Her response pings back almost instantly.

'Ok. I promise, I'll be back with Gnash as soon as I can. Don't destroy the city without me, okay?'

That's it. Can't go back on my word now. I close my eyes and take a deep breath which does absolutely nothing to calm my nerves. Just a little bit longer. Just a few hours more.

I swipe through my messages to find Clutter's. His was one of the first to come in, and much to my surprise, he's actually with Gil right now. Apparently they're having one hell of a conversation, too, since Clutter apologized for not replying sooner; he'd already been there for a few hours. Must've slipped his and Gil's minds to let me know about this little fact.

"Hope to hell it's a good conversation," I mutter.

"What conversation?" Agathe inquires eagerly. "One with Gil?"

Right, confirmation. I should get that now. I quickly type out a message to Gil asking him about Agathe, send it off, then type out another message for Clutter telling him to sit tight. Having someone close to the horizonguard's base has to be at least a little useful.

Agathe leans heavily on her cane to get closer to me. "So? Is it Gil?"

I nod. Which… she can't see, right. "Yeah, it's Gil. Just asking him a few things before shit really goes down. Anything you want to ask him?"

Without hesitation, she shakes her head. "I have his contact. In person, though? Very much ye-es."

She coughs through the last word and licks her lips. It sounds like nothing more than dryness, but it's a little too weird for my liking. I mean, I haven't drank anything except a few potions since I was here, and my throat's not that dry. It's gotta be something else–somethinig to do with why her other friends left.

My Class Card chimes with Gil's response. I put my thoughts about Agathe on the backburner and see what my fellow resort member has to say about her.

'Agathe, huh? Yeah, I know someone by that name. Not a real person, though, but the name she uses while she wears a mask. It's not my place to explain much of anything, but let's just say the 'real' her hasn't been seen in a long time. So you're safe to take 'Agathe' as the real her. Is that too confusing? Eh. Oh, if she isn't using a lot of cloaks, fabrics, and tapestries, she's a fake. Probably should've led with that, haha.

One last thing; I'm keeping your paindne buddy for a little while. We'll try to get some people here to convert to our side, but no promises. See you whenever!'

I chuckle to myself at the absurdly casual tone of Gil's message. It looks like Agathe's the real deal, even if 'Agathe' is just the name she wants to go by. No doubt there's a long-ass story there, but it's neither my place to pry or the time for it. I quickly swipe through all my other messages to confirm that everyone's in a safe place for me to relocate them, then toss all their coins to the ground.

Ward finally stirs at the sound of clattering coins. He looks up at me with startled, questioning eyes, but the flash of relocations cuts off whatever he's about to say. Everyone appears at the exact same time, all in different states of… readiness… but all with resolve hardened in their eyes.

Llaliu instantly locks onto Agathe. "Who's this?"

"Me?" Agathe points at herself. "I'm Agathe. Gil's friend."

A frown lines Llaliu's forehead. "Gil? Isn't that the guy Clutter was trying to find? How did Shelby manage to find you first?"

Agathe shrugs. "Luck?"

"Luck. Right," Llaliu snorts. She turns to me and inclines her chin. "Can we trust her?"

"Hell if I really know. But Gil's vouched for her, and we need all the firepower we can get. Like I said, we have less time than we thought. If there's anything last-minute everyone needs to do, get it done right now. This complex might not be safe once the horizonguard finalizes his takeover."

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Everyone's resolve doesn't waver in the slightest. Llaliu and Shatterhand are the first to go, rushing off to wherever they need to go. Sawyer snaps off a salute before turning to Ward and starting a quiet conversation. And at some point, Wojkmi snuck out right underneath my nose. Sure, my awareness felt him walk right past Agathe and make his way to the meditation chamber, but it seemed like he was a little embarrassed so I didn't say anything.

"Everyone seems nice," Agathe says with a smile. "A lot of Y'tocwa, too. That's rare."

Rare? What about that is rare? I've met a few Y'tocwa before Llaliu and Wojkmi. Nothing about them said 'rare' to me.

"How are they 'rare'?"

Agathe shrugs. "They just are. Maybe you'll find out eventually."

Yeah, don't just tell me flat-out. Definitely doesn't make it feel like she has no idea what she's talking about. I… just… no time. No time for any of this. I have to get ready. Shit could go sideways at any second. Time to take a look at whoever's still bombarding this place.

I turn to leave the library and tap Agathe's shoulder to let her know. She nods to let me know she knows, but stays in place to listen to Sawyer and Ward talk. If that's what she wants to do I'm not going to stop her. I hurry through the halls to the sound of impacts, make my way to our tower, and take the stairs two at a time to get to the top.

As I round the last corner, fabric welcomes in every direction. Dell's stuff that we put up for some privacy and never bothered to take down. I step up to one sheet and tear it down, the stuff fluttering in a non-existent breeze for a few short moments before it tumbles to the ground. A storm's brewing outside. Bolts of lightning flash through the air like jagged cracks in a porcelain sky, pulsating with electricity that blinds everything in periodic bursts of absolute light.

Dozens of the things litter the sky. I stand in awe for minutes as more and more lightning spews free from the hole in the sky to dirty the view with promised destruction. It won't last forever. Most of the weather in this place only lasts an hour or two at most. But my gut says this is a little too perfect for main quest progress.

I tear my eyes away from the blinding light and heat with great effort and trail my gaze downward. People dot our tower grounds in fairly sparse groups, each… well… perfectly covered in bulky things that look like a combination of space and hazmat suits. Each group has one person wearing an insignia for stonestep solutions that are obviously in charge. I tear down the rest of the fabrics to get an accurate count while my jaw clenches harder and harder.

Fifteen groups of ten people. Five groups of which are actively attacking right now while the other ten… rest and recuperate, I suppose. A hundred and fifty goddamn people all at the horizonguard's beck and call. I'm not stupid enough to think this is everyone, either. There's definitely a good chunk of people attacking our district itself right now, too, plus everyone still in the horizonguard's district.

Now more than ever it's beyond clear that they've been planning this for a long time. The system must've given the horizonguard himself some kind of preliminary quest for all this… and Clutter just happened to stumble upon a way to wedge us in. But for how damn long? This many people makes it feel like an entire operation.

"Pearl, am I missing anything?" I quietly ask.

A few long moments of silence break with a tiny sigh. "I don't think so. We're really outnumbered, and if I had to guess… the horizonguard doesn't really care if we live or die. Just that we can't be a threat to him."

I lean against the glass and stare down at one of the team leaders. "Wonder if that's why he hasn't come after us since we first saw him. We're like a spider stuck in his house; as long as we stick to the basement and eat up the ants, we're fine. But the second we climb the stairs and show ourselves in the kitchen…"

"Squish." Pearl finishes grimly. "Agathe and Gil are probably the only ones that can fight him. But… do we even want to fight him?"

"That all depends on if we have a choice or not."

Pearl nods slowly. "Yeah… yeah. The quest and the system won't just let us destroy this place. They're going to put the horizonguard right in our way; force us to climb the stairs and get squished."

With the amount of people down there, that might be an understatement. I lift my hand from the glass and step back, a new appreciation for just how much shit we're in fully formed in my mind.

A loud, trilling beep scythes through the air. My Class Card appears in my hand and opens itself to my notifications.

It's time.

No matter how unready I am for this.

Main Quest progress has been made.

Your leader for the final leg has been chosen.

With it, the last of the prerequisites have been met.

The tombs are open.

The heretics are waiting–to fight, to slay, and to resist you.

End them.

Anchor this city to reality.

And you will be granted access to the city's greatest treasures.

…

And now… a message from your leader.

The notification fades, and a simple message takes its place. I scan the thing before reading a single word. Three unique words stand out, cementing a grim understanding of the situation. Clutter's name. Jumble's name. My name.

All denounced as heretics by the horizonguard.

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