Maya’s joyful shout echoed from the basin. She had already reached the water’s edge and was splashing her face, her laughter a bright, silver thread in the morning air.

"Theo! Alias! The water is cold! It’s actually cold!"

​Theo let out a jagged laugh, finally releasing Alias, though he took his hand instead, interlacing their fingers. "Come on. Let’s see what our new life looks like."

​They led the pack animals down the gentle slope of the dune. As they descended, the air grew even cooler, the scent of the white flowers becoming a sweet, heady perfume.

The grass was soft beneath their boots, a sensation so foreign to people who had only known cracked earth and scorching sand that Maya was currently running barefoot through it, her toes disappearing into the emerald blades.

​They spent the morning exploring their new sanctuary. It wasn’t just a pool; the water was deep and fed by an underground spring that Alias had meticulously carved into the ley lines. There were clusters of fruit trees—dates, figs, and pomegranates—already heavy with ripening bounty.

​Theo walked through the greenery like a man in a dream. He touched the bark of the trees, felt the dampness of the soil, and watched the silver fish darting beneath the surface of the pond.

Every few minutes, he would look back at Alias, as if to confirm that he hadn’t just died in the desert and ended up in a fairy tale.

​"We can build here," Theo said, standing in a shaded clearing near the water. He was already looking at the sandstone cliffs, calculating how to carve out a permanent home out of it with wood included. "We have water, food, and will soon have shelter. We won’t ever have to struggle again."

​Alias watched him, a quiet sense of triumph settling in his chest. But as he looked up at the sky, his eyes caught a glimpse of something others couldn’t see—a faint, jagged ripple in the blue, like a crack in a mirror.

​High above, Norx was no longer just watching. The celestial railing had snapped under his grip, and his red eyes were burning with a cold, jealous fire.

He watched Alias touch the mortal’s hand. He watched the way the ’Architect’ smiled—a real, human smile that was never meant for a god. A warm smile with intent.

And all of that was because of a human whose life was no longer than that of a moth in their eyes.

​"You think you can just keep this, Alias?" Norx’s voice hissed through the empty halls of the heavens. "You think a shadow can live in the light without being burned?"

​He reached for the Southern Scroll. He didn’t erase the oasis—that would be too simple. Instead, he began to draw a dark, swirling mass on the horizon of the desert, miles away from the sanctuary.

A storm was coming, one that wasn’t born of the climate Alias had fixed, but of a god’s spite.

​Down below, Alias felt a sudden, sharp chill. He shivered, and Theo immediately noticed, stepping closer to block the wind.

​"Cold?" Theo asked, his brow furrowed. "In this heat?"

​"It is nothing," Alias lied, though the pink in his cheeks faded for a moment. He looked at Theo, and he made a silent vow.

​He had built this oasis with Theo in mind. And he would tear the heavens apart before he let anyone take it away.

​"Let us start," Alias said, his voice regaining its certainty. "We have a home to build."

Theo started by hacking down two trees that were thick enough to make boards from. Alias wanted to help, but Theo vowed, like his life was being threatened.

"Over my dead body will I let you soil your hands with manual labor."

Alias was taken aback and looked at his hands. His white, pristine hands. What was wrong with him doing manual labor?

He looked up. Even Maya was helping out, so why couldn’t he?

Maya saw the look on Alias’s face and called out, "Mister Alias, why don’t you pick some fruit for us while we work?"

​Alias blinked, looking from his unblemished palms to the heavy clusters of pomegranates nearby.

He understood their intent; Theo and Maya still saw him as something delicate, a being who belonged far away from the grit of the earth.

​"Fine," Alias conceded, though a small, stubborn frown tugged at his lips. "I shall gather the meal."

​As he moved toward the fruit trees, he made sure to stay within Theo’s line of sight. He noticed how Theo paused between every swing of the axe to check on him, his blue eyes softening for a split second before returning to the wood.

The sound of the axe hitting the trunk was solid, a stark contrast to the eerie silence Alias could still sense rippling in the sky above.

​Alias reached up, his fingers brushing against a sun-warmed pomegranate. But he didn’t pluck it right away. He felt the life swirling in it—the sweetness, the hydration, the specific nutrients intended to strengthen Theo’s weary body.

​"You shouldn’t work too hard," Alias called out, his voice carrying over the sound of wood-fall. "The sun is still high, and even with the cooling breeze, your body requires rest."

​Theo grunted, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of a scarred hand. He leaned against the half-cut tree, a rugged, breathless smile spreading across his face.

"I’ve spent years hauling buckets of water and sand through a furnace, Alias. A bit of wood-cutting in a garden isn’t going to break me. Besides," he added, his gaze dropping to Alias’s hands, "I like the idea of you being the one to provide for us for once."

​Alias felt that now-familiar heat rise in his cheeks. He quickly looked away, focusing on a particularly high cluster of dates. He didn’t tell Theo that his ’providing’ involved this entire oasis. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

To Theo, this was a lucky find in a harsh world.

Alias reached for a high branch, his fingers grazing the rough bark. He could feel a faint, prickly sensation at the back of his neck, a subtle weight that felt like an observation from a great distance.

It was a familiar pressure—the presence of the heavens, or perhaps just Norx watching his progress with that usual, scrutinizing intensity. Alias didn’t think much of it; Norx had always been critical of his ’experiments’.

He simply assumed Norx was waiting for the moment the desert reclaimed the greenery, waiting to say his cocky I told you so.

Alias was going to prove that the Oasis and all the other oases around the desert he created would stand.

He spent the rest of the afternoon filling large baskets with dates, figs, and pomegranates.

As he worked, he found himself reflecting on his posture and the physical sensations of his movements, wondering how he could better distribute his weight to ease the pull on his shoulders as he reached for the higher fruit.

​When the first two trees finally fell, Theo and Maya began the arduous task of stripping the bark. Alias sat on the grass nearby, peeling a pomegranate. The fruit was vibrant, a physical manifestation of the life he had breathed into this soil. He offered the ruby-red seeds to Theo as the man paused to catch his breath.

​Theo took them, his fingers intentionally lingering against Alias’s palm. The touch was grounding, a sensation that felt solid and undeniable.