By the time that Ki'el awoke, many things had changed. She had feared as much, of course, but what seemed strangest was that they were still--or once again--on a floating platform, high above the world, though not so high as the Moonstone Island Sect, still visible above them.

Her immediate thought was that they should return--that the sect was safety, and home. But... that thought did not survive for more than a few moments. It wasn't an intellectual choice; it wasn't anything, really. But the thought that the sect had been, or would become, her home, hit her hard.

It had been meant to be. But was it?

"Ki'el." Chian was sitting next to her, and Ki'el knew that the spirit fox that she had bonded with--Meixu--had noticed her waking, but said nothing. Kuli, too, did not interrupt her thoughts, as the augment most often did not. "Are you hurt?"

That was its own question, and Ki'el closed her eyes again, feeling the burning through her spirit. It was worse, but not so much more that she couldn't function. In truth, most of what she had done was simply to command the sword; its aether didn't flow through her. But... commanding that mass of aether had needed her to spend no small amount of qi. Or perhaps... perhaps Ki'el had done so out of instinct? She was not sure.

"I am fine," she chose to say instead, though of course that was too optimistic. She chose not to try to sit up, because she felt like it would not work out well. "Everyone else?"

There was something of an awkward pause, before Chian answered, "We were chased away, but Elder Sang left us this platform. Sister Benai and your companion Meixu kept us safe. Meixu... borrowed your sword, and returned it. As did I."

Ki'el looked and met Chian's eyes. The girl looked... nervous. "The sword is fine?"

"I have it," Xam answered. "I believe it is fine. It is in my ring, but I will return it when you wish."

In truth, Ki'el didn't have any need for it now, and she was not feeling particularly well. At first, she thought it might be the damage to her spirit, but... "Are we moving?"

[ Don't tell me you're motion sick, ] Meixu scolded her. [ Aren't you an island girl? ]

Ki'el forced herself to sit up, and when she could see the distance, and the horizon below, some things started to slowly fall into place. A disorientation that she had not understood... but also, when she was able to put that aside, there seemed to be... a crack.

{ You are not imagining it, } Kuli admitted. { Your spirit is damaged, not from your use of qi... but from what you have lost. }

Lost? Ki'el, instinctively, looked around, but the people she expected to be there were. Did something happen to Sobon? The sword?

{ Ki'el. } The words of her augment were serious, but not harsh. { You lost a future, a dream that you had made into a pillar in your heart. It was only just beginning to develop, but losing it is still serious. }

Ki'el found herself staring into the distance. The words, if they were merely spoken, might have slipped past her, but Kuli's words were Ki'el's thoughts. And Ki'el understood, if not as well as the augment, that there was something fundamentally true there.

[ That mind enhancer of yours is wise, ] Meixu volunteered, and Ki'el turned to look, surprised that it could hear Kuli, given that she was sure her augment had not been projecting. [ Grieve while you have a chance, girl. If you forget why you are grieving, it will never end.]

"We aren't sure what to do," Chian said into the quiet, with somewhat awkward timing, and Ki'el realized that she had not heard the spirit fox's transmission. "But... even with the Sect's permission, and protection, I worry that we will not be safe there. That you will not be safe there."

And there it was, again. A future stripped from her. The crack in Ki'el's spirit felt almost tangible, as she confronted the thought. She had built it up in her mind--as a place where she could be safe, where she would learn so much, where she would become a person who her master wished her to be. Sobon had said that he had expected her to grow strong enough to help. How could she do that anywhere else?

"I don't think it's unsafe to return," Brother Bon said from somewhere to Ki'el's right, though she had paid the man little attention when looking over the others. "The Elders of the sect are all masters, and the true master of the Moonstone Island sect..." he paused, as she turned to face him. "Are you aware of her?"

"I believe I have met her, at the trial." Ki'el had no idea how strong the woman who appeared to run her hearing was, but the smallest motions from her were respected by the assembled Elders.

"Of course. But have you heard who she is?" When Ki'el could only look at him blankly, he looked away. "I... only know it as a legend. It may be untrue. But I was told that she was one a princess by birth, of a mountain nation, and... one of the wives of the Diamond Lord."

Wife of the Diamond Lord? Ki'el had no idea what that made her in imperial politics, though from the look on several faces around her, she trusted it was substantially important. "That means she is strong?"

Brother Bon chuckled. "I can see how your thinking varies by the look on your faces. Sister Ki'el cares little for politics, but trusts that a strong man wants a strong partner. Sister Xam was not thinking about her strength, but about the politics. Brothers Jito and Taru had no idea the Sect was so well connected. Brother Mian... I believe was distracted."

"I've never seen the woman," Mian said, looking away. "My imagination ran away with me."

"If you are imagining a gentle flower, you're far from the truth." Brother Bon's voice still contained a humor, though it hardened. "It is said that none of the Diamond Lord's wives were anything but the fiercest of warriors, all flowers plucked in their prime. Often by force, though the blow was softened by the Diamond Lord's protection thereafter." He paused. "Not all Empresses--though there is no such title in imperial politics--not all became heads of houses or even cared what happened to the children they bore for the Diamond Lord. But all were changed."

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[ That is an interesting version of the story, ] Meixu's musings, from nearby Ki'el's head, sounded very loud to her. [ And not entirely wrong. But it feels the wrong time to be wrapped up in legends. Do you wish to return to the Sect? There is much there for you if you return, and much danger if you stray away from it. But there is no question that you will be found, if you return. ]

"No."

Ki'el found that she was unable to make the decision any other way. It wasn't as though she thought about it. If she were to put it to words, she would say that she could no more easily return to the Sect than walk on a broken leg, wield a sword with a broken arm. Perhaps--just perhaps--it would be possible, with great difficulty and immense pain, but every part of her rebelled at the idea.

Of seeing the home where she and Chian had been hoping to live. Walking the roads that she and Xari had walked. It was a senseless thought--no, not a thought. It was only pain, like the pain of thinking of her home, of the many people from her village that were missing, perhaps slaves to some Djang household or other. Perhaps tortured, perhaps dead.

Why does everyone home get taken away from me?

"I don't disagree," Xam said, though Ki'el only understood her words later, with the help of Kuli, who listened when she did not. "Perhaps later, we can return. I suspect the Sect will allow it without even requiring us to pay, though... if they do, it will be complicated. We don't have that much money."

"Few people do," agreed Fei Taru, his voice quiet even in Kuli's retelling.

"But we do have a property writ, one that Ki'el's master gave us to start our house. And money to begin such a task." Xam's voice, though it sounded firm, held doubts, doubts that only intensified Ki'el's refusal to listen in the moment.

At that time, though, the fox Meixu moved into Ki'el's lap, and she found herself petting him, the fox clearly encouraging the behavior by choosing not to flee from or react to her touch. It calmed her, steadied her, to feel his fur through her fingers.

"A property writ?" Brother Bon asked after a moment. "What is that, exactly?"

"A simple notice, signed by a Djang military commander, requesting that some allowances be made when we attempt to purchase property in an area where it is usually restricted. As payment for services to the Empire." Xam's voice was, in Kuli's opinion, attempting to project pride, although she understood the topic poorly. "It comes with a list of places where it might be respected... and one is not far from here."

[ What sort of places? ] Meixu's projection sounded guarded.

"The closest is within the Shadowed Fang Mountains, just to the north," Xam answered, as Ki'el began to recover enough that Kuli started to catch her up on what had been said so far. "My understanding is the area is known for its mining, and there is a minor industrial city there. It sits on a military route, one used for pacifying Starbeasts further north and west."

Xam paused only briefly before she changed subjects. "The next closest is in the opposite direction, and would bring us back in the direction of Emerald Valley, where I met Ki'el and Mian. Since Emerald Valley is already known to our enemies as well, I would imagine it has already been attacked and is under invesetigation; I wouldn't recommend getting too close, but there is a river city there which may provide an opportunity."

"The remaining three noted locations are all in the eastern half of the Empire, and will take more effort for us to reach, especially now. In the north, a port city--"

"We should go to the mountains." Ki'el finished catching up to the conversation in time to break in with her suggestion--she did not view it as an order, herself. In truth, she was mostly just hurt, scared. "Find a quiet place. Where we are not known."

There was a silence. { They will listen if you insist, } Kuli translated for her, and Ki'el looked up, realizing that everyone was looking at her. She... was not used to the idea. No, rather... even if Kuli insisted that others would listen, the idea made little sense to her, not in the moment.

[ Young Ki'el is not as certain as she sounds, but... ] Meixu translated for the rest, not including Ki'el in that part of his transmission, though he included her for the rest. [ For my part, I agree. These mountains of yours, they are very tall? Shrounded in clouds and mist? ]

"Yes," Xam said, and Ki'el looked to her, surprised by the sudden brightness in her sister's voice. "And some are active volcanos, glowing at night with hellish lights. I have not been, but many artists have become famous depicting its peaks and valleys, especially at dawn and dusk, when the deep shadows reveal the hidden glows." Xam paused, seeming suddenly embarrassed. "I know... that this is hardly the time. But they are truly lovely paintings."

[ Storm shrouded peaks are the natural playground of a Raging Storm Fox. Though... I have become quite comfortable with the lowlands as well. It would be an ideal place for this young Inheritor to grow. ] Meixu turned his head to look at Benai. [ And you, sister. Unless you plan to run back to the Sect this moment? Another charge, perhaps? ]

A part of Ki'el, though she didn't focus on it, noted the difference in how Meixu treated Benai, rather than Chian. It should have felt natural, given the difference in age, wisdom, and power, but...

"The families can contact me if they need me," Benai said, after a moment of silently mulling the question over. "I've no contract with the Sect itself. And no one there now needs my guidance."

"Then I suppose we're agreed?" Xam's voice sounded somewhat pleased. "Brother Bon? How far can we take this stone platform?"

"Elder Sang's [Foundation] will persist indefinitely, but I can't power it for more than two, three hundred li at a time." Brother Bon sighed. "If Brother Du had come..."

"What about me?"

The question came from nowhere, and Ki'el blinked, having to look around even to find the sound of the voice. But there, not far away, on his own small rock platform, somehow giving away almost no qi signature, was... "Brother Juno?"

"Sister Ki'el!" He grinned and waved at her. "I meant to come by and see how you're doing, but I wonder... what have you learned?"

Ki'el paused, the obvious answer coming to mind, but... she frowned. "If Brother Juno is wondering what we can pay him for his services..."

"She does learn." Juno's rock shifted towards them without obvious effort on his part, though the movements of the rock seemed almost playful, joyous. "In this case, rather than payment in advance, I'll ask for a simple favor, since I was listening quite well to everything you've said so far." He moved in, the rock coming right next to their platform--their Foundation, according to Brother Bon. "Nothing complicated. Room and board, when I ask for it. For life."

Ki'el instinctively bristled at the idea of such an open-ended request, but to her surprise, Xam snapped her fingers immediately. "Done," she said. "But so long as you stay, you will have to do work."

"Ah, a businesswoman." Brother Juno feigned a swoon. "A woman after my own heart. Don't fret, lovely one. As long as you pay for materials, and don't ask too much of my time, I'm happy to remain busy." He ignored Mian's discomfort at the flirting, and leaned on his arm like he was quite satisfied with himself. "And a mining city would be quite the place for someone adept at metal folding."

Metal Folding? But Ki'el looked down, feeling again like the whole reason why Juno was here--why any of these people were here--was all because they all thought that Ki'el was something special.

If so, they thought something that Ki'el, herself, did not.

She grit her teeth, though, and bowed her head. "Thank you, Brother Juno."

"Don't worry too much about it, Ki'el. Especially now. I mean look at you! You seem about ready to fall over, even though you've only just awoken!" Juno seemed to spring effortlessly off his rock, catch it, and store it away in his space ring all in one motion. "Rest, girl, and let the others work for a while. Bon, I'll take control."

Bon relinquished control of the Foundation, and Ki'el laid down, finding that Meixu curled up next to her head almost immediately. There's something about that fox, Ki'el thought, though she didn't know what or why. Something strange in how he had treated her--all of them. An earnesty that she had not expected.

But Ki'el found herself drifting off again only too soon, the thought soon forgotten.