“Sof. Liza!”

Liza opened her eyes at the shout. She looked up and met the gray slab on Aleion’s face. She screamed and threw herself backwards, landing on the ground. The tears began to fall before she could stop them. Blue liquid burst from her eyes and the sobs wracked her body. She screamed like she never had before, and all the emotions she’d tried to bury deeper, and deeper, and deeper, revealed themselves to be sitting right under the surface. Everything felt raw. She banged her fists against the ground, over and over again, until the skin split, and deep blue blood began flowing from the wounds.

She didn’t know how long she had cried for. She was shaking and sniffling, and her hands were beginning to hurt badly. She let out a few more sniffles, then rolled herself into a ball, and laid on the carpi-tile floor.

The whole time, Aleion seemed frozen, and watched her breakdown from a safe distance. She imagined they were taking in her meltdown to tell other ceisites about it later when they discussed their first trips off-world. She sighed and held herself tighter. Here she was, a grown woman, lying on the ground, crying in front of a passenger she was supposed to be assisting; once again proving that no matter how low one fell, there was always a level lower to fall to.

“Did you see them?” She mumbled, accusation thick in her tone.

“Your memories?… I did.” Aleion said after a moment’s hesitation. It was an actual voice or their manipulation of molecules or whatever. It was a voice speaking in standard speech. Obviously, whatever the ceisite did worked. “I’m sorry, it’s usually not like that at all… it’s like your mind has no psychic guards at all… for one slight graze to pull so much…how do you….” They stumbled on their words.

Liza scoffed. The ceisite was wondering why a regular person like herself was not better equipped to handle a ‘slight’ brushing of minds. This is why we have laws, she thought.

Aleion continued after a moment. “I won’t make excuses. I promised I would not intrude on your mind, and I failed. I’ll compensate you in any way that I can. Anything within my power.” She could hear the sincerity in their voice.

Anything in their power, she thought. Anything in a ceisites power. Liza sat up and leaned against the wall, thankful that she had picked a room so far from everyone else, so her meltdown did not have a larger audience.

She glared at Aleion’s face, trying to gauge them. When she spoke, it was quiet and deliberate, in a hoarse voice. “Can you bring them back? Can you bring my family back to life?”

Aleion took only a second to consider it. They turned their palms down in the same pleading or placating gesture they’d shown earlier. “I can not.”

Liza closed her eyes and exhaled slowly.

“Kill me.”

“No. That is illegal.”

She sneered at them. How convenient to bring up the law. If it was law they were talking about, she was sure she could sue the entire planet of Ceis just based on this fiasco.

“Then…” She hesitated, and she felt tears begin to well up again. Sumarin’s gray scales flashed through her mind. “Then, can you make Sumarin, Ardon, and Jumin immortal?”

The pause this time was long. A minute passed before Aleion answered. “I can not.”

“You can’t, or you won’t.”

They said nothing. Liza laughed and stood up. “You can’t do anything, you’ve looked into my memories, dredged up things I never wanted to consider again, and all you can do is say sorry and make more false promises.”

“I’m…” Aleion made a sighing sound. “These are things I simply can’t do, or am forbidden from doing. Except for very specific situations, to tinker with the lives and existences of sophonts is simply not allowed.”

They both remained quiet. Various creaks and groans echoed from the ship, and that ever-present whining seemed louder than ever. A small buzzing sound came from down the hall, and Liza and Aleion watched as the carrier auto-server, with sheets piled in its hold, floated down towards them. It maneuvered itself to Aleion’s room door, and then instead of triggering the door to announce its presence to whoever was inside like it was supposed to, it just bumped into the door, moved back, and bumped into it again. This repeated for a fourth time before Liza walked over, turned it, and nudged it to go back the way it had come. She waited for the auto-server to turn a corner and disappear from sight before she spoke again.

“Why are you going to central?”

If Aleion was surprised by the change in subject, they didn’t show it. “I want to see the galaxy, particularly trees. I’ve seen them in holo-pics and videos, and they seem fascinating. Especially the giant ones. After GU Central, my first stop will be Bist, where the whole society is built on the world-trees.” She could hear the excitement in their voice, and she could bet that if they were still communicating mind to mind, that excitement would probably have sent her into another emotional fit. She shuddered.

“How long do you plan on exploring?”

“Hmm, until I’m done, or I get bored.”

She gave an exasperated sigh, “And how long do you estimate that to be Sof. Aleion.”

Aleion desperately made the palm facing down gesture again, and she rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Maybe five thousand years? Not long enough to get boring, but not so short that I won’t be able to give enough attention to everything. If something else catches my attention, then who knows, it could be up to fifty thousand years?”

Liza’s eyebrows rose at such numbers. She herself had maybe two to three thousand years left to live, if nothing unexpected happened. The entirety of her life span plus a couple thousand years was the period of a brief amusement to the ceisite. She smiled a true and unburdened smile for the first time in a long time. Some people may have felt resentment over the unfairness of it all, but in this one instance, she was glad that nothing in the universe was given in equal measure.

Her smile fell. She knew what she was about to ask was just another attempt at running away, another attempt to delay a tragic end to her life, but she would take it, and she would take it without shame. She couldn’t allow herself to be there when Sumarin died of old age, or when some freak accident took Jumin or Ardon away. The reality was that she was not just tired of the Imperza and its drag, noise, watery soup, and stale bread; she was also terrified of its comfort, its warmth, and familiarity. Terrified of the bond with her new family that she could already see coming to an end. She was in a constant state of fear because they too, could soon be taken away, and she would be alone and even more broken. Here before her was a being that was infinite. The idea of Aleion seemed so steady and permanent because she knew for a fact that she would die long before they ever tasted the bitter poison of age.

“Here’s my request. If you are really sorry for what you’ve put me through, take me with you. When we get to Central, take me with you on this journey or whatever it is you are doing, and I’ll stay with you until I die or until you get fed up enough to put me out of this misery.”

Liza did not need to feel Aleion’s emotions to know that they absolutely hated the idea, and who could blame them. Just based on what she’d shown of her personality in this short amount of time, it was no wonder they weren’t thrilled at the thought of spending a couple thousand years together.

“Sof. Liza… I think you should reconsider. I’m not sure you will enjoy my company or topics of interest. Also, since I don’t need much in the way of comforts or sustenance, I actually do not have much wealth. It will not be a convenient few years. You are talking about your entire life… perhaps therap….”

Liza’s laughter cut Aleion off. She didn’t stop laughing until she started coughing. “You don’t need to worry about all that. I have more credits than you think,” She didn’t mention that the relatively vast wealth she had was from the compensation she had been given after Firon’s death.

She sighed and allowed herself to remember his deep black eyes with those odd flecks of green in them, and the way he smiled every time he cracked a rupin shell without damaging the nuts inside. She turned away the memories then continued.

“As for therapy, I will be getting some, so don’t worry about that. Who knows, I might develop a love for trees as well… my… my home world Mulia has wonderful trees…” she could practically feel Aleion’s energy perk up. “Yeh, we can go there one day… Eventually.” She murmured. “Anyway, I know what I’m asking for, and I know what I’m getting into. Besides, if I find that it’s not for me, I’ll just leave. But you, you’re not allowed to leave me.”

Aleion was silent, and Liza was prepared to resort to threats of legal action, but then they condensed.

“Fine. I’ll agree to this as a way to show my remorse for accidentally intruding into your mind.”

“Yes, ‘accidentally,” Liza mocked.

“It really was….”

“I know, I know… I’m just teasing,” she said, mimicking the ceisite downward gesture, then she turned serious. “I want you to swear on something meaningful that you won’t abandon me. Swear on your true name.”

She knew there was some significance to ceisite’s true names, but she didn’t really know any details. It was just one of those rumors, but by the way Aleion reacted, she knew there was truth to it. The air seemed to stand still, and Liza felt her heart beat slow. The moment passed, and Aleion floated backwards to put space between them.

“You don’t even know the significance of what you are asking.”

“It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s significant to you.”

Aleion began pacing and making gestures with their hands, but whatever they were saying, or thinking was not projected out loud. Finally, after what Liza considered a dramatic — which was rich coming from someone who had a full-on breakdown minutes ago — hand raise and fall, they turned to face her.

“Give me your hand,” they said in a reserved voice.

Liza hesitated, and for good reason. “Sof. Liza, I’m fine if you don’t want to go through with this,” Aleion said eagerly.

Liza clenched her fist, then exhaled and stretched her hand forward. Aleion grasped her hand in theirs, and it was fascinating just how large their palms were compared to her own. It practically covered her whole forearm. Liza watched Aleion, and they watched her back.

“I’m going to use mind-to-mind communication. My true name cannot be spoken out loud. Are you okay with that?”

“…yes.”

“First, I’ve made a sight shield around us, just in case someone passes. My Ceson will change to reveal my name.” They said, pointing to the slab on their face. The impression of their words was filled with caution, and a bit of fear.

A soft white glow spread from their clasped hands. The grooves on the slab on Aleion’s face began to glow and shift slightly. The shifts were so slight that if she didn’t watch it happen, she wouldn’t have noticed the change. Even now, she had a hard time telling what exactly was different.

“I, Aleion of Nebula Drilorian, true name *********,” A heavy impression began to seep into her mind. Her brain could not even process the words of Aleion’s true name, but she felt something heavy, and rich with life, something that shifts with the seasons, a thing that grows and nurtures. There was a wash of green, some yellow. A sound like bells, and birds, a rough feeling on her fingers, and a soft touch on the shoulder. The scent of home, of fresh leaves falling on wet ground, a resonance equal part joy and fear, and finally, a deep and welcoming embrace.

Liza gasped and tried to catch her breath and work through all the sensations contained in the singular name, and Aleion continued the oath. “…swear to never abandon Liza Aruilia….” There was no point asking how they knew her full name. “… As long as she remains by my side, I will protect her existence to the best of my abilities. I swear this upon the name crafted by Rikinal of Nebula Drilorian and Yuvania of Nebula Tifilan who formed my existence.”

The soft glow expanded outward like a ball of steam from their clasped hands and then dissipated. Aleion, let her hand go, and on her palm, she saw a glowing mark that mimicked the one on Aleion’s ceson. It stayed lit for a second longer, then seeped beneath her skin.

“That’s it then?”

“Yes.” There was only resignation in Aleion’s voice, and Liza felt a bit of guilt. She knew this definitely wasn’t what Aleion had expected to happen when they’d left Ceis, and she felt bad for derailing their trip, but the guilt didn’t linger too long. Her time with them would be a blip in the long life that Aleion would live. She was sure they would get over this mild irritation after a few thousand years at most.

“I look forward to our time together, Aleion.” She spread her hands out and tilted her head forward, giving the ceisite greeting once more.

Aleion returned the greeting after a moment’s hesitation. “I welcome the company, and hope the time we spend together brings you peace.”

Liza closed her eyes, and silently wiped the tear rolling down her cheek.

# # #

After its exhausting journey, the shuttle landed at Galactic central to deposit its five passengers,

and Liza left the Imperza with Aleion. There were some tears from Jumin, and mild disapproval from Sumarin and Ardon, but it was obvious to them all that she needed a change, and they hoped one day they’d all meet again, somewhere along the Imperza’s dry route from the boonies of Lond to the bustling Galactic Center.