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The nervousness ate at Selenga's stomach the same way the hunger did every day, the way it drove him mad before he gave in and then needed to go throw up. But he wanted to do this. He didn't feel like he could go visit his Wonder by himself—not after the first time he'd done it, and discovered the bones of his ancestor and his child. Some kind of plague—Qi Yaolan had been vague on the details. Not that they mattered. He and his child were long dead.

He didn't want to go alone, in case something else happened. And with Kaifeng busy with so many freaking aliens at his house (which, wow, kinda cool), he'd contacted one of the new other people he knew magically. Princess Ida. He figured she'd enjoy seeing his Wonder, given it was on her planet. And he would have company if something went wrong.

He exhaled slowly, trying to calm down, and kept an eye out for her. She'd be showing up to the agreed spot soon, he hoped.

Selenga couldn't stop a nervous smile crossing his face as she approached—as much as he would have liked to conceal the part of him that was nervous, he just... couldn't. He'd never been very good at schooling his emotions.

"Not at all," he assured her. "I'm very patient. I might race horses for a living, but I know when to slow down, too."

Maybe. Kind of? Well, he'd gladly wait for someone he liked, admired, and whom inspired him, anyway.

"I'm really excited to show you," he admitted. "I mean, it's—it's not great, or anything, or clean, or—or very pretty right now, but I'm working on it, or trying to, and, um, yes."

He shut up for a moment, face flaming red. "Are you ready to head up?" he asked, feeling horribly awkward.

Selenga nodded, swallowing. It still felt... Well, never mind. He wanted to show her. Hoped to impress her. So he took her hand, closed his eyes, and took them away to his Wonder, appearing at the home at mouth of the river, like usual.

The river was clean, but lifeless, unmoving. There didn't appear to be any current—it was too still. And also still literally devoid of life, at least as far as he'd seen. He wondered if life would start returning soon, but this was only his second visit, so he wasn't sure.

"Here we are," he said, gesturing to the river, then to the homestead of Selengas past.

Selenga's face warmed at the way she marveled over his Wonder—his river—even though it was so barren, compared to the rest of her planet. Damn, but he was so thoroughly stupid for wanting to bring her here so early, when he hadn't had the chance to even do much to rescue this place from the millennium of neglect.

"Not yet," he admitted. "The first time I was here, I..."

He hesitated, then swallowed and summoned his courage. "Well, I got quite distracted by finding my ancestor's bones. With... his child's. One of them, anyway, obviously, because I'm here, but, I mean—We. Buried them. Under a dead tree behind the home, here."

He gestured to the building, with its walkway over the river to the other building, where Qi Yaolan had handled Knight business during the daytime. They hadn't talked much... But maybe his ancestor had hosted a brigade there, or something. He wasn't exactly sure.

"He said there'd been some kind of plague on the Wonder," he said hoarsely.

Selenga drew comfort from the touch on his arm, breathing in deep and slow. Steadying himself. She was right, of course—finding his ancestor had only seemed inevitable in hindsight. With nobody left to bury anybody...

He looked up at the mention of grave trees, intrigued, and then nodded. "That would be nice. I'm sure he'd like that. But—well, we could ask him directly?" He nodded to the building on the side of the river they stood on. "His ghost is hanging out in there. Possibly wondering why I haven't bothered to come say hello yet, I think he knows when I'm here."

He sighed a bit, relaxing his shoulders. "I'm glad a cure was found, eventually. I'm sorry, about the memories. I don't think it's something I'll ever relate to." He smiled wryly. "I just have someone who will yap my ear off instead like any good grandfather. Well, many greats involved, but, well."

Selenga blushed at that a little—was he anomalous among Knights, then? Did most Knights get reincarnated rather than... whatever exactly had happened to him? The details escaped him. Descendant, received power, ancestor still handing on by a thread—that seemed about it.

"He didn't like Kaifeng too much, but he had issues with Kaifeng's past life," he remarked. "I don't think he'd have had an issue with your past self—I would think it difficult to work with someone you dislike when you live on their asteroid, even if the Wonder is yours."

He led her into the building.

Qi Yaolan scowled at Selenga. "About time you came to say hello," he said snappishly, then stopped and stared at Ida, mouth agape, for several seconds. Then, remembering himself, he bowed. "Princess! Ida, I... Ah... But you're not... Eden."

His fox ears twitched, drooped. "Apologies for my rudeness. It is... very nice, meeting the new Ida. I am luckier than many of my fellow Knights of Ida, I suspect."

Qi Yaolan's ears drooped a little, and he nodded, feeling pained. "Yes. It was... less than pleasant. I am glad to hear part of you remembers me." He gave her a sort of shy little half-smile, shrugging his shoulders a bit as his fluffy fox tail wagged slightly behind him. "Though perhaps I should not be so surprise you would remember a Knight of Ida who came from a different planet."

Selenga smiled. "I'm glad you two had a good relationship," he offered, feeling a touch awkward. Out of place. Why did he have to be so... strange? Why Descended, with an Ancestor, rather than Reincarnated like most people? His heart thudded dully in his chest, mouth drying out. Even here, on a place that was nominally his, he was othered. Did he ever have much that was truly his?

He didn't know.

Qi Yaloan hummed. "I'm not sure how much longer I will stay... But making a few new memories would be lovely. I'll at least stay until our new Selenga is a Knight," he said, nodding to his descendant.

Selenga blushed at the sudden attention, all previous doubts flushing away in a near-instant. "That sounds nice, yeah," he said. "Erm, I haven't much explored—this is. Only the second time I've been here, after all, and the first time I was... distracted."

His eyes guiltily flickered over to Qi Yaolan, remembering the way he'd broken down when he and Kaifeng had found the bodies and gone home after they'd buried them.