Isaac was numb. Aria's death seemed like some cruel joke. There was no way that Aria, a cleric of knowledge of all things, would end up caught in a trap and killed. And where was Claus? Claus never would have let anything happen to her. If something did actually happen to her, then Claus was probably chasing down whoever hurt her so he could turn them into a smear on the ground.

People died, yes, all the time in fact, and he had been the reason for more than his fair share of mortal demises, but his friends didn't die. He was the Lord of darkness itself, his friends were protected under his title and deeds. He had spent the last month and a half in a state of weakness and nothing had managed to put him down, save for a boobytrap but that hardly counted, so why had someone gone after his friends? A drow ambush, really? Why? If they wanted to get back at him for killing Jallen then where were the raids on the surface looking for him. Where were the dark elf assassins laying in wait with cloaks, bows, spider silk, and daggers? Why wasn't he the one being attacked? They shouldn't even know about Aria and Claus, they weren't powerful or important enough to draw any attention to themselves. None of it made sense, in Isaac's feverish brain. In reality, it had just been a random raid and Aria and Claus just so happened to be the ones guarding the caravan. But for delirious Isaac, for a man who already saw himself as the center of the world, he couldn't understand why his friends had been specifically targeted.

Everything else that went on around him happened in a blur. A high elven woman entered and talked with Lenna for a bit and then left again. She returned with a few bottles of some kind of medicine and written instructions for its use. Walter had come and gone a few times but the most recent time he returned with all of their stuff. Isaac's stuff was in a pile but Lenna's was all still in her Bottomless Backpack. Shamesh entered and stood perfectly still by Isaac's side as the dark mage's brain slowly started to both cool and get used to the heat. He was not reforged as thoroughly as Lenna had been time and again but he was a bit more resistant to heat than he had been before. Also, his internal temperature had gone up to the point where he had a continuous low grade fever.

"Isaac, you need to put Shamesh away." Lenna told him. "We can't teleport with him out."

Isaac nodded absently and didn't even bother gesturing to the side. His shadow just reached out and swallowed Shamesh. "C'mon, we gotta get you dressed and all your shit in your special space before Karthen gets here." Walter said and pulled the blanket off of Isaac. "Here, put this away." He said and handed Isaac something.

Isaac was still dressed in his plain clothes that he wore as under armor, save for his socks and boots, but it would probably be for the best if he had his armor on, just in case. Isaac unconsciously did as Walter told him. He sent each thing that the artificer had given him into his Inventory though, unlike normal, he didn't even use his shadows to obscure what he was doing. He simply sent each item away one at a time until Walter helped him to his feet.

"I, uh, what?" Isaac asked with total confusion. It was like he had just gained true awareness and had no idea what was going on or where he was. Everything came back to him in crashing waves and he swayed on his feet. His mind was at least clear enough that he felt like he was conscious, unlike how he had been for the past few hours, which only served to hit him with what had happened to Aria and Claus again.

"Just help me get this armor on you." Walter told him and held up the main body of his armor. Isaac swayed slightly on his feet as he nodded and started to put on the armor with Walter's help.

Lenna had been slowly doing the same for the last little while and had been moving slowly and deliberately. Every fiber of her being ached the entire way through. It had lessened a great deal from the medicine that Jina had given her, but after she had started moving around, she started to feel more like how she had been before she had taken the medicine. Karthen was going to get them, by special request from Alexander, but he would only take them from Mat-Cel to the roof of the Adventurers' Guild branch in Safeharbor. After that, they were in Alexander's hands.

Isaac and Lenna finished getting ready at the same time and Lenna gave Walter a nod in thanks. "Thank you, for everything, Walter. I hope we meet again some day." She told him.

"I'm sure we will." Walter replied. "You got at least another two hundred and fifty years left in you. I've seen half of the world in a century so we'll for sure cross paths again." He gave her a nod in acknowledgement of her thanks. "Let's get you two down to the street where your ride's gonna pick you up. I'll grab the pack." He told her and did just that.

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As soon as the three of them left the room that they had been resting in, it was evident that they had been just down the hall from Cainen Su'Sol's hospital room. "How is he?" Lenna wondered with a questioning look towards his room.

"Still unconscious." Walter told them. "Lady Ashborne's told Xlen to stop hovering no less than thirty times already." He joked. "But she says that he'll wake up some time tomorrow, tonight if we're lucky." He looped Lenna's arm over his shoulder, with her backpack on his back, and grabbed Isaac's elbow to help keep him steady and to guide him.

"I can walk by myself." Isaac said almost without even realizing it.

"I know, but you're still kinda out of it." Walter replied. Isaac didn't protest further and let Walter guide him to the elevator. They got some concerned and confused looks from the healer's assistants but no one tried to stop them. Maybe they were let go because of who was with them, or maybe they were let go because they weren't high elves, but no one had even bothered to warn them that what they were doing might have been a bad idea.

During their descent to the bottom floor, and then the few steps to wait outside for Karthen, Lenna and Walter began filling in Isaac on what had been happening around him. He was coherent enough to understand what they were saying so he could file it away for when it became relevant next.

Their payment for the orphanage would be paid every first of the year, of every year, and be picked up by a courier who will teleport him or herself from either Mat-Cel or Bramble to Safeharbor to pick up the money and then back to Bramble for a fee of two thousand gold. The courier would be a high elven one so Isaac and Lenna didn't need to worry about arranging it. Xlen would make sure that everything was in order. The girl that they were supposed to help out would find her own way there, probably with the help of either Xlen or the Ashborne family whenever she was ready, however far in the future that happened to be. Other than that, Lenna had thanked Lord and Lady Ashborne for their help and promised that if they ever needed anything, that they could call upon her and Isaac. Friends always answered when a request for aid went out after all.

They settled in to wait for Karthen, as he was supposed to arrive at the dinnertime bell which was only around ten minutes away, and Walter cleared his throat. "While we've got time," He began. "something happened while you three were out cold from the wish."

"The scent of blood on Lady Ashborne?" Lenna asked.

Walter nodded. "His Royal Highness the Immortal King of the Celestial Kingdom ordered his actual secret police to end you while you weren't aware of what was going on. They were gonna capture Shamesh and do whatever they could to sever his connection to you and then destroy him, as he was able to witness everything, and just kill the two of you. They hoped that in your weakened state, reconstitution in your divine domain would be impossible. Xlen, Lord Ashborne, Gypsy, and myself handled them without too much issue. They tried to get us to just step aside and keep our mouths shut but, even if it wasn't you two, we owe grandpa Su'Sol a lot so we couldn't just let his last wish go to waste." Walter explained. "It's up to you if you wanna let this go, but we'd appreciate it if you kept any and all collateral damage to a minimum."

Isaac sighed in a mix of a growl and a groan. "If there weren't more important things to do, I'd walk in there and test his immortality myself right now." He swore just loud enough for Walter and Lenna to hear him. "But at this point, it might be too much work to come back here to deal with him later." He confessed. "I hope he doesn't sleep, because if I ever do decide to come back to make my own counter assassination attempt, I won't be a coward and will do it myself."

"That's about what I figured you'd say." Walter replied and shook his head with a smirk. Just then, space vibrated slightly just in front of them as Karthen's teleportation spell locked onto the coordinates. "Before you go," Walter began as a high elven man in opulent gray robes appeared before them. "I hope your friends'll be okay. And take care of yourselves."

Karthen was quiet as he realized who was standing before him alongside Isaac and Lenna.

"Thanks." Isaac told him and offered Walter his hand. Walter took his arm by the forearm. "See you around, and don't get into too much trouble."

Walter laughed. "Trouble is my middle name. If I'm not causing it, it's landing in my lap." He joked and then took Lenna's offered hand in the same way that he had taken Isaac's. "Keep him grounded, yeah?"

Lenna nodded. "I'll try." She promised. "Gypsy?" She asked and the fox practically materialized next to her. Lenna gave the fox a smile. "Thank you for all your hard work." She told the fox who bobbed her head in reply. "Try to keep him alive, will you?" Gypsy almost seemed to have a twinkle in her eye and she yipped in affirmation. Lenna then turned to face Karthen. "Thank you for coming, you are the only one we know who has the ability to take us directly to Safeharbor." She told him directly.

Karthen bowed slightly to her. "Young Alexander made a special request for me to fetch the two of you from my homeland." He explained. "Though I had wished to never see either of you again in person, no offence intended, I could hardly refuse such a heartfelt request." He then turned to regard Walter and gave him a shallow bow as well. "Ashborne heir, I was unaware that you were acquainted with the Lord of Darkness and Lady of Hellfire."

"All double platinums get to know each other." Walter replied. "Thanks for those books on dimensional portals and mobile anchors by the way, they've served me well."

Karthen bowed again. "It was my pleasure." He replied and then looked between Isaac and Lenna and held out his hands to both of them.

Walter handed Lenna her Bottomless Backpack and she gave him a nod in thanks and then both she and Isaac took one of Karthen's hands. "To take a step is but to cover ground and space, so too is a leap and a jump from standstill or running start, whether it be with muscle or mana, the result shall be the same." Karthen chanted and then, just like that, they were gone from the Celestial Kingdom and its capital city of Material de la Celestia.

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