When they appeared on the other side of the Dimensional Gate, they were effectively in the Middle Dimension of The Maw... which was called the Mars Plane.
The shift was jarringâless like walking through a gate and more like being hurled out of one world and swallowed whole by another.
They landed in the exact center of a vast plaza; its obsidian tiles threaded with veins of glowing crimson.
Overhead loomed a sky that wasnât truly a sky; aside from its colors, it mirrored the one over the Earth Planeâthe Middle Dimension of the Ninth Organism.
Black and red clouds twisted in slow, intentional spirals, rising into a flawless vertical tunnel that disappeared into the darkness above.
Every so often, distant flashes of blood-red, silent lightning lit up the tunnel walls.
Far ahead, somewhere deep in that dark crimson tunnel, the Ninety-Ninth Heaven awaited. The plaza bustled with life and motion.
As the womanâs eyes swept across the plaza, one thing was clearâshadows ruled every corner.
Demons with obsidian skin and midnight eyes lingered in doorways.
Devils in sharp black suits stood tall, their horns gleaming like polished glass.
Tieflings with cracked porcelain faces and ember-lit mouths laughed too loudly, passing around bottles that hissed and smoked when opened.
Even the humans carried an unsettling darkness. With their skin drawn tight over sharp bones, eyes rimmed in black, and smiles that revealed far too many teeth.
At first, no one paid Aurora and Isis any mind.
Then, they did.
Heads turned slowlyâeyes narrowing, nostrils flaringâas the two beautiful women stood in the heart of a brand-new world... or more accurately, a new plane.
Aurora wore a simple white dress, while Isis, in light clothing, let her tail flick once in irritation, her slitted eyes sweeping over every face in sight.
Aurora tilted her head, her white-blue hair catching the red-black light. Before the filthy gazes lingered too long, she hummed softly and drew attention elsewhere before speaking.
"...Why does this place feel... so chaotic?" she asked gently.
Isisâs tail-tip flicked again, sharper this time.
"Iâm not sure..." she murmured. "But letâs keep movingâthe longer we stay, the more likely weâll find trouble we canât handle."
Aurora shot her a sideways glance, golden eyes glinting.
"Hehe, are you scared?"
Isis let out a short, humorless snort.
"Never... I wasnât born yesterday. Weâre weak..." she said, starting to move while casting another glance at Aurora.
âI still canât read her rank... let alone sense any aura,â she thought as she spoke.
"Iâm not sure how much you know about the ranks... but Iâm only Early Transcendentârock bottom. We need power... information... allies."
Her voice faded, the message unmistakable.
Aurora nodded, "Youâre right," she said softly. "But we donât have to look strong yet. We just have to look like we belong."
She slipped her hand into Isisâs and tugged her forward.
"Come on.... I know of a little trick. Itâll conceal us for a while."
In that moment she activated her power, song of birth and a necklace appeared around her neck that was invisible to everyone but her.
It was a simple conceptual creation that helps with concealment.
Isis stiffened at the touchâbut didnât pull away. After a heartbeat she exhaled through her nose and let Aurora lead.
They moved together through the plazaâas two beautiful figures were swallowed by the dark tide of bodies.
No one followed at first....
The demons and devils were too busy bartering souls, the tieflings too drunk on smoking liquor, the dark-edged humans too focused on their own quiet schemes.
But someone
did
see them... or more accurately, had been seeing them for quite a while.
He emerged from a ripple in space just behind where theyâd first appearedâsilent, unseen.
Tall, lean, and impossibly handsome in the way only certain devil breeds could be, he had skin the shade of aged port wine, eyes of solid gold with narrow black slits, and hair the deep red of fresh blood, slicked back from sharp horns that curved like a regal crown.
A tailored black velvet coat lined with crimson silk hung open to reveal lean muscle and a thin silver chain disappearing beneath his collar.
His name was Dex Asmodei.
And he had been tailing Aurora since the Masque.
He had seen her from across the ballroom floorâwhite dress... and the gentle smile that didnât belong in a place like that.
Something in him had stirred to life. It wasnât lust or greed, but pure infatuation.
Heâd tracked her scent through the Masqueâs chaosânever approaching, never speakingâhappy just to watch from the shadows. When she slipped through the gate with the dragon princess, heâd counted exactly three heartbeats before following.
He stood in the Mars Plane plaza, golden eyes fixed on the two figures walking away.
When Aurora laughed at something Isis said, it reached him like a bell tolling in the dark. Dexâs pupils narrowed to slits, and he slowly, deliberately licked his lower lip.
"I must have her," he murmured. "She will be my Empress... the mother of my future heirs."
His long, prehensile, spade-tipped tail flicked once before he slipped back into the crowdâsilent, patient, invisible.
Though her trail had faded, patience was all he needed; once he caught someoneâs scent, escape was impossible.
For now, it was gone, but he knew, as always, "It will return... it always does," he said, vanishing completely.
-----
As Isis and Aurora moved through the plaza, the Dragon noticed how they werenât even being looked at anymore.
Isisâs tail flicked onceâthen settled close to her leg again.
Though she found such a change weird... she didnât comment on it.
She simply took the lead, shoulders squared, eyes scanning every alley mouth, every shadowed overhang, every glowing signpost written in shifting infernal script.
Aurora now followed half a step behind, she didnât speak as she was focused on the new things around her; she simply matched Isisâs pace and watchedâgolden eyes bright, attentive, quietly cataloguing everything.
The streets tightened as they left the main plaza behind, and Isis paused at the entrance to a narrow lane.
At its end crouched a low building of blackened stone, three stories high, its windows thin as arrow slits and its door framed in rusted iron shaped like interlocking jaws.
Above the entrance hung not a sign, but a single vertical eye carved from red crystal, blinking slowly. Beneath it, words in red script read.
"Truth for a Toll â Speak or Bleed."
Isisâs lip twitched at the sight.
"And this... is where my information ends," she said quietly. "Apparently, this is an information broker. They donât care who you are, as long as you payâno questions asked."
Aurora tilted her head, studying the blinking eye.
"Sounds interesting... and judging by the sign, Iâm guessing they donât take Mana Stones?"
"How would I know?" Isis shot her a glance. "Besides, you donât have to come in. I canâ"
But Aurora was already slipping past, her hand brushing lightly against Isisâs forearm.
"Yeah, yeah," she said with a shrug. "Letâs get going... the creepy buildingâs not going to move itself."
Isis stared for a beat.
Thenâalmost unwillinglyâa tiny smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"...Youâre impossible."
Auroraâs smile was soft, playful.
"Youâve said that before."
Then... they stepped inside together.