"So, what brings you two here to Vena Cava?" Ramses walked over amicably to Lillian and Joy once the last of the Freer Men had run away.

Lillian felt like she was a mature woman. She was a functioning adult who did not need to squabble like a child. But still, Ramses' face annoyed her to no end. All she could remember was her failure to beat him. Yet, the squabbling child inside her was pleased to no end by the fact that she felt endlessly more powerful than Ramses now.

With the squabbling child appeased, she felt an easy answer come to her lips.

"We are here to help fight against the king. It seems like you are here to do something similar." Ramses eyes widened at her words.

"Why are you fighting against him?"

It seemed like a reasonable question. Ramses seemed different than he had during the knight tournament, but he had always been an honorable sort. He probably didn't want them to join his resistance team unless they were fighting for the right reasons. He wouldn't be taking on power-hungry fools.

Joy spoke up. He said, "I was one of the first people he tried to eat after the disasters. It's wrong, I know in my heart that it is."

If Ramses' eyes had widened after Lillian spoke to him, they nearly popped out of his head after Joy spoke. He grabbed Joy by the shoulders and started shaking him around like a ragdoll.

"No one we have sent into that chamber has made it back out. We knew something shady was going on and figured that the insane mouths that appeared in the capital had something to do with it. But you have actually seen it. Please, tell me everything in excruciating detail."

The words hit Lillian in an odd way. These people had been fighting, but they had not known about the king's true intentions. They were just people who saw other people disappearing and hoped that they would be able to help. There was something beautiful and something hopeless about this that Lillian could feel but not express.

Joy shook Ramses off and said, "sure, I'll tell you all about it. The king used his magic mouth nonsense to drag me into his sacrificial chamber. There, he described his master plan to free humanity from the clutches of the gods by eating all the other humans on this planet. He tried to convince me through words, but he seemed pretty adamant. Thankfully, some guy I had met the day before attacked him and I was able to escape in this aftermath. See, nice and simple." Joy's tone was more than snarky by the end, but Ramses didn't even seem to notice because he was too focused on the content of the words. Lillian had heard the whole thing before, so she was getting a little bored. However, she understood the fact that this was a huge deal for Ramses. So, she hid her yawns behind her hand.

"This makes sense on some level. We knew that the king wasn't a real psycho, and since he had the backing of at least one religion we knew that his actions couldn't be totally self-serving. But we had not been able to figure out why he would need to eat every single person that entered his personal chambers."

"Yeah, I can see how that would be confusing. But he is hoping to create one entity that encompasses all of humanity, thus allowing him to reach a deific state. Then he will use that power to challenge the gods and make a new paradise for humanity." Joy's words trailed off and Lillian grimaced. She knew that what the king was doing was bad. However, the way that Joy just put it made it sound like a pretty good thing. Eternal paradise sounded nice.

Ramses put a finger on his lips. "We can't let that happen. The gods have given us so much, we cannot just let them be destroyed by that tyrant."

Lillian looked at Ramses quizzically. She knew that they needed to work together, but something about that response just didn't sit right with her. The gods gave gifts to humanity, but they only did it so that they could win their foolish game of human worship. They had also created humanity to use them as a source of entertainment. The gods were not kind, and this fight should not center on saving the gods from mankind, should it?

"This has been invaluable. Let me introduce you to our team. Come along." Ramses muttered something to himself, and a giant bird made of shimmering light appeared beneath his feet. He gestured to Lillian and Joy, welcoming them to join him on the bird.

Once everyone had situated themselves on the bird, it took off. Its massive wings caused gales to erupt below them and soon they were far above the remains of Vena Cava.

From above, Lillian could distinctly see the former rings of the city. Each layer had been separated from the others, and yet the devastation caused such a short time ago had caused the rings to bleed into each other the tiniest bit.

The bird flew relatively low to the ground. It was clear that Ramses was trying to be covert. However, Lillian questioned the intelligence of whatever leader had elected Ramses to be in this covert role. All his abilities were flashy and easy to see, making him a poor choice for a spy.

The bird slowly flew into an abandoned section of town and Lillian breathed a sigh of relief for the fact that no one had seemed to notice them flying over the town.

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They landed in a dirty lot that had been used to house some markets. Now, they were all ramshackle and derelict, leaving only dirt and rubble.

Lillian looked around expectantly. "Where is the rest of your organization?"

Ramses looked a little sheepish at her question. "They are all out right now. We are a small organization being run by the former princess."

Lillian looked at Ramses and he turned his head away. He was obviously embarrassed by the fact that he seemed to be working alone. Lillian decided to take it in good faith that he wasn't just a weirdo pretending to be a part of a secret organization.

"So, is this your home base? It seems kind of austere." Lillian cringed at Joy's comment. It was the nicest way she had ever heard someone say that a person's place was ugly.

Ramses' sheepish demeanor shifted a little at Joy's question. Instead of seeming embarrassed he put on a smug smile.

"You would think so, wouldn't you?" Ramses said and then did a complicated series of gestures with his hands. With a flourish, the empty pavilion disappeared and in its place was a massive command tent.

The tent was a deep blue with purple accents distinguishing it from the dirty grey surroundings by its sheer color. Lillian was impressed by the showmanship as well as the structure itself.

"Was that one of the princess' spells keeping the tent hidden from view?" Lillian asked the obvious question.

"Yes, she has protected the area using her gift so that we can fight against the king without being hindered by nasty things like soldiers or spies."

Joy and Lillian nodded. It seemed like common sense to keep the home base of an insurrection well hidden.

The merry crew of three entered the blue tent and saw a few cordoned areas. There were some sparse living areas, most of which seemed untouched. There was one cot in particular that was messy, and Ramses made a beeline for it to tidy up. Clearly, the messy cot was his and no one else was actively staying in the tent.

Once his room was in what Ramses deemed a reasonable state, he turned back to his guests and gestured to the large command table that was near the center of the tent. Along the table was a massive map and a piece of parchment with instructions written on it.

The map showed Vena Cava and had certain areas labelled in red ink. These were clearly the areas that were completely under King David's influence. Other areas in blue were supply points and fallback positions for princess Dahlia's troops. Lillian was a little worried about this since it seemed foolish to have so many points if only Ramses was there.

"I have been withholding from you, and I wish to come clean." Ramses' voice was quiet but strong.

"Please, we would appreciate honesty." Lillian replied.

"I believe that the only people left working in this insurrection group are princess Dahlia, Julia, and myself. Everyone else working with us has been taken to the king's castle and presumably eaten."

He paused for a moment to let his words sink in. Lillian could feel the loneliness in his voice; he had lost friends and comrades while she had been asleep.

"I am in desperate need of your help. I have been trying to get in contact with the princess, but she went on an important mission with Julia, and I have been unable to contact her. I don't know what to do."

It was a moment of real vulnerability from Ramses. Lillian had always seen him as a real stuck up guy, but this was a new side she had not seen in their brief fights. He seemed overwhelmed by the weight of choice, and to be honest, she couldn't blame him. She and Joy had come here in the hopes that they could piggyback on someone else's plan to save the world. They were just as overwhelmed and scared as Ramses.

However, Lillian had a trick up her sleeve.

With the power of the dream realm on her side, she could do literally anything.

"Don't worry, we can put you in contact with the princess." Lillian said while patting Ramses on the back. He looked at her with dopey eyes hat were nearly brimming with tears.

"How?"

Lillian focused on the world around her for a moment. She breathed in the scents of the dust and the feel of the air on her skin. Then she sank into herself, pulling deeply on her personal connection to the dream realm.

She didn't let the dream realm come out into reality; that would have been too much for Joy and Ramses to handle. Instead, she stepped into the world previously owned by Dream that was now her personal domain.

Lillian needed something elegant to solve this issue. She did not need a sword to cut down her enemies. She needed a piece of equipment that allowed Ramses to get into contact with princess Dahlia.

She imagined a mirror that allowed contact between two people. The mirror was etched with ancient meaningless runes and had a beautiful silver frame. It stood taller than most people and Lillian thought that it looked quite fetching.

With this mirror firmly grasped in her imagination, she forced the dream world to create this object for her. The world squirmed under her force, but she refused to be denied by her own domain.

Finally, the mirror popped out of thin in air and into Lillian's waiting arms. With a flourish in her step, Lillian stepped back out of the dream realm and presented her prize to Joy and Ramses.

Both men were looking at her in awe of her overwhelming power, btu she didn't let their feeble appreciation go to her head too much. She could do so much more than this now.

"Just look into this mirror and think of Dahlia. If she agrees, the mirror will let the two of you have a conversation as if she were in the room with us." Lillian explained her fancy magical artifact.

"That's incredible, Lillian. You made an artifact without a god's power." Joy brought up an interesting point. Lillian had thought about this fact a little. With her vanquishing of Dream, she now was the ruler of her own dream realm. However, her powers still came from Dream. So, had she emancipated her powers from the god, or was she just piggybacking off their almighty power?

Who cares? Lillian was powerful and that was all that mattered at that moment.

Ramses set up the mirror and fixed his nonexistent hair. He was strikingly bald but still conscientious of the way he presented himself. Lillian could not fault him for that.

For a brief moment, the mirror flashed through a kaleidoscope of colors, until it finally settled on a shade of gold that pulled back to show the princess' face.

A static filled voice came from the mirror. "Now, this is exciting. Tell me everything."

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