Feeling a refreshing breeze brush over his body, Zeais awakens slowly from his deep sleep. Bit by bit his blurry vision pieces together into one solid scene, darkly shaded gray wood walls and a small unfamiliar nightstand lay next to him. His eyes focus on a wooden cup filled with water, placed on top of a small circular disk. Laying on his left side, he tries to sit up straight for a drink but immediately slams his body back down and lets out a small grunt. Experiencing the tightness of his lower back and the aching of his legs, he doesn’t attempt another try.

Turning his head to the right and feeling a slightly painful tightness in his neck he sees the messy sheets of someone who’d gotten straight out of bed and left. Constantly feeling soreness he doesn’t attempt to look around anymore, he instead slowly closes his eyes and brings to mind the reasoning of why he’s resting in this place.

The previous night was filled with many questions from the villagers chief. Such questions about why they were dragging a man around, why one of the children was unconscious, who they were, where they were from, like an interrogation they gave their reasons to the village chief. Feeling their reasoning was just, he offered them to stay the night in an inn and treat the wounds of Nova’s uncle.

The village chief would, however, be contacting them soon to task them as a form of payment. Zeais thinking about the amount of small but largely explosive crystals used for their rescue would cost a large sum. Not so expensive that it would take years of work to pay but a few months of work should be enough. Zeais thinking it must take a while for the “second sun” to make those crystals that saved them, of course, a couple months work is a right sum.

Nova and his uncle were taken to one of the town's doctors for treatment, carried off by a standby Gnorse and cart. The large land mammal always gives Zeais a strange feeling, having horns and a face like a goat but the body of a horse with other parts scattered here and it is strange to him. Given that the original counterparts of a Gnorse still roam around abundantly, they almost just look like a mutation of the two that developed amongst none of its own new kind.

Both Zeais and Eris were escorted around the town and taken to the inn where they would sleep in. Assigned the same room, Zeais was well aware that his bright orange eyed roommate was an early riser. Before they succumbed to the harmonious feelings of sleep, Eris told him that he shouldn’t try and be so eager to pay off their “debt”. Hearing this he took note of her words and remembered her earlier statement about not trusting adults, feeling it might reveal some type of bad memories for he didn’t ask about it. Only keeping it in mind, he places her words in the back of his mind and thinks she is incredibly capable of surviving.

Still having questions for her that may just be simple misunderstandings, he follows what he was taught, all possibilities exist and that there is always a reason for something, even if there is nothing. He dozes off from his tiring thoughts.

For the children and other inhabitants of Circinus, the crystals used to save them and the enormous monster that would have no qualms devouring them are just like any other form of matter, bathed in light from the elusive False light or “second Sun”, they gain different properties and change due to its otherworldly warped physics.

Taking on different wavelengths of light and reacting with the different particles inside of countless objects gives them different properties that could not be normally achieved. Animals, man-made objects, humans, are all affected by the bright light hidden in the sky. Depending on the weather conditions and atmospheric pressure, some days and nights the bright light can be seen, still changing the world even now.

A light knock on the door to his room jolts him out of his sleep. Opening his eyes sleepily he looks at the door past Eris’s bed. Feeling the effect of having his sleep interrupted he groggily says--

[Zeais: It’s openn..]

Opening the door slowly a young girl with brightly shaded gray hair in a short ponytail and yellow pupils comes into Zeais’s view, bringing in with her a large tray with many breakfast foods and fruits. Her hair was of course gray to him, she wore dark coffee-colored cotton pants and small leather shoes with a blue buttoned shirt, a simple working outfit befitting of an Inn.

[???: Good Morning! Oh… Sorry to wake you.]

[Zeais: It’s fine, I was already awake.]

Looking at the sleepy-eyed boy half covered by blankets she seems to let out a small snicker. Zeais feels that she is about the same age as him or maybe a bit older, thinking that she might be slightly taller than him.

[???: My name is Anya, I work this Inn with my father and I’ve brought you a free breakfast!]

[Zeais: A free breakfast? Is that what all Inns do?]

A confused look, she walks around Eris’s bed with the tray, Zeais look at the tray thinking that it’s quite a large tray for such a child to carry around so easily, she has done this for quite a while. Setting the tray down on a table in the front of the beds near a window, she walks over to Zeais’s bed.

[Anya: Not all Inns do this, but my father believes in treating guests like they were family.]

[Zeais: That sounds like it costs a lot.]

[Anya: It is sometimes, but not many people come to the town as much or maybe it’s just our Inn? Anyways, it doesn’t cost a lot so please enjoy it! I made it, by the way, so please tell me how it tastes later!]

Anya gives a big smile and turns to leave the room. Getting close to the already open door she almost walks into Eris as she enters into the room.

[Eris: Ah... Sorry, I didn’t know you were there Anya.]

[Anya: No, my bad, I’m going to go make more food for other guests I’ll see you later. See you Eris! You too Zeais!]

Anya who is a bit taller than Eris gives her farewell and walks out of the room, closing the door behind her. Eris turning her attention from the door to her bed, clumsily walking into it and falling face-down into her sheets, she sighs. Zeais looking onto the outstretched Eris he ponders why she looks so tired early in the morning.

[Zeais: I don’t remember saying my name to her.]

Lifting her face slightly from the sheets she looks at Zeais with a groggy expression.

[Eris: She loves her job, we also talked for a long time… She took an interest in you from our talk and wanted to see what you were like.]

[Zeais: …I’m quite the ladies man.]

[Eris: Apparently. I just wanted to use the bathroom.]

[Zeais: What are those clothes?]

[Eris: One of the owners Aunts visiting brought clothes for Anya but they were a bit small…]

Eris sighs once more into the sheets. Zeais studys her new black button down shirt and older looking gray pants.

[Zeais: I can see where that went. Could you please do me a favor?]

Eris give a muffled “what is it?” into the sheets.

[Zeais: I’m a bit sore and my neck hurts a lot, could I get a warm wet towel?]

Eris looks up with an irritated look

[Eris: You could have just asked the girl who brought food for you.]

[Zeais: Oh….Right…]