Zu Mari followed his new teacher as Nira led them through the halls to the stairs, then up two more flights to a broad balcony not unlike the one on which they'd stood awaiting judgment. This one, however, had flowers and bushes growing all along its edges, making it look almost like an open garden - albeit hanging several stories above the ground.

One of the girls clutched at Alie, her face going pale. Zu recalled her looking unwell before, but now it seemed to be much worse.

"If you can't handle heights, you'll not last long here," Nira commented dryly. "I suggest you find your courage and hold it well, child, or you'll be the first to die."

The ill-looking sister swallowed hard and nodded. Was it Turie? Zu wasn't quite sure.

"Now, your first trial is simple. Return to my rooms without being killed."

Nira turned and closed the door, locking them out.

Zu and Alie looked at each other.

"That seems very simple," Zu said.

"I suspect it is not."

"I believe you are probably right."

They looked at one another, measuring the certainty in each others' gazes, then turned their attention back to the door.

"It may be warded or shielded," Zu said. "Breaking in may cause guards or more powerful individuals to pay notice to us."

"It could be a portal to a different area entirely," Alie posited. "Nira has proven she knows portals."

"I don't suppose you know how to manifest a physical object through a soul tether?" Zu asked.

Alie looked at him blankly.

"I thought not. Ah, well."

Zu stepped over to the door and pressed a hand on it, feeling for the vibrations of its imbued power. It felt quite ordinary. There were some dormant spells in place which he suspected were on a timer, from the feel of them they should activate in about five hours at dusk. Nothing sealing it closed now, though. He leaned an ear against it, listening. No sound from beyond.

Turie, if she was the one who was troubled by heights, came over and turned the door handle, pulling it open, and scurried inside.

Zu stared after her, waiting for an explosion to go off or an assassin to spring out at her. She hurried down the stairs and out of sight.

"Interesting." Alie said, running a hand across the open door. "I wonder what manner of power shaped this."

Zu frowned and looked at the door, which seemed to be the same gold-shimmer substance as the other balcony door. He'd not paid it much attention before, but it sparkled like the sun on sand and glinted with metallic reflections when you got close enough. "I don't see that it matters to our present circumstances," he said mildly.

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"True." Alie gave the door one last look, then started after her sister, the other two trailing behind without pause. Zu stepped inside and pulled the doors closed behind him.

There was some trick to this test. There had to be. Unfortunately, the whole tower was drenched in Master Elvanis's presence and aura. There was nowhere he could go to be free of that boy's overpowering existence, and it drowned out any other people who may be a more immediate threat. Troubling.

But he was Zu Mari. He would not admit defeat simply because one young master was too strong to be seen past. He made his way past the doors and down the stairs, pausing when he reached Nira's level. The four sisters stood clustered by her door, discussing something heatedly among themselves.

"Locked, I assume?" Zu asked as he strolled up to them.

"It is. And I do not understand the locking mechanism by which it is sealed." Alie stood back from the door and let Zu inspect it for himself. There was no handle, no keyhole, and no crack where the door should meet the wall. Instead it was an outline with no realness to it.

Zu understood at once.

"It was never a door," he said confidently. "It was a portal. You said it yourself, Nira knows portals. This was merely a convenient place to enter and exit her room, wherever it may actually be." He paused, thinking through the layout, then nodded. "Yes. If you broke through this wall, you'd be right in the grand meditation hall where we all met earlier. There's no space for her to have a room here."

"So that's the real test," murmured Melie, assuming she was the deeper-voiced one. "Find where her rooms really are, rather than backtracking to where we came out of them."

"And not barge in on someone who can vaporize us with a look," Zu said, smiling. It was a good test. He approved. Nira might turn out to be worth his time after all.

"First, do any of you have a supersensory ability of any sort? Spiritual or mundane. Anything."

"I have heightened senses of smell and taste," said Melie. "But I don't know if that will be of any use to us here and now."

"It will be. Can you detect Nira's scent?"

Melie hesitated, sniffing at the air, then shook her head. "I mostly just smell you. Sorry."

Zu shrugged. "Would it help if I left?"

"No, too late for that. The rest of us have been interfering with the trail as well. And I don't think it would help anyway. I can't smell through a portal."

This presented an interesting puzzle. If Nira only came and went by portal, then how would they ever detect her? She wouldn't have left any traces on other hallways.

"We can figure this out," said Turie. "If we think about it logically. She uses portals to get in and out. Therefore it's not very close. It's easier to make a tear in dimensional space than to walk to it. And this spot isn't even particularly close to any of the destinations. It's a bit away from the balconies, the central hall. So why is this the location she exits into?"

Zu laughed. "It's probably not anything so complicated as that. She's a low-level minion and skulks about in side halls so as not to be struck down by anyone with real power."

"Don't say that," Carie hissed, scandalized. "What if she's listening."

Zu Mari wasn’t troubled by her concern. "If she wants to kill me, she'll have to go through me first."

"That doesn't make any sense, you know," Alie commented wryly.

Zu tilted his head, unconcerned. "Still true."

"You can't even manifest your own spirit sword," Melie said, scoffing. "Some great warrior you are."

"I am. You'll see one day."

"As I was saying," Turie said, reclaiming control of the conversation, "we can deduce the most likely place for Nira's room to be." She paused. "Is there supposed to be a title? It feels strange addressing her as only Nira. Master Nira? Teacher Nira?"

"Until she tells us otherwise, stick with Nira," Zu said. He started for the stairs. "I'm going to look down in the servants quarters. It would be just like her to try and pretend she's a big shot when in reality she's skulking behind the kitchens."

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