“Weiwu, the Chanter of Innocents…” Gaius looked at the great god in front of him. The two of them were now standing in a bleak landscape made of dulled, glassy ground, which, when Gaius took a closer look, was made up of gemstones that had lost their lustre. Above them, a huge rift took the place of the sky, sucking in whatever light the faded gemstones were still able to emit.

Tall, tall structures that somehow resembled buildings dotted the landscape, reminding Gaius of a city back on Earth. But all of them gave off a bleak, lifeless feeling, as if their inhabitants had long vanished.

“Yes.” The Chanter of Innocents was an old man dressed in a flowing cloak, the exact same person that Gaius had seen when he first crossed over to Orb. Of course, Weiwu was a statue back then, awakening only when Isabelle was pushed to challenge her doubts.

“I’m not sure whether I saw this coming or not,” replied Gaius, “but there’s an urgent situation occurring in front of my body right now.”

“There is no need to worry. We are in a place beyond time and fate,” replied the great god. Gaius narrowed his eyes; the words he was hearing and how the great god’s lips were moving were somewhat different.

Weiwu continued on. “We can talk for years here, and nothing would have passed. It is a privilege afforded to each and every one who seeks power.”

How he should react to that the boy didn’t know, but from the looks of things, he could do nothing about it anyway. Instead, he asked, “You’re the source of things like a Dominion, aren’t you?”

“You’re not entirely wrong,” replied Weiwu. “My progenitors were the ones who created this mystical system of power, not just a simple application of one’s Will.”

“Are you referring to cultivation?” Gaius asked.

“That’s the name of it currently, yes. The energies the mortals of your Orb channel are the lifeforce of the dead here,” he replied. “It is the only way to stop them from vanishing entirely.”

A hint of sadness flickered across his eyes, but Gaius didn’t press on. After a few minutes of silence, the Chanter of Innocents looked back up at the boy.

“I’ve been waiting for you, ever since I awakened. For some time, you chose to stay at your current…realm” —that last word was somewhat jarring to him— “but it seems that you finally found yourself lacking.”

“Yes.” The boy felt his emotions settle. “A great foe awaits. I cannot stop him.”

“I know. In part, this is our doing,” replied the Chanter of Innocents. “This…Demigod you face has been consumed by a fell madness. If this process had never existed, your foe would have maintained his sanity…and this is a reason is why you have the privilege of coming here.”

“Privilege?” Gaius thought through his words. “Don’t the people of Orb vow to you here when they come here?”

“Vow, they did. But not here. Not in this frozen time, or else their journey would have ended long ago.”

Gaius had guessed as much. “In that case, where am I?”

“This is not a place for mortal minds. In a previous reality, my creators became one, all to gain power enough to alter the past, all to protect the remnants of their children. But the price they paid was a dear one.” The great god pointed upwards, at the enormous abyss. “This is their final fate. An ephemeral, yet eternal madness, doomed to watch over a distant homeland for all time. Gaze upon it. Feel their homeland song.”

Gaius looked at the abyss closely, and a myriad of dark emotions coursed through him, accompanied by countless whispers. It was the same one that he’d felt long ago, when he nearly turned into a monster, deep in Heritage. Aggression, savagery, cruelty…all sorts of base desires and feelings rushed into his psyche as one, only to disperse with a simple gesture from Weiwu.

“And what can I do about them?” the boy asked. “You chose me. Why?”

“Because of what you were,” Weiwu replied. “Only one who suffered through guilt and remorse could even hope to stand here without turning mad. When I scoured though your world, few met the bill. Even fewer still had the will to live. Fortunately, I already knew of your existence. Inserting you into the Human God’s summoning, I delayed your arrival, ensuring that you would remain…untainted.”

“Are you referring to my amnesia? Was that your doing?”

The great god smiled quietly. “In a way, yes. In a way, no. But this is something you might not ever care about again. But let us not speak of this now.”

His demeanour changed, and an impulse to prostrate coursed through Gaius’ veins as the great god stared at him. “Mortal of the false world. Why have you come?”

The curiosity in Gaius vanished, and in that moment, the words came to him naturally. “I have come for power. Power, to protect those I care about. Power, to defeat those that would harm the people in my heart.”

He thought about the Great Divide at World’s End as he spoke. The daily life he spent with Nakama and Isabelle. The words he shared, the food they ate. His mind began to drift, and soon, he found himself thinking about the people who he talked to, those who he helped, and those who helped him.

“And to protect this world, the home of my friends.”

His thoughts scattered.

“You have so many desires.” The Chanter of Innocents shook his head. “All so small. You have already guessed at the price, when you first felt the influence of the Crying Abyss.”

Gaius was silent. The way one became a Knight was through surrendering a portion of his or her free will. It was the same for him, just that the amount was so much larger. He didn’t like it.

In fact, if he had a choice, he would have stayed as a Squire for all time.

But life had a nasty habit of making things go the other way.

“You’ve already made your choice,” replied the Chanter of Innocents. “Looks like your student’s devotion was not unfounded.”

“Did you bring him over too?”

“No,” the great god replied. “But I knew of you, from him.”

“Where is he now?”

“Back in Earth’s reincarnation cycle,” the great god replied. “He preserved one last bit of his power to return to his homeland.”

“I see.” Gaius felt resolve fill his body. “I’m ready.”

“Do not worry. You will return to Orb, for now. Your newfound power will be sorely needed, and through you, I will fulfil my promise.” The Chanter of Innocents looked up into the abyss. “Did you know? If one alters history, the cause converges, becoming an immovable singularity. Of so many I’ve seen, you are the best hope. Gaius. Don’t let me down.”

With those words, grey strands of pulsating, chaotic power began to descend from the rift above, whirling around Gaius at an incredible speed. At the same time, a similar energy, one that brimmed with a cool rationality, flooded out from deep within him, winding around his mental self, creating a mental defence of sorts. Both energies mixed together, gathering into a dot that entered his body a moment later.

His surroundings began to fade away, replaced by the sight of the Human God’s familiar spirit.

A whisper entered his ears as his soul fully returned to his body, as time began to move once more. “My chosen, the Abyss Sovereign, let this be your first task. Defeat this corrupted familiar spirit.”

The bindings around Gaius snapped. Imprinting the Chanter of Innocents’ last order in his mind, the boy cricked his neck and stared at the mad familiar spirit.