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For months now, a disgruntled reader of Lex's column has been sending in editorials, voicing strong objections to the
women of the Phoenix House. One evening, Adriana walks into the office to find Aden and Tranns hard at work. The
three of them make small talk until Casey and Lucien burst in, lugging a package addressed to "the men of the Phoenix House"
and bickering about it, as Lucien wants to open it and Casey thinks the admirals should see it first. Aden settles the
matter by letting Lucien open the package with its Beigoran postage. Lucien removes a small copper box. Quinn
suddenly darts out of the shadows, shouting at him not to open it, but he is too late and all six of them are consumed by
a swirling vortex.
Lucien wakes to find himself in a caravan. Tranns, with long hair and wearing a dress, is baking cookies for three
young children, including a girl who looks like an older version of Star. He learns that this is his family and that
they haven't been in Shaldani for years. Tranns fawns over him, bowing to his every will. It appears to be the
perfect life that Lucien has always dreamed of, but somehow, things just don't seem right to him. Tranns is dull and
ordinary, lacking the feisty spark that first caused him to be attracted to her. The strain wears on him and, remembering
the red vortex, Lucien resolves to try and find an explanation from Aden.
In a strange energy burst, Lucien and Tranns are whisked away from their happy home. They find themselves in a
beautiful mansion in the middle of Beigor. Tranns has reverted to her old self, but retained her memories of the caravan.
The mansion belongs to Aden and Adriana. Aden seems to have kept his wits about him, remembering the office and the
vortex, but Adriana has been completely transformed into a figure that would be Aden's ideal wife. The group, minus
Adriana, theorize that the vortex somehow creates a world that is absolutely the perfect vision of a man's fantasy.
The women, when they get dragged into the world, are totally subject to the wills of the men until the men willingly give
up on the fantasies.
Adriana cheerfully serves tea. When Aden overrides Tranns' sugary order, Tranns points out that none of the food
in the place is real anyway and that she's famished. Surprisingly, both Aden and Lucien are quite sated with the food.
They surmise that the strange fantasy realm is slowly killing the women through starvation while the men are being spared.
They suspect that the bitter man writing editorials against the Phoenix Women is responsible. Eager to get the women
out before they're hurt further, the foursome set off to find Quinn and Casey, Adriana returning to normal.
The group comes upon Quinn in his fantastic idea of Niflheim. There, he is king of the Niflheim, with Casey as
his queen. Unlike Aden and Lucien, he is completely content with his fantasy world and has no desire to leave it, nor
any desire to let go of his idealized version of Casey. The other four gang up on him, however, making it clear that
if he keeps Casey in this strange world, she will die. Quinn relents and the whole group wish themselves out of the
world where the women all return to normal, all three slightly disturbed by their counterparts' ideals about them.
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