Pan and Aria exited the facility. They used a hole in the wall, not the same they’d entered through.

Aria hit Pan’s arm. At first, Pan thought Aria had bumped into her. It was getting dark, and Aria might have trouble seeing her way. But, Aria never had trouble in the dark because she had aural light to see by.

“Did you just hit me?” Pan asked.

“Yes,” Aria said.

“Wow, Aria. That’s not very gold of you.”

“You know what’s not gold of you?” Aria looked Pan in the eyes. “Taking a frightened man and threatening to feed him to a…a monster.”

Pan frowned. “I wouldn’t call them monsters.”

“I know. I just don’t know what word to use.” Aria shook her head.

“The answer is obviously any word that will make me sound as bad as possible.” Pan started to walk away.

“Pan, you can do better. What were you thinking?”

Pan stopped but didn’t turn. “I was thinking I couldn’t leave him with you and also that I hated his guts. He was just a gigantic asshole the entire time.”

“Right, but you can’t physically threaten him because of that.”

Pan sighed. She felt a pang of shame.

“Good,” Aria said. “Remember how that feels – for next time.”

Pan looked over her shoulder. “You liked it. Feeling powerful and free for a few minutes. I could tell. Why don’t you remember how that felt the next time you try to whittle yourself into an imitation of the perfect arcane?”

Aria stiffened.

Pan walked away, feeling worse.

Aria found a quiet place outside. She stood between stacks of boxes, ready to be loaded onto shuttle two. Shuttle one already took its load back to the Ischyros. It would return for Aria and others, but not before shuttle two lifted off with its treasures.

Aria felt ready to get back.

Pan didn’t. Pan loved her freedom. Apparently, she also loved her power. Aria regarded her friend and the glow of lavender and blue. Pan would battle Era on the planet, but then, what would she do when it was time to go home?

Pan seemed ready to take the deal offered by the Scaldin. At least, she had been. Aria shouldn’t have said a thing about the Soffigen scientist. Aria just reminded Pan of the things the mentors might say when Pan tried to be herself.

But, being yourself shouldn’t be terrifying for others.

Aria crossed her arms. She would wait out the battle on the Ischyros. The quiet would give her a chance to think. When Pan joined her again, they would talk about Pan’s behavior and how Pan should move forward, without terrifying the Scaldin population. Aria just needed Pan to repress some of that natural hostility.

Mother Tree. My friend might be evil by default.

Night settled on Prossim. A few birds and an abundance of insects chittered. Aria saw their simple auras in the trees. Nocturnal creatures looked out from the woods. Their eyes glowed in the dark. Their auras glowed brighter – one shade at a time, mixed into a wash of white. Maybe, somewhere in the forest, the two forlorn arcanes began their romance.

Aria looked into the sky and could just see the stars through a thin fog of white. She longed to see shuttle one on its way back.

In the meantime, she had a little piece of home. An officer on shuttle one had brought her a letter from Gavain.

Not so much a letter.

Aria held a small playback device. She pressed the button that would play Gavain’s message back:

“Dear Aria,

Of course, we’ll meet during whatever remains of your vacation. I hear you’re working now, so maybe, you can get an extension. My fingers are crossed.

Congratulations on rescuing Pan. I didn’t want you to do it, but I have to admit you got better results this time around.” Gavain’s tone changed from playful to serious. “I really am proud of you, and I’ll see what I can do for her. It’s nice to hear that even reapers enjoy playgrounds and finger painting.”

Gavain paused, and Aria heard his recorded breath.

“I can’t promise that Pan will go back to life as normal or get everything on her to do list, especially in regards to the Sotir problem. But, I think maybe you underestimate what he can do. Try not to worry about it too much.

Now, in terms of our hearth and home – I think you will find I have lots of ideas. I’m definitely going to buy a bigger house, but you knew that. I’m not sure of the location yet. I thought we could pick it together, but it has to have reasonable connection to a spaceport. I don’t like long commutes. They’re long enough as it is.”

Gavain made a thoughtful sound. “Is this too forward of me? You’ve always given me the impression that you want to hit the ground running in terms of family. Well, I have a naughty idea.

I’ll try to request you at the end of this year. You can help me with my projects. We can share a room, and no one will be the wiser. And, if you should end up off work early, what can they really say?”

Gavain paused again as if giving her a chance to answer. Aria was speechless.

“I love you. Come home safe. – Gavain.”

Aria covered the speaker and checked to see if anyone else had heard. Crew approached. They donned gloves and prepared to come for the boxes.

Aria moved aside. She studied their auras but saw nothing to indicate amusement or disgust or mischief. They had no idea what Gavain had planned.

Aria felt a thrill of mischief. It gave her butterflies, and her head got a bit light. Aria wondered if Pan, many years ago, got hooked on this kind of feeling and had been lavender ever since.

Aria could get hooked. She would make her exit from the arcane world and disappear off the face of Scaldigir for a while. It would be a grand instance of mischief. She’d do it well enough to make Pan proud.

And, she might even resume a hobby. If Aria could make efforts towards a little selfish action, Pan would feel more comfortable making efforts towards a more obedient life. They could meet somewhere in the middle.

Sotir stood alone, closer to the edge of the forest than the remains of the lab.

Pan stalked him. “I’m surprised that a fortune teller picked such a bad place to stand.”

Sotir looked at Pan, with knit brow.

Pan smiled. “It’s too late for you. Away from the others, you’ve been cornered by a ravenous beast. I can’t see how you could escape this.”

“Ravenous, is she? For what?”

“Did you have a look into the future of the star-crossed arcanes?” Pan smiled.

Sotir drew a sharp breath. “No. I’ve been busy scrying. Looking at how this place worked and, now, I’m trying to get a read on Era. I have so many questions.”

“Like what happened to them to make them so different from Era?” Pan crossed her arms.

She joked about the arcanes lost in the forest, but she really wanted Sotir to have a look and see how their futures would play out. Would there be good times or bad?

“Yes, I do want to know why the outcomes were so different. I’m guessing a step was missing from the artificial womb process. Right now though, I’m more concerned with the upcoming fight. I don’t know if I’m going to get any information.” Sotir hung his head. “I’m failing, but I’m trying.”

Pan touched his arm. “Why are you failing?”

Sotir smiled. “A couple of reasons. Number one…because you put that image in mind, and now I see snippets of the two arcanes. If you’re curious, they have encountered each other. Just a short staring contest.”

“You’ll know whether or not we can leave them alone?” Pan asked.

“To know that, I have to look beyond their relationship, down through the generations. Which will be filled with incest, mind you. There are only two of them.” Sotir shrugged. “Their relations might constitute incest even now. We don’t know if they were grown from the same genetic samples. I would look, but I plan to remain ignorant of something.”

Pan felt her eyes narrow and her nose scrunch. “So much for happily ever after. Someone will have to round them up and find a place they can live.”

Sotir faced the forest and stared into it.

Pan waited for him to comment. She got no answer. “What’s the second reason you can’t concentrate?”

“That book. Those symbols…somehow they can be translated into…parts of us. There’s an arcane circle written into me, into you.” Sotir took a long breath. “And, the Soffigen arcanes must hold a lot of circles.”

A moment of silence passed. Pan stood at his side and stared into the dark. She could see little furry shadows and fluttering insects.

“It’s hard to get a read. I almost wish I’d rested longer, but we don’t have the time,” Sotir sighed. “How did they do it?”

Pan stroked his arm. She gave all her attention to Sotir. She studied his shape: the profile of his face, his jawline, his neck.

He stared into the forest, very still. “You’re distracting me.”

“If I could keep you...”

Sotir’s eyes went wide. “I really need to work.”

“I’m not sure about this whole working for the Scaldin thing. What if I only like being with the Scaldin after I’ve been away for a while?”

“You only have to visit Scaldigir for two weeks,” Sotir said. “Then, you’d be on a ship.”

“Right, but there would still be other Scaldin around – judging me.” Pan wrapped her hands around his upper arm. “If I could keep you and Aria, I’d have almost everything I wanted from Scaldigir.”

Sotir dipped his chin and spoke close to Pan’s ear. “Oh? You want to keep me?”

“Yes,” Pan whispered.

Sotir said nothing. He seemed surprised; maybe by her insistent tone. It had surprised her too.

Slowly, Pan broke eye contact. “Did you find the circle for me yet?”

“Ghost seer – yes. A reaper? No. I found mine, Aria’s, and Irini’s. Actually, I should give the credit to Irini. It was my idea to look for them, but her thread found them.” Sotir gently grasped Pan’s arms. “We did look for you. You aren’t in there.”

Pan bowed her head further. They could find everything in the book, except for reapers. She knew it. The visitors gave the Scaldin arcane powers, but they didn’t conceive of reapers. After all, reapers didn’t play on teams. They consumed others, until they became a team unto themselves.

Pan asked, “Am I supposed to exist like this?”

“You’re unpredictable. A bit of extra spontaneity in our world. I like that.” Sotir hovered close.

“So, you don’t think I should exist?” Pan kept her gaze on his collarbone.

Sotir sighed. “I didn’t say that. I didn’t say that at all.” Sotir rubbed his neck. “Someday, I’m going to know exactly the right things to say.”

“You still don’t?”

“I don’t. Not even with all my power,” Sotir said.

Pan nodded. “Well, good luck. If it hasn’t happened yet, it probably never will.”

Sotir stood his ground and so did Pan. That left them standing very close. Sotir reached into Pan’s hair and ran his fingers through. Pan’s hair was full of knots, but somehow Sotir avoided them all.

“How can I be gold if I’m a wrong thing?” Pan looked up. “Aria wants me to be gold. Brynn says it’s one of the many ways Aria manipulates me, just like everyone else. All so manipulative. But, I think I would like to be – .”

A whistle of wind cut Pan off. It sounded like a missile.

“Era.” Sotir grabbed Pan’s hand and ran.