Once Alistair was back in his body, he put his shoes on and moved to the shared living space to find Juno sleeping on the couch, the other boy with his hand tucked under his head, one foot hanging off the edge. Alistair had seen him do this before after sleepwalking, Juno simply finding a new place to rest, and going for it.

“Alistair?” Juno asked as he came awake with a yawn. He wiped the drool from his lips. “Thought I was sleeping, didn’t you?” He changed the tone of his voice. “Wraith never sleeps.”

“I’m glad you are awake,” Ghost said as he took over.

Alistair: What did I—

“Hell yeah, you are, Ghost,” Juno said. He sat up and continued speaking in his Wraith voice. “Are we going out there or what? It’s time for vengeance.”

“We need to meet with Zola, and it is always time for vengeance,” Ghost said.

“That sounds like a yes.” Juno coughed. “Ugh. That voice is hard to do. I don’t know how you always do it.”

“We can just use our normal voices,” Alistair said as he forcibly took over. This involved him having to shake for a split second as Ghost resisted.

Juno eyed him suspiciously. “Are you good, bro? It looks like you just choked on a hairball.”

Alistair let out a deep, troubled breath. “Never been better. Let me see where Zola is.”

Alistair: Hi.

Zola: Hi?

Alistair: Are you at the Archives studying?

Zola: I was just finishing up. And I don’t always study, you know. I volunteer here as well. But to answer your question, yes, I was studying. So I guess you are correct in that assumption. Also, I had a conversation with Lauren.

Alistair: So?

Zola: You know she likes you, right?

Alistair buried his head in his hand.

“What?” Juno asked.

“Zola is at the Archives. She has been talking to Lauren.”

“Ah, heh. You need to make a decision,” Juno said with a grin. “Lauren or Kanda? Personally, I would go with the older chick.” He cracked his knuckles nonchalantly. “Also, Kanda is sort of hot. Lauren isn’t mid, but she’s not as hot as Kanda. My take. Do I sound cool saying that word? Chick? I heard someone say that in Solaria, and I thought it sounded cool. I could test it on Zola. What’s up, chick?”

“Maybe not,” Alistair said as he grabbed his overcoat. As he slipped into the coat, he sent a message to Zola telling her to meet them in front of the Archives.

“Want to grab a bite to eat?,” Juno asked as he drummed his fingers on his stomach. “I’m sure Ziggy wouldn’t mind.”

“That could work,” Alistair said, recalling that he had recently done something similar with Kanda. The seating out in front of the dining hall was perfect for conversation like this because it was out in the open, and there usually wasn’t anyone around.

As they left their dormitory, Alistair ignored the things Ghost continued to say about Juno, which was starting to get under his skin. While Juno wasn’t perfect, he was the first person to show kindness to Alistair. He continued to show that kindness, even during times of distress, like when they were forced to fight against one another, or back in Tarnis’ dungeon.

Yet as much as it pained Alistair to admit it, there were some truths to the assassin’s words.

For one, neither Juno nor Zola knew the extent of what Kanda was planning. They didn’t yet know that side of the older girl, the one who would take over the Bancroft fortune and would seek to crush anyone who stood in her way. And they certainly didn’t know that she would likely be a future foe.

Kanda was dangerous. She also was well aware of Ghost’s presence, which Alistair had managed to keep from Juno and Zola. It was one of those things that Alistair secretly prided himself on. Not the deception part. He simply didn’t want them to ever know about the assassin, he hoped for a day when Ghost wasn’t living in his head, even if the assassin didn’t bother them all the time.

And when that day came, if it was possible to ever come, Alistair hoped that his two best friends would never learn of the things he had done, or the assassin that had possessed him. This wasn’t quite the status of the dying wish, but he held it that way, and he knew that there was always potential for Kanda to use this as leverage.

“There she is,” Juno said as he spotted Zola in front of the Archives. “Come on, we’re going for a late night snack.”

“Didn’t you already have dinner?” she asked as the two boys approached.

“What’s wrong with a post-dinner meal?” Juno asked. “You must be hungry from all that studying. Your brain needs to eat too, you know.”

“I wasn’t just studying. How many times have I told you two that I work there?” She gestured wildly toward the Wraithen Archives.

“How’s Ol’ Lorcan doing?” Juno asked, referring to the Chief Historian.

“He’s been off the last week to take care of his mother.”

“Oh?” The smirk on Juno’s face faded. “She did seem a little batshit when Alistair and I last saw her. That feels so long ago. But I hope she’s well. Should we visit?”

“What?” Zola asked.

“Right, right,” Juno said. “We have to go to Solaria tomorrow and two other places from there. No time to visit a poor old lady hell-bent on uncovering arcane secrets.”

“Actually, that’s sort of what I wanted to talk about,” Alistair said.

“Arcane secrets?” Juno asked.

“No, our trip, but something along the lines of arcane secrets as well. Let’s get some food and take one of the outside seats.”

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“I’m not eating. But I will meet you all outside,” Zola told the two as they turned in the direction of the dining hall.

Once they were there, Alistair and Juno picked up some of the late-night offerings, which consisted of baked potatoes, bread, and numerous garnishings. While Juno filled his plate with everything, Alistair just selected a single potato and a bread roll for Ziggy. He summoned the slime at their outdoor table, who happily ate the roll. Squish!

“Heh, I fucking love Ziggy,” Juno said as he tossed the slime a bit of potato.

Alistair decided to just come right out with it: “I need to tell you all everything that’s about to happen, so bear with me for a moment. I also have some things related to it that I wanted to discuss with you, Zola, but will get there. First, Kanda.” He lowered his voice. “Kanda isn’t what she seems.”

“She’s Bancroft’s alleged daughter,” Zola said, “of course she isn’t what she seems.”

“She wants to kill her uncle, and she is planning to do that this weekend.”

“Say whaaaaaa?” Juno asked as a bit of potato flew out of his mouth. It just so happened to strike Zola, who tensed up. “Sorry!” He handed her a napkin.

“Just be careful! I woul ask what’s wrong with you, but we are beyond the point of getting to the bottom of that. What were you saying, Alistair? Kill?” Zola whispered. “Kill Felix Bancroft?”

“Kill. She is ready to take over his organization now, especially with the fact she has the dungeon core card that Tarnis gave her.”

“And I was just saying she was hot,” Juno lamented. “I didn’t know she was evil hot. And what about school? If she becomes an underworld crime boss, what about her Skyward year?”

“I don’t know about that part,” Alistair said, “but I do know about the dungeon core card. She wants to use it to trap him in a dungeon that he can’t free himself from.”

“Wait,” Juno said to Zola, covering his mouth this time, “is that what that card can do? I thought it just allows you to create a dungeon.”

Zola let out a deep breath: “A dungeon is first created in a pocket realm where it fuses with a mechanical summon to then be transferred here.” She held up her hand as Juno started to ask another question. “Why do you all think I am working in the Archives? Have we covered this before? I have better access to not necessarily secret, but guarded information. And some of that information happened to be a book written by T-A-R-N-I-S about dungeons.”

“Why did you spell his name out?” Juno asked.

“It seemed suspenseful.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, it was a little suspenseful.”

“Thank you.”

“You know you love me, Zolski.”

She gave Juno a funny look. “Anyway, I read about what the dungeon core card actually is, and I got to thinking of why Kanda would want something like that. I didn’t realize it was because she was planning to trap her uncle, but—”

“Oh. Oh, shit!” Alistair slammed a fist against the stone table, which caused Ziggy to jump back in fright.

Squish! The slime leaped to Juno’s shoulder.

“Oh, shit, what?” Juno asked Alistair. “Easy, Ziggy.” He gave the slime a bite from his fork.

Squish… squish…

“That’s an even better idea,” Alistair said. “We need that card. We really need that card.”

“What?” Zola asked.

Ghost: Try not to bring attention to the fact we’re sitting out here scheming in ways that the administration here could hardly fathom. Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting? Come out with it, Alistair.

“Sorry,” Alistair whispered. “Look, I wanted to ask you about something else after he finished this conversation. So let’s just forget my little outburst there and we will get to it.”

“How are we supposed to forget that?” Zola asked. “And why do we need the dungeon core card?”

“It’s about the Dracolich Empire.”

“All of this is about the Empire. What’s your point?” Zola asked. “Alistair, if—”

“I can’t believe we’re going to go there,” Juno said, interrupting Zola. “Melissa would be so jelly. She always wanted to visit. She was sort of obsessed with it, you know, back in Solaria, especially with all the information my dad would bring home.”

“You can’t tell her,” Zola said. “Obviously. What we’re doing is not only illegal, but incredibly risky.”

“What? No, fuck that. I won’t say anything, trust me.” Juno ate more of his potato. “What? I’m being honest.”

“It’s not a game, Juno.”

“I never said it was.”

“We are going to be risking our lives here.”

“I…” Juno swallowed. “I’m aware of that.”

“How can you be so casual about it? It’s been the only thing I’ve been thinking about all week.” Zola sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. “I can even believe I have agreed to do this, but I’m doing it for the kingdom. The kingdom that has up until this point…” She locked eyes with Alistair. “You get it.”

“Look, you might feel that the kingdom hasn’t taken the best care of you,” Juno told her, “and I am fully aware that it has taken the absolute best care of me, but… But…” He grew flustered. “We have to do something. And if we get too many people involved, people like my father, it’s not going to work out the way we would like. I can tell you that. Vigilante justice, Zola. Sometimes, it’s the only way.”

Ghost: For once, I agree with Juno. Still, get control of the situation. You still need to get to Dreadwell. And you need to confirm what you said earlier.

“Listen,” Alistair told his friends. “We’re trying to do this with the least risk possible, right? All three of us know that’s not likely how this is going to play out. It will be dangerous, which is why I wanted to talk about Kanda first. What she wants to do is insane, basically, an all-out assault on her uncle. The reason this could be a problem for us is because we still have plans to cross the border and we will have to transfer back through Solaria.”

“Unless we went a different way,” Juno said.

“My portal is already set there.”

“You visited Solaria?” he asked Alistair.

“Earlier this week, yes, so that will be the easiest way for us to return here. If Kanda takes out her uncle before we leave for the border, it could create havoc when we return, especially if she fails. If we try to do it after, we will likely be exhausted, especially with how difficult this trip may be.”

Ghost: Actually, now that we hash this out, we can probably take a carriage from Marrowstone, but that’s a long journey. I’m talking days. And we’d have to arrange it ahead of time.

Juno gave another bite to Ziggy. “Then what?”

“That’s what I wanted to run by you all. But now that Zola has mentioned the dungeon card, I have a new idea, but before I tell you, there is more to this story. A lot more. Have either of you heard of Professor Dreadwell?”

“You mean bro-bro who has tons of statues around here?” Juno asked. “Wait. Statue guy is bad?”

“He’s bad,” Alistair said. “Real bad.”

“What’s so bad about him?” Zola asked Alistair.

“Before I get to that I have one question related to the dungeon core card. Knowing it will better frame Dreadwell’s role.”

Zola looked at him hesitantly. “Go on…”

Alistair thought for a moment how he should say this. There were a lot of pieces to follow, but if anyone could do it, if anyone could get to the bottom of it, it was Zola. “If someone had something like, I don’t know, a Card of Rebirth, and they were trapped in a pocket realm dungeon created by a core, if and when they finally died, would they be trapped there, or would their soul return here?”

Ziggy’s black eyes bulged as Juno gave him more food. Squish…

Alistair continued: “Follow-up question: if Lionel, who can store items in his pocket realm of a stomach, stored a person with this kind of card, one that would let them be reborn, what then? Same question as the first thing I asked, just a different, um, medium. If someone is stored in a pocket realm or pocket space, perhaps one created by a dungeon core card, what are the effects of any forbidden card they might possess?”

Zola cast a wary glance at Alistair. “Those are very specific questions.”

“The answer to those questions dictates what we do next. Well? What do you think?”