“A dinner?” Lowanna quirked an eyebrow. She couldn’t find any sort of subterfuge on the other woman’s face.

“A dinner,” The crimson-haired Devick confirmed with a bow.

Lowanna frowned at the genuine response. She felt nonplussed by the situation. The other woman had found some sort of frilly black and white uniform to wear. Her bow was executed with an elaborate flourish. And despite the fact that Devick always seemed to somewhat have very little interest in any tasks unrelated to Hungry Eye, she now practically preened with excitement as she brought Lowanna an invitation to dine.

Although she suspected some sort of trick, Lowanna couldn’t detect any.

“Is there any real need for this?” Lowanna asked. “I will of course eat with Hungry Eye, but why are you dressed-”

“Oh, it’s not Hungry Eye,” Devick waved both of her hands, shoeing away those incorrect thoughts. Her expression remained so bright it was untrustworthy. “He will be attending only as a chef. Working behind the scenes. No, this invitation came from the Sovereign- hum, wait, does he need a new name now that he is bound to Hungry Eye? Anyways, that other Nether fellow. The moody one.”

“Enmya? He asked Hungry Eye to ask you to ask me to dine with him?” Lowanna felt genuinely mystified by the long chain of communications to reach this point. Could her childhood friend have become shy now that he had Toosah between himself and Hungry Eye? She rubbed her jaw and nodded. “But yes, he will need to allow his significance to percolate a bit. Then a Herald will view him in all his newfound splendor and announce his name…”

A secondary thought made Lowanna pause. Perhaps the reason for the convoluted invitation was because Enmya knew he would soon be leaving, moving on to work with Hungry Eye full-time in the administration of the Alpha Cosmos. From the significance she could sense from Hungry Eye, this would not be a simple task. Many thoughts and emotions flowed through him, emerging from this isolated universe.

Lowanna had known she would agree to accompany them to populate this new world as a show of support, in front of her people… but she was now just a normal Nether individual, once her symbolic gesture had been completed. She retained a slightly increased amount of Nether within her body, and her Skill with Nether probably had few rivals, but she…

Lowanna felt sad. Perhaps he pities me. For all the power that I’ve lost… now, I am just a woman. And he has become…

Devick didn’t appear to notice her conflicted internal monologue. “You have a few hours, so please, dress up in your best- ah, wait, these stupid Aether fools mostly just sell robes to everyone. If you wish, we can go enter the Alpha Cosmos! I actually have a close personal friend, Tatiana, inside of Randidly’s world who would be happy to help us find the best clothes for tonight.”

“That…” Lowanna felt tired. Yet her thoughts turned from this strange meeting with Enmya. The prospect of entering into the Alpha Cosmos did intrigue her. Soon the offer to join the world would be given to her former people; more experience with what that process entailed could only be helpful. So she nodded.

“Yes! Excellent! I wanted to try the Ghosthound scented soap- ahem, anyway, we need to hurry! We don’t have much time before the dinner is supposed to start. Hungry Eye is surprisingly a stickler about timing…” Devick became a blur of motion topped with a mop of crimson hair. Lowanna allowed the other woman to latch onto her hand and pull her along.

Even now, it felt strange to have others touch her hands. It was strange her fingers were liberated at all. Despite her complex thoughts about the approaching dinner, the feeling wasn’t so bad.

They found Hungry Eye dressed up in a strange white getup, including a puffy-looking white hat, standing over a sizzling wok. Lowanna felt almost surprised to find the smell was quite appetizing. The being who now held the fate of her people in his hands… looked positively mundane as he carefully stirred the food in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at Devick, who spoke so quickly in her excitement that the words began to blend together. But he only chuckled and nodded. “Alright, have your fun in Kharon. Just don’t be late. I need both of you here.”

With that, Lowanna felt a lurching sensation and then stood on a street bustling with people. Shouts and the vrrms of engines filled the air. Her eyes widened as she looked around and tried to take in the strange sights, strange dresses, the strange architecture. She and Devick earned a few glances from the surroundings, but not many as individuals hurried about their business. Most looks were either annoyed from having to avoid two stationary individuals, or follow-up glances from males who admired Devick’s beauty.

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“Uhm… it’s this way, I think?” Devick began marching in a direction, pulling Lowanna behind her. They joined right into the flow of bodies, seamlessly joining the vast number of individuals who seemed intent on reaching their destination.

The surrounding space practically bustled; everyone was busy. Everyone walked with purpose.

Meanwhile, Lowanna looked around and tried to breathe in all the strange sights. In the five blocks she followed behind Devick she saw so many sights that she didn’t expect. Hungry Eye’s Skyislands floated over the cities, distant destinations that also buzzed with activity. Strange metallic conveyances flew between their location and the skyislands around them. She saw at least a dozen different races part of the general flow of bodies; this city was populated by mostly humanoids, but there were also monsters, and brass metallic people, and Lizakh individuals. And they all possessed at least a little bit of Nether, much more than any she had ever seen from Aether-based individuals.

One teenage humanoid girl even had a small Nether Core whirling away in her chest. Lowanna barely stopped herself from reaching out and touching the girl’s arm, curious about her significance.

“Hum, okay, wrong direction,” Devick said breezily, as the duo came to a sharp drop-off, staring off the edge of the city. However both took this chance to pause and examine their surroundings; it became obvious that not only was this city isolated, it had long metallic legs that sank into the sandy ground beneath them. A ramp stretched down from the edge of the city to the shore of a glittering azure lake that lay beneath them.

Hundreds of small canoes clustered at the edge of the lake. Humanoids with beaded and feathered dresses hopped out of their vessels and waded to shore. They carried long ropes, from which hung a glittering array of dresses, necklaces, and dream catchers.

“Finding Tatiana is fine, but won’t we find the most interesting things down there?” Devick asked with glittering eyes. Lowanna only had to look at the other woman to see all the ideas springing up about what she could obtain from this strange, impromptu market that formed.

Tragically, Lowanna was made out of less spontaneous stuff. “Do we have a currency they would accept?”

Devick considered this for a second then deflated. “Ah. Well-”

“Worry not, whatever you wish to buy, I will gladly purchase. Despite how freely you interpreted that promise last time, Devick.” Suddenly another woman stood next to Devick and Lowanna, with dark hair and hazel eyes. She smiled at Lowanna and extend a hand. “I don’t quite know the details yet, but it seems pretty clear to me we will be working closely together in the future. I’m Tatiana. And you are looking for a dress…?”

“Yes. How did you know?” Lowanna asked.

Tatiana chuckled. “Some things don’t come through clearly, but when Randidly really wants something, it’s an itch beneath the skin. And if you want to find a dress and make sure it is the correct size, you are definitely late right now. Let’s hurry before all the good things are snatched up. If you like wicker and beads.”

Tatiana stepped off the edge of the city. Without thinking too much, Lowanna and Devick followed her.

As soon as any individual spotted Tatiana, the crowd of merchants and their hanging wares surged forward, trying to tie them into place by virtue of their bodies. As Lowanna became rather meek in the face of these strange humanoids, Tatiana smiled, said no, and walked forward through their ranks. The merchants melted backward before her, disappointed but acquiescing.

Soon, they waded in up to their waists. Tatiana looked back over her shoulder. “Willing to swim a bit?”

Devick didn’t even respond. She just dove beneath the water. Tatiana laughed and followed suit. Last, Lowanna shook her head slightly but dove underneath the water as well. The liquid felt fresh and cool on her face. All her worries about Enmya, or at least the worries about the Alpha Cosmos, faded away as she simply stretched out her arms and dug her fingers into the water. With the three women’s powerful bodies, they shot along into the depths of the lake, quickly advancing toward their destination.

The water grew cold, but they continued swimming. The easy physical labor almost felt pleasurable.

When Tatiana began to arc up toward the surface, Lowanna followed suit. They shot up and burst forth, arriving in a placid portion of the lake’s interior. A few larger boats floated nearby, several tanned humanoids noting their arrival. When Tatiana waved a hand, ropes were thrown and soon all three women had ascended onto the deck of the largest vessel.

“Alright, do you have a favorite color?” Tatiana glanced sideways at Lowanna. Around them, clotheslines had been spread out across the deck and also fluttered from the ship’s masts. A thousand colors could be seen there, seafoam, lime, tangerine, ruby, azure, and emerald. The clothing spread out could satisfy a thousand individuals and appeared of a much higher quality than what had been present along the shore.

Yet Lowanna found herself frowning as she looked around. She hesitated but trusted her instincts. “Black.”

Tatiana waved. “Black it is.”

Several of the individuals on the boat surged into action. They clipped down the hanging clothes laying around them and rolled them up. And in the next instant, other individuals walked out, unfurling strings that contained sewn-together bits of obsidian, dark edges seashells, glittering bits of midnight silk.

Lowanna pivoted and looked around in wonder. Then she saw one dress. “Oh. Oh.”

Tatiana smiled a wicked smile. “Perfect. That’s exactly the response you want for what you are wearing tonight. Alright, let’s get it sized properly and get you ready.”