Before Quincy shut the door behind him, he shouted, "Nom! Take over for a bit!" "But, the parsley -- "

Quincy grabbed a bunch of herbs with his huge hand and ripped them out of the soil in the barrel. He shoved them in a basket and slid it into the kitchen. He closed the door.

He stepped next to Nay and looked at the remains of the black rose. The torn pieces were already turning gray and wilting. The galaxies on the petals winking out, extinguished.

The part that was shaped like a mouth drooped and curled in on itself.

Nay stood there, mortified, afraid to even move.

"How long was it growing back here?" Quincy said, his cadence deliberate and slow. His voice low.

"Ever since we got back from my training," Nay said.

"And how did it get here?"

Nay closed her eyes, not wanting to tell him. She hadn't expected her secret to be discovered like this. "I brought it here."

Quincy turned to face her. She couldn't meet his eyes. She was too ashamed. She wanted to hide, to shrink into herself and disappear.

"And where did you find it?" Quincy said.

His calmness was the worst part. It was simmering. She felt that at any moment he might explode, unable to contain his anger.

Nay looked down. "It was given to me."

/////////

Nay was in Quincy's small office full of his trophies and adventuring artifacts. She had been patched into Ilyawraith's communication ability. A prompt appeared on Nay's interface.

---

[You have an incoming Party Invite]

[From Ilyawraith]

[You have been invited to Banshee Sect]

[Accept Ilyawraith's Party Invite?]

[Y/N]

---

"You should feel or become aware that Ilyawraith is trying to contact you. That's her Whispering Wind ability. Give her permission."

Nay obeyed and accepted the Party Invite.

---

[Vigor Link Established]

[You have joined Banshee Sect Party]

[Incoming Whispering Wind Call from Ilyawraith]

[Accept Y/N?]

---

Nay accepted.

An eidolon of Ilyawraith appeared in the office with them. She was levitating in the air in the lotus position. There was a spectral nature to her image. She was translucent and cast in a blue hue. It was a flickering facsimile of herself.

It was like a holographic party chat. There were options for just voices or texts, but this one was already sent to a holographic feed. It took Nay a moment to adjust to the experience. She wondered how the ability prompts appeared for the natives of this world, for the ones who didn't have her convenient videogame interface. She was sure it was also probably intuitive to them in its own way that made sense to them.

"Start from the beginning," Ilyawraith said.

So, Nay told them about her encounter with Nikolai in the Frozen Vale. It was like she was finally getting to profess. It was liberating in a way, to tell them the truth. When she was done, Ilyawraith and Quincy exchanged a look.

"You realize you should have told us about this man earlier," Ilyawraith said.

"I know," Nay said. "I'm not proud of it."

"Why keep it a secret?" Quincy said. "This could have ended much worse. We may still be in danger because of your actions."

"I didn't feel like he meant me harm," Nay said. "I know you probably don't believe me, but I think I have a pretty good read on people. And I don't think this person had ill attentions."

"There are skilled spies who are trained to make people think that," Ilyawraith said. "This man could be a spy for the Phantomhead Empire."

"But why choose to me?" Nay said. "I'm no one here. Unless...unless he was trying to get information on you two."

Ilyawraith spoke to Quincy. "She's right. If they're using her, it would be to get to us. The only problem with that theory is that Entrophists don't have any reason to spy on me. I've never had dealings with the Phantomhead."

Quincy fidgeted with his mustache. "Maybe someone is seeking retribution against me for the man I killed in Vynia."

"Do you have any other enemies who have connection to the Phantomhead?" Ilyawraith asked.

Quincy thought for a long moment, scouring his memories. "I may have angered or had a lot of disagreements with a many people, but I can't think of anyone...wait..."

Nay looked at him with anticipation.

"What is it?" Ilyawraith said.

"After what happened at Palazzo Furio...there was fall out. One of the mercenaries I hired from the Black Rose. Bounty hunters hired by Vittoria’s family found and killed him. He had some family, a sister, children. He had bought them time to escape when he faced the hunters. They’ve disappeared. Maybe they’re still out there somewhere and hold me responsible for his death..."

"I can sympathize with their sentiment but it seems too many degrees separated to be connected," Ilyawraith said.

"Still," Quincy said. "There's something about it that's always nagged at me. Guilt, maybe." He shrugged. "You're right though. They're not connected with the Phantomhead."

"What gives me pause, that gives credence to Nay's instincts," Ilyawraith said, "is the mention of dissension in the Empire. An Entrophist justifying their methods is one thing, but suggesting there are elements that might not be happy with the Empire's current leadership is intriguing. If he's manipulating Nay, of course he would try to present himself as amenable. But if he's not manipulating her in that sense, then maybe there's about to be a play for power there."

"But why choose me to contact?" Nay said.

"The only other thing I can think of is that it's because he knows you're an Elseworlder," Ilyawraith said. "He did tell you that there might be a way for you to return to your world, didn't he? What did he say exactly?"

"He asked me...what would I think if there was a way to return to my world?"

"What do you think if there was a way to return to your world?" Quincy said. "Is that something you want?"

"I mean, it throws me for a loop, for sure," Nay said. "But is it something I've wanted? I guess I've wondered if it was a possibility. But I haven't exactly been looking to return. Feels a bit...been there, done that, you know what I mean?"

"You don't have any family that you would want to see again?" Ilyawraith said.

"It would be nice to see my mother again," Nay said. "I never got to tell her goodbye."

She thought more about it. "If I got to choose, signing control over my Taco Truck business to my old sous chef Remi would be a proper move. But is it even possible? Is it possible to travel back to my world?"

"You travelled from your world to ours," Ilyawraith said. "So there would be some logic in getting to reverse the trip. But such magic is beyond my knowledge or understanding."

"He said something else interesting, too," Nay said.

They looked at her expectantly.

"He said that he only used willing souls, people who were already on the brink of death who gave him permission before they died."

"I don't pretend to understand their culture," Ilyawraith said. "But in all the recorded encounters between Marrow Eaters and the Phantomhead Empire, the Entrophists have always been evil."

"Regardless of the way he presented himself," Quincy said, "we need to worry about his intentions. He's interested in Elseworlders. We need to be wary of why. He's not to be trusted."

Nay began to speak, "I don't --"

"We don't know what he wants," Ilyawraith said. "And until we do, that's a good reason to be wary and keep our guard up. If he tries to contact you again somehow, you will tell me immediately."

They were right. They were being rational. Of course she should be cautious. But why was part of her open about giving Nikolai a chance still? She was intrigued by him.

"You will tell us immediately, yes?" Ilyawraith said.

Nay nodded. "You're both right. I'm sorry for keeping it a secret from you both."

"It was incredibly stupid, Nay," Quincy said. "Allowing our passions to override our conscience can lead to things worse than heartbreak. I speak from experience."

"Wait," Nay said. "You think...you think I'm romantically interested in..." She sputtered, embarrassed.

"Protect your heart," Ilyawraith said. "Even out of all the knowledge I can teach you about cultivation, this is the best advice I can give you."

"His manner intrigued me,” Nay said. “You have to understand that everything I’ve encountered here has been terrifying in some way. But if I had just run away from every person I met, I wouldn’t be here with you two. But I trusted my instincts. I really believe he didn't mean me harm."

"Maybe so," Quincy said. "But think about all the people you care about. You can’t keep secrets. You're not just protecting yourself anymore."

He was right, of course, but Nay felt herself turning red. She was ashamed. "Are we done here?"

She turned to leave but Quincy grabbed her hand. He didn't grasp it hard. He held it softly. He didn't look at her. He just said, "No more secrets, okay?"

"No more secrets."

Nay fled out of his office.

/////////

Nay fed pieces of the black rose, now gray and shriveled, to the small fire in the oven alcove. She watched them burn to ash in the flames.

She regretted hiding the rose from them. She felt stupid for putting her friends at risk. But part of her also wondered if she would ever hear from Nikolai again. She wanted to know if he knew a way to travel between the two worlds.

She wanted to know more about his life and his people. But she also wanted to become strong enough to defend herself if there were forces in the Phantomhead that were conspiring against her and her friends.

She dropped the last petal into the flames. The stalk was still attached to it. She watched it burn and curl and turn to nothing. She whispered into the flames.

“Until we meet again, strange friend.”

/////////

Nay took a break from prepping the vats of moon cake pastry dough. She stepped into the tavern to make herself some tea from behind the bar.

That’s when the doors opened. The cold wind and snow blew into the entrance. There were footsteps and Rolf, one of the Brothers Bouldershield, entered the tavern.

Nay nodded at him. “Sheriff. Care for some tea? I’m about to put on a kettle.”

“That would be proper swell,” Rolf said. He took a seat at the bar and looked around. “Quincy here?”

“He’s around somewhere,” Nay said. “I’m sure if you linger around here long enough he’ll show up.”

Gracie stepped out into the tavern area and saw Rolf. Some color appeared in her cheeks. “Morning, sheriff.”

Rolf turned to look at her. “Morning, lass.” He smiled. “Have we met before?”

“Not officially,” Gracie said. “But I know who you are.”

“And yet I don’t know you’re name.”

Gracie couldn’t help but smile back. Then she looked away, still smiling. She realized she was kneading her dress with her fingers and she made herself stop.

“Are you truly going to make me fish for your name?” Rolf said. “What should I call you? Oh yes, I got it! Beauty of the Lodge! How’s that?”

Gracie blushed and turned, not knowing what to do with herself. She bumped into a table. Then she looked him in the eye. “Gracie, sheriff. My name’s Gracie.”

“Well, Gracie,” Rolf said, “it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Gracie is the kitchen manager here in the Lodge,” Nay said.

“Is that right?” Rolf said. “Keeping all these chickens in a row, eh?”

“She’s excellent at her job,” Nay said. “Keeps this place running smooth as silk.”

“I’m glad to see you’re healing well,” Gracie said. “Sheriff.”

“Stop with this Sheriff nonsense! Call me Rolf.”

Gracie couldn’t contain her joy. She was practically beaming.

“Yes,” Rolf said. He touched his cheek. “The Gloom Ranger healer saved my looks. It’s like you can’t even tell I was on the wrong end of a pack of toothy bastards. They tried to make me as ugly as them.”

“You could never be ugly,” Gracie said.

But she had said it so quiet only Nay had heard it.

“Hm?” Rolf said. “What was that?”

Gracie realized she said a thought aloud and turned to escape.

But then Rolf’s voice interrupted her. He had remembered something. “That’s actually why I’m here. I wanted to deliver some news to Quincy. From Fort Nixxiom.”

“What news?” Nay said.

“We received a winter raven,” Rolf said. “Seems like there’s been some turmoil at Scarwatch. One of their own has gone missing.”

Nay and Gracie looked at each other.

“Oh?” Nay said.

“Martygan,” Rolf said. “The righteous lad with the crossbows and sword. The one who saved my life. He was still recovering from the events here…”

“And?”

“He’s disappeared.”