Sechen had seen the Gilded Night many times before, and she had to admit its majesty had fallen off over the four or-so times she’d been here. The entire city had been carved out of the side of the massive hill she stood upon the crest of, a sheer cliff separating the group from a fifteen story drop to the ground below. On the other side, far off into the horizon, the waters of Lake Fathom lapped up onto the pontoons of floating docks where ships of all sizes and colours were moored. And between the two lay the Gilded Night, a vast expanse of heavily filigreed golden walls encircling a dome of utter darkness. Inside that dome existed two cities not fifteen feet from each other, one aware of everything going on in the other and making great use of all of their resources while the other went on in blissful ignorance of everything past the divide.

“So tell me again how Hoalt managed to split himself in two?” Prisoner asked as he stared down at the bubble of darkness. “Because last I checked, that dome there did somethin’ to the eternals’ perception of everythin’ and delayed the snapback as long as everythin’ stayed inside.”

“I don’t know what to tell you.” Sechen shrugged. “But now it’s two different cities that share a name ruled by two different tyrants that share a name.”

“It has to do with the Issi surges that have been occurring as of late.” Gilt chimed in, shifting his form into a bipedal one to stand shoulder to shoulder with Prisoner. “As far as I am aware, the wolf-like Hoalt has existed for nearly two centuries now, which would place his appearance suspiciously close to that of the first Issi surge.” Gilt paused for a moment as he looked out over the Gilded Night’s bubble, as if considering his next words. Sechen went to speak, but Prisoner tapped her on the shoulder and put a finger over his lips.

It took Gilt close to a minute before he spoke once more. “That first Issi surge forced me to relocate from the primal spring I had lived in for close to a century. I then moved what felt like every five years afterwards, constantly shifting from spring to spring as they rose and fell to the surges. I could do nothing to stop them, and yet I was constantly drawn to them. Resthollow prevented the spring near Elach’s home from being destroyed, and now I cannot help but wonder what the consequences of that issi surge will be.”

“You think Resthollow’ll get its own counterpart?” Prisoner asked.

“That is not where my worry stems from. Resthollow prevented the latest in a chain of unnatural growth and destruction, and the chain will remain shattered until Resthollow is dealt with.” Gilt sighed. “I worry that Resthollow themselves will be the next to fall.”

“And that friend of Elach’s along with them.” Prisoner nodded. “I gotcha. So we either gotta act fast, or prepare for an all-out war with an enemy we can’t kill but who can sure as hell kill us. I don’t know about you three, but I’m votin’ for swiftness on that one.”

“Can we focus on what’s in front of us right now?” Metea/Irric cut in. Her eyes were glassy, and she couldn’t keep her hands from fidgeting. “Please.”

“...I do not wish to admit it, but she is right. Elach must come first due to his well-being having a time limit, and all else must fall to the wayside until that comes to pass. How do we enter this city of darkness that lies before us?” Gilt asked.

“Through the front gates.” Sechen pointed at two spear-like pillars that jutted out from the wall. “The part for us is on the top floor, so we’ll have to wade through people from the other side to get to the rising point.”

“Rising point?” Prisoner rubbed his chin and squinted at the dome. “Second floor? That dome ain’t tall enough for a second floor, ringlet. What’s the deal?”

Sechen shrugged. “I don’t know. They don’t tell you all the secrets of the mysterious night dome when you’re a tourist. If you really want to know, you can ask once we’ve dealt with the whole Elach thing.”

“Let’s move.” Metea/Irric said, stepping towards one of the zig-zagging stairways that led down the cliffside. “Elach doesn’t have time for this.”

Prisoner raised an eyebrow and moved to follow Metea/Irric. “What bit her in the last five minutes?”

“You said yourself she was unstable.” Sechen hopped onto the railing and started sliding down. “This might be the new normal until we find a way to help her.”

“I hope not, sister.” Prisoner shot a glance at the back of Metea/Irric’s head, which was currently glued on the steps below her feet. “For all of our sakes.”

The golden wires that snaked down the blackened cliff ended at the two spear pillars flanking the gates to the Gilded Night like the dug-out roots of gigantic trees, Issi running up and through the filigree as it disappeared into the city behind the dome. There was a small crowd of people waiting at the gates with bored expressions on their faces, half of which were clad in the colours of the Hoalt on the eternals’ side of the veil. Sechen smirked at Prisoner’s disgusted gurgle when he saw the blend of chartreuse and black cherry, the ideas of which didn’t necessarily work awfully but in practice looked like the practitioners had slung muddy roots over their robes made of pond scum.

“So how is this a gate?” Prisoner asked, gesturing at the section of wall between the two pillars. “It don’t got a crack to split at, so how are we supposed to get in?”

“It goes down like a drawbridge. You just can’t see any of the mechanisms from out here.” Sechen explained. “All this wasn’t here the last time you came around?”

“Last time I was here the dome was all it had, sister. No wall needed to keep the city’s unwanted out, and their most prized in.” Prisoner swiped his hand through the air as if trying to wipe away the golden wall. “I’m guessin’ this was put up ‘round the same time Hoalt split himself in twain. That sound about right, shiny?”

“It does.” Gilt confirmed. “Though I could not tell you how it was constructed, nor for how long the people of the city labored.”

The sound of sharp metal sliding against itself brought an end to the conversation, like an immense knife being drawn against a sharpening block, as the section of the wall between the pillars began falling forward. Gilt jumped backwards in a panic to avoid the falling mass of gold, pulling Metea/Irric with him as he did, and Prisoner blinked out of existence and reappeared beside the manifestation. Sechen, however, knew that the drawbridge took a handful of minutes to lower itself fully, so she leisurely strolled out of the crush zone as the others who wore Hoalt’s colours did the same. She gave Prisoner her best befuddled look as she approached him, and Prisoner rolled his eyes and huffed.

The gate eventually lay to rest upon the ground with nothing more than a gentle thump, resting atop the thick cables of golden wire to create a ten foot tall block of gold that Sechen would have to find a way up if she wanted in. Revel had boosted her up the last time they were here, her fingers scrabbling against the smooth and slightly slippery surface for any hold they could find, and Sechen had eventually found her way up. She’d then pulled Revel up alongside her, which was helped along by the fact that Revel’s arms could reach far further than a normal person’s, and they’d laughed and joked about how they needed to bring a ladder along for next time. Sechen smiled a small smile and turned to suggest the same thing to Prisoner.

“If you go stand…” Was all Sechen managed to get out before Prisoner’s Issi took hold of her, and she found herself standing on the top of the drawbridge. “Oh.”

“What were you about to say, ringlet?” Prisoner asked as he appeared next to her with Gilt and Metea/Irric in step.

Sechen felt strangely disappointed, but she smiled through it and shook her head. “I forgot that you can teleport.”

“That’ll be a good thing to remember for the future, ringlet.” Prisoner chuckled and ruffled her hair as he walked by. “Cause sometimes I forget that I can teleport too, so havin’ someone else remind me could be the difference between life and death.”

“That is impossible.” Gilt interrupted. “Issi lives in the recesses of your mind, and cannot be forgotten.”

“I meant in the heat of the moment, ya overgrown housecat.”

“Still.” Gilt shrugged as well as a quadruped could. “Please refrain from going senile while you are protecting us.”

“When did you get so snarky?” Sechen chuckled.

“I have always been quick-witted. I just have not had the chance to show it.” Gilt laughed a rumbling laugh, unknown characters floating over Sechen’s eyes as he did.

“I’m havin’ second thoughts about this whole partnership.” Prisoner sighed, shaking his head. His wide smile belayed any bite his words may have had.

“Shut up and get moving.” Metea/Irric snapped, her voice rapidly shifting between two different tones Sechen had never heard before. “We don’t have enough time for this pointless small talk.”

“... She’s gettin’ worse. That ain’t good. Hells, she might have less time than sleepy.”

Sechen started walking, then jogging, to catch up with Metea/Irric. Prisoner and Gilt’s footfalls sounded off behind her, and Sechen sped up to desperately try to catch Metea/Irric.

“What’s goin’ on!?” Prisoner called from a little bit behind Sechen. “Who cares if she gets a few steps ahead of us? I can find her anywhere in this place!”

“No you can’t!” Sechen yelled back. “It’s impossible to find anyone in there!”

“Seriously?” Prisoner turned to Gilt. “Is she bein’ serious?”

“I do not know. I have not seen inside the walls of the Gilded night.” Gilt replied.

“Damn it.” Prisoner muttered, a pinprick of Issi flaring inside of him as Metea/Irric slowed down to a crawl. “I’m trustin’ you here, ringlet. But I don’t remember anything about Hoalt’s domain bein’ hard to navigate.”

“You don’t remember there being two Hoalts either.” Sechen shot back.

“Fair point.” Prisoner chuckled. “So what’s the damage here?”

Sechen shuddered as she remembered the first time Revel had taken her here. “Anonymity.”

“Anon… what?” Prisoner seemed taken aback. “Oh, that does not bode well. Is my imagination taking it too far right now, or not far enough?”

“Depends how vivid it is.” Sechen said grimly. “But we’re only walking through the shrouded night, right? Going straight to the other Gilded Night?”

“And we’d never find cloudy if she ran off. Gotcha.” Prisoner nodded. “Good catch, ringlet. So how does this anonymity thing work? Perception Issi screwin’ with everyone’s mind so they can’t see anyone but themselves?”

“It’ll be pretty obvious when we get inside.” Sechen gave Prisoner a dry smile. “Wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.”

“Ah, the suspense.” Gilt said dryly as he walked by, knocking Metea/Irric onto his back as he got to her. She flopped over rigidly like a piece of lumber, golden ribbons wrapping her so she wouldn’t fall. “Shall we?”

Sechen stepped up to the black barrier and pressed her hand to it, feeling the same resistance she remembered all too well. Almost as if the city itself was warning hopefuls against entering. If only she’d heeded that warning earlier, then maybe things wouldn’t have gotten so bad with Revel. She shook her head and pushed through the surface tension, the shadows coating her like the finest silks as she pressed through.

“This is different.” A voice dully said, monotone and void of any emotion or unique features. “Do I sound like this to all of you?”