Chapter 79

A PEACEFUL MOMENT

Alexander’s stomach led him downstairs, gnawing hunger overriding everything else after nearly a full day of sleep. He followed the sounds of voices and laughter through the house, expecting to find the team in the kitchen.

Instead, he stepped onto the ground floor and saw them out on the expansive terrace.

Annie hung from one of the exterior light fixtures, fairy lights wrapped around her arms as she strung them between posts. The rock alien stood below, patiently holding up the next section of lights. The multi-limbed alien had somehow grabbed all the outdoor furniture at once—two tables, eight chairs, even the umbrellas—and was repositioning everything with casual effort.

Augustus stood at the grill wearing a “Kiss the Chef” apron over his casual clothes, beer in one hand, tongs in the other. Smoke rose from what looked like enough meat to feed a small army.

“Ah, there’s the great sidekick,” Augustus called out, not turning from the grill.

Annie snickered, tilting backwards dangerously until she was upside down to look at him. “We’re having a party! New house celebration. Plus, you know, the whole quest thing.”

Alexander stood there, still processing. Talia emerged from inside carrying a tray of glasses, Gilly trailing behind with napkins and plates. She passed close enough to touch his shoulder, a brief squeeze that might have been accidental if not for the way her fingers lingered for just a moment. Their eyes met.

“It was Annie’s idea,” she said quietly.

Alexander found himself smiling. “Of course it was.”

“Grab a chair and relax,” Augustus called over. “You’ve worked hard enough. Tonight, we feast!”

The spread was impressive. Steaks, sausages, grilled vegetables, and several salads covered half the table. The other half held alien cuisine: fermented something that smelled like low tide, what appeared to be metallic paste, and other dishes Alexander couldn’t identify.

“Gilly!” Augustus called out once everyone had started eating. “Got something special for you.”

The blue-gilled alien looked up from his plate of kelp, six eyes blinking in sequence. Augustus held out a perfectly grilled fish, golden-brown with char marks.

“Had Talia check it was safe for your species. She tells me your world’s mostly water, not much fire-based cooking. Thought you might want to try how we do fish here on Earth.”

Gilly approached cautiously, accepting the plate with webbed hands. “Fire-cooked? We are elevated race, given stars by others. No fire on water world. Only when leaving do some try...”

He took a small bite. His gills fluttered rapidly, eyes widening.

“Is... is good! Very good! Taste like ocean but also like... like warmth?”

Annie grinned around a mouthful of steak. “Welcome to barbecue, Gilly!”

Conversation flowed as the sun tracked lower. Alexander asked about news while he’d been unconscious.

“Santiago Systems is in full damage control,” Talia reported. “ Their stock’s down eighteen percent now. They’ve lost their second Tier 3 superhuman and people are demanding answers. A bunch of their investors are suing, too, claiming that they didn’t do enough to protect their intellectual property. Guess the news is out that their entire cybernetics catalogue leaked.”

“There were power grid failures across France too,” Augustus added. “Massive blackouts that lasted about an hour before they compensated for it.”

Talia nodded, cutting her steak with precise movements. “They were probably using Star Titan’s brother as a living generator. When he disappeared, so did a massive power source.”

“Santiago’s getting destroyed from all sides,” Annie said, practically bouncing in her seat. “My fans have been flooding their tip lines with fake Grimnir sightings. Thousands of them. They’ve got us in fifty cities simultaneously.”

Alexander raised an eyebrow at her shirt—”I SURVIVED A MULTIVERSAL INVASION AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS STUPID QUEST”—but said nothing.

A sudden blast of sound made everyone jump. Death metal screamed from speakers near the pool, aggressive drums and howling guitars shattering the evening calm. The crystalline alien stood by the sound system, having apparently pressed something it shouldn’t have.

It made a chiming sound of panic, frantically pressing buttons. Alexander reached out with Technopathy and switched it to something less aggressive. “Perhaps we stick to dinner music,” he suggested mildly.

“Pretty music! Chilli dance!” Chilli squawked from his perch, moving left and right while bobbing its head.

The tension broke with laughter. Even the rock alien rumbled in what might have been amusement.

While he was distracted, Annie reached across the table for a piece of bacon, only to have Droney dart between her hand and Alexander’s plate, beeping twice in warning.

“Is it... protecting your food?” Annie asked, reaching further experimentally.

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Three sharp beeps. Droney positioned itself between her and Alexander’s bacon.

“I was just testing!” Annie protested, pulling her hand back. “Totally wasn’t actually going to steal it…”

Two beeps.

As he ate, Alexander noticed the aliens had gradually drifted inside, giving Grimnir privacy. Just the four of them now, under the fairy lights Annie had strung up. The sun was lower, painting everything in the sunset.

“So,” Alexander said, setting down his fork. “Is everyone ready for what’s coming?”

Augustus wiped his mouth with a napkin, considering. “As ready as three days can make me. Though, I’ll be honest, I expect my magic is parlor tricks compared to what a real wizard from another world probably wields.”

“You’ve been training hard,” Talia pointed out. “I saw the destroyed trees.”

“Practicing commands with the drone, yes. It’s learned my patterns well enough. But we have no idea what the terrain will be like. Could be arctic tundra, could be volcanic wasteland, could be a library for all we know.” He took a sip of beer. “I’ve been researching fictional wizards since there’s no real intelligence on actual ones. Let’s just say I’m hoping for the sort that shoots fireballs and lightning, and not the ones that have time manipulation.”

“At least you have a plan,” Annie said. “I’ve been looking up dinosaur anatomy online. Did you know they might have had feathers? Somehow that makes it worse.”

“What’s your strategy?” Alexander asked.

“Go for the eyes, joints, maybe the underbelly if I can get under it.” She shrugged. “Honestly? I’m just going to have to wing it and hit it really hard.”

Augustus leaned forward. “Don’t forget that your drone can provide distractions.”

Annie’s eyes widened. “Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that thing. It has glitter bombs!”

Despite everything, Alexander smiled. Then he turned to Talia. “What about you?”

“I’m confident,” she said simply. “ The knights follow forms. Their blade wave attacks have predictable patterns. I’ve been reviewing what footage we have from the invasion, and their technique is skilled but rigid. My plan is to have the drone magnetize to their sword at the critical moment, then I’ll close the distance and finish it.”

“What about a firearm?” Augustus asked.

“I’ll take a rifle, but I’m expecting my opponent will be the equivalent of a Tier 2, stronger than the Tier 1s we already faced.” She traced a finger along the table’s wood grain absently. “We’ve already seen the reduced effectiveness of ranged weapons. Pandora and Ripper both took hits that should have dispersed enough energy to fry their insides, and they treated them like flesh wounds. It’s something to do with how our Will flows from us to what we wield, but doesn’t carry along with the projectiles.”

Augustus nodded thoughtfully. Then they all turned to Alexander.

“What about you?” Annie asked. “You’ve been locked in that workshop for three days and had no time to practice.”

Alexander flexed his fingers, imagining the weight of the gauntlets. “My equipment exceeded expectations. The gauntlets let me store Electrokinesis in capacitors, then release it as directed lightning. Overcomes my range limitation artificially.”

“How powerful?” Talia asked.

“More than I thought. In my haste, I didn’t actually calculate it. Vaporized a boulder during testing.” He saw their expressions and added, “Complete accident. I skipped some intermediate testing.”

Annie whistled. “And the cultivator?”

“From what I understand, based on our stories, they cultivate internal energy. Enhanced physical abilities and martial arts mastery, possibly energy projection. I’m planning to use Metallokinesis for evasion and range, then rely on the gauntlets to strike from a distance. I’ll have Droney, too, but I had no time to build in any new enhancements.” He paused. “Beyond that, I’ll adapt as needed.”

A brief silence settled over the table. They were really doing this. In less than two hours, they’d be fighting for their lives on unknown battlegrounds against opponents from other realities.

“Well,” Annie said, breaking the tension, “at least my dinosaur can’t cast spells.”

“That you know of,” Augustus added dryly.

As he ate, Alexander watched his team. Annie would occasionally stare out at the ocean, her usual energy dimming for a few seconds before she’d snap back with another joke. Talia’s fingers traced patterns on the wooden table, unconsciously following the grain while experimenting with her power. Everyone drank a little, but carefully. No one was getting drunk. Not tonight.

The sun started dipping below the horizon, painting the Mediterranean gold and red. Alexander felt the moment arriving, that pause where someone should say something. He stood, awkward but determined, raising his glass.

“To the strangest family and friends on Earth,” he began after a moment of thought. Augustus raised his beer. Annie lifted her wine. Talia held her water glass steady. “To Grimnir and standing for something in a world gone mad.” His voice grew steadier. “And to victory, because there’s nothing that can stand between us and our Dreams.”

“That was super lame,” Annie said immediately, but her grin was wide and genuine as she clinked her glass against his. “To victory.”

“To victory,” the others echoed.

They were midway through dessert when the System notification appeared.

Conversation died mid-word. Forks paused halfway to mouths. The easy atmosphere evaporated like morning mist.

It was new. Different from the personal, internalized messages that were reminiscent of their old implants’ functionality.

It was a blue window with golden cursive script that had materialized before each of them simultaneously.

It was yet another reminder of how the System was adapting, changing… growing. Stretching its tendrils further and further into their world.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE]

Quest: Multiversal Individual Combat Challenge

Time Remaining: 90 minutes

Acceptance window closes in 30 minutes.

ACCEPT? YES | NO

They looked at each other around the table. Alexander met Augustus’s eyes first. The older man’s expression was calm, resolved. He gave the slightest nod.

Annie’s jaw tightened, her usual humor nowhere to be found. But she nodded too, firm and decisive.

Talia took a breath, fingers stilling on her glass. When she nodded, it was with the same precision she brought to everything.

No words were spoken. No grand declarations or promises to survive. They all knew what this meant. Some of them might not sit at this table again.

Alexander selected Yes, feeling the System’s acknowledgment wash through him. Around the table, he knew the others were doing the same.

From inside the aliens watched in silence, understanding even without words that something irrevocable had just happened. Talia had warned them in advance about what was happening, advising each of them to decline the quest for their own safety.

She’d also informed them that they would be on their own for a time, because, despite the advice, she and the team were going to accept it. For power. For their future.

Grimnir sat there in the gathering dusk, united in their choice, but each alone with what was to come.