While Scott and Hades discussed a certain milf related goddess, other forces were busy marshalling themselves. Namely, a certain red-haired goddess pestered her older brother.

“You said you found him,” Shara accused Silence.

He looked to his sister then offered a slight smile. “I said I had located a hint of his presence. He has already moved.”

“How were you tracking him, anyway?” asked Shara. “I can’t sense him at all.”

Silence moved his hand to the side and the images on the monitor shifted. “I recalled that his former profile mentioned that had the ability to summon a shadow wisp. Initially, I sought to locate her in case he summoned her. However, she suddenly started to move at great speed, and I lost track of her.”

“You can’t find her, now?” pressed Shara.

“She isn’t hidden, it’s just that the abyss is obscenely vast,” said Silence. “I’ll have to go back to seeking him out instead.”

“Mid was able to get a general idea about him. I thought that you would be able to find him much easier,” said Shara.

Silence released a wearied sigh. “I know he’s in the abyss, but it’s strange. There’s almost this sense that he’s being hidden somehow.”

“He can hide from you?” asked Shara, her eyes wide.

He looked to his younger sister then shrugged. “I did not think that a mortal could hide from me in the abyss either, but not long ago any sense I had of him beyond vague whispers suddenly ceased. That’s why I tried to track his wisp instead.”

“Are there places that you can’t go?” asked Shara. “Maybe he’s fallen too deep inside?”

“It is true. The spiritual pressure soon grows to the point that it’s too difficult even for someone like me to withstand it,” admitted Silence.

“Maybe you could send m—” began Shara only for silence to cut her off immediately.

“No. I will not send you into the abyss,” he said. “Even if I granted you a blessing and guided you personally, you aren’t hardened against it much less attuned to it. You would never get anywhere close to where I sensed his presence for those brief moments.”

It was maddening! Shara threw her hands up in the air and released an annoyed sigh. “What is he even doing down there! I refuse to believe he’s just trapped. Not with all of the moving around he seems to be doing.”

“There’s no way to know. If he stays still for a while, I might be able to focus in on him again. For now, though, I don’t think he’s even connected to the system of the world that he was from,” said Silence.

“What about that other connection?” asked Shara suddenly.

“Other connection?” asked Silence.

“Yes. He has a master slave bond with Sonja. Surely you can follow that,” said Shara.

Silence placed one finger to his chin and clucked his tongue once. “Hmm… you are certain that is still in effect?”

“Yes. She knows he is still her master,” replied Shara.

“I might be able to do something with that, but I can’t directly visit the mortal world,” said Silence. “Unless she wants to kill herself and join him in the abyss, I don’t know what to tell you.”

“You can’t send me through the abyss. How would she fare any better?” Shara stared at him, annoyance obvious in her gaze. Why must her brother be so maddening?

“Your link with him was purely one of the system. He was your champion. That’s gone,” said Silence. He gestured to the monitor. “Sonja’s bond is something native to the. er… dream world. I guess we can call it that.”

He looked her carefully in the eyes. “That world works according to changes made in our family’s open source world engine. Once the Earth no longer links to it, the rules will shift back to their default settings.”

“Default settings like…” said Shara. A certain light dawned in her eyes as she realized the implications.

Silence did not need to say it, but he did anyway. “Slave seal compacts.”

“If there’s enough of that bond left, then it must be operating on the default rules!” exclaimed Shara.

“Indeed, little sister.” Silence stood up from his sister’s chair then stretched a little. Though, he was not sore in the slightest there were still certain aspects of living to enjoy. Such as having a sore butt from sitting too long. He reveled in the idea of the imagined sensation for a moment.

“I don’t know if Sonja would be willing to do this, though,” said Shara. “Plus, won’t there be aftereffects.”

“Well, going to the abyss and back has been known to cause mortal beings to awaken new ability.,” admitted Silence. “Isn’t she technically a valkyrie?”

“Yes. According to dream world lore, she’s from a demi-god race…” admitted Shara.

“That could potentially be quite a problem… if she awakens, she could achieve apotheosis and become a lesser member of the world pantheon,” said Silence. “That’s bound to draw eyes to her.”

Shara frowned prettily then reached back and grabbed her ponytail. She stroked it lightly while she considered her brother’s words. It was a daring plan. Sacrifice Sonja, and she should zip right to Scott’s side… provided he was not actually detained against his will or otherwise absent mental coherence.

“What if her death releases her from the slave contract, though?” asked Shara. “It’s bound to have been weakened and most mortal contracts of that type don’t last after death.”

Silence considered her words for a moment then nodded and lightly tapped his chin. He pointed that tapping finger toward Shara then said, “Can’t be helped. If she has a strong spiritual bond with him outside of just the seal, she’ll end up somewhere close to him in the abyss at least. If not… well, we can at least try to fish her out later. Though, she would need to spend tokens…”

“I’ll give her tokens… I mean, set her up to have some. I don’t have that many myself,” said Shara.

“That’s some serious favoritism,” replied Silence.

“Yes,” agreed Shara in a shameless manner. “This farce of a ‘game’ has gone on long enough. It’s only hurting people.”

Silence nodded to her. “I’ve been working to find clues to what happened to that hateful thing in the hospital.”

“I know you think Scott is behind that,” said Shara.

“I can’t think of anyone else who could be, especially given how easily he seems to move around in the abyss,” admitted Silence. “I don’t blame him, given the state of the world, but it’s definitely a concern.”

Shara started to speak, but Silence held up his hand. It was faint, but there was something happening.

“What is it?” asked Shara.

“I can’t be sure, but I think he might be on the move again. There’s a sense of momentum in the region of the abyss I detected him in earlier,” replied Silence.

“Should I wait for him to stop again before allowing Sonja to sacrifice herself?” asked Shara.

“You mean, when you ask her if she wants to do that. Correct?” asked Silence.

“…Yes,” said Shara after a moment of hesitation. She looked away from him after she said it, however.

Silence shook his head. His youngest sister was certainly devoted. He could not fault her for that.