Inside the ship was very similar to the interior of the airship. Narrow hallways with frequent bulkheads, pipes running along the ceiling, and the occasional porthole. The difference was that everything moved so much as the ship tossed about in the ocean.

They found Vaska alone in a small office. She appeared to be sketching some type of engineering diagram.

"You!" Vaska said when she looked up and saw Ingrid. "I remember your face! You are Ingrid! Glenice told me you wanted to speak to me."

"I will excuse myself," Glenice said with a slight bow. Then she turned on one heel and continued on her way down the narrow hallways.

Ingrid offered the Princess the crystal with her hands cupped to hide it. She opened them just enough for Vaska to see. "Close the door," Vaska said. The firmness of her command clashed with her cat-like voice. With the door closed and Ingrid seated at the table, Vaska held out her hand. "May I see it?"

Ingrid handed Vaska the light crystal.

Dangerous, the Light Elemental complained.

"Can you make it so that she can see you and hear you?" Ingrid asked. Vaska looked a little puzzled.

If you command.

"I do command."

Vaska must have seen the little Light Elemental appear, because her face betrayed shock.

"This isn't like any Light Elemental that I have ever seen before in the bank vaults," Vaska said. She inspected the crystal. "Where did you get this?"

"You gave it to me," Ingrid said. "The dark crystal you gave me transformed into that. It's yours."

Vaska shook her head. "Clever, so clever." She handed the crystal back to Ingrid. "Ingrid, if I walked down that hallway with that crystal in my hand it would probably just summon itself back to you. You don't understand how light crystals work do you? You probably don't even know just how powerful you are because you possess this."

"I don't know anything," Ingrid said.

"What caused it to transform?" Vaska asked.

"Well I was flying, and... maybe I should start from the beginning. It's been a very bad day."

Ingrid explained, in every embarrassing detail, everything that happened since she woke up. The people from her hometown being sacrificed on the front lines to absorb missiles, her frantic dogfight in the Plane of Wind, and her accidental murder of an airship Captain. Vaska did not interrupt.

When Ingrid finished, Vaska said: "My own sense of ethics does not allow me to lie or withhold information from you. So, I will hold nothing back. Thank you for being honest with me, and thank you for visiting me. I was very lonely by myself here, and I enjoyed our conversation greatly."

"Anytime," Ingrid said.

"I am sorry that all those terrible things happened to you. Do you need time to rest? You may shower here and I can have a bed furnished for you. Maybe some more comfortable clothes. From the sound of it, a career in the Taisian Air Navy is likely, not ever going to happen."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Ingrid shook her head, "No I need to hurry."

You must close the portal, the Light Elemental said. If you decide to refuse this, then I will kill you.

"There is no need for that kind of talk," Vaska said to the little Elemental. "I can aid you, however the Marines will not be able to help you in your quest. We need to transfer to an Imperial Air Navy ship. For now, I need to explain some things to Ingrid. I'm so sorry."

She was apologizing, to an Elemental?

"First off Ingrid," Vaska said, "I must get something out of the way. My family used their Light Elementals to found the Empire. You could form your own nation with that crystal. Because Light Elementals can tell when a person is lying, you will always be able to surround yourself with truthful ministers. In addition, the ability to summon gems allows absolute power over enforcing contracts. Trust and written contracts are all that is needed to start a new country. Do you need to go to war? Just appoint a minister who knows how to construct a military. Do you need to found a bank? That is slightly more complicated. And so we get to the part where I am forced to reveal a great deal about my family and the world in general."

"You don't have to, if you don't want to," Ingrid said.

"I must. I cannot in good conscience withhold information from you. You see, the banks in the Empire, and indeed all the banks in the world, operate in the same way. The light crystal remains bound to a single person their entire lives. It cannot be stolen or lost. It does a good job of protecting people from common forms of danger. You can imagine that the holder of a light crystal is extremely powerful. So then why do the banks not overthrow the Emperor? They must have their own light crystals, right?

"Deep underground there are entire cities below the banks. Beautiful cities with marble buildings and fountains, gardens, temples, and markets. Food and other supplies are imported into the cities through special rooms that act almost like airlocks. In those cities there is only one religion allowed. People are not allowed to leave the city or decide to live there.

The most devoted woman in the community over the age of thirty is chosen to hold the light crystal. This woman is a religious fanatic that is absolutely indoctrinated into the religion. She enforces contracts and interviews people to see if they are telling the truth. She is the one that creates the nation, while up on the surface, the Emperor rules by virtue of his position within the religion. Sort of. The Emperor is effectively like a high priest. All the nations in the world do this."

Ingrid was completely speechless. Her head sank down, and she supported it with her palms.

"Why are the light and dark crystals pure?" Ingrid asked. "Why don't they have swirls?"

Dangerous! Dangerous! the Elemental protested. Your purpose is to close the portals, not ask stupid questions!

"Because in ancient times my ancestors helped kill a goddess. It was humans who sealed away the Elemental Queen of Darkness. It was humans who made it so that the Elemental Queen of Light could become isolated from her sister-self. That is why the crystals have no swirls. The other Elemental Queens are still connected to their sister-selves. That is why most crystals do feature the swirls, and can be used to summon two different types of Elemental.

"The process that was used to kill the goddess is unknown to me. It had many limitations and restrictions. I do not know all of them. It seems that attempting to communicate with one of the other Elemental Queens weakens the seals. Creating portals to the Elemental Planes also might weaken the seal. That may be why your little Elemental here is so adamant that you close the portals."

She knows too much. We must kill her.

"You are pretty violent for a girl-child in a dress," Vaska noted.

Make her angry, give her malice towards you. Then I can kill her.

"We are not going to kill her," Ingrid said firmly.

"So you are basically a world leader now," Vaska said. "What title will you give yourself?"

Ingrid giggled. "That's funny. Yeah, I guess you are right. I am Princess Ingrid now."

"Of what nation?" Vaska asked.

"Ingrid, Princess of the Skies."

Vaska held out her hand. "Acting on behalf of the Empire, I would like to extend an offer of diplomatic and military alliance between the Empire and Ingrid, Princess of the Skies. Do you accept my request?"

Ingrid took her hand and shook it. "I will have my finest diplomats talk to your State Department to work out the details," Ingrid said dryly. "But in the meantime, my nation is in dire need of some fighter jets. I have a portal to close, after all."

"This is fun," Vaska said. "We should talk like this all the time."