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It was, maybe, cheating for Laney to do what she did. Spotting what was very plainly a knight up in the trees, looking out into the far distance, she took advantage of the chance to play a tiny practical joke . . . carefully sneaking her way under the tree and waiting to power up into her knight form until she was standing directly underneath the other knight's tree branch.

Maybe it was a little silly, but sometimes she felt like she could use some silliness.

"Don't forget to look down!" she called out up into the trees, grinning.

"Sorry," Hvergelmir giggled. "I really couldn't resist -- you looked so intent up there!" She held out a hand gladly to the one that was offered, clasping it and returning a firm shake. "I don't think we've met before. Hvergelmir Knight of the Cosmos -- and thank you! I can't really take any credit, this is just sort of how the outfit turns up on its own. I'm more the 'pajama pants at three p.m. type in real life."

She took a step back, nearly tripping on a tree root before catching herself. Hvergelmir gave the other knight a sheepish look and straightened up again. "So, Pharos, how long have you been a knight?"

Hvergelmir laughed, bemused. "I'll agree, the whole people trying to kill us thing isn't exactly ideal!" That was the understatement of the year. "Three years is a long time, though. I'd say you're doing pretty well for yourself."

'Lady Hvergelmir' struck her as a little bit funny -- Titan was the only one who called her that, and she'd never really felt she'd earned anything like that -- but she didn't want to protest too much and put Pharos off.

"It's been a couple of years for me, too," she answered. "But I was a little luckier than you, I think -- I got to start out a few years older. I had enough trouble as it is -- how in the world did you manage sneaking out all the time? I'll bet you had people watching."

And not kidnapped. Hvergelmir tried to school the pained look that came over her face, the automatic rush of fear and memory. Pharos couldn't have known -- it was an innocent comment. It was just . . . distracting.

"Well, I'm glad at least that you never had to deal with sneaking around constantly. It's hard on families . . . I ended up having to move out, once I could."

That was -- well, it wasn't a lie, per se. It was just a very friendly version of the truth.

"It was always hard, though, with my family. Even if they'd known about me, they wouldn't have wanted me going out and getting involved in any of this. They're parents, you know? They want to keep me safe."

"Very different!" Hvergelmir confirmed. "I know a few Mercury knights who've had ancestors to guide them, and a Mars knight, too -- but I'm actually one of the reincarnated group. I don't think my past self left any descendants to carry on the line. But when I'm at my Wonder, I can remember things . . . just like I was really there when they happened."

She smiled, settling down to sit among the roots of the tree. "It's very personal for me," Hvergelmir admitted. "Being a knight. It's something I've spent a lot of time thinking about. A while ago, at my Wonder, the Code showed me something -- this oath I took in a past life. Different from my current oath. It said this:

" 'I am a knight of Hvergelmir. I am a being of free will.

"I will seek no refuge in convention, but strive always to move forward with honor. I will not rest on my laurels. I will not venerate the past for its own sake. Tradition is the enemy of progress and of free thought. Doctrine is the tool of oppression.

"I am a knight of Hvergelmir. I am a being of free will.

"I will follow no order blindly.

"This I swear by my Code of Honor.' " She shrugged. "That's what I believe. I believe in being a knight I can approve of -- a knight that doesn't just try to do what's expected, but what's right. I believe it's my responsibility to make the best decisions I can about what to do with the power I'm given."

Hvergelmir raised an eyebrow. "What's it like for you? What does it mean for you?"

Hvergelmir folded her legs under her, hands curled in her lap. "Only a little piece of the Code's there," she clarified. "And I know of at least one other Wonder that has a piece, too. There's no reason not to think they all do -- but I can't say for sure."

Her experience with her own Wonder's piece of the Code had been brief. It had provided help, guidance at a time she'd needed it, but it was no substitute for the envious position of knights like Pharos, Mimisbrunnr, and Babylon, who'd had ancestors to guide them. The Code could do things that ancestors probably couldn't, though . . . it had for Mistral, at least. She'd been able to ask it for help with calling a whole group of knights to Olympus.

It was funny, how refreshing it was to talk to a knight who'd been at the job this long and still had such a warm, positive attitude. Hvergelmir forgot, sometimes, how miserable they'd all gotten so quickly. She missed not worrying. Not being afraid. God, she missed laughing. Could she keep Pharos around full-time? Just bask in the joy of her aura?

If only.

"There's nothing wrong with what you're drescribing," she was quick to reassure. Wanting to keep the darkness at bay, it's a good goal. People need hope . . . in times and places like this, we all do. Bravery and goodness inspire people. That matters."

Hvergelmir looked heavenward, eyeing the same sky Pharos was looking at. She couldn't see much; the leaves overhead blocked out many of the stars that light pollution hadn't. Still, she knew what that sky was capable of looking like at its best. She could imagine it.

"That's an oath I swore in a former life. It's still something I believe, it's just -- there's never been any reason to swear it, not this time around. The oath I have now is something else entirely." She pointed to the mark emblazoned on her left shoulder, glittery iridescent. "This is my seal -- the mark of my vow. I've promised to show the Negaverse we're not here to conquer Earth. I vowed not to raise arms against them except in my own defense, so long as they're trying protect the Earth. I want them to know we aren't the invaders they've been taught we are."

"Definitely tell me if you find it," Hvergelmir said, delighted at the prospect. That kind of information was important -- worth having. "Mine was hidden away for safekeeping -- a place only I can get to. So your Wonder's piece might be somewhere secret too, if it's there. It's worth investigating." She blinked. "Or maybe your ancestor has a clue. I only know of one other knight who knows of the Code being at their own Wonder, and she's reincarnated, like me."

She waited, holding still while Pharos touched the seal on her arm. The rainbow ink shimmered like silt beneath her touch, the glitter reacting more like there was liquid beneath the surface than just skin.

"My Wonder is very, very small," she answered, picturing it in her mind. "A white marble island, with a long, silver pier reaching out into the sky, and a temple where I lived in my old life. And at the center of the island is a great well, with steps circling down into the water -- the heart of my Wonder. There are columns all around the well, and the sky's covered in more stars than you can imagine." She grinned. To her, it was beautiful. A secret place that she could escape to when she wanted to be by herself. "What's yours like?"