Uriel wore a long winter coat, a worn brown tone over dark, immaculate clothing, while holding a steaming cup of tea with both hands. The warm steam rose in spirals, caressing his face in the freezing air of the season. He stared fixedly at the amber liquid, mentally wondering why on earth he had ended up in such a situation again.
He remained silent for a few seconds before letting out a slight murmur.
"Ah... that's why."
A few weeks ago.
The murmur of the Cohort meeting had been left behind. After saying goodbye to his old friends, Uriel withdrew with Cassie back to the Dream Realm, seeking the quiet, neutral refuge of his personal shop to speak without prying eyes.
Once inside, privacy was absolute. Uriel contemplated the blind seer for a few moments, whose serene face revealed nothing of the tide of thoughts that undoubtedly crossed her mind. Without saying a word, he walked to the small space adapted as a kitchen, lit the flame, and began heating some strong coffee.
After a few minutes, he returned to the improvised table and served two steaming cups.
Cassie, immediately recognizing the intense, bitter aroma that flooded the place, settled into one of the wooden chairs. Shortly after, Uriel sat down across from the blonde girl, resting his forearms on the table.
"Cassie," Uriel began in a serene tone, "I've already made a decision about which side to join in this conflict that's approaching."
Cassie tilted her head slightly, keeping the bandage over her eyes inclined toward him.
"What will your choice be, Uriel? Valor or Song?"
Uriel took a sip from his cup before answering with absolute naturalness.
"I'll go with Song, naturally. I want to meet the Queen of Worms herself in person."
Cassie raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"Do you plan to reveal your true identity from the very first moment?"
Uriel shook his head slowly.
"No. I have my own method to make Song's higher-ups come looking for me on their own, without needing to go knocking on their door revealing who I am."
"And what would that method be exactly?" asked the prophetess, crossing her hands over her lap.
Uriel simply smiled in that cunning, confident way that usually heralded trouble. Cassie, sensing the inclination of his face and the slight fluctuation in his aura, sighed in anticipation.
"Tell me you're not planning to commit some ridiculous madness, Uriel."
"Relax," he laughed softly. "I'm not crazy enough to go release a Supreme Titan right in the center of Bastion or Revenheart."
Cassie went completely still. If her eyes hadn't been hidden behind that eternal cloth bandage, she would have blinked in absolute disbelief.
"Where the hell would you get a Supreme Titan?" she asked, her voice tinged with genuine bewilderment.
Uriel shrugged, taking another sip of coffee.
"I have two, actually."
The seer froze in place for a full second. Then, slowly extending her hand to point at him in the general direction of his face, she asked in disbelief:
"How the hell did you kill two Great Titans?"
Uriel let out a dry little laugh and clarified the matter:
"Well, actually, when I killed the first one I was still a Great Corruptor. I had the immense luck of preserving its Echo and then, with lots of love, patience, and some divine energy, I turned it into a Supreme Titan. And the other... well, the other one simply has the luck of being predestined to its own scale of power."
A heavy silence filled the shop. Cassie let out a long, resigned sigh before tilting her face with a strangely adorable expression, a slight grimace that denoted both weariness and a subtle request.
"Can you give me one of those two Titans?" she asked with complete freshness.
Uriel burst out laughing.
"No, not at all. I keep them quite busy with critical tasks. Although... if you really want something useful, I can give you a Transcendent Devil with advanced illusion skills."
Cassie nodded instantly, without a single millisecond of doubt or fear.
"I accept. Give it to me."
"Give me your hand," Uriel indicated.
Cassie extended her right hand over the table. Uriel took it gently and, after channeling an imperceptible flow of essence, the ancient, resonant voice of the Spell echoed in the seer's mind, officially informing her of the receipt of a new Transcendent-rank Echo.
"Thank you, Uriel," she said, withdrawing her hand elegantly. Then, changing the subject without losing the rhythm, she returned to the main point: "But tell me, how exactly will you get Ki Song to try to find you?"
Uriel left his empty cup on the table.
"I simply don't have to do anything active. I'm completely sure that Song's spies and senses will soon notice that a strangely powerful Transcendent is wandering aimlessly through their domains. From there, they only have two options: either they try to kill me considering me a threat, or they try to recruit me. And with war around the corner, I'd bet everything on the second."
He paused and added in a serious tone:
"I don't plan to bind myself deeply to them, of course. My role will be more like that of a high-level hired mercenary."
Cassie tilted her face, analyzing the implication of his words.
"Will you make Shadow Garden follow you into this war?"
Uriel shook his head firmly.
"No. Shadow Garden has a completely different purpose. Their job is the expansion and securing of territory for humanity's survival. You better than anyone know what will happen when the Great Sovereigns fall: the waking world will begin to be absorbed by the Dream Realm at an accelerated rate. Millions of people will have to be relocated in an emergency. That's why I'm working hard to recover forgotten citadels and rebuild them from their ashes."
Cassie remained silent for a few moments. She had to admit to herself that Uriel was absolutely right. Time in the real world was running out much faster than she herself had calculated in her initial visions.
Silence settled in the shop again, but this time it wasn't tense or uncomfortable. It was that warm silence, full of mutual understanding, that they both used to share in the old days. They enjoyed the aroma of coffee and the ephemeral tranquility of that instant.
Shortly after, Cassie stood up, adjusting her cloak.
"I must leave," she said softly. "I have duties to attend to and the information network doesn't manage itself."
"Take care, Cassie," Uriel responded.
He watched her walk toward the shop's exit and dissolve into the gloom. As soon as the seer's figure disappeared, Uriel glanced toward a dark corner of the room, where the shadow seemed to gain density until it took the form of Shade, who had just materialized back.
Uriel looked at him with curiosity.
"Where were you?"
"I went for a walk to clear my mind," Shade responded in his monotonous, icy voice. He looked around with a certain disinterest before adding: "By the way... where is Ilusory?"
Uriel scratched the back of his neck with a certain lightness.
"Ah, I just gave it to Cassie."
Upon hearing that, one of Shade's eyebrows trembled slightly. He remained silent for a few seconds, but the aura of subtle indignation was evident: the shadow avatar had carefully laid plans to use that Echo for something spectacularly big and cool.
(Present)
Snapping abruptly out of his memories, Uriel let out a cold sigh that instantly froze in the winter air.
Slowly, he turned on his heels.
A few meters away, standing on the crunching snow with an eerie calm, was a figure of deceptive appearance. It looked like a child with extremely pale, almost cadaverous skin, dressed in garments of an intense red like fresh blood. The little one stared at him fixedly with ancient, deep eyes charged with a predatory curiosity that belonged to no mortal human being.
Uriel held the teacup with one hand and, without showing the slightest hint of nervousness or surprise, performed a slight, respectful bow.
"This humble Transcendent greets the Queen of Worms... Ki Song."