Returning to Mount Aeternia, Bevel and I were talking about our rather eventful day, on our way to grab dinner in the peak, when we ran into Arizar.

"Oh, hey Ari," I said, stopping in the corridor. She was dressed in a particularly conservative dress that evening, one that covered everything including the middle two fingers on each hand and… and a relatively plunging neckline that was further emphasized by the fact the rest of the blue dress was so seemingly modest.

"Perry, Bevel," Ari said in reply, a trace of a smile passing over her lips so briefly I almost missed it before she nodded to each of us in turn. "Did you receive Tamrie's summons as well?"

"Uh. No, we were just going to grab some dinner and then do some light spell work," I said, shrugging as I motioned down the corridor towards the dining hall.

"Well, your timing is serendipitous then. Tamrie seemed rather insistent about the timing in her missive," Ari said, smiling. "I suspect she has something special planned to say goodbye."

"That feels backwards. Shouldn't we be the ones holding a party for her? In fact, weren't you two planning one? I feel embarrassed that we haven't held it," I said, shaking my head. Much as I didn't like to think about the fact she was leaving, I didn't want her to just be gone without a proper send-off.

"You recall correctly. Bevel and I have been doing precisely that," Ari agreed, folding her hands over each other and nodding slightly, turning so the folds of her dress hid the cleavage. It was really quite the devious design, since from any angle except directly in front of her, it would be impossible to see.

After all my experience with Tamrie, and having heard a fair number of her favorite romance tropes, I wondered if this was Arizar carefully exploring my interest. It was delightfully subtle, if so.

After a second where she readjusted her dress ever so slightly, Ari added, "Besides, there is no reason we cannot do both. I would quite like to send her off in style."

"Yeah, like with a great big hat," Bevel said, nodding seriously.

"The biggest hat," Ari agreed, smiling as she reached over to ruffle Bevel's hair, her dress no longer showing that subtle flash of cleavage.

I chuckled softly as we made our way into the dining hall. Just like usual, our food was waiting for us, sent up by the cooks and kept warm or cool by the relevant enchantments. A minor convenience, but a welcome one, considering how busy our days could get. One Bevel and I had enchanted ourselves months ago, back when she was first figuring out the basics.

Bevel, of course, shot straight towards the smoothies, taking her seat and patting the spot next to her.

I moved to sit down, and was slightly surprised when Ari sat next to me. Then I saw the glazed pastries she loved just in front of us, the ones that reminded me of strudels, and I nodded.

My eyes moved to the new dish of the evening. Some sort of fish I'd never tried before.

"Oh my, I do believe that is the fabled el-fish," Ari said, raising an eyebrow.

"Elfish… like, elves?"

"No, el, as in love," Ari replied, shaking her head. "You are supposed to eat it with one you love and-"

"Oh, I wanna try," Bevel said, reaching over to grab the plate. I slid it towards her with a smile. "Can you eat it with me, Papa?"

"Of course, kiddo," I said, grabbing one of the strange looking black utensils sitting at the edge.

"Now, you must each spear the fish with your trident," Ari explained, and we each did as instructed. "Then you turn the trident, pulling the fish apart. Yes, just like that. If you are meant to be together forever there will be a string… ah, there it is. See how the fiber connects your tridents. That is a sign of pure and true love. Now, eat."

Bevel and I looked at each other, shrugged, and put our own portions of the fish in our mouths. It practically melted on my tongue, and as it did, the thread between us glowed with golden light before vanishing.

With a giggle, Bevel reached for another bite, and I chuckled along with her, reaching for one of my own.

Which is when Tamrie burst in from the other side of the room. "Knew it would work, I did. Just knew it, see, you even had the…"

She trailed off as she saw Bevel and I, both with our tridents shoved into our mouths with our second bites, the golden thread between us lighting up once more.

"That's just cheating, it is," Tamrie grumped out, crossing her arms over her chest.

This earned a soft laugh from Ari, filling the room with warmth.

Warmth that seemed to reach Tamrie's cheeks as she flushed. She quickly recovered as she squeezed onto a seat next to Ari. "How do you like the L-fish?"

"Little confusing," I said, taking another bite. "Not the taste, the name. Taste is amazing."

Bevel nodded beside me, clearly wanting to dig in but also wanting to get the timing right so we'd keep pulling up golden threads.

At some point, I thought we'd run out, or that it just wouldn't work anymore. But it seemed that whatever magic gave the fish its name, it also ensured the golden thread continued to link us.

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"It's official name is something along the lines of golden trapper fish of the Myras trench, I believe," Ari said while pulling another plate towards herself and sliding it between her and Tamrie. She took up one of the utensils, then looked towards Tamrie.

I couldn't see her full expression, but I did catch Tamrie blushing once more before picking up the matching utensil. The resulting string was much thinner than the ones Bevel and I had retrieved, and the glow wasn't as bright, but it was still there.

Each of us took turns, the thread appearing for each of us. Even Tamrie and Bevel, to both their apparent surprise given the way they'd both dropped their tridents at the dim light. Maybe the gimmick wasn't as mysterious as they'd thought.

"It's definitely an interesting dish. I'm surprised we haven't had it before," I said as Bevel and I picked up another bite, the thread glowing just as bright as our first bite.

"It's only available in certain seasons, and even with the best enchantments, the magic doesn't keep," Ari said before going for another bite, her and Tamrie lifting their tridents together, thread still glowing. "It is also quite expensive and something I'm surprised to find so far from Spellford."

Tamrie mumbled something but I couldn't quite catch the words. It was enough to make Ari laugh, touching Tamrie's arm a moment later.

"We should try one all together!" Bevel said, moving over to squeeze between me and Ari.

I chuckled as I slid the plate over. "Sure, I'm game."

"More'n like that won't…" Tamrie trailed off as all three of us lifted our little black tridents, staring at her nearby utensil. "Right. Shuttin' my own self up."

"Together on three," Ari said, placing her trident down. After receiving a nod from each of us, she started counting down. "One, two, thr…"

It wasn't a surprise she'd trailed off, considering the tangled mess we'd lifted into the air. It was like one of those cat's cradles, with strands leading between each of our tridents.

"And together now," Ari said, bringing the trident slowly towards her mouth.

We did our best to do the same, though I noted Bevel reached her mouth first. Still she made not to close it.

"And hmmm," Ari said, and we bit into our fish.

There was a minor thing we hadn't accounted for, and that was that the fish could get bright enough to be blinding. None of us could tell if it was any particular thread or if it had been because we'd done so many at once.

"That… was quite unexpected," Ari said, warm laughter once more filling the room.

"Right confusing, it was," Tamrie said, though she was smiling.

Having successfully brought a grin out of Tamrie, we all continued our meal, the fish disappearing soon after. We fell into a relaxed conversation about other local Spellford foods with interesting traditions and soon dinner was over.

Which is when I stood up, brushing the crumbs of one of Ari's pastries off my robe. "Well, I think it's-"

"Time to go exploring!" Tamrie said, with an unusual amount of exuberance. She didn't mind exploring, but it hadn't ever seemed like her favorite activity.

Still, she clearly had some sort of plan and none of us wanted to ruin it for her, so, we followed her down into the catacombs. I delayed the exploration for a second as I went to double check the cells we'd had installed, which were only just finished. They were a recent addition, somewhere to put those who managed to get around the Keystones and gain access to areas they weren't supposed to be in.

After a quick inspection to make sure all the enchantments were working as intended - which Bevel and Ari joined me for, the three of us managing to get somewhat distracted until Tamrie cleared her throat - we made our way deeper into the catacombs.

As we did, Tamrie pulled out a set of thin tubes covered in intricate detailing.

"Oh my, are those spirit scrolls?" Ari asked, leaning forward.

"Spirit scrolls?" Bevel asked, turning in place but still bobbing along at the head of the group, giving up the pretense of being bound to the earth like the rest of us mere mortals.

Ignoring the fact that Ari and I could've done the same, of course.

"They're a game you play with friends," Ari said, accepting a pair of scrolls from Tamrie, who was beaming wildly.

Then Ari held one towards Bevel, saying, "Pull down, break it."

Tamrie's eyes went wide, and she took a half step forward, but Bevel was faster.

My daughter didn't even think about it, eagerly reaching forward and breaking the spirit scroll over Ari's hand. A bunch of flashing blue and green light burst out, an image of a pair of long thin dragons coiling around each other rising up before encircling each of them. Ari's warm laughter filled the room. "Oh my, it seems we're destined to be the closest of friends."

"Yes!" Bevel said, pumping her fist. Then she plucked another of the scrolls from Tamrie's hand, holding it out towards me.

Tamrie just let out a long sigh as Bevel and I broke this new scroll.

A colorful burst of gold and red shot up, this time instead of dragons, it was cats dancing back and forth until…

A quick burst of mana from Ari meant it faded before it could finish. That hadn't looked appropriate for children. Tamrie's beat-red cheeks told me she hadn't expected me and Bevel to get that one.

"Aw, why'd it end so soon?" Bevel asked, staring at the broken stick.

"Uh, I accidentally disrupted it," I said, giving Tamrie a raised eyebrow.

"That one was meant for your Papa and Ari," Tamrie said, swallowing as she pressed a hand against her forehead.

"Oh was it now?" Ari asked, her tone tinged with amusement and something else I didn't quite recognize. Anger, maybe?

"I mean…"

"Oh right, you told me! I forgot. Sorry," Bevel said, head slumping.

"Hey, it's all in good fun, kiddo," I said, ruffling her hair while glancing towards Tamrie.

She didn't meet either of our gazes, shoulders slumped. Ari and I looked at each other.

She raised an eyebrow.

I shifted my jaw slightly to the side.

Twitch of her nose.

Finally, we gave each other a slight nod, then simultaneously moved to flank Tamrie, each taking an arm.

"You're trying too hard," I said, squeezing Tamrie's hand.

"Yes. If Perry and I are to…" Ari couldn't finish, her cheeks flushing as she trailed off.

"If we're to become a thing, it means we need to work it out ourselves. And I'll want to have had time to get over you before I even consider it," I said, leaning over and giving Tamrie a peck on the head.

Ari nodded, patting Tamrie's arm. "It isn't that we don't appreciate you, dear heart. Or what you're trying to do. But love can't be forced."

"Wasn't trying to force, truth be told," Tamrie said, giving us a weak smile. "Well, not more'n a little. Just figured you both needed a bit of a push, is all. 'Spose I was doing it for myself, more'n anything. What if… what if'n you didn't have to get over me? If'n… it'll be a while, and not saying I won't have a tumble or two… but no reason we can't all… Ari, Perry, I'm-"

A low rumbling shook the room, causing all of us to freeze in place.

"Bevel?" I asked, glancing back the way we'd come.

"Nothing close," she said, squinting.

"That's not good," I said, glancing at the others as I prepared to fly out. "Bring Tamrie!"

"Got her," Bevel said as she followed, the air around us suddenly picking up speed and thrusting us all forward.

After nearly an hour of casual meandering half-hearted exploration, it only took us a few minutes to make it out. There didn't seem to be anything in the Waygate nexus itself, so we flew to the peak of Mount Aeternia.

Just in time for another rumble to shake the air.

Except… that wasn't quite right. I'd heard a similar sound before. It just hadn't been so loud. What was it?

I looked over at Tamrie, who'd gone pale as a sheet.

Then I remembered where I'd heard it before. It was the same low keening noise the leviathans made.

It seemed they were calling her.

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