John Bishop is a good man. The best of men.

I should have killed him the first chance I had.

-Wei An Wei, the Realmbreaker

73

A Calm Conversation

Rafael initiated the call in a Moongrave of Envy on the very fringe of the tower. This realm was one created from living shadow, and massive tendrils of darkness boiled across the land, becoming obstacles and architecture both. Navigating through the expanse was like entering an abyssal jungle, with its flora resembling colossal blades of blackened grass.

Nested between two towering strands, Rafael further isolated them from the environment by creating a protective working series of ciphers that flared into being around him and Wei. Suddenly, a pale dome became alight, and it was only through Wei's Omniscience that he could peer beyond the isolation. Even with that, a mist of obfuscating translucence layered itself over Wei’s perception. The young master was impressed with the effect’s potency; this was a working he desired to learn later.

For now, he had to contend with a more pressing concern. Rafael projected a window from his eyes somehow, and as John Bishop’s personal details expanded next to the interface, Wei stared on.

“The Chat menu can do that?” Wei asked.

“Yes,” Rafael replied. “You didn’t know?”

“I haven’t exactly spent long looking through the Chat’s functions,” Wei said, wriggling his nose. “The feeling that Mepheleon might always be listening in makes me… paranoid.”

The lich gave a conceding nod. “I understand, but the realm itself belongs to him, no?”

“It’s a foolish, fruitless thing to do when you put it like that,” Wei grunted. “But the feeling is hard to shake.”

“I understand,” Rafael responded.

Seconds passed. A vibrating line bounced time and time through the menu as the call went on. Wei stood silent, his Broken Crescent already in hand, if only for the assurance it offered him. While Rafael conducted the conversation, Wei would stay away until he decided otherwise. He didn’t want to reveal his presence immediately. That might change the dynamic substantially and put them on the back foot.

After another half-minute of waiting, the window flashed white, and suddenly Wei found himself looking at a well-built, dark-skinned man who sported gleaming, purple eyes. The young master’s Aspect of Relativity trembled once more as he sensed a faint string of essence rising from Rafael, through the protective shielding, and into the atmosphere of the Moongrave. Wei wasn't sure how it was moving, how it managed to cross through the chaos around the Tower, but with the most recent increases he gained to his Omniscience, he could definitely sense an orderly procession of essence leaving the lich.

That was how I managed to create the Liminal Boundary when I spoke to my father, Wei thought. The theory made sense. Though his Aspect of Relativity continued to be an enigma, Wei felt its influence over time and space with each Dilation-Echo it created. Focusing his power on the channel of essence leaving Rafael, a resonance of Relativity pulsed within Wei, and the young master grew all the more certain about his power.

Establishing Relative Trace…

"So, you're Rafael," John Bishop said. The man had the deepest voice Wei had ever heard, smooth and resonant, the reverberation of a massaging baritone. He tried to glean any details from Bishop's expression to judge how he was feeling, what he was thinking. But the man was a mask of stoicism. “Glad to finally make your acquaintance. Heard about your run-in with the Inheritors and their hired mercs. Nasty business.”

"Indeed, indeed," Rafael said, responding just a bit over-enthusiastically. “Once again, I am most thankful that you agreed to meet with me.

Trace Established

>Compose Liminal Boundary?

Wei held off for now. Though part of him screamed for action, unslaked vengeance demanding that he ambush the Trespasser, break his Will, and claim him using the Inventory Skill, Wei’s Enlightenment prevailed against impotent rage. He didn’t know how powerful this John Bishop was, nor what his relationship was with William Yu. To act in haste now could ruin everything, and so, though the emotions within the young master burned, no mountain would fall before a rising flame.

And his Will was stronger than any mountain in existence.

“Suppose we best get down to business, then,” Bishop said. Looked Rafael over and gave a soft grunt. “So. You’re one of the Mystikos-Liberatas, huh. From Arcasta-Nur.”

“Yes!” Rafael replied with more vigor than the young master ever heard. “I came here seeking aid. Aid offered by the Moonscar—she is of your order, yes! A member of the Lodge? The Crossroads—”

“I know what the merchants did,” Bishop replied, revealing a sneer. ‘My sympathies. We have a few operators there right now, trying get a handle on the situation.”

Rafael hesitated at that. “And… how is it? How is Arcasta?”

“Well. The Crossroads are more greedy than they are cruel. There’ve been some crackdowns; the worst atrocities can be sourced back to their installed puppets—and the Crossroads routinely kills them after they go too far.”

A disgusted snarl came from Rafael. “Still playing theater to keep the people’s favor.”

“Well, it hasn’t failed them yet,” Bishop replied. “So far, things are looking pretty stable. But the Crossroads are redrawing the world’s ley-lines, pulling a new set of planets into the system and layering them in ciphers. Not sure what they’re planning, but we have time.”

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“Yes,” Rafael sighed. “Time. That’s… this is the best case possible, I suppose.” The lich fell silent again and Wei found himself listening intently. He knew the lich had been some kind of rebel in another realm, that he possessed substantial enmity toward the Crossroads. From what was exchanged, the general outline of the situation was becoming clear to Wei. Rafael had lost his world to a greater force, much like the young master did. But lich still had a chance to save his. “We should get to the point of this meeting, then. I have information on the one you seek: Wei An Wei. The young master of the Drowned Sky Sect.”

“Yeah,” Bishop said. “Seeing as you know a few things about who he is, I suppose you got to speak with him?”

“Speak with him?” The lich threw his head back and barked a laugh. “We did more than speak. We fought together. He… saved my life.” Rafael paused. An awkwardness swelled within Wei and the young master cringed internally. He didn’t regret damaging the lich’s Aspect. He didn’t. It was a just punishment. He didn’t even break anything. But logic did nothing to lessen his internal discomfort. “When the Harbinger—cucked be his father—sent forth the Trial of Retribution, I found himself a comrade to the young master’s cause. Together, we overcame the Gatekeeper and made our way up the Moongraves above.”

Rafael was sticking to the script they'd agreed to so far, with the lich specializing in invisibility and subterfuge. Few, beyond their core group, had laid eyes on Rafael and Wei together. Even the Knight of Lust's last memory, before she was broken, of Raphael, was him escaping through a portal. And so, they would approach this situation through a live omission.

"Alas, when we encountered the Knight of Lust," Rafael continued, "we were beset upon and forcibly separated during our escape. But, before our paths heartbreakingly diverged, he told me of his past, of his father, a Trespasser known as William Yu."

A slow sigh whistled out from Bishop as he closed his eyes. "Yeah, goddammit. Alright, you said you got separated from the kid. Was that the last time you saw him?"

Rafael looked away, his eyes meeting the young master, who gave him a nod. "No," Rafael replied. "I have not seen him per se, but I know he is still alive. I have encountered other sinners in the Moongrave. They are claiming that they have seen a particularly strangely dressed young man with long dark hair and piercing green eyes, emerging from roofs, hunting knights, and rescuing people for his sect. It seems like my friend has prevailed in the face of death, so there is cause for his father to hope, no?"

John Bishop continued, playing the role of a granite block. Wei gleaned exhaustion and exasperation from the man, but Bishop betrayed little beyond that. "Alright, that's something, I guess. Listen, you have any way to make contact with him? Any means of reaching him? It's important that the Lodge gets to speak with him before the Inheritors ever do. His life is in grave danger, and he's carrying something the Inheritors want bad, bad enough to break an entire world."

Wei's fingers closed ever tighter around his Eidolon. Oh, he remembered, and he knew of what world John Bishop spoke.

"Really?" Rafael replied, speaking with faux horror. "Hmm. Yes, perhaps, perhaps I can find a means of reaching him. We must all depart through the Hearted Realms eventually anyway. If I can track a critical convergence of sinners by way of their class essences, then perhaps I can identify and isolate from which moon grave he will leave."

"All right," Bishop said, offering the slightest of a smile. "That sounds..."

"However," Rafael said, interrupting the veteran Trespasser, "forgive me, my friend, but I need assurances. If the Inheritors are hunting Wei, and he is to pass through the Hearted Realm, then I suspect we will all be in grave danger. Oh, we have grown substantially with the Class given unto us. We are not Knights, we are not Marquises or Dukes, and the forces arrayed against us are plentiful and powerful. I want to know if we can count on the Lodge's support, and I want something more than a verbal assurance."

Slowly, John Bishop closed his jaw, and for a few moments, he simply thought in silence. Wei felt a small twinge of menace as he regarded the man. There was a kind of tension one felt when facing a rabid dog, and there was another kind of apprehension when playing a game against a calculated foe. John Bishop was closer to the latter.

"I understand," Bishop said, finally. "As we are operating in the claimed hells as guests to the Harbinger, we cannot outright breach the terms of his hospitality. However, if the Inheritors have actively deployed units interfering in your passage through the Hearted Realms, and you get clear evidence of this, then perhaps... there may be some happy little accidents that might come your way."

"Furthermore," Rafael continued, "I want to speak to this William Yu, if possible. Though my time with Wei was brief, he told me much about his father. If he is one of you, I have additional questions related to loyalties and trustworthiness."

"Yeah, I've been getting that a lot recently," Bishop grumbled. Another beat entered the conversation, and he looked off to the side. "Give me a second."

And suddenly the call ended as the window that once displayed Bishop's face went blank.

"You're laying it on a bit thick," Wei said, critiquing Raphael's acting. Despite being little more than a skull, Rafael had an uncanny ability to convey his exasperation.

"Forgive me, my friend, though I might have frequented many of Arcasta’s grand theaters. I assure you, I was never there for the acting."

"Then why were you there?" Wei asked, genuinely curious.

"For the actresses, mainly," Rafael replied, without a hint of shame.

"Does desire carry over, even as your spirit is infused in those bones?"

"Desire always carries over," Rafael said.

An exasperated laugh escaped Wei. The young master shook his head. He couldn't help himself. What a ridiculous topic—a lecherous lich. And once more, he remembered where he was, and how he got here. Wei sighed. The joke, it seemed, was existence itself. What a ridiculous life he currently lived.

"I can feel the essence leaving you as a strain whenever you make the call," Wei said.

"You can?" Rafael replied, surprised.

"Yes," Wei answered. "It's faint, almost imperceptible even to me. But with the call, the Essence is projected up through the atmosphere. Messages, I suspect, are more like bursts."

"Do you think this was how you managed to… do what you did against your father last time?"

And once more, Wei was reminded about the lich's intelligence. "Yes," Wei said, seeing no point in hiding the information when Rafael had already reached the obvious deduction.

The lich paused. "Wei, I understand you possess something of substantial power. I have never asked you, nor do I think I want to know. But what you have, what you're doing, what you're capable of... have you thought about the future? Have you thought about what you want to do and who you want to become when you—" And then Rafael froze.

A new string of sentences expanded across his projected chat menu, and Wei spun his Broken Crescent, prepared for anything.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I..." Rafael looked out to Wei. "It is your father. He has sent me a hollow request."

And suddenly the young master's mind went blank. So this was what John Bishop left to do. Did that mean his father and the Lodge were working close together? Was the Lodge just another front for the Inheritors?

No. That felt wrong. The evidence and details didn't seem to match up. But Wei wasn't sure. He wasn't sure about anything these days.

"Accept it," Wei said, steeling himself for what was to come.

And as Rafael let the call through, Wei felt a pocket of emptiness expand inside. Within his stomach, as the face of his father appeared once more, the man looked more haggard than the last time Wei saw him. But otherwise, he seemed fine. No markings on his face. No wounds marred on his body. Not even an expression of pain. Ultimately, all Wei could say about his father was that the man looked tired, too.

"Oh," William Yu spoke. "You wanted to talk? I'm here."