A small wave of anxiety broke over Tempesti as she unlocked the door to the Wellspring Chamber, followed in quick succession by an intense relief at the constructs’ continued disinterest. Whatever she and her companions had managed to do to reset the Wellspring, it had succeeded in shifting the aggressions of the Primordial Tower’s protectors. The mechanical ones, anyway. She sincerely doubted that they had the capacity to harbor anything resembling a thought along those lines, but something within them recognized an energy close enough to that of their creator that they let her pass unchallenged through their most sacred site.

The Wellspring Guardian remained, hovering dutifully above the shrine, its eyelike core rolling to examine the young senshi as she entered its domain before returning its attention to the activity of the Wellspring beneath it.

A fierce loved bloomed within her chest at the sight of the sheer vibrancy of life radiating throughout the chamber. It felt as though the sound of the fountain’s water and the gentle glow of the lively insects flitting about the altar drew out the anxiety that had sought to poison the back of her mind over months since the battle with Harold. The monster, the Dark Star. All of it felt insignificant in the face of this new life, however tiny, however brief this reprieve. She allowed a smile to melt across her face, taking these moments as a reminder that all of this could be worth it, that every world had the potential to begin to heal. To truly heal.

Tempesti exhaled softly. As much joy as it brought her, this wasn’t why she was here. She was here for Sotiria’s workshop. She knew the Basileia’s paranoia would never have allowed the entrance of her workshop to be reading visible to the casual searcher. Fortunately for the senshi, her interest was anything but casual as she ran her hands along the smooth stone walls, focusing intensely in her search for a crystal the felt different from the ones that resonated with the Wellspring’s many-pointed star. At least, she hoped that she would be able to sense a difference through the noise of the room’s energy.

It felt as though an eternity passed as her inquisitive fingers crept along each resonant stone, frustrated as nothing called to her power in the same way the crystal locks did until she finally felt the expectant sensation of a well awaiting someone to fill it. With a gentle touch she allowed the planet’s power to flow into the crystal until she heard a soft, heavy rumbling as the wall receded inward before sinking into the ground to reveal a large chamber packed with an overwhelming array of crates and chests.

Like the rest of the Wellspring chamber, the workshop was carved from pale stone, its walls lined with resonant crystals. Unlike the crystals in the shrine, however, many of these were not flush with the wall, points protruding toward the center of the room. Following their trajectory, a gasp escaped Tempesti’s throat. A construct, unfinished but familiar, lay atop a raised platform. The resemblance between this machine and the Wellspring Guardian was undeniable but this one was much smaller, more compact. Perhaps intended for patrolling, before someone snuffed out the mad life of its creator. Summoning the book of schemata from her subspace, Tempesti laid it down on the nearby workbench and flipped carefully to a page that looked like it might depict what stood before her. A Mauvian would have an easier time making sense of this than she would, but it seemed she’d been granted an opportunity to reclaim another piece of this world’s ancient heritage.