[ I'm at your statue again, writing in my Djournal. It's been a rough few weeks, but I'm alright. I took time for myself. No matter how bad things get, I can always go let the waves wash over me - or sit still and watch tree leaves slowly turning towards the sun. There's a beauty in nature that's simply hard to rival. It might be sappy and cliche, but one good sunset is more beautiful than all the gold and jewels that have ever been mined. A nose full of petrichor is better than any candle or incense. If I had to choose between my palace and the stars, I'd sleep happy under the open sky. ]

||+|| Auluwin ||+||

Win took a deep breath, and savored the slightly acidic air. Between the 'payout' she received from DenWu's holdings and the money from pawning off odds and ends in the storage ring, she was set for a while. Set, at least, in terms of survival on her own. She'd need deeper pockets for what was to come.

She took another sip of a gloriously hot and delicious cup of tea, and let the warmth run down her throat. The sensation was divine - and it still paled in comparison to having the light and warmth of the sun on her.

There was no feeling like freedom. Enforcer Fozz had arranged a private transport to take her topside. She was appreciative for that when her first glimpse of the sunlight sent her into tears.

She experienced a bit of agoraphobia - but didn't blame herself for it. Her time in the warrens had been long, and there were many things she needed to adjust to.

The sky. The horizon. Sleeping in a real bed. Hot food. Sugar. Comfort.

Showering alone.

Eating alone.

Sleeping alone.

Going from having a community, every second of every hour of every day, to being by yourself felt... awful.

Win knew she liked having time to herself. Logically, she remembered many times that she'd found solace for days or weeks or longer at a time, away from hustle and conversations and other intelligent beings.

But she was a long way off from being in that headspace again. For now, she would just slowly adjust, sip tea, and let the sun beat down.

Her mind again wandered. It had done so often, after the first day.

Time alone, to yourself, was easy to spend thinking about the past. It was even easier to imagine the future. To plan.

Win put down her tea, and read through another public file.

Their kingdom - or, rather, what was left of the Ascheron Empire - had long intertwined itself with the assholes responsible for her father's death. They had permeated the entire ruling faction's holdings and businesses. And that complicated things.

People tended to imagine revenge as storming the opposing stronghold, killing the guards and slaying your enemies - but that isn't how life works. Some of those guards were just good people doing the only job they're trained for. Sometimes the enemy in the tower wasn't really the one responsible for everything at all - they were just set up to look that way by another crooked face hiding in the shadows. And even if you killed one threat, you were leaving yourself open for the next - the one that now knew you were taking people out. That now knew you were coming.

In trying to improve things, you could cause corruption to recede into the shadows where it would fester and grow. It was better to plan longer, and act with purpose. To consider as many options as possible. Not going into things half-cocked because you know its right. Not because you want to knock your traitor cousin's jaw off the side of his head. Go back only once you're ready to burn the corruption from the very soul of your empire. Do it when you're so far through the pain of what was done to you, the shell of what you once were is incapable of being bruised by the world you have to throw yourself into. Return a ghost and haunt the ones that took you down. Do it so subtly that they question their own sanity. Grow your power and your shadow faction until you become the monster they fear in the darkness. Keep growing until your claws are long enough to wrap clean around their throat.

Do that, and there will be no grand battles and storming of castles. Make it so all you have to do is squeeze.

Her cousin's eager, smarmy face entered the front of her mind, and Win shattered the teacup in her hand. It wasn't strong enough to cut her, and she watched the bits of the thing slide down and onto the white tray. Drops of the liquid had sprayed out over the tabletop.

She waved off the waiter and placed pieces of the shattered cup into her napkin, then tied the corners together to keep any of the shards from coming lose. The waiter wasn't as tough as she was. He could cut himself on the edges.

The last time she'd seen her cousin, just before she'd been dropped down the hole, he was shaking hands with the corporate asset he'd sold himself to. Krishnan was tall - taller than his own father, and almost level height with Augestin. He had towered over the orange woman and wore a haughty expression as the two of them chuckled together about how rich they'd get from the numerous planets in the empire. They seemed proud of killing a good man and sending the Ascheron empire into a panic. They were giddy and self-satisfied for what they'd done to get Win accused of her father's murder, and even more so at her fate. To spend the rest of her life out of the light of the sun. Put into a black box to be forgotten.

The hatred within her welled again. Her mind took itself through a fanciful series of images where she was ripping off his hands and shoving his head down to an executioner's block - or plunging her spear through his heart. But that was the imagination of revenge. She stopped herself. It wasn't going to be straightforward or simply violent. The game she had to play now involved much more complicated rules. She needed support and backing, factions and masks. Secrets and plots. It would be like stretching an atrophied muscle to get her head back in that rhythm, but she needed to do it and build herself back up all the same. Slowly and carefully, so none of them would see her coming until she was unavoidable.

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Then and only then, she would rip the life from Krishnan's jaws.

The scene of him with his corporate handler returned to her. Krishnan wasn't the only one she needed to target - or avoid.

I'm coming back, Krishnan. Just wait. I'll end you - and that three-eyed bitch.

+ Reid +

Reid tried to keep himself from panicking as he moved through the dull blackness. There was a complete absence of light and sound, but he felt an odd sense of motion all around him. Reid spun in place. The sensation of movement stayed static even as he twirled. It was entirely odd. He reached out, and felt nothing. He tried to swim in the space, but nothing changed, as if he were rooted to the center of the strange phenomenon.

An abrupt flash of light coupled with pain that flung Reid out of the blackness.

He landed on his head and scrambled when it sunk straight down into muddy ground. He'd fallen in straight down to his nose, and had to wipe mud away from his eyes and blow the stuff out of his nostrils. His arms, and every other muscle that he'd moved during transit felt sore and pained like he'd just finished a round of training.

Lesson learned - next time he got teleported, Reid would listen to Win, stay relaxed, and keep his hands at his sides.

When enough of the mud had been wiped on the sleeve of his prison jumpsuit, Reid opened his eyes.

Directly next to him a large yellow-orange crystal emitted faint light as it spun above a geodesic silver bowl. It pulsed out a small shockwave every few seconds, and the light intensified with each one. That explained the blinding light.

Beyond the spinning beacon, Vuxarina was illuminated with the pale light of three small moons. It revealed a sight that took Reid's breath away.

Patches of thin, tall, and distinctly pink grass dotted the landscape. To the right, it stretched out on a flat expanse that went all the way to the horizon. To the left, it stopped where flat ground met a line of thick trees. The branches were curled like vines, and clings of moss and foliage in varying hues hung down so low they nearly touched the ground. Short gusts of wind blew over the expanse. It danced through the grass and the foliage alike, and revealed small shapes that flitted through the faraway trees. Pools of water not quite big enough to be called ponds gleamed as they reflected the lunar light.

A soft sound came like a popping bubble, and Lycra fell out of thin air - straight towards the soft mud. Reid managed to grab him by the leg, and swung him up and around, then caught his friend with both hands. Lycra's eyes scanned over the surroundings as Reid lowered him to a dry patch of ground.

His eyes focused on Reid. "You got here first?"

Reid realized he hadn't thought about it. "Yeah? I mean... I was messing around in the black bubble thing. Like I tried to touch the edges and I tried to swim."

"Huh." Lycra went back to scanning over the landscape. "The air here is so... clean. Like breathing through a fresh filter." He turned in a circle as Reid placed him on the ground, and stopped at the sight of the beacon.

Both of them stared at the thing. Reid's eyes slipped off of it when he tried to stare, just like what had happened with Sanctuary's beacon. He suppressed a twitch at the memory of energy eating its way through him, and nearly leaving him dead.

That wasn't going to happen again. He had Nyx. And the first time wasn't his fault.

Lycra took a shuddering breath. "We should... we should touch it."

Reid nodded, stepped forward, then halted himself. The tutorial was already active, which meant any number of dangers could be lurking on the other side - and it also meant that if Reid was instantly transported to the tutorial without having Lycra go through the same process, his friend could get stuck outside. They were both relying on Nyx to get them into the tutorial space. She'd mentioned a physical connection was required for her to work through things.

Reid held out a hand, and Lycra took it. He was shaking - a combination of excitement and nerves.

Reid let a playful smile cross his face. "Last chance to back out."

Lycra gave Reid a scornful look, and shoved his hand forward before he stopped just short of the rock. It slowed its rotation and vibrations as Lycra's fingers closed in on the thing's surface. Reid moved to follow him. They exchanged one more look, and pressed themselves forward.

^+ Nyx +^

Sometimes, you really just needed to lie down and refuel. Sometimes your very existence was threatened if you didn't take a break to recharge your energy. Nyx was doing her best to relax while experiencing the latter scenario. She hadn't told any of them just how much it took out of her to teach and explain and converse - even when Reid was speaking for her. The drain while she was teaching Reid himself was even worse.

Still, it was all worth it when your student defied all expectations and mastered foundations in record time. She couldn't consciously access all of her memories, but Nyx was fairly certain that nobody in history had managed to make it through metaspace creation that quickly. Or self-affixation growth. It was supposed to be a slow process. It was painful and trying, and even the most ardent, bull-headed individuals hadn't managed to make it through things as quickly as Reid had managed to. It spoke to something her current restrictions wouldn't even allow her to put into words.

Reid had gone through things so fast during his 'foundational training', Nyx had to take a break just to finish the gift of Sara's messages. She hadn't been able to unlock anything for him as an extra present, which she still regretted.

And of course he didn't stop for a single moment after she'd gone to rest. She'd already seen everything, but with the extra energy it no longer felt like experiencing the world through a pair of thick gloves. She took in an airless breath. Reid was a uniquely focused individual. She wasn't quite sure if he understood just how insane his growth was. She doubted he would've cared much if he did. The man didn't seem to be fazed by his accomplishments, nor that he fought vicipods and saw a hive mother, nor that he encountered a decorated officer from the Cross-Cosmic Enforcement Agency. Instead, he was just focused on the growth he still needed to see done.

The only things Reid slowed or took a break for were his friends. Lycra and Win were his reason to sit down. Before the mole den, he spoke to other miners and had other relationships, but it really just was those two that he was truly connected with. And he had finally learned Winnie's real name, right before they were torn away from one another. Nyx committed to not looking Winnie's family up until Reid asked for the information himself. It would be nice to open that surprise together.

For now, Winnie had managed to set Reid and Lycra up to take part in an opportunity that was simply unrivaled. Power surged into Reid through the beacon. The physical connection, coupled with the sublime currents sprinting their way through Lycra and Reid both, created an energy rich thoroughfare that allowed her to see and play with the interaction for both individuals. The influx fed her and time slowed as she greedily restored herself. Nyx had made promises. Told Lycra and Reid she would get them into a tutorial - and promised the little oyster she would give him back what his contract had stolen.

Then all she had to do was negotiate a rigid unfeeling entity into bending the rules to let a pair of level twenty-somethings into an even that generally limited entry to level 5.

Nyx smiled.

This was going to be fun.

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