Angelica and I spent a good twenty minutes after Seth left building the wall without talking. The wind lessened. The clouds parted. The silver light from an almost-full moon turned our surroundings from frozen hellscape to rolling hills of twinkling snow. One by one the stars winked into existence as the clouds whisked away.

It was beautiful.

“You alright?” Angelica asked. She seemed to be determinedly ignoring the night sky.

“What? Yeah,” I said. I made another slab of ice for the wall. “I was afraid somehow Seth’s story was going to… directly relate… to me. Are you okay?” Angelica wasn’t exactly hard to read on the surface level. I knew when she was angry, the yelling was a clue. That said, she was pretty good at putting up walls. Both metaphorical and real come to think of it.

I had a nagging dread creeping into me. If Seth’s past wasn’t meant to mirror mine, then she was the next logical target… or I was missing something.

Angelica did pause for a moment. The look on her face said I had been close if not right. “I have been at this for a long time now. You’ll figure out in time, basically everyone is dealing with similar problems. It is the way of the world. It is so easy to feel your situation is unique and special but that just isolates you.”

I nodded, “But are you okay?”

Angelica thought for a moment. “Celeste likes you. Like, Likes you likes you!”

“What?” the little gears in my head caught as thoughts shifted.

“She likes you… romantically, or at least would like to try and see where dating could go,” Angelica supplied quickly.

“I am flattered…but why are you telling me?” While that was a valid question, part of my mind notice that was the least flattering way and things to say.

Angelica gave me a grin that only a roommate with the opportunity to talk shit can make. “Because she is a big coward and is just going to quietly pine for you until you realize. I don’t got that kind of time.”

“And you’re just telling me? Doesn’t that violate some sort of code?” I asked, unabashedly stalling for time

Angelica wasn’t having it, “There is no Chick Code, Lady Law or Woman Wombat Doctrine.”

“Woman… wombat doctrine?” I asked, growing more confused.

“Alliterations on the fly are hard,” Angelica insisted.

We stood there awkwardly for a few seconds.

“Uh…” I started.

Celeste’s eyes flashed, “Okay, I guess we need to talk.”

We stood there awkwardly for a few more seconds.

The silence was broken by romantic music from an honest-to-god string quartet. The night was cold, but the sensuous music was warm. Its tempo was slow but constant and I found myself almost swaying to it. Celeste and I peered around the edge to find four people playing.

Upon seeing us the violin player paused, and waved, “Any requests? We practice out here any time the wind goes down.”

“No thank you,” I called, going back to making another slab.

Celeste was frowning as she stared into the frozen plains beyond.

“This is kinda awkward isn't it?” I said mostly just filling the void in the conversation.

“What? Oh the music, the moon, and the sky. That is honestly fairly tame. Not to change the subject but, I no longer have just ten minutes,” Celeste said before she casually flipped the multi-ton block of ice in place.

“What amount of time do you have now?” I asked, making another titanic slab with a gesture. I was listening but after almost two hours of repeating a task sort of made it into a reflex.

“Twenty minutes,” Celeste said. She blinked, “The mantle.” She flipped the next segment into place basically without thinking. “Grond was likely level ten. Any mantle I take would likely have the same effect.”

“Is that something we can do?” my hand clenched into a fist. The memory of crushing Grond’s head… I let it go. Grond deserved what he got, and right now Celeste deserved my full attention. Immediately after fixing another section of wall in place, I put my tools back in my inventory.

“Not really.” Celeste admitted, “Divine Scale players are difficult to pin down, harder still to actually beat. Looking at it more closely, if information like this got out it would just be one more target on Angelica’s back.” Celeste’s expression quickly cycled between surprised, annoyed, and chastened before settling on a faint grin. “She says I need to quit beating around the bush.”

I nodded along: there was only one possible response to that. “So have they done anything new with Star Trek?”

I could hear Angelica scream internally as Celeste and I spent a good ten minutes not so boldly rehashing where mankind had been before. Turns out, yes they are still making content… or remaking it. About eighteen years ago the elves remade the original series. It was a sort-of hit and had them making several other shows. The Romulan Chronicles were a dud, but the Next Generation remake was well received. Apparently the Picard remake should be wrapping up this year.

“What about Lower Decks?” I asked, shaking my head. I did kinda want to see the Klingon Telenovela, ‘Bat’leth Parmaq’. It would either be a train wreck or strangely compelling. I kept crafting yet another wall segment.

“It is on season fifteen. They sort of keep rotating out the cast as they move one to other projects.” Celeste said. She flipped another slab into place.

“So how would dating work?” I asked. Now that we were out of the range of the music it felt less forced.

Celeste frowned, “Do you mean physical contact?”

“Actually, no,” I stood before I could make another wall segment, “I have a lot of baggage. I am working through things… But that is true of everyone. My real concern here is that you, and Angelica are my oldest friends. Romance is complicated in general. I am not saying ‘No’, but there are some logistical hurdles. For example time we spend together like this time you can no longer use to defend yourself. It poses a risk to you and Angelica.”

Stolen story; please report.

“That is easy,” Celeste said with a smile. “All relationships have risks. Yeah, ours would have more direct tactical issues, but we both know when the timer resets. All we have to do is carve out time close to then. No real risk there.”

“Oh. That… is a fairly elegant solution,” I admitted, as I stooped to create another slab.

“I have had time to think about it,” Celeste said.

I paused, but made the square before asking, “What are your thoughts then for the relationship?”

Celeste casually hefted the segment, voice not shifting from its thoughtful tone all the while, “Well, I figured we would marry in the fall, have four kids, you would work in Sales, and I would be a homemaker. Eventually we would die of old age in eachothers arms. But we would have to be buried separately. There just isn't room in the family plot for you.”

I burst out laughing immediately.

Celeste had the look of someone relieved their joke landed, “Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t know about you, but it has been… a while since I have done… dating. I figure we start with spending time together. Perhaps try romantic moonlit strolls while building fortifications, and see where things go.”

I grinned despite myself. Time seemed to slow down as my brain churned through ideas. Of course a glandular part of me, upon sensing an opportunity for sex, internally shouted, “Go for It!” A more circumspect part asked, “You don’t actually have all that good of luck with relationships. Remember Karen?” Another part that was more rational than helpful brought up, “280 years. No one is waiting for you. You are alone.”

Then the dark thoughts cut in, “Nothing matters. Everything dies in the end. Drink up! Embrace oblivion.”

I shut them all down. None of that was helpful. I never met Marnie. Yet I love her, and I grieve.

Something Mark told me- the Titan- rose to the surface. “Everyone, even you, deserves happiness, but you have to choose happiness. I am not going to tell you to stop being sad, but it is okay to stop. …Marnie would want you to at least try.” I- the Titan- hadn’t taken that well.

I am not the Titan. I can do better now than he did then.

“I am willing to give it a try, are you okay with being patient?” I managed.

Titanic Quest Updated

Try

Happiness or its pursuit may hold the answer.

Don’t lose sight of the true goal.

Interesting as the prompt boxes are some things are more important.

Celeste shrugged, “Time is relative. I have existed for three centuries now. I have been basically single for the last thirty-five years. No pressure, dude.”

I made another slab. Something felt off but I couldn’t place it, “Slightly indelicate question here, why is a lady like you interested in a guy like me?”

Celeste sighed then flipped the wall into place with her foot, “Okay. Some of this is going to sound dumb, some like ego stroking, and some of it is going to sound…bad. I like that you are from the World that Was. It is easy for someone like me to feel isolated. I don’t feel that when you are around. Plus, you like Star Trek, that fandom is few and far between. I am not going to lie, you being high scale also means you are not going to make an issue of my Scale, which is an undeniable plus. Also you aren’t entangled in any old politics.” She paused but eventually finished, “I also like that you are taller than me.”

“I have put a lot of effort into my height,” I teased, before making another slab. I realized the wind had completely stopped. Sure, it had calmed before but now everything was completely still.

Celeste grinned slightly, “Yeah, that is shallow, but you check the box.” she frowned, “You aren’t one of the guys that gets weird about height, are you?”

“Probably not,” I said. I looked around. The place looked like a painting of a snowy evening. “Am I a giant?”

Celeste smiled fondly with a look that said, ‘Aw… he’s a himbo’ “There isn’t really a set height for a giant. That said, Titan Spawn are generally larger than life, and you are tall for a Titan Spawn.”

“I had suspicions,” I admitted the other option was I was in Lilliput.

Celeste chuckled, but then frowned, “Is time stopping?”

Rather than make a joke, I listened. The relative quiet had become haunting silence. But rather than the telltale thrum of time ceasing, there was an almost imperceptible arrhythmic stutter of time skipping. I hadn’t spotted cessation before because it slowed so gradually before this almost-halt.

A segment of wall about a thousand feet back tipped over.That was a hell of a trick, considering I had fused it into place with a Construction Skill check, and it weighed about a hundred thousand pounds. Also, time was basically stopped, so it moving at all was odd.

“Should we go check that out?” I asked. I was legitimately unsure.

“Have you never seen a horror movie?” Celeste asked, before walking purposely toward the downed section of wall.

I fell into step with her, “Yeah, but wouldn’t conventional wisdom for that genre be for us to run the other way?”

“No I am an Angel and you are a Titan Spawn, we need to go over there and beat down any masked slasher or creepy crawler we find. Fuck the formula,” Celeste spat that last part as she quickened her pace.

Okay, that was hot. I bet she hates snow lions too.

“Denise, what is this?” I asked.

“Don’t call me here now!” Denise shrieked. She grabbed a fistful of the fur on my cloak and sort of hid behind me as we ran toward the broken wall.

“What is going on? Is it dangerous?” I asked.

“Yeah! We are still in view! This isn’t a normal time stop! A player is doing it while the audience is watching!” Denise hissed. After a few steps she added, “I am inserting myself in the story right now. I am breaking Immersion.”

I had no Idea what that meant. But she was trying to hide under my cloak. Best let her do that for the time being. She was at least quiet then. Denise had some lungs on her.

At the gap in the wall we found… I didn’t even know what to call it. It looked to be a large, black letter ‘S’ or maybe ‘Z’. It had a mouth piece like a trumpet and a larger bell end decorated to look like a… dog?...dragon? …sea serpent? The mouthpiece looked to be unpainted but still made of some dark iron looking material.

There was a message as well, carved in to the ice of the wall. Blackened letters a foot high read ‘Don’t Kill the Demon of Frost’. The text was slightly rough like it had been gouged into in a hurry.

Notice Check… Successful!

An almost physical force pushed my sight to footprints in the snow and then twisted my neck to see the shadowy figure halfway hidden behind the wall segment we had just set. The outline looked ’feminine’, so it wasn’t Zach or Cole. it was too tall to be Aela. The figure looked back probably sensing my gaze, and for a fraction of a second met my eye with their almost featureless face, before stepping fully behind the wall.

What the hell was Nadia doing here? I didn’t exactly pick up on any danger the one time I met her, but the one constant of this world was Nadia killed people. Basically everyone -including Narrators- were afraid of them.

The slow, not-quite stopping of time had been subtle. Its restart crashed back to full speed like a wave. The wind went from nothing to a good ten-to-fifteen miles per hour. The loose layer of snow pelted me as it was lifted again. The sound of the string quartet surged. Being fair, they were damned good. The music was legitimately moving.

Denise shrieked as stuff started happening again. She then hit a button on her phone with an Audible “Beep!”. This caused time to hard stop. it took her some doing to untangle from my cloak but she got free eventually.

Celeste basically ignored her and kept her eyes locked on the Horn. When she spoke it was with that voice that reverberated with power, “Doug, pick that up.”

I didn’t argue, just stooped and touched it.

Arbitration Begins in…

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