POV -> Eliza

Eliza could feel the relief wash over her body as soon as she stepped out of the Psyche Ward. Sithech had been satisfied with her story for now, but it would simmer overnight. He was not one to let something go if he didn't have all the facts in his palm.

The first thing she had done was drop the little blue spider in her cupped hands off in a bush. It deserved to live for the favour it had done for her. Unwittingly or not.

As a treat for the small victory in her bag, she bought some fresh pastries and a bottle of apple juice from a street cart with three little children dressed as demons running around it. It was an odd celebration to enact… but she liked the costumes Hellsday had produced. She eyed a woman with intricate cloth bat wings and sharp eye shadow, sat on a bench by the river reading a book with her hairy and grotesque dog-like beast of a partner.

The whole thing was definitely growing on her. But the festivities seemed to be infectious in the common streets. As she passed the gated road to the higher estates, every person she passed, guard woman and child were depressingly lacy, powdered up and bland.

She climbed the stone path, her height eventually giving her the usual view of the city. The psyche ward stuck out as a strange blemish of steel and iron, twisted to the shape of a dome to hide the Arch that sat at its Center.

Ra'zaerun's temple glistened next to it. A grand relic from the Suneaters that was a pointed cathedral flourished with rainbow stained glass and golden shingles. It was the most beautiful at sunset, when the sun would catch the gold structure and wash it over with a fiery light.

Perhaps the beauty of the fiery sunset came from a deeper desire. But Eliza did not wish to pry, only gaze.

She reached another gate, waving at a familiar guard to allow her passage into the estates beyond. The night watch was double its usual size, an obvious hint that some special guests had returned from their trips. Archons. Ones that were not bound to stay in Toroy Garotzch most of their time.

She passed a few properties, stopping at a gateless plot that was mostly walled off by a thick hedge of lilac bushes. Eliza strolled up to the mansion, grabbed a key from under a potted flower, and went on in, not a servant or guard to glance her way on the empty property.

The door caught on something with a sharp scrape, causing her to cringe. She squeezed herself into the small mudroom, prying a glistening sheathed sword from where it had wedged itself. She beheld the golden blade, checking for knicks before placing it on a padded bench where two clunky metal boots had been haphazardly distributed.

Eliza straightened them, her amusement growing as she left the mudroom to stare at a hall full of carelessly discarded armour pieces. She moved the tripping hazards while she walked, propping a large golden shield up against the wall beside an ornate breastplate.

She dropped her loot on the kitchen counter, checking the hall to the lounge for more discarded armour. More gold glinted in her corner vision, belonging to an elaborate helmet sitting on the kitchen floor next to a pair of legs.

Eliza moved around the counter, giving the man sitting on the floor a once over. The half eaten bag of chocolate was the only tell for how long he had been sitting there. He certainly hadn't changed out of the undershirt after dropping his equipment, and had left the cabinet handles to support his messy bun of black hair while he sat back staring distantly at the dark ochre wood of the kitchen.

"You're home." Eliza hummed, earning a blink from the man.

He ate another sliver of chocolate. "Surprise."

"Sith said you landed yesterday."

"There was a distress call in the vineyard four hours away. I stayed the night-" he cut off when Eliza dropped a wrapped package in his lap. He curiously unfolded it, staring at the little chocolate croissant with growing confusion.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Eliza held out her hand. "A trade for my chocolates."

He eyed the small bag he had already plowed halfway through, and held it out to Eliza with some embarrassment, taking the chocolate pastry to nibble on with a waning appetite.

Eliza stepped over his legs awkwardly to reach a cabinet of glasses, "Are you sure you should be dropping Mythica by the door? It looks enough like a stick for Bagel to steal. I'm sure you don't want him flying around dropping beams of starlight on the good people of Toroy Garotzch."

"Only I can call them." Caleb sighed

Eliza carefully placed the glasses beside Caleb, swiping a small velvety sack and the cider along the way and joining Caleb on the floor. She unravelled the bag, letting a few familiar little chips of wood with letters painted on them scatter across the polished marble. She handed off some of the chips to Caleb, counting her own. "How was your day?"

Caleb smiled, placing three letters down to spell 'Day'. "Justin's missing."

Eliza nodded, her voice coming out as a sigh. "I heard. But his threads are still glowing?"

Caleb felt the threaded bracelet around his wrist, his brow screwed up with worry as he pinched at a cluster of dimmer threads. "Barely. I asked Katryna if she saw anything."

"I'm sure you remembered to clean up the traces of the summoning circle this time?" Eliza joked, giving her letters a hesitant look. "Don't hate me for this one."

She put down five letters, spelling 'Hells' in front of day.

Caleb stared at the word with resignation, laying down three more letters to use the H to spell 'shit'. "Speaking of, we've been invited to a mandatory celebration tonight."

Eliza let out a drawn groan, putting down two letters to spell 'cat'. "I suppose I should have bought a costume."

"We'll also need to take a carriage." Caleb remarked, his face sinking to realization as he remembered what happened the last time Bagel saw someone with face paint." He put down a new word, "How was your day?"

"It was fine." Eliza replied, pulling her attention from the game to pull a packet of folded paper from her satchel. She handed it off to Caleb, watching him patiently unravel the folds to the expanding enchantment's full size. He skimmed the copied blueprint of the complex seal, some life reviving in his eyes when he realized what he was holding. "Latest version of the Follower Tongue Seal." Eliza remarked, popping the cork on the bottle of apple juice as her voice went singsong. "You're welcome."

Caleb smiled, the pity reaching his eyes when he looked up at Eliza. "Should I ask how you got this?"

"Sure. Same way I got the Star Rope. Had to give Max a ride in his office, bugged the lock on his door, stole his pass, broke into the artifact storage, and convinced Sith that someone forgot to lock it and I was making sure there were no intruders. You're looking at the employee of the month." She played into Caleb's sinking expression with a grin. "Let's hope Perry doesn't come out with another update for a while, Sith is old, but I don't think he'll believe me if I tell him the banging noises coming from Max's office are him struggling with a desk leg again."

"That poor kid looks like he's going to piss himself whenever we make eye contact." Caleb sighed.

"Stop bullying him. He's nice."

Caleb accepted a filled glass from Eliza, bringing it to his nose instinctively before downing half of it.

Eliza poured herself a glass, swirling it like wine while she thought. "No time to really get ready, what are we going as? Do you think Inprobus will faint if I dress up as the Witch of the Westlock?"

"Don't." Caleb replied, pressing his forehead. "He doesn't need more pranks from you and Colius after how his mission went."

"Rikka's in the ward." Eliza hummed, her voice dipping with a hidden intent.

Caleb deflected the request. Rikka was the only Follower that was completely off limits. "For trying to kill him. Again."

Eliza took a swig of her glass. "Well, three times strikes a charm."

He downed the second half of his apple juice, holding the glass out for Eliza to refill it. "You cannot keep making jokes like that about Archons."

She grabbed the glass, handing him off the bottle instead. "It's just him."

"And Perry."

Eliza got up, her voice laced with playful judgement. "Well there's six more of you that aren't on my shit list. Gods forbid I have an opinion."

"You have interesting opinions." Caleb replied, caution in his gaze. "Just be careful who you share them with."

"Always." Eliza nodded, easing Caleb's stare. She sifted around the wrapped pastries on the counter, her face rising with a new thought. "Oh, 285-"

"Made it to the Lighthouse." Caleb finished, holding the expanding paper up with a prompting smile. "She'll be thankful for this."

Eliza smiled, her whole body relaxing with relief and reviving a bound in her step. "I'll doll up."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.