Only a year ago, the onslaught of cantae from soulcrafters two tiers above her would have torn Fiyu apart. She desperately focused on her barrier wall, fearing that the gatehouse would betray her, but even the door held firm. Intense as the cantae was, it slipped away from the polished boundaries of her soul without harm, and she felt a flicker of pride as she realized that she could weather the storm.

That pride turned to ashes as she heard Friend Nauda give a low moan and collapse. Fiyu first looked for an injury, then realized in horror that it was her soulhome that had been struck. Even from a distance, she saw terrible damage within and her heart ached for her companion.

Yet she could do nothing to help her, and the battle could yet prove lethal to all of them. Fiyu desperately looked to Friend Theo, who had abandoned the idea of reaching the scepter first. He saw her look, then Friend Nauda's injury, and frowned.

She pointed toward the barrier, hoping that he could find some way to throw them out of the Chasm. Friend Theo glanced at it briefly, but with the intense cantae flooding all around, they had few opportunities to make any difference.

Friend Nauda's nullification technique would have been the perfect choice, if only she had been healthy. She took a deep breath and attempted to draw up similar cantae, even though it would be a pale imitation... she could only hope that here in the Chasm they might be weakened enough for it to work. She waited until they collided, the cantae of their attacks dissolving against one another, and then unleashed her wave of nullification.

It did no harm to them at all, only briefly making Enemy Mattan stumble. In that moment, the Asplundat Ruler attempted to tackle him... and Friend Theo cast one of his gravitational fields.

The two Authorities arced upward, flying directly toward one of the waterfalls. Fiyu briefly hoped that they would collide with it and die, but their cantae was much too powerful. Both unleashed techniques downward, pushing themselves up so that they hurtled over the top. Yet this very recovery took them further away, and as they fought one another in midair, the distance only increased. Every time one attempted to move closer, he was warded away, until they could no longer be seen from the waterfall region.

Which meant the two of them had a chance. Fiyu quickly turned to where the scepter lay... only to see someone else emerging from the stone. Another Asplundat Ruler, either newly arrived or having hidden himself away. He was much closer to the scepter than either of them, reaching down to grasp it...

Friend Theo made the scepter fall up out of his hands, but the enemy Ruler reached up too quickly, snatching it with his other hand. Fiyu reached him the next moment, her blade slicing at his arm. She couldn't fully penetrate his armor, but he grunted and flinched. A moment later, Friend Theo struck the same arm with a torsion bolt. Stone flew in every direction and the scepter tumbled from his hands.

The three of them struggled by the edge of the cliff, the waterfall groaning beside them, the deadly pool churning below. Together with Friend Theo, Fiyu was sure that they could eventually gain the upper hand and acquire the scepter. Once they had it, they might even be able to stand against the enemy Authorities when they returned. It was only a question of-

Then the stone crumbled beneath them. Fiyu realized too late that the enemy soulcrafter had struck the ground, risking all of their lives. It seemed foolish to her, because he began to slide over the cliff's edge as well, then she realized that it was a suicidal attack. He intended for all three of them to die in the pool so that his allies in the Asplundat Movement could retrieve the scepter safely.

He had not counted on Friend Theo, who used his full strength to arrest his fall and hover above the collapsing cliff. Fiyu stared up at him, so close to the scepter, as the rocks broke away and she began to fall.

~ ~ ~

In the end, it wasn't even a decision, Theo's body moved on its own. Or so he told himself. He had enough strength to move himself to the scepter or to save Fiyu, and he ended up splitting his gravitational fields to prevent her from falling.

The two of them still tumbled down the collapsing side of the cliff, but he managed to grab hold of a solid outcropping. He reached to grasp Fiyu's outstretched hand, just missing her fingers... it took his full strength to reverse her momentum and pull her up. She grasped hold of his wrist immediately, leaving him exhausted and both of them dangling from a stone just beside the falls.

Once their momentum was arrested, he needed a second to recover enough to cast another gravitational field. In that pause, he examined the field carefully. The Asplundat Ruler had fallen as well, but not as far as they had, instead sinking his hands into the rock of the cliff near the top. He could have attacked them in that moment and possibly killed them, but instead began struggling back up, eyes fixed on the scepter.

It seemed hopeless, but Theo still did what he could. With an assist from a gravitational field, he managed to swing Fiyu up beside him. She got her own grip and clung to the side, recovering. Nauda might have saved them, except she lay boneless from her soulhome collapse. Theo struggled upward, the waterfall screaming in his ears, but he saw that their enemy was almost to the top of the cliff.

The scepter glistened there, teetering on the edge... where a small hand picked it up.

"What this?" Senka peered at the scepter, bit it experimentally, then made a face.

"Put that down, child!" The Asplundat soulcrafter struggled to climb the rest of the way up, but he was clearly testing the limits of his strength.

"Senka, no!" Theo struggled up faster, but he knew it wouldn't be enough. Their survival was really coming down to the whims of an insane little imp. "We need that."

"Listen to me, child. If you hand the scepter to me, you'll be given as many sweets and candy as you want!"

"Senka, you need to throw it down to me! If you wait until he climbs up, he'll steal it from you."

She stared between them with wide eyes, as if there wasn't a single thought in her head. At first Senka took a step toward him, then she looked back toward the Asplundat Ruler. He threw one arm to the top of the cliff and levered himself up, now dangerously close as Senka still gazed at them in confusion.

"Senka, throw it to me!"

Instead, she extended the scepter toward the Ruler. The sky dimmed and the man screamed, collapsing to his knees. A line of light, brilliant beyond all color, formed between them, and though Senka merely glowed, the Ruler's soulhome came apart at the seams. Senka immediately lunged forward, her head colliding with his chest and knocking him over the edge, tumbling down into the water below.

"Well done, Senka!" Fiyu called encouragement, but from her position, she could only see Senka's side. Dangling just beneath her, Theo had a clear view of her face.

Senka smiled with a malice he'd never seen before.

"I would like for you to remember this moment, Theo." Senka walked to the edge of the cliff, her shoes very near his fingers, the scepter hanging casually from one hand. "If I wanted to kill you, I'd do it now. If I wanted to manipulate you, I'd never reveal myself like this."

"Right, like this is instilling a lot of trust." Theo heaved his body up as quickly as he could, imagining that scepter turning to aim at him before he even tried to think about what was happening. Yet Senka simply stood at the edge over him, making no move to attack. "What are you doing?"

"Let's just say that you'll be given some good reasons not to trust me. I wanted to preempt them." She met his gaze for one long moment, then eased down onto the broken part of the cliff and extended her hand.

Though she was no stronger than before, she helped tug him up to the clifftop in his exhausted state. Theo briefly considered trying to take the scepter from her, but her second move was to help Fiyu. Between the two of them, they managed to lift her up to solid ground, though the broken rocks no longer felt quite so safe. As soon as she had recovered, Fiyu went to help Nauda, who struggled to rise to her knees. She was physically uninjured, but there was no telling how much damage had been done internally.

When Theo turned back to Senka, she skipped to the top of a pile of rocks, her former scrambling taking on a much more sinister grace. It wasn't that her capacities had changed, she was still less than a soulcrafter, it was just that she was actually using her abilities.

"Unfortunately, the Authorities are coming back soon, so our time is limited." Senka gestured above the falls, though he could see nothing. "I can predict when they'll finish their fight, but my estimate may be wrong. My mind is getting fuzzier with every second, so I need to communicate everything quickly. Please don't sporp this up."

Hearing the nonsense word in her new voice made Theo frown, but Nauda stayed focused on what mattered more. "Who exactly are you and why have you been lying to us?"

"You're a bit of a mess, aren't you?" Instead of answering the question, Senka raised the scepter at Nauda and a line formed between them. Though Fiyu immediately stepped to retaliate, it wasn't an attack. Instead, the wreckage of Nauda's soulhome was being pulled apart in the glow. "This thing should be able to undo some of the damage, but it can't rebuild for you."

"Don't ignore... the question..." Nauda grimaced and clutched her heart, focused despite what was being done in her soul. When the line of brilliance faded, Senka turned back to them with a cool gaze.

"The answer wouldn't do you any good, even if I knew. I'm... a broken jumble of whoever I once was. That's not important." Her eyes swept across them. "In the beginning I was just going to use you to get where I needed to go, but... plans change. I've only now reached the point where we can be useful to each other."

"We would have helped you if you asked," Fiyu said quietly. "Why did you betray us?"

Senka groaned, for a moment a shadow of her old self. "Ichili and their betrayal... look, I had no idea whether or not you were being used by the enemy, or if you'd turn on me. You expect someone in my position to tr-"

"You let me believe you were a child. You deceived me."

Theo didn't have time to talk Fiyu down, and he still wasn't convinced Senka wouldn't turn on them, so he just spoke calmly. "If we're really running out of time, arguments are wasting it. Who's the enemy you're talking about? What's so important that you broke your silence?"

"Right, let's focus." Senka folded her arms and tapped the scepter against her side. "I remember Vistgil. Just fragmentary memories, from centuries ago, but when I saw him in the ruins I remembered. I can't... can't recall where or why. I was on the verge of finding out something when... something happened and it left me broken. But Vistgil and his allies are trying something sinister, a vast conspiracy toward ends that can't be accomplished by strength alone."

"That's all you can give us?"

"Senka Senka!" Abruptly her serious expression broke into a huge smile and Senka began spinning wildly, letting out a stream of gibberish. Just when Theo was about to take the scepter away from her, the nonsense cut off and Senka was left gasping and clutching her head. "It hurts... I'm already fading, but..."

"Are you alright?" Theo stepped closer, surprised to feel any concern for her. Senka didn't point the scepter at him, just gave a bitter smile.

"Not remotely, but I forced myself a little deeper. Vistgil and his allies want to do something to the Nine Worlds. Probably control them, because that's what you do. But the core of it is the other worlds, the ones outside the Nine. They need to use these fragmentary worlds as part of their plan, because there's still power there. It's the same power I'm using to restore myself: this river is only one of five that support the Nine Worlds. I need to find the others."

"So you promise answers in return for our help." Nauda limped up beside him, supported by Fiyu, and frowned down at Senka. "You think your stunt earlier is enough for us to trust you?"

"Shut up and listen. Earth doesn't contain any of the rivers, but it's useful to them in some way. I'm not sure how, but Vistgil is bringing through more people like Theo. Controlling their paths, leading them to do... something." Senka winced and rubbed her forehead. "Sporp, I wish my mind was clearer. Look: most people from Earth are under his control. There are a few from other worlds who managed to survive his traps and are his enemies. The House of the Lost, or rather the entities behind it, are his newest foes. But you, Theo... I don't think he knows about you. You might be a wrench in the works."

"What about the other humans who survived Vistgil?" Theo asked.

"I don't have enough - Senka Senka skoobydoop! - I don't know enough. There's a group of four from Earth who are truly powerful, called the Siblings, but I suggest you stay away from them. The House of the Lost might be able to help, but... forget about that. Keep doing what you're doing, gain strength without attracting too much attention. Don't trust the inter-world organizations... Vistgil has had years to twist their beliefs against threats to him."

Just having someone else believing in the same conspiracy was a surprising relief. Though Theo was still skeptical of being manipulated, he believed that Senka was suffering to offer them information while she was clear-headed. "How do we gain enough strength to face someone like Vistgil? What tier were you, and do you have soulcrafting advice for us?"

Senka only waved away the question. "You wouldn't want my advice while my thought process is this blooky. You're basically on the right track."

"Why do you keep using those words?" Nauda asked. Senka scowled at her, then suddenly threw herself to the ground and flailed for a while. When she finally pulled herself upright, black liquid was oozing from her eyes and mouth.

"I want to give you all orders, but I suppose that wouldn't generate much trust, and I don't have any good answers while I'm like this." Senka pulled herself back onto the rock and wiped off her mouth. "It looks like we still have a few minutes. Do you really want to spend them asking that?"

"I've never heard anyone whose words were immune to soul translation. Is it related to your condition? Are you trying to give us valuable information and it's preventing you?"

"Whatever broke my soul... it was designed to torment me. Everything I eat tastes like ash. Beauty is painful. It reacts against almost every positive sensation. I can't believe they'd be so petty, but maybe they wanted to prevent me from cursing. So no, it's not important. If I say 'Go sporp yourself in the fumpet' can't you fill in the gaps?"

"It mostly sounds like static to me." Nauda frowned and looked to Fiyu, who was still glowering at Senka, but she shook her head in mutual incomprehension. Theo wasn't sure why it sounded different to him, but now that she'd framed it that way, he could guess what she meant. Not so innocent after all.

Since Nauda appeared uncertain and Fiyu was already deep into her vendetta, Theo decided to take control of the conversation. "You can't remember anything else about yourself? Your home world, or what organization you were a part of?"

"So much is so fragmented... I have memories, but without context..."

"Do you have a real name?"

Senka gave him a bitter smile. "I think it was actually Senka, and they've turned it into a mockery. That doesn't matter. Here's the thing... the organization I remember... I don't think it exists anymore. I have no proof, but I suspect Vistgil destroyed it. His main goal is outside the Nine Worlds, but he might want to weaken the Nine too. Before my curse, the average soulcrafter was more powerful."

"Just how powerful?" Nauda asked. "Can't you even tell us that? Is Dominion really the highest tier of soulcrafting?"

"The highest is the Senka tier! Because Senka is the biggest gurfoop of all the gurfoop loops!" She giggled and began prancing, though she kept a firm grip on the scepter. This fit lasted much longer than the others, and Nauda started to look concerned. Now that they knew there was an intelligent person being tortured inside the manic antics, her behavior carried a different tone.

But it didn't change the reality. Theo grabbed Senka by the shoulders and shook her violently. "Snap out of it! We need you to focus."

"Heheh." The low chuckle had nothing in common with her giggle, and Senka looked at him through eyes shot with dark blood. "I always liked how you wouldn't put up with my blook. Honestly, sometimes I've faked it just to sporp with you, because it's fun. Soulcrafting tiers... no, Dominion isn't the peak. It's all fractal, you're smart enough to figure it out for yourselves."

"Close enough." Theo had theories, but pushed on to another detail that could prove critical. "What about the Artifacts of Elighiera? Do you know anything about them?"

"They were... not common in my time, but not as rare as they are now. I think... Vistgil is controlling them as part of his plan. It might be good to take them back, but... I wouldn't wear them." Senka coughed up more dark blood and Theo lowered her to the ground. This wasn't the time for compassion, not when her conscious moments were running out.

"Is there anything we can do to help you?"

"We won't be together for much longer... I'll come back eventually, and I might be worse. You need to help me find the other four rivers...."

"What about a white realm with a black sun? Vistgil killed me there, do you know anything about it?"

Senka chuckled, but the sound dissolved to burbling as more dark blood escaped her lips. "Know it? That plain is nothing, we used it as a training ground. But beyond it... that's where things get... it all gets ugly... it's all more connected than you think..."

Before Theo could pull any more information from her, cantae flattened them all to the ground. Mattan floated down beside them, injured from his battle but still with more than enough cantae to overwhelm them. Nauda groaned in pain and Theo wondered if they were doomed, but Senka went scampering in Mattan's direction.

"Who's this big fumpet? Do you have yummies?"

"Foolish imp." In a flash, Mattan dangled Senka from one arm and took the scepter from her, before tossing her aside. He took a deep breath and then smiled as his fingers curled around the scepter. "Such power... with this, we can rule Norro Yorthin. I could kill all of you easily... but we might as well test the armament."

Mattan's grin widened as he lifted the scepter toward them. Theo desperately strained to gather enough cantae, but he doubted that they could have won even if they had been at full strength. Unless they had another ally, it looked hopeless...

"That's not yummy at all! You're blooky!" Senka hurled herself in their direction, apparently randomly, though Theo noticed that she imposed her body between them and the scepter. "You took Senka's yummy stick! That's mean! Give it to Senka!"

She scrambled forward, much faster than she should have been able to move, and began tugging on Mattan's leg. Just when Theo started to think she might have some hidden strength, the Authority easily stomped her into the ground. But an instant later she popped up, still screeching nonsense.

"Very well, your soulhome can be the first test of the scepter." Mattan aimed it down at her and sneered as Senka struggled back to her feet.

"You can't hurt Senka! Your nose is too stupid!"

"Enough of this. Perish." Mattan squeezed the scepter and the sky dimmed as a line of light linked the two of them. It burned so intensely that Theo momentarily feared that Senka would be torn apart, body and soul.

Instead he saw that malevolent grin again. "Imbecile."

The two began to float closer to one another, the light between them intensifying. Mattan grunted and tried to pull the scepter away, but he trembled in the grip of a power greater than himself. At first Theo thought that Senka had prepared some sort of trap, then he realized the truth:

The Scepter of Separation was doing exactly what it was designed to do. But Mattan was using it against a soulcrafter significantly more powerful than himself.

Though the light was ripping Senka's soulhome to shreds, it had been a compact sphere from the beginning. As her soul separated, Theo saw not garbage but the remnants of immense soulcrafting. This had been her plan all along, luring a powerful enough soulcrafter to use the scepter on her in order to undo some of what had been done to her soul.

When the scepter exploded violently, Mattan staggered backward, his own soulhome shuddering as the light tore through part of his barrier wall. Before he could recover, Senka tackled him over the edge of the cliff and they both plunged below, directly into the falls. Nauda gasped and stumbled to the edge, looking below, but no Authority burst from the water to attack them. Only ripples that were soon lost in the rushing waters.

"She's not coming up this time. Did she...?" Nauda left the question unfinished.

Theo shook his head. Just before they'd gone over the cliff, he was sure that Senka had looked back at him, her true self reemerging for a single instant.

What he wanted to do, more than anything, was just collapse and think about everything for a while. But if other soulcrafters were beginning to penetrate through to the waterfall region, then more would likely be coming. Some of the sublime materials the Asplundat Movement had collected remained... nothing important. What mattered was getting out alive before a Stronghold showed up.

"No..." Fiyu breathed the word quietly, yet it cut through his thoughts. Before he could realize what she meant, she grabbed him, pulled them closer to Nauda, and then covered them all in a small sphere of her cantae.

Nauda looked at her in surprise and started to open her mouth, but Fiyu put a finger to her lips, eyes still fixed overhead. Theo didn't sense anything, simply trusted her judgment and kept quiet. Her stealth technique had served them well, so anything that made her so nervous was...

All thought stilled as Vistgil floated over the highest waterfall.

He stood in the air above the entire region, slowly turning to examine it. Though Theo didn't sense any cantae, it seemed clear that a technique was being used: either to locate the scepter or to find them. The fragments of the scepter still lay where it had exploded, and it seemed to draw Vistgil's gaze.

Though he took several steps down through the air, he didn't investigate it directly. Instead his eyes roamed on, drawing closer to their location. Fiyu shivered slightly behind them, focusing her entire being on maintaining their stealth, yet it didn't seem like it could be enough...

"You pretended to leave." A distorted voice warbled from over the waterfall, and the tentacled figure from the House of the Lost appeared overhead. It floated ominously, burning with immense cantae, tentacles slithering from out of the shadows, but Vistgil reacted with only mild interest.

"So did you. I just wanted to check on something missing, why are you here? Planning to take revenge on me after all?"

"Our world wanted nothing to do with this hellscape. You brought us here."

"And you promptly destroyed everything yourselves. I actually liked your world, but you know how it goes. There's only one way this can all end."

"Your traps are failing. You are limited and we will exterminate your minions. No matter what you are doing, it will unravel." Otherworldly as the voice was, the deep rage was undeniable.

"It's true that you've done a good job hiding your kind away. But do you think I'm limited to these tools? Perhaps it's time for war to sweep across all of Fithe... continents will be cast into the sea and empires upended. I can set it all into motion so much easier than you understand, alien as you are. Soon you'll see just how little you've accomplished."

When the figure struck, it abandoned all semblance of a human form. The cloak burned away and an abomination of tentacles and teeth streaked out toward Vistgil. And, for the first time that Theo had seen, Vistgil actually dodged. He slipped through the air, evading the tentacles and striking back with a golden sword that formed from his hand. Though he managed to cut apart the tentacles, they collided with actual force. Much of his cloak was torn away, revealing an angular face with a wry grin.

If the fight had taken place closer to Theo, or continued in the air, he might have died as collateral damage. But the leader of the House of the Lost managed to grasp hold of Vistgil and hurl him upward, then streaked after. Even from so great a distance that they were invisible, the earth shook as they struck one another.

"We need to go." Though the weakest among them, Nauda was the only one not entranced, so she pulled them away. Theo knew she was right, but he still stared, burning the memory into his mind.

First he remembered the cantae that had flowed within the being fighting Vistgil. It had been unusual, but still comprehensible to him. The only way he could understand it... if a first tier soulcrafter's cantae moved like gas, and an Authority's flowed like water, this cantae had been utterly solid. That power might stand high above him, but he understood it. He'd seen someone actually fight Vistgil, so he knew the heights he needed to aim for.

Second, he had seen Vistgil's face clearly. Apparently ordinary, human but not exactly from any world, bright golden eyes. Theo repeated every detail until the face was seared into his memories.

Only once he was certain he remembered did he let the others pull him away. The battle still raged overhead, but he had a feeling that it would not end easily. Other soulcrafters were beginning to leave the Chasm of Lamentations, either competing with one another or simply fleeing. This was their only chance to reach safety ahead of the retreat.

Theo barely thought about any of that and simply stared skyward until they fell through the distorted mists.