When Theo was finally called to speak to Master Uvvah Ulim, he went alone. Though he hadn't intended to share any secrets his allies didn't already know, as he walked to the heart of the School, he decided that it was perhaps for the best. Deceit would likely be impossible against such an experienced Authority, so he needed to choose truths that would not hurt him if spread.

Whether or not he could truly trust the old Mundhin Arbaian... Theo could come up with a thousand possible ways that this could be manipulating him, including the old master having worked for Vistgil all along. But unlike so many other organizations across the Nine Worlds, Uvvah Ulim had known what he was and never brought down any retribution on him. The secrecy that had kept Theo safe so far could easily prevent him from finding any answers, if he clung to it too fiercely.

So, by the time he entered the dusty chamber, he had affirmed his decision. The door echoed closed behind him and the scattered rocks across the chamber floor began rattling. This time they did not form limbs, merely a small pile atop which Uvvah Ulim's core sat. He seemed diminished from his battle with the titan demon, if not simply from age.

"You have returned, Lost One." The sapphires glittered brightly even in the shadows. "I confess, I had wondered if you would never pay your debt, and if my only consolation would be a minor act of altruism of unknown value."

"Many Tatians are alive because you took us back," Theo said. "I returned to offer the knowledge I promised as soon as I could, though I can only hope you consider it repayment."

"We shall see, but the intent has nonzero value. Sit, Lost One. Where have your travels taken you?"

Another region of stones swept together, forming a chair for him. It still felt strange to sit on a Mundhin's body, but Theo knew that Arbaians had very different conceptions of the self, even not considering philosophers. When he sat down, the small pieces gave way slightly, rendering it a more comfortable seat than expected.

Since Uvvah Ulim remained in expectant silence, Theo told as much of his story as he dared. He withheld information about his first visit to the Nine Worlds, though the old philosopher no doubt noticed the omissions. In any case, he seemed much more interested in Earth, which Theo described freely.

Many of his comrades had displayed disbelief whenever he spoke about modern technology, sometimes to comical extremes. Uvvah Ulim listened with not just credulity, but an insightful grasp of the concepts introduced that occasionally revealed the gaps in his understanding. Theo understood the underlying concepts of technology better than most, but could eventually only plead that he stood on the foundations of giants, which was well understood on Arbai.

When he had said enough, his throat painfully dry, the room was silent for a time before Uvvah Ulim spoke again. "Despite the notable lacunae in your narrative, I count your debt paid, Lost One. You have told me more of strange lands than any traveler in a generation, and your experience of the worlds is truly incredible... and I hope that the full nuance of that word is communicated."

"I've walked a strange path here, one that's taken me through other worlds outside the Nine. On that subject, I hoped that we might be able to exchange information more equally."

"I have traveled a few, and met other Lost Ones, but none like your Earth." Uvvah Ulim settled deeper into the gravel around his central sphere. "What I find most curious is the utter lack of cantae and its replacement by physical principles that differ from those our philosophy has uncovered."

"Are you saying you've never run into another world with different energies? I thought that some outsiders had highly twisted cantae."

"This I have witnessed, but I always believed it to be a difference in form, not of nature. A familiar animal in a new costume, not a new species. If your world truly lacks cantae, then it is unique among all I have ever heard tales of, excepting some accounts that were clearly facetious or allegorical."

"We have tales on Earth, too." Theo chuckled, though it turned into a cough. "Ironically, we tell quite a few stories of other worlds filled with magic. I don't think I've heard any of those in the Nine Worlds, though I may not have been listening."

"You are not wrong, young one. I have heard many tales and I do not believe any sapient beings across the Nine possess quite the same impulse. Perhaps the absence of magic in your world leads to its desire, or perhaps they are memories of a time when travel from your world was more common."

"I thought it was increasingly common, though. I've heard that there are multiple other people from Earth."

Uvvah Ulim was silent for a long time, his presence so absent that it was difficult to believe there was another living being in the chamber. Though his voice always echoed in Theo's mind, when it reemerged, it carried a new edge. "I have never been a scholar of such Lost Ones, but I do not believe they are all created equal. Some, such as yourself, appear to have wandered into our realms as guests. Others... seem to have been invited for specific purposes. I have chosen to avoid such matters due to the great risks involved."

"Is that why you never went to the place you called the Cleansed Lands? It nearly killed me on my first visit, so I can understand why."

"It is not quite so simple. You reference the world of white ground and a black sun that we spoke of in our earlier meeting, yes?"

Theo managed to swallow his smile. "I'd hoped that we could speak of it, yes."

"All that I can tell you are accounts of scholars. Quite respectable scholars, but their very respectability required them to express deep misgivings about the accuracy of their accounts." Uvvah Ulim drew himself up a little higher. "There are many fragments of realms that are connected to the Nine Worlds. Philosophers have debated their origin, largely without aspirations to empiricism. They show signs of once having been occupied, yet there have never been any claims of meeting indigenous occupants."

"Long dead worlds, then."

"Indeed. There are a few occupied realms, such as your Earth, that appear to connect to the Nine Worlds only rarely. Because these tales appear increasingly as you extend further into the past, I have always considered them largely the realm of mythopoeia."

"And the Cleansed Lands?" Theo asked.

"I am getting there, Lost One. They stand sui generis, as vast as a full world and yet utterly lacking any sign of life. That is, contemporary life: some have suggested that the very absence of any features might itself be a sign of artificiality."

"How so?"

"Some Mundhin have ventured into the space you described. They performed a number of experiments, noting that the ground there is flat beyond any comparable terrestrial landscape. Furthermore, the intense pain most experience appears to be residue from some great act of destruction. For that reason, some have speculated that the world that once existed there was... wiped away, like a cloth across a slate. Cleansed of whatever it once held."

"By whom?" Theo asked, even though he didn't expect an answer. Uvvah Ulim only chuckled.

"A question that perhaps should not be asked, either because it is unnecessary or because answers, if they existed, might prove unfortunate." He was silent for a long moment, and when he spoke up again his tone was less certain. "There is another oddity regarding the Cleansed Lands: everyone who has ventured into them has described exactly the same landscape. Either it is entirely uniform, or all entrances lead to the same place. This trait is quite rare among worlds."

The Chasm of Lamentations was another example, which was a curious thought, but Theo set that aside. "When I was there, I thought I saw some sort of line across one horizon."

"All others reported the same, but regrettably no one ever was able to approach it due to the rigors of the journey."

"The demons." Theo remembered the demon tearing through his comrades, and with the taste of answers on his tongue, it lost a little of its bitterness. "When I was there, I escaped a demon vastly more powerful than any I'd met, beyond titans. Prior to that point, I had thought that demons only manifested at roughly comparable strength to nearby soulcrafters."

"That would be an entirely different domain of study, Lost One," Uvvah Ulim said wearily. "Many have their pet theories about demons, but I have never been fond of demonology. I have read the words of a few Mundhin who stand in the furthest reaches of Dominion, who claim that titans sacrifice themselves just as all lesser demons. It seems a plausible enough concept."

"The furthest reaches of Dominion?"

"As in the final tier of soulcrafting, if their postulates are to be believed. According to them, the Dominion tier stretches forever, endlessly pushing skyward into greater cantae without unlocking a new tier. But their justifications for all related matters have always struck me as... somewhat ad hoc."

For an elderly Mundhin, that was practically an insult to their mothers. Theo smiled and let the subjects go, since they obviously didn't interest Uvvah Ulim. He thought he'd be allowed a little longer, so he needed to ask about something more immediately relevant. "Have you ever read about a place called the Chasm of Lamentations? I've heard that it exists on both Noven and Fithe."

"Both?" Uvvah Ulim let the question hang in a clearly scholarly fashion. "I believe it would be more correct to say neither. Such a place has been listed as one of the fragmentary realms that floats in the chaos around the Nine Worlds. Unlike most, the paths that appear to it are broad, leading to the illusion that it is part of a single world, but in fact it drifts."

That theory made a great deal of sense, and Theo had been suspecting the answer must be something similar, but what frustrated him was that he had never noticed during his first life. Even though they had gone into the Chasm multiple times, he'd never thought about it as anything but part of Noven. Was he more experienced now, or had he been blind at the time?

"If you are an aficionado of such strange tales, you may be interested in one more: there are some who claim that there are not merely nine possible weirkeys."

"You mean weirkeys for the fragmentary worlds?" Theo asked.

"Or for Earth. To my knowledge, the existence of such has never been rigorously tested by any sources available to such a scholar as myself. However, in the schools of philosophy that exist far beyond me, they do make reference to unknown varieties. Weirkeys that can be used for two different worlds, for example. It is possible that a sufficiently sublime weirkey might be able to travel freely to fragmentary worlds, even those that drift chaotically."

Even to the Cleansed Lands, the implication hung unsaid. Theo certainly didn't want to go back while he was still so weak, and it was laughable to think of near mythical weirkeys when he still couldn't use the most basic. Still, he knew that Vistgil had wanted to prevent him from seeing something in the Cleansed Lands, so he would need to find his way back one day.

"Ahhh..." Uvvah Ulim let out a heavy sigh and rocks began to dribble from Theo's chair. "One can feel so young when engaged in simple conversation, but I grow weary. Your debt is paid, Lost One, and I hope you have found our conversation enlightening."

"Very much so." Theo stood from the chair before it fell apart beneath him and bowed. "Thank you for being so forthcoming with your wisdom."

"What is the use of knowledge if not to be shared? But... one more thing, Lost One. There are some scholars who live their entire lives in a single school, focusing on their chosen discipline. I believe that Navim is no longer among them, not after the accident gave him so much experience of other worlds. Please treat my student gently."

Theo wasn't sure how to respond, but Uvvah Ulim dissolved back into rocks. The gemstone core shifted away from him, as clear a dismissal as he could imagine. He bowed one more time and then departed the room, thinking over all he'd learned.