HE'D NEVER THOUGHT HE'D BE HAPPY TO BE ON DYSIS.

But the warmth of the sun on face, even strained through the smog, filled Mori with relief. He sat up, still feeling lightheaded.

"Awake at last," Argent said.

Mori started and looked over. Argent smiled, crouched beside him, but there was a cold look in his eyes behind the smile. Mori frowned. He couldn't quite place Argent's mood, but it set him on edge nonetheless.

He tried to stand up, but the rollercoaster of the last few days seemed to hit him all at once, draining the energy right out of his body. He staggered backwards, clutching a nearby railing for support.

The timepiece. Mori checked his neck. The synchroniser around his neck was gone, but he found it a second later in his satchel, alongside the traveller's timepiece and the one Argent made for him. Mori sagged back in relief. The synchroniser stung his hand as he touched it, and Mori realised its energy had changed. Instead of its familiar muted blaze, now bitter cold stung his hand. Mori shivered. He'd only felt cold like that in one place before.

Even here, the grip of the void was unmistakeable. Mori pushed the watch into his pocket and tried to forget about that awful, unyielding darkness.

Argent took his arm and helped Mori gently to his feet. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Mori took a step forward. He swayed, but stayed upright. He looked closely at Argent. "Are you?"

"Sure." Again, that smile that didn't reach anywhere near his eyes. Argent sighed, as if he didn't have the energy to keep up the pretence anymore, and turned away. "Let's just go find Ren. Something tells me she's got a lot of explaining to do."

Ren was waiting for them at the house. "The timepiece," she said, extending her hand to Mori.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't want to take it."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me," she said, casting her gaze to Argent. "Lay off him, alright? He's got enough on his plate restoring the tower without you dragging him into your little conspiracy theories."

Argent smiled. "Incidentally, seeing as we're talking about destroyed towers." Argent tossed the traveller's timepiece over to Ren. "We just got back from Elete."

Ren froze. Mori saw the colour fall from her face. Mori tried to catch her eye, but she wouldn't look at either of them.

"When were you going to tell us what happened?" Argent's voice was cold and quiet.

"Look, it's under control," Ren said.

"Under control?" Argent said. "Two towers on the system have collapsed and you're telling me it's under control? Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious," Ren shot back. "I'm trying to fix it. What else do you think I've been doing all this time?"

"I don't know, Ren!" Argent said. "Nobody knows, not even your own apprentice." He ran a hand though his pale hair and sighed. "Look, I get you're a private person. Everybody has things they want to hide. But you can't lie to us about something like this."

"I haven't lied to anyone about this."

Argent folded his arms. "You told us Arkos was a random occurrence."

"I said I didn't think it would happen here," Ren said.

"So that makes it okay? Maybe what you should have told us was where it's going to happen next. Or how many more you were waiting to collapse before you said anything—"

"Oh, and what would you do about it if I had?" Ren snapped. "When you've done nothing on Dysis for the past three years? All I would have done is give you something else to worry about that you can't control. And that's what you're really scared of, isn't it?"

Argent's eyes widened a fraction. He backed up a step, jaw clenching.

"I get your frustration, but don't paint me as the bad guy here when I've barely had time to do anything about what's going on," Ren said.

Argent's eyes sharpened. "No. You don't put together that level of detail on the towers in just a few months. You've been planning on rebuilding a tower for a long time, haven't you?"

Ren scowled, but didn't respond.

"Go on, which is it? Either you knew Elete had fallen and thought you should keep it a secret from the rest of us, or you knew Arkos was going to collapse and let Mori think that the whole things was his fault—"

Ren's hands clenched. "That's not what happened—"

"So, explain. Because that's what it's looking like right now."

"Ren," Mori said. "Just tell us what's going on. You shouldn't have to deal with something like this alone."

Ren sighed. "It's my problem," Ren said. "You don't need to get involved."

"We're involved now," Mori said. "What happens on the system affects all of us."

Ren snorted. "Sounds like something Argent would say."

"He's right. I don't want anyone else to go through losing a tower like we did," Mori said. "Let us help."

Ren stared at him for a couple of seconds, then the tension dropped from her shoulders. She clasped her fingers and sighed. "Suria's figured out a way to destroy the clock towers."

For once, Argent looked genuinely stunned. "Destroy...the towers?"

Mori glanced between them. "Suria's another clockmaker, right?"

Argent nodded. "I don't understand. Why would Suria — why would anyone want to do that?"

The words glanced off Mori's subconscious, refusing to set in. It was bad enough when he'd thought he'd done it accidentally. But to do something like that deliberately...he shook his head. The thought alone felt taboo.

"I don't know," Ren said.

Argent gave her a disparaging glance. "Really?"

"It's the truth. She brought it up briefly the last time we spoke. I tried to get a hold of her to find out why, but nothing. No word from Suria. Nothing from the traveller." Ren shook her head. "I had no idea what she was doing, how far she'd got. Then the Tower of Clouds collapsed."

Mori tensed. "So you're saying Suria destroyed the tower?" he said, in a small voice. "The defect didn't have anything to do with it?"

Ren looked at him, a look of sympathy crossing her face. "There's nothing you could have done to bring that tower, Mori, she said. "Destroying a tower...it's not something you can do accidentally."

Mori exhaled, his fingers gripping the timepiece in his pocket. The tower wasn't his fault. He thought he'd be relieved, but the news only made him more uncertain. He'd spent so many sleepless nights, sick to the stomach with guilt about collapsing the tower. And now Ren was telling him she'd known this whole time and hadn't said anything?

He shook his head. Something still wasn't adding up.

"So, what next?" Argent said. "You think she'll destroy another one?"

Ren shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard to predict anything when I don't know what her endgame is. That's why I need to get to Aurelios. The only way I'm going to find out anything is if I talk to her myself. But..."

"But you couldn't get past Elete," Argent finished.

Ren nodded.

"Junot said something weird had been happening in the Tower of Spirits," Mori said. "That's what you've been working on, isn't it? While we were on Dysis. You were building something in the tower."

Ren looked surprised. "You're right. I'm trialling a plane distortion tool. Once I get it working, I should be able to get to Aurelios straight from Hesperis."

Mori nodded. "Sounds good. We'll come with you."

"It's far too dangerous. I told you, it's my problem. Stay here and work on the tower."

"What's the point, if Suria's destroying them?" Mori said. "You said rebuilding the tower will take years. This is more important." He stood up, facing her off. "I'm coming with you whether you like it or not."

"I can't argue with you when you've made up your mind, can I?" Ren shook her head with a small smile. "Get yourself ready, then. I'm doing some final tests, then we leave tonight."

Mori slept fitfully for a couple of hours, but couldn't coax himself to relax. He woke up as the sun was just starting to set, casting long shadows over Argent's house. He padded over to the cupboards, found a glass and the mist tea leaves and poured himself a mug of it, hoping it would at least calm his nerves.

He hesitated after pouring the first cup, weighing up the decision, then reached up and took a second cup from the cupboard. He took both with him, wandering the house until he finally found Argent on the balcony, staring out over the street opposite.

"Hey," Mori said.

Argent looked up at him, holding his eyes for a long time.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, flat surprise in his voice. "Did you forget something?"

Mori shifted from foot to foot. He couldn't say for sure what had compelled him to come up and speak to him. "I just...wanted to see if you were okay."

Argent quirked an eyebrow. "You're worried about me?"

"I brought us some tea. I thought you might want something to relax."

"I see." Argent looked at the cup. "What made you think that?"

Mori settled down next to him. He knew a part of him was still latching onto that feeling of being listened to. He was disgusted at himself, just because Argent — a cheap gesture that cost him nothing.

But it felt so nice to be heard for once.

"You were angry at Ren earlier," Mori said. It was more a guess than a statement.

Argent hesitated, then took the mug. "I suppose. Weren't you?"

Mori let out a long sigh. "She let me believe I destroyed the tower for so long. I don't understand why she wouldn't have said something." Mori shook his head. "I don't know. I just feel...like there's something else to it."

"You think so, too?" Argent smiled a little. "Something about the whole thing doesn't add up. But..." he shrugged. "I don't really care about it that much anymore."

Mori looked at him in surprise. "Really?"

"Feels like a lot has happened recently. Junot attacking us for no reason, nearly getting stuck on Elete. And whatever happened to you in the void. And now it turns out Suria's trying to destroy the towers. I don't know." He threaded his fingers together, curling and uncurling them. A soft, breathless laugh escaped his lips. "I don't like to admit it, but Ren was right. Now that I know all this, I don't know what to do about it." His gaze flicked back to the street below. "I never have, not since Bashko died."

Mori stared at him. For a moment, he wondered if this was just another trick to make Mori lower his guard again. He had no idea what to think about Argent anymore.

The door opened and Ren stepped out, shivering in the cold.

"The phase distortion device is finished," shesaid, looking down at them. "It's time to go."