There was no warning or fanfare. One moment, we were in that white room, and the next, I smelled cow dung.

Light rain fell from a dark, cloudy sky, and thunder rumbled somewhere far away.

I lifted a shoe and found it sticky and caked with wet mud. A small wooden palisade stood some distance away. A mud road led up to a gate, where someone wearing what looked like a thick, heavy cloak was sitting in a chair, elbow on his thigh, head propped up. He was definitely dozing.

A strange shadow loomed over us, but I didn’t see anything in sight that could’ve cast it.

Then I turned around.

“Oh, hooooly…” My words died off as my eyes struggled to comprehend the impossibility that stood—floated, rather—before me.

The upside-down pyramid was utterly colossal, stretching up into the sky. Its sleek black exterior looked exactly like obsidian, and its tip hovered a foot off the ground. It didn’t move even an inch—like it was somehow anchored there.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Aerion said, clasping her fingers and stretching. “By Dominion, It is good to be back.”

“Yeaah, uh. That’s one word for it. Just, gimme a sec. My brain’s overloading right now trying to take this in.”

Sure, Aerion had told me about it. But it was one thing to hear and another entirely to be an ant seeing a mountain for the first time.

I craned my neck so far, I nearly fell over. The structure was so much more imposing than any skyscraper I’d ever seen.

Aerion looked at me quizzically, then let out a small laugh, covering her mouth hoping I wouldn’t see.

I couldn’t be sure, but she seemed more energetic than usual, and the smile plastered on her face was definitely not something I’d seen much of in the dungeon. I supposed that place had been both a blessing and a curse for her. Mostly the latter.

Not too different from my own situation, I thought, bringing my eyes back to the ground. The shadow cast by the pyramid covered our surroundings in a dark shadow.

The truth of my reality, which I’d avoided thinking about until now, finally hit.

Cows mooed, which was both surprising and comforting. So there were cows here. Maybe this world wasn’t entirely alien, after all.

Past the palisade, I heard the distinctive click-clack of wooden carriage wheels on cobblestone.

This was my future. This was where I’d spend my days. A world with deadly dungeons and hovering pyramids. Miraculous powers people of my world couldn’t comprehend. Magic. It was also a world without smartphones. Without planes or cars or computers or games.

No grocery stores where I could buy food from all over the world at negligible cost. No ability to look up any piece of information I needed, anywhere, anytime. No instant communication across the globe.

Could I really live without all of that? Luxuries I’d taken for granted my entire life would seem like magic to the people here.

That was the price I’d paid. Leaving all that behind, I felt… alone. A stranger in a strange land. Stranded without a way back. Perhaps until the day I died.

But in return, I had gained something precious. A new lease on life—one I hoped would last.

It was a chance for a fresh start in a world in which my talents could shine. Where my life might have meaning. With people who actually cared.

I stared up at the sky, letting the rain batter me. Despite the Trial shielding us, the rain somehow found a way.

“Greg?” Aerion asked timidly, her smile fading away. “Are… Are you okay?”

I ran my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know, Aerion. Probably not.”

More like there was no way I was. By all rights, I should’ve been freaking out about the bombshells I’d experienced just moments earlier…

Instead, my mind was calm.

I took a long, deep breath before continuing. “I’m not okay. But I will be. For now, how about we get out of this rain? And then maybe we find us a couple of nice, warm beds?”

I had a lot to sort through, and that was putting it mildly. I needed some time to think and reflect.

Aerion looked up at the sky, as if noticing the rain for the first time and crinkled her nose.

Then she met my gaze and gave me a tired smile. “I’d like that. I’d like that very much. But there’s something we should discuss first…”

“I know I’ve been standing here gawking, but I’m starting to get cold. Can this wait?” I asked, shivering.

“Just… Don’t say anything to the guard? Please?” Aerion asked. “Let me do the talking.”

“Oh, believe me, that was my plan all along.” I didn’t know the first thing about this world. I figured the best thing I could do was keep quiet and let Aerion handle things until I’d had a chance to get my feet under me.

Since my arms were full of weapons, I gestured to the gate with my head. “Lead the way!”

---

I thought our first obstacle would be the guard at the gate, but he didn’t seem to pay us any mind.

“Jess make sure ye register at’n the temple,” he said, drawing out the ‘L’ in temple.

“Of course,” Aerion replied, giving him a nod as she walked confidently past.

The gate was meant to keep people out, not in, so Aerion just unlatched it from the inside, and we were out.

I wasn’t sure what I expected to find on the other side—fields? Empty land? Or maybe even a city, based on the carriages I’d heard earlier.

Instead, we found ourselves in a corridor with more palisades on either side. They led to a squat building made of black stone. Seven black obelisks poked up from the roof, reaching toward the sky.

“Is that… a church?” I asked.

“Temple,” Aerion replied, shaking her head. “Temple of Dominion.”

I supposed that figured, given his love for all things black.

The temple guards weren’t anything like the one at the gate. I supposed if everyone had to go through the temple to get to the Trial, the gate was just there for redundancy.

These guys wore all black, with black hoods that covered their whole face, except for their eyes. They each held what looked like obsidian spears. Not just the speartip—the whole thing was obsidian.

I assumed they were for show.

“Aerion. Party of two, returning from our delve,” Aerion reported.

The guards glanced at each other and nodded.

“Welcome back, delver. We trust you met your goals?” the guard said, eyeing the weapons we carried.

“Quite,” Aerion said.

They waited, like they expected her to say more, but when she didn’t, they nodded respectfully and stepped out of the way.

“The Sanctum is yours. Please offer your alms in peace.”

“Thank you,” Aerion said, gesturing with her head for me to follow.

The interior of the building wasn’t nearly as intimidating as I thought it’d be. It wasn’t bright, but at least the walls weren’t black. More of a neutral gray. The ceiling was low for a place of worship, but the obelisks on the roof were hollow, giving the space a sense of openness and grandeur.

Aside from a half-dozen guards, there were only a handful of others inside, sitting on their knees, arms crossed across their chest, and eyes closed in prayer.

Four wide stone stairs led to an obsidian slab as tall as me, which sat on a pedestal at the very center of the temple.

The temple’s Sanctum was devoid of any other furnishings, features, or decorations. Whether that was Dominion’s austere sense of fashion, or something common to all temples across Axius, I didn’t know.

I followed Aerion to the stairs, both of us walking quietly to avoid disturbing the others. If anyone noticed or cared about our haggard, unwashed state, they didn’t show it. I supposed most delvers would appear this way, after all.

Except, when I looked over to Aerion, she seemed a bit smaller than usual. Her fists were clenched, her shoulders were slouched and she’d drawn in on herself, like she was trying to shrink away.

She looked nervous, which made no sense at all. I doubted there was anything nearly as dangerous here as what we’d encountered in the Trial.

Still, the sweat on her forehead begged to differ, and her voice came out broken and hesitant when she finally spoke.

“Do you… Do you mind if I do the honors?” she asked, looking at her feet. “It’d mean the world to me. And I just never thought I’d have the opportunity.”

I knew how much Aerion hated asking for favors, so this must’ve been a big deal for her. Only problem was—I couldn’t even begin to guess what she was talking about, and because the middle of a temple Sanctum seemed like an inappropriate place to ask, I just nodded my agreement. If it made her happy, I had no issues with it.

Aerion’s eyes shot open wide. “Thank you!” she breathed, gently setting down the weapons she was carrying. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and placed both hands on the obsidian slab.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then her body glowed and her hair stood on end, making me step back involuntarily.

She remained that way for several more moments. Almost as if she was frozen in place. But she didn’t seem to be in any pain, and given that everyone else in the room had prostrated themselves in prayer—including the guards—I assumed what was happening was expected.

Then it was done. The glow disappeared, and Aerion opened her eyes.

Except, this wasn’t Aerion anymore.

Gone were the gentle, tired blue eyes.

The look of agony, regret, and above all, loathing that Aerion gave me made my head go blank.

“Aerion?” I whispered. “Uh, everything oka—”

Aerion grabbed her weapons and stormed past me, brushing against my shoulder as she paced to the exit.

Thoroughly confused, I followed after her, my mind a tangled mess of emotions.

What the hell had just happened? What had that piece of obsidian done to her? Did Dominion corrupt her mind, somehow? Aerion couldn’t have expected that. Obviously. She’d never have touched the damn thing otherwise.

I scampered after the elf as she power walked out of the temple, which led to a busy cobblestone road. Horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians milled about, and women shouted down to people on the street from open second-floor shutters.

It was bustling, vibrant, and entirely foreign. Under any other circumstance, I would’ve stopped to take it all in.

Right now, I struggled to keep up with Aerion as she crossed the road, deftly dodging horses while I piled into traffic. It didn’t help that I was carrying a poleaxe, not to mention the mace and longsword. I had to be exceedingly careful not to accidentally skewer someone.

Even then, I nearly crashed into two walking black columns. “Damned hick! Get out of my way!”

Craning my neck, I saw that they weren’t columns at all, but legs. The legs of a lanky, well-dressed giant who stood twice as tall as everyone else.

“Sorry!” I shouted, gawking as I collided with a passerby, earning me some dirty looks. “Sorry!”

The guy reminded me of someone wearing stilts, but I didn’t have any more time to take in the sight. Aerion was power walking to who-knew-where, and I had no clue why.

“Aerion! Hold up!” I shouted, narrowly avoiding getting trampled by a horse-drawn carriage.

She didn’t stop.

“Aerion!” I shouted. This time, I cradled the mace in my armpit, freeing up my right hand, and grabbed her arm.

She whipped around, breaking free, and gave me that same glare.

“Don’t you dare touch me!”

“Sorry!” I said, backing off, holding up an open palm. “Just… What’s gotten into you, Aerion? If I offended you somehow, I’ll apologize, but—”

“We need to talk,” she said, tersely.

“Yeah! Yeah, we really do,” I said in exasperation. “So let’s talk. You know I meant no harm, right?”

“You would say that, wouldn’t you?”

“I really don’t get why you’re so angry. Let’s just both calm down and—”

“Not here,” Aerion replied. “Talk at the inn.”

She whirled and stormed off, not giving me a chance to reply.

This was beyond strange. There was only one explanation I could think of.

The Anomaly.

The dungeon considered Aerion an anomaly. An… extension of me. A weapon—something I desperately wanted to confront Cosmo about.

What if, when she’d gone to his temple, Dominion had done something? What if he’d tried to ‘fix’ the anomaly?

It was the only thing I could think of. He’d done something to her. I just had to find out what—!

I froze in my tracks. That wasn’t it at all. How did I not think of it earlier?

It was so obvious. Dominion hadn’t mind-controlled Aerion. He hadn’t needed to. He’d just shown her the same notification I’d seen.

The one that labeled her as a weapon. That said I could take her life with nothing more than a thought.

Guilt overwhelmed me. I never asked for that power! And I fully intended to bring this up with Cosmo the next time I saw him.

I ran my fingers through my hair.

How the hell was I gonna talk my way out of this one?

---

When I finally caught up to Aerion, she’d entered a long, rectangular two-story building that had a big sign hanging out front, advertising it as an inn. It was so big that it stuck out into the road. I idly wondered how such a thing could be legal as I walked in.

That was probably my nerves. This was not going to be a pleasant talk, and I hadn’t come up with a single way of fixing this mess.

There was no way out, and in these situations, I’d learned that the best policy was honesty. As horrible as that would be.

Aerion had finished getting us a room when I entered the foyer, which I took in with a glance. I just wasn’t in the mood to appreciate medieval architecture right now. I didn’t know how Aerion expected to pay for our accommodations, but that was a problem for Future Greg.

My feet felt heavy as I trudged up the stairs behind the elf, rehearsing what I was going to tell her.

I figured simplicity was best, here. Less chance to screw it up.

The room was on the smaller side, with slanted walls like a loft. There was a small window on the back wall and two single beds placed across from each other.

That was all I had time to see before Aerion spun around and glared daggers at me.

I put the weapons I’d been carrying down and gently closed the solid wooden door behind us, thankful that it’d offer us some privacy.

Neither of us said anything for a moment. My heart raced, and my chest started to feel tight.

I fucking hated interactions like this, so I just went for it.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Aerion crossed her arms. “Is that right?”

“I never wanted this power. Believe me. That’s a fact. I’m going to bring it up with Cosmo the moment I see him. I promise, if there’s anything I can do about this, I will. It’s wrong. It’s not right.”

Aerion’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“Uh, well, you know. Right? The System Message?”

“I see,” Aerion said, all confusion erased. Her face was an expressionless mask—it reminded me of when she used Reave, and I took an involuntary step back.

“I see now that you intend to keep lying to me. And why wouldn’t you?”

“Come again?” I said, utterly bewildered at the words coming out of her mouth.

“You killed my grandfather. You brought my family to ruin. And now… Now, you’re ruining my life, too.” Tears welled up in her eyes and began streaming down her cheeks. “First with Emma. And now this!”

“Aerion? You need to relax. I honestly don’t know what—”

 

“Just kill me now if you’re going to make me suffer, oh mighty God of Order!”

My next words died on the tip of my tongue.

“Huh?”