Charles looked behind him at the tattered wall of the town, which was even then slowing fixing itself. The townspeople were undergoing an emergency tax on their mana for that very purpose. If that was what the others wanted, then he wasn’t going to argue. He had no real opinion on the matter either way.

“Do you realize that we didn’t get any experience from the fights we had while the system was down?” Kate mentioned once they were safely back on board the station.

“Huh, I wasn’t paying attention, but I guess you’re right.” Beth agreed, her eyes glazing over as she brought up her status page. “I feel a little gypped now.”

Inara whacked them both with her tail and shook her head, pointing her chin towards Kira.

Sierra and Silvi had seemed to pick up on the woman’s desire to say something and were hugging the wall while remaining quiet.

“Charles,” Kira began softly. “I think I’m ready. I know we’ve never actually discussed it… You were waiting until I felt ready to take the next step. I think that time is now. I’d like to get married tonight, or tomorrow, just… as soon as possible.”

“Are you sure?” He asked around the lump in his throat.

“I am. It feels right. I’m finally at peace with myself. What you did for that little kraken child was the final push I needed.” She brushed a strand of purple hair away from her eye. “I’m not going to change my mind Charles, it’s time to do this. Just say when.”

“When?” He croaked, his mouth suddenly dry.

“I don’t think that’s what she meant,” Silvi said with a grin.

He shook his head, dispelling the fog her words had caused. “Right, um, tonight is fine with me if we can find someone to do the ceremony. I’m not entirely sure how those work anymore, and any gods who would be willing officiate for us have fallen.”

“What about your mom or grandparents?” Sierra asked, stepping forward.

“We can ask. I have no idea what they’ll say, but we can try.” Charles had a vague recollection of the pedestal in the gazebo’s also being able to perform certain ceremonies. He wasn’t sure as to their purpose though, since traditionally marriages were a legal matter.

They now lived in a world with no real laws. The act of marriage was more for the symbolism… unless there was a deeper purpose behind the act within the system functions.

Unlike what he was hoping to do with Kira. He wanted to tie their threads of fate together, the same way Charlotte and Scott had when they were married. It sounded romantic to him, and a way to keep their family together forever.

Maybe that was just him being overly optimistic, but it sounded nice. If something happened between him and Kira and they separated, then he would think about things then. For now, at least, he wanted to be optimistic and plan for the long-term future.

He didn’t want to think about Kira leaving him, or Silvi and Myri growing older, or anything bad happening to them. Everything changed, he knew that, but for the moment, their personal lives felt almost perfect to him.

“I’ll find my mom and talk to her. Then I’ll let you know.” He assured her, already walking towards where his sister had set up her small workshop in one of the unoccupied dorm apartments.

Krystal and Kory had plans to create some larger warehouse-styled locations in the future. However, for the moment, everyone who needed a workspace had simply been co-opting one of the empty apartments.

It was a solution that most actually seemed to like, while also exasperating their lack of livable spaces. For now, it wasn’t too big of an issue. In the future, however, that would change. It was going to be the number one problem they always faced on the station.

“I’ll find you at our apartment as soon as I talk to them.” He ran from the observatory, unable to keep the eagerness from his voice and steps.

“I think you made him excited, sis.” Charles heard Kate say before he vanished from view.

Silvi ran after him, her fluffy tail wagging happily. She caught up to him outside the apartment Charlotte had been using as her workshop. The young girl swayed gently side-to-side as she stood by his side, while they waited for someone to come to the door.

Charlotte jerked open the door after Charles knocked for the fourth time. “WHAT DO YOU WANT?” She screeched. “Oh, it’s just you two. You know we’re in the middle of a project right now.”

Their mother, Cassy, came up behind her and look over her daughter’s shoulder. “What’s going on? Charles, Silvi, did you need something?”

Charles worked his tongue around his suddenly dry mouth. “Something happened earlier, and Kira decided that she was ready to get married. I was wondering if you or your parents could perform the ceremony?”

Charlotte wasn’t the only one who had a problem referring to Conor and Clara as his grandparents consistently.

His sister grinned. “I was wondering how long she was going to take to move past the last of her hang-ups.”

Cassy smiled. “Of course, I’ll perform the ceremony. When did you want to do it? We’re working on making the new runic language still. Even with my past experience making them, creating one of this nature is difficult.”

“What are you trying to do, create a new runic alphabet and programming language? Because that’s what Gaia already did.” Charles had seen the runes his sister worked with, but hadn’t taken the time to truly study them yet. Somehow, he hadn’t managed to find the time. There was always something else that required his attention.

Charlotte laughed and rolled her eyes. “Not yet, no, that’s a future project. We’re just trying to create a language where the words can contain enough power for what we want them to do. All the current ones break apart at a certain point.”

“So, what, you’re trying to recreate the High-God version of the Adamic language in an afternoon?”

Silvi blinked her puzzled eyes. “I don’t know what that means.”

“The Adamic language is said to be one of the original languages of this world. The one used to name everything that gave it shape.” Cassy explained with a smile.

“The language actually does exist, though that isn’t its name. It’s one all High-Gods can use when we create worlds. There is no corresponding written form to it. There never needed to be… However, it could be interesting to try to tie the two together.”

“Later, we’re finally making progress with this project. We can’t afford to just scrap it all at this stage of the plan.” Charlotte reminded their mother.

“Of course, that goes without saying. Now, about the wedding. What time and where? We’ll want to have enough time to clean up and prepare the place as well. Not to mention I’ll need to contact my parents so they can come up for it as well. They’ll want to bless the union, along with your sister’s, since they missed that.”

Charles shook his head, overcome by the sudden barrage. “Um, we hadn’t decided on a time yet. Everyone needs to get ready and cleaned up still. Let’s say in three, no, four hours at the gazebo in the main area. That should give everyone enough time to do whatever they need to do.” He looked pointedly at his mother and sister.

“We won’t be able to finish, but it’ll help.”

Silvi hopped a little, her tail wagging happily. “I’ll go let everyone know then. This is going to be great!” She hurried off with a skip in her step and a smile on her face.

“How did things go down below? Something must have prompted Kira’s change.” Charlotte asked.

“We lost two towns, and it looked like all of the kingdoms were being attacked. The station wasn’t positioned currently for us to see the rest. Either way, we decided to leave the kingdoms to their own devices. The only town we went down to help was Harvard. It was being attacked by another kraken, this one different from the one we saw before. They had taken her child, and she wanted him back.

“We helped rescue and heal the kid. Then, after that, we came back up. It just feels like the towns should be able to weather these attacks for the most part. And everyone is feeling a little lost, I think, right now.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll tell you about it more later. For now, you have work to do.”

He left them with a quick hug and wandered back to the apartment.

Lost.

That was a good way to describe how he was feeling as well. How he had been feeling for a while.

Somehow the mantle of hero had been placed on him, and he hated it. The weight was stifling and suffocating him. He had no idea why anyone would willingly choose to be the person that everyone depended on. Maybe he just didn’t have the right personality for it, but all he wanted was a quiet life with a loving family.

That might not have been what he always wanted, but it certainly was now. All he wanted to be responsible for was their safety and happiness, nothing more.

He didn’t know if that day would come though until he had created hundreds or thousands more towns. It was daunting, and enough to dispirit him whenever he thought about it. He wanted to walk away from everything, and truthfully, he had come close.

However, he couldn’t. Not yet at least, he still had a little more to give, and he hated himself for that.

Charles glanced around the empty apartment and went to take a nice, long, hot shower. He had a wedding to prepare for.