Crusty presided at the trial of Ains before the Round Table Council. He pushed hard at the beginning to make Ains prove he wasn't a pedophile because of the situation they'd caught him in.
When Ains had sweat his way through that and done everything he could to convince the Council he wasn't he was finally allowed to state why he had kidnapped MeowLi, an offence against the laws of Akiba. His tirade against Shiroe, Purrcy, and Nyanta was met with stony silence.
Tetorō was allowed his turn to speak. He'd been a little surprised to be told that this trial would still be happening. It had been a simpler thing for the World AI to just remove the few memories from the few who knew Ains had been contacted by Maneki Neko than to erase from the whole city the kidnapping event.
Ains believed that he'd done it all on his own with his guild. That wasn't hard since he mostly had. Not even Minori remembered the role Maneki Neko had played. Shiroe had told Tetorō what to say during the trial before they'd left the Gate of Time.
He stood up and told the court what they already knew from what Shiroe had told them before, but Ains seemed to have not believed. That Purrcy had come to Shiroe to warn him of what was to come, and to give him a way to get everyone home. That Purrcy had admitted everything to Nyanta before he had agreed to marry her.
That they had fought to prevent Adventurer procreation from the beginning, including the surgeries that had only failed. Even then they had resisted for as long as they could. Only Izanagi forcing it on them had made them relent in order to save the other Adventurers.
Ains blew up, angry because it hadn't worked, had it, so it must have been lies. Tetorō shook his head and explained what had happened to Purrcy while in the shrine with the first two pregnancies. It was the first any of them had heard that news.
He explained that it had been imperative for the Eagles to spirit her away from the shrines, that still Izanagi had called her into the Gate of Time after Nyanta had been sent there, to see that the experiment was completed to its satisfaction. Once they were there, Shiroe couldn't have an effect on Izanagi's requirements at all, nor could they, being pawns made to move against their wills in that matter.
Ains' eyes narrowed. "MeowLi told me that there it's considered a 'blessing'," he said the word scornfully, "and that it was Nyanta-san who desired it."
"A place where it's considered a blessing is a better place to be raised than not," Tetorō said quietly. "Anywhere else they would have been killed like they were at the shrine that should have accepted their gods' will, even if we wouldn't and don't."
"What parent shouldn't want their children once they've been born?" Akaneya asked quietly, his fingers clasped in front of his lips. "It isn't their fault, nor should they be made to carry the burden of the guilt."
Nods went around the table at that statement. "MeowLi is very intelligent and kind," Henrietta said. "I've seen nothing to fault her personally."
"She's also very polite," Soujirou agreed. "Good breeding does come through."
Ains scowled. "Regardless, that does not grant either of her parents immunity, nor Shiroe for knowing what was going on from the beginning!"
"What wrong have they done, Ains?" Crusty asked. "What law have they broken?"
Ains pursed his lips. "How can you not see that their actions have been a betrayal of all Adventurers, particularly those who want to go home?"
"They have done everything they've done in the name of going home, Ains," Roderick said, confused.
"To have children here is to have to stay!" he raged.
"Yes, you're right," Tetorō answered him and the room was silent, letting him talk. "That's why they fought it for so long, and why we all fought Izanagi and banished him to the Gate of Time. To prevent that from happening. It's also why Purrcy and Nyanta agreed in the end, although forced to do so.
"They don't intend on going home. They've planned to stay with their children from the beginning, knowing this was coming. It's the right and responsible thing to do. But if it also gets everyone else home, how is that wrong?" Tetorō nipped that argument quickly. Ains sat back, petulant and dark.
Crusty put the hand down that he'd been resting his chin on. "Does anyone need to hear MeowLi's testimony directly as to what happened? Ains has claimed that he found her hiding in his room. Tetorō says she was locked in the closet and likely wouldn't have done it herself."
Looks went around the room, and one finally allowed as how they should hear her side as well. Tetorō opened a chat window to his guild hall's common room where Minori and Rudy were sitting with MeowLi. Crusty calmly asked her to tell her story.
MeowLi took a breath and tried very hard, telling the council what she'd been through. When pressed to say if she'd gone to the room of herself, she denied it strenuously, repeating again that she didn't know how she had come to be in that place.
Minori gave her testimony that when they searched for her, they'd been told Ains had been the last one to talk to MeowLi. He argued that wasn't sufficient proof that it had been him. Even Minori agreed with the point, but it had been what she'd heard.
Roderick leaned forward and asked, "And, truthfully, are you Nyanta-san and Purrcy-san's daughter?"
MeowLi took a breath and looked at Tetorō. Tetorō gave her a small nod. MeowLi clasped her hands tightly together. "Guildmaster Shiroe said I wasn't to tell it to anyone because no one was ready to hear it was possible. He said it will only make people angry to know of it, but yes I am. One of four of their children.
"I was sent to help Chichue in the unbounded Gate of Time when he first entered there. Because my birth was after it became linear, I had nowhere else to go but here. Hahaue entrusted me to Log Horizon, and I've been grateful for their care."
Lips pursed in the council room. "So...," Michitaka glared at Ains, "you learned about it and couldn't wait to set the world on fire yourself, then, Ains?"
Ains sat upright and gaped at him. "I? I don't want the world on fire! I want Shiroe to stop playing his games and fooling the rest of you into eating out of his hands.
"He keeps putting us all into dangerous situations with his strange experiments and odd thoughts and reasonings! His power hungry supporters keep him propped up and the rest of you believe their lies. How can you not see the things before your own eyes?"
"He always keeps things on an even keel," Calasin said quietly. "We've trusted him this whole time to help us not see the city explode in such ways as you just tried to have happen. Would you have put MeowLi on display on the stage to the whole city, just to see what everyone would do?"
Ains trembled in fury. "I meant to only call all of you here to expose his false claims and duplicitous nature. There's no need to have the city all in a riot. It's sufficient to have him banished from the city."
Looks went around the table. None were in favor of Ains. Crusty folded his arms. "Shiroe hasn't broken the laws of Akiba. There's nothing in favor of banishing him. However, you Ains, have broken a law of the city. You kidnapped a member of a guild with the intent to do harm to the guild, if not to her specifically.
"It's not the first time you've acted against Log Horizon and Shiroe in illogical and illegal ways. While we can no longer banish anyone because of the problem of becoming Wraith, I will put it to a vote to the Round Table. I motion the punishment be stripping Ains of his right to sit at this table."
"I will second that motion," Roderick said coolly. "His irrationality has stretched my bounds of being able to work with him at all."
Ains' eyes went wide and he moved to protest. Woodstock raised his hand to forestall him. "To have broken the law of Akiba twice, under the pretense of the defense of its citizens against one guild and its guildmaster when there is no evidence against them is irrational, Ains. We will hope you can come to understand this."
"All in favor?" Crusty said quietly. Every member of the Round Table Council other than Ains raised their hands, Henrietta voting for Marielle. Tetorō refrained, being the opposing party and not Shiroe, until Crusty glared at him enough that he at least nodded that Log Horizon would agree it was an acceptable punishment. "A unanimous vote. So noted," Crusty said.
Ains rose to his feet, angry. "If you can't see the evils that he is doing to this body and this city, then I can't sit it any longer anyway. We will see this city fall into darkness, mark my words!"
"If the opposite can get you to open your eyes properly, we will only be grateful," Soujirou answered back quietly. Ains glared around the table and stalked out of the room, his guildmembers going with him.
Rieze's voice murmured quietly from behind Crusty and the door to Ains' office and his chair disappeared from the room. "Is there anything else you'll need from us, Tetorō?" Crusty asked quietly. "Would you like some assistance with guarding MeowLi to and from the Academy?"
"We'll keep her in the house for a few days to see how things fall," Tetorō answered. "Perhaps we'll take a few days to vacation outside the city until things calm back down. We still need to discuss it, though."
"We'll keep an eye on Ains," Woodstock growled.
"Who's going to be watching his Hackers while Tetorō sleeps?" Rieze asked dryly.
"Well, we do all have Hackers in house now." Eyes turned to Soujirou.
He raised his eyebrows innocently for a while, then startled a little. "Oh, as in, could my teachers withstand against Ains' Hackers?" He thought about that for a while. "I would think so. I'll ask them to set up shifts."
Isaac nodded. "The rest of us can be physical security to help to keep MeowLi safe." Everyone agreed to that much.
"Thank you," Tetorō said and closed the chat window to his guild hall.
"There's another reason we need to meet today," Crusty said soberly as he looked around the table. The other council members waited to hear it.
"Before he left, Shiroe told me that he'd been contacted by Purrcy. Sometime soon Izanagi's going to release Purrcy and Nyanta-san from the Gate of Time." That got people's attention, although most of them remained closed-faced for now.
Crusty tipped his head at Tetorō. "Log Horizon obviously wants them to come home. Shiroe called in a few of us to sit in on the negotiations. The Inari have agreed to leave well enough alone, but the kids are coming with them.
"The Inari are watching them to see how the end result of the experiment goes. If they can't have at least that much leeway, they'll send Purrcy and Nyanta-san elsewhere."
He leaned back and folded his fingers together. "We did get the promise that we'll be left alone otherwise as we prepare for the battle at the World Tree. They're keen to see that get going, it sounds like, although we won't begin until I say we're good and ready."
Eyes turned to Soujirou. "Are...you okay with that?" Henrietta asked gently.
Soujirou sighed. "I am. They invited me to sit in on the negotiations, too. If it's just Hahaue and Chichiue, it's okay. I've warned them if I smell either of the AIs I'm likely to kill first then think. They were rather understanding of that. It might be harder for some of my girls to let it go, though." His eyes warned Tetorō.
Tetorō nodded. "Likely neither of them will leave the guild hall for some time. Shiroe does want to put them on stage and finish telling the story from where it got left off the last time everyone was told what was going on. He thinks the anger it will bring up will be a good rallying cry for the beginning of the Tree of Life dungeon."
"Yeah, I can see that," muttered Woodstock, "not that we want the kids to have to face that."
"He'll know when it's time what will work best," Roderick said calmly. "We'll want to see Ains and Honesty can't do anything then either. They're going to be a problem until properly settled."
Thought frowns settled on faces. Crusty brought it back to the topic at hand. "Can we get a vote on if we'll let them come back at all, first?" He got glared at for feeling it was necessary but they let him go ahead and ask for it officially.
Other than the concern about how the city would take it and having to assume Shiroe would handle it properly like he did everything else, they unanimously agreed that if the Inari stayed out of town except to keep an eye on the children, they wouldn't care too much.
They would fight back with everything they had alongside Soujirou if the AIs showed up any more than that. Tetorō relaxed in some relief at that decision and let them discuss how to handle Ains and Honesty without much comment from him.
He did have the final say, though. As things wound down, he rose to his feet and mosied to the doorway out. "So, while you're walking around town, or even just in your guild halls, and Honesty's rumors start getting a foothold, feel free to admit you already knew and sympathize.
"It was terrible that Izanagi finally got his way, but isn't it nice that Nyanta-san and Purrcy are finally going to be released from their terrible imprisonment required to make them do it?" He gave them all his bright idol smile.
They all sighed at him. Soujirou slumped onto his elbow. "I guess that's the new set of rumors to pass around, then?"
Tetorō gave him a jaunty salute. "Thank you so much for all your hard work. Purrcy is looking forward to getting back to work on Venture Enterprises and the Academy. Rumor has it she has information on Gate travel as well, but that's just rumor."
He snapped and pointed at them with his grin on, then disappeared through the Log Horizon door. That was enough to make the council stay in session for another twenty minutes.
Crusty was miffed Tetorō had escaped and left it in his lap when he'd also wanted to escape the meeting. He had to admit that Tetorō was needed at the guild hall, though. They didn't need more trouble just because of a meeting that went overly long.
-:-:-:-:-
Shiroe's eyes opened slowly and he looked up at the ceiling above him. His schedule was going to be way off today. He couldn't even tell what time it was. Yamato time, the battle had begun late in the evening and gone through more than six hours until early morning. With travel for the two days before that, even only going north from home, and the last part of the Sect war being in the Gate of Time, he could tell he had some serious jet lag.
He wasn't really interested in moving, nor in getting out of bed. He did, though. He'd woken up for a reason, after all. He would have fallen back to sleep upon returning to the bed, but there was then the second problem of "morning". He gave up rather quickly.
In more of a mutter than the speech of one who was actually awake, he called William, "We'll take room service, though no hurry." It was relieving William was willing to merely acknowledge the request and recognize that Shiroe was too asleep for conversation at the moment.
Shiroe curled up with Akatsuki, but that woke her up enough that she almost just as quickly left the warm bed for the bathroom herself. She was just as willing to return to the bed with a yawn, snuggling in with him.
He was sure she would be purring if she could and that helped them both fall back to sleep again. The door opening and closing quietly hardly disturbed them. It was the smells of the food left behind that finally dragged them out of bed.
Shiroe wasn't in a hurry to think hard, but he knew he needed to get his post-battle review done before he forgot important things. When Marielle and Akatsuki decided the four of them were going to walk the market district of Susukino as their activity of the day, Shiroe went along with it as casually as Naotsugu did.
It would let him get physical motion, and fresh air, as well as let him get a feel for how things would be different now in Yamato - not that he expected it to be dramatic. They'd kept the Sect war out of the country as much as possible to begin with.
Now that the Sect war was over, they weren't able to use the world-level chat function again. They weren't quite sure if that had been possible because of magic Izanami had put into place or if it was built in to the world.
Shiroe suspected the former and Michael and Reed had agreed, given how much power the Game Bot had been getting over the course of the last three years, and then the world-wide event being game play to begin with.
What that meant for Shiroe was that he was back to using a lot of his own HP and MP if he wanted to talk to people in other regions. He was going to have to hope that all the regions settled well enough for now. They would need time to work things out anyway.
He'd had one last conference with all the sub-generals and they were in charge of making sure things didn't fall apart between now and the World Tree battle. He would check in with them when he got back to Akiba. That would give them time to get a start. If they needed him before then, they knew how to get in touch with him. He really did want his vacation time.
Akatsuki and Naotsugu were fawning over weapons specific to Susukino, although they had no intention of buying any. They were saving up their gold earmarked for new weapons until they got back home and could see what the shipment from Urbe de Volcán had brought to the blacksmith shops there.
Shiroe was expecting to see "preview" products from Shopping District 8 in the stores at home. Between the two of them, MarketMaker and Calasin had plumbed the depths of how deep the guildmaster's list could go, and it was large, but still limited.
If they flooded the market with products from far regions using the new "mailbox" method at the Guild Halls before the train and ship returned to Yamato, they would give away more than they should, so were holding off on more than a few items until that first shipment came back.
Then they would be able to hide just how they were "shipping" product. The weapons made with materials from Volcán would be a little harder to hide. Shiroe had already given up on explaining that, and was thinking of just leaving it to the blacksmiths to explain.
Figuring that detail out felt as hard as Reed getting his answer to his final miracle request after the Central Amerka battle. Nyanta, Izanagi, and Shiroe had sat for hours trying to really work that one out. Izanagi hadn't necessarily wanted all of the Adventurers who had fought for the side of Creation to forget just yet. He wanted watch dogs on those who might still prove troublesome.
To suddenly have whole battlefields of Adventurers not remembering their past, when there were still Adventurers in the cities who hadn't joined in the battle that knew, and hadn't been where they could easily hear the lessons all over... Well...it had been a nightmare that Shiroe had tried to help with.
He'd definitely come away with appreciating Purrcy's complaints that her brain would never be the high-speed computer calculator of the AIs. Even Shiroe's brain had human limitations. He'd done his best to advise then left it up to the World AI. Not everyone had completely forgotten - yet.
The worst were earmarked to not return to Theldesia if they were sent home, he was pretty sure. That or Izanagi had already made at least them forget and turned them into wandering Adventurers in regions far away from where they'd begun so no one would recognize them. (He was really hoping down in his heart they weren't slated to become the next round of children experiments. That didn't need to happen at all at this point as far as Shiroe was concerned.)
That had been interesting as well. BlackJack hadn't been one hundred percent certain, but he was of the opinion that the tracers he'd had on the two heads of the western PK guild were the two unknown children of Purrcy and Nyanta. The AIs would have tried to see if an Earth spirit could be gender changed, or perhaps to see what it would do in a body of the opposite sex when it didn't know from before.
BlackJack wasn't sure if he was being blocked from finding them with his tracers, or if in giving them new anima and a rebirth the tracer was erased, having been locked to a specific combination before. His reason for believing they were the two was because while the Eagles had been in both the newly unbounded spirit realm and death realm, his marker alerts had remained silent, just like they had in the Adventurer Maze of Eternity.
Marielle dragged them into a clothing shop that was a Susukino local independent shop. They could go into Shopping District 8 back home. She wanted to see what the artisans of Susukino were doing. It tended towards clothing made for the cooler climate, but Shiroe was happy to watch the personal fashion show. He was quite pleased when Akatsuki was willing to try on a few items he asked her to.
It made them both blush furiously, though. Him because he was both pleased she was willing and because it was embarrassing to him since he was doing it for his own selfish pleasure to see her in them. Her because it was embarrassing to be in something she wouldn't normally pick for herself, and because she was timid in being the girlfriend still in these sorts of way. It was a role-play they didn't do well - yet.
Shiroe wouldn't mind at all if it could become one of his guilty pleasures - eventually. It helped that Naotsugu tried hard to remember Purrcy's lessons and was encouraging, and Marielle gushed in her usual fashion like always, thus making it a more normal event.
Turning it about "fair play" and having the women dress up the men helped everyone calm back down. Shiroe never minded trying on clothing of any kind, and knew what he looked good in. He also found he enjoyed having Akatsuki's eyes on him about as much as he liked to watch her. He realized in that moment just why she enjoyed it when what she wore made him have a reaction.
He finished turning around for the ladies to inspect the full outfit and smiled at Akatsuki. Her eyes went wide and then she looked away and blushed lightly. Shiroe stepped towards her and lifted her hand to kiss the backs of her fingers.
When she blushed more and covered her face with her free hand, he had to grin. "I think I might experiment with flirting with you more often. Please be expecting to be surprised at odd and rare moments."
She hit him, but didn't complain. Naotsugu laughed for three minutes straight - until Akatsuki got annoyed enough to knee him into the wall again. Shiroe bought the outfit so he could tease her with it later - ah, that is, remind her that it was fun to flirt every now and again.
They ended with a fancy dinner out to make it a real date day, then returned to Silver Sword's guild hall for elvin wine and conversation. Even Shiroe had to admit that it tasted very good, but he let Akatsuki drink the last half of the glass. He led a giggling her to bed that night for a very pleasant end of the day. It had been nice to float through the day for once instead of worry.
-:-:-:-:-
Purrcy sat in the smaller Council Chamber that had been Izanagi's replacement for the Court of the Gods. (He couldn't very well have left all those empty thrones up to confuse the residents remaining in the Gate of Time.) It made her feel sad even now to see how few they were now.
The neutral deities from the Sect war technically escaped the erasure of the game. They hadn't escaped the judgments of the Creator god he'd had her enforce as the Justice of the East. Because they hadn't agreed to her bargain during the Sect war, they didn't even get to survive with a rewrite.
The room held the four other deities who'd agreed to join with her and the heads of the universities. Izanagi's pruning of the universities had been as massive as the work that had to be done on the surface of the planet. With five remaining kami, and five temples mostly related to knowledge, the Gate of Time had become a city of learning and knowledge, rather than a city devoted to the worship of a wide variety of deities.
Everyone seemed ready. Purrcy rose to her feet and cleared her throat. "The Inari have finally decided what they will do with the Gate of Time now that it's no longer needed to maintain unbounded Time." The room got very quiet. "They'll maintain the Temple of Creation as their own home outside of Time.
"Thus some of the knowledge taught in the University of Administration will still be needed into the future. They have asked that I, as Caretaker, assume responsibility over that University. Each of the rest of you will assume responsibility over one of the other universities." She addressed the deities who were on the same side of the room as she was.
"Prepare the places on the face of Theldesia where you wish to live, and prepare a space there for the university you'll have jurisdiction over. When you've definitively chosen the place you wish to live on Theldesia, please send the exact location to my office. I believe it is the better option regardless.
"Having the universities on the planet itself will allow for more people all across the world to come to them to learn and to bring their own knowledge and research to them. Knowledge should never be hidden away, but should be spread so that everyone's lives can increase for the better if they will work for it."
Purrcy turned to the university heads, sitting on the opposite side of the room in somewhat lesser chairs. "When the Inari tell me it's time, the entirety of the university complexes as they are at that current time will be placed in the spaces prepared for them. If you wish to define the boundaries more specifically, please have plans to my office as soon as you reasonably can.
"I anticipate that we'll continue to operate as we have to date, only without the full council. I would like to hear debate on that issue, since we may wish to maintain at least some sort of network. The main difficulty there is, of course, how to communicate across the globe."
Purrcy sat down and let people get out their worries, concerns, and some level of excitement, then work out who would take which university. She and Shiroe had already spoken with the head of the University of Administration. Purrcy had wanted to do that while he was present, since he would need to prepare Akiba. It was going to be a rather large and sudden change for the Adventurer city. She'd already purchased the zones it would be replacing, using the funds from the university.
And that was the bad news she gave the university heads when they were done with the other discussion - if they (or the deities that wouldn't be deities after a while) wished to maintain full control of the space they resided on, then they needed to come up with their own funds to lease or purchase the land rights to the zones they would be in. She figured that would make all of them a little more concerned about where they ended up on the planet.
The University of Administration didn't have a choice and it was an expensive location, given the total number of inner city zones that they covered in area. It had helped a little that it was the cheapest part of town to purchase zones in. Regardless, they would be paying off the loan to her and Shiroe for some years to come.
Purrcy expected it to come from increased student attendance. It had to come with her because she would still need people trained in Requests and in Time management. The Department of Time was essential for her and the Department of Requests infinitely helpful.
Cleric studies would be useful still as well, although would have to change some now that Michael had messed with the rules of kami. That department would be set to experimentation immediately upon arrival on the surface of the planet to see which rules still held and which didn't so they could modify their classes.
Shiroe had already reassured them that MeowLi's administration and secretarial course was applicable to Adventurer and Person of the Land alike, and Akatsuki's rave review had helped them to relax a little that they wouldn't become nearly useless overnight.
Purrcy's follow-on meeting was with the heavenly host of the Temple of Creation. She wanted everyone to be sure of what they wanted to do. She wasn't going to need everyone to stay with what would remain of the Gate of Time. Anyone who wanted to go with a university could. Anyone who wanted to make their way in the world, she would put them where they wanted to go.
A few essential personnel she'd already talked to and asked that they stay. Some she'd told had to live eternally with her. Or at least long enough to reassure her that when they did finally ask for real retirement by death they'd properly taught their replacements how to deal with her.
Those were specifically Timberel, Meghan, and Marco whom Nyanta would need. Timberel had bowed with his face to the ground and had humbly accepted. Meghan had cried that Purrcy would still trust her that much, then had trembled to have to serve Purrcy that long.
She'd finally broken down and asked if she could not. It had taken that much for her to finally be honest with herself. She'd instead recommended her secretary, who'd worked hard with her until then and was of a calmer disposition. Purrcy had agreed they could begin training her more specifically to see if it would work out.
Marco had met the request with his usual calm acceptance, but when he'd come up from his bow, there was a small smile on his face. "And so, have I finally reached the status of 'friend to Nyanta and Purrcy'?" Both Nyanta and Purrcy bowed back and allowed as how he had.
"And family and Essential Person over Everything," Purrcy had added with a smile. "I would hope your work would be lessened, though, after this."
"We will see," was all he would say, not willing to commit until he'd seen what really happened with the changes. There was still a bit of skepticism that the Inari plus the Caretaker were enough deities to see to the whole world.
The other four deities would be helping her hold things together until that part was sufficiently tested, regardless of what Izanagi wanted as the final outcome - as far as the residents of the Gate of Time were concerned. It was possible the Temple of Creation staff would have to be tripled to handle the workload. If so, then Marco's job would be multiplied, not reduced. She humbly let it go.
Purrcy's next stop was the Great Library to visit Li Gan. She confirmed the full database library first. It was still being modified, it being large enough that it would take some time. The deletions seemed to be working correctly however, so she moved on to check on Li Gan.
He was stretched out on his couch, eyes closed and hands on his stomach, the books that had tumbled around him before now back up on the shelves where they belonged, save one set of them on the low table in front of the couch.
Purrcy placed her hand on Li Gan's forehead. He seemed okay, but she wouldn't really know until the edits to the library were completed. She left him a little blessing, then turned to the books on the table.
She took the time to leaf through all of them, smiling at parts, nodding at others. It was the record of the changes from the time of the Awakening until then. It was neatly lettered in Li Gan's handwriting, but she could tell where Izanagi had modified the records the same as he was everything else.
She set the last book down, then said softly, "Izanagi...even I will forget and all the rest of us humans, the details. How shall we remember the important parts that you don't want written down for others to find and use wickedly?"
"You will not forget," Izanagi said to her along their personal link. "Even you will be rewritten in your time."
While that didn't make Purrcy very happy, she bowed and removed herself from the Great Library. When the modifications were completed, she would check on Li Gan again, then add a connection between the Great Library and the University of Administration's library so that she could get from one to the other fairly simply, and those who had great enough need to get to the records here. She would still be the only one who would have access to the main database.
Purrcy arrived in the Crystal City and found the master programmer. He walked her through the wards of the hospital and pointed out the places within the city those who weren't in need of interactive care were housed, giving his report to her. She listened silently, learning that even here Izanagi had properly erased the worst memories, even from him.
He only spoke of the difficulties each Adventurer had found themselves in at the time of the catastrophe. He thanked her "once again" for providing a place where they could be healed, comforted, and feel protected and encouraged, particularly the youngest who shouldn't have been logged in at all given they were less than thirteen at the time.
Purrcy smiled at him, granted him the blessings he needed to continue forward, and moved on. "Izanagi...you've taken from him the memory of how to be the master programmer, haven't you?"
For a time she thought he wouldn't answer. "I have," Izanagi finally admitted. "It was necessary because his pain at the depths of the darkness was too intertwined with why he learned it. We would like for him to be able to see his creation with eyes of wonder and gladness, the same as he wished for himself."
Purrcy smiled a soft smile. "Yes, I can understand wanting to grant that desire and blessing." She looked down on the Crystal City with fondness, blessing it with Tranquility and Peace, even though it already had both because of what it was and the people in it.
Many of her temple healers had decided to remain there in that city. It's final disposition wouldn't be known until after the World Tree battle. She didn't know what she would do with it - remove it, or put it in a different time-space, or leave it there to be a legendary place of healing. It was okay to wait on making that decision for now.
"Purrcy?" she was called. Since that was next on her list, she went.
-:-:-:-:-
"Yes, Reed?" Purrcy asked politely.
"Just how long have you had us out of commission?" he demanded suspiciously.
"Long enough to be truly rested - physically," she answered. "Only six hours have passed on Theldesia. Everyone would expect you all to rest at least that long, and all of you quite needed it."
"That's a month, Purrcy," he accused.
"Not quite. Three weeks. But that number is irrelevant to you, when you are creatures of the base time line." She was completely unapologetic. Reed was ticked off. It didn't really help that she was right - technically.
"What comes next is up to you," she continued calmly. "You know far better than I what they all need to recover mentally and emotionally." Her eyes looked into his, as if trying to pass along a message. "Please choose wisely and make it something they can hold on to as a real vacation before what comes next."
That made Reed sit back and think a little harder. He pursed his lips as he took it under serious consideration. "It's going to happen the way Brenner's afraid it will, won't it? We're going to be abused in the last round." She didn't change expressions.
He turned away in disgust, folding his arms, trying to keep the scowl to just the barest wrinkle on his forehead. He just breathed for a bit to calm down. A light hand came on his shoulder, then an equally light kiss on his cheek, and she let him go.
Reed took a deep breath and let it out. There wasn't anything Purrcy could do about it, or she would. She wanted to protect them all, even now, and still regretted she couldn't. She could only do what she could do, and she was trying her hardest to do that.
He finally sighed and looked back at her with a resigned expression. "Then can I ask for my miracle request now, for when we get there? Can you help us remember that the end goal is still worthy, even if we're hating it with every fiber of our being?"
"I would be glad to," she answered quietly. Reed was relieved to be able to receive that answer and it eventually helped him to let his frustration go.
He looked around the room that was his. He, Michael, and MasterChiefS7 had finally been given individual rooms in this place where there was enough space, as their rankings should have. He moved from standing in the middle of the room to sitting in the chair by the small desk. "Do you have time?" he asked Purrcy.
"Yes," she answered and settled down to sit on the edge of his bed, her hands clasped lightly in her lap.
"If we go play pirates, and I ask you to not come, will you be able to do it?" he asked. He knew that more than anything the vacation the men needed was from having her and Izanami watching over their shoulders constantly.
"I will if you ask it," she answered. "You know Izanami, and therefore me to some extent, will still watch."
Reed nodded. "If it's from far enough away they don't notice it, it will be okay." He gave her a rueful smile. "They'll want to go be real airmen for a while. That's not something to let parents know about at home."
Purrcy smiled at that. "Yes, I had my own wild youth, even if it was likely odd to many. I'll pretend to not see anything, and look away when I should."
"And you'll let them get drunk if they want?" he pressed her.
Purrcy sighed. "That will be a little harder. Izanami doesn't want anyone causing the trouble that Adventurers of all your levels and capabilities can cause, and Izanagi will shut you all down in a hurry if he thinks you'll go hog wild."
She looked away for a bit, then shrugged. "Of course, perhaps they should be allowed to see just what you are all capable of doing when in those states. They've only got best guesses at this point." Her eyes came back to his knowingly. "They will prevent the worst they've calculated you all can do. I would also."
Reed grimaced. "Well, I'd have to step in and do the same anyway. Letting it go beyond the bounds of relaxation and vacation isn't allowed regardless." Purrcy gave a satisfied nod. "Then we'll discuss it at breakfast and let you know when we're ready to go."
He rested on his elbow on the desk to muse for a moment longer, then asked, "Why was I trained to Commander level by Izanami for the last part of it? Was it just because Mike thought it was time?"
Purrcy considered him soberly, then asked. "What will you be doing when you go home to Earth, Reed?"
He frowned. "Staying Navy and becoming a Commander, if we get the pardon."
Purrcy nodded. "And what will you be doing if you have to stay here?"
He stared at her emotionless for a moment, then sighed. "Taking Michael's place because neither you nor the Inari will let him go if any of you can help it."
"So." She bowed her head a little. "Please fight hard for the outcome you truly wish to see."
He stared at her a little longer, then asked, "And will you choose to go back to Earth?"
She blinked, then answered, "There are a few choice things that I will never of my own free will do. Return to Earth is one of them." She bowed to him slightly and disappeared.
He mused on that for a while, wondering if there was a message behind that. He couldn't tease it out, though, so he tucked it into the file to pull out later if more strings became attached to it. Still, he suspected she might be disappointed. Shiroe and Crusty and a few others were getting pretty determined now to see she did go back home with them.
When Reed spoke to the squadron after their first meal in three weeks (breakfast technically), he let them know the concessions he'd gotten, and then suggested they return to the Caribbean to see what changes had happened there, and play pirates with the witches of the islands.
That would get a little bit of everything for everyone's tastes: women, booze, drugs (maybe if Izanagi hadn't taken them back out), sailing, and walking the market for those who liked tamer vacations. It also wouldn't take them out of the western hemisphere, where they would need to be working hard again as soon as the vacation was over.
When it got unanimous approval, Michael made the request to Purrcy and she opened a gate that allowed them to put the Oki Watarimono into the water off the eastern coast of the southern continent. They would use the sailing time getting north again to both practice reading the stars here more, and to relax enough to want to play on the islands.
Reed let Michael be "just the pilot" for as long as possible. He needed that vacation more than anyone else. Being the General was hard on anyone. They would need him ready to take that mantle back up.
