Ike pulled himself up the last two rungs of the ladder with a gasp. Stepping out of wherever-the-fuck and back into the real world was a heavy weight off his shoulders, though he was exhausted and ready to collapse in a bed. Just about anything would be better than dealing with Nerinai’s frustration with his mistake, he thought.

And for once in his life, he was never so glad to be wrong.

When he climbed out and looked around the room, he found the butler missing, Donnahais’s crew still passed out, and one other leaning against the bar. The Raveness had a smirk on her lips, something Ike had never expected to see but nevertheless couldn’t look away from.

“Find it?” he asked, words barely crawling out of his throat while it struggled to recoup from the march back.

She held up a silvery piece that looked more like a long metal tooth than a key, twirling it between her fingers. “Yes. Missions accomplished Guardian, and even with the added bonus of one less seal to crack.”

“Seal? When did we crack a seal?”

“You did. In the safe room, that was the altar.”

Ike came around the bar to join her, and the two of them started walking out together. While she spoke, Nerinai laid one hand on his arm. He had no idea why, or what he had possibly done to deserve the honor, but she didn’t comment on it and he wasn’t about to ruin a perfectly good moment with her.

The two of them left the room and headed towards the stairs. “So,” Ike said, worried that he might break the amiable silence with curiosity but too confused not to speak, “could you explain what you mean by seals? And the room. There’s something we should probably-”

“Wait.” She stopped in the middle of the floor, checking around. Ike did too but wasn’t sure exactly what she’d heard or seen. Everything was quiet.

“Ok. We’re fine, but save your questions for now. It’s hard to be certain of who could be listening, and I’d rather certain information stay between us.”

Between us? Ike was almost certain he’d walked into a new world entirely. Either that, or Nerinai had a horrible tragedy she was hiding behind a screen of obscene friendliness. Uncertain and still on edge from the foray into the spirit world he stayed rooted in place while Nerinai moved forward without him. She didn’t get far before she noticed, and then the fragile expression on her face seemed to bleed away.

“Guardian?” The edge came back to her voice. Much better.

“I just- I don’t know, exactly, what the issue is but-” What was he doing? He couldn’t tell himself, really, but his head was empty and his mouth was moving. “Nerinai, I'm worried about what’s going on here. You still haven’t exactly told me what we’re doing here, you know? Besides, who is gonna hear us?”

Ike hated watching her grin turn into a frown more than anything in this world, more than days without food, more than the bite of cold air on unwrapped toes in the middle of winter. But he wouldn’t take that without knowing more, knowing that it wasn’t a cover for something else.

“I can explain more when we aren’t out in the open. Could you please keep the questions until then?”

“Are you ok?”

“What?”

“Well-”

“What? I spend two seconds thinking I could trust you and then all of a sudden there's something wrong with me? God. Trusting you was a mistake.”

Ike felt something inside crack. “No, Nerinai, you don’t, just listen. There were-”

She held up her hand for silence. “Save it. I won’t repeat myself Guardian. Am I understood?”

He nodded. She let go and stormed off, Ike nearly had to run to keep up. Guilt dragged on his steps heavier than weights, but he wouldn’t let her go off without him nearby again. Why was he so fucking stupid?

The pair lost whatever had briefly passed for teamwork earlier, but they still moved close enough from the second floor to a door beneath the staircase that Ike could watch her fiddling with a ring of oddly shaped keys for the one to the basement. The silence of their journey gave him some time to think. Mostly, he wondered what he could do to fix this. That smirk stayed burned into his mind so it was all he saw every time he closed his eyes. He could, he told himself, fix this. He just needed to make sure everything was right.

And it didn’t feel right, so wasn’t he justified? Nerinai could be in danger. This entire building was starting to feel foreign to Ike, and he couldn’t help but wonder how many closet doors led to strange worlds and bloody hand painting. He needed to know things that she was still holding back.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The staircase leading down mirrored the one leading up, but was much darker. Beneath it was the basement, as if this place couldn’t get any larger. Ike followed her down the steps.

“Here. Nobody else is here, so say whatever the fuck you have to say.” She marched over to a bench and sat down, leaning on the table in front of it with her head in her hands.

Ike could’ve gone to her and started explaining. Might’ve been better off that way, but she probably needed at least a minute of not hating Ike. A minute he could easily provide by exploring the basement.

The space was mostly unbroken by walls, but he could make out at least three or four doorways leading out of the main space. The floor was covered in a deep cherry wood that scuffed under his feet, and the only light came from lamps and odd ring lights on the ceiling. The center of the room was mostly taken up by a comfortable looking bench and long table, but to one side was a table covered in green velvet and a few other stations Ike couldn’t make the sense out of. The last thing he noticed was a slim pool by the wall, broken up with seating and short half walls.

Someone spent time making this place their personal hangout spot. It definitely didn’t have the same aura of respectable wealth the rest of the building did, but wasn’t comfortable either. Ike probably wouldn’t ever feel comfortable in this place.

Curiosity sated, he sat down across from Nerinai. Didn’t know what to say, what to think, what to do with his hands, so for a few minutes of unwelcome silence they both just sat across from each other.

“You know, when he wakes up, the Martial is probably gonna be pretty pissed off.”

Ike had no idea what else to say then. But, somehow, it worked. Nerinai grinned without looking at Ike, and replied, “I’m sure he will. Thankfully we won’t be there to see it happen.”

“Yeah..” So many questions, so little words. “So, can you tell me what exactly I did? In the cafe, or whatever it was.”

“You broke one of the four seals keeping us out of the gate to hell. Two are already broken.”

“You work quickly.”

“I do. Especially while we’re running out of time.” She seemed to be in a better mood now, but rubbed her temples with one hand. “I couldn’t explain the seals if I tried, honestly. They were built so long ago and with such foreign magic that I doubt any living shamans could. However, I can understand them, and that’s all we need to get through.”

“Who made them?” Ike asked, though he already knew the answer to that one.

“The first shamans. My ancestors. Witches who unleashed blight on the world and erected hasty walls using every form of magic they’d ever learned to keep it in, and succeeded in only keeping everyone human out. Failures.”

“Three seals down, one to go, right? I guess it’s in the temple.”

She nodded. “Which was why I appeared excited when you returned. My apologies.”

“No, shit, look I’m-” Ike held out his hands palm up. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t apologize for being happy. Progress is good! It’s just, just…”

Nerinai was looking at him for an answer. He was looking down at his hands waiting for the same thing. The words hung just on the tip of his tongue, refusing to budge and cross that final distance to vocalization. To explain his worries he’d need to presume a lot of things based on very little evidence. Hell, there was a high chance everything he’d seen so far was just his own mind playing tricks on him. But that wasn’t right. Nerinai had been carrying something with her since before they’d left Cadeloch that wasn’t just the pressure from their mission.

“Do you hear somebody, I don’t know, calling you? Does that make sense?”

She looked up at him while rubbing her forehead a bit deeper, but her eyes kept darting off to look at something else. “No,” she muttered. “Nobody is in my head. Why?”

“Because I walked past the altar, the seal, and found a wall. There was…” How much did he really want to worry her now? “Writing. A lot of writing. All different writing, all about the same thing. They said to ignore the call. It’s a lie. It’s dangerous. He’s talking. A lot of things like that, and above it all-”

“Was a word that I don’t need you to tell me, Ike.”

Then neither of them spoke and the air turned heavy. At least Ike had his answers, and things were starting to make sense. Not in a way he found pleasing, but closure was closure. They were even closer to finishing their mission then he’d expected and part of it was sheer luck. There was still something going on between Nerinai and the history of the Black Palace, but it wasn’t Ike’s burden to carry. He couldn’t.

What he could do was make their work here as easy as he could. “Sorry again. You know, for making things difficult. What’s next?”

“You should go back to the tower. Gather your things and leave, get one of the Crows to send you back to Cadeloch.”

“Um, no.”

“Would you rather stay here while I dig myself a grave for two? This isn’t your fight, Ike, it never was. Go back while you still can. You were never… never supposed to be here for this.” Her voice was starting to falter in a way it never had before. Ike struck a nerve somewhere and now frantically had to fix it.

“I can help! I already did, look, the two of us work better than you alone.”

“That’s not the problem.”

“Then what is?”

“How is it that you will swear your utter allegiance to my orders then continuously refuse them?”

“Because I’m just so helpful,” he said, though had no clue if it was true. At least she smiled from it.

Nerinai didn’t want his help and that was crystal clear, but maybe she needed it. Maybe there was a lot more to the palace than hidden demon beasts and breaking hidden seals. Whatever the case, Ike was here for the long run. Frankly, his life didn’t matter as much as hers.

“If you’re so set on joining me then we have work to do,” she said. She stood up from the bench and waited for him to join her.

Just before they could continue, she frowned down at his chest. “What?” he asked, but without another word she fixed the brooch on his robe. It was crooked, and then it was straight again.

Ike looked down into her eyes like still black water and grinned.

“Keep yourself together, Guardian. We still have to present ourselves as a proper delegation. And, I suppose, a team.”