"Ah! Finally get to sit!" Ronald let out the longest of sighs as he collapsed onto a tuxedo sofa. "I really just wanna lay down though. Why don't we have beds in these things? Wouldn't that be a good idea?"

Thomas had remained standing, looking out the tinted wall of the cycosphere.

Mycela set her quiver by her side. "Ask the inventor. Maybe you could even request."

Ronald perked up. "Who's the inventor?"

Mycela turned her head to see Lux smiling in his seat.

The king giggled. "Since they're just for transportation, I didn't really think to incorporate beds to the design."

"W-Wait." Ronald's face blued.

Winston gave the wizard a worried look. "Keep calm, Ronald."

"But...but..." Ronald cupped his mouth.

Mycela shook her head.

"I'm sooooo sorry!" The yellow wizard hurried to kneel, and then bowed repeatedly and so abruptly that his head nearly detached. "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, Your Highness! I didn't mean to insult you. This design is perfect."

Lux's giggles still slipped out even though he used a hand to seal his lips. "Get up, Ronald. I don't get offended easily. Besides, that was a pretty good idea. What do you say I get Master Cashmere to install a bed in one of our spheres?"

"W-What?" Ronald looked up, tears swelling at the corners of his eyes. "You would do that?"

Cass sighed and rolled her eyes. "Incoming!"

"Waaaaah!"

"Skf. Get back here, Ronald. This sofa's pretty long. Just lie down. Put your head on my lap."

"Wah! Waaah." The wizard used an arm to rub his eyes.

"You're hopeless. Anyways." Cass leaned against an armrest to see the king closer. "Why'd you come with us, Your Highness?"

Lux tilted his head to a side. "Oh. I just wanted to watch my knights grow."

"Watch us...grow?"

"Mhmm. I often get bored doing the same things over and over in the castle, so, sometimes I follow you guys around."

"Ohh." Cass blinked twice.

"I love seeing new skills you guys have learnt. If any."

Concern twinkled in Winston's eyes. "Wouldn't following us around frequently expose you to danger?"

"I have full trust in your abilities. You always keep everyone safe. Even the unseen."

"That's true." Cass nodded. "Say, Your Highness! Would you like us to train extra hard so we can show you new, more powerful moves?"

"Make me proud, dear Cass."

The girl's eyes sparkled. "I will! Count on me, Your Majesty!"

The cycosphere began its ascent.

"Alright!" Thomas flopped beside Winston and sank into their sofa. "I've given instructions to take us back to the castle. Bit of a shame we have to leave Mauve so quickly. It's such a beautiful place."

Winston scooted a little, closer to Lux, in order to give Thomas some more space. "I'm glad we finished early. There's something else I planned on doing today. Could you quickly drop me off somewhere?"

"Where?"

"Edargen Market. It's at The Capital. Won't be too much of a detour. Promise."

"Of course."

"Oh, and, actually..." Winston turned his head to face Lux. The knight's blue eyes had a very inviting gleam upon them. "Since you're already here, you might as well come with me, Your Highness."

To Edargen? Winston was probably gonna make his visit to that merchant already. Of course. He wasn't gonna be wasting time, was he? Well, then.

Lux nodded.

"Hey! Aren't you inviting me?" Thomas squinted.

"Oh. Uhh." An embarrassed grin went on Winston's face. The man scooted once again, this time to get closer to Thomas, and leaned to whisper something in his friend's ear.

What could it have been?

"Ohh. Uh. Wait. Nevermind." Thomas dismissively shook his head. "There's no problem. I promised to hang with Gris anyway."

"You sure you're fine?" Winston chuckled.

"Yes. Absolutely!"

"Thank you, Thomas."

"Cycosphere? To Edargen Square."

The machine zoomed.

*******

Since the distance between Mauve and Edargen was roughly 380 kilometers, and the cycosphere was covering a fifth of a kilometer every second, the group was likely to arrive in about thirty-one minutes.

Sure enough.

Twenty-six minutes through, the cycosphere entered the capital's first district, where silver towers, of shapes defying gravity, grew as they neared and became streaks of lines as the transport flew past. At that point, Edargen was only fifty and two kilometers away. The cycosphere travelled that distance in exactly five minutes, reaching a region where most establishments were two storeys high, and were teeming with yellow, from the thatches that gave them roofs, to the bricks that built their walls.

With Winston assisting, gently squeezing Lux's fingers, the king made his way down a metal ramp to a concrete platform where the cycosphere had landed.

Behind, the knights waved. Then the machine took off and zoomed once more as it made its way to the castle.

"Are you sure you didn't want them to wait, Your Majesty?" Winston asked.

"Ronald could really use some sleep. Did you really need to hold my hand?"

"Oh. Uhh." Winston's fingers brushed against Lux's, leaving a warm tingle, before the knight took them back and put them on his sword. "I was afraid you could fall off, Your Highness."

"You know I'm not bothered by heights." Lux's lips tugged implicatively.

"Right."

"No worries. The cycosphere will be coming back in about fifteen minutes."

Winston nodded, then moved his kind gaze to the many market stalls, then the roadsigns pointing at various directions, and finally the citizens who were all kneeling before them. "Ah. I forgot to announce your arrival."

"Don't worry about that." Lux curtsied. "Actually, I probably should have transformed to a cat again. There are attention that I prefer not stealing. For example...."

"Why are you...?! Wha-What?!" A red-haired man, with at least a dozen creases upon his forehead, summoned by apparent rage, was growling at everyone who wasn't standing like he was. His name was Orphet Trickflute. "Why are you kneeling? That's not a god! He's human! He may have the title of king, but he's just as undeserving as the rest of us."

"Lunatic! Kneel! Now!" A citizen hissed. He was keeping his head bowed, but his brown eyes were shot at the man with red hair.

"No! It's because of this phony that none of our dreams have been coming true." Orphet's finger stiffened and pointed. "If he was a real god, none of us would need to be in this forsaken place."

"Mommy, what's going on?" A child tugged on the sleeve of a lady in blue.

"Quiet, Sera," whispered the lady. "Just stay close to me."

"He doesn't deserve the throne!" Orphet grinded his teeth.

"Trickflute, you've incriminated yourself enough!" shouted the brown-eyed citizen, his fingers curling to stiff fists. "At this rate, you might as well present yourself to a prison cell."

Magic runes formed from thin air.

"What in the--Trickflute, are you insane?! What are you thinking?!" The brown-eyed citizen raised his head.

"I'll show you just how weak the man you call a king is. Scribe Magic! Author's Armaments!"

Metal pens came piercing through the air.

Winston moved to defend, but before he could really go anywhere, all the Author's Armaments have already been blocked by books.

Lux took in a deep, silent breath.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Where did those come from?" Winston's eyebrows tugged.

Orphet growled. "Scribe Magic! Piercing Pages!"

Steel-stiff sheets shot.

Winston moved again, but all the pages collected themselves onto a stack and became a book.

Orphet snapped his fingers. "Sonnet Storm!"

Words burst from a magic circle and creeped like a devastating cyclone.

Winston meant to move again, but as a book opened and absorbed the coming attack, he stayed where he was and glanced at the king summoning magic.

Orphet wiped his forehead, gasping for air as he seemed to have already run out of energy.

Lux took steps forward.

"Wait! Your Highness." Winston called. "Stay behind me."

"Orphet Trickflute."

The red-haired man stumbled backwards, his face debating whether to show shock or express his anger. "Y-You know my name?"

"Will your fate in me as your king grow?"

His face chose to express anger.

"I know most if not all of my subjects, Orphet. Mr. Ogan?"

The brown-eyed citizen flinched. "My king."

"Mrs. Tilly? Little Sera?" Lux smiled at the girl and the lady, who both, in turn, lowered their heads.

Winston's fingers lingered on his sword's hilt as the king continued ahead.

"Orphet Trickflute." Lux gave another smile. "The power of Morpheus allows all dreams to be possible. It doesn't make them come true instantly. The God of Dreams' magic requires time, patience, and perseverance."

Orphet took another step back.

"I know you have all three, Orphet. You've been working on perfecting a novel, right?"

The man tripped over his heel and fell on his rear.

Lux reached out, offering help even though the man literally tried to murder him less than five minutes ago. "Submit your work! As soon as tonight. To the Akashic Publications. The Sons of Nyx is already as perfect as it can be."

"You...know my book?"

"I would even go as far as to say that I'm your fan." Lux giggled.

Orphet stared for a long time. All traces of anger actually deserted his face, leaving his forehead as smooth as the pages of a newly printed book. Then his eyes became springs of seemingly endless tears as he grabbed Lux's legs and hugged them. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Lux gave the man some pats on the head. "I know you're a kind man, Orphet."

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I'm so sorry! I nearly hurt you."

"There, there. You're forgiven, Orphet. Please let go though. There's somewhere I must be. Haha."

Winston took his hand off his weapon.

*******

It had seemed that Orphet was going to need forever in order to collect himself. Thankfully, owing to Mr. Ogan's presence, the writer was ultimately consoled. Once Orphet's sobbing finally died down, the friends spent some time to talk, just squatted on the road. At that same time, Lux and Winston faced the people, to assure them that everything was alright. After several apologetic bows, they were able to calm everyone down.

"How are you, Your Highness?" Winston looked down at the brick path they were walking on. "Forgive me. I did little back there."

Lux shook his head, disturbing the featherlings of a fur cloak they'd bought from a stall. Now he wasn't as recognizable! "Don't think about it. I wished no harm upon Mr. Orphet. It's sad you met him like that. He's a very wonderful man."

"You sound as if you really know him."

A soft tug pulled a string in Lux's heart. "I've met him many times."

"Yet he didn't seem to realize."

"Well. Time often plunges memories to oblivion. But there are people it has chosen to keep them, even though the rest of the universe forgets."

Winston looked curiously. "Do you mean time has chosen you? Is that correct?"

Lux liked to think so.

"We're nearly there, Your Highness. It's that stall beside the potion shop." Winston wrapped an arm around Lux and pointed.

About forty feet away was where it was.

A tiny stall.

Acting as its roof was a blue and white striped blanket, its corners tied to wooden poles so thin and brittle that touching could have snapped them in half. The stall had a single wall, at the back, where a shelf of display has leaned against, so buyers may conveniently see what items were for sale. On a stool, there was a hairy-faced merchant, with elbows on his counter, dreamily watching the mobs passing by.

"Good day!" Winston greeted, ducking for a bit to get under the blanket roof. "This awning's new."

The merchant jumped. "Oh! Sorry. How long have you been there?"

"Uhh. Two seconds?"

"Oh. Good, good. Wait." The merchant squinted. "You seem awfully familiar. Why are you back? Are you a customer I've scammed?"

Winston raised his eyebrows as his gaze travelled across the countertop. "Well! I kind of am. But I'm not really here to complain about that."

The merchant cocked his head to see the sword by Winston's hip.

The knight pulled his weapon out. "You sold this to me exactly a week ago. I insisted for the best one."

"You don't like what I gave you?"

"No, no." Winston set the sword onto the counter. "As a matter of fact, I'm in love with it. There wasn't a better one you could have given."

Confusion crumpled the merchant's face. "So then...?"

"There are just things we would like to know. We have several questions."

"We?"

Winston twisted to see Lux stepping forward.

"Greetings, merchant." The king pulled down his hood and performed a curtsy. "I'm King Lux of the Kingdom of Morpheus. Here to ask some questions about the power stone you have sold Sir Winston."

"In the name of Morpheus...." The merchant gawked for a while.

Winston stepped aside.

"Wait! Forgive me! Crap!" The merchant left his seat and frantically looked around. "Just a minute, Your Majesty. Where am I supposed to kneel?!"

"Calm down, sir." Lux raised his hands. How he wanted to grab the man just to keep him still! "What's your name?"

What's your name? Lux hasn't asked that question in forever. Earlier he mentioned he knew most of his subjects. The merchant wasn't one of them. Strange. Wasn't the man supposed to be quite known?

"The name's Gilly Wilbur, Your Majesty!" The man bowed twice. "Supplier of the best magic goods here in Edargen."

"So Winston has told me." Lux gave a kind smile.

"What questions do you have, my king? I'd be more than honored to answer all of them."

Winston glanced.

"Well." Lux lifted the sword from the counter. "It's within my assumptions that you know quite a lot about this power stone. You definitely are aware it's one of a kind. I'm particularly curious about its origin. Will you be able to tell us anything about that?"

"The power stone's origin?" Gilly sat back down.

Lux and Winston nodded.

Sweat gathering on his forehead, Gilly gazed at the gem twinkling in its socket. "That does have an interesting tale. That one."

Winston leaned over the counter. "Please. Do tell."

Gilly nodded twice, then twisted to see the displays he had behind him. "All the stones I sell come from a mining company called Cove Peckers. From what I know, they have active operations in the colder regions of Olivon. Cove Peckers has specialized Conduction Wizards that evaluate the quality of their stones. They measure them so the stones could be classified to different tiers according to strength. Omega Tier stones are the weakests, and Alpha Tier stones are the bests. Obviously, the stronger, the more expensive."

Winston peeked at his blade. "Apparently the price you quoted for this was a tad bit too high. I'm guessing it belongs to the higher tiers."

Gilly shook his head.

"Shocking. Mostly because you're honest about it."

"The stone I sold you belonged to the Sigma Tier. Others would call it the Tier of Unusables. Even after several rounds of testing, Conduction Wizards couldn't agree on the power stone's grade. The score varied depending on who tested it. So, in the end, they called it a reject. I actually got the stone for free."

Winston crossed his arms. " You mean you basically sold me an egg knowing full well it could have been rotten?"

"All power stones are holy." Gilly brandished a finger. "They cannot be rotten. My king, I'm no Conduction Wizard, but I am an expert at what I sell. I recognize a powerful stone when I see one. I swear, Cove Peckers lost a million malagmium when they tossed that gem at me."

Lux hummed to himself. "Cove Peckers huh? I should be writing a letter to Calva."

"Calva?" Winston took back his sword. "Is that a place?"

"A friend of mine."

Gilly squinted at the power stones in his shelf. "Calva Cryser. The owner of Cove Peckers. If you wish to know more about that power stone, then it's definitely a smart idea to speak with him."

"That we shall do!" A beam went up on Lux's lips. "Is that all you may tell us, Gilly?"

The merchant lowered his head. "It might also be worth telling you that I sometimes heard voices when I kept that thing close. It's a little creepy. That's why it always went to the farthest corners of my shelves, and, also why I was rushing to sell it."

Winston's brows twitched.

"That's all I know about it, Your Highness."

Lux nodded once more. "Thank you. You've been a great help, Gilly."

Olivon.

What perfect place for the Goddess of Snow's Relic to end up in. The icy white peaks of the Mountains of the Forgotten.

Lux must be giving it a visit soon.

*******

"So you're friends with the owner of Cove Peckers?" Back in the cycosphere, Winston took a seat on the sofa across Lux's.

"We've danced many times."

"Danced?"

Lux removed the fur cloak from himself. "Yeah. Like, in balls. We danced."

"Ahh. I see. Got it." The knight looked down, suddenly interested in the sheen of his legplates.

"Always during the Festival of Dreams. The entire kingdom celebrates it at the end of every spring. Traditionally, the castle hosts a masquerade ball. King Astel was pretty close friends with the Crysers, so they were always invited."

Winston bobbed his head. "Of course. You're royalty. You naturally have lots of friends, and, you know so many people."

"Mhmm."

"Uhh. It's getting late, don't you think? We should be heading back. Yes. We should. To the castle."

"Are you okay? You seem troubled."

"Oh, uhh. No!" A dimple appeared in Winston's cheek, as a smile, which seemed rather forced, went up on his face. "I'm completely fine, Your Highness."

Really? He certainly wasn't speaking fine.

"Hmm. It is getting late." Lux folded the fur cloak into a square. "But you weren't the only one who was meaning to pass by somewhere today."

Winston looked, curiosity replacing whatever was on his mind.

"Could you kindly drop me off at the Vivid River?"

"Drop...you off? Am I right in understanding you don't want me to stay with you?"

Lux nodded. "There's a matter I must attend to alone."

"Wouldn't you need my protection?"

"The Vivid River is the border between Morpheus and Iris. There will be plenty of knights to protect me."

Worry played within the man's eyes.

"Winston, you went on a quest a day after you recovered. I think you deserve some rest. Actually...I command you to rest."

Winston opened his mouth to speak, but didn't actually say anything.

"You wouldn't wish to defy my order, would you?"

Winston shook his head.

"Very well. Drop me off by the Vivid River, then go back to the castle immediately and take a rest."

"I mean, if that's what you wish, Your Highness. But are you certain--"

"Mhmm."

An annoyed glint briefly appeared in Winston's eyes. "Fine." He sighed. "You know, for a king, you're quite stubborn."

Lux raised an eyebrow.

Within him was a sudden surge of amusement threatening to burst out.

As Astel's child, he was always reminded never to abuse his position. But Lux most certainly has eaten forbidden fruits here and there. There were just too many fun ways to play with what powers he had. For example, forcing someone to take a break!

Thank goodness that worked on Winston. Lux would have drained his brain thinking up excuses.

There was no way he would let anyone find where he wanted to go. Especially not the person who was the reason Lux wanted to visit in the first place.

Winston Hickright-Hedge.

*******

The knight's silhouette watched from inside the cycosphere as the machine ascended.

Out in a forest of triangle trees, by a roaring river twinkling before a setting sun, Lux went nowhere until the cycosphere had flown away leaving the scene with dancing redwood and leaves uplifted from the ground.

Then Lux was alone.

He wasn't really lying when he said there would be a lot of other knights at the border though.

Running up to them would be a problem too. Lux would have to explain what he was doing in the wild at such time of day. Worse, they'd probably volunteer to accompany him wherever he wished to go.

No good.

Lux needed to be by himself.

"Astral Magic. Lucid Lycanthropy. Kitsune!"

A splash of light engulfed the king's body. It transformed his head into that of a fox, his hair to fur, his palms to paws, and added thirteen tails to wiggle behind whilst he prawled as the beautiful beast Kitsune.

Lux stepped back, then charged ahead and leaped over the glistering river.

As he sprinted through the forest, trees were mere blurs and the snaps of twigs could barely be heard as winds whooshed at his ears. At some point, the track became rocky, but his sturdy limbs and soft paws allowed him to pass rather gracefully. When the sky was a mix of orange and purple, Lux reached a flat clearing.

At the middle of it was a pile of rocks with edges too straight to be natural. Probably rubbles from a structure that once stood, but was now reduced to several blocks gathered like a trash hill.

Mounted on them was a golden obelisk.

Erected like a hand reaching eternally to the endless skies, it was being held firmly by the grasp of gravity and the laws of the gods of motion.

The Hand of Chronus.

Lux transformed back into his human form. "Greetings, God of Time."

The obelisk kept still.

Lux's knees crashed on cold soil as he fell before the relic. "Still as apathetic as you could ever be. I see. I won't blame you though. I rarely visit. How long ago was the last time? Probably over a thousand years. Maybe two. Although, I technically was here about eight years ago. Seeing as this is always where I start."

A breeze blew by, but the obelisk was still silent.

"Since you're supposed to be omnipotent, you probably already know why I'm here. I just need...some answers."