That night, on an alien realm where no moon cast its pale glow, only the myriad stars provided dim illumination over the near-pitch dark lands below.

In a dark chamber hewn from the planet's alien stone, Mordax slept on his organic bed. His grey skin glistened with a sheen of chill sweat as troubled dreams took hold. He clutched his chest in pain, with final shuddering gasp drifted deeper into slumber.

There upon some nameless plain beneath the sea of spinning stars above, Mordax found himself alone. No landmarks broke the horizon in any direction. An isolating vastness surrounded him, empty but for the swaying grasses.

Suddenly, a voice pierced through the silence. "Your heart pains you, does it not?" Mordax jumped at the sudden voice. He spun to find a robed figure had materialized beside him - an elderly person in flowing white garments, endowed with a sage's calm authority.

Mordax nodded in response.

The old man chuckled knowingly. "You may speak freely here - this realm transcends forms."

Surprised, "How did you know I had trouble communicating?" His words flowed unhindered.

The old man gestured gracefully in front of him. "Sit and watch. Let your mind be at peace." He closed his eyes in meditation.

'Strange, even though we look nothing alike, he doesn't feel alien to me,' he thought.

Realizing that the old man had no plans of answering his questions without him first joining in the meditation, Mordax decided to comply. He lowered himself onto the grassy ground, mirroring the old man's serene posture.

There, beneath the eternal stars in that strange grassy realm between waking and dreaming, one aged human, and one grey-hued alien sat in peaceful stillness.

Mordax tilted his large gray head, taking in the old man's serene presence. "This is my dream right?" His voice laced with a mix of wonder and confusion. "I...do not know how you came to be in my dream, and your aura feels distinctly not alien."

"Watch and do as I do. Let your mind be at peace." said old man serenely.

He closed his eyes and drew a slow breath inward through his nose, then slowly exhaled through parted lips. His weathered face grew smooth, all cares cast aside.

Mordax furrowed his gray brow, observing the strange human before mimicking his actions. But as the elder repeated his deep breaths, clarity surfaced in his mind. He too closed his large black eyes and breathed in from his small nose and breathed out from his parted grey lips.

Mordax tried to only think of his breathing, the awareness of the clean air filling his lungs, the gentle rise and fall of his chest.

With each exhale he should have released any lingering worries or distractions. Mordax's mind, however, remained restless. With each controlled exhale, instead of releasing tension, a new unease took hold.

Dark clouds suddenly gathered on the distant horizon, and rumbles of thunder began to roll across the grassy plain. Mordax opened his eyes to see a wall of flames rapidly approaching, ignited grass crackling furiously as it swept toward them with each breath.

He tensed, but the senior's voice was calm. "You must accept what comes, for as long as I am here, the fire cannot harm you. Find stillness amidst the chaos all around."

Though flames now engulfed the sky in an angry orange glow, the old man's presence exuded absolute inner peace. A belief that everything was as it should be, even in the face of destruction.

Taking a deep breath, Mordax closed his eyes once more and matched old man's steady rhythm.

Gradually, the wildfire's fury abated. Where voracious flames once raged, now gentle coils of warmth arose, their peaceful crackling blending into a lulling melody.

Mordax sank deeper into meditation's depths, his inner unrest dissipating under this harmony.

The senior gazed upon the alien with a serene smile, then his eyes glimmered brighter than the stars themselves. A blinding white radiance swelled forth, dissolving the grasslands from view.

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Within this radiance, a flood of illuminated knowledge poured into Mordax's mind. He beheld the Heavenly Way - its techniques, philosophies, and path to cultivate both body and spirit. When the light withdrew, only the old man remained, now standing tall before him.

"Cultivate the Heavenly Way," the sage spoke. His parting words echoed as Mordax's dream began to fade. The alien reached out, calling "Wait!"

As Mordax's eyes fluttered open, the remnants of his dream still clung to his consciousness. The sound of his own voice, desperately calling out to the old man, echoed in his mind.

But as he stirred, he felt a rough hand gently stroking his bald head. The touch, though alien, brought solace like the senior's calming aura.

"Did you have a nightmare, brother?" Grixi's voice, filled with concern, broke through the remnants of his dream. Mordax turned to face her, his eyes meeting hers. "No," he replied, his voice tinged with a hint of disappointment, "it just ended abruptly."

Grixi leaned forward, her non-existent lips pressing against his head in a gentle kiss. then a tongue came out and licked his bald head. 'This is a gesture of affection.' he thought as the sensation was both comforting and unsettling.

Pulling away, she rose from the bed and opened the curtains, allowing the soft light of dawn to spill into the room.

Mordax instinctively closed his eyes when he saw the huge star's massive form taking up the entire expanse of the window. But when he dared to open them again, he found himself captivated by the sight before him. A colossal red star glowed dimly on the horizon.

The star seemed impossibly close, its fiery presence encompassing the view. Yet, despite its proximity, the light it emitted was strangely muted, casting a gentle glow that bathed the room in a warm and comforting ambiance. Mordax couldn't tear his eyes away from the mesmerizing sight.

Grixi, sensing his wonder, smiled and spoke softly, "A new day awaits us, brother. Let's eat our meal, for there is much I have to show you."

"Wait! I have millions of questions - you can't just drag me out of bed like a sack of potatoes," Mordax protested as he was being carried on his sister's huge shoulders.

Grixi tilted her horned head. "What IS potatoes? And yes, I can do as I please because I am your twin sister."

"Pshh, memory may fail me, but you can't fool me like that sister, who can even believe we are twins."

A series of horrendous clicking sounds emerged from Grixi's lipless mouth, but the thoughts she was sending were incoherent, so Mordax understood nothing.

"Okay, okay, at least put me down and let me walk myself," Mordax replied.

Grixi carried Mordax for a couple more steps through the strange-looking corridors, then set him on his feet when they reached a balcony-like clearing.

Mordax gulped, only now seeing his sister's hulking physique up close. He couldn't figure out if he was really short or if she was really huge - his height only came up to Grixi's legs.

He had to crane his neck all the way back in order to see his sister's eyes up above.

"I am sure answers for your questions will come back to you slowly brother."

Then Mordax turned and his already large eyes widened even further. What he had initially thought was the ground was actually only pitch black clouds below.

Grixi pressed an organic button near the huge window, causing it to slide open. A blast of wind buffeted Mordax, almost toppling his slight form.

Clasping his hand firmly in hers, "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?"

Before he could protest, she leapt into empty space dragging him out with her. Mordax yelped "Mother........." That day, Grixi heard many words she had never heard from her brother before.

Now on the ground, Grixi cradled Mordax gently as foam bubbled at his lips. She sighed, 'Why did he suddenly faint?'

Mordax dreamed that he and Grixi jumped from a similarly tall spire. But in the dream, Grixi wasn't as tall, and they were having fun as they free fell.

Before they hit the ground in a messy way, an alien worker flew up on a platform and gently placed them on the ground below. The siblings thanked the worker, and the flashback dream ended.

"I'm sorry brother, are you okay?" Grixi said with concern. "I was just so excited that I forgot about your condition. I swear I never meant to hurt you."

"I had a dream again—I saw us jumping, just like that," Mordax replied, touching fingers with his sister to soothe her anxious state.

"I don't know why I now have a fear of heights," he pondered.

Slowly Mordax rose. His hands instinctively patted his body, as if trying to adjust his crumpled clothes, but it dawned upon him that he was naked.

Just as he was going to ask, 'Why the fuck am I naked?' he felt that something was lacking—a very important part of his body was missing. Then, he let out a piercing cry, just like the one from yesterday.

His tongue flapped wildly from the intensity of the scream. His body was shaking from head to toe as he turned towards his sister.

Eyes wild with distress, "WHERE IS IT!?" he asked.

"What is it you seek brother?"

With both of his hands, he pointed towards his groin, "WHERE THE FUCK IS MY... Penis?!"

Grixi laughed, her voice resonating in Mordax's mind translating into a soft chuckling, while outwardly it resembled the grinding of metal against metal.

"Brother did you forget basic anatomy? It is not the lifesowing cycle for our caste yet. So, your so-called 'Penis' organ is just inside of you right now."

Questions swirled inside his brain: 'lifesowing? cycle? caste?'

"Wait... inside of me?"

Holding the urge to vomit, "Urp... I don't know which is worse right now, I won't think about it anymore." he said.

Then Mordax took in their strange surroundings with growing curiosity. All around stretched an open, alien world teeming with life yet dominated by dark hues. Towering spires of some organic-seeming yet metallic substance arced above, their twisting forms piercing the roiling banks of shadowclouds.

Diverse beings traversed around, some shared Mordax's lithe build, their hides differing in tone alone. Others more closely mirrored Grixi's stature, albeit scaled down in size.