Lexie's eyes were slow to open. It felt like her lids had been sealed shut and the muscles in them had atrophied, or something. She had to relearn how to connect her body to them and force her eyes open, using what felt like herculean strength.

She stared up at the red sky, which looked more like a mirage than reality. Her ears were ringing, but slowly she detected separate sounds. Rocks crunch on the ground. A shuffling noise.

Her neck was stiff, but after some time, she managed to turn it. She saw…a child.

Recognition slowly trickled back to her. The Fae child was standing beside her, staring with beady black eyes. Her pointed ears twitched, and Lexie noticed that at the top of the lobe, a tiny ring had been looped through. The Fae child was squatting next to Lexie, but a few seconds after Lexie opened her eyes, she rose, moved back a few metres, and popped a squat again.

Something about the Fae child felt familiar to Lexie. It reminded her of someone else, and though she didn't want to remember, she didn't have the strength to make herself stop.

A little girl. Reddish-blonde hair. Dark eyes like her father. Small yet precocious. Always watching her.

Pain lanced through Lexie, but she couldn't do much more than groan. The Fae child crept closer to her and reached out a small hand, resting it on Lexie's forehead. A magic glow emanated from it, and Lexie felt her pain easing just a tad.

When she was done, the girl backed up again. Lexie frowned at her.

"Why?" she asked hoarsely. Why did she help her?

The girl probably didn't understand the language Lexie was speaking because her expression didn't change. She just continued staring at her while Lexie struggled to get her neck to turn the other way.

She was also slowly pushing her awareness downward, but as her body came back to her, so did the pain. The insidious itching. And worse than that was the sensation inside. Her soul felt…strange. Unsteady, like one part was bloated due to overuse, and the other part was chaotic and straining at the seams.

Her memories were a jumble in her head, and she couldn't properly piece together everything that happened, but she tried to recall the important parts.

They'd been attacked by something, and Lexie had fought it, but she'd won.

So why did she feel so shitty? Why was the itching driving her crazy?

The buzzing in her head got louder, and she pictured a few things.

Activating her soul card. Soul-touching the Old One.

Her visions.

She'd had two visions of herself.

Better and worse.

The future and the past. She had to choose.

It seemed like it should be an obvious choice. She should choose the future. In the future, she had immense power. She could destroy everyone and everything in her way. She would have light forever.

Yet something about it felt...incomplete.

You are your own light.

What did that mean? There was so much about herself she didn't understand, probably because Other Lexie was right. She had gotten dumber. She needed to fix that.

The battle with the Old One had taught her that to survive here and win, it wasn't just about brute strength. Sometimes she had to outsmart her enemies and target their weaknesses.

Most of all, she couldn't go jumping into every battle she came across.

She needed to prepare for the fight, so she could be the Eldritch Lord she was meant to be, the one who would make everyone and everything else bow.

That was her new goal.

But something about her couldn't forget the smell of cinnamon in that lonely cottage in a lonely village.

Perhaps, she needed to find a way to wipe that memory so that it would no longer affect her decision-making.

She needed to be cold, strategic, regal. Exactly like the First Lexie.

That was why, when the Fae woman appeared with a tray and Lexie's itch worsened, she still suppressed any thoughts of killing her. No more blind killing. That was like binging on every meal that came her way. Unhealthy.

That would not get her to her goal. She needed to get into the Other and meet Naem, then she would conquer him with the magic of her soul, like she'd almost done to the Old One.

That was spectacular.

But also needed to learn more about that card and what activating it did to her, and why it felt like her soul was being split right now. If it was harming her, using it again would not be smart.

She had to be smart.

She was smart.

She'd been a genius in another life, and that side of her was still there.

She just had to suppress the bloodlust to give it enough space to breathe.

"You're awake," the Fae female seemed pleased as she put down her basket of...berries? "I was wondering when you would be."

"What is that?" Lexie gestured to the bowl in her hands.

"Herbs for a harmonious tea. The history of the harmonious teas is as follows:…" As she rambled, she picked up a few berries with her long-fingered hand and pressed the other palm over them. When she removed the palm, the berries had become a floating liquid in the air.

She pointed and moved it over Lexie's mouth. "Open."

Lexie shook her head mildly. "I don't think I–Ach!"

The Fae female didn't let her finish. The liquid entered Lexie's mouth, gliding down her throat despite her wretching. It soothed some of the roughness and was a pleasant sensation, but she didn't like that she'd been forced to drink it.

Lexie coughed and then glared. "I said I didn't want it."

The Fae Female ignored her displeasure. "You have been sleeping for a long, long while. I weaved your body back together using the fah-meios method, which, as you know, was a method embraced by the tribe of the Hun and brought by Hun-Lo, whose son is...." One long ramble later, she finally continued, "The method is best for creatures with souls that are stronger than their bodies. Your soul was intact, but your body was decimated beyond repair, so I helped to weave it back together to give your soul a proper home to rest. I gave you some better outer coverings as well. Of course, your Eldritch soul enables you to regrow parts, but it would have taken far longer without my intervention, and you would not have looked as recognizable and...pretty."

"And my soul? Did you fix that, too?"

"No. I am not a soul weaver, but from what I could detect, it was not significantly impacted. It is a good thing you did not get denatured."

"Yes. Good indeed."

"You will be all healed soon, then we will need to continue to the second test."

"Was that the first test?"

"I suppose, because we have not been sent back to the beginning, so I think we passed because we're still here. Although that test was unlike any we've ever faced in the past."

"What are the tests usually like?"

"The first test usually is a puzzle like a fyuloh."

"A what?"

"It's a childhood game we Fae often play. A story is printed on blocks and told out of order. You must converse with your friends to find the right order for the story and arrange the blocks. There are three clues given for each story, and usually one of the friends is tasked with misleading the rest by telling the clues in a way that is true but confusing."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Oh, like Among Us."

"What's that?"

"It's..." Lexie frowned. How did that memory just drop into her mind like that without her permission? "Never mind."

The Fae inhaled and thought about how to transmit its next message in the simplest possible way before she began talking. "In the dungeon, you only get one chance and must put the pieces together in a certain order to tell the story correctly and solve the mystery. The issue is that we did not have any clues as to what the ending was, and each of us got placed in different parts of the story and had to find each other first."

"I see."

"It took us some time to solve it, and the solution led us to a dollhouse. When we took the doll, the next test was fighting and exorcising the Eldritch from the doll. And then when we'd done that, we were transported to the town where the Eldritch-doll originated from and had to destroy it at its origins, and then we had to appease the townspeople and act as their gods for some time. After we solved that, there was something else. There was always something else. Like I told you, we reached about a hundred tests before my former companion got frustrated and broke something he wasn't supposed to break. That was when we ended up at the beginning." She paused. "Another thing to note is that other creatures in this dungeon can invade and affect the result of the tests. We have been attacked by creatures since we got here, and they have ruined a few of the tests. These creatures were usually Eldritch, although there are more than a few trolls trapped here, too. Some have been here much longer than we have, and have made this their home."

"I see."

"They might hunt us worse than ever now."

"Why?"

"In this Realm, there is a sort of hierarchy. Of course, the strong Eldritch are on top of the hierarchy, as this is the exact type of chaotic environment that they thrive in. Then the Fae, then the lesser Eldritch, then the rest of the Enlightened races, then the Unenlightened..."

"Is there a point to this?"

She frowned. "Yes. I am stating it."

"State it clearly."

She gave a long-suffering sigh. "At the top of the hierarchy is the stronger Eldritch, and they are the ones we should be most concerned about. Some of them, like the one we encountered, can alter reality and trap you in that altered reality forever.

That was not just any Eldritch. It was an Old One, one of those that are bound by the Lords. I do not know how it ended up here, but it probably made its presence known. It might have already made contact with a few of the Eldritch here. Some will know why it left."

"I still don't know what you're talking about," Lexie told the Fae.

"That's because you're not listening to my…subtext. I don't know why the Unenlightened are such bad listeners. Let me state it in a way you may understand better. You defeated an Old One, not just defeated but scared it in such a way that it fled from you and possibly from this realm. Already, maybe, there will be Eldritch who find out what happened and will approach you out of curiosity or to subdue you, out of hopes of perhaps changing their position in the soul line. You are also a lone Eldritch, not part of a soul line, and to my knowledge, that is a bad position to be in."

"So they will basically hunt me down and try to destroy me?"

"A few of them. Some will be wiser, but the ones with a core of arrogance and wrath will always want to pick a fight."

Lexie smiled. "Good." Even though she told herself that she would not fight unnecessarily, she was eager to kill things and get rid of the itch. It was always better when the things were trying to kill her first.

They spent some more time in silence as the Fae watched Lexie.

"You are very odd for an Eldritch," she said.

"You are odd for a Fae."

"Yes, I have been told that," she said and made a strange face. "I am told that a lot."

Lexie didn't know what that meant, but she told herself she didn't care.

"I'm parched," Lexie announced.

The Fae materialized a bowl of water.

"It will not help the thirst," she said. "But I thought it might make you feel better."

Lexie took it and drank. The female was right. The drink did not do much to quench her thirst, but the sensation was nice. Lexie's mind drifted back to Naem and eating cookies. Was that what he felt like when he ate them? Not for sustenance but simply for enjoyment.

Hmm.

The thought of Naem brought along a familiar rage, and so she stopped thinking about him. Her wrath for him was immeasurable, but wrath might cloud her judgment.

Lexie noticed as she drank that her hands were now one color. No more patches of purple. Still pale and thin but human-looking.

"I hope you don't mind the way I weaved you back together," Ryn said. "I couldn't tell which you would prefer, but I like your human look better. It will cloak you better in case we encounter other creatures. They might be more likely to underestimate you if they don't know you are Eldritch."

"You did this to protect me."

"Of course. You are my guard after all."

Of course. She had an ulterior motive.

Still. It was…nice.

No, not nice. She didn't do nice.

Lexie's soul felt unsteadier, and with it an odd warmth lanced through the bloated particles.

She felt the urge to say something, but it was stuck in her throat for the longest second, and it made her itch.

She hated it. She wanted to hurt something. On the other hand…

The word came out anyway.

"Thank you, Fae," she hissed like a curse.

"Ryn-Byul-Fo," the female corrected.

"Thank you, Ryn."

Ryn cocked her head. "I suppose that's acceptable. Now let us move on to the next puzzles."

***

Stella was waiting for Vacek in his office. She was sitting reading a magazine, even though her bloodied suit told him that she'd been in the center of carnage just minutes ago.

"How did it go?" she asked without looking up from the magazine. "The meeting with Aiden."

"Well enough." That was all Vacek was willing to say. He knew Aiden was planning something big, and Vacek would try everything else to stop him before he pulled the ultimate trigger. He couldn't dismiss that Aiden's pain was from a valid place, but he also couldn't let him cause widespread havoc.

For now, though, he would simply observe.

There was still a chance that Aiden would come to his senses, or they would find Lexie before he did the worst.

Nevertheless, Vacek couldn't ignore the pulse of pure power he'd felt inside Aiden. That was something to be concerned about.

Aiden was becoming a threat, but much like with the Alchemist, he was a useful threat. And if Vacek attempted to box him in now, he would detonate.

"How is Theo?" he asked.

"Still unconscious." Stella's voice ached. It had been a tough month for her, too, and finding her son was bittersweet. Theo had been unconscious since they found him, in some kind of coma.

He'd been rescued from a secret passage in the dungeon that Vacek had only just learned about, thanks to his Dark Fae contact. The Fae sometimes used those passages to retrieve items they wanted or recover lost magic. They were technically not allowed to tell humans about this, but Dark Fae had a way of getting around rules, and he'd had Vacek swear a blood oath never to share the information with anyone else or use it for anything other than this. He'd also asked for a lot more than that, but it was all things that Vacek could give.

Everyone who'd been on the mission already had their minds wiped of the details about how they got into that part of the dungeon. Vacek would soon have his memory wiped too, and if he attempted to store the information somewhere else or tell anyone else, he would die instantly before he could get the words out. That went for the rest of his team, and they'd been warned of those risks before taking the job.

With their minds wiped, they thought they had simply gone deep into the dungeon near the core and found Theo there.

In actuality, a Fae guide had shown them how to get inside the dungeon heart, and luckily, it was easy to find Theo amidst the mist.

If not for Lexie's message, they never would have even gotten him. According to Torin, she'd used her last words to save Theo and the last of her strength to get Torin out of the dungeon.

What a brave little girl.

She would have been an incredible asset, but Journeyman had warned him about her self-sacrificing tendencies.

He should have paid more attention.

"Thank you again for the Fae guide you used to retrieve Theo," Stella said.

"Of course," he told Stella.

"No, I really appreciate. I know our family hasn't been on the best of terms, and my grandmother has been very unkind to you..."

"All that is in the past now, Stella," Vacek said. "Theo has been a fine hero and a good man. I'm happy we could save him."

Stella pursed her lips. "Do you think we can find Lexie the same way?"

He sighed. "I hope so."

"What about Lucy Frank?"

Vacek said nothing. He had returned to that dungeon after everyone had cleared out, and he'd gone into the heart with the guide to retrieve Lucy Frank. The guide had told him to wait at the misty entrance as he'd gone deeper into the scout.

When he returned, he said that Lucy was kept atop a tower and they would have to battle numerous goblins to find her. That was fine by him.

Then they'd gone in, killed the goblins, saved Lucy, and come back out.

She was also unconscious and looked worse than Theo. Vacek was keeping her under maximum security off-planet. He thought perhaps Vulcan's powers were weakened, and he could not predict things as well if they were not on this planet.

No one else on Earth knew about Lucy's appearance except him.

After Stella left, Vacek called the healer he'd assigned to Lucy. "How is she?"

"Bad still," the healer said. "I'm still unsure if her soul will ever heal."

Vacek bit his lip. Turmoil beset his mind and heart.

Apart from his personal affection for Lucy, losing her would be a massive blow to his plan.

Which also begged the question, why did Vulcan not kill her, and why did he not kill Theo either? He had the opportunity to do both. Why keep them alive?

That was probably not by choice. He had to keep them alive for something. Did it have to do with his models? Perhaps killing them introduced too much chaos and affected his plans.

Did he plan for them to be retrieved, or did Lexie's interference ruin his plans?

The thought brought to mind something that he'd forgotten.

He called Jerry, who picked up on the second ring.

"At Victoire," Vacek started. "Journeyman said there is a boy who has some level of clairvoyance. Correct?"

"Yes, but his visions are not straightforward. They're wonky and might cause long-term damage to his pathways, so it's risky for him to use them."

"We'll ask him," he said. "And his parents. See if they're okay with taking a short-term risk that will have ample reward in the future. If my plans work as I expect them to, we'll only need his skills for a few months, a year at most. That shouldn't cause too much damage, and we'll have him monitored by a routine healer just in case. "

"O...kay." Jerry sounded unsure. "I have to repeat, though his skills are also extremely unrefined."

"Then, let's refine them."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.