Kira moved through the winding corridors of the guest wing with the silent, predatory grace of the assassin she was. Her footsteps didn't make a sound against the polished stone, and her qi levels were hardly detectable. She reached the heavy oak door of Lia's quarters and raised a hand to knock, but her fingers hovered an inch from the wood.
A flicker of mischief crossed her face. Why knock when you could enter in style?
Drawing on her qi and funneling it into her technique, she stepped through the door. Her body turned into a translucent blur, passing through the solid grain with ease. She solidified on the other side, her mouth already open to deliver the message. "Hurry up, the King and Queen have called us for a—"
The words died in her throat.
On the couch, the scene was a chaotic tangle of bare skin and heavy breathing. Lia was straddling Varek's lap, her back to the door, totally shirtless and pressed against the warrior's massive, equally bare chest. Varek's hands were still splayed across Lia's back, frozen in the middle of a protective embrace.
Kira's eyes widened, then slowly narrowed into a wicked, knowing slant. She didn't look away; instead, she leaned against the doorframe she had just phased through and crossed her arms. A cheeky smirk pulled at the corner of her lips.
"I knew it," Kira stated, her voice dripping with triumph.
Lia shrieked—a high, panicked sound that was mirrored by a strangled gasp from Tim back on Earth. She scrambled off Varek, nearly tripping over the clothes she'd discarded earlier. Her face went from its usual pale porcelain to a shade of crimson so deep it almost glowed in the dim light of the room.
"Kira! What the— How did you— Get out!" Lia stammered, frantically clutching the discarded fabric against her chest.
Varek, however, didn't seem the least bit bothered. He stayed reclined on the couch, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. He looked at Kira, then at the sputtering, beet-red Lia, and let out a low, rumbling chuckle. A massive, shit-eating grin spread across his face, his teeth flashing in the light. He looked like a wolf that had just been caught in the hen house and didn't regret a single second of it.
"The royals are waiting," Kira said, pushing off the doorframe. She didn't apologize for the intrusion; this was material to tease Tim with for months. "Meeting chambers. Five minutes. Try to have your clothes on by then."
She turned and sauntered back through the door—this time using the handle, though she didn't bother to close it all the way.
"I'm going to kill her," Lia hissed, her hands shaking as she started to dress. "I am actually going to murder her in her sleep."
"She's an assassin, Lia. Good luck with that," Varek teased. He stood up, grabbing his own shirt from the floor and throwing it on with a careless shrug. He walked over to Lia, who was still vibrating with embarrassment, and gave her a playful nudge with his shoulder. "Come on. Let's go see what the King wants."
Lia didn't look at him. She couldn't. She just kept her head down, her face still burning a bright, unmistakable red as they walked out into the hallway. Varek walked beside her, his chest puffed out and his grin never wavering, looking every bit the victorious warrior. "Is this the walk of shame" Tim thought on earth.
They reached the grand doors of the inner sanctum, where two massive stone statues stood sentinel. Kira led the way, her expression having shifted from playful to stone-cold professionalism. The doors swung open to reveal a chamber bathed in a harsh, flickering orange light.
King Valerius stood at the far end, framed by a massive arched window that looked out over the crater. His wife, the Queen, sat stiffly in a high-backed chair, her face a mask of weary disappointment. Marcus and Elena stood to the side, looking like scolded children. The King turned, his aura flaring for a brief, terrifying second—a nascent soul pressure that made the air feel like lead.
"Leave us," the King commanded, his voice a low growl. "All of you. Guards, attendants—out."
The room cleared in seconds. Only the core group remained: the King, the Queen, Marcus, Elena, Kira, Varek, and Lia.
The King didn't wait for them to settle. He turned his gaze directly onto Marcus. "I entered closed cultivation believing I had left a man in charge of my city," Valerius began, his voice trembling with suppressed rage. "Instead, I find a boy who played at being a hero and nearly burned the Crater to the ground. I am thoroughly disappointed in how you handled my kingdom in my absence, Marcus. You lacked the vision to see the traps being set before you."
Marcus opened his mouth to protest, but the King held up a hand, silencing him instantly. Valerius then turned his gaze toward Lia and Varek.
"And you two," he spat. "You brought a Nascent Soul level four shadow beast into the heart of my home. Do you have any idea what you've done?"
"We didn't mean to," Lia said, her voice small but steady.
"Well, it happened!" the King roared, waves of qi shimmering around him. "The secret of the Crimson Crater—the source of our power and our isolation—is secret no longer. Because of that monstrosity and the battle you invited here, the entire Central Continent knows what lies beneath our feet. Our reputation is destroyed. We are no longer a sanctuary; we are a place of horror."
The Queen sighed, a sound of profound exhaustion. "Who will want to visit the Crater now they know what it is really built upon?"
The King stepped closer to Lia, his eyes hard. "I cannot protect you. I will not sacrifice my people to shield those who brought this ruin upon us. You have one day. Twenty-four hours to gather what you can and vanish from my sight."
Lia felt a cold pit form in her stomach. Earth-Tim felt a similar jolt of adrenaline-fueled anxiety.
"Where are we supposed to go?" Varek asked, his grin finally gone, replaced by a grim, warrior's focus.
"You are best to flee toward the center of the continent," the King said, turning back toward the window. "Try to gain access to the Imperial Court's intake process. It is the only place with enough power to hold back the Assassins Guild and the evil sect that is undoubtedly hunting you now."
He waved a hand dismissively. "Go. Before I decide that delivering your heads to the Assassins Guild is a better way to serve my kingdom."
Lia, Varek, and Kira turned to leave. As they exited the chamber, Lia's face was no longer red from embarrassment—it was pale with the realization that their safety in the Crater had just evaporated. The walk back to the guest wing was a heavy, silent procession. The earlier warmth and the frantic, confusing heat of their embrace had been replaced by a cold, hollow weight in the pits of their stomachs.
"Why can't I just catch a single, solitary break?" Lia sighed, the sound echoing off the white stone walls of the corridor. "Seriously, this has been constant since the second I stepped into this world."
Varek didn't offer his usual smug grin. He walked with his arms crossed, his massive shoulders hunched as he too felt the strain.
Kira flitted along the edges of the hallway, her eyes darting toward every shadow. The playful mischief from earlier was gone, replaced by the sharp, calculating gaze of a hunted master. "The King is being generous by giving us a day," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "The Assassins Guild will move quick. They have ears in the palace, and once they realize the Crimson Crater isn't protecting us, they'll be on us like flies on rot."
Lia stopped at the door to her chambers, looking at the others. On Earth, Tim sat up on the couch, rubbing his face with his hands while Riku leaned against him, her expression grim.
"We aren't waiting for sunset," Lia said, her voice hardening with a sudden, desperate resolve. "Let's leave in the next hour. We'll head to the docks and try to catch the next merchant ship heading toward the Imperial City at the center of the continent."
"The Imperial City?" Varek raised an eyebrow. "That's a long haul, and we could get ambushed again."
"We'll bribe someone in the cargo bay of an ark to let us in," Lia countered. "Hide among the Spirit-Silk or the Lotus crates. It's better than being sitting ducks here. If we can get into the Imperial Court's intake process like the King said, we might actually get a layer of protection no one will dare to touch."
Kira nodded once, a sharp, decisive movement. "I can handle the bribes. I may have done this once or twice before. But we need to move. Now."
"Pack light," Varek added, already turning toward his own room. "Anything that slows us down is a death sentence."
Lia stepped into her room, grabbing some clothes and stuffing them into a travel pack. She grabbed her necklace with the swirling orb and rested it between her breasts. "What are you, and why are you worth so much trouble?" she whispered.
Earth: Tim's Apartment
"You ready for a road trip?" Tim asked, his voice a low rasp as he looked at Riku.
Riku tightened her grip on his hand, her eyes flashing with determination. "I'm ready. Let's get the hell out of this crater."