Even as I knocked on her door, there was only silence to answer me. Morning was approaching, and soon, I’d have to set off.

“Myla?” I tried. “Are you asleep. I need to leave soon, and—” Before I could finish my sentence, her door had flung open, and the sobbing girl had thrown herself around my neck.

“Do you really need to leave?” she whimpered. “I, I don’t want to be alone and…”

“You still have Happy, don’t you?” I said, slowly freeing myself from her arms to give her a weak smile. “And there’ll be more kids at the Academy than you’ll know what to do with. You’ll have forgotten me before you know it.”

“I won’t,” she sniveled. “I’ll never forget you, Nyamien, so you’re not allowed to forget me either.”

“So you say, yet you’ve already forgotten that I asked you to call me Yamien?” I teased, only to be met with a pouting face.

“But why? I like Nyamien, and…” Her complaint fell short as her cheeks turned beet red. “The n-name, I mean. It’s a nice name a-and I…I’ll get to see you again, won’t I?”

Her voice had become serious just then, almost pleading. Still, that wasn’t a promise I could make – that I wanted to make. There was no telling what the future would bring, and it was better if she just forgot about me.

Having perhaps sensed some of my thoughts, Myla wiped her face, her face becoming stubborn in a way I hadn’t seen in weeks. “Are you going far away?” she asked, sounding almost accusing.

“The warp gate at New Hub is only a few solar systems away from Wochir-11…” I vaguely began, avoiding to mention how, once we traveled through said gate, we might get propelled light-years away, to the very edges of explored space.

Still, Myla gave a resolute nod. As if being separated only by solar systems, that’d still take months to traverse, was somehow fine.

Then again, in the scale of an entire galaxy, maybe it was. “Then I’ll come find you in a few years, as soon as I’m done at the Academy,” she said.

Something about her huffed conviction couldn’t help but make me smile. This way, she wasn’t much different from the spunky girl I’d met back at the carrier. I preferred this Myla more.

“Only the strong are allowed to make promises.” I smiled, ruffling her hair only to be met by a wrinkled nose.

“Fine, I’ll just become stronger than anyone, then,” she persisted, puffing out her chest. “That way, we’ll be able to meet again, right?” As I didn’t respond, she deflated a bit, uncertainty creeping into her voice. “Won’t we?”

“If you become strong enough that the Triumvirate shines wherever you walk, I’m sure you’ll find me again,” I said. “One day.” I wasn’t sure why those words sounded so final. It wasn’t like I was planning to turn my back on the Stratos Apolytos and the Empire. I was just going on a short detour to become stronger…right?

“Then, when I’ve become strong enough for my name to reach you, will you come find me?” Her words were so solemn that I couldn’t help but laugh. Myla didn’t even smile, she just looked at me with dead serious eyes. “Will you?”

“Sure.” I chuckled. “But, if my name reaches you first, you’ll have to find me.”

“It’s a promise,” she said, soberly holding out her pinky-finger towards me. Seeing her continued conviction, my smile faded as well. She really was serious.

Then again, if my name didn’t even echo to Wochir-11 by the time she graduated, this would all have been for nothing. I would’ve failed.

If she still wanted to find me at that point, I’d let her. It would be a good reminder why I was doing this.

“It’s a promise,” I said, hooking her pinky with my own.

𐫰 𐫰 𐫰

Alone, I trudged through the drizzling rain, towards the boggy field where the ships were docked. Without the raging storm, the morning was quiet. There wasn’t even the familiar gunfire of bored guards shooting at wildlife to fill the stillness.

Only Mikayes and Jenna were there that early hour, having just finished loading their ship. It was a smaller sized vessel, able to fit a crew of eight people or so along with their cargo. It wasn’t bigger than your normal house.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Ready, kid?” Mikayes greeted me, the expression on his face telling me he couldn’t have been more pleased over finally being able to leave this planet. “We should be able to reach the warp gate at New Hub in five months or so, less if the cosmic winds treat us kindly.

“Don’t expect to get a raise if they don’t, however. You shouldered the cost of any potential delays yourself when you signed the contract.”

Having already steeled myself for the long journey, I just shrugged. “I have some things to keep me busy,” I said, turning slightly to show at the heavy backpack I carried. Mikayes eyes narrowed.

“I hope you don’t have anything weird in there,” he said. “The ship is a rental, so you’d best be careful.”

“Oh, is it now, Mikey,” Jenna huffed, having just stepped up beside me, carrying large boxes on each of her shoulders. Still, her next few words were calmly directed my way. “There hasn’t passed a day on this planet where he hasn’t complained about how we’re going to miss the return date. Late fees. Big ones. Even worse if the hull starts to rust in this weather. Gosh, can you even imagine all the forms he’ll have to fill out.”

“Shouldn’t you be inside starting up the engines right about now or something, Jenna?” Mikayes huffed, picking up a bag of his own to carry it inside. “And the forms will be terrible. These paws are made for counting credits, not writing.”

“You’re the one who’ll fly us there?” I asked as he disappeared inside.

“Worried that I’m lacking in qualifications?” Jenna asked with an amused expression.

Despite the size of the boxes, they barely seemed to weigh anything in her arms

“No, it’s just…” I hesitantly began, only for her barking laugh to ring across the field.

“Small crew, right?” She grinned. “Don’t worry, you won’t be that overworked. The rest are waiting for us by the gates. It allows the cheapskate to write off some of their time as an extended vacation.”

“Only way I can afford to pay you when you’re charging double for no reason,” Mikayes called over from inside ship.

“Because he has me working double the amount.” Jenna winked towards me. “Never undersell your value, kid. Though…I guess you’re the last one I have to tell that? You really pushed Micky for every scrap you were worth during your hiring.” She was still laughing as she entered the ship, and I followed shortly behind.

Mikayes was waiting for me.

“Speaking about value,” he said, “if that Luminesari friend of yours still hasn’t figured out the value of the things I borrowed you, I want my neck-scratcher back. I haven’t found anything that reaches the itch quite like it yet.”

“I warned you that handing them to me was an investment,” I said, though I did avoid meeting his eyes.

It wasn’t the first time I heard the complaint, and I still wasn’t sure if it was some merchant’s sense that’d ticked him off toward its true value, or if he really just wanted to use as a scratcher again.

Not that I could give it back to him either way. The Artifact was gone whether I liked it or not. Though, as I glanced down towards my UI, I swore that I could still sense its presence.

At times, if I angled it just right against the light, I could even see the faint outlines of those same markings there, carved into the cheap material…

“As long as you are patient,” I continued, “you’ll get your money’s worth in due time. Or you can back out right now, have me step off this ship, and get nothing. Your choice.”

“That’s right, child!” Jenna cheered from further down the narrow hallway, towards the front of the ship. “Squeeze the miser for every last credit he has!”

Mikayes just grumbled as he disappeared further inside as well.

It seemed as if I would be staying, and for quite some time at that. I realized as much as the only exit shut behind me. Months, maybe years, stuck with a charlatan and his miss-matched bodyguard, chasing answers, strength, and wealth.

I couldn’t help but smile. Compared to a space-hobo drifting through the Void alone, I really was worlds better off than the past me.

My journey had only just begun.

𐫰 𐫰 𐫰

886, Vorath, five days after schedule, the survivors of Ferada-1109 arrive at Wochir-11

The Iron Gates was not the most convenient way to enter the Academy, but it was the most daunting one. For decades, it’d been tradition for any new conscripts to pass beneath the watchful gaze of the first emperors, rising tall upon their polished stands.

Massive hangars reached far into the distance, along with several city’s worth of steel and concrete facilities. The entirety of Wochir-11 was dedicated to forging the Stratos Apolytos next generation, and it was meant to do so through fire and bloodshed.

Anyone who passed beneath those gates was no longer an individual, they were another gear in the Empire’s eternal war for mankind.

The harrowed bunch of children that now passed beneath those iron arches, reaching a hundred meters into the air, seemed like they’d barely be a drop in this raging sea. Still, some of their seniors had come down there to watch their arrival – scouting for any new talents. Not as many as days earlier, but stragglers were bound to arrive for weeks still. The Grand Ceremony was scheduled for the end of the month, yet the sly knew to get ahead of that.

“It’s ridiculous,” Ilyana muttered, the procession below having just passed beneath Emperor Dalaméin’s eternal guard. The early morning hour left the shadows tall, and she was grinding her teeth. “There should’ve been no more rounds in M94 until years in the future. This generation was meant to miss it.”

“Expanding against the Void requires fresh blood,” her sister responded, arms tightly woven over her chest. It was a cold morning, and they were both tense.

“But what’s the point of it?” Ilyana persisted. “We’re already spread thin as it is. They’re just throwing lives away at this point.”

Although no one else was present upon the rusted walkway where they stood, Vinyera’s voice was significantly lower by the time she responded. “It seems there’s more than just rumors to this royal succession,” she said, eyes still locked on the procession below. “Barely anyone has seen the empress in over a year, and should her health really have deteriorated, there’s no one to take her place. Not right now, at least.

“There has been no human Archon born for centuries, leaving anyone with even a drop of royal blood to scramble for the position.” Vinyera leaned forward, grabbing hold of the railing until her knuckles went white. Her eyes narrowed in frustration. “I, I don’t see him down there, Ily. Do you?”