The moment his other-self returned to him, Carl opened the realm interface again and solidified the lighthouse as a restricted place and cemented it as a permanent structure, then he locked the entire island's atmosphere to be comfortable.

"I think I'll call it Bakunawa's overwatch, but the rest of the world is just a reminder of a prison that should have never existed. Do you mind?"

"Are you finally going to use that skill?" Klaire asked with genuine excitement.

"Wait, what skill?" Gillian asked, a little teary-eyed by what he had just witnessed.

"Neo-Genesis."

"That sounds great, I think he'd like the idea of this place becoming anything other than a land of lonely incarceration." Gillian wiped his eyes and slapped his cheeks and then Carl activated the skill.

The entire realm around them burst into flames, the savage primordial birth of a new world taking place all around them.

They were protected from the relentless cataclysm ravaging everything around them, but Carl hadn't realised that it would take place in real time, so it was a good thing he hadn't done so on Lunelia since he had no control over that world's time flow.

"I'm going to accelerate it, I know Alysse and everyone won't forgive me for not recording this or recording data, but this feels like a memorial service anyway."

"Agreed." Everyone replied in unison and Carl opened Ishtar's interface, then they all settled down and watched as the fires started to cool and rains began to fall.

The sight was indescribably beautiful, but even with time sped up it was still going to be an incredibly long process, each second for them was about a decade outside and yet they had giga-annums until complex life would start to evolve.

"It will still take about nine and a half years to see life evolve here, if I done my math right and earth is anything to go by." Carl said with a bewildered look on his face, which was enough to make the others laugh after he suggested that it was a long time.

As they all watched, Kyubi and Klaire began preparing lunch, when Klaire called across to Carl as he kept watching. "Hey, by the way, did you reply to Alysse privately?"

"Aly- Shit, no, completely forgot. Anyone know how long it's been there?"

"If you can believe it, it's only night time on the same day we left, but it could be the day after. I lost track in the four days Klaire and I were gone, when Alysse dropped her bombshell."

"Crap, I didn't mean to make her wait, I just couldn't afford to get distracted..."

[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM CARL : SORRY FOR THE DELAY ALYSSE, NEVER THOUGHT I'D SAY THIS, BUT I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS WITH YOU DATING MY DAUGHTER... I'LL CREATE AN ARMY OF NANITE EATING SPORES IF YOU MESS HER AROUND THOUGH. ]

After that they sat and watched the show a bit more as they ate, then bid farewell to the realm that seemed to be a far greater decision than they had expected.

The place they found themselves next was somewhere Carl and Klaire both recognised, Carl's hometown.

"Carl! You came back for another visit and with friends..." The man speaking was someone about five years older than Carl, his system was perfect for hunting, tracking and sensing danger and he decided to come back after getting it.

The two of them had been friends all of Carl's life, but they weren't able to speak much since Carl left.

He was shorter standing around five and a half feet tall, his scraggly brown hair matted to his face and his body was slight which gave him a similar vibe to Blanc. The biggest difference was that unlike Blanc, he was very much a people person.

He didn't hesitate to run over to the group when he saw them and Carl was quick to greet him with a fist-bump and a pat on the shoulder.

"...Sorry everyone, name's Joseph. I've been keeping Carl out of trouble since he could walk and I'm grateful that you picked up my slack since he left, he always used to freak out over everything."

"Are you sure you aren't one of his creations? You seem like a blend of Gillian and Blanc." Sophie laughed, before saying it's a bit scary and earning a nod from Scylla.

"Pretty sure, I had to pull him out of a jackal-man ambush before he had a system..." Joseph laughed and made the others chuckle before he became contemplative. "...Weirdest thing though, they seemed more like they were trying to kidnap him than eat him."

"That sounds more like it..." Gillian replied. "...Should of seen him this one time on a planet called Caset. Me and the guys were going to ambush him, then we got complete trampled by some massive grey things with horns as they tried to get to him, then they just cornered him and forced him to stay put."

"Yeah, Carl has a habit of drawing in beasties, critters and even creepy crawlies. Speaking of creations though, Sentinel has been missing you, you should say hello while you're here."

Carl was a bit overwhelmed, completely out of his depth with two people as over the top as Gillian. "I will, but first, has there been any incursions lately?"

"Nah, all good, having so few people around makes us barely even a target..." For the first time though, Joseph's carefree mask slipped. "...Should tell you though, that settlement your friend Anayla lived... Sorry man, it got wiped out."

Carl's eyes widened and he was gone before anyone could say anything, Joseph nearly lost his hands when he stopped Kyubi and Klaire from following.

"Get out of the way Joseph. We're his wife and his fiancé." Kyubi asked sternly, but even though he could tell they were dangerous and trembled a bit, he didn't move.

"All the more reason you shouldn't. I said her settlement was wiped, but she's still there and she isn't doing well. Alisha mentioned Carl was with a banshee, you should respect that grief more than anyone, it isn't the place for strangers even if they have a mutual friend."

Klaire gritted her teeth and looked in Carl's direction, she could see him talking to a woman who was unresponsive, the same kind of single-minded grief she experienced in Faylorna's memories.

"He's right, we have no right to intrude on that. Let's just head to the home he and Alisha used to live. Joseph, can you go check on him if it starts getting late, I imagine you know her well enough."

"Yeah, I do, sweet girl. shame what happened, the night-walkers came out of nowhere, we tried warning them there were too many gathering but.."

"Sorry, but is this really what it's like on earth? No offence but this dead rock just isn't worth it." Gillian said as he kicked one of the rocks at his feet.

"You're absolutely right, it isn't, most here would say the same thing. Those of us that stay, only do it to help as many Reaga and stranded as we can. I came back for Carl's sake mostly, kid was five and was always talking to imaginary friends back then, promising to save them."

"Imaginary friends? Alisha and Carl never mentioned that." Klaire answered respectfully, but in truth she didn't really believe him, that was the kind of embarrassing thing she would love divulging.

"Yeah, I caught him a couple of times, muttering names over and over and making the promise. He used to get so embarrassed he played completely dumb and tried gaslighting me."

"Do you remember any of these names, or exactly what he was saying?"

"Not really, I think one of them was "Morpheus" or something and "Tiramisu", then something about the fallen king. Glad to see he got a system where he can put that imagination to good use."

"Human, tell me. Could it have been Mobius and Amaterasu?" Kyubi was so anxious that she couldn't even recall his name.

"Huh? I mean yeah that does sound similar, he always had his head buried in that beast taming book of his, so he always mumbled."

"What the hell was in that book and why the hell did he have to give it to Sis." Kyubi muttered, before starting a fresh thought. "Sweetie, I know you're watching, can you do Mummy a favour and keep an eye on Sis, please? If she mentions any of those names, or acts funny, send her to us immediately with the book."

'Sure Mum, sorry for spying, it's pretty awkward over here at the moment.'

"Alysse and Omedra better be behaving."

'They are, it's auntie Tiamat telling them about the first time she made a dragon with another dragon, I don't get why but they seem really uncomfortable.'

[ PRIVATE MESSAGE SENT FROM KYUBI : TIAMAT, IF YOU DON'T STOP TELLING MY DAUGHTER ABOUT YOUR EXPLOITS, I'LL SHOW THE WORLD WHAT A DRAGON LOOKS LIKE WITH NO SCALES. ]

[ PRIVATE MESSAGE SENT FROM TIAMAT : UGH, USE YOUR HEAD DEAR, EITHER THEY ARE PUT OFF DOING ANYTHING OR FIND THEMSELVES STIRRED AND THUS NOT DEVOTED. ]

[ PRIVATE MESSAGE SENT FROM KYUBI : WE HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS, WE TRUST OUR GIRL, NOW ASK TIAMUTAEL TO CATCH YOU UP ON A SPECIAL MISSION FOR THE FACTION'S EXPERIENCED IMMORTALS. ]

[ PRIVATE MESSAGE SENT FROM TIAMAT : CONSIDER MY INTEREST PIQUED, FOX. NOW WHAT WAS THAT CODE HE INSISTED WE USE ON "STEALTH-OPS". ]

[ PRIVATE MESSAGE SENT FROM KYUBI : FORMATION EPSILON ONE-ONE OR SIGMA NINE-TWO, OR SOMETHING, ASK HIM TO PUT THEM ON A SLATE OR SOMETHING, ONLY HIS DAD SEEMS TO KNOW THEM ALL. ]

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