Do what I can

"-Although I can't tell you everything, just know that Erebus is part of the reason why war is inevitable, and there is also a reason as to why the gods want it to happen. The problem is that you exist. I don't think that the old one wants you to be a part of the war, therefore the reason he has chosen to show you two very particular strands of time."

Still floating in the air, I quickly made a deduction, "So he wants to deter me from joining the war? But why?"

"-That, I do not know. Maybe it's because you are an anomaly, maybe it's because he knew you would become the carrier of Druk's legacy. In the end, the fate you carry has the possibility to change a lot of things, and that is not something that he or the gods wants to happen."

'I'm an obstruction to the destiny they want to create? What sort of future do they want to come true?'

I already knew that Theia had chosen James to play a part in this show, the part of a hero for mankind, but listening to the metallic bird it sounded as if that wasn't necessarily the end of things.

Unfortunately, the primordial of steel had nothing more to say, "-If I tell you anymore, I might stand subject to scrutiny by the gods, thus I will kindly ask you to leave my domain." His eye closed once more, clearly showing he was done with our conversation.

"Then, shall we return to the academy, young hare?"

Although his words suggested that he was asking a question, he had already started to execute his spell.

In a matter of seconds, we had warped back to his office. Waving his hand, he made my body float down into one of the familiar armchairs by the fireside.

The meeting with the primordial had gone by so fast, and there had been so much information, that my head was still trying to process it all.

I didn't know why, but the frustration inside of me had already dissipated, most likely because of the days in the desert. Those few torturous days of fighting against not only monsters but also the environment itself had somehow forced me to take one step at a time, making my mental state more or less stable.

Also, hearing the phoenix's hypothesis about what my visions were, that the old one had shown me those in order to make me shy away from participating in the grand flow of things, had been quite reassuring. It meant that they weren't necessarily the most likely strings of time to come true.

However, did I even have that luxury? Did I even have the choice to just stand by and watch everything unfold? And what kind of position did I have in the eyes of the gods?

Staring into the unburning fire, I finally opened my mouth, "Master...". The old man turned to me, appearing in the form of a friendly granddad once more, "Yes?"

I was already at a point where the answers I could come up with were not good enough. I wasn't smart enough to figure out a calculated plan, nor was I wise enough to let things be.

"What should I do?"

His eyes didn't flinch, even for a second, as if he had already expected me to ask him this.

"You should do what you have always done. Just try your best. In the end, not even the old one is sure of what will come to be. We all have our roles to play, but we can also choose what roles we want to play."

I was still so incredibly confused, but he was right; I could only try my best, and trying to rush things would only lead to me being worse off. Being proactive was something positive, acting recklessly was not.

Still, I could never have imagined that I would get to meet a primordial just like that. Understandably, it was because of my master who, for some reason, seemed to know all of these mythical creatures personally, but it had still happened so incredibly casually.

"Master, who are you?"

It was something that had been bugging me for a long time. This old man didn't just know the future, he appeared to know a lot about the past as well.

He still wore his gentle smile as he gave me his answer, "I'm just someone who knows too much."

****

Walking back to my apartment, I felt as if I had forgotten something important. I knew that tomorrow was Sunday, meaning there would be another dungeon dive, but there was something else.

Luckily, or maybe it was better to say, unfortunately, I was reminded quickly when I entered the Aquarius.

"Miren?!"

Lindsey flew up and walked toward me, having been seated at one of the tables in the lounge, looking so incredibly pissed off.

'Oh... right...'

It had completely escaped me that I had just left the academy without saying a word to anyone, and now that anyone was not happy at all.

"How could you just leave like that?! Weren't we supposed to be friends?!"

Her icy blue eyes seemed to be almost on the verge of tears, another incredibly rare expression for her to make. Somehow I couldn't help but feel bad, knowing I was the main culprit behind all of these negative emotions she had been feeling lately.

Still, "Didn't your uncle tell you anything?"

'He should have at least mentioned that I was out with the principal, right?'

"No, he just said something about men having to solve their own problems..."

I couldn't even blame Mike for the stupid shit he had said, because, ultimately, I was the one who had acted like a coward.

Not knowing what I could say to make things better, I just lowered my head and apologized, "I'm sorry, I should have told you."

Her expression still didn't soften, "Yea, you should have. Now, what were you up to that was so important that you couldn't just write a short message?"

There was no way I could tell her the truth, that I had somehow gotten to meet one of the pillars of this world, the primordial who held the authority of one of the combined elements.

"I was out training with the principal.", was all I said, trying to keep my face relaxed to look as honest as possible.

It wasn't a lie, although it was incredibly far from the truth. Still, I couldn't actually tell her what happened, nor did I feel like I could explain my visions. However, she didn't buy it. She looked at me with sharp eyes as she called me out.

"You are hiding something again."

Before I could try to excuse myself even more, her expression finally changed. Sadly, not for the better. Instead of looking like she was about to rip my head off, tears started to emerge from her eyes and the edges of her mouth drooped.

"I don't care about what you are hiding, I just thought that friends could count on each other. Do you know how worried I was, not knowing if you were even alive or not?"

It wasn't a full-out bawl, just tears silently making their way down her cheeks, almost making her fair skin glitter. She was beautiful even when she was crying. Suddenly, she brought her arms around me in a tight hug.

I had no more excuses or half-true explanations to give, thus we just stood there in silence while she emptied her eyes down on my shoulder. In the end, she was the one to make some distance between us, "If this ever happens again, I swear that I will tell Misa that you ran away without telling anyone."

'What am I, a child?!'

Although I felt that her threat was a bit silly, I wouldn't dare to challenge her on it. Misa had already clearly shown that she wasn't someone who would take my stupid actions lying down. However, there was one thing I was incredibly happy about.

Lindsey had shown no intention to stop being my friend, even with how disrespectful my actions had been. The main reason I didn't tell her was that I had been afraid of how she would react if she knew how weak I truly was, afraid that she wouldn't stay by my side anymore.

'I am an idiot...'

"Cough!"

Suddenly, an incredibly dry cough pulled both of our attention to the side, "Ermm, welcome back?" It turns out that Lindsey hadn't been sitting by herself in the lounge, as now the two people who had accompanied her had finally gathered the courage to interrupt our reunion.

The golden boy and the succubus were both standing awkwardly beside us, most likely not sure how to act in this kind of situation.

Both mine and Lindsey's cheeks reddened, embarrassed by knowing that these two had seen our touching reunion, while we quickly took a step away from each other.

In the end, all four of us just stood and looked at each other, no one wanting to be the one to break the silence.