Saturday mornings were usually chill. They also used to be chilly, because of the season, but due to the recent warm spell, we had so really nice strolling weather, and I was trying to make the most of it.
"I'm still not convinced that this is a wise course of action."
I turned to Roland, walking next to on the sidewalk of the neighbourhood and, after so consideration, lightly shrugged.
"It's better than letting him rot, and I did promise him that I would work him to the bone. He can't do that while cooped up in custody."
My comnt elicited an indignant huff, but not from the man walking beside .
"Didn't I teach you that it's rude to refer to soone in the third person when they are present?" Percival, no longer 'sir' in any shape or form, griped without looking at .
"Shut up, old man, or I'll show you what it ans to be rude," I responded curtly and turned back to Roland. "As I said, I'm going to squeeze so use out of him, and this is the best way to do it."
"And I'm telling you I'm not convinced that's the case," he retorted.
"Let's just give it a go, okay?" I proposed, and after a brief sharing contest, he finally relented and he started pushing Percival's wheelchair again.
It was one of Mom-in-law's spares, and since she no longer needed to use them, she didn't mind lending one to . More importantly, I've put a lot of thought into how to deal with Percival, and after consulting with the girls, this was the best I could co up with. Because of his injuries, physical work was out of the question, and I wouldn't let him touch the paperwork of the Ordo Draconis with a standardized ten-foot pole, so I had to get a bit more creative when it ca to putting him to good use.
anwhile, Percival clicked his tongue and muttered, "n really have to go to great lengths for the sake of survival."
"Says mister 'I'm going to sacrifice myself to teach you a lesson rather than just surrender' over here," I countered, and he responded with a tired 'Bah!'.
He might've argued with , but we were getting close to ho, so he rolled his shoulders and adopted his kindly grandpa façade.
"Oh, Leonard. It's not good to be so cynical at your age. Why, back in my day…"
I lightly kicked his wheelchair, and he shut up with a mirthless chuckle. We soon reached our doorstep, and I didn't even bother to check if it was locked.
"We're back!" I announced, and the mont I did, Penny excitedly rushed into the vestibule.
"Brother, did you really bring…?" She faltered for a mont, and then exclaid, "Uncle Percy!"
"Hi, beansprout," he greeted my sister with a lazy wave, and she looked more shocked than anything.
"Oh, wow! I can barely recognize you without your beard!"
He wasn't the only one. His face was cleanly shaved, and combined with the wheelchair and his legs being covered with a thick plaid blanket, he gave off a much more fragile vibe than he did in the past. In fact, I was sure he was playing it up for sympathy points.
"Do I still look handso?" He asked with a smile, and I had to say, he kind of did, in a 'silver fox' kind of way. Though again; important secondary character, so having good looks was a given. Elderly or not.
Penny ignored his question and looked at a touch uncertainly. Seeing that, Percival let out a soft yet audibly calculated cough.
"Ah, I see. You must feel uncomfortable with right now," he stated in a low voice. "I understand. They said I've done so bad things recently, even if I can't rember any of them. I get it, I get it."
He followed that up with more strained coughs, centing my impression that he really was hamming it up for the sake of pity.
"Did you really lose your mories?" Penny asked, still a bit guarded, but I was getting impatient, so I grabbed the handles of his wheelchair and pushed him inside.
"That's what he says," I spoke offhandedly and wheeled him inside, where Snowy and Tajana were eyeing us from the couch.
"Good… morning?" the listless spymaster greeted us, only to freeze and hide behind the backrest. "M-My Lady! Nobody told he would be here too!"
Roland must've overheard her whisper, because he turned to face her, at which point she ducked even lower. I wasn't quite sure what the relationship between these two was, but it looked pretty complicated.
"Stop doing that, Tajana. You're embarrassing your mistress," Sir Griffon stated in a deadpan voice, which made her resurface from behind the couch again.
"W-Whose fault do you think that is?!"
"Certainly not mine," Roland, blasé as ever, gave her an implied shrug and continued to monitor Percival.
He was listening to Penny, who was in the process of explaining to him all of his misdeeds, and he sohow managed to look genuinely mortified by the reveal.
"And you sent Brother to the Celestials!"
"Did I? I'm sure I must've had a good reason to do that."
"I-I don't know, but… you also fought Sir Arnwald and Da Morgana! Agrawain, too!"
"Really? All three of them at the sa ti? Sounds far-fetched to ."
"But it happened! Brother was there too, and… and you also tried to use your Mantle on Snowy!"
That last one overca her fidgety awkwardness and made her direct a real, vicious glare at the old man, but he took it in stride.
"What? Rubbish! There's no way I would do sothing like that! That's just preposterous!"
I had to give it to him, he sounded so genuinely offended by the accusations that, if I lacked context, I might've been tempted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Since I knew the context, however, I was tempted to give him a smack upside his head instead. I refrained, using so much self-control, even the Buddha would've been proud of .
"B-But everyone saw it! Mom said you even threatened Brother and—!"
"Mom?" he interrupted her, and my sister imdiately flushed red.
"A-A-Awawa! I-I'm talking about Da Morgana! It's for reasons!"
Percival smiled with just a hint of smugness, seeing that he managed to successfully shift the conversation. Ignoring them I turned my attention to Snowy, who was eyeing the old man with apprehension. Before I would get to her, I needed a semblance of privacy, so I subtly gestured to Roland. He got my ssage and addressed the peculiar woman on the couch in with just a hint of trepidation.
"Tajana? Can you show where I can find the hot chocolate in the kitchen?"
She sprung up, and I swear to god, one of the pink locks of her hair on the top of her head shook and settled into the upper half of a question mark. Was this the legendary 'ahoge hair' I've read about?
"You want to drink hot chocolate? You?"
"I'm in the mood for it."
She hesitated for a mont, but then she rose from the couch and declared… no, that's a bit strong of a word for this. Stated? No, let's go with 'mumbled'.
"W-What a coincidence… I-I-I also w-wanted to have so h-h-hot c-chocolate!"
With those rather stuttery words, she headed into the kitchen, but before he could follow, I sent Roland a look that said 'Rember what I told you the other day?'. He responded with a roll of his eyes saying 'Of course, stop worrying about dumb things like that', to which I replied with a frown holding the aning 'It's not dumb. I tell you it's a thing'. He concluded our non-verbal conversation with a sigh that told , 'Please, Leonard. I'm an adult. I can take care of myself', and then left after Tajana.
Oh well. I tried. Just the other day, I sat Roland down and explained to him how Abyssal Seducers had trouble processing any signs of affection that wasn't created by their powers, real or imagined, and that he should be careful about how he interacted with the hapless spymaster, lest he would raise so flags he wasn't aning to. As such, I officially washed my hands of this whole affair; if he would end up in so kind of silly romcom developnt because of his carelessness, he couldn't bla anyone else but himself.
Anyhow, since they left, and Penny was currently completely wrapped up in a conversation that sohow wandered all the way over to discussing the old bastard's mobile gaming accounts, and how she should take them over until he'd get a new phone, I turned to Snowy. It was ti to address the elephant in the room.
"Is he going to live with us again?" she asked, pointing at said pachyderm without missing a beat, and I shook my head.
"No, of course not. I don't think he's dangerous anymore, but because of his injuries, he requires nursing care, and I'm not planning to hire a live-in one just for his sake."
"Then… why did you bring him here?"
It was obvious that she was still holding more than a token grudge against the old weasel. Considering he tried to magically poison her, she had all the right in the world to do so.
"Mostly so you could talk. Also, Penny."
Her eyes glided over to my other sister, and despite her earlier sour disposition, she was no noticeably brighter. Seeing that, Snowy exhaled a solemn breath and turned back to .
"I… don't mind talking to him, if it makes Penny feel better, but… Why?"
That was the crucial question, but before answering, I reached out and held her hand.
"Listen, sis. Let us be perfectly honest here: You're not cut out for politics. Especially not the kind of cutthroat politics they have in the Abyss."
"Um… And that's… bad?"
"More like dangerous." I squeezed her hand, and added, "Maybe it's not going to be today or tomorrow, but the day may co when you'd have to return to the Abyss to reclaim your House. Heck, even if you decide that you don't want to have anything to do with the people of the Abyss in the future, you're still the little sis of the man with the most over-the-top titles in the World of Mystics. I doubt you can fully escape politics, even if you stay on Critias." I looked her in the eye. "The world is full of snakes who would like nothing more than to try to take advantage of you. You'll need the experience to learn how to deal with them, so I brought him here." I jerked my head toward Percival. "I might have defanged him, but that bastard is the biggest, snakiest snake who ever snaked in the history of snaking. I want you to use him, learn from him, and wring him dry so, that when you have to face the real deal in the wild, you'll know how to do the sa to them."
Her gaze told that she understood what I was getting at, but she was still uncertain.
"What… am I supposed to learn from him?"
"Anything you can. Lying, manipulation, espionage tactics, the whole nine yards."
"In that case… would it be okay if Tajana joined?"
I wasn't expecting that question, and it threw on a loop for a mont.
"It… might not be a bad idea? I an, if you ever wanted to reclaim House Inanna, I presu she would remain your spymaster, and golly, she definitely needs the experience, but… Can she be trusted?"
"Of course," she proclaid, flashing a rare, proud grin. "She's already with us. Or, almost. She didn't officially say it yet, but… um… s-she's been badmouthing Noir a lot lately when we talk, so I think she's close."
I thought about it and ultimately nodded along.
"It's fine, then. I promised that I would leave her to you, so go ahead and do what you think works best."
"Thank you, I will."
Seeing her so enthusiastic, my head-patting instincts were just about to kick in, but Roland and Tajana chose this mont to return with a tray full of mugs.
"Hot chocolate?" he asked, and Snowy imdiately got up to grab one. As for , I politely declined and rose to my feet as well.
"Thanks, but not right now. I have places to be."
Glancing at Roland, we shared a knowing look. We already agreed that he would stay until the afternoon and keep an eye on Percival, just in case. As for …
"Places? What places?" Penny asked from the old man's side, but I waved at her to stay put before she would co over. "I thought we were going to go to the park today."
"I have so Celestial business to quickly take care of. I should be done in an hour or so, and then we can head out after lunch."
"Oh, okay then," she nodded with a hint of relief and her attention returned to the old bastard, whose eyes were glued to my every move. I purposefully ignored him and headed towards the teleport closet, but then I got a sudden idea and turned around.
"Tajana?"
"Y-Yes?" The Abyssal woman yelped in surprise and automatically hid herself behind Roland, only to yelp again and scamper over to Snowy's side instead. And she was supposed to be a seasoned spymaster my sister wanted to recruit, huh? Putting my repeated disappointnts in her aside, I locked gazes with her, and she stuttered a sowhat respectful, "H-How can I help you?"
"You've been behaving yourself lately, haven't you?"
"Yes, she has," Snowy responded at once in her stead, looking mildly confused about why I would bring that up at this mont.
"Since that's the case… Would you like to visit your Fauns in the afternoon?"
"I… I can?"
"Sure," I told her with a reassuring smile. "If it's just a quick visit, I can squeeze that into my titable, and good behaviour has to be rewarded."
She didn't respond right away but glanced at Snowy for support, and when my sister nodded in encouragent, she squeezed out, "Then… please?"
"It's a done deal then." I flashed a smile, and then looked around the living room. "Anyhow, I'll be back in a bit. Everyone, play nice."
"Brother! We aren't kids anymore!" Penny pouted on the side, drawing a chuckle out of . I wasn't lying when I said I had places to be, so I waved my goodbyes and hopped into the teleport closet. Everyone else was already used to it, so only Percival was giving a weird look, which made wonder: was it because he genuinely found the way I left the conversation odd, or was he just sticking to his amnesiac cover story and pretending he didn't know about the teleport circle inside?
Whatever the answer might've been, I didn't give it much thought, because I soon reappeared in Mike's empty, silent kitchen. It didn't stay that way for long though.
"Ack! L-Leonard! What… How are you…?"
Michael stamred in confusion when he walked in and found standing in the corner.
"Waiting for you to let in through the balcony door was getting tireso, so I let myself it."
"B-But… But when? And…"
"Is Admin here already?" a different voice called out from the living room, and I could hear Moose's footsteps. "Oh, there you are," he said when our eyes t. For once, he had his hair and beard grood, and his outfit was, if not exactly fancy, at least relatively formal. "Co, please. The eting is about to begin."
"But… what…" the blonde Celestial looked at , then at the balcony door in the living room, then back at the kitchen, and yelled, "I have so many questions!"
"Pipe down."
"Yessir."
With that concluded, I followed Moose to the corner of the living room. It was now dominated by an L-shaped table with cheap plastic step-stools on top, arranged to form sothing resembling a semi-circle, like an extrely low-budget miniature model of an ancient Greek amphitheatre. On top of those steps were neatly arranged wooden boxes, their lids open, with softly glowing crystal balls set on velvet cushions inside.
The Celestial communicators were alight with magical activity, and all of them had familiar faces floating over them in all their low-res, old-school sci-fi hologram glory, with scanlines and everything. I glanced at Moose, and he pointedly tugged at the collar of his suit, so I belatedly turned on my Leoforr and donned my Polemos outfit.
"Are we ready to get started?"
"It's a bit early," he answered with an implied shrug. "But everyone's already here, so let's not waste ti."
"Took the words right out of my mouth."
Mike was tinkering with so of the crystal balls in the back, softly humming and poking them with his fingers. Was he tuning the reception, I wondered. The images did look a bit sharper over the communicators he touched, but the difference was so small it was hard to be sure.
When he noticed my gaze, he hastily moved away and stood next to the slightly larger crystal ball sitting on the shorter side of the L-shaped table.
"I'm turning on the sound first," he warned us, and a mont later, there was a popping noise, followed by…
"… telling you that Polemos wouldn't be interested in sothing like that!" the familiar (if currently a little echoing) voice of Eris declared indignantly, followed by a sohow even more heated female voice.
"With all due respect, Matriarch. I know you may feel a sense of familiarity with the Second True Archon, Lord Polemos, hallowed be his na, but I would advise you not to address him so… so frivolously!"
"How dare you? I'm not being frivolous!" The ex-chief-director was fuming, and it showed on her low-res representation as well. "Who do you think you are to lecture ?"
"I'm the one His Grace, the Second True Archon, has chosen to be his voice within Elysium! I have the right to warn you about unbecoming behavior, Matriarch!"
The owner of the second voice, the dark-haired middle-aged Celestial whose communicator was placed right in the middle, let out a huff.
That was Adva Tira. And yes, I have picked her to be our Speaker, working with Moose and Mike to communicate between and the mbers of the newly ford Elysian Congregation (na still pending). And also yes, I have picked her because she was the only mid-level Director whose na I could recall on the spot. And even further yes, as the representative of our 'advisors', Eris also got a seat at the table.
"Oh, really?" Speaking of her, she scoffed at the other woman and presumably glared at her. I couldn't be sure thanks to how these communicator things worked, because all of them were facing our way and so it looked like she was glaring directly at us. "I let you know, Polemos and I aren't just familiar with each other. We have developed quite a close relationship since our first eting."
"I just warned you not to use the Second True Archon's na in vain!"
"Why? Are you feeling inferior for not holding such a personal connection with him, I wonder?"
"Savir, please," the voice of our brand-new Minister of Holand Defence interjected as his communicator lit up at the sa ti. "Can you just stop this?"
"I wasn't the one who started it, Gideon!" Eris hissed in return.
"I did not start anything!" Adva argued back just as vehently, and was it just , or her inflections were getting more and more like Savir's?
Putting all of that aside, I tapped my feet to signal my impatience, and Mike hurriedly started singing sothing. Then, after about ten more seconds, he let out a startled breath and said, "We've got a connection! Going live in three, two, one…!"
All of the holographic faces in front of flickered, and I let out a disappointed sigh.
"Are you quite finished?"
"L-L-Lord Archon Polemos!" our Speaker stuttered and tried to bow, only to realize that by doing so, she wouldn't be visible on the communicator, so she hastily stood up straight again. "Glory to thy na!"
"Yes, yes. I'm happy to see you all too," I said with a disinterested voice. "We don't have all day, so speak up."
To put it simply, this eting was sothing of a stop-gap. I couldn't be expected to routinely go back to the Elysium to check on the proceedings of the new governnt, but I also couldn't leave these guys completely to their own devices, because that was just asking for a disaster. As a compromise, we agreed on this: every few days, we would hold a eting like this, where the newly appointed ministers, departnt heads, and Eris would voice their proposals that they felt required the oversight or approval of an Archon.
"First off," an older gentleman with a rather sad hairline spoke up. I tried my best to morize the nas and faces of all of them, but it was a work in process. If my mory served right, he was the Minister of Agri— "I would like to request the Lord Archon's permission to perform a comprehensive census among the population of Elysium."
Minister of the Interior. Yes, that's what I was going to say. I could totally rember seeing him in Tsephanyah's entourage, so it only made sense. Yes.
"Permission granted, next."
"Lord Polemos, may your clency befall upon all of us," a decidedly weasely looking man sputtered in a hurry, and he was the… "When can we expect the return of Her Grace Deus?"
"Not a relevant question, next."
He looked a bit disappointed by my blunt refusal, but his place was imdiately taken by the next questioner, and I tried my best to rush through them as fast as possible. Most of them were simple inquiries, like asking for permission to move the offices of the Ministry of Finances to Migdál Glaukós, or whether I agreed to sell our agricultural products outside of Elysium. I gave them straightforward answers, and occasionally berated them whenever they ca to with sothing so simple they should've just solved it on their own ages ago.
Then, at last, Eris spoke up. It felt like she was waiting for everyone else to finish first, and so I gestured for her to speak her mind.
"Since you have proclaid that flight within Elysium is now permitted to all citizens…"
"Address the Lord Archon properly!" Adva hissed at her, and Eris rolled her eyes before starting over.
"Since you, the Second True Archon, have allowed it, the increasing air traffic in Elysium has beco a rather problematic matter. Without regulations in place, the number of accidents has reached triple digits over the past week."
"Yes. And?"
"What is your view on the issue?" Eris asked directly and ignored the fuming woman over the middle communicator. "As soone who lived in the era before the initial prohibition, I'm sure you must recall the rules in place at the ti."
Before I knew it, my brows descended into a frown. Was she trying to heckle ? Maybe she was suspecting that I didn't have Polemos's mories after all, and she was trying to get to slip up? Or was she serious? When I turned that frown into a glare, she seed genuinely flustered for a mont, so it was possible.
"Did I say sothing wrong… O Archon?" she tagged on the end and looked rather confused by my reaction. She could've been pretending, but she never struck as a good actress, so for the mont, I let go of my suspicions.
"Eris. You should know best of all that those rules and regulations regarding flight safety should still be written down in the archives," I told her flatly, yet she not only didn't respond, she outright froze up for a second.
"Lord Archon," another voice, an elderly woman, joined the conversation. She was the Minister of Culture, and she looked rather apologetic. "I'm afraid many of the parchnts of Hymnos from your age were lost in the recent fire in the archives. While it is possible the tos you refer to may have been rescued in ti, we are still in the process of assessing the damage, and thus finding them in their temporary storage may prove to be prohibitively ti-consuming."
Now it was my turn to freeze up, but it only lasted for a mont before I forced a poker face and rubbed my chin.
"I see. I did not consider that." I nodded to myself a few tis, for show. "In that case, I will consult with Deus, and we'll write down everything we rember."
"Thank you, O benevolent Archon!" the old Celestial lady bowed, and I turned back to Eris.
"I'll bring the notes to you the next ti I'm in Elysium."
"Ah. Lord Archon!" Adva called out to . "The Matriarch might have brought up the topic, but since this has nothing to do with the Cult of Deus, I recomnd that Your Grace contact Minister Anophalakros instead."
"You little—!"
Eris's hiss was cut short by the aforentioned Minister of the Interior butting in.
"Why, yes, that would be most agreeable, O Lord Archon."
"We'll discuss the details later," I stated hurriedly. "If there aren't any other topics to discuss, I recomnd we conclude the eting right now."
"As the Second True Archon wishes," the young-ish Minister of Justice agreed on the spot, aning nobody else could bring up anything new anymore, and after so customary farewells, Mike cut the connection on our side. Just before Eris and Adva started quarrelling again.
Normally I would've been annoyed by how it felt less like I was talking to seasoned politicians and leaders, and more like a bunch of headstrong kids, but this ti, there was sothing else that was sending shivers down my spine.
"Raz?"
"Hm? Yes?" Moose had a stack of notes, and I interrupted him just as he was about to square them on the table. "Was there a problem?"
"Maybe. What was that bit about the fire in the archives?"
"Oh, that?" Michael chid in, seemingly waiting for the opportunity to contribute. "Don't you rember? Bel of the Abyss set the place ablaze a while ago."
"It was not long after you returned from Elysium," Moose added and tucked his notes under his arm. "No one knows how he did it, or why, but I guess that's just how Bel of the Abyss operates in general."
"Oh, okay," I whispered, feeling a little light-headed.
I definitely didn't do that, and I didn't rember the event ever coming up in the past, so… was this detail changed by the retcon? Why? What would be the point? And even more importantly…
"For the record, how widespread is this?"
"The news about the arson?" Mike pondered for a while. "I don't think many people know about it outside of Elysium. I an, it was a big deal, but then bigger things happened, so people kinda forgot about it."
"Even you did," Moose joked (I hoped).
"Good. The less people know about it on the island, the better," I muttered, and while they didn't get it, the two Celestial intelligence agents in my employ nodded along anyway. It didn't make feel much better though.
Oh god… I can't let Elly learn about this, or I'll never hear the end of it…
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