Thief of Time

“Gibbous Moon.” Dia rubbed her eyes as she got up from the sofa. Moonset was fast approaching, and other than the scene of momentary calm around her and a little sleeping baby, the rest of the living room looked like the aftermath of a stormy evening.

Beth flipped over as she murmured those words, and then snuggled up to her tummy again. Dia observed the little toddler again, and then flipped her back into a more comfortable spot, before getting off the sofa. Beth’s sleeping mind promptly registered the presence of more space, and the little toddler stretched out.

The kid was getting more and more comfortable with being on her own now, but that was definitely not an excuse to neglect her.

“I’ll still be here,” Dia whispered to Beth, before looking out at the white moon. With moonset not too far off, the sky had lightened drastically, creating a rare and picturesque sky that she usually didn’t admire.

Her mind drifted off into thought shortly afterwards.

One of her largest concerns was the sense of impending doom that she had felt for the past season or so. Despite taking out that super-large Distortion, the ominous premonitions that were so vague had never ceased to bombard her subconscious, and the anxiety that ruled her continued to roil on unabetted.

“Status.”

Name: Dia Lyceria de Lustre

Lifespan: 162 years

Active Skills: Sword Dance (8), Sword Sense (8), Sword Roar (6), Fated Sword (3), Sword Fall (3), Perfect Domain of Swords (2)

Passive Skills: Heightened Senses, Fighter’s Intuition, Foreseer’s Eye, Introspection, Projectile Evasion, Salvation Star (Prime), Lifeforce Manipulation.

Mana Circuit Superimposition: 6.77

Mana Control Proficiency: Expert

Authority: 6

Comments: The Star of Salvation illuminates the path ahead, but the shadow of the Omen is never too far off. Tarry not in your improvement and strive to save all life.

Dia let out a small sigh as she looked at the pittance in her lifespan. There wasn’t much to it right now, since most of it had been used up in her mad rush to complete her seventh mana circuit in the past season. She hadn’t spent much time in replenishing her stores of lifeforce either, since she was still suffering from a certain trauma. In addition, she hadn’t really expected that her lifespan would be depleted this quickly, but…well, she had forgotten why living forever was hard.

The rate in which one’s lifeforce drained was incredible, after all. Even the extra lifeforce she had gained from her Second Tutorial, which was marked in a pair of brackets, had been drained out completely, but the results were incredible. She, along with the other Seekers of Life, now stood at the top echelons of combat power in the entire world.

Perhaps, only the familiar spirits of the gods and the Chromatic Lords could stop them if they really went mad or something. It was not the most comforting thought, and the thing that made her current state of mind worse was the dread she felt despite her current strength.

In other words, her subconscious believed that the danger she and the others faced right now could not be overcome with six mana circuits, despite having minimally 441 times more mana in absolute terms compared to a one-folder.

She looked at her trembling hands, and then covered her face, which had contorted with a terrible expression. Dia didn’t want anyone to see her face right now, a face twisted with fear, anxiety and a tinge of madness.

There was this impulse within her, an impulse to just let out a scream and destroy everything around her. It was an impulse born from the whirling currents of so many negative feelings that Dia didn’t want to even come into contact with it, but it still manifested in its own terms anyway.

With a swift movement, Dia left the house and entered the garden. The barrier was transparent from the inside, allowing anyone to look out of it, but not the other way around.

“Damn it. What’s wrong with me?” Dia hissed to herself. Mana leaked out of her skin at the same time, lapping away at the air around her. “Ugh.”

She stomped around the garden path a few times, gritted her teeth and then forced herself to sit down. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t had the jitters before, but this insane mix of emotions that was rising from her subconscious terror and fear was making it hard to behave like a normal person at all.

It was as if she was undergoing Distortion or something.

Biting her teeth, Dia fought down the terror in her chest and attempted to silence the mad thoughts that were popping up from nowhere. Mana shimmered around her as she hammered away at those intrusive thoughts that were just so damned persistent.

The sky continued to lighten as Dia squashed the remaining thoughts into non-existence, and as the first rays of the sun broke through the horizon, the maelstrom of mad emotions died away…temporarily.

She let out a sigh. Dia could appreciate how her father probably felt now. When she was younger, Dia had seen her father on a few occasions when he clearly wasn’t all that right either. Most of these occasions happened in busy times, like New Moon’s Eve, or when the Emperor made a surprise visit, and back then, Dia hadn’t had the experience to know what her father was going through.

Now, however…

Drawing a deep breath, Dia got back up. That panic attack or whatever had taken the winds out of her, and for a moment, Dia wondered if being dead drunk at night would stop her from thinking all these unwanted thoughts.

However, there was a baby to take care of, and a bunch of idiots to oversee. If everyone was drunk, things would be bad…

“They really need to restrain themselves next time,” Dia muttered, before wiping her forehead. Surprisingly enough, she didn’t sweat at all, although her skin felt quite cold to the touch. While this was definitely a mental struggle, her efforts in overcoming this mental crisis should have been significant enough to make her sweat or something.

She pondered over the oddity for a while, and then shook her head, which felt a bit clear now.

“Time to get back, I reckon,” Dia mumbled, before rising to her feet. She gazed at the rising sun and the setting moon, and then turned to the house. No one stirred as she snuck towards the sofa, which was now flagrantly occupied by a snoozing Beth.

Beth made some funny noises as she settled down on the sofa, and Dia patted her head. “Dada’s back.”

“Mhm…”

Dia chuckled to herself, and then observed the aftermath of yesterday’s mad drinking party. With the first rays of dawn sneaking into the house — and the light from the various barriers — she could see everyone in very embarrassing positions. Kemata was straddled on Nero’s sleeping form in a show that was definitely not meant for children to see, while Farah and Schwarz were holding hands for some reason.

Whether that latter bit was a sign or not was a good question, but it was possible that this little act would spark some romance…

Risti was hugging a bottle to sleep. All things considered, she was probably the most normal of them all, which Dia found a bit surprising. At any rate, however, all of them was still asleep, but Dia couldn’t bring herself to close her eyes right now.

She had just overcome a bunch of nasty and scary thoughts, but who was to say that they weren’t lurking in the darkness behind her eyelids?

…It probably wasn’t possible to go mad in a dream, though.

Stilling her thoughts, Dia decided to just stay awake and consciously control her body to relax instead. It would suffice to relax her body like this, and as a hexa-folder…did she really need to sleep?

Probably not.

She continued to discipline her breathing as the sun climbed up the skies. Beth, who was just sleeping and not drunk, was the second to stir, and Dia caught her as she began to whimper.

It would have been better if Beth opened her eyes first before crying, but Dia couldn’t exactly tell her that either.

“There, there. Dada is here, so don’t be scared.” Dia picked up the toddler.

“Da—”

“Shh.” Dia pointed at the others. “They’re all sleeping.”

Or drunk, to be more accurate, but Dia didn’t want to draw her attention to them, especially to Nero and Kemata, who were in decidedly inappropriate postures. Picking up the little kid, Dia retreated to an unused bedroom, where she began to help Beth wash up.

She didn’t want to be there when the others finally awakened from their alcohol-induced slumber…although she couldn’t help but think that they would definitely have some choice words for each other.

More importantly, though, was the fact that they were leaving today. The trip to Grandia for hexa-folders wouldn’t all that long, though. Dia, personally, hoped that they would arrive at the capital before nightfall; bringing a baby to camp outdoors was not a good idea in her own estimation…