Isabelle’s grandmother squatted down and looked Nakama in the eye. “So, a new member of our family, eh?”

Gaius had no idea how someone that old was able to squat down that easily, but again, this world was Orb and not Earth. There were probably principles that made older people stronger and healthier than young men and women at play, or something along these lines.

“Yes, grandmother. She’s the little sister of my benefactor,” said Isabelle.

“And their family…ah.” Her grandmother nodded and patted Nakama, who probably lit up like a little bulb. “It is best for children to have a complete family, yes. And the thing about education in the North…as much as I would miss my two grand-daughters here, schooling is a must.”

Her words continued to linger in the air for a moment, and then the small crowd exploded into a hubbub. With a jolt, Gaius realised that Isabelle’s grandmother had accepted Nakama into the Lorenze family, and a mix of emotions began to swirl within him. They were pretty much indescribable, but if he was to liken it to something, it would probably be an event back on Earth, when one of the kids under his care found a loving family.

As for how that happened, it was a long story that started with a girl’s selfless act of heroism and ended with her own deserved reward. But that was a story for another time.

“Nakama,” said Isabelle’s grandmother, “henceforth, you’ll be known as Nakama Lorenze. How does that sound?”

“It’s nice!” Nakama replied, a smile on her face. This smile, too, was somewhat different from the others Gaius was used to, and the boy relaxed. Nakama’s history wasn’t somewhat murky, but this had to be a smile for her family’s elders.

Gaius sidled over to Isabelle. “Thank you. Thank you very much. She needed a family, but I couldn’t do that for her.”

“I thought I said you could be a part too,” said Isabelle.

Her grandmother walked over slowly. “So why don’t you, Gaius? What burden do you carry that mandates you walk a path alone? I can see a sliver of your personality, and given a choice, you will never drift away from your sister. So why this torture?”

“Thank you for your consideration, Isabelle’s grandmother,” said Gaius. “But it will only harm your family if I were to be part of it. I have grown aware of truths, and as much as I might sound like a self-hating fool, now is not a good time.”

“The demons are coming in four years, Gaius,” said the old lady. “There is never a good time for anything. Carpe diem, boy. The road of life is long and harsh. Why rush through the thorns alone?”

“It’s not just thorns I face.” Gaius shook his head.

“Ah. Your mind is so much more older than your body. Tell me, child, what have you began to see?”

Gaius narrowed his eyes slightly. There were so many things he could infer from that sentence, but he had no way of affirming his guesses. For a moment, the boy wondered what he should say next, before promptly deciding that doubling down on being cryptic was the way.

“Storm clouds,” said the boy. “And that’s not even with the threat of the Demon God’s invasion yet.”

The old woman laughed. “It seems that you already have an answer to whether nature is natural or not. Very well, I accept your reason. But there will always be a space in the family tree for you, so when the storm is over, do consider joining our family.”

And this, right here, was probably proof to Gaius that the elderly men and women of this world were more discerning than they cared to reveal. The boy couldn’t help but think back to the old men at the artefact shops he’d visited back in Elinaris. Most of them were annoyingly cryptic, self-assured and very roundabout in their words.

“Thank you for your offer,” said Gaius. “I look forward to when that day comes.”

She smiled. “So do I. I know what you’ve done for my grandchildren, and I must thank you for that. About whether they’ll be staying with me, worry not. Isabelle is an inquiring child, and I had prepared a place for her at the Mortal Light Dynasty’s most famous school, the Phrontistery of Scientific Reasoning, last year. I just need to prepare two more.”

“Two more?” Gaius asked.

“Of course.” She smiled. “For Nakama and you. It’s a school that accepts all ages. The school term starts a month from then, and the application period has long passed, but do not underestimate the influence of us old folks. Stay here for a day or two, and I’ll have it prepared for you.”

“How can I—”

“Hush, dear child. You deserve it too. Children need a proper education. Go there, go wild, and go enjoy the next few years in peace,” said the old lady. “A new era will begin with the fall of the Great Divide. You know as well as I do that this is probably the only time you have to relax and enjoy life, no?”

“What are you…” Gaius stopped speaking and smiled. “You’re right. And I really should experience the things I missed.”

“Exactly.” Isabelle’s grandmother tilted her head. “Now, I’m pretty sure there are some procedures I need to do to take in Nakama as my granddaughter. Fran, can you help me with this?”

“Of course, Matriarch.” A man with golden hair, much like Isabelle’s, walked up, a baby in his arms. Nakama’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the cute little fella, and even Gaius himself couldn’t resist the urge to walk over.

“Is that…”

“Yes, Isabelle,” said her grandmother. “You’re an aunt now. Meet Fran’s little baby boy, Jusis!”

The Knight trembled for a moment, and then made a little squeal of joy. The little baby, who was asleep, opened his little shiny eyes, before making an adorable gurgle. Faced with a bunch of happy teenagers and children, the little Jusis didn’t cry, and reached out for Gaius instead.

A little hand held Gaius’ finger, and the boy’s heart began to melt.

“He seems to like you, mister Gaius,” said Fran. “Do you want to hold him while I take care of the necessary procedures?”

“Can I?”

“Of course! In fact, you seem to have some odd fate with him, for him to look at you like that. Go on, carry him.”

The boy looked around at a bunch of expectant faces, and then gingerly handled the little ball of fluffy cuteness. The baby, Jusis, giggled immediately, and then started prodding at Gaius’ face.

“Yeap, he likes you,” said Fran, walking out of the living room. “Grandmother, please take care of him while I grab the papers.”

“Of course, of course. Hohoho.” The old lady laughed, and then joined the two girls in poking the baby’s cheek, who giggled in response.

After a few minutes, Fran returned, papers and a pen in his hands. Trailing behind him was a woman, who looked very much like his wife. She was holding on to a picture frame, which on closer inspection held something that looked like a family tree. It was probably something that was part of the Lorenze family traditions, but it was interesting enough to see anyway.

Silence fell as Fran’s wife walked towards Isabelle’s grandmother. Even the little baby Gaius was holding decided to stop making any noise as they approached.

“Thank you, Lili.”

“My pleasure, Matriarch.” Lili took a step back, and then another. Something like reverence had descended upon the waiting crowd; most of them were now staring at Isabelle’s grandmother with respect. It wasn’t just respect for her station, Gaius could feel that with that family tree in hand, she represented far more than that.

The legacy of untold years. Gaius could sense something that transcended qi, an existence that reminded Gaius of a Paragon’s Dominion, but far stronger. The boy took an involuntary step back, an action that didn’t go unmissed by Isabelle’s grandmother.

“You too can sense it. Like I thought, you truly are different from the others.” She smiled. “This is an artefact of incredible might. It is one of the three Zeroth Armaments in the South, the Canvas of Memory. It is the reason why our House stood for so long, and why people eventually began to target it.”

Gaius had a feeling that Zeroth Armaments didn’t have a Dominion or its derivatives, but Nexus was busy sleeping…or at least, the sculptures he occupied were updating, to enable simultaneous, all-range communication. But this thing, by the looks of it, was a utility artefact, rather than a weapon.

“What does it do?” Gaius asked.

“It enables the viewing of the last memories of anyone who writes their name into it,” said Isabelle’s grandmother. “No matter what happened to their body, no matter how they died.”

“How does that even work?” Gaius asked.

“It’s a Zeroth Armament,” she replied. “You’d need someone capable of creating one such artefact to even begin to know why. And the reason why it is known as a Zeroth Armament…is because it can apparently work on Demigods and even the great gods.”

“I question the last part, given that the only god to have died was the Lifespring,” said Gaius. "I don't think a Zeroth Armament had a part to play in his death."

The old lady shrugged, and Gaius wanted to wince at that seemingly careless movement. No matter how he cut it, old people shouldn’t move their bones in such a manner, but he had a feeling that no one was going to take his words seriously. Fortunately, he wasn’t the only one to think that way, judging from the worried looks the other members of the Lorenze family had on their faces.

“Grandmother, you shouldn’t do that, it’s bad for your bones…”

Words like these danced around the living room, but the old lady wasn’t going to have any of it. After waving her hand dismissively, she squatted down beside Nakama and passed her a pen. “Here, Nakama. Write your name on it.”

The little girl tilted her head and glanced at Gaius, who nodded back. She picked up the pen and scribbled into the artefact, before passing it back to Isabelle’s grandmother, who was filling up the papers Fran had handed her.

“Nakama Lorenze…welcome to our family.” Isabelle patted her head, and the two girls smiled.

“Family!”

“Yes, yes.” Isabelle rubbed her hair. “You’ll never be alone again. Even if the flame vanishes, the ashes will never vanish. Your existence will remain for all time.”

Nakama blinked. Gaius had the feeling that she understood the words, but not the meaning behind them. It didn’t really matter to him what the Canvas of Memory did either — what was more important was that the little girl now had a real family, someone that would care for her if anything happened to Gaius.

He felt his shoulders lighten. Nothing but benefits would come from Nakama’s recognition that she had a real family. It would probably change some parts of her mindset, make her more optimistic. Gaius knew that in the years to come, Orb would be plunged into a war of unprecedented scale — one he might not come back from. But with the Lorenzes as a secondary support, she should be able handle whatever came.

“That reminds me,” said Gaius. “I have a meeting gift for you, Isabelle’s grandmother.”

“A gift?” She asked, curious. “Hmm. If I understand correctly, you have been to the North and the East, no? Did you bring some specialties over?”

Gaius laughed. “Unfortunately, no.”

Shifting Jusis to his left hand, Gaius produced the small package he’d weaved with qi earlier and passed it to the old lady, who glanced at the outside. “It’s but a small token of my thanks.”

The old lady nodded. “You’re a polite one too. Not bad. Anyway, please stay for the night. Like I said, I want my granddaughters to have a complete education, so I’ll be preparing a place in the phrontistery for them, as well as for you. It’ll be done in a day or two, so please do not think that you’re intruding on us.”

He was intending to stay anyway, given that it would be downright cruel to Isabelle and Nakama if they were to leave after saying hi. And more importantly, Gaius wanted to seek out someone in Elinaris, so having the Lorenze family watch over them while he was gone gelled well with him.

Jusis gurgled as Nakama walked over to Gaius. It was, by all accounts, a gathering of children, and the boy could feel a couple of doting smiles sent their way as Nakama began to lavish some care on the baby boy. It seemed that his little sister, like him, had a soft spot for babies too.

At any rate, Gaius had an odd wish in his heart now. Nakama’s new family, especially her new aunts and uncles, should hurry up and have some children. In fact, he felt like giving some gems every time someone in the Lorenze family had a kid. But of course, such a policy had to go through their matriarch first…

Laughing inwardly, Gaius continued to entertain the little baby, with Nakama and Isabelle at his side.