Chapter 54 – Summit amidst the Celestial Fractures

Diane got up slowly. She was still dripping a little from Croix’s drink splashed from before, and she ran a hand through her hair to look more presentable. “You again?” she said, not exactly trusting Hermes, even for how little she’d known him. The countless failed attempts to correct space and time as she wished it to be had taken their toll on her psyche, the innocent girl once given a forge and realm of creation before her now thrown into the deepend far from any happy ending in sight. She grabbed a golden silk rag and wiped the stains from her face, looking at Hermes with not merely suspicion, but perhaps a hint that he might offer her anything but her torment for the many lives she’d lived and failed at this point. “What are you doing here?” she asked the demigod. She didn’t know a lot about Sentrimates, the last time she recalled this individual they were with her in the workshop of the man who’d taught her so much about life. Hermes swept his hands together, then slipped behind her and started steering her forward.

“We’ll get to that in a minute,” he said. “Let’s get you freshened up. People are staring.”

As he pushed her toward the end of the room, a man called out after them, sharp and unimpressed. She ignored his heckling and pushed Hermes out of sight. “Hey. Boys aren’t exactly welcome here.” She said, seeing others look at Hermes as if searching for a collar and leash around his neck.

Hermes didn’t stop. He guided Diane to an ivory arch with a door-shaped space cut clean through it.

“Push through to the other side,” he said.

Diane hesitated, then stepped through. Hermes followed, and with a casual wave of his hand the door-space shrank, pinched shut, and vanished.

Diane looked around.

They were in some kind of leathery lounge. Wires and machines lined the walls, the sort of tech she’d only ever seen in eggs. There were controllers and screens, like video games, and on the shelves sat a few board games left messy with pieces and dice. Hermes tossed her a towel and pointed her to the couch.

“Sit.”

Diane sat, still wet and frowning. “What is this all about, Hermie?” Hermes leaned back like he owned the room. “I’ve been watching you.” Diane’s eyes narrowed. “Watching me.”

“You’ve been running all across space and time, haven’t you?” he said, voice bright with smugness. “Trying to save that little girlfriend of yours. Very cheeky.”

“She’s not,” Diane snapped.

“How do you know that?” she added, then immediately regretted giving him anything to

hold.

Hermes slapped his own face, mockingly. “I just told you. I’ve been watching you. Try to

keep up.”

Diane blinked.

“You’re really good at finding her,” Hermes went on. “Maybe not so good at keeping her.

Holding onto that one.” He clicked his tongue. “But I’ve never seen anyone search as hard as you have. Trying over and over, even with all those silly little failures of yours.”

His smile sharpened, the Sentrimate looking like a wild shark that just caught its prey. “It’s almost admirable,” he said, “like a lost puppy chasing its tail. You just keep failing

over and over and over, won’t you?”

Diane’s fingers curled around the towel. “Is this what you decided your purpose is?” she asked, a little too calm. “To stand here and gloat?”

“I’m doing what I think is right,” Diane added. “Is that so wrong?”

Hermes chuckled. “And you screwed up again this time. How annoying, right?” He tilted his head. “Don’t think you’ll get another chance like that. At least that’s what the Star Lady said, didn’t she?”

Diane’s face flashed hot. She started to stand. “I’m done here.”

Before she could rise fully, Hermes set a hand on her knee. Not hard. Not gentle. Just

certain.

“Stay,” he said. “Hear my proposal.”

Diane stared at his hand for a beat, then back up at his face. “..I’m listening,” she said.

Hermes’ grin returned, smoother now. “What if I told you there was a way to get what

you want,” he said, “to get everything you want, forever. Always. From the silence to the skies.” Diane raised a brow, suspicious of the phrasing. “What do you mean, ‘get what I want’?”

Hermes made a rude little raspberry sound, like he was dismissing the obvious. “Get your girl. Get your own island. Hell, your own planet. Love in paradise. Whatever it is you want.” His eyes glittered. “I’m not sure I can provide it. But if you help me out, I might know a way that you can.”

Diane’s stare didn’t soften.

Hermes leaned forward and, with infuriating familiarity, gave her cheek a quick squeeze. “So. Help me.”

Diane swatted his hand away. “Look, punk. Did your mama ever teach you any manners?” She pointed at him with the towel. “If you want something, you’ve got to be more specific than that. There’s no way I’m taking some task on vague promises.”

Hermes’ smile thinned. “Very well,” he said.

He reached into his pocket and took out a small stone. It almost looked like crystal, except it was a faded gray shade. When Diane focused on it, she saw an odd black squiggly line, like her eyes couldn’t quite decide what they were looking at.

“This,” Hermes said, “is called a Godshard. Though it’s not exactly in its most godly, pristine condition at the moment. It was broken off from a powerful being known as Red Nebula, whom I defeated personally and was split into tiny rocks throughout the galaxy, across countless eras!”

Diane didn’t reach for it. “And?”

“If you have it,” Hermes said, turning it so the line caught the light wrong, “you can create something that can give yourself what you want. Whatever it is.”

Diane’s foot tapped against the floor. Doubt nagged at the back of her skull like a voice she didn’t invite in.

“I want you to collect all the pieces for me,” Hermes added. “I would myself, but I definitely don’t have the patience for all this.” He tucked the shard away again, like it was nothing. “When it’s whole, its power can do something you’ve never even dreamed of doing.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Diane muttered.

“All right then,” Hermes said, too pleased by her hesitation. “Why don’t I sweeten the

deal?”

He reached behind him and produced a white egg, smooth and uncracked, the same kind

Nebula had carried.

Diane’s eyes flicked to it. “That’s..”

“Yes,” Hermes said. “I’ll give you this in advance.”

Diane didn’t take it yet. “What’s the catch?”

“You go to another timeline where these were splintered,” Hermes said. “If you use this to go back in time, you should be able to find Thatti. Right?”

Diane’s throat tightened at the name.

Hermes continued, brisk as a salesman. “In return, you travel across space and time and collect every single piece for me.”

He produced something else: a watery sphere, like a bubble, shining and reflective as he rolled it in his palm.

“An orb,” Hermes said. “This will ripple and glow when you get closer to one. All you have to do is find a shard and put it inside the bubble. It’ll instantly be teleported to me.”

Diane’s eyes narrowed. “Convenient.”

“Efficient,” Hermes corrected. “Then you can use the egg to hop again through space-time.” He angled his head at her. “Your ability can do that, right?”

“Only for a short while,” Diane said, voice tight.

“As long as you have this egg to recharge,” Hermes replied, sliding it toward her on the couch cushion, “you can keep hunting for these shards for as long as it takes.”

He’s lying, she thought, but didn’t voice the suspicion.

“And,” Hermes said, his grin all but splitting his face in two, “if you don’t want to look for me anymore..” He pulled the egg back. “This is mine. I get to keep it. You can go back to your fancy little party crying over her while being trapped in this timeline, and accept Thatti-Watti will be in the arms of that woman instead of you. And that will be that.”

Diane looked away, the urge to wring his neck strong. “Do you agree?” Hermes asked. “We have a deal?” She scowled.

Hermes’ eyes narrowed. “Well?”

Diane’s voice came out low, bitter. “Give me the egg.”

He handed it to her. She took a reflection at its porcelain surface, as unmarred as the day White Nebula showed her it when the Domina's forces were cracking down on their base, an event that felt both so long ago and yet so near and fresh in her mind. When she held it up, her own determination shone through it once more, reflected in her own eyes like a beacon of tomorrow's promise. Her quest, Diane decided, was not over just yet.

“How will I find the shards?” She continued.

He handed her the other orb next. “The bubble will serve as an oracle aswell. Just look into it, zoom in and out, galaxy, star system, planet, wherever you want, it'll show you the nearest shard. There's one within range now if you'd like to see it for yourself.”

Her gaze snapped back to the orb. She zoomed in and out, watching the spherical planet shrink and expand, the orb rotating as if it was spinning on its axis. Her pulse rose as the planet turned sideways and tilted just a bit, making her feel queasy. The planet zoomed back to fill the whole sphere until she could see a patch of ground. Diane held her breath, watching. On a single flowerbed, lay the same grey shard with strange markings. She let the orb float in space, and the planet withered from the orbit as it zoomed out again, as if it was sucked back into the void.

As Diane took the orb in her hand, she felt like she was looking at a mirror. She held the orb, and it mirrored her face, while Hermes handed her the nullified godshard, its inscriptions lit up by the orb and projecting a few lines of text across Diane's cheek.

“Let's go then.” The gem took out her spear, clinked the egg and supercharged its temporal power once more. Hermes held the far end of the spear and said “Allow me.” Guiding it in the right direction as Diane prepared to stab it forward across space-time. The wound in the fabric of reality rippled, and the ripple grew to encompass them both through an eerie tunnel of light. They traversed from one end to the next and passed by the light's embrace, walking out the other end into a mound of garbage.

A Lot, she recognized that she was back in Xi.

She said, voice firm. “So... You've brought me to the right timeline, right?”

“Correct.” Hermes flew up confidently. “This world's Thatti, and everyone else you knew will be different, unknown and new to you. Time to play hunt and collect.”

He made a snap gesture with his fingers. “Oh, by the way. The egg only recharges so much at a time. Use the orb to see which shard is near and then collect it and place it inside the orb to bring it back to me. You won't be able to use the egg everyday or anything like that if you're traveling decades or centuries apart, so take your time looking for those stones.”

Diane's eyes lit with uneasiness. She looked at Hermes, her curiosity was getting the better of her. Hermes, noticing her question, chuckled and began walking off. “Just leave me alone and see what the future holds. It's a great adventure after all, right?” He smirked and flew towards the horizon, giving her time to mull over her options.

The egg in her hand, Diane was ready to collect the first godshard. Her great search began immediately.

She combed through the lot, every single tower, every stockpile, every cargo container she could find throughout the wasteland. Over the next six months she inched closer and closer beneath the rusty sky of the Scott-Forsaken world. Occasionally she ran into scavengers, but never the friendly types, only those looking to keep what they could take and take what they could keep.

Her oracle served as a compass, rippling and glowing more intensely the nearer she got. From what she could figure, the shard was deep, deep underneath, at least a mile of garbage from centuries past.

Every night she fought only with Thatti, in her mind, the happy ending they would have one day, together, if she could just get there. She ran through mountains of debris across this world, like a monument to an era long past. After six long months, she finally managed it. Using extensive electronic tools she’d found and cobbled together in the wasteland, she carved a massive valley into the planet, large enough to peel the waste away and reach her object at the very bottom. Diane’s wings came out, and she fluttered down, holding the sphere as it radiated like a sun in her hands. She reached the floor of the valley she’d made and plucked the shard she’d sought.

Her leg shook. Her breathing shuddered.

Only the first of many. But her first step was still a start nonetheless. She slipped it into the sphere. With a quick ripple, it vanished inside, presumably sent to Hermes. Then she steadied herself. Time to look for the next. And then the next. And many, many, many nexts after that.

The second shard was lodged in a meteor belt. She merely needed to acquire the right spacecraft, and it was comparatively easier to recover. From the meteor she found it on, embedded in a small hillside, she looked up and saw the vastness of space glare back at her, a great dark void threatening to swallow everything in its maw. Pale, subtle rocks, like motes of snow, lined up in belts across the sky, twinkling just for her.

She gripped the sphere and jumped again through time.

 

 

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Present

 

 

The headquarters Rebecca stepped out into was a verifiable fortress. There were high fences, double fences, and even more fences. She wondered why such a thing was necessary here. The slight roar of the vesselship that Croix had brought her here in was already heading to the docks for confinement. Over the last week she'd had an engaging series of talks with the

woman filling her in on the situation in XU- that her sister had taken the reins in place of the previous Xistress and needed to be taken down a peg. There were many things she'd seen on the trip that she thought she'd understood, but her view of the galaxy, like many of her other notions and beliefs, was getting turned upside down. Rebecca's head was turning over a lot of things, but she was also looking forward to the chance to meet up with her old friends, whom Croix had said would all be invited to the so-called 'Summit amidst the celestial fractures', a galactic meeting to recruit for the mobilization of the Insurgents, in preparation for the onslaught of the war to come.

It had been a very long flight and she'd only had her mind occupied by trying to understand the situation of the galaxy around her. She'd also had plenty of time to sit in her mind and wonder about her family and the fates of those she had grown close to. What ever happened to Astrid? Where did Nine go? Where was Jack, or Megumi? Or was she even still alive? She wanted to know what the Insurgents really wanted, because they'd left her pretty much in the dark to her own surprise.

It was all very convoluted. Even the Insurgent's own organization was a maze of convoluted names and strange titles that she didn't really understand. The most important things she'd learned so far, were things like the fact that their headquarters had just finished being moved to this planet, with 39 other bases carrying separate fleets and recruitment drives on the same day as the Summit, if at different corners of the galaxy. This planet had the largest fleet and gathering, they were anticipating millions across the city-like structure. Every single facility was wide enough to be a stadium onto itself, housing living storage, food supplies, factories and mainly massive weapons depots and technological equipment for an impending incursion. Up in the sky, rotating radio towers scoured the skies for signs of XU detection, while towers built like obelisks shielded the planet from attacks and cloaked its electrical and geothermal-powered activity.

Rebecca wasn't the kind of girl to let herself be impressed by numbers, however, and in all fairness, none of the insurgent factions were. With the hubris of these types, it was merely a matter of doing more, not doing better. That was in its pitiable simplicity nature of the universe they existed in.

What really frustrated Rebecca was the usage of her reputation during her time away. She had learned, that under Croix's auspice Diane impersonated her and made her the face of the Insurgents, with numerous terrorist attacks being pulled off under her name as a rallying cry. She had learned that her reputation was used to recruit and sway the hearts of the weak, without her consent. The idea bothered her to no end.

Entering out one of the massive halls, she stood in an ornate garden she thought was supposed to be very impressive, the whole thing was built off of the idea of grandeur per Croix's taste. There were high industrial beams, ramps and a platform high above with a stage on it that reminded her of a Starcourt concert. She herself was unimpressed. She'd come to recognize the

need for the sort of grandeur the insurgents put on, and it was something she could respect. It made perfect sense why they did the things they did, but that didn't make her agreeable to them doing it. In fact, it only highlighted how she didn't fit in with their way of thinking. She'd hoped Croix would have some time to sit down and talk to her and explain to her more about their position.

The only thing she did know for sure was that she needed to be on board with something. That's why she was here now. So she would take a seat on the high platform in the center of the place, a seat fit for a God or a leader of a great nation. It had a big ass chair, the kind you might sit in while watching your favorite show, or to give a speech to the entire city. Entering out the other end and casting a single shadow along the stark industrial lights of the underground, was a face she hadn't seen in nearly a decade save for the brief encounter a few weeks ago.

Diane.

“YOU!” Rebecca shouted. Her voice echoed, before fading into the steely halls. Diane, down on the ground floor looked up on high at the platform Rebecca was sitting at.

For a heartbeat, nobody moved. The gem girled looked abit worn. Not monstrous. Not disguised. Just different, like someone had taken the version of Diane Rebecca knew and dragged it through a decade of grinding gears. Older around the eyes, a tougher posture, a gaze back at Rebecca that held nothing but an open-mouthed gasp.

“Rebecca,” Diane said.

“Do not ‘Rebecca’ me,” Rebecca said, voice shaking. “Not after what you did. Stealing my goddamn vibe.”

Diane’s grumbled, a small movement like she was grinding something bitter. “I know.

Look I-”

“Do you know what it's like, to come back after almost 10 years and see your face on wanted posters? Worse, recruitment ads? I don't remember agreeing to join your little rebellion. I walked into a hangar and watched teenagers chant my name as they spraypainted over a mural of Ursula for their own propaganda. She pointed a finger at Diane. “You did that.” She crossed her legs, leaning back on the chair. “And you did a damn sloppy job at that.”

Diane’s eyes flicked over to the huge posters with Rebecca's face on it along the metallic walls, then back to Rebecca. Rebecca’s hands curled into fists at her sides. She could feel the old instincts coming back: the urge to strike first, to make the world simple by making someone else bleed.

“Yeah well, what the hell have you been doing over the past 10 years? Tanning in prison? Out on the lam, out of sight out of mine? Doesn't seem like you were using your reputation.” She

huffed. “I did what was asked of me. You ran off. What the hell have you been doing over the past 10 years?”

The other woman's lip curled in an ugly sneer. “I did not run off. I merely, declined to make myself present. I don't care to play soldier or be part of your little war- There's a difference.” She forced the words out through her teeth. “Why?”

Diane looked away, just for a second, as if someone were listening in, then turned back to Rebecca. “Croix-” Diane said.

“Don’t put this on her.” Rebecca replied. She started flapping her hand like it was a sock puppet in mockery. “Croix with her endless calm. Croix with her grand talk of “summits” and “fractures” and “mobilization”, like I give a damn about any of that. You think that excuses what you did to me? Because it does not.”

The gem of pride rolled her eyes. “Croix didn’t want you wandering back into the galaxy as an unknown variable. She wanted you to return into a narrative already shaped around you.

Already owned.”

Rebecca stared at her. “Already owned, excuse me? Who owns me now?”

“A part of the insurgent movement you're already well familiar with.” Diane folded her arms across her chest. “With the Xistress currently, disposed the Insurgents needed a symbol. A bout of patriotism, a face who could rally our cause together and inspire a galaxy to rise up.”

“Don’t fucking patronize me. You want me to believe that?” Rebecca said, standing from her chair. “Fuck you.”

“I told you the truth,” Diane shouted after her. “Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into?”

Rebecca reached the door. “It's a fight against XU, and I've come to realize that my fight against them coincides with my fight against Orchid and David, and maybe that can be had alongside you. But putting my put up David's ass- That’s all that matters to me.” She stuck her middle finger out. “I have no allegiance to your rebellion and that’s that.”

“Are you prepared to go up against an Domina of Orchid, in single combat?” Diane asked, her voice quiet. “You think that you can handle that?”

“I've got some new tricks up my sleeve.” Rebecca said, her fist out. “So if you're telling me that the fight against XU also comes with a fight against Orchid, I might be inclined to listen.. By the way, what happened to the remaining Godshards?”

Her legs twisting as if in knots, Diane shrugged. “Some are still at large. We found most of them- the problem is, the Flora Church and David got to a rather huge swath aswell. White

and I discussed it, we weren't sure whether we could revive Thatti with what we had gathered. We're working on it. We need you for this.”

“Oh, you need me for this. Well that's goddamn great.” She said. “You know I don’t have an interest in following what you want to do if you cannot bring her back.”

Diane sighed. “No. I suppose not.”

Rebecca got up from the chair atop the high platform.

“I’ll talk to you when I get back, after a bite and a nap. But the rest of you- well fuck you all.” She stomped away into the halls, into the darkness, leaving Diane behind.

 

 

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The result of her jump took her to the far edges of the Exe-Exi, then onto a distant planet covered in sands that reminded her of where she came from: AU.

She was confronted by what looked like a dozen battalions approaching the skyline, pyramid-shaped ships blasting across the landscape. Diane took cover, stunned by the impossible sight. She hadn’t had much experience with Illuminary forces, but she recognized them when she saw them. She ducked into a destroyed bunker and peered out through a narrow gap in the wreckage. The forces were fighting something, or someone, but she couldn’t tell what. Across the horizon, the battlefield sounded like a great monotone screech. The gem could see both Luminary pyramid ships and Xi High-fleet, or something scrapped and similar enough to it dogfighting high above, several ships attempting to bombard the target below. She looked over, but couldn’t discern who was who between the scrappy remains of the two opposing forces.

Diane scanned the landscape and spotted a spaceship, its metal a deep blue. She flew up to it, its insides gutted and rusted. From there her vision focused on the words printed on the side of its massive haul. 'Paramor Frontia United.' She could make it out just a few moments before one of the pyramid ships shot a gatling cannon through the ship, massive shrapnel the size of boulders ripping it into pieces and tossing it several miles apart in a flaming crash. The shredded parts bounced across the horizon, littering the planet with shards of alien metal that piled below.

She clenched her teeth, holding her ground and focusing.

Diane flew back down to the epicenter of where all the ships were firing and took a look.

Her eyes went wide.

“Zack?” She said, and a deep stab of fear.

Her eyes met Zack’s. Like the last time they met, her eyes flashed with a hint of anger, betrayal, but the Zack she knew then they was gone, replaced by something gentle and open. Zack’s eyes blinked, surprised. “Visitation number.” He said, aiming his hand at a Set pyramid ship and clenching his fist- the power of gravity crunching it dozens of miles away like a tincan

“W-what? You’re… Not even from this era?” Diane blurted. She stared at him. “How-

?..how-”

“I said, Visitation number. Affirm, Diane.” He repeated, creating a massive miasma-like wall of sand that sucked several glassed meteors in its wake, crushing them and spitting them back upwards at the armada where the crashed against several ships. Diane blinked.

Diane took a few moments to comprehend what she was hearing. She stared, in awe. “Zack? I'm, or you're not- you're not from this timeline? Or are you? How do you know who I am?”

“Do you know your visitation number or not.” He asked. “I have no idea what that means.” She replied.

“Then for you.. this is encounter uno. Your virgin voyage, through space-time.” He said.

“What do you mean-” She started to say, but thought better. It seemed obvious in retrospect.

“So you've me before then. Already, as I've traveled through the timeline.”

She realized, if she was traveling throughout the stars she'd inevitably encounter this man in the long span of time she had to search.

“During your journey.. through the stars, you'll run into me from every era. I'll be a recurring acquaintance. I'll probably be one of the only people who'll travel with you throughout your travels.”

He smirked. “Welcome aboard..”

Diane turned to the horizon. “The Luminaries are under attack from an alien force? Are they, Xi'an?”

“In a sense.” Zack replied. “Paramor Frontia United. They've been under attack from Set pyramid command for ages now.”

Diane didn’t respond. The name didn’t ring a bell. “Frontia? What?” “Old crew fighting the good fight. They instigated the Xi'an civil war.

The Set capital warship's started charging a cannon from its point, turning the dark skies into a monsoon of devastation. The atmosphere lit bright yellow as the cannon burst into a

massive beam of golden light, and it erupted the PFU forces like a fusion bomb. Diane turned away, covering her eyes from the brightness. When she uncovered her face, her pupils burned from the light. The last of PFU's ships above had been completely annihilated.

“..Diane?” She said, her voice faint. “I need you to leave. Now.” “Where to?” She asked.

“Get off this planet.” He said. “I'm going to go all out. Set don't play around.”

“You're not going to win this fight are you?” She asked. “There are hundreds of ships up there, how can you-”

“Yes.” Zack said. “Yes, I am. And you should leave now before you get caught in the middle of this mess. I won't be able to protect you if I'm not. Now get lost, we can kiss and makeup later.” He licked his thumb and then rubbed a smudge of oily stain from her cheek, which she'd acquired in the filth of the Lots.

“R-right.” Diane took her spear and created a portal far out into space, watching the planet from afar. She couldn't see detail on the surface, but saw massive explosions just like the golden beam that had wiped out that PFU fleet's go off as massive blooms across the planet.

She turned her head around, the glittering starscape glared back at her in the void. Then she turned back to the planet, smoke rising in high plumes over the upper atmosphere.

The smoke all at once, became like a storm or vortex, suctioning all at once around a single point. She could see the dots that were the Set fleet begin to move around, following the line of the vortex, as if they were tiny sailboats caught in a sink drain. At the center was a a massive black hole, Diane watched as the ships moved through the pattern, almost dancing and following a celestial ballet until they sung their swansong and sunk into the swirling plumes and disappeared. After a few minutes, the cloud traveled over the planet causing a smoky winter and went still as death.

Diane stabbed through spacetime and went back through to the surface, seeing Zack return. The grim red reaper of death stood sturdy as the storm raged overhead, ships crashed all around him in flaming debris and piles of smog. Ash started to rain from above. “Let's head to a nearby space port, we can talk there.”

“I, have to get the-”

“The shard I know.” He replied. “Sorry about the fireworks. This world will be smoky for a few decades, better come back with good equipment.” He held her hand. “Trust me.”

She hesitated, then took his hand. The spaceport was only a few hours away. They hopped, reaching it almost instantly, Diane feeling like her spear cut through the fabric of time as if it was a hot knife through butter. They stepped inside the empty spaceport, the only signs of

life being the occasional dust motes. In the eerie silence, Zack went towards a series of crates where rations were held and cracked open some strange white bar, tossing it to her. Diane took a crunchy bite.

“So, we've met before here? How many times?” She said, sitting on a nearby metal crate. “That was for you to keep track of. I told you, it's your job. Not mine.” Zack said. He

tossed another bar into his own mouth. “The more time passes, the more you'll meet me.” He said. “But I can't give you many details. You can't know. Your future self and all that.”

She nodded. “Alright.”

Diane looked down, she was sitting on a large crate. Intricate metalwork and symbols decorated its surface. She ran her fingers along it. “But, what about when I'm not looking for a shard? What about when I'm just- just having fun, having a good time, enjoying my life?”

“That's up to you.” He replied. “But you won't do that.” He said, steely confident. “You're like me. You cannot rest or slow down.”

Diane resented that accusation. “Hermes told me the egg has to recharge now and then, when it does- I'll be stuck for a little bit.” She looked at the egg as she took it out. “I could probably use it to skip ahead in the future, and grab the shard when that planet recovers. That way I won't have to wait.”

Zack looked at her as she spoke. “The future. Hmm. You've been to the future before?” He asked.

She thought of it. The party back on earth, the Domina's reign, it's all been long overthrown by the time of this visitation. It seemed like an eternity ago. “The future is just-something I'm not sure of. I don't know what it holds, or what's there.” She didn't know whether to tell Zack about Luz's future invitation or not. Whether she could change fate by telling him, or if she knew the right thing to do. She knew her duties, everything beyond that felt out of her hands.

Two weeks later, Diane returned encased in a thick yellow gasmask and rubber hazmat suit. She dug and shifted through the mounds of dust and ash across what was once a pristine lake, before the smoky winter rained the skies and ash blanketed the planet. She scooped out a few piles of rubble with her spear, creating a small opening.

The gem dug further and found the shard inside, half covered by a mound of stone and rubble. She placed it inside the orb and felt it sucked into the void, and was rewarded by a ripple of energy that filled her body. “What do you call that?” Diane asked, motioning at Zack's black suit that didn't seem to be affected by the smog or dust. “I felt it the first time I picked up one of these shards too.”

Zack shrugged.

Diane took her egg and spear, returned to the surface where they first met, taking a deep breath and hopping forward in space-time.

The next visitation was on a planet called 'Miwa' that looked like a massive red sand dune spanning thousands of miles across, but Diane's vision of the world was blocked by an immense wall of ice, from gigantic sentient mound-like creatures with a trio of curved horns and thick, chitinous plates adorning their ice-like exoskeleton and cyan layer of fur. Several dozen of the creatures roamed as a pack. She followed these gigantic frost travelers for days, until they lead her to the underground of the dunes in cavernous expanses. Deep within, dozens of the creatures rotated in a single circle around a shard as if they were forming a mandala. The eerie movements and circling reminded Diane of centers of worship she'd witnessed in Orchid, and she wondered if they'd form some type of religious feeling over the shard. Carefully sneaking over, she picked up the shard, and every other big frosty stopped in shock.

She ran screaming for her life out the cage as the pack chased her from behind, desperately taking her spear back out and stabbing her way backwards in time.

 

 

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A bar table pulled here, a few shelves and kiosks for weapons and training there. Diane begins as if directing a play, telling the staff of the Insurgency's architectural and organizational team how to arrange the summit. She attends to it in both practical and leisurely terms- the desks where her and others will be sitting, recruiting for the masses. And the loud speakers, music equipment, strobe lights, food and alcohol. She gives the staff a look as they begin to set up, a simple look of satisfaction. The place looks less like a military centre and more of a nightclub in some aspects, though she leaves it at that for the time being. It's going to be like this for the entire summit, after all. Rowdy faces, renegades and scoundrels. A festival of revolution. Croix gave her permission to setup the recruitment drive in whatever way she chose. She has a knack for finding people who fit the mould, and even if the ones who come in are just after a taste of it, a few get recruited, and it never hurts to have an army of fanatics. The more fanatics the better. All people needed was some holy book or a few brave words from its texts and all the world was at her fingertips.

Lapis, the other leader of this motley crew, the other half of the pair, has been watching her from the doorway. And she's been aiding the effort to get it ready. She walks into the empty room and stands beside Diane, looking at what's happening. Her methods of dealing with people and finding recruits was what she was best at. And the best at anything made her useful. She'd been dealing with the rebellion over on the side of Orchid, organizing against the Holy Church and the Domina's forces everywhere they went. And it was a messy affair, bloody, a war. This-this was a breeze compared to the chaos on the other side of the pond.

She reaches over to Diane and touches her arm. “Well, this is it. Your party.” She says, her voice full of confidence and pride. “I'm expecting some friends.” She says, knowing that her mother and her mother's followers weren't quite as subtle as she was in achieving her aims. Not that she'd ever talk about that. Diane shot her a look, she was never happy about sharing this responsibility. Lapis always struck her as a bit of a loose canon, someone helping their cause for ulterior motives. “There's so many people who will want to join us.” Lapis says, smiling. “You're gonna draw them in. What with those, pranks you've been doing lately.”

“Tch.” Diane said, eyeing her with a sordid stink. “I've been careful. That was for the press. The press isn't here. Shutup about that.” She said, walking towards the podium and checking that the sound equipment was checked. Lapis looked around the room, eyeing Rebecca's big banners hanging from the walls. “And her?” Lapis asked, her tone suddenly changed. “What do you mean about her?” Diane asked. She was getting sick of this girl undermining her.

“She just for the cameras too? Are you making some fool out of her?” She wondered, a look of distaste all over her face.

“Yes. We're playing a game of political theatre.” Diane said, her own tone growing hard, defensive. “Other than that, she'll play no part in this movement.”

“No part huh?” A voice said from the corner, revealing Rebecca holding a beer in the corner by the waterfountain, which now had two steel ramps overtop it. “Yeah no shit I mean, what makes me so invaluable?” She asked, taking a sip from her beer as she looked at her posters on every wall. “Cannot imagine that girl can be important, given her face is nailed up. Which is just aswell, since I want no part in all this.”

Diane stopped examining a few speakers to glare at the star of the hour. “Look, you're getting in the way.” Diane said, raising her voice, turning towards her. “You're an ineffectual figure. A child trying to be the centre of attention. And you think you can get involved in this? I mean, what? We need you for what?”

“That's a damn good question. One I'd love to know the answer to.” Rebecca stretched her fingers around the water fountain. “What makes you so entitled? What right have you got to say I'm ineffectual? Are you a God?”

“If you're not here to help, you're here to get in the way! What exactly are you doing here!?” Diane screamed.

“Because I don't see you trying to help either!” Rebecca retorted, throwing her hands up. “So oh, no, Diane, I don't think you're helping. I think you're trying to turn it into some glorified orgy. Doesn't look like a parlor for a fighting force, does it?”

“Tch. I know what I'm doing. That's why I'm the boss. And you think you can do better?” Diane said, turning towards Rebecca. The girl ignored that question, turning to Lapis. “Say, Lappy. What are you doing in the midst of all this? I thought you were in Orchid's camp?”

“I am. But XU is allied with the Domina, so XU politics are Orchid politics. So by extension, I'm an Xi rebel now.” Lapis said, smiling. “And this is all part of the movement, a way to undermine XU's presence, to spread rebellion wherever we can, to get to Orchid through the backdoor. You wanna catch my drift?”

Diane didn't like this. She didn't like this one bit. That was her territory. Hers to play with. Having Lapis here was already pushing things, but Zack and Croix were clear that she had to play nice. Why they favored that, Orchid girl she didn't know. “The hells, Lappy. Don't encourage her. She can't handle rebellion.” She said, looking between the pair of them. Rebecca took a sip of her beer as Lapis smiled back. “Yeah.” She said. “It's just a rebellion, really. I'm just the glorified mascot. Diane's doing everything here. So keep doing it.” She kicked her legs back “I won't get in the way, I'll just watch from the sidelines. Let her have her little fun. I won't complain if you wanna shit the bed and everything here fails miserably.”

Diane stared angrily, then got back to working and directing staff. “This is recruitment.

Behave.”

Rebecca waved a hand. “Sure. Recruitment. With cocktails.”

Suddenly two figures leapt by from banner to banner, scratching Rebecca's face atop the posters. They slid down, than bounced in front of her and stood present. “Pipo? Jayce! You two made it!” Rebecca announced, the two cats purring happily. Diane was caught offguard by the two Set suddenly appearing. Their paws made soft, rubberless taps on the metal ramp over the waterfountain. Two silhouettes under the floodlights. Two tails. Two sets of eyes that didn’t quite match the room’s mood.

“We escaped right before the plastic boots stormed in and took Mother Hen.” Pipo said, rubbing her tail between Rebecca's legs. Jayce folded his arms. “The galaxy has been un amateur mess since you've been gone, madame.” He said.

“But saw you on the footage and those attacks, so thought we'd come and pay you a visit.” Pipo said, scratching the back of Rebecca's neck. She scratched them back, her eyes closed in happiness. “Maybe this is about me.” She said, her eyes squinting at Lapis and Diane.

“We thought we'd offer a good show for the rebellion. The two of us got the skills for such.” Pipo said, waving his paw and balancing an arc of knives along his arm. The two began leaping back and forth and juggling knives, trading them like a circus act.

“Pipo. Jayce.” She laughed once, incredulous. “You idiots.”

“The galaxy has become a sloppy kitchen,” Jayce said, voice flat. “And everyone is burning the soup.”

Diane’s hand had frozen mid-adjustment on a speaker stand. Her eyes had gone very, very still. Something boiled deep within her. She swallowed it, allowed it to pass.

“Who invited Set into my staging hall?” A voice said.

The three girls and two set turned as a group of Insurgent Officers emerged, in bulky and muscular suits of reinforced armor with weapons of war. Their helmets were open, and a dozen men and women stood in it, all staring into Rebecca and the Set.

Diane’s fingers twitched again, and then relaxed. The anger passed like a wave over her, and her voice was neutral, professional. “I did.” It was a lie, but she wasn't going to let Rebecca take any heat or spotlight from her responsibilities. The leader of the Officers, wearing chains and a black officer uniform with large triangular shoulderpads, ankleboots with dark lace tied and fishnets around his arms and throat, looked at the Set with a sneer. He looked at them with disgust.

Diane shot her a look that could cauterize, heat from her gaze felt but ignored by the gem surrounded by officers as his entourage. “Chalcan..” Diane said.

Rebecca stared between them then at the blue gem ahead, his hair looking like a crewcut when blown from the wind of the indoor fans. “You’re acting like you care, the hell are you?”

“Chalcan, Shadow Commander of the Grand Insurgency. I care about information,” He snapped, then forced himself to lower his voice, which somehow made him sound more threatening than when he was shouting. “I care about threats. Threats include spies. I care about whether this is a trap.” Diane felt her fingers curl, involuntary, but she kept her mouth shut. The gem looked at her, then looked over at the posters. Afterwards, at Diane who was giving 'Don't ask me' vibes. “Oh- it's you. The real you. Not that circus act imitating you.” He said, sneering.

Rebecca began to crack up. Humorless, he raised a single brow. “What's so funny, miss Rebecca? That is who you are aren't you? Do you find our usage of your image amusing?” He asked.

Rebecca stopped laughing. “No, it's not that,- 'Shadow Commander'? Are you serious?

That's the dumbest fucking title I ever heard. You dork.”

A few staffers near the strobe rig froze mid-cable. Someone pretended they didn’t hear.

Chalcan’s eyes didn’t leave her. “It’s a functional title,” he said. “It means I’m the one who cleans up after you people improvise.”

Rebecca tipped her beer, eyebrow up. She then purposefully, spilt her beer on the floor, keeping the bottle shaken until it all formed a soggy puddle on the concrete below. “Congrats. Clean it up then, big boy.”

Diane didn’t even look at them. She was staring at Chalcan. And Chalcan, Chalcan was staring at the Set.

“I dislike you.” He told Rebecca. “Truthfully, I wanted the symbol of the rebellion to be someone inspiring. Someone among our ranks, like Zack, or hell even that meticulous Odalia, or her bastard Elderdragon daughter. That would've been mythic. Instead, she chose a louse like you. Why? Croix's mind is an enigma at times.”

“Oh. You wanted 'muse of the common man'. I get it now.” Rebecca said, taking another drink and throwing her empty bottle at him. He dodged it and let it crack behind him. “No wonder you're such a bitch.” Chalcan looked at Rebecca, then at the Set. Diane could already read him. “Chalcan,” she said, sharp. “Don’t-”

Chalcan’s sighed. His gaze flicked to Diane, then back to Pipo and Jayce. “Get them out,” he said, voice low and ugly. “Now.”

Rebecca’s eyes flashed. “They’re my friends.” Chalcan finally looked at her properly.

“Then you can explain,” he said, “why two Set ‘friends’ show up the day our summit goes live, after ‘plastic boots’ start sweeping safehouses. Or do you want me to do the math for you?”

Diane lifted a hand, palm out.

“Stop,” she said. Not to Chalcan. Not to Rebecca. To the room itself.

“Everyone breathe. Take 5.” She said to the staff working around her. Lapis, leaning against a beam, smiled like she’d just gotten popcorn.

“Rebecca, take your 'friends' outside the door for a minute. I’ll deal with him.” She looked at Diane stubbornly. “Don't argue.” She said.

Rebecca's eyes were already darting. “I'm just taking them to the mess hall, let's grab a bite.” With that she tapped both Set and Pipo and Jayce started to follow her out. Chalcan turned to his entourage of Officers. “Give me a minute with the Insurgents cherished 'Field lieutenant.'“ He said, dismissing them to give him space.

Chalcan’s face didn’t change. But something in his aura did. A ripple, quick and ugly, like a dream trying to crawl back up his spine, or perhaps a nightmare rising from the depths of one's soul to the surface.

Diane saw it.

She stepped in closer to him, voice low enough only he could hear. “Your hands are shaking,” he murmured.

“They’re not,” She replied. “I've been working the summit all day.”

“So have I. Confirming every security measure is taken.” He turned to the gigantic metallic turrets built into the walls. “SECURITY SYSTEMS TURRET AUTOMATA: Give diagnostics.” He said, the hefty machines vocalizing all their specs and optimized defenses were up to code and working in case of a merry little emergency or security breach, ready to fire on a fly if he gave the command.

“And you,” he said, “are the one turning a war council into a circus. Why the hell are you doing this?”

“Because the enemy is coming. And those that want to live free and stand up, this will be a symbol of hope. Not through marches or drills, but everything XU resents. This is about setting the stage.”

“And so,” he said, “the rebellion is reduced to a sideshow act for gawkers, while you play around with a fucking rabble in the midst of a war. Do you know how that looks?”

“I had a dream,” he said.

Diane folded her arms. “I know.”

His head snapped up. “No you don’t. Shutup.” Diane’s eyes narrowed. “Try me.”

Chalcan swallowed. His throat bobbed like he was forcing down something sharp. He rubbed his wrists, where the chains sat.

“In it, Starbreakers hit Croix’s sanctuary. Evac routes got cut. I was on a ship that was supposed to get out.”

His voice thinned, then steadied again.

“The ship didn’t get out. Set boarded. They had orders. They didn’t kill me. They, processed me. Transformed me into a horrific loathsome creature- a Set.”

Diane went very still. She tried not to laugh, but did crack a smile. “So your worst nightmare is, Ursula catches us and turns us into fluffy kittycats?” She pawed at him teasingly.

“SHUTUP YOU CHEEKY BITCH.” Chalcan squeezed his fists tight enough to claw into his palms, before recovering his composure. “This isn't about me. It's about, Croix.”

“Yes, I'm aware. It's always about her with you.” Diane yelled.

“She found me. Brought me back to the fold. She made me commander of the Insurgency under her, the first rank Shadow Officer. Now I kill the Set that have destroyed everything Xi stood for.”

“I've been working with her to take XU down for the last six months. And all you see is my circus act, not my dreams. You know why?” He whispered in close. “I have dreams that I can remember, and it scares me to death. Horrible dreams, madness, a sickness of the mind that plagues me. Endless chaos. It scares me more to remember than to dream.” He clenched his hands and looked at the ceiling, as if he were close enough to see the stars beyond. “Calm.

Mercy. Belonging. Love. I’ve burned every bridge that led to anything like peace. My only strategy has been to turn to those with power and weld my heart to their authority. I turned my own head into a place where daylight doesn’t reach. I sleep with the dead in my ears and my hatred bleeding from my mouth, and everyday I wake up to the same calculation I scribbled and arrived long long ago. If I keep walking this road, the answer is always the same, I’m not getting out clean. My end is certain. The only thing I cannot be certain of- is if the destruction of the stars will follow.”

He took a deep breath and turned to Diane, eyes pleading with despair. “My rage, my pride, my refusal to bend, my hunger to swing first and ask questions later, they’ve welded me to a direction I can’t pretend is reversible. I wanted to be the one who stops the boot on the throat. I wanted to be the name people whisper when they’re out of hope. And the only thing reassuring me it'll happen, is the sound of my superiors insisting I’m doing the right thing.” He spoke the rest with the bleak, controlled suffering and pain of someone confessing a deadly sin.

Diane stopped grinning. “If this is the end of the road, I suggest you start looking for a new path. Because I have work to do. You’ve wasted enough of my day.”

Chalcan’s voice was thick and heavy with contempt. “Do what you want. Just remember who it is you’re working with. The people who would throw a parade of you just so they could get you out of the way. You're not the queen of this movement. She put ME in charge.” He said.

“Croix, made you in charge of security. Other than that, this summit is mine to organize.” Diane looked at Chalcan, trying to give an ounce of the sympathy they used to share for each other. Before the resets, in that time before time so long ago, back when she knew him. “You don't have to deal with this madness alone.” She said. “We're in this together.”

Diane’s stomach twisted. Sloppy job, her heart had said. He was already backing away, his voice all honeyed mockery dripping away.

“Sir yes sir, ‘Officer’,” he said, like the words tasted funny. “And what are you? A soldier with no war? A blade with no sheath? All those sharp edges, sweetheart, and nowhere to put ’em except back into yourself.”

Diane’s heart froze.

Her fingers tightened around the small sphere at her belt, the one she used as an anchor when her mind started slipping into old tunnels. She didn’t turn yet. The old reflex, the tipped-spear certainty, screamed: Don’t. Don’t walk deeper. Don’t let him wrap your name around his tongue like when he used to hold you.

This wasn’t the one she knew anymore.

His presence had gravity. A dangerous one he didn’t used to possess. Not radiating menace like this.

He stepped into view at the foot of the platform.

A gem, dressed like he belonged to a private war: lean frame, immaculate posture, eyes that didn’t blink often enough. Croix’s kind of neatness. Croix’s kind of smile, too, pulled into the corner of his mouth like a promise he never had to keep.

“You look like you’ve been holdin’ yourself like a clenched fist,” he murmured. “And it’s tightly clenched straight up your ass.”

Diane’s flexed. She forced herself to turn.

“And you look like you’ve been practicing being insufferable,” she said, voice measured.

The words came out controlled, but there was a tremor under them like a faultline.

He chuckled. “But-?”

“But,” Diane said, and hated that she hesitated. He’s talking just like him. The mimicry wasn’t lost on her. The cadence, the lazy cruelty, the way he made every sentence feel like a hand on your shoulder guiding you toward a cliff. “I’m not in the mood.”

He lifted an eyebrow as if she’d done something cute. “Well? Step up,” he said. “If I walk out of here as anything but your lieutenant, your subordinate, you failed.”

Diane’s hands curled, nails pressing into her palms. She tried to feel herself, anchor herself, her name, her history, the lines she’d drawn, the love that taught her she was more than a weapon.

She looked up at him. “You will give me your respect,” she said. “I want this to be mutual.”

Mutual. The word was absurd coming from her, which is exactly why it caught. But it didn’t ignite into courage. It just, hissed.

“I am the seed, the soil, and the scythe,” Diane said, opening her grip. Not in surrender to him. In surrender to the fact she could not keep living as a locked box forever. Then, sharp as a slap, “And when did you become such a fucking tool?”

He looked, his gaze flat and cold. “Pardon me?” he said, raising a brow. “Have we met?

You don’t even know me anymore.”

“What did you do to my boy, Chalcan? The one that used to follow me around like a puppy?” Diane asked.

He looked at Diane. He looked through her.

“You’re such a fucking clown.” He said. “And don’t call me boy. If you’re in charge of this little get together,” Chalcan said, “You might wanna pull your head out of your ass before that turns into a one-woman show.” Walking back, Chalcan folded both his hands behind his spine and marched out like a good little soldier.

 

 

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It wasn't until the 7th shard that Diane encountered Zack once again, within the void period of Xi, slightly earlier than the last visitation. Zack was standing above a gigantic celestial sphere that floated among the voiden heavens, a sphere that many ancients once called 'Saturn.' Around its terrestrial satellites were numerous citadels and floating meteors around Titan, inhabited by llavalites. Diane flew and stopped into one of them to stock up on supplies.

“Visitation number.” He said upon seeing her in a city-street of one of the citadels, standing near a garrison of Llavalite officers.

“T-two.” She said. “I, encountered you before last time, but that was in an older timeline, so it doesn't count.” She looked around at the green plated men and their metallic body armor. “Are you working for, Llavalites?”

“I'm a soldier by trade. I work for whoever provides the paycheck.” He said.

Diane took a break in the Llavalite military base, taking a look around. She ran her hands along one of the many floating, metallic garrisons. “Are they, Llavalites? Is this a base of theirs?”

Zack smirked. “The Llavalites are a nomadic species that travel from planet to planet on meteors, so naturally they'd build a garrison wherever they can colonize.”

She blinked. “Are they the ones who made the cities around that sphere? I mean Saturn, with the rest of this-”

“My sisters provided the infrastructure, but they built it with their own hands and sweat. The Llavalites aren't afraid of hard work.” He said, then smirked. “Only Llavalites live on these cities around the planet, for the most part.

She looked around at the vast city-streets, which stretched on for miles around her. “..why do they build these, massive, complex city-streets around other worlds?”

Zack chuckled. “It's part of the Llavalite life, they make cities everywhere. It's like a badge of honor for them, or unpacking and re-building tents. They take materials from wherever they can get them and settle down.

She looked around. “Like- tents?”

Zack sighed. “Diane, if I have to keep explaining what these things are-”

“T-then, it must be important.” She interrupted. “I'm not from Xi, I barely spent time here in most of my loops.”

Zack's eyes twinkled, and he turned to face the giant floating sphere above. “Do you want to know about Saturn, Diane?”

“Yeah.” She said. “Y-yeah. I do.”

He looked up. “Saturn was a planet named after the god of time. The king of the Titans, who bore the pantheon of gods who ruled Olympus. It was the 7th planet of the solar system, although for several millennia the earthlings of primitive Xi were only able to see 6th of them, due to dark matter planets being undiscovered as of yet. However, we know better now.” He looked around. “All this? Is part of a Saturnian city, built in the void by the Llavalites. One of many. It's become a strategic stronghold for them over the last few centuries.”

Diane turned and looked at Zack. “The, earthlings of primitive Xi? Who were they?” She asked, looking around the street in bewilderment.

Zack paused. “Humans, Diane.. A bunch of nutters. Hard to believe Xi was seeded from that world. It's a wasteland now.”

Diane recalled. “Oh, yeah I was there not too long ago. That was the first world I had to dig shards for.”

Diane remembered how, all too well. She remembered seeing an empty Xi with no people in it whatsoever, as if the entire planet was a ghost town. The planet's surface was littered with garbage and dust. It was hard for her to believe that was already 8 months ago. It felt longer, or shorter. Diane's time perception was all mixed up at times. She looked into her sphere and rolled its surface, seeing it project the shard, then zoomed out- eventually zooming beyond Saturn's surface.

“It's, inside the planet..” She said. “I- I have to go in.

Diane took a look at the sphere of Saturn. “I've never been inside a planet before. This'll be a first.” She said.

The local ship drew her at the edge of the murky world, a llavalite pilot informing her that this was as closest as they could get without its magnetic fields becoming an issue for the small vehicle's navigation systems and electronics, unable to get any closer to the planet's magnetosphere. With her bravest spelunking face, Diane closed her eyes, went out the airlock and dived down and activated her suit's thrusters, heading below towards the planet's clouds. Gem's were incredible lifeforms who could withstand great pressure, heat and atmospheric conditions even without specialized suits, but her own mentality would soon begin to rebel against her as she descended below into the great orange beyond. Her descent accelerated. An amber mist filled her sight with photochemical haze as she descended, slowly changing colors through the deep aqua and emerald before dissipating altogether. The last vestiges of light were gone as Diane was slowly absorbed into the planet's vast interior. Upper-atmosphere winds reaching ~500 m/s threw her descent into a turbulent fall throughout her great fall, feeling like pins and needles across her body. The aerodynamic drag clawed at her, trying to cap her speed, the wind rising from hiss to a brutal, continuous roar that she could feel tearing her apart.

A violent breeze and an unfamiliar sound from the alien world grew more more potent as she accelerated. The sound of an ocean crashed against her suit as the pressure surrounding her intensified. Inside she hit a splashing density wall violently, like quickly gravitating molasses, her form already disrupted from the impact. Not water, not truly solid or even gas, neither cloud nor sea, something inbetween a semi-membrane and gaseous state held Diane in place while the pressure around her continued to grow, as she was crushed under the weight of the ocean. It felt like minutes, perhaps hours of being crushed under a deep ocean, being held under an incredibly strong pressure all while the world around her glowed and changed colors, Diane descending into a realm deep and dark within, the pressure gradient and her own sinking density insisting she go deeper towards the innermost center of Saturn's core thousands of miles in. An emerald sea enveloped her vision. An abyss of color and beauty. She felt herself begin to lose her human form as her mental fortitude broke under the immense pressure of Saturn's interior, the closer she got to the core the less solid everything became, obscene temperatures that tickled her and

reminded her of the heat of the forge back in AU so long ago. The interior conditions reached such a degree that they were no longer physically able to hold solid structure, plasma dancing all around her while the world behaved like a molten conductor, the pulse of her gem the only light differentiating her between herself and the dancing plasma of the world within. In the end the gravity of the planet pulled her down to the world's core, her form became nothingness. A single red gem flickering in the pool of darkness, the strict squeezing of the world surrounding her pushed her to the point of madness. In a single moment, she remembered herself. She remembered where she was, but had no way to process how much time she'd stay compact and stuck in the core's thick, pressurized ionized conductive fluid.

A slight aura resonated around Diane's gem, encapsulating something else- the sphere she'd brought absorbed the godshard. It shined a dull red before the gem and began to slowly turn into a strange liquid that took a few moments to become something Diane could easily see. A single word appeared in bright neon green and orange.

I WAS HERE.

She blinked her gem, which with eyes was represented by her gem pulsing and flashing a few times rapidly. Why were there words?

Inside time seemed to flow to a halt, as if crystallized in amber. The darkness was long, vacant and timeless within the core of the world. Eventually the world began to swirl around her, pulling her from the planet's core back to a atmospheric surface. She felt herself going through the journey in reverse, being pulled up as she rippled throughout the foamy semi-solid ocean and gaseous mass before the sudden impact of being dragged to the world's upper atmosphere. Her body was feeling a cold breeze like ice, and she realized it was because the core had been so hot that everything outside felt comparatively like a blizzard. She was still floating inside the ball Hermes gave her, held together by gravity and some other forces she couldn't name. As she got closer to the top, the world began to change again. The emerald and aqua colors blending back into the amber hues of the world she'd left behind. The pressure around her began to drop as she was slowly brought to the upper atmosphere of Saturn. She was surrounded in amber light as the amber world slowly turned to a more familiar color, the amber oranges and reds of harvest and autumn. The amber world had been old and desolate before she came, covered and madeup of gases and mysterious forces of nature out in the great vacuum of space.

Now, with her presence, it was slowly recovering, slowly breathing back to life and growing once more.

The world stopped spinning and Diane's body began to drop, pulled back by a miniature black hole. A spacetime tether had locked onto her and began pulling her back out, reversing course from her descent prior. Zack arrived close and plucked her sphere, before taking her back to the same ship that had dropped her down a time ago before. Once inside, her physical form

began to reconstitute, with hard light she formed limbs and her defining features slowly. “H-how long was I down there?”

“About 18 months.” Zack told her. “Sorry it took me awhile to get you out. I was busy.” 18 months. The Cassini–Huygens probe had become a satellite around Saturn's orbit for

13 years during the Grand Finale era of Pre-Xi's early space exploration, exceeding 34 km/s in circulation around the mysterious world. Compared to that, her brief stay inside the core had been a mere nap, daybreak in the wake of even primitive earth's most simplistic expeditions.

Diane was horrified, she'd been lost under a whole planet for a year and a half. She didn't even have a clue what had happened in that time. She sat up, still processing everything. “What happened with you?”

“Got into a fight. What's new?” He replied, wiping some blood from his forehead. “The llavalite colony got attacked. I was fighting a war while you enjoyed your little time alone down there. A few of their stations were destroyed, I moved the locals over to Venus.” He paused and stared at her. The girl laughed, not sure why he even cared. She thought he was just a mercenary. A hired gun, nothing more.

“Why were you saving Llavalites anyway?” “Because someone had to.” He told her.

“And I'm not sure whether or not it's going to be you.”

Diane shrugged as she moved about the ship, slowly coming to her senses. “Why do you care?” She asked.

“Nothing really. I just want to know more about you, and who you are. This is your second visit meeting me, but I've only met you a few more times than that. It's still early- one of the versions of you encountered had already nearly collected all her shards and seen me 197 times.”

“Second time in this timeline, in this universe.” Diane shrugged.

“Also, you're not the first person to show up to my ships collecting shards. There was someone else from Orchid- her name was Vee. She was searching for these too.” Diane stopped and stared at him. The orchidians knowing about her little easteregg hunt was not on her 'to deal with' list, she regretted to imagine what kind of complications that might cause. She couldn't imagine someone else from the orchidian empire coming and stealing her shards.

“Yeah...” Diane said, thinking about it for a while. “I've got to get going, onto the next. If the next you is farther in the future, tell me about it later okay? I'm sure I can handle whatever it is I have to do today and tomorrow, I'm lucky like that.” She said, moving about the ship to the exit, the next time jump already on her mind.

Diane opened the exit and was about to step out when Zack stopped her and whispered in her ear. “You don't need luck. You are luck.” The gem rolled her eyes. “Sounds like someone I knew, he used to say corny stuff like that.” Said replied, taking out her egg and spear to step out to her next destination. step out.

“Heh. Wonder who.” Was the only response he gave, before Diane stepped out and disappeared, vanishing into the next time jump ahead.

Diane continued hunting for shards again, taking two years as she jumped around back and forth to trace the mysterious godshards across the continuum. The ridiculous fetchquest often saw her alone for long stretches of time, and even when she was fortunate enough to explore a hotel or space station in Xi, Diane knew nobody and was a stranger to these stars. She'd always had the other gems, white nebula, even Chalcan following her like a lost puppy. Someone to fight a war against or competition, rarely in her jumps prior to her deal with Hermes did she ever find herself this alone. The gem looked upon the world she was currently in. With its heavy gravity and lack of vegetation, Veenhaar seemed to be an unsuitable world for survival, save a few on-site colony stations Xi had built for research purposes. The planet's atmosphere was highly oxidized and full of rare metals that had been mostly strip mined away in eras past, the heavy weight of everything making it hard to navigate. Veenhaar, for lack of a better word, was extremely heavy, the gravity causing her hardlight form to often feel like her sins were crawling on her back and weighing her down. For 2 months she excavated shafts of the old mining corp that used to be here, searching for another piece of the puzzle.

What were the godshards anyway? Why did Hermes need her to find them? These questions often alluded her in her time of vast isolation and lingered on her like a balm of despair from the depths of the cosmic deep.

The locals that researched the planet were rather remote, having to create entire forcefields for themselves to survive the world itself. The locals lived in bubbles in the sky, each bubble a world in their own right, their ships combining via tubes to form cities over in the upper atmosphere, docking collars and pressure locks keeping everything airtight. For its part, Veenhaar was a researcher's paradise, a hellish world in its own right for anyone who thought they could survive it with minimal help.

After long, quiet empty days she finally reached 7 KM deep into the planet, using a local probe to guide her way through the planet's maze-like corridors of rock and dirt, following a probe down a heat-shielded borehole the miners had punched into the crust, the hardscape becoming her own personal guide and light to see her way through the darkness. It was a simple, hardline probe- something that would normally get ignored by a true explorer- but was a necessary tool in the world of Veenhaar, where many had perished trying to get through the planet's thick, molten shell and magma-filled insides. Against the backdrop of scorching liquid embers and pyrotechnic flows, she found another shard glittering in the lava.

Far beyond the reaches of time, she'd found yet another one. Another piece, an ode to her love not-forgotten.

Around 6 shards later, Diane ran into Zack once more. The void period of Xi with Star Charity's fledging arrival saw the rise of more stability, economic freedom and developments in the entertainment industry, leading to the creation of rotating ring habitats, the earliest forms of Starcourts. On it, Diane was able to take a break from the monotony of the universe and take a breather inside a large club, the earliest and only one that had existed during this era of her visits early in Xi's pre-XU history. A rotating dance floor ran along the station’s ring, dozens of different individuals from every species and corner of the galaxy thrusting their shoulders and hips to the techno-beat.

Diane slumped against a leathery couch, the room lit with artificial starlight over a huge neon dome overhead. Zack came with a drink and placed it next to her, Diane rolling her eyes. A gangster in the organization formerly known as the Merchant Guild had acquired the shared she coveted the club a place where she could mingle with him and talk in person about her progress on his work for him. Mercicci had his own interests and motivations for hunting down the shards, something to do with a world that was already in ruins, one he wanted to bring back.

Diane thought he was a little over the top, she watched the man with his feathered hat, sultry woman around him and blackwind bodyguards arrive as his entourage. She wasn't interested in him, or what he was doing, she just wanted to get that piece.

“My friend here tells me you're looking for something of mine.” Mericci said, eyeing Diane next to Zack. A DJ at the club's front wore a helmet with a mirrored faceplate, which reflected everyone in its aluminum surface.

“Something of the sort. Right, sir.” Said Diane, taking a gulp of her drink. “I see. And what are you hoping to get out of it?”

He asked, staring her straight in the eye.

“I'm not exactly sure.” She replied, staring straight back at him. “It's for, I'll say a client. They just told me to gather them. 'm doing that, because it's the only way I'm going to get back to my life.” She replied, turning to face the dome overhead and look at the star-lit sky she saw through it. Mercicci raised an eyebrow, and turned to Zack. “I've got a deal for her if she can put in a good word for her. You want this? How much would you be willing to give for it?”

“We have money.” Diane replied.

“Money? You joke, how naive. I don't want money, I've more than you could ever spend in your lifetime. I've never been with a gem of, your caliber.” The back of his hand traced around Diane's cheek, her eyes turning to the plastic dancers and escorts behind him with vapid eyes.

Zack grabbed Mercicci's wrist, bending it just short of breaking it. “Don't touch her. She's not for sale that way.”

Mercicci smirked. “Easy, big guy. Why don't you let her speak for herself? ? That's the real thing I want. No one with a mind can resist me when I charm them.” He said, and she turned back to him and glared at him with a searing eye, hatred running red hot.

“That is the most depressing thing I’ve ever seen,” she said, picking up the glass with blue cerulean liquid. “Even booze has to follow rules.” She took a sip. Music hit them in a rolling wave. Not just sound, but vibration, the kind you feel in your ribs when the subwoofers are bolted to solid steel. Behind Mercicci's entourage, someone with a pet drone perched on their shoulder like an anxious bird taking in the sight, before guiding their rubbery drone away from an obvious crimescene. Club goers knew to look the other way when deals like that went on in here.

Mercicci snapped his fingers. A group of woman in slick halter-dresses and fur boas walked forward with a briefcase and slammed it down. “It’s in there.” He said. “All you have to do is give me one night with her, no strings attached. This is business, after all, and what business is without abit of pleasure? You can trust me when I say I won't let you down.” He said, staring at Diane. “Undress and the shard is yours.”

“Nah.” She said, pulling her spear. “The girl said no.” Zack replied.

The entourage began to reach for their weapons, Mercicci gesturing them to stay put. The music wasn’t in the air so much as in the bones of the ring, a vibration you could lean on, blasting with the colorful lights that flickered underneath the Dome for Diane to look up at. A security droid overhead followed the club goers around, scanning the scene and picking up Diane's every movement, Zack's reaction. “Don't do it, Mercicci,” Diane whispered, taking a sip from the drink. “You don't want to deal with him. Trust me, you haven't brought enough guns for that.” She said, playing her part while processing the odd situation she found herself in. The gem turned to Zack- why was he being so protective towards her?

Zack nodded. “My partner here has a point. We may need to renegotiate.”

Mercicci looked at his group, then back at the two. Zack's reputation was well known, but in a public space like this? “Surely you can be reasonable. I know you, carry a big gun. There would be casualties. You might end up destroying the whole Starcourt if you let loose.” He warned. “They say you're a heartless warlord, but even you wouldn't-”

The club goers looked around and Diane's eyes narrowed. She grabbed the briefcase. “Try him.” She said.

“You brat-!” Mercicci said, before the door slammed open from a mechanical doorbreaker held in the arms of a man with navy-blue armor and his team, suited agents filling the room.

“BY THE AUTHORITY OF SPARTA! THIS IS A BUST, GET DOWN ON THE

GROUND!” He shouted, before the room filled with armed soldiers. “FREEZE IN PLACE!” The entourage began to turn into a panicked scramble, rushing away from the bust. Dancers screamed, the DJ took out an auto bolter-rifle and started shooting. Gunbolt fire went wild, bullets ricocheting across the dancing room. More of Mercicci's goons poured in. Soon Diane started running towards the emergency exit as a firefight broke out. “W-what? Stop her, get the GIRL!” Mercicci shouted. He and Zack drew their weapons as bullets cracked around them, Diane's escape

Diane continued moving to the exit, the dome was a small circular window where she could see the outside from, and where she was. She took a few steps towards the window and saw a dozen SPARTA ships surrounding the dome. She wanted to grill Zack for his 'help' back there, but a part of her wasn't angry, just trying to cover up her smile. “See you next time, old man..” She took her spear and with a stab through reality, jumped again in time.

Diane blinked back in reality, where was she now? She found herself a few centuries prior to the last visit. Xi was in its golden, glorious merchant era , its first and only on long prior to the arrival of the civil wars to follow and Star Charity. She looked to her left, Zack was standing next to her, tall pedestals with men and woman in robes and golden jewelry standing around them both. “W-where are we?” She asked.

“Merchant Guild.” Zack told her. “You're in the most powerful merchant organization in the system.”

In his hands was something glimmering- another godshard. “I'd stolen this for you from them, they're not happy about it.”

“For, me? Why?” Diane asked confused.

“I had, some questions. I thought if I recovered it you'd come find me and we'd talk again sooner or later.

Zack said, and for the first time, she noticed he wasn't the person she had known, or thought she knew.

“Where'd you find the other one?” He asked.

“Uh.. Starcourt. Hasn't happened for a few centuries.” Diane replied. “Starcourt?” He repeated. “What's a Starcourt?”

“It's kinda a huge club and vendor place where people go to do sex and drugs-” Diane replied, before a loud, crackling voice broke out. “QUIET!”

The Arch-proprietress of the merchant guild had an aura that made their blood run cold, her long silken gold robes obscuring her face with a shimmering veil, dangling gold chains over

her wrists that jangled when she rose her staff. She was with a hologram hovering a few feet away, in the company of another woman in a robes who was keeping tabs on a digital tablet. “The Merchant Guild has made a mistake. We allowed in people of questionable reputation. You Zack, will be judged today for stealing from our Guild. The Arch-Proprietress of the guild would like a word with you, and what you're doing here.”

Diane, unaware that she was surrounded in an era gone past her, followed Zack as her eyes followed the lady in awe of her aura. The aura left a feeling of being surrounded, and watching the Arch Proprietress cast a spell over the trial. “For centuries, you have been a guardsmen to our aid, Grim Red Zack. But we cannot overlook the transgression of stealing from us. You must face justice.”

“What do you want from me?” The soldier stammered. “You know you cannot kill me.

And if you think jailing me will work..”

“Obviously not.” The Proprietress replied. “Given your, status. Our only sentence, is you pay back what you've stolen with indefinite service. You will work for the merchant guild to earn back our graces, as long as Stars and Satellites persist in this galaxy.”

Zack stood and turned to Diane. “Do you know what the gem's doing here? She's trying to kill me, if you just put me in jail or to work, atleast protect me from her first- but she'll never let me work for you.”

Diane looked at him. “W-”

He elbowed her, as if to say 'play along.' “She's an assassin, your wealthiness.”

Hardlight shimmered along her collarbone, not bright enough to look like a weapon, just enough to suggest she could become one on a hairtrigger if need be. She tensed her expression, looking maniac, as unhinged as she could make herself. She took out her spear and grabbed Zack, holding it to his neck.

“Assassin?” The Arch Proprietress repeated, her chains jingling. The hovering hologram beside her flickered, looking for her boss to speak.

“An assassin,” the Proprietress repeated incredulous, like she was tasting the word for impurities. “From where. Speak up.”

Zack didn’t hesitate. “From the future.” A beat.

One of the robed attendants made a small choking sound.

Diane stared at Zack with all the fury she could pack into a neutral face, actually genuinely mad he put her up to this and then failed to come up with a convincing lie.

“But, if you give her something to invest in right now, she can go to the future and return that investment in fold. That should pay off my debt, no?”

The Proprietress made a sound, somewhere between a shriek and a sneeze. She shook her head, her veil parting for an instant. “She is not of the future. You're just lying to us.”

Diane's eyes rolled, and stared at Zack. “Want to try again? This time, don't be an idiot.” Zack's guard in the back looked back at her. “My loyalties are to the soldier. Your wealth,

with respect if you attempt to harangue our commander with these, petty accusations, we cannot guarantee Paramor Frontia United will have the Merchant Guild's interests in mind. For your own security, be prudent and polite. Show generosity.”

“Generosity?” The Proprietress howled with laughter, as if transforming into a nasally banshee mid-breath. “Surely you just. We are the merchant guild, not a charity. Be prudent and polite?” The Proprietress looked at Diane, holding the spear still. “Put. Your. Weapon. Away. I won't ask again.”

Diane put it down slightly away from Zack.

She and him looked at one another, staring at each other's eyes like they were shipwrecks about to be marooned on a deserted island. Diane bent over and whispered in his ear, Zack giving her a quick, sideways glance. “You better make this worth it, missy.”

He cleared his throat. “Very well, your wealthiness.” He got on his knees and looked up at the Proprietress, who gazed back from on high. “As long as Stars and Satellites persist in this galaxy, I'm at the merchant guild's call. I'll even throw in my assassin, who has agreed to vow herself to us. Anything.”

The Proprietress of the guild looked at him as if he was being ridiculous. “What trick is this?” She said wringing her hands.

“I think he's joking.” The hologram whispered to her, giving her a glance. “Add to his sentence for mocking the integrity of the Merchant Guild. “I'm not sure if he's serious or not.”

Zack's eyebrow twitched. “I am serious. She's the most lethal assassin in the entire galaxy. You can't turn that down.

Zack rolled his eyes. “I'm a wanted criminal!”

The Proprietress sighed. “Alright, we agree to your terms. For the rest of your life, until your grandchildren are born, and our great-grandchildren are dead-”

Diane left her shard from Mercicci started to back away while the Proprietress monologued. “Hold to your word.” She told him, the last things he heard from her before she ran to the hallway and then crashed herself out a window. The next time he met her, as he promised he'd give her both shards.

Zack watched her go, and gave the Proprietress a shrug of defeat. “You got me there, I'll work for you-” He grinned. “As Stars and Satellites persist in this galaxy.”

The Merchant Guild's main chapter would collapse before the end of the next century, torn from the civil war and violent collapse. Zack would be there to watch it from a distance, and with a glimmering shard he found from the ruins of what was left of the Merchant Guild, all so he could travel back to meet Diane and give her both, along with a few found along the way. But Diane had moved on. It would be five decades before he saw her again. For her, it would only be about 13 years.

Diane found the 11th shard in the form of a statue, the 11th godshard she'd find herself collecting. The still fledgling village around the statue seemed reverent towards a figure that Diane had saved, in her own future but in the village's distance past. She deciphered through context clues that she'd saved the village's founder. Sighing, she walked away from the village, feeling as though she was walking away from her past and onto something new and better.

Eight and a half centuries passed for Diane, traveling back and forth through time, meeting Zack every so often. Often she spent years to even decades along, and then would see him again elsewhere in Xi, as if they'd never left each other. He was always cordial, sometimes he knew less of her, sometimes more of her than she did, including visits to him she hadn't made yet. Every time she saw him, she had new shards for him, or he had new shards for her. Every time she had a shard, he'd come with new information, either about the development of Xi at the time or the location of the next shard. The pieces always seemed to end up falling in his hands, as if a pattern guided them together through fate's embrace.

The Grand Finale era, when mankind back on earth had not yet flown beyond even its own solar system.

The Beyond-Solar era when earth launched its first primitive colony ships, corporate voyages and explorations into the galaxy.

The Xenological era or X-Era when supposed artificial intelligence went rogue and caused chaos and catastrophe across the stars.

Afterwards, the the Era of Hope when Xi was formally established, dissolving the old borders, boundaries of divisions past and notions of planetary origin entirely.

The golden age of Xi, considered such by those who lived the Merchant epoch and its grandeur.

The void era, as the long millennia in which celestial bodies were ungoverned by no single faction by competing powers.

The age of piracy, when Denipra took the galaxy by storm in the midst of anarchy, great discovery and the rise of new corporate superpowers.

The resplendent, pompous superficiality of the Star Charity era as the beginnings of XU came into view.

And the tail end of the long journey of Xi, when Sandra returned, trounced Ursula and began Neo Xi.

She learned the flavor of each era of Xi by its architecture, its dialects and manner of clothing, in all its sights and sounds. It was strange, she'd spent longer in this universe than she had any other, even AU where she came from or the intensity of Orchid. But she felt the least at home there than anywhere. She and Zack, despite the distance between them in time, had found something that was more home than anywhere, including any version of themselves they had been and any version they would be.

Their strange relationship became as time tested as the galaxy itself.

 

 

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Rebecca sat outside by edge of a waterfall, the water flooding below into a spinning reservoir that charged the facility with hydropower. From the water, and from the deep depths of the heated core below the headquarters extracted geothermal energy, powering the lights and security and defense systems. Next to Rebecca, Pipo and Jayce, the two Caldera cats were looking at the sky as ships drew in and landed down.

The trio sat on the edge of the wall, their legs hanging over the waterfalls. Suddenly four figures appeared from behind, the first two being Silvpurr and Vicuna in their costumed uniforms, behind them Lapis and the aquatic woman Rebecca recognized from a little while back- Wave Mistress.

“I see made some friends. These 2 were looking for you, lost in the base.” Lapis told her. “Cool.” She said. “Hey there guys.” She said to the two Ultras.

“Pipo.” “Jayce.” The Set introduced themselves. “You've got nice fur,” the Wave Mistress said. “I'm Wave Mistress. This is Silvpurr and Vicuna, who I've become acquainted with. Was never expecting any Champions from Harvest to arrive here, what a treat. My, what are you doing here?”

“Purring!” Pipo laughed.

Jayce nodded. “Pipo and I decided to tag along and be her plus ones for tonight!” He said, the two of them purring happily.

Wave Mistress chuckled at this. “She doesn't have any other guests.” She said, looking at Lapis for confirmation. “You're friends with the Gem, Chalcan?” She said.

“That douche with the military sash? No, don't even know him.” She shrugged, patting the surface for the 4 to sit as if to say 'get comfortable'. “I'm good at making friends. He, who knows his deal.” Wave Mistress leaned her hip against the wall, looking out over the falls, the other two sitting next to the tall Caldari lady.

Silvpurr said, looking past her. “A lot of the rebels here are angry she's putting on a circus here rather than preparing for a fight. The Insurgency doesn't have a great relationship with her, I think they're mostly followers of the Chalcan guy? I don't know.”

“Oh gosh! You two are SO cute! I've nyever seen a Set upclose!” Silvpurr said, grabbing and nuzzling Jayce and Pipo and giving them all her affection.

“Truthfully, we don't know alot about Xi from back home.” Vicuna said. “Or, XU for that matter. That lady on the ship filled us in on alot, but the rebels we've talked to here seem to be from alot of different groups. I tried to get the gist of their ideology and they mostly seem to be 'Anti-XU', but share little else. Not exactly a cohesive rebellion.” Rebecca leaned back on her palms, eyes flicking from Silvpurr to Vicuna to Wave Mistress, then back to Lapis listening in as they all sat together. Lapis clicked her tongue. “Two Set, a Caldari, and two from Harvest.

Chalcan is going to love this. He's soooo big on tolerance and diversity for the movement..”

Wave Mistress shrugged. “Lots of anti-whatever groups, and most of the Insurgents, whatever they want to be. They're rebels, they want to rebel. It's a good thing.” She said. “I want to help. And I thought it might be nice to have some Ultra company. I mean, this is a battle we're fighting, too, right? They've had us on this rock and now they've got us chasing the Elder Dragon, but Lapis said Amity won't join the Insurgency for some reason.” She scratched her head, tiara shining along the waterfall's flow.

The blue gem of envy looked at the sky. “I hear her mother is one of their biggest supporters, sorta wish I had a mom like that. I have not told you about my family, but they are well known in Orchid-” Lapis stopped suddenly and turned around. Behind them, was Zack.

Lapis went cold and silent. Vicuna looked up at Zack. “Hey there big guy! We're glad you're safe. Is everyone safe? You find plenty of water and grub for the big party you're planning?”

He didn't respond to the Harvester. Instead, he turned to Lapis. “What are you doing here?” He asked.

“They're my friends. Old friends, new friend, friend-friends.” Lapis replied. “They joined in because we're in this together now. They want to come to the summit.”

 

usual.”

He gave the two Set, the caldari girl and two from Ambera a look. “Fooling around as

 

 

She cleared her throat and got up. “I'll be back guys, I've got to deal with him.” She got

up and started following Zack out. The rest were in silence, murmuring. “What was that about?” Rebecca asked.

“She probably really knows him.” Pipo suggested, scratching himself. Silvpurr shrugged. “She didn't seem happy to see him.”

Wave Mistress looked at the others nervous, but stayed silent.

Pipo eyes glittered. “So. Madam and masseur from Harvest. Why are you two here? I assume you didn’t cross half the galaxy to get lost in a hallway.”

“Oh! The leader of your big empire threatened our entire planet. Nyu!” Silvpurr said. “So we're helping and when we got down here we bumped into the Croix lady and she said 'this is what's going on! Come join us' and we were like 'Nyoo way really?' she was totes cool with it!

Now it's like we're all on the same team!”

Jayce rubbed his forepaws. “Is your entire planet going to war? What do you do there, anyway?”

Silvpurr shrugged. “Lots of stuff. It's a different kind of place. You'd love it! If you weren't from here you'd love it!” She said, then looked at Jayce. “No offense, of course!”

“It's okay,” Jayce said. “We aren't from here.” “Neither are we!” Silvpurr laughed.

“Are you Harvesters?” Jayce said, eyes flickering up and down as if he were getting the first look at her.

“I am!” Silvpurr said.

“Vicuna, my partner, and I, are from Harvest. We just arrived in this galaxy. How ny'bout you two?” Silvpurr asked.

“Pipo and I are Set, born on borderspace. We were raised by Caldera.” Jayce said.

They all then looked to Wave Mistress, who was lost in thought. “Oh, I'm- Caldarian. I grew up near the sea on planet called Eterna.” She replied.

Jayce nodded. “You're the first Calderan I've ever met. You're like a big yummy fish.” She licked Wave Mistress's cheek. “Most Set I hear aren't big on Caldari, though.” She said, moving her head to lick her ear.

“You're right. But you'll see, they're really just all kinds of wonderful people. You gotta meet them someday.” She said.

Silvpurr snickered. “It's weird, right? But at least we're here together.”

She looked at Rebecca, who started to lay back against the rooftop and stare up the sky, counting the clouds pass by. Wave Mistress rubbed the base of her neck, yawning. Jayce and Pipo followed suit and started counting clouds and staring at the water. Vicuna looked at the others, smiling. When he looked into Rebecca's eyes, he saw her gaze stare past everything else, as if staring into the void at the heart of this world.

 

 

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The gem of Pride learned about Zack’s background overtime, a boy raised by the mysterious black nebula, his time spent under the oversight of Novus Grahim as her fondest soldier, and later trained as a mercenary that had passed down the legacy of the sword for many generations. This soldier's guild had been a staple of Xi's development throughout its history, as they had been there even since the dawn of corporate superpowers that preceded them. Zack's own past life had been one of a great warlord who had unified many of the new worlds from the Xenological era, one who had eventually fallen at the hands of his own wife, causing him to renounce the order and instead commit to any cause in need of his service. The one thing she didn’t discover and always wanted to know, was the supposed suitor of his that his past was intertwined with.

After about 3 dozen visits for him, Zack sat with Diane. She seemed, older. Not just physically, due to her gem's form shifting with her mentality and in alignment with her identity but in other ways. Composed, war-like but also focused, unbearably fierce in a way that past versions of her didn't. Or rather, past versions he'd encountered- To Diane, this was the 328th time meeting him for her, and according to her they'd recovered most of the shards from her end of the timeline. The two sat in the merchant era of Xi by a fireplace in the grand desert of what was once known as 'Neon-Arizona', a principality power along with 4 other states that formed a regional power and attempted to fight back against the empire they were borne out of, but fell when the nuclear fallout wiped away their rebellion clean. In the dark of the night, the two sat where Xi once started, the ancient earth in all its forgotten glory. Zack looked at her, the scars on her face now, her hair bristled and flared with style and experience. Her arms were noticeably muscular and she gave off a presence like an anvil heated over brimstone.

“What kind of life, have you been living since?” Zack asked her.

“A life like mine?” She continued, shaking her head. “It's different now. The world is different now, the things we used to care about are so meaningless. I know how to kill, how to destroy things and people with my bare hands, how to fight with the most powerful weapon I have to the best of my ability. I know how to get things done. I still care about the past, I used to get caught up with all the minutia of saving the galaxy- Those things don't matter anymore.

What's a life when you can get more back, something that can change the world for good? I've been given the chance to do so much, and get so much, to gain enough to change the future for the better. It may never get it back to what it used to be, but I'll get it somewhere I can rest easy with.”

She said, her voice stern but not cruel. “There's still some people left in the timeline that need me- And I think, what I'm doing will leave them better off than they are now. I'm not alone, I've got someone I can talk to about this stuff. My friend.”

“Yeah?” Zack said, leaning forward to her, and stroking the shards they had found over the centuries. “Who is that person?”

Diane reached into her robes. “You want the truth, don't you?” She folded her arms. “Who was your first lover? The woman of the winds who you met in the Realm of Silence. The ruler of Caelis.” The words landed wounding more than any bullets ever could for him. He looked up at the night sky.

“Her name was Panthea.” Zack replied. “But that was a long time ago. “

“Not long enough.” Diane said, putting an arm on the gem on his shoulder. The gem of the love he lost. “

“We had a son..” He said. “She did, but that was after we fought. Grahim drove her to madness, I had to take her out. After our, engagement, I discovered she was pregnant. She crumbled after giving birth to a son, and only left her gem behind. I asked Grahim to take this gem and the child and to bring her back- she fused the gem to my body so I couldn't die, and raised the child herself elsewhere.”

Diane smiled. “You've got to let him know about this.”

“I cannot.” He said. “She won't let me see him. She forbids me from speaking his name, and every time I even think it, she has found some way to torture me until I forget him.”

Diane stared at him. “What a way to live.” She sighed, shaking her head. “But if we're talking about you and love, well.. You've got someone to talk about, haven't you?”

“How did you even know-?” Zack asked, his eyes wide. Then he stopped. “Right, time-traveler.”

“Panthea was very beautiful.” Diane responded. “And you're a romantic, she left an impression on you.”

“She did, but she-

Diane continued. “You loved her and she, left you. You still regret her mind falling to madness and having to be the hero, the one to put her down- that's why you refuse to ever embrace being one. “Somehow you still think about her, all these years later.”

“Every day.” Zack said, his expression downcast, looking at the stars. “I carry her with me. Literally.” He put a hand on his gem. “But I haven't spoken about her to anyone since. And to imagine that I will to some version of you in the past or future..”

“Oh, you never told me about her.” Diane mentioned. “Panthea's a dear of mine too. I know she was in pain, so were we all. I understand why she was left broken. But what was she to you? What was the last thing you said to her?”

“What?” Zack asked, his voice quiet.

“I'm sure it was something to help her, Pazak.” Diane said, her eyes still looking to the stars. “I'm sure it was something that made her mind feel better. She went mad and lost it.”

Zack's blinked. Then he looked at the stars and shook his head.

“I loved you, from the grave.” Diane said. “And my love would always, follow you into the dark.”

Zack reached into his robes and pulled out his shard, holding it with her, the two facing towards each other, “And I'm sure she said something like..” Diane's arm resting over his arm. “I love you too, Pazak.” She said, resting his head on her shoulder.

They stayed quite for a minute, before he finally pushed her off.

“The hell's wrong with you? Why are you like this now.. Why are you not now, what you used to be?”

He reached for his shard, but she took it back. “You know something I don't?” “Nothing like that.” Diane said. “I've spent, a lot of time with you over these past 9

centuries. You're the one I've followed closest. You're the one I've known the best, the only one who's, ever gone through all of these eras like I have. She said, her eyes not far from his. “And what's happening now, is something that you need to be involved in. I need your help.”

“You need my help? How, haven't I been helping you enough by now?” He was getting a little gruff, wanting the Diane whose eyes spat in his directions and waged defiance with every breath he took.

“Do you know where I come from?” Diane asked.

“AU, you've told me as such before.” Zack said.

She picked up some flammable dustmites from a sack and threw them on the fire, raising it high. “I was born in an underground compound. One that was training smiths for, some clandestine purpose. I trained as a young girl to become a blacksmith, and in my spare time, fancied myself a storyteller. My sister told tales about the life of Pazak, what I knew of his past was all legend. She would make up some wild adventures that happened to him, some of them quite funny, others far more grim..” She looked at him, the fire lighting them in amber tones against the blue and black of the night. “That compound, was owned by your sister. You and her kept me captive.”

She looked at him. “I, honestly didn't like him- you very much. If I'm being honest, you were always kind of a jerk. You were more my jailer than, well anyone else that might take care of a child.”

He was speechless, his mouth agape. “I have to assume this is a prank- because if it isn't?

I'm in trouble.” He stood up. “I don't even wanna hear about this.”

“Paz, listen..” She stood up. “A long time ago, a witch of the stars told me I needed you and your sister to stop an upcoming war, far far in the future. “And, I've already, got everyone else in the timeline I needed to in on this, except for you. I want you to know something-something important. I need to know if you and her can be trusted, if I can fulfill that final request.”

“A war? Against who?” he said.

Diane's eyes looked around the Mojave, as if trying to cast the question out into the wastelands. “Your sister. Ursula. She's taken control of the galaxy and we've all got to stop her. Think about what your wife would've wanted.”

Zack stopped. “Panthea's dead. And I've already gone through all this-”

“I'm not kidding.” Diane said, her hand on her gem. “My life is on the line if you and her screw this up. I need you to trust me, to tell me if you and her can follow through the next time I see you and I ask. “

“You want me to plot against my sister? What kind of, request are you looking to make of me?” Zack asked.

Diane's hand moved to her shard. “The kind of request, that changes the future forever.”

After they talked, the two laid in a sleeping sack over a single shared cloth, the rustling wind keeping their minds occupied. For Diane, the hundreds of trips she'd made across time and all of the adventures she'd spent with Zack. On Zack's mind, his thoughts went back to Panthea, her grey hair blowing like the storm, her face a maddened rage of destruction as she brought the

storms upon the world. The two were alone with only each other, and with the fire behind them. A moment that was forever to the both of them.

In Zack's arms, she slept with the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders.

He lay on his back with his hands folded over the gem in his chest like he was keeping it from wandering off, eyes open to the Mojave sky. The stars were thin and sharp, ancient nails hammered into black wood against the edge of the horizon. The wind worried at the sand and the cloth, and every time it lifted the edge of their shared cover he reached over and pinned it down again, not even fully waking into the motion.

He looked to Diane. Zack’s arms tightened around her by reflex. Protective. Instinctive. His eyes stared at the fire until it was mostly coals, never sleeping.

In the morning Diane stirred, blinking herself to the encroaching twilight, the sun breaking the nailed hold of starlight's reverie.

She sat up, rubbed her eyes, then immediately reached for her spear. When Zack saw her up, he tossed her a water pouch. She caught it, finding it amusing neither needed to drink but the pangs of flesh and exhaustion still demanded care's essence. “You stayed awake?” she said.

Zack shrugged. “I do that.”

“For me?” He didn’t answer. Zack pulled up an old metal pan and on it, several osprey eggs had been scrambled, he tossed them onto a fine-china plate. “Eat,” he said, shoving a ration bar towards her with her cooked eggs.

Diane stared at it. “That’s not an answer.” Zack finally met her eyes.

“You want an answer?” he said. “Fine. Yes.”

She could stab reality and leave any room. Any planet. Any decade. But she kept coming back. Not to the shards.

To him.

Zack cleared his throat, voice rough. “Don’t make a big thing of it.” Diane’s eyes flicked back to him. “I wasn’t.”

“You were about to.”

“I was about to ask if you had any coffee,” she lied.

Diane’s expression cracked, just a little, and then she did the thing she always did when she got too close to sincerity, she reached for sarcasm and brandished it like a knife.

“You’re getting sentimental, old man.”

“You don’t get to call me that. You've lived for millennia.”

Zack finally looked at her then, and for a moment he wasn’t Grim Red Zack, warlord and mercenary and contract-breaker.

He was just a man who had lost too many people and couldn’t afford to lose this one.

Diane's hands worked with her mouth and throat as she ate away.

“Come on,” Zack said, standing. He held out a hand, not as command or a soldier. As promise.

“We’ve got work. And you’re not doing it alone.” It was the kind of bond that makes a ruthless man start counting his limitless days a little closer to his chest.

She took his hand, and for a long moment they just stood there. Looking at each other.

And then she stepped back, took a breath, nodded at him. “Grab the guns.”

They marched, her back straight, him taking the lead like some sort of honor guard. They moved on, the desert’s grains of dust and the sand in it's cracks making a sound that was almost like an army marching, like armies and legions across millennia that came before them. They moved over the sands, the dust, and their old memories. The world fell silent around them, the landscape's rustling wind and distant shores crashing of wave against stone the planet's only sound in the great seclusion that awaited them. Behind her, Diane carried a sub-wave 30BxxAmp autocannon, clean from a fresh armory shipment. It was a little heavy to carry, but so was the entire world. To her, it wasn’t a burden. It was a weapon, and she liked her weapons. She often felt like one.

Zack held a 10k Mk. 3 Aegis Hunter 24mm, the old-fashioned kind of gun that hadn’t been made since before the dawn of Xi'an civilization. The handle was slightly rusty, the iron bore ammunition from the before times. They took their weapons off their back as they arrived into an old western shanty town along the edge of the Mojave, guns leveled with the barrels facing out. The two held a position as the sun made it’s rise over the horizon’s haze. In this forgotten 'Earth', stragglers still lived, like exiles from the rest of the starlit civilization above. People living quiet modest lives on a planet filled with no one but deserters of civilization like themselves, the towns folk looking on as Zack and Diane entered past the fenced perimeter.

Upon seeing the two, many started to head indoors, some running into shops and saloons, others peeking out old windows and curtains.

Diane spoke to the town amongst the town square. “Anyone want to make this difficult?” Silence.

Zack paced in a circle, eyeing the now silent streets. “The artifact. I know an outlaw of yours stole it. Hand it over, and we'll leave real easy.”

The sound of two bullets being fired echoed into the air, the kind of noise that would be unheard of in any battlefield in Xi. Old classic bullets, missing just below Diane's feet.

“Take aim!” She shouted. Zack and Diane kept their guns trained on the town, then scrambled as gunfire started to rain down on them from the watertower above. The bullets started pinging the metal around them, some bouncing off the wooden beams and structures around them and landing in a circle, hitting everything but them. Metal in the shape of death rained down as dust rained out from beneath their feet. The two scurried to take cover. Both started to return fire into alleyways and back up towards rooftops. They hit a man bearing a handkerchief over his mouth, shooting him overtop one roof, he plunged into the alleyway. Another man took his place.

Diane pointed her gun at one man, who dove into the shadows behind a water barrel. Her autocannon blasted through it, causing it explode like an electrified water sprout and eviscerating him with it. Another man dived out a window aiming his gun at them. dove forward, knocking the man over with him. The man hit a wall, then Diane smashed his skull with her elbow as he rose. She pointed her gun to him, her mouth close to his ear. “I’m not playing nice.” Zack smiled. “Atta girl.” He strode along the town center like a tank, absorbing numerous bullets shot into his body with minimal damage. They went in, the wound healed and soon pushed them back out and smoothed over. Diane followed behind him, mowing down the men at her feet with her autocannon with piercing shots of blue projectiles as they started to rush out of a church.

The rooftops assaulted a barricade below with cannonfire, their shots exploding the sand and the craters below like a barrage of artillery fire, sending up the dust like a wave of smoke. Diane took out her spear and stabbed a portal, appearing behind five men uptop the roof, then opening fire upon them. She swung her spear, taking out three. Zack turned and walked through the town as the gunfire died down, the bullets going silent like the desert. Zack and Diane met together as the two stood back to back, with Diane's autocannon slung over her shoulder. A man dressed like a priest came out of the church with his hands up. “Okay okay, we surrender..” He said, holding the godshard in his hand.

“Throw it over.” Zack said, aiming his gun at them.

The man smirked, pulling a whistle and blowing it. From five different buildings, two dozen outlaws rushed out , armed with shotguns and assault rifles. The man laughed. “We were just waiting for you to let your guard down and surround you.” The gang opened fire upon them.

Zack turned and leapt to the floor, Diane reflecting gunfire with her spear in a twirling motion. With his hand punted into the ground, Zack created ripples that started to meld the ground like a wave, the entire town quickly shaking underneath its foundations. It threw half the men off, the remainder being shaken into stumble. In the span of seconds, Zack grabbed Diane and jumped up over the church tower, reversing the positions of when they arrived. He started shooting below. Diane followed suit, the sound of her weapon sending a deafening resonance

across the town. Within minutes the 'backup' had been halved, as their weapons kept firing off a round after a round. Soon the red reaper of death's gun ran out of ammunition. “Dammit..” He pointed to an ammo crate, send a beam of gravity down and blew it, causing it to erupt in a wave of metal into the town below. The explosion rocked the two and they fell through the ceiling, down into the church pews.

A group of the men that had been fighting rallied behind the cover of the church to launch grenades into the church's broken walls, causing a blast of flames and smoke to fill the church's inside. Diane was knocked off her feet, her vision blurred. A fireball crashed into the pew she was laying in and smothered it. Grumbling, she put aside her weapon, created a gun-like gesture with her fingers and started blasting out the glass windows , sending out a shower of flaming glass projectiles into the streets. Zack followed suit, pressurized distortions from his hand creating shots and hitting a pair of men running across the road. The two ran through an emptied out windowsill to see the remaining targets fleeing.

The lone priest started to back away as they approached him. “E-easy.. you want this?” He held up the godshard. “This was a gift from the divine, it speaks to me! I've heard its voice, its call! If you take it, are you prepared to listen to it, to pray to it every night? Are you prepared to live, and die, for it?”

Zack and Diane looked at him. Zack shrugged. “Nah.”

The priest gulped. “You don't wanna hear about the god, the god that this stone contains, and her story-” He took a shotgun out from behind and rapidly charged it forward. Before he could pull the trigger, Diane shot him in the chest, firing an electrical shell that stopped the priest's heart dead. She walked over, the town now in the midst of silence. She picked up the shard, letting it shine in the hazy sunlight.

Diane put the shard back in her pocket and walked back.

“How did they get this from the planet, anyway?” Zack asked, picking up his weapons and sheathing them.

“I don't know. Maybe they got a lot of help. This world was the first place I looked for one of these girls..”

“What do you think they were raving about just now? The lunatic..” Zack said, looking at the smoke still clearing from the priest's chest.

Diane hesitated. “No clue,” she repeated, but her voice didn’t quite land with the confidence she wanted. The smoke from the church rolled low along the street, turning the morning sun into a long forgotten star beyond the smog that had abandon its light onto the world.

She raised the oracle-orb. The bubble shimmered, wobbled, bubbled and soon took the shard back in, absorbing it and sending it to Hermes.

“We good now?” He asked. Diane turned. “Mmhm.”

Zack and Diane packed up, walking out of the town. They left a trail of rubble behind them in their wake. Diane sighed, and the echo rolled over the earth’s surface. The Mojave vanished behind them as they parted ways once more, Zack looking back at her, and the gem not returning his gaze once.

It was a feeling she knew well. A feeling of being so very alone.

 

──────────────────────────────⟢⧰⟣──────────────────────────────

 

 

 

A few hours after hanging by the waterfall, the fortress had burst to life. Rebecca could hear bass thudding through the concrete like the building had grown a heartbeat, everywhere she stepped she bumped into another scraggly figure, a punk or bandaged neon thugs with high-tech weaponry moving to the beat and filling the summit floor. The people here reminded her much of way back home, when Night City offered the world's wildest clubs and cyberscenes, there was no end to no-gooders in the heart of the base. As they shoved their way through the crowd she could hear Lapis and Zack talking nearby. She ignored the two, before seeing Odalia uptop. She was at the top of the podium, looking at the floor below, Diane sat at the central recruitment desk below her stage platform overhead. Chalcan sat to her right. His eyes were scanning the crowd in slow sweeps, and every few seconds he leaned toward a comm device, murmuring short orders to security teams.

Holo-banners floated above the crowd, reading

INSURGENCY SUMMIT AMIDST THE CELESTIAL FRACTURES NO GODS NO LEASHES

The crowd didn’t feel cohesive. Nor disciplined or war ready. It felt hungry. “Quit holding up the line!” A voice said behind Rebecca. “Oh fuck off.” She said, before jumping atop Diane's table. “Hey everyone, listen! You too Diane!” Someone shouted out. She was ignored by the crowds, as if she hadn't said a word, and they were in a state of hypnosis. “I'm the woman with the big mouth who's got a big heart and she's going to save all of us from XU!”

“What the hell are you doing?” Diane growled. “Get out of the way and stay quiet.”

She gave Diane the middle finger, before resuming. Rebecca picked up a mic on the table. “Boy do I hate Ursula! She's the biggest scum of the galaxy, she's responsible for all the injustice, she's got the whole galaxy under her thumb. And so we fight back! To bring a better world! And I'm here to say, as a woman, as a rebel, as a soldier, I'm going to do what I can to save you from that, too!”

Rebecca's speech drew cheers, but the crowd was riled up even more when Diane stepped out from behind her table, as if she was stepping on to the stage. She grabbed her spear, about to make Rebecca listen. “If you're done making fun, then-” She didn't get a chance to finish as Silvpurr bumped into her. Pipo and Jayce padded at her sides, tails flicking like ticking metronomes. Silvpurr had insisted on “escorting” them, which mostly meant skipping ahead, waving at strangers, along with Jayce and Pipo who were catching much attention. Moreso than even Rebecca who was strewn up in every banner in the room. Rebecca saw Diane handing out sheets to people in line. Behind her, the crowd was growing bigger. Some were dressed in club attire, others were in military attire. The two groups of people seemed to have no interest in talking to each other. The latter group was clearly more adverse to Rebecca and the two set behind her. Vicuna stayed quiet, walking a half-step behind Rebecca, eyes moving constantly.

Counting exits. Counting threats. Counting how many times Rebecca’s face appeared on the walls.

The doors to the hall yawned open. Rebecca's eyes opened up, she gasped. At the end were three figures she hadn't seen in awhile.

Astrid. Her daughter, Jack, and Megumi. A strange child behind Megumi rested on her shoulder.

“ASTRID!” Rebecca cried, running through the crowd to greet her. “Celeste!” Astrid cheered back, eyes opened with delight.

She shoved through a knot of neon thugs, shoulder-checked a guy mid-dance, and then she was there, hands on Astrid’s shoulders, staring like she needed to verify Astrid was real and not another hologram. Her blond hair pulled back tighter in a ponytail, the woman wore a golden evening dress with split ends at the skirt, shoulderpads gleaming that made her look even more regal than she usually did. Megumi was in a beautiful silver dress with emerald green bracelets and accents. Jack wore rubbery suspenders and overalls, her signature crowbar slung around her back.

Rebecca’s throat constricted. “You’re, you’re here. Yo! You made it.” She yanked Astrid into a hug.

“Hi, Jackie” she said.

Rebecca let Astrid go and grabbed Jack by the collar to pull her into a brief, brutal hug. “Don’t 'hi' me. You grew without me.”

She said, laughing through her tears, eyes red.

“Not quite.” She said, before taking a breath and turning to Lapis who over by the booth, was looking at the group with suspicion and frustration. “That's a lot of work.”

Diane for her part shared Lapis's distraction, when she saw Astrid her heart leapt at it, and a familiar sinking feeling made her chest ache.

Zack stood a little off to the side, half in shadow, looking like he’d been asked to babysit a bonfire, from what Rebecca could tell his gaze was fixed on Diane, or perhaps one of the other two gems next to her. Maybe all 3.

Chalcan was silent.

Megumi stepped forward next, quieter, eyes scanning the bosy room even while she smiled. “It's very pleasant to see you again, miss Rebecca.” She eyed the crowd. “I heard the base is quite the party now. And I wasn't expecting the Stormless Boy to be here.” She said, looking at the booth. And then Rebecca noticed the child.

Small. Strange. Perched against Megumi’s shoulder with the sleepy weight of trust. Not a baby. Not a teen, nowhere close. That in-between age, perhaps a toddler of 4 or 6 by the looks of it. She uniquely had a singular eye, not two. She put the little girl on her shoulder out of mind.

“You know him?” Rebecca said, looking at Chalcan.

“Him? Oh yes, Chalcan.. is from Orchid. He and Croix were acquainted there. He had quite an, interesting reputation even while I lead the Yawning Vault.” She said, looking to the booth again. “Is he?”

“Yeah he is. He’s a thorn in my side. Bet you we're gonna kick his ass real soon.” She

said.

 

“Really now?” Astrid said.

Jack looked to her mother. “Yeah, that guy is a hardass and I was surprised to find he’s

the one who’s Croix's shadow.” “Her what?” Rebecca asked.

“Nevermind that.” Astrid said. “Let's get some drinks. And we can talk to your friends over there.” She said, as Vicuna and Silvpurr walked forward with their new friends.

Wave Mistress's eyes opened wide at Jack and Astrid. “Hi! My names Wave Mistress!

These are my friends! They're from Harvest!” She said. Vicuna and Silvpurr greeted Astrid. “Harvest? I've never been there! Tell me about it!” Astrid replied.

From the rooftop, Odalia was still watching. She shone a light down on Rebecca, who turned up. The woman cleared her throat, Byte wiggling her fingers towards her.

“You fellahs shoot the shit, I've gotta take care of something. Be back!” Rebecca said, pushing her way through the large crowd, soon escaping its gravity and exiting out the halls. She walked for a bit up towards some stairs, Odalia meeting her.

“Come along, yes yes we've got quite the lovely party. I'll bring you back soon.” She said. Rebecca followed her into a hallway, Odalia leading her down some stairs that led to a hallway lined with a series of metal boxes, the insurgency's armory, then past to a room with a single chair and old audio equipment. “Sit down.” Odalia told her.

Rebecca complied, looking around. A boxy old speaker. A thick coil of cables. A little red “REC” light that blinked weakly. Odalia Byte closed the door with her heel.

Odalia didn’t bother with pleasantries. She circled the chair once, like she was inspecting a suspect at a crime scene.

“You are,” Odalia said, “very difficult to schedule.”

Rebecca snorted. “Love you too.” She still remembered this horrible woman from, well years of travel with her among the Starlight Circus. Her, Croix and Astrid in bed together, a rather greedy lover if she must admit.

Odalia’s eyes flicked to her, amused for half a second, then flat again. She set a small object on the table.

A cassette. “A little loyalty calibration.” She said.

Rebecca blinked. Then she laughed. A single bark. “You can’t be serious.” Odalia tapped the cassette with one nail. “I’m always serious.”

“Is this a prank?”

Odalia’s mouth twitched. “No. It’s a test.” Odalia slid the cassette into the player with deliberate care. “Croix brought you here,” Odalia said. “Croix gave you banners. Fans. An audience. How will you repay her? What do you intend to do with Croix's gifts?” Odalia’s gaze sharpened. “People who are handed stages tend to mistake them for thrones.”

Rebecca stared back. “People who build thrones tend to mistake themselves for gods.”

Odalia smiled, thin. “No gods here.” she replied. After pressing a button, the 'conditioning' began.

“HELLO, REBECCA. YOU ARE SAFE. YOU ARE VALUED. YOU ARE LOYAL TO THE INSURGENCY.

YOU WILL FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS CALMLY.

YOU WILL FEEL A WARM, RELAXING CERTAINTY WHEN YOU AGREE.”

Rebecca’s eyes went wide. “Oh my god. Is that you?” A bright, cheap BEEP played.

The woman let the audio play for 5 minutes, before the droning instructions and obedience protocols made Rebecca sleepy, but not the least bit engaged.

Rebecca deadpanned, loud and clear: “Yes, Odalia.” Odalia’s eyes narrowed. “Interesting.”

Rebecca grinned. “What? You told me to.” Odalia reached down and hit stop.

The whirring died. Silence rushed in. “Why did you say it?” Odalia asked.

Rebecca blinked. “Because it’s obviously fake and you’re obviously testing whether I’ll play along.”

Odalia nodded once. “And?” Odalia’s stare held. “This is lame. Can we just head back to the booze?”

Odalia pressed another button. Her gaze remained flat, stone cold.

Then she reached past the reel-to-reel and pressed a button she hadn’t touched yet. The static-y, plastic quality of the recording ceased and the new sound became a real time realistic audio, as real as life itself playing back.

“C-celeste?!?”

Then a voice that wasn’t Odalia’s, wasn’t even close to her cadence, cracked through the room. “Astrid?” Rebecca whispered before she could stop herself.

Another voice joined it, smaller, younger, raw with fear.

“Mom!” Jack’s voice. “Mom, listen, please, please! Don't hurt her you fucking-” Then , she burst into tears. A third voice joined the audio. Megumi’s.

“Odalia! You can't- you can't do this. I've- I've called them off. Please.”

Somewhere in it, metal clanged. Someone sobbed. Someone tried to swallow a scream and failed.

“Astrid” again, tighter now, the words rushing like a flood. “Becca. If you can hear this, don’t fight. Don’t be stubborn. Please, just do what she says.”

Jack’s voice broke. “She said she’ll kill us if you don’t. She said it’s easy. She said it’s nothing. She said you’ll understand after.”

Rebecca’s hands clenched against the chair so hard she dented it. Odalia stood perfectly still beside the table, watching.

The speaker continued, and now there was a third voice, filtered, calm, intimate. Odalia’s voice, but with a different texture, as if it had been sanded down to cruelty’s preferred finish.

“Rebecca,” the voice on the tape purred, “kiss my hand. You have ten seconds. You want your family to keep breathing, you will show me you can kneel.” Rebecca didn’t think.

She stood so fast the chair screeched. Her steps hit the floor wrong. Her vision tunneled.

She grabbed Odalia’s wrist with both hands, like she could anchor reality by sheer force, and brought Odalia’s knuckles to her mouth.

A quick, desperate press, inches away from the lady's skin. Then she looked at the tape again, and scowled. “You bitch.” She kicked the player away.

Rebecca scratched her head. “I... I..” She looked into the eyes of the women and tried not to. “You tried to trick me, Odie!” Odalia's eyes glinted like a knife's point. “You're the worst rebel. You're no different than she is. You care more about them than the fight.” Odalia lifted her other hand and tapped the audio equipment. “This was a digital synthesis, a simple forgery. Such emotional manipulation tactics are common for Ursula when she truly needs to apprehend someone.” She said.

Rebecca looked at her, dead-eyed. “You are.” She replied. “You’re the worst.”

“And are you loyal now?” Odalia asked. Rebecca blinked, furious. “To them, my friends

yeah!”

Odalia’s eyes sharpened. “Exactly. Not to Croix. Not to Diane. Not to the Insurgency as a

company brand. Not to the status, the legendary role Croix has been building for you.” “Company brand?” Rebecca asked.

“Why yes, I ran a galactic corporation. One such as I always had ways to keep my employees and brand loyal and devoted to the company. Especially those who threatened to get in the way of the bigger picture.” She said matter of factually.

“Oh yeah? How'd that work out for your daughter?” Rebecca asked.

Odalia stiffened at the words, for a brief moment, before her poise and demeanor were back to perfect balance. “I didn't raise my daughter to be loyal.” She said. “I raised her to be competent. A winner. That's different. Croix likes having stooges and useful idiots in her cult. You're here to be a heroine of her myth. Diane wants you for her insurgency. But I don't want you in my insurgency as some kind of parrot or doe.” She said.

“'My insurgency'.” Rebecca repeated in a questioning tone. “I want you to be a spear, a sharp explosion in the heart of our enemy. Loyalty can come second, if ever- but you should prove your worth, and not to me or anyone at this summit. I've only asked you to stab my enemy, in the most effective way you can. You may stab me in the front too. I don't care.” She said, calm. “The point is, you're too valuable to be a puppet.”

Rebecca raised her brow. “You'd rather I give Ursula a million bad days than gift the insurgency one good one.” She said.

“Evidently. You catch on quick.” Odalia said.

Rebecca thought it over. “I thought the point was to fight back. Together.” She said. “Well, for most of us, it is.” Odalia said. “But my perspective is a little different. Croix

has grown and grown and the longer she exists, the more she wants, wants, wants. For me? I want for nothing. You think Croix will be satisfied destroying XU? Whose to say she won't rule it in her sister's stead. Perhaps she'll want something else. Something different. Something more. A new world. And I've got a history with people who think they can make a new world.” She said.

Rebecca pondered this. “I don't understand.”

“You wouldn't. You come from the old world, do you not? Wouldn't you like to see a piece of it preserved?”

Odalia said, stepping around the table.

Rebecca looked at her, silent. She didn't quite understand the nuances of this strange philosophy, other than the fact Odalia was trying to play a long game. For her it seemed she was trying to make her a pawn, not unlike Croix or the insurgency. The girl glared at Byte. “Odalia, fuck off with this shit. Nothing lasts. Even the biggest players in history burn out or are forgotten.”

“And what do you intend to do?” Odalia asked, smiling. “That's the crux of it, Rebecca.

Don't you think it's worth at least trying to ensure you don't burn out too? Or that you're not forgotten? I'm not a puppetmaster. I'm a realist. I'm concerned with preservation, with legacy.”

“Ah, so you're the big preservationist. That's your stance. Woo-ee.” Rebecca rolled her eye. “Right up there with some of the most pathetic, sad, old people you'll ever meet.

Preservationist means you're preserving shit you don't want to be destroyed. It doesn't mean you're preserving the right things.” She said. “Perhaps, but..” Odalia pointed to a dilapidated monitor. On it, footage of Amity Byte was playing from Australia, her face giving an intense speech, before being frozen in time every few moments. Her daughter, fighting for her life out there. “..Some things, some legacies I'd like to think are worth preserving.”

Rebecca stared at it longer than cared to. “You keep tabs on her?” Rebecca said.

Rebecca’s gaze snapped back to the monitor. Amity’s face flickered, the audio unheard but implied in all her vocal ferocity.

Odalia didn’t look away from the screen. “Of course I do.”

“Croix believes in spectacle,” Odalia said. “Diane believes in narrative. Chalcan believes in purity. Lapis believes in freedom.”

Rebecca’s eyes narrowed. “And you believe in what, exactly?”

She put the tape away and opened the door. “I believe in my daughter. I believe she'll do the right thing when the time comes. How about you- will you?”

“I’ll do what I do,” Rebecca said, leaving the cluttered 'conditioning room' to its own desolate despair.

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The last encounter with Diane lingered on Zack's mind. The conversation about her needing him and Croix, about the future impending war they'd have against Ursula, who was currently heading Star Charity on its fast track to galactic dominance. This was one of the few moments where Zack realized that, for once, he didn't really know what he wanted. Was it time for him to return to his sister and help him with taking back the empire from Ursula? Was it time for him to finally start a new life on his own? The questions were plentiful and the answers were nonexistent. It didn't help that in the back of his mind, he knew that Diane was already set on a warpath of her own, no matter what he did. He wasn't sure if it was the right thing for him to do, but if she was willing to go on her own, then he wasn't going to stop her. He would seek her out,

whatever version of her appeared next and affirm his and Croix's support, after reaching out to them. This next encounter didn't come from the sheer incidence of fate, but rather Zack actively deciding to seek her out after his brief stay with Croix. He located Diane, after a great ordeal at a far off city in Xi's old industrialized regions, the backwaters city of Hadron on a populated planet of Nuevo Luna. Diane was surprised and somewhat annoyed to have been called out by the man in the crowd, from what he could see this version of Diane was much younger than the one he'd went freeshooting with prior.

The muscles on her body were scrawnier, expressions softer. The body language was not as aggressive or stoic, even her hair was neater, but that didn't mean it wasn't a bad look for her. It was a very endearing look, a much more approachable one. This made it somewhat easier for Zack to approach her, the seriousness of the previous Diane at the end of her journey across Xi's vast timeline. “Hey there, big guy.” She said, elbowing him as they caught up. Diane's words were not as harsh as Zack recalled, the contrast was day and night. “Hmmhf.” He replied, looking at a nearby cafe. “Can we sit down and talk?”

The two went in and ordered some drinks and snacks before sitting down at a table. Zack was hesitant to say anything, looking around as if expecting the worst. “So? What's up? You still want to talk to me? After our last encounter” She asked, with a hint of worry in her voice. Zack scratched his head, not really sure when 'last' was for her, given the temporal disparities. “The last time meeting you was, intense.” He said. “I'm just kind of worried that maybe you won't see me as a friend anymore.” Zack spoke bluntly, staring out the cafe window.

Diane herself experienced a bit of anxiety as she started to consider how this version of Zack was different from the usual one she knew. Opening up, referring to himself as a 'friend', not the gruff, manner less machine or soldier of death he usually presented himself as devoid of warmth. “Are you taking care of yourself these days?” He asked. Zack's face softened as she noticed him looking at her. “Well I've definitely grown a bit stronger than when we met.” She joked, leaning against him. Diane laughed at her own joke, to which Zack blushed. “You're just a little less of a dick in general around this time period, right?”

Zack looked around the room, trying to distract from what felt like her making fun of him. “Well, I've certainly changed, that's for sure,” Birds chirped outside, flying to freedom towards the planet's opposite hemisphere. “I've become a lot more understanding about my circumstances and yours as well.” He said, trying to pass the buck as the waitress came with a meal to serve. She had a coppered jawline and artificial eye, it was only as she set the table that Zack realized she was a synth. His expression turned abit sour.

“Yeah? So, you gonna help me on the next Shard? I heard there were a few in other galaxies.” Diane asked, hoping he'd pay for the meal. “I've decided to take a different path, I'm going to do a few favors for my sister.” This made Diane tense up. Whichever one he meant, she couldn't say which felt worse. “Your sister? Ursula? Or... the other one?” She said, as Zack picked up his food.

“The other one.” A voice said from behind, which made Diane's heart sink into the abyss, as if she'd just heard an evil spirit fill the room with its malice. Clacking her heels behind Diane, Croix walked over and put her arms over Diane's shoulders, before leaning down. “I've heard much about you, Diane, including that you're a bit of a loose cannon. I'm surprised you're able to have this conversation with him without any of your usual... bluster. Your sister would be proud to see that you're making your own way in the universe.”

Diane screamed. She turned around and tossed her plate at the woman, who had already dodged and sidestepped it, the projectile puncturing the wall like a missile. Diane was on her feet and grabbed Croix's wrist, before she could react she was thrown onto the ceiling. She grabbed a beam overtop, summoned her spear and dived down to strike at the woman. Croix whispered something and waggled her finger to say 'nuh uh', a barrier of light rippling when Diane's spear failed to pierce through it. Croix hopped down, as Diane struggled to find another way to try to strike at her. “I am going to ask you to sit back down and behave nicely, little lady. It's good to learn you're so fiery, but etiquette is etiquette.”

The gem recoiled inside. She turned to Zack. “You brought HER?!?!”

Zack scratched his head, confused. “You in the future, you asked me to. Said you needed me and her for some goal of yours.”

“I WOULD NEVER.” Diane shouted as Zack tried to reassure her. “That woman is a demon! The architect of all of my pain!” The synth had to call for security to escort Diane out, as Croix just smirked and whispered into the synth's ear, before they nodded and left the scene alone.

Croix yawned bored. “How the stars in my eyes grew cold listening to you prattle. While I'm sure the version of me you had sorted out in your world must've been fun, seeing a grown woman throw a tantrum over a lady she's never even met is tiresome. So, shall we dispense with the past and have a new first impression?”

The café had gone quiet. “A new first impression,” she repeated, tapping one finger lightly against Diane’s shoulder like she was correcting posture. “Look at you. All that history, all that heat, and yet, we haven’t even exchanged names properly.”

Diane’s heart thudded like a hammer inside a bell. She’s wrong, the angry part of her insisted. She knows. She’s always known.

Croix tilted her head. “Sit down.” Diane laughed, sharp and ugly. “No.”

Croix’s gaze shifted to Zack. “You didn’t tell me she was this, theatrical.”

Croix leaned closer, voice soft so the crowd couldn’t drink it in. “Diane, you and I have never met. Not in this fork. Not in this slice. Whatever you remember, whatever scar you carry

that I gave you as a gift, it belongs to a different hallway of time.”

“That’s a lie,” Diane snapped, but the words came out weaker than she wanted. “You're the same, in every timeline, in every instance, you're exactly the same. That’s the problem, when you and I met in all my timejumps, you already knew everything about me. You knew all my secrets, all my past, all the ways I'd fall. It's never changed, it's never changed. Even now. I don't know how but-”

“Well, I don't know much of you now. Only what my brother told me. That in your time, I raised you in a compound. Kept you underground with you and your sister. Hmm, that can’t be right.” Croix mused as Diane looked like she was about to blow. “I’m thinking of maybe this is all some elaborate hoax. I only keep toys and grow things that are useful, or amusing to me. Are you useful? Amusing, perhaps.”

Zack finally spoke, slow and careful. “She’s not wrong about one thing. You told me.

Future you. You said you needed me and Croix.”

Diane recalled the conversation. Long ago, what White Nebula told her, in which the Empire would rise once more, and her and Croix were to be the leaders of the war against XU to secure it once and for all. She refused to heed to that instance, and couldn't imagine what version of her in the future would have fallen so low as to head it. “Be that as it may. I decline. Whatever you are, I don't want to be a part of it. I don't want to serve you, in any capacity.”

Croix shrugged. “Okay, fine. Tell you what.” She folded two hands, as if in a holy prayer and looked Diane in the eye. “I'll follow you then. You're the boss. Order me around, do as you wish It's just for a little bit, though. Promise me, I can do anything for you, whatever you want.” Croix made eye contact with her, her hand reaching out to touch Diane's. “You just have to stop fighting me. You know, for a few minutes, just stop. I know you don’t trust me. And I wouldn't trust me either. But I'm not that woman. I'm a new person, a different Croix. Different timeline, different goals.”

Diane whipped her head toward him. “Then future me was out of her mind.”

Croix straightened, hands clasped behind her back, posture immaculate. “Or future you learned something present you hasn’t yet.”

“Croix,” Zack said. “Stop playing. Diane,” he added, turning to her, “stop lunging. We need a decision. Right now.”

Diane’s eyes burned. “A decision about what? Whether I let her near me?”

“A decision about the war you keep talking about,” Zack replied. “Ursula. Star Charity.

Whatever’s coming.”

Diane slapped her hand away. She had enough of this awful person messing with her. “You always... you always do this...” She muttered, her hands trembling as she stood up. “You're

always doing something, the whole time. This conversation, this moment, even now, even as you're doing this. It's for your amusement, your sick and twisted games. Diane got up dramatically ready to storm out.

“Would you like to know where the next godshard is?” Croix asked. “No, even better yet, would you like to have the godshards 'I've' collected?” Diane froze in her place, eyes wide. Zack also stood up to see what was happening. “Y-You.. collected them?” Diane stammered.

Croix smiled, lips pulling apart like a shark’s gums. “Oh yes, Diane. I have a lot of them.

There are a lot of them out there, you know? I only need so many.”

The gem grit her teeth. Her voice dropped. “So this is a trick, you're lying.”

Rolling her eyes, Croix pulled out of her pocket a clean crystal- a godshard, and tossed it on the table, falling right in front of Diane. “It’s a gift,” Croix corrected. “A clean shard. In your lap. No centuries of digging. No crawling through planetary cores. You want to hate me? Fine. Hate me while you take the advantage. Accept my help, and in return I'll do everything in my power to, fulfill that 'mission' of yours that requires me and my dear brother, if you will.”

Diane stared at the stone, eyes wide. Her voice came out tight. “Why would you help me?”

Croix looked at her as if the answer was obvious. “Because I've decided to.” Diane’s lip curled. “That’s not a reason.”

Croix’s eyes softened by a millimeter. “Fine. Because Zack asked.” It was an obvious like, but less of a transparent dodge at least. Croix folded her hands, saintly as a statue. “Zack requested my presence. I accepted. I’m not pretending it’s for charity. That's my sisters schtick, not mine. “

“Diane didn’t take her eyes off Croix. “You say 'asked' like he’s my dad. So what do you want from me in return?” Diane asked. “What do you get out of any of this?”

Resigned to leisure, Croix threw her arms behind her chair, taking in the view of the cafe, which had mostly forgotten about the outburst since. “Now that, I must confess, is a secret.”

For a moment she considered the simplest path: stab reality, leave, pretend this never happened. The egg. The orb. Hermes. The whole fetchquest. Keep it clean. Keep it lonely.

And then her gaze dropped to the godshard again. Her mind returned to Thatti.

“But what if I told you,” Croix said slowly, like it was a riddle, “what I wanted, was just the feeling of watching you smile? Of getting the world exactly as you want it?”

“I'd say you were full of shit, then.” Diane replied, taking in a breath of confidence. “You think you can break me? Not at all. Not with this.”

“Then,” Croix said, eyes glittering, “I can let you in on a little secret.” Croix leaned forward. “A secret on the godshards? Wouldn't you love to know where they truly come from? I can even help you find the rest of them.”

Zack stepped in. He placed his hand on Diane's shoulder and nodded at the godshard. “Just take it for now. Just take it. We'll talk later about what you have to do to repay me and Croix.” He explained, watching her.

She picked up the godshard, taking out her orb- before she did away with another one, she noticed this godshard was abit chunkier than the rest. She held it close to her eye, the tiniest faint impression of archaic, ancient writing etched into the surface of the stone, it looked as if it could be relics of some old language that seemed foreign and incomprehensible to her. “Alright,” she mumbled, sliding it into her pocket.

Diane looked up at the two. “I take your challenge, whatever it is. And in return..” She cursed White Nebula under her breath. “You make good on your promise to help me take on Ursula when the time comes.” They stepped out into Hadron’s gray industrial air, where the sky was a permanent bruise and the streetlights glowed like tired eyes. The synth waitress appeared behind Croix, who smiled. “Send the bill to Star Charity.” She told her.

Diane followed after Zack as they headed out to the streets. “Are we heading to the next shard or-” She asked.

“For now, I just want you to wait on me until I decide what to do with you.” Zack told her. “For now, all I can say is that, you're safe with me.”

And just like that, the deal was struck. It wasn't a full out promise, but a commitment.

Whether it would last, or whether it was broken, was another matter entirely.

Diane turned to Zack, staring into his eyes. He ran his hands through her hair. “Just remember. This was your idea.” Zack said.

From that encounter, Diane's timejumps and quest to seek out the godshards took on a more linear approach. She would not only habitually seek out Zack, but be assisted by Croix along the way in her search. Their relationship with one another would be strained for a while, where Diane would constantly be suspicious of their motives. This new version of Croix would give into the idea of helping Diane, albeit only to a small degree. They were going to be a lot more supportive than before, if only to see Diane go on her personal mission to find Ursula and stop the war. For their part, neither seemed particularly enthusiastic about going against Ursula, but agreed that if Diane could figure out a way to stop her, then they'd help her in whatever capacity they could.

Several years later, Diane found herself far from Xi, on a far off planet whose technology and residents had been growing in strength to an exponential degree. This was was known as Ambera, a planet with superpowered individuals, brilliant minds and ferocious entities known as

Nobu who stalked the planes of the surfaceworld. These entities were known to be the ones who were responsible for building the planet's civilization up into a highly advanced society, the immense danger and pressure they put Amberans under forced them to evolve both fighting capability, strategy and empirical praxis past an unheard of evolutionary bottleneck. The acceleration of this civilization was of notice to many others. Aside from the Nobu, Diane also found out that there were other visitors to this planet, and that Harvest as a whole was not a unified galaxy like Xi but rather a loose federation, even looser than the Merchant Era Xi.

Planets and solar systems could be invaded, auctioned off, traded, or raided by pirates at any moment, with each world on their own. The so-called galactic federation of Harvest was merely a suggestion, a forum of sorts for the galactic community to bargain, communicate and establish an informal order of imperial exchange and conquest. These too became part of the threats Ambera faced, its neighbors and all aliens surrounding it a constant, ever-present threat to invade its airspace, invade its world, invade its civilization and claim it as their own. That the planet had to face these challenges every day was a constant reminder that the galaxy was a harsh, unforgiving place where the weak would face subjugation. Ambera and its people were constantly reminded of the harshness of life, the harshness of the universe.

It was on this planet, that Diane looked up at a Nobu- it head was a geometrical 8-sided octagon rotating in place with a snake-like coil going for miles through the mountains, smaller octagons generating and flowing down the body before fading into its tail which resided in the clouds. Its tail flowed like a gentle stream, Diane looked up at it and blinked, the Nobu's presence unsettling. She could barely see the thin, faint golden glint atop the center of the projected octagon- a Godshard.

“Won't have too much trouble with it, will you?” Croix asked.

“Tsk.” Diane replied. She turned to Zack. “Use your tricks to pin it down, I'll pry the shard out of its head. Apparently if you damage these things too much, they regenerate and retreat into another dimension, so we have to be careful not to do any more damage than we have to.”

Zack nodded and brought up his hand, which flared with energy and blasted towards the noble creature. It recoiled, a few of the Nobu's smaller bodies around its core detaching and exploding out of it.

As the Nobu turned and looked to face the trio, Diane's wings came alive. She stabbed into the air and ripped thru reality, jumping thru numerous portals she created to rapidly dart around the Nobu's body in quick succession, aiming for the top of its head. She reached out and attempted to grab the shard, but found it was as tough to pin down as the Nobu's body, despite her claws and wings having sliced and pierced the flesh with no issues. Diane couldn't even manage to get it off its head, no matter how hard she pushed. The monstrous being began to thrash wildly, causing Diane to shake and sputter as she attempted to wrangle it like a cosmic rodeo. As it was, a shard-infused creature was a whole lot tougher to even manage to restrain.

“Ugh, never depend on a mere child to do what a grownup has already prepared for.” Croix said, pulling a small remote out of her pocket, one without any buttons but a glass interface. She swiped her fingers around it three times in a particular motion, and a signal went up. High above the clouds over the atmosphere, a satellite activated and began charging up.

Diane could see the sky light red, she let go and leapt away, flying off as far as she could. From the heavens a streaking beam of scarlet hammered down the Nobu with heat and concussive force, the raw energy flattening it to the ground and blasting the surrounding valley into a crater. With the creature weakened and dazed, Zack moved in and quickly sped towards its forehead.

With a swirling dense pocket of gravitation at his fingertips, he gripped the edges of the shard and created a quake that began to explode segments of the Nobu. He ripped off the shard, flinging it towards Diane. Diane flew over and caught it just in time before it could fall from the sky. “That was too close.” She muttered, retreating.

The Nobu's body was already beginning to restore the destroyed segments, its head took to motion again and started burrowing into the ground. Zack, Croix and Diane watched on from afar, but it soon became apparent that the Nobu was retreating into the plant's core. Diane held up the shard, a sliver of black goo dripping from its crystalline surface.

“One more.. she said, glancing back at Zack.

“How long you think we can keep this up?” Croix asked, turning her head to look up at the sky.

Diane grit her teeth. “Until it’s done. Until we’ve found all of them.” “And when we’re done?” Zack asked. “And then what?”

“We get Hermes to tell us what they're for.” She replied, turning towards the sky and stirring her spirit until the evening became soft as shadow everlasting.

 

 

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Rebecca and Odalia reached Odalia’s suite of halls. “Come on, I think we’re done here.

You go back to your friends. I’m sure they’re waiting for you.”

Rebecca nodded, a hint of a smile in her mouth. Odalia waved for her to go. While Rebecca went back to the Summit room, Odalia turned the corner and the hallway gave way to the massive room she was staying in, a room made into a shrine to Amity. The walls and ceiling had been painted in her images and visions, in homage to this person who once helped rule the galaxy as one of the Elderdragons. There were paintings and statues of her everywhere. Odalia pointed at a painting of Amity as a girl, her face and heart shining with joy.

“What will you do, renegade? We’ll see.” Odalia said.

Walking into the base's court now came with the difficulty of moving through a moshpit. With lines barely visible among the crowd inch-to-inch, the bass pounded overhead and people drank, smoke and danced the night away. In the crowd Rebecca moved to be among her new friends. Amidst it was Megumi, a little more relaxed in the crowd, her girl on her back, a soft expression on her face. “I didn't get a chance to ask.” Rebecca said, eyeing the child. “Whose the kid?”

Megumi turned her head towards the sleeping child. “Oh, her? This is Aisha, she's my other half.” She replied, smiling. “What, like a clone?”

Megumi shook her head. “Not quite. She's.. A piece of me. My other half. We live in a world of endless possibilities. We've chosen our path. Together. She's part of our dream.”

“Don't overthink it.” Astrid said, holding up a small wineglass. “She's more or less like a daughter for Megumi. No big deal.”

Jack leaned back in a chair, looking at her with annoyance. “No, actually she's not. She's a bit of a nightmare actually..”

“What does that mean?” Rebecca asked.

With a huff, Jack looked the other way at the strobe lights overhead. “Well, she keeps us busy. For one thing. She really can do anything with magic. Anything at all. She's, well, we don't really have a category for it yet. We don't know how she learned it all.”

“Magic? Like Astrid or gems use?”

“No.” Jack shook. “Something.. far worse. Not like, explosions or pew pew beam attacks.

It's difficult to describe. But she can change us, our bodies and our minds. She can do, well, I don't know what. Sure, blabla her possibilities are endless. And so are her possibilities to get on our nerves.”

Rebecca looked towards the girl on Megumi's shoulder who rested tenderly, finding solace in Megumi's grasp like someone clinging to their maternal barer.

Megumi laughed. “She's still sleeping, don't worry.”

The sound of a commotion made its way through the corner as numerous security officers were struck and pushed aside, a new posse emerging into the room. The enlistment lines still existed, technically, but they were more like currents among a lake, flows of water surrounded by calmer water. A tall woman with sharp posture and sharper eyes, pale and precise. A broad-shouldered, purple-skinned woman with a grin and a sticky body, a taller woman with an afro and blue-red jumpsuit that showed off the strength of her stance and stature, a sleepy black girl in

lolita wear and dressed like a fashionable belle. The fifth was a boy with purple skin and a rude figure. The figure pushing through the panic were 5 individuals- Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Bliss walking along sleepy and Hyde. The Crystal Gems, each of them one of the Rose Gems of the 7 deadly sins.

All of them, except envy and pride- represented in Lapis and Diane standing by the recruitment booth.

Jack and Astrid both perked at the arrival of these new visitors, with a little more interest than Rebecca had for the newcomers.

Rebecca however still had an eye on Aisha. Megumi stood a little off-center from the crush, back near a support pillar where the air was slightly cooler, her posture loose in a way that looked deliberate. The child on her back, small and heavy with sleep, clung with that unthinking trust only kids can have.

Pearl spotted the gem of envy instantly. Her voice cut through the bass without shouting. “Lapis.” Lapis turned, expression cooling into a practiced mask. “Pearl.” Amethyst whistled, slow. “Wow. Okay. So this is where you’ve been hiding. Cute little rave bunker, pretty neat huh?” Garnet’s head tilted slightly. “S'not a great start for a rebellion.”

Pearl’s gaze moved, clocking the banners, the weapons kiosks, the dancing bodies, the recruitment desk where Diane sat bored. Her mouth tightened.

“You’re working with them,” Pearl said, and it wasn’t a question. “With that, awful woman Croix! With the likes of her-” She pointed at Astrid, “-with a bunch of people with bad ideas and horrible intentions. Criminals, manipulative thieves and liars. You do know she’s-”

“We know who she is, Pearl.” Lapis said, voice tight, reaffirming her truth. Lapis’s chin lifted. “I’m working against the Domina. And against XU. Same problem, different uniforms.”

Garnet’s attention drifted, not to Lapis, not to Diane, but to Megumi. To Aisha.

Her stillness sharpened. “That child,” Garnet said quietly, “is not asleep in the way you

think.”

Megumi’s smile faltered, just a flicker. “She’s fine.” Garnet looked into the future. “No. I

can hear it.. her algorithms...”

Rebecca felt something in her gut clench. “Okay, cool, now the scary adult with the future-voice is concerned over a child. Love that.” She rolled her eyes.

Garnet came over to her, patting the sleeping child gently. “We’re not here to fight you. Unless you make it weird. We came because we heard your name being spread, but we figured

you didn't commit most of those acts. We're here to fight XU, but we cannot do it joining scoundrels like these people.”

The comment didn't land well with many of the dancers, who started to give Garnet and the crystal gems troubled looks. “And just what do you mean 'you people', hehehe..” Jack said, clutching her crowbar. Rebecca’s first instinct was to flip them off, but she hesitated, perhaps out of some forlorn sense of respect. She didn't know.

Aisha stirred. Not fully awake. Just a small shift, like a tide turning. The single eye opened a slit. And for a heartbeat the strobe lights seemed to dim around her, flickering on and off, then the eye closed and she went back to sleep.

Near Diane’s recruitment desk, where Chalcan stood with that relentless security posture, a man slipped through the line with the confidence of someone who already knew the rules and intended to break them politely.

Hyde.

Hair neat. Smile sharp. Eyes tracking Chalcan as if the entire summit was background noise. He saw his Ex and cleared his throat. “Diane.” He said. “Hyde. What do I owe the Prince of Bedlam?” She said, eyes rolling. He ignored her. Hyde didn’t go to Diane.

He went straight to Chalcan. “Heya. This is not a good time, babe.” Chalcan said, voice whispered. Chalcan stiffened, then exhaled, and for half a second his whole hard-edged “Shadow Commander” mask faltered into something more human.

Hyde smiled like he’d heard that before and filed it under “cute.” Then he leaned in and kissed Chalcan, quick but unmistakable on the mouth. Chalcan kept his lips closed, but didn't resist. His eyes tightened, but his fist stayed clenched.

Diane saw it. Lapis saw it. Rebecca saw it.

The first felt enraged. The second, shrugged. The third burst into laughter. Hyde’s smile softened, “Later then, love you.” he said, pressing his head and body to Chalcan's for just a brief moment of contact and tugging his arms around him before pulling away. Rebecca was hysterical. Diane, livid. She knew well about their entanglement, but seeing it flaunted up so close and shameless like this, while at work no less , got Diane so mad, she wanted to take Chalcan outside the base, to an undetermined but violent location and pummel him to dust. She didn't say anything yet, but she was glaring at her with eyes that could cut a man to shreds with a look. Lapis was smiling, amused.

“Diane.” Hyde said as he left the booth. Neither apology nor insult. “Fuck you.” She replied.

Then he melted back into the crowd. Rebecca's hysterics gave way to more of a grind, then she calmed down. She was about to ask who the hell Chalcan was and why was he fucking the other gem she remembered, Hyle? Heinrich? But a look from Diane told her not to. Instead she just paraded over, past several crowds to laugh and gloat.

“I’m going to go make a drink.” Astrid said.

“Gonna get me one, too? How about it, Miss Orion?” Lapis asked from behind, smirking. “Screw you.” Astrid retorted. The two kissed each other's cheeks. “Orchid girls gotta

stick together right?” Lapis laughed. Astrid puffed out her chest and put her arm in Lapis's and they started to stride towards the bar. Lapis’s eyes lingered for a moment, taking in the gems for a moment before she looked at Chalcan and Diane again. They stared each other down, Rebecca a hyena of taunts inbetween them. Hyde gone, the tension was still there. They were glaring at each other with the same fury, a kind of fury that could start a powder keg and abrupt into a firestorm.

On the upperfloor, Wave Mistress, Pipo and Silvpurr were watching Diane march up to Rebecca and push her forward. They didn't hear what they said, the words were too loud, but from their lip movements alone they could tell insults were exchanged, one barb after another.

Then Diane slapped Rebecca in the face and a punch was thrown.

The punch went wide, but with Diane's strength it still had the force of a wrecking ball, hitting a pillar and causing a cloud of dust, while the shockwave tore apart the recruitment desk like cardboard. Rebecca got back up slowly, her hands began to whirl with a strange ethereal energy that flowed around her wrists and arms, like generated drills of motion. Rebecca summoned her spear. Her spear clashed with Rebecca's fists, an explosion boomed through the room, the force of the boom sending the crowd skittering. Chalcan went flying with a thud backwards, caught by his own security officers who began to rush in.

Everybody cheered, and in turn frenzied. What was once a rave became a riot, as the music slowed and the bass stopped. Then the fighting started.

The fight had been the spark. And now it was a full-blown inferno. Rebecca's wrists were spinning, her spear-fists cracking and the floor shaking with the power of the blows, Chalcan's men were already trying to put down the commotion. Recruited soldiers, yet-to-be recruited insurgents, mobs of psychos and cyber rift raft began throwing hands and fisticuffs at each other. It was then Jack and Astrid's expressions sharpened. They pulled out their weapons, just in time to block from Pearl swinging the blade of her spear at them both. “YOU TWO! You've corrupted Rebecca and Lapis like this!”

“Haha, I like this.” Lapis said, watching from the balcony rail of the upper floor.

“Security was your ONE job.” Diane said, grabbing Chalcan by the arm to hold him back. “What do you care?” Chalcan asked, pulling Diane's hand off him. They were interrupted when Rebecca, grabbing a beamsword from one of the weapon shelves ran towards Diane and tried to strike her. Diane caught it near the haft of her spear. The nearest strobe rig blew sparks. Diane pivoted, twisting the spear shaft and striking forward at her. Rebecca evaded it, then punched a hole in the cement with her palm, then punched again, the fury of the spiraling energy around her hands sending Diane back into a wall. The fight had broken out and spread now to the upperfloor, where everyone in sight was brawling and fighting whoever they could find in mass hysteria. Chalcan, half a step behind, screamed into his comm. “Security teams, get here NOW.”

Pearl appeared between Jack and Astrid in a flash of furious precision, pursuing them in

rage.

Bliss had already transformed into her awakened state, and was swatting at the crowd like

rats. Silvpurr was bouncing from platform to platform above, kicking and clawing at everyone she came across, a flurry of chaos.

Aisha made a small sound, a yawn. And then the riot stuttered. Not stopped. Not frozen.

Just, buffering for a moment. It resumed without anyone noticing.

Meanwhile, insurgents on digital motorbikes began riding around the venue, capturing others with nets and ropes as if it were a rodeo. Anyone that was anyone was joining in and taking action, even those who had initially been against it or weren't able to come to the event were taking it upon themselves to fight out of self-defense. Lapis didn't really care about the fight, even if it was the reason she was where she was. And besides, it was fun to watch the chaos. It wasn't just the riot, the insurgency, the war on XU, the whole world being turned upside down. She'd seen it all before. It wasn't new. Some part of her felt maybe it was where she came from- in Orchid, being caught in the middle of a rapid fight was simply proof of one's strength.

Rebecca was pursuing Diane who'd spread her wings and tried to flee, yanking her beamsword free from a stabbed wall and slashing again and again. Diane was bleeding, her wing torn up by the impact. She managed to leap over a ledge of the balcony, leaving the raging mob in her wake, while Rebecca pursued. Down a staircase they ran until Rebecca turned a corner, where in the dark Rebecca could see her in shadow, wielding her spear. When Diane stabbed forward, she put a flow of plasma into the attack, and it shimmered as it cut the air into flames. Diane threw a punch at her face, Rebecca put a hand in front of her face to block it, and when her other hand thrust forward- Diane's spear was deflected and struck the floor with a thunderclap, sending her flying backwards.

Chalcan’s security teams tried to push in. The sheer numbers made it logistically difficult to separate the brawl into smaller groups and sort out who was who. Up on the podium, Odalia watched from above like she’d predicted the exact arc of every stupid decision. She left to go get her boss.

Diane was slow to catch her breath. “Y-you.. you don't have Headhunter's abilities or Thatti anymore. How are you capable of this?” Rebecca, breath steamy, eyes bright with that reckless honesty she carried like a weapon, pointed the beamsword forward. Rebecca's head tilted, she stuck her tongue out. Diane's brow furrowed. “Tsk.” The two charged forward in the midst of a massive brawl in every direction around them.

When Diane approached Rebecca, the latter began to lose her footing and slow in the span of Diane's assault. Everyone in the entire room appeared to slow from Diane's perspective, until they were virtually frozen, the waterfall below still to the last droplet, he beats of the music all frozen on the last frame.

Rebecca slowed and froze in place, her attack and stance suspended. Diane easily struck with her spear and wounded her shoulder, jabbing her lightly and knocking her back. Time resumed again. “W-what?”

“Cascade. You pick up a few tricks after awhile.”

“You're just bitter because that gem took your man and his dick.”

Diane's eyes narrowed in rage. “This ends here.” The two clashed once more, Diane softly suspending time so their fight appeared as a vivid blur, and everyone outside of her perception a background of slow motion. Rebecca saw Diane rushing in at ten positions at once, like a flipbook of violence that showed the gem's afterimages as she went. A storybook for all to see. Rebecca’s beamsword hung in the air at a cruel angle, a stripe of light suspended like a held breath. The riot above them became a smear of frozen silhouettes and half-fallen droplets, even the waterfall outside the service corridor locked in place, every bead of water moving in slow motion.

Diane moved as if through in a dream. One step. Two. She easily trounced Rebecca again in the clash, her attacks slow and thoughtful, while Rebecca’s were frenzied and rushed. She was able to strike at Rebecca time and time again, wounding her and sending her into slow pain.

Rebecca stumbled into an empty wall, clinging to it, bleeding. “I'm sorry. Are you okay?” Diane asked, catching her breath and offering her hand.

“Don't be, you're able to be damn sushi!” Rebecca shouted, charging again with the blade. The gem of pride attempted to stop her again, the glitching aura of blue already starting up as Cascade affected Rebecca. This time however as it washed over her, some power or part of her fought back- and an explosion of green energy was her response. It washed around her body, glowing with color, and Diane was thrown off of her feet. “Gotcha.” Rebecca said.

“You freeze the room,” Rebecca rasped, rolling her shoulders. “I'll keep moving anyway.”

Diane’s eyes narrowed. “H-how?”

Rebecca pointed the beamsword again, a childish little “nyah” of a gesture, then shrugged.

Diane’s face twitched. “You don’t have Headhunter..” She paused. “Do you?” Rebecca hissed through her teeth. Diane got up, and the two resumed fighting.

Up on the balcony, Lapis leaned farther over the rail, eyes bright, sighting something coming from a high window. She arrived.

Through the haze of the wild endless fray, a silhouette appeared, and the fray slowed down. Everyone stopped for an instant as a massive shadow descended upon the recruitment floor.

Astrid, who'd stopped in the fray to catch her breath from Pearl's assault, saw the newcomer, and just looked at her, eyes wide. Jack smiled wide.

They watched it, knowing there was nothing else like it in the world. The others watched it, frozen as the colossal figure of a Set descended like a dark monolith. Everyone went deadly silent, most of all Diane and Chalcan. There was no fighting with this.

“NINE!” Rebecca cheered, leaping from a tall ledge onto the lower floor and falling into the Akura Unit's arms. Standing over 10 feet, Astrid, Jack and Megumi all arrived onto the floor, all in perfect unison. Pipo, Jayce, Silvpurr and Vicuna who'd gotten lost through most of the riot arrived to greet her. Everyone else was deathly still, as if a live predator had appeared on the scene. Some recognized her visage immediately, others more ignorant simply froze out of courtesy or curiosity.

The crowd parted for the Akura unit whose presence seemed to invade the room and inspire dread in the hearts of the many. Diane trembled, swallowing the pain of her past rushing back to her.

 

 

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Diane woke up. Her eyes were so tired, as if they'd never known a single day's rest. The dark of the room was broken only by small cracks of light from her dungeon cell. Deep within the belly of the beast. Diane's legs rested on the ground while her wings extended behind her, a soft, delicate haze of light glowing on her chest from the luminescence of the gem's crystalline organs. It was clear that while she slept the days and nights passed, her captors had grown accustomed to locking her up in a single dungeon, leaving her to the confinement of the

underground and having a singular, single purpose of breaking her spirit. In the past, the Set that had once attacked them had shown that they were not merely a threat to the stragglers of Xi but the entire galaxy itself, a threat the likes of which most civilizations could barely fathom let alone combat. When she'd received hint that one of the chief priestesses of the Luminary holy caste had a godshard, she rushed to Xi from Luminary, which was a journey of several jumps in the span of the universe. Croix had offered to sneak her in with certain, connections, but Diane refused, and went on her own.

She'd been teleporting room to room, palace to palace within the planetary districts of the priestess caste when a young kitling in gilded robes mewled and alerted the high Purriest.

Automation in the effort of locking down magic, temporal distortions, Cascade, and any form of teleportation or space-time rupture soon localized her flow and prevented any easy escape. Diane fought her bravest, but was captured Once they realized she was an outsider, she was taken to the dungeons. As a newcomer Diane was promptly taken into custody by the authorities, who then took her to a holding beneath the holy palace. A prisoner, for a crime they never identified. The next time she woke, it had been days, maybe even weeks. Her sleepy eyes gazed down at the ground, a thick layer of dust coating everything, the rock in her cell scratched and covered with dents. The thick darkness felt like something she'd never felt before, a feeling of being surrounded in a small room by an indefinite prison. It was all so oppressive and unyielding.

She was interrogated, the holy tripartite brought their best minds, their best priestesses to interrogate her. None of them got an answer. Where she came from, if she was a spy for Xi, what she knew, what her purpose was. Diane stared blankly, as if in a daze, as if the last several months had been nothing but a whirlwind of activity and a complete blur over the past several centuries.

Weeks turned to months. Months bled into years. Years, into decades, tortured and kept imprisoned. She took, bled and scarred, staring at the ground. The priests eventually came to a decision. Her resistance only made her confinement more of a priority, to break her down into a malleable, weak creature, to be used to serve them in their own ends. With her spear confiscated, her abilities sealed by the technology of the pyramid, she couldn't fight back. Her only time spent out of her cell was to do meager chores. They gave her a single meal each day, a little more than the bare minimum, and a sturdy, simple cot made out of stone to sleep on, along with a few minor tools. She went on to pass the time in solitude, with only her mind to rely on.

When she was left alone, she would play with the tools they gave her, taking a hammer and a sickle, sharpening screws and shaving off bits of metal to carve and forge circuits, first clunky and large, but overtime micrometers thick when she got better tools, by a small mini-forge she made out of hot coals and kindlewood, she'd smelt ores and minerals down, extracting iron and other metals. After several months left with nothing but the scraps she could find, she waited for the head-mistress of the servant's crew to come fetch her for her weekly chores. When they did, she put her hand to their neck, Diane's arm covered in a metallic chassis with an

electro-dagger and spacial field energy disturber by the end of a metal staff. She fought her way through the guards, taking the headmistress Set through the halls as hostage She brought her towards the dungeon's door, holding her hostage with her arms, ready to blow the lock apart. A shot of electrical currents and the door opened, allowing the pair of them to enter the upper chamber. A single guard looked to face the situation, but Diane only had to take aim with the field disturber to drop him. She took the Set guard, knocking him out and dragging him along with her, before she finally reached a window and smashed herself through it, landing out on the other side.

Diane saw something she had not seen in decades- the sun. Or a sun anyway, harsh as it was against the desert haze, the sheer size and scale of the obsidian pyramid next to it casting a shadow over the world like a prism from the void, a ghost from the heart of the world she thought she'd destroyed.

Taking off and jumping towards the heavens, she flew upwards, feeling the power of her wings and the power of her body, the world below her. She felt that she'd finally done it. She was finally free. And just like, something grabbed her leg, an arm that dragged her back to hell. A large Set, burly and strong with two curves ears like horns stabbed in back her head, its claws like iron spikes cut into her body and a red scar down her eye. Atop her forehead was a bright blue-white spiral shaped gem- only the heirs of high priestesses earned that fragment. “Going somewhere, red?” The high priestesses daughter asked. Diane recognized this woman as Tai-Murlis. The brutal Set gripped her leg strong enough to draw blood and slammed her back towards the surface, before slamming her pawfoot onto Diane's face, cracking Diane's jaw.

She was caught again in chains, a small, metal circle in the middle of her torso that held up a spiked ball of iron. Soon she found herself dragged in by that very Set, back towards the cell. Her weapon was confiscated, she wasn't let out for chores again. If she could have gotten away again, she would've. But she found her strength drained. Her time was taken from her, her freedom, even her tools. They anchored her leg this time. After weeks of being chained to the rock, one covered in Writ glyphs that made it weigh tens of thousands of tons attached to her ankle. Diane started to lose track of time, she'd curl up in a ball and begin to cry. She couldn't bring herself to sleep, but in her slumber, the sun was always above her, just beyond the bricks and these dark black walls where she couldn't see it. The damp cold of the dungeon floor seeped into Diane’s bones, a constant, leaching presence that made her wings feel heavy and leaden. She stared at the wall, her eyes tracing the faint, jagged marks she’d scratched into the stone before they took her tools away.

In the silence, her mind betrayed her. It replayed the cafe in Hadron, the way Zack’s hand had felt on her shoulder, grounding, solid, real. She remembered the way Croix had looked at her with that terrifying, predatory playfulness.

“Just remember. This was your idea.”

“Zack..” she whispered, her voice a dry rasp that barely carried to the corners of the cell. “Croix..” All those godshards, all those time-traveling trips, what was any of it for?

A single tear dropped through her eye, down her cheek and onto the sandy stone below, creating a stain on the ground. She recalled another line said to her.

“...you're the heroine of your own story, Diane. Only you control fate.”

Who had said that? Diane tried to remember, she felt it was someone important, but she couldn't recall. Who was it, who was it? She thought, she stared at the bricks, and began carving into the rock again. Diane had never felt so broken, not in the thousands of worlds she’d been to, the dozens of lives she’d lived, not even in the times she had been tortured by the Set. She always believed herself a champion of her own destiny. But right now, she felt helpless. Lost.

She didn't understand what it was that had happened to her. In the vast, shifting tides of the Luminary galaxy, a single soul could vanish into a black site and never be whispered of again.

Time passed, how much she couldn't say. Weeks, maybe months after, Tai-Murlis finally returned, waking her with a splash of water from a dirty bucket. She was startled and huddled into the corner. “Getup.” She turned to another Set woman next to her, almost as large as Tai-Murlis herself who picked up her large boulder. “Follow us, gem girl.” They told her, Tai's shift eyes and gilded robes making her seem less of a brute, and more of a shadowy schemer. The two lead them forward. Occasionally the one carrying the boulder struggled, only for Tai-Murlis to berate them.

“Stop struggling. You can't keep on like this, if you don't do your duty, then the empire's going to fall in no time.” She snapped. “We won't have a place for kittens like you.”

The other set nodded. “Y-yes sister..” She huffed and coughed, struggling to carry the 96,000 ton enchanted stone along.

Soon Diane was brought the the chambers of the head priestess, Tai-Kajula IV, the head holiness in charge of the Priestess caste of the Set tripartite governance. At the center was a holy shrine, a throne of gold and stone where the holy pyramid rose up out of the floor of the holy chamber, the pyramid soaked in blackness. Diane was bound by the legs to a pillar and led to the center, the high priestess in her holy dress looking down on her. Atop her headdress, was a godshard, Diane's eyes widened when she saw it. “So, are you the one that used these toys?” Tai-Kajula IV demanded. She had another guard show Diane the weapons she'd made- the electro-blade, the shield gantlet and the energy staff she'd made a crude but functional weapon. “I have not seen weapons like these, not even in our holy collections!” She turned to her head, eyeing Diane. “Did you steal them? Who snuck you those? Speak, gem.”

After silence filled out the room, Diane looked at her weary. “I.. I made them.” The head-priestess’s eye narrowed. “What? Make what?”

“Your staff, your dagger. The shield. The field disruptor.. I made them.” Diane said. She could see the gilded woman tense up.

“From what?” Tai-Kajula IV asked.

“Some tools I found in the dungeon, in storage closets, and-”

“Forgive me. You made these.” Kajula leaned in to emphasize. “With scraps in a cave?” She stared at the jewel on Kajula's head. “Yes.”

The high priestess took a deep breath. “Gem...” Diane felt her words coming out too slow. Too soft. Too emphasized. “Here, in this temple. We are not scientists. The science caste and their arrogance grows ever more. And still, it is in their arrogance that they let you free in the first place, they've not seen us as a threat in-”

“I'm not from there, or any caste of yours. I'm a gem. I'm a traveler.” Diane responded. “This is my caste.” Kajula responded. “Our caste's work is not to be arrogant, but to be a

holy light in this world, to lead others to the way. We have done this for-”

“Eons.” Diane interjected. She watched the woman's mouth flutter. She felt her head sink and watched as the tears came to her eyes. “I was told by one of your priests. That you and the empire have grown decadent, that you've been at odds with yourselves. That the Set have had a schism, that the Military, Engineers and Scientists are now against you. Your society has many castes, but you're always conniving and fighting each other for dominance and control. And that the military have begun to act like your scientists, taking the work of unseating you for themselves..” Diane said. She began to feel like she was going to faint. “The Scientists, they call your rituals superstitions,” Diane continued, her eyes locked on the Godshard atop Kajula’s head. “The Military calls your prayers dead weight. You’re losing ground, aren’t you? You’re terrified that the very holy empire you've built is going to cannibalize its faithful heart to feed its war machines.”

“I see your stay has not been for nothing.” Kajula told her. “You've learned much. How did you learn so much of what is only for our most honored?”

Diane looked back.

“I listen, I learn. I adapt. I control fate.” She uttered, feeling unlike herself, as if her soul was reborn in the fires of this strange and distant land. “Fate is not written. It is an illusion. It is the product of all that which passes through us.” She took a breath, watching the woman's eyes widen. “And I have become a god of my own.”

“FOOL!” Tai-Kajula IV asked, looking utterly baffled. “It is only for Akura to decide your fate. YOU have no role.” She leaned in closer. “And yet, here you stand, a lowly gem, in this holy place, your tools made from the scraps of a dungeon and the gears of a machine, a tool

used by the lowest castes and a common criminals.” Kajula was smiling. “I'm impressed.” The highest honor any Set could receive in two words.

She paced back and forth, looking at the techno-mechanical staff that Diane had constructed. “Did you..” She laughed at herself. “Did you really make all of this? From bits of metal in a cave? From nothing?” She leaned in. “We've studied the artifact- your Spear.” It'd been so long since Diane had even seen, let alone thought about it. “A weapon that can tear through the fabric of time-and-space, did you create that too? Did you forge it from the fires of your homeworld?”

Diane, figuring it best to bestrew the details went with it. “I did.”

Head Priestess Tai-Kajula IV smiled. “Could you give us a demonstration and say, do it again? With much better tools and a proper workbench?” She began to walk to Diane. “I have so many questions for you. But..” She placed a single, delicate hand on Diane's shoulder. “I see a spark in this one.”

Diane, looking at the others witnessing her in the moment of her own rebirth.

Soon she was brought to a makeshift- workshop, that is to say the dining chambers with the finest tools and equipment brought nearby onto the tables. Tai-Kajula IV and her two royal daughters, along with a court of ministers watched from atop a higher floor from around the room. Diane looked at Tai-Murlis, the brute who had cracked her jaw, now standing silent and expectant. She looked at the boulder still chained to her own leg, the weight of a thousand worlds and sins of countless lifetimes holding her down. Then, she looked at the shard atop the Head Priestess's head, reminding her of Thatti.

“Only you control fate.” The voice finally clicked in her mind. She finally remembered who said those words- it was another gem. And gems, were exceptional servants, forgers and craftsmen. She reached for a hammer and eyes the anvil.

The room went deathly silent, all murmuring mowed away by Diane's activity. They watched with wonder as Diane took up the tools picking up a piece of metal and cutting it down into a precise shape. The high priestess looked on with awe as Diane's blade moved like a whirlwind and she took up a hammer, striking down another piece, taking copper and quartz to smelt it with the fire, taking a laser blowtorch and fine-tuned tools to start creating a new circuit boards, connecting the scraps into a coherent whole. With the laser blowtorch in one hand and a pair of micro-tweezers in the other, Diane began a process that looked less like engineering and more like surgery. She took a discarded ceremonial silver plate and melted it down, spun it into wires thinner than a kitling’s whisker, and coiled them around a core of pressurized quartz.

“Look at her hands,” one of the ministers whispered, leaning over the railing. “How she works..”

Time flowed over the horizon in the form of the sun's rise and set. 40 hours passed. Most had left, some came back to check on Diane occasionally, but the head-priestess was fascinated by what was developing. As the days bled together, a device began to take shape on the anvil. It wasn't a sword or a shield, it was a sprawling, multi-layered full-body gauntlet that seemed to brim with a low, hungry frequency. It looked like a skeletal layer of metal made of gold and copper, a specialized armor designed to clasp onto something far more powerful than itself. The priestess would occasionally come down to ask a question or two, Diane explaining and answering as earnestly as she could as if demonstrating handiwork. Then they'd leave and let her continue.

By the second week, Diane's ankles began to feel the pressure in her legs. She had never felt so tired, so weak. She had not slept in days. Gems scarcely needed to sleep, but stamina and mental focus were of paramount importance as she straightened her back. She wiped a smudge of grease and blood from her forehead, her tired eyes flicking up to Tai-Kajula IV. She picked up her hammer once more and with a BANG BANG BANG, continued shaping and crafting the powerful new technological armor she'd set forth.

After 55 days, Diane was exhausted beyond limit. She'd alerted a guard to come get the holy family.

“Oh?” Tai-Kajula IV asked, coming over to Diane's workbench. “You've finished.” The High Priestess descended the stairs, her two daughters flanking her, one sheepishly behind her, the other- Tai-Murlis folding her arms. “Yes.” Diane said, with her feet wobbling and hands a greasy mottled mess of black, grey and red, she grabbed the table and stood up.

“Look, at this..” Tai-Kajula said, observing the strange sleek armor that Diane had created. “This work of your hands, what do you call it?”

“Armor of god.” Diane replied. “Back where I come from, there are those who pledge their life to a love. Undertake vows, join cults under a single wife or Vowmother. One was said to have left ancient blueprints, which I saw as a kid.” Diane looked up. “You've created weapons with ancient technology before. I saw them. The architect for this suit, was said to be god themselves.”

“God?” Tai-Kajula smiled. “Akura.. has blessed us with this then, you say?” Diane nodded in response.

“Hmm.” Tai-Kajula mused. “Gem, your destiny was in our hands from the start. You made these weapons. You were sent to us..” She took a deep breath. “A gift from a true god. Truly a daughter of Akura.” The High Priestess said, kissing Diane's forehead for the slightest moment. “Would you like to demonstrate us this weapon?” She asked. Diane nodded. “Give me a moment to slip into it.” Fitting her foot through with the chain attached was difficult, but she managed to clasp it just enough around her knees without fully closing it.

Diane took a moment to put on the armor, the pieces of it were easy enough to fit together, but felt loose and awkward, too long, too short. This suit, was made for a Set, not for a gem or someone her size. At her volume, she left too much empty space in the clunky suit. “It'll take a few days to get all the diagnostics and weapon systems online, but the basic augmentation works.” The gears started to grind to life, an automation of deathdealing. The suit- a breakthrough in technological engineering would be the predecessor to a new front of warfare. A hundred generations still too early and makeshift for the Akura Units armaments that would follow in the era to follow, even now its presence could be felt in the holiest of congregations.

Diane could feel it in her bones, but for now, she'd made a powerful, powerful new weapon that would change the face of war. And when she put on the armor of god, she'd feel its power. She'd feel its resonance like a heartbeat, as she slipped herself into its chassis and attempted to activate it.

“It.. needs a power source.” Diane said.

“A power source?” Tai-Kajula IV asked. “We can charge with magic, or use the local nuclear power generat-”

“No, not those. They won't be enough.” Diane pointed to the high priestesses godshard atop her headdress. “That shiny stone. I need it to power the suit.”

“This? It's just a mere decoration. Blessed, perhaps lucky but..” Kajula, reluctantly plucked it off and agreed to hand it to Diane. The gem placed it into her own headplate just above the helmet's visor.

She pressed a button and an automated voice spoke up. “Armor of the Gods, status systems online.” The woman leaned in. “So you see. You.. you're not just a gem. But a god now. A child of Akura..” Diane, aiming the weapons systems at Kajula raised her hand, aligning the targeting systems as if ready to fire. She had the godshard, she had her weaponry, the only thing left to do was leave.

She looked up at Kajula, her eyes as cold and distant as the sun. “But my destiny was not to follow you, or the Akura. It was-” Suddenly, the set who had carried the stone in, the smaller Set stepped in front. Her hands were clasped in prayer and eyes sparkling.

“Simply amazing!!!”

“Mu-mu, what are you doing?!” Kajula asked.

Tai-Kamujuhma waggled her tail nervously. “Uumm.. I'm not very good at talking, but I've been watching her! SHE MADE ALL OF THIS! THE GREAT GOD-SET MADE ALL OF THIS!!”

“We know, Mu.” Tai-Murlis scowled. “We know.”

Slowly, rocket thrusters in back of the suit started to go off, sending Diane up into the air.

She picked a large metal rod, which with a twist, filled with light- electricity charging and becoming a powerful energy lance in the hands of the wielder.

“The Great God-Set!” Kajula said in awe.

Kamujuhma clapped, her hands together. “This is a true miracle, sister! Please forgive me!” The Set cried, clapping and waving her hands around in joy. Tai-Murlis was not impressed. The heavy rock dangled as Diane flew up, dragging her flight slightly and causing her flightpath to wobble. She let out an angry cry. It swung back and forth like a pendulum, before nearly speeding towards Kamujuhma. “Mumu!” Tai-Murlis shouted, pushing her sister out of the way and putting forth two paws to block the boulder. She had to move fast, but a split second of inaction was all the time the rock needed. With a series of rapid strikes from her fists and then dropkick, she shattered it, abit with great injury to her fists. “TRAITOR!” Tai-Murlis leapt into the air and started clawing at Diane's 'Akura armor', the two charging each other. The distant boom of seismic charges echoed through the pyramid’s obsidian walls. Diane slammed the gauntlet into Murlis’s chest. She didn't discharge electricity, she discharged a Temporal Flux charge, a release not as potent as a genuine Cascade Engine but enough to knock back and stun Tai-Murlis.

“She is not traitor sister!” Kamujuhma said, flying over to suit and taking Diane in a bearhug. “Enough,” Tai-Kajula IV ordered. “Tai-Murlis, stand down.” She told her daughter. “Diane.. please come down here. And out of the god armor.”

Diane floated down and did so, powering the primitive mech suit down and slipping out the back. She turned to the High Priestess.

“I'm not done yet.” She said, calculating her chance to still escape.

“The armor..” Kajula said, “Is impressive. No doubt you have proved that Akura sent you, as a blessing from the stars. I, the Purrestess on High ask of you to stay and help us in our time of need.” She explained. “Become our caste's holy forgesaint. We will give you whatever tools and gifts you need. A comfortable bed, a feast, the freedom to invent and create as you will.”

“No.” Diane shook her head. “I have a homeworld that I left behind.. I've been trapped in this world for far too long..”

Tai-Murlis had recovered, standing upright and watching Diane with suspicion. “So, you expect to leave.. with our armor?” She said.

“My armor.” She corrected.

“Built with our supplies, under my mother's blessing.” Tai-Murlis responded. “Then, you can keep it.” Diane responded. “But just let me go.”

“M-mother, what should we do..” Kamujuhma asked.

Tai-Kajula IV stood, hands clasped. “You're no lowly gem.” She started. “But you're no Set, either. My caste and I, will respect your pride, and forgive your trespasses.. and send you home. Under one condition..” She took a deep breath. “You must swear to us and all of us, all of this holy realm, that you will return if ever we call upon you. That you'll answer any call we ask of you, and to be bound in the stars, as one of us, so that we may always rely on you when times of trouble come..”

Kamujuhma, 'Mumu' as her family sweetened her came to Diane pleading. “Please, stay. We're scared the military and other castes might start a riot or overthrow us any time now. But, if you stay we can treat you good! Maybe someday you can leave or get back to your people, for but for now.. As part of our family..” She put her paws on Diane's own hands, her smaller paws and eyes wide with earnest. “Please, please stay, please..”

Diane sighed, not wanting to hurt the girl's feelings. She reached for her hand and took it. “Okay okay. I'll stay.”

Murlis glared at Diane, not forgiving her for her transgression. “You won't be forgiven.” She said.

Figuring it would buy her more time, Diane decided to stick around.

 

 

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“Becca. It has been quite a minute.” The mighty Set said, her deep voice cracking like thunder, her eyes bright and burning. “What are you doing here?”

Rebecca looked at her and smiled, as if she were a little child. “We're recruiting, but then everyone decided to riot. I guess it's that mood they're in.”

“Haha.” The Set said. She punched a random recruit, sending them flying across the room like a tincan. “What fun. I'm fashionably late. Spent some time finding the place.”

Jack leaned against the rail, crossing her arms. “I-” She paused. “This is a great distraction. I'm glad to see you. But you came at a bad time.” She said, eyeing Chalcan and the security team. “SET ATTACK!” Chalcan yelled accusingly. the security officers rushing forward to fight her.

Astrid leaned forward. “Pulse.” A wave of gravity around the Set flattened most of the armored officers and their laser-batons. “Stop right there. No one touches the cat.”

Nine rolled her eyes. “I can protect myself.” She said, then she and the Akura unit began to punch through the security like a brick wall breaking to her fists. The riot was at an all-time high, the Akura unit just adding fuel to the fire. And the riot, loved it, resuming while cheering Nine on. Nine looked down at them confused like she’d been crowned by a kingdom of small little hamsters. “Tell your rebellion to stop throwing itself at this one.”

Two insurgents on a motorbike tried to do a victory lap around Nine, lasso-net swinging like they were wrangling a prize beast.

Nine looked at them, unimpressed.

She reached out, grabbed the net mid-throw, and yanked. They were pulled directly from their bikes and went flinging across the room while Nine flung them. The cheers grew louder and more rancorous. Lapis, lounging on the balcony rail, called down sweetly, “Chalcan, babe, your ‘security’ has become entertainment.”

Chalcan’s face twitched. “Shut up.”

Zack stepped into the venue like a storm given a body, when the Akura unit threw a massive quaking punch, he caught it in midair. Nine was surprised. “Mhm. Not bad~”

He grunted and bent over, placing two fingers just above the ground. The air thickened. Not enough to crush and kill for most, just enough to paralyze. With the slightest application, Zack sent a pull of gravity across every floor and surface of the entire room, causing the entire population present to slam onto the ground as if an invisible crusher had appeared over them and steamrolled the masses. Rebecca and Diane too were squished with their faces planked to the ground, squirming and struggling against the gravity wall. Nine fell to her knees and crashed, but used two hands to prevent her spine and back from meeting the floor with a strained effort, carrying the weight of the world on her back. The free-for-all had become a disciplinary lesson immediately.

Zack stood between Nine and the crowd with his hand wrapped around her fist like he was holding a collapsing star steady.

The only one unaffected was Lapis, watery wings fluttering with grace overhead in mid-

air.

The brawlers stopped. The newcomers froze. The Akura Unit's eyes widened as she

slowly stood back up with great difficulty. And Zack just looked out into the venue with disgust. Lapis raised her eyebrows. The room froze, silent.

“Enough.” He said to the room, heavy as iron. “All of you. You bunch of fucking brats.” “She started it,” Diane said. Rebecca barked at her. “You slapped me first!” Zack’s

gravity pressed a little harder on both, like a stern warning.

Lapis flew down gently, patting them both. “Take the L girls.” She said.

Everyone managed to get on their feet slowly, like their legs were deadweights. The room had stopped moving. But Zack hadn't yet.

Silvpurr snuck behind him, snapping at him like an angry cat.

Zack's gravity turned up around his body a bit to scare them off. She retreated in a silvery flash. Everyone looked up to the balcony platform as Odalia stood patiently, and from behind her a woman began to draw the attention of all eyes in the room.

Nine's face lit up. “Motherf-”

Her irises glowed as if they were two stars in the universe, and her hair glimmered in a shade of royal mauve color like a cloud of velvet. And her robes were red and black along her jacket with a pattern of two parallel and inverted black-and-gold stripes running up both her shoulders, meant to evoke the royalty of the ancient merchant guild and majesty of the Elderdragons of old. She smiled like she knew a secret about the room. “Nine, hello again.” The room had completely stopped for a moment. The fight and riot long since silenced and left behind. The crowd was in a stasis, a brief but crucial instant, a moment of stillness, Croix catching their attention with a silent grace.

Chalcan, frozen in her place, stared at her. Odalia waggled her finger at him specifically and he started to make his way towards the halls and then up the stairway.

“What a wonderfully enthusiastic band of merry crusaders we have here tonight. It's a pleasure to meet all of you, I'm sure I need no introduction. And not a moment too soon either.”

From out of the back, four figures emerged in purple-and-white suits. Many recognized them as Roseluck Appleton, Dana Oscillator, Dr. Logi Eclaire and Speaker Blue. Four dignitaries and envoys from XU, in the most public display of unity and solidarity that they'd ever appeared. The entire room of recruits fell silent, including the staff, security team and all insurgents.

The brawl was forgotten.

Astrid, Jack and Rebecca looked at each other, wide-eyed. Megumi smiled at them in confusion. “It's the four horsemen. Coming in suits and ties.” They hissed. “It would seem, we were discovered by a probe over the last few hours. These four, proud lovely representatives from XU have been sent in to negotiate. This is now a formal meeting.” Croix continued. “So I'll hope you're all on your very berry-best behavior. They're here to greet me, but more importantly, they're here to learn and ask you a few questions.”

The riot was instantly resumed.

Zack stood between them all. And with a flicker of his hand, he let the gravity around him crash a metal platform above, silencing everyone once again before they could go any further.

Everyone looked at Croix as if she'd come in guns blazing. The four dignitaries and Croix looked at one another, the gravity wall holding in place. “I for one, know what you're all thinking. Are we still fighting XU or what? Well the truth is, even with the backing of Atlas-courtesy of my own resourceful politics, miss Byte and the grace of Atlas, our gathered fleet sits at a paltry strength, outnumbered 8 to 1 by the monstrous Starguard. We've recruited across 148 different star systems over a hundred billion which even if every single soul joined with me would still not be enough to take XU's might. It would be a mistake to think that we are prepared for an all-out conflict. In fact, I don't know if we're prepared for one at all. So, I have no doubt you may not be here for recruitment. And the four dignitaries know that. In fact, they are here for your help. Perhaps they were hoping for a quick surrender, a pledge of loyalty to XU! But of course, we who are lawless men and woman of such refined patriotism to Xi can not do that, can we? And even if we're outnumbered, we could cause a lot of damage. They're hoping to resolve matters non-violently, first by learning about our organization. They want to know who we are, what we are, and where we come from. For that, we have some friends to do just that.”

Nine rolled her shoulders, glancing between Croix and the four XU envoys with a predator’s disinterest.

“Oh,” Nine muttered. “It’s a meeting-meeting.”

From behind, another 3 people appeared behind Croix. First, Mr. Lestelle the 'chef of death', followed by Belos. Zack leapt atop the platform next to them.

Everyone was silent. The entire room went quiet. Every rioter froze, every recruit, every brawler, the insurgents, the guests, the Akura Unit, every employee and security staff of the venue.

“They're scared,” Croix said, her eyes going wide.

Zack smirked. “Of course they are. I don't blame them.”

Lestelle. Odalia. Zack. Belos. And the grand ringleader of the sovereignty, Croix. “We 5 are the great war powers of Xi. Representing the disposed of Xi.” Croix looked at them, a kind of aura of malice swirling in her eyes. “Terror, hunger, death. Injustice, murder. That's what we stand for. And why we're here together. There are groups that formed even the backbone of the rebellion for XU when you went against Xi and the war machines of the Elderdragons all those years ago. The Exodus dominion, being the largest. To them, I am known as Prophet X-Night.

What do they have in common with The Peacekeepers, The Xi Reformers, what do these 3

groups have in common?” Croix paced back and forth, building up suspense like a sermon. The room had stilled to this very moment. She paused.

“They were all used, and then ultimately betrayed. Ursula and her mighty Starbreakers promised to bring them to power and fulfill a regime of all their wishes. When she took position as the Premier, she discarded them to go and do as she pleased. And so, they began to fight amongst each other.” She leaned on the rail and sighed. “If not for the organizational capacity of the Sovereignty, of my camp, I'm quite afraid they would've been completely gone. They still exist, they're still fighting, but they've been assimilated into our ranks. Our cause.

And now they've come together in a single, cohesive body. An army, a political movement, a force of the entire galaxy to be reckoned with. So..” She eyed the other 4 war powers.

“..what do we want in return?”

Lapis looked at Croix, a quizzical little eye raise. Croix crossed her arms, “No idea.”

The 4 dignitaries, officers of the XU state here to represent started to whisper among each other. Of course it was a ploy, they figured, she was simply withholding information. A tactical stratagem, to catch them off guard and make them vulnerable. But to their surprise, and Croix’s, they all appeared to be of the same opinion. Their eyes darted around.

The room returned to life.

The brawlers were brawling again. The riot resumed once more. The Akura Unit was now punching, pushing and kicking the security officers on every floor. The recruits were now clashing against the insurgents, against each other. A new wave of riot and brawl. But more important than this was that Croix and her allies all had a meeting of ideas to consider. A meeting of minds.

Zack slammed his foot. Everyone was flattened to the ground once again. “Behave.” He reminded them, releasing the gravity for the third time now.

 

 

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Years passed by in the blink of an eye for the new Forgesaint of the Set. She grew close to Mumu and well loved by the priestess caste and court, learning their names and how eagerly they were to please her, like a gift from Akura herself. Diane had her misgivings, but strangely Kamujuhma warmed up to her and made her stay more bearable. She became an honored

forgesaint of the Set, building weapons and improving the almost mystical technological armor she'd made. The pyramid became her new home, but no longer did she sleep in a dark dreary dungeon but a large bedroom with a queen-sized room and multiple shelves for anvils, tools, starcharts and blueprints towards her next weapondry. Week after week, she'd spend her time either by the High Priestess's side in a new sleek rubbery ornamented Set-robe, or in a starchy apron by her workshop, one an outdated chapel had been remade into several times the dining chamber she'd crafted the Akura suit in.

Sometimes, Diane even went to the pyramids courtyard, watching as a strange, blue, glowing star that was not supposed to be there, traveled slowly across the day sky. Everywhere it traveled, it left a luminous aftermath, and these river-like lights could be seen throughout the entire galaxy, thus the name the Luminary galaxy was known for. It shimmered and danced in the darkness and even at noon it would seem to glow like an incandescent pearl in the sky, its color a vibrant, unnatural shade of indigo.

The star shone brightly over the pyramid, for a whole year, a decade, the two Set sisters and Tai-Kajula watched over it and each other, as their lives passed by and the suns rose and set as the seasons turned and turned. “Do you see that blue light? It's the Cascade. A blessing from Akura herself. 'Heaven's Pearls', 'Goddess's Milk', It's so bright because-”

Diane, sitting on the steps with the other Set sisters listening to Kajula explain. “Because it's so close.” Diane finished, a lightbulb on. “Like you said, Akura sent you.. and me..” Kajula said.

Diane nodded. “Yes.” She replied.

“So.. we're the children of the stars.” Diane repeated.

“The offspring of those heavenly lights. Who else could say, that we're the children of Akura, but Set?” Kajula responded, smiling down at Diane. “Goddess of the stars, she sent you down as a blessing. I'm proud of you.” She told her, patting Diane's head. “She wanted us to have you.” Diane smiled. “Akura blessed me, and her gifts came to us. Through you. But.. why.. Why is the Cascade so bright now? It was always a faint point of light when I was young. The Cascade is stronger than ever these nights. I wonder if even Akura's summons draws near..”

From behind a pillar Tai-Murlis watched, ire growing.

“Akura will never forgive us, for letting that traitor and her heretical science into our midst..” She said to herself.

One day, Diane took a day off. The Headmistress and servants she used to be forced to work alongside, now heeded her command, many of them fanning her with palmtrees as she laid by a large oasis. They brought her drinks from around the stars, brought her a variety of sweets, the finest fruit, and all the delicacies of Set civilization. She had a fine meal of pomegranate-

laced goatstew with the Set servants, Kamujuhma and a new group of servants who arrived. “Hey girl!” Kamujuhma said, as Diane joined her sister, sitting next to her in the shade.

Diane raised an eyebrow. “Mumu?” She asked. “You're finally working in a kitchen?” “No, not me..” Kamujuhma said, with a smile, as she introduced the new workers.

“You've been so busy in your workshop these days, I'm glad to catchup with you again! Was worried you were consumed with your work.” She felt the softness of the fur across Diane's lotus silk boa, as Diane smiled and sipped.

Kamujuhma leaned in beside her, tail tucked politely around her own ankles. The younger priestess-daughter wore her golden dress and ankle bandages, in sharp contrast to the spiked shoulderpads and breastplate armor her sister wore. Her eyes kept flicking around the oasis “You’re nervous,” Diane said. Mumu blinked, then laughed too brightly. “Me? Nervous? Never.” She gestured at the new workers she’d brought. They were younger Set in plain linen, hands dyed with spice and soap. One bowed too deeply, overcorrecting.

“They’re from the lower kitchens,” Mumu said. “They wanted to meet you. They, they think you’re lucky.”

“Lucky,” Diane repeated.

Mumu nodded earnestly. “Because Mother lets you near the Throne. Because the Cascade shines brighter. Because you make things that shouldn’t exist. People are saying Akura's eye is on the pyramid again, thanks to you. That you were sent from Akura herself to deliver us and return the Set people to their faith.”

Diane’s gaze slid toward the courtyard wall beyond the oasis palms. Even from here, she could see the black edge of the holy pyramid piercing the horizon.

“And your sister?” Diane asked, casual on purpose. “Do they think I’m lucky too?” Mumu’s smile faltered. “Murlis thinks you’re a crack in the foundation,” she admitted.

“She thinks Mother is overly indulging. Taking a risk. She thinks you’re going to poison the faith.”

Diane gave a small, humorless snort. “I don’t even know your faith. So whatever Murlis-” She paused. Non-Set and non-family weren't supposed to speak of a highborne surname without the honorific. “Whatever Tai-Murlis thinks, I think even less of it.”

Mumu’s paws tightened around her cup. “That’s what scares her.” She looked up at the sky, counting the drifting clouds. “I think when we were kids, she really resented me being older than her, and her not having any birthright. So she devoted everything into training and becoming strong enough..”

“And you?” Diane asked. Mumu looked up, startled, as if she’d forgotten she was allowed to have an opinion.

Diane tilted her head. “Why do they call you Mumu?”

A beat passed, then relief flooded Mumu’s face, messy and sweet.

“Oh,” she said softly. “Because I used to… I used to stutter my own name. Kamujuhma is, long. When I was little, I’d go 'Mu.. mu.. mu...' when Mother made me recite the oaths. Murlis laughed. I cried.” She leaned over her knees, looking out into the water and gentle misty waves. “I try to be useful,” she said. “I try to be, holy enough. Clever enough. Quiet enough that Murlis doesn’t have to be embarrassed by me. But I'll never be strong enough for her liking.” Mumu flinched like she’d been struck. She leaned in and started petting Diane. “May I?” She asked.

Diane shrugged, and Mumu started to craddle herself around her slightly, Mumu’s tails wagged, and Diane let her lean into her. “She doesn't…” Mumu said, her tail still twitching, curling up against Diane's sides, “She doesn't even know me. She doesn't know who I am, deep down. But she knows I'm not who she wants. Because she's a clawborne for the throne, and I'm just, me.”

“Clawborne?” Diane asked.

“Oh, uh.. It means she's.. stronger than me.” Mumu sighed. “There are firstborne, and there are clawborne. If it comes down to it, clawborne are chosen for inheritance over firstborne. Normally, the oldest child succeeds the throne. But Mother, she gave birth to four sisters in our kit. And the others, her other 2 children, the older ones.. were all clawborne. They all fought and died.” Mumu said, leaning in more against Diane. “My loyal Set sisters and brothers.. my Set..” She began. “These are difficult times for us all. The other worlds outside, are plagued by strife and war. Set are not free of war, but Akura.. the stars keep our realm safe. Since my siblings died, I'm technically the oldest, but-”

“You aren't Clawborne.” Diane said. “So you wouldn't be seen as eligible to lead the position of High Purriestess. Your younger sister would be..”

“Murlis would instead be..” Mumu said, her tail going rigid again. “Chosen. Unless, I challenged or fought her for it. But I was born frail, the odds of me fighting my own sister are..”

“I'm not.. I'm sorry Diane.” She shook her head. “I shouldn't have mentioned my own family.”

“No no, I get it.” Diane said, stroking Kamujuhma's ears and the top of her head, watching her tail wag slowly. Holy thrones, fanatical religions, fractional wars, powerplays, politics, royal siblings caught in deathgames between themselves and the throne. It all seemed to repeat for her like a kaleidoscope through history, the present and future of the stars. It's why she made the armor. To defend herself and leave.

“It's fine, it's not your job to sort out our politics.” Mumu cleared our throat. “Just, promise whatever you do, you'll be an ally to the Set.

The warmth of the younger sister against her side was a strange, grounding contrast to the cold obsidian of the dungeon that still lived in her nightmares. “Mumu,” Diane said, her voice dropping to a low, serious vibrance. “I’m a traveler. I don't stay, and I don't belong to any throne. But,” She looked down at the younger priestess, seeing the reflected fear and hope in those wide eyes. “I know what it’s like to be the sister who isn't 'enough.' I know what it’s like to have a family that looks at you and only sees a disappointment or a tool.”

“An ally to the Set,” Diane murmured, her eyes tracking a hawk circling the black tip of the pyramid in the distance.

“Promise.” Diane replied. Mumu hugged her tightly.

Suddenly, the mission she'd distracted herself from seemed to resonate back in her mind. Thatti, stopping the war with XU, making Zack and Croix fulfill their promise. The promise to give Hermes some strange weapon she'd promised and, however these godshards were related. Her sense of purpose came flooding back. She was in a strange land from whence she didn't belong, and now she was caught up in the affairs of a new world, her past and purpose revisited. She'd fallen in with the Set and taken up a new life, making things and building weapons. But she'd forgotten her goal.

That ended now.

Later that night, Diane snuck around the pyramid palace, heading to her workshop to grab her mechanical armor and the godshard embedded into it. She tried to be as discrete as she could with the rustling of metal and wires and heavy thuds of the suit in motion. She then snuck down deep into the armory beneath the holy barracks and located her spear. The artifact she'd crafted from her own sister, back in her hands after so many years. The gem returned to the surface. The sounds echoed off of the marble of the pyramid's courtyard, though Diane only had her eyes on her goal, so she never looked down. Once she reached the outskirts of the pyramid and could visibly see the stars, Diane's future beckoned, her suit clicking and whirring and the godshard glowing brightly like the sun. For the first time in years, she felt truly alive. She felt a sense of purpose and self-confidence, like she was ready to face any trial, any tribulation and overcame it with grace and her own power. She started to jet up preparing to fly off and leave this world.

“Diane?” A voice said, the soft voice of Kamujuhma speaking behind her. Next to her, was Tai-Murlis.

Diane whipped around, the suit and its godshard emitting a blue flash, and Diane ready to fight. “Murlis.” She snarled, her eyes glowing and her suit readying her spear. “You've been trying to trap me, with your fanatical religion and cult. I'm leaving Set behind.” She said.

“Y-you're leaving us?” Mumu asked.

Diane nodded. “I cannot stay, I have business to attend to.”

Murlis hissed. “Then leave the suit! Who gave you permission to leave anyway? We fed you, clothed you, gave a seat at our mother's side. And this is how you repay our generosity and kindness? How you honor Akura? I don't remember a worker of our holy court free to reject Akura's blessing.” She yelled.

“You have no authority over me.” She declared.

“Is that so?” Tai-Murlis brought out both claws. With a strong leap, she burst into the air and tackled Diane, slashing at the helmet and visor continually, creating cracks and causing her to thrash about in a wild sputtering attempt at navigation. “Get off me!” Diane yelled.

Murlis brought both claws down, swatting Diane and causing her to swerve wildly in the sky. The suit started to sputter, it's mechanisms starting to fail as it lost its footing. The suit started to wobble. Its systems started to malfunction. A few more strong thrusts and Diane would be in trouble. If she could have a moment, her spear could open a hole and get her out of here, but hadn't a moment. Needed to get Murlis off, she thought, enough with that one. The fearsome Set heiress gripped even tighter, her claws were starting to creak and bend the metal of the suit like aluminum. The strong Set was breaking her head open, she needed anything just get Murlis off her back.

Diane, flipping a switch around her wrists put both hands out and attempted to fire a barrage of missiles. A few exploded and the armor started to burn up, wobbling, but blew Murlis off her back. She tried to hit her with another barrage, the second batch swerved as Murlis leapt out of the way and, they went haywire in the directory of clusterbombs heading southwards.

Diane looked down, her eyes wide as she saw their closest, heat-seeking target.

“MUMU!” The barrage burst onto the ground in a massive explosive rush. Thunder and fire rained down on the Set priestess, her tail twitching around as she was engulfed in a hellstorm of hot metal and aerial fireworks. Flames and fire and missiles rained down onto her, blazing through her tail curled in fright as a hailstorm of bombs and debris blasted all around her. Diane teared up and with her smoking damaged armor, flew down. Mumu flinched and fell away, and Diane looked down at the fallen Set as the suit's gears started to squeal and the suit shattered as it fell to the ground. She was now stuck and Murlis pounced on her and dragged her out of the suit and threw her down, smashing the suit in a heap of metal and wires. Diane tried to fight back, reaching for the injured Set. Her blood spilling, charred wounds visible after the crash. She couldn't say anything but, “Akura save us, with your Blessing..” before passing out.

Diane tried to crawl forward, Murlis stabbing into her back but she couldn't move a muscle. Mumu wasn't breathing, and her eyes were glassy. Blood and wounds poured out of her as she gasped for air. Diane reached forward and started to sob. Mumu's eyes closed over.

“You ungrateful b-” Tai-Murlis yelled, tears pouring as she continued to stab her again and again and again along Diane's back. “All you had to do was stay in your little workshop and tinker with your toys!” She felt every thrust. “Do you understand what you've done to us? To our whole family? Our whole clan?” She started. “Did you think you were clever?” Murlis's rage boiled to a new level. “Did she think you were a miracle, that you were a blessing for us, to live in the grace of Akura's light? What a joke.” Murlis stopped the carnage for a moment to wipe tears away.

She stood up, Diane defeated in the desert sands. “Well look what that 'Blessing' got

her..”

“I'm not a miracle. I'm a nobody, who got lost on a different world. It's bad enough I've

been caught in your religious crazed politics, but I wouldn't have to if I could-”

“If you could do what?” Murlis asked. “Stay here on the holy ground of Set?” She said, pulling Diane back to her feet.

Diane's eyes opened, stinging. “If I could leave.” She said, coughing.

Murlis put her paw on Diane's back. “You can 'leave'.” She said, and the words had the ring of finality to them as she prepared her claws. “I'll make sure you do.” She raised her paw, preparing for the kill- when lights went up. Tai-Murlis's eyes went wide. “Shit shit.. those are-” Pyramid Ships, from the Military caste and Royal family. They were firing on each other, firing on the very palace. In the midst of their clash, it appeared that individuals waiting for the right powder keg mistook their fight for the go-ahead. Diane didn't know what exactly was happening, but she wasn't about to find out the hard way.

When she awoke, she was in a different dungeon she didn't recognize. Her wrists were chained and was strung up. She saw her spear, chained up to the wall. Tai-Murlis sat next to her, staring at her like a cat looking at a mouse. Mumu was still lying unconscious on a wheeled cart, still bloody and charred, breathing shallow through a breathing mask connected to a tube and numerous machines, seemingly covered in bandages, tubes and bags of medicine. The Set princess, she'd made a promise to. Now nearly on her deathbed, Mumu looked like corpse waiting to be intombed.

“The doctors aren't sure if she'll live. Even if she does.. she'll never walk again or be High Priestess in her condition.” Tai-Murlis said.

“What's happened? Why are we here?” Diane asked.

“An old secret holy-caste compound. The military attacked the church, the time has come for civil war once more. These fights are always erupting out. We're all caught in the midst of Akura's wrath.” She said.

Diane looked down, her eyes going wide at the scarring on Mumu's body. “Murlis, I didn't mean to-”

“Save it.” Murlis got up. “Mom wasn't happy with what happened, but she's now too busy trying to lead our people to concern herself with one traitorous gem. Your sentencing will await after that.”

“I didn't want to kill anyone.” Diane said. “I never meant to hurt her.”

“So many people die in war.” Murlis said, her tone even. “You might've killed one Set girl. Do you have any idea what damage your shiny armor has done? Other Castes heard rumors the church was building some secret, invisible weapon and started taking out our airships for good measure. The farmers, the soldier, the scientists, to the last merchant.. Our religion says they are all servants of the light, each and every one of them.” She turned to Diane, eyes red and bloodshot with rage. “Well now every one of those 'servants of light' are coming to kill us, because of your invention.”

Murlis got up, preparing to leave. “What a mess you've made.” She took out a gun. “Akura bless you, traitor.” She said, placing it on a high shelf by Diane's chains. “Do me a favor, take yourself out. I don't want to ever see you again. We're all slaves to Akura anyway. Why put up a fight against her? She'll clean up the mess she's made one way or another. The Set will be her blazing light again and again.. until we all burn to ash for her.” She said in resignation.

Diane picked up the gun. With her eyes watery, she held it to her forehead and pulled the trigger. A gunshot spread her skull into a bloody smear behind the cell wall. In the meantime, Murlis disappeared. Within five minutes, the wound on the gem had already started regenerated, leaving her to her grief.

“-Mumu, wake up.” Her voice said. The unconscious Set couldn't hear her. “Mumu, I'm sorry for hurting you..” Diane looked around her cell, her body limp, wrists chained up. “Mumu-please, wake up-” She said, her voice growing frantic, the wound that should have killed her healing, but still festering and bleeding.

Diane was met with nothing but the heavy mechanical breathing. After two days, the compound was attacked, Set moving to wheel Mumu's cart away where she could get better treatment. Diane was left to the darkness and silence far and from the light of the stars. After a week, she was set to be executed, but something came up. The holy caste had been overrun by militia. The Set priests were being hunted and slaughtered and the Set military. When she was caught and found by the military, they took her still as a prisoner of war. Diane was too small-fry to kill, but the military were keen to keep the world of high priestesses in line. Within less than a month, the Priestess caste fought back and took Diane in their custody once more. Within two more, the civil war came to a close- every Caste in the luminary galaxy had bigger worries, as their quarrels had left them vulnerable.

Tai-Murlis came to her just as she had a time ago, Diane chained up as if she'd never left.

Wearing heavy battle regalia, the older Set bore more scars on her neck and forehead, with an intensity etched in only matched by her smoldering anger. Her gaze and words were a cold, calculating fire. “We're done fighting each other.” She said. “The Caldari raided Luminary last week. The incursion came after a bombing on our surface and space station, but the damage is being handled.”

“Murlis.. is Mumu alive?” Diane asked.

She didn't answer her, instead putting on a headdress that resembled the one Kajula wore.

The holy priestess symbol of faith and order.

“I'm now the Set's nextborn High Priestress. My mother was.. disposed of. That means leadership of the Priestess caste falls on me. It appears, all your promises and the blessing of Akura fell flat.” Inside, Diane's fears intensified. The implications.. “But the next born is Mumu!”

“They never would have accepted her.” Tai-Murlis said, turning her back, not looking at her. “She never stood a chance, and we both know it.”

Diane fell silent.

“I have to do what's right for my kin. But I owe you nothing, and never did. Akura bless me.” Murlis said.

“W-wait, one more thing! What did you guys do with my suit?” She asked.

Tai-Murlis, the new Head Priestess gave a slight flinch. “We tossed that worthless junk to the scientist caste. We are Set of faith, we don't need your blasphemous weapons and technology.” She said, as she turned and left.

Once again Diane was faced with captivity and isolation. She stayed in Set's dungeons for 3 years, every passing day a day less she could stay. Until finally, her time passed. The war with XU had happened, and while dealing with both a conflict with Luminary and their allies in Orchid, they'd lost. The minor territory they'd gained in distant star systems along Xi and Set borderspace was negated by space fallen into the hands of the dangerous Caldari, who'd been a major player on the opposing side of the fight.

Diane's first chance to escape had come when she was being transported back to the Set homeworld. The ship she was being transported on was hijacked by Caldari pirates, and the Luminary military onboard were slaughtered. The Caldari's were a merciless aquatic race who were famous for their piracy and murderous ways. As she was being transported on a Caldari stardiver ship a ship from Paramor Frontia United appeared to fend off their incursion into XU. When Diane saw it, the swirling of gravity in deep space and the swirling colors of the Paramor starship's engine, a feeling of relief and nostalgia passed over her. Diane was let off her ship, into

a world of stars she'd already seen and had a lifetime of knowledge she was ready to return to. As the stardiver approached the event horizon of a blackhole, Diane could already feel the pull of home. She stole an escape pod and flew out, flying at lightspeed towards the PFU ship and boarding.

Inside, her eyes teared up.

Waiting for her, was Zack. In the pilot flying the ship was Croix.

 

 

──────────────────────────────⟢⧰⟣──────────────────────────────

 

 

 

Croix sighed to the insurgency. “We can fight each other for eternity, but not XU. But I think there's something they have to tell us.” She said. “It's such a shame. You see-” The spotlights in the room shifted towards Diane. “Even our own Commander, who was given charge of our galactic fleet felt overwhelmed by the position. She rejected it and its powers, and stepped down to lieutenant. It's such a humble sacrifice on her part. But I think she's still got something to say.”

The brawlers, the recruits, the security team, the insurgents, they all paused and turned their eyes and ears to the direction of Diane.

Diane tugged her collar abit. “Uh..” She never was one for speeches. “What's your deal here anyway? Are you just here to spy on us, to report us?”

“We haven't sent out the distress yet or called in anyone militarily. Our mandate is simple,” Roseluck said. “We are authorized to offer conditional clemency. What's your mandate?”

A wave of hissing and laughter moved through the room. Someone shouted “Boo!” Croix tilted her head toward Diane. “You heard her. Go on, commander.”

Diane’s twitched. “Lieutenant.” She rubbed her head, unable to believe she was taking part in this. When White Nebula put her up this so long ago, she never imagined she'd have to deal with all this. “Look, we know what we have to do. We're not going to take XU as a legitimate takeover or let them spread Ursula's hippy-dippy ideology anymore. We’ll give it to them. Of course, we’re not going to give it all. But we’ll talk later, I’m sure. And if it seems the negotiations aren’t going in our favor?” She flew over to where the giant Akura unit was. “We have rather good insurance.”

Dana Oscillator leaned in. “If you want de-escalation, you’ll hand over the Set Akura unit.” She said, as if asking to disarm a nuke.

“XU will not tolerate an armed insurgent fleet operating openly. However, Premier Ursula recognize, practical realities. If you all surrender quietly and your leadership negotiates with us, we can bring you in as a valid political partner and recognized government with the backing of the sovereignty of Xi.”

The room broke into a chaotic din. The recruits, the brawlers, the insurgents. The staff, the guests. The security officers, some of whom were just about to go back into the fight. Zack’s fingers flexed. The room didn’t dare fully riot again. “But!” Croix yelled. “No one asked any of you to answer. That's for us figureheads to decide, no?” She looked around. “Did we come here to start a full-blown fight again?”

The room remained silent. “No, we came here to talk.”

Speaker Blue gave a small, pained smile and tried to smooth the air. “If you disarm public-facing recruitment and cease attacks on XU logistics, the Premier is willing to negotiate prisoner exchanges, corridor amnesties, and limited autonomy for certain outer-border systems. We'll let you keep limited security and personnel and allow you self-defense over your territory, provided you stay in your lane.”

Dr. Logi Eclaire added in a clinical tone. “Your fleet, however sizable is still catastrophic. Eight to one is conservative. You cannot win a prolonged conflict. And that's not even counting the Starbreakers.”

They all turned towards one another, and then to Croix, Lapis, Ursula, Zack and Diane. A long look passed between them.

And then, they all looked up. At the Akura Unit. At Nine. Lapis leaned on the railing, watching them all look at her.

“Those are your terms,” Diane said. “And you want us to give up the cat? The one that terrified the fuck out of the Xistress?” She said. “Fat chance.”

“She is a known fugitive and terrorist, it's in your best interest to-” “Correct.” Eclaire was cut off suddenly.

“We'll do it.” A voice above said. Behind the 5 war powers, was Chalcan. He stepped forward onto the balcony, everyone looking at him.

Zack, Odalia, Lestelle and Belos were all flabbergasted by the arrogance of this boy, who spoke out of turn. Croix merely smiled. Her smile softened into something almost sincere, which was always the most dangerous version of her because that's when you knew things were going her way.

“Oh, I didn't mean we're surrendering to your shitass demands. But you can take the Set.

Take them and get lost.” For half a second, the room didn’t react because nobody’s brain believed it had heard correctly.

Then reality caught up.

Rebecca’s head snapped around so fast her ponytail whipped her cheek. “Excuse me?” Nine’s ears flattened, not fear, not shame. Annoyance.

Diane’s eyes went hard. “Chalcan. The fuck are you doing?”

Croix, of course, looked delighted. Not gleeful. Not cackling. Just pleased. She walked forward, putting two hands on the boy. “I'm not going to apologize for this one's, boldness, he had the right of it.” She leaned her face close to hers. “And do you know why I believe in him?” She said, massaging Chalcan's shoulders. “This one, to put it simply is my Shadow. He is the one training to be my replacement in the organization, I've taught him everything I know. Quite a daring little apprentice, isn't he?” She said. Her hand started to stroke his cheek sensually, then she patted the top of his head.

“L-lord Croix..” Chalcan said, pressure building.

“So loyal too! He's more loyal than anyone in this entire room put together!” She said, and her hand moved to his neck, she was stroking his neck now. “Including you, Diane.

Including Zack.” She said. He was going to say something, but she gave him a stern stare, never breaking her eerie smile. “He wants my life, my talent, my position and the respect I can command. And one day, he might just have it. Because I have faith in him and his skills.”

 

 

──────────────────────────────⟢⧰⟣──────────────────────────────

 

 

 

Zack looked down on Diane, having rescued her from her feline plight. “Thought I'd never see you again.” He said.

“I didn't think I'd be seeing you again either.” She said, smiling, wiping her tired eyes. Over the next several hours, Diane went over and explained where she'd been, everything she'd gone through over the last near-century. “Oh Diane..” Zack hugged her. “She.. she died protecting you? She must have loved you a lot.”

“No, I-” Diane stopped. “I killed her.” Diane said, choking up a bit.

“It's been so long Diane. You've been out of contact for decades.” Croix said, smiling.

“And where have you two been?” Diane asked.

Croix rolled her eyes and caught the 'don't tell her' glares of Zack, able to read her brother's body language. “Oh, little governance here, little civic building there. Zack found someo-” He elbowed her, “He was in Orchid, fighting a war for the fledging Domina. Anyway, we've just been all over the universe and making a living here and there.”

Diane, in the faintest of her recollection recalled when she'd tried to fix the timeline before hunting godshards. She'd contacted Zack, and Luz had approached him asking to join her in the conflict for her Decade. He'd turned her down then- did that mean this time around he'd joined her? Diane's eyes started to water.

“When you say you found someone, you mean like, what a therapist?”

“I wish-” Zack started, before Croix put a finger to his lips. “Diane.. we've missed you a lot. So very, very much.” He said, as his and Croix's eyes were full of the most heartbreaking and loving expressions she'd seen from them. “It's been so long.”

“No, it's.. it's been a lot of years.. it's been a lot of years.” Diane said, her expression a mixture of relief, sadness and joy.

Setting the controls aside, Croix got up and went to inspect Diane, as if checking out fresh meat. She licked her fingers, rubbing some dirt from Diane's cheek. “You've lost weight.. A gem shouldn't lose its luster, it'll leave you dull.” Croix said, a slight smirk on her face.

“Croix.. you're being unkind.” Diane said. Seeing a familiar face after this long, felt enough to even bury whatever trauma she felt towards this woman. Croix gave a small chuckle, and winked at Diane.

“And we're back to how we were. You being a baby and I a parent.” Croix said. “Welcome back, Diane. This time.. I'll never let you out of my sight.”

“I don't plan on going anywhere.” Diane said.

“Good, because we have business to take care of. We're heading back to a warpstation towards Orchid. I've something rather urgent to show you.”

“Yeah, I've had my fill of wars. Let's stay on neutral ground for a while.” Zack said. “We're here love.” Croix announced.

Diane took a deep breath. She hadn't step foot into Orchid in a long long time. It felt like blithering lifetimes ago that she was spitting venom at this same woman, or some version of her after witnessing Thatti ascend to Domina, taking on the grand deal from Hermes to start from scratch. That was then, this was now. And this... This was too different. It was all different now, but it felt so incredibly similar in the end as if no time had passed at all. Did she really trust Croix just because she'd grown over the centuries? She didn't want to cry, didn't want to fall to

the trap of thinking she could just run back and forget. She tried not to remember, or dwell on it. Instead she turned her head and pushed out the shuttle door.

On the other side was a granite hallway with red marble flooring over gray stone masonry, she followed Croix through it, then about two hallways and turns after- ignoring the numerous rooms. Croix keyed open and pushed the door on one. “This will be the bedroom where you're sleeping.”

Diane raised her brow. “Don't suppose you came to support me in a good nights rest?”

“Come along.” Croix said. “I've got something spectacular to show you.” The woman kept walking. Putting aside her suspicions, Diane followed her, taking notice of Croix's gait one heel step at a time. Soon they entered a large suite with a ceiling dozens of meters across and six high, at the center was what looked like a chandelier at first. “Take it in.” Croix told her.

On closer inspection, the object hanging from the ceiling was a golden accumulation of bricks and crystalline in a translucent, yet solid form. The object was a solid gold monolith, but one with chunks and cracks throughout it, that begged to fill its remaining spaces. She recognized the pieces now joined and clumped like a messy set of gravel from the countless pieces she'd collected, every shape and crystal, each piece bunched into a collective mass. All the godshards, in one mega-fragment. Diane could feel her pulse. Her mind racing. What was she looking at? The realization came like a wave of denial. She'd been told that Croix was collecting these, but the sheer thought they'd all be here. “How did you do this?”

She turned to the woman who had been the subject of all her nightmares. “Why are all the godshards collected here?” She could hear the accusation in her voice.

The Croix who had been a demonic presence in her past had been a different woman now, someone older, but still that sense of presence. “I had them brought here. I made it my mission.” Croix offered. “And of course, I didn't sit around wondering why you were searching. I did my homework.” She snapped her fingers, and the ceiling's dome opened up, a figure flying in from overhead. They landed atop the conglomeration of godshards, which were slowly lowered from their chain a foot above the floor. With wings flapping and legs crossed, the boy who called himself Hermes perched on the monolith, gazing upon the woman below.

“Diane, I believe this is all you.” He spoke, patting the huge golden chunk of bricks. “Oh, and she helped and got a few too while you were away.” He said, eyeing Croix. “W-what's going on?” Diane asked.

“You might not understand, so it's better we do things the old fashioned way. I'm offering it all to you. That is, if you can make use of it.” He held up a hand, and the gold fell open, revealing the void of space within. Diane's eyes widened. “So... How about it?”

“Make use of it? What does that mean?” The gem could feel frustration rising. She felt like she'd been tricked, she felt no different than she had before. She felt like nothing had changed, and she was going to be thrown back into it all. “This is... Why do I need this? What does it do?”

Hermes looked to Croix, his head tilted. “You didn't tell her yet? What the godshards-” “Now slow your roll. Mums the word.” Croix replied, crossing her arms.

Diane felt her fists grow tight and shaking. “Why do I need this? What have I been collecting all these for? I deserve to know.” She repeated, holding her hands out, then curling them into fists at her side.

Sitting atop the huge golden chunk, Croix crossed his legs and shrugged. “Just think of it for the time being, as an Ore. Raw material, the ultimate in raw material. It's the purest, the rarest, and the hardest to work with.” Hermes turned and looked the other way. “But it can be worked with, by someone skilled and brilliant enough.”

“Ore? W-what?” Diane asked.

“Ore. You know? Elemental resources. Material for making things.” Croix patted it twice under her bum, giving a faint THACK-THACK. “As for what, I'll let you figure that out. You seem bright enough.”

Diane was starting to realize she'd just become an idiot in a second opinion she'd ever had on anything. Of all the encounters and requests she'd had with Hermes, it seemed to come together why she was chosen to collect all of these. “You want a weapon.” She said. “Something you can use out of the Godshards.” Diane knew she'd heard something similar before, and remembered the first time the offer was given by Hermes long long ago.

The boy with wings nodded, before putting his hand in his pocket. Taking out a little object he pulled out, holding it up for her to see. “Something like this.” He explained. Daine looked at it, immediately she knew. Star-Striker. The last Perceptcival weapon she built for Thatti. “A Perceptcival.” Croix said. “That was you.” Croix said. “A powerful magical artifact you constructed in another world, another time.”

“Why?” Diane asked. “Why go to all this trouble? Just for this?”

Hermes shook his head. “Because Croix wanted a weapon. A powerful one that could break her free from even divine powers. She knew what it would take, and knew a weapon like the godshards were just what she needed to make something like this.” He leaned against Croix, who gently patted his head. “But with this material, you can make an even more powerful perceptcival, more powerful than even that one.” Hermes said, then tapping the golden chunk. “A better one. A Perceptcival that could even challenge the Divine powers, like the godshards themselves.” He explained.

Croix turned her head. “You're gonna have to be pretty bloody brilliant to pull this off. I want a godshard weapon. Hermes wants to witness the birth of one too, won't you indulge us?”

“I... I mean, I get the gist of it, but I really don't get the idea of a godshard perceptcival? A Perceptcival capable of fighting gods?” She questioned, wondering what gods Croix could be trying to fight.

And what's in it for me?” Diane asked.

The woman paused and thought for a moment, then crossed her arms. “If you succeed, I'll give you two choices.” She held the hanging chains, gently rocking on the huge crystal slab like a swing. “Firstly, I'll make good on my promise that me and my brother will assist you. You want us to resist Ursula in a war someday, and save Thatti yes? And secondly..” Her swing sped up, Hermes riding along Croix's backside like a child. “You can keep the weapon, if you forge it that is. I'll let you decide what to do with it after, assuming it can be constructed.”

“What?” Diane exclaimed.

She'd been told countless times this past few months how powerful these godshards were, and she knew that some of them were still even connected to their gods. Could someone really build something so powerful? Something divine?

“And third.” Croix added. “As an added favor, if I'm in a good mood. Someday.. I'll tell you what the godshards are. Where they REALLY come from.” Diane stared up at the monolith like it might blink first.

It didn’t. It just hung there, gold and fracture, an altar built from unfinished sentences. Croix rocked gently on the chain, boots tucked in, Hermes perched behind her like a smug little shoulder-devil with wings.

Diane let the silence sit long enough to become rude. Then she spoke, flat.

“Okay.” She grabbed the chains abruptly to stop Croix's swinging. “If I build this weapon, it is not yours by default. Not yours, not Hermes’s, not anybody’s. I choose where it goes. I choose who holds it. If you don’t like that, we stop right now.”

Hermes leaned back, waving his hand over Croix. “Hey now. Hold it there. This is just to make a point. And you don’t get to make the point first. Croix doesn’t like you deciding what to do with it, let’s be clear on that. But she’s letting you go through with it anyway. And she’s putting her life on the line. She’s letting you. Not giving.”

“I know.” Diane said. “But if I end up building something that strong, I want to decide what it does. Not even for my own sake, but for everyone's.” She said. “It's the right thing to do.”

“How heroic of you! Well, gem of valor. That does satisfy my 2nd condition, so I don't have any objection. It'll be yours to do as you wish. You know what? How about we do the contract right now?” She suggested, reaching into her pocket, fumbling around, and finally pulling out a little scroll, a small metal pin at the top. Croix hopped lightly off the chain, heels clicking against marble. “Prick your finger uptop here. We'll both swipe and sign to make it official.” Croix pressed hers in first, then Diane, the two slicking red into the scroll's blank line “Well, done.” Croix pressed. “This isn't official until Hermes signs too. So I'd like your word I'm not getting shafted here.”

“Of course not, Croix.” Hermes promised. “I'll sign it.” He took the little scroll, bled his thumb and pressed it in. “Ow.. that leaves abit of a boo-boo. Well that's the contract set in stone, what's next?”

“We wait.” Croix said, sitting down on the gold slab. She turned and looked at Diane, who now stood next to the woman on her golden throne of gods.

“Now be honest, do you feel comfortable living here? I'm giving you two years to build this weapon If you're still uncomfortable, I'll move you somewhere else. I have places, I'm sure you'd rather live. For the moment you need no worries about being attacked. You're going to be pretty safe here.”

Diane just looked at the godshards for a moment, then back at Croix, then turned her head. “I agree to your terms. But don't mistake my choice to stay here as being comfortable. It's the smart choice to make. I'll try to make use of my time here.”

Hermes chuckled and stood up. He had business to take care of with the rest of his family. “Good! It's settled then. I'll check in from time to time on your progress, good luck gem girl.” He flew up out the top ceiling's dome, leaving Croix and Diane in the room alone.

She paced a bit around the room, her heels clicking and pinging as she crossed the floor. “You know you're here alone, right? I can't exactly move all of Orchid, you know that.” She added. “And it's going to be just us two in this facility for a long while. So, can you stand me or not?”

Diane just gave her a smile, an awkward one but still a smile.

“Good.” Croix turned and opened the door. “I'll make us both lunch in the kitchen and see you in a bit.” Croix said, and turned her hand, sliding the door open.

She could feel her gems swelling in her chest, her heart beating fast, she was still worried. But she was also sure of one thing. She was finally going to have the power to make her own fate. Finally.

About a year in, Diane had surrendered herself to the madness of the plasma forge Croix had brought into the suite, which had become a personal atelier for her From it flowed the golden slime, the same strange plasma-matter that Croix said came from some species of bee or hivemind in Orchid- dangerous and infective when mishandled without neutralizer fluid. Diane had been able to learn a great deal about magic crafting over the year, an entire book shelf full to the brim along with a dozen toppled and open to bookmarked pages below were scattered around the room, filled with countless notes Diane had taken. A board inbetween two shelves held a gigantic board that she'd drawn diagrams on in frantic, yet complex elaborate ways. On another side wall were various containers, of plasma matter, crystal formations, elemental powders, gears and metal spikes. It was a strange place, a madman's lair that had been her home for the year, and it was the same room that Diane had spent her time in, creating a weapon from the godshard artifacts. She held a bent staff which unleashed a purple laser-like torch, and walked in a circle around a steely table, applying pressure there and heat here, looking back through ancient textbooks and hand-scribbled notes. Her nest of ideas, her nest of creation. She was working.

And she was making progress.

She held a plasma torch above, lighting the tip aflame as she hovered in midair, twirling as she spun the weapon clockwise. “It needs to be at just the right temperature for perfect balance, for maximum mana efficiency.” She explained. “But there's are still a few pieces missing..”

“Missing?” Croix said, legs crossed on a chair in back as she flipped through a book, one that Croix never allowed Diane to see or peer into, and would be of no benefit due to being written in a private language that Croix had invented. “For one, a few godshards are still absent from the whole collection. Secondly..” She scratched her head. “Perceptcival weapons kiiiinda need, well, y'know..”

“Yes?” Croix asked, smiling and amused. “Go on.”

Diane sighed. “A soul. Perceptcivals are made to embody a soul, to be enchanted by one.” She said. “A Perceptcival is the soul materialized.”

“And you don't think we can find a soul to capture?” Croix asked.

Diane scoffed. “Of course I think we can find a soul.” She said. “But.. “What?” Croix prompted.

“The soul needs to have been strong in life, or at the time of death, it needs to have been a fighter. Someone strong enough to withstand the weapon's own power.” Diane said.

Croix nodded. “I see. Of course that would make sense.”

“Now how are we going to find a soul like that? You can't just find a normal person's soul, and turn them into a Perceptcival.” Diane said.

 

no?”

Croix closed her book. “Let me worry about the soul. It can be delayed until the very end,

 

“Tch.” Diane kept the torch steady, violet flame hissing as it licked the edge of the half-

formed frame. As she moved the torch along the edge of the small spherical shape she was still crafting while preparing the handle, she realized, with a small jolt, that she’d been living here for a year and still walked like she expected someone to grab her ankle and drag her back into a cell. The memories of her time in the priestess's dungeon still stirred in her, every day working reflecting in the waking hours she crafted and bore fires for the Set and their mysterious Akura god. She had been through some real trauma here, she still lived through it, and even then that memory had the power to throw her off her stride. This was her day, after all, and she couldn’t let herself get stuck in the past, not even her past successes. She took a moment to re-focus, then continued with her work, the memory still lingered like the echo of a distant thunder. But she was going to be given the chance to learn everything she could about magic crafting and construction, and she knew the weapon would be hers.

But a soul that could handle being in a weapon forged by Godshards? That might be impossible.

“Hey, who was the soul in the last Perceptcival you built?” Croix asked.

“In Star-Striker? Well..” Diane recalled into the distant past her sins. “A wed knight,” she said at last. “An AU oath-knight. From my original timeline. He pledged his life to a vowmother who no longer exists and after being transformed, became her bride. He- She died with the vow intact. Which means the vow didn’t die with her. I was dealt with rogue 'brides' quite often back where I was from.”

“The soul of a vowmother's bride? You are full of surprises..” Croix purred.

After the two years, the weapon was nearly complete. Diane had to go out occasionally, hunting through time for the remaining godshards which were few and far between. A year, a millenium, a decade, however far in the past she needed to go to recover the last few remaining fragments, until there were no more remaining.

Croix was busy with her little book. What she was trying to do was still unknown. Croix's research was always kept a secret, and she always told Diane she could figure it out for herself.

Often Croix would take her book by the handiwork of Diane's creation, as if reading to it or talking to it like she was a child being read a bedtime story. Croix's face would always be buried in the book, reading out loud with a soft voice. As if the book could talk. Her eyes would scan the text, her fingers swirling in the characters like she was practicing an old language in her mind.

She was a very unusual person.

 

built.

Diane could have questioned her, but Diane knew she wouldn't get anywhere. So she just

 

Her crafting had become nearly routine, an hour here, three hours there, ten, fifteen hours

at the forge surrounded by exotic potions and sophisticated tools and technical advanced procedures for sorcery and crafting that one couldn't begin to comprehend. The workshop was humming as always with the sounds of the plasma faucet, the hissing of the torch, the sloshing of the chemical fluid that would soon be dried and ready for storage. And all around the room were gears and cogs, pieces of plasma matter, and tiny bits of crystal. The godshards were no longer visible in the blocky monolith collected and gathered- all of them now concentrated and built back into the weapon before her. And now the weapon was nearly finished. One more week and the weapon would be finished, and it would be placed in a vault hidden somewhere in Orchid, a place Diane could decide. Why she chose this, Croix found curious, but Diane had already made up her mind when Croix kept up her end of the deal and let her keep it.

She would make sure the weapon was given to Thatti.

Diane just couldn’t shake the odd feeling she was in some elaborate trap, that Croix was hiding something from her. That the weapon wasn’t being made for what it was being made for. But Diane had long since given up trying to figure out that woman's plans. Then again, that was the deal.

After more than an additional month, the weapon was complete. Technically it was done prior, but Diane had added additional aesthetic touchups, some quality of life improvements and did everything in her power to ensure the Perceptcival had the power to contain the godshards constructing it, seamlessly blended into its power and function. Croix had gone out somewhere, presumably taking her diary somewhere, and left Diane in her bedroom. She held up the weapon to the light, the result of a millennium of handiwork at her fingertips.

A few more days past, then a few more days after that, until it was finally time. Croix came back, and inspected the final design. She ran her hands around it greedily, licking her lips.

“Mmm, looks good.” She purred. “It's complete. Time for you to take it.” “Yes. I was the one who made it, it should be mine to use.” Diane said.

“Sure. But you're forgetting the last part no.” She handed it back to Diane. “The soul. I told you I'd take care of that. Come with me.”

Diane followed her to the very chamber where the weapon was built, the shelves a little cleaned up and every book back in its place. Pulling from a shelf, Croix placed a board on the table and pulled up two chairs. She pulled a lever, opening the glass dome with a slight tilt. From above, just like two years before came down, Hermes descended.

“Hey! Well that's a welcome change, seeing you two so nice to each other. I miss that.” Hermes said. He held a small cyan sphere in his hands.

“Sit down. Let's have a conversation. About what you've brought.” Croix said. She turned to Diane. “You see, our lovely little Sentrimate here has brought the final charge for your masterpiece. A soul, as a matter of fact..” She waved at the weapon, which sat on the workbench.

“This is my own creation.” Diane said.

“That's your final design?” Hermes asked, then turned and looked at Croix, who was sitting in the chair again. “Really? I thought you'd make it more..”

“Boring.” Croix added. “I know.” She said. “Still, it's very impressive. You've done good work on this, I'll give you that.”

Croix began setting pieces on the table. “You know how to play Shung-gi, right Hermes?”

“There's no game I cannot play.” The Sentrimate replied.

“Good. Here is my proposal. Now, if you win, you put that soul in the wand. Diane gets this weapon for her ends, and then we all go our separate ways. But if I win. Well..”

She looked at Diane. “I take that gem behind me, and maybe put her soul in the wand instead. Or any soul I want. You can put the soul you brought into her body. And she as the 'new Diane' can do as she wishes.”

Diane was outraged. “W-what?!” Her heart snapped, every ounce of her body cracked with rage and indignation, as if she could lose control and set aflame spontaneously. Hermes, meanwhile, looked delighted in the quiet, predatory way only Hermes could look delighted, eyes flicking between them like a spectator. Diane’s hand slid instinctively to the Perceptcival on the workbench. Croix grabbed it first. “Your game is accepted. It's a deal.” Hermes said.

“WAIT A SECOND.” Diane yelled. “I never agreed to any of that! Not a game. Not anything.” For a heartbeat, she saw every version of Croix she’d ever feared stacked like transparencies over the woman in front of her. Some older. Some younger. All of them grinning at her with the same malice throughout time and space.

Croix smiled and nodded. “It's true. You didn't agree, but then again neither did he. No rules, no contracts, no agreements. It's all fair game. All fair. It's about to be so.” She cracked her knuckles on the table and leaned her head over. “I'll tell you what. If you agree to this, I'll tell you a very special thing I know you've been dying to know for ages..” She began whispering into Diane's ear. Diane’s eyes glittered with the light of a million suns.

“Alright,” Diane said, and she heard the calm in her own voice like a stranger’s hand on her shoulder. “Explain the stakes again. Out loud.”

Croix’s grin sharpened. “If I win, I choose the soul for your wand. Yours, or the one Hermes brought.”

Diane’s eyes didn’t move. “And if he wins?”

Croix leaned forward, elbows on the table. “You get what you want. Plus, a secret.” “Okay. You got me. I agree. But.. I’m not your insurance policy,” Diane said.

Croix’s voice softened by a millimeter. “No. You’re my unknown. That's better. Now, the game begins.” Croix announced.

The game of Shung-gi had very particular rules. It was a game mostly played with peons, pieces similar to pawns that could only move 1 tile. Every peon started at level 1, but could either spend a turn raising it and its adjacent peons one level, or move. Each player received 10. The other piece was the Swan, the only chess piece in Shung-gi that could not be taken by any other piece, and move more than 1 piece at a time. However anytime one chose the Swan, its movement tier, attack strength and attack-movement patterns were randomized. There were 999 different combinations for the Swan at any given roll. An attack on a peon would lower it by 1, or eliminate it if it was brought to 0. The goal of the game was to bring the 'Egg' piece to the center golden tile, but opposing Peons could block the egg and other people people's movements if higher.

Hermes looked at her warily. “Don’t worry, no cheating.” She assured. “You are in your own world, I can’t control the outcome or game.”

Diane held her breath, she knew what to expect, but had no idea what Croix would do, so she merely watched. She observed Croix play and could see it in the way her pieces were set up, the way she’d calculated the game of Shung-gi into perfection. The aspect of a game's most powerful piece having a randomized moveset. The gem watched the two play the vast board, moving pieces about as an hourglass flipped every turn. “You're depending alot on that Swan.

How can you plan on a piece that's not reliable?” Croix’s smile flickered. “It’s about faith, love.”

Diane snorted. “It’s about you liking chaos when you, personally think you can steer it.

You're not a praying woman at all.”

“Oh chaos is quite fun, but still- it's faith.” She moved her egg another advance. “Not mine. Exploiting that of others. Yours. His. Everyone's.”

Diane took a deep breath. “What?”

“The pearlescent egg, when it dies it rises.” Croix murmured, taking one last move to sweep Herme's pieces from the board. Hermes moved his swan in response, charging to remove one of her unleveled peons. Diane’s muscles tightened, reflex. The Swan couldn’t be taken. It could sit anywhere inert and laugh at every other piece from the sidelines. Croix loved pieces

like that. Whenever it decided to show its face, there was no telling whether it would be a titan steamrolling the enemy or come as inert as it came.

“You want something from me. You’ll sprint for it. I’ll punish you for moving like a desperate animal.” Croix remarked.

The sand flipped back and forth between sides of the hourglass as they played late into the night. On the two hundredth and fortieth turn Croix reached for the Swan. With so few peons left on the board to block an easy victory, she took a last gamble- and rolled the dice for her Swan.

Hermes’s face fell, and began to smile and clap. His level 8 peon was wiped from the board. With no close defends, Croix's egg had a clear path. In less than 8 turns, Croix moved it to the center gold tile and concluded the game. “The game is over.” Croix said, rising. Hermes grinned like a shark. “Excellent game.” He said.

Diane was livid. She glared into Croix's face, hands still clasped in a vice. “You- you must be kidding me.”

Croix looked back to her in amusement. “I’m afraid not. Game over. Winner wins.” Diane opened her mouth.

“Not to mention that you get a secret you've been asking for.” She said, her eyes sparkling.

“Is that before or after you force me into this thing?” She said, gripping the weapon like a lifeline.

“Perhaps.” Croix said, stretching her arms. “Actually, it is getting rather later. Why don't we sleep on it, hmm?” Her eyes narrowed. “I'm sure you can spend the night fantasying about what'll it be like to be so close to your beloved Thatti.. if the new Diane decides to give you up. Who knows, she just might keep you.” As she walked away, Diane started to chase after her in frustration.

“Listen well, Diane. I use people. Everyone uses people.” She smirked, hands rubbing on her face. “And everyone loves to be used. Everyone's got that one vice they love. Some love to be tricked. Others love to be stolen from. And for someone like you... it's always a new soul.

New friends. Old souls. New everything. I adore a curious soul like that. That's why you're my storyteller. My unknown..”

Then she left, the door to her bedchamber closing after her to lock out Diane. Her heart exploded in her chest.

She'd never trust any of them ever again.

That night was the longest night for Diane in centuries. When Croix finally returned from her rest, she cooked a full meal for her, Diane and Hermes. The woman hadn't made her decision yet, whether she should start fleeing now and abandon a millennium of work or accept whatever fate awaited her. The gem was on the verge of tears, the woman's words hung over her like a death threat. “I think, I've decided which will go in it. But first, I want to know something. From you now, please fill me in.”

“Yes?” Diane said. She'd made her choice. She'd give it all up. If this was to happen then this was to happen. Her soul, the others, fate would be delivered with her handiwork one way or another. If she had to merge with that power she'd gathered, with these godshards, so be it. “What's your decision?”

“Shush. I have a different question. You've spent the last 2 years working on this, so I would like to know.” Croix looked at the Perceptcival in Diane's hand. “What is its name?”

Diane's eyes narrowed.

“What is it?” Croix asked. “Surely you've thought of that?”

The gem looked around the kitchen. She looked at the Perceptcival again. “The name..” She'd never even thought of that.

Croix continued, holding up her finger. “If you're going to use it, you have to name it.

Naming is very important.”

Diane's voice was very quiet. She looked at Croix, at her face, into her eyes and put her resolve forward, opening up a whole blank page to a new world with the finality of her words.

“Its name is.. Headhunter. And it shall slay every god that ever set foot on this earth. All the way up to every god who's ever taken a footstep up into the stars. Every single one.”

Croix's eyes flicked, and she let out a soft laugh. “Yes, every last one..”

 

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While Thatti was enrolled at Chrysanthemum, Diane began to put her plans together.

The skies of Aethel in the stormy marshes and lilypads were without a doubt, the farthest from home Diane ever felt. From the desert dusty sands and wastelands of AU to all the way out here, she wasn't used to the humidity and thick perspiration across the gem's skin. Every step seemed another puddle, this world a watery basin of waves and wind unlike any she ever knew. It seemed like a thick storm cloud had descended upon the whole land, so thick that the sun

could not pierce through. The only other sign that things were about to get a bit more complicated was a massive rift in the middle of the sky that started to grow larger and larger, which Diane could only assume was some kind of giant island or castle high in the sky with a winding storm around it. The storms of Aethel never stopped from what she could see, and it was never going to end.

“Ehh.. Orchid always feels so lonely.” Nefriset said, Hyde and Bliss behind her. The four gems navigated the marshes and mud, the water rising to their ankles and the grasses and lilies rising to their waists. Diane had a massive cloak on that trailed behind her for water drainage, she was also wearing boots unlike the rest. Soon they arrived at a beach, where they found a rather sizable lighthouse by a cliffside. They could see a city across the coast built on a massive pier, a boardwalk with ferries and casinos and small shops. Hyde opened the lighthouse to reveal a massive spiral staircase that led upward and they all ascended. Uptop the lighthouse, the light was focused on a large estate over by the marsh. It seemed like an old church at one time, though it was built around a giant tree which had a lot of sap, causing everything around it to be sticky. Nefriset held out her palm for a bit of sap that stuck to her hand, though she could have gotten much more had she wished to.

“Are you sure she's here?” Hyde asked. They'd been dating for a hot minute now, and Diane always seemed a fiery girl full of secrets, just like how the marshlands were full of muck and debris below the muddy surface. Sunny always tried to say otherwise, that Diane was as good as gold and she just needed to get to know her, but Hyde wasn't quite sure that was the case. The girl's eyes would always light up when the topic of Orchid came up as her world of origin, but Aethel was a location even beyond the Orchid that Sunny was familiar with. A verifiable paradise for gems, plants and even those of the male pedigree, alway from the spires and inquisition of Gaia. It was a land of promise and new beginnings, and where Diane would at one point, be stalked by and continually meet one of her old friends and allies.

Chalcan. “Are you sure the Gem of Envy is here?” Hyde asked, scratching his horns a tad. He would always ponder why the girl came to this part of Orchid in the first place, why did she feel so tied to this land and this strange place of mud and pests and alligators among giant trees that reached up to the atmosphere where the neverending storms circulated, reflected in crystalline monoliths and towers larger than any structure in Bedlam.

“Yeah.. he is.” Diane said. It'd been awhile, but she'd visited his abode in the old timelines enough to know this was where the boy was stationed. One of her most loyal supporters, Chalcan had been with her through it all, from the wars of Orchid to even the days in AU at one point. She'd saved the Gem of Envy in countless occasions when he was mortally wounded in the wars. She had a certain tenderness for him that even she couldn't understand.

And though the feelings were mutual, she'd set her heart on saving Thatti who lived above the moons of Gaia among the Flora Church.

She needed him for this. All this Rebecca, Shadow King nonsense that she knew as David returning, the mission to gift Croix the artifact she'd crafted who would put it in her academy.

Diane felt eager to talk to him again. That boy could break her heart, and maybe he would. But maybe that's what she needed. She'd already broken his.

“The last time we saw each other, I was jumping timelines and trying to find a way to save Thatti. He's not dangerous, Chalcan's a good kid. Trust me. And besides, we need to fill out our ranks with the final Rose Gem anyway.”

“So, what's the gem of envy like anywayyyy?” Bliss asked, yawning. She rubbed her eyes, she was tired and felt like she'd crash into the marsh or shore any moment now. They made their way to the church-like building the lighthouse pointed to. “Let's introduce you.” Diane knocked on the two-sided gate door with a massive iron knocker, roses with thorns gardened around the church. This was the place he lived, it was a sacred location where they did their rituals and worshiped some unknown Goddess- certainly not Flora. Not out here.

The door started to shift. Diane stepped back, in line with the other 3. The four watched as the door slowly opened up. It revealed a large room with a giant tree in the middle of the floor. The tree seemed to have a trunk with many branches and vines, many large and small, and with them grew flowers and plants and animals. The tree was a lush jungle in itself, with all kinds of life on it. Standing in front of the room inside was a figure- a girl. Blue skin, short spiffy hair, eyes like mirrors shining and reflecting Diane in her eyes.

The girl on the other side was none other than... Lapis.

“Can I help you guys?” She asked.

Lapis didn't recognize the gems, their names were unfamiliar to her as well. Checking her out, Diane just stood there, with her head bunched in confusion.

No Chalcan. Strange girl where the boy was.

She glared. “Who.. the fuck are you?” Diane didn't know what to do.

The Gem of Envy laughed and shook her head. She was confused but smiled abit. “I'm Lapis, who are you?”

 

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Chalcan's face was going red as Croix stroked him. He wanted to yell, scream, in pleasure. But she was feeling him up and getting him all steamed. “But there's an issue. My

shadow you see. He is.. a good dog. A dog who can be taught every trick, and is as loyal as a dog can be. It makes him a little.. blunt sometimes. Yes, just a tad predictable. That's where you come in, lieutenant. My happy little kittycat.”

“I'm not-” Diane protested.

“The lieutenant is the one the boy should be learning from. She is the one who will command his forces.”

“That's not the agreement!” Chalcan protested.

“But it will be, and you know it will be. I have eyes and ears in this room, and you know this young fellow will take care of you.” She said, still stroking him. “We are going to be good partners. We're not going to be a group of war mongers and terrorists, we're going to be a respectable, honorable force, that will go on to take our rightful place in the galaxy.” She said. Chalcan was squirming now. Nervous with pleasure and discomfort. “Diane down there, she might slit my neck in the morning. She hates me with a passion, and for good reason. I cannot walk her or tell her to roll over- she's a wild beast thru and thru.” Croix leaned against the rail amused, finally wiggling her fingers to Chalcan's chest and crotch, stroking just a tease and then letting him breathe with a gasp. “But that's invaluable in a way no loyalty can match. The storyteller of the grand stage. My little mystery..”

Chalcan finally yelled. “I belong to Ms. Croix!” His face twitched. He couldn't stand the idea of Diane stealing his thunder.

The four dignitaries and envoys of XU watched as Croix raised her hand in a way that made them nervous. Then Croix snapped her fingers. “Let us continue our negotiations-”

“SECURITY SYSTEMS TURRET AUTOMATA: ENGAGE.” Chalcan shouted, as if

screaming to the sky while posing his fist upwards.

Croix's smile went to war. And then, she turned to face them.

“What?!” Diane said. Everyone went distraught as the four armed artillery-systems came to life, AI already targeting the 4 dignitaries.

“Blast them!” Chalcan shouted. “THE TIME HAS COME! SHOW THEM OUR RESPECT!” The cannon’s barrel was now targeting the 4. Chalcan watched as the other cannon shot a massive beam of light which vaporized and annihilated the diplomatic team on the spot, leaving a smear of black ash and crimson blood across the room. The crowd gasped. Chunks of gore and flesh fell to the ground. Diane's body went white. Chalcan turned to the Set, who had all moved to her position in the crowd to get a drink, not really listening to the prior politics. “AND HER! RE-TARGET AND FIRE ON THE SET.” The beams shot towards Nine next.

“Hm?” They blast at her arms and face, Nine waving her limb annoyed taking no damage, a tiny bit of smoke leaving her paw. She rolls her eyes, then took a sip from a tiny glass then marched over to it. Nine sighs like she’s dealing with a stubborn appliance and rips the mount clean out of the wall with one brutal yank. Metal screams. Bolts pop. The whole assembly comes down in her grip.

Diane turned her head. “Chalcan. What the fuck-”

“SHUT UP!” Chalcan shouted. He didn't even care that Diane was right and Nine was telling him off. “YOU NEED ME!”

“Fuck that!” Diane yelled. “Get your head on straight!”

“NO! I'm the commander now! I always have been! I deserve this! You're a traitor Diane, you're the real danger to this organization!” He cried out. After getting off from his high, he turned around to see the other war powers staring back at him, all in fear and shock but Croix, who only slowly clapped.

“Well done, Chalcan.” Croix said, still rubbing his face and body. “You learned well.

And your loyalty.” She added, her smile more wicked than ever. “You're a credit to me, as always.”

Diane, Nine and Rebecca stared at him. The entire audience stood confused.

Croix smiled, her face now an expression of genuine fondness. Her hand went out to pet his cheek. “I suppose I was wrong, a dog can learn new tricks. She leaned on the rail, patting him on his head. “I love you, my darling Shadow.” She said, almost caressing his face.

But all he could do was glare into the furious stage. “I.. I...” He said. Then he looked at Croix, his eyes burning. “I love you too, M-Ms. Croix..” He said.

Croix only smiled. She then gently pushed him to the side to address the crowd. “See? He took the initiative. They left us no choice, and he took charge. Give praise to his bravery.” She cleared her throat. “But the Premier is our enemy and we will fight them. Just... just like that.” She said, snapping her fingers. “She will call this a massacre,” Croix began pacing back and forth, as if giving a lecture. “She will say we lured diplomats into our hall and butchered them.

She will call every one of you a terrorist, a rabid dog, a plague to be burned out. She won't show any mercy or consideration, so she will earn none.” Croix looked around, taking her place as the center of attention. “We will fight them, not in some grand galactic war, or an organized rebellion against XU. No, we will fight them in their darkest, ugliest corners and hit them where it hurts. We will win a campaign of blood and fear. It will be brutal, it will be bloody, it will be terrifying and ugly. And we will take back what is ours.”

The confusion of the audience began to turn to cheers, as everyone listening got fired up. “We'll win this war with our bare hands! Against all odds!” “We are free! We have an army!” “We are the stars! We are the galaxy!” “We are defenders of the realm!” “CHALCAN!” “CHALCAN!” “CHALCAN!” The insurgents. The new recruits. All of the Sovereignty of Xi chanted together in agreement, turning to cheers.

“And they'll be here in approximately 6 hours.”

Suddenly just like that, the cheering died. All the confusion and horror came rushing back. A dread filled the room. Croix had been playing all of them, the insurgents, Diane, Rebecca, and even Chalcan. “Oh, weren't you all so excited for war? As I said, Chalcan killed their representatives. They know our location, and are coming for us all now. They're already en route. They will send every weapon they have against us in a matter of hours.”

“So? Let's destroy them! It's time we stop negotiating and we start counting their corpses!” Chalcan shouted. Nobody cheered with him this time around. Croix turned to Chalcan and gave him a little nod. Rolling her eyes, Diane flew up to the top balcony and pushed Chalcan aside. “We are going to prepare for retaliation. Make sure the shielding towers are all fully charged, get all low-mobile fleet operations into a heavy defense perimeter around the planet, and high-mobile's on escape routes to the other bases and stations. Begin communication lines with all defense networks. Everyone clear out. I want this crew, clean and ready to go. No one who is going to be in this room when this place gets leveled by XU. We aren't going to lose this war. You all want to be rebels? Our defensive position is strong, our tactics will hold. We're going to survive this. Prove you can follow my orders long enough to come out on top.

Everyone, mobilize.”

“But-” Chalcan tried to protest, but Diane’s eyes killed his spirit. “And YOU- I am in charge of us now. Your little 'show of loyalty' is over. And I am taking command.”

“NO!” Chalcan yelled, stomping his foot. “THIS IS OUR WAR, AND I AM THE CAPTAIN!”

Diane slapped him. Then she walked off. Lapis flew next to her. “Good speech.. Sister.” She rolled her eyes. “Laps, not now. Let's go.”

Lapis and Diane flew down to the floor to get set up.

“Chalcan..” Zack said. “Your mistake nearly killed us. And you just handed Ursula exactly what she needs.”

“You don't understand. I had to show her.” Chalcan said. “I needed to make her.. make Diane respect me!”

Zack grunted and shook his head, walking to help with preparations as everyone scrambled like ants. In the midst of it, Rebecca leaned against a barstool. She looked to Nine who gave her a shrug. Fifteen minutes passed of shuffling around and giving orders like a drill sergeant. The rabble that were merely a mass of disorganized punks and enlistees were now scrambling to the beat of Diane's instructions, some heading into ships, others learning quickly on the fly to operate weapons and security systems within the base itself. By all means, they assumed if they did not they were all dead anyway, so every last foot on the ground moved with purpose. A small camp of deserters trying to defect and leave towards an escape shuttle was quickly disciplined by Zack and grounded.

Diane had a minute to catch up to Croix.

Diane looked up at Croix, shaking with held-back fury. “You let him do that. “ She said. “Knew he would.”

“Yes.” Croix replied. “You think that buffoon could come up with such a play? I sent the coordinates of our entire base out to Ursula hours ago. But it was cute seeing him think he thought of it.”

“You staged this.” Diane’s voice, tight and tired barely contained her fury. “Why?”

The woman smirked. “I used his pride because it’s predictable. Your pride is in not being so. You're stubborn like that. Chalcan can be pushed like a dog chasing his own tail, but you?

You're still a complete unknown to me. That's why you're so fascinating. Why I wanted you as a shadow. So many potential moves with you. So many moves.” She watched Diane’s eyes begin to twitch. “If Chalcan is an eager dog, then you are a cunning cat. He’ll take all the risk, and put his whole faith in me. You'll never believe a word I say, even once. That's far more interesting to me.”

“If you wanted me to be your Shadow.. why pick him?” Diane asked.

“Would you have accepted if I did?” The silence answered for itself. “Reputation means nothing to you. You’ll never be a dog. It’s not your nature. Not yours. You are my little mystery. We'll have our fun, I promise.”

“You.. You'll never own me. You'll never know me.” Diane said.

“I pray to the gods I won't.” Croix smiled. “Before I reach out and grab them all by the throat.” She continued to stroll away, the clack of her heels sounding through the halls.

Nine sighed, walking to an empty barstool. She turned to Rebecca who sighed. “We made it..”

“Yup.” Nine responded.

Rebecca looked at her. “So you found me. Are you sad?” She asked. “I don't like being the center of attention.”

“You'll never get that now.” Rebecca said. She waved to Lapis. Astrid took notice and raised an eyebrow, sitting right next to Becca.

“That gem? She's the one person you'd really want on your side right now and she's.. quite an odd one. What's her deal exactly?”

Rebecca shrugged. “Hell if I know.” She reached over the table and poured herself a drink, the bartender for the event having already evacuated. Her, Megumi, Astrid, Nine, Jack, and Mila sat together while the base went on red alert. Uptop, Vicuna, Silvpurr and Wave Mistress watched from the balcony. Starguard ships were already closing in on the galactic center, triangulating the base's location from lightyears away.

For all the Sovereignty of Xi knew, it was a war they would never forget.

 

 

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Outside Atlas's Citadel

 

 

Ursula marched like a woman on business, behind them Satsuma, Zari and Serena stood close by.

The atmosphere of space was silent except for the crackling of electrical charge from the Starbreakers as they prepared to fire up if anything went wrong. And then, a ship was revealed from the blackness, a massive shadow cruiser that glistened silver, neon cyan-blue and white. On it's bridge, two figures emerged. The first was a woman with long raven black hair- Lilith, the other was a short secretary synth with her eyes an electric blue from her artificial ocular implants. Ursula's eyes narrowed, then opened in relief.

“Fifth's vessel arrived early. It's not much, but it might not hold up our schedule atleast.” She said, feeling unnerved being here. Out near Atlas's citadel, everything felt like a void. She was normally surrounded by a wealth of signals, data and information at all times. The technopathic abilities Ursula utilized kept her immersed in the matrix of signals and communications.

Out here, all that existed was a series of faint, flickering signals from ships. It was just empty space out here. She couldn't feel anything at all, which unsettled her. She felt.. exposed. Vulnerable in a way she never was when living in a massive metropolis and surrounded by thousands of other living, thinking beings.

“What about the others?” Ursula asked.

“They're still coming but will be late.” Satsuma responded. “Dominique was running abit late due to a press tour. And Valorie- I mean Mother Stardust.” She emphasized in airquotes “Will be here in a few hours.”

“We'll be done by then, we only needed to be here to confirm.” Ursula complained.

The Starbreakers all watched as Ursula spoke to her ship captain. She was a woman who exuded power. That's what she was. Her stature and dress reflected this, her words were not spoken in a hush but a loud and proud booming tone. Then she went over the bridge across a large platform connecting to Atlas's citadel to greet Lilith and her synth.

“Have the proper arrangements been made?” Ursula asked.

“They have been.” Lilith said. “You'll find the entire place has been secured and made comfortable. It is being made ready for your arrival. The interior structure will be changed over for maximum comfort, the entire ship will be prepared, all amenities and luxuries to be provided. We have even redesigned the bathroom facilities to ensure your comfort. Your entry into Atlas and our family shall be prioritized, Miss Premier.” Lilith told her. “However, there were some difficulties with your request. The meeting with Administration will be difficult, Elliose has a very busy schedule, and a meeting with all existing Executives requires a liason to the Netrealm which would take time. So we have had the proper representatives chosen. We're working around the clock to get their consensus. This has become one of our most pressing matters.”

“Thank you.” Ursula said, relieved. “That's what I came to discuss with Miss Stardust.

Do we still have time for the presentation of power? Can we pull off a little coup and speed Atlas up? I'm joking.”

“Our primary concern is in establishing the proper connections with the netrealm and all parties of the Administration. Atlas moves at its own pace, but Netrealm representatives and higher ordinance are outside Atlas jurisdiction. We're merely able to arrange a full board meeting at their occupancy, due to new protocols.” Lilith said, stoic and cold.

“That wasn't on the itinerary last time you explained this. New protocols, since when?” “They were implemented recently from Executive mandate, whereas before ordinance to

keep us safe was merely provisional.” “Croix..” Ursula whispered. “Tsk.”

“We're currently preparing our next moves, and we will be having a small discussion on diplomacy. We would like to give you every opportunity to meet and discuss your plan.” Lilith said.

“Anything you speed things along a bit?” Ursula asked.

“We will do our best.” Lilith said. “For what it’s worth, Elliose has taken an interest in this matter personally.”

“Huh..” Ursula said.

“We'll do everything in our power to expedite and smooth your transition into Atlas. Our team is currently preparing for a full board meeting and a presentation for your new orientation. We are currently undergoing restructuring in our security to achieve maximum results.”

“Security?” Ursula asked. “Why would you need-”

“Welcome to Atlas, Miss Premier.” Lilith said, handing Ursula a keycard. “I'm very busy, if you need anything Melirose-7 here will relegate your needs.” She pushed the synth forward.

Ursula looked at it, peering into its head. Basic coding, neural imprints, cybermind and digital consciousness, all very alien to her. Even regular Synths outside of Atlas didn't compare.

“You don't need to be so cold.” Ursula said to Lilith.

“This is the way it works here, Miss Premier. Goodbye.” Lilith said. She turned her back on Ursula and strode away to the main hanger of the citadel.

“Ugh..” Ursula complained.

“Hm.” Ursula mused, watching them depart in the distance. She felt a shiver as the synth followed her and escorted her everywhere she went. The building was a massive, ominous black shadow. Even in the stars and open-space of the cosmos, it was still the largest, most foreboding thing Ursula had ever seen. She suddenly received contact on her comm. Not a government or military channel she recognized, a private signal which she knew only one individual could reach. Ursula tapped her bracelet and held it to her ear.

“Yes?” She asked.

“Hello sister.” Croix said on the other end.

Ursula went still, walking abit away from Satsuma who had taken a curious glare. “It's good to hear from you.” Ursula said. “I hope everything is going well, and that

Mother is keeping you safe.” She paused, fidgeting her nails.

Croix snickered. “Falling back into unhealthy habits? How lovely to tease me with mom again.. no, Black I'm sure is dealing with her own shit. You don't worry about me.”

“Hmm.” Ursula hummed, her voice strained. “I want to know what you know about Atlas, Sister.”

“I have some insight into the innerworkings of the XU Administration.” Croix said, speaking in hushed tones.

“Well that's just it, I asked to arrange a meeting with the executives, but they told me specialized ordinance representatives were required to present a full fledged gathering of the board, per an executive mandate. Funny story is.. you're an executive on the board, aren't you?”

“An amusing coincidence, surely. You know, I was going to send a representative for the XU government, but my executive capacity was a recent development.. and the other representative under my watch, my understudy is currently being held up.”

“By what?”

Croix laughed. “Manufacturing chaos within my insurgency. It's funny, isn't it? But you should know all this, shouldn't you? We're so close, I bet I could see you right now in space if I squinted hard enough.”

“You're playing coy, Black.” Ursula said.

“You're the XU premier, aren't you? You shouldn't be squinting in the first place. I'm trying to help you here, not hinder you. And I have information for you that can help. Do you want it or not? Let me gift you. I've in the midst of an amusing coincidence.”

“I'm at the citadel now, Croix. I'm just looking at it right now.” Ursula said. “I need to know, how important is Atlas to you?”

Croix laughed, like a mad scientist laughing in front of an angry god. “Nevermind Atlas for the moment. Do you want my gift or not?”

“Entertain me.” Ursula said, realizing she couldn't shift the conversation in her direction. “When was the last time we 'played?' Remember the countless times you beat me at those

boardgames as kids? Why don't we try another. I'll tell you where I'm at, and my entire insurgency too, if you want to know about Atlas you'll have to capture me first.”

“What?” Ursula's eyes went wide.

“You're at the citadel, right?” Croix continued, his voice becoming cold and mechanical. “I'm sending you my coordinates right now. You go ahead and kill me, you can make a deal with

Elliose. Or you can sit at the table with me, and learn of a better way to deal with her. Just like the old days when we dealt with mom, eh?”

“Why would you-”

“I told you, I'm at an amusing coincidence.” Croix said, chuckling. “Oh, you know what would be fun? I know you very much have undesirables in your field. Governance not serving the regime well? A few uncooperative officials who can't do their job for their masters? You know, just a small number of people. Send them my way.”

“And what, you'll deal with them?” Ursula asked.

“Naturally.” Croix's mechanical voice changed. “Because that's where you're weakest. Atlas might be a new frontier, but you don't have a monopoly on insurgency, nor have all the guns. And you never did, you could have any amount of power and force at your disposal and you would still fear. Fear the chaos, fear of the unknown and it's consequences. So you've always held back, kept the numbers minimal, only striking when they're necessary. Because that's where you're weakest, Ursula. When the road isn't paved, when the unknown beckons, you're never present. You never had the courage to step into the dark. And this is a new frontier. But there's always a price for breaking free, for pushing on and breaking into new territory. New risks.”

Ursula was silent, she wasn't used to any other perspective on the conflict, but Croix was

right.

 

“You're offering me your entire organization, are you serious?” Ursula asked.

“No. I'm daring you try to take me on. Do you want to stop me here, or would you rather

let me slip away again? It's really up to you. But Atlas won't wait up for a newcomer like you, not without a little.. nepotism. Entertain me and play my game, and we can cut the blue-tape and speed your little meetup along.”

“I honestly, don't even know what to say here.” Ursula said. “I cannot articulate or make sense of you sometimes.”

Croix stood outside by a waterfall, seeing ships come and go around the planet like a fleet of fireflies scowering the sky. “I know you're out here with your forces, playing the same game as me. We used to play all the time. It's been a long time, isn't it? And who better to play with than your own sister?” She smiled. “Who do you think can present their thesis better? Your pawns- or mine? Good luck, Ursie.”

Croix cut the call.

Ursula looked out into the stars. She saw a little light streak across the horizon, the sound of Starguard ships coming back and forth to the planet, roaring across the sky before they suddenly quieted down.

Satsuma’s voice came carefully. “Premier?” The Orchid champion leaned over, checking in on her boss. Ursula didn’t answer at first. She stared out into the stars, lost in thought.

Then her bracelet chirped once.

A data packet pinged. Coordinates, sent straight her Comm. So clean and quick it was insulting.

“Serena, you take Strike Group Alpha. Not a parade, go ahead of them and lead the charge. Zari, follow her with Starguard auxiliary forces as backup, get Caleb, Veronica and Jel ready. Satsuma..” She turned her head. “Deal with the worms and lichen groveling in the mud?” Satsuma asked. Ursula nodded. “Yes, ma'am.” Satsuma said. Ursula copied the coordinates sent over her comm and sent them out to all channels. She turned to the Synth. “You,” Ursula said, “are going to arrange my meeting with Eloise. As soon as possible.”

Melirose-7 blinked once. “Premier. Executive meeting protocols require an Ordinance Liaison and a Netrealm bridge appointment of no less than 3 security representatives.” “Yes, yes I know. We can’t deal with that right now.” Ursula said. “We will be meeting with Elliose soon, I don’t need to wait for that. We will expedite it.” Ursula said. She turned to Satsuma. “Gather up my own contingency, as many officers from Overseer’s Office and a team of our best combat specialists. They’ll be going with me. Oh.. and call up the following political offices, send them ahead to the following location.” She flipped through her comm, looking at the profiles of Roseluck Appleton, Dana Oscillator, Dr. Logi Eclaire and Speaker Blue. Disposable rabble. A forgettable sacrifice in light of what cornering the insurgency would mean for XU.

As she crossed the platform, the emptiness pressed in again, that uncanny vulnerability of being somewhere her senses didn’t dominate. For a moment, she hated Atlas for eluding her so.

Then she remembered Croix’s laugh.

You never had the courage to step into the dark.

She knew her sister was baiting her.

But Ursula knew she could take on Croix’s challenge. She was the sun, and she'd show her the light.