Chapter 98 93 - A Break From Plot

Later

"...you should stay like this," Phil says blankly as he and Mem hug Caelus' new fluffy tail.

"You just want to use my new appearance's tail as a pillow," Caelus deadpans, trying his best to control his twitching ears. It's a weird experience to have a few extra limbs, and his legs feel much weirder with how much they bend.

Caelus lets out a sigh before he tries to take off the Fool's Mask. Both Phil and Mem try to stop him, but Caelus does it faster as a huge cloud of dust explodes out of him, covering the entire room in an instant.

"I really need to find a way to get rid of that stupid effect," Caelus sweatdrops as he cleared his throat and looked at his new mask. From its design, the upper part of the mask is reminiscent of the Japanese fox mask that covers only the upper half of the wearer's face. Everything about the design really reminds him of the Japanese fox mask: the grey and black markings, the half-closed eyes, and the long Miyabi ears. The lower part is what makes it interesting, as it is shaped like a normal fox muzzle, but it looks like the fox is baring its fangs.

But what confused him was why a fox. Not that he was complaining, but he was expecting the Elation itself would play a prank on him and turn him into a raccoon. He remembered how the early quest felt like Aha took over and generated a quest for him, telling him to 'embrace his spirit animal'.

Caelus pauses for a moment before he wonders if something is a bit wrong. Ever since he got the 'TruE Sage of the Barrel' title, he has yet to get an official quest from the system. It still does a lot of functions, like tracking his Path progress and all that, but the quest generation has been silent. Caelus takes a good look at his system once again before he notices that the Quest section has been set to auto-accept for a while.

Caelus frowns for a moment before he tries to open it, but to his shock, another screen appears and says 'Function unavailable'. Caelus can't help but be concerned, wondering if he may have caused an error by constantly neglecting the system, before he notices something.

[Trailblaze (LVL 16 | Eidolon 3/6): 983/1700]

'Uh... when did this happen?!' Caelus asks in disbelief before taking a look at its description.

[Trailblaze (LVL 16 | Eidolon 3/6): Grants the Pathstrider the ability to travel anywhere, planting a Space Anchor at a specific location for teleportation, the ability to adjust to any terrible environment, and EX rank on Riding]

'...they really reference Fate, huh?' Caelus sweatdrops. 'Still, how did I even level it up like crazy and even get 3 Eidolons? Wait, Trailblazing also means to connect people in various worlds. Did I level up by making friends with famous figures and building connections!? If that's true, then this is insane!'

"Caelus?" Phil calls him out, snapping him out of his thoughts. "You okay? You've been spacing out for a while."

"Uh, yeah...sorry, been deep in thought," Caelus says as he holds his Fool's Mask. "Still wondering why I became a Fox Thiren by simply wearing this."

"Is it related to the Path stuff you mentioned before?" Phil asks curiously as he takes a look at the mask and even tries to put it on. Much to his confusion, nothing seems to happen.

"That is the Fool's Mask, a Curio granted by the Aeon of Elation, Aha, to their pathstrider. It acts as a symbol of their faith in Elation, and can act as an entry ticket to enter the World's End, a secret hideout for all pathstriders of Elation who possess them." Caelus explains. "Whoever wears it could turn into their ideal Elation self, or turn into their true self hiding amongst the pile of their miseries."

"...yeah, I can see why you turn into a Fox Thiren," Phil deadpans.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Caelus asks in confusion.

"Are we deadass? You may be a good person, Caelus, but those who get to know you better know sometimes you're a sly bastard," Phil exclaims.

"Name one time I act like one," Caelus says daringly.

"Whatever you did to convince that bitch to act as my bodyguard when I tried to reinstate back to college. You somehow managed to get Cunning Hares to stop crime altogether and made them get along with the PubSec of all people. The Romantic Riot incident-!" Phil was cut off by Caelus, who looked extremely confused.

"I'm sorry, Romantic Riot?" Caelus asked in confusion.

"Your readers are causing riots during the first day of sales," Phil said dryly, earning a giggle from Mem. "Anyways, get Trigger and Seed to be your allies from the Defense Force. Then, the entire Court Airship incident."

"...half of those wasn't even me trying to act sly or crafty..." Caelus sweatdrops.

"No, but it did symbolize how you almost perfectly represent the fox," Phil says with a smile. "You manage to adapt to issues and come up with solutions to solve them. You are a complete menace to your enemies-!"

"How's that symbolic, fox!?" Caelus asks in disbelief.

"A lot of media love to make foxes or fox Thirens into sly bastards who constantly cause trouble for their enemies or allies. I say you perfectly fit them," Phil says, earning a smack on the head from Caelus. "Hey!"

"I heard enough bullshit from you. I want to get some rest." Caelus says dryly before he pulls the blanket and collapses into the bed. Mem lets out a yawn before lying her head on Caelus' shoulder. Phil sweatdrops before he lets out a tired yawn. He was about to walk out of the room before Mem floated toward him and dragged him into the bed, letting Caelus hug the two of them as they fell into deep slumber.

Before they fell fully asleep, Mem activated 'As I've Written' and let it suck their consciousness into it.

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An Eternal Page

"Uh..." Caelus groans as bright light shines into him, causing him to get up before he looks around his surroundings and realizes he got dragged into the world of 'As I've Written' once again. He blinks when he notices he's holding something and sees Phil and Mem in his arms.

...wait, Phil!?! Caelus starts to panic, wondering why Phil got dragged into this world, before he hears a quiet squeak from the back. He turns to see Castorice, Hyacine, Tribios, and Polyxia hiding behind the tree while staring at them in awe.

"..." Caelus didn't say a word, merely sweatdrops at their antics. Before he could do anything, Mem started to wake up and rubbed her eyes, earning a squeal from the girls. This caused Phil to jolt awake as he rubbed his eyes, opened them, and upon noticing he was no longer in New Eridu, he widened his eyes in panic.

"What the-!?! Where am I!?!" Phil exclaimed in shock before noticing Caelus. "Caelus, where are we!?! And how did we get here!?!"

"Ehe..." Mem says sheepishly before she sticks her tongue out. "I did it. Sorry about that."

"...where are we?" Phil asks shakily before Hyacine manages to get behind him and starts rubbing his ears.

"So soft..." Hyacine says in awe while Tribios joins in.

"...help," Phil squeaks as he looks at Caelus with a pleading look.

"Hyacine, Tribios, leave Phil alone," Caelus says with a sigh before he notices Castorice approaching him with a smile. "Oh, Castorice. You're here. I-!"

Before he could say a word, Castorice embraces him in a hug. Caelus is surprised by the hug before remembering how she was before the end of the Amphoreus saga and simply returns the hug without another word.

"Still as warm as I remember..." Castorice mutters quietly before letting go of him, giving Caelus a warm smile. "Welcome back."

"..." Phil.exe had stopped working as he tried to process what he just heard. Caelus casually calls the woman playing with his ears Hyacine and Tribios, and the woman who hugs him Castorice. The same Hyacine who is the Demigod of Sky, the Chrysos Heir's main healer, and the one who has the gluttonous little pegasus by her side? The same Tribios who split into hundreds of fragments and each slowly disappears along with her memories as time goes by? The same Castorice who was cursed with the touch of Death and desires a gentle embrace since birth?

Is Caelus implying he's in the presence of the Chrysos Heirs!?! The REAL DEAL!?!

"Hello, Caelus," Polyxia says as she moves her wheelchair towards him. "Sorry we never met the last time you came here; apparently everyone forgot to inform us."

"Ah, that explains everything," Caelus chuckles a bit before looking at them. "So, everyone's busy right now?"

"Lady Aglaea and Cifera are tailoring some clothes for everyone, while Professor Anaxa is playing with Trailblazer Jr." Polyxia giggles when mentioning the last part. "Terravox had to keep observing them, or else Prof. Anaxa will give the little guy a random magic dirtblock that increased his size tenfold."

"Is he still hellbent on making the greatest Droma in all existence? I thought Junior is already perfect enough as he is," Caelus asks in amusement.

"He says, and I quote, 'Junior is a perfect being, but I manage to discover something that could make him even a greater Droma!'" Castorice adds with a giggle.

"...can someone explain to me what is going on?!" Phil yells in frustration, feeling left out.

"Oh, sorry, Phil," Caelus apologizes. "Um...how do we even begin?"

"Maybe start with how the Chrysos Heir is here and alive? And HOW!?!" Phil asks in disbelief.

"...you know how As I've Written ends, right?" Caelus asks rhetorically.

"I think the whole New Eridu already knows about it," Phil deadpans.

"Well, you see, when Irontomb is defeated, the Chrysos Heir manages to survive thanks to Cyrene. This leads to the destruction of the Scepter and the erasure of the simulated world, but thanks to Cyrene, the destruction slowly leads to the rebirth of the planet, and everyone in Amphoreus is kept in this book till the planet is formed," Caelus explains briefly as Phil feels like his brain is rebooting.

"...wait, you're telling me they all are real!?!" Phil asks in disbelief.

"At this point, you should stop questioning if it's real or not, given you know the existence of the cosmic gods," Caelus says dryly.

"...this has got to be a dream." Before Caelus could retort, Phil fell unconscious. Thankfully, Mem was there to catch him. Everyone stared at the unconscious bunny Thiren for a moment.

"...you know, I just realize how eerily similar his appearance is to Pom-Pom," Tribios commented.

"In some Multiverse, there are doppelgangers, variants, unrelated twin, or whatever you guys called, of someone," Caelus explains. "He's one of them."

"Ah..." Hyacine comments before, suddenly, a blur passes by, and Caelus feels something touch his face. Without any warning, the area exploded, followed by clouds of smoke and confetti.

"...Cipher," Caelus sighs as he rubs his snout while Cipher can be seen playing with his ears.

"Hey, Gray Mystery," Cipher cackles. "You think I would miss the chance to play with your new form? Wow, your body physically transforms like mine! This is awesome! Hey, wanna play a prank on someone?"

"Unfortunately for you, Cifera, you have to abandon whatever pranks you're coming up with," Cipher yelps as golden threads wrap around her body as Aglaea approaches them. "You are still grounded, remember?"

"Oh, come on! I already did all of today's chores you asked me to!" Cipher whines.

"No pranks means no pranks," Aglaea says sternly, leaving no argument as Cipher pouts. "Welcome back, Caelus. I must say, your new form looks as magnificent as your previous appearance."

"Thanks, I wish people would stop treating this form as a glorified living plush," Caelus says dryly. The girls aren't helping to disprove his words, as they all started touching his fluffy tail with awe. This causes Aglaea to giggle at the adorable scene while Caelus lets out an annoyed growl, but he doesn't dare to do anything to them.

After everything happened to the Chrysos Heir, they deserve any little joy they can experience.

To be Continued