Two Down, One to Go

The full design took another two weeks to properly finalize, complete blueprints, structural calculations for every drop and corkscrew, Marek's careful stress analysis on every joint and turn, the whole sprawling, three-realm concept rendered into something genuinely presentable, a handful of mechanical details, the lift mechanism chief among them, still deliberately left open for later refinement.

Arista returned to the Celestial Realm with the finished plans, bowing properly once more as she laid them out before Michael.

He studied the full blueprint for a long, silent while, six wings shifting slowly, countless eyes tracing every drop, every loop, every careful junction between realms.

"...The engineering is sound," he said finally. "More sound, admittedly, than I expected given the sheer audacity of the concept itself."

"I don't build things carelessly," Arista said. "Even the ambitious ones."

"So I've observed." He considered the design a while longer, the smaller wings around his head folding and unfolding in slow, thoughtful rhythm. "I will grant passage. On one condition."

Arista straightened, genuinely curious. "...What condition?"

"I wish to be the first passenger."

Arista blinked, entirely thrown by the request. "...You want to ride it yourself. First."

"I do." Something almost playful threaded through the layered, harmonic voice, entirely unexpected from a being she'd assumed, until this exact moment, existed purely on a plane of solemn, unshakable dignity. "If I am to permit a structure connecting my realm to the depths below, I would like to experience it myself, before granting any other soul the privilege."

Arista sat with that, delighted despite herself. "...That's genuinely fair. More than fair, honestly. I wasn't expecting a Seraphim to want the first ride on an eighty-nine-degree drop."

"I have existed a very long while, Strawberry," Michael said, wings settling into something that might have been amusement. "Very little remains genuinely new to me. This—" he gestured at the blueprint, at the loops and corkscrews spanning three entire realms, "—is new. I find I am curious."

"...I'll build it properly, then," Arista said, grinning now, genuinely charmed by the unexpected condition. "Make sure it's ready for exactly that."

"See that you do," Michael said, folding the blueprint closed with careful, deliberate hands. "I do not often grant permission so readily, Strawberry. Do not make me regret the exception."

"I won't," Arista promised, bowing once more before turning to leave, already grinning at the sheer, delightful absurdity of what she'd just agreed to.

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An actual Seraphim, six wings and countless eyes, waiting eagerly to be the very first rider on a roller coaster spanning Heaven, earth, and Hell.

The Dwarven Republic's council chamber felt considerably more familiar territory by comparison, Gorthruk himself reviewing the blueprint with the same careful, exacting eye he brought to every structural proposal she'd ever put in front of him.

"...Loops," he said, tracing one section with a thick, calloused finger. "Corkscrews. A drop steep enough to concern me, purely on the numbers alone." He glanced up. "You want to run this through Republic territory."

"I do," Arista confirmed. "Same principle as everything else we've built together. Doesn't touch anything load-bearing, doesn't interfere with existing tunnels or furnace lines. Purely passing through, same as the metro once did."

Gorthruk studied the drop sequence a while longer, something almost approving settling into his expression despite the gruff exterior. "The structural math is sound. I'll grant you that much freely." He set the blueprint down. "Though I confess, I fail to see the actual point of it. No cargo. No practical output. Simply... falling, repeatedly, on purpose."

"That's rather the whole point," Arista said, grinning. "It's not supposed to produce anything. It's supposed to make people feel something."

Gorthruk considered that, something dry threading through his usual gruff composure. "An entire structure, spanning three realms, built purely to make people scream and then immediately ask to do it again." He shook his head slowly. "Your priorities remain as bewildering as ever, Strawberry."

"Is that a yes?"

"That is an approval," Gorthruk said, already stamping the blueprint with the Republic's official seal. "Whether it is also a yes depends entirely on whether you intend to offer the Republic a ride once it's finished."

Arista laughed, genuinely delighted. "...I'll reserve you a seat personally."

"See that you do." Gorthruk paused, something more practical settling into his expression before she could turn to leave. "One additional matter, while you're here. This project sits at the mountain's peak, correct? Beyond the Republic's own territory, up where the Celestial tunnel begins."

"That's right."

"Then the Republic will, presumably, see an influx of outsiders climbing that mountain regularly, seeking this ride of yours. Hundreds of them, potentially, given how these things tend to go once word spreads." He said it flatly, without accusation, simply stating the practical reality. "We gain nothing from that traffic. No benefit to the Republic in strangers wearing a path up our own mountainside purely to reach something built at the top of it."

Arista considered that, genuinely caught off guard. "...Fair point. I hadn't actually thought about the approach itself, only the ride."

"You built a horizontal lift once, to the drowned city. Cable, cart, the whole mechanism." Gorthruk tapped the mountain's profile on her own blueprint. "Could the same principle be turned vertical instead? A proper lift, up the mountain itself, rather than leaving everyone to climb it the hard way."

Arista sat with that, already working through the actual mechanics. "...It would be possible. Though it wouldn't be rails anymore, not at that angle. That'd need to be an actual ski lift, cable running continuously between two terminals, carts hanging from it directly rather than rolling beneath it."

"Then build that instead," Gorthruk said. "The Republic will assist with construction, gladly. Our furnaces have been running continuously this entire time regardless, producing cable of that length is no genuine burden." He paused, something distinctly practical entering his tone. "In exchange, the Republic will collect a small toll on its use. Enough to cover the steam engine's actual running costs, and a modest margin beyond that. Nothing extravagant. Simply a fair return on infrastructure we're providing."

Arista grinned, genuinely delighted by the sheer, practical elegance of it. "...That's more than fair. Cheaper for everyone than climbing, profitable for the Republic, and it saves people days of misery on that mountain." She extended a hand. "Deal."

Gorthruk shook it, satisfied. "Deal."

Two realms secured. One more waiting.