It was an oddly warm morning as clouds had moved in to lock in the heat overnight. Come morning, the clouds had moved on and left the local area warmer than it otherwise would have been. The morning sun beat down relentlessly on Isaac and Lenna. Even Walter seemed to have a perpetual tightness in his face from his eyes constantly trying to squint no matter how much he willed them not to. They moved quickly but not so quickly as to tire out Copper unnecessarily. Gypsy stopped straying from them as they got closer and closer to the capital, almost like she knew something that Isaac and Lenna didn't.

Walter had finally finished cutting, stitching, and embroidering Lenna's new cloak. The black fur of the Silent Stalker was noticeably feline compared to Isaac's canine shadow-wolf cloak. Both had donned them as the weather had turned dry, so they didn't need the self-drying enchantments on the cloaks that they had purchased in Nualt. Shamesh was safely stored in Isaac's shadow and wore his suit of ribbons that had been enchanted with layers of impact resistance. The throwing spikes that Walter had enchanted were split, eight to two, in Isaac and Lenna's respective special storages, Inventory and Bottomless Backpack. Lenna's new cloak was also a wonder of a creation because it allowed her to wear her backpack on the outside of most of the cloak.

Walter had made Lenna's cloak more like an overcoat that buttoned closed at the neck, breastbone, and hips. The cloak was still one piece as a wide strip of strengthened fur ran down in line with the back of Lenna's shoulders. The flaps also buttoned to each other in multiple places so the cloak could be worn as a classic button-at-the-neck cloak, a three piece overcoat, or anything in between. Lenna had it somewhere in between as the top section wasn't completely connected to the rest. This was done to allow her pack straps to be on her shoulders under the top section, which then also covered the top of her pack but left the pack's back and lower sides out in the open, while the rest of it still functioned like a normal cloak that was buttoned at her neck and breastbone. Her hood was down so it rested on top of the top section's back that was resting on top of her backpack. In all, the cloak was an impressive feat of textile engineering that was reinforced with some silencing and strengthening enchantments. The best part, it had only cost Isaac and Lenna seven hundred gold. Ordering something as unique as that via special order from just about any other artificer would have run them a few thousand.

All of that was to say, Isaac and Lenna were ready for their trip to be over when they finally reached the end of the forest. A man in a tan duster, a man in a black cloak with hair that almost seemed to steam in direct sunlight, a nondescript knight wearing violently purple armor under another black cloak, a red fox the size of a large wolf, and a rather normal looking reddish brown horse all walked out of the forest and into a clearing seven miles across. Calling it a clearing was a bit misleading as it was full of wonder and beauty packed seventeen stories high at the highest point and made of gleaming ivory, emerald, and gold colored materials that radiated the sunlight back out across all of existence within line of sight of its majesty.

Verdant stained glass windows, emerald green banners with golden butterfly wings and halos, and an unreasonable but somehow tasteful amount of plant growth were painted across the expansive city that claimed to be a part of the heavens themselves. When stone was used, it was ivory white granite or limestone cut into sweeping interlocking curves and arches that imitated grains of wood and sweeping branches. When wood was used, it was holly, pine, or white oak in just as intricate interlocking and sweeping structures that mirrored their original forms in a dazzling display of replication that was still incredibly distinct in its own way. Brass that looked like pure gold was used to cover every single instance where a metal needed to be out in the open and it was always engraved or cast in shapes of flowers or butterfly wings.

The buildings around the edges were stone for the first few feet and then wood for the rest but as one looked father and father into the city the buildings grew and grew until the spire that reached towards the heavens like the tertiary splash when a stone was dropped into a pond. The buildings towards the edges were more round like bushes or mushrooms. The street lights looked like sprouting trees made of gold with countless tiny verdant glass leaves that would shine soft yellow all around once the sun went down. The buildings towards the middle began to look like larger and wider trees or sometimes looked like multiple trees stuck together when the building needed to be larger. The sole exception to the flora aesthetic was the spire that looked like the backsplash from having dropped an emerald stone into a pool of molten gold that had cooled and solidified in place. The next highest buildings, to the seventeen story tall spire, were around twelve stories tall with the next tier being seven and then a little over five, a little under four, three and a half, and so on until they had nearly leveled out at the one story level of the immaculate small buildings that stretched out almost immediately before them.

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The spire rose like a tri-bladed twisting dagger into the sky with countless emerald gems embedded into it at seemingly random yet balanced intervals, only each gem was a window at least fifteen feet across in every direction. It looked like it was otherwise made entirely out of gold and at the distance that they were, it was impossible to tell if it actually was or not. What was certain was that it was the focal point and seat of power of the entire Celestial Kingdom, if for no other reason than its deliberate look of upwards motion that all but screamed that it was trying to reach back into Celestia itself by any means necessary.

"Holy…" Isaac's voice trailed off in awe at the beauty and presence of the city before them.

Even Lenna was stunned into silence without being able to see the colors involved directly. She could still see the sweeping and interlocking curves of every material used in the building's constructions as well as the perfectly balanced asymmetry.

Walter nodded to himself. "It still looks like someone tried to recreate what they imagined a city crafted by El'Gra would look like." He said but otherwise let the duo take in the city.

"I can see why they call it Material de la Celestia." Isaac said in wonder.

"Be careful here." Walter warned the duo. "This place is the way that it is because the freedom here's as fake as the golden door knobs."

"I can feel eyes on us." Lenna commented as if to punctuate the point.

Isaac nodded. "I can too. The secret police, I take it?" He asked.

Walter chuckled. "Oh, they aren't secret. They just don't have a reason to actively patrol when they can see everything from their office. The illusory terrain in Philia's office is just my cheap imitation of the system that they have here. Nothing's secret once you walk into this clearing." He explained. "That does mean that when I say aloud; 'I am Walter Walker, adopted scion of the Ashborne family, the free-walker, double platinum level adventurer known as The Engineer, and I am here on a quest to escort these two to see The Fatebreaker.' Someone important will come to meet us. Especially when I say aloud; 'The two with me are the human demigod of darkness and his mate, the legendary adventurer, The Lady of Hellfire.'" Walter finished and leaned back on his heels like he was waiting for someone to pick him up in a carriage from the side of the road. That image wasn't too far off.

It took ten minutes for a team of four, ivory and gleaming gold, banded mail clad warriors to ride up on horseback with swords on their hips, shields hanging from either side of the backs of their saddles, and bannered spears in their hands. The one in the front had a plume of green feathers that looked natural and undyed. Their faces were completely hidden behind their faceplates and their armor was entirely nondescript when it came to the gender of the soldier themselves. Even so, one of their number was noticeably smaller in stature than the other three.

All four came to a stop a mere ten feet in front of the group. The soldiers eyed the travelers as the travelers eyed them. A tense moment of silence lingered until the leader spoke up: "Sir Walker, we have been expecting you. I will take you directly to see Grand Commander Gl'Doe. Lord Ashborne will meet you there." His clipped and stern but decently average voice came out clearly from inside of his helmet. Some enchantment must've been at play to keep the metal from muffling or distorting the sound at all. He then turned to look at Isaac and Lenna specifically. "Foreign guests of our esteemed elder, my men will escort you to our diplomatic quarters where you may await your meeting." His gaze then locked onto Lenna as if drawn to something that no one could see. "We must also insist that you remove any high level anti-detection equipment."

Isaac had to fight down a bristle at a soldier or guardsman talking to a demigod the way the leader just had. Isaac was fully aware that he wasn't the same as Ori Jikan or Klein Fehnok, but talking to a demigod in such a manner was a good way to get Judgment to hit someone with the 'elf slaying hammer', Battle to engage in his namesake, or Catastrophe to reshape the local topography, at least that is what Isaac believed. He couldn't just let it go, he had to do or say something, the question was: 'What can I do that will fix the perceived power dynamic without causing an international incident?'

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