The big war's been over for a month now. Prime Minister Cummings had signed an armistice with the Lykians, handing over large swaths of territory to them, all in the Meredythian Isles region. It was a big loss for us but at least there's been peace since February 16th; though there is still a lot of fear about.

I feel, however, that the fear is largely unfounded.

Three days ago, I got a message from Cray Fenton that Carol is in her niche in North Kempton, and seems pretty content. Meanwhile, I am still at Cabotton, serving as the Society's first ever Cardkeeper, and having made amends with Rachele. We certainly aren't dating anymore, but at least we're not enemies.

I found out about the force that threw me out of the Arturian Realm on the fateful day of February 6th, 1287. It was something called a "gyro-shockwave." Apparently, a Red Desert Bomb detonation releases some sort of force in the "gyro-spectrum" that neutralizes a dynamic granular plane like the Arturian Realm. And that's apparently very dangerous because of the tendency for something like this to put the human mind and body into a state of shock. The one I encountered was weak enough that it was survivable, but there have been similar events in other places in Circlaria in the distant past that were destructive and fatal.

Also, I spoke with Dr. Louton, who told me that my absence on February 6th did not count because the class did not finish. So I guess I am still in Lightfire Internship Preparations. We had to make an appeal on that, which took over a month, but I stuck around because Dr. Louton gave me encouragement; and I guess it paid off. As long as I am good on my attendance from here on out, I'll be certain to have a fighting chance in West Horizon.

And of course, there's Rose Anne Mahathy. I just saw her last night, and also met Mr. Mahathy. I thought long and hard about what Rose said to me.

So I had been raised to believe in monogamous relationships being the only morally acceptable form of romance...but was never taught to ask why. I was shocked at first when Rose Anne told me her interests; and at first, I was looking for a way out of that situation.

But in the process of doing that, I dwelt for the longest time on the prospect of myself being in an ideal monogamous relationship. I found nothing wrong with it, per say. In fact, I still do not today. But something about it felt...off...to me. Like having a whole commitment to my one and only, in a way, felt a bit isolating, like I was cutting myself off from the rest of the world, not in terms of society as a whole, but humanity.

I've come to realize that, deep down inside, my interests have been parallel to that of Rose Anne's. And I feel that is the case for a lot of other people, more than one may think. It's just that the people at the top of society seem to want to control the lives of those at the bottom, especially in terms of personal lifestyles and choice. Meona Bell had been telling me of the people in the Mount Carris Perimeter, where resides Ceri Mains, the ones who are naturals at darkfire, and how it was so wrong for the Retunians to sanction them inside such a small....yes, prison...solely for having a personal connection with darkfire.

It's the same sort of thing for me and my suppressed interests, but now I am beginning to know better. I never knew that I would have such a deep connection with Rose Anne, and especially for that reason.

I will see her again next week.

In the meantime, Valian, Richard, Peteron, Motteron, and I are back as our avatars in Evernorth. The all-winter patches are gone. The Five Kingdoms are mostly restored. And we have decided to continue with the Project to plant a large daemon on the Center Isle.

There's still a lot of work to do though.

***END OF STORY EIGHT***