After fooling around and enjoying each other’s company for a few minutes, Gaius turned his attention to the monitor, which was currently displaying a bird’s eye view of Celestia. Gaius didn’t need to use the monitor to adjust and make changes to his creation, but it was decidedly more convenient to have a visual approximation when it came to things of this nature.

“Hmm. It seems that my policy to clothe them the moment newcomers arrive is rather useful,” Gaius noted. “Lightning strikes don’t fall five minutes into arrival anymore.”

“Well, I’ll probably beat up people who saw me without clothes, so that’s really natural, right?” Isabelle asked.

“Including me?”

“That’s an exception,” she replied. “Of course, I expect the same from you, okay?”

Gaius pecked the top of her forehead. “Done, done and done.”

“That’s my Gaius!” Smiling, she reciprocated the gesture, and then turned his face back to the screen. He could detect a hint of reluctance in doing so, but apparently, Isabelle had decided that getting him to finish any official business was more important here.

Gaius, who had wanted to continue hugging her, felt a bit depressed at that, but she really had a point in getting him to do work first. Murdering a sigh that was about to escape from his lips, Gaius fiddled with the keyboard and mouse, while checking on data that couldn’t be represented on the monitor.

“Right,” said Isabelle, “if Celestia is already functioning, doesn’t it mean that it’s already completed? Why do you need something like a festival of creation? I never really wrapped my head around that concept. How is it liveable if it’s not completed?”

Gaius forced out some divinity from his body, gathering it around his finger. The black-white energy turned into sigils immediately, but they weren’t the sigils that he usually employed. “Let’s put it this way. We’re currently in a world seed, an egg of sorts. The egg itself is alive. However, it’s not capable of doing anything else. However, once it hatches, a small chick pops out. In the instant it pops out, the chick learns to breath, readies every necessary physiological aspect crucial to survival, imprints itself onto its mother, and faces the outside world for the first time.”

He fired out the sigil. “That is the festival of creation. Celestia is already formed; it is just in an insubstantial state. At the moment of birth, when the Border of Transmigration fulfils its function, I will burn up every ounce of divinity that belongs to the Abyss, tear open the shadowy recesses between dimensions, and will Celestia to appear there.”

“The Border of Transmigration?” Isabelle asked. “What’s that?”

“The name of the grey circle that’s closing in on the Cradle of Creation,” Gaius replied. “It links all it touches to Celestia, while storing any and all information about Orb and its own natural laws. I might not be able to pull Paragons and Demigods inside, but I can definitely do that after they pass away.”

“No choice in that matter, huh.”

Gaius paused. “Do you think…no, never mind.”

“Go on,” said Isabelle. “Ask away. You’ve been a bit troubled ever since you got here, and I want to know why. Did Nexus say something? Or did you chance upon something important?”

“Well, it’s actually about the issue of memories,” Gaius replied. “What is your opinion on what I’m doing to them?”

“I…” Isabelle hesitated, before silently flinging her arms around him. As a soft warmness enveloped him, Gaius figured out her answer, and a small, sad smile crept up his face.

“To be honest, I don’t think it’s good,” said Isabelle, her head on top of Gaius’s. He could keenly feel her chin move as she continued her explanation. At the same time, he could feel her heartbeat speed up, and with a small pang of pain, Gaius understood that she was scared of telling him things related to Celestia.

He broke off the embrace and placed his two hands on Isabelle’s shoulder. “You know, if you have anything you dislike, you have to tell me. I know I have been neglecting you and everyone else, and it might be hard to approach me for this, this entire endeavour is for you and the kids. You three have the right to tell me that I’m doing something wrong. And you promised to stop me, right?”

Isabelle looked him in the eye, and a rock of sorts seemed to roll away from her heart. “When you say all these, it makes me feel that I’ve been worrying for nothing. You…should have your own plans, right? I’m not going to worry anymore. If you are doing this for us, you can’t go wrong.”

Gaius nodded, a smile on his face. “Thank you for your faith in me. But if you have any opinion, do state it, okay?”

“Dummy. I’ll always have faith in you.” Isabelle smiled. “Now I feel stupid for worrying.”

“We’ve done so many things together,” Gaius replied. “There’s never a need to worry for anything. Do you want me to demonstrate here, before we go down to see the kids?”

Isabelle, who was blushing, flicked his nose, dispersing his wolfish grin. “There’s a time and place for everything, dummy. Don’t you have more important business to do?”

“I came here to see everyone, though,” Gaius replied, before pulling her close. Running his hand through her long hair, their noses met for a few seconds, and he nuzzled her neck. “The great gods and the elites of Orb are gathering their resolve to die here. Once they’ve solidified their wills, they will charge at the Cradle. They will, despite my many defences, make it to the Cradle.”

He placed his lips on her shoulder bone. “There’s nothing for me to prepare. I’ve already won. The extent is just how much.”

“But you’re still nervous.” Isabelle pointed out. “I can feel you trembling badly, even if you don’t notice it yourself.”

“Who wouldn’t be nervous? I’ve brought so many people over to Celestia, that my former friends must have experienced their own losses. I…don’t know how to face them.”

“You’re doing it for their sake.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that I’m essentially a mass murderer now.”

“Dummy. Why worry about it now? There’s no point. You’ll just get flustered even if you memorised a script. Didn’t you start flubbing halfway through your two speeches?”

“You were watching?” Gaius felt a part of him die inside, and the urge to roll around madly overtook him.

“Well, duh. You were really brave. And suave.” She paused. “Do you want a video? I got Nexus to save them…”

“…What makes you think that I would want them? Alright, whatever.” Gaius covered her lips with his own, and then withdrew them a few seconds later. He wanted to continue on, but if Isabelle didn’t want to, there was nothing he could do. “Right, we should, uh, visit the others.”

“…I didn’t say no, though.”

“They’ll complain if I only visited them three days after I arrived here.”

“Wait, this long?” Isabelle gulped.

Gaius nodded, a grin on his face. “That’s why we should visit them first.”

Isabelle made a little sound, and then held on to his arm. “I’m not sure what to feel, but…let’s visit them first?”

“Sure.”

With a simple thought, the two of them were now hovering majestically above a lush-green field…not that anyone could see them, however.

“Sculpting classes, huh?” Gaius looked down on the field, where a bunch of sculptures, each of them varying in quality, were currently being carved out. Nakama, whose specialty lay in woodworking, was naturally teaching the things she knew best. La-Ti, her grand-student, was also teaching and carving his own sculpture at the same time, a supreme display of their talents at carving.

It was a reminder to Gaius that they had surpassed him in this particular field.

“They are doing what they want,” said Isabelle, a peaceful smile on her face. “As are these other sculptors. A world, where anyone could be what they wanted to be, free of constraints like survival and shelter.”

“So long as they do not harm the rights of others,” Gaius added. “That bit is really important. It’s freedom, but there’s also order in it. An order not from mortal forces, but from up high.”

“From you, actually,” Isabelle pointed out.

“Maybe I should just change my name or something,” Gaius muttered. “I’ll call myself ‘Up High’ or something.”

“That sounds awful, so no.” Isabelle pinched his cheek. “But I can see why you wanted to make something like this so much. I like it.”

Something nice and warm bubbled in Gaius’ stomach, and he smiled. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“This is also why you aren’t stopping the kids from teaching their students about creating sculptures about you, right?” Isabelle asked, her eyes alight with interest. “So cute. I should also carve one and place it in our home later.”

“…Please don’t.”

“Alright, I’ll give that more thought. Besides, I have the real deal, so I don’t really need sculptures. I suppose it can be your mercy to the rest of Celestia.” Smugness radiated off Isabelle at those words, which prompted a bunch of conflicting emotions to rise in Gaius’ heart.

“I’m simultaneously happy and worried,” Gaius muttered.

Isabelle laughed, a merry tinkle to his ears. “Shall we go down and check on them? Or do you have something else in mind?”

“Let’s talk to them first. And you already know what that something else is, so…”

Those words earned him a rap on the head for his trouble, and after rolling her eyes at him, Isabelle pulled him down. The two of them hid behind a wall, peeking out as Nakama continued to demonstrate the many ways of carving things into a desired shape.

Gaius let out a slow sigh. “I wonder what this feeling of fulfilment is.”

“Hmm. Something like ‘Oh, they’ve all grown up’? Or ‘They don’t need me anymore?’”

“A mix, I guess. We aren’t parents yet, but we’ve already experienced such a feeling.” Gaius tilted his head. “The order’s all messed up.”

“True.”

The two waited in a companionable silence, watching as Nakama and La-Ti continued to demonstrate various techniques and skills. It was gratifying to see the two of them doing things on their own, and Gaius felt that his effort in creating Celestia so far had been worth it.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” Isabelle abruptly asked. “Watching both La-Ti and Nakama like this. They’ve truly grown up, haven’t they? I…”

“Let’s just leave a letter,” said Gaius. He knew what Isabelle was thinking. The two kids had forged a world of their own, creating an environment that they were truly comfortable in. It didn’t seem right to barge into their little patch of sky, for some reason.

“I was thinking that too, really. But what should we write?” Isabelle asked.

“Hmm.” Gaius created a piece of paper, and then imprinted some words on it. “What do you think?”

Isabelle scanned through it, and then rolled her eyes. “You make it sound like you might not be coming back. You place this letter on their tables, I guarantee you that they’ll be storming back home to hug you and prevent you from stepping out of the Cradle.”

“Eh?”

“Come on, let me revise this.” Turning Gaius’ letter into ash, she created a new piece of paper and imprinted a bunch of words on it. “Take a look.”

Gaius reached out and looked at it:

To Nakama and La-Ti

We dropped by earlier, but since you were busy with classes, we decided not to disturb you two. We’re happy to see that you two are genuinely enjoying yourself here, and are overjoyed to know that you’ve found your own calling in life, your self-actualisation.

This is the world that Gaius desired, a world that was built to let you two, as well as others with small dreams, to be who you want to be. Do not worry about him. He will never lose. I’ll also be by his side, now and forevermore, so go forth and be who you want to be. That’s the greatest way you can make him happy.

Of course, you are free to come back anytime. You do still remember how to, right? Just think about it, and you’ll be back. We’ll always have some food on the dinner table for you, so do come back once in a while.

Stay happy, until the end of time.

We love you both.

Isabelle & Gaius

Gaius nodded. “That’s…actually way better than mine, now that I think about it.”

“Leagues better,” Isabelle corrected. “You ended off with ‘We might never see each other again, but know that I will always love you two. Seriously?”

“I spent a few of my thoughts on writing that thing, you know!”

“…From now on, I’m handling any letter writing.” Isabelle paused. “No excuses.”

Gaius quailed under her intense gaze and nodded meekly, before creating an envelope. Placing the letter inside, the envelope took flight and soared into the two’ s little house, settling down on the table comfortably.

“Let’s go check on Xanadu next,” said Isabelle. “She’s taking care of a bunch of children right now; she could definitely use the extra helping hand.”

“Children, huh?” Gaius was reminded of the time he spent in Cybral back then, when he showed children his sculpting skills. “I wonder if we could get them to work together.”

“Get who?”

“Xanadu and our two little instructors,” Gaius replied. “That should be possible, right?”

“Ah, I see where you’re going….”