*000000*

I can't do it. I can't tell her. I'll kill all of Salem's Grimm and retrieve Summer's corpse myself if I have to, I'm not telling Ruby. I can't make myself admit it. I can't stand the thought of something like that happening. It's so much worse than dying. It's terrifying. Not just a loss of self, an enslavement of it to something repulsive. That it could happen to anyone here, where everything is real, and not just fiction...

"I don't feel too good." I say, leaning heavily against the arm of the sofa. My legs feel weak all of a sudden, and I can't stop panting. I'm driving myself into a panic attack, aren't I? "I-I'm gonna take a break, I think. Let me know if the city starts getting overrun with Grimm or something." Oh goddess, it's like I can feel everyone else looking at me. I hate it. Hurriedly, on shaking legs, I stride out and almost immediately rest my entire weight on the wall as I try to catch my breath. I can't stop thinking about the Hound.

"Do you want help?" Ruby asks softly. She's still here, for some reason, just far enough away that she isn't hovering, but still attentive.

"Y-y-yes." I barely manage to whimper an answer. The things Salem can make from people, they can talk too, and it's so raspy like my voice is now and I can't stop thinking about it, even though I know there's no point. I hate my lungs, it's so hard to breathe with them, and now I can barely even see anything because of the tears. My knees buckle, and there's a brief moment of freefall before someone catches me and I'm being cradled in strong arms.

Somehow, I manage to get to my bed, and shakily curl up in Ruby's arms.

My usual method for surviving panic attacks is to curl up under my sheets and clutch at my stuffed animals until my adrenaline eventually crashes and I fall asleep for a few hours from sheer exhaustion. Doing much the same thing with Ruby is... better, I think. I feel safer, even if it isn't enough to actually calm me down as my brain keeps looping through everything the Hound did in v8, and thinking about the guy who was inside of it and the reality that the same thing could happen to Summer.

If only I weren't such a mess.

I wake up slowly. It's easy to let my eyes stay closed and drift back to sleep a few times, until I remember how I ended up in the warm, safe place that I'm in. I really want to stay, but it already feels like I'm somehow taking advantage of Ruby's kindness. Carefully, I slip out of her embrace and out of my bed. I want to stay, but I need to make sure everything is okay, and deal with the fallout that I'm afraid of, even though there didn't seem to be any when I left everyone. How long ago was that? Long enough that it's evening now, at least.

You were asleep at the time, but-​

+15 Reputation with Ruby Rose(85/100)

Ah, okay. That makes sense, I think. I mean, I know I have at least a little bit more of a crush on her now than I did before. Vulnerability brings people closer like that, I think.

First I need dinner though. I haven't eaten in hours.

While I'm blearily stumbling my way to my dining table, I send Qrow a text to schedule my Hunters License practical exam for as soon as possible. I'd been putting it off for the sake of min-maxing, but it'll probably be easier to justify my working with CFVY in Lower Cairn if I actually have a license. Assuming they actually agree to that.

It's while I'm digging through my tuna with Amber in my lap that Blake materializes in between blinks. Huh. There's a cat comment to be made somewhere in there, but I'm still too emotionally exhausted to figure it out. Or even to be surprised, really.

"Oh, hey. Did everyone else leave?"

"Yeah." Blake's expression is caught somewhere in between puppy-dog eyes and a wary grimace as she pulls out a seat across from me. "Coco said that her team was going to double-time their training to make sure they're ready for whatever's coming at them in Lower Cairn, Yang stormed away from Qrow, and Weiss had that same kind of blankly pissed look she gets when her worldview gets totally destroyed."

Without comment, I pull out some tuna from my inventory and slide the plate across the table to her. "Don't let Amber have any, unless you think you'd be okay with seeing an unknowable abyss that I'm pretty sure exists as an endless void between dimensions or something."

"Right." Blake gives me one of those delicious confused looks before digging in, though not quite as enthusiastically as I'd expect.

"So, I'm guessing there's something bothering you about all the stuff? Beyond the obvious, I mean."

Blake takes her time to finish the bite she's chewing before she answers. "Yeah. I mean, I'm guessing you didn't really have control over the fact that you know stuff, but what do you know, exactly?"

"I didn't choose to learn the things I did knowing the situation it would lead to, no. Nothing from before the train is firsthand knowledge, but I know of your parents and Adam. Thing is, I might not necessarily be right about all of it. I know for a fact that not everything in this timeline is the same as what I saw. You being trans is one of the bigger differences so far."

A fork hovers near Blake's mouth for a long moment before she sets it down and takes a deep breath. "So, what exactly do you know about Adam? In terms of what he's going to do."

Yeah, that figures. I was expecting something like this. "In the timeline I know Beacon gets fucked up, the White Fang invade Vale and release a bunch of Grimm, and Adam maims Yang while coming after you."

"Fuck." Blake's voice cracks slightly at the exclamation, and she doesn't even manage to hold onto her fork.

"Yeah. It was a disaster in every sense of the word, for the entire city." I sigh, about as downcast as Blake. "Sorry if this sounds bleak, I'm too tired to be socially competent right now. I've got the situation under control, with a bit of help from Ozpin."

"Right."

A few quiet moments further into dinner, Ruby speedily tromps her way in to join us, seemingly bursting with energy, somehow. "Dinner? Sweet!"

"Have a lasagne." I pull another serving of food from my inventory, since I'm out of fish. I need to keep more fish dishes on hand. I like fish.

"Thanks Sil." Ruby gently pets my head to show her thanks. I lean into the way her fingers trail across my scalp as my eyes lid slightly, just relishing the touch. Truly, headpats are a balm for the soul. "Are you feeling better?"

"Mmmm, better is about right." I pout a little when Ruby pulls away, and have to force myself to turn my gaze back to my food so that I don't just keep staring at her. "Tired, but better."

Blake, an inexplicably smug little smile gracing her face, gets up, plate of unfinished tuna in hand. "You know, I think I won't bother you about anything else until tomorrow. Mind if I use your couch?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a cunning plan. And sure." I bob my head weakly and take another bite of tasty seared tuna.

The rest of my dinner is a nice, calm little experience, in which I spend most of my time just listening to Ruby's idle chatter in between her own bites of food.

Once Ruby puts her plate in the sink, she hesitates, leaning awkwardly against the kitchen counter. "It feels like it would be kinda irresponsible to just leave right now."

"I'd say you're welcome to stay over, but I've only got one couch and Blake's claim on it is a bit stronger. I made a promise and stuff."

"Well... we could just sleep together? We already did it before." Ruby shoots me a nervous grin. "I'm still kinda worried about you."

I can't help but recoil slightly from her concern, wincing and chastising myself. That feeling that I was taking advantage of her is still lingering. "You don't need to be, really. I know I must seem emotionally fragile, but I only am when I let myself be. Now that I've gotten that out I'll probably be good to keep things going for at least another month or three before I even get close to being at risk of another panic attack, okay? I'm okay, I can hold myself together."

"Being able to hold yourself together isn't the same as being okay." Slowly, Ruby walks up to me, her hand halfway to reaching out to me. "Besides, I know I don't need to. I want to."

Carefully, I eye Ruby's hand like it's a feral raccoon that could bite me at any moment. My throat constricts against my will as I try to speak, and I have to take a deep breath before I can try again. "Okay." I hate accepting help, but I know that Ruby's only doing this because she's a caring person and that I genuinely do sort of need it. And, really, in the end it's a lot easier to just let her in than it is to turn her down and self-flagellate like I know that entire tendency is me doing. "There's no way I'm going to be able to sleep for a few hours, so... want to watch a movie?"

"Sure!" Ruby chirps, as if she didn't wake up at some point in the last hour. How can anyone have so much enthusiasm so soon after waking up? I can't really complain when that enthusiasm is directed toward hanging out with me though.

Because I obviously know absolutely nothing about movies in Remnant, and thus wouldn't be able to choose even if I actually ever watched movies these days, Ruby's the one who gets to pick something out. It's some thriller fic that takes place entirely within a city, but I barely pay attention to it in favor of just appreciating being Ruby's little spoon, and wallowing in the pleasant sense of my satiated sensual attraction until at some point I fall back asleep.

-----------​

I wake up with my head resting on a pair of soft pillows. Which is weird, because I actually use firm pillows and beds, because of my poor posture and the back pain that used to be thus induced.

I open my eyes, and just as I suspected, my head is resting on Ruby's modest breasts, as we lay spooned together still on the couch. Well, I guess I'm an anime protagonist now.

Actually, I'm explicitly polyamourous, hopefully going to actually date someone at some point, and this entire setting is derivative of established media, so it's probably fanfiction. Still, the point is the same.

I should get up. But getting up is haaard. Especially when I'm in a girl's arms. I just wanna stay here reading gay things until two in the afternoon.

I'll just move whenever Ruby is up. I wouldn't want to disturb her anyway, she's probably tired too. And... we should talk about some things.

I keep telling myself I'm just waiting to actually discuss relationship things until we know each other better, but even if that weren't really just me having no confidence whatsoever, come on. Obviously I need to have some kind of talk with Ruby at this point.

And also I feel especially emotionally vulnerable this morning and if I don't have an intimate conversation followed by cuddling I will inevitably end up spending the whole day in bed imagining I'm being held and not doing the things I was planning on doing.

"Are you alright?"

Ah, well, I guess she woke up first.

Which means that she deliberately didn't move my head...

"Yeah." I sigh and push myself up into a sitting position so that I can look at Ruby while we talk, cocooning the blanket around myself at the same time. "Just hard for me to get up in the morning, is all. Look, we should, uh, talk. About stuff."

"Oookay." Ruby suddenly looks about as nervous as I feel, which is crazy because I'm obviously the one who should be afraid of rejection here.

"So physical contact is kind of a big thing for me. Which is actually a little bit contradictory because I'm really touch starved and will accept nearly anything I can get in that department. But it's just sort of... easier for me to try to express some things like that than out loud, when it comes to serious stuff." I frown. Was that rambling? "Wait, I think I completely lost track of where I was going with this. Well, what I'm trying to say is, IlikeyouandIwanttobegirlfriends." The moment it's out of my mouth I duck under the blanket, doing my best not to shiver in fear as I instinctively withdraw myself.

Why does talking about my feelings have to be so scary?

Actually, scratch that, I know exactly whose fault that particular piece of damage is (and for once it isn't mine, unless you want to actually listen to my mother's nonsense about how I somehow picked her. Yeah, right, thanks for the trauma, bitch, it's definitely just what I ordered to go with my childhood al carbone).

"Whoa, hey, you don't need to hide or anything." I can feel Ruby shift her weight for a moment, only to shift back. "I like you too."

Slowly, I pull down the blanket and peer out at Ruby, who's sitting at a respectful distance, grinning excitedly. "Really?"

"Yeah!" Ruby chirps, full of earnestness and excitement barely being restrained for the sake of respecting my boundaries. "You're really cute, and I think it's amazing how hard you're working to help people. Plus I really care about you, and I want to help take care of you. And..." her confidence fades slightly, and she looks down, fiddling with her fingers. "You seem to have a lot of faith in me, and I really appreciate it. It's... nice. Even Yang doesn't admire me as a leader or anything like that. Not yet, anyway."

"Well, yeah. I've seen what you're capable of, even if you might not be capable of it yet, I guess." I shrug off the blanket. This conversation feels much more comfortable now that we're talking about how great Ruby is. "It means a fair bit, even though I know I can't actually attribute things someone hasn't done yet to their current self."

"I wanna hear about it sometime." Ruby says, patting her lap as she raises an eyebrow at me. "But, since I'm pretty sure we're girlfriends now..."

"Yeah!" I scootch back over and into her lap, then rub my cheek affectionately against hers. Being close like this makes my chest feel all warm and tingly inside, and I just want to stay here with her all day.

And of course, that's when my scroll starts making the bunch of chirping noises that I set as Qrow's ringtone.

Why can't he just text like a normal person?

"Damnit, I'd better answer it in case something is literally or metaphorically about to explode." I sigh and sit up, moving out of Ruby's lap as I pull out my phone. If he's calling about something trivial I will enact severe revenge. "This is Fëanor's Gems of Treelight Emporium, how may I halp you?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Qrow answers, his voice entirely bereft of emotion.

"Alright, so during the Years of the Trees and the Noontide of Valinor-"

"No. Nevermind. I regret asking." I pout quietly into the phone. It's really neat lore! "I told Ozpin what you said. He wants to talk to you."

"I guess it's not surprising." I sigh. My schedule already feels so damn busy, but fine. I wanted to stab him a little anyway. "How did he react?"

"In about all the ways you guessed he would."

Right, meaning, confirmation that he does want the gods back, be it for fear of Grimm and Salem, or just for the sake of blind faith. "Ugh, alright, I'll fly out in thirty minutes or so. And by that I mean that I'm not leaving my house until then."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm going to be busy being gay with your niece."

"Godsdamnit Yang." Poor Qrow sounds so tired. Still, I will show no mercy.

"No, the other one."

"I'm not even sure if you're just screwing with me again, but if you aren't, you'd better take good care of her."

"Pfft, have I ever given you a reason to believe that I'm not a total softie?"

"As an uncle, there are just some things I'm obligated to say. Among them is a reminder that I have murdered more people than you by a factor of infinity."

"Aww, now you're just snarking because you love me. That's really cute."

Qrow hangs up, meaning that I won that conversation. Heh, heh, heh. That man is so much fun to give shit to. Honestly, I just have this instinct for it. I don't think I could even give someone I genuinely hate half as much shit as I give him.

"You should really stop bullying my uncle." Ruby says, with absolutely no conviction. She's also blushing, probably because of how open-ended I was about that.

"Yeah." I agree, knowing full well that I won't. I'm not even sure I could if I wanted to. "Anyway, I oughtta go ahead and mention now that I'm strongly polyamorous. I just sort of tend to love lots of girls. They're just so... girls."

"Mmm, girls." Ruby nods sagely, no doubt thinking about girls. "Yeah. Girls are pretty. And I sort of like Weiss already, I think. A little."

"Yeah. Weiss, uh, has some growing to do before I'd date her, but she definitely has a lot of potential, as a person."

"Yeeaaah." Ruby drawls, nodding. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'd be comfortable with both of us just dating whoever else we like?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." I smile, leaning my head against her shoulder. "Can we just cuddle for a while before I have to get things done?"

"Of course." Ruby wraps an arm around me and protectively clasps one of my hands between both of hers. It feels safe, like this.

+15 reputation with Ruby Rose(100/100)

Perk unlocked: DA RED WUNZ GO FASTA (passive)

Any weapons or vehicles you create will move and launch projectiles with greater speed when you paint them red.​

Oh. Well, that sure is a thing. Neat. Imma cuddle now.

-----------​

Teenagers.

Ozpin sighs as he checks his clock for the tenth time in the last minute. Of course Sil would be late, be it because of her strange, misplaced animosity towards him, or because she is a teenager, clearly doing as teenagers did.

Just as he was going back to his usual swamp of paperwork, he heard a rapping against the glass of his clock tower. Flatly, he turns to look, and there is the girl in question, floating in the air outside his window. Over a hundred feet in the air. Qrow had mentioned that she could fly now, with the assistance of those single-use artifacts she was able to make.

With a sigh, he presses a concealed button on his desk, opening a small pane at the top of the windows that was designed to let in Qrow's bird form, and points to it.

Sil flies smoothly to the spot, and proceeds to stick her face in the bird-sized hole and start shouting at him. "Oy, don't any of these windows open? I can't turn into a bird, you know."

"No, I'm afraid that you'll have to come in the ordinary way."

"Hmmm." Sil's eyes narrow, glinting in a way that Ozpin can just tell means she's about to do something reckless. He's seen it often enough in his own students. She floats back down to floor level, lining herself up with one of the window panes before flying forward and splaying herself flat across the glass.

Ozpin sighs. Those windows are heavily reinforced glass, obviously. At least she didn't actually manage to break it.

Scowling, Sil floats down and out of his view, finally seeming to give up on whatever she thought she was trying to accomplish.

And, a few minutes later, Ozpin's elevator dings, it's doors opening to reveal Sil and Qrow entering his office, the girl glaring daggers at him.

"Really, the Gendo Ikari pose?" Sil says before he has a chance to even greet her. "As if I needed any more reasons to dislike you."

With a questioning glance at Qrow, who just shrugs helplessly, Ozpin unfolds his hands and lifts his chin, leveling his guest with a disapproving stare. "You would judge me for resting as I await your arrival?"

"Nah, that was mostly a joke. No one here ever gets my jokes. I judge you for a bunch of other stuff." Sil shrugs, waving off the comment before snapping her fingers in a moment of realization. "Oh! Speaking of which, I owe you a stabbing. Nowhere important, just like your shoulder or thigh or something."

"Sil, you aren't allowed to stab him because you don't like him." Qrow interjects gruffly.

"Oh, no, Qrow. You misunderstand. This isn't a matter of business, this is personal." Sil brushes off the comment and walks in front of Ozpin's desk, staring down at him with a false smile. "I am absolutely livid with you over the things you said to Blake, not solely on her behalf, but on my own as well. I demand recompense."

"Your own behalf?" Ozpin raises a brow at her, seeing no similarities between her situation and the Belladonna child's. Then again, Sil had quite literally no notable history to speak of. "And you expect me to let you stab me as recompense?"

"Yes."

"May I ask why?"

"Because I am a petty, vengeful bitch, and will refuse to engage in civilized conversation with you until you do." Even as she says it, she smiles venomously.

Oh, by the Brothers. Why did he end up working with someone so volatile? What kind of being thought that it was a good idea to give this woman great power?

Well, he probably should have known better than to distribute magic that would only ever go to teenagers back when he first created the maidens anyway.

"Oh come on you big baby, I'll even heal it up afterwards. I'm sure you've been stabbed plenty of times in your lives."

"Fine." Ozpin sighs, mentally preparing himself to neither react, nor block the coming blow with his aura.

Without the slightest hesitation Sil strides forward and buries a dagger in the meat of his forearm, the wound chilling in a way reminiscent of ice dust. She roughly yanks it back out, causing even more damage as she puts it back wherever she stores things. There's a viscous, sadistic look in her eyes that Ozpin doesn't like in the slightest as she speaks again, her voice rough. "Goddess-damn, that felt good. I probably shouldn't make a habit of it."

Well, at least she's self-aware.

"I agree." Ozpin says, through gritted teeth. "Now, if you would kindly heal the damage you've done?"

"Oh, I did say I would do that, didn't I?" Sil taps her chin in pantomimed thought for a moment, her lips pursed. Then, she leans forward over Ozpin's desk and stares him straight in the eyes, her expression almost entirely dead. "I lied."

"I'm very disappointed in and concerned by your behavior." Ozpin's response is level as he quietly bemoans the next hour or so he's going to spend healing this with his diminished magic, even combined with aura.

"Oh, good, I must be doing something right then." Sil laughs, and at least this time it's genuine. "Now, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Now that I know that you're aware of the truth, I need to know what you intend to do with it."

"Use it to protect the people of Remnant. The same as you, almost."

"Almost?"

"I'm sure I've already made it clear that I disapprove of your methods and your complacency, though to be fair I am relieved that you at least don't fancy yourself to be some sort of ultimate ruler." Sil shrugs. "For the time being though, our goals are straightforward and similar enough that I truly don't expect to come into conflict with you. Keep Vale safe, keep the Crown safe."

Ozpin narrows his eyes. "And after that?"

"Find a permanent solution to the Salem situation."

"Ambitious of you."

"Not really, you just gotta get creatively vicious. Launch her into space, into the sun, seal her away in a burial tomb, into a volcano, all sorts of things you can do, even if they might not be permanent."

"Dust doesn't work in space, there would be no conceivable way to get her up there."

"Wow, y'all are way too dependent on dust. I mean, it's better than fossil fuels, but it's really going to cripple you in the long-long term, you know that? How do you expect to leave the solar system on tech that's purely dust-based?"

"Leave... no, this is a tangent. I'm satisfied with what you've said." All of it is concerning, of course, but only slightly worse than the things he's used to dealing with as a teacher and headmaster after all these years. "However, I would like to note that as you are officially employed here, Beacon's counseling services are fully open to you."

"Oh, huh. That's nice." Sil blinks, any sense of adversity momentarily disappearing. "I am self-aware enough to know that I need it, yes. I'm really fucking busy today and tomorrow though, so, uh, once I get back from CFVY's mission."

"They're only open on weekdays anyway."

"Ah, yes, of course, yes. Well, I'll be off then, and I only sort of hope you die in a pit somewhere, except not really because then some other poor soul would end up getting stuck with you. Good day to you, sir." Sil gets up and leaves, with as much of an awkward air as Ozpin has ever seen on her.

"What do you think of her, Qrow?" Ozpin asks his closest friend. He's noticed Qrow's recent distance since yesterday, but it's understandable. It's almost shocking that they haven't had a confrontation of some kind over the situation, but Qrow has always been the type to silently brood until he comes to a conclusion.

"Like I said before, she's a good kid, trying her best." Qrow shrugs.

"She's volatile. If she wasn't aware of what Salem truly is and desires, I would fear for her recruitment. As it is, I fear that her selfishness is the only thing truly in the way of such a thing." Ozpin sighs. It reminds him far too much of Hazel, and countless others of his students who have been turned.

"Yeah. I don't plan to let her make contact of any kind with Salem. I've got a bad feeling that she'd end up wrapped around that woman's finger." Qrow sighs as well, his weariness starting to show. "I doubt that she'll ever be vulnerable enough to be recruited from a distance, though. She's legitimately smart under all that dumbass."

"May such small mercies continue. Anyway, I have a new assignment for you, Qrow."

-----------​

With Ozpin... well, I don't have any idea what adjective to assign to him. He's so damn composed all the time, even when he's getting stabbed. But with him dealt with for the time being, I've got to get down to business, because if I don't I could easily spend the rest of the day goofing off by accident.

There are just a few new spells that I have to throw together before I do.

Spiked Pit-

Creates a pit filled with earthen spikes under the target.

MP: 329

Range: medium

Astral burst-

Unleashes a blast of force that deals force damage to everything in an area.

MP: 477

Range: medium

Rend-

Using an elemental magic based on the material an enemy is made out of, tear that enemy apart from the inside, dealing massive damage.

MP: 653/second

Range: touch

Rend is the big one here. After fighting those rock monsters, I figured that I should be able to tear them apart with geomancy, and from that idea comes this spell. It's a little risky, being touch range, but since I don't have a tank to draw aggro for me, I'm up close and personal with enemies most of the time anyway, so it's still relevant.

Right now, of course, it's only going to be useful on things made out of earth or metal, but I can still use that. I found a rare dungeon on the minimap that has a space station theme, which I hope means that I'll be fighting a bunch of robots and stuff, so it should be easy leveling.

First though, I'll be officially making Amber into my familiar, because I promised Ruby I wouldn't fight alone.

"Alright Amber." I kneel down in front of the cat that's adopted me, scritching lightly behind her ears. "So, I'm finally strong enough to make you my familiar. What do you say? I'd like to work with you, if I can. It would be nice to always have you by my side, although I guess I'm not entirely sure what this is going to do."

Amber mewls, pressing her head into my hand.

"Alright, well, I think that's a yes, so let's do this." I pull the soulstone from my inventory and take a look at it. It's a nice sort of blue, soft and easy to look at. It sort of feels like some sort of crystallized aura, but not really. It is called a soulstone after all, but I'd rather not think about exactly why.

I press the stone against Amber and it sinks in, glowing softly as I feel some sort of bond forming between us.

You have gained a familiar!​

The stone disappears and the light fades, leaving just the two of us again, staring at each other. There's more than that, though, I can feel Amber's amusement as she stares at me, like I'm silly for expecting something more dramatic to happen.

I guess it's an empathic bond, then.

"So, just to be clear, you're fine with helping me fight a bunch of stuff?"

Amber looks at me with her catly smugness. Approval

"Alright, let's get down to business, to defeat the Huns."

-----------​

The dungeon I've picked out for today is in the forest, about a mile away from Vale. It's fast enough to fly to it, and there's nothing clearly special about it from the outside. Just another floating portal that I'm pretty sure only I can see, this one blue instead of white.

The recommended level is 80, but it actually shouldn't be too bad that I'm a little under that this time. After all, when growth is linear, the difference in strength between levels is going to be smaller the larger the number of levels becomes. I really should have thought of that before, honestly. Besides, Amber is also very strong-

Oh. Okay, well, Amber is strong, yes, but not as strong as she was when I first met her and was about to fight her. I've been hit with the old 'JRPG boss who joins the party later and is way less dangerous than they were as a boss' trope, it seems.

Ah well, you can't win them all. I pick up Amber, just in case, and carry her through the swirling portal, coming out on the other side to see a very futuristic looking room, with glowing blue lines that run along the ceiling and walls, made out of a cold, gray-blue metal. It's a kind of recreation room, I think, filled with broken-down devices and shapes of furniture that were probably once meant for sitting on.

And taking up one wall of the room is a window, looking out of a beautiful vista of a cloud-covered planet lit up by the distant sun.

"Oh, fuck." I let Amber jump out of my arms to frolic, my gaze fixed on the planet below. I can only think of one planet that's permanently covered in perfectly fluffy white clouds, and confirming my suspicions, looking straight down I can see a small patch of gray in the white, connected to a brown base that fades into the metal of this station. The World Tree.

That's Alrest, down there.

And I cannot, for the life of me, make out so much as a single Titan flying through the Cloud Sea.