What I originally intended to be little more than a quick status check ended up being way more of a pain in the neck than planned. As it turned out, putting together a big science project wasn't simple, especially if it was the 'mad' variety, with some magitech sprinkled on top. Nor was it cheap, and even though I still had a lot of money in my account, I didn't like the number of zeroes Fred and Sahi were throwing around.

On the bright side, at least everything was proceeding relatively smoothly. The core device with the big glowy green tube in the middle was already half-completed, and if Peabody was to be believed, we could start growing the body by next Monday. According to Galatea, all of this was made possible due to my ability to directly manipulate enchantments cutting down on the prototyping phase, though I wasn't sure how much I could trust her, considering she had been trying to flatter me as of late. Probably to butter me up before asking for a new exotic fish or something. She was predictable like that.

At any rate, by the time I returned to the Elysium, I was both tired and cautiously optimistic about the way things were developing. In retrospect, I should've known better.

Not even half an hour passed after my return (barely enough to take a shower, change my clothes, and grab something to eat) before someone knocked on the door of the Archon Suite. With a sigh, I turned on my Leoformer and uttered an only slightly annoyed, "Come in."

"Sorry to disturb you, Lord Archon," Jaakobah spoke before the door was even fully open, and I could immediately tell that he was bringing trouble to my doorstep by the way his brows were angled.

It was only the two of us in the room, as Mountain Girl was with Josh and Angie in the bedroom, so I waved for him to come over.

"Is there something to report?"

"No, Lord Archon. Not quite." The door automatically closed behind him and he walked up to me before reaching into the inner breast pocket of his uniform. "I was asked to deliver this letter to you."

"A letter," I repeated after him in a deadpan voice, and he nodded as if that was a question. In his hand, there was a neatly folded envelope with a fancy wax seal and everything, and once I made sure there was no enchantment or other magical malarkey involved by poking it with a phantom limb, I accepted it. "Who's the sender?"

"It was delivered to me through multiple relays, but based on my handwriting, I suspect it's from Director Savir."

I turned the envelope around, and just as he said, there was a single line inscribed on it in fancy cursive handwriting. The plain English text read 'A cordial invitation for the eyes of the Second True Archon only', with a kind of superscript over the second half in harder-to-read Celestial Scrip saying 'Leonard Dunning'. Yep, that was definitely from her.

"And you say this was delivered through multiple relays?"

"Yes."

"Presuming that others could also recognize her handwriting, what are the chances that news of this 'invitation' has already spread through the whole tower?"

"Relatively high."

Jaakobah sounded rather blasé about this whole ordeal, probably because this kind of thing was common in Celestial society. I couldn't share his attitude, as after our last interaction, the chances of this being a 'cordial invitation' were vanishingly low. There was no point in delaying the inevitable though, so I broke the wax seal and unfolded the letter.

The man in front of me pretended not to care, but I could catch him trying to sneak a peek at the contents from the corner of his eyes. Not that it would've mattered much, considering all the important information was written in hard-to-decipher ancient Celestial Script.

"It was only a question of time," I grumbled as I folded the letter and pocketed it (as much as that applied to hiding it in a fold of my semi-toga). "You're dismissed."

Swallowing his curiosity, Jaakobah nodded and gave me a curt salute before turning on his heels. It was only when he was back at the door that I suddenly remembered something I had meant to ask and called after him.

"What is the state of the investigation into the Udug Blood Amalgam?"

He froze mid-stride and turned on his heel, facing me again.

"We tracked a potential lead to the Bureau of Import Management, but they have proven to be uncooperative, and we have been trapped in an administrative gridlock."

I tried to recall the details of that particular department, which wasn't easy, considering the byzantine structure of the Directorate, but after all those daily interview sessions with the various bureaus and directors, I was nominally familiar with most of them.

"It's part of the Unorthodox faction."

"Indeed."

"That explains a lot," I whispered a tad morosely.

Ever since the Bel incident, Director Mensah and his faction have been keeping me at arm's length, and our relationship became all the more strenuous after the appearance of Angie/Deus. While they weren't openly hostile, getting in the way of an investigation of their operations was more or less expected.

"Keep it up, but don't pressure them too much," I instructed, and after waiting for a few seconds to see if I had anything else to add, Jaakobah saluted again and left the premises.

For a few minutes, I was left alone in the living room with my thoughts. I was tempted to take another look at the letter, but there was no point. The message was loud and clear, and I knew that a development like this was only a matter of time. I wasn't exactly eager, but it was like a dentist's appointment. No matter how much I hated it, it had to be done.

As such, I first stopped in the bedroom, where Josh and Angie were lazing around, while Rinne was ostensibly looking after them. In practice, she was sitting cross-legged on the floor near the bed, with multiple books laid out in front of her, seemingly cross-referencing something. She'd been doing that in her free time ever since I'd told her we would soon return to Timaeus, and I wasn't nearly interested enough in her hobbies to ask what it was all about.

Unlike her, the childhood friend couple were bored out of their skulls, and were playing some kind of word game.

"Banana."

"Artichoke," Josh responded after a moment of thinking.

"Elephant tree!"

"That's not a plant!" the guy protested. "You're trying to trick me again."

"I'm not! I saw it on TV!" Angie argued back with a pout, and they would've probably continued to bicker if not for my appearance. "Oh, hi, Leo!"

"Did we have a visitor?" Josh followed her up like their previous exchange never happened.

"Just Jaakobah. Listen, I have to step out again."

"Why? Didn't you just come back?"

"This time, it's Celestial business. I'll be back soon, rules are the same as usual."

"Got it!" Angie exclaimed with a grin that was probably supposed to be encouraging, but then her eyes opened wide and she snapped her fingers. "Wait, before you go! We have a request!"

"I'm all ears."

Instead of saying it herself, she poked Josh with her elbow, and the guy rolled her eyes in mock outrage.

"Oh, fine." He faced me, and simply asked, "Next time you're out, could you get us a handheld or something?"

"Two! Two handhelds!" his girlfriend corrected him and held her index and middle finger out in a V.

"As in, game consoles?"

"Yes." He nodded and let out an overdramatic groan. "There's nothing to do here, and at this rate, we're gonna go stir-crazy!"

"Yeah! They never told me there was no TV in the Elysium! Just how backwards can we be?!" Angie fumed and changed her gesture to a single finger pointing at the ceiling. "My first act as Deus is going to be enacting all kinds of modernization and reforms!"

"Oh? And how are you going to do that, O Deus?"

I only intended to tease her a bit, but she considered my question very seriously.

"I have no clue, but I'll have a lot of lackeys and advisors, won't I? I'll just let them figure out the nitty-gritty details."

"Wow," Josh whistled and put his hand on her shoulder. "Spoken like a true politician."

"Hehe…"

She must've mistaken that for a compliment, and neither of us was in a hurry to correct her. Instead, I rubbed my chin and told her, "I can pick up something the next time I'm out and about, but do you really need it when we'll be back home in a few days?"

"A few days are still a few days," Angie argued back and defiantly crossed her arms.

I wasn't in the mood to argue with her, so I just shrugged, which she interpreted as her victory and raised her palm for a high five. Shaking my head, I said my goodbyes and walked out of the room, and then the suite altogether.

While I could've just Phased over to Savir's location, I took my sweet time to walk to the elevator, ride it to the designated floor, and then go there on foot. If nothing else, it helped me collect my thoughts, and just like with dentist appointments, while I logically knew it had to be done, it didn't mean I wasn't subconsciously trying to postpone it until the very last second. Alas, it still only took me a few short minutes to arrive at my destination, and the two guards in front of the door gave me blank stares as I rounded the corner.

"L-Lord Second True Archon?!" the burly man on the left side of the entrance tensed up, apparently not expecting to see me.

"At ease." After that dry command, I inclined my head towards the door. "I'm here to see the director."

"We… weren't told of this…" The other man seemed more stumped than anything, but I ignored his protests and opened the door with a poke of a phantom limb. "Ah?"

"Just continue as you were," I told them, and walked in, completely disregarding their panicked expressions.

"I told you not to bother me until—" Savir called out from the back. Our suites had roughly the same layout, meaning she was in the bedroom, and she immediately fell silent when I interrupted her with my best Judy impression.

"I don't care if I'm bothering you. Come out."

There was a moment of silence, followed by some clattering from her direction. In the meantime, I closed the door and walked over to the table. Savir's quarters hadn't changed an iota since the last time I'd been here. At last, after about half a minute of waiting, the bedroom door opened and out walked the Orthodox faction leader in an otherwise modest black dress with a slit skirt showing off her leg. Her eyes still had circles under them, but her overall appearance was less haggard than the last time I'd seen her. In fact, her complexion was a little 'off', for lack of better words, which made me wonder if I interrupted her in the middle of putting on her makeup.

Most importantly though, the moment our eyes met, I could feel a wave of primal irritation gush out from the recesses of my mind, and my brows involuntarily descended into a glare. I was getting used to it though, and even without Cal's help, I quickly reined in the reaction and softened my expression into a deep frown.

"I believe I was very specific about the time and place of our meeting," she complained as she walked over to the coffee table and stood next to me.

"I'm not great at following instructions."

"I've noticed," she continued to grumble and gestured at the nearby chairs. "I would love to offer some drinks, but I wasn't expecting you here, so you have to excuse me."

"I'm not thirsty, and I would appreciate it if you cut to the chase," I told her in a low voice, dangerously close to a growl, but she remained nonchalant and let out a soft breath.

"Is some basic civility too much to ask for, Leonard? At least sit down first."

While I was within my rights to act stubbornly and make this into an argument, there was no point in it, so I grudgingly took a seat. She did the same, and once we were nominally comfortable, she crossed her legs and showed a thin-lipped smile.

"Our last discussion ended on a rather sour note. I blame myself."

"So do I," I quipped, and while her brow trembled for a moment, she retained an amicable expression.

"I shouldn't have taken so many things for granted. Such as our partnership." She let out a throaty chuckle and leaned forward, resting her chin on her right palm. "Maybe I should thank you for opening my eyes, O Archon?"

"I told you to stop beating around the bush," I cut in, feeling exasperated and more than a little irate as I momentarily lost my stranglehold on the unnatural irritation clawing at my mind. Maybe I should've brought Cal along after all, I pondered for a second before shaking the thought out of my mind and focusing on the director lounging in front of me.

"Don't be so impatient, Leonard. I'm getting to it," he chided me and shifted her posture a little. "First, let me apologize for my previous actions. In hindsight, I've realized that it was the wrong approach. I was too impulsive, and it led to you slipping through my fingers."

In other words, she wasn't sorry that she set me up, or that she kidnapped my friends, but that it didn't go as she planned. Typical.

"However," she continued, her voice now barely more than a low purr. "I could've never made it to the top of the Directorate if I was discouraged by a few setbacks. No, Leonard. I'm the kind of woman who always gets what she wants."

"… Please rephrase that in a way that doesn't make you sound like a creepy jilted cougar. Thank you."

She blinked in confusion, but it only lasted for a moment before she reassumed her laid-back attitude.

"Please, Leonard. There's no need for name-calling. It's beneath you." She made a vague waving gesture with her hand and, seemingly considering the previous conversation concluded, she launched into a new topic. "I wish to establish a new relationship with you. This time, without taking anything for granted. A proper relationship of give-and-take."

"In other words, you want to make a deal."

"Don't make it sound so informal," she told me with the smile of a fisherman who just caught something on the hook. Since I was the fish in this analogy, I was naturally less than pleased by this development.

"I thought I was very clear the last time we talked," I told her, my voice sounding icy even to myself, but she brushed it off with ease.

"Things have changed a lot since then. This time, I have done my research, and I think it's in your best interest to hear me out."

We locked eyes for a while and tried as I might to discern her intentions, her expression remained inscrutable. I momentarily considered just flipping the table and leaving, but I knew she had been doing something in the background for the past couple of days, and as tempting as taking her down a peg sounded at the moment, it was best to gather as much information as possible before deciding that.

"Go on."

Her face lit up, though so imperceptibly that, without my extensive practice of reading Judy's expressions, I would've missed it.

"You see, Leonard, I believe that there's no person in the world who doesn't have a weakness. A chink in their armor, if you will. It might be a trivial thing, or something others couldn't even truly understand, but it can easily become leverage in negotiations." Her lips parted into a delighted smile that didn't touch her eyes at all. "And I believe I found yours."

I let the silence linger in the room for a long beat, then uttered a flat, "Is that it? A vague threat?"

"A threat? Oh, please, Leonard! Do you take me for Dolion?" She dismissed me with a wave before folding her arms and resting her chin again, this time on the back of her hand. "No. It's more of an… observation. Such as that, despite what all of Elysium suspects, you have no romantic interest in Deus at all."

That came out of the left field and left me unbalanced for a moment. She capitalized on it right away and pressed on.

"It's an easy misunderstanding to make, bearing in mind how close the two of you are, but you obviously wouldn't consider something like that. You have not one, but two fiancées waiting for you on Critias, after all. Yet, people are simple creatures. Show them an attractive man and woman, or girl, standing next to each other and conversing amicably, and their minds start weaving a story, whether what they see is truth or just their imagination. Public sentiment is a powerful force, Leonard, and it isn't hard to subtly sway it one way or the other, and once its gears start turning, it's hard to stop. But then again, without something for these sentiments to rally behind, they could hardly affect you, the wise and powerful Second True Archon, could they?" She paused and leaned even closer, like a snake about to jump at her prey. "But say, have you ever heard of the seventh addendum to the Third Book of Hymnos, fourth revision? The third paragraph of page seventeen, to be exact? It's a rather obscure passage, but one that is very much relevant to our current conversation."

She waited for me to say something, but when I remained silent, she let out a throaty chuckle and resumed where she left off.

"My staff only recently rediscovered the original document, so forgive me for not being able to quote the passage verbatim, but its essence is as follows: it is written into law that, for the sake of our civilization and the purity of Celestial lineage, all Ophanim are required to pass down their blood by union with another Ophanim. This law was completely forgotten for centuries, and some later revisions completely omitted it, yet it was never repealed. Of course, from the perspective of my predecessors, revoking the law and amending the Books of Hymnos would've been a waste of time and effort, as the Elysium had not seen a single Ophanim in a millennium, let alone two of the opposite sex, and of childbearing age, no less." By now, her smile was so wide, it threatened to split her face, and it was anything but genial. "That is, until today."

"Are you serious?"

My hiss didn't take her aback at all, and she continued to grin at me like she just delivered a check to Kasparov.

"Why, of course. You must understand that it's old law. Sacred law. Not something even the Archons could easily overturn. Elysium is built on the bedrock of millennia of administration, bureaucracy, and precedents. Challenging it would be same as challenging our history itself… but only if someone were to remind the greater Directorate of this forgotten passage."

"Is this your leverage on me?" I concluded with a glare. "Do you think I would be afraid of something like this?"

"Afraid? No, of course not," she answered in a light-hearted tone, as if expecting my rebuttal. "I know you're not the kind of person who would shrink back in fear. As for annoyances though? That's another matter entirely."

"You're threatening to… annoy me?"

"Now, now. It's not a threat at all. It's just an honest observation of your character. Not to mention, I'm not the one who would be a thorn in your side, were the masses just happen to find a single passage in an old book that would let their wild imagination become reality, but all of Elysium." She paused to smile at me, and concluded with, "And trust me, trying to argue with the Directorate, arranging for the repeal of Hymnos law, and all the myriad steps of the ensuing procedures? They would be quite annoying indeed."

"… And, theoretically speaking, what would stop me from silencing you before you could disseminate this information?"

"Oh, please!" She waved her hand as if she was chasing away an annoying mosquito. "Why bring up hypotheticals we both know you wouldn't act upon? You would not do that for the same reason you haven't done so already; you could, but openly antagonizing the Directorate would be a hassle you want to avoid. Isn't that right?"

For a while, I didn't know how to react to that. I hated to admit it, but she really did her homework this time, and she got me. At least as far as the 'hates playing along with annoying crap like that' part was concerned. Of course, she could've been bluffing, but if what she said was true, it would've certainly given me a lot of unnecessary headaches. However, just as I was about to grudgingly ask her to state her terms, she pivoted in a truly unexpected direction.

"Not to mention, a conflict with the Directorate, whether direct or through the repelling of the law, would inexorably delay your return to Critias, and we both know it's something you cannot afford."

That made me raise a rather confounded brow, which Savir mistook for scoring another proverbial point and she let out a mirthless chuckle.

"Joshua Bernstein, or the 'Justicar', as he's currently known to the wider Elysium," she started, and since I was still stunned into silence by the inertia of this sudden left turn, she continued in a smug tone. "Considering that he was brought here by my agents, it's only natural that I would connect the dots. So did many others, but I happen to know something else they could never suspect." She leaned back in her seat and pointed a playful finger at me. "While his fame is only budding at the moment, Joshua Bernstein is widely known to be a dragonblood of some talent. He won a tournament, facing off against a scion of the Feilong bloodline, and everyone with a working pair of eyes could see him manifest his ancestral traits during the duel. Yet, as the 'Justicar', he manifested Celestial features and abilities. On the surface, there's an irreconcilable contradiction here, and I'm sure you never expected me to uncover the truth."

"The truth…" I echoed her, and while I was slightly worried that she might've discovered Josh's 'Chosen One' power set, my gut said she was probably off the mark and would venture out in a completely different direction.

"It was the timing," she explained with a smug, know-it-all smirk, and circled her finger. "After rejecting our hospitality, he evaded pursuit, only to later reappear at your side. His powers are unquestionably of Celestial origin, yet they are unstable. As for the final clue…" Her finger stopped and pointed at my waist. "Ever since that day, you stopped carrying your weapons in public. Not only that, but you have been acting much more reserved, avoiding confrontations and accompanying Her Grace and her Justicar everywhere like a mother hen, as if afraid to let them out of your sight."

"Which means?" I baited her with a deadpan question, and she must've found it amusing, because she let out a genuine chuckle.

"I admit, I would've never suspected it if not for the ancient records I found while looking for leverage, but once I did, it all made perfect sense. He's of draconic heritage, and as such, you knew that by sheltering him on Elysian soil, you would further raise the ire of the populace. It was something you naturally couldn't afford so soon after colluding with an Abyssal of ill repute. As such, pressed for time, you planted some of your power in him using the Spear of Destiny, suppressing his blood and hiding him in plain sight. A clever ruse, I acknowledge."

"Uh-huh," I muttered, nodding along and waiting for the punchline. Was she trying to use Josh's identity as a 'draconian' to threaten me next, I wondered? However, just as I had that idea, it was immediately dashed by her next words.

"I believe that you acted too rashly, so soon after your full awakening, and you haven't considered the ramifications granting power to this young man would impose upon you! Yet, you couldn't take your powers back either, for doing so could potentially expose his true bloodline to the public, and explaining yourself to them would've been quite annoying, now wouldn't it? Therefore, you influenced the reborn Deus into returning to our ancestral land on Critias, so that you could safely remove Joshua Bernstein from Elysium and then retrieve your Spear of Destiny, and with it, your sealed powers, in a single move!"

She pointed even harder at me and delivered her last line like some kind of spiky-haired attorney in a cartoonish court. For the first few seconds, I could only blink slowly as my mind was doing its best to make sense of what I'd just heard.

"Would you believe me if I told you that you are completely off the mark?" I asked, and she honest-to-goodness huffed at me.

"Please, Leonard. We are way beyond the scope of petty mind games." She didn't even wait for me to get another word in and lazily waved in my direction. "In conclusion, you cannot afford to be bogged down by any annoying procedures at the moment, as with each passing day, you risk someone questioning the 'Justicar's' true identity and discovering your vulnerability, and neither of us wants that to happen."

"In other words, we are back to square one," I told her without denying her conjecture. I didn't yet know when or how, but I had a hunch I might be able to use this misunderstanding to my own advantage, so I figured I might as well play along. "What do you want?"

"I don't demand much." Savir's voice fell into a low purr once again and, combined with her lazily confident expression, it reminded me of a cat that already caught the mouse and was contemplating how to play with it. "Answer me this: Does Deus truly intend to remain on Critias for the foreseeable future?"

"Yes."

My answer wasn't exactly cordial, yet her face lit up all the same.

"Wonderful. I was worried I wouldn't have enough time to consolidate my position and authority, but with this, one of my greatest concerns is already alleviated. As such, I only have one request: ensure that until I'm ready, Deus stays out of the affairs of Elysium." She paused, and after adopting a troubled expression, she offered an 'olive branch', so to speak. "Of course, since we're cooperating, in order to avoid any potential annoyances, it's only right that I would provide something in return for your support. How about this; it came to my attention that Dolion, despite appearing quiet, is furiously planning something with his most loyal supporters. So long as you make sure Deus and Acacius aren't meddling in my affairs, I will ensure that Dolion will stay in his corner and won't cause you any trouble. I think it's only fair."

"By a liberal definition of the word."

"I'm glad to hear that we are in agreement." She smiled and then let out a melodramatic sigh. "You see, Leonard? If you only came to the terrace I wrote in the letter, we would have champagne to celebrate our reconciliation."

"You're stretching both the meaning of the word and my patience," I told her flatly and rose to my feet. "Do you have anything else to say?"

"Nothing in terms of business, but since you're already here, why not stay for some small-talk?"

"Not in the mood." Saying so, I turned to the door, and then added, "Since you went through all that trouble to do your research, I believe it's my turn to do the same."

"Oh? That sounds—"

I didn't wait for her to finish, and walked out of the room, and down the hallway without a word, ignoring the startled guards in front of the entrance.

In conclusion, she actually managed to find a hold on me, which annoyed me to no end. She was also overanalysing things a bit, which might or might not prove useful in the future, so it kind of balanced out. In the end, it was imperative that I focused on the topic of this whole 'mandatory marriage' thing. First thing first, as soon as I returned home, I had to ask the girls about this, and unless they had a readily available countermeasure, I would probably have to put my money where my mouth is and do some research myself.

"… I wonder if searching for 'how to reliably burn down a records office' on the internet would put me on a government watchlist…?"