Pravoka was undergoing changes.

During the past two months, Salinas had been promoting construction and new architecture in the city. Today, she was in the city overseeing the opening of a new research center in the center of town.

The leader of the SA was wearing her new white cloak over a blue robe, and had a large white scarf around her neck. Her blue hair, longer than usual, reached down to her lower back and was hanging their, freely blowing in the breeze. She walked through the town quietly, unaccompanied today. Besides Leila, she hadn't seen a single General since she had officially started leading.

Of course, she wasn't as defenseless as she used to be. Leila had taken the time to personally finish off her wind training, and she was approaching mastery of light and water through self practice. Aimee, her schedule free, was giving Salinas lessons whenever time permitted. Still; fire, ice, and darkness were still required learning.

The airy leader ran her fingers through her hair lightly as she strolled through the streets, receiving many awed looks. Eventually, she made it to her destination, but upon entering the building, she was immediately pulled aside by a captain.

"Lady Xaruthan, something has arrived for you. It might seem crazy, but... it's from your mother."
Salinas raised an eyebrow, then walked off into the back room where the 'something' was being held. Upon entering the room, she saw the old tome and recognized it immediately. Waving the guards out of the room, she took the tome in her manicured hands and carefully opened it. The note fluttered out.

Salinas,

This information has been hidden from you for long enough. Walk the pages of the Matrus Puritai now. As you have no doubt taken leadership in my absence, the information you may find in the book will enlighten you as it did your father and myself.

Your loving mother,
Melissa

PS: I am very proud of you. When I return, perhaps I can teach you the hidden ways of the elements.

Salinas read the note aloud to herself, smiled, and held it close to her heart.

It had been three hours, and Salinas had just finished reading the history of her people. Quite dumbfounded, she rubbed her temples lightly and began to mull over what she had learned.

So... there's a different name for my people... the Moiety seems quite fitting. And I'm... I'm a Moieta. The first of the Moiety were those persecuted in both worlds, those who had united two things that weren't meant to be united. Our people all descended from those first few Moieta, the ones who broke the conventional laws out of love. They found Xanadu, founded a kingdom, and still live their. The wings... they symbolize serenity, while our short lifespan symbolize our freedom. I think I understand why Mother asked me to read this.

She stood. It was about time for practice. After all, Pravoka was where Aimee would be researching glass from now on. Time to pay the teacher a visit.

---

"Ah, Salinas, you've come early."
"Hm? I've lost track of time again..."
"It's fine. So... how has your independent training in light and water been coming?"
"All right. It's hard with light, but water just seems natural to me. I guess that means lightning's still going to be a bit tough to get used to."
"Your motions are getting better. Practice always helps. Besides, since we determined your mana type, you've been doing this much more instinctively."
"I guess. Okay, let's start."

(I know, I'm in another topic. But this one actually makes a little sense compared to a random Rekato/Melody encounter.)

Zenrae was in a room near them. He had volunteered to follow and help Aimee; one who knew him might recognize the tremendous guilt he felt for putting Aimee in her current position. After a while of sitting and meditating...

Perhaps I should see how they are doing.

The Void Master, carrying a tray, knocked on the door to the room the two were in. Instead of his usual flexible armor and cloak, Zenrae was wearing a grey suit. His hair had grown, kept just past shoulder length.

Aimee wheeled herself away from her notes and looked at Salinas. The incapacitated woman's hair was done as always, but she was now wearing a long violet robe more suited for free movement and comfort. Hearing the knock, she said loudly, "Come in, Zenrae."

Salinas stood up, turned, and nodded at him.
Wow, everyone looks different... I'm not the only one who opted for different clothing!

Wheeling herself over to the tray, Aimee accepted some warm jasmine tea with a kind 'thank you' before returning to Salinas.

Zenrae nodded to Aimee and turned to Salinas.

"Do you need anything, Lady Salinas?"

Salinas shook her head.
"That's fine, Zenrae."

Aimee, meanwhile, had set down her tea and was beginning to manipulate some lightning.
"See, forming the lightning into what you want is the difficult part. You have to hold your mana around it in order for it to maintain the shape. I'm assuming you have no problems with creating lightning and maintaining it, right?"

Salinas nodded and sat.

"Then, it won't be too hard for you, what with that enviable mana of yours... but I digress. It is difficult."

The purple-haired dragoon nodded and walked to the door, bowing and closing it.

"Maybe I should go practice, too."

Salinas was holding a sword shaped lightning charge with one hand while flowing her mana around it with her other. When she was done, Aimee nodded.
"You've got the basics. Still, using that technique when you're just learning it is a waste of mana. Use it sparingly until you've fully mastered it."

Outside, Zenrae bit his thumb hard enough so that blood was running down it. He then put it to the ground.

"Summon: Dragon."

Lines of runic writing spread out in all directions from his hand until it was in the shape of what one would assume a dragon. Light seemed to drain from the area for a moment, or maybe some anti-light cut through it; nonetheless, a large purple dragon appeared before the Void Master in a nanosecond.

It yawned and blinked.

Hmm...?

"Hello, old friend."

Is that you, Zenrae?

"It is."

It's been a while.

Examining him with large purple eyes, Hayamun literally roared with laughter.

Has some woman dressed you up to look like a manservant, Little One?

Zenrae almost turned pink.

"No..."

"So... what's next?"
"Hm... I've taught you everything for today. Go back to Melmond and practice. If you have the rest of the day, you should go see Leku, too."
Salinas perked up at the sound of his name.
Oh yeah... I totally forgot to ever visit Leku in the hospital! Leading is so hard.

Salinas stood, nodded respectfully at Aimee, and stepped outside. Looking at Zenrae and his dragon, she conjured a funnel of wind that bore her up and towards Melmond.

Hayamud continued pestering Zenrae.

I want to meet and assess her.

"There is no "her"."

Just like there was no "her" when you were sixteen?

"Your memory is too good."

Salinas arrived outside of the Melmond gates, greeted by two guards and a crystal puzzle box. Salinas nodded to the guards and leapt nimbly into the puzzle box, reappearing outside of another one near her house.
"Best invention ever!" she exclaimed loudly as she walked into the Xaruthan manor.

((btw any General or Elder can use the puzzle boxes too.))

---inside---

Leku was doing paperwork. There was a lot of it.

"Urgh... I wanna go outside... I've gone through about 50 reports of boring stuff."

Salinas was surprised to see Leku.
"Leku!" she exclaimed in utter happiness as she ran towards him.

Meanwhile, Leila was doing a basic stealth training course for some new recruits.

Leku looked up from his work and rubbed his eyes.

"Hnn...? Who is it?"

---

As one of the recruits rounded a corner, keeping low and being careful, he ran into Selkah, who lightly tapped over the recruit's heart with a knife, not even cutting the cloth.

"Dead. Go back to the start."

Salinas ran over, vaulted the couch, and sat down next to him.
"Guess!"

---

Leila had caught seven recruits who were trying to hide.

"Salinas!"

Leku embraced the Shining Alliance leader.

"How have you been?"

"Too busy to do anything! Outside of training and sleeping, I have no free time! Well, except for today."
She kicked off her sandals.
"So, how are you? Have you been keeping up with your training, too? I mastered Wind and I'm almost done with Water and Light, and Aimee's giving me good training in Lightning, too."

Leku gestured to the paperwork.

"I've only been able to finish Water with Rekato. People keep coming to me for my signature and attention, so I've been busy."

Kaitlyn and Bethany had been instructed by their brother to train some of the recruits in evasion tactics. So, a few recruits were dodging arrows and Matra Magic spells left and right.
---
Ryan was currently on a small cliff face overseeing Pravoka, and was practicing with his opposite element. Darkness.

Now, it wasn't as easy as it would seem to, say, Damien. Ryan had been trained in the Light element practically all his life, so whenever he failed to produce a dark spell, he hurt himself in the process. So he'd brought a small stack of X-Potions and Ethers to keep himself energized. Anyway, he surrounded a spot of air with his hands and focused, trying to produce a spell similar to that of a zombie's Drain Touch. He released the energy...

---Coronia---
A goblin had its life force drained.

---Pravoka---
"...Hmm. It didn't work."

Salinas smiled wistfully.
"Yeah, I had a lot of paperwork to do, too. Most of my work is going to boring functions and stuff. So... if you have any spare time from your work... do you want to continue our tradition of training battles in the backyard?"

"I guess... but there's no way I'll win."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Remember, you've already mastered water, but I haven't yet, and I can't touch you with earth. I'll put down my swords and let you use yours, too!"

She smiled. Adding a handicap to herself would undoubtedly make it even, she just knew it.

Satisfied with his practice for now, Ryan called forth a pair of miniature spirits to fight him. He wanted to try out an experimental technique he'd developed.

The motes floated about three feet in front of him, waiting for an attack. And they received one in the form of a sphere of light and a sphere of darkness (the latter was accompanied by a grunt of pain), which enveloped one of the spirits and transported it out of the battle.
---
The ball of light fell on Leku's head.

Leku sidestepped.

"Uhh...?"

Salinas smiled.
"Okay, I'll see you out in the garden."
She put her sandals back on and walked quickly out to the backyard, leaving her twin swords out by the door. She was still wearing the blue robe and the white cloak and scarf.

Leku placed the sheathed Gaia Blade beside Salinas' swords.

"If she's handicapped, so am I."

He followed her out, stretching while doing so.

Salinas, standing next to a bed of blue flowers, assumed an open stance, ready for combat. "Remember not to take me lightly," she said jokingly as she prepared.

Okay, so Leku's the grandmaster of earth and is better with water than me, and he has some rudimentary wind training. Looks like Aimee's lightning training will come in handy here.

"You can have the first move."

Leku nodded and tapped the ground. The dirt around Salinas' feet suddenly turned muddy and seemed to be attempting to swallow her feet. The Earth Grandmaster then shot a blast of air to dry off the mud and possibly knock Salinas over.

Ryan decided to utilize his Illusionist training as well, and began pelting the remaining spirit with random elemental magic.

Salinas knelt quickly and delivered a light palm strike to the ground, cracking the ground and breaking it up. Standing now, she glided her sandal backwards in a half-circle across the dirt before stomping, creating a large boulder from the ground which flew at Leku.

Leku jumped up and kicked the boulder. It shattered into hundreds of very sharp little pieces, which then surrounded Salinas.

Instead of what one might expect, Leku clapped his hands, causing all of the spikes to fall around Salinas in a circle.

As Leku landed, countless branches and roots began to quickly form a prison around him. Salinas smiled, waving her arms to bend the branches around him.

Leku forced the roots and branches away from him and around the sharp stones, making a perfect circle.

"I don't only control the ground, Dearest."

He drew a circle in the air, then made a fist. With a crunching sound, the circle was seperated from the rest of the ground, and forced far down into the ground.

Salinas waved her arms in only a slight variation, to a seemingly useless effect. Then, a powerful whirlwind formed, causing debris to fly up into it. Salinas then flew up into the air a couple feet.

(Think Toph!)

With a rising, open-palmed action, Leku sent the sunken area shooting back up, the air assisting by expanding at a rapid rate.

"Venus Hammer!"

((I don't get the attack.))

(The earth that Leku just pushed down to try and trap Salinas for a minute just got pushed up with the speed tenfold. Instead of it going down, it's going up to SMITE! Or at least slightly injure.)

((Kay.))

Calmly, Salinas descended towards the earth. At the last moment, she let out a stream of lightning from all around her, blowing away most of the rock. Still, she was scratched up, so she landed. After a moment, she sent blue lightning towards her boyfriend.

Leku raised his hand in a crescent formation, and a half-circle of rock shot up into the ground. It started turning into metal, but before it was completely so, the lightning struck it, breaking off part and hitting Leku. The Earth Grandmaster finished changing the broken half-circle, and a smaller but still powerful bolt was returned to Salinas, along with the now-spinning bladelike shape.

(Putting it simply, Leku called up half a circle of rock, but before he could change it completely into metal, the lightning struck and broke part of it off then continued on to Leku, while some of it was shot back, along with the half-circle of metal.)