It was an unexpected reply, but Isabelle’s stance was firm. Until Gaius got to at least one and a half metres tall, he wasn’t going to go anywhere near a stove. Never mind the fact that he had Barrier activated at all times and was able to fly, or that he had actually cooked before — Isabelle wasn’t going to endanger children if she could help it.

Gaius didn’t know what to say to that last bit, so he gave up and resolved to grow a tiny bit taller. She had shown some disapproval when Gaius cooked omelettes earlier, but it seemed that she had come up with a masterful argument —would he be willing to let Nakama handle the stove two years from now?

The boy had a feeling that there was something he could use to rebut her entire argument, but he wasn’t getting it. As a plus, however, he managed to get her to return Nexus — which, now that he thought about it, probably contributed to his defeat in their debate. The artificial intelligence simply knew too much about Gaius.

The Oracle came in when Nakama was done with her fifth plate of stew.

“Hallo, Gaius.”

“Good evening, Oracle.” Gaius nodded back. “How has your day been?”

“Quite smooth, thank you. Oh my. Your sister sure is a big eater, isn’t she?” She looked at Countess Reinford, who was stealing glances at the food-laden table, and then hid a smile. “I see your ploy succeeded, although I definitely didn’t predict that she’d eat this much.”

The Oracle shook her head. “Anyhow, I bring you all one more piece of grim news…or good news, depending on who you ask. The last of the Constellations have fallen, killed by the Phantom Blade and her companions. Taurus and Cancer put up a good fight, but…”

“But?”

“No one expected a Demigod to show up. We have been fooled in many ways,” said the Oracle. “Xanadu took leave from the phrontistery last week, and in that week alone, I detected quite the huge force mobilising. Unfortunately, I never drew the connection between the two events before it was too late.”

She took out a file. “This was the site of battle. It was, of all places, located in the Central Circle. I suppose Scorpio’s public confrontation with the Human God there had given them some measure of confidence that the place was safe, but…”

Gaius and Isabelle flicked through the photos. The Central Circle, which was already in ruins, had been levelled to the ground entirely. Whatever remained of the once-great nation was now flat, glassed land. Flora and fauna probably wouldn’t grow there for the next century to come…if the continent was even able to hold itself together after such trauma.

“What happened, exactly?”

“You want to watch the fight?” The Oracle ran her hand through a lock of red hair. “Boys. Always eager to watch violence. Kolya also asked me the same thing. Do I look like a spy satellite to you?”

“What’s a spy satellite?” Isabelle asked.

“Oh, it’s an invention from Earth.” The Oracle paused for a moment, her eyes lingering on Pinnacle Kolya as he listened to Reinford. “In simple terms, it’s something sent really high into the sky. Tens of thousands of kilometres from the ground. Something called a camera is attached to it, and from there, it can gather images of Earth.”

Isabelle frowned as she tried to picture it, and then shook her head. “I can’t really imagine it, but it’s basically an artefact capable of looking down on the ground, right?”

“Yes, I suppose. We do have artefacts of this nature, but none of them can obviously see the entire world.” She shook her head. “Why do I get the feeling that you two are looking down on us?”

“We are? You must be sorely mistaken,” said Gaius, who was comparing the Map of Stars to whatever artefacts the North had. “Anyway, you don’t know how the battle went, then.”

“That’s about it. But apparently, none of the Constellations lasted more than a minute. The Demigod showed up, blasted them both, and then left.”

“Of all the ways I imagined them to die,” said Gaius, “this probably wasn’t on the list. Thing is, why did they only move after the Second Extermination? They could have saved so many beastfolk lives, but…”

“I wish I knew too.” The Oracle grinned. “But we might find out soon enough.”

“What do you mean?” Gaius asked.

The elevator doors slid open at this moment, and a familiar figure walked out of it. “I thought I might see you here after all.”

“Xanadu.” Gaius moved his right arm by way of greeting. “I see the Oracle invited you too.”

“Galina knows that I’m a sucker for good food, and...huh. There isn't much left? Bummer.” She looked at the table, where two huge plates had been emptied. The little culprit, meanwhile, was reaching out to what looked like a delicious slab of steamed salmon fillets that had been garnished and seasoned liberally.

“Oh dear.” The Oracle clapped her hands. “Looks like we have a really hungry little guest here. Please wait a moment while we use the most obvious solution to this problem.”

She stalked off, leaving Gaius and Isabelle with Xanadu.

“So, you wiped out the Constellations.” Gaius shook his head. “Congratulations, I guess. You’ve achieved your goal. Why were you guys going after them in the first place?”

“It’s a riveting story,” said Xanadu. “But now that the Constellations are no more, I can finally tell it. I’ll wait the Pinnacle to be done, and then I’ll begin the storytelling session.”

A weight seemed to have left her shoulders. Gaius had the feeling that she was in the mood to binge some ice-cream, if they took their eyes off her for long enough. She closed her eyes and listened to the music, her body swaying according to the beat.

Well, she looks happy enough. Gaius shook his head and then turned his attention to the salmon fillet Nakama was demolishing. He debated briefly whether he should stop him from overeating, and then promptly decided to let Isabelle handle it.

Nodding to himself, he took a seat and helped himself to the salmon too.