CHAPTER 176: CHAPTER 175: GETTING SETTLED PART 4

As they all did their best to get things problems started to unfold, at first it was minor things, the sense of security that had been so forcibly instilled carried the unexpected effect of leaving the transfers comfortable enough to reignite old grudges.

As everyone sat around a table eating lunch and reporting on various things, Leanna placed a slate on the table. "...The monitoring system caught it and blocked the message, but things like this can snowball."

"Oh please, Leanna. Just kids being kids." Lillim dismissed the concern immediately without any concern at seeming patronising.

"From the woman who actively encourages her daughters to rip each other apart, I don’t want to hear it Mother."

"Do you mind if I handle this?" Bahamut asked, surprising everyone.

"Since when does settling petty squabbles require the attention of one like you?" Faylorna practically shrieked at the notion.

"Simple, I have been a rather redundant addition. If I have to devote my time to minor disagreements, then I consider that a good sign that things are going well."

Leanna didn’t really know how things would go, but at the same time, she was also kind of interested to watch and so she gave the go ahead.

"The dragon of order babysitting mortal infants..." Tiamat shook her head slowly.

"Can I just say how quiet it is without that lot?" Noah said as he swallowed the last bit of his lunch, earning the ire of Leanna, Alisha, Danielle and just about everybody.

"Why though? Should it be quiet? It feels... Wrong." Blaine evaluated as he missed the mood.

"No it shouldn’t be..." Lillim said with a sigh. "...Honestly, Bahamut, Tiamat, Faylorna and I, not to mention Illum, Eldorlora and Gaia, are preparing for the coming disaster."

Noah leaned in, attention completely grabbed as Lillim’s words validated his sense of foreboding. "What disaster exactly?"

"To put it simply..." Tiamat trailed off and gave a vague gesture to show they didn’t know. "...Your instincts are keen Noah, keep them sharp, it would be a shame if you were killed by something dull."

Alisha grumbled, not a fan of hearing people casually talk about death. "Tiamat, please don’t speak like that, you’ll jinx us."

"Forgive me, but we truly have no clue, you felt it didn’t you Leanna? Lydia? That one, he is a threat we cannot begin to calculate. Possibly the only being in creation to remain stronger than Margo himself..." Tiamat explained, hoping it was enough to calm Alisha.

"...I’ve met him myself a few times in passing, he was definitely suppressing his presence as much as possible. I’m not ashamed to admit when I first met him, I forgot to breathe."

"He stumbled into my realm once and I simply fled." Tiamat said without a drop of shame or reserve.

"I never had the displeasure of enduring that before, it didn’t feel quite as severe as Margo though."

"Remember Faylorna, he was restraining himself, Margo doesn’t know the meaning of the word. They are opposites in many ways, seeing them interact was jarring in the days before the system." Lillim had fallen into some kind of trance, staring into the half-distance.

When she snapped herself out of it, she startled everybody. "What’s wrong Mother? You aren’t the type to zone out like that."

"It’s the other one, this Space. I’ve never heard of them before, don’t get me wrong, it’s not like we all know each other but not knowing and never hearing about are two different things." Lillim pondered.

"Didn’t they help out though? From what I understand they like their representatives and they were the same as Tiamutael, weren’t they?"

"Not necessarily incorrect, but that depends entirely on perspective. Whilst you see Tiamutael as a representative, they might see him as a replacement. That is something nobody takes particularly well."

"I told Omedra, she should have warned the children. Then there is Raziel, I already struggle to see Haven, that little one has an extraordinary ability. I wouldn’t underestimate the little fox either, everything she does makes you want to be her friend."

"I’m not looking forward to the class expedition, I worry about what those three will do..." Alisha added. "...If they run into anything unexpected, it’s easy to imagine them going overboard."

"Tch, it’s time to focus on everybody, we still have work to do." Lillim didn’t suggest, but instead demanded, it was clear that she was far from in a good mood.

---Back on Haven---

"Arti, let’s go out for a bit. I need to go see the kids." Alysse huffed as she swiped a pile of dead nanites off of the table and scooped him up.

’Mum, what do you need from the children? Nothing weird I hope.’ Arti replied telepathically.

"No, I’m not that weird...." Alysse said as she pulled her work clothes off and got changed into something cleaner. "...I need to ask Tiamutael to bring over Saboteur and Link."

Arti was curious still, but decided it wasn’t his problem and sloshed over to his mum, then she scooped him up and went over to the front door.

As it slid open and the light poured in, it burnt her eyes a little, but she stepped out blind and produced a vehicle before jumping in.

’Mum, you should wait until your eye-...’ Arti hadn’t finished as the vehicle pulled upwards like a magnet repelled from ground before bursting forwards in a disorienting roll. ’...Mum, Carl told you to be more careful about these things.’

Alysse grumbled, but brought the vehicle to a stable cruise and they had arrived at Carl’s house before they knew it and Alysse landed and hopped out without delay before knocking on the door.

There was no reply for a good while and she was about to send a message to see where they were, then a yelp came from the sparring hall that was almost certainly Kitsunoko.

With enough intrigue to distract her, she moved as stealthily as she could over to the large hall and opened the door, revealing the sight of Omedra holding off Tiamutael and Raziel and Kitsunoko pulling herself up after apparently colliding with the wall.

"Come on, kids. You can do a lot better than this sloppy efforts..." It was then that she noticed Alysse and let her tail grow out so she could knock them to the ground and call time-out, before jogging over to her. "...Hey, Alysse, what can we do for you?"

Alysse took in an eye-full of Omedra’s body, lightly sweating, chest heaving, eyes twinkling. "You can come back to my place and spar with me for a bit...." As soon as she said it, she covered her mouth. "...Sorry, didn’t mean that, well I did but no."

"I’m flattered, Alysse. I think Mums and Dad want me to find someone to love though, so why don’t we start with a date sometime? Also you’ll have to be bolder, my mums and dad don’t go away often, so if you’ll only ask me out when they’re gone it’s a waste of time."

"What? No, I mean..." Alysse sank, not exactly sure of what to do. "...Maybe? I’ll speak to your mums and dad later. Sorry to interrupt, I wanted Tiamutael to bring over Saboteur and Link to help me."

"Bro! Pick yourself up and help Alysse a minute, then get ready to put those stats of yours to good use." Tiamutael went a little pale, whatever was going on, it was clear he was dealing with something.

When he finally reached them, she made her request, he told her to ask permission, she grumbled, did it anyway and then he brought them over.

"Just so you know, if you date my sister, she has a temper."

Alysse wasn’t lying when she said gnomes were not an emotional bunch, back when the householders weren’t even housholders, so she was more than a little shocked to find herself blushing.

"Thank you, I mean I don’t mind, I mean no. I’ll ask your parents, Omedra. If they say yes, did you want me to cook for you tonight?"

Arti couldn’t believe what he was seeing and hopped off her down to Raziel who caught him and started squishing him playfully.

’Is Mum really going to date the creator’s daughter?’

"I don’t know, but big-sis Omy has been weird for a couple of days, so maybe she wants want Mums and Dad want?"

With that, Omedra followed suit and started blushing too, asking how she has been acting weird, at which point Raziel and Tiamutael looked back to where Ki-ko was standing and wobbling.

"Sis, I think you gave Sis a concussion, you should call Lydia or Bahamut." Tiamutael said as he walked over to support her, realising the truth when she suddenly grabbed him and flipped him onto the ground and pinned him.

"He will never not fall for Ki-ko’s tricks..." Omedra sighed. "...That sounds nice Alysse, but I had you pegged for being as bad at cooking as me."

"I can cook. Cooking is a kind of engineering in its own right, I just don’t do it because it isn’t as satisfying on its own."

"You’re coming to our house! Sorry, Alysse, but I need to make sure that my sister isn’t dating a deadbeat!" Kitsunoko shouted as she pulled Tiamutael’s arms back and dug her knee into his back.

Everyone was quite surprised, not by what she had said, but by the lack of mischief in Kitsunoko’s voice.

It made Alysse quite nervous, she wasn’t used to feeling bashful, or even genuinely lustful. She simply had some inexplicable draw towards Carl and Klaire, but now she was quietly panicking over whether or not they would let her date their daughter.

To make it more awkward, she had Link with her, which meant that Blanc was going to know every detail.

"Arti, I think I better go see Lydia quickly." She admitted whilst half-jogging, half-skipping to her vehicle.

’Mum, you said you weren’t going to make a move on the creator’s children, lying is bad.’

"I know Arti, Mama was bad, but she was so beautiful..."

Alysse blushed and jumped in, which was when Link finally spoke up.

’Dad says you should message Carl now, Sophie says and I quote, "get it girl". I just want to go somewhere dark, they’re somewhere really bright right now.’

"Wow, didn’t take you for a gossip."