Three days later.

I opened my eyes and looked at the sun shining in the window. I sat up and stretched my back. We were still in Asmod's little apartment. But something was different today.

We were free.

Two days ago, we accomplished what we'd set out to do. Asmod had used his enchantment magic to write and sign a letter that resembled Smokewell's handwriting to anyone who saw it. We had Hopper forge a fake report to prove us innocent. We even did that stupid knife test.

All the evidence was sent to the court. The verdict was passed a lot more swiftly than we expected. We were taken off the priority burn list. And now we didn't have to worry about getting arrested and burnt anymore.

I brushed my teeth, got dressed and walked out to the sitting room. Lily and Smokwell were on the sofa, going through the newspapers, probably looking for any apartment advertisements.

Asmod was watering a plant with lavender flowers in the window. He had taken a day off. I didn't blame him. The entire week had been quite a rush for all of us.

I sat down in a chair opposite to them.

“Good morning, Miss Elsa!” Lily said, cheery as always.

“Morning, Lily.”

Smokewell and Asmod just nodded at me. I nodded back.

I knit my eyebrows before saying, “Do you all think we won?”

“Won what? The lottery?” Smokewell said.

“No, I meant…our freedom. We are supposed to be free. Not fugitives anymore, yet I feel a bit…empty.”

“Why do you feel that way, Miss Elsa?” Lily cocked her head.

I shrugged. “I don't know, maybe it's just that we got away by basically lying to everyone,” I said. “Everyone in this room knows that the knife test was nothing but superstitious non-sense. But we exploited that very non-sense to make our case.”

“Tch, what's so bad about that?” Smokewell said. “The world is a non-sensical place. The laws are foolish and people are idiots. They arrest us and execute us for their stupid reasons and you think we are the bad people for using their stupidity to save our hides?”

“I'm not saying we are bad people,” I said. “It's just that…we exploited the rules of a system that we don't believe in and we know that the system is flawed yet we used those flaws to escape. Instead of…bringing a change.”

Asmod stepped away from the window. “It isn't our responsibility to change the system, Grimly. In fact, the ones who are responsible don't even care.”

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I didn't really know why I was getting worked up over it. I actually agreed with what they were saying. But there was a gnawing feeling at the back of my mind. I wasn't sure if it was something I'd inherited along with Old Elsa's body. Or if I just found it nauseous to rely on something toxic in order to keep living.

“I'm sorry, I'm just rambling. Ignore me,” I said.

“No,” Lily said. “I agree with Miss Elsa.”

All eyes turned to the girl.

She looked down at the newspaper in front of her. “I thought about this too,” she said. “What if someone innocent failed the knife test? What if someone whose blood was green for a completely different reason ended up arrested? I know, it isn't our responsibility to worry about this. But, this does feel unfair.”

Smokewell groaned. “Don't tell me you are going to do something to change this now?”

Lily looked at me, as if she was going to agree with whatever I said. I sighed again and rose from the seat. “No, I won't,” I said. “If I was alone, it was a different matter. But we are together here. And we had to take more than a few risks to earn our freedom. I won't ruin it just like that.”

I walked over to the door.

“Where are you going?” Smokewell said.

“I'm going to take a walk. I want a break from all this.”

“I'm coming along, Miss Elsa!” Lily hopped off the seat.

I gave a wry smile and let her follow. We left the apartment.

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Lily was quiet most of the way. I appreciated the silence. She seemed a lot more excited to take in the view of the city. I didn't blame her. Quite the view it was, indeed.

I got to see the things that I couldn't make out that night on our drive to Skeleton Crew. There was a nice tapestry of businesses that flanked the streets. Taverns and shops that looked old were panelled with wood and had a rustic look to them. Bigger establishments were made of concrete and steel.

Some vendors were hailing their wares. One of them was a woman selling potions. Nothing too kinky, something that enhanced alertness and physical energy more than a strong cup of coffee would–probably the Red Bull equivalent of this world.

A few paces ahead another man was doing the same thing. But he was hailing steam powered stoves, blessed by the steam elemental itself. I found his marketing strategy quite interesting. He seemed more focused on letting people know that his product was going to be a household item in a few months and everyone who won’t buy it will regret it when their neighbors and friends will flaunt it in front of them.

I wondered if actually showing the features of his stove would've been a better way of enticing people's money out of their wallets but I was wrong. A sizable crowd had gathered outside his little shop.

“It's the steam elemental,” Lily said. “People will hop onto any wagon that associates itself with those two words.”

“I see.”

We left behind what was the Bronzewheel Boulevard and arrived at Eternity Square. The clock tower next to Asmod's Nook was visible even from all the way here, rising above all the other buildings.

But a much more interesting structure was right at the centre of the square. A tall pyramid with the tip shorn off out of which steam kept rising into the air. The pyramid was made of bronze and shiny golden letters adorned the front of its face that read: HOLY HOUSE OF THE STEAM ELEMENTAL.

“Have you ever been inside one?” I asked Lily.

The girl shook her head but gave me a weird look. “Don't tell me you want to attend whatever they are having there, Miss Elsa?”

“I'm certainly curious,” I said as the steam carriages ran in and out of the square. “Aren't you interested in seeing what all the fuss is about?”

Lily gave a reluctant nod but her eyes were inquisitive. We walked into the pyramid through the door at the front.

I was surprised that the inside of it didn't feel like being in an oven. Even though the outside of the pyramid was made of metal. Another thing that surprised me was how sturdy the structure was from the inside.

A large circular pit was at the centre of the floor. Smoke kept rising out of the pit and up into the chimney above. The strange thing about the smoke was that it only moved in a straight column, as if being blown through an invisible glass tube that opened into the chimney above.

There were levels on each tier of the pyramid and every tier was filled with people chanting and praying. The lower level was a lot more dense with life than the ones above them. Lily and I climbed the stairs to the first level. People stood by the bannister rail at the edge. I took my place among the crowd and looked down at the hole in the floor.

“I didn't know you were into this, Miss Elsa,” Lily said.

“What do you mean?” I said.

“Into gods and faith.” She put her elbows on the rail and leaned ahead. “I feel like you might be into several other things I didn't think you were into.”

I remained quiet for a bit and focused on Old Elsa's memories, trying to remember her thoughts on Gods. What I learnt was that most covens of witches prayed to a certain dark entity that lent its powers to them. Lily and Smokewell and I didn't belong to any such coven, so our relationship with any kind of God, aside from a few offerings made in some specific rituals, had been minimal.

And since Old Elsa had been rather aloof and reserved, seeing me getting curious about these things was probably coming as a surprise to Lily. “I told you, I was just curious,” I said.

“But this isn't really how you usually seek answers, you know?” Lily said, gazing into the pit of steam. “You mostly look for answers in the books and documents.”

I looked at the rising steam as well. “I know,” I said, even though I didn't. “But sometimes, books can't give you all the answers. Sometimes, you end up with more questions after reading a book.”

“Really?” Lily said, sounding surprised. “I never would've expected you to say that.”

I smiled wistfully. Old Elsa must've been a total nerd. I leaned ahead on the bannister too. “I wouldn't have either but…I've felt a change in myself. I don't remember ever seeing the kind of things I've seen in the past few days. And I want to see more. Learn more. Learn more than what a book will tell me.”

Lily smiled at me. “I like this change in you, Miss Elsa,” she said. “I like that you are telling me what you have on your mind. I hope this change doesn't go away.”

I turned back to the steaming pit when another voice spoke up, “This was the last place I expected to find you.”

It was General Hopper. Lily and I took our hands off the bannister and regarded the man warily.

“Don't worry,” he said, “I'm not looking to cause any trouble.”

I frowned but I did notice that he was wearing a simple shirt with suspenders, trousers and a long coat. This wasn't his uniform.

“What do you want?” I said, trying to keep my voice steady and my face unreadable.

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Hopper said as he gazed into the pit below.

“Well, then spill it,” Lily said, her jaw was tight.

Hopper said nothing, he simply glimpsed at his pocket watch and looked down into the steaming pit.

Through the darkness and the smoke, a man appeared, standing atop an iron platform that seemed to float on the rising steam. He was dressed in a leather jacket of black and grey and the bottoms of the trousers were covered with red patterns that looked like flames. He wore a large glass sphere on his head and blue steam whirled inside the glass. His hands were raised and he was facing the sky.

Chants and prayer turned louder and more frantic as he rose above the consecutive tiers of the pyramid. People were calling him the Priest of Steam but he looked more like a biker from an 80s sci-fi comic to me.

As the volume of the voices went higher inside the pyramid, Hopper leaned close to me and spoke into my ear, “I know the knife test wasn't real. And you hadn't really cursed me.”