"No parent would ever lose their love for their children!" - Arc
Something inside Luneth roared to life.
It felt like the magic he used in Queens, only bigger. He made out the forms of the other two falling with him. Luneth reached for them and something cold surged inside.
He hit the water and may as well have dropped straight onto Sasune's cobbled roads. His chest crushed under a sudden pressure and waves engulfed him. His clothing turned heavy and Luneth fought against the current.
Saw nothing the dark, hungry abyss of the ocean.
Sunlight streamed in from somewhere off to his side, broken into ribbons by the water's surface.
Okay. That was up. Maybe he still learned a few things from those times that he and Arc would go swimming in the pond.
Well. Those times that Luneth swam and Arc complained from the shore while Luneth flung water at him.
He lurched toward the surface and broke through to precious air.
His ears rang. Something rumbled out here.
Wood floated about him in pieces, tossed about by the broken water surface. So much for trying to find find safety in the Nautilus.
More rumbling above him.
Luneth looked up. The ship loomed overhead, half of it gone. The part that was left had the back propeller still attached, so it somehow managed to remain in the air for a minute or two longer before it tipped and started its own plummet toward the ocean.
Sad. He really liked that ship.
Luneth swallowed salt water – which tasted awful – and pushed away from the falling ship. Gotta find the others!
The stout guy was easy to make out nearby. He kicked about frantically and his head barely managed to remain bobbing above water – which was incredible, with the full weight of a soaked bear pelt on his back. Luneth cried out and gestured to get his attention, "Hey! Hey, Goro!"
The guy turned sharply, still treading vigorously. He looked angry.
"This way!" Luneth said, gesturing. "We need to get away, before-"
The Nautilus smashed into the ocean, and Luneth yelped as the world tilted sideways and a giant wave carried him up, and up, and up, before pulling him back under. Debris grazed his arm, and something yanked at his hair.
After another moment of underwater flailing before Luneth popped back up, sputtering. The stout guy reappeared shortly thereafter, spewing water.
"Where's the other one?" Luneth asked, swimming closer. "Did you see him?"
Goro nodded, pointing away from them toward ocean. Though it would have been hard for him to gesture somewhere that wasn't ocean.
Luneth looked in that direction, but he couldn't see anything. Felt out with his mind for a life source.
The response was weak, but he found one.
Luneth dove under water again and darted through the depths toward that spark of life. It flickered dangerously, threatening to go out at any time. Was that because he was just learning to use this power, or… was Max…?
Luneth kept going, pumping his arms furiously against the tide that tried to push him back. Eventually, he reached a limp body, full of embedded shrapnel. He wrapped his arms around Max's waist and pushed upward.
Only, Max was heavier than a pack of bricks.
Luneth reached for more power. It came easily, washing over him and granting a second wind. He breached the surface again.
"Over here!" Goro called. He was kneeling on a sizeable chunk of the Nautilus, which somehow remained floating on the water. Luneth hauled himself and the smaller guy onboard, dripping water all over.
The sun started to sink on the horizon and Luneth scrambled to get a hold on the ship-piece. It held surprisingly steady, despite how little of it there was. It looked to be a piece of the hull.
Beside him, Goro coughed out water.
"Okay." Luneth pulled out his bag and tried to squeeze some of the water out. "Don't die, Max. You need to thank me for saving your life first!"
Goro watched Luneth work, hands flying faster than Goro could track. He ripped ruined cloth from the kid's body faster than a spider spun a web and his face was screwed up in concentration, focusing on the blonde kid as if they couldn't possibly survive without him.
"Get me bandages," Luneth ordered, "Odin, I can't get this debris out without proper medication! Hurry!"
Goro cursed, fumbling in his pack. The moment he found a spare cloth, he ripped it into long strips that Luneth quickly snatched away. The guy then started chanting in a strange language as he wrapped them around the burn wounds. The bits of metal in Max were apparently going to have to wait.
"What about infection?" Goro asked. "Aren't you worried he'll get sick?"
"I'm working on it!" Luneth hissed, breaking the chant. "I'll get those after, since I'm gonna have to take them one by one. Great Ramuh, I wish Refia were here."
"Who's Refia?"
Luneth didn't respond, instead covering more exposed and burned flesh with the cloth. Good thing the kid was asleep. If he wasn't, the pain from this definitely would have knocked him out a second time.
The boat underneath them shifted, and Goro moved by instinct to hold Max in place. Darn ship remains weren't especially stable.
Luneth adjusted, still chanting. His hands glowed blue.
It only continued for a moment, though, before he stopped. Goro gave him a look. "What?"
Luneth took a deep breath. "It's time to take out these guys. It'll heal faster if I remove them first. The cure will take care of remaining splinters, I think."
Goro took hold of a random wooden piece embedded in Max's shoulder, about the size of his hand. "You ready?"
Luneth hesitated, then swallowed and nodded. Goro took the cue and yanked, the piece flying free of mangled flesh. Luneth used more magic while Goro got ready for the next piece, a scrap of metal in the chest.
The chanting continued, but Luneth kept it in his hands this time, ready for Goro. Goro pulled the scrap of metal free and Luneth reapplied the blue stuff. They repeated that several times – yank, cure, yank, cure – until the visible wounds were mostly gone.
Luneth collapsed back, forehead beading with sweat. His breathing had turned heavy, and his hands were shaking.
"Dang," he muttered. "Should've turned devout first. Might have saved a little mana."
"Doesn't matter at this point," Goro said. "He's gonna live, looks like. That's the most important part." As if reminded, Goro's own body ached. He'd almost forgotten about his own burns. Sun-scorched clown. "How far are we from land?"
"No clue. Why?"
"Why?" Goro hissed. "We have no food is why! You didn't pack anything on this wreck that survived the explosion!"
"It's fine," Luneth said lightly. "Guess what I have!"
He pulled out Toan's map. It dripped and flopped about with the motions of Luneth's hands, but it looked like it somehow retained its image.
Goro started. "Where did you get that?"
"Long story." Luneth moved a finger to point, but Goro stopped him.
"Wait," he said, grabbing Max's leg with one hand and Luneth with the other. "Okay, now try."
Luneth nodded, tapping a spot on the paper. Goro couldn't see where he pointed.
Nothing happened. Luneth pointed again.
Still nothing.
"We're too far," Goro said with a sigh. "Rust my axe, but you got me hoping there."
"No!" Luneth said. "It's just touchy."
Goro knew that the thing had a range, but of all times for them to be outside of it! "It only works within a certain area of Blue Terra. And the moon, for some reason."
Luneth sighed. "Oh, well. We've made it through worse."
"You-! Dimwit! We're facing starvation!"
"What else can we do?" Luneth gestured to the open sea. "There's nothing out here. As long as I can let my mana store back up… oh, wait." He dug through his pack, grabbing an apple. "I need fuel for my mana, too. It's like exercising. Needs something to burn."
Goro stared, aghast. Perhaps it would be better to just chuck him over the side of the boat, and save the rest of the rations for himself and the unconscious kid.
Luneth kept chewing, looking between the ship and Max. "He's probably gonna fall," he noted, mouth full of apple. "Let's get him anchored with something."
"With what? We lost all our rope with the rest of the supplies."
"Maybe we can take turns watching him and keeping him from falling."
"That's a bad idea."
"Got anything better?"
Goro shrugged. "Could use my axe, or your sword, stake him down."
"I have a belt, we can use that to attach him to the pole here through one of these hoop-things on his clothes. Loop it through the front, connect at the pole."
"Fine."
Ingus' stride was unsteady, but Arc pretended not to notice. Even when Ingus drove his spear into the dirt for support. Ingus, who could take down a troll in a matter of seconds without being fazed, had sweat beaded on his forehead despite their slow pace and his face was pale. They had to rest, but Ingus wouldn't have any of it, no matter how Arc insisted.
And Arc could see why Ingus insisted on moving through this part of the land, given the air here was cool and the trees provided a sort of safety from unwanted eyes.
He racked his brain. He could arrange an accident, perhaps. He could move the ground just enough to make Ingus trip and realize how weak he was… no, that was stupid. At best, it would make Ingus' injuries worse and delay them a day before Ingus insisted on continuing in a state not unlike this one, if not worse.
Arc glanced toward the trees. Ingus was tired enough, Arc could easily take him in a sleep spell. It would grant him some rest, at least. But when he woke, he would want an explanation, and Luneth always teased Arc for his inability to lie.
Arc reached out with his mind. Please, make him see reason.
Nothing happened. Arc flushed, feeling childish. Did the Crystals even have any kind of influence out here?
"Oh" a deep voice rumbled. "I thought I smelled a light."
Arc spun and summoned thunder that crackled between his fingers. "Who's that?"
"Nobody important," the voice said. A huge creature dropped out of the trees and slammed into the ground. It was almost as large as the trees themselves and looked distinctly ape-ish. "Just the caretaker in these parts, Utan as they call me. Interesting that you would come here – did the Crystals send you?"
"In a sense," Arc said. Ingus didn't look like he was up to saying much, as he kept leaning against his spear.
"I'll bet they affect you more than you think they do," Master Utan said. "You can hear them, right?"
Arc nodded.
"Sometimes, it's the things you hear when you're not listening that influence you the most."
"You think so?" Arc took a step forward, curious. "I'd heard from current philosophers that much of what we do is determined without choice by ourselves, but I'd never heard it applied in the way that the choice is ours, just not ours."
"Well, I don't know about science, but…"
"Can you tell me about Veskin's Theory, then? He says our world exists in a vast ocean, that a goddess formed us from the belly of a fish, but I've never quite understood his logic for it."
"Uh-"
"Or perhaps I should reference it on my own to Rorin's Law-"
"Arc," Ingus said weakly. "Focus."
Arc flushed. "Right. Queens. We're going to Queens."
Utan flopped into a sitting position, causing the ground to shake. "And what's in Queens?"
"Our friend," Arc said. "We got separated and we're worried about him."
"Well, then. By all means, don't let me stop you."
"But Ingus," Arc gestured, "He's not well. Would you maybe have some magic that could fix him? He's sick and-"
"Arc, I'm fine."
"But we can't keep going like this!" Arc glanced between Ingus and Utan. "Please! We need to make him better!"
Utan shook his head. "It's not my place to tell people what to do, young one. It appears he won't have it any other way."
"But-!"
"Arc." Ingus barely stood straight. "Calm down."
Arc spun his way, "Sleep!"
Ingus promptly collapsed with a thud, spear falling on top of him. Master Utan looked at Arc, hair hiding his eyes and making his expression unreadable.
"Well, now," the guardian said.
Arc breathed hard. Ingus was going to kill him when he woke up. "I'm sorry, I-I don't know what came over me. I just…"
The ape shrugged. "Alas. What's done is done. At this point, all we can do is wait for him to wake up, I suppose. So, tell me about yourself, little human. What brings you to this side of the world?"
"This side…? How do you know about that?"
Master Utan chortled. "Believe me. I've come to recognize when someone's accent and attire doesn't match up with any of the cultures around here. It's a small world, after all. You humans look the same in face, but you can always tell someone's story by the way they dress."
"… Dress?" Arc looked down. His outfit was now comprised mostly from what the people in Norune had gifted him, though he took a few liberties for the sake of comfort and practicality. It didn't seem like those villagers tended to travel much, so he had to take his coat for its pockets and his satchels. "I didn't think it was that obvious…"
"Maybe not obvious, little one. But there some telling giveaways. Like those emblems on your belts. I've only ever seen them once before…"
He stepped through the forest, leaves crunching under his boots. It was quiet, calm. Too peaceful for the taste of the darkness in his veins.
Master Utan's voice carried to his ears and he turned in that direction. The forest was warm compared to Demon Shaft. But then, Demon Shaft was hardly a warm place, with its spacious rooms and lofty heights.
Down here, his armor felt heavy against his bones and his blood cold. He didn't care for this, wandering the lowlands once again. These were the realms of humans, and he'd long since lost his place among them.
The trees let up, revealing a small clearing. The sun hung low on the horizon, casting orange light about and illuminating three figures. Master Utan spoke with a brunette boy, while a blond child slept peacefully to the side.
Was that…?
No, it couldn't be.
It is, his ever-present companion chuckled. His breath caught, vision blurring with stinging tears, but his stride didn't pause.
Arc. Arc was alive.
The fae guardian of the Wise Owl Forest quieted when he entered the clearing. "By Terra," the ape said. "Aga. Is that you?"
"Aga?" Arc exclaimed, breathless. "Is he-?"
Master Utan nodded. Arc turned disbelieving eyes on him. Crystals, he looked just like Renee.
"Aga. What are you doing? Have you let it taken it over you completely?"
He couldn't touch Master Utan. And Master Utan must have known that it would be pointless to try to fight him, since he didn't react beyond a tensing of his body.
Aga gauged his situation. Ingus and Arc were near Master Utan. If he engaged the guardian, then-
Enough stalling.
His limbs moved on their own. His blades appeared in a blur of red and black, unbeckoned by him. Arc yelped in surprise.
The heart.
He moved faster than he could think. His sword aimed-
NO!
The world stopped. Blood sprayed as one blade pierced through Arc's back. The boy didn't make a sound.
Aga yanked the blade out, blood flying in a wide arc as Arc glanced his direction, eyes wide. Betrayed. The boy's knees buckled.
A blast of fire hit his face, and he whirled to see a young girl with eyes and hair that glimmered red like rubies. The girl from the tower.
Her name is Monica. Angry little thing.
She fired another blast at him before leaping forward, blade first.
Stop.
He slashed back, hitting her in the arm.
Stop!
She screamed as he sliced her leg. Monica retaliated and cut through his armor into his shoulder – what was that she was wielding?
The Chronicle sword.
The blond boy - Ingus - was now awake. He stumbled about, confusion written on his face.
How did the girl get that sword?
He took advantage of Ingus' confusion, slicing cleanly across his neck. Blood flowed for a moment, staining Ingus' collar and cloak, but the flesh quickly healed over again. For a moment, he couldn't help but wonder at the sheer power of the Crystals' light.
Among all this, Arc remained standing, unarmed and unalert, not two yards away. His Crystal health was low – he could see that in the way his person looked somehow dimmer.
He flashed out of the way of Monica and Ingus' path. Master Utan watched, pained. He couldn't do anything. The guardians, the fae, they couldn't touch anything powered by the Dark Genie. Only the Crystal and its associates. And…
He glanced at Monica as he moved back toward his stumbling and distracted son. Ingus yelled, rushing in to stop him. Too late.
Aga drove both his blades through Arc's stomach.
Ingus froze as the girl engaged the warrior, leaving Arc to stand alone, blood dripping from his mouth.
"Ingus," he managed, voice weak and hoarse. Arc stared ahead, as if he couldn't see Ingus.
Metal sang behind Ingus as he rushed forward to catch Arc. Blood soaked the green coat a sickly brown and though his robes were mostly intact, save for the discoloration, there were holes where the knight had driven his blades clean through.
The sound of clashing metal vanished and Ingus snapped his attention upward. The knight had disappeared. Only the girl and Utan remained, both of them watching Ingus and Arc.
A moment passed in silence.
They were safe? Ingus took his chance, rolling Arc onto his back and ripping his coat and robes off until he could see the wound. And paused, watching the flesh seal back together on its own. Arc still had some power left from the Crystals, then.
Ingus felt a brief moment of relief, before the impact of the situation hit, and he forgot for a moment how to breathe. That must have been the rest of Arc's light, since the healing stopped again shortly after. He pushed Arc back onto his back. The other boy had lost consciousness at some point, and his face had paled to almost a purplish-grey. His chest and mouth were still and silent.
Great Odin. He was dying.
Ingus dropped the bloodied and torn robe and snatched a phoenix down from his bag. He dropped it on Arc's body and the spot that touched the down lit up in a wide glow. Arc rasped a quick breath, still asleep, and some color returned to his face. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and Ingus hoped that was just leftover from his lungs.
The girl walked over and Ingus sucked in a breath. She was already there when he woke up – could she be a spy of some kind? Assassin?
No. Foolish. She'd attacked the knight like a creature possessed.
She wiped her blade on her trousers then sheathed it. She looked over the two, face impassive. "How is he?"
The girl's expression and tone indicated indifference, and if she wanted them dead, she need only have struck in that moment.
"He'll be fine," Ingus said, turning his attention back to Arc and summoning a curaga. His body ached, already straining for light, and this would slow Ingus' own recovery by quite a bit. "This should wake him within the hour."
The girl put a hand on her hip. "That's fast."
"It will still be a while before he gets his strength back."
"Then we need a place to rest," the girl said, addressing Utan. "Is there somewhere nearby where we can find shelter?"
Utan nodded. "Matataki Village. The people there are good, and they'll fight back any unwanted guests. But I must ask, where do you come from, human girl?"
She stood a little straighter. "Monica Raybrandt, from the Raybrandt kingdom, but that kingdom doesn't exist here. We've met in the future."
"The future? Hmmm…. interesting. The Raybrandt line is revived at some point, then?"
"Yes. I don't remember the details, but my father brought it back from dormancy. I think."
"Very interesting, then, given that kingdom disappeared without a trace hundreds of years ago."
Monica shrugged. "My father was distantly related, and the previous line died out or something. I honestly didn't pay that close attention in my history tutoring."
"That's curious. I understood it a bit differently."
"You're a princess?" Ingus asked, aghast. "And you're not familiar with your line of authority?"
"I had other things to do!"
"That's your kingdom! How could you not know that? I'm a captain and I know my king's line of authority back twenty generations!"
"Well, I'm sorry if I don't live up to your standards."
"Children, children" Utan interrupted, "Calm. Monica, this is Ingus, from the kingdom of Sasune on the western continent, and apparently a captain. Ingus, this is Monica Raybrandt, from sometime in the future. You both come from completely different positions, yes, but it appears you both have the same goal."
"Killing that two-faced murderer?" Monica asked. "Because at this point, that's all I care about. That and ending this war."
Ingus asked, "What war?"
Utan scratched at his head. "It appears they're more closely linked than you might think. The creature that possesses Aga is likely closely associated with the change in the timeline. It's an emissary of the Void, but most folks around here call it the Dark Genie – if you can defeat it, then I'll bet you can fix the timeline."
"Timeline?" Monica repeated. "Change?"
"The moon," Ingus said. "Did you realize there used to be two before one of them disappeared for unknown reasons?"
"The moons?" Monica gawked. "You're trying to fix the moons? Getting rid of the other moon was the fix! It was destined to destroy the world! The Darkness from the future – well, technically the past, but the future at same time - anyway, it almost did just that by dropping that moon on Blue Terra, and we stopped it!"
Ingus' jaw dropped. "What."
"Forget about the moon," Monica said. "It's good that it's gone."
"She's right," Utan added. "The problem isn't with the moons, but the fact that you remember. The Atlamillia – or the Crystals, if you prefer to call them that – must have protected your memories. That's a bad sign - means there's something going on that they're desperate to stop."
Not even the Cloud itself realizes what will result from this.
"Like what?" Monica asked. "The destruction of the world?"
"I'm sure that's involved somehow," Utan said. "It has to be big for the Crystals to pull something like this. They see things differently than humans, you see, and from fae too. It's hard to know what they truly want, but it's usually for the good of all of us, and it usually doesn't involve giving mortals memories of other timelines.
It's more than that, the Crystals whispered. It's not just this world at risk.
Arc stirred, eyes cracking open.
"I'm not following," Monica said.
"I am," Ingus said, "And I shall fill you in once we get Arc to Matataki,"
Max stood in darkness.
Part of him recognized that he was dreaming. He couldn't remember what exactly happened, besides the splintering ship losing all sense of weight, but he knew that it was bad. He didn't want to look down at his body, afraid of what he'd see, so he kept his eyes fixed ahead. Even after all of his traveling with Monica, he still hadn't grown used to pain, or even the sight of blood.
In some ways, this place reminded him of his first meeting with Monica, back on that colorful night, when he thought she was a thieving urchin that wanted to go to the circus like he did. This somehow felt just a touch similar. He couldn't tell why.
You want to know how you got here, said a wizened and ageless voice.
Max almost forgot about it in the excitement at Queens. He and Monica had beat the genie – rat, or whatever it was – and somehow that sent them to another time? And the images he saw bothered him, because he thought that maybe they were connected.
I can show you. But only if you promise.
"I promise."
Promise what? He felt, more than heard, the impression to do what would be asked. There was a hidden, silent plea inside the offer. His dream wanted him to do something in exchange for doing as it told.
You followed the genie.
Images. Max stepped through Zelmite Mine, through its murmuring depths. The caverns moaned ominously, something terrible hiding in its depths. Monsters, corrupted fae – creatures of evil – roamed the corridors, stalking their prey. Stalking him.
Max shivered, remembering their haunting eyes. The memory of them had faded with the time spent in this era, but when he saw them again, his skin burned with the memory of razor-sharp fangs and claws ripping hungrily through him.
This is your mind. Everything you see is made up of your own thoughts. It is all real. I cannot show you anything you do not know.
Monica appeared beside Max, and he warmed with the familiarity of her presence.
Everything you see is made up of your own thoughts.
His smile faded as he looked closer. Her form showed translucent and she stepped out of time with the sound of her feet hitting the ground. Real, but not there.
"She's only my imagination."
Yes.
Max frowned. This felt a little too vivid for a normal dream. Who spoke to him? What was that presence in the back of his mind?
Look. The Genie.
They stopped before the entrance that led them to face the Genie. Max swallowed as it all played before him again. The Genie laughing and Monica jumping. Max hesitated in following. He watched as the scene changed again to… nothingness.
"What?" Max asked. It was utterly void of color or light. It wasn't even dark, it was just… empty.
This is what happened. You followed the Genie into a portal, one that traversed through time. And time is… complicated. You were caught inside the Cloud, so to speak. I cannot explain exactly how it happened, but in the ensuing snarl, you were thrust with it into the urn where it was imprisoned for some years before continuing on. There was a period where you were stuck in the urn with it, and…
Well. The urn was not designed for you. You fell out of time, and nearly vanished into the void. The Crystals pulled you back, to their home. To Demon Shaft.
Max watched the image around him shift to purple. Dozens of fae creatures danced and purple fires burned, until it all dissolved to light. Dusty, orange light, shining against the aged stone of a tower that stretched for forever into the sky.
A figure appeared beside Max, wearing golden robes and sporting a foot-long, white beard. "This is where you met Aga," he said, with the same voice that Max had been hearing. "Where you landed."
Max nodded. "How did you know? Were you there?"
"In a sense, but that's unimportant. What matters is that Aga – the knight you met in Demon Shaft, who you saw again in Queens – is your enemy."
Max grimaced. "I was afraid of that."
"The Cloud overcasts his mind. Though he struggles against it, the same creature that grew in Sirus now grows in him."
Max winced at the reminder of that incident, of Sirus bleeding out, of the moon crashing down on them all while they fought the Darkness. He remembered a strange, crushing feeling, like a huge, invisible weight bearing down on him. "We have to fight it again?"
The old man nodded solemnly. "Hence why I showed you this. My request, my plea, is that you don't kill Aga, but you remove the stain inside of him. Killing that creature's vessels doesn't change anything. It will merely search out and possess another. But if you can weasel out its essence, its soul, and destroy it from inside the vessel, then it can be removed from the world once more."
"How?"
The man nodded to the tower. "Stall it. You need to remind the vessel of the good in the world, of the good in him. And then destroy the creature that emerges from that. It'll separate the souls, so to speak, and give you something to strike."
"But we've already done that," Max said. "How can we destroy it such that it won't ever come back?"
"Oh." The man looked pensive. "If that's possible, I'll be sure to tell you when I figure it out. Can you ever utterly and completely destroy a species of weeds from your garden, removing all chances for it to come back ever again?"
Gordon had talked to him about such things. Max shook his head.
The man continued. "You can only cut it down, poison the roots, and get rid of that particular crop of it. This rise is fragile, weakened by the latest defeat. If you are decisive, you may delay its return for a very long time."
"How can we do that?"
"You approach this era's wielder of the Chronicle Two." The man turned to face Max full on, his wrinkled eyes narrowing. He was surprisingly intimidating for someone that barely came up to Max's chest. "I believe you are familiar with the blade. Use it on anyone with the Cloud inside them and the sword will not only remove it from them, but it will hurt the Cloud as well. If you can get it fully exposed, get it down to its last, primary vessel, then it will be vulnerable."
"But how?"
"Why, you have a certain innate power within yourself that many creatures would pay very much to get their grubby hands on. Do you know how valuable you are to your friends right now?"
"Um… no?"
The Fairy King smiled. "Well. That's better for us, then, isn't it?"
"I don't get it."
"Oh, you will." The Fairy King touched him with the tip of his staff and Max felt a slight shifting in himself. Like he woke up and popped all his joints. "You're a child of two eras, after all. I thought they made a point of this? Did your parents not talk to you about the recklessness of conceiving between times?"
"… No?" But that wasn't exactly surprising.
"It's been known to generate both evil and good power used for all sorts of things and son, you got the good end of the stick. Well, the potent end. The strange end. Not a bad end, at least, though one that can be used to some odd purposes."
"… Okay."
"Anyway, I should let you sleep. Tally ho!"