"I apologize for my part in the interruption," Ulta said, turning back to Blake. Her tone had returned to one of engaged professionalism, the vitriol left behind with Aureon.

"I had heard there was bad blood between the Concordance and Demiurge, but that felt personal," Blake said, looking between Ulta and the still fuming Archon. The only other Archon Blake had met, his guide Prima, had described the relationship between the Autochthon Concordance and the Living System as something like a rivalry between two sports franchises. Whatever had just happened here felt considerably more intense.

"It was," Ulta replied. Blake waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't.

"Well, all right then," Blake said. He coughed into his hand, trying to fill the awkward silence. "What did you want to speak with me and Kitt about?"

"Continuing your work," Ulta said, giving Blake a warm smile that felt genuine. "Saving the Leviathan Caprea."

"I'd already be getting to work," Blake said, looking around at the three newcomers. "But you all saw fit to interrupt me."

"It was the intention of the merchant that interrupted you. We are interrupting him," Ulta said, her smile faltering as she referenced Aureon. "As you might have gathered, he was here to get you to leave. His solution to the problem of the outsider is unacceptable to us."

"So you said. I'd like details on that," Blake replied. Ulta opened her mouth to continue speaking, but Blake lifted his hand to stop her.

"On a personal level, I appreciate the smackdown, but I don't know you, and I have a lot of reasons not to trust you," Blake continued. He turned to Aureon, who was looking at him warily. "You get over here and explain yourself. Kitt and I will decide what to do once we have heard from everyone involved."

"I can't say I expected you to want to hear from me," Aureon said as he sauntered over to Blake. He stopped roughly an arm's length away, though Blake noticed that he kept about six feet away from Ulta.

"If I could hear it from someone else, I would," Blake replied flatly. "Why do you need us out of here? My understanding was that the system had this all under control. What changed?"

"You two, obviously," Aureon returned, annoyance coloring his tone. "The situation was well contained until you brought another Leviathan into the picture. Even if she's tiny and wrong."

Blake bristled at the way he spoke about Kitt, but she laid a mental hand on his shoulder, holding him back. Now wasn't the time.

"It's entirely likely that the unique combination of talents and abilities that you two possess is the only thing that could have caused everything to go off the rails the way it has," Aureon continued. "You certainly weren't the only person on the planet you could have found and bonded with the Chimera. But I'm fairly certain that anyone else who might have done so, had they then entered into this dungeon, wouldn't have been nearly as capable as you and your class are at resisting the effects of the Outsider."

"So what? We were too successful? Does that warrant killing Caprea?"

"No, you dunce! You two began awakening this leviathan, this … Caprea." Aureon replied. "It should be obvious to even you that the thing that you're calling the outsider is merely the leftover remnant of a far greater threat. It was, to their credit, these two agents of the Concordance who slew the original outsider. I took what was left and carefully formed it back into a tier-appropriate challenge."

"That makes about as much sense as a football bat," Blake said. "Why bother trying to keep something so dangerous around, even in a limited capacity?"

"Because, unlike you and your unusual mule-headedness, most people on this planet would benefit greatly from tempering themselves against the mental attacks that the Outsider uses passively against anyone entering its range," Aureon said, as if it were obvious. "Not only is it an incredibly valuable training for one's mental defenses, Outsiders like this have a way of clarifying one's path. They attack core weaknesses in both the psyche and the spirit. They point out moral shortcomings and logical blind spots. In short, they are very, very useful. If controlled carefully."

"So, how did this one slip the leash?" Blake prodded. He was worried that he already knew, but he needed to hear Aureon say it.

"Because you idiots fed it!" The Chronicler snapped at him. "I did my level best to keep it dull and single-minded. Its power level was threatening, but it had no method to grow. Not until you two begin exposing all of those sub-cores."

Blake flinched. It was exactly what he was worried Aureon would say. He could feel Kitt doing the same, self-recrimination radiating from her like heat from an open oven.

"Under normal circumstances, it would have never even been able to find this leviathan's core, let alone have a chance of consuming it." Aureon plowed on, tone bitter. "You fools have turned it into an existential threat for everyone on this planet, and potentially, people beyond even that.

"The situation requires intervention. The rules, however, are clear: I can't do anything unless you leave. So long as you remain here working to complete quest objectives and otherwise participating in the Scenario, my hands are tied. The only thing I can do is to ask you to leave of your own free will. That, and to inform you that once this dungeon ceases to exist, you'll be offered appropriate restitution."

Blake didn't reply. He stood there, looking at Aureon and then over to Ulta. He didn't like what he saw on her face. She didn't look happy, but she also made no move at all to repudiate anything that Aureon had said.

'This sounds pretty bad,' Kitt said silently through their bond. 'We might have really screwed things up here, Blake.'

'Maybe,' Blake conceded. 'But we haven't heard Ulta out yet. She wouldn't be here if she didn't think there was something we could do. Besides, I don't know about you, but I'm not looking to quit on Caprea yet.'

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Blake could feel Kitt smiling. He could sense her relief that they were on the same page, and that Blake didn't suddenly want to abandon the elder Leviathan.

"Alright, the mission's FUBAR. Good to know," Blake said aloud. "Your turn, Ulta."

She smiled at him again, the very image of diplomacy, but Blake could tell the expression was more fragile than it was before.

"Before we begin, may I ask why you don't trust me?" She asked. "I feel it's only fair that I understand the position that I am negotiating from."

"Well, for starters, I don't know you," Blake replied. "Maybe I've got trust issues, but I don't generally go around putting blind faith in the people I've just met."

"I can understand that. But there's something in your tone that feels somewhat … hostile. I would have you tell me if it's something that I've done."

Blake looked at her for a long moment without replying.

"Don't patronize me. There's no chance you looked me up and didn't discover how I got here," he said, breaking the silence. "Knowing what I know now, I think it's a little bit hypocritical of you to be giving Aureon shit for orchestrating this situation. Apparently, none of it would have happened if your people hadn't pulled me into the sky, kidnapped me, and dropped me onto some backwater alien shithole. Alone."

Ulta began to reply, but Blake cut her off.

"I nearly died multiple times. I had my body ripped away from me and replaced with something I barely understand. It has been months since I have seen any other human. I've made the best of the situation. I'm doing pretty well now. But I'm damn well still allowed to be pissed at you all for doing it to me in the first place."

Kitt reached out reassuringly, trying to soothe his anger. He let her.

"You're right," Ulta replied, after an uncomfortably long silence. "From your perspective, the Concordance is a singular faction, and so I can't blame you for painting us all with the same brush. I don't know the circumstances that led to you being taken from your world. I couldn't tell you what faction within the Concordance is even responsible. But I will, on behalf of those I represent, apologize for what was done to you."

"I suppose until I figure out who is actually responsible, that's the best I can ask for," Blake replied.

"The Endless I represent is deeply invested in the well-being of all Leviathans. They were present for the birth of their lineage, and to this day endeavor to see them flourish," Ulta said, shifting the topic back to her initial reason for coming. "The rules that prevent the concordance from interfering with active demiurge scenarios are sacrosanct. The pair of you, however, are in a unique position to act. Better still, you seem predisposed to continue helping, Caprea. To that end, my role here is not to negotiate payment for services so much as it is to determine an appropriate reward for the effort that you are already willing to put in."

"Aureon here seems convinced that the situation is beyond our capabilities," Blake said. "So, why are you willing to gamble on our ability to get things done? More to the point, why should I believe that this isn't suicide, like Aureon seems to think it is?"

"It is a gamble, yes," Ulta confirmed. "But we don't believe the situation to be as dire as The Chronicler does. Things will only truly escalate out of control if the outsider consumes Caprea's core. If you push for it right now, before it can grow in strength, then it's possible that you might be able to destroy its anchor."

"So far, I've had mixed success," Blake said, fishing for more information.

"I think you sensed the same thing that we're counting on. Our Endless has been able to watch your progress, the same as any other Aeon. You are close to some sort of revelation."

She was right. That was what Blake was willing to gamble on. The Gravedigger title had been pointing him at something this entire time, and he had the nagging sense that resolving that particular thread would help him find a solution for the Outsider. Everything he learned on the matter was consistent: if he could find a way to align a specific attack with his Path, he could hurt the damned thing. He was still a little bit fuzzy on the entire subject of "conceptual alignment," but he was sure he'd figure it out.

"Both your class and your personal path already seemed conceptually positioned to help you deal with threats like The Outsider." Ulta continued. "Fundamentally, it's one of the reasons we're in this situation. You are already so capable at resisting it. All you need now is a little push, and you can move from defense to offense."

"Let's say that we're interested," Blake said. He didn't need to check in with Kitt. Both of them wanted to save Caprea. "What exactly are you offering?"

"Unfortunately, the rules around interfering with these damnable scenarios bind our hands. We can't simply throw resources at you. What my Endless is willing to offer is a guaranteed series of escalating quests. By making each subsequent quest dependent on the one before it and chaining them together, we will be allowed to offer you greater and greater rewards. It's not perfect, but we can promise that the quests will align with our shared goals."

"Call it an abundance of caution, but I have to confirm: What exactly do you think those shared goals are?"

"One moment," Ulta said before turning to Aureon. "I need to know if we are being watched right now."

"Of course not," The Chronicler replied. "There are a dozen reasons that the Aeons don't need to be watching this conversation. You're free to discuss whatever you need to. No one outside of this room will hear about The Rift, if that's your concern."

That response brought Blake up short. It made sense, but it still surprised him that Aureon would have kept this entire meeting away from his "followers." More to the point, he was interested in finding out more about the rift that seemed to be at the center of everything that had happened here.

"Good," Ulta said, nodding and turning back to Blake. "Then I can speak plainly. In the short term, our goals are simple: we all want to see the outsider driven out of Caprea. Beyond that, I believe it's safe to say that we all wish to see Caprea recover as much as is possible given her unique circumstances."

Blake nodded. So far, nothing surprising.

"Medium and long-term goals may require us to negotiate," She continued. Blake clicked his tongue in annoyance. He knew there would be a catch.

"In the long term, the Endless that I represent and Caprea share the same goal: to protect the rift at the heart of this crater. None of us are privy to what Caprea has shared with Kitt. So I don't know how informed either of you is on its importance."

Blake wanted to stop and question Kitt about what she knew right there and then, but Ulta continued before he had a chance to do anything.

"However unconfident that once you do understand, you'll be happy to assist us in our long-term goals. We're going to help Caprea win this so-called "Bannerlords" scenario." There wasn't a hint of jest in Ulta's voice. "I can promise you that, in addition to the rewards from my Endless, the rewards offered by this scenario will be significant."

"I'm sorry," Blake interjected, incredulous. "You want Caprea to participate in all that chaos? You're serious?"

"I'm entirely serious. We can use the nature of this Scenario to our advantage. Our first priority is to save her life. Our next priority, logically, is to keep both her and the Rift safe," Ulta replied matter-of-factly.

"The best way to do that is to help Caprea conquer the planet."

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