The transit airstreams had shut down due to the war, but the underground hyperways still ran unbeknownst to King Sunada. It was a little business the Greens ran for the benefit of everyone.

The entrance of each station was guarded by a whistling coral, a creature that could only unravel once it heard a certain pitch. Specific pitches for different corals were sold like precious intel—Jeso had paid nearly seven-hundred clams to get them to the temple and back.

The Princcairs walked through a series of tunnels before reaching a spacious cavern. At the opposite end of the rock wall was a web of red tendrils with a darker clump in the center that looked like an eye.

Jeso hummed the pitch and the whistling coral shriveled into the corner, revealing a path ahead. He tried to ignore Hagen’s wince—the man was not a fan of dealing with the enemy.

The Greens weren’t synonymous with the Windorens. The Winds were a branch of the military that had rebelled and started the war. The Greens were part of a separate kingdom, but many also lived in Starmaine due to past immigration. The animosity between the Blues and Greens had existed long before then, but it just so happened now that a lot of Greens supported the Windorens and a lot of Blues supported the Stringsandens.

Jeso and Hagen walked a bit further before reaching a square room. A man was sitting at a little clay desk, whittling away on a limestone tablet. One wall of the room consisted of three yellow slabs. Those echosponges were sensitive to loud noises and could essentially withdraw on command, allowing for hyperway entry.

“Welcome back,” the man at the desk said.

“For the last time, hopefully,” Hagen muttered.

Jeso sighed. Hagen’s utter lack of shits to give did not do any favors for their reputation. Hagen had argued that he was only like this around their enemies, but Jeso had warned him that enemies often turn into allies.

Jeso and Hagen took their places, backs facing the echosponge wall, and gave the clerk the signal to open the hyperway. He pulled a clarinet seemingly out of his ass and played a loud C. The sponges squished upwards and the sudden change in pressure sucked the Princcairs into the violent water stream that was the hyperway.

The clerk, the sponges, and the square room disappeared in an instant. Everything around Jeso became a blur for a second as he flailed around, but he soon stabilized himself and directed his focus on Hagen, the only other stable object in the vicinity.

“Do you think Chan’s still stationed in Chambermaine?” Hagen asked.

“I hope he’s settled down somewhere, honestly,” Jeso replied.

“Not using him in the war is the single worst decision anyone can make,” Hagen argued. “I dare you to name one person better than him.”

Jeso raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you were such a big fan.”

“I’m not just a big fan, Jeso. I’m a large fan.”

“Okay then.”

A slight dip in the water temperature signified that they were approaching the capital.

“Have you been counting?” Jeso asked.

“Of course.”

That was the tricky thing about hyperways—one had to know the exact time between stations or else they would be trapped in the stream forever.

After a minute, Jeso could see the echosponge wall on the side of the rock tunnel. He asked Hagen to start counting out loud, and right as he said “nine-hundred forty-seven,” Jeso put two fingers between his lips and let out a high whistle. The echosponges retracted and the Princcairs were pulled into a similar square room.

The woman at the desk looked up and smiled. “How was your trip?”

Hagen said, “We accidentally killed the prophet,” while Jeso simultaneously responded, “It was great, thank you so much for your help.”

Then they promptly left the room.

“Speaking of the prophet,” Jeso said as they walked up the tunnels. “I think we should stop by the Broms Center first.”

“We really don’t need to,” Hagen said. “What’s the easiest route into Chambermaine?”

“The Broms Center.”

“Shut up.”

The two of them reached the whistling coral, opened it, and stepped back out into open water. At first glance, their surroundings did not indicate at all that they were in the capital of Starmaine. Orchinmaine was a city defined by its towering spires and state-of-the-art wavetech that caused the water to glow a faint purple. There was none of that purple here. Only run down wooden shacks and overgrown algae.

There had been a time when the slums were vacant. Now, though, scores of people lived here as refuge from the war. Many were originally wealthy residents of Chambermaine who had been driven out—an ironic fate.

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Jeso noticed a few hungry eyes peer at him from within the dark confines of the shacks. They were desperate, but what could he do?

On Jeso’s left, Hagen drew some clams from his pocket.

“Don’t,” Jeso warned. Clams would only solve half of the problem.

“What’s wrong with giving to the homeless?” Hagen asked.

“They clearly have homes,” Jeso pointed out. “And you’re just gonna cause them to flock to you. We’ll order a food package from the Broms Center and send it here instead.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Hagen groaned.

“You wanna help these people or not?”

“I’m gonna kill you.”

Jeso drew his guitar and aimed it at the ground. “I’ll see you there, yes?”

The Princcair strummed once right as the world clock ticked, and the sound wave propelled him upwards through the water.

Hagen groaned and took out the shrieker snail he always kept in his pocket (the one without the battle clock). Since he was a timekeeper and not an instrumentalist, he had to use the snail to produce sound waves. Luckily, those waves happened to be just as strong as a guitar’s, and Hagen soon caught up to his friend.

It wasn’t before long that they entered the official waterspace of Orchinmaine. The purple wisps around them signified that they were now prohibited from using independent wave-makers, and instead had to use the public carriages. Jason sheathed his guitar and Hagen stuffed the snail back in his pocket. It was a miracle the creature hadn’t died of domestic abuse by now.

Orchinmaine looked like a forest from afar. Colossal spires rose from the sea floor hundreds of meters below, each with branching segments that rounded off in open rock caverns. Carriages shaped like various sea shells bounced lazily from cavern to cavern.

Jeso whistled to call a conch-shaped carriage over. He and Hagen climbed inside, and he ordered the conductor to take them to the Broms Center.

Things were peaceful in this part of the capital. The spires were sprawling with colors and the water was pristine. And yet, the farther the carriage traveled, the more a feeling of dread began to set in Jeso’s heart. Hagen and everyone else living here could feel it, he was sure—a terrifying uncertainty of what was happening in Chambermaine.

Somewhere up ahead, the war was raging.

And Chan might still be fighting, Jeso thought. Hasn’t he done enough? To be one of if not the most powerful being in the Trench… it’s a burden he doesn’t deserve to bear.

But at the same time, Jeso found himself hoping to see Chan. Even if Chan refused to join the mission, it would be nice to at least talk again.

The Broms center was a giant bubble resting between four spires. Although it was translucent, the interior was so expansive and complex that it was impossible to see what exactly was going on inside. The carriage stopped above the bubble and Jeso and Hagen dropped through into an open room known as the landing pad. It was completely empty save for a poster of directions and a woman wearing a cape with the Stringsanden insignia.

She turned to greet Jeso and Hagen, almost as if she was expecting them.

“Jeso-sanden. Hagen-sanden.”

“Afternoon, KP,” Jeso said. “Are you leaving?”

The woman, who was only known to the public as KP, shook her head. “I was just about to go down.”

“Perfect,” Jeso said. “Can you deliver a message to the king? The prophet is dead.”

KP raised an eyebrow. “That’s not good.”

“It could be worse,” Hagen said. “Anyways, what are you even doing here? Have you been reassigned?”

“Yes, to Sondersien.”

Sondersien, the Greens’ kingdom. The name made Hagen’s eye twitch. “What for?”

KP spread her hands out. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you.”

Hagen frowned. “Last time I checked, we have the authority to know.”

“No we don’t,” Jeso said with a dismissive wave. To KP, he asked, “Do you know what the situation is like in Chambermaine?”

“It’s quite bad. Eight battle clocks are thrown down. It’s the usual spots plus one in Giana Square and one extra in the main plaza”

Jeso nodded. “Do you know if Chan is there?”

“If he is, he isn’t showing,” KP replied.

Hm. That’s not very reassuring.

“I assume you two are going into the fray?” KP continued. “I’d recommend entering from the seafloor. The fighting’s gotten pretty dormant down there.”

Jeso gave a thumbs up. “Thanks, KP. And thanks for delivering the message, too.”

KP nodded a curt farewell. “Best of luck in Chambermaine.”

And then Jeso and Hagen were back in the carriage, now bound for the inner city, the war-torn Chambermaine.

“Hagen, are you stupid?” Jeso asked the moment they left the bubble. “We don’t have authority over the Trisemity.”

“I know, but don’t you think this is suspicious?”

That baffled Jeso even more. “If she was switching sides, why would she admit to going to Green territory?”

“Maybe it’s reverse psychology.”

“I think you’re paranoid.”

“I think you’re too wishy-washy.”

“This is not a campaign against the Greens,” Jeso warned. “Saving our kingdom doesn’t necessitate destroying theirs.”

“Still, it’s not like they’re going to disappear once we find the relics,” Hagen pointed out.

“Last time the relics were used, a thousand years of peace followed.”

“That was millenia ago.” Hagen leaned back in his carriage seat. “What reason do the Greens have to just… leave us be?”

As much as Jeso would’ve liked to keep playing the optimist, he had to admit that Hagen had a point.

Maybe not, Jeso thought. Maybe the fighting will never end.