"What the hell did you do to this place?" I ask in stunned awe as I walk through a gigantic crater where there was once a bunch of flat nothing. "I thought you were just going to dig down as deep as you could."

Illumisia huffs and shakes the dirt from her face. "That is such a waste of time. Now, has the wreath reacted in any way?"

Good question. I raise the wreath to my face and squint at the words, then carefully make my way down into the crater as I watch it. The wreath slowly turns to point at the exact same point as before, then flips around to point back the way I came–also just like before.

"Hrm. I thought the liquified house was going to be important." I lower the wreath and scan the destruction. "Do you have any way to rebuild what you destroyed?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, I am not the one who destroyed that home. Come, see what I mean." Illumisia takes a single step back and nods down at a well of something in the ground. "Well? We are in a severe time crunch, are we not?"

"Excuse me for being a little cautious after what literally just happened." I grumble and make my way to the… thing. The beige liquid sloshes ever so slightly with each of my footsteps, and when I bend down to get a closer look, an intense pine-like smell smacks me in the face. "Whoah. Is this another liquified house? Or a liquified tree?"

Illumisia shrugs. "That is for you to find out, as this now has a chance to interfere with your quest. Or it may not, as you asked me to dig here in the first place. Hrm… I think it would be prudent to mark this exact place on your map on the off chance that this has nothing to do with the quest."

I breathe out in amusement; yeah, the liquified houses buried underground definitely have nothing to do with the quest. And the fact that it's happening at the exact point the wreathe is pointing us to is just a complete coincidence as… well. Wait. This thing was originally a grave marker. So what's the chance that it's now pointing us towards the grave it was supposed to be marking in the first place?

And if that's true… then how the hell did it get to the other graveyard in the first place? Well, I mean, obviously the system did it, but did it do that and mess up this place, or just move the wreathe to the plastic? Speaking of plastic, I'm not seeing much of any of it around here. Or in Denmary, either. It'd almost feel like we're in the completely wrong place if it wasn't for the obvious system interference.

Illumisia nudges her nose under my arm, snapping me back to reality. "What is on your mind?"

"Too much, but I don't know how much of it is useful and how much of it is me seeing clues where there aren't any." I sigh and gently dip my finger into the liquid, then try to identify it. The system comes back with a simple 'no target found'. "The wreathe was a grave marker, and the map was always a map. Putting plastic on the map worked, but the wreathe didn't respond. If it wasn't for 'Marywell Den' I would've written this one off as a red herring, but it still led us here to this… weirdness."

I gesture at the once-clearing, now crater, for emphasis. "Denmary was supposed to be gone, but the system rebuilt it. And I'm pretty sure nobody knew there was anything like a town here, so this was probably something like a wilderness lodge or a private woodsy mansion. But whatever happened to it buried it underground and liquified it in a perfect enough state that I could see an entire house clear my shields."

"Kind of like a fossil, but not really." Pearl theorizes. "Maybe this isn't an entrance to the quest, but some kind of a hint? Like, you could get into the quest, and you find an empty field, and now you know to try digging for… house liquid."

"Honestly, it's as good a theory as I've got." I shake off my finger and stand up straight. "If this place is where the grave marker's supposed to go, then this is what the system wanted us to find. Maybe it's even deeper underground, or maybe the house is where 'Marywell' lived, and the quest is going to be about finding her. Or explaining how she died and linking the plastic to her. Illumisia, is it possible to dig deeper and keep the dirt formations around the house so the liquid doesn't deform?"

She raises her chin in disgust, but nods slowly anyway. "It will take far longer than I would like, but I suppose I could. Not in the time that you have given Clutter for your return, though. Leave a coin with me and return to him, then if you have enough time before the quest begins at Denmary, you can return to see my progress."

"Then I'll do just that. Thanks, Illumisia."

I open my Class Card, put a marking pin directly on top of my location, and pull out a relocation coin that I toss to Illumisia. She catches it gingerly between her teeth and slips it between her cheek and her gums, then closes her mouth and turns to the small pool of liquid wood while grumbling in annoyance at the task ahead of her.

"Be back soon."

She mumbles a quick goodbye, and just as magic stats to extend from her body, I pull on my coin and relocate back to Denmary. Vesa and Briony barely notice my return they're so engrossed with their own conversation, and their backs are turned to me too, so I guess I can forgive them. Clutter, however, perks right up and walks right between the pair, cutting whatever they were talking about short, and proudly struts up to me with his Class Card in his hand.

"Here's the map!" He says eagerly and taps his Class Card to my own. "It was really weird doing this, and then halfway through, I remembered that I wasn't from Denmary at all. Honestly, it didn't make it any easier or harder, but it felt like the psychic's attack finally wore off. Kind of scary when you think about it, isn't it? That the magic was so insidious that even after multiple layers, it was still there?"

I vigorously nod in agreement as I check out Clutter's map. "Definitely. Almost like someone way more powerful than the psychic was doing it to us, right? Or maybe they were controlling said psychic?"

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Clutter blinks then narrows his eyes and leans in close to whisper in my ear. "Did Illumisia do this?"

"Yes, but probably not for the reasons you're thinking." I whisper back. "She'll tell you the story herself, so just wait for that. Nice work on the map, by the way; how'd you manage to do this with just text? I can make out every building and the places that are weird about them so easily."

"Oh, that? It's just something I learned to do when I was bored." He smiles and clasps his hands together as his tail wags up a storm. "When you have a lot of time and not much to waste it with, you use what you have. The first thing I learned was how to make a bunch of obscene gestures so I can send them to jerks. Want to see one?"

Honestly, I'm intrigued, but I don't have time to go down this rabbit hole right now. "Maybe when we're actually in the quest. For right now, did you see anything at all that is even mildly plastic-like?"

He shakes his head without a second to think. "Absolutely nothing. And when I touched all the weird unrestored parts, nothing happened either. I bet that well Illumisia found has all the secrets inside of it. Want to go take a look at it?"

"No reason to wait, so sure. And you two–wait here." I motion for Briony to stop as she starts to walk towards us. "Sorry to say it, but I'm not willing to risk either of you messing up the quest. Especially now that you're probably remembering some things and have a bunch of questions."

Briony slows to a stop. "How do you know that?"

I purse my lips. "Because it's complicated, and I can't really tell you the whole story. Just wait until Illumisia gets here and then all your questions will be… maybe not answered, but at least taken care of."

Vesa frowns. "What's that mean?"

"It means you're going to have to wait." Clutter says happily. "It was nice catching up with you guys, though! Sorry again for the eye, Briony. I'll make it up to you someday."

"I'm fine, you idiot." Briony sighs and shakes her head. "Just go do your thing. We'll be right here when you're done with the quest."

"Weeelll… you'll be back with Miss S, as long as she's willing to put up with you, but I guess that's close enough!" Clutter grins and turns on his heel. "C'mon, I think this is going to be the one! We're so close I can almost taste it!"

I nod in agreement and start to follow him. With a wave goodbye at Vesa and Briony, we make our way out from the buildings and streets of Denmary to a more wooded path. Old, rickety trees that look like they haven't gotten enough water or nutrients for years line both sides of a dirt path like imperial guards, standing gnarled and hunched together as if they'd–at one time–formed a tunnel to walk through. But now, as the… years, I think… have gone by, sunlight easily filters through skeletal branches and bathes the parched ground in unforgiving heat.

Clutter raises a hand to his forehead to block out the sun as he scours the distance. He doesn't say much as we walk, and from the complete lack of tension in his shoulders along with his vigorous tail, it isn't because he's hiding or showing on anything. Pure excitement and anticipation fuel this silence, and I'm more than happy to let him keep on with it.

But apparently Pearl thinks otherwise. She fidgets with her hands, stares at the back of Clutter's head, and juts out her chin like she's trying to swallow her front teeth. I raise an eyebrow and split my attention between her, my awareness, and watching Clutter as he searches for the well Illumisia already found.

A few short minutes later, she nods to herself with determination. "We should tell him."

I almost ask what she wants us to tell him, but giving it a single thought slashes away the possibilities until only one really remains. "You're sure? It could put him in even more danger."

She laughs quietly to herself as Clutter cocks his head in confusion. "How can he be in more danger than now? The fight with Ashmaw probably clarified that I'm a real shellraiser to Stonestep Solutions, and it's only a matter of time until they sell that information to… pretty much everyone else. Heck, even Earth won't be safe, because HuSt and the Preservation will definitely come after you in particular when they find out."

"Sure, but that's not much of a change from last time. Just saying 'hey, I'm technically one of the leaders of the resort' would've been enough for… that." I pause as I realize Clutter stopped walking. "What's with the holdup?"

"You're talking to someone. Is it… is it about…" He swallows hard, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. "Replacing me?"

I can't help but snort out a laugh. "Clutter, buddy, you've got it so wrong. And before you dig yourself further into an imaginary hole–since I can see you want to do that–I'll just answer both your questions in one go the moment we're in the well. Can you wait until then?"

He nibbles nervously on his lip, but nods anyway. Pearl hums in thought as he starts walking once more, but this time, his tail isn't wagging at all. I feel a little bad about making him wait, but I'm more than happy to show him Pearl–not Vesa and Briony, just in case they've been following us. The second we're in that well I can throw up a barrier at the top, and then we can talk in peace.

"You know, I'm kind of amazed he's gotten this far." Pearl notes with amusement. "He had the misfortune of bumping into Illumisia, got roped into all of this, and now he's giving us more loyalty than I've seen some lifelong friends give each other. The fact that someone else hasn't stepped in and taken horrible advantage of that is a miracle."

Agreed. Dell probably came close, and if I wasn't here, I have no doubt she would've roped him into being a Preservation crony while also being the exact thing they want to get rid of. Or… suppress, maybe? Honestly, I'm not quite sure what flavor of atrocity the Preservation wants to inflict on Palastia. But it has to be stopped–now more than ever, knowing what I know.

Because outside of Noland, Ursula, and maybe Gil and March, I don't know how many humans could put up a fight with someone like Ashmaw. Definitely not me or Clutter–who has his eyes locked on something through the trees and is frowning to try and get a better look.

"I… think that's it." Clutter murmurs unconfidently. "There's some stones there and a little bit of raised dirt, but if that's a well, then time hasn't been kind to it. How old was Scooch, anyway?"

Clutter's question echoes in my ears as my eyes focus on something that looks utterly ancient. If it were back on Earth, I'd say with confidence that it was some kind of ancient Greek or viking ruins–not something that got destroyed just a few years ago. Sun-bleached stone lies half buried in creeping vines and cracked earth, with barely anything around it indicating that it's supposed to serve any function at all. But the closer I look… the more stones I see.

It isn't some tiny, bucket-on-a-rope thing that I was picturing. It's closer to the size of a backyard pool, and at each of the 'corners', there's a stone that's rounder than the others. Like four individual manhole covers.

"I have no idea. But from the looks of that… he's gotta be way older than I thought."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.