Zagreus’ eyes popped open to a pounding noise. He sat up in his bed as the noise repeated. Someone was knocking on his door, loudly. He commanded the door to open with his mecromail. He couldn’t see out from his bed. “What?!”

He heard a whimpering sound from the hall.

“It’s too early, in the morning, for this shit.” He mumbled-groaned.

“May I enter?” A soft voice said.

“Yes. Hurry up.”

Someone stepped in his room. They wore a short, white and peach dress, with many frills and pleats, and peach stockings. White cloth things covered their arms from wrist to shoulder. They looked like some kind of overdressed servant. Zagreus had no understanding of fashion. They had straight, chin length, cyan hair, topped with long, thin cat ears. They curtseyed and said. “I am here to serve you my Lord.”

“If that is you Karimere I’m going to boot your ass down the hall. I don’t care how good you look in that dress, I told you no.”

“Kari…I…No…I…” The visitor stammered and shook but held their ground.

“Hush.” Zagreus waved dismissively. The visitor could wait. It wasn’t Karimere, she would have bent over, begged, and offering her ass as a target. Now that he thought about it this new person had a completely different presence. He got up and got a drink out of the fridge. He was naked but unconcerned with the stranger. Why should he be, he lived in the most secure location on the planet. And if this person had a problem with lack of attire they could leave his room. Zagreus finished his drink, washed his face and put on some shorts before sitting down at the table. “What are you doing here?”

“I have been requested to assist with your diplomacy training.”

He looked over the visitor again. They looked to be mid-twenties. This girl…boy…person…was confusing. Nothing stood out to clearly signal an answer. He was waking up and finally sensed the dense power of the person. His senses had really dulled since he came here. “Mecromancer?”

“Only when I have to be.” They bowed with a smile. “I am Rezu Archinius. I am a cat variant of the guris often called felis. And to answer the unspoken question, I am male.”

“I am Zagreus Shadowbane.”

“Nice, firm, introduction my Lord. I have to apologize. Despite your compliments to my attire, I do not allow myself to be involved with other Mecromancers. I managed to get a personal life as part of my deal with Karimere. I find it is best to maintain some distance.”

“You got a no touching rule?” He nodded, “I am jealous. You got a better deal than I did. Must have pissed Karimere off something awful.”

Rezu smiled. “She is still undeterred. She invited me to her room when I reported here this morning.”

“That woman is pure, distilled, stubbornness.” Zagreus chuckled. “So what is the plan?”

“I am to pose as your servant and advisor while you pose as a young Lord of a distant land. We don’t want to cause any undue issues for Queen Gwenyr. She is our host.”

“Good. I can use all the help I can get. Sorry about earlier. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I accept your grace my Lord.” He bowed. “May I speak freely?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“I never know what I am going to get with new Mecromancers. You are rough around the edges, but you seem level headed. I prefer working with male mecromancers, though they are exceedingly rare. I think we will work well together.”

“New Mecromancers? You say that like its common. How old are you?”

“Over forty-two hundred, slightly older than Lilithana.”

“Are there other Mecromancers around?”

“There are a handful of others. And a few with training mecromails.”

“Is there a woman Mecromancer with scarlet energy that can make stone fly?”

He went white as a remnant and spoke breathlessly. “Gessil the Undying.”

“Is she is still alive?”

“I won’t believe that thing is dead until I see her corpse in pieces and watch it burn. There are many who are too scared to even speak her name.”

“Tell me about her.”

“Gessil enjoys hurting people. She wanted to ignore the Cradle and the mission. She wanted to reclaim the planet by conquest. She is completely twisted.”

“Too twisted to work here? That’s a disturbing accomplishment.” Zagreus sighed and shook his head.

“How do you know of Gessil?”

“She attacked me in the Deep Dark.”

“How are still alive?”

“Gessil was distracted.”

“You mean she used you as bait.” Rezu’s eyes widened. “It was you.”

“What?”

“The male genetic sample that was found in Sarya’s body.”

Body… That meant that she was really dead. Stab…twist. The year since regaining his memories had done some to dull the edge, but not enough. “Where did they find her?”

“Gessil hung her body on a temple to Karimere, to show off what she did. I was the one who took her body down.”

“Thank you. What happened to her after?”

“We buried her with honors. She had served well.”

“If she served so well then why was she living alone in the Deep Dark?”

“Sarya was too kind hearted. She couldn’t do what was necessary. But she was still well liked by the others and never worked against our efforts so it became an unspoken peace. She never became our enemy.”

Zagreus found himself wanting to strangle the newcomer.

Rezu bowed. “I meant no offense. I was instructed that you like direct conversations.”

“She’s dead. There is nothing I can do about it, but still. It was my fault, she ran into a trap to save me.”

“You were a mortal in a Mecromancer fight. There was nothing you could do.”

“Well, I’m a Mecromancer now.”

“That changes nothing. Gessil is an extremely dangerous opponent. Cinder has fought her multiple times, without a resolution. You would not stand a chance.”

“Is she that bad?”

“Judging on power and skill, Cinder should win in a straight up fight. But it’s never a straight up fight. It’s always a trap. On top of that Gessil’s healing ability lets her take hits that would cripple other people. I think Lilithana might be the only one capable of defeating her outright. But that would likely level a small continent and create another corrupted zone.”

“That’s crazy.”

“So is Gessil.”

Zagreus nodded. “If I ignore her raging insanity, she does give me a good question. Why do we need the Cradle? The invaders didn’t stay to rule. Why can’t we rebuild now?”

“The invaders placed twelve monoliths across the surface of the planet. They distort arcane and make it impossible to rebuild a civilization like we had before. We have tried to destroy the monoliths but they heal each other. We must take them all out at once to get rid of them. It will take the power of the Cradle to do that.”

“Guess I will have to scrap those early retirement plans. Stupid invaders have to keep ruining everything. Couldn’t they find another planet to conquer?”

“I have spent much time researching the history of Endrala. I don’t think the invaders wanted conquest. I think they wanted to destroy the Archons.”

“Who?”

“Endrala’s ecosystem did not occur naturally. All the species here were brought from other planets and most, if not all, were genetically altered. All the sentient races have a common ancestor but different species were modified to produce specific traits.” Rezu pointed at his cyan cat ears. “Whole sections of genes from different species are mixed in. Other genes are clearly the result of editing. What we see is impossible through natural means. Someone had to do it. A few records mention the name ‘Archons’ so I use that.”

“So who were they?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even have a description. But I think Endrala was a laboratory for them. The different species seem like experiments to test how arcane reacts with organic bodies. Karimere has followed similar paths in her own research.”

“So these Archons got tired of us and decided to wipe us out?”

Rezu shook his head. “No. The few records that mention an Archon helping with the Mecromancer program during the war. I think the invaders were either a competing species or an experiment of theirs that got out of control.”

Zagreus rubbed his temples. “The more I learn about this history, the shitter it seems.”

“The other details I know don’t get any better.”

“It’s too early for this much depression. Let’s get back to the reason you came to my little hidey hole. You’re going to teach me to eat with the right fork or something?”

“Yes, but my goal today is to fix your wardrobe.”

“I have clothes.” He pointed at his grey shorts, with stains and multiple sewn up tears.

Rezu sternly said. “No. You are to be a Lord. You need proper Lord clothes.”

“I’m sorry, but I must have missed the Young Lord’s Clothing Store, on level seven, between the farms and test subject incineration cells.”

“I am a tailor. Some call me the God of Fashion. If you will follow me to my tailor-workshop I have everything I need there to get you properly attired.”

“Food first. Would you like breakfast?”

“Yes. Thank you my Lord.” He bowed. “I have heard about your power to set mental links. We will be working together and outside. It may be bene…”

Zagreus rubbed him on the head and set a link. *Is that good?*

Rezu’s cat ears twitched and his head tilted into the petting. *Yes.*

They ate then made their way through the lab. As they went down the hallways Zagreus felt a familiar hint of arcane. Jade was practicing again. He forced a straight face as he slowed his step, just a bit. A moment later a circle of deep green energy activated from the ceiling. Dark green tendrils of arcane sprung out and captured its hapless victim.

“Whoever this is, the answer is no.” Rezu stated firmly as he dangled in the air.

“Do you consider this a form of foreplay?” Zagreus chuckled.

“What else could it be? There is a reason I don’t expect any clothes I wear here to survive in one piece.”

“Let this one go before you ruin that cute dress.” Zagreus spoke to no one, so it did not violate his no-speaking tradition.

Rezu was softly lowered to the floor by the green tendrils then the ward on the ceiling vanished. Rezu checked and straightened his dress as he glanced around at every corner and doorway for his offender.

“Stop looking. Jade is on the top levels. She’s practicing projecting her power along surfaces. She has developed a decent range but sucks at covering a large area. So she sets these little traps for people to find. I would have warned you, but it’s nice to see someone else walk into one for a change. I didn’t think about it ruining your dress.”

“So she is Karimere’s new Mistress.”

Zagreus shrugged, “Looks like it.”

“If she can send a line of arcane all the way down here she must be skilled. I have great range but that path is complicated. It would take me some time to get that far.”

Zagreus shrugged. “I can’t reach fifty paces on a hard, flat, surface.”

They continued through the lab and came to another generic hallway of doors. Only the faded signage gave any clues to where they were.

But Zagrues knew Karimere lived on this corridor by scent alone. He ignored what else his senses told him. Lilithana had tried to explain that Jade was ok and what had happened, but he had ended that conversation at ‘pain-slut’.

Jade came out of Karimere’s room as they neared.

They always knew were each other were, so it was no surprise. Jade stayed up here now. She would visit Zagreus regularly. He still couldn’t bring himself to talk to her directly, but she had long since found a way around that problem.

Jade gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. She didn’t need words. He knew how she felt, especially with a touch, and she used that fact. Over the past year he had seen her grow and become more sure and confident with herself. He was proud of her.

Jade looked at Rezu hungrily. “Where did you find such and adorable pet? I want one.”

“This is Rezu Archinius. God of Fashion. He is going to help me learn diplomacy.” Hey. I managed to talk again. I am no longer a complete asshole.

“He?” Jade cocked an eyebrow and looked the cyan haired cat-man up and down. “He is adorable.”

Rezu curtseyed. “I’m sorry I don’t involve myself with other Mecromancers. If you like my appearance I could find you someone similar. I have friends that dream of spending time with a Goddess.”

Jade’s mouth twisted cutely in thought. “I currently have my hands full. And I do love the dress. But I was only using you as an excuse to get the sentimental fool to talk to me again. Sorry to disappoint your friends.”

“Thank you, My Lady.” Rezu bowed.

“Sentimental fool?” Zagreus said.

Jade smiled, “Yes, you are a sentimental fool. You get stuck in your head and don’t stop to think why you are doing things. You remind me of Cinder. You should try talking to her next.” Jade winked at him then planted another kiss on his cheek. She bowed to Rezu and left down the hall.