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Paths

"Don't you think it is a bit tight?" Nel asked.

"It does feel a bit tight around the boobline," Clair responded as she wiggled in her wedding dress gingerly.

"Madam Rosiera, please loosen it around the chest area about an inch or so, thank you," Clair said as she unbuttoned the dress and handed the old maid. Madam Rosiera took it graciously and bowed to her.

"I still can't believe you are getting married," Nel said bluntly.

"Why not Nel?"

"We're still young…sort of."

"Nel we're in our mid thirties, and we are in times of peace at least here on Elicoor, it is a good time for me to get married, there is probably no better time."

"I guess, but you're marrying a Glyphian prince, I just can't believe that, is he next in line for the crown?"

"No, I believe Lance is 3rd or 4th his mother is the current King Airyglyph's cousin."

"How did you two meet, I've been away for longer than I'd thought."

"We met during one of our annual conference where legislation between our two kingdoms are discussed. He was with his uncle as a bodyguard, he has recently been knighted actually, he is serving in the Glyphian army."

"Wow, congratulations, I'm really happy for you, am I going to be able to meet him?"

"Of course! You'll probably be able to meet him tomorrow or if not before then you'll definitely see him at the rehearsal dinner."

"Where are you holding the event?"

"The chapel at Aquaria of course, the queen granted me access to it."

"Just as you've always dreamed then? You always did want to get married there. I always thought you were being a silly little girl when you told me about your 'dream' to be married there someday. I didn't think we'd live to see it actually, considering the war with Airyglyph."

"Yes well there were many things we didn't consider possible back then. Who would have thought that you would become a savior of our universe, now a defender of the galaxy, and diplomatic representative on the Galactic Council nonetheless?"

"Clair! You're making me blush."

"It is all rightly earned though! You are seriously an inspiration to the entire kingdom. When are you going to get married Nel? Do you even meet men or is most of your time committed to work?"

"I-Marriage is simply not a priority."

"Surely you have thought about it? Having children? Continuing your legacy? I don't want to see you turn into an old maid and die alone Nel. I know you are a strong willed woman but even so you deserve romantic balance in your life!"

"I just haven't met the right man yet, and imagine what kind of mother I would be? I'd teach the kid how to handle a kunai at birth. I'd give him or her daggers for its birthday instead of proper toys. And…this planet…this universe is a complex and dangerous one. I don't know if I could bear being responsible for bringing life into a world so instable as this one."

"I knew you would say something like that. How is Albel? I'm sure you see a lot of him."

"Too much, the Princess of Darkness is such a drama queen, I can only stand him in marginal dosages. But he is a changed man Clair. He is no longer the Albel the Wicked we used to fear and cower from during missions. He is very complex, he asked me something about laying his mark on the universe, something lasting. And strangely enough I mentioned training subordinates…having children actually. And he seemed to be in deep thought about it."

"Haha you seem to have gotten to know Albel quite well. And that is strange, is Albel showing us a softer side?"

"That would appear so," Nel replied softly and looked out the window, out into the rolling hills of Arias, and the flowing river. "I've missed Elicoor, so beautiful and ironically, peaceful. Its strange, the place I grew up in, surrounded by war and grief, is so much more peaceful than the world I have grown accustomed to recently. Clair the universe is a dangerous and strange place."

"I wouldn't know, I am not as experienced as you are. But I would like to see other worlds some day. How are other people are they strange?"

"I wouldn't say strange, they are just like us, fighting for their own wants and desires. But there are individuals whom mislead and guide them, make them believe they are fighting for a good cause but are really just driving the universe to further damnation. Sometimes I question what I am fighting for, if I am on the right side or not."

"Ah so you are questioning whether your actions for war are justified? Well are they? Have you becomes the very thing you always swore to defend others against?"

"At times I feel like…I've lost my way, just following Leingod. I just assumed that he was right and knew the right direction, that's how it began. We were united to save our universe, as we know it. And that continued until recently, and he had to follow his own path. But do you know what justifies my actions Clair?"

"And what is that Nel?" she asked bemusedly.

"Fighting for people like you, my planet. Because I know that the individuals I am fighting against seek domination of other people, enslavement. And if I can't stop them what if they come to Elicoor? That is why I keep fighting, and more importantly, Fayt had a vision for the universe. A cooperative republic, I believe in that vision."

"Well said, but for now you rest, come, let's get lunch I had the maids prepare a meal."

Nel smiled, "Good, I've missed home cooked meals, our military rations were…well bland." Clair laughed and ushered her out of the rom and down the stairs.

"You're looking good Albel," an old man said sitting down in a worn chair.

"Woltar…its good to see you."

"What no condescending greeting? Are you Albel the Wicked or has some alien returned in your stead?"

"You know I've always respected you Count Woltar."

"Seriously, son are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine you maggot, can't a man be happy to see an old acquaintance?'

"That's more like it, so how has the galaxy treated you? Any worthy opponents? How are your friends?" Woltar asked as he slurped a cup of tea.

"The fights are good, nothing like anything on Elicoor. We have fierce warriors, but it is a large galaxy Woltar, there are some tough maggots out here. And the other maggots are fine, Leingod and his bitch bailed on us to do some soul searching."

"Hm, it seems you are doing some soul searching yourself, lost your way have you?"

"It is complicated…I no longer thirst for fighting to have my name known, I have realized the vanity and futility of that goal."

"Wow seeing the universe has had a very profound impact on you. I…think it is time that I told you something."

"Hm? Woltar what are you talking about."

"It pertains to your father and the Accession of Flame ceremony which you failed when you were younger."

Albel lowered his hand to the hilt of his katana, shuddering and remembering his failed attempt at the Accession of Flame ceremony. Because of his own foolhardy he had lost his father, his only family, he had never known his mother. He had never cared enough to search for her, between Woltar and his father he had had enough of a support system when he was younger.

"It is about your mother." Albel's chest tightened and he was shocked, never had his mother ever been mentioned to him throughout his entire life.

"You're father never wanted you to know about her background for fear that if word got around, that well you would be discriminated against."

"Woltar just say it damn it."

"Your mother was well a dragon animus."

"You are joking right?" Woltar looked back with a serious face. "That would mean that, I'm part dragon. They were a dying breed, they have gone extinct, and they were all hunted and killed during the early years of the Kingdom."

"And who was tasked with that responsibility, boy?"

"M-my father…so he didn't kill all of them…"

"Yes, I'm afraid you are part dragon animus, your mother was quite the beautiful animus, her human form was quite ravishing, I had the honor of seeing her a couple times, once when they had first met. Then one last time when she was one of the last of her kind before she was brutally hunted down by Vox. Your father never forgave him."

Albel looked out the window and seemed to be wiping a tear from his face, his hand; fiercely gripping the hilt of his katana. "W-what was her name?"

"Verana. She visited you a couple of times in your youth, you were never told that she was your mother. Whenever your father went away she would care for you, saying she was…"

"My father's old friend…I remember her," he muttered, flashes of a beautiful woman with pale skin and raven black hair cared for him once when he was six, his father had gone away on a mission. His eyes felt warm with the tears fighting to break free like caged farm cattle. "Damn Vox, damn, damn everything!" Albel cried furiously.

"How come…I haven't displayed any signs of my dragon animus heritage?"

"You were sealed as a child, the Lord of Dragons Crossell, was involved in the ceremony. He was adamant in the decision. Crossell is actually related to your mother, I believe they are cousins."

"This is insane old man, you are casually telling me about a mother I never knew and now you are telling me I am a blood relative of Crossell?"

Woltar smiled, "The universe out there may be a strange one Albel, but the planet you left behind retains just as many secrets. You may seek Crossell out if you wish, ask him about her, she lived with him for awhile…before she moved on."

Albel nodded, "I may just visit that old maggot. Oh Woltar, before I forget, I came to give you an invitation to Lady Clair's wedding."

"Ah her wedding with Sir Lance?"

"Yes, who would have thought that little maggot I trained would end up marrying Clair. Where is he now?"

"I believe he is with his uncle in Airyglyph, they are finalizing the final details of his wedding," Woltar paused to study Albel's face. "What was troubling you before?"

"Well before you told me my mother was a dragon, I, I've lost my way Woltar. Ever since I've left, I've been following that maggot Leingod's leadership, I went with him because I wanted to get stronger, challenge myself against the rest of the universe and surpass him. But he has only gotten stronger and I've long since abandoned that goal. So my new goal was to ensure the safety of the universe to protect Elicoor from those that seek its ruin or enslavement. But then he abandoned his responsibility, claiming he had to find his path, now here I am attempting to find a reason to keep going."

"You all grew together as a group, but I think Fayt was right in saying that he needed to grow on his own. You all had to take a step back, after growing so much together, you need to be able to reflect on yourself; evaluate yourself. From my perception you have grown a lot Albel so what is next?"

"I have children."

Woltar nearly fell off his chair, "Oh well congratulations?"

"Not what you think, I ran into these kids during a mission, and I saved them from death. But I'm not so sure I should have."

"Why should you not have saved their lives?"

"I saved them but I gave them weapons to defend them. I feel guilty, because what if I just changed the course of their lives by exposing them to violence? Giving them a means to kill, stripping them of their youthful innocence?"

"I see your apprehension, but you are in no way responsible for how they turn out unless you choose to take them under your wing, train them as your own."

"That's what I've been considering Woltar. I know what it is like to be parent-less growing up, it is extremely difficult. And now, knowing what I know…about my mother, I think it is my responsibility to act as a parental figure. They aren't normal children Woltar, they are similar to Leingod."

"Ah they are capable of Runology?"

"You see the difficult position I am in now."

"I do, but I remember a young man who needed guidance and leadership, these kids need you now," Woltar smiled.

Albel smirked in response, "I'll try my best."

"Where are they now?"

"Downstairs, would you like to meet the maggots?" Woltar smiled wryly and picked himself up out of his seat.

"Representative Yago, you understand that you are calling for more voting power for the council members?" Mirage asked.

The Sylar platform hovered towards the Defense Council's platform. A sharply dressed man with a goatee and jet black hair stepped forward, the irises of his pupils bright red. He spoke with a deep and rich voice, "Yes I think that legislation should not be the only thing voted upon by the Council, I propose that structural changes should be made and decided upon by the entire council, not just the Defense Council. I also propose that a 5th Defense Council member should be added, in fact I think that one should be added every 20 star systems that join, I think that would be more, representative."

"We acknowledge the first part of your proposal valid. However, the defense council is revised every four years and voted upon and requires a certain level of military commitment that no other system is ready to shoulder yet."

"Council Head Koas are you proposing an arms race to militarize?"

"No that is not what I am saying. I am only implying that it requires a large amount of military resources to shoulder the responsibilities of Defense Council members. That is why candidates for election to the Council are considered in the next four years then voted upon. At the Council's Conception naturally we were suited to take up the helm after investing the resources to fight back the Nedian threat. We have already reviewed the proposals by the Renmar and Lennar systems."

"Thank you Council Head Koas, thank you for listening to my proposals, I only wish to create a greater republic in the interest of everyone here and for the entire universe really." He smiled then his platform retreated toward the wall.

Mirage smiled sarcastically back and then looked to Mrs. Leingod who seemed equally concerned. "Onto our next order of business, the issue has stemmed from the Earth system," Mirage said and allowed Mrs. Leingod to step up to the podium.

"Yes well, recently there have been debates on Earth about symbological users, meaning, sentient beings that can manipulate symbological energy, using symbols to well in essence do 'magic'. However, symbology is not some type of sorcery. These beings' bodies are simply adapted so that they may harness energy in different forms around them to perform superhuman feats, usually, the ability to do so also grants those enhanced abilities. The issue is that symbological beings are beginning to appear throughout our universe."

Mirage kept her eyes fixed on Yago Junto, while Mrs. Leingod was talking, examining his body language as he reacted to what he was hearing. However, nothing, she got nothing from him, he was rigid as a statue, astutely listening to what Mrs. Leingod had to say.

"Some of my fellow Earthlings are concerned that laws should be put in place protecting the rights of non-symbological users against abuse by symbological users, I am here to ask the council to vote whether legislation should be put in place limiting symbological users."

One representative spoke out, "Council Head Koas, don't you think that this will create a rift between symbological users and non-symbological users. There are only a currently a few in the universe at the moment."

"Yes, well we are aware of the potential adverse effects, and that is why we are putting it to a vote by the council before we pass legislation on the matter. If we vote to put forth legislation then this will place responsibility on star systems to report on symbological individuals to the main council. And then we will have to carefully write up laws that do not treat these individuals as endangered animals," Mirage responded.

"Keep in mind that these individuals are popping up day by day," Mrs. Leingod said as she stepped down and retained her previous seat. She shook her head and was a bit angry at the whole ordeal. She didn't want to force laws on symbological beings, because the representative was right it will only cause unrest not only on Earth but throughout the entire galaxy.

First of all they weren't even sure why these anomalies were happening, but they were assuming it was being caused by 4D tampering with the Eternal Sphere. If only they had more information on the enemy they were facing, she had never anticipated how far deep this issue ran when they first caught wind of it on Styx. She pitied her son, for the massive amount of responsibility she and Robert had thrown upon him.

Pertaining to the laws, the Earth Senator had forced her to put it to a vote on the council. A majority of Earth's leaders were concerned with how it would affect their safety. As if they don't realize that they are under the protection of a couple of the most powerful symbological beings in this universe.

Mirage watched her screen as the votes came in, then closed the polling. She tapped her foot as she waited for the program to process the votes and she sighed as the result was flashed across her screen.

"Right then, so we have voted in favor of creating symbological bylaws in light of the recent anomalies. Council will come to a break and will resume tomorrow morning." Mirage shut off her podium screen as chatter soon ensued in the council hall. Mirage looked towards Mrs. Leingod again and they were both thinking about what this spelled for the future.

She glanced around to find Senator Yago Junto, finding him proceeding towards the exit with a toothy grin on his face, and cursed under her breath.

Earth, 06:00 hours EST

Fayt glanced around him, a GRF cruiser falling towards the planet below him, where was he? He looked around and found himself in space. He dodged as a blast surged towards him. To his left, a flash of bright lights blinded him momentarily then a massive amount of red ships flew out of the portal. He turned to confront them then felt a sharp pain in his back and heard a cruel laugh behind him. He heard a woman call out "FAYT!" then he blacked out.

Fayt awoke in his room, he glanced at the clock, 6:00 AM EST, and he dried the beads of sweat on his forehead with the hem of his shirt then looked around the dark room. Solenn lay quietly on the bed next to him, so he gingerly crawled out of the bed and put his bathrobe on.

He went out to the patio of the apartment, and looked upon the city, slowly coming to the life in the waking hours of the morning. His thoughts immediately went to Maria, last time he had dreams like this, they came to fruition, and she was kidnapped. In this dream…he was the one being hurt, he felt a chill down his spine. Something is coming, he thought.

Maria felt happy as she was floating in the sky, manipulating the air molecules around her body to bob among the clouds. She was amazed at the complexity of the chemical structures; she could feel every electron, proton and neutron as she manipulated the energy of their shells to do her bidding. Suddenly a huge shadow loomed over her head and disrupted her peaceful exile.

A huge dragon was falling from the sky, one of its wings was torn, and his snout was bleeding profusely. Based on the dragon's immense size, she determined that it was Crossell! Maria panicked and dove to help him, but she couldn't move. She watched as fighter ships emerged like predators from the clouds and gunned him down. She attempted to scream out, but no noise issued from her mouth.

Her attention was diverted again to a large star cruiser that was descending on the planet below, as she looked towards the ground, everything was in flames; she could make out the outline of a city, and was horrified. Upon further inspection, she noticed a familiar castle, and citadel, sitting on an island in the middle of a lake…the city was Aquaria.

She wanted to cry as she saw the beautiful city being torn apart, there was a large boom somewhere in the lake, and molten lava spewed from it, releasing copious amounts of steam enveloping Aquaria in a blanket of steam. A volcano? She attempted to see more but the steam obscured her vision and before she could manipulate her environment she awoke.

She swore and dried the tears that had been streaming from her eyes. 6:00 in the morning, great, I'm not gonna be able to get any sleep tonight. Might as well finish packing I guess. They were headed off to Styx to examine the symbological energy signatures around midday. Her dreams were still on her mind, she had never had them before but she remembered the dreams Fayt had had, and she was afraid if her visions would be fulfilled.

As much as she knew she had to tell Fayt about them, they still weren't on good terms. Fayt was still with Solenn, she with Kai now. She sighed and reflected on the past couple months, ever since the break-up it had been a roller coaster ride since then. Final exams had been rough but she had managed to get top marks in all her classes.

She was reminded about Finals week when Kai and she officially started dating, it actually brought a smile to her face, for a change. It was about 12:00 AM on a Sunday night before her last final. She had barricaded herself in the apartment, studying with her roommate with a cup of espresso cupped in her hands. She was studying for an Advanced Physics class, despite being mentally burned out from a Chemical Engineering Final the day before.

She looked at the class notes tiredly, flicking her fingers across the screen to slide through the lecture presentation. She yawned and grabbed a croissant from the kitchen and stuffed the flaky piece of bread into her mouth. Her communicator buzzed and sent a few vibrations through the table; she sighed and saw that Kai had sent her another script message. Kai had been scripting her all day; she didn't mind it too much but did find it a little annoying.

She thought it was slightly cute but it was distracting at the same time. Another script, "Good luck studying, as a picture of an animated stick figure suffered through exams on the screen." She continued looking over the notes again and did some practice problems grinding out about 2 cm of the lead tip of her pencil. After about an hour she got another script message, "Do you want me to bring you some coffee and scones?"

She considered it for a second she could do with a blueberry scone, she grabbed her communicator and typed Blueberry please. She hit send and a pleasant 'woosh' signaled that the message had been sent. Two hours passed and she was wondering where her damn scones were, she was growing impatient and a certain ticking noise began to annoy her; she thought it was from tapping her foot. So she stopped it, but the ticking grew louder and more ferocious. She almost blew up the espresso machine in rage but she whipped around and saw a goofy looking Kai hovering outside with a hover back.

"WHAT THE? How the hell do you expect me to let you in?" she screamed at the glass. Her communicator rang and the script read: Manipulate the Glass. She nearly smacked her head in disbelief.

Ever since then they'd been dating. She blushed thinking about the moment, but quickly regained her composure.

She slipped out of her bed and tiptoed gingerly across the floor, conscious of her sleeping roommate. She looked towards the espresso machine and turned it on, allowing it to heat up to the proper temperature. She frowned as she realized that dropping the frothy espresso café would generate a lot of noise, so she manipulated the air around the machine to soundproof it, then turned the machine on.

To her delight the machine noiselessly released the liquid into the mug she had positioned underneath it. After it had dropped the machine switched mechanisms and viciously released white frothy milk, creating a cloudy layer atop the dark espresso. She wobbled the cup around in her hands to swirl the mixture. She debated adding sugar but decided that she would take it as is.

She situated herself in the couch in front of the television and sipped her self-made latte, it scorched her tongue slightly so she manipulated the water molecules in it to spin, to stir and cool the mixture off. Ever since she had been able to fully control her powers she was amazed at the world around her. The minute complexities amazed her. She felt that she could just spend an entire day examining the composition of things in her surroundings and see how she could manipulate them.

She took another slurp of her café and the temperature was to her liking. She sit back and peered out the window and watched the sunrise signaling the beginning of another day on Earth in the Eternal Sphere.

"Fayt what are you wearing?" Solenn asked her boyfriend, referring to the silver, one-piece jumpsuit.

"Wh-What? It's only the leading piece of technology in combat armor."

"You look like the tinman," she teased him.

"Well damn! I didn't know I had to look good while fighting enemy soldiers," he responded furiously, but she continued to give him a sour look, "I'll go change…" Solenn smiled in response and hummed as Fayt returned to his room.

Fayt grabbed a standard issue ablative plate from his closet, then saw a couple other armors busted up. Ever since the battle with Luther in Firewall, Fayt had been keeping recollections of his big battles, he felt that he had an obligation to honor them, especially since they defined history itself. He blew some dust off the RX armor, a heavy duty model, he had used on the Earth raid and the battle against Indalecio.

He sighed and grabbed his suitcase, Off to investigate yet another threat to our universe. Time to be the hero again. He passed the mirror above his dresser and took a quick glance in it. He smiled and messed up his hair.

"Are we taking the Ferrari or the Lamborghini to the base?"

"The Lamborghini, Maria never returned the Ferrari," Fayt joked, but Solenn gave him a serious look.

"That's not funny babe, are you still hung up on that, I thought we were happy together," she asked, grabbing his hand.

"U-uh, Baby! That's not what I meant, I was really just kidding, ugh. I'm sorry, you're right it wasn't funny."

"I-It's ok. I get it, you guys had something pretty special."

Fayt grabbed her hands and looked at her passionately into her eyes, "Look, Solenn, I'm with you right now, and that's all that matters. The past doesn't matter, ok? Please don't let this get in the way of you enjoying the trip; after all it really should be a good educational experience, for all of us."

"Ok, I'm sorry I was being dramatic, besides that's what I wanted to hear," she smirked.

"God you are terrible sometimes," he sighed and grabbed her waist and led her to the elevator. As they exited the elevator, Solenn took a bad step and her heel got wedged in the gap between the elevator and the floor and she fell forwards.

Fayt quickly grabbed her but couldn't grab her sunglasses which crashed to the floor and broke into as many pieces as credits it had cost her. "Oh no!" Fayt cried. "I'm sorry."

"No, I-It's alright," she responded blushing, his face inches from hers.

"Haha, I still got it, relationship is still fresh as ever," he replied arrogantly.

She shot her tongue at him, "Yeah-Yeah whatever, your head couldn't get any bigger anyways." Fayt placed her back on her toes and they waltzed out of the lobby hand in hand. Fayt powered up the sleek sports car and glanced at Solenn and grimaced at her as the car catapulted forward.

"Incoming telephone call," said the cool voice of the car's nav system. Fayt looked onto the windshield and saw a picture of her mother and the contact name "Earth Alliance Headquarters".

"Connect," Fayt said calmly as he pulled the car into a moderate right turn.

"Fayt where are you. Hurry up, your grandfather is here."

"Grandpa Everett? Really! All the way from Japan?"

"Yes, now come quick, you know how much I can't tolerate your father's old man."

"Ok, ok!" he responded quickly. He looked at Solenn, "looks like you are going to meet my grandfather today."

"I'm a lucky girl?" she asked.

"Well. He is an interesting character to say the least."

"No, no its all wrong why would you put the thrusters there?" Mrs. Leingod frowned as she looked at the 3D wire projection of a starship, turning her gaze to an old man with a large grey beard and hair.

"Woman, am I not the engineer?"

"I'm just saying that I have had input on the development of starships too-,"

"I've been in the business longer than you have and know more about ship construction than either you or Robert could have fathomed!"

"Well at any rate we will have to reposition the thrusters to account for the symbological warp drive and weapon core," she said technically as she passed her hand through the wire model making adjustments.

The old man's eyes lit up as he saw the modifications come to life, "Ah I see, of course, of course. This will help a lot and hopefully bring Leingod Construction into the new Star Date."

"This is pioneering technology Everett. Not even the Expellians have anything like this on their hands yet. This could put you in the Galactic Republic as the new contractor if things go according to plan."

"Yes, gone will be the days of civilian transport or the sale and assembly of imported ships."

"Right, I'm still at a loss of how these will be powered."

"Leave that to me."

"I'd still like to have an overview, I will need it for my own considerations."

"Well basically we have two options, we can use creation cores to power these ships all the same. But they have to be programmed with symbological runes. Those ships won't be true Symbologically powered ships. I have discovered an element on the planet of Atherania, a crystal which sustains symbological power. It isn't perfect but it does the job well enough. These must be activated by symbological users however."

"Hm that will limit production, but hopefully the updated designs will be enough to bring us into this new age of ship building."

"Agreed, Like I said leave it to me, your grandson is key to this. Actually I will also send you the new specs of a battleship I want designed. Project name Delacour."

"New battleship…what is the Avenger not holding up?"

"Not really but just as you said, we need to catapult ourselves into the new age of ship building."

Everett raised an eyebrow, "I know that look. You gave me that look when you told me you were experimenting on Fayt. What's coming this time?"

"I-I honestly don't know. But we have to be ready; there are just too many things in motion that are pointing to bad signs."

"Such as…?"

"Various reports from GRF fleet commanders. The reports I got from Fayt alone within the past year and reports from his friends have shaken me. The turning of Alistair, which was a mess I had to deal with on the Security Council."

"Madam Leingod, Fayt has arrived with Solenn, and Mrs. Traydor is in the waiting room as we speak," said Rachel over the PA.

"Thank you Rachel. Right then, we'll save our chat for later and welcome our guests."

"So your past has returned to haunt you then?"

"Hm?"

"The Traydor girl."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," she responded blankly as she ushered Maria and Kai into the room. "Maria, Kai! You two look good I'd like to introduce you two to Everett Leingod, Fayt's grandfather, on Robert's side."

"Mr. Leingod, nice to meet you," Maria said as she extended a cordial hand. Grandpa Leingod shook it, studying her.

"So you were the girl my grandson was supposed to marry," he said with a pause as their eyes locked. Maria's eyes were met with a rigid, and wrinkled face, "He missed out on you," he said his face shifted into a smile.

"Kai Li sir, nice to meet you! I am a big fan of the T-16 Space Brawler you designed a while back. T-They don't make em like they used to!"

"Ohoho, a fan I see! This is a quality young man you see I was going for a new look that hotshot pilots would love to get into. Coupled with an impressive array of firepower and the long body I was designing it for those good ol' fashioned dog fights. Now space battles are determined primarily by whoever has the largest battleship. But everything is changing yet again because of those damn Executioners. I say."

"Ah I feel you sir! The T-16 was still quite revolutionary in its time though! It just faced stiff competition from the Aldian HERSE-567."

"Are you two done with your nerd talk?" Mrs. Leingod jeered. They looked at her incredously, then said, "You'll be in for a treat then Kai. My father in law has decided to get back into the ship designing game. He is going for larger scale battlecraft now. In fact we will be test-running his prototype craft on our trip to Styx."

"Really, that is a treat! Are you looking to compete directly with the Expellians Mr. Leingod?"

"Well I will try-, Fayt!" he exclaimed and embraced his grandson who had walked through the doorway.

"G-Grandpa Everett, h-how are you," he wheezed.

"Still as skinny as ever I see. And hoho who is this lovely lass, surely she can't be your girlfriend, way too pretty for you."

"WHY does everyone keep saying that? Whyyy?" Fayt exclaimed as he suddenly noticed Maria and Kai out of the corner of his eye. Ohh awkward…

"My name is Solenn, pleased to meet you Mr. Leingod. And no I'm not his girlfriend, he's just my chauffer, I like to keep him around as a bodyguard despite his frailties," she jeered.

"Beauty and a bit of wit, deadly combination, I'd watch out for her son…" he joked.

"So grandpa, returning to the shipbuilding business? I wish you my best, the Expellians make some Class A battleships, saved our lives a couple times."

"Is that a challenge? Watch out kid this old horse still has a little left in him. I wouldn't mind taking a Galactic Republic Commander as a consultant though, albeit inactive."

Fayt winked at him and then proceeded to greet Kai and Maria. "Guys, holding up well then?" he asked a bit awkwardly.

"Well enough, thanks pal," Kai replied sincerely. Maria simply shrugged.

"So mom want to brief us on the purpose of our mission?"

"Right then, we will be studying symbological energy being emitted by the Planet Styx. And our fears seem to have been confirmed. Our 4D advarsaries are trying to mobilize it as some sort of weapon. We've noticed it has been experiencing 'planetary drift' acting against planetary gravity forces."

"Where is its projected trajectory?" Maria asked, analyzing the map, manipulating the holograms herself to get a better idea of the situation.

"Earth."

"Well what are we waiting for then, let's go!" Fayt exclaimed with a grin on his face.

"The ship awaits," Mrs. Leingod responded. Everyone made towards the door, except for Maria who hung back and wanted to talk to her. She told Kai that she would catch up with him, Kai nodded and didn't waste his time to berate Mr. Leingod about a couple more ship designs. Mrs. Leingod was stuffing a few more articles into her suitcase as Maria tapped her on her shoulder.

"Madam."

"Please Maria just call me Ryoko, or Mrs. Leingod."

"Right, uh Mrs. Leingod. I-I had a vision. Similar to the vision that Fayt had before I was kidnapped." She fastened one of the buckles on her suitcase then turned around.

"I'm listening," she responded sternly.

"I-I saw Elicoor under attack. Then I also saw Crossell dying, the City of Aquaria in flames. But, it couldn't have happened already could it? Were we unable to protect our friends?"

"N-No, we would have found out, the Republic space station in Elicoor II's orbit is fine, and I haven't heard any reports. But this is serious; it is strange that you two have these vivid and real premonitions. So we must act upon this seriously. I will tell Kian to reposition the 7th Fleet outside Elicoor. I'll send Cliff as well."

"Th-Thank you…do you think it could have been just a dream as well?"

"I think we've experienced enough to realize that things aren't up to coincidence anymore Maria, but come on let's go we have a job to do as well." She forced a weak smile and nodded.

End