Mopping marble floors, Yukio decided, was almost as zen-like as raking patterns into sand. The action of swabbing the stone floor with a mop was repetitive and soothing, plus it was actually accomplishing something useful: cleaning his Wonder by the lake on the Moon. He'd already done the floors on the ground floor, using a pail and mop he'd brought with him and retrieving some water from the lake to clean with, and the marble fairly gleamed. Now he was cleaning the floor in the small niche-lined room on the second floor that held his fragment of the Code. The small orb pulsed warmly in its niche as he worked, almost but not quite in time with the music that drifted up from the portable speakers he'd plugged into his phone down in the greenhouse-solarium below.

As he mopped, Yukio let his mind wander. Seemed like such a short time ago he was brought here by the Code to become Spei, a Page of the Moon. There was no precedent for Moon Knights – there had been no need for them during the Silver Millennium; the Moon was protected adequately enough. Or so they'd thought, at any rate…

He didn't want to think about that right now. He just wanted to mop floors.

The Code fragment began to pulse more quickly, catching Yukio's attention. He deposited the head of the mop into the pail of water and raised an eyebrow at the orb. "You have something to tell me?" he asked it. "Or do you just enjoy the music?"

The metal disk that appeared when he transformed into Spei appeared in front of him – only it wasn't the disk this time, it was a small shield, like a buckler. Yukio blinked, reaching out for it, and in an instant he was Spei. Except that he felt different somehow, more powerful, more capable of taking on foes. He looked down and noticed his uniform was slightly different as well, with silver trim and what looked like pearl epaulets.

"Huh," he hummed. Did he rank up or something? Spei knew there were tiers of power amongst the Knights faction – had he 'leveled up' to the next tier? The feeling he got from his Code piece told him he had; he was a Squire now.

Pulsing again, the Code fragment drew him to a niche close to the floor, where he had placed a large flower pot. He moved the pot and peered into the niche – and saw something there. Reaching in, he removed a small scroll. "What's this?" he murmured as he straightened. Unfurling the scroll, he began to read it. It seemed to be some kind of spell or power? As he read, the words faded from the parchment; he finished, and a wave of energy swept over him as the scroll poofed into a cloud of dust.

"Well." Something had been imparted to Spei – what felt like an actual attack! He allowed himself a small smile as he dismissed his new buckler shield and powered back down. "Thank you," he nodded to the Code fragment, which pulsed happily. This would come in handy back home…

(wc: 526)