"What... have you done?" The shimmering soul of Cedez demanded, her song-like voice sounding confused and somewhat distant as if distorted by the wreath of Shadow wrapped around her like an ocean wave.

"I woke you up," Dave answered.

"Woke me up?! How?!" she asked, "this shouldn't be possible! This hasn't happened to any other Sovereign as far as I know! The Ward is... mindlessness... It’s vast emptiness, darkness.... how have you done this?!"

"Guess you don't know much about your Ward, Empress," Dave replied. "It's powered by the dead and I can speak to the dead, remember?"

"I'm not bloody dead!" Cedez replied, sounding frustrated.

"No," Dave said, an understanding filling him as he held onto his friend. "You're a soul wrapped in Shadow, asleep… and dreaming of the Ward-beast. The [Shadow] skill belonging to the Original Empress Nox is holding you tightly. Perhaps, it's sort of like a Dungeon holds onto its Sentinels. I think that you've never had control, never been awake because your unconscious mind, or your soul is simply incapable of trying to handle something so much bigger than yourself. So, I went around you, appealing directly to the faded ghosts that comprise Shandria's walls... hacked the Ward."

"You've... hacked the ward, huh?" the foxgirl mulled.

"Remy, Svenn and I would have died in the Crown Tower Arcane," Dave said. "I'm certain of it now. This shawl of darkness, the 1/9th remnant of Empress Nox is far more potent than you are. Before we head into the Tower, you must learn how to stay awake while dreaming of the Ward-Beast. You must learn to swim through the darkness if we are to make you the hidden Sovereign."

"Make me... Sovereign," the foxkin's somewhat-dreamy voice uttered from the shimmering, violet-silver fractal in front of Dave. "You will support me in the Tower Arcane... hold my hand, stand by my side... for however long it takes? You won’t let me fail, keep me sane… help me stay myself?"

"Yes," Dave assured. "I will support you. We'll conquer the Tower and get that damn crown and make Svenn wear it. I'm holding your hand now. It's been far longer than five seconds."

"You're holding... my hand?" she asked. "Oh... you are. Wait… how can this be?! Why isn't the Ward pulling your soul through itself?!" She demanded.

"Perhaps it's because you have no body as the shadow.... or maybe it's because that would disrupt our noble ceremony and ruin our conversation, my Empress," Dave replied. "The Engine of Crown Continuity, the Ward of Shandria is made from the dead nobility of Shandria, its greatest, most talented archmagi."

"Oh," Cedez said, glancing into the darkness around her. "Where are they? I... cannot see them. You can see them?"

"I'm a Phantomancer," Dave nodded. "I not only see them... I can hear their pleas, sense their thoughts. They wish to see you and Shandria prosper. They wish for our city to rise above the others, to become the Capital of the Shadow Empire."

"W-what?!" the foxgirl sputtered.

"They're the greatest archmagi and highborns of Shandria," Dave explained. "They love this city. Their families and grandchildren live here. They are flawed in a human way, greedy for power, selfish... of course they want to see Shandria grow and outdo the other eight cities of the Shadow Empire! The Ward of Shandria is made from people!"

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"I... I knew that the Ward Engine is made from cores," Cedez muttered. "But I didn't think that their ghosts, or consciousness would still be here, along with me for the ride."

"They're here and they want you to defeat the other eight cities of the Shadow," Dave repeated, feeling the emotions of the crowd of ghosts around him as resonant pulses of semi-coherent musical static.

"Defeat the other eight?" Cedez repeated. "Really? They'll help me? Why?"

"I'm just expressing their desires," Dave shrugged. "We don't have to outright declare war on the other Shandrian cities... we can just outdo them with my knowledge from Earth."

"Steve Chadwick and a few other summoned heroes already brought some Earth tech to our Empire," Cedez muttered. "They went to the capital. They're still there... inventing things."

"Steve doesn't have the memories of a thousand humans in him," Dave said. "I do. It's not simply enough to create Bakelite... I need you Cedez."

"You need me?" The Ward-bound soul repeated, sounding like she was drifting between being awake and asleep. "For what?"

"To organize the greatest talents of Shandria to produce the best results," Dave said. "Once Svenn is crowned, we're going to coordinate a Nation-wide talent show with you as its… hostess.”

“Oh?”

“We'll invite the brightest minds and skilled individuals from all the Shadow Empire, showcasing their talents and innovation."

"A hostess, huh?" Cedez's soul shimmered with violet auroras.

"You will be the beacon of inspiration, the Voice of Shandria," Dave affirmed. "Your charisma will inspire the contestants and magnify their creativity. We can bring forth a new era of progress and prosperity for Shandria with the right people working on our team."

"Very well, my little hero. I will embrace my role and be the catalyst for the change you envision," Cedez mulled. "Just be wary... the lawmakers of Shandria will put spikes in our wheels, stab us in the back if we reduce their power."

"We'll need to build our own army and strike first," Dave said sternly. "Made up from people that we can trust, from slaves and lowborns, armed with spears and guns. With you as the Voice of the People leading them on and Svenn training them, while our female Svenn pretends to be the clueless, cooperative Princess that pacifies the highborns by promising them the world on a platter."

"That sounds… like a goodly plot," Cedez agreed. “Let’s do it.”

"Dave... what's happening?" Remicra whispered, still clinging to him from behind. "It's so dark... I can't see anything... and you're speaking in a language I cannot understand. The Shadow-beast came down like a giant cloud atop us."

Dave opened his eyes and attempted to look at the dragoness, turning his head. It was indeed pitch black.

"It's fine," he told her. "Cedez is semi-awake now. I took control of the Ward of Shandria. The Shadows won't harm us... they're under control of my skill."

He suddenly felt that he was losing the attention of the multitude of ghosts inhabiting the ward. He attempted to reach out to them once again and felt that his soul and body were nearly drained of energy, his hands trembling ever so slightly.

“My fellow highborn Lords and Ladies, we shall reconvene another night,” he uttered in Shadow-tongue to the ghosts around him. “I must retire to my chamber to make plans!”

The ghosts made noises of affirmation.

“I’ll see you when you’re awake,” he whispered to Cedez, letting go of her soul.

“See you then,” she uttered, drifting upwards and away from him.

“Let's go,” he said to Remicra, pulling her out of the shadow cloud towards the caretaker’s cottage. “Time to get some sleep. I’m… done breaking the Ward for tonight.”

The shadow rose away from them, reaching towards the ring cloud in the sky. Dave noted that the figure of the Ward-beast looked far more defined, and had less useless legs and tentacles and had a bit more fox-like features to it.

“I hope Cedez remembers our conversation,” he uttered as he watched the great Shadow beast return to its ambling around the city.