The coalition had arranged a hotel near the rift passage point, which was thoughtful of them considering we were all approximately about five minutes away from collapsing.

The lobby was nice, expensive in that understated way that suggested coalition funds were being spent wisely, and the woman at the front desk didn’t even blink when Void created sparkles while floating over the check-in counter.

Tokyo had a lot of people with new dimensional perception now, seeing weird things was probably becoming normal.

We got rooms on the same floor, mine and Azryth’s was the biggest suite because apparently demon lords and their husbands got priority treatment, and within twenty minutes we were all gathered in our room while coalition personnel set up what could only be described as a feast.

Room service buffet didn’t quite cover it, this was a full spread, multiple tables worth of food arranged with the kind of care that suggested someone had been told "spare no expense for the people saving the world."

Meats, soups, chicken prepared three different ways, vegetables that actually looked appealing, rice, noodles, dumplings, and approximately six different sauces I didn’t recognize but was definitely going to try.

Void made an excited sound and immediately dove toward the nearest plate.

"Careful," I warned. "Don’t eat the plate."

"Food!" Void chirped happily, grabbing a dumpling with its mouth.

"Yes, that’s food, the ceramic is not food."

Azryth settled beside me on the couch, close enough that our legs pressed together, and I felt exhaustion radiating through the binding mixing with my own.

We’d saved Tokyo, but we’d also fought ourselves, escaped a collapsing dimension, and traveled halfway across the world in less than twenty-four hours.

I was tired in ways that went beyond physical.

Mara claimed one of the chairs, already loading a plate with practical efficiency, the kind that came from years of eating between hunts. Henrik took another seat with his tablet balanced on his knee despite the meal in front of him, because of course he was still working. Ryota stood near the window initially before Mara pointed at a chair with her fork in a way that suggested sitting was non-negotiable.

We ate in comfortable silence for a while, just focused on food and not dying and the luxury of being in a room that wasn’t actively trying to kill us.

Void tried everything, making pleased sounds, occasionally saying "Good!" between bites, completely unbothered by the fact that it had just demolished an entire dimensional palace.

"So," Henrik said eventually, setting down his chopsticks with careful precision. "We should discuss the fragments."

I’d been hoping we could avoid this conversation until after food, but apparently Henrik had other priorities.

"What about them?" I asked, even though I knew exactly what about them.

"The pattern is consistent," Henrik said, pulling up data on his tablet. "Switzerland, the entity signature vanished when Azryth pulled the sword. Tokyo, the same thing happened when Void grabbed the mirror. Both times, immediate disappearance."

"And both times, we have no idea where they went," Mara added, voice sharp with frustration.

Azryth was quiet beside me, and I felt his focus through the binding, that same confused frustration I was feeling.

"The signatures just disappear," he said quietly. "No trace, no direction, just gone."

"So where are they going?" I asked.

Mara set down her fork with enough force to make a point. "We need the Arbiters to explain this, they’re the only ones who know everything and can explain to us."

"Yeah, except they haven’t contacted us since the entity broke their connection at the fortress," I pointed out. "It’s been weeks and nothing."

"Can we reach them somehow?" Ryota asked, looking between us with professional assessment.

Azryth’s hand found mine on the couch. "Only in Limbo."

Mara’s expression shifted immediately, sharp and protective.

"Not going back there," I said firmly.

"Agreed," Azryth said.

"What happened in Limbo?" Ryota asked carefully.

Mara’s voice went tight. "They had to pass the Arbiters’ trials, fight a spirit that attacked their binding, survive a chaotic storm, prove themselves three different ways, then came back weaker, took days to fully recover."

"And it wasn’t worth it then," Henrik added. "Definitely not worth it now just to ask where fragments are going."

"The Arbiters exist outside normal dimensional space," Henrik explained, analytical but gentle. "Limbo is the only access point, but the cost outweighs the information we’d gain."

"So we’re on our own with this," Ryota said.

"Looks like it," I agreed.

We sat in silence for a moment, processing that reality.

No Arbiters, no explanations, just us trying to figure out dimensional mechanics we barely understood.

I looked at Void, who was happily eating chicken and creating occasional sparkles, completely oblivious to the fact that it was apparently at the center of a mystery we couldn’t solve.

An idea formed, not a certainty, but something that felt right.

"What if the fragments aren’t escaping on Earth?" I said slowly.

Everyone looked at me.

"What do you mean?" Henrik asked, leaning forward slightly.

"I mean, what if they’re not hiding somewhere on the planet," I clarified, working through the thought as I spoke. "What if they’re escaping from Earth entirely? Back to wherever the entity came from originally?"

Azryth’s focus sharpened. "Back to the entity’s home dimension."

"Exactly," I said, feeling momentum build. "We know the entity came from somewhere else, some other realm or dimension or whatever, what if the fragments are just... going home? Returning to where they came from?"

Silence for a moment.

Then Mara sat up straighter. "That makes perfect sense."

"Theoretically, it’s sound," Henrik agreed, and I could hear hope creeping into his voice. "Entity fragments would naturally return to their origin point, especially if the seals binding them here are broken."

"It would explain why the signatures disappear so completely," Mara added, and she sounded almost relieved. "No trace because they’re leaving our dimensional space entirely."

"So they’re not a threat anymore," I said, feeling my own mood lift as the theory solidified. "They’re just gone, back where they came from."

"Problem solved," Mara said. "Fragments contained in another dimension, not loose on Earth."

The group relaxed visibly, shoulders dropping, tension easing like we’d all been holding our breath and finally had permission to exhale.

Even Azryth’s grip on my hand loosened slightly, some of the worry bleeding away through the binding.

Then Ryota spoke.

"But what if we’re wrong?" he asked quietly. "What if the fragments are staying on Earth, just hiding somewhere we can’t detect them?"

The mood crashed.

Immediately.

Like someone had thrown cold water on a warm fire.

Mara threw a dumpling at him.

It hit his shoulder with surprising accuracy.

"Ryota," she said, voice flat. "We were having a moment, a hopeful moment, the first one in hours. Why would you ruin that?"

"I’m just being practical," Ryota said, catching the dumpling before it fell. "We need to consider all possibilities."

"We were considering the good possibility," Mara countered. "The one where fragments leave Earth and stop being our problem, you just had to bring up the bad possibility."

"Someone had to," Ryota said reasonably.

"But did you have to do it right now?" Mara demanded.

Henrik made a sound that might have been a suppressed laugh.

I looked at Azryth, felt his amusement mixing with resignation through the binding.

"Ryota’s right though," I said reluctantly. "We don’t know for certain."

"I hate that you’re agreeing with him," Mara muttered.

"I hate that he’s right," I agreed. "But he is, we’re operating on theory and hope, not facts."

"Hope is better than nothing," Mara said.

"Hope doesn’t stop fragments if they’re actually hiding on Earth," Ryota pointed out.

Mara looked like she was considering throwing another dumpling.

"Both of you have valid points," Henrik said diplomatically. "We don’t have enough information to know definitively where the fragments go, Riven’s theory is logical and hopeful, Ryota’s concern is practical and cautious."

"So we’re back to not knowing anything," I said.

"We know we need to close the gates," Azryth said quietly. "That’s certain, regardless of where the fragments end up, stopping the gates prevents more problems."

"Six more gates," Mara said, picking up her fork again with resigned determination. "Six more chances for fragments to escape to wherever they’re escaping to."

"Or six more chances to save cities from dimensional collapse," Henrik offered.

"I like his version better," I said.

Void made a pleased sound and offered me a piece of chicken. "Mama! Food!"

"Thanks," I said, taking it even though my appetite had diminished significantly.

Well, that killed the mood, which was unfortunate because for approximately three minutes I’d felt optimistic about something.

Azryth’s thumb brushed against my knuckles, a quiet gesture of comfort that I appreciated more than I could express.

"Worrying about where the fragments go won’t help us close the gates," he said softly. "We focus on what we can control."

"Which is closing six more gates and hoping I’m right about fragments leaving Earth," I said.

"Exactly."

I looked around at everyone, Mara still glaring at Ryota with good-natured frustration, Henrik making notes on his tablet with analytical focus, Ryota looking mildly apologetic but unrepentant, Azryth steady beside me despite the exhaustion.

We’d saved two cities, claimed two artifacts, and apparently let two fragments escape to destinations unknown.

And we had six more gates to go.