The last time I’d seen Ciz was when Opix had blasted her into a group of mobs that I’d summoned, so saying things were awkward was a bit of an understatement. Opix’s whole body seemed tense and I doubted I was any better. Ciz stood in the corner of the room opposite the window with her Presence standing right beside her – across from me. Thankfully Ciz didn’t seem angry, but she did seem… on edge. 

Considering the stuff she wanted to talk about, I guess it makes sense.

“Hello, Ranger Killer!” Cerus called from her bed. She gave Ciz that creepy, wholesome smile. “Did you sleep well?”

“Hello, Cerus. Hello Opix, Grim. H-hello, Galerose Alliance. I probably should’ve led with that. Oh, I did sleep well Cerus. Thank you. Oh! Did you sleep well?”

“Like an imp!”

“I hope that is a good thing?”

“It means I have not slept at all, though I do not require sleep to begin with.”

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Yes. Opix talks in his sleep, and you cannot stay still for longer than five minutes.”

“Did I say anything bad?” Opix asked.

“That is for me to know, Angel Boy!”

Things went like that for a little while, though it’d become clear to everyone that we were just turning our wheels. Just like we had been with Ciz when we first met her. The reality of the situation was that we were all on edge. While we knew what Ciz wanted, we couldn’t discern her intentions. Sure, she really could just want to kill the Felzian Queen and take care of the Rangers, but she could also be after the Heavenly Gem or whatever Battle Points we may earn today. We were essentially in Henrietta’s position now, except declining her offer would mean her accepting whatever offer the Gnomes had for her. 

Grim: What do you guys think? Should we trust her?

Cerus: a ranger killer will always have a spot to dine at my table

Opix: Let’s be logical. Do we have any reason not to work with her? Any misgivings? Anything that seemed off to you guys?

Cerus: i will be fair i guess

Cerus: she tracked us here, watched our fight with henrietta, and was approached by gnomes

Cerus: but i do not believe anyone other than you would bring up taboo topics to gain an advantage, angel boy

Opix: I wouldn’t go that far. Is that really the impression you have of me?

Cerus: you got a girl to think you were a deranged killer then cut her head off when she dropped her guard

Cerus: underhanded baboon

Opix: That was Grim’s idea!

Ciz shifted uncomfortably from her spot at the corner. She gave an awkward glance to her Presence, who cleared its throat before speaking in its deeper, monstrous tone.

“We did not come here to stare at you three.”

“Not like that!” Ciz shout-whispered.

“Sorry,” I said. “We’re in chat. We’ll be done soon.”

“I know. Take your time,” Ciz stammered. 

“Do not take your time. Decide soon whether you wish to speak with us or not. We don’t have all day.” Her Presence corrected.

Grim: I think we should trust her. We have a common enemy in the Felzian Queen, and we’re going to need as many allies as we can get for when that day eventually comes. Plus, I kinda told Ysnik that we were already allied with Ciz so…

Opix: You want us to trust her because you don’t want to be embarrassed…?

Cerus: well i trust her because she is a ranger killer

Cerus: majority rules, angel boy

“Congratulations, Ciz Weroz. You have been accepted as a member of the Galerose Alliance!” Cerus proclaimed. “Grim is the thrall I am most interested in raising up, so if you require training you will need to go to my other thrall, Opix Gale. Remember, 50% of all Gold accrued is to be given to me by sundown and all Achievements must be opened in my presence so that I may decide which items you may or may not keep.”

“You don’t make me give you Gold.”

“Yes, I do. You simply have not done it, and so you will be punished. It was meant to be a surprise.”

Ciz exchanged a few glances with her Presence before giving us an awkward smile. “I am sorry, but I have no intention of joining your Alliance. What I wish for is a partnership. I would like us to work alongside one another to complete this Territory Quest and get you all the Heavenly Gem.”

Opix raised an eyebrow. “You want us to have the Heavenly Gem? Not you?”

Ciz’s expression changed, shifting from neutral to resolute – the same way it’d been just before Opix blasted her into the forest. When she spoke, she did so with as much conviction as Henrietta. 

“I trust Galerose. Even if I don’t get the Heavenly Gem, I know that you all will help me achieve my goal of seeing the Silent Hand destroyed.” She turned to face me. “I have heard your convictions, Grim Hearts. I witnessed your exchange with Ysnik firsthand. I know you, and I know you will make your way to Grimhaven.”

Opix: Grim, did you notice Ciz on your minimap when you fought Ysnik? 

Cerus: opix she is a vampire i highly doubt he noticed her in the dark

Cerus: that is their whole thing

“If you want me to be brutally honest, this partnership favors me far more than it does you. I am effectively asking you three to gather the Gems for me so that they may be used to take out my enemies. Our enemies are the same, though, so it works out for all of us.”

Cerus grunted. “I will excuse the questionable word choice only because I like you!” When she spoke again, she did so in an uncharacteristically sweet tone. “Us pretty women need to stick together against those Rangers, am I right?”

Ciz blushed. “I… yes.”

Cerus eventually managed to get Ciz to talk about her time in Grimhaven and the many run-ins she had with the Silent Hand. I could hardly focus on her, wrapped up in my own mind as I was. She said it so casually that when it finally dawned on me what she meant it’d thrown me for a loop.

“I know you.”

As simple a statement as it was, it was one of the most validating things I’d heard in my time in the Ellalara Belt. This entire time I’d been trying to play into the image of a stronger version of myself, and it’d worked well enough to convince Ciz that it was me. Sure, that anger I felt was genuine – or, as genuine as it could’ve been with as many debuffs as I was under. Still, she didn’t see that version of me that fought her Presence as a Taunted me, but as the real me. I could only assume my performance against Ynsik solidified that vision of me in her head. 

Fake it till you make it… I think I’m starting to make it, Mrs. Gertrude. It’ll be a while, but I’m making progress. I can’t wait to show you how far I’ve come when I get back home.

“We’ll help you, but it won’t be our primary goal. Don’t expect us to rush to Grimhaven.”

“Do not be rude, Angel Boy! Forgive him, Ranger Killer. He gets nervous around the baddies. Grim, did I say that right?”

“It’s not that! I’m just being realistic. We have stuff to do. I’m not saying we won’t help. I’m just saying we’ll get to the Silent Hand when we get to the Silent Hand.”

”And we will get to the Silent Hand, Ciz,” I finally said. “You can count on it. On us.”

Ciz gave me a pensive look before once again sharing uneasy glances with her Presence. It eventually spoke in its androgynous voice, though the look it gave the three of us didn’t match the severity of its words.

“Do you three truly want the Heavenly Gem, though? We have no problem keeping it for ourselves and assisting you in your… grudge match. That Ysnik girl and her little gremlin friends stole our Battle Points, I’ll have you know. We’d be more than okay with this partnership extending to a simple revenge mission.”

Unlike the last time, Ciz didn’t correct her Presence. She still looked between us with her lips pursed and her brow slightly furrowed. 

“Where’s this coming from?” Opix eventually asked.

“Please do not take that the wrong way. It’s just that… I’m already ‘Marked for Death’. I am already an enemy of the Rangers. Should I pursue the Heavenly Gems myself, there is no added risk for me. You all? You are relative unknowns. If you wish to avoid becoming marked as I am, this is your last chance to do so. There is no telling how your fates may change should you decide to pursue the Heavenly Gems.”

“You know our answer!” Cerus declared. “Of course we will–”

“Please, Cerus. Galerose. Give this thought. Please. I don’t want to see you three truly dead.”

Cerus rolled her eyes. “Fine, but my thrall is just going to say the same thing. And Opix will agree because I will. Opix is in love with me so he would follow me anywhere.”

“...And where’d you hear that from?”

“You are quite easy to read, Angel Boy. I think you have an excellent taste in women if it makes you less embarrassed.”

They started to go back and forth over nonsense, but both Ciz and her Presence kept darting glances over at me of all people. I supposed they wanted all three of us to voice our intentions, and Cerus had already made hers clear. Though they “argued”, Opix’s lack of any denial proved that he felt the same way as her. As for me, I’d already made my intentions clear on the subject last night.

“Thank you for looking out for us, Ciz, but Cerus was right. You know our answer.” Ciz gave us a look I couldn’t quite read, but I continued regardless. “My goal is to eliminate the Rangers. Opix wants to kill Final Testament, and Cerus wants to kill the Felzian Queen. We can’t get there without getting ‘Marked for Death’, so we might as well go all in.” I smiled. “Besides, they can’t chase me to Earth.”

“Did you not get killed by a succubus and her thralls? You can certainly be reached, Grim Hearts. Maybe not by a Ranger, but if you make powerful enemies they will follow you across lifetimes.”

“Yeah, Cerus is right. I don’t think the Rangers would go that far, but Final Testament certainly could if he comes back somehow after we’ve killed him.”

“I’ll have to trust you guys to help me, then. Oh! I can introduce you guys to Mrs. Gertrude!”

“Earthlings that used to pass through my domain have suggested that older women are good at cooking. Does this hold true of your caretaker Mrs. Gertrude?”

“No. She only orders takeout and drinks like a pirate.”

“I must meet her!”

“I’m sure she’s a nice lady. We’ll probably be old enough to drink by the time we meet her.”

“Old enough to drink?! We are old enough to flay a man with a pairing knife. We are more than old enough to drink, Angel Boy!”

“Mrs. Gertrude doesn’t care about shit like that, anyway. She practically forced me to drink this gross beer with her every time we were together.”

“She sounds like a reasonable woman. Thrall, I expect you to take me to her when this Felzian Queen and Final Testament business is handled.”

“Sounds like a plan. Oh, yeah. Maybe we can go b-bowling aft–”

We were interrupted by uproarious laughter from both Ciz and her Presence. They both laughed so hard that they cried. It got so bad that Ciz fell to her knees and her Presence had to be unsummoned. Cerus joined in for some reason, leaving Opix and me to trade confused glances. She continued to cry with laughter until the smile dampened and the tears continued. Ciz wasn’t a mess. If anything, they looked like happy tears, but it still made me feel bad. 

“What’s wrong?” I ended up asking.

“Excuse me, but I have been alone in this grim task for such a long time. When Vri and I found the Blue Gem, we assumed it would be enough to solve our problems. Now, she is in the clutch of the Silent Hand and I have been leveling by myself in hopes of saving her. Knowing I don’t have to do it alone is just… Thank you, Galerose.”

“What are you… what? I am not a good person. Do not thank me! I am evil! This… I… I change my mind. I do not want to help you anymore!”

Ciz laughed at Cerus’ comment, causing Cerus to give me a look of utter confusion. I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to say, so I just ignored it.

“Ignore her,” Opix sighed. “I…I know exactly how you feel. I’m happy to be able to help you. Not to be a jerk, but we really won’t be able to rush to Grimhaven. We’ll all need more strength and information on our enemies before we’re ready for that. Can Vri wait for us?”

“She has fused with the Blue Gem, so they cannot kill her. My Vri has no choice but to wait for us.” Ciz smiled. “I can still chat with her, and Vri is looking forward to meeting you all when the time comes.”

“Tell her we’re looking forward to meeting her, too,” I said, finally getting up from my bed. “For now, we need to think about what we’re going to do against those monsters near the High Tier Zone. If we’re going, we need to go now because we’ll need time to pick up our Battle Network loot from the Master Zone before our fight with Ysnik.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Opix nodded.

“I look forward to fighting alongside you all.” Ciz smiled.

“After that’s done, though, you mind telling us more about the Blue Gem?” I asked.

“There isn’t much to tell. Vri was good with using it, but every time I tried it was like I was zapped of all my energy. When she used it, she moved like a woman possessed. It was beautiful on her. I want her to be free of that thing, though, which is why we need to move. Come, Galerose, it is time to plan.”