kweenjaded

For as long as the stars have burned, she has existed. She has been called many names—Gaia, Lilith, the First, the Eternal Witness—but time has eroded meaning, leaving only silence. When the sun finally devoured itself and Earth drifted into the abyss, she closed her eyes, expecting oblivion.

But she did not die.

Eons passed, and Earth—no longer Earth—was reborn in a distant galaxy, reshaped by her unconscious will. Now a training ground for civilizations across the cosmos, the planet teems with life once more. And she, no longer Lilith yet not fully something else, awakens in a body that is hers but unfamiliar. She knows everything yet feels nothing. Memories exist as echoes, not experiences.

When a young explorer, Tilana, stumbles upon her, she is given a name—Lily—a word tied to a flower that no longer exists. As Lily navigates a world both familiar and alien, she must relearn what it means to feel, to connect, and to exist. But something lingers in the depths of this reborn world, something that calls to the remnants of who she was.

To see tomorrow, one must kill yesterday. But what if yesterday refuses to die?.

Lily: The last lily of a forgotten world.

"The stars will guide you, but they will not save you."

Zane had spent his whole life running from things.

Now he was running toward something.

And that was a hell of a lot worse.

The docking bay was loud—too loud.

Starships of all sizes came and went, engines roaring, metal groaning. The constant hum of intercom announcements layered over the background noise like static.

Zane weaved through the crowd, Lily at his side.

She was silent, observing. She didn't gawk at the ships like a first-time traveler, didn't hesitate at the security checkpoints, didn't even flinch when the deep vibrations of a nearby freighter rattled the floor beneath them.

Which, for once, was not the problem.

Because everything about this screamed trap.

"Explain to me why we're doing this again," Zane muttered, keeping his voice low as they reached the private boarding sector.

"Correction—Tilana said she was on Oxzicy Star."

Her stare was flat, unreadable. Too steady.

Zane sighed. "Right. Of course you do."

The ship he had secured was not legal.

But it would get them off Vatra without drawing too much attention.

The pilot was a half-cybernetic smuggler named Rhyke, who had zero moral compass but enough experience to avoid major planetary scans.

They stepped onto the ship's boarding ramp, metal hissing as the hydraulics locked in place.

"Your friend seems quiet," Rhyke commented as he ran a quick security bypass.

"Yeah, well. She's not much of a talker."

Rhyke grinned, metal teeth catching the low ship lights. "That so? That means she's either real smart… or real dangerous."

"Good. I like dangerous passengers."

Zane wasn't sure if he meant that or not.

Inside, the ship was functional, not comfortable.

Narrow hallways, reinforced steel panels, dim emergency lighting instead of actual bulbs.

Zane led Lily toward the back where the private quarters were.

"It's a five-hour flight," he said. "Get some rest."

Zane rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I do. And I'd rather not wake up to find you staring at me like some kind of lab experiment, so do me a favor and just—pretend. For my sake."

She entered the room without another word.

The message. The destination. The timing.

But then again, when hadn't things felt wrong since he met her?

As he settled into his own bunk, staring up at the cold steel ceiling,one thought circled his mind.

Oxzicy Star was a hell of a long way from Vatra.

If this was a trap, it wasn't one they'd escape easily.

Arc 2 Chapter 12 : A Starbound Gamble