THE NIGHT SKY was more beautiful than Andi ever remembered it being. It lay over the land like a blanket of stars, and on a night like this, crisp and clear, she could make out the nebula that surrounded the system. It was a wash of pinks, light and dark, with stars accenting it like delicate jewelry.
Growing up, Andi’s mother frequently told her tales of how the galaxy had formed. There were once ancient Night Spirits that lived in the darkness, feeding off the truest of evils. Their counterparts, known as the Light Bearers, kept the darkness at bay. They brought hope back to the worlds they watched over, restoring tranquility to the universe. It was always black and white between the two entities, until one day, everything changed.
A Light Bearer fell in love with a Night Spirit, a unity that was never meant to be, thus creating a cataclysmic event that changed the course of life.
Their love created a monstrous black hole, something so dangerous and untouchable that it was seen as evil incarnate—until the galaxy started to form around the beast.
But the galaxy wasn’t the only thing to form from their union. It also gave way to the creation of the Godstars, all-knowing beings with the power to give and take, the perfect mixture of darkness and light.
“It shows us that everyone has a balancing act teetering in their souls,” Andi’s mother had told her. “We all stand in harmony between the two. It is up to you which side becomes stronger.”
Andi thought often about this story, and wondered if it was possible to be as good as the Light Bringers, but also shaded in the darkness of the Night Spirits. She felt as if a war was always going on within her, both sides constantly fighting one another, no matter how hard she tried to keep both at bay.
Tonight in that room with her father, Andi had felt the Night Spirit within her take a hold.
As she walked, Andi took in the view that spread out from the Cortas estate. The distant shine of the city far below, with its glass spires and rigid, straight-backed citizens. Every plant and blade of grass across the planet had an iridescent glow, as if lit from within. From the skies above Arcardius, the shimmering flora made the planet look ethereal, as if the Godstars themselves resided here.
Arcardius was the first planet inhabited by the Ancients hundreds of thousands of years ago, and many believed that the Godstars must have given the settlers this gift to welcome them to their new home. But whatever the reason, Andi was grateful for it. She didn’t want to be in the presence of darkness after everything that had happened. She needed to clear her mind of all that had been clogging it since the beginning of the rescue job.
Andi ran her fingers over the moonlit roses. Huge groups of them had been placed around the pathway that led deeper into the gardens. She watched as a flutterwing darted past her, leaving a trail of sparkling pollen in its wake.
Her feet led her down a few more paths lined with flowers and resting flutterwings that looked like little fairies in the hue of the plants’ glow. Even with no planned destination, her feet seemed to have a mind of their own, because she suddenly found herself in the middle of a small clearing. In front of her was one of the miniature floating rocks that dotted the skies of the planet.
This one had a small waterfall streaming from its edge into a pool below. Surrounding the perimeter were huge Gajuai flowers, their petals growing over one another to create a natural patchwork pattern.
“A wonder, isn’t it?” a voice asked behind her. Andi jumped and cursed herself for letting someone sneak up on her.
This planet, and its illusion of safety, was making her lose her touch.
She hardly recognized Valen now that he was cleaned up. His brown hair was cropped short and, skinny as he was, it made his strong jaw more pronounced. Everything about his once-soft face was now hard edges. No doubt, with some more meat on his bones, he would be striking.
The boy she remembered from years ago had now become a man.
Damaged as he must be on the inside, at least his physical wounds would heal. The awful things he had experienced at the hands of Xen Ptera would hopefully become a distant memory, as well, and more bearable with time.
“You’re looking better,” Andi said as he approached her, his hazel eyes burning through the darkness like embers. He held a portable easel in his arms, along with a silver box that Andi recognized as his old kit of paints.
“Thanks,” he said. “Mother and I installed this garden shortly after the trial, in honor of Kalee.”
Andi didn’t know how to feel about that revelation. Suddenly the garden around her seemed to darken. She’d felt called here, as if she’d needed this place.
Maybe Kalee’s ghost truly was alive, following her through the Cortas estate. Still, Andi didn’t feel as if she deserved to be in Kalee’s garden.
“I should go,” Andi said. “You probably want to spend some time here alone.”
“Actually,” Valen said, as she turned to leave, “I was going to paint the gardens. But it would be nice to have a living subject to paint. And to talk to someone who won’t try to coddle me. Believe it or not, Mother is so afraid to leave me alone, she nearly followed me into the bathroom earlier.”
Andi almost laughed as she imagined Merella fussing over her now-grown son. She couldn’t imagine the relief she must feel now that Valen had returned.
Andi paused for a moment. “Did you want to paint me?”
Valen nodded. “The way the moonlight catches the metal on your cheekbones and the purple in your hair. It’s colors like these, with dimension and depth, that I’ve missed.”
“You used to paint Kalee,” Andi said.
Valen nodded. “She loved being the center of attention. She was always so different from me in that respect.” He pointed past Andi, to the edge of the clear pool. “You could sit there. On the rock.”
Neither of them spoke at first as she sat down, the cool rock beneath her. Valen set up his easel, placing a blank canvas on it, his motions practiced and full of ease. He unlocked his box of paints, setting them out one by one before he dipped his brush into the first, a soft white the color of her hair. It was peaceful, this silence between them, and the trickle of the waterfall beyond.
“I’ve missed this,” Valen said.
“I can tell.”
He looked content as his brush slid across the canvas, his eyes flitting back to her every so often. “Someday, I’d like to paint every landscape in Mirabel,” he said.
Andi smiled. “I’d like to visit them all.”
She thought of her room on the Marauder. All the images of the many corners of Mirabel scattered across the glass walls.