Chapter Summaries

At the Tarot Club, Alice asked Alger to find someone who could lift the curse tied to the monocle, offering a portion of luck as payment. The members traded supplies and information, and Alice left them wondering about her strange uniform as she reported that Backlund’s Beyonder gatherings had stopped.

• Alice asked Alger to find someone who could lift her curse, and offered a portion of luck as payment while warning that her bad mood made it unwise to claim it soon.
• Audrey presented three pages of Roselle’s diary, while Derrick shared legends about ancient gods and a list of nearby monsters.
• Audrey agreed to buy Elder Tree fruit and Mirror Dragon blood from Emlyn for 750 pounds, plus his 100-pound fee.
• Alger offered Emlyn a Sanguine Baron’s inheritance for 4,500 pounds, but Emlyn said he would think about it.
• Audrey asked about Alice’s clothes, and Alice called them a uniform from her hometown before clarifying that she would rather call it a prison uniform.
• Alice changed the subject by saying that Backlund remained under high pressure and all Beyonder gatherings had stopped.

At a Tarot Club gathering, Alger warned Derrick to be cautious about the City of Silver Chief noticing the cycle of Fate, while the World reported unrest in Bansy Harbor. The Fool then told the club that Medici had been a babysitter hired by Amon’s father, leaving everyone—including Klein—wondering why the arrangement sounded familiar.

• Alger warned Derrick to make sure the City of Silver Chief was absent or occupied before holding the Sacrifice Ritual, and reassured him that the Chief would likely continue monitoring him rather than expose him.
• The World asked Alice to help him buy a Radio Telegraph and reported that cultists had resurfaced in Bansy Harbor, where a Church of Storms bishop had fallen and many people had died.
• Alger explained that Bansy Harbor’s residents had offered living sacrifices to the Evil Spirit called the God of Weather, and cautioned the others about similar dangers abroad.
• The Fool introduced Medici as a King of Angel who founded Rose Redemption, and Alice blurted out that he was the babysitter hired by Amon’s father.
• Audrey and Alger turned to the silent World in confusion, while Klein wondered why the babysitter arrangement sounded familiar.

At the Tarot Club, Emlyn sought advice on keeping support from a powerful person, while Alice and Klein discussed her strange Beyonder characteristics and her past. The gathering ended with Klein calling Alice “Miss Monster” before cutting off the connection as she glared at him.

• Klein identified Medici’s pathway as Red Priest after Audrey asked Alice about it.
• Emlyn asked how his friend could keep receiving support after being unable to report back, and Alger advised showing signs of trouble to prompt the powerful person to offer help and send a monitor.
• Emlyn gave Alger anesthetic gas, and Klein ended the Tarot Club gathering after predicting everyone would have new appearances the following week.
• Klein asked Alice what she remembered from her last awakening, and Alice said Will Auceptin seemed afraid of her while the Goddess appeared to know her.
• Alice explained that she had never felt her Sequence 9 and Sequence 8 characteristics and said Amon had teased her by calling her Miss Monster and had hit her twice.
• Klein agreed that Alice could be pressed to death with one finger, called her Miss Monster, and cut off the connection as she glared at him.

Alice went to St. Samuel Cathedral to seek help with the cursed monocle she had stolen from Amon, and was brought before Archbishop Anthony. As Anthony questioned her, Alice sensed danger and ducked away just before someone entered the room.

• Alice bought a Radio Telegraph and headed to St. Samuel Cathedral after a passerby she had jinxed fell face-first into an unknown substance.
• Alice confessed to a bishop that she had encountered Amon, stolen his monocle from his avatar’s corpse, and could not remove it because of his curse.
• The bishop sent Alice to meet Saint Anthony the Archbishop at the Nighthawks Headquarters beneath the cathedral.
• Anthony questioned Alice about the monocle, but she suddenly sensed danger, moved around the table, and crouched down.
• Someone entered and addressed Archbishop Anthony in a familiar, subdued voice.

Alice met Leonard at the Church of Evernight and had Anthony examine Amon’s cursed monocle, which was lifted after she handed it over. The next morning, she passed a message to Klein through the Gray Fog and went back to the church wearing the monocle, still tempted by the donation box.

• Alice recognized Leonard at the church, but denied knowing him when Anthony asked.
• Anthony let Alice decide whether Leonard could stay, and she asked him to leave before explaining the monocle’s stolen taste and Amon’s curse.
• Anthony examined the monocle, and Alice later left the church with it in hand and her sense of taste restored.
• Amon realized the curse had been lifted and wondered why Alice had not sent him a return gift.
• Alice noticed Leonard following her, offered him the monocle, then went home without receiving a visit in her dream.
• Alice sent a message to Klein through the Gray Fog, read the newspaper, and returned to the church wearing Amon’s monocle.

Alice joked with Leonard about giving his attached friend to Amon, then struggled to choose a return gift for Amon. At Bravehearts Bar, she learned Caspars had died and met a young boy calling himself Old Man, whom she asked whether he was older than her.

• Alice teased Leonard about Amon and threatened to give his attached friend to Amon as a return gift before leaving the church.
• Alice agonized over what to send Amon and wondered whether to memorize vocabulary for him.
• Alice visited Bravehearts Bar with five copies of her unpublished book and learned Caspars had died long ago.
• Alice went to the billiards room and found a young boy pretending to be Old Man, then asked whether he was older than her.

Alice persuaded Ian to sell copies of Roselle’s diary page, which she said recorded his proudest deed. After leaving Bravehearts Bar, she found an unsigned letter from Amon demanding his return gift.

• Alice frightened Ian into agreeing to sell the five copied diary pages, then let him choose their price and gave him her address for payment.
• Ian told Alice his name and admitted that he liked staying alive, and Alice laughed at his fear of cue sticks.
• Alice left Bravehearts Bar and wondered what she should give Amon as a return gift.
• Alice found an unsigned letter in her mailbox asking, “Where is my return gift?” and realized Amon had sent it.

Alice searched for a gift to give Amon and settled on contraceptives after recalling his concern about having given birth. Her attempt to buy them from Fat Apothecary left him terrified and offering them for free so he could get her out of his shop.

• Alice returned home with Amon’s letter, then told Madam Maggie that a thief had stolen her bedroom doorknob.
• Alice tried to smash Amon’s monocle and cursed him before resuming her search for a return gift.
• Alice decided to give Amon contraceptives and went to Fat Apothecary’s shop to buy them.
• Alice explained that the contraceptives were for a male Mythical Creature, leaving Fat Apothecary so alarmed that he fell behind the counter.
• Fat Apothecary offered Alice the contraceptives for free and said he was moving out of Backlund, while Alice wondered why everyone feared her.

Alice sent Amon two bottles of contraceptive potion as a carefully prepared return gift, prompting him to invade her dream. The chapter ended with Alice on a forest swing, realizing Amon was watching her.

• Alice collected two bottles of potion from Fat Apothecary and wondered whether the Dice of Probability was connected to the School of Life.
• Alice wrote Amon a letter explaining that the potions were contraceptives prepared for him as a return gift.
• Amon received Alice's letter and potions, destroyed the letter, and responded with an amiable smile.
• Amon appeared in Alice's dream in a fairy-tale cabin, and Alice realized the force that had invaded her dream was inside.
• Alice made the cabin vanish and appeared with Amon in the forest, where she climbed onto a vine swing.
• Amon watched Alice on the swing and asked whether his clothes did not suit the atmosphere.

Alice teased Amon in a dream, then woke to find Him in her bedroom and questioned whether He was male. Amon changed into a female form and observed that Alice cared more about the gender of His appearance than His actual gender.

• Alice asked Amon whether He ever changed clothes, then joked that ice cream mattered more to her than looking down on Him from above.
• Alice experimented with controlling the dream, but Amon disrupted her games, made her fall, and laughed at her reactions.
• Amon asked what clothes Alice would put Him in, and Alice chose the Mad Hatter before Amon encouraged her to wake up.
• Alice woke up screaming at Amon's enlarged face and asked Him to leave her bedroom because He seemed male.
• Amon transformed into a female form, and Alice explained that she called nonhuman creatures male or female animals.
• Amon remarked that Alice cared about the gender of the form He presented rather than His actual gender.

Alice confronted Amon about entering her bedroom, then faced him again when Evelyn came to check on her. After Amon admitted he had not parasitized Evelyn, Alice vowed to kill him and used her strange power to make him collapse, though she fell from exhaustion too.

• Alice questioned Amon about gender and human etiquette, while Amon argued that they were familiar enough to be friends.
• Evelyn knocked to check on Alice, and Alice hid her fear of Amon while reassuring her that she had only suffered a nightmare.
• After Evelyn left, Alice asked why Amon had not parasitized her; Amon said he had not and teased her about her emotional state.
• Alice accused Amon of treating her like a toy and declared that she would kill him.
• Alice's power struck Amon, causing him to collapse, and she also fell from exhaustion as the door closed behind them.

After discovering she could enter Amon's body, Alice planned to steal from other Churches' donation boxes and blame Amon. She stole Travel from the bodyguards of a mysterious girl in the East District and entered a Church of Storms, where she reached the donation box wearing a monocle.

• Alice kicked Amon's corpse aside, went out for dinner, and decided to steal money from other Churches for the Goddess of the Night.
• Alice entered Amon's body, found herself without a monocle, and used divination to seek a Traveler in the East District.
• Alice spotted a young girl being robbed by Hui Li Gang members and stole Travel from the girl's nearby Beyonder bodyguards.
• Alice entered the Church of Storms, approached its donation box, and put on a monocle.

Alice stole a Church of Storms donation box, blamed Amon, and sacrificed his avatar to the Evernight Goddess before keeping the money. A Wanted Poster connected the theft to a monocle-wearing outlaw, and Alger was relieved when its portrait did not show Miss Fate.

• Alice escaped the Church of Storms with the Donation Box, changed locations, and took the money before sacrificing Amon's avatar to the Evernight Goddess.
• Alice counted 478 pounds, 17 soli, and 6 pence from the Donation Box and set aside the foreign coins for a Church of Evernight donation box.
• Chris Bourne lost his position as bishop after the Church of Storms blamed him for the stolen Donation Box.
• Alice read a Wanted Poster describing an outlaw who wore a crystal monocle over his right eye.
• In the Forsaken Land of the Gods, Amon wondered whether anyone had stolen the Donation Box from the Storm's church.
• Alger received the Wanted Poster in Wave Church and sighed with relief when its portrait showed a young woman rather than Miss Fate.

Alice was summoned by Archbishop Anthony and blamed Amon for stealing the Church of Storms' donation box, while Anthony also raised the Angel of the Marauder within Leonard. In Dunn's dream, Klein asked Edwina to teach Alice, leaving him tempted to bring her to Bayam for lessons.

• Alice visited St. Samuel's Church, donated foreign coins, and followed Leonard underground to meet Archbishop Anthony.
• Anthony formed a spiritual barrier and brought up the Angel of the Marauder within Leonard before asking Alice whether she had stolen the Church of Storms' donation box.
• Alice confidently blamed Amon, arguing that his denials could not be trusted, and Anthony dismissed her.
• In Dunn's dream in Bayam, Edwina questioned Klein about his education and knowledge of languages and mysticism.
• Klein asked whether Edwina would teach an underage girl, described Alice's abilities, and learned that Edwina tailored her answers to her listener's knowledge.

Alice received a letter from Klein introducing his angelic messenger and suggesting Vice Admiral Iceberg, Edwina Edwards, as her teacher, then confronted Klein Above the Gray Fog about the messenger and his offer. Their conversation was interrupted when an unfamiliar Crimson Star swelled.

• Alice received Klein's letter from Reinette Tinekerr, teased the messenger about having no head on her neck, and tore up Klein's suggestion that she study aboard Vice Admiral Iceberg's ship.
• Reinette told Klein that Alice had not paid the delivery fee and had asked why she had no head on her neck, so Klein gave her a gold coin.
• Pallez agreed to Archbishop Anthony's request to find Alice something to do, then returned control of his body to Leonard.
• Alice met Klein Above the Gray Fog, questioned his schoolroom-like setting, and asked why he used an angel as his messenger.
• Klein learned that Alice had insulted Reinette and wondered whether her lost memories might mean she had insulted a True God before.
• An unfamiliar Crimson Star swelled while Alice and Klein sat together, and Klein told Alice to be quiet.

Klein answered several prayers Above the Gray Fog, including killing a swindler who had abused his honorific name, before an unfamiliar woman appeared at the Tarot Club table. Alice met Cattleya, the Admiral of Stars, and ended the chapter asking her to forget Alice’s remark about being a revived evil god.

• Klein killed a swindler who had used his honorific name to lure a young girl, then received another prayer.
• Klein brought Alice and an unfamiliar black-haired woman to the Tarot Club table, where Alice claimed they were in the Underworld.
• Alice recognized the signs of a Mystery Pryer and wondered aloud whether she had once had an honorific name as a revived evil god.
• Cattleya introduced herself as the Admiral of Stars and thanked Mr. Fool for saving her.
• Alice asked Cattleya to forget what she had just heard.

Klein welcomed Cattleya into the Tarot gathering as the Hermit after she explained how the Hidden Sage pursued members of Moss asceticism. Alice then learned that the Sea God Scepter could answer prayers, stirring memories and doubts about how much her former self differed from her now.

• Cattleya explained that the Hidden Sage overwhelmed members of Moss asceticism with knowledge and could drive them to lose control.
• Klein told Cattleya to call on him if she faced similar danger and asked her to assist his Blessed.
• Klein invited Cattleya to join his regular gathering, and she chose the Hermit as her Tarot Card codename.
• Klein warned Alice to consider other people's feelings before joking, then stopped her from taking the Sea God Scepter below the gray fog.
• Klein suggested Alice use the Sea God Scepter to answer prayers and recover memories, prompting her to wonder whether she had become less considerate of others.

Alice sensed that she needed to go to Bayam and dreamed of a Fat Apothecary searching unsuccessfully for Roy King before buying a die from an elderly grocery-store owner. She woke at dawn, shocked to realize the die was a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact kept in a grocery store.

• Alice told Klein she feared losing her humanity and believed her anchors might have failed, then said she needed to go to Bayam.
• Klein ended their connection, and Alice went back to sleep, dreaming of Bayam.
• Alice watched the Fat Apothecary try for over a month to contact someone, then post a missing-person notice for Roy King.
• The Fat Apothecary bought a ring box from an elderly woman at a grocery store and opened it to reveal an ivory-white die showing a red four.
• Alice woke at dawn and exclaimed that a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact was being kept in a grocery store.

Alice prepared to leave Backlund for Bayam, warned Evelyn about the dangers of the Mysterious World, and discovered that the Goddess had sent Leonard to speak with her. After teasing Leonard through the closed door, she wondered whether everyone was the protagonist of their own story and whether Fate acted as a protagonist’s cheat code.

• Alice read Ian’s letter about selling the diary and planned to deliver more pages and give him money.
• Alice received Evelyn’s concerns about a strange incident and wrote that she would soon leave Backlund, warning her that unusual people and treasures brought danger.
• Alice remembered that she had not delivered the completed Chapter of a Thousand Years manuscript and considered sending it before leaving for Bayam.
• Leonard arrived to relay a message from the Goddess, and Alice guessed that the Goddess was concerned about the trouble she had caused.
• Alice told Leonard that protagonists could rise from their graves, shut the door on him, and mused that Fate’s favor could make someone a protagonist of the era.

At a Tarot Club gathering, Cattleya used her Eyes of Mystery Prying on Alice and was overwhelmed by a vision of light and a flood of information. Cattleya realized she had looked upon a god, while Alice remained puzzled about what Cattleya had seen.

• Outside the door, Leonard wondered whether a former colleague had faked his death and feared learning the truth.
• Alice decided not to visit the Goddess's church before leaving for Bayam and spent the day sorting her manuscripts.
• At the Tarot Club meeting, Audrey greeted the members, and Cattleya studied Alice with her Eyes of Mystery Prying.
• Cattleya saw light around Alice, suffered intense pain, and thought, “Cannot look directly at God!”
• Alice asked what Cattleya had seen, and Cattleya answered that she had seen light.
• Cattleya apologized for using her Eyes of Mystery Prying, and Alice said she had only just learned they could see something unusual on her.