Strangely shaped pillars of rare materials were carefully navigated through by a specially prepared robot. Carried in its grasp were Catarina and Timothy, still locked in their endless cycle. Aside from the two of them, there were practically no energy fluctuations in the entire facility… and outside of it there was only empty space. The void itself was not lacking in energy, but it was at a low concentration which was easy to handle.

Those present were only those absolutely necessary, with no distractions. They believed the formation would work, but they had unique circumstances and thus hadn’t truly been able to test it. But they were ready.

Koralo understood how it might look if Catarina died in something designed in large part by him, but what were they going to do- fire him? He didn’t want to be a candidate for best formation master in the Scarlet Alliance. It was easier when he was just her apprentice and the best was obvious. He truly hoped everything worked so he could continue to avoid the public eye.

Uzun was just as serious. He liked having a compatriot who saw things from different angles. He leaned more towards pure tech rather than formations, so how they solved the same problem in different ways was a big part of his development. And of course, usually the correct answer was hybrid technology.

Chidi was part of the project as well as being the emergency backup plan. He truly hoped he wouldn’t have to act, because that would indicate things were already off course.

A dark empty space filled the area around them, not because they couldn’t have lights, but because literally any interference might throw things off. And the Domination energy they were dealing with came from a light cultivator, so it seemed best to be cautious and minimize the slightest variables.

A countdown timer was on the displays in front of all of them. When it reached zero, the systems began pumping energy into the various pieces of their contraption.

Webs of energy without type crossed each other, invisible to the naked eye but extremely clear and bright to those who could sense energy. They connected for but a moment before fading into a dull form.

The process in place was ultimately extremely simple, but delicate. It was difficult for even those with the best senses to determine much was happening. At best, they could sense the runes activating and attempting to perform their purpose.

The Domination energy continued to flow between the pair. Slowly, the various pillars moved closer as gears gradually slid them along a predetermined path. Then there was a moment of resistance, before energy began to spiral outward from between them. The trick was pulling it out of the two without harming their bodies, and without completely disrupting its momentum. Without any relevant defensive energy of their own, they could be completely disintegrated by much weaker energy, let alone domination energy. The exact path it was taking through them was the safest.

Chidi was tense, ready to spring forward and stop everything if necessary. The flow was continuing, and he could feel that everything was steady so far… but the process had only just begun.

The swirl of energy took only the tiniest strands, spiraling outward to connect to the various pillars and be absorbed. But as miniscule as the amount of energy seemed, the pillars strained and thrummed with effort. Koralo sweated as he kept everything stable.

The process seemed to take hours- perhaps it had- as the total quantity of energy was finally measurably diminished. About two thirds of what remained was within Catarina, with the mass flowing towards Timothy. The cycle continued back and forth, with each wave pulling away just a little bit.

Then suddenly the drain accelerated. Light filled the room, bringing with it intense heat a moment later. Chidi was already moving, but the single step he had to take was further than he anticipated. Explosions flared as his sword cut in a sweeping arc. He took control of the flow of energy as much as he could, trying to damp its vigor.

A moment later, Chidi could only sense Koralo and Uzun. The surrounding formations were burnt out. He reached forward carefully with one hand, his pulse and breath the only feedback in his ears. His fingers touched soft hair… but it began to pull away. Chidi lunged forward, grabbing his mother and father. Their positions had been held by unnatural forces, and the sudden relaxation of their muscles caused them to fall out of the setup around them.

There was a slight wheeze. Then a cough from the other side.

“... I’ll assume it’s supposed to be dark,” Catarina said slowly. “I don’t know how long it has been… but try to keep us in a low energy environment.” Her head slumped, but Chidi could now hear two more bodies around him.

-----

It was a tense time as the two were transformed to the same intentionally mundane hospital that Chidi had contained in. It was a tense time, not knowing if and when they might actually wake. It could take years… or decades.

Then before anyone could make Chidi go home, Timothy woke after just three days. He didn’t make any sorts of dramatic motions, simply opening his eyes. “Good morning, boys,” he smiled slightly, looking at Chidi and Yuval both. The latter would likely have been too much for the hospital’s restrictions if not for Chidi’s presence, as he was far from a little kid. Though as far as cultivators went in the upper realms, barely three centuries was still considered on the younger end.

The two of them threw themselves forward, hugging him tightly. His own grip was weak, but he didn’t complain at their enthusiasm.

“It’s been so long,” Yuval said.

“I was out for less than half this long,” Chidi agreed, pulling away.

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“Is that so?” Timothy said. “I feel strangely empty.” He looked down at himself. “And wrinkly.”

Chidi frowned. “I suppose that happens when your body is overwhelmed by foreign energy for a few decades.”

“Oh, in that case, I’d say I don’t look bad at all.” He sighed. “Still tired, though. Your mother…?”

“Just next to you,” Yuval said, gesturing past him.

Timothy turned and nodded. “Good.”

Then he fell back to sleep. A day later, a very similar situation happened with Catarina, and two days after that both of them were awake together and at least somewhat active. Though they still remained in their beds.

“Should we get you outside?” Chidi asked. “So you can get some energy in you? Would that help with your recovery? The doctors weren’t sure, and because of your request…”

“No,” Catarina said. “We’ll stay here. In fact, we’d appreciate you remaining around.”

Timothy shook his head. “I’ll go with what she said. I think I could probably start drawing in upper energy. I’d be a bit sore, but I’d probably recover in a year or two. Maybe a bit more or less.” He smiled at Catarina. “But you don’t think that’s the right option.”

Catarina nodded, taking some time to think through her following words. “We survived Domination energy for… quite some time. With some rest, we could certainly go back to how we were.”

“You see how she is,” Timothy chuckled. “Though honestly, I feel like I’ve had a few insights on my own.”

Yuval frowned. “You think you can become a Domination cultivator?”

“Maybe,” Timothy shrugged.

“No,” Catarina said.

Chidi raised an eyebrow. “And what does that mean?”

Catarina crossed her arms. “Domination isn’t for me.”

“I wouldn’t take you for the type to give up,” Chidi said. “So I still need an explanation.”

“Well,” Catarina said slowly. “It wouldn’t really be that different from Domination. Probably. Without clear guidance from Domination cultivators on that, there’s still a lot of speculation that I’m not any closer to confirming. Can you get me a tablet? I need to write some notes.”

“No energy?” Chidi asked. Catarina nodded.

-----

Catarina stopped only to eat. Simple foods, and in some ways more expensive for being devoid of energy. That actually took special preparation within the Scarlet Alliance, since there was usually no reason for it.

Chidi was happy to sleep near them as an energy negation device. It took only a slight effort to expand his control where there was already very little energy. He had quite a bit of speculation about what Catarina might intend, but even reading over her shoulder he couldn’t comprehend all of it. Unsurprisingly, it involved formations.

Her speed of input was far slower than Chidi was used to, but that was not surprising without access to energy. Her brain would be operating at a standard level, at best. There was likely lingering damage in various ways.

“There,” Catarina eventually said, after a week. “That’s a good outline. What do you think?” she held it out to Chidi. “I value your opinion as someone progressing on an alternate path. Oh. When did you get so… blank?”

“I’ve been like this the whole time,” Chidi pointed out. “I already discussed it with dad.”

“Well, I missed it,” Catarina admitted. “Would you say you’re Domination-equivalent?”

“I don’t know,” Chidi admitted. “I do know there’s more progress for me to make in Negation, but it did work at least on the free Domination energy at the end.”

“Oh yes. About that… I assume we won? I vaguely recall something like that.”

“There’s a holiday and everything,” Chidi said. “Also the council really wants you guys to be healthy so you can accept medals and stuff.”

“Tell them I’m busy.”

Chidi shrugged. It wasn’t his problem. As for actually consulting his mother on her plans, he did his best. He admired her intentions to not ‘complicate’ things by absorbing more energy at the moment. But what she wanted to do with formations was in a very different direction than what he’d personally done within himself.

He figured she’d probably do fine though. People didn’t just call her a genius for nothing.

-----

A curious beaver moved to sniff a tree. The bark appeared quite tasty, and full of energy. It gave a little nibble. Then something wrapped around its waist and yanked it up into the air, holding it upside down. Without the benefit of the right sorts of limbs, all it could do was flail helplessly, which only invited the branch to squeeze more tightly.

Lev only nodded, content that another one was growing nicely. It was barely five meters tall, but the earliest stages were the hardest. With a bit of nurturing he could see it growing to overshadow all of the surrounding trees. He was tempted to give it some more space by removing some unwanted competitors, but he wanted these to grow big and strong on their own. Coddling them wouldn’t be a good idea. That was fine for garden plants and crops, but not so much for towering monuments of cultivation.

Besides, the grasping willow could probably tear down surrounding trees itself soon enough. They didn’t do that for others of their kind, as they shared nutrients with each other, but they occasionally reacted to touching other branches in extreme manners, flailing around and clearing the area around them. In the early stages there was probably no conscious thought involved- even the original Grandfather Willow was at best a primitive intelligence- but the few sorts of active movements the trees could accomplish were quite effective.

The tree looked quite different from what he was used to. The proportions were different. Stouter, rather than growing tall. That included the branches, normally whip thin but now thicker. A little less flexible, but sturdy. It seemed that was what was required to grow in upper energy. Of his hundred seeds, there were only about ten that had survived to this point. There could have been a few more if he knew how to promote them properly, but if he knew that it wouldn’t be a learning exercise.

The largest remaining question was whether it was safe for him to bond with one. Lev thought the answer was yes. The various specimens were rather weak at the moment so he wouldn’t be any stronger than an Integration cultivator if it came down to it, but perhaps in the future he could fight in the upper realms. Though he’d need to be certain first, and of course have trees in the right places. Inconvenient, especially since not everyone wanted to manage Grasping Willows. Though they did have some ascenders that would do just fine taking care of them. Even if they hadn’t gone down the path of Assimilation, they could still appreciate the origins of their techniques.