Chapter 32

Eris sits cross-legged on a floating platform, suspended just above the polished floor, her spellbook Hufrat Alzalam levitating open in front of her. Gravity dances around her fingertips in concentric rings of light. Kalt XVIII approaches, quietly but curiously.

Kalt XVIII
Captain Eris.

Eris
(eyebrows raised slightly, not looking up)
Prince Kalt. Or should I say, not-so-prince these days?

Kalt XVIII
(chuckles once)
I suppose “former heir” fits better.
May I ask you something?

Eris
(gestures for him to sit on the edge of the platform)
Go on.

Kalt XVIII
Why did you choose to be Shizuku’s advisor?
You’re the only pure ancient human captain in the Guard. Don’t you ever feel… overshadowed?

Eris
(smirks, finally closing her book)
Two-part question, huh?
Alright then.

Eris
1.) I’ve been his best friend since he was little. Since fourth grade, to be exact.
I was the kid who carried five books and forgot lunch. He was the quiet one who smiled when people didn’t think he understood anything.
We sat under the same sakura tree every day until we both became captains.
Even now, I still know what he’s thinking before he says it. He’s got power, sure, but he trusts me to keep him balanced.

Kalt XVIII
And the second?

Eris
2.) I’m an ancient human. No divine blood. No dragon wings. No stellar veins.
Just a girl with a mind, grit, and gravity on her side.
I decided early on that I’d make myself undeniable.
That every human who looks like me, breathes like me, would know—we can be captains too.
The title isn’t just for the celestial, the hybrid, or the half-primordial.

Kalt XVIII
You don’t feel eclipsed by the others?

Eris
(snickers)
Kalt, I stand shoulder to shoulder with beings who could level planets.
Yet when I speak in a strategy meeting, everyone listens.
They know my words come from study, from lived experience, from knowing the cost of power—not just having it.
Besides… have you ever seen a star elemental panic when I turn their own gravity inside out?
It’s quite the view.

Kalt XVIII
You’re not what I expected.

Eris
No one ever is. Not Shizuku, not Alto, not even you.
But that’s the point of a universe this vast, right?
Surprise. Evolution. Reinvention.

Kalt leans back slightly, looking thoughtful. For the first time since boarding the Ark, he looks at one of the captains not as a superior—but as an equal in a different kind of strength.

Kalt XVIII
Thank you, Captain Eris.

Don’t mention it, ex-prince.  

(levitates back into her meditative position) 

Now let me meditate before Shizuku drags me into another karaoke duel with Lily.