Nowhere To Go But Up

Exit per entrance

The Lor Starcutter awoke Magolor with the alarm he'd asked her to set before he went back to bed. He shot out of the room immediately after awakening, hoping he was up before Taranza. He wanted to get his cape back, after all, and if Taranza picked up on him giving it away in the first place, it'd be an awkward conversation to navigate. He entered the study, and took the cape back. After that, he went back into the main room to check on what was happening with the invasion. Seemed like a leg of the Ark had been taken out. That was good news. "Captain, she is approaching."

"You mean Susie?"

"Yes. Judging from her behavior and expression, she is displeased with something. Shall I allow her in?"

Magolor groaned. "As much as I'd love to say no, I probably should talk to her." The door slid open. "Hi, Susie! What brings you to this neck of the woods? Hee hee!" He pretended to laugh at his own joke.

"WELL, I have to bone to pick with you. You're doing something to stop us from improving the planet, aren't you?" Susie pointed at him as she made her accusation.

"I don't know what you mean! Why would I do that?"

"You want facts? I have them!"

"...Do tell."

"Well, there are these islands in the sky and some big, stupid plant that are unaffected by the mechanization! Those islands are covered in wanted posters that show a fixture of you being led through a crowd by a guy named Taranza. He knows how to take down whatever shield is covering that place, because he used to be the king. And I know you know who he is, because you're friends, aren't you?"

Magolor wrung his hands. "Saying we're friends is a bit of a stretch. I know almost nothing about the guy, and I absolutely don't know where he is right now. I'm just out here because I'm trying to figure out why this forest is immune to the mechanization."

"But you got him out of the country!"

"That was just basic empathy. I did learn some things while we were apart, after all."

"It's also pretty out of character for you to be this calm about a false accusation. You sure you aren't up to something?"

Magolor looked at the floor, and then looked right at Susie with a cunning smirk playing on his face. "Let's make a deal. I'll show you what I found, and you grant me a private meeting with President Haltmann. Is that alright?"

"What are you plotting, sorcerer?"

He left the ship, and illuminated a path to the cave. "Follow me. I've got a place to show you."

Reluctantly, she obliged. "I'll get you that meeting, as long as this isn't a trap."

He tapped a message on the side of the ship in morse code. As he tapped, he responded to Susie. "I suppose I'm in luck, then."

... .- ...- . / - .- .-. .- -. --.. .-

The inside of the cave was a nice reprieve from the mist, and it looked just as it usually did. "It's nice, isn't it?" Magolor's fondness for the inside of the cave wasn't something he was planning to hide.

"Egh, I don't like this at all."

What I wouldn't give to strangle her, I swear on every universe in existence. "Well, would you like to know where the mist comes from?" He was trying to hide the hatred in his voice.

"You know that much?"

"That I do. Come down here."

On the way down the waterfall, Susie was startled by Marx yelling at her from behind the waterfall. Magolor, who wasn't quite expecting it, decided on the fly that the best thing to do here was to feign surprise. "Hey, Magolor! Why're you and Susie down here at a time like this?"