Stomping over to the door, Gemini resisted the urge to wrench the whole thing out of the hinges, opening it nicely instead. “So? What are you two doing here? Trying to leech off food? Gods, mortals…all just want good food.”

“We’re siblings, so I don’t see the issue,” Hereward replied.

“Yeah, it’s unfair to monopolise good food,” said Thasvia.

“Then just head over to Ark City and get food from there, then,” Gemini replied, irritated. “In the first place, is it really fine to not care about the others underground?”

“The Abyss Sovereign has initiated the last phase. He’s too busy to care about anything else now,” Hereward replied. “And we didn’t just come here to steal your food too; we’re also here to tell you that it’s almost time to go.”

“Tomorrow, right? Let me spend one more night with Lila and Aria first, asshat.”

“…What happened to the respectful Gemini I once talked to?” Hereward asked.

“Died. Why?” Gemini rolled his eyes. “And since you claim siblingship, it is the prerogative of the youngest sibling to poke fun and insult his older brothers and sisters. Deal with it.”

“Tch.”

“For the sake of good food, you need to bear with it, brother.”

“You’re not the one being insulted,” Hereward replied. “Fine, whatever. What’s for dinner—”

“Supper,” Gemini corrected, gesturing for them to be quiet as he led the way in.

“Okay, so what’s for supper tonight?” Hereward asked, his words quiet as he glanced at Aria, who was snoozing away in her cot.

“Pizza and fries,” Gemini replied. “You two make yourself comfortable. Don’t wait Aria up, or I’ll get her to bite your ear. I’m going to help Lila with the pizza.”

Without waiting for their response, he returned to the kitchen. Slicing a bunch of sausages into small pieces, Gemini busied himself with the topping, which Lila had left for him to do, and the two of them sank into a comfortable silence as they worked together merrily.

It didn’t take long for Lila to add the finishing touches to the pizza, which was then promptly shoved into the preheated oven.

“Done, then. Should we bring out the fries?” Gemini asked.

“Go ahead,” Lila replied. “I’m just going to cook another wok of fries, since we have visitors.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Okay.” Gemini really wanted to tell Lila that she didn’t need to do that, but given that the two loafers outside were definitely going to raise a protest from those words, he had to give in. After all, Aria was already sleeping; he would rather stuff their mouths than to alarm his baby daughter.

It didn’t take long for the pizza and the second batch of fries to be done. Aria, who had woken up at the smell, was now soundly secured on her own exclusive seat, her little hands holding on to a single French fry.

“So, any changes in the week I was gone?” Gemini asked, picking up some pizza. “Did someone try to kill anyone else?”

“Nope,” Thasvia replied, dipping her fry into some ketchup. “They were all miraculously getting along. I think the Abyss Sovereign, in forcing them to relive their memories, helped them to put down a bunch of pointless enmities. Especially for the newer Paragons.”

“Why so?”

“Well, if I didn’t get it wrong, the centuries that preceded the Second Extermination were largely peaceful, but it was also the era in which many Paragons had animosities with each other. Provocations, trying to bring each other down…little things.”

“Eh?” Gemini blinked. “Never heard of things like these before. Most of the wars today were about land and resources, after all.”

“Past wars and conflicts have their own unique causes, but you are partially right in that most of them involved resources too.” Thasvia rolled her eyes. “There are other people who also became legends of their own eras, before settling down like what you would have done, had the Abyss Sovereign not appeared. The same goes for the Demigods, who are all protagonists of their own stories too.”

“So why not just put down those pointless things?”

“That’s a good question,” Thasvia replied. “But that’s why we assume that the Abyss Sovereign’s going to wipe away memories, no? They’re a major cause of conflict, so why not get rid of them?”

“…Did the two of you have a hand in helping those idiots reconcile?”

“A hand…well, maybe.” Hereward picked up a slice of pizza. “Anyway, we have to return to the Central Circle soon, so you can see it for yourself. The energy available to the Abyss Sovereign is dropping, now that he has to support the manifestation of Celestia. As predicted, this will be our one and only chance to make things count.”

“Yeah, I know,” Gemini replied. “We don’t have much time left, but I’m still going to spend the night here.”

“…Fine.” The Sentinel of Space rolled his eyes. “Incidentally, Liamar has woken up, but he is in a such fragile condition that he can’t really do anything.”

“Oh.” Gemini shrugged. “Okay. Well, I had written him off to begin with, so that’s not really an issue for me. Now, less talk, more eating. After you two are done, roll out of here.”

“You…”

“Younger brother, remember?” Gemini rolled his eyes. “Hurry up. I don’t know if I can return or if we will succeed, but I don’t want to see your faces in the memories of my family.”

The two great gods rolled their eyes at him, their movements speeding up at the same time. After demolishing half the pizza and half of their fries, the two of them got up and flashed a smile.

“Thanks for the treat, Lila.”

“Remember to leave no regrets behind, Gemini.” Hereward nodded at him. “We’ll be waiting on a nearby mountain or something, but try not to waste time. We begin our approach at the crack of dawn.”

“Got it. Now shoo.” Gemini waved his hands around and sent the two gods off. “Don’t pollute what could very well be my last memories, thank you very much.”

“…I miss the old Gemini.”