Every time a neon light flashed, Adelle blinked hard. The blazes of auroras were sights to dwell upon but her brain struggled to process the lighting. They looked akin to sabres produced with light magic, flashing and branding themselves onto the back of her eyelids.

"But they're not magic?" Adelle clarified with Luce again.

"Nope. Just gasses in tubes with electrical charges."

"And what's that?" she pointed to a long rectangular box with moving pictures."

"That's a television," Luce explained.

"You say that word like I know what it means."

Luce proceeded to explain the television. And when she was done with that, Adelle pointed to an electric lamp.

"Convenient."

Then, a toaster.

"What's wrong with fire?"

An air conditioning vent.

"Cool."

An acoustic levitation vase.

"Wouldn't the vase break?"

As they continued walking down the streets, Adelle took the chance to absorb in as much information as possible. She understood why Luce brought her here. All these things were not just new to her, but practically mystical. It's hard to imagine how many of the things they saw were not made with magic, but mental ingenuity and physical labour. Science. Had she stepped into a fight here she would have been blindsided even by the toaster.

A group of five people stood at a street junction handing out pamphlets. She was glad to know even in the science-fiction world, some technology stayed the same. One of the five distributor saw them walking over and stepped up to them. Adelle tensed, ready to fight, but Luce grabbed hold of her wrist to tell her the situation was not dangerous.

"Hello, missuses," he greeted with a smile.

"Oh, no," Luce quickly waved the greeting away. "We're not married."

The man laughed. "My apologies. I just wanted to ask if you've heard of our church?"

Adelle looked to Luce for guidance. She had never heard of that word before. But her companion looked equally confused.

"No," Luce replied. "I haven't."

"Oh, you will love it. It's a place where we gather as a community and have fun, almost like a close knit family. We do arts, games, and study the teachings of Moira."

"Moira?"

The man continued smiling. "Moira's a philosophical book. It only got popular in the last three years, so I'm not surprised you've not heard of it. We are Moirians, students of the teaching."

Luce continued asking, "And what does Moira teach?"

His smile grew wider, and for the first time, Adelle shivered. Something felt off about his demeanour all of a sudden. Confident, but manic. Excited, happy, superior. Restraining. Although beneath the lied no violent intentions, the air the man exuded was hostile.

"Oh, Moira's Teaching gives us safety in these dangerous times. It teaches us what we must do to cleanse ourselves of our failures, of the steps needed to move society forward and end this horrid war." He again pushed a copy of the pamphlets to them. "Please, if you're interested, do come to our church and experience the teachings yourself."

Luce awkwardly tried rejecting the paper. "And uh... what is this... teachings?"

"That we've fallen. That we've attempted to create life in the form of Titans and have sent the lifestream into disarray." He further pushed the pamphlets to her. "We can change it. We can instill back a respect for life and death. Please, won't you join us? I'm sure you will find out message most fitting, as many have."

Begrudgingly and finally, Luce took the information and the man wished them a good day before strolling off to another passersby.

The map printed on the pamphlet showed a building they had passed by earlier, but by Luce's wristwatch, the time for the meeting was still 3 hours away. Even though Adelle was new to Citidale, she could immediately tell from not just Luce's face, but the reaction of people around them, that something was off.

Many pedestrians were taking extra efforts to avoid the proselytisers. Those who were caught were harried into talks. The more adamant they were, the harder the distributors pushed until either the passersby accepted the information or angrily stormed off, leaving the pushers behind.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Adelle asked Luce, "He said Titans are 'life'."

"I'm... not entirely sure he means it in the same way as us."

"Could they be allies?"

"Honestly, I don't know."

"Doesn't this remind you of something?"

"Yeah..."

It reminded them of the citizens of Ampyre, bowing down to the Pyrerai with reverence. The actions weren't the same, but the people gave off the same feeling. It was in their eyes. Almost cult-like. Adelle could tell that something in them was different. It reminded her of confidence and certainty, but twisted, as if built on lies.

"What did Eca call it?" Adelle asked.

"Religion," Luce replied.

"We should look into this."

Luce sighed dejectedly. "Yeah. We should."

Adelle looked to Luce confused. "I thought this was what we were here for? To find out if anything weird or new was happening."

"Yes," Luce admitted sadly. "I was just hoping a little that we wouldn't have to. Come on, let's see if any of my old contacts are still around."

Adelle followed Luce towards the hotel. The latter explained that hotels are basically inns, but with more focus on lodging than food. The elf simply nodded back. The exact details did not particularly interested her, but the culture of a place that needed rooms more than food was fascinating. Her companion further explained that since they were so close to the Burning South, growing plants for food was no longer an option, and scientists had figured out ways to manufacture vegetables and meat using cheap raw underground plants and cells from the little animals they had.

No wonder the mushed peas they ate yesterday tasted strange.

"But it's all safe to eat," Luce assured Adelle who was starting to glare strangely at the thought. "It's just massed produced, and don't particularly taste good most of the time."

They reached Hotel Bambiet. At first glance from the streets it was just another two stories building that stretched into the ceiling. Behind the glass doors, the floor was marbled and reflecting golden lights. The hotel name hung overhead in big bold letters. Unlike other fronts with their neon lights, Hotel Bambiet's logo shone from the sheer even glint of the golden metal it was made from. Even Adelle, who avoided towns and cities as much as possible in her life, knew immediately it seemed beyond luxurious. For some strange reason, the rich and the powerful enjoyed shiny things, much like crows.

"Um... this doesn't seem like a place where we'd find a broker," Adelle noted.

"If you want to find a broker that has information higher up the ladder, you climb to the roof. This was how we found Josh, since only the rich and desperate ever needed Guides to go all the way across. But don't get swindled. The guy we're meeting i a snake with fangs in as many informants as you can imagine. Nearly sold my limps to get information from him last time."

They stepped into the building and Adelle nearly jumped back. The lobby was wide opened, decorated with gold, silver, and other shining metals. At a hundred meters wide, it stretched upwards for what seemed to be two dozen stories, with walkways that spiralled towards the ceiling up high. Electric lamps hung on the four main pillars of the spiral at equal itnervals, giving the interior a beating golden glow that looked close to paintings of treasure caves.

The lobby itself was furnished with two full sets of sofas and coffee tables. Alongside it was a marbled reception desk to the left, and an elevator opposite the entrance. A set of opened double doors on the right lead into an elegant restaurant with cotton white sheeted tables and clanking fine glasses and silverware. Butlers stood outside in full suit and regalia. The patrons around them walked with matte clean dressings and arrogant swaggers.

"Lucinda! Baby!"

A lanky man dressed in a black suit with a red bow-tie walked towards them with opened arms. His hair was a mess of blue, red, and green dyed into a ponytail. His movement was flamboyant and bombastic. Voice pitched and sing-along.

"How many years has it been?" he came within casual speaking distance. "Oh, you look absolutely fabulous!"

Without a smile, Luce answered, "Thank you, Eccles. I have questions for you."

"So harsh. So cold." The man danced a fake shiver. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your exotic elven friend?"

Adelle stepped past Luce. "I don't like the way you say that."

Eccles smiled. "And what are you going to do about it?"

"Kill you." She said it without thinking, and Luce immediately took hold of her wrist. Adelle kept her gaze at Eccles.

The man laughed. "I really think you will. But let's play nice for a bit. I'm curious as to what brings old Lucy back. How's Jacky?"

Luce's gripped on Adelle tightened, but she spoke through gritted teeth. "You know."

He smiled. "Dead?"

"Yeah. And you? Still dealing in dirty business?"

"Look at me," the man gave a twirl. "I'm fancy and clean as can be, so let's not use such vulgar words. You have question?"

"Cut the crap, Eccles. I just want to know about the Church of Moira. Specifically, I want to know the things only people like you can find out about."

The man grinned but went silent, eyes looking them up and down, sizing them. "How much are you willing to pay?"

"You first."

Adelle finally stepped back. Negotiating was something Luce was far better at. She noticed around them patrons of the hotel strolled in and out, passing them without even a glance. She also started noticing those that were watching them. The receptionist whose hands hid under the desk awkwardly. The janitor who kept glancing up from under her hat. The two man above on the sixth floor, looking down. She held on to Luce's hand. If anything happened, she wanted to get them out as soon as possible.

Then, Eccles spoke. "Just this once, I'll tell you everything. Free of charge as a 'welcome back' present."

Their brows raised and Luce asked, "Why? What's in it for you?"

The man chuckled and began pacing around them, hands behind his back as he calmly walked. "I've been tracking you since your little run in with the Pyrerai. Lady Lucinda, standing up to that monster? Shudder the thought. Not my little Lucy, scared little girl running from war. But then you got in touch with that Eca Rend, then Kenta and his little apostate gang. Key players all. My little Lucy, all grown up and baring fangs, moving up in the world." He had circled around and was facing them again. "You know as well as I do that something's moving underneath the war. Something big. I'm sure you sensed it from Eca and Lachesis's movements. I want a piece of whatever pie comes out the other side, and I think you'll be somewhere wrapped up in it."

"Whatever's happening," Luce replied. "It's not our problem."

"But you're asking all the right questions. Pinching all the right spots. Coincidence or not, I don't know, but the moment you got together with Shou Kenta and his merry band, you were already hooked. Now I just want to point your fangs in the right direction and I'll be having an eclectic day at the finish line."