Chapter 78

A knock came at Lilia's door interrupting his thought of Odette and his classmates.

"Father? Are you there?" Silver called through the door.

"Yes, come in, what is it?" Lilia answered as Silver came in.

"Thank you, it's about Malleus." Silver informed him.

"LILIA! MALLEUS IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND." Sebek shouted as he ran into the room.

"Keep it down Sebek you don't have to yell." Silver sighed.

"Yes, my hearing isn't that bad yet." Lilia muttered.

"Oh I beg your pardon. After what happened yesterday I redoubled my patrols through the dorm I couldn't allow even the slightest risk to Malleus's person, but when I looked into his room just a few minutes ago, he wasn't there." Sebek confessed.

"Sebek has apparently been checking on Malleus every 10 minutes. I tired to get him to ease off so he wouldn't become an imposition." Silver informed him.

"How dare you silver! What if those knaves come back and attack Malleus?!" Sebek exclaimed still just as loud.

"Easy Sebek, as we explained yesterday the Watchman is not out enemy. Just as they're no one's enemy so too are they no one's friends. They're an impartial perhaps even unfeeling, an organization committed to treating all living creatures equally." Lilia reminded them.

"There you have it Sebek, straight from Father. If you give in to paranoid you won't be ready to act when it's truly needed." Silver said.

"Rgh, I don't need you to tell me that, but I have a responsibility as Malleus's guard." Sebek protested still loud.

"You don't have to worry. I'm sure he just popped out for a walk. I have ad idea of where he might be. You two stay here and take a break while I go check on him." Lilia ordered.

"Yes sir." They replied in unison.

Lilia appeared with his usual flurry of pink sparkles as he appeared in the destroyed lounge of the Ramshackle dorm. 'Such unnecessarily destruction, no wonder he was so upset when he returned earlier. He fought them and lost and to see this done to another place he has spent time at.' Lilia thought as he looked around.

"I knew I'd find you here." Lilia remarked as he approached Malleus.

"Lilia? What is it?" Malleus asked as he looked down at his guardian.

"Sebek was yelling about you not being in your room so I came to find you." Lilia shrugged.

"Ah, he's been barging into my room nonstop since yesterday it was starting to wear on me." Malleus confessed.

"He is rather loud isn't he? His voice booms even when expressing concern. I can hardly blame you." Lilia chuckled.

"I just came here to have a bit of time to myself." Malleus stated.

"Yes I suppose it's been your secret spot ever since you started school here." Lilia smiled.

"So it was, I couldn't keep using it once Odette showed up, though. I was disappointed at first when Odette started living here. I love abandoned buildings the ivy running over the cracked walls, the drafts sneaking in through the broken windows. Forgotten places have a kind of desolate silent ambiance I find soothing, They're pleasant reminder we're not the only one history has left behind." Malleus said as he looked around the room.

"Ah." Lilia muttered.

"It's the strangest thing though, with Odette and the others gone, this place is back to how it was devoid of life. Yet when I walk through it I feel a most unpleasant sensation like briars scratching against my skin. It's returned to the abandoned building I was so fond of before and yet I'm feeling this way." Malleus confessed.

"Malleus,... Malleus gaze upon what lies above." Lilia said looking up at the night sky.

"I see a ceiling has a sizable hole in it." Malleus commented.

"Not that look at the skies beyond." Lilia said as he pointed up.

They both stared up at sky and saw several stars aligned or nearly aligned.

"Do you see how the stars are lined up in a lovely perfect row? Seeing them aligned as such has been considered a good omen since ancient times this marks the first time in 18 years, or has it been 100 years? Actually it might've been 300. Anyways the point is it hasn't happened for a long time." Lilia informed him.

"Mh, are you trying to say that this phenomenon will be a rare sight to the children of man?" Malleus asked as they pulled the gaze away from the stars.

"Mhm, Though you're going to see this same row of stars quiet often over the course your long life." Lilia reminded him.

Malleus silently just glanced back up at the stars then back down at Lilia.

"The world will be a very different place by the time they align again, and you must come to accept that. Do you understand?" Lilia asked as he floated up and placed his hands on Malleus's shoulders.

"I know that's why I enrolled in this school." Malleus answered with a slight nod.

"Listen to me Malleus, never ever forget the pain you felt here today. You must hold on to that feeling, precisely because you will live beyond this moment for such a very long time." Lilia whispered as he gently squeezed his shoulders.

"I'll keep that in mind." Malleus whispered back.

"Good lad. Come let's make a wish for all of us to be able to return to our normal lives." Lilia said patting his shoulders, then returned to the ground and looked up again.

"Alright Lilia." Malleus said copying him.

"I've looked upon these stars many a time but this may be my last." Lilia mumbled.

"What?" Malleus gasped.

"Relax, I'm not dying tomorrow. It's just a fact, 300 years isn't a long time for you but for fae my age it is." Lilia chuckled as his gaze fell upon his companion.

Malleus just continued to look at him concerned.

"Come let's not keep Silver and Sebek waiting." Lilia said then disappeared into his pink sparkles then reappeared in his empty room. 'I don't have much time left at all.' He thought as he sat heavily on his bed. 'Please let everything turn out okay.'

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for sticking around. We finally got to see our Diasomnia boys. I know this is a cannon event but I hope I teaked it enough for the story. It was already a great chapter so I didn't want to change too much.

Is anyone excited for the Glorious Masquerade? So a spoiler alert for this story. I planned on working it into this story after the Ignihyde Arc. I'm glad it'll be released so I won't be spoiling it for anyone. I planned on putting up spoiler warnings for those chapters I probably still will.

I plan on posting daily still but this event might effect my uploads later down the road, I'm not sure how long this event but I want to try and capture as much of it as I can for my later chapters. I figured it would be fair to warn you guys. If it does effect my upload schedule I would be uploading very other day instead of every day. This is a maybe as of right now. Just a warning. Thank you for understanding.