Thief of Time

“That’s a lot of donuts,” the guard noted. “Can I have one?”

“Sure, if you don’t think you’ll get into trouble,” Claud replied. “Here.”

“Thanks!” The guard chomped down on the donut, and with his mouth full, said, “President Cadenza is in the palace today, so you’re in luck, really. Do you need an escort?”

“Yes, please.” Lily looked around. “This place is also quite the maze.”

“Alright. Just a moment.” A faint bell chime wormed its way into Claud’s ear, and the guard chuckled. “Anyway, you two are the Seekers of Life, right?”

“We’re part of the Seekers of Life,” Lily corrected. “The others are busy elsewhere. Anyway, I suppose we are rather famous now…”

“There were hundreds of people surrounding your shop not too long ago,” the guard replied. “And considering that you’re the husband-wife-duo that managed to take down the first Distortion, everyone’s going to remember your name forever! Why, there was a historian going around and recording the names of the guards who stood around that thing back then too…”

The guard continued to natter on about the historian and everything for the next minute or two, and Claud found himself heaving a silent sigh when another guard popped out of the guardhouse, thereby ending the little conversation.

“Carl, you’re talking about that again?” the newcomer asked.

“It’s nice to know that I’ll be remembered in history,” Carl replied. “Anyhow, these are the guys who the President authorised to visit, so bring them along while I savour this donut.”

“Where did you get this donut from anyway?” the other guard asked. “I thought today’s dessert was sugared biscuits.”

“Them, duh.”

“…I’m not shameless enough to ask for one, though.”

Claud rolled his eyes, and then extracted another donut. “Here.”

“Gee, thanks!”

“Alright, if you’re done, lead us to the president,” Lily cut in, pulling out a donut from the bag. “Otherwise, the entire contingent of guards are going to look at us with tearful eyes for a donut, and we’ll run out of gifts.”

Claud glanced at Lily as she nibbled at her fifth donut, her eyes curled up into little adorable crescents. Picking out one for himself, the two of them followed the guard and ate the little chocolate-y treat at the same time, bringing the number of donuts left to a mere three.

It was such a shame, but Claud knew that the two of them wouldn’t even blink when they handed the small packet of desserts to the President of the Folders’ Association. In fact, Claud was now debating with himself if it was actually worth it to give the president three donuts, compared to two, but before he could make up his mind, the guard had stopped at a door.

Two knocks rang out. “President Cadenza, Lord and Lady Primus are calling on you.”

“About time!” The door opened, and President Cadenza grinned at them. “Thanks for coming. Thanks for bringing them here too, by the way.”

“My pleasure.” The guard lowered his head briefly, and then turned to leave.

“Alright, come on in, you two.” President Cadenza chuckled. “Good timing, too. I ordered too many dishes, so it’s nice that there are more mouths to go around here…make yourself comfortable, by the way.”

Claud nodded. “Of course.”

“After you, President Cadenza.”

“Oh, so polite…” The middle-aged man, who was still in bright green for some reason, settled on the chair opposite to the two of them. “I suppose you two are here to report about my daughter and everything, right? I know that something huge is going to happen in Licencia, but that’s all I know.”

“That’s all?”

“The Moons and the Dark are moving troops to the Istrel Sovereignty.” He paused. “Somehow, with coordination and an absurd lack of hostility. It’s insane, considering that they’ve been at war for like forever, but what do you know?”

“Wait, the Dark and the Moons are moving to Istrel?” Claud asked.

“We heard about the Moons, but nothing about the Dark,” Lily added.

“Indeed. It’s a secret move, but I do know that every single Dark Herald has moved to surround the Istrel Sovereignty,” the middle-aged man replied. Tapping his chin, he added, “There is more than meets the eye here, apparently, since the Coloured Gods are also moving to surround the sovereignty.”

Lily let out a long breath. “Well. There’s definitely something up, if nothing else. Is that Distortion really such a problem?”

“Oh, they moved because of a Distortion?” President Cadenza asked.

Claud nodded, before glancing at Lily, who smiled back. Pulling out the Trading Board, she fiddled with it for a few seconds, before handing it to President Cadenza.

“Here,” said Lily. “The details are in this message.”

The President of the Association fell silent as he scanned through the message. The light in his eyes dimmed and strengthened as he read the words on the Trading Board one by one, and Lily’s fingers, which were linked with Claud’s tightened as Neo Cadenza’s expression darkened.

After a while, he put down the Trading Board and let out a heavy sigh. “Something like this…Future Sight, huh.”

Claud nodded. “Our Dia went through all that just to overcome that Distortion. It’s a bit unbelievable, to be honest. I’m half-wondering if her brother was intoxicated or something, and…”

He shook his head. “Well, he’s probably not intoxicated.”

“Mhm.” The President of the Folders’ Association handed the Trading Board back to Lily. “Another crisis, I see. As if the Omen wasn’t bad enough, and we already lost that battle. Now we have these Distortions…the only good thing is that the Omen seems to have vanished entirely.”

“Why does the Omen matter anyway?” Claud asked, curious to hear what the Moons and the Dark had to say about it. “What exactly does the Omen signify?”

“According to the Moons and the Dark, the Omen is an agent of extreme change,” the elder Cadenza replied. “In other words, if the Omen really desired it, he or she can destroy the entire world and cleanse it of all life.”

Claud thought about the Hollow God, and then grimaced. “And that ability alone makes him a very dangerous person.”

“Correct.” President Cadenza sighed. “The fact that the Omen hasn’t done anything drastic ever since he or she monopolised the Aeon Span and control over the Cosmic Egg means that he doesn’t want to end the world and all life on it, but for obvious reasons, no one likes the fact that such a possibility exists.”

“Even if he’s a peaceful fellow.”

“Yeap. Dude has it tough, in a sense. No matter how much he claims he loves peace, everyone else would, if given the chance, attempt to kill him to put an end their fear.”

Claud felt a bit dejected, but that was how it was. After all, if he was not the Omen, he would probably be alarmed with this piece of knowledge, but…

“How would the Omen even end the world and all life on it?” Claud asked.

Lily glanced at him once as President Cadenza shrugged.

“Who knows?” He shook his head. “Maybe he has enough power to scour all life from the world’s surface, or maybe he can call down an eternal winter. There are so many ways the world can be destroyed by a bunch of fighting hexa-folders, if they really gave it their all. The Omen’s just some superstrong fellow, that’s all. Not all that different from the gods.”

“True. The Omen can’t be the only one who can destroy the world, after all.” Lily folded her arms. “The gods are just being petty.”

Claud, despite himself, laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Lily asked. “Is it really petty?”

“Nah, he’s just a bit weird,” President Cadenza replied. “Anyway, maybe there’s another way of interpreting this or something. Who knows what the divinities are thinking anyway? Not me, certainly.”

He shook his head. “Anyway, it’s good that my little Risti is having fun, although I must confess that I’m worried about her.”

“Right, we were thinking of heading over to Licencia to support them,” Claud added.

“Can’t, I’m afraid. The Moons laid down a strict order against movement not too long ago,” President Cadenza replied. “It’s impossible for us to enter Istrel now, let alone the great Dark and the Coloured Gods.”

“Wait, but these two groups are also offering aid, right?” Claud asked.

“Probably because the Moons want to monopolise the spoils or something. A Distortion that can challenge them and potentially win is something worth researching, right?” President Cadenza replied.

“Distortions leave spoils?”

“Some do. Some don’t. We actually have a weird bracer that has lots of eyes on it,” President Cadenza replied. “It’s quite tough. Managed to shrug off attacks from Grandis.”

Claud gulped. “That sounds awesome.”

“Well, assuming you can deal with the fact that the damn thing stares at you all the time,” President Cadenza replied. “People who wear them become more predisposed to paranoia.”

“Doesn’t sound like it’ll affect Claud, then,” Lily pointed out. “Why not give it to him?”

“…I’ll take it under advisement.”