Theo left the shop in a good mood, both because of what he'd acquired and what it would allow him to do. Though the others didn't want to discuss soulcrafting immediately after such a long expedition, he knew that they wouldn't rest for long. Soon enough, they could begin their final preparations for the Chasm of Lamentations.

His profits from Aathal had purchased another step closer to his final goals. As soon as he reached the sunlight, he raised the large vial to his eye to get a better look at it.

The abyssfluid surged within the container of sublime glass, trying to cling to his fingers but also flickering toward any other large object. It was apparently drawn to sources of mass, which made it a rare material that was aligned with an abstract trait of gravity. As a tool it was moderately useful, but within his soulhome, it would be the perfect centerpiece for his new chamber dedicated to his sense of gravity. He'd been building up the instinct for some time, especially in Ichil, but finishing the chamber would make an immense difference.

When completed, the room wouldn't give him a sense equal to Fiyu's, but he'd be head and shoulders above most soulcrafters he faced. With the types of threats they'd face in the Chasm, awareness might be more useful than brute power.

Flashing a sublime material in public might have attracted a little attention, so Theo promptly drank the abyssfluid and drew it into his soulhome. Nothing to steal, at least for the type of thieves that might be nearby. If any of them had any skill, they'd recognize the strength it took to absorb such a material and keep clear of him.

Unfortunately, as he returned to House Blacksilver, Theo's mind turned to less pleasant matters. The unfortunate truth was that exploring the Chasm would not be a contained conflict like the duel against Esaire. Soulcrafting would matter, just not exclusively. That meant that using his time effectively along other lines was likely more important than any soulcrafting expertise.

So, on his way back, he purchased a sack of candied gems.

There was no way of knowing where Senka had gone, so Theo reserved one of the meditation rooms and set about trying to work. She appeared not long after, her head poking up over the wall. "Theo! Whatcha doing? Hey, hey. Whatcha doing?"

When she got close to him, Theo opened his eyes and sprung his trap: he opened the bag of candies and waved them in front of her. "I bought something for you, Senka."

"Yummies for Senka? Gimme! Gimme!"

"You can have one." He tossed a single gem to her, which she snapped out of the air like a dog. Once her squeals had confirmed that they would serve as a proper incentive, he closed the bag and pulled it away from her. "Senka, we need to talk."

"Senka doesn't like talking, Senka likes eating!"

"I'll give you another one if you listen - wait, no." She threw herself at him, flailing for the bag, but it wasn't difficult to grab her face and push her back. Disgusting, given the levels of slobber, but not difficult, so he forced himself to continue in a level voice. "You always want to come with us, but sometimes that can be dangerous. Like when you jumped off the log. That could have gotten you killed, and maybe other people."

"Senka didn't do that! You're making things up like a meanie!"

Theo took a deep breath and forced himself onward. "But you've been helpful too. I want to train together, Senka, just like I train with Fiyu and Nauda. If you can work with us, it would be easier for everyone."

"And then you'll give Senka yummies?"

"Well... yes. Can you try that for me?"

She could certainly try, but as Theo spent over an hour banging his head against the problem, he wasn't sure that he could succeed. Senka's desire for the candies was intense and undeniable, it simply didn't translate into effectiveness at any of the exercises. He'd tried hiding sublime materials under buckets to test her ability to track them down, but she refused and simply tried to steal candies. Trying to make her consistently obey commands to follow or move only resulted in tantrums. The only command that had any success was ordering her to stay in place, which could very well be because she was lazy.

He tried treating her as an equal, as a child, or as a domestic animal, all of which led to what he could only describe as "antics". The most frustrating part was that he couldn't pin down her actual level of intelligence, which seemed inconsistent. Perhaps the compact nature of her soulhome was some sort of mental damage that led to wild swings in behavior.

If so, then trying to train her might be entirely useless. Theo tried to cling to the memories of the times that she'd been helpful to all of them and shoved down his frustration. Still, he couldn't help but think, repeatedly, that this was not why he'd returned to the Nine Worlds.

At least she left him alone for a while, no doubt wanting another candy for sitting in place. Or perhaps she'd just fallen asleep. Theo glanced back to check on her, only to find Senka sitting on one of the buckets and examining him.

"Does Theo want a Senka pet?"

It might have been an earnest question, but he didn't care. "I don't want a pet, I want you not to get all of us killed."

"But Senka wants to get us all killed." She promptly smiled innocently at him, and he wondered again if she really understood words or just imitated language.

"If that's true, then we'll have to leave you behind."

"Oh, stop being a grouchy fumpet." Senka hopped closer to him, actually maintaining eye contact for once. "Senka will be good when it matters. Did Senka get you killed when the eryo attacked? Your sporping material is under the left bucket, by the way."

Even though he recognized it as the correct answer, he still looked over to it. She might have looked under the bucket while she was supposed to be doing something else, but she sounded so confident... at that moment, Senka grabbed the sack of candies from out of his robes and ran off, cackling and shoving them into her mouth.

He could have taken it from her and chose just to stare, wondering what he was doing with his life.

At that moment, a shadow fell over him, following by a heavy cantae presence. Theo immediately got to his feet to see Dhan approach. The Blacksilver Authority wore his mask for once, rendering his face an ominous oval. Though he tilted the mask up to the top of his head as he approached, his eyes remained just as hard and distant.

"We need to discuss House matters. Where are your allies?"

"Conducting their own affairs," Theo said. "We've barely gotten back from Aathal, has something changed since we left?"

"Yes and no. They are not matters to be spoken of idly. Find your allies, dispose of that creature, and meet me in the main hall. Do not be tardy."

Across the courtyard, Senka continued shoving her face with candies as if nothing had changed. She was the only one.

~ ~ ~

Fiyu was of course in her room, and Nauda had actually come looking for him, so it wasn't difficult to obey the instruction. Soon enough the three of them stood in one of the dark halls of House Blacksilver along with Dhan. His Authority-tier cantae closed around the room, and Theo was fairly sure that even Senka couldn't worm her way through that. After several seconds of silence, Dhan took a deep breath and spoke.

"Currently, you possess three of the six Chasm Invitations that House Blacksilver holds. This is a greater number than new members would have been expected to gain, and we thank you for it. However, given the rigors of the Chasm of Lamentations, we would like to request that you give the House your Invitations. In return for compensation, of course."

Theo's mind immediately slipped into a thousand suspicions, in particular wondering whether they had always intended to make the demand. While he was thinking, Nauda took a more practical approach. "Didn't you reserve three for the Authorities? That means everyone above Ruler already has them."

"That was our plan, yes. However, the heads of House Blacksilver feel that we should place particular emphasis on success this year, thus we should send three of our strongest Ruler-tier soulcrafters as well. We understand your disappointment, and would give you more merits than you paid to acquire them, especially at this late hour."

"That doesn't make economic sense," Fiyu said quietly. "You allow any Blacksilver member to purchase Invitations, then take them back for a greater sum. Unless it was always a lie, this must reflect a change in plans."

"There are... new factors." Dhan didn't look particularly happy about having to say more, but after the emotion wormed its way across his lips, he pushed forward. "This year, House Crimson has been particularly aggressive acquiring Invitations. Norro Yorthin is also under economic stress, and some Houses are likely to fall over the next several years. So this event has changed from an opportunity for advancement to a critical challenge.

"So I will ask again. We won't force you, but we believe it would be for the best if you returned your Chasm Invitations."

"No." Theo didn't know about the changing details, but he'd been investigating the Chasm and it sounded like all his past knowledge was still relevant. This was his best chance to pave a way toward his revenge. "We've been soulcrafting and preparing for this for a long time."

Thankfully, Nauda and Fiyu nodded their agreement. Dhan sighed and readjusted his mask, which Theo thought was just a stalling tactic. "Fine, I suspected as much. The other Authorities didn't want to, but we have a second offer: helping you prepare."

"And in your great wisdom," Nauda said dryly, "you decided to begin that process a few months before the Chasm opens."

"We don't think you're particularly likely to accomplish much in the Chasm of Lamentations, but we'd prefer you to survive."

Though Nauda kept up a mask of irony, Fiyu smiled at him without hesitation, and she was right that this was a positive turn. Theo hadn't anticipated having an Authority to assist their preparations: that meant weirkeys, which meant a vastly increased reach. He reorganized his plans before speaking up.

"I've researched the Chasm of Lamentations and I believe there are steps we can take even as Archcrafters to reduce the dangers. For a start, if you can take us to a number of locations on Noven, we-"

Dhan cut him off with a raised hand. "We want to help, not serve as your personal transportation service. After all, all three Authorities will be House Blacksilver's vanguard in the Chasm, and we have preparations of our own that require our weirkeys."

"Fine." It had been too good to be true, so he'd thought of a backup plan. "In your travels, you should be able to pick up foods appropriate to Ruler-tier soulcrafters. If you can help us assemble a Nine Worlds Feast, that will go a long way to preparing us to face the dangers."

"You really don't lack for ambition, do you?" Dhan frowned at him, but he hadn't rejected the suggestion out of hand. "You realize that most Authorities in Norro Yorthin still haven't assembled a Nine Worlds Feast? We don't have a complete set of weirkeys, so we can't simply travel everywhere to buy you things."

"We already have some," Nauda said, either knowing what they were talking about or presuming. "We have excellent foods from Tatian, and we've eaten sublime materials in Fithe, Deuxan, Aathal, and Ichil. That leaves only four other worlds, right?"

It wasn't quite that simple, since not all sublime foods were created equal. The feast that Nanjuma had given them in Myufuru was certainly sufficient, and Theo hoped that the rainhorn meat and other materials from Deuxan were up to the task. He doubted the sublime foods they'd eaten in their other travels, or even in Fithe, were strong enough, but Nauda's way of framing it was more persuasive.

"Oh, very well." Dhan waved the matter aside. "The House can easily find you excellent sublime foods in Norro Yorthin, and we'll see about picking up others in our travels. Anything else?"

"Two more immediate requests," Theo said quickly. "I absorbed a number of sublime materials in preparation for my duel last year, but they're better suited to my allies. I haven't yet been able to extract th-"

"Then let's just take care of it." With troubling speed Dhan stepped in front of him and began reaching into his soul, forcing Theo to rapidly lower his defenses or risk having them damaged.

In an instant, Dhan loomed over his soulhome, pressure striking his soul like a whirlwind. Theo hastened to locate the sublime materials that the others had given them, which he'd been struggling to extract without reducing their potency. Dhan simply extended his influence and plucked them out, returning them to the physical world and reminding Theo how much he needed to reach Authority.

The others accepted the materials and focused on absorbing them, Fiyu happily cupping her mistsphere before drawing it into her soul. He saw the skull of black bone, the glowing magma, everything else they'd sacrificed to help him. It seemed that they intended to begin soulcrafting immediately, while Dhan turned back to him impatiently.

"You said you had one more request?"

"One more for now." Theo glanced over at the other two, but decided that they would welcome this request even if they hadn't discussed it. "We need transportation to Arbai, to a location nowhere near the city's gate. We have a school of allies there who can provide us with resources, stoneshapers, and other assistance. No need for you to do further work, and far from the reach of any rivals on Fithe."

"Interesting." Dhan stared at him for a moment before pulling his mask down over his face. "I don't hold our weirkey for Arbai, but we can arrange something. For now, soulcraft dutifully so that House Blacksilver doesn't regret your decision."

An instant later he vanished, one of his other weirkeys taking him to his own preparations. That left the three of them alone in a hall where they were rarely permitted, but Theo barely looked at it, instead focusing on his friends. Fiyu had been soulcrafting her mistsphere into place, now emerging with a smile on her face, and Nauda spoke up first.

"Is this Nine Worlds Feast what it sounds like? I was guessing, but I thought he needed convincing."

"We already have feasting chambers," Theo explained, "but they mostly contain food from a few worlds. If you merge the cantae generated by sublime foods from all nine, the result is far more powerful than simply accumulating more cantae. It's like having a second heart chamber, but without devoting an entire room solely to cantae generation."

"My feast chamber is already making me a lot stronger, so I can imagine. And then we're headed to Arbai?"

"To see Navim again." Fiyu beamed at both of them. "It has been a short time since we met our ally, but since he was injured, I hope to see him recovered."

"A short time?" Nauda raised an eyebrow. "It's been over a year."

"Yes, I am beginning to miss him somewhat. Theo, you did mean traveling to his school, correct?"

"Exactly. Navim will work with us, and I think we can convince their Authority to bring us back, or even travel a little further." Theo smiled back at her, but his thoughts had already turned away from meeting old friends. Returning to the School of Emerald Indulgence would mean speaking to its leader and fulfilling his old promise to tell of Earth and the blasted white realm.

This time, he wouldn't be rushing to save a life. Perhaps he could finally get some answers, the question was only what he'd need to pay.