Chapter Twenty-Eight: Into the City. The Sound of Mourning. Hana. She Who Once Sang. Gold. The Kitchen. The Receiving Chamber. We Must Go Up to Go Down.

Summary

• The group led by Charlie and Princess Leah travel along a path, sheltering under a poncho from the rain, waiting for dawn before continuing their journey.
• Leah discovers a small hidden door covered by ivy. Charlie opens it after reciting a line: "Open in the name of Leah of the Gallien."
• They enter a barn full of old maintenance equipment and traverse through a junkyard, coming to a recognisable terminal. After a morning bell tolls, they continue their journey, eventually venturing into the rain.
• Unsettlingly, they hear a high moaning sound which Charlie identifies as the sound of mourning. Leah leads them towards a palace.
• Leah begins to question Charlie's guidance when he advises they should enter the palace from behind, but he convinces her by mentioning their enemy, the Flight Killer, and how his actions have brought them here.
• Leah leads them through complex city alleys, guided by distant sounds of grieving. The city buildings seem to be shifting subtly, and the party hears phantom voices. Charlie insists these eerie occurrences are due to the haunting influence of their enemy, the Flight Killer.
• The group comes across a pool with the body of a mermaid named Elsa, who Leah used to know. Leah is devastated by Elsa's death. Charlie tells Leah that the Flight Killer is responsible.
• They pass through a vast lobby, noticing a huge treasury filled with piles of gold and gems. They encounter a group of grey men wearing baggy chef outfits. Charlie asks them about Percival (aka 'Pursey'), a member of their group. They say he was taken by night soldiers and is likely dead.
• Leah finds some papers and insists they leave quickly. But Charlie determines that they must first visit a place that he thinks might lead to Percival.

• The characters traverse through a tapestry-draped hallway, arriving at grand double doors decorated with depictions of King Jan and Queen Cova.
• The doors open by Leah's touch, leading to a vast, dark space that is gradually lit by gas-jets which Leah activates.
• The room below the balcony they stand on is a circular space, possibly once grand, with two thrones at its centre. It is now filthy and foul-smelling, strewn with rotted food, excrement, and dried blood. Two headless bodies lie under a chandelier from which two more bodies hang.
• Leah reveals via a written note that this was once her parents' reception hall. The hanging bodies include her father's chancellor. The culprits, after killing the former occupants, defaced the place.
• Leah guides the group past the defiled thrones, through another grand set of doors leading to a room grander than the nave of the Notre Dame cathedral, with echoing voices and three towering spires.
• The group, on Leah's instruction, crank a large wheel connected to a silver cable rising from a golden platform at the base of the central spire. Despite their collective efforts, the platform doesn't budge.
• When questioned about their purpose and the necessity of their efforts, Leah communicates through writing that they need to ascend first, in order to descend.