Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

At times, Vahn felt like he would have a day that felt exponentially longer than others. It was barely approaching noon, but, from his perspective, nearly five days had passed. In that time, he had babysat his children, engaged in a contest of strength, visited multiple people, forged an S-Rank weapon, fought against his Memory Fragment, and participated in no less than two orgies. It had been a very eventful day, and, with his upcoming meeting with Solon, followed by the lecture he was scheduled to advise, it was nowhere near completion.

Fortunately, Nero was in the care of Boudica so Vahn was able to relax while his main body waited for the arrival of the children. He had already been sitting there for around twenty minutes in utter silence as the matter with Nero had required a lot of focus. Now, he rested with his back against a cold stone pillar, pretending not to have noticed Mordred goading Mash to sneak up on him. They knew it was impossible to actually surprise him but, never one to spoil the children's fun, Vahn just sat with his eyes closed, pretending to meditate.

Though Mordred's plan was to have Mash surprise her Chichue with a hug, the bashful girl didn't have the heart to do such a thing. Instead, she just lightly poked Vahn's cheek, her finger leaving a small imprint. When he didn't react, she blinked in surprise before turning back to see Mordred giving her a thumbs-up gesture and a large grin. This caused Mash to swallow the knot in her throat but, still unable to go through with the plan, she instead lightly pat the top of her Master's head with a small smile on her face.

Seeing Mash's behavior, Mordred ran her hands down her face in exasperation before slapping her cheeks a few times. Then, before Mash could react, Mordred tackled her from behind, crashing into the 'sleeping' Vahn with a bit of force. This caused Mash to fluster with a red face but, just as she was about to apologize, the surroundings 'shattered' as Vahn appeared standing behind, a gentle smile on his face as he mused, "You shouldn't tease Mash too much, Mordred."

Since they were now standing back near the entrance to the Transfer Room, it didn't take long for the girls to realize that Vahn had 'counter-pranked' them. Mash, however, still had a red face as she bowed low and stammered, "Please forgive me, Master. Mordred may have come up with the idea but it was still my decision to carry it out."

Before Mash could say more, Vahn stroked both of their heads as he said, "It's nothing to apologize for. A bit of mischief is healthy. Just make sure not to push yourself."

Though it wasn't the first or even the thousandth time she had her head rubbed, Mash could never get completely used to it. As for Mordred, she fully embraced the caress, a cat-like smile on her face as she unashamedly rubbed her head against his palm. It didn't matter to her if she had returned to her 'adult' form, she still enjoyed skinship with her Chichiue. If her Hahaue wouldn't reprimand her for it, she would still ride on his shoulders or hang off him like a monkey whenever the opportunity presented itself...

With Mash sitting at his side and Mordred sitting happily in his lap, Vahn waited for the rest of the children to arrive. He could sense all of their locations so he knew they were already on their way; he had just arrived a little early. If he really wanted to, he could just teleport them directly to the Clock Tower without escorting them but, as that felt too impersonal, Vahn made sure he always made time to take them to, and from, school.

Eventually, Sakura and Zoë showed up together, their entrance preceding Astrid's by less than a minute. Since Vahn knew the latter was on the way, he had Mordred vacate his lap before rising to give the new arrivals a cursory head pat. This was basically his way of greeting people so they were completely used to it. Rather, it would be more accurate to say they looked forward to it as Vahn's legacy as the Godhand hadn't exactly faded with time.

Once Astrid arrived, Vahn greeted her in the same way as everyone else before asking the group, "Is everyone ready? I'm not going to teleport back if you forgot something." Then, despite them saying nothing was amiss, Vahn looked toward the sleepy-looking Zoë, asking, "Where is your pendant...?"

Hearing Vahn's question, Zoë's hand immediately moved to her neck, finding her usual pendant missing. This caused her face to pale before immediately turning scarlet soon after as she bowed in a flustered manner and exclaimed, "P-please wait a moment! I'll be right back...!!" Then, with speed far greater than a normal human child, Zoë attempted to bolt out of the room to go and retrieve her pendant.

Before she had made it more than ten steps, Zoë felt herself be pulled back, her feet leaving the ground as she slowly drifted through the air. She felt both confused and embarrassed but, when Vahn suddenly handed her a small peridot pendant, she breathed a sigh of relief before muttering, "Thank you..." in a small voice.

It was a simple feat for Vahn to 'grab' items from pretty much anywhere within the Ivory Castle using his domain so there was no sense in making Zoë retrieve it herself. He just wanted to help her wake up and give her a reason to pay more attention to her preparations in the future. She had obviously been sleeping prior to arriving in the Transfer Room as her uniform was still disorderly, despite the fact Sakura had helped to fix her up.

Now that everyone was actually ready, Vahn asked one final time before they all transferred directly to the Sage Aldrnari Commons. From there, he parted with the children after telling them to do their best, leaving them to basically sprint the rest of the way across campus. They still had a few minutes until class was supposed to start so, even after stopping by their dorms to pick up a few things, they had more than enough time to reach the classroom, assuming, of course, they ran at their fastest speed...

After taking a few minutes to just sort his thoughts, Vahn stood up, stretched his body, popped his back, and then teleported to the underground elevator that led to Solon's private garden. It didn't take long for the elevator itself to descend so, after board, Vahn steeled himself to meet with Solon, this time without an entourage. He would normally have someone like Artoria present but, out of consideration for Solon's character, Vahn felt things would go a lot smoother if they were alone.

Fortunately, Zelretch had been extremely busy as of late so, upon ascending to the usual circular stone platform, Vahn found his surroundings bereft of a greeting party. Thus, without dallying, he made his way up the winding stone steps before opening the large stone doors of the temple-like construct at the end. Inside, he found the usual pathway that led to the suspended platform at the very center of the garden. There, Solon already had an annoyed expression on their face as, even without knowing why Vahn had arrived, his presence all but guaranteed trouble.

Without minding Solon's pointed look, Vahn made his way over, sitting down on one of two chairs that had been prepared. Since the table between them was empty, he pulled out some piping hot tea made from literal Yggdrasil Leaves. This obviously caught Solon's attention as, even if it had no relation to the tree they received their power from, there was a certain vitality emanating from the pot, one they were very familiar with.

Before questioning what trouble Vahn brought their way, Solon poured a cup of tea for themselves, sampling the contents like a cat. This caused Vahn to raise his brow slightly but, deciding it was best to avoid teasing the emotionally unstable Magus, he focused on the contents of his own cup.

After sampling the emerald-green tea, Solon's eyes widened marginally before they downed the entire contents of their cup in one go. For a brief moment, they seemed to forget Vahn was present, releasing a hot and contented sigh before slouching in their chair, a comfortable expression on their face. It was only when they opened their eyes to find Vahn staring back at them did Solon seem to remember the origin of the tea. Their expression became dour in an instant but, before they were able to say anything, Vahn plainly stated, "Don't...you'll ruin the taste of the tea. Just relax..."

Following his own advice, Vahn refilled his cup before leaning back in the ornate wooden chair, his mind wandering to pleasant thoughts of home and family. This earned him a prolonged glare from Solon but, after a few seconds had passed, they finally relented before pouring themselves a second cup. They knew Vahn would undoubtedly say something unpleasant so, given the option between dealing with him before or after the tea, Solon ultimately decided upon the latter.

Like two old men who had just returned from a hard day's work, Vahn and Solon both sank into their chairs, holding their cups with both hands like a mug of hot cocoa. The tea, when combined with the peaceful surroundings, created a sensation as if their souls were being healed. Thus, for a short few minutes, all of their past animosity was forgotten. There was only the tea, the peaceful atmosphere, and a surprisingly comfortable wooden chair...

Unfortunately, a single pot of tea between two people didn't last so, after around twenty minutes, Solon claimed the final amount for themselves before asking, "Why have you come here? Even if you told me it was just to have tea, I would never believe you..."

Since there was no sense in beating around the bush, Vahn stared into Solon's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, something very few could manage, as he answered, "Simply put, circumstances require that I make you into my direct subordinate. Now, before you lash out at me, hear me out until the end..."

Though Vahn was speaking calmly at first, his expression and tone become stern to match the fierce expression on Solon's face. Even the cup in their hand had started to tremble slightly as the tension between them began to compound exponentially. In the end, however, Solon made an earnest effort to calm down, breathing somewhat loudly through their button-like nose for several seconds before giving a small nod.

Seeing Solon forcibly restrain themselves, Vahn allowed his own aura to mellow out slightly as he explained, "I won't bother trying to convince you through words. We both knew the current status quo would be impossible to maintain during the coming convergence. The Empire has decided to move forward with some of our larger plans, many of which include the Mage's Association..."

Vahn said he wasn't going to convince Solon with words but that didn't mean he could just avoid explaining what propelled him to move forward with his decision. To this end, he pulled out a stack of documents related to the creation of the Supercolonies, allowing Solon to view them while he added, "As you can see, I intend to plant World Trees at the heart of every Supercolony. Though I can create a Spirit to manage them, I know of your association with the original Yggdrasil of this world. If you are willing to become my subordinate, I will allow you to become a Sacred Tree Spirit, Guardian of the World Trees...what say you, Solon Yggdrasil?"

With how much Solon's hands were trembling, it gave the impression they were moments away from tearing the documents to pieces. Instead, they glared back at Vahn, asking, "Did that flowery asshole tell you...?" To this, Vahn simply nodded his head in response, earning an aggrieved, teeth-gnashing reaction from Solon. In the end, however, they slammed the papers down on the table and shouted, "You already know I can't refuse this! Tell me, what do you want from me you...you bastard!?"

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Would you call this productive...?','Mordred's antics never cease','How to tame your Sacred Tree Spirit...?')