She was admiring the intricate design on the shield (a maze-like design etched into the front, spiraling outwards into a design that looked similar to a stylized set of bull's horns), when the lights suddenly went out. She looked up indignantly, and got out "Hey, who turned-" before catching sight of something that made her heart stop.

Dozens of eyes, belonging to almost that number of Grit. All looking directly at her.

A chorus of fury snarled in Maria's general direction.

Capture the live ones. Bring them to have their souls extracted. None were supposed to have escaped, this was a travesty that must be corrected.

Such was the motivation behind the fangs and claws and muzzles and hot foaming breath. More or less. Some were just hungry.

Scales and fur and a stench like rotted fish and cinnamon squeezed through the doorway, and a cascade of sharpness and death surged down upon Maria -- but they did not touch her.

The Grit flowed angry around Maria like chaotic water over a stone, and herself unhurt and unmoved -- she and the shield she was holding, and the bull-horn sigil that slightly glimmered under her touch.

"Milady!" the enchanted robot called over the pew pew pew of his flashing laser gun. "Give me your trust, I'm coming for you."

The robot broke through the throng of Grit, and in one swoop he scooped up Maria and her new shield into one mechanical arm. Together they shoved through the chaos, blazing a trail through fur and feathers and enraged screeches. The robot broke a line on the teleportation sigil, and just as the portal was closing leaped through.

“Your Majesty.” Berry stepped forward, holding her chin up high and hands held neatly by her hips. “I do apologise for how rude this may sound but I must ask; Do you have any idea what is happening?”

"So, how are we going to deal with this problem?" Vincent immediately asked with a serious tone. "Hiding clearly isn't going to work. The effort put into the Wall was clearly wasted since the Grit cleared it so easily and are already working on getting the grounded Grit inside. From what I've seen our current pool of weapons to fight back are very much lacking." He then pointed towards the ceiling. "And what in the Hell is going on with the sky out there?"

The mile-high cave was obscenely beautiful, once Moth actually took notice of it, and the combat boots were damn comfortable. His stomach vibrated angrily. If the Queen was granting requests, Moth planned on first asking for lunch.

The Queen looked from one face to another, her hands clasped tightly, her expression strained in fear of the answers to their questions. She gave Berry a smile that was both encouraging and grateful for her kindness, her eyes glimmered with humor to see that Moth had a more human concern, and she straightened properly to tackle the barrage of questions and criticism that dropped in Vincent's intelligent voice.

Before she could answer, a metallic clatter announced the arrival of the sharpshooter robot, who had leaped with Maria through the open portal only a millisecond before it snapped shut behind him. He knelt and carefully put Maria to her feet while the Queen rushed to take Maria's hands in hers.

"I'm glad to see you've made it safe. Thank you, Roy." She looked up to the robot, which stood and made a motion as if to tip an invisible hat.

The Queen scanned them all once more, and she bit her lip. "I was under the impression there were more of you." She glanced hopefully to the teleportation sigil -- but she had a sinking feeling that the Grit had been more successful in their pursuits than she had been.

She looked between Berry and Vincent, and she took a breath. "I will try to answer all your questions to the best of my ability. I hope I won't bore you, but I'd like to be fully honest with you all -- since we may be all that is left.

"Since the Grit first appeared during my father's reign, there have been . . . scientific endeavors . . . committed to understanding them." She winced a little -- it was a description much too kind for those amoral experiments. "About a year ago, one such experiment failed. If you will remember the sudden deadly explosion at the plastics manufacturing plant in winter -- that story was a coverup. Our research had been stolen and teleported out of the city. The Grit got ahold of it. Shortly after, rumors began to spread that the Grit had learned to fly. They've learned so much more than that, I fear."

The Queen stood rigid, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. She looked from one to the next of the survivors, summoning all her courage to continue.

"I don't quite know what has happened to the sky; I'm told that it only appears split to us, here within the walls, and nothing is wrong outside the city. I am not personally familiar with the research that was stolen, but it must have to do with it. But the sigil of protection that has kept us safe -- the shape taken by our roads, powered by all of us who live here -- ceased to function the moment the lightning struck the Spire. The Spire itself is the center of the protection sigil and the source of its power. This,"[/b] she spread her arms to indicate the entirety of the glimmering cavern, "is the power that had been keeping us safe. And now . . . I believe it is also the power that is to blame for the statues that now stand as gravestones throughout the city."

Her eyes flashed determined, and she raised her head higher, though her voice was still meek. "But all is not lost. The stone people can be returned to their former selves. We only need to draw a rune on the statues and place a soul stone on the rune, and the person will breathe again. It is a simple rune, I will teach it to you, if you don't know it.

"But the bigger problem is the electricity hovering over the tip of the Spire that continues to nullify the city's protection. I believe it is being controlled and powered by something outside the city, near the mine. Something flashed there just before this happened. The enchanted robots and their databases agree that in order to restore the city, a company should be deployed to the mine -- to find and destroy whatever is holding the city hostage."

She looked to Vincent, at once apologetic and willing him to understand. He was the frank and hostile voice of the group. "The Grit can be defeated, as long as they have not absorbed soulstones. Their only advantage is that they can use a sigil to resurrect their fellow Grit after death. We need only ensure that their resurrection sigils are destroyed, then proceed to destroy the Grit themselves."

The Queen released a slow breath, and she paused to allow all of this information to sink in. The people could be resurrected, the city could be restored -- if only.

"My only soldiers now are robots, which are incapable of activating sigils and runes on their own. They cannot revive the cityfolk. I have sent a squad to the mine, but I have not heard back yet whether they will be able to complete their mission. I suspect they will not be able to, for the same reason. I know it is a lot to ask . . ."

Her voice faded, and she looked each of them in the eye -- hopeful, desperate, yet somehow confident that they could and would succeed.

"I was under the impression there were more of you."

Vincent shook his head. "There were. We lost track of them." So much had happened that even his ability to remember everything he has seen could only help so much. Much of his efforts had been in keeping himself alive. He remembered when the others were separated from them, but he hadn't noticed what happened to them.

"I will try to answer all your questions to the best of my ability. I hope I won't bore you, but I'd like to be fully honest with you all -- since we may be all that is left.

"Since the Grit first appeared during my father's reign, there have been . . . scientific endeavors . . . committed to understanding them." She winced a little -- it was a description much too kind for those amoral experiments. "About a year ago, one such experiment failed. If you will remember the sudden deadly explosion at the plastics manufacturing plant in winter -- that story was a coverup. Our research had been stolen and teleported out of the city. The Grit got ahold of it. Shortly after, rumors began to spread that the Grit had learned to fly. They've learned so much more than that, I fear."

Vincent opened his mouth in realization. He remembered that incident. Something about it had felt off. At the time he simply dismissed those thoughts as his imagination going wild, and besides there was a girl he was interested in at the time and thus he had better things to do with his time.

"I don't quite know what has happened to the sky; I'm told that it only appears split to us, here within the walls, and nothing is wrong outside the city. I am not personally familiar with the research that was stolen, but it must have to do with it. But the sigil of protection that has kept us safe -- the shape taken by our roads, powered by all of us who live here -- ceased to function the moment the lightning struck the Spire. The Spire itself is the center of the protection sigil and the source of its power. This," she spread her arms to indicate the entirety of the glimmering cavern, "is the power that had been keeping us safe. And now . . . I believe it is also the power that is to blame for the statues that now stand as gravestones throughout the city."

He knew the sigil that the city made up quite well. After all, Father made sure that he knew at least the history of sigils as they were after all a part of the basis for a rune mage's knowledge.

"But all is not lost. The stone people can be returned to their former selves. We only need to draw a rune on the statues and place a soul stone on the rune, and the person will breathe again. It is a simple rune, I will teach it to you, if you don't know it.

A hint of recognition briefly flashed on Vincent's face. Of course. He knew exactly the rune that would work for that. The thought hadn't crossed his mind until now. This rune was the basis for the creation of items like his pen. While he lost himself in thought he blanked out part of what the Queen said. Then she turned to face him calling attention to herself with an apologetic expression.

"The Grit can be defeated, as long as they have not absorbed soulstones. Their only advantage is that they can use a sigil to resurrect their fellow Grit after death. We need only ensure that their resurrection sigils are destroyed, then proceed to destroy the Grit themselves."

Vincent looked away from the Queen, uncomfortable with her expression and tone. She was supposed to be an authority figure. Someone imposing. This was completely different than how Father behaved towards him. This didn't feel right. Vincent then reminded himself that she was a woman, and women did things differently. Regardless, he didn't want to back down. He didn't want to feel like he lost to her.

At least there was way to destroy the Grit. He had been certain that he had seen the same one twice after it had been killed.

"My only soldiers now are robots, which are incapable of activating sigils and runes on their own. They cannot revive the cityfolk. I have sent a squad to the mine, but I have not heard back yet whether they will be able to complete their mission. I suspect they will not be able to, for the same reason. I know it is a lot to ask . . ."

Vincent tightened his lips in thought and let out a low. "Hmmm." He looked at the Queen. "So, you've told us what we should do, but what will you be doing? Staying here with your robots? Or will you help another way?" He knew the Queen had a history of being sickly, but her sitting around doing nothing but wait only left him feeling more irritated. He didn't want to hear the Queen's response, he simply wanted her to think about it.

He glanced around the room looking for ways out and then looked back at the Queen, but not before he looked briefly at Kat. "How do we get out of here? I'm not at all interested in sitting around doing nothing, and there are those of us that have family to save." He had no interest in saving his family, but he knew Kat was particularly close with her family and he imagined everyone else here had their own to worry about.

When he had a moment, he had a few things he wanted to try out anyways.

As Liam entered through the portal he felt…weird. In an instant he went from standing on solid ground to feeling like he was mid air before finally finding himself in a completely different area.

Vincent bowed his head towards Liam respectfully. "Well done."

“Right back at ya buddy. Go team and all right?” Liam said as he started catching his breath and calming himself down. Liam suddenly saw a flash of red as he gave a slight grunt. He clutched his stomach as he was met with a horrible sight. Blood was now dripping profusely from his wound as he slowly bled out. His vision began to blur and his head spun like a top as he tried to find a place to sit.

Suddenly everything went black. Liam felt like he was still standing but couldn’t see. It was then that he felt the soft touch and an even softer voice. A voice he had heard all too often and was now accustomed to.

Liam stepped onto the sigil, and the queen stopped short before touching him. "Oh, gods. You need medical attention." She looked up to her robot escorts and motioned in the air; a tall, red-plated robot jogged forward. The queen smiled warmly and touched Liam's face. "You'll be all right. We're safe here."

Liam’s vision returned to him as he stared at the queen, mouth agape. There standing before him was the actual queen of Periphery. And to top it all off she was touching him. Liam tried to move backwards away from the queen…but couldn’t. His whole body was not responding to him at all. As the queen walked away from him, Liam continued to stand in that position as his body slowly came back under his control. With what little movement he had, Liam slowly turned to Vincent, mouth still agape as one trembling finger pointed at the queen. He was about to say something before the medical robots rushed him and began tending to his wounds.

As the conversation between the group and queen carried on, Liam tuned out everything around him, deciding to recount the events of the past day. So what has happened so far? Well let see I narrowly evaded lightning that turned people to stone. I came into contact with a demon rabbit child thing that probably has rabbies and…other things. oh and said rabbit child controlled an army of Grit who were pretty adamant on killing us and eating our flesh. Then said Grit decided that candy tastes way better than meat and decided to fight for the candy instead. Then a robot savior swooped in with that laser pistol and got us here, where the queen...” Liam thought before his ears picked up a part of the conversation.

"I was under the impression there were more of you."

"There were. We lost track of them."

The realization that many of the group was not present hit Liam hard. With everything that had happened at this point he had forgotten about the rest of the group. In a rage Liam hit himself on the head a couple of times before sinking his head into his hands. “You fool Carter, you fool.” He mumbled. As much as Liam wanted to put the blame on himself for the others not keeping up with him, he knew that those who fell behind knew the risks before going ahead with the plan. “If you’re up there, keep them safe will you?” He mumbled as he looked towards the sky. Yet again his focus shifted from his thoughts to the conversation between the group and the queen.

"But all is not lost. The stone people can be returned to their former selves. We only need to draw a rune on the statues and place a soul stone on the rune, and the person will breathe again. It is a simple rune, I will teach it to you, if you don't know it.

Almost instantly Liam sprang up upon hearing those words from the queen, pushing away the medical robots, who were just about done with his wounds anyways. “W-wait. Your saying that we can bring those people who turned back to normal?” He said, a weak smile appearing on his face. “T-that means we can save Da-“ Liam immediately stopped himself as his smiled vanished and he realised just how stupid his idea was. Not only would the Grit be swarming the top of the wall, Liam would potentially cause the loss of an innocent life just so he could save someone he had considered a very good boss and friend. “On second thought, forget I said that…er your majesty.” Liam said as he stepped back and let Vincent finished before continuing.

“I have to agree with Vincent somewhat, As much as I want to help you and believe me I do, I worry for my family, and unfortunately in this case family comes first. “ Liam said, all the while averting the gaze of her majesty. “However I think its very clear that all our families live on very different sides of the city. So unless you have a portal that can get us to our houses very quickly we are going to be spending a lot of time away and worst of all, not in a group. But whatever you guys decide, I’m with you one hundred percent.” He said with a smile as he decided to look around.

“Good gracious” Berry covered her mouth in shock.

Needless to say The Queens explanation of the situation held a few revelations for her. Being one of those people who held the royal family in very high regard (she even had a few commemorative plates in her display cabinet at home) to think that the Royal Family would even partake in such…ghastly activities simply shocked her beyond belief. Her eyes roved over The Queen not quite certain if she should still be as trusting.

While the news that the people turned to stone could be returned back to flesh and blood came as some relief, the suggestion by a young man that they’d probably end up splitting quickly made her even more concerned than before.

“Absolutely not.” She snapped at him a little too harshly.

Berry took a second to collect herself at that moment before she continued, in a softer tone but still somewhat on edge. She knew her mid was playing tricks; making the cavern feel smaller and stuffier than it really was.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, I’m going to assume you all met up prior to arriving here. But I was with another group.” Berry cast a glance back at the portal they had come from.

Still no-one.

“There were quite a few of us, but they elected to go to one of the weapon stores one of the sentries pointed out I went with the sentry to double check the path was clear. Unfortunately, it wasn’t and I…” Berry felt her mouth go dry at the thought that followed on.

“Well.” She continued with a controlled breath. “Need I say more. Safety in numbers and all that. Best not spread ourselves too thin at the moment. I’m sorry, I…I know you want to help your family and friends. But…”

Berry wanted to add something. Anything really to make her words seems more than just simple excuses and fearful arguments but, if she was being honest with herself, that’s all they really were.

Before she could answer, a metallic clatter announced the arrival of the sharpshooter robot, who had leaped with Maria through the open portal only a millisecond before it snapped shut behind him. He knelt and carefully put Maria to her feet while the Queen rushed to take Maria's hands in hers.

"I'm glad to see you've made it safe. Thank you, Roy." She looked up to the robot, which stood and made a motion as if to tip an invisible hat.

Maria gave the Queen's hands a quick squeeze, and offered her a smile. "I'm glad to see that you're all right too, milady!" She turned to the gallant robot who had saved her from the stream of monsters that she was desperately trying to put out of her mind, temporarily if not permanently. "Thanks for saving my life, Roy!" She smiled at him, hoping that she was able to convey warmth and gratitude, rather than the chaotic mix of leftover fear, a tint of sadness, and, most of all, fatigue, swirling around inside her head.

The Queen scanned them all once more, and she bit her lip. "I was under the impression there were more of you." She glanced hopefully to the teleportation sigil -- but she had a sinking feeling that the Grit had been more successful in their pursuits than she had been.

At this, Maria's mood seemed to grow sadder. "There were. They... They were hit by the lightning, and got turned to stone." Her thoughts went back to her parents, and to the young man who had saved her life, way back up at the top of the world. "I hope we can save them all..."

She looked between Berry and Vincent, and she took a breath. "I will try to answer all your questions to the best of my ability. I hope I won't bore you, but I'd like to be fully honest with you all -- since we may be all that is left.

"Since the Grit first appeared during my father's reign, there have been . . . scientific endeavors . . . committed to understanding them." She winced a little -- it was a description much too kind for those amoral experiments. "About a year ago, one such experiment failed. If you will remember the sudden deadly explosion at the plastics manufacturing plant in winter -- that story was a coverup. Our research had been stolen and teleported out of the city. The Grit got ahold of it. Shortly after, rumors began to spread that the Grit had learned to fly. They've learned so much more than that, I fear."

The Queen stood rigid, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. She looked from one to the next of the survivors, summoning all her courage to continue.

"I don't quite know what has happened to the sky; I'm told that it only appears split to us, here within the walls, and nothing is wrong outside the city. I am not personally familiar with the research that was stolen, but it must have to do with it. But the sigil of protection that has kept us safe -- the shape taken by our roads, powered by all of us who live here -- ceased to function the moment the lightning struck the Spire. The Spire itself is the center of the protection sigil and the source of its power. This," she spread her arms to indicate the entirety of the glimmering cavern, "is the power that had been keeping us safe. And now . . . I believe it is also the power that is to blame for the statues that now stand as gravestones throughout the city."

Her eyes flashed determined, and she raised her head higher, though her voice was still meek. "But all is not lost. The stone people can be returned to their former selves. We only need to draw a rune on the statues and place a soul stone on the rune, and the person will breathe again. It is a simple rune, I will teach it to you, if you don't know it.

"But the bigger problem is the electricity hovering over the tip of the Spire that continues to nullify the city's protection. I believe it is being controlled and powered by something outside the city, near the mine. Something flashed there just before this happened. The enchanted robots and their databases agree that in order to restore the city, a company should be deployed to the mine -- to find and destroy whatever is holding the city hostage."

She looked to Vincent, at once apologetic and willing him to understand. He was the frank and hostile voice of the group. "The Grit can be defeated, as long as they have not absorbed soulstones. Their only advantage is that they can use a sigil to resurrect their fellow Grit after death. We need only ensure that their resurrection sigils are destroyed, then proceed to destroy the Grit themselves."

The Queen released a slow breath, and she paused to allow all of this information to sink in. The people could be resurrected, the city could be restored -- if only.

"My only soldiers now are robots, which are incapable of activating sigils and runes on their own. They cannot revive the cityfolk. I have sent a squad to the mine, but I have not heard back yet whether they will be able to complete their mission. I suspect they will not be able to, for the same reason. I know it is a lot to ask . . ."

Her voice faded, and she looked each of them in the eye -- hopeful, desperate, yet somehow confident that they could and would succeed.

Maria was, quite frankly, stunned. Just that morning, her situation was that of an ordinary girl (what she had begun to refer to as her "second thoughts" butted in with "if ordinary girls were being pursued by lovesick millionaires"), and now... Now, she was part of a ragtag group that was comprised almost solely of people who had little to no combat experience. It was all they could do to merely stay alive, and all Maria could do to try and keep everyone's spirits up with judicious application of candy. But now, now that they were out of the heart-pounding circumstance of being pursued by rabid Grit, the true gravity of the situation dropped like a ten-ton weight onto Maria's slight shoulders. How could they possibly manage to stop the Grit?

Almost as if in answer, the speech she had given to Kat and Moth not even an hour prior rose in her mind. The memory made her smile, and she whispered to herself, almost as a reminder, "Hey, that wasn't so hard." Maria looked up at the Queen with an honest smile, and said "You're right, it is kind of a lot to ask. But I don't blame you; we're all in kind of a pickle right now, heehee. And besides, you don't have to worry about us. We've managed to survive this long using only runes, our wits, and candy. And Roy." She waved at the robot again, the turned back to the Queen. "And just think! If we survived so long with so little, just imagine what we can accomplish with real, actual weapons now! Not to mention Milady's support!" She turned around to look at each member of their little party in turn, every member of which Maria felt something almost like kinship: that special kind of bond you get with someone when you survive a life-threatening situation with them. Seeing them all, here with her, filled her with a rush of excitement and happiness. She nodded decisively, then turned back to the Queen. "Yep! With all the awesome stuff we've got, and the bond we have together as friends, there's no way we can possibly fail! I promise you, Milady, we'll do as much as we can to beat back the Grit and save Periphery! And, to make sure everyone's in tip-top shape, I'm gonna share some of my candy with you all!" She tapped her chin and "hmm"ed at the Queen, looking her up and down, while rummaging through her jacket with the other. "You seem like more of a white chocolate sort of person, Milady. So, here you go! One white chocolate cream!" She proudly presented the small, spherical, white treat to the Queen, situated in the center of her palm. It wasn't entirely unscathed, with the top being one large dent, but it still looked plenty appetizing.

Kat wasn’t paying any attention to her surroundings, or the conversation that occurred after that devastating piece of news: The stone people can be returned to their former selves. That single statement left her mind in such a whirl that when she came to she realised she had sunk to the floor, the adrenaline which had been pushing her forwards suddenly dissipated. Of course, she had no way of proving her siblings had become stone like the others- there was still a myriad of ways in which they could be in trouble. However, she couldn’t help but feel that this was no longer hopeless.

The next thing she noticed when she came to was that Maria was midway through what appeared to be a friendship speech (which felt odd, given that they had known each other only a few hours, but sweet nonetheless) followed by a candy offering to the Queen. The Queen. Suddenly remembering where they were and who was before them, Kat stood up.

“Thank you… Ma’am.” She started, trying to recall what everyone had been discussing whilst she processed the new information. “I won’t lie; I am scared for my brothers and sister. I’d do anything to know they are safe.” Kat paused, thinking through what was best. See it like a mechanism- which pieces need to fall into place. “But if I just go straight to them now, can I protect them? Whilst the Grit ravage the city, seems to me that having stone skin is better than relying on my terrible marksmanship.”

Yes, that was it- they needed to solve the problems in the right order. Skip ahead to the first and you mess everything up. Kat had seen numerous mechanics fail but trying to address the most immediately obvious problem, and ignored the things which led to that in the first place.

“So I will go to the mine if that is where you would have us start to fix this. But can I ask one thing- can you send one of your robots to find my family? I just want to know they are safe.” Kat looked over to Liam. “Maybe she can do that for you, too.”

She gulped. It felt very strange to make demands of the monarch- surely the usual was that the monarch made demands on them?

“There’s just one other thing…” Her mind was still whirring- she was doing the math. “’Soul stones’, those are those little pink things, right? Everyone who got hit with lightning had one floating in front of them. So what happens when a grit absorbs them- can you get them back? Can you make new ones?”

If there was a finite amount, then she would need to start collecting the things as others had- but the thought of doing so made her stomach clench. Would they have to choose who to revive and who to pass over, if there weren’t enough stones?

"How do we get out of here? I'm not at all interested in sitting around doing nothing, and there are those of us that have family to save."

“I have to agree with Vincent somewhat, As much as I want to help you and believe me I do, I worry for my family, and unfortunately in this case family comes first." Liam said, all the while averting the gaze of her majesty. “However I think its very clear that all our families live on very different sides of the city. So unless you have a portal that can get us to our houses very quickly we are going to be spending a lot of time away and worst of all, not in a group. But whatever you guys decide, I’m with you one hundred percent.”

“Absolutely not.” Berry snapped at him a little too harshly. “Well.” She continued with a controlled breath. “Need I say more. Safety in numbers and all that. Best not spread ourselves too thin at the moment. I’m sorry, I…I know you want to help your family and friends. But…”

"You're right, it is kind of a lot to ask. But I don't blame you; we're all in kind of a pickle right now, heehee. And besides, you don't have to worry about us. We've managed to survive this long using only runes, our wits, and candy. And Roy." She waved at the robot again, the turned back to the Queen. "And just think! If we survived so long with so little, just imagine what we can accomplish with real, actual weapons now! Not to mention Milady's support! Yep! With all the awesome stuff we've got, and the bond we have together as friends, there's no way we can possibly fail! I promise you, Milady, we'll do as much as we can to beat back the Grit and save Periphery!"

“I won’t lie; I am scared for my brothers and sister. I’d do anything to know they are safe. But if I just go straight to them now, can I protect them? Whilst the Grit ravage the city, seems to me that having stone skin is better than relying on my terrible marksmanship. So I will go to the mine if that is where you would have us start to fix this. But can I ask one thing- can you send one of your robots to find my family? I just want to know they are safe.” Kat looked over to Liam. “Maybe she can do that for you, too."

“There’s just one other thing…” Her mind was still whirring- she was doing the math. “’Soul stones’, those are those little pink things, right? Everyone who got hit with lightning had one floating in front of them. So what happens when a grit absorbs them- can you get them back? Can you make new ones?”

The Queen listened to them all quietly, looking none of them in the eye, her face downturned. Every word was the voice of a heart so terribly affected by these events, so frightened yet willing to act. For some, their silence spoke loudest of all. She raised her eyes to Moth's face, and they lingered there before she drew in a breath and raised her head to Kat.

"The soul stones emerge from people when they are turned to stone," she confirmed. "If your families have been affected by the electric storm, and the Grit have got to them first, you'll have to collect stones to revive them. This shouldn't necessarily mean taking souls from other people." Though grabbing stones from statues was by far the easiest method of procuring the means of reviving loved ones, it was also the least morally sound. "Our robot friends have discovered that the stones can be removed from the Grit."

She gestured to Roy, who blinked for a moment before projecting a hologram in the air in front of Maria. It showed a scene of an attacking Grit from Roy's point of view. The Grit was shaped like a human -- with a human face -- but had feathers and claws like a bird of prey. The Grit attacked, but was in midair when a laser sliced through it. The Grit's body dropped to the ground -- but instead of dissipating into the air like all the dead Grit had done at the battle in the Wall, this one bled out on the floor, eyes clouded and staring open. In the footage from Roy's perspective, the robot neatly sliced open the Grit's stomach, rummaged inside the oozing blood, and drew out a glowing soulstone. The Queen waved quickly, disturbed by the image, and the hologram shut off.

"It seems soulstones cannot be destroyed -- we just have to ensure every citizen who lost one has one returned to them. Then, it is a matter of ensuring they remain safe. Enchanted robots throughout the city have orders to kill all Grit -- and if they bleed, to open their stomachs. They will bring the soul stones and the survivors here."

She looked to each of them in turn, her expression a picture of bravery in face of terror. The Queen stepped away from them to face the rock wall; from her pocket she pulled a small metallic pen, and with a flick of a switch a laser began to burn a mark into the stone. With a steady and practiced hand, she drew a wide sigil that appeared very similar to the layout of the streets of Periphery, with minor activation designs spaced throughout it. When the sigil was finished, she dropped the pen back into her pocket and took a step back.

"One of you, touch this at the place where your home is, and the portal will open at that spot. You will all go together, with the robot guards to protect you." The robots that surrounded them stood at attention. "Revive them, or collect their soul stones for safekeeping, and the robots will guide you back to a sigil that will bring you back here."

Her mouth set into a firm line. "Touch one of the four gates on this sigil, and it will teleport you outside the Wall. While the Grit run the city, I cannot guarantee the safety of those survivors you rescue -- but I will be here to receive them, and I will do everything in my power to ensure they return home at last."

With that, the Queen was quiet. It was up to them how to proceed -- rather, it was up to the first person who touched the sigil to determine where they would go, and how they would begin to reverse what horrors had been done.

Vincent watched the projection from Roy and felt slight fascination. Fascination at the difference in Grit. Fascination at the blood. Fascination at the survival of the soulstones even after consumption. He felt a hint of excitement and eagerness to fight the Grit. Then the Queen shut it down, and Vincent couldn't help but feel a slight amount of disappointment.

Vincent silently watched and memorized everything the Queen did and said. He really disliked that everyone would come, but if he could get them to agree with his family's mansion then he could easily lose them. He knew the secret passages to get out of the house and could easily move around better solo.

He faced his fellows once the Queen finished what she had to say. "I suggest we use my family's mansion as a starting point. It's fairly central to the city as my father is one of the primary Rune Mages of Periphery. There are also several exits and it has a decent level of security, so I don't think it's likely that the Grit have entered much more than the grounds. We could all move to where we need to fairly quickly from there."

He hoped they took the option before he forced the issue.

Berry frowned and chewed her lip in nervous thought. On the one hand she felt glad that, at present, they weren’t going to split up but on the other hand they now had to decide on how to proceed.

“It would be a good place to start” Berry said slowly. “We could use it like a um, base of operations of some kind. And then branch out from there.”

She desperately ached to find her friends. She wanted to go charging in and save them from the horrors now tearing apart the city. She wanted to do something! But her head kept her in place and somewhat calm.

“Do you think we could use it to keep the people we restore safe as well?” She asked Vincent. Her mind then started to think about how many that would be. “At least to begin with before we could move them somewhere safer?”

Where the ‘safer’ place would be Berry had no idea. She had never been the best at planning things, even before she was old.

He faced his fellows once the Queen finished what she had to say. "I suggest we use my family's mansion as a starting point. It's fairly central to the city as my father is one of the primary Rune Mages of Periphery. There are also several exits and it has a decent level of security, so I don't think it's likely that the Grit have entered much more than the grounds. We could all move to where we need to fairly quickly from there."

“It would be a good place to start” Berry said slowly. “We could use it like a um, base of operations of some kind. And then branch out from there.”

“Do you think we could use it to keep the people we restore safe as well?” She asked Vincent. Her mind then started to think about how many that would be. “At least to begin with before we could move them somewhere safer?”

The silence following Berry's last question seemed to last for days. Moth crossed his arms and shivered though the cavern wasn't cold enough to give him chills. Somewhere safer. Experiments, slavery, torture, just as the crazy conspiracy theorists in his life had feared. And now he was here, surrounded by strangers and standing before the Queen and asked to place his trust with those who didn't deserve it. He finally took a breath and stepped forward.

"Um."

Six faces turned to him. He could feel the glowing eyes of the machines on him as well. Moth gathered his wits and pressed on.

"I think--uh, Vince, right?--Vince makes a good point. We, um, we don't know what else the Grit have out there that--that hasn't been unleashed yet,"

it opened its shimmering golden-pink eyes

"but I want to be somewhere safe before we head to the mines. I think--I think we all do."

He finished speaking, relieved. Before anyone else could step in, though, he felt more words coming before he could entirely process them. He looked the Queen in the eyes.

"They were right, you know. The top shits on everyone below and we're supposed to think of it as a little rainstorm. My parents are dead because of you people."

Silence. Moth realized who he had spoken to and stared at his boots.

_"Sorry."

Liam gave a chuckle at Moth's last sentence before realizing he chuckled abit too loudly. "I, uh, agree with Vince. Not to insult this cozy-" He said as he paused and looked at the cave. "Space we are in, I'd much rather move somewhere cozier." He said with a grin as he crossed his arms.

"But as I said, whatever you lot want to do, I'm with you a hundred percent. Although I would ask that we move quickly, the faster we can get into and secure the mansion, the faster we can have a rest and go investigate the mines. Now if you all will excuse me, I am going to find a nice secluded spot where I can put that armor on." He said as he grabbed the armor that he threw through the portal earlier and walked off.

"I suggest we use my family's mansion as a starting point. It's fairly central to the city as my father is one of the primary Rune Mages of Periphery. There are also several exits and it has a decent level of security, so I don't think it's likely that the Grit have entered much more than the grounds. We could all move to where we need to fairly quickly from there."

“Do you think we could use it to keep the people we restore safe as well?” She asked Vincent. Her mind then started to think about how many that would be. “At least to begin with before we could move them somewhere safer?”

"I think--uh, Vince, right?--Vince makes a good point. We, um, we don't know what else the Grit have out there that--that hasn't been unleashed yet, but I want to be somewhere safe before we head to the mines. I think--I think we all do."

"They were right, you know. The top shits on everyone below and we're supposed to think of it as a little rainstorm. My parents are dead because of you people."

Silence. Moth realized who he had spoken to and stared at his boots. "Sorry."

"Whatever you lot want to do, I'm with you a hundred percent. Although I would ask that we move quickly, the faster we can get into and secure the mansion, the faster we can have a rest and go investigate the mines."

The Queen's eyes remained steady on Moth's downturned face; the image of his fiery glare was burned into her mind. It was the flash of emotion that she'd dreaded since she became aware of the experiments -- since the lies and the failures. She imagined the glare of all of Periphery in his face. "I don't defend what has happened," she said steadily. "I don't claim innocence. But I believe your family is alive, or at least able to be saved."

Vincent, meanwhile, had touched the place of the mansion on the sigil on the wall. The streets of the map glowed blue, then white; a swirl of liquid shimmered, radiating out from the central spire. The floating stones throughout the cavern gleamed a little brighter, a gentle blossoming hue that glittered in reflection on the craggy stone walls.

"You're Vincent DeMoore," the Queen said in recognition, mild and curious. A small smile glinted on her pale face. "I feel better knowing someone of your experience will be accompanying this expedition."

The portal rippled and opened wide -- immediately Roy stepped through it to check the other side before any of the humans would be allowed to pass. The portal sloshed and swirled in his wake, then smoothed to a watery shimmer.

The Queen extended one arm and tapped on a metallic bracelet, which detached from her wrist with a click. It looked like an old-fashioned holographic band, such as the type most people wore more than five years ago -- ancient in terms of technology -- but this one had rows of tiny sigils etched into the metallic surface that had never been seen before.

Confidently, the Queen approached Berry and indicated with a gesture that she should hold out her arm, so the Queen could fasten the band around her wrist. Four sigils glowed brighter than the rest. The Queen invited Berry to touch the first one. A holographic map of the city appeared above Berry's arm, with a red dot over the central spire. Berry's location. Tapping again would zoom in, and touching the hologram itself could reposition the map.

The second sigil brought up masses of pink dots on the map. "Those are city folk," the Queen explained. All of them were static.

The third sigil added blue dots to the map. There was a seething cluster of them against the North wall, and more blue dots separating and moving slowly through the streets. "Grit," the Queen said solemnly.

The last sigil brought up larger green dots that were scattered evenly throughout the city. "Those are portals that will bring you back here," said the Queen. "The robots will prepare them for activation."

The hologram showed that Vincent's mansion was entirely empty of Grit, but Roy was making a thorough check to be sure. There was no telling whether the grit's life signature would change after it ate a soul -- they couldn't take any chances.

"Will you show them the way?" the Queen asked of Berry, confident in her decision. Vincent needed to focus on sigils and planning; Liam seemed to be the defender of the group; Maria would be preoccupied with keeping everyone's mental states in a positive light, and Moth's emotions seemed a bit unstable to be given such responsibility for the moment. Berry, however, had a clear head on her shoulders, and the Queen trusted her immediately.

Roy returned through the portal, which rippled around him. His eyes flickered and flashed. "All clear!" He went back to the mansion again to await further orders.

The Queen watched as the others began to traverse through the portal, but she approached Moth before he could follow. "You work for that accounting firm, don't you? Does your calculator still work?" she watched him carefully until he could confirm that it did. "The rune that you need will be filed under imbuement, called Ergo. It will return souls to their bodies. Please also keep an eye on the power grids; they're down now, but a return of power could be beneficial." She stepped back to allow him to follow the others.

Liam was last to approach, and the Queen was waiting for him with a bag of what looked like large marbles. She handed him the bag by the drawstring. "These are a sort of smoke bombs that are harmless to humans but should stop Grit in their tracks." Her mouth set to a slightly worried line. "I say should because they're untested. Please take care. This is all I have."

With that she stepped back, and the remaining robots followed Liam through the portal, their laser guns held at ready.

On the other side, all was quiet and dark. The electricity had blown, and all the mechanisms and comforts of Vincent's home hung silent. The city had never been so quiet.

In the distance, the echo of hammering and booming was the only indication that the Grit were still tearing at the Wall.

"You're Vincent DeMoore," the Queen said in recognition, mild and curious. A small smile glinted on her pale face. "I feel better knowing someone of your experience will be accompanying this expedition."

Vincent felt impressed that the Queen recognized him. They had never met face to face until now, and only on occasion had he seen her and that was because Father brought him to the Palace a few times on business only to be babysat by Randy. There was a small pleasure he felt in the fact that he held Randy's life in his hands now, and he could do whatever he wanted with it. He grinned wolfishly and nodded. He would enjoy taking advantages of the resources he would get in the mansion and could move freely through the estate.

He glanced at the bracelet the Queen handed to Berry trying to get a good view of the sigils written on it, but he couldn't get a decent view of them. Watched as she directed Berry in how to use it and memorized the map of the people and teleportation points for future use. The locations were precise enough that he could figure out the rest from his perfect recall. He turned his attention towards the portal as he impatiently waited for Roy to return with the all-clear.

Roy burst through the portal to announce the all-clear finally and Vincent eagerly stepped through. The room he ended up in was the ballroom which was huge and could hold a party of one hundred and fifty people comfortably. An empty stage sat in the south side of the room where the half-night half-day sky could be seen through parts of the stained glass window on the wall. An empty and covered buffet table surrounded by a dozen dining tables and chairs were placed on either side of the stage so that the middle ground could be used as a spacious dancing floor. He could see one of the servants of the household frozen on the stage in mid-sweep staring at the small pile of sand she had swept up earlier this morning.

He knew the alarm sigils would trigger a few moments after the next person entered the room, so he said aloud. "The people that enter this room through this portal are guests of Vincent DeMoore of House DeMoore, and are allowed to come and go as they please." He knew the reason they didn't trigger at Roy's presence was because he was a robot and the sigils were not set to deal with intrusions by robots.

Vincent faced the portal to greet whomever came through and once everyone was in the building he said. "Welcome to my family's estate. I need to go to the library to scan through a few books. Feel free to explore as you feel necessary. There's likely a few more servants around here, and... my mother." Father could be anywhere in the city.

He wanted to research a few sigil and rune strokes before beginning his tests with the souls he had in his pocket.

“Shiny, shine soulstones…”

The curiosity on the chambermaid’s petrified expression seemed to turn cold and lacklustre as the grubby hand snatched the floating rock at her chest. “Shine, shine away, for me, for me,” hissed the voice, stuffing the pebble into a small pouch. As the drawstrings opened, the pinkish shafts of light left a rosy glow across the laundry room for the briefest of moments until the newest addition to the intruder’s collection was safely stashed away. The room seemed much darker and more ominous as the faintest specks of light from a faraway window in the corridor caught on the stony faces in the gloom; all of the statues within seemed artificial and deadened without their souls. They stared accusingly at the intruder’s back as it left them in the dark, bare feet slapping on the stone slabs which covered the floor.

The intruder moved with an irregular gait, shuffling then sprinting and always hesitating before every corner. It crept from the servant's house and slinked through the greenery towards an open window to the main mansion. The stone slabs of the windowsill were replaced with highly polished hardwood. The filthy toes wiggled under the shift in texture as the figure squatted down and explored the floorboards with its calloused palms. Two sharp sniffs of air swept through its nostrils as it stood once more. “Dead…” it exhaled quietly, gazing over to an opulent stairway and the sprawling ornate rugs decorating it.

It did not take the stairs but instead took a running leap and skirted along the banister, effortlessly avoiding the hidden alarm sigils in the intricate patterns of the rug. The daylight shining through the windows on the floor above illuminated the faintest inlaid sigils, sigils of an unknown nature to the intruder, sigils which needed to be avoided at all costs. The intruder hopped and skipped past the circular patterns and ducked to avoid the target areas of other sigils. Its movements were as fluid as water, the footfalls nigh-indiscernible save for the faint clicks of its overgrown toenails. It pitched and reeled back and forth, twisting and turning, the sharp grey-green eyes sweeping across the corridor every time it touched the ground again. Once it landed, a fistful of dirt left a murky cloud of dust as it collided with the offending sigils, breaking the lines and rendering them inert. “Too many guards, too many walls. Cages within cages. What are you hiding, grand den? What’s with...the sigils?” crooned the voice in the darkness.

It turned a corner, leaving a filthy hallway in its wake. Then it wheeled around, pressing its back to the wallpaper, inhaling sharply - heavy footfalls echoed down the adjacent corridor and a pair of flickering lights were slowly approaching the intruder’s location. The intruder’s head swished back and forth, looking for hiding places. With a slow sigh it swept a finger down its chest, thumbing the bony ribcage. The skin seemed to crackle and singe at the edges, burning from the inside out and turning the intruder completely transparent. Roy clunked to the end of the corridor, turned and walked right past it, so close that if Roy swung its arms any further the robot would have brushed against the intruder’s ragged clothes. There was a long pause.

Once the intruder felt it safe to move on it loped into the Ballroom, still invisible. A single man was frozen on-stage and the intruder skipped merrily towards him, wrenching the pale soulstone away and tossing it into the little pouch. Moments later, there was a distortion - a puddle seemed to materialise in the midst of the ballroom. The intruder gazed at it, entranced. Then another man stepped out of it and the intruder ducked behind the statue, nearly choking on its own saliva with shock...this man was not made out of stone.

“The people that enter this room through his portal are guests of Vincent DeMoore of House DeMoore, and are allowed to come and go as they please.”

There was a loud clatter as the statue of the man fell off the stage, crashing against the floor and ripping through the sombre silence that hung over the ballroom. The boom of stone on the polished tiles reverberated around the sprawling room, providing quite the distraction for the intruder to dash from the sharp light of the stained glass window into the darkness of the shadows. Whilst it was transparent, there were some telltale signs, perhaps unnoticeable unless specifically sought after. The faint distortion, the way the light seemed to shift as it filtered through the sprinting figure...indeed, the group would have spotted the movement from the corner of their vision but the intruder was fast, very fast, and relied on the shock of the falling statue to grab the attention of the other humans whilst it retreated into the darkness. The consequences were fatal, though, as the survivors of Periphery were now painfully aware that they were not alone within the mansion.

As the intruder dove through an archway leading towards the kitchens, its face split into a wide manic grin. The game was afoot, and the hunt began.

[Redacted]

Berry was simply in awe of the gift she had received and understandably babbled numerous “thank you”s and “such an honour”s. Of course she had made several mental notes as to the bracelets function and purpose, with a further mental note to make a physical note of such things and keep it upon her person.

Stepping through the portal Berry felt relief and cool air ash over her, even catching the faint smell of wood polish and the oddly specific smell of ‘kept in good condition for special occasions’. But the room was almost hauntingly dark, made only more so by the distant sounds just within Berrys hearing.

“Well this certainly is quite an exquisite home you have here.” A polite compliment is always a must when entering another person’s home. “You’ll have to show us all around at some point, hopefully after all this ghastly Grit business is all done and sorted with.”
“Don’t suppose anyone has a light on them at all?”

The glow from the portal didn’t radiate all that far off into the gloom and murk. So that when the thundering crash of the servant’s stone body came Berry almost leapt out of her skin with a shriek.

“Grit! They’re here!” Berry then remembered what she had seen on the bracelet. “Wait, no no no it’s not Grit. Hold on give me a moment here.”

Feverishly she began to fumble with the bracelet she’d been given somewhat thankful for it’s dated-ness making it easier for her to use. With the map open she zoomed it in to their present location displaying a splattering of blue dots around her red one.

“let’s see now…” She squinted at the holographic projection searching around. “Look here’s us I assume, though it may just have been more statue citizens. Curses, I really should’ve asked her Majesty rather than just blathering on like some idiot.” Berry poked and prodded at the holographic map a few more times panning it from side to side looking through the little lines that marked out a few of the hallways and rooms. “Map seems somewhat incomplete when it comes to private properties it seems.”

"Welcome to my family's estate. I need to go to the library to scan through a few books. Feel free to explore as you feel necessary. There's likely a few more servants around here, and... my mother."

There was a loud clatter as the statue of the man fell off the stage, crashing against the floor and ripping through the sombre silence that hung over the ballroom.

“Grit! They’re here!”

As the intruder dove through an archway leading towards the kitchens, its face split into a wide manic grin.

She squinted at the holographic projection searching around. “Look here’s us I assume, though it may just have been more statue citizens. Map seems somewhat incomplete when it comes to private properties it seems.” With the map open she zoomed it in to their present location displaying a splattering of blue dots around her red one.

The reverberation faded from the high-ceilinged walls, the tapestries and gold-gilded murals that shimmered at the edges of the ballroom, and all seemed silent and still.

On the floor before the stage, the stone shape of a once-lively servant was thankfully intact; his head was upturned, his face fearful, his legs in a poised position of movement -- as if he had been walking quickly and with purpose across the stage, caught off-guard by the sight of something at the ceiling just in the moment of his transformation. Clutched in his stone arm was a stolid tome of a book, leather-bound and ancient. In the library, Vincent might discover it missing from its space on the shelf: Regarding Dreams and the Application of the Soul by Rounard Skip. The servant's soulstone was missing.

On Berry's map, her own red dot was clearest and bright; surrounding her were the paler pink dots of her comrades, one of which -- Vincent -- was quickly making its way across the ballroom and through another door, on its way to the library. Vincent's dot seemed to be a cluster of multiple pink dots, two or three: Berry was seeing the other soulstones he carried with him.

There was another clustered pink dot moving quickly at the edge of Berry's screen, but it didn't match anyone she could see with her eyes. It darted like a cat along the stage, through another doorway, ducked through the shadows past Vincent (in Vincent's peripheral vision it was shimmering and translucent like a distant reflection) and it dove into the kitchen.

The kitchen was enormous, all stainless steel and polished white. A statue of the cook stood with a rolling pin in her strong carved hands, hunched over a drying spread of crackled pie dough. Her fierce expression and wisps of stony hair were illuminated by the pink glow of the soulstone that hovered in front of her chest.

Here in the kitchen, enough food could be found to provide a small feast: dates and plums, fresh breads and meat dumplings, some leftover eggs benedict from that morning, and a fridge full of truffles, caviar and fine raw steaks. In the oven were cooked, cold blueberry pies.

In the library, everything at first seemed to be just as Vincent had last left it -- save for that missing tome, and for the pool of blood left in the middle of the floor. A table had been knocked over, and the back of a chair splintered and toppled. Spatters of blood trailed through the library and stopped at an open window at the far end.

Back in the ballroom, the portal drifted shut. Roy the robot stepped forward with a whirring noise, and his head swiveled back and forth as he scanned the room. "Something's here that's not a Grit," he warned them, and he pointed toward the offstage door, where the second pink-clustered dot had exited toward the kitchen. "It's got a heat signature." His head turned again, and his glowing eyes cast a pale illumination on Berry and Moth. "So where to? We're tracking down your friends and family, right? Did you decide whether to bring them back now or just grab the stones and run?"

Vincent barely registered the book the servant held as he left the ballroom and went down the hallway to the library. There were only a few books he knew he needed. Applications of the Soul of Advanced Devices by Saul Thorn and Regarding Dreams and the Application of the Soul by Rounard Skip. He knew the basics of soul application, which would help for simple objects that have no mechanical parts, but when it came to slightly more advanced techniques -- like the pen his father made for him -- he was completely out of his league.

He nearly burst through the door into the library and halted immediately when he saw the blood. He glanced around quickly to see that the blood streaked its way out an open window. Vincent bared his teeth at the thought of an intruder in his house. A killer. He cautiously made his way to the fireplace in the lounge area of the library and pulled the antique spear displayed over the fireplace. It was heavier than he expected and he nearly dropped it. The need for a weapon became very clear to him, and he needed to improve it quickly.

The spear was something from before Periphery and the fact that it was still in acceptable condition could be considered nothing but a miracle in Vincent's eyes. This was something from when humans still were in danger from the wild and magic hadn't been mastered yet. He felt that his father's mad desire to collect such antiques to be a waste of time, but now he was grateful for it. He laid the spear on the sofa in front of the fireplace and whipped his pen out and started writing the sigils required to absorb a soul and improve the weapon. Upon completion of the sigils he prepared Randy's soul and put the entire thing into the spear.

He couldn't help but feel a thrill and excitement over committing a taboo such as this. To use an entire soul on an item. Often times such an act was considered suicide and the ultimate act of a madman or self-sacrifice in a desperate time for a runemage. It was an unspoken taboo to use all of one's soul, so for Vincent to use the entire soul of another human could only be considered something even worse. He felt a thrill he had never felt before. Almost as if something about this filled in a void he hadn't realized he felt until now.

He licked his lips and grinned excitedly. "Thank you for your sacrifice, Randy. How about we go hunting for Grit?"

Saving the city meant destroying all the Grit. Therefor he had to create weapons to destroy them. He had seen the futility of basic weapons. Now he held a superweapon he wanted to see just how effective it was.

“Well…” Berry considered Roy’s question for a moment. “I would very much like to bring everyone back as soon as possible; safety in numbers and means that the Grit can’t use the soul gems.”

Berry breathed. Fear was pooling in her stomach, coiling like a snake around her in the darkness. She gripped the bridge of her nose and then looked up at Roy.

“Currently I feel the best course of action is to leave everyone here as they are so at least we know that they’re safe. Meanwhile, Roy if I may ask that you go hunt for whoever or whatever our intruder is.”
A number of prods and presses brought the map to focus in on the extra dot.

“It’s somewhere down one of the corridors…I think.” Again the completeness of the map she held left a number of rooms and hallways incomplete or even non-existent, so she simply pointed vaguely to the Ballrooms main doorway. “If we can secure the parameter, as they say, we can then gain a foothold and ‘drive off those filthy scallywags’ as Sargent Barnsley is fond of saying.” She chuckled hesitantly.
Berry was a big fan of radio dramas.

“With that said I suppose the rest of us had better stick together. Don’t suppose anyone saw which way Vincent ran off to?” Berry was already fiddling with the map as she asked. “Goodness I do hope he’s okay…the other dot is getting very close to…him.” Berry’s voice dropped off into a petrified silence.

“Good heavens it’s right on top of him!”

He laid the spear on the sofa in front of the fireplace and whipped his pen out and started writing the sigils required to absorb a soul and improve the weapon. Upon completion of the sigils he prepared Randy's soul and put the entire thing into the spear.

He licked his lips and grinned excitedly. "Thank you for your sacrifice, Randy. How about we go hunting for Grit?"

"I'd rather not," said the spear.

The voice filled the room -- everywhere but nowhere -- and it sounded very much like Randy himself. The spear, counter to common assumption, did not glow, was not warm or cold to the touch, made no significant indication following the initial imbuement of Randy's soul that it was at all different from any other heirloom weapon. Vincent, however, would feel an unexplainable heaviness and a sense of great importance upon holding it.

"I expect you plan on swinging me about like a monkey with a stick, hoping to smack something. I expect you'll feel proud of yourself while I do all the work. I expect you'll get yourself into deep shit and assume I'll dig you out of it. On the contrary, your dad's not around and I have no more use for a paycheck or this job. I quit."

The spear gave no indication that he was in the least upset that he'd lost his body, or that his soul now resided in a piece of wood and metal, or that the city now depended on his cooperation. In fact, he felt much better to have finally given Vincent a piece of his mind.

Something moved in the bushes; Vincent might hear the scratch and slurp of something licking the blood off the outside wall. After a moment, a gigantic snake slid over the windowsill and into the library; it had the disarming and haunting face of a sheep and the black spines of a fish, and its long body was twice as round as Vincent's. It slithered slickly across the floor and ducked between the shelves at the far end of the library; it had not yet noticed Vincent, but was winding its way closer to the pool of blood at Vincent's feet.

---

“With that said I suppose the rest of us had better stick together. Don’t suppose anyone saw which way Vincent ran off to?” Berry was already fiddling with the map as she asked. “Goodness I do hope he’s okay…the other dot is getting very close to…him.” Berry’s voice dropped off into a petrified silence.

“Good heavens it’s right on top of him!”

Roy had been listening attentively, nodding every once in awhile, truly impressed at Berry's assessment of the situation. Find the intruder! Secure the mansion! Keep this area safe for rescuees! He was very much keen on following Berry's leadership, and was on his way to the door closest to the anomaly intruder when Berry exclaimed.

"I'll find him, Miss Berry!" he promised. "Don't you worry." He took a glance over her shoulder at her map, then dashed off across the shining ballroom floor and disappeared through the door through which Vincent had gone.

The door fell slowly shut behind him. The click of the lock echoed ominously.

Everything fell silent.

The statue of the servant on the stage lay pathetically on its side, still clutching the book that he had given his life for. The servant's soulstone was missing.

A flash of lights passed by the farthest window. According to Berry's map, a single grit glided past the mansion and continued on toward the Spire.

Berry could see everything on her map: Vincent's dot was accompanied by a second dot of the same color, which identified that he carried a soulstone with him -- or that someone else was with him. She saw a grit come in through the window and wind haphazardly through the library, getting closer to Vincent's dot, which appeared for the moment not to have noticed the intruder.

Meanwhile, Roy's dot sprinted up the stairs and made a beeline for the library -- but he stopped suddenly in the hallway and didn't move again.

Roy's dot appeared suspended in the upstairs corridor -- the robot was at this moment pinned to the ceiling, caught by one of Vincent's father's booby traps made to protect his secrets -- and the Grit was getting closer to Vincent.

Another Grit appeared on the map -- close to Berry herself -- as if it had just materialized out of nothing. The dot indicated this new threat was on the stage, behind the half-closed curtain. It didn't move.

Everything remained still and silent.

---

The portal closed behind Berry, and the Queen released a slow breath. Her fingers stiffly clasped the ruffles of her dress. She lowered her head, her shoulders slumped, and forbade herself from crying.

She knew what had caused all of this. She knew that most -- if not all -- of her people would never breathe again. She knew all of it was her own fault.

A sound of shuffling and breathing drew up her head again. Someone was still here. Someone had stayed behind while the others traversed the deadly streets where the Grit roamed. A scent like sugar wafted through the empty cold cavern where the floating gems glowed crimson.

She turned around and gave Maria a smile. "Are you all right?" she asked gently, and she took a step forward. Her hands were still secured to her dress, subconsciously stuck there. She tipped her head. "I feel like I've met you before. A candy shop, maybe?" She glanced back at the sigil drawn on the wall, where a softly glowing dot pulsed at the location of Vincent's home. "I'm sure they'll be all right." She wasn't at all confident.