We were all sitting outside the tomb, Callie seemed pretty chipper, since we'd kept the ruby coffin (apparently the Church crew didn't want something so...corrupt). "Alright." I said as we all sat down. "Lot to unpack there, but before we start, do any of the rest of you feel...different?"

Most of the surrounding Ascendants looked confused, but Callie, Abel, Nat, Valk, I recognized a pattern in the ones who raised their hands. Five of us. The exact five who took the Dew. Callie nodded. "Ok. So only those of us with enhanced Impact. There has to be a reason for that. Do you think it has to do with the whole...Impact theft thing they were talking about? Like that our Impact came from them?"

That's when some of the random floating puzzle pieces we'd been getting clicked together. "Shit." I said emphatically. "It probably does. He mentioned a harvest, I don't know how all this fancy higher level shit works, but if she's using Impact she gives to harvest the full power of whoever incorporates it, why not just...keep it all? She'd have been done millennia ago right? Tons of people have been through here. She has to have a reason for making her 'pantheon' right?"

My girlfriend's eyes went wide, because as usual she followed my train of thought best. "You think she needs them? Like they act as some sort of conduit for the Impact to return once it's gone out? That would make sense. If that's the case than the Impact we got must have come from deadhead in there. Which ALSO makes sense, since this is relatively close to Ladrigan, and the mountains where we harvested our Dew."

I nodded. "Maybe. Could be a whole other reason, but if that's the case does that mean we're safe from being sucked up like juice boxes? Or just safe-ER. Because who knows if that Impact all came from one person. Maybe it was a mixture. We can't count on being safe."

Nat cut in. "Agreed. We need to get in touch with the others, tell them what's going on. Not just for protection or to save them, but because we need to call a conclave or something to figure out what to DO. If these assholes are waking up after who knows how long, chances are solid this shit is coming to a head. This 'harvest' is about to go down, and it's going to tear a hole through a large amount of the five factions AND the WCP when it does."

"Really?" I asked. "Are we sure? Like so many people would already be dead wouldn't they? Given how rarely this place opens?"

She shook her head. "Some, sure. But several of the higher rankers live for thousands of years. They were the ones who knew what this was about and sent us in. If they all go down at once, it'll be anarchy, not to mention that's potentially THOUSANDS of Impact, which IS enough to make several hostile gods. I'd rather not be standing in their nursery when they're born."

"Point." I grimaced. "I'm guessing even if we weren't on the hook for this because of using the Dew we couldn't just dip out?"

Nat grimaced. "Nope. We're here until the dungeon space starts to destabilize. Those marked by recent use of the slides are ejected. It's why they said this COULD take months. Sometimes its a bit longer, sometimes it's a few weeks. At least that's what I was told."

"It's true." Said Gabriel solemnly. "As for the conclave, it's a good idea. At the very least we have a place to start now. Perhaps if we kill all of these...conduits, we can slow or stop this 'Moon Lady'. I have several friends among the other factions. Do you have anyone you can contact."

"Bethy." I said without thinking, then winced and changed the form of address. "That is...Bethany Lark. The Vampire's daughter. She's friendly enough, and will probably be willing to listen." Speaking of listening, I was guessing the mask didn't let Zeke listen in unless I was in active danger, or he'd have tried to contact us by now. We really were on our own down here.

Callie looked worriedly off into the distance. "That thing was...scary. I don't think we could have beaten him without a really scary lineup. If any of the others run into one of those and they're a little light on muscle? We need to get in touch with everyone fast." Her face lit up. "Wait! You have two more wishes left today. I wish for a message to go out to all the outsiders in the dungeon immediately to warn them." She fished into a pocket, withdrawing a small bag of coins. "I'll pay up front."

I caught it without looking as the familiar words scrolled across my vision.

Wish detected. Grant wish?

I accepted without bothering to check the stat requirements, it was a message wish it shouldn't be too crazy. There was a flash and a small scroll appeared in my hand. I passed it to Callie. "Write your message and burn it. It'll carry over to everyone who came in with us."

Stolen story; please report.

She was right, it was a smart play. I was glad she'd thought of it. Taking the scroll she started to write, pressing the unfurled paper against the stone side of the temple. I turned to Gabriel. "Should we pick a time and place for the conclave now? Might be best to do it while we have a way to reach everyone."

"Agreed." He said. "I suppose sooner is infinitely better. Perhaps tomorrow? We should give people time to arrive. Speed is not something Ascendants lack, but the core is very large. For the location...perhaps here, we can show them the truth of our words in person."

I shook my head. "Too close to Ladrigan, and I don't trust them all. Plus finding it would be a nightmare. No. I think we should meet there." I pointed up at a mountain on the very edge of the skyline shaped like a closed fist. "That should be visible from plenty far away, and if its not a quick trip up into the atmosphere would make it that way."

"I've heard stories about that." Said Callie gravely. "Fist mountain. An ancient forbidden place where everyone fears to tread. "

"Really?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

She grinned at me. "No, but it kind of seems like every place we go here ends up being like that right? I give it even odds." She winked at me, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

It worked, I burst out laughing, and Gabriel and his people looked at us like we were insane. I just shrugged. "Sorry, just sometimes things can be ridiculous. Laughing at the absurdity is a good way to keep things in perspective. Plus Callie always knows how to make me laugh."

She gave a satisfied smirk a she continued writing, before passing it to me. "What do you think?" I skimmed it, and it looked pretty solid. Information about the trap, about the time of the meeting, which I approved of, and generally just everything I needed them to know.

This really was a great idea. The cost was low because everyone was pretty low rank and relatively close together. I handed it back to her, and she handed it to Mel. "Got a light?" The red masked woman rolled her eyes, grumbling about never having heard THAT one before, but sparked a flame and burned the scroll.

The paper went up nearly instantly, being consumed by the same purple fire I saw roll across my vision every time someone made a wish. Once it was done, she turned to me and grinned. "Also, I wish we had a compass that would lead us to Bethany. I'll pay that one off with one shadow jump."

Wish detected. Grant wish?

I excitedly confirmed, flashing past the requirements without caring. I was really interested in trying out the shadow movement aspect of her abilities. While our bond let us share some easily accessed tricks, stuff like her shadow jumping and my wishing wasn't so easily copied. I hadn't been able to experience the ability to move through shadows yet, and it looked like a blast.

It also took me a second to realize she made the wish in Stealth and no one else had heard exactly what she said. They were pretty shocked when the compass manifested. The scroll was interesting, an item being a more convenient way of sending out the message. Turning to Gabriel, I pointed up at the mountain. "So we'll meet you up there tomorrow? We need to go pick up a friend on the way and we want everyone to have time to make it."

He nodded. "Some won't, most likely, but we're in a bit of a hurry. Waiting around doesn't seem like a wise choice. The question is, what do we do if we find more of the Lightblooms. Should we avoid using them? CAN we avoid using them if we hope to succeed in getting out of this?"

That was a solid point. I grimaced. "Keep any Dew you find on you. We can discuss it at the conclave as a group. I can see both sides of that argument, and I feel like putting it to something like a vote is our best bet. Assuming we can even get everyone to play nice."

"Please." Snorted Callie. "Gabriel and Bethany both having our backs will be a pretty powerful motivator. Everyone has heard about the Adamant, and nobody wants to piss off a Vampire." Which was true. I knew I certainly didn't. Bethy was...mercurial, in a way that made her scarier than someone who actively wanted to just kill you in some ways. Though she seemed to be mostly under control.

The Adamant cultivator nodded. "We'll see you there. I'll try to contact any groups we see on the way. I hope most of the important teams are close enough to make it on time. I don't know how big the core is, but I do know Ascendants can move quickly when pressed. We should be able to muster at least ten teams of the hundred that came."

Running full out I could get three quarters of the way to ten thousand mph, so he definitely wasn't wrong, though the numbers were a bit skewed with the enhanced gravity and Impact in this place. It was much easier to move back on Callus. Still, even half of that would be enough speed to get to the mountain from plenty far away if given a day or two.

We said our goodbyes, Benny and Celine waving off their new friends and the rest of us saying goodbye and wishing them luck. Once that was done, we set off in the direction the compass pointed. There was no indicator of distance or anything, but given how fast we could move I doubted it'd be necessary. Callie paid off her wish with the shadow jump she offered, and it took active effort not to use it just for fun.

As we walked, I thought over everything we'd learned. My mom's upcoming location, the fact that this was a trap, the fact that we might die. Not to mention all the people in the dungeon that would die, people like Anna-Marie and anyone else who got access to the drops. I felt terrible for getting her sucked into this. If it wasn't for us she'd never have been in any danger.

Just another reason we had to try to stop things. Self interest aside, there were so many natives that could and probably would die during the harvest. Not all of them were awesome people, but some of them seemed pretty cool. I felt a hand slide into mine and looked over to see Callie smiling at me comfortingly. She squeezed my fingers and I squeezed back, the weight lifting just a little bit. This might be a mess, but it was one I didn't have to tackle alone. We'd be ok, we just needed to take things one step at a time.