A net appeared before her, Sasha bouncing off and rolling onto the floor. Though not the most graceful landing, Gabriella was there to help her up afterward, the panther giving a grateful nod.

"That wolf girl?" Madame Dyre asked. "That's what this is about?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Mr. Erin said. "I assure you, we had no idea this was your operation."

"Mhmm. Is that why the panda hasn't completely leveled the place yet?"

She glanced at Mr. Xan, who shot her a glare from the other side of a window pane. In order to prevent a repeat of the ship incident, they'd sent him to wait outside, leaving Sasha and Mr. Erin to smooth things over. Given the damages to property, workers, and the general operation as a whole, they had to pay out several thousand chets to the Mistress of Death for her to look the other way. And even then, she only did so for Sasha's sake.

"And here we thought this was a front for the Comet Man," Sasha said.

Dyre raised a brow. "Who?"

"The man who attacked her world," Mr. Erin explained. "And potentially others as well. We have reason to believe he now goes under the banner of Light Binder."

"It's his fault the legionnaires are going crazy," Sasha chimed in. "His and all the people working with him. Still haven't figured out how he does it or why, but wherever he's going I'm going. Because that's where Iris is gonna be."

Madame Dyre nodded, fangs drawing back in a smile. It made Sasha consider asking her for help, but one look at Mr. Xan told her that was never happening.

With the smuggling misunderstanding dealt with, the many injured workers were starting to wake up around them, Gabriella shouting for all the severely wounded to head to the Infirmary. Everyone else would return to their posts. Despite her small size, her voice carried all the authority of a drill sergeant, the few grumbles being silenced the minute she made eye contact. Sasha couldn't help but snicker. It was easy to forget how high up she was on the Black Web hierarchy.

"You sound sure of that theory, my child," Madame Dyre said. "Tell me. Do you have any proof?"

Sasha shifted. "Well....Not really no. I mean, I know he tried to throw Shiny at the White Legion. And Zamonia. Oh, and I know there were a bunch of other planets that got hit around the same time mine did."

"Admittedly, proof is hard to come by these days," Mr. Erin came in. "Shiny was once an outlier. Now with all these worlds under attack, it can be hard to tell which ones fall naturally and which are given drastic pushes. Our only real clue is the comet. It seems tied to his arrival."

"Hence the nickname. Comet Man. I dunno, I thought it fit."

Madame Dyre put a hand on her head.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"It does, my child." She hummed. "Perhaps you do lack the proof. But then, I may have some insight."

Sasha instantly brightened.

"You know something?" Mr. Erin asked.

"Not that I would disclose for free."

The panther deflated. Of course. Dyre stroked her cheek, the spider kneeling to her level.

"Fortunately, you have an ally who's already paid your fee."

"Huh?" Sasha looked to Gabriella, who had finished coordinating all the workers. They were picking up the broken machines and cleaning blaster marks off the walls. "An ally as in...?"

The spider pulled off one of her gloves, a white card held against her palm.

"That spirit of yours," she said. "She paid quite handsomely for my services. It seems Elisia's taken a shine to you."

She handed the card over, Sasha looking at it in confusion. The Goddess paid for this? She glanced at GT, the staff silent in Gabriella's hands. As was Mr. Erin, she noticed. The weasel narrowed at the card, his lip curling slightly though he didn't say a word. Sasha flipped the paper over, finding a spread of coordinates listed in pen. And a date.

"She asked me to give this to you when we next met," the spider explained. "You should find all the evidence you need there. I'm still not quite sure why, but Elisia was adamant I share this with you. You haven't been brown-nosing spirits have you, my child?"

Sasha shook her head. "I've only ever met the lady once. She was kinda of a jerk."

Mr. Erin snickered at that, even Gabriella nodding in agreement. Though she'd given Sasha GT, the panther's single experience of almost dying didn't make for the best first impression. Nor the fact that she'd yet to have seen her since. Not even after her other brushes with death. If the Goddess did think highly enough of her to hire the Madame, she had a funny way of showing it. Still, a lead was a lead.

"Yeah. This should help." Sasha shoved the card in her pocket, immediately hugging Madame Dyre. "Thanks."

She stroked her head. Even if the spider was paid, it was nice to get her assistance. And to see her in general.

"Do be careful, my child," Dyre said. "Spirits are nasty devils. Trust them sparingly."

She nodded, pulling away to then hug Gabriella. Now that they weren't a threat, the girl was happy to relinquish GT. Her eyes flashed back to their regular emerald green. Sasha smiled, GT appearing in her hand. Good to have you back, buddy. It was still strangely quiet, but she didn’t mind as long as they weren't separated

"Well, I guess we should get g-"

"Hang on, Sasha," Gabriella said, grabbing her hand.

She looked at her confused. That was until the human pulled out a rolled-up magazine from behind her back. Sasha's jaw fell, the panther staring in shock at the blond adventurer plastered over the cover. Delilah Grace. It was the Battle Cappy series!

"Oh my goddess!" She practically snatched it. "Holy cripes! You brought it! You brought it!"

"I said I wou-"

Sasha cut her off as she was hugging and spinning the girl around, purrs and squeals echoing across the room.

"You're the bestest human friend a cat could have!" Sasha declared on the spot. She finally put Gabriella down, the girl slightly delirious,

"Y-yeah." She straightened herself out. "Just make sure not to lose it, okay?"

"I'll guard it with my life!"

She gave her one last squeeze before running over to Mr. Erin, the weasel regarding her curiously as they made their way for the side exit.

"Xan we-"

"I heard, Twig." He spat on the ground. "Like we needed that spider's help."

"Technically it's Elisia's help."

"And that's better?"

"I suppose we'll find out."

Sasha was barely listening to the two, already turning from page to page as she read through the Battle Cappy issues. There were ten in total combined into one magazine. And given the date on Elisia's coordinates, they had a little over a week to land. That was plenty of time to get through them all. She grinned at the thought, creating a mental reading schedule to guide her journey.

With any luck, she'd be done by the time they arrived.