A/N: Woops, I had this ready for upload for a few days already, but totally forgot to upload it. My apologies for the delay, thanks for your ongoing support, and hope you enjoy!

Lion's Arch was unlike anything Caithe had ever even been able to imagine. The city was built out of beached ships, in various states of destruction and rotation, as if they had simply been stacked on top of each other by a blind giant. Underneath and through it, small buildings were built, and unstable looking wooden constructions connected the houses. The group stood on a small plaza where four gates were mounted on small pedestals, with stairs leading towards them. Over the bridge, on another plaza, a tall statue of a lion stood.

She unbuttoned her cape and took it off her shoulders, holding it over one arm. The temperature had risen from far below zero to near tropical. Faolain took off her hood, but after a moment's hesitation, and a sideways glance at Caithe, let the cape stay where it was. The plaza was busy with travellers and merchants, coming and going from the gates continuously. People pushed carts through the gates or emerged with big sacks. Large, catlike creatures grunted as they carried their heavy loads into the city. Gixx spoke with an asura near another gate. The Norn were a minority now, but of course, they were otherwise engaged at the moment.

Another of the catlike creatures came out of the city, a big backpack on its furry back. It looked grumpy, and had its claws out just in case anyone came too close to his wares. It looked around on the plaza, then set course for Hoelbrak. It came up the small stairs before the gate, and Caithe quickly stepped away to let him through, brushing slightly against its arm in the process.

'Hey! Watch where you're going, runt!' The creature growled, slashing angrily at her. Caithe barely dodged the blow, then vanished, reappearing on the other side of him, dagger in hand.

'My apologies,' she said simply, a grin on her face. The creature was confused for a moment, then turned towards her, growling low in its throat. It pointed a sharp claw at her.

'Don't play games with me, kid. I'll tear you apart.' His voice was dripping venom. Then it snorted and straightened, walking back towards the gate. A slender figure blocked his way once more.

'What made you think you could threaten my Caithe and get away with it?' Purple sparks shot between Faolain's fingers, a confident smirk on her face. The creature laughed, a grunting laugh from deep in his chest. It made the air tremble around them with the sheer volume. Then the creature undid the clasps of his backpack with a single gesture, making the pack fall to the ground. He shook his fur in anticipation, a grin on his face.

'A fight it is, then,' it bared its large canines at Faolain, keeping an eye on Caithe as well. Caithe charged first, avoiding the first flying fist, agile as always. She ducked and ran forward, trying to stab the beast where it would hurt, aiming for its unprotected abdomen. It brought down another claw and slammed her down in a single blow. She was knocked to the ground, sharp claws digging into her back. Caithe gasped, her vision swimming as the air was knocked out of her and her chin hit the stone ground hard. Above her she heard Faolain fight and scream, and then a body came crashing down on her own. Caithe whined with the pain, and she heard Faolain groan. The creature chuckled.

'Well, I'm not much of a vegetarian, but you'll make a decent lunch anyway...'

'What's going on here?' Three men in uniforms stepped forward, parting the small crowd that had gathered to watch the fight take place. 'Another drunken brawl? Get outta here, troublemakers.'

The catlike beast snarled and unhanded the Sylvari, grunting, 'They started it.'

'And I ended it. Get lost, Charr. And you ...two,' the man pointed his slender sword each time he addressed one of them, but hesitated for a moment when he took in the sight of the Sylvari. 'You two get lost as well. No fighting at the gates.' Caithe got up, coughing, pushing Faolain off of her, who stood up unsteadily as well. They nodded, heads down in shame, trying to shuffle away as far from their foe as possible. The guards turned their attention to the crowd now.

'Back to your businesses! Scram!' The people started splitting up and returning to their work, chatting excitedly about the fight, exchanging bet money and laughing about their wins. The creature stuck out a claw and pulled Faolain back by her collar. She yelped in surprise and fear.

'Next time, you're going down,' the beast whispered, 'and unless you want another Charr to do it for me, I'd cut back on that attitude if I were you...' his words lingered, followed by a low, hollow chuckle. Faolain snarled at him, eyes blazing with fury, but then yanked herself free and ran back to Caithe, who dusted off her fallen mantle. She did not look back until the beast had picked up his pack and gone through the portal.

Little feet scurried towards them, and Gixx started talking and gesturing frantically before he had even reached them.

'Not for five minutes in Lion's Arch, and you've already gotten into a fight! With a Charr, no less!'

'Ah, so they are called Charr..' Caithe noted, rubbing the back of her sore neck.

'Couldn't you have helped us?' Faolain asked Gixx sourly. Gixx laughed nervously at this ridiculous notion.

'Taking on a Charr? Without equipment? Absolutely not, my lady. Now, come on, we've overstayed our welcome as it is.' He gestured for them to follow, but kept a close eye this time if they were indeed behind him. They crossed the plaza and climbed the stairs to another gate. They felt the magic membrane pulsing as they came closer.

'I'm sorry, Gixx,' Caithe sighed. Gixx turned around, raising an eyebrow at her.

'What for?'

'For losing the fight,' Caithe shrugged. Gixx threw his hands in the air in frustration, but did not respond. He stepped through the gate and vanished. Faolain grabbed Caithe's hand and pulled them both through the portal.

.

Frantic. Every minute since her job, her life, had been taken from her, had been nothing less than frantic. Frantic emotions, at first, paired with banging on a heavy steel door, that did not open. Frantic begging for forgiveness. Words only answered with a muffled screaming coming from the room she was locked out of.

Now the young asura assistant paced in her room, going through her papers again and again. She could not sit down. She could not decide whether she was more sad about losing her job, or losing -dare she think it?- a friend. Losing her responsibility. Her assignment. Her life's work.

Kudu was downstairs, in the lab, doing unspeakable things to the Sylvari, mind even more frantic and less stable than hers. She wanted to do something. Needed to do something. Finally she threw down the papers and sat down, hiding her face in her hands and crying, letting the tears stream down. She knew that her reputation would be ruined forever. She would never be anyone's assistant again. It was all over. And yet, she had already, in some strange fashion, accepted that. As if she'd known all along, as if she'd been prepared for it every time she went down to Malomedies, late at night.

But letting Kudu unleash his crazy fascinations on him, without boundaries, without her healing practices... Her former master had had a look bordering on insane when he'd kicked her out. He must have known about Gixx returning. Suddenly she looked up, her eyes shot open at the realization. Gixx. If anyone could stop Kudu from dissecting her subject alive right then and there, it would be him. He would talk to the Arcane Council. He would stop Kudu. He would restore her status as honourable asura.

He would save Malomedies.

Her eyes widened as her mind began racing, quickly conjuring up multiple plans. She stood up, picked up a few papers, dropped them again, ran around in a circle, holding her head. She stopped and forced herself to breathe. Calm. Okay. I can do this.

She then took off, throwing open the door to the hallway, not even bothering to lock it behind her. She quickly descended the flights of stairs, one, two, three, and reached the central floor of her pyramid. Asura were talking excitedly left and right, but she paid them no heed. She needed to get to the gate, wait for Gixx, tell him what had to be done. She ran, dodging the expensive equipment scattered everywhere, jumped over a table, her breathing laboured now. She saw the bridges connecting the three floating pyramids, their blue magic glittering in the evening sun.

And there, in the middle of the suspended plaza, a small figure stood. She could not hear his voice but she recognized him, as if from a picture. She had never spoken to this asura, but every assistant from her generation knew his name. She knew it was him even though his back was turned to her. Then her breath stopped, and her head felt faint. She pulled her ears down in pure panic, and chewed the tips. Next to Gixx, looking at him with interested and friendly expressions, two tall women stood. Their bodies leafy, their faces humanoid. Gixx said something else she could not hear, and then the Sylvari laughed, elegantly, bringing up their hands to cover their mouths. She picked up the sound, albeit very feint. It was light, and ringing, like a bell. Her feet seemed suddenly to be made of stone, but her hands shook. She stood pinned, staring with her mouth ajar and her large eyes comically wide. She could not move a muscle, even though that was all she wanted right now.

Another asura, an older assistant, moved towards her, and put a hand on their shoulder.

'Fascinating, aren't they? If I didn't have work, I'd go closer and examine them. But my master -' The words shook the assistant from her binding spell and she took off, not even bothering to listen to what the other asura had to say.

Malomedies! She thought frantically, and quickly crossed the bridge, stumbling and falling, landing on her belly in front of the three.

'Master Gixx! Please listen to me!'

.

Gixx stopped mid-sentence as the young asura dropped in front of his feet. He slowly turned his head towards her, his eyebrow raised, his mouth twisting down into a displeased sneer. He eyed her once, then sniffed disdainfully.

'From the Inquest, are you?' he asked her. She nodded, trying to get up on her shaky hands. Caithe kneeled down and helped her up on her feet, which made her red eyes widen even more. The assistant looked from Caithe to Gixx and back, for a moment unsure of what to do. Then she turned towards Gixx, grabbing the seam of his coat, and the tugged it desperately.

'Please, Master Gixx, I need to speak with you,' she gasped, and glanced quickly at the two Sylvari, 'in private!' Gixx waved her away, pulling his coat from her grasp and purposefully dusting it off in front o f her, as if her touch had made a dirty mark on it.

'Can't you see I'm busy?' He snapped at her, 'First all my letters to the Inquest go unanswered, but now that I'm back, it's suddenly urgent?' She almost whined in frustration.

'You don't understand! I can't say it here, but please, just one moment, you need to know this!'

'Does your master know you're here? Why aren't you at work?' He looked down on her, and she blushed in shame.

'I don't have a master...anymore...'

'Then what are you doing here? Go away. I have no need for redundant assistants.'

'Please, Master Gixx, you-' she begged.

'That would be "Magister", thank you very much. Get out of my sight, student.' Gixx interrupted her, shoved her back on the bridge, and turned his back to her. Then, as if he had discarded his annoyance along with the other asura, he turned his attention to the Sylvari again.

'Ladies! My apologies for this disturbance. Let me show you around.' He lead the two around the plaza, then descended into the northern pyramid.

.

The assistant fell to her knees, trembling all over her body. She watched Gixx go, followed by these two entrancing Sylvari women. She had failed. He did not even listen. She gritted her teeth, trying to force back her tears.

She stood up slowly. If Gixx wouldn't help her, she was on her own. She might as well make the most out of it for herself. She descended into the pyramids, into the Inquest lab area. She knew the route so well. She arrived at the door that led to Malomedies' prison. Slowly she raised a hand, then resolutely banged it with a fist. For a moment, it was silent, but then she heard rummaging behind the thick door, and it opened the slightest bit. Kudu peered through the narrow crack, and sighed when he recognized his former assistant, almost closing the door on her again. She quickly slipped her foot between the door and the wall, stopping the door effectively from closing, and looked Kudu in the eye.

'Master. I came to inform you that Gixx has arrived in Rata Sum.' Kudu peered at her for a second, then opened the door a bit more.

'A shame. So little time left..' Kudu looked sour.

'Not necessarily,' the assistant said, trying to sound formal and convinced of herself. Kudu raised an eyebrow at her.

'And why would that be?' He peered at her, his mouth still in a twisted snarl. She stuck her nose in the air, arrogantly.

'Well, since you are no longer my master, that is none of your business. Good day, Kudu.' She turned to leave, but Kudu yanked her back into the lab with a tormented growl, painfully twisting her arm. As soon as she was inside, he closed the door and locked it. He hissed at her, madness in his eyes.

'Tell me.'

'G-gixx brought two more. They are here. In Rata Sum.' She squeaked, trying to struggle her arm free from his painful grip. Kudu's eyes widened.

'Truly? Why, that is most fascinating...' His mouth curled into a grin, flashing pointy teeth. His eyes narrowed when he looked back at the assistant. 'Fine. You are hired. You will do as I say and not have any opinions whatsoever. Understand?' The assistant could only nod.

'What did you do to the specimen in my absence?' Kudu suddenly asked. He had a strange expression on his face, one of annoyance mixed with fascination.

'I taught him math,' the assistant admitted. Kudu scoffed.

'Well, that was a waste of time. He's not doing anything of the sorts anymore.' Kudu paused for a moment. 'He's not doing anything at all anymore, I'm afraid.' He chuckled low in his throat.

The assistant's eyes only now darted towards the table. The sight was indescribable. There were tools spread out over the entire workspace, and the floor was scattered with vegetable remains. There were stains from a yellowish, translucent liquid, which dripped from a corner of the table, seeping out from under the body. Or what was left of it.

She saw the Sylvari breathing, the bared chest heaving, partially pierced and opened. His limbs were strangely dislodged and bent in awkward directions. Everywhere patches were opened or needles stuck out. The white mask was placed firmly over the Sylvari's face, but even from under there the liquid oozed and stained the rims of the mask.

She gasped, clasping her hands in front of her face. For a moment, she could only hear her master's amused chuckle. In shock, her emotions took over her mind.

She stepped up to Kudu, raised her hand, noted in the back of her mind the look he was giving her, arrogant and smug, with a hint of surprise at her actions. She gritted her teeth, forcing down her tears, and with all her might struck Kudu across the face.

.

The Sylvari walked around, following Gixx, staring with wide eyes at the place they'd arrived at. Everything here was made of metal, held afloat by magic. All structures were meticulously mathematical, as if the asura could fold up the city and fit it into a tiny box. Every shape had an equal structure of different size somewhere in the building. Blue light illuminated the rooms, coming out from under ledges and corners. Everything was clean, felt sterile, almost. Bridges and stairs were made of the blue light, which was somehow solid enough to stand on. It took a while for the Sylvari to get used to them.

They descended deeper and deeper, bowing politely to the asura Gixx introduced them to. Caithe suspected him vaguely of simply wanting to show them off to his colleagues, instead of sincerely being interested in showing them around. On the other hand, she did not really mind. This place was absolutely amazing.

They crossed a corner and came into a wide hallway. To the left, other smaller hallways lead away from this one, which seemed to be a main highway of some sorts. At the end of the hallway, the blue light was suddenly replaced by red, and it was remained red up until the wall and into the adjacent hallways. Gixx sighed.

'Ah, my ladies, I will not be showing you around here, since it's not quite as interesting as the rest, but here the Inquest have their laboratories.'

'The Inquest?' Caithe asked, while peering under a ledge to try and find the source of the beautiful blue light. She felt slightly nauseous, but played it off as a side effect of the sudden temperature changes. Or maybe from the gates, who knew what kind of effect they had on the body. Faolain walked up to the lightborder, just not stepping into the red light. She peered into the hallway.

'A seperate faction of asura. They have slightly different.. methods than usual. But excellent results, I must say, excellent results...' Gixx trailed off, for a moment looking very concerned. Then he restored his polite smile and turned back. 'You ladies coming along?' Caithe moved away from her ledge and turned to follow him, but stopped when she saw Faolain staring into the hallway, her nails digging into her chest as she clutched her dress.

'Caithe,' Faolain said, still staring at a point far away. 'I don't feel well.' Caithe walked up to her and took her hand.

'I know,' she whispered, stroking her hand softly. Faolain's gaze broke loose from the wall, and she looked at Caithe. She seemed pale.

'Something is wrong, I suddenly felt...' she trailed off, Caithe gently leading her away.

'I know, Faolain, I also feel bad. Maybe the gates-'

'It's not the gates,' Faolain answered resolutely, but Gixx interfered, having only half listened.

'Ah, yes! Gate nausea! I remember my first time, hah!' He grinned as he strolled casually back into the main plaza. 'The side effects are getting less each day, though, our best scientists are working on it. Though, if you're not used to it... Let's get some fresh air!'

'What did I tell you?' Caithe grinned smugly at Faolain, who returned her gaze, partly annoyed, partly still concerned.

'You are probably right, then,' Faolain succumbed, leaning closer to Caithe as they walked back, ascending stairs and into the cool evening breeze at the open plaza.

.

After proper goodbyes and exchanging thanks, Caithe and Faolain found themselves in a forest once more. It was green and the trees were tall and the ground was familiar. They both sensed it, saw the familiar trails of animals they knew, and plants they had seen grow before. A small creek streamed close by, and Caithe darted towards it happily to drink. Even the water tasted familiar. They both picked up pace, starting into a light jog into the woods and then started running, dancing and laughing as they crossed terrain that was increasingly more familiar.

Caithe, after they were both out of breath from running, lifted a thick blanket of willow-like branches to reveal a small clearing in the forest. A charred tree marked a stark line across it, but mosses and grasses had begun to grow on the burned bark, and it looked more like a shallow hill than what it once had been.

Not far from where she stood, she saw the upstanding roots of another fallen trunk, and recognized the hiding place it provided.

'Back where we began,' a velvety voice sounded behind her. Caithe ran towards her lover and let Faolain hold her. She sighed, in happiness. It was as if the memories from that fateful night came streaming back, taking with them all the feelings she had then noticed for the first time.

'What if you had never found me?' She asked softly, lovingly trailing nonsense patterns on Faolain's arm with a fingertip. Faolain chuckled, and Caithe felt the vibrations in her chest.

'I didn't need to. I knew where you were all along,' she whispered. Caithe looked up in surprise.

'How?'

'I followed you.' A simple answer. Caithe wasn't satisfied.

'Then, why?'

'You fascinate me.' Faolain said, her voice warm. Caithe looked up and saw in her eyes the same obsessive curiosity as her own, which had connected them many nights ago. She smiled.

A small branch snapped under the weight of a footstep, and they heard a voice calling to them, the sound of a bow being tensed, ready to shoot.

'Who are you? What is your business here?' A voice came from behind a wide tree. Caithe saw the arrowhead pointed at her. She stood still, making sure not to make any unexpected movements. Faolain slowly let go, and stepped forward.

Faolain, what are you doing?

I think I know that voice.

Faolain? a third voice sounded in their heads. The arrowhead was lowered slightly, and a slender figure stepped out from under the protection of the tree. Faolain ran towards her.

'Aife! I knew it was you!' Faolain laughed, and the archer broke into a smile.

'Faolain! Caithe! It is really you!'