When Mairaela appeared on the other side of the portal and back in Kravana, she found herself holding the plug in her hand, a furry cat’s tail extending from the base of it. She squeaked in fright and tried to hide it behind her back. She cursed her lack of foresight, realizing that this must just make it look like she had a tail.

Guards were positioned around the room in a usual fashion. At least this time they weren’t bearing arms at her. A few had their gazes turned toward her with curiosity, and Mairaela wondered if they’d seen what was in her hands, or the furry object that was hanging from her rear. Tess followed after her, then Miren, then Gwen, and lastly Joyona, walking backwards while holding Wydwen out in front of her.

Mairaela could feel a cracking pressure behind her. A violent vibration. The closing of the Void pocket. The permanent reduction in the size of the Black Sun. It was an insignificant piece of the pie that they’d removed—a crumb, if even that—but it was something. They’d contributed something to the world. There was progress, even if Wydwen wanted to leave already. Right? Mairaela wasn’t certain anymore, but she tried to not diminish her own accomplishment.

She felt the plug pulled from her hands and turned to see Miren holding it behind Tess’ back. She was wrapping the tail over the plug to form it into a nice and neat, relatively unobtrusive and ambiguous handheld item. At least people wouldn’t be able to see what it was just from a glance, now. The Winter Fey passed it back to Mairaela after it was more easily concealed.

Mairaela wanted to thank her, but Miren didn’t hold a gaze. She simply looked forward once more.

The Officer on Duty was present. She was a middle aged woman who held the expression of a serious soldier keen on discipline and rules, but the laugh lines and friendly wrinkles on either side of her eyes betrayed that she was all too often in good spirits to be genuinely stern. Mairaela noticed that the advancement to her soul—the perceptive senses of a cat—followed her back to the real world, too. She didn’t know that. Does it usually work that way?

“I’m Captain Ainsley. Welcome back to the land of the living, corpsmen,” she said, looking over them. Mairaela was certain that everyone was thinking of Joyona at that moment, but no one dared to look. In truth, resurrection hadn’t been possible since the death of Vitr, God of Life. What Tess had been able to do back in the Void was, by all rights, impossible. The group had agreed to discuss it once they were back home to figure out what they should and should not share.

“Thank you, Captain,” Mairaela stated politely, inclining her head.

Gwen gave a very knightley corpsman’s salute, “Where do we go from here, Captain?”

“A corpsman is already on his way to alert Captain Maupoissant, who will be here soon to debrief you,” Ainsley replied, gesturing and speaking to one of the other guards, “Sergeant Fao, take them to Debrief B.”

“Yes, Captain,” the Sergeant-of-the-Guard replied. Fao had short, brown hair that descended to the middle of her neck, with sideswept bangs that were tucked behind her pointed ear. A Summer Fey, by the looks of it. She had a grizzly scar cutting from her right hairline to her left cheekbone, crossing the center of her brow and very nearly running across her left eye. A second scar marked the bottom lip along the left side. She was serious, and there were no laugh lines to diminish that seriousness this time.

Fao turned to them, chin up, which made her strong, angular jaw more prominent in the firelight of the room. “Follow me,” she said. Her voice was surprisingly quiet for someone that looked so grave.

The group followed Sergeant Fao out into the hall and across to one of the small debriefing rooms. They were only in the hallways for a brief moment, but even in that time, the other corpsmen and guards that saw them looked at them like legends. They’d just come back from the Void. Their trials and travails were a mystery to anyone else, but what wasn’t a mystery was that they had succeeded. They wouldn’t be here if they hadn’t. Even for those that had been deployed on a Void venture before, seeing others that just got back was always a draw of curiosity.

Mairaela liked that moment. She felt proud. She felt that Mormerilon would be proud of her, too.

The debriefing room was a small, rounded table with room enough for its eight chairs—each one with practicality in mind over comfort—around its edges. She went from feeling like a hero to feeling like a lowly corpsman once more.

Fao removed her gloves, setting them down on the table and flexing her hands. Mairaela could see that her right hand had a similarly painful-looking scar between the thumb and forefinger. She pushed the same hand through her hair, moving thick locks out of her face as she brought her head back up. She looked weary, like she hadn’t been sleeping. Maybe it was toward the end of her guard shift. Mairaela knew that SOG’s, Sergeants-of-the-Guard, had to maintain awareness for twenty-four hours during their assigned watch. It wasn’t a highly desired position, and most complained about the assignment.

Her eyes roamed the room, though she didn’t seem concerned enough to look at any of them individually. She did, however, notice Wydwen. There was a raise of her brow, but she must’ve elected not to say anything.

It continued that way for a while, waiting for the Captain while sitting under the scrutiny of Sergeant Fao’s presence. Mairaela could hear Gwen and Tess whispering, and with her senses she was able to follow the conversation, but it immediately sounded private, so she did her best to not tune into it. Something about picking up where they left off. Mairaela didn’t need to do the math on that one.

Eventually, Maupoissant entered the room. “Thank you, Sergeant,” she said with a nod of her head.

The Sergeant retrieved her gloves and departed with only a, “Yes, Captain.”

“So,” Maupoissant started, taking a seat at the table that everyone else had been sitting at, “How did-...” Her eyes fell onto Wydwen, just as Fao’s had, “Is that a cat?”

“Yes,” Joyona replied simply.

The Captain asked, “From the Void?”

“He is my Advancement,” Joyona clarified. She wasn’t technically wrong. She was petting Wydwen ingratiatingly. The Old God of Cats was pushing his head up into her hand, purring and mewling.

Maupoissant looked confused, but perhaps it was Joyona’s detached manner that made it more believable, and more permissible. “I see,” Kofi replied, “See that you take care of him, then. You may be able to find food around the pens by the aviary.”

Joyona just nodded.

“The astronomers confirmed that the pocket was, indeed, closed. So nice work. I’m glad to see that everyone made it back in one piece,” the Captain explained, “For now you have some downtime until the next assignment comes up. You are not required to take classes during this time, but doing so can improve your chances of securing a promotion.

“Before we get to that, though, there are some developments to go over,” Captain Maupoissant explained, “Firstly, today is Sjette, 29th of Rijen.”

“Did we miss the Ball?!” Tess gasped, hands going to cover her mouth in shock.

Gwen patted her arm, “No, it’s in two days.”

Kofi cleared her throat and continued, “Astronomers alert us that Elara is nearing the Black Sun.”

Mairaela leaned forward and looked at Tess, “That’s the red moon.”

“I know, Gwen told me,” Tess replied sincerely.

Kofi looked between them and must’ve assumed it was a jest. No one would be unfamiliar with the moons.

“Anyway, the closer it gets, the more unpredictable fires will become. They will burn brighter and may start somewhat spontaneously. We need to be especially careful with mundane torches and keep an eye out for fires during watch.”

Joyona nodded her head and Gwen spoke up, “Yes, Captain.”

“Also, though we may not need to worry too much about it, we are close to the Sevarran border,” Kofi started with a sigh, “If there are any sightings of Kremera, most likely to our south, this needs to be ran up the chain of command immediately.”

“Kremera?” Tess asked slowly.

Kofi turned to explain, “Tess, I understand that you come from a smaller locale and haven’t had the privileges that many here have had, but you should consider some basic history courses. It will prove useful. A strong mind is just as important as a strong body.”

Tess sunk in her seat, even if Kofi was speaking the truth.

“I’ll tell you later,” Gwen assured her.

The debriefing was otherwise uneventful. The squad was given leave to do what they wished for the following three days, which was particularly exciting since they would have all day tomorrow and much of the following day to prepare for the Ball. Not to mention the day after the sleep in. Mairaela figured she would need it after a proper celebration.

Kofi explained that after the third day she would go over the assessment of their report, which could include promotion, expanded requisitions and the use of more facilities within Kravana.

Of course, the group had to keep much of their venture a secret from the Captain. They didn’t mention Joyona’s death, Miren’s betrayal, Tess’-... whatever happened to Tess. They neglected to mention a few of the lewder parts of the ordeal as well. They kept it to what was most important for the Captain to hear. To what was safe for the Captain to hear.

It would be too much trouble to delay things further. They had some R&R to enjoy.