"I'd rather you not jinx my future, thank you," Cosmo replied, tone clipped yet faintly defensive. "What did you want to talk about, anyway?"
"Right. You see, I witnessed an explosion. It resembled what one might imagine as a parade of rainbows and lightning," she began, and he, in turn, could only avert his gaze.
"Strangely, woven among those arrays of light was a signature uncannily akin to the product of my own heartfelt belief and faith," she continued. "Even stranger was that the perpetrator, just days ago, had questioned my beliefs as though oblivious to the reasoning behind the path I tread."
Cosmo was running out of directions to look while avoiding her eyes, yet he persisted.
"Tell me, my Dear Junior." When he finally met Clarisse's gaze, her lips appeared to be smiling, but her eyes were absolutely not cooperating. "It wasn't my authority you usurped, so how could you possibly have used my Grace without understanding my faith?"
Clarisse wasn't merely a worshipper. Truthfully, she had been born an Eminent.
Using her authority, he could have performed a different, weaker, yet still effective rendition of the Rhapsody.
But in the heat of the moment, he had drawn upon everything in Nebula's current arsenal that his authority could access.
Now, it had come back to bite him.
"So what is the truth, Cosmo?" she asked. "Were you mocking me that night? Did you secretly become a worshipper? Or… have you possibly read that book? The one I have never seen?"
One thing was clear.
This wasn't an interrogation Cosmo could easily escape.
***
"So… will you finally explain it to me?"
"..."
"I saw it, you know? And honestly, I've had a feeling about it for a very long time. How long were you planning to keep hiding it from me if none of this ever happened?"
Blue had pulled her brother aside to force an answer out of him.
He had been concealing his true level from her for as long as she could remember, letting her believe the issue of proximity was shared between them.
But the reason she was bitter wasn't what most would assume.
"Of all the times we've been in danger, when you could have done so much better, why did you risk your own safety just to keep pretending with me?"
Red grimaced at her words but could only look down.
"Was I wrong to think you needed me just as much as I needed you? Were you just patronizing me this whole time?"
"No, of course not!" he finally replied. "You're my one and only sister, and I've always needed you. You've helped me more than I could ever count, and that's not something I could fake. It wasn't like that at all…"
"Then what was it, Red? If you weren't just playing along with my delusions, what exactly were your intentions?"
Placing his hands on her shoulders to secure her full attention, he made a resolute expression.
"Because I thought it'd be better if it was something we overcame together. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it. You're way stronger on your own than I was ever smart enough to see. I mean, look at you. Only a few days apart and you're already stronger than anyone would believe."
To this, she folded her arms and turned away.
"W–well, that's right. So don't ever underestimate me again. I'm now officially the stronger twin, so I still get to keep being the big sister."
"That's right," he laughed. "No argument there."
She, too, allowed herself a small smile.
Then she quickly turned back with a stern expression.
"But from now on, no more secrets like that. I always tell you how I'm feeling, so it's time you start doing the same. Otherwise, I won't let it slide so easily next time."
"Yeah, yeah. I got it."
***
"You want to know what kind of person he really is?"
Oliver's attention flicked over as Tyson's question caught him off guard.
"I think I get it. You're feeling lost, and now you can't find any justification for continuing your feud with him? That's genuinely amusing."
Tyson frowned before letting out a slow sigh.
"That's not it at all. Believe it or not, I never wanted to hate him, and I still don't. But for some reason…" He couldn't quite articulate his feelings about Cosmo.
He wasn't even sure there was a logical way to describe it.
"Everything he does seems to agitate you and put you on edge, even when it's just the average tolerable annoyances?"
Tyson blinked.
"Yes… that's exactly it," he agreed. "I was hoping you'd be able to tell me why. Or at least shift my perspective."
"Why is that?"
"Isn't it obvious? You're his best friend, aren't you?"
CLACK!
The watch in Oliver's hand suddenly slipped and hit the ground. And for a long moment, he didn't pick it up.
Seeing this and wondering if he had said something he shouldn't have, Tyson retrieved it and handed it back to him.
When he received it, Oliver simply continued as though nothing had happened.
"I wouldn't call us the best of friends," Oliver answered after a few moments. "But I do know there are plenty of people who feel the same as you. Except quite a few have a concrete reason."
Tyson had to mull that over.
It wasn't as though he felt obligated to recede his disdain for Cosmo. But as nauseating as it was, he had to admit he owed his life to him on more than one occasion.
Upholding any grievances at that point went against his principles.
Then again, this was Cosmo he was talking about. It was unlikely the latter even cared about Tyson's perception of him.
CLAP!
"Yo!"
Regardless of where they were, Cosmo's call for attention was always effective.
To where he stood with Clarisse, each of them approached.
Apparently, whatever Clarisse had said to him had been deeper than they expected, because she did not seem pleased in the slightest.
If anything, she looked more annoyed than they had ever seen.
"There's somewhere I'd like you to go with me," Cosmo suddenly stated.
It was almost comedic how often he spoke as though he were politely requesting something, yet acted as if their answer had already been decided.
Even now, he turned and began walking off before they could respond.
***
Hours later, even after night had fully settled in, they still had no idea where he was taking them, and he never answered. He only ever said there was no description he could give that they'd understand. Not until they saw it for themselves.
Rita was able to walk on her own throughout the journey, yet no one could miss how close Blue hovered to her, trying not to be noticed.
Argenta sat on Red's shoulder, making them an odd pair, but it had been Blue's request.
To the others, she claimed she suggested it because Red was the most "empty‑handed," which made no sense, as they all knew she would have loved to carry Argenta herself. It was even more uncharacteristic that she'd make him carry the little girl the entire way.
But between the pair, she had chosen it as a small physical punishment of sorts for all his years of lying to her.
With that, she decided she'd call it even.
Eventually, even in the darkness, they noticed they were walking downhill.
"This is…"
Tyson was the only other person who seemed to recognize where Cosmo had taken them, but even he was confused as to what the purpose of their journey had been.
When they reached the bottom of the slope, all they could see was a large pond.
A pond whose entire surface was blanketed by a multitude of giant lily pads, each holding white flowers with gold and pink hues and a luminescent core.
As soon as Red put her down, Argenta was quick to run ahead toward the shore with utmost curiosity.
Cosmo followed a moment later, and after glancing at each other, the rest did too.
Without saying a word, Cosmo suddenly snapped his fingers, something they could only assume was him executing some kind of technique.
Then, after a few seconds, inconsistent rays of light began to flash out of openings deep within the water.
A reaction had been artificially sparked.
"Those are…"
"Giant bubbles!" Argenta, now kneeling beside the pond and peering directly into it, finished Red's thought.
This prompted Cosmo to lift her away from the surface by her torso.
"Hey–"
WHOOSH!
She was about to protest until those same bubbles swelled up to the surface, releasing their noticeably high‑pressure pockets of air above the water.
Along with that, dust of luminescent matter, initially mixed with the water, flew out as well, revealing where the earlier bursts of light had stemmed from.
They couldn't believe their eyes. It was as if a party involving thousands of fairies was discreetly taking place beneath the world and was now bleeding into the surface.
At least, that was how Argenta would describe it.
For the others, they could barely make heads or tails of what was before them.
But that feeling would be dwarfed by the awe that followed Cosmo's next words.
"That's not all, you know? Try looking up."
He pointed to the sky, and they followed his gesture, only to be left even more stunned.
Petals from flowers, unlike the ones on the pads, joined and separated, shifting their shapes at random intervals yet still instilling a recognizable idea within each of them.
It was a beautiful staircase of flowers reaching toward the sky.
After a few moments of observing this phenomenon, Cosmo finally chose to explain.
"Do you remember the field of flowers from that day?"
As Cosmo spoke, those who would have nodded in response could only keep their mouths agape.
He continued, fully aware of their astonishment.
He had discovered that the bioluminescent seeds in this lake and the seeds from the flowers in the field a bit away were the same.
Meaning that on certain occasions, the winds carried those soft, flimsy petals and their seeds all the way to the lake.
Of course, the flowers dissolved with time, but their seeds remained trapped in the depths until a disturbance caused the gas beneath to erupt as the bubbles they saw now.
Pairing these events created a stroboscopic effect that made the petals in the air appear distorted, or even seem to rise toward the sky above.
It might have been better for Cosmo to keep this to himself and allow the wonder to remain mysterious, but he simply wanted to quell any idea that he was the one responsible for such a scene.
Without interference, the occurrences that could create it could simultaneously happen only about twice a year.
All he did was spark it a bit earlier, even if saying all that might have caused a bit of disappointment.
Then again, he truly had nothing to worry about.
"I never would have thought this kinda thing could happen on its own. Honestly, I was starting to really get sick of plants," Yon commented, and quite a few of them nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, same. Even now that I know how it happens, I still can't believe what I'm seeing. I wonder if this was something that could have happened if the Spire had been able to devour this boundary fully."
"That is difficult to predict," Clarisse responded to Red's wonder. "We know its goal was to expand indefinitely, but it is hard to say how it perceived the natural world."
Even though they knew most organic life apart from plant life had been ended by the Spire's influence on the boundary, which, in turn, caused the overgrowth, it was still hard to tell what other parts of Hortusole had been changed or removed.
Did the Spire want to merge with the world as it expanded? Or did it want to completely change its form?
That was not something they'd easily be able to determine after neutralizing it.
"Ngh–"
When some of the petals drifted close enough, Argenta tried to reach up and grab them, but her reach was simply too short.
Blue happily lifted her out over the pond, and when her tiny hands finally touched one of the petals, it broke into pieces.
This only made the two of them laugh, followed by a few others.
Behind them, however–
"So, did you just guess all this recently? Or were you planning to bring us here since the first time you tossed me in?"
"Oh? Is this you finally admitting to a grudge?" Cosmo joked as Tyson whispered next to him.
"Just answer the damn question."
"Well, who's to say?"
"You are…"
"Haha, the answer depends on whichever sounds more impressive."
"I knew you hadn't changed a bit," Tyson sighed.
"Speaking of…" Cosmo suddenly walked apart from the group, then turned to face them.
And when all their attention finally settled on him, he spoke.
"I made a crucial mistake among many since the first day we met, and that was not considering what exactly this life meant to you."
He admitted it plainly.
"Without considering how you perceive the world, or how you have been treated, I still acted as if your answer went without saying."
He referenced an answer to a question they hadn't heard yet, but it was clear he would be getting to that momentarily.
"The Nebula's main Directive has changed, and I won't be able to wait until each of you blooms anymore. Instead, I'll pose this same question to you in one orbital age from now," he declared. And in the same way he had asked them to gamble on him that first day, he asked his strange question.
"When you have to choose, would you preserve humanity over all else? Or would you save the world at large, and leave humanity to its fate?"