RECOVERY.

Astrid and Eli hug each other for the first time in years,

"I can't believe how big you've gotten," she comments

"You don't look that bad yourself." He quips back, he then waves Aria over, "this is Aria, my girlfriend,"

"And you got yourself a little girlfriend? And here I was worried you were too much of a nerd to get someone this pretty."

"Sorry to break up this touching reunion," Amara interrupted, "but, anyway, let's see it,"

The hyperspace generator was lowered from the cargo hold of the frigate, it was the size of a fighter craft. It was a large cylinder with only one open end, like a cup on its side. There were circuits and sigils etched into the interior that glowed periodically and at the back of the interior, was a complex piece of machinery in the middle of the back wall.

"So this is it, huh?" Kiva asked

[I scaled it down for convenient transport, but it is operational.] Merlin replied, appearing to the side

"Astrid, are you sure your coordinates are accurate?" Eli asked, looking over the data on a small screen above his band, "This puts us within elven controlled space."

"You're free to run the calculations yourself," Astrid remarked

"Thank you," Eli said as he began to work.

"I'm just wondering, but how much trouble are we looking at?" Aria asks

"Well, if we fail, we are looking at charges such as treason, espionage and grand larceny, to name a few," Amara said,

"And since we'll be in elf territory, if were caught we'll be imprisoned for trespassing, heresy, omen fraternization, and who knows what else." Kiva adds

"Awesome," Aria says sarcastically

Kiva, Astrid and Amara smile awkwardly to one another,

"So how long has this been going on?" Kiva asks, gesturing towards Eli and Aria

"A few months," Eli admitted

"And are you sleeping together?" Astrid asked

"N-no," Aria replied flustered, "he's a real gentleman."

"Well I'm happy for you," Kiva beamed

[Can we proceed with this before more complications start to arise?] Merlin interrupts [Eli, are you done with those calculations?]

"Yes," Eli said, transferring the data to Merlin

[Excellent. However, if we travel through hyperspace, we risk offsetting the calculations, even using warp-shift may be risky, so I am going to have to recalibrate the primary engines to give us more speed; sub-light isn't going to cut it anymore.]

"Count me in," Eli said enthusiastically, "I've been working on some modifications for the stellar drives."

"Do you want assistance?" Amara asked, "I could have a team from engineering to help out if you run into technical issues?"

[Who do you think designed this ship?] Merlin boasts, [I only need Eli; he's the only one who understands the schematics as good as Nya, anyone else would just slow me down.]

"Alright, just don't bust my ship." Amara said

"Are you coming, Aria?" Eli asked

"N-no," she said nervously, "I could be of more use up here, don't want to distract you."

"Alright," Eli said as he called up the schematics of the stellar drive from his band, "Merlin, I was thinking, if we reposition the conducting coils we could boost mana transmission."

[I thought about that, but how do you compensate for coils overheating?] Merlin said, as the two of them walked out of the hangar

"Is something wrong?" Kiva asked her once they were gone

"I don't think Merlin likes me," she said quietly

"Merlin doesn't like anybody." Amara added

"She likes Eli," Aria said

"Eli is her student," Astrid said, "After our mom disappeared, she was the only one who could nurture his intellect the way mom wanted."

"What about you?" Aria said,

"I know that Merlin cares about Morgan and I in her own way," Astrid explained, "but her first priority would always be our mom, then Eli is a close second, above all else. I honestly think she's grown to love him like a nephew, if it's possible for her"

"But where does that leave the rest of us," Aria asked,

"She doesn't care about the rest of us, she just acknowledges how we relate to those she does care about," Amara said, consoling her, "she won't hurt you, as long as you're on our side."

Aria was starting to doubt whether coming here was a good idea. All these people all knew each other before and already had a fundamental trust in each other, but she was different, she was basically Eli's plus one, these people saw her as an extra. Plus, she'd never been in a high stake situation like this before; how could she prove her worth to these people if she didn't even know her worth in this situation?

As she contemplated this, her band chimed, it was a message from Eli;

I need you to go to the main servers and reconfigure the primary avionic controls, sending you the master privileges now. Sorry to send you alone, but I trust you can do it. Eli.

She smiled as she read the message. It was a trivial matter to reset avionics when upgrading the engines, but it was something she could do; something he trusted her to do.

"Looks like something's got you smiling," Astrid noted

"Eli asked me to do something for him," Aria grinned, "where's the main servers

"I'll guide you." Astrid said

"Thanks," Aria said

As they were walking, Astrid suddenly spoke up, "So… you and my brother, huh?"

"Please don't threaten me too," Aria said, "Merlin already gave me the whole 'hurt-him-and-I-hurt-you' talk."

"What? No, I was just going to say I'm glad he's found someone he can trust." Astrid said

"Really?"

"Growing up, Eli didn't really socialize much with others," Astrid said, "he was too busy spending time with Merlin, learning. Morgan and I once worried that he'd grow too attacked to Merlin and might become smitten with her."

"But Merlin is an AI, a computer, there's no way that would happen?"

"Merlin is much more than just an AI; she is as sapient as you or I, and her physical form clearly shows she identifies as a woman. It didn't seem that impossible for Eli to fall for her, and I don't think she'd reject such advances."

Aria suddenly felt very self-conscious. All those times she would leave Eli in the lab by himself, and later find him with Merlin… was it even possible?

"Thankfully the fact that you're here shows that my concern was unneeded" Astrid added, "He seems to only have eyes for you, which is a relief."

"But you don't think…" Aria started

"God I hope not," Astrid said, shivering, "but he wouldn't be this open with you if it had. Eli is relatively simple to understand once you know him."

"He is that," Aria said with a blush

"See, you feel better already, don't you?"

"Huh?"

"When you got here, you looked a bit overwhelmed, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you that your presence here is appreciated. Welcome to the inner circle."

"Th-thank you," Aria said, happy she now had a new friend with her.

Days later, Eli and Merlin have finished their overhaul of the stellar drive for the Excalibur Blue. Their modifications should, in theory, allow them to travel at the speed of light for a short period of time while remaining in real space, much faster than anything not using hyperspace.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Amara asked from the captain's chair

"Our calculations were spot on, but we didn't have a lot of time to work with," Eli said, "I'd give us a fair chance at success."

[But be warned, if we overload the engine in its current state, it would effectively turn into a highly volatile mana bomb and destroy anything within hundreds of miles.] Merlin said,

"What?" Kiva, Astrid and Aria blurted at the same time

"It's cool," Eli reassured, "I added a failsafe if that happens. We're gonna be fine."

"Alright Eli, I'm trusting you here." Amara said as she turned to the two pilots, "Alright, the coordinates are set, let's see what this baby can do."

"Yes Admiral," the two officers replied as they took the controls and fired up the engine full thrust.

For a second nothing happened, then everything not bolted down was momentarily hit with intense G-force before the gravity generators readjusted to compensate.

The Excalibur Blue was racing through the cosmos at unprecedented speed, faster than anything currently available to Hyperion. The massive pylons at rear of the ship were burning like torches, and the orb of energy was blazing like a sun propelling the ship at light speed.

"Not bad," Aria said as she hugged Eli,

"We're coming mom," Astrid said hopefully.

* * *

Twelve years might be a long time for most people in Hyperion, but for an elf with an absurdly long lifespan to take for granted, that amount of time was insignificant, barely any different from how a human would experience a month. Kiva, having spent a considerable amount of time with non-elven folk, has acclimatized her sense of time with theirs, but a normal elf can be known to waste days and weeks on relatively mundane tasks.

Since the directive of the Supreme Pontiff, Titania Vaux Oberon, every mission of the Grand Theocracy of Alfheim launched their own independent investigations into the being known as Nya Crimson. For elves, that would mean waiting for news to find its way to them, which was what happened when one of the most remote missions of the Theocracy heard tale of a Grand Marshal Nya Crimson on a far off planet known as Avalon. The high priest, the leader of the mission, decided that further inquiry into the planet of Avalon and its relation to Nya Crimson was necessary and so, once they discovered the high concentration of mana within that quadrant of space, particularly within the native system of the planet, they decided to conquer it for the Theocracy. But elves work slow, so they have been proceeding to establish their presence in the neighboring systems, taking planet after planet to slowly make their way to Avalon.

Being met with opposition was more than expected from lesser beings like them, but it was of no consequence as the elves believed their supremacy could overcome anything Avalon tried.

On one of the colony planets that had recently come under the elves control, every omen was immediately executed, every fae not mana sensitive was subjugated and ever adept was indoctrinated into the Theocracy, as per the tenants of the elven religion. On a newly constructed grand temple, the high priest of this particular chapter of the Theocracy was within his chambers, in prayer to the deities that the elves worship when there is a knocking on his door.

"What is it?" the fifty-nine-hundred-year-old man asks an hour later when he is done with his prayers. Even by elven standards he was on in years, already middle aged.

As the door opened, one of his clerics was waiting, a young elf, barely in his thousands.

"Forgive me, high priest Arov, but we have a report from the missionaries in the front lines."

The elderly elf stroked his long white bear, "You need to choose your words more carefully, lad, 'front lines' insinuates that we are at war. The only war the Theocracy can and shall enter is the holy war, and the Supreme Pontiff has yet to call for one, especially not against lesser beings." The high priest lectured

"Forgive my misspeaking!" the cleric bowed, "According to the report from the frontier, one of the Avalon ships has encroached on our territory. We do not yet know whether this is a rough element or the vanguard of some new offensive."

"Hmm, this lone ship, has it dared to approach one of our held worlds?"

"No, at its last sighting it was out in empty space, but it had breached our borders," the cleric reported

"And it is one of the black ships?"

"Yes,"

"Those ships have ties with this 'Nya Crimson' the Supreme Pontiff is interested in. I will lead a subjugation force to capture it." The high priest declared, "Ready a fleet, and summon the oracles."

"At once, your grace." The cleric said as he hurried out of the room.

Alone once again, the high priest pondered the possible reason for the lone ship to venture into their domain. Not long later, roughly twelve hours, there was another knock at his door,

"Enter," he ordered and seven women, walked inside. Only three of them were elves, but they were all devout followers of the elven ways. They each wore revealing white robes made of a transparent fabric that didn't do much to hide their naked bodies underneath. Each of them had archaic glyphs and sigils tattooed onto their bodies and each wore a veil with the stylized image of an eye over their faces, the only article of clothing they wore that wasn't transparent.

"We have come as ordered, high priest Arov." The woman at the head of the group bowed. she was a high elf, a very rare thing to see outside the holy throne-world of Alfheim.

"I am about to lead a campaign to capture a lone ship from the wayward people of Avalon," the high priest declared, "what should I expect?"

The women started chanting under their breath, faint white aura could be seen emanating from all of them, flowing into the leader, who then spoke in a hollow voice,

"We see on this ship lay many mysteries. We also see your followers walk its halls in victory, and…" the leader stopped, shocked, "...w-we also see the wayward princess, with a young apprentice of great power, who carries the name 'Crimson'."

"The princess? The Supreme Pontiff will be pleased to have her heir back." The high priest commented, "this apprentice, how strong is it?"

"Immensely," the lead oracle declared, "bringing her before the Supreme Pontiff will bring much benefit to the Theocracy."

"She has that much potential?" the high priest queried, surprised, he then approaches the alter that hold the sacred relic that he was gifted to by the Supreme Pontiff herself, a staff made of an ancient tree branch coiled around an orb the size of a basketball, made of dark stone-like material, with circuits etched into the cold surface

"With the might of this origin, I will present both the princess and this blessed child before the Supreme Pontiff, along with the jewel, Avalon." The high priest declared as he grabbed the branch and the circuits of the orb glowed a bright green.

* * *

So far, Valla liked being a vampire. She felt stronger, faster, more agile, and her senses were heightened to that of an apex predator. Sure there were some hiccups like a new aversion to sunlight and no longer being able to feel mana, but she was quickly adapting to it. She still hadn't gotten used to the taste of synthetic blood, it was bland, like tofu, completely unsatisfying, she now saw why Morgan refused to take it willingly. She'd much rather taste Morgan's blood again, she discovered that by tasting the blood of another vampire was an incredibly intimate act and gave her flashes of memory and emotions.

One of the biggest highlights of her time as an omen so far was when she finally discovered her phantasm; winter's edge. It started with her body temp dropping significantly, giving her skin an even paler shade of blue, the main ability given to her by her phantasm was the ability to rapidly freeze her surroundings, creating ice that she could freely control at will. The downside was that she passively stole the heat from her surroundings, and her cryo-kinetic abilities, similar to her amphibious physiology, were dependent on how much ambient moisture was present in the environment, so if an area got too hot, not only would she dry out, she wouldn't be able to use her new powers as effectively anymore.

Valla was in her cabin now, a fine sheet of frost now coated every surface as she laid on her bed, cuddled up next to her was Morgan, who was sleeping soundly in her icy embrace, while Valla was playing with her powers, creating a small ball of snow in the palm of her hand.

"This is really cool," she quipped to herself as she made the snow float in the air and change shape.

Murmuring from Morgan attracted her attention as she saw her comrade and lover tossing and turning, muttering to herself,

Valla giggled as she looked at Morgan, feeling the heat coming off her body, it was a heat she enjoyed, almost as much as she hoped Morgan enjoyed her chill. Ever since becoming a vampire, she felt so much closer to Morgan, she loved her dearly and would do anything for her. She'd kill for Morgan, and even… die for her.

The dark thought surprised her, but she'd been having them more and more since she turned. And she now found herself more subservient to Morgan as well, maybe it was because she was the one who turned her. The thought that someone could have this kind of sway over her scared her deeply, but knowing that it was Morgan who was in control of her put her mind at ease.

As she looked at Morgan's sleeping form, she could see the path of her blood vessels threading through her body.

"Morgan Crimson, I don't care if you do control me, I love you more than anything." She whispered as she kissed Morgan on the cheek, to which Morgan mumbled a dreamy reply, "luv… too…"

Valla chuckled as she snuggled closer to Morgan, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

The next day, when Morgan and Valla were on their way to the bridge, Marshal Dax was waiting for them, along with a squad of Cerberus soldiers.

"What's going on?" Valla asked

"I have received new orders from the Primark," Admiral Dax said

"More orders to arrest my family, I take it?" Morgan said with her hands folded

"Not just your family," Dax said as the soldiers pointed their weapons at the pair, "Morgan Crimson, Valla Nepton, you are both confined to quarters until further notice."

"What?" Morgan roared, glaring at the man

"The Primark was right, without the Grand Marshal around, you all present too much of rouge element." Dax said, "I am sorry it has to be this way, but I assure you; none of your friends and family will be harmed as long as they cooperate."

"Cooperate? This is my family we're talking about; we're all stubborn assholes." Morgan said

"Restrain them." Dax ordered as the soldiers approached

"And how would you do that?"

"Artificial sunlight," one of the soldiers said as they took out a UV projector gun. The light from the projector burned upon contact with the skin of the vampires, weakening them.

"You fuckers." Valla hissed

"Not so smart letting that monster infect you, was it?" another soldier sneered at her as they went to grab her.

Monster?

Did they just call Morgan… her Morgan… a monster?

A primal rage suddenly overtook her and with a scream, she let loose a blast of arctic chill erupted from her. It was fortunate that none of the crew were in the area because the entire corridor was frosted over. The team of Cerberus soldiers were completely frozen solid, the closest one having died instantly in the intense cold of absolute zero, their sun guns broken. Marshal Dax had avoided a fatal blast, but he was now huddled on the floor shivering furiously.

"I didn't know you could do that?" Morgan comments, somehow the ice hadn't even touched her, whether through some intentional action or subconscious control, Valla wasn't sure, but she was glad for it.

"Neither did I," Valla said as she glared at Marshal Dax, "What do we do with him."

Morgan walked up to the shivering man, "You tried to have me arrested, in my mom's own ship."

"Y-y-you're a d-d-danger t-t-to Avalon." He shivered, "Y-y-you and y-y-your f-f-family. The P-p-primark was r-r-right."

"The things my mom would've done to you for this…" Morgan snarled, "Be thankful I'm not her."

She called a team of Spartans to escort Dax to the brig and take care of the frozen bodies of the soldiers, while Valla tried to thaw the ice in the hallway.

"What now?" Valla asked, "The Primark has a grudge against you and yours,"

"We still have a job to do," Morgan reminded her, "we can deal with him later."

As they walked towards the bridges, Morgan slipped her hand into Valla's "thanks for defending me, back there."

"I couldn't well let them bad-mouth my girl, I love you too much." Valla grinned

"That's good, because I love you too," Morgan admitted, blushing as she kissed Valla on the lips.

In the bridge, one of the officers was waiting for them as they entered,

"We heard about what happened, Major Crimson, the crew of the Excalibur, stands with you."

"Good, cuz we still need to find our sister ship," Morgan said as she took her seat

"Well, about that…" the communications officer spoke up

"What?"

"We did receive an encoded transmission from your brother with a unique energy signature." The officer said

"It looks like he's laying a trail for us to follow," Valla mused, "could be a trap?"

"That's not how Eli works," Morgan said "He wants the whole family together,"

"So, do we follow his trail?" the officer asked

"Yes, scan for that energy signature and let me know when you found something." Morgan ordered, "Now I need to go and let my godfather know that the leader of our nation wants to put us all in jail."