The first thing Lily saw when her eyes opened was the basement ceiling. It was smooth and flat, with constellations carved into it. Just north of the constellation known as the 'Eye of Glotai' was something she had never seen before. It looked like a scorch mark. It was large enough that she would have noticed it when entering the basement. The mark was pitch black and looked like it had burrowed into the rock. She was sure it wasn't there when the lights went out and couldn't imagine what could have made it. 

That's when the second realization hit her: She was on the floor. Now, Lily was sure she was standing up when everything went dark. If anything, she wasn't touching the ground when she was…wherever she was. 

The last and certainly least favorite of Lily's discoveries upon waking happened as she lifted her arm from the floor beside her. Lily came to find she was completely soaked. Sitting up, she looked around and found herself lying in the middle of a large puddle on the cold stone floor. 

"Lily!" popped Sandra as she kneeled over the soaked rabbit. She placed a paw on Lily's forehead and asked, "How you faring, dearie?" 

"H-hey Sandra. I'm…" Lily trailed off while trying to piece things together. The bear pulled her hand from Lily's forehead and retrieved a small vial of glittery gold liquid from a pouch on her hip. Lily's eyes moved from the vial up to Sandra's eyepatch as Sandra offered it to her. She studied the sun design and compared it to the one she saw on Esmerelda's hand. From there, she began to think about the delivery and finally to the two words that opened the book. Those two words also took the lights out. After a frustrated sigh, she closed her eyes and started talking again. "I'm fine. Few questions, though."

"Yes?" responded Sandra as Lily finally took the vial from her hand. 

"Why am I on the floor? Also, do you know why I'm wet?" 

Before Lily could get an answer from Sandra, approaching footsteps drew her attention away. Turning to face them, Lily saw Gonzi and someone unfamiliar approach. It was a bat. An older woman whose wrinkled face was curled into a scowl. She wore a simple, long-sleeved gray tunic with a long navy blue skirt. The old woman's snow-white locks were mostly contained in an ornate headscarf with a few strands spilling out. Her posture was hunched, with all her weight focused on the simple wooden cane. A bony hand gripped the bulb of amber attached to the top of the walking aide, and there, on the back of it, Lily saw a familiar design. 

"Danniel can answer that." Gonzi stopped beside Sandra. He motioned to the bat beside him, who was removing a glowing orange crystal from out of her billowing sleeve. "Thorne, this is Esmerelda.

The bat stepped closer as Sandra helped Lily to her feet. She looked Lily from head to toe before giving a dismissive scoff. The noise drew a look of disgust from Lily. Esmerelda, without warning, drove her cane into the floor and caused everyone close to her to jump from the subsequent loud clack. The bat broke out into obnoxious laughter at the collective reaction. After catching her breath, Esmerelda poked the crystal into the rabbit's chest. 

"Here. Take this." spoke the bat. 

Lily took the crystal from Esmerelda's hand and looked it over. It was an eight-sided prism that measured a few inches in length. Holding it closer to her face, something came into view. The simple orange glow gave way to the sight of an active lava flow. Every face showed the same sight of molten earth moving at a glacial pace. 

"Um, thanks? What is it?" Lily asked, pulling the crystal away from her face. 

"Do you know nothing, rabbit?" Esmerelda hissed, "It's your blasted marker stone. To think a simple creature like you has so much power is very disappointing." 

Lily's head cocked back in disgust at the bat's sharp tongue. She took a deep breath, ready to fling a few obscenities at the old woman, but stopped as the gem's warmth grew in her hand. "Wait, power?"

"Of course, that's what you heard. Power hungry, like the rest of your kind. It seems the divine picked another idiot to be a Quila. Goodie." groaned Esmerelda.

"Quila?" 

"Your echoing is exhausting, child." Esmerelda sighed before snapping her fingers. An out-of-place wooden chest sat on the other side of the room, near the entrance to the hallway. With the snap of her thin fingers, the chest stirred to life, and eight metal spider legs emerged from underneath it. It hurried over to Esmerelda, splitting in half to reveal a large cushioned seat. Once it had reached her, she flopped back into the chair before it lifted her up off the floor and slightly above Lily's perked-up ears. "Now tell me, where do you hail from?"

"Why?" Lily eyed the contraption while taking a step back. 

"Because I thought you would be smart enough to answer a question when asked. Now, again, where did you spawn, long ear?" 

Lily's jaw was clenched tight as she looked up at the glaring bat. Her hands were balled tight into fists, with enough grip to risk cracking the prism in her hand. Her eyes cut over to Gonzi, who was looking back at her. His face was its usual wall of grumpy granite, but she could see what was behind it. It was the look he gave her when the horse had to get between a customer and herself. Like a general silently telling a recruit to 'stand down' lest face repercussions. She sucked her teeth and returned her gaze back to Esmerelda. 

"First of all, my name isn't 'Long Ear,'" Lily spat while slipping the marker stone into her pocket. "It's Lily, and I'm from Emerald Vale, out in Dawn Valley." 

“Emereld Vale, you say?” Esmeralda leaned back in her chair, a look of concern moving across her face. "And your surname? Gonzi said it was Mud or Turnip or something."

Lily inhaled through her nose and opened her mouth, ready to tear into the old bat before the sound of a throat clearing halted the incoming tirade. Both Lily and Esmerelda turned their attention to Danniel. 

"It's Thorne, Syr Ashcrim." spoke the wolf. Danniel was standing on the other side of the room alongside Isabella. For once, Isabella's face wasn't locked on her phone. Instead, she was looking at Lily. The bat's flat expression was cracked, and wisps of unease showed. Danniel's appearance had changed as well. The thick black locks that usually obscured his left eye were missing. Now, as plain as day, she could see a pool of cold blue water staring back at her. 

"Oh." Lily mouthed as she focused on Danniel. 

"I don't remember asking you, Twleve, but thank you." snarled Esmereleda. The metal legs abruptly carried her away from Lily and up to Gonzi. "Get Eleven and Arlet on the phone, now. We need to figure out what to do next. This and knowing that vermin Grimhart is out of his cage doesn't fill me with ease." 

"Agreed. Best to take this in my office. Sandra, you too." Gonzi said while motioning to the elevators.  

"Um, hold on, Gonzi," Sandra spoke up as she rested a paw on Lily's shoulder, the rabbit sipping from the vial, "What about Lily? Should we take her to the medics?" 

"Would you stop mothering the long ear and come on, Shinecrest? We don't have time for your bleeding heart." Esmerelda snapped over her shoulder as she and Gonzi made their way to the elevator. 

Sandra gritted her teeth at the bat's remark. The bear's narrowing eyes were doing their best to burn a hole through the wood holding up the cushioned seat and through Esmerelda. It was clear that Esmerelda's charms brought the normally placid Sandra to a boiling point similar to the one that Lily had found herself at. Esmerelda's remarks toward Lily didn't help matters. 

Speaking of, Lily was looking at Sandra with concern. Her normally pleasant demeanor was replaced with a rarely-seen anger. It was so rare Lily couldn't recall seeing her like this. Stirring beneath the floor pulled the rabbit's attention downward. Near Sandra's feet, burly vines began to punch through the unbroken stone. The air around Sandra's tightly clenched fists shimmered as green flecks of light. 

"Whoa…" Lily whispered while taking a step away. 

Sandra felt Lily step away and glanced over at the retreating rabbit. Her expression switched from anger to apprehension before glancing back at Gonzi and Esmerelda. The pair had already reached the elevator and were waiting for the car to arrive. Turning back to Lily, she followed the rabbit's gaze to the plant life. The bear closed her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. 

"Thistles. Horrid little woman." Sandra growled low. Opening her eye once again, Sandra spoke, trying her best to keep the frustration out of her speech, "Are you okay, dearie?" Lily furiously nodded her head while holding the empty vial to Sandra. One of the vines retrieved the vial before it disappeared into the ground. Sandra nodded back, and with that, She finally left the rabbit and joined the two who were now waiting inside the elevator car. 

Just as the elevator door began to close, one of Gonzi's large hands grabbed hold of the door, forcing it to open back up. "We open in ten minutes." 

"Like, I'll be up," Isabella called back. Her answer was enough for Gonzi to release the door and leave them alone. When the elevator dinged, Isabella made a beeline to Lily and grabbed the rabbit by the shoulders, "What did you do?" 

"How do you know I did something?" Lily recoiled. 

"Because you've been causing weird stuff to happen all day. What. Did. You. Do?" 

The rabbit's shoulders slouched under the tightening grip of the bat, "I'm…not entirely sure." 

"Of course," Isabella said with a roll of her eyes. "Look, recoup, and come up when you're ready. We can reschedule the after-work thing if you-"

"Oh no, no, no," Lily protested, holding her hands out, "A bit of lost conciousness isn't worth delaying that cake. Only the Goddess herself could keep me away from that thing." the rabbit's words caused Isabella to simply shake her head. 

As the bat's head shook, Lily watched Danniel approach. Now closer, she could get a better look at the exposed space where his dreads once were. Looking at the strangely lightless eye, Lily noticed two marks on Danniel's face. They were scars, or more than likely parts of scars, were just above Danniel's eyebrow and along his cheekbone. Scars were pretty standard with the wolf. Several smaller ones dotted his arms and upper back, but none were north of his neck, as far as Lily could remember. 

"Alright, fine. Like, I'll tell Sandra." Isabella said while dropping her hands from Lily's shoulders and pointing to the marker stone in Lily's hand. "Let me see that." 

"Hey, Dreads," Lily spoke while handing the stone over. When the wolf turned to look at her, she pointed to her left eye.  

"Hmm?" Danniel answered with a slight tilt of the head. He lifted his hand, mirroring Lily. Once his fingers came into view, he figured out what she was hinting at. With a roll of his eye, he said, "Oh. That's a long story." 

"Here," Isabella grabbed Lily's hand and placed the marker stone inside. After ensuring the crystal was firmly in her grasp, she said, "I'm going up. Stop doing weird stuff. It's getting old." 

With her final remark, Isabella gave Lily's head a reassuring, if not a little aggressive, pat before heading back to the elevator. Once she was gone, Danniel made his way over to Lily. She returned to the bench and sprawled out on the cold stone surface. The rabbit laid an arm across her eyes as the wolf squatted beside her. 

"So…" Danniel started but trailed off, unsure where to start. "How ya feeling?"

Lily's mouth curled into a frown at his question. Lily's head throbbed, and her throat felt like the Tequi dessert in the dry season. The elixir Sandra had given her only seemed to lessen the headache, though it didn't dampen it for long. She moved her arm, exposing a single eye. This was the closest the wolf had been to her since she had woken up, close enough to smell his usual scent of sandalwood. Weirdly enough, she could swear that she could also smell burnt hair. 

That cold blue eye caught her attention before Lily spotted something. It was the dreads over the wolf's exposed face or what was left of them, anyway. They were missing. That much was clear. Yet, up close, they didn't look cut. More frayed. As if they burned, almost. As the new question entered her already exhausted mind, Lily moved the arm back over her eye as the throbbing returned. 

"Cold. Confused. Hungry. I feel a lot. Gonzi said you know what happened." 

Danniel nodded while he shifted from squatting to sitting on his knees. He lifted a hand and positioned it over her chest. The ring gauntlet began to glow as a pillar of water droplets began to pull from her body and up into his palm. Droplets turned to thin bands that gathered in the wolf's palm while the damp feeling left the rabbit's fur and clothes. Eventually, the wolf had an orb of water in his grasp, and the rabbit felt completely dry. 

Lily moved her arm down to see the water vanish in a glittering bubble burst. She laid on her side and gave the wolf a weary look. "So dreads, when you gonna explain what happened to your hair?" 

"It was…" Danniel looked at the crystal that was poking out of her other hand. "You, actually."

"Bull." Lily scoffed. "Really? What happened?" 

Her reaction caused Danniel to sigh as he looked up at the scorch mark on the ceiling. She followed him in looking at the black burn on the stone. 

"What? Are you saying that I did that too?" 

"Aye." 

"But…" Lily sat up completely and stared, confused, at Danniel." I would need magic to do that. Like fire magic." As she stared wide-eyed at the wolf, she could feel the crystal gripped in her hand grow hot. 

"Yeah, about that. It might be easier to just tell you what happened. Might make more sense that way." Danniel got off the floor and moved to the puddle where Lily had woken up. His rings began to glow as the water began to lift into the air. "So you said those words, and the lights went out..."