The news that it would be possible for contestants to purchase medicinal supplies with their credits was not something that Crow was happy to hear. He wasn’t a particularly smart person, though he was also not an idiot- and he knew full well that, with his task rendering the acquisition of the Eclipse’s Nectar his top priority, he simply could not afford to part with even a single one of his credits.

Of course, the other contestants could. That put him at quite a disadvantage.

He’d silently worked over these worries in his head, even while his team was being led to their new quarters by Lady Alabaster’s servant. He’d rather have been alone with his thoughts, however grim they were. That would at least have saved him from being subjected to Astra’s worried, sidelong glances. No matter what, it seemed he just kept on finding a way to make her worry about him.

Crow buried his rising guilt, trying to find something else to think about as a distraction. Perhaps inevitably, he landed on Unity’s annoyed grumblings.

The artificial had been extremely irritable since the orientation, and Crow was fairly sure he knew why. In fact besides the Princess, his team were likely the only ones who knew the original name he’d tried to give them. At the thought of how easily and quickly the woman had outmaneuvered Unity, Crow felt a giggle build somewhere in his chest. It was stifled by the silence of their surroundings, and the stiff back of their guide- Pyrhic. She was not the sort of person who inspired laughter.

Then again, Astra and Gem seemed nearly as sullen.

By the time all of them came to the carriages waiting outside, the gloomy quietude had almost worn down Crow’s last nerve. He was so eager to escape it that he had to stop himself from sprinting to the nearest one.

“These vehicles shall take you to the Crux,” Pyrhic explained smoothly. “I have other duties to attend to elsewhere, and so will not be able to continue as your guide. However Lady Alabaster has informed me that the Gemini should know her way through the building.”

All eyes turned to Gem, who opened her mouth- seemingly about to protest. She was cut off by Pyrhic as the woman continued heedlessly of her.

“Additionally, she asked me to inform you that in the case of the Gemini not being able to act as your guide, she will receive another lesson on aerodynamics. I do not quite understand the meaning of this, but I trust that one or more of you do?”

Though it was hard to see in the night, the flickering street lamps around them cast just enough light on Gem’s face for Crow to make out that it had paled ever so slightly. The girl nodded just a little bit too quickly, disheveling her silver hair with the velocity.

“I understand, thank you Pyrhic.”

Admirably, there was no trace of fear in Gem’s voice- or at least none that Crow could spot. Apparently satisfied, Pyrhic turned and made her way back into the stadium without so much as a farewell.

Before the woman had gotten so many as five steps away, Astra started towards one of the carriages. She flung the door open, disappearing inside it a moment later. Immediately after, the fae girl- Xeno- followed, heading to the same one. Crow briefly considered joining them, trying to make amends with his sister, or at least explain himself. He dismissed the notion instantly, instead making his way to the second vehicle.

As he neared the waiting carriage, he could make out more and more of its details- the intricately carved wood and sleekly-bolted metal fittings seemed far more cleanly made than even the majority of those that he saw in Selsis. He couldn’t make out the driver, but found himself quite impressed by the animals pulling it- a pair of the largest horses he’d ever seen.

Each was over two metres in height, and at least three in length. Their bodies were creased with rock-hard muscle, their skin seeming to strain as it held the vascular tissue in place. Their hooves were the most notable part, as far across as both of Crow’s hands and bearing a far greater resemblance to the hammer of a blacksmith than an animal’s body part.

Crow had heard a legend that many millennia ago, during the Shrouded Era, an ancient Deity from the continent of Dewlz had taken a liking to horses. That with a wave of his hand, he’d created his own breed- larger, stronger, more intelligent and more fierce in battle. He’d never believed it, but looking at the almost deliberate power which was practically dripping from the creatures he now stared at, it suddenly became quite hard to imagine them coming into being through any means other than the deliberate machinations of an intelligent being.

Could Deities truly create life with such ease? Crow had heard more recent accounts of what Jack the Butcher had done to Balisphore, an entire city, and he’d seen first hand how trivial they found it to take a life, or even hundreds…

Remembering his proclamation, Crow suddenly found himself overcome by a terrible weariness- he forced his eyes away from the horses and half-stumbled into the carriage. When he climbed inside, he found Unity and Gem had already entered.

“Close the door,” Unity whined. “You’re letting the warm air out.”

Crow obliged him, taking a seat next to the boy. Though the interior was very large, surely enough to fit upwards of half a dozen occupants- he could hardly have been said to be sitting next to anyone when there was at least half a yard’s distance between them.

He looked around, soaking in his cozy surroundings. The seats were clearly stuffed like mattresses, and not with straw. Arclight crystal lamps hung by each window, casting a warm glow in all directions. His legs had enough room that he could have rested them on the opposite side had he so wished, though Crow chose instead to keep them to himself.

It was not until after several more seconds of admiring the lovingly crafted vehicle, and feeling it begin to move with a lurch, that Crow realised Gem was staring right at him- and not with a particularly friendly expression.

“Is something wrong?”

Crow’s voice came out sounding disturbingly high pitched, and Unity immediately began snickering loudly beside him. Gem simply eyed him as she answered.

“What the hell were you thinking back there?”

“What do you mean? Thinking wha-”

She interrupted, her voice and face suddenly gaining a new edge to them.

“When you threatened before the entire world to kill a fucking Deity, what in the Messiah’s Eye was going through your mind?”

Something lay behind Gem’s words that Crow had never seen from the girl before. It wasn’t just anger, it was more than that- concern, maybe? No… Fear? It made Crow’s stomach sink to see someone as strong as her feeling afraid for his actions, and yet even still he knew he couldn’t explain them.

“I’m sorry,” he tried. “I don’t know what came over me, I just wanted to make a big statement and-”

“Try to get murdered in an alleyway by some crazies?”

He turned to the source of the suggestion, Unity, who, while grinning, didn’t seem anywhere near as amused by the whole ordeal as he typically was.

“Oh also,” Unity added- apparently as an afterthought, “he’s lying.”

Crow felt his hands curl into fists as he stared daggers at the boy, Unity simply met his gaze- bearing no hint of hostility or fear.

“Regardless,” Gem cut in- drawing Crow’s attention back to her, “you’re lucky Karma thought to do what she did.”

Thinking back to the Princess of Olympus’ reaction brought a bubble of anger up into Crow’s throat. She’d made him look like a stupid child in front of the whole world, and done so with barely a few words.

“How in the world am I lucky that I was humiliated in front of the entire world?”

Gem stared at him, seemingly bewildered.

“Eclipse, you really don’t get it do you? Deities are powerful, Crow. In more ways than just magic. Did you think you being murdered was a joke? There are some people out there who’d slit your throat just for speaking ill of a Deity they were loyal too, just look at…”

She trailed off, shifting uncomfortably in her seat before continuing.

“Just look at the most zealous members of the Unixian Alliance, nearly pulling the whole thing into a civil war everytime there’s a significant doctrinal dispute.”

She had said it so fluidly and evenly that it almost convinced Crow she was telling the truth. Nonetheless, he still found himself wondering what she’d been about to bring up instead. As curious as he was, however, Crow found himself suddenly feeling quite hot under the collar- his mouth dry at the thought of how much danger he’d been unknowingly in. Bermuda was a foreign place to what he was familiar with, that much he’d known for days now.

It was still shocking to find out the differences could be so extreme as to place him in genuine danger.

***

The sound-proofing on the outside of the corridor dulled the ruckus of the cheering masses as Karma re-entered through the way she’d walked out. She couldn’t help but smile at the slight relief she felt upon being freed from the infernal pressure upon her ears that their unbridled shrieking invoked.

The smile lasted exactly as long as it took her to turn a corner and hear a vaguely familiar voice.

“That was some quick thinking, Lady Alabaster. I’m impressed.”

She realised who it belonged to by the time she had turned halfway around to face him. Elijah Sorafin had changed from the dark red cotton overcoat he’d worn to the organiser meeting, now donning a tighter set of attire, with far less excess material hanging from his frame. She didn’t recognise what it was made from, but it was vaguely leathery- complimenting the reptilian glint in his grey eyes.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Sorafin.”

Playing dumb was entirely pointless with a man of Sorafin’s intelligence, and it was for this reason Karma had decided to do so- nothing left a clever man as irritated or distracted as being underestimated, particularly by a young woman.

This time, however, it didn’t seem to have either of the desired effects- the man simply levelled an almost bored gaze at Karma before answering.

“Regardless, my praise still stands.”

She answered with a smile.

“Why are you here, Sorafin?”

A hint of irritation flashed across his face.

“My purpose is my own business and no one else’s, Lady Alabaster. Though in this case there is no issue in my telling you. What do you know of the Tempora boy?”

It was hard for Karma not to laugh, the answer was so obvious. She’d acted quickly to save an innocent, stupid child from getting himself hurt- of course an Immortal would be able to fathom no reason as to why she would bother besides it somehow fitting into her plans.

“I know that he has the Eye of Chronos, and I know that he’s a sheltered idiot from the middle of nowhere.”

Sorafin’s shoulders seemed to relax slightly, and Karma just couldn’t help but add one final detail.

“Oh, there’s also his being the sole survivor of the largest massacre of the last year.”

The Fable tensed up as suddenly as a cat grabbed by the tail. He eyed Karma wearily, speaking slowly and clearly.

“How did you learn of Serasis?”

“I have a very good assistant. Now, why exactly are you asking about Tempora?”

Sorafin seemed to struggle with whether to tell her or not, she could see the conflict in his eyes- each option being weighed against the others silently in his head. In the end he settled either on the truth, or a particularly good lie.

“My Faction Leader, the lady Chrona Kasta, has an interest in the events that transpired there. After all, if Tempora survived through any means other than luck, he must either possess far greater talent than he has demonstrated thus far, or…”

“Or a far deeper connection to whatever killed those people than simply a bystander,” Karma finished. The Fable nodded curtly, then began to move- turning slowly away from her.

“By the way, I have a message for you- from the lady Kasta. She says you should not be quite so quick as to dismiss supposed idiots, lest you be played for one.”

In the absence of a line of sight to his eyes, Karma stared at the back of the Fable’s head as he began walking away.

“And why, may I ask, did she ask you to deliver such a message?”

She could think of several possible explanations, it was condescending enough to get a rise out of many- like a mother speaking to her daughter. Additionally, the phrasing brought a hint of paranoia even to Karma’s mind, perfectly subtle while singling out no threat in particular, letting the recipient fill their own head with possible targets.

And yet when Sorafin answered, he mentioned none of them.

“I’m really not at liberty to say.”