Alice wakes at the prow of the Neurath with Elspeth and Archimedes. She reports that Magnolia, Theophrastus, and Nick dissolved one by one in the Lethe, while her own body shows Lethe eating away Grimes’s chalkwork. Elspeth reads the fading sigils and condemns Grimes’s cruelty; Alice admits she let him mark her, and recognizes her memories are patchy but sufficient.

Elspeth cooks, apologizes for abandoning them on the shore, and urges Alice to stop justifying Grimes. When Alice breaks down over Peter, Elspeth gently concludes that Peter loved Alice, a truth Alice had not faced. They rest.

On waking, Elspeth confesses she found a Dialetheia—the True Contradiction—by the Lethe, and that the Kripkes were chasing her for it. She explains it only works in Hell, and the way to use it is to offer it at the final court so the Lord of Death must grant a boon. Despite Alice’s suspicion, Elspeth gives her the Dialetheia freely, saying exceptions exist because the gods like to play.

They sail beyond familiar waters as Dis’s glow fades. Discussing Peter’s “pizza anus” model, Elspeth confirms they are in hyperbolic space; the shore loops like a projective plane. A golden braid of light marks the landing.

The Neurath bumps aground. Elspeth asks Alice for a parting kiss, then refuses to accompany her, saying it is not yet her time. The boat slips back into darkness with Archimedes as Alice, clutching the Dialetheia, steps onto King Yama’s domain to seek her boon.