I had to say, at the risk of sounding clichéd, that the next two days flew by in the blink of an eye. Between the preparations to take Angie on her Grand Elysium Tour (not my title for the event; in fact, it was invented by the Directorate), pushing away all the bootlickers trying to get into her good graces, and keeping an eye on the two lovebirds to make sure they don't cause another Deus overload, I could barely surface long enough to catch a breath. At least things on Critias were proceeding smoothly, thanks to Roland taking the reins, and our new special project under the joint leadership of Peabody and Sahi was also shaping up nicely. As it turned out, delegation did have its perks. Who would've thought?

In any case, after that whole hurricane of pains-in-the-asses finally calmed down into a much more manageable whirlwind of pains-in-the-necks, I decided to combine business with leisure for once and have a bit of an unorthodox break in the evening.

"Enjoy."

I graciously accepted the glazed green mug from my host. I raised it to my nose and savoured its aroma before taking a long sip, followed by an equally long, pleased sigh.

"You have no idea how much I missed this."

The man sitting at the opposite end of the small table, right in the middle of one of the smaller guest rooms of the Dracis estate, let out a soft chuckle and refilled my mug before I could even ask for it.

"You've been busy lately, haven't you?" Naoren asked and pushed the small tray of tea biscuits over to my side. They weren't traditionally paired with Chinese green tea, but he apparently picked up the habit from Sebastian. Speaking of which, the old dragon on our left let out an appreciative hum and lightly sloshed the tea in his mug.

"Well-brewed, young man. Well brewed."

"I thank you for the compliment, Great Ancestor."

The corners of the old butler's mouth rose imperceptibly and he took an elegant sip from his cup. While in public, Sebastian was still acting as a 'simple' steward for the Dracis family, ever since I convinced the old dragon to tell his secret to Naoren, for Odango Girl's sake, the Feilong patriarch had been treating him like royalty in private.

"It's a shame dad-in-law couldn't join us today," I noted as I followed Sebastian's example and sloshed my drink around a bit to bring out more of its aroma.

"The rascal was never interested in tea culture," he grumbled and finished his cup. "Let's forget about him for now, and let's continue where we were."

"I concur." Naoren put his mug down and levelled a pair of attentive eyes on me. "When are you going to be officially back?"

"I can't say anything for certain yet, but if you put a gun to my head, I'd say on the weekend at the latest. I'm hoping for Saturday, but it's predicated on nothing unexpected creeping up in the meantime."

"Is Lady Rinne also coming back with you?"

I raised a brow at Naoren's question and promptly nodded.

"Naturally. Speaking of her, you better prepare yourself. She's been studying literary analysis books in her free time for weeks now, just to show you up."

Now it was his turn to raise his brows, followed by a soft chuckle.

"Oh? Is she still holding a grudge?"

He whispered something about her 'cute side', but I couldn't pay full attention, because Sebastian grabbed the rudder of the conversation by hitting his spoon on the rim of his cup.

"How much of a Celestial presence can we expect in Timaeus?"

"Nothing major. I already vetoed their attempt to create a clandestine military outpost on the island. I had to give up the opportunity to create an embassy in exchange for it, but we can give that another try later."

"A Celestial embassy. I never thought I would hear those two words in the same sentence, let alone so close to each other," the old dragon commented with a distinctly amused undertone. "Since the terms you used were 'nothing major', I suspect there would be a minor deployment of forces. Am I correct?"

"In a sense, yes," I admitted between two sips. "My Praetorian Guard would follow us to ensure our safety."

"Are those the bodyguards you mentioned in the past?" Naoren inquired, and I nodded along.

"Numbers?" came the next question from Sebastian.

"Nine, if we count Jaakobah."

"How dangerous are they?"

"Individually pretty middling. Slightly troublesome in a group, but nothing to write home about."

Naoren's eyes narrowed behind his glasses.

"Didn't you say they were elites?"

"By a measure of the word," I replied with a shrug while simultaneously picking up a biscuit. "Celestials just aren't super-impressive unless they can get you caught up in their rhythm. One-on-one, Rinne could solo them all one after the other without much trouble."

"That doesn't tell us much. Lady Rinne is one of the most remarkable warriors of our generation," Naoren pointed out, and I had to shrug again.

"If you say so. I'd still say Celestials are more 'quantity' than 'quality'. The only threatening anything I've seen in the Elysium was a Colossus, and they don't seem to be very common."

Well, that, and Angie in her Deus-mode, but they didn't need to know that.

"A Colossus, you say?" Sebastian raised a brow, sounding rather apprehensive. "Those creatures are rather troublesome, are they not?"

"The one I met was certainly annoying, but it wasn't that powerful," I answered between two bites, and this time his brows descended into a frown.

"There's no need for bravado here, my boy. I have faced those creatures myself during the Old War. I know how tenacious they can be, and with the right equipment, they could pose a mortal threat even to my kin."

"Then the one I saw must've been underequipped," I concluded, and Sebastian nodded along as if I gave him a concession.

"While all of this is fascinating, you have yet to properly describe these honour guards," Naoren pointed out, a finger tapping on the table. "Can you at least give us a rough estimate? Or a comparison?"

"Okay, then what if I say I'd put them roughly on the same level as our Fauns?"

"That's… hm…"

While the bespectacled patriarch pondered, Sebastian refilled all our cups and raised a different inquiry.

"Speaking of whom, I have heard some troubling news about a new group of Abyssal warriors prowling the streets of our city. Shouldn't we root them out before your 'official' return?"

Ignoring the unnecessary air quotes, I shook my head.

"Not yet. They are keeping a low profile, and there's only been a few small skirmishes, so there's no real hurry to crack down on them. I'm planning to have Rinne take care of the operation once we're back. Officially."

I put extra emphasis on the last word and even mimed the air quotes, but Sebastian didn't seem to get it. Naoren, on the other hand, looked rather confounded by what I just said.

"Why do you require Lady Rinne for such a simple task?"

"Brang says they most likely belong to his old scout corps," I explained, before taking a sip to wash down the biscuit in my mouth. "I want to capture them alive to see if they could be convinced to switch sides, and it would be much easier with her around."

Or rather, with Onikiri's weird and hitherto not fully understood ability to suppress Fauns, but there was no need to go into the gritty details.

"I still do not like leaving a potential threat roaming free on our island, but I'll defer to your judgment." Following those grumbles, Sebastian also picked up a biscuit. I had no idea how, but he managed to make even that look elegant. "Where were we before this tangent? The Celestial guards, I believe?"

"Yes," Naoren cut in and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "What can we expect from them?"

"Considering I've been hammering the importance of perimeter control and security measures into them for the past two weeks, you can probably expect that around the neighbourhood."

"Your house isn't fair from our estate," Sebastian pointed out at once. "If they set up a security zone around there, it would inevitably overlap with our own."

"You would also continue attending school, wouldn't you?"

"Yes. That's more than half the reason why we are coming back," I told Naoren, and his brows descended into a deep frown.

"Would these 'Praetorian Guards' attempt to safeguard you even during those hours?"

"I presume so." There was another comment on the tip of my tongue about how Sebastian infected him with the air-quote virus, but I swallowed it down and focused on the core of his question instead. "I'm planning to talk to the arch-mage to get ahead of any misunderstandings."

"When?"

Looking back at Sebastian, I had to think for a moment. "Before we return to the island. Definitely."

"I recommend you do so as soon as possible," Naoren advised me with one hand on his glasses. "Lord Amadeus Endymonion has been cooperative during the past weeks, and it's best we show our goodwill by informing him of this development ahead of time."

I locked eyes with him for a moment, but we weren't exactly in a hard disagreement, so I soon exhaled a hearty sigh of surrender.

"Fine. I'll visit the old bastard today and give him a heads up."

"My boy," Sebastian interjected sternly. "Watch your language. We are in private, but the arch-mage is still our associate. If anyone were to overhear us, calling him a 'bastard' could easily lead to a diplomatic incident."

"Not really," I shrugged and rose to my feet. "The old man knows there's no love lost between us."

"We are more worried about the public's opinion on the matter," Naoren added, and I could hardly retort.

"That's something I never really bothered with."

"We noticed." Sebastian's lips bent into a sardonic smile. "If you did, you wouldn't have openly associated with the most infamous and mysterious Abyssal agitator of our day."

"What can I say? When life gives you lemons, you make—"

"A scandal?" Naoren jested.

"I wanted to say 'lemonade', but that works too," I shot back, and then theatrically limbered up my shoulders. "Thanks for the tea."

"Don't even mention it."

"Let's just hope that next time, we can have a drink under less 'secretive' circumstances," Sebastian added, and began cleaning up the table. In the meantime, Naoren kept staring at me, as if waiting for a magic trick.

"So? How are you going to leave this time?"

"Hm? Oh, don't worry about that," I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. "I left right after we finished talking about Lord Grandpa."

Naoren and Sebastian both looked at me funny for a second, but then the bespectacled clan head let out an awe-struck hum.

"No matter how many times I see it, I can't tell your illusions apart from the real you."

"It's definitely impressive," the old dragon piled on the compliments.

"Not to mention, convenient!" I brushed them off with a toothy smile. "Goodbye for now."

With that, I disappeared from the Dracis mansion and subsequently reappeared in Lord Grandpa's house. I didn't plan to do this today, but I already had other things to take care of here, so I figured I would hit two birds with one stone and get all of it out of my system in one go. I could've shown up right next to my first target, but I didn't want to startle her, so I Phased to a nearby door and then knocked on it.

"It's, like, open!" Without further ado, I pressed down on the door handle, and the incognito arch-mage on the other side opened her eyes wide. "Ohmygosh! Leonard! What are you doing here?"

I put a finger in front of my mouth and then closed the door behind me before turning to Sahi again. We were inside the small library of the mini-mansion. It was a large, open room filled with the musk of aged paper, and the cases lining the walls were packed to the brim with various tomes, both old and new, comprising the old badger's personal collection. Sahi was sitting at a reading table in the middle, with a couple of books laid out in front of her. She was wearing casual clothes under a formal (if currently slightly dishevelled) purple robe and had her hair done up into a messy bun, probably so that it wouldn't get in her way while taking notes.

"I figured I would drop by and ask how things are going," I spoke light-heartedly and walked over to her side.

"Like, you should've warned me you're coming!" the old lady in the body of the teenager fumed while her hands were busy trying to fix the mess in front of her. "I must totally look like a dweeb right now!"

"Does it matter?"

"I'm, like, a girl! It totally matters!"

"Aren't you a bit too old to care for appearances?"

"I'm young at heart! And body! The only things that matter!" she responded with a provocative smirk, but then her hands stopped. "Like, I feel like a total ditz for only asking this now, but what are you doing here?"

"I just said I came by to ask how things are going. Did you find a solution to that problem with the mirroring enchantment you talked about the last time?"

"Huh? Yeah. I think I got it. It just, like, has to be reinforced by a few buffer enchantments to alleviate the stress on the main array, and…" She paused, and for a moment I could see the conflict in her eyes, but in the end, she didn't insist on repeating the same question for the third time. "So, did you just drop by to chat with little old me?"

"Partly. Since I'm here, I'm also planning to have a discussioon with Lord Grandpa."

"Like, about what?"

"About coming back to Timaeus."

"But, like, aren't you already here?"

I stifled a chuckle and told her, "No, I mean 'officially'."

It was only after I said it that I realized that I used air quotes on the last word. Dammit. This always happened whenever I spent more than ten minutes around Sebastian.

But putting my grumbles aside, Sahi quickly realized what I meant, and looked at me expectantly.

"Does that mean that you're finally returning from the Elysium?"

"Yes."

"Like, for good?"

"That's the plan."

"Are the kids coming home with you too?"

"If you mean Josh and Angie, sure."

"That's totally wicked! Should we throw you, like, a welcome party?"

I shook my head and tapped on her notes.

"I would appreciate it if you focused on this instead."

"I totally do, okay? Gosh, Leonard, you're such a slave driver…" After griping for a bit longer, her eyes lit up again and she pointed an ink-stained finger at me. "Wait. I almost forgot to ask, but is the ninja girl also coming back with you?"

How come everyone was looking forward to her return more than mine, I wondered?

"Yes. Why?"

"Like, I want to give another look at the enchantment on her sword. I asked Lord Ambrose, and like, he's a major pain in the butt, but his personal library is totally awesome, and he said he'd let me borrow some totally ancient East-Asian magic scrolls in his collection that could maybe sorta give me a chance to totally crack the code on that sword!"

"Yeah, it's a tricky enchantment."

My agreement made her lips part into a huge grin, and she was just about to continue when the same door I came from opened again.

"Who are you…?" The class rep started with a question even before entering the room, but then she froze up when she saw me. "What… are you doing here?"

"Hi," I greeted her with a wave, and after the first shock passed, she glanced around outside before closing the door, locking it from the inside, and then putting up some kind of magical barrier on top of it.

"Leo!" she exclaimed the moment the spell was done and she walked over to my side with stomping steps.

"Uh-oh. I know that look," I said in mock horror, causing the brown girl next to me to giggle uncontrollably. "What did I do this time?"

"You mean, besides showing up here without even bothering to soundproof the room first?" she asked back, one hand already on her glasses.

"To be fair, I can't do that myself."

Ammy stared daggers at me for a few more seconds, but seeing that it did not affect me, she soon gave up with a sigh.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just visiting," I answered light-heartedly. "I'm also planning to say hello to your grandpa and give him an update to avoid any potential wars. You know, simple stuff."

"Hey? Have you heard that Leonard is coming back to the island?" Sahi wedged herself into the conversation with a devilish smirk, but the reaction she expected from the class rep was never meant to be.

"Yes, I have."

"Really?" I blurted out in surprise, and she tweaked her glasses at me.

"Mike's been a nervous wreck for days now because of it."

"Oh. Did Kane tell him about it?"

"Yes." Ammy let her hand down, but only to fold her arms and sternly ask, "And speaking of which, what is this thing about Angie being the second coming of the Celestial's leader? Wasn't that supposed to be Josh?"

"Wait, what?" Sahi muttered, but neither of us paid her much attention.

"Yeah, that was a miscalculation on my end. Turns out, Angie was Deus all along."

"Oh, great," she grumbled and closed her eyes. "As if Mike wasn't stressed out enough."

"It's not that big of a deal."

"It is though," she insisted and opened her eyes again. "If the Assembly learns of this, all hell will break loose."

"Actually, that's why I'm here," I noted, and Ammy's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"You can't be serious."

"What's the alternative? Angie plans to get a university education, so she would have to stay on the island for a few years, along with her bodyguards and whatnot. We can't exactly cover that up."

"University?" the class rep echoed me. "That doesn't sound like something she would want to do."

"She feels underqualified and wants to study statecraft, so that she could lead the Elysium properly."

"All right, now it does make sense." She paused for a moment, her expression slackening as if she just realized she forgot something important, and then hastily amended, "How are they? Are Josh and Angie safe?"

"Of course they are. Remember, I'm also over there."

"True, but," she began, but then she exhaled hard and added, in a softer voice. "Right. I guess so long as you're with them, they would be fine."

"Even without me, nobody in the Elysium would dare to lay a finger on Deus and her Justicar," I jested, but it only caused Ammy to frown again.

"Her what?" Sahi butted in again.

"Ask them when they're back. It's a funny story," I told her with an implied wink, and then turned back to the class rep. "Anyhow, I'm going to inform Lord Grandpa about the broad strokes, before the appearance of a whole bunch of Celestial honour guards would lead to a long chain of dumb misunderstandings culminating in magical Armageddon or something."

"Grandfather is currently in a meeting with the Assembly delegation."

"The more the merrier!" I exclaimed with a smile, mostly to hype myself up. "If they're all here, it means I don't have to explain everything a second time."

The class rep eyed me for a moment, and after some thinking, she gestured for me to follow after her.

"I'll take you there."

Huh. She was more agreeable than expected.

"We need to have a few words anyway. In private," she added, in a low voice.

"Have fun," Sahi waved to us as we departed and the class rep undid the semi-transparent barrier around the room.

I was wondering what this was about, but it only took a few steps' time for the class rep to turn a frowning gaze at me and ask, "Leo. Did you hand the documents I gave to you over to Mr. Peabody?"

Oh. So that's what it was about. Well, this was promising to be an awkward conversation, wasn't it…?