Vastarael could tell Reynolds had been awake long before either of them because he was already seated near the fractured edge of the porch. Phaenora sat beside Vastarael. He had called them here after breakfast.
Reynolds exhaled slowly, as if setting the pace of the conversation.
"Since you're both still here and you're going to need this knowledge whether you want it or not, I might as well tell you how the Hidden Citadel actually works. Most people die before they ever get a full explanation."
That did not surprise Vastarael in the slightest.
"There are eight realms within the Hidden Citadel. Every realm has a Reniatsus. They're not a ruler in the political sense, but an absolute authority over the rules of that realm. Space, environment, access and rejection is what they focus on. If a Reniatsus does not want you inside their realm, you will not enter it. If they do not want you to leave, you won't."
Phaenora tilted her head slightly. "Including you?"
"Including me. Even they respect load-bearing reality. The realms are connected through what I built as the Forgotten Architect called the Bridge Tracks. You saw them but don't let the simplicity fool you. They are multi-realm transit arteries anchored outside conventional spatial logic. The Tracks exist in all realms simultaneously but access points vary. Seven Praesits run along them. They do not deviate and do not stop unless permitted by me. And, they all converge at the Central Station, which is the only place where all Bridge Tracks meet. No Reniatsus holds dominion there apart from me."
That, more than anything else, heightened Vastarael's attention .
"The second realm is Ledatic Siliportem. It's the heart of the Hidden Citadel. The place is a metropolis large enough to swallow continents by Earth's standards. All Transmigrators' descendants who survived the war live there now along with their descendants. I designed it with someone else, by the way. The blueprints are mine."
"But you're not its Reniatsus," Vastarael said.
"Correct. Creation and stewardship are different sins. The one there prefers administration over interference. I handle the Tracks. That's my realm of authority. The third realm is where we are now. The Sucking Void."
His expression changed for just a fraction.
"This realm consumes energy of anything and anyone. The only things immune are the native entities that evolved here under those conditions. Everything else is food. For a long time, no one could leave once they entered. Even the Praesits refused to anchor here. Whatever Sustainer rules this realm has been absent for millennia. Or dead. Or hiding. My wife and I searched to let us out but we never found them."
He looked directly at Phaenora. "Until you and Vastarael found a way out, escape was impossible. If you plan on leaving again, you'll need to fight. There is no negotiation with hunger."
Silence lingered for a moment before Reynolds moved on.
"The fourth realm is the Graveyard of Bones. It is exactly what it sounds like. Every Transmigrator and resident of the Hidden Citadel who has died over the last ten thousand years is buried there. The land is layered with remains and preserved by temporal stasis and funerary constructs."
"And the Reniatsus?"
"A recluse. They allow burial. That is all. No visitors unless permission is granted and permission is rarely granted."
He folded his hands as he continued.
"The fifth realm is Technographia. It's a wasteland of innovation with abandoned prototypes, failed experiments and early designs of the Citadel itself. It has entire city-sized machines half-buried in alloy and dust. The one in charge there is… uninterested in conversation. They're functional, but not friendly."
Phaenora snorted softly. "Sounds charming."
"It isn't. The sixth realm is the Meadows of Asphodelia. This is why flora and fauna exists in the Hidden Citadel at all. Every extinct plant species and rare organism lost to time is preserved, cultivated and reintroduced. The realm functions as a biological archive and a living ecosystem. Flora and fauna thrive there under controlled chaos. If you've ever wondered why something impossible still grows somewhere, it's because Asphodelia allowed it."
"The seventh realm," Reynolds said, exhaling, "is Era Incinerati. That is where the site of the first full-scale war between Transmigrators and Krepsunas is. The land is scorched and still echoing with residual conflict. Some battles never truly ended there. The Reniatsus maintains it as a record. And the eighth is Convergence."
He did not elaborate immediately.
"It is where the rift to Dimensium exists where the first Krepsunas came out. It is the most secure realm in the Hidden Citadel and the most dangerous, even more than the Sucking Void and Era Incinerati."
He met both of their eyes.
"Every system there is designed to kill intruders instantly. The Reniatsus does not negotiate. The Krepsunas originate beyond that rift and nothing is allowed to approach it without unanimous authorization."
Reynolds didn't leave immediately after laying out the realms. He stood there for a while, looking over the meadow that absolutely should not have existed in the Sucking Void.
"I'm the Reniatsus of the Bridge Tracks but this place swallowed me whole."
Vastarael frowned slightly. "You mean… this realm?"
"The Sucking Void doesn't just drain energy. You step in here long enough and the realm decides you belong to it. It absorbed me millennia ago. I wasn't supposed to stay. No one is."
Phaenora glanced around, her eyes lingering on the trees, the flowers and the gentle slope of the land.
"Then how does this exist?"
Reynolds smiled faintly, and for once there was no humor in it.
"A gift from the Renaitsus of the Meadows of Asphodelia. It's a seed-realm anchored to my authority. Without it, I would have gone hollow ages ago. This meadow is the only reason I'm still… me. But you found a way out which means we're done hiding."
Vastarael looked up. "So it's really possible."
"Yes. And since Miss Phaenora already mapped a stable path, we're leaving in a few hours."
Phaenora crossed her arms. "Define 'leaving.'"
Reynolds turned to Vastarael. "Can you handle what comes next?"
"I've already made a plan."
"Good. Because the moment you start moving toward the center of the Sucking Void, the realm will react. The Voidborn don't understand fear and don't stop coming once they've locked onto a target. You won't get breaks. You won't get silence. If you pause, you die."
Phaenora didn't flinch. "How long?"
Reynolds reached into his coat and pulled out a folded sheet of crystalline parchment. The lines were etched in symbols and spatial markers.
"Based on Miss Phaenora's exploration map and the distortion gradients of the realm, five days. That means five days of continuous combat. We reach the gigantic Teleportation Mystic Circle at the center and Mr. Vastarael activates it. The moment you step through, I use my authority and send you directly to the Central Station. The Sucking Void won't follow past that point. You'll want to be ready. It's about time you see just how good Miranda really is."
With that, he turned and walked away to the animals that Shimmer and Runner were chasing back to the shed. Silence settled in after he left. Vastarael exhaled, then turned to Phaenora.
"I've made a decision."
"Oh?"
"I'll try not to die."
She stared at him for half a second before she laughed.
"Veneri, it's a little late for that."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"During the six months you were in a coma, I encountered some of the Voidborn myself."
That got his full attention.
"They're strong. Killing one takes effort, coordination and a lot of focus. And that was just isolated encounters. If we're fighting non-stop for five days, then everyone is risking their lives. It's not just you."
That hit harder than Reynolds' warning ever could.
For so long, Vastarael's instinct had been simple. He has to put himself in front of everything, take the damage and be the wall. Hearing it framed like that—like his survival was no longer just his own problem—forced something uncomfortable to surface. He looked away briefly, then nodded.
"Okay."
"Good. Then let's get ready."