Although Cecil had left, the weight of their conversation remained.
The moment the door closed, Leon put his mask back in his inventory and tilted his head up. His hands covered his face before sliding downwards, cupping his mouth and nose as he took a deep, calming breath.
Of all the possible differences in this world he mentally prepared himself for, Mark having a sister wasn't one of them. That alone changed so much. He didn't know what to do anymore.
After that reveal, he couldn't find the will to tell Cecil about Nolan's "redemption arc". The bomb Cecil dropped blew everything else into the wayside. If Nolan still decided to fulfill his mission, would he end up leaving the planet and reflecting on what he did like in the show?
Leon could no longer say for sure. For all he knew, Nolan in this world could be even more of a loyalist than the one he remembered. Or maybe because he now had a daughter on top of having a son, maybe this world's Nolan softened up far more and wouldn't go through with his mission.
"You seem stressed. Is something wrong?" Lily asked. "I thought things went well with that old man."
"No, you're right. Things did go relatively well. It's just…" Leon sighed. "It's just that compared to before, I have far more variables to worry about now."
"Care to discuss what these 'variables' are? Being kept out of the loop is impeding my ability to assist you more effectively."
"I was going to tell you everything anyway. Just had to prioritize some things first. You want the explanation now?"
Lily paused in thought and shook his head. "It can wait. You need some well-deserved rest."
Rest. Right.
Placing a hand on his chest, Leon applied Healing Light on himself. The lingering aches, bruises, and injuries from his fight, hidden under his clothes, faded away within seconds.
He poured himself a glass of cold water.
That Hypnos Mask reward I got before will be put to use soon. And speaking of rewards… How many points do I have now?
Leon checked the log of feats he had ignored in favour of focusing on the conversation. Though he did remember the feat he got just before Cecil teleported in. It rewarded him 500 points for "inciting immense panic within the GDA and its Director".
His lips curved into a smile as he took a sip. That had given him a good chuckle. With the 500 points he got from it, that landed him just over 5,000, barely enough points for one Diamond Ticket.
Fingers crossed, he hoped the other feats he got during the conversation was enough for another Diamond Ticket.
[Feat Achieved! Materially altered Earth's defensive posture against multiple existential threats long before a single engagement occurred. Reward: 1,250 GP]
[Feat Achieved! Discovered through external contradictions that your intelligence originates from an alternate universe's timeline. Reward: 500 GP]
[Feat Achieved! Successfully recruited Cecil Stedman, Director of the Global Defense Agency, as a provisional ally. Reward: 2,000 GP]
[Feat Achieved! Secured official GDA resources for the safe extraction and resettlement of 23 trafficking victims. Reward: 250 GP]
[Total GP: 9,024]
"Ghk!"
Eyes wide, Leon choked and coughed out the water that nearly went up his nose. Calm as ever, Lily grabbed a piece of paper towel and handed it to him.
"Thank you," Leon coughed.
"What happened this time?" Lily asked.
"Just surprised by my gacha points. That's all," Leon wiped the table and threw the paper towel into the bin, "I got just over nine thousand GP now."
"That is indeed an impressive number," Lily said, tossing another piece of kiwi into his mouth. "What tickets will you purchase?"
"One Diamond Ticket."
"And the rest?"
Leon shrugged. "Not sure. I'll decide based on what I get from the Diamond."
[Requested 1 Diamond Ticket. Cost: 5,000 GP. Confirm purchase?]
Confirm.
[Purchase confirmed. You have received 1 Diamond Ticket.]
[Remaining Gacha Points: 4,024]
Roll!
Leon didn't open his eyes until he heard the sound cue signalling the end of the animation. Dazzling gold filled his vision.
[Gaia's Child]
|Legendary Trait|
You are the child of Gaia herself, and now mother nature is your actual mom. Anyone trying to attack you in a forest is asking for death as mother nature will actively defend you, branches of trees will move like snakes with spear tips harder than metal, trees will rise and roots will shield you, nature itself treats you like her child. Animals and nature-aligned beings favor you and are more affectionate towards you. Some may even recognize her touch on you.
Leon stared at it long enough his vision started blurring.
My very first Legendary Trait… Mother Nature is my actual mom now?
He read it again. He read it a third time before setting his glass down very carefully on the counter.
The integration hit before he could process the absurdity any further. It was nothing like the raw, muscular fire of the Kure trait or the bone-deep rewiring of Tune Up.
It started in his feet. A deep, resonant warmth and pressure, like the sensation of pressing your palm flat against sun-warmed soil and feeling it press back. It moved upward through his legs, his torso, his chest, spreading through him the way roots spread through the earth, patient and unhurried.
The closest thing Leon could compare it to was the feeling of standing barefoot on sunkissed grass after rain. He recalled memories of a particular quality of air, dense with the smell of wet bark and grass, and moments where the world felt genuinely alive under your feet. Except it was no longer a vague impression on his skin.
He sensed something impossibly old look at him before it disappeared.
Leon let out a slow breath. He felt no different in any immediate, physical sense. There was no new strength in his limbs or instincts rearranging themselves. But there was a quiet, settled warmth sitting somewhere in his sternum, like an ember that had always been there and he'd only just noticed it.
So that's what it feels like to get adopted by a primordial deity. But I'm in the middle of Chicago, a city. Concrete and steel and exhaust fumes as far as the eye can see. Not a forest in sight, and my Diamond Ticket gives me a trait that turns forests into my personal bodyguard.
He sighed.
...It's still a Legendary. I should be grateful.
He was grateful. Genuinely. He could think of a dozen scenarios down the line where Gaia's Child would be the difference between walking out of somewhere alive and not, and the secondary effects weren't nothing. Animals favored him. Nature-aligned beings would respond to him in a similar way.
"Leon."
Leon turned.
Lily had gone still beside the kitchen counter. The exceed's red eyes were fixed on him with an expression Leon had never seen on him before. It resembled something between wariness and reverence.
"You smell different," Lily said.
"...Different how?"
Lily was quiet for a moment, his nostrils flaring as he tried to find the words.
"Like trees after rain and freshly cut grass," he said, tilting his head and studying Leon with an unblinking focus.
Leon looked at his hands.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," he said. "I think I just got adopted."
Lily stared at him.
"By who?"
"The planet?"
Another long pause.
"...The planet," Lily repeated.
"Gaia, technically. Mother Nature. Same thing." Leon flexed his fingers, half-expecting something to happen. "Apparently I'm her child now. Which means any forest I step into will actively try to kill anyone who attacks me, and animals and nature-aligned beings will like me more. At least, that's the basics of it. I assume there's more to it that isn't described."
Lily looked down at his half-peeled kiwi and back at Leon. His tail, which had been swaying contentedly for the last hour, had gone still.
"Nature-aligned beings," Lily said slowly.
Leon nodded. "That's what it said, yeah."
The exceed was quiet for another moment. He put the kiwi down and turned fully to face Leon, eyes blazing with intensity.
"Is that why I have the sudden, inexplicable urge to gift you a piece of fruit?"
Leon's composure lasted approximately one second.
"Yeah," he managed between a laugh he was trying very hard to suppress. "Yeah, I think that might be why."
Lily stared at him for a long moment. He picked the kiwi back up, turned deliberately back to the counter, and resumed peeling in dignified silence. Lily placed a finished slice on a small plate without a word and slid it across the counter to Leon.
Leon looked at the plate, then at Lily's back. The exceed's tail had resumed its slow, contented sway.
He pressed his lips together, schooling his expression into something neutral before picking up the slice. It was sweet and cold, objectively great kiwi.
He leaned against the counter and turned the trait over in his mind properly.
The active defense component needed a forest, which meant it was situational. Chicago wasn't exactly dense with old-growth woodland. But the passive effects were immediate and permanent, including every animal and every nature-aligned being.
If that category extended to anything with a meaningful connection to the natural world, the list of things in the Invincible universe that might qualify was longer than it seemed at first glance.
Doc Seismic communicated with underground creatures. Aquarius ruled an entire ocean kingdom. The Flaxans came from a dimension adjacent to this world's natural order.
I'll think about that more later.
Lily was going to keep bringing him fruit unprompted for the foreseeable future. That alone was worth something.
He finished the kiwi.
Okay, RNGesus. That one was good. I'll give you that one.
Leon looked at his remaining points.
Four thousand and twenty-four GP. That's eight Platinum Tickets and a stack of Golds and Silvers. Or… I save it for another .
He turned the math over for a few seconds and let it go. He was too tired to make good decisions about the gacha right now. Spending points in this state was how you ended up with Elite-tier massage skills and a crow that judged you silently.
The points weren't going anywhere. Tomorrow's Leon could deal with it.
Tomorrow's Leon is going to have so many problems waiting for him.
He put the thought away and looked toward the couch.
The three kids were still awake. The oldest boy had his chin on his knees, staring at the view of open space through the Suite's window, eyes dull and face neutral. The younger boy was sitting with his arms crossed, eyes staring at nowhere in particular. The smallest girl, the one who had stepped forward for Cecil, was tilting sideways with her eyes half-closed, losing the fight one blink at a time.
Leon crossed the room and crouched in front of the couch.
"Hey," he said, keeping his voice low. "Time to sleep."
The oldest boy looked at him. "We're not tired."
Leon glanced pointedly at the smallest girl, who had just tlited another inch to the side.
The oldest boy followed his gaze and his jaw tightened.
"Come on," Leon said. "Guest rooms are all yours. Pick whichever one you want."
The oldest boy nudged the younger one, stood, and scooped the smallest girl up without being asked. She stirred but didn't wake, tucking her head against his shoulder.
Leon watched them disappear down the hall. The door to one of the guest rooms clicked shut a moment later.
They must have a lot on their minds. I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to stay awake because they think this is all just a dream.
He stayed crouched for a second longer, looking at the empty couch.
They're going to be okay, he told himself. Cecil keeps his word. They're going to be okay.
Heart heavy with worries, Leon stood.
"Go to bed," Lily said from behind him, not looking up from the kiwis.
Leon didn't argue.
He made it to his room, shed the ruined waistcoat onto the floor, and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked at his hands for a moment. The Command Seals glowed faint red in the low light.
He had used none of them tonight. He had put Machine Head and his goons in prison, navigated a conversation with the director of the GDA, and gotten all twenty-three kids somewhere safe without spending a single seal.
A rather successful night overall, but man was I stressed out.
Closing his eyes, Leon rubbed the bridge of his nose.
I'm not looking forward to everything else this world has in store for me.
Leon reached into the subspace and pulled out the Hypnos Mask.
The mask was soft and nearly weightless. He turned it over once in his hands and put it on before laying down.
His thoughts didn't stop, but they slowed. The spiral of variables and unknowns lost its urgency without losing its shape. The name Aria Grayson surfaced one last time before everything else pulled back.
Leon still didn't know who she was, what she was like, or whether she was anything like Mark.
He had a lot to figure out.
Tomorrow, he decided.
Leon fell asleep before he finished the thought.