You needed to shop around for other airships. If your plan was going to work, a handful of airships might help and you might have enough cogs to convince them.
Rain spilled onto the Bazaar, as if often did, so you covered yourself with the parasol to keep the muck rain from getting on your clothes. It was frustrating just how harsh the acid of the rain could be on your clothes, but at least your boots were made to resist the puddles.
The shop you were looking for was tucked in the far corner of the market, just past the slave trade. You felt the eyes of both slaver and slave on you as you walked by, the former appraising you while the latter looking at you with a mixture of plea and resignation. It reminded you of someone, someone you took from a court mate and set free. It was a terrible thing to live in a cage.
You arrived at the shop, the sign reading Nittman's Aerial Tours. They looked open too, one of their ships docked overhead, so you hoped that someone would be available to talk to. As you approached, however, a swirling black mist filled the door before you. In the mist, a pair of eyes as sharp as a cats and sulfur yellow stared back at you. Then the mouth, a terrible maw covered in some sort of plate, like crab but larger and far stronger. The mouth opened wide and revealed razor-sharp teeth. You stood there stunned for a moment, part of you wanting to run and the other part wanting to strike first in any way you could. It opened its mouth wider and wider as you stood there until it towered over you and its lower jaw rested on the dirty cobbles of the muddy street.
Then a shift, a glow came from within the mouth. The glow expanded into a mirror-like surface, dark, rippling like water. You saw what you thought was the city beyond it, but it looked different. The sky was an angry red and a massive crater sat where the Metal Cup should be. At the edge of that crater was a lonesome figure that you recognized.
"Tavia?" you said aloud.
Curiosity outweighing reason -- you told Sharon to stay away from these portals -- and you stepped through. The world vanished behind you as you emerged from the other side. It was the Bazaar, or at least it once was. Busy stalls filled with various goods and services were now barren skeletons of wood and cloth. Articles of newspaper drifted along an eerily cool breeze. And that sky. That terrible sky.
A nearby Harmonium spotted you, halberd in hand, and approached. Before you could get a word in, the soldier brought its bladed head down on you, but you evaded it with a quick step, drawing your own blades in a flash. You struck back, both of your curved blades finding their target and slipping through the weaknesses of his armor. The Harmonium made a grunt and a gurgle before he doubled over and struck the ground like a dropped sack. A quick look showed you there were other guards around as well, so you masked yourself in shadow.
Tavia wasn't far behind, so you closed the distance and revealed yourself. That made the red-haired elf draw her rapier on you.
"Tavia, it's me," you said, empty hands up and open in a gesture of surrender. It took a moment for the elf to hear you, but she eventually lowered the blade.
The two of you talked briefly, not having much time before more of the Harmonium attacked. You urged Tavia that you needed to leave and the elf didn't exactly argue with you. After traversing the great crater, you came around to find the side entrance to Chirper's, barricaded and unwelcoming. Then there was the Root of Nine warehouse, an unfriendly sign sitting at its front door. Neither seemed like good places to find shelter.
Tavia pointed out a single door that seemed to just be standing in the middle of the street. A portal, possibly. You followed her after having to dispatch another couple of Harmonium. Just why were they attacking you? You weren't given much opportunity to ask in any case.
When the elf opened the door, that same shimmering portal came forward from the threshold and you could see the Metal Cup. Tavia hardly got a word out before you grabbed her arm and pulled her into the portal with you.
Then it all went away. The red sky, the desolation, and that massive crater. You nearly jumped when a Harmonium walked by you, simply nodding his head with a passing greeting. Oh, and it was that rain again. You were definitely back. And you were never going to that place again so long as you could help it.