The mice and Teslas' astonishment to see them back so soon was immense, yet the inventor was even more surprised when Henry disclosed what he wanted of him. The two spent the rest of the day in his workshop, planning, sketching, filing, and crafting long past bedtime.

When Henry awoke the next day, he barely felt his limbs that were stiff from sleeping on the hard floor of Teslas' workshop, yet the thing the inventor waved in front of his face proudly had him instantly forget all pain.

"I will not forget this", he cried, wrapping the nibbler in a tight hug. "You're incredible. And one day, the world will appreciate it as well."

"You just deliver this to that rat, and hope she finds the bargain fair", he grinned. "Though if it is as you say, she would be a fool not to."

"She's certainly not a fool", Henry mumbled, carefully wrapping his gift in a cloth and storing it at the bottom of his backpack, "it worries and excites me in equal parts."

"A fine teacher she will be then."

Henry turned and grinned as he spotted something like underlying sorrow in Teslas' eyes. "Oh come on, you're not jealous are you?"

The inventor smiled sourly. "Not jealous, just... eh", he shrugged, "a bit nostalgic. It seems only yesterday you were as eager to learn from me as you are to learn from her now."

"And well you taught me." Henry stood up, "I'll be back soon, and when you see me again, I'll be a changed man. For the better or the worse."

The flight back to the Firelands took Henry and Thanatos only barely over two hours, now that the flier knew the way. For most of it, they remained silent, and Henry could barely keep his thoughts from reeling with countless future scenarios – of him giving Kismet her gift, of how her training would be, of what she would teach him.

"You're... convinced this will work, aren't you?" Henry winced as the flier finally spoke. When he looked up he realized they had already reached the part of the tunnel with the obsidian walls.

"If anything will, it's this."

The flier remained silent and Henry tugged at the strap of his backpack, feeling compelled to check whether his gift had taken damage, but then Thanatos spoke again – "You... what do you think this will be like?"

Henry froze and frowned, not certain whether he understood the question. "What...?"

"I mean", the flier darted out into the small cave they had seen Kismet in for the first time and landed, "are you even aware what you are... have you...", he shook his head, "do you even know what you're getting yourself into here?"

Henry slid off his back and his frown deepened. "What... I still don't get what you mean."

"I mean", the flier narrowed his eyes, "have you any idea how long this will take? Or what it even is she wants to teach you?" He shook his head, "I know you like your half-baked plans, but considering the gravity of the situation and the lengths you are apparently willing to go to... have you thought this through... at all?"

Henry stared at him and barely managed to shut his mouth. "I..." He is right, it flashed in his mind, this is... insane. By all means. Henry bit his lip, then raised his torch to glance at the tunnel Kismet had disappeared into. Then again...

"I know it's crazy", he mumbled without looking at Thanatos, "but I... also know I'll do it regardless, so where's the point in acting like I won't?"

The flier stared at him then averted his gaze. "You... know you don't actually have to do this", he whispered, "I know you wish for nothing more than to regain your skill, and I am not saying it was by any means fair or justified to lose what you had worked for, but", he looked up and Henry shuddered at the expression in his eyes, "who ever said you needed to be... strong? Who is this invisible judge you are trying to impress?" His talons dug into the ground, "Where is this insatiable hunger for competence coming from, Henry, I can not –", he shook his head, "Nobody will... JUDGE you, you know? If you are not strong. Not competent or powerful. Nobody..."

"Nobody except me!" Henry interjected. The flier twitched from the sharpness in his stare. "If I don't do this, I'll be dependent for the rest of my life – I can't even defend myself in this state!" He flailed his hands at his face, "Is that what you want for me?"

"N– no", the flier attempted to speak yet Henry interrupted him again, "How can you even speak like this? How can you judge someone's own strive to better themselves? Just because YOU haven't any desire to break from that eternal stagnation you've been in for I don't know how long it doesn't give you the right to stop me if I have more ambition than that!"

The flier stared at him with an unreadable expression. "I... did not mean it like that", he mumbled.

"Then how did you mean it?" Henry released a frustrated groan. "You know how I feel right now? I feel like shit. Like a pathetic, miserable, worthless piece of shit!" He barely prevented tears from welling up in his eye, "And you're telling me to not take the single shot I've got at ever feeling better?!"

"No!"

Henry winced at the unexpected volume of the flier's usually quiet voice. "No", he repeated, his eyes firmly fixated on Henry. "Not... not if that is... not if that is really how it is."

The exiled prince clenched his jaw. His silence spoke for itself.

"In that case, I...", he dragged his talon across the floor again, "then go to her, if she holds the key to your happiness, go to her and seize it. In that case, you must."

Henry unclenched his fist and sighed. "I will. You know I will."

He had already raised the torch and turned to face the tunnel that led to Kismet's when he suddenly froze. "You... wait", he turned back to the flier, "and what about... you?"

Thanatos had remained where he was, eyes on Henry. "This is...", he shook his head, "this is your path, not mine."

The exiled prince froze. Only with utmost willpower, he prevented the torch from slipping out of his hand. "Y... you...", he took a step towards the flier. Why did this so awfully feel like he was being forced to pick, between the flier and what was possibly his only shot at improving his state? Had he not just promised himself he would never give him a reason to leave anymore? Was he, by committing to this, giving him a reason to –

I won't pick, Henry adamantly thought, I don't have to. Why do I have to – "We are bonds", he firmly stated, gripping the torch even harder, "aren't our paths one?"

The flier threw him an unreadable look, "I do not mean it like this is permanent goodbye, but I can not even fit the tunnel."

"That's not –"

"Henry, will you stop making this harder than it already is?" He flapped his wings in agitation, "You must do this, I understand. And I...", he sighed, "I will wait for you. For however long it may take."

"Wait where?", Henry exclaimed, "Where will you go?" He desperately attempted to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat.

"I... I am not sure", the flier averted his gaze, "perhaps back to the colony, to wait for them to send our outstanding plague vaccine. Perhaps elsewhere. But I can not... stay."

"And why not?!" Henry took a step towards him, gritting his teeth so hard it nearly hurt. "I don't get it, why can't you stay here? I mean I'm sure Kismet wouldn't –"

"This is your... thing, Henry", the flier interjected, "yours and hers. What would I be doing here, except be in the way? I have no place... in this."

His words hit like a punch to the gut and the exiled prince barely kept himself standing. All his fears flooded him, Thanatos' exchange with Hamnet, and – is this finally his excuse to leave me? His eyes narrowed, he could not use this as an excuse to leave him. Henry had only just promised himself he would not allow that. They were bonds, and for as long as they were, there could never be a justifiable reason to leave each other's side. At least not... permanently.

"You can only go if you promise to come back. To visit!" Henry stared at him adamantly. "Only if you come back!"

The moment of hesitation was so short Henry barely caught it – "If that is what you want me to promise, I promise."

He doesn't need to promise, the exiled prince blinked away the rising tears. He promised already. When we bonded, he promised... promised... Our life and death are one, we two.

Henry took a deep breath, chasing all nasty thoughts of Hamnet and doubts and regrets and conversations from his mind. "Don't have too much fun without me!", he squeezed out a chuckle and the flier joined in. "I doubt I will."

"I –"

"Should she refuse despite the gift, I will wait by the citadel", the flier cut him off and Henry's mouth shut, all the unasked questions still clogging his head. Now they would remain unanswered.

"Take care."

It was the last he heard of his flier before he leaped in the air and darted back into the tunnel they had come from.

"I was wondering for how long I'd be rid of you."

Henry jerked around and nearly dropped his torch at the hoarse voice that suddenly sounded from the shade.

"I told you I'd be back." Once more he winced at the still unfamiliar sight of Kismet, and once more he couldn't help but wonder what could have caused the terrible scar where her eye had once been. The closer he looked, the worse it seemed.

"You found the impossible, then?"

Henry held what he thought was an inquisitive stare for a few seconds, then nodded. "That's what it'll feel like to you, at least." He carefully reached his spare hand into one of his belt pockets and took a step closer, extending his wrapped gift. "Consider it... payment."

Kismet fixated it for a second, then hesitantly took it up, unwrapped it, and a grin spread on Henry's face as her eye notably widened when she understood what it was. Her claw slipped on the loop at the bottom of the twisted handle, and she slowly inched the round, transparent lens up. Henry's grin widened as he watched the flickering of his torch be reflected from the glass. Her eye looked strangely distorted through the lens and he had to suppress a laugh.

Only after nearly half a minute of watching her, he processed she... was actually looking at him. Not passively staring in a random direction, not squinting to barely make something out – no, her gaze was on him, and for the first time, it was crystal clear.

Kismet stared at him for another half a minute without breaking eye contact before she finally turned. Henry watched with intrigue as she cautiously inspected her surroundings, and instinctively raised his torch higher.

With every passing second, Henry's impatience grew, a hundred questions clogged his mind, about whether it was working well, whether she was happy with it, whether it fell into her "impossible" category. Yet he remained silent, lips pressed together tightly.

When she turned back to him and lowered the lens, her claw was shaking. "Where did you get this?"

The exiled prince squinted. Was that a tremble in her voice? He shrugged. "I have a friend who's good at building things. I asked him for a favor."

Kismet fell silent again and raised the lens to look at him, he could almost watch her battling to retain her composure. "Is it right though?", he asked, "We had no idea how thick to make it, but it's got to be working, right?"

Kismet twitched. "It is...", she hesitated, inspecting the lens itself, "not perfect, but it is...working well enough, I suppose."

"In that case, it is yours."

"Not from the goodness of your heart only though, I suppose?"

"I already told you, it's payment. Part of a deal, if you like."

"A deal... that involves me teaching you as you asked?"

"Precisely."

Kismet stared at him through the lens, then sighed. "In that case, I can not accept."

Henry's jaw dropped and he stared at her in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me!", he exclaimed, "If this is still not enough, what do you expect me to bring you? A diamond the size of my palm? A golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides?" He barely registered her head shooting up at the mention, "King Gorger's tooth, maybe?" Henry frowned then froze, his hand darted to the back of his hand to Mys, "Actually, nevermind that last one", he mumbled, "but my point is –"

"I've gotten your point", she cut him off, "yet you missed mine."

"How so?"

"This is not about what you can or should bring me. This is not about how or with what you fulfill your end of this non-existent deal. This is about how and whether I can even fulfill mine."

"But Ripred said –"

"Ripred doesn't know what he is talking about", she scoffed. "What he's... asking." Kismet retreated a few steps, twisting the handle of the vision aid. Her stance and expression oozed unwillingness to give it up again.

"What do you... mean?"

"I mean –", she twitched, "I know you must have your reasons to ask Ripred for this. To come here, to me...", she broke off and stared at him, "and I understand that, you know?"

Henry frowned, yet before he could speak she continued – "The desire to... better yourself", she mumbled, "to become stronger, better... the best you can be. Is it not what drives you, pup? Is it not what fuels you? You long for it, I see it in your expression, your stance, hear it in your every word. You believe life has robbed you of it all when you lost your eye, and you believe I am the key to regaining it."

"Then you understand!", Henry exclaimed, "You have to –!"

"I do not "have to" anything. I understand you have your reasons to come here, yet you must also understand I have my reasons too." She averted her gaze, "My reasons to... refuse, despite it all."

Henry frowned. All he understood was his own confusion. Apparently, she sensed she hadn't gotten through to him because she voiced an exasperated groan. "I will formulate it differently then, as you're clearly not capable of analytical, reflective thinking."

Henry opened his mouth to interject, but she kept talking – "Like you, I have my reasons to be here. Here, where there is not a soul to bother me. Listen", she drew closer, "I am a researcher, not a teacher. And I am not interested in a change of career, not even for... you." She eyed the vision aid lens.

Henry's eye narrowed. Not capable of analytical, reflective thinking, he internally scoffed. We'll see who laughs last. "You're not up to the challenge then?"

Kismet's head shot up. "Excuse me?"

The exiled prince grinned. It worked every time. "You heard me", he had to suppress a grin. "I mean, Ripred thought you were, and I did too, when I first saw you. But I guess... we misjudged you. It happens." Now he could not help the grin from spreading on his face anymore, "I'll take that back then", he stretched his hand out, "and go back to Ripred, guess I'll have to tell him he was right to say you wouldn't do it. As little as I want him to have been right, you leave me no –"

"You can wipe that smug grin off your face", she hissed and Henry could not suppress a laugh. "Oh, can I?"

"Fine", she scoffed, "perhaps you are capable of... thinking. My bad."

Henry snorted then broke into laughter, and to his surprise, Kismet joined in shortly. "You are determined, I'll give you that", she admitted after they had both calmed, "but as strong as your drive to better yourself is, you have not the slightest clue as to what you are getting yourself into here, do you?"

Henry's grin faded at once and Thanatos' words flashed in his mind. The flier had said the same thing, and now –

"You practically burst with confidence, with pride", Kismet shook her head, "You think life out here has steeled you for anything – how bad can a bit of studying under a rat teacher even be?" She scoffed. "You feel like Heracles, making off to capture the Hellhound, yet in truth you are Icarus, rising higher and higher, nearing your destined fall."

Henry frowned, opening his mouth to ask what she was talking about, but Kismet spoke on – "I may not know what you've been through so far, but life has certainly not brought you to your knees yet." She paused, "And before you say nothing can bring you to your knees, Icarus, you should know everyone can be broken. The strong, the weak, the smart, the feeble. All that is needed is a breaking point."

Henry swallowed and a shiver ran down his spine. She was most certainly not referring to learning from her anymore, and something about the way she talked chilled him to the bone.

"Take it from someone who had the same arrogance in her youth, and who had to learn it the hard way."

They exchanged a prolonged stare and Henry remained silent, once more eyeing her scars. Somehow, they seemed even more sinister now. But he had to say something. Breaking points and reasons and analogies aside, he had an objective, and he was as determined as ever. "And if I tell you I am willing to do it regardless?"

"I knew you would say that", she sighed and turned from him. "Your decision has been made, I see that. I've seen it ever since." She stared down at the vision aid lens. "You may stay, pup."

"I – what?!"

"Refrain from celebrating", she hissed. "I have not finished speaking."

Henry's mouth he had opened to cry joyously shut.

"You may stay – if you accept my terms."

"Shoot."

She snorted. "You do not have yourself a deal yet, understood?" She began pacing, "You'll stay, and I'll put you on trial. For... a week, let's say."

"On... trial?"

"To see how well I can expect to work with you." She came to a halt in front of him. "To see how... serious you truly are. I am not about to risk wasting my time on a loudmouth who can talk big but backs out as soon as he's supposed to deliver. Understood?"

Henry swallowed. A week... his gaze trailed behind her, a week of her most likely trying her best to make him quit. You would be playing by my rules, her words flashed in his mind. You would be compelled to do things that seem pointless and tedious at first, unlearn everything you think you know about perception and orientation, and go far, far out of your little lazy comfort zone.

Well, he looked back at her, returning her challenging stare. Should she bring it. If that was all it would take... "Fine by me", he replied casually and shrugged. "If you want to bother with that."

"We form a contract, then", she ignored him. "I put you on trial – for one week. Seven times going to bed, seven times waking up. If you have not quit by then, I will consider teaching you. But if you do quit", her gaze was permeating, "you quit for good."

Henry frowned. "Wait... no, that's not how it works!", he exclaimed, "I'll do it. I'll do your every bidding for this one week, but I only do all or nothing. If I have not quit by the end of the trial, you do not "consider" it, you commit to teaching me. The contract becomes binding and that until not you, but I am satisfied with the result." Henry stared at her defiantly, "And if I quit", he shrugged, "I quit for good."

Kismet remained silent for a moment, then sounded something like a mix between a laugh and a scoff. "All or nothing, eh?", she sighed. "All or nothing it is, then."

"You're in?"

"Don't look so delighted", Kismet scoffed. "If you think the hard part is over, you've got another think coming." She drew closer until her face was inches from his. "You may have come this far, but when I'm through with you, you will wish you had never come here. Are we clear?"

Henry narrowed his eye, gazing right back at her. If this was her best attempt at intimidation, it was laughable. "Bring it."

They silently stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before Kismet turned away. "Then go and tell your flier, but don't take too long. I'm not eager to sit around waiting for you to finish up your friendly chatter."

Henry's chest tightened at the mention of Thanatos and his gaze darted in the direction he had disappeared to. "Already have."

"Oh?" She sounded surprised, "Where is he then?"

Henry opened his mouth to respond but found no words. Luckily Kismet seemed to understand. "Waiting for you to be done, somewhere more exciting than here, I assume. Well, I hope for our all's sake he is patient."

Henry didn't reply, and she didn't ask him to follow her, yet when she fell to all fours and slipped into a tunnel leading opposite of where he had come from, he went after her. The trek wasn't long, they traversed the tunnel for maybe five minutes and the air became notably hotter and hotter.

He was about to ask why that was the case when Kismet halted, pointing up a steep wall. He barely made out an opening, some fifteen feet up, and widened his eyes when Kismet undauntedly proceeded to climb up.

Henry gazed up after her, then at his torch. He would have to extinguish it if he was to ever get up there. But how was he ever supposed to climb that – in the dark? Henry sighed as he stared after Kismet whose tail disappeared in the opening, and extinguished his torch.

It was a hassle climbing in the dark, even with the occasional static images every snap of his fingers produced, and Henry proceeded with utmost caution, double-checking every supposed ledge and nook his fingers found before he pulled himself up.

"Over here", Kismet called and Henry winced, noticing he had gotten off course somehow. She sounded close, but further left. He inched towards where the voice seemed to come from and cried in shock when something suddenly wrapped around his waist to pull him into a cave. Henry hastily fumbled with his pack to fetch the torch and saw a long cave stretched to his left. To his right he found the cliff, going fifteen feet straight down.

"You did not fall, at least", she mumbled and began making her way further into the cave. Henry scoffed and stood up, then raised the torch higher. "Will we be there soon?"

To his surprise, Kismet laughed. "We are there."

The exiled prince froze. He raised the torch even higher and frowned, this was just another empty cave, was it not? He reluctantly followed Kismet further in, and had already opened his mouth to ask if this was really where she lived when he saw the first mark.

Henry stepped towards the wall and frowned at it, then raised a hand to trace the lines. It appeared to be some sort of text, yet he could not decipher it. Only when he raised his torch, he spotted it was not the only one.

He could not prevent his jaw from dropping when he took in the hundreds and hundreds of scratched-in letters, covering walls and floor of the cave. Much like the notes on Teslas' walls, documenting his inventions, he understood not one of them. "Did you make all of these?"

"I have to document my research somehow, don't I?" She sounded amused, "Besides, these are nothing. Maybe one day, I'll show you the rest."

"What kind of research do you do?", he wondered for the first time, ever since she had dropped she was a researcher, and inspected the text, against his intention, somewhat impressed.

"A kind that would interest you, most likely", she snarled, "yet my research is not the reason you came, is it?"

When Henry turned, she stood directly in front of him. "And now, you will hand over your weapons."

The exiled prince blinked at her, thinking he had misheard. "I... what?"

"Go on", she gestured at his sword, "from this point on, you won't need them. There is nothing here that could ever possibly attack you, and you are not here to become a better warrior, as you claimed – correct?"

Henry's hand tightened around the hilt of his sword as a surge of discomfort jolted through his body. He nervously glanced around before he looked back at Kismet and slowly began unbuckling his sword belt. This is part of the "trying to make me quit"-deal, he thought, fumbling with the clasp. There's probably lots of this kind of stuff coming, and I've committed to obliging to all of it.

Seconds later the belt together with sheath and sword fell at her feet. And if he was perfectly honest, it wasn't like it had served him well in recent times anyway.

"Good, now the rest."

Henry made a face as he fumbled one of his belt pockets open to toss the slingshot after the sword.

"And the dagger too."

A jolt of panic pierced his heart as Henry's hand tightened around the handle of Mys. "Not that", he mumbled. "It's... not even meant to be a weapon. It's a tool, and I need it for lots of things." He could not even remember the last time he had ever taken the rat tooth dagger from his belt.

"Should you need it, I will give it back", Kismet snarled, collecting his weapons from the floor, presumably to stash them away. "And now give it here, or go right back to where you came from."

Henry's knuckles shone white from how hard he gripped Mys' handle. Inch by inch he unsheathed the dagger and valiantly fought every protesting cell of his body. When the dagger at last fell to the floor, he winced at the clanking sound. With a swift motion she had scooped it up and a spear pierced Henry's heart. The sheath burned empty and useless at the back of his hip.

"Good", Kismet snarled somewhere to his left. "That was the easy part."

"What", he grumbled, plopping to the floor and standing his torch up, "making me feel even weaker?"

Kismet laughed. "Of what use are weapons to one who can not see in the dark?"

"In the dark?" Henry eyed his torch, and she hummed. "Is that not what you came here to learn? To... how did you call it, see without your eyes?"

"Yeah, but how –"

"To see without your eyes", she repeated in something like a sing-song, "or eye, in your case, I suppose." She stood directly in front of him and something in the way she looked at him through the raised vision aid unsettled Henry. "Then let's get to it."

The exiled prince blinked up at her and his hand automatically darted towards his eye. "Let's..."

"You surely have something to cover that up with, don't you, in one of those fancy pockets?"

He stared at her wide-eyed. "Y... you want me to...", Henry frowned and rose to his feet again, "to relinquish my weapons and then... what's left of my eyesight too? How the hell am I supposed to do anything?!"

Kismet smiled sourly. "Can you not use echolocation?"

"But how is losing my eyesight supposed to help me?", he protested, tugging at his eyepatch. "Weapons, sure. They weren't of much use anyway, in my current state. But I can't –"

"Ah –", she interrupted, "I warned you, did I not? You seem to have forgotten you're on trial, committed to following my orders."

"But I –"

"YOU", she glared at him through the lens, "came here to learn from me. You practically begged me to teach you, and now that we're getting to it, you do nothing but object. Perhaps it is best if you leave, perhaps then we both will be happier."

Henry opened his mouth to protest, then shut it again. Everything in him writhed at the thought of being subjected to absolute authority, yet she was right. He had put himself in this situation, and he had decided it was worth it. He should have expected this, Henry gritted his teeth as he tugged at his eyepatch again. She was trying to make him quit, of course she would have him do exactly what he was most uncomfortable with.

"So... the road to strength involves embracing your weakness? Is that today's lesson?", he mumbled, "Or perhaps "your teacher has sadistic tendencies, learn to deal with it"?"

Kismet laughed as Henry slipped off the eyepatch reluctantly, storing it away in one of his pockets. "The lesson is whatever you end up learning."

"Fair enough." In the flickering torchlight, Henry fetched a piece of fabric from his backpack and shot the scarred rat a last, long, pensive gaze. "And... for how long am I supposed to leave this blindfold on?"

"A few days, or the entire week, if I feel like it. We'll see." She glimpsed at him briefly, then strolled off, to inspect one of the more cluttered walls. The text on it was so dense he barely distinguished one word from another.

Henry bit his lip, fumbling with the cloth. His last glance was at Kismet, standing at the wall, holding up the lens to inspect it, then he saw nothing anymore.

"If this is somehow supposed to help me sharpen my other senses or something, it's not working!" Henry barely prevented himself from running into a wall and cursed.

"It has only been an hour. If it had any effect already I would be incredibly amazed", Kismet snarled from somewhere up ahead and Henry snapped his hurting fingers for what felt like the hundredth time, to visualize her. "And besides", her talon scraped the floor, "you can not "sharpen" senses. Learn to utilize them better, maximize their potential, yes, but increase their function? That's a myth you must ban from your mind at once."

"Whatever", Henry plopped down on the floor in front of her and tugged at the unfamiliar piece of fabric on his face. The echolocation was helping, yet he had always viewed the skill as a last resort measure only, and it was more exhausting to constantly use than he had thought. "You said something about dinner, didn't you?"

"Be my guest." Stone scraped on stone, then Kismet's teeth cracked open something crunchy. Henry carefully reached his hand out until it grasped something small enough to eat. He could not see what it was, only felt it was oval-shaped and around the size of his palm. For the first time, he found himself almost grateful for his inability to see what exactly it was.

After a short moment of hesitation, Henry took a first bite. It crunched loudly and whatever it was, it tasted bitter and somewhat earthy, but the exiled prince thought it wasn't the worst thing he had ever eaten. Not particularly tasty, but not revolting either.

As he finished up his... whatever it was, he pondered whether he should ask. Whether he even wanted to know. But by the time he had eaten up, his curiosity won over and as he reached for another one, he finally asked what it was.

"Firebeetles, of course. They are everywhere, and kind of the only edible thing you can get in this no-mans-land."

Henry nearly choked and coughed, on the last bit of what he now became painfully aware was a beetle, and instantly regretted his decision to ask. "WHAT – why didn't you TELL ME –"

"Relax", Kismet laughed, "they are safe to eat, and they provide enough nutrients to keep you alive... for the most part."

Henry retrieved his hand at once and slid backward until his back hit the wall. "That's not the point! I am NOT eating bugs!" Where was his backpack with the waterbag? Henry retched, thinking if he didn't wash out his mouth right now he would throw up.

"Well then, have fun starving. Because it is the only thing you will GET here." Another what he understood was a shell crunched between Kismet's teeth. "But if you're not up to it, over there is the exit."

Henry sat still for five whole minutes, back against the wall, fighting a war against himself. Relinquishing his weapons. Giving up the last of his eyesight. And now... bugs. Eating bugs. He still faintly sensed the earthy aftertaste and barely prevented himself from retching.

Then again – Henry's head shot up. What was he to do? Back down from their deal because of... bugs? His teeth clenched and everything in him wreathed in disgust, but when he made himself aware it was either eat bugs or never learn to be useful, to be strong again. As much as his decision to stay here had been made preemptively, his decision was made now.

The next moment he reluctantly approached again and blindly stretched his hand towards where he remembered the... well, what would have to serve as food. What had that old rule of his been? If you did not think about it too much, it was fine.

It took Henry nearly half an hour to choke down enough Firebeetles to call it a meal, and though his stomach still growled, he ignored it, thinking he wouldn't be able to eat a single more. "I'll go to sleep", he mumbled at last, still shuddering in disgust.

"You should indeed be rested for what awaits tomorrow", Kismet threw his way and Henry groaned. He had only just arrived, and he already felt more miserable than he had in a long time. Perhaps ever since his and Thanatos' first month in the Dead Land.

Part of him was curious as to how she intended to make it even worse, and another, significantly larger, part of him wished she was exaggerating. That it indeed could not get any worse.

"Oh – one last thing!"

Henry had already dropped to his knees in the corner where he had left his backpack and half-heartedly turned towards the voice.

"You never introduced yourself. Or do you want me to call you "pup" for the rest of your stay?"

"Won't you do it anyway?", Henry shot back and the rat laughed. "Maybe. But at least I'll have options."

The exiled prince picked up his backpack, laying it out to serve as a pillow, and sighed. "Names... names... I have so many of them at this point. I'm the "Wielder of Light" for the crawlers, that bitch Cleaver and his friends dubbed me "Prince of Rats", Sandwich named me "Death Rider" in his prophecies... but honestly, Henry is fine."

"Henry", Kismet repeated. She remained silent for so long he reluctantly collapsed onto his backpack, thinking she would not reply at all.

"Hen...ry", she finally snarled as he had already closed his eye, "Henry... no, no... you know what, "pup" it is."