"Sir! With all due respect, sir, as your guards, we should be the ones to lead the charge and secure the perimeter before you return to the—"

"For the last time: there won't be any charge," I hissed at the unusually obstinate armour-guy. "I'm heading through the portal first, and that's final."

I dismissed the man with a frown, and he didn't argue back, much to my relief. This day was tiresome enough as-is, so I wasn't in the mood for quarrelling over something so stupid on top of that.

"Lord Archon," Kane addressed me next, apparently waiting for armour-guy to leave first before approaching me. "I'm still of the opinion that we should deploy the Seraphic Safeguard to secure the perimeter before you return to—"

"Oh, for the love of…"

I groaned, and turned on my heel, leaving the confused man behind as I walked over to the other end of the large balcony. This was the place where I first officially entered the Elysium, so I found it fitting that it would also serve as the spot from whence I would officially depart. Of course, I would've preferred it if it was without any fanfare, let alone a small banquet, but I had long since realized that in this place, I had to pick my battles. This was… within acceptable limits.

The terrace was filled to the brim with Celestial bigwigs, standing around and mingling in their fanciest outfits, and some of them were even holding champagne glasses between their fingers. Probably to complete the 'fancy, high-class party' vibe. The décor was also back, including the carpets and the hanging banners, though this time at least they mixed them up a little. About half of them were still the familiar blue pennants with the winged spear crest in the middle, but the other half were replaced by bright cyan ones depicting an open golden book with a sword piercing through its spine and surrounded by stylized light rays. It was meant to represent Deus, but I never delved into its symbolism, so I had no idea why.

The rose-petal throwing girls also made a reappearance, and I deftly dodged their most recent bombing run even as I beelined towards Josh and Angie. The two of them were flanked by Mountain Girl and Jaakobah, on my request, and were engaged in an outwardly courteous conversation with Director Tsephanyah.

"It's almost time to leave," I told them, and the blonde director exhaled a long sigh.

"I have to admit, I'm still not entirely convinced of the sensibility of your decision, but if it's the will of Deus, then it shall be done."

"That's right!" Angie declared with a confident grin, and the people idling around us all turned generally cordial gazes her way.

Even putting her political and metaphysical position as the second advent of everyone's favourite totally-not-cult-leader, over the last couple of days, and its various conferences, receptions, and banquets, she left a favourable impression on practically everyone she met. I say 'practically', because there were inevitable a few outliers.

Some were showing their displeasure with the situation more blatantly than others though, just like the bespectacled Director standing two steps away from Tsephanyah. He had been holding the same half-empty champagne glass for the better part of half an hour, and with the exact same sour expression. He might have been waiting for me to be in earshot to voice his opinion, but as soon as I came closer, he let out a melodramatic sigh.

"For the record, I still consider this course of action unnecessary and borderline foolish," he huffed and dramatically sloshed his fancy, if already de-carbonated, drink around. "This is all backwards. If Her Grace Deus wishes to receive education, we should just take the all teachers and materials necessary and deliver them here!" He dramatically turned to Angie. "I implore you, O Deus. Consider your options one last time before you commit to this—"

"Dolion, please," Tsephanyah, visibly running out of patience, cut him short with an ambivalent sigh. "I do not recommend questioning Her Grace's decisions. I have learned its consequences on my own skin."

"Now, now, gentlemen," a new voice joined the fray as Director Savir sauntered over, followed by about half a dozen flunkies from the Cult of Deus.

It was easy to recognize them, since they were all wearing silly rimless hats. It was probably ceremonial, but if anything, it made them look like a flock of flight attendants. Savir herself went all out, and she spiced up her already exquisite red toga-robe-thing with extra jewellery, a huge green brooch in the front, as well as some proper makeup and a pretty elaborate hairdo. She was certainly giving off some 'side character who desperately wants to be the main character' vibes, and truth be told, in terms of presence and appearance, she was certainly beating Angie.

Not that our friendly neighbourhood Celestial didn't look fine though. Although she went through a bunch of outfit designs the night before, she ultimately settled on not wearing a Magiformer at all and showing off her default Deus outfit. It wasn't exactly a gala dress, and its design was a touch too busy for my tastes, with the shoulder shield and the asymmetric cape and all, but it certainly made an impression, even if not as big as Savir's appearance. I supposed that was the insurmountable difference between a mature woman going all out and a high schooler winging it.

In any case, the Orthodox director targeted me and stopped right next to me before flashing a modest smile at Angie.

"I beseech you, O Deus, to overlook Director Mensah's insistence. As the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Acquisition, arranging your return to our ancestral land, and all the required logistics, fell on his shoulders. I'm sure he's simply exhausted."

"I didn't take offense. Not at all," Angie insisted. To my ears, she was sincere, but as usual, these wily foxes were reading into her words.

"Maybe you should apologize?" Tsephanyah proposed, and the Unorthodox director's nostrils flared up with barely contained outrage.

"I'm not apologizing for my sincerely held opinion! I do consider this whole excursion a waste of time and resources, and it's opening Her Grace Deus up to danger by placing her in the open, and you can't convince me otherwise!"

"There's no need for you to worry, Dolion," Savir spoke with the same, calculated smile plastered on her face. "I'm certain Lord Archon Polemos will do his utmost to ensure Her Grace's safety." She then turned to me, and added, "We all have to do our best to allow Her Grace to complete her studies safely and freely, without ever having to concern herself over the affairs of Elysium."

She waited for me to respond, but before I had the chance, Mensah emptied his glass and stared daggers at me.

"Lord Polemos," he began in a grave voice. "I made no secret of my opinion on the company you keep, so I will disperse with the courtesies and cut at the heart of the issue. Can Her Grace's safety be guaranteed on Critias? Can you say it, without a shadow of a doubt, that no harm would befall her?"

"If you're worried about Bel of the Abyss," I responded in a level voice and then paused for a dramatic beat before stating, "If he had any designs about her, he would have already made his move. He never struck me as the restrained type."

"Is the fact you know him well enough to say such a thing supposed to fill me with confidence?" Mensah glared at me, but Tsephanyah stepped between us to stall him.

"Dolion. Please restrain yourself."

The younger chief director huffed and puffed, but didn't say anything else. Capitalizing on the silence, Savir stepped even closer to me.

"Lord Archon? Isn't it about time you prepare for your departure?"

There were no clocks on the balcony, nor did I have my phone to check the time, but if it got me away from these three, I was ready to agree to practically anything at this point.

"Indeed. We should go."

"Elysium will miss you, but rest assured; even in your absence, I will ensure the laws of Elysium will be upheld, both in their letter and in their spirit."

Detecting an unspoken nudge-nudge, wink-wink in her words, I subtly rolled my eyes.

"Just remember, director, that no law is immutable. Sometimes, the rules of old must be discarded to welcome the new."

"Oh, certainly, O Archon. But I'm sure you wouldn't want to be burdened by overseeing such a slow and incommodious process?"

"Power comes not only with privileges, but duties. Sometimes it even requires one to use it to open new gates and shortcuts to fulfil those duties."

"Such is the fate of those with power, but being willing and being able to use it are two different matters."

"Where there's a will, there's a way."

Savir chuckled, apparently finding our exchange amusing. I didn't, and neither did the other two head directors, who were giving us odd looks. They were still better off than Angie, whose eyes were swimming with confusion. The woman by my side was gearing up for round two, so before she could get started, I dramatically gazed off the balcony, at the rising sun over the horizon, raised my voice, and used a sombre, uncompromising tone I saved for occasions like this.

"Let us not delay the inevitable any longer."

For further emphasis, I held out a hand to Angie, and she automatically took it. Following my lead, the directors and their hangers-on all parted before us like the Red Sea. After a surprised beat, Josh and Rinne followed after us, with Jaakobah joining our procession a bit later. Our destination was in the middle of the balcony.

For this occasion, the organizers of this event (read: Tsephanyah and the Reformers) constructed a small, round pedestal, and upon noticing our approach, the man standing next to it shuddered like a leaf in the storm and hastily fell to one knee.

"I greet the True Archons, may your grace be forever—"

"At ease," I told him in the same tone, and he quickly rose to his feet again.

Surprisingly enough, he was a familiar face. I didn't know his name, but back when I was originally 'invited' here, he was a member of Jaakoba's squad and the one who opened the portal to the Elysium. Speaking of which, while he was wearing a tidy white dress uniform and looked surprisingly refined, he was still lugging the same large instrument around his neck. It was a magitech crossbreed of about three different string instruments, a bagpipe, and a vuvuzela, and no matter how hard he tried to look dignified, it alone made him look comical.

"We're ready to leave. Please open the portal," I instructed him, but he only nervously tugged at his collar.

"Are you certain, O Archon? F-Far be it from me to question your wisdom, but without an operative on site to lock in the coordinates of the destination, hostile parties may block or even intercept you en route, and then…"

"I appreciate your concerns, but there's no need for you to worry about such possibilities," I told him in a slightly more amicable tone. "I have arranged for everything. You only need to perform your task, just like the last time."

"As you command, O Archon…"

He still didn't sound entirely convinced, but nevertheless, he still turned to his right and began to simultaneously pluck, blow, and tap his instrument. If the last time was any indication, I imagined this would take a while, but we've only been waiting for a few short seconds before Angie started tugging at my hand.

At first, I thought it was because she didn't like how I was still holding onto her, but even when I loosened my fingers, she kept pulling, and gesturing for me to lean closer. We were in the center of attention, and while the rest of the Directorate gave us a large berth and formed a wide circle around us, I still didn't feel entirely comfortable with sharing whispers with her in public. She didn't seem to take no for an answer though, so I lowered my head a little to signal that I was listening.

"How are you so good at this?" she whispered in a low voice, and for a moment, I couldn't quite grasp what she was talking about.

"Good at what?"

"Dealing with all of these people," she told me, followed by an unsubtle glance at the three chief directors clustered on our far left. "It's so weird! When we're in private, you sound like yourself, but when you talk with them, you sound like Polemos." She suddenly frowned, and then mumbled, "Did I just say the same thing twice?"

"No, but it's beside the point," I answered with an implied shrug.

"Right!" She nodded, and then her frown was washed away by a smile. "Hey? Once we are back home, do you think you can teach me your special technique?"

"I don't think there's anything special about what I'm doing though," I pointed out, but she didn't get the message and doubled down with a tiny pout.

"But there is! I mean, if I tried to say, 'Where there's a will, there's a way', it just comes off cheesy, but when you do it, it has this… Idunno… It's like a sense of gravitas, I guess? It was giving me goosebumps on my sides. I wanna learn how to do that too!"

I wanted to point out that she, or at least her inner Deus, had a much more consistent track record at giving people goosebumps, but before I could get a word in, her expression changed again, this time into a suspicious squint, and she lowered her voice even more.

"What's going between you and Director Savir, anyway?"

"Just the usual," I told her, but she wasn't satisfied by that.

"No, it's not! It's like… there was this strange tension between you two, and the way she was smiling at you was…" Her words trailed off and she narrowed her eyes even further. "Is there something going on between you two? You're not cheating on Judy and Elly, are you?"

"… I'm not even going to dignify that with a proper response, but I want you to know that once we're out of here, you're going get your forehead flicked for even thinking of something that dumb. Be prepared."

Despite what I just told her, Angie's eyes opened wide, and she finally let go of my hand, but only to cover up her forehead. Rolling my eyes, I glanced around. While we were talking, our little group was joined by the Praetorian Guards, with Jaakobah and Kane giving them a last-minute briefing even as we continued to wait. Noticing my gaze, Mike's father locked eyes with me, and after some hesitation, he walked over to us.

"I wish you uneventful days, O Archons," he said in a deferential tone, and while it was a peculiar way to wish me farewell, I couldn't say I disagreed with the sentiment.

"Don't act like you won't see me soon, Primus," I told him with just the barest hint of a smile, and he twitched like I just stepped on his feet.

"I'm… still not sure how I feel about the Lord Archon's proposal. While I would cherish the opportunity to meet my son in person, on Elysium's soil, the laws are rather…" Suddenly, his eyes opened wide, and he whispered, "Could it be…? Was this the meaning behind your previous discussion with Director Savir?"

It wasn't, but as usual, I wasn't above taking undue credit.

"Think of it as you will," I told him, and the man gave me a shallow bow in return.

In the meantime, the portal was almost ready to open, and just as I was thinking that, the agent with the weird musical instrument announced the same.

"Please stand back. The gateway is opening momentarily."

As if waiting for these words, Kane stepped away, while the Praetorian Guards formed a tight circle around Angie and me. Then, the non-numeric countdown of the portal reached the equivalent of zero, and out popped a familiar hole into space, followed by a small gust of wind.

"Before you leave," Savir raised her voice all of a sudden, and when I looked her way, I saw that one of her flunkies, a short and rather familiar woman, was pointing one of those oval crystal balls I'd last seen during the Colossus incident our way. "Would the Hallowed True Archons say a few words in parting?"

I wasn't a fan of getting something like this sprung on me in the very last second, and based on Savir's expression, it only made her feel all the more delighted. Stilling my facial muscles, I turned to the magitech broadcast device, and simply stated, "We'll leave now, but we shall be back."

Figuring that it was more than enough, wanted to leave right away, but caught up in the moment, Angie decided to speak up as well.

"I'll come back soon! I promise I'll learn everything I can, and then when I return, I'll be the best leader ever!"

Her voice was a little unsteady, and her choice of words was anything but regal, yet she somehow got a standing ovation for that. I'd like to say Celestials were easily impressed, but it felt like she would've gotten the same reaction even if she said 'The sky is blue!', just because she was Deus. But I digress.

I glanced around one last time. On my left, Primus Kane fell on one knee. On my right, Tsephanyah, Savir, and Mensah waved with a friendly smile, bowed in a dignified manner, and nodded curtly, respectively. And beyond them, all around us, cheering Celestials, both on the balcony floor and in the air. We even had trumpets, and as much as I hated to admit it, the moment was powerful enough that I got careless and somehow got hit by the flying flower-basket girls' latest bombing run.

Not that it mattered. Once I stepped through that portal, I could finally put this place out of my mind for a while. No more watching my every word in public. No more constant vigilance about the incessant schemers around me. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, no more parades, banquets, or receptions full of stuffy politicians and social power-monger types. If I never had to attend another one of those, it would be too soon.

Without further ado, I marched up to the shimmering hole over the pedestal, and with a waving Angie in tow, we unceremoniously stepped through… only to find myself in the big ballroom of the Dracis mansion. Surrounded by all the draconian family heads, the Ordo Draconis members, and the five arch-mages and their entourage, all of them decked out in fancy suits and gowns. And holding champagne glasses, while live classical music was playing in the background.

"Me and my big mouth…" I grumbled under my breath, only to have the rest of it knocked out of me by my redhead sister, dressed in an adorable, frilly green evening dress, nearly tackled me off my feet in a situation that gave me a strange sense of déjà vu.

Of course, once the Praetorian Guards arrived, her clinging onto me caused quite a bit of a stir, though not nearly as much as when Snowy and my girlfriends joined the fray on top of Penny, but that was a story for another time. For now, I simply buried my face in my hand, lamenting the fact that while I certainly told Naoren and Dad-in-law that they shouldn't make a big deal out of our return, I once again forgot who I was talking to and their rather skewed perception of what a 'big deal' was. At least I took solace in the fact that there weren't any fireworks. Not much of a silver lining, but I took what I got.