A sharp, white, billowing cloak cuts through an ink-black cosmic mist, its brightness glaringly contrasted with the darkness seeping over a gnarled tree's limb below. Dried leaves crunch and crumble under the weight of Nivk's barestride greaves, as he lands with angelic grace upon its broad, ridged branch. Overhead, the ashen husk of a collapsed star phase cast a haunting obsidian-like shadow. Nivk moves quietly along the branch's grooves, pausing mid-soundless stride, to study the vastly sized foundation looming above.
It was the Chrysalis, one of the many Bayoe military fronts and training centers on Adrazenith. The towering structure, rising like a bridge to the sky, has no summit in sight. From the ground, it resembles a colossal sized tree. Roots twist and spiral beneath the surface, forming helixes that snake upward, merging into a triangular foundation. Along the ridges of its rough, silky-pearl-white trunk, openings emerge from the flora-coated branches, each serving as an entrance or a lookout point. As the tree ascends, its organic build gradually transforms; climbing higher only shows it abandons its woody appearance for sweeping cones and curved surfaces, reminiscent of a giant chrysalis unfurling toward the sky.
At the very top, the Chrysalis blooms into a spectacular crown of unfurling petals, each vast and pearlescent, functioning as solar panels that capture the light of Adrazenith's collapsing star. These petals open and close in coherent harmony with the star's phases, much like the blossoms of an Ipomoea; revealing the Chrysalis's connection to both the Rootways below it and the perpetually collapsing, hovering star above. Along the rims of each luminous petal, elegant thorn-like thrones are positioned, seats of command and ceremony, gleaming against their opalescent edges, reserved for those with the greatest honor and authority.
Nivk's footsteps came to a halt once more, before one of the many flora-coated doors. A faint flare ignites at his fingertip as he extends his hand, his golden veins pulsing dimly against his forearm. He presses his spirit-imbued finger against a cluster of thorny-vined, golden rose-petaled flowers; foamy nectar drips from their buds, pooling along the branches' floor. The vines writhe and unfurl, peeling away to reveal a solid gold, pearl-white door. A thick-rimmed scope-glass shoots from the door's center, attached to a sharply curved crystal tube; a focused beam aligns with the center of Nivk's chest. The device thrums to life and hums as it jitters forward, shimmering with flickers of light that dance along its rune-covered, sleek designed surface.
The humming intensified as a golden dispersion ring blossomed from its beam, encircling the chest plate of Nivk's armor. Slowly, the light pulsed and tightened, casting a shrinking circle that tightened around his spirit orb core like a vice. Then, as the hum reached its precipice, the machine widened the beam, casting a silhouette that traced the contours of Nivk's body and locked him in place. He didn't struggle against the mystical restraint; its weight pressed heavily on his spirit and sent tremors along his gold veins. The air surrounding him rippled in sync with the thrum of the machine energy. Until, suddenly, a blinding, blaring flash erupted, washing across Nivk and the entire branch, momentarily dispelling the darkness outside.
At first, there was only a blank, blaring void of white . Then, gradually, as the flare faded from Nivk's eyes, his vision returned. He stood unshaken in the center of a vast, iridescent void of a room, a chamber with no clear boundaries, encased in a tube of crystal glass. With a sharp click, the tube unlocked, then slide open, releasing thick clouds of dark mist and dust. The dust curled around Nivk's barestride greaves and lingered on the smooth, colorless floor.
As Nivk stepped out, men and women hurried over, equipped with long-hosed, vacuum-like devices that drew the lingering, shadowy dust from his armor and cloak. They were Decampremais, no different from Themaine or Ederi in rank, nor appearance. Yet, rather than farmers, these Decampremais had been chosen to serve the Elites as a specialized maid-hazard team; a service he'd witnessed countless times before. Whether distributing short sun shards, cleaning the many endless corridors of the Chrysalis , tending to the sickly dimming cores of young bayoes, or enduring rebuke from high-ranking Elite officials, they were always present.
Nivk had never once questioned their place in the social hierarchy on Adrazenith. But now, recalling his meeting with Themaine and Ederi on Stella, something within him, rooted in his own sense of status, began to falter.
"Young Soldier of Unit Elite435," A voice echoed through the vast auditorium's void. As Nivk shifted his head towards the direction of the voice, he saw the outline of transparent stairs, softly emitting a colorless glow, descending from an unseen ceiling. A hooded figure, draped in golden tassels, and a rune-etched that glimmered with shifting light in response to his voice, made his way down. He was an Elite guard-Rekindler, charged with overseeing the schedules of all young Bayoe soldiers within the Chrysalis. His expression, form, and even the pace of his movements were concealed beneath the thick, lavish, cloud-like folds of his cloak.
When the Rekindler reached the final step, he approached Nivk, causing the Decapremais, who had just finished cleaning Nivk's armor and cloak, to part like a receding tide before scattering in all directions.
"It's past night-light." The Rekindler Intoned, circling Nivk like a silent warden. Though meant as a reprimand, his words merely sent Nivk through familiar motions.
"This may be your first time returning late from patrol, but make no mistake," The Rekindler extended a pale, white-skinned hand, tapping the core of Nivk's spirit orb . Nivk remained still and silent; he knew better than to protest or speak back without permission. Aware that defiance could bring the High Council's punishment.
"I'm sorry, dear Kindler," Nivk said, bowing his head." May my Light shine brighter, so I shan't falter on my next patrol." He kept his head low, waiting for approval , this bland conformity ingrained in every gesture.
For a moment, there was only silence, the pressure of the Rekindler presence pressing down on Nivk. "Very well, you may return to your Parde to Re-cycle, and be sure to rise bright and early once the star shifts to Sprouting."
Nivk lifted his head and nodded. Without hesitation, he started forward until the Rekindler halted him once more.
"Were you out searching for your Dodma again during your Nayoe patrol?"
Nivk didn't so much as flinch. Even before the Rekindler's question, a single thought occupied his mind. Though he had, in truth, abandoned his patrol to look for his father, all he could recall in that moment was Themaine's loud, bratty voice screaming Zork at him, a crude nickname that echoed in his memory.
"No, I wasn't," He replied, his spirit orb core not even flickering in the slightest at the lie.
The Rekindler offered no reply, just a dismissive huff before turning away and ascending back up the translucent staircase, its spiral vanishing into a distant light high above the boundless ceiling. With that, Nivk continued through the featureless white expanse of the entrance area. After some distance, he reached a seemingly ordinary white wall. Without warning, it depressed with a soft, constant ticking, then popped outward and slid upward like an odd drawbridge. As he passed through, the wall shut behind him, ticking and clicking tight back into place.
A long, pitch-dark hallway stretched before him, lined with doors, each marked by a golden nameplate. Nivk strolled down the corridor until he found the door labeled ELITE UNIT 435. Extending his forearm, he touched the door's lever, an unusual mechanism resembling a doorknob. Thick, harp strings shot from the lever, piercing into Nivk's forearm and snaking through his limb until they tethered to his veins. pain flared through his arm in a surge of golden light, draining a fraction of energy from his spirit orb core. A chime sounded, and a triangle with a central dot appeared on the door's surface before it slid seamlessly into the floor, opening the way, only to close immediately behind him as he stepped inside.
Within the elite youth dormitories, rows of cocoon-like suture pods horizontally lined the floors and walls, each crafted from pearl-like silk. When the pod bloomed open, it revealed a bed of living flowers, inviting Nivk to approach his own open Parde case and recline within it. The Parde pod gently sealed around him, enclosing him in its protective embrace. To guard their spirit orb cores from overload, a cosmic darkness filled the chamber, muffling the glare of external light. In this hushed environment, tiny spheres of grassy, tumbleweed-like starlight drifted lazily within each pod, nourishing the Bayoe's core and making them feel as if they were slumbering stars adrift in space. When the next sprouting phase begins, the pods unfurl, peeling apart in graceful silken strands to release their rejuvenated occupants. But for Nivk, until the morning, he simply drifted into that starfield slumber, his dreams scattered with memories of the day's events on Stella farm.
Blackness, soft and endless, cradled Nivk as he drifted through a silent, weightless sleep. The line between dreaming and walking blurred, for sleep was a starless field, gentle and absolute. Then, a soft light pressed against his eyelids. And a chorus of voices, distant yet intimate, began to weave through the silence.
" HAPPY SPROUTING, Today's scripture reads of bright lights and Saints flying along the sky." Rung an ethereal voice.
Nivk's eyes opened to the calm unfurling silk of his pod, the chamber suffused with light. Yet, as he woke, a familiar heaviness settled quietly in his chest, centered on his spirit orb's core. Rising from his Prade pod, he glanced down at his maintained armor and cloak, still worn and unchanged from the day before, but he had no reaction.
Around him, the other young Elite Bayoe soldiers moved with the same disillusioned detachment as well, fully armored, lining up at the chamber's entrance. Harp-stringed mechanisms pressed into their arms, verifying their elite status before allowing them to exit, but none responded with emotion.
"The Star has Sprouted in the sky, with not a crystorm in sight. Our light truly must shine brightly to be this blessed," the bodiless voice continued, echoing through the chamber with no discernible source.
Stepping into the hallway, Nivk found the corridors transformed, once dark, now illuminated by shimmering golden flecks. Young Bayoes of different sizes and shapes stood silently in lines, marching forward like dominoes on a conveyor belt. Cloaked Decampremais, heads bowed beneath their hoods, offered short sun shards that pulsed with eager light. Nivk accepted a shard, its familiar weight clinging to his hand as it had countless times before. But this time, as his eyes met the bowed gaze of a Decampremais woman, a flicker of unease unsettled the numb routine of his morning.
Nivk's daily rituals unfolded, actions that had become just another part of the background noise of his life, each movement and phrase endlessly repeated. First, he sat cross-legged atop a massive skyscraper-high library bookshelf, its shelves packed to the brim with neatly sorted scriptures. Scattered across other towering shelves, young Bayoes mirrored his posture, quietly reading or reciting. Below, hundreds of adult Elite Bayoe soldiers marched in perfect formation, their ranks stretching across the vast library floor. Among them, a few bore thick, feathery white dove wings that cascaded down their backs, draping over their armor in place of the standard cloak.
Next came meditation, held in an abysmally black abyss of a room, no light, no movement, just unbroken darkness. Gradually, a faint glow began to bloom as ten young Bayoe soldiers, Nivk among them, formed a silent circle. Golden veins shimmered along their limbs, and the spirit cores in their chests, where a heart would be, pulsed with growing light, each beat brighter than the last. No one spoke, no one moved or even trembled in fear of the dark; there was only the steady, rising radiance building from the core of each Bayoe Elite, the silence thick as their collective light prepared to flare.
For a brief moment, Nivk slipped away into a specific hallway he'd taken tons of times before, finding a crystal panel that granted him access to one of the many branches lining the outer walls of the Chrysalis. Warm Adrazenith breezes washed over him as he gazed outward, the star phase shifting from sprouting to full, a silent reminder that morning had already passed, though the day was far from over. Without lingering, Nivk slid back through the crystal panel and reentered one of the white corridors, resuming his steady stride towards the next task awaiting him.
Once more, Nivk entered a room blanketed in motionless white. Five young Bayoe Elites, including himself, stood at the edge of a towering pillar, hundreds of feet above the pearl-white floor. All at once, a sharp clank sounded, and the room was plunged into darkness. Without hesitation, the five leapt headfirst into the void.
Suddenly, the lights blazed back on. Nivk hurtled downward, surrounded by his peers mid-dive. One girl flashed a mischievous smirk as she fell; the most excitement she'd had all day. Her quadra ponytails rippling like water disturbed by a skipping stone against the winds. Two boys to Nivk's right, cloaks snapped with the rush of air, as they fell closer and closer to the ground. Another clank plunged everything into darkness once more.
Nivk instinctively windmilled his legs, angling towards the side of the pillar. His barestride-greaves catching its edge, allowing him to grind along the surface for a split second; sparks flying off his feet. Then, with a powerful push, he launched off, marble-like chunks shattering beneath him as he landed with force on the floor below. The other touched down in sync beside him.
Without pause, all of them sprinted at full speed through the darkness, the only light coming from their glowing spirit orb cores. Suddenly, a misstep, a blinding flash sent one boy flying, launching him skyward and out of sight. The rest pressed on, kept running , some getting ready to break past Nivk. The lights flickered back on, and each Bayoe child moved so fast their cloaks trailed behind them like afterimages.
Still not breaking stride, Nivk shifted backward, flipped onto his hands, and sprang off in a backflip motion. At the same time, one girl nearby slid beneath him, only to collide with a pillar swiftly shooting up from the floor. She was knocked back, her quad ponytails tangled and her cloak torn, but she forced herself upright, core glowing faintly, and kept running.
Nivk landed lightly and immediately sprinted forward. He slid under a volley of incoming darts, each pearly spike slicing through the air just inches above, wisping and slashing in his wake. He then, swiftly pushed his body upward before planting one foot firmly into the floor and swung his opposite leg high above his head, arching it before slamming it back downward in a powerful axe kick that shattered a chunk of the pearl-white floor, shooting it up midair, creating a makeshift shield. He knelt, slammed his back against the floating debris and braced himself as thorny spikes shot towards him, partially tearing through the barrier with a barrage splintering thwacks.
At the last second, Nivk kicked the barricade towards the girl from earlier; it landed just in front of her, detonating a flash bang trap she'd nearly triggered. She barely had time to notice before Nivk was off again, weaving and rolling his body past a set of pearlescent rotating blades, only to punch one, redirecting it into a nearby wall. Another boy narrowly dodged the blade at the last moment as Nivk pressed forward, no smile on his face, only a thought lingering in his mind. A thought about Stella Farm….. again.
"Soldier Nivk, of unit E435"
A voice echoed, distant at first, then growing sharper, as if cutting through layers of memory.
He wondered why his mind kept drifting back to Stella, a place he'd only visited once. Even though he planned to return, could a single visit really have changed him so much?
" Soldier Nivk of unit E435".
The thought lingered; he no longer felt at home here. He could tolerate the Chrysalis, bide his time until patrol or another secret search for his Dodma, but something felt different now. And if what Ederi had hinted was true, if he did have Zexornite heritage, would the Spot-light tech at the entrance detect it? DID IT DETECT IT EARLIER? DID HIS SPIRIT ORB CORE CHANGE COLOR UNDER THE SCAN?
"NIVK FEYRIROSE"
A cloaked Rekindler's voice broke through his haze, flanked by two adult elite guards. The Rekindler's sharp tone jolted Nivk from his daydream. "I'll ask you again," the Rekindler said, slamming both hands on a pulpit the size of a family table, scattering a few scriptures as the guards looked on. Golden torches lined the walls, casting a faint glow in the already blindingly white room. Everything here was always so glaringly bright.
"I want to see my Monama." The words rolled off Nivk's tongue with practiced ease, though he knew they were a lie.
He was lying to people who would report everything back to the High Council, but then again, maybe pretending to be happy in the Chrysalis was the biggest lie of all.