Banshee and Cryo took the journey back to the Starlight Hall slowly, taking the opportunity to help Pegasus and Nereid work on their abilities.

While Cryo took to the skies with Pegasus, Banshee remained on the rooftops with Nereid. She pointed out the various features of the buildings that would either help, hinder, or make it downright dangerous for the new Luminary in various weather settings. When there was a clear path across the rooftops, they sprinted. Nereid was quick and agile, keeping up with a non-shadow shifted Banshee without too much trouble.

"See these little alcove-y things?" said Banshee, pointing to a particular type of decoration. Nereid nodded. "Usually where you find one of these, there'll be one of these below." Banshee leaned over the edge of the roof and pointed to another designed carved into the starstone. "They're super easy to climb, even without a shadow shift."

They reached the final stretch of buildings in central Aeledrae before the temple grounds.

Banshee pointed towards the golden starstone, currently separated from them by a gap created by the canal below that ringed the temple grounds. "We're gonna jump that. I can make it without my shadow shift if I go for it, plus, there's water below if you don't quite make it."

"And if I smash into the side of the building instead?" asked Nereid, the fins on the sides of her head and forearms relaxed.

"It's gonna hurt a whole lot," said Banshee. "But it won't kill you. Besides, when you're not thinking about it and you just react, your water works fine. Nothing like a bit of careening freefall to let the subconscious take control, eh?"

Nereid shook her head and looked away, but her fins remained relaxed as she stepped backwards to give herself a run-up.

Banshee went first, her shadow following on the ground behind her as she trusted her regular old Luminary strength and speed to make the leap and land on the temple's outer ring of buildings. She made it without a problem, landing with a thud before she turned to watch Nereid.

Nereid's run was nearly perfect. She'd taken all of Banshee's rooftop-running tips and applied them amazingly well. She hit the edge without hesitation and pushed herself up into the air. Her arc was a little shorter than Banshee's had been, but whatever subconscious part of Banshee's head did all her running and jumping calculations knew that Nereid wouldn't find out if her water would respond in freefall today.

Nereid landed with a slightly heavier thud beside Banshee, who nodded.

"Being able to get around the City fast is super important," said Banshee. She looked down over the edge of the roof to where the canal circling the temple lay below. "You'd probably move fastest in the canals, but they might not always be an option, which is when rooftops are useful."

"Banshee," said Nereid, ending the word with a quiet intake of breath. "Why do you think I'm having so much trouble with my water?"

Banshee looked at her, chewing on her lip. "Honestly, I'm not sure. Cryo seems to think it's some kinda mental block, but unless you've got a morbid fear of water you're not telling us about, I don't think that's right." She gestured back at the gap behind them. "Even I was a little skeptical the first time I made that jump, and you did it without hesitation."

"I love the water," said Nereid with a shrug. "I used to pretend to be Mer when I was little, you know, like how kids play the Luminary game, running around pretending to save Manifested and stuff during playtime?" She stretched her fingers out, attempting to pull the water at her feet into a globule. She barely succeeded in making a fist-sized ball before it began to slip from her grasp. She gave up and let it go. "And now by some miracle I get this chance, and I can't even begin to make it work."

"It's frustrating, I know," said Banshee with a smile. "But we'll make it work. Whatever the problem is, I promise you that I'll help you work through it."

Nereid hugged her elbows, her fins going tight against her body. "What..." She trailed off and released a breath, closing her eyes. "What if I'm better off just going Dark, so Pegasus gets a partner who can actually help him?"

"Who knows for sure what's best for anyone?" Banshee shrugged. "I know Cryo thinks I would have been better off going Dark before the one year mark, but deep down, I know I would have lived, regretting it for the rest of my life, regardless of how long it was. It didn't feel right." She waited for Nereid to glance up before she spoke again. "So, what feels right to you, Nere?"

Nereid dropped her eyes down, sliding them down from her shoulder to her elbow until they reached the tips of her webbed fingers. "I don't want to let Pegasus down, but I don't think going Dark would feel right."

"Then there's your answer," said Banshee with a small nod. "Partners are chosen for a reason. Magic and rock. Frost and shadows. Air and water. It doesn't always make sense, but somewhere, there's a reason. It's your job to figure it out." Banshee jerked her head towards the Starlight Hall. "Now, c'mon. Let's get there before the boys do so we can do damage control for Pegasus's attempt at landing."

*+*+*+*

As predicted, Pegasus's landing was not graceful in any way, shape, or form.

The Cloud Luminary staggered around on his hooves, turning back towards Cryo. "I just don't get what you mean with the wing tucking and the flapping thing? Every time I try and do that or try to hover in mid-air it just seems to make it all ten times harder!"

"I'm not sure how else I can explain it," said Cryo, landing perfectly beside where Banshee stood on the steps to the Starlight Hall with Nereid. "Perhaps we should pay Harpy a visit. She may be able to shed some light on flying, given her wings were also feathered like yours."

Pegasus stretched his arms above his head, then winced. "I'm down for that whenever. I really wanna master this flying thing."

Cryo frowned. "Do you require more ice for your burns?"

Pegasus checked the singed parts of his skin and clothing that he'd repaired with his feathers-turned-cloud. "I think I'm okay. It still stings, but your ice from before and my cloud over it seems to have done the trick."

"Your own cloud acts similar to a skin graft I believe," said Cryo. "It's rather useful."

"Yeah, seems like it." Pegasus plucked a feather and pressed its piece of cloud to the back of his hoof, then muttered, "Unlike some other people here."

Banshee went stiff, hoping that by some miracle, Nereid hadn't heard, but judging from the way she turned her head away and folded her arms, she had.

Banshee set her stare on Pegasus. "Partners are supposed to encourage and support each other, not bring each other down."

Pegasus didn't meet her gaze, focusing his attention on his hoof. "Yeah, well, they're not supposed to leave each other pinned down either, especially in boiling hot liquids."

Nereid's fins pressed against her head, but they weren't flat--they were bunched, and her fingers were digging into her arms hard enough to leave white marks.

Banshee resisted the urge to knock their heads together. "Let's get up to the Luminary common room and we'll talk there."

Pegasus stalked off towards the stairs, his flared wings creating a rather large personal bubble space around him.

Nereid followed a few metres behind his wings, the faint sound of splashing under her feet.

Banshee rubbed her temples. "This is not gonna be pretty, is it?"

"He played it off, but Pegasus is in a fair bit of pain from the burns," murmured Cryo. "He feels like Nereid let him down."

"Nereid feels the same. She asked me if I thought she'd be better off going Dark, so Pegasus could have another partner." Banshee recapped her conversation with Nereid as she crossed the Starlight Hall's ground floor at Cryo's side. "But she made that jump without flinching, and she doesn't seem like the reckless type."

"I agree," said Cryo. "There is something else going on. Perhaps the Serpent interfered in some way."

"Maybe," said Banshee. "We need to figure it out as soon as possible."

They reached the common room to find DragonFae and Golem already sitting in their usual chairs, leaning over the holographic display of several forms and documents, projected from the starstone tablet on the table. Pegasus had claimed a chair in the far corner and was back tending to his hoof, while Nereid had made herself as small as possible, squished against the armchair of a lounge chair with her knees tucked up.

"And there's the last two!" said Golem, spreading his arms towards Banshee and Cryo as she sat on the couch, and he remained standing behind it. "How did the Manifested go?"

"Fairly well," said Cryo. "Banshee extracted the Manifested's focus and evacuated the building before Pegasus and Nereid moved in. They attempted to talk the Manifested down, but it attacked. For their first Manifested, they handled themselves well. They eventually decided to bring the fight outside--a smart move--but their ruse to lure it out was discovered and the Manifested enraged, upon when Banshee and I intervened."

DragonFae nodded. "Well, it seems that--"

"What?" said Pegasus. "That's it? You're not gonna tell her the rest?"

DragonFae raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by 'the rest'?"

"Well, how about how I saved Nereid from being hit like, eight times?" said Pegasus, his wings pulling in tight behind him. "And how about when I actually needed her to get it off me, she couldn't do anything about it and let it burn me in six different places? They still hurt, even after Cryo's ice and my cloud!"

Golem glanced at Banshee. "What powers did the Manifested have to cause burns that Cryo's ice with his cloud couldn't entirely erase?"

"Coffee," said Banshee.

"Ah. Maybe I should have sorted out the Manifested, I could use some right now." Golem sighed as his face rearranged into something more solemn. "Pegasus, it's your first Manifested as a pair. It's good that you were able to handle yourself well, but most Luminaries need to learn to overcome their fear at first, and it's not something that we should--"

"She didn't freeze up," muttered Pegasus. "She just couldn't do anything about it, except whack the Manifested with a chair."

The room went silent.

DragonFae's wings shifted behind her. "Nereid?"

"Pegasus wanted me to try and control the coffee," Nereid said quietly, her fins flat against her head, her eyes on the floor, her fingers clutching her elbows. "I couldn't do it, and I couldn't keep my water globes together, and I couldn't keep the distraction together either. I just couldn't do anything."

"I see," said DragonFae. "As Golem said, it's a positive thing that you were able to handle yourself so well, but I'm not sure that it's fair to expect so much of Nereid on your first Manif--"

"It's been six weeks!" said Pegasus, his wings flaring out behind him before he winced again and drew them back in. "You all keep dancing around the issue! I figured out my wind, my cloud, my ultimate in like, the first week. Even if I haven't entirely got the hang of the landing yet, I'm improving in everything else, and Nereid can still barely form a ball of water when she's completely focused on it! Either I'm a prodigy, or something is wrong!"

Banshee fought to keep from matching Pegasus's volume. "No one is dancing around anything, but what, exactly, would you have us do?"

"I don't know!" said Pegasus, raking his hands along the sides of his face before he looked up again, fingers curled, palms upturned in front of him. "I don't know how any of this Luminary stuff works, I don't know why she can't get a grip on her powers most of the time, but you guys do. She's not stupid, and she's probably better at this Lumi thing that I am, but she's gonna get herself killed at some point if you guys don't help her!"

Banshee leaned back in her chair as she realised where Pegasus's anger was coming from.

It wasn't at Nereid. It was for her.

Magic prickled along Banshee's skin as she felt Fae's attempt to calm the room.

DragonFae inclined her head as Pegasus planted his elbow on the armrest and placed his head in his hand, eyes on the table in front of him.

"I assure you, we have been looking into the issue, Pegasus," said DragonFae. "I had hoped to have a few possible solutions for Nereid before I presented them to her, but given you have pressed the issue now, we shall address it if Nereid agrees. Perhaps the information will help my search."

Nereid gave a quiet huff and pressed her hands between her knees, eyes on the ceiling and fins still flat as she nodded.

At that, Golem pulled a piece of rock with a deep groove off his arm and placed it on the table. "Cryo, would you place a piece of ice inside it?"

Cryo obliged, and a few seconds later, DragonFae's magic melted it, giving them a small pool of water.

"When you reach for the water, what do you feel, Nereid?" asked Golem.

"Nothing unusual," said Nereid, extending her hand and touching the water with a fingertip. It dripped off, exactly the way water was supposed to. "It just feels like water. It's wet?"

"I mean more so in your mind," said Golem. "For instance, when I reach for the stone, it feels like I've left my hand lying somewhere, and that I could control it just as I would any other muscle."

"There's nothing like that," said Nereid. "It's just... there, and sometimes it moves when I'm concentrating on it, but it doesn't feel like I'm the one controlling it." She paused. "It's like I'm the assistant in a magic show, the big distraction while someone hidden somewhere else makes the 'magic' actually happen."

"That's not a good sign," said Golem, looking to DragonFae.

"Indeed not," said DragonFae. "There have been cases in the past where a Luminary is subconsciously blocking the power themselves because they're afraid or biased against it."

Nereid shrugged. "I don't feel biased against it, except that I'd just really like the damn liquid to work."

"I see," said DragonFae. "Regardless, continue trying to connect with it as much as possible. Becoming more familiar with it can never hurt."

Banshee clucked her tongue. "Have you tried asking your Ascended why you're having trouble with it?"

"What's an Ascended?" asked Nereid.

Unsure of what Nereid's Ascended would look like, Banshee went with a broad answer. "The thing that transforms you."

Nereid frowned. "How do I ask it something?"

Banshee raised an eyebrow. "You just... talk to it."

Nereid blinked in surprise. "They can talk?"

"Getting mine to stop is the hard part," said Cryo. "Your Ascended is supposed to inform you of the various rules of being a Luminary, your words to transform, and assist you in various ways. Did yours not?"

"Mine hasn't said anything," said Nereid. "I've just been carrying it around. The only reason I even figured out how to transform was because I recognised the insignia on my chest, and I'd heard rumours about the words Lumi's say to transform." She released a breath of laughter. "Was kinda a shock when it actually worked."

"You've been doing all of this without an Ascended?" said Pegasus.

"Apparently so?"

Pegasus just leaned back and stared at the ceiling.

DragonFae's violet light flared as her wings fluttered behind her. "Nereid, what does your Ascended look like?"

Nereid looked towards Banshee. "Do you still have the fragment you got off the Manifested earlier?"

Banshee pulled the silvery crystal out of her pocket. "Yup. Was gonna cleanse it after we were done here."

Nereid pointed at it. "It looks like that, but bigger. It has a blue tinge in certain lights, and it has Nereid's insignia on it kinda wrapped around it. Like this." She curled one hand around the other, then noticed the expressions on the rest of the room. Her fins went flat once more. "Have I done something wrong?"

"No," said DragonFae. She laced her fingers together and pressed them against her mouth. "I don't believe it's anything you've done, but that is certainly not normal. Let me think for a moment."

Pegasus lifted his head back up. "What's it gonna mean if Nereid's Ascended is broken?"

"I'm not sure," said Golem, his gravelly voice grounding the room to some level. "It's not a situation we've ever heard of, let alone encountered before. She clearly has the capability to use her Luminary powers, but if her Ascended is damaged in some way, it could affect how much control she have over them."

"I normally would never even consider this an option," said DragonFae slowly. "But given the circumstances, I can think of nothing else. Nereid, would you allow me to see your Ascended? I wish to check it for any signs that it has been affected by the Serpent or the Other."

Banshee saw Nereid's hesitation and understood it well. If Fae had asked her to hand over Viri, no matter the reason, Banshee would have needed some serious convincing from Cryo.

But after a moment, Nereid swallowed and nodded, standing up from the couch.

"Thank you," said DragonFae, inclining her head. "I know it is not an easy decision. I do not wish to have you Dark, so if you could go into one of the rooms and pass your Ascended through the door, I believe it would keep your identity secure."

"Okay," said Nereid, clutching her hands at her chest. "I'll, um, just--"

"I'll come with you, Nere," said Pegasus, standing up from the couch. "I swear I won't let your Ascended out of my sight."

Nereid gave her partner a small smile. "Thanks, pony boy."

Pegasus nodded as they walked off down the corridor together. "It's the least I can do for my little puddle." Then, quieter, he said, "I'm sorry for getting angry before. It wasn't at you, it was just--"

Nereid placed a gentle hand on his arm. "I know."

*+*+*+*

A/N - Something is wrong with Nereid's Ascended... the question is, what? 

...also for the record, Pegasus was supposed to get angry at Nereid, not for her. There was a temper tantrum planned and he did not go along with it. Good job, pony boy <3 

Have some 46Kibahime Kibart for a well behaved Pony boy.