"Hopefully," Rowan said.
It wasn't an especially profound answer, but it was steady.
Klein felt the pressure in his chest ease just a little.
Deep down, he no longer held much hope of ever returning home. At this point, he expected a slow process. Gather information. Verify assumptions. Watch hope shrink in stages.
He had always known that finding a way back would border on impossible.
Knowing that didn't make it painless, but it made it survivable.
If he'd been mentally weaker, he might have ended up like the sailor they'd encountered earlier. Twisted. Broken. No longer human.
Klein took a slow breath and looked at Rowan.
"You're surprisingly optimistic."
Rowan shrugged. "Life punches hard. I punch back harder."
It was said lightly, but not jokingly.
In truth, Rowan already knew that Klein's situation wasn't hopeless. If he felt inclined, he could eventually send Klein back.
Finding Rowan's own original world, however, was another matter entirely.
Klein gave a faint smile. "Guess all we can do is keep walking."
Having someone else who understood made the weight easier to carry.
Facing despair alone crushed people.
Facing it with a companion made it manageable.
Rowan clapped him once on the shoulder. "Looks like we get along."
"Two displaced relics finding common ground," Klein replied dryly.
They left the upper area of the fog and returned to the palace hall, taking seats across from each other at the bronze table.
"So what now?" Klein asked.
Rowan thought for a moment.
"You stay with the Church of the Night Goddess. Climb as high as you can. If there are records of lost civilizations, ancient epochs, or anything resembling pre-modern history, they'll have them."
Klein nodded.
"And I'll move outside the major churches," Rowan continued. "Different organizations. Different archives. If there's a pattern, we'll find it faster from two angles."
Rowan also needed deeper intelligence on angels, gods, and the being rumored to have shaped this world in the first place.
"I'll try to get into the inner circle," Klein said. "Even if the odds are bad… I'd rather know than wonder."
Rowan studied him. "You should be careful."
"Careful how?"
"The churches don't truly trust independent supernatural practitioners. Even the well-behaved ones."
Klein understood this better than most.
If someone belonged to a hostile cult, they were eliminated.
If someone had no affiliation and caused trouble, they were detained.
If someone behaved well, the church tried to recruit them. If that failed, they were monitored indefinitely.
Rowan had been treated politely for a reason.
He had saved a corrupted agent.
He had demonstrated an extremely valuable stabilization method.
He had openly provided personal background and residence information.
And most importantly…
He was strong.
Strong enough that forcing the issue could turn into a disaster for the entire city.
The friendliness was part goodwill.
Part containment.
If higher authorities decided Rowan was a threat, the same people smiling at him now would be the first to move.
"I know," Rowan said. "I expected as much."
"Good."
Klein hesitated, then added, "There's one more thing."
"What's that?"
"This gathering you run. The tarot meeting. Add me to it. If something urgent happens, we'll have a direct channel."
Rowan didn't intend to stay in this city long. But losing contact with Klein wasn't an option. Klein was fragile. If he died, the gray fog might collapse with him.
And frankly, the tarot gathering was an elegant information network.
Klein considered for a moment, then nodded.
"All right. Draw a card."
A deck appeared on the bronze table.
Several cards were missing.
Klein had removed the ones tied too closely to himself.
He reached for the deck.
Rowan drew.
The card turned over.
Strength.
A woman gently restraining a lion.
Symbol of willpower. Inner resolve. Controlled force.
Rowan studied it, then smiled.
"Fits."
"From today onward," Rowan said, "my code name is Strength."