The cloud-filled sky, the sea of lightning, the howling wind…all these would have been signs of a freak lightning storm, if not for the fact that a power that surpassed Gaius’ understanding was evidently beginning to manifest. Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl, and those moments, Gaius found it fortunate that Nakama was still in the house doing her revision.

A grey wall of energy had surrounded Isabelle. Oddly enough, he couldn’t sense any threat or danger from that particular manifestation, despite its inferno-like appearance. As for Isabelle, she was now floating off the ground without any qi to support her whatsoever. Her back was arched inwards, and every few seconds, a plume of grey light would break off from the wall of grey power around her to enter her forehead.

Seconds passed like minutes. The world all around Gaius had seemingly froze up. If not for the fact that Isabelle’s body was absorbing the grey light that had surrounded her, the boy might have suspected something else entirely.

Something set Isabelle back on her feet gently as the last bits of grey energy entered her body. Her eyes opened, and at that moment, a voice rumbled from the heavens itself.

“O Truthseeker, you who hath discarded thy veil. Thy dogged pursuit, past falsehoods and deceit, hast awakened me from a slumber ninety-nine millennia long. I thank thee.” The voice, gentle yet wrathful, echoed throughout the entire city.

Lightning continued to flash throughout the lands as the voice continued on. “I am the Chanter of Innocents, Weiwu. All ye who seek redress, chant mine name and make your plea. I shalt be listening. All ye who seek truth, know the myriad falsehoods that plague thine world. I shalt be waiting.”

The…god’s words continued to echo, but the skies began to clear up. Like a fleeting dream, the clouds that had blanketed at least the entirety of Seireiden vanished within moments, revealing the blue sky once more.

Gaius did a doubletake. Blue sky?

The four-coloured sky had vanished…no, the hue had weakened. If Gaius squinted with all his might, he could make out the faint quartet of colours that had coloured the sky for months on end, but the Chanter of Innocents had clearly done something to it.

He shook himself and turned his attention to Isabelle, who was still standing motionless. Gaius approached the unmoving girl slowly, his eyes trained on her the entire time. “Are you…alright? What did you see?”

Isabelle shuddered. “I saw… a god.”

At that moment, Nakama ambled out of the door, Nexus sitting on her shoulder. A small silver knife floated behind her. The weights that Isabelle or Gaius usually placed on its back was absent, but Stone was still quivering every few seconds.

Well, at least it has a good grasp on how to survive. The nonsensical thought zipped through Gaius’ mind, before he turned towards Nexus. “I don’t suppose you know who that is, do you?”

“No records of the god Weiwu, the Chanter of Innocents, exist in my memory. So, to begin with, we don’t even know what his jurisdiction is,” said Nexus. “Isabelle—no, let’s go in and talk about this first.”

The three nodded. Nakama led Isabelle into the house, her steps slow and measured, in case something happened to her. Watching the reversal of caretaker and charge was a rather refreshing sight, but that feeling vanished when he looked up into the sky once more, which had returned to a largely normal hue.

Closing the door behind him, Gaius followed the others into the living room, where Nakama was passing a glass of water to Isabelle. It was only after the little girl built a veritable fortress of cushions on the sofa did she let Isabelle sit down. By the looks of it, the Knight would have preferred to sit on a normal seat, but she apparently didn’t want to hurt Nakama’s feelings.

His lips twitched at the sight. Isabelle shot a glare at the boy, daring him to laugh, before turning her head away.

Gaius cleared his throat. “Alright, alright. Thanks, Nakama.”

“My pleasure!” Nakama, who was holding on to a pillow, nodded in rapid succession.

“You can put that down, I don’t think Isabelle needs a pillow too,” said Gaius, a smile on his face. “Now, Isabelle, what did you see?”

“A god,” she replied. “He was…an old god. A long beard, grey hair, a top knot. He had a…Mi-Zu style folding fan in his hands, and he was quite surprised to see me.”

“Looks like you managed to…wake him or something,” said Gaius. “I didn’t know such a thing was possible. Did he seem familiar to you?”

“No. I’ve never seen him before, or read about him either,” said Isabelle. “There were other people standing around him, but if I had to guess, they were like me. Most of them were…asleep. Unmoving.”

“Asleep people around him?” Nexus looked at Gaius. “Is that the god that brought you into Orb?”

“I only remember that he’s an old man, but I couldn’t make out his features,” replied Gaius. “But if he was truly in slumber, I guess I know why he never responded to me at all. Might be him then. As for the people around him…I’m not sure either.”

“We should—what?”

Nexus looked around at the others, who were silent.

“You’re from Earth? You weren’t kidding around?” Isabelle asked slowly. “But…”

“Things happen,” Gaius replied. The sudden stillness got to him, and the boy turned to Nakama instinctively. “I’m…the same Gaius through and through. That’s it.”

“You didn’t tell me,” Nakama said, her voice small.

“I didn’t know how to tell you.” Gaius replied. It was true. The fact that he was occupying someone else’s body was something incredibly hard to broach for someone who knew his previous self well. True, he had inherited the original Gaius’ intention to protect Nakama, but that didn’t mean that the him now was the him then.

Fortunately, none of them suspected that he was occupying the true Gaius’ body…but this was the first time he ever had to consider such an issue. To date, his life had been too preoccupied by other pursuits that what looked like little details didn’t really matter.

“And besides,” said the boy, “I only remembered this part a year or so ago. I’m sorry for not telling you all this time.”

Nakama nodded, her eyes turning bright once more.

His heart hurt at the sight, and it took everything he had to not let his agony show. Nexus was staring at him, but Gaius shook his head slightly. Forcing a smile, he said, “Back to the topic, then. Isabelle, what else can you tell us about Weiwu?”

“Not much else, I’m afraid.” She cracked a small grin. “But now that I know your origins, I think I’m justified in calling you Master Gaius, right?”

“Just…stick to the original way.” Gaius forced out a smile. “Anyway, I’ll be crafting some artefacts for tomorrow. To take down Scorpio. You guys should do your own thing to.”

He got up and turned away from the group, heading upstairs into his own room. Gaius closed the bedroom door, and stared into the darkness for a few minutes, before pulling out a small set of tools and materials from his bag. He began to carve and prepare the materials slowly, his mind focused only on the items in front of him…and away from his heart.