A bird’s cry broke Surya out of his musing. He looked up at Aenzel, eyes wide in anticipation.

And Aenzel told him everything; about a queen named Vestra who led her people after the destruction of their home-planet, about the diaspora of the Vaidesse people who traveled to distant solar systems to find place they could call home. Aenzel told him about the new colonies and starbases, and ships that connected them.

“Things were good for our people and Vestra was hailed as our savior”, Aenzel said. “Then, she showed her true nature. As our regime expanded and more planets were conquered, we realized that Vestra only wanted more power.”

Aenzel told Surya that some Vaidesse rose to oppose her, but Vestra defeated them. She was so strong, not to mention near-immortal, and people—Vaidesse and Non-Vaidesse alike—lived in fear under her tyranny.

“Then, a small group of resistance was formed, the Aether's Spear”, Aenzel continued, warmth in their voice. "Historians, scientists, and spies rose up to oppose Vestra. Our agents hid ourselves well to avoid her detection. Eventually, we began to infiltrate the Hegemony and do the smallest things to inconvenience it, like misplacing files or forgetting to fasten a screw on Vestra’s most powerful battlecruiser. Small things like that.”

Surya giggled at the mental image that the battlecruiser broke down just because someone was forgetting to screw something on, and Aenzel’s eyes twinkled with mischief.

“Do not underestimate the power of a screw, especially if there are so many of us”, Aenzel said. “Of course, as our numbers grew and our missions became more dangerous, Vestra eventually found out about us and tried to wipe us out. Yet still, we persevere.”

“Are you an—a Spear agent too?” Surya asked, noticing the way Aenzel talked about it in such warm familiarity.

“I am its leader”, Aenzel whispered dramatically, even if there was no one around aside from the two of them. As Aenzel stood and continued their walk, Surya trotted behind them, stars in his eyes.

So that was the reason why Aenzel seemed so mysterious and secretive! They were a spy—everything made so much sense.

“Was my mom a Spear agent too?” Surya asked again. If Aenzel and his mom were friends, they had to be fighting on the same side, right?

“She is”, Aenzel answered. “For thousands of years, Vestra has been trying to find this place called Lazarus—”

“What’s that?” Surya asked.

“Essentially, a hidden place in the Universe where the most powerful weapons were forged”, Aenzel replied. “The enemies of Vaidesse used it to destroy our home planet. Perhaps Vestra thought that it would be poetic to reclaim it and use it against our enemies. She sent out scouts to find it, or maps leading to it, so some of our agents—including your mother—were assigned to sabotage them.”

“Eight years ago, I lost contact with your mother when she was supposed to patrol this sector. I feared the worst had happened to her”, Aenzel said. “But then she came back and confirmed that a part of the map leading to Lazarus is indeed hidden on this planet. I placed her in one of the most influential positions in the Hegemony to sabotage the search mission on Earth.”

Surya thought about what Aenzel said while Aenzel went back to whatever they were doing. What his mom did… it all sounded really complicated and dangerous. He still had so many questions about her, but before he could ask anything, his stomach rumbled.

Right, it was lunch time.

Aenzel’s ears perked up and they turned towards him. “Are you hungry, Surya?” they asked.

“I’m fine.” Surya blushed, not expecting Aenzel to hear it.

“Of course”, Aenzel said, but there was a small smile on their face. “Please wait here.”

Surya tilted his head in confusion, but did as he was told. He sat on a rock overshadowed by the cliff just as Aenzel jumped over a wall of rock and disappeared. Surprised, Surya stood up and was about to catch up to them, before remembering what Aenzel told him.

Without anything to do, Surya turned on the photo thingy and stared at the image of his mom again. He knew a few things about her already. Her name was Aelva, and she had really bendy joints too, just like him. She didn’t look like any woman he knew in his life — her jaw was strong-looking, and her expression seemed to stuck in a frown. Her eyes were light purple, just like his, and she had that cowlick at the back of her head too.

She kinda looked like Aenzel too, Surya thought. The color of her eyes and the red streak on her hair kinda looked like Aenzel’s. Surya wondered if it was Vaidesse thing, or if Aenzel was related to his mom. If they were really related, Surya wondered why Aenzel didn’t tell him.

Aenzel returned not so long after, carrying dead rabbits in one hand and a spear in another. It changed shape into a small pendant, and suddenly, the shape seemed familiar.

“Do all Spear agents have a pendant like that?” Surya pointed at the pendant on Aenzel’s neck once they were close enough. Aenzel looked up and frowned.

“Your mother gave you her spear?” they asked back.

Surya shrugged. “Dad gave it to me, but he didn’t say where it came from.”

“Your caretakers allowed you to keep it?” Aenzel asked again.

Surya showed Aenzel the pendant around his own neck, underneath his scarf. Aenzel frowned, but said nothing else. Instead, he kneeled by the rocks where Surya sat and began to prepare the rabbits.

Surya was used to seeing his dad skinned dead rabbits or birds for food, so he wasn’t too squicked out. What was weird, Aenzel seemed to be happy doing it, small smile on their lips as they hummed an unfamiliar tune.

Aenzel seemed to realize his questioning gaze and said, “It’s been awhile since I was planetside.”

“Why?” Surya asked before he could stop himself.

“The Spear’s headquarters… is located within an asteroid. Life can’t grow on its surface”, Aenzel answered.

“Why?” Surya asked again, confused.

“Because it lies close to a pulsar”, Aenzel added. “And I’ve been very busy for the last decade, so I couldn’t exactly… go on a vacation.”

“That sucks.” Surya pursed his lips. No wonder Aenzel was so happy. Still, Surya didn’t understand what was so interesting about plain ol’ Earth that made Aenzel enjoy being here. Living in space sounded so much cooler!

“Indeed”, Aenzel nodded as they lit up a small blue fire and put the rabbit meat over it. “When you live somewhere planetside, you don’t know about the things you take for granted; naturally recycled air, the warmth of sun beating down your fur, food that’s not synthesized.”

Yeah… Surya still didn’t understand what was so special about things that Aenzel listed, but he didn’t ask again—which was easy because the rabbits soon were done. While they ate, Aenzel told Surya more stories about his mom. About how she took down a gargantuan beast that tried to attack their headquarter, about the missions where she fought against Vaidessian battlecruisers.

When they were done, Aenzel accompanied Surya back to town—while invisible, of course. They walked Surya off until the two of them reached the Browns’ house. Surya gave them a discreet wave before he shut the door with a smile on his face.