The first step in the Outer Heaven was different from every first step that had preceded it.
The first step into the Middle Domain had been the beginning of acclimation, the framework adjusting to an environment that pressed against it from outside and required genuine exposure to become functional rather than minimum operational. The first step into the contact zone had been the beginning of partnership, the boundary's simultaneous inside-outside position becoming the Law's operating location. The first step into the Celestial Realm had been the beginning of restoration, the recognition finding the space built to hold it and beginning to fill.
The first step in the Outer Heaven was the beginning of something he did not yet have a name for.
