“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Augen asked as Ver and Tonya both squatted low next to him and looked on at the silver outline of the Palace of a Thousand Steps far out in the distance. The night had arrived swiftly after their morning excursions into the central areas, and now here they were, closer to the center of it all more than ever.

For Tonya, it was a strange experience seeing the palace from down below, and it was then that its towering stature started to truly register within her mind. All those years living from within the palace had provided her with a certain perspective when it comes to viewing the Dune’s Eye, and now, being on the other side of it, she somehow missed it all.

In a way, she preferred being up there. However, when she caught herself thinking that, she felt a little guilty inside. She quickly looked towards Augen and Ver who were waiting for her answer, and they didn’t seem to know what she was actually thinking, thankfully.

“I need to talk to her.” Tonya said firmly as her blue eyes reflected Ver’s own outlines, “I…I didn’t get to understand her pain before, even though she looked like she needed my help more than ever, and now, the Kingdom’s like this because of what my family’s done…”

“I understand that sentiment, but you are currently the single most wanted person in the whole of Necrovia right now…” Augen scratched his face nervously, thinking back to the outcome of the interrogation not too long ago which spurred Tonya’s current motivation.

“Which makes me the more valuable to Mila.” Tonya countered, “I knew she wanted to see me too, one way or another…Plus, if things go bad, we still got Ver’s teleportation, right?”

“Don’t use it as a crutch for bad decisions…” Ver rolled her eyes before Tonya chuckled lightly, “We should let Wu and Lera know what we are doing though…”

“I haven’t been able to contact them.” Augen said, raising the Kraken’s shell, “But I have left a message, a prewritten projection Cast that should work just fine when they are...out of the woods.”

“Are they going to be okay?” Tonya asked, and Ver turned to her before nodding.

“They can take care of themselves.” Ver said, “And it’s our job to take care of you.”

“Well, if you wanted to back out, you two still could.” Tonya said with a sly smile, “If I just walk out onto the streets with my hands out, I am sure I will still get to Mila through that.”

“Not a chance!” “Nope!”

So that settled it.

During the nighttime, the curfew on the city’s central area had been lifted as the booming night business of the high humans living in the Dune’s Eye started to show its true colors. With the earth cooling even further and the stars above making their appearances, the city's economic ecosystem had fully awakened.

The businesses and trading occurring within the city were directly influenced by hundreds of years spent living under inclement weather, with the outer areas being more active during the day time with goods being funneled into the city before it got too hot, and the central areas enjoying such goods and services at night when the source of the heat was no more. This led to a strange rotation of living hours back and forth between the two regions, which only further emphasized the divide.

However, so long as there were money for people outside, and things for the people inside, nobody truly cared.

Though there were plenty of people walking out on the streets, Ver had also spotted way more plainly dressed PORA guards moving and unable to hide their presence in the Wave. Unlike the morning when they could have easily blended into the crowds with the simpler clothing in the outer areas, the people living in the central area wore far more elegant clothing filled with exotic silks with gold and silvery lining from dresses that emphasized the feminine physique to masculine singlets that tighten up just above the shoulder and slim at the waist.

Knowing that they would stand out like a sore thumb with their regular clothes, they quickly fell back to their greatest weapon, Ver’s Whirlpool Purple ability.

And now, they are one step away from getting into the Palace. There were a handful of night markets open at the base of the Palace of a Thousand Steps as the group of night goers sat on the very bottom few steps to eat and relax.

“Is it literally one thousand steps?” Augen asked when Ver opened yet another set of Whirlpool Purple under her feet, “Did anyone actually count it?”

“My mother forced me to.” Tonya chuckled, “It was a lesson in patience and humility, and my legs were completely destroyed after going all the way up…”

“Thankfully, we don’t need to learn that today…” Ver stuck her head out to the other side of the Whirlpool with the Kraken’s tendril extending out from her fingertips and sensing any danger. They had emerged atop the thousand steps, with the main halls of the palace far out in front of them. Ver gave a signal of safety before Tonya and Augen stepped on behind her, the former still looking around for any signs of guards.

“Follow me.” Tonya said quickly when Ver and Augen both picked up on a roaming presence of Wave from not too far away. Ver tapped Augen on the shoulder lightly before they all lunged towards the closest shadow behind a massive pillar when Ver picked Tonya by the waist with one of the Kraken's tendrils.

A pair of guards wearing white robes and red rose symbols had just turned the corner from the other side of the Palace before they feasted their eyes on the views down below while Ver suddenly opened up a set of Whirlpool underneath them, swallowing them up completely without them making a single sound.

“Thanks…for looking out for me.” Tonya lowered her head, “I was too…excited to be back…”

“Of course,” Augen said quietly as he slipped his set of playing cards in between his fingers and lowered into a crouch as Tonya copied his movements.

“This isn’t even close to being the hardest part.” Ver emphasized, “Move slowly and quietly for now. We can’t just teleport everywhere without knowing what’s going on.”

And so they followed Tonya’s lead, taking a farther route that lead to the backside of the main hall and right in front of the residential towers. They came across groups of guards that were sparingly patrolling, with servants moving quickly and quietly in groups. They took a quick look at the main hall, and only a handful of PORA guards were there drinking around a table.

No signs of Mila was found. Knowing Mila, she wouldn’t have settled for anything else but the best, so there’s no reason that she wouldn’t use the best room in the entire Palace... Tonya looked straight ahead from the garden behind the main hall as water streamed from the decorations into a small pool.

“There.” Tonya said, pointing towards the top level of the middle residential tower that’s been fully lit up, “The tallest point in all of Necrovia, the King’s residential tower.”

“We couldn’t find her anywhere, and those suspects that we rounded up didn’t show any signs of showing off the ability,” Mila said, leaning back on her leather chair as Ilia stood guard and looked down at the garden down below. A small glowing torch down below seemed to have drawn his attention, and he turned back to glance at Mila quickly before excusing himself.

Mila gave him a casual wave before focusing on the small projection Cast in front of her, where Mus Ongaku’s beautiful outline shined through even across the vast distance of this direct communication Cast.

“So, apart from that, everything had been going swimmingly?” Mus asked, his voice sounding as smooth as if it was spoken right next to Mila, “I mean…it was just one step further from what we did with the puppet rulers, so I wouldn’t expect much more of a resistance…”

“You don’t know this part of Necrovia culture…” Mila placed the projection Cast down on the table and stood up, “The King’s Eye is prophesized to bring about a great future to Necrovia every time it was reborn in another one with royal blood…to consolidate my power, I need it, or to make sure that it was not in the wrong hands...”

She looked outward and lowered her voice, “And I am worried that Tonya had already awakened it…I sent Ilia out to hunt her down after gathering the rumors, but he kept saying that she was nowhere to be found…I am worried that he's already...”

“Do you need more of PORA’s forces? We are about to begin our preparations in Yarka, and we can’t…”

“Don’t worry about me here.” Mila smiled, “Whatever it is, I will figure it out. Once I become to proper Queen of Necrovia, I shall return to you, or maybe you should come here.”

“Very well. I look forward to either.” Mus murmured when he reached his hand forward towards Mila, “I love you.”

“I know.” Mila winked back before cutting off the projection Cast, and finally, she looked up at a group of visitors she had just gotten. With a bright smile on her face, she leaned against her table and twirled her finger around her dark hair, “Well hello there, dear sister.”

“Mila.” Tonya said, her arms down by her side and her fist clenched. Their blue gaze clashed in mid-air, and that was about the only similarity the two shared with Mila having pale skin and brown hair and Tonya having dark skin with black hair.

“I see we have both made new friends.” Mila said, her fingers twitching with excitement, “So is it true? Are you now the one who manifested the King’s Eye?”

“Why are you doing this…?” Tonya asked, stepping forward, “You knew what your parents did! You knew what they tried to do! Why are you repeating their mistakes?!”

“You knew what they did too!” Mila shot back, her hands engulfed in red as heat exploded from the suddenly appearing lava around her fingers, “Yet you did nothing as they purged us out from Necrovia! You said nothing! When everything was taken away from me...when I needed you most...you weren't there.”

“And now what…You return with PORA and tremble upon our kingdom?” Tonya stepped forward as Mila formed a mace in her right hand from the lava Manifestation, “What exactly are you planning?!”

“I am going to become a ruler this kingdom’s people deserved.” Mila said, “One far greater than any of the kings from the Glaza bloodline. You will see.”

Then, she caught herself and chuckled, “I mean, you won’t, actually. I will be taking your eyes. With them, my plans will be far simpler than before.”

“Come and try it!” Tonya shouted as Mila stomped into the ground, her feet melting straight through the flooring materials as she dashed straight at Tonya with the table in front of her splattering and sending splinter flying all across the room like bullets.

Augen and Ver moved at the same time, and they shielded Tonya with Ver drawing the Sky Splitting Sword and parrying against Mila’s lava sword.

“Ah. I see you, the lost girl of Vaughan.” Mila smirked, “Where are the rest of your friends? Where’s that…powerless Wu and his tag-along girl?”

“They are out there doing what he does best.” Ver looked straight into Mila’s eyes as the Kraken’s shell formed around her entire body, “Foiling your plans.”