Thief of Time

After cursing the fellow that was almost certainly framing him on purpose, Claud shook his head and looked at the little black cube, who was now, for some reason, clearly enjoying his little new bed.

"You like this bed?" Lily asked, rocking it from side to side.

"Don't shake it. It's making me dizzy…" The black cube retched again. "I feel sick."

"That's really a first, in the grand scheme of things," Claud noted. "What about your main body?"

"The main body's probably lying on the ground and muttering dark words," Lesser Half replied. "Get it? Dark?"

"Clearly, if you can still make jokes like that, it's not so bad," Lily analysed.

"Well, it's one of these things that probably gets better over time. It's like having a sibling, really." Lesser Half retched again. "You know what? After I'm done recovering from this weird state of affairs, let's go to the nearest town and get some food. Security's probably focused on the divinities now. Can you hear? Even the battles are dying out. All the soldiers are falling back because my sister and the Moons are feeling really horrible."

"Any chance of a ceasefire, then?" Claud asked.

"While they renew their search for the Thief of Time, who is now a divinity and presumably really looking to kill more divinities now?" Lesser Half paused dramatically. "Of course."

Claud didn't know what to say to that, but a ceasefire was a ceasefire. He was, however, also wondering what would happen when he actually became a divinity; what would the divinities think in that case? After all, by no means was he actually a divinity right now, so when he eventually became one…

He could foresee another bout of wild chaos all over again. Still, a ceasefire was good news, and the fact that the divinities were going to pull back their forces while they dealt with mounting dread and whatever was just the cherry on top. Claud was all about increasing his own chances of not getting found, and one key facet of that was to limit the number of soldiers that were vigilant due to constant battle.

"In that case, do you think they'll pull back from the territories that were captured?" Claud pressed on.

"Not really."

"Huh." Lily pulled out a bottle and sipped from it. "Why?"

"What do you mean, why?" Lesser Half thought for a moment. "I mean, it's very normal for my sister and the Moons to consolidate territory. With this implicit ceasefire, they'll almost certainly try to construct huge bubbles to wall off their own plots of land."

"Like the ones at the borders…"

"You see things for what they are, Lily. Yes. This is essentially redrawing the borders, although they are likely to be more porous than before. These borders will not hold up to a concerted attack, and are likely to be more for the purposes of detecting specific targets or guarding against infiltrators…" Lesser Half paused, and then groaned once.

"You should take a rest first," Claud replied.

"Yeah. You look like a mess."

"Do I now." Lesser Half tossed slightly, crumpling up the little blanket laid on his body. "What do you guys think?"

"Meep."

The meeplings tossed around too, and then made happy little noises.

"So adorable." Lily smiled. "You guys should rest, really. We'll just be here, thinking about life…and I think I'm ready too."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Now, of all times?" Lesser Half asked.

"My heart is at peace, after all." Lily smiled, and in that instant, blue light surged out of her. The surroundings pulsed once with an intense power, a power that could only manifest when someone took the step to bridge the difference between a mid-ranked and a high-ranked folder, and Claud held her hands.

"Lily…"

"I'll be fine, so don't look worried," Lily replied. "Smile for me, won't you?"

"Yeah." Claud forced himself to smile. "You'll be alright."

She pecked his cheek once, and then moved over to his lap. "I'm starting, then. Hold me tight, will you?"

"Mhm."

Lily closed her eyes, and the surge of power seemed to focus inward, back into her body. Her eyes closed as strength fled from her body, and Claud held her closely to his chest, clutching on to her warm existence. For the next twenty-four hours — he was a special case — she would be contending with her own personal tribulation, something so unique to her that it would never again be replicated. In this time, she would be completely unresponsive to all external stimuli, just like a dead—

Claud stopped himself from forming the rest of that thought and held her close, willing the warmth of his body over to hers. It was all he could do, frankly, and there were never any records of someone interfering in another's Tutorial…

"You should have some faith," Lesser Half muttered.

"I know she'll be fine. But the heart does what the heart does," Claud replied, interlinking his fingers with hers. "And I do not see a problem doing this, see? I can do anything for her. I will do anything for her."

"And her for you. I can tell." Lesser Half's words were oddly emotive. "My bond with my elder sister…it's a bit like yours, except that it's completely one-sided."

"She locked you up. It's not that hard to surmise that, really." Claud gazed at Lily's placid expression.

"She has never understood how love, familial or in any other form, should be demonstrated," Lesser Half replied. "Please do not judge her for that. She does not have the time to understand mortals, not with the things she has to do."

"But this is pretty important too," Claud replied, gazing at Lily's nose. "Learning how to love is, you know."

"Mhm."

"And you don't resent your sister for it?" Claud asked, curious.

"The Red God perished at the hands of the Omen," Lesser Half replied. "I understand that she's worried about a godslayer on the loose, and she probably can't focus if I'm not somewhere nice and visible…"

Claud didn't know what to say to that, other than the fact that this fellow was probably enabling her. Shaking his head, he returned his attention to Lily and said, "Well, you should go and rest first. You look like a mess."

The other meeplings meeped in agreement, and then jumped onto Claud's head.

"You guys are just making fun of me at this point, but very well." Lesser Half groaned again. "I shall go to sleep first. Pray take care to not disturb me."

"Sure, sure…"

Claud lifted Lily up in a princess carry and brought her to their bed, where he settled himself and Lily on it. The little fellows jumped into her hair immediately afterwards, before making a nice little nest there.

Well, Sceptre and Throne did. Crown, the ever-empathic little box, nuzzled his left hand in what seemed like a clear attempt to reassure Claud that she would be fine.

"Yeah, she's going to be fine," Claud replied. "I'm still worried, though."

He gazed at her face, and then wondered if the feelings whirling in him were the same ones that Lily felt back when he took his Third Tutorial. He had a feeling that Lily was far more worried back then, especially since the circumstances in which he forced himself to undergo the Third Tutorial was, in a sense, precipitated by a fear of the Red God. Furthermore, he had shown visible signs of deterioration towards the end of his failed Tutorial, purely because he had allowed himself to fail it.

What did Lily feel back then?

"Sorry," Claud whispered, before brushing her hair back neatly. "And don't make me worry, okay?"

Sitting back, he gazed at the ceiling of their underground base. Lesser Half's suggestion of shacking up in a city felt like a good idea after Lily woke up; they had been living here for slightly more than ten days, after all. Now that there was an excuse to toss this pointless task out of the window, Claud wanted to exploit it for all it was worth.

And feeding Lily for a job well done was also quite appealing, so what was not to love about that plan?

He forced himself to smile, before looking down at Lily again. What dastardly trial was she going through right now? Was there anything he could do, beyond just holding her close to his chest?

"Meep." Crown nudged his hands again, and Claud nodded.

"Yeah. She's going through all this for me." Claud fiddled with a crease on her clothes. "If she didn't feel this pressured by the sudden revelation of a divinity …hmm. But she did say she was at her calmest, though. Which is it? Or did she somehow separate her emotions and thoughts?"

Claud didn't quite know, but he believed that Lily was truly at her optimal state when she began her Third Tutorial.

In that case, all that was left was for him to believe in her and her success.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Caressing her hair gently, Claud gazed at her face and allowed time to drift past him.