“You’ve… got to be kidding,” Seena said after long seconds of silence from the group.

  “Wish I was,” Hiral said. “Again, I could be wrong, but it… fits. In an odd, ugly sort of way.”

  “Everything…” Seeyela said. “Everything we’ve been through. Everything that’s happened. From the Enemy taking over our world and hunting us, to Vorinal breaking free and nearly destroying Fallen Reach. Not even talking about the resets and the thousands of years of people hiding away.

  “All so they could get high?”

  “The Seeker’s hypothesis has a greater than sixty-seven-percent chance of being true,” the PIMP construct said. “Previous versions of my system existing in overlayed—but deleted—strata would explain why my dungeon subroutine chose the particular lost dungeons it did. Also, why Tomorrow would build the Ascender’s Tower to contain those very specific stories.

  “It would also explain my creators’ focus on Builders, and their role in Fallen Reach and its rise. Not to mention my own drive to create an Emperor Candidate who could utilize the runes. Checking my logs against Tomorrow’s system and the number she was monitoring…”

  “The one she connected to the return of the Raze?” Seena said. “That we’re assuming is runic energy.”

  “Correct,” the construct said. “At my creation and the initial rise of Fallen Reach, the number shows a slight spike. With the Builder island crashing, and runes falling out of use, the numbers plateaued again after that. Until the Seeker became active.

  “Upon your ascent, the numbers began climbing noticeably again. I believe you—or other Builders, were they present—would act as filters to purify the energy. At your current power, absorption, and return, you more than make up for the loss of an island full of Low-Rank individuals.”

  “Do the runes want to be found?” Romin said to Hiral. “You always say that. But, what if the Raze made us believe they wanted to be found?”

  “A bit of both, I think,” Hiral said. “Now. It really does feel like they want to escape, to be free. Maybe because part of them is trapped here by the Raze, or because it’s part of a cycle that’s happened over and over again before getting reset. Either way, they want out. I also think you’re probably right in that something may have been added to make us want to find them.”

  “So, what?” Laseen said. “I doubt it’s as simple as killing all off all the rune users—no offense, boy—and hoping the Raze will leave us alone.”

  “PIMP,” Hiral said. “Did the numbers completely even off, or was there still a gradual climb in the runic energy? Before I got my PIM, I mean.”

  “Assessing,” the construct said. “Upon closer inspection, the number continued to rise slowly over time.”

  “The Enemy,” Hiral said. “Amin Thett said they were on Genesis on safari, but there has to be more to it than that. The Raze has to get something out of it to send them there. Hells, to even let them go there. They must process runic energy like I do.”

  “They’re the back-up plan,” Seena said.

  “At least one of them,” Hiral said. “Because the Black Gates got temporarily—and partially—closed off by the guardians, more squids couldn’t come through, so the energy growth slowed. Left alone though, they’ll increase the purity of the energy on Genesis until the Raze are ready to come for the harvest.”

  “I still can’t believe it,” Seeyela said. “All our problems are because of that?”

  “What’s the big deal?” Yanily said. “We knew there had to be a reason for them doing what they are, what does it really matter what that reason is? Would you rather it was a grab for ultimate power? A move to change their past?

  “Hells, they could’ve been after the perfect sammich recipe, and it wouldn’t change anything. They have a goal that is bad for us. We’re here to stop that, and make it so they can’t ever do it again. Nothing’s different.”

  Everybody looked at the spearman sitting against the wall, Tempest Roar across his lap.

  “He’s right,” Hiral said. “As usual. It doesn’t change what we’re here to do. In a way, it actually helps us.”

  Seeyela ran a hand back across her head before she spoke. “You’re both right. Before, we had no target—no plan, really—besides killing the Raze. That clearly didn’t work.”

  “Hey,” Romin said. “The drug… is that why the Raze seemed to stop sometimes? Like they weren’t really all there?”

  “They did kind of just… stand around sometimes,” Seena admitted. “When they weren’t kicking me in the face.”

  “What’s the new plan now?” Wule asked, healing energy spreading around him to help everybody recover.

  “The Heart of the City?” Seena said, looking at Hiral. “That has to be how they were reforming constantly, right? We get you to it, you do your thing, then we get the buff instead of them.”

  Hiral shook his head. “I don’t think we want the buff this time.”

  “Because of the drug?” Seeyela said. “But, would it even affect us? You were the only one who went a little loopy and head-patty.”

  “Head-patty…?” Wule said.

  “Let’s not talk about that,” Hiral said. “But, yes, the drug is the problem. You all may not have been influenced by the passive energy, but the Heart connects directly to you.”

  “Boy’s right,” Laseen said. “It’d be like having an IV straight to your vein, pumping that stuff into you.”

  “What’s an ivy?” Yanily said. “One of Seena’s abilities?”

  “Something like that,” Laseen cackled. “We don’t want to give it the direct connection. Sure, we might get a power bump from it, but more likely it’ll be us standing around looking glassy-eyed.”

  “If we can instantly recover from any damage we take, would it even matter?” Romin said.

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  “The Heart of the City didn’t have that ability back in the dungeon,” Seena said. “Could be something the Raze can do themselves. Weren’t we fighting just the giant crystal constructs, basically? Not the actual people within.”

  “They could do it too,” Yanily said. “The bodies inside, I mean.”

  “What?” Seena said.

  “I put a hole straight through the chest of one of them with a Skyfall,” Yanily said. “I guarantee I hit the body hiding inside. Turned it into a fine red mist. By the time I hit the ground and turned to follow up with a Dragon Breath, the hole was all filled up again. Complete with the guy curled up like he was tucked under his favorite blanket inside.”

  “So, it’s not just the constructs that have the ability to instantly repair themselves like nothing happened,” Seeyela groaned. “That was annoying enough as it was.”

  “Cutting off their buff from the Heart of the City should help that,” Left said. “An ability that powerful has to have a cost. One they won’t be able to keep up with if we keep pushing.”

  “Can we keep up with however long it takes to wear them down?” Seena said the question everybody was thinking, but nobody wanted to ask.

  “You won’t be alone next time,” Nivian said. “Seeyela, I’m assuming you can take us with you through your portal?”

  “It’ll cost me, but, yeah,” Seeyela said.

  “We should probably pick up Ilrolik’s group when it’s time as well,” Wule said. “Sounds like it’s a bit of a numbers game, so the more we have on our side, the better.”

  “There’s something… else,” Hiral said.

  “What?” Seena said.

  “I don’t know, and that’s the problem,” Hiral said. “I don’t know if it’s actually the Raze who have the ability to reset things. Remember, we were getting bounced back to something like a starting point almost constantly. No matter where we moved or how fast, it could drag us back. Or turn us around to go the opposite direction. They weren’t the same effect, exactly, but the result was almost the same.

  “We all had a connection of some kind that was moving us. The only time I saw it fail was when Left’s Bond of the Hidden Prince used Moonlit Murder. The tendril of connection coming from somewhere below us couldn’t keep up with the ability. Not its speed, but the fact all the crows and none of the crows were possible targets at the same time.

  “Me? No matter how fast I moved, I couldn’t get away from it. And I couldn’t break it, even with the Rune of Separation.”

  “Unfettered protected me,” Seeyela said. “But it felt like something was reaching for the back of my neck the entire time.”

  “You said the connection came from somewhere below where we were fighting?” Left said, waiting for Hiral to nod. “That makes it sound like it is indeed an ability granted by the Heart of the City. Perhaps something it developed over a long period of time. Or, something that wasn’t shared by the dungeon recreations of it.”

  “The Raze wouldn’t want all their secrets out in the open like dirty laundry,” Laseen said.

  “Makes me wonder why the Heart of the City—if it’s that important—was included in the dungeon at all,” Nivian said. “If that’s their secret, shouldn’t they have kept it hidden? With it being in the dungeon, they’ve basically painted a target on it.”

  “Maybe they couldn’t control things quite so finely?” Hiral offered. “They created the dungeon Genesis was in to farm runic-energy drugs, and set it to repeat a certain period over and over. There must be a reason for that…

  “Ah.”

  “Aaaaand he figured something out,” Yanily said.

  “Out with it before Seeyela has to ask,” Seena said.

  “Sorry, ordering my thoughts,” Hiral said with a cough into his hand. “The cycle on Genesis, there has to be a reason it’s telling the same story over and over, even if there are slight variations to it, right?”

  “With you so far,” Seena said, understanding her role to provide an extra second or two for him to align what he was going to say. She really was the best, and even without the drug in his system, there was a very strong urge to pat her head. He resisted. Barely.

  “Part of me thought it was about the story,” Hiral said. “The rise and fall of the Fallen, or maybe Fallen Reach, or this party that became the Raze. But, really looking at it, none of that makes sense. What’s important about the story? And, especially, taking Nivian’s comment into account. This could be a weakness for the Raze, and it was practically put on a pedestal in front of us with that dungeon.”

  “If it’s not about the story, what is it about?” Seena said.

  “The same thing it’s always been about,” Hiral said. “The runic energy. Think about it. At the last reset-slash-rollover that Amin Thett and the other Progenitors interrupted, runic energy would’ve been peaking by Amin Thett and Ur’Thul using it. Then the Raze came to harvest, and that didn’t go quite as planned.

  “Instead of a hard reset, we had a softer one, with the Progenitors staying on our world and the story starting over. When we get to the part with the Fallen and Fallen Reach, well, what do we get with the PIMP?”

  “Builders,” the PIMP said, as if Hiral had called on it.

  “Builders,” Hiral confirmed. “Rune users. Generating more energy. In the original story—and some variations other than ours—two of the islands didn’t crash. Or, at least not the Builder one. Runic energy kept rising, and—I bet—the Raze woke up from their crystal prisons. Once they did, they probably went after the Enemy, and…”

  “Hold on,” Yanily said. “I thought the Enemy and the Raze were on the same side?”

  “They seem that way now,” Hiral said. “Or, they at least have wants that align. In the original version of history, though? We’ve all agreed the Enemy must have found their way to Genesis, and were causing trouble. They’re a necessary factor for the Fallen rising, and in turn, the party that became the Raze…”

  “Let’s just keep referring to them as the Raze,” Seena said. “Even when they were a party running dungeons. Too confusing otherwise.”

  “Sure,” Hiral said. “Anyway, when the Raze woke up—more, uh, Razey than when the went to sleep—they would’ve chased the Enemy off. Maybe even killed them. At that point, the runic energy probably started evening off. Maybe the Enemy was more successful at killing off the Builders, and things went a little sideways.

  “The Raze wanted more of the runic energy… and… yeah, okay, I don’t know what happened here in this middle part. They went from waking up on Genesis to being at the end of time on Terminus, with Genesis in a dungeon marble. The important part,” he held up a hand to stop his rambling and to make sure people were listening again, “is that they trapped Genesis during the period of time it was generating the most of the energy they wanted.

  “That’s why it’s the same cycle over and over, ending around the same time they would’ve woken up, and starting over at the beginning of the energy’s rise.”

  “Big picture, it fits,” Laseen said. “It adds up. I’m sure there are little parts of it that don’t make sense, but they’re probably covered in all those lost years between when Genesis became Terminus.”

  Yanily raised his hand.

  “Yan, how many times do we have to tell you that you don’t have to do that?” Seena said with a shake of her head.

  “How does knowing all this help us?” the spearman asked.

  “We know what they want and why they want it,” Hiral said. “That’s twice as much as we knew before.”

  “Still not a lot,” Seeyela pointed out. “I agree with you, though. If we know what they’re after, how can we use that to our advantage? Can we draw them out? Away from the Heart of the City?”

  “It’s an idea,” Seena said. “Pull the Raze and their army away so Hiral can sneak in and disable the device.”

  “I think I can do more than disable it at this point,” Hiral said. “It needs to be destroyed. On our world too, when we get back. It’s clearly too dangerous to leave in one piece.”

  “It’s a start of a plan,” Seena said. “We’ll need to figure out how to use the runic energy to get the Raze’s attention and get them where we want them.”

  “Since we’re already here,” Nivian said, one hand lifting to point down the tunnel. “Why not check Trevallen? As good a guesser as Hiral usually is, we came here for a reason. We might as well see it through.”

  “If nothing else,” Laseen said. “The libraries here might have the true history of what happened to Genesis. Even during our own cycle. It’s something that shouldn’t be lost when Terminus meets its end.”

  “We’ll have to make room in Shared Storage for all the books you want to grab,” Right said. “Let me do my part.”

  Hiral didn’t even have to look at his double to know the man had a pastry already halfway in his mouth.

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