It was hard to explain the void that Val's absence left in House Duskryn. There was such a subtle wrongness, a strange quiet that people tried to fill with their voices only to fail miserably. Lirayne had returned as a victorious champion of the House, earning herself more glory than Lloth had seen fit to bestow on Zesstra. But it was definitely bittersweet.

"I told you Menzoberranzan would weather the storm," Yvonnel said softly, stepping into Siniira's study. Books were scattered everywhere, thrown from their neat places on the shelves. Papers and maps lay about like feathers from a bird's torn wing, fluttering faintly in the breeze of the door's movement.

"I do not want to hear 'I told you so' right now," Siniira said. She was sitting slumped forward in her chair, cradling her face in her hands. "My daughter—"

"Is not dead, Siniira. The yochlol said otherwise. I had a meeting with them before I came."

Siniira's head jerked up, taking in the image of a battle-worn, swaying priestess smelling of smoke and blood. Yvonnel hadn't stopped long enough to take off her singed armor, let alone bathe and recover herself. "I...that is some solace," she said, standing up to guide Yvonnel to sit in the chair she had just occupied. As soon as the exhausted cleric was seated, the Matron started unbuckling her battered armor. Parts of it had been crushed, bloody and bruised wounds beneath staining her undertunic."And Lirayne and Zesstra are safe. I owe you so much."

Yvonnel snorted. "You owe me nothing," she said, waving a hand as if to shoo Siniira away, but she didn't press her protest past that. It was nice to have someone looking after her for the first time in a very long time. "House Duskryn more than repaid me in full. If that portal hadn't closed, we would have been either pushed back to the city or slaughtered. And that, I believe, was your youngest's doing. The yochlol also say something has shifted in the Abyss. What, I don't know. All I do know is that the Spider Queen's favor is shining on your house like the moonlight on the forests of the surface."

"What did happen to Valyne? You've spoken to the tiefling, haven't you?"

One pauldron came off with a tear and Yvonnel had to cover a sob with a fierce growl as the crushed flesh and bone from a demon's clawed grip started bleeding freely again. "I did," she hissed out between clenched teeth. "Your daughter...ascended, like Asmodeus."

Elsewhere in the House, Galen was letting Lirayne fuss over him—under the guise of a thorough lecture on why she hadn't needed his help—as the remaining four of their party came together again to discuss what would happen next. "I feel like adventuring in the Underdark for a while," Galen admitted, looking over at Storunn. "You?"

"Aye, so ye can be close to yer doe-eyed gel," the dwarf said with a chuckle.

Lirayne whirled around, fixing the short warrior with a fearsome glare as she reached for her snake-whip. Galen had to catch her wrist in an iron grip to stop her from catching their dwarven friend across the face with it. "Storunn, not helping," he said. "Cess, you're being awfully quiet."

Cessair had fanned out her fingers, studying the flexing tendons in the back of her hands rather than looking at the rest of the group. She was still somewhere between terrified and awed by the display of power she'd seen. Flashes of the battle between Valyne and Shami-Amourae had been visible through the planar rift, including its conclusion. That moment was when the portal had exploded and she heard the voice speak in her head. I am. That was all it had said, but the images that came with it were explanation enough. Valyne was not just a demon, she was a demon lord. She was Shami-Amourae's death, her successor, her better. But she hadn't said a word of that to anyone else, struggling to reconcile the power she had seen with the mortal woman she'd known.

"Cess, did you hear me?"

Her head jerked up. "Yeah, Underdark might be a nice change for a while," she said vaguely. "Durna offered me more work if I wanted it and so did Yvonnel. I might be an envoy between Gracklstugh and Menzoberranzan for a while. You two don't have to come, of course. I'm sure I'll still see you."

"You won't be with us?" Galen said, looking wounded and confused.

"I need some time," Cessair said quietly. "It's not the same any more."

"What did you see?" Lirayne asked. She sensed there was a great deal that the half-elf wasn't telling them, but couldn't even begin to imagine what it was.

"Nothing," the disguised half elf said as she stood up. "I'm going to go for a walk."

"Welcome to your new domain, sweet thing. This is Vallashan, closer to the Heart than even Shendilavri. This is where the forces of good are allowed to claim a victory, only to be corrupted and turned on each other," Malcanthet said, walking through the vaulted stone halls of the hidden fortress-city kept far from the great battlefields that occupied space the size of continents. Hanging on the walls were banners and captured standards from the many armies to have fallen over the millennia. "We need to build armies now, even as you plumb the depths for answers."

Valyne put a hand to her forehead. "My memories of that life are so fresh. I can feel the hurt I left behind," she said, fully healed now from her battle with Shami-Amourae. Having balor lords swear fealty to her had been a gratifying experience, but here in private she was back to herself. The very self that felt like it was being torn into two pieces, mortal and immortal.

"They will fade in time," Malcanthet said. She waved a hand and the double doors opened. "I'd offer to distract you, sweet thing, but I think you'd be disinclined to agree."

Val bared her fangs. "You would be correct. Tell me more of this place. May I change it?"

"Your will is more real here than anything else. This domain is yours and you may do with it what you please. It will change in response to your personality, though the primary purpose remains. Do you think you can handle a few battles? The forces of good rarely have the nerve to assault the Abyss, but when they do..."

"I look forward to it," Val said honestly, a shiver running through her at the thought of corrupting others as she had been corrupted. Whether it was pleasure or dread she couldn't decipher. Her emotions, the mortal ones, felt strange. It was as if she was trying to wear clothes that she'd outgrown. "You know, Shami-Amourae told me your plan. Why you allied yourself with Lloth."

"A mutually beneficial arrangement, just as that between us is," Malcanthet said dismissively. "It will be a long, long time before we're ready to make such movements. Can I count on you when we do, however?" She held out her clawed hand as if to clasp Valyne's.

"We are allies...for now," Val said, grasping Malcanthet's hand in an almost crushing grip.

The succubus smiled widely and then threw her head back, laughing. "And so the student becomes a master," she said when her amusement had calmed, blank eyes practically gleaming. "Lloth will be so proud."