Grimacing from pain, even in his sleep, Nue woke with a start. Nearly filling himself over his own feet, the ragged and beaten though now stable young man gasped for each breath.

“Good, you’re finally awake.” Calling out as he threw a thin piece of wooden debris that bounced off of Nue’s head, Kist drew his attention.

Watching as Nue craned his neck to face him, Kist remained on the ground, sitting with his arm resting on his raised knee, the dirt in front of him covered in tally marks.

“Thirty two hours left…hope you enjoyed your nap.” Joked Kist, prompting Nue to glance up at the descending star above.

Sighing aloud, Nue first pressed his hand against his side, his hand coming away spotted with blood, before returning his attention back to Kist.

“There’s a couple things I still can’t feel, is this normal?” Asked Nue.

Blankly staring at the man, Kist squinted his eyes before spitting through a laugh, “Fighting me? Yeah!”

Responding in kind with a joyful grin spread across his face, Nue spoke, “Oh you really think you different.”

“Of course! I’m the one who’s going to stand above the stars, so I have to be.” Said Kist.

“What, like the Celestial Model?” Asked Nue.

“The legend?” Retorted Kist. “No, something much more real.”

“Legend?” Questioned Nue. “You think she’s just a legend?”

“In the sense, she’s been dead since Old Night, yeah a legend,” Said Kist, who leaned back on his arms before continuing. “I mean come on, do you really believe she had the literal Milky Way for blood?”

Shifting his body toward Kist, Nue shrugged as he began to stretch, “Maybe it’s been romanticized, but I mean It was less than a hundred years ago so how much could have really been altered…maybe she did.”

Taking a moment to think, Kist remained silent before speaking, “Yeah but alot was lost during Old Night, I mean, New Pluto is called New Pluto for a reason right? Only the Maiden who survived during that time and those who climbed the ranks enough would know.”

“I think everything written about her is real, though I won’t know the truth until I become a Maiden. A great one at that.” Said Nue.

“Wait!” Shouted Kist, who sat up to look directly at Nue. “Is that why you want to be a Maiden?”

“And if it is?” Asked Nue.

“Kinda boring if you ask me.” Rolling his hands and waving his hand in a dramatic display, Kist joked.

“Who the fuck do you think you are? You’re one to talk, your only goal is strength!” Shouted Nue.

“You say that like strength alone isn’t worth pursuing!” Retorted Kist. “Strength is the only thing that opens doors, and that isn’t hard to see. Our lives are monitored by cosmic demons held back by a barrier a century old corpse made!”

Standing to his feet, Kist felt his blood begin to boil, and though he knew the anger was misplaced, he couldn’t help himself at the questioning of his ambition.

“Think about it, if the stars were to fall today, who could you save? Who or what could you protect? Not a damn thing and it’ll be my fault for being weak! And, I’ll be damned if I let my life be torn down by anyone!” Shouted Kist, his chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath.

Taken aback by Kist's sudden outburst, Nue stared blankly at him. The silence between the two hung heavily in the air before Nue finally spoke.

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“Seems like we’re both too confident in our goals to be told anything,” Standing to his feet, though strugglingly to do so, Nue continued. “Anyway, how’d I do?”

Once again, letting the silence between the two breathe, Kist hesitated before he responded, “You’d die during the second stage.”

Smiling, Nue spoke, “Before you said you could tell from how I moved before, that I’d never even fought a star’s reflection so I’ll take that as sign of a big improvement.”

“You’ll actually be semi-useful.” Commented Kist.

“I think you’re forgetting my specialty is in my power, not my hands.” Said Nue. “Speaking of which we might as well get started on your training now.”

Tilting his head in confusion, Kist showed his confusion.

“Oh you’re a copycat now, thats great.” Joked Nue.

“Shut the fuck up!’ Kist Spat. “And, how the hell are you gonna train me when you can barely stand?”

“Let me worry about that dickhead!” Exclaimed Nue.

Raising his head with a face contorted with contempt, Kist held his tongue as the muscles in his jaw flexed with anger.

“Expressions of power is a solo sport, meaning I can lay low for this one and direct from afar.” Said Nue.

Still visibility confusion, Kist spoke, “How does that make any sense? Even the basics I was taught in the academy were physically demonstrated and practiced.”

“Yeah, and look how far that got you.” Snapped Nue. “The academy is deigned for people with enough skill and sense to train themselves, not rely on what they are being taught!”

“You don’t think I know that!” Roared Kist.

“No shit, I’m just pointing out we both understood how to apply that to very different aspects. You got hand to hand, and I got expressions.” Sneered Nue.

“You barely have any expressions advanced enough to say that. The only thing I’d even consider worth mentioning is being able to turn your body into static. But, even then, I can do something similar with my aurora!” Retorted Kist.

Tilting his head as he stared up at Kist, Nue shifted how he sat so his arm would hang over his mouth, leaving nothing but the dark green of his eyes visible to Kist.

“What if you’d have said no?” Asked Nue.

“What?” Questioned Kist.

“When I asked you to join me…what do you think I would have done if you’d said no, Kist?”

“Died in the attempt.” Kist said with a smug look.

“If you must lie, at least make it believable.” Advised Nue.

“You really want to talk as if you could do this without me, bitch, stop acting important!” Exclaimed Kist.

Sitting silently as Kist’s smug look turned into a cocky grin, Nue watched the man before he’d had enough.

“I know you think you know me, and I know you think you’re better than me, but understand,” Speaking as he slowly rose to his feet, Nue remained locked onto Kist, whose grin slowly faded from his face as he continued. “This mission, even if the odds become slimmer, will end with me the winner because I’ve been concealing something that will change how this game is played.”

Raising his eyebrows, Kist tried to remain silent as his interest peaked, but he couldn’t help but shoot out a single comment, “This better not be something I’ve heard of before.”

“Using my power, I can produce an expression which interrupts the descent of stars.” Nue said.

With widened eyes, Kist started at the man before barking out in protest, “And, you know how exactly? You’ve never fought a star.”

“No,” Smiled Nue, agreeing with Kist’s statement, “But you have. Sorry about that by the way.”

Feeling the confusion on his face be replaced with amazement, Kist’s lips curled into a grin before spreading into a broad, toothy smile.

“That was you!” Yelled Kist.

“Ensis and Beyond were too busy bickering about whether or not you’d shown enough to have passed to notice that you’d already reached your limit. Someone had to do something, it just so happened I had the means.” Nue said nonchalantly.

“I should have realized as soon as I saw your power!” Laughed Kist. “Living static, huh? We actually might be able to kill the star.”

Dusting himself off as he stood, Nue glared at Kist before speaking, “If…you are able to learn how to properly use your expressions.”

Shooting back the glare through the side of his eyes, Kist, who’d acted instinctively, quickly backtracked, softening his gaze before throwing up his hands.

“Fine, not like I can argue the point anymore. So what do you have in mind?” Commented Kist.

“First, lets go over exactly how you use your power.” Nue said as a smile spread across his lips.