is always with us, always part of us. It clings to us, transposes us. Karma is not something you discover, it is something you accept. Tear away the veil of convention. Accept what is."

His words were like a lever, wedging themselves under my perception of the world and hoisting it up and over. Shifting my worldview JUST far enough sideways that the shape of my power clicked into an unseen divot, slotting into place and unlocking a whole new world.

It wasn't an Archdemon. Not on its own. I hadn't created the timepiece mounts to do that. But Percival's gift helped me force a resonance, create a simulacrum of that process and unlock a new form that could help me find my wife. "Archdemon:" I intoned as I felt the world open up."Yama."

Before me spread a tapestry, an endless weave of golden lines, shot through with streaks of black and red and grey and a few other colors I couldn't even identify. There were so many types of strand, so many types of bond. Every one was different. Some were thick like chains, some thin like strands of golden silk. Some wrapped back on themselves, forming strong ropes after years of steady reinforcement, and some were frayed, rotting away over decades of disuse, on the edge of snapping entirely.

But one of them stood out above all the others. An unbreakable white shackle that anchored itself into my chest, stretching off into the distance uncaring of the space between us. Inside the chain, a smaller, more delicate chain of silvery white metal threaded through the links, shielded and supported by our unbreakable bond. Callie. And the baby.

I only got a second of it before the whole thing collapsed and I stumbled forward, falling to my knees with a groan as I clutched my head. "Owww," I groaned, hissing through my teeth. "Gods that sucked."

"All knowledge comes with a price," Percival said simply. "Did you pay enough to receive your answers?"

"Yeah," I grunted as I staggered to my feet. "Yeah I did. Thank you. It'll take me some time to get back to that state on my own with a little work. I'm sorry, for earlier. For yelling at you. I didn't realize what you were doing. But I appreciate it."

He nodded solemnly. "Children need not find their own wisdom," he said with a warm smile. "But only accept that which adults have earned through hardships of our own. The only thing we wish in this world is that our young do not have to suffer as we have suffered. I sense that you've known quite a bit of suffering, but perhaps my wisdom might save you a bit more." I nodded thoughtfully as I considered his words. "Now, come inside, I'll pour some tea while we wait for your ride. I am not SO wise that I can't benefit from a little gossip. I want to hear all the latest news from back home."

If it had been before, I might have declined, too agitated and impatient. But seeing that diamond chain in my heart, seeing what the bond looked like between my wife and I with my own eyes…I wasn't feeling better, exactly. But I was more at peace. It would take more than some punk ass god fragment to break a bond like that. The rest I could figure out as I went.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

My first order of business when I got on the Acheron was to get back to work. Tea with Percival and my grandfather had been…less of an imposition than I'd have expected. Knowing I could find Callie and being able to see she was alright were both powerfully soothing factors, and it allowed me to calm down enough to have a civil conversation, since I was waiting for the ship anyway.

But once my grandmother arrived and I boarded, all that impatience came flooding back. At the very least, Yama was necessary to properly keep track of the karma, and I threw myself into my research with a vengeance as soon as we were underway.

I wasn't sure how many hours I spent working, Celestial Fabrifaction getting a serious workout as I poured all my fabrication knowledge (boosted a rank, of course), into adjust Azazel, Overlay, and Dantalion to allow them to connect together and create my Yama form properly. Eventually, though, I finished my work, and began to take stock of all my other demons, beginning preliminary designs for all the rest of their timepieces, as well as upgrades for what I had.

Power. I'd thought I had it, enough to protect the ones I loved, but I'd been so damned helpless when Belsara had trapped me and taken Callie away. I knew it was stupid, getting angry at myself for not being able to defy a god, but I WAS. I was so angry. Not just at me. At my grandparents, at Belsara, at Atlas. It wasn't fair of me. To any of us, but I couldn't stop that bubbling cauldron of rage from boiling away in my gut.

So I'd get stronger. Train harder. Perfect my power. Because next time, I HAD to find a way to fight back. To do SOMETHING. I'd helped defeat an Overgod, I shouldn't be so helpless against a pale imitation of a deity. Belsara was just a fragment. I had to be better. Do better.

The knock on my door shook me out of my spiral, and I frowned, getting up to walk over and open the door. I wasn't too surprised to see Benny on the other side. He wasn't looking at the door, having turned away to wait, but when he turned back…he flinched when he saw my face, uncovered as it was by my mask.

"Gods, Shane," he spat, his face horrified. "You look like death warmed over."

"Gee, thanks," I said dully. "You look nice too. Now do you need something? I've got work to do before we get back to the palace."

He snorted, shoving past me as he entered the room. I blinked in surprise that he'd managed that, being a rank lower. Maybe I was pushing a little hard. He stalked over to sit on my bed, turning his eyes to me, his expression torn between frustration and worry. "You need to slow down, Shane."

"Sorry I'm concerned about my family, Benny," I snapped. "If you can't handle me ignoring you for a few hours-"

"Days," he cut me off.

I blinked at that. "Soort, what?"

"Days," he reiterated. "It's been four DAYS. You haven't eaten. Haven't slept. Haven't stopped working. Judging by how pale you look, you haven't even stopped to get a boost from Zagan. I get how scared you are, man. I GET it. But you won't be helping Callie or your kids with anything if you kill yourself before you even get to Atlas."

Kids. That word brought me up short. The baby…or babies. We'd never actually confirmed if it was twins. Callie hadn't wanted to know ahead of time. She said she could tell the baby was a girl, and we'd been treating her that way, but we still didn't know if we were having multiples.

It was such an inconsequential thing for my brain to trip over, such a small detail compared to the absurd stakes of everything going on. My thoughts stuttered, grinding to a halt for a second and Benny sighed, standing, grabbing me and dragging me over to an overstuffed chair nearby. I groaned, feeling the energy drain from my body. A second ago I'd been fine, animated by ignorance and anger and desperation, and now…I was empty. So empty.

"What did you do to yourself, Shane?" my best friend asked in a soft, sad voice. "This isn't healthy, man. You're no good to them like this."

My head hurt. I reached for Yama. I needed to see the bond again. Just for a minute. But when I did, my vision went fuzzy and I started to topple over. "Shit!" Benny spat as he dove to catch me. "Stop that!" He stalked over to the door, yanking it open. "JESSIE!" He yelled down the hallway. "Get in here, we need you!"

He whirled on me. "Don't DO anything else. Not even calling demons. Jessie will patch you up, and then you're going to get some fucking sleep."

"No," I mumbled. "Gotta work. Gotta-"

"I will knock you unconscious if you don't sit the hell down," he snarled at me. "Don't push me, Shane. You're going to kill yourself. Look at you, I didn't realize it was possible for you to strain yourself like this. It's not physical, either. Is this soul strain?"

I shrugged. "Dunno," I slurred. "Ignoring it."

"Well THAT'S brilliant," he snapped. "You realize that you're not at S-rank yet? Mercury souls can't be recovered if they shatter." There was a brief lull in the conversation, until the door opened and a familiar if blurry form slipped in. "Thank the gods, Jessie, he needs energy. Not much you can do about the soul stuff, but his body is completely wrung dry too, I think."

"Damn it, Shane!" Jessie snapped as she stalked forward. My head had started to tilt, but she caught me under the chin. "What is wrong with you?"

I groaned slightly as life energy poured into my body, soaking into my muscles and bones like warm water. It felt like my flesh was a desert and Jessie's power was a timely rain. Even the blurry vision faded slightly. Though I wasn't particularly happy it had, because it let me see the red rimmed eyes of my healer friend as she stared at me like I was about to implode.

"Shit," I rasped. "Don't look at me like that. I'm fine."

"Bullshit," snapped Jessie, to my surprise. "I'm not Benny. I know what exhaustion looks like and how close you are to it. I'm an experienced healer, so don't try to placate me. Benny, go get me some of that soup from dinner last night. The heavy stuff with the cream base. And some bread."

I grimaced. "I'm not hungry," I protested.

"You're starving," she said bluntly. "You've just been ignoring it so long your stupid body is pretending you aren't because it doesn't think hunger is doing any good. You DO know we still need SOME sleep and food, right? Even with your Vitality, your body requires more energy to function. You can sleep LESS, but you still need to sleep."

I let my head loll back, resting the back of my skull against the top of the chair as she continued pouring in energy. At B-rank, Jessie's energy wasn't exactly up to standard for my body. Granted, with her bloodline and focus, her Vitality WAS actually at the A-rank standard by this point, but there was still an Impact difference. If her trait wasn't so overpowered I doubted she'd have even been able to make a dent.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I just…I can't sit still." I had a moment. A single moment when I first saw that bond back on Percival's planet, where I felt hope again, felt like everything would be ok. But it hadn't lasted long. Because there was still a hole in my chest. Callie had been a constant presence in my life for years now. She was with me every day, even when we didn't talk or see each other. She was always there, and now, she was just gone. I couldn't feel her. It was like missing a limb.

Jessie must have seen it on my face, because she sighed and leaned forward to wrap me in a tight hug. "Well?" she demanded of Benny after a moment. "This is a group hug, moron. Team effort. Get in here."

Snorting, Benny leaned down to grab me in a hug of his own. I let my head slump, unsure what to do. I just felt so helpless. So pathetic.

"You need to rest," Jessie said softly. "And eat. And sleep. Do you think Alara is going to bring you to Atlas looking like this? Do you think he's going to tell you anything about Belsara if you can barely stand? But most of all, you need to let us HELP. You're not alone Shane. Callie is my best friend. I love her like a sister. I'd do ANYTHING to help her. And it's not just me. Bethy has been on call with Lark since we got back on the ship, convincing him to come with you when you go off to rescue her. Chelsea has been in touch with the Red Revenant, and your grandmother called Black Sorrow. They've been searching for any and all information about Belsara."

I blinked. "I…I hadn't even considered," I said slowly. "I mean I know Atlas knows-"

"See," Benny said in exasperation. "Tunnel vision. I told you. He always hyperfocuses when he's having a problem. He did the same thing when we were fourteen. He got jammed up fighting a field boss and spent three weeks trying to beat it with the exact same build. He was ready to quit the game before I told the idiot to try respeccing and he killed it in one try. Took him less than five minutes."

I scowled at him, my foggy brain clearing enough for me to automatically retort. "Who the hell gives a fish LIGHTNING RESISTANCE? And there was no notification about it either. It was just a passive skill. That chain lightning build should have been a hard counter."

"The fact that it wasn't dying didn't tip you off?" he asked dryly.

"I just thought it had way too much health!" I snapped. "You only figured it out because you looked up a walkthrough, and SOME of us have more dignity than that."

Jessie let out a giggle. "Now that's what I like to see. You two idiots bickering like five year olds."

The smile slid off my face. Callie would have said the same thing. Jessie sighed when she saw my expression fall. Benny put a hand on my shoulder. "Look," he said slowly. "I don't know what you're going through, man. I can't. I'm not going to pretend like I understand, because I can't even imagine. But I DO know you. Better than anyone except maybe Callie herself. And I know that if I don't derail this self destructive bullshit you'll run yourself off a cliff."

I wanted to argue with him. To scream and rant and rave about how I deserved to feel like this…but I didn't. Because in the end, he was right. Callie needed me. More than I needed to wallow. I closed my eyes, took a long, slow breath, and nodded.

"Good," Jessie said warmly, her power still pouring into me. "Benny, where the hell is that soup?"

"Group hugs or soup, woman?" he complained as he stood to go search for food. "Pick one and stick with it." Jessie just laughed, tossing a nearby bottle at him, and he caught it casually as he strolled away.

She snorted, looking back to me. "It'll take him a while to heat that up and get back with it, and I need some time to finish rejuvenating you. Why don't you take a nap. We'll wake you up when it's time to eat." Despite the warm power flowing into me, I was too exhausted to protest. I just closed my eyes and let the dark take me.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

I felt…not better, but human at least, by the time we reached the palace at the battlefront. I'd slept, eaten, and done a modicum of supervised research with Elonwy, who had strict instructions from my family to keep me from going overboard. Still, I did get some work done, and having an S-rank research assistant was actually pretty cool. I'd laid a solid groundwork for a bunch of my timepieces, which was better than nothing.

Three days went by faster than expected, and the thirty scrolls I condensed went right into the stockpile. It was almost relaxing. Almost.

Except I couldn't relax. I could rest my body, and distract my mind, but my soul was still in knots. Stepping off the ship to stare into a face VERY similar to my pregnant wife didn't help that sensation at all. I winced visibly when I saw Alara. She noticed, and I saw a bit of sadness flicker through her eyes. "Apologies," she said softly. "I hadn't considered…"

"It's fine," I grunted. "I forgot too. Just didn't seem important enough to register in light of everything else. I take it you know what happened?"

Her jaw clenched. "My mother," she said tightly. "I hadn't realized she'd survived. But I suppose it is to be expected. Gods are difficult to kill. I had been warned of her condition, but hearing that she's degenerated to such an extent…I am sorry." She bowed her head, clearly devastated by the news just as I was.

"Don't even," I said bluntly. "You think I take credit for all the shitty things my dad has done? You're not responsible for your mom. But I do need to know more about her. About where she might go. I don't suppose you-"

"Unfortunately not," she said quietly. "Her death took place quite some time after mine. According to my father, my loss caused her to become heavily disillusioned with him as a person. She didn't reveal her distaste immediately, but colluded with his enemies to exact what she believed to be vengeance on the one responsible for my death."

I nodded. "Thought it might be something like that. So she won't hurt Callie or the baby?"

"She will not," she assured me, no doubt in her tone. "Based on what I was told, she wants to use Calliope as bait. She'll have heard of our good relationship, and will seek to hold my sister and niece as leverage for my, as she would view it, safe return."

"Guessing that's not on the table?" I asked tiredly.

She shook her head. "I would be more than willing," she said apologetically. "But my father would crack the universe in two. Mind, he's not far off doing that right now. I've barely convinced him to remain in the chasm. He isn't recovered yet, and things would get…complicated if he emerged too soon. But still, he isn't handling my sister's abduction well."

"He can join the club," I said flatly. "I'm not thrilled with him right now myself."

Sighing, she just shook her head. "I can understand that point of view," she allowed. "But I ask you to reconsider it. He's beside himself with worry, and he didn't cause this. I know it may FEEL like he caused it because he brought my mother into your life, at least in some way, but given my sister's appearance, I suspect this outcome was inevitable from the moment she entered my mother's sphere of influence."

That…that was probably fair. Atlas had been one of my primary targets for anger, even after I had to take my downtime. But honestly, the week off on the way here had cooler my rage all on its own. It was HARD to stay pissed off for a solid week. I could have done it, but it would have required an actual effort, which would have meant questioning why I was doing it to begin with. In the end I'd let my anger fade, and while it had flared up a bit at the mention of him, I was honestly just too emotionally exhausted to maintain that kind of rage for no benefit.

Alara smiled at me, and it sent a knife through my gut how much that smile reminded me of Callie. "You are not a hateful person," she said gently. "That isn't a failing. It's a virtue. It's one of the things my sister loves most about you. When she comes home and finds out you didn't take your frustration out on our father, she'll be proud."

That hit me like a punch in the gut, and I had to take a second to catch my breath before I nodded. "I need to speak with him." I said simply.

"Of course," she smiled. "I expected as much. As did he. He sent transport to escort us to him. But this might not be a quick trip. If, as he suspects, you enter the Void to follow her, you may not return quickly. He suggests you settle your affairs before we depart. Perhaps check in with your parents, your mother is rather distraught."

I winced at that. Another person I'd ignored because I was too caught up in my own grief. Of COURSE my mother would be worried about her daughter in law and grandchild. I felt like such an asshole. "When is our ride getting here?"

"Tomorrow night," she said with a wan smile. "You have time."

"Thank you," I said sincerely. "I don't know what to say other than that. I just…I don't know what to say."

She leaned forward, giving me a light hug. "It will be alright," she said firmly. "We'll get her back. You have my word. And until then, she'll be safe and well taken care of. I'll make sure of that, too." Her eyes hardened and she turned and stalked away. I wasn't sure what she was going to do, but I had a feeling it would have a big impact. I couldn't bring myself to worry about it.

Turning, I headed inside the palace. I knew where to go. Knew where my parents would be. I found their door easily, knocking with purpose, trying to psych myself up to deal with my crying mother. When the door opened, I DID find my mother crying. Just not in grief.

My mom's jaw was clenched, her eyes red but hard as steel. When she saw me though, it was like a dam broke. She leapt forward, wrapping her arms around me. "Oh Shane," she murmured. "I'm so sorry." Her voice was rough, clear signs that she'd been not just crying, but screaming. I just hugged her back.

"Hey ma," I said hoarsely. "I'm home."

"Come in," she said, turning to look into the suite. "Eli, Shane is here. Come say hello." I chuckled as she bustled inside, getting back to doing…something.

I looked around the room. "Are you…organizing you room?"

"No, dumbass," my father said as he walked in carrying a basket of socks. "We're packing. This is the difference between seasoned Ascendants and newbies. We prepare for travel, don't just subsist on whatever dregs we've got floating around our spatial rings."

My mother reached out, fast as lightning, and smacked him on the back of the head. "Your son is a WRECK you insensitive twit. Show some compassion."

"Don't baby the boy," he complained, rubbing his head. "He knows she'll be fine, he doesn't need his mommy to coddle him and tell him it's going to be alright. He's the Wishmaster, damn it. He can handle more than you give him credit for."

She snorted. "I give him ALL the credit," she said imperiously. "But I'm his mother, and he's hurting. Just because someone doesn't NEED support doesn't mean they can't use it. This is why you two have no relationship, you know. You dole out affection like some kind of reward system instead of honestly communicating your feelings."

He groaned, shoulders slumping. "I'm just not BUILT like that Sasha. Besides. He knows I'm…you know. That."

"That?" she demanded. "You can't tell your grieving son you're proud of him? Can't even say the word? How stoic. How manly. Maybe I should start being stoic. You don't NEED me to show you affection, right? You know that I'm, you know…that."

I couldn't help it, I snorted a bit, laughter bubbling up, then it leaked out. More and more laughter until I was cackling, then I was sobbing, and my mom stepped forward to hug me again. My dad just stared at me, a look I'd never seen on his face before. It took me a minute to realize he looked…sad.

"It's alright, love," my mom said soothingly. "Let it out. I'm here."

I did NOT cry on my mother's shoulder. For more than a few minutes. And when I was done, I noticed my dad had gone back into the room to keep packing, giving me space. I kind of appreciated it. Mom didn't seem annoyed, so I suspected the bickering had been partly for my benefit. "So, why are you packing, anyway?" I asked, clearing my throat to brush away some of the cobwebs from totally not crying.

She shot me a puzzled look. "Well, I assumed we would be gone for a while. Your father, is right about this, dear. It's always best to prepare specifically for a journey."

"But where are you going?" I asked in confusion.

She rolled her eyes. "We're GOING to save your WIFE, dear. Obviously. Did you think we'd let you run off to the Void alone? You're barely A-rank. Eli, Ezekiel, and I will obviously be accompanying you on the trip. Samuel wanted to come as well, but my parents are staying here to hold down the fort in your absence, which means he's needed back home."

I gaped at her. "Wait…what? You're coming with me? All three of you?"

"Of course," she scoffed. "This isn't some political quagmire you need to navigate on your own. This is family business. That's our grandchild that girl is carrying, and besides that, I'm VERY fond of your wife. She's a wonderful influence and a kind and intelligent girl. I'd never allow anything to happen to her if I could prevent it."

I was stunned. I didn't even know how to process this. Because I just…had never had this kind of support. My mom had always felt guilty about not being around, and she was affectionate and caring, but the divide between ranks had always been such a hard limit for what people could lend assistance with…except I guessed now it wasn't. Because I was A-rank too. The WCP could limit them from lending aid when I was lower ranked, but now that I was the Wishmaster and we were all equals (and didn't THAT feel weird), they couldn't stop them from helping.

It warmed my heart a bit. Knowing they were gearing up to move out on a journey into the unknown. And for Callie's sake. I knew my mom was a fan, but my dad was too cold to really develop a fondness for anyone. Most of the time I wasn't sure he liked ME.

"Thanks, ma," I told her sincerely. "Seriously. Thank you so much. I couldn't begin to tell you how much that means. And I'm sure Callie will be just as honored."

"Please," she snorted. "You don't need to thank me for supporting my own child. Speaking of which, your sister will NOT be coming along, obviously. She's still at B-rank. We can't afford to slow down."

I nodded. "Elonwy needs to stay because her contract stipulates she be training people, and Alara says there's no way Atlas will let her go. But Bethy was on call with Lark the whole way back. She says she's convinced him to come with us. Black Sorrow and Revenant said they can't do much. Fully manifested realspace gods need to be careful about entering the Void."

My mother smiled warmly, putting her hands on my shoulders. "That's more than enough, Shane. Don't you worry. We'll have her back before you know it." And somehow, for some reason…I really believed her.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The next morning, I called everyone together. All my friends, my cabinet, my allies. I called them all and I laid down the law. I told them what I was doing, where I was going, and why. And I was humbled by the fact that every single one of them volunteered to go with me and help. Unfortunately, while I WAS honored, I was also realistic enough to acknowledge that a lot of them shouldn't be going.

"No B-rankers," I said bluntly. Everyone had been chattering excitedly, but my words cut off the talk like a boulder tossed into a pond, the ripples silencing the dissent before it even started. Not that they looked HAPPY to be silenced, but they waited to hear my logic. Well, most of them.

"Oh go to hell," Benny snapped. "I'm not letting you run off to pick a fight with an actual goddess without me."

I grimaced. I had expected that. And honestly I was so grateful. But I wasn't willing to take that risk. I held up a finger. "Gods are out," I said to start. "Because of the way they manifest in realspace, following us in would risk getting them stuck in the Void. If one of the Void gods decided to slip through while they were away, they'd be stranded and we'd be screwed."

Raising another finger, I ticked off my second point. "S-rankers are covered. Lark is coming along, and he's worth a hundred. He's ALSO the only one we can really spare, because S-rankers are a strategic resource. Independents like Lark are rare, and of all of them, he's the only one we know of who is strong enough to be worth bringing. At least from realspace. I'm planning to stop off in Mourne Kayze and try to leverage the Lady for help, but whether it works is up in the air." In fact, even the stop depended on how close we ended up to the place when we entered the Void, but I didn't want to worry them.

I raised my third finger. "B-rankers aren't strong enough." He flinched, but I kept going. "I know you want to help. I wish you could come. But the fact is that even if we boost you up to fight up ranks, we're going to be fighting the kind of A-rankers who can already do that, and probably some S-rankers to boot."

He glared at me hotly. "You're telling me I'm too weak to help my best friend save his wife."

"I'm telling you that I can't take the risk," I said bluntly. "I'm telling you I need my friend here where he's safe so I can concentrate on doing whatever I need to do to help the woman I love. And that I need you to be ok with that, because it's the best possible thing you could do to help me do that. You want to help Callie, I get that. She's family to you. Like you're family to me. So the question is, can you take a step back. Can you put her needs before yours? Or before mine? Because I need you to?"

He clenched his teeth so hard I worried they might crack. "You're an asshole," he said acidly.

"I know, man," I said sadly. "But I don't have the luxury of being nice right now. I hope you don't hold it against me. But I'd do it anyway even if I knew you would. Losing you would devastate me, and I'm going on this trip to SAVE someone I love, not to make a trade."

It was harsh, but I knew I was right. Benny was my brother in everything but blood, but he wasn't ready for this. Not at early to mid B-rank. If I'd had more time I might have been able to push him up to A. Might have been able to bring him anyway. But I didn't have that time. I was leaving today, and he wasn't coming with me. I wasn't wearing my mask, not for this, and I stared into his eyes, hoping he could see how badly I needed him to be ok with this.

"Fine," he spat, falling back into his chair. "But I'm going to be busting my ass to hit A-rank, and once you're back with them, and I make sure Callie and the kid are ok, I'm going to kick your ass so you can see how 'weak' I am."

I could see from the glint in his eye that he got it, and I grinned at him. "That's the spirit. Shoot for the stars. Nothing is impossible."

"Your mom is impossible," he snapped automatically.

Chelsea coughed loudly. "Hey," she said in an offended tone. "Also she's right there," she gestured to my mother, who waved at him in amusement.

"Sorry," he winced. "Sorry everybody, that was my bad, ignore me!" He called around the room like he was making a public service announcement. My mom was laughing, so I don't think she minded, but Celine was rolling her eyes in a way that I was pretty sure meant he'd be getting yelled at later. Hah. Nerd.

I looked over to Jessie. "Am I going to have to give that speech again? Because I'd actually feel really bad if I had to talk to you like that."

She giggled at Benny's outraged yelp. "No," she said with a laugh. "You can do most of what I can do on your own, as long as you're not being stupid. And I don't think your mom will let you be stupid."

I looked over at Abel, but to my surprise, he didn't back down. He just grinned. "I'm going with you," he said bluntly. And then…something shifted. I blinked as I felt a wave of power roll over him, into him, and through him. A very familiar wave of power. He sat through it without much trouble, and when it was done, he was looking very smug.

"Really?" I said flatly. "You waited until NOW to bind your last page? When did you hit your stat cap?"

He chuckled, buffing his nails on his chest. "A while ago. I spent the last four months out on the battlefront racking up pages. I don't think I'm the only one, either." He frowned over at Bethy. "Am I?"

She pouted. "You're the worst, Axel. You always ruin my fun. Biggest killjoy I know."

"But you DO know me," he said smugly. Sure enough, Bethy sighed and repeated his words, using her decision to join the team as her final page and ascending to A-rank. That was less of a shock, considering her position in the Frozen Moment Academy, and the fact that it was known for providing page binding opportunities.

So, Bethy and Abel were at A-rank. That was a surprise, and not an unwelcome one. They were two of my most formidable friends, and I was glad to have them along. Similarly, I glanced over at Crell, Alanna, and Fade. "What about you three? I know you said you'd go, but I need you to confirm it. This is a volunteer only mission. We're going somewhere we might not be coming back from."

From their flat looks, I could tell that I didn't need to ask, but they all confirmed anyway. "Grandma and Grandpa will be staying behind to mind the shop," I said, glancing to them for confirmation. Once they gave it, I looked at my parents. "Mom and dad are coming along, and Zeke, you're sure you want to come?"

"Boy, I'm still stronger than you," he said archly. "If you try to give me that speech you gave the kid, I'll show you how 'weak' I really am. Don't go thinking hitting A-rank means you've caught up to us old timers. We've still got a few tricks."

"Don't lump yourself in with me," my dad snorted. "I hit A-rank years ago. You BARELY beat him here."

Zeke raised a snarky eyebrow. "Go ahead and comfort yourself with that knowledge while you can. Once he hits S-rank you're going to be making just as many excuses as me." He snickered at my dad's sour expression, and even my mom got a bit of a chuckle.

She reached out for my dad's hand. "Both of you stop it," she said gently. "You've both been part of helping Shane become the man he is. He did most of it, granted," she said, shooting me a proud smile. "But his success is thanks to you too. You should celebrate how strong and brave he is. I know I do. I don't know if I ever really thanked you, Ezekiel, for being there for my son when I couldn't. But I will now. Thank you. From both of us."

"See what she does?" my dad said with a soft smile. "Can't even let me act tough in front of my friends. Has to be all sentimental and wonderful." He raised the hand she was holding to his lips. "Don't ever stop doing that for me, love. It's why I need you most."

I smiled at the byplay. It wasn't often I saw my dad sincere. My mom was just kind of like that, she was a kind person with a strong moral compass and she felt it was her job to let people know she cared about them. But he wasn't the type to wax sentimental. Not when she wasn't around. That was what she did for him. Kept him human, horns and all.

My eyes closed for a moment, opening on a world of strings and wires, following a shining white chain from my heart into the distance. I stared at it for a moment, then closed my eyes again, and opened them back on the world I'd left. The one with a hole in it that I needed to fill.

"So, that's the team," I said, looking around. "Abel, Bethy, Mom, Dad, Zeke, Crell, Alanna, Fade, Lark, and me. Small, elite, and hopefully with a few more helping hands from the Order of Mercy if the Lady is feeling generous. I considered recruiting someone from the family, but I don't trust any of the council enough for this kind of job. No offense, dad."

My father shrugged. "None taken, I don't trust those old bastards any further than Benny could throw them."

"Hey," Benny whined. "Why is everyone taking shots at me today?"

We all chuckled at that, even Benny. "Anyway, everyone get your things ready and talk to whoever you need to talk to before we go. Alara says Atlas is sending someone to pick us up tonight, so that's when we leave. Bethy, is your dad going to be here in time?"

"Oh daddy's been here for days," she shrugged. We all turned to stare at her. "He agreed on the trip over and he beat us here. He's been skulking around in people's shadows for the last couple days for fun to see if anyone would notice. I think he was testing Ansel today," she smiled at Abel sweetly. "You pick up on anything?"

"I think I'd have noticed if the old man was-" he turned and screamed in fear as Lark's pale, aristocratic face appeared in front of him, emerging from the darkness.

Lark smiled darkly. "You were saying something about noticing me? And about my age?"

"What?" Abel said in a high pitched voice. "I would never. I have the deepest respect for you, master."

Lark nodded to the rest of us. "I'll make my appearance among you when it's time for us to depart. Until then, I'll be borrowing your training room. My apprentice appears to have forgotten his training now that he's a powerful A-ranker. I suspect I'll need to remind him of his fundamentals."

He stood and began to walk away, Abel floating weightlessly in the air in his hand, struggling to get free. "No, I didn't mean it, I was wrong, please, somebody HELP ME!" That was the last sound we heard as the door slammed shut.

"So before we go, does anyone have any requests for snacks," I said, clapping my hands enthusiastically. As it would happen, people did.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The pickup we'd had arranged wasn't what I'd expected. I'd figured it would be a teleporter, or maybe a ship, but when we arrived to meet Alara, neither of those things were present. Instead, sitting next to her, gleaming white against the void of space, was a tall set of magnificent double doors.

I blinked in surprise at the sight. "So…that's a door," I pointed out, admittedly a bit obviously.

"Excellent catch," Zeke said with false enthusiasm. "Unrelated, we're standing on rocks, wearing shoes, and are all Ascendants."

I rolled my eyes at my uncle. "I meant where did it come from, ass."

"For shame," he gasped, putting a hand to his heart. "What kind of disrespectful child speaks to their lifelong guardian in such a manner. I am shocked and appalled at your behavior, and demand satisfaction from the rapscallion who instilled it in you."

My mom rolled her eyes. "You're BOTH children. Honestly."

"Nope," he cackled. "You already said those nice things about how grateful you were to me. Can't take it back now."

Alara sighed. "The door," she said, cutting through the banter. "Is on loan from one of my father's…guests. Vorinder the Door god. There's only a fragment of him left, but my father has been exploring the necropolis to dig up some of the remnants of some of their objects of power. The door was one such artifact, and with Vorinder's…let's say cooperation, its use can provide a direct link to our home in the Chasm."

"Magic door," I said appreciatively. "Nice. Can we get a magic door? Because I don't LOVE using ships to get everywhere. I know ours are good, and teleporters are an option, but I feel like doors like this would be pretty useful."

Unfortunately, Callie was our spatial expert, and she was the one I'd have normally asked about this, which wiped away my good humor somewhat. Still, I added to the mental list of things to ask her about when we got her back as we approached the door. Crell, who was following behind me, nodded with interest. "I might be able to work with Elonwy and make something happen. She can do that space and time thing with her car. And my Doubt skill makes limitations…negotiable."

"Interesting," I said slowly. And it was. I wondered if Celestial Fabrication could be used like that. I imagined making a door of clockwork. It wasn't called Celestial Watchmaking. Callie would be excited to look into that with me when she got back.

We stopped in front of the door, staring up at the towered barrier. "So…am the only one who is slightly worried about what the hell might have needed doors this big to pass through?" Abel said grimly.

Lark let out a bark of laughter. "Yes," he said bluntly. "Most of us have seen things at least this big out among the stars. Giants, beasts, some of the devils are around that tall, even. You might be strong enough, boy, but don't forget that you've hardly scratched the surface of this universe. Power and wisdom are far from synonymous."

"Daddy," Bethy sighed. "You aren't going to give boring speeches the whole time we're on our trip, are you?"

To my shock, Morgan Lark, The Vampire, the strongest mortal in existence, the scourge of the universe, actually flinched back, looking wounded. "You love my speeches," he protested. "You always used to say that they were your favorite part of your day. Sharing wisdom with your dear old dad."

"I DO love your speeches, daddy," she said gently. "But I think my friends might not be quite as enthused by them. Let's try to keep it to a minimum, at least."

He scowled at me. "She was never this rebellious before she started traveling with you."

"That can't possibly be an accurate statement." I said dryly. He glared at me for a moment. Then another.

Finally lips pulled back into a too wide grin, baring his long sharp teeth. "Oh, I like you. Yes, I think I'll be very pleased to help you find your family." He glanced at Bethy. "You were right about this one. He DOES have spine."

I snorted at that. Mostly I just didn't have the energy to be afraid of him. If Lark wanted me dead I'd die. Probably. Actually, Alara might be able to take him. She seemed convinced she was strong enough, at least she had been, so maybe I'd be fine. Either way, his poking just seemed so petty at this point, I couldn't bring myself to bother reacting.

Not that I'd ever SAY that. I wasn't stupid. Passing Lark's test meant he'd be more willing to lend a hand, and that was priceless, not just now, but in the future.

We finally arrived at the doors, which to Abel's credit WERE actually very tall. The reason we'd walked so long was because the sheer size of the things made them seem closer. When we arrived, Alara put her hand on the nearest door and pushed. The door swung open, revealing a familiar dining hall.

All of us started forward, but Alara held up a hand. "Just Shane," she said quietly. "I'll open the other door and escort you to the residential quarters."

I nodded to the others, stepping through without bothering to worry about potential dangers. Atlas could snuff me out like a candle if he wanted to, so there was no point worrying. As the door slammed behind me, I headed toward the table. It took me a moment to see where Atlas was, given the whole hall was dark, but eventually I did.

He looked…bad. The tall, dark haired god was leaning back in his chair. His long hair was messy and limp, his eyes dull, and I could smell the alcohol from where I stood. He looked up at me blearily.

I glared at him. "Really?" I demanded. "You're DRUNK?"

"I'm not drunk," he sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I'm drinking. It's not so easy for a god to get drunk I've been waiting for you. Please, come sit."

Sighing, I made my way over to the chair next to him, sliding into the seat before turning to regard him steadily. "You know why I'm here," I said tiredly. "Are you really going to make me ask you about it?"

"I won't," he sighed. "But I need a moment. I'm feeling…morose. Not just because of Calliope, though of course I'm worried."

"Belsara," I filled in the blanks.

He nodded sadly. "We were a happy family, once," he said quietly. "Alara was our whole world. I took it as badly as she did, you know? Losing my girl. But where she broke under the pressure, I put it all into the fight. I became the best warrior I could be. I fought everything. Gods, Void Children, if it existed I did battle with it. I was fighting so hard I didn't even realize I was already in a war for my marriage. I lost that one."

"So what, because you loved her you'll just let it go?" I demanded, my anger rising.

"Did I say that?" he snapped. "I'm not done yet. All I'm doing is explaining how we got here. Just…let me speak. Please?"

I nodded, and he continued. "That was why I chose to adopt Calliope. Because she looked so much like Alara. And I really was so proud. She was just like my girl. Strong, brave, caring, and with that light deep down that you can't put out. It felt like fate. Like a second chance. To do it right and be a better father."

"Even after Alara came back," he said fondly. "And I will owe the both of you forever for that, by the way. Even after that, I still considered her my child. I still felt that pride in her accomplishments, in her decisions. Even her choice to marry you made me proud. You two are such a good match. It's important to remember that. Important to understand how much I want to see you two back together."

I frowned at him, dread churning in my stomach. "Why is that important?" I said quietly. "What's going on."

"I heard you saw the lodge," he said, taking a long sip of his wine. "That you entered her forest. But that's not really her Domain. It's just the edge. A piece of the whole that doesn't mean anything. Belsara's Domain is so much more than just that. So much more complicated. And if Calliope is there now, it's important for you to understand what you'll find when you reach her."

My stomach was a black hole now, a bottomless pit of pressure and gravity. "What will I find?" I said softly. "Is she…will she be ok?"

"Oh, of that I have no doubt," he reassured me. "If anything, the Domain will ensure that. Belsara's realm of endless summer isn't built for torment or captivity. But it is built to…dull the senses. To change the passage of time relative to experience. A week in the realm of endless summer is a day outside."

I understood what he wasn't saying. "It'll be longer," I said slowly. "Longer for her than for me. Months. Maybe years if I take too long." How long had it been already? It had been a week for me. So what? Nearly two months? And that was just a week. I made to stand, but his hand lashed out, gripping my wrist.

"Not yet," he said sharply. "You don't understand. I know you want to rush, but if you're to get her out of that place you need to grasp how it works. It's not meant to be escaped. If it helps, she might have taken a day or two to find the hanging land she needed to reestablish her realm in the Void. If so, it might have been a bit less time. But it's important that you don't run off blindly and ruin your attempt at rescue. Rules are the most important thing in that Domain, and knowing them is how you succeed."

I forced myself to calm down. Time differences weren't ideal, but they weren't unknown to me. I'd studied temporal mechanics at the Frozen Moment Academy, after all. I nodded firmly, letting him know I was focusing, not letting my emotions get away from me.

And so he began to talk. He told me about Belsara, about her nature and her past and her dreams and the reasons she did the things she did. He told me about her Domain, her Path, her Chronicle, and even more complicated aspects of who she was that I wasn't sure would be useful, but that I refused to discard just in case.

Eventually, I joined him in drinking, though not much. Just a small glass of wine to sip as we spoke. Something to do with my hands.

Finally, we finished talking. "One more thing," he cautioned gravely as we were about to adjourn from dinner. "Belsara is, at her core, a decent person. She's done things we may consider wrong or ruthless, but she does them with good intentions. This is a fundamental fact you need to internalize, because it means that at any given time, she WANTS to be the good guy. Give her a way to look good. Make her the hero, and she'll do your whole job for you."

I nodded. I didn't know what he meant, exactly, but I suspected I would soon enough. Over the course of the conversation, I'd really allowed myself to process my anger toward him. Not let it go, like I had before, but sort of…couch it. Save it and nurture it. Not to use on Atlas himself, mind, but to use on Belsara.

Whatever she thought of herself, she was not, in fact, the good guy. And if she got in the way of me getting my wife back, I wasn't going to be a very good guy either. I just hoped it didn't come to that. If she was really treating Callie as well as Alara thought, I doubted she'd want to see the woman hurt. Whatever happened would depend entirely on that.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

"So, we have a few problems," I told my friends as we left the chasm. "The Realm of Endless Summer, as Atlas calls it, is…complicated. The entire thing is built on very esoteric principles, ones of emotion and disconnection and-"

"It's a webworld," my dad cut in. "Isn't it?"

I raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "I've spent time in the Void, Shane, I know about Hanging Lands and the different ways they manifest. Based on what you told me about the fragment you saw and that description, it wasn't exactly a leap."

Abel frowned. "What's a webworld?"

"It's…complicated," I said slowly. "Webworlds are built using spiritual foundations. They're harder to construct, but also harder to break. Your normal Domains are built using a Chronicle as a base, build on top of the legend and into the Void to create a sort of self actualized shallowing. Webworlds still do that, but the construction involves the soul. It's almost impossible to do unless you're born with a freakishly strong one. My grandmother could have made a webworld, for instance."

"She didn't," my mother said with a sigh. "Because they're inherently unstable, and so are the people who make them. The closest thing I've seen to one is the WCP. Your ancestor used webworld concepts to create the absurd accessibility of the Palace. But it's not the same as a real webworld. A REAL webworld can be accessed from almost anywhere when it's properly constructed."

I shook my head. "Not when it's been shattered. Atlas says a broken webworld loses a lot of functionality. Basically entering a fragment can lead you into a shared space where they all connect, but it's not cohesive. Certain fragments connect to certain others, so you have to move through them in order. He says it's going to make Yama less effective, though not INeffective."

"Makes sense," my dad nodded. "And I'm guessing that means we need to enter in specific places. Which is going to be a problem. Do we even know which Hanging Lands we're supposed to be looking for?"

I nodded. "He had some ideas. Webworlds don't break the same as normal realms. When they shatter, they carry through the emotions they're woven out of. The fragments drift to places of meaning to the god in question. Or at least close as they can get in the Void, in this case. I have a list of locations to check, and Yama should help narrow it down, at least."

We stepped out of the chasm and onto the Void Roads without incident. I'd gotten a heading and been eager to be on my way. Knowing Callie would be experiencing a week for every day this took was hell for me. Was she ok? Was the baby? How long would this take?

A hand landed on my shoulder and I looked up to see Zeke smiling at me. "It's gonna be fine, kid," he said quietly. "We're doing well. I've been on a lot of jobs, and a lot of rescue missions. You've kept your head, kept your focus, and assembled a team and the tools you need to succeed. Don't lose it now when we're finally underway."

"He's right," my mom said in her warmest, most upbeat voice. "I mean, remember the time Eli got kidnapped by that fae sorceress and locked in that enchanted tower?"

My dad froze, whipping around to glare at her. "You promised not to mention that ever again!"

"No, that was me," Zeke said, raising his hand. "You didn't ask her to swear because you assumed she was too nice to bring it up."

"Sorry, hon," my mom said apologetically. "But it's for a good cause."

I couldn't help my grin as I saw him sulk. "So dad was a damsel in distress, huh? Why did she kidnap him anyway?"

My mom grimaced and Zeke burst out laughing. "The sorceress in question was obsessed with him. She thought Sasha was a bad influence and was keeping him from his full potential. She wanted him to run away with her, and when he refused she locked him in a tower and tried to force him to be her dark lord boyfriend. He had one window out onto a square she would regularly fill with peasants. The peasants would make wishes, but they were all "evil" wishes."

"They weren't EVIL, they were just STUPID," my dad hissed. "One of them wished that hamsters on that planet could make revenge plans. What does that even MEAN?"

I blinked at him. "Did you grant it?"

"Of course I granted it," he shrugged. "He paid for it. Besides, it wasn't the dumbest wish I granted there. One of them wished to have crab claws for hands. Weirdly, he did not consider all the uses he had for opposable thumbs before asking. I granted that one too, but that was much less annoying. Especially when I had his friend untie his shoe laces."

"You know, I could kind of see you as a dark lord," I said contemplatively. "I'm surprised you didn't just go with it."

He flinched. "Your mother would have plucked out my toenails one by one." My mom glared at him and he coughed, backpedaling. "I mean, that woman was completely ridiculous and I had no desire to engage in that sort of reprehensible behavior, especially not with her."

"Says the man who became a LITERAL devil," I said dryly.

"The devil thing isn't as big of a deal as people make it out to be," he shrugged. "We're mostly just a type of fae. I mostly made the switch for the symbolism, though Sasha WAS unhappy about the transformation. We weren't really around each other at the time, unfortunately, but she made her displeasure known with a strongly worded letter."

Zeke snickered. "Like she needed to do anything else. Your dad has always been a sucker for your mom. Anytime she's upset at him he tears his hair out trying to fix it. For someone as disaffected as he is, the idea of his darling wifey being upset with him has a surprising amount of influence over his mental state."

My dad just glared at him. "You know, I can still kick your ass. Just because we're the same rank doesn't mean you're as tough as I am."

Zeke just snorted. "As if I care. If I was worried about that I'd never make fun of Lark."

"You know," the Vampire said dryly. "Someday, I AM going to do something about that. It's not like I leave you be out of fondness. It may surprise you to know that I've never actually liked you."

"Yes, you've always been very clear about that," Zeke said dryly. "In fact, I think your first words to me were 'you, know, I don't think I like you'. But you respect the fact that I'm not afraid of you like everyone else, because they're all, and I quote 'whimpering little sycophantic lickspittles'. Until everyone else stops being afraid of you, you value my input too much to crack down on me."

That had been a surprise to find out. I knew Lark knew my dad, but I hadn't been aware he knew Zeke. They weren't very forthcoming on HOW, but apparently they'd been acquainted for a long time. It was interesting to hear about their pasts, even if I knew they were only bringing it up to distract me. Still, I did need to focus. "Alright, time to pick a direction," I said grimly. "There are a few possibilities, so we'll go with whatever Yama pulls me towards."

The Void wasn't exactly easy to traverse when you were looking for realspace matchups. Space over here was complicated and twisty, often not lining up with realspace properly. This enabled easy travel on the Void Roads if you knew the paths (which basically no one did because the Void was huge and the Roads were absurdly complicated), but it also meant trying to match up the two locations could be difficult if not impossible.

Atlas was able to point me in the general direction of a few places he considered to be likely to be close to one of the fragments we needed, but there were a few of them, and he only had a general heading. Sure enough, when I manifested Yama, I saw the familiar glittering chain stretching off into the distance, turning to point off down the Void Road. "We're going that way. Which, based on Atlas's directions means we're probably headed for Bloodcrest."

"That's unfortunate," my dad grimaced. At my surprised look, he shrugged. "I've been in the Void before, and I do know some general information. Bloodcrest is a particularly attractive hanging land for exiles and criminals. I've visited it myself, and it is extremely dangerous, though admittedly an excellent place to find desperate people to make deals with. I have a few friends there, but there's a small problem. Bloodcrest isn't JUST a hanging land. It's stable, and there are access gates inside it to other realm fragments. No one is quite sure HOW, but it's one of the reasons it's remained so popular."

I grimaced. "Ok, so we'll have to search inside Bloodcrest to find the right gate. Not ideal, but doable. Yama should-"

"It's not that simple, unfortunately," he interrupted. "The Void is huge and dangerous, keeping hold of a hanging land is nearly impossible from the outside, you can only enter and conquer it internally, but Bloodcrest-"

I groaned. "Bloodcrest is a stable independent space full of other stable independent spaces," I groaned. If I knew one thing about Ascendants, it was that they LOVED claiming ownership of things. Especially worlds. With Bloodcrest allowing gate access, I could already guess what my dad was about to say. "The gates are all under the control of other forces, aren't they?"

"They are," he said grimly. "And whats worse, I suspect that there might be more than one gate connected to the lands of endless summer in Bloodcrest. It's an expansive kind of place, and there are a LOT of gates. Your connection is leading us to the right general area, but since we don't know how many gates may be inside, we don't know which of the gates it might be leading to. Bloodcrest might be acting as a sort of signal booster."

"It doesn't matter," I waved him off. "We'll know once we're inside. It might make accessing them more complicated, but it's hardly the end of the world. Do you know anyone there we might be able to hit up for information?"

He grinned. "Oh yes," he chuckled. "A great many people. The Wish Devil was quite popular in Bloodcrest. The WCP doesn't deal with exiles most of the time, but the devils are less selective. Not to mention my power to make unbalanced deals means places like Bloodcrest are excellent sources of desperate people looking to make deals. I made quite an impression on the populace, for good or ill."

I expected my mom to be unhappy, but weirdly she didn't seem bothered. I remember how ruthless she could be sometimes. My mother was a good person, but she was still an Ascndant. You didn't reach A-rank by being squeamish.

"Well, it doesn't matter who knows who until we get there," Abel pointed out. "And the Void Roads aren't exactly safe to travel."

I blinked at that. They'd seemed safe enough to me. But then I remembered a conversation I'd overheard on my last trip. Everyone who was anyone had been at the warfront last time I'd been here. With the tower's descent, the war had cooled somewhat. It had heated up when we got back, but there was no telling if the residents of the Void, spawn or not, had gotten the memo.

Sighing, I shook my head. "Well, we'll see how it goes. Only way to know for sure is to make the trip. Everyone get ready, we move out in ten minutes. We're heading for Bloodcrest." No time to waste, I didn't want Callie waiting for me any longer than necessary.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

We were attacked six times on the road to Bloodcrest. None of the attacks were particularly successful, and Lark didn't even need to get involved, but it was still a stark contrast to my relatively peaceful journey on the Void roads not too long ago. It didn't bode particularly well for…well, anything.

Still, over a span of five days, it wasn't TOO crazy. It was, at the very least, a good distraction from the fact that my wife had now been waiting for another month plus. It was frustrating and scary, but I kept my eye on Yama to watch the chain, and I was able to confirm that she and the baby were both safe. In fact, the baby was growing like a weed. The chain looped through Callie's had been getting thicker over time, and I could see how strong she was becoming.

I wondered if the fact that there was only one chain made twins impossible, but given how weird twins could be in terms of souls and abilities, it was also possible there WERE two of them and they just shared one link. Or it could be a factor of them not being born yet, it was hard to say this early.

Still, distraction could only do so much, and when we came within sight of the entrance to Bloodcrest I couldn't help but be relieved.

"Oh hey, another door," Bethy chirped excitedly. "I wonder where this one goes? Maybe to a secret garden full of flying fish? Or like…a mountain of candy." She paused. "Actually, I feel like logistically a mountain of candy would be a problem. Like there would be no way to keep it all clean, it would probably mostly go to waste. You'd need a special environment."

"True," I said with a chuckle. "One of our honeymoon destinations was a candy planet, I think. I didn't think to ask how that would even work."

We arrived at the end of a long line. I was kind of shocked to see so many people out here, given we were in the Void. We hadn't really spotted many humans on the Void roads up to now, just a few stragglers in the distance who made a point not to get close. Here though, there were dozens of people lined up and waiting, so we could only queue up for entry with all the others.

My mom laughed as she got in line behind us. "It's an ecosystem thing. On a fully candy world all the particulates are candy. The dust, the rain, the oceans. A fully enclosed candy ecosystem remains untainted as long as outside factors don't pollute it. Most places like that take measures to prevent visitors from dirtying the place up, purification artifacts being among them. My dad actually does business with some of them."

Bethy perked up. "Can you schedule me a visit? I want to make CANDY wine! It'll be my next big thing. I can sell it at my concerts, delicious candy wine that you can only get while listening to me sing!"

I paused. "That…actually doesn't sound bad," I admitted. "I don't like wine much, but candy wine might be ok. I do like sweets."

Zeke sneered at me. "Philistine," he snorted. "Your childlike palate simply can't appreciate the complexity of a sophisticated vintage. Unlike those of us with more refined tastes. Where did I go wrong?"

I rolled my eyes. "I once saw you accidentally drink drain cleaner because you put your whiskey bottle too close to it on the counter," I said dryly. "You don't get to play the sommelier card you crusty old drunk. Although…how the hell did you even GET drunk on Callus? There's no way you had B-rank booze lying around."

"I didn't," he snorted. "I got lightly buzzed at most. I just pretended to be drunk to give you the freedom to gain life experience."

To my complete shock, scent of truth…detected honesty. Kind of. I was pretty sure that was at the very least shaded in his favor, but still, if there was ANY truth to that statement it recontextualized a lot of my childhood. Zeke hadn't been an absentee guardian, really, but he'd mostly left me to my own devices. It had worked out and he was always there when I really needed him, but I was shocked that had never come up before.

I was snapped out of the confusion by a hand waving in front of my face. "Toll?" demanded an impatient voice.

Blinking, I looked up to find a pair of beefy men in heavy armor glaring at me. One of them had absurdly long hair and a clean shaven face and the other had a huge bushy beard and was bald. It was quite the contrast. I looked at my dad, who reached into a pocket and withdrew a familiar stone. Infinity crystal. He tossed it to the nearest guard who literally bit down on the stone to test its authenticity before waving us in.

"Infinity crystal?" I asked him as we entered.

He nodded. "Bloodcrest is in the Void, and space is in short supply here. Or at least they always need more of it. Infinity crystals are currency here. I always carry some on me just in case, as well as every OTHER type of currency I've seen. Always pays to have a full wallet."

I made a mental note of that. Keeping various currencies on hand for traveling did seem smart, given how much space I had in my Domain. My ring was convenient still for transport… I froze. Everyone turned to look at me, standing just through the door and into the city. "The rings!" I sputtered.

Dashing over to the wall, I tore free a piece of paper and a pen, scrawling a message and dropping it into the paired ring. I stayed stock still, waiting for a second before a message popped up in return. I held it aloft, checking the paper. "I forgot about these things," I read aloud. "I love you too, and obviously you're coming to save me. Good to know about the time difference, I'll be waiting."

I grinned at the others triumphantly. "Our wedding rings," I said excitedly. "They're connected. A shared space that works between dimensions. Even divine artifacts can be put through them. It's how we got the scythe to Black Sorrow after Rackham!"

With a one week to one day time dilation, she had minutes to respond on her side when only seconds passed on mine, which was a relief, but just knowing that she was safe, even discounting Yama, was enough to make me weep with gratitude. I didn't even remember where we GOT the rings, a wedding present I was pretty sure, maybe from my mom, but knowing they provided a connection still was too comforting for words.

My mom was at my side in an instant. "She's alright? Thanks the gods, here give her these!" She started digging out items, shocking them towards me. "These will be good for the baby, and these will help with morning sickness, and this is to help with her feet swelling." She piled items into my arms frantically, and I couldn't help the warm smile. I knew she was worried about Callie for my sake, and because she cared for her, but seeing how much effort and time she put into helping her through the pregnancy.

I tossed it all into the ring, along with a note for my wife. Naturally, she responded in moments, and I smiled as I passed my mother the note. Shaking off my new state of jubilation, I turned to the others. "Alright," I said cheerfully. "We got some good news, but we have a job to do. Dad, who are we meeting up with first? I'd prefer not to break out Yama in the city's front porch. I doubt anyone will be able to tell what I'm doing, but doubt isn't fact."

"Agreed," he said after a glance around. "I think House Ralkyne is probably our best bet. We left things on good terms and they were pretty powerful. Which is nice because it means they're useful AND I didn't take advantage of them too badly. Some of my contacts may be…less than thrilled with me."

"I don't think I want to know what you did," I said, vividly remembering him forcibly conscripting souls on the heirworld. "These Ralkyne people DO actually like you, though?"

"They paid up front," he shrugged. "Too powerful to bully or threaten. Too stable to tempt."

I snorted. "Good to know you have standards. Do you remember where they live? Or do we need to ask around?"

"Nah, I know where they are," he assured me. "Though we need to head to an old haunt of mine first. All my directions are relative to that place, I have no idea how to get anywhere from here. It's not too far though, I don't think. I want to say…that way?" He pointed off to the left uncertainly.

"Oh, well if you're sure," Zeke said acidly. "I'm glad we're not leaving this up to chance."

My dad smiled sweetly at him. "How I about I leave YOU up. On the moon."

"We're in the Void dipshit," Zeke taunted. "There isn't even a moon HERE. Maybe instead of stealing souls you should have charged one of those suckers you conned some common sense."

Lark sighed. "This is truly fascinating interplay," he drawled. "And while I would LOVE to see Elijah send Ezekiel on a lunar sabbatical, we ARE on a job here."

My mom rolled her eyes. "Just tell us where we're going, Eli. What is this old haunt of yours?"

"The Hollow Pumpkin," he said immediately. "It's not far from here. I can't actually see it from here but it's not hard to recognize. Follow me." He gestured in the same direction he'd been pointing, and we all trailed after her. I'll give him credit, he did seem to navigate the streets smoothly, finding alleys and turning down side paths I hadn't noticed. We walked for about ten minutes, before stopping in front of…

I glanced at my dad. "You're kidding me," I said dryly. "I assumed it was a BAR called the hollow pumpkin."

"It is," he shrugged. "It just happens to also be housed inside an ACTUAL hollow pumpkin."

"Well, at least they don't need a sign," I sighed. "You know how to get to our destination from here, then?"

"I do," he admitted. "But it would be smart to check in there. You can look into the link once we're inside. Then once that's done we can use it to pin down which gate we need to access and contact the Ralkyne with all the information. It'll make negotiations easier."

Sighing, I nodded as Bethy squealed with delight. "I bet they have PUMPKIN wine! I bet pumpkin wine tastes so good. I'm totally going to grow pumpkins to make wine out of. Vampires have a natural affinity for pumpkins, you know. There are always pumpkins around when people dress up like vampires."

I opened my mouth to respond, but Abel clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Just…let her have this one," he said dryly. "Plus once she actually tries it she'll change her mind. I've had pumpkin juice before. It's not great. I can't imagine the wine is any better."

Since she heard him, Bethy just huffed and started telling him off, the two of them heading into the building with my parents following behind, accompanied by Lark, Crell, Alanna, and Fade. As I watched them go, I couldn't help but smile. This was far from over, and obviously I wasn't feeling completely better, but the relief of making contact lifted a heavy burden from my soul. Beyond that, all my friends had been doing their best to keep me engaged and upbeat, and I appreciated it. I had the best family in the world. Now I just needed to go make sure it was complete.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The Hollow Pumpkin was surprisingly crowded. I don't know why the word hollow had convinced me the place would be completely empty, but when we stepped inside, I was shocked by just how noisy and energetic it was.

Groups of Ascendants at tables, doing shots, playing cards, occasionally doing something crazy like breathing fire. Once group was playing darts, trying to get the projectiles through moving smoke rings blown by a nearby witness. I winced as one of the darts went stray and hit someone in the face, though he seemed more annoyed than injured.

"I missed this place," my dad grinned. It was honestly weird to see the expression on his face. He smiled sometimes, but it was usually either malicious or the soft kind he rarely sent at my mother. I'd never seen him look so…wild and free.

"Well, well, well," came a lazy drawl from behind the bar. "If it isn't the wish devil himself. I thought I recognized that handsome scarlet mug of yours, Eli."

My dad rolled his eyes, turned to smile back at the woman behind the bar. "Surprised you can recognize anything Serena, given your penchant for dipping into your own product. You still have to order an extra three kegs a week for your own abuse." He snorted, nodding over to us. "Shane, Sasha, come over here and meet a friend of mine. Serena and I go way back. I'm the reason she owns this bar, which is why I drink free here. Serena, this is my son Shane and my wife Sasha. Don't be yourself."

She flipped him off. "I'm so sorry you two have to put up with this insufferable ass. I only knew him for a few months back in the day and I was already sick of him by the time he left. And I never said you drank free here. I have a business to run."

My mom snickered. "Don't let him bully you," she advised. "Eli will push and push until you set some boundaries. We'll be happy to pay for drinks."

Serena shook her head. "I was just giving this idiot a hard time. I'm not gonna charge you. I wouldn't have been able to build this place at all without him." She glanced around fondly, taking in the building.

I followed suit, studying the place, and I had to admit it was kind of cool. The interior of the pumpkin had been hollowed out, but rather than just leaving it to dry, it seemed like they'd coated the walls in some kind of varnish. The texture and look reminded me a lot of dark wood, and it really brought the inside of the bar together.

Along the walls, big iron lanterns hung burning, casting a flickering glow across the slate grey floors (which I was pretty sure had been made with ACTUAL slate), and the furniture was built in a strange boxy design aesthetic with rounded corners that seemed to compliment the pumpkin shape.

"Where did this place come from, anyway?" I asked with interest. "Like, where do you get a pumpkin this size?"

"The Garden of Coloss," she said with a frown. "One of the nearby gates. It used to be the realm of some giant plant god. Everything in there grows huge, but the larger plants are sentient. My family fished this thing out after a huge fight about three hundred years ago. My brother was set to inherit, but Eli…took care of it."

Bethy lit up. "Oh! Did he kill him?"

"What?" Serena asked in confusion. "No, he just helped him get a job working for another local family. Honestly, what's wrong with kids these days?"

I chuckled at that. "Just Bethy being Bethy, she doesn't mean anything by it."

The bartender snorted. "Whatever. My brother needed help acquiring some skills that helped him land a job. Eli hooked him up and he made room for me to take over this place. It was a favor I appreciated, though I doubt Eli himself thought twice about it. He probably only warned me it was coming out of habit. Why reap one benefit when you can reap two, right?"

"That does sound like him," my mother chuckled. "Well, I won't insist if you're sure. I suppose we'd like drinks then. Bethany, I believe you wanted to ask about pumpkin wine?"

"Pumpkin wine?" the bartender asked in confusion. "Who would make pumpkin wine?"

Bethy slumped. "Oh," she sighed. "I really wanted to try that. But I guess pumpkins aren't great for making drinks or whatever."

"What? No we have pumpkin drinks, they're just not WINE," Serena scoffed. "We have pumpkin BEER. Does this look like a damned vineyard to you? The only wines we keep on hand are the local specialties and that weird mushroom wine my brother tried to market before he handed me the place. I've owned it for years and not a single cup of that stuff has ever sold. I spilled a bottle of it once and I think it ate a hole in the floor."

My dad winced. "I remember that stuff. He kept trying to pay me with a case of it. Liquid shouldn't LUNGE."

"It doesn't do that anymore, to be fair," she added brightly. "Well, not unless the mice get too close. But I think I'd consider that to be more like pouncing at this point. We keep it in the basement now though. The cold keeps it docile."

"No," I said immediately as I saw Bethy's contemplative expression. "Under no circumstances are you allowed to buy any of that."

Bethy glared at me, stomping her foot and turning to pout at her dad. He just shrugged. "You swore yourself to his service," he said casually. "Means he's the boss of you. If he says no mushroom wine that means no mushroom wine."

I shot him a deadpan look. "Gee, thanks. I'm so glad to have you here to immediately pass the buck as soon as she gets upset. Truly, I see the courage of the strongest mortal in the universe."

"True strength is knowing when to turn and walk away," he said sagely. "Also my daughter can get very loud when she's upset and she sulks for weeks. Not worth it. But hey, now it's your problem. You and your sister. I just get to spoil her rotten and leave you to deal with all the annoying parts. Thanks for that."

I just stared at him. "Aren't you supposed to be some menacing figure of mystery?"

"Menace and mystery are overrated," he shrugged. "I usually only bother in public. Right now, I'm on vacation."

Chuckling, I turned back to the bartender. "I'll take a…" I glanced at the scrawled menu hanging behind her. "Wizzlefisker?" I frowned. "What is that? And why does it sound like it's covered in gears and probably steaming?"

She snickered, turning and grabbing a large bronze mug. Stepping over a series of taps behind the bar, then started pulling, mixing about a dozen liquids together. Then she grabbed a stick or something out of a nearby barrel and plopped it into the drink. The stick had a metal pinwheel on it, and when she flicked it, the pinwheel let out a high pitched shriek and sparks erupted out of it.

I gave her a blank look, then shrugged and took the mug, taking a cautious sip. "This…what is this? I don't know what the hell I'm drinking."

"Pineapple, orange, grape, apple, a few other assorted fruits cut with brandy and a dash of rum. My own personal blend. The secret is the ratios. If any of the juices are too dominant or not dominant enough it unbalances the taste. If you do it JUST right it combines into something that doesn't really taste like anything else you've ever had." She winked at me. "I'm a Mythic Mixologist."

I chuckled as I took another sip. "This is weirdly delicious. I kind of can't stop. Anyway, you have a place I could use for a bit of quiet self reflection?"

She snorted, then tossed me a key off a nearby hook. She pointed across the building, to a door under a set of stairs bolted right into the outside of the pumpkin, ones that led up to a smaller second story. "We rent that room out for private parties. Should work for what you need."

I nodded as the others ordered their drinks, scooping up the key as walking over to the door. I pushed it open, bumping it closed with my hip, and then set my drink down on the well crafted carved wood table. Then, without hesitation, I triggered Yama. The word was consumed with strings and threads, karmic ties and chains and bonds covering the space around me. The most important was exactly where I knew it would be, right in my heart, strung through with a single ch- I froze.

The red chain within Callie's larger shining chain. It wasn't a single chain anymore. It was two. The two chains were wrapped around each other tight, so I barely noticed until I looked closer. But it had split. I just stared in awe as I processed what I was seeing.

Twins. We were actually having twins. A lot of people had made jokes, comments, even predictions. Hell, I'd made them. But seeing the single chain I'd convinced myself we'd all just been off base. Now though, now I could see it, definitive proof we were going to have two babies.

I reached for a piece of paper, about to send a note through the rings…but I stopped. Callie had said she didn't want to know. I didn't want to ruin the surprise. It wasn't like she was going to be more protective of two babies than one. She'd do her best for our kids no matter how many there were. I smiled mischievously and put my hand down. She'd been the one who asked me not to confirm it. I was just doing what I was supposed to. Eventually though, I snorted and wrote a note anyway. Then I folded it and wrote "Baby secret: spoilers", and dropped it into the ring.

This way she could make the decision for herself, and the worst that could happen was that she figured it out from context based on the tag. I also debated on sending over some juice or something for Callie, maybe the same drink I got minus the brandy and rum. I decided against it because I was worried Belsara might notice the cup so in the end…I just sent her a video.

Picking up an old scan ring, hit the record function. "Hey Cal," I said softly. "I'm sorry it took so long to get in touch, I know it's been months for you. I realize I explained the time difference but I still feel bad. I'm sure you'll be careful listening to this, just like you are with the notes, probably checking them in the vault, but I wanted you to see my face and hear my voice. I wish I was there with you guys, and I will be soon. Just…be safe, be careful, and I know I love you so much."

I slipped the scan ring into the paired rings and waited. To my surprise, it reappeared within about thirty seconds. Which made sense given the time difference, I guessed. When I took it out, I saw a new video saved.

Hitting the button, I watched a holographic screen appear, and almost melted with relief as my wife's face appeared. "Hey hon," she said softly. "We can't do too many of these, because I DO have to watch them in the vault and I can't be in here too much. But I got your notes. ALL of them. Thanks for ruining the surprise, you jerk. All three of us love you too. You be safe too, and we'll see you soon. Love and miss you." The recording cut off, and I stared at the ring for a moment…then I watched it again. I played the video four more times before tossing back my drink and double checking the heading. Then I headed back out to the others.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

We spent a while at The Pumpkin. Bethy DID, in fact, try pumpkin beer, and she drank way too much of it, and we all universally agreed that Bethy wasn't allowed to touch beer ever again because whatever Maenad nonsense made her immune to wine didn't work on the stuff apparently. We weren't kicked out, but we WERE asked very firmly to leave and come back another day, and none of us could really argue.

Rather than head right over to House Ralkyne, we decided to stop at a local inn my dad knew to rest before meeting our potential allies. If it had been before, both the stop and the rest would have been unthinkable to me, but after actually hearing Callie's voice and knowing she was ok, I was more willing to take my time. I was still determined, but I wanted to go in as deliberately as possible. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast, as Abel had said to me more than once during training when I was starting out.

When we woke up the next day, we headed right over to meet them, and it didn't end up being a long walk. The place we arrived at was…unsettling. It was carved from the stone of a cliff, one that had been pared down over time into a huge hulking building that seemed to all be one big piece. Built right into the side of a mountain, the walls and entrance were formed from dark, jagged stone shot through with veins of flickering ruby gemstone. It was gorgeous to look at, but something about it seemed almost malicious, like the rock was watching and waiting for us to turn our backs.

"This place is creepier than I remember," my dad said, squinting up at the towering edifice. "Suddenly this feels less like a good idea."

My mom smacked him upside the back of the head. "Don't say that out LOUD in front of Shane," she scolded. "It's way too late to back out now." She shot me a warm smile. "It's fine, honey, we'll be out of here in no time, tracking down Calliope and my TWO GRANDBABIES!" she all but squealed the last part. Or rather, she did squeal it, and I had to wince at the volume, even as the sentiment made me smile.

My mother had been ecstatic when she found out that we were having twins, and had been at least partially responsible for Pumpkin Beer Bethy when she INSISTED on making multiple toasts to the babies. It had been sweet and deeply appreciated, at least until it resulted in our expulsion from The Hollow Pumpkin when Bethy somehow bit the building and started draining it of Impact, causing the roof to partially collapse.

"Can I help you?" came a quiet, almost whispered voice.

We all jumped, turning to find a massive, pale man with long dark hair looming over us. His eyes were deep set and surrounded by dark circles, and his back was hunched, as if he was bending over to avoid some invisible doorway that was too short for him to walk through. His gaze was weirdly intense, and his eyes burned with a strange dark light that reminded me of way the red glow reflected off the stone behind him.

My dad grimaced at him. "Dawkins," he said distastefully. "You're still here. Lovely. I'd hoped you were dead by now."

The tall man's eyes flicked to my dad, who he'd been studiously ignoring. "Ah, the peddler. Come to sell more of your snake oil? Why, it feels like it was only yesterday you were here, making a general nuisance of yourself and being a bad influence on the young lord and lady. I confess, I too had prayed for your demise, I suppose my pleas for divine mercy went unanswered."

"Then I should probably thank you," my dad said sweetly. "Given how unpleasant you are there's a strong probability at least one or two of my miraculous survivals in the last fifty years were the gods spiting your prayers."

"Hello," my mom said, stepping between them. "Apologies for my husband, we've been trying to house train him but he's having some trouble learning to go outside. Please don't take any offense. We're here to speak to House Ralkyne." She waved sheepishly. "My name is Sasha, and this is my son Shane and all his friends."

One thing I hadn't really consciously noticed about my mother up to this point was how…persuasive she could be. She was a warm, caring, charismatic person, and she just had this sort of natural charm to her that made it impossible to ignore her.

Most of the time it wasn't obvious, but when she actually turned it on, it was easy to see why she was the only person I'd ever even heard of who could influence my father. It was impressive to see her dazzle a random person in real time though, and I wasn't really prepared to watch the conversational whiplash as Dawkins shifted gears from vocally hating my dad to being charmed by my mom.

"Oh, well…I suppose that's alright," he said uncertainly. It's hard to be pissed at someone who is being genuinely friendly to you, and my mom had always managed to sound incredibly sincere whenever she spoke. It was definitely coming in handy here. "What are you looking to discuss?"

"We need a guide," my dad cut in. "Specifically, we want to hire Stanley."

Dawkins whirled to glare at him. "How DARE you! The young lord is not some…servant for you to employ at your convenience! He is an honored and dignified member of House Ralkyne and far beyond such petty concerns as your nonsensical errands."

"Well damn, Dawkins," my dad said acidly. "I didn't realize you'd been adopted into the family. That IS what happened, isn't it? Because you MUST be a member of the Ralkyne line to be making definitive statements like that on behalf of the heir apparent. You must be pretty high up, too, if you expect him to listen to you."

The big man's mouth snapped shut, and he glared at my father. "I will…" he bit off his words, grimacing like he was physically forcing them out. "Alert the young lord to your presence," he hissed. "And defer to his judgement."

"Of course you will," my dad said with a smug grin. "Because you're a very good dog, aren't you? Who's a good boy? You are! Yes you are!"

Dawkins looked seconds from lunging across the gravel at my dad, but eventually forced himself to calm down and then whirled and stalked away. My dad grimaced as he left. "I REALLY don't like that guy." He said idly.

"We noticed," I glared at him. "But what the hell, dad? We need these people to help us, why are you antagonizing their doorman?"

"Because he's not a doorman," he corrected. "Dawkins is more like a butler. And he's not THEIRS. He works exclusively for Culver Ralkyne. Culver is the nominal lord of the house, but he's a recluse and is rarely around. Dawkins does odd jobs for Stanley and his sister Violetta, but is mostly a spy for their father. Neither of them can stand the man, and they take a special joy out of seeing him angry."

I blinked at him. "Wait…that was a show for the people we're here to see?"

"No," he said bluntly. "I just really hate that guy. But it will also most likely amuse Stanley. As for Dawkins himself, I could care less what he thinks or wants to do to me. If he tries anything I'll turn him inside out and drown him in a tub of lemons. Seriously, I cannot begin to describe how deeply unpleasant of a human being that old man is. I've met actual slimes that are less slimy, and cuddlier cacti."

My mom nodded. "Noted. I'll keep an eye on him. Do you think I played that wrong, then?"

"Nah," he waved her off. "Your instincts were good. Dawkins isn't completely ineffectual, and having someone in his good books won't hurt. I doubt Stanley and Vi are going to hold basic politeness against you. This way, we get the best of both worlds."

I blinked at them. "Wait…you guys did that on purpose?"

"Your father was being aggressive," my mom shrugged. "Which meant I could be passive. You'd be surprised how many situations require both carrot and stick. Why do you think I smacked him. It was one of our signals, telling him how I planned to proceed. There were a few verbal responses that would have changed my trajectory, but he let me run it my way, which I always appreciate."

That was actually really impressive. "How many scenarios have you guys gamed out like that?" I asked carefully.

"More than a few," she smiled. "We've been married for quite a while, Shane. We might not have a soul bond like you and Callie, but we know each other about as well as two people can. Chances are good that if you catch us bickering or interacting in a way that seems odd, there's a reason for it."

I thought back to the number of times I'd watched them snipe at each other. My mom being occasionally pushy, my dad being a grump. Thinking back, almost all of those times had been when something else had been going on. Maybe I'd needed distracting or maybe the situation was tense. Maybe they'd ALL been for other reasons and some of them were just ones I hadn't been able to put my finger on.

Seeing my silent contemplation, my mom just smiled. "Trust, Shane," she said warmly. "Is the most important bond a husband and wife can have. Remember that. Your connection with Callie is magical and special, but it's not all you need. All the empathic sensing in the world is useless without trust. Your marriage doesn't work so well because of the soul bond, it works because of how you use it. To open up to each other. To communicate. That's what makes the two of you such an amazing couple, and it's going to be what makes you even better parents." Her eyes took on a sad shimmer. "Better parents than we were, by far."

My dad put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, and she gave us both a forced smile. I could tell she didn't want to burden me with her guilt. Her wish was granted by the most unlikely of accomplices. Dawkins.

Returning in a huff, the butler stalked out of the opening in the cliff house angrily. "The young lord and lady await you in the solar." He said stiffly.

My dad nodded casually to him, then grabbed my mom's hand and tugged her along behind him as he strolled inside. Shooting a glance at Abel, I gestured my friends to follow as I trailed behind them. Abel caught up pretty quickly. "So, your dad was right, this place IS creepy."

"I know," I admitted. "But there's not much to do about it at this point. We're here, and my mom is right. We need them. We don't have time to do this the slow way. My heading from Yama tells us where to go generally, but there are quite a few gates around here and most of them are protected."

We needed Stanley as a guide to tell us which gate we were looking for. If we just followed the chain, we might stumble into one that was just between us and where Callie was, or run into one we couldn't access at all. The Ralkyne were power players here, and they were exactly what we needed to find the right gate. Which meant I'd play whatever games they wanted and go into the creepiest houses they had if it got me this meeting and their help. Callie was waiting, and I was going to be there as soon as I could.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The interior of the Ralkyne house was just as unsettling as the outside. The same black stone and red veins permeated the inside of the house, but more than just the materials made it jarring. Somehow, the angles of the place seemed wrong. Jagged lines where none should be disrupted the flow of vision, while outcroppings and growths occupied places that seemed discordant in a way that was difficult to quantify but no less real for the confusion.

"These people should fire their decorator," Bethy noted clinically. "I get wanting to be spooky and stuff, but this is just tacky. The lines are so choppy."

Abel groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Bethy, there's an A-ranker within earshot, and I'd be shocked if the guy who owns this place isn't S-rank. Can you not make comments about their house when the butler is right there?" He pointed at Dawkins, who had stopped and turned to glare at our cheerful vampire.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Lark said airily, his eyes locked on the larger man. "I'm sure Mr. Dawkins has better things to do than take out his frustration at his employer's poor decorating choices on my daughter. Don't you?"

Dawkins, who had previously been turning to glare at Bethy, froze in place as the sensation of a very large predatory eyeing him up rolled over the hallway so heavily even the rest of us could feel it. He stared at Lark out of the corner of his eye, body stiff, and I could see him trembling slightly under the regard. "Of…of course," he rasped. "I'd never dream of imposing on such a lovely, well mannered young lady."

Lark prowled forward, clearly having taken my dad's comment about Dawkins to heart. Lark loved to mess with people, and having found a target who aroused his ire, it was clear he wasn't going to let it go. He put an arm around Dawkins hunched shoulder, pulling him down at what must have been an uncomfortable angle. "See," he said in a blandly cheerful yet somehow deeply threatening voice. "That's not what I said. I said that you wouldn't take out your employer's bad taste on Bethany. Do you agree with that statement? You should confirm verbally."

Dawkins looked terrified, and he nodded quickly. "I…I do. I think the manor is…gauche. I dislike the decor as well. It is the height of garishness."

"See," Lark said, letting him go. "What a friendly, approachable person. This is the kind of help you want to hire to watch your house. Assuming, of course, you have a house that dosn't suck so they don't have to stew in resentment at being forced to work there. Cheer up Dawkins, I'll make sure to tell your boss about your feelings when I meet him. I'm sure he'll be happy to work with you on the decorating to make this place more suitable to your tastes."

Still shaking, the butler stalked ahead, trying to put space between himself and the terrifying vampire.

"Don't you think it's a little crass to bully the help?" my mom said reproachfully.

Lark shook his head. "It was subtle, but there was a flash of killing intent aimed at Bethany when he started turning. He's lucky I didn't peel off his skin and nail it to the front door. Remember kids, predators can always sense when you have the intent to kill. If you don't have a way to restrain that aura, try to keep your planned reactions nonlethal."

I blinked at that. I hadn't realized he could do that, but then, I was pretty sure Bethy had demonstrated similar sensory abilities. I'd seen her track people through abstracts like that before, so it made sense Lark would be even scarier.

Previously I'd felt kind of bad for Dawkins, but hearing he'd been thinking about killing Bethy washed that away quickly. What kind of asshole gets homicidal over decorating critiques? My dad hadn't been kidding about how unpleasant that guy was. Luckily, we didn't need to spend much time with him, following along until he reached a large open plan room in the upper story of the house. "The young lord's solar," he said, stepping back and bowing as he gestured us in.

We nodded back, dismissing him from our minds as we stepped inside to find a pair of people waiting for us.

Stanley and Violetta Ralkyne were interesting. Thin and fine featured, with deep olive skin and lilac hair, the two of them were dressed in what I could only describe as historical imperial dress. Violetta wore a voluminous gown with short cropped sleeves leading into lace demi gloves, and Stanley wore a frilly looking suit with a ruffly ascot tied at the neck and a literal monocle set over one eye. They each smoked a carved wooden pipe covered with complex designs, the black material covered in the same red veins as the stone of the manor.

"Eli," Stanley said with a grin, leaning back and puffing his pipe. "Welcome back! I see you haven't lost your sense of humor."

My dad grinned at him. "I know how much you hate Dawkins. He still trying to poison you?"

"Only on days that end in Y," he said dryly. "He's recently begun pumping it through the vents. We use the pipes to neutralize the toxins. I wouldn't worry too much about yourselves, it requires long term exposure and he wasn't trying to kill us anyway."

"Your butler is trying to poison you?" I asked skeptically. "Isn't that like…the opposite of what he should be doing?"

He chuckled. "You would think so. But Dawkins finds our handling of house affairs undignified and uncouth. In the event of illness or unfitness for duty, custody of the house would be remanded to him. He's been trying to arrange for myself and Vi to have a survivable but deeply inconvenient 'Accident' for years now. The poison started when we were about twenty or so. I suspect he was worried about stunting our growth if he used it earlier."

"That's…really messed up," I pointed out bluntly. "In a bunch of ways."

"It's life," he shrugged. "We've been trying to kill him for just as long. Old bastard just won't die. We need to be subtle about it, you see. He works for my father, which means he's technically protected. I think the last time was…damn, was it the locusts in his wardrobe?"

Violetta shook her head. "It was the chandelier," she reminded him. "The locusts were before the exploding cigar box. After the tiger in his bathroom."

He grimaced. "We didn't think that one through. That tiger has been wandering around for years now. I think it snatched one of the maids last week. Hard to say though. Obviously it keeps eating the evidence. She might have just quit."

"It PROBABLY would have wandered off if you hadn't spent months leaving meat out for it," she scolded. "But please, have a seat. I'm sorry we've been boring you with our petty family squabbles. What can we do for you?" She said this like she hadn't just described multiple murder plots and a literal wild animal loose on the premises, and my dad apparently decided to just go with the vibe."

"This," he said, jerking a thumb at me. "Is my son, Shane. He seems to have misplaced his bride, and we were hoping you might help us locate her. We've managed to trace her to the area, but all we have is a general direction, and given the gate density…"

Stanley nodded. "You're concerned you might waste time entering the wrong gate. What do you know about where she's being kept?"

I sighed in relief. "It's called-"

"Wait," my dad said immediately, cutting me off. "We discuss payment first." I was about to interrupt, declaring that I didn't care what I had to pay, but he cut me off with a sharp glare. Realizing that giving up our leverage might not be a good idea, I settled back to let him do his thing.

Stanley smiled brightly. "Payment? Don't be silly. You did so much for us last time you were here. We'd be honored to help, no charge."

"That's kind of you," my dad said flatly. "But we couldn't possibly impose."

The young lord chuckled again. "Oh, very well. I suppose we can discuss compensation if you insist. What's your offer?"

My dad snapped his fingers, holding out…something. I had no idea what it was, actually. I'd never seen anything like it. It reminded me slightly of an infinity crystal, but the facets were full of swirling silver starstuff, with flickers of strange grey lightning playing through it. While I didn't know what it was, it was clear Stanley very much did. His breathing stopped. "An infinity mineheart?" he breathed, his eyes transfixed. "Where did you-" he reached for the object but my dad pulled away.

"Questions aren't confirmation," he said mildly. "Do you accept the terms?"

"You didn't name any terms," Stanley protested. "I can't just agree to a blanket request for hel- wait no stop! I'll do it! I'll help you! However you need and for as long as necessary!" He tried to argue, but as soon as my dad made the crystal vanish he surged to his feet desperately. My old man smiled, withdrawing the crystal again, and then produced a contract. He set the crystal and the page down on the table, then handed the other man an old fashioned feather pen.

Stanley glared at him, but took the pen, reading over the contract with his teeth clenched before signing it quickly, then snatching up the crystal. "Now," he said tightly. "What do you know about where she's being held?"

"It's called the land of endless summer," I said confidently.

He stared at me for a moment, waiting. "Ok, and?" he said slowly. "Most of the gates here open to unclaimed world fragments no one has ever identified. We don't KNOW their names, so we give them new ones. Knowing what it used to be called is not helpful. What's the directionality, what special features does it have?"

I blinked at him. I hadn't considered that. "I mean…time passes different there? Seven times faster, from what I can tell. And I think it's a forest, or at least contains one. Heading from here is about fifty eight degrees northwest." It took me a second to calculate that based on our new position, but not much longer than that.

He hummed, considering what I'd said. "Four," he said after a moment. "I can name four different gates that might apply to." I grimaced, and despite not seeing my face, he grinned at me. "Don't be too discouraged. Four isn't bad. There are a lot of gates here. I can get you access to three of them. The fourth I can make an introduction for, but securing entry is up to you. Agreed?"

"That's fine," I confirmed. "I can enter the first three to check, and we can address the fourth on the off chance it's none of those." A seventy five percent chance of finding the right place wasn't bad.

Stanley chuckled again, leaning back and taking a deep puff on his pipe. "I'll need to make arrangements for entry. None of the gates in question belong to Ralkyne. We have good relationships with the forces who do control them, however, so it won't be too much trouble to secure your passes."

My dad nodded solemnly, clearly pleased with how things had gone, then he leaned back and smiled. "Excellent. Now. As per the terms of the contract, you'll be putting us up while we're here. Why don't you show us to our rooms."

It was hard not to laugh at the sour look on Stanley's face as he snatched up the contract to read over it again. I knew there was a reason I'd let my dad be the one to make the deal. I wondered if meals were included?

 

[Malcolm Tent]

I woke up the next day feeling refreshed. It felt…good to sleep properly, to let myself unwind. Now that we were so close, I felt like I could breathe for a minute. Not too long, mind, I had work to do, but it was nice not to feel like an axe was hanging over my wife's head for a minute. Reaching for my ring, I checked it for messages, and I had to smile when I found a note.

"Morning lazy bones," I read aloud. "I assume you're sleeping like a log while I'm being kept permanently awake by your children, I hope you fall and can't get up. PS, I love you."

I rolled my eyes, sending a quick message back. I told her good morning, said I loved her, and asked her if she wanted me to send her some scrolls from my stockpile. To my surprise, she informed me that she didn't need them. Apparently she was a local celebrity, which wasn't too surprising, and she was getting a substantial income of points just from the notoriety. On top of the income from news of her kidnapping making the rounds, she was looking at potentially making it to A-rank before I found her.

Of course, she wasn't quite ready for that breakthrough, she didn't have enough pages bound, but she had nothing but time there, and had been hard at work over the last four months.

On the one hand, I was happy my wife would be able to protect herself better, but on the other…I hated knowing we'd been apart so long from her perspective. How far along were the babies? I was too scared to ask, and she hadn't told me. I was sure she was worried it would hurt me. If I missed their birth…or worse, missed MORE than that, I didn't know what I'd do.

Closing my eyes, I climbed out of bed. If I couldn't get there now to help, I needed to improve myself. My previous ease was gone, replaced with steely determination. If Callie didn't need the scrolls, I would use them.

Of course, I needed someone to use them ON, but I had a few people with me that I was sure could help. So I dragged myself to the bathroom, showered (even this had lost its luster) and strode off to find my friends…only to become IMMEDIATELY lost. The interior of Ralkyne Manor wasn't just creepy, it was also CONFUSING. All the hallways and walls looked the same, and while impressive, it made finding anything nearly impossible. Finally I just gave up and triggered Dantalion.

I smiled in satisfaction as the flood of information rolled over me, and I followed the proper turn to the room where Abel was staying. I knocked on the door, and he opened it within moments. He blinked as he took in my expression. "Hey Shane," he said slowly. "What's up?"

"Wanted to see if you were interested in trading some points," I asked with a shrug. "I'll ask the others too, but I figure you might benefit from aligning your stats a bit. Just don't go overboard, obviously." We'd seen from Jessie how much good specializing could do, but my own situation was proof positive that letting your stats get too unbalanced could also be a detriment.

He hummed with interest. "I mean, I'm not AGAINST that. I've got a hundred million to play with. If I skim a bit off everything I could seriously boost my might."

"Perception is a particular priority at the moment," I said wryly. "Though I know you use that one more often than not. Still, I'm sure you can spare something. Anything at all would be useful. I need all the help I can get."

"I'm sure you'll be netting some Perception," he pointed out. "I mean, you're currently off on a tracking mission that everyone in the WCP knows about. I'd be expecting a big bump."

I blinked at him, but realized he was probably right. Of course, I'd probably also be netting a ton of Focus, but I wasn't exactly displeased with the idea that I might be able to balance my Perception a bit. Though now that I recognized that, I realized my next flame would probably need to be Focus based to balance out the Perception.

Following him inside, I started pulling out my scrolls. I was JUST about to have him start wishing, however, when a loud, rapid knocking sounded at the door. Frowning, I walked over and pulled it open to find Bethy, Crell, Fade, and Alanna.

Bethy waved excitedly. "Hey boss!" she chirped. "We doing wish stuff? I wanna!"

Abel groaned behind me. "Sure, everyone come on in. Might as well make it a party, anyone bring any booze?"

"Um, only DUH!" Bethy squealed as she burst into the room, two huge bottles of wine appearing in her clenched fists. "Now you're speaking my language Abner! Come on, lets all get hammered and wish to be fuzzy mammals!"

"We JUST took the wine from you," Crell frowned as he pried the bottles from her fingers. "We can't afford to get drunk in this place. Don't you feel how creepy it is? We're here to help Shane, because he won't be able to focus on balancing his stats right if he only has one person to work with. Am I wrong?"

I shrugged. "I mean, not really, that's a fair assessment. Even distributing things evenly wouldn't be enough, I'd be worried about unbalancing Abel's build."

"Exactly," he nodded sagely. "So instead you unbalance ALL of our builds. Just…y'know. Less."

Sighing, I gestured to the nearby table, where I started laying out the scrolls. They dug into the pile, getting started right away, and I waited for the influx of stats before I allowed myself to FINALLY relax and process the weeks of pent up power.

Wishmaster status. A-rank. Ability: Mythic Wish- Eleven times a day grant a Mythic wish in return for proper compensation. Wish must be feasibly achievable by the candidate's own efforts within a three day period with current statistics.

Mythic Path of the Demonbinder- The Domain of a Great King.

Might-99,654,183()

Impact-285

Fantasy-46,472,182

Vitality-57,118,871 ()

Focus-84,434,651

Perception-75,501,420

Creation-47,829,243 ()

Progress to next rank: 411,010,835 /1,000,000,000

Soul strength- Mercury Soul Body

Body Forging: Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art- 36/81 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

Chronicle: Myriad Demons Manual (pages bound:100- 4 Zagan, 1 Leviathan, 1 Beelzebub, 9 Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art, 3 Limbo, 3 Overlay, 9 Mephistopheles, 1 Song of Arcadia, 1 Cosmic Waltz, 7 Life Nova, 9 Angelic Bond, 1 Wisdom of Solomon, 12 Dantalion, 2 Sammael, 1 Cosmic Collapse, 1 Cooking, 1 Double Trouble, 13 Doom Sovereign, 9 Azazel, Song of Arcadia 12)

wish scrolls stockpiled: 0 (5 in the possession of friends to be used over time)

Domain size: 108 miles

Soul supported stat number: 25,000

Bonded companion: Archimedes (Life Nova Phoenix)

Weapon: Pillar of Goetia

The influx of strength was, frankly, kind of staggering. Not really in relation to the amount of power I HAD, but relative to what I EXPECTED. I'd netted more than a hundred and fifty million points. That was substantial, even for the Wishmaster. Granted, six or so mil of that was from the scrolls, but the fact that it was such a substantial boost was still kind of absurd.

When I mentioned the total to Abel (because I needed to tell SOMEONE), he just rolled his eyes.

"You're on a vengeance quest to save your pregnant wife who got kidnapped by a long dead goddess, AND you recently hit A-rank. At twenty one. I don't think you understand quite how absurd all that recursion is getting at this point, Shane. A-rank is a BIG deal. I asked around. It took Aiden a decade, even after becoming the wishmaster. Your growth, your accomplishments, your travels…it's a potent mixture. Bringing the void gods to the table, even if not all of them, bringing Elonwy to teach people how to possibly become gods, you've done a LOT. For the WCP and this universe as a whole. People notice."

I blinked. I hadn't really looked at it like that. I mean, I knew hitting A-rank so young was impressive, but it wasn't like it was just me. Abel was A-rank now, as were Bethy…and it occurred to me that I had just listed the two most freakish geniuses I had ever met as my measuring stick for what was normal progression. Maybe he had a point.

"Well…at the very least I got some much needed relief from that Focus imbalance," I groaned. I hadn't QUITE equalized them, but it was a lot closer now. I'd poured all those scroll points into Perception to help, and it had clearly done the trick, at least combined with whatever income I got from rumors of this mission. I wondered how much of those rumors my own people had started, and how much was just the normal leaky faucet of the rumor mill. I honestly didn't care if it got me strong enough to save Callie, and I was pretty close to halfway through A-rank now, which definitely didn't suck.

Unfortunately, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. I'd been way too busy for my proper training, which meant I hadn't even started in my fifth layer of nine phoenix. I had the flame on hand, but I was just so swamped I didn't have to do the work. At the very least, I knew Nine Phoenix himself was working with Gaze of Certitude to form the template, and that was assuming it wasn't already done.

But still, I felt good. Strong. I knew the extra power would help me on my journey back to Callie and the kids. I just needed to actually get GOING on that journey. I turned to Crell and the others. "We get any feedback from the Ralkyne yet? I assume my parents are with them now?"

"Last I checked," he nodded. "As for feedback, nothing yet. They claim they can't rush the responses. They sent out feelers, and now we just need to wait for access to the gates. The three he can get us access to, at least. The fourth…well, Stanley said he set up that introduction, it's up to you when to accept the invitation that came with it. He said you'll be expected to attend a formal dinner."

I frowned at that. "By myself?" I asked suspiciously. That sounded like an ambush waiting to happen.

"You can bring a plus one," he said with a headshake.

"Oh! I want to go! I'm your master of challenge, right?" Bethy bounced in place excitedly. "I want to go and show off at the party and let everyone so my sick dance moves. I learned this really fun one from Benny where you move your arms like a cyborg."

I snorted. "That's why you're NOT going," I cut her off. "This isn't a game. It's a serious meeting with political ramifications. Plus there's a ninety percent chance your dad would follow you, and if someone made a rude comment, drown the whole place in a sea of blood. Since we need them to presumably LIVE to help us, I think bringing someone more political would be useful."

Crell winced. "It's gonna be me, isn't it? I hate when it's me. Can it be someone else? Please? Anyone? You could bring that coatrack. It looks very stoic." He pointed across the room at a wooden coat stand.

I rolled my eyes. "Suck it up. You've been raking in the points as one of my cabinet. Time to pay up. I don't want to be there any more than you do, so watch my back, tell me if I'm about to offend someone, and don't let me drink poison." I paused. "Or eat poison. Help me avoid poison in general." Oddly, he didn't seem comforted by my comment. Strange.

 

[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.