"Oh no, not portals!" Zee laments to the newcomer. "What sort of stuff were they doing? People tend to have some pretty divergent opinions on what would make the world worse."

Like how some people think toilet paper should be hung with the dangly side facing the wall.

Heathens.

[Seeking the Heart]

Zee then points at Alysha.

"She's got it! Long story short, if it's here I haven't noticed it. And I feel like that would be something that's pretty hard to miss!" she replies. "I've been all over the tavern. Even down in the basement where the Quiet Monster used to live before it got slain."

Wait.

The Quiet Monster was slain?

That's...

Probably good news?

Mostly people just don't seem to like chaotic nonsense so much anymore.

"If I had to wager a guess, I would say look somewhere that people don't normally go," Zee muses. "Maybe even somewhere in the City that people avoid. If the Heart were easy to get to, someone probably would have already stolen it and found a way to turn it into a the power source for a giant laser cannon."

[Outside Trog's]

Geneva holds out a wing for Karl to lean on.

She's a very thoughtful hippogriff, as it happens.

"Do you think you can show me exactly where you appeared?" she asks, doing her best to keep the edge of nervous excitement down. She always gets nervouscited over new research opportunities.