"Remind me of our destination again, Omii-Srera?" asked Srirel-Livs.

 She could hardly think straight, awestruck as she was. Only a few hours here and she'd already clumsily bumped into several of the inhabitants. Not that they'd minded, but it was something for her to work on; a Mavus must keep up appearances, after all.

 The tiny sevai-Raya, ironically appearing more composed than her seya, responded without missing a beat. "Sector Divine Heliotrope, premise 71b, 189th level. I believe this is the correct location, seya. The temple square should be just ahead."

 Srirel-Livs let out a small chuckle, despite herself. "You don't have to call me that," she laugh-sang. "...Not yet, at least."

 Omii-Srera just smiled to herself, full expression hidden under her veil. Srirel-Livs could feel her love's amusement all the same. "Yes, seya," she chirped, "but I like to."

 Omii-Srera received a small boop for this, a sarcastic little chide from her amused seya. "Silly girl."

 They were almost there. After so many years, a veritable lifetime of travelling and preparation and practice, it was finally time.

 They walked and walked, starstruck under the grand shining structures seeming to stretch off into forever, the sheer amount of intricate detail and meaning in every part of their surroundings pressing in on them, the beautiful song of Rayuus Prime.

 To her own tiny mind, a Raya accustomed her whole life to travelling around rural towns and the wilderness, it was a rapturous event. She'd never imagined one place could be so incredible, so full of life and art.

 Most especially she'd been taken by how dramatically different so many of the new Raya were -- alien beyond comprehension, witnessing them feeling like staring into an infinite well of psychia. She'd heard that Rayuus Prime was like a melting pot of Raya culture, and only now she understood.

 It had taken her a long while to get used to it, at first. Apparently most were overwhelmed at least a bit their first time, but she was Srirel-Livs. After what happened before, how could she not be sensitive?

 Tonare. The word echoed throughout her thoughts, as it had for countless years. It's what changed her life, what she set out to embrace, fully, afterwards. She wondered if this experience itself was another test of will, like before. It was a tantalizing possibility, she had to admit – to just give in, surrender to the song and the feeling and the living singing pulse of the architecture all around her, leaving her old body behind and becoming a new part of their magnificent congregation.

        But she didn't lose herself the first time, and she wasn't about to do it again. Knowing that hardly made it easier, though. She didn't want to admit it to Omii-Srera, but she'd still been constantly crying even since her first time in suusei-love with Rayuus Prime. Just a little bit. Maybe a lot.

 Giving a shy glance to her sevai, she quickly wiped her eyes with a paw for the umpteenth time that day. She let out a small huff at the ridiculousness of it, how silly she was. There was nothing wrong with crying, of course. Even now, she could feel the orgasmic emanations from so many other Raya, losing themselves to the song as she did. If she wanted to achieve her goal, though, she did have to maintain composure for at least a few more hours.

 A tingle on her skin surprised her, and she looked down to see Omii-Srera pressing against her flank. Not saying anything, not looking at her, just comforting. Sharing in the experience. Srirel-Livs grinned, and, too, had nothing to say. They continued on, wordless and thoughtless, basking in the vast landscape of psychia around them.

 "This is it, seya," sang Omii-Srera in her sevai-song, calm and deliberate and exactly as useful as she was made to be. Useful, with her veil and tiny Sevai body limiting her capabilities yet expanding her knowledge to be most serviceable to her seya. "On the left is the administration building, and ahead is the Temple proper. Did you want to explore a bit, or enter the Temple straightaway? ...Seya?"

 The squeak of her sevai's voice hardly registered in Srirel-Livs' mind, captivated as she was. Staring at the star – the Temple's star, proudly positioned to shine over the entire surrounding area. And immediately upon seeing it, she then knew – this was her star.

 Srirel-Livs squeaked and gasped as her own tiny thread of psychia was subsumed by the star's, the Temple's as a whole, interconnected in its vast spiritual network. The brilliant ultraviolet waves washed over her, intertwining themselves with her being, inviting her to experience their own joys.

 She barely registered the tears streaming down her face, sparkling with the uncontained power within. Her sevai's psychic presence was entirely overshadowed by the Temple's, but Srirel-Livs could feel the soft prodding at her side regardless.

 By mutual psychic agreement, they headed away from the plaza to lay in an alcove nearby. Srirel-Livs' six legs shook and buckled, and then she cried. A strong, unbidden, singing-crying,  the most raw and intense expression of emotion. Singing and crying with herself, and Omii-Srera, and the ever-complex song of Rayuus Prime around her, caressing and intertwining itself with her own tiny mind.

 She was vaguely aware of her own body writhing and twisting on the warm floor, Omii-Srera's tiny arms and body holding her head gently. She momentarily gave in, let herself be taken by the sensual orgy of musical joy. It built and built until she couldn't hear her own crying anymore, couldn't feel her body, her entire existence vibrating in orgasm, both physical and spiritual. She screamed and sang her love, and the entire Temple sang back, massaging and pleasuring her psychia in an orgy of bliss.

 For a while, she didn't exist as anything but the song, her tiny psychic thread carried along in the enormous stream of psychia composing the Temple. A single tiny thread, blown around and doused with extreme energy, fraying at the edges as it yearned to become one with the stream. Her existence was peaks and troughs, climax and denouement, an endless repeating cycle that she played an oh-so-tiny part in, witnessing on that day.

 It was such a familiar thing, at this point. It was, in a way, why she was here.

 "Are you finished, seya?"

 The high-pitched voice of her sevai woke her from a daze. Her thoughts and awareness of her body returned to her in a flood, eliciting another bout of shivers and squirted fluids. Opening her eyes, she unsteadily turned to view the other raya. "I think, yes," she meekly sang, in her vulnerable warbled voice. "Spirits above..."

 What a cute little mess she must have looked like, Srirel-Livs thought to herself as she rose from the puddle of sparkling pink liquid. She examined her (again) stained robe, but Omii-Srera was already reaching into her pack for a spare, dutiful as she was. Srirel-Livs sang a little song of appreciation for Omii-Srera, unwittingly maintaining a steady trickle of tears.

 Srirel-Livs blushed as her sevai licked, cleaned and dressed her form, embarassed but in a fun way. She felt so exposed in this place, unable to hide anything she did from the thousands in her immediate psychic vicinity – many of far higher levels than her. It was thrilling, in a way. Of course many had felt and seen what had just happened, but that was a lovely thing. She knew that they enjoyed sharing their city's song almost as much as she did experiencing it.

 I'm still here, Srirel-Livs realized with a start. She'd lost herself in the song again – this time even closer to the Temple – and came out whole. Somehow, due to some twist of fate, her old body remained. Would Svii-Arei would have sang to me, if I would have lost to this destined challenge?

        Maybe, Srirel-Livs thought. Despite seemingly losing her self, despite nothing else existing in the song, she had still been there – one individual being, one strand of psychia in the river. She'd find out how she'd done it, perhaps, once she was finally initiated.

 With yet another emotional diversion over with, they re-entered the plaza. The Star of Rayuus continued to shine its warmth through her being, the joy of it remaining but her control of herself not faltering. Only a modest amount of tears, now. Her manifested psychia freely swirled around her, unchecked in its brilliance, but still merely the palest flicker compared to the light of the Star.

 Like a candle to a star, she thought amusingly. Except rather more literal this time. Omii-Srera giggled at this, earning another boop from her seya.

 Srirel-Livs relaxed for a bit, staring at the innumerable Raya cavorting throughout the plaza. Watching and enjoying, touching psychia to each other in loving contact, like brief windows into another's existence. This wasn't the largest Temple in the city, not by far, but that didn't make it any less amazing. Tiny whimpers emanated from her as she nearly lost herself, again, to the enormity of it all.

 "Seya?" whisper-sang her sevai, her smaller psychic presence lounging in the background. Quietly taking in the experience with the same exuberance as her seya but with reactions more subdued, as was fitting for a sevai. "Are you ready to meet Mavus Vyarie-Osii? She should be available at this time."

 Srirel-Livs snapped back to awareness, having again lost herself in amazement, staring open-mouthed at the living song-art arranged before her. "Oh!" she squeaked, sounding almost like a sevai for a moment. "Oh, yes, let's meet the Mavus first. So sings to me, by the lights of Lorae, I will finally do this."

 "Saldrei norei, seya! As you wish."

 "Saldrei norei," Srirel-Livs sang back, a most wonderful little melody. "And... thank you," she added meekly. "For everything."

 "Of course, seya." Omii-Srera radiated more waves of amusement, causing Srirel-Livs to blush profusely. Theirs was an interesting relationship, for sure.

 The Star shining through her, Srirel-Livs headed to the temple.