Sword and Shield

With an internal sigh, Ren smiled and made his way to the square table made out of polished wood. Well, there weren't actually any real trees left in any of the labyrinthine worlds, but he had found a creature whose carapace was sort of like wood.

The silver tray he held in his hand carrier three cups; a rather sweet decaf with extra milk, just the way Twi liked it, a dark brown black coffee for the brute, and tea for Sapphire.

He kind of missed his former cohort, but supplemented his desire to join them by listening to their achievements on any form of media. They called themselves the Heralds of Hope now, and very idiotically, were trying to start a rebellion and overthrow all the deities. After the mass murder of the Olympia nebula, which he now regretted not disposing of the bodies, several rebel groups emerged and tried to follow in his footsteps despite not even knowing that he exists. These guys were swiftly silenced by the Hundred great sages and their secret police... 'Mages', they called themselves.

Anyways, Twilight Silver was still the team leader, the thicc red head next to her was Chel, and the calm blue haired woman was Sapphire. Together, the five of them had once been stranded in a remote part of the Labyrinth and they had trekked their way through an entire ruined world to find a gateway.

Saph still hadn't changed in the two years, her blue eyes were cold and calculating..., well, only one was, while the other constantly changed. Sometimes the pupil would take the form of a snake's, sometimes it would turn into that of a cat, and most times of would just turn completely black. She usually wore an eye patch, but since they were usually the first and only people who arrived at the B&B at this time in the morning, she probably did not think it necessary. And then there was Chel. The six plus foot tall lady was as thick asf, yet muscular and pretty while at it. If only she weren't a dumb blonde, Ren would have preferred her over Twilight Silver... well, not really, anyways, she was a hot head whose only solution to literally ANY problem was punching it. She had been marooned on the twenty fifth world for almost a full month prior, and honestly, Ren still believed that roughing it in the ruins suited her more.

"Your coffees, ladies, and tea for Lady Sapphire..."

The girl squad barely spared him a glance and Twi gestured for him to put it down on the table. Ren did so, and then swiftly left, but not without giving a slight bow.

"Here if you need me."

Back in the cosy comfort of his desk, Ren let out a sigh of relief.

'Phew, glad that went well.'

One of the perks of being fateless was that he was in complete control over his own tapestry of invisible golden strings. Fate was far more than just what happens to a person throughout their lives. Fate was actually what defined people, connecting them to each other and themselves. He could attach and detach his own strings from that of other people. Merely talking to a customer in the morning intertwined both their tapestries, causing a memory to form and his existence barely remembered, but once he chose to detach those strings, the person would promptly forget that they had ever met.

That was exactly what he had done this time. He had ever so slightly loosened the intertwining fate, just enough for him to be regarded like that random guy a person passed by on the street everyday as he still did not know what to say if Twi chose to start a conversation with him.

***

Twilight Silver and the Heralds soon finished their coffees and got down to business. Saph was the first to speak, after using her sorcery to create a soundproof bubble first - not that it mattered though, as Ren could still hear them since he was a divine being.

"Twi, a head on collision is a terrible idea. You're talking like Chel right now. If we fight the deities head on, then we will perish and that's that."

The brute raised her hand slightly and shook her head.

"Uh, extreme objection here! We have already spent a full year making preparations and drawing up plans. Fighting them head on is the only way to execute those plans!"

"Come on Chel, all plans are useless after making first contact with the enemy. An ancient military axiom said, the plans always end up useless, but its the planning process that is indispensable..."

"Oh sod off with those ancient military axioms of yours."

The two continued to bicker until Twilight Silver raised her hand slightly.

"Alright girls, its okay. End it there..."

She turned to face Saph first as the blue haired woman sat by her right hand side. Saph was her sword, one of the very few people she could trust to watch her back.

"Saph, you're right, a head on collision with the deities is a barely sane idea. But in a world gone mad, even the barely sane ideas are better than no ideas."

Then she turned to face Chel who sat at her left hand side. Chel was her shield, and the only person in a thousand worlds she could stand against like a solid rock.

"And Chel, you still can't punch your way through every problem. Its impractical. There are many other ways to execute our plans without a head on collision."

Both ladies raised a brow, two orange pupils and a blue pupil followed by a blue slitted left eye stared at her in confusion. Did Twi make a mistake? She had literally just contradicted herself.

Twilight Silver noted their dazed stares and added with a light yet sinister smirk.

"We will fight them head on without letting them know that were fighting them head on."