Careful Not To Break Reality

There has never been any stoppage for Rydel ever since Valerie has started preparing for her very own Test of Brawl, or challenge, as every day has been none stop preparation, action and high levels of stress ever since. The momentum of the pressure continued on as he sat quietly in the cabin of Zel's space ship as it escapes into space and then entered the pocket dimension. The ship and the pocket dimension will be travelling at the maximum speed allowed, and the journey back to Athena 3 will take up to a week and more, though the majority of the time will be spent leaving the wild regions.

Dolon's body was put into freeze and preserve as much as they could, and Rydel has been sitting in his room and reflecting the long journey that has finally ended. It all started when they went ahead to save Zel, and Dolon sacrificed herself to draw as much enemy attention away as possible to give the rest a chance to escape. And then they all disappeared into the wild regions.

Then Ol was able to track down the locations of whereabouts of Absolute Being and how they are recruited into the organization. Rydel went through months of intensive training as a result and managed to put himself in the position to be on their radar. The intensive training really never stopped, but instead continued in different places and the progression laid out within Absolute Academy made it rather simple to see the end goal.

However, just because something is simple doesn't mean it was easy. The Test of Skill, Test of Brain, Test of Mind were never easy, each one posing more challenge than the last and changing Rydel's head space as it goes on. The leader of Absolute Being seemed to see some value in Rydel, though the subordinates are a lot more reluctant in this regard. They did still follow his orders in the end, but played around with the interpretations of it to deal with Rydel how they saw fit.

And all that brought him to this point in time. He did bring back Lightning Rod, now as his second artifact and Dolon and Valerie and Lock Down. However, there were lots of price to be paid in the process, and it's something he needed to reflect upon. Despite what greater salvation there might be in the senseless acc.u.mulation of strength Absolute Being is in pursuit of, Rydel and the other bearers of the Artifact needed to tread this carefully, or they would be no different than the group they are fighting.

The galaxy is indeed a big place, but they shouldn't mess it up for the sake of saving it in the end. Rydel disagree fundamentally with the thinking of the end justifying the means, as that really lacked nuance and discipline when it comes to the complexity of various issues in life.

'I haven't got a chance to ask, but are you alright?' As Rydel was lost in his thoughts and time flew by, Valerie finally decided to pop along and see how he is doing.

Rydel looked up, and forced a smile, 'Technically it is mission accomplished for me. Lightning Rod is back on our hands, quite literally. I got you here with us and Lock Down too, and...Dolon is here. But it's not that, and it certainly didn't feel this way.'

Valerie came and sat near Rydel before c.a.r.e.s.sing his tightened back and giving him a gentle massage.

'What I did to get here isn't exactly something I am proud of.'

'But it was necessary.' Valerie said firmly, 'and there is little room for morals in the wild regions.'

'Then if that's the case, what makes us better than them?' Rydel questioned.

'We are different because we think about this, and we reflect, and we will do better the next time around.' Valerie said, 'our past made us what we are today, but it does not have to make us what we are going to be tomorrow, right?'

Slowly processing what Valerie is saying, Rydel nodded lightly.

'For the past few months, my life was dedicated to the sole purpose of revenge, and when I got it, it didn't feel that great. But it's not just about revenge because I was sad and angry, it is also to prevent Absolute Being from keeping yet another artifact in their hands.' Valerie continued on, 'from now on, nothing will be so simple and clear cut, and it's up to us to make the best decisions we can, from now on.'

Rydel nodded yet again. Valerie is right.

'With that out of the way, what do you plan to do with your sister?' Rydel asked finally as he reached out to hold Valerie's hand.

'I don't know, but me and your friend Cellica have sorted something out for her. She can start a life in the settled regions with a new ID and everything.'

'Did Cellica give you any trouble...?' Rydel asked tentatively and tried to be as subtle as possible.

'Nah.' Valerie said, and Rydel lets out a long sigh of relief.

The next few days of journey went by rather uneventfully, as they have finally reached the edges of the wild regions, and Rydel sincerely hoped that he does not have to come back to this place any time soon. With the vast reaches of space finally behind them, Zel took the ship out of the pocket dimension and hopped on the nearest acceleration gate and sped towards Athena 3.

It was another day or two before the mineral planet showed back up on the radar, and despite all the pleasantries of seeing artificial greenaries for the past couple of months, Rydel is simply too much of a post moderner to find much joy in there. The rainbow colored striations on the planet's surface brings some feelings that he has been packed away for a little while, and as they come flooding back into his mind, he couldn't help it but feel a little emotional.

For Valerie and her sister, and past few days of quick journey actually blew their minds, and the peacefulness of the planets in the settled regions are also a welcome change after the many years of hustling. The ship descends through the atmosphere, and Rydel noticed that not much has really happened to Athena 3 since he left, which makes sense since there isn't much development interests for a mining planet.

'So this is the settled regions?' Valerie looked to Rydel and asked as they all gathered up near the exit of the ship.

Rydel looked around the ship, and saw her sister and Zel beside them two. None of them are the best representatives of settled region citizens exactly, as they have a combined zero time being on the settled region's galactic capital world.

'Well, you don't exactly have the best people to talk about the settled regions here. But we can go check out the capital for sure! From what I have heard, it's many times bigger and more glamorous than Wolfana!'

'Is that even possible?' Valerie's sister couldn't believe that, and Rydel shrugged in response.

'Yeah, let's go there when we get a break.' Valerie said as she gave Rydel a gentle shoulder rub. Then as the ramp lowers, the home base is revealed. Cellica, Torelamri and Ol stood waiting near the entrance, as Rydel and co walked out.

They rushed towards Rydel and embraced him, Cellica getting there first, and Ol stood right behind her. Even Torelamri joined in on the party and hugged him in the legs.

'Rydel, where is Dolon?' After letting go of Rydel's leg, Torelamri asked.

Rydel sighed and shook his head, 'we will talk about it later. But this is Valerie Surtnouf and her sister...'

'Vel Surtnouf.' She introduced herself finally, as Rydel has only been refering to her as Valerie's sister for however long he has known her.

'Right. They came with me back here, and Valerie is now also a bearer of the artifact.'

'In that case, why don't we get you settled in here?' Ol said with a slight bow, and then guided them towards the base, 'after that, we can all meet and catch up.'

Before, the dining area seemed a bit empty even when everyone is using it, but now with every body around, it finally has the semblance of a home base. Ol, Rydel, Valerie, Cellica, Torelamri and Zel sat in a circle each with a drink in their hand and they talked about what has happened and what's going to happen next.

'I see...' After Rydel has recounted his story, Ol nodded, 'overall, despite the loss of a dear friend, I am sure we have halted the progress of Absolute Being somewhat, and now we also have much more intelligence about how the organization operates from the inside.'

'Which gives me a lot more to work with.' Cellica said as she glanced over at Rydel, and he sensed a hint of anger and jealousy in those jaded colored eyes, 'and as you have said, their leader seemed like he is about to make some moves in the government, so we will keep a close eye on that.'

'Do expect them to make more moves to account for this though.' Ol said, following Cellica, 'with two lost artifacts, they must be on their way to look for more. Over the next little while, both Cellica and I will be closely monitoring around to see if there is any further activation of artifacts.'

'My eyes are hit and miss when it comes to locating those, but it's the best we have got.'

'I am sure you will try your best.' Rydel said and nodded firmly to her,but she ignored the gesture.

'And as for you two, I think you can take some time off for now. You have been through a lot recently, and getting away might be good for your mental and physical health.' Ol said, and Rydel couldn't agree more, 'we will give Dolon, our dear friend a proper burial this afternoon, and then let's get back to our work.'

The burial occured near the back of the homebase in the corner of the practice grounds, and Rydel carved out a lightning pattern on the stone wall to remember her by.

'A fighter til the very end.' Rydel wrote.

'Right, I better get back to the GBI now. The work with the Rockies government is demanding my full attention.' After the service, Cellica was the first one to excuse herself, and she left promptly. Torelamri went back into his room to work, and Zel said he is going to pay his mother a visit.

'Oh I never asked you how that went!' Rydel thought back to what Zel said the last time they were both on Athena 3.

'Well, that's a story for another day.' Zel smiled, 'but if you are going to the Galactic Capital to visit, I will be happy to give you all a ride!'

'I will take you up on it.'

And with that, another chapter of Rydel's journey is in the books. As Rydel, Valerie and Vel glided through the stars with Zel towards the Capital, the next dark chapter in the galaxy is about to begin.