Renn could not sleep that night.
He shifted in place, listening to the strange noises echoing from the depths of the swamp. Ember remained curled in the crook of his neck, radiating a comforting heat that usually would have knocked him out in minutes. However, Lily's message kept playing in his head like a broken record.
The kiss was not an accident.
Renn was convinced of it. But there was something else bothering him, a persistent annoyance he had been carrying since they left the Dungeon.
Renn sat by the makeshift campfire that Valeria had lit before retreating to watch the perimeter. Lysandra was in her feline form, curled up in his lap. He scratched behind her ears automatically while she purred softly.
"Lysandra," Renn said finally, breaking the silence.
The cat opened one eye. She stopped purring and looked at him for a moment. Then, in a shimmer of golden light, she shifted into her humanoid form. She sat on the log beside him, leaning in slightly as if to give him her full attention. Her feline ears were alert, and her tail flicked once before settling.
"I am listening," Lysandra said.
"I need to ask you something," Renn replied.
Lysandra tilted her head. "Go on."
"Back in the Dungeon," Renn searched for the right words. "When we entered those ruins, the ones from the three-armed civilization."
"The Trivex?" Lysandra asked. "What about them?"
Renn blinked. "How do you know that was their name?"
"Because I know."
"But that was not in any record. No one in the Raid knew anything about them," Renn said. "But you translated what Kralthak said in real time. You knew exactly what kind of magic the shamans used. You said the architecture was mediocre, as if you had something better to compare it to."
Lysandra remained silent.
"And when we passed those murals on the walls," Renn continued, "you looked at them as if you had seen them before. Or at least, as if you knew exactly what they meant."
The air between them grew still. Lysandra did not look away.
"How did you know all of that?" Renn asked softly. "The dimensional fragments that form the Infinite World... no one has complete records of the civilizations that existed before the Collapse. That information is lost."
There was a long pause. Lysandra's posture was more relaxed than usual. Her ears were slightly back and her tail wrapped around her own waist, a gesture Renn identified as vulnerability.
"You are more observant than you look," Lysandra said. Her voice lacked its usual bite.
"I have my moments."
"Clearly."
Lysandra looked toward the fire. The flames reflected in her amber eyes and made them shine like liquid gold coins.
"What I am about to show you," she said slowly, "is something very few people have seen. Valeria knows, of course. And my father. But outside of them..."
"You do not have to show me if you do not want to."
"No, I," Lysandra stopped, as if the words were difficult. "I want to do it. I think."
Renn waited. Lysandra held up her right hand with her palm facing up. Something began to materialize. The light it gave off was warm and golden, with amber tones that pulsed with the rhythm of a heartbeat.
The object took shape gradually. It was a book. The cover was made of a material Renn did not recognize, a mix of textures that reminded him of polished metal but felt as organic as leather. Golden runes crawled across the surface, moving slowly. When Lysandra held it in her hands, the book seemed to emit a soft sigh.
"It is called the Chronicle of the Wandering Stars," Lysandra said in a soft voice. "Though I have always called it simply... my book."
"It is beautiful," Renn whispered, genuinely impressed.
"It was a gift." Lysandra ran her fingers over the cover with tenderness. "From my father."
"Your father?"
"My father, the King. When I turned fifteen," a small smile crossed her lips. "In the Throne, fifteen is a significant age. It is when we are allowed to begin studying the affairs of the kingdom, to learn about politics, economics, and war."
"Sounds fun."
"It is absolutely tedious," Lysandra rolled her eyes. "But my father knew I was different. He knew I would never be satisfied staying within the palace walls."
She opened the book. The pages were like windows, tiny portals showing moving images, texts that changed depending on where Renn focused his eyes, and maps that seemed to breathe.
"This book contains the knowledge of the worlds," Lysandra explained. "The knowledge of every dimension that ever existed. The ones that survived the Collapse, the ones that perished, and the ones that still remain hidden in the corners of the multiverse."
Renn leaned forward, fascinated.
"Can you see everything?"
"Everything that has been recorded, yes. The stories of civilizations that rose and fell millions of years ago. The secrets of races that mastered magic before there was even a word for it."
Lysandra turned a page and Renn caught his breath. An entire solar system spun in miniature on the paper. Planets the size of marbles orbited a sun that shone with its own light. If Renn squinted, he could see tiny cities glowing on the surfaces of those worlds.
"That is," he started.
"The Veridian System," Lysandra said. "It existed four hundred thousand years ago. Twelve inhabited planets, each with its own culture. They were the first to theorize about dimensional travel, and the first to destroy themselves trying it."
She turned another page. This time, Renn saw a city floating in the void. Crystal towers rose toward a starless sky and bridges of light connected structures that defied architectural logic.
"The Citadel of the Eternals," Lysandra continued. "A civilization that existed outside conventional time. They lived in the space between seconds. For them, one of our blinks lasted for generations."
"What happened to them?"
"No one knows for sure. One day they simply stopped existing. The book records their last transmission: We have seen too much. It is time to close our eyes." Lysandra touched the image gently. "Some believe they ascended to a higher plane. Others think they destroyed themselves. I prefer to think they simply found something better."
Renn could not take his eyes off the book. Every page was a universe.
"And not just the past," Lysandra added, flipping several pages until she reached a section that glowed with intensity. "The book updates constantly. I can see what is happening right now in dimensions that most people do not even know exist."
"Right now?"
"Right now." Lysandra touched a page and the image changed. "Look."
What appeared was the Infinite World. It was a living, pulsing map that showed the Four Great Alliances as patches of color. Bright dots indicated active Lords. Red lines marked ongoing conflicts. On the edges of the map, there were dark zones that seemed to vibrate.
"Those are us," Renn whispered, pointing to a tiny dot in the swamp sector.
"Yes. Though technically that dot is no longer exact, considering we are about to move."
"Does the book know we are going to move?"
"The book records facts, but it does not predict the future. It only shows the present and preserves the past."
Renn looked at Lysandra, then at the book.
"That is absolutely incredible."
Lysandra looked up at him. "Do you think so?"
"Of course I do," Renn gestured toward the book with enthusiasm. "It is a real-time universal encyclopedia. Do you know what academics or the Alliances would give for something like this? It is like having access to the entire history of the multiverse in the palm of your hand."
"It is just a book."
"It is not just a book," Renn leaned closer, curious. "Can you see any civilization? Can you see what happened to the Trivex and why they went extinct?"
Lysandra blinked, surprised by his reaction. "I... yes. I can."
"And the dimensional fragments? Does the book know how the Infinite World was formed?"
"There are several theories recorded, though none are confirmed."
"That is great!" Renn vibrated with excitement. "Can you see other dimensions right now? Are there other active civilizations?"
Lysandra looked at him with an expression Renn could not decipher.
"Renn," she said, and her voice sounded strange. "Do you not think it is ridiculous?"
"Ridiculous? Why?"
"I am a princess. I am supposed to be interested in politics and expanding the influence of the Throne." Her ears flattened slightly. "Spending hours reading about worlds I will never see or about dead civilizations... The court always thought it was an eccentricity. A childish distraction that I would outgrow."
"The court sounds boring."
"It is."
"And they are wrong," Renn looked at her directly. "Lysandra, that book is probably one of the most valuable things I have seen. And not because of its power, but because it means something to you. It makes you happy."
Lysandra did not answer, but her eyes shone with a softer tone.
"This book is the reason I am here," Lysandra said in a whisper. "I spent years reading about other worlds, about the Lords who built empires from nothing and adventurers who discovered historical secrets. I always thought I wanted to be part of that, to explore beyond the palace walls."
"And that is why you left."
"And that is why I left," Lysandra nodded slowly. "I traveled from dimension to dimension looking for someone worth it. Someone whose rise I could witness from the beginning. A Lord who was not arrogant or stupid."
"How long did you travel?"
Lysandra was silent for a moment. "A long time," she said finally. "Quite a long time visiting worlds and observing Lords, looking for someone who would not disappoint me."
"That is a long time."
"It is. There were moments when I thought about giving up and going back to the palace. But every time I was about to do it, I found something new in the book. A civilization I had not seen or a fragment of history just recorded. And I thought: a little more. Just a little more."
"And then you found me?"
"And then I found you," a small smile crossed her face. "The Lord with a pet shop that barely worked, living in a tiny apartment, with a raccoon as a personal nemesis."
"Hey, that raccoon was legitimately terrifying."
"It was a common raccoon, Renn."
"A common raccoon with bloodlust."
Lysandra let out a brief laugh.
"The point is that I watched you before deciding to stay. I saw how you treated the animals. How you spent extra hours making sure every pet went to a proper home. How you rejected customers if you felt they would not take good care of the animals."
"That is basic. Anyone would do that."
"They would not," Lysandra's voice hardened. "In three years of travel, I saw Lords who treated their troops like cattle or who sacrificed them for experience points. Decency is extraordinarily rare, Renn."
Renn did not know what to say to that.
"And then," Lysandra continued, softening her voice, "you opened that stupid can of tuna."
Renn smiled. "So, all of this was to find a guy who would give you cat food?"
"It was to find someone genuine. And it turns out that genuine people tend to feed stray cats without expecting a reward."
There was a moment of silence. Then Lysandra hesitated before speaking.
"Can I show you something else?"
"Sure."
The book reappeared in her hands. Lysandra flipped the pages quickly to a worn section. The corners were folded from constant use.
"This is my favorite section," she said quietly.
It was a garden. The flowers had colors that did not exist in any known spectrum, with tones between purple and gold. Tiny creatures fluttered between the petals and in the center was a tree made of solid light.
"What is this?"
"The Garden of Forgotten Memories," Lysandra said. "It existed in a dimension that collapsed. It was a place where the memories of civilizations were physically preserved. Every flower was a memory. Every leaf, a life."
"It is beautiful."
"It was." Lysandra touched the image. "When I was young, I spent hours looking at this page. Imagining what it would be like to walk there. No one else will ever know it existed. Except me. And now... you."
Renn saw in her the girl who escaped the expectations of the palace through that book.
"Thank you for showing me this."
"Do not thank me yet," Lysandra closed the book and it vanished. "Now you know something about me that very few people know. That makes you dangerous."
"Dangerous?"
"You could use it against me," her eyes evaluated him. "You could tell others that the heir to the Throne of Eternal Shadows dreams of extinct gardens."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because it is what people do. They exploit weaknesses."
"Lysandra," Renn looked at her directly. "That is not a weakness. It is probably the coolest thing I have heard about you. You have access to all that knowledge and you choose to dream about a garden. That is incredible."
A light blush appeared on Lysandra's cheeks. Her ears flattened and her tail stopped moving. She looked anywhere except at Renn.
"I," she began, but the words did not come out. Her body began to glow.
The princess disappeared. In her place, an orange cat sat on the ground, looking at him with vulnerability.
"Lysandra?"
The cat lifted her head and emitted an authoritative meow. Seconds later, Valeria appeared from the darkness, alert.
"Your Highness? Is there a problem?"
Lysandra meowed. Valeria blinked, confused.
"I beg your pardon?"
Another meow, more insistent. Valeria's expression went from alert to horror.
"Your Highness, I do not think it is necessary."
"Mrow."
"Your Highness, my dignity as the First Blade."
"MROW."
Valeria sighed in defeat and her body glowed with purple light. A moment later, a purple cat of extremely mortified appearance took her place.
"What is going on?" Renn asked.
Lysandra meowed and pointed with her tail toward Valeria, then toward Renn.
"You want me to pet Valeria?"
"Mrow," Lysandra confirmed.
Valeria emitted a meow that sounded like an absolute protest.
"Valeria, you do not have to."
The purple cat looked at him steadily. Her eyes communicated that she preferred to obey rather than face the princess's punishment. Renn reached out his hand and the cat tensed, but when he started scratching behind her ears, her resistance crumbled.
Her eyes closed and her tail relaxed. A deep purr emerged from her throat.
"Valeria? Are you purring?"
The purple cat opened one eye with mortification, but she did not move. Renn continued and she began to melt under his hand, tilting her head to give him better access. The purring intensified and her paws started kneading the air. Finally, Valeria turned belly up.
"That is unexpected," Renn said.
Renn scratched her belly and Valeria, with the expression of someone who had lost all her dignity, purred even louder. Lysandra emitted a meow that sounded like a laugh.
"This is complicated," Renn said, trying to pet both cats.
Lysandra jumped into his lap, settling down calmly, as if she had not been blushing minutes before.
"You know what, Lysandra? Do not think I did not notice what you did," Renn said. "You were vulnerable and you used Valeria as a distraction."
Lysandra looked at him with faked innocence and then closed her eyes, ignoring him. Valeria, meanwhile, remained in feline ecstasy on the ground.
"Just so you know," Renn whispered to Lysandra, "I think you are incredible. That book and your way of seeing the worlds are very cool."
Lysandra's eyes opened slightly. At that moment, Valeria let out an embarrassingly loud purr. Lysandra looked at her with judgment, as if asking where her dignity was. Renn bit his lip to keep from reminding her that she had acted the same way shortly before.
Ember woke up on Renn's neck and let out a peep of confusion at the scene.
"Welcome to the club," Renn said. "I do not understand anything either."
*****
Character Note: Log of the Celestial Assassin, Valeria. Her Highness forced me to be petted a second time by the substitute Lord. I am beginning to think it is endurance training for enemy torture. Although I am ashamed to admit it, I enjoyed it a little. I hope no one noticed.