I found it a little scary that you could see the changes the war had brought to the Imperial capital from above. Thousand Lights City looked mostly the same, but not entirely. Factories had sprung up like mushrooms. Some of them belched dark smoke into the sky, even though we’d wanted to avoid using steam power or non-renewable fuel sources. There were more soldiers visible on the streets and on its fortifications, even this far from the front. And I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but the city seemed emotionally taxed by the war, less vibrant, less enthusiastic about life.

I shook my head, released my grip on the airship’s railing, and turned my gaze to the Imperial Palace that we were quickly approaching. It looked the same. Defenses had been heightened for a while, anyway. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment, trying to center myself before my return.

Several guards in the air, using flying swords or their qi, escorted us in. We set down in a secluded courtyard close to the main building this time, not on the rooftop. I knew my continued survival was less of a secret by the minute, but they apparently didn’t want to advertise my return. Not that I minded.

Once I stepped off the airship onto the ground of the Sky Continent again, these thoughts were quickly pushed out of my head. I only had a moment to brace myself before a child-sized battering ram crashed into me.

I laughed and crouched down so Xiaodan could hug me properly. “Hello, Little An. I missed you.”

“Big Sister Nari!” She went back to hugging me without saying anything else.

It took what felt like minutes until I could pry my little sister off and greet Al, who’d been waiting not-so-patiently behind her. He hugged me, as well, burying his face in my shoulder for a moment. I returned his embrace tightly, then clapped him on the back and let him go.

“Were you worried about me?” I asked teasingly.

He sniffed. “Of course. This time, you didn’t have me along to protect you.”

I chuckled. “Oh, I see how it is. You’re taking all the credit for our explorations while I’m away.”

“You had more than enough chance to explore the Zarian, didn’t you?”

Al looked older, I couldn’t help but think. It hadn’t been that long, but I supposed he was a real teenager now, and puberty could progress quickly. He’d grown a bit, and his face had lost some residual roundness.

Past my siblings, Mother waited, her arms folded. She was accompanied by Kariva and a group of guards. She raised an eyebrow slightly, and I started walking over to them, feeling my heart clench a little.

The first thing she did when I came to a stop in front of her was hug me. I stiffened in surprise, then tentatively hugged her back. It was a short and awkward embrace, and she pulled away quickly. I was still a little startled to realize this was the first time.

“Come on, Inaris,” she said. “Welcome back and all that. Walk with me.”

Yeah, maybe things haven’t changed that much. I glanced back at my siblings before falling into step with her. The guards moved away to give us more space. When my eyes met Kariva, she bowed her head and gave me a small smile that made me feel a bit more welcome.

“Now that you’re back and we can talk in person,” Mother said, her voice clipped, “let me ask you, Inaris: What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

I grimaced. “I would have at least expected a ‘nice that you’re alive’ or something,” I grumbled. “You mean what am I doing back here?”

“Yes. You’re supposed to be back on the Earth Continent, helping your friends deal with the messy situation there.”

“I know,” I sighed. Mother hadn’t been happy when I told her that I was coming back, but she hadn’t ordered me to go away, at least. I hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. “I don’t have a good answer for you, to be honest. I just had a feeling that I shouldn’t, that I should get back here. A really intense feeling. With some spiritual icing on top.”

She raised an eyebrow, her expression losing some of the anger. “I see. You mean Rijoko was influencing you?”

“Guiding me,” I corrected. “Probably.”

She was silent for a moment, before she sighed. “Alright. I can’t blame you for that. Following his guidance is probably the right thing to do. Do you have any idea what prompted it?”

“Not really.”

I was about to say more, but stopped as a sensation in my qi senses captured my attention. I frowned and unconsciously turned my head to track it. We were walking through a tree-lined corridor towards a side entrance to the main palace. It was a pretty private place, so far. I could sense Al and Xiaodan, who were going the same way but a little behind us. If my impression was correct, they were using some qi, probably playing.

Then I saw the man approaching us at a fast pace. “Acura!” he called. “There you are. I’ve heard that …”

He trailed off, slowing down as he came closer, and his eyes widened. We all stopped, but I barely noticed it. I was too surprised by his sudden appearance.

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I hadn’t seen him before, I knew that because I didn’t remember his face. But he was still familiar. A tall, well-built frame. Blond hair, blue eyes like my little brother’s. I’d seen his appearance before, but with the vagueness of dreams, distorted and little details smoothed out. What struck me almost as much was that, the one time I’d seen my father, he’d worn a shape similar to this.

“What the hell?” The words slipped out almost by themselves, my voice sharp.

I’d finally returned to my real form, although I still wore plain, ordinary clothes. There was no doubt that he recognized me from his reaction. But I moved my gaze to Mother, who was suddenly looking a lot less cool and collected.

“Mother?” I asked.

She stiffened just a little. “Yes, dear?” Her tone was calm, matter-of-fact, conveying clearly that there was no problem here, not at all, thank you. Challenging me to contest that. Although she never called me dear, so maybe she was less confident than she appeared.

“This is what you hired Ming Li for, isn’t it?” I said as it suddenly hit me. “That Adzurian assassin or whatever. He said you were in negotiations with him. You hired him to get Carston from the Zarian.”

Carston looked a bit discomfited that I was talking to her instead of him. “That’s true,” he said. “He even said it was easier than he thought. I’d earned some measure of trust from the Dominion. Of course, I gladly went with him once he reached me.”

I wondered for a moment if it had been a rescue or retrieval mission. Carston probably hadn’t had a choice in the matter. Hopefully. Assuming Mother hasn’t completely lost her sense.

I titled my head a little, regarding the man through narrowed eyes. “Carston,” I acknowledged him in a cool voice, as if I’d just met him.

“Hello, Inaris.” He smiled. “It’s truly a pleasure to see you again. You’ve grown into a magnificent young woman.”

I barely held back a snort. That would have ruined the cold glare I turned on him. For a moment, I considered berating him for using my first name and not showing the proper respect. But that wouldn’t be the right track to take.

“Spare me your compliments, please,” I said tersely, then sighed. “As you have no doubt been told, I lost all of my previous memories during my soul journey. I’m afraid I don’t remember you at all, at least not personally.”

“I know.” He nodded seriously. “It is a shame. We did have some nice childhood memories, as well.”

This time, I did snort, before I could stop myself. I should probably try to play nice, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Besides, he had to know I wouldn’t trust him.

I didn’t feel guilty about the invasion of privacy that me seeing his dream had been. Which Mother hopefully hadn’t told him about. I hadn’t been able to control that, but it did give me some insight into him.

“What exactly did you tell the Zarian about me?” I asked.

He looked down, his face a picture of contrition. “I am sorry, Inaris. I told them almost everything. That your father was the Moon, which they suspected already, and the details of how and why your mother sought him out. Including the fact that she specifically bargained for a child that would be a great ruler of the Empire.” He bowed his head. “I truly do regret that, and I beg your forgiveness.”

I didn’t answer for a moment, letting the silence build, as he still looked at the ground. Behind us, I could sense Al and Xiaodan coming up to us, although they’d slowed down.

“Inaris,” Mother finally spoke up, a demand.

I shook my head. “I won’t pretend I’m okay with this. I appreciate the apology, Carston, but I certainly can’t forgive you just like that. People tried to kill me for the secrets you spilled. While you had a nice, comfortable life with the Zarian. And I would have expected better of you than to welcome him back like this, Mother.”

“Inaris!”

I bowed to her. “Excuse me.”

Then I turned around and walked back to my siblings. There was a side passage just by their current position, and as I turned to it, Al followed. I could hear the silence behind me. Kariva’s aura was withdrawn, and I wondered for a moment what she thought of the whole thing. I couldn’t imagine that she didn’t see Carston as a threat.

“Xiaodan, go back to what you’re supposed to be doing,” I said. “I’ll come visit you later.”

She looked up at me with wide eyes, then bowed her head. “Yes, Elder Sister.”

She walked towards where Mother and the rest were still standing. Al, however, followed me down the side path. It was lined with trees and neatly trimmed hedges, with beds of flowers and exotic plants interspersed at the sides. The nice surroundings and the smell of flowers in the air didn’t calm me, they just made my muted anger seem more stark.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, Nari.” Al hesitated, then admitted, “I didn’t know how you would take it. I thought it would be better to talk about it in person.” He pulled a face. “I thought Mother would tell you before you two could run into each other.”

I nodded, then took a deep breath and tried to force myself to relax. This wasn’t Al’s fault, and I didn’t want him to think I was angry at him. If anything, this affected him even more than me.

“How do you feel about this, Al?” I asked quietly. I remembered that there were high-stage cultivators around, then snapped up a shield of qi to keep sound in and people from overhearing us.

“I’m okay,” he said quickly.

I raised an eyebrow. “You know you can talk to me, right? Your father just came home. Not that that’s official, but we all know it. He was captured by the Zarian for years.”

“And he told them stuff about my big sister,” Al added.

“That, too,” I agreed, the muscles in my face tightening despite myself before I relaxed them.

“I don’t know, Nari.” He sighed and kicked at a stone that lay on the path. “I don’t even remember him, I was too young when he left. And, I mean, he did just leave back then, after he and Mother broke up.”

“And now?” I asked. “She took him back, didn’t she?”

Al grimaced. “I’m not sure if they’re really officially together-together, but yeah, I think so.”

I sighed. “Great. But, anyway, we were talking about how you felt.”

Al shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t know him and he didn’t exactly act like a model father so far.”

“Well, you can talk to him now,” I pointed out. The words tasted slightly sour, but I forced them out. “He’s here, you can confront him about this, figure out if you want to get closer to him or not. You have the chance now.”

Al winced. “Sorry, Nari. I didn’t think. Of course, you don’t even get that much with your father.”

I reached out a hand to ruffle his hair, which he endured with only token resistance. “Don’t worry about it, I didn’t mean it like that. I get cool perks instead.” I snorted. “Hey, I’d be glad if you didn’t have anything to do with him. I just figured I should say it.”

“Sure.”

“Just be careful.” I frowned. “I don’t trust him.”

Al shook his head. “Sometimes you’re weird, Nari. Of course you don’t. I don’t have much reason to trust him, either.”

I shrugged. “How are things going for you, anyway?”

“They’re okay. I’ve been south, at the front, a few times. Not close to any fighting, of course.”

“Learning things?”

“Yeah. A lot.” He brightened up.

We headed into the palace proper, and he talked about his experiences with enthusiasm. I listened and couldn’t help but smile a little, although I made sure he didn’t see it.