The muffled lull of the ocean resonated from beyond the veil. Then came the rocking. A gentle sway like that of a hammock on the warmest Sun’s Peak day.


    Taní stroked the age-old rotting fabric his mother’s mother had knitted for them, finding only the plush cushioning of something that felt like a bed. But why? He didn’t recall lying down… There was only the port, and…and…?


    A thin shock of heat struck his head. He bit back a wince, praying it would go away on his own. And it did, but only after his thoughts ceased to drift.


    He felt light; lighter than he ever remembered being. Like all his problems were leagues away.


    The creaking of wood broke the distant surf, and though a small voice inside his head ordered his lids to remain shut, he lifted them anyway. He was back in Lavisa’s cabin, and much like before, the bright green cosmos replaced the girl’s lavender-sapphire eyes.


    They regarded him with a tender smile, and while their features were serene, he glimpsed the slight furrow of a brow. It reminded Taní of his mother whenever he returned from playing. Her tireless inspections drawing out the hour. He didn’t understand why freaked out at every cut. A few scrapes and bruises never killed anyone.


    “How are you, my blood?” Lavisa asked in a sonorous voice far too deep for someone her age. A sequence of rising pitches sang from each word. Like a collection of singers harmonizing. Or rather, they made up the sum of her voice.


    Taní opened his mouth and immediately winced as an immensity pressed against his forehead. It was hot. Like Danza had left him to bake on a shadeless Sun’s Peak day.


    Lavisa—or the thing masquerading as her—gestured for him to still. “Now, now. You needn’t respond. Not until you’re well and ready.”


    Taní grimaced. He tried coaxing several words from his dry throat, but the burn only intensified, searing his forehead. Only cooling when he sat obediently quiet.


    The imposter shifted her attention to the porthole. There, Taní made out a silvery shape sailing upon the inky hide. A gleaming cobweb of golden structures adorned the vessel, but beyond their towering overlords, he failed to discern the details. He just had a feeling it was important. Or rather, something had come from it.


    Something that did not belong here.


    They basked in the stillness of an ocean’s night. Their distant kite swaying with the calm tide. As the silence wore on him, a fathomless pulse echoed from the center of the room. It bore an uncanny resemblance to a heartbeat, but slower. Primordial.


    Taní listened to its rhythmic thumps, counting each beat until he struck a number he wasn’t even aware existed. Not that it mattered to him. He simply lost himself in its meaningless tune, his mind racing with featureless blurs of too-bright buildings.


    Radiant godshards. Sky castles so limitless that they effortlessly surfed upon that antediluvian hide.


    “My blood.”


    Untold. Innumerable. Roots. Keys. Something that was God, yet not. The Solanarium’s pulse quickened. Terrified that they might Revise it yet again.


    “Tan?o.”


    The Architect of the End… Had she convinced the old Juneac?o to chase after eternity?


    Why live endlessly if it would break them? Why—


    “Tan?o.”


    The pulse thinned to a static whine greater than the rendering of a blood bolt. Taní found himself gazing back at Lavisa, and while she shot him a look of disapproval, she appeared partially relieved.


    “Do not entertain eternity, my blood. You’ve no need for it,” Lavisa chided.


    A wave of nausea struck Taní as words rolled onto his tongue. So, he opted for charades. Hoping he could act out his question. That, or look completely insane.


    “Eternity,” Lavisa reiterated, “the decree which governs this province of the Solanarium. Vale?o’s Cerahnaut.”


    Taní mimed again.


    “It’s an old word for cluster. Ours being the most distant of them all. Slating the very edge of All That Is. Makes for a wonderful starlight vista. Do you not agree?”


    He cocked a brow.


    “Ah, I suppose I am being rather forward. Well, no matter. You are my treasured blood all the same,” Lavisa murmured, wearing a benevolent smile that brushed aside his curiosity.


    She closed her eyes a moment later, and though she sat still as a statue, he picked out the radiant glow of the cosmos.


    Taní waved.


    “Yes, yes. I can still sense, my blood. You’ve a question?”


    Taní had one. He pointed at her, himself, then jabbed his finger at the porthole for emphasis.


    The thing masquerading as Lavisa leaned back. “Oh, that? It’s simple, really: The power granted unto you, the blood which flows through your veins, those all stem from me. Tygenna.” She opened her eyes, brighter than the moon. “I thought that obvious. Were you not aware?”


    Taní gawked. It really was her. The Slumbering Juneac?o; the Mother-Guardian of Vale?o. Every Juneac?o, including Danza, claimed their powers derived from this near-mythical being. God’s Agent. To know her true… Well, he didn’t know what to think.


    So, he acted out his disbelief.


    “Dreams are oft a reflection of our reality, my blood. Though we may believe them fictitious, one needs be reminded our waking minds are mendacious wayfarers. That which cares not to differentiate. My Lord Husband knew this.” Tygenna folded a leg over her lap. “Though I am not physically here, my presence remains true. As does my blood in you. Regardless of the Iterations that come to pass.”


    Taní interrogated her about his inheriting her blood. Tygenna’s response? He’d proven himself worthy, just like the rest of his kin. Not that he possessed her blood in the literal sense, as she explained. Rather, Sedd itself proved their bond. All Sedd stemmed from her. They only needed to nurture said bond to wield it.


    Suddenly, it struck him. That same persistent issue he had suffered these last three years. Something no one could explain.


    He asked her why he was incapable of using her gift.


    Tygenna…didn’t immediately respond. She did, however, regard him with mild amusement. Her heavy eyes drawn to a near close, almost as if sleep was beckoning. Were her duties truly so exhausting? And those tales…were they true? Had she truly slain the Desolator all those ages ago?


    Tygenna’s chin dipped, and though her eyes were night and bright, her eyelids came to an inevitable close. Peace once again reigning supreme. “To think we near the end once more. I’ve never had the honor of presenting myself before this Iteration, and yet… What changed? Was it hate? Was it longing? Even she, the Iteration of the End…” She shook her head. “No. Forgive me for my rambling, my blood. You are not incapable. You’ve simply yet to Awaken. I know this to be true. You may think its slumber preordained, but I know it true.”


    Though Taní knew he would come to regret it, he managed a weak response. “B-But why? Everyone else has done it. Why am I the only one who’s stuck waiting when they get to do what I want?”


    “I think much the same when I glimpse your memories. Needing, wanting. Do you know why I forged you Wishes? To repay my debt; to grant meaning. Yet as the Cycles crept, I learned it not what you needed. And I endure knowing it’s all you ever wanted.” Tygenna sank into her seat, her voice falling to a sleepy murmur. “Recall your first moments as a squire. Do you not sense it? Yearn for it? That now-dim hope which you once used to stoke your fire. It remains as it always does: Trailing in our wake. You may think it dead; you may think it overridden by expectation and disappointment, but it lies there. In a realm where only honesty exists.”


    Taní wanted to groan and tell her he didn’t understand anything, but his vision flashed a blistering red. His hands flew to his temples, squeezing away the pain even as he hissed.


    The Guardian-Mother of Vale?o simply giggled in response. “I pray you’ll understand one day, and when you do, even He shall tremble. Your first descent shan’t be your last. Believe me. Your Awakening will be a blessing in and of itself. I only envy those fortunate enough to witness it…”


    <hr>


    A piercing throb greeted Taní as he came to. An orange, hazy light flickered, painting his vision fuzzy. Curious, his gaze fell to the first figure in the dim room.


    Their powerful form sat slouched in a chair. Her pale, gilded hair worn loosely. Not in that tight bunch she often wore during Art. He peered through the light-induced darkness, or at least tried to, as his body took several seconds to process the simple command. That’s when he noticed her dark robes. The same one she’d worn during their voyage.


    His covers rustled as he shifted, prompting her to perk up and twist around in her chair. Her once noble mien etched with concern.


    “Taní, I… Are you well?” Eleanor asked, her voice tinged with the exhaustion of an all-night’s travel.


    Taní’s response was immediate, or at least it was in his mind. His tongue took several extra seconds to work the first syllable. “I’ve…been worse. One time, I fell off of Blondie during a storm. Let me tell you, cutting yourself on wet rock hurts.”


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    An amused huff escaped Eleanor. “One can imagine.”


    “Hey, Eleanor—”


    “Sanrevelle. Master Sanrevelle, D’Histell. How many times must I need remind you?”


    “C’mon, just give me this once. I’m pretty hurt.”


    A tight grimace wormed its way onto Eleanor''s face, and though he expected her to deny his request with a callous scoff, she dipped her head. Albeit reluctantly. “Very well.”


    “Thanks,” Taní said. “Do you…know what happened? I don’t really remember much aside from being in port.”


    “From what I gleaned, you courted the smooth, supple wall of a residential complex. An intimate encounter deserving of praise, I would wager.”


    He blinked. “Is—Is that supposed to be a joke?”


    “Yes. Why? Was it not to your liking?”


    “I, uh…yes! It is. Haha! Thanks.”


    A hint of a smile touched Eleanor’s lips. “I’m pleased to have served.”


    After a moment’s pause, he asked, “So…how’d you find out about this?”


    “The reports of Sir Fernbank and our Lady mentioned your…inability to conjure Sedd. Thus, resulting in a messy head-on collision after a miscalculated stride. Or so they say.”


    The events struck Taní like a bag of rocks. Their carriage ride into port, window-shopping, purchasing chestnuts, and then the shortcut. That dreaded, awful shortcut that fooled him into believing he could wield Sedd.


    “Worry not, D’Histell. You’ve escaped relatively unscathed,” Eleanor continued. “Though trauma is of no laughing matter, your friends sought immediate recourse. Perhaps Mother has seen fit to bless you with thick comrades.”


    Her reassurance only made Taní feel like an idiot. She was trying, he could tell she was, but… They knew.


    They knew that he was a Seddless loser. A pretender.


    Taní drew his covers up, hoping they’d allow him to fester in obscurity for the rest of his life. That’s when he caught the musty odor of alcohol.


    He groaned. “This is the nurse’s office, isn’t it?”


    “Where else would you be returned after having suffered a concussion?” Eleanor inquired with a tilt of her head.


    “How long’ve I been out?”


    “Only a day,” came a Nimmian accent from an opposing partition.


    A rush of excitement replaced Taní’s exhaustion, granting him the energy to swing his legs over the bed. He pushed himself off without thinking, but the moment his feet scraped the icy floor, he tumbled. Eleanor caught him before he struck the unforgiving white tiles, his every limb feeling like jelly.


    “Oh, uh…thanks, Eleanor,” Taní grinned sheepishly.


    “Pray avoid exertion, D’Histell. You need ample time to recover, and I’d rather you not suffer another blow in your eagerness to greet a friend.”


    A familiar shadow crept into the partition''s slot. “Hey Tan-Tan. Get some good sleep in?”


    Taní wobbled as Eleanor reset him on the bed. “Jaster!”


    “I was wondering when you’d get up. You’re a pretty heavy sleeper when you get knocked on the head, y’know.”


    “I’m certain anyone would be, Dragonfang,” Eleanor remarked with all the depleted enthusiasm of a horse-hating Juneac?o.


    She returned to her seat as Jaster sauntered into the makeshift room. “Never seen a wall receive a right thrashing. I mean, squires are eager to fall off roofs and break things, but never just smack themselves against a building.”


    Taní turned away as fire clawed at his cheeks. “Yeah…you saw that, didn’t you?”


    “If it makes you feel any better, Lavisa saw it happen, too.”


    The irresistible urge to crawl under the sheets and never see the light of day consumed Taní like a terrible Sun’s Peak fever. She was the LAST person he wanted to embarrass himself in front of. Falling off a roof was one thing, but slamming yourself unconscious in front of the prettiest girl in the realm? It just made him want to die.


    “Did I at least use it right?” Taní murmured.


    Jaster tilted his head. “Use what?”


    “…Sedd.”


    “Nah. Must’ve slipped at the last minute. Happens to first-years all the time—the creeps, y’know—so don’t beat yourself up.”


    Uncertain of what else to say, Taní remained silent. Great, he still had time to fabricate a proper lie. Maybe he could even trick Lavisa into believing it was a setup! By whom…well, he didn’t have to think hard to find the perfect scapegoat.


    “Hey Eleanor,” Jaster said, “can I have some of those?”


    “It’s MASTER Sanrevelle,” she snapped, her austere front returning. “And no, you cannot have one.”


    “Then why’d you bring it if it was just gonna sit there?”


    Eleanor stiffened. Taní half-expected some witty retort, but the woman’s gaze quickly dropped to her lap. Her thumbs twiddled in a fierce engagement.


    “Isn’t it obvious? I purchased these treats should D’Histell find himself famished,” Eleanor explained with a slight squeak.


    “Yeah, but…these aren’t normal snacks. They’re gaseddees. Stuff costs more SG than three months of shrewd saving.”


    A rosy hue dusted Eleanor’s fair cheeks. “Yes…well, they were having a sale last I checked.”


    “No, they weren’t. We stopped by there during our time in port.”


    “Haha, yes, well…the sale happened this morning, so…”


    A sharp gasp dispelled the peace, drawing Taní’s attention to the source. Jaster reached for the pile of neatly wrapped treats, but before he could secure one in his hand, Eleanor smacked the back of his hand with enough force to paint it redder than an apple.


    “Good blood, woman! That hurts,” Jaster hissed, drawing his damaged hand to his side.


    “You do not refer to a lady as ‘woman.’ You refer to her by name!”


    “Hey.” Taní turned toward the tired-sounding voice. It was nurse Ylissa. “Can you guys be any louder? There’re other people in this room, y’know. And you!” She jabbed an accusatory finger at Jaster. “Didn’t I tell you to stop loitering?”


    Jaster waved her off. “Eh, that was yesterday. We’re here now.”


    “You’re—” The nurse took a deep breath. “You know what, fine. Whatever. Just be quiet. Oh, and if you think I’m going to lend you another slip, you’re a fool.”


    Jaster shot her a deadpan look, which the nurse returned in full. Strangely enough, she didn’t keep at it for long. She wavered, her eyes reluctantly drifting to one side.


    “Fine. Just be quiet.”


    And with that, she walked off.


    A faint, arcing pulse of molten needles threaded through Taní’s forehead. God, was that really a headache? He thought they were supposed to make you feel grumpy, not hurt. Whether it was due to him reaching for his head or his grimace, Eleanor took notice.


    “Easy, D’Histell. You shouldn’t exert yourself. Mentally or physically.”


    “Then how am I going to get to class?”


    Eleanor flashed him an amused smile. “You’re not.”


    “What?”


    “I saw fit to excuse you from all school activities. Until further notice, that is. Do not fret, Master Sierez has signed off on my request.”


    “Oh…” Taní tapped a finger against the sheets. “What now?”


    “Once the day concludes, you will be shown to your dorm under nurse Ylissa’s guidance. Oh, and we’ve assigned several students to monitor you throughout the day. So don’t dread at unsolicited knocks. It’s for your own good. You needn’t concern yourself with meals, as they’ll be providing it,” Eleanor explained.


    “Is that why you got all those snacks?” Taní pointed to the table beside her.


    The Tyrian folded her arms; her stern fa?ade having returned. “Having a snack to hold you over is a must during these trying times.”


    After some prodding, Jaster convinced Eleanor to treat Taní to a sweet. Mostly to steal one or two when she wasn’t looking. Taní—uncertain of what tasted good—asked Eleanor to choose for him. She practically froze at the suggestion. It was only after Jaster’s teasing that she finally thawed out of her surprise.


    The first treat was a chewy pastry filled with cheese and a fruit blend that melted on his tongue. He downed the succulent snack in three bits, choking halfway through the third. Eleanor chastised him, but unlike Lavisa, her patting didn’t put a dent in his back.


    Not that Taní’s near-death experience made his chewing any more thorough. He still choked on the subsequent treats. Right up to the fifth, when Eleanor finally decided that she’d be the one to feed him. He thought it strange, as he’d yet to die from consuming these delectable luxuries, but he shrugged and went along with it.


    Snatching one of the various pastries from the table (right after slapping Jaster’s hand away), she slowly lifted it to Taní’s lips. Before the delicacy could enter his mouth, a long shadow came over them.


    “What’re you doing?”


    Taní’s eyes darted to the slot. It was Lavisa.


    He slapped the treat out of Eleanor’s hand, and flashed the princess a tight, awkward smile. “H-Hey, Lavisa. What’re you doing here?”


    “I came to see how you were faring.”


    “Oh…thanks.”


    The princess dipped her head. “I’m relieved to see you’ve made a full-recovery, Tan?o. Truly and utterly relieved. Thank you.”


    “Oh. Uh, thanks? I feel like I should be thanking you, though. Can’t really walk when you’re unconscious,” he explained.


    “Think nothing of it. You being here is thanks enough.”


    Odd. No one ever thanked him for simply “being” there. Not even Danza.


    Eleanor attempted to feed him again, and though he initially resisted, the heat radiating from his head won out. He grumpily munched on the treat, failing to convey what anger he could as the picante blend of spices and cinnamon drove away his faux irritation.


    Eventually, nurse Ylissa stepped back into the room. She didn’t greet them with a smile though; she just groaned at the added numbers. “Moonrays, there’s more…”


    Taní frowned. “Hi to you, too.”


    “Don’t give me lip, brain-basher. I swear, all you do is give me extra work.”


    “You’ve only treated me twice.”


    “Exactly!” She threw her arms up. “Do you know how many kids I treated last semester? Zero! Now I can’t even get that brat out of this room.”


    “Madame Ylissa,” Eleanor said, slow with emphasis. “Do not befoul the air whilst in the presence of royalty.”


    Ylissa’s amethyst-onyx eyes flickered to Lavisa, and after several Cycle-thinning seconds, she jumped. “O-Oh! Your highness, do forgive me. Shall I treat you to some water? The walk here must’ve left you parched.”


    “Hey, why didn’t you offer me a cup?” Jaster asked her with a frown.


    “Yeah,” Taní added, “I’ve been here twice and all you’ve done is ignore me.”


    Lavisa cocked a suspicious brow at the nurse. Ylissa’s response? A painful, wide beam as she craned her neck to face Taní.


    “Forgive me, it must’ve slipped my mind.”


    “Four cups if you’d be so kind,” Lavisa ordered.


    Ylissa gave a stiff bow. “As you command, your highness.”


    While she retrieved the water, Lavisa gave a detailed report on the incident. Her voice trailing off at the mentions of damage. Once finished, she spared him a careful glance. “…Are you truly well?”


    Taní eyed her suspiciously. That voice sounded like it belonged to a frightened child, not the heir of their kingdom. Realizing he couldn’t let her down, he gave a slight (non-aggravating) nod.


    “Yeah, don’t worry. A little rest is all I need.”


    “Are you certain? Perhaps a walk might do you some good. Beds are—” She paused. “Lying down can be a tiring affair.”


    “Your highness,” Eleanor interjected, “D’Histell requires all the bedrest he can manage. Exercise, even a stroll, might only invite further debilitation. Please do try to understand.”


    Lavisa’s lips cracked open, though no sound escaped them. Her eyes darted to the floor, shoulders tense. “Y-Yes, I understand, Master Sanrevelle. Please forgive me. I was just—”


    Eleanor raised a hand, forestalling her. “You’ve no need to apologize, your highness. Just know that D’Histell is in capable hands. You need only fear the classwork he’s yet to accumulate.”


    Lavisa’s lips quirked. “Thank you, Master Sanrevelle.”