In the cold morning light, the world looked different. It was strange. Daniel had been through enough that he'd been in situations that had seemed like a dream afterward, but last night was an exception even to the visions he'd had to force out of his time in the Divine Pavilion. It was as if the very nature of the world had grown shaky for a moment and they'd been two steps from dissolving.

It was probably just his imagination. It didn't change the fact that Cloak was gone. Kahvin had explained everything after he'd stopped laughing. His father had thought that Cloak and Soraso were conspiring to work against the Octyrrum. There were other factors at play, other signs they'd misread, but it didn't matter. At least they could tell Lagori had lost, because the power he'd used to cause Kahvin's ego death had ended with his life.

Where it went from there? Wasn't that the question. One I'd really like to have a god to ask right now. It wasn't as if Daniel was aimless, he knew all roads to saving the world ran through the Arcadian, but it seemed such a distant goal. At least the idiots who'd attacked them hadn't taken out Bekali, who'd remained senseless to all the fighting, as well. Daniel didn't want to go back to the Arcadian until they had more pure mana weapons, or the ability to trust Soraso again. Right now, they didn't.

But you had to move on. At least now there was some cause for joy to counter the sickness in his heart from watching Cloak's Proxy die. Daniel leaned on his windowsill, watching what was happening in the courtyard below while across the way Builders rapidly repaired fire damage. Lograve stood in the center, awaiting the approaching soarer with a blindfold of ice on his face. Zolyra had already come through and stabilized Pinion's Point as best she could, but she wasn't the only one who'd made the journey.

"My friend? My friend, is that you?" Lograve weakly called out as he felt the shift in the wind as a painted wooden platform descended to hover just above the cobblestone. "Murdon! Why, I would know that quiet brooding anywhere. Ah, but if only I could see your taciturn face one more time."

The heavily armored draconoid glanced at the surroundings, nodding to Daniel when he noticed him watching, and sighed as he took in Lograve once more. "It'd probably help if you took that off."

"What, this?" Lograve's hand touched the thick ring of ice floating around his head. "No, no Murdon, you know my eyes were destroyed by that magical anomaly last night. I'm fully blind now."

"Then why are you smiling like that?" Murdon asked knowingly, stepping down and walking up to his friend. Lograve tried to say something in response, but the Knight overwhelmed the human in a massive hug.

"Oh! It's not fair," Lograve complained as he was squeezed. "I eek out the smallest advantage over you and then get thrown into a magicless purgatory. It's not like you ever took things easy on me."

"You're certainly not going to keep yourself in check. Couldn't wait until after I got here to try and make a second sun?"

"That was Daniel's fault!" The Arcanist threw a withering hand in Daniel's direction which rather defeated the illusion he was trying to maintain. "It's always his fault, but no one believes me no matter how many times I warn them."

"Like student, like teacher then." Murdon lifted the blindfold off and finally saw the face of a friend he hadn't spoken to since the Thormundz.

"And you're the big bully." Lograve beat a hand across Murdon's back several times as if in protest, but neither wanted to be anywhere else. Eventually, he looked over Murdon's shoulder at those who'd come with him, including one avianoid somewhat nervously standing still and watching the two. His eyebrows scrunched together at how Tounaki was staring at the two and he began to get the strangely unfamiliar sense of being the butt of a joke. That wasn't how this worked.

"You're Lograve?" Tounaki asked weakly as Murdon turned as well to face her. "I dunno what I was expecting but, huh."

Off his game, Lograve spluttered somewhat. "And who exactly are you, missy? Don't tell me you've been shacking up with some floozy Pyromancer while I've been…" Lograve trailed off as a look of horror, one no one could be exactly certain wasn't faked, crossed his face. "No. No. It truly is the end times."

"Lograve, this is Tounaki," Murdon introduced wryly, the Arcanist behind him giving Lograve a slightly bemused nod.

"You don't just say that!" Lograve exclaimed. "By the seven, or I suppose it's eight now, gods, Murdon! After all this time?"

"It… kind of just happened."

Tounaki, in the way any significant other meeting a close friend of their partner for the first time does, had been trying to assess the vibe while the two talked so she could co-opt it. Daniel could see the nerves mixed in with the usual confidence he'd expect from her as she strutted up and covertly smoothed feathers on the back of her neck. Then she opened her mouth and got about half of the Murdon-Lograve feel right.

"Yeah, it 'kind of just happens' a lot these days," she replied with a knowing smile, but also with a subtle inflection suggesting she'd be ready to pit her fire against Lograve's ice if that's where the dynamic was going. "Good to meet you, finally. Any tips on making a bond with this wall of hunk? Seeing as you've already rode that thermal."

Lograve turned a blank face to Tounaki for a few seconds before he let loose with full-throated laughter. "Oh, Murdon, you've chosen well! Tell you what, we'll visit one of the only bars still boozing in town and go over what you've tried. We can compare notes!"

"That's not necessary," Murdon replied stiffly, but it was too late. Tounaki clung to the approval and, in her impish way delighted in Murdon's expression, following Lograve out of the compound as the Knight chased after them. What happened from there wasn't Daniel's to intrude on, though he would look for smoke on the horizon just in case.

Daniel jumped down and went to greet the others who'd been watching. "Thomas."

"Guy! That was… something." The Cleric was no doubt itching to gossip, though the missing and blackened walls of one of the buildings in the compound cast a certain light on them that reminded them of the other, terrible one that had shone over the region. "You've got more to say than I do, though, looks like. Last I heard was Quala running off to stop you from getting yourself killed."

Where to begin? "I'm glad you're here, Thomas." Hunter, now. "We have a lot to talk about."

"No kidding, that blast of light woke me up and almost made the driver flip the soarer!" The Cleric said excitedly. "I thought it might have been that Origin Beast, uh…" Thomas' words broke off as he moved forward, putting a hand on Daniel's shoulder to move him aside as he glanced toward the back of the central house.

Daniel would admit that he'd learned a few things from Lograve, including the importance of how you informed people of things. Like Murdon having a girlfriend, or Hunter having been brought back from the dead. They'd at least given Murdon the courtesy of knowing that Lograve had been returned via sending stone message to the soarer pilot, but they'd wanted to keep certain things under wraps.

"Guy, what's happening?" Thomas asked with some concern as he saw what looked like Daniel's hybrid cat form in the distance wearing something close to the armor the Daniel was now. "You didn't… no, you didn't."

And back. Hunter in the background rapidly shifted to all fours, his somewhat flexible chest armor adjusting to fit over his upper shoulders and front torso. Daniel changed to hybrid form himself, though he rapidly activated Beast Mode again to make it just look like a wave of fur briefly passed over him. "It's just like old times. We won, Thomas. We lost some things, but we won."

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"Then, they're really…"

He got his answer in a sharp battle cry echoing from one of the rooftops. "Wingcraft! Attack!" The Cleric jumped a little as Hunter began bounding toward him at full speed, while figures from the two undamaged houses took to the air only to sharply dive around Thomas. While most people would be taken aback by what was essentially a strike team coming to surround them, Thomas was beaming.

"Ev, Tak! Hunter… how are you?" Thomas' gaze lingered on the ringcat. "You were dead for months."

"Astral," Hunter replied with a grunt. "I… I've been there before. I can't remember, but knowing that I lost something helped me keep what I still had."

"Hand." Thomas shook his head, amazed. "I want to hear all about that. But where were you guys?"

"Earth. Do not recommend." Daniel shot a betrayed look at the Totem Warrior who shrugged. "Too much water, and magic does not work."

"Wh- you mean-" Thomas' head turned rapidly to take in the Builder's repair progress and brought his voice down to a whisper, "We shouldn't talk about that here."

"People attacked us in the middle of the night," Daniel reminded the Cleric. "There's more you need to know, but let's just say I'm done acting like a leper because of who I am. I'm not going around shouting out that I'm from another world, but this is my home."

"Ok, but Earth? And you, uh, couldn't go back?" He asked the question carefully, a sign the conversation was growing darker than Daniel had intended. They hadn't even mentioned Alex yet. Thomas didn't wait for an answer and scratched his head, saying, "All this in less than two days."

"Tell me about it."

"So, where's Khare?" Thomas gave another nervous look at the fire damage. "They didn't, uh."

"Khare's with the rest of the earth gestalt for now," Daniel answered, the mood now thoroughly trashed.

"Maybe we should sit down and talk about this," Evalyn suggested, proving she still had what it took to lead the team. "We all need to take a breath after last night."

"Yeah, yeah." Thomas did another head count as they walked toward the main house, seemingly aware that something was off. "Sigron's at the church, I know that. Khiat, you're doing ok?"

"Yeah! My archery's doing better than the last time in the ruins," she paused in thought, one of her hands going to her bow for a moment. "I'm doing better. Last night was hard, but whatever that light was didn't hurt like the sun, and… and only a few people died."

"Spinner got hurt," Daniel added, frowning. "And Tlara was able to talk Willow into doing something stupid because of it. They're all taking the day off and getting rest."

"We'd be doing that too if the most annoying Cleric in the world didn't decide to drop in," Evalyn chided jokingly.

"Annoying!? You've been missing for months, and that's what you say to me after you come back?" Thomas bristled, before he nodded and let out the tension. "Yeah, I know. I'm trying to work on it, it's just hard. I am glad to see you guys. Hey!"

Evalyn stopped rustling Thomas' hair. "Tell me you're staying here and I'll be glad too."

"I'll have to talk to Quala about it," Thomas replied evasively. "A lot of people in the church are thinking about hunting now that healing isn't providing as much advancement anymore. The teshak floor warden guy hasn't gone in ages, but after figuring out his wall was removed by the Collapse, he's considering it. Pure healers like me are going to be needed to pick up the slack." In the corner of a metaphorical bathroom somewhere, shaking and holding its knees, the Incarnate muttered something about trends. Thomas, meanwhile, stopped ten steps from the house as what was bothering him finally clicked. "Wait, didn't you guys have a Rogue helping in the ruins too? What happened to her?"

"She's been behind you the entire time," Daniel replied with a smile on his face. Thomas turned, Shuni dropped out of stealth, and the Cleric screamed.

Left behind and alone in the courtyard were the last two occupants of the soarer aside from the pilot, who'd remained silent because of how much they stuck out from the rest of the group. Like a fish out of water, you could say.

"Rait, um, should we ask someone where to go?" the shavi Fate looked for approval in the man who was by all accounts normal compared to her, as if he were her boss instead of her former assistant. She was still somewhat shaken by the attempt on her life and the following 'worst reading ever' from Aughal, leading to her normal nature as an admitted diva being suppressed when startled. It could be anything from the presence of someone who could easily kill her, like Zolyra, to light strong enough to blot out the horizon.

Rait, who despite everything had still failed to advance into a class, grumbled internally for a moment before he relented. "They seem busy, let's just find you a bath."

…

"So as far as we can tell, Daniel's gone, Khiat's locked out, and Sigron's busy getting his ass handed to him by that weird level 4 no one can beat," Shuni led in while the group was camped around the central house's living space. It was the one Soraso had used to brief them on the ruins weeks ago, and Daniel was trying not to let that memory sully the place. He really didn't want to have to look for more housing in this market. "It's just me and a Beastmaster without any monsters out, and I'm all out of mana. Tell me, oh lauded original recipe Captain, what would you have done?"

Evalyn considered the challenge, and the taloned finger wrapping around the base of the wide-brimmed glass to point at her, before shrugging. "Since everyone lived, I'd say I'd do whatever you did."

"Ha! Yeah, me too."

"What did you do?" Thomas asked, otherwise sitting in rapt attention. Shuni probably could have created a shadow clone where she was sitting and robbed him four times over before he noticed.

She finished her sip and made the glass vanish. "Rogue never reveals her secrets. But since Tlara was there it doesn't matter. I have a feature that lets me blend in with terrain." Waggling the fingers of her hand, Shuni placed it against the wall and they all watched it begin to match the color of the brown wood. "That elite was giving us all kinds of Crest, but I'd managed to finally get it to bleed for more than a few seconds after it got distracted by this guy over here. Can't say I blame it," she continued, shooting Daniel a wink. "It flies up into this nook, and Tlara wants to dominate it, since it's the only way we can really help Sigron, but the best she's able to do is get it to freeze up. I'm already camping by it in case I have to stop it from killing her, and that's when Sigron gets punted into the wall! Durable bastard survives, of course, even though the dent was bigger than me, but now I've got to choose between staying in cover to help Tlara or stopping that monster from killing Sigron for good. Or, I would have if team fur hadn't come back and solved everything."

"You sound like any Captain's dream," Evalyn commented, and it was in the way Shuni's smile slipped for just a second that made it clear she knew what was going on. It wasn't hostile or intended to run counter to the good mood that had been restored, but the Rogue was being judged by all three returning members of Wingcraft. That she hadn't blinked at Hunter scored points and Daniel didn't know what it would take to get Tak honestly mad at someone, but the fact that Shuni's last team had broken up with her made her a free agent.

There was no current strong opposition to her, but every member of a team was another moving piece, and Wingcraft was getting rather large depending on who you still counted. Part of the chaos last night had been trying to deal with new factors, and no one was blaming her, but Shuni had been one of them. You could be good at what you did and possess a needed specialty and still not be a good fit, like Thomas. That she still had some interest in him could be a problem. Whose he wasn't sure, or if it was one at all, and that was the point.

Uncertainty. When the god you had just made friends with was banished and the Cleric who'd tried to kidnap you into the future absorbed too much magic and exploded, perspective became difficult. Zolyra was hanging over his head with the promise of very unpleasant consequences if she didn't like what he'd have to say, but she was still busy settling the town after the attacks. He had until tonight to prepare, yet he was thinking harder about what he was about to say instead of how to defuse the level 6 draconoid.

He decided on straight honesty. "We couldn't have done it without her."

Shuni passed him a relieved smile in exchange for his vote of approval. "It's not like it was just me stabbing the necks out of everybody. The fight before that was rough for me, ended up the first one taken out. Would've been pretty bad if it wasn't for this one right here." She clapped Khiat on the arm appreciatively. "I thought she was going to break it in half the way she was beating it up."

"My dad said to never hit things with my bow," Khiat replied somewhat self-consciously, before smiling. "But this wasn't the one he was talking about. I don't know if I can do that again, Sigron had helped me with his bond, but I'll try. I promise."

"I think the woman who came here could do anything," Evalyn said assuringly. "You know, assuming the world's going to give us some time to breathe, we could look into sending a group to get your parents. This island's deep enough we could have those people outside build them something underground."

"Yeah," Daniel affirmed, seizing on the idea. "It could take some work, but I could enchant something like a cover for a soarer and armor for them. They're expensive, but we do have money." One Tyrant-shaped problem reared its head as he thought it through. "But we'd need Silora to make sure Ashier would let them go."

"You'd do all that for me?" Khiat asked in a small voice.

"It's the least I can do. You helped me save Hunter."

"You kept Daniel safe," the ringcat added. "I owe you twice as much as he does. Would run all the way there and bring them on my back if I could."

"I think they'd probably be too heavy." Khiat laughed as she wiped away a tear. "Thank you. I've been so worried about them. After what happened…"

"After what happened?" Thomas asked, the only one not in the know.

Daniel closed his eyes, knowing they'd have gotten here eventually. "I should tell you where Quala is."

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