Lianshi reached out as if to touch Naomi’s arm, then drew her hand back. “We’ve missed you. Spoken of you constantly. Hoped you were doing well. We came out several times to try and find you—”
“And wandered around like idiots, making enough noise to rouse the whole block,” snapped Naomi, flinching away from where Lianshi might have touched her. “I know. It was child’s play to avoid you.”
Nobody spoke. The silence drew out, aching and awkward. Naomi scowled, looked away.
“Thank you,” said Scorio at last.
Naomi flinched again. “For what?”
“For watching out for us. For trying to help. For probably saving our lives. Thank you.”
“It was an idiot plan. Do you think all that mana wouldn’t draw the greatest predators around? This deep into the ruins?”
Scorio stayed silent.
Naomi glared at all of them in turn. “That nothing would sense that much mana collecting so close to the surface? Physical mana? That it wouldn’t draw fiends like the Alben Worm or the kushiwillow out? And for you to have the plants all secrete their beads at once? You didn’t think to stagger the production, to lessen the density of mana produced, to not make so tempting a target?”
“No,” said Scorio softly. “I didn’t think about that.”
Naomi ran her hands through her thick hair in frustration. “And what were you even going to do with all that mana? Make some crazy tincture that would poison you to death?”
“No,” said Scorio again. “Nox—the Imperial Ghost Toad—agreed to allow me to use his imperial gel bath to mimic his Delightful Secret Marinating technique. I was going to turn the beads into syrup and then immerse myself in it. Use the technique to overwhelm my Heart with mana so that I could make Emberling.”
Naomi’s eyes went wide with incredulity and shock. “You’re kidding me.”
“He’s not,” sighed Lianshi. “Trust me. I’ve had this argument with him several times over.”
“Toxic Coal syrup? From the number of plants down there—”
“Doesn’t matter,” said Scorio, cutting her off. “It was a stupid plan, and now it’s over. Without the mana, there’s nothing I can do. There are two weeks left, and with my Heart venting almost half of the mana I draw into it, there’s no way I’ll beat Jova in the Gauntlet run.”
Naomi stared at Scorio, her brows lowered, still looking furious. “It was a stupid plan. It would have killed you. That much toxicity would have overwhelmed whatever defenses the toad had going. The toad draws pure mana from the air, not toxic mana that’s been filtered into plants. There’s a world of a difference.”
Lianshi shifted her weight uneasily. “Nox said the gel would protect him.”
“What by the ten hells does a toad know about what a human needs?” Naomi’s voice could have flayed skin right off the flesh.
Leonis straightened. “Well, seeing as you weren’t around, we didn’t have anyone to ask.”
Naomi froze, then looked away. “Yeah. Well.”
“Like I said.” Slowly, stiffly, Scorio climbed to his feet. “Doesn’t matter now. Nox said we needed Ruby-level mana to make the process work. With only half a batch, I can only reach strong Sapphire. Enough to kill me if I drink it, not enough to activate the technique. So.” He shrugged. “Thank you, though. For everything, Naomi. You’ve always treated me better than I deserved.”
And with that, he turned to start walking back to the Academy.
He made it ten steps before Naomi called out. “Wait.”
He paused, looked down, then slowly turned.
Naomi curled her hair behind an ear anxiously, glanced at the other two, then away. “I, well.” She frowned, then said very quickly and in a low voice, “You can have the Sapphire vials.”
Scorio blinked. “I can what?”
“The Sapphire vials,” snapped Naomi, eyes flashing. “You can have them. For your stupid marinating technique.”
Scorio frowned, took a step toward her. “You need them to make Flame Vault.”
“Well, maybe I don’t, all right?”
Scorio took another step back toward her. “But why not?”
This time her glare had enough force behind it that he thought her eyes nearly burned sulfurous green. “Do you want it or not? If you don’t, just tell me and I’ll go ahead and keep them after all.”
Scorio hesitated. It felt like mountains within him were shifting back into place after they’d all just finished collapsing. His hopes, ashen and dead and gone, resisted being brought to life. He couldn’t risk that pain again, that sense of loss.
Scorio stared at Naomi in confusion. “You’d give them to me? Free of charge?”
“You did save my life just now,” she said, blushing again and looking away. “It’s not exactly free of charge.”
“Yes, but only because you were saving ours.”
“By the ten hells, Scorio!” Her eyes flashed again. “If you insist on interrogating me further—”
“I’ll take them,” he said, speaking quickly. “I’ll take them, thank you.”
Naomi hesitated, mouth still open, then closed it and gave him a curt nod. “Fine. Good. That’s all you had to say from the beginning.”
“Wait,” said Leonis. “So the plan isn’t ruined after all?”
Unexpectedly, despite his seconds-ago resignation and horror, Scorio found a smile creeping onto his lips. “Looks like the plan’s back on the table. In fact, I want to execute it today. No more waiting, no more delays. I’ve the tincture from the first batch here in my pack. Let’s find Nox. It’s time I made Emberling.”
1
It took them till First Bronze to track Nox and convince him to return. He’d gone to ground, blended in with the scoria of a distant slope, but to the Emberlings, his attempts at camouflage were easily pierced. Scorio had stared, nonplussed, unable to detect the toad himself, but apparently sensing the hidden was something that just came with the rank, much to Nox’s dismay.
“Favorite friends live,” Nox said weakly as he disinterred himself from the loose cinders and broken flakes of slate. “Heart overflows with joy.”
“Sure it does,” said Leonis dryly. “We’re so happy to see you too, favorite friend Nox.”
The toad turned its sightless head back and forth. “Black Star farm?”
“In the kushiwillow’s belly,” said Scorio. “But we’ve come up with a workaround. If you’re willing, we’ll make use of your imperial gel now.”
“Workaround?” Nox’s concern was obvious. “How will Nox be paid if Black Star farm gone?”
Naomi went to step forward, but Lianshi gripped her arm, held her back. “From what I understand, Master Nox, your payment was contingent on your successfully defending the farm from all attacks. Since you failed in that regard, it doesn’t make sense for you to be paid.”
Nox hesitated. “Imperial gel not free.”
Scorio was about to argue, but Lianshi wasn’t done. “The imperial gel is part of your Delightful Secret Marinating technique, is it not?”
“It…is.”
“Then that is part of what the Quantics treatise was exchanged for.” Lianshi’s smile was hard, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “The Black Star farm was payment for your guard duty, nothing else. You failed in that; you don’t get paid. The rest remains the same.”
Leonis looked over to Scorio and mouthed, She’s good.
Scorio could only nod.
Nox grimaced, rocked from side to side, and then bowed his head. “Favorite friend Lianshi wise.”
Scorio thought he sounded profoundly unhappy with the outcome, but perhaps he wasn’t willing to argue with Naomi bristling before him. Instead, he took a tentative step forward, a second, and then as if reaching a resolution, sprang over them to land a dozen yards beyond them and look back. “Come.”