Teuila and I both groggily rouse ourselves. We truly can’t afford recuperation time if we’re to have any serious chance at saving Dawn, and possibly even saving me. We now have a lead. We know the city, and my innate sense of direction is telling me that it’s northeast somewhere from here. I’m not sure how, or why I know that, but perhaps Victo is a city with some other leads, beyond just the inn Selunie lived at.

We appear to be alone in camp, a bit odd. Hopefully Dawn and Dippy are alright. I assume Dippy felt obligated to get home to his clan. I’m uncertain about Dawn though. I have no idea if there’s any chance to stumble on a lead that can save them, anywhere in the world. I remember thinking that the Celestial Emperor wants souls. What was it? A dream of Aces? Aces was convinced. Somehow they saw the Celestial Emperor, they’d finally gained access to some inner sanctum. Then what happened? Their soul began being dragged from them. How in the hell did they fight it? Escape with their soul?

They went somewhere after that, right? Called the place Navica, something about a tower. A tower of souls? Or a tower that houses souls anyway. What would someone need a monumental, colossal edifice full of souls for? If one or two souls, at least those we know about, are powerful enough to form the backbone of a spell strong enough to wipe out the entire Aasimovian Ancestor population, then, then what? A whole tower, packed with souls. Was the spell, the curse with Dawn, just a test run? Was it seeing how far they could prolong burning a soul? Hrp. Glp. Koff. Oh hellspit. What if they’ve only scratched the tip of the iceberg? The Bright Lord must be the Celestial Emperor, right? I mean, it makes sense.

If they’re one in the same, that makes soul manipulation the purview of only one creature that we know of on the planet. They’re definitely not going to be interested in saving Dawn’s soul, dismantling the spell. Think Reggie, think. Argh! We need more clues! I have to worry about surviving long enough to puzzle this all out. I really need to get my SAP, my inner circle home to Can’Z’aas. How the hell do you beat someone, something that can just pluck your soul straight from your chest?

If Aces’ soul was somehow our world, then, then we can’t search for it to use it. If using it burns it up, erases it like Dawn’s. How are we going to get home? Did our souls travel with us? Are we our souls? Did we burn our Can’Z’aasian souls and inherit new ones here on Rayileklia? Craaaap.

Dawn and Dippy are both returning quickly, oddly. I need to share it right away though, “I think that—“

Dawn, having arrived, interrupts to simultaneously say, “The Bright Lord is the Celestial Emperor.”

We both gaze at each other in shock. I suppose it wasn’t too hard to put together, with the rumors and speculation about the emperor. I just didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but Dawn seems certain. I give them a querying glance.

Dippy nods along as Dawn explains, “So, some of the creeps showed up, and were obviously a bit freaked out that their hideout was in ruins. We didn’t give up that it was, well, you Rej. Still, I could sense the hostilities, the undercurrent of pain and violence that these creeps were looking to inflict. Dippy and I split them up to try to cool their heads. Together they were too much of an anger echo to one another. We did some talking, some listening, trying to get as much info as we can. Ya know?”

I nod along as Dawn finishes, “Well, Dippy kinda killed the pack he took to one side. The screams and gurgles sent my guys over the edge, so I was in a bit of a spot. Dippy, somehow farther away in the fog than sight range, sent a hail of arrows this way, and dropped all of the mooks. I don’t know how he did it, without hitting me, but he did.”

Dippy adds, “Could, could, could feel the Dawn one, bright friend, could feel you with Dippy’s, my new spell. New spell, learned from Red Gee. Can know where things, people are, without seeing. Large circle, an, an, an extra sense in a large circle.”

I blink several times while shock adorns my face. Dippy claimed to not be as adept in magic as Miza, but he learned an entirely new spell overnight? Wait, it has been a few days. Even still. I cast the aura vision spell from the staff quickly, and it’s easy to see the coalescence of mana around Dippy’s somatosensory cortex. Ah, it appears to be taking his entire pool of mana though. Anything he’d normally be able to cast in a day, with the mana stored over a night’s rest, it basically takes all of it for him to maintain that. It’s still dang impressive.

Teuila looks sad, morose as she shuffles around in one of the few dry patches of dirt, covered from the drizzle by an overhang. She flicks her head toward the other side of the outcropping, indicating for me to follow, so I leave Dawn and Dippy to discuss Dippy’s new spell to follow Teuila. Te? Te’s crying, hard. I wrap my arms around her, but give her time rather than asking quite yet. If she wants to tell me what the hurt is, she doesn’t need me to try to pry it from her faster than she’s ready to spill. If it becomes obvious that she’s waiting for prompting though, then of course I’ll express my concern. I just know her well-enough to know that this isn’t one of those times, yet.

Teuila coughs and hiccups before starting, “It, it was awful. I’ve never felt so helpless, well, not since the Night of High Water, or just before you helped me evolve to Valkyrie for the first time, when you were caught in the snake’s mouth, run-through by a fang.”

I raise an eyebrow but nod, knowing she has more to share before being interrupted or consoled. Teuila explains, “He, he, he messed it up. He broke my gravity power, it, it wasn’t working right. I fell, upward, hard. I hit the ceiling, and slid up the dome towards the peak, right up to within an inch of the top of that, that, that gross, sickening energy field. I was kay ohhed. I felt like I was dying, Dawny caught up, we both took a few hours sneaking around here, trying to figure out how to break up whatever was going on, hoping you two could catch up, well, three, Zippy too.”

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I nod as I draw my own shuddered breath while Teuila fights sobs to continue, “Dawny couldn’t do anything to help me, didn’t even know I was stuck on the roof. It hurt so bad, it felt so bad, but I was being crushed so hard, I could barely breathe, let alone call out or yell. Even what I could breathe, felt like it was sucked away from me towards that disgusting energy. I couldn’t stay awake. I thought I died. Dink I thought I died.”

Teuila sobs quietly into my shoulder for nearly a minute as she catches her breath. She finishes, “I didn’t want to leave you. I didn’t want to not get a chance to say goodbye to Lin, again. Or even Lil Dragbutt. But I wasn’t strong enough. He broke my power, used it against me, and it beat me. I’m so scared. What if my power is still broken? What if I can never use it again, not even as Valkyrie? It, it’s a part of me. I don’t want it to be gone, broke, dangerous, anything like that.”

I stroke Teuila’s cheek as I coo softly for her, comfortingly. I give her the faith she needs, “Try it out, right here, right now. I trust you. Use it on me.”

Teuila’s face contorts from shock to fear and back. I just pass her a smarmy look that shows how completely normal and un-terrifying I consider this to be. My expression is almost between a droll eyeroll, and an unamused glare. I don’t even have to speak as I wear a sad yet sly half smile.

Happiness and competitiveness fight their way across Teuila’s face. That need to prove herself, the constant betterment of herself. The drive to keep anything from holding her back or keeping her down. The expression is so uniquely Teuila. Her hands upon me, she first begins increasing my gravity, until it feels like a copy of me is sitting on my own shoulders. It’s not dangerous like it might be to a Rayileklian, but having my weight essentially doubled is still uncomfortable to say the least. Teuila then begins reducing my gravity. In a moment, I’m weightless, in another moment, I begin to float upwards ever so gently, slowly.

Teuila’s glee is self-evident as joy resumes its perfect spot upon her countenance. We embrace lovingly, happily. Self-doubt sucks, for certain. Having her power, something she bases a lot of her self-worth, and identity around, taken from her, broken, used against her? That was a heavy blow that’s going to leave scars. This feeling will crop up again. The fear that she might lose control of her power, and endanger herself or others. All I know is that the best I can do for now is to simply be there for her, and show her I still trust her, whenever that happens.

We return to Dippy and Dawn, realizing perhaps a bit late how silent the two are. Dippy is pacing around Dawn curiously, nervously. Dawn fumbles forward, and calls out, “Hello? Dip? Boss? Rej? Anyone? Can, can anyone hear me? I can’t hear me. I, I can’t hear me. Please, please make it stop.”

I rush towards Dawn’s flailing limbs, and allow them to bounce off of me, hoping to clue Dawn in that I’m here. Even if she can’t feel me, her muscles striking resilience should tell her I’m here. Dawn begs, “Rej, Rej if, if, if that’s you, if you’re here, please, I’ll do anything. I, I just want at least one sense. Please pal.”

Oh Dawn. I immediately withdraw my staff and once again use the aura vision spell as the basis to tack the sensory portion of Telekinesis onto. I let that magic flow into Dawn, and she bursts into tears, mumbling, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Dippy has been trying to speak for a bit, but I was so focused on Dawn, I hadn’t heard him. I turn to Dippy, “Are you okay Dippy?”

Dippy shakes his head, and Zippy copies the motion, as Dippy explains, “Not, not, not okay. The, the Dawn friend, squishie Dawn is, is, is not okay. Don’t know how to help. Didn’t, wasn’t. Dawn didn’t hear me, see me. How? How does Dippy help this? How do I help our friend?”

I bite back my tears as I shake my head and shrug, “I, I don’t know Dippy. I don’t know how to handle this. I want Dawn to be okay.” I choke back a ragged sob and continue, “I don’t know anywhere we could go that could help us. The Emperor certainly isn’t going to help us. What do we do?”

Dippy flails helplessly, and Teuila stands to one side, hugging herself sadly, fighting back tears. Dawn asks, “Rej, Boss? Dip? Anyone. I, I can tell you’re here. Can you hear me? Can, can you come closer, please? Just, just let me feel close to someone, please?”

I shuffle close enough that Dawn immediately leans forward onto me. She squeezes me as tightly as her muscles allow, just to feel the resistance in her muscles. Her only sense is the external density sense of the most basic part of the telekinesis spell, and maybe, possibly some internal senses like hunger, or self awareness, or proprioception. No sight, no touch, no hearing. She might have some proprioception of her limbs. She’s sobbing as she gloms on to me. Teuila sits tightly against her side, Dippy against her other side, and Zippy perches on her hood.

Moments, perhaps minutes later, Dawn exclaims, “The rain, my crying, I, I can hear them! I, I can see! I. Oh, hey Boss, Dip, uh, Rej pal.”

She sort of quickly shoves away from us, hiding her face in chagrin, realizing that she had me in a death grip until after she started getting her senses back. I begin to only partially raise a hand, but Dawn shakes her head. I understand. It was an emergency need. She doesn’t like to be touched. That’s entirely her boundary to set. I just wish I knew some way to help her out.

Dawn rambles, “So, hey, um, Boss. I, uh, I kinda sorta, uh, came out to Rej the other night. I mean, you sorta knew, but, ah. I’m, I’m a girl, a gal, a, uh, very old woman actually. Just, just for like, reference. For, you know, conversations and stuff, like, pronoun things.”

Teuila gasps and begins apologizing, “Oh Dawny, I’m so sorry, I’ve been, I was usin-“

Dawn interrupts Teuila, “Boss, Boss, it’s, it’s okay. It’s sort of a new thing. Not being known as one was, just to help the, the other thing. So many men wanted the ever-youthful Dawn to be their prize to show off throughout their life. The girl with ‘no problems’ when I was still trying to fit in in The Brook, with the curse. I got some clothes, made like the girl Dawn went off traveling, never to return. Then I just sorta, got used to being outside looking in. A few decades go by, and everyone forgets about the rumor of the ageless lady. Ugh you don’t need my whole life story, and I don’t want to tell it. Just, just don’t worry about it. Okay?”

Teuila nods along, “Sure thing Dawny. Anything you need. So, uh, we’re all alive, errr, uh, we all made it through that nonsense. At least that’s, what’d Tim use, ‘aster? At least that’s ‘aster, right?”

I snerk and Dawn snorts while Dippy looks confused. Dawn and I both shake our heads, one to explain to Dippy that it’s not worth explaining, two to express our incredulity to Teuila. Teuila sounds the Shellcracker Squee of glee, “Heeee.” That wide-smiled sound of happiness or humor, depending on context.

Oh, right! I quickly state, “I know a place to go! It, um, it’s for the, the dagger sidequest. I’m sorry Dawn. For bringing it up. Um, but, well, the Castle Inn in Victo. If we head northeast a bit, we should find a river that flows north. If we follow that river, and pass through the large copse, before the greater forest we could break east along the forest’s edge. That will lead us straight to Victo.”

The three look a tad surprised, Te asks, “When’d you learn all that geography Dink?”

I furrow my brow and scratch my skull as I postulate, “Uh, would you believe, it came to me in a dream?”