Rosemary returned back to Castle Belenus late at night, when the Inner Sun had extinguished and the world was hued night. The only source of light came from her sceptre, which glowed merrily in the darkness as she walked down rain-choked streets. It was, thankfully, no longer raining, though clouds still covered the sky above and drowned out the usual rainbow miasma of the other landmasses.

She was alone as she walked, skipping over deep puddles, all of Scuttleway eerily quiet as she went down the main roads and up the steps to the guildhall's entrance. Warmth greeted her as soon as she opened the door, a burst of heat that felt heavenly as she stepped into the faded orange of the Great Hall. Most of the guild had already gone to bed – it was well past midnight at this point, by her account. No one to say hello to poor, tired Rosemary as she began making her way to the nearest staircase up to her room.

Only for something to catch her eye.

Someone was in the library, the usually dark room lit by a blue light. Rosemary broke into a smile as she made her way over.

There was Joseph, in his customary spot at one of the tables, deep rings underscoring his eyes, his hands shaking with exhaustion as he turned the pages of a book. His soul hovered over his shoulder, its claws curled over a mug of coffee, the entire kettle situated by a small pile of books. The soul's eyes flickered as Rosemary went inside.

“'Sup, Joe,” she said.

“Hey, Rosemary,” Joseph said. He stifled a yawn as he gave her his full attention, “Top of the morning, and all that shit.”

“Ha,” she said, “Whatcha up to?”

“Oh?” Joseph blinked, and then he gave a start as he woke himself up, “Oh, yeah. Um... I'm doing research.”

“I can see that,” Rosemary said, “Mind if I sit down?”

“Sure,” Joseph said.

She took a seat as Joseph turned another page over, giving it a quick glance before spinning the book around to show her. She peered down, squinting in the harsh azure light to read the individual paragraphs.

“InterGuild...” she said, “This is a history of guilds, right?”

“Right,” Joseph said, “The Law of InterGuild. The First Establishment. The Treaty of Midnight. All of that good stuff. Mostly, I'm looking up any ways I can possibly go.”

“So you want to go too, huh?” Rosemary said.

“Yeah,” Joseph said, “You too?”

“Yup.”

He was quiet as he poured out a cup of coffee to Rosemary, offering it to her. Despite the quiet, nagging voice in the back of her head telling her to go to bed, Rosemary took it, grabbing a couple of sugar cubes by the kettle and dropping them in. She took a sip, savoring its warmth.

“I'll tell you why I want to go if you tell me why you want to,” she said.

“...Deal,” Joseph said, “I've... I found a contact while I was on Prime.”

“A metahuman one?” Rosemary said.

“Yeah,” Joseph said, “He said... He said he knew a guy, and they'd be at InterGuild.”

“Oh, geez,” Rosemary said, “And he can tell you how to get home?”

“He knows more about the sarcophagi that stranded me out here,” Joseph said, “Which is...”

He went quiet.

“It's the furthest I've gotten,” he said.

“Damn,” Rosemary said, “And Wakeling hasn't been much help?”

She knew then she had said the wrong thing, as Joseph all but glared at her. No, through her. His was a general vision of anger, not directed at any one specific thing, for the object of his frustration was above them, in the castle's tallest tower.

“No,” he said, “She hasn't.”

“I mean, she's busy,” Rosemary said.

“Sure, whatever,” Joseph said, taking a deep breath, “Anyways, what do you want to do there?”

“Lady Sunala,” Rosemary said.

“Of course,” Joseph said, “What's she want you to do this time?”

“She wants me to meet a few people,” she said, “Some people from her organization.”

“Like, from Busciver's crowd?”

“No, I think from the Elven Committee of Exploration,” Rosemary said, “Or, something like that.”

“More elves, then,” Joseph said.

“Yup,” Rosemary said, “It's... It's been nice, you know? The Lady Sunala's smart. She's been teaching me a lot.”

Joseph gave her a smile.

“Alright,” he said, “So it's pretty stupid that Wakeling's only taking a few of us to InterGuild.”

“I mean, it's a big opportunity,” Rosemary said, “A real treat. You get to meet other guilds, learn about new technologies and spells, make connections, all that good stuff.”

“Then how come they don't let you choose if you want to go or not?” Joseph said.

“Because there wouldn't be enough people left here to actually do guildwork,” Rosemary replied.

“That's... Okay, that's stupid, but it's an understandable stupid,” Joseph said. He pulled the book back over to his side of the table, flipping it around and turning a few pages, “I think I've got a deal for you.”

“Shoot.”

“We both want to go to InterGuild, right?”

“Right.”

Evidently, he found the page he was looking for, pointing a finger at a specific paragraph.

“Says here, we get a plus one,” he said.

Rosemary returned his grin.

“So, we go up and we ask Wakeling if one of us can go, and we take the other.”

“Exactly,” Joseph said, “And if not...”

“We kill someone who was supposed to go and take their place!”

Joseph blinked.

“No, sorry,” Rosemary said, “Bad joke. We, uh, strike a deal with them? Bribe them?”

“Figure out something,” Joseph said.

“Alright, Mr. Zheng,” Rosemary extended a hand, “You got yerself a pardner.”

“Looks lak it,” Joseph drawled, “Howdy, and all that.”

They shook. And that was that.

***

“Well,” Wakeling said, “This is certainly a... Well, I wouldn't say a surprise, but something unexpected.”

Joseph and Rosemary stood at her desk, having made their way to her office the next morning. Wakeling was in her customary spot at her desk, a grand tome of magic unveiled in front of her. The enchanted roof above wasn't stormy and rain-conquered like outside, but rather a deep blue, nary a cloud in the sky. Joseph wondered what kind of plane Wakeling had come from. Perhaps it was always sunny, and this monsoon season made her melancholic.

Or, perhaps, she just didn't like rain.

Whatever the case, he wasn't here to think about some old bat's weather preferences.

“I mean, it sounds interesting, right?” Joseph said, “It's like a convention. And there'll be vendors.”

“We can go shopping!” Rosemary said.

“Yeah, and, I dunno, dress up nice and all that.”

The magic tome closed up with a dry slap. Wakeling took her eyes off of the book and floated upwards off of her pillow so that she could see eye-to-eye with the both of them, floating a hair higher than Rosemary to meet Joseph's face.

“What are you both after?”

“...The Lady Sunala's invited me to meet some of her associates,” Rosemary said.

Joseph saw the guildmaster's eyes flicker to the wall, as though she were looking out past Castle Belenus and towards the noblewoman's manor. Rosemary didn't seem to notice, but there was an almost imperceptible glint in Wakeling's eye at the mention of Sunala.

“I'm glad that you've ingratiated yourself so well with her, Ms. Rosemary,” she said, “Tell me, did she mention another guild?”

“Umm,” Rosemary bit her lip, “Yes. One of her associates, he works for the White Feathers.”

“The White Feathers,” she said, “Interesting enough.”

“What's their deal?” Joseph said.

“Nothing major,” Wakeling said, “They're a primarily Elven guild, operating out of the Re-Founded Kingdoms. Their guildmaster is known to be... rather opinionated, shall we say.”

But she turned her attention back to Joseph.

“And you, Mr. Zheng?” she said, “Is our library getting a bit small for you?”

“No,” Joseph said, “I... I met someone while on Prime. He said he'd hook me up with some knowledge. On the sarcophagi.”

Rosemary noted that Joseph had to take a breath before revealing that last part. Wakeling nodded, closing her eyes.

“Well,” she said, “I can't fault you for wanting to find out more about Anuté and Inweth. They are mysteries, for sure.”

“Yeah,” Joseph said.

“But I feel like I must reiterate my warning to you, Mr. Zheng. Stay away from them. They've been claimed by Agrippa, and I don't want you getting anywhere near him.”

“Alright, sure,” Joseph said, “But I still want to go.”

The guildmaster nodded, apparently accepting their arguments. She sized both of them up. For a moment, Joseph felt a thrill of something akin to hope. Rosemary's heart began drumming up in anticipation.

But then...

“I'll tell you two the same thing I've told everyone who has come up here,” Wakeling said, “If you want to be included in the party going to this year's InterGuild, you must negotiate with a guildmember who is already going, and get their express permission, in writing, that you will be taking their place.”

They both blinked.

“Now, if that's all you two have for me today, I've got quite a bit of paperwork to get done,” Wakeling said, “Mallory and Broon botched the Arkosis job, so now we've got a lawsuit on our hands.”

“Y-Yikes,” Rosemary said, still reeling a bit from Wakeling's blunt rejection, “Tell Glonthek we said hi.”

***

“Okay,” Rosemary said, “Okay, okay, okay.”

She took a deep breath. They had made their way down to the library, where Joseph had left his small piles of books the night before. He and Barbara had made an agreement: he got to leave his books at night, and she didn't have to fly down to see him still in the library at four in the morning. As such, even the kettles of coffee were still there waiting for them, though because of Lazuli's recent exploits, Joseph set them aside, grabbing a new, steaming hot kettle from the kitchen. He set it down as Rosemary tapped her finger against the table.

“Okay!” she said.

“Okay?” Joseph said.

“Not what I was expecting,” she said, “I mean, she was pretty sour when she gave us our answer.”

“Probably because everyone else in the guild's asked her,” Joseph said, “She's probably had it with InterGuild already.”

“Imagine being the guildmaster, having to deal with all that bureaucracy,” Rosemary began pouring pure creamer into an empty mug, before adding a bit of coffee on top, “I couldn't handle it.”

“Must be why she drinks so much,” Joseph said.

“I hear that her species subsists almost entirely on wine,” Rosemary said, “It's the only thing they can drink, anything else is like poison.”

“That,” Joseph said, “Sounds like bullshit.”

The elf snorted.

“Anyways,” Joseph said, “Our first strategy failed. We asked, as though that did anything. Time for Plan B.”

“Right,” Rosemary said, “I asked around, and I got a list of everyone who's going to InterGuild this year.”

She looked around for a second, before walking over and grabbing one of the mobile chalkboards, dragging it over to their table. She began writing a list of names, the white chalk scraping against the black slate, making Joseph's hair stand on edge:

WAKELING

BECENTI

BROON

EZEL

MEKKE

SHAMBLING

TEK

ICHABOD

“Who the hell is Shambling?” Joseph said.

“Not surprised you haven't met her,” Rosemary said, “She's a bit of a recluse. An alien, from Aetum Hisemtu.”

“Neat,” Joseph said.

“But can you believe it?” Rosemary said, “A hundred guildmembers, and they choose eight?”

“That's pretty arbitrary,” Joseph said, “But it's technically sixteen, if those guildmembers chosen each take a plus one.”

“Do you know if anyone's undecided on that front?” Rosemary said.

“Not sure,” Rosemary said, “Maybe Broon? He was talking about maybe taking Moogi, or Lazuli, but I bet you we can convince him to take one of us.”

“Or let us take his place,” Joseph said.

“True,” Rosemary said.

“Let me talk to Becenti,” Joseph said, “I'll see if I can't get him to take me along. Let's talk to Broon together. Same with Ezel, she seems to like both of us.”

“Sounds good,” Rosemary said, “Alright, let's get to it.”

***

“I'm sorry, Mr. Zheng,” Becenti said.

“Oh, come on,” Joseph said, “I haven't said anything.”

“I know,” Becenti said, “But you're the third person to ask me about the InterGuild job this week.”

They were out in the stables, a bit of a ways from Castle Belenus, sharing the back gardens with the guildhall. The only animals that made their homes here, however, were Becenti's krem, the horse-sized, six-legged goats taking up two stalls each.

They liked their space, you see. Becenti had four of the animals, a mated pair he had bought when he had first joined the guild, as well as two sisters that he had saved while on a job on Sucondra Landmass.

Elenry had, the week before, given Becenti a final look-over, before declaring him fit for duty. Or at least, fit to return to his regular chores and paperwork. She had warned him, very pointedly, that if he got into another scrap, she would confine him to the infirmary for the rest of his life. So he was being careful with the jobs he chose.

Still...

“The Titania Amber is still heavily damaged,” Becenti said, as he filled one of the feeding buckets with a combination of corn and hay. He gave the krem – one of the sisters – a pat around the horns before moving on.

“Yeah, and?” Joseph said.

“And I need to take Urash along to help me with negotiations,” Becenti said, “I was thinking of inviting you, actually, but...”

He paused, evidently thinking of words to say.

“I thought it better to give you a break, after everything I've been putting you through.”

There was a quiet guilt in his voice. Joseph's glare lessened.

“Hey,” he said, “You're good. You know that, right? You're not forcing me to do anything I wouldn't agree to.”

“Still,” Becenti said, “Perhaps the experiences I've been taking you on are a bit too harsh.”

Tell me about it, but Joseph didn't say that out loud.

“Besides,” the older man continued, “This is a case where I need to put the needs of the guild ahead of my personal wants. Urash has connections.”

“And you can't just... open up another slot for him?” Joseph said, “Come on, Becenti, eight people, plus a friend? That's pretty strict. Can't you convince Wakeling to, I don't know, just let him go by himself?”

“Oh, it's not Vyde's rule,” Becenti said, shoveling in another bucketful of food, “It's mine.”

Joseph blinked.

“Yours.”

“InterGuild is one of the most important events of the year,” Becenti said, “It's both a convention, as well as a meeting of the minds in multiple different fields of industry and science. It has over two thousand individual guilds there at any one time.”

“So, a lot of people,” Joseph said.

“Indeed. It’s quite the opportunity” Becenti said, “Including, unfortunately, to join another guild.”

The thought hadn't occurred to Joseph. He chewed the inside of his cheek in thought.

“So by limiting the number of people who can go, you reduce the chance of another guild poaching away your members.”

“Precisely, Mr. Zheng,” Becenti said, “Wakeling says that we've lost around forty members throughout our history to InterGuild, and we're hoping that number rises very slowly.”

“Putting the guild ahead of personal wants,” Joseph said.

“Correct,” Becenti said, “I implemented the rule around fifteen years ago, and so far people have been fine with it. Besides, it breeds a healthy sort of competition, wouldn't you say? Keeps people on their toes, and doing their best.”

“So only the best get to go,” Joseph said, “No special treatments.”

“I never give special treatment, Mr. Zheng,” Becenti said.

“Even to me?”

The older man stopped his chores, turning and fixing Joseph with a stony look.

“I have never given you special treatment, Mr. Zheng. I have taken you on the various jobs with me because of your competence and reliability.”

“Really, now,” Joseph said, “Even the one on Prime?”

“Yes,” Becenti said, “Our client for that one insisted on only taking metahumans, making us the only two options. But had you proven yourself to be irregular or unprepared for the tasks at hand, I would have left you here. I would have gone alone.”

He turned back to his work, and the way he continued shoveling slop into the buckets was a hair forceful.

“Had you proven that you could not control your metahuman abilities,” he continued, “I would not have taken you to the station on Ermen III. Or to Chliofrond. I might have even recommended to Wakeling you leave the guild entirely, no matter the deals you had with her.”

Joseph was quiet at that. Becenti, finished with his work in the stable, gave a satisfied nod and scratched his billy krem's ears.

“You have been chosen for those jobs because of your own competence, Mr. Zheng,” Becenti said, “I share metahuman history with you because that is your birthright. But the actual jobs you're assigned, the planes you visit on behalf of the Amber Foundation, are because you've shown yourself to be powerful, reliable, and quick-witted.”

The billy krem let out a deep, baritone bleat. Becenti, in answer, put another scoopful of food into his bucket.

“But I cannot take you as my secondary to InterGuild,” he said, “I'm sorry, Mr. Zheng.”

“It's... It's fine,” Joseph said, “Thanks for, ah, being cool.”

He wasn't sure what to say aside from that. A bit red-faced from the blunt compliments, Joseph walked out of the stable.

***

“So no deal, then,” Rosemary said.

“You should be glad,” Joseph said, “If Becenti let me go, I'd probably throw you under the bus and be on my way.”

“You wouldn't!” Rosemary gave him a smirk, “You dick!”

“Alright, I wouldn't,” Joseph said.

They had rendezvoused back at the Great Hall, walking together towards the infirmary together. Where Broon was, after the Arkosis job. They stopped at the closed door, both of them preparing for the next conversation.

“Right,” Rosemary said, “Let me take the lead. You back me up, got it?”

“How should I back you up?” Joseph said, “How are we doing this? Good cop, bad cop?”

“God, no,” Rosemary said, “Look, when he looks like he's going to say no, just start crying.”

“I'm not going to cry,” Joseph objected, “I'll, I don't know, make some good points.”

“God, alright, nerd,” Rosemary said, “Let's go.”

She knocked on the door. A moment later, Elenry opened up.

“Hey, El,” Rosemary said, “Can we see Broon?”

“Of course,” Elenry said. The gloivel opened the door up fully, letting the two inside. Broon was in one of the beds, a puke-yellow gel covering the right side of his face that, as they approached, gave off a stench of something awful. Elenry had, mercifully, given the half-orc a pin to squeeze his nostrils shut, as he turned to them.

“Hey!” he said.

“'Sup, Broon,” Joseph said.

“What happened to your face?” Rosemary asked, worried.

“The Arkosis job happened,” Broon said. He waved his hand as Rosemary opened her mouth again, “It's nothing. It's fine. Just a little spat with another guild that went south.”

“Dude,” Joseph said, “Did they get you with the yellow stuff?”

“What? No,” Broon said, “The yellow goo's here to help with the burns. The other guild's known as the Firedrakes, Joseph.”

“Ah,” Joseph said, “That tracks.”

He gave a pointed look to Rosemary, who was frowning, genuine concern in her eyes. She glanced back at him, was reminded of why they were here, and turned back to Broon.

“Uhm, Broon?” she said, “I know this isn't the best time, but... Do you think you could take Joseph or me as your plus one to InterGuild?”

The half-orc's single good eye slid between the two of them.

“Ah, hell,” he said, “I'm sorry, guys, but I already selected my secondary for the trip. I was going to leave it open in case anyone asked, but...”

“Who?” Rosemary asked.

“Glonthek,” Broon said, “He's going to be talking with the Firedrakes' lawyers to hash out a deal. He's coming to the guildhall itself sometime tomorrow to talk with Wakeling and Becenti.”

“...You're telling me that, out of everyone in the guild, you're taking our lawyer?” Joseph said.

“Hey, usually he'd be nowhere near InterGuild,” Broon said, “We don't want vultures taking our vulture, and all that, but this is a special case. The fight with the Firedrakes, it got a bit nasty.”

“I see,” Joseph said.

Broon sighed.

“Look, I'm sorry, guys. You're not the first person to ask me – I think Lazuli, Phineas, Gluh mentioned wanting to go this year, too. And my answer to them is the one I would've given to you: I usually choose my secondary a few days before we leave.”

“But not this year,” Rosemary murmured.

“No,” Broon said, “Now, Ezel still hasn't picked anyone – we like to coordinate, see – so she might-”

“Ezel still hasn't?” Joseph said.

“I-” Broon said, “No, she-”

“Go, Joseph!” Rosemary shouted, “Go!”

As one, they rushed out of the infirmary, leaving Broon hanging. The half-orc settled down, giving a defeated huff. Elenry came over to his bed, laying a tray with a healing potion down on the nightstand.

“InterGuild,” she spat, “What a rude affair.”

“You're telling me,” Broon said.

She didn't leave as he took the potion in hand, using one of his stubby tusks to pop it open. Broon gave her a look.

“The answer's the same to you, too,” he said, “Glonthek's my plus one. Sorry, El.”

“Damn,” the gloivel said, “It was worth a shot, I suppose.”

***

Ezel had a room to herself, located on the fifth floor of the east tower. Joseph and Rosemary all but ran across the guildhall, making their way up to the spiraling staircase, dodging past guildmembers as they went, Joseph jostling a tray that Rorshin was carrying, ignoring the druid’s angry roars as he went. Rosemary was taking the stairs two at a time, practically leaping to each step, jumping over railings to gain more ground like a professional parkour artist. It was all Joseph could do to keep up with her.

The demigod's room was up on the fifth floor, down a couple of halls. Right before her door was a circular common room, one that she shared with Tiger and Lylana, a small table in the room's center and a couple of beanbags off to the side, a painting of a tree on the leftmost wall.

The only other occupant of the room was Lazuli. The android seemed to be steeling himself up, taking a deep, electronic breath and leaning against the table. He glanced up to Joseph and Rosemary, and Joseph could swear he seemed to freeze in place at the sight of them. They did too, eyeing him suspiciously.

“...What's up, guys?” Lazuli said.

“Hey, Laz,” Rosemary said.

“Up to your usual pranks, are you?” Joseph said.

“No, no,” Lazuli said, “Just... taking a breather.”

“Taking a breather?” Joseph repeated.

“Yep.”

The elf and the metahuman shared a look. They both remembered Broon's words – that Lazuli was one of the people who wanted to go to InterGuild. Rosemary's eyes squinted as they slid over to consider the android. Lazuli was giving them his usual, slightly mischievous, intentionally disarming smile. But despite the fact that he was a robot with a monitor for a face, he could not hide his emotions, the way his glass and metal fingers clacked nervously on the table, the way his body was twisting away from them.

As though ready to-

To bolt.

“Joe, grab him!” Rosemary shouted.

Both metahuman and android moved at once, Lazuli turning to rush toward Ezel's door, Joseph extending out an arm. His soul burst free from his pointed finger, the entire eagle erupting like a genie from the lamp as its claws snarled at Lazuli, the barest end of a talon scoring against the back of the android's chassis.

It was enough to dig in, the soul pulling its arm back, sling-shotting Lazuli to Joseph, who grabbed at him with arms both organic and electric. The two wrestled to the ground as Lazuli kicked and screamed, jabbing an elbow into Joseph's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

But not the soul, who continued to wrap its arms around the android like twin pythons.

“Go, Rosemary!” Joseph snarled, “Go!”

The elf didn't need any more encouragement, as she leaped over the tangle of metal and plasma and ran towards Ezel's door, swinging it open and running inside.

Ezel was sitting cross-legged in the center of the room, the entire place unnaturally quiet, the sounds of Lazuli and Joseph's struggles dimming, then going out completely. A pool was in the room's center, from which a great tendril of water rose to keep Ezel aloft, a wave frozen mid-deluge. Her eyes opened to consider Rosemary, and a thin hand came up to brush dark hairs out of her eyes.

“Hello, Rosemary,” she said.

“Hey, Ezel,” Rosemary said, “I... I think you know why I'm here?”

“Yes,” Ezel said, “I have no secondary.”

“Sweet,” Rosemary said. She cleared her throat and stood up straight, “So, let's talk, then. Let me tell you the reasons why I think either me or Joseph should be plus one.”

A smile crept onto the demigod's face.

“You or Joseph?” she said.

“We've got a deal,” Rosemary replied, “We're helping each other out. Either we replace someone going, or team up to secure two secondary positions for InterGuild.”

“Well, it's not every day you think of an alliance,” Ezel said.

“Y-Yeah,” Rosemary admitted, “But, uh, two heads are better than one, yeah?”

“Indeed,” Ezel said, “Very well, present your arguments.”

Rosemary took a deep breath, and began her little speech.

“Right,” Rosemary said, “So I want to go because of Sunala, she invited me to a little meeting with other elves, and I want to go, right? And Joseph, he's got a metahuman thing, which seems to be all he ever does, but there's a chance he'll get the means to go back to Earth if he can meet with his contact there, and-”

“Rosemary,” Ezel said, “Why are you helping Joseph?”

Rosemary blinked.

“You could easily just tell me that you're alone, and I would consider you as my secondary,” Ezel said, “You're at a crossroads right now, in this very room. You could, for want of a better term, throw Joseph under the bus, and you'd be good for InterGuild.”

The elf was quiet at that. Her blustering was gone, as she grabbed the hem of her cloak and began wrapping it between her fingers.

“Well,” she said, “He's my friend.”

“That much is obvious,” Ezel said, “But all is fair, when it comes to InterGuild. You have your own career to think about.”

“First off, that's kind of toxic,” Rosemary said, “I’d be nowhere without the people around me. And that includes Joe. But second, I want to go, but I also want Joe to go, you know? He's trapped out here. He didn't join the guild by choice.”

“Some of us don't have the luxury of choosing,” Ezel said, with a hint of sadness.

Rosemary was quiet for a moment. She turned to the door, to make sure that Joseph wasn’t somehow listening in.

“Is it… Is it alright if I’m honest with you?” she asked Ezel.

“Of course.”

“...I look in Joseph’s eyes,” Rosemary said, “And I see... I see a real anger in them. Like he's just barely holding himself back. Like he’s biting down everything, and one day it’s all going to come out, and he’s going to do something drastic.”

“And you think that him returning to Earth will help with that?”

“Yes. Maybe. I don't know,” Rosemary wilted, “But it's the only way I can think of that could help him.”

“Rosemary,” Ezel said, “You were there when Joseph first planeshifted, weren't you?”

“Yeah, I was.”

“That anger, in his eyes. Was it there then?”

Rosemary blinked.

For it had been, even back then.

“Your willingness to help your friend is admirable, Rosemary,” Ezel said, “Be ready for that day, hm? But for now, this is what I will do for you.”

She smiled, and gave her offer.

***

“Let me go, Joe!” Lazuli coughed.

“I don't think-” Joseph's soul curled out, wrapping around the android's left arm and pinning it down, “I don't think I will.”

“Come on, man, don't be an asshole,” Lazuli said, his legs kicking, “You're going to kill me!”

“Believe me,” Joseph grunted, gritting his teeth as Lazuli slipped an arm free once more and wailed it into his side, “B-Believe me! The entire guild would be better off.”

“Low blow, Joe,” Lazuli said, mock hurt in his voice, “I have poor self-esteem and also trust issues.”

“You're also a psychopath,” Joseph said. With an effort, he extricated his human form from the wrestling match, one that had knocked the table in the middle of the room over. The link between himself and his soul trailed down to his foot, reminding him vaguely of an extension cord. Lazuli floundered and flailed as the soul lifted him up in two arms, ignoring the cold pain that the android's struggles produced with each kick and punch.

“Come on, man,” Lazuli said, “This is unfair. You ambushed me.”

“Sorry, Lazuli,” Joseph said, “All is fair in love and war.”

“Is this war?” Lazuli said.

“Not really,” Joseph admitted, “Only if you make it.”

“...Is this love?” Lazuli's monitor gave a blushing emoji.

Joseph was quiet, considering those words. Then he shrugged.

“All I know is that I want to get to InterGuild, and Rosemary and I are teaming up for it.”

“I want a cut in,” Lazuli said, going limp, “Let me go, and I'll help get us all to InterGuild. Deal?”

Joseph grit his teeth. Was the deal worth it? Was Lazuli legit? Or did he just want to get free so he could run into Ezel's room? He couldn't imagine the android wrestling Rosemary right in front of Ezel – that could easily get them both into trouble, as well as removed from Ezel's consideration.

But then, Lazuli was just petty enough to go for a scorched earth tactic like that.

“Sorry, Laz,” Joseph said, “No deal. Sorry, man.”

Lazuli let out a stream of curses, right as Rosemary walked out. There was a knit, thoughtful expression on her face.

“Is it done?” Joseph said.

“Yeah,” Rosemary said, “You can let Lazuli go, now.”

Joseph complied, lowering the android to the ground. Lazuli immediately broke free and rushed towards Ezel's door as Joseph and Rosemary made their way back downstairs. They were halfway down the first flight when they heard the android's angry “FUCK!” from Ezel's room.

“So?” Joseph said.

“She said she'd let one of us be secondary, but only if we get the other to InterGuild, too.”

“So we both go, or neither of us,” Joseph said.

“That's right,” Rosemary said.

They were both a bit quiet as they went down the next flight of stairs.

“Let's wait a second,” Joseph said, dodging down a hallway, “I don't want to run into Rorshin again.”

“There's a landing down this hall here,” Rosemary said, “It's got vines on the outside of the guildhall, we can use them to climb down.”

“I have to ask myself, am I that desperate?” Joseph said.

“You want to be a frog for the next week?” Rosemary said, “Rorshin’s in a mood.”

“...No,” Joseph said, “Alright, lead the way.”

They went out towards the landing, Rosemary leering at the cloud cover above, they stepped onto the stone railing and wrapped hands around the thick vines spider-webbing the eastern tower's surface. Joseph was careful as he went, at some point manifesting his soul to help him with additional holds. Rosemary, who had done this nigh-on a hundred times, squirreled down like it was nothing. The vines networked down to the gardens below, and the two of them made their way down, landing solidly on the earth.

“Jesus,” Joseph said, “Never suggest that again.”

“What, were you scared?” Rosemary smirked, “Alright, so we've got potentially one down. Who's up next?”

“We've got...” Joseph thought, “Mekke. Shambling. Wakeling – although she'd probably say 'no' – Ichabod, and Tek.”

“Let's tackle them separately,” Rosemary said, “You talk to Mekke. I'll talk to Shambling.”

“Alright,” Joseph said, “Good luck.”

“You too.”

They split off from one another. Joseph could see Mekke in the garden. Rosemary knew Shambling always remained in her room at all times, so she began making her way towards the southern tower. Overhead, the tail end of the storm curled, and though no rain had fallen today, the thunder warned of another deluge.

It was proving to be an interesting day.