Thankfully, rather than lead them to some ramshackled tavern in one of the seedier parts of the city, Scule brought them somewhere close. After paying the tavern keep for a room for the night using a few coins Vin had never seen before, Scule welcomed them to come back in the morning if they dared, before heading back home himself. Vin was a bit surprised he was willing to sleep back home after that heated argument, but Scule made it sound as if that kind of display was totally normal.

  “That is far from a healthy family dynamic,” Shia said, claiming the smaller bed for herself as she flopped down into it. “I had to keep stopping myself from just picking Scule’s father up and shaking him. His argument was ridiculous! Scule goes out of his own way to provide for his family. The sheer audacity to ask him not to see his younger siblings!”

  “I can understand not wanting Copi to choose the Rogue class, but yeah, that part was stupid,” Alka nodded. “No wonder he was so mad at the daggers I gave them.”

  “Speaking of, where did you even find petian-sized daggers so quickly?” Vin asked, summoning his shimmerwing mattress and tossing it on top of whatever pathetic excuse for bedding the tavern used.

  “One of the Earther Smiths,” Alka shrugged. “Seeing as it’s like half the size of a toothpick, I figured it wouldn’t take them long. They’re probably pretty crude, but it’s a dagger. How fancy does a sharp piece of metal with a handle really have to be?”

  “How did you even get it to stick in your helmet, anyway?” Shia asked, giving her a curious look. “I hadn’t even realized the helmet wasn’t completely melded to your head like your darthsteel coating. Can you take it off?”

  “If I want to, yeah,” Alka said. “Deorer didn’t want to risk coating over my eyes, so we decided on a helmet just in case I needed to take it off for any reason. Anyway, seeing as I don’t feel all that interested in standing here and watching you guys sleep for the next few hours, I’m going to go roam about. I’ll be back before you get up.”

  Before Vin could beg her not to do anything overly reckless, Alka turned and rushed out of the room. The three of them paused in what they were doing as they blinked and turned to look at one another.

  “Is it just me, or has Alka been acting strange lately?” Shia asked.

  “I thought so too, but I didn’t want to say anything,” Lumel admitted. “Did something happen recently?”

  “Hard to say. After the adventure through that crazy lightning fragment with the talking schlimes we kind of split off for a bit," Vin explained, thinking back. "Remember, while we had our whole ordeal in the sky fragment and then swung by Forpurt’s place, she stayed behind to help the infernals get used to her old fragment and wait for Tiffany after her merger. Maybe something happened during that week we were away?”

  “Whatever the case, I’m sure she’ll tell us if it ever becomes anything serious,” Shia yawned. “Best to leave it be for now.”

  With that, the three of them settled down for the night. Lumel surprised him by quietly slipping into his own bed rather than the third that the room held, but Vin didn’t complain as they snuggled up together. Lumel’s unique gel-like body was the secret fourth piece of his Stronghold of Slumber, and he smiled as he laid his head on his magic cloud, wrapped his merider-silk blanket around the two of them, and went to sleep.

  Luckily, Scule had picked out a tavern that included breakfast with the room, so come morning, the three of them headed down and had a quick bite of rather bland but filling oats. Vin was mildly concerned by the fact that Alka still hadn’t returned, but he was confident there weren’t any threats within the citadel she couldn’t handle. If anything, he was more worried that she’d gone on some sort of nighttime crime-fighting spree and was busy carving her way through whatever gangs and criminals that might exist.

  Once they’d eaten almost more oats than their stomachs could hold, they headed back to Tiny Town. Just like last night, Scule was waiting for them down by the river, this time with Reginald in tow.

  “You guys would not believe what happened after you left,” Scule said, drying his feet off and putting his shoes back on. “My father actually apologized for the first time in what has to be years. I don’t know what crazy magic spell you guys cast, but I was blown away. Honestly, I don’t know if it was me finally revealing I’d already hit my second prestige in only my early twenties, or that he very nearly tried to lay a hand on me, but he seemed weirdly shaken once he’d calmed down. Caught me totally off guard.”

  “That’s great!” Shia grinned, reaching down and giving him a high five with a single finger. “Hopefully that’s a sign of good things to come.”

  While Shia and Scule began joking that his father may have simply fallen into Lumel’s wine bottle and gotten drunk off his gourd, Reginald scurried up Vin’s clothing and quietly squeaked into his ear. Vin blinked as he got the gist, and he looked at the nodding rat in surprise. “Seriously? Copi and Nute threatened to leave as well if things didn’t change? Damn, I guess that was the rude awakening he needed.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “It's still so strange that you can understand Reginald now," Lumel said, looking curiously between the two of them. "How does that work again?"

  “Sorry, but I'm not really supposed to share,” Vin said sheepishly. He’d somewhat explained what had happened to him back in the hospital, but he’d gotten the vibe from the Goddess that trying to explain too closely what he’d been through might be dangerous. “Don't want to anger the Gods, and all that. It’s just something to do with my new class ability, related to the last coma I put myself into. And I can’t understand him so much as I can hear the meaning in his squeaks. Trust me, I know how weird that sounds.”

  “While I do hope you’re not planning to make these comas a habit, even I have to admit they’ve been remarkable for your progression,” Lumel said, looking a little jealous. “I’ve never heard of anyone going from level 40 straight to level 43 in only a few weeks.”

  “Honestly, if I could go back, I don’t think I’d do it again,” he admitted, shuddering both at the memory of the World Eaters hungrily gazing into what felt like his soul and the sensation of the magic making up his very existence trying to break free from the Gods’ restraints. “Some of the things I’ve felt… the grand arcane discoveries… they’re pretty horrifying.”

  “I certainly won’t complain about you slowing down a bit and not leaving the rest of us in the dust,” Lumel said, smiling as she took his hand. “Speaking of slowing down… Rather than another day of magic practice, what do you say about listening to me entertain a thirteen-year-old girl with stories about living in an underwater palace?”

  “I’d say that sounds like a lovely way to spend an afternoon,” Vin grinned.

  It wasn’t long after that before Copi and Nute came out to join them, and they all spent a relaxing day hanging out with Scule and his siblings. Lumel had admitted that she’d been slightly worried about running out of stories to tell Nute, but it seemed the girl was just as interested in hearing about the mundane, simple things going on in a palace so much as the grandiose. While she captivated the petian with tale after tale of life as a princess, Scule and Copi sat under the brand-new tree and got to talking about life and the future. When they spotted Scule’s father come out and begin working on their fungal fields, Shia quickly hurried over and began helping, eagerly absorbing whatever knowledge he threw her way.

  Eventually, Alka returned to Tiny Town, refusing to give an explanation as to what she’d been doing other than ‘stuff.’ Her return marked a shift in the afternoon’s activities, however, as the conversation quickly devolved into Vin and his team all trying to talk over one another as they did their best to regale Scule’s family with tales of their adventures. Despite Scule having already told his siblings about much of what had happened the last time he’d been home, Vin, Shia, and Alka all had their own unique perspectives on what had occurred, and they had plenty of new adventures that they’d gone on over the last month as well. Copi and Nute were completely enthralled as they listened in on the world outside of the citadel, and Vin noticed that even Scule’s father had an ear turned in their direction as he worked in the field. At one point, Scule’s mother came out to give them all drinks; fungal juice in tiny glasses for the petians, and large buckets for the giant-folk that were basically the equivalent of shot glasses.

  Vin didn’t even realize until they’d been talking for an hour, but a number of Scule’s neighbors had actually come out and were listening in on the periphery, seemingly just as curious as Scule’s family was. It was weird suddenly finding himself surrounded by a few dozen petians when Scule was the only one he’d ever known prior to yesterday, but he didn’t mind letting them listen in.

  Finally, just as the artificial sun began setting up on the warehouse ceiling, they caught up to the present. Vin had been shocked that they’d managed to talk for hours on end without even trying, but he supposed they had done quite a lot over the past few months on Edregon.

  “Alright, show’s over everyone, back to your homes,” Scule called out, jokingly shooing all the other petians back toward their own residences. “My friends and I need to head out and make it back to Terra, so no encores tonight!”

  “You guys are leaving already?” Nute asked, pouting from Lumel’s shoulder. “I had so many more questions!”

  “You spent all morning asking questions!” Scule argued. “You want her to come back, right? If you annoy her too much, she’s not going to want to!”

  Nute gasped as if the thought that being asked questions for hours on end might be annoying had never occurred to her, and Vin laughed as Lumel quickly reassured her that wasn’t the case.

  “I’d like it if you guys came back,” Copi admitted, smiling up at them. “My choosing day’s only about a month and a half away. I’d love to get a chance to ask you guys your opinions before then.”

  Vin glanced over at Scule’s father, but the man said nothing, simply putting down his farming equipment and heading into the house. It seemed after straining his relationship with his eldest to such a point, he was still in shock at the discovery that he risked the rest of his children cutting ties with him as well.

  “We’ll see what we can do,” Scule grinned, ruffling Copi’s hair one last time. “Alright, enough of that. You guys say your goodbyes, I need to have a quick chat with mom and dad before we leave.”

  As much as Vin was curious as to what that chat was going to entail, the next few minutes were spent saying goodbye to Copi and Nute and promising that they’d come back. Lumel looked like she had something she wanted to say to the two young petians in private, but before she could get the chance, Scule returned from his family home and nodded at them.

  “We’ll be back before you know it!” Scule said, giving both his younger siblings big hugs before hopping on Reginald and scurrying up onto Vin’s shoulder. “Stay safe you two!”

  “We know!” they shouted in unison, waving at them as they headed out of Tiny Town. It wasn’t until the warehouse door was shut behind them that Scule finally let out a weary sigh, deflating slightly as his line of sight to his siblings was severed.

  “Well…” Scule said, giving them a tired smile. “I’d say that went rather well!”

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