“You know, we have the same hair,” Joan said, following behind Penthe down the abandoned halls of the cult’s hideout.

Penthe gave a small shrug and glanced back at her. “I guess? It’s common.”

“Yeah,” Joan said. “But I really thought your hair would be more magical. You’re kind of…”

“I have helmet hair,” Penthe said. “You will too, once we get that armor off you.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to?” Joan asked.

“Maybe,” Penthe said. “Have you gotten it off before?”

“Chase did before,” Joan said. “But he covered me in ice and then broke it from the inside out. It was cold.”

“Does it hurt? Make you feel tired?” Penthe asked.

“No,” Joan said. “So, uhhhh, do you know the way?”

“No,” Penthe said, before shoving open yet another door. The hinges squeaked and the room was filled with ancient, decaying furniture. She slammed it shut.

“Want me to show you?” Joan asked.

Penthe slowly looked back at her, her eyes narrowed to slits. “You know the way?”

“I’ve been here a lot,” Joan said sheepishly. “Past lives and all. We dealt with this. Sort of.”

“Sort of,” Penthe said.

“I mean, aside from the elemental,” Joan said. “And I think Ifrit died. But other than that, we kind of came here. I know the way out, just not really… in.”

Penthe motioned her ahead.

Joan quickly started walking down the hall, quickly coming to a turn and then moving to the right. “You know, when we came here a lot more things had been collapsed.”

Penthe just grunted at her.

“So, how’ve you been?” Joan asked. “I mean, are you still going by Gil or…?”

“Sometimes,” Penthe said.

“Would you prefer I call you that?” Joan asked.

“Penthe is fine,” Penthe said.

“You’re uhhhh, not planning to kill me again, right?” Joan asked. “I mean. There’s not like, a second Hungry One you think is inside me or anything?”

“No,” Penthe said.

“Are you… mad at me?” Joan asked softly.

“No,” Penthe said.

“You seem mad,” Joan said.

“I am,” Penthe said. “Not at you.”

“Sorry I dragged you out here,” Joan said softly before glancing back at her.

Penthe gave a sigh and her gaze softened just a tiny bit. “Joan, I’m not angry with you. If anything, I am angry with the fates. They’ve made things more uncomfortable and more complex than they need to be.”

“How’s uhhhh… the Demon Lord?” Joan asked.

“He’s angry,” Penthe said. “It’s complex. Dixon will make it easier.”

“Why do you need Dixon anyway?” Joan asked.

“Demon Lord needs allies,” Penthe said. “His brother is his best one.”

“And the Chosen?” Joan asked.

“In a way,” Penthe said. “Demon Lord cannot control demons anymore. It’s making things… difficult.”

“Sorry,” Joan said.

“It’s not something you need to be sorry for,” Penthe said. “Just stay aware. Taking time. Better you not be a part of it.”

“But Dixon is okay?” Joan asked.

“He’s not human,” Penthe said.

“You are,” Joan said.

“Barely,” Penthe said.

“Sorry,” Joan said.

“Stop saying that,” Penthe said.

“You feel angry,” Joan said softly.

Penthe just gave an exhausted sigh.

“How much did this throw off your plans?” Joan asked.

“I’ve made countless deals and agreements throughout the history of this world,” Penthe said softly. “It is time to make good on them. You accelerated that.”

“How did you get here so quickly?” Joan asked.

“The gateways,” Penthe said. “I know where each is connected. I can traverse them far quicker when I go alone. When I realized someone was entering that one…”

“You knew it had to be me?” Joan asked sheepishly.

“No others would try,” Penthe said. “And I knew you’d get yourself killed if you did.”

“Ohhhhh,” Joan said, a wide grin forming on her lips. “You rushed all the way here to save me?”

“Obviously,” Penthe said.

“Because you liiiike me now?” Joan asked.

“Because too many people will be furious with me if I let you die,” Penthe said calmly. “You shouldn’t have been here to begin with. My deal, not yours.”

“So are there others?” Joan asked.

“Countless,” Penthe said.

“Can I help with those, too?” Joan asked, stopping at the base of a long, winding staircase before turning to face her. “Please?”

Penthe stared down at her. “Why do you want to so badly?”

“Because I want to help you,” Joan said. “Because it sounds fun. Because you’re kind of cool and I never really got to know you and I want to know you. Because you’ve gone toe to toe against the Chosen and survived, even won a few times, with what I think is pretty much just a human body. I could learn a lot from you. Because--”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“I get it,” Penthe said before reaching out and putting a hand on her head. “Can you not take this helmet off, even?”

“No,” Joan said. “The exit should be just up these steps, though. But there’s no telling what’s up there.”

“Why?” Penthe asked.

“Because it was different before,” Joan said. “This was the main entrance in the future, they’ll probably have shades and who knows what else waiting for us.”

“I doubt it,” Penthe said before she started up the steps. “Just keep quiet.”

Joan nodded and followed after the woman. In the dim light of the small glowing orb she could just barely make out the older woman’s form. She looked so decrepit, her skin almost hanging off her bones. Still, she didn’t have the black veins anymore so that was probably an improvement. A part of her was worried that if she tripped she’d shatter. Yet while she seemed tired, she wasn’t sluggish.

Joan tightened her grip on her sword, readying herself for whatever was waiting for them at the top of the steps. It--

“Hmm? Yeah, I got her, she’s fine,” Penthe said.

“What?” Joan asked.

“Shush,” Penthe said. “Not you, her. Why don’t you cast it on her? She can explain.”

Joan rolled her eyes. The shadow bonding spell. Penthe had to know she didn’t have to say the words out loud, right?

“What do you mean you can’t? She’s like two steps behind me,” Penthe said. “Really?” She glanced back at Joan. “Chase can’t touch you with the spell.”

“Don’t ask me,” Joan said with a shrug. “I didn’t even know Chase could cast it. Ohhhh, wait, he has the Eye of the Night, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, she doesn’t know,” Penthe said. “Can you locate me? Good. Meet us, I’m not sure where we’re going to be coming out but there will likely be a lot of bodies. Bring whichever guards can be spared.” She stopped when the steps came to a stop. Something big and wooden was blocking the exit. “No, nothing dangerous. Just in case. I’ll need you anyway, I need to use the city’s teleportation circle and it’ll be easier if I have a Chosen with me. See you soon.”

“You know you don’t need to talk out loud with that spell, right?” Joan asked.

“I’ve always found it to be pretty rude to not,” Penthe said. She then pushed a foot against the blockage. “Hmm. Jammed or locked.” She pulled her foot back.

“What are you going to--” Joan’s words were cut off when the other woman gave the block a firm shove with her foot, sending what appeared to be a bookcase flying across the room with the sound of broken wood, shattered glass and bent metal. It had, once, been attached to a strange railing. Now the metal had been bent by the force. Dust filled the room, hiding whatever else was in there from sight. “How?!”

Penthe covered her face with an arm, peering out through the dust. “Shush,” she said.

The dust began to clear and the room beyond was slowly revealed. It seemed to be a basement, though an ancient one. The ground was covered in old chests and crates, though most looked like they had been there for ages. A line of bookcases covered the wall, filled with ancient books, vials and other trinkets. The case Penthe had kicked out was surrounded by a growing puddle of an unidentified liquid and shards of glass, while the crate it had smashed into seemed to be filled with rocks.

“Are you sure this is where you came out from?” Penthe asked.

“Uhhhh, in the future,” Joan said. “I mean, when the Hero did it. But… that was a long time ago. Or will be a while from now? Past lives are weird.”

“When less tunnels were collapsed,” Penthe said. “This place looks abandoned. It--” She stopped and glanced back. “Something is coming after us.”

Joan turned around and readied her sword. “The cultists? Should we--” She let out a startled yelp when she was grabbed by the arm and dragged through the room. “W-what? Why? What are you doing?”

“No point in fighting them,” Penthe said. “Chase should be here soon. Then the rest of this is their problem.”

“But… but… you just kind of announced us being here,” Joan said softly. “Why did you do that if you didn’t want to fight them?”

Penthe ignored her and just started dragging her towards the stairs.

------

Joan tried to keep her breath steady while she followed Penthe’s instructions.

“Focus on it,” Penthe said. “Envision your sword in your mind.”

“I am,” Joan said.

“With the armor?” Penthe asked.

“I am,” Joan said. Though admittedly she felt kind of silly envisioning a hollow suit of armor holding Guardian Nova.

“Now imagine it coming off your body,” Penthe said. “Imagine it slowly falling away, the opposite of what it’s like when you summon your sword to your hand.”

“I’m doing it,” Joan whispered. It had been so long since she’d first learned how to bind a sword to be summoned. Now she barely had to even think about it when she summoned the sword to her hand. Reverse summoning it, though, was a bit harder.

“You’re not doing it right,” Penthe said.

“I’m not going to get it in ten seconds, can you please stop yelling at me?” Joan asked.

“I’m not yelling,” Penthe said.

“Pressuring me, then?” Joan said.

“Just focus,” Penthe said.

“I’m trying!” Joan yelled, unable to keep her voice even.

“Perhaps if I--”

There was a clang and her sword disappeared from her hand, taking the armor with it. They appeared a bit ahead of her, dropping on top of Penthe, who lifted her arms to shield herself. Fortunately, she’d retrieved a new set of armor once they’d made it back into the city. How she’d done it, though, Joan couldn’t be certain.

Chase had been able to come with her and get her access to the city’s teleportation circles, but the spell she’d used wasn’t one Joan was familiar with. Penthe had connected to the teleportation network setup throughout the world, but rather than teleporting herself, she’d instead summoned the armor and a massive poleaxe. The armor itself was silver and green, almost jade-like, while the poleaxe was a bright, angry red. At least it seemed to not be demonic in nature, as those black veins on Penthe’s body still hadn’t made an appearance, even while she was sliding the armor on.

More importantly, it didn’t seem damaged even from the dropped armor pieces.

“Not the smoothest removal,” Penthe said, shoving the pieces off her. “But it at least confirms one of my guesses. What the hell?” She picked up one of the gauntlets and peered within it. “What did you do to this?”

“Uhhhh, I don’t know. Whatever your guess was,” Joan said with a shrug. “Do you mind explaining that to me?”

“Armor made by the Chosen,” Penthe said. “It’s powerful. For it to be changed this drastically, well…” She motioned to the sword. “That is the root cause of all of it.”

“I imagined so,” Joan said. “What does that mean, though? Is it the Star of the Hero?”

Penthe gave a small shrug. “I couldn’t say. The Star of the Hero was originally the Champion’s. When it was passed onto you, it stayed as it was. Your Guardian Nova shares some similarities with it, but I couldn’t say for certain that it is it.”

“Okay, can you tell me what those similarities are?” Joan asked.

“It was a weapon of the gods,” Penthe said. “It could absorb the magic of other things. Well, once. Eventually it became too powerful that nothing could really be absorbed again.”

“What?” Joan asked. “How much more powerful is it going to become?”

“No idea,” Penthe said. “But whatever it did definitely seems to have gotten into the armor the Chosen made for you. It’s all one big magic ball of trouble. Kind of like you.”

Joan gave a light snicker at that, before sighing. “So, basically I have a big bundle of magic energy attached to my soul because I bonded to it.”

“Yes,” Penthe said. “Or possibly whatever that magic was, would have torn your soul apart and your sword only managed to keep you safe by shoving what it could into the armor.”

“That’s… that’s a much better thought,” Joan said nervously. “Is the armor safe to wear?”

“Possibly,” Penthe said. “Probably a lot safer than bonding to it. But a little late for that.”

“Speaking of my soul, when you did… whatever it was you did in there, to dispel all the elementals? It kind of felt like something was tugging at my soul,” Joan said. “Should… I worry about that?”

Penthe gave an exhausted sigh and just rested her head in her palm. “Yes. Yes you should. Damn it Joan…”

“Sorry!”

“Don’t be sorry, be better,” Penthe said. “We’re going to need the Chosen of Light, Earth and Dreams for something like this. All of which are quite busy right now.”

“Ehh, it’s probably fine. I won’t keel over if it takes a few days. Will I?” Joan asked.

“… Hopefully not,” Penthe said before getting to her feet. “But the armor is off, that will have to do for now. I’m going to get some sleep.”

“Sleep? But it’s the middle of the day,” Joan said.

“… Not in the Demon Lands,” Penthe said. “And I had to rush here to make sure you didn’t get killed. I’m exhausted. So now? Sleep. You may want to deal with… that,” Penthe said before motioning towards the door that was glowing bright red. “The seal won’t last long once I fall asleep.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay up a little longer? You could meet my friends!” Joan said, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice.

Penthe just stared at her. Then, without answering, walked away, collapsing onto the bed. She didn’t even get out of her armor.

Joan watched her for a few moments and wondered if she’d actually be able to fall asleep like that. The armor had to be incredible uncomfortable. Still, after a few moments the door stopped glowing… and almost instantly fell open. Sending Bauteut, Qakog, Ifrit and Francis onto the ground with startled shrieks.

“JOAN!” they all yelled in unison.

She had a lot of explaining to do.