Origins of an Icer

Epilogue

One Year Later, Set-at home-world

Wild Oasys Majoris, Sunset

It had been one year to the day, when Akifa had stumbled into a museum, crumbling and decaying in the cold embrace of space, and finding a cryo-chamber holding a beautiful creature. He never saw it coming, opening the chamber to find a beautiful alien that tried to communicate in secret, shy but wary, cautious, but deadly. His heart started melting at seeing how curious he was within the Aaru, watching the stars flying by them before getting onto the Iron Maiden. He fell more in love, seeing Wren open up more to his friends, the shops, discovering new things and new people, and telling him more about his life, his culture. Akifa still loved staying up late in the night, listening to Wren telling small stories of his "pod", apparently the world used for a gathering of Iscerians.

The world he and his kind lived in sounded beautiful, almost unreal: mountains of crystal, lakes as vast and deep with strange creatures that glowed and sang within the waters, and the skies... Those were Akifa's favorite stories: tales of the skies filled with colors lighting up the whole sky, comets and falling stars leaving trails in the clear star filled sky, and twin moons, round and full of a light blue color that became their source of light. He was sad their world no longer existed, but it was still beautiful, nonetheless, and Wren insisted on keeping the memory to make sure he never forgot.

Standing in front of a mirror, Akifa tugged and fussed with the crimson robe he wore, decorated with gold decorations on the edges, his other robes of white and gold. His hair had grown out down past his shoulders, Wren even decorating and braiding his hair with beads symbolizing victories and battles from Akifa's flight records, renewed by Mehen and Methuselah under Captain Ravyn's blessings. Akifa operated as a flight teacher, staying on Wren's carrier where the two lived and worked together, taking in orphans and lost pilots before giving them a home in other systems or ships. Their Thalassos became a wayward home for wanderers of space, and a beacon of good will for planets calling for help and support. Wren quickly became his own captain, making it a personal mission to find any remaining Primal races left throughout the galaxy he remembered.

Akifa's favorite mission they did was finding a brand new nebula, located where his previous planet was, and rebirthed in the destruction of crystal and earth. Wren had finally brought forth the egg, going out in a spacesuit before finding a beautiful blue star hanging by itself deep within the gas. The egg immediately bonded to the star, giving off a powerful, thrumming call throughout the nebula as it rearranged into what resembled a beautiful sea of cloud and stars. Akifa smiled softly, watching Wren immediately boarding the ship and covering Akifa in kisses before stammering how much he wanted a family. Wren adopted any kids they found along the way, teaching them reading and writing while Akifa taught them self-defense and battle strategy. If the kids decided to leave, they made sure to drop them off at the Nevermore's armada while others that wanted to stay became a part of their crew.

"You ready? You've got that look in your eyes," Mehen asked, coming over in a much less radiant outfit, to make sure he didn't outshine the couple. Mehen had become an ally and fast friend to both, helping them teach all about the politics and the planets they went through, even making sure to give them diplomatic protection under the Alpha Horakhty's systems.

"Sorry... I can't help but think my mom almost killed me that day when you sprung her on me," Akifa smirked, chuckling softly as Mehen grinned, helping to fix Akifa's robes gently.

"She let you live, once she saw how tall Wren was and how much he protected Akifa from the tiny woman's wrath, although he quickly let her pass when she started admitting what Akifa was like as a baby. He was born at the worst time! I was in the middle of baking in time for the workers before the flood came and harvest would start, but no! He had to come, all 13 pounds of brown, and I accidentally popped him in the oven! That's why I named him Akifa: my dough-ball. Wren had laughed so hard, he cried and fell on his back with the biggest smile full of sharp teeth Akifa had ever seen. It was there, right in front of his mother too, he wanted to marry Wren, and his mother thankfully had agreed.