The ship docked without obstruction. Naturally, word had already been sent ahead of time that several emissaries would be arriving. After disembarking the ship, Gwendel, Kaiden, Naan, and Saiema were lead away by a Vortian official. Rhofel and Velneir decided to head home. This expedition had been a lot more and a lot different from what they had signed up for. Moreover, with the Graecians backing the Elisions for negotiations, their job was basically over anyway. Their respective academies would find work for them elsewhere, so they probably wouldn't see each other again for a long time.<br/><br/>The only people still embroiled in this mess were Uriel and Anak. They had already given blood to Ryan, a bisexual half-Vortian capable or receiving two partners. If they abandoned him here, it would ruin his life. All the same, Uriel made a quiet decision that she wouldn't bother with any other humans anymore. Her original stance that they should be protected remained firm, but she no longer felt any desire to interact with the troublesome creatures.<br/><br/><span style="color: #8080FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"What are you going to do with him?"</span></span>Anak asked.<br/><br/><span style="color: #BF40FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"I'm going to start conditioning him to our culture. He's already half-Vortian. After some proper education, he could be no different than a tragically disabled pure blood. I just don't think I can deal with any more human nonsense,"</span></span>Uriel confessed.<span style="color: #BF40FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"You'll be joining us, won't you?"</span></span><br/><br/><span style="color: #8080FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"Of course. Before that, though, I have to check in with my cousin... She won't be happy with me. I've made a real mess of things this time. Disfiguration, illicit love affairs, political scandals, and I'm probably a wanted criminal on earth after what we did to that jail. Anyway, I'll contact you when things have cooled down. Good luck conditioning him."</span></span>Anak had high hopes for when he would eventually reunite with Ryan. He... he wanted to make it work between them.<br/><br/>Anak went his own way, and Uriel lead Ryan to her own residence. They ended up boarding a caterpillar-like train. Caterpillar-like because it was made by linking many spherical compartments together. From the outside, it was opaque silver. But from the inside one could view the world as if through a window. The strange train, called an Engle, or "linked passenger beads," carried them over the waves of the ocean as they approached a floating city.<br/><br/><span style="color: #BF40FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"Trees are precious,"</span></span>Uriel explained,<span style="color: #BF40FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"So we build with metal instead of wood. This way, our technology progressed quickly. Land is also precious, so we began to build our cities on the oceans as soon as we knew how. The metal is strong enough to support the infrastructure, but light enough to float. My house is in Iira City. From now on... we will live there together. And I will teach you how to live well in this world. You look just like an Arondite, so if we don't mention anything people will come to their own conclusions and you won't face any problems. Of course, outright calling you an Arondite would pose as many problems as calling you human or Vortian or a halfbreed, so we'll just keep quiet for now."</span></span>