Heilin's court is as impressive the second time as it is the first.

Iris and I stand below her, bowing low as we can tilt our heads forwards, although Iris's cold eyes harden with emotion I don't understand, dangerous and sharply defiant.

"You've done well. I'd expect no less from the heroes of Hope and Determination." Heilin tells us with a wave of her tail. "For your bravery, you are hereby allowed free reign of the castle."

"Really." Iris says. It's not resentful, despite the lack of enthusiasm in her tone, more... testing.

"Yes," Heilin responds. The Auspicia folds her wings. "Well, then. That would be all."

"Should we go?" I ask.

"That might be for the best."

I can almost hear her- and by her, I mean Iris and the Auspicia- breathe out a sigh of relief as we finally leave. The doors slam shut behind us, the metal so close that it almost brushes my tail, and my ears twitch upwards with a startled jolt.

"I guess we're free now." I say, which is good, because Leto and Spira are nowhere to be found

"That would be the original purpose of the mission. They needed not a test of our abilities, but rather an excuse for the change in policy." Iris says, with a dismissive flick of the tail. "Was that not obvious from the beginning?"

"No," I say, then add, "Aren't you happy?"

"I want to go outside." Iris says.

We wander the hallways together, meandering past Sentients. Iris's methodical step slows to my pace, then a little slower than that, so I'm forced to lead. She doesn't say a word as she does it, or even meet my eyes, but when I stop altogether, so does she.

Freedom is a dangerous thing.

"We could go to the hall and get food," I offer.

"Are you hungry?" she asks.

I shake my head. To think I once would have gone on daring suicide missions for food that wasn't pellets or suspicious remnants of others I once knew, and here I am, passing up the opportunity to eat at a buffet of foods we once considered myth and baseless fancy. I taste guilt on my tongue and feel it at the pit of my stomach, but it's not enough to boost my appetite. If anything, I've completely lost any will I had to eat anything.

Immediately, our minds both jump to the room- I can feel it- with its fake sunlight and perfect replication of places we don't know. It's tempting, but not very.

"We don't have to go back," I say.

"Good. I don't want to. Let's sleep in the library, for all I care." Iris responds.

We exchange a glance, and then, wordlessly, head onto the library. This is one of the few paths we know well enough to take ourselves. Iris presses close to me as the crowd ebbs from the halls. It's usually a defensive move, but there's no one to fight here.

I think she knows.

Avery's friend with the four big wings and the angry one (Merl, I think? Now that I say it that feels wrong.) with the fish tail and dark, scar-like notches on her nose and beneath her eyes pass by at a clip, snapping at each other.

"Terrible idea! Absolutely awful idea." yells the four-winged Canira.

"If it was such an issue, maybe you should have told me about it at some point over the last few months instead." yells back the fish tailed one. (It's definitely not Merl, but now seems like a bad time to ask her name.)

"I didn't want to deal with you."

"And that's my problem how?"

"Maybe you should've asked me, fish-face."

"Featherbrain!"

They continue bickering as they pass down the hall and out of sight, away from the wood-filled heart and into the stone underbelly of the castle.

"We are not talking with them." Iris decides for the both of us.

"Good call," I say, watching them go. "But then who do we talk with? We'll have to ask someone in the library."

Iris huffed, marking the matter as inconsequential, and turned right towards the library where the two Canira had gone left towards the stairs. The library doors with their pull ropes and grand, metal-plated frames were intimidating, but Iris brushes them aside as well without a second thought. My mouth is agape as I enter- the endless floors and shelves are incredible, even impossible. Most of the books of interest are on the vast, maze-like first floor, while the top and bottom floors are records and other 'old stuff'. It stands in stark contrast to the Factory, where the moment before the moment you exist in disappears into thin air. Time is something you carry inside of you.

The Canis at the front desk looks our way. Her pelt is like dust, with silver streaks that my mind informs me should indicate something, and she wears huge metal frames on her face, though I'm not sure what purpose they could possibly serve. She dips her head when she sees us, respectfully, and I feel something rise inside of me. "How may I serve you, honored virtues?" she asks.

"Oh- no need for that. I- we- thought we could talk to someone." I say.

"Yes- erm, please, no sparking though." Bells skitters up onto the desk by jumping over several books and leapt up onto her hindlegs, her tiny front claws tapping together. I remember Bells because her voice kind of sounds like the bells scattered about the castle, for decoration.

"High and bright," as Iris would say.

My ears perk at her warning- I hadn't noticed my back was heating at all. "I don't really know how to stop." I say.

"Verhamera's tails," Bells murmurs, looking to Maple. "He's going to burn down the library."

Books burn?

"Don't be so hard on him. He's never received proper training," Maple says, moving several books around the room with ease as she speaks with us. "We have safeguards to detect smoke and respond appropriately. I'm sure he won't be too much of an issue. Now, what was your inquiry?"

"Inquiry," Iris repeats. "We want to know about Canira breeds. There were many that looked like Torch."

Maple and Bells exchange a look. Bell jumps down her stack of books and towards the back of the library, while the chubby avian who I've seen frequenting the castle emerges from behind a shelf. Her feathers ruffle up as she sees us. "Woah! It's the Hope and Determination Virtues!"

Iris's tail twitches with irritation. "Yes. We are."

"What are you here for?" her eyes are wide. "Could I help?"

"They're looking for information on their breeds. Bells was on it."

"Bells can't lift the Canira Directory. She couldn't even lift the Lightning Sub-directory." Quill squawks. "Not that Bells isn't good at her job, I mean, I have nothing against- geez, let me just bring them over there. Come on, guys!"

Iris and I follow her into the back, beneath the cover of the higher levels, and into an area where the books grow wider and wider. Some have many tomes with a single cover image, and these collections take up entire shelves. We pause before an especially wide and tall shelf that holds nine volumes, each of which have the same lettering and a small squiggle at the bottom which strikes me as familiar, though not in the same way that the letters do.

Quill takes the first one out with her talon. "Here we are- Torch, your basis is really obvious, so we'll search for you first. This is fire."

"Oh." I say. "Was I supposed to know that?"

Quill tilts her head. "I mean... I don't suppose it's too much to ask that the Obsidians taught you how to read, is it?"

"It is." Iris glares.

"That's not a problem!" Quill chirps. "There are lots of pictures." She flips the book open, and a diagram of a fluffy, all-red Canira greets us. It doesn't have the tan patches of the desert Canira, nor their mottled spots, and flames seem to blaze about its paws. Quill continues to flip, but most of the Canira are just a little off. I recognize the defiance in their stare, the upwards turn of their heads, glowing with radiance and power, as well as their thick paws and well-muscled bodies, but the markings and sometimes the body shapes are all wrong. Strange breeds with a coat of black fur fused into scales or glowing organs pass us by, and I keep shaking my head.

At last, I ask, "Do you have the desert breeds in here? The ones we talked to while we were on our mission?"

Quill nods. With one taloned hand, she carefully flips towards the front, and more familiar breeds appear. Most are differentiated only by the tuft locations or fur and marking patterns, along with a few abilities, but when we fall upon the Pyre Canira, I say, "That." I press my paw to the page.

"They don't have your tail, though. In fact, none of the breeds we've seen have."

I flick my tail. It's large, almost cumbersome, with wrapped fur and a large tuft like the ones Iris's ears hold at the end. I can set it ablaze, along with my head, as I did in the last fight at the Factory, but does it ever take it out of me. "Maybe that's just me." I say.

Quill shuts the book. "Fair. Iris?"

Iris nods, staring past the bookcase.

Quill slides the fire volume away and pulls out another, similar in thickness, though this one is heavily bookmarked. There's a gem inlaid into the cover, blue as Iris's eyes, though a deeper shade, like the sky in our dreams. You're the Hope Virtue- so you should be light basis. It's the only way you could hold that kind of elemental energy, since the Hope alignment is correlated with the light basis. One complements the other."

I wonder if Iris is just nodding along, too, because I only half understand what she's saying. Are all nine elements correlated like this? "What's fire associated with?"

"Well, Determination, duh." Quill chatters.

The Light Canira are usually white or gold in coloration, and though they carry the fire-based Canira's upturned snouts, they appear almost haughty about it. They are incredibly clean, almost glistening, and exceptionally bright. Many have gems on their bodies, though never on their ears, like Quill has on her tiny tufts (are those ears?). A few are dark in coloration, but only two of those breeds have wings, and neither look a thing like Iris. None of them mention powers that sound anything like hers.

"Okay, apparently it's not the only way you can store that much elemental energy." Quill closes that and takes out two more volumes, one of a darker hue than the others and the other a significantly thicker one than the others we've reviewed. "There's dark and air, which I'm just basing off your appearance."

"Which are?" Iris asks.

"Oh! Steadfastness and free-spiritedness, but you definitely have to have a light alignment, so I guess it doesn't matter as much? Basis is more powers, and alignment is more personality. Even then, I don't know how you'd get an alignment, because they come from heartlines. You know, reincarnations... how could the Obsidians... oh, never mind." Quill opens the book, and Iris gives me a quick glare. It's not malicious, in fact, she looks a little sad, but I don't know what to tell her or how to help her.

It is the worst sensation in the world.

She has the body of the dark-based Canira, at least most of them. They are primarily lithe, like her, and many have aura and energy powers. They're not all drawn in neutral positions, like the last two books, instead they seem to leap off the page. Many are snarling or have their claws out, with vicious grins. More have royal armor on. "They're guards," Quill explains. "See, dark-based Canira have this urge to protect something. Usually, it ends up being a someone, so they make great soldiers. There are lots of reports of dark-based Canira diving in front of those they trust to take attacks and even lethal blows for them."

The idea shakes me, and at once I hope, selfishly, that Iris is anything else, because I can't think of anything worse than her dying for me. "But the basis effects powers, not personality." Iris responds.

"True, but if you're more powerful, it's likely because the basis and alignment match. As such, it develops a kind of... culture around these values. The only notable contradiction I can think of is Naturals, who are supposed to be adaptability, but they're the stubbornest Canira there are! Greater farmers and forragers, though. Just don't expect them to innovate."

"Tsk. Not much here, anyways." Iris says, although there have been several candidates. She slams it shut herself, nearly trapping Quill's talons inside.

The Canira who are dark enough to resemble her in the air-based Canira are either one of the few wingless breeds or they're all dark, with leathery wings and almost furless bodies. None of them look like her in the least and she grimaces with frustration. "Never mind," Iris says.

"I guess we could check them all, but I don't know what to tell you. I'm not a Canira breed expert. In fact, my areas of expertise are history and fiction. Even then, I can tell you those ear tufts you have are unique, and you're unlikely to find a breed with the opalescent fur you possess in your throat and ear tufts. Anyways, it doesn't matter, really. We already know what you two are, and we're in the wrong section for that."

"What do you mean?" Iris asks.

Quill tries to smile, though her beak twists the gesture. "Come with me."

She leaves the section of large books and enters another, and continues past that. She leads us into the heart of the maze, where the other floors fall behind us and we enter another opening, revealing a similar hole in every floor above, which seem to go up forever. Quill plucks a book off of one of the nearest shelves, an old, ragged story dressed in a brown material, and she drops it to the ground. Its pages fly open. The pictures are similar to those at the Font, simplistic but with a conviction and passion to every line. She turns pages with her tail to where a single piece of paper lies, which she pulls out. The text is minute, but the pictures are large, and they show a single red flame, encased within a silver lining, around which a thousand yellow lines exude.

"What's that?" asks Iris.

"That's you two, of course!" Quill says. "In the abstract. It's your story, or at least, the most accurate historical version of it. The most anyone could find, and it's been collected across worlds."

"It looks like the sun." I say.

"In most universes, that's what you are. The Luminous Duo are always linked to creation myths of the sun. They are two who shine so brightly that they could even illuminate the endless void of night and space, two destined to meet and change the fate of worlds. One can not exist without the other. Heat and light."

"You can create light without heat," Iris argues.

"Most civilizations didn't know that. All they had was this myth, and to some extent, they were right. Perhaps not in the way they expected to be, but they were. Stories are powerful. They unite worlds, shape entire empires, change the way we look at the world. Most fantasies have at least a grain of truth to them." Quill says, "And then, you two are definitely proof of that. Most of Dreamland's greatest heroes were foretold in myth."

"What are we really, though?" Iris asks.

"What do you mean?"

Iris stands. "In the flesh. I need to know what I am."

"I'm sorry about your breed, I swear I really don't know. I could check the other volumes, but I doubt they'll be too conclusive." Quill chirps.

"No. What are we. Obsidians couldn't create Canira. If Torch was some miracle, I wasn't part of it." she continues, "I was made for a purpose. The Obsidians do not do anything by accident."

"We might not have those answers."

"Someone has to!" Iris growls, but then, as if she'd been hit, her expression completely shifts. Her snout wrinkles, as if she'd tasted something unpleasant, and her face returns to her bored, slightly intimidating resting face. It's as if something else tried to break through her, something she'd rapidly pressed down.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Foolish inquiry." Iris says. "I think... I think I might already know."

"Well?" Quill says.

"I'm something new," Iris says. "Whatever that implies, I think I'm ready for it."

It's beautiful. It also sounds like nothing Iris would say.

"Oh! That's great! Hopefully I helped," Quill says, oblivious. "Any other questions? It's been really nice hanging out with you."

"Yes. What's that, on your ear? I can hear it," Iris says, "It shimmers like a bell."

Quill tilts her head slightly. There are a few crystals there, poking out of the side of her head, next to a tiny tuft that emerges where ears might be on a Canira or Canis. I try to lift my ears towards the crystal, but I can't hear a thing coming from it or into it. "Are you sure?" I ask. "It kind of sounds like a rock to me."

"You might be hearing the signal from the Synergism. Can you hear me thinking right now?"

Can you hear me, Iris? If so, are you okay in there? I wonder if she can read my body language, at least, like she usually does, but right now she's not even looking at me.

Iris nods. "Vaguely. Is it exclusive to your species?"

"No. In fact, most griffins don't have one. Technically, we're not native to this world, but that's a story for another day. See, the crystal connects me to the Synergism, which is a network most Evelscan natives are tuned into. Think of it like... a huge neural network."

I start back, alarmed. "You mean like the Obsidians?!"

"No! Er, well, I don't think so. Truthfully no one knows that much about the Obsidians. The Synergism is far from a force of ill, though. By connecting to each other and nodes around us, made of Evelscan crystal, we can truly know each other and our environment. Sort of. Admittedly, when I'm all the way out here, far from it? I get a little lonely." Quill says, fidgeting. "Like missing an eye, maybe both."

"Why did you leave?" I ask.

"Sweep. She's Evelscan, like I am, and she was one of their top Defenders. In fact, she had a perfect track record, until... well, it was the kind of catastrophe no one could have prevented and no one could have saved everyone from. She barely escaped with her four wings, but one of the other Defenders lost their mate in there. Never forgave Sweep for not saving him over the other civilians. After that, rumors began travelling across the Synergism, and compounded with Sweep's own guilt, eventually there was a turning point and she hacked the crystal off herself. She made herself a foreigner in her own nation, and the public outcry was so great that Athena had to send her here. Supposedly, it's diplomacy, but she's not going back." Quill clicked her beak. "I came with her. Originally, as a guard, but moreso as a friend."

I nod. "You two must be close."

"Ha, not as close as a certain two Canira I know..." Quill says, with a knowing glance at us.

Iris gets to her paws, wordlessly.

I follow her, staggering upwards, and we keep a small distance between us, this time. Her eyes are still vacant, but her tail is half tucked. I'm just thinking that I haven't seen Iris emote, not like this, but there's nothing I can find to say to her.

"Thank you," I tell Quill.

Iris nods, and we wind back through the book maze together, going nowhere fast. She stands a few steps ahead of me, looking up.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"I'm fine." she responds.

"If you weren't, would you tell me?"

"You would know."

"Whatever you are," I say, "You're my friend. Doesn't that count for something?"

"Everything. But it's not about that." she responds. "If I do find answers, and the answers aren't what I want, the truth could put you in trouble just by being associated with me."

"What could you possibly be that's so dangerous that I'd be in trouble just by knowing you?" I ask, astounded.

"A weapon."

She continues, wordlessly drifting through the library, and I find that I don't want to know all the answers, either. 

(A/N: whew first late chapter of the julycation

Sorry, y'all. I'm no less invested in TSBS than my other two works but not only is it the most demanding of my works, with enormous narrative arcs and long chapters, but it's also the one with the least demand. Combine that with how hard it is to get in and out of "the zone" while writing it and understandably these take much longer than my other chapters to write, sometimes upwards of 2-3 hours while WTRB stays at a solid 1 and Deja Vu averages 1.5. As such, if anything is ever going to be delayed, it'll be this book.

Regardless I had a lot of fun with this one. Anyone who can guess Iris's purpose is probably psychic because it's been set up a little... but not much... as of yet. However, there are hints in the book (and other books!) as to what the Obsidians made her out of- and it correlates with her Hope virtue. Anyone who can guess will legitimately get a dedication and my eternal admiration.)