Zenith watched everything with wide eyes. Though this was his creation, he couldn't help but feel like he was looking at everything with new eyes. He felt impressed with himself and patted himself on the back. How in the world did he manage to make something like this?
Oh, right. He was a genius.
As he was looking around, he spotted something bright and colourful, causing his curious nature to get the better of him. Before he knew it, he was already standing in front of the store which was surrounded by others.
Zenith couldn't help but let out a 'wow' drop at the amazing paintings that he saw. In particular, he caught sight of one depicting Nine in a amazingly creative way. Instantly, he bought it without even haggling about the price.
Happy with his decision, Zenith was practically beaming as he made way from the various stalls. The people in Cosmos City were loud and vibrant, causing the man to feel right at home.
So distracted, he didn't even notice Deltan and the rest shadowing him. The five just couldn't make heads or tails of this man's personality. As far as they could tell, he was rather eccentric and lived at his own pace. He seemed easily distracted and flighty. Along the way, he showed no combat awareness nor abilities whatsoever.
Of course, the thing that caused them the most shock was the way the man seemed to genuinely enjoy the paintings that Valerius had put up for sale. He even bought one at practically light speed!
Lucien still shuddered every time he passed by one of the forbidden rooms filled with the Undying's paintings. Try as he might, he still couldn't make heads or tails of the paintings. They just looked like a mass of colour and blobs to him.
Deltan hesitated before sending a message to Nine, asking if she knew anyone like this as they continued following the flighty man down the city's path.
Though they kept their distance, never once did they lose him. The man's magic that burned brightly within him was bubbly and cheerful in a way that wasn't usually seen, a clear mark of his personality, and the five couldn't help but feel lightly charmed by the man.
He never seemed to take anything seriously and had such an infectious joy when he looked at various things that it made them feel like smiling alongside him. Unconsciously, they couldn't help but feel that a man like this couldn't be a bad person.
Nine appeared before long with Nocturne in tow, raising an eyebrow at them.
Casting a light glance at the streets, her eyes immediately locked onto a sole man who seemed like he would never stop moving, her lips twitching. She wasn't too good with these kinds of people. As she did this, she absentmindedly stepped forward to pull her elder brother into a side hug, disregarding Deltan's long suffering face.
"Teacher!"
Nine nodded at them.
"Haven't seen him in my life," Nine said, her eyes tracking the man's path.
"What should we do then?"
"Leave him. He's hardly a threat right now, but one of you keep track of him for a couple of days."
With that, Nine and Nocturne walked off hand in hand, causing the five of them to stare at the lovey dovey couple, some with more resentment than the others.
"Well, it's not like we're busy now, so let's just keep tracking him?"
Lucien thought about it before deciding to head off. There were some things he wanted to do still. "I'll go ahead first, then. There's a spell I want to continue researching."
Eden and Brooke quickly split off as well, leaving Aciel and Deltan to keep an eye on the man.
"Guess it's just us then," shrugged Deltan.
"Mm," Aciel said, her eyes looking at the various sparkly things on sale.
Way ahead of them, Zenith was already beaming. His hands were full of novel and exciting things. He couldn't help but feel like this was what his purpose in life was. Begone all the boring board meetings, begone all the tedious paperwork!
It was in this moment when Zenith realized that he no longer wanted to be the creator of content for 'Pride and Honour'. He wanted to enjoy life as a player as well!
Instantly making up his mind, Zenith decided that he would leave everything up to the fate of this 'world'. Tony would take care of everything for him.
Inside her office, Lily felt a foreboding chill run up her spine. She looked around cautiously but found nothing out of place. She put on a cardigan.
Zenith arrived in front of the Cosmos City's public library, widening his eyes at the grandeur of it, but shrugged. He had left this part of the design up to his team, and he had to say that it looked impressive.
However, he wasn't interested in the books inside of the library. Instead, he wanted to go to the Lower side of Cosmos City. The Upper side was already this breath-taking. The Lower side must be even more so!
The Lower side of Cosmos City was something that he had painstakingly designed, but to his frustration, it looked like the designs on the spells had been recently updating or something, so he wouldn't be able to enter.
No matter. He was sure that he would be able to find someone who could take him there.
Looking around high and low, Zenith circled around the Cosmos City public library before frowning in frustration. The seals had really all been replaced. Squinting hard at the squiggly lines, Zenith tried to make sense of the design, but before he could do anything, a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, startling him so much that he jumped.
"Woah!" Zenith cried out, spinning around and tripping over himself, landing on his behind.
Deltan raised an eyebrow in a move eerily reminiscent of Nine's expression at his exaggerated reaction as Aciel snorted.
"What do you think you're doing?" Deltan questioned, feeling suspicious. There was no way that he should be able to see those seals leading to the Lower side of Cosmos City, but he was sure that the man had in fact noticed.
Instead of the reaction he was expecting, Zenith brightened up considerably and rushed forward, grabbing his hands. Deltan stared at the man, stunned.
"Your Highness! Great timing! Bring me to the Lower side!"
Two pairs of eyes sharpened at the man's words. How did he know about the Lower side? Even the Undyings who had appeared didn't know about the Lower side of Cosmos City. This man was clearly not a resident of the Cosmos Empire, and he was definitely an Undying.
By right, he should not know about this information, but he clearly did. Who was he?
In a split second, Deltan made a decision.
"Alright. Let's go."
Aciel's eyes widened, shocked. "Deltan!?"
"Don't fret," Deltan communicated by voice transmission. "Lower Cosmos City is our territory. He won't be able to escape or harm us down there."
Aciel hesitated, feeling conflicted. On one hand, he was right, but on the other hand, her protective instincts were acting up. Deltan was due to 'give birth' sometime soon!
The poor woman felt like strangling the prince for his actions. Ah, why did the other blockheads leave! She should have known that she alone wasn't enough to keep his actions in check!
They didn't even know whether or not this man was a threat!
Before Aciel could react, Deltan had already grabbed Zenith and teleported the both of them, causing the woman to let out a strangled sound before she lunged for the seal as well.
The three of them appeared at the outskirts of Lower Cosmos, Aciel glaring daggers at the prince.
"I'm going to tell Teacher," Aciel said in a low voice, glowering at the prince.
Deltan repressed a shudder and the cold sweat that instantly formed at her words. Well, it would be fine. He trusted his gut!
Shocked by the expanse of blue, Zenith waddled forward, testing the feeling. He waved a hand, feeling strangely excited at the resistance that met it. "Woah! This is so much cooler than I thought it would be! How am I breathing!? How does this even work! Can I still swim even though I feel like I'm walking on water?!"
Aciel's lips twitched at the man's reaction, feeling amused despite herself. Though she didn't really think that he was a threat, it was the thought that counted! They were in the middle of 'Darkness Uprising' for goodness' sake!
On the other hand, Deltan paused, as if something in him had awoken hearing Zenith's questions. Just as he was about to try and see whether he could swim as well, Deltan gasped and flinched, sinking lower in the water, which was equivalent to tumbling to the ground in Lower Cosmos.
Deltan clutched his abdomen area as the pain coursed through his veins. He felt like his head was ringing, like an alarm was blasting at him.
Instantly, Aciel was by Deltan's side, trying not to escalate her panic.
"What's wrong!"
At this time, Zenith realized that something had happened, causing the eccentric man to swim over quickly.
"What's wrong?"
Deltan grabbed Aciel's hand weakly, his complexion white. A hole to the space had started to form around his abdomen area, and the prince was desperately trying to prevent any water from entering. Of course, this was a lost cause.
"…ving birth," Deltan struggled to say, his vision swimming from the sheer willpower he was willing into his body to delay it for a while before they got indoors.
"What!"