Crimsoncrest: Chapters 34-35

I don't talk about it very often, but I have some news regarding my Discord server. We've recently added a new channel, splitting up discussion between conversations about the current chapters/plot and soulhome theorizing (people creating their own blueprints is a perennially popular topic). Usually I'm pretty hands off, but I'm happy to make modifications if they make the server better for everyone.

As I said last week, this upcoming chapter is the longest in the entire series so far. I felt like it would be better to linger with the private moments before we move to the shorter actiony chapters; we're heading into the climax of the book now.

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Chapter 34

Arms trembling, Theo lifted his hammer one more time.

Brought it down on the stone, imparting a little more mass. Not enough.

He raised his arm again and his spirit ached. Worse than that was the headache from pushing himself so hard, day after day. When he'd committed to building three free-standing rooms he'd adopted a schedule of nearly constant work, finishing all his bricks as well as actually assembling the chambers. That was done, along with so many other tasks, but he had so little left.

One more time. One more hammer blow, because it had to be enough.

How much time was left? Now he was counting in hours, not days, if he could just think.

If he recalled correctly, tonight was the crestflower ceremony. Three months since they'd planted the seeds, then the whole of the Asplundat Movement would do some sort of celebration. He remembered because he'd needed to factor it into his plans: an hour or two would probably be lost on whatever that was.

Another hammer blow. He had to finish everything.

His hand slipped and the hammer smashed the anvil instead. Theo wiped away sweat and tried again.

The crestflower ceremony would be the final cantae added to the crest, the culmination of centuries of work. After that the marble slab needed some hours to spiritually cool, then it would finally be possible to infuse it. So everything would end at some point tomorrow, for better or for worse.

Theo finally finished the sphere of mass. The hammer tumbled from numb fingers and he struggled to carry the sphere up to his fifth floor. In theory every sublime material here was part of his soul, and he should have been able to levitate them all easily, yet his spirit was so exhausted...

On his fifth floor he had an unusual structure: three chambers diagonally across his blueprint. That included the mass and anti-mass corners - now that he had added the most recent mass sphere, both of those were filled. Or were they? As he stared over the gravitational materials he had to wonder whether this was even the right path or if he should have searched for more powerful ones.

Along the way he had an enormous number of discarded materials, failed experiments, and transitional states. He should sort them all, maybe throw them into his singularity. Too tired for any of that, Theo simply pushed them aside and made sure both rooms were cleaned up enough to use.

He'd used the geminipaths to connect the two corner rooms, forming a circuit that didn't connect in physical space. The power would rotate around the central chamber, more and more intensely, in theory super-charging his singularity. In his current state he hadn't really had the time or presence of mind to test it properly, much less try a full singularity.

Theo wandered into his central Stronghold room. At some point he would need to collapse sublime materials here, to create a second singularity that would power his host-class floors. That would have to wait. Right now its only purpose was to serve as a channel: when he looked down through the hatch, he could see all the way to the bottom, including his first singularity.

Well, there was one other purpose. Theo gently placed the Stronghold-tier felinesolar in the central chamber, where he could use it at will. On its own it didn't do much good, but in theory it should link everyone... he stumbled back down to his basement to get back to work.

When Theo picked up the Ruler-tier felinesolar, it filled his hands with comforting warmth. But that very warmth made him want to lie down, and it forced him to realize the truth: he couldn't do this. In his current state it would be disastrous trying to work with the felinesolar or the armorstone. Raw willpower could push through an ascension, but this sort of soulcrafting was the exact opposite, requiring focus and precision.

For a long time he just stared at his tools, not really thinking. What now?

"Theo?"

He'd expected Nauda or Fiyu to pull him away, or maybe Krikree to ask for advice, or Senka just to annoy him. When Theo blinked weary eyes, he was surprised to see that it was Homez walking into the room instead. The Asplundat soulcrafter looked almost hesitant, but smiled when he met his gaze.

"I know you're focused on your work," Homez said, "but I hoped I could pry you away for one last night. It's time for the crestflower celebration."

"Isn't that... later?" Theo blearily looked out the window and discovered that it was later than he thought, but still not night.

"The ceremony giving the petals, yes, but there's more to it than that. I was going to invite all of you home to spend a little time with my family. Maybe not good for the soulhome, but good for the soul, I think."

After blinking several times, Theo decided that he might as well. Continuing like this he was only going to commit an error, not gain the edge he needed. If stopping led to failure, well, at least he would spend this night together with the people he cared about.

When he ventured outside, he discovered that the others had already gathered. They were all wearing their Asplundat tunics, though not quite as before: Fiyu wore some of her other robes underneath, while Nauda had a second layer that he didn't recognize. Even Krikree was wearing a hat with holes cut out for her antennae. In his usual armament coat he felt like he hadn't adapted, but they smiled and welcomed him and so he let that thought go.

Though Homez took them across the Asplundat Movement with his weirkey, that was the last time they were relevant as soulcrafters. They came out above a small village that was some distance from the mountain and the crestflower fields, just a small collection of a few buildings. Here Theo could see the benefits of Asplundat architecture: not fancy, but warm and sturdy.

"This is where I grew up," Homez told them as they landed. "My grandmother always said there's room for more at the table, and we've tested that many times. Admittedly, this is a bit stranger than usual, but you're truly welcome."

As soon as they walked closer, they were swarmed by Asplundat Fithans. They seemed pleased by Nauda, had apparently been coached to give Fiyu space, and stared at Krikree in awe. For his part, Theo stuck close to the middle of the people he knew, not even trying to keep up with the flood of new names.

Thankfully, they didn't socialize long before they were all called to eat... and Theo was actually impressed by the massive tables set up in the largest building. They seemed to have been formed directly out of stone, creating unbroken lengths that could host even the massive family. Nauda handled the seating, putting Fiyu securely between them, while Homez sat on his other side. Senka had to sit with the children, glowering the entire time.

"They aren't sublime delicacies," he said, "but I'd be honored if you took any of this into your soulhome. You'll be seeing some old family recipes."

The food was simple but hardy, and they did include a high quantity of sublime materials. Not particularly powerful ones, so Theo was trying to figure out how they could fit into his Nine Worlds Feast. He already had quite a bit of Fithan food, yet this was distinct from what he'd eaten in Norro Yorthin. The table in his soulhome was filling up, so he needed to be selective.

His problem was solved when they began passing out baskets of bread, which was both stronger than average and truly delicious. Whatever the baking process was, the result was more than the sum of its parts. Theo placed a loaf in his soulhome and just relaxed enjoying the rest.

"Uh, we have a bit of a problem," Homez whispered into his ear.

And in an instant all the stress and weariness was back. Of course he couldn't get even a single night to relax. Theo prepared himself for an early battle or some other disaster... only to see that Homez was surreptitiously gesturing across the table.

Krikree was absolutely demolishing all the bread that came her way, grabbing from four baskets at once and shoving the loaves into her mouth. All the Fithans around her looked uncomfortable, but seemed to be too polite to mention anything, so she was generating a complete blockage in their efforts to pass food around the table.

[Hey, Krikree,] he emitted.

[Bread good!] she emitted back, without slowing down for a second.

[I agree, but maybe you should scout your environment a bit?]

She froze, some arms still at her mouth, others mid-grab for other bread. Her eyes and antennae flickered around the table, then she emitted more quietly, [Share food with Asplundat beetles?]

Theo nodded and Krikree calmed down. After observing the methods of passing the baskets around the table, she began helping, apparently taking it upon herself to make sure that the baskets kept moving at all times. The Fithans began to smile and Homez gave Theo a pleased nod.

As he sat back and enjoyed the food, Theo realized that this was exactly what he needed. Rest would do his soulcrafting good, but for a time he truly forgot about that.

~ ~ ~

A Tatian meal would have lasted much longer, with more conversation and maybe dancing, but the Fithans wanted to move on to their ceremony. Nauda shepherded Fiyu and Theo as they headed out, since Fiyu was still apprehensive about the crowds and Theo was oddly mellow. It seemed that they were leaving the village to enter the crestflower fields around it.

These were small and less well-formed flowers, some with barely any cantae at all. That didn't matter to the people of the Asplundat Movement, who began the ceremony with great joy. Other than a few words from the eldest, there weren't many rituals, it was just an evening of human connection.

All of the villagers went out and found the flowers they had planted, now blossoming into plants with three broad leaves that looked remarkably like spiked House crests. Homez repeated his explanations, but it was obvious just from watching the movements of the people. One leaf for family, one for friends, one for lovers.

She saw many family members exchanging the deep red leaves, with elders often ending up with mounds of them from their descendants. Adolescents blushingly thrust the pinker leaves at their objects of attraction, while spouses quietly exchanged them. Most of the people went further afield to exchange the orange leaves that represented friendship, so the celebration began to disperse.

"Your leaves are much closer to the mountain," Homez told them as he began to float into the air. "I told you these aren't overwhelming, but I wanted you to make the strongest sublime materials that you could."

As they flew toward the hill where they had planted the leaves, months ago, Nauda looked down over the darkening fields. There were Asplundat citizens spreading out as well, carrying candles or lanterns to light the way. A few were soulcrafters, but a surprising number seemed to be ordinary people.

She realized that many weren't heading closer to the mountain, but instead going off alone. It puzzled her until she saw one of them bend down near a headstone with a name written on it and bury one of the petals. Nauda found the sight strangely affecting and closed her eyes... in the dark, her life sense picked up all the people spreading out from the community like motes of light, exchanging love or connection or grief.

"There they are." Homez could apparently make out the differences easily, because he guided them down to a specific hill. As soon as she got close, Nauda recognized that these were definitely the flowers they had planted.

One of them was a much darker red than the others, with black veins through the crests - unquestionably Fiyu. Theo's flower rippled almost as if it had its own wind, though she assumed it was gravity. And Nauda's... it didn't look so different aside from being a bit larger than the others, but she felt an immediate sense of connection to it.

"What you do with the three crests is up to you," Homez said, "but I'd be honored if you participated in the custom."

So Nauda plucked her crestflower and stared at the three petals. She saw Fiyu fidgeting not far away with her own, so she smiled and tugged off the pink petal. Fiyu happily extended hers and they exchanged them, hands brushing.

How long would this slow dance last? Nauda wondered if they would need to exchange romantic rituals across all Nine Worlds... and somehow that didn't sound so bad.

Fiyu didn't seem to want to linger, however, instead focused on performing the ritual. That left Nauda with her friendship and family petals, which she rubbed between her fingers briefly. She saw that Theo had separated from the group, staring not at the hills, but the mountain and the Asplundatcrest atop it.

"Thinking about tomorrow?" she asked quietly as she came to stand beside him.

"Tonight was the only time I stopped, for a little while." Theo didn't turn to look at her, but it felt good to be standing side by side. If it did come to battle, they would be fighting together from very different positions.

"Like it or not, you're getting this." Nauda handed him the orange leaf and Theo looked down at it, briefly disoriented. "I'm glad to be your friend, Theo."

"And I'm glad to be yours, Nauda." Theo's smile was warm for a moment, then slid into something a little more sly. "But if you think you're getting my friendship petal, you're wrong."

She pretended to be offended. "What, are you going to split it in half?"

"Bah, this is just a cultural tradition. I've been analyzing the crestflowers and there's nothing special about each petal, they just built a tradition around the colors. They don't mean anything unless the custom actually means something to you."

"And you're too cynical for that?"

"I can do better for you two." Theo seemed to look inward, toward his own soulhome, then shook his head. "I need to do some work yet, but first one thing. What happened to the seed I had you plant inside your soulhome?"

"You know, I haven't checked."

Nauda stepped into her spiritual garden and found that the crestflower had blossomed there as well. Except this one, instead of the traditional colors, had leaves of black, white, and gray. Not only that, she realized that they strained toward the three towers of her soulhome. She hadn't intended anything like that, but it seemed to have grown naturally.

"Better than I expected." Theo's spirit appeared beside her in her soulhome and she realized that when he had touched her arm, it felt so natural she didn't even notice. "It was really just an experiment, but lucky that it worked out so well for you."

"This is stronger than the others," Nauda said as she plucked the crestflower. "Extremely aligned with my soulhome... but do I try to keep it hovering between all three towers?"

"It could probably fit anywhere. But consider that your first present from me."

After that it seemed like Theo was about to slip away, but Nauda gripped his arm before he could. "Wait. It might be too mushy for you, but... I've been thinking about the family petal. I don't have any living relatives, and unlike you, I do feel like I should give it to someone."

Theo cocked his head to one side, considering for a moment. "Nanjuma?"

"I wouldn't call him family, not really." She cradled the remaining petal in one hand, staring down at its veins, feeling oddly adrift.

"In that case, why do you have to give it to anyone?"

"I just told you, I want to take the ritual seriously and-"

"I mean take it yourself." Theo couldn't touch her here, but his spirit moved as if to fold her hand over the petal. "Some of us aren't blessed with families, or we lose those we had. In that case, you can make your own family. Ignore the custom here... take the last petal and decide what family means to you."

That was just about the last thing she'd have expected from Theo and she stared at him for several seconds. Eventually, however, she squeezed the petal in her hand. "Maybe I will. But where am I supposed to put this?"

"You get to decide," he said with a shrug. "I look forward to seeing what you soulcraft with all of this."

With that he left her soulhome, and it seemed like he intended to walk away in the physical world. Nauda leapt after him faster than she intended, calling for him to stop. He paused and looked back at her curiously.

"Don't just ignore the custom," she said. "If you have a brilliant idea for the crestflower as a sublime material, go ahead, use it. But if it doesn't mean anything to you... think about whether or not it should."

To his credit, Theo seemed to consider her words seriously. He nodded to her and floated away, more contemplatively than before. For her part, Nauda plunged back into her soulhome, now carrying two petals as well as the complete flower.

Fiyu's petal she fused into her heartoak, above the sunlessrose already woven into the branches. But the rest... well, that could be fun.

~ ~ ~

Once Fiyu had thought of the Nine Worlds as numerous environments that she would one day explore. The more time she spent among them, the more she realized that the more difficult journey was through all the people they contained. There had been struggles at times, but she was immensely pleased by this crestflower ritual.

In truth, she thought that the crestflowers were less beautiful now that the intricate petals had unfolded. Each had interesting ridges, but otherwise the internal structure of most plants. However, the meaning of the petals meant far more than their intrinsic beauty, so she felt warm every time she thought about how she and Friend Nauda had exchanged lifemate petals.

Returning to her soulhome, Fiyu walked down to her partial basement and gently placed Friend Nauda's petal inside her eternal chamber. She would have to find a way to protect it there, but she would fuse it into her Immortality Conduit, to represent the connection that would last forever.

That left her with two petals, and only one of them was certain. As she looked at the crestflower, however, Fiyu realized that it wasn't much of a choice after all.

She returned to the physical world and moved away from the others, discovering Friend Theo sitting apart and soulcrafting. It was strange that he had invited her into so many crowds and so often stood apart himself. When he felt her he spoke without leaving his soulhome.

"I'm working on something better for you," he said. "Something deeper than this ritual."

"That is okay, Theo," she told him. "I would still like to give you this petal."

He hesitated at that, finally emerging from his soulhome to see that she was extending the orange petal to him. His eyes met hers and seemed to pierce through her mask. When he finally took the petal from her hand, he did so with the appropriate solemnity.

"You were my first friend when I was lost and alone," Fiyu said. "I have had companions before, but I have never had a friend like you. There is no custom for it, but I believe that one day we will be relatives."

"Thank you." Friend Theo drew the petal into his soulhome and nodded to her. "I know how much this means to you... I'll return it with something that means as much to me."

Fiyu trusted that he truly meant this, so she smiled, gave Friend Theo a familial bow, and then departed. She had one petal remaining and she knew exactly where it was meant to go.

Relative Guchiro had not joined them, capable of enduring such crowds but deciding against it. He sat alone on a nearby hill, surrounded by enough of his stealth technique that few others would be able to find him. Fiyu landed behind him and approached quietly, holding the last petal.

"In the Asplundat Movement," she explained, "there is a custom where these flowers-"

"I didn't participate," he said, "but I remember. I don't have one to give you."

"That is alright, what matters is that I want to give this to you." Fiyu sat down beside Guchiro and handed him her relative petal. "You raised me from a child and guided me this far. I could not ask for a better relative."

"And I could not ask for a better ward." Relative Guchiro put an arm around her shoulder and Fiyu happily leaned against him.

She was pleased to sit here together, but she was more pleased when her relative drew the petal into his soulhome. Even though he had seen so much and become a Dominion, his soulhome would have a piece of her inside it. And now that she had distributed the pieces of herself, Fiyu was content.

~ ~ ~

Even though there was work to be doing, Theo kept thinking back to what Nauda had said. He'd never particularly cared about customs like this, even on Earth... especially on Earth. Looking back, he wondered if not participating in rituals that mattered to others had been part of what had made his relationships there slowly wither.

He was certain about his decision, though: he was planning a gift for Fiyu and Nauda that would actually mean something to him. One with real utility, yes, but that was who he was. Yet even though that should have resolved the issue, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

His soulcrafting was interrupted yet again, this time by Homez. It should have annoyed him, but Theo felt like he'd gotten closer to the other man during their time in the Asplundat Movement and found that he didn't mind so much.

"I gave my family crest to my great grandmother," Homez said, "because you don't really have a choice there. But would you be offended if I gave my friendship crest to you?"

"I suppose not." Theo got back to his feet and accepted it gravely. "Will it cause offense if I don't return the favor? This ritual might seem all warm and fuzzy to some, but it seems like a recipe for a lot of grudges and hurt feelings to me."

"Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't already ground your crestflower into powder to increase your soulhome efficiency by one percent."

Theo chuckled and turned the flower over in his hands again. "I haven't decided how I'm going to grind it up yet."

"I just... want to make clear that this isn't just a symbol." Homez sounded far more serious now and Theo turned to meet his gaze. "I know it seems almost too fitting: reaching out to a soulcrafter from the Ruling Cities. But I've truly enjoyed getting to know you and your friends. And you... you seem focused on the bigger picture in a way not many others are, and that's a welcome relief."

"I don't know about that. I'm just obsessed with soulcrafting."

"You might see yourself that way, but I don't agree. Tonight you exchanged strange psychic messages with a Slescan, then navigated friendships with a Tatian and an Ichili. I'm trying to bring a few Fithans together, but you're building something across entire worlds."

It hadn't ever felt like that to Theo: he had simply been doing the obvious, whether he was rationalizing it all to himself or trying to change. Somehow it had all spiraled into more than he expected... and as he thought about that, he realized what he wanted to do.

But he couldn't simply walk away, not after Homez had reached out like that. They stood together on the hill, staring toward the mountain and all the potential it contained. After so long preparing and debating strategy, there was nothing more to say about that, and Theo sensed that the other man didn't want to talk about it.

"Looks like you have one crest left," Theo pointed out.

"Ah, the always-fraught lover's crest." Homez held it up in one hand and sighed. "There's poetry written about ungiven crests, you know. I've never been quite that melodramatic, but there's nothing like this night to make a person feel lonely."

"Bah, relationships are overrated."

"Maybe to you. My extended family won't let me forget that I'm getting older and older without finding someone. You know, speaking of being a symbol, this is the one way I'm really a failure: a good Asplundat citizen would have gotten married and had multiple children by now."

"Children are overrated too."

Homez chuckled and shook his head. "Is there anything you don't think is overrated?"

"You." Theo put a hand on the other man's shoulder and stared into his eyes as soulfully as possible until Homez burst out laughing.

"That actually... got me..." He stumbled back, wiping an eye as he got his laughter under control. Despite himself, Theo grinned along with him.

"Forget about their expectations, Homez. We're all going to be taking the burdens of the whole continent on ourselves tomorrow. Do whatever has meaning for you tonight."

"Will you be doing the same? Does that mean more soulcrafting?"

"Actually, no." Theo had been about to leave, but turned back as he realized he had a simpler option. "You use an Arbaian weirkey as your second, right? Let me borrow it."

Even though that was probably a violation of protocol, Homez handed it over. Theo burst into the air, no longer drifting at a sedate pace, and sped back to the village. There he soon detected Krikree and Senka, who were apparently trying to get inside the kitchen to acquire leftover bread. Krikree emitted recognition pheromones as soon as he got close, while Senka cast him a flat gaze.

"Do you want to go to Arbai?" Theo asked.

"Navim-thinkrock!" Krikree leapt onto his shoulder immediately.

"Anywhere is better than this sappy place." Senka floated up near his head. "Why are we going there?"

"To spread the sappiness across the Nine Worlds," Theo said, then used the weirkey before she could object.

They reappeared in Arbai over the School of Emerald Indulgence. Despite having a modern understanding of time zones, Theo was still momentarily disoriented when he went from night to the brilliant Arbaian day. Having the familiar bluff in sight let him reorient quickly, though: it seemed like Navim, Eliyai, and the other scholars had been building it even larger than before.

The appearance of an unknown Authority would have caused trouble in most places, but here the Mundhin swiftly identified Theo as a known quantity. When he descended toward one of the upper balconies some inclined their gem spheres respectfully and he realized that he was actually sort of a patron of the school.

And on Earth he'd ignored all the alumni letters begging for money. Strange how these things happened.

It seemed like Eliyai had renovated the old upper chambers, as she was the School's new Authority, but Theo didn't want to talk to her. Instead he sought out Navim, who he discovered working with various lenses in a lower workshop. This was the first time anyone showed any concern, as Navim set down his work with some urgency.

"Salutations, Theo." Navim began looking through stone cabinets. "I hope your need is not great, because my work on armaments had been limited by-"

"I don't need anything this time," Theo said with a smile. "Yes, we may need to contact you again when the Fithan war gets underway, but not today."

Krikree finally couldn't restrain herself any longer and leapt forward, crawling atop Navim's upper body while emitting [Navim-thinkrock!] repeatedly. Senka began poking at some of the tools on the nearby tabletops. Taking all of this in stride, Navim shifted to a more comfortable position and watched him with glittering sapphires.

"What occasions this visit, then?" he asked. "Not that I am displeased to see you, but I cannot believe you crossed worlds for no reason at all."

"It's a Fithan custom, actually." Theo explained the crestflower ritual as he removed his from his soulhome, then plucked the crest representing friendship and handed it to Navim. "We haven't been able to spend as much time together as I'd like, because we have our own obligations, but I'm honored to call you a friend, Navim."

"I could say the same." Navim extended a smaller limb to gently take the petal. "I fear that such a sublime material is unlikely to survive within my soulhome, however."

"You don't need to cherish it, just see what you can make with it. Not necessarily for me, just... have fun."

If Mundhin could smile, Theo was sure that Navim smiled then. Even though there was so much work to do, Theo lingered for a while longer, discussing the newest changes to the environment and the local philosophical scene. Apparently Eliyai had been forging new connections with Ruby Ericho, which had caused a number of disruptions.

By the time Theo withdrew Krikree still wasn't done, chattering to Navim about her recent scouting. He found a quiet place to soulcraft - blessedly easy on Arbai - and entered his soulhome again. Now, with his mind feeling so much clearer than before, he began to work.

Before his spiritual hands had been trembling from exhaustion, but now Theo picked up his hammer confidently. He retrieved Krikree's partially-finished armorstone and took it to his mass anvil, then began delivering firm strokes. Maybe it was the rest, maybe it was something mushier, but the soulcrafting was so much easier now: each below increased the mass of the armorstone as well as its power.

He had finished and was beginning to look at the felinesolars when he felt Krikree in the real world, crawling up beside him.

"Navim-thinkrock good," she declared. "Theo-sister soulcraft? What? What?"

"As a matter of fact, this." Theo emerged with the armorstone in his hand.

[!!!] Krikree emitted a pure pheromone that he could only imagine as exclamation marks, then grasped the armorstone. She practically smashed it into her face, tapping her antennae against it as she turned it over and over in all four of her hands.

Eventually she declared [Good!] and seemed eager to take it into her soulhome. Before she could, Theo broke off another one of the petals and handed it to her.

Krikree stared at it. "What?"

"This is the family petal," Theo said. "Krikree-sister, right?"

"Sisters!" Krikree shoved the petal into her mouth eagerly.

She may or may not have been soulcrafting it, but either way, she seemed intense about what she was going to do. Theo stepped out of the room, through the cool shady corridors of the Arbaian school. As he did so, he turned the crestflower over in his hands, considering the ritual that he had originally dismissed entirely. Those two gifts were the only ones he had planned, leaving one...

"Burn it." Senka popped up in the corridor nearby, arms folded. "Relationships are overrated."

"That seems like a waste," Theo said mildly.

"Then chuck it into your singularity or something. Get rid of it, is what I'm saying."

"Would that mean I love myself?"

"You mean you don't? Sounds pathological."

Theo chuckled and crushed the petal into his soulhome, leaving it with the other old materials he was planning to use for a new singularity. After a moment's thought, he decided that didn't bother him. He'd leave the bubbly romance to Nauda and Fiyu, and none of the relationships he'd built meant any less for not being romantic.

"Alright, go collect Krikree," Theo said. "We need to get back."

"You really need to get a full set of weirkeys," Senka grumbled. "Once you're properly equipped, you can do this sort of thing all the time instead of as weird last second gestures."

They pulled together, bade farewell to Navim, and then returned to Fithe. Most of the lights had gone out, but he saw a flickering bubble in one of the outer homes where the others were no doubt awake. Theo let Krikree and Senka go, but lingered outside, soulcrafting in the cool night air.

He gently picked up the Ruler-tier felinesolar and brought it to his anti-mass anvil, then paused. The material seemed so cooperative, hammering it felt wrong. Besides, its properties mimicked glass, so blunt force risked shattering it. No, what he truly wanted to do was split it cleanly...

Theo found his Esoteric Chisel and tried to estimate the exact shape. Before he could do so, the felinesolar split in exact halves, almost like a pet understanding the trick it was supposed to perform. The halves weren't quite Ruler tier on their own, but that didn't matter. He moved to his fifth floor and found the felinesolar installed there, making sure that the spheres were still resonating strongly. Once they felt completely linked, he returned to the physical world and finally entered.

It was clearly the end of a long day with the last embers fading. Krikree had already curled up at the end of one bed and Senka was snoring over a footstool. Ideally Theo would have liked to get materials for them as well, but his resources were limited. Besides, as he saw Fiyu and Nauda waiting for him, this felt right.

"These are the gifts I was promising," he said, handing them each half of the felinesolar. "This is bounded to my singularity technique and should protect you from it. That way I can use it in battle without worrying about either of you."

"Oh..." Fiyu hadn't seen the felinesolars up close and marveled over it, while Nauda regarded hers more thoughtfully.

"Are you sure it will be enough?" she asked. "The cantae is protective, but to shield us from a technique like that?"

"I think it will." Theo sat down heavily beside them. "This is more than a trick, it's soulcrafting the bond we've carried this far. But you're right, we shouldn't just trust in it. Are you two awake enough for some last minute training?"

Nauda pretended to groan and Fiyu sighed, but both smiled as they got to work.

-

Chapter 35

The morning dawned bright and clear, which matched Fiyu's foul mood. She had finally arrived at the fateful day and she had not yet ascended.

She was so close, yet the more she failed to ignite her Immortality Conduit, the more she felt that something in her blueprint must be fundamentally wrong. If she failed to discover what, she could lock those errors into her soulhome through ascension, ruining her chances. And if the others were correct and the only problem was in her head, what did that say about her?

"I think we should stop trying," Associate Senka said. "You should prepare your soulhome for combat."

"Will you be joining us?" Fiyu asked. "You would make an excellent surprise."

"Yeah, but we have way too much attention from the aeon-class organizations for my liking. No, I might not be so effective in a battle like this."

"That is also reasonable." Fiyu nodded and watched her depart.

Once on her own again, Fiyu returned to her soulhome to try one more time. Everything was set up, from the filtermirrors to every aspect of her eternal chamber. Yet when she reached into her basement hollow and tried to ignite the Conduit, the cantae always spluttered out.

Yet what could be wrong with her materials? She was happy with them, including the new crestflower from Friend Nauda and the felinesolar from Friend Theo. Fiyu grasped the crestflower petal and tried to summon all of her passion for Friend Nauda, dreams of a life together, a life that could extend forever if only she perfected her Immortality Conduit...

Another failure. No matter how she tried, her cantae failed to flow swiftly enough.

It seemed that she would not be joining the primary battle, if there was truly a battle. She was not the only one with disappointments: Friend Theo had put so much work into his singularity, yet it was incompatible with the current strategy. Her own immunity to it would be irrelevant as well, and Friend Nauda would spend the entire day in a different location.

Fiyu looked down the mountain to watch Friend Nauda training with Ally Krikree. They had been doing that since last night, helping Ally Krikree finish her armorstone chamber. Without it, Friend Nauda could send her flying with a single punch or stop her with a ward. Now that her armorstone was fully integrated, she smashed through wards like a juggernaut.

"We need to get into position now." Ally Homez floated nearby, glancing at Fiyu briefly before looking down to Friend Nauda. "They're going to raise the barrier soon."

"Got it." Friend Nauda smiled at Fiyu one more time, then began bounding up the mountainside. Fiyu knew that she would be participating in the last line of defense, and presumed that Associate Krikree would assist Friend Theo on the front lines. As for herself...

"I've been speaking to the councils and I got their approval." Ally Homez hovered toward her with his usual smile, which struck her as excessive, yet he seemed truly relaxed. "We want you to act as an interceptor, attacking from out of stealth if anyone gets through."

"I should be capable of that," Fiyu said cautiously, "but I am uncertain I understand the full strategy."

"Let me show you. Get some altitude."

They flew directly upward, through the cold winds. When the mountain shrank and the crestflower fields were only a smudge, Ally Homez stopped and gazed over the landscape. This far up they could not see the whole of the Asplundat Movement, but it was still an extraordinary view.

Before they spoke, a rumble of cantae emanated from below. A shimmering barrier lit up over the crest mountain, doubly-reinforced in the center and then extending over the crestflower fields. Something about it had changed, but Fiyu could not discern the exact difference, so she glanced toward Ally Homez.

"That's one of the improvements we completed," he explained. "The original barrier stopped bombardments, but allowed people to pass through. This one will block everyone: the only people inside are those already there, so no one should be able to interrupt the process."

"But is House Crimson among the defenders?"

"Wiltur voluntarily agreed to join the defenders outside the mountain, so there's no danger of that. Don't worry, Nauda and I will be there to defend it even if someone else manages to break through."

Fiyu was less confident, but that might be only her anxiety. "Why two layers of barrier?"

"If Tymetron attacks in force, the barrier can withdraw to protect just the mountain. See, we're preparing contingency plans." Ally Homez extended a finger and traced a line over the landscape. "We've also vastly increased the territory covered by anti-weirkey stones, basically up to that river. Citizen Dominion tested it himself: no one can arrive by weirkey within a huge radius."

"I see, that is reasonable. But doesn't that mean you must defend the entire perimeter and spread out your defenders?"

"The Asplundat council thinks that Tymetron will probably attack from the north again, concentrate their forces and punch through. But that's where you come in: travel the middle ground in between the defenders at the core and the battle line outside the anti-weirkey perimeter. If anyone breaks through, or tries to attack from another angle, you can intercept them."

"Oh! That is a good plan." If she couldn't fight on the front lines, Fiyu was encouraged to at least have such a useful role. "Yes, I will do this."

"Excellent, I knew I could count on you." Ally Homez smiled, but then his back grew stiffer and his jaw set. "But I don't think we're going to need you. The Asplundat Movement has been preparing for this ever since the attack, and we want to take care of our own business."

"I understand, Homez. I hope that everything will go as you wish."

He left to join the defenders underneath the barrier, while Fiyu cloaked her body in stealth and began familiarizing herself with the territory she was to defend. She flew all the way to the perimeter, where she noted Friend Theo and Citizen Dominion with the main vanguard of soulcrafters. Relative Guchiro would also be somewhere nearby as well, ready to join the battle. Currently they all waited with no enemy to face, which felt rather anticlimactic.

Fiyu knew that a few believed Tymetron would not attack again. There was even a theory - advanced by Prisoner Tythes - that the only battle would be in the interior, due to treachery from House Crimson. The crest would be ready to infuse within an hour, and it would take less time than that to complete the infusion. If that happened, their most powerful soulcrafters could sit out the real battle.

Just in case, Fiyu patrolled nearer the center as well, familiarizing herself with the defenders. Aside from Enemy Wiltur, she saw three Asplundat Strongholds, who had already drawn up vast spherical fortresses of stone. They floated uselessly, awaiting an absent enemy, and as the time stretched, Fiyu almost wondered if nothing would come of it.

Then she felt Tymetron arrive with a clap of thunder.

Their soulcrafters snapped into being at the perimeter, and their arrival launched a shockwave of cantae that rolled over the Asplundat Movement. There were not so many of them, but she saw no one beneath Stronghold, and a Dominion moved at the head of the group. Without a sound, without a single demand, they charged inward.

It would not be a peaceful day after all.

~ ~ ~

Despite all his experience, Theo found himself staring as Citizen Dominion clashed with the demon-clad woman. In his first life, he had allegedly seen two Dominions clash, but now he realized that it had been a performance put on by Vistgil. Little more than sparring, leading up to a supposed world power recognizing Theo for his bravery.

This was no farce. Elite soulcrafters were fighting with their souls on the line and no one was favoring him. If he acted like a hero he could die, and if he didn't play his role, the entire battle could be lost.

Despite the fact that the enemy was clashing ahead of him, Theo held back and simply maintained his gravitational fields. The Asplundat Movement had been adamant about handling this themselves, not wanting to rely on any outside forces. If they proved so stubborn that they were going to get themselves killed, Theo would step in despite their wishes, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

As he waited, Theo kept his cantae flowing through his two new chambers, trying to supercharge his singularity. In theory if he managed to manifest it now, it could even threaten Dominions. He doubted this was a good time to attempt it, though: the Tymetronese woman in the demonic helm was too cautious, simply negating Citizen Dominion while her Stronghold supporters put more and more pressure on him. Eventually he'd make a mistake and she'd strike.

The Asplundat Strongholds near Theo were throwing their own stones into battle, but despite their coordination, they weren't very effective. Their giant sphere blueprints were decent enough, they just had limited varieties of attack, and it seemed like Tymetron had adapted since the last battle.

In fact, he saw very few of the same Strongholds this time - not the grappler with the flying swords nor the woman with the ice staff. Jazin was with them, however, hurling his geodes into the battle. Once he even placed a larger geode in front of Citizen Dominion's attack and it negated the Dominion-tier cantae. Most of the time he stayed back, however, as if he needed to conserve his resources.

"Do it now!" one of the Asplundat Strongholds called to Theo.

Finally, the signal. They'd underestimated just how far Theo had boosted all the rocks into the stratosphere, but Theo followed the spirit of the command over the letter. As Tymetron fought its way forward, Theo dropped the stones so that they collided with the enemy just as they advanced.

The bombardment injured several of the Strongholds and forced the Dominion to adopt a defensive stance, but it couldn't annihilate soulcrafters this powerful. Soon enough they had cast cantae shields that made the stone projectiles shatter harmlessly.

That was why Theo had been collaborating with Homez: the last projectiles to come down were formed from the most dangerous explosive stone that the Asplundat Movement could produce. Their explosions hammered into the shields and drove the enemy back, actually turning the tide of the battle. That was the maximum Theo had been able to sustain, but he hoped it was enough.

In the chaos, he saw it: Guchiro struck from stealth against the Tymetronese Dominion.

He very nearly ended the battle in that strike, his cantae blade slicing into her back. But she reacted with stunning speed, unleashing a shockwave of cantae around her. Her blood scattered in all directions, but she managed to push Guchiro back... and then her demonskin armor began to grow.

Even the veteran Strongholds hesitated when they saw the demonic garb expand, gaining new form and substance. In a matter of seconds, a giant a hundred times the size of a person loomed over the battlefield, its head above the soulcrafters despite its feet on the ground. When it moved forward, it seemed ponderous, yet Theo realized that it was an illusion and the giant demonic construct was faster than it looked.

An Ethereal Floor. She wasn't incompetent, she had a blueprint efficient enough that she could hold back an entire floor until this moment.

With a single enormous swat, the giant struck one of the Asplundat Strongholds who had gotten too close, smashing him down into the ground. As if that wasn't bad enough, two more forces weirkeyed into the space beyond the perimeter. Some of the Asplundat soulcrafters cheered when they saw that they were small, but Theo winced: the enemy had brought two more Dominions. Worse than that, their forces split up in a coordinated maneuver, separating by tier just before the Tymetronese Dominions generated a great barrier that split the battle in half.

In a stroke, Tymetron had created two separate tiers of combat, and they had superior numbers in both. Without the ability to coordinate, the Asplundat Movement would be seriously hampered. They wasted their cantae hurling attacks at the barrier, even though Theo was certain its strength was calibrated to keep them back. He would just have to hope Guchiro and Citizen Dominion could triumph against three opponents.

"Attack! Seize the crest!" One of the Tymetronese Strongholds yelled out the command, but it seemed to be more to threaten the defenders than to command the attackers. They turned as one, gathering their cantae together and storming forward across the space, toward the mountain.

Theo fell into the sky, dodging the assault they launched. The Asplundat Strongholds, housed within their giant spheres of stone, couldn't move so quickly. Their defenses were strong, enough to endure even this assault, but in this fight they didn't have any overwhelming advantage. The enemy was blasting great chunks out of their defenses, driving them back rapidly.

He hadn't expected the Asplundat Movement to hold on its own, but he'd hoped for better than this. After one glance backward at the crest, Theo stepped through a portal directly into the enemy's path.

As soon as he arrived he unleashed a torsion punch with each hand, knocking back two of the Tymetronese Strongholds. For a split second he broke their advancing ranks, then he was being attacked from all sides.