Chapter 287: A Day to Breathe

Kai sat at a temporary outdoor table near one of the rebuilt sections of the city, sandwiches and drinks spread across it, nothing fancy about any of it. Raze was already eating. Lily had food in one hand and a stack of notes in the other, somehow managing both. Elden sat quietly beside her, working through his own plate. Mira looked more relaxed than Kai had seen her in weeks. Sera sat beside him.

And Gabriel was there too.

Kai looked around. "How did Gabriel get here?"

Mira answered casually, "I brought her."

Gabriel glanced at Mira. "She did."

"...Why?" Kai asked.

Mira shrugged. "She needs to experience normal life."

Gabriel raised her sandwich slightly. "Apparently this is part of my rehabilitation."

Raze laughed. "You got dragged into lunch."

"Against my will," Gabriel confirmed.

Mira said immediately, "You were smiling when I brought you."

Gabriel paused. "...That is irrelevant."

Everyone laughed.

Raze launched into a dramatic retelling of the battle, hands moving through the air. "That dragon hit me so hard I saw the inside of the next building."

Mira looked at him flatly. "You were thrown through four."

Raze pointed at her. "Exactly."

"That’s not something to brag about," Lily said.

"I survived."

"Barely," Elden added.

"Still counts."

Sera chimed in, "You were also unconscious for twelve seconds."

Raze looked offended. "Eight."

Elden adjusted his glasses without looking up. "Twelve."

"You counted?"

"I was standing beside you."

"Then you were counting wrong."

Mira laughed. "You were drooling."

Raze stared at her. "...Why does everyone remember that?"

The conversation drifted toward Gabriel eventually, Lily asking about the Astral Church, Mira leaning in curiously.

"How long have you actually been preparing for this?" Mira asked.

Gabriel gave her a look. "A long time."

"That’s not an answer," Raze said.

"It was the answer I wanted to give."

Kai laughed.

Sera asked what Gabriel actually did when she wasn’t dealing with disaster preparation, and Gabriel paused, considering it.

She admitted, a little reluctantly, what she liked eating, what she didn’t, that she rarely got the chance to simply walk around a city without a purpose attached to it, that most of her life had revolved around preparation instead of living.

Mira decided on the spot, "Then I’m showing you around Mythal once it’s rebuilt."

Gabriel blinked. "You don’t have to."

"I know." Mira smiled. "That’s why I’m doing it."

Gabriel laughed quietly, something loosening in her posture.

"You should stop thinking about your mission every second," Mira added.

"That’s difficult."

"Then I’ll make it easier."

"How?"

"I’ll drag you everywhere."

Gabriel actually laughed at that, and Kai watched the exchange quietly, noting the shift. She wasn’t just the Church’s leader at this table anymore.

She was just Gabriel.

The conversation eventually turned toward what came next. Gabriel asked, "Are you going to speak with the Candidate?"

The table quieted slightly.

Kai nodded. "Soon."

Gabriel waited.

He took another bite. "But not today."

Raze grinned. "Finally."

"We need the break," Lily agreed.

Mira raised her drink. "Agreed."

"We’ve earned it," Elden said quietly.

Gabriel smiled. "Then I agree too."

Kai looked around the table. "For today, we’re just eating."

Everyone agreed, and the conversation drifted back into nonsense, Raze arguing that his fighting style had been strategically essential.

Mira said, "You destroyed half the buildings we were trying to protect."

"Strategic destruction."

"That’s not a real term," Lily said.

"It is now."

"Unfortunately," Elden muttered.

Sera started laughing. Kai joined in. Even Gabriel laughed, and for a while the whole table just existed, no plans, no relics, no looming Disaster, just people eating together in the fading afternoon light. Nobody was in any hurry to be the one who ended it, so they simply let the afternoon stretch on until the light itself began to fade.

Later that evening, Kai and Sera sat together on a rooftop overlooking the city, still damaged below them, but visibly under reconstruction already.

Sera looked out over Mythal. "It’s strange."

"What?" Kai asked.

"Seeing it like this."

Kai nodded. "Yeah."

They sat quietly for a while. Then Kai pulled out his phone.

"I should call them."

Sera smiled. "Your siblings?"

"Yeah."

She settled in beside him. "Then call."

The call connected, and Leo’s face filled the screen first. "KAI!"

Kai pulled the phone slightly away from his ear. Sera laughed beside him.

Mina appeared behind Leo. "You scared him."

"I did not," Leo protested.

"You absolutely did," Kai said.

Leo’s eyes darted toward Sera in the frame. "Sera’s there too!"

Sera waved. "Hi, Leo."

"You survived too!"

"Barely," Sera said, smiling.

Leo’s eyes went wide. "You were fighting Tiamat!"

"We all were."

He immediately started firing off questions. How strong was she? How big were the dragons? How did the city survive? Did Raze really get thrown through buildings?

Kai looked at Sera. "...Why is that the first thing everyone asks?"

Sera laughed.

The excitement settled eventually, and Mina’s expression softened as she looked at Kai through the screen.

"We’re proud of you."

Kai went quiet for a second.

"Yeah! You beat the First Disaster!" Leo added.

"We beat it," Kai corrected gently.

"Still," Mina said. A pause. "I’m just glad you’re here."

Kai smiled. "I’m here."

"Good."

Leo asked, "So what happens now?"

Kai looked out toward the ruined city beyond the rooftop’s edge. "We rebuild."

Leo thought about it for a second. "Then don’t forget the house."

Kai laughed. "I haven’t forgotten."

Leo launched straight back into requirements. "Three floors."

"You said two last time," Mina pointed out.

"I’ve upgraded the design."

Sera laughed.

"What else?" Kai asked.

"Training room."

"Obviously."

"Garden."

"Sure."

"Big kitchen."

"Definitely," Mina agreed, smiling.

"And a room for Kong."

Kai sighed. "We’re still not building Kong a room."

"He deserves one."

Sera laughed. Mina joined her. Kai just shook his head.

Sera checked her phone a while later. "I need to call my parents."

"Bye, Sera!" Leo called out.

"Take care," Mina added.

Sera smiled. "You too." She stood, then glanced back at Kai. "Don’t stay up too late."

"I won’t."

She gave him a look. "...You probably will."

She left, and Kai watched her go before turning back to the call.

Leo kept talking a while longer, Mina listening quietly beside him. Eventually Leo said, "You really came back."

Kai paused.

Leo smiled. "Like always."

Kai’s expression softened. "Yeah."

"I’ll see you soon."

"Promise?"

Kai smiled. "Promise."

The call ended, and Kai sat there a moment longer, the city quiet below him.

He put his phone away and looked out over Mythal. For several seconds nothing happened. The rooftop was quiet enough that he could almost believe he was alone up there, just him and the skyline slowly rebuilding itself below.

Then: "Your brother is loud."

Kai froze, looking around instinctively. "...You were listening?"

"You were thinking loudly."

Kai blinked. "That’s not how thinking works."

A pause. "It is now."

Kai stared out at the empty rooftop. "...I’m going to regret this."

"Probably."

He rubbed his forehead. "Can you hear everything I think?"

A long silence.

"No."

Kai relaxed.

"Only the interesting parts."

He immediately grew suspicious. "...What counts as interesting?"

No answer.

"Tiamat."

Silence.

"Tiamat."

Nothing.

"...Are you doing that on purpose?"

Finally: "Yes."

Kai sighed.

"So we’re really doing this?" he asked after a moment.

"Doing what?"

"Sharing a body."

"Yes."

"And you’re going to keep giving me advice?"

"When you need it."

"What if I don’t want it?"

"Then I’ll give it anyway."

Kai stared out at the city. "...You’re annoying."

"So is your brother."

Kai started laughing. "You two are going to get along terribly."

"I doubt that."

"Why?"

"He is loud. I am patient."

Kai laughed harder.

His phone buzzed a moment later.

Kei: YOU ALIVE?

Kai laughed. Another message followed.

Lina: Don’t let Kei bother you. Also, are you actually okay?

Rin: Rest.

Kai smiled.

Dorn: Good work.

Short, exactly what Dorn would say.

Kei: DORN SENT THREE WORDS. THIS IS A HISTORIC EVENT.

Kai laughed again.

Lina: Kei, stop messaging him.

Kei: NO.

Rin: He’s not going to stop.

Kai kept smiling at the screen. One final message came through.

Sera: My parents say congratulations. Also, don’t let Kei convince you to fight him again.

Kai smiled, and Kei immediately followed up.

Kei: REMATCH?

Kai typed back: No.

Kei: Coward.

Kai: We just dealt with Tiamat.

Kei: Details.

Kai laughed and finally put his phone away.

For the first time since Tiamat had appeared, he just sat there. Friends. Family. A city slowly rebuilding itself below him. A new power settled somewhere inside his chest. And another voice, sharing space in his own thoughts.

"You have many people around you," Tiamat said quietly.

Kai looked out over the city. "Yeah."

"You are fortunate."

He smiled. "I know."

A pause.

"Your brother is still loud."

Kai laughed. "You’re really not letting that go, are you?"

"No."