The Grand Weave

Sereza's tail lashed the air menacingly. Her tongue flopped in her mouth but no words came out.

Not the worst reaction. I wonder if I can borrow the camera from Cal.

"I knew it!"

Huh?

"You knew I was from a different world?"

"No!"

"But-"

She stomped closer and grabbed my jacket. "I knew you weren't from Solunaria. Your speech, your cadence, the attitude! The lack of common knowledge! And a felkin? You could have come from the southern continents, sure. But you don't speak like them, act like them, or even look like them!"

I scrolled through the memories in my brain but without Galarion I couldn't find anything other than the brief tidbit of information I studied. The felkins she was referring to was a small nomadic group of people famously known solely because of one individual. A tier four who's been trying to ascend to tier five for the last two centuries.

I bet Cal knows about them. I'll ask later.

Sereza waved her hands in front of my face. "Well?"

"Hmm?"

Her eye twitched and I grabbed her hand. Before she could protest, I dragged her over to the floating memory-cone and tapped it thrice.

Galarion's head oozed out of the bottom as a gigantic, slimy eye slapped my cheek.

"Yes?"

"Do you mind creating a projection of Earth?" I said, gently pushing Galarion away.

"Moon or no moon?"

"With moon."

Sereza shuddered at the eyeball but she at least had the decency to resume her glaring as I stepped back and motioned to the freshly conjured planet.

It wasn't entirely accurate, it being based off my memories after all, but at least it was close enough!

"This is Earth. Where I'm from originally. Same with Sam." I released her hand and she approached with a scowl on her face. "What's wrong?"

"It's so..."

"So?"

"Green."

"The fuck? What's wrong with it being green? That means there's lots of trees and life."

There was a tap on my shoulder and I turned around to see Cal. He was dragging Zagreus behind him as the four heads had secured their own limb.

"I forgot you haven't seen a picture of Inoria."

"These guys don't have the technology to view it from space."

"Well they do, but that's beside the point. We have skill users who can recreate some decent images and mind readers to draw them. I know because a god of knowledge campaigned for exactly that."

He flicked his tail and a new planet appeared, one that easily dwarfed Earth.

"And here's how it looks in reality, considering Inoria is basically Jupiter." The planet ballooned in height till Earth looked like a pipsqueak. Sereza gaped at the sight but the planet shrunk to be the same size and began to spin. "As you can see, Inoria hosts some impressive climates and regions. Most of the southern hemisphere contains abundant flora and coloration past the grand desert. And the north is mostly blue due to the crystal coast."

Now that I had a comparison I understood her reaction better. As it turned out, very few splotches of Inoria were actually green and blue. Even large swathes of the ocean were a different color entirely before they blended together.

Before Cal turned to leave, I felt a subtle press of something crystalline in my hand. He winked and dragged Zagreus toward the dinner table where the others were stuffing themselves silly.

I cradled the object and secured my finger on the flash before Sereza came to her senses.

"Okay, you're a world hopper. It makes sense. But why does it feel like there's more? And you're actually a demigod, right? Like a weirdly low-tier demigod?"

"Nope."

"Huh?"

I shrugged. "I already told you. I'm not a demigod. And Cal isn't actually my dad. My real parents are... Well, it doesn't matter. I'm technically Cal's spawn? I think? His blood did help make me."

When she didn't respond I prodded her cheek till her tail wrapped around my arm and pried it away. "There's so much to unpack with what you just said."

"Mmmm. Maybe."

Isaac sauntered into view, clutching a bowl of lasagna to his chest. His face was stained with sauce only made worse when he smiled, revealing parsley flecks between his teeth.

"You haven't even heard the worst part."

"What's he talking about?" she growled.

Isaac shoved his fingers into the pan and scooped out chunks of steaming lasagna.

"Somewhere, somehow, an Italian nonna is crying at the barbarism," I snorted.

"What's wrong with how I eat?!"

Sereza tried to grab a piece but Isaac ran away, nearly hissing as Igas chased him down.

"Is the food spiked? I didn't smell alcohol."

Celenae was shoving cake slices into her mouth with one hand and furiously scribbling with her other. Teddy was the most reserved, partaking in food roulette with Eodyne who munched on different deserts. They all shared a strange bounciness in their actions but none of them seemed drunk. There wasn't enough slurring and they had way too much coordination.

Looks like they're happy.

Again, a spark of something wrong scratched my chest, but I banished the thought and focused on Sereza's face. She too was relaxed, partially annoyed and anxious, but her smile was genuine and her eyes had less weight to them.

"Well, Sereza. Are you ready for the real kicker?"

The smile morphed into a frown and she narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"So you know how I just revealed I'm not from your world? And how Cal made me?"

"Yes..."

"And you know I have a Legacy?"

"Yeah..."

"Just for disclosure, once you get this information there's no going back. No telling anyone else, ever?"

If eyes could kill, I'd have been a broken mess.

"Really? After everything?"

I shrugged. "Had to say it."

"We're oathbound!"

"Anyway," I said, clearing my throat. "The truth is, I'm not just a Legacy bearer."

"No shit."

"I'm..."

"Cyrus, I will stab you. I swear."

"I'm a Reborn."

I searched her face but what I received was not what I expected.

Instead of the anger, shock, even fear I was expecting, she had an entirely neutral face. Her eyes were blank, as was her mouth–not even a ghost of a smile.

"Oh is that all?" she asked.

"That's it?"

"So you're going to tell me the real secret, or what?"

I scowled and extended my arm. Her eyebrows raised as I pulled my sleeve back and exposed my wrist. With a thought, the reverse triquetra appeared.

"I know you have a Legacy, Cyrus. You don't need to-" She stopped mid sentence and grabbed my wrist. "It's wrong."

I let her inspect it, even going so far as to rub at it in an attempt to see if it was fake. Eventually she gave up and slowly raised her head.

"By the gods... You're not joking."

I patted her shoulder. "Nope. I'm the same old god-touched, fate meddler you know."

"B-but... how? They're stories!"

"They're not stories! They're liberal and creative retellings!" Celenae shouted from across the platform.

I closed Sereza's jaw with a click but she brushed me off. "You're the reason the rift went crazy! It didn't spontaneously change on its own. It reacted to you!"

I searched her expression. There was no anger in her accusation but I had to be sure. When I found none, I sighed in relief and clicked my fangs.

"As was the first rift that spawned in Edolus. Or it was me and Sam's fault. But yeah. Does that bother you?"

She shook her head. "What? No? It's just so... Like damn, Cyrus. I was teaming up with a Reborn? An actual Reborn? It's insanity!"

"I'm right here you know."

"No wonder you were being so coy. And that explains your unfair Legacy. Wait! Are the stories true? Did the Weave really grant you a choice from a giant scroll?"

"No?"

"What about-"

I pushed a finger to her mouth and pointed to Celenae. "Any and all rumors can be answered by her. If you want to commiserate the sad reality of my status, have at it."

She looked like she was going to say something snarky but her expression changed and released my wrist. Before I could react, she pulled me into a hug.

"Sereza?"

"The stories I read were less romantic. I only know about the other versions of Reborns."

I sighed. I knew some of the novels she was talking about. After getting over the shock of her favorite spicy novels being dead wrong, Celenae had questioned me on the exact same thing. It was funny. Reborns were like the demigods of Greek tragedies.

A shiny fucking star ready to go out in a blaze of glory before the cold void of space consumed their existence.

I squeezed her back and pulled away. "My life's not that tragic. And it won't be. I refuse that fate."

There was a hint of sadness in her gaze that I couldn't stand to look at.

"So is there anything else I should know about?" she asked after some time.

"Is there?" I shrugged. "Possibly. There might be a couple of things you should probably know."

"Cyrus."

Instead of answering right away, I slowly walked over to the feast and tore a comically large leg off a turkey. I ignored the eyebeams behind my head and motioned to a chair, placing her in the center of the table between Broken Tower.

After she sat, I hopped onto the table and pulled the object Cal had given me out of my hoodie pocket. She leaned forward but I stowed it behind my back, waiting.

"There's one last thing you need to know. And honestly, you can't blame me for this one. I've technically already revealed it, you just haven't put the clues together yet."

"In all fairness, Cyrus. Your existence is a cheat and makes no logical sense. I don't think you can rightfully say it's her fault. Your mana alone is enough to give us an aneurysm."

"A cheat is underselling it!" Isaac chimed in.

"May I remind you, that this cheat is providing you the boost to your mana regeneration."

"And we are very thankful for it," Igas grunted. "But you're still a cheat. I'm with Celenae, not Sereza's fault."

While Sereza was looking around confused, I wiggled my arm and received a round of subtle nods. When she finally returned to glaring at me, I stepped back and grinned.

"Putting aside accountability. Just remember, you're not allowed to be mad at me. No matter how ridiculous."

"I reserve the right to be mad if the ridiculous is pure insanity."

My index secured the flash, and my thumb gently pressed against the main enchantment. Unknown to her, the others were ready with a collective grin.

Teddy picked up mutton legs, and Igas dragged a massive bowl of fruit punch to his side before Isaac death-gripped the pasta. Eodyne's skill activated, sending mana just below the numerous pie tins and Celenae eyed the cakes.

"Well?" she prompted.

I inhaled and exhaled.

"I told you I'm a reborn. The truth is... that tier up inside the dungeon? I'm only tier one."

"What?!"

Click!