Nucleus 1: The Dust of Moon [Mature Sci-fi Romance]

Jabari felt each pulse leave his body. The exquisite release went on. He kept thrusting, kept spilling. Their moans mixed together, their bodies drenched in each other's sweat, their movements uncontrolled.

Finally, spent, Jabari collapsed back, breathing hard. Distantly, he felt wetness on his stomach and thighs, but he couldn't bring himself to move. His body was encased in lead. A smile played on his lips.

Fuuka leaned forward, resting her sweaty forehead on his broad shoulder. Her hair fell to frame her face, black strands tickling his neck, her soft breasts against his strong chest.

Her body remained atop his, legs on either side, core pressed against his. His sensitive flesh still nestled within her velvet softness. Panting, he could smell the fruity tang of the indigo potion, Indra-Sprite, in their mixed sweat.

The incense-laden air hung heavy, thick with their exertions. Their heartbeats slowed, returning to their natural rhythm.

Suddenly, Fuuka's Spirit Lantern, sitting on the nearby table, flared to life - its golden psionic flame dancing in response to his presence.

"Solar," Fuuka whispered, her body still entwined with Jabari's as she lifted herself up slowly, her breasts leaving his chest.

"Solar?" He breathed out the word.

"You're Solar-aligned. Like me." A blush crept across her porcelain features as she looked away. "No wonder we're so..."

She didn't finish, but her hands still gripped his, trembling now with something beyond the Ritual's requirements.

"Fuuka—" Jabari started, but she was already moving, lifting herself from him with careful precision.

"The Awakening is complete," she said, voice returning to professional tones even as her hands shook. "You should... we should dress. Laurent and Celine will want to begin your training soon."

"How did you know Anansi?" Jabari asked as he sat up.

"Sand Lotus trains us in many traditions," she said simply. "I studied your 'Thousand Gods' lore for days before tonight."

"Was it real, then? Our conversation with Anansi?" He pressed, feeling post-climax exhaustion wrestling with newfound excitement in his body

More confident now, he watched as Fuuka gathered her floral robes.

"We saw Anansi because he is a deity known to us both. It was the image of gods in our minds that we spoke to." Fuuka explained patiently as she slipped into her robes. "Whether it was real, I cannot say."

"Do you think gods exist?" He ventured.

"Faith will move mountains." She smiled at him before looking away. From the robes' chest area, she drew a familiar cylindrical device. The cyan-hued mist in the glass container glowed invitingly as she held it up.

"Medi-Vap?" Jabari said in recognition, recalling the earlier instance where their intimate parts connected for the first time. "Are you still hurting?"

Fuuka remained silent. Rather than inhaling the Medi-Vap as was typical, she applied the restorative gadget to a different orifice—the intimate passage between her thighs.

Jabari looked on, astonished, as the priestess, eyes shut, inserted the device to administer it. As she withdrew it, a cerulean haze escaped from her vagina, followed by a thick white stream of his seed. Yet as it touched the floor, it mingled with the azure mist and dissipated instantly.

"That should do it," Fuuka remarked matter-of-factly as she walked toward a nearby trash bin. She twisted off the applicator tip, disposed of it, then retrieved a fresh one from a shelf to attach to the healing container.

"Didn't know Medi-Vap could be used that way." Jabari said.

"It heals any injury from the ordeal faster. Also neutralizes the semen, so I don't accidentally get pregnant from doing the Ritual with—" Fuuka secured her Medi-Vap within her robes as she turned to face him, the words delivered with emphasis. "—anyone but Amir."

"Right." The comment stung, but he understood the necessity, awkward as it was.

"I saw the way you looked at me when we met in Nusantara." She approached him, her robes clinging to her still-damp skin. "That same look Amir gave me when we first joined the Sand Lotus."

"I mean, you helped us protect Ume from Marisol and the Imperium soldiers." Jabari tilted his head. Where he expected to stammer, he found himself calm and unafraid. "Hard not to appreciate that."

"It was silly, you trying to drink that coolant meant for Ume when Amir offered it." She knelt, bringing their faces level, the scent of intimacy lingering between them. "But when I imagined myself as Ume, I understood."

"Well," Jabari shrugged. "I'm still figuring out what that feeling means."

"It's not that I don't like you." Her gaze drifted to his chest as she placed a hand there. "But Amir's already in my life. I hope you understand."

"And if Amir wasn't?" The question escaped before he could stop it.

Fuuka's eyes widened. She looked away, her sleek bob falling to veil her face, expression unreadable in the silence that followed.

"Alright. Probably a terrible question—" he began.

"I need to shower." She cut him off, cheeks flushing as she turned back. "Goodnight."

"Yeah. Goodnight." Jabari nodded awkwardly, reaching for his clothes. He dressed swiftly, muscle memory from DSC training taking over - fully equipped in under a minute.

As he fastened the last button on his uniform, Fuuka spoke without turning around.

"Jabari?"

He paused at the door.

"What we shared...the trance, Anansi's words..." Her voice was soft, almost vulnerable. "When two people are aligned to the same element, the bond goes deep. I don't have the word for it."

"I felt it too," he admitted.

She finally turned, meeting his eyes. "In another life, another time..." A sad smile touched her lips. "But we live in this one. And I choose to honor what I have with Amir."

"I understand." And surprisingly, he did.

"When we strike the Imperium tomorrow, I'll be by your side." Her professional mask slipped one last time as she approached. "Maybe we can change the course of this war after all."

"Thanks to you?"

"Thanks to us." She corrected gently, leaning in, close enough he could smell the fragrant sweat emanating from her. "Now go. Before I…do something we'd both regret."

Jabari left then, the door hissing close behind him. As he descended the spiral staircase, he felt the new power humming through his veins, the weight of destiny settling on his shoulders. Whatever came next - Prince Laurent and Celine's training, the mission, the Moondust Crystal itself - he needed to be there.

He stood alone in the corridor, one hand pressed to his chest where her warmth still lingered.

"Another life," he whispered as he began walking.

Osram Time: 05:25, March 20, 2295

Scarab Rider Quarters, Level 38, Diamond Tower, Sankofa District, Ndovu Zenith, Mare Nubium, Near Side, Osram, Emerald Directorate territory

Consciousness returned like a slow tide. Jabari's eyes fluttered open to unfamiliar ceiling panels, their soft bioluminescence casting everything in twilight blue. His body felt... different. Not sore or exhausted as he'd expected, but charged, as if lightning coursed beneath his skin.

"Ah, the lion stirs." Laurent's voice drifted from somewhere to his left, rich with amusement. "I told you he'd wake precisely at dawn, Celine."

"I suppose we Solar psions are predictable that way." Celine nodded in amusement.

Jabari sat up too quickly, the room spinning briefly before settling. He was in a bed - soft sheets, military-crisp corners. His uniform hung neatly on a nearby chair, cleaned and pressed. More importantly, he was dressed in fresh undergarments and a standard-issue sleeping shirt.

"How did I—" His voice came out rough. "Who changed my—"

"Laurent insisted on handling that personally," Celine cut in from her position by the window, her tone carrying a hint of exasperation. She wore her medical coat over combat fatigues, her braided hair gleaming with ornate gold beads that caught the earthlight. "Something about 'respecting the newly awakened.' I would have simply used a med-drone."

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Laurent lounged in a chair that he'd somehow made look like a throne, his emerald-and-gold military jacket unbuttoned at the collar. His light brown skin seemed to shimmer slightly - a telltale sign of active Mirage magic. "You slept like the dead. Even when I accidentally dropped your boots. Twice."

"You dropped them on purpose to test his responses," Celine corrected, turning from the window. Her sharp features softened with clinical concern as she approached the bed. "How do you feel? Any disorientation? Phantom sensations? Some newly awakened experience those."

"I feel..." Jabari flexed his fingers, watching golden sparks dance between them without conscious effort. "Alive. More than alive. Like I could run from here to the equator without stopping."

"Typical Solar response." Celine produced a handheld scanner, running it over him. "Heightened energy, enhanced physicality, decreased need for rest. Your cells are literally photosynthesizing ambient light now."

"Is that why everything looks brighter?" Jabari asked, noticing how even the dim room seemed suffused with hidden radiance.

"Among other things." Laurent rose with fluid grace, producing an ancient-looking tome from seemingly nowhere - another Mirage trick. The leather-bound book thrummed with power, its cover adorned with Adinkra symbols that seemed to move. "Which brings us to why we're here at this ungodly hour."

"The mission timeline's been accelerated," Celine said, setting aside her scanner. "Intelligence reports the Imperium's mobilizing their Dragonfort. We strike before lunch hours."

"Before lunch—" Jabari's enhanced energy suddenly felt inadequate. "But I just awakened. I don't know any spells, any techniques—"

"Hence the dawn wake-up call." Laurent placed the tome on the bedside table with reverent care. "This is the Anansemka Codex. Not a replica - the original from the Ashanti priesthood. Cost me three favors and a bottle of 2289 palm wine to borrow it."

The book seemed to pulse in response to Jabari's proximity, its symbols glowing brighter.

"Under normal circumstances," Celine said, pulling up a chair with military precision, "a newly awakened Solar would spend months in meditation, years mastering basic forms. We have hours."

"No pressure," Jabari muttered.

Laurent's laugh was genuinely warm. "Pressure creates diamonds, my friend. Besides, you stood before Anansi himself in your awakening vision. That's... significant."

"You know about that?"

"Fuuka provided a brief report before departing," Celine said. "Most initiates see abstract concepts, perhaps minor spirits. You conversed with a god." Her tone suggested she wasn't entirely comfortable with that fact.

"Right." Jabari swung his legs over the bed's edge, grateful to find military-issue sleep pants beneath the shirt. "So how do we do this? I just... read?"

"Reading is for scholars," Laurent said, his eyes taking on an otherworldly gleam. "We're going to burn these spells into your soul."

Before Jabari could ask what that meant, Laurent placed a hand on the Codex. Reality rippled. The room filled with phantom images - warriors wreathed in golden flame, shields of pure sunlight deflecting shadow-claws, webs of burning light ensnaring enemies.

"Show-off," Celine muttered, but she was already moving, setting up what looked like medical monitoring equipment. "Laurent will project the spell-forms directly into your consciousness. I'll ensure your nervous system doesn't overload. You'll need to grab hold of each form, make it yours."

"Think of it like learning to pilot your Scarab," Laurent added, his voice taking on an hypnotic quality. "Except instead of mechanical controls, you're grasping fundamental forces."

Jabari reached for the Codex. The moment his fingers touched the leather, the world exploded into gold.

KRA NHYIRA!

The words weren't heard but felt, carved into his bones. He was standing in a sea of fire, but it didn't burn. It welcomed him, eager to be shaped, to be wielded. His hands moved instinctively, forming signs he'd never learned, and the flames responded, concentrating into a sphere of devastating heat between his palms.

"Good!" Laurent's voice anchored him to reality even as the vision continued. "Sun's Inner Fire - the most basic Solar offensive spell. Feel how it wants to expand? That's your will containing it."

The sphere pulsed, fighting to grow, to consume. Jabari gritted his teeth, forcing it smaller, denser. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the flame's warmth being purely spiritual.

"Vitals spiking but within acceptable ranges," Celine reported. "Jabari, breathe. The fire is part of you, not separate."

He inhaled, and the sphere stabilized. Exhaled, and it spun lazily between his hands. In the physical room, golden light leaked from his palms, scorching small marks on the bed sheets.

"Excellent control for a first attempt," Laurent approved. "Now, release it safely. Will it to disperse."

The fire reluctantly dissolved, leaving Jabari gasping as the vision faded. His hands tingled with remembered heat.

"One down," Celine said, checking her readings. "Three to go. Need a moment?"

"No." Jabari straightened, the Solar energy within demanding action. "Next one."

Laurent's grin held approval and something else - recognition, perhaps. One lion acknowledging another. "Spoken like true Kimaris. Very well - ANYAN KAW-NAW-MU!"

This time the vision came faster, harder. Jabari stood in the heart of a star, pressure crushing from all sides. But he was the star, burning away everything that wasn't essential, reducing enemies to component atoms through sheer radiant will. His whole body became a weapon, light pouring from every pore—

"Too much!" Celine's sharp voice cut through. "Laurent, pull back. His cellular structure—"

"He can handle it." Laurent's tone held absolute certainty. "Can't you, Jabari? You who saved Ume. Who gained Anansi's regard. Show us that strength."

Jabari felt his body trying to discorporate, to become pure energy. The temptation was overwhelming - to let go, to burn forever. But Ume's face flashed in his mind. Wilhelm's. His mission.

With a roar that was part pain, part triumph, he forced the stellar fire into form. Not dispersed throughout his body but concentrated in his fists, his feet - weapons ready to strike. In the physical world, his entire form glowed like beaten gold before dimming to merely luminous skin.

"Pulse rate 200 but stabilizing," Celine breathed. "By the ancestors, that should have killed him."

"But it didn't." Laurent's eyes held new respect. "Solar Incineration - a spell most take years to attempt safely. You have a gift, my friend."

"Feels more like a curse," Jabari panted, his enhanced body already recovering. "That power... it wanted to consume everything."

"Power always does." Laurent's expression grew distant, shadows dancing across his features despite the room's steady light. "The trick is making it serve your will, not the other way around."

"Philosophy later," Celine interrupted. "We're on a schedule. Two more spells, then breakfast, then tactical briefing. Can you continue?"

Jabari nodded, reaching for the Codex again. The leather felt warm now, almost alive.

"This one's different," Laurent warned. "Defensive magic requires a different mindset. You must want to protect more than destroy. OWIA KƆKƆBƆ KYƐ."

The vision shifted. Jabari stood before a village as shadows rushed forward - Radi-Mons, their claws dripping void. Behind him, children played, unaware of danger. The fire came again but differently - not to burn but to shield. He spread his arms and light bloomed outward, a barrier of solid sunlight that the shadows crashed against harmlessly.

This felt... right. Natural. The power flowed easier when channeled for protection. The barrier held steady, rippling gold, until the vision faded.

"Beautiful," Celine murmured, and Jabari realized he'd manifested a small shield in the physical world, a disc of hardened light hovering before him. "Your protective instincts are strong."

"Ume," Jabari said simply. "Protecting her, protecting others - that's why I'm here."

"Hold onto that," Laurent advised. "That motivation will serve you better than any amount of raw power." His expression suggested personal experience with that truth.

"Last one." Jabari was surprised to find he wasn't exhausted. If anything, each spell seemed to open new channels, letting the Solar energy flow more freely.

"My personal favorite," Laurent said with a predatory smile. "ANANSE KƆKƆƆ!"

The final vision was the strangest. Jabari stood in an enormous web made of light itself, each strand connected to everything else. He could feel the connections - between himself and Laurent, Celine, even distant presences like Wilhelm preparing for the day. With a thought, he could strengthen those strands, send power or sensation along them, or even entangle enemies in bonds of burning light.

"The Spider's Web," he breathed, understanding flooding through him. "Anansi's gift made manifest."

"Every Solar interprets it differently," Laurent explained as Jabari experimented, golden threads spinning from his fingers in the physical world. "But you... you see it as Anansi intended. Connection. Binding. The web that already exists made visible."

"Readings are... anomalous," Celine reported, frowning at her equipment. "His psionic signature is already approaching Level-5. That should take months of development."

The threads dissolved as Jabari released the spell, slumping back against the headboard. Despite the Solar energy, he felt wrung out, his mind struggling to process what he'd learned.

"You did well." Celine began packing her equipment with efficient movements. "Most would need days to grasp even one spell. You've internalized four in less than an hour."

"Will it be enough?" Jabari asked. "Against the Imperium? Against whatever's coming?"

"It will have to be." Her pragmatism was somehow reassuring. "Get yourself kitted out. Breakfast in twenty minutes. Fuuka and Wilhelm are already waiting in the tactical center."

She headed for the door, then paused. "What you achieved, with Fuuka...it was brave. Not many would risk their soul for power to serve the Directorate."

Before he could respond, she was gone, leaving him with Laurent, who hadn't moved from his languid position.

"She likes you," the prince observed. "Celine doesn't compliment lightly."

"I couldn't tell if that was a compliment or a diagnosis."

Laurent laughed, rising with fluid grace. "With Celine, they're often the same thing." He moved toward the door, then stopped. "A word of advice? From one psiom to another?"

Jabari nodded.

"It was with Ume's help that we've tracked down the location of the Imperium ship. With the Moondust Crystal it houses, it's leading packs of Fenris Radi-Mons on the Near Side. Supposedly led by Dilinur Altai, a Prefect recently assigned to the battlecruiser." The prince said.

"Heavily fortified, then?"

"We expect it to be. I've assigned Fuuka to your Scarab. The two of you will board and exit the Dragonfort together."

"Sounds good."

"Once we have the artifact, be it a shard or the Moondust Crystal itself—" Laurent's eyes held depths of experience. "Do NOT use it under any circumstance."

"Sir?" Jabari felt tension on his shoulder. "Even when the enemy has overwhelming force?"

"If that ever happens, let Fuuka do it." Laurent's smile held edges. "Given her fluency with Devavāṇī, it's the sensible option."

He left then, and Jabari was alone with his thoughts and his new power. The Solar energy hummed through him, eager to be used, to burn, to protect. He looked at his hands, watching golden sparks dance between his fingers without conscious thought.

In a few hours, he'd make his decisions count. All he had were four spells, enhanced strength, and the determination to protect those he cared about.

Jabari stood, moving to dress in his cleaned uniform. As his fingers found the familiar fabric, he thought of Ume, probably running diagnostics somewhere. Of Wilhelm, likely making jokes over breakfast. Of Fuuka, preparing for this mission alongside someone she'd shared an impossible intimacy with.

"It'll be enough," he said to the empty room, golden light leaking from his eyes as his power responded to his resolve.

The sun was rising over Mare Nubium, Earth hanging in its eternal watch.

He paused at the door, Laurent's words echoing. The power did whisper, suggesting he could burn through the door rather than opening it, that he could fly to the tactical center on wings of flame. He gripped the handle firmly, turned it like any normal person would, and stepped into the corridor.

The mission awaited.