When Lia had asked Orphelia about the strain, the girl had shrugged and then basically confirmed, that the mental strain for maintaining a magical effect was higher than simply providing mana. On the other hand, it was bodily less exhausting. For her these were just two different things. And that was all she could tell about it.

That night, she had dreamed that she was wading through dark mists. The glimpses she had seen from her surroundings were dead trees and barren surroundings. Almost as if she had been on some kind of cemetery.

It wasn't an overly scary dream that woke her in the middle of the night, but it had been everything but restful. So when she was packing her bag, she didn't quite listen to what Orphelia said she'd do when they were back at the Crystal Academy. She lifted her bag with a yawn and stared into her friend's indignant face.

"Did you even listen?" she asked.

"No," she replied and stifled another yawn.

"And here I was trying to invite you to a Galaxy Twister - The best milk shake in the known galaxy."

"What's so special about it?"

"It's made of mana-rich fairy ears. The plant with the dark blue leaves and glowing edges."

"And it's tasty?"

"For donar, it's supposed to be." Orphelia winked at her, and Lia had to subconsciously gulp.

"Come. I'm sure they're waiting already." Her friend walked past her, allowing Lia's imagination to run wild. She had to shake her head and push the thought of something overly delicious aside, before she could follow Orphelia without bumping into one of the many beds.

Ludwig was waiting for them already, and the two imperi appeared a short while later. Ludwig looked them once over, then clucked his tongue and went over to the imperi. One by one, he straightened all of their robes, before he turned around and led the way, not saying a single word. Orphelia looked at Lia, as if to ask "what was that?" Lia shrugged and looked toward the large silver tree at the center of the station. She probably wouldn't see it again.

The rest of their class was already waiting in the docking bay. Ludwig nodded to the other teachers, who nodded back at him, and then they waited for their ride to arrive. When one of the big air locks at the docking ring finally opened, everyone stared at it. Several people walked out, carrying crates and boxes to waiting transport sleds.

A woman talked with Sergeant Hoss from Security, and he gestured toward them. They held pads against one another, nodded, and the woman came over to them. "Hello, stationaries! I am Zari Aquaril, the captain of the Aptenodyte."

"I am Ludwig van Ragd, and these," he gestured around, "are students and teachers from the Crystal Academy. We're counting on you to bring us back home."

"Ah, just ... give us a few moments to clear our cargo and to take the return cargo on board," the captain answered.

"Sure, no problem, we'll wait." Ludwig smiled. "As agreed upon, the students will spread out and watch your crew work on the way back."

"Indeed. I got the details already."

"Good. My group and I will be joining you on the bridge."

"Ah ... right." Miss Aquari looked away from them and sighed. "Just don't interfere with anything the crew does."

"But of course."

"Very good. I think the cargo is cleared. Your students can enter while we load the return cargo. If you'll follow me? I'll lead you to the bridge."

While they walked toward the tunnel leading to the ship, Orphelia leaned closer to Lia. "Don't you think the captain is acting a bit strange?"

"She seemed a bit distracted," Lia answered with a shrug. "I'm sure she's a busy woman."

"Hmm." Orphelia rubbed her chin, then shrugged as well.

The inside of the Aptenodyte looked a bit more run down than that of the Aurelius. The walls and floors were made of bare metal, and there were traces of rust. That this ship wasn't as new as the other one they'd traveled with became even more evident on the bridge. There were no fake windows hiding HTVs, but rather a few simple screens.

The captain took her seat and sighed, eyeing them without saying a word. They positioned themselves half behind her and out of the way, waiting for the rest of the crew to take their seats and stations.

Maybe because the ship was smaller, and thus the crew was as well, it didn't take as long as it did on the Aurelius. At least it felt shorter to Lia. When one of the crew finally gave the signal "we're ready to depart," the captain straightened.

"Disembark from the station and head for open space. We'll jump as soon as possible."

"Yes, ma'am."

Lia looked at the screens. It felt far more as if she was simply looking some kind of old-school movie than really flying through space. Minutes passed, then one of the crew shouted "we're clear".

"Prepare for hyper space jump." The captain's voice reverberated through the whole ship, and a moment later Lia saw on the monitors something that looked like two oceans above and below the screen. Oceans made of stars that were constantly flitting around. It was far more palatable than the HTV view, but she was still forced to close her eyes.

"Locate the hyper space beacon," the captain instructed, emphasizing the word 'the' a bit more than necessary. Ludwig narrowed his eyes when the crew looked at the captain for confirmation and hesitated to set course immediately. Then, a moment later, the Aptenodyte moved through hyperspace.

"ETA: Five minutes," came the reply from the crew, and Lia got the feeling that something was very, very wrong.

***

When their ship actually plunged into one of the seas in hyperspace, the screens went white for a moment. After that, they were greeted by empty space. Empty. Space. There was no Crystal Citadel in front of them.

"Where are we?" Ludwig's voice was ice cold. "I really don't like surprise visits on a simple one-way trip."

"Captain? We're being hailed," one of the crew announced.

Stolen story; please report.

Zari Aquaril sighed. "Put them through."

"Lagrange to the freighter. Prepare to be boarded." The announcement made Lia feel really cold, almost as if the room had frozen over. She looked at Ludwig, who was gnashing his teeth. "We've targeted your engines, so please don't even try to escape."

The Aptenodyte's captain made a fist for a moment, then sighed again. "To the pirate vessel Lagrange. Understood."

Suddenly, Ludwig was in front of the captain and lifted her by the clothes. "You've led us into a trap!"

Zari Aquaril took his wrists and pulled him off of herself, showing more strength than Lia would've thought she had. "I am making the best of a bad situation," she hissed at him. "And if I have to sacrifice a few nameless donar to do it - then so be it!"

Lia's eyes went wide. The pirates were after them? But why?

The captain looked at her as if she was reading her thoughts. "I don't know why they want anyone of you, and I don't care."

Orphelia crept closer to Lia and took her hand, then she squeezed it. They'd had a trump card. Or rather her friend had one. But for now, they'd have to wait.

"Lia!" Ludwig ordered sharply. "Come here!"

There was a strange sound, and one of the crew aimed a gun at Ludwig. His voice quivered. "D... don't move!"

The captain nodded. "I'd rather you stay where you are."

"What would you do, if you could use magic?" Orphelia asked, looking at the crew around her.

"Simply close of the muzzle of their weapons. Which is very easy, if it is directed at you. That would make any gun unusable," Ludwig answered, eyeing the crew member that aimed at them. "After dealing with the initial threat you just have to remember that they need air to breathe or that their clothes are solid, too."

"Don't give your students stupid ideas, the captain said and made sure that she stood firmly between them and their imperi class mates.

"I am just doing my duty, which is answering their questions."

There was a rumble and a slight shock that went through the whole ship. Far more violent than anything Lia had ever experienced when docking at a station.

"Fine. Suit yourself." The captain shrugged and fell silent.

"Well, then another lesson you've probably learned today: Information is key to any situation. Which leads me to the lack of information and being surprised. That will always be to your detriment."

Lia nodded and glanced at Orphelia. Her friend was the only one that could act at the moment, but she was either hesitating or considering whether she should act right now. It was probably too late to act, since the pirates were already on board, and they didn't know how the crew would react to their rebellion.

It felt like ages passed before someone else walked onto the bridge. He had blonde, almost golden hair, and had a piercing green gaze that soon looked over everyone gathered in the room.

"Captain," he said and nodded toward Zari, as if greeting her.

Miss Aquarii clicked with her tongue and looked away. "Just remember your promise."

"We will, we will. Don't worry." The pirate captain kept smiling. "I am just looking for a certain donar. Then I'll be off again. We'll keep our word. We won't bother you or your families ever again. I don't even think, that we need to."

He looked to Ludwig. "You're Ludwig van Ragd, I assume?"

"What do you want?" Their instructor's voice sounded rough. "You should know that neither the Crystal Academy nor the Crystal Citadel will bargain with terrorists."

"We're pirates. The correct term is 'parlay'." The stranger grinned. "Besides, I am not here to parlay. At least not with you." A moment later he looked at Lia and Orphelia and got to his knees. "If my sources are correct, you're Lia. Lia Selena Eo, am I right?"

"Y... yes?" That wasn't anything she would have anticipated.

"My name is Ormo Andromedae, and I have come to seek your help."

"My help?" The situation had started bizarre and was now absurd. "I am just a donar! There is no way I can help you with anything!"

"Oh, but you can." He smiled and she almost expected him to procure a rose out of thin air. Instead, he bowed. "You have a very rare color, and we want to make use of it."

A shiver ran over Lia's spine, and it wasn't just fine with going down once, it teleported back up and descended it two more times. "You know," she whispered.

"Yes, I know," he whispered back, and a grin spread on his lips. Lia looked to Ludwig, who sighed and shook his head. He had this defeated look about himself. He apparently had wanted her to deny anything. But she had stepped right into the pirate's trap.

"If you help us, everyone else on board this ship will stay safe." He delivered the line with such a gentle and caring voice, and yet she felt overly threatened.

"What," she started and gulped, "will you do, if I refuse?"

"Nothing ... is what I'd like to say, but I can't. We've put a lot of effort into this meeting, and my men and I don't want to leave empty handed. Especially now that we have a new ... king."

"What good will I, what good will that one color do a pirate vessel?"

"Oh, I am sure you can imagine, what a pirate could do with foreknowledge about any raid." He stood slowly. "But if you need to know ... Our schemes are much grander. We were fine with how the queen has handled things, but his majesty, Amir Saggitarius," he spat title and name, "has forced our hand."

"Why?" was all she managed to ask.

"Because of what he is trying to do," Omor answered, clenching his fists.

"And what is he trying to do?" Lia cocked her head slightly. She had been raised on a farming colony, and the people there had all been very indifferent about who the current emperor or empress was.

"He's trying to ascend."

"That's ridiculous," Ludwig spat. "The last emperor who has tried to ascend was vaporized by all the magic he couldn't control."

"Still, he wants to try." Omor shrugged. "If that was all there was to it, I would have said, let him self-destruct. But for it to work, he has to collect a lot of mana. Which means that he'll not only try to collect people like Lia here, he also wants to impose a mana tax on all other donar."

"A mana tax?" Lia wondered. "How's that even supposed to work?"

Omor shook his head. "I have no idea. But that's where you come in."

"Mana can't be stored," Ludwig said. "A mana tax is therefore impossible. Don't let his tall tales cloud your mind!"

"I am explaining my reasons to her, I am not negotiating. We always wanted to abolish the system that sees imperi as superior. We think that every human should have equal rights and equal opportunities, and that they should prove their merit in society before they get any privileges. What good is a queen that can do magic on her own, if she doesn't use it for the good of her people?" Omor shook his head. "We accepted Lillian, because she tried, but even she has never changed the system. Amir though? He only has selfish goals, despite showing more power and control than his sister."

"The current system has served society very well," Ludwig argued.

"Ah yes," Omor spat. "Like 'nobless oblige', right? Is treating everyone who is not a mage as beneath you part of this noble obligation? Society has served you very well, which is why you don't want to change it!"

"Changing the system will cause a civil war," Ludwig answered through gnashed teeth, "and there is no guarantee, that the new system won't put anyone else on top once again. History has shown that humanity can't function without some kind of hierarchy!"

"Which is exactly the reason why we need time mana to steer the revolution into the right direction." He grabbed Lia's arm and pulled. "Come." His grip was hard and hurt.

"I don't want to," she protested.

Omor let go and sighed. "Have you listened? I am not giving you a choice here. Unless you want all your school mates to suffer? Or the families of the crew here?" Lia gulped and hesitated. "We also know where your family lives. I am sure they are a good motivation to get you going."

Tears began streaming down her face. "Why?"

"As every great king, ruler or empress can tell you: Sometimes we have to sacrifice something in order to achieve the greater good. I am prepared to become a demon, if it means that I can create a better society."

"The empire will protect your family," Ludwig said.

"Will it protect everyone's family? Even though it doesn't know what's happening right now?" Omor shook his head. "As I said, I'm not giving you any choice."

"Will you give me a choice?" Orphelia asked and stepped slightly forward. "Let me come with her."

A warm fluttery feeling joined the dread and uncertainty in Lia's gut, and all she could do was stare at Orphelia.

Omor seemed to consider the request for a long time, then he finally nodded. "Very well. You can come with her."

Lia looked back at Ludwig. She expected him to object, to at least retain the other donar who had all ten elements, but all he did was grimace. His hands were probably tied by his own web of secrets.

"Come," Omor said and walked off the bridge with a flourish. When Lia moved her legs, they felt as if they were suddenly made out of lead. Her life had broken apart far faster than she had anticipated. She squeezed Orphelia's hand. At least she wasn't alone.