“I would really want to say ‘I told you so’, but that’s not going to help, is it?” Lila threw her arms around Gemini and held him close. “Therefore…I only have one thing to say. Come back soon. I’m preparing pizza.”

“Really?” Hereward asked. “Is it a freshly-baked one?”

“Yes, but I’m not giving it to you,” Lila replied. “My husband doesn’t know much about festivals of creation and whatnot. You must have been the one who told him to chip in, right?”

“Gah.”

“Come on, Lila. You know that you and Aria share the number one position in my heart,” said Gemini. “This festival of creation might create irrevocable changes in the world, changes that might harm you both. Even if Hereward didn’t tell me, I would have figured it out eventually.”

“Auh.” Aria held his arm.

“Yeah, I know, kiddo.” Gemini rubbed Aria’s head. “But I would only find out maybe three months into the whole thing. Without ample preparation, I would likely get killed and be unable to protect you two. It’s better that I know about all this now.”

Lila nodded. “I know. And that’s why…”

Gemini smiled. “Don’t worry. Today is just a briefing for the mortals of the Five Lands. Nothing much is going to happen to me, I know it.”

“Come back soon, okay?” Lila smiled. “Stay safe.”

“Thanks, dear.” Gemini gave her a kiss, and then stepped out of the cottage proper. Looking up into the crimson, black-hued sky, he nodded at Hereward.

“How nice,” Hereward murmured. “To have someone you can trust unconditionally, to love with no restraint. I see why you have no ambitions now. You’re already the happiest person in the world.”

Gemini smiled. “Yes. Me, and everyone else who has found their fated other.”

“Fated…do you believe in fate?” Hereward asked. “In destiny?”

Gemini pondered the question for a moment. “I believe that the future is shaped by the actions of the masses and of important people, with all the complex corollaries that follow. If you were to call that destiny or fate, I would say that I’m a believer. However, if you tell me that my path is ordained by some supreme being that surpasses the likes of you and me, I will not believe it.”

“You make quite the eloquent argument,” Hereward noted.

“Hard not to, when I have so many thought strands doing the work for me,” said Gemini.

“My apologies. I was assessing you with the standard of a mortal,” said Hereward.

“You’re a mortality bigot?”

“When you look down on the mayflies fighting, you become disillusioned after a while,” Hereward replied. “I find the likes of you more agreeable. People who have found their place and are content to stay in it.”

“Much like the utopia the Abyss Sovereign is constructing, right?” Gemini sighed. “I understand the rationale behind such a grand undertaking, and even approve of it. But…the risk is too tangible for me to ignore.”

“Glad you understand.” Hereward gestured. “It is time. The other great gods are descending onto the Great Divide. If I were you, I’ll hurry up and calm down your Demigods, before they freak out.”

“Right. Well, if you would do the honours…”

Divinity swirled around Hereward, and the next thing Gemini saw was a sight he’d seen in his mind’s eye so far. They were now in the middle of a bridge of rock and earth, where an impromptu, open-air negotiation venue had been set up. The participants of the peace treaty were are looking around in alarm, and Gemini couldn’t quite blame them.

After all, two Divine Kingdoms had materialised on both sides of the landbridge. The demon Demigods were the most alarmed, from the looks of their faces; a single misstep and they would give in to their flight or fight response.

“Hold,” Gemini uttered, his words slashing through the air. Pai-Relix and the other members of the peace delegation froze, before turning to look at him. “Be at ease. We, the great gods of Orb, are here for a different reason.”

Pai-Relix blinked twice, before her voice echoed in Gemini’s head. “Lord, what do you mean when you say ‘we, the great gods’?”

Gemini smiled, before motioning for her and the others to wait. His presence evidently had a calming effect on the Demigods, and without much preamble, he walked over to the delegation of the Wildlands, before standing behind them. Divinity churned around him madly, and the Demigods of the Five Lands stared at him, realisation dawning in their faces.

“Pai-Relix,” said Demigod Eliza, “is that…Demon Sovereign Asteria?”

Gemini looked at her, and then gave off the faintest of smiles. She, as the only person who knew about the true reason behind Lila and Aria’s sudden disappearance from the Wildlands, was already playing along with him.

“That is the Lord, yes. Awakened from the madness of the World’s Blight, he is now the patron god of the Wildlands, the final protector of an inherited world,” Pai-Relix replied.

Murmurs swept through the Five Lands, but before they could say anything, Hereward had reappeared in the middle of the two groups.

“Sooth, O children. I am Hereward, the Sentinel of Space. We, the great gods, have descended upon this momentous occasion to bring news of the developments in the Central Circle. A festival of creation, an undertaking without matching scale in the past hundred thousand years, is taking place as we speak.”

Two silhouettes appeared to Hereward’s sides.

“Brother,” said the green radiant shadow, “when you say a festival of creation…”

“Precisely so. Your guesses are correct, and your concerns even more so,” Hereward replied. “For this reason, I have convened everyone present. What are your opinions on this?”

Conrah roared twice as a silvery dragon descended from the skies. Hereward paused for a moment, and then nodded. “Right. We should at least explain to the people here first, no?”

“Explain?” Pai-Relix exchanged perplexed looks with Eliza. “What’s going on?”

“Let me do it,” said Hereward. “First, something huge has happened in the Central Circle. Some of you might have sensed it already, but I’m going to explain the ins and outs of this incident properly. First…”