Chapter 6 - Echoing Personal Doubts

The Confluence was a bastion of stable space. A slow, but ever growing natural formation amidst the faster spreading zones of chaos. Being connected to the merging universes on both sides made the center of it the first warfront. It also made it the only safe space in any galaxy.

Perpetual twilight cast long shadows across the streets of the green zone. Naia leaned against the railing of her assigned quarters' balcony. She leisurely watched as off-duty soldiers and *important* civilian refugees bustled about.

The air was less stale in this place than that found in the Dead Zone spaces their missions took her to, but it still carried a faint metallic tang that served a constant reminder of the nature of their sanctuary. It didn't taste like that of a conventional world or even a space station, no matter what kind of purifying stations they set up to make the apocalyptic fugitives feel more normal. 

A flicker of movement caught her eye and then Poros was beside her. Her senses caught the fading purple strands of his energy that proved he had seemingly stepped through the solid wall of the building behind her. Without turning, a small smile played on her lips/

"You know… most people use doors when they are two steps away."

Poros grinned instantly with mischief. His brown eyes with gold flecks twinkled in amusement as he patted at the device harnessed on his chest. The Shift Tuner that aided the length of time he could phase out of reality was something he always proudly wore. She loved her staff too, but it was too bulky to carry *always*.

"Doors are for people who can't walk through walls - or Walk *through* doors. But you said that Shift Walking through those is forbidden after the last time we sort of…"

"Please don't remind me of you passing through me like a ghost."

She shivered at the memory. If Harmony and Chaos were to be compared to music, his ability was akin to a void-like silence. That incident led to her actually discovering the feeling of 'nothing'.

"Alright, alright. I heard you were back from your mission. Thought I'd drop in and see how it went since they moved me elsewhere. You'd almost think my ability was valuable."

Naia smiled at his joke, but it faded slightly as the events of the past few days came rushing back. Eventually she decided on some words.

"It was... complicated."

Poros raised an eyebrow. His hand stroked back his curly dark brown hair to tousle it further, then leaned against the railing beside his squadmate. He was a little older than his female friend and his hair at thirty held streaks of early gray. It was safe to say 'complications' on missions were the reason.

"Complicated how? Did something go wrong? Or…"

Naia sighed, knowing her friend had picked up on her unease. During his reassignment they hadn't been able to talk. She didn't know if he'd visited anyone else yet, but he was a work-centered enough man that he probably learned that they had a new member.

"Remember that woman Evander told me about? The one from his very early training days?"

Poros nodded slowly and he let realization dawn on his face.

"Don't tell me..."

"Yes. She's been assigned to our squad. And she's... well, she's everything Evander remembered her to be. Watching her… made me understand what he meant when he said I looked like someone he'd fallen in love with before. It was uncanny."

Naia inhaled audibly, her eyes fixing on the people going about their day.

"When I first saw her, Poros, it was like looking in a mirror. Same height, same build, even our eyes... It was unsettling."

The man hummed an acknowledgement to encourage her to continue. As her friend, he knew she could be pretty insecure and clam up if he tried to give advice too early.

"It wasn't just that. It was… the way Evander looked at her..."

The woman trailed off, her hands gripping the railing tighter. She didn't want to accuse the man outright, because nothing had actually happened or been said. However she also knew that Poros would understand - she was talking about things from her perspective.

"It was like he was seeing something other than a ghost. The living person he'd probably been waiting for all this time to return."

She turned to face the olive skinned man with eyes glistening. Saying it out loud had hurt more than she expected.

"You know how Evander and I met, right? I've told you the story. Then it was during a training exercise, about three years ago when we actually… I was struggling with a particularly difficult harmonization. He stepped in to help and his insights... they just clicked with my abilities. It felt like we became an unstoppable team."

A wistful smile played on her lips, starting to regret ever having that feeling in the past.

"I thought what we had was special. Unique. But seeing Theia... it made me question everything."

Poros continued to listen intently, though his brow furrowed with concern. She'd voiced her worries many time in the past to him, but they were usually things like how she buckled under making a confrontational decision. Sometimes that was over dates with their squad leader, but-

"During the mission, there was this moment..."

The black haired woman started again with a whisper.

"We were navigating a section of the Dead Zone and a… creature appeared. I was already at my limit, trying to maintain the transport's shielding. And then Theia... she just stepped in. She generated this… this chaos energy that the thing tried to… tried to eat? It was brilliant, really."

She paused, swallowing hard. Naia met Poros's gaze, vulnerability clear.

"The look on Evander's face... It was a mixture of awe and... something else. I've never seen it when he looks at me. I'm losing him aren't I, Poros? Was I ever really the one he wanted or was I always just a placeholder?"

Poros opened his mouth to respond, but she shook her head - her frustration was evident in a way he didn't ever recall seeing.

"And the worst part is, I can't even bring myself to hate her. She's incredible at what she does. Her powers and even her wit... I can see why Evander is drawn to her. But where does that leave me?"

Naia couldn't stop the words pouring out now.

"This life is built around our team, but my heart was molded by this relationship. If I lose that... if I lose him... what am I left with? Is my ability to Navigate chaos all I am? Are these powers all we are?"

Her shoulders slumped after some of the things that had been in her chest were released. Her head raised weakly and looked out at the expansive green zone. Even its safety wasn't exactly a guarantee. When universes could rip themselves apart and combine together, perhaps nothing was forever stable.

"I know we're in the middle of a war, that there are bigger things at stake. But I can't help feeling lost. Like my life has been plunged into a Dead Zone - and I can't find the harmony to stabilize it."

Poros really wasn't sure what to say to comfort her more. Most of the things he could think of were irresponsible to say. So he just placed a stocky arm over her shoulder for a while.

"Tell me more about it all. What do you mean a creature? Was it-"

As Naia began to recount the full events of the mission to fulfill his questions, she felt a weight lifting from her shoulders. It was different from writing the required after-action report. In the relative safety of the green zone, even if it was a military dormitory, talking to a friend was an unparalleled feeling.

Especially one who could quite literally slip through the walls in any situation. She could finally voice the fears and doubts she'd been holding back. Though she did her best to frame everything as entirely her opinion… as both the sour feeling romance and the speculation on the artifact were not intended to make Poros worry too much.

Little did she know that outside the Confluence that item sat in a secure facility. It was already beginning to 'sing' once more, thanks to the intentional prodding of private reality researchers. Its artificial melody would draw them all toward more complex and dangerous aspects of the war than they ever imagined.