[Book 11: Aeons Arise]

“Another day, another bout of silver light.” Claud poked his head out of the window, winced at the bright silver light that was shining down on the world, and then slid back, before pulling the curtains shut.

Lily, who had curled up under the blanket just seconds over, made some weird noise and then sat up. “What time is it?”

“Moons if I know,” Claud replied. “It’s silver out there.”

“Oh. Right. It’s the daytime, then…I suppose we can’t get any more details, can we?” Lily yawned. “Anyway, thanks for the backrub last night. That really hit the spot.”

“If you’re still feeling the effects of it now, I’m sure it’s more effective than just hitting the spot,” Claud noted, before waddling over to a small, miniature room. There, on three small boxes lined with velvety and cushy material, were three little shapes.

A cube, a sphere and a star. Those three little fellows were making soft meeps as they snored away, and Claud had to withstand the urge to poke them awake. Smiling to himself, he moved on to the weird, misaligned pyramid that had served him well for a long time.

It was still misaligned, which meant that the divinities or whatever that had been paying attention to him for the past few months and seasons weren’t intending on using their actual powers on him just yet.

“Routine checks are boring, but you’re still treating them so seriously,” Lily commented.

“It only takes like ten seconds to check the Looped Encryptor, but our lives will stretch out towards eternity. Tis a small price to pay,” Claud replied, before reaching out for a small card. “Oh. That divinity has sent another message. Let’s see here. ‘What should I get for Count Lostfon’s birthday?’”

“Huh? Lily hopped off the bed. “His birthday?”

Claud showed her the card, and an indescribable look crawled up her face. She looked as incredulous as Claud himself felt, and after a while, she shook her head. “I suppose a good gift would be peace, right?”

“Probably. Or you know, an end to the fighting…” Claud thought for a moment. “How does a city-protecting artefact sound? Something that can create a huge barrier around Lostfon, so that any battles that happen outside won’t affect the city directly.”

“That’s a great idea,” Lily replied. “Let’s scribble that back, and we might as well ask a few questions too.”

Claud nodded. “Should I preface it? I think I should, just so the big guy doesn’t get the wrong idea. Let’s see…”

He looked at the scribbled message and nodded. “Alright, away it goes!”

The words scribbled on the card vanished, and the two of them returned to their bed and sat down on it. Lily immediately picked up a pillow and hugged it, prompting Claud to rub her head.

“Why do you always do that?” Lily asked, trapping his hand with her own. “Do I look extra-cute when I hug a pillow?”

“You do,” Claud replied, raising a hand. “Oh. Well, I suppose we should check up on Risti, who’s probably starving or something by now. Do you think her dad’s going to get here today? Or would he show up after Risti leaves to bring the others over?”

“What do you think is more likely to happen?”

Claud paused. “Well, the Red God exists. And while he is apparently the God of Precision, I am more inclined to think that he is the God of Coincidence. I’d say that Risti will run into her father right before she leaves.”

“That is an extraordinarily weird guess,” Lily replied. “I’m going to chase her out right now.”

“And that, my dear Lily, is cheating.” Claud pulled her down next to him.

“Hey!”

The two of them fooled around for a while, before deciding that tidying up the bed and washing up was probably going to be for the best. Claud, on his part, didn’t know how soundproof this room was, and he did not want to embarrass Lily accidentally by having Risti overhear some weird things.

Patting his face dry, Claud stretched once and led the way out to the living room, where a disgruntled Risti was staring daggers at them. Claud thought for a moment, and then clapped his hands together. “Right, breakfast!”

“You finally remembered, huh?” Risti glared at him. “You two must be living the couple life up. Your room’s quite soundproofed, though. I stuck my ear on the door and I couldn’t hear anything. Or are you two the quiet kind?”

It was Claud’s turn to glare at Risti, and after displaying his anger through displaying his ocular might, he said, “We just overslept, okay? The silver sky makes it very hard to tell what time it is other than ‘day’ and night’. You could have knocked or something.”

“Oh.” Risti cleared her throat. “Sorry.”

Claud turned away and headed into the kitchen. “You better be.”

As Lily asked her about her dad, Claud heated up the soup that had been last night’s dinner, and then pulled out a few slabs of smoked meat. Sliding them into the pot that he’d carried them inside, he looked at the stone stove and chucked more wood into the fire there.

If he didn’t get it wrong, Risti probably had tried to make something earlier, but had refrained from doing so for some reason. Thankfully, however, the fire she’d started was still burning merrily, and before long, the pot’s contents began to bubble.

Making a mental note to return after ten minutes, he walked out of the kitchen.

“Are we having yesterday’s soup?” Lily asked.

“That, plus some meat and bread.” Claud turned to Risti. “I hope you don’t mind the simple fare.”

“I’m fine with it, thank you very much. Anyway, I think I should give you two this.” She fumbled with her pockets, and then pulled out a small bag, which she tossed to Lily.

Lily opened the small bag. “What’s the lifestones for?”

“My dad’s lodging fee when he comes by,” Risti replied. “Can’t have him freeloading off you two, right?”

“True, but let’s put it this way,” Lily replied. “If our parents — hypothetical ones — were to drop by your place to live for say, a month or two, would you accept our payment? Especially when they could be of great help?”

Risti looked at them, and then sighed. “I suppose you won’t be accepting the payment, then.”

“Uh-huh. We’ll like to pick your dad’s brain on a few matters, though.” Lily’s eyes twinkled. “Your father’s the Association President. He has to be crazy strong.”

“Probably?” Risti made a noise in her throat. “I’m not too sure. When strong folders cut loose, everything becomes a real mess, and it’s hard to determine strength. I mean, the Sixth Bearer of Destiny was at best a bi-folder, but he managed to kill off a whole bunch of strong folders and entire armies. If Dia hadn’t—”

“Dia?” Claud frowned. “What happened?”

Risti blinked. “Wait, I didn’t tell you two? Dia was the one who defeated the Sixth and killed him.”

Claud felt his head spin. “Dia. Killed. The Sixth?”

“Yeah, why?” Risti looked at him. “Lily, something’s wrong with your hubby.”

“No, I’m fine.” Claud had a sinking feeling. “Anyway, she killed the Sixth Bearer of Destiny?”

“Uh-huh. She seems quite…nonchalant about it, but I can tell that she’s real chuffed about this achievement,” Risti replied. “Anyway, we won’t need to live in fear of being scared to death. I know there’s some recursive logic in what I just said or something, but it’s nice that such a dangerous skill is lost forever.”

Claud nodded, but his mind was already considering something else. He had become the Omen, as the first person to kill a Bearer of Destiny. Dia, however, was almost certainly the first non-Bearer to kill a Bearer — did the act of doing that trigger the Salvation Star schtick?

The more he thought about it, the more plausible the whole thing felt. After all, the Salvation Star fellow had popped up right after the Sixth perished. If he became the Omen due to him kicking off the entire chain of events that led up to the Last Godsfall…

He shook his head. Rubbing Lily on the head once more, he said, “I’ll check on the soup. It should be done soon.”

Lily nodded and trapped his hand with her own again. “Hurry over when you’re done!”

“I feel really angry when I see you two flirt in front of me for some reason,” Risti muttered. “Damnit. Maybe I shouldn’t bring the others back. It’s like I’m asking to be tortured by these overly sweet acts of affection, blergh.”

“Then don’t look,” Claud replied.

“Easy for you to say,” Risti replied. “Anyway, shoo. Go check on the breakfast. I’ll go…wash my eyes or something. And my hands, too, while I’m at it.”

“Really?” Claud muttered, before turning away. “Well, whatever.”

“I’ll take the cutlery out,” Lily volunteered. “Let’s go!”

Leaving behind a disgruntled Risti, the two of them ventured into the kitchen.