Ghost and the Writer

Master's and Familiar's love

Mandy was shocked and looked up at August, afraid of how he would take it, but the only expression his face had was annoyance.

He let out a long breath, then spoke up. "Gather up, I'll now demonstrate how a master's and familiar's love looks like."

Eh?

Both Leum and Veri had 'oh shit' written on their faces.

The still frightened future travelers showed some confusion, but also not as much fear as before. They did, like August asked, gather closer.

Tiamat looked amused, some expectation of entertainment on her face. There was one more face with a similar look on it - Marcus. For some reason he was blending in with the time travelers again, this time, though, Stephanie wasn't next to him.

"My most trusted and beloved familiar Leum," August started. "We share an unbreakable bond of warmth, right?" He asked.

Leum had the eyes of a dead fish. Veri looked somewhat relieved although a bit apologetic too. Mandy could tell that Leum would be the one in deep shit, not Veri.

Well, yeah. Looked like for some reason August knew what Leum had told the kids the day prior... hm? Right-- this fog. Mandy had somewhat forgotten and passed this detail over, but true - this fog was a part of him? He knew what happened in this fog. Was he perhaps following along with the main events despite doing something else at the same time?

"Right," Leum confirmed looking sideways. He was scared.

"My dear familiar whom I can't help but cherish unconditionally, are you perhaps a Terrean at soul?"

Those words made Veri, Tiamat and Marcus crack up. Although they stifled any laughter that might come out.

Leum looked embarrassed, but he couldn't retort.

"Terrean?" Mandy asked.

Albus had popped up next to them, but Mandy only noticed when she said something. "Higher rank Terreans are famous for withholding information with the goal of letting others jump to wrong conclusions."

She also added. "When August asked if knowing about the future would be a useful reference, Leum replied with - 'A warning tale against trying to do everything on your own without relying on those around you, but you are relying on us, so--' Leum did not say it was not a useful reference, as you can observe." 

Albus was looking at Leum with a cold look. She was angry, Mandy didn't think she had ever heard someone's voice contain as much ice as Albus's did at the moment.

"Leum, did you know Mandy was the titan who would end the world?" August asked.

"Yes," Leum replied.

August sighed and let out a breath, releasing his presence. This time his hair did not grow longer, but his presence was a lot like a raging storm. He felt like a sea with waves as high as skyscrapers.

But even so, the hand that held Mandy's was warm.

The future travelers looked both awed and frightened, but they could neither move nor avert their eyes.

"Kneel," August said to Leum.

And it seemed like the very air in the atmosphere pushed Leum down on his hands and knees. A divine order. Everyone felt in their gut that nothing and no one would be able to go against an order like that.

August picked up Mandy while both she and everyone was in a daze similar to observing lightning strike right next to them.

Then August went to take a seat on Leum's back.