Moon walked beside Selene and Yara, listening to them compare their new purchases, but his mind was elsewhere.

He hadn’t forgotten the book sitting in his storage ring. The Floating Island’s control mechanism, bound to him by blood, written in a language he couldn’t read. Until he deciphered it, the island was his in name only.

He needed someone with knowledge of about things within the Second Sanctuary. Someone with access to resources and education that went beyond what the average Evolver encountered. Someone whose brother happened to be one of the most powerful people in the kingdom, or so he heard.

Moon glanced at Selene, then, decided to talk about it when they reached home. There was too many prying eyes around, and exposing that wasn’t exactly to his benefit, he liked to do things privately.

So, he waited until they reached their home before saying, "Selene. I have something I want to show you."

Selene turned to look at him, curiosity replacing the easy smile she had been wearing. She read his expression and understood immediately that this wasn’t casual.

"Sure."

She sat down on the comfortable, luscious dark gray sofa, gently tapping the cushion with her palm. "Sit."

Moon sat down beside her, then pulled the book from his storage ring and held it between them. Yara looked at the book curiously, wondering what it might contain.

The dark cover, and the unfamiliar script written all over it, made it really mysterious.

"Do you recognize this language?"

Moon pulled the book from his storage ring and placed it on the table between them. The dark cover, and the ancient text running along its spine made it really eerie.

Selene leaned closer, studying the exterior for a moment, "Can you open it?"

Moon nodded and opened the cover.

The pages inside were dense with text, written in the same unrecognizable language. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Selene leaned in further, her hand resting on her chin. She turned a few pages carefully, her eyes moving across the script.

Her expression betrayed her process of trying to match what she was seeing to something buried deep in her memory.

A few minutes passed in silence. Moon waiting for Selene’s verdict.

"This language." Selene said slowly. "I feel like I’ve seen it before. Somewhere. But I can’t remember where."

She turned another page, then shook her head.

"As for deciphering it, I really don’t know. This is beyond anything I’ve seen or studied." She looked up at Moon. "But I could ask my brother. Or Emma. They’re both Surpassers, and they’ve encountered far more texts and ancient materials than I have. They might recognize it."

Moon was quiet for a moment. Then he sighed and shook his head.

"Not for now. But I’ll take you up on that offer later, if possible."

Selene tilted her head slightly but didn’t push it. "Sure, just let me know."

’I’ll ask Tom first. Moon thought. I still haven’t met her brother. I need to meet him face to face before trusting him with something this significant.’

He trusted Selene completely. But that trust didn’t automatically extend to everyone in her life. Moon wasn’t someone who placed blind faith in a person based on their connection to someone he knew. Her brother could be the greatest person alive, and Moon would still want to look him in the eye and judge for himself before sharing something this valuable.

Selene nodded. "M-hm. Just let me know whenever."

She paused, looking at the book again.

"Can I ask, where did you find this?"

Moon considered it for a moment. There was nothing wrong with telling her. Selene had earned that trust many times over.

So he began to explain.

He started with the floating island. The underground hideout. The broken Evolvers sitting against the walls with dead eyes. The woman named Layla who controlled everyone through pills and curses.

Selene’s expression didn’t settle on a single emotion, alternating as the narrative progressed.

Moon continued and Selene’s lips parted slightly.

He told her about the spirit pavilion. The elders he killed. The battle against the pavilion spirit on the mountaintop. Killing the pavilion spirit, and he eventually finished with finding the book in the sealed chamber beneath the pavilion spirit’s sanctum. The blood binding and the levers embedded in the wall.

Selene’s mouth was fully open now.

Once Moon finished speaking, the room became silent.

Yara had stopped pretending that she was inspecting her bow at some point during the story. She was staring at Moon with an expression caught somewhere between awe and disbelief.

Selene closed her mouth. Opened it. Closed it again.

"You." She started. Paused. Took a breath. "You cleared a C-Rank spirit pavilion. By yourself. In less than a month."

"I had help." Moon said.

"Help...from the Evolvers you saved from the Witch of Charm? They were barely able to help themselves."

"They were still helpful."

Selene stared at him for a very long time. Then she leaned back on the sofa and pressed both hands over her face.

"Moon Outlaw, what am I going to do with you. And here I thought that I might have finally caught up to you. Turns out that it was nothing but delusion on my part, haha." Selene laughed sarcastically to herself.

Moon felt a tinge of sadness imbued into her words. She was no longer happy about her results, and that was clear.

"Selene...you are amazing the way you are. We are not enemies, we are allies. My progress is your progress, your progress is my progress." Moon reassured her with a warm smile that touched her heart.

Selene stared at him, breathless, her heart soaring so suddenly it almost frightened her. For one unsuspected moment, nothing existed beyond his dark, starry eyes.

"Don’t belittle your journey, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Okay?"

Selene woke up from her moment of stupor, she averted her eyes, feeling completely embarrassed, almost naked. She nodded her head like a frightened chick, "Y-Yes, you are right."