It only took a day for Everin and Veldrix to arrive at the sprawling lakelands that used to be the city of Hasukai. While the city still technically existed… it had been entirely encased in an odd shimmery forcefield of shifting colors that was only partially opaque. They could see the fuzzy outline of the city on the other side of the strange haze, but their perceptions clearly told them that the area beyond was no longer a part of their reality. The entire space was a Reality Rift now.

  “I’ve never seen a Rift this large before,” Everin said in awe as they walked alongside its border while heading to one of the designated entry points. Apparently, any who tried to walk through the Rift at any other point were violently ejected back out of it.

  Veldrix glanced at him curiously and asked, “How many have you visited?”

  “All the known ones on Alkupera and Pyrin,” he replied, “So quite a lot, but I’ve never heard of a new one being created like this. As far as I knew, they were all created at the same time as this entire reality. They don’t just randomly manifest.”

  “Scholar said this only happened because of the monster that was here before evolving when they reached Obsidian. Some kind of symbiotic water flower floraval? At least that’s what I gathered from the description I read under ‘World Devouring Lotus.’”

  “I’ll admit the name made me hesitant the first time I visited this place, but the locals seemed to get along well enough,” Everin said, with a shrug.

  “Did you meet this monster before?”

  “No. I’ve heard of her multiple Emanations she has traveling around, but I didn’t run into one while I was last passing through.”

  “Her?” Vel asked with a raised brow.

  “She goes by Lilen, from what I’ve heard. Similarly to Presley, her Emanations take on the forms of various Vauva and she’s apparently very fond of shopping. I have no idea if that’s changed now that the actual monster has ascended to Obsidian and evolved into a Labyrinth. I have no idea if that changed how her Emanations behave at all.”

  “If you’ve been to all the Reality Rifts on the northern continents, I assume that means you have experience with the other known Labyrinths.”

  Everin nodded as they got into the line of people awaiting entrance through the large torana gates, “I have. The one in Deleverton was most impressive. The Keeper there is ancient and challenging its Labyrinth was an exhilarating endeavor. I didn’t care for the one in Serenydi as much last time I visited it, but that was a decade ago. I’m looking forward to challenging it again with the kids and seeing how it might have changed.”

  They eventually made their way to the front of the line, but as Veldrix was about to explain why they were there to the lovely dryad guarding it, a loud feminine voice called out to them as the newcomer crossed the Rift’s threshold, “Nope! No! Absolutely not! I told your lot that I am not interested in becoming an experiment, and sending an Avatar with this partial Obsidian Executioner is not going to change my mind!”

  Everin thought the fierce woman walking toward them was beautiful, with long white hair that gradually turned pink at the ends and matched her silky pink dress that was in the local style he remembered with its many light layers. She had a lotus flower partially pinning her hair back from her paler face that clearly showed off her matching pink irises.

  She looked like one of the local humans at first, but her aura was anything but. If he hadn’t spent so much time around Presley, spoiling that child rotten like a proper uncle, he may not have realized she was an Emanation. The largest difference between her and Presley though was that this Emanation was Ruby Caste and could likely smite him where he stood if Veldrix wasn’t quick enough.

  He put his hands up quickly in defense as he tried to explain, “No, you misunderstand, we’re simply here to find the Saint of the Arcanist who went missing.”

  Her eyes narrowed further at them and she crossed her fabric-draped arms, “And what if they don’t want to be found? Do you think so little of me that I would not keep my refugees safe?”

  “So she is here?” Veldrix spoke up, taking a step to place theirself between Everin and the technical-monster.

  “I will neither confirm nor deny that,” she replied, “Now, unless you want to pay a hefty fee for trespassing, you may see yourself off—”

  “Please,” Veldrix interjected and surprised everyone watching as they dropped to both knees and bowed their head low before the Emanation that could only be Lilen. “I know you have no reason to trust us… I can only ask that you let my sister know that her sibling, Veldrix Thevaris, needs her help.”

  Everin wanted to smack Veldrix with all of his tails for them being so quick to bow before some stranger.

  “Why should I believe some random child and their naughty companion that just showed up without an invitation?”

  “You probably shouldn’t,” Veldrix answered, “Like you said, we’re powerful strangers with obvious agendas. I only ask you to give Helen the chance to choose for herself if she wants to see me.”

  “She better want to see you after what she did,” Everin grumbled under his breath.

  “My dears, even if I did pass on your message to a person who may or may not be here, how long are you planning to block my line of customers—I mean, important visitors before you give up and realize she’s either not here or doesn’t want whatever revenge you seem to have planned for her?”

  “I would never harm her,” Veldrix promised, before adding, “I just need to be the one to ask her for help this time.”

  Lilen warily assessed them for a few more moments before stating firmly, “You can stay at my inn for a week—for a premium as an additional ‘trouble’ fee—but then you will leave if this hypothetical Saint refuses to see you.”

  “Thank you, Lady Lilen,” Veldrix replied with a dip of their head before standing.

  She pointedly looked at Everin then and pointed at him for emphasis as she warned, “And if you, deary, plan to start any rebellious non-sense or go sticking your foxy nose where it doesn’t belong, I won’t just toss you out, I’ll toss you in and have you for dinner… or use you as free labor… I haven’t quite decided yet. Maybe I could actually turn you into some sort of tourist attraction… That should rake in even more Bits!”

  As Phoenix left her inn room where Camilla was still resting, and with Ren happily perched on her shoulder, she was startled to meet Uriel in the hall as he was leaving the one across from Saiya and Rayna’s.

  “I’m surprised you’re not resting still, from what Camilla was saying, you didn’t get to properly rest after ascending. I expected you to be out for another day at least,” she said, having planned to check in on him and make sure he hadn’t destroyed the bedding while moving in his sleep. He had been sleeping for the last two days after returning from Teal’s tailoring shop but most took around three days to recover at Sapphire.

  Uriel shook his head, “I’ll be fine. It’s difficult for me to properly sleep anyway without the comfort of a Silencer. I think the only reason I managed some was because of the soul exhaustion.”

  “So what woke you up?” she asked as they began walking down the hall together.

  His cheeks emitted a soft glow of embarrassment from under his hood, but he replied, “Just a weird dream. Anyways, how did things go with the gods while I slept?”

  She huffed in annoyance, “It didn’t. Pretty sure I’m on the Merchant’s hate-list, and I didn’t even bother trying Socialite and Lover. Gamer and Gambler both seemed interested but said they couldn’t help find Daze. When I finally found a Fainéant priest that would answer my questions, they said I needed to learn to relax more and not stress about things, and I almost threw my dagger at them.”

  Uriel chuckled, “Asking the laziest clergy in existence to do something was your first mistake there, I think.”

  “I mean, I can understand trying to find your zen or whatever, but that was ridiculous! I’m not going to work on my sun tan while Daze is being held prisoner somewhere.”

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  Uriel glanced towards her, the gesture more noticeable to her now with that massive hood and she saw his eyes trail up and down her before blushing slightly as their eyes met. He seemed uncertain at first before saying, “It’s hard to picture you with a tan, but it’s still hard for me to get used to you dressed like that, too.”

  Phoenix glanced down at the silky white dress she managed to find that tightly wrapped down her body starting at her neck until her hips where it shifted into strips of wispy silks that went just below her knees. She had to wear cuff bracelets with it to hide her Oathbond but it still left most of her arms, shoulders and calves completely bare and softly glowing.

  Under Uriel’s scrutiny, she blushed in embarrassment and admitted, “I’m sure I don’t fit it well, but I thought it was pretty and it was one of the few I could find that covers my Soul Mark.”

  “I didn’t say it didn’t fit you,” Uriel corrected, “I’m just not used to the styles here compared to Tulimeir. I definitely feel more out of place now, but even without my curse I’m not sure I would have felt comfortable showing my scars…”

  She nodded in understanding and moved to hold his hand in support.

  Uriel flinched in response, pulling away from her suddenly, which made both of them stop and stare at each other in surprise.

  “I’m sorry,” he replied almost instantly, “I—I haven’t done that in years. I—I didn’t mean—”

  “It’s okay,” she said, interrupting his obvious panic that he had somehow offended her, “I’m sure a lot of things are bringing up bad memories lately.”

  He swallowed and slowly nodded, “I think I’ve just been so focused on not touching anything the last few days. I don’t want to hurt anybody.”

  Slowly, she moved to take his gloved hand again and said, “You won’t hurt me unless you push me away.” He seemed to relax slightly and she noticed his hand felt unnaturally cool in hers. As a cinderen, he normally exuded heat constantly, but the enchanted clothing seemed to either be blocking it or destroying it.

  “So what happened with the Cultivator if the other gods didn’t pan out?” he asked, obviously trying to return to their previous conversation.

  “She said to keep cultivating the new connections I’ve made since entering the city,” she replied with a huff, recalling the oddly cryptic message, “I got the feeling that other gods were trying to stop her from saying anything more.”

  Uriel raised a brow at that before turning to continue walking with her, “That’s concerning. She’s one of the most powerful deities out there, probably only second to the Destroyer.”

  “Is he really that powerful?”

  “Everything dies in the end,” he admitted with a shrug, “He told me himself that he has an absurd amount of Aetherius compared to the others.”

  “He told you?” she asked in surprise, wondering if he had dedicated himself to the god out of desperation to gain divine whispers.

  He shook his head and recounted the time he had spent during and after ascending.

  “He’s in love with the Cultivator?” she repeated, surprised at that tidbit, “That seems a bit masochistic. They’re complete opposites, aren’t they? I know I told Dazien once about opposites attracting and complimenting but they’re more like… the literal antithesis of each other aren’t they?”

  Uriel shrugged, “I don’t really know how that all works with gods.” After they walked in silence for a bit longer, he asked her, “If Cultivator was speaking in riddles to you to try and get around whatever Law of Divinity or geis she had going on, who do you think she wanted you to get to know better?”

  She frowned, thinking through her list of new acquaintances and admitted, “While I’ve met a handful of noble scions here at the inn, they haven’t been exactly helpful. Zevan was pretty knowledgeable and helped me out when I first arrived and apparently she thought I needed to connect with Emrys… so probably him?”

  “That would make sense,” he replied as they reached the stairs and started heading down to the lower floors, “He seemed very knowledgeable and kind.”

  “Kind?” Phoenix repeated with a scoff.

  Uriel chuckled, “Well, he was to Camilla and me, at least. He kind of reminds me of Daze in a few ways, but a bit… older, maybe? Calmer? It’s hard to describe.”

  “I think the word you’re looking for is mature,” she replied, then sadly smiled, “I miss Dazien, though. He teases me a lot, and we argue sometimes, but I know he’s always looking out for me, you know?”

  “Like a good brother?” he asked with a smirk.

  She nodded and fell silent, not wanting the conversation to devolve into worrying even more about where Daze could possibly be.

  When they reached the bottom floor, Tylen was at the reception desk with the merchant man they recognized from the tailoring shop. He quickly waved them over and the jolly man smiled broadly as he patted a large void black pack that matched Uriel’s clothing as he said, “Special delivery from Miss Teal. Now, it’s not everything yet. Some of the more custom items are still being worked on but I figured Mister Karislian here would appreciate the other things sooner. Including the bag itself.”

  “She really did make a Void resistant dimensional bag for me?” Uriel asked in shock.

  “Yes, and Regent Wayland has already paid for it all while you rested from your ascension. Congratulations on that by the way.”

  He turned to stare incredulously at her and she tried to wave it off, “You needed it. I know your fortress isn’t really accessible or convenient while we’re in the city.”

  “It also includes the two new torcs for you both, along with the other members of your group. Yours were both plain white as requested, though you should have heard Miss Teal complaining about making something Void-Attuned look white,” he said with a laugh.

  “Thank you. We can put those on in a bit. Zevan gives my poor ribbon a dirty look everytime she sees it,” Phoenix replied with a roll of her eyes, before forcing Uriel to accept the pack from the man.

  As they said farewell, and Phoenix began pulling Uriel toward the entrance, they were intercepted by a girl Phoenix recognized. The blue-haired beauty seemed nervous as she approached them, and her eyes locked onto their entwined hands for a moment before trailing up to Phoenix’s neck.

  Her expression suddenly became hard and she surprised them by turning on Uriel and practically yelling at him, “I don’t know who you think you are, but get your hands off her!”

  The pair of them were frozen in place at the sudden outburst as Kelana continued tearing into Uriel, “If you had any manners and respected our culture, you would know that white means she doesn’t like to be touched, so if you don’t let go of her right now, I’m going to call the guards and will serve as witness—”

  Phoenix dropped his hand to hold her own up and try to say in his defense, “Whoa there. It’s fine Kelana. I—I don’t mind if it’s him. I wasn’t thinking about how others might react when I took his hand.”

  The young woman looked at her in confusion for a long moment before glancing down at the ribbon again and saying, “You shouldn’t be wearing that then. I’m not going to be the only one who will react like that, you know. People are going to think he’s either assaulting you or you’re a liar.”

  “I’ll be sure not to touch her then,” Uriel said apologetically, “We’re sorry to have caused any confusion. We’re both still learning about Serenydi. I plan to wear white here as well, so hopefully that will help,” he added, reaching into his new pack to pull out one of the woven white torcs that wouldn’t disintegrate from him touching it, and carefully put it around his neck.

  “Well, that’ll probably help avoid getting accused, but people will still be confused. Why don’t you both just be honest and wear the right color?”

  “That’s a bit complicated,” Phoenix replied with a heavy sigh, “White is just simpler for both of us here. Anyways, did you need something else? We were about to go try and find Zevan to contact Emrys for us.”

  Kelana looked surprised at first then uncertain again, biting her bottom lip before glancing around and clarifying, “Do you think you can convince him to rally the other nobles and clergy to go against another noble House?”

  That was a confusing question, and she hesitantly said, “I know I’m the Regent of House Wayland technically, but I don’t think that actually matters to the local politics… I’m not sure why you think I should try to interfere with—”

  “Because she has your brother.”

  “WHERE?!” she and Uriel both yelled at the same time, tensing and taking a step closer to her as though the young scion was hiding him behind her.

  “Look, she’s an Emerald Caster. So unless you promise me that you’ll go get Emrys who actually has the power to take her down, I’m not going to let you run in there and get both you and Dazien killed. He—” she cut off her words as pain and pity seemed to flash across her face, and she muttered, “He’s already been put through enough… They’ve been so… so cruel.”

  Phoenix stared at the young woman for a moment, trying not to think the worst that could have happened to Daze. He was alive, which meant there was still hope. “I swear to you, I will go to Emrys and ask for help to save my brother. Just please tell me where he is and who has him.”

  Kelana looked around nervously again, tugging on a lock of her light blue hair before asking, “Do you know Haevanus’s mom? Lady Vanderill?”

  They both shook their heads and Phoenix prodded, trying not to shake the information out of the woman, “Is she who took Daze?”

  “I don’t want Haevanus to get angry. I don’t think he knows…”

  “Kelana, does she have my brother?!”

  Blue hair swayed as she nodded and whispered, “She’s keeping him in a private estate. It’s not tied to her at all but she’s the one in charge of them.”

  “Of who?” Uriel asked, his gaze laser focused on the noblewoman.

  “The Scarlet Banquet,” she muttered and they both sucked in an unnecessary breath.

  “Are they—” Uriel broke off his trembling words but seemed to force himself to ask, “Are they tearing him apart too? Are they going to eat him and use pieces of him for power?”

  Phoenix was relieved when Kelana shook her head, but dread engulfed her as the young woman admitted, “Lady Vanderill has been feeding off him. Everyone knows she’s a Sanguine Vampire, but the other nobles constantly have her estate watched because of that and they always raid her place if a person is reported missing in the city. They won’t find Dazien there, though. She—”

  Kelana got a disgusted look on her face before whispering, “She’s been keeping him in her quarters there every morning…”

  That slightly confused Phoenix until she saw the rare sight of rage on Uriel’s face as he clarified, “She’s been forcing him to sleep with her?”

  That was a horrifying thought, but Kelana shrugged. “I don’t know for sure but I assume so. They haven’t cared about him at all. We’re meant to care about our partners as much as ourselves but all of them…” She shuddered slightly, “All they’ve been doing is causing him suffering. It’s not right. And in three nights, when the two moons align… well, they’re going to sacrifice him to make a lot more people suffer too.”