Thief of Time

Moonlit and Shadowed delegations bearing white flags could be seen at the gates of Grandia, and Claud gave them a wary, wide berth. The divinities were so adaptive to the point that they could directly ignore the fact that they had just been waging war on the Grandis Empire…

"I'm not too sure what to think about this," Claud uttered, summing up his entire thought process in that one line.

"They're very pragmatic?" Lily asked. "The Omen just pulled something big, and the divinities are already pushing out a peace process. Granted, they'll probably get right back down to war the moment the Omen's discovered or something. They're just liars like that…"

Lesser Half cleared his throat. "Well…"

"Oof." Lily looked at the cube that was floating in front of them. "Sorry. I forgot you were here."

"Don't apologise. You're probably right." Lesser Half sighed. "We did lose all credibility the moment my sister and the Moons restarted the war without warning."

"And it ended in a similar manner," Claud observed. "The irony is not quite lost on me."

The three of them slipped past the checkpoint without any issue, although Claud again emphasised the use of another valuable skillstick, which Lesser Half acknowledged without doubting. After nabbing a promise of more useful items from the divinity, the three of them, and three meeplings, looked around the interior of Grandia once more.

"So, I assume you want to eat something." Claud looked at the black cube. Lesser Half's way of eating was always a sight to watch, so he was already planning a culinary itinerary for the divinity. At the very least, he wanted to have a nice five-course meal with soup and dessert, all just to see how Lesser Half was going to finish them all.

"For some reason, I feel like someone's plotting against me," Lesser Half muttered.

"Really?" Lily asked. "How do you even feel such a thing anyway?"

"Karmic threads," Lesser Half replied. "Odd. What a weird plot. I can't really grasp it either…is there even any harm to me at all?"

Claud didn't quite know what to make of Lesser Half's sudden caution, but it would seem that he had an ability to detect malice and whatever the heck that his little plot of feeding Lesser Half with various types of dishes generated. That said, it was quite a useful ability to have…and even more useful to know.

The black cube's shivers grew, and a groan leaked out of Lesser Half.

"Bad timing for someone to plot against me," Lesser Half replied. "Is it the Omen? But it doesn't seem like it…if the Omen was truly plotting against me, the feedback should be far greater."

"Why's that the case?" Lily asked, her tone of voice a curious one.

"The existence of the Omen weighs down on the fabric of reality heavily," Lesser Half replied. "Any strings he moves, especially after slaying the Red God, can be felt somewhat…in theory, anyway. I am not sure of the feelings associated with being plotted against. This is probably the first one."

Claud noted that little fact down, and then said, "So who's plotting against you now, then?"

In a sense, the Omen really was plotting against Lesser Half, if one were to stretch the definition of plot to include plans that would maximise the amount of food that Lesser Half was going to eat. Naturally, this plot, if one could really even bring themselves to call it that, couldn't be dangerous at all.

Even then, Lesser Half's intuition was still triggered…

If the day that he needed to plot against a divinity came, there was a solid chance that they would be aware of it.

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"So," Claud asked, ignoring the rest of his thoughts, "are we still going to eat?"

Lily's tummy growled helpfully at this moment, and the divinity thought for a moment. "Well, I don't think this plot is really dangerous. It's probably a random thought or something by the Omen, so let's not let this disrupt our lives. Besides, my main body is in the Lostfon Palace. He'll need to break through a lot of defences if he actually wants to plot against me."

"Alright, then!" Claud rubbed his hands. "Let's go get a huge meal!"

The streets of Grandia were crowded, as usual, but Claud could faintly sense a surging emotion that had been absent the last time they were here. It was an upbeat emotion, a hope that had appeared after the divinities ceased their battles and withdrew back into their shells entirely. Claud knew that very few people were aware of the reason behind the Moons' and Dark's sudden retreat, which was probably a good thing.

After all, if the "truth" that the Omen had ascended to the ranks of a divinity — whatever that entailed, anyway — became commonplace knowledge, there would be utter chaos. As it was, right now, most of the people in Grandia were simply wondering out loud, without any regard for the people around them.

It was probably a testament to the sheer stress that this war had inflicted on them, and the spontaneous celebrations that broke out randomly as they made their way to a restaurant just furthered that view of Claud's.

"What do you feel, having seen all this?" Claud asked, gesturing at a small group of dancing people, and their captive, cheering audience.

"War is bad?" Lesser Half asked.

"…That's good enough, I guess." Claud gazed at a dancing duo, and then wondered if Lily was open to the idea of dancing.

Lily raised an eyebrow once, and then said, "It's a bit too embarrassing for me, so no."

Claud thought for a few seconds, and then nodded. "Yeah, now that I think about it. I mean, letting other people see us move our arms and legs? That's a bit scary. Doing something like that requires a courage that I can't find myself mustering up."

"You two are capable of feeling embarrassment?" Lesser Half asked.

"What makes you think that we aren't?" Claud asked back.

"According to my understanding of humans and displays of affection, the amount of skinship and public displays of love that you two share and exhibit on a regular basis far outstrips most other human couples," Lesser Half replied. "It is absolutely unimaginable that a couple practically glued at the hip is actually capable of feeling embarrassment."

"…What kind of crappy assessment is that?" Claud asked in a huff.

"A divinity's assessment?"

"Then this is solid proof that divinities can be wrong too," Lily replied.

"Yeah!" Claud folded his arms. "And we're a majority, so we're right."

"…I will not comment on how absurd this majority is, then. It is polite, after all, to defer to the host…even if this is no more your home than mine," Lesser Half replied. "Let us agree to disagree on this matter hence."

"That's a wise choice," Claud replied. "Anyway, I suppose this restaurant's good enough. Let's hope it's good enough, actually. Otherwise, the wrath of Lesser Half would probably fall on it or something."

"Just what type of divinity do you think I am?" Lesser Half asked.

Claud pushed the door open. "Who knows?"

The interior of the restaurant was bustling with business as he and Lily stepped inside proper. People of all shapes and professions were eating loudly in what Claud presumed was a celebration of the war's sudden end. Of course, part of this noise came from people shouting at each other reasons why the war abruptly ended…

"Sir, ma'am, welcome." A waiter popped up. "Um…"

Claud gestured at Lesser Half lazily. "This is an artefact. Pay it no mind. We would like a private room, if there's such a thing in this restaurant."

"Of course we have private rooms, sir." The waiter bowed once. "Follow me."

The two of them trailed after the waiter, and Lesser Half spun around continuously to take in the sights. This restaurant had two areas; the common area with a common chef, and a small hallway that had private rooms for people to eat in. It was nothing new, but the way Lesser Half spun around was making Claud wonder if this setup was some grand idea of the millennium or something.

Lily nudged him once. "What's up with Lesser Half?"

"Beats me too." Claud looked at the spinning cube. "Maybe he just really likes it?"

"That's a bit unlikely, though…"

Thankfully, the waiter didn't think about the spinning cube much, and led them to a room peacefully. Claud made his way over to the table and picked up the menu briefly, before saying, "I'll like the Course A meal, thank you."

Course A had everything he wanted, so it was good enough. Besides, as people who had been eating not-so-good food for the past ten days or so, professionally cooked meals were great.

Pulling a chair out for Lily, Claud got her to sit down, and then said, "You're the guest of honour today, so don't sweat it too hard."

"Is there really a point in this when it's the two of us?" Lily asked, rolling her eyes. "You're just dramatic…"

"There's me here too!"

"Do you mind?" Claud asked, glancing at Lesser Half. "I'm trying to be romantic here!"

"Go get a room, then."

"What exactly do you think this place is, then?"