The next morning, a few hours short of noon, Lark found herself sat under a lone tree. It was short, with minimal protection. She had her back towards the trunk, however she was leant forward, her knees bent and at head level. She held her shins with each hand, and almost pressed her head into her thighs. She was motionless, staring down at the Terra that she called her home. The thoughts inside her head racketted around her in loud permutations.
In the distant sky, the full Cyclonian fleet slowly appeared back into view. As it did, a low rumble from the myriad of high power engines began to fill the air. Lark ignored it until it wore her mind too much, eventually turning to look. Seeing that whilst the fleet was still a fair distance in the air, the flagship of the fleet slowly started to descend, and appeared to be looking for a landing zone.
Inside the purple and gold flagship, the Empress and Ravess stood towards the back of the bridge, looking onwards to the flight controls. Stood at the controls were two of Ravess' underlings, with the young Mistress stood between them, awaiting the time to give instruction. 'Where are we to set ourselves down, Mistress?' One of the pilots asked.
The Mistress studied the ground below them frantically, before spotting the lone tree, and seeing Lark's heli-scooter parked a few dozen paces away. 'Land at a minimal safe distance from that tree' She intstructed, reaching over the pilots and clearly pointing at the tree Lark was sat under. The pilots affirmed the request, and set the ship down safely onto the ground. Once the ship was still, the Mistress briskly walked from the controls to the dorm room at the bridge's rear. She slung Lark's leather strapped hold bag over her shoulder and left the dorm once more, this time leaving the bridge all together; the Empress and Ravess both overseeing the young girl's movements. Not speaking until she had left.
'Am I to dispatch the invasive force?' Ravess asked the Empress.
'No. not yet. We need to let this play out first. For the child's sake. Leave both her and I be until I say otherwise' The Empress ordered. Ravess stood at attention in silent response.
The freshly landed flagship began to deploy its boarding ramp, of which the Mistress had stood upon its edge as it stretched out to the floor underneath. Once it was safe enough to step off, she did so, and started to approach the tree. Lark, keenly aware of the Mistress' presence, still chose to ignore her, although her facial expression soon scrunched up into annoyance.
Finally at the tree, the Mistress slipped the bag off of her shoulder and into her hands. She held her hands at her chest, and softly started to try and talk to Lark. 'Hey Lark... I, umm. I wanted to give this to you... as thanks for what you've done for me. I don't know if Terra Tundress uses the same currency as the majority of Atmos, but it's the best I could do'
Lark remained still. Her annoyed expression remaining. Her posture still unbroken.
'So... about last night-' The Mistress tried to explain.
'Why didn't you tell me?' Lark quickly and starkly interrupted. Tone and inflection displaying a hostile attitude towards the Mistress, who dipped her head and tried to think of the answer.
'Be...because you'd treat me different' The Mistress wimpered, head still lowered.
'You know what?' Lark asked, finally turning to face the Mistress, standing up and meeting her at equal height. 'You're right. I would treat you different' Lark explained. She quickly darted her eyes to and from the centre of the Terra before holding her arm out to point to it. 'This Terra's main rule is not to spill the secret as to what crystals we mine. Each and every person in the know is sworn to secrecy. Yet here I am, giving said secret openly to someone I'm meant to protect us against' Lark continued, her voice building in stress and annoyance. 'So who are you? Really? Because Misty sure doesn't seem to be who you are'
The Mistress paused for a moment, pulling in a breath. 'I... I am Mistress Cyclonis. Heir to the Cyclonian throne'
Lark's face went from annoyance to disgust, realising the gravity of the situation. 'So I didn't just give my secret to a Cyclonian, I gave it to THE Cyclonian. I've doomed everyone just by being nice'
The flagship of the fleet layed dormant. No one left it to set foot on the Terra. Rather, on the ramp, stood the Empress. She oversaw the two young girls, and seeing the Mistress being cast out and away by her only friend, the Empress couldn't help but pull a pleased smile.
'...I'm not like my Grandmother' The Mistress said as she tried to defend herself.
'No? We'll see about that. Your bloodline knows nothing but destruction and inflicting suffering. Any attempt to change yourself will fail, because you know that deep down, you will always be rotten to the core. You can't fight it' Lark turned around, and took a step away.
'Lark!' The Mistress called, 'Please. I don't want this. I never wanted this power, this control. I... I didn't know what I wanted until I met you. I just want to be friends...' Hearing her pleas, Lark huffed and looked at the ground.
'But we can't be friends. I won't let myself be ignorant to who you are. Nor will I let myself risk being hurt by you. That's all Cyclonians know how to do. Hurt. Person after person, Terra after Terra' Lark pulled her head up and took in a deep breath. 'Now please, if you have respect for me, like you claim to, you'll leave me alone. For good' Lark took yet another step away before adding 'I don't want your money, either. You keep it' and leaving the Mistress behind her.
Lark climbed aboard her heli-scooter and kick started it. She held the throttle open and twisted the handlebars, pulling the scooter into a skid that flicked it away from the Mistress, before she regained gripped and rode away. The crackles, pops and roars of her two-stroke engine fading into silence as Lark slowly disappeared into the horizon.
The young Mistress, as she had been before she partook on her fateful trip, was once again alone. Without a peer, without a friend. The only difference had been that before, she never knew what it was like to have someone as her equal; but now, her rank in her social hierarchy sat only her. The Mistress' stomach felt as if it was slowly dropping, further and further. Her chest was tightening. She started to take smaller breaths, holding herself together. Her eyes began to ache, the sides and bottoms of which began to slowly moisten. The Mistress' breathing switched from her nose to her mouth, continuing her small breaths that still slightly hurt her numbing frame.
Composure had broken, and in a sudden turn, the Mistress had burst into a grief stricken weep.
It started as a single loud, sharp breath, as her first tears congealed and started to trail from her eyes. She held one of her hands to her nose reflexively, dropping the bag she was holding unceremoniously. Soon, without any loud wailing or any other overt noises, the young girl started to judder and bow forwards as her emotionally pained breaths convulsed her, pulling herself back to standing straight before another set of tearful convulsions would take control. Her hands had moved to fully cover her face, with the joints of her fingers applying small pressure to her eyes as tears began to fully stream down her face. Her eyes numbed to near painful sensation. Her upper limbs fatigued and aching. She felt both warm and freezing in her inner turmoil. The young girl's mind screaming inside of her head of a wide manner of thoughts, most of which serving to solely blame herself.
Suddenly, she felt a hand touch her on the shoulder. It offered a loving comfort that the Mistress craved the most at this point in time. She lifted her hands away from her face, revealing red, bloodshot eyes. She saw, over her shoulder, her grandmother. She rubbed her shoulder gently with a warm smile, and the Mistress quickly pulled herself into the Empress' embrace. Holding herself tightly against her grandmother, pushing her face into her grandmother's dress as she wept.
After a small while, the Mistress pulled her head away, and sniffled. 'You were right, Grandmother... They sneer and curse our name... I-I' The Mistress lost her words, almost breaking down into tears again.
'Shh, shh, child, it's okay. It's going to be okay' The Empress said, her voice unusually soft and maternal. 'Perhaps I should show you something. Something powerful. Your knowledge of crystals has progressed a long way, so hopefully, you can finally achieve a new, powerful skill. Would you like that?' She offered. The Mistress nodded her head. 'Good, good. Now come, we should leave before you lose yourself again'
The Empress lead the young Mistress by the hand back aboard the flagship, the Osprey.
Off of the docking ramp, and a few paces aboard the ship, stood flight officer Ravess, eager at attention. As the Empress and Mistress walked by, the Empress whispered an order to her. Simply being instructed to 'begin the operation'. Ravess stood tall and saluted, affirming the Empress' order and clarifying that she will have the fleet notified.
The flagship would leave the Terra alone. The rest of the fleet spreading out to both envelope and blockade the Terra.