Daniel waited until he saw his sister moving before knocking. He cut it close, but Zolyra had given him until dusk and he was going to make her wait every minute until then. "Hey, you alright?"

"Better. Want to talk?

"If you haven't had enough of that already today."

"No, it's fine. Come in." Daniel saw more signs of his sister adapting, from the photo placed on the desk to some of her clothes laid out to be put away in the dresser. Before she'd kept everything from Earth on her, either in the bag or in her hands. She wasn't giving anything up, but she was starting to trust it'd be there if she left and came back. "I still don't know how I was doing this without knowing."

He saw how she was sitting on the bed and made a guess. "You were trying to advance?

"Trying, sure. Sounds like the breathing exercises Mom would have me do," Alex said dismissively. "But I'm stuck with it now, aren't I? Virtuoso. At least this stupid game can get one thing right."

"Humble."

"Rock what you got, bro," she replied shamelessly. Her hands touched the violin Daniel could now sense as a Focus. "When Quala came back today I thought we'd be rehashing stuff from yesterday, but she was mostly giving me tips on magic. I haven't 'found' whatever 'power' I 'awakened' yet," she said, exaggerating the terms as if she was a grandparent after hearing what kids these days were saying, "But it's… its something, you know?"

"Actually, no," Daniel laughed. "My phone tells me everything."

"Cheater."

"Rock what you got, right?" he asked rhetorically. He would have said difficulty in feeling out her class was understandable given what he knew, but that would've meant he'd shared that with anyone. Oh, he'd given her the basics, but there was the troublesome fact that his Focus called Virtuoso an evolved class. Something impossible for Alex to have at level 1. It was as if he'd found out his sister had multiclassed, which made him feel like Lograve. At least he didn't think it was a Rorshawd situation this time.

To distract himself from troubling implications, Daniel then asked a serious question. "Last night, what you did, did you know that would work?"

Alex slowly put her violin back down on the bed. "No, but like I said, I didn't want her to die." Alex shook her head. "Jesus, Daniel, she looks like she should be picking which college she wants to go to. Her and the other one that… didn't make it." The one who had tried to kill her. "I don't know if it was magic or just the heat of the moment, but when I looked into that thing, it looked like all it wanted to do was burn forever. So I tried to show it what happens when you do."

Daniel remembered the scream of Alex's violin that had bookended the performance and felt a small chill. "What happens?"

"Kind of goes off one of the first things they told me when I was in anger management," she said, no hesitation in admitting she'd needed that kind of help. They were both very aware she had. "When you burn, you hurt what's closest to you. And if you keep burning, one day you'll use up all the air and fuel, and you'll only have yourself."

"You were trying to give the murder bird ennui," Daniel said flatly.

"It worked, didn't it?" Alex smiled sadly that time. "I liked that I was able to do that. It's not exactly the first time I've imagined strolling into something like a bank robbery and making people follow common decency by playing at them, but the last time I thought like that I was probably when I was 10." Daniel snorted at that and Alex threw her pillow at him. "Don't laugh! That was a deeply personal secret I just told you."

"Why would you tell me something like that if you didn't want me to laugh?" He shook his head. "But you can do stuff like that now. Your class is hyper-specialized into music, probably non-combat too, and the world listens to you when it gives you powers." Especially if my rant actually worked. "No one's had your class before, at least not in this region, so you'll be pioneering stuff too."

"Can't wait to spend all day in a field while living in a shack I built myself," Alex quipped. She glanced at the photo on the desk and deflated slightly. "Thank you, really. I know I said some things, maybe implied you weren't my brother at one point. It's getting better, and I know it wouldn't be like this if you weren't helping me."

"It's not just me. You should meet my friends after this." Daniel scrunched his eyebrows as he thought. "You're older than most of them."

Alex leveled a finger at Daniel. "I swear to god, do not make me the team Mom."

"Oh, we already got that handled, don't worry. We're already planning on teaching this Cleric we know cooking and then having him stay here full time so he can feed and heal us whenever we come back."

"Really?"

"Well, ever since you gave me the idea, yeah." In the distance, the sky began to turn as the sun reached the point where it would disappear. "Alex, I've got a hard conversation coming up. I don't know what's going to happen, but you'll be fine."

"You actually might get arrested?" she asked, looking truly worried now. "What did you do?"

"Well, technically all I did was trespassing." Alex's eyes told him she knew it was more than that. "And, uh, maybe some light treason."

…

Zolyra was kind enough to have given Daniel home field advantage when it came to what could either be called a debriefing, interrogation, or trial depending on who you asked. That would be a meaningless gesture if she had it out for him, because she was level 6. The only other person Daniel had met over 5, discounting gods, had been the Assassin that could have killed all of them in moments if he didn't like playing with his food, and the Illustrious mage that had been able to move during stopped time.

It represented a higher spike in power, and it wasn't like this was Gtoll or Kob who were fresh to their level. He doubted Zolyra could pull off a night sun herself, but she could level the compound if she wanted. The inscrutable gaze of the draconoid gave him no hints as to her plan as he walked out of Alex's room and made the short journey to the common area where everyone else was gathering. As he walked into the space, a field of pink runes that rippled with his touch briefly became visible before fading, giving Daniel the sense he'd walked through cobwebs.

In the room was Commander Zolyra, Murdon, making this the first time Daniel had seen two draconoids in close proximity, Tounaki, Captain Esket Marrow, Lograve, Tlara, and looking wide-eyed and very out of place, Thomas. That some of the people here were here at all was solely due to the message Daniel had sent Zolyra the moment he'd left the ruins, one that he now had to defend the gravity of. It played in his mind again as he considered what he'd gotten himself into.

'Soraso has betrayed us. You were right not to listen to him. I have proof. Bring Murdon, Tounaki, Quala, Thomas, and Silora to Pinion's Point.'

Considering Quala had come of her own accord he'd had an extra word, but there was little that could be done about it. If Soraso was responsible for the elite monsters in the ruins, and the powers he'd used on Daniel didn't give much reason to think otherwise, they were in deep trouble. That was before Soraso had killed one of the most influential people arrayed against him, self-defense or not.

Frankly speaking, if Zolyra turned out to be working with him he was screwed, but if Soraso had already ensured his trust with his power the entire conversation where he'd forced Daniel to out himself to Zolyra made no sense. Unless that was just a head game. He couldn't have anticipated this outcome, could he?

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"Alright Regent, everyone's here," Zolyra said as Daniel stepped into the room, causing his blood to freeze. "What is it you have to confess?"

"What's going on?" Daniel asked before the sending stone he hadn't noticed before on the table said anything.

"Soraso sent word via Fate to inform me of Lagori Talongleam's disgrace. I knew the son was bad, but him?" Zolyra shook her head in disappointment. "He then asked why I was outside of Aurus, and I told him you had something to tell me."

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. He never got her to consent to his power, did he?

Soraso's voice then rang into the room. "First, I wanted to say I understand Lograve is the room? My friend, I'm glad they found you."

"As am I," Lograve replied in a guarded fashion. "I'd be ever more comfortable if you had a good explanation for all of this. Our pranks never went this far."

"Can you blame me for wanting to try topping the classics? Ah, but I can sense I'm already testing the Commander's patience by the vibrations reaching me all the way in Aurus. She must be shaking in anger." The Regent tsk'd himself in a way that might make you think he hadn't almost been assassinated twelve hours ago. "I've had some time to think on what to say now that certain patriarchs aren't attempting a regime change. I know what Daniel's going to tell you, and what he would say is absolutely, one hundred percent the truth."

Daniel staggered backwards into a chair as it seemed only Zolyra took that in stride. Lograve's face had turned downward in dismay while Murdon just looked shaken. The Captain, meanwhile was in the midst of trying and failing to find the right protocol to fall back on. "Regent, this… isn't what I expected," Zolyra replied, forced to take a brief pause in her words as her mind recalculated. "I ask again, what exactly are you confessing to?"

"Placing a hostile influence power on Daniel, for one." All eyes turned to the Artificer, but Soraso must have sensed the effect his words would have as he quickly added, "He removed it already. Bothersome bond, I wasn't expecting that. Should have been more careful, but then I couldn't have had him going into the ruins. And before any of you worry, no one else in the room or on his team has been affected."

"Soraso, this is madness!" Murdon exclaimed.

"Madness? No, this is sanity." If Daniel had to give Soraso anything, it was that he'd taken the weight of this conversation off his shoulders while giving the most 'depressed villain' speech ever. "I should preface all of this by saying that I'll deny having spoken any of these words, regardless of what you have your Fate tell people. You have the best one, but I have numbers."

"Torch's church could-"

Soraso cut Zolyra off. "The one that just attacked me? The gods are squabbling once more, Commander. I suppose they didn't like my involvement with Cloak's Proxy. Who knows what they'll make up now that I've spilled the blood of their clergy?" It seemed the Commander didn't enjoy being on the other end of not being able to trust Torch Clerics. "Look, this isn't meant to be an intimidation. I thought about denying this, but I'm guessing there's a certain Beastmaster over there you have ready to drop the real surprise, so I'll steal your thunder there as well. I let elite monsters into the ruins."

Dead silence in the room, before, pink flames escaping her mouth, Zolyra did make this an intimidation. "Soraso. Explain why I shouldn't by removing you from this world this instant."

"For one?" Soraso asked rhetorically in a slightly pained voice. "Zozar will be here before you, and you can't beat them, Commander. Not with all of Aurus still behind me. For your sake, and the fact that I honestly don't want to see you die, I encourage you not to."

"Those were our people!" The room shook slightly with those words, the shield of ruins becoming visible as it contained the raw mana Zolyra was allowing to escape her. "You're working with the Crest, feeding innocent people to it. For what, power? What will that matter when the region falls?"

Knowing what he did, Daniel's eyes started widening as he put together the pieces while Soraso explained it for everyone else. "I'm not working for the Crest, Zolyra. This is all out of order, but I suppose we've arrived here regardless. I'm working with the monsters. Those that were taken were… unfortunate, but we aren't on equal terms."

Lograve looked lost now. "Why? Why, Soraso?"

"The monster gods want to control regions outside of the Crest," Daniel answered numbly. "Most of their monsters can't survive in it. They'd get mana overloaded, like Rikoor did."

"Exactly." Even Soraso sounded surprised but rolled with it. "Though I suppose you were there for Casia's failure. Monsters can't control Spokes, and they don't have a system core to stabilize space. I don't know if there are any there who will believe me, but I am being completely truthful and will be until this conversation is over. The Crest isn't responsible for the monsters. The Octyrrum is responsible for the Crest. They're the victims here."

"Bullshit!" Daniel shouted, more equipped than anyone here to argue against Soraso. "The monster system invaded this world. I don't know if someone's lied to you or if you're just as untrustworthy as you've always been, but the system conflict is their fault."

"But you agree the Crest isn't the same thing as the monsters?" The expression on Daniel's face made Soraso's point for him. "I'm going to assume the expression on Daniel's face is making my point for me. We have been lied to by the gods. This isn't even the first, second, or thousandth Collapse. Care to contest that?" Thomas was gasping for air at this point, and Daniel felt a little bad considering the entire point he was here was to check for other people Soraso had affected. "We have been fighting a war without end. Until now. The gods have been betrayed by Hourglass and have left the core of the Octyrrum exposed. We have a chance to end this on our terms, joining the winning side."

"I've had direct contact with one of these gods you'd ally yourself with," Daniel shot back, drawing very skeptical looks from a few in the room. "They hate us. The rage they feel, they won't let any of us live."

"They do hate mortals," Soraso acknowledged. "We've been working with them for some time, and that didn't change the fact that they attacked Marbleview. But we have a bargain. Form a kingdom for them, and they leave anyone loyal to them alone. Peace. I want all of you to imagine that for a moment." No one spoke into the silence this time. "Peace. Consider the fact that most of us here come from monstrous origins to begin with! When those who rule the monsters take the system core, that work can be undone. Made better! The monsters most know are soulless, just vessels of the old ones' hatred, but I don't need to tell at least some of you there that it wasn't always that way. It can change."

"We have the spirit of one of those here, saved after it had taken part in an attack on Aurus," Daniel protested. "How did that happen if you're working with them? Wild monsters, maybe, but the ones that made the elites are tied directly to those gods, and they attacked Aurus too."

"…like I said, we aren't on equal terms. They take what they want for their war until we meet their terms." A curious twist entered the voice coming through the stone. "If you have spoken with one, you know how difficult that can be. But we have an understanding, and Commander, I would come to one with you as well. Do you not see it? Peace. All we have to do to grasp it is not fight them, for once in all of our history. I'm not trying to damn the people of this kingdom. I'm trying to save them from the inevitable."

It was put as well as it could have by a level 4 Bard. Daniel could see the statecraft behind this move. Anything other than an admission and this offer would've been unraveled eventually. With Lagori gone, Zolyra was the only person left in the region who could pose a threat. Flipping her honestly, without any influence power to taint the connection, would seal the deal. She could then cleanse any in Pinion's Point who didn't fall in line, and then he'd have perfect control of the two largest population centers in Threst.

Tlara actually took a step back from the Commander after she didn't immediately answer, but when she did, she made her point clear. "I hear only the ravings of a lunatic. If you were here in front of me now, I would kill you, and I'll do you the courtesy Lagori didn't to say that your rule is over the moment the two of us meet."

"Not the answer I'd hoped for. So, what now Commander?" Soraso asked. "Will you rally everyone you can to storm Aurus? I think you know what Lagori did. With Zozar, there is nothing short of an Incursion Army that can topple me." Soraso clicked the tongue he didn't have and continued. "Peace. That's all I want. The empty monsters are still a threat to everyone. You tend to Pinion's Point, I tend to Aurus. We'll say we wanted to move you there to better coordinate efforts in that part of the region."

"You're trying to spin this!?" she asked angrily.

"I told you, I will deny every single word I've said so far. As far as the population at large is concerned, I'm the one who barely stopped the region from falling to Tyranny, regardless of whether Lagori had reached for that class or not." Some fire entered his voice for the first time. "Contest me, and we can make this a conflict. I trust the defenses of my city more than I would yours. It doesn't matter to them if we succeed or not, and the deal is off if we can't deliver. Without that, they'll break every Spoke between them and the core, and only they can survive in the Crest. If you want to avoid strife, I ask only two things. Don't cause me problems, and don't go back into the ruins. Not yet."

"Not yet?" Daniel asked. "Why do you have elites in there in the first place, they can't control anything."

"But you can. They were clearing the place for you. I knew what you were before you set foot in the region, of course, but I had to send you in once to make sure you worked as advertised. It would have been better if I had elites to secure a foothold first, but that damned Hero had forced my hand." Soraso sighed. "At least Rikoor didn't get to you. Well, Commander?"

"You're insane." Zolyra clearly wanted to leave it there, and was stabbing herself with every word that followed. "But we'll abide by that. For now."

"Ominous. Zolyra, I am sorry things didn't work out, but the offer will always stand." The magic in the sending stone cut off, leaving a tense atmosphere, only for it to reactivate for a parting message. "Oh, and Murdon. Tounaki isn't affiliated with this side of me in any way. She didn't know. I honestly wish you both happiness." It didn't look like that made the Knight feel any better.

Daniel jerked as the sharp gaze of Zolyra's slitted eyes focused on him. "Explain."

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