"Beautiful, isn't it?"

  That was an odd line, so I couldn't help but gnce curiously at the Abyssal woman by my side. Was she referring to the budding flowers down the path, the moon hanging over our heads in the clear sky, or the city park as a whole? Actually, hold that thought. I've read a bunch of Judy's 'research material', and based on that, this situation was eerily familiar to one of those clichéd romantic scenes. The kind where the female lead would go 'Pretty!' while looking at something, and then the male lead would start furiously blushing and gormlessly gawking at her as bishi sparkles fill the panels, or something.

  "Is there something on my face?"

  Goddamit…

  "No," I responded in a neutral voice. "I was just wondering what you're referring to."

  The head of House Shamash fshed a demure smile and tilted her parasol backwards so that she could look directly up through the gap between the treetops.

  "I always found the night sky of the outside world so fascinating. The stars, the moon…" She let out a soft chuckle. "I'm not particurly fond of the sun, but it's still a captivating sight. The skies of the Abyss are very pin in comparison." She turned back to me with a meaningful glint in her ruby-red eyes. "But I presume that's something you already know."

  I did, but the way she was saying it as if it was common knowledge still made me raise a brow.

  "What makes you think that?"

  "Didn't you see it during your visit to the Abyss?" I had to make some effort to maintain my poker face, and seeing that I didn't react, she soon crified. "On the occasion Lord Tracas mentioned during our dinner meeting. I believe it was the time you took some of House Inanna's Fauns out of the Abyss."

  "Oh. You're talking about that…" I murmured with just a hint of relief. For a split second, I was worried someone noticed my test visit to the Abyss and she was pying mind games with me. More importantly though… "I find it odd that you keep presuming that I personally rescued them back then."

  "Did you not?" She asked back, but before I could respond, we stopped at a branch in the paths and she turned to face me. "Based on what I know, back then you didn't possess the kind of backing you do today. Even if you did, you have a long and storied record of taking decisive action in person. It's also an open secret that you were in some kind of mutually beneficial retionship with Bel of the Abyss before you ascended to the throne of Elysium, and knowing that he possesses the ability to carry people between realms, those individual strokes paint a complete picture." She didn't wait for me to respond and gestured towards the fork in the paved path. "Which way shall we proceed?"

  "The left," I responded reflexively. "That one goes around most of the park, and it'll lead back to the information board after we make a full circle."

  She inclined her head in agreement and the two of us started walking again. The silence didn't st long.

  "You appear to be familiar with the roads of this park."

  "I patrolled this pce a lot a couple of months ago." She was looking at me attentively, so I added, "We were hunting an undead Chimera. It's a long story."

  "Sounds like a fascinating tale. Once the war is over, please remind me to invite you over, so that I could listen to it under more rexed circumstances."

  "Aren't you thinking ahead a bit too much? I think resolving the civil war situation takes precedence over pnning any tea parties."

  "I was thinking more along the lines of a wine tasting, but that sounds lovely as well." She let out a soft chuckle, finding the conversation mildly amusing. "If you ask me, thinking of a pleasant future makes the hardships of the present feel much less daunting."

  "I don't necessarily disagree in principle, but it's a bit too optimistic for my tastes."

  "I'm an optimist," she freely admitted.

  "You struck me more as a political realist the st time we talked."

  She let out an amused hum and told me, "Optimism and naiveté are not synonyms."

  "I suppose. I'm more of a professional pessimist myself."

  "There's nothing wrong with that." Her tone was conclusive, and she consequently steered the conversation in a different direction. "Since the topic of the civil war came up, I believe we might as well address the true subject of our cndestine meeting."

  "Cndestine," I repeated after her a touch incredulously, and she inclined her head a bit. Was I supposed to keep our meeting a secret? It didn't really matter at this point, since the girls and the rest of the family already knew about it, so decided to gloss over it. "Never mind. I'm listening."

  She didn't respond right away. She absent-mindedly swirled her parasol a few times, as if to build tension, then began to speak in a firm voice.

  "The st time I could only briefly touch upon the greatest setback we're suffering in the face of the Lord of Inanna's aggression. On the surface, the Houses are joined in shared purpose, but in reality, our alliance is a tenuous one, with everyone involved still weighing their own gain over the common good." She exhaled a sharp breath and looked me in the eye. "You've already seen what I'm referring to with your own eyes."

  For a split-second, I once again thought she was referring to me visiting the Abyss, but I was pretty sure I was just being paranoid, and she was talking about something else. I didn't need to think long to realize what she truly meant, and then I felt a bit foolish.

  "Tracas and the remains of House Ashur being more preoccupied with 'fixing' the succession than fighting Noir, I presume."

  "Along with House Nergal urging him on, yes." Her expression grew weary, and as she gnced up at the sky again, she suddenly looked a decade older. Or maybe just felt so. "As I've said before, I'm not nearly young and idealistic enough to believe that people, let alone the Houses of the Abyss, would willingly come together for the sake of the greater good, even when their utter destruction is looming over their heads. In a way, the other Lords are as optimistic as I am." She gnced back at me and fshed a thin-lipped smile. "They are so busy pnning how they would re-draw the political ndscape of the Abyss, they neglect the war we must win in the present."

  "I'm quite familiar with self-destructive leaders living in their own little world, so I can rete," I spoke in a casual tone, and my comment drew a soft chuckle from her.

  "I assumed that you have experience with such matters, and it's part of the reason why I sought you out in person, going as far as to insert myself into Lord Tracas's negotiations as a witness. I'll be frank with you, Lord Leonard. We need you."

  "I've got that much from the part where you promised me that you would give me anything I asked for in exchange for my support. What I've yet to hear is exactly what you're expecting from me." I narrowed my eyes and added, "I imagine it's not something as straightforward as jailbreaking someone."

  My words were followed by a long beat, and then she nearly stumbled when she couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into ughter.

  "I've… never thought that breaking in and out of the most infamous prison of the Abyss would be ever described as 'straightforward', but I suppose there's a first time for everything." She fshed an absent-minded smile at me, but then she caught herself and cleared her throat before she continued in a more subdued tone. "While my request might not be as 'simple', it is in many ways just as outrageous: please lend us your name."

  I had a feeling she didn't mean that literally (though in a world with magic, one could never be too careful), so I interpreted it as its 'normal' meaning.

  "Wouldn't my open support hurt your side? I was under the impression that many in the Abyss were already convinced that Bel of the Abyss was just a Celestial false fg operation."

  "Is he?"

  "No."

  "Then it should be fine, shouldn't it?" She sounded a touch provocative, and I could see a hint of a smile dancing at the edge of her lips. "Your rivalry with the Lord of House Inanna is well-known, as well as your penchant for involving yourself with others' conflicts. Just voicing your support of our cause would bolster the resistance against the aggressors."

  "I'm not entirely convinced about that, but even if we presume that my name would somehow command enough respect, wouldn't the current acting Archon of Elysium denouncing Noir and Bel just strengthen their cims?"

  "Allow me to aly your doubts one by one," she responded lightly and… was she enjoying this discussion a bit too much? In any case, she twirled her parasol again and told me, "You might not know this, but your name has been on many lips in the Abyss. Not as the Archon Polemos, but as the Peacebringer."

  "The what now?"

  The skin on the back of my neck immediately broke out into goosebumps. When the heck did I gain another embarrassing title like that?

  "Tales of your exploits spread amongst the popuce like wildfire, and even those in the castle halls of the great Houses can't help themselves but share them in hushed whispers." She must've realized that I was feeling uncomfortable, because her whole face bloomed into a smile at my expense. "The great unifier, who not only united the disparate Dragonblooded cns, but also brought the dreaded Knighthood into the fold, and even ended the centuries-old cold war between the Wingless Ones and our Celestial cousins. You can easily see that such feats would ignite hope in the hearts of many. After all, if those ancient hatreds can be set aside, then can't the Abyss also benefit from the same?"

  That was overstating things a bit, as usual, but let's ignore that for the moment and focus on the more baffling aspect of this conversation.

  "Where are those rumours coming from?"

  "I'm not entirely sure. They seem to have cropped up naturally, in response to your deeds."

  "No, I meant to say that it makes no sense that such rumours would organically spread to the Abyss of all pces. On Critias, sure, but the Abyss is… Wait."

  I felt a bit stupid at this moment, but I had to double-check, so I gestured for her to stop and then I activated my Leoformer. I didn't switch outfits, but accessed the leftover storage space in the array housing Cal and Teeny and retrieved the small handwritten notebook I stashed in there.

  "What is that?"

  "Don't mind me, I just have to check something," I said as I took half a step to the side to make sure she couldn't see the writing.

  "What a curious sight. From whence did that booklet appear? Was it one of your fabled enchantments?"

  "Yes, but that's beside the point. Please give me a second." She nodded and quietly waited for me to flip the pages until I found what I was looking for, and I involuntarily hissed out a quiet, "Goddamit, future-me," through clenched teeth.

  "Pardon?"

  "Never mind!" I excimed and stashed the notebook away, followed by a reassuring smile. "Let's ignore those pesky rumours for now. It’s not like we can do anything about them."

  Her intrigued gaze told me she wanted to ask, but her better judgment made her nod along.

  "As you wish. Now, for your other doubt, about Bel of the Abyss's legitimacy." She paused meaningfully and then turned on her heel, which I understood as a gesture to keep moving, so we started walking again as I listened to her. "To put it in blunt terms, whether he's truly Bel of the Tenebrous Fmes or not is entirely irrelevant."

  "Is it?"

  "Yes." She didn't as much insist as simply stated a brute fact. "Let us presume that he truly is, as both Elysium and your Draconic Federation procimed, the second coming of the Emperor of the Abyss. What does that mean?" She shook her head, as if the question itself was silly. "It's nothing. True Emperor or not, he chose to wage war on the Noble Houses that inherited his nd, without attempting to publicly procim himself and gain our support and allegiance. None of us will follow a man like that, whether his cims to the empty throne are legitimate or not."

  "What about the neutral House?"

  "House Ninhursag? They're a wild card. They refused to join the alliance of Noble Houses, but they never acknowledged the Lord of Inanna's cims either, and they isoted themselves on the Eastern coast of the Abyss. To be perfectly honest with you, I'm secretly hoping that your involvement might finally break them out of their self-imposed isotion."

  "You're already presuming that I'd support you."

  "Won't you?" she asked back, sounding almost pyful. "Why else would you have listened to me for this long, unless you were already inclined to help us?"

  I didn't have a good comeback to that, so I let the silence answer for me.

  "While you would not be able to gain much, I can tell you with perfect certainty that aiding us will lose you one thing," she pressed on, her voice full of confidence and conviction. "An old enemy. Aid the Abyss in our time of need, and you will gain the goodwill of both the Noble Houses and the popuce. It might not be enough to immediately erase the millennia of bad blood between the Abyss and Elysium, but I swear on my name that in this generation, both of our people will have peace and prosperity." She fell silent for a long beat, and then added, "Also, it would be your crowning achievement; the final notch on the belt of the Peacemaker that will go down in history. Doesn't that sound nice?"

  "I don't care much about that, but…" I hesitated for a second, but after mulling over it a few times, I eventually gave in. "Fine. Let's just say that I tentatively accept that."

  "Oh? That was quicker than expected." She sounded surprised. She must've thought I would need more buttering up. "Very well. I'm listening."

  "To what?"

  "Your terms," she responded off-the-cuff. "I've stated our part of the deal, now it's your turn to state your terms and conditions."

  "I thought we were already done with that." My answer made her stop in her tracks, so I took one st step and turned around to face her. "I give you support, I get peace and prosperity. Sounds fair."

  Her eyes went wide as saucers, but a moment ter she broke into ughter again, and it took her several seconds to rein in the impulse.

  "You truly are a strange man, Lord Leonard," she uttered while theatrically wiping the corners of her eyes. I ignored both her comment and her acting and changed the subject.

  "I can't promise military support, but I can give you supplies and humanitarian aid. If you want anything specific, please send a proper written request through the official channels."

  "The website with the adorable cartoon dragon. Yes, I was told about it." She fshed a smile, and added, "I promise to do so, yet there's an already pending request that I would urge you to take upon yourself."

  "The Ashur kid?"

  "Indeed." She nodded along and dramatically closed her parasol before tapping its end against the pavement like it was a fancy walking cane. "While I don't endorse Lord Tracas's motives or House Nergal's meddling, I have to say that there are scarcely any better ways to publicly announce your support of our cause than rescuing the young Lord of a fallen House from the clutches of Bel of the Abyss and his Herald. Don't you agree?"

  "So we're back to square one," I grumbled, but then I followed it up with a more distinct, "Why, yes. It would have quite the theatrical fir."

  "I'm gd we're in agreement." The head of House Shamash fshed a delighted smile at me, and I saw that the faint mist around her body was starting to billow and roil, as if whipped up by a strong wind. "I won't take any of your precious time today, Lord Leonard. The next time we meet, let it be in an official capacity and in front of credible witnesses, so that our alliance may be enshrined in writing. And who knows?" As she spoke, her outlines became more and more hazy, her pale skin was turning the same bck as her clothes, along with the sclera of her eyes, and her red irises gained an otherworldly orange glow. Then, just as her appearance was becoming truly uncanny… she fshed a warm smile and added, "Maybe we could have that tea party sooner than expected?"

  Not a second after she said that, she winked and her whole body colpsed into a bck mist with a dull orange-red light at its center, only to then disappear with a loud 'whoosh'.

  So… she was also a fan of dramatic exits, huh? Birds of a feather, I guess.

  More importantly though, while I had my reservations about this whole alliance business, knowing that future-me's handiwork was in py, I could kind of see the outlines of a plot in the making, and if I read the instructions in the notebook right, having allies within the Abyss was part of the pn. Probably.

  I mean, the instructions weren't exactly clear on that, most likely as part of some spoiler/paradox prevention measure, but I was still pretty sure I was on the right track.

  …

  Buuut just to be sure, I quickly completed the circle around the park, hopped into the public toilets near the info board, and then donned a familiar outfit. Making sure my pels were in order and my top hat was sitting on my head firmly, I gave myself one st look in the mirror and then disappeared for a quick reconnaissance mission. Just to be safe.