Velio’s jaw muscles clenched into over-strained cords as he studied the woman in front of him. After watching this stranger Edraine clobber the projection of Lathis N’Gick, he dared not underestimate her. Yet at the same time, Velio couldn’t help but find her energies familiar. As soon as he placed her, he only grew more confused. “You… you were the one to strike at me in the Shaft when I pursued the Ghosthound. You’ve… improved in a short amount of time.”

The ground was still sizzling with the passage of her image. As one approached the Pinnacle, there was power and then there was power. Even though certain individuals below the Speculum tier would possess similarly refined images, there could be stark differences between their martial capabilities.

The image for peace was simply incomparable to the image for fire.

And the woman in front of him… the raw and primal waves of energy she could release… It was the most devastating image Velio had ever witnessed. And he had lived for a long, long time.

“Unfortunately, things are not that simple,” Edraine shook her head and gestured to the charred organic matter that was all that remained of Lathis’s avatar. “Under normal circumstances… such a decisive victory would be impossible. Due to some particular circumstances… I am in a position to very easily condense drops of liquid Aether. However, that brief fight drained most of my storage. So we should take advantage of this brief opportunity and depart.”

Velio barred his teeth and ignored the sweat trickling down between his shoulder blades. Neither of them moved, despite the fact that the orthodox forces of the Nexus would no longer be pursuing them casually. Not after Edraine demonstrated enough power to overwhelm a fraction of Lathis N’Gick.

Edraine raised an eyebrow after a few more moments of stillness. “Is there a problem?”

“What do you want from me?” Velio said bluntly. Even if this Edraine claimed that she had used most of her liquid Aether against Lathis, he did not believe her. She was too calm, too confident, despite trampling over one of the most powerful individuals in the Nexus. Besides, even if she just relied on the sort of strike that she had used in the Shaft to delay Velio attacking Randidly Ghosthound, he would not be able to escape quickly.

Which meant that Velio Dunn now had two options. The first was to force his way out of the Nexus Ways and accept that the complex folding of space around these specially made tunnels would both damage him and pop him out in a random area. In addition, due to the violence of this method, it would be very easy for pursuers to follow his trail through warped space. They would gain valuable minutes and accomplishing his ultimate goal would become almost impossible.

Secondly, he could work with Edraine, who clearly had come to this location to assist him. The crux of the matter… was her price.

“Heh, it’s actually quite simple. Generally, I want a relationship with you. But specifically… I desire information,” Edraine said. “Although I am your contemporary in age… much of my existence was in a peculiar state of hibernation. Recently… you fought against Randidly and had some seal within you loosened, yes? I wish to understand why the Nexus reacted to this as though you took a shit on Elhume’s chest when that seal disappeared.”

Several emotions flickered across Velio Dunn’s face. He felt the urge to grip the comforting wrap of his bastard sword, but suppressed the impulse; he didn’t want to waste time explaining such an aggressive action. He had guessed that this figure must be ancient, but if she truly was from the Second Cohort… yet she couldn’t tell that horrible conspiracy that had occurred during Elhume’s grand project…?

“You… were just a common individual before your hibernation,” Velio Dunn guessed.

Edraine favored him with a dangerously jagged smile but didn’t answer.

RUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEE!

Both instantly shifted into fighting stances as the Nexus Ways around them began to vibrate. The intensity of the seismic activity rose sharply upward until the small debris began to tumble from the ceiling. Considering the fact that these reverberations were resonating through Aether before transitioning to the physical surroundings, Velio paled to think of how much jarring pressure was near the epicenter.

Velio and Edraine exchanged another look; neither wanted to find out if that noise was related to the pursuit of Velio. If that horrible specter of Elhume that ruled the Nexus was moving personally…

“I agree to explain,” Velio Dunn said, still ignoring the itching of his hands. “But follow me first. It will be easier to show you… the place where it all happened, rather than explaining. That place… is the site of the greatest betrayal in the history of the Nexus. Where Elhume… revealed his true colors.”

Edraine raised her eyebrows. “Such an important place… the defenses-”

“No.” Velio shook his head. Then he gestured for the mysterious Edraine to follow him. “There are no guards. Even the powerful Elhume, supported by his two conspiring servants… could not directly face the vengeful curse of the Origin Beasts. That great race… left a deep scar on the Nexus that persists to this day. And all Elhume could do, after his body was sealed, was steal one of the smaller corpses of their people and use it as the base of his capital. Petty, right?”

*****

Only a minute after the news about Velio Dunn’s attack was announced and Randidly felt Edraine begin to rapidly pull vast amounts of Aether through their connection, the hushed conversations were interrupted by a demanding catastrophe.

Ripples ran across the surface of any liquids sitting on the tables. And the disturbance rapidly escalated from there, until the building seemed about to collapse.

RRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB-

CRACK!

-BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Randidly blinked. The ancient and hulking structure of Military High Command shuddered at first, before finally capitulating to the pressure: a hairline crack bolted across the tiled fresco floor of the ballroom and up the ornate walls. Then Randidly’s eyes narrowed as he saw that the crack extended through one of the tiled areas, shredding the mechanism in half. After dancing atop the installation for several minutes, he understood how sturdy it was.

This earthquake that shuddered the headquarters of Military High Command… was not ordinary. And its reach seemed to stretch to the furthest reaches of the Nexus.

The ground continued to rumble and as though being thawed from ice, the powerful forces of the military surged into frenzied motion. The mysterious disciple of the Speculum vanished directly as the Nexus was sundered by the quake and was swiftly followed by dozens of others who shot toward the trembling doors, driven by some hidden orders.

Commandant Wick and his subordinates were in this group, abandoning the ballroom immediately.

Surrounded by a chaos of bodies, Randidly moved back to stand near Claudette, Raymund, and the other members of his elite squad who were lingering. He gave them quiet orders to return to the Fifth Cohort staging area for now and waved Claudette on when she offered to stay with him for a bit. Randidly’s gaze was unfocused, but his senses followed the steady current of significance that headed downward.

Others might not notice it, but how could he miss that the source of this disturbance… came from that horrifying being at the base of the shaft…? Thinking about those echoing words that had been injected into his mind twice now, Randidly shivered.

Perhaps… after I help Claudette, I need to head down and investigate the source… Randidly twisted his lips. But then he raised his head and moved purposefully upward through the emptying room, even while the ornate ballroom continued to jostle like a loose-engined jalopy. He ascended the steps even as he felt the last of the other members of Military High Command depart. They didn’t even appear to notice that he hadn’t followed.

He ascended the stairs two at a time, ignoring the collapse buffet tables and the oozing deserts that marred the floor. From the second floor, he smartly walked around and up the next staircase. Randidly licked his lips, still pumping his legs. And there, standing on the third floor with her back to him and a long azure braid down her back, a woman stood in the distinctive Xyrt Brigade uniform.

Vualla turned to face Randidly and her lip curled upward. “Oh, I figured since you brought a pretty date to this thing that you had forgotten about me…”

Randidly briefly paused as their eyes met. He knew his feelings for this woman who shared his determination to change the Nexus were quite strong, but somehow this moment was felt different than their prior interactions. He looked at the sharp lines of her nose, the arc of her lips, and the crinkles in the corner of her eyes and felt something tighten below his diaphragm.

Maybe it was his visit to Expira and Neveah’s pleas that he stop viewing himself as a force and more as a person or maybe it was the time since he had last seen her, but seeing Vualla now stopped him dead.

It was her casual confidence as she met his gaze. It was the hint of hurt in her expression as she made the joke. It was the faint notes of her image that wafted off of her body. It was the lean and athletic lines of her arms as she twisted and the uniform was pulled tight around her shoulders.

For a second, Randidly couldn’t even think. Even her teasing smile squeezed his chest in a way that was very different from the mental strain of a grand Nether Ritual or the pressure released by Commandant Wick.

He looked at her and was simply stunned.

Then he forcefully collected himself and continued to walk toward her. Of course, Vualla didn’t miss the hitch in his gait. She pursed her lips as she studied him. “It’s true what they say about men being visual creatures, huh? You see me and suddenly remember our bond?”

Randidly didn’t know how to answer, so he didn’t open his mouth. Instinct whispered to him as he walked forward. The heat of their Aether bond scorched his body and space between them. Vualla turned fully around and put her hands on her hips. She was just opening her mouth to say something else when Randidly followed the instructions of his body: he reached out and pulled her to him.

Vualla’s eyes were wide and guileless, right up until the moment their lips met.

For several long seconds, they kissed. At first, Vualla seemed stunned by Randidly’s silent need, but then her hands willingly wrapped around him and pulled him in even tighter. Randidly even felt her mobilize some of the Nether Weight that she could borrow from him to squeeze him as tightly as she could manage.

The physical force and vehemence of their embrace warped the surrounding air. Their bodies spoke to each other without language, but with need.

With these hands, we can change everything.

Together.

Eventually, they parted. Vualla blinked at him, her expression probably mirroring the fuzzy sense of weightlessness that he felt.. “Huh. What was that for?”

Randidly grinned at the and kissed her again. He quite enjoyed the pleased expression on her face as he did so.

After another few seconds of lip contact, Vualla pushed him away. “Really, what’s gotten into you? You are looking at me like me eyeing a new training regimen-”

“Neveah forced me to address some issues directly. To think about myself as an individual sometimes.” Randidly said. His and Vualla’s faces were only a short distance apart. His sensitive skin could feel the heat of her breath as they stared at each other. Somehow, those cool azure irises eased the stress of his weird confrontation with Nrorce and the Calamity slowly gathering momentum on Expira. His hands dropped and settled on her hips. “And as an individual, I missed you.”

“Yes, well.” Vualla tried to keep a smile from stretching her face open, but only did an okay job of it. “I suppose I missed you too…”

“Any news?” Randidly said. His expression shifted to a more concerned frown. He had sensed Vualla’s presence earlier, during the Moderate Patterns, but had been too focused to really acknowledge it.

Vualla grimaced at Randidly and pinched his stomach until he winced. “Hmph, am I really the one with news? Huh? Which of us has been causing rumor after rumor in the Nexus, huhhhh? Besides, isn’t the fact that I missed you news enough?”