Chapter 97: Absolute Elation

Later

In Front of Meilian’s Apartment Building

“Sorry about earlier, Soldier 11 shouldn’t have punched you for warning her…” Orphie says as she bows down apologetically to Caelus.

“Don’t worry too much. I know she’s mad because of the possibility of her comrades being the worst thing to ever exist- according to her, traitors.” Caelus waves it off. “Still, I could’ve said it better…”

“I don’t think there’s a better way to say it. If we just tell her normally, she would be in complete denial and even refuse to listen,” Trigger says as she crosses her arms.

“That is how Harin was; it was her fear taking over her thoughts,” Seed Sr. says solemnly. “Even after all these years, she has yet to move on…”

“Speaking of years,” Orphie says as she looks at Seed Sr. “It’s really good to have you back, Seed Sr.. The squad wasn’t the same without you.”

“Does my parting truly affect you all?” Seed Sr. asks in puzzlement.

“A loss of a squad member is never easy, Seed Sr. Some of us, like Orphie and Seed, couldn’t handle the idea of losing someone. Did you forget how much Flora cried when she finally reunited with you?” Trigger asks as Seed Sr. scratches his head.

“I…suppose,” Seed Sr. says quietly.

“Still, how is it possible?” Orphie asks curiously. “The logic core of an Intelligent Construct acts like a human soul; it’s not something you can replace without changing their inner self.”

“I may remain the same Seed Sr. you all knew, but there is something that truly changes,” Seed Sr. says, confusing everyone. “I…understand human emotions far better than usual. When I first heard Flora calling me dad, I felt immeasurable joy and pride, l-like how some of our retired soldiers feel during their childbirth…”

“Aww, that’s adorable,” Trigger says softly before gently patting his shoulder. If Seed Sr. could, he would be blushing in embarrassment. “And good job, you really do understand humanity better…”

“So…your resurrection made you feel more human?” Orphie asks as Seed Sr. pauses.

“…more like taking a few steps closer to understanding them,” Seed Sr. corrects her.

“Ooo,” Orphie says in understanding before looking at Caelus. “Mr. Caelus, thank you.”

“No need for thanks. This is a gift for Seed for helping me get my friend back,” Caelus says as he gently pats Seed Sr.

“I think this is too much even for returning a favor,” Seed Sr. comments before he waves his hand. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Sure, to some people, it may seem a bit too much, but like I told some people, kids deserve to be with their parents for quite a long time,” Caelus says with a sad smile. “Making happy memories with each other and spending time as long as possible so you guys wouldn’t have any regrets.”

“…thank you,” Seed Sr. says sincerely as Caelus lets out an exasperated groan.

“Enough with the thank you already and go spend time with your daughter! I bet she has a lot of stories wanting to tell you,” Caelus says dismissively, earning a chuckle from Seed Sr.

“Very well, then I shall take my leave.” With that, Seed Sr. enters the apartment, leaving Caelus with Trigger and Orphie.

“…do you think you-!?” Before Orphie could ask, Magus controls the tail and wraps it around Orphie’s mouth, shutting her up.

“Keep your mouth shut, Orphie. He may have done a lot, but he is still a civilian, and keeping sensitive information from any civilians is always our job,” Magus lightly scolds Orphie, who nods shakily.

“I bet you’re gonna spill everything to your higher-ups when sensitive information is involved,” Caelus says dryly.

“Hardly,” Magus snorts at the accusation. “I’m only willing to share information with higher-ups that I truly trust. The rest of the fools could just fool around till the disaster consumed them, for all I care.”

“…does the Defense Force accept incompetent fools unlike PubSecs?” Caelus asks with a raised eyebrow, looking at Trigger. The question makes Magus blink in confusion.

“Unfortunately. Nepotism and desire for human meatshields lead to a huge number of good-for-nothing bastards roaming around, treating any dangers from Rebels, Hollow Disaster, or, in the future, Exaltists, like a walk in the park,” Trigger says with a sigh.

“…I pity you guys,” Caelus says sympathetically.

“…I hate that condescending look of yours,” Magus growls in annoyance.

“Girl, I was being honest!” Caelus looks aghast before looking at Trigger in disbelief. “Has your captain always been such a sourpuss!?”

“I’ll show you ‘sourpuss’!” Magus roars and tries to bite off Caelus’ nose, but only to be met with a barrier. Magus looks at Caelus in shock before she tries to chomp him again, while Orphie tries her best to pull her tail back.

“C-come on, Captain, let’s go back! W-we still have paperwork to finish!” Orphie says, but it only makes things worse as Magus starts spewing fire.

“Hell no! Fuck paperwork! Let me bite that fucker’s face!” Magus curses as Orphie slowly leaves them alone.

“…why is your captain so angry?” Caelus asks in disbelief.

“Stress and you being a suspicious individual in her eyes,” Trigger chuckles. “Still, you are the only person who would piss my captain off so easily, and didn’t get hit by her at all.”

“…should I report for physical abuse?” Caelus asks in concern, earning a snort from Trigger.

“You’ll only pisses her off even more; besides, some of the beating our soldiers receive is well-deserved.” Trigger responds. “Anyways, I should take my leave as well. Since we’re involving the rebel army, the higher-ups are gonna question things. Also, thanks for the tips.”

“No problem, some dickheads deserve to get their asses dragged to jail and let them rot,” Caelus says, remembering how the rebels in the game almost drop a kid just for knowing too much. Sure, she’s an illegal hacker, but she’s a kid, and she’s a friend of Cunning Hares.

It was somewhat personal to him.

“So, how long are you planning to stalk the Phaethon siblings this time?” Caelus teases, earning a flustered look from Trigger.

“I-it’s not stalking, it’s-!” Before Trigger could say a word, Caelus cut her off.

“Yeah, yeah, ‘keep an eye on them.’ Sure,” Caelus says while rolling his eyes, earning a punch in the shoulder. “Ow.”

“You deserve that, dumbass,” Trigger says before they both chuckle.

“Goodbye for now, Caelus. Take care of Flora and Seed Sr. for me, will you?” Trigger asks with a smile.

“No need to tell me twice. The seedlings will be safe under my watch, not that they even need it,” Caelus says, earning a snort from Trigger before she laughs.

“S-seedlings, oh, I’m so gonna use that…” Trigger says before she leaves. Caelus watches her go, smiling, before returning to the apartment and being greeted by a bizarre scene. Nicole is on the ground, bowing to Eous while comically crying.

“Wah, Phaethon! Please don’t discard us! We already paid all of our debts, right? I swear I’ll never do that again! So, please don’t start hiring the Victoria Housekeeping instead of us!” Nicole begs, snot leaking off her nose.

“Eh-nah! Nah!! (Gross! Help!!)” Eous wails before noticing Caelus. “Eh-nah na!! (Help me!!)”

“…” Without another word, Caelus walks past Eous and picks up Slyboo in his arms. As he walks out, he greets the Cunning Hares and PubSecs before going back to his room. Phil decides to follow him.

“EH-NAH!!! (WAIT!!!)” Not sparing another glance, he and Phil enter the elevator.

“…hey, Caelus,” Phil says, getting Caelus’ attention. “Since now we’re working as H.A.N.D.’s intern, Ms. Yanagi mentioned how we’re going to make a group to tackle some companion Hollows in the future, didn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Caelus says before looking at Phil. “And you’re suggesting…?”

Phil simply nods as Caelus looks at him for a moment before smiling and nodding back. Phil brightens up as they reach their desired floor and the door opens.

“Then, what would our group be called?” Phil asks curiously as they walk out together.

“… It’s a silly suggestion, but how about the Astral Express?” Caelus suggests.

“Like the one from ‘As I’ve Written’?” Phil asks in confusion. “Why?”

“Honestly, I just feel like it,” Caelus shrugs, earning a sweatdrop from Phil.

“…we’re gonna need to workshop our name,” Phil says before he enters the room.

“Hey, the name is fine, thank you very much!” Caelus looks offended as Phil shuts the door to the room. Unknown to Caelus, Phil is leaning on the door with his lips trembling, trying to hold his excitement.

Phil has been feeling anxious as he watches Caelus attracting so many important figures left and right, and he feels like his best friend might be moving too fast for him to catch up. He fears that Caelus will eventually leave him in the dust, letting every famous or important figure into his circle of trust.

But the earlier conversation proved another thing: Caelus chose to stay as his friend. It also reminds him of how Caelus decided to invite him to join the operation to corner the Exaltist, even though he didn’t need to.

It’s basically a confirmation that he’s not going to lose his friend, and that filled him with so much joy.

—————————————————————————————————–

With Caelus

“Hey, Mem. How was your rest?” Caelus asks as Mem lets out a small squeak.

“Let me sleep,” Mem mutters as she covers her head with the blanket, earning a chuckle from Caelus.

“Okay, okay…” Caelus shakes his head as he turns on his system after a while. Upon looking at his stats, he blinks when he notices he has finally unlocked Elation. He didn’t even realize he got it since Aha didn’t show up like the other Aeons before. He notices an unfamiliar item in his system and pulls it out.

It appears to be a red mask shaped like a grinning clown. The appearance unsettles Caelus a bit as he tries to look at its description.

[Fool’s Mask – The mask of the Masked Fools is a symbol of their faith in the Elation, and wearing said mask is effectively an admission ticket when they gather at the tavern at the edge of the world. These masks are made of heavy material, are vibrant in color, and have a maniacal smile yet surprisingly intricate brushstrokes, as if waiting for each playful prank. They bear the devout certification of the Masked Fools, but it seems like they were all stolen from the ship of the Mourning Actors.]

[Ability – ???]

[Activation – WeAr ThEm!]

“…yeah, that’s so not ominous,” Caelus says sarcastically before the mask starts shaking. Caelus looks confused before it jumps right towards his face.

BOOM!!!

Mem yelps in panic before looking around, wondering why the room is filled with smoke and confetti. Then, the door is opened in panic as Phil enters the room.

“Caelus!?! Are you okay!?!” Phil yells in panic.

“I-I’m okay!” Caelus responds from the smoke before coughing. Slowly, the cloud disappears. Mem and Phil look at where Caelus stood before they freeze in shock.

“What? Why do you guys look at me like that?” Caelus asks before he notices his hands are now replaced with black fur paws. Caelus widens his eyes before noticing something is moving on his back and turns around. He widens his eyes even more when a large bushy black furred tail with white tips wagging on the back.

Caelus looks at the nearby mirror and starts grabbing his face, which now resembles a silver fox; his legs are now digitigrade. Everything about him is changed except for his golden eyes.

“C-Caelus?” Phil asks nervously as Caelus looks at him.

“I-it’s still me, buddy,” Caelus says as Phil slowly calms down.

“H-how?” As Phil asks, the system displays the screen again. Caelus looks confused as the screen simply displays the description of Fool’s Mask, but he notices the additional description.

[Fool’s Mask – The mask of the Masked Fools is a symbol of their faith in the Elation, and wearing said mask is effectively an admission ticket when they gather at the tavern at the edge of the world. These masks are made of heavy material, are vibrant in color, and have a maniacal smile yet surprisingly intricate brushstrokes, as if waiting for each playful prank. They bear the devout certification of the Masked Fools, but it seems like they were all stolen from the ship of the Mourning Actors. When wearing this, the mask shall transform into your ideal Elation self or your true self, hiding under all of the piles of misery!]

[Ability – Physical Transformation, ???]

[Activation – WeAr ThEm!]

[Deactivation – TaKe ThEm OfF!]

Without another word, Caelus grabs his face and tugs it. This causes another huge cloud of smoke to burst from him, and everyone starts coughing like crazy. As the cloud dissipates, Caelus returns to normal, but the mask he held before is now a fox mask instead.

Phil watches the entire thing in disbelief and sums up all of their thought in three perfect words.

“…what the fuck!?!”

To be Continued