Huddling together with Vee and Cinder by the dream-fire I felt rather warm, as if I was no longer the four empty shells of my fractured psyche that sought only vengeance, but as someone nearly whole who finally found something to be happy about.

"Vee?" I asked, eyeing the Thunderbird's feathers as they gradually shifted from black to white and to black again. "Are your feathers changing?"

"Ye," she replied. "They're electroactive and electrochromic strata. Depending on how much current passes from my Fractal Engine heart core to each feather, each can get longer, shorter, darker or lighter."

"Neat," I said. "So, that's your Phase-Shift basically?"

"Ye." She nodded tapping the front of her beak and making it turn white from black. "Nothing as fancy as rainbow-bae over here but it does classify as your average Omnid Phase-Shift. The happier I am, the whiter the edges of my feathers become."

I looked at her almost entirely black feather self, guessing that she was very upset right now about what she saw in Cinder's memories.

"So, could you turn into a full-on Thunderbird?" I asked.

"Maybe... if I invest enough points into it over a few centuries," she shrugged.

"Thunderbird minds don't decay with age, right?"

"Some do, some don't," she said. "It depends. All deity-based Omnids are basically capable of reaching eternity. In my case, it's deeds of greatness."

"What kind of deeds?"

"Any kind. As long as I pull one of those off once every century, leave an impact on the world, I can keep going forever. In Thunderland, they call the Immortal Thunderbirds who produce world-changing tech Leigong - their achievements in mundane and magitek products used by billions resonate across the entire world like the beat of a drum."

"Which category improves an Omnid's Phase-Shifting abilities?"

"The Phase-Shift skill," she replied. "Which overall relies on how many points you got in general categories like Charisma or Strength. Example - more points in Charisma, better you get at mentally manipulating others. More points in Strength - the stronger you can get during Phase-Shift."

"I see," I nodded. "And points come from where?"

"From XP," Vee replied. "Which comes from killing stuff and absorbing its Astral imprint for XP or killing magically-potent monsters and eating them which gradually adds more aetheric density to our physical bodies. Lazarus bracelets help calculate and distribute it all evenly so that there are no problems."

"Is there a limit to how magically dense an Omnid's body can become?"

"Nope. It's a hella gradual process though."

I noticed that Cinder had closed her eyes and was now leaning against Vespera's left side, snoozing softly.

"Is she asleep in her own dream?" I asked.

"Ye." Vee snapped her talons over Cinder. "She totes is."

"You can do that? Sleep in a dream?"

"Generally, you can do whatever you want to in a dream, even have a nap," Vespera replied. "Ci has clearly been traumatized and suffering for a long time now. This is just a little step across a very long-ass road to recovery. She needs rest, so she's resting."

"Dreaming within a dream?"

"No," Vespera said. "She's dreaming of nothing now. The parasitic Outsider won't allow her to dream within a dream. Cinder's soul and Fractal Engine core are badly fractured."

"How bad?"

"Very, very bad," Vespera replied, brushing her mane with her hand. "And I feel pretty awful about it. Some protector spirit, I am. This little rainbow's been my best friend since grade nine at Skyfall and yet I fucked things up so bad because of my own selfishness."

I looked at her.

"Even though Ci and I had tons of classes together, plus Arx delving, plus D&D shows, we sorta drifted apart from each other. I got so deep into my fake ass dumb beerch Valley girl persona that I pushed her away. Far away. Further than I ever wanted to. We were all much happier back then, full of hopes and dreams. She used to sing on Arx, you know. Just compose songs about this and that. I thought it was silly back then, but now I miss that cheerful part of her."

"And now?"

"Now," Vespera said. "Now we are sinking into our own personal mires for different reasons and nobody is helping anyone. But you are changing that and I'm glad. I just... I worry that it'll be too late for Ci. That she's going to end up dead, not wake up as herself one day."

She sighed.

"To be completely honest I have no idea how to save Ci. With all of my Dreamancy skills I'm less than nothing against a 40k Outsider entity," Vespera added. "I just don't have the tools to help her here, or anywhere really. But I'm going to try my hardest, 'cus she is my friend even though I haven't really been showing it much for the past two years."

"You should tell her that," I said.

"Eh," Vespera shrugged. "We are in her dream. She's listening, subconsciously. She will remember my words when she wakes up. Hopefully it'll help breach the gap between us, for what little it's worth."

Vespera wrapped her hands around Cinder, petting her silver-blue feathers. "I'm sorry for being so effin' blind. For closing my eyes, for letting you fall into the Abyss. I'll try to save you. Ye? Yeah."

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We sat in silence for a while, enjoying the dream camping experience and our closeness. The Thunderbird closed her eyes as the rain tapped on her wings held above me like a dark canopy

"What sort of hopes and dreams did you have in grade nine?" I asked.

"Mmmmm." Vespera opened a single gray eye to look at me. "To build something unique, something incredible, something truly magical. Something that no Thunderbird's done before. To become the youngest Leigong of my generation."

"You'll get your chance," I said.

"What? Where? How?" She asked.

"Here," I said. "On Arx. This week."

"This week?!" She sputtered.

"I can do a lot in a week," I said. "Got tight deadlines."

"Really now?" The Thunderbird stared at me. "You can do in a week what I failed to do in three years?"

"Really," I said. "With some elbow grease, rainbow and thunder I think that we can build something truly unique here. Something exceptional."

"Well now you're just teasing me," Vespera smiled. "Are you going to fess up your devious plan?"

"Not yet," I said. "It'll be a big surprise."

----------------------------------------

We stayed in the Gloomy Horse for breakfast, having climbed to the top deck. The old tower atop of the cavern had the view of the entire gloom-filled cavern-city. Guild Master Motrdem recommended us the spot, setting up a table with coffee, croutons and steaks for us amidst a bunch of old, dusty tables.

According to him, there had been a cafe here once, but it has slowly fallen into disuse due to lack of customers who wanted to climb the old tower stairs.

The view was as gloomy as always, so I kept my eyes on Katherine. The Stollwurm had abandoned her damaged puffy coat entirely, showing off her combat hexasuit-wrapped curves. Her fluffy ears moved left and right listening to the distant sounds of Undertown conversations below us as she devoured her breakfast of extra-rare steak.

"Stop staring," she growled between bites. "Don't you already have two girlfriends?"

"I don't have any girlfriends," I protested. "There's no official paperwork confirming my 'ships. Just... appreciating my favorite dragon-cat."

Katherine's emerald eyes flashed. "Flattery will get you nowhere."

"I'm not trying to get anywhere," I said. "Just noting that you look much better without that coat hiding you. More... free. Happy. Satisfied."

"My coat serves a purpose."

"Yeah, by hiding the real you," I nodded. "Making you look bulky, angry and unapproachable instead of graceful and deadly."

"Will you stop flirting with everyone?" Cinder kicked me under the table.

"The flirting will continue until you sign a 'ship contract," I said.

"A what contract?" Cinder sputtered. "Who starts a relationship with a contract?!"

Vee was trying very hard not to laugh. Then she cackled anyway, spitting crumbs all over.

"You heard me," I said. "I'm tired of being called 'your human' without proper paperwork defining the hows, ifs and whens. Either sign up or stop getting jealous when I admire our lovely Knight."

Cinder aimed another kick at my shins, but her bracelet suddenly vibrated. She tapped it with a clawed finger. A holo-projection of Quint's head manifested in the air woven from blue and silver sparks.

"Status report, Captain Cinder," he asked.

Cinder blinked, looking momentarily caught off-guard. She glanced at me, her wings shifting through nervous grays.

"We're... fine," she said. "Currently having breakfast. No major incidents."

"Have you registered your team at the Adventurers Guild?" Quint asked.

"Um..." Cinder mewled. "Not... exactly."

"Not exactly?" Quint asked. "What does 'not exactly' mean?"

I unclipped the silver token from Cinder's wrist and clipped it to mine.

"Sup pres," I said.

"Hello to you too, Mr. Glock," Quint said. "Why haven't you registered yourself at the Guild?"

"Why? Is there a deadline?" I asked. "We're still exploring the markets and merchants, learning the local customs and laws. Come on, it's only our second day. As I love You's Quartermaster I find our team woefully unprepared for facing registration hardships!"

"Registration hardships?" Quint's boney eyes-holes flared brighter. "What registration hardships could possibly exist?"

"Well," I began, leaning back in my chair. "Have you considered the complex socio-economic implications of inter-species team dynamics when navigating bureaucratic infrastructure in a temporal-dilated dimension?"

Katherine huffed into her water. Vespera burst into snickers. Cinder simply stared at me. Io sent me a thumbs up.

Quint's holographic image stared at me for a long moment.

"You're stalling," he said flatly.

"Fine," I said. "I'm afraid of getting exposed as a low level Thunderbird. It's embarrassing. We didn't do levelling or delving at Saint Christopher's Academy. If Emerald finds out she'll make fun of me forever."

"He's a what? WHAT?" Emerald's armored paw shoved Quint's face aside. "You're a human, not a Thunderbird! You're just scared of being exposed and booted out of Skyfall! Get your ass to the cathedral NOW or else!"

"Oh no," I made a pouting face. "Now she knows. Thanks a lot, Quint."

"Stop being a smart-ass and get yourself registered," Emerald snarled through the hologram. "I'll drag you to the Guild myself if I have to! You can't avoid this forever. Pick one - you either fail to register and your entire team fails this class or you get exposed as a human. Either way I win."

"Oh my," I gasped dramatically. "Do you care about me that much, Emmy? Sorry, bae, I'm already in a lovely 'ship with Vee and Ci. You missed your boat. It was never going to work out between us. I'm a human and you're a dragon. You're fire and I'm steak. I'm going to have to decline your date invitation."

"You..." Emerald sputtered through the hologram, smoke rising from her gemstone hair. "You absolute effin' sack of...!"

"Language," I chided. "There are children present."

"What children?!"

"I'm at a respectable five star cafe! Can you put Quint back on? He's much more polite. You do know that your hostility will get you nowhere? Bad karma and such."

"KARMA?!" Emerald roared through the hologram. "I'll show you bad karma when I find you, you... Hey... HEY! Watch where you're rolling that stupid dung cart... ARughfhffhff!"

I watched as Emerald flew out of view as something poured all over her. After a few seconds of blue-white static Quint's head returned to the view.

"My apologies," he said. "A merchant cart lost a wheel right next to our table. About that Guild registration..."

"Working on it," I said cheerfully, lifting a fork with a steak piece to my mouth dramatically. "Just need to finish hearty breakfast first. Is Em okay? That cart accident looked nasty. How's Sol doing?"

"Em is... indisposed," Quint replied carefully. "As is Solace who is now digging her out from a very large pile of... fertilizer. Wow, that was a bit of bad luck. I'm... going to help her wash up. Please register as soon as you are able at the Guild. Just because you beat a teacher in a duel it doesn't mean that you get to slack off in this class."

"Will get to it soon," I tapped on the bracelet, hanging up.

Vee looked like she was having a stroke from laughing so hard. Io was snickering into his Moon book. Katherine had a smirk on her face. Cinder exhaled.

"What an unfortunate twist of events," I stated bluntly at my companions. "I do hope things start looking up for poor Em."

"You're terrible," Katherine muttered, but her emerald eyes sparkled with unconcealed mirth.

"Terrible? Me?" I placed a hand dramatically over my heart. "I'm just an innocent human trying to survive in this wild Omnithean-owned world!"

"Yeah right." Cinder rolled her eyes at me.

"I plead the fifth," I grinned. "And the first. And maybe the third amendment for second measure."

"The right to bear magic weapons?" Io arched a fuzzy dark grey eyebrow.

"Yeah," I said. "That one. You know what? Making a new Guild is too much effort. Let's just buy this one. It already has all the amenities and three dungeons! I'm in love with this place."

"Buy... this Guild?" Katherine blinked at me. "You can't just buy an established criminal organization!"

"Watch me," I grinned, waving at Motrdem who was enjoying breakfast at a nearby table and obviously spying on our conversation. "Oi! Guild Master! How much for the Gloomy Horse?"

Vespera choked on her breakfast as I winked at her and whispered just one word - "surprise".