Ruli inhaled again at the thought about leaving for the Tower. Leaving this place, where he'd last seen Envy. Despite the fact that it was to help find his friend, leaving this place felt like turning his back on his foster father. His relief when Kire said she'd leave him here and bring what was necessary for the spell was enough to make him exhale heavily, relieved. 

"What?" Ruli asked about sunstone. It felt as though only seconds had passed, the topic change so sudden, but looking at Daryll and the arrival of supplies told him he'd been lost in thought for a lot longer than he'd originally thought. "Oh. Yeah, I do. Envy would send us now and then while working underground.
"Zeltzin?" He blinked at her. He curled his lip, shaking his head. Clearly he had his own opinion of the woman. 

Slowly, feeling as though he were chained to the earth and the tether strained against his neck, Ruli rose. Even as he approached Daryll and Gavin, he felt guilt strike him for every step. He struggled to focus on Daryll's words, frowning at the entirety of the idea that Solaralai had to separate them in order to kidnap. This weakened, cowardly goddess, if that was even what she really was. 
He glanced over his shoulder into the forest, as if he's see the deity crossing her arms at his blasphemy. 

When Gavin spoke about Envy's restrictions on teaching, Ruli turned back around, feeling strangely disappointed the goddess wasn't there. "Right." He said about the blood magic. He couldn't think straight. Gavin's words about altering the spell to fit Amria's atmosphere both sounded ignorant and smart. But he couldn't decide which. 
Crouching, he rubbed at his brow. "Rab." He said with a sigh. "If you'll allow, we'll only need a drop of blood. You're the best bet we have of finding him, considering you're the only other Kartaian descendant here."
Rab nodded enthusiastically, even if the anxiety in his eyes didn't quite match. 
"Whatever the bitch is trying to hide from me, I don't care about right now. Our focus is Envy. I-"
Daryll's words interrupted his thoughts again; why they'd been separated, each given visions, and why one led them to a woman with psychic powers. Why Zeltzin was pushing for a temple. Why Kire wanted the same stone to be used. He rubbed his face again. "One thing at a time, [i]please[/i]!" He snapped out loud.

Rab glanced uneasily at Gavin, then back at Ruli. With a sigh, Ruli shook his head. "Sorry."

When the tent was set up and they went inside to begin their work, Ruli had them run a few test spells first, especially after finding his wards around the palace had been a lot stronger than he'd intended, originally. Gavin was at least right in that they needed to recalibrate for Amria. Though he was glad Gavin seemed happy to take charge there, as Ruli was too impatient to focus accurately. 
Daryll helped them with dosage, explaining how much of what he used to achieve certain results, and when compared to what they used for the same results in Persis, they worked to sort out an appropriate amount. 

By the time they were finally beginning the tracing spell, the sun had fallen. Ruli tried to see the silver lining in the delay, deciding that it would be better that it was dark when they found Envy. Not bothering with the Kartaian's careful ban on blood magic around Gavin, Ruli pricked Rab's skin with a blade and squeezed a few drops into the bowl. He instructed both Daryll and Gavin to hold onto his wrist, in case the spell were to show them somewhere either recognized. 

But it showed him nothing. 

Nothing but blackness; different than the blackness of the shadows in which he Walked, but ... nothing. 

It didn't work.

Ruli set down the bowl and leaned on the table, staring down at the ingredients they'd used. Recounting. Recalculating. Everything had been done right. Everything pointed to Envy just ... not existing. 

With a desperate roar, he thrust his arm across the table, sending the bowl and its contents flying against the canvas wall of the tent. Rab tensed, sensing easily the failure of their work, his eyes falling to the small wound on his arm.