Elizabeth's expression shifted between disbelief, shock, and incredulity. Irwyn saw she tried to hide it, even if those efforts ultimately failed. She remained quiet for a long while, processing, then seemingly blanking at understanding the sheer magnitude of what he was claiming.

He appreciated that she at least tried. Did not dismiss him out of hand like he had feared. Instead, she still held onto his hand, struggling with a familiar turmoil as her own trembled. Much like his had when first making the discovery or when finally deciding to reveal it. Irwyn was only too glad to return the favor from a minute prior, helping soothe the shaking. But inside, he felt almost eerily calm, a mountain off his shoulders.

"I…" she eventually said, then fell quiet again for a full minute. "What am I even supposed to say? I don't want to doubt you after all that, but at the same time… how?"

"Exactly my thoughts," Irwyn readily agreed. "And I am still hoping you will provide a saner explanation than the only conclusion that has made sense to me."

"Even if your visions are all from the same perspective, there could be different reasons for that than it being you," she tried.

"There is naturally more to my certainty," Irwyn sighed, closing his eyes. The longer he thought about it, the brighter it became. Escaping from that corner of his will, which he had banished it too. "I feel it. It is distant and separated by layers I lack the words and senses to describe. But it is there and mine, of that I am unerringly certain. A Name."

"The impossible, undeniable," she took a deep breath, then closed her eyes again.

Her mind was so fast, Irwyn knew, perhaps even faster than his own. And still, she wrested with it, visibly struggling. Going through implications, future and past. Comparing with histories, open and hidden. Guessing at the secrets this surely hinted at, and ultimately finding no real answers. Irwyn knew that spiral well, he had walked it before. And oh, the questions. So many questions.

"How?" so she finally asked one of them. A repeat, but that was completely understandable.

"I have not the slightest idea beyond guesses," Irwyn had to regretfully confessed. "Presumably Him - me? - perished at some point. Then, for whatever reason, I am here, feeling that the Name must be mine, yet remain a distinctly different being while memories gradually bleed over into me. Am I an incarnation? Reincarnation? It could have been a last measure, some grand plan, or an awfully botched grand plan."

"Undead, it has to be," she decided. "What else could drive someone so powerful to death, other than the Rot?"

"Or beings literally older than Time have thoughts and motives beyond our comprehension, making guessing meanigless," Irwyn pointed out. "The chronologically latest memory I have received happened right after the Great Crusade - coincidentally the one that led us on this journey, which we will have to talk more about - but I, or him, did not seem the most stable in it. Not to mention that the eons could presumably change anyone."

"Fine, ignoring the mythological impossibilities before they drive me mad, your body should not be able to function either," she switched track, perhaps to redirect her own thoughts. "A Named being has no mortal body. It literally needs to be discarded in the process of claiming one, giving way for a form of pure Truth. How does your flesh exist in that case?"

"The 'egg' around my Soul that Johnson had found," Irwyn quickly realized. "It could be part of the separation. The inhuman parts of me remain locked within, so that the rest may remain mostly normal. That is one point for 'premediated demise', I suppose."

"Does that mean that cracking it would instantly empower you beyond comprehension?"

"Or kill me instead, as Johnson had warned might happen. Whatever I am, my existence came with no manual as far as I know."

"With no way to know which would be the case… or even if the 'cracking' is something that even can be done, if it's actually a boundary that can hold a Name's power back."

"Does House Blackburg have any records about Named beings resurrecting?" he asked hopefully.

"Only necromancers, which doesn't apply for obvious reasons," she shook her head, then paused. "Or maybe it can. The reasons Named Liches are truly immortal is that they turn their Names into the phylactery… perhaps this is something similar, just less evil. Yes, it's not a stretch that some beings could have achieved immortality by binding their existence into the one part of themselves that is indestructible through means other than necromancy. It has to be harder to do than with Souls as the catalyzing element, but such a feat should be possible somehow. A way to persevere as a mostly continuous being even through death. But clearly it is flawed if the memories are incomplete and your power is restrained. The undead return to the fullness of their might almost as quickly as they care to claim it…"

"You are rambling," Irwyn gently interrupted. Her hand was shaking again, and it actually took all of his effort to actually hold it mostly in place.

"What else do you want me to do!?" her voice raised to a brief scream, then she flinched and shut up. Irwyn did not react to the outburst, and instead continued providing what silent comfort he could manage.

"I don't even know what I should do myself, if anything," he eventually said - after several minutes, once her trembling had mostly subsided. "In all honesty, ignoring the problem has been my go-to method so far and has yet to backfire."

"Unknowable, unsolvable, I don't know if I can accept that," she said. "But you have a point. It doesn't truly change anything for now, right? Our course is still set, the destination is the same, even thought it might look a bit different than expected now… If anything, this only affirms me in what I need to continue doing."

"Which is?" Irwyn allowed for the topic to drop. The secret was out, if only to one person. What and if it changed anything would be seen in time. They both needed more time to think. At the very least, ruin was not imminent and that gave him enough relief.

"As you have said, I have been acting differently," she nodded. "Maybe you can even realize yourself how. Try to describe it?"

"More reckless, definitely," Irwyn knew. In Ebon Respite, she had refused to leave a fortified position because there might be powerful undead lingering in ambush against all odds. Yet mere months later, she strode into unknown danger without flinching. Time after time.

"In a way, but that is not it. Think of the source."

"Arrogance?" Irwyn frowned, then it struck him. It all came down to the Void with her. "No, Pride."

"Why should I fear?" she nodded. "I am the Voidmother's daughter. I may be challenged, but never overcome."

"That is incredibly reckless, especially on a trip so far from the Federation," he frowned. "Besides just great monsters and undead, even people are inherently far greater threat just by not being aware of House Blackburg and thus not knowing to fear it."

"What is our destination, Irwyn?"

"The… fragments," Irwyn hesitated. "What does that have to do with this?"

"I see that you truly believe it will be simple," she smiled. "And for you, it likely will. It was your vision that showed the where. Placed it there even, I suppose. And the piece you will have to subsume will be of Lumen. It will be kind, because that was her nature.

The Void is not like that, Irwyn. The power of the Aspects was never meant to be wielded. It lacks the rules and boundaries that let people manage risks as mages. There will be no recommended requirements and advice on how to survive the experience. If I am to take that leap, it will be a trial with my life on the line. And to stand a chance of success in integrating a remnant of her, I must embody that which Umbra had once envisioned for the best of her children: Perfection and Sin."

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"So you act more prideful to be more in line with those values?" Irwyn questioned, suppressing the twinge of worry he felt when the risks were mentioned. Had he even pondered that before? He should have, if not. But the previous topic had worn him down enough that he would leave the analysis for later, instead opting to focus on the details right in front of him.

"That, and more," she nodded. "I have been eating far more as to indulge Gluttony. You witnessed my Greed with the fae, and otherwise. Envy is harder, as I can only really indulge it with you and carefully at that, lest it turn to poison. Sloth likewise goes against my nature, but I try. The other part is Perfection. My plan for that is obviously to strive and achieve it within the limits of my current power, but to also include it more dominantly in my Concepts. I have already told you I plan to merge some into Perfected Temzdaflesh, but there will be more. I have actually made slight adjustments to my original plans for the parts of my first Domain to accommodate this better."

"So essentially, I should assume your judgement will be influenced further by this," he realized. "Therefore, I will need to compensate for your decision-making being continuously flawed."

"Yes," she nodded.

"Then perhaps this should have been brought up far earlier," he glared a bit. "And to the rest as well."

"My Pride wouldn't let me," she smiled, trying to hide some embarrassment. "Also, this was supposed to be a secret, just between the two of us."

"It could legitimately endanger them though," Irwyn frowned, quickly thinking about a compromise. "We could tell them what is happening, but not the why. Perhaps imply it has something to do with your bloodline? It's not even a stretch."

"That would be agreeable," she nodded, looking quite relieved. "I will think of something and announce it when we all gather later."

Irwyn was not the happiest to keep such secrets, but then, that was a purely hypocritical instinct. Logically, he was in no place to criticize - his were far more far-reaching after all. One way or another, he had sworn to it and would keep his word. As long as the bits that could be actively dangerous to others were shared he had no right to press for anything more.

"Wait," her eyes suddenly sharpened in the lull. "Someone is entering."

Irwyn nodded, looking around instead and preparing his own magic. Elizabeth had set up a tripwire of sorts across the room before their talk. It would be triggered by anyone touching said magic… with perhaps the exception of Waylan. Irwyn was immediately expecting an assassin coming from a hidden doorway.

So he was actually quite surprised when it was the front door that opened. In strode Desir, looking mighty satisfied with himself, carrying a grin and a swagger. He looked at them through the bubble, but his line of sight was a bit off from either of them, given it would likely look like just a black sphere from the outside. Shrugging, Desir sat down at another couch semi-opposite to them and waited. Thought, if nothing else, it broke the moment.

"We need to revisit all this later… maybe in a few days," Elizabeth decided.

"Agreed."

Then she let the bubble disperse. Desir noticed immediately, took them in, then his expression turned a bit strange.

"Something the matter?" Irwyn naturally asked.

"I am merely surprised about your state of clothed," Desir raised an eyebrow.

"My clothes indeed got torn apart again," he sighed. "I had to manifest these from magic and did not have the time to get change yet."

"Have you actually found anything useful?" Elizabeth said coldly, staring daggers at their latest companion for whatever reason. Irwyn attributed it to leftover emotional turmoil causing collateral damage.

"Well," he hesitated.

"What is it?" Irwyn encouraged.

"I had a joke prepared, but as things stand, I am calculating my odds of surviving the aftermath."

"Surely it couldn't be that awful," Irwyn smiled.

"It is quite good actually," Desir nodded. "But sometimes you can get lynched for even the best jest, if you try it before the wrong crowd."

"The stalling is not helping your odds any," Elizabeth added, sounding almost vicious.

"Alright, to rephrase things more diplomatically… I have had an encounter with one of the two contenders for the Goblet - which is the symbol of whoever leads the family, by the way. Angela, I am almost certain. She likes to use disguises and pretend to be just an ordinary servant in order to gather information and manipulate others through honeyed words. With some relatively mild mind magic in the mix."

"Are you alright?" Irwyn immediately asked.

"I have my countermeasures, no worries," Desir nodded. "My Soul is well protected against anything short of a Concept. The courtesy of our mutual acquaintance of great power."

Irwyn could imagine Bhaak probably had plenty of items that could do that, so it made sense. Those protections would not match Elizabeth's, but he was sure Desir would not gamble with the sanctity of his thoughts out of Pride. Unlike someone else might. Irwyn still wasn't completely sure what to think about that and it would probably take a few hours or even days to figure things out.

"Is Waylan in yet?" Desir asked. "And why is the beauty sleeping?"

"We had a needlessly close call…" Irwyn began and briefly explained what had happened. A more detailed retelling could wait for when Waylan was back too.

"Well, that does leave me with a pretty big question," Desir frowned.

"What?" Elizabeth nodded for him to continue.

"If Alice is sleeping, what happened to all those assassins she was ferrying around?"

Waylan stared at the pile of unconscious bodies in the wine cellar. It almost looked like the aftermath of a truly legendary party, if they weren't all armed and surprisingly undisheveled for someone sleeping on the floor. He considered spilling some of the drinks from around the room on them to better complement the look, but that was not a thought to focus on at the moment.

Rather worryingly, some of them were gradually waking up. Instead of being basically frozen in stasis. Their movements were becoming increasingly distinct, growing from almost imperceptible shivers. Waylan knew relatively little about magic, but the one thing he definitely remembered was, that when a spell started failing, it would not be long before it crumbled completely. That wasn't part of the plan.

He should probably regroup and figure out what the deviation meant. And flee before whatever battle was about to be unleashed. He knew almost nothing about this place besides that it had factions, which was already enough. What were the odds all the assassins around the place belonged to just one of them? He was not eager to find out whether they took to the surprise slumber party better or worse than the average gang member. Still, before he left, he chose to fulfil the purpose he had gone to the cellar in the first place.

One bottle of the oldest vintage he could find without getting too close to the bodies or looking too hard… which was difficult because there was no marking like a proper wine cellar ough to have. So he just nabbed a couple more than just the one at random. Afterward he fled.

It would be only in the evening that he found out why there had been unmarked unmarked. Because like any noble in the whole accursed kingdom, this House also only drank the one kind of wine that only tasted like anything mixed with fucking poison.

Waylan took another hour to show up. Then they woke up Alice and began a proper briefing of what everyone had found. Irwyn recounted their meeting and the following ambush, earning Alice some more worried looks. As to not linger on it, he gave Elizabeth the floor to explain her problem with Sins. She ended up spinning it instead as 'an issue that she had mistakenly thought manageable'. At one point Desir looked like he wanted to ask a question with a cheeky grin, but Elizabeth noticed and stared him down until he paled, letting her move on.

It was the sneak's turn next, mostly because he assured them it would be short. Because Waylan had found almost nothing substantial. He had mapped out a good chunk of the palace, including several sealed or otherwise restricted section that he couldn't get into but clearly hid something. He had also confirmed that there was an elaborate tunnel system going through the walls, which Alice corroborated. After that, he told them about how he had found the pile of assassins.

Alice was greatly embarrassed by it, so Elizabeth quickly shut that down by claiming all responsibility for the decision to abandon the original plan. Moreover, since they were going to leave earlier than expected anyway, the scheme of subverting countless assassins was getting scrapped as the mood for it had greatly soured. Then finally came Desir who had much more to say.

"If we plan to leave tomorrow anyway, then how do you like the sound of some good old-fashioned burglary?" he grinned.

"Is there anything even worth stealing?" Elizabeth frowned.

"Of course, the most valuable treasure of all: Knowledge."

"What could they know that is meaningful?" Irwyn asked curiously. Because, minimal offense to the locals meant, their group already knew a lot compared to even the elites of the area. Especially when it came to magic.

"I also overheard the part about Johnson once living here - a blunder to still use the same obviously fake name, honestly," Desir nodded. "So I got curious and fished for more, and what a whale I hooked! There is actually a large cache of research notes he had left behind!"

"You spent months with those in the Republic," Alice pointed out.

"Different stack, our dear slumbering beauty," Desir shook his head in an exaggerated gesture. "It is not just Life and Soul magic he had left behind here, but a heritage from all the nine elements. I am not actually sure why, but it's clear that at least some of it is advanced - the locals cannot make any sense of much of it. Perhaps nothing interesting will be there for Elizabeth, but the rest of us could get a trick or two dozen out of it. As an added bonus, plundering it will serve quite fine as revenge for what they put Alice through." Then he stretched his hand out, palm down, offering it to the rest of the group.

"Been a while," Waylan immediately joined his own with a grin.

"Are we really doing a group handshake?" Irwyn questioned with mild bafflement.

"Yes," Alice chuckled and added a third.

"Hardly proper to go against a majority," Elizabeth stage whispered to him, then put her own palm on top.

"I suppose it really has been a while," he admitted. A burglary, huh. Though both higher and lower stakes than the last he had been on one. That did manage to bring a smile to his lips, arm moving forward. "For nostalgia, if nothing else."

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