“Oh, we’re here already? That’s fast.” said Andrew. Standing at his window and looking down at a city of tall dark prisms and dancing light.

“Yes, hoheit. It seems so…” said Sophia joining him at the window.

“You know, hoheit...It’s strange for you to sound so surprised when you’re the one who insisted on making the building’s flight systems as powerful as they are.” said Sophia. Leaning forward, the living-software behind those golden eyes of hers assessing the city below and deciding what site would be the best place for Housecarl Industries to set up camp.

“True enough...but still.” said Andrew.

To Andrew’s eyes, the city looked like a graveyard, merry and haunted, each building a tomb marker, surrounded by countless spirits and fae. There was something both festive and grim about the atmosphere in the city he saw below and the data he was getting from the city reflected it.

Baku city was a city of magic, blood, money, and secrets...so many secrets. Too many secrets. Secrets that involved the entire solar system and the galaxy that lay beyond. Andrew shook himself as if he’d just stepped into a spiderweb without realizing it.

The pair of young Eidolons looked at each other with concern, wondering if they might have chosen the wrong solar system for settling down in. Then Sophia took Andrew’s hand and gave it a squeeze. The tension building in Andrew’s shoulders faded as he reminded himself that regardless of what ended up happening he and Sophia would be able to get through it together.

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Nurari III was a garden world like most other planets that the Novem empire settled its people on. Unlike many others, it was a natural garden world, rather than one they’d been forced to use magic and technology to terraform. Due to the abundant magical energy flowing within the planet's atmosphere and through the planet’s core, the planet was quite verdant and covered in forests, despite its low average temperature and distance from its system’s sun, Third-Crow.

As they arrived in the planet’s atmosphere Andrew listened in on the silver-faced servitor's interactions with administrators of the planet’s spaceport. Predictably enough the administrators at Nurari’s Aeronautics Commission hadn’t been expecting them for weeks. Believing the dispatches Sophia had her people send to them to be some kind of error or typo.

Of course, they eventually figured something out. It helped that most of the passengers of the building-shaped “ship” were the students and staff of the now-defunct but still not completely irrelevant, Blackvale Academy.

The Hundred-Night Academy was one of the largest presences within the city of Baku and a major faction in Nurari as a whole. Blackvale’s ties to The Hundred-Night Academy was just the extra bit of weight the group needed to force the spaceport in Baku City to make timely arrangements for their landing.

“I guess we should go meet up with Dean Duncan and the rest, huh?” said Andrew.

“Yes....” said Sophia. Nodding.

Andrew craned his neck one way and then the other and then allowed his wife to guide him to the elevator. He wasn’t sure why but he had a feeling that today was going to be full of tedious things.

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Hours later, Andrew would find himself sitting in the lush but still oddly uncomfortable lobby of Hundred-Night Academy’s main administration building. Sitting alongside a number of other students and those amongst the school staff who’d been senior enough to be brought along to the school for the initial arrangements but not so senior that they could be present during the first meeting between the schools.

Sophia and Dean Duncan were inside the office of the Senior Administrator trying to get something worked out. Andrew technically should have been there too.

However, there was something about the Senior Administrator's face that was getting on his nerves.

Between the Senior Administrator’s looks and the sheer amount of hogwash and unsubtle snobbery the man was spewing, Andrew had found that he was probably better off just leaving the discussions to his wife. Thus Andrew made up an excuse and walked out of the office, before he just short-circuited the conversation by snapping the Senior Admin’s will over his knee.

It was actually a little concerning because the last time Andrew checked, he’d never been all that short-tempered.

Andrew theorized that the change in the way he planned to do things had created a change in his expectation of how people were allowed to treat him.

It was one thing to get looked down on, while he was still trying to be somewhat low-key in his activities. Now that he was trying to become a power in the galaxy and the proper head of a clan and suddenly being treated like a nobody and a persona non-grata was something he could no longer stomach.

Another theory was that the sixteen plus years of being treated like he was nothing, and the ambiguous but definitely much longer period of time where he was a hunter of the dark and the lord of a nightmare realm were clashing in the worst possible way, at the worst possible time.

Whatever the case was, Andrew decided he’d try to keep himself in check. Becoming megalomaniacal wasn’t something that’d help anyone. On the other hand, he was aware that his new intractability wasn’t something that’d change

“What do you think is happening in there?” said Oliver, who’d been amongst the students who’d been brought along by the school’s staff as representatives for the twenty to thirty thousand more that were waiting in the ship.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Nh...I’m not sure. I’m pretty certain that senior Admin is going to tell us to go fuck ourselves.” said Andrew.

“H-, Huh? Why?!” said Oliver. His green eyes growing wide.

“I don’t know...There was just something about that guy...He kind of reminds of me this one Uncle I used to have...and maybe a little of my dad...Huh...Hold up...Is that why I wanted to kill him?”

“You wanted to kill the senior admin!?” said Oliver. Speaking in whisper-shout.

“Shush...Are you trying to get us kicked out of here? Calm down…” said Andrew. Shaking his head. Quietly relieved that he’d managed to find out why he’d been so eager to break that man’s mind. Quietly mortified to find that after all this time, he still had daddy issues, and red hair, handsome arrogance, and being looked at with almost palpable disdain were one of his triggers.

“I...What happened in there?” said Oliver. Alarmed.

“Nothing...And I suspect a great load of nothing will continue happening regardless of if we stay here. I’m gonna get out of here. I want to get some air and maybe get a taste for the local food and what the city of Baku, as a whole, feels like. Do you want to come with?” said Andrew. Already heading towards the door.

Oliver blinked, hesitating over whether he should stay or not, but ultimately followed the other boy out the door. Unbeknownst to the two youths, others followed suit having similarly grown bored of hanging around the lobby.

“So where are we going exactly?” said Oliver. Speeding up his pace a little to match Andrew’s long strides.

“Hm...I’m not really sure...Hold on.” said Andrew. Interfacing with his sprite and using both his sprite and his connection to the city’s collective unconscious to find out where the most favorably thought of restaurants in Baku were located.

“You don’t even know where we’re going?!” said Oliver.

“Eh...Sure I do, we’re going...to the One-Eye Fox on Gitsune Boulevard.” said Andrew.

“Oh, so you guys know where you’re going after all.” said a low, not-quite monotone, voice at their backs.

Oliver froze, jumping a little. Andrew didn’t because he’d been more or less aware that they’d been followed but had simply chosen not to comment on it up till then.

Two former-Blackvale students trailed behind the two youths. One was a pink-haired gnome. The other was a lanky, blue-haired, owl-kin. Emilia Karan and Modeste Morgan, respectively.

“...Oh, it’s you guys. Anything, I can help you with this evening?” said Oliver. His voice oscillating between the overly chipper, overly friendly, overly polite, tone he usually used for his classmates as a hold-over from his days as a peon, and the dryer, more unaffected, more unfettered, speaking voice he had when he was at home with his family, or out with Andrew.

“N-,...Not really, we just saw you guys headed out and thought you might have somewhere better to hang out.” said Emilia. The little gnome shrinking back as if she were a step away from hiding behind the tall owlkin.

“Mhm, I’m mostly just following her.” said Modeste. Unenergetically moving her palms in a “what can you do” kind of shrug.

Oliver frowned, more than a decade of being the most hated person in a room, making him naturally suspicious of the pair’s behavior.

Andrew just glanced at the gnome and shook his head. He might have been suspicious as well if he didn’t already know what the two were after. Knowing their motives and knowing that they meant him no harm, Andrew relaxed. Or at least he relaxed as far as he dared in an unfamiliar city, in an unfamiliar world.

They found the restaurant with no problem. Andrew chose to walk, using the time to gather as much of the city’s t-data as he could for Sophia and himself to process later. Since the rest of the group was following him they all walked as well, but no one complained because they were all academy students, after all, possessing peak tier physiques and superhuman capabilities.

“There’s a lot of Ghostkin, Seakin, and Bugs in this city.” commented Modeste. As the little group chose a table for themselves.

“Muu...That’s true...There’s a lot of Dragonkin and Nephilim too.” said Emilia. Following Modeste’s awkward choice of topic because she too had been struggling to find something to say to the strange boys she’d elected to trail into the city.

“Multiculturalism is nice I guess…And Baku is much bigger than Eblouir was.” said Modeste.

Andrew just shrugged as he scanned the bar-code on the table and his sprite brought up the restaurant's menu.

“There’s a lot of everything in this part of the galaxy. That just sort of comes with being part of Graysville.” said Andrew. Speaking absentmindedly, as he tried to decide what he wanted from the restaurant's menu.

“Graysville?” said Emilia.

“Graysville is what most other parts of the galaxy call this portion of the galaxy. Nurari is in a region of space that sits both in between and on the outskirts of all three galactic powers. You might also have heard it called the neutral-quadrant.” said Oliver.

“Oh...I’ve heard of that?!” said Emilia.

“Neutral-Quadrant? I didn’t think there were any parts of the galaxy that were neutral.” said Modeste. Inadvertently revealing that she’d come from a non-military, non-mercantile, background.

“Well, technically, you’re right…The entire galaxy has been at war for almost forever with some group or the other duking it out.” said Emilia. Her expression somber.

“But...there’s also always been a couple of old groups who don’t really have too much time for that nonsense.” said Oliver.

“The Neutral-quadrant is basically a region of space that technically belongs to the three groups but because A) there’s nothing too vital out here, and B) the groups that are out here are just a little too strong for any three powers to try actually take control of in any real sense, it’s basically Switzerland out here.” said Oliver.

“Or more like a cross between Switzerland and the ancient American wild-wild west.” said Andrew.

“Oh…Wait... Then is it really okay, we’re going to school in a place like this?” said Modeste. Brow furrowing.

“Huh? Of course, it is. The Novem Empire, the Eternal Darklight, and the Stygian Collective ‘all’ use this place as a sort of repository for things that are old, dangerous, and exceedingly useful. There’s so many old groups and famous characters lurking in this region of space that even the three powers have to be careful about setting things off.”

“Nh… I think I get it...Since no one can use, no can take advantage.”

“Which makes this place both the safest and most dangerous segment of the Blackrose galaxy.” said Oliver.

“Actually, it’s not exactly true to say there’s no such thing as ‘true’ neutrality in the galaxy. There’s a lot of groups that were pushed out of the rat race by the larger players in the galaxy, operating out here, in the middle of nowhere, as well. They even formed an alliance called the Grayville Alliance and a number of associated guilds.” said Andrew. Finally speaking up after he’d finished ordering his meal.

“R-, Really?” said Oliver. Startled to hear that something so shady was going on without his family knowing about it, when living in the shadows had been their schtick for over a millennium.

“Yes ...It's not very famous, not often spoken of, and it's not easy to get in. But being a Gray and getting a gray badge is actually quite the status symbol. It allows you to operate without worrying about national borders.

“How’s that even possible though?! I doubt any of the three powers would recognize such things.” said Emilia. Looking scandalized and oddly adorable.

“There’s all sorts of power in this universe. The power pursued by the empires is just one kind. And if you get strong enough, if you reach a certain status, and strength, why the hell would you care about the war games of a few millennia old upstarts?” said Andrew. His red-eyes glowing. His gaze far away.

Oliver stared at the other youth and shivered, feeling a strange exhilaration as he struggled to imagine what kind of strength it’d take for one to be an existence that could ignore the presence of the three empires.

The half-elf was aware that Andrew was now looking towards the future, rather than the oil and smoke-stained back wall of the restaurant, and at that moment Oliver would have given anything to know exactly what kind of future the other young man was gazing upon.

There was an awkward lull where no one at the table spoke. It remained solidly in place until everyone else at the table got around to ordering their food. Then the servers arrived. Beat up old androids dressed in kimonos.

“So...um...I wanted to ask. Do...Do you think you could let me pilot those mechs you lent us before?” said Emilia. Having clearly used the lull to work up the courage to ask about the thing she’d originally been after.

Andrew looked up from the mapo tofu he was eating and cocked his head to the side.

“I’ll think about it…”