I was dealing with Nautilus’s grueling lessons for the next week; I still didn’t have much of a plan on how to fulfill Dha’s quest. It was such an annoying mission. As Empress Senna promised, my father and I were moved to the guest floor. Nil protested but those were ignored. Currently, I was practicing my as I thought of how to accomplish what Dha wanted. I knew Nautilus settled down with the Burgomaster. One of the most manipulative individuals to ever live; she could read people better than anyone I knew. The Burgomaster did make a fatal error in the end though. Nil was slamming his head against the wall of making the work nearly nonstop. It took him less than a day to stop writhing on the ground between attempts. According to Nez, Nil was overheating his which while not life threatening would be massively uncomfortable. Nil was nearby, trying to make work.

“Stupid . Why is it unstable? What am I doing wrong?” Nil grumbled next to me. I sighed as my head felt like it had been slammed into a meat grinder from practicing my .

“Nil, I did want to talk to you about something.” I informed him.

“What is it?” Nil asked, moving next to me. I do like his eyes; they are such a pretty amber.

“How do you deal with Lords when they are being cryptic?” I probed. Nil immediately began mulling it over.

“Well, I’ve only dealt with two. Utol was straight forward about the game, and the fact she was trying to use me to leverage against Kron. She didn’t have a vested interest in being cryptic. Kron is a different beast, but they like to play with the line. Their games are more figuring out what I need to do to advance forward. When dealing with Kron, it is more trying to learn what they are after than anything. Kron’s cryptic ways stem from double meanings on what they are trying to say. From what I can tell, each has their own method of doing things.” Nil explained after a few moments.

“I spoke to one.” I informed Nil; he was so excited I could almost imagine a tail wagging behind him. He is a bit like a puppy at times.

“Which one? Over what? Was it at Temple?” Nil inquired immediately. He was bobbing up and down he was so excited.

“It was Dha; I met him while holding an item of his. He was weird, and clearly sees me as some form of entertainment.” I answered. Nil was processing the information for a few moments.

“Nothing about you seems different though. Did he not give it to you?” Nil probed. I stroked his hair as he was getting a bit fervent and close.

“I was given a task that I fail to see how it benefits him, but I can’t talk about it.” I stated. Nil deflated a little.

“Did he give you a timeline?” Nil asked. Sorry Nil, I need to figure this one out on my own.

“I need to do this on my own Nil.” I told him. Nil grimaced for a split second while giving me his pouting eyes.

“Okay.” Nil grumbled. I poked his cheek in response.

“I’d like your help, but this is something I need to do on my own. I just don’t understand what he gets out of it other than watching me struggle with it.” I replied as I poked his cheek again.

“According to Kron, Nyx enjoys watching the struggle of Reincarnators against the Void King. Some Lords enjoy watching our lives for their amusement once they’re aware of how we can provide it. It’s not that deep sometimes.” Nil explained, his voice trailing off after he said deep.

“I think you are right. Sometimes things are just the way they are. Looking for depth where there isn’t any will just drive us crazy.” I agreed. Talking to Nil honestly made me feel so much better.

“But sometimes depth exists.” Nil stated. By his face I knew his mind wandered elsewhere; he clearly realized something.

“What did you realize you dork?” I probed, poking his cheek again.

“I think what I am doing wrong.” Nil said excitedly, nearly launching to his feet. Nil realized he would’ve collided with me, so he stood up carefully around me.

“We were talking about the annoyance of Dha.” I teased him. Nil looked flustered.

“Um. I mean. Lords are sometimes fickle beings.” Nil tried. It took a lot of willpower not to start chuckling.

“Show me what you are talking about.” I requested as I knew he was about to test it. He is so impulsive when it comes to .

Nil’s fluctuated, as he cast what felt like the same as before, but this time it was not some shallow slash. This version seemed to feel like he was trying to cleave the heavens themselves in two. He expanded much more than previously as a tunnel formed in the air in front of him; powerful crept from his tunnel as it looked like a swirling galaxy. Nil struck a victory pose as the tunnel didn’t collapse on itself. He was smiling from ear to ear as he clearly succeeded this time. Even now, the tunnel hadn’t collapsed on itself. Nil excitedly ran up and hugged me, nuzzling me aggressively. I stroked his hair as I saw the swirling energy within the tunnel he created. After a few moments, Nil’s family descended. Lux appeared slightly later with Orga to investigate what happened.

“It works!” Nil cheered excitedly, still hugging me tight.

“It’s stable and maintaining off of ambient . This is impressive Nil.” Nez praised him.

“Now, how do we test it goes to the right place?” Emperor Azzeck inquired. Everyone kind of looked at each other.

“It should be correct; I did what Kron tasked me with. I doubt he was lying.” Nil replied. He looked so pleased with himself as he finally stopped hugging me. Maybe I should take a page from Nil’s book and obsessively pursue my objectives.

“We should still take precautions.” Empress Senna lectured Nil. Nil walked over to his tunnel, walking circles around it.

“I have no idea how to test this.” Nez sighed, seeing how the tunnel was not collapsing as he touched it a little.

“Maybe someone with good steps in that can out?” Nox suggested. It wasn’t a bad idea. Nox was running his hand through the edge as well, with nothing happening as he put his arm harmlessly through the tunnel.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“It’s cool.” Nil said, poking the tunnel.

Unlike the others, Nil was immediately yanked through the tunnel. Of course. Before anyone could react, nine crimson eyes manifested on the outside of the tunnel as a small crow appeared. Or was it a raven? Regardless, it had no eyes, just a blank face. The crow had these odd set of dual horns on each side, with one cracked off on the left side. The nine eyes shot to its face, and the crow began looking around. It was cackling as it saw us. Nautilus immediately went to attack the crow but was stopped cold by an invisible shield of some sort. The crow chuckled, before morphing into a vaguely humanoid figure. The face was blue, the right hand was some odd white color, and the left was some odd dark spiral that seemed to form something resembling a hand. It was wearing all black, with a chest plate which looked like a bunch of metal feathers attached to each other. It had bluish black hair that draped over its face with the same horns as it had in crow form, just larger. There were no eyes as the nine crimson eyes floated around it. Where its face should have been was just blank.

“Was wondering when that dilwaul would touch the portal. Traveler's log, I have arrived in Tenebrae. It appears to be much more drab in person. I guess memories and transferred information is tinted by the owner. There seems to be some forms of primitive life I might need to make contact with.” The figure chuckled, seeming not to have a care in the world as he talked like some sort of safari guide.

“Who are you and where did Nil go?” Emperor Father Nil snapped at him.

“Whoa, a dead man walking. Spooky. I might want to capture this for later. Can you pose and go, ‘boo’ for me?” the figure mocked, putting its hands up as if trying to frame him in a painting. His left hand was definitely some malformed black mass. Nautilus tried attacking again but was simply chucked through the portal and came out across the other side without traveling anywhere.

“What is your name?” I asked the figure.

“Ugh. Who are you? Where is our son? Do you forling bezkas have shiza for brains? You dim witted cindelrocks seem to struggle with the fact I am not going to answer that.” The figure taunted. He had such an unpleasant, tinny voice. The voice was masculine, but it was so featureless it was hard to tell.

“Fine. Why th’ po’tal not workin’?” Nautilus tried, glaring at the faceless figure.

“Your accent is much thicker than my information would lead me to believe. Oi, wha’ poppin’ lad’os. Tu’el need co’sen’ f’ bot’ side ya fo’lin’ idiot.” The figure answered, laughing as it brazenly mocked Nautilus’s way of speaking.

“You are what let Nil through.” I deduced. The figure used one of the floating eyes to stare at before appearing in front of me.

“Luna Dawnsfield. Lords you are short. Wait, you are a kid. Hmm, earliest he’s managed to make the tunnel. Wonder what changed? This might be fun.” The figure mused, turning its attention back to the tunnel, rubbing its chin with the malformed hand.

“What should I call you? Crow?” I checked. The faceless figure looked at me.

“I am a raven, in a sense. If you really blur the definition.” The figure retorted, with its voice becoming slightly normal for a second before returning to the tinny voice.

“Whatever you say, Crow.” I replied with a shrug. The figure chuckled.

“Pettiness is for the strong.” Crow taunted. In an instant, Crow and I were standing over the Ahzen Forest after feeling the world twist around us. I could feel him launching multiple probes looking for something. WHAT?! HOW DID HE CAST NIL’S ?!

“I also know Dha tasked you with getting Nautilus to agree the only person she gonna forl is Helga.” Crow taunted. How? How did he know? In an instant, an was summoned beneath us and began snapping at our feet. I got a much better grip on Crow.

“How? Who are you? What are you?” I inquired, hoping Crow didn’t decide to let go. We were back in the courtyard of the castle as Crow chuckled.

“Let me make this clear for all of you, things are an exchange. Nothing is free.” Crow taunted as he tossed me to Nautilus who caught me, also chucking me through the tunnel which let me pass right through.

“What will it cost to learn who and what you are?” Empress Senna checked with a massive sigh.

“The mama bear. Oh no. I might get mauled.” Crow laughed, with his voice getting extra annoying.

“Are you going to charge to answer what it would cost to answer the other question?” Empress Mother Poam probed, clearly wanting to slap this irritating being.

“Ah, the mummy. Maybe there is one collective brain cell here.” The figure chuckled. Nez face palmed, and then summoned three beast which vanished in an instant.

“I am Krahinn, an .” Krahinn answered as a mouth appeared and he began chewing the .

“Where is Nil?” Nox inquired, pulling out two . Krahinn also made them vanished as he added them to his candy pile.

“Arriving in the wonderful land of Ygdazi. Wait, you morons wouldn’t know that name. What’s it called in dilwaul land? Realm of .” Krahinn explained, chuckling a bit as he snapped his fingers to add some emphasis to his final words. Emperor Father Nil looked annoyed as he pulled out a which Krahinn made vanish.

“What gives us the pleasure of your company?” Emperor Father Nil inquired with a sigh.

“I was intrigued by the fact Nil somehow managed to shatter his previous record of getting there, as from my understanding he was fairly consistent. Something must have happened to change that. I wanted to see where the legend came from as he’s famous. Or infamous. Depending on how you want to view it.” Krahinn explained as he finished the .

“I thought Ori was his , not you.” I told Krahinn. Krahinn fell to the ground he was laughing so hard.

“Ori is his ? HAHAHAHAHA! Me? A ?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Not overly my style to help others. HAHAHAHA! Never mentioned Luna was a comedian.” Krahinn stated between laughs.

“Do you want to know what changed?” Empress Senna asked Krahinn as he was rolling along the ground with tears falling from the floating eyes.

“HAHAHAHA! IN A MINUTE!” Krahinn confirmed, clearly amused by my statement. In an instant the laughter stopped, and he was suddenly standing. Just in a blink he went from rolling on the ground to be standing still.

“Why do you think we’d give you the information for free?” Empress Senna taunted with a smirk.

“I could hope you were that stupid. I mean, look at all of you.” Krahinn mocked. It was like he was intentionally making his voice as grating as possible. Wait. Ori is his ? As far as I knew that was correct. The others were looking at each other, before clearly deciding we needed to talk mentally.

Any ideas what we should ask Krahinn? Empress Senna asked me, glaring at him.

“You should ask me what Luna noticed when I was laughing. Now, I answered your question, answer mine.” Krahinn interjected, smiling victoriously.

“We didn’t ask that.” Emperor Father Nil told him. Krahinn appeared in front of him, with all nine eyes focusing and floating around him.

“Empress Senna asked the question, and I answered it, a question for a question. Do not try to cheat me.” Krahinn snarled, his voice losing all emotion and inflection, sounding like some soulless cries from an abyss. The tunnel began twisting violently as Krahinn stood there. That's his real voice.

“Nil only got the tunnel through, you stabilized it.” I realized. One of his eyes shot over to me, and it felt like I was falling into an endless abyss. Ori wasn’t this strong; Krahinn is in a different league.

“Correct Luna. Now answer my question or I cast .” Krahinn threatened. I knew he wasn’t bluffing about that; his entire being let me know he was telling the truth. But how could he cast Nil’s ?

“The Void King forced Nil to sign a forbidding him from altering time to reset the clock.” I answered immediately. I did not want to see get cast by a furious .

“Oh! That’s juicy.” Krahinn cooed, shooting over to me as I was getting glares from the adults. You have no idea how dangerous of a he was about to cast.

“How can you cast Nil’s ? They shouldn’t exist yet.” I asked Krahinn. All nine eyes looked at me, as he cocked his head back and forth.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Krahinn mocked in his tinny voice again.

“I would. I answered your question, now answer mine.” I retorted. Krahinn chuckled as he gave a halfhearted shrug.

“You are fun. Nil reset time numerous times, and I am not currently going to count them for you, but there is a compendium of the knowledge and he created each time which I can access. No wonder the others kept rejecting his tunnels. I have got to see how much of a mess he’s currently in. See you all nev~er!” Krahinn chimed as he ran into the portal, making it vanish behind him.