Chapter 1690 (2/2)

Then she shook her head. “I… apologize. This is fucking stressful, knowing how big of a fight you are picking with the Nexus. We are walking a tightrope, and I’m not… I can’t improve fast enough to matter and I just…!”

Helen brought her hand up to her face and pressed her pointer finger and thumb over her tear ducts. She sucked in a ragged breath.

The silence stretched until Randidly sighed. “What do you want me to say?”

“Nothing,” Helen whispered. “I just want you to be able to answer the question you posed to Elijah. Because you are right about one thing; what you are trying to build won’t hold up if its core is hollow. And compared to that bikeboy… how important are you to the Order Ducis, Randidly?”

Randidly opened his mouth to respond but Grim Intuition picked up movement; a new individual was approaching Randidly’s skyisland that was shrouded in silver mist. Unlike the other arrivals on this night, this one didn’t take a confident path. Their flight meandered back and forth, riding on an inconsistent-if-persistent Scrawl.

Randidly pressed his fingers to his temples at the distraction. Something inside of him trembled as this person approached, in a way that he hadn’t experienced in years. Randidly saw too much of himself in this person, of the version of himself that had gladly followed Shal to his homeworld to pay back a debt. That… purity and naivety was difficult for him to handle directly. So Randidly gathered his Willpower and flowed through the silver moonlight spirits. Ripples spread outward, screening-

Helen kicked Randidly in the back, breaking his concentration. “Let him in, Randidly. And then I’ll let the topic drop.”

Randidly pressed his lips together. But ultimately, the wall of moonlight spirits dissipated.

Todd passed through the ethereal silver screen and stumbled as he tried to land on the edge of the skyisland. He barely caught himself from eating dirt and then twisted around to scan the misty surroundings to see if anyone noticed. Randidly felt his mouth curving into a smile, even though his heart tightened painfully at the sight. Helen and Heiffal moved to the other side of the skyisland even as Randidly spun the mist around him to open up a tunnel in front of Todd. He produced some wood and started a small fire.

Todd approached slowly. His eyes kept flicking to Randidly and then away. Fire, Randidly, misty surroundings, starry sky, Randidly, fire Randidly. Todd’s emotions switched from one thing to the next, more quickly than he could follow.

“So you’re… like the Ghosthound,” Todd said awkwardly when he joined Randidly in sitting next to the fire.

Randidly nodded. He wondered why Helen wanted him to have this conversation. The fire crackled between them. “Yeah.”

“Like Randidly Ghosthound. The one who made Kharon and everything.” Todd continued. He hurried through his words. “A man so strong that you fought all of Donnyton and won twice.”

Why is this so hard…? Todd’s words were waves and Randidly felt like a sandcastle. “Yeah.”

“So I had a bunch of fun or whatever. Flying on your surfboard. But… you aren’t staying for the Calamity, right? You… need to go.” Todd spoke even more quickly now. And he no longer looked at Randidly. “Because… because of the Great Enemy. So its not a big deal that we can’t hang out anymore or talk about Scrawls and things. Because you have to do this. You don’t have any choice.”

Todd trailed off, as though he had run out of words. The silver moonlight spirits swirled around them. Somehow, Randidly hated how he could feel so much significance gathering from this strained moment.

I don’t want to be the type of person who can only feel the benefits of certain actions. Randidly shook himself slightly. Even if I am becoming something different… I still need to live and feel.

“It’s not a big deal,” Todd said again. “But… can you just tell me… is the Great Enemy really that strong? That you really have to go? Like… what’s the Great Enemy like?”

Randidly closed his eyes and recalled the massive crystalized Aether mountain range that sealed the body of Elhume. Then he also saw that horrifying darkness at the base of the shaft that called to him. “It’s… so massive I sometimes don’t even know how to fight back.”

“I knew it.” Todd whispered. “Are you ever… afraid?”

Randidly truly looked at Todd then. He saw his thick glasses and his small shoulders. And to his surprise, the emotional turmoil in his chest began to clear. The words seemed to change after they were spoken, twisted by Todd’s image into a new shape.

‘I’m afraid,’ He said, staring intently at the fire the entire time he was speaking.

Randidly reached his arm out and pressed a hand on Todd’s shoulder. “Maybe a little… but didn’t you say that someday, you’d found your own Wandering City? That made me feel a lot better. Because… because I know I’m not fighting alone. No matter how scary the Great Enemy is… even if I struggle… you have my back, right?”

‘We aren’t alone,’ was Randidly’s response, as well as he could articulate it. The significance between them swirled and thickened.

“Well…” Todd frowned. “It might take me a few years, and the Calamity is only a few months away, so... “

Randidly’s mouth twitched. Somehow, it doesn’t seem like he was hearing the same subtext that I was...