Gaius woke up to a warm set of fingers rubbing his head. Instead of a pillow, his head was now lying on a familiar lap. A set of confused eyes gazed down on him, and he watched as Isabelle slowly took in the fact that he was now awake.

After a few seconds of eye contact, Isabelle smiled. “You’re up.”

“Yes, I am.” Gaius smiled. “I’m alright. Just wanted to check on something.”

Poking his nose, she said, “I know.”

Gaius thought about the numerous responses he could give, but he decided to settle for a simple thanks. Sitting up slowly, he held her hand and looked around in silence. “What are the others doing?”

“Xanadu and Nakama are reading a bedtime story to La-Ti.”

“Bedtime story?” Gaius asked.

“An afternoon nap story?” Isabelle held her chin. “They’ve gotten into the habit of spoiling him.”

“You approve.”

“Why wouldn’t I approve?” Chuckling, she tried to get up, but her legs apparently weren’t responding all that well. “Oh dear.”

“Numb legs. People like us might have resistance towards punches and stabs, but we just can’t beat things like sore muscles and numbed nerves.” Gaius reached out and massaged her thighs. “Thanks for the treat, though.”

“You never stop saying that.”

It was his turn to chuckle. “I get a feeling that the day I do is the day I won’t get any more lap pillows. Anyway, where did Nexus go off to? After all those scans, there should be something to show for it.”

“What exactly was this check-up about?” Isabelle asked, a worried look on her face. “Why did you want to check your body all of a sudden? Nexus didn’t tell me all that much, other than not to worry.”

Gaius didn’t want to answer that question, but that was not a desire he could give into. For one, he didn’t want to hide anything from Isabelle, and more importantly, she had the right to know about anything that might have effects on him.

He took a deep breath. “In Anren’s final moments, when he regained lucidity, he transferred to me a portion of his power, which had remained inert. However, when I saw you and your mother reunite, that power abruptly activated, and took in every other form of energy in my body to create a grey mix.”

His hand balled up into a fist, and the air around it shook in return. “It’s a very…adaptable form of energy, apparently. Qi, divinity, whatever.”

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“What’s the problem, then?”

“When that happened,” said Gaius, “the Human God’s voice spoke in my head.”

“What did he say?”

Clearing his throat, he replied, “‘Omnipotence in transcendence. Flawed is the narrowed path, the product of transience. For those who seek perpetuity, what is an oath? Cast off your fetters. Open your mind. Be not a Bounded Presence, but a Boundless One.’”

Isabelle ran through his words slowly, a frown creeping up on her face. Within moments, she had come to the same conclusion Gaius had reached over nights of contemplation.

“That doesn’t make sense.” Isabelle’s words were flat. “This goes against what we all know about becoming a Knight and beyond.”

Gaius nodded. “And yet, I cannot help but think about myself. I…don’t recall making any vows. And you too. Your proto-fief…it no longer exists. But does that mean you’re not a Knight? I don’t think so, no?”

Isabelle froze, and then nodded her head slowly. “You’re right. I do recall feeling liberated, when I asked Weiwu to let me follow you.”

“Somehow, somewhere,” Gaius muttered, “I get a feeling that this observation is connected to the point at hand.”

“So do I.” Isabelle thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged. “It’s one of those things that will probably make themselves known in due time, though. No point in wasting our precious time on such things.”

“True.” Gaius raised his voice. “Nexus? Are you free now? I would like to see the results of whatever you found out during this scan of mine.”

“Give me a moment,” the ceiling replied. “I’m having trouble trying to interpret those results for myself.”

Isabelle eyed the ceiling. “Is the Library of Ancients his true body?”

“I think so.” Gaius thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged. “Didn’t you know?”

“Well, when all you see is a sculpture…still, I did find it weird as to how he was able to move from one sculpture to another.”

“You didn’t ask?”

“Well, it felt like a secret of his, you know. You wouldn’t go around asking other people what kind of trump cards they had at hand, right? It’s the same principle.” Isabelle tried moving her legs. “Oh, they’re back. Alright, enough with the massaging.”

“Well, Nexus isn’t here yet,” said Gaius.

“We’re inside him, by all accounts, so don’t do anything funny here,” said Isabelle. “The others are still awake too, and besides, you haven’t gotten back the report you wanted.”

“How mortifying.” Gaius glanced up. “Nexus, how long more do you need?”

“I need another fifteen minutes,” replied the ceiling. “You two can continue to flirt or whatever until then.”

“That’s barely enough time,” Isabelle muttered. “In that case…let’s talk about our plans for tomorrow. Are you going to bring the three of them along to the Heaven-cleaving Fortress?”

“I…don’t want to,” said Gaius.

“But you see a need for at least Xanadu to come along. Am I right?” Isabelle asked.

“No one can deny that she is a valuable combatant, as a Paragon,” Gaius muttered. “However, I don’t know if she still has that combat capability.”

“She did spend the last few years on a bed,” said Isabelle.

Gaius nodded. “We’ll just ask her about it, then. If she doesn’t want to and prefers to stay here, I won’t bring Nakama and La-Ti along. If she does…well, we’ll all move into the Heaven-cleaving Fortress together.”

“Will the authorities there even allow that?” Isabelle asked.

“Oh please. It’s me we’re talking about,” said Gaius. “If they refuse my request, I’ll just draw some explosion sigils, and fire some shots at the demons. That should probably work quite well.”

A sculpture fell out of the ceiling and bounced off the bed. “You’re just threatening them at this point, Master Gaius.”

“Depends on how you’re interpreting it,” Gaius replied. “Anyway, what are the results?”

“Results. Right.” The sculpture shuffled on the spot. “Bringing it up now.”