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Omega station was a filthy place, covered in literally centuries of grime and rust. Filth so deep in places as to be as soil and rock, crunching underfoot every step of the way. The air was oily enough to clog and choke her throat in places, and around her the aliens and Humans living on the station matched what one would expect from that kind of place. Dirty faces, tatty clothing, and coughing, she'd grown used to it. And to the crowds that could develop in the relatively tight confines of the station's bowels. By fortune, neither of them had grown ill, though she had the sneaking suspicion that fortune had nothing to do with their health.

Somehow, she doubted the Dark Brother would particularly enjoy watching them cough in bed for a few days.

The Normandy was an all-together different matter, though. Inside it was clean, and sparsely staffed, with only a dozen men and women in what she'd been informed was the CIC. The walls and floor were cleaner than she'd seen in what felt like months even if it couldn't have been, outside of Legion's Geth ships. Only a dozen or so crewmen were in the room as they passed by, not paying them any mind for the work they were doing, whatever important tasks each of them had to do to keep their ship together.

All the while, the Commander barked orders like a woman born and bred to do so.

"Vakarian, I want you in the debriefing room with me. Massani, Taylor, stow your gear and make your reports. Lawson-"

"I'm obligated to sit in on debriefs with recruits, Ma'am." The catsuit wearing woman cut her off, the soldier rounding on her for it, standing inside the door that led into what had been labeled in big white letters as the armory. Miranda only cocked a hip and crossed her arms, though, "Orders straight from The Illusive Man, Commander."

"I should care because…?"

"Even you have to follow Cerberus directives, Commander." The woman pointed out with a sarcastic little smirk that had even Pyrrha frowning heatedly.

Seizing the commander's moment of hesitation, the other squad members cut to the left, following the pointed finger of a young woman with red hair beside what looked like a holographic map. They hadn't been ordered anywhere, though, and she didn't want to risk getting on the fiery soldier's bad side. Instead, the two young Huntresses were stuck in the CIC while the argument began to unfold.

"And if I don't care to follow Cerberus directives?" The woman challenged, stepping close enough to the other woman that she could have kissed her, were it not for the helmet.

But Miranda was unflappable and simply met her gaze for a long moment, before finally countering with a quiet, "Then maybe The Illusive Man will think assigning you this ship was a mistake. Maybe he will think I was wrong in pushing for you," she pushed a finger against the other woman's sternum, "and that all of this should be recalled."

"...You argued I be brought back?" Shepard gestured at the ship around them, "That this be built?"

"I did."

"Why?"

"My reasons are my own. Commander." The raven-haired woman answered quietly, looking around her at the watching Cerberus agents and pursing her lips. As Miranda's eyes roved by them, the agents turned back to their work, until she was gazing back ito Shepard's visor. Sighing, she offered as amicably, and quietly, as she could, so that those around them couldn't hear, "Save face with the crew. Order me to fetch their files, I'll give you ten minutes."

"I earn respect out there, with my rifle." Shepard countered loudly, visibly relaxing and backing down. She spoke differently, now. Voice flat and back to her normal firmness, with the hint of a smile in her words. "Sometimes I earn respect by standing up to someone I shouldn't." Miranda's eyes narrowed but the soldier was turning already, headed into the armory, "You three for debrief in ten minutes. I'm getting out of this armor. Order the rest of the unit to make their reports."

"Y-Yes, Ma'am." Miranda stuttered, a sound that seemed to be a rarity from how many of the Cerberus crewmen turned to gape at her. As the armored back of the woman vanished around the corner, the Biotic turned to give each of them appraising looks. Finally, she stepped through the door as well, sighing, "Get a move on, then."

As she vanished, Pyrrha gave Penny a look, but the girl was already turned away, calling out to the red-haired woman, "Hello, new friend!"

"Hello!" The woman responded in oddly matching cheer, smiling widely at the girl bouncing on her heels.

"Come on, Penny." Pyrrha urged gently, laying a hand on her smaller gynoid friend's shoulder. The girl turned to look up at her, smiling thinly, and for a moment Pyrrha felt very much like a parent. Gently pushing her towards the door into the armory, and hoping she didn't look like a mother as she did, she urged the girl, "We have a debriefing first and then you can make new friends. Okay?"

"Okay, friend Pyrrha!" The girl nodded, turning to wave farewell, "I will see you later future friend whose name I don't know yet but look forward to learning!"

The armory was a relatively expected affair, with the armored black man working at cleaning his rifle. Beside him on the table, a mound of heavy black armor that had to be Shepard's lay, waiting on someone to levy their love and care onto it. Another table was lined with clean, even laid rifles and sidearms, and the one behind the young man was overrun with papers. Reports, she guessed, on what he used and repaired, and when.

Seeing them looking around the armor, he grunted and nodded respectfully, leaning back against his work desk and smiling amicably. Gesturing around him at the armory's various, mostly empty on the front end, tables, he offered a simple wave, "Hey, ladies. Drop your weapons wherever you want and I'll clean 'em. Unless you wanna clean 'em yourself. Either way, pick a table."

"I would rather maintain my own weapons, if you don't mind." Mostly because the weapons were enchanted, or blessed maybe, to not need maintenance, but she couldn't tell him that. He shrugged uncaringly regardless and she flicked her wrists, calling her weapons to her hands with a practiced kind of ease and laying them on the table. Grimacing at the blood on the edge, which had dried enough to at least adhere to the metal, she asked in a quiet voice, "Would you… Mind wiping the blood off, though?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll wipe 'em clean and leave 'em in a crate for you with some tools." He gave her a small smile of sympathy and she returned the gesture along with a nod of thanks. Quietly, he added, pointing at the other door, "Briefing room's on your right, through there. Didn't hear the Commander tell ya, so there you go."

"Thank you, Mister Taylor."

"Jacob's fine, Ma'am." He corrected with a friendly smile, turning back to his work and popping the frame off of an Avenger. Distractedly, he added a parting, "Glad to have you aboard. Both of you. Good luck in the debrief, she's gonna have a lot of questions, and she'll probably be pushing you to feel you out."

"Such is what happened with Miss Lawson, I suppose?" He only nodded to her question, already engrossed in her work, and Pyrrha turned a look on Penny. Smiling reassuringly, she shrugged and waved her forward, "Duties put off bring only pain, I suppose."

"I prefer 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' personally." Jacob grunted from the table, sparing them a glance only long enough to smile and nod reassuringly. "Don't be anxious, girls. Just get through it. If you can smack a gunship outta the sky, you can handle a debrief with the Commander when she's in a bit of a mood."

"Is she upset?" Penny asked, ever the voice of innocent concern. With wide eyes and her hands curled against her chest anxiously, she asked, "I-Is she upset about me not forewarning her about my particle energy laser blasters? I only wanted to hurry up and save new future friend Archangel!"

"No idea, but probably not that." The man laughed, shaking his head as he examined a long rod she didn't have any idea the purpose of. "Think she might be feelin' the crew out. Poking 'em, seeing how they talk and walk, that sorta thing."

"I see." And that was why she'd challenged Lawson, she supposed. Testing her, to see how she'd reacted. Which explained why and how she'd so easily slid back into her seemingly normal mode of speaking, once the woman had responded enough. "I suppose this is one way to vett your allies' personalities. Not my favored one, but..."

"Everyone has their quirks, yeah." She nodded and joined him in chuckling, Penny merely smiling and enjoying the amicability of the conversation. She gave the android a smile and, more sure of herself than before, gestured for them to make their way out. "Before we overstay our welcome, of make her wait a tad too long."

"Okay." Before they left she turned to the man before Pyrrha could lead her out, though, and asked in that same ever-bright voice, "Would you be the person I would wish to speak to regarding attaining a higher understanding of Mass Effect technology's inner workings?"

"I mean, if you mean the kind that applies to guns and armor, yeah, sure. I know more 'n the next guy, even if I'm no tech-head or scientist. Nothin' against 'em, of course, but just not my line of work." The man answered, giving her a more focused, appraising look as he explained. His other hands, practiced from years of training and work she had no doubt of, continued their efforts idly as he answered. "Doc Solus would be a better place if you want real learning, though. Mine'd be too focused."

"Thank you, Friend Jacob." She smiled, turning to lead Pyrrha out now that her curiosity had been satisfied.

With a shrug, the Mistralian followed her, not particularly worried about what Penny chose to spend her free time doing. And even were she, studying their new home wasn't something she had any dislike towards. Distantly, as they stepped into the hallway, she considered the idea more deeply, "If she finds someone to teach her, I may even join her myself. Knowledge never hurts, really."

Well, as long as one didn't take their research too terribly far.

The briefing room she found to be rather simple and clinical, in the same way that the rest of the ship was. A long, ovular table split the room, pale white lights recessed into the joints between the roof and floor and the wall, and metal grating to walk on. At the other end of the room, dressed in a tightly fitted, matte black and gently textured like scales, skinsuit stood the commander herself, arms crossed and head down. In the cleaner light she was rather pretty, with pale skin, reddened hair, and fine features.

"I see you finally decided to show up, we were beginning to wonder if we should send a search party for you." Miranda said from beeside her, a nearly perfect eyebrow rising towards her equally perfect hairline.

In a lot of ways, she found the commander prettier than her counterpart. Her snark and was likely not the least of the cause for Pyrrha's instinctive dislike, but it was only part of it she knew. A brief moment's thought answered her wonder for why, glancing the woman up and down rapidly. She was too perfect. Inhumanly so, even. Her proportions were flawless and perky like a younger woman, but swelled like an older one, and her skin was flawless. Even her hair was well kept, with not a frayed end in sight.

She looked built, not born, and that had her eyes narrowed and her suspicion up as Penny stepped up to the table and the door closed.

"Nikos first." The Commander grunted shortly, startlingly bright green eyes landing on her as she stepped forward and nodded. Watching her, the woman rattled off her information mechanically, in the way someone establishing something before moving to what they really wanted to know did. "You get shot and don't take damage. EDI's scans confirmed you didn't have any Eezo in or on you, so shield and Barriers are out. And besides, I saw what you did to Garm, and that isn't Biotics I've ever seen."

"No, Ma'am." She answered quietly, standing shock still and straight. The way that he military sparring trainers had taught her to, later in life. "It is neither Eezo based nor was I using Biotics. I confess I know little about either of these things, honestly."

"Not Biotics or Eezo based technologies? I don't know what else it could be..." Miranda asked quietly, giving the Commander a look asking for permission. Getting her permission in the form of a nod, the too perfect woman pressed, louder and more surely, "We need to know what your abilities are, and how you use them. Without such knowledge, we will be at a disadvantage in combat."

"Your energy weapons can wait." Shepard added, nodding to the small android. Rolling her eyes, the woman actually smiled and chuckled, sounding genuinely amused. "The hell kinda life am I living where god damn lasers aren't the most interesting thing in a conversation?"

"The important kind." Miranda offered with a small shrug and an amused smile. A smile that turned hard and false as she returned her attention to Pyrrha and her smaller friend. "So, if not those answers, what is the answer?"

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as the good man said…" "Aura." She answered simply, kneeling to unclasp her greave as she explained further. "It's… A complicated matter, how it works. I am woefully unqualified to teach about it, but it gives us abilities. Blocking bullets, protecting us from temperature extremes, why, I wager that it would protect me for a time in space itself."

"I'm assuming you don't want to test that." Shepard murmured, chuckling when she straightened, brace in hand, and shook her head. "Rhetorical question."

"So I figured, Ma'am." She nodded, laying her greave on the table and smiling pleasantly as their eyes landed on it. After a moment, seeing it not doing anything, they turned their gazes back on her, "As I was saying, the gist beyond the defensive capabilities is increased physical acuity. Speed, stamina, strength, etcetera, Penny and I outpace any normal Human I have met yet. Such is the strength Aura gives even a semi-trained Huntress."

"Hence the leaping and flipping we've seen you doing." Miranda guessed, "And you fighting that Battlemaster in melee."

"Yes. I and Penny are more durable and physically powerful than any regular human being in the galaxy." Or at least, so she'd seen in her time here, watching the Humans she met. Only a few races matched their prowess, and only one or two of the physical attributes they excelled at. Krogan held great strength, for instance, but lacked her fine agility. "With our Aura comes what are called Semblances," she flicked a finger and that set her armor spinning on the table, sliding across it to the Commander and then returning, like a spinning top toy, "such as mine. Polarity. I can control metal."

"Impressive." The Commander murmured, nodding consideringly. "I saw what you did to the metal flooring in Garrus' base. Can you do that to any metal?"

"So long as I make physical contact with it, yes." An important, if typically easily navigated, pitfall of her Semblance. Melee combat made 'physical contact' easy to achieve, after all. Moving on and hoping to head off any uncomfortable inquiries, she explained, "Auras and Semblances aren't an exact science, though. Where I come from, decades of education are required for most to fully understand their own abilities. My own took from the time I was little until I was around ten, and I am considered a prodigy. Yet even now I don't know the fuller extent of my abilities."

"Impressive." The Commander murmured, clearly processing what she was hearing as best she could. Chewing a lip, she turned an eye on the small android and asked, "Are those energy blasts your Semblance then?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes." The android answered simply, holding up a hand and smiling as green light sparked from her fingertips. "Using certain aspects of my body I won't go into for privacy reasons, I can produce and focus my Aura into concentrated energy. I can then store this power for later use, fuelling my weaponry." With a small frown, she sighed and offered a more tired smile, "Using so much to destroy that aircraft has rather drained me, now that I think about it."

"Are you alright?" Lawson asked, "Do you need the doctor?"

"No, do not be worried, it is nothing of the sort." Penny smiled brightly, fatigue seemingly gone inside the same moment. Bouncing on her heels, she assured them, "All I need is food, rest and time to recharge my purely proverbial batteries."

"Speaking of, we should like a place to rest." Both to not give away any more secrets, and to genuinely rest. She'd used much of her energy up binding Garm the way she had, and in the battle previous. Still, though, she added politely, "Unless you need more from us, Ma'am?"

"You look Human enough, regardless of these rather… Unique, shall we say, abilities of yours." Miranda answered when the Commander shrugged them off, apparently satisfied for the moment and either content with their answers or content to ask more later. Regardless, the other woman was eager to step in before the two others could vanish. "You are Human, no?"

"We are." Sort of, at least. "And I know what you are getting at. Before I even consider unlocking people's Auras, I would need to know them better than I know any of you."

"Why's that?" Shepard asked, one brown rising on her scarred forehead with the question.

"Aura is the manifestation of the soul. Of your mind, body, and all which makes up what is you." She preambled, explaining as best she could what she'd been taught growing up, by professors and priests alike. From them came the amalgam, which she put forward as her understanding of the matter. "To activate another's Aura, you must give them a piece of your own. A small piece, that is, but…"

"It's intimate." Penny, of all people, stepped in to explain when she saw Pyrrha's unsurety and hesitance. Quiet, almost reverent even which made some sense given her unique status, the gynoid went on, "A teacher to his pupil, a brother to a sister. Partners at Academies, who will live together for years and, in all likelihood, die in the same place. A father and a daughter, even."

"I wouldn't give so deeply of myself to anyone like that without knowing them well, or knowing well that I would be with them for a long time." Her thoughts drifted to Jaune, with that. And, bitterly, she realized she had been wrong in the assumption of how long she'd have to get to know him to justify her giving him that. "You are free to dislike our decisions, but I would ask you respect them."

"Of course." Shepard grunted, giving Miranda a look that dared her to disagree. When she didn't, the woman turned her gaze back on them, "Both of you are free to go wherever you like. If you want to stay together, I recommend the observation decks. Pick one, settle in, get some rest. I'm putting you on Biotic ration levels as well, so you can be damn sure to have your energy up."

Relieved that they had no more questions, and hadn't asked any particularly awkward ones in the first place, the Mistralian retrieved her greave and smiled, "Thank you, Ma'am. Let us know if you need anything."

The woman only grunted and nodded, waving for them to leave.

XxX-XxX-XxX

Jane watched the woman's back round a corner and vanish behind the sealed bulkhead, which glowed an angry 'locked' red at their exit. Sighing, the woman pushed off the wall and asked, "EDI, did you detect anything interesting?"

"I detected an elevated heart rate from Miss Nikos at various intervals whenever she discussed or alluded to her abilities, those of her companions, or applications beyond themselves." The machine answered, little blue avatar sparking to life on the long table. "Oddly, I detected no significant energy signatures from them, though that could simply be due to their exhaustion. Further, Miss Penny did not have a heartbeat which I could discern, and I detected extensive artificiality throughout her body."

"A robot of some kind?" Miranda guessed, giving her a sidelong look. "An AI maybe?"

"More intrusive scans would be needed to determine such, and if they wish to keep her, forgive the term, race a private matter then I doubt they would cooperate. Further, with their abilities, forcing it on them would be… Dangerous." The ship AI answered mechanically, adding after a second, "Especially inside a metal ship."

"She could rip it into pieces with a flick of her wrist, possibly." Shepard didn't bother trying to argue with Miranda, even if she kind of wanted to. She was easy to dislike, so she did, but they didn't really know what the Amazonian woman was capable of. "EDI, do you have any records of Aura, or people on planets with anything like these abilities?"

"I do not."

"A long shot, but…"

"Had to ask, yeah, I get it." Shepard agreed, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose and then wincing when that hurt a scar on her face. Pushing off the wall and ignoring the little lances of pain from a thousand still-healing injuries, injuries that thankfully didn't hurt as much as they had even the day before, she began to give out her orders. "For now, we put it to rest. Let 'em come to us and volunteer information if they want to, but don't push them for a damn thing. Not their tech, not their abilities, not their home."

"I'll look into their descriptions and try to find a background at least." Miranda suggested by way of stating, giving her a raised brow to show the question. She nodded simply and the woman returned it, speaking to the machine after, "EDI, do deep information dredging for the terms they used. I'll do the same. Cerberus has to have something on this nonsense, even if I wasn't privy to it before now."

"Understood." The machine responded, winking out after.

"I'm getting some food and then some sleep." Jane grunted simply, pushing off the wall and heading for the door. Waving a hand over her shoulder as she went, she called back, "Have fun with the digging."

Miranda, still wary after her challenges earlier no doubt, didn't answer beyond a simple, "Aye."

XxX-XxX-XxX

The observation deck they were lead to by a polite young crewman was nice enough, Pyrrha supposed. Empty, mostly, with seats lining the wall to either side of and across from a great window that looked out on the void. A pair of nice, comfortable enough cots were swiftly delivered to them alongside a crate of spare uniforms to wear - for more comfort than armor might allow, she supposed, though she was rather used to her medium Mistrali plate and leather - and a table to eat at if they didn't feel a need or desire to eat with the others. A couple hours later and plates heaped with roasted pork and potatoes were delivered, as well as a small box of baked rolls.

'Biotic rations' meant 'stuffing you with calories' apparently, which was all well and good. A Huntress' diet was rather calorie and protein heavy.

They set up their cots on one side, pressed against each other and the edge of the hull, and the table on the other side. Their storage crates, where she left her armor once she'd stripped out of and cleaned it a bit, she left stored under the bulkhead-touching bunk, where it was safe and within easy reach. Together, they set the table on the other side and ate, the android girl excited to get to eat - and of course, taste - food as she always was.

"They let us get away too easily." Pyrrha murmured once they had mostly finished eating, putting voice to the nagging doubt she'd felt for the last hour or so since their 'debriefing'. Which she was fairly sure wasn't a real debriefing, though such was the least of her worries, really, for the moment. "Too few answers, too few questions as well, and they didn't challenge any of what we did say."

"Maybe they just wanted to offer us some trust." Penny offered quietly, dipping her last roll in the dry mashed potatoes and smiling excitedly for the prospect. Even rather bad food, it seemed, was enough to make her happy… "I am just happy that they were so willing to believe us and welcome us aboard."

"I suppose I should feel the same, really." Though, somewhat to her shame, she still didn't. Something felt off about the whole situation, even if she couldn't place it to save her life. Pushing it aside she stood, dusting her hands off and asking, "Could you run the trash and dishes to the eatery tonight? I'll take my turn next time, but I am tired."

"Okay and goodnight, Friend Pyrrha!" The girl nodded, happy to be of help as always. Hopping up, she started collecting the assorted rubbish while Pyrrha dragged their beds apart and fell into hers, her back to the door and forehead against the soothingly cool metal.

No sooner than she felt sleep take her did she feel the now-familiar tug of her mind - or body, she had no idea how any of this god business worked, really - as she was summoned. Instead of the cool air of a world at night as she was used to, though, she felt… Warmth. Mixed with a scent of soil, fresh water and vibrant flowers. Opening her eyes she found herself in a small cave, just big enough for her to lay in comfortably, and sighed.

"Never a night's rest…" She murmured, anxious and frustrated for the anxiety as she crawled out and stood in the sun.

Outside, the sun was warm, the sky was a deep and vibrant blue, and a deer, of all things, was wandering by her, idly looking at her and flicking its ears. It sipped at the wide lake beside the mountain her cave had grown beside and then bounded away, satisfied and unwilling to risk what it didn't know. She watched it recede for a moment before walking to the water and kneeling to let her fingers trail through the frankly impossibly clear water.

This was definitely not the Dark Brother's making…

"Ah, my brother's champion." A bright, booming voice called from above her as a great shadow overtook her. Turning, she was met by nothing but wind slamming into her as the form landed in the water. Turning again, she found a great dragon, curled in the cool water and towering over her like a coiled snake might a mouse. It bowed its great head, though, instead of eating her, and rumbled, "It is good to finally meet you in a more… Appropriate and heartening setting."

"Indeed." She murmured, looking up into the silver eyes and smiling, serpentine mouth of the God of Light. Swallowing anxiously, she asked, "Though I… Wonder how I came to be here. And why, of course."

"I summoned you is the how of it." The deific beast answered, sounding amused at something she couldn't understand. In an oddly paternal, bemused sort of voice, he - or it, maybe, again with the deity based things she didn't know - went on, "And as to the why of it… Well, I wished to speak with you, after some time and consideration."

"Consideration about…?"

"You and your young compatriot's fates, and… Status, under my rather grim veneered sibling." The great being answered, body shimmering for a second before growing so bright that her eyes ached and she was forced to close them. When they reopened, the draconic frame had been replaced by the luminescent 'human' body, sitting in the water like a monk at rest. Leaning forward, the being asked, "Are you truly happy in your new world, young champion?"

"I… Gods." She stepped back, unsure and wincing at the sheer brightness of the god. He noticed this and leaned back and away, raising a hand and dimming his brightness.

"Forgive me. I created this place and my luminescence shines brightest here, in my home." The god explained, sounding… Sorrowful as he did. "You grew without my light and warmth on your world, and so cannot bear it."

"I see." She kept to herself the comment that he could choose to go back at any time. Gods knew the people could use gods to protect them… Though she didn't know that forced subservience was a better life for them. Regardless, "To your question, whether I am happy or not, I don't have much of a choice. Now do I?"

"I could return you to the afterlife-"

"I am quite happy alive, thank you very much." She cut the being off, earning a cocked head and the slightest narrowing of his eyes. She flinched, but now was not the time to back down. "I have the chance to protect people and atone for what I did to Penny, accidental as it may have been. Her blood is yet on my hands, and not cleansed simply because her murder didn't stick."

"You know not what this world's fate is…"

"Our ends and futures are not ours to know." She answered simply, shrugging slightly and stepping back further, into the cool shade of the mountain overhead. "I am content with mine. I died on my world with honor, and have a chance at a second life here. If I am to die again, then I will again do so with honor."

"I see… Then perhaps a lesson of a more visual sense will make clear what comes for you. And what I could give to you." Quietly, he reached out with a hand, and though she tried to retreat she found her legs didn't move. A long, luminescent finger touched her head and she felt her head fill with heat, like a fever rushing into her.

Then, all she saw was blackness, inky and expansive around her like nothing she had ever seen. Turning to her left, she could see the beauty of stars, swirling in a mass beyond her comprehension impossibly far away. Like paint swirled around a drain, flecked with glitter and beauty the likes of which made her want to cry for seeing it. Was that…

"The galaxy you are currently residing within." The Brother of Light answered, voice detached and echoing around her. It throbbed within her head as well and she winced, though the discomfort was only slight. The Brother ignored it, though, moving on, "Not your home, to say the least. Not a place you were made to occupy. And one doomed to a cycle of destruction that none have been able to stop in so long as for its beginning to have escaped my own memory."

At his direction, or she assumed that was the pressure she felt turning her, like a great hand around her. Facing away from that galaxy, now, she could see the distant specks of more. A faintly ethereal finger and hand appeared, pointing out one eons away, and the god spoke again to confirm her fears, "That is where your home is. So far away that were I not to fold the nature of the universe itself, and step on far too many toes to mention in the process, I could not move you there with your body. Even if I wished to."

"Other toes…?"

"There are more figures of our status, or similar, than just the two of us. Other gods, lesser, greater and… Different. But they do not matter, and I strongly suggest you not even consider looking into." The god answered, brushing the topic aside. And then she was moving, flashing to the side so fast the dots blurred into lines and had she been able, she would have retched. "This is what comes. A force unlike any you, or your surrogate galaxy, have faced in eons. And one the latter has never survived."

Around her, pinpricks of light were scattered intermittently, moving with languid grace around her. A moment passed and she blinked, forms beginning to take shape. Squid like almost and truly massive, cruising by like a fish might through the ocean. Undulating ever so slightly and, in the distance, she saw towards what. The God's influence allowed her to see it well enough, glowing blue and silver in the inky blackness of empty space.

"What in the name of the Grimm…"

"Swearing by the Grimm now are we? Hah." She blinked and she was back in the garden, laid on her back and staring up at the tree canopies around them. Her back felt cool and she turned her head, finding that she was laying atop the pool of water's surface. Not floating, but laying, impossible as it seemed. Above her, the god stood, staring down on her with his hands over his chest. "Those machines bare many names across uncounted and uncountable species and eons. To you, they will likely carry the name 'Reapers'."

"The Reapers…?" She murmured, rolling over and, anxiety filled for her mind's inability to comprehend it, pushing herself up on hands and knees on the water's surface. Below her, a turtle's head poked through the surface, so close she could smell it, and then bobbed back down when it saw her.

"Indeed." The God rumbled as she rose, standing shakily on the water and meeting his gaze. "The Reapers. And inside a handful of years, they will have reached your new home. And it will burn, as it has countless times."

"I thought you couldn't see the future?" The Dark Brother had implied as such, at the least.

"We can't." Light confirmed, "But we can see the past." His gaze turned vacant, if that were possible for one without eyes, and he murmured. "I see a number of years for which a number does not exist of this Cycle. And casualties, which are so high that even I can't comprehend them."

"Oh…" Those sorts of numbers even existing was something that made her feel small.

"If you ask it, I can take you from this doomed galaxy." The god murmured, kneeling before her like a parent might a child. "If you were to ask I would even return you to your own world. Albeit in a new body."

"You mean-"

"Reincarnation." He nodded, smiling in the way of someone pitying something much smaller than her. A way that rankled her, her hands balling into fists at her sides. "I would only grant you one reincarnation. A rebirth, with your memories intact, to live anew. You would even be able to recontact your lost friends, after a time, one you were-"

"No."

"-old enough to…" The deity blinked, taken aback, and cocked its head to the side. "I'm… Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said no." She reiterated simply, stepping back from Light yet again, onto the banks of the water. Mouth set into a firm line, she shook her head and took a deep breath. "I have no desire to abandon a galaxy to live a life as an infant for my chance - chance even, not a certainty - of seeing my friends again. Your warning is appreciated, but… But, and I am sorry, but you can- You can fuck off if you think I will turn my back on a galaxy that needs my help."

For a long moment, silence stretched around them.

"Do you truly think you, a single insignificant little Human girl, can halt the progress of a cycle which has existed for millennia? And you would spurn my kindness so blatantly? The arrogance of it..." The being rumbled, heat baking the area as he rose to his full, great height. "A child, as I knew, but one without temperament."

She could tell he was furious, though his form betrayed nothing. Around her, though, heat began to spread. The lake began to steam and, further out, she began to sweat and the trees began to move with wind suddenly kicked up by the change in temperature. Thunder rolled distantly and the being sighed, sinking into the water, steam spindling up around him.

"Children of ill temperament deserve rebuke." The god intoned simply, taking a long stride to her, reaching out. Again, she tried to move and found herself undable.

Instead, she closed her eyes and began to pray, as great yellow fingers closed around her, burning where they made contact. "Oh Brother Dark, please heed my call. Your servant calls on your salvation and-"

"YOU DARE, BROTHER MINE!" A voice boomed, the Mistralian feeling herself suddenly lifted and then flung through the air.

With a cry, she sat up in her bed, sweating and chest heaving. Around her was only darkness and silence, the lights dimmed and even Penny asleep in her bunk, curled into a tight little ball and swaddled in blankets. Taking a deep breath she winced, reaching up to touch at her shoulder gingerly. It was sore and hot to the touch and, as she turned so the little light available could let her see the skin her string-topped sleeping shirt left bare.

It was red, like it had been burnt after a long day in the sun.

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This story is back, ladies and gentle-nerds! And yes, that means I have to relearn how to write dialogue for Pyrrha and Penny both. Figured I would come in strong on the first chapter back, though, so hope you enjoyed~!

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Thermidor :

Thank Espa, not me. XD

Blaiseingfire :

Oh yeah. I know. I mean, Pyrrha doesn't. But ooooh boy, I do. And it's super intentional, too.

Steelrain :

There's a war on with how many bombshells are dropping.