Chapter 1684 (1/2)

After drifting above the clouds and enjoying the gorgeous vista for a time, Randidly guided the S.S. Yggdrasil down toward the skyisland that housed Todd’s dormitory. They landed on the dirt ground behind the building and Todd hopped around excitedly for several minutes, still high off of the chase.

Randidly smiled sadly as he watched the kid channel the joy he was experiencing. Behind the two of them, the S.S. Yggdrasil began to smolder and burn away, leaving only ashes in its place. The sun sank toward the horizon, causing the trees to cast long shadows up against the squat and cramped dormitory.

It only took Todd a few minutes to work his excitement out of his young system. Then he slapped his forehead comically, looking up at the sinking sun in something close to horror. “Oh crap! I need my things! The under-auction starts in an hour! We need to get over there before the traffic for the dumb adult Auction gums everything up. Oooo and we can get a good spot at the front, so I can see the expression on Eileen’s face. I’ll just run to my room and then-”

“Hey Todd,” Randidly spoke slowly. He folded his hands together behind his back and squeezed the cool material of his metal fingers in his flesh and blood hand. “Do you think you would be able to head to the auction first without me? There is… something I need to take care of.”

“What? Oh, sure.” Todd seemed disappointed, but he didn’t take Randidly’s words too seriously. He adjusted his oversized glasses and continued talking. “This is definitely my year… seeing that expression on Eileen’s face… hehehe… I’m going to get the Ghosthound’s legacy and found my own city someday.”

Something twisted inside of Randidly at those naive words. Todd’s eyes were so bright… but all Randidly could think about were Neveah’s sad eyes at their dinner, when she had pointed out what he had sacrificed in order to reach this point. Maybe you could grow strong enough to found a city, Todd… but I hope you don’t feel like you need to.

That’s what I’m here for. That’s why Kharon was made.

“Remember to claim the papers my friends arranged for you,” Randidly said lightly. “Maybe it won’t be much… but hopefully you can earn a little bit more to balance out the demerits that they gave you.”

“What, these things?” Todd walked over and patted Randidly’s metal arm. “Don’t worry about me. I may not have a cool arm, but I can handle these tiny details.”

And with that, Todd turned away and skipped toward his dormitory. Once he had gone into the building, the sense of bleakness Randidly was feeling spread up from his chest to his expression. Sighing, he pulled out his Philosopher’s Key and opened a portal. When he stepped through, he was standing in front of his massive mansion. Moonlight spirits spiraled down around him, wreathing him in a shimmering cloak.

A light tap of his foot against the ground threw Randidly up above the three stories and onto the roof of his building, where a layer of soil supported an interconnected copse of trees. In the years since Randidly had last been here, the plant life had grown even more abundant; he truly felt like he had stepped into a forest as he walked through the dense network of trees, roots, and shrubbery. Randidly even saw several pale and dark-eyed birds peering out around branches, regarding his passage beneath their homes suspiciously.

This seed that he planted here was growing quite well.

Randidly found the largest, central tree in the rooftop forest and crouched next to it. He rapped his knuckles against the rutted bark. He could still feel several images grasping for his position. They weren’t the members of the Order Ducis, but other forces that wanted to contact him. Randidly ignored those seeking individuals for now; he had personal business to attend to.

“Why was today so much fun…?” Randidly muttered out loud. “...until it wasn’t.”

Randidly didn’t need to think very hard to answer his own question. He twisted around and pressed his back against the trunk of the tree. He leaned his head back and knocked his hard skull against the wood.

Neveah’s comment had been sticking in his head for a reason. She was right; Randidly had allowed himself to become a force to pursue one particular goal: protecting Expira from the Nexus. Not that he had any choice; such dedication was the only way to achieve any sort of result. It had been the only way for Randidly to improve at such a rapid rate and survive the constant onslaught of threats that seemed to plague him.

Today was fun because he had briefly forgotten about being that force. Being ambushed, being the target of an Entangling Roots Skill… it took him back to a different era of his presence in the System. Before he had learned that he was an experiment in Yystrix’s callous game to flee from her ex-husband. Before he realized how the Nexus was fattening up the people of Randidly’s home planet to either incorporate their most powerful images into its strength or judge the whole of the population as trash.

Before a strange being in the depths of the shaft, on which the Nexus was built, found Randidly and began to call out to him.

Randidly pressed his eyes closed. He had felt briefly human. He had simply lived without thinking about the consequences. It had been a while since Randidly Ghosthound could relax like that.

But the more he sensed the differences in the image of Kharon after five years, the more Randidly couldn’t ignore his role in shaping the city. Some of these problems he needed to leave in the capable hands of Tatiana… but others he needed to address as quickly as possible. He understood too much about the way power and ideas worked. He felt too keenly his own power, but in terms of image and in terms of influence. Randidly couldn’t be unaware of the way he was a force for Kharon.