[Location]: The Petal Chamber, Aboard the Luminous Pearl

  The chamber's doors parted with a sigh. Warm, rose-colored light spilled out, reflecting off tall glass panels veined with silver roots that teased Idalia's chase instinct. A faint perfume drifted through, smelling of smoke, tea, and something like… crushed flowers after rain. Vestella's private quarters were nothing like the sterile halls outside.

  Gleefully, Idalia inhaled sharply, her nose twitching. "It smells like her," she whispered to Kelix, tail flicking. "Like before. Flower, food, and weird knowledge!"

  Around them, scrolls hovered mid-air, rotating slowly, filled with looping runes that smelled faintly of lilac and ozone. Vestella passed her hand through one of them, reading one dutifully, "Thank you, dear. This is a place of comfort."

  Kelix remained by the doorway, arms folded, his eyes probably scanning for hidden wards or listening devices. "Comfort usually hides danger," he muttered. "Idalia, your taste for cushions might get us killed."

  What? "Pfft. Cushions never killed anyone," Idalia replied, rolling onto her back.

  She didn't care to understand what wards and listen thingamajigs were. However, she couldn't help but stare at the glittering thing before her. It was a round table of carved wood that sat at the center of the room, strewn with scrolls and crystals that displayed flickering maps and glowing constellations of landscapes. There were so many strange, mysterious areas floating within them, could she bite into them?

  Vestella's soft laugh broke through her rumination. "She hasn't changed." She waved a hand; the runes folded into spheres and vanished. "You, however, Apexial… I hadn't expected to see one of your kind unbound."

  Kelix's turned toward her, frowning. "Unbound?"

  "Free," Vestella clarified. "Most of the Apexial are charges of the Council and the Nobility now—half-ascended, half-owned. The fact that you walk by choice makes you either very lucky… or very dangerous."

  "Bit of both," Kelix said dryly.

  Beep. [Knowledge Core [D]: 31% → 33%]

  Idalia, meanwhile, was staring out the viewport. The stars wheeled beyond the ship like drifting embers, and in their midst, smaller vessels shimmered—sleek and petal-shaped, part of the fleet Vestella commanded.

  "This ship is pretty," she murmured.

  Hovering into view, Vestella smiled faintly, closing the door with a wave of her fan. "You'll forgive the decadence. This ship was built for diplomacy before it became a war vessel." She approached the table, fingertips gliding across the flickering maps. "But I suspect we are not here to reminisce about architecture."

  Idalia perked up immediately, tail thumping. "No! We're here because you're gonna help me find Papa!"

  Kelix blinked, brow arched. "...You're leading with that?"

  "Of course!" Idalia chirped, scrambling upright. "She's smart and fancy and smells trustworthy!"

  Vestella's expression wavered between amusement and disbelief. "Your… Papa?" she echoed softly, fan lowering slightly. "I remember that name. Solrift, wasn't it?"

  Idalia nodded so fast her ears flopped. "Yes! Big mane! Strongest Liorex! Wanderans took him!" Her claws dug into the cushion. "You have maps and soldiers and magic! You can find him!"

  Calm but firm, Kelix couldn't help interjecting her insistence. "Idalia… Vestella's not your ally. Not yet. Her faction is fighting a war against Soreine and Forje's, yes, but that doesn't make her—"

  "Stop." Idalia's tail lashed once. "She's not like them. She fed me once, remember?"

  Groaning, Kelix rubbed his temples. "Food does not equal loyalty!"

  Vestella laughed softly behind her fan. "It does to her, it seems."

  Then, lowering her hand, she regarded Idalia with unguarded curiosity. "You said Wanderans took him… which ones, exactly? There are factions even among us. Houses with different appetites."

  Idalia frowned, concentrating. She remembered Kelix's descriptions about the various Wanderan clans—the closest she could perceive the too many groups they divided themselves into. She tried her best to explain.

  "Let's see… The monster thieves had armor with long fangs and long tails painted on them. And they had spines attached to the back of their helmets." Her eyes squinted in frustration, remembering the time she snuck away from the Pride to feel them out.

  And she shivered, not entirely sure why she felt the way she did. But for some reason the thieves were occasionally near her Pride's turf—yet they never dared to enter the Liorex domain. Certainly, they knew better than to spark their ire. "They smelled like sugar and oil. And they had… machines and cages. For creatures. For us."

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Vestella's expression darkened. "The House of Orun. Monster-tamers. The late Patriarch Orun Gladstel's bloodline."

  Kelix's gaze sharpened. "That name sounds familiar. Orun Dominion's beastmasters? They've been raiding border zones lately..."

  Biting her bottom lip, Vestella tapped her fan against her palm thoughtfully. "It should. Their daughter, Lady Cheyin Orun, defected three cycles ago. Stole a quarter of her father's warships. She commands her own tamed beasts now, striking both my supply lines, her father and Soreine's strongholds. Reports claim she rides a… creature that defies record."

  Beep! [Knowledge Core [D]: 33% → 35%]

  Idalia's ears perked high. "What kind of creature?"

  Vestella's eyes met hers. "A massive Liorex, scaled in red-gold, eyes bright as burning copper. They say it answers only to her."

  Nearly tripping over her own paws, Idalia went very still. "Red-gold," she whispered. "That's… him. That's Papa!"

  Kelix inhaled sharply. "You're sure? You left out the part where he's roughly the size of a fortress."

  Vestella's brows rose. "A Liorex patriach, then. That narrows it."

  "Patriach? No, that's Pawail!" Idalia's ears perked, eyes shining. "You know something?"

  Vestella hesitated. Her gaze flicked to one of the hovering screens; symbols reconfigured into a map of the sector—three nations locked in a spiral of conflict. "Rumors," she admitted. "There have been reports of a great beast—tyrannosaur-like, crimson-scaled, golden maned—ridden by a girl said to be the daughter of the latest Czar Patriarch himself. They call her Beasthymn. A child prodigy, disobedient, and… troublesome."

  Idalia's claws dug into the metal floor, tearing, screeching. "They made Papa a mount?" Her voice shook with disbelief, then hardened. "No. No! Papa would never kneel! He's too strong! He is the sky-breaker!"

  Vanishing from his previous position unexpectedly, Kelix rested a hand on her shoulder. "If it's true, he's alive, Ida."

  She blinked up at him, trembling. "Then we have to go."

  Vestella watched the two of them, then exhaled softly, lowering her fan. "If what you say is true, then your father's capture changes everything. The Orun Dominion having such a weapon explains how they've been holding both Soreine's and my fleets at bay."

  "Not a weapon, my Papa!" Idalia hissed. Surely, Vestella would correct herself. There was that dark shimmer in the girl's eyes again; Idalia still wasn't sure what that meant.

  "Soreine," Kelix echoed, garnering their attention. "That woman's power—it felt like she bent gravity itself."

  "She's one of the Triarch Generals," Vestella said. "Unfortunately, Forje serves her. Their faction, the Voiperian Insurgents, broke from the Council two years ago. They see ascension as a right, not a burden. They'd slaughter whole worlds to perfect the artificial Apexial genome."

  Beep. [Knowledge Core [D]: 35% → 38%]

  Idalia watched as Kelix's jaw tightened. "And you?"

  Vestella hid her face behind her fan. "I still serve the old Wanderan line. We seek balance between the species—not domination. But it's a fragile faith in a burning universe."

  Idalia blinked, then snorted. "Too many words. We just need Papa."

  Lowering her fan, Vestella actually smiled at that. "Simple. Direct. Refreshing." She tapped her fan against her chin, thoughtful. "If I aid you, it would draw attention. Both Soreine and the Dominion would notice a flagship moving out of position."

  Kelix folded his arms. "You're already surrounded by enemies. One more move won't change much."

  Her eyes glittered. "You assume I fear them."

  "No. I assume you calculate them."

  The two regarded each other—a strategist and a storm. Between them, Idalia huffed, pacing impatiently. "While you two play mind games, Papa's still stuck with the smelly collar people!"

  Vestella chuckled softly, then turned to her. "Very well, Idalia Idarift. I will help you track this beastmaster faction."

  Idalia blinked, stunned. "You will?"

  Vestella nodded, graceful as a falling petal. "But in return, you must promise to stay within my command's protection. The skies are shifting. Even your strength may not save you if the Insurgents, the Yae-Fae, and the Dominion clash outright."

  "Promise?" Idalia repeated, tilting her head. Then she grinned wide. "Fine! But only if you let me bite the bad ones."

  Kelix sighed. "She's not joking."

  Vestella's lips curved into a secret smile. "I never thought she was." She snapped her fan open again, summoning a projection of the Orun Dominion's banners—black sigils of chained beasts, coiling serpents, and a crest of twin suns. "We'll start by tracking this 'Beasthymn' and her tyrant mount. If it's your father, Idalia… then perhaps fate intends for our paths to cross again."

  Idalia's jaws flexed with eager, dangerous joy. "Then let's go find him."

  Kelix looked between the them and muttered under his breath, "This is going to start another war."

  Vestella's eyes glimmered darkly. "It already has."

  Then Idalia's shoved herself between them, voicing loudly, "You two talk too much!"

  Both looked at her. She tilted her head. "If Soreine's hunting, we should hunt back! She made Kelix bleed, and Forje tried to hurt my friend! So we get strong, right? Bite through their fancy armor? That's the plan if they intervene!"

  Kelix rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing. "That's… her version of a strategy."

  Vestella chuckled again, warmth returning to her voice. "And perhaps not the worst one." She reached forward, brushing her fan gently under Idalia's chin, a gesture halfway between affection and appraisal. "Keep that fire. You'll need it where we're going."

  Kelix looked from Idalia to Vestella. "You know where this Cheyin is?"

  Vestella turned to the table and flicked her fan. The map shimmered, zooming into a region shaped like an archipelago wrapped in storms.

  "Here. The Orun Dominion's forward bastion… Isle Ka’sura."

  A swarm of red indicators blinked across its surface. "She's consolidating her beasts there. And if she truly rides a tamed Liorex Alpha…" Vestella's eyes flicked up. "Then she is becoming a danger even Soreine cannot ignore."

  Kelix crossed his arms. "You plan to eliminate her." Idalia's gaze keened on Vestella; the girl remained calm, but silent.

  Figuring it would be best to break the odd silence, Idalia grinned, sharp-toothed and bright. "Let's go!"

  Suddenly, Vestella's tight composure eased. "Then we're agreed. I'll divert the Luminous Pearl toward Isle Ka’sura. But understand this—" her tone turned sharp, commanding, "if Solrift is bound, freeing him may provoke the Orun Patriarch himself. His armies make Soreine's look like children's militias."

  Kelix's eyes hardened. "We've already fought worse odds."

  "That's right!" Idalia growled.

  Vestella inclined her head. "Then prepare yourselves. By three days of dawn, we enter their hunting grounds."

  Idalia stood, tail high, eyes burning with resolve. "Then we find Papa… and make them pay!"

  Outside, the Luminous Pearl turned toward the distant constellations, engines humming like an awakening Titan.

  The hunt for Papa, the Sky-Breaker, had begun.