Even within the void, Atzi felt as though she burned.

  She screamed and patted at herself, trying to extinguish flames that did not exist.

  Only when the sensation left did she stop.

  "She… she set me on fire!" Atzi yelled. "Why? Why did she do that?!"

  The void offered no response, simply swallowing her words. The mysterious goddess floated across from her, asleep.

  "Don't just sleep! It's… it must be because she knows who you are!"

  She opened her eyes. "What? Who knows who I am?"

  "Malus! The prophet of the Saintess, she set me on fire!"

  "Malus..." Her eyebrows crossed together. A single tear of inky black rolled from an eye down her cheek.

  "...why are you crying?" Atzi asked.

  The goddess raised a hand to the tear. "I'm crying?"

  "Do you know her?"

  "Maybe? I think so?" She looked curious. "I don't know. But I feel like I do, more than most things."

  Atzi crossed her arms. "Well, she killed me just for knowing you. That really, really hurt." Atzi shivered. "Oh man, that was... that was even worse than being eaten..."

  "Is dying supposed to hurt?"

  Atzi flung her claws. "Yeah! It's the worst feeling ever!"

  "Why?"

  "'Cause it hurts. A lot. You feel... everything fading, everything hurts and feels wrong. And…" Atzi trailed off.

  The goddess shook her head. "I don't really understand."

  Atzi retched a little. "Well, have you ever been hurt?"

  "I don't know."

  Atzi was silent, unable to find any good reply to someone who didn't even seem to know if they'd ever been hurt. Then she remembered something the goddess had said, back when Atzi had been pushed off the wall. "Didn't you say you died?"

  "Yes?"

  Atzi groaned. Then she noticed something about the void surrounding her. It hadn't been making the weird changes to sound that it usually did. Everything sounded almost normal, other than a bit distant.

  So Atzi tried to float closer to the mysterious goddess, and found that she could.

  Don't know what pain is, huh? Atzi lifted her claw, ready to flick the goddess on the forehead to teach her.

  Her clawed finger flicked forwards. It passed right through the goddess as she dissolved into the black void.

  "...Crap."

  -

  "Out! Out!"

  Atzi groaned as her eyes shot open. "Go away!"

  "You go away!" She bopped Atzi with her cane.

  Atzi pulled herself upright, stumbling off.

  "Crazy druggies!"

  "One of these times I'm gonna hit you back for that!" Atzi shouted back as she slinked away.

  Having successfully threatened an old woman with bodily harm, Atzi wondered what she should do next.

  I could go back to V, but they kept me like a prisoner, kept saying they'd kill me… and they made me sleep on the couch! Oh, and they'd probably want proof I was telling the truth again - whatever I do now, I can't let Malus know I'm the prophet of whoever this weird lady is.

  Atzi found a wall to sit down next to. It was pretty clean as far as slum walls went.

  Malus and my 'divine parasite' aren't on good terms. Maybe the Saintess and this god aren't on good terms, is the real thing going on. She must have disappeared a long, long time ago if even the Ancestor had no idea. Or he might have just been lying.

  She scratched her head.

  Which means trying to find out about some God that vanished a long, long time ago that the Saintess doesn't like. Great! And the city blows up in a week, so I'm on a time limit!

  Atzi tried hard to think about anyone she could ask. Or where that sort of information could even be.

  Maybe… someone from the academy? But only V would be able to get me in, and that's not a good idea.

  Until she remembered someone she'd forgotten about.

  Jem! She said she knew a mage!

  Atzi ran off towards the temple district immediately, moving as fast as she could. Knowing who the next priest of the Ancestor is will help convince her!

  -

  Atzi arrived in the temple district with a large gathering of people outside the central temple. The new prophet hadn't been announced yet, but Atzi felt it was going to happen very soon. She sprinted towards the Water temple quickly.

  She flung open the doors. "Hey!"

  Jem lit up. "Hello, Atzi!" Her sparsely feathered tail lifted at the bottom of her robes.

  Atzi steeled herself for all the questions that were about to come from her not entirely truthful account. "I had a vision of the future. It's... pretty important. I needed to ask your help about it. Could we talk outside?"

  Jem looked concerned. "Of course." She let Atzi lead her outside. "Ask away, please."

  Atzi motioned to the central temple. "Okay, I know it sounds unbelievable, but watch. They're about to announce the new prophet of the Ancestor. Her name's Jewel, she's about" - Atzi held up a claw - "this high, blonde hair, stutters a lot. She forgets to do something at first so people can hear her, has to repeat herself. Watch, any moment now."

  Jem was silent, standing next to Atzi as things played out exactly as she said they would.

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  Atzi glanced at her, trying to get a sense for how she was feeling.

  Jem looked grim. "I know you wouldn't lie to me, Atzi. What else have you seen?"

  Water thank you. "Sostra on fire." Atzi looked down sadly. "That's... why I need some help. Maybe the Water sent me a vision? You could check that, right?"

  Atzi knew that wasn't the case, but it should lead into her suggesting the mage idea.

  "Visions of the future are not the domain of the Water-"

  -

  Jem pulled Atzi's head out of the water. "You are fine, physically."

  "So what is it, then?"

  "It's unlikely to be divine in nature. Perhaps magical?"

  "Oh... maybe. But, uh, I can't exactly just walk into the academy and ask..."

  Jem took Atzi by the claws. "I have a friend in the academy. I shall contact them. Come back here tomorrow morning and I'll tell you what she says."

  Atzi nodded. "Cool, cool. I'll be back then."

  "Be safe, Atzi. The Water burdens us all to make us stronger, but it is still upon us to carry those burdens."

  Atzi took her claws from Jem's. The Water really shouldn't have burdened the whole city by failing to stop it from blowing up.

  Atzi decided to sleep all afternoon. In her bed. I deserve it.

  And it lets me avoid the Serpent procession.

  -

  Just before she reached the inn, she saw the Serpent's procession just ahead.

  Not risking those awful snakes finding me.

  She quickly darted into the inn.

  "Hello, Atzi!" Hemm greeted with a smile. Marco cooked a pork chop in the back.

  "Hi." Oh, I could let her know something here. "Vance and Karl got arrested, by the way. They didn't run off."

  Marco flipped the pork chop onto the floor.

  "What did they do?" Hemm asked.

  "Tried to mug a guy and got their asses kicked."

  "Well, serves them right, then. I understand losing your home is hard but that's no reason to hurt people."

  "Yeah... trying to rob a guy like that, pretty shameful," Atzi said without the slightest bit of shame.

  Marco hurriedly cleaned the floor.

  Atzi started walking up the stairs. "I'm gonna nap for a while, can I get dinner when I wake up?"

  "Sure thing."

  Suddenly, Atzi had an idea of something she could ask. "Hey, Hemm, Malus does what the Saintess asks of her, right? Like, she's her hands and eyes."

  "Yes!" Hemm looked happy to talk about the Saintess. "Malus leads us in the Saintess's place."

  "So if she walked up to someone and... blew them up with fire, it's 'cause the Saintess wanted them dead?"

  Hemm looked concerned. "Why do you ask?"

  "Oh. Just an old story I heard, it's nothin'." Atzi gave a short, awkward laugh, before slinking upstairs to sleep.

  -

  As she tried to sleep, a voice rang in her head, "Malus. Malus. How do I know Malus?"

  Atzi groaned. "Don't make me think about her... gonna have nightmares again..."

  "Oh. I'm sorry." The mysterious goddess's voice faded into silence.

  Atzi had nightmares again anyway. She was set on fire, then put out, then set on fire, then put out, again and again, for eternity.

  ===

  Atzi woke up with a whine, still feeling crappy after such a bad dream. She felt like everything was too much lately, between dying horribly multiple times and trying to solve what was going on. V was supposed to help her, but see how that turned out!

  I deserve a break. She didn't want to go to the regular parties though, not with Alana and the bored woman wandering around. I'm going to go find the party going on in the fancy part of town. I wonder if I could sneak in…

  She spent the evening getting ready to party - cleaning herself, eating, getting dressed up as best she could in her shiny orange party dress.

  On her way through the main residential street, she saw a familiar face. Alana.

  Atzi glanced over at her, wary, checking if she would look her way. If Alana already knew her.

  But she didn't pay Atzi a single look, wrapped up in her own little party among all the ones going on around her.

  Maybe not. Or maybe she's just really good at hiding it.

  As she continued, she saw Braun again doing his horrible dance technique that repelled everyone else in his vicinity.

  Atzi ducked her head. Nope, definitely not getting involved with that idiot.

  Finally, she reached the entrance of the 'rich district'. Not the gate she always jumped over, but the proper entrance with two guards out front.

  I look good now. I'll see if I can just walk in.

  "Name?" one of the guards asked as she approached the gate.

  "You have a list or something?" Atzi asked.

  The guards did not respond to the question.

  Who could I give as a fake name? She remembered her old bully, after having seen her again back home. "Cathy," she said.

  "Are you the guest of someone?"

  Atzi hovered a claw. "Just meeting a friend, why?"

  "What is their name?"

  Atzi was tempted to say V, but she didn't want to prematurely die. I need to survive and see what in the hells blows up the city. "...Yasmin."

  "Please leave."

  "Asshole." Atzi stomped a clawed foot before wandering off. Then hopped the fence to get in anyway.

  Atzi looked for where the parties were. Most of the homes were dark and silent, but she only had to follow the sound of laughter. Eventually she came across a particularly large house with many people going in and out of it. It wasn't as large as V's mansion, but pretty close. She didn't even notice any guards. Score. Atzi wandered up.

  She saw someone she vaguely remembered seeing once. A tall human man, seemingly very popular, with several rich folks hanging on his every word. He looked rather wealthy himself, adorned in expensive red silks over a tailored black outfit.

  It was then she spotted the guards, two of them, also enraptured by the man.

  Atzi's eyes slid off the group towards a buffet table, complete with fancy looking alcohol.

  Free food, free booze and a place to dance, that's what partying is all about.

  Atzi used her claws to stuff as much in her face as she could. A rich woman approached the table, took one look at Atzi, and turned away. What's her problem?

  After finishing off as much as she could eat at once, she grabbed a drink and headed inside the fancy home.

  Multiple wealthy looking people lounged around on expensive looking furniture, outfits half undone, laughing with each other between snorts of powder and puffs of swamp weed.

  Huh, I didn't think they did stuff like that. I thought they'd be doing… uh, rich people stuff… or somethin'.

  Atzi wandered into the next room over, a dining room where the table seemed to be missing entirely. There she saw a lizard woman wearing a very revealing dress chatting with people. The second most popular person at the party.

  She didn't look like most lizards, though, with two large pink scaled ears peeking over her white hair, looking like a second pair of eyes.

  Maybe a lizard crossed with something else? Atzi slinked closer, listening in.

  "...meeting my friend when she arrives tomorrow."

  A man swirled his drink. "Oh, your penpal?"

  "Yeah, we've been writing back and forth about magic for a while! We're so excited to finally meet!" The lizard woman smiled. "She's a spider sorceress."

  A mage, huh? Atzi thought to herself that having a rich friend who's less of a psycho might be good. Plus, she's hot. I just need to figure out an 'in'.

  Atzi was suddenly struck by inspiration. But... I'm repeating events. I could ask her stuff, then next time, I know it as if it's magic. I'm a genius!

  She wandered up. "Hey there. Glad to find another Pomarian here."

  "Huh? Oh, sorry, I'm Artaxtian." The woman leaned forwards, as if she wanted to tell Atzi a secret.

  Atzi wasn't that surprised, even if she hadn't seen the ear-eye thing before. Serpent-blooded lizards weren't that uncommon. Plus, her brain was currently busy with the fact she could see down the woman's dress. Atzi leaned in, too.

  The serpent-blooded woman whispered, "Name's Kurgi. I'm here 'cause my mom is."

  "Huh? Who's your mom?"

  Kurgi smiled. "The Serpent."

  Atzi discord!