When Clutter finally comes out of the bathroom, I wave to get his attention and pull him away from going right back to Dell. He tilts his head at me and follows without hesitation, and… there’s still a mark on his face. It’s like a little… pinch? Probably just a hickey. I shake my head and refocus; there’s way more important things going on right now.

I drop a purification coin at my feet. Clutter gasps, but when he sees the salty mist burst into being, he relaxes. It’s not like I think Dell has her own house bugged, but better safe than sorry.

“You can’t tell Dell my name.” I say quietly. “She’s working with my enemies.”

His eyes go wide, and his mouth opens to say something loud. I grab his face with my hand and hold up one finger to my own mouth. Even though his eyes stay the same size, he seems to get the message.

“No yelling, please. Just talk loud enough that Dell can kind of hear us, but not tell what we’re saying. Can you do that for me?” I stare into his eyes, and he slowly nods. “Thank you very much. I just want you to know that I’m not here to try and destroy your relationship, so for your own safety, you can tell Dell that I was lying to you when things eventually go down.”

He swallows hard as I remove my hand. “But that means things are going to happen, right? What’s going to happen to you?”

I blow out a long breath and shrug. “No idea, Clutter. Hopefully the horizonguard and Miss S. will be able to do something, but if it comes down to it, I have the nuclear option.”

“Illumisia.” He whispers reverently.

“...Yeah.” I frown. “How do you know that?”

He glances away. “I… um… promise you won’t be mad?”

“No.” I state flatly.

“Oh. Um… do you promise you won’t hurt me?”

“Of… of course I won’t hurt you. I’m not that kind of person, Clutter–I only hurt people that deserve it. At least I’m pretty sure–I’ll have to do some memory digging if you want a full count.”

He laughs a little. It’s awkward, but… real. “Illumisia told me herself. I… know she can talk to you. She made me promise I wouldn’t tell anyone, but when she went to do whatever she’s doing right now, she made sure I knew you weren’t included in ‘anyone’.”

Illumisia told him? That really doesn’t sound like her. Except it kind of does explain how she worked with Clutter for the entire time I wasn’t here. Actually, if I think about it a little more, it does make sense that she would flex her power and kind of… force Clutter into servitude.

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. “She isn’t threatening you, is she?”

Clutter straightens a little too hard. “No. She isn’t.”

So that’s a yes. I’ll have to talk to Illumisia about that when we get a moment without anyone around. Actually, Clutter can be in on the conversations now–so she can get grilled while he watches. She’ll hate that.

“Fine. We’ll leave that for now, and circle back to it later. So–no telling Dell my name, no letting it slip that I’m working with who I’m working with, and make sure you don’t get caught in the crossfire when things go down. Got it?”

“Understood loud and clear.” He confirms. “And… um… thanks for trusting me. It feels nice.”

I purse my lips without saying anything. His expression doesn’t change, and he turns away with his tail halfway to wagging. If he’s actually known about Illumisia for a while, then he’s done a damn good job at keeping her secret. And… what if he didn’t tell Dell my name on purpose? Even if Illumisia told him not to, he’s still the one that kept the secret. So I can trust him for anything but combat.

Before the quest starts, I absolutely need to judge that. To find out if the thing at the graveyard was the exception or the norm.

“You’re planning something, aren’t you?”

I raise an eyebrow at the sound of Clutter’s voice. “Mh?”

He gestures at Dell’s closed door. “You definitely did something to her shipments. It’s what I would do if I wanted to hurt the people someone was working with, not just the person. Do you need me to do anything?”

“What makes you think…” I trail off, then shake my head. “Nevermind; you’re right. If you can just ask her if she’s going to make the shipments on time, while you reference the labels, then that’s perfect.”

“I can definitely do that.” He grabs the door handle and gently twists it. “See you when the clothes are ready!”

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Sitting and waiting while Clutter is in there with Dell is strangely uncomfortable. I just have this feeling that there’s something happening in there–but I have no idea what it is. They could be talking about how to screw me over, or they could just be making out, or Clutter could be doing exactly what he said he’d do.

Yet, for some reason, I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m overlooking something. Illumisia’s illusory clone brushes up against my leg in a mess of sensations that I know aren’t real, and she looks up at me with an unreadable expression.

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“Clutter is stronger than you think, yet weaker than you know.” She says cryptically. “Continue to help him and he will be a powerful ally. Leave him to fester and he will be less than nothing. Either way, he will not bring you harm. I have made sure of that.”

I reach down and scratch the top of Illumisia’s head. “Don’t bully him too much, you hear me?”

She snorts disdainfully. “I have done nothing of the sort for months now. From what you told me… I recommend you take Clutter with you on the quest. It will be highly beneficial for both you and him.”

“Well, if you’re not bullying him, then are you developing a little bit of a soft spot for your bipedal siblings?”

“No.” She snaps. “They are a group of system-uplifted mongrels who have forgotten what they once were. It will take a very long time to undo the propaganda they have suffered for untold centuries.”

Right. Because wanting to save your kinsmen with hard work of your own definitely isn’t ‘developing a soft spot’ for them. But from the way Illumisia huffs and sits down on her haunches, eyes locked in the direction of Dell’s room and her body language completely closed off, this part of the conversation is over.

“How about you?” I gently tap on Pearl’s shell. “What do you think of all this?”

“What do I think? Ha.” Pearl puffs out her chest and crosses her arms. “I have absolutely no idea what I think! People in love do really weird things for really weird reasons, so it’s super hard to judge them! But Dell is also part of the preservation, so I completely hate her.”

“Seconded.” Illumisia grumbles.

A very small part of me says I should play devil’s advocate here. The entire rest of my being relentlessly bullies and mocks it into submission. Dell’s moment of reckoning is going to be when she sees the truth about the Preservation. Only question is if Clutter will want to stay by her side, or kick her to the curb.

I know it’s selfish of me, but I hope he chooses the resort’s side. We can use all the support we can get in this world.

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Half an hour later they finally leave the room. I look up at the sound, send away my Class Card, and raise an eyebrow at the new kiss mark on Clutter’s neck. He raises a hand to cover it and smiles awkwardly, but before he can get a word out, Dell tosses a bundle of cloth at me.

“There you go. I’ll get your clothes from the dryer while you change.” She says and walks right past me. “Good luck with your quest. Don’t let Clutter break.”

I hold up the clothes with a nod. “I won’t let him get hurt. Thanks again.”

She nods back and disappears down the hallway. Clutter raises his own bundle of fabric, then ducks back into Dell’s sewing room and pulls the door shut behind him. I push off the wall I was leaning against and beeline for the bathroom, silently rip open the door, and pull it shut behind me.

With a flick of my wrist, the clothes unfurl into a simple black dress–which is a little shorter than I’d like–but definitely looks well made. Not as good as the stuff I got from Sami, that’s for sure, but I don’t think anything else could be. Except for one major distinction; this stuff absolutely reeks of magic. And my awareness can’t tell what kind of magic it is.

“Pearl.” I whisper. “You too, Illumisia. Can either of you make out what’s in these things? Or should I just purify them the second we’re far enough away?”

Illumisia presses her nose against the dress and takes a long sniff. “There are protective magics woven into the fibers, but they are solely to protect the fibers. It is as strong as stone, though as you can see, it retains its malleability.”

“It’s also temperature controlled, and should stick to your body instead of falling. There’s also… um…” Pearl trails off as she squints at the fabric. “I think there’s some kind of shadow spell in here too. Why would there be a shadow spell in here?”

I hold the dress at arms’ length. “Is there anything that could track, hurt, or hinder me?”

Both of them shake their heads at the same time.

“Well, then I guess there’s no reason I can’t put it on.” I shift off my bathrobe and shimmy into the dress. It sticks to my skin as it flows over my body like a shadow made of fabric, and when I smooth it out, it’s somehow thinner than a fingernail. “Oh, wow. Thank god for Illumisia’s flesh transfusion, or else I would definitely be bulging out of this.”

“It looks as if someone painted a dress onto you.” Illumisia states. “Yet it shows no hint of your undergarments. Such an amusing use of magic.”

I nod in agreement and twist to see how the dress reacts to my movements. Instead of the pull and resistance of fabric, it feels like absolutely nothing. The dress shifts like it is a part of my body, and as I watch myself in the mirror, it somehow looks perfectly natural. Even when I lift a leg, which should definitely make it ride up, it shows nothing.

“Wow. Talk about a dress designed to live in.” I begrudgingly compliment Dell’s work as I pin Fleur’s brooch over my chest. “I wonder if Sami could replicate this if I bring it back; I’d love some pants, a shirt, and a jacket made of this stuff.”

With a completely unnecessary smooth-down of the shadowy dress, I nod at myself in the mirror and hang the bath robe back up on its hook. Then I open the bathroom door, check the hallway for Dell, and step out once I’m sure it’s clear. Another click accompanies Clutter leaving Dell’s room, and instead of a high-class garment like mine, Dell left him some clothes that look like trendy street fashion from back on Earth.

“How do I look?” He asks, spreading his arms to present himself with a wagging tail.

My awareness feels Dell walk up from behind me before I hear her. “You look great, Clutter.” She says as she hands me my freshly washed clothes. “Will you be coming back here tonight?”

He shakes his head as she hands him his clothes. “I don’t want to risk you getting hurt. I’ll see if my usual place has any rooms left, or I’ll go stay with Dizzy if it doesn’t.”

“Alright. Stay safe, you two.” Dell looks between us, then ducks back into her room. The rhythmic clicking of a sewing machine hums to life not five seconds later.

I share a look with Clutter, who nods and motions at the door. We quietly move to leave, but just before we do, I feel at the relocation coins I left in Dell’s room. They’re all still in place, and don’t feel like they moved at all. I’m going to be one nasty surprise for the assholes in charge of their attempt to take over Palastia in a few weeks.

With that pleasant thought at the forefront of my mind, I step out of Dell’s apartment and Clutter closes the door behind me. We walk in silence down the hall, down the stairs, and onto the streets below. Clutter’s oddly quiet through the entire thing, and far less energetic in literally everything he does.

“You alright, buddy?”

He startles, then puts on a smile. “Oh, um, yes. I’m good! I’m thinking a lot, but I’m good. Follow me to the jewelry store.”