They all sat in silence, enjoying the perfectly brewed tea of various ingredients of exact proportions. With an even display of snacks and sweets. After downing several teapots worth of tea and stuffing themselves with loads of snacks and sweets, Ceres just cleaned themselves, looking as if none of it had happened.
"Second brother, have your ears heard the words to come?" Ceres enquired, knowing full well of their descendant's plan.
"No, they've not. I raise a new order,"Cyrius replied immediately.
"I reasoned you would. Dawns of dawns we all have searched, searching for what's close."
"I have ceased searching."
"Searching is all we've done, and searching, second brother, must do. For a lie clouded in truth is a deceit in order."
"For deceit in order is something that must be. And truth in disorder is something that reveals. I do not search for all searches; I search for satisfaction. I search to find an answer. I care not if it takes aeons to find— My search shall continue, so long as my order remains."
The Dreaming began to morph and change, responding to the immense power of their dialogue; this was no longer a talk on gender, this was a contest of wills. However, with the now ever-shifting Dreaming, Helen remained unbothered, her sweet tooth taking over the moment. While Cyris enjoyed the new spectacle, for this was neither his first nor his last.
Their voice was calm and composed, but the Dreaming showed something else.
"Then may your order be the cage that binds your eyes, second brother,"Ceres replied.
"The cage that bound me shields the lies in truth, and reveals the truth in disorder. For the lie that cages is what you look upon in clarity; the truth which surrounds is the cage you are blind to, sibling. For all Six are blind to one, and see the other in clarity."
"Then may boundness remain upon us, believing in our cage."
"For you and I — for all Six well know — we do not believe in the cage, but in what it does. It is the containment of what came, and what might come."
"Of what, then, shall we be bound to the old, when the new speaks another?"
"What of old defines what of new. We watched and saw, lived and mingled, but they repeat — and keep repeating."
"Again and again is of lesson. Repeating births the new."
"How can we be sure, when the loop is what they've formed — of the old, of now, and of new?"
"Boundness of old leaves in stilt. Head of South cleaves in loop. Why not make it out— make in of out to them? Split the cage, ever so little, that their to-come may choose."
"Why repeat what was once done? For aeons of old, the Six opened the gates ever so slightly. What came of it left Fei in anger. Why repeat, when nothing changes? Why open the cage, when it already looms when shut? Stilt is what Six shall be until the looming is gone."
"In boundness we lay, searching for what's close— found in distance, not near. For how far have Six, second brother? How far?"
"Not far enough of Six, not far enough."
"Then may far approach, for wait the Six may not."
Silence dawned upon all, but Helen sat, unnoticed of the happenings around her. Turning to her, Ceres gained an insight into their dilemma.
"Why not make it out, make in of out of her. She of ours, yet of them."
Pointing directly at Helen. Even though she had been taken over by her sweet tooth, Helen still made out glimpses of what was said, although Ceres's words were hard to understand. She immediately blocked out all possible sound and cast a veil upon her eyes, so as not to read or listen with them.
"She's not of ours, but of us. She wears their skin, yet not of them. She walks with them, till time bids her rise,"Cyrius replied.
"Time has not yet bid the rise of her call. For as time has not bid her call, why not make in of out of her? She dawns their skin, and walks their trench. She sees and feels as them. Then— why not make in of out to her? She shall make in of out to them. A leader to the new."
"She is not of them, but of us. She donned their skin and walked their trench, yet she does not see nor feel as them. She sees and feels as us. One not of them, but of us. One not to trust for their understanding. One not meant to be them. Why make a leader of one who is not one of them? One whose knowing is not in of them. She dwells among them, yet bids her time— for time to call, for day to rise, for age to turn. She waits for time's call, and for her rise, living through the motions set before."
"Yes. Not of them she is, of us to be. Once of them she was, of us yet to be. Outside of all she is, A mind untouched by both, yet dwells of them. She is outside their meaning, but within. Comprehension gain she shall. One not of them, sees out of them."
The Dreaming kept morphing and changing, looking like a battlefield. With cracks and repairs of reality everywhere. But the voices remained calm.
"In of it, Words of us shall remain. Second brother, may come of sight of the sight sought after us. Boundness Six had be. Boundness Six are. Boundness Six shall. Words of us shall remain, for boundness Six shall forever be. Breach be our cages. May our words hear your ears."
With their final words, Ceres left the Dreaming. Returning it to what it once was. A place of Balance and Order.
Cyrius dispelled Helen's concealment. "They're gone already, I wanted a handshake." Helen gave a weary smile.
"You seriously don't want to get involved, do you. They had a point," Cyrius asked.
Helen gave a meaningful smile. "You very well know, after Fei established limitations to the Avatar System, the Phis were one of the few families to offer generational service to the gods in exchange for not being involved in divine-mortal politics, or any and everything in and out of it or around."
"I didn't mean the agreement. I was asking Helen as an individual and not a member of the Phi family."
"For me personally, even though I don't have a full understanding of what transpired. From glimpses I've got, it's going to be troublesome and a burden I'm not willing to shoulder. The six of you already carry it, but are prisoners of it."
"You've made your stand clear. I won't bring it up again."
"Thank you."
Still stuffing her face with snacks, she asked, "So for what reason did you summon me?"
"In three days, an auction would be held in Melt. The most prized item is the gender of Ceres."
"You know that's a ruse, right?"
"Yes, I knew," but his inner thoughts were something else: 'I just figured out.' "All of us knew," taking a long sip, he continued, "that child didn't squander his money. It's just that the investments he made failed due to natural and unforeseen circumstances, leaving him bankrupt. The auction is just to raise funds."
"So why must I participate then? It's a waste of money."
"A child of my sibling is a child of mine. I can't just sit back and watch as he suffers due to things out of his control."
"Are you the God of Justice or the God of Family?"
"What?" Cyrius was a bit confused by the question. "Oh that. I'm neither, I'm Cyrius of Balance and Order. The Justice is my job. I took it from the previous God of Justice and added my role to it."
Cyris, seeing he was fading into obscurity amid the conversation, ran out of the baldachin to play in the garden.
"That explains a lot," Helen had come to an understanding.
"Anyway, I want to be the biggest donor. When you arrive in Melt, contact the High Priest and the accountant. They'll transfer a million platinum coins each, to your and Titan's ID cards since that's your limit."
"That's a lot, won't they go bankrupt?"
"Two million platinum coins are just a surplus of surplus to the profits they make in a week."
"Wow, rich be riching."
"It's almost morning, time to wake. But before you set out to Melt, spend a day with Titan touring the city. And before I forget, in Melt there's a corrupt official I want you to off. Then bye." Helen began to feel sleepy as her attire reverted to her nightgown. "And lastly. Don't empty their food bank, Helen."
"What? What do you mean, Cyrius?" She tried to stay awake but sleep was catching up.