Though the mood had largely soured, Seth held out another hour or so before he surrendered to his inability to focus and decided to call it a day.  Kourin closed the barrier as Seth dissolved his data-panels, and she warily approached as the bulky nanotech chair vanished as well.


    “You got really quiet after Lord Rylen passed through.” She commented, “I’m kinda hesitant to ask, but…if we’re friends…?”


    “It was mostly Captain Gallifey.” He answered, and glanced down at her briefly before starting to head for the path out, “I only really knew about him from hearsay, but I knew he and Mr. Gabriel went back a ways under less than friendly circumstances.  And he just mouthed-off about Mr. Gabriel like he isn’t the Eidolon of the Fourth bloody Wing.  I almost lost my cool over it…”


    “…I kind of know him…not personally, but…by proxy.”


    “Why does Lord Rylen keep a guy like him around anyway?” The teen complained, “Iresha had a run-in with him last year, too…  The guy’s been a savage dick for as long as he’s been a Captain, if the rumors are anything to believe.”


    “Every leader needs a henchman, I guess.” Kourin supposed, and shrugged as Seth pulled a few loose branches out of their way, “He must be full of Lord Rylen’s ugly secrets.  You keep a guy like him close.”


    “’Henchman’ sounds right…  With friends like him, who needs enemies?” Seth sighed, and as they made their way back towards the skiffs, he paused and turned, “…Sorry to cut things short today.  I just don’t have my head in the game now.”


    “It’s your project.  You do it at whatever pace suits you.” Kourin answered, almost having to crane her head back just to see him, and squinted against the bright sky, “You don’t owe me any apologies for anything.  I’m just here as your canary.”


    “I know, it’s just…I feel like we were making good progress, and I ruined it.”


    “So?  We’ll try again tomorrow.”


    He was surprised to hear it, “…You’re going to be back?”


    “Yeah?  Why wouldn’t I be?  The Rosalind isn’t going to leave until the Core is retrieved.”


    “…Wasn’t that done today though?”


    “Huh?  No, not after the debacle with that training exercise took three of your guys out.”


    Seth couldn’t have been more confused, “…What.” He shook his head, and shifted where he stood slightly so his shadow would rest on the short woman’s face, “What are you talking about?  What does that have to do with the Core?  The Inquisitors never needed the Fafnir to get Cores back.  We…I mean, they only secure the area because of all the old Warp energy.  Jeeze, I’m talking like I’m a member of the Aegis crew or something…”


    “Limitless energy.” She corrected, “The residue from Caeros’ link to the fleet.  It poured through all those Magi to keep the ships tethered together for the Warp, but it lingered, permeating the metal and imbuing it with a kind of supernatural oomph that can still be harnessed to this day.  There’s concern that the Core might’ve leaked after the crash, given how violent it was, so the retrieval unit wanted a full contingent of Fafnir to make sure nothing like the Sterling Rose happened again.  The Core’s been stable though, so priority went to the Gate…”


    Those teal eyes stared like the brain behind them glitched, “…What.”


    “Do you not know this stuff?”


    He shook his head swiftly to clear the stalled thought, “Of course I do, it’s just…I didn’t expect you to know.  Like you said…Myrmidon only need to be afflicted, not…”


    “…Maybe I should’ve said brave.” She offered a subtle tilt of her head and a self-depreciating smile.


    “I didn’t mean it in a bad way!  I just didn’t think you’d have had access to the information!  I mean, Myrmidon may be a subset of the Inquisitors, but it is kind of a dumping-ground for afflicted…”


    She quirked a brow, “You’re not helping your case.  Or point.  Or whatever it is you’re trying to do.”


    He could only squirm where he stood, “What am I trying to say?  Oh man, I’m making such a mess of this.” He cleared his throat, “One more time…  I-“


    “…Will see you tomorrow, Setharion Rydell.” Kourin finished, and lifted a hand up to knock on his forehead like he was a door.


    Seth rubbed the spot in frustration at himself, but could only watch the woman go as she put the mask and cowl back on.  He practically vibrated with panic.


    .


    “…And after all that, I just stood there!” He paced back and forth as Furion watched in perplexed silence, “I can’t believe how stupid I got at the end!  So stupid!  She probably thinks I’m a damn idiot!”


    “…And you spent the whole rest of the afternoon just…brooding on this?”


    “What else was I supposed to do!?”


    Furion looked at his brother skeptically, “I don’t know, review your work?  You finally got a bunch of really good experimental data.  I thought I’d have to pry you from it by the time I got back.”


    Seth scrambled over the side-arm of his couch and grabbed his older counterpart by the shoulders, “She told me you guys didn’t get the Core out because there weren’t enough of you to secure it!  Because no one wanted a repeat of the Sterling Rose incident!  The Sterling freaking Rose!”


    Furion could feel the marbles in his heat rattling from the shake, “Settle down, damn.”


    “She talked about it like she was there, Furion!” Seth let him go and went back to his frantic pacing, “Do the Myrmidon even have access to that kind of stuff!?  She mentioned knowing what we went through to dad, but in my wildest thoughts, I would’ve never believed she could’ve really meant it!  She’s only been in the corps for like a year, per Lord Rylen!  This is top-secret information!”


    “…Maybe it’s another situation like with Ren going to the Fourth.  She knew a whole bunch of top-level stuff that no Mediator trainee would’ve ever dreamed of.”


    Seth could only kneel beside the couch after that, fingers clamped to the arm-rest as he set his forehead against it with a loud groan, “…No, I don’t think so…” He lifted up slightly and folded his elbows over the ledge instead, looking on at his brother desperately, “If she tells me she knows specifically about Scyrexian, I’m going to actually lose my mind.”


    “If she knows about the Sterling Rose, she probably does.”


    “I mean about after that.”


    “Mh…”


    “Sorry…” Seth whined, and let go, rolling down to his back instead.  As he stared at the ceiling of that small two-room cabin, he curled his fists loosely over his chest, “Lord Rylen said she was a Myrmidon 1^st Class…maybe that’s just part and parcel to their rank.  He was surprised she’d be on-site with her timeline, but…not enough so to be suspicious.”


    “Well, there you go.”


    “It’s still a bit odd, I think…”


    “Just follow Lord Rylen’s lead on this one, Seth.  You and I don’t know a thing about the Inquisitor hierarchy; their turf is like another planet.  And maybe ask for this girl’s contact-sync or something.  Then you’ll be able to ask her about it, if it bugs you that much.”


    Seth lifted his head a bit, cheeks red, “Wouldn’t that be weird?”


    “The Emperor of Sargon can’t be your only friend.” Furion noted, “And it sounds like you two really hit it off.  What’s the worst that can happen?  You actually get over your unease about their masks?”


    The frantic teen just dropped his head back down with a thump, “…Yeah…”


    “Gotta hand it to you though, Seth…” Furion moved over to that side of the couch and leaned over it, “I know you don’t like being here these days, but it sure is easier because you are.  Your drama is way more palatable than mine is.”


    .


    The next day came, and Seth had mentally prepared.  He made his way back to the Gate-site, confidently went into the gully through the bramble-bushes, and…immediately panicked.


    “Where’s the Rift!?” He yelped, rushing towards the spot where the whole dome-barrier ought to have been.  He couldn’t comprehend why the pond was still there if the barrier had been taken down already – preventing the water following its original path was the only reason the water backed-up at all in the first place – but he couldn’t tell anything was really unusual until he got much closer.  Boots and socks were thrown off, and pant-legs rolled up, and he waded-out into the shallow pool…and spotted the unmistakable sight of the barrier.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    But only beneath the water’s surface.


    In fact, the ripples from his trudging through had stopped there as well, as though prevented by…


    “Kourin!”


    She couldn’t help but laugh, and abruptly appeared at the water’s edge with a cheeky wave, “Morning.”


    “You turned the whole damn Gate invisible!?” Seth balked and looked back again, unable to help himself as he started paddling large gluts of dark water at where the barrier should’ve been.  Sure enough, the liquid cascaded off of something there, even if it was impossible to see, “This is insane!  It’s…it’s like it’s not even here, but clearly is!  How are you doing this!?” He asked frantically, and reached both hands forward instead…touching the solid, unseen structure, like the most perfectly-clear glass he’d ever laid eyes on, “…Incredible…”


    “The Fafnir who was here earlier probably won’t think so.” Kourin mused, and waved her arm to dissipate the golden-glowing effect from her eyes.


    “…Do you know who it was?”


    “Nope.  Not one of the trainees though.  This one had real armor.”


    “What color was it?”


    “Blue-ish?  I guess?  He took off in a hurry.” She shrugged.


    “Oh, that’s probably Mr. Jense…maybe I can call him back before he gets you into trouble.” Seth commented, and was already reaching out to the man.  When he got through, he could only laugh nervously, “Yeah, so, about the Gate…  No, it didn’t close overnight.  There would’ve been a report.  …Yeah.  A bit of a joke, mostly at my expense.  Come back.  I’ll explain when you get here.”


    Kourin could only snicker to herself.


    Seth just shook his head, and when the call disconnected, he turned his attention back to the mysterious affect of the invisible dome, “So, seriously…how does it work?  I can still see the part that’s under the water, but the part above it…”


    “Totally honest, I’m not exactly sure.” Kourin crossed her arms and looked up in thought, “If I had to hazard a guess though, I can make it possible for photons to pass through things they’d normally bounce off.  Without them, the eye has nothing to perceive, so it’s as though nothing is there.”


    “…That actually makes a lot of sense.  If you’re being selective, that would explain why I can’t see the barrier, but I can still see the water under it.  You hid the Rift, too, then?”


    Kourin nodded.


    “And you can keep the effect going even without your eyes glowing.”


    Again, she nodded, “Until I actively choose to stop the effect.  It kind of works like a one-way mirror, too, so if you were on the inside of the barrier, you could see like normal.  It’s only from the outside that you can’t.  Pretty cool, huh?”


    Seth gave her a coy look, “Am I going to discover one day that you’re a famous burglar?”


    “I would only ever use my powers for good.” Kourin smiled innocently, “And maybe an irresistible prank, now and then.”


    “So I’ve discovered.”


    She grinned, “What’s the plan for the day, then?” The Myrmidon wondered, and finally released the effect on the barrier, fading it back into perception.


    Seth was enamored by the sights all over again, and found himself distracted.  When Kourin repeated herself though, he just took a step back and looked at the dome from further away, “I think I want to run a few more tests…and then we should probably try to close it.”


    “Alright…well, whenever you’re ready, let me know what to do.”


    .


    It was as far east as one could go before the hemisphere split to be called the west again – a far-off territory called Kodoku – and the Eidolon of the Fourth was following a rather chatty group of Mediators through the local consulate.  All things considered, a rather dull and typical affair, but when he got an unexpected message from the First, he excused himself to dissipate and reappear somewhere else.


    That ‘somewhere else’ was in Xanarken’s old paper-pusher room in Agartha, a small space that looked more like a home-office than the beating heart of the entire Fourth Wing.  It had no obvious door though, and with a gesture, the entire left wall dissolved, reshaping itself from a cozy library-nook to a woodsy terrarium, “…Yeah, I’m here now.” He started, and waited for the rest of the message to be given.  Gabriel’s expression shifted – what was normally cold, or perhaps tired indifference, was now genuinely concerned, “You want me to go where…?  What am I supposed to do?  I don’t know anything about that stuff.”


    “Just go.  Maybe you’ll surprise yourself.  And try not to give him problems.”


    The line was cut, and Gabriel was left standing there like he’d just been told to nail his hand to a table for fun.  He shook his head, “…He finds the strangest ways to punish me.” He commented quietly, and sought out a name he had put into an ‘old contacts’ bin.  He hesitated to send a notification, but knowing Rylen would be watching for how long it took him to follow-through, flicked a finger at it the name and waited.


    [Gabriel Lugios is about to manifest at your location.]


    Seth nearly had a coronary on the spot, “Oh no, he’s already coming.”


    Kourin perked her head up; her mask and cowl were on a rock quite a distance away, “Damn, that’s fast.  Lord Rylen doesn’t mess ar-…oh.” She found her words catch in her mouth as that distinctive mantle materialized not too far away.  The short blonde hair, bangs barely long enough to frame the outside of his dull blue eyes, but with that same dark uniform with its elaborate, arcane-purple ‘halo’ behind his head and shoulders.  …That’s really sad to see up-close like this…  He’s like a snake that shed his skin and emerged as a whole other creature, she thought, remembering on the time she’d spotted the man at the Fafnir Memorial the year before.


    Gabriel could only look around, taking in the sight of the creek and the bramble-woods that surrounded it.  Quietly, he turned his gaze towards Seth, who was extremely nervous to see him, “…What do you want?”


    “H-hi…Mr. Gabriel…  Long time no talk…?” Seth stammered, and gestured back at the dome with the Rift inside, “We’re about to try and close it, but before we did, I was wondering…if you remember anything about the last time?  When you and Miss Ren came to get me.” He tried to explain, feeling his skin twitch as his whole body subtly shook from the nerves of it, “I know it’s a long-shot, since it only lasted like half a minute…but I figured it was worth an ask…”


    The Fourth scanned the site, but what caught his attention was…Kourin, trying not to be noticed without her anonymizing uniform-pieces.  For the first time in a year, his expression softened briefly, and he couldn’t stop himself from quietly gasping as his eyes widened.  He had to shake his head slightly to regain his train of thought, but when he forced himself to look to Seth again, he only had one thing to say before vanishing again entirely, “No.”


    And the space returned to how it had been before he arrived…along with the unimpressed looks on the faces of the entire Fafnir Wing Team who’d been there getting ready for the coming procedure.


    “…I can’t be the only one who’s glad he didn’t turn around just now, right?” Jense asked, leaning towards Corbin, “I mean, I wasn’t even there when shit went down, but even I feel like I’d probably spontaneously combust if he looked my way.”


    Corbin could only sigh, “Doesn’t look like time has softened his edges.  He’ll probably never forgive us for what we did.  I’m surprised he came at all.” He agreed, and stepped forward with his helm under an arm.  He still wore his long hair in a ponytail of immaculate dreadlocks, but they’d developed a subtle ‘frosted’ look to their color.  He gestured for the rest of the team to spread out around the dome, “Let’s get into position then.”  He turned to Seth, who looked like he was on the verge of tears, “Try not to take it personally, kid.  There’s a reason half our P.O.V. footage was locked-away after the war.  It was already bad enough for us, but he wasn’t even combat-trained, so he had no way to prepare for what he saw at the end…  It’s bound to change a man.”


    “That was so bad…” Seth complained anyway, “It’s worse than if he talked to me like we’d never met…  It just sounds like he actually hates me…”


    “I doubt it.  You’re probably just…an unpleasant reminder of better times.” Corbin answered, and pet the teen’s head reassuringly.  With that done though, he saw that the team was in place, and he bent down to get Seth’s focus, “Time to step behind the barricade.”


    He snuffled, but nodded, and turned to head towards the cattle-trail.  When he got to the bottom of it, he stopped and turned around, and looked nervously towards Kourin, “If you want to stop at any time, just stop!” He hollered.


    “Okay!” She called back, and got a nod from the Wing Commander to begin.


    Cautiously, Kourin stepped up as close as she could to the opening without having to wade into the creek again.  The Void Gate hadn’t done anything except exist that whole time, and though even she didn’t know what to expect once she actually started interacting with it…she could only hope for the best.


    This is what I’ve been waiting for… She thought, This is what we infiltrated the Council to find…


    With a deep breath, she activated her affliction, and she narrowed her focus.  The Fafnir all stood ready, each with a plasma-blade of some kind.  Golden miasma poured from the woman’s eyes, wafting out in long tendrils, like path-seeking streams of water on drought-ravaged land.  The paths led in through the narrow opening in the barrier, and hovered trepidatiously around the Rift.


    Seth was as anxious as any of them, though still reeling from the earlier gut-punch, his frayed nerves were oiled by dreaded memory.  Every second that ticked by, he feared the Gate would writhe and thrash, sending out its terrible groping fingers to find for whoever it could grab…and the whole sordid tale of Ianori would play-out all over again.  When the edges of the Gate started to spark with gold though, Seth took a shocked step forward.


    Kourin looked to be in total control, hands gently forward as if in offering, palms up.  She bowed her head, and let her affliction make physical contact with Gate.  One hand came back to her chest though and she swallowed a worried knot in her throat as she heard that ominous voice…


    It’s you again, girl.


    Eyes widened as Kourin lifted her head, You’ve been missing.  We had nearly given up hope when we heard you’d been incinerated…  The whispers echoed all around her, pressing from every side, like bodies in a crowd, oppressive in their disregard.  She waved her hand around herself though to force them to give her space, What do we need to do to get you back onto this side?  You still have your part of the bargain to carry-out.


    The Gate seemed to laugh at her – a deep, sickening, mocking laugh, like one of a great dragon sitting at the bottom of an abyss – and penetrative black-red ichor started to trail up into Kourin’s golden light, I need a host, of course.  Someone worthy of the Prime Mover’s attention.


    Kourin could feel the infiltration though, and she took a step back, I told you once before that you don’t touch me!


    Then bring to me the boy, it snarled instead, He shares the next-strongest bond.


    You…mean Seth? She wondered reluctantly, and looked back over a shoulder at him, seeing that mesmerized expression as he watched everything…oblivious to the undercurrent.  No…  I’ve seen what happens to the people you take as hosts…  You were a liar when you said you gave them back in the same condition you took them in!  Seth doesn’t deserve that…!


    You’re obstinate, child…  Were it not for these pests, no harm would have ever come to those vessels, Scyrexian’s voice boomed in Kourin’s mind, and she could feel the loathing aura that surrounded the Fafnir, who in turn were just waiting for an excuse, If you’ll do nothing to make it easier for my return here to carry out your request, then you must find and liberate my existing form.


    Your…existing form?  You have another somewhere?


    She is blind, deaf, and lost…but somewhere, Scyrexian answered, and into Kourin’s mind’s-eye, it forced the terrible imagery of a wretched, four-winged beast, howling in a monstrous rage.


    Something about the imagery gave Kourin the feeling of being chained and in terrible pain – her arms felt heavy at her sides, and her eyes felt like they’d burst in her own skull.  She shook her head to rid herself of the feeling, Where can I find it?  Where is this vessel…?


    Trapped in a void; I know not where; seek her, set her free, and I will come…as we agreed.


    There was nothing for it; unwilling to give Seth to be a lamb of sacrifice, and refusing to allow the entity into her own body, Kourin settled into her new task, and stood resolutely at that creek-shore.  Alright…  She lifted her arms out, and as she closed her eyes, simply clasped her hands together.


    Kourin opened her eyes; the golden glow was gone, and so was the Void Scar.