Kotimyad was in sight, its majestic red-hued surface sticking out even in the side that faced the cosmos. The ship slowed itself down to half the speed of light and continued to descelerate until it was at a safe speed to land. The DeLux's navigation system had stopped moving on autopilot, and instead was giving instructions as to where the best place to land in the vicinity of Nredoza's city would be. To her surprise, it was a landing strip just off the main road, built for their exact situation. Hazel nodded in silent approval, just happy to finally be in a place that was prepared and seemed a lot better put together than Zhera or that strange planet in the Seventh.

She entered the atmosphere, angling the nose the perfect way to ensure a smooth and safe landing. It took a solid twenty minutes to finally touch down at the slower speed they had reached. The gravity of Kotimyad was enough to attempt to pull them faster and faster, but Hazel was in control, partially based on the angle. There was something that made Hazel feel extremely calm in this strenuous moment. Her flight was crucial, and one wrong move could force her to find another path. To her, the stress somehow helped her stay focused and to the point, which was to land safely and timely.

Touching down with a loud rumble of stone being thrown into the air, Hazel nearly jumped on the brakes to slow to a halt before the landing strip ran out of room. It was obviously not meant for such a large ship to land in as short an amount of time as the smaller traffic that often came in.

Finally stopped, Hazel did not move as she lowered the ramp from her seat in the cockpit. She needed a moment to collect herself and really feel thankful for being back on land. All the time spent in outer space made Hazel feel quite uneasy and almost seasick. Taking a deep breath, she unlocked her door and stepped out onto the road.

She hadn't seen a civilization around dry soil in a long time, other than her father's house. That was different, just one home with a rainforest in the distance. Retansha, where they were now, had a river cutting through the city, plants of all different shapes, shades, and sizes scattered around, making the whole place seem very full. Massive spires of living red material stretched up into the sky and split, looking a lot like dead trees. The sky's yellow hue made the planet look like it was in a fiery blaze.

A soft breeze blew over the four of them, which were now walking side by side. Nredoza's face lit up, tears of joy streaming down her face. She was finally home after years of being forcefully placed in some strange place to do work she didn't want to do. To think that the escape of one of Dymo's test subjects led to her returning to the place she had lived for all of her life was crazy to her, but she wasn't going to complain. She was home.

Nredoza led the way, taking off in flight. She hadn't used her wings for flying in a very long time, and the stretch made her feel very free. After seeing Nredoza lift off, Rephana joined her new friend in the skies, Hazel and Anatoly sprinted behind them, attempting to keep up. Hazel was tempted to just ride her Halo, but Anatoly had lost his to be used for Dymo's and his wife's shackles. They were about the same height, so it wasn't as if she could just sit on his lap or vice versa.

Out of nowhere, after about five minutes of running and flying, Nredoza dropped to the ground in a graceful spiral, letting the air resistance on her wings slow her down to a safe speed at a safer distance from the ground. She stood in front of a townhome, with three stories, balconies, and a front porch to tie it all together, smiling uncontrollably. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door, stepping back to wait for someone to answer the door.

An older woman opened the door, with white hair falling in waves down to her waist, wings folded. Her skin was a reddish hue, just like Nredoza's, and had a small pair of horns on her head. She was obviously related.

"Oza? Is that you?" she asked, beaming widely.

Nredoza nodded slowly, wiping her tears and jumping into the woman's arms.

"I've missed you so much, mama, and Siyan, and Asrian, and Eliar, and papa too," Nredoza said, rushing to say everything she wanted to say for the past few years in one sentence.

"I'm just glad to see you're okay," her mother said, holding her youngest child close.

Outside, Hazel, Anatoly, and Rephana watched the emotional reunion with anticipation. They could almost see the happiness radiating off of the mother and her daughter like rays of sun. Three young men came out to see what caused the commotion, and after recognized Nredoza, playfully tackled her to the ground.

"Hey, tiny!" one of them said merrily, pulling her up to a standing position.

"Hi, Siyan, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

"No shit, Oza!" Siyan said, jokingly flicking one of Nredoza's horns.

"Siyan Tridfi! Language!"

"Sorry, mama."

Their mother hobbled over to where the others stood awkwardly. She smiled kindly and motioned for them to come in, as well as Nredoza. Smirking, she closed the door before any of Nredoza's older brothers could enter.

"So, Oza, who are these lovely ones? They're quite simply built, wouldn't you say?"

"This is Hazel," she said, pointing to Hazel with a leathery wing, "she's half Ex-Pian. Her father is Exan but her mother is human."

Hazel felt kind of honored to be the first one introduced. To her, it felt like being picked first for a gym class soccer team.

"This is Anatoly, another Ex-Pian," she continued, "and this is Empress Rephana of Vasion."

The color drained from Rephana's face as she was introduced as "Empress." She both found herself proud and afraid. Nobody had ever met a Vasioner before, and because she had become an Ex-Naf, the only thing that gave her true ancestry away was her blue skin instead of orange and the fact that Nredoza just flat out said it. She gave a very uncomfortable smile before dropping her head to fall into her hands.

"You're from Vasion? You don't look it," Nredoza's mother said disbelievingly.

In response, Rephana tore a part of her dress to show the massive scars where her second pair of arms were, moved some hair to expose the stumps of what used to be two pairs of horns, and showed four scars on her face where her other eyes used to sit. This seemed to please her, and so she dropped her disbelief.

"It's an honor, your highness, to be meeting you," she said, shaking Rephana's hands enthusiastically.

"Uh, you don't need to address me like that, just call me Rephana," the once royal said, trying her hardest to give up the title which bound her to Vasion for thousands of millenia.

"Of course, your high- Rephana."

In the awkwardly tense situation, Rephana saw herself out of the house, only to be swarmed by the three Tridfi brothers with questions and small talk. Slightly intimidated and afraid, she took off in flight, and with a loud clang, landed on the roof.

At least Nredoza is happy, Rephana thought to herself as she hid from the Tridfi brothers. She already couldn't wait to return to Zhera, even though it was her idea to travel in the first place. Perhaps it would only be a week or so at most until they got back. There, she wanted one thing, and that was to settle down and possibly start a new life, to take the last bit of her life left and live it to the greatest extent she could. Her necrosing brain was starting to slow down, and she could tell. The moment she saw the dying flesh appear on her face, she would only have a bit of time left before she left the world.