Ariock glanced at holographic guidelines as he whittled a mecca out of a mountain.

He extruded verandahs of lacework stone, courtyard plazas, halls within halls, and observatories that defied gravity. Whenever he leveled off a balcony or incorporated the agate beauty of the bedrock, Thomas wordlessly adjusted his blueprints.

This was magic.

It wasn’t war. It wasn’t killing.

The act of carving monumental buildings could be dismissed as frippery when compared with freeing the galaxy from slavery. Yet this act filled Ariock with more pride than any battle had ever given him.

He was leaving a legacy of grandeur.

His academic complexes, his museums, his courts of justice would be gazed upon with awe and reverence for generations to come. His colossal structures, carved from bedrock or diamond-hard crystals, would outlast the dregs of the fallen Torth Empire. They might stand for eons.

He was a creator.

He didn’t have to settle for being a destroyer.

He could do this all day, every day. And so he had rescheduled military ceremonies and victory parades. Establishing foundations in major urban areas was more impressive than any parade, anyway.

The liberated planets needed some shared pride. Otherwise, they would begin to drift apart and make war upon each other.

And Kessa was giving them a shared purpose: the pursuit of knowledge. If she instated the Code of Gwat as a religion, well, that was fine as far as Ariock was concerned.

He extruded another colonnade on the new immensity. Mer nerctan dignitaries raised and lowered their heads in approval. Once Ariock and Thomas finished, the local populace would add crystal glass panes, accent lighting, docking bays, statuettes, and furnishings. Request Academy would become wholly theirs.

Ariock stepped back to admire his handiwork. From this distance, the newly extruded monolithic structure looked as delicate as gingerbread, but it was sandstone and jasper and tourmaline. He had reinforced the balconies with ionic tungsten struts.

“That’s enough for me.” Thomas sounded winded. “I’m done for today.”

Ariock still felt energized, but he nodded, glad to switch gears. He knew who he’d be spending his time with next.

He hoped Vy wasn’t busy.

“How do I look?” Ariock tugged the hem of his soft-fabric charcoal gray shirt, hoping that it still fit in a flattering way. Every few months, he needed to add an extra inch or two of fabric to all of his clothing, or ask his tailor to do so. He wished he could command his own body to stop growing.

“Vy will approve,” Thomas said.

That was good.

Ariock observed a polite ceremony with the dignitaries, dedicating the newly built academy to the people of Request City. He felt awkward among strange aliens. Even when he was friendly, trying to set people at ease, he might as well be an incarnation of clouds or starlight. Even when he wore understated civilian clothes, he didn’t have the same humble appearance as Kessa.

He accepted profuse gratitude from the military mayor, and he made sure the mayor included Thomas.

Finally it was time to leave. Ariock teleported back to Paradise II, otherwise known as Reject-20.

“Good luck,” Thomas said, making himself at home in the cozy lab which he shared with the Twins.

“Do you think she’ll like the ring?” Ariock asked.

“No spoilers,” Thomas said. “Go ask her!”

Ariock left Thomas in the research annex of Freedomland Academy and teleported to his own palatial suite. He used his powers to comb his hair and exfoliate his skin until he shone with health. He selected one of his ready-made travel packets. The patch would inhibit his powers temporarily, and the chalky tablet would give him immunity to the inhibitor. He was more likely to need one rather than the other. He tucked the packet into his clothes—along with a small velvet box.

Then he crossed the hallway and knocked on the entrance to Vy’s suite.

Vy looked casual when she opened the door. Her thick red hair was in a simple braid. She always seemed to expect a normal-sized friend, and she had to crane her head back.

“Are you in the mood for a romantic getaway?” Ariock asked.

Vy smiled. He loved the way she looked, sly and innocent at the same time. Sexy.

Their dates were always private. Neither of them wanted to be mobbed by awestruck aliens, so Ariock liked to take her to uniquely beautiful natural vistas.

“What’s the best setting you can imagine?” Ariock asked her. “Mountains? An island? A rainforest waterfall? Today is special.”

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Vy giggled. She leaped up, and Ariock caught her in one arm. “What makes today special?”

“I’ll tell you when we get there,” Ariock said. “Where are we going?”

Vy laughed. “How about somewhere with an awesome view and perfect weather?”

That was easy. Ariock already had a destination in mind, on a planet known as Saintly. The mountains were far more prominent than any range on Earth, yet their slopes could be balmy. He teleported to a scenic outcrop with Vy in his arms.

“This is incredible!” Vy grinned at the landscape of deep gorges and sheer cliffs.

Ariock set her down. He spread a cushy blanket for their comfort.

“Why is today special?” Vy asked.

Ariock hesitated. In his imagination, this moment was supposed to be casual and momentous at the same time, but now he wasn’t sure he could pull that off.

And he wasn’t all that sure of her reaction, either.

Vy raised one red eyebrow at him.

Ariock realized that he was tongue-tied. This was a big moment. A huge moment. One stupid mistake might cost him his entire future with Vy.

Was he rushing things? Was he pressuring her? Ariock swallowed and tried to regain some semblance of confidence, but it was futile. What made him believe he could come across like a potential husband?

He wasn’t even close to being husband material. He was a freak. He went around slaughtering Torth every evening before dinner. There could be militant outbreaks for the rest of his life, and he would always be called in to handle them. He could not offer a peaceful married life.

Wasn’t he arrogant, to be so certain that he was worthy of her love?

He should have sought romantic advice. A counselor might have wisely advised him to not even try this.

Vy slid both of her hands up Ariock’s shirt, reaching up toward his chest. “Your heart is racing,” she said with concern.

Ariock got down on one knee.

Vy looked baffled. Then her eyes widened with sudden understanding.

“I want to ask you something,” Ariock said. For better or worse, he had gotten himself into this predicament. He needed to follow through before Vy concluded that he was having a medical condition.

She looked worried. That didn’t bode well. She wasn’t expecting this at all.

“Violet Hollander…” Ariock drew out the tiny velvet box and opened it, displaying the delicate ring. It resembled a halo, its platinum filigree suggesting a lacework of fine branches, each curled around a tiny diamond.

Her eyes went even wider.

“Will you marry me?” Ariock dared to ask.

Why would anyone sane want to marry a monster who caused storms whenever he was upset? He was trembling. He had probably just doomed their relationship.

Vy gasped and burst into joyful, happy tears. “Yes!” She threw her arms around Ariock’s thick neck. “Yes!”

He was so surprised, he nearly forgot to be gentle when he hugged her back. He laughed against her shoulder.

She was laughing too, with delight. “Are you sure you want to marry me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” he asked.

“I mean, I’m just a plain Earth girl.” She sounded serious, as if revealing an embarrassing fact.

“You’re not plain.” He ran her braid through his fingers. Sometimes he wondered how she could be so oblivious to her own worth. She had a habit of false modesty.

Something made a rapid clicking sound behind them.

Vy turned and laughed with surprise. “We have an audience.”

A large nest perched inside a craggy cleft. A critter sat within, watching them with interest. It could have been cousin to griffins.

“Oops,” Ariock said, mortified that he had failed to scout the area. The baby griffin-like animal had enough size that its parents might prove threatening. “I’d relocate it,” he said, “but I think it would be easier for us to relocate.”

“No. It’s fine.” Vy stopped Ariock before he could gather up the blanket. “I don’t mind a bit of danger.”

“Really?” If Ariock had to fend off a creature attack, that would ruin the mood. Vy would see his brutish side, and then she might reconsider the idea of marrying him.

“This needs to be refitted,” Vy said, trying to twist the ring onto her finger.

Ariock embraced the platinum with his powers and stretched it, until the ring slid comfortably onto her finger. “How about now?”

Vy admired it on her hand, delighted.

“I designed it myself,” Ariock admitted. “With advice from Thomas.”

“It’s perfect.” Vy pulled him towards the blanket.

Soon they were kissing. Vy draped herself onto his lap. “Always being a hero,” she whispered. “I don’t know how I got you. I’m the luckiest woman in the universe.”

Ariock began to heat up from her caresses and kisses. Sunlight beat down on them, warming the air. He struggled heroically against carnal urges, but his awareness jumped out. Pebbles began to float.

“Hold on,” Vy said, as Ariock said, “Just a minute.”

Vy rolled partway off him. She reached into her discarded sundress and pulled out an inhibitor patch in plastic wrap.

Ariock laughed. He held up his own travel packet, showing her an identical patch.

He let Vy paste the patch onto his neck. As soon it was all the way on, his expanded awareness seemed to curl up. Pebbles fell. The mountains around him were safe and proud, and he became fearless in a way that had nothing to do with battles.

“Now then.” Vy perched on his chest, face to face with him. “You’re not going to cause an avalanche or whatever, right?”

She was so self-satisfied, laying on him. So cute.

Ariock could have gazed into her eyes forever. Whenever he was with Vy, the problems of the galaxy seemed irrelevant. Here, he was not a cargo carrier, or a stooge for Garrett, or muscle for Thomas, or a messiah figure for quadrillions of slaves. He was beholden to only one person.

An endless future spread out like the vista around them, sparkling and seemingly infinite.

Yet a shadow of his recurring nightmare made itself known.

Not only did his future self fail to protect Vy, but he failed everyone. Even himself. He woke up every morning feeling as if he had died.

What was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he just enjoy this moment? Why not revel in the fact that he was engaged to the most amazing woman in the universe?

When Ariock had consulted a seer, the Great Mwagru, he had realized his own stupid fear of losing the people he loved. He feared losing Vy, just as he had lost his father and his mother, and such a loss was unthinkable. It would shatter him.

He loved her so much, it was scary.

The dark side of him wanted to stash her in some secret haven that only he had access to. If he ever lost Vy, his own existence would cease to have any meaning. The intensity of his love was frightening.

Vy gave him a reassuring smile. That smile said that she supported any decision he made. She was there for him, no matter what.

Ariock had needed to see that. Her smile made his nightmare fade to meaningless nonsense.

And a better explanation for his apprehension came to him. Other warriors welcomed invincibility, since the crumbling Torth Empire still had a few loyal Servants of All and Rosies. Oh, and nuclear weapons. Lots of those. But Ariock defeated such threats with relative ease. He was so overpowered, well, of course he was afraid to lose his power for a short time!

He feared his own excessive power and he also feared being totally powerless. What else was new?

“Let’s throw aside our fears,” Vy said in a tender voice. She gently kissed Ariock. “Take off your clothes.”

All of his energy which had gone into air and stone was concentrated within his body. He was not even close to being a storm god. He was wholly human. But he was an extremely energetic human.

When Vy moved, wriggling, touching, and kissing, Ariock quit protesting and responded in kind.