The lunch was a fun reunion for everyone else, but it was spoiled for you.

You engaged in conversation only enough to sound okay to Melonaa, you didn't want her prying into what you had on your mind, but the eyeless stare and heavy words of Tyrr'olni'nel'mul weigh on your mind as if it was trying to drag it down into the depths below the Titan Trees.

After a hearty bowl of Jalapur soup, your friends part ways. Off to the various jobs that they owe to keep the Tree and its people alive in the name of L'Oos, but L'Neeri stays behind as promised.

You make your way back to your room with him in silence. The awkwardness sat stagnant at "oh boy."

Once there, you sit down on your bed, and finally, you and L'Neeri take your first look at the Token.

In your hand sits a gleaming circle of light grey-blue, something.

You have never seen anything like it. Its surface is so polished you can see your reflection on its hard, cold surface. It is about the size of a common mushroom cap, barely covering your palm.

You poke at it with your index finger, sliding its weirdly smooth, yet textured surface across your hand.

"Is this, "Stone"?"

The fabled material used by L'Oos and her sisters to make the moons and seal Sa'Bel at the bottom of the world?

"Wow..." you say, turning it over in your fingers. Its surface was covered in tiny bumps and ridges that make up a strange, alien pattern.

"This Aarkiel, what did it look like?" L'Neeri suddenly says.

You carefully tell him about what had happened. He listened intently until you got to your new Patron's name and description.

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"Oooh... That isn't very good," he says slowly, his face scrunching up. "Well you see, my Patron, Ure'nairn'itah'likk-"

"Wait, you just remember that?" You cut him off.

"Uh,"

"Ure'n... what? What kind of name is that?" You ask incredulously.

He looks at you confused, "Aarkiels can name themselves however they want... Anyway. My Patron is Not on good terms with yours."

"Huh? Why?"

"I have absolutely no idea why. But let's hope it doesn't affect us. Continue."

"Oh, uh." You continue on. After a lengthy description of the end of the interaction with Tyrr'olni'nel'mul, L'Neeri gets up to explain what a Token is.

"Tokens are objects, like these," he explains, holding up your little Stone circle and a long chain of black beads on a hidden string, "that grants a Branded One the ability to manipulate Allegory. You have heard the stories, right?"

You nod. These were the classic bedtime stories that mothers told children who just wanted something exciting to listen to. The stories of great Branded Ones who flew through the sky on captured clouds, giant grey birds, and bountiful streams of water. The Branded Ones saved the people from distant Trees that were burning down to Sa'Bel's domain. They were the stuff of legends and bedtime stories.

"The effect of manipulating Allegory," He continues, "is specific to the Token and Aarkiel that created it. My Token gives me the ability to control Gravity. Like this."

The chain of beads suddenly seems to fall upwards. Dangling towards the ceiling between his fingers. He lets go and it falls upwards towards the ceiling, hitting it and lying there like it was on the floor.

"Oooh..." you say, impressed.

"The Token does not need to be on your person for you to be able to use your abilities." He waves his hand, and the bead chain slides around on the ceiling, coming back and stopping just above him. "So if I were to leave, then gravity would still work here even though I am gone!"

He moves his hand, causing the beads to fall, and he snatches them as they pass by.

"Now, your Token, I have no idea what it does." He sighs and rubs his forehead. "Now we could try having you test it... But it is extremely dangerous." He paces back and forth.

"How do you use your powers?" you ask, taking the Stone circle from L'Neeri.

"It's really hard to explain. I just kinda, focus, and then it happens." His expression turns grim. "If something goes wrong when you're testing your new abilities, it could result in death. Not just you, but possibly the people around you too. So, please be careful. I know that sounds dramatic, but really, I mean it." He glances at the stone again.