Northern relished the warmth of his mother's hug once more before she eventually pulled away and led him to where Nebulous Lord waited. They crossed the hall, climbed a narrow stairway, and arrived at a room on the upper floor.
When Northern entered, whatever he'd been expecting to see—if he'd even been expecting anything—wasn't what greeted him.
'After everything that happened with the void...'
He'd just been looking forward to seeing Nebulous Lord again. The summon had always carried the most profound connection to the void, the deepest understanding of that dark power. Northern had thought maybe that connection would help him sort through the mess in his head, the questions that wouldn't stop churning.
But when he stepped into the room, he wasn't even sure the thing before him could be called a monster anymore.
Nebulous Lord sat in a lotus position, the baby resting on his thighs. He was playing with her, making soft sounds, and—
Laughing.
