Alice and Peter down-climb the bone wall, with Peter faring better as the ground draws nearer. They reach a featureless desert and, exhausted and directionless, decide to camp in the wall’s shadow. Night falls utterly dark; they ration Lembas Bread and trade thanks and reassurances that feel more performative than sincere.

Conversation turns to Jacob Grimes. Peter suggests Alice seemed uneasy around him; Alice deflects. Peter then reveals he has won the Cooke Fellowship, triggering Alice’s jealousy and memories of how she’d expected it, then endured evasions from Grimes and the silent disappointment of a never-arriving letter.

Alice retaliates by mentioning last summer’s Italy trip with Grimes—a trip Peter was meant to take. After stiff, petty exchanges, both recognize the futility of feuding in Hell. They apologize, agree to bracket “living-world” problems, and commit to mutual trust. Alice offers space under her hypothermia blanket; they settle awkwardly and sleep, Alice dreamlessly for the first time in months.

In reflection, Alice surveys the academic landscape: alt-ac as coded failure, a shrinking job market, and universities’ gatekeeping of magick. She recalls Dr. Mills’s cautions about Grimes and Olivia Kincaid’s warning that he was a monster. Yet Alice had pursued his favor, believing endurance would win success—and she had nearly made it before everything collapsed.