After that, the Gods persisted on their carefree talks and even more carefree jabs, all the while we desperately tried to ask them for any more info regarding Grim to no avail. It seems their hands really are tied, or at least this is all they're gonna give us for now, but it's difficult to leave it at that. Cecily too doesn't really feel like we've done all we could, so she's getting kind of antsy as well.

"And then I said..!" Prylos spoke about his time with Selzion in Heaven.

"Enough!" Cecily shouted, "It's one thing to annoy us with your stories, but at least stop leading me on! Tell me once and for all, is there anything we can do to get Lune back or not?!"

"Cecily Grimheart, sigh..." Selzion looked as unamused as ever, "No one is leading you on. There is no way for Lune Grimheart to return."

"You're lying!" She continued, "Prylos said...!"

"What I said wasn't meant to be taken as an indisputable fact." Prylos calmly inserted himself into the conversation, "Before anything, I told you clearly - If Selzion says it's impossible, then it's impossible."

"Cecily, don't..." I went to calm her down, only for her to get even more angry.

"Grr...!" Tears began to trickle down her face as she got increasingly more heated, "But...! Lune is...!"

"Yo." Issei suddenly turned everyone's attention to him as he raised his hand up politely, "Cecily, they said there's nothing that can be done, so sit back down."

"And how would you know that!?" She then berated him, "H-Hey, didn't the Gods say anything is possible with you around!? Maybe if you helped us get Lune back...!"

"Death is final." He coldly replied, shattering her dreams as he approached her, "In my country, no - in my world, there are all sorts of sayings and proverbs that help you cope with the death of a loved one, but even then, no one ever managed to return from the Pearly Gates."

"E-Eh?" She tightly held her son close to her as the rage dissipated gradually.

"No matter what, people will die, and we can't change that." Issei continued, "It's difficult, and I'm by no means telling you to give up. Who knows, maybe searching for a way to get Lune back will bear fruit one day, but what then? Years, even dozens of decades later, when you're all old and wrinkly, having spent your entire life ignoring the people around you just to bring him back. Even if you did revive him thanks to some sort of miracle, what do you think will be his reaction? When he sees you like that, old and alone, desperate to turn back the time for him?"

"And who says I'll be alone?" She furrowed her brows as the anger showed itself a bit, "I've got Cene and Nelly, not to mention everyone back home."

"Yeah, you won't know until you've exhausted every option!" Eleanor stuck close to Cecily's plan.

"Issei, I don't think it's nice to butt into others' affairs." Othelia sheepishly tried to pull him back into his seat, but I stopped her.

"Edward?" Her frail voice quivered.

"She's cracking, but she needs to hear this." I whispered, "Let Issei speak."

So this is it, the moment I was all but waiting for. It took me a long time to get used to living without Grim, and in that time I've learned a lot. Namely the fact that time waits for no one to progress, you gotta do that shit yourself, no matter how painful. Still, I had everyone's support, and in helping them as much as I could, I sort of got used to this new era of my life. I guess the same didn't happen to Cecily, though... I knew from the start that the chances of the Gods bringing Grim back would be slim to none, so I knew Cecily would lash out the moment she realized it as well. Having Issei be the one bringing her back to reality is a surprise, but it's good that he's stepping up. Hearing it from me or anyone else she knew well probably wouldn't do the trick, she needs to hear reason from an unbiased objective outsider.

"Are you saying you're willing to drag them along with your selfish projects their entire life, Cecily?" Issei asked, "To waste not only your own life wallowing in the past and not moving on, but theirs as well? I've learned a lot about the people we've been traveling with in this time, and I realized a long time ago that you're the only one still refusing to accept Lune's death."

"That's wrong! Ed and Anna, Arthur too...!" She named as many people as she could think of in her desperation, "They'd do anything to bring him back!"

"And your son?" He pointed to a confused Cene, "When did he ever ask to see his father? Or is he satisfied with just having you guys around?"

"T-That's...!" She grit her teeth, "He's never even seen his dad, so that makes no sense!"

"Does it, now?" Issei cleared his throat before switching targets, "Cene, sorry to have to put you on the spot here, but could you answer some questions for me real quick?"

"A-Ah." Cene looked around before bashfully nodding, "Mhm. Okay."

"When you were suddenly thrown on a boat to here, did you throw up because of the nasty twists and turns?" Issei asked the first question.

"Mn..." Cene hid in embarrassment, covering his face as he nodded.

"What?" Cecily looked confused more than anything, "When did that...?"

"Yeah, he wasn't really feeling all that well." I chuckled, "Didn't wanna alarm you, so I kept it hidden, but he practically hurled everything he ate the entire time we were on the boat."

"And Cene." Issei continued with the questioning, "Are you cold? Or rather, this morning you told me your feet felt so cold you thought they were gonna fall off, right?"

"Y-Yeah..." He nodded yet again, alarming Cecily.

"Huh? But when I asked you, you said you were doing fine..." Cecily felt ashamed as a mother.

"I didn't want you to wowwy..." Cene looked up, his Eyes sparkling from the incoming tears, "I'm sowwy, mommy..."

"Geez, this kid." Aru looked on from across the table, "What the hell, he'll get himself killed if he keeps tending to others needs-!"

"Shush, Allucius." Prylos stopped her, "We Gods have nothing to say here. Let the mortals settle this themselves."

"And finally, Cene..." Issei finished it off with a rather daunting question, "Do you care about your dad coming back?"

"Huh?!" Everyone jolted, "Issei, what kinda question is-!"

"Nuh-uh." Cene still answered.

"C-Cene?" Cecily was at her breaking point by now, "Y-You... don't care?"

"Why would he?" Issei elaborated on Cene's answer, "He's the guy that caused his mother so much grief over his death, the guy who's responsible for his mother dragging him along to the bottom of the map, where the temperatures are below freezing, and forced him to climb up a mountain so deadly we had to use divine intervention to reach the top. You were only thinking about Lune, and neglected to ask your son about how he felt about this whole situation the entire time."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Wait, divine intervention?" She turned to where the Gods were seated, "Aru, what's he talking about?"

"Sigh, this guy's smarter than he looks." Aru smirked, "I did help make the trip safer for Cene's sake, but I'm curious on what the foreigner thinks I did exactly, so I'll let him explain."

"You created a miniature barrier around everyone." Issei stated.

"Huh?" Aru looked impressed, "How did you...?"

"I knew something was off once we made it halfway and I didn't at all feel lightheaded." Issei elaborated, "The air usually becomes more and more scarce the higher you go up a mountain, so logically speaking, we should have had way more difficulty breathing after a certain point, and yet here we are at the top, perfectly fine."

"...Psh, for someone who only talks about perverted stuff, you sure know a lot about the ways of the world." Aru chuckled, "Yeah, ya' got me. I made a barrier around everyone where the air was bountiful. I also made the temperature slightly warmer. You guys wouldn't have even made it a quarter of the way up without freezing or suffocating had it not been for me."

"Really...?" Othelia winced.

"Brother, is that true?" Eleanor looked to me for answers, "I thought it was too easy, but I didn't wanna jinx it..."

"Beats me, I didn't know anything about that either." I smiled over at Issei, "And that's exactly why Issei needed to be the one to tell Cecily off."

"Oi, don't go making me out to be the bad guy here." He didn't like my choice of words, "I just feel bad for Cene, nothing more. If this kid grows up in a household where everyone glorifies some dead guy who's supposed to be his dad or something, then he'll surely grow up to hate the world. That's some demon king origin story level stuff."

"You think he'd go that far?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Wouldn't wanna find out." He chuckled back before glancing over at the utterly defeated Cecily, "So, still think he'll be on your side through thick and thin?"

"Babyboy..." Cecily hugged him with all her might, "I've put you through so much... I'm a failure of a mother...!"

"Mommy." Cene practically peeled himself off of her as he gave her a peck on the forehead, "Can we go home now?"

As Cecily looked on with her Eyes wide open at the young and forgiving smile of her toddler son, the others couldn't help but tear up as well. Poor Cene, he kept quiet through everything, despite his age, all because he just wanted to see his mother smile. Right, he never even got the chance to meet Grim, so to him this was probably something like the worst and most pointless vacation ever. Then again, I'm partially the one at fault for dragging him on this journey in the first place...

"I think it's about time we head back." I suggested, "Grim would want us to at least protect Cene and Nelly, but I'm pretty sure the only thing we've done thus far is push them away."

"No need to rush." Issei looked over at the sobbing Cecily, "She might need a moment to collect herself before we set off back down the mountain."

"Down the mountain?" Eleanor finally realized, "Crap, now that I think about it - How the hell are we gonna get back down without Aru!?"

"Who says I'm not coming with?" Aru smirked, "The foreigner might help lead me to my dearest, so I ain't saying goodbye just yet."

"Great, just when I thought I was finally free..." I said sarcastically, "But seriously though, getting back down is gonna be a slog. Maybe if we set up camp for now? But our supplies are already running kinda low as is..."

"Or you could, y'know, use the help of the Gods to get back down?" Selzion suggested unenthusiastically, "Boy, if only there was a certain God you could pray to that'd help guide you down at a moment's notice..."

"You're being quite obvious, I see..." Prylos smirked.

"Damn, we seperatin' already?" Auros kinda felt bad that he had to go back to Sulfury now, "Well, no use dawdling, then. Later, losers!"

Jumping off the mountain with lightning speed, Auros had left without even properly saying goodbye to everyone. Geez, what a guy... Still, it seems we lucked out. If we are to believe what Selzion said, then just praying to get down the mountain would trigger Prylos' wish-granting powers and we'd be home free. Thus, I had positioned myself like Issei did before to begin meditating, albeit without the "Ohms". Slowing my breathing down as I closed my Eyes, for whatever reason in my mind I had visualized the God that was quite literally sitting across from me.

"I see you've adopted the foreigner's way of praying." Prylos chuckled.

"If it works, why not give it a try?" I retorted.

"Mhm, of course." He nodded, "So, I take it you wish to get brought down the mountain?"

"Yeah. If possible, take us to the ship directly." I made it clear, "It'd help shorten the distance."

"But then wouldn't...? Heh, no, never mind." Prylos chuckled to himself as he snapped his fingers, "So be it. Your prayers are answered."

Opening my Eyes, I was astonished to see everyone including myself onboard the ship we came to Polaris in. Everyone but Aru...

"Here I am!" She could hardly curb her mocking laughter as she seemingly burst out of a water bubble she had Materialized on the ship, "Pff, you guys really are here, phaha!"

"What's so funny?" Cecily asked.

"Yeah, I had Prylos take us to the ship to conserve energy." I crossed my arms, "Would you have preferred to have walked all the way here, Water Goddess?"

"Huh?" Eleanor turned to me, "But wait, if you wanted us to conserve energy, then wouldn't wishing to take us home have worked better?"

"......"

"........?"

.............

"Argh!" I grabbed my head as I finally realized, "So that's why he was laughing at me! Gah, you damned useless Gods, why the hell didn't you just tell me from the start!?"

"Well, guess we better set sail, then." Issei let out a light chuckle, "Sorry Cene, you might have to tough it out for just a bit more before we make it back home."

"Ish..." Cene turned to me before slouching forward disappointedly, "Ish okay..."

Crap, I can feel my Uncle Points draining from this blunder. I'll have to treat him extra nicely from now on to hopefully restore them soon. Maybe I'll add in an extra potato to his serving of fries from now on, he really likes those.