Northern relished the warmth of his mother’s hug once more before she eventually pulled away and led him to where Nebulous Lord waited. They crossed the hall, climbed a narrow stairway, and arrived at a room on the upper floor.
When Northern entered, whatever he’d been expecting to see—if he’d even been expecting anything—wasn’t what greeted him.
’After everything that happened with the void...’
He’d just been looking forward to seeing Nebulous Lord again. The summon had always carried the most profound connection to the void, the deepest understanding of that dark power. Northern had thought maybe that connection would help him sort through the ss in his head, the questions that wouldn’t stop churning.
But when he stepped into the room, he wasn’t even sure the thing before him could be called a monster anymore.
Nebulous Lord sat in a lotus position, the baby resting on his thighs. He was playing with her, making soft sounds, and—
Laughing.
Northern stood there, rooted to the spot.
’That... is Nebulous Lord?’
The creature Northern currently stared at had a figure carved from dusk and storm. Brown-olive skin stretched over a lean, battle-forged fra, the planes and angles made sharper by the dark gleam of obsidian eyes. Black hair spilled over his face in unruly waves, broken only by the imposing sweep of two ridged horns curving back from his temples like a crown of shadow.
He wore a loose golden robe—clearly provided by the Vallithians, given the fine embroidery along the hem. The fabric draped naturally over his shoulders, settling like it belonged there.
Nebulous Lord looked disturbingly human.
As Northern stepped deeper into the room, the summon raised his head to et his gaze and froze. For a heartbeat, neither moved. Then Nebulous Lord carefully cradled the baby against his chest, stood with fluid grace, and dropped to both knees. He raised the child toward Northern like an offering.
"Master," he said, his voice smooth and asured, achingly human. "I protected your sister."
Northern’s breath caught.
’He killed soone.’
There was only one way a void summon could evolve this far, could gain speech and form like this. Nebulous Lord had devoured a soul. A human soul—or close enough.
Northern found himself more awed than concerned by that fact. His void summon had killed an elf. If Nebulous Lord had done it, Northern knew there had to be a reason. The creature followed his will, understood his priorities. He just needed to hear it confird—needed to know the killing had been necessary, not casual.
He stepped forward and gently took Silver from the summon’s outstretched arms.
The little girl giggled, utterly delighted, completely unaware she’d just been held by sothing that could unmake reality. Northern looked down at her, studying her face. She’d inherited pieces of both parents: raven-black hair like Shin’s, golden eyes like their mother’s. The combination was striking, even on an infant.
But what caught Northern’s attention were her ears.
They were beginning to develop their shape, the tips just slightly pointed.
’Half-elf.’
He glanced at his mother, who stood near the doorway watching them with that soft expression mothers seed to reserve for monts like this.
"I need to know everything about what’s been going on," Northern said quietly. "Mother, can you please excuse for a while?"
Eisha smiled, warm and understanding.
"Of course. You should spend ti with your sister."
She slipped out of the room without another word, leaving Northern alone with Nebulous Lord and the baby.
Silence settled between them, thick and expectant.
Northern moved to the bed and sat down, shifting Silver’s weight in his arms until she was comfortable. Nebulous Lord turned toward him but remained kneeling, head slightly bowed in that posture of deference that looked bizarre now that he wore a human-like face.
"What happened?" Northern asked. "How did you end up like this?"
Nebulous Lord smiled.
"Hia!" Northern jerked back slightly. "Don’t smile. It’s creepy. Give ti to adjust to this."
Aside from finding it hard to re-imagine Nebulous Lord as anything remotely normal, the summon actually was creepy. He hadn’t properly learned how to smile yet, so when he tried, it looked like a creature carved from living darkness was brandishing white teeth with absolutely no hostility whatsoever.
Comical and unsettling in equal asure.
’Like watching a shadow try to convince you it’s friendly.’
Nebulous Lord tilted his head down slightly, looking sullen.
Northern regretted his words imdiately and sighed.
"What happened?"
The void creature’s lightless eyes glittered with sothing that definitely wasn’t light—more like the absence of it, sohow expressing emotion anyway.
"Thank you, Master! It was fun!"
Nebulous Lord’s voice carried genuine enthusiasm.
"I killed many people... well, killing the people was not fun. In utmost sincerity, I do not relish the gore of death. It stinks, and it really clings to my body, and I think I hate dirt..."
He paused, as if checking his own thoughts for accuracy, then nodded affirmatively at Northern.
"Yes. I think I do!"
Northern, slightly taken aback by his summon’s bizarre confession, couldn’t help but laugh.
’A void monster that hates getting dirty....’
"Oh. Ah, so what about it was enjoyable?"
Nebulous Lord grinned—maliciously, widely, and sohow innocently all at once. The combination shouldn’t have been possible, but there it was.
"I spent ti with Mother, and she treated with kindness! At first she was scared of , but I had protected her, so it looked like she had no choice. But I never wanted her to be scared of —it was saddening. So I had to understand my own abilities on my own."
He shifted forward slightly, enthusiasm building.
"Because I couldn’t reach you, I couldn’t just feed off your mories. Because of that, I was put in a position to learn."
His grin widened.
"Learning was fun! I killed a dark elf and got all his mories after I ate him. I got his body too! And then learning a lot of fun stuff beca easier."
He gestured animatedly, almost childlike in his excitent.
"And I wanted to destroy the pursuers—the Stuart elves—but Mother insisted we find shelter first. For Silver’s sake."
Nebulous Lord shook his head, genuine confusion crossing his features.
"I really could never understand why she wanted shelter when we could just persevere and kill them all. Humans are very incomprehensible."
Northern nodded slowly.
’Tell about it.’
"I know, right? Sotis I think about it too."
Then, without planning it, without either of them aning to, both spoke at the exact sa ti in perfect chorus:
"But then it does make them interesting..."
Northern froze.
Silence stretched between them, thick and strange. He stared at Nebulous Lord. Nebulous Lord stared back at Northern, those lightless eyes unblinking.
Neither moved.
The mont hung there, suspended and surreal—master and summon connected by so shared understanding neither had voiced before.
Silver giggled, oblivious to the weight of the mont, delighted by sounds only babies could hear.
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