{The fountain is set up and I made rooms for each of you in case we don’t have time to get everything set up before sunrise,} Howard informed them.

“You certainly thought ahead well,” Natalie acknowledged, “Our bigger problem is the shuttle.”

{We can’t just leave it there,} James agreed, wincing at the thought of all the bad things that could happen if they left it behind.

{Leave what there?} the doctor asked.

{They must be talking about that mysterious building Jonathan lived in, Dov,} Azul chimed in, {and it might be possible to move it using telekineses. Everyone should be able to use it and between all of us, it should be possible.}

{Two of them have not gone through the ceremony,} Dorian pointed out, {They are powerless.}

{We could change that,} Selina mused, {but let’s try on our own first. I don’t want to force them.}

“It’s fine,” Natalie spoke up, “I intended to have my ceremony done as soon as this colony was set up. It is difficult to survive with only one-way communication.”

“Absolutely,” Leon agreed, “I just didn’t want some stranger who could turn into our enemy rummaging through my head. I don’t mind if it is Howard or Selina.”

{Selina is in charge of the ceremonies,} Howard told them.

{Hold on, Howard,” Selina complained, {I am fine with doing Natalie’s but can you take care of Leon’s? I don’t want to see inside his head if I don’t have to.}

Howard sighed. He didn’t really want to see inside Leon’s head either, but it might be faster if both of them were done at once. {Fine.}

{Let’s just do the ceremonies now so we don’t have to try lifting that thing twice,} James said, {I will start working on a formation we can take.}

{Would you guys mind waiting a little longer? I still have to add the finishing touches to the fountain’s appearance. I can’t have your ceremonies happen at an empty pool,} Selina declared, {It shouldn’t take me long to finish.}

Selina had been inside working on it for the entire conversation. Since the fountain also quickly grew into existence Howard wasn’t sure what could be taking her so long. Then again she was probably being particular to make sure it was perfect for her sense of drama or whatever it was.

Howard followed Natalie and Leon back to the base of the treehouse just in time to see Selina put the finishing touches on a fountain made out of a winding vine of silver leaves with pearls the size of fists pouring out small streams of water.

{There,} Selina said, taking a step back to admire her work, {It’s perfect.}

Now that Howard was closer he could see that the fountain was not made of silver leaves, but silver flowers, with a fairly simple pattern. The pearls were carefully placed at the end of the pistils, allowing the water to spill from flower to flower, and back into the pool.

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Hopefully, by now, the Sacred Orbs had been able to use the waterfall to purify and empower this area by now or the ceremony was not going to work. He was not a big fan of long and involved procedures and did not want to have to do this twice. Since the waterfall was the closest to the Source, he led Leon there.

{Stand under the waterfall,} Howard told him.

“What?” Leon asked, slightly shocked.

{The water from the fountain conducts Wisdom, so in order for the ceremony to work properly without harming either side, the receiver needs to be surrounded by water. That is what I was told. It should be fine if you get soaked, so stand under the waterfall.}

Leon eyed the waterfall dubiously and selected a portion where the water was not crashing down nearly so hard. “This is just like a massage shower… with my clothes on,” he said to convince himself.

As soon as he stepped in, Howard began. The ceremony was both easy and complex. It relied a lot on instinct and if he lost focus the ceremony would flop and nothing much would happen. The water around Leon began to glow a soft green, and Howard stiffened as memories flowed in on their own accord.

As they played Howard discovered many things. Leon came from a family of criminals. His parents lied, tricked, and stole to support their lifestyle instead of getting real jobs, and when they were imprisoned Leon was forced to do the same to survive as an orphan. The world was only kind to orphans until they reached the legal age.

On the bright side, Leon did manage to join and eventually take over a mostly legitimate casino. However, bad habits die hard and Leon became a master with his silver tongue.

Howard felt like Leon was deliberately making sure he saw things in perfect order so that he might pity him or otherwise take his side. From the other memories Howard saw, Leon was by no means innocent or a good person back on Earth. He had given up on his life of trickery during the year he could barely communicate, but there was no telling when his silver tongue would return and turn against them.

On the other hand, if they ever had to deal with other colonies, that silver tongue could be very useful. Howard finished the ceremony and the waterfall parted to let Leon return to the path perfectly dry.

{“What was that?”} Leon asked, both out loud and in the mind. His eyes were red with an orange hue.

{You also awakened to Dream?} Howard questioned.

{To what?} Leon asked, already getting the hang of telepathy.

{I will have to explain later. Let’s hope Selina is done with Natalie so we can get dragging that shuttle here over with.}

Leon grimaced. {Right, and what are we going to do with it once it is here? If we get any visitors it is going to stand out like a sore thumb.}

{We are going to have to figure out some way to hide it,} Howard agreed and made his way back to the others.

Natalie was done and her hair remained black at her scalp but lightened to silver as it reached the tips. She scowled upon seeing that Leon’s hair was still very much blonde. {We should test our telekineses before we try to help everyone haul a whole spaceship,} she recommended. She seemed to be forcing herself to use telepathy only so she would adjust to it faster.

{Probably,} Leon agreed and picked up a stone. He let go of it, then successfully caught it was a satisfied smile. {That’s not so bad.}

Natalie, on the other hand, had a very difficult time getting the hang of telekineses. It was only when she stopped trying to hard that she became able to do it, which shot her confidence down quite a bit.

{Perhaps I should stick to cooking and managing money as I have for the past year.}

{Don’t say that,} Sanders told her, {Lifting something of that size with so many people requires a lot more concentration so I am certain you will be better at it.}

Natalie shot him an icy glare. {I am still not convinced you couldn’t move it all by yourself,} she shot back, {I think you are restraining yourself for some reason.}

{You’re imagining things,} Sanders replied with a smile. He was a lot better than any of them with telepathy but Howard could still tell he was lying and trying to avoid the subject.

James unintentionally rescued Sanders as he went over the formation and plan for moving it. Sanders would be focusing on keeping the portal open wide enough for them to easily get it through. Everyone else would be stationed around the shuttle and would focus on lifting up and carefully following James, who would be giving orders and steering from the front.

Everyone gathered into position. {Before we start, where are we setting this down?} Natalie asked.

{How about by the cliff?} Howard suggested, “I might be able to make the caves expand to cover it.}

{Good idea,} James replied, {Let’s get this done. The sun is going to rise in an hour or two and I don’t want to take any chances.}

Carrying such a large object with telekineses with the help of a large group of people was incredibly awkward, but not too much different than carrying a large object with a group of people without telekineses. All in all, it took about half an hour for them to place the shuttle near the cave and another to make sure everything else was gathered as well. Things might have gone faster if they were a bit more coordinated but since they made it before sunrise no one complained too much.

It was unanimously decided that houses, hiding the shuttle, and moving everything else would have to wait until the next night. Howard was glad he had arranged all of the bedrooms beforehand, but it was regrettable that about the only furniture in the place were the paperlike hammocks in the bedrooms. Furniture just didn’t grow in trees.