Lizzy's blocky chest heaved laboriously, a pickaxe supporting her limp weight.

"Why am I working so hard? Weren't you the one who was all gung-ho and responsible?"

Eli smirked and spoke the magic words.

"Seeing you sweat is attractive."

*Tink-Tink-Tink-Tink*

Lizzy's pickaxe swung furiously, striking the rugged rockface repeatedly. She roared with gusto.

It doesn't apply while you're a middle-aged man.

She snickered uncharacteristically and wandered off.

The past handful of days had been spent mixing in with the Eben locals. They were extremely distrusting and wary of outsiders. Eli met with the speaker on two occasions until she realized that was a lost cause. The pious woman couldn't stop herself from mentioning the Elder in every sentence.

The others they've encountered so far either toil endlessly, were socially inept, hermitic, or blathering fanatics. The last group was the best source of information since they were the crux of the problem. As long as Eli could manipulate the conversation just so, the cultists would be happy to blab on and on.

Eli, at her core, was a blunt individual. It was one of the reasons she enjoyed Lizzy so much. Gone were the days of being a young princess, getting into petty brawls, or sneaking out of her father's Hall. Her brash attitude and scathing remarks had been frosted with years of scoldings and first-hand experience. Butting heads was fun, and the thrill of battle was exhilarating. Eli preferred a straight-laced attitude towards most problems. However, that didn't mean she couldn't be annoyingly deceitful and political to get what she wanted.

That was the difference between the Elden couple. Lizzy only had one setting. Crude, lewd, and frustratingly forward.

That's one setting, not three. It's a bundle of one. Whatever.

A pebble skipped along the ground, prodded by a bored foot. Eli, now Solei, played with her shortened hair, amazed at her own work. The copper-red hair came just across her eyes. Cross-eyed, she noticed the subdued vibrancy caused by the shade of a twirling parasol.

She smiled, her steps sure.

After a few days of working under a beating sun in a quarry with little to no cover, "Solei" reinvented the parasol. They had gone out of fashion ages ago, but they remained a constant in poorer areas. She applied her grandmother's crochet skills to some overgrown weeds sprouting in the area. The locals were glad to be rid of the flora since it interfered with their rock worship.

While Lizzy worked tirelessly to provide some sort of shelter for them, Eli traversed back to the Eben Pavillion. It was a shaded rock garden with carved seating, a gathering place for most Eben residents situated near the center of town for convenience. It was a small town, so everything important was in the center. The housing projects skirted the circumference of the quarry. They were misshapen and in various stages of construction, sprouting up wherever the faithful Eldens dug their picks.

Her skin cooled as the exposed parts became shaded underneath the rocky pavilion. Eyes adjusting, Eli registered a figure waiting on a stone bench. Ramping up her pleasant persona, she greeted the Elden.

"Afternoon, Wael."

"Solei."

"My sincere apologies for making you wait. My partner needed a little bit of encouragement before I left them alone."

Eli smiled kindly, her leylines glowing briefly.

Wael grunted in affirmation. greeted her by scooching over in his seat. Closing her parasol, she set it against the rocky furniture and took the offered seat graciously. Wael was large for an Elden, it was clear he used to be bigger before his muscles retreated with his middling age.

"You didn't have to wait up for me. The others usually drop the materials off and come back later."

Wael's back hunched, a result of hard labor. The diminished glow of his leylines seemed more pronounced than they should have been for his age. As he stretched his arms forward to grab a basket of plucked weeds, Eli spotted cracked skin lining the inside of his palms.

"My daughter told me to make sure you get this personally."

The corners of his eyes crinkled. It caused Eli to mimic the gesture.

"I was unaware. I haven't had the pleasure to meet any of the children yet."

Wael kept his hands on the basket.

"Rez prefers like company."

"Well. Tell Rez that she'll have to pick the parasol up herself. It gets awfully lonely here with my partner working elsewhere."

Wael adjusted his posture, self-conscious of his hunch.

"I'm sorry, but you're still new. Most of us keep to ourselves, too. We don't mean to offend."

Eli breathed out, fanning herself with a cool wind. A minor magical cantrip. Weak enough to not cause suspicion, but noticeable, and a display of minor skill. She adjusted it to include Wael. His boulder-like shoulders seemed to rattle as they loosened ever so slightly.

"Since you're here, may I ask about your daughter? What's she like?"

"..."

Eli inched her hands toward the bowl of gathered materials.

"Tell you what, I'll get started on your daughter's parasol ahead of my other orders, and you can tell me her preferences. Favorite colors and the like. I'll also need to know how tall she is so that the parasol fits."

Wael chewed on it. He pushed the bowl forward to meet Eli halfway. As the basket was exchanged, a tiny spark shocked Eli. She cursed softly and sucked on the finger. Wael jumped to the other end of the bench.

Eli laughed lightly, forcibly putting a halt to her thoughts and revelations.

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to it after all."

Wael's wide eyes fluctuated, his mind reeling from the implication.

"That... that's never happened before."

"I won't tell if you won't."

"..."

"Sit. Stay. Please. I don't want that to be the reason you leave."

Wale hesitated but eventually sat back down. He remained silent as Eli started to pull out materials. They remained in uncomfortable silence for nearly ten minutes. Then Wael finally seemed ready to speak.

"Is that normal for you?"

"Hm? Oh. Not much anymore. It used to happen every now and then with my partner, but they've gotten a lot better. I had all but forgotten about it until now.

"Your partner. Was he..."

"They were. A long time ago."

"How did he get better?"

Eli remembered Lizzy's explanation. It brought a frown to her face.

"Painfully. I wouldn't recommend it."

Wael contemplated, speaking to himself.

"I didn't realize there was more than one cure."

Neither did I.

Eli avoided eye contact, focusing on weaving weeds rather than on Wael's conspicuously hidden hair. She'd falsely assumed the oversized bandanna was to keep his head cool.

"If you've already found a way, why are you here?"

Eli's hand paused momentarily before resuming the automatic work.

"So there is a cure here?"

"It is compensation."

"From the church?"

"There is no church. Just the Speaker."

"What about the obsession with the Primal? The Elder."

Wael scoffed, but it sounded more like gravel rubbing together. He waved an exasperated arm as he freed his emotions.

"No one believes that nonsense. That there is a Primal underneath the quarry, and we're digging toward it? Water-logged banter that the Speaker twisted into religion. Sure, the rock is saturated and the crystals are the real deal but that is the end of it."

He snorted.

"This might have been a true safe haven for us if the Speaker hadn't been the one to find the source. With a monopoly, she is the strongest.."

"A monopoly on crystals? I'm not sure I follow."

"Devil's fruit. I learned too late and now I'm stuck here. I'm afraid the Speaker has my daughter's ear. Whispering poisoned truths."

"Can you explain the crystals? Are they the second cure?"

"If I'd known there was another way, I never would have brought her into this mess."

Eli tried to reel him away from his thoughts, directing him somewhere more pleasant.

"Tell me about Rez. Your daughter. What's she like."

He sniffed, eyes unfocused.

"Turns out she inherited her mother's hair. A deep green reflecting the western prairies. It waves just like Nellian fruit trees."

"She sounds beautiful."

"Just like her mother. Smart. Smarter than me. A passion for plants. They both hated this place."

*Crack*

Eli forced a deep calm onto herself, warily looking around for others. Luckily they were still alone. Covertly reaching over, she ran two fingers over the splintering cracks crawling up Wael's forearm. Smoothing it with her large reserves proved simple. It seemed someone performed this treatment before.

Wael continued talking about his daughter and his deceased wife as if Eli wasn't there. More fissures sprung up along his arm, but Eli was quick to the draw. He didn't seem to notice her tending to his grievous and spiraling injuries. After a full minute, the cascade ceased. Wael's eyelids drooped, exhausted.

Eli retracted her mana, sighing.

"Hm? Did I zone out?"

"Yes. Where's your home? I'll escort you."

"No, that's alright."

"I insist."

Eli stood, lifting Wael to his feet. Strongarmed, Wael had little choice as he was manhandled back home.

=

Lizzy smashed a rock in two. Again.

"That was rude."

The second rock smashed. A different voice rang.

"Oi. What'd you do to Victor?"

A third and fourth rock smashed.

"Missed me."

"Me too."

"Over here~."

A vein bulged on Lizzy's forehead. She spit into her hands and choked up on her pickaxe. She went to town on the strewn rubble like it was the semi-finals of a whack-o-mole tournament.

Translucent Elden phased into existence by the dozens, more appearing for each rock she split. The onslaught continued until they stopped increasing in number. The smashing continued. When there was nothing left but rubble, dust, and strange silence, Lizzy halted. Panting, suspicious, sunburnt, and wielding a vengeful pickaxe, Lizzy cursed.

"Qorxau remnants..."

"Yoohoo."

*WHAM*

Lizzy had the briefest moment to ponder the amount of magical power she imbued in the attack. All the ones so far had been birthed of pure brute strength. Now, with the energy of a royally pissed-off second-color-phase Elden, glowing destruction breezed harmlessly through the no-longer-grinning remnant ghost and straight into the side of the quarry wall.

Damn.

It was the only regret she could muster as she watched the cliff shatter and collapse into a rumbling rockslide.

=

Rocks and boulders were tossed aside languidly. An incredulous Elden shadow wrapped the semi-buried form.

Lizzy spat out rocks like they were watermelon seeds. A gravelly growl.

"Remnants..."

With a groan, she extricated her legs from the remaining debris and pulled herself up to a sitting position. Resting an elbow, she twirled a finger in the air to indicate her surroundings.

"Not my fault."

"Not your fault?"

"Nope. Remnants."

Eli pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Remnants? As in the ghostly leftovers of deceased Eldens? The ones who are completely intangible, harmless, and inextricably selfish? I conveniently recall them being immune to physical and magical blows."

"Uh-huh."

Eli shook, the pitch of her voice rising with incredulity.

"And using this knowledge, you still rampaged around, causing a moderately sized collapse in the wall, buried yourself, and exposed the fact that you're are hiding your power level to the potentially dangerous cult we are currently infiltrating."

"Whoops?"

"Was that a question?"

Lizzy had the decency to appear abashed.

Eli rolled her entire head and flailed her arms wildly, cursing, kicking rocks, and generally feeling indignant. Looking for something else to mangle, she grabbed two elk-sized rocks and pounded them together like gongs until they crumbled into dust. Lizzy watched, embarrassment growing in her cheeks. No longer being able to watch her love's justifiable pouting episode, an explanation tumbled out.

"A stupid remnant innkeeper messing with me is one thing. I can handle their quirks and gluttonously self-righteous attitudes long enough to perform a cleansing ritual. But it wasn't just one snooty asshole I had to deal with discretely and quickly. I thought I had somehow messed up when the ritual concluded, but I realized it was an entirely different snooty asshat I was dealing with. Still, I gritted my teeth and did it again. And again."

Now Lizzy was the one flailing her arms.

"I was nearly pulling out my hair after the fifth ritual! They started popping up like the invasive species and multiplied faster than magically enhanced sporeshrooms. It was impossible to cleanse them all without someone noticing, so I tried ignoring them, going as far as to deafen myself for good measure. Qorxau remnants worked around it somehow. I couldn't work without a new one appearing and calling me names, taunting me..."

"Elderberry!"

It was a catcall. In the distance, a translucent blue apparition sprouted out of the ground, waving an unnaturally flaccid arm in a rude gesture.

The apparition's eyes grew comically big as it yelped and ducked back into the earth just before a rugged boulder impacted its position.

Eli came out of her thrower's stance and dusted off her clothes.

"With a foulmouth like that, I understand completely."

Lizzy schooled her shocked expression and asked curiously.

"Is this your way of marking your territory..."

Some seconds drew on, then Lizzy couldn't prevent the vulgar expression crawling across her ugly mug.

"...because I could think of some other ways you could... assert your dominance—Ack!"

A pebble flicked Lizzy's defenseless forehead.

"Fix your appearance before someone comes and sees."

Lizzy rubbed a growing red lump, noticing her disguise was on the fritz, fuzzing in and out.

"When you're done I'll recant some new information I just came across. Remnants are the least of our worries.".

"Did you finally find our contact?"

"In a manner of speaking. I have reason to believe our contact was Fractured, and the rest of the town will soon follow in his footsteps."