"Are we really going to risk our necks to rescue those three idiots?" Katherine asked.

  "No," I said. "The public execution could be a trap, bait designed to draw us out from our mite-covered crystal fortress."

  "Then what are we going to do?" Cinder demanded.

  "We'll need to hire an army of mooks to help save our fellow students. Our Guild is filthy rich, remember?"

  "Hrmmm... How many mooks can we hire?" Vee asked.

  "All of them," I said. "Every single mercenary, information broker, and two-bit thug in Undertown and uptown. Every adventurer of every level. No matter the cost."

  "Sounds like that'll cost a fortune." Cinder said.

  "Good thing we have a fortune," I replied. "This is going to be a big rescue operation. I've been hiring people since I gave Morty that thermos. Since Innkeeper Nikkola isn't responding, I'm assuming that everyone got bagged up from the Inn. We're going to find out whether they're still alive and where they're all kept. This includes your brother, Ci."

  Cinder's feathers flashed through a rainbow of grimdark colors - orange shock, black fear, red anger. "They took Lance?"

  "Maybe he got away? Try calling him," I offered.

  She did, wings shimmering with a curtain of orange-reds as she waited.

  No answer.

  "Shit, shit, shit," Cinder let out, clawing at her face as her snout lengthened. "Damn it! This... all of this... this is ALL YOUR fault!"

  Icy-blue, angry eyes struck me.

  "Yes it is," I said. "Stopping Zalimar was going to have far-reaching consequences. I accept the blame."

  Dark red feathered hands grabbed at me, strangling me.

  "I'm glad that you care for your brother enough to choke the life outta me," I hissed out as the hexasuit collars on my neck hardened. "Guess you're not that Kaleid after all."

  Cinder froze, her talons still wrapped around my throat. Her feathers shifted through seventy shades of anger and then something else - vulnerability.

  "You knew!" she snarled. "You knew something like this would happen when we took down Zalimar and Em!"

  "The Bank obviously doesn't like being exposed." I shrugged.

  "Kat!" Cinder's head snapped to Katherine. "Could you... maybe... Go uptown, rescue everyone via the deep?"

  "No," the Stollwurm replied.

  "Why the Abyss not?!" Cinder barked. "Why the shit are you such a useless knobfold?!"

  "Because the Deep isn't a bloody taxi service!" Katherine snapped back. "Leviathan Nightingale's flock can reach right into it at night and during the day the local sun pretty much bakes me alive upstairs. It's much warmer and brighter than the Sun on earth and the clouds of the Arx megastructure have an insane degree of refraction. Why the shit do you think I'm failing delving class, you feathery beerchard?! Just because I can more or less function in Undertown it doesn't mean that I can do shit above!"

  "Then what DO we do?" Cinder demanded, feathers flaring crimson.

  I grabbed at Vespera. She caught onto my thoughts via the electric current between us and a deafening thunderbolt struck the crystal ceiling high above us.

  "Stop yelling at each other," I order-growled. "Everyone might not be dead, just imprisoned so that they can't spread the word about the Arx gate. From what Sol told us, the local Scruts don't believe in interdimensional gates. Vee, pry Ci off me. I have minions to direct."

  The next thunderbolt struck Cinder, making her let go of me with a yelp.

  "Yulia, What time is it in Shandria now?" I asked.

  "Six twenty nine pm," the LLM answered.

  "Freaking time dilation," I rubbed my face glancing at the phone's clock that said 10:50 PM. "Blah."

  "Shash!" I yelled.

  "Yes, M'Lord?" The Assassin materialized next to us in about ten seconds.

  "I need information," I said. "Is the well tunnel going straight up from the Guild into Shandria sealed off too?"

  "Yes," Shash nodded. "Like the other ways and tunnels out, it has been dimensionally folded with a city-wide rock-slide-field that filled every crevice and crack between us and the mages above. The Guildnet mage towers upstairs make sure that there is only a single exit out of Undertown now and that it's armed to the teeth."

  "Fine," I said. "Kat will take you past the blockade pinhole into the city."

  "Understood," Shash nodded.

  I handed him my phone. "Here. I'll trust you with Yulia. The battery will last a few more days, longer if you shake it. There's a 'mana to electricity' converter in my bag that I'll show you how to use later.”

  "M'lord?" the Assassin accepted the phone.

  "This device is yours to keep. Here's how you turn it on and log in," I said, showing him how to log into the phone with my finger. "Yulia will show you the names and faces of people I want found and rescued. Obey her directions, but do so with wisdom. She's kind of iffy and slow without all of her connections to all of her tools back on Earth."

  "Yulia, permanent state change - your new arms and legs belong to Shash," I said. "Find and rescue everyone."

  "Permanent realignment acknowledged," Yulia replied. "Mission understood."

  "Thank you for your trust, M'lord," Shash bowed, accepting the phone.

  "Here," I handed him a mini-wax-speaker. "Shove this in your ear. She can talk to you through it."

  He did.

  "Meet up with Morty and get the funds. Then go to the Adventurers Guild Cathedral," I said. "And the Manhunters Guild. Hire as many adventurers and mercenaries as you can. Post Quests that pay at a premium rate for every level from Iron to Celesteel or whatever. I want my people found. I want names of all of the people involved that captured them. If my friends are dead, then I want their black hexagonal bracelets retrieved. Got it?"

  "Yes, M'Lord," the assassin bowed.

  "Also, use the funds from the card of Emerald Stratos to hire extra-unscrupulous men. We'll need such to disrupt and delay the execution of Emerald, Quint and Solace that will take place at central square tomorrow at noon," I said.

  "They will likely have high-level Watchmen plus City Wards preventing anyone from stopping the execution, M'Lord," Shash said.

  "That's fine," I said. "I just want a lot of noise. The Shandrian Scruts believe that Em has an army of local idiots working for her. We should reinforce this belief, make her into a local bogeyman terrorizing children and stealing their candy."

  Shash nodded.

  "Hrmm," I rubbed my chin. "Also, find out what happened in the Gilded Gryphon Inn. Learn who they were and how they managed to subdue my friends."

  "Anything else?"

  "Spread rumors extra hard," I added, "Pay the orphans to spawn information that the Arx Bank is involved in Topaz trade, works closely with Necromancer Zalimar Evernacht and can open gates into other dimensions. I want everyone in Shandria to know this. Duplicate the best most potent info from the yellow folder and make it rain paper from the rooftops. They ain't weaseling out of this. "

  Shash nodded.

  "Start to assemble strongmen teams to prepare to storm the Bank branches. I want them burned to the ground. I want their network of patsies scorched from Shandria," I added. "Find everyone from the yellow folder, shake whatever else you can out of the weaker, low level scum, make the lives of higher level Bank reps more complicated. Especially Bank rep Gabriella Matrosin. I want her bagged up ASAP, before you do anything else. When she's captured, Voicecast Kat and have her bring you and the bagged catgirl past the blockade."

  "Got it," Shash nodded.

  "Go," I turned to Katherine. "Take Shash and his men through the deep out of Undertown."

  Katherine crossed her arms, not budging.

  "Kat," I said. "This is the best way forward. We cannot allow Zalimar to return to Arx to sell Topaz. If the Omnid chapel has fallen, we need to retake it. Please just work with me, yeah?"

  "And what are you going to do?" She asked.

  "Stay here and get some sleep," I said.

  "Really?"

  "Yes. Really. I'm tired and it's way past my bedtime. I've been running all day and it would only take a single spell to the head to take me out, why would I go out there?"

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "Fine," she grumbled. "Making me work with freaking assassins, bloody annoying, manipulative human...."

  Katherine and Shash vanished down the hall, her grumbling fading away.

  "Aiiiight everyone, bedtime!" I declared, stretching.

  "Already?" Cinder's feathers shifted through annoyed oranges. "But... We have a crisis here!"

  "Exactly why we need rest," I yawned. "Can't save anyone if we're exhausted."

  "You coming to bed?" I asked Io with a yawn.

  "Eh. I'm content with the dining hall," he replied, climbing into a crystalline wall alcove and pulling out his Moon book. "Have fun with ya 'ship."

  "Mkay," I said.

  "I can't believe you two," Cinder followed us downstairs, wings twitching with irritation. "My brother could be dead and you're thinking about sleep?!"

  "Yes," I said. "Sleep is important."

  We entered our room - now transformed into pure crystal like everything else.

  To my delight, the three animated paintings didn't turn transparent and still functioned, their enchanted scenes providing soft light. Through the transparent floor, I could see all the way down to the bioluminescent fields of Abystall far below.

  "Pretty view," Vee commented, flopping onto the large bed. "Come here, you two!"

  I climbed onto the bed.

  "This isn't the time for-" Cinder started.

  "Ci," I said tiredly. "I set as much as I could in motion. Sometimes the best strategy is to rest and reset."

  "But," Cinder fretted.

  "Birb, secure Skittles," I ordered.

  Vee's talons sparked with electricity as she lunged at Cinder from the bed, grabbing her mid-protest.

  "Nooo!" Cinder squawked, her feathers flaring in indignation. "I am NOT sleepy, damn it!"

  Zzzzzap!

  Vespera sent a mild thunderbolt through Cinder that made her feathers stand on end.

  "STOP THAT! I..." Cinder tried to pull away, but Vee's grip was strong.

  I watched with amusement as Vespera wrestled Cinder onto the bed.

  In moments, the Thunderbird had successfully pinned Cinder, who was still protesting, but losing steam rapidly. Her feathers were slowly shifting from angry reds to softer purples.

  "Should have invested more into strength, Miss Charisma," I grinned at her.

  Cinder hissed angrily, but Vespera was sending tiny electrical sparks dancing across Cinder's feathers that seemed to have a hypnotic, calming effect on the Quetzi-girl.

  I leaned from the edge of the bed. Through the transparent floor I saw an entire network of cavern lakes, waterfalls and rivers. Everything flowed into a distant supermassive waterfall. Behind and around it, fjords and fields of Abystall glimmered like an underwater galaxy, casting soft blue-green light shimmers throughout our crystalline bedroom.

  Far above us, I could see the edge of the crystalline tower and column and all of Undertown engulfed in the snowstorm of blooming Duskbloom.

  Vespera's electrical current continued to pulse softly, her talons gently stroking Cinder's feathers. Cinder's protests gradually faded into soft, irritated mumbles.

  "Shash will find everyone," I said, sliding next to her and looking up. "Yulia will help."

  Cinder's ocean-blue eyes flickered between anger and exhaustion. "Promise?"

  "Promise," I said.

  "Relax," Vee clicked softly. "We'll fight tomorrow."

  Cinder's breathing gradually slowed.

  "This is so nice," I commented. "Our city up above and our dungeon below. Who needs windows when the entire room's transparent!"

  "Yeah," Cinder let out, finally accepting being bed-bound and pulling me toward herself. "No privacy though."

  "Speaking of which," Vespera clicked, reaching out to touch the crystalline wall with her free hand while still holding onto Cinder. Electrical current danced through the transparent material, creating intricate hexagonal patterns that spread outward like a web.

  "Watcha doing?" I asked.

  "Basic one way mirror hex," she said. "So we can see everything but nobody can see us. Aaaaand done! Added two way mirror walls to the bathrooms too."

  The walls of our bedroom momentarily flashed silver and then became transparent again. I saw a few reflective cubes hovering near and above us in the distance. The wooden door remained unchanged, as the spell only changed inorganic silica materials into crystals.

  "Much better," she purred, rapidly pulling off her armor and hexasuit. I stared at her until Cinder elbowed me.

  Vee's beak suddenly traced along my jaw before she kissed me, sending little sparks dancing across my lips. Cinder made a soft sound and joined in, her feathers brushing against my face as she claimed her own kiss.

  Vee's electrical current hummed through our trio, creating a soothing, tingling sensation.

  "Hey," Cinder mumbled, squirming slightly as Vee's talons began to roam more boldly. "We shouldn't... I mean, what if...?"

  "Rrrrelax, Skittles," Vee purred. "My mirro hex is like, totally foolproof. No one's peeking at our slumber party, or getting in here. Door's passworrrrded now."

  "Isn't Kat going to..."

  "Kat can sleep in the hall or whatever. Don't care. Commerrrrrr."

  Vee's talons danced across Cinder's feathers. Cinder shivered, her feathers shifting through a kaleidoscope of colors - soft blues, vibrant purples, and flashes of pink.

  "Ooh, pretty," Vee cooed, fascinated by the color changes. She focused, sending a more targeted pulse through a specific patch of feathers. To her delight, that area flared a brilliant green.

  "H-hey!" Cinder squirmed, her ocean-blue eyes widening. "What are you doing?"

  "Learning. Investigating. Sciencing. Making art," Vee giggled, continuing her experimentation. With each carefully placed spark, she painted Cinder's feathers in vivid, new hues - creating swirls of red, bursts of yellow, and waves of deep indigo.

  Cinder's face flushed. "S-stop that," she protested, but didn't pull away.

  Vee ignored her, completely engrossed in her new prodding. "Wonder if I can make patterns..." She concentrated, sending a more complex series of pulses across Cinder's wings.

  "Color patterns are cool and all, but can you make her Phase-Shift?" I asked.

  "In which direction?" Vee asked.

  "I dunno," I shrugged. "Surprise me."

  "H-hey," Cinder mewled. "Don't just talk about me like I'm not here!”

  Vee's eyes sparkled mischievously. "Like, chillax Skittles. We're just having Quetzi-modding fun!"

  "And stop with the terrible nicknames," the Quetzi-in-question growled.

  "Nu-huh," Vee grinned. "I do wonder..."

  She sent a stronger pulse through Cinder's feathers, causing them to ripple in a wave-like pattern from head to tail.

  Cinder let out a soft gasp, her body tensing. "T-that feels... weird," she mumbled, her feathers now shimmering with an iridescent mirror-like sheen.

  I leaned closer, seeing our reflections in each feather.

  "Heh," I smiled. "It's like she's made from mercury. Terminator-Two-Quetzi! Pretty neat."

  "T-this isn't funny," Cinder looked down at her reflective self, lifting a hand that was made from gleaming, metallic feathers.

  "Just think of it as skill-training," I said.

  "Skill training?!" Cinder sputtered.

  "Correct," I nodded. "Trying new things. Have you ever turned fully into a mirror?"

  "No, why the Abyss would I even...?"

  "Maybe you need to bonce lasers off?" I shrugged.

  "Why would there be freaking lasers in a dungeon?!" Cinder huffed.

  Vee ran her talons along Cinder's wing, causing ripples of silver to flow in reflective waves. "Let's see what else we can do…”

  “You! Quit messing up my feathers!” Cinder growled.

  "Have you ever tried being... delicious?" the Thunderbird asked.

  "Why the eff would I..." The Quetzi sputtered.

  "You never know when you might need to attract a very hungry human," Vee's eyes sparkled with mischief. "Ooh, I have an idea!" She concentrated, sending a complex series of electrical pulses through Cinder's feathers.

  Cinder's eyes widened as her feathers began to shift and change. The metallic sheen faded, replaced by a golden-brown hue. Her skin took on a soft, fluffy texture.

  "What are you-" Cinder started, but then froze as the scent hit her. The air filled with the warm, sweet aroma of freshly made pancakes.

  "Slayer," I breathed. "This is freaking amazing. It's like she's the personification of breakfast!"

  Cinder's feathers now had the exact texture and appearance of perfectly cooked pancakes, complete with little air bubbles and a slightly crisp edge.

  Vee giggled, running her talons along Cinder's arm. Where she touched, a trail of what looked like whipped cream appeared, stark white against the golden pancake-feathers.

  "Staaaaph," the Quetzi blushed with pinks, which blossomed into strawberry slices across her pancake-textured face under Vespera's cheeky machinations.

  I couldn't resist reaching out to touch, marveling at the soft, fluffy texture. "This is amazing, Vee. How are you doing this? How is she blushing with strawberry slices?"

  "Just playing with the electrical impulses," Vee shrugged, face gleaming with pride. "Pretty easy once you figure out the right frequency. Ke ke ke. I wonder if I can add syrup to the equation..."

  With a mischievous grin, she sent another pulse through Cinder's feathers. A golden sheen appeared, slowly dripping down like maple syrup.

  "Oh, come on!" Cinder protested. A greater number of strawberry slices bloomed across her.

  "Hang on," I said. "Her hexasuit is strawberrying up too!"

  "Mmm-hmmm," Vespera nodded. "The Quetzi Phase-Shift range is actually pretty wide. Each feather is bending reality around it visually like a miniature holofractal while her heart core is projecting specific mental ideas into the target's mind. Targets. Our brains are being fed specific sensations relevant to whatever the feathers display.”

  "How wide is this mental pulse?" I wondered. "What is she, like a holodeck?! Can you use her wings to strawberry yourself up too?"

  "Let's find out!" Vee closed her eyes, magisteel talons digging into Cinder's wings. The Quetzi let out a small gasp as electrical currents danced across her. The pancake texture rushed up Vespera's claws, vanishing the magisteel and black and white feathers, rapidly flooding her entire body in pancake-ness.

  "You can call us the breakfast squad!" the Thunderbird laughed. "Oh my Slayer! I'm literally pancakes right now." She licked her crispy-textured beak. "I'm pancakes everywhere! Nazareth! Ahhh! This is wild. Lex! You must join the breakfast gang!"

  Her pancake-textured talons grabbed me and then I became a pancake.

  The pancake-ness spread through me like warm syrup, a strange tingling sensation that made everything feel soft and fluffy.

  My mind suddenly felt... different. Lighter. More wholesome.

  Like Sunday morning breakfast with no responsibilities. The inside of my mouth, every bit of my tongue was delicious, every nerve ending singing with flavor.

  The state of being human drowned in a sea of pancake-ness.

  "You feel that?" Vee laughed. "It's like being wrapped in a warm blanket made of happiness! The conceptual state of being pancakes is overwriting most of our biological senses! Mmmm... lemme lower it down a bit, so I don't bite your face off accidentally."

  "I am NOT a breakfast item!" Cinder said. "P-put me back damn it!"

  "Shhh, no whining," Vee leaned into Cinder. "Only noms now. Nom. Nom. Nom."

  The room filled with the comforting aroma of a perfect breakfast - warm pancakes, sweet syrup, and fresh berries.

  I felt a strange, alien, bewildering sense of belonging. Every sensation was muted yet intensified, focused on warmth and sweetness. The world suddenly seemed simpler, cozier. I observed my companions melting into each other, their forms blending in a swirl of golden-brown and creamy white and strawberry red.

  I watched in pancake-vision as pancake-Vee playfully nibbled at pancake-Cinder. The Quetzi-cake's protests faded into soft noises of crunching waffles and falling strawberries.

  A clawed, delicious hand of Thunder-cake pulled me in.

  Our edges blurred, individual identities merging into a collective breakfast experience. Time seemed to slow, each moment stretching like warm syrup.

  Through our shared pancake-consciousness, I sensed waves of affection and trust flowing between us. It was a unique intimacy - wholesome, comforting, and deliciously absurd, conceptually skewered sideways with overflowing breakfast-ness.

  Some distant, rational, non-pancake part of me attempted to define the edges of myself, but failed to do so. There were no edges.

  There was no human named Martin nor two Omnid predators here.

  There were only pancakes.