In Halfmoon’s lounge, Camellia was alone with Adalhard and Cernunnos. She sat across from the men. Cernunnos and Adalhard stared at her, but Camellia stayed in her thoughts. What would they do next?

“So...we’re working here?” Cernunnos half-asked, half-said.

“Camellia?” Adalhard sounded patient.

She looked up. “Yes, we’re working here. Let me grab my notes. I just have to go to my room.” Camellia rose from her seat and crossed the lounge.

When she got to the threshold that divided sleeping quarters from lounge space, Camellia glanced back. She jumped. Adalhard and Cernunnos followed.

She glanced between them. “It’s a very short walk.”

“I haven’t seen the sleeping quarters,” Cernunnos said. “I wanted to have a look.”

Camellia narrowed her eyes. She knew that both Adalhard and Cernunnos had peeked back into their private chambers. Not, so private really. They had no doors.

“Alright,” Camellia mumbled. She turned around and stepped over the threshold. “If you two want to follow me around…”

She fell quiet. As she approached her room, she realized that she’d never made her bed. She knew she hadn’t because she never did, but at that moment, she realized it.

At least, I hope I flipped the covers up. Camellia put her hand to her forehead.

“You conking out on us?” Cernunnos asked. “It’s way too early for naptime. We should be the tired guys, considering how early it is.”

Camellia glanced back at the men. “No, I’m not conking out. I’m tired, but I’m just wondering if I…” Camellia considered lying and telling Adalhard and Cernunnos that she forgot where she left her notes and map. However, she decided to save a smidgen of her credibility and instead said, “...left my room a mess.”

Cernunnos laughed, and Adalhard smiled.

“You can grab your notes, and we’ll wait outside,” Adalhard offered.

“Good. You can see the rest of the living space later, after we clean up.” Camellia left the men in the small hall. She entered her bedroom and found her bed open. Her nightgown lay from foot to pillow, like a substitute for her own body. Camellia flipped up the covers, feeling like she covered the substitute body with a shroud. Then, she grabbed her notes and rejoined her colleagues.

“See, I was very fast.” She held her notes firm and found both men standing awkwardly in the hall.

Camellia hadn’t realized how low Halfmoon’s ceilings were or how tight the space was. Adalhard and Cernunnos had a mere ten or so inches of clearance. Cernunnos leaned against one wall, but Adalhard, the broader man, had less space.

“Let’s work in the lounge,” Cernunnos said. “I’m finding this part of the ship a little tight.”

Adalhard mumbled his agreement and led the way back to the more open space.

With the cushions clear, Cernunnos picked a side and sat. Adalhard took the opposite side, leaving Camellia to make a decision. She didn’t think it should matter who she sat with, but the men stared.

Cernunnos gestured across the seating space. “Sit down.”

Adalhard waited with patience.

So it begins…He’s meddled, and he’s not done yet. Cernunnos, no. Camellia sat beside Adalhard.

Adalhard cleared his throat. “We need to determine where Ul’thetos’ head might be. What do you have so far?”

Camellia extracted a sketch of Lurren. “Eva helped me outline the continent, and we’ve discussed how and in what directions Ul’thetos spread.”

Camellia filled in the map’s details. She marked the bunker, the current flesh border, and both locations where they retrieved ships: Eva’s fighter and Halfmoon.

She paused as if forgetting something. Had she forgotten any flesh, a place, a ship? Camellia recalled the stranded Faustina. That must have been what she forgot. She drew Faustina on the south beach. So far, everything on the map clustered around the east and southeast.

Adalhard leaned close and pointed at the map. “These are the areas you’ve been, but what about the things Ul’thetos showed you?”

“That would be just Ul’thetos’ prison, where we’ll find the head. The only thing it showed me is the place we’re looking for.” Camellia leaned into her map. “Not very useful, I’m afraid.”

Adalhard shifted. “Did Eva have any information beyond this stretch of land?”

Camellia nodded. “Eva admits that she...can’t remember exact details.”

Camellia didn’t want to tell the truth. Eva had explained that she’d lost memories in a building accident. It was part of the reason why the other synthetics didn’t put all their confidence in Eva. Camellia could relate, and she judged Eva’s story to be personal.

“Eva did remember some places from before Ul’thetos, and she had a vague idea of where they might be.” From her folio, Camellia pulled a small list and began to mark off Eva’s old haunts.

She placed them west of the map’s current details, arbitrarily setting them more north or south, based on their names. Adalhard watched over her shoulder, and Cernunnos leaned over the lounge table. Under their watchful eyes, Camellia wrote: shopping center, train station, inventors’ convention, and animatronic jungle. Camellia allowed her bias to steer her hand, and the jungle ended up southmost on her map.

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Adalhard stroked his chin and studied the map.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Camellia wrote Church of Ul’thetos in the small cove, where she had created puzzles for the older creature.

“Hmmm,” Adalhard said.

“What’s that, Camellia? An important place for your cult?” Cernunnos joked.

“It’s a curved beach surrounded by caves. There are strange carvings on the cave walls and floors, as well as old candles and offerings. I spent a few hours there communicating with Ul’thetos – not my choice.” Camellia thought back to the place and suddenly remembered the symbol. Her eyes lit. “Come to think of it... There’s a symbol with winding branches that both Ul’thetos and Ah’nee’thit use. Ah’nee’thit removed some elements, but it looks like this in full.”

Camellia grabbed a new paper and drew the symbol. In the center, she sketched a stand-in for the geometric pattern that Ah’nee’thit left out. She couldn’t remember the exact details.

“Ah, we recognize that.” Cernunnos nodded. “Not the center part though. I take it that’s the section Ah’nee’thit omitted?”

“Yes. I’m not sure I have it perfect,” Camellia said.

“That’s alright.” Adalhard placed a hand on Camellia’s arm. “Can you draw an image of the prison? The place that the Lurriens trapped Ul’thetos?”

Camellia warmed at Adalhard’s touch, despite it all.

She pulled another blank paper from her folio and began to draw Ul’thetos’ cell. “When I communicated with Ul’thetos, it showed me a metal cell that looked something like this.” She used a ruler to create straight lines and sketched the creature into a tall room, adding breaks to the containment, where tentacles poured out.

“Very useful. We’ll know it, if we see it,” Cernunnos joked, looking at Camellia’s drawing of a featureless room.

She sighed. “This is what Ul’thetos showed me. I don’t know if she’s moved from here or not. I have a vague idea of the floorplan.” Camellia turned the paper over, and on the back, drew a rough map.

“Camellia,” Adalhard interrupted. “Why do you say she? Why not it? Everyone else calls Ul’thetos and Ah’nee’thit ‘it.’ Sometimes, you say ‘she.’”

Camellia stopped. “I...don’t know. Ul’thetos showed me eggs and a nest…”

Cernunnos tsked. “Camellia, that’s a bit sloppy – jumping to conclusions about other cultures. For all you know, theirs is a species of hermaphrodites.”

“I know,” Camellia said. “It’s just that Ah’nee’thit can’t make eggs...at least, not without another of its species. That’s why Ah’nee’thit wants cultists…” Camellia’s words trailed off.

She suffered through a short memory of Ah’nee’thit’s fantasies, involving her and Cahir.

Adalhard and Cernunnos waited.

“Go ahead,” Cernunnos coaxed. “I really want to hear the end of this. I’m hoping you’re going to say that Ah’nee’thit thinks of the cultists as its children, but I’m worried you’ll have something rather pornographic to report.”

Camellia remained silent. She did indeed hold Ah’nee’thit’s pornography in her memory.

“Oh god.” Cernunnos put his head in his hands. “Good thing we’re working on that whole cultist problem.”

Camellia waved her hand. “Oh, Cernunnos it’s not like that. From what I can tell, Ah’nee’thit and Ul’thetos believe that children should come from one genetic source, so Ah’nee’thit really had no intention of using anyone but…” Again, Camellia stopped.

Adalhard put a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s get back on track.”

“Yes.” Cernunnos adjusted his sleeves, rolling them away from his wrist. Then, he pointed to the map. “Now, my younger colleagues, we need a location to search. What do we know about where the Lurriens might have put the creature’s cell?”

Slowly, Camellia began. “Eva isn’t sure of the exact location. Only that it was far away. So, west.” She looked at the cluster of Eva’s old hangouts. All of them lay to the east.

“Probably north as well.” Adalhard folded his hands in his lap. “Judging from the size of the Northwest Squall, Lurren is not as large as Tagtrum’s lands – water and islands included. Though, Lurren is probably a bit larger than Groaza.” Adalhard showed his companions a map, detailing the borders of the squall. “This is the area we have to work with, and as you can see, it’s very close to Iruedim’s northern pole. Lurriens would use every tool available to keep the creature at bay. Colder, northern weather and frozen ground may have offered an attractive place for the creature’s cell.”

Cernunnos smiled. “So, we should look northwest, but I would argue not too far. They would want to have something of a central location.” Cernunnos leaned forward. “To keep the creature from reaching the sea.”

“Good point,” Adalhard agreed.

Camellia finished her floor plan of Ul’thetos’ prison and handed it to Adalhard, who studied it and passed the paper to Cernunnos.

Adalhard straightened. “In the north, the ocean might be frozen year-round.” He glanced between Cernunnos and Camellia. “Depending on how far north the continent reaches, they may not have been as concerned about Ul’thetos reaching the sea. But, I agree, we should check the center of the continent thoroughly.”

While Cernunnos held the floorplan to study, Adalhard and Camellia could see the back of the page, showing Ul’thetos’ prison.

Adalhard pointed at the telltale shine of metal that Camellia had portrayed. “This building probably had thick walls. Metal?”

Camellia nodded.

Gently, Adalhard took the sketch from Cernunnos and flipped it over. He held it so that all three anthropologists viewed the floor plan. “Camellia, these stairs you drew – they go up?” Adalhard pointed to a staircase at the back of the floor plan.

“Yes. I believe they kept the creature below ground. Although sometimes, I get the impression that the creature envisions itself at ground level.” Camellia remembered the scene as shown by Ul’thetos and saw crisscrossing catwalks in her mind, not too high above the creature’s eyes. She reached for her pencil.

Cernunnos shifted. “The monster is big, probably tall too. Maybe, Ul’thetos finds itself both in the basement and at ground level. How big do you estimate this chamber to be?” Cernunnos pointed at the center of the floor plan, where Camellia had written the word Ul’thetos inside a large room.

“It’s big,” Camellia assured him, absentmindedly. She drew lines to represent the catwalks.

Adalhard waited for her to finish and flipped the picture to show Cernunnos the prison sketch. Camellia had included a little man for scale.

“Yikes. This monster is a bit of a tower,” Cernunnos said.

Camellia started to draw the catwalks into her sketch of the metal prison.

Cernunnos sighed. He put his hands on his knees and pushed to his feet. “While you finish this, I’m going to take a bathroom break.”

“Be careful,” Camellia warned, with worried eyes.

Cernunnos smiled and narrowed his eyes. “I beg your pardon? What kind of trouble do you think I’m going to get into here on Halfmoon?” He left the room and didn’t look back.

Camellia resumed her drawing. “I thought I was somewhere else for a second.”

She felt Adalhard’s eyes on her.

He touched her shoulder lightly. “Where did you think you were?”

“Lurren. Then, I remembered that I’m just drawing it...for now.”

Adalhard leaned close. “Camellia, you’re going to be alright in Lurren, right?”

Camellia finished her drawing of catwalks and gave him her gaze. “I have to go to Lurren, and I will,” she answered dreamily.

“You’re not inspiring my confidence.”

“I know. I didn’t before. I don’t see why I would now.” Camellia put her pencil down and tried to shrug out from under Adalhard’s hand.

He let her go. “That’s not what I meant. I just worry about your...self-preservation.”

Camellia turned to Adalhard and found his face very close. “I’m going to preserve myself. I promise you that.”

“I hope so because I would like to see you return to Groaza, alive and well.” Adalhard slowly reached for Camellia’s hand.

She let him have it. Just as slow, Adalhard leaned in. Camellia thought he might do something that Cernunnos put him up to, but she didn’t stop him.

A bang startled both of them as Cernunnos knocked open the bathroom door. He stepped into the lounge before they could separate.

He grinned. “Oh sorry. That wasn’t an invitation to get… “ Cernunnos held up his hands. “I never planned to be gone that long.”

Adalhard released Camellia and frowned.

Camellia felt her cheeks warm. She blushed, hating to be caught in the act that she herself had so often caught Cernunnos.

In the back of her mind, she also worried about just how much Cernunnos had said and done. The anxiety called into question Adalhard’s sincerity.