The massive platform they were lounging on was part of a shopping promenade that wrapped around the belly of a skyscraper. They sat cross-legged on the ledge with other young people, perched dizzyingly high above the city, watching the flowing traffic far below on the brightly lit highway network that stretched for miles. Lex uncrossed his legs, one foot had fallen asleep, and he let it dangle freely in the air—106 stories above the ground. From up here, the automobiles were barely visible, just a river of golden lights; the shadow of night had fallen over the LowerCity, and billions of tiny window lights flickered in the darkness.

"That's all she said?"

Lex said nothing.

"You know, Zara Thandros thinks you're a dreamer, and she's right. Because you are one. She's scared of you, Lex, because people like you are the ones who change the world. And Thandros will do anything to keep the world exactly the way she built it. She's afraid that you have the power to change things, to make things happen that could hurt her. Look how far you've come because of your dreams. You're special, Lex. She knows it. I know it. You're the only one who refuses to believe it."

He lifted his gaze from the city to the cloud-covered sky, studying the fine lines of the airways.

"She’s sending me away," he said after a while.

Veela didn’t seem surprised or saddened by the news. She simply asked where he had to go.

"To the south," he said. "She wants to send me to some diamond mines. I’m supposed to prove to her that I’ll never join the Crimson Dawn. I don’t care. Not about her. Not about Crimson Dawn. I’m not going."

"The diamond mines," Veela said.

"That's what she said, anyway."

"Then she’s sending you to the Ognons District. TC has a lot of private colonies there, where they enslave the locals. It’s very far from here. Very far. You’ll fly over the Great Sea on an airship."

"I’ll be—" he paused. "Over the sea?"

Veela looked at him. "To the other continent, the one we call Luvanda. Don’t let the beautiful name fool you, Lex." She placed her hand on his. Her slender fingers were cold from the evening wind, but the touch felt warm and tender.

"It’s dangerous there," she said. "The diamond mines are deep in the equatorial jungles. The land is mountainous, thick with countless unknown plants, poisonous fungi, and giant rainforest trees. Do you have any idea how hostile the jungle is to humans?"

He gazed into the distance, where the endless ocean lay steel-gray beneath the cloud cover. He said nothing.

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"The climate isn't like it is here. It’s hot and unbearably humid—so humid, you’ll feel like you’re drowning in the air."

"You’re saying that like you’ve been there before."

"I have."

He looked at her.

"In my mind," she admitted. "There’s enough information in the infonet about it. Enough to make you fear the continent. The jungle alone makes a journey there dangerous enough, but," she paused for a moment, "the entire region, from the west coast deep into the heart of Luvanda, is a war zone. Crimson Dawn has far more power and influence there than they do here. TC is desperate to hold on to their diamond mines at any cost. Nowhere else in the world is there as much war, violence, bombings, and murders as in Luvanda. I… I’m just asking you, when you’re there, to do what’s right."

"I can’t," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"I can’t do what’s right if I go there, because I’m not going at all."

"You don’t have a choice, Lex. If TC wants it, then—"

"TC controlled my entire life on Limbo," he said. "But not anymore. Now it’s my life, and I make the decisions. And I’m telling you, I’m staying here."

"Do you want to stay here, Lex, or do you want to stay with me?"

He didn’t answer. He just looked at her.

"Do you really want to spend your whole life hiding from TC?"

"If I have to, then that’s what I’ll do. We can disappear together."

"We can’t. And you know that. They would find us. They’d find you, and then we’d never see each other again."

"If I go there, we might never see each other again anyway."

"You can’t hide from your fate. You’re going to see and learn so much on this journey. About the corporation. About the rebels. About... our destiny."

"Don’t start with that too."

"Everyone has a destiny, Lex."

"But mine can’t be to leave you. I feel the exact opposite."

She smiled sadly, small crescent-shaped dimples forming at the corners of her mouth. "We belong together, I know that," she said after a moment. "But part of my destiny is accepting that you have to go."

"I just don’t understand how you can say that so easily. How you can be so sure we’ll see each other again."

"Because I can listen to my fate. And it tells me that we belong together. You have to go, and I can’t stop you. Remember the prophecy I told you about. The girl from the city and the boy from the moon. We’ll finish the story, if fate wills it."

He looked at her. "So you’re saying you’ll wait for me?"

"I will wait for you, Lex Marrow. And when we see each other again, we’ll be much closer to our shared goals than we are today. You and I, we’ll be very different people."

"I… I don’t want you to change."

She placed her finger gently over his lips. "You don’t have to understand yet. I want to give you something. Open your hand."

He did as she asked, and she took off her necklace, unfastening the pendant, and placed it in his palm. "I want you to keep it. Promise me you’ll take it with you. It’ll protect you. It’ll help you remember me."

"I promise," he said, gazing at the intricately crafted butterfly, tracing the delicate metal lines with his fingertip and feeling the white pearl set in the center. Then he tucked the amulet into the side pocket of his faux-leather jacket and zipped it up. Suddenly, he realized how badly he was trembling.

"I know," he began, "that now is the right time to go. But I just can’t get myself to stand up and leave. I can’t bring myself to say goodbye to you."

"I can see that. You’re rooted here, like an old tree. That’s why I’ll take the first step for you." She kissed him on the cheek, and he wished time would stop, but the minutes seemed to race faster than ever in their final moment together, and the girl slipped away from him. For a moment, he imagined he could still feel the kiss lingering on his cheek, but even that sensation faded quickly, leaving the moment behind as a painful memory.