Claud rolled around on the bed, an act designed to evoke his own childhood, and then looked up at the lightening sky. “It’s great that everything turned out fine in the end.”

“Right?” Lily bounced on the bed. “Also, is it me, or are you in a nostalgic mood today?”

“Hmm? How can you tell?” Claud asked. “Just me rolling on my bed isn’t exactly proof that I’m thinking of my childhood and my time as a child, right?”

“Call it a gut instinct,” Lily replied, creating ripples on their squishy bed as she continued to bounce up and down on the springy mattress. Crown made a delighted meep a few seconds later and joined them on the bed, an action that the little orb, Throne, swiftly copied.

The next few minutes were bounced away in such a fashion, and Claud found himself smiling. It was great to be young, especially when Crown and Throne were making things more lively with little meeps. Eventually, however, Lily and Claud grew tired, and with one last bounce, Lily backed herself into his embrace.

“Whoa there, steady…”

“I’m not a horse, alright?” Lily grinned. “Ahh. The joys of just fooling around like children. We should do this more whenever we have a bed. Adult stuff is great, but rolling and bouncing around a bed is fun too.”

Claud straightened her clothes out. “Yeah, true. And yes, I was feeling nostalgic.”

“I’m not surprised,” Lily replied. “You and me…we probably have regrets about not spending more time with our loved ones. I wish I had more time with my mother, you know.”

Something twisted in Claud’s heart, and he reached out to hold her. “I wish…no one I know and care about will ever die.”

“I know. I know.” Lily took a deep breath. “That’s why we’re always looking for lifestones. You never hesitated to give them to me for that reason.”

“I’m a coward, I guess.” Claud looked back on his actions so far, and then shook his head. “And greedy too. When I could only protect myself, I yearned to live forever. Now that I’m stronger, I want everyone around me to live forever. I suppose we humans are insatiable.”

“I think it’s sweet.”

“Don’t go praising me like that, I’ll get embarrassed.”

Crown hopped onto Claud’s head a moment later. “Meep, meep! Meep!”

Claud tried to determine the little fellow’s words by following the tone, but since he couldn’t exactly tell what Crown was saying word for word, he didn’t grow embarrassed from all that praise.

“Meep?”

“Meep. Meep…” Throne bounced twice and rolled to Lily, who picked it up. She made a little amused smile, and then popped the silvery ball on her head too, where it nestled into her violet hair.

“It’s hard to tell what those fellows are saying at times,” Claud observed.

“We can get a rough idea, but the exact words remain a mystery.” Lily laughed. “But that makes them extra-cute, right? Like pets.”

“Meep!”

“I think they also like this language barrier too,” Claud translated, an odd look on his face. “Would you look at that. You two will live forever, right? Don’t go leaving the two of us one day.”

Crown rolled off his head and landed on his thigh, before bouncing twice on it with little meeps. Claud smiled. “Yeah, I haven’t forgotten. We’ll find out your origins…we should really return to Celestia if we want to do that, though.”

Cupping the little Throne in her hand, Lily raised the silvery globe to eye-level. “I wish I knew where you came from and everything. Who exactly are you anyway?”

“Throne can only make meeping sounds, so there’s no way we’ll get an explicit answer,” Claud replied with a laugh. “Alright, you two have fun or something. It’s almost morning, and the two of us are going to wash up. Don’t make a mess of the bed, though.”

“You first?” Lily asked.

“…You’re still sleepy, huh.” Claud flicked her nose gently. “I’ll wake you up when I’m done, then.”

“That just means that you’re going to take your own sweet time,” Lily replied. “Never mind. Let’s go in together. I get the feeling that you’re going to fall asleep too inside if I let you go alone.

As the two washed up together, Claud had the feeling that he wasn’t the only one who dreamt of their family and of bygone days last night, but he was sensitive enough that he didn’t broach the topic directly. Instead, he simply paid a bit more attention to Lily and tried to synchronise his movements with her, a little act that got Lily to poke his cheeks.

They did spend thirty minutes fooling around, though, so when Claud and Lily stumbled out of the bathroom, he couldn’t help but think that going in one by one would have been faster.

“Aww, they’re asleep,” Lily whispered, before cupping the two little fellows onto her hands. Bringing them over to a velvet-lined little box that they had brought some time ago, she lowered them onto the fluffy bed, where they made a few drowsy meeps in reply.

“They’re like baby birds or something, I swear.” Claud shook his head. “Come here. Let me dry your hair.”

“You’ve been doing that every time I shower, though.”

“Well, it’s fun.” Claud patted her hair dry with a violet towel. “So, I think I’ll try to complete my fourth mana circuit by the end of this week.”

Lily froze, and then nodded. “I kinda guessed, really. Are you sure you’re going in this early? Is there anything I can do? Or any preparations we can make?”

“Preparations…” Claud chewed on that word slowly. “It’s all about the mind. Maybe some introspection, I guess. But that’s it. I’m not sure what I can do. And…”

The quest was still bugging him too. Its requirements, however, were too ambiguous for him to actually understand what it asked for. How could an examination candidate dictate the exam itself?

Students in Licencia never had the chance to do that, and Claud didn’t think himself smarter than those weasels.

“And?”

“Well, I did tell you about my personal quest. It’s related to this whole Second Tutorial thing, but I’ve no idea what it actually wants.” Claud paused. “And to add insult to injury, I can’t even ask you for advice.”

“Unless we go to Celestia,” Lily replied.

“Yeah, but I would very much prefer to be stronger before we return there,” Claud replied. “That place is another world, and—”

“We already went there once,” Lily cut in. “And…well, I was thinking Celestia might be a better place for you to take your Second Tutorial. Perhaps it might not even trigger there or something!”

“I can’t have that either.”

“…My husband can be very troublesome,” Lily muttered, before flicking his nose. “I still think you should tell me about everything in Celestia, though. It’s better than doing it alone. And…you’ve been doing everything so far with me. I’ll feel left out at this rate.”

“That’s an unfair card to play, and you know that.”

“I’ll do anything if that means you aren’t doing it alone.” Lily’s eyes gave off a brilliant, piercing light. “You already knew this from the start, so don’t go complaining about it now.”

“I-I’m not complaining.” Claud rubbed his burning cheeks and looked away. “I’m just…”

“You’re mumbling under your breath there,” Lily reminded, her voice jolly and full of life. “Go on!”

“…touched, alright?” Claud tried to adjust his face, but that stupid grin kept forcing its way onto his face. “This is…I’m not supposed to be, you know…it’ll spoil my image.”

“I’ve seen every part of you, so no, it’s not going to.” Lily smiled. “Anyway, we’ll go to Celestia tomorrow or something. You’ll be able to tell me more there, right?”

“Well, I suppose we can do that.” Claud looked at the floor for a moment. “I think it’ll be better if we wait a week or something, though. I think there’s something brewing.”

“Brewing?”

“Call it an instinct or something,” Claud replied, trying to pick out the many tangled lines in his subconscious. The moment Lily suggested Celestia, Claud couldn’t help but feel a touch of danger or something. Was it possible that someone was waiting for them there? He had a feeling that something was guiding their movements; if he went there now, something bad would happen.

After a while, Claud rested his head on Lily’s back — he was still drying her hair up to that point — and then let out a long sigh. “I feel like someone’s guiding us. Something’s making us want to go there.”

“…The Dark Herald all but told us that the ruins were the only place that we can communicate freely at,” Lily muttered. “Maybe she has a plan in all this.”

“Or maybe the power behind her prodded her that way.” Claud clenched his chest. “Either way, I think it’ll be prudent if we wait for something else to distract everyone first.”

“Are you going to put off your ascension?”

“Probably.” Claud grimaced. “Sorry.”

Lily tilted her head. “What for? You’re not doing me any injustice!”

“I just felt like saying it?” Claud resumed his task of drying her hair. “Anyway, I guess we’ll just slack off for now. Something has to happen soon, right? I don’t believe this world can be at peace for more than a week.”

Lily leaned back against him and tilted her head up to show a smile. “What kind of prophecy is that supposed to be?”

“Mine!”