Jack leaned back against the stone wall of the bath draping his arms along the ledge. His eyes lingered on the dual valve meant to draw water from underground and adjust the temperature. The pale blue fire that lit the chamber cast its glow over the interior of the chamber giving it a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Alindal said from his position nearby. Jack glanced at his friend and nodded. The elf’s hair hung like a mop over his head and shoulders obscuring some of his features. “I honestly expected something more primitive the first time I came here.”

They were silent for a few moments before Jack said, “It makes you think of what this place was like before everything was ash and ruins. What kind of things did the people of Terras do in their daily lives? What other technology and magic did they have?” He looked up at the ceiling, eyes distant while he touched the Ore Father’s Token. “What were their dreams before it all ended? How much was lost? Even if we succeed in the restoration, it won’t bring back what’s already gone.”

“How do you know that?” Alindal asked.

“World Restoration is one of the many things I learned about while I was gone. It will just allow the world to recover from its current state; it won’t rewind time or revive the dead. That doesn’t change anything though. We’re still going to save Terras. It might not fix everything but at least those left will have a chance at rebuilding.”

Another period of silence hung over the chamber until Jack looked at Alindal only to see the elf regarding him with a strange look.

“What?” he asked.

“Ah,” his friend chuckled. “Sorry. It’s just that you’re sounding more like your old self. The conviction in your voice, that look on your face like you see something no one else can, the honesty about your desire to help others, I’ve been wondering for a while if this side of you was gone forever.”

Taking a deep breath, Jack closed his eyes reflecting on his friend’s words. He wasn’t blind to the devolution of his values and mood over the last few years. His life had been full of events to drive that descent but he had dragged himself down as well with self-pity and self-destructive behavior. Eventually, he lost hope of finding solutions to his problems and paid more attention to temporary escapes.

“Thanks, Al.”

Alindal’s brow furrowed in confusion. “For what?”

He met his friend’s gaze. “For sticking with me through all this. We both know you would’ve been better off going your way after we lost Johan but you didn’t. You’ve picked me up, again and again, no matter how much I fought you on it. So, yeah, thanks and sorry for all my fuck-ups, past and future.”

A soft smile touched the elf’s lips. His eyes dropped to stare at his hands beneath the water’s surface for a second. He took a deep breath and when he looked back at Jack, he seemed to have made a decision.

“I appreciate your feelings but you need not thank me,” he said. Jack made to object but Alindal shook his head. “I don’t think I would’ve made it without you, my friend. For all the wonderous creations and fantastical sights it has, Fracture is a cruel and unforgiving place. Contrary to what you might think, I understand your cynicism and bitterness even though I warn against it. We’ve made it this far together, ‘fuck-ups’ be damned.”

Jack laughed. “Maybe your right.”

Alindal nodded. “I am.” He paused for a moment, his mood growing serious. “On the note of working together, I must confess something.”

“What’s up?” Jack raised an eyebrow, his smile diminishing somewhat from the shift in his friend’s tone.

“I—.” He paused clenching his hands together a few times. “I have been hiding something from you. When you formed your Link with me, I gained more than just an increase to my Attributes.”

Alindal took another deep breath seemingly preparing himself for something.

Remaining silent, Jack regarded the star elf. The secret weighed heavily on his friend judging by the look of guilt in his eyes and the set of his shoulders. Paranoia reared its ugly head conjuring increasingly unlikely scenarios about what Alindal could’ve hidden from him and chastising his decision to respect the elf’s privacy by not looking at his Status. He stuffed the feelings down. Were it anyone but Alindal, he would’ve entertained his paranoia, however, to do so at that moment, would’ve been an insult to their friendship.

“Hey, Al,” he said drawing the elf’s attention. “Relax. Everyone has their secrets, but I trust you. We’ve got each other’s backs, always have, always will.”

Despite his good intentions, the words appeared to have the opposite effect on Alindal. His friend drew a shaky breath and his shoulders sagged a bit.

“I didn’t have your back, my friend.”

Jack’s brow furrowed and he readjusted his position to face Alindal. “What are you talking about?”

Rather than answer, the elf pulled himself out of the large bath walking over to where his belongings lay, water dripping from his floor onto the stone. He quickly picked up the Weaver’s Needle and made his way back to the edge of the pool. His eyes met Jack’s for a moment before he began tracing silvery symbols into the air with the tip of the Weaver’s Needle. The spell took all of a few seconds to complete before a cone of flame swept upward some distance above the surface of the water. The area of the spell wasn’t overly large yet Alindal’s brow furrowed then knitted together in intense concentration. Under his guidance, the cone thinned until it resembled a flat plane of brilliant fire.

The heat hit Jack like a sudden wave in the surf. The fire burned at much higher temperatures than the fire usually produced by Alindal’s spells. Tiny sparks fell away from the fan of flame tossing up curls of steam as they hit the water. Jack was stunned by the display; the flames were beautiful. The outer edges of the cone emitted mild orange light while the center glowed with golden radiance; however, the vibrancy and depth of the colors were what gave the spell its beauty. It was like staring into a brief flare of something greater with hundreds of tiny sparks, each unique in its individuality, woven together by the spell’s magic into a single flame.

The magic faded rapidly shrouding the chamber in the cooler light of the torches along the wall. Alindal spoke in a quiet voice.

“It’s called Star Fire. After you formed the Link with me, my racial trait received another advantage which granted me access to Star Fire as an element.”

For a few seconds, Jack was confused. He understood that Alindal might feel guilty for intentionally withholding the information about Star Fire during their initial talk after the Link’s formation but his behavior thus far seemed a bit dramatic. Undoubtedly, the elf had hidden the element for fear that Jack would ask him to utilize it to harm people, a frustrating mentality yet one that Jack had grown used to over the years. Alindal’s belief in his home world’s dogma had resulted in about as much good as bad in Jack’s estimation. Even so, while mild-mannered, that alone shouldn’t have evoked such a response from the star elf. If anything, the fact that the Link could upgrade racial traits was far more noteworthy. It wasn’t until Jack considered his words before he cast the spell that the realization clicked into place.

He said he got that power after the Link… He followed that line of thought until he reached the eventual conclusion.

“You had that element when the Justiciar attacked us,” Jack said meeting his friend’s eyes. Alindal nodded failing to hold his gaze. “And you used lightning against the Justiciar instead of Star Fire because you were afraid of what using it would mean, both in terms of its destructive capabilities and it’s relation to your beliefs.”

“I’m sorry.”

Despite the solemn cast of his friend’s demeanor sitting at the edge of the pool, Jack couldn’t help but chuckle. His friend glanced at him in a moment of confusion. A few seconds passed before he tamed his mirth.

“Al, I know you feel bad but there’s nothing to apologize for from where I’m sitting,” he said, waving a hand at the elf.

“But had I—”

“Nothing you could have done would’ve mattered.” Jack cut the elf off. Some of the mirth left his voice. “Maybe you’d have done more damage to her with a blast of Star Fire instead of lightning but it wouldn’t have changed anything. We were outclassed. We are still outclassed by the dangers within this Remnant Gate. If you’d done more damage, the only thing that might’ve gotten you is a more deadly sword strike from the Justiciar.” He shook his head and laughed at the ridiculousness of Alindal’s guilt. “I mean, you took a sword through the fucking chest, I thought you were dead until Kafkë set me straight. After everything that’s happened, what kind of asshole would I have to be to get upset with you because you only used your second most powerful attack and almost died trying to help me?”

Alindal stared wide-eyed at him for a few seconds before he, too, laughed. “I suppose that is one way of looking at it.”

“The only sensible way as far as I’m concerned. We don’t have time for petty shit like that,” he said. Alindal sighed at that shaking his head likely either nonplussed or annoyed at his blatant dismissal of the perceived slight. “By the way, you bringing up the Link reminded me, have you checked your Attributes recently?”

“Not since waking up, no. I’ve mostly been worried about the Star Fire. Why?”

“Check them, Al. There’s something I want to know.”

After a moment of hesitation, the star elf seemingly turned his attention inward. A few seconds passed before his eyes widened again. “All of them have gone up again.” He blinked. “By a lot, actually. That explains why that spell just now was stronger than I meant for it to be.”

“Understandable since your Focus should’ve increased. All of your Attributes went up by thirteen from the last time you checked, right?” Alindal nodded after a few seconds of thought. “Looks like you received the Attribute bonuses from the Blue Heart maturing too which means Helbiel wasn’t lying about Links.”

Jack had known that the Link imparted an Attribute boost because of the notifications from the formation of the Link but hadn’t been sure if it was a one-time thing or if his Links would gain more bonuses as the Blue Heart grew like he did. It appeared the latter was true. The revelation lent credence to the other information he’d obtained from Helbiel after defeating Cor’tikmal. A bit of his inner anxiety eased. Even though she was supposedly making a large sacrifice to help him, his paranoia summoned thoughts of her somehow colluding with Ciel to engineer his downfall. He banished those worries; he was committed to this gamble to save Terras.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Helbiel?” Alindal asked, his eyes showing that the name’s significance wasn’t lost on him. Every Celestial they’d met or heard of had a similar naming convention after all. The problem was usually discovering one in the first place. Unfortunately, Jack had a talent for finding them and getting embroiled in their schemes.

His eyes might pop out of his head at this rate, he thought, bemused. To his friend, he said, “Yes, Helbiel. She’s the Celestial who helped me get back here. I learned a lot from her about my World Core. She helped me come up with a plan to save Terras and deal with Ciel at the same time.”

“W-wait,” Alindal sputtered. “You’re working with a Celestial?”

The smile on his lips faded a bit as his face took on a more somber expression. “Yeah. It’s a long story, Al. I’ll catch you up on what happened while we have some privacy. I’m still not sure how much I’m going to tell Raina and Cordan.”

Alindal settled into the relatively warm water. “Raina is serious about being on our side, you know.”

“I know,” he replied. “I still don’t fully trust her with some of this info though. She’s young from what I can tell and she has no idea how bad being on our side can really be. That said, I’ll give her a chance to commit when the time comes.”

“I’m sure that all she wants is a chance.”

Jack huffed, expelling the slight knot of foreboding that manifested at the thought of potentially pulling another person into his circle of trust. “Anyway, after that Justiciar nabbed me, she brought me face to face with Bohum and...”

Over the next half hour, he launched into an abbreviated version of the events that had transpired since his capture. He left out the details about Drake, his past lives, and some of the information he’d learned from Helbiel. The details weren’t omitted because he didn’t trust Alindal; he didn’t want the Twilight King to know those things. He occasionally glanced at the dark corners of the room during the chat wondering whether the king’s shadow creatures listened within their depths.

***

“What is he hiding?” Cordan murmured as he considered the impossibility of Jack’s arrival. The blue man’s appearance had set Cordan’s mind whirling with suspicion and possibilities.

From beside him, Raina stirred. She’d been cleaned up a bit and was currently nestled underneath a blanket while she waited for her Ethos to regenerate. Cordan’s hand rested on her forearm granting the maximum benefits of his Vitalist’s Renewal Skill. With the increased Ethos regeneration, her Ethos should recover in the next few minutes which would speed her recovery along especially since most of her injuries were minor in spite of being numerous.

“Something on your mind?” She asked, her eyes half-lidded from weariness.

“It’s nothing,” he lied. “Get some rest.”

Since she was a part of his mindlink, they could’ve spoken mentally but Raina had likely forgotten in her tired state; she was a newbie after all. Cordan had run with plenty of people who neglected to utilize his mindlink’s communication aspects due to either forgetfulness or fear of having their minds read. Regardless, he wasn’t sure he wanted to open the can of worms on his mind.

“It’s about Jack, isn’t it?” She asked, completely ignoring his remark and dousing his hopes of avoiding the conversation. He sighed massaging his temples with his free hand. Undaunted, she continued, “There’s no point trying to hide it. I sensed your suspicion through the mindlink when he held off on his explanation and you’ve been wearing that scowl since he left for the baths.”

Cordan internally swore. Even for him, the events within Terras were stressful and it was making him sloppy. In terms of actual harm and misfortune, he had been through worse but the number of variables involved in the current scenario primed it to be potentially catastrophic. He simply didn’t know enough about what was going on and frustratingly, any piece of information he obtained could be as ruinous as it was enlightening due to the involvement of Celestials.

I refuse to get drawn into one of their plots. Not again. For a second, the faces of those long gone lingered in his mind. His jaw locked in frustration. This entire situation is—

“Cordan?” Raina’s voice cut his train of thought short. He glanced over at her to see the young woman attempting to prop herself up. The sight was almost comical due to the obvious discomfort her various injuries were causing. His eyes found the swollen spot on the side of her face where he’d punched her to snap her out of the strange battle fever that had taken her over during their spar.

“Sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind,” he answered, running a hand through his hair. “You’re right. I am suspicious of Jack which I’ve been clear about that from the start. His return is just more fuel for the fire.”

Raina frowned. “I kind of get what you mean about the way he came back. It’s almost unbelievable after what we went through; not to mention, he looks different too. It has to be related to the Blue Heart though. His body changed before too.”

“Mhm. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Cordan grunted.

“What do you mean?”

Despite himself, Cordan rolled his eyes failing to hide his agitation. “For one, there’s the fact that his guild records list him as a D-rank Appraiser, a noncombat designation, yet he claimed he was E-rank before the temple and said he had an elemental manipulation Skill. Then, once we were in the temple, he fought like a high D-rank Warrior on top of using magic. And despite all of that, he still has the abilities of a full-blown Tracer.”

Raina’s frown deepened a bit as her expression grew more pensive. From the looks of it, she hadn’t considered the strange inconsistencies. However, Cordan wasn’t done.

“Then, there’s this World Core business. From what I’ve gathered based on everything that’s happened so far, they’ve got to be Artifacts of some kind. They must be valuable given Ciel is after Jack’s based on your story about the Protector of Mundus hidden objective and his reaction to it.” During the rant, Raina’s Ethos shimmered into being around her and Cordan started gesticulating, his frustration slipping through further as his hands became less preoccupied. “We haven’t even mentioned his ties to Celestials. You’re new so you might not realize but Celestials are not the kind of people you win against. Wealth, power, time, and all the things that mortals struggle for are a given for them. Look at how Quickly Ciel managed to assemble a raid crew to take on the Twilight King for example.”

The words continued to spill out, the stress and Raina’s relative naivety serving as facilitators. “As the foreman for the raid, I glanced over the files of all participating guild members. Atlas, the codename he used, has been in our records and active for about a year. I don’t know how long Jack’s been pursued by Azatiel or whichever Celestial is hunting him but it’s obvious that the alias, the disguise, and the presumably fake designation were all countermeasures to hide his identity. He’s probably been on the run for at least as long as he’s worked for the guild which is unbelievable. There’s no way a low-ranker could evade a Celestial for that long.”

He finally took a deep breath sighing afterward. One look at the young woman by his side showed that she was in deep thought. Cordan couldn’t blame her. The entire situation was like a garden of temptation grown over a minefield, full of opportunity and ruin. A realization seemed to hit Raina.

“Is it possible that Jack is pretending to be a low-rank to disguise himself? I don’t know how the Attribute bonuses from rank-ups scale but it might be possible to fight as he did and do the Tracer stuff if the boosts are good.”

“I was almost convinced of that until the Justiciar attacked us,” Cordan said, shaking his head. “If he were A or S-rank in disguise, it would explain a lot but he wouldn’t have gone down so easily in that attack if that was the case.”

“I guess that’s true. He wouldn’t let himself get captured...” Her face scrunched up for a moment as though an ugly thought crossed her mind. “He wouldn’t, right?”

“I won’t lie. I considered it but that wouldn’t make any sense unless he had prior knowledge of this irregular Remnant Gate which I don’t think is possible. Even an S-ranker wouldn’t let themselves be isolated by unknown enemies in a Gate with S-rank threats. Too much could go wrong. Not to mention, he had a deal with the Twilight King so it’s not like we were in immediate danger. We didn’t know that Ciel was on his way either until after the attack so it’s not like he would want escape further into the Remnant. Alindal also almost died in that attack and it’s clear that the two of them value each other. Assuming Alindal wasn’t lying, they’ve have been through a lot together. If Jack was secretly high-ranked, I’d expect Alindal to be similar which I don’t think is the case. The elf could, possibly, be the best actor I’ve ever seen fooling us all but I doubt it. All and all, there are about as more holes in that hypothesis than there are pieces of evidence.”

Raina looked out the window of their room, her thoughtful expression subtly changing. He caught relief in her eyes but also fear and uncertainty. Still, he was convinced she didn’t understand the severity of the stakes at play. He allowed a minute of silence to pass undisturbed.

“There is another possibility to consider,” Cordan said, drawing her attention back to him. He raised a finger. “It’s very possible that Jack has the support of another Celestial.”

Skepticism overtook Raina’s pensive expression as she said, “He hates Celestials though.”

“And?” he asked raising an eyebrow. “The support of another Celestial would explain a lot. They could shield him from the other Celestials and divert attention while he blends in with the ramble of Asylum. The mystery would be the reason for the Celestial’s support but his World Core could very well be reason enough. It wouldn’t even matter if he hated the arrangement or not. I can speak from personal experience. The only way you escape from under the thumb of a Celestial is they let you go or you die.”

The two shared a poignant look for several seconds before Raina sank into her pillow gazing at the ceiling. She drew a shaky breath and a bit of pity touched Cordan’s heart. Laying there, it was apparent that despite her abnormal skill with a blade, she was still young and in over her head. He had already had a fair amount of combat and political experience when he arrived in Fracture. The new world had been jarring at first but he adapted and thrived after a few months. Raina didn’t have any of those advantages and not even a week had passed since she had arrived. In her attempt to navigate this entire situation, she might as well have been flailing around in the dark.

“Still planning on siding with Jack and the Twilight King?” He asked. He wouldn't admit it openly but his relationship with Sarah and his time with the guild had given him a soft spot for newbies. Most of them were just trying to stay afloat in the chaos that thrived in Fracture and could use a helping hand. If possible, he’d like it if Raina accompanied him back to Ciel since he didn’t want her to ruin her life by crossing the Celestial.

“I don’t know.” She closed her eyes. “The decision was a lot easier when we were going to rescue him. That felt like the right thing to do. It was something heroic.”

“You want my advice?” He said. She didn’t answer but she turned her attention to him once again. “Don’t be a hero. It’s better to be smart and nondescript than to be foolhardy and grandiose. Assuming the Twilight King doesn’t change his mind and kill me, I’m going back to Ciel and telling him anything that he wants to know. I want no part in whatever the fuck is going to happen in this Remnant Gate and you shouldn’t either. This is the type of shit that could get you killed just for being nearby. Come with me to the Gate. We’ll probably be sent out to wait in whatever staging area Ciel sets up where we’ll be safe until he wins. Because he will win, trust me.”

Raina turned away from him to stare out the window, clearly amid some sort of inner turmoil. “I’ll think about what you’ve said but I’m not going to decide until I talk to Jack and hear his side. Your suspicions make sense but… I’m not sure I’m willing to believe there’s some kind of hidden plot behind his actions.”

Honestly, in most cases, he would’ve dropped the matter; however, for reasons more personal than he cared to admit, he decided to push a bit more on the issue. He spoke with a sterner voice taking on some of the authority he’d honed from years as a member of the Relic Hunter guild. “At the end of the day, Raina, Jack’s motivations and any forces behind them, good or bad, don’t matter. You should look out for yourself. I know you died to get to Fracture but that doesn’t mean you should throw your second chance at life away.”

“I know,” she said, still not looking at him. “His motivations matter to me because of what I want. I’m going to do more with my life than what's necessary to survive. I'll talk to him but either way, my decision will be for me, not anyone else.”

With that, Cordan grunted and stood up. He suddenly wanted to take a walk despite the physical exertion he’d undergone not too long ago. He had considered staying until Jack returned to ask a few probing questions but the man likely knew of his intentions to reconnect with Ciel so he doubted any answers he got would be truthful. After all, any information Cordan had was information Ciel could obtain.

Partway down the hall, Raina’s presence emanated through the mindlink as she spoke through it. “Thank you for trying to look after me, Cordan.”

He didn’t respond. Unfortunately, the sentiment simply fouled his mood further. Eventually, the mindlink severed and he kept walking to find somewhere he could be alone.