After the weird discussion with Arianne the day before, Anathasia, Lena, Fran, and I found ourselves seated around the same circular table where we'd held the meeting before dealing with The Woodlands.
This time, however, the gathering felt more complete.
Anathasia sat beside me.
Liscia occupied the seat on her left.
Fran and Lena sat to my right, while Rania and Roselia were positioned across from us. Beside them sat Kagariel, calmly sipping tea as though he hadn't a single concern in existence.
Chi Rong Guang sat next to him, carefully holding her own porcelain cup while occasionally glancing in his direction. And on Liscia's other side sat Rhea.
Anathasia cleared her throat.
Meanwhile, my attention had already begun wandering.
The pavilion itself hadn't changed much, but the scenery outside it did.
Where endless grasslands had once stretched toward the horizon, patches of young trees now dotted the landscape. Small groves scattered across the distance, breaking up the endless grasslands that used to dominate the view.
The place felt... less lonely.
"This is a very serious matter, everyone."
Anathasia's voice pulled everyone's attention toward her.
Almost everyone's.
Liscia immediately looked somewhere else.
As for me, my gaze drifted toward Rhea. She was quietly drinking from a juice box she'd almost certainly materialized out of thin air.
Only this time it wasn't orange.
The carton had a different design.
Kiwi.
I stared at it for a second.
What does kiwi even taste like?
My attention wandered again. Kagariel was still drinking tea. Chi Rong Guang had finally picked up her own cup. Across from us, Roselia and Rania appeared completely focused on whatever Anathasia was saying.
Lena and Fran were listening too. Which was more than I could say for myself.
"And because of that," Anathasia continued dramatically, placing both hands on the table, "I've decided to gather everyone's opinions regarding the official name of the Four Outer Gods."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Even I stopped looking around and slowly turned toward her. My eyes narrowed. After several long seconds, Liscia finally broke the quiet.
"Seriously?"
She looked genuinely offended.
"I skipped book club for this?"
"I already paid you the hundred pesos, so shut it."
Anathasia fired back instantly.
Liscia raised one finger and opened her mouth.
Paused.
Then lowered her hand again.
A scoff escaped her lips as she looked away.
Apparently the hundred pesos argument remained undefeated. Anathasia immediately turned back toward everyone else.
Bright smile restored.
"To be honest..."
Roselia spoke first.
Anathasia's eyes immediately lit up.
"Yes?"
Roselia folded her hands together thoughtfully.
"Quartet did sound more like the name of an idol group than a collection of Primordial Framework Defining Entities."
Rania looked at her, one eyebrow raised.
"An idol group?"
"Mhm."
Roselia nodded.
"They're groups of young men or women who are considered attractive and talented performers."
A finger rose.
"They sing."
Another finger.
"They dance."
"And they're part of Earth's entertainment industry."
Rania looked down thoughtfully.
"So something similar to performance exhibitions in Ishtar and Kazar?"
Roselia paused. Then gently shook her head.
"Not exactly."
Her blonde hair swayed lightly.
"Traditional performances and modern idol culture aren't quite the same thing."
She raised another finger.
"Modern idol groups use choreography."
"Coordinated movements."
"Performances designed specifically to match the music."
She gestured lightly as she spoke.
"The dancing itself becomes part of the performance rather than simply accompanying it."
As Roselia continued explaining, Anathasia stood beside me with the expression of someone who had accidentally lost control of the meeting. Lena and Fran exchanged brief glances before looking away again.
Then Fran nudged me.
"Dad."
"Hm?"
"Look at this."
She held out her phone. Lena immediately leaned over to look as well.
"This student council president is really pretty."
A pause.
"But..."
Her voice trailed off.
The video continued playing.
A silver-haired girl stood at the front of a classroom.
Her hands rested behind her back as she slowly paced before a line of boys standing near the blackboard. Every one of them had their heads lowered.
"And if one of you gets killed?"
Her voice was calm. Maybe a bit too calm.
"How can any of you guarantee that pretending to be thugs won't eventually put you in danger?"
The classroom remained silent.
"Then what?"
She stopped walking.
"Your parents grieve."
"A life gets extinguished."
"The school gets blamed for failing to supervise its students properly."
Another step.
"And ultimately..."
The silver-haired girl reached into her pocket. Then calmly pulled out a pen.
Fran blinked.
"She seems... intense."
The moment she finished speaking—
THUNK.
The pen embedded itself deep into the blackboard.
The entire classroom froze. The girl slowly lowered her hand. Then looked at the boys again, completely unbothered.
"My name gets involved."
Her voice remained level.
"Because I'm the student council president."
She folded her hands behind her back once more.
"The teachers are responsible for the school."
"But the students are my responsibility as well."
A pause.
"And unlike the teachers..."
Her gaze swept across the room.
"I'm the closest to all of you."
The video ended.
For a few moments, silence lingered around the pavilion.
Then a quiet whistle escaped my lips. Across from me, Lena leaned back slightly in her chair, folding her arms as she hummed to herself.
"She seems..." Lena tilted her head thoughtfully.
"Kind of stuck up?"
Her gaze drifted toward the now-dark phone screen.
"I don't know. That's just the impression I'm getting."
"Strict, definitely," Fran agreed.
She tucked her phone back into her pocket.
As for why a pavilion floating in the middle of nowhere somehow had perfectly functional Wi-Fi...
I had no idea. Anathasia built the place. I stopped trying to understand her architectural decisions a long time ago.
"But honestly?"
Fran shrugged.
"It seems effective."
"The school's official page posted the video too."
She rested her chin on her palm.
"Sevanelle Private Academy's own page."
A brief pause followed.
Then her eyes brightened slightly.
"Actually..."
She pointed between me and Lena.
"I think that's the Disvinadiya girl Aunt Arianne was talking about yesterday."
"Didn't Aunt Liscia say that boy turned into a silver-haired girl?"
Lena and I both fell silent.
I tried recalling yesterday's conversation.
Unfortunately, the only thing that immediately surfaced in my memory was Anathasia and Liscia enthusiastically discussing ways to genderbend me. Which wasn't very helpful at all.
So I gave up.
Lena, however, seemed to remember.
"Ah."
She snapped her fingers.
"Right."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"Mom said it might have something to do with another Author, didn't she?"
The moment she said that, her gaze locked onto Fran. Completely. Fran immediately noticed and slowly leaned away.
"Big sis...?"
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Mom said you're an Author too, didn't she?"
"Yeah...?"
Fran tilted her head.
"Why?"
A pause.
"What kind of look is that?"
Lena didn't answer immediately. Instead, she continued staring. Like she'd just connected several suspicious dots at once.
Fran leaned back even further.
"Okay, that's somehow making me more nervous."
"Alright, alright."
I clapped once.
The sharp sound immediately snapped both of them out of whatever strange direction the conversation was heading.
"Let's stop right there."
Both sisters looked at me.
"Fran being an Author is true."
I pointed casually toward Lena.
"But she's still Fran."
My finger shifted toward the younger girl.
"Your little sister."
"Not some mysterious cosmic suspect."
Lena blinked.
Then slowly relaxed.
"Of course she is."
She leaned back into her seat before reaching over and gently patting Fran's head. Fran looked relieved for about two seconds.
"She also has three separate activities due next week."
The words left my mouth casually.
Fran froze completely. The hand patting stopped as the entire pavilion seemed to go silent for a second. Slowly, very slowly, Fran lowered her head.
"...Why does Dad know that?"
I shrugged.
"I'm literally a teacher at your school."
A small smile tugged at my lips.
"Of course I'd know a thing or two."
Fran looked horrified.
As though she'd just remembered that her father existed outside the house. My hand reached over and lightly pinched her cheek.
"Don't worry."
I gave it a gentle tug.
"I'll help you through it."
Her expression softened slightly.
"Really?"
"I'm free anyway."
Fran's shoulders visibly relaxed. The tension melted away almost instantly.
"Thank goodness..."
She slumped forward onto the table dramatically.
"I thought I was going to suffer alone."
"That's usually what students call consequences."
"Dad."
"I'm joking."
"Dad."
"Mostly joking."
"Dad."
At that point, even Lena was laughing quietly beside her. Fran, meanwhile, looked like she had just been personally betrayed by the educational system.
Then—
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The sound echoed through the pavilion.
Every conversation immediately died down.
Even Rhea paused halfway through opening yet another kiwi-flavored juice box she had apparently materialized out of nowhere.
My gaze drifted toward Anathasia.
She stood beside me with her hands clasped behind her back, clearing her throat once more as she surveyed everyone gathered around the table. Her eyes moved from person to person.
Waiting until she was certain she had everyone's attention.
"Let's go back to the actual topic."
A brief pause followed. The corners of her lips twitched upward slightly.
"Before this somehow turns a discussion about Fran's homework or idols."
Fran immediately lowered her head.
"Please don't remind me..."
Anathasia ignored her completely. Instead, she turned back toward the rest of the group and gestured with one hand.
An open invitation.
"Any suggestions?"
Silence.
The breeze drifted through the pavilion, rustling the distant trees that now dotted the landscape beyond the grasslands.
Nobody spoke.
Not immediately, anyway.
Rania looked thoughtful.
Roselia tapped her fingers lightly against the table.
Kagariel calmly sipped his tea. Chi Rong Guang followed suit a second later, though considerably more carefully.
Liscia had already leaned back in her chair again, looking as though she deeply regretted attending this meeting in the first place.
Meanwhile, Rhea finally succeeded in opening her juice box.
She took a sip.
Then another.
Entirely unconcerned with the discussion as Anathasia's eye twitched.
"Rhea."
"Mhm?"
"Do you have an opinion?"
Rhea lowered the juice box. Thought for exactly three seconds.
Then nodded.
"Yes."
The pavilion became slightly more attentive. Even Anathasia looked hopeful.
"Well?"
Rhea raised the juice box slightly.
"I think kiwi tastes better than orange."
A long silence followed.
Then Liscia buried her face in her hands. Roselia looked away. Kagariel quietly lowered his teacup. And Anathasia slowly pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Thank you, Rhea."
"You are truly contributing to the discussion."
"You're welcome."
Rhea took another sip, completely sincere.