For Rowan it felt like more than four years had passed in the last few months alone, the idea that she had been at Destiny City University for nearly four years before that was an almost entirely alien concept. Yet here she was, running through the plans she’d made ages earlier as though nothing had changed, brushing off concerned comments with excuses involving academic burnout and vague illnesses, though she had admitted to being struck by lightning when introducing her family to Reginald.

Graduation.

New job.

New degree program in the fall.

Graduation.

New job.

New degree program in the fall.

Graduation.

New job.

New degree program in the fall.

Each item on the short list dropped from her lips like a mantra as she tried to force the words into reassuring shapes that could fit comfortably into her reality. The necessary duality of her life. It was all too easy to put Rowan aside for Tempesti, and while she had to imagine that there were a lot of people who felt the way she did, she had no idea who or how to ask. Articles on work-life balance didn’t exactly cover situations like these, after all.

Work-life-giant monster balance maybe.

Idle fingers worked a few locks of long red hair into a braid before undoing it and starting the process over again. Wasting time on frivolity seemed more unforgivable by the day and set her firmly against the advice of everyone who didn’t want to watch her burn out, who advised her to take time to take care of herself. That was far easier said than done and as much as some logical part of her mind knew that they were right, the thought of slowing down was more than she could bear. Tending to the stirrings of new life on Tempesti was as close as she had allowed herself to a break in recent months. Just the thought of those shimmering wings sent a tremor of not quite giddiness through her stomach and up into her chest.

Despite efforts to temper her joy with the slight guilt rising within her she couldn’t restrain her mind as it roamed fantasies of possibilities to be found in the dark of space. Her own world and the countless others scattered throughout the galaxy could live again. Even considering her duty to Earth, and she did have a duty to Earth, it would be an impossible struggle to set aside the vastness of the reality unfolding before her. In the face of all of that, nearly everything that mattered before seemed so…small. After seeing the glow from that strange shrine, feeling that barely perceptible shift in the still air of the ancient sanctuary, that smallness felt more pronounced than ever. A nagging and undeniable pull to return had tugged at the back of her mind. She couldn’t articulate why, but it felt important. Beyond important. She’d seen several others throughout the city, each as overgrown as the one within the Tower. Rowan couldn’t call herself a scientist but if experimenting with this strange phenomenon could grant her a better understanding of Tempesti’s heart, she owed that quiet world that much.