It was an ordinary summer day in Riviera. The morning was as sunny and cheery as ever, the denizens of the lazy city starting to get to work. Yet high above what seemed like a nondescript, normal old cottage, there floated four divine artifacts. They shivered there, all in a rotating circle, before they burst outwards, scattering across in all directions at speeds the human eye could not perceive.

______________________

Li arose with a start, his pale hand clutched at his chest. His fingers grasped at rough linen – the same shirt he always wore. His body was distinctively human, his once superhumanly sharp sense of touch dulled under layers of human bone, muscle, and skin.

He was in his human form, just as he had been before going to Valhul, and yet he didn't feel any jarring sensation. Whenever he transferred from his divine form to human form or vice versa, he felt some level of shift that was, in some way, uncomfortable. After all, it felt rather strange to have all his flesh melt off and his bones turn into bark, and the reverse felt just as uncomfortable.

Yet he felt fine, as if he had always been in this form, and when he thought, really tried to recall the events in Valhul, they came to him in faint, broken-off snippets. He could barely recall a full conversation, though he did have a solid gist of what had occurred overall. It was like looking at a faded photograph or perhaps fishing out details from a foggy dream.

"Lad, are you alright!?" said Old Thane as he reached his burly arms out, grasping Li's shoulders firmly and shaking him.

"I'm alright, old man," said Li with a smile as he put a hand on Old Thane's forearm.

He looked around to see that he had been taken out of his room and laid atop a makeshift bed of rugs, several of them bunched up at his head to keep his breathing elevated and stable. The fireplace was lit even though the sun was up, beaming its rays steadily through the cottage windows.

He saw Triple Threat around him.

There was Jeanne with her eyes wide open, her trademark honest, warm, and wide smile starting to set upon her lips. Her hands were still clasped in prayer, no doubt for Li. Her long, usually rough blonde hair had been trimmed, its split ends shorn away, and the mass of curls straightened out before weaved into a complicated, braided bun.

Her face had been touched up, one or two freckles here and there smoothed away with some kind of concealer, the shadow around her eyes darkened just subtly enough to bring her striking blue pupils to the forefront without taking away from her image as an innocent beauty. She wore a long, frilled dress of snowy white, decorative embroideries of the sun and its light etched around a modest neckline.

Sylvie sat beside her, legs tucked under herself as she leaned forwards, creases of worry wreathing her brows. She, compared to Jeanne, was far more casual. She dressed comfortably, in black leather leggings and a black dress-shirt hemmed with lace so as not to appear too masculine.

Azhar looked entirely out of place. He stood behind everyone, eyeing Li with a tired stare. He didn't wear anything on his upper body, which wasn't an entirely uncommon event, but what was strange was that there was a sheen of sweat glistening all around his skin. His breathing came in heavy sand slow draws, his wild black damp with exhaustion.

"Now this is a scene I didn't expect to wake up to," said Li. "Looks like I woke up to my funeral."

"We thought you dead," sighed Sylvie as she put a hand over her heart. "We came by to pick you both up for Jeanne's ceremony, but you weren't waking up, no matter what we did. Are you certain you are fine?"

Li nodded. "I feel perfectly fine, okay? So everyone, especially you, old man, ease up a little."

"Aye, I should think a healthy and strong lad such as you should not fall so suddenly," said Old Thane with a relieved sigh.

Jeanne unclasped her hands and reached out to take Li's hand. She drew it near to her, her fingers curling around his wrist.

"His life force is strong," she said, nodding as she checked Li's health. "My senses as a priestess tell me he is as healthy as can be."

Sylvie took Jeanne's hands off with a swift motion. "Come, we knew that already, he said it. And you'll smear powder all over his hand like that."

"It is normal procedure to re-check the health of the recovered, though," protested Jeanne. "And I haven't touched my face, so there shouldn't be any powder on my hands."

"Just in case," said Sylvie quickly.

Li covered for Sylvie by changing the topic and pointing to Azhar's ragged form. "What's up with him?"

"I tried to help ya out," said Azhar, arms crossed. "We showed up here and the old man was tellin' us you weren't wakin' up, so course' we tried our best to see what was up. Jeanne tried healin' you, but there ain't nothin' wrong with your body. So I reckoned it was your mind, or your soul, maybe, that needed helpin', and that's where my shamanism works best."

"And did it work?" said Li. He eyed Azhar's tired figure, how he struggled to stay standing not because of any physical strain, but because his mind was so low on power it just weighed him down. "You're almost out of mana, I can tell."

"Ain't that right." Azhar slumped down on the floor, his hand resting against his forehead. He gave Li a curious look. "You're here, so I hope it worked, but…you know what, forget it. Important thing's you're here now, and also, I know this is an important moment Jeanne, but can you cut me some slack and let me rest up here? I ain't in any condition to be movin' anytime soon."

"Of course, Az," said Jeanne. "You need not even ask me for permission. Your health matters more to me than any little old medal."

"Are you sure you don't want us to carry you to the temple?" Sylvie stayed by Li's side, but she cast a concerned look to Azhar.

"Don't need em'." Azhar shrugged. "Ain't got any physical wounds or nothin'. Just needa' rest my mind a bit."

Old Thane went to Azhar's side and patted his shoulder. "Take whatever you wish from the house. Any food or water. I cannot thank you enough for bringing Li back to me."

"Don't mention it," said Azhar, almost in a whisper as he looked away from Old Thane, unable to meet the aged farmer's eyes. He shook his head roughly just once before looking to everyone else with an impatient stare. "You all got somewhere to be. Common folk are probably gettin' real upset that their local Rivieran hero ain't showin' up to her own ceremony, so get movin' already."

Li stood up to get everyone moving. He did not want them to worry about him any longer or more than they should. He could appreciate their concern for him, but all of it was misplaced and better used elsewhere.

"He's got a point," said Li. He looked at the sun through the cottage window. From living here for almost two months now and spending so many hours outside, he could tell by the intensity of light what time of day it was. He would get up at around five or six, and right now it was nine or ten. He had been noticeably out for only a few hours, thankfully.

He had spent almost half a day at Valhul battling Chi-You and waiting for Zahaka to set her rituals up. It seemed that time passed similarly here, as if he counted the time he took to 'sleep', then it roughly added up to the amount of time he passed in the other realm.

"I wouldn't want me to be the reason any of you miss anything, so get ready and let's go."

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Outside, Li shook his head once in minor surprise before he remembered.

Today was also the day that Alexei had arranged to put his transport company in action and get the farm's harvest to the city.

There was a procession of three huge horse-drawn storage units standing at the main road, and they looked in many ways incredibly similar to the armored cars of the modern world.

They were comprised of rectangular, armor-plated storage boxes standing atop sturdy metal and rubber wheels. The boxes were chained to a sturdy and armored carriage pulled by a duo of what Li recognized as Arions, magical horses almost at level 30 and capable of travelling across water just as well as land.

The pale blue horses neighed, fins flapping where their manes should have been. The carriage was roofed, but the driver's seat opened up to allow reigns to tie to the arions.

"When did this get here?" said Li.

"Two hours ago," said Old Thane. "Gods, lad, I did not know you had hired the best company in all Soleil to move our humble wheat."

"Woah," said Jeanne, open-mouthed as she craned her neck closer to get a better look. "That's Elven armor, the finest there is, and the Arion are only bred in Duvin, many leagues south of here. I have only ever seen the richest of nobles use Black Securities, but never would I have dreamt that they would come for this farm."

"Well, I do have to say I'm good at networking," said Li with a casual shrug.

One of the carriages opened up and the driver emerged, clad in shining black formalwear. He came up to Li, and Li could recognize him. He was one of Alexei's vampire knights, except he had obviously taken time to shift his presence to fit in, altering his pale skin to a more normal shade and changing his crimson red eyes to a nondescript brown.

"Master Li," said the knight with a bow. "We have already loaded your cargo and are ready for transportation. The Count will handle distribution with your preferences in mind." He straightened up, standing just a little shorter than Li, and steadied the bow of his black tuxedo. "Now then, I hear that you are all in quite the rush?"

"I talked to him," explained Sylvie. "In the case that Azhar's spiritual healing worked, I thought that we would need their assistance getting to the city quickly."

"My, Sylv, thinking ahead as always!" said Jeanne as she hugged Sylvie's arm.

Li could tell that though the hero would never admit it, she was still proud of herself and cared much for this award ceremony.

"That would help," said Li to the knight. "I remember hearing that Arions can run as fast as a raging river. We'll need that kind of speed."

"I can guarantee that," said the knight proudly. He motioned to his carriage which stood at the very front of the procession. "Come, I shall show why Black Securities knows no match under the sun or moon. Oh, and my name is Valery, should you wish to address me as such. The Count has assigned me to your weekly transport, so it may be more comfortable for you to pin a name to my face."