The citadel looked exactly as they’d left it.

Busy and loud with the particular organised chaos of a settlement that had its own rhythm and kept it regardless of who came and left.

It didn’t take long for Damon and Ning Xiaoyu to stumble upon a familiar person.

Ivy stood in the courtyard as they entered.

She looked up from the supply manifest in her hands the moment they stepped through the gate, her eyes finding Damon first with the focused relief of someone who had been tracking time since his departure.

Then her gaze moved toward Ning Xiaoyu, who walked a little differently than she did when she was last here. This time, she was no longer a prisoner but walked with her sword still on her back and walked right beside Damon, not in front of him like a prisoner.

"How did it go?" she asked the moment they got close enough to her.

"They accepted the truce," Damon said. "Their leader asked for Ning Xiaoyu to accompany us when we deal with the second citadel. Consider her a representative of their citadel for now."

Ivy looked at Ning Xiaoyu for a moment, their gazes meeting for a couple of seconds before she nodded.

"I’ll get someone to find her a room—" Ivy said, but was quickly cut off.

"I can just stay with Damon." Ning Xiaoyu said as if that was the most normal thing to say in the moment.

The noise of the courtyard around them continued as normal, but between the three of them there was a long moment of silence... heavy silence.

Ivy blinked, confusion gnawing at her features as if she didn’t hear her right. Then, a visible understanding flashed across her face, and her gaze turned to Damon with a sharp, heavy intent that could’ve been felt in the air around them.

Then, her lips curved into a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. "Damon-"

At the same time as she said his name, someone else said it too, a different familiar figure who just approached them.

"Daamon."

Everyone, including Ivy, turned toward the newly arriving figure to see Eve already beside them. None of them even noticed her arrival until she spoke, being occupied with Ning Xiaoyu’s comment.

"Hmmm," she murmured, her eyes moving between Damon, Ivy, and Ning XIaoyu with quiet amusement. "Bad timing?"

’Couldn’t be better,’ Damon thought to himself, doing his absolute best not to meet Ivy’s gaze, which was staring needles into him.

"What is it?" he asked in his normal, flat tone.

"I’m gonna have to steal you for a little while... I have information you’re gonna like." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Damon raised a brow. "Information?"

He turned back to Ning Xiaoyu, then Ivy, who gave him a quick, though a little hesitant nod.

"I’ll show our guest to her room," she said, gesturing Ning Xiaoyu to follow her, which she did, after a split second of hesitation in which she glanced at Damon.

"Well?" Damon asked, turning back to Eve, who had a pleased expression on her face.

"The second citadel," Eve said, falling into step beside him as they moved away from the courtyard. "Specifically, where they were before they claimed it."

"Their original base?"

"Yup. Still active." She glanced at him sideways. "Supply storage, weapon caches, and from what I can tell, people. It seemed to be their second base of operations."

Damon’s expression sharpened. "How many were there?"

"Enough to matter." She smiled slightly. "I’ve been watching their movements for two days. I know their patrol schedule, their supply routes, and more importantly..." she paused "...I know a way in that they don’t know about."

Damon looked at her. "You’ve been busy."

"Someone had to be," she replied. "With the whole citadel playing politics, someone had to do actual work."

A moment of silence passed as Damon digested the new information before Eve spoke again.

"There is one condition."

’Of course there is,’ he thought to himself.

"Just the two of us," she quickly explained. "Too many people mean too much noise, and I don’t trust anyone else not to ruin it."

"Makes sense," Damon admitted.

Her logic indeed made sense. If they had travelled in a large group, it would’ve been impossible to stay undetected. And as much as Damon preferred working alone, he needed her knowledge to actually get in there.

"Good," she said, coming to a sudden stop just as they reached the open field outside the castle. "We should leave right away."

Damon nodded. "Give me five minutes."

"I’ll be at the teleportation device," she said before turning around and walking away with the sway of the hips that desired attention.

With her gone, Damon turned back toward the castle and went in to let Ivy know that he was leaving again. He found her in the usual place, the grand hall, where she was surrounded by a large group of people who each demanded something from her.

He didn’t give her a long description of the plan, but only a quick explanation of where he was going and what he was going to do.

The whole conversation took no more than a minute before he left once again, soon after meeting Eve by the teleportation device.

"You know it’s not good to keep the girl waiting," Eve said as he approached.

Damon opened his mouth to reply, but at that time, a loud yell cut through the air.

"Waaaait!"

They both turned to see Nyla sprinting toward them, hair loose from the run. She was wearing a cropped white halter top, high-waisted black shorts, and her relic armour, metal plate arms and boots, with her golden hammer resting on her shoulder.

"Didn’t I tell you to come alone?" Eve said, slight irritation clear in her tone.

But unbeknownst to her, Damon was just as surprised to see Nyla step toward them as she was.

"I’ll be going with you!" she announced, her breathing a little ragged from the sudden sprint she just ended.