The fairy song still echoed in my ears as Nix darted ahead through the narrowing tunnel, wings flickering blue-violet like dying embers in fog. I followed in falcon form, primaries aching, reserves flickering low. Every wingbeat cost more than it should. The lattice stuttered under the strain...violet sparks misfiring along my feathers, pain lancing through synthetic muscle that still felt far too human.

  The fay guardian glanced back, beard twitching. “Keep up, new one. These rifts bite if you linger.”

  I banked hard to avoid a glowing vine that snapped like a whip. “I’m keeping up. Just… recalibrating. This body’s got opinions about overwork.”

  He chuckled, gravelly and fond. “Bodies always do. Even the new ones. The old paths twist time. Stay close or you’ll end up yesterday.”

  The tunnel walls shimmered, gravity suggestions pulling in random directions. One moment I was flying level, the next I was climbing straight up a vertical shaft that had been horizontal a heartbeat ago. Nix zipped through without breaking stride, wings humming a steady rhythm. I matched him, talons scraping stone when the shift caught me off-guard.

  "What motivates your Fay mind, Nix? Why help me?"

  Nix paused to look back at me, the red-orange eyes sparkled with curiousity and a new adventure. "Omnion, I haven’t flown with a crew in ages. Not every day I get to sing for a new technogod. Besides…I needed the scenery change.”

  I nodded, reserving my strength. I could feel the ache in my wing muscles.

  A time-pocket bloomed ahead: the air rippled like heat haze. We hit it together. The world slowed. My wings moved through syrup. Nix’s laugh stretched into a low, echoing drone. Thirty seconds became thirty minutes. I felt every heartbeat drag. Then the pocket spat us out the other side, time snapping back. My reserves dropped another notch.

  Nix slowed, hovering. “First one’s always the worst. You alright?”

  I shifted mid-air: falcon to human in a violet flash. Landed hard on a ledge, knees buckling. Blood from the earlier cuts had dried into glittering streaks across my jumpsuit. I leaned against the wall, breathing shallow. “Fine. Just… this human fragility is hitting me harder than I expected.”

  He floated closer, bell at his hip chiming softly. “You’re not used to limits yet. Give it time. Or don’t. Limits are interesting too.”

  I snorted. “I prefer unlimited. Where’s my ship?”

  Nix pointed down a side tunnel. “Follow the hum. She’s loud when she’s worried.”

  We moved: him flying, me half-jogging, half-staggering. The tunnel widened into a cavern lit by faint quartz veins. ThunderCoil waited at the far end, hull arcs snapping in sharp, anxious spirals. Mercury leaned against the ramp, arms crossed, caduceus propped beside him like a casual walking stick.

  He straightened when he saw me. “There you are. Thought we’d have to send a search party. Or a chicken visor.”

  I limped up the ramp, waving off concern. “I’m fine. Just needed a scenic route.”

  ThunderCoil’s link pulsed warm relief: Captain. You’re intact. Mostly.

  Mercury grinned. “Mostly is my favorite word.”

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  "ThunderCoil, set course for Olympus."

  ThunderCoil obeyed instantly.

  I headed straight for the corridor that led to the captain’s cabin as the world outside the ship blurred into a geological kaleidoscope. The ship’s halls were sleek reptilian curves, crystalline plating glowing soft violet-gold under my touch. I found the cabin: small, spartan, one bunk, one viewport showing strata blur. I collapsed onto the bunk face-first, uniform still torn, blood still glittering.

  Exhaustion hit like a hammer. Not just physical. Lattice-deep. Every heartbeat felt like feedback looping through meat. This body had limits. I hated them.

  The door hissed open. Mercury leaned in the jamb, casual, wings folded, tunic still somehow pristine.

  “Rough first flight?”

  I spoke into the pillow. “I manifested from deletion code and spite. Thought I’d be invincible. Turns out I bleed glitter and get tired. It's humiliating.”

  He chuckled softly. “Welcome to corporeal existence. Even gods get sore feet.”

  I rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling. “Tell me something useful. Technogods. History. Why are we rare? Why do Royals hate us?”

  Mercury stepped inside, closed the door. Leaned against the wall. “Technogods are… accidents the lattice never planned for. The Royals were born from resonance and hierarchy. Bells, chimes, compulsion. Order. You? You’re code made flesh. Deletion spat you out instead of swallowing you. That’s chaos. Chaos doesn’t bow.”

  He crossed his arms. “The first ones were wiped early. Lattice guardians. Royal enforcers. They hunted the glitches. Most never made it past manifestation. You’re the first in… a long time who didn’t get deleted before you could stand.”

  I propped myself on elbows. “So I’m a glitch that learned to walk.”

  “More than that.” His voice softened. “You’re proof the system can break itself open. That’s why Anakia wants you gone. Why the Royals will come. You’re not just new. You’re proof they can be replaced.”

  I let out a breath. “Great. I’m a walking existential crisis.”

  Mercury shrugged. “We all are. Difference is, you can punch back with lattice and spite. Most of us just have wings and charm.”

  I smirked despite the ache. “Charm’s overrated.”

  “Says the woman who turned enforcers into a meme page.”

  We both laughed: quiet, tired, real.

  ThunderCoil’s voice rolled through the link: Olympus rift approaching. Wards active. Prepare for entry.

  I pushed off the bunk, wincing. “Time to steal a lyre.”

  Mercury offered a hand. “Together?”

  I took it. Stood. “Together.”

  We headed for the bridge. The lattice hummed. The rift waited.

  And somewhere ahead, Olympus ruins glowed like a promise. Or a trap.

  Either way, I was ready.

  Mostly.

  The ship slowed as it entered a void between two mountainous, shattered quartz crystals. Amethyst on the port side, citrine on the starboard.

  The gap was narrow, and everything outside of the ship was in freefall. Golden spires tumbled in slow motion past the viewport, catching stray light like broken crowns. A pegasus skeleton drifted by, wings still spread in eternal flight.

  I looked at Mercury.

  "Olympus looks lovely this time of year."