"I am a half-demon Yua. As if viewing my true Shinkai didn't make that obvious. We all have things in our past that we're running from. Things we didn't finish them. One day we will have to do so, but none of us will do it alone. Each of us can count on the others. Individually we are all weak, but together, we are strong, and will only grow stronger."

She lifts Yua up and smiles. "Come on, we can go get some chow then you can go ahead and Turn in. I need to speak to Lily alone tonight. I'll watch over her tonight."

At tha moment the All ship com sounded and Murrue Ramius began to speak.

"Attention All Satoshi Personnel, Today at Seventeen Twenty hours, Lieutenant Saito Murazaki was killed in an unknown deuterra phenomenon. Saito is the latest in a long list of our Officers, of our friends who has died in this... Civil War. Tomorrow we will have Services for him, as well as all the other officers who have fallen, and all the people who have been slain in our fight to be free of the tyranny of Takashi and his Captains. I ask that everyone think kindly on those who have fallen and remember what they died fighting for."

Amane's fists dropped to her sides and a dark look came over her face. "So now you know why I'm in a foul mood... Dammit!" One of her arms swings out and dents the armored bulkhead of the wall. "This is all so much, so much pain.."

"Wait; How could this have happened? Saito was more then that. Always forward and determined...a top class mech pilot. If someone or something were to have killed him...I know that he would have seen it coming. I know it!"

"No...This is not it for Saito. I have to see this for myself!"

"Sorry Amane"

Yua Dashes onwards as fast as she can towards the mech bay...the shadows of grief falling about her like a condensed mist in status. Avoiding all carefully with a sense of urgency in her heart. There, beyond the high security doors awaited the truth she was seeking.

A river wound around the giant keep at the center of the palace complex; looping around the hill it stood its vigil atop like the moat it had once been, in a time longer gone than any living could recall. The carefully trimmed green and yellow striped grass of the keep's grounds ended at the river where tall violet-stalked reeds erupted from the ground like the coarse bristly hair of a hunter tagun. The ground around the reeds was mossy, but otherwise little could grow in the soil where the sun rarely reached and the nutrients were greedily sucked up by other, larger plants. But she'd found there a small, stunted little flower on a lonely stalk. Carefully she dug her grubby little fingers into the mud, down to her wrists, and clasped her fingers together in the ground underneath the forlorn thing. Then she lifted it out, soil and all, though little pebbles and clods oozed out between her fingers and out the sides.

"Well isn't this an evocative moment?"

The princess Aksaniolily, who would one day prefer the nickname 'Lily' but who's family and friends now called 'Aksan,' turned at the voice, startled. She was a child in a thoroughly stained white dress, with wild blue hair and a chubby face made for smiling. When she'd finished looking around, she was a young woman just on the far side of adolescence, with a windswept tuft of red hair and bright green eyes. The baby fat was gone, but her cheeks still dimpled adorably when she smiled.

"Leo...I thought you were dead."

The man who was looking at her with an affectionate smile rubbed his chin and his smile faltered. "Blunt as ever, huh?"

Lily shook her head. It was sad, it was terrible, but she wouldn't have been -her- if she hadn't said, "I think you're a little past me hurting your feelings."

Her brother nodded. "Good point."

"So..."

He laughed. "Awkward, I know. Look, I don't know if I'm real or if it's just a dream or how Rit is...or any of the other things you're not sure if you want to ask. None of those things -matter- right now, Aksan."

Lily's face clouded a bit. "They matter to me."

"I know, but you have to focus. Focus on what's happening now, and what's to come."

Tears welled up in her luminous jade eyes. "I couldn't do it, Leo...I tried. I'm not strong enough."

Prince Leostranes, erstwhile crown heir of the Empire, nodded gently. "I know. But that's in the past now too."

Now her anger flared, and she snapped, "Then what's in the future?! Who dies next? How badly do I fail?!"

As it so often had, Leo's temper flared right back and he said with all the force of a slap, "That's up to you! It's always been up to you!"

"Are you saying it's my fault?" she demanded.

Leo subsided a little at that though. "I'm saying that everything that happened until now is just a warmup, Aksan. An exercise. Now the -hard- part starts, and you have to be ready. Do you think this was as close as you'll ever get to dying? Do you think this is as badly defeated as you'll ever be?"

She glared at him, but inside she felt fear; desperate and clawing. "Is this supposed to make me feel better?"

He rolled his eyes. "What did you think was going to happen? Did you think father assigned Yua to be your bodyguard because she was cute? She's not a playmate, Aksan, she's a warrior. And for him to trust her with your safety, -after me and Rit were killed-, means she's not JUST a warrior, but one of the Empire's best. What did you EXPECT?"

Lily looked down. It did seem silly. "But...Amane was so disappointed..."

"Look," Leo said, cutting her off in that annoying way he'd always had. "Here's what it comes down to. You're upset because you're not ready for what's to come. And you're right...you're not. But I can promise you that curling up and crying on the floor won't change that."

She gave him a reproachful look, "I never wanted this..."

"It doesn't MATTER what you want!" Leo exclaimed in exasperation. "The only thing that matters now is what you DO. What you choose, and why, and what follows. That's all that matters. Not how unfair it is, not how much it hurts, not how much you don't want it." He ran his fingers through his hair.

"It's not all bad, Aksan. You'll see. You'll have moments where it's all worth it too."

She suddenly flew at him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "Don't go."

She felt his hand on her head, snuggling up against her scalp. "Take care, Aksan."

"I miss you," she choked, but dimly she was aware of other things now. The river, the reeds, her brother...it was mist, it was fading, blurring...

The booming broadcast awakens Lily almost immediately after it begins. At the academy, woe to any student who missed one of the official addresses. She picks herself up off the floor and pads to her room's small bathroom to splash water in her face when the news hits.

Saito? From an accident? How was that even possible?

The sound of breaking porcelain snaps her out of her fog, and she looks down at her hands to see she's accidentally gripped the sink so hard that the two corners snapped off in her grasp. Lily stares at them for a moment.

Then she throws the chunks down and runs for the training room as fast as she can...choosing not to fly only because there were too many people in the corridors, and not to teleport because she was still too tired to manage it.

When Yua gets to the bay she can see the massive gantry where the Meteor's main body had been hanging. It's arms and legs are still in their cranes, some in a state of disrepair, others merely awaiting reattachment.

Beneath it all was a black stain on the metal floor, the remains of the ash left from the deuterra reaction. Off to the side were actually a few techs bowing their heads before returning to duty.

Lieutenant Hoshino sat at the Control center for the bay, her face unreadable as stone, but her eyes revealed a great sadness.

--------------

Lily found Amane there in the same training room she'd been beaten so soundly in. Several bulkheads and the floor were severely dented, and the remains of no less than three punching bags littered the room. Amane was preparing another strike to the fourth bag when the door opened.

The Hiroga embarked from her normal boundries and into this more...alien world of the high tech.

"Careful Misyrennies, these people will have you out of here in an instant if you go anywhere near that thing"

Her heart pounded uncontrollably; so much that it made her vision slightly blurry.

"Just breathe girl...breathe"

She stepped closer now. Yua was way beyond the Doors. Her heart finally approaching it's landing strip. The View: In total Salience.

"This is where the gods cannot reach."

She closed her eyes mournfully. The sounds of cybernetic PLC's at work was the dismal but empathetic unification of the very silence they enforced in Yua's Mind. It was as wind pushing clouds through the whiteness of a distant moon...hiding it's awe but respectfully adding to it's beauty.

"So he is really dead? If so he truely knows his peace now but I cannot allow it yet. There is no ultimatum as of yet."

Yua Approaches the first worker she sees that is not terribly busy and asks...

"Who do I see about this? The man who died here was a member of my squad on the moon base rescue."

"Amane! What happened?!" Lily blurts on seeing her. Then she looks around. "Where's Yua?"

"She ran off to the mechbay, to see what's left of the Meteor."

She waves around to indicate the room. "As to the mess, Yu and I fought some creatures, I showed her my Shinkai, then decided punching through some punching bags was about the same..."

"Or are you referring to how did Lieutenant Saito Murazaki Die?"

--------------

The Tech Yua had spoken too shook his head. "The Lieutenant didn't die here, His Mech did though." He wanders back to his work as a small White hand rests on Yua's shoulder. As she turns around Lieutenant Ruri Hoshino, the youngest to ever have the rank nods.

"Saito didn't die here, he died in the Simulator room as he was preparing to battle Lunamaria. His Death and the destruction of the Meteor has been ruled as being caused by unexplained Deuterra Reactions Emanating from both his person and the Main part of the Meteor unit."

"I mean Saito!" Lily says sharply. "What happened to him?"

"Saito died while preparing to run a sim battle against Lunamaria Hawe. His Death was Caused By A Deuterra reaction, the source of which seems to have been both himself and The Meteor.

"Deuterra reactions are something even We here at Satoshi don't fully understand, though we believe they are a decided Circinus technology, but our access to Circinus tech has been severely limited. Either it is destroyed in battle, or the suit or ship core selfdestructs in a Deuterra reaction. We don't even really know what they are, but leave behind traces, just like molecular disintegration."

Her shoulders slump. "He and the Meteor were ripped apart on the molecular level. My only prayer is that he didn't cosciously feel his body lose cohesion.."

She bunches the bag, and it doesn't move. The wall ten meters behind it however dents about nine centimeters inward and she lays her head on the bag. "I wish Atsushi were here."

Lily hesitates, then just says what's on her mind.

"Yeah, me too. Listen...Amane...I know you think I'm a burden, and you're probably right. I'm going to need help to get to where I need to be. In theory I could go back to Dalaraan, but I don't really want to do that because it would mean I probably wouldn't be coming back here for...a long time. I'd rather get help here." She pauses, then adds, "From you."

"But I know you've got a lot to deal with too, so..."

She shrugs.

Yua looks towards Ruri and nods.

"I don't want to get in the way or go beyond my welcome; I just want to understand the nature of how something like this could happen in the simulator. I am saddened to think of saito being extinguished in this manner. Please, tell me more about Deuterra Reactions."

"Are they even looking into this? Are they just going to accept it just like that and move onward without Saito. Even if he is dead...you always go somewhere. The essence never dies."

Ruri nods. "Deuterra reactions are something even We here at Satoshi don't fully understand, though we believe they are a decidedly Circinus technology, but our access to Circinus tech has been severely limited. Either it is destroyed in battle, or the suit or ship core selfdestructs in a Deuterra reaction. We don't even really know what they are, but leave behind traces, just like molecular disintegration."

"I have examined every piece of Circinus Tech we possessed, and even i still do not undertsand exactly how they make the Deuterra reaction happen. The Meteor was the most complete source of Circinus Technology we'd ever recovered, and we barely had time to scan it fully. Sadly that Data is still in the core of Shamballa base. Just from Memory, i can say that the Meteor is unlike any other piece of hardware we have recovered."

-----------

Amane looks at Lily and smiles. "You aren't a burden, just a handful."

Her face gets all serious. "We just have got to make a better warrior out of you. So tell me, how well can you teleport?"

Lily grins sheepishly. "You would pick the hardest thing for me. It takes me a lot of effort to do...but I'm pretty sure I just need more practice. I've always liked flying, so I never teleported. And because I was behind in it, I just took the basic training because otherwise it would have taken forever to catch up."

"But I'll work as hard as I have to now."

"Teleporting isn't easy, few within our forces can do it, and I'm the only one who knows the Special Maneuver Atsushi pioneered." With that she vanishes and reappears and calls to Lily. "Where am I?" as soon as she can turn her head She's gone, and her voice rings out "here." This continues for six more instances in a circle ten meters from Lily. The last one comes as Lily can feel an arm wrapped around her neck and a Finger held like a gun where her kidneys are.

"This tenchnique is called "Flash Steps." It can give you an extreme advantage in combat in that makes you harder to hit and harder to dodge. It does reqquire spiritual power to fuel it, and if you aren't good at teleporting it doesn't help much. I'm going to teach it to you, and with some luck it will help matters."

She releases Lily and smiles as she tosses a few targets around the room. "Now show me how fast and how well you can teleport."

(((OOC teleportation takes a full action thus you can naturally use it as many times as you have attack actions. Your goal is to hit the target locations. all of which are ten meters apart. All Teleportation rolls will be at a +1 difficulty.)))

(Hm. There's not usually a roll associated with Teleportation that I'm aware of. What stat or skill should I use?)

(Body) rolling for 12)

"Very well Lieutenant Ruri. Thanks for taking the time. If you ever need assistance in finding out more about this phenomenon, I would not mind dedicating myself to learning."

She never knew saito all that long, but it still saddened her. Inside...She wanted to love and find out more about those who stood by her side and fought for the causes she beleived in. A wolf had left her pack and would never be forgotten.

(can't get a break on Invis Castle!)

Body check: 11 http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1537962/

Lily nods, and glows blue as energy distorts spacetime around her...then she's gone, appearing instantly close to the target, but not quite on it. The process repeats again, a moment or two to perform the jump...a near miss.

"It isn't easy is it? "Flash steps" requires pinpoint accuracy and stamina, so keep trying." She smiles.

"IT took me awhile to master it, Even with Atsushi teaching me." She looks down and blushes slightly. "Especially with Atsushi teaching me..."

"Now keep going, you're going to master this in three days, beating even His record."

Lily nods, though after only a few more jumps it's clear that the effort of teleporting costs her a great deal. A few more times, and she's barely able to stand.

Panting and redfaced, she braces herself against the wall. "I can keep going...just gimme a second..."

(Hee...it costs her 10 ep per jump. That's something I'll be buying off, I think. :))

"It's ok Lily. I realize you already pay a price to do this, The more you do it the waker you get, but the more you do it the better you'll get."

And So it continues for the remainder of the day. Finally Amane's watched began to beep. "Ok Lily it's ten pm. Go get some rest. Tomorrow we're going to do the service for him and Atsushi and Jean-Marie and all the others."

The door opens and Amane picks up one of the towels. I'm going to go get a shower then go find my bunk. Make sure you devote some time to your ship, you've been with us most of the day, she's bound to be missing you by now."

Amane vanishes through the door and Reappears out in the Mobile Infantry area, obviously seeking out someone.

((Lily make a Body, a Mind, and a Soul check. Just tell me what you get.))

Soul 15, Body 18, Mind 9

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1539999/

Lily gives Amane a tired salute, then works up enough 'oomph' for one last teleport for the evening. She appears in a haze of waste energy in the cargo bay where the ship's core has been moved. Its manifestation, the adorable little cabbit, bounds out from behind some crates and leaps rather prodigiously up at her.

Laughing in spite of her crushing fatigue, Lily catches it and hugs it.

"I'm sorry I was away so long. Tomorrow I'll bring you to the workout. You can cheer me on."

She goes and sits down with her back leaning against the rough round surface of the core and the cabbit in her lap, purring as she stroked it.

"I know what your name is," Lily informs it, then grins when it gives her a curious look and a questioning little chirp. "A long time ago, before the first empire, when everything was in chaos and everyone had to protect their own...people believed in ratheri. They were spirits that took the form of simple creatures who would protect the household as long as they were cherished and fed and made to feel like they were part of the family. They were gentle and peaceful to their family, but terrible and mighty in their wrath. So you will be my Ratheros, okay?"

The cabbit gazed up at her with its bright little eyes, then settled down in her lap with a contented purr. After petting it a while longer, Lily got to her feet and went quietly to her room, carrying Ratheros along with her.

Sleep came swiftly to both.

She turns one last time to Ruri as if to say something but pauses breifly. Strickened with emotion more so then thought, Yua's mind went blank and words were replaced with a look of sorrow but of strange affection for the lieutenant.


"All who settle within, light a warm fire.

Embers that depart, scream into the cold.

United strongly when a time is most dire,

The souls of many mend thy heart of old."


Then with a smile, She is gone.