"What would fallen angel entail?" Jace wondered out loud. There's so many different things that can mean. It could mean an angel that turned evil or one that has forsaken what the other angels around them stood for. It could also mean an angel that is dead. "Ugh! I'm not getting anything other than that. It's all I've got to work with and it's not working."

Kaious sighed, "Maybe you should take a break."

"But if Bolas is looking for it then I can't afford to take a break," Jace snapped.

"And if you pass out from exhaustion before you can get an answer you'll lose more time," Kaious said.

Jace let his head rest on the table. He was so glad that the librarian didn't care how long he spent in here. He could read and use as many books as he wanted. He knew the other would be heading back to Sun's Reprieve soon but had no intention of leaving the library early just to fit in with their schedule. He bit his lower lip and lifted his head. He sat back against the chair and cross his arms over his chest.

"Why do you bite your lip like that?" Kaious asked, "Doesn't it hurt?"

"I don't know and it doesn't really hurt," Jace shrugged. He had noticed that Vadanya had basically left the group after the death of her sister. He couldn't say he felt sad knowing Orriyon was gone. He hadn't known her. He knew she'd existed but that was all. He looked around, "Is it just me or is there a pressure in the air?"

"I'd assume there's a pressure in the air," Kaious said.

"But you can't feel it?" Jace asked even though he already knew the answer to the question.

"No. No I can't," Kaious shook his head.

Jace got to his feet, "I'm going to go find the others."

"Okay," Kaious lifted into the air and followed him.

He found Kaechia and Lilianna first. Kaechia looked up as he approached, "Do you need something Jace?"

He shrugged, "Not really. I was just checking something." He turned and walked away.

Lilianna cocked her head to the side as he walked away, "Okay?" She watched him curiously.

"What are you doing?" Kaious asked.

"I'm seeing if any of them know about any sort of angel treasure," Jace shrugged.

Kaious sighed, "You could've just asked them, you know. I'm sure they'd be more than willing to answer."

"That's awkward," Jace shook his head.

Kaious shook his head, "It's probably only awkward to you, you know. But that's the reason you do it."

Jace shrugged, "And?" He stopped suddenly, "I already asked Chandra about it."

"You didn't remember that?"

"I did," Jace snapped indignantly.

"Okay," Kaious sighed. He wasn't going to argue with him. "You should sleep," he suggested.

"It's only been thirty seven hours," Jace muttered.

"And you're dragging ass," Kaious pointed out.

"I am not," Jace snapped, "besides I've never been tired after thirty seven hours anyway."

"You're obviously tired now," Kaious stated.

Jace gave him a dry look, "I'm busy."

"You slept a few weeks ago didn't you?"

"So? Chandra would've killed me if I hadn't," Jace snapped.

Kaious laughed, "Are you sure you aren't afraid of her?"

"I just prefer to come out of a conversation in one piece thank you," Jace muttered.

"That's being afraid of her isn't it?" Kaious asked.

"I'm not afraid of her," Jace insisted, "as evidenced by-"

"Who are you not afraid of?"

Jace whirled around to see Chandra and Gideon walking up to him. He looked away, "No one of any importance."

Kaious shook his head and chuckled to himself. He didn't contradict Jace and just watched in amusement.

Gideon gave Jace a doubtful look, "Okay."

Jace rolled his eyes, "Anyway, I was actually on my way to talk to Elspeth."

"You're certainly going to long way around," Gideon pointed out.

Jace shrugged, "I just came from seeing Kaechia and Lilianna."

"Why?" Gideon asked.

"He's paranoid," Chandra shrugged.

"I am not! I was just making sure-"

"They weren't suddenly missing or dead," Kaious muttered.

Jace glared at him, "I was not." He turned and stalked away. The tip of his tail flicked crossly as he disappeared down the street.

"Wait for me!" Kaious cried. He hurried after him.

Chandra burst out laughing.

Gideon just shook his head, "You have way too much fun messing with him."

Chandra shrugged, "If he had a problem with it he'd sulk every time I did it."

Gideon glanced at her, "And you're sure about that?"

Chandra nodded, "Yep."

"How are you so sure about that?" Gideon asked curiously.

"Because. Figuring you guys out is easy as pie," Chandra shrugged. She grinned, "Speaking of which, Shadow makes some of the best apple pie in existence and she's going to be making some tonight."

"Why? It's not like there's anything to celebrate."

"Because I asked," Chandra smirked.

Gideon gave her a quizzical look, "You're plotting something aren't you?"

Chandra grinned, "I've been watching you guys for a little bit. I've noticed that Ral likes cherry flavored pastries, Lilianna prefers chocolate, Kaechia likes plain fruit, Jace likes apple pastries, Elspeth likes light cream stuff and you like sweets with peanut butter in them."

Gideon stared at her, "But-how?"

"As I said. I've been watching you." Chandra skipped ahead, "I know everything!"

Gideon shook his head and jogged after her.

Jace found Elspeth relatively quickly. She was helping Dragon and Falcon rebuild the parts of the inn that were damaged. He was shocked at how mangled the building was. He knew it had been caught but he hadn't expected the Lotus to just let it fall apart like that. He looked into her head and found it was just as confusing as Chandra's. This was the first time he'd ventured into Elspeth's mind. He'd never seen a reason to look into her head. Her mind was confusing in a very methodical and organized way which confused him further. He pulled out of her head, "Never mind. Never mind." He turned to walk away but was called over by Falcon.

"What's up?" Dragon asked.

Elspeth glanced at him. Her eyes glowed knowingly.

He bit his lower lip, "Nothing really."

"So," Elspeth turned to him, "Chandra said you were in the library looking into something."

Jace nodded.

"The Black Lotus have said that we can eat here tonight," Elspeth smiled warmly, "If you could tell the other's that'd be great."

Jace nodded, "Okay." He turned and walked back the way he had come. He found Ral first, "Hey. Apparently something's going on at the Black Lotus Inn and we've been invited."

"Really?" Ral asked in surprise.

Jace nodded. He was amazed at how dutiful and reliable Ral could be when he really wanted to be. He had agreed to help rebuild the city without complaining and hadn't complained yet. Of course then again this place is his home. Jace rolled his eyes, "I'm going to go tell the others."

"Have fun Cat Ears," Ral turned back to his work as Jace walked away.

"I hate his stupid nicknames," Jace hissed.

"You haven't complained before," Kaious said.

Jace glanced at him, "That doesn't mean I've liked it."

"Of that I'm aware," Kaious nodded. "There's a lot of things you haven't complained about," the baby dragon gave Jace a hard look, "like being tired."

"I'm not tired," Jace insisted.

"Okay," Kaious sighed, "If you say so."

He found Gideon and Chandra as Chandra was going on to him about how difficult it was to rebuild something when she was better at blowing stuff up. Jace sighed, "Elspeth said there's something going on at the Black Lotus Inn." He looked at Chandra, "I'm sure you're aware of that."

Chandra nodded, "Yep!"

Jace sighed and moved on, "She's insane."

"Who? Chandra?"

Jace nodded.

Kaious shrugged, "Are you complaining?"

"Yes. I am complaining."

"At least it keeps life interesting," Kaious pointed out.

"I'd rather be able to be in the peace and quiet of a library instead of having her yammering in my ear even if I am in a library."

"You say that now but quiet is hard to get used to when you're used to being bugged," Kaious said.

Jace shrugged. He found Lilianna, Kaechia and Kallist working together. Apparently Kallist has arrived to help out those two. Not surprising since he's rarely more than three yards from Lilianna. He relayed the message again.

Lilianna rolled her eyes, "Great. I swear if I hadn't seen otherwise I'd think they didn't deserve half the fear and awe their name invokes."

Jace shrugged, "They have to kill time somehow I guess."

Kaechia shook her head, "I can't say I disagree but-"

"So sorry," Lilianna sighed, "I'm astonished by how carefree they can be. Who knew assassins could live without a care in the world?"

Jace shrugged, "That's it. See ya."

"Do you know what they're doing?" Kallist asked.

Jace shook his head, "No." He walked away.

That evening Chandra made sure all of them met up at the inn. She sighed and looked unhappy suddenly.

"What is it now Pyro?" Lilianna asked in harsh mock sympathy.

"I'll have you know that this is for you guys," Chandra snapped.

"Really though, Beautiful," Ral said.

Chandra sighed, "I don't get to partake in any of the fun."

"Why not? And what about this is going to be fun?" Jace asked dryly.

"Says the guy that played messenger," Ral smirked. He wrapped his arm around Jace's shoulder and didn't let him go when he protested.

"I played messenger because Elspeth told me to," Jace snapped harshly. He glared at the lightning mage, "Get off me!"

"No." Ral smirked, "Fuzzball."

Jace's eyes narrowed, "Worm-eating-"

"No," Elspeth said firmly.

Jace glared at Ral, "Let go."

"Good luck," Ral grinned.

Jace bit his lower lip. "Half baked lightning freak," he muttered under his breath.

"Frog-faced bastard," Ral smirked.

"I thought I told you two that was enough."

"Technically you just said no," Jace muttered.

"Oi," Chandra rolled her eyes, "Would you guys just go inside already?"

"Sure," Ral kept his arm wrapped tightly around Jace's shoulders. "You're not getting out of this Cat Ears," he promised as Jace tried to pull out of his grip.

"I could if I wanted to make a scene," Jace hissed.

"But you don't so you're stuck."

Chandra followed them in and disappeared.

"Why are they dressed up in costumes?" Kallist asked.

"It's just something they do," Lilianna shrugged, "Other than that they don't need a reason."

"This would probably be why she was so unhappy," Gideon guessed.

Last time this happened she ended up ditching it the moment the sun went down. Jace shook his head. She also ended up wearing a dress and being in a foul mood for a few days at least. He bit his lower lip. There wasn't anyone else in the inn at the moment but that didn't mean people wouldn't start walking in later.

It didn't take long for food to be sitting in front of them. Jace ignored most of it but nibbled on a breadstick periodically.

"C'mon Cat Ears. Is that all you're going to eat?" Ral asked.

Jace nodded.

"But-"

Jace silenced him with an icy glare, "This is all I want so I don't wanna hear it."

Ral grinned, "Then I'll eat your share."

"You're going to puke," Jace turned away, "but if you do it's on you."

Ral ignored him.

Chandra growled, "Echo. I'm not wearing a dress again."

"It's not a dress this time," Echo insisted.

"Then what is it?" Chandra was led into a room in the inn. She stopped dead, "You said it wasn't a DRESS THIS TIME!"

"I lied," Echo slammed the door closed quickly.

Chandra gritted her teeth, "I hate you so much right now. This is even worse than last time."

"They're your friends. You might as well wear it. It's not like they're complete strangers."

"You're not the one that's going to have to deal with their commentary!" Chandra snapped harshly. It was an orange dress with gold trimming and it had small wings that appeared to be folded attached to the back. It didn't have any sleeves but had a high collar. Chandra estimated that it would come to her jaw. She growled, "I hate how you guys always have to create things that have damn wings on them. I realize I can fly but this is annoying."

"I didn't design this one," Echo said quickly.

"Then who did?"

"Sea. She said you'd look pretty and she wanted to see it," Echo explained.

If it was any of the other kids I wouldn't have believed you. Chandra growled, "I hate you guys so much. I'm never coming back."

"You will once you realize you need our help with something," Echo smirked.

Chandra glared at the closed door that was between the two of them, "Try me."

"You will."

She rolled her eyes, "I hate you." The dress would more than likely fall past her feet. It looked like it'd be tight around the torso and then flare out at the hips. She hadn't even put it on yet and she hated it. She sat on the ground, "I'm not doing it. Let me out."

"C'mon. It's only fair," Echo said, "You've skipped out on the costume events every year for as long as we've been doing it."

"With good reason," Chandra snapped.

"Fine, I'll let you out if you promise you'll put it on after the event so Sea can see you in it," Echo said.

"Deal," Chandra nodded.

"Alright." The door opened and Chandra shot down the stairs. She flopped into an empty chair between Elspeth and Kallist, "That was exciting."

"I thought you were going to-"

"No." Chandra glared at Ral, silencing him quickly.

Jace looked up suddenly, "What's Serra's Lost Treasure?"

"Why?" Elspeth tensed suddenly.

"I just...well..." Jace lowered his gaze uncomfortably.

Elspeth sighed, "It's a highly concentrated form of white mana. Specifically it's holy fire. The longer it exists the more power it accumulates. It's existed for more millennia than either elder dragon has been alive so it's extremely powerful already. It wasn't created by Serra but she was the last known person to know of it's location and nature. That information was therefore lost when she died. To release all of that energy at once would destroy an entire world easily and knocked the worlds around it out of alignment with the multiverse if it didn't destroy those worlds as well."

Everyone stared at her in shock.

"Why?" Elspeth repeated the question.

Jace swallowed nervously, "I...well..." He looked at Chandra, "I think that's what Bolas has been searching for all this time."

Chandra stared at him, "You're serious?"

Jace nodded.

She sighed, "I can't wait for this idiocy to be over already." Her eyes narrowed.

"But what if it never is?" Kallist said, "What then? What if Ugin just keeps-"

"Then we'll destroy Ugin too," Chandra shrugged.

Elspeth stared at her, "What?"

"You say that like it's an easy thing to do," Jace muttered.

"Beautiful...are you sure you're not drunk?" Ral asked.

Chandra gave him an unimpressed glance, "I'm positive."

"I didn't expect even you to come up with something that stupid," Lilianna snapped, "You really have lost it haven't you?"

Perfect.

Jace looked at Lilianna in surprise. She looked angry at Chandra and showed no signs of the satisfaction that had colored the thought. Weird. What is-Was it Lilianna? Now I'm confused. His eyes narrowed. There's only one way to answer that question. I'll just keep a closer eye on her from now on.

"No. I'm dead serious," Chandra snapped, "If we can bring down one elder dragon then we can bring down both elder dragons."

"They may have different power levels though," Gideon warned.

"AND?" Chandra took a deep steadying breath, "Would Ugin have repeated the loop so many times if he and Bolas weren't evenly matched? Would he have recruited us to clean up his mistakes if he and Bolas weren't evenly matched?"

"You're sick and tired of being a pawn in their chess game," Jace said evenly. His eyes glittered with a small hint of excitement overwhelmed with a much larger amount of anxiety, "So you're adding your own pieces to the table as a third party."

Chandra grinned and nodded.

Sorin Markov shook his head in amusement and annoyance. Ugin. I warned you long ago not to treat her and her friends like tools unless you wanted the wrath of them all trained upon you. It looks like you didn't head my warning. It's not like I expected you to but a small part of me continually hoped you would for your sake. "I'm not going to stand in their way. You've brought this upon yourself with your own believed infallibility." He shook his head. Dragons and their egos. He chuckled.