On the day that the Offerings should have occurred, the Luminaries ordered the temple grounds shut down.

They put out a notice everywhere they could reach that the Offerings for today were cancelled. Aside from the Luminaries themselves, no one but the Speakers, the Pillarguards, and a few selected civilians from the government were allowed onto golden starstone. Of them, only High Speakers were allowed within the inner ring of temple grounds.

They simply told the City that there was something greater they had to accomplish, but it didn't stop the curious crowds from gathering at the edges of the golden starstone. The Pillarguards that prevented them from entering were tight-lipped on exactly what this greater good might be, but thanks to a few well-placed rumours, whispers were spreading of a ceremony, one that the Luminaries wanted minimal witnesses for.

Now, standing outside the Starlight Hall, watching the morning skies with an ever-growing sense of dread, Cryo could not make himself release this tension. Last night, it'd pushed him from sleep multiple times as his mind kept screaming: Do better. He couldn't stop himself considering every detail, every breath tight as he knew that somewhere, somehow, he could have come up with something better. There were still so many flaws in the plan, so many variables, so many things he didn't know.

It wasn't in their favour that the crowds were so close to the temple, but Cryo was also realistic about his chances of getting them to disperse so early, when curiosity hadn't yet faded to boredom. If the Serpent were to take the bait today, they needed the crowds as far from the Core Chamber as possible. It was still a concern that the Serpent might want an audience or take hostages, but as Golem had put it, there wasn't much they could do about that with the way Cryo's plan had to work.

The plan itself was simple, but it relied on the Serpent getting a hold of the rumours that Jason had ensured were planted since their introduction to Skinwalker.

The Serpent had to believe that the Luminaries had another aurorastone and could perform the festival ceremony with it. Though they didn't know why, the Serpent had made a huge effort to destroy the aurorastone during the festival, something that would have led to the destruction of the Core Chamber. Olivia had intervened, attuning herself with the auroras instead, and now, the Serpent had taken her, too.

He'd taken her, Cryo had to keep telling himself every time the doubtful expressions of the other Luminaries flashed through his mind. The Serpent had taken Olivia, not killed her. She was too valuable to simply kill. He'd try to turn her, to make her one of his.

And today, Cryo was hoping that at least one of the Serpent's minions--perhaps even Skinwalker itself--would show up and try to stop their little ritual, at which point, they'd capture her.

If anyone passed through DragonFae's invisible ward that encompassed the temple grounds, they'd know. Without crowds to hide in, whoever the Serpent sent would be obvious, or be forced to hide in plain sight as one of the temple staff, all of which knew how to identify themselves, and all of which had one of the tiny, living stones from Golem's body in their shoe. With Golem able to feel each stone, if any found trouble, were replaced, or Golem felt tremors from steps with no stone, any intruders would be known long before they reached the inner courtyards.

There'd been a moment, buried in the depths of their discussions, where Pegasus had pointed out that Golem effectively had a hundred-odd feet currently touching him, and Nereid had elbowed her partner in the side before suggesting they also give the temple staff a decoy-verification item.

Cryo's mind had gone blank watching it, and thinking of it now as he just stood here, staring at the Core Chamber's warming glow in the morning light, he couldn't help but feel like he should be doing something else. Something more useful.

His claws tightened on his arm. I swear to the stars that I haven't given up on you, Banshee.

"Cryo?" said Nereid, walking up behind him.

Cryo looked at her and offered a small smile when he noticed the spines of her fins pulled together. He had to have confidence, or at least, he had to act like it. It'd taken him an hour to simple convince the others that there was a point to planning something this big, that it was worth the shot. Last time the Luminaries had made a plan like this, Hydra and Centaur had gone Dark. He understood DragonFae and Golem's wariness, but that didn't mean he'd accepted it. In the end, he was fairly sure they'd only agreed because they understood he would act, with or without their support.

"Nereid," he said, inclining his head towards her and unfolding his arms. He made an effort to relax his wings, letting them fall away from his body. "What can I assist you with?"

"DragonFae says that we're ready to start," Nereid said quietly. Her fins flared, twitching and curling like they did when she was thinking, shaking off the droplets of water that formed on them. Of all the Luminaries, she surprised him the most. For someone so withdrawn, she had a deep-set confidence in everything she said or did. "I keep feeling that I've forgotten something, though."

"Is Pegasus in position?" asked Cryo. Nereid nodded. "I'm assuming DragonFae and Golem have their tasks well under control. Have the High Speakers been equipped and briefed?"

"They have," said Nereid. "The Pillarguards are instructed to stay in groups of three and keep everyone away from the inner ring. I made those other adjustments I told you about last night too, just to make sure this goes as well as we can hope for."

"If Skinwalker or any of the Serpent's other minions attempt to infiltrate us today, we'll know about it before they get here," said Cryo. "Of course, this is assuming that the Serpent doesn't simply decide rushing at us is the fastest way to solve it."

"If you're right about the Serpent's aurorastone thing, he doesn't gain much by rushing us," said Nereid, scrunching her nose. "If he does, we intercept. Honestly I've thought this through a million ways, but there's always one detail that goes wrong on these things."

"We've covered as much as we possibly could," said Cryo. He paused for a moment, searching for something else to say, then exhaled. He was just delaying now. Shoving down the doubts that were creeping over him, he set his posture straight. "Give Pegasus the signal, and tell DragonFae to begin."

Nereid gave a quick nod before turning back inside, taking two steps, and turning back to Cryo. She stepped closer to him than she'd been before and put a hand on his arm, staring up at him with clear, blue eyes.

"We're gonna get her back, Cryo," she said quietly. "I don't care how convoluted the plan we need to get her back has to get, we're going to find her. She'd do the same for any of us."

"I know, Nere," said Cryo. "Thank you."

With that, Nereid pressed her lips together and scuttled off back into the Starlight Hall, leaving a trail of water behind her. Cryo watched her until she disappeared up the stairs, then turned himself back to the Core Chamber and strode out into the open.

He flared his wings, and in a burst of icy air, launched himself into the skies.

Cryo didn't go far. He made a tight circle of the Core Chamber first before expanding his route to trace the inner ring of temple buildings from the air, high enough so that he could see the rooftops of the outer ring while still ensuring he had a decent view of the people on the ground below.

It was eerie, seeing the temple grounds with no one on it. On a regular day, the outer courtyards should have been speckled with people. There should have been teaching groups, musical groups, Speakers going about their duties and Pillarguards patrolling the grounds. On an Offering day, there should have been a crowd of people so thick that he couldn't see the starstone beneath gathering outside the Starlight Hall.

All of it had only changed because Cryo had asked it.

Cryo continued to circle the grounds, attempting to find something calm about the beats of his wings and the air around him, but it felt wrong to even try. It wasn't long after he'd resigned himself to overthinking every part of the plan that Pegasus joined him in patrolling the air. The Cloud Luminary didn't fly as high or as steadily as Cryo did, but every little mishap, every uncertain wingbeat or temporary touch-down on a rooftop was leading up to Pegasus's potential signal. If Golem detected something wrong, Nereid signalled Pegasus who would 'crash' beside it, giving Cryo the perfect excuse to investigate.

There were at least seven other threads of planning similar to that, all of which today could branch into. It depended entirely on what the Serpent chose to do next.

If he decided to show up at all.

Cryo's patrol continued, plagued with a million thoughts and other improvements that were hours too late to matter as DragonFae, Golem, and Nereid left the Starlight Hall and headed towards the Core Chamber.

DragonFae held a box carved of silver starstone in her hands as she floated forward on her swing of enchanted fabric, flanked by Golem and Nereid. Her violet aura was bright enough to bathe them both in a bright light, a sure sign that she had a significant amount of magic drawn and ready to use. When a DragonFae glowed like this, if you were an enemy, you stayed away until she didn't--unless, of course, you suspected she were about to cast a spell that you didn't want her to.

Cryo watched as the trio crossed the inner courtyard and reached the Core Chamber's door quickly. There, Golem and Nereid stood guard as DragonFae lowered herself to the ground and unpacked the box, all things a DragonFae could typically use in a ritual, plus a few extra.

Cryo glanced at Pegasus: still no fall, no signal that they knew anything was wrong. On the ground, DragonFae had begun setting out the ritual items for the box, her glow increasing even further. Stall for time, Cryo had told them. As much as you can without being obvious about it. Anything to make sure that if the Serpent were to act, he had a chance to do it.

Come on, thought Cryo. Take the bait.

And then, by the gates of the Dreltao Skyshrine, Pegasus crashed.

Even if Cryo hadn't been looking for it, he'd have noticed. It was spectacular, even for Pegasus, with a loud boom that sounded similar to when Pegasus tried to use his air currents with a little too much enthusiasm.

Cryo forced himself to hesitate for a moment in the air, looking back at DragonFae like he was deciding what to do, before he swooped down. He landed in a run, taking three, clawed steps towards where Pegasus was picking himself up off the starstone before managing to come to a halt.

The words they'd decided on came easily to Cryo's mouth. "What happened? Were you attacked?"

"Let's just say that I was and save myself the embarrassment," said Pegasus with a sheepish grin.

Cryo managed an exasperated, stressed sigh, something that was a lot easier than it'd been two weeks ago. He looked to the nearby Pillarguards and addressed them. "I apologise if Pegasus surprised you. Is everything clear here?"

The three Pillarguards saluted, using the opposite arm as per the signal. "Yes, Frost of Skypillar."

Cryo kept the frown off his face. Nothing was amiss here, at least with the Pillarguards, but there were two Speakers in the background, nervously huddled together but apparently curious to see what was going on. He needed a moment to watch them, and Pegasus gave it to him.

Pegasus stumbled again, one of his wings going out awkwardly to the side like it was pulling him off balance. As he staggered around on his hooves, he talked, flapping every so often. "Awh, man. I think I landed on my wing funny. Does it look broken to anyone? I swear it never transformed the same again after that Manifested got to it. I can't tell anymore. All these feathers look the same. Why Skypillar decided feathers were a good idea I'll never know, these damn things don't stay clean!"

Halfway through it, Cryo spotted a third Speaker, standing behind the other two, as she turned to leave. Until she'd moved, she'd blended in with the shadows on the wall incredibly wall, almost too well.

"Speakers," said Cryo, catching the third one in his question before she left. "What are your passwords?"

The Breathspeaker touched her throat, the Flamespeaker interlocked his fingers, and the third Speaker--the Shadowspeaker--placed her hands facing palm-outwards on either side of her mouth.

"Thank you," said Cryo, managing a small incline of his head as his gut twisted in on itself. "I would ask that--"

"Cryo?" said Pegasus, stomping his hoof against the ground. He tucked his wings and arms in, like he were trying to protect his chest. "Something feels weird, kinda like the air just went off."

"Like nausea?"

"I guess?"

"Serpent aura," said Cryo, holding back a curse. "Can you tell where it is?"

"Cryophoenix," said the Shadowspeaker quickly. "You warned us of imposters. A few minutes ago, did you tell me to deliver a message to the High Speaker at the Starlight Hall?"

"No, I didn't," said Cryo, lifting his wings. "Which means someone else is here."

Cryo shot into the air and above the rooftops of the temple buildings. It'd only been a minute since he'd stopped his patrol, but it'd been a minute too long.

Down by the Core Chamber, Cryo saw himself standing among DragonFae, Golem, and Nereid.

Nereid's missing detail.

Skinwalker needed to touch someone to wear their skin. She'd touched Cryo on their last encounter, and Cryo, who'd dimmed in the meantime, had forgotten that Skinwalker might not have.

Cryo shot down towards them on a stream of icy wind, pulling his wings in tight. He wasn't sure how Skinwalker had bluffed them or how she'd made them overlook the detail of her inability to fly when she answered the question for him.

The other Cryo flew, taking off towards Cevinari, up and over the Core Chamber.

Mid-air, Cryo flared his wings to slow himself down. The icy winds that had thrust him forward now swept past him, trying to drag him to the ground. Frantic flaps of his wings kept him airborne as the winds hit the ground and exploded into a fine-powdered snow around the trio of Luminaries below.

All three of them shouted in surprise, and Cryo only hesitated long enough to gather the snow with a long, sweeping gesture of his arm and shout one word.

"Skinwalker!"

The snow swirled ready, and Cryo flung it skyward. It put him level with the other Cryo in an instant, at which point, Cryo released his icy slipstream back to nature and focused his energy on speeding forward, right as the other Cryo began to drop altitude and aim for the rooftops of the temple's outer ring of buildings.

Some ten metres above the rooftop, Skinwalker shifted from Cryo to Banshee, landing on the roof like she'd just come out of a jump. She took a few stumbled steps, glancing back over her shoulder before sprinting and leaping for the civilian buildings outside of the golden starstone.

This shouldn't be possible, some thought in the back of Cryo's mind kept saying. How do these Manifested Luminaries have such power?

Cryo swooped over the outer ring of buildings, and was surprised to find that Skinwalker's Banshee had stopped on her opposite rooftop.

"Cryo, please!" she screamed at him with Banshee's voice. "We don't have to it this way!"

Steeling himself, Cryo called his frost and launched it straight at her. The Banshee dodged it, throwing herself to the side and out of his way as Cryo's momentum sped him past her position.

"We're partners!" she continued as Cryo turned and readied a second blast of frost, this time from a shorter distance. The Banshee that Skinwalker had chosen wasn't uninjured. Her visor was cracked and her arm soaked in blood, but it was a far cry from the last Banshee she'd shown him that had made his heart quiver. "Listen to me! What they're doing, it's not right! People are going to get hurt!"

Cryo hesitated for a moment as he tried to grasp her angle. Why stop? Why make herself vulnerable? Why shift into Banshee and yell these things at him, when he knew she couldn't be real?

Then he remembered the crowd.

Hundreds upon hundreds of people, crowding the streets below, all of them curious as to what had been so important that the Offerings were cancelled. All of them hoping for an answer, for a clue.

And the Serpent was giving them one.

"Cryo?" called the Banshee again. "You keep saying that something is wrong with me, but it's not! If I can stand on that golden starstone, if I can still transform, then--"

"You are not my partner, imposter," said Cryo, throwing his voice across the crowd. "You are a Manifested, sent by the Other to destroy this City's faith in the true Shadow of Skypillar."

"I haven't Manifested!" said Banshee. There was a desperate note in her voice that would have been hard to ignore, had her face, well out of sight of the crowds below, not worn a satisfied smirk. "The Serpent isn't bad! I went to him! I asked him to show me the truth that this City keeps hiding from us! Manifested, the Other--we can fix all of it right now if you just trust me!"

She dodged another two blasts of frost as she spoke.

"Cryo, please, I--aah!"

The third caught her on the ankle. It anchored her as she tried to leap, her own movement the same thing that slammed her down onto the rooftop.

"Surrender, Manifested," said Cryo, landing on the rooftop beside her. He raised a hand, letting the ice around her ankle creep up to her knee. "Let me help you."

"I'm not giving you the aurorastone!" said Banshee. Cryo hardened his resolve with a layer of frost and sent another few bolts of ice at her to lock her down, but she deflected them all with ease and kept talking. "If you complete that ritual, this City is doomed! No one will be safe from the Manifested, not even us! How do you think the first civilisation died out? We're making the same mistakes they did!"

Skinwalker shifted again, its base form with its furs, endless black mask and antlers of white, blood-tipped bone surfacing just long enough for her legs to swell and shatter Cryo's ice. Before he could react, Skinwalker pushed itself up onto its long, spindly arms, shifted back to Banshee, and bolted across the Cevinari rooftops.

Cryo took after it.

*+*+*+* 

A/N - I'm honestly not happy with this chapter, but it was at the point where I just sorta had to leave it and move on. Sorry about that <3 

Next week: Prepare the duct tape.

Also! Kiba made a Deviantart group for all the stuff related to things I write, if this intrigues you, we now have this: https://colourverse.deviantart.com