There was quite likely to be a point in my life where I’d look back on the two weeks spent resting with Pearl or these odd occasions we had all sat around and just lived a little. Hopefully, not anytime soon, and during a flashback of my life. Things seemed to be getting worse day by day - yet also better. Like ducklings huddling from the storm, my personal life had become vibrant and warm, whereas my professional one was muddied and chilling.

We descended down the basement stairs to find that Pearl and Wight had arranged some blankets on the floor in one corner away from the portal and other furnishings of the room. Pillows and cushions had been arranged into four seating places in a brief circle. Both she and Wight were already sitting beside each other, and they looked up at us pensively.

“I saw this was how you got the true name from that demon,” Pearl began, eying the Blank but still remaining friendly. “That better not be the outcome here.”

“Oh, no.” Rodney shook his head. “I have no intention - and uh, would stop it if I felt that happening.” He sat down opposite her with an awkward smile, leaving me the one between them and opposite Wight.

He continued, seeing as he was our guide here. “Meditation is more about relaxing and emptying your mind - so don’t even try to fill me with your, uh, energies, I guess?”

“What’s the reason for linking hands, then?” I sat down and shuffled into the cushion to get comfortable.

“Well, probably nothing would happen… but after last night, I’m leaving the door open. Figuratively.” He grimaced.

[Eric will find this very difficult.]

My patron was correct. “No, I won’t.”

Pearl rolled her eyes and seemed to relax a little more, giving me a grin.

“Alright, we’ll begin then, I suppose. I usually try to do ten minutes - but feel free to tap out if you get bored sooner.”

We each gave our nods and held our hands. I took Rodney’s and Pearl’s, as did Wight, and we had formed a small circle.

I noticed Pearl furtively glancing at the stairwell. “I locked the door.”

She nodded and relaxed again. If Watcher intended to surprise us whilst we were busy doing Rodney things, then he would be hard-pressed to appear from anywhere in the basement, with little to no cover large enough. That was my hope and intention, at least.

We followed the Blank in taking a deep breath and closing our eyes. My consciousness was placed back into pitch darkness like it seemed to gravitate towards. There was a knack for Eric Redd to lull himself towards the void, and if part of my destiny was to illuminate it, then it was a short hope that I would not be snuffed out before I had the chance.

I realized my brain had been running full stop, my desire for introspective noir and trying to pick apart all the oddities in my life becoming an unstoppable train of… Alright, I would try to stop.

At first, it was difficult. I kept thinking about Gunther, or the Org, sometimes even pancakes. But then there was…

Silence.

An emptiness that felt oppressive at first, and then I slowly got used to it.

I floated in a blank landscape of nothing. Not really darkness, and not really light. Just nothing. The only thing I was aware of was my breathing, but I accepted it and didn’t dare tarnish this brief success with errant worries.

> You Need To Become Stronger.

The words felt odd. I didn’t necessarily hear them or read them with my eyes - but still, they parsed straight into my brain without jostling me from my meditative state. They were unequivocally true. I did need to become stronger.

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> Feast Upon Power, And I Will Reward You.

Ah. It was something that wanted a place at the party. My head was at full occupancy.

“I have prior commitments.” There was confusion at how I was speaking, as my mouth did not move - but it seemed we were beyond the normal procedures at this point. I was required to kill things with Pearl’s dagger to earn back her Wings and human Mask; it would hardly be fair to absorb things for this new voice as well.

> I Am Not Opposed To Sharing.

“Who are you?” A fair question, just so I could update my checklist. My mental hotel was rather busy as of late, and I needed to maintain the ledger.

> We Have Met Previously, Lantern.

That didn’t exactly narrow it down. But then, I started to notice something. Along the edges of the voice, as if the letters themselves were crinkled when observed closely - despite not being written down. Gently, the words steamed and hissed, barely audible to my ears. Or however this was working.

“Oh, it’s you. Do you have a name?”

> Many. I Believe You Prefer To Call Me Rat God.

My brain cringed away. Had I just renamed this portent of doom with something so basic? If I had known that, I would have taken it a little more seriously. I added Rat God to my collection of impossibly zany yet incomprehensibly destructive known entities. Maybe I had become too accepting.

“What do you ask of me?” If he said kill all demons, I might become fully unhinged - a door laying on the floor in complete despair and lack of function.

> Restore Balance. Persist In Your Destined Path. Feed Me.

I was not a fan of how the Rat God decided to capitalize every word in my unseeing mind. Each phrase was a terrible log line to the Eric Redd Goes Insane movie. At least it wasn’t shouting in bold type.

“Any further boons you can grant me, ones that don’t explode me?”

> In Due Course. Persist, Lantern. Illuminate The Coming Night.

And with that, my eyes flicked open. I blinked several times and took a deep breath, as if I had been holding it. Wight sat opposite me, but the other two had gone.

[Anything interesting, Eric?]

“Marp,” my tongue sluggishly regained proper use. “Uh, the others?”

[After twenty minutes the Rodney said something about an epiphany and went home. The Pearl soon grew bored and went to attend other business. It has been two hours since then.]

“Ah.” I watched his beak close once the words had finished dropping out. “I had a visit from our large eldritch friend.”

[You’ll have to be more specific, Eric.]

“Very funny." I slumped down to the floor and covered my face. “Why can it never be simple? Ever since the saloon, I feel like things have been going at an unbelievable pace.”

[We... have the house to ourselves.]

I bit my lip. Dare we? My heart thumped in my chest. I wanted it desperately; there could be no denying it.

“Alright. Nothing too gross, or Pearl will be able to smell it on me.” I practically leaped to my feel in my adrenaline-fueled decision.

[Go get ready, I’ll set things up down here.]

With a nod, I practically ran up the stairs. My eyes darted around the hallway and briefly into the dining room to check there was no danger or potential interruptions. Nothing. Into the bedroom to get into something more comfortable. Full leathers, as was my preference - weapons on my hips and at the ready for action.

I paused, half expecting Pearl to emerge from the en-suite to figuratively throw cold water on my plans. The door remained closed, however. We kept them all closed now, aside from the dining room - if one opened, it was potential danger. Perhaps I should leave her a message to let her know where we were… no, it would be a short event. A little danger to blow off steam and feel grounded again.

My descent to the basement was slower, almost as though I was giving someone the chance to stop us. There was a little guilt over the deceit, a secret burrowing its way into my heart. Technically, this was sort of my job - although the Org hadn’t assigned me a specific quest.

I shut the basement door behind me as I came to find Wight hitting the buttons on the portal device to find our intended location. To my amused surprise, he had folded the blankets and placed them in a neat pile with the cushions and pillows stacked on top and beside. Certainly not what I had expected when he had said he was going to set things up.

“What’s the damage, then? What are we up against?”

[Something new. I’ve had this one memorized for a while.]

New sounded both dangerous and interesting. Despite the countless types of demons, we had spent most of our time around pigmen and mantids. Variety was nice - although that brought up a looming memory.

“Is there a way to send messages across the Lowers?”

Wight stood up from the machine as the runes around the metal frame began to light up in a swirling amber. He scratched at the side of his head with a clawed hand.

[For what purpose?]

“I’m the leader of a gang, right? Would be handy to give them directions or targets - put them to work.” It sounded like it would be a short-term endeavor, but if I could use some demons to kill other demons, that brought my inevitable holiday a few days closer, at least.

[I may be able to do something. What message would you want to convey?]

“If you could tell them,” I scratched at my beard, “do some hit-and-run raids on pigmen. I feel like punching down a bit, and those piggies are my least favorite. Don’t say that whole bit though - stop after my first sentence.”

[Okay. I’m not doing it right now anyway.]

I smiled at my patron as the glow of the portal becoming active illuminated my glasses in bright red.

“Well then, let’s go kill some demons.”