The laboratory of the Crystal castle was an amazing piece of work. All around, various silvery instruments sat gleaming in the light from not only the sun above via the skylight, but also from the flames of the great shaft of the castle that sat churning and bubbling far below. It had been a while since Aughra had visited these chambers, but now that she was here once again, it was almost as if she had never left it at all.

"And here we are, Aughra. Though I've invented many new tools and goods since last you were here, I think the lab is largely what you would remember it to be." TekTih says, motioning for her to enter and explore as she sees fit. Aughra did so, barely paying attention to the urSkek's welcome. Already the gadgetry entranced her, flitting about from workstation to workstation, seeing what the Inventor had been keeping himself busy with.

"So, going to harness the power of the crystal are you? Hm?" Aughra says, fiddling with a silvery device that she recognizes as a tool that could measure light intensity.

TekTih glides over to where the Seer stood, admiring his recently made Luminescor. He could tell from her tone that she was skeptical about what they would be trying to accomplish at the Conjunction tomorrow. As an inventor, he was largely the skeptic of the group as well. But he had to admit, he saw the same potential that the other urSkeks saw. Otherwise he would not have went before the wise ones back on their home planet with SoSu and made the proposals that they had.

"You do not believe that it can be done." TekTih says warmly, guiding her over to a diagram of the crystal chamber. "You believe that all the work we have done 'lo these many trine will have been in vain."

Aughra looks at him with a slight smirk on her face. He knew her too well. Just as she knew him.

"Look at these diagrams." He says. "Look at the reactions that we have recorded throughout all the lesser conjunctions that have occurred. The crystal provides the sustenance to this planet. It is responsible for everything that is good. The harnessed light purges everything wicked from this planet. None have starved during this age. None have faced lack. The food continues to grow. The water continues to flow. The animals continue breed. All of our evidence tells us that such energy would purge the evil from us as well. How can we possibly allow ourselves to be looked upon as role models and leaders in the coming age if we continue to entertain the..."

TekTih pauses, Aughra looking at him.

"...the evil that churns within our souls. The wants and desires that all good creatures suppress in order to work towards the benefit of their species and their world. If we can eliminate such feeling from our natures, do we not do a service to ourselves and this world which we are now a part of?"

Aughra snorts, stepping away from TekTih and the diagrams that he had been showing her.

"Great power in the crystal! Great power in the Suns! No doubt about that. Power to sustain all life on Thra in abundance. Hm. But Aughra sees nothing. No power on Thra, or in the stars above, that would be able to remove..."

Aughra reaches out, pointing directly into the urSkek's head.

"...what lies within there. Or here!" She gasps, pointing at her own head. "Such power is beyond the manipulations of the universe."

TekTih clasps his hands together, nodding at the Seer's assessment of the situation, but clearly not agreeing with it.

"Let us hope, this one time, that you are mistaken."

"Hmph."

The Day of the Great Conjunction...

"Time to wake up, little Gelfling matty fluff." Teah says, ruffling Kin's disheveled mop of ruddy brown hair.

Kin's arm emerges from under the folds of his sheets, brushing her arm away and then tending to his hair as best as he could.

"Leave my matty fluff alone. Surely I can sleep in a little longer. The Conjunction isn't supposed to happen 'til this afternoon.

Teah's eyes widen in surprise.

"The Suns help you, I cannot even believe you were able to sleep at all. I was barely able to sleep, and I'm not even the one with the responsibility of playing a solo."

"Yeah, that would be me." Sara's voice chirps from across the room, as she stands in front of a piece of the wall that had been smoothed enough to show perfect reflections, running a poppygrass strand through her teeth. She, along with Kaya, had each been examining each others most minute of details, ensuring that they would both look beyond acceptable for a day like today.

Brecht and Erecht, too, were just starting to awaken. Though they clearly did not need as much prodding as did Kin. Both of them were all too used to waking up very early each new day. They were being bred for the leadership of their tribe. But they were also being pitted against one another, as only one could take the seat when it someday opened. Erecht had woken up just a few moments before his sibling. Realizing that, he reaches over, snatches up his headpad, and shoves it into Brecht's face in a mock attempt to strangle him. If Brecht was not awake before, he certainly was now, and responds to the gesture by bending his lower torso up and wrapping his legs around his brother's head and forcing him off the end of the bed. A contest which would only be resolved by the tapping of one's hand against the floor had ensued.

Thra help the Gelfling that got in the midst of the tussling ball.

Teah looked over at the two boys for a moment, a slight grin on her face as she turns her attention back to Kin. Sara and Kaya dodge out of the way of the twins, scowls of displeasure on their faces at having their preparations interrupted.

"You know, I think Erecht had the right idea." Teah says jokingly. She the reaches under Kin's head, grabbing his pad in one fluid motion and then plastering it across his face.

Kin pretends to struggle under the very light pressure being applied to his face. He then reaches up, grabbing Teah's wrists and turns her over on the other side of his bed. Laying beside her for a moment, he chuckles at the immaturity of their actions. It was still fun though.

"There, I'm awake." He says with a grin, letting her go and then stumbling over towards the wash basin that pulled in water from a nearby stream. He first dips his hands, and then his entire head into the cool water.

"You're not going to wear that tunic are you?" Teah says, coming up behind him. Kin looks down at what he is wearing and then looks back at her.

"I don't think so...I just slept in this thing. Give me time to get changed, for nebrie's sake." He says, walking into the clotheshole where he had stuffed his belongings.

"Fair enough." She says. "I have some practicing I need to do for today anyway."

"Ooh!" Sara's voice interjects again. "I need to practice too! Do we have a rehearsal today?"

"Nope." Teah answers. "We have the day to ourselves, just have to be around the castle. We're representatives of our tribes for the day. A lot of the Gelflings and other peoples of the world who are coming to the castle will not have been anywhere near it before. We just have to make them feel comfortable."

"Sounds great, I need to practice." Sara says as she rushes by Kin and Teach and out through the entry hole.

"Wait up, I got all the practice I need. I can help you!" Kaya says as she runs through the holeway after her friend.

Teah smiles, and then looks around the room. Brecht and Erecht were still wrestling on the ground. Brecht had almost got his "little" brother to tap. Didn't happen.

"Hey Kin, did Raven leave already this morning?"

"How would I know? You were awake before me." His voice floats back from the crevice where he was changing.

"You don't think he got nabbed again, do you?" Teah sighs, blowing a tuft of golden hair out of her eyes and then folding it back behind her pointed ears. That was when she remembered that she had forgotten to put any ornaments in her hair. She rushes over to her satchel, grabbing a few shiny clasps and then walks over to the mirror where she begins to arrange them in her hair. As she does, she takes a moment to stretch out her wings which were previously folded neatly behind her back. They're such a pain to have with nice clothwear. If I didn't need to fly so much, I'd have them cut off, she grumbles in her mind as she fiddles with the hair ornaments. A few moments later, Kin stepped out of the crevice. The cream colored tunic and pants contrasted nicely with his suns-darkened skin. His features were not as chiseled as those of the T'Keb twins, but he still cut a nice form in her mind.

"Nah, he's probably out somewhere playing his firca. He seemed to want that solo pretty badly. He seems like the shy, mope around type too. Probably doing some combination of the two."

"You're probably right." Teah says, doing a slight twirl in front of the mirror, watching as the ornaments in her hair sparkled in the light of the Great Sun shone through the window. In all the time they had been here, the surroundings had been perfectly quiet and serene. Now, though, the noise level began to increase steadily as more and more creatures began to arrive in the valley that surrounded the castle. Teah finishes her appraisal of her look and then heads over to the window, looking outside. Her eyes widen in surprise.

"Kin! Come look at all of these lifes. I couldn't count them all if I wanted to."

Kin arrives at the window a few moments later. He was surprised as well. There were definitely a host of lifes out there. Gelflings, Podlings. strange looking lifes with what looked to be a single horn sprouting from their nose. Too many to tell specifically from such a high vantage point.

"Well, I'm good and ready. I'm going to head out. By the way, nice hair, um, things." He says as he turns and makes his way towards the holeway. Teah smiles, reaching one hand up to touch one of the ornaments in her hair. She then walks by her bed, grabbing her firca and then heading through the holeway in the opposite direction. She wanted to get some practicing in. If somebody was off chord during the Great Conjunction, it was not going to be her.

***

All around the outside, the creatures of Thra with the means to do so had set up small tents and stone circles and other areas where people could talk, and run, and weave and dance and play music and any other fun thing that could be imagined on such a special day.

Raven had sroted his way through the crowd for much of the morning. He had wanted to look around at what all was going on outside, though he was not too keen on being stopped by every other creature he met. I should have left my orchestra sash in the room, he thought. It seemed to be a natural draw for every inquisitive creature in the land to ask him about his time in the castle, the urSkeks, the crystal, the Conjunction and whatever else they could think of. He had eventually broken free of the growing throng and found a secluded area just on the edge of one of the nearby forests where he could relax and take the day in more slowly. After all, if a day like this only comes around once every thousand trine, he wanted to make the most of it.

Reaching into his dyed-black tunic, he pulls out his firca, blowing one off-key note, and then looking at it again.

I should have practiced harder. If I would have practiced harder, I would've gotten that solo. That Sara girl is good, but I could've done it better. I...

Raven's thoughts are interrupted by the unceremonious bumping into another being. Looking up from the ground that had so fervently held his attention up to this point, he sees a slightly taller, more elaborately dressed Gelfling.

"Pardon me." The older Gelfling says, weakness in his voice. "I was just looking to find my way through into the castle through this impressive crowd. You wouldn't happen to know which way I should go, would you?"

"Uh, yeah...it's back over that way." Raven says, pointing behind him.

"Oh! Oh, well, thank you lad. Enjoy the Conjunction!" He says appreciatively, nodding to the elaborately dressed, elder Gelfling female who was with him.

Raven nods and continues on his way through the crowd.

***

"Whatever tribe that young one came from, they seem to be training up their youth well, eh Oora?" The elder says through labored breaths. "Bodes well for the future of Gelfling society I think."

"Indeed, Ooro. The suns have not come together like this for a thousand trine. We will not have another opportunity like this to unite the Gelflings together as one. We owe it to our afterbears as well as our forebears to do everything we can to make the most of this opportunity."

"And we will." Ooro says kindly, patting his younger sister's hand. "The Mokin will not let this day pass by idly."

***

Many paces away, in a forest just outside the castle...

"We shtrike fasht, we shtrike hard and before the day is out, the cashtle will be oursh to guard." Rex, the sect leader of the Sandlings, says to the other warriors whom he had brought with him to carry out this once in a lifetime mission.

Xet had only just rejoined his comrades in arms, who were many, many hand's worth in number. He was eager to receive the final commands from their leader.

"Now, let ush hear from brother Xet, who will give ush an actual report from inshide the cashtle."

Xet nods and takes a step forward into the circle the triangle the group had formed, immediately commanding the attention of the others. "The castle has no guards. A strike will be simple. There are no defenses. The most difficult part will be to clear the innocents out. I met a Gelfling inside...about as old as me. I warned him. I think he got the message."

"I doubt it." Rex says. "Gelfingsh blind. If they get in our way. They will fall too. We tolerate no reshishtanche. Undershtood?"

"Understood." The Sandlings reply in unison.

"Good."

***

Inside the Chamber of Life, the eighteen urSkeks gather to oversee the final placements of the various mirrors that had been placed throughout the castle in order to harness the beams of the Three Suns floating high above when the time for the Conjunction came. The mirrors would transport the beam, in all of its original intensity, from the Crystal Chamber, throughout the castle, to its final destination in the Chamber of Life which sat just above the Crystal Chamber, in the heart of the castle.

"And so, all is now ready, dear friend." SoSu the Leader says, slowly approaching TekTih, the Inventor.

"All is ready. However, the Seer does not share our optimism. From her tone, I think she would fit in quite nicely within the council on our home." TekTih says, apparent disappointment in his voice over Aughra's view.

"Then she will have to see, and understand, after the Conjunction." SoSu says.

"We should proceed to the chamber of the Crystal," ZokZah says, "the Great Sun will be approaching its zenith."

The other urSkeks nod and, in a flash of light, they disappear through the floor below them and down into the Crystal Chamber.

***

Still making his way through the crowds, Raven eventually comes to a clearing. He lets out a relieved breath. From somewhere that he couldn't immediately locate, his ears perk up at the sound of firca music being played. The closer he got, the more instruments he could hear being played. A pounder. A feek. And it was more than one firca as well. The grimly-garbed Gelfling follows the sound, until he comes upon the familiar sight of Sara, Kaya and a couple of Podlings having their own little concert, much to the delight of some other Gelflings and Podlings who were watching and swaying back and forth to the lively little tune.

As soon as Sara notices Raven watching she quickly motions for him to come join them before returning her hand to her instrument. When he shakes his head "no", her eyes widen, sending a clear message of "get over here and play your firca now". Raven apparently got the message, for his hand was in his pocket digging around for it even before he sat down beside them. He quickly found the beat and chords they were playing, and harmonized with his own.

Slowly, but ever increasingly, the little makeshift band began to draw a larger and larger crowd. Not much longer afterwards, the crowd began to split into dancing pairs and dancing groups. Overhead, the Great Sun sat regally in the middle of the sky. The Rose Sun and the Dying Sun, each approaching from slightly different directions, were clearly on the way to meeting with their larger sister. That, in itself, was a sight worth taking in. And many Thralings did.

But the best was yet to come.

Sara, too, eventually took notice of where the Great Sun had settled. Her eyes widen again, and she stops playing her firca, immediately throwing the others off track.

"Whoa! Come on guys, we have to get to the chamber. The Great Sun is in the middle of the sky...that's when ZokZah said we need to be back!"

"Already? It feels like I just left the castle a few minutes ago." Raven says, honestly surprised.

"Yes, 'already'...now come on." She pleads, tugging at his arm. He does not resist, and soon they and the Podlings with them are weaving their way back to the castle's interior.

***

Inside the Crystal Chamber, the crystal hums with the energy of the Great Sun shining inward through the triangular skylight that had been carved through the center of the ceiling. In one of the upper corners of the room, the Podling chorus that ZokZah had assembled to collaborate with the orchestra eagerly take their places. From below, the members of the great orchestra were beginning to file into the room, and take their places on the tri-leveled area that had been set aside for their use.

It takes only a few moments before everyone, including the late-to-arrive Sara and Raven, is situated. The room is pleasantly calm, a feeling aided by the soothing hum of the crystal.

Then, the creatures in the room take notice of the chanting that was starting to come from every entrance to the chamber. Chanting that is perfectly in sync with the melody of the crystal. The urSkeks slowly begin to come into view in all of their radiant splendor. Six from each of the three primary entrances. As they entered, the room was silent. Each and every creature sat in awe of the spectacle that was playing out before their eyes.

Slowly and methodically, the shimmering urSkeks take their position around the crystal that seemed to be pulsating with an energy all its own. High above, through the triangular groove within the crystal chamber, the various hues of the Three Suns begin to creep into each corner, as the suns themselves draw closer into alignment.

Sara's heart was thumping loudly insider her chest. She had never been witness to such majesty before, and yet here she was, in the most beautiful place she could have ever imagined. More than that, she would be the one to play her firca in tune with the melody given off by the crystal itself. She was as ready as she could possibly have willed herself to be.

The Three Suns begin to come into alignment, each of the colors becoming awashed in the combined brilliance of the radiant white beams which shot down through the roof of the Crystal Castle and into the crystal itself. There was an audible gasp from those present within the chamber, but the urSkeks stood motionless, their chanting coming to an end as the melody of the crystal fills the room. The Podling chorus blends its harmony with the melody of the crystal, and just for a few moments they pause, allowing Sara to hear the tune, and adapt her instrument to it, playing with all that was inside her.

The beams of the crystal reflect off of the various mirrors that had been designed to capture them, through the Chamber of Life. The urSkek's manipulations of the energy appeared to be working, as the beams grew in intensity as they doubled back on the crystal itself. For a few moments, all seemed to be in perfect melody. However, it was not to last. From a myriad of directions, specific beams lance out from the crystal, becoming locked with the eyes of the eighteen urSkeks which hovered above various positions within the room. This lasts only for a few moments more, and then—just as the urSkeks had intended—they begin to feel their wills, their spirits, their very essences divide in half. Not long after, their bodies manifest the divide occurring within their souls, and the urSkeks—previously aware of both their dark and light natures—divide into those very natures, and lose much of the awareness of the understanding of their other half as they do.

The Conjunction lasts only for a few moments before the Suns come out of alignment with one another, and the melody which revitalized and shook the planet of Thra to its very deepest core, begins to subside.

To one side, mystical beings which understood themselves to be the urRu, collapse to the ground. Their skins are pale, and their meek robings equally so. Possessed of four arms, they easily right themselves and begin to take in, with noted awe, at what had occurred and the majesty that still surrounded them. Their essences were of discovery, enlightenment and preservation. Each of the urRu had a distinct memory that this was precisely the reason they had gone to the lengths they had with the crystal.

To the other side, powerful, dark and avian-like creatures which understood themselves to be known as Skeksis also collapsed to the ground. They were completely mystified by the new sensation of actually having to touch the ground and force themselves up from it. Their deep, black robes flowed around them as they slithered across the floor of the chamber, each of them finding another Skeksis with which to cling onto and pull themselves up. Each of them hated being touched by the others, but each of them also knew of no other way in which to get to their feet. Many of the Skeksis had manes which were as black as their robes, if they possessed hair at all. Their seething eyes took in the room which surrounded them, and the creatures within that room. Their essences were in direct contrast to those of the urRu. Whereas the urRu desired only knowledge and the preservation of it. The Skeksis desired only power. Through power, they could satiate every other lust that filled their unctuous bodies.

One of the Skeksis immediately saw an opportunity to lay claim to that power. SkekSo, easily the largest and most formidable of the group, stalks over and grabs one of the crystalline candelabras which sat nearby. A group of frightened Podlings scurry away from the imposing creature. The other Skeksis, having no understanding of what he intended to do, simply watch with piqued curiosity. UrSu, however, understood what his dark counterpart intended to do, and quickly took steps to intercept him.

"I will not let you harm the crystal," urSu says. "I will not let you harm this world."

The Skeksis sneers, part of him not like being challenged so openly, and part of him actively reveling in it. The other mystics chanted, in harmonic support of the one who sought to defend the crystal. The other Skeksis however, hissed and sneered and were altogether more vocal in their aggression towards the mystics, and even towards the large Skeksis himself who was clearly attempting to establish power for himself.

"The crystal is ours!" SkekSo barks. "The power of this world...ours!"

With one powerful swipe, he strikes the urRu mystic across the face, sending him spilling onto the chamber floor, while still deftly holding the candelabrum in the other hand. With a triumphant and primal yell, SkekSo hoists the object in the air with both hands and then sends it crashing against the side of the crystal.

And the crystal cracked.

And in that instant, a single shard broke free of the crystal and soared high into the air, through the triangular portal that had been carved into the ceiling. No sooner had the crystal been cracked, then its melodic hum ceased. Its color darkened, and a rumble thunder could be heard overhead. Though the planet knew no such thing as total night or day, the light of the world visibly lessened.

The Age of Harmony had come to an end. Ushered in by the urSkeks, a new age, an Age of Wonder, would now begin.

The age of the Dark Crystal.

As to what that age would bring is still yet to be told.