"Some sort of construct that is, apparently, made out of a dying child's hatred for the world by an Other. It's rather unclear whether the construct itself is an Other, however. It's physically and metaphorically made up of static, and disrupts communications around it. It's a shapeshifter, nearly impossible to harm, often manifests itself as a traumatic event from the viewer's past, has great psionic power, or something near like it, and the only way to so much as harm it are curses that utterly prevent healing and spells that shut down shapeshifting abilities. Which, of course, conveniently ignores the paradox that the creature seems to be somewhat immune to magic, but I believe that the book implies that there's some sort of workaround. Emm has caused three planet-scale apocalypses, and although it can, technically, be killed, forming a contract with the Other that made it causes it to remanifest and presumably cause another apocalypse."
"Some sort of construct that is, apparently, made out of a dying child's hatred for the world by an Other. It's rather unclear whether the construct itself is an Other, however. It's physically and metaphorically made up of static, and disrupts communications around it. It's a shapeshifter, nearly impossible to harm, often manifests itself as a traumatic event from the viewer's past, has great psionic power, or something near like it, and the only way to so much as harm it are curses that utterly prevent healing and spells that shut down shapeshifting abilities. Which, of course, conveniently ignores the paradox that the creature seems to be somewhat immune to magic, but I believe that the book implies that there's some sort of workaround. Emm has caused three planet-scale apocalypses, and although it can, technically, be killed, forming a contract with the Other that made it causes it to remanifest and presumably cause another apocalypse."
"That's definitely concerning, but I'm not sure this is exactly the same thing. I'm not sure it's not though. Let's see if we can find any more information about this Emm, and hope that this thing isn't what Don's parents bound to him. It....doesn't feel right to me. Can't quite put my finger on why, but it just doesn't," she said, frowning.
"You don't have to hover, you know. I'm resting. Really."
Ryleh snorted. "I'm your mother. Of course I have to hover. And don't bother telling me to leave. Vai is keeping watch over Phaezeriel. He is in some sort of cocoon again. I won't pretend that I am not concerned, especially considering the freedom he has been granted to the hatchery, but I will not jump to conclusions. I admit that I am paranoid."
"Well, with good reason. So you're basically going to stay in the infirmary all night?"
"Yes. If only to make sure you don't have a fit of trying to do everything the moment you start to feel better."
Aananda laughed, her arm over her eyes, hiding the tears. "I'm nothing if not predictable, huh?"
It had been nice to just hang out with other kids her own age. Okay, so they were also Champions, but the evening had definitely not involved saving the world at any point. Although she did feel kind of like a third wheel hanging out with those two. She debated looking for Jasper, but decided to leave it until morning. She was kind of peopled out. She never used to have this problem, although she'd never been as aggressively outgoing as Jiminy. But trying to sort out which memories were hers took so much brainpower these days that she found herself needing more alone time to process.
Pyra unintentionally interrupted what looked to be a romantic moment as she came back into the room to check on Raelle. "No, no, you're fine!" she said, as the kids jumped, blushing like mad. "I just wanted to check on Raelle."
"Mom?" Raelle asked, noticing her mom's funny expression. "Are you okay?"
Pyra sighed. She'd never had much of a poker face. "I just spent some time explaining to Elektra that her father was one of the guards who had been put through the ritual. We're not sure yet if it can be reversed. It was...not a pleasant conversation. She has her friends with her, so at least she's not on her own. And...there are some other things that came to light when your father went through his parents' things. I don't want to talk about it now. I'm not trying to keep secrets, sweetie. I just can only handle so much at once. I'll tell you and your sisters about it in the morning. It's all going to be very public, so I'd rather you hear it from us. Just...not tonight."
"Ardiente, you can stay with Raelle for a while longer if you like. Until Sorchan gets back anyways. He'll stop in to check on her when he gets here."
The trip back from the spirit world was a bit bumpier than expected. But they made it, and with Lang's help, they were able to get the seeds back through the barrier to the real world. For just a moment after they returned to their bodies, just as he opened his eyes, he saw large antlered, tree shape of Kyrtzllkyllyvkk in front of him. The nature spirit bowed slightly, and then as his eyes opened the rest of the way it was just Ori sitting in front of him. She grinned.
As they continued to pore over the books and scrolls, trying to find anything that would prove or disprove that this destroyer Emm was the same spirit that was bonded to Adon, the days of exhaustion finally took their toll. Adon found his eyes blurring as he tried to read and Sadie and Djalos turned mid discussion to discover that he had simply fallen asleep. At Sadie's suggestion, they carried him to a warmer section of the library and continued to read while Adon got some much needed rest. After a while, Sadie too ended up falling asleep over a book.
It was the grey light that occurred right before dawn, something that Miss Jones was all too familiar with, although this time in less disarray than what happened at the new moon. Treisdan had missed his check-in yesterday. A quick search showed that he was not on school grounds. She had spent the better part of the night trying to track him down as he was going to a great deal of trouble to conceal his whereabouts. And then a little while ago those efforts had disappeared, but so had he. So she was heading in the direction he should have been, fearing the worst and hoping that she was wrong. When she arrived at the large crater in the ground a few miles away from the school, she knew that she had been right to fear the worst.
"It wasn't supposed to end this way," she said softly, examining the carnage with despair. Treisdan's catastrophic decision to split himself in two had hurt more than just himself. She tucked her glasses into her pocket and carefully removed her hairpins before she began singing, a heartbreaking lament. When she was done, the crater was covered with grass and those willing to return from the land of the dead were standing blinking and confused along its edges, not remembering their time as part of an undead army. Calliope quickly ducked behind a tree before they could get a good look at her and replaced her hairpins and glasses. She hurried back to the school. She really needed to have that talk with the Headmaster now. It was going to take more than hairpins to keep her past contained.
After a long night watching over family members who kept insisting that they didn't need to be watched over, Ryleh headed back to her lair for a nap, or at least a pot of tea. She was surprised to find a note waiting for her there. She read it. Then she sat down and read it again. She was surprised at how hard it hit her. It shouldn't have surprised her. It had been a long time since she had had peers, let alone a friend, if she ever had that before at all. It had been easier when she hadn't known what she was missing. Sheessuorusen had been recalled back to the court of the sea king along with his young ward because of the concern over a Siren having a teaching post at Avalon. She knew from their many talks that it was unlikely that his duties would allow him to so much as visit anytime in the next century at least. And for the first time in a long time she had to accept just how lonely her existence was. She laid her head down on the table and sobbed.
As the reading took its toll on Sadie, and Djalos too, his mind drifted towards familiar thoughts. His eyes wandered to his two... friends, he supposed. At least in some sense. He'd never thought of them that way before. Should he... no. They wouldn't. Nobody would. But Miss Jones?... No. Not now. Not when everything was... fine. When everything felt good, except for that. That was odd. Things felt good.
He drifted off to sleep, and dreamed a familiar dream.
***
Djalos awakens in starts, allowing himself to enjoy the sensation of a slow start to the day. He rolls over, and accidentally bumps into Sadie. "Good morning," he says, his voice crisp despite the early hour. "Shall we begin again?"
Jacob spends most of the rest of his day researching lamir more extensively, albeit at a more sedate pace as the immediate crisis was averted. What he found... surprised him. A whispered secret in his ear told him how to hide his thoughts from Roxie. After all, she would be somewhat distressed by the wider implications of her covenant with Miss Sunwake, and he was not one to cause a lady (no matter her horrific true form, vulgarity, or callousness) undue distress.
He retires at a reasonable hour, and has a pleasant, dreamless sleep, awakening in the morning with slightly more pep in his step now that he knew the nature of the being inhabiting his mind.
Adon is still very asleep.
And so the night passed mostly peacefully, and the next morning arrived.
Dave slept more contently than he had in quite some time, given the exhaustion of the previous day and the pleasant flirtation with Andromeda and Tybalt. He streatches and looks over to Tybalt on the other bed and smiles before he removes his shirt and gets started on his early morning workout
As the reading took its toll on Sadie, and Djalos too, his mind drifted towards familiar thoughts. His eyes wandered to his two... friends, he supposed. At least in some sense. He'd never thought of them that way before. Should he... no. They wouldn't. Nobody would. But Miss Jones?... No. Not now. Not when everything was... fine. When everything felt good, except for that. That was odd. Things felt good.
He drifted off to sleep, and dreamed a familiar dream.
***
Djalos awakens in starts, allowing himself to enjoy the sensation of a slow start to the day. He rolls over, and accidentally bumps into Sadie. "Good morning," he says, his voice crisp despite the early hour. "Shall we begin again?"
"Wha-?" Sadie mumbles sleepily. Her hair is sticking up on the side of her head she had been laying on, and she absently wipes drool off her cheek. "What time is it?"
Bradley was just finishing setting out food for the still sleepy pigeons when the trap door to the roof opened. He turned around hopefully, but the person was a stranger....sort of. He took a deep breath and stood very still as he temporarily corralled his racing thoughts. He had a lot of questions for someone later. If he could figure out who to ask.
"Oh! Hello! I didn't know there'd be anybody up here," she said cheerfully, looking around in surprise. You couldn't tell from the ground that there was so much up here on the roof. "I was just wanting to watch the sunrise, you know, get a really good view. Yesterday was kind of...confusing....and I couldn't sleep very well, so I figured I might as well watch the sunrise if I was up anyways, and where can you get a better view than the roof, and the arrows took me here. Er, I hope I'm not intruding. I can go away if you wanted to be alone. Oh! Where are my manners? Like, duh, Lyzzie, you can't just go talking at people without even introducing yourself. I'm Talysmyn. Lyzzie for short. Because the alternative would be Tally and that just sounds ridiculous. Nobody takes someone called Tally seriously, and it's hard enough to get people to take me seriously as it is. Which might have something to do with how much I talk, and I'm doing it again. Sorry. Shutting up now," she ended with a nervous giggle.
"Uh, no," Bradley stammered. "It's fine. I was just surprised. I don't get a lot of visitors up here anymore," he added sadly. "I'm Bradley. I...sort of suck up other people's bad luck, so I have to stay up here for my own safety. But it's fine! I mean, it's not like it's a punishment. I like staying up here with the pigeons and all. Er...and you're welcome to stay if you want."
"Okay, thanks," she said with a cheerful smile. "And you be sure to let me know right away if you need me to leave. I don't want to hurt you or anything," she said, sitting down on the ledge at the edge of this section of the roof.
Andromeda was in the dance studio before it was even light out, warming up for practice. She wasn't usually an early morning person, but she'd woken up from a particularly bad dream with no real idea whether it was a dream or a memory, and if it was a memory if it was hers. So she decided to dance until she was too exhausted to care.
After a whole night of fluids and mostly behaving herself, she finally convinced the hospital staff to discharge her. She stopped on her way out to check on Vai, and found that Vai was still asleep on a cot they had set up for her. She didn't disturb her, and instead quietly walked out of the room, heading back to her lab. She wasn't really sure how to handle to security situation until Ryo found a replacement for her. But after a whole night of actual rest she was beyond stir-crazy. Especially in light of recent events. She dreaded telling the kids about what had happened to their friends.
|
Arthur spent the evening quietly enjoying the presence of his friend under the watchful robotic eye of his robot butler.
When he gets back to his room he has trouble sleeping and finds himself awake early morning at a work bench with mechanical parts and a couple small semiautonomous robots the size of one's hand strewn about "uh... did I do this?"
Sorchan sat by the window and watched the sun come up. He hadn't slept at all last night. He'd finally persuaded Pyra to get some rest. Well, actually she'd cried herself to sleep. Same difference. Today was going to be a very long day. It had been supposed to be the day for the firebirds to decide on a system or systems of governance and a new home or homes, depending on how things were decided. But now there was also the need to put his parents on trial, and also try and see if it was possible to restore the victims. Well, the ones who were still alive. He rested his head on his hands and wondered if there was any good way through this mess.
"It is approximately 7:14 AM," Djalos replies crisply. "Now. We need to get a head start on this research. Shall we?"
Mel was still in bed by 8am, she simply rolled over and covered her head with more blankets.
Hoping that nobody will bug her, but a part of her knows that will not be the case. So she enjoys the short respite while she can.
Lang is up as early as he can, making his way to a quiet area to practice his morning kata's
Sun is not far off from Lang but he has his arms full of various pastries and goodies he managed to get.
taking a seat nearby, watching Lang practice.
But he notices something is off, Lang seems to be moving slower, and he is making several mistakes as he practices.
This has gotten Sun;s attention and he concentrates on watching him even more. but does not interfere, at least not yet.
Ghalen wakes early and does hid meditations to prepare his energies for the day, wondering what all of this mech business will actually accomplish, other than delay the inevitable. He chuckled at his own skepticism, as he drank a cup of coffee, reading the mech manuals and schematics on his newly re-acquired pad, pondering his new homeworld's future.
Al awakes early, and heads out into the woods to hunt. He hasn't quite taken to having his food prepared for him yet. He catches a healthy rabbit, and prepares it for his meal, sitting up in one of his favorite trees. After his meal, he meditates like Ryleh has shown him, trying to calm his mind.
"It is approximately 7:14 AM," Djalos replies crisply. "Now. We need to get a head start on this research. Shall we?"
"Umm...yeah. But not before a bathroom break. And maybe a shower. And definitely some coffee. Probably food. You wanna take turns? Pretty sure we shouldn't leave Adon sleeping here all by himself. And I may have to bring my little brother along with me when I come back. He usually tags along with me as much as he can on the weekends."
Sun is not far off from Lang but he has his arms full of various pastries and goodies he managed to get.
taking a seat nearby, watching Lang practice.
But he notices something is off, Lang seems to be moving slower, and he is making several mistakes as he practices.
This has gotten Sun;s attention and he concentrates on watching him even more. but does not interfere, at least not yet.
"What is he doing?" she asked imperiously. She had decided to go for a walk since Ignace was still with her family and that left her without any other playmates.
Ori had spent the morning planting, after making sure it was cleared with Adsila first, and specifically in the area that she had been told was okay. All of the seeds had been carefully spaced in a circle for the new grove. And now it would just take time for them to sprout. Several months under normal circumstances, since it was already late autumn. But she suspected that magical spirit trees worked on a different schedule than normal plants. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead, leaving unintentional dirt smears behind on her face.
Now that that was taken care of, time to go and collect her lesson plans and homework to grade from Tyrrin. She was looking forward to getting back to teaching.
Nala was napping in one of the exam rooms. Every time she tried to go off duty, something else went wrong, and without Phaezeriel keeping things calm her presence was needed near constantly. Plus one of the nurses had disappeared without notice. There had been some new medical staff that arrived though, which helped immensely. Until she had to teach them how to work with the new systems. Again. Ugh. Why had she decided to go into Healing as a career again?
"What is he doing?" she asked imperiously. She had decided to go for a walk since Ignace was still with her family and that left her without any other playmates.Sun is not far off from Lang but he has his arms full of various pastries and goodies he managed to get.
taking a seat nearby, watching Lang practice.
But he notices something is off, Lang seems to be moving slower, and he is making several mistakes as he practices.
This has gotten Sun;s attention and he concentrates on watching him even more. but does not interfere, at least not yet.
Sun looks to the young girl watching, his face covered in powdered sugar.
practicing his forms. If he is to master all the elements he will have to be able to use these forms in various combinations to protect himself as well as those around him.
He takes another bite of a danish, something is off today. his form is weak, he is not concentrating. whatever is on his mind he best get things straight if he intends to complete his purpose.
Bradley's head was spinning. Spending time with Lyzzie was mentally exhausting. She never stopped talking. Which wasn't a bad thing, but keeping up with the frequent subject changes took more attention than he was used to having to pay. She reminded him of...well, of course she did. Best not to think about that too closely just yet.
He did his best to keep up, and explained all about pigeons, or at least a little about pigeons when asked during one of the few opportunities in the conversation he had to get a word in edgewise. There wasn't actually that much of interest to say.
Once the sun was all the way up, Lyzzie decided that she was hungry. For a biiiig stack of pancakes. With syrup. And butter. And strawberries. And maybe some whipped cream, but she hadn't fully decided if that would be too sweet yet or not. He felt hungry just thinking about it. His breakfast tended to just appear on its own at the appropriate time since the cafeteria was not safe for him. He hoped that today it would be pancakes.
Shortly after saying goodbye to Lyzzie as she skipped off to enjoy her breakfast, he heard a noise behind him. He didn't turn around. He knew who it was. Nobody else had an aura like that, a large amount of everything at once.
"I'd like an explanation," he growled.
"What is he doing?" she asked imperiously. She had decided to go for a walk since Ignace was still with her family and that left her without any other playmates.Sun is not far off from Lang but he has his arms full of various pastries and goodies he managed to get.
taking a seat nearby, watching Lang practice.
But he notices something is off, Lang seems to be moving slower, and he is making several mistakes as he practices.
This has gotten Sun;s attention and he concentrates on watching him even more. but does not interfere, at least not yet.
Sun looks to the young girl watching, his face covered in powdered sugar.
practicing his forms. If he is to master all the elements he will have to be able to use these forms in various combinations to protect himself as well as those around him.
He takes another bite of a danish, something is off today. his form is weak, he is not concentrating. whatever is on his mind he best get things straight if he intends to complete his purpose.
"Well, that's no good. If you practice something wrong, then you get used to doing it wrong. It's counterproductive."
Phaedra marched up to Lang, interrupting his practice.
"I don't know anything about forms, or mastering elements," she sniffed, "but your companion over there says you're doing it wrong. So what's the problem?" she demanded, typically direct in her approach.
Bradley's head was spinning. Spending time with Lyzzie was mentally exhausting. She never stopped talking. Which wasn't a bad thing, but keeping up with the frequent subject changes took more attention than he was used to having to pay. She reminded him of...well, of course she did. Best not to think about that too closely just yet.
He did his best to keep up, and explained all about pigeons, or at least a little about pigeons when asked during one of the few opportunities in the conversation he had to get a word in edgewise. There wasn't actually that much of interest to say.
Once the sun was all the way up, Lyzzie decided that she was hungry. For a biiiig stack of pancakes. With syrup. And butter. And strawberries. And maybe some whipped cream, but she hadn't fully decided if that would be too sweet yet or not. He felt hungry just thinking about it. His breakfast tended to just appear on its own at the appropriate time since the cafeteria was not safe for him. He hoped that today it would be pancakes.
Shortly after saying goodbye to Lyzzie as she skipped off to enjoy her breakfast, he heard a noise behind him. He didn't turn around. He knew who it was. Nobody else had an aura like that, a large amount of everything at once.
"I'd like an explanation," he growled.
"That's why I'm here," she said calmly. "You're angry," she continued. It wasn't a question.
"That's why I'm here," she said calmly. "You're angry," she continued. It wasn't a question.Bradley's head was spinning. Spending time with Lyzzie was mentally exhausting. She never stopped talking. Which wasn't a bad thing, but keeping up with the frequent subject changes took more attention than he was used to having to pay. She reminded him of...well, of course she did. Best not to think about that too closely just yet.
He did his best to keep up, and explained all about pigeons, or at least a little about pigeons when asked during one of the few opportunities in the conversation he had to get a word in edgewise. There wasn't actually that much of interest to say.
Once the sun was all the way up, Lyzzie decided that she was hungry. For a biiiig stack of pancakes. With syrup. And butter. And strawberries. And maybe some whipped cream, but she hadn't fully decided if that would be too sweet yet or not. He felt hungry just thinking about it. His breakfast tended to just appear on its own at the appropriate time since the cafeteria was not safe for him. He hoped that today it would be pancakes.
Shortly after saying goodbye to Lyzzie as she skipped off to enjoy her breakfast, he heard a noise behind him. He didn't turn around. He knew who it was. Nobody else had an aura like that, a large amount of everything at once.
"I'd like an explanation," he growled.
"Of course I'm angry!" he shouted as he turned to face her. "You never even asked me!"
"Of course I'm angry!" he shouted as he turned to face her. "You never even asked me!""That's why I'm here," she said calmly. "You're angry," she continued. It wasn't a question.Bradley's head was spinning. Spending time with Lyzzie was mentally exhausting. She never stopped talking. Which wasn't a bad thing, but keeping up with the frequent subject changes took more attention than he was used to having to pay. She reminded him of...well, of course she did. Best not to think about that too closely just yet.
He did his best to keep up, and explained all about pigeons, or at least a little about pigeons when asked during one of the few opportunities in the conversation he had to get a word in edgewise. There wasn't actually that much of interest to say.
Once the sun was all the way up, Lyzzie decided that she was hungry. For a biiiig stack of pancakes. With syrup. And butter. And strawberries. And maybe some whipped cream, but she hadn't fully decided if that would be too sweet yet or not. He felt hungry just thinking about it. His breakfast tended to just appear on its own at the appropriate time since the cafeteria was not safe for him. He hoped that today it would be pancakes.
Shortly after saying goodbye to Lyzzie as she skipped off to enjoy her breakfast, he heard a noise behind him. He didn't turn around. He knew who it was. Nobody else had an aura like that, a large amount of everything at once.
"I'd like an explanation," he growled.
"Stop jumping to conclusions, Ursiel. You of all people should remember that I don't move through time the same way as everyone else. I did ask you. We just haven't got that far in your timeline yet. I give it about two minutes before you give me permission to do the only thing I can do in this situation. I'm not messing with you. I did it to be kind. Because, one parent to another, it's what I would want someone to do for me if I were in your situation. Don't assume the worst before you even know how things ended up here."
"Don't -" he started, but she interrupted him.
"Don't what? Use your name? Relax. I guarantee no one can overhear us right now. I took care of it. And we need to have a conversation. As equals. Demon lord to Archangel. About more than just your daughter, although I recognize that that's what's most important to you. But there are other problems we need to discuss that impact the safety of everyone in this school. I can take care of my end, but I need some help to clean up the mess from your end."
"Do I have any choice in the matter?" he asked, resentfully.
"Do I have any choice in the matter?" he asked, resentfully.
"Only the one you already made when you came here. Sulariel has deserted you. In point of fact, she fell. Which Hell is dreadfully happy about, let me tell you. And without her here to help contain your powers, you're confined to this rooftop. Not exactly a baby-friendly environment, Ursiel. Even worse when you consider what a short time you haver left before you're called on to do what you came here for. And no, I'm not asking you out of order. From your point of view, Talysmyn won't be born for another two months give or take. I get a little fuzzy on relative time sometimes. Dream creatures have a remarkably short gestation time. Frankly, I'm rather jealous. And you know, as much as you love her, Rena isn't exactly the maternal type. It can't be that much of a shock that she's going to want to give the baby up for adoption. With you unable to raise her and Rena unwilling.... She had to go somewhere. And the only safe place to take her was the past. Plus this gives you the one thing you were never going to get a chance at otherwise. A chance to actually meet your daughter, see what she grows up to be. Well, a preview of it anyway. She can't be more than thirteen. Or maybe fourteen? I think thirteen. As I said, sometimes I struggle with relative time. Her adoptive mom is very caring and nurturing and a bit of a worrywart, although that's understandable. A half-celestial like Lyzzie does tend to draw trouble like a magnet. But she kept her safe, and made sure that she always knew that she was loved. And you saw for yourself how well-adjusted she is."
"Do I have any choice in the matter?" he asked, resentfully."Only the one you already made when you came here. Sulariel has deserted you. In point of fact, she fell. Which Hell is dreadfully happy about, let me tell you. And without her here to help contain your powers, you're confined to this rooftop. Not exactly a baby-friendly environment, Ursiel. Even worse when you consider what a short time you haver left before you're called on to do what you came here for. And no, I'm not asking you out of order. From your point of view, Talysmyn won't be born for another two months give or take. I get a little fuzzy on relative time sometimes. Dream creatures have a remarkably short gestation time. Frankly, I'm rather jealous. And you know, as much as you love her, Rena isn't exactly the maternal type. It can't be that much of a shock that she's going to want to give the baby up for adoption. With you unable to raise her and Rena unwilling.... She had to go somewhere. And the only safe place to take her was the past. Plus this gives you the one thing you were never going to get a chance at otherwise. A chance to actually meet your daughter, see what she grows up to be. Well, a preview of it anyway. She can't be more than thirteen. Or maybe fourteen? I think thirteen. As I said, sometimes I struggle with relative time. Her adoptive mom is very caring and nurturing and a bit of a worrywart, although that's understandable. A half-celestial like Lyzzie does tend to draw trouble like a magnet. But she kept her safe, and made sure that she always knew that she was loved. And you saw for yourself how well-adjusted she is."
Bradley slid down the wall, sitting down with his back to the stone, knees pulled up as he tried to hide the tears. "You already knew from the beginning what decision I was going to make," he said dully.
Bradley slid down the wall, sitting down with his back to the stone, knees pulled up as he tried to hide the tears. "You already knew from the beginning what decision I was going to make," he said dully."Do I have any choice in the matter?" he asked, resentfully."Only the one you already made when you came here. Sulariel has deserted you. In point of fact, she fell. Which Hell is dreadfully happy about, let me tell you. And without her here to help contain your powers, you're confined to this rooftop. Not exactly a baby-friendly environment, Ursiel. Even worse when you consider what a short time you haver left before you're called on to do what you came here for. And no, I'm not asking you out of order. From your point of view, Talysmyn won't be born for another two months give or take. I get a little fuzzy on relative time sometimes. Dream creatures have a remarkably short gestation time. Frankly, I'm rather jealous. And you know, as much as you love her, Rena isn't exactly the maternal type. It can't be that much of a shock that she's going to want to give the baby up for adoption. With you unable to raise her and Rena unwilling.... She had to go somewhere. And the only safe place to take her was the past. Plus this gives you the one thing you were never going to get a chance at otherwise. A chance to actually meet your daughter, see what she grows up to be. Well, a preview of it anyway. She can't be more than thirteen. Or maybe fourteen? I think thirteen. As I said, sometimes I struggle with relative time. Her adoptive mom is very caring and nurturing and a bit of a worrywart, although that's understandable. A half-celestial like Lyzzie does tend to draw trouble like a magnet. But she kept her safe, and made sure that she always knew that she was loved. And you saw for yourself how well-adjusted she is."
She sat down beside him. "Of course I did. You're her father. And you're an angel," she added as a kind of an afterthought. "There was never any question that you were going to pick the option that was best for your daughter. I'm sorry that there weren't any better options."
"I didn't think it was going to be this hard. When I came here....it was all noble self-sacrifice and it seemed like such a small price to pay. I never expected..."
"I didn't think it was going to be this hard. When I came here....it was all noble self-sacrifice and it seemed like such a small price to pay. I never expected..."
"To fall in love? To have a child? Yeah. Life tends to be unpredictable like that. And it's harder now that you have things to give up. And easier too. Because now you have a stake in it. We're not just an academic exercise to you anymore. It's going to cost you everything, protecting this place. If you hadn't met Rena, if things had been different, at the end, I'm not sure you could have gone through with it. But you did. And it worked. So you can at least know that it will be worth the sacrifice. Of course, technically the future is still fluid and that one is just one of many possibilities. But the probabilities are closing up pretty fast. That one's still the most likely."
"I didn't think it was going to be this hard. When I came here....it was all noble self-sacrifice and it seemed like such a small price to pay. I never expected...""To fall in love? To have a child? Yeah. Life tends to be unpredictable like that. And it's harder now that you have things to give up. And easier too. Because now you have a stake in it. We're not just an academic exercise to you anymore. It's going to cost you everything, protecting this place. If you hadn't met Rena, if things had been different, at the end, I'm not sure you could have gone through with it. But you did. And it worked. So you can at least know that it will be worth the sacrifice. Of course, technically the future is still fluid and that one is just one of many possibilities. But the probabilities are closing up pretty fast. That one's still the most likely."
He tried to laugh and cry at the same time. "That is like the worst attempt at comfort I think I have ever heard."
He tried to laugh and cry at the same time. "That is like the worst attempt at comfort I think I have ever heard.""I didn't think it was going to be this hard. When I came here....it was all noble self-sacrifice and it seemed like such a small price to pay. I never expected...""To fall in love? To have a child? Yeah. Life tends to be unpredictable like that. And it's harder now that you have things to give up. And easier too. Because now you have a stake in it. We're not just an academic exercise to you anymore. It's going to cost you everything, protecting this place. If you hadn't met Rena, if things had been different, at the end, I'm not sure you could have gone through with it. But you did. And it worked. So you can at least know that it will be worth the sacrifice. Of course, technically the future is still fluid and that one is just one of many possibilities. But the probabilities are closing up pretty fast. That one's still the most likely."
"Yeah, well, technically we're supposed to be enemies. I'm already being way too helpful to you as it is. You can't expect me to be good at the emotional stuff, too," she said, a little sarcastically.
"Yeah, well, technically we're supposed to be enemies. I'm already being way too helpful to you as it is. You can't expect me to be good at the emotional stuff, too," she said, a little sarcastically.He tried to laugh and cry at the same time. "That is like the worst attempt at comfort I think I have ever heard.""I didn't think it was going to be this hard. When I came here....it was all noble self-sacrifice and it seemed like such a small price to pay. I never expected...""To fall in love? To have a child? Yeah. Life tends to be unpredictable like that. And it's harder now that you have things to give up. And easier too. Because now you have a stake in it. We're not just an academic exercise to you anymore. It's going to cost you everything, protecting this place. If you hadn't met Rena, if things had been different, at the end, I'm not sure you could have gone through with it. But you did. And it worked. So you can at least know that it will be worth the sacrifice. Of course, technically the future is still fluid and that one is just one of many possibilities. But the probabilities are closing up pretty fast. That one's still the most likely."
He leaned his head against the wall behind him. "You said that there was something else you needed to talk to me about."
He leaned his head against the wall behind him. "You said that there was something else you needed to talk to me about.""Yeah, well, technically we're supposed to be enemies. I'm already being way too helpful to you as it is. You can't expect me to be good at the emotional stuff, too," she said, a little sarcastically.He tried to laugh and cry at the same time. "That is like the worst attempt at comfort I think I have ever heard.""I didn't think it was going to be this hard. When I came here....it was all noble self-sacrifice and it seemed like such a small price to pay. I never expected...""To fall in love? To have a child? Yeah. Life tends to be unpredictable like that. And it's harder now that you have things to give up. And easier too. Because now you have a stake in it. We're not just an academic exercise to you anymore. It's going to cost you everything, protecting this place. If you hadn't met Rena, if things had been different, at the end, I'm not sure you could have gone through with it. But you did. And it worked. So you can at least know that it will be worth the sacrifice. Of course, technically the future is still fluid and that one is just one of many possibilities. But the probabilities are closing up pretty fast. That one's still the most likely."
She sighed. "Yeah, a couple of things. Some of both of our teams have gone rogue after being promised knowledge by some highly suspicious outsiders. I think I know what they are, and they are beyond bad news. Like, against these guys we should all be on the same side kind of bad news. I can deal with the crew on my side, but you're going to have to contact your side to get things sorted there. There's a mentally challenged young woman who really needs this to be over so she can be allowed to just live in peace. I'm afraid that some of yours are irredeemably damaged, but there's one who looks that way but isn't. Heaven can get a little all or nothing on these things, so try and intervene if you can. Hell would eat that poor guy up. Also, I'm sure you noticed the pull on your powers when somehow a daemonic entity attacked the school. I've just given a warning shot to another demon lord...ummm.....and by warning shot I mean he and his realm are now a smoking pile of ashes....he messed with one of my students. I took it personally. I have rules for a reason, and they need to be followed. Anyhow, it would look bad if I also went all out against someone else so soon. So just to let you know, if Heaven wants to attack this guy, I can give you his name, location, and a personal guarantee that no one will interfere on the way in or out provided that this daemon is the only target. You know, if you wanted to send a similar kind of message about messing with this school and its students."
She sighed. "Yeah, a couple of things. Some of both of our teams have gone rogue after being promised knowledge by some highly suspicious outsiders. I think I know what they are, and they are beyond bad news. Like, against these guys we should all be on the same side kind of bad news. I can deal with the crew on my side, but you're going to have to contact your side to get things sorted there. There's a mentally challenged young woman who really needs this to be over so she can be allowed to just live in peace. I'm afraid that some of yours are...He leaned his head against the wall behind him. "You said that there was something else you needed to talk to me about.""Yeah, well, technically we're supposed to be enemies. I'm already being way too helpful to you as it is. You can't expect me to be good at the emotional stuff, too," she said, a little sarcastically.He tried to laugh and cry at the same time. "That is like the worst attempt at comfort I think I have ever heard.""I didn't think it was going to be this hard. When I came here....it was all noble self-sacrifice and it seemed like such a small price to pay. I never expected...""To fall in love? To have a child? Yeah. Life tends to be unpredictable like that. And it's harder now that you have things to give up. And easier too. Because now you have a stake in it. We're not just an academic exercise to you anymore. It's going to cost you everything, protecting this place. If you hadn't met Rena, if things had been different, at the end, I'm not sure you could have gone through with it. But you did. And it worked. So you can at least know that it will be worth the sacrifice. Of course, technically the future is still fluid and that one is just one of many possibilities. But the probabilities are closing up pretty fast. That one's still the most likely."
He snorted. "You are the weirdest demon lord ever."
"Alright, I'll pass on the message. But that's all I can promise right now."