Tilly’s eyes flew open, finding a tiny down-covered floof ball standing on his forehead looking down at him. His mind was soupy and slow after interacting with reality at a level far beyond what he could comprehend, but that did not stop what might have been the dopiest smile he had ever worn from stretching the edges of his mouth.

“Damn, it is good to see you.” He breathed out to his companion on her forehead perch.

Cheep, She agreed, sending him an image of snuggling under a warm wing, deep in the safety of a nest.

He sat up slowly, lifting his hands to his head to cup the tiny chick as the surface she was standing on went vertical.

“Mr Tillman! Are you ok?” Marq asked breathlessly, still gasping from his run over. Julius stood by his side, his thumbs looped into his belt in a relaxed posture.

“Better than ok, son,” Tilly answered, gazing down at the chick who had begun to preen her feathers.

“I’m guessing you won’t be needing us until tomorrow?” Julius added a small smile to play on his normally professionally detached features.

“Yeah, I’m all done with tests for today.”

At that, the Bastion nodded and turned to go, prompting Marq to blurt out a question before he was left behind.

“Sir, If you don't mind me asking, what did the new Title do?”

“Honestly, I'm not sure. I can barely remember it, but whatever happened, was enough to bring her back, which is everything I was hoping for and more. Why, what did you see, anything?”

“We saw something start to swirl around you, but I couldn’t make out what it was, then… I don't know, you suddenly felt heavier? Like I had to lean back to avoid getting pulled in toward you.”

“Hmh. Well, the title let me draw on something besides just Mana to power an Ability. I remember entering into an entirely new reality, then it is all a blank. But whatever happened, I am glad it worked. I’ll just have to mark this one down as an unknown and save it for a rainy day. My cosmic slot machine.”

“Come on, kid. Leave the man alone.” Julius called from several paces away.

“Alright, thanks Mr. Tillman! I’ll see you tomorrow.” The Acolyte called, before hurrying off after the veteran.

Tilly nodded after the young man absently, still looking at the phoenix in his hands, astonishment coloring his features at the incredible outcome of the test.

“I can’t believe that worked…” He whispered down at the chick, who started to scratch the palm of his hand instantly.

“Oh right, food!” He said, reflexively enflaming his palm, igniting the chick with a blue fire. She chirped happily in reply and began to roost comfortably in the heat, steadily drawing on Tilly’s Flame. He smiled dotingly down at her, treasuring her in this tiny state. He knew that on a steady diet, she would be flying and speaking again in a few weeks and that knowledge held him there for a few minutes, just enjoying her company.

Then a gust of wind ripped the ground behind him, interrupting his reverie, and he spun, shielding the phoenix chic with his body. Something blurred away in the distance, as Erash landed in a crouch just a few paces away.

“What happened here?” She demanded immediately.

Tilly couldn’t help but stand there frozen in shock. Not because someone crashed into the ground behind him. That was somewhat par for the course at this point. No, what floored him was the High Priestess’ state. Her normally pristine robes were completely disheveled, and her face was smeared with dirt, interrupted by the wandering lines of recent tears.

“Uh… Are you alright?” Tilly asked, completely taken aback by her appearance.

“No, human. I am not alright. None of us are. Now answer my question.” She again demanded, straightening her robes uselessly as she attempted to project an air of authority.

Even in the face of her obvious distress, Tilly couldn’t help but harden the lines around his eyes at her demands.

“Listen, lady, we talked about this. I am happy to work with you, but I am not your servant.” He growled.

Her eyes flashed in response, and a literal cloud started to form above her head, thundering ominously as she responded, “You silly little man. Do you think I am here to play games? All of this-” She said, waving back toward the Alliance, “everything you think you have accomplished… It is a puff of smoke from dying embers. It is all going to end, and it seems as if your God plans to do nothing!” Literal lighting bolts started to strike the ground around the High Priestess, and the ground around her churned unnaturally as if boiling with her distress.

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As she continued her tirade, Tilly slowly pulled Kindle out from behind his back and tried to calm the Priestess down, “Woah! Woah, what information do you have and how did you get it? Is this something we need to inform the council of?”

Seeming not to have heard his words, her eyes locked on the little creature in his hands and she mumbled, “... a star rises…” under her breath, her eyes going distant and the storm around her calming.

“Listen, I need you to start making sense. If it helps, I did something, I’m not sure what, to bring her back. It is similar to what you saw me do with Strength except I used Wisdom.” At his answer, her eyes finally came back in focus and she looked up into his concerned gaze, her distress turning thoughtful in an instant.

“I am not initiated into the deeper layers of the Plane, but even I felt that something significant was altered here. I worried our end was already upon us, yet here you are. Doing what you should not be able to, once again defying my understanding of the order of things…” Then as she looked over his shoulder she continued under her breath, “I swear if I ever see that witch again…”

“So… uh council? Do you have the information they need to know?”

“Hardly.” She answered with a snort, before continuing, “A few riddles and several fractured visions… Gods I hate working with Celestials… But I will tell them what I know and what I think it means. I do know that when you try and direct that beast as he awakens, I will have to accompany you.”

“How’s that? I thought you had to stay here.”

“No, I am bound to serve this Faction to the best of my ability… This means I must accompany you to the Contested Lands…” She answered slowly, looking suddenly as if she was going to be sick.

“The horn has sounded… The wild hunt rides.”

Tilly watched her to see if she would continue, but instead, she pulled her staff from nowhere and gestured to the air. The flame on the end flickered briefly, shooting a spark into the distance. Then a cloud shot down from the sky, almost too fast to follow and she leapt into the air to land on it.

“I will go and give this report, then prepare. We stand no chance against what is coming. But you have survived these odds before. Perhaps, with you, I will as well.” Then she shot off toward the city,

“...Okay. I guess it's just me and you again, huh girl.” He said, looking down the find the Chick happily asleep, and his mana, once again bottomed out without him noticing. A familiar migraine bloomed behind his eyes. He smiled despite the pain and raised his eyebrows at the little creature, who already seemed fractionally bigger.

…

An hour later Tilly found himself back in the center of the city. He had taken his time walking back, and his armor had created a fun front pocket for his little rider to cozy up in as he walked, replacing the hidden one that had held her fragment.

At first, he thought he would need to head straight to the manor to get any actual information they had been able to get from the Priestess. If anyone could get information out of Erash it was Hiro.

For someone who had just been complaining about Origin not being clear in His communication, she certainly didn’t mind handing out riddles of her own.

That plan had been dashed as he saw streams of people heading towards one of the main squares of the city. They were talking excitedly about the new buildings, and Tilly figured it would probably be fine if he stopped by to see the new additions to the city. If he remembered correctly, the Commerce Guild building was supposed to be classed as Epic, and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious about what exactly that would mean.

Crowds of people in front of him slowed and thickened as they approached the square, and Tillly found himself just able to see a golden arch peaking over the roofs of the buildings flanking the side street he was stuck on, unable to get any closer to the site. In fact, even the roofs flanking the street were full of people, all trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was happening in the square.

Tilly could hear some shouting over the murmur of the crowd, nothing panicked or angry, more like an announcer speaking to the crowd. A few lapins noticed him and began to whisper, spreading word between each other, and sending whatever they were saying up through the crowd.

Then to Tilly’s great embarrassment, the crowd slightly parted before him, as Lapins politely but instantly made way for him. Tilly resisted his reflex to refuse the gesture, seeing the amount of pride displayed on the nearest lapin’s face. As much as it made him uncomfortable, to refuse this act would be even more uncomfortable for these people…

“Thank you, thanks… Thank you.” He muttered over and over as he moved quickly through the opening. They each offered slight bows with polite smiles in response. Tilly tried to avoid making a spectacle as he moved and a minute or two later, he found himself near the front of the crowd in front of the most ostentatious building Tilly had ever seen, rising proudly up from the ground, fronted by beautiful columns, filigreed in gold and silver. The huge metal door stood slightly ajar, and in that gap stood the same elephantine man in a suit Tilly had seen the day before.

Facing him was a group of huge individuals, covered in armor and practically radiating power. Tilly tried to Identify one and only got static in return.

“Who seeks entry into these hallowed halls?” The suited elephant man trumpeted.

“Only the lowest of the guild’s servants, Chief. We who have been entrusted to guard the great equalizer of the Plane!” Boomed the head guard, looking like he was as much armor as he was flesh. In the midst of the group of guards rested a chest of impressive quality and size. The thing practically screamed, “Treasure chest”.

“Have you kept the faith? Are your hearts vigilant? Your hands clean?”

“Yes Chief! We look forward to the accounting of our duty. May it be credited to us as upheld!” He answered, saluting loudly against his armor, an echo ringing out from those behind him as they matched his movement with a simultaneous gesture.

“Good! Be welcome, and may prosperity flow for all!” Answered back the Elephantine man as he stepped out from the door, and it swung wide, revealing something that looked like a fantasy bank, with the granddaddy of all vault doors open behind the counter. The guards picked up their load and marched in to the excited murmurs of the crowd.

A quiet voice cut through the noise just to the right of Tilly’s ear, “I have only seen a guild opening ceremony one other time… Quite a sight, isn’t it?”

Tilly did his best not to jump, as he turned to find Mochizuki standing just behind him, a comfortable smirk on her face at his reaction.

“Oh! Hey. What do you need, Mochizuki?”

“Am I not just another bystander in the crowd?”

Tilly gave her a flat look and she let out a small laugh, “So you do learn! Very well, look over there.” She said, gesturing subtly off to the side of the building where the spectacle was still unfolding.

Standing about twenty paces back from where the guard had stopped to complete the ceremony was a figure covered in layers of robes, reminding Tilly of a burka in its complete coverage of the figure's body. Tilly couldn’t tell anything about the figure except that it was standing just around the corner, making it harder to spot for much of the crowd.

“That is Talia, an Auditor from the Auction House. Shuji wrangled our Commerce friend and your friend in the church into an extraordinary negotiation. Sometime tonight, outside the notice of most of the Alliance, the Commerce Guild’s favorite partner will set up shop behind us across the square… just in time for the event scheduled tomorrow.”

“Oh shit, that soon?”

“Yes, you need to come with me if we are going to be ready in time.”

“We?”

“Oh Gods yes. We would never send you into that den of vipers alone. You are the loud distraction, and I will be your shadow. We need the goods and money they can provide, yes. But even more importantly, we need information. Almost every major power will be present at this Auction after the Plane-wide announcement. All looking for the same things. The auction has always been about much more than the goods it sells.”