Raizen lifted the dented kettle off the flame and poured some tea, trying not to burn his fingers.
Hikari sat on the windowsill with her knees hugged close, watching the Underworks outside. On the table, a heavy purse sat where Obi had dropped it with ceremony.
"Oh, oh, did I mention the roar?" Obi asked from the rug. "It started smoothly, then BOOM! Cheering. I'm pretty sure someone proposed to me. I declined because I'm married to my craft"
"Married to your mouth" Raizen muttered.
"That too. Hey, I'm not saying I'm a local legend, but if someone draws my face on a wall I won't complain"
"Obi, you really shouldn't talk... After that girl let you next to the anvil, I'm not sure how legendary you are." Hikari chuckled, not looking away from the window.
She started to open up gradually more every day.
"First of all, I told her to lean me against the anvil." Obi corrected her. "She stabbed me with a needle, injected me with something, then I felt better and... Slept like a baby!"
Across the room, Takeshi sat in his chair like he always did. The mechanical hand rested open on his knee.
His flesh fingers were fidgeting with a pin while his eyes tracked the web on the wall - new threads, new notes. He didn't speak, but the set of his shoulders said he was listening.
"I had a visitor" Obi said, grin flickering. "After everything"
Raizen's eyebrows went up. "The big guy with the creative spelling?"
"Tempting, but no. Cinderette, again. Cloak, mask, dramatics... Except no mask this time"
Hikari tilted her head. "What did she want this time? See if you were still gassed?"
"To see the forge" Obi grinned, trying but failing to sound casual. "Pretended she was judging my tools. But she was obviously judging my face. We discussed about vents and stuff. But she left before I could offer noodles. Tragic"
Raizen smiled. "Would you look at that! The loud smith and the gas grenade. That's how history will file you"
"Anyway" Obi stretched until his shoulders popped. "How was your day not being a champion?"
"Brutal" Raizen exhaled.
"Don't listen to him, he's getting way better" Hikari interrupted, eyes still pinned outside.
"Hey, you shouldn't be the one to judge. You get everything almost perfectly!" Raizen shot back, but he was half smiling.
Suddenly, a knock. The door swung in before anyone answered. Louissa stepped through with another basket on her arm.
"Evening" she whispered.
Obi saluted with his cup. "Granny, tell them I'm magnificent!"
"You're full of noise, that's for sure..." the smile came as she set the basket down. "Come! I brought something for you" she added.
Then to Raizen and Hikari, "You two. Listen here."
They straightened without thinking. Even Takeshi lifted his gaze from the board.
"You want to kill Nyxes, right? For that, you'll need to enter the Lotus Academy." Louissa said firmly.
"Mhm..." Raizen agreed.
"Good. Then you'll need more than luck"
"Luminite...?" Raizen asked. He heard about it before, and the word tasted expensive.
"Stupidly" Louissa nodded. "Purer luminite cuts better. Pair it with what your life can give it and you become something that ends Nyxes instead of patting them" she went on.
Obi leaned on his elbow. "Last year the exam was riddles, right?"
"Tons of paper and memory, yes. Questions from every type of science. They needed sharp minds to feed the right Vanguards to the right battle. But this year is different."
"Why?" Obi asked, scratching his head.
"Division One is gone"
The grin was completely wiped from Obi's mouth. Hikari's fingers tightened on her knees.
"Wiped out?" Takeshi asked. His voice sounded shocked. "Just like that!?"
"No bodies. No traces. Just those damn Nyxes" Louissa answered. "But the gaps are there. So the Academy should need more young talents."
"So... A combat exam" Raizen completed. His eyes burned a little brighter in excitement.
"Or something that should be and then surprises you. Either way, you won't reach the door without Luminite. I can give you a road"
"Hmm?" Raizen's eyes widened in interest.
"There's a man. Marcus Valerius is his name. Neoshima official" Louissa went on.
"What's his deal?" Obi asked. "Not that I'd need that Luminițe, though... I'm just happy in my smithy"
"He came down to do dirty business. Keeps a bodyguard glued to his side, and he's scheduled to meet someone soon" Louisa answered.
"Where?" Takeshi was already looking over the map.
Louissa's eyes sharpened. You could see the other life in them - the information broker, the granny who knew too much.
"Where shady conversations pretend not to be deals. The Maw"
They had heard the name enough times to know not to ask directions. Everyone knew The Maw - high ceiling, dim lights, good drinks, dangerous men trying to look bored.
"What's on the table?" Hikari asked quietly.
"Luminite, obviously!" Louissa poured herself another cup of tea. DNot a vault, but enough. He'll carry a high-quality sample to prove his leverage. He plans to sell to someone uglier than his reflection"
"How do you even know that-" Raizen started, but Obi interrupted him, throwing him a look that meant "don't ask."
"So we kindly borrow the sample, huh." Raizen's smile came back. "We scout first. Entrances, exits, roofline. If there's a vent -"
"Windows, crowd flow, where the bodyguard stands when he isn't paying attention" Hikari added, head finally turning towards him.
"Or" Obi lifted a finger "and hear me out - we walk up and grab it"
Silence.
Both of them stared. Raizen raised an eyebrow. Takeshi made a sound that might have been the start of a laugh.
"Simple" Obi said, wounded and theatrical. "Elegant"
"Suicidal" Raizen completed.
"Not if you add style" Obi smiled. "Style blinds. People forget to hold their pockets shut"
Louissa finally smiled, too. "You three shouldn't be allowed in the same plan" she said. "And yet..."
"Oh, come on, Granny! You know we go very well together!" Obi threw his hand around Raizen's shoulders.
"Tomorrow night" Louissa concluded. "Marcus moved the meeting forward. Word came a bit late..."
Obi tapped the purse on the table, then tapped his chest. "Then tomorrow we go shopping for luminite!"
"Unnoticed, if possible" Takeshi said, already back at the web. The Moirai's name sat in one corner, written small, underlined twice. He added a thread and didn't explain why.
They ate while the kettle kept the room warm. The jars Louissa brought were filled with citrus jam. Obi pretended not to like it just so he could sneak a second spoon and act disgusted.
Raizen tried to pay Obi back for the earlier pastries with Obi's own coin and got cuffed on the ear.
Hikari laughed at a face Obi swore was not a funny face, but a heroic expression of triumph.
Takeshi cleaned a screw that didn't need cleaning and listened to his makeshift family fill the space where the Underworks couldn't reach.
When the lamplight slid lower on the walls, the plan sat between them - completely crazy, unfinished, unsafe, but there.
Obi hooked the winner's token on his belt, tested its pull like a smith checking work, and grinned at the tiny window.
"Tomorrow... The Maw won't know what hit it"