Night had arrived. 

Heedless to the dangers that crept in the forest, Finn shielded Lena with the belief that faith could keep away the dark and all its demons. 

Lena must have been dreaming, for her body twitched by fits and starts. She roused in an instant and almost hit her head against Finn's.

"What happened?" she asked in a hurry.

Finn's hand had remained on her back, he spoke softly. "You stopped breathing because the berries you ate contained toxic compounds."

"And you saved me?"

"No, actually, a lady did. She appears to be living here."

"I al-ready told you, my name eez Kassiopeia," said a female voice and revealed its advent. "Queen of Genus Terra and muh-zer to all beings."

"Genus Terra?" asked Finn, bewildered.

"Ya, it eez ze name of deez planet."

"I hate to disagree, but this planet's name is Demeter."

"Not anymore. Eez now Genus Terra. In ze latin language it stands for ze good place. Betta zan Kepler."

"Did she just say Kepler?" asked Lena, slightly intimidated by the lady's face paint.

"Ya," said Kassiopeia, "Kepler was my home many years uh-go."

Finn could not but look surprised.

"Is that true? I am from Kepler as well."

"I know," said Kassiopeia, and again, looked at him full of aversion. "I knew it when I heard you talking for ze first time dat you were one of ze monsters."

"Monsters?" he mumbled bashfully.

"But ze girl," like a predator she crawled towards Lena, "I cannot say where she eez from."

"Pluviam5A3," said Lena, clutching Finn's wrist inadvertently; her action being encouraged by mistrust.

"And how is it dat a boy from Kepler and a girl from Pluviam arr crashing zeir ship on my planet?"

"How did you know that we crashed our ship?"

"I know everyzing dat happens on Genus Terra."

"You stalked us," accused Finn, but, with ease, she could look past him in the way that she could look through air.

"Zere is an-uhzer boy wandering ze forest."

"That can't be true."

"I am sure of it. I heard him talking to himself. He seems to be looking for two kids. Crazy co-incidence, right?"

Finn and Lena's quilty eyes met in silence.

"He says he vill kill zem when he finds zem. His feet walk with ze rage of a dozen wars. I can feel it wiz my own feet; ze tree's roots carry ze vibration of his everry move. I ask myself what ze two kids have done to cause him such angerr and frustration."

"I can't believe we were followed here," said Finn, admitting they were the chased ones.

"Enough now! I have lived here for twenty years, in harmony wiz ze nature. But as soon as you come here I have two criminals and a savage killerr walk on my ground. I am asking you to leave my planet in peace and at once."

She turned away and intended to have spoken her last words to them.

"We want to leave, but our vehicle is in no condition to fly, and I need to repair the satellite on it to connect with my father. He will come to get us."

"No more hoomans on my planet! Zey kill each uh-zerr, zey hurt ze animals, zey tell lies and leave trash everrywhere. I want you to leave!"

"Kassiopeia?" muffled Lena and stood up, feeling dizzy. "I will never be able to pay my debt to you. You saved my life, I will forever be grateful for your heroic action,—"

While Lena continued to praise, Finn rolled his eyes from the shadow of the appointed hero, which he did not see as such. At least not anymore, not after she had called him a monster.

"—and I am beyond sorry that we have intruded your planet. But we haven't harmed a single soul and left no residues. Coming here was our last hope of survival; now we haven't eaten in days and have drifted apart from our way. We would like nothing more than to find our home, but to do so we need help. Your help. We bid you with high regard to help us."

Lena nudged Finn.

"Yes," he said, muddled. "We bid you."

She gave thought to their words and seemed to be conflicted with herself.

"Okay. I vill help you, but I am asking somezing in return."

Suspicious but dependent, he asked for her request.

"Tell me why ze boy wants to kill you."

The question rose to a clamor among the pair.

"We don't even know who he is."

"Yes, we do," Lena contradicted him, "He followed us because we broke the law and stole something."

"Don't tell her that," Finn muttered.

"It's the truth. We broke the law and now he wants justice."

"Do you see now? Ze hoomans always act wiz violence."

"We only broke the law to find influential secrets. If KSP didn't lie to humanity, then I wouldn't have broken into their station."

"It doesn't matter, Finn. You can't justify your mistakes by somebody else's. That makes you just as bad as them."

He frowned, offended. Finn was betrayed by Lena's statement, but being likewise extremely beggarly of a contrary argument; he saw her reasoning and made an effort to alleviate his muscles.

"I like deez girl," laughed the lady in amusement. "She eez right, Finden. You cannot fight fire wiz fire."

"My name is Finn."

With her mood lightened, she agreed to offer them shelter for the night. From up above she dropped a rope ladder and opened her home to them.

It was, in fact, a treehouse in the size of an actual house, and built like one, too; a porch hugged its outer walls, inside were two bedrooms and an overly large living room. 

Wooden stairs led to the upstairs area, with a kitchen, consisting of a fireplace, stocks of food, and a table, handcrafted like everything else. 

Upstairs, a door led outside, and there, a second set of stairs connected the upper porch to the rooftop. The roof was a substantial flat square, covered by a trimmed lawn, and decorated with countless burning candles.

When Finn and Lena sat on the roof that night, they were at the highest point of Demeter and had the vasts of the jungle beneath them. 

Kassiopeia had given them water to still their thirst, and food to end their long-lasting hunger. She served it on large leaves, not plates, and they did not hold back from eating all she shared, as it was their first meal since the morning of their escape from Pluviam. 

She had also shown them their places to sleep for the night, which were beams of wood, held together by ropes and dried mud, to form a rectangular casket that carried hay as their mattresses. It was not much, but far better than the cave, and enough to call it a bed. 

Her house was filled with insects, and in the living room lived a majestic raven.

At the first appearance of a moment of peace, they had made their way up to the roof, where the sounds of seclusion wafted by a calm breeze.

"What a bizarre day," said Finn, his feet swaying down the edge of the roof.

"Yes, and I missed most of it."

Lena sprawled, like a starfish, in the center of the rooftop. With her fingers, she caressed the silky blades of grass.

"Did you know that I had never touched grass before?"

"I hadn't thought about it, but now that you say it, it makes a lot of sense."

"It tickles my skin," Lena giggled. "And it smells so good! I think, if life had a scent—this would be it."

Finn listened to her gaiety but found himself roaming the distance with his eyes and mind.

"This truly feels like a castle. And we sit on its throne," said Lena when she set herself next to Finn and acknowledged the view. "It matches a magical kingdom. Or, I suppose, in this case; a queendom."

All was hidden in the dark, nevertheless, Lena was fully aware of nature's astonishing significance. Her legs, like Finn's, dangled off the roof, while she, too, let her mind wander off. Their gaze was greeted with a hug of warm air and absolute stillness.

"Did you mean what you said?" asked Finn after some time had passed.

She looked lost.

"—That I am just as bad of a person as those who covered up KSP's lies?"

"No, I don't think you are a bad person. But I think choosing somebody else's mistakes to excuse one's own is wrong."

"Yes."

He had nothing more to say than yes. Lena could see shame and disgust in his eyes aiming at himself.

"You are trying to do the right thing. With all your heart you are trying, I know. But don't do bad things on behalf of bad people."

He nodded, his head pointed at his feet.

"Something is bothering you. Something else, am I right? What is it?"

Nitha. Nitha was all he could think about, nay, it was what he wanted to think about, but his mind was constantly interrupted by the image of somebody else. Somebody he thought very fond of, but also found paradoxical at times. 

It was difficult for him to read Lena clearly, and he abominated torturing his own mind with the ongoing desire and endless question of what her mind may be thinking. 

Right at that moment for example, when she sat next to him on the roof, she looked more than serene and smiled at nothing, after having nearly died at the dawn of that very day.

Her eyes gave him a comforting look, which reminded him that she was still awaiting an answer. He decided to keep Nitha a secret, but he had promised not to lie to Lena, and to avoid her question, he excused himself and said goodnight.

Leaving her to be the one to ruminate for once, Finn went to the bedroom. Lena stayed on the roof for a couple of hours more. 

Not once did she glimpse at the stars. She expected them to impress her not, only if Finn was attendant to divide her awe could the stars leave her speechless. 

By and by, even she got bored with the dark and joined Finn in the bedroom.

He was asleep in the bed nearest to the window. No moonlight shone to bless his appearance, but through the dark, and from what she could see, he looked handsome nevertheless. 

Without making a noise she laid down in her own bed, which was surprisingly comfortable for that it did not have real sheets. Soft and warm despite the rough looks of it. 

Lena fell asleep, without reflecting upon the day. Perhaps one the most traumatic and demanding days she had ever experienced in her life.