Isabelle was staring at a monitor, an amused look on her face, when Gaius appeared in the control room of Celestia. A small tremor ran through her a second later, and before Gaius could react, she had already flung her hands around him.

After sharing a silent embrace, Gaius rubbed her hair. “I’m back.”

“And looking really good too,” Isabelle nodded. “…Do you want to get more clothes?”

“I think the forty-plus pairs we ordered is good enough,” Gaius replied. “And you do know that I can create more at will, right?”

“Didn’t you want to inject more energy salts into Celestia’s economy?” Isabelle asked. “You, who can output them continuously, should be more than happy to do some shopping and get some good food, right?”

“But your food’s the best…”

Isabelle’s face lit up at those words, and Gaius struggled to rein in his emotions at that charming sight. “That’s really sweet of you. Where did you pick up this habit? Did Nexus teach you?”

“I’m just telling the truth, though,” said Gaius. “Anyway, what got you so amused?”

“Oh, you noticed?” Isabelle smiled, and then guided him over. “Here, take a look.”

Gaius glanced at the screen, and his brows knitted together. “Nakama and La-Ti…they’re teaching people how to sculpt?”

“For free too, yes,” said Isabelle. “But that’s not the amusing thing. Take a look at that corner over there. That’s the sculptures they carved for previous demonstrations, and…”

“…Kill me.”

“Isn’t it amusing?” Isabelle asked. “Did you know that they’ve given out lots of these statues too? Apparently, there’s this calming effect too — being in proximity to those statues of you can calm the mind down.”

“I am not sure what to say, but…well, I suppose sigils and formations also work here.” Gaius rubbed his head, which was aching, prompting Isabelle to start patting him gently. “There are still Soldiers and Squires around here, after all. But really? Sculptures of me? What am I, an object of worship?”

“Considering that you are Celestia’s God of Creation, I don’t think that’s really unreasonable…but you aren’t being worshipped. Yet.”

“Did you really feel the need to add on that last word?” Gaius asked, his face glum. “I don’t need unreasonable expectations heaped upon me, you know.”

“But your achievements so far have been unreasonable too,” Isabelle pointed out. “I don’t think that’s a good defence.”

Gaius rolled his eyes, and then sat down. “Lend me your shoulder for a moment, okay?”

“Oh, okay.”

Isabelle created a small seat and sat down beside him, allowing Gaius to rest his head on her shoulders. There was something about physical intimacy that couldn’t be replaced; even if they weren’t doing anything explicit, holding on to each other was more than enough for Gaius. It was those little moments of silence and closeness that filled his heart and motivated him to go on, even against an entire world.

“You’ve done well,” Isabelle whispered. “Thank you for holding on so far. I’m sorry.”

“I wanted to do all this by my own volition,” Gaius whispered back. “But…I…I keep telling myself that they’re still alive. I’ve been telling myself that that the people I’ve killed are still alive, since I sent them here…but I don’t believe that myself.”

“That’s why you just let the spectres…”

Gaius nodded. “When all this is over…”

“Don’t you dare think of killing yourself or something,” said Isabelle. “I forbid you to.”

Gaius closed his eyes. “I won’t. That’s a waste of my life. I’ll…probably devote the rest of my life to protecting Celestia and Orb. Watch over from afar, and let the days slip by. I know I asked you this long ago, but will you be by my side?”

“We already came this far, and you’re asking this question again?” Isabelle reached out and grasped his hand. “Of course. If you ever think of doing anything stupid, I’ll stop you. If you ever grow drunk on your power, I’ll smack your head twice and then hold you down. If you ever despair, I’ll hold you and make you smile.”

She paused. “Is that a good enough reply?”

“You…really know me well,” said Gaius. “I’ll be in your care, then.”

“I really am the older one, aren’t I?” Isabelle muttered, her hands ruffling through Gaius’ hair. “So cute.”

“Well, I did seal most of my memories from Earth,” said Gaius. “I thought about it, and your argument did make sense. And Nexus did say that those memories could be exploited, so I listened to everyone’s advice this time.”

Isabelle tilted her head. “Don’t think too much about it. Whether you retain your memories of your past life or not doesn’t matter to me, okay? You’re you, no matter what, and that’s all I care about. After all, only a dummy like you would go so far for countless strangers…and they don’t even appreciate it. Do you know how worried I get at times?”

Gaius looked away. He had known that doing such a thing would make Isabelle worry — and he was leaving everyone else out of it to boot. “Sorry.”

“But…without you, many things would have changed,” said Isabelle, a hollow light in her eyes. “Without you, some things would have changed. My family would have been executed long ago. The God of Water might have annihilated Eo-Seu. The Human God might have…”

Her voice trailed off as a trace of fear flickered through her face, and Gaius reached out to hold her hand. “Don’t worry. There won’t be a round two.”

“Don’t lie to me, okay? Don’t keep me waiting.”

Gaius looked Isabelle in the eye. “Don’t worry. I might be useless at many things, but if there’s one thing I’m confident in, it’s in beating other people up. They’re never going to defeat me.”

Isabelle rolled her eyes. “Dummy.”

“Hey!”

“Arrogant prick.”

“Now that’s just insulting me…” Gaius pulled her close. “But I won’t lose. I’ll return to you, no matter what. This I swear.”

“…You said it yourself.”

Gaius nodded. “I’ll never let you go.”

“And don’t you think of running either,” Isabelle added. “If you don’t come back, I’ll beat up the great gods and everyone involved. Got it?”

“But violence is bad—”

“You of all people are saying that?”