The journey back home began before the Sun had the opportunity to get rid of the night sky. It took the scholars some time to fully finish their arrangements, since most of them were used to having servants handle everything for them. With the help of the adventures, who were long used to the rough lifestyle of living on the road, though, they managed to have everything ready for departure within two days.

After the preparations were done, most of the researchers, exhausted, went straight to sleep, nervously waiting for the day that would soon come. Despite having made their way to Táfos in much the same they would leave it, they couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation, for they couldn't possibly imagine what would await them on the road back.

While most of the camp did, indeed, managed to fall into slumber, some of the younger scholars and adventurers, energetic and impatient, could only sit around the weak fire and patiently wait for the time of departure. Despite their uneasiness and the low voice with which they talked to each other, they all seemed to be excited for what would come next, be it because they would soon be able to advance their own researches by leaps and bounds or because they would finally have to do something other than babysit a bunch of rich people playing explorers.

Among the restless folk circling a campfire at the center of the encampment, there was a white girl, a stark contrast with the dark night. While the rest of the young men and women cast long, swirly, and unpredictable shadows on the grassy ground, the strange girl cast nothing. It was as if she was a ghost, a dead person orbiting in between the world of the dead and the world of the living.

Most people might be weirded out by the peculiarities of the girl. Her pure white skin, too ghastly to belong to a healthy person, her blood-red eyes, drawing in anyone who dared look at her in the eyes, its strength greater than an undertow, her way of moving, flowing like a river, and yet, as straight and polite as a member of royalty

When she was first presented to the camp as the pupil of Asteria, most of the scholars, who, at the time, were still recovering from terrible hangovers, expressed their sympathies from a distance, afraid to come closer to the exotic being. However, as the week passed, they slowly warmed up to the ever-diligent girl, who woke earlier than most and went to bed later than most. Day in and day out practiced, her fast improvements only serving to make the knight caring for her ass more and more to her plate.

She ate like a ravenous beast, resuming her heavy training as soon as she was finished. The girl might have stayed with them for a little less than a week, but, in such a short timeframe, she had already managed to warm up to the majority of the people there. Yes, she was a strange being, walking around in tight-fitting men's clothing, which even the girl herself didn't know how they had come into her possession, quiet as a specter of the night, but she was pleasant to be around with.

It was pretty rare to meet her while she wasn't losing copious amounts of bodily fluids, but, when someone did, and said someone decided to try and interact with the bizarre girl, they would quickly find out that she genuinely listened to what they had to say, or, at the very least, she was really great at feigning being a good listener. Soon enough, Kary was privy to all the running gossip among the many social circles interacting in the encampment.

Still, the girl in question didn't know how to respond to everything that she had seen and heard. On one hand, she was glad that everyone seemed to be somewhat nice, or at least accepting of her presence amidst the groups, but, on the other, she had been warned by Asteria about the sliminess of nobles. She still hadn't experienced it, but she knew that those people with which she surrounded herself would be quick to stab her in the back should the opportunity arrive.

It was a weird feeling, knowing that people trusted you enough to tell you some light secrets, but that they were also cautious enough that they would be able to cut her off easily enough should the necessity arrive. With the information she had (courtesy of Asteria), and the fact that she was almost always doing physical exercises, the people around her rapidly changed from the prim, proper and sly scholars to the more ruff and buff adventurers.

Even then, the biggest problem still remained: Kary could not make herself comfortable with so many people around her, even if her life depended on that. They were loud, obnoxious, and their constant attempts of making Kary feel included only made the girl all the more prone to spacing out. On one moment, she would be attentively hearing whatever they had to say, while on the other, she would be questioning herself whether she even knew what was being discussed.

On the times when she wasn't busying herself with building her muscles, she couldn't help but keep second guessing herself. Was it okay for her to be there, sharing distasteful meals and absurd stories? What right did she have to be there, enjoying these renowned people's company? If she had time to laugh, shouldn't she train? How else could she repay Asteria for saving her life, instead of talking to them like this, wouldn't it be better to ask for sparring and tips, just like she usually did with Tom? Di these people even like her to begin with? Or were they just going along with the strict knight's eccentric choices?

With an exasperated sigh, Kary tuned out the exited conversations around her as she looked up to the night sky. Her face remained unreadable, but the faint smile she showed when listening to others was completely gone, replaced with a worried, stressed and, most of all, tired expression. She was tired, exhausted even, both physically and mentally.

While she wholly embraced the physical strain, as it meant that she had been making steady progress, she could only wonder if these intrusive thoughts, repeatedly belittling her, scolding her, making her question her decisions, would ever go away. She hoped they would, but she had long learned that hope along could never do much. For a long time she held onto hope, desperately wishing that her life would, by some miracle, completely turn around.

That moment, however, never came. The abuse never stopped, the fear was still just as prevalent as ever, the situation in her house never changed. Everything stayed the same, from the moment she was born to the moment where she died, alone, by the malice of a random dog on the street who knew nothing about her. Perhaps it was better this way, to have died due to something out of her control, to a being that did the act without any complex feelings behind it.

It wasn't something done due to personal grievances, it wasn't something done by someone who knew Kary. It was a freak accident, done by a being who probably felt no remorse and who Kary had never seen and will never see again. She wasn't killed by her mom finally snapping, or her father suddenly coming home, or even one of her personal tormentors at school suddenly wanting to go a step further. It was a kill made with no deep reasoning, no intricate motivation, nothing. It was simply a psychopath of a dog wanting to kill someone. And, honestly, Kary was pretty ok with that.

Not with the part where she was killed, of course, but by the fact that it hadn't really been her fault or the fault of anyone she knew. She felt relieved, as the accident didn't sap away at what little hope for humanity she still had. Of course, there were still many things towards which she felt no hope that they would ever change. They were like constants in her life, working around like clockwork to make sure that she was miserable every single day of her life. It had worked surprisingly well.

She didn't feel safe at school, or at her house. Funnily enough, the only place where she didn't feel terribly afraid was the streets that took her from her house to her school. That transitory ambient, where nothing was ever stationary by its own will, where there was statistically a much greater chance of bad things happening to her, were, ironically, where she also felt the safest.

Anywhere else she would be plagued by either her tormentors, incessant on their mission of making her disappear from their planet, or by her own mind. She was never free, and pain was a friend she had to learn how to cherish in her brief life. That was the reason why she could put up with Asteria's extreme training: she knew pain, better than most people in her old world, though probably sill worse than most of the common folk on this one.

But, even as she learned to cherish her physical pain, to consider it the signal of her well-done training, she felt as if she would never be able to do the same with the mental pain, as it brought no benefits, it wasn't signing at anything positive. They were just thoughts that incessantly gnawed on her mind, making the world much darker than it actually was. And Kary hated it, just as much as she hated being utterly helpless to fight it.

It was like a tumor, sapping her energy, debilitating her, making everything harder. Life was already tough, and she thought that she definitely didn't need more added to her plate. She let out a tired sigh as she stared into the starred night. Even with her sense of beauty being severely sewed after more than a decade of constant neglect, they were still able to recognize the beauty of the night sky.

When she was still a human, before she died, Kary had never really stopped to appreciate the sky. Honestly speaking, it would be weirder if she had stopped for more than a few seconds to take in everything the sky back at her home planet had to offer. In the bosom of human civilization, surrounded by tall, cold concrete monoliths, glowing through their artificial lights that tried to rival the sun, no stars could shine, their vastness impossible to be conveyed to the people below. In all her life, Kary had never seen so many stars, glowing brightly, their light showing a view of a time long past.

Breathtaking, was the word Kary would use to describe the sight. Despite being in this world for a week already, she had never rely taken the time to appreciate things like that. If she wasn't training, then she was resting, thinking at the same time on what she would do next. Either that, or she was completely knocked out on her bed, which had received an upgrade from being a simple piece of cloth on the ground to a full-on straw bed, where she slept with Asteria every night.

Thanking at the past week, she couldn't help but feel... happy. A weird notion for her, to be sure. She was content with her life before, going through it with the detachment of an outside spectator, but now... now she felt like she was truly living her life. Her days, albeit governed by a strict routine, were far more diverse than what she had going for her back on Earth. She talked to people, shared ideas, exhausted herself, hurt her teeth, and retched at bad smells. It was like her first time had been merely a test, a boring, bureaucratic procedure to make sure that she would be able to properly live this life.

Thinking like that, maybe this time things would remain as good as they were now, though she didn't dare hope again, lest her expectations be crushed once more. When she finally lowered her head, once more staring at the fire, she could feel a few curious stared boring holes straight through her being. Kary glanced around, not knowing if she should question the people silently looking at her or if she should die of embarrassment first. Cautiously, she asked:

"What? Why is everyone staring at me like that?"

"Oh... sorry about that! I was just curious about why you suddenly started to look up at the sky. I tried to see if there was something different with it, but nope! That's the same sky that I've been seeing ever since I was born. Same stars, same constellations, nothing new at all" Hearing the girl sitting beside Kary speak, the rest of them who were also looking at Kary nodded, since their questions were one and the same, namely, 'why did you stared at the sky for so long? Was there something that we missed?' Laughing embarrassedly, Kary replied with a simple negative shake of her head.

"No, you guys didn't miss anything different. I was simply deep in thought, admiring the beautiful stars that hang from the sky. They are so tiny, it's almost as if we could grasp them in between our fingers and pluck them out of the sky, right?"

At these, even the most simple-minded of adventures would give a hearty laugh. It wasn't out of ridicule, since they knew that ridiculing this childish speech would mean ridiculing their own childhoods. No, it was simply endearing to see their long-log childhood dreams settling themselves on a new vessel, imparting into her the ideas that most might once have thought to be unique to them, not realizing that everyone thought the same.

They laughed because they had forgotten that feeling, to be young and impressionable again, surrounded by simple-minded kids, playing all day long until their legs wanted to give up from exhaustion. The long years surrounded by like-minded people, boring people, annoying people, and stupid people, had long since washed the unrealistic thoughts they once cultivated like weeds in their childhoods.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that they were quite pleased to see their ridiculous ideas finding solace in another soul, ready to continue its process. The older ones smiled gently at Kary, while the younger ones, having still not yet reached the point where they could look with some amount of affection at their pasts, simply sneered at the absurdity of the thought.

Some crueler ones even thought about shattering her dream completely, telling her straight that such things were nigh impossible. But one look at the girl told them all they needed to know. From her sad smile to her half-closed eyes, it was clear that she knew that she was simply spouting nonsense, hopeful delusions that she knew for a fact could never be realized. It was the gaze of someone who had their dreams shattered numerous times, the suffering amplified by the endless judgment of her peers.

And so, they decided to simply shut up and enjoy the dry meat. Under the sound of the growling remnants in the distance, walking through the ruins like they did every night, one by one the overexcited group began to fall asleep then and there on the ground, mostly unbothered by the lack of quality. As the conversations died down completely, and some snoring began to be heard, Kary herself laid on the grassy ground, once more confronting the starry sky, her eyes shining under the pale light of the moon. Soon enough, she was welcomed into the dreamland, though she would never remember what it was that she dreamed about.

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Morning came quickly, just as it ever did, bathing the sleeping folks who had slept outside with its gentle, warm light. Sadly, they weren't woken up though the gentlest of methods, as they would gladly point out of asked. At least most of them wouldn't consider getting kicked in their ribs as a gentle way to wake someone up. And that was exactly the method Asteria had chosen. Without any modicum of mercy, she approached the snoring group, and, as silently as a specter of the night and as gently of an anvil falling from the sky, she kicked each and every one of them in their bellies, not even bothering to look at them. That was, until she reached Kary.

Of course, she wasn't exactly spared the rough treatment, but Asteria had at least the decency to show a conflicted face after using such... unorthodox methods on the girl she had been living with for the past few weeks. Kary was still very reserved about her past and her life in general, but the experienced woman knew that someone as badly hurt as her would never be able to peek out of their own shell with such ease. She had, of course, tried her best to make the girl open up, but her rate of success was questionable at best, though it was progress nonetheless.

Even while they mostly focused on making her stronger, they still sometimes shared meals together and, of course, they both had become used to sleeping in the same uncomfortable bed, as space was quite limited in a place that had been left unattended for such a long time. They had talked about their hobbies, their dreams, what they wanted to do when they finally made contact with civilization again. Yet Asteria knew that was just the very tip of the iceberg, nothing more than superficial stuff to break the ice in between them. Any of the more serious stuff that they could have discussed was left unspoken. Even so, Asteria thought that she could at the very least trust in the little workaholic, even if she didn't know how much Kary trusted her.

She knew that, deep down, she was a good kid, much different from those nobles who, because of their low standing in their respective families, were almost forced by their parents to join the military. Every time Asteria had to deal with them, she had to hold herself back from painting the walls red with their blood and guts. It was genuinely perplexing the ability they had to be the most annoying being in the room, somehow surpassing even the most persistent of flies.

However, regardless of how fond she was with the girl, the fact remained that she had been sleeping like a homeless drunk, passed on the side of the street. Instead of being used as a body pillow by Asteria, the girl had the guts to stay awake until late and then promptly sleep then and there. If she were to be honest with herself, Asteria kind of felt lonely on the last night. It is funny, the way the body so quickly adapts to the presence of others. Of course, there would be no way she would ever tell any other soul about missing the warmth of a still fragile little girl, though the woman had seen first-handed the astounding progress she was making.

Kary woke up feeling a sharp pain in her stomach. For a moment, she wondered if it was due to the fact that she hadn't eaten anything the night before, but she quickly dismissed the thought. For a while now, she had realized that she didn't exactly need to consume food like normal humans. If she needed, she could simply absorb the sunlight and obtain her nutrients out of it. While she didn't know how true that was, she had been told that her long-time exposure to the sun, thanks to her intensive training, often made her pale skin acquire a sickly green glow which, when combined with her chalk-white skin, only served to contribute to the image of an undead trying to live with the living.

All of these thoughts flashed through her mind as she tried to comprehend the sudden pain that assaulted her. She slightly opened her eyes in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the perpetrator of the crime, her brain already planning how to get back at them. However, as soon as she looked up, the face looking directly down, blocking the sun in the process was one of the few that she definitely did not want to see.

Asteria stood in front of Kary, unmoving, as if she were an ancient mountain, undeterred by the winds or the snow, standing tall and proud as she looked at the girl on the ground with a mix of exasperation and indignation. It was so palpable that even the ones who had been already woken up by her didn't dare stare at the fearless knight who looked ready to bury her protégé herself. The girl in question silently stood at the receiving end of the glare, questioning all the life choices that led her to this exact moment. However, contrary to her expectations, Asteria simply let out a sigh and told Kary to get up already, showing the girl a surprisingly gentle face, albeit still containing some of the usual sternness of the knight.

Towards the rest of the still sleepy people who were either trying to get back to sleep, not realizing that they were digging their own grave, or the ones who were completely awake, clutching their stomachs as they whimpered in pain, Asteria wasn't so kind. With a voice devoid of any of her usual warmness, and with an expression that seemed able to suck the soul right out the poor sods that had the misfortune of looking at her, she addressed the bunch still on the ground.

"I'll count up to ten and, if, by then, you all are not up a ready for the journey back home, then you might as well stay here. I'm sure the remnants would like some more food" Hearing that, everyone still struggling to leave the comfort of the ground around the long gone campfire quickly rose up to their feet, afraid that the terrifying woman in front of them would actually move forward with her threat. Even Kary, still suffering from the routine she had grown used to, managed to get on her feet before Asteria was halfway through her counting. A scary woman, she was, and one that never backed away from her promises.

With a satisfied nod, she looked around, seeing both young and old generations looking around, clearly wondering when their orders from their superiors would come in. From the sidelines, in the opposite direction from the brother and sister pair he hated so much, Tom watched with some degree of amusement though he, also, couldn't help but question the lack of orders. Of course, he was well aware that today was the day when they would finally begin their march back, but it wasn't normal for them to have to wait for so long before they were let in all the private matters that involved the integrity of the camp.

Before anyone could speak out the thoughts undoubtedly plaguing everyone's minds, Asteria spoke with a somber tone, much too different from the way she had been speaking up until now. Those who listened carefully could make out an edge that didn't exist previously, a certain sharpness, cutting through their tension with a serious expression that seldom belonged in the very expressive woman. Even with her reputation preceding her, it was bizarre seeing the knight being this serious about anything other than scolding others into order. Still, no one dared question or interrupt her as she spoke, her voice solemn.

"Listen, people! Today I speak as a direct emissary from the five elders, who were tirelessly studying the slates we discovered for the past few days. Their rest was short; some might consider it even insufficient. And both I and the elders agreed! That's why they unanimously voted for a rest day exclusive to them! Now, before you voice your complaints, I'll have you know that, despite me knowing nothing about the secrets of the past or having any interest in learning it, I have personally followed the elders’ arduous journey through the ancient texts"

"While some of you partied, some of you diligently kept studying, and some even training their own bodies, —" At that, the woman sent out a wink towards Kary, who simply stood there, like a statue, attentively listening to whatever Asteria had to say. Clicking her tongue at the lack of reaction from the girl, Asteria continued: "— those masters of their craft, each and every one of them legends on their own rights, have been tirelessly working on figuring out the language with which the stone scribbles you all have found were written. From early in the morning all the way to late into the night, they worked, never faltering, never giving up on their objective. Why, was it not there in front of them this whole time, taunting them, asking them to uncover its secrets? How could they give up while they were still unable to comprehend what the ancients had to say?"

"Of course, they are still far from done. But their age, believe it or not, is getting to them. So they asked me to relay their instructions while they rested in one of the carts already strapped onto one of our horses. We shall march back home, starting from today. Hopefully, by this time next month, you'll be either hard at work on your own offices or culling down the local population of monster. For that, though, we must begin our journey as soon as possible. Time is of the essence, as many of you, especially the older folk, know very, very well. If you haven't finished loading your stuff into the carriages yet, then I would very much like to bash your skull until your brain became nothing but pink mush, but I will exert some control over myself. Instead, I'll kindly ask for them to finish packing their things in the next fifteen minutes, by when we will begin our march. Be ready, boys, for the road is long and treacherous! Be ready, for anything could happen! Be ready, for we mustn't lose before we arrive at the capital!"

With that, three or so people began to hurry back to their tents, picking up the few miscellaneous items that they didn't want to get thrown in with the rest of the stuff just yet. In the end, it probably didn't matter at all, but, for some, these objects might hold some sentimental value, or they might just be something that they were working on, spending all their available free time working on these objects, all the way until the very last second. Still, by noon, the entire caravan was ready to move. And so, it did.

For a while, nothing particularly interesting happened. While the horses slowly trotted forward, forced to match the pace of the slow-as-snail humans, Kary looked at the blue sky from one of the carts, now completely empty save from some other... compact girls who had made this place their hiding spot. Different from the other two girls with whom she shared the cart, the Mavka girl was trying really hard to ignore the harsh shaking of the cart, which jolted high into the air every time it passed through the tiniest of pebbles. At least, that was how Kary imagined it to be, since she wasn't really keen on leaving her current position and go down to check. And do, the three girl stood silently for a while, simply appreciating the view, until one of them, the shortest on, decided to strike a conversation with the other two.

"Sorry to break the silence, but I've got to ask before I die out of awkwardness, what made you two come here?" When Kary turned her head to face her with a quizzical expression, the flustered girl smiled awkwardly before continuing on a machine gun-like pace. "Sorry, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Penny, and I hail from the humble city of Psomí! It’s a tiny town, far from anything important, so I doubt any of you have heard of it. Anyway, everyone in the city seems to have a job related to making bead, even if it isn't a direct connection. For example, my papa worked — well, hopefully still works — with making and fixing ovens for the actual bakers, while my momma provided clothing — though mainly aprons— to the few families that still lived there. It's a small place, but it's great nonetheless!"

"You two might be wondering: how the hell did a girl coming from a baking village turned out to be a scholar?" Kary and the other girl, whose name was still unknown, desperately wanted to shake their heads, to deny the overexcited girl from continuing on her tirade. But they were to slow, for she quickly resumed her tale. "So, what happened was a little interesting, right, so please pay attention! The thing is, I don't really like making bread. Or working with anything relating to it, to be blunt. I know, I know, what a shame of a daughter I am. I don't need you guys to tell me. My parents made sure that I knew how awful I was for not wanting to do anything related to the bread business we had going on. They even tried to argue that I could study the story of the bread, to learn where the different types came from, as such, and, although I ended up not following this path, it did, surprisingly, help me at last find out what it was that I wanted to study"

"You see, I kind of became a scholar without putting much though into it. I was required to choose a major after finishing school in one of the bigger cities closer to home, and the only thing that remotely interested me was the study of history. But that was too vague and, in the end, I struggled to graduate because I was too indecisive. And so, when my parents told me that I should —"

"Zzz..."

"Oh... you guys are already asleep... I told you to pay attention to my story, damn it! Hah... Since you two already gave up, I might as well join you in your slumber. Don't wander too far in your dreams, 'kay? Otherwise we might not find each other!" And so, the hyperactive girl, who had named herself Penny, promptly follow the others' lead and went to sleep, lulled by the warm sun and the shaking of the cart.

Nearby, Asteria stared at the cart, eyeing the three girls snuggling into each other's embrace, her gaze showing such warmth that people who saw it would believe it to be nothing more than hallucinations created by the long exposure the sun. Still, the woman didn't care if some rumors about her began to spread. After all, she just needed to stomp them down, employing even her own physical strength if it was necessary. So far, though, most people, especially the older ones, seemed to have reached a certain level of understanding of Asteria's descent into being a full-on mother.

Though Kary was not her daughter and she would never be the girl's mother, their connection was steadily growing to be much more than the usual relationship between a master and a disciple, bound by tight rules and societal norms. While there was still the respect inherent to such relations, the way it manifested was wholly different, as Kary was able to act with a much higher degree of freedom around Asteria, something that most so-called masters would loathe. On the contrary, the woman embraced it, for she enjoyed the company the girl made her, the warmth she made her feel, a sensation that she had long forgotten in the battlefield, surrounded on all sides by sweaty men trying not to get themselves killed.

She didn't know if she would be able to maintain their relationship once she was back at the capital, but she would at least try to. Asteria recognized more than anyone else in their surroundings that the girl she had rescued that day needed help, not only to reach her rather bold objectives, but also because she was as fragile as a human being, with emotions as volatile as a moody teenager, and yet, with the discipline of a battle-hardened veteran. It was a weird combination of traits that made Asteria unable to simply let go of the girl. While she knew that she was by no means a savior, she couldn't help but want to at the very least try to make life more bearable for Karen and, in the process, making life more bearable for her as well.

Though she had forbidden Kary from looking at her status until they truly began training, Asteria had no doubt that the girl would become strong. Perhaps even strong enough to take her on. It was an exciting thought, though one that she would have to wait until she could finally see it come to fruition. Still in a deep sleep, Kary could feel the predatory gaze eyeing her, her body moving uncomfortable in response to it.

Seeing that, Asteria wanted to congratulate the girl on her perception abilities, but she knew that these were simply part of her subconscious, with her usual brain playing no part in her ability to detect the bloodlust-filled stares that occasionally were directed toward her. Perhaps that was why she had developed such keen senses. Thinking about that, Asteria wondered about what kind of life Kary must have lived before appearing in the ruins they were exploring. Though they still hadn't touched anywhere near this delicate topic, the woman could feel that, however the girl's life had been beforehand, it hadn't been pleasant.

Walking at the same pace as everyone else, Asteria tried to shake these thoughts out of her mind, as she tried to focus on the next step of Kary's training, which would hopefully start on this night. Just like the girl had done before, she looked at the sky, wondering if all that had been happening to her was anything more than a play made by and for the gods. For now, she had no way of knowing, though one day her maybe-daughter might be able to figure out an answer. For now, though, she should just focus on keeping pace with everyone and not running over anybody. Still, even as she focused on the march, she showed a vicious grin at the thought of everything that would take place under the veil of the night.