TOAST TO THE HOMECOMING

By the lakeside bathed in deep moonlight, motionless body of a short, old man wearing a straw hat shuddered for a moment. His small eyes slowly opened up, seeming lost for a brief moment before regaining color. Shortly after, a pair of rhythmic footsteps began approaching him from behind, causing him to turn around. A woman wearing all black with a veil across her face stopped a few paces away from him, her posture overbearing.

“I thought we aren’t telling him until he Ascends.” she said with a judgmental tone.

“… before, after, didn’t seem to matter at the moment.” the old man said, smiling lightly. “He accepted rather readily.”

“You don’t know if he accepted.”

“We both do,” the old man said, sighing as he turned around and gazed upon the lake yet again. “A man who can stand upright even after having his entire world fall apart… he won’t turn his back to this.”

“You weren’t wrong about him, after all.” the woman said, finally approaching the old man and sitting next to him.

“I’m rarely wrong when it comes to people,” the old man chuckled. “The same way I know you’ll train him properly.”

“… I still can’t believe you gave him to me of all people.” the woman said, sighing.

“It’s just because nobody else wanted.”

“Ah. That makes more sense.” she said, chuckling. “But, all things considered, I don’t think he needs someone to train him. The only thing he needs is time.”

“… ah, really subtle. I’m proud of you.” the old man chuckled.

“I’m not asking you to do it,” she said, her voice carrying a hint of concern. “I’m not even sure how much juice your Blood has at this point, to be honest.”

“… enough,” the old man said, looking up. “Just enough.”

“… you’re not going to ask me to keep him safe until then?”

“Keep him safe? Hardly,” the old man said, slowly getting up and dusting himself off. “Lynne is Iylox. My Blood is his Blood. If he can’t keep himself alive and see this through… it’s on him.”

“Didn’t you say once that the only reason you struggled so hard to become so strong was so that others wouldn’t have to go through the same struggle?” the woman asked as the two began walking slowly.

“They don’t,” the old man said. “Y’se didn’t, Onay didn’t, none of Xely’s kids had to. However, can you see any of them even withstanding the pressure, let alone defying the Gods?”

“Hardly.”

“Struggle is the mother of all teachings,” the two slipped the corner through a small patch of forest before emerging at the top of a cliff overseeing a massive city; towers rose like spikes throughout, streets paved with limestone shimmering under the moon, with several dozen torched tips illuminating the night. The entirety of the city was donned in a faint, cyan glow, making it appear like a dome. “And while in the perfect world, it wouldn’t be necessary, this isn’t a perfect world. This is my last time, Tanya.”

“What?!” the woman exclaimed in shock as her jewel-green eyes widened.

“I’ve given all my life to keeping this place-” he looked at the slightly lit city down below. “The way you see it. But, my life has run out. Someone needs to take my place.”

“… if I had known this conversation would derail so hard, I wouldn’t have come.” the woman said after short silence, sighing. “You want Lynne to take over? What about Eray? Wasn’t that the plan?”

“… ha ha, no, of course Eray will take my place,” the old man said, chuckling. “Even if I offered him, Lynne would probably slap me silly before refusing. No, someone to take the place of a man the False Gods fear more than anything.”

“… oh.”

“Even though I’m fairly certain he’ll reject that as well,” the old man said. “At the very least he’ll fabricate his legend in the upcoming war. A boy who’s barely out the cradle battled back the Gods. How strong will he be in twenty years? In thirty? In a century? Who would dare answer those questions?”

“… ah, that’s why you used fabricate.” the woman chuckled, sighing afterwards.

“Assemble the others,” the old man said. “It is time we’ve done something about Ella.”

“Wasn’t she, and I’m quoting, inconsequential?”

“She is,” the old man said. “But, she’s also the anchor keeping him down. He will never free his mind as long as she’s alive.”

“… he’s still just a boy, huh.”

“A boy who will stand guard of the Dimensional Rift, Tanya. The least I can do is keep his love life steady.”

* * *

Atop the peak of the Tower, surrounded by grandiose of life and desert further away, bathed in gentle moonlight, Lynne stood while calmly watching the sky, a bottle of Heavenly Ale in his hand. The monkey and the bird rested on his shoulders in silence, while the two Dragons walked up and stood at his sides, looking up themselves.

“You knew, I imagine?” Lynne asked.

“So, we’re finally talking? Great! Silence was killing me!” Ryuuk exclaimed.

“I’m already regretting this.” Lynne added.

“We’ve known,” Ely said. “We were going to tell you once we left for the Divine Realm.”

“Do you think anyone else here knows?” Lynne asked.

“Y’se probably knows bits and pieces,” Ely said. “But, she probably knows that, in due time, you’ll be battling back Primordial Gods. And, if I were you, I’d probably keep that one to myself.”

“Yup, like the idea. Gonna roll with it.” Lynne said.

“What are you gonna do about Thalia?” the monkey asked.

“The old geezer said she doesn’t know anything,” Lynne said, sighing. “I’ll imagine he’ll probably do something about Ella, so Thalia should be fine for the time being. Besides, I’ll be leaving this child of mine to guard her.”

“Aah!!” Ryuuk suddenly exclaimed in panic as he saw the crimson-haired child standing behind him. “Khm, I mean, whadup?”

“I don’t think you want to be part of all of this,” Lynne said. “So, how about it?”

“While it would be funny seeing you trying to provoke Gods themselves,” the crimson-haired child said with a smirk. “You’re right. I’ll stay behind.”

“I’ll leave the bird to keep you company.”

“I’d rather not.”

“I’ll leave the bird so he doesn’t piss me off and makes me lose my mind.”

“Good call.”

“You don’t sound as excited as I thought you’d be,” Ryuuk commented. “Shouldn’t you be pumped up to all hell? I mean, what’s cooler than fighting literal Gods?!”

“… not having the fate of mankind in my hands?” Lynne said.

“Yup, that would do it.”

“Are you scared?” Ely asked.

“Of course I am,” Lynne said, taking a sip of Heavenly Ale. “I’m literally on the brink of screaming out ‘WHY ME YOU BASTARDS?!’.”

“Good self-control.” Ryuuk said.

“More like massive denial and repressing stuff,” Lynne said with a chuckle. “They work like a charm.”

“If it’s any consolation, you’re taking it better than probably anyone else I know.” Ely said. “The reason I hid inside that mountain was because I learned exactly what you did.”

“… my opinion of you just plummeted. Hard.” Lynne said.

“Eh, wasn’t that high to begin with.” Ely said.

“True.” Lynne nodded, taking another sip. “Well, right now, I’m about to go to Divine Realm, where I’ll probably be tasked with gearing up as quickly as possible while neglecting all negative aspects of that, just so I can burn out in one moment of glory.”

“And then you can finally live the life you always wanted,” the monkey said. “With the perk of lengthy life, and even bigger perk of absolutely no Magic.”

“Yeah.” Lynne said. “Although, I’m gonna be honest, learning to walk everywhere after losing my ability to fly will be a high-bitch.”

“You can just custom-breed a mount.” Ryuuk said.

“No, you’ll be my mount.” Lynne said.

“Ha ha, good one. Oh. You weren’t joking. Right. Well, if I’m gonna be a slave to anyone, I may as well do it for a man who’s gonna kill a God. High up.” he raised his arm for a high-five only to be left hanging. “Just so you know, that hurt.”

“I just have one last order of business before leaving this place,” Lynne said, suddenly looking down at the city. “A promise I made a long, long time ago.”

“It wasn’t that long.” the Spirit suddenly appeared next to everyone, stroking his beard as per usual. “Although, when I consider just how many times you nearly died, I suppose it was quite some time ago.”

“What are you two talking about?” Ryuuk asked.

“The only reason I’ve come as far as I did,” Lynne said, chuckling. “Because I was given an entire fucking Sect.”

“Oh. So, you finally plan on fulfilling your promise to the Spirit?” the monkey asked.

“Yup, time to clean up my Soul. Well, there’s still that Divine Bitch sleeping somewhere inside, but I guess she can be of help when the time comes,” Lynne said. “Spirit Dude--”

“Name’s Ryelt.” the Eternal Spirit said.

“Wow. Never knew you even had a name. Cool.” Lynne said, chuckling. “Rylet, would you finally like to oversee a Sect that actually has more than one Disciple?”

“It would be my pleasure.” the Spirit said. “But, what about your training?”

“Unfortunately,” Lynne said. “Those perks will still be waiting for the next poor sod to come and collect them sometime in the future. Think of it as my legacy for the world.”

“But it’s not your legacy.”

“That’s why I said ‘think of it’,” Lynne said. “Thank you for all your help so far.”

“No need for a goodbye,” the Spirit said. “I’ll see you once you come back victorious.”

“Prepare me the biggest banquet this fucking World has ever seen,” Lynne said. “With rivers of booze and mountains of naked, ripe ladies.”

“… what about Thalia?”

“Love is one thing, boyish dream is something completely different.” Lynne said, shrugging his shoulders. “A toast,” he suddenly took out a bottle of Heavenly Ale for everyone and handed each one. “Six years ago, I was a boy who regularly shaved because he thought it made his dick bigger.”

“Eww.”

“Dude.”

“Not cool.”

“I lived a simple life,” Lynne continued. “And, as fulfilling as I felt it was, only after leaving it completely behind did I realize how small my dreams were. However, the further I traveled along the road of Magic, the more I realized that my small dreams were absolute perfection. Nonetheless, the journey from small, really questionable brothels to the top of this Tower was simply a wonder. On it, I met all of you, and many, many more people. I’ve learned of hate, heartbreak, love, friendships that transcend everything I thought defined me, and many things more for which I’m waaay too drunk to remember right now. The people I care for the most aren’t here, but I guess you guys can do just fine.” he said as he raised the bottle further. “To me, you, and everyone else.”

“… to future homecoming.” the rest raised their bottles and clanked, drinking afterwards.

“Now—well, not now, first I’ll need a suuuper long sleep—okay, I’m ruining it. Khm, now, let’s go and save the fucking World, what do you say?”

“Sleep first, though.”

“Definitely.”