Despite largely only confirming what he had already heard from the Avatars, Kaleth's first communion with the God of Time was enlightening. He now knew a specific, albeit indirect, cause of the sai'mul invasions that threatened to overrun the world. He even had an idea of what he might try to do to fix it. But he couldn't put that plan into action until Geos allowed him to use the Reservoir again. If he was going to do that, however, he was going to have to master the rest of his new powers. This was infinitely easier said than done.
For starters, he had yet to even figure out the random bursts of altered time flow that seemed to follow him. After days of observation, he had begun to get a sense of when they would occur, but he was only right half the time. He knew now that the power that caused this all to happen lied with him, but he was no closer to consciously controlling it.
The boy turned to look at the dog that continued to snooze on his bed. He ran his hands through the beast's fur, noticing as he did so that it was far rougher than it looked; like massaging a bowl of sand. The beast tensed at his touch, but relaxed after a single glance at his face. Kaleth had seen plenty of geoli like the creature the dog had become, but his father always warned him not to approach them. It was easy to think of them as simple fauna like the wolves they so closely resembled, but this appearance concealed their power. There was, after all, a reason they were considered a counterpart to the maulans and kerunites. These were creatures whose bites could induce rapid aging, a malady that was made even worse if they should ever be warped by dark magic.
As he stroked this one, though, he instinctively knew that he didn't mean him any harm. The geoli didn't respond with any particular enthusiasm to his presence, but seemed to tolerate Kaleth's presence. He considered that Geos had left the creature with him for a reason. He had always wanted a pet, especially since he had come to understand the fauna in his druidic studies, but he couldn't imagine his parents being thrilled with the animal that he had found himself caring for then.
The door to the room opened as Kaleth fawned over the geoli and Aennin walked in, looking exhausted. Considering the many feats of athleticism he had seen from the Avatar of Death thus far, Kaleth couldn't imagine what had him so drained all of a sudden. But it didn't matter; as soon as Aennin saw the geoli, he grinned widely.
"I fucking knew it!" the elf hissed as he hurriedly closed the door. He fell onto his own bed and stared expectantly at Kaleth.
"Yeah, I just found out," he offered awkwardly.
"Well, no shit!" Aennin said with a hint of impatience. "The others are going to be thrilled, you know. To be honest, we were backed into a corner by these sai'mul. The Avatar of Geos is our best hope of fixing all of this now."
Kaleth shook his head and said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but knowing that I'm an Avatar doesn't tell me how I'm supposed to fix anything. Geos isn't letting me use his power to travel through time until I can master the rest of his power."
Aennin rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Makes sense, I suppose. Maula never shuts up about her precious twin. It doesn't surprise me that he'd make the new Avatar earn his trust after the colossal fuck up we're dealing with."
Kaleth stopped petting the geoli and frowned at this response. Even though everything that they were dealing with was certainly the result of his father's carelessness, he couldn't bring himself to stomach the idea that saving his mother was the greatest mistake anyone has ever made.
"I only exist because of that fuck up," Kaleth growled moodily.
Aennin seemed speechless for a change. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Kaleth said, "I can't fix everything. Even with Geos' power, nobody can ask me to put everything back to the way it was if it means I'll cease to exist!"
Aennin finally found his voice in time to retort, "Nobody's saying you need to put everything back the way it was! I'd take any option that allows you to stick around without zombies threatening to break down our doors!"
Kaleth sighed and resumed petting his new companion. "I didn't think you'd care."
Aennin shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I don't even know why I do. Even if you were erased in history, it's not like I'd be able to miss you. Still, I don't hate you as much as most people. You deserve to be here."
Kaleth pulled his knees up to his chest. "Well, what we want isn't going to matter until I pass Geos' test and earn his time traveling power."
Aennin smiled wryly and nodded slowly. "If he's anything like his sister, he's probably stuck you with some stupid riddle that you have to figure out to prove you think alike."
"I'm supposed to learn to understand the path that led us here and be mindful of the future... so I can make the right decisions in the present." Kaleth repeated with an awkward smile.
Aennin frowned as he mulled over the words, finally he muttered, "Well, unless I'm rusty in my 'asinine divine riddle' language, you are halfway there now that you understand what happened. But it sounds like he wants you to do something about it before he'll give you the time traveling abilities."
Kaleth let go of the geoli and stared at Aennin with his eyes bulging in shock. "You don't really think he expects me to stop the sai'mul, do you?"
Aennin shook his head and rolled his eyes. "What am I, a pasty boil on your ass?"
"What? I don't--!" Kaleth sputtered.
"It seems obvious to me what needs to happen," Aennin said as he jumped back to his feet and crossed the room to Kaleth. "The other Avatars and I are going to have to find our own way out of this mess and you're going to help us."
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