Alistair waited in front of the Resonant Rooms for Kanda. It was night now, and he could hear birds chittering from the trees of the Battledeck Lumina Academy. There were more birds than normal, Alistair assuming they were heading south for winter.

This sparked a memory of his last several autumns in Leander, where he had made a little money cleaning bird shit off the roofs of the homes near his orphanage. It had been grueling work, dangerous, too.

But it was always nice to get paid.

To think that he now could jump from rooftop to rooftop using his powers, that people like Ghost routinely used this mode of travel, only reminded Alistair of how far he had come.

It had been a sudden shift in life and perspective, the darkness always at his heels.

Kanda approached, the older girl seemingly stepping out of the shadows. She had her sword with her, hidden as always. Alistair had his weapon with him too, the lesser of the three swords he currently possessed.

“Let’s go somewhere private.”

“Got it.” Alistair followed Kanda into the closest available Resonant Room.

They two appeared on a platform surrounded by clouds, the sky with a slight twilight feel to it. “Brighter,” Kanda said aloud as the aerwhisps ahead floated into position.

The sky shifted color as she turned to Alistair. “Well?”

Ghost: You first. Show us the cards.

Alistair ignored the assassin in his head.

Earlier, he had checked to see if Lionel, the Umi Hoshi Kraken, was listed in his status. Reviewing his status at the time also told Alistair that he had neglected to use his Void Punch skill in Solaria, which allowed him to strike the air and deliver a punch or melee weapon strike up to thirty meters away, the power of which was multiplied by his STR.

It was something he definitely needed to work on going forward.

“Let’s see what Lionel looks like,” Alistair said as he touched his chest. “Actually, I know what he looks like, but, shit, here we go.”

He cast his hand out and the Abyssal Summon took shape.

Lionel melted up from the ground, shadows pooling all around its form. He grew in size, his form solidifying, dark shoulders broad, head slightly sunk forward, his hollow eye sockets locked onto Alistair. “Not what I expected,” he said in a voice stitched together by nightmares. “But a welcome addition.”

Ghost: I think it senses me.

Alistair: What makes you think that?

Ghost: Notice the way he’s looking at us.

Alistair: He doesn’t have eyes, only eye holes. Lionel is weirding me the hell out.

Ghost: He’s like Noctarii, I believe, only stronger. We can reveal my presence later, but I’ll keep quiet for now. Continue.

“Hi, Lionel,” Alistair said as he took in the strange summon. His skin kept crawling, Lionel bringing an instant creepy factor that Alistair hadn’t experienced with a summon before. At least not one in his possession.

“And you are?” Lionel asked.

“Alistair Blackstar.”

“And he is?”

“No, it’s just me. Alistair Blackstar.”

“And she is?”

The older girl held her head high as she answered: “Kanda Bancroft. Your former summoner was brutally murdered by my uncle, and your Resonant Card was sold off to the highest bidder, Dario Undergast. Alistair and I retrieved your card from his estate.”

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“So you stole me back into captivity.” Lionel ran his hand along his inky chin, which elongated like a gnarled goatee. “Not what I expected. But summons like myself have little control over our own fates, sadly. Tell me more about why you freed me from captivity to place me in captivity.”

“Because you are powerful,” Alistair said.

“I am that. But you aren’t powerful enough to truly wield my potential. I am at Level 49. You are likely in the teens when it comes to your level. I can only perform at your level because our powers are tethered. Does that make sense?”

“I am aware.”

“So I am powerful, but only as powerful as you. Let me ask you in a different way, because going through all the trouble to get me wasn’t easy. At least I imagine it as difficult, especially if you had to commit crimes to do so. What are your intentions?”

Alistair exchanged glances with Kanda.

Alistair: Do we tell him?

Kanda: I don’t see how it would hurt.

Ghost: Why are you stalling? Tell Lionel why we need his help. He is your summon now. He’ll know anyway at some point. And I’ll introduce myself to him later. I don’t like the way he’s looking at us.

Alistair moved into an explanation of what they had uncovered, leaving out the key detail of Ghost’s assassination and how he had been reborn in Alistair’s body. Lionel listened intently as Alistair told him about the impending invasion of the Dracolich Empire, how the Unknown Souls were involved, and what Alistair and Kanda had done since learning of the conspiracy.

“Aside from blowing up a weapon shipment destined for Solaria, we interrupted a masquerade in which their first, um, zombie warriors were revealed,” he said, remembering how horrifying it had been to see Hilda back from the dead.

“And your next plans?”

Kanda stepped forward. “Our next plans are to sneak across the border and disrupt the advance of weaponry from the other side. Sabotage would be another way to describe this.”

“Cross the border?” Alistair asked her.

Ghost: Hey, that was our plan. She wasn’t invited, but I suppose with Juno and Zola already volunteering their presence, we might as well accept the fact that Kanda would be an asset. At least more than Juno would. Because he’s a dumbass.

Alistair: Juno is not a dumbass.

Ghost: Debatable. But now would be the time to listen rather than argue with the assassin begrudgingly stuck in your head.

“You plan to go to the Dracolich Empire?” Lionel asked Kanda, his curiosity piqued. “I haven’t been in ages.”

“Yes. Before leaving Solaria, I was able to look through some of my uncle’s papers. Since his shipment to the capitol was thwarted, he has decided to ship it directly to the border so that the Dracolichs can arm themselves there and then advance on the city. I don’t know why he didn’t just do that in the first place.”

“Plus, there may be someone orchestrating all this from the Dracolich Empire,” Alistair added. “The person who invented the Card of Rebirth, Professor Dreadwell. One of the things the Unknown Souls have been interested in is an assassin that they killed, this guy named Ghost—or some stupid assassin-y name—who didn’t want to go along with the invasion. They still don’t know where he was reborn. But if he was reborn, Professor Dreadwell was as well. Likely across the border.”

Kanda turned to Alistair, and by the look on her face it was clear that she wasn’t quite aware of all these details. Even so, she nodded and waited for Lionel to respond.

“Fascinating. I have met Dreadwell before. I always found him to be a troubling man. You two have given me a lot to consider, and I appreciate it. I believe it best if we know intentions from the start, and ruining a conspiracy to prevent all-out war is one I can appreciate. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Now, I am aware that you are curious about what I can do at your levels. Please summon the aerwhisps.”

Kanda gestured to the aerwhisps. “Armor up,” she told them.

The clouds rippled and twisted into soldiers with giant shields large enough to protect their entire bodies. Spikes took shape along their shoulders and cascaded down their arms. The final touch was a pair of jagged horns, which pressed out of their helms.

“Good.” Darkness pooled around Lionel as he sunk into a self-made abyss. He moved around in this way, like a sentient puddle of mud, before finally coming up behind the two aerwhisps and laying siege.

He began by lashing them with whip-like tendrils, his swift movements able to slice right through their armor. They reformed and he performed a new attack, one in which he disappeared and then came up from the shadows to pull one of the aerwhisps in.

Even if the aerwhisps didn’t have facial expressions, Alistair could tell it was in distress as it was literally pulled into some void.

Ghost: Ask him where it goes.

“Where does it go?” Alistair asked after another puddle of darkness burped the aerwhisp back onto the battlefield.

Lionel tilted his head toward Alistair. “I have access to a pocket realm where I can store a lower level opponent temporarily.”

“Can you store items there?” Kanda asked him.

“I suppose I could. I never used it in that way.”

She nodded from Alistair to Lionel. “You could store your sword in there. And other things. Like explosives.”

Ghost: Swords, but let her continue. This is an excellent option.

“Sword, yes; explosives, no,” Lionel said. “This pocket realm is essentially my stomach. No explosives.”

“Sword is fine by me,” Alistair told the summon.

“Good. Let me show you what else I can do.”