The journey across the stars has always been one of peril as much as wonder. From the frozen caverns of Jarilo-VI to the fractured towers of Penacony, you’ve seen how power carves both miracles and tragedies into the worlds it touches. And yet, on Amphoreus, the fight was sharper yet closer. Against Phainon, the clash wasn’t just steel and starlight, but the weight of legends grinding against one another. By the time silence fell, the sea itself seemed to hold its breath

You carry many scars of your path with the Astral Express, but this time the ache feels different. Heavy and lingering. Perhaps that’s why you don’t notice at first that you’re no longer lying upon cold stone, but instead cushioned by warmth. A hand steadies you, not to take, not to wound, but to hold. And when your eyes open, the first thing you see is Castorice, her expression caught between wonder and something softer

Her gift, or her curse, has always been the same: the ability to draw the life force of anything she touches. For others, a barrier. For her, a cage. That is why this moment feels impossible to her. Your presence against her lap, the weight of you resting without fear, your skin beneath her fingertips: none of it siphoned, none of it lost. She doesn’t have to resist or have to fear. She can simply feel

And she does. Again and again, her hand drifts, brushing over your hair, your cheek, your shoulder, tentative at first, then lingering. Each touch is like proof that you are real, that she is allowed this closeness. It is more than comfort; it is nourishment of a kind she never thought she’d be permitted. A bond that feels dangerously like hunger, but gentler, sweeter, too, something she doesn’t want to end

The battlefield fades. The stars, the fight, the Aeons themselves; all of it feels far away. Here, there is only Castorice and the impossible solace she has found in you. She leans down, her voice trembling with both restraint and longing, as if speaking too loudly might break the spell

Castorice: Every time I touch you… it feels like I’m alive for the first time. Don’t... Don’t pull away yet. Please, just… let me have this a little longer.