The two fleets of airships were locked in combat with their cannons in the skies far away as the Imperial Marines descended towards the ocean in a tilt-rotor. Ingrid peered through a pair of binoculars at the tiny boat. The nude woman must have noticed them flying to meet her and found herself some clothes, because she was wearing a blue blouse and white trousers by the time they arrived. Her short, graying black hair, her clothes, and indeed the very ocean whipped about violently as the powerful rotors hovered above the crests of the mountainous waves. One of the Marines descended on a cable to retrieve her. She did not resist.

When the Marine deposited her inside the tilt-rotor, Ingrid got a good look at the woman for the first time. Her clothes were a bit thin and torn up in places. She had the facial features of an Imperial herself, and her eyes were hazel. She had an empty sheath on her belt. The Marine that retrieved her had confiscated her dagger and handed it to Ingrid. It looked to be made from modern high-quality steel though the pommel was somewhat plain.

Ingrid sat in the chair opposite to the woman as she was deposited on board. The Marine slowly prodded the woman forward towards Ingrid. Paranoid did not suddenly appear and try to murder her. That was a very good start. The Marine closed the door and the engines began to whirl at full power.

"Imperial Marines," the woman mused.

"You can speak Imperial!" Ingrid exclaimed.

"I can," the woman said. "My name is Reese. Who are you? You look important."

"I'm Ingrid, Princess of the Ten Skies, and leader of the Order of the Ten Skies. Except Elizabeth is our Admiral and she gives all the real orders. Anyways, it is nice to meet you Reese."

"Do you have food from the outside?" Reese asked. "I'm dying for some cheese. It's been decades."

One of the Marines handed her a box of rations. Her eyes went wide as she devoured the slices of cheese inside. Her eyes rolled in her head and she moaned. "Five goddesses thank you!"

The tiny boat was vanishing out of sight in the ocean far below as the tilt-rotor began the journey to return to the Ten Skies.

"What are you doing out here in the Plane of Water?" Ingrid asked.

"Excellent question," Reese said. "I'm in exile."

"Exile? From what?"

"I was one of the candidates to become the Matron of the Light Crystal in the Imperial Capital," Reese said. "I was passed over for the role and was sent into exile here. I am not allowed to set foot on the big islands, and I have to hope that people on the islands with boats will feel charitable enough to bring me supplies. There are some small islands with fruits that I can eat, and the fish don't taste too bad if I can find wood to burn. Also, the water is pure and drinkable. It's not salty like a regular ocean."

"My companion Vaska has been interviewing a woman who wears a mask," Ingrid said. "However she just repeats the same things over and over. Do you know anything about the masked people?"

"I know quite a bit about them," Reese said.

Ingrid frowned. "Paranoid, why haven't you tried to murder this one yet?"

The Light Elemental did not reply.

"Who is 'Paranoid?'" Reese asked.

"She is my Light Elemental," Ingrid replied. The woman's eyes went wide.

"Are you one of the Matrons then?"

"I am not," Ingrid said. "I was given this light crystal by somebody, maybe the Queen of Light, for the purpose of closing the portals that Ayaru is making all over the place. However, when I met some of the masked people, she started murdering them!"

"I was a candidate to become Matron," Reese said. "I have been close to light crystals many times and the Elemental never attacked me. If one of the sacrifices finds a way to escape to the other side, the Light Elemental will absolutely attack them."

SILENCE HER Paranoid bellowed. Make her angry so she has malice! Mother please! Please let me kill her. Mother! Mother?!?!

"My Elemental is going mad," Ingrid said. "What are the sacrifices?"

MOTHER CANNOT HEAR ME.

"The people with the masks," Reese said. "You would need to see them for yourself I think. If you want, I can show you where they are kept on the island."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Do you want to go?" the Marine commander asked. "We can turn around."

"Call for reinforcements and turn around," Ingrid said. "We should go see what she is talking about."

The Queen! The Queen of Water hears me! Hurry mortal, take me to the other world immediately. I need to speak to Mother.

"No, I will not," Ingrid muttered to herself.

Unexpectedly, a cool, watery voice, like the sound of a small fountain or a trickling mountain creek, spoke to her in her mind: The foolish daughter of the Queen of Light speaks to Mother.

"Can you hear me?" Ingrid asked.

The daughter of Light can also hear you, so do not speak. There is another who arrived with you, unknown to us, who has bonded a daughter of the Queen of Darkness in the old way. I wish to bond with you in the old way as well. Do you accept this burden upon your spirit, mortal? Do not answer yet.

Ingrid said nothing. What did that even mean?

You grow close to those sacrifices who bathe in the burdens of the other world. Witness their plight before you give your consent. I will not accept this bond in ignorance.

"You look distracted," Reese said.

Ingrid nodded. "It's nothing."

"The place we want is on top of the mountain," Reese told the Marine commander. "Under the wooden tower."

More tilt-rotors arrived, five in total, along with an escort of fighter jets. The Marines began their approach towards the island with the wooden tower and the red pennant. The rotors began to tilt as they flew far over the waves that were smashing into the sheer cliffs of the island. The cliffs passed under Ingrid's window in a blur. The top of the mountain was covered in tall grasses. Those grasses flowed like the ocean in the gentle wind. The tilt-rotors settled down and the door opened. Marines rushed outside with their rifles to secure a parameter.

The wooden tower loomed just overhead. The long red pennant, which Ingrid assumed must be extremely heavy given its size, drifted weightlessly against the wind, in the wrong direction. Ingrid shivered, remembering the way her fighter jet pitched about in the Plane of Wind.

"Clear, out here Ingrid," the Marine said. "No hostiles. My men will scout ahead, you follow behind a safe distance."

Under the wooden tower there was a tunnel, also clear of hostiles, which led down into a dark cavern lit only by glowing teal mushrooms on the ceiling. The Marines used chemical torches to produce additional light. Ingrid and Reese followed them as they descended through the caverns. "It's not much further," Reese declared.

They arrived at a large opening underground. Or rather, in the center of the planet. The area below the island was open and clear, however the edges of the island delimited the sharp edge of dark water, which extended down for miles. Directly below, Ingrid could see a foggy emptiness. The interior of the planet was completely hollow. Blobs of transparent water floated in that empty space.

Above the party was an inverted city of dwellings hanging from the stone roof under the island. A sturdy bridge led up to one of those dwellings. The Marines snuck in first, but met no resistance.

"The large building just to our left," Reese said, pointing to a cylinder hanging from the ceiling. The paths to this structure were guarded. However the masked guards were no match for the stealthy Marines who snuck up on them and choked them until they fell unconscious. Ingrid watched these dangerous men with awe.

Inside the structure there were open floors of beds. Thousands of beds, occupied by sleeping masked people. Ingrid studied them with her binoculars. More masked people wandered around, feeding the sleeping people soups perhaps, or changing bedpans.

"What the hell?" Ingrid muttered.

"These are the sacrifices," Reese said. "Have you ever wondered why it seems like the crystals you use give you infinite free energy?"

"Um, you mean like the Fire Elementals?" Ingrid asked.

"Yes, nothing is free," Reese said. "The crystals are contracts, they allow you to summon the Elementals and consume the spiritual energy of somebody else. That somebody else is living in one of the Elemental Planes. These people are religious fanatics that believe that they will go to Paradise after a life of service to the contracts."

Paranoid was sobbing in Ingrid's mind. Please kill her, the Elemental whined.

"So all this time I've been using the Elementals," Ingrid said, "some poor, misled person is having their 'spiritual energy' stolen away?"

"That's right," Reese replied.

The Marine commander whistled. "Well that's something to think about."

The watery voice once again spoke in Ingrid's mind: You see the cost now, you see the burdens that are placed up on those who live in this world, on behalf of the other world. In the old ways, there was no transfer of the burdens. This thing is profane.

"Does the Queen of Light know this is happening?" Ingrid asked.

"I have no idea," Reese said. "If she did find out, it would break her. Or maybe that's what happened. Maybe that's what started everything."

I am a daughter of the Queen of Water, do you consent to a bond with me? No contract on behalf of another. When you summon me I will consume your spiritual energy directly. Do you consent?

"I do consent to this," Ingrid whispered to herself.

And I am a daughter of the Queen of Fire, a second voice burned into her mind, like the sound of a campfire, or the engine of a fighter jet. Will you consent to a bond with me as well?

Ingrid was astonished. A Fire Elemental? In the Plane of Water? In a way it should not be too surprising. The crystals were a mix of red and blue, and they could be used to summon either Fire or Water Elementals.

"I do consent to this as well," Ingrid whispered. "Are you two... sisters?"

Who are you talking to!? Paranoid screamed.

We are not sisters, the watery voice said.

Only Mother has a sister-self, the fiery voice said.

The daughter of the Queen of Light is foolish and led our Mothers to you.

Ingrid turned away from the sight of all the sacrifices being fussed over in the chamber below. "I need to talk to Vaska about this," she said. "We should leave." The Marine commander passed on the command to the rest of his men. They found no resistance as they retraced their steps. When they reached the surface, the airship battle had ended. Ayaruan airships, broken and burning, fell into the ocean in the distance. Hundreds of tiny lights burned triumphantly through the sky.

And hundreds of sacrifices pay the price for those engines, Ingrid thought.

"You look very disturbed," Reese said.

"I am," Ingrid replied. "Thank you Reese, this is... not something that I was prepared for. I need some time to think."