"What?" Romen frowned.

"Yes, young master. They disappeared. They are no longer on this planet, according to the institute’s tracker."

"How did that happen? Did you find out where they went?"

"We are working on it. They were called by Elder Shaila, so it’s clear she sent them somewhere through her teleport array. Probably for a mission."

Romen narrowed his eyes. "Find out quickly. I have to leave and return to fill my pockets, since I am going to the upcoming Ocean Melody auction. When you find their location, get the team there first and then inform me."

"Understood."

...

The Grand Dream Prix Resort did not announce itself with a gate.

It announced itself by simply being there. A quiet wall of carved peaks rising at the end of the upper transport line, with no signage and no attempt to convince anyone of anything. The kind of place that did not need to be sold. Anyone who arrived already knew what they were paying for.

The sky carriage set them down at the wide reception terrace at the base of the central peak. A tall staff member with smooth silver hair and a uniform closer to formalwear than service attire approached without hurry.

"Welcome to the Grand Dream Prix," he said. His voice was quiet and measured. "Five guests?"

"Five," Aelira said.

"Day pass or residency?"

"Residency. Two nights at least."

"Entry is one Tier-5 Mana Stone per guest. This grants full access to every facility and venue across the resort, including the gardens, public pools, lower casinos, dining halls, illusion theaters, spa terraces, and bathing springs. Specialty activities and the restricted casino tier carry additional fees, payable as used."

Aelira paid for all five without flinching. Ryzen tried not to wince and did a passable job.

"For your residency," the staff member continued, "the Grand Dream Prix offers three themed quarters. The rate is ten Tier-5 Mana Stones per residence per night, regardless of which quarter you choose."

A soft holographic display unfurled in the air between them.

"The Lavenrise Quarter, carved into the heart of the central peak. Open chambers of warm volcanic stone with private hot springs fed by the mountain’s natural mana veins. Recommended for guests who prefer warmth and stillness."

The display shifted.

"The Tidewreath Quarter, suspended along the inner cliffs above the resort’s mana lake. Residences extend partially into the water, with transparent floors that look down into the clear depths."

The display shifted again.

"The Skybough Quarter. Each residence sits upon a single branch of the Skyfather Tree, which rises one hundred kilometers above the central peak. Each branch is one kilometer in length and roughly equal in width and thickness. Each branch belongs entirely to a single residence. Full privacy. Private pool. Private gardens. Direct cloud access."

"Skybough," Aelira said before he had finished. "Three residences. One for me and my husband, one for our friends, one for our sister."

The staff member inclined his head, taking the distinctions in stride. "Understood. Three residences in the Skybough Quarter, two nights, with the option to extend."

Lyra glanced at Aelira, her cat ears flicking once. "You did not have to pay for mine."

"I did," Aelira said. "Don’t argue, sweetheart. Big sister’s treat."

Lyra didn’t argue. Her tail moved in a slow, content arc behind her.

A smooth lift platform descended from the upper air. Polished pale wood, ringed in soft mana light. They stepped onto it.

The lift rose.

The carved peaks fell away first, dropping below them in tiers of stone and waterfall. The mid-elevation casinos passed next, their domed roofs glittering in the late afternoon light. The cloud layer came up to meet them and swallowed everything for a brief weightless stretch, the world reduced to soft white in every direction.

When the lift broke through the upper cloud line, the Skyfather Tree finally became visible in full.

It did not look like a tree at first.

It looked like a small mountain that had decided to grow upward instead of outward. The trunk was so wide that the lower portion disappeared back into the clouds, and the branches spread at staggered intervals up the impossible length of its rise. Each branch was its own small world, separated from the others by long stretches of empty bark and gentle foliage, each ending in a residence of carved wood and warm light.

"Is it one tree?" Rivera asked softly.

"One tree," Lyra answered. "Tier-7 spiritual lifeform. The branches grow around the residences specifically. The roots feed on the mountain’s mana veins below."

"Thanks for the info." Ryzen chuckled.

"Mhm."

The lift split into three smaller discs partway up the trunk, each one peeling off and rising independently toward a different branch.

"See you for dinner after at least two hours," Aelira called across the gap.

"Alright," Rivera replied enthusiastically, already grinning as her disc carried her and Ryzen further up the trunk.

Both of their tails were entwined with one another.

Lyra’s disc rose quietly to her own branch, a slightly lower one that caught the warm gold of the descending suns from a particularly good angle. Rudrean watched her step off and walk slowly down her lantern-lit path, her small figure framed against the wide open sky, her tail moving in low, easy arcs.

Then his and Aelira’s disc carried them upward to their own branch.

It extended outward into the open sky, wide and flat enough to walk on without any awareness of being a kilometer above anything. Soft grass grew along its length. Small luminescent flowers drifted upward from beds of dark moss in slow, lazy spirals, pulsing gently with their own light. Floating lanterns hovered at intervals along the lantern-lit path.

At the far end of the branch sat the residence.

It was a single flowing structure of pale wood and warm crystal that had grown into the branch itself, in the way a knot grows into the grain. The walls curved organically. The windows were tall and arched. The roof was a single graceful sweep that rose gently toward a sky terrace at the back.

To one side, the private pool stretched out across a wide platform built directly into the side of the branch. The water sat at the same level as the branch surface and simply ended at the open edge, looking down through the cloud layer to the world below. Swimming to the edge would mean swimming to the edge of the sky.

The lift descended out of sight behind them, leaving the branch silent except for the wind moving through the leaves above.

"This is what I am paying for," Aelira said, the same sentence she had used at the reception terrace, but quieter this time, the way someone says a thing when they actually mean it.

They walked toward the residence together along the path. The front door opened of its own accord as they approached, recognizing their signatures, and warm light spilled out onto the path.

Inside, the living chamber was spacious and softly furnished. High arched ceilings of pale wood, deep cushioned seating, a long table of dark wood, and one wall replaced entirely by a sheet of transparent crystal that opened onto the side terrace overlooking the pool.

Aelira walked once through the space, slow and unhurried, and then turned to the center of the room.

"You can come out now," she said.

The privacy formations settled. The door’s lock confirmed itself with a quiet click. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Isalyn appeared.

Not gradually. Just there, materializing in the center of the chamber with her long black hair flowing behind her in the still air, her amber eyes already taking in the space, her shoulders dropping the moment she registered that she was actually outside the artifact.

She stretched her arms upward and let out a long, slow breath.

"Five days," she said. "Five days inside that thing."

"Welcome back, sis." Aelira grinned.

Isalyn lowered her arms and gave the residence a slow, deliberate look. The high ceilings. The crystal wall. The view of the pool and the cloud layer beyond it. The slow drift of luminescent flowers visible through the open windows.

Her eyes settled on Rudrean and Aelira. "Now then, how about we start by freshening up in the pool?"

"Yep." Aelira grinned, her clothes already gone as she moved towards the pool, her breasts and butt rhythmic with her steps.

Outside, the dual suns began their slow descent toward the cloud line, and the first warm gold of evening settled across the branch as the trio stepped into the pool to relax.