“Maybe… Forever isn’t truly forever,” I eventually suggested with a hint of hope. “I mean, he’s just saying that here. It’s not like she confirmed it. It sounds more like he was emphasizing the point that they were banished for some reason...”

Nora flopped back down to the floor with a huff, scattering bits of her journal, which had started to pull at the seams. “Sealing it with some sort of crystal has a sense of forever to me. Leave it to her to make getting into Paradise more difficult.”

I knew what she meant, but the action was probably entirely appropriate in this case. “Well, demons be demons, I guess. I bet that’s why she had to seal it.”

“Maybe…” Nora sighed.

“You know, you should take better care of your stuff.” Carefully, I pushed a few loose papers back into her journal before stopping. “Hey. Why can’t I read any of this? What sort of crazy code are you using?” As I flipped through the binding backward, I realized I couldn’t quite make out any of her sketches anymore, either. Not even the butt! The CUP letters were still legible, however.

“Thought you’d just borrow my notes? I’ve been on to you since high school. Nah, you’ll have to write down things on your own.”

“I’m serious. Why can’t I read this?”

“Modum translitterandi. Don’t take it personally, though. No one can read it without my permission.”

“I guess encoding your journal is a good idea,” I admitted begrudgingly. “It would be bad if it ended up in the wrong hands.” I turned it around a few times. “You should get Aleph to sew it up better. Soon.”

“Yeah, probably,” she replied noncommittally to my nagging before arching her head back to stare at me upside down from the ground. “You know I have many questions about this excerpt he shared, right?”

“I figured…” Even I had some of my own. “… I’m going to be the good cop, aren’t I?” Please don’t make me be rude to him too..!

Nora sat up slowly before selecting a lock of hair to twirl. “I was thinking we go light on this one. Good cop, bad cop won’t get us what we want here. It’s a poor negotiation tactic, all things considered.”

Relieved she wasn’t looking for a second round of proverbial gut-punching, I nodded and took my own seat, reclining back to rest on one of the walls.

The wagon stopped a little while later, signaling it was time for a break. We were given water, a small snack of hardtack, and a few cold cuts, though if you asked me to place what animal it came from, I could only guess it made a ‘moo-oink’ noise. Still, it’s meat! Finally!

“Ugh… this is well preserved...” Nora noted with a disgusted face. “So salty!”

Ignoring her complaints, since she was already well on her way to finishing her mini-meal, I looked outside anxiously. “It’s been a while. Maybe I should go check on him.”

“How could you eat that so fast…? Never mind, I forgot. Meat.” She then waved me off dismissively.

---

“… and with an expression of pure, guileless adoration, she inquired of me regarding Oliver!” I overheard Relias confiding to Aleph in frustrated disbelief. Adoration?! My face would never betray me like that, would it? No!

“She has approached me as well,” Aleph admitted sorrowfully. “I am not proud of my response.”

“Old friend…” Relias sighed, curling up slightly beneath the root of a tall pine tree. “How is it that she remains entangled in such a bewildering state? Her memory retains some newer fragments, yet her visage earlier mirrored the same joyful mirth as on that doomed day we encountered him!”

Aleph shook his head. “His friendship with her was truly calculated. With all of us, even.”

“He was never an ally of mine,” Relias denied vehemently. “I should have delved deeper into the implications of his jests and barbs rather than dismissing them as mere manifestations of his general contempt for the church.”

“He reminded you of Ambrose, I recall…”

“Truly, that marked the commencement of my misjudgment – to be deceived by such impersonations of our lost one,” he said with a frustrated sigh. Ambrose…?

The dark mage who abandoned me—us.

Raedine! You’re back again!

Before you ask… he was arrogant yet undeniably intelligent and outspoken. When it suited him, he could even be quite charismatic.

Oh… Were you two—

Close friends. Nothing more, then much less. Upon his departure, he ensured that no trace was left behind to follow.

I’m sorry.

…me too.

Aleph had put his hand on Relias’s shoulder in solidarity. “Mayhap telling her of his violent interference during her previous life will help her understand his true nature.” Violent interference…

“You refer to Raelana Demonslayer?” Relias looked up at the sky. “Even showing her may be better. I believe her journal still resides in the high temple’s sacristy…” He started to stand up, and I quickly bolted back to the wagon, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping.

“Did you find him?” Nora asked as I darted back inside.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, still processing the conversation.

“Is he coming back?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, stuffing the parchment into my rucksack. “I overheard him trying to figure out how to talk about Oliver. Let’s just… leave him alone for a while, okay?”

If she disagreed with me, she didn’t show it. Instead, she stood up with a cat-like stretch and took the opportunity to take a short walk before we proceeded down the road again en masse.

---

That night, long after orders were issued to make camp, I took the opportunity to briefly connect with each of my other companions to assuage my ongoing anxiety. They were, of course, all fine, but it helped to confirm it before bed. Vernie was still acting squirrely, but she wasn’t ready to put any effort toward reconciliation with Relias. I also stopped by to pay my respects to Captain Corwin, but he seemed to be busy reading and responding to daily reports. After a brief training session with Aleph and Tetora, I returned to the wagon, finishing with my mental daily checklist.

“Relias stopped by, practically tripping over his own words to apologize about earlier,” she filled me in the moment I entered. “Seriously, I was half expecting him to drop to the floor and beg for forgiveness. Carrying the teapot prevented that, I suppose,” she said, nodding toward the table before her. The hand-painted tea set on display, steaming merrily, really was too elegant for the likes of us.

“Ah, it’s that root tea again,” I mumbled, a bit let down, as I caught a whiff of its earthy aroma. “We need to find some sweets.”

After nighttime tea concluded, we settled in our respective bedrolls.

“Hey…” I asked sleepily. “When I say his name… do I make a weird face?”

“Definitely,” she confirmed, throwing me for a loop. “You say it weird, too. With extra emphasis.”

“Why!” I exclaimed more to myself than her.

“Do you want to talk about this so close to sleep?” Nora warned.

“Shoot, no! Quick, distract me! Make it good!”

We talked about our accidental chocolate lava cake disaster from a few years ago, which had forever banned me from baking in Mama Perez’s kitchen.

“Whoever came up with the abbreviations for teaspoon and tablespoon should be ashamed of themselves,” I muttered. “It took hours to clean out her oven all because of one simple mismeasurement.” I’d have endorsed the metric system here, but that would get me in trouble with my fellow’ murican.

“Good thing we made the icing in advance,” Nora giggled.

“What I wouldn’t give for another bowl of…” I yawned and curled up in contentment. “Fudge frosting…” What had we actually been trying to make again? Right… Devil’s Food Cake…

---

“How much longer must we endure this wait?” Relias questioned, his patience having already long retreated. “We have honored our commitment by arriving at the designated hour, yet he already displays discourtesy by failing to greet us promptly in turn.”

“In my view, it will ultimately be us who will become the greatest imposition,” I replied, easing back into the oversized chair I had been escorted to. “A brief period of waiting in the sanctuary of this comfortable chamber is the smallest of sacrifices on our part.”

Relias turned toward me, his face troubled. “Comfortable chamber… does not the pervasive animus within this tower distress you?”

“It has been ever present on some level during our journey,” I murmured with a slight shrug. “We have been granted the head mage’s sincere promise that we shall not be targets of this energy, and I see no cause to doubt his assurances.”

The grand double doors swung open with a loud clamor, their rumbling echoing throughout the circular chamber. Oliver, the man we had been awaiting, entered with the confidence of a wild stallion, striding toward us in the center. His lengthy silvery hair, tinged lavender, swayed rhythmically with his loosely secured cape of twilight. His face bore a tinge of amusement with his eyes closed, akin to a fox basking in self-satisfaction. This is the one, alright. Had he overheard our conversation?

“Please accept my deepest apologies, esteemed lady,” he offered, executing a fluid and respectful bow. “The notion that the Chosen One would elect to visit this locale is remarkable indeed...” His mysterious gaze then shifted to Relias, with one eye opened, revealing a hazy green reptilian iris. “And accompanied by a… distinguished guest, no less.”

“Was the Purpose of our visit not clear in my missive?” Relias inquired, folding his arms.

“To such an extent that I perceived it as mere jest,” he responded with a mild laugh. “Vetus has an odd sense of humor. However, this may be the culmination of his amusing accomplishments. You are the first priest to set foot within our hallowed halls, are you not?”

“Indeed,” Relias replied, doing his best to stifle a scowl. “Therefore, I suggest you carefully consider our request to join us—”

“And how do you propose compensating me for my invaluable assistance?” he interjected, offering his palms upward.

Relias sharply drew in his breath. “Compensation?”

“You’re asking me for my life,” Oliver said with a widening smirk. “Surely you didn’t expect me to join you without asking for something in return.”

Relias glanced dubiously at me. “I have a few gold coins,” I confessed in slight confusion. “Though I had been saving them for possible emergencies encountered on our travels…”

“Surely the decorated high priest would not pass along his debts to his humble companion,” Oliver glanced meaningfully at the gold signet ring on Relias’s right hand.

In discernable disgust, Relias pulled off his ring and set it on the table with a clatter.

Oliver leaned down with a thoughtful look. “My, it’s quite tiny, isn’t it?”

“Just what are you implying?!” Relias shouted as my confusion increased.

“I’m implying that this isn’t enough compensation. What else could I have possibly meant?”

With an angry sneer, Relias removed the Star of Euphridia from around his neck. “Well? What say you now?”

“What’s your staff made out of?”

”My staff is off limits!” Relias bellowed.

“Well, of course it is, seeing as you’re a priest. I was merely curious…”

Relias turned on his heels angrily. “Raelynn, it is obvious to me that this… this… despicable dark mage is wasting our precious time!”

“A thousand gold bars,” Oliver announced in a more serious voice. “And not a single pence less.”

I blinked several times. “That sounds like a lot….”

“Is that not precisely the sum His Majesty, the King of Ecclesia, contributes to the church yearly?” Oliver posed the question to me as though I possessed insight into such matters. “Given that he is merely one among a multitude of worshipers and serves in no Purpose beyond that of a sovereign, I deem the amount to be fitting recompense for the services I am to provide.”

Relias snorted. “You suggest your value is equivalent to that of a monarch?”

“Even more so. Were the king in a position to adequately assist you, you would not be engaged in these negotiations with me,” he replied in confidence.

“Upon our triumphant return,” Relias hedged. “I am certain the church would be more than willing to grant—”

“Fifty percent up front,” he interrupted. “I’ll join you on your quest to kill the demon king once I receive said delivery. Until then, I will sincerely pray for your success.” He bowed to us both and then twirled the fingers of his right hand. The world suddenly abruptly transformed, with the sealed grand entrance of the dark mage tower suddenly standing defiantly before us.

“Did he just... dismiss us?” I gasped in stunned disbelief. To think he has such powers!

“I must express my sincere apologies for such a discourteous—”

Interrupting with a surge of enthusiasm, I inquired, “How swiftly can the church arrange to deliver those 500 gold bars? I’ll accept no substitutions!”