Chapter 45 — Of Eggs, Spiders, and Contracts (the Slightly Temporary Kind)
Once the reunion had settled into something less likely to involve somebody crying into a bowl of stew, Renji finally leaned back in his chair and asked the question that had clearly been bothering him since Luminel explained exactly what had happened after the black hole. "Wait." His eyes moved from Caelan to Stormmane, then to Luminel and finally Michael, who was sitting beside Yuto with both paws wrapped around a cup far too large for him. "Why do we need Vellum's protection from Arachne?" Daichi looked up from removing his apron and immediately understood where Renji was going. Renji continued, "Luminel is Elite. Michael can reach Archoniel when Hope activates. Stormmane is Adult now. Caelan..." He paused, glanced at Caelan and apparently decided that describing exactly what Caelan counted as would require more time than the question deserved. "Caelan is Caelan. We're not exactly helpless anymore."
Daichi nodded firmly. "That's what I was thinking. If everyone is back together and rested, shouldn't we be able to defend ourselves? Maybe not comfortably, but enough that we don't have to spend the next several months serving soup because a giant spider knows where Yuto lives." He paused. "Metaphorically. I don't actually know where Yuto lives here."
Yuto looked between them hopefully.
Caelan did not answer.
Luminel did.
The fairy had settled on the back of a velvet chair, his one surviving wing folded awkwardly behind him while healing magic continued slowly repairing the damage Arachne had left. "Because you're assuming the fight we had against her was close."
Renji's expression changed.
"It wasn't?"
Luminel gave him a flat look.
Stormmane, who had been eating in silence, swallowed and said, "She nearly killed all of us."
The room became quieter.
Yuto lowered his cup.
Luminel continued, "We hurt her once. Once. And it took Caelan, me, Stormmane, Archoniel, nearly every reserve we had left after the black hole, and a combined strike focused through the Azure lance."
Daichi adjusted his glasses.
"But you did hurt her."
"Yes."
"Badly?"
"Three missing limbs. A hole through the torso. Several other injuries."
Renji frowned. "That sounds fairly badly."
Stormmane rested his remaining arm against the table. "She got up."
Renji stopped.
Daichi slowly put his glasses back into place.
"Of course she did."
"Then she made the entire battlefield into a Dark World," Luminel continued. "Blocked escape. Drained power. Interfered with teleportation. Michael's Elite evolution collapsed. Caelan's Path Maker found no route to victory."
That final part did more than the rest.
Renji looked at Caelan.
Caelan gave one small nod.
"No route."
Daichi stared at the table for a moment.
"Oh."
Luminel spread his tiny arms.
"Exactly."
Yuto had gone very quiet.
Renji noticed immediately.
"What?"
Yuto looked down at Michael.
Michael's ears drooped.
"Arachne..." Yuto swallowed. "She wanted Michael."
Renji's expression hardened.
"And me."
Daichi stopped breathing for a second.
Renji went completely still.
Yuto continued because there was no gentle way to improve the statement. "She tricked us. She made me think her city was being attacked. She wanted me to make Michael evolve. Then she caught me and said she wanted to eat him after he became stronger."
Michael leaned against Yuto.
Yuto's voice dropped further.
"And she was going to eat me too."
Renji reached across the table and pulled his brother toward him before anyone else could react.
"No."
Yuto blinked against his chest.
Renji held him tighter.
"No. Absolutely not."
Daichi looked toward Caelan.
"That's not really a strategy."
"It wasn't intended as one," Renji said.
Michael climbed onto Renji's arm.
"She also lied about being human."
Renji's eyes narrowed.
"I dislike her more every time someone adds information."
Stormmane nodded approvingly.
"Reasonable."
Daichi sat back and rubbed both hands over his face.
"So we're hiding from an ancient Elite spider who can fight an entire group of us, regenerate after getting a hole punched through her and specifically wants to eat Yuto and Michael."
"Correct," Luminel said.
Daichi exhaled.
"Fine. Then I have an idea."
Everyone looked at him.
He immediately looked less confident.
"Not necessarily a good idea."
"Those are the ones we specialize in," Stormmane said.
Daichi ignored him.
"We stay."
Luminel's brow rose.
"In Gilded Hollow?"
"Yes."
"For how long?"
Daichi thought about it.
"A year."
The silence was tremendous.
Stormmane slowly lowered his spoon.
Caelan stared at Daichi.
Daichi lifted both hands.
"Listen first. Time between worlds is different. We already know that. We can stay here, recover properly, train, get stronger, let Alex and Clark develop, work on the Sigils, improve our teamwork—"
Renji was already nodding.
Daichi became more enthusiastic.
"One year here could be almost nothing back home. Maybe a few days depending on the region and how the time difference behaves. We get stronger until Arachne isn't something we have to run from."
Stormmane leaned back.
"I like this human."
Daichi pointed toward him.
"Thank you."
Stormmane added, "Mostly because this plan involves eating."
Daichi lowered his hand.
Renji considered it more seriously.
"We could actually train without somebody attacking us every other day."
Daichi nodded. "Exactly."
"Vellum already protects the city."
"Exactly."
"We have shelter."
"Exactly."
"Food."
"Yes."
"Hot springs."
Yuto had joined the discussion.
Renji looked at him.
Yuto looked innocent.
Daichi continued, "We spend a year getting everyone stronger, then we leave. Arachne comes after us afterward, she's dealing with a completely different group."
For approximately ten seconds, the plan sounded excellent.
Then Luminel sighed.
It was the sigh of someone who had been forced to spoil something pleasant and resented everyone else for making it necessary.
"There's a small problem."
Daichi's optimism weakened.
"What?"
"The world is ending."
Everyone stared at him.
Luminel tapped his spear lightly against the chair.
"Remember?"
Daichi closed his eyes.
"Right."
"The Reset. The Grand Archive. The purges. The collapsing regions. The fact that half the oldest powers in existence are currently either dead, hiding or trying to murder one another before reality gets around to doing it for them."
Renji rubbed his forehead.
"I liked the plan for nearly fifteen seconds."
"So did I," Daichi muttered.
Luminel floated slightly higher.
"We don't have a year to hide in a restaurant. We don't know how much time the current cycle has left. We still need to reach the World Tree and learn why you were brought here, what the Archive expects from you and whether there is any way to stop what is coming."
Yuto looked disappointed.
"What about the hot springs?"
"They will continue existing without us."
"You don't know that."
Luminel opened his mouth.
Closed it.
"Unfortunately, in this world, that's technically true."
Daichi folded his arms.
"So staying isn't an option."
"Resting is. Recovering is. Training for a short period is sensible."
"But eventually we move."
"Yes."
Renji looked at Yuto.
"And Arachne follows."
Nobody answered.
That was the problem.
Caelan, who had spent most of the discussion quietly finishing his tea, set the cup down.
"We don't wait for her to follow."
Luminel turned.
Caelan's golden eyes were calm.
"We make her come here."
Daichi's face immediately became concerned.
"Those words have never led anywhere peaceful."
Caelan ignored him.
"Arachne wants Yuto and Michael."
Renji stiffened.
"No."
"I haven't explained the plan."
"You said his name and Arachne's in the same sentence. No."
Yuto looked between them.
Caelan continued evenly. "She already knows they're alive. She will search for them regardless of what we do. Running doesn't remove Yuto from danger. It only decides where that danger reaches him."
Renji did not like the logic.
That was evident.
Unfortunately, he couldn't immediately argue with it either.
Caelan leaned slightly forward.
"Here, Arachne cannot attack only us."
Luminel understood first.
"She would be entering Vellum's territory."
Caelan nodded.
"And if Yuto is formally under Vellum's protection..."
Stormmane grinned.
"...then eating him becomes a contract dispute."
Daichi looked toward the ceiling.
"I cannot believe that sentence makes sense."
Luminel's eyes sharpened.
"Vellum would have to respond."
"Not merely because he likes us," Caelan said. "Because his entire city depends upon everyone believing his contracts mean something."
Renji finally understood the shape of the idea.
"You want Yuto to work for him."
"Temporarily."
"And let Arachne find out."
"Yes."
Renji stared at him.
"You're suggesting using my little brother as bait."
"No."
Renji's expression darkened.
Caelan continued before it could turn into an argument.
"I'm suggesting Arachne already considers him prey. We choose the battlefield, put him somewhere protected, make his safety part of Vellum's commercial reputation and remain close enough to intervene."
Luminel nodded slowly.
"If she attacks Gilded Hollow, she faces Vellum."
"Along with us."
"And his city forces."
"Yes."
Daichi thought about it.
"And we don't actually need to beat her alone."
"No."
Stormmane leaned across the table.
"We let the egg fight the spider."
"And strike when the opportunity appears."
Daichi looked toward Caelan.
"That's remarkably sneaky."
Caelan raised an eyebrow.
"I manipulate Fate."
"Fair."
Renji still looked furious.
"No."
Yuto tugged his sleeve.
Renji looked down.
"I'll do it."
"No."
"Renji."
"Absolutely not."
Yuto straightened.
"We can't keep running because she's after me."
"You're eight."
"I was eight yesterday too."
"That doesn't make this better."
Michael fluttered onto Yuto's shoulder.
"I'll stay with him."
Renji stared at Michael.
Michael tried to look reassuring.
It was difficult while being roughly the size of a household pet.
Yuto took his brother's hand.
"I'll be inside the city. Vellum will protect me. You'll be here. Caelan will be here. Luminel will be here."
Renji looked toward Caelan.
Caelan said nothing.
Yuto squeezed Renji's fingers.
"I'm scared."
That stopped him.
Yuto continued.
"But I don't want everyone getting hurt because we keep running."
Renji's shoulders slowly lowered.
"You don't have to prove anything."
"I'm not."
Yuto looked at him seriously.
"I'm choosing."
That was worse, because Renji could argue with recklessness more easily than he could argue with that.
He looked away.
Daichi quietly said, "For what it's worth, I hate the plan."
Caelan glanced at him.
Daichi continued, "But I think it's probably the least terrible option we have."
Stormmane nodded.
"That is how most of our plans are ranked."
Renji took a long breath.
"If we do this, Yuto never leaves the protected area alone."
"Agreed," Caelan said.
"Michael stays with him."
"Obviously."
"Someone else is always nearby."
"Yes."
"And the moment Path Maker shows the plan turning impossible, we abandon it."
Caelan nodded.
"Immediately."
Renji looked at Yuto.
"I'm still saying this is terrible."
Yuto hugged him.
"I know."
Renji put an arm around him.
"I really hate that you're becoming reasonable."
Yuto smiled.
"Haruto says that too."
Vellum Goldvein heard their proposal while drinking tea.
This was apparently how he preferred to hear everything from employment disputes to assassination plots.
He sat beneath a broad parasol outside Eggshell Haven, one claw wrapped around a tiny porcelain cup while the other continued writing figures into a ledger. He finished an entire column before finally looking up.
"So."
His golden eyes settled on Yuto.
"You would like the child to become one of my employees."
Renji folded his arms.
"Temporarily."
"Everyone is temporary."
Renji's expression changed.
Vellum waved one claw.
"That was philosophical, not threatening."
Daichi muttered, "You have to specify with him."
Vellum ignored that.
Yuto stepped forward.
"I can work."
Vellum looked him over.
"Can you carry plates?"
"Yes."
"Without breaking them?"
Daichi's head snapped around.
Vellum's eyes curved with amusement.
Yuto nodded.
"I think so."
"Already promising."
Daichi looked wounded.
Michael fluttered beside Yuto.
"I can help too."
Vellum examined him.
"And you are the one Arachne wants."
Michael stiffened.
"Your information network is annoying."
"That means it's working."
Vellum set his cup down.
"Let me understand the proposed arrangement correctly. I employ Yuto and Michael. By doing so, they become workers under my protection. Arachne eventually discovers they're here and comes to retrieve her meal."
Yuto made a face at that phrasing.
Vellum continued.
"She violates my territorial rules, attacks my employees, damages my property and almost certainly breaks several windows."
Stormmane nodded.
"Probably."
Vellum's golden eyes narrowed.
"Windows are expensive."
Caelan almost smiled.
"And then?"
"We fight her."
"With me."
"If you want your windows intact."
Vellum leaned back.
For the first time since they had met him, he looked less like a restaurant owner and more like the ruler of Gilded Hollow.
His claws tapped slowly against the table.
Then the moment passed.
"Interesting."
Renji frowned.
"That's all?"
"No. Profitable."
Daichi whispered, "There it is."
Vellum continued, "Arachne is bad for regional commerce. Her territory has swallowed several routes I used to trade through. She's eaten couriers, merchants and at least one debtor who still owed me a considerable sum."
Luminel blinked.
"You're angry because she ate someone who owed you money?"
"I'm capable of being angry for multiple reasons."
Vellum pointed his feather pen toward Yuto.
"I'll employ him."
Renji immediately raised a finger.
"Terms first."
Vellum's eyes brightened.
"You've learned."
"Watching Daichi helped."
Daichi sighed.
The negotiation took nearly twenty minutes.
Yuto would work only simple daytime duties inside Eggshell Haven and would never be assigned outside Gilded Hollow. Michael remained with him. Both received meals and lodging. Any attack directly connected to Yuto's employment or presence would invoke Vellum's protection clause. Yuto could terminate the agreement after one week unless both sides voluntarily renewed it.
Vellum initially proposed three months.
Renji said no.
Vellum proposed one month.
Renji said no.
Vellum proposed two weeks and free dessert.
Yuto nearly accepted.
Renji physically covered his mouth.
They settled on one week.
Vellum looked disappointed.
"You're destroying that boy's future in business."
"I'm preserving his future generally."
"Also reasonable."
Yuto signed.
The contract glowed briefly.
Vellum rolled it up.
"There."
He looked at Yuto.
"You are now an employee of Eggshell Haven and therefore protected under my authority."
Michael raised a paw.
"And me?"
Vellum produced a second, considerably smaller contract.
"Naturally."
Michael stared.
"How am I supposed to sign?"
Vellum handed him a tiny ink pad.
Michael looked offended but pressed one paw against it.
A little golden paw print appeared at the bottom of the contract.
Vellum seemed delighted.
"Excellent."
Then he turned toward Caelan.
"You brought me a valuable pair of employees."
"I brought you the spider that's following them."
"Details."
Vellum considered him.
"One week."
Caelan tilted his head.
"One week what?"
"You, Luminel and Stormmane may stay in an unused residence within the inner district without charge. Meals today are included. Medical treatment for the fairy and lion at cost."
Stormmane frowned.
"At cost?"
"I'm generous, not deranged."
Luminel sighed.
Vellum continued, "If Arachne attacks during that week, we revisit the arrangement after seeing what survives."
Caelan nodded.
"Acceptable."
Vellum clapped his claws together.
"Wonderful."
Yuto looked toward him.
"What do I do first?"
Vellum's eyes brightened.
"Uniform."
Renji groaned.
The uniform was simple.
White shirt.
Dark vest.
Small apron.
A tiny golden egg embroidered over the chest.
Yuto stared down at himself.
Michael sat on the table beside him wearing a miniature bow tie Vellum had apparently produced specifically for the occasion.
Renji looked at his little brother.
Then at Michael.
Then toward Vellum.
"You had that ready."
Vellum did not deny it.
Daichi tied Yuto's apron properly.
"Congratulations. You now outrank me emotionally."
Yuto smiled.
Renji crouched in front of him.
"You stay inside."
"I know."
"You don't follow strangers."
"I know."
"You don't leave with customers."
"I know."
"If Arachne appears—"
"I scream."
"You get behind Vellum's guards."
"I know."
"And Michael evolves only if you have to."
Michael nodded.
Renji rested both hands on Yuto's shoulders.
"I mean it."
Yuto's smile softened.
"I'll be fine."
Renji's expression said he didn't believe that for a second.
But he nodded.
Caelan watched from the doorway.
The trap was set.
Now all they had to do was wait for a centuries-old spider queen with a personal appetite for one of their friends to notice.
For some reason, everyone found that less comforting when stated plainly.
The house Vellum gave Caelan, Luminel and Stormmane was neither luxurious nor unpleasant. It was one of several vacant residences a few streets from Eggshell Haven, built from pale stone with three small rooms, simple sleeping mats, a table and a bathroom whose heating system produced hot water only after making a noise alarmingly similar to a growling beast.
Stormmane discovered this first.
He came out of the bathroom with his mane standing slightly higher than before.
"The bath threatened me."
Caelan looked up from removing his outer robe.
"It's plumbing."
"It growled."
"You roar."
"I'm alive."
"Debatable after Arachne."
Stormmane glared.
Luminel laughed from the windowsill.
For the first time in days, nobody needed to keep moving.
That alone felt strange.
Stormmane fell asleep almost immediately, stretched across one of the mats with his remaining arm beneath his head. Luminel settled in another room after spending several minutes applying restorative magic to the remains of his wing.
Caelan lay down.
Closed his eyes.
Opened them again.
The ceiling remained disappointingly present.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Eventually he sat up.
His body was tired enough to sleep for a day.
His mind disagreed.
The memories had returned.
Not all of them.
Fragments.
A woman's laugh he recognized as Lyra's despite never personally hearing it.
Guang Lian standing somewhere beneath falling petals.
Faces belonging to friends he had never met.
Rivals whose techniques he remembered countering.
Conversations from years of a life that belonged to Caelan Ardyn and yet had never happened to the person sitting in this little house.
There was no question anymore about what he was.
He was an Aetherkin.
A recreation born from the legend of the Azure Knight.
Knowing that had not made the memories simpler.
If anything, certainty had made them more complicated.
Caelan rose quietly, pulled his outer cultivation robe around himself and stepped into the street.
Gilded Hollow had gone quiet.
Lanterns glowed along the roads.
Somewhere in the distance, Eggshell Haven remained open, because apparently Vellum considered sleep an obstacle for businesses with sufficient staffing.
Caelan walked.
"Couldn't sleep?"
Luminel's voice came from above.
Caelan did not jump.
Unlike certain people, Luminel had learned that appearing beside a cultivator without warning occasionally produced unpleasant consequences.
The fairy descended slowly until he hovered beside Caelan's shoulder.
"Neither could you."
"I sleep less than humans."
"Convenient."
They continued down the road together.
For a while neither spoke.
Then Luminel asked, "Arachne?"
"Partly."
"Only partly?"
Caelan looked toward the distant World Tree, its impossible shape still visible beyond the horizon despite the enormous distance separating them from it.
"I was thinking about the fight."
"Ah."
"I couldn't beat her."
Luminel glanced at him.
"You sound surprised."
"I'm not."
That was true.
Caelan had spent his childhood training against beings stronger than himself. Losing the advantage of raw power did not offend him.
What bothered him was something else.
"I had routes."
"Until the Dark World."
"Yes."
Caelan's gaze remained forward.
"Before that I could find ways to hurt her. Delay her. Force openings. But every route depended on everyone else doing exactly what was needed."
Luminel gave him a sideways look.
"That's generally called teamwork."
"I've heard of it."
"Remarkable."
Caelan ignored him.
"Path Maker showed a route to strike her. It didn't show me a way to finish the battle."
"Because none existed."
"I know."
Luminel floated ahead and turned so he was moving backward through the air.
"Then what's bothering you?"
Caelan was quiet.
"My Adult evolution gave me more abilities. Stellar Movement. Path Killer. Time's Miracle. More of the Myriad-Star Fate Body."
"And?"
"It still wasn't enough."
Luminel stared at him.
"You're an Adult fighting an ancient Elite inside her prepared domain."
Caelan looked at him.
"That sounds like an excuse."
"It sounds like arithmetic."
Caelan nearly smiled.
Luminel continued, "Power does not become useless simply because someone stronger exists. You helped put a hole through Arachne."
"She stood back up."
"So did you."
"Eventually."
"Still counts."
They walked another few steps.
Luminel's voice softened.
"You have a habit of looking at whatever you haven't reached yet."
Caelan's eyes narrowed slightly.
"That sounds suspiciously like wisdom."
"I occasionally suffer from it."
Caelan looked toward the moon.
The later memories stirred again.
Luminel noticed the silence.
"The memories?"
Caelan gave a small nod.
"I know they're his."
"The original Caelan's."
"Yes."
"No confusion about that?"
"No."
That was important.
Caelan knew what he was now.
There was no hidden human explanation remaining.
The memories after age thirteen belonged to a life he had inherited rather than lived.
"I remember people I never met," Caelan said. "I know how they speak. What expressions they make. Things they said to him."
Luminel listened.
"I can remember missing them."
That was harder to say.
Caelan looked down at his own hand.
"Which is absurd."
"No."
"They aren't my memories."
"They're inside you."
"That's not the same thing."
"I didn't say it was."
Caelan looked toward him.
Luminel shrugged.
"Perhaps there isn't a convenient answer."
"That's unhelpful."
"I specialize in inconvenient answers."
Caelan's mouth twitched.
Luminel continued, "You don't need to solve what those relationships mean tonight."
Caelan said nothing.
"You also don't need to decide what Heavenly Flame Sect means to you tonight."
That drew his gaze.
Luminel had become irritatingly perceptive.
"If you reach your original universe someday, you can deal with that problem when it exists in front of you."
"And if the real Caelan is there?"
"Then you'll have an exceptionally awkward conversation."
Caelan actually laughed.
Quietly.
Luminel smiled.
"Better."
Caelan shook his head.
"You make everything sound simple."
"No. I make complicated things smaller until you can carry them."
They continued down the sleeping street.
After a while, Caelan said, "Arachne will come."
"Probably."
"Vellum might not be enough."
"Probably."
"Stormmane hasn't recovered."
"Correct."
"You're missing a wing."
"I had noticed."
"Michael's Elite form is temporary."
"Also true."
"Alex and Clark are still Juvenile."
Luminel stopped.
Caelan looked at him.
The fairy crossed his arms.
"Are you planning to list every problem in alphabetical order?"
"I could."
"Don't."
Luminel floated closer.
"Look at the other side."
Caelan waited.
"Daichi and Renji are back."
"Yes."
"They have their partners."
"Yes."
"They have Resonance Linkers and Virtue Sigils."
Caelan nodded.
"Alex and Clark have room to grow. Michael has already demonstrated that Hope can push him to Elite. Stormmane reached Adult naturally because he found what his evolution required."
Stormmane's evolution.
Not forced.
Not borrowed.
Permanent.
Luminel continued, "You reached Adult too. You have abilities today you didn't possess a few days ago."
Caelan looked toward the World Tree.
"We're getting stronger."
"All of you."
Luminel tapped one tiny hand against Caelan's shoulder.
"That's the point."
Caelan exhaled slowly.
The pressure in his chest had not vanished.
The memories remained.
Arachne remained.
The dying world remained.
But Luminel was right about one thing.
Worry did not create another path.
Caelan had Path Maker for that.
He glanced at the fairy.
"So your advice is to stop thinking?"
"My advice is to stop trying to solve the entire universe at midnight."
"Less ambitious."
"Much healthier."
Caelan turned back toward the little house.
"Fine."
Luminel followed.
"You're going to sleep?"
"I'm going to attempt it."
"Progress."
"If it doesn't work, I'm training."
Luminel groaned.
"Of course you are."
They had nearly reached the door when the smell of fresh bread drifted through the night from the direction of Eggshell Haven.
Caelan paused.
Luminel noticed.
"No."
"I didn't say anything."
"The kitchen is closed to you."
"The restaurant is open."
"You ate three hours ago."
"Body enhancement consumes energy."
"You are impossible."
Caelan changed direction toward Eggshell Haven.
Luminel stared after him for a moment before following.
"One meal."
Caelan glanced back.
"Obviously."
"And then sleep."
"Possibly."
"Caelan."
"Fine."
Somewhere ahead, golden lanterns still glowed around the enormous egg-shaped restaurant. Somewhere beyond the city, an ancient spider was healing. Beyond her lay the World Tree, the Grand Archive and answers none of them were certain they wanted.
But for tonight, they had walls around them, friends nearby and enough food to argue over.
It was not safety.
Not really.
In this world, safety seemed to be an endangered concept.
But it was close enough to borrow for a few hours.