Soon after Orion finally returned home. It was quiet and empty, their guardians returned to Lucid less than a week after they graduated high school, and they never came back. It was the same as when he had left it, not that it had been all that long since he was last here, but it sure did feel like it after what he’d been through.

“Freyaa?” Orion called out. “Are you home?”

“Orion! Where have you been!?” She looked to see a rather exhausted looking Orion with a woman she'd never met before, Imani.

“I was.. off the grid for a while so I couldn't call. But I got into an accident, and it took a bit longer to get back than I told you initially. Sorry.” He explained.

“That's not okay! Do you have any idea how worried sick I’ve been?” She yelled at him.

“I know, I didn't want you to worry but I guess I just made you worry more.” He laughed giving her a hug.

“Whatever.” She pushed him away and headed back into the house, not even bothering to question Imani’s presence. “I just wish you'd take care of yourself better than this.”

“I know…” he said softly as she was already out of earshot.

“And I thought your emotions felt intense.” Imani said in a quiet voice.

“I suppose that runs in the family. She's not a shadow though, she's just the one I cast from.” Orion explained.

“Well neither you nor I know enough about it to give it an explanation. You’re the only frame of reference I have.” She said. “There are probably Shadows less emotional than you, I just haven’t met any.”

“That's probably true.” Orion was still curious about it.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” She asked.

“Yeah, it may be taking a bit longer than it should, I’ve regenerated more than enough.” He smiled.

“I meant emotionally.” She made a concerned expression. “I know it’s not as bad as I see it but even then your current state is quite… bad.”

“Really? I don’t know. I can't really tell.” He tried to think about it, but he kept getting distracted by his own thoughts.

“Make sure you're following up with the Spectra group’s therapist.” She said.

“Yeah, I will.” He wasn't quite sure what she was picking up that made her so concerned.

Despite being pretty open about telling him what his feelings were, it was either something she wasn't sure of or something she couldn't describe. And if she couldn't figure it out, then he had no chance.

He had other things to worry about anyway. He plopped down on the couch and stared at the blank TV screen before realizing the remote was too far away from where he was sitting. He didn’t really feel like getting back up to get it.

Freyaa eventually came back and sat down next to Orion.

“Was that your girlfriend?” She asked turning on the TV.

“No, just a coworker.” He replied.

“So, are you some kind of spy now or whatever?” Freyaa laughed half-heartedly.

“Something like that. You’ve heard of Spectra.” He said.

“Yeah, the only other humans who know about the Lucidians.” She confirmed. “It’s whatever.”

“There’s a few Lucidians working for them you know.” He mentioned.

“Lucidians working for someone other than Lucid inc. or some tech company? That’s pretty wild.” She flipped through the channels.

“Yeah, I just wanted you to know.” He said. “I’m not alone out there. You don’t have to worry so much about it.”

“I worry about you even when you’re not doing anything dangerous.” Freyaa sighed, “I don’t think anything will make me not worry about you. You’re my brother.”

The next task on his agenda was to finish his schooling, he achieved what he needed from the organization. He deliberated for a while before deciding to take a somewhat different route in what school he went to. All this to avoid certain things he was not interested in experiencing.

He didn't want to fall in love with someone who was supposed to die. Orion assumed this relationship was inevitable because he would fall in love no matter what he did.

It's not as if love were something you could ever control after all. Connections to people happen regardless of one's intentions, given sub-optimal circumstances it couldn't be avoided only by ignoring it.

But as it turns out love itself was not the inevitable part of this relationship, despite changing schools and remapping his plans of the future. He continued to run into the man he'd come to know as Viktor Spectra. It didn’t even occur to Orion at the time that Spectra might have done that intentionally to make it easier to keep an eye on both of them.

But it ended up being time in his life Orion often struggled to remember.