The Promotion

As Ebone led them through the elevator and up several floors, Umbra couldn't help but look at Time. He had been keeping an eye on him ever since his earlier outburst, fearful of what was to come.

"Time," Umbra murmured, coming to his side as the team trudged down a long hallway. "Are you alright?"

Though he didn't care for the Überdragon much personally, he felt compelled to attend to him, as a sort of mandatory respect. He most certainly didn't want Time getting pissed off at him.

"I'm just tired, that's all. Ready to go back to my dimension and rest a little." Time's voice was distant, and Umbra recognized the tone of untruthfullness.

As an avid lier himself, Umbra had slowly picked up the ability to tell when someone was lying, based on their tone of voice and body language. Time was obviously hiding something, based on his distant voice and dismissive gestures.

He sighed, deciding to leave the issue alone. Whatever is bothering a god, Umbra reasoned, must not be any of my business, no matter how much I want to know.

Umbra moved back to his team, leaving Time at peace. Aunora, Matthew, and Esper seemed dead on their feet, and Victor was already curled up asleep on Matthew's back.

Umbra stifled a yawn, envying his child's privilege of sleeping whenever he felt need to. He halfway wished Matthew would carry him as well, but Umbra knew that was a puerile and unrealistic desire.

"Okay," Ebone said, haulting at the end of the hallway. "We're here."

Ebone had stopped them before a rather nice looking door, its wooden material in a much higher quality than the neighboring doors. The hallway around them reminded Umbra of a hotel, with red, patterned silk carpets and contrasting walls.
"Is this his office?" Matthew asked as Ebone rapped his knuckle across the door.

"Nope," Ebone replied, pushing it open. "It's our room."

Infinity's room was quite modern from what Umbra could see with the lights off. It was like a small hotel room, the bed directly facing the door.

And on that bed, the leader of Alcorith Horizons was half naked.

Infinity squinted at the sudden burst of light that came when Ebone opened his door, rubbing his forehead all the while. He had obviously just woken up, startled by the noise that went on outside his room.

"Ugh, Ebone, is that you?" he murmured, yawning and stretching out his arms and chest. "I told you to come I'm quietly, I have a meeting tomorrow."

Silver Moon collectively gaped in shock at the blue-haired man's state of undress, realizing that perhaps being here wasn't a good idea.

"Oh, I didn't realize he was sleeping," Umbra whispered, turning to leave. "We can wait until the morning."

Ebone grabbed his collar, frowning. "Oh no," he commented, "you've woke him up. I'm not taking the fall for this one." He smiled, proclaiming loudly, "Silver Moon has come to have a private discussion! They insisted on seeing you!"

Confused by Ebone's statement, he opened his eyes, his brown skin blushing bright red when he saw his intruders.

His hands flew over his chest, trying to preserve his modesty. "What the crap?!" he cried, staring wildly from Silver Moon to Ebone.

Time smiled, unphased by Infinity's nakedness. "Hey, dude! We need to talk about this team right here," he said coolly, pointing his thumb at Umbra. 

"And who are you people again? I have a lot of teams registered under me. They all start to look the same after several years."

Time threw his arms out, presenting his friends like they were celebrities. "They're Silver Moon, of course!"

"Well then, Silver Moon," Infinity hissed, firmly clutching his nipples, "you're fired!"

Umbra's shoulders dropped, mirroring Matthew's similar crestfallen expression.

"Oh come on!" Aunora shouted, her disappointment turning to anger. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"And Ebone," Infinity snarled, pulling his bedsheet higher over his body, "get a pillow. You're not sleeping at my feet tonight. You better hope the hallway is comfortable."

Ebone shot Silver Moon a dirty look, sighing in distress.

Time was shocked, awkwardly clasping his hands together. "Wait, Mr. Infinity-"

Infinity fell back on his bed, shoving a pillow over his head. "Don't talk to me. I'm going back to sleep. And if you wake me up again, I'm going to attack you."

Touching Matthew softly on the shoulder, Umbra took a deep breath.

"Let's go, guys. We need to get Victor back home." he said quietly, turning to leave.

Time gritted his teeth, pushing Umbra out of the way and walking to Infinity's bedside.

The man stirred, rising up to glare at Time. "What did I just  say?!"

Time snapped his fingers, and everything around them paused.

Umbra looked around, aware that only he, Matthew, Victor, Aunora, Esper, and Infinity were the only ones that were able to move, besides Time himself.

Infinity was horrified, staring at his drained surroundings. "W-what is this?!" he cried.

Time smiled gently, placing his arms behind his back. "Oh, I froze time so we could chat a little."

"F-Froze time?!"

Time sat down beside Infinity, giggling. "Yup! Hey, don't tell anyone, but I'm the Time, okay? So please don't be rude to me. I don't appreciate it."

Trembling, Infinity rose to meet Time, brushing his messy bangs out of his face.

"What do you need, my lord?" guild leader whispered, severity taking over. 

Time shrugged. "To make a long story short, Silver Moon did some very important business for me, and I wish for them to gain more status within the guild in return."

"Define business," Infinity murmured.

"I'm pretty sure they saved the time-stream continuum."

A heavy sigh racked Infinity's frame, the man rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Alright, fine. How about I rehire them, give them a space on the main bulletin board for a flyer, and put them in my list of suggested mercenaries? I'll even try to remember their names next time. Will that appease you?"

Time turned his head, nonverbally questioning Umbra with a single glance.

"Is that okay with you, Matthew?" Umbra asked quickly, taking Matthew by the hand.

"As long as we're not fired, I'm good." Matthew replied, shaking his head.

"Can we see if we can get more cash out of him? We're kinda on a roll today," Aunora said, rubbing her chin, "and this guy's gotta be loaded."

"I don't think that would be wise..." Esper advised, "Infinity is already rewarding us this much... I don't want to push him any farther." 

"That's okay with us, sir," Umbra said, walking to Time's side and holding out his hand for Infinity to shake. "We appreciate this greatly, sir. We really do."

Infinity groaned. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just get out of my hair and let me sleep."

"Now that's settled..." Time began, snapping his fingers. Everything suddenly went back to normal, the room's colors going back to their usual vividness.

As Silver Moon and Time walked out the door, Ebone blinked in confusion.

"What just happened?"

-----

"I really can't thank you enough for doing this for me, Umbry," Time murmured, hands in the pockets of his trenchcoat.

Standing on the corner of a busy street in Alcorith, Umbra forced a smile.

"It was no trouble," he returned.

This, of course, was a lie. The whole quest had been a very troubling venture, and Umbra only initially joined it to save his skin. However, he ended up with a large sum of cash and a reasonable promotion, so the pain and sweat seemed to have been worth it.

Matthew, Aunora, and Umbra took turns shaking Time's hand, individually giving their own words to him.

Matthew adjusted his glasses, pointing down the street.

"The restaurant's only a couple blocks down. I'm gonna go on and walk ahead. I need to put Victor to bed. He's had a rough day." Matthew said, giving Umbra and tight hug and waving goodbye to Aunora and Esper.

"I think we'll start walking home too," Aunora muttered, wrapping her around Esper. "I'm beat."

"Alright, I'm right behind you. I need to get a shower." Umbra called as the demon and spirit walked away, Matthew and Victor several yards in front of them.

"One more thing, Umbry," Time said, touching his arm.

Umbra stopped, staring at him in confusion. "What?" What more could he want from me?

Time smiled, his eyes distant, as if he much farther than the horizon that was visible to Umbra.

"You have a very special child on your hands, Umbra Mortis. Cherish every second with him."

Author's Note- all we have left is a short epilogue and a closing letter to the readers. Then onto the next book! :) remember to vote and comment!!!! ♡

Question: do you guys have any predictions or theories? I'd totally love to hear them! Don't be shy!!!!