Halfway through the stunned silence Sui was already starting to scheme.

Welp, that sure is weird. Aw well that’s enough stunned silence for me. I wonder if I should rest first or get to working. Hmmm, as much as I hate the thought of it, I think I might need to rest. I could stay up and make a few alterations to Trina’s and Aife’s outfits but if the wave comes too soon then I’ll be pretty screwed.

At the very least I can get through… perhaps three? I think I could do three before I’d need to sleep… but this timer is rather worrying. Sometimes we get two a day, so how soon will it be?

“Fuck”

Do I even want to sleep then? Perhaps like… meditating or something? I’ve never really done that before, but people say it’s good for you… might be a decent alternative because I feel like once I sleep, I’ll really crash…

But I also clearly need it. I can feel my thoughts running slow. It’s not as bad as I’d thought it would be considering the circumstances, and I can almost feel my mind pulling itself back together… but perhaps that’s just the grogginess leaving me as my mind catches up with the fact my body is in good condition now.

“Well… fuck” said Trina, repeating herself. You already said that. Perhaps you need to rest Trina. You don’t normally repeat yourself unless you are unwell.

“Yeah… fuck” said Aife. Really? Aife you too? It’s not that crazy is it? I mean sure whoever was watching, now watches a bit closer. What does that even change guys?

Sui looked down at Ito for reassurance she wasn’t crazy. Ito nodded along with her, confirming that she was in fact. Not crazy… though how a sane person could ask that request of a spider, expect an answer, and receive it… well that’s anyone’s guess.

“Fuck indeed” said Trina

Sui felt her eye twitch “Enough! Stop repeating yourselves”

Trina turned her head to face Sui and did her best to glare at her. It wasn’t very effective. Her tired gaze had no heat in it at all. “Sui, please understand the gravity of the situation” said Trina

“I don’t follow. I really don’t see how this changes anything. Who cares if they are watching or not Trina?” asked Sui

Trina’s frown deepened and Sui got the feeling she was really trying to inject some heat into her glare… it was still failing. “Look, Sui, we might not know who ‘they’ might refer to, but this affects the lot of us even you” Sui gave Trina an unimpressed look but she continued.

“No, listen Sui, this really is serious. Whoever has the power to pull off something like this… it isn’t something we want to mess with. We don’t want to be caught in some sort of war of the gods or something”

Sui tilted her head “But why is that so bad? I mean, the system is rather personalised. I don’t see how this changes anything”

Trina gripped her face in her hands, scratching it lightly as she pulled her fingers away. “Ok, look. I’ve read some books. Ideally if the world was ending this way, it would just be some strange impartial system that just does this.

“It sweeps the world, because mana is here all of a sudden or like, are universe split and one got mana one didn’t, or a cosmic role of the dice means the system only just now activated.

“So, those are all the best scenarios because if the system is fixed, it means we just need to do our best. It might have a goal, but it would be unchanging. We could figure it out and then work towards whatever it expects of us, in the hope that we can escape these waves.

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“Instead, now we know that there is something out there. Something controlling this whole fiasco, and it, or I guess, THEY are interested in us. And if they are in fact a THEY instead of just an IT, we can’t be certain of what they might want.

“Or, even ensure that whatever is watching is doesn’t want different things. Hey Aife, you mentioned that you could tell the ‘you’ was plural, what about the ‘they’ did it feel like one person or a whole bunch?”

Aife took a deep breath and said “A whole bunch. Like… I’m not quite sure how to describe it but… yeah it was multiple, but also sort of like, a few big groups? If that makes sense. Like… um, hmm I dunno how to describe it. Maybe like back in school when the whole cheerleading team, and the football payers… and then the stadium are all staring at you because you threw the ball from behind the goal back to the halfway point… uh, just for example”

Trina sighed “Aife, I was there at the time. You can’t pretend that never happened”

“Oooh, yeah I remember when Trina told me about that. I was surprised that anyone was physically capable of accomplishing such a thing” said Sui

Aife groaned “We were in primary school guys; the court was like… quarter size tops”

“Yeah, and you were already taller than a few teachers” said Trina with a smirk.

Can we focus? Weren’t you guys freaking out over some mysterious ‘they’? Why are you now caught up in the past all of a sudden? You guys were the ones trying to convince me that this was important! Did you just give up or something?

Sui glanced at Ito, who just shrugged at her ‘humans’ Sui nodded Humans.

Suddenly, Trina’s eyes locked onto Sui’s. Sui tilted her head in confusion. “Don’t think I didn’t see that look on your face Sui”

“What look” said Sui further tilting her head

“The ‘I swear people think I’m crazy but look at these two faces’” said Trina

“Nooo I wasn’t thinking that” said Sui

“My bad, you were looking at Ito, so it was probably ‘Silly humans’, am I right?” asked Trina

Yes “No” said Sui

Trina gave Sui a knowing smirk and looked at Aife for backup. Aife just shrugged giving Trina a ‘it’s Sui’ look that Trina really wished she didn’t understand on such a fundamental level.

Trina took in a deep breath before sighing. “So, do you understand now why we are worried”

“Nope” said Sui “Not in the slightest. Why do I care if a bunch of people are watching me”

“Because these people are basically gods! Probably…” said Trina

“But I thought you said God wasn’t real” said Sui

Trina growled “Look, I didn’t think magic was real a week ago, but new evidence to the contrary makes one a believer real fast Sui, and hey, you didn’t believe in God either”

Sui shrugged “I never believed it mattered. He can exist or not as he wants. I just don’t think it can affect me”

Trina glared “Seems like it’s pretty well affecting you right now”

Sui shrugged “Systems effecting me not God”

Trina put her head in her hands “Aife, please back me up here” begged Trina

“Trina’s right Sui. You should convert to my families crazy combined Greek/Norse pantheon, that I never could make sense of. I mean, if I can tell there are multiple groups of gods around, then it can’t just be the one can it” said Aife

“You aren’t helping” said Trina

No, no she makes a compelling point Trina. If Aife can sense multiple groups it means there might be a Pantheon. Is there a god of sewing? I might have to look that up… except the internet is down of course. Hmmm, maybe I should just ask Aife

“Hey, Aife is there a God of sewing or something?” asked Sui

Aife gave Trina a ‘see I am helping look’ causing Trina to groan more “Sort of. I mean, in actual Greek and Roman mythos there are some I suppose. Like Athena technically, and like this nymph called um… rhapsody or something? Oh and of course the three fates, but ah… not really sure that’s what you’re looking for”

Sui shook her head “No, those all feel wrong for some reason”

“Wait, what?” said Aife

Sui tilted her head “What? I just said they feel wrong. I don’t see what’s so hard to comprehend about that. I feel as though I pronounced the words clearly and they make sense in context”

Trina narrowed her eyes “Yeah… but like, a god shouldn’t feel right or wrong with just a name”

Sui shrugged “Sure it can. Hey Aife, Athena”

Aife shivered “Oh no”

Trina glared “What”

“I think she’s right” whispered Aife

Trina glared at Aife “You’re messing with me. Ares”

Aife twitched slightly “Huh… no no, I do think we have something here. That name felt like it rang a bell. Which is weird because I know exactly who Ares is”

Um… what does this mean guys? I feel like I’ve been left out or something. Sui didn’t get to wonder long though, because she was interrupted by something.