[The Golden Hour]
Sunday stood by the railing in silence for a long time, saying nothing as he looked at the theater floating deep within the dream's sky, shining like a star.
Footsteps came from behind him. They drew closer, then stopped.
"Brother, I'm back."
"...Welcome back. How are the preparations for the performance going?"
Still silent, Sunday turned his head slightly, looking at Robin behind him from the corner of his eye. His tone remained steady, and there was nothing unnatural about his expression. As the current head of the Oak Family, hiding his emotions had long since become instinct.
"They're going well. Don't worry."
Robin narrowed her eyes with a smile as she looked at the head of the Oak Family before her.
"Going well?" A faint sneer was hidden deep in Sunday's voice. He then shook his head. "No, that's not good... You are the pride of the Family. Don't let unnecessary emotions affect your perfect melody."
Sunday turned his head back and once again looked toward the theater in the sky. There seemed to be a long sigh hidden within his calm voice.
"I... understand."
Robin lowered her head. Standing behind the head of the Oak Family, the corners of her mouth twitched slightly, but she quickly composed herself again.
Taking a small step forward, she asked with concern, "Brother, you look a little down... Did something happen?"
"I received a report... 'Death' has taken some people away. Perhaps someone is directing it... You only just returned, so you probably haven't heard about this yet.
"I don't know when it began, but the nightmare known as 'Death' descended upon Penacony. It attacks people indiscriminately, bringing profound death equally to everyone...
"But in the beautiful dream built by the Family, no misfortune should ever happen. It has severely disrupted the order and peace of the dream... How hateful."
"So something like that actually happened..." Robin looked surprised. "Then... has someone else been killed?"
"Mm..." Sunday nodded.
"You."
Robin behind him parted her lips slightly, seemingly shocked by the news.
"That's enough, Fool."
Sunday's voice gradually turned cold.
"What you've done chills my heart."
The head of the Oak Family turned around once more. This time, his golden eyes were hidden in shadow, his gaze as sharp as an awl.
At some point, Robin behind him had disappeared.
Only Sparkle remained, smiling.
The Fool let out a light laugh.
"You're pretty sharp, Chicken Wing Boy."
Sunday turned fully toward her and looked down at the girl before him.
"The Charmony Hymn spoke truly: 'The beginning of a fool's words is foolishness, and the end of his speech is wicked madness.'... Please leave. His dream does not welcome you."
Faced with Sunday's order to leave, Sparkle merely raised an eyebrow and didn't care in the slightest. She didn't even think there was anything inappropriate about disguising herself as his sister at a time like this just to provoke him.
'The Fool...'
She was perhaps one of the few people in this land of dreams who had come here with the same purpose as Nero.
She had come here to have fun.
Accept an interesting commission, complete an interesting commission, find some entertainment along the way, and while she was at it, take a look at the little ancestor Sampo had mentioned.
Aha, that was simply too carefree.
Just as she had once told Aventurine, what was the fun in joining the game?
But simply watching wasn't quite enough either.
Stirring things up was the most interesting part.
"Oh, don't look so serious~ And quoting scripture with such a straight face too. Why so solemn?" Sparkle looked at Sunday with a grin.
"I just wanted to ask, at this point, is the Family still not planning to act? Your poor little sister has already been sacrificed, you know? Don't you... want to avenge her?"
Sunday let out a quiet breath and replied just as calmly, "The time has not yet come. When the appointed day arrives, I will administer judgment with righteousness."
"Impressive. You can actually hold back~"
Sparkle's tone grew more excited. She looked at the head of the Oak Family before her as though she were observing some rare species.
"What a cold-blooded guy. Hey, maybe we'd actually get along?"
The Fool narrowed her eyes.
Her face carried a smile so absurd that even Sunday found it ridiculous. Mockery, ridicule, and a sincerity that completely didn't belong there all appeared together on her face.
"How about this? I can attend all sorts of occasions in your sister's place. You surely don't want people to find out... that the Charmony Festival can no longer be held, right?"
Sunday silently turned away from her. The anger suppressed in his voice was almost overflowing.
"The Family has its own arrangements. Stop defiling my beloved sister with that deceitful tongue of yours, Fool."
"Alright, alright~"
Sparkle couldn't have cared less.
"I just wanted to say... if you need me, I can help anytime, you know? Who could refuse a boy with studs on his chicken wings?"
Having said that, the Fool didn't wait to see whether the head of the Oak Family had anything else to say. She turned around and skipped away.
She was like a young girl who had just finished attending one party and was on her way to the next.
"No need," Sunday said.
"The murderer has already revealed himself beneath His light. It won't be long before he stumbles because of his own schemes.
"If he does not turn back, then He will sharpen His blade and string His bow, so that the poison the wicked prepared will fall upon their own heads.
"When that time comes, those godless foreigners will know that they are nothing more than mortals, destined to fall into the underworld...
"And I shall become His vanguard and personally bring you the good news (see you off at your funeral), Watchmaker."
———
Within the boundless sea of stars, the Asdana star system drifted through the ocean of memoria. The stars rolled like waves.
Inside the Astral Express, two gazes were directed into the distance. Through the train's window, they were like sharp swords, almost piercing through the dense star system until they reached the core of its sun.
A colossal being lay there with its eyes tightly closed, concealing its form within the sea of stars.
The scales covering its body reflected the brilliance of countless stars. Its three hidden tail streamers spread far and wide, gorgeous and dazzling, coiling around an even vaster region like a magnificent storm flowing between countless star systems, gathering into a splendid river.
Both gazes were fixed upon the monster hidden deep within the universe.
"How long has that guy been drifting through the universe?" Aha shook Little Aha's body, causing the cat cake's body to bounce gently.
The consciousness of the little fellow, who had only recently been born, had already gone to sleep. There was no need to guess who had done that.
While asking the question, Aha poked the mint-scented, ice-blue fellow beside him with his tail.
"A very long time," Fuli, residing within Little Fuli's body, answered without much emotion.
"Nous once clearly listed every detail of that creature's birth: half of the Voracity's tooth, half of Equilibrium's stone face, a fragment of Permanence's body, a handful of sand from Nihility, three rays of Beauty's radiance, five cups of Elation's laughter, the burning amber of Preservation in the hundreds of millions, refined together with trillions of blazing stars. It was born beneath the gaze of the first, and also the last, apocalypse in this world that could not be resisted."
"You remember that really clearly!"
Aha sounded genuinely impressed, then immediately added, "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to belittle you. Hahahaha!"
Fuli didn't respond.
Even so, Aha felt a gaze coming from beside him, one that almost pierced through the thickness of history and occupied every timeline.
So the Aeon of Elation changed the subject.
"Thinking about it now, that was really dangerous. 'The gaze of the apocalypse,' I like that description. Can you imagine what it looked like when even that dark egg couldn't stay seated?"
"The entire world was reset beneath that gaze. Idrila's sacrifice had its reward," Fuli said.
"Yeah. The results were obvious."
Aha looked at the stars that were still functioning normally before him, then turned back.
The other cat cakes were hopping around, busy with their own things. The remaining passengers were all fast asleep. Even the dear conductor was lying on the floor with his eyes closed, looking like a discarded doll.
The two Aeons chatted like elderly men taking a walk after dinner, speaking about one thing after another.
For beings of equal rank like them, this kind of conversation was perfectly ordinary. It wasn't all that obscure. In fact, it seemed little different from ordinary humans talking with each other, discussing interesting discoveries, pretending to look toward the future, or reminiscing about the past.
But it was difficult to imagine what this conversation would sound like if it reached mortal ears. It would become some indescribable, incomprehensible mad rambling.
Then again, compared to how blasphemous their casual conversation might sound to mortals, the mere fact that Aeons might gather together and chat like ordinary people would already be shocking enough.
One of them, however, was Fuli, while the other was Aha. The Aeon who governed Remembrance stood almost completely neutral across the world's timeline, while the Aeon who governed Elation never seemed surprising no matter what He did...
Relatively speaking, these two chatting here was still fairly easy to accept.
If it had been Lan and Yaoshi instead...
"So... why did you come this time? Usually it's just me..." Aha asked.
"You and Idrila are the freest among us. After Idrila left, having you observe Him was the most appropriate choice. But the concentration of memoria within the Asdana star system makes it convenient for me to act."
"There's really no need to worry that much. I'd say He's pretty stable. Idrila kept things under control, and His personality isn't bad either..."
Before Aha could finish, Fuli interrupted.
"But He just smashed through the memoria."
"..."
Aha paused before saying, "It's fine. He only smashed through a memoria..."
"But He didn't smash all the way through," Fuli said. "He got stuck in the chaotic memory currents. Mythus likes that place the most."
"...Huh?"
Aha shifted his springy body and looked at the cat cake carrying a fragment of Fuli's consciousness beside him.
"So... is that a serious problem?"
The cat cake carrying Fuli's consciousness also turned toward Aha.
Its expression became serious as it solemnly declared, "It has absolutely no effect."
Aha: "..."
Now He finally knew exactly which part of the humanity tainted by the memories of the stars Fuli had sent over.
To think that He, the mighty Aeon of Elation, would one day become the joke.
'This is... far too interesting!'
Aha, after all, it wasn't the first time.
A smile immediately appeared on the face of the cat cake possessed by Aha. He gently patted the cat cake carrying Fuli with His tail and said earnestly,
"That's right. That's exactly how it should be. As an Aeon who was suddenly born within memory, you're doing the right thing. As for this thing called humanity, you'd better absorb a bit more of it."
The expression on Fuli Cat Cake's face became rather subtle.
He felt there was something... strange about what Aha had just said. It was as though some conspiracy were lurking behind it.
Back then, this guy had blown up Akivili's train. These days, He could probably blow up the Garden of Recollection too. For Him to suddenly become so enthusiastic, there was definitely nothing good about it.
A moment later, Aha said, "Since you're watching things here, I'll go have some fun."
With that, Aha paid no attention to whether Fuli agreed or not. Twisting His springy body, He bounced all the way into the observation car, then jumped onto the table and called out to the other cat cakes.
"Meow meow! (Everyone!) Meow meow? (Who's coming to play with me?)"
A moment later, two figures came bouncing over.
Little Lan and Little Yaoshi arrived in front of Aha.