Sailor's bounty was a fabric that had remarkable attributes. This cloth had an absorption rate that would shame any microfiber cloth. Sailor's bounty was highly sought after by seamen who would use the fabric to keep ships from flooding and sinking. A finger-sized strip could be used to soak up gallons of seawater. I hadn't heard any stories of it being used on anything but water, but I assumed any liquid would work.

The spear slammed against my open palm, wrapped with a blend of cotton and sailor's bounty. Instead of piercing, the blood spear was sucked into my wrapped arm. Noticing this, the stranger broke apart the spear, attempting to pull his blood back. However, instead of returning to his body, the blood split and remained connected to the sailor's bounty blend. The stranger took a few steps away, but it was too late. Stumbling backward, the stranger fell unconscious, sprawling flat against the floor.

Daburu rushed his unconscious attacker and swiftly kicked the man's head.

"Is he dead?" I asked.

"No, I can hear his heartbeat still," Berthold replied, gesturing to a trio of ears attached to one side of his head. "With powers like this, I'm sure blood loss is something he's used to."

I deconstructed the cloth, removing the blood-stained cotton and leaving it beside its donor.

I breathed a sigh of relief as our newest attacker was dispatched.

"We're not done yet," Durella called out. "This guy has backup coming."

We braced ourselves and returned to our previous hiding places. I fastened the unconscious guard to the ceiling using steel-reinforced fabric, then wrapped us both in the pitch cloth.

A stranger approached from the direction of the party, walking confidently. I couldn't make their features out through the dark fabric but found something else noteworthy instead. A red and gold tapestry hung from the wall, bulging slightly with two sized-six boots peeking out from the bottom. The new challenger wasn't deterred either, as they immediately headed toward the bulge.

Without slowing their pace, the stranger lifted Daburu into the air with an elongated arm. I detached myself from the ceiling overhead and landed beside the pair, ready to intervene. Instead, I was met with a familiar face.

"We're here to save you, Nev."

"You're an absolute idiot." They said, embracing me with a hug.

"Come again?"

"You were free but walked into what was obviously a trap with…." They paused to inspect Daburu for a moment. "An ugly child?"

"Ugly children," Bert corrected, walking out of his hiding place.

Nev dropped Daburu immediately as thorny vines jetted from their arms, ripping their shirt to shreds. The vines wrapped around Bert, lifting him effortlessly into the air. Bert looked unbothered as Daburu and Durella tried to pull down against the vines, stoically accepting his punishment.

"Nev, let him go," I said, touching their shoulder.

"What?" They asked, clusters of vines cinching tighter against Bert's frame.

"I need him," I replied. "He's the reason I knew where to find you, and he arranged people to rescue you. As far as I'm concerned, Bert and I are even. I can't tell you not to do what you want once we're free, but please let him go for now."

Bert hung suspended from the thorny tendrils as his face changed in hue from olive to pink to finally a deep blue. Vines flexed for the first time since his detainment, assumedly as a reaction to avoid death. Nev retracted her appendages, dropping Berthold to the stone floor.

"Fine," they agreed, absorbing their verdant mass beneath their now sleeveless formalwear.

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They wore an all-black ensemble with a doublet and pants. I had tried and failed for months to get Nev into any clothing that wasn't living plant matter. But, I had to admit that seeing them now in actual cloth, even ignoring the blown-through sleeves, seemed unnatural. Like witnessing a doll unexpectedly move, uncomfortable without explanation.

"You need to leave now, all of you. Pheralynn knew you'd be coming. She probably already knows you're here."

The thoughts of that woman planning my capture sent chills down my spine, but I wouldn't be forced to run.

"I can't leave yet; I made a promise," I replied, turning toward Daburu and Durella. "But we will need to change the plan a bit. You two go assist Leif and Gemma with the cess. The focus for you four now is escape."

"Got it, boss," Daburu said while returning to the party with Durella in tow.

"We three will go to the vault, then meet back up at the rendezvous."

"I can't go with you." Nev corrected.

"What?" Bert asked. "Weeks of planning, formulating, and plotting to get you out… just for you to say no?"

"They'll expect me back soon. If I don't show up, they'll return with more people and lock the building down even further. If I go with you, then we leave now. Otherwise, we're all caught."

I paused, looking between Berthold and Nev, thinking about the promises made to each.

"I'll save you before we leave, even if it means fighting the entirety of the Crafters and all nine Suns."

"I know… Mersault, coming back for me was a mistake." They said, pulling my head closer to theirs.

I felt my face go flush as our lips locked, and sparks filled the back of my head. My eyes widened in disbelief before slowly accepting this new development. Waves of dopamine rushed over me, and as they pulled back, I could see a blush come across their typically composed face.

"But it's a mistake I'm glad you made." They spun quickly, uncharacteristically flustered before suddenly stopping. "My friend Carrion was headed this way before me. Did you see him?"

Bert pointed toward the ceiling, where Carrion lay mounted and unconscious.

"Great, help me get him down."

Outside of robotic arachnid guards, Berthold had a solid grasp of the vault path.

Our first obstacle was a hallway seemingly ordinary. Ordinary, aside from every third stone tile being booby-trapped with pitfalls and arcane torture. The solution for the correct path was based on moments of importance for the DeBrazier family. I lagged behind as Berthold spoke the dates, detailing the accomplishments without emotion, like a prayer recited by a non-believer.

The subsequent trial was one of patience. An hourglass sat embedded halfway up a steel wall with a handle perfectly cut into the metal. The door could only be opened by pulling the handle inside the lion's maw when the hourglass was perfectly even. A one-second window in three hours would make this an incredible feat, but taking into account our sense of urgency made this task even more impossible.

"It's meant to test the 'DeBrazier's superior intelligence,'" Berthold mocked. "Spatial reasoning and fast reaction time are traits my family thinks we're solely capable of. Looks like we've got about an hour before it will be time."

"I don't think we have an hour," I replied, glancing back toward the party.

"Ideas?" Berthold asked.

"One, but it's kind of stupid."

"I'd say stupid is better than nothing."

"So much for 'superior intelligence,'" Bert joked as we stood on the other side of the door.

A person-sized tunnel ran through the ground beneath our feet, connecting to the other side of the locked door. I touched the stone, seamlessly filling the hole I had just deconstructed to create our path.

The last obstacle was more straightforward than the others. Streams of fire filled the hallway from all angles. A chalice rested on a pedestal just before the spewing flames. I pulled the fire retardant cloth from my cape and crafted a large fabric wrap before Bert put out his hand to stop me.

"That might protect you from the flames, but you can't stop the heat. We'd be cooked alive before we made it through. This one's a bit simpler, though. All we need is blood from someone who carries the Supernumary in their veins."

Berthold cut his palm, freely bleeding into the chalice. In response, the flames died down, allowing our passage through the last of the vault's precautions.