Thriexa Aizih POV

  The morning after the celebration, I woke to the warmth of sunlight filtering through the windows of my home. The air on Saliscana Island felt different now—lighter, freer. For the first time in my life, my people weren’t running. We weren’t hiding. We were finally standing on a planet that we could call home without fear.

  Jace sat beside me, his expression distant, lost in thought.

  “You’re wondering where you fit into all of this now,” I said softly.

  He exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah. I’m not just human anymore, but I’m not fully Eova either. So where does that leave me?”

  I smiled, resting my hand over his. “You’ve already changed the Eova. And I think you could change even more.” When he looked at me, curiosity flickering in his blue eyes, I added, “Work with the Bopro. You and your abilities could do so much good. With what you can merge, you might find answers we never thought possible.”

  Jace considered it for a long moment, then nodded. “It’s worth a shot.”

  Jace Strickland POV

  Working with the Bopro was unlike anything I had ever experienced. These weren’t just brilliant minds—they were geniuses, thinkers who pushed the boundaries of science beyond what I thought was possible. And now, I was one of them.

  The Bopro and I are deep in experimentation, testing various materials and pushing the limits of what my abilities can accomplish. The lab hums with energy, filled with the soft glow of hovering data screens and the sharp metallic scent of newly forged alloys. Every trial brings new discoveries, each failure leading to new possibilities. The Bopro are relentless, their minds leaping ahead even before the current test is complete, throwing out ideas faster than I can keep up with.

  One experiment involves merging a heat-resistant crystalline structure with a lightweight conductive metal, creating a substance that stores and distributes energy evenly. Another attempts to fuse a carbon-based organic compound with nanometallic fibers, resulting in a material that can self-repair when fractured. The possibilities seem endless, and the Bopro treat each breakthrough with childlike enthusiasm, debating the practical applications before I’ve even finished testing the results.

  I try to keep up, my mind buzzing with ideas, but each use of my power drains me. Merging materials is instinctual, but in this form, it takes more effort, like trying to run through water. The sensation is frustrating—the knowledge that I could do more if I weren’t limited by this body.

  I pause after merging two incompatible metals into a flexible but durable alloy, rolling my shoulders as a wave of exhaustion washes over me. “It’s harder to use my abilities like this,” I admit. “In human form, it feels… restricted. Like something is holding it back.”

  Kael, one of the senior Bopro, nods knowingly. “Every Eova feels that. Our abilities are always strongest in our true forms. If only there were a way for the Eova to keep their forms on each planet, we wouldn’t have to limit ourselves every time we arrive somewhere new.”

  I frowned, considering his words. “Have you ever tried? Creating something that allows the Eova to stay in their true forms on different planets?”

  Kael exchanged glances with the other Bopro scientists before nodding. “Many times. We’ve experimented with energy fields, atmospheric stabilizers, even genetic modifications. But every attempt has failed. The biological incompatibility between our bodies and foreign atmospheres is too great.”

  I tapped my fingers against the table, my mind racing. “Maybe you were approaching it the wrong way. Maybe instead of trying to change the Eova, we change the way they interact with the planet itself.”

  The room went silent as the Bopro processed my words. A slow, eager grin spread across Kael’s face. “You think you can do that?”

  I exhaled, staring down at my hands. The power of Elemental Fusion had already shown me that I could merge things that were never meant to be combined.

  “I think there might be a way,” I said. “And I need to find out if I can.”

  The Bopro are eager to help me figure this out, their excitement buzzing through the lab as they begin bouncing ideas off each other. Simulations are pulled up, models adjusted, theories debated. But as they talk, I step away, my mind turning toward something simpler—something instinctual.

  I walk outside, the fresh air filling my lungs as I crouch down and scoop up a handful of dirt. The soil is warm in my palm, alive with the energy of this planet. The essence of Earth. I close my eyes, feeling its weight, its texture, its history. The thought strikes me like lightning—Earth rejects the Eova, but what if I could merge them?

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  I turn back toward the lab, gripping the dirt in my hand. “Can we use a transformation portal?” I ask aloud. The Bopro pause their debate, turning toward me with curiosity.

  “A transformation portal?” Kael repeats, intrigued. “What are you thinking?”

  “I think I’ve figured it out,” I say, my heart pounding. “But I need to test it. And I need to be in my Eovan form to do it.”

  Kael nods slowly, then gestures toward one of the transports. “Then let’s do it.”

  I don’t hesitate. A few of the Bopro accompany me as we step into the transport. The hum of energy surrounds us as we move through the transformation portal, our bodies shifting back into their true forms. The moment I feel the change settle, my senses sharpen, my energy stabilizing into something more natural, more powerful.

  This is how I was meant to be.

  I step forward, still gripping the dirt tightly, feeling its essence. The moment my fingers tighten around the soil, a strange sensation washes over me—not just energy, but understanding.

  The dirt pulses in my palm, responding to me in a way I’ve never felt before. The warmth of Earth’s essence collides with the steady hum of my own energy, and for a moment, I swear I can hear the planet. Not in words, but in vibrations, in pulses, in a silent language older than any species.

  A deep, resonant connection forms between my body and the soil. My breath hitches as the ground beneath me feels less foreign, less resistant. The air no longer presses against me as if I don’t belong—it welcomes me. I am both Eova and something new, something tied to this planet in a way no Eova has ever been.

  I grit my teeth as the power surges, coursing through my limbs, wrapping around my core, sinking into the very essence of my being. The fusion isn’t just happening externally—it’s reshaping me, aligning me with Earth itself.

  At first, nothing feels different. I flex my fingers, waiting for some kind of surge, some kind of immediate change. But my breathing is steady, my body as powerful as it was before. The Bopro watch closely, their eyes sharp with anticipation.

  “Do you feel anything?” Kael asks.

  I shake my head. “Not yet. But there’s only one way to find out.”

  I turn toward the exit of the transport, my heart pounding in my chest. Every instinct tells me that if I walk forward, the atmosphere outside will press against me, choking me, rejecting me. But deep down, I know something is different.

  Taking a breath, I step forward—not through the transformation portal, but straight onto Earth’s soil.

  The moment my foot touches the ground, I brace for discomfort, for resistance.

  It never comes.

  I take another step, my lungs expanding, my body adjusting. The air is… fine. There’s no suffocating pressure, no burning sensation in my chest. The ground beneath me feels natural rather than foreign.

  I turn back toward the Bopro, who are staring at me, their expressions ranging from shock to exhilaration. “I’m still in my true form,” I say slowly. “And I can breathe.”

  Kael exhales in disbelief. “It worked.”

  One of the other researchers lets out an amazed laugh. “Jace, you just did something that has never been done before. You made Earth accept an Eova.”

  I walk back into the transport where the Bopro are waiting, their eyes wide with disbelief, their voices rising with excitement. Some of them are already throwing out theories, trying to understand what just happened, but I cut through their chatter with a simple question.

  “Who’s next?”

  A moment of stunned silence follows, and then Kael steps forward without hesitation. “Me.”

  I nod and reach for his hand, still gripping the dirt in my other. As the fusion begins again, I feel it—the same pulse, the same melding of essence, as if Earth is no longer rejecting us but welcoming us. One by one, I do the same for each of the Bopro, and together, in our true forms, we step out onto the Earth.

  There is no struggle, no gasping for breath, no burning sensation. Just acceptance.

  I exchange a look with Kael, and for once, he’s speechless. A slow grin spreads across his face. “We need to show Aizih Thriexa.”

  I nod, my pulse steady but my mind racing. This wasn’t just a breakthrough. This was the beginning of something much bigger.

  Without another word, we move—walking openly, as Eova, toward the home of the Aizih.

  As we walk through the settlement in our true forms, the reaction is immediate. The Eova we pass stop and stare, their conversations fading into silence as they take in the sight of us. Some of them look on in shock, others in wonder, but none of them look away.

  For the first time, Eova are walking freely on Earth without human disguises, without limitation. No longer bound by transformation, no longer forced to adapt to a planet that was never meant to sustain them. And I had done that.

  But right now, none of that mattered to me.

  I needed to see Thriexa.

  With each step, my anticipation grows. I want—no, need—to show her what I have discovered. I need her to see that I have done the impossible, that the world she dreamed of for her people is finally within reach. The weight of what this means, the shift this will bring to Eova history—it can all wait.

  Right now, I just want to see her reaction.

  Thriexa Aizih POV

  I sat with Trenal, Tocci, Vorak Algoks, Vorak Sculki, and my mother, Xilta, in the large gathering hall, discussing the next steps for our people now that peace had been secured. Plans for rebuilding, for strengthening our place on Earth, for ensuring our survival—not just as guests on this planet, but as a species that truly belonged here.

  The conversation halted the moment Jace and the other Eova walked in.

  They said nothing. They didn’t need to.

  All eyes turned toward them as they entered in their true forms. No transformation, no artificial adjustment—purely Eova, standing freely on Earth.

  I blinked, my heart skipping a beat as I took in the sight of them. Jace stood at the front, his posture steady, his face unreadable—but there was a certainty in the way he moved, in the way he carried himself. The others behind him, Bopro scientists I recognized, followed his lead, walking with the same ease and confidence.

  For a long moment, silence hung in the air as the weight of what I was seeing settled over me.

  Then, slowly, I stood. “Jace… what have you done?”