Randidly cooked the fish, adding a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and paprika on top. When the side was well seared, he flipped the filet and looked over at the carrots. They sizzled pleasantly against the heated pan, so he brought over the lemon and squeezed out some juice on the vegetables for a bit of zest.

Next to him, Pullas told an abbreviated version, which Xershi had begged her to condense, of her life’s story.

In a way, Randidly admired her. If he had been asked where his images had come from, he wouldn’t really know where to begin.

“Both of my parents were powerful individuals from the Third Cohort. They knew each other from before the System arrived, so their love wasn’t shaken by the arrival of monsters and magic. If anything, it only made their connection stronger, as threats began to surround them on every side. By relying on each other, they were able to survive and thrive through the Calamities and claw their way into the Nexus. They began to build a private empire, relying on talent from my homeworld.”

There was a weird sort of momentum to Pullas’s word, one that tugged at Randidly’s attention even while he was cooking. The more she spoke, the brighter her eyes became. The ivory radiance she released seemed to curl at the edges, gradually becoming the shapes she described. Xershi groaned at the long-winded preface to the story, but it was more perfunctory than bored. Even he seemed to find her words compelling.

“Well, I’ll skip a bit about their business and political exploits, considering your short attention span,” Pullas shook her head, sorrowful at the quality and informative family history lesson that Randidly and Xershi were missing. “Suffice it to say, they were involved in many of the Orthodox Faction struggles during the Fifth Cohort, during the construction of the Sonara. When Elhume suddenly abandoned the project outside of the middle rings, they were taken completely by surprise. And if you know anything about the Nexus, it is that your enemies do not miss a moment of weakness.”

“Ah, so they are dead.” Xershi nodded. Then he seemed to freeze, realizing what he said. “Uhm, I meant that in a nice way. Like, I’m sure they died gallantly in a tragic final stand while defeating all their greatest foes.”

“Don’t- err… don’t worry about it. As an orphan, you get used to strange reactions. Although there was much less drama than that in their passing.” Pullas waved a hand. “Anyway, they didn’t die immediately in that attack. They survived, although grievously wounded. My father’s image was broken, the rest of him crumbling to follow. He could only onerously persist by meditating daily with my mother. Somehow, the memory of the way their images used to interact… it healed him. Or at least slowed his decay.”

Huh. That’s some powerful significance, Randidly mused. He produced some plates and wiped them clean with burning energy, because the food was essentially finished. If the remembrance of their bond was enough to convince his torn Aether it was whole again. They must have had a truly overwhelming love for one another.

Randidly rubbed his nose, thinking of the cooling connections he had possessed with romantic interests since the System arrived. His busy schedule and ongoing battle to overthrow Elhume meant he didn’t have much time to socialize, either.

“They followed a whisper down into the Shaft below the Nexus, hinting at a way to cure my father.” Pullas delivered her words matter-of-factly, but it was enough to cause Randidly to stiffen mid-plating. He twisted and looked at her with a solemn gaze. “Due to his deteriorating health, my mother insisted that they try every option. With time running out, Father could only acquiesce, leaving me in the care of their greatest subordinate. Obviously, they never returned.”

A whisper drew them down the shaft? Hinting at the power of a Penance to improve their significance even? Well, it likely would definitely strengthen the significance holding on to his last scraps of liveliness. But the issue is who would try and lure them down into the shaft. Perhaps it was an enemy of the family playing a cruel joke, but it’s also possible it was Solomon himself. Because if he did try to lure people down to hold his significance… Did he want them to make it? Would people without my Nether Core get sucked down, but land on the peaceful area on the horizon above that shadowy darkness?

Once they were down there, would Solomon just keep them there as long as they wanted to struggle? And time in the Nexus just kept going… Well, if it was Solomon, it is likely that he receives some benefit from its activation.

Randidly’s lips twisted as he added one last squeeze of lemon to the eel. I never bothered to really pay attention, but in retrospect, the oblivion times were a little too long. Perhaps he defrayed the cost of his own debt by lending it out to others. Well, I’m quite satisfied I returned it then.

Pullas scratched her cheek, unaware of Randidly’s rapid inner thoughts. “It seems sort of depressing to say out loud, but I promise it wasn’t such a big deal; we had known for a while this was coming, despite how abruptly they left and vanished. Now, onto the main event: their tragic and panicked struggles to save my father truly inspired me-- I was fascinated by how poorly prepared they were for their own deaths. So I began to think very seriously about how a good death should happen. Hum, you probably cannot discern it now, but I could be quite obsessive in my youth-”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“You came to the Sonara and wasted several hundred years founding a city,” Xershi mumbled. He took the offered plate of eel and carrots from Randidly and began to eat quietly.

Pullas decided to ignore the interruption. “-and I also wasn’t much interested in fighting. So I thought about death. The concept broadly, yes, but more what it would mean for me. What I would want at my own demise. How I wanted all my debts to be settled, for those close to me to think of me fondly in the aftermath. How perhaps I would want to leave a rather detailed-” Xershi mumbled something else, but it was covered by his eel-filled mouth. “-will, distributing my belongings in an ingenious and clever manner.

“Anyway, perhaps those details are better saved for the long version of my context. So, after they died, my parents' subordinate essentially bankrupt all the wealth my parents had amassed, resisting their enemies and gathering the resources to get me Tier III citizenship. He’s retired now, in hiding, living alone on his homeworld. I always thought he was an excellent example of a man who would have a dignified and wholistic death. He always seemed so… grounded. I couldn’t figure out how he managed to be so in tune with himself and the world.”

Randidly offered Pullas a plate and she politely declined. Shrugging, he began eating his own food.

“That’s why what you said struck me, Randidly,” Pullas raise her pointer finger with a flourish. Ivory light danced around her raised finger. “Because a perfect death is impossible. We will all die but it is impossible to live in a satisfactory manner when your obsession is with the end. Life introduces flaws, but we can only have a great death if we have a full life. The two sides need each other to function properly. Don’t you see? So I need to go out and live. And also, I need to figure out what are those things on which I am unwilling to compromise. Because by living by those principles, I’ll live, naturally arranging reality to land on that fulfilled conjunction between life and death.

“Obviously, I haven’t yet given up on creating a fun scavenger hunt in my will. Just… well, to be frank, I’m not quite sure who would care to participate, aside from my parents’ subordinate.” Pullas bit her lip. “And honestly, his relationship was always more to them than me. So. That plan is currently on hold.”

All lives do end, Randidly’s skin tingled. Even mine. But… my body, the Alpha Cosmos, should continue on after?

“Quite sad, not having friends and all that.” Xershi allowed around a mouthful of food. But his expression as he brushed past that topic was enthusiastic. “But holy shit, Randidly, this is good. Can I have Pullas’s portion?”

“Pah, your excitement has piqued my curiosity. You are quite sloppy when it comes to deception.” Pullas stepped forward and took the plate that Randidly had left sitting beside the dwindling fire. She, too, seemed relatively content to move quickly past her bleak admission of friendlessness. She squinted at the food for a second, then put some into her mouth. Her expression brightened. “Oh! I was worried he made those statements in jest to spite me. A simple flavor, but very rich. Do you really have no formal training? Perhaps a special spice?”

“Just the usual spices,” Randidly said wryly. Nrorce would grumble and complain if he ever tried to claim him as a teacher, although simultaneously would probably be quite disappointed if he didn’t bring the goblin up. One thing was for sure: every time he cooked, his mind went to the goblin. He waved a hand and used the devouring power of the Stillborn Phoenix to clean the plates.

After Pullas finished her meal, Randidly got up and headed toward the exterior stairwell; his patience for wasting time had expired. His presence dragged the other two along behind him, who made small comments about strenuous activity after a meal, but ultimately fell into line when it became clear Randidly wouldn’t slow.

From the eleventh ring, they ascended all the way to the fifteenth before they encountered any trouble. This world was filled with strange, semi-translucent series of glass pillars. They varied in size and shape, with the ground sloping gently down toward the central stairwell.

When Randidly turned to head up the slow in the direction of the outside stairwell, his skin tingled. Very slowly, he pivoted back around and solemnly watched the owner of this ring rush toward their position. Already, an antagonistic image curled around their location. Rather than force his way through, he decided to wait and see.

An obsidian octopi, an enlarged version of the ones that Xershi had been loitering with in the first ring, swung its body from pillar to pillar in an incredible display of multi-arm dexterity. Its legs snapped out from its swinging pattern so that it buzzed into stillness like a guitar string, stretched between several pillars.

“Passsss…” It opened a dark opening in its body and released a hissing word.

Pullas’s expression brightened. “Oh! I actually know this being, although we’ve never met in person. Idylla has made an agreement with a lot of the owners of rings, giving them resources and news from the outside in exchange for safe passage. All we need to do is show our credentials and we can move safely through.”

“No pass, I eat,” The Octopi added, in what Randidly assumed was agreement.

“You contracted out this guy to eat people who didn’t stop in your stupid city? I though you were a coordinator, not a dictator.” Xershi’s eyes brightened. “Maybe your job is cooler than I gave it credit earlier.”

“I did not- ahem, all we agreed was safe passage when they had the proper credentials,” Pullas replied.

“No pass? Eat?” The Octopi tilted its undulating head to the side.

Randidly and Xershi looked at Pullas. She blushed. “Embarrassing as this is to say, I believe honesty is the best way to ensure I have the proper sort of death. Due to how… spontaneous the decision to join this group was, I… well, I didn’t bring anything with me-”

“Eating time!” The Octopi whistled and tossed itself up into the air. It rotated its body rapidly, all its leg blurring into a windmill spin.

Xershi rolled his shoulders. “Guess its time for me to shine again-”

“No, not this time.” Randidly interrupted. He stepped forward and looked up at the descending black disc. Its image of constriction and endless waves of legs lay heavy across the whole area. But darkness began to coalesce around his left eye and his hair turned emerald. “My images have a bone to pick with this guy. They want to challenge it to a legs contest and an eating contest. You two stay back; let me blow off some steam.”