Francis nodded at the compliment. His eyes met the sultan’s. The tanned bearded man stayed silent. His gaze was distant and disinterested. Francis could spot beads of sweat form on his forehead. And did his breathing seem haggard?

“Is the sultan dying or is that just me?”

“No he’s definitely dying alright. One look at him says everything. Heart disease is possible.”

“Good. The less people here, the better.”

“If possible, drag it out more. The more mental exhaustion we put on them, the earlier they’ll accept our terms.”

“Thank you, Your Highness. I was certain that if no one knew my true identity, I would only get raped and sold.”

“Please, those are the ways of our past. Times have changed, Naathei. Your very existence here is proof of that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Less than 40 years ago, public opinion towards people like your kind...” He motioned to the clothes that the emperor wore, as well as his general demeanour. “Was less than savoury. But we have learnt from our horrific past.”

“Yes, we opened our borders to your refugees. Though, our situation is only fractionally better. But with someone like my dear on the throne, things will change,” Haein said. “Now, for the negotiations.”

An hour passed, and the one man advantage that they held proved priceless. The First Prince was a tough opponent, but soon tapped out after a strong counter from Colonel Janus. But even so, the Sultan didn’t budge. At the hour’s passing, Iris tapped on his shoulder and he stood up.

“I’m afraid I need to attend to some personal business.”

They left the meeting room with hurried footsteps. Iris led the way, weaving through the groups of servants that dotted the palace. The mirrored halls that led down were dark and quiet. They moved cautiously, and Francis knew the reason. They were trespassing. It would be a diplomatic disaster if he was caught.

Alone, Iris could have snuck in with ease. But he was a burden, that was for sure. She peeked her head out into the hallway, and motioned for him to move quickly when no one was looking.

Eventually they ended up in a long hallway that seemed to stretch indefinitely. They were underground, he knew that much. But details such as depth were out of the question. In the hallway was a well guarded door. Two guards stood in front, and unlike those above, there were no desert robes to be seen. Metal plates interlocked, providing ample protection.

“Distract them and I’ll knock them out,” Iris said.

“How? They’ll stab me before anything else.”

“I don’t know what you usually do. Sex appeal, or something.”

“Guh. Fine, but no guarantees.”

The two guards narrowed their eyes at the event unfolding before their eyes. He tried to act as helpless and defenseless as possible, hoping one of them would take the hint that the gender ambiguous person in front of them wanted their company. Francis even tried to talk dirty as well as possible in the broken Loyran that he knew. Still, they did not budge. Even when he exposed as much skin as he could bare to, they did not move a muscle. The guard on the left only cleared his throat and leaned forward.

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“We are eunuchs. Please, do not make a fool of yoursel-”

Iris gave the two a swift chop to the back of their heads. They collapsed, unable to give any resistance. Her eyes featured a whole cocktail of thoughts. Disappointment, a slight hint of pride, and perhaps a sprinkle of desire as well. Maybe the last one was wrong.

“We’ll be heading into a cave system. Are you claustrophobic, Francis?”

“My potentially ex-girlfriend likes to tie me up and shove me into tight spaces, so I kinda got used to it.”

“Ignoring what sounds like blatant abuse, I’ll take it that you’re okay with the dark as well.”

“Just not spiders, snakes, and the like. And why does everyone say that it's abuse?”

“How is it anything but?”

“I really didn’t mind it. If that’s what she likes, then I don’t see why not.”

They breached into the cave as they talked. Iris produced a small flame for lighting, and assured him that there were probably no guards around. There were occasional drops of water dripping onto the stony ground. Every step that they took in kicked up a small storm of dust.

“You mentioned that you were from another place. What was your ex-girlfriend like?”

“Oh, she’s pretty fun. Leader of an organised crime syndicate, so she has quite a bit of power on her hands.”

“And what about her interests? Why did she fall in love with you?”

“Hmm. She likes playing poker and reading. As for the second question, when I asked her that she said this. ‘I’m sick and tired of having men think of me as another woman to be conquered. You’re a quiet and weak person, but even then you seem so far. Like a star in space, I want to take you for myself.’ And this is where she started whispering to me, ‘I will make you crave me, until you cannot live without me.’”

“What was she doing when she said that?”

“Oh, holding a gun to my head.”

“That’s abuse.”

“No it's not.”

“In what world is it not? Does your realm have drastically different values?”

“No, not really. It's pretty similar.”

“So how is it not?”

“Because I didn’t really mind it. I mean, she likes to hit me, but damn the sex is good. Guided me through everything.”

“You know Francis, I never really understood why people like having sex.”

Iris sighed. With a careful hand, she guided him further into the cave system. Every step they took brought them lower.

Up in front, there was a bright purple light. Against the rough grainy colour of the walls of the caves, it stood out like a sore thumb. Insects flew around the lights.

With a simple blast, Iris cleared the way. Sticking out from the rocks was architecture. Human, or at least some form of civilization. Ancient looking drawings adorned the sides, depicting a group holding up an artefact.

“And here it is.” Iris pushed the doors open.

A strange rush of air blew past them. There was simply a pedestal. A finely crafted artefact was sitting atop. It resembled a clay tablet, but lacked quite a bit of clay. In a carved out square hole, there was only the inky black oil and islands that floated on it. Etched in a sort of universal script, Francis couldn’t recognise it, but kind of knew it instinctively.

“The Codex.”

“Why is it under such high security?”

“This right here holds an insane amount of power.”

She reached out for it and took it within her hand. The islands floated in an unnatural way, and quite a few of them clumped together. They spelt something out, much like a pseudo ouija board. ‘YOU CANNOT PASS THE WALL’ it read.

“Your turn.”

And the islands shifted once again. ‘CONFORM WITH THE FATES’ this time. Francis raised his eyebrow, and handed it back to Iris. Once again, the islands moved back to their original result.

“Hold my hand,” Iris instructed.

Slowly, the words formed again. And Iris gasped in surprise. ‘THE END OF THE CYCLE WILL COME.’

“Hot damn.” Iris laughed. “Finally, the end is coming.”

“So you were correct.”