The Grand Weave

As we continued to plummet I turned and looked back at the castle. The red-faced man was screaming behind us before his face became too small to make out.

"What happened?" I screamed through the howling wind.

"A successful mission!" Anastasia roared.

Nathan flexed his mana and the wave sloped, carrying the bathtub across the sky and over the many roofs of tall buildings.

We even passed a tower-like restaurant that held many wide-eyed patrons. A woman screamed, and a few kids stood up and cheered with food-stained fingers as we sailed past.

Nathan tightened his grip around my waist and I had a premonition. As soon as the wave transitioned into a sharp ramp upward, I grabbed on for dear life and grit my teeth as we did a loop.

Anastasia stayed supernaturally glued to his shoulders and waved her sword in a dazzling display of fireworks that streamed behind us as we turned and sailed toward the manor.

I caught a glimpse of the long banner that unfurled in a wave of sparkling lights.

"Really?" I shouted while shaking my head. "Down with the tyranny of grumpy old men?"

"Exactly, Cyrus! We have to drive the point home!" Anastasia cheered.

The manor came into view and Nathan sped up.

Wait.

"Why are we speeding up?!"

The bathtub became a missile and Nathan jumped, carrying us above the manor while the tub impaled the ground before the gate and exploded in a hail of ceramic.

Nathan laughed as Anastasia cackled. The water around his feet shifted to behind his back and splayed out in a pair of watery wings that glimmered with rays of dazzling light once Anastasia added her mana.

We landed softly, too softly. Walter opened the door to the manor and bowed.

"Welcome back, sirs, madam. I take it the mission was a success?" Walter asked.

"Indeed, Walter!" Nathan replied as the water shattered, and the droplets snaked up his pants to rejoin somewhere inside his shirt.

Anastasia hopped off his shoulders and spun on pointed toes while she sheathed her sword. "We finally taught that old ass a lesson, he shan't forget!"

"Good job, madam. Would you like me to fetch the celebration kit?"

"Splendid choice! Option three this time. We shall keep it light to savor the day."

Walter disappeared from one blink to the next and Nathan carried me inside. Teddy met us at the end of the hall, looking like he was battling a fierce migraine.

"Mother, father. Did you just crash a bathtub in front of the house?"

"We did!" they said together.

I waved at Teddy and he rolled his eyes while approaching. Nathan held me out like a parcel to be delivered, and I was exchanged from one shoulder to another.

"Goodbye, Cyrus! If you want a drink, we'll be inside the dining room," Nathan called out before Teddy turned the corner.

I was taken down the stairs and into one of the training halls before Teddy gently placed me down.

"You know, I could get used to being carried like a sack of potatoes," I said while dusting myself off.

He glared and I removed my mask.

"Don't encourage it," he said deadpanned.

"Hey, I wasn't exactly given a choice as your dad grabbed me and your mom blasted through the window. What was I supposed to do?"

He groaned and flopped into a chair he summoned beneath him.

I pulled out some steaming-hot fries and a plethora of sauces as he tapped, waved his hand, and conjured a table.

He eventually sat up and dipped some fries into a sauce that tasted like mayonnaise mixed with spicy ketchup and sighed contentedly after chewing.

"Ever since they tiered-up they have upped their antics. And since they delivered the tier orb to the kingdom, the king can't really stop them."

I shrugged and enjoyed the fries. "Don't blame them. Sounds like fun, in that I'm insane and powerful sorta way."

He groaned again and I offered him a pitcher of lemonade.

"How was the meeting with the king? Thoughts on uncle Allaron?"

I removed the gloves and the earrings that hid my horns. Once the enchantment faded I sighed and relaxed on my beanbag.

"I'm not sure. It wasn't exactly how I thought it would go."

"What do you mean? " he said between gulps. "Did something strange happen?"

I shook my head. "Not strange, but when we were inside the treasure vault, he seemed to relax. Not entirely, still on guard and constantly examining me. But he was just a man, one taking a break from the rigid court, or at least that's how he seemed."

"He was probably being honest. From what I remember of him, he is a man of duty but he never wanted to be king. At one point, he was an adventurer just like my parents and uncle Brelten."

I searched my memories for the history of Solunaria. It was forever ago when Celenae made me study the kingdom's past.

"He's... the third son, right? And he became king just a little before you were born? Something about a tragic rift incident killing off the other heirs."

Teddy nodded. "Correct. Though from what I learned, it was probably in Solunaria's interest that Allaron became the king and not Aulstin and Aeleon. They were not bad exactly but not the best fit."

"Mmmm. You know he really wanted to know what happened in Helio, but apparently Elanor and Panasia stood their grudge and kept everything hush hush."

"Elanor keeps her word, even against her father, "Teddy smiled. "And from what you said about Panasia, I'm not surprised."

"Oh, and get this, he tried offering a deal, giving me something in return for the unfiltered story. But he chose the worst possible item so I declined."

"What did he offer?"

"A skill evolution orb."

Teddy stopped his chewing and snorted small chunks of fries. My cheeks scrunched in disgust and I kicked the chunks away.

"Sorry, sorry. That's just... he must have been serious about wanting that information to offer that up."

"Probably."

Silence elapsed as we chewed through the rest of the food and finished off the pitcher. When it was empty I ran mana through the handle and watched it fill up with the sweet, golden ambrosia.

I still haven't thanked him for this. Then again, if he had told me about the replenishing enchantment, I could have had more lemonade.

"Cyrus," Teddy said, losing the easy cadence. "Are you okay?"

I blinked and frowned at the question. "What brought this on?"

He glared and I sighed.

"Fine, I'm not dumb I get it. And yes, I'm okay. It's nice to know that everyone is worried for me, but I'm okay, I swear. It's been a rough week, alright? And I got a lot of mental trauma to unpack at some point. But I'll handle it."

The metaphysical chest inside Chomperz's stomach came to mind, the chains wrapped around it slowly degrading until I reinforced it and pushed it deeper into the void.

"We're here for you, you know that? I told you before that before we met you, we returned from an extended rift, the one that provided us Erebus' skillstone," Teddy said, jarring me out of my thoughts.

"Vaguely, but yeah."

"It wasn't a nice rift, Cyrus. There were some horrible things in there that required us to do even worse. When the rift was nearly over, we kept the boss alive on death's door for two weeks just to gather ourselves. We all didn't talk for a week straight once we left."

"Really?" I asked. "You guys never told me the details, just snippets about an undead horde."

"More than undead, they were just the major force. The cannibals, haunted woods, and more, added to the chaos. It isn't something we liked to talk about, but we got over it together and came out stronger than the people who entered the rift."

"I can help with that if you want. Well, Galarion can, at least. You don't have to give up all the memories, or even the memories at all, but the emotions to blunt the damage."

Teddy grimaced, his face turning sour. "No offense to Galarion, but that would be an insult to the people in the rift."

I smiled sympathetically, understanding the sentiment somewhat. "It was an offer, nothing more."

He sighed and rubbed his beard. "Have you been erasing your memories?"

"No, but he's been helping me deal with the mental strain. The memory I've been avoiding since before Helio is eating away at its binding, like an angry dragon clawing its way out with burning claws."

"Cyrus?" he asked, his voice soft.

"Sorry, it keeps creating headaches that he's siphoning away. But as I said, I'll deal with it."

"Soon, deal with it soon."

"Yeah, yeah," I said.

In an effort to change the topic, I accessed the storage ring and pulled out the four chests.

He inspected each one, poking the metal and whistling softly. "I don't know much about enchantments, but I can feel the power in the runes."

"I recognize a few, but it makes a nice gift to go along with the rewards."

"What did you choose?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but the training hall chimed.

My mouth curved upward. "Supernatural timing."

Teddy stood up and opened the door, revealing the rest of Broken Tower. They pushed past him and flooded into the room.

Celenae was going to say something but she dashed toward the chests and began sketching them down into a journal.

Isaac glared at the empty food wrappers and I rolled my eyes before tossing him some fries. Eodyne and Igas predictably held out their hands and I handed over the fried goods.

"I was eating at that restaurant you passed by. Was that really a bathtub?" Igas asked as he chipmunked the food.

"Yep," I nodded. "Don't ask me why or how. I was a hostage."

"At least you were disguised. I'm sure the king will be receiving complaints for the next week."

Eodyne tapped one of the chests and ran her fingers along the metal. "Is it time?"

I stared at the chests and felt a strange pressure in my chest.

"I picked enough skillstones, Just need to absorb them and go through the contract rituals for the new summons."

"Are you excited?" Celenae said as she stopped sketching and smiled at me.

"In a way. Feels less real; it's not like I had a normal adventuring life so far."

Isaac snorted. "You haven't gone on a single quest. You're barely an adventurer."

I blinked.

What?

"Quests? There are quests?"

Everyone in the room stopped and slowly turned till they stared at me with narrowed eyes.

"Cyrus..." Celenae sighed.

"Nobody told me there were quests. Could we have gotten paid hunting monsters back in Edolus?"

Teddy nodded.

I growled and flopped onto the beanbag. "Whatever. I don't need quests. Just toss me into a rift. The Weave will give me one anyway."

"Let's... Avoid that. Give it some time. Get to tier two first, perhaps?"

Igas pulled out the betting board and propped it against Teddy's chair.

He stood back with his arms crossed and a piece of chalk in his hand. "I'm ready. What are we thinking?"

"The cake skill!" Isaac shouted.

Teddy scowled. "That's just a rumor."

My eye twitched. I coughed into my hand and stopped the argument before it could start.

"I can confirm the cake skill is real."

Teddy deflated, as did Igas and Eodyne. As one, they pulled out a sack of coins and handed it over while Isaac summoned a clone just to high-five himself.

"I knew it was real," Igas grumbled.

I laughed and let the bets fly as I sat back and enjoyed the warmth of everyone being there. They all checked in on me in their own way, even Igas glancing in my direction and nodding while the arguments for what was inside the chests continued.

It was nearly thirty minutes later that Celenae slapped the betting journal onto the table that was summoned and listed off all the options.

"Enough, bets are set. There'll be no more additions. Are we satisfied?"

They nodded while I continued to grin.

She pointed a pen in my direction. "Open chest number three. It has the most options."

I stood up and bowed dramatically while waving at the crowd. There were some boos thrown my way but a few rounds of applause and even some whistling.

"What a fine day we're having, folks! Are we ready to begin?"

"Get on with it!" Isaac heckled.

I pouted. "Tough crowd."

Igas waved his hand and ice cubes rained down on the rogue's head.

My pout disappeared, and I stepped before the mundane chest made of iron. I pressed my hand against the latch lock and channeled mana into the enchantments. The pin on my collar glowed and crumbled into dust that flowed into the lock and formed a golden key.

I shrugged and turned it, hearing a satisfying click as the chest popped open.

With deliberate slowness that drew more heckling, this time from Eodyne, I bent down and threw the lid open.

Instead of cheers and curses, I frowned as Broken Tower stared behind me with wide eyes.

I sensed him before he spoke, so I slowly turned around and waved.

"Hey, Cal. What's up?"