-

The team summer planning went smoothly. 

The numbers they received as reward belonged to different regions, with nothing about them on the net. So Den took it upon himself to learn more about them, even if he had to go there personally.

Aery said she would go with him, as the new experience was important if he wanted new songs.

Eider was left with finding their team a ride for live missions. He had to convince his friend from the Orbital Ring to help them, if they wanted their ride to be at least a warship class. And with a contract at least until the live practice year was over, to graduate with no problems.

And with Tsune's news about leaving for the Central Institute, it left Hem alone in the hangar. Given how impatient he was, she suspected that the guy was actually happy to hear it. 

An hour later, she was back home. Nobody was in the hall and she couldn't hear anything from other rooms. So instead of the usual greeting, she went straight to the kitchen to grab a piece of a sweet pie.

But when she opened the kitchen cabinet, she saw a paper sign on it.

"Don't take it, Tsune. wait for the evening."

"Ah, so tired."

Back in the hall, she dropped into her chair. With no audience, she was on her own with all of the thoughts and complaints about everything she made herself to go through.

"I wonder what did he think about my warning. I said it was a dream but if it does happen, he might suspect me even more." 

"Why did they suspect me in the first place? I knew the lab layout but they didn't know that. And I have nowhere to hide anything. Especially a part big enough to fit into a mech."

The only ready answer to all three was on the surface. Because of something her father did.

Eventually she grew bored with self-reflection and second guessing. Instead she decided to read the document she brought from the academy.

-

'What are you doing?'

Her mother came back first.

She looked over her shoulder at her daughter's phone and her voice showed surprise.

'Are you interested in history now? Or did you look up my old workplace?'

The girl turned away from the article about the city that housed the Central Institute. After some digging between her leg and the armrest, she handed the document to her mother.

'I got this after the tournament today.'

After seeing the official seals, Lady Red took it a lot quicker than the girl expected. But after reading through, and flipping it to see if there was anything on the other side, the woman handed it back.

'You almost gave me a shock.'

Going around the table, her mother sat in the other chair and hid her face in her hands for several seconds. 

'That research hospital deals with hard medical cases, so I thought you had some rare illness.' 

'Why would I suddenly get sick? I almost never go anywhere but the academy.'

'Daughter, you got sick from taking photos of the night sky. What was I supposed to think when your mood got worse and worse over many weeks? I thought that it was stress caused by your team, then you showed me this.'

'What does it say? I don't know half of these words.'

Even though her mother couldn't see it, the girl hit one of the longer words with her finger. Even looking it up haven't helped, as it was explained by other words she didn't know.

'It's mostly used to help troubled people by finding the cause of their inner conflicts. It's not the best thing, but look at the bright side. We'll finally go on a trip together.'

Tsune was about to object but then changed her mind. She was tired of arguing today.

Besides, the city was full of museums and if her mother was genuinely worried, there was nothing wrong with going together. Maybe she could be the guide.

-

On the start of the next summer week, Tsune and her mother prepared for their trip.

The last task for the girl was finding a replacement for the bodysuit she wore as uniform. Initially she didn't care about what she would wear. But since they would live with mother's old friend, she deemed it unfit for a city that looked like an ancient museum.

Opening her wardrobe, she took out the last year outfits but they were too small. The shorts and pants still fit, but they hugged her figure to an unpleasant degree. And the tops were already out.

'What do I wear?'

To her surprise, her mother predicted that problem, given that her answer wasn't an offer to go shopping.

'Wear my New Year present. Or did you not like it?'

"Oh, that."

Tsune took out the package, that lied unopened since New Year, to find a set of clothes inside. Five full packets that had everything from a dress to shoes.

'No, its fine. I just thought I needed to wear something formal.'

'They should be fine. The old capital is traditional but not too much.'

"The old capital?"

She was about to reach for the phone to look it up, but decided against it. Mother was already calling a taxi and she was not ready. 

Unfolding the packets, the girl took out a thin blue summer dress with an unassuming design. Then came a short top, that was worn over the dress, and soft shoes. All made from smooth white cotton with subtle red lines along the seams.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Next were opaque white leggings. Tsune spread the material between her fingers as it seemed too thick to wear in summer.

The packet's label insisted otherwise, as it had both a written promise, that it could be worn in any season, and a temperature map. The latter tried to prove that most of the continent was never too hot or too cold for them. 

She looked at the sunlit street outside and set them aside. 

"Isn't it too short?"

After dressing up, Tsune looked in the mirror. The dress barely reached the middle of her thighs and a single flick of her finger sent the entire bottom flying up.

She tried to make the dress tighter with a belt but it saved her stomach. To keep her modesty in full she had to wear the entire set.

Soon, her mother's voice called her from the hall. And with one last tug on the hem of her dress, she went outside.

-

Their taxi made its way through the city and then it turned to the high rise road. But that road couldn't lead to a train station.

'We are not taking the railway?'

Her mother took out two tickets out of her purse and flaunted them before her daughter.

'I wanted to make the trip longer too. But your paper came with a code for a free air ride.'

The woman hid the tickets before Tsune could get them and pointed forward. 

'You have a surprise there too.'

The road was already high enough to see their destination, landing pads on the roof of a spaceport building. They had more than one flat rectangle shaped ship but the girl recognized theirs without trouble. It was the only one that had a mech nearby.

"Wait, that's not a spaceship. It's one of the shuttles that goes to the Ring."

'Are we going to the Ring? Why does it have an escort?'

'Probably not. The old capital is not that far away.'

'Why do you call it old capital? Its Kentor.'

'Ah, it's a habit. My friend always corrected me if I said otherwise.'

As they talked, their ride came to an end. And as Tsune walked up the ramp, she noticed a familiar insignia on the mech's arms. It was the sign of the Zodiac team.

The girl shook her head. This was an unusual task for a spaceborn team dedicated to combat. Unless somebody asked them to.

-

The flight was only hour long but the cloud layer soon became too thick to see the ground or their escort below.

Instead Tsune spent the time looking through her mother's old photos. But because of how nostalgic her mother was for every one, they barely got through five of them before the ship started the descent.

When the girl turned to the window, she saw a circle shaped city beneath. Low-rise buildings, made from a pale yellow stones, and white roads drowned in green from trees and parks.

-

Once on the ground and outside of the landing pad they found their meeting party. A stritcly dressed woman around her mother's age stood near a car.

'Welcome to the old capital. Should I drive you home or to the Institute?'

'Institute. But don't be so cold, Rue. I want to keep remembering you as a sweet person.'

That playful jab reached its target and the woman turned around. But not fast enough to hide a smile. 

An hour later, the car stopped at a three storey building that had several human figures carved into its front. Draped in flowing cloth, they held staffs that framed another figure between them. A rising snake with a gem in its mouth.

Leaving their bags in the car, Tsune and her mother went up the stairs that were carved from a single stone slab.

The registration at the front desk was over in a flash. And, minutes later, Tsune sat down near the door she was directed to. She wanted go with her mother, but Rue insisted on preparing the room that her son used to live in.

Normally, several hours of nothing to do wouldn't be a problem. That's what all of her evenings usually were. But here her phone was outside of the network.

"What am I even supposed to do."

Soon, she thought of a less obvious reason behind the wait. Given who wrote the paper that landed her into this chair and how she got here, it was likely that she was stalled. At least, if she could read somebody's mind, she would try to read their unguarded thoughts first.

-

The shadows cast by the window grew much longer before the doors opened and a man in black clothes came out.

He waved for her to enter and, once inside, pointed at a reclining chair in the middle of the room. It reminded her of what a dentist would have.

'Young Red, please sit down. Do you know what to expect?'

When the girl shook her head, he explained, telling her an extra detail to prevent fear of unknown.

'If you ever visited the Enchanted Snowland, it works the same way. But instead of snow, you'll see the result in your dreams.'

-

She feel asleep as soon as she took a breath from a nearby straw and found herself in a dead-end of a sunlit cave.

Standing up from the rock floor, she looked at the half transparent walls.

"Are they made from quartz?"

She touched the nearest wall and the outside scene changed. Now she could see a big dome with a smaller mech fighting a bigger enemy. The scene remained, even when her finger left the smooth surface but it seemed to trigger something. And new scenes appeared beyond the walls as she went forward, .

Some scenes went farther into the past and showed mostly places, from the tournament or the Red Labs trip to the Snowland visit. Other had people she remembered, her family, team members, Blade and many others.

And exactly like in Snowland, the farther down she went, the rougher the walls became.

By the time the girl reached the other end of the cave, she barely recognized anything from what she was shown.

The best she could describe the image behind the other dead end wall, was a spot of blue light with a spot of green on a brown and gray background. But even as vague as it was, it looked important.

Tsune looked around in search of the clues and found a thin piece of quartz near her feet. It was too simple to be key to a secret entrance but even that much was enough. If a piece fell out, it meant that there was a crack in the wall.

Using both her eyesight and touch to find the crystal's former place, she discovered several long cracks that were as thin as her nails. But she had nothing to widen them, except for...

"This is a dream, right? So I can do whatever I want."

The girl imagined that the thin rock in her hand was a spike dagger and the crystal obeyed.

Its form turned fuzzy and flowed like clay until it fit her image.

"Okay, time for level 2, whatever it is."

She hit one of the cracks and reduced its sides to a cloud of dust, blown right into her face. Shielding herself from the glitter, she Involuntarily closed her eyes.

She opened them a second later and she was back in the waking world. The doctor was already near her chair, offering his hand as a help to stand up.

'Young Red, the examination is over. Please return to pick up the written results in two days.'

Still feeling slightly inadequate from the sudden change in her surroundings, the girl nodded and walked out.

-