Chapter 45 - As Old as the Stars

That night, Blue and the team sat in the common area of their hotel floor. A knock came at the door. Chris stood and answered it. Elias stood in the doorway, Klaus directly behind him.

"So." Elias looked past Chris at the room. "How about those beers?"

Before anyone could respond, Aaron, Olivia, Arthur, and Terrance came down the hall carrying food and beer.

Darrien looked at the assembled group and shook his head. "No way am I drinking with the EU Association president, my guildmaster, and my evil sister in the same room." He crossed his arms. "You're all crazy."

Klaus stepped forward. "I am not the Association president tonight." He looked around the room. "Just a proud father. And an old friend of Titus and Arthur."

Darrien looked at Elias. "Seriously?"

Elias shrugged. "My team is right behind me. They brought hefeweizen, brats, and döners."

The rest of the German team filed in behind him. Somebody found enough chairs. Somebody else cleared the table. Within minutes, the room had food spread across every surface and conversations running in two languages simultaneously. Beer, stories of gates, games, and laughter filled the room.

Darrien, very drunk, looked at Elias across the table. "So your dad is Santa Klaus." He pointed at Klaus. "Do you get a lot of presents?"

The room laughed. Everyone but Klaus, who was now standing directly behind Darrien. "My reindeer and bag of presents are just outside on the street." His voice was pleasant. "Care to take a look?"

He picked Darrien up, walked to the window, and threw him out of it. Cynthia was on her feet immediately. Metal scraps from her bag formed a hook that shot out the window and caught Darrien before he reached the concrete below. She pulled him back up slowly.

Darrien came back through the window, looked at Klaus, and pointed outside. "There were no reindeer. You lied to me."

Samantha took a sip of her beer and muttered quietly, "I've been wanting to do that for a long time."

Elias stood to grab a slice of pizza, then stopped and turned around. "Okay. All jokes aside." He looked around the room. "How did you do what you did to us out there?"

One of the S-rank assassins leaned forward and smacked Blue on the back. "Yeah. One second I was clashing with this guy. The next I'm in the stands. No transition. Nothing."

Elias looked at Eve. She threw both hands up. "I don't know. I genuinely have no idea what happened."

Aaron tilted his head. Klaus looked unimpressed.

"I'm serious." Eve looked around the table. "I have no clue."

Nomi was resting on Blue's shoulder the way she always did. Then the dark fluorescent light appeared. Darrien screamed and threw his beer directly at her. Kuk wiped her face slowly. She looked at Darrien and raised one hand. He went through the window again.

She watched him disappear into the Berlin night, then turned to Samantha. "You really should try it sometime. It's exhilarating."

She turned back to the table. "If you must know, it was me." She looked at Elias. "My name is Kuk. They know me as Nomi, Eve's companion."

"What exactly did you do?" Aaron asked.

"Nothing special." She folded her hands in her lap. "I manipulated time and space."

Everyone looked at Eve. Eve stared at Kuk.

Chris stood slowly. "Why did you wait until now to show yourself?"

"I couldn't. Not with only one tail." She looked at Eve and bowed her head slightly. "With three tails, I can maintain this form for extended periods. But using my power drains me significantly. I do apologize for not telling you sooner."

"Why did you interfere in the fight at all?"

Kuk tilted her head. "Interfere?" She looked at the assassin who had asked. "Am I not her companion? Am I not permitted to fight alongside my master?" She glanced around the table. "And to be completely honest..." She picked up a glass of water and took a small sip. "I was bored."

Elias dropped down beside Eve and held out a beer. He sighed. "Looks like I need to find a spirit user for my team. Or get considerably stronger." He glanced at Kuk. "If I want to beat you next year."

Kuk reached over and took the beer from Elias's hand before Eve could grab it. "There is no stronger spirit companion." She took a sip. "But you are certainly welcome to try."

Darrien pointed at Elias from across the table and started laughing. "You just got told by a fox."

The night dragged on. The elders filtered out one by one. The teams found corners and couches and eventually stopped moving altogether. Empty bottles covered the tables. Half-eaten döners sat forgotten on plates. Someone's jacket was draped over someone else's shoulder.

Blue stood on the balcony alone, looking out over Berlin. A hand landed on his shoulder. He looked back.

Kuk stood beside him, smiling. "Such a burden for someone so young."

Blue looked at her. "Young?" He glanced her over. "You look my age."

Kuk laughed softly. "I am as old as the stars."

"You're connected to the Golden Gods."

"I am," Kuk said. "But I cannot tell you what you want to know."

Blue exhaled. "Figures." He looked back out at the city. "What can you tell me?"

"That there are many who wish to protect you. Who want to see you grow into what you are meant to become."

Blue's hand closed around the balcony railing. Then he hit it. "Grow." His voice came out harder than he intended. "Grow. No matter what I do, I can't grow anymore. I've hit every wall there is to hit."

Kuk opened her palm. The map Aaron had given him appeared in her hand. She held it out.

"You can grow." She waited until he took it. "But you know what you must find first."

Blue looked at the map.

"Find the pendant, Blue." Her voice was quiet. "All of it." She looked at him for a moment. "I will always protect Eve and your friends. She is my master. But you must go where you need to go. And you need to rest."

She snapped her fingers. Blue was asleep before he finished exhaling. Kuk carried him inside and laid him down beside Eve. She stood over both of them for a moment, then looked up, past the ceiling, past the building, past Berlin, as if she could see through all of it to wherever the Golden Gods were watching from.

"You are all too cruel sometimes."

The next morning, Elias and his team said their goodbyes and headed out.

The tournament was over. Eve and the team had left Berlin with something they hadn't arrived with, enemies in some rooms and friends in others. Both felt earned. They followed Aaron down to the basement of the Berlin Association. The portal opened. They stepped through.

Columbus hit them all at once. The entire Buckeye Guild was waiting on the other side. Friends. Family. Staff. Every person who had watched the tournament from home packed into the Association basement, cheering the moment the team came through the portal. Blue looked up and found David and Mary in the crowd. Mary didn't wait. She crossed the distance and wrapped her arms around him before he could say a word.

"I'm so proud of you." Her voice was muffled against his shoulder. "So proud."

David stepped in behind her and put a hand on Blue's back.

"Hell of a show, son." He smiled. "Hell of a show."

Mary pulled back and immediately found Eve. Then Cynthia. Then Samantha. She worked her way through the team, telling each of them she was proud and inviting everyone to the house for a celebratory dinner. The team politely declined almost in unison. They loved Mary. They were also exhausted in a way that food couldn't fix yet.

Blue and Eve climbed into David and Mary's car. Aaron appeared at the window before David pulled away. Blue rolled it down.

"I'll start the paperwork tomorrow." Aaron leaned on the door. "Get you registered as a ranker so you can submit for your guild license. I'll make sure there's no exam. Even if I have to go through Titus to make it happen." He looked past Blue at Eve, then at Nomi curled on her lap. "You all did well." He stepped back. "Take the week. You've earned it and more."

"Thank you," Blue and Eve said at the same time.

David pulled away from the curb. They drove through Columbus. Blue watched the city pass. The gates visible in the distance. The reconstruction still ongoing in certain blocks. Home. Then David drove past their street.

Blue looked up. "Wait, where are we going?"

"Just a couple blocks from here." David kept his eyes on the road. "Don't worry about it."

"You didn't."

Mary looked back from the passenger seat and smiled. "We did."

Eve leaned forward from the back seat. "Did what? What's happening?"

"You'll see, sweetheart." Mary folded her hands in her lap.

David turned into a driveway. A small house. Three bedrooms. The same one Mary had pulled the pamphlet for and wouldn't stop talking about. The one Blue had agreed to look at and then thrown the pamphlets away. Everyone got out. David reached into his pocket and tossed the keys across the roof of the car. Blue caught them.

"It's yours." David leaned against the car. "Your mom spent the entire time you were gone furnishing it. All you have to do is walk in."

Blue unlocked the front door and stepped inside. Living room. Couches. A television. Bookshelves. Everything already placed like it had always been there. Mary's taste in every corner of it. He moved through the house slowly, then found the basement door. He went down the stairs. At the bottom, he stopped. All the equipment David had built for him over the years. The wooden dummy. The mats Mary had bought. New additions alongside the old ones, heavier bags, better equipment, things David had clearly been planning for a while. A tear ran down his cheek. Eve came down the stairs behind him and stopped at his side. She looked at the basement for a moment, then at him.

She took his hand. "They really do love you, Blue." She kissed him on the cheek.