Space warps back, and we stand on a beach, looking out toward the ocean. I spin around on the spot and see Aoranam village sprawling before me. Even without my Chaos senses picking up the number of lifeforms, I can tell that it has grown to more than twice its size since I left it. There are many people I don't know working in front of their houses - former slave soldiers who stayed here when we set off toward Kairaki.

Among them, I spot Awhina with her mother, who stare at us with open jaws. Seeing the tall and brown-skinned beauty, I nearly forget my objective here and move to rush toward her. But standing just a dozen steps to her right, out in the open communal square is Asoko in the dark-skinned appearance she had when I first met her in the Khurut Sultanate. She's teaching a boy around six years of age how to tie knots, not yet noticing my presence.

"[Chaos!]" A familiar deep male voice calls out to me, and I turn in the direction of its owner. It belongs to Rangi, father of Awhina, chief of the village, and local protector god. "[What brings you back here?]"

"[Rangi! You make it sound like I'm not welcome here!]" In the end, I hesitated to decide on whom to call out to first and had the decision made for me. Well, we parted on a friendly note, so everything should be alright with Awhina. On the other hand, I'm not sure how Asoko will react to being told that she's needed at the front lines again. She came here to retire from wars and all.

"[Oh no, you are always welcome.]" He scratches his head in embarrassment, then smiles wryly. "[But Awhina said you left, never to return.]"

"[I didn't say I would never return! There was just a lot going on in my kingdom.]" That's a huge understatement, but I don't have much time to tell him everything right now. First, we need to take care of the solar winds; then I can come back here for a vacation someday. "[Did you see the God of Growth yesterday?]"

I vaguely point in the direction of where she would have been visible in the far distance if they had seen her. The massive continent of Armeria is roughly halfway around the globe from Ceogath. But I'm not sure where exactly the Adanak kingdom and this particular village are located since there are no maps that also include the rest of the world. Maybe she was just over the horizon, and they completely missed the moonfall.

"[Isn't she with you?]" Pointing past me, Rangi gestures at Tokomaha. The two never met, as far as I'm aware, but Awhina must have told him about her companions.

"[Chaos!]" Speaking of Awhina, she runs across the square and calls out to me.

Asoko overhears the demigoddess calling me and spins her head around in surprise. When she sees me, her eyes widen, and she drops the rope in her hands to walk over as well. But before that, Awhina reaches me and embraces me vehemently.

"[I thought we would never see each other again.]" Separating from me, the demigoddess half a head taller than me looks me in the eyes with a warm expression. Then she seems to remember something and looks up. "[Tahiri, come here! Chaos has returned!]"

I freeze up at the mention of the God of Storm. The last thing I remember of her is her beautiful form sprawled out before me on my bed with her daughter Aratio next to her. And then the sense of loss when they were gone the next morning, without so much as a note.

Suddenly, a thunderclap echoes across the cloudless sky, and I realize that she just escaped. I fly up into the air and scan the horizon using Nymphy's eye template. Only this way can I barely spot the lightning disappearing toward the west.

"[Oh no, you're not getting away!]" I mutter to myself while jumping to supersonic. Exla explained that the mass of a human can't ever reach the speed of light, so even if Tahiri is in lightning form, she's not moving as quickly as actual lightning. At least I think that's how it was when we traveled from Arkaim to the Dark Continent to find Exla.

Or maybe she wants to be caught, as I seem to catch up faster than expected. It's hard to make out where exactly she is inside the lightning bolt shooting across the sky, so I spread out my tentacles in an attempt to grab her from many sides at once. But she suddenly changes her direction at a sharp angle to elude my grasp.

"[You really don't want to see me again?!]" I shout after her, but realize that she's moving faster than the speed of sound.

Thus, the chase continues, as we fly across the ocean, travel over land, instantly cross mountains, and break through the clouds. I don't know how long we've been going at it, but she has turned on the spot several times, trying to lose me with a surprise maneuver. Each time, I've caught up within moments, only for things to repeat.

But this time, I have a plan. As I come close enough to catch her, I activate the Imagination Engine Inhibitor. We're high enough above the sky that there's nothing for her to crash into, so I can do it without worrying about her safety.

The lightning dissipates in an instant, and from within a naked Tahiri tumbles upward into the night sky. I instantly catch her and pull her inside my body. We're at an altitude where the cold temperatures and lack of oxygen could prove deadly after all. Gravity catches me, as the inhibitor also causes me to become unable to fly without using wings.

I let myself fall below the clouds before spreading Hestia's wings and slowing myself down. Then I pull Tahiri out from inside me and carry her like a princess. She shivers in my embrace, though I don't know if it's because of the cold she was subjected to for a moment or her rediscovered fear of mortality in her powerless form. It's similar to what Aurelia went through.

"[Why did you run? Did you really hate it so much that you didn't want to see me again?]" I look at the God of Storm's face, only to find tears in her eyes. She quickly turns away and hides her face between her hands. It was such an unexpected sight that I'm rendered speechless; this is the first time I've seen her this vulnerable.

"[No, it's...]" Tahiri mutters and trails off, but I don't try to make her continue. It's best to give her some time to catch herself.

But time passes, and she still can't look me in the face to continue. I adjust her in my grasp and force her to turn to me. Her cheeks are flushed, and her eyes are swimming as if the emotions are running wild inside her mind.

"[What is it?]" I'm beginning to worry about her state of mind and ask with an eyebrow raised. She shakes her head but remains silent, quietly requesting a little more time. I continue to glide across the sky on Hestia's wings, scanning the landscape with my eyes to find out where we are. We went from a place that was late afternoon to one of early morning, meaning we traveled a pretty long distance in our chase.

"[I was afraid to stay.]" Tahiri finally turns to face me, an unexpectedly cute pout on her lips that makes her look almost childlike.

"[Why?]" Is all I can ask. She could survive getting turned into mist by Zenlith, so what was there for her to fear?

"[... don't make me say it.]" She averts her gaze again, her cheeks even redder than before. I'm growing more and more confused, and it seems she notices that with her sideways glances. Then, seemingly becoming annoyed by my lack of comprehension, she turns to me and frowns. "[I thought that if I spent another night like that with you, I wouldn't be able to live without you! There, I said it! You fool!]"

And she slaps me across the face before crossing her arms and turning away completely. I just stare at the back of her head with my mouth ajar, my mind overloaded by her confession.

"[You are the fool!]" I shake her and shout, causing her to turn around in anger.

"[What?! How dare you-]" But she stops when she sees my expression. I can feel the tears running down my face, as relief overcomes me.

"[I thought something had happened to you, or that you hated me for something I did.]" I squeeze her to me and bury my face in her shoulder. "[You should have at least come to visit after cooling down.]"

"[... that, I could not do.]" The voice next to my ear sounds grave, and I separate from her to look into her rainbow-colored eyes. Her blush of embarrassment has all but faded, and there's only clarity in her gaze. "[Mataku approached me with a proposition I could not refuse.]"