God of Nothing

"Whoah!"

Aleph pushed him away, almost making him fall into the well. Rayse luckily caught himself in time, but he still felt irritated by the rejection.

So he was aware, he just didn't want to respond to him. To be honest, that's a lot better than the last time Rayse tried to force him out of his shell. The last time Aleph closed himself off like this, he literally didn't come out of his home for days. He remembered that time, where Aleph used to sneak out to stare at the portal. Rayse didn't know what he did down the well at the time, but he imagined that it was something like this. 

So this time, Rayse decided to sit with him. He sat beside him, with his feet hanging out over the hole just like his master did. They dangled a few feet above the coffin, which made him uncomfortable, but he endured it for his master's sake. From his own bouts with depression, he knew he absolutely shouldn't be leaving him alone.

But still, it wasn't his style to just sit here.

"So." He said, trying to breach the subject. "Did anything happen?" He wasn't arrogant enough to think he can fix things, but maybe venting things out can help.

Aleph sighed from beside him, but said nothing. Rayse took that as a win. At least he's listening, he thought.

He stayed like that for a while, until he remembered his hunger. Wondering if there's something to eat in the house. So he stood up and peered in, only to see a bountiful feast. Piles of freshly baked bread was on the table, punctuated by bits of fruit and even other things like jam and and an assortment of nuts. He didn't even know there was this much stuff that grew in this place.

"Lord Marduk? Are you here?" He called out. Nobody responded, but from the looks of the spread, it was obvious he was just here. That god seemed to always leave food out for them right when they would visit.

He wondered if he served Lost food at that time too.

He shook his head at the memory, focusing back to the present. He can think about how to deal with her later. For now, his master needed him.

So he took a couple loaves of bread from the table and was about to head out, only to stop and look at the table again. After a brief consideration, he popped one of the loaves in his mouth and kept it there, while taking one of the plates of fruits before heading out.

"Listen, mister–"

He returned to Emily's grave only to find that Lacey was there for some reason. As usual, she was fussing over menial stuff, and was in the middle of telling him off.

"You're the leader of a settlement now! You shouldn't be looking so unkempt! What, did you dig this hole all night or something? And another thing, I– oh, there you are Ray. Set that down over there and give me a hand here."

Rayse wanted to argue, but he still had that bread roll in his mouth, so in the end he just shrugged and went on over.

He glossed over his friend's nagging, focusing instead on what she was doing. Streams of water and wind blasted Aleph in turns, scrubbing him free of the dirt he had spent the entire evening accumulating on his body. That was impressive, and totally unexpected.

"When did you learn silent casting?" Rayse asked after munching down his food. 

Rayse had to ask. She did it in the fight at the capital too, summoning those star orbs while gagged and tied up like that.

"Hmmm? I've been practicing, same as you." She said dismissively. "Anyway, is that a grape? Pop that in my mouth, will you? We haven't had anything to eat yet."

Aleph looked at him in abject horror at the same time Rayse tilted his head in confusion.

"'We'?" 

"Yes, 'we'. Brandon's back at your house, tidying up after the twins. They'll be here soon."

Lacey sent gusts of wind at Aleph, drying him off. When she finished, she patted him down, looking proud at her work. That amount of control over her magic while talking about other things the entire time was pretty difficult in spite of what she made it look.

"There! All done! Oh, munch, thanks Ray. Hehe."

And just like that, now there were three of them, sitting around the grave site. Lacey did a far better job than Rayse did at completely ignoring the dead body below, and was instead solely focused on their master.

"Hmmm. You look better, but I just noticed your hair getting long again. How long has it been since you cut it?" She asked.

"...Since you did it for me last time." Aleph answered. Rayse clicked his tongue on the side, annoyed at how quickly his master addressed Lacey. He begrudgingly accepted that her method of taking care of his outward appearance first to be more effective this time. Even without it, she always had a knack for being impossible to ignore. His irritation gave way to admiration as he looked at her lovingly.

The person receiving that gaze, of course, was busy being outraged.

"But that's like, eight whole months ago! ugh, dangit."She fished out her brooch, speaking to it like some sort of servant.

"Bran, bring some scissors before you come down here, will ya?"

Will do. Also, can you punch Ray for me? Brandon's complaints projected back to them. The idiot just went and left his sisters with nothing to eat. Now I gotta cook for them too…

Rayse winced twice. Once for completely blanking out on cooking breakfast, and another from Lacey stiffing arming him on the shoulder

"Ow!" He shouted, before taking his own brooch  to send Brandon a message of his own.

Whoops, sorry Bran. You don't mind bringing my sister's to the sanctum, do you? Lord Marduk's left food for us.

Oh? Sweet! Let me– Oh wait, you're not already eating, are you? Some big brother you are. Lace, give him another one.

"Hey, quit it!" Rayse jumped out of his skin as Lacey tried to strike him again. Her hand was covered in mana this time, cocking her arm back with an evil looking grin. Her smile, usually quite sweet, was scary today.

"Now, then. What could be so important that you'd put Shae and Sheila on a diet, hmmm?"

"Uh, well…" Rayse shifted his gaze towards the side, down the hole that was between them both. Catching the hint, Lacey switched back to Aleph.

"Did you come to check on Emily, mister?"

Aleph sighed once again, but this time, he answered.

"...Yes. I saw who looked strikingly similar, back at the capital. It was wearing on me."

Lacey's mouth split open in a smile.

"Ooh, could it be? Star Crossed lovers, reunited in beyond space and time! So romantic!"

"Oh, please. If anything, it could have been the Erebos messing with master. Remember, the demon king had Deceit's mana heart. Could have been showing us things to distract us."

Aleph cut with a sad smile.

"I spoke with the overgod. You are both correct in this matter."

The pair looked at each other in mild alarm. Both? Then that means–

"No way! Lost is–"

"The demon king is–"

""–Emily!?"" They both said in unison.

Rayse swore. That wasn't what he expected this to be about at all. In retrospect, it made a whole lot of sensw. Her feeling similar to Aleph, the unparalleled skill with the spear, even her demeanor, which was totally at odds with her demon king persona. Speaking of which, the grave marker, Emily's actual spear, even reacted to her so if anything, Rayse blamed himself for not seeing this beforehand.

He'd just resolved to kill her back at the capital, so this new information was pretty awkward for him.

__________________________________

"...so what do we do?" Lacey said quietly.

"...we need to defeat her." Aleph said, barely more than a whisper.

"What!? But she's your–"

"She's the demon king now! You saw how she treated the people! If we didn't stop her back then, thousands would have died!" Rayse interjected. Aleph heard a surprising amount of resolve from this young man. Since the conversation on the ride home, he had begun to see his disciple's point of view. Even moreso, he started to see why he liked Lost so much. She may have been a pale echo of Emily, but at the very least, it seems her charisma survived her soul being scrubbed clean.

In any case, Rayse's declaration ended up bolstering his own.

"Rayse is right. Her soul's likely been eroded. From the cases I've handled, the condition is such that I cannot restore. I cannot abide by her staying like this. Even if I taint my hands with her blood once again, I must–" Tears began to flow down his eyes. He had the resolve, yes, but it still nearly broke him. Lacey embraced him, tears forming in her own eyes.

"I'm sorry." She kept saying. Aleph, even in his grief, found that sentiment sweet, but amusing.

"You're not at fault, child. Why are you saying sorry?"

"Because!" She answered, her voice muffled by his tunic. "...I don't know, I just am!"

Aleph chuckled despite himself, patting Lacey's head like he'd seen Rayse do sometimes. Her magic was prodigious, but this young lady's heart was what made her so powerful.

"We're with you, mister." Rayse said, joining his friend in embracing him. Aleph felt warm. Hot, even. Somehow, he could feel the seam of his being knitting back together. It threatened to fall apart even worse than it did back when he had just arrived in this world, but just like back then, Aleph had these two to fall back on.

He still had no idea how he would face the demon king, yet somehow, with these children, he felt like he could figure something out.