I was bored. Sitting around the deck of a ship for weeks will do that to anyone, and it was only made worse by the knowledge we were slightly less than halfway through our journey. Weeks still remained, and everyone on the ship was starting to tire of each other's company, which was why I was standing at the prow in the middle of the night. Well, I couldn't complain too much.

Traveling on the river yacht Splash, with all her reclining chairs, food, wine, and… Okay, it didn't actually sound that bad. But all of that was for the senator and his invited guests, not a simple legion scout, no matter how important I might be to the Kin. Which was annoying, as Kanieta needed to keep interacting with me for her never-ending research, making me a perpetually uninvited guest.

Close company and being pestered was something that I could usually manage. I would typically focus inward and spend all of my time practicing on some obscure and challenging mental technique I wasn't meant to handle while I ignored everything, but at least time would fly by doing so. Except that wasn't… smart. Messing around with my abilities that I didn't have complete control over while the reaper and senator — not to mention my perpetual watchers — were nearby wasn't something I was willing to risk.

It wasn't even that I was worried they might feel something different about my mental energy. They could simply notice the amount of energy I was using, which would raise some questions I didn't want to answer. So all I could do was small, careful castings that I had already mostly gotten the hang of. Really, I was seriously considering jumping over the side of the ship to get some space. Aggravating was a mild way to describe my unfulfilled desire to be alone, which wasn't actually happening even now.

I might be refusing to look back, but I could feel the eyes of Anooha and her team on me. They were not particularly happy that I had dragged them out onto the deck because they had to follow me around, but they weren't actually complaining about it, which was more than I could say about Jim.

Closing my eyes, I looked up into the sky, feeling a constant wind on my face. The ship was moving faster than a galloping horse day and night, a feat only possible to a person of a high station who also had obscene amounts of coin. The reason was simply out of practicality.

A ship had limited space, and to make the best use of that space, you needed individuals with large reserves of mental energy to pull the boat along. Someone of that level was typically of some noble line or another, and their dignity usually wouldn't allow them to serve just anyone, regardless of the amount of money thrown at them. A senator from one of the founding families more than filled that category.

We were traveling at a speed that was frankly staggering, and this journey was still taking weeks. The only times we slowed down were when the crew had to maneuver the ship into the locks to make our way down waterfalls. Even then, because of who was on board, we were able to jump right to the front of the line and were hardly slowed long enough for a few bags and barrels of provisions to be thrown onto the ship. If there was one thing this boat wasn't designed for, it was having large food stores.

The voyage had its charms in the beginning, but it had long since started to wane. But at least I didn't have to marc—

Sighing, I turned to the sound of clomping feet, mildly surprised to find Kanieta within arm's reach when I turned. Eyes snapping to the source of the footsteps, I saw three attendants clumped together following behind the foxkin far enough to give the impression they couldn't hear. It was a lie, but one that the two human attendants insisted on creating.

Nareta didn't care at all about Olimpian social norms, but she insisted on remaining a step behind the two humans. There was some reason behind her actions, but her scheme didn't matter to me, so I had pushed the thought out of my mind.

"Oh? What a delightful surprise!" Kathren exclaimed, feigning shock and pressing a hand to her chest. "What pray tell are you doing here?"

I looked at her, my face blank for two seconds before I raised an eyebrow. "Really?" I asked, eyeing her up and down, searching for the monster I knew had to be standing before me, "You're going to speak like that?" Turning my head and looking over the railing, I muttered loud enough for her to hear, "Maybe I really should dive into the river and swim for the bank before the dark elf that took over Kanieta's mind comes to finish me off…"

"You wouldn't even try to save me?" The foxkin huffed as she dropped her act and came to stand beside me.

I eyed her, squinting as if I was looking into her soul and witnessing all of her secrets, then declared, "Eh." A snort of amusement sounded from behind us, and I felt Kanieta stiffen and start to radiate hostility, so I added, "Besides, if your mind was taken over, what could I do about the situation. We would have already lost."

"You have a point," Kanieta said, preening under the compliment. We stood looking down the moonlit river for a few minutes, silently content with each other's company, then she turned and looked to the east. A hint of amusement entered her voice when she commented, "It really does look like a massive staircase."

Turning to follow her gaze, I looked upon the Steps partially lit up by the half moon. In my opinion, it was the perfect illumination to look at them. Bright enough to see their edges, but dark enough that you couldn't see their end, giving the illusion that they continued on forever. "Do you know the legend of the Steps?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"No… But I would like to hear it."

"Hmm…" I hummed, my mind drifting back to my childhood. "As my mother told me, back when the world was young, giants walked the land. Beings who could touch the clouds by lifting their arms over their heads and shake the earth by hopping. Despite their power, or because of it, they lived in peace with the world and each other. They knew that should they fight, nothing would survive, so the giants always sought harmony in all things. Working together, they reached a height of understanding no one else has ever rivaled, and eventually, they discovered a path into the heavens and beyond. Walking it boldly, they spread their ideologies and culture across the stars, spreading peace and prosperity wherever they went… But nothing lasts forever. One day, what the giants had long feared came to pass, and they turned against themselves, tearing down everything they had built. These three steps are all that remain of the once proud people. A monument and a warning."

"…I like that story," Kanieta said after a second of thought. "It's… pleasant."

"Really?" I asked, surprised. "I could never enjoy it. I always saw it as a tale meant to teach us to always seek moderation and know our place. That if we reach too far, we will crash and burn as our own hopes collapse upon us."

"Yeah… I can see that interpretation. But that isn't how I look at it."

"And what do you see that I don't?"

A knowing smile spread over Kanieta's face as her eyes danced. "They went to the stars, and eventually, their pathway collapsed… But what says that all of them died? Or the people they met? Perhaps, somewhere out there, some — or most — are still alive, and no matter what happens here, life will continue. Someone will be living in peace."

"…Never thought about it that way," I said, a faint smile on my face as I looked into the sky. "It does put our existence in perspective, how utterly insignificant we are. I guess if we step back far enough, nothing we do matters." At the growl of annoyance, I rushed to say, "But if we are looking on the bright side, it does give a certain reassurance, a hope that someone could always come rushing to our aid… That we aren't alone."

"Yes," Kanieta said, sounding pleased, "If there are countless worlds out there existing with life, it means there are countless specks of hope. One world, while important, doesn't hold all the duty to survive. The Mother and all her children will live on."

"So what was the duty that drove you to see me?" I asked, causing her head to snap to face me, radiating displeasure. An expression that only lasted a moment until she saw my teasing smile.

I saw the instant that the edges of her lips ticked up, but she covered her emotions by snorting in annoyance and scowling at me before turning and striding to a collection of chairs just off to the side of the prow. Chuckling to myself, I followed her and sat once she gestured for me to take one, frowning at me the whole time.

I had to admit, I got no small amount of pleasure out of teasing her. As soon as we settled down, the two Olimpian servants rushed forward, setting up snacks and drinks before us, which they pulled from somewhere. To be accurate, the humans set out the dishes for Kanieta, and Nareta was the one who placed a teacup and saucer before me.

As she performed her job, I caught her eye, smirking with a knowing smile. The gray fox was moving slowly enough that the other two had already done all of the different tasks. And I suspected the only reason Nareta had to serve me was because the maids refused to do so.

Staring at the servants who had shifted her vexed gaze to me, I reached across the table, hooked my finger through the delicate wire structure holding the multiple plates covered with small pastries, and slowly, and loudly, pulled it across the table. Grabbing some kind of pastry with a cream filling that was delicious, I partly smashed the delicacy as I intentionally squeezed too tightly. To the horror of the noble maids, I lifted the mess to my face and started eating out of my hand like a bowl, making sure to lick my fingers clean between bites.

This might come as a surprise, but the maids and I were not getting along well. They hated me for being an uncultured elf, and I hated them because they were stuck-up bitches. We could have spent the entire trip ignoring each other with cold and indifferent silence, but that simply wasn't meant to be.

Kanieta kept insisting that we sit down and talk. Most of the time, it was to recharge the amulets that the Kin were wearing, not exactly something that could be ignored. This was all the more reason it annoyed the maids, as they could not refuse to serve me. It didn't help that I overheard them offering to perform the task I was doing, so Kanieta didn't have to interact with one of my kind.

After days of badgering Kanieta, she finally relented and allowed one of the women to attempt to inject their mental energy into one of the extra amulets. The result was predictable, though I guess it was necessary. The brass disk cracked in half as the Kin's mana and Olimpia's mental energy interacted. Which was another reason that added to the maid's hatred of me. Really, I saw no way around the hostility, and Nareta typically handled everything that the other two wouldn't do for me.

"So," I asked after finishing my meal, "What did you want to talk about?"

"I need you to inject your psy into another set of amulets. Most of them are refills, but a couple of them are new variations that I am tinkering with. I am trying to get better efficiency on the injection of willpower in an attempt to take the first step to project the field on another person."

"Hmm." I hummed along, not really caring. Most of it I had already heard, and I wasn't really interested in theorizing on the topic again. Eventually, Kanieta trailed off as she placed a sack of amulets between us. Grabbing them, I started going through them, injecting a portion of my willpower one at a time.

"What do you think will happen when we reach Olimpia?" She asked minutes later, after I was already finished, and we had started enjoying the tea and the night in silence again.

"Chaos, probably," I said, shooting a wry smile at her. "But it could be anything… which is why we should enjoy some peace and quiet while we can. I have been wondering, why did you give up being a faction leader?"

Kanieta didn't say anything for long seconds, and it reached the point I was beginning to think she wasn't going to answer, a few emotions flicking over her face that I couldn't place. Finally, she said, "To rule, you have to enjoy commanding others or believe no one else is capable of performing the job adequately. The first never really applied to me, and the second is no longer true. The constraints placed upon me were too much, and I could no longer bear the burden of being tied down by obligations… I guess I just wanted to be free."

"That…" I muttered into the night, unsure how I would do it, but suddenly knowing I would escape the legion as soon as possible, "I can understand."

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