Core Issues: Season Five
By Nicolle

Special Disclaimer: Pokemon is copyright to Game Freak.

Episode 10: The Seal of Solomon
(Brass is our narrator!)

Guess what? I'm in my favorite place. Tied up and hanging over piranha infested waters waiting for the tree branch to give way and drop us in!

Okay, there are some differences this time, the most significant of which is that I am nowhere near my home timeline. I'm doing a favor for Frisk Church, who is one of my favorite people, so I'm not all that miffed about the situation. I've seen worse. I have scars to go along with worse.

I'm also getting a nice, fat, one million American for completing the mission, and that's a lot of money, even for me. And it's one million American for each of us on the mission. It's the kind of money that will mean Stephen is set for life, even while married to a fey queen. Not that Mary is hard to keep.

The other up shot of this is that Star is acting a little more like normal. Which is something I have been told to keep an eye on. Asriel, this world's Asriel specifically, knows that something is wrong with Star, knows that being cut off from the void is slowly burning her out. He wasn't happy that Star was going out on a mission, but acquiesced provided I keep an eye on her.

Like I wasn't going to be watching her like a hawk anyway.

The mission, as we have chosen to accept it, involves retrieving the Seal of Solomon, the brass and iron ring that King Solomon wore in ancient times to control demons and other spiritual beings. Except we're pretty sure it doesn't control demons. It probably controls monsters. The idea is to get to the ring before the vampires that make up the Thule Society get to it first.

And these guys? They aren't the idiot Illuminati of my world. They know what they're doing. They got the drop on Stephen, Chara Luna, and I while us guys were investigating some documents in a South American university, and dragged us deep into the jungle. They threw a piece of bloody meat in the water to work up the piranha after tearing our clothing and giving us some nice lacerations to drip blood into the water. They'd even weakened the branch we hung from so that we dipped lower and lower toward the churning water below.

I'm not sure why they went with the super villain-esque death trap instead of just killing us, but Church said to expect it. That, after being through a few of these herself, it was obvious that they wanted their enemies alive, and she had a couple theories as to why, But the top one was that sometimes it was easier to let your enemies do all the hard work to get to The Thing (trademark) and then swoop in to snap it up.

I looked down at my torn pant leg. Mr. Larkin, the royal tailor, was going to have words about that. Not words for me, mind you. But plenty of words for the fabric manufacturer about the sturdiness of the cloth. I was wearing my regular clothes. Or rather, I was wearing the clothing my mother insists I wear when far from home since they are designed to look nice while being sturdy and protective, so brown slacks, white button down, and a lovely brown and gold, brocade vest.

Stephen hung on my right, carefully working to extricate himself from the ropes. He was always pale, but his sharp nose, sharp chin, and sharp fringe of red hair looked particularly sharp in the moonlight. Thankfully, the moon was almost full and so providing a good bit of light where we were away from the canopy that made up the rainforest.

I'm still not sure how he'd become my confidant… No. I take that back. I knew exactly how that had happened, and it was nice to have someone I could trust have my back. Even Cephas had slid well into the role of being Frisk's confidant; a gentle shadow to follow my brother's gentle hand.

Chara Luna hung on my right. When I'd met him in Church's office yesterday, he'd looked less like a vampire hunter and more like your standard, lazy, Shift Chara in a green hoodie, blue jeans, and ironic t-shirt.

No insult meant to Shift Charas. They just have a reputation.

It was apparent pretty quick that he wasn't a Shift variety of any sort when we'd geared up. Not only did he move with the precision of someone who trained everyday to fight things much bigger and stronger than himself, the man had some impressive scars. I'm not sure how he survived getting a few of them. Right now, he was wearing his hunting attire: green hoodie, blue jeans, and ironic t-shirt.

I'm betting his clothing's got some heavy protective magic on it.

Stephen moved too sharply getting a hand free and the branch gave a very loud crack. We bounced, but it held.

"Dammit!"

Luna sighed. "Relax, Stephen. Wait for Star."

Stephen huffed. "Speaking of which, how did we get captured while she managed to get away?"

Luna leaned his neck forward a little to look at him. "She was trained by the two most badass Frisks in the multiverse. I'm actually a little disappointed that she didn't just ninja our captors."

Star came out of the shadows, climbing the tree we hung from. "I will admit to being good at my job, but I'm not crazy enough to take on that many people in one go. FYI: if I'd had even the slightest inkling that they were actually going to kill you, they would be dead and I'd take that hit to my LOVE." She ran her hand along the tree. "The branch isn't too bad. I can secure it and pull the branch over the bank."

She wrapped up the cracked part of the branch in burlap before wrapping rope around it to stabilize it. Climbing out on another branch, she slipped another rope around the end of the branch we hung from and swung it so it landed on the bank. After climbing down, she grabbed the rope and gently pulled, twisting the branch so that it bent toward the river bank. As soon as we were over land, Star secured the rope to another tree and cut us down.

Stephen got himself the rest of the way out of the ropes and moved to help me, only to have Star shove him back down.

"Stay still! The cut on your leg is deep."

Stephen eyed her as he sat back up. "Can you really take care of it in the dark, in the middle of the jungle?"

Star rolled her eyes as she put a headlamp on and adjusted it. "Yes, Stephen. I can handle it." She slipped her bag from her shoulder, pulling out a suture kit. "Hold still. I don't have any local anesthetic on me so this is going to hurt. Suck on some monster candy to help me out. I'll give you a pain killer as soon as I'm finished."

I tossed Stephen a piece of monster candy. He bit down on it while Star cleaned the wound and sewed him up, making neat little stitches. My cut wasn't as deep and received some glue while Luna ate something that closed his wound. He frowned at the scar left behind, but said nothing, choosing to clean away the blood and quietly sew his ripped pant leg back together.

Star looked us over one last time before pulling off the headlamp. "Did you manage to find anything?"

I nodded. "The book is in Ancient Hebrew, and written in the fourteenth century. It looks like one of the old mystery texts or grimoires that used to come out of that time period. It spoke of a slim ring made half of brass and half of iron. After Solomon's death, the ring was split into its iron and brass halves. Both halves were then sealed inside a gold ring set with multiple gemstones. It changed hands multiple times after the new setting. The book is badly damaged from improper storage during wartime. The historian we spoke to says a recreation of the book is displayed in the Timna Valley museum in Israel."

Stephen stretched, arms reaching up. "Oh that makes sense. Timna Valley is the location of a set of ancient copper mines that are the legendary mines of King Solomon."

I tapped my chin thoughtfully. "So do you think if a Nazi enters the mines, they'll explode?"

Luna snorted. "Nah. We wouldn't be that lucky. Besides, every Indiana Jones movie says otherwise. And it just wouldn't be archeology if we weren't punching Nazis."

I snorted even as I shook my head. "I don't get it. Technically speaking, we cheated to get here by asking Dr. Aster where she found the Seal of Solomon on her timeline. How did the Thule Society find us so fast?"

Star shrugged, looking a little lost. "I don't know. I was hoping that by cheating, we'd be able to get ahead of the Society." She frowned. "We may actually be behind them instead. Church said to be prepared for that. Every time she's faced them, she always felt like she was behind."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Almost as if someone were feeding them information."

Star went stock still and then shook it off. "That's something Church will have to figure out. We'll stick to this."

Stephen stood and offered me a hand up. "So let's get to the mines before the Thule Society does."

Star tapped the system core on her jacket. "Hey, C. Arrange us some plane tickets to Israel."

C's voice flowed from the tiny speaker, "You got it."

I stretched. "So how are we getting to the airport?"

"Same way I got out here. A jeep."

I put my hands on my hips. "Where did you get a jeep?"

Star smiled, a devious one she learned from her partner. "Promise not to tell Frisk Church?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Yes."

"Bones taught me how to hotwire a car when I was sixteen." She held up her phone, shaking it a little. "And Red taught me how to bypass Seraph security to add an app that lets me break into keyless entry cars."

Luna patted her shoulder. "Just a regular hoodlum."

She shrugged. "I am a fell variation. Let's go."

No. No, you aren't. You're something else. And your partner and I can't have been the only ones to notice.

We followed Star back to the jeep only to find the tires slashed.

Star huffed. "Is that the way we're doing things today? Fine." She tapped the system core again. "C? Nix the tickets."

C's voice came through. "Okay. Then what's your back up?"

"A teleport."

C popped to life on her shoulder. "Are you sure about that?"

I pointed at C. "Ditto."

Star nodded and motioned us together. "Everyone gather round and be ready for it to get really bright."

Bright didn't cover it. The desert in daylight after being in a dense jungle at night is hard on the eyes. And I was glad my arm was around Star, because she was slumped against me, breathing hard. After a moment, she sucked in a deep breath and stood up, only to slump against me again.

After a quick donning of sunglasses, I got a good look around. Timna was a national park with a nice visitor center and lots of bike routes through the ancient mining area. We got Star into the visitor center and found her a seat at the little cafe inside. Stephen and Luna stepped over to the cafe counter to get Star a water while I sat with her.

I pushed her hair away from her face and saw her eyes filling with darkness only to fade out to brown, over and over.

I frowned. "Stop trying to draw on the void. You can't reach it and only sucking it out of yourself. You need to keep your reserves solid." I reached under my shirt and pulled out my locket, unclasping it from around my neck. "Here. There's a little sliver of the void in this." I clasped it around her neck.

She watched me, frowning but not resisting. "I can't take this. I know how much it means to you-" She shuddered when the locket rested against her chest, and then sighed, eyes turning completely black.

I smiled. "It's on loan. When we can get back to the void, you can give it back."

Star blinked a few times and her eyes returned to normal. She slipped the locket under her shirt. Stephen handed her a bottled water and she took it gratefully, but his eyes were on me. He had something to say, but wasn't going to say it now. But I was damn sure to hear it later. Stephen was good like that.

Once Star was ready, we headed into the small museum attached to the visitor center. And by small, I meant really small. It was a few rooms, but the items inside made up for it on the fascination scale. It made me kind of sad that the place was empty of tourists. It was just us looking around. Artifacts found in the caves and excavation areas filled lighted cases, including the recreation of our book. The book sat in a climate controlled case with a mechanism to turn the pages.

Unfortunately, I didn't have to turn them. It was set on the page we needed to see, which was a very bad sign.

I sighed. "They've been here already."

Star frowned. "Then we need to play catch up. Who was the last person to have the Seal?"

I looked over the text. "According to this, it was hidden in the mines."

Luna held up a map of the park. "And the mines are huge."

Star pulled out her phone. "Time to cheat again." She selected Dr. Aster from the contacts list and waited for the ring.

A warm voice came over the speaker. "Hello, Star!"

"Hello, Frisky-bits! I need some help."

"You got it. Ask away!"

Star shifted a little. "We found the original book but it was damaged. The recreation we've located says the Seal was hidden in the mines."

The sound of papers shifting around followed Dr. Aster's next question. "Is your Timna a national park filled with bike routes?"

Luna held out the map for us all to see.

Star's finger ran down the information box on the side. "Yes. There are five routes."

"Two of the five routes are of medium difficulty. Take the one that runs out to the sandstone mushrooms and explore the caves around them. When exploring them on my world, I found a whole mess of puzzles meant to test the person looking to claim the Seal. Be ready for that."

Stephen sighed. "You know, you could have just told us to come straight here to start."

"I couldn't. While we, at current, have a one for one on magical objects between my world and Church's, they aren't always found in the same place. I may literally be putting you on a wild goose chase and not know it."

Star shrugged. "It's better than what we've got so far. Thanks, Frisk."

"Good luck, Star."

Star shoved her phone back in her bag. "Let's give it a shot." She motioned for us to follow her.

We stepped back out into the sun and stood for a few minutes, admiring the blue-green water of the man made lake just outside the visitor's center. To the left were Solomon's Pillars, a grouping of tall cuts in the red rock face made by thousands of years of wind erosion shearing away the softer sandstone.

The pillars marked the start of all the trails and we followed several, colorfully painted signs with Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs marking the path. After a little walking, the trails branched off and we followed a trail occasionally lined with wood planking just under the sand to help travelers keep their footing. The ubiquitous red-orange striation of the rocks on the cliffs to our right matched the yellow-orange sand under our feet.

We came up on the first of a few 'mushroom' pillars, rocks around which the base was sheared away by wind, but the top, made of sturdier material, remained intact and so appeared to bloom like a mushroom. At each one we stopped and checked the cliff face for caves and found one at the third mushroom. Which was good because I was sure I had a sunburn or two.

The caves were a smooth white and not very tall. We'd be crouching to get through them, if not outright crawling. Star went first with Stephen behind her, mapping as he followed with pencil and notebook. Star stopped at a point to hand us all headlamps as the cave began to darken further in. Everytime we came to a junction, we'd wait while someone broke off to explore how far it went, before marking the way with luminous tape. It felt like we were descending, but I couldn't be perfectly sure on that.

Star stopped. "There's an opening here into what looks like a gallery. Which is great because my legs are really starting to cramp up. Unfortunately, we'll have to crawl through a small opening to get to it." She turned to Stephen. "We've explored several junctions. Are there any you think look better?"

He shook his head. "What do you see in the gallery?"

Star looked through the hole in the cave wall ahead. "I see some cave formation columns, some stalagmites…" She trailed off, going silent. She pulled off her head lamp using it like a flashlight.

Stephen leaned in. "Star?"

"I see grass." She turned off the lamp, peering into the dark. "And what looks like daylight through an entrance opposite us."

I shook my head. "Really? I'm pretty sure we've done nothing but head down."

"Agreed. I know the weight of being underground and we are well below the surface," Luna added.

Star put her headlamp back on. "All right. Going through. Once I'm through, wait a minute while I mark our entry spot. I don't want to lose our way back. Better safe than sorry." She turned and lay back, reaching into the hole and pulling herself up and through. After taking a minute to mark the way, she called us through. "Come on."

When I could stand up straight again, I found Star looking around the interior of the gallery. We stood on some thick and very green grass in an otherwise dark cave. There was a light ahead, but it seemed really far away. Walking toward it revealed a set of stones set in the grassy floor of the cave, leading to the light; a man made path.

The light resolved into a circular passageway made of several stones that each held the other in place by weight; an old engineering trick for bridges and doorways. The keystone was massive and marked with a strange symbol. I took a moment to sketch it out in my notebook: a circle within a square, within a diamond of equal points, with lines pointing up, down, left, and right from the diamond's corners to four other circles, all contained in one large circle that was open at the top and bottom.

Beyond the passage lay a sunlit, grassy field with a path that led toward tree covered mountains. A few stone steps led up to the passage and sitting next to it was a box marked with a black sun with two off kilter crosses in the middle. I frowned, and knelt in front of the box.

"Well, the Thule Society definitely came this way." I looked over the box, rubbing my chin. "It's locked and the wire right here makes me think it's trapped."

"Can you get it open?" Luna asked.

I nodded. "Yeah."

Luna looked through the passage. "This is impossible. We are too deep into a desert to see this on the other side of a cave." He shrugged. "On the other hand, if Thule came this way, it wasn't a vampire doing it. That's way too much in the way of sunlight."

Star was staring up at the symbol on the keystone, her light trained on it.

Luna reached over, putting a hand on Star's shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. It's just… I'm sure I've seen that symbol before."

Luna nodded. "Okay. Close your eyes. How long ago did you see it?"

Star's eyes closed. "Recently."

"Before the void was shut off or after?"

"Before."

Luna rolled his shoulders, stretching. "Was it on paper, stone, or fabric?"

"Fabric… It was on the cover of a book! It's on the cover of Charlotte's journal! Thank you!" She pulled out her phone.

Luna's eyebrow went up. "Do you really think you're going to get reception down-"

"Hey Charlotte! I have a question about your journal. The big one with the circle inside a square inside a diamond with other circles all in one big circle. What is that symbol?"

Luna pointed. "She got reception? What phone is that and how do I upgrade to it?"

Stephen leaned over. "It's a Seraph phone. They don't work on cell towers."

Star's jaw dropped. "It's what?" Star stood there, mouth hanging open. "I don't know how to process that information." She stood there for a moment, listening, before nodding. "Thanks. I'll call back if I need you."

I gently untrapped the box. "Don't keep us hanging, Star."

Star pointed her lamp on the symbol again. "It's the mandala of Agartha."

"Agartha?" Luna looked at the grassy plain beyond the passage. "You mean Hollow Earth?"

The lock clicked and I opened the box. "Got it. Looks like a stash of equipment and its been opened recently. This has rations and live ammunition."

Star tapped her chin with one finger, eyes closed in thought. "We knew they were packing heat, but rations is an indication that we might be traveling hungry."

"And we don't know yet if we're even heading in the right direction," Luna added.

Star continued to stare at the mandala. "We are. Look at the circle in the middle. It's a six pointed star made from interlacing two triangles."

Stephen looked up at the mandala. "So a Star of David?"

I shook my head. "A Star of David is flat. The interlacing of the lines was made to confuse and dizzy demons under the spell of the Seal. This is the right direction."

Star sighed. "This just got way more complicated. I don't want to go any further without some supplies. If anyone wants out, now is your chance to leave."

"In," I said.

Stephen followed without hesitation. "In."

Luna huffed. "I have yet to kill a Nazi vampire. I'm still in."

I shut the box. "So what's the next step?"

Star pulled out her phone. "I report into Church, and ask Cross to prep packs for us to adventure into the Hollow Earth," her smile widened, "without him."

I chuckled. "Oh so cruel."

Star dialed home. "Hey Frisk. We need an equipment change. It seems that your timeline has its very own Agartha."

"WHAT?!" Church's yell made me flinch the same way it always did. I wonder if I'll ever get over that.

Star pulled the phone away from her ear with a grimace. "Ouch."

Cross' voice sounded distant, in the background. "What did she say?"

"I said that this timeline has a Hollow Earth. We need an equipment change."

There was the sound of a chair scraping the floor: Cross standing up. "I'll get your equipment change and come with you."

Star shook her head. "Not a chance. You are still in physical therapy for your arm and may need a round of surgery. I will take the equipment change, but you are sitting tight."

"Oh come on!"

Her smile widened. "It's not happening, Agent Idlewild."

Cross groaned loudly.

The sound of a door opening was followed by Church's voice. "Just go get them a full adventuring equipment set up."

Frisk Boneweaver's sweet voice carried over the speaker. "May I go? Surely another healer who can fight would be a boon."

Star smiled. "Bored?"

"Only a little."

Star stifled a laugh. "Think you can sneak away from your fiance?"

Prince Chara sighed deeply. "I'm in the room, Star."

Star tossed her hair a little. "Great. Then you know all about Frisk ditching you for some adventure. She doesn't have to lie about it."

"I am not letting my future wife traipse off into the unknown without me. And if we are talking of Agartha, wouldn't Miss Charlotte be a better choice?"

Star shook her head. "Charlotte can't get around without her cane and even with it, she tires quickly. We are chasing people who may kill us if given the opportunity. Charlotte isn't mobile enough for safety. Is your brother interested in coming along?"

"My brother found the library. We might never see him again."

I frowned. Just what had Charlotte's nemesis done to her? It seemed like a very specific kind of attack.

"If we're good for two more, I won't turn them down."

Church's voice came over the speaker. "You're good for two more. D can handle the teleport."

Distantly, you could hear Cross. "Oh come on!"

Church's smile was evident in her voice. "Make sure to take lots of pictures."

"Will do." Star shoved her phone back in her bag.

D, Frisk Boneweaver, and Prince Chara appeared with several backpacks, and Umbra. The pokemon rushed to Star and leaped into her arms.

Star giggled, hugging her pet. "You silly girl! What are you doing here?"

Frisk handed Star a bag. "She misses you. You were out for months and then gone just as fast on a mission."

Star and the Umbreon rubbed their faces together. "I'm so happy you're here!"

Frisk wore the white robes of her clerichood and it made her look very ready for a fight, which was something of a contradiction. The religious of my timeline weren't exactly warriors. Well, so long as you didn't count the monks in China who practiced martial arts. Chara had changed out his regular clothing for something a little more modern: brown pants and a dusky blue, long sleeved shirt.

Chara handed Stephen and I our bags. "Inside each is rations for three days, toiletries, and clothing." He turned and whipped Luna's bag at him. "Think fast."

Luna caught the bag with a smile. "Jerk."

I looked between them, catching the same smile Church and Cross had when they were happy to see each other and ready to make a competition of it.

D gave us a salute. "*If you need another teleport, just call." He disappeared.

Luna elbowed Star. "We'll remember that."

"Hey! It wasn't that bad!"

Frisk looked Star over. "What happened?"

Seeing that Star wasn't forthcoming, I answered, "A teleport nearly knocked her flat."

Frisk frowned, taking Star's hands in hers. "Take it easy, okay? We don't know what being cut off from the void means for you yet."

Star sighed and nodded.

Stephen and I opened our bags, checking the contents and placement before shouldering them. It appeared to be a pre-prepped bag with a few extras thrown in for a bit of personalization. Mine had a couple bars of chocolate. Then again, they might all have had chocolate in them. After we'd all adjusted our packs and geared up, we stepped through the passage into a warm, sunny day. We followed the path, keeping our eyes open for tracks leading away from it. Star filled Frisk and Chara in as we walked.

Stephen elbowed me. "What happened to 'I'll wear it till the day I die?'"

I sighed. "It is my most treasured possession. And it holds a sliver of the void in it. Right now, Star needs it. Desperately."

Stephen shook his head. "It's like she's your brother."

I nodded.

"No. I mean, it's like Frisk is here, right now. Just another adventure. We're only missing Cephas."

"A Frisk sometimes just fills in where another Frisk is missing and Star does it naturally. Always has." I sighed. "I don't have a better answer than that. But until we can go home, she can keep the locket and it will help her."

Stephen nodded, patting my shoulder.

As we approached the mountains, the mists around them faded, revealing a massive structure cut into the gray stone, a city gate, though all the arched windows were dark. A huge archway was cut into the middle, and sunlight streamed through it. There wasn't even the rotting remains of a wooden gate to indicate a way to close the arch. Maybe it was meant to stay open. The steps leading up to the arch were a standard size, which made the archway seem even bigger as we passed through it into the remains of a city long dead. Gray stone buildings towered over gray stone streets. An occasional banner of faded fabric fluttered here and there around empty windows.

Star stopped us at the entrance, keeping us close to one side. "That is a really open area. Walking through it would make us sitting ducks in a shooting gallery."

Prince Chara came up, looking over it. "Agreed. The main road is shaded on both sides by stone ledges. We could split up and take each side, staying under the ledges for cover."

Star nodded. "Split up three and three, and we'll go down either side of the street. Check interiors as we go by. We'll meet at the archway at the other end."

We split up, Umbra following her trainer. Frisk Boneweaver and I went with Star along the left side of the street, quietly checking each door and window as we went by. Umbra ran ahead and sniffed repeatedly at one door. Star and I had a look in the window. Instead of an abandoned building, the interior was a lobby. A well kept one. A flag with the symbol of the Thule Society hung on the wall.

Star waved at the others and they dashed across the open way.

Luna ducked under the shade ledge on our side. "Find something?"

Star jerked a thumb at the building behind her. "A place marked with the Thule Society symbol. It looks like an apartment building and it's in pretty good condition. I'm betting that some of the apartments are living spaces."

"Then we are really far behind." I frowned. "This means they've been here a while and them getting the drop on us in South America makes sense. This is a larger operation."

Star thought about it. "We'll check the place out. Look for a map. You continue with the street and come back here."

Luna nodded only for Frisk's hand to shoot out and grab his wrist.

"No." Frisk turned to Star. "Never split the party."

Star blinked at her for a moment before nodding. "Okay. We'll all search this building."

I picked the lock on the door, a skill our mother had been keen to teach Frisk and I. Too useful not to know, she'd said. No, I'm not talking about Toriel. I popped the lock, let the door swing open, while waiting, looking for traps. Seeing none, I entered the room low, looking for trip wires. Seeing nothing but a standard lobby with nice seating, I stood and the others followed me in.

While Stephen and I dug through the cabinets, the others arranged themselves to go upstairs and check the apartments. By the time they came back down, Stephen and I had found an arms cache, but nothing else. Frisk and Chara had found that all the apartments were in good condition and seemed to be way station housing. Star and Umbra had found lots of food, including fresh perishables, a sign of recent activity. Luna found a map hanging in the apartment building's office space on the stairs just off the first floor. This map wasn't decorative in the least and was filled with handwritten notations in German.

Star leaned in, putting her finger on one dot. "It looks like we came in here," her finger moved along the map, "and travelled to the city here. It looks like the Thule Society has been here a while searching for the Seal among other artifacts." She ran her finger down a list written on the side of the map. "The Cintamani Stone, the Holy Grail, Seal of Solomon, the Staff of the Monkey King, Pandora's Box, the Club of Dagda, Kaladanda, Ariadne's diadem. The list goes on and on."

I leaned in with an appreciative smile. "You speak German?"

Star laughed. "Of course I do! Church and Cross like to switch languages when they want to keep their conversation private. And I like to be nosy." She pulled out her phone and photographed the map.

Luna's jaw dropped. "That is an epic level of nosy-ness." He smiled. "I don't think I've ever been so proud of someone before!"

Star smiled. "So the next question is, do we steal the map or-"

We all went dead silent at the sound of the front door opening. Moving over to the office door, Chara and I had a look down the stairs into the lobby. Eight blonde haired, blue eyed men in black, Thule Society uniforms rushed into the lobby area. Arming themselves quickly, they lined up at the front windows with guns.

All but two of the men had rifles; they stood at the windows with handguns and appeared to be giving orders. Star silently indicated those two for capture. Luna crept over to the banister and leaped over it, landing on the first floor without a sound. I'll have to ask him how he did that. Chara went after him, making a slight sound when he hit the floor, but the men at the windows didn't notice. They ducked behind a couch for cover while the rest of us waited for the fire fight to start and the sound to mask our descent.

We didn't wait long. The first shots went off and we were down the stairs. Star fired twice, encasing the torso and legs of one of the two leaders. Luna grabbed the man closest to our second target, turning him so that his commanding officer shot him in the scramble. Luna used the body as a shield to rush the second target, knocking the man off his feet and into the near wall. Frisk and Chara took down two of the riflemen with a coordinated ease. Stephen and I knocked out the last two.

The door burst open and several men wearing dark pants under knee length robes in bright blue with decorative edgings rushed into the lobby. And kept rushing in. A sword came out at Star and she ducked away only for the sword to catch her shoulder, slicing her sleeve open. The man gasped as she turned back, grabbing his wrist and yanking him toward her. He went limp suddenly, kneeling. The other men froze at the action, backing away, the bloodlust replaced with fear. Why?

A woman in a long red robe, came in behind them. Her head was covered in a cap of intricate, red, turquoise, and white beadwork, a shield of beads hanging over her eyes, covering them. The men were dark haired and dark eyed, with skin of a light sienna brown. The woman, from the little you could see, appeared to be paler, but not distinctly different.

They certainly spoke German though.

One of the men struck the ground with a heavy staff. "Lady Edrine! She is-!"

Star let go of the man and stepped back, hand going up to her arm. He hadn't managed to cut her, just open the sleeve enough to reveal a Delta Rune tattoo.

"Calm yourself." The woman in red stepped, Lady Edrine?, forward. "Forgive us, Daughter of Dreemurr. We did not know it was you."

Daughter of Dreemurr? Star mouthed, looking at me.

I leaned in, whispering. "This happens to Frisk and I, just roll with it."

Star nodded and stepped forward, Umbra next to her. The rest of us followed, slowly. The woman came forward, hands up to touch Star's face. Star relaxed and let it happen, closing her eyes. Up close, you could see behind the beaded shield covering the woman's eyes; she was blind.

"A Daughter of Dreemurr." Lady Edrine touched my face next. "A Son." Her hands found Chara. "Another Son." Her hands next cupped Frisk's cheeks. "A Daughter, by marriage." Her fingers lingered on a fading scar on Luna's temple. "A Son, by adoption." She touched Stephen. "Another Son by adoption." The woman spent some time petting Umbra, scratching behind the ears. "A happy partner."

Lady Edrine stepped back. "We have not seen Dreemurrs in a very long time. Why are you here?"

Star glanced at us and answered. "We're here to stop the Thule Society from procuring the Seal of Solomon. And according to their map, a few other things as well."

"And what would you do with such an object?"

Star shook her head. "I don't want it. I just don't want them to have it. It's really all about stopping the Society's world domination plots." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'd really rather do without them, seeing as how much of a pain they are for King Asriel."

Lady Edrine considered this for a moment before turning. "Come with us."

The men secured the Society members who still lived, dragging them along as they followed the Lady out the door.

Stephen leaned in. "Do we stay or do we go?"

Star frowned. "Go. They're dragging our information away with them."

We arranged ourselves to follow. Following the men, we came up to the second arch at the end of the main street, which opened on a very large, enclosed waterway. It honestly looked like someone had flooded a pale cathedral that went on and on into the distance. The plaster and paint around the interior columns had long broken away, leaving the place dull and gray. Even so, the water was a crystal clear blue and when you looked into it, you could see a tiled floor that was likely very deep below the surface.

We boarded two ships, the Society captives kept on one while we were invited to step onto the one with the Lady. The ships appeared primitive, but turned out to have hidden motors. We cruised down the waterway easily and after a few minutes came out onto a white, stone lined waterway that seemed to float in the air under a bright blue sky. Other waterways connected with it via large, tower junctions. Entering one such junction, the boat slowed to a stop and was lifted up and over, so as to be placed in a waterway on a lower level.

The boats continued to cruise forward again, this time past other boats of similar make. The Lady received waves from the other boats and one of the men would occasionally tap her hand so she knew to wave back. The waterways travelled over thick forests, small villages, and farmland. But for the spray of the water around the boat, which Umbra had her face firmly placed in, everything seemed a pleasant 24 degrees celsius. Not too cold, not too warm.

After a solid hour of travel, the boats approached a city of stone with flowering trees filling every available space. We slowed down as we entered the main waterway, passing children and adults playing or relaxing at the water's edge. Based on the amount of children actually standing in the water, it wasn't that deep here. Green, leafy vines snaked up the sides of artfully carved stone buildings and hung off every available archway.

The boats docked near a set of steps under a bridge and we disembarked. The Society members were marched up the steps. The officer still encased in foam core was carried. The soldier who'd died in the fight had been gently wrapped in cloth. After all but two men and the body had left the boat, they sailed away. The Society members on the steps watched their fallen depart before turning and walking through the stained glass doors at the top of the stairs. Besides a general sadness at the loss of a comrade, they didn't seem overly concerned about their fates.

The Lady disembarked with the help of the men in the boat with us. We followed and entering the stained glass doors revealed a lofty and dark gallery with a large fountain in the middle, like the kind you would see in a city square. The entire room was illuminated by the glowing water in the fountain. A pale woman in a blue button down and olive green pants, with long blonde hair falling over her shoulders sat at the fountain; petting a cat. She watched the Society members march by, expressionless, though the commanding officers gave her hateful looks. One of the soldiers gave a small wave. She double taked, blinking rapidly when she saw Star, and jumped to her feet. Every hair on the back of my neck stood up and I was instantly next to Star,

"You!"

Star paused. "Do I know you?"

"I've seen you in multiple photographs of King Asriel!"

That made all of the Society members stop dead in their tracks, staring at us. The men around them pushed them forward, herding them through the room. Luna was suddenly standing on Star's other side and I wasn't sure how he'd managed that; his right hand resting on a knife hidden up his left sleeve.

"You're always in the background, whether the photo is taken in a lab or a grocery store. Who are you? How are you important to the Monster King?" She spotted Umbra. "And is that a…" he face went slack with complete confusion, "a Pokemon?"

I rubbed my forehead, and wondered if her partner got this kind of headache. "Wow. Even grocery shopping is work for you."

Star shrugged. "If I shop when Az does, I can have his six, and it doesn't cut into my skating time." She tossed her hair back. "I work for His Majesty and yes, Umbra is a pokemon."

The woman stepped closer, and Luna stepped in front of Star. "You can stay where you are, Fangs."

She stopped dead, becoming unnaturally still.

Star put a hand on Luna's shoulder, but didn't ask him to back down. Instead, she concentrated on the woman. "How long has the Thule Society known about this place?"

The woman crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed. "How do you know I'm a member?"

"You're a vampire, your accent is modern German, you know what a pokemon is, and the Society members who just went by recognized you. That means you are a current member working the residents, a former member on the run, or a member of some other branch and Thule is fractured."

The Lady came forward, between the vampire and us. "There are several groups from the surface world in Agartha, each here for their own reasons, though not all are antagonistic to us. But you are correct in assessment: she has defected from their ranks. This is Gretchen Fahr and she has been instrumental in helping us track down Thule Society operatives. The group you helped us capture was the last of the known members of the Society in Agartha."

Frisk leaned around me to look at Lady Edrine. "What will you do with them?"

Gretchen answered, "Their memories of Agartha will be erased and they will be left on the surface."

That sounded like a bald faced lie. Frisk made a face. She didn't believe it either.

Lady Edrine beckoned us along. "Come. As members of the Dreemurr Royal Household, I have an important matter to discuss with you."

Gretchen did not move from the room of glowing water as we left, but then, we were walking into full sunlight outside. Taking a set of covered stairs, we walked up to a footbridge over the waterway below, the entire bridge bursting with flowers. Beyond that lay a tall, tower of white stone, gleaming in the sunlight. We entered from the bridge, coming onto a white marble mezzanine and descending a staircase that spiraled the inside down to the bottom. We only descended one flight before we reached a door into a very comfortable room filled with colorful pillows to sit on and a low, wooden table filled with food.

Star looked at me for a moment, obviously alarmed, before sitting down. "You appear to have been expecting us."

Lady Edrine shook her head. "No. This is merely the midday meal for myself and my family. If the food seems abundant, it is only because I asked one of my retainers to go ahead and be sure there was enough for my guests. I merely ask that you join us." She sat and as she did so, two small children in blue tunics and brown pants came in the room, rushing her.

"Amma! Amma!"

She hugged them both tightly, speaking to them in a very close derivative of Tibetan. "Say hello to our guests."

Both children turned and bowed to us. "Welcome!" Both plopped down on either side of their mother and began to eat.

The Lady switched back to German. "The Thule Society has sought many artifacts of great power here in Agartha, but the Seal of Solomon is a particularly powerful one, giving them power over any member of monster kind who is not a boss monster."

Called it.

"The Seal is hidden away in a temple. In order to retrieve it, you must undergo a series of trials that determine your worth."

Star sat up. "And the Thule Society has yet to make it through."

"Correct. The vampires that make up their ranks have the required determination in their souls, but are unable to pass the test that must be done in daylight. It is forever locked away from them."

Chara eyed her. "But?"

"But now that you're here, it is a sign that the Dreemurrs have returned to their throne. The Seal must be returned to King Asriel."

Star sighed. "Just what Az needs. More artifacts to look after."

The woman smiled a little. "When any family shoulders the yoke of kingship, it comes with many responsibilities. This is just one burden among many for the King of All Monsters."

Frisk leaned forward. "Any hints for what we should do, or might find?"

The Lady nodded. "You must enter the temple in the evening and will proceed through it for a full day."

Star mulled that over. "Are their places to rest inside? A twenty four hour cycle is hard to pull off after you've been running all day already."

"There are."

Star turned to us. "Do we go tonight or wait for tomorrow?"

Luna frowned. "I vote we move fast." The rest of us agreed.

Star nodded. "Then we start this evening."

As we finished eating, a young girl in a red dress came in and led us out of the city and onto a path through a field. She pointed in the direction the path went.

I gave her a smile. "I do have a grasp on your language."

"Oh!" She smiled brightly. "All right then! Just follow the path. An easy pace will put you at the temple doors at the time they open in the evening. The temple has several places at which you can exit and all will put you out the front doors and back on the path. If you exit before completing all the trials, you will have to wait until the next evening to try again. When you have finished, come back this way and Lady Edrine will see you home."

I gave her a small bow, earning a giggle and a courtesy before she ran off. I relayed the information to our interpreted party and off we went.

Once the city was distant and the fields of flowers around us obviously bare of people, Frisk voiced her concern, "Is it just me or is anyone else really confused by the Son and Daughter of Dreemurr thing? I mean, Chara is the biological son of Asgore and Toriel, so being called a Son of Dreemurr makes sense, but he and I have yet to stand at an altar, so why the designation of Daughter by Marriage?" She turned to Luna. "And I was under the impression that you aren't adopted. That the Luna's are a pretty big family."

Luna nodded. "I'm the oldest of eleven. But she named me a Son by Adoption. Asriel has long called me his brother and my Asgore and Toriel refer to me as their son to other fey. The same way my parents will call Asriel their son. The adoption is symbolic."

Stephen raised his hand. "She named me a Son by Adoption as well, which makes sense in that context." He put a hand on my shoulder. "On our world, adoption by monster or fey kind is not symbolic. It is a sign of your membership in the family. Frisk and Chara are heirs to empire. If something happened to Asriel, either of them would rule in her stead as a Dreemurr."

Star shook her head. "But that doesn't explain me. By that definition, I should have been called a Daughter by Adoption."

Prince Chara placed a hand to his lips, thinking carefully before some thought occurred to him. "If Frisk Church is not standing at King Asriel's side, who stands in her place? Who is his right hand when she is not?"

Star blinked. "I… I am."

"Then you've answered your own question."

"But now I have a far more pressing one." Luna smiled darkly, eyes on Chara. "She said Daughter by Marriage and you two are clearly not hitched yet. So," he got in Chara's face, "do I need to be defending Frisk's honor?"

Chara gave him a very calculated, black look, a smile tugging at his lips.

Frisk giggled. "Oh no. To be perfectly honest, I'm the terrible one! You should really be defending Chara's honor. Despite my best efforts, he has proven to be the very soul of self control."

Chara blushed, even as he folded his arms over his chest. "Just keep in mind that after we've made our vows, I won't be."

Luna put an arm around Chara's shoulders, giving Frisk a chiding look. "How dare you despoil such purity."

Chara growled but it came out like a sigh. "I hate you."

Luna patted his shoulder with a smile. "I know."

As the sun appeared to darken, not set, mind you, but darken, the path became a bridge across a sea to an island just off shore. Halfway across the bridge stood a tower in the shape of a colossal statue of a goat king, a sword in each hand and speared into the water on either side of the bridge. Beyond the statue lay the temple.

Luna stared up at it. "That looks suspiciously like my Asriel."

Star looked up even as she reached down to pet Umbra. "Really? What's he like?"

Luna smiled. "A complete and utter asshole. Don't get me wrong. I love him. He's my best friend. Still an asshole. Laughed his ass off when I told him about Frisk."

"How'd you meet?"

"A walk in the woods with my family when I was a toddler. Azzy was playing in a mud puddle and I jumped in with him. It's one of my first real memories. Didn't learn until years later that our fathers were staring each other down, waiting for one or the other to move first and attack. After about five minutes, our mothers threw up their hands and introduced themselves to each other.

"On my timeline, goat monsters are pooka and extremely dangerous. The Luna's are hereditary hunters and Asgore knew who my father was without introduction, hence the stand off. Thankfully, my mom and Tori have much cooler heads. But the reaction isn't unwarranted. A hunter showing up on a supernatural being's doorstep is cause for alarm. It's why Frisk went on the offensive as soon as I knocked on her door."

"Obviously, it didn't end with either of you dead."

Luna frowned, but it did little to hide the flush in his cheeks. "No. No, it didn't."

So how did it end? That story didn't seem to be forthcoming. And strangely enough, Star wasn't asking. Usually she just dived right into questions like that. Or maybe she knew the answer and it wasn't for public consumption.

A set of doors about knee level on the statue, and level to the bridge, opened as we approached, the interior tunnel dark. The sky darkened and the statue lit up, glowing a bright violet as we entered. And we suddenly stood in the vestibule of a temple surrounded by marble statues of humans and monsters, faces covered by long sheets of cloth, hands held up in worship or supplication.

Luna stopped just inside the vestibule, turning a full circle. "We aren't alone."

Chara moved to take his back. "How many?"

Luna shook his head. "Can't tell. It's an overwhelming presence." He shivered. "Weird feeling vampires as undead."

Stephen watched the statues carefully. "Is that a learned sense?"

Luna's eyes searched every shadow. "No. It's a hereditary preternatural sense. Runs in the family."

Star adjusted her pack. "Proceeding with caution."

We walked down the short corridor that made up the vestibule of statues and into the first room. In the center of the room, a large, white flower was inlaid in a circle in the middle of the floor. The same flower was carved in miniature all over the walls and columns surrounding the circle.

Star immediately started jumping up and down. "I've seen this before! I know what to do!" She pointed up. "We need to get the ceiling open so the moonlight shines down on the circle and activates the mechanism under it. And we need to stay clear of the circle when the moonlight hits it."

I looked up at the ceiling and saw a set of levers to open it. "On it." A little bit of searching found a ladder up to the levers. Looking over the mechanism, it appeared to move pieces of the ceiling around so as to complete the same flower inlaid on the floor. After a few lever pulls, I yelled for everyone to stand clear and slid the last part of the flower into place.

The ceiling glowed softly before lifting slightly and sliding away. The face of the moon greeted me, the light shining down on the inlaid floor below. The floor glowed before shaking a little and fell in on itself, revealing a set of stairs down. At the same time, a door opened in the wall ahead. I climbed back down.

Star looked between our options. "Which way do we go?"

Luna shrugged. "We could spit-"

Chara and Frisk immediately jumped on that. "Never split the party."

I pulled my goggles on and looked down the stairs, adjusting them to give me some distance. "It looks like it's only opened a single chamber, not a path."

Star nodded. "Stairs first."

Umbra bounded down the stairs ahead of us, descending into a small chamber at the bottom. Sitting on a pedestal was a small, white flower made of resin. It didn't appear to be trapped on inspection, and Star picked it up, pocketing it carefully. We climbed the stairs and the moment the last of us stepped off the inlaid floor, it returned to normal, the ceiling rolling back into place, the puzzle resetting. Luna looked around, eyes on the shadows, but said nothing as we turned to the open doorway.

The next room was lit with eight large braziers, one either side of four statues in the four corners of the room. The fires in each brazier blazed brightly.

Star looked over the fire. "You ever wonder who lights these things?"

I looked up at one of the statues. "In my experience, they are lit by caretakers who have secret passages that let them get around."

Each statue stood about two and a half meters high and depicted a nude, sexless figure with a white mask covering the face. Each of the four represented one of the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. The earth statue appeared to be growing moss and be set with gems. The water statue seemed to be built from shells. The air statue was covered in swirling lines. The fire statue smoldered with some internal flame. All four faced the middle of the room.

Luna crouched to look at the base of the air statue and touched it. It moved easily under his hands. "Okay, so we're supposed to face these a specific way. So which way is that?"

Stephen shrugged. "We could try cardinal directions. Each element is associated with one. North, Earth. East, Air. West, Water. South, Fire."

Star pulled out a magnetic needle compass and then shook her head. "It has to be something else. My compass is just spinning. Let's look around the room."

Stephen turned and stopped. "We're missing Wood and Metal."

All of us looked at him. "What?"

He cringed a little. "Creepy. Anyway, Lady Edrine and her people wore clothing reminiscent of Tibet. And in Tibet, Wood and Metal are part of the elements and Air is dropped."

Chara's eyes dropped to the floor. "There are grooves in the floor. We can rotate the statues, but it seems like we can also move them around the room."

Stephen pulled the air statue out of position. The other three rotated and moved out a little, making room for two statues and two more braziers.

"All right. Let's find our missing statues and put them all in place."

Searching the room, we found two more statues, one made of metal and the other of wood, and two more braziers which were unlit. Moving them along the grooves, we placed them with the other three. Once all five were in place, the unlit braziers blazed to life and a pedestal rose out of the middle of the room. Sitting on it was a wooden octagon. Star carefully pocketed it as well and the room reset, the air statue coming back into place. The door to the next room opened.

The next room was lit by the moonlight streaming through the openings in the ceiling. The openings were patterned and shined down on a large, stone globe in the middle of the room.

"Well this one seems easy enough." Frisk pushed the globe and it moved fluidly on it's base. "Just line up the patterns with the correct place on the globe."

Luna looked over the patterns. "This looks like Madagascar. And this is definitely Alaska."

"And that doesn't make sense." Star pulled out a map of Agartha.

Stephen eyed her. "Where'd you get that?"

"This?" She shrugged. "I swiped it from the Thule Society's hideout."

Luna rubbed her head. "Hoodlum."

She swatted him off. "Yeah yeah. Anyway, this is Agartha. Why would they have map pieces for Madagascar and Alaska on a globe that resembles the map I have here?"

I turned my head slightly. "Anyone else hear clicking?"

Frisk nodded. "It sounds like a clock."

On cue, a chime rang out the hour. The ceiling shifted above us and a new set of shapes appeared, but they were still shapes associated with the surface. None of them matched the interior globe of Agartha.

Luna checked his watch. "It's late. If we have to wait for the right shapes to appear, we might as well take it as a clue and rest. Get some food in us."

Chara nodded. "We'll take turns at watch for sleep."

"I'll take first," Star began.

"No," Luna shook his head. "You've been pushing yourself since the teleport. There's enough of us that you can sleep until the right shapes appear. And from what I understand, sleep is something Frisk will need as well for her spell casting ability."

Frisk nodded. She took Star's hand. "Come on. Take a break."

Star fell asleep in the middle of our meal. I packed up what was left of her ration, storing it back in her bag before getting her bed roll out and helping her lay down. Frisk immediately cuddled with Star, falling asleep easily as Umbra curled up between them, her golden rings glowing softly.

Luna snorted as he leaned back against the wall, preparing to be up for a while. "That's just too damn adorable." He looked around the room for a moment, rubbing his neck absently over two neat, little white dots of scar tissue. "Let's do this two by two. Chara and I first, Brass and Stephen on second. One of us to keep an eye out for danger and the other for the patterns."

I nodded and settled in.

My brother was dreaming. We were floating down the Nile in a large boat, watching the fields turn from open, sandy expanse to lush, green farmland. Anne, Cephas, and Mary looked to be in the middle of a card game. Asriel and Miss Luxon talked in hushed tones with Wilson.

Frisk looked at me, his blond hair shining in the sunlight. "You guys are okay, right?"

I nodded. "Stephen and I are fine."

"Really? Because I'm having a nap on a boat on the Nile and you look to be sleeping in a strange temple."

I smiled and relaxed. "Just doing a favor for Frisk Church. It's turned out to not be very different from some of our crazier adventures."

"Tell me all about it when you get home?"

"Of course." I reached out to put my hand on my brother's shoulder. My hand didn't make it. I woke up to Chara shaking me awake.

"Your turn for watch."

I nodded and sat up, stretching. After repacking my bed roll, I sat down next to Stephen, the two of us watching the room. Besides the chiming of the clock and the changing of the patterns from time to time, it was quiet.

"I'm sorry you're stuck so far from home and so far from Mary. I promise you, we'll be home before too long and it will be like we were gone for a few days at most."

Stephen smirked and smacked the back of my head. "I've followed you around enough that this isn't abnormal and Mary will be fine without me. I'm worried about Frisk. He's better about it now, but if you're gone for too long, it starts to mess with him."

I held up both hands in surrender. "Fine. But you smacked me hard enough, Frisk probably felt it, so be prepared for complaints when we get home."

"Ha ha." He nudged the pocket I keep my phone in. "I notice that you haven't called home yet."

"I was just talking to my brother. They're having a lovely sail down the Nile."

Stephen sat back. "Do you two always do that? Dream-talk to each other?"

I looked up at the patterns in the ceiling. "Sometimes. Mostly, we just share the same dreams."

He tapped my arm. "Hey look." He pointed at the ceiling. "The moon is turning away from us."

I leaned forward a little. "It's almost like the sun is on the backside of the moon."

"What if it is?"

"It'd give us some clues as to how this place has night and day." The clock chimed and I stood, watching the patterns change. I checked them against the map and it looked like the main, centralized continent on the map. I ran over to the globe and turned it, twisting it until the pattern matched the globe, holding it steady. The sound of a lock clicked and a door opened.

"Is it time?" Star asked, voice heavy with sleep.

I frowned. "The way opened, but there wasn't an item to collect."

She sat up, extricating herself from Frisk's arms to come over to us. She thought it over for a moment. "We'll wait for the next change over and see if something else happens." She sat down with Stephen and I and pulled out her rations. "Did you put my food away last night?"

I nodded.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Is Crow all right? You haven't summoned him once."

Star smiled softly. "He's been working on the teleportation machine with Bones. If I need him, he can come to me wherever I am."

"Good to know."

Star ate some breakfast while we waited for the chiming and the next change of patterns. Another set of patterns matching the map slid into place. I rushed to the globe, moving it to align. Another door opened, this time into a small room. On a pedestal in the middle sat a small globe. Star pocketed it.

Stephen elbowed me. "Let's get everyone else up."

"Yeah."

A little bit later and everyone was up with a full belly from breakfast. The next room was dark. We lit it up with torches and found an array of objects on tables inside: toys, dolls, small statues, plates, bowls, cups, jars; casting black shadows on the walls. Stephen turned slowly around a group of objects and stopped, looking at the shadow.

"Check this out. From this angle, the shadow looks like a group of people standing together."

Chara looked around. "I bet the rest of the items do the same thing. We just have to find the correct set of shadows."

After some trial and error, we'd created a scene: humans and monsters living in harmony, the war between humans and monsters, monsters emerging from the underground, a great monster king coming to power. A doorway slid open.

Luna looked around. "No object?"

"We have to do something else for it." I walked a ring around the outside of the objects. "Let's try concentrating our lights through the middle and up."

We walked around the outer edge of the room, torches shining in the middle and up to the ceiling. A Delta Rune came together. We held it for a while and a part of the ceiling detached, coming down on four sturdy chains. In the middle was a clay Delta Rune, painted white and purple. Star carefully wrapped it and put it in her bag.

Heading into the next room had us all blinking against the bright morning light. Instead of a room, we stood on a bridge under the sun, the bright blue sea glittering all around us. I looked back and saw the back of the goat monster statue. Huh. We hadn't been in the temple at all.

Star turned her face up to the sunlight. "Well, no vampires are getting through this."

Luna frowned, shaking his head. "Don't be too sure of that. A powerful enough vampire can resist the daytime call of sleep and if sufficiently covered, can walk in daylight."

Star turned to him. "You mean like Gretchen?"

"I mean exactly like Gretchen."

Crossing the bridge took most of the day, the island being a lot further than it appeared. Or maybe it was a test. The puzzles tested patience and perseverance. We stopped halfway to eat lunch, only arriving at the temple late in the afternoon. The temple was tall, white, and shining, many spires reached up into the sky. The double doors that made up the entrance had four indents, one for each of the items Star carried, along with what looked like scorch marks.

I knelt, running a hand along the black and coming away with soot. "Someone tried forcing the doors. Likely they missed pieces of the puzzle. Before we open the doors, I suggest taking a walk around the building to see if someone successfully blasted their way in."

Chara looked over the door. "I second."

Star nodded. "We'll need to be quick about it. We'll be out of time if we take too long."

We circled the building and found blast marks everywhere. One spire in the back had crumbled under one blast, but hadn't provided a way into the temple. Not even the thick glass windows appeared to be damaged. Umbra sniffed her way around the building, but didn't indicate that anything smelled interesting. Sure that we weren't in for a surprise inside the temple, we placed the puzzle pieces in their indents. Each piece spun and was drawn into the door, the mechanism grinding as the doors shuddered and opened.

I moved to step inside the temple when Star and Frisk both squeaked. Thule Society soldiers had grabbed both of them. From the wetness of their boots, I was willing to bet they'd come by boat, bypassing the temple all together. Before the rest of us could react, we were surrounded. A quick count had us at twenty soldiers. Umbra growled, hackles up.

Gretchen, now wearing the Thule Society uniform, her skin covered from the late afternoon light by the umbrella she held over her head, looked at the open doors. "I've been trying to open this temple for fifty years and now its power is mine." She smiled at us. "Thank you so much for opening it for me."

Frisk glowered at her. "You gave up your comrades for your own personal gain."

Her smile fell. "Dispose of them. The rest of you, follow me." She walked into the temple, followed by ten of her soldiers.

Star made the first move, dropping her weight on the man holding her. Unprepared for it, he fell backwards and she brought her elbow down on his face. Chara moved next, throwing the man holding him to the ground and heel stomping his face. Luna's knife gleamed in his hand for an instant before the man who held him was suddenly choking on blood. He turned and threw the same knife, catching another soldier in the head. Stephen and I both dropped and came back up, using our shoulders to bash the chins of the soldiers behind us, sending them both to the ground. Frisk grasped the sun symbol on her chest and bright pillars of light hit the remaining soldiers, sending them to the ground.

Stephen looked over at Luna. "Your LOVE. It didn't go up."

The hunter nodded, cleaning his knife after retrieving it from the face of the soldier at his feet. "Level Of ViolencE means something else for me."

Star waved it off. "We need to hurry! Come on!"

We rushed into the temple and found a single, circular room, light pouring in from the windows on every side. Gretchen stood in the middle of her men, several of them holding black sheets around her to block the light. Oversized, marble pots held large, green bushes. Beautiful, red and blue silk banners hung around the room, and set off the swirling tile work on the floor. But for as beautiful as a room it was, all eyes were on the throne at the other end of the room, and Dragoon relaxing in it.

He looked worse for wear, his jaw half gone where Snow had cracked it. His uniform certainly looked as if it'd seen better days. He stood. "Interesting fact about the Seal. It only appears for the person or persons who earned it." He lifted his arm and his sword appeared in his hand, directed at Gretchen. "You lot forced your way in. So the Seal isn't with you."

Dragoon rushed the soldiers. The rest of us took the opportunity to take out the soldiers as they scrambled to defend Gretchen, Chara and Luna taking down two of them before they had a chance to step forward. Umbra's eyes glowed brightly and two of the soldiers hit the floor when a ball of black energy hit them.

Star rushed passed everyone, heading straight for Dragoon. A sword she'd hidden somewhere on her person, slid into her hand as she crashed into him. "I have had it with you!"

Their swords clashed and Dragoon was driven back into the throne. He growled and shoved Star off of him. She fell back and rolled to her feet, rushing him again. I lost sight of her as a soldier came up on me. I ducked low, catching him in the stomach with my shoulder and flipped him onto his back.

Stephen fired twice, killing the man before he had a chance to get up. "Get to Star. I've got your back."

I nodded and slammed into a soldier in front of me, knocking him into Gretchen. She fell into the sunlight and screeched. Luna lunged at Gretchen, punching her once to daze her before shoving a stake through her heart. The vampire screaming as she turned to dust was enough to send the soldiers running for it. The rest of us moved to flank Dragoon only to be blocked by a barrier of bones.

Dragoon snorted. "Cut off from the void and your friends, you're no match for-"

Star slammed into him with her shoulder. She dropped her sword as she grabbed his arm, pulling him toward her. Spinning the skeleton into her other arm, Star swept his legs from the back at the same time. Dragoon hit the floor, his sword flying from his hand. He rolled to the side and found his feet, what was left of his jaw set grimly.

Dragoon slammed his fists together and rushed at Star. The floor began to glow a bright orange, forcing Star to dodge bones as they shot up. Dragoon threw a right hook from the side. Star brought her arm up to catch it only to be knocked to the floor by a bone she couldn't dodge. She kipped up, and grabbed one of glowing orange bones. Grimacing against the pain holding onto it caused her, she swung it like a bat, connecting with Dragoon's already mangled mandible. The skeleton stumbled back and Star jumped him, pushing him all the way to the ground; trapping him underneath her. She lifted the bone high over her head.

Dragoon laughed, hollow and smug. "Is this what you want, Shooting Star? To increase your LOVE with my defeat?

"No." She dropped the bone. "What I want is for you to be just as scared of me as you are of Frisk Church." She punched him in the face hard enough he groaned, skull swaying back and forth.

I offered Star my hand and she took it. "You've got quite a few bruises from that."

Star smiled and shook her leg. "Honestly, I'm lucky my leg isn't broken." She looked around. "So how do we get the-" She swung around mid-sentence, grabbing hold of Dragoon just as he disappeared, winking out of existence with him.

"Star!"

Several breathless minutes later, Star returned, Crow helping her stand, her eyes completely black.

"I feel sooooo much better!" She leaned against Crow, looking a little drunk. He patted her hand and let me take her when I stepped forward. Umbra rushed over, rubbing up against Star's legs.

Chara frowned. "Dragoon got away."

Star nodded. "When I hit the void I let go. Too busy being overwhelmed by being in my element." She took a deep breath and stood. "However, being in the void meant Crow could be there too."

Crow nodded. "I need to speak with Bones about what I've learned."

Star smiled. "So now all we need is the Seal and-"

There was a flash and we stood on the bridge on the land side of the goat monster tower.

"We timed out," Chara groaned.

Luna nodded. "That appears to be the case."

"We didn't get the Seal," Star sighed. "Well, at least we know that the Thule Society doesn't have it. We can try again. Later. After a shower."

I waved a hand in front of her face. "Star?"

"Yes?"

I lifted her right hand. "That's a nice ring you've got." I smirked. "Where'd you pick it up?"

She stared at the gold band set with several tiny gemstones, a copper and an iron half ring flanking the stones. Star pulled off the ring, turning it over. The Seal was engraved on the inside. It disappeared from her hand, reappearing on her finger.

"Woah."