Leonie faces Lito on the training grounds in the Ciúin barracks with a face of dogged determination. Lito managed to disarm them twice after hard fought matches, and Leonie refuses to lose three in a row. Picking their spear up from the dirt, Leonie takes a ready stance.

Iníon remains on the sidelines under an awning refusing to lay even one eye on Leonie, much preferring to watch Lito as he dismantles Leonie piece by piece. Iníon glowers though, Leonie improves quickly with each bout. Lito looks to be the more tired of the two.

With a glance towards Iníon, Leonie decides to do something new, they summon forth the Magician's mantle while in the armor of the Central Sun. Before anyone in the training ground can see it, Leonie closes the distance between themselves and Lito, grabbing Lito's right arm.

Lito can hear the rapidly muffled cry from under the awning. Unfazed by Leonie's newfound abilities, Lito uses the leverage of his own body size and weight to turn the tables, forcing Leonie to abandon their spear to the dirt yet again. Leonie steps back and draws their sword.

Iníon grinds her teeth. Leonie smiles as they place the hilt of the sword in their right hand, and with the left hand perform a magic trick. Leonie places the palm of their hand on the tip of the sword and pushes down. Rather than cut through Leonie's hand, the sword simply disappears.

Iníon leans forward. Lito grunts. With gruff steps to Leonie Lito grabs their left arm while placing his sword to her chest.

"What was the point of that trick?" Lito asks.

"The point is to win." Leonie responds.

"Win? How?"

Lito's question is answered for him when he feels a small, sharp poke on the top of his head. The sword that Leonie made disappear now hangs in the air above Lito's head, a crown of light holding it in place. Lito is careful to duck ever so slightly as he casts an eye to the sword.

"Neat trick."

"I'd like to think so." Leonie says.

Iníon is forced from the sidelines, "That's unfair," Iníon says as she stomps to Leonie, "Magic isn't allowed. This is physical combat training."

"The . . . my instructor at the Academy never let the rules stop her from beating me or anyone else however she could during training." Leonie responds.

"The Academy the Academy the Academy," Iníon intones, "If you love the Academy so much why did you ever leave it?"

"Who was your instructor at the Academy?" Lito asks, carefully pulling at the sword in midair which now refuses to budge.

Leonie's eyes brighten at Lito's question, but a moment of thinking leaves Leonie in trance, their eyes glossing over. Lito watches with slight concern and is about to interject when Leonie returns to the land of the living.

". . . No one in particular. I don't even remember their name. I just remember . . . she was ruthlessly tough, even more than you Lito."

Lito contemplates Leonie's words. He wonders if he should say something to Leonie, but considers the current venue the wrong place to do so. The whole town of Ciúin is most likely the wrong place to do so, Lito thinks.

Lito's concerns are in part confirmed when from seemingly nowhere Dorothea appears, calling out to Leonie, "Leonie, please break the spell you cast. This is not the place for combat with magic."

Leonie does as ordered, and reverses the spell, re-materializing the sword in their right hand, pulling it from the palm of her left. Dorothea moves to Leonie, with both Lito and Iníon giving way to the Queen.

Placing Leonie's hands in hers, Dorothea asks, "I would like to know where you learned that spell."

Leonie evades eye contact with Dorothea, but energy courses from Dorothea into Leonie through their hand-to-hand contact. Leonie cannot help but fall into Dorothea's eyes.

"I . . . I just know it. I just know the spell."

"Good, thank you."

Dorothea let's her hands fall to her side, keeping Leonie's right hand with her left. Dorothea turns to Lito and says, "I will be taking Leonie with me back to our home for adjustment. Lito, please do join us later today. Take care of Iníon for now."

Dorothea leaves with Leonie in tow. Lito turns to Iníon and offers her a sword.

"If you can police from the sidelines you can participate in the training."

Iníon stares at the sword for a moment before taking it from Lito with a look of melancholy in her eyes. At least she is alone with Lito for a little while today.

On board the White Horse, the Witch sits with Pleni in Crew's Mess and watches the crew come and go. Something is different. When she first came on board, the crew wore all black uniforms. The Witch now swears they have a dark bluish tint, spattered with gold.

The Witch shakes her head and turns to Pleni, "So we have to go back to New York City and finish what we started on Hart Island."

"Yes," Pleni responds, "We now have far more support. My people are on the ground waiting for us. We will complete the rituals needed to awaken Humanity."

"The Central Sun won't attempt to interrupt?" The Witch asks.

"They may try, they may not. I think it likely they will not."

"What will they do?"

"Prepare for a larger war."

"Where."

"From Venus most likely."

The Witch blanches, "Venus is a death world."

"True," Pleni says, "For now."

The Second Sun First Born is the first of the Central Sun's fleet around Sol to enter the atmosphere of Venus. The ship settles up high, battered by the high winds in the upper atmosphere. Following close behind are large vessels of a different construction to the Second Sun First Born.

Large double disk shaped vessels descend into the Venusian skies, the bottom disk separating from the top, dropping to the ground below. Great cords of light connect the two halves, and these ships begin their work of processing the atmosphere.

The Central Sun begins its terraforming of Venus.