The Simulacrum

Part 1

Sunday afternoons were supposed to be fun. That's when you get together with friends, your significant other (or others, plural), or just relax and laze around in preparation for next week. I sadly wasn't allowed this particular luxury, because we had a timetable to keep.

But let's not get ahead of myself and look at the situation from the comfort of a backup comfy chair I installed in the backup base, where I trained, conspired, and rehearsed with future-me. It was a little over three in the afternoon right now, timed so that everyone would have ample time to digest their lunches and nobody would have stomach problems, and things were going… rather haphazardly, to be honest.

"Come back here, you coward!" my usually adorably awkward Knightly sister yelled as she charged, her zweihander raised high over her head.

"Don't rush in! We need to stay together!" Josh, in full-in Celestial mode, tried to stop her, but it was too late, and he muttered a defeated, "There she goes again…" before flashing his Celestial wings and flying after her.

"Like, don't worry! We're, like, totally enough to protect Amelia!" a certain rejuvenated arch-mage, currently dressed in some weird neon-green and pink Japanese gyaru ensemble, exclaimed a tad cockily. She cracked her knuckles, and three pairs of large, semi-transparent blue arms mirrored her actions. But then…

"Come back here! Don't go after her!" Angie yelled out, half-panicked and half-irate, and she turned into a golden streak as she rushed after the other two, causing Sahi to freeze for a moment, then continue to crack her knuckles all the same.

"I mean, like, I'm totally enough, right?"

That question was aimed at the class rep, who was currently hiding behind her golem and trying to stay out of sight in the purple-tinted street. This all started about half an hour ago when the Axis of Evil nefariously trapped their little group in a Purple Zone that covered the entire city block.

"Look out!" Ammy exclaimed, and Petra automatically moved in to shield her from a descending Abyssal. It was a woman of indeterminate age, wearing a colour-mirrored version of my Bel costume, mask included, and as soon as she landed, she immediately began to ham it up.

"Foolish… fools! The wrath is upon you! Lord Bel's wrath! That's what I said!"

…

Okay, so while future-me clearly found some willing accomplices, they weren't exactly the best actors in the world. But hey, at least they were enthusiastic. That counted for something.

"Like, who are you calling a fool, you… you grody Joanie!"

"… Excuse me? What does that even…?"

Before she could finish her question, Sahi was already upon her, leaving the class rep to fend for herself. So much for being a bodyguard, eh?

So, the Abyssal in a suit and the flashily dressed schoolgirl began to duke it out in the middle of the already pock-marked street. It was lucky that this Purple Zone was the type that didn't try to represent the locations of the people outside with those hazy mannequins, or otherwise the sight would've been a bit gnarlier. After all, the group's 'strategy meeting' took place in one of Angie's favourite sweets shops on one of the promenades of Timaeus's historical city center, on a Sunday, so there were quite a few passers-by on the street.

The official reason why they met up was so that they could discuss strategies against Bel and his minions, but I had a solid hunch that Angie was just stressed out by the recent events and wanted to treat herself (or rather, have her boyfriend treat her) to a cake slice or five. I wasn't judging her; in retrospect, I could use some sweets too to lift my mood. Especially after watching her sample half the menu, but I digress.

Anyhow, the meeting also involved Josh and Penny, since they've been training together to face Bel (they also came up with a name for themselves, but I wasn't going to call them the Joshtice Squad, ever), while Ammy was invited out of goodwill. She couldn't socialize outside of the approved areas (read: the base, the Dracis Mansion, and the School complex) because of her floating orbs, but since that got resolved, they invited her to have fun. Also to question her about the whole Conduit business and what I'd done to piss off the Assembly. I mean, I wasn't trying to keep it a secret from them, but I wasn't exactly forthcoming with the information either.

"Pincer manoeuvre!" Penny yelled at the forefront, drawing my attention back to her.

When I glanced her way, I found her literally running up a wall in pursuit of another of future-me's groupies. The man slightly ahead was dressed the same way as the rest of the Axis of Evil, and he was scaling the side of an old building face covered in stuccos like a certain arachno-person, yet my sister was keeping up the pursuit.

That was pretty neat, but Josh was considerably less impressed by the acrobatics on display and yelled back, "From which side!?" He got no answer, so he grit his teeth, his three pairs of Celestial wings flared up again, and he suddenly accelerated with sword and shield at the ready… only to immediately crash into a translucent wall of energy. "Gah! What the hell?"

"Target acquired!" another Axis of Evil member, this one a tall and wiry man with a surprisingly deep voice, exclaimed from the top of another building. He was standing with his feet apart and continued to make sweeping yet oddly delicate motions with his arms, as if trying to weave an invisible basket or something.

"Josh!" a different voice exclaimed once Angie caught up to him, only to reel back when she also hit an invisible wall. They couldn't see it, but Josh was quite literally boxed into a steadily shrinking cube of magical force fields.

"Don't worry about me, I'll deal with this!" the guy told her even as he put his hands against the walls surrounding him. "Go, help Penny instead!"

The Celestial girl hesitated for a second, glancing between her trapped boyfriend and the girl waving a great sword while scaling a building, but then she flinched when a bunch of bright red magical projectiles started streaming towards her. Back on the rooftop, where the tall man was still weaving the spell that enclosed Josh, two more masked minions appeared. They made a series of quick finger gestures, pointed their hands at the sky, and let loose another volley of magic missiles towards the childhood friend couple.

The way they held their arms, and especially with how their hands were bent into straight-up finger guns, it kind of looked like they were wrangling a pair of imaginary Tommy-guns going full auto, but they were spraying crimson bolts of magic instead of lead. It was kind of comical in a way, and it made me wonder if this was a side grade of the Celestials' magical guns, some distant predecessor, or some wild offshoot of The Man's worldbuilding. Either way, Angie's eyes flashed gold as she abruptly shifted to Deus, and she immediately erected a flat dome-shaped barrier made of small, interlocking pentagons.

It was obviously hastily made and a bit flimsy, which I could tell not just because the magic missiles quickly cracked the individual panels, but because it was made of pentagons. Everyone knew that the hexagons were the bestagons, so it was clear this barrier wasn't the best either. It still held long enough for Angie to make up her mind, and after switching back, she told Josh, "I'll bring her back, and she's getting an earful after this!"

Her golden wings flared up and she flew after the wayward (and easily provoked) Knight, leaving Josh locked up in the magic cube. For a silver lining, at least it was protecting him from all the magical projectiles too, so he wasn't in any immediate danger.

Meanwhile, Sahi was still going toe-to-toe with the female Axis of Evil member, her floaty magical hands relentlessly pressuring the Abyssal with an endless rain of punches. To her credit, the masked woman continued to deftly avoid them, as if dancing, and based on how much magical light she was giving off, I imagined she was using some kind of special magic or skill to do so. Since future-me had been 'stealing' prisoners from Crowy's dungeons, I wouldn't have been surprised if she was a pretty high-ranking Abyssal noble, and thus pretty powerful.

"You foolish fool! You! Cannot defeat! … Me!"

She was still a terrible actor though.

Not that Sahi minded, as she was kind of lost in her own little world. On one hand, I couldn't blame her, since she barely had any opportunity to flex her arch-mage specs, so I understood why she was enjoying being able to go all-out against a strong opponent… But on the other hand, she joined the 'tactical meeting' at the confectionery as Ammy's bodyguard. She had volunteered herself to the role during our vacation to the Elysium, and she never quit it, so she'd been hanging out with Ammy a lot as of late. If you asked me, I'd bet she was just bored. Since the Homunculus project was effectively finished, the class rep (and her conduit-ness) was much more interesting.

Which, of course, made the fact that she was completely ignoring her in favour of duelling this Axis of Evil woman all the more egregious. Though to be fair, the class rep wasn't in any real danger. Not just because nobody here would try to hurt her, but also because being the Conduit of the Grimoire supercharged her magical capabilities, so if she wanted, she could not only throw fireballs now, she could do it all day long. The only problem was that… well…

"Fascinating… I never thought such things could be…" she whispered in a daze while shyly peeking at the battlefield of the promenade.

While I was already completely used to it, being able to see magic in its raw form was endlessly fascinating to our class rep, and so she would often just kind of forget to even defend herself while being immersed in observations. While future-me never said it outright, I was half-convinced that their attacks were meant to acclimate her, so that she wouldn't get distracted at a critical junction in the future.

Yes, I said attacks, because this was just the beginning. While we weren't going to make this a daily thing, we were planning to keep orchestrating these 'random combat encounters' for the foreseeable future. This was going to be the template, more or less; pull some or all of the usual suspects into a Purple Zone, heckle them a bit, have a short skirmish, then wrap things up before anyone else from the outside could interfere.

Now, one might ask the question 'How is that any different from what Fred was doing during his sentai-style attacks?', and while I naturally had a very conclusive, nuanced, and entirely satisfying response to that, this wasn't the right time to discuss that, so let's focus on the action!

By the looks of it, Penny and Angie still couldn't manage to catch Mr Legally Distinct Arachno-Person, and Sahi was no closer to touching the slippery masked woman, so I focused on Josh again, just in time to catch him turn off his Celestial transformation (or rather, turn on his Magiformer, on the school uniform setting), much to his captors' surprise. Of course, that only really affected his outfit, so the wings and the halo and the weapons all stayed. At least until he put away the latter and grabbed the pouch attached to his belt.

After fumbling for a moment, he took out several blood capsules and threw them into his mouth. His wings quivered and his Magiformer outfit strained to keep his transformation in check, though not for long, as he immediately turned it off. He did the whole thing with such good timing that I had to wonder if he was secretly practising this on his own. In any case, his Celestial form began to shift as a pair of white horns grew from his forehead, his toga-robe-thing clung closer to his body and turned into silver scales, and his wispy Celestial wings melded together to form a single pair of draconic-looking wings before completely dissipating. His draconic form wasn't up to that stage yet, it seemed.

Curiously enough, the halo remained, and I couldn't help but notice that there were some strange, dark red flashes of light while he transformed, but they only lasted until the switch was over and he was in his full white Draconian form. Then, he opened his mouth wide.

"Shit! Take cover!" the lanky man with the deep voice bellowed, just in time for Josh's dragon breath to engulf the front panel of the cubic prison.

It wasn't full-fledged true Dragonfire, only the garden-variety kind, but even that had some anti-magic properties, and the barrier only lasted for a second before it cracked and the beam-breath cascaded over the building. It was to be expected though. This barrier wasn't made of hexagons, or even pentagons, but just a single tetragon. The only reason why it was as sturdy as it was had to be because it was the side of a cube, and cubes get browny points for being a platonic solid. Or something.

…

Fine, I admit, I had no bloody idea about the logic behind magic forcefields and barriers, but my explanation was as good as any.

Anyhow, while Josh was busy demolishing the build in front of him, the two girls finally caught up with the wall-climber.

"You have nowhere to run!" Angie (or maybe Deus; I couldn't see her eyes) declared as she cast her favourite magical sword-summoning spell and had them rain down around the masked man, limiting his movements enough for Penny to catch up to him.

"Nice job!" my Knightly sister exclaimed with glee, her large sword already swinging.

She was just a bit too late though, as the man wordlessly jumped off the building, spreading his arms wide like a springboard dive-jumper at the Olympics, and then after doing a couple of spins, he landed in the middle of the road in a crouching pose that was… Wow. This guy was definitely infringing on the Friendly Neighbourhood Arachno-Man, wasn't he?

"Stop right there!"

And then my sister decided she absolutely had to one-up him by also jumping off the building and doing extra-nonsense spinning, with a three-point superhero landing at the end. … Was this a good time to point out that, despite all of her weirdness and over-the-top fighting style, she was still probably the most dangerous Knight thanks to her speed and reflexes? Sometimes I had to remind myself of that.

"Angie, keep throwing spears to stop him from running away!" she instructed the other girl floating above, much to her chagrin.

"They're swords, not spears!"

That was probably Deus speaking. They've been switching so much lately that it was giving me vertigo. More importantly, Penny awkwardly hefted her blade and yelled, "Y-Yeah, I know! I was just… you know? More used to Snowy supporting me from above…"

As a matter of fact, my other sister was supposed to also attend the 'tactical meeting' today, but she cancelled the last second, because she had a meeting with Percival. I was tempted to Far Glance at them, just out of curiosity. Not because I was in any way worried that she was spending too much time learning from the old snake or anything. Just curiosity. I couldn't quite take my eyes off this situation though, especially since if everything worked out as planned, I would soon have to make an appearance.

Penny rushed forward in the meantime, the fight between Sahi and the masked henchwoman was still at a standstill, while Josh…

"Stop that! Come down here, and fight like a man!" he yelled at the people on top of a different building alternating between 'reloading' their spells and peppering him with a hailstorm of magical projectiles. He had his arms crossed over his head, and his scales deflected the incoming attacks without leaving a mark, but he was essentially pinned in place and continued to growl.

"Why don't you come up here, and fight like an Abyssal?" the lanky man quipped back while making what looked like finger seals and started firing with wild abandon as well.

"Maybe I will!" he snapped back, his voice trembling with anger. Around him, the air was flashing with dark red sparks again, which I normally would've chalked up to him returning to his permanent Celestial form, yet it was too early for that. The air grew heavy and the rubble kicked up by the magical projectiles remained floating in the air around him as more and more sparks flashed.

Then, just as things were getting heated…

"Listen up, children! Playtime's over for the day!"

An upbeat voice resounded in the Purple Zone, slightly warped by amplification, and it stopped everyone in their tracks. All eyes were glued to the sky in the middle of the promenade, where a masked figure slowly descended from the…

…

Wait. How the heck was he doing that? Future-me was literally floating down while pretending to by lounging on a divan, or something. It was done with some magical doohickery; I could tell that much from the lightshow, but… how?

"Bel of the Abyss!" Penny yelled from the top of her lungs, distracting both me and the rest of the people present from the peculiar sight unfolding before their eyes. "What kind of vile machinations are you up to this time?"

"Veeery vile machinations, I assure you, my Dame Unicorn," future-me responded as you would expect and shifted his posture just before he landed. "You should know that I have plans within plans within plans within cookies! The nefarious kind! Haha!"

"I will stop you and your cookies! I mean, plans! I'll stop you dead!" my sister tried to menace him with her sword, but considering that they were standing a good thirty meters apart, it looked more comical than anything. Also, she was lucky that the Amazing Arachno-guy was sticking to the script and quietly left the stage, because she completely forgot that she was in the middle of fighting him.

"Since when has the great Emperor of all Abyssals become a petty thief?" a different booming voice asked, and it was coming from Deus. He immediately turned up the lightshow as soon as Bel arrived, bathing the purple promenade in a warm golden light. "Return the girl's stolen bow at once!"

"Oh, Deus, old friend! I wish I could, but it's quite impossible."

While their back-and-forth unfolded and everyone's attention was on Bel, the Abyssal henchmen proceeded to silently retreat and regroup without them being the wiser. It was convenient for our play, but once we were done here, I would have to sit the whole gang down and drill them on the importance of situational awareness in these situations. But back to the drama.

"Why did you do this?" came the next question from Josh, still in his Draconian form and practically seething with indignation over his previous exchange. "What could you possibly achieve by attacking us like this?"

"My, my! The boy got a fiery temper, doesn't he?" future-me chuckled as he leisurely turned towards him with the same kind of energy as a panther facing an angry raccoon. "What I'm trying to achieve is not something someone with such a… limited perspective could understand. To put it into terms you lot could understand, think of me as a great weaver, working hard to ensure that the tapestry of fate would reach completion in an aesthetically pleasing manner."

Ah, that was my cue. I quickly jumped to my feet and picked up Cal from the nearby table, startling the absent-minded Pudding-kun lazing about on a nearby crate.

"[Is it time, young Knight?]"

"Yep."

"[Have I told you that I do not find such theatrical deceptions befitting your status?]"

"Only a hundred and seventeen times," I joked and Far Glanced back at future-me, who was holding his arms up high, as if praising the sun.

"Yes, the tapestry of fate! Such a grand design, and one where every single one of you is a finely spun thread that must be guided into its destined place." He let the dramatic beat linger, during which I firmed my grip on my sword, and as soon as he added, "All of you," I immediately Phased in.

"Bel!" I yelled before striking, just as we rehearsed, and my brightly glowing blade met with his red-clad fist, resulting in a deafening clang. The collision caused a shockwave and we used it to move us apart, which both gave the clash more impact and also gave us some space.

"Aw, come on, Polemos!" future-me whined while shaking his 'injured' hand. "You were supposed to yell 'It's nothing personal, kid,'! Didn't we discuss this the other day?" I raised my sword in response and future-me defiantly crossed his arms in return. "You ruined it. This day is ruined. I'm going home now."

"Oh, no you—!" I yelled after him, miming exasperation as he suddenly disappeared. "Argh! Bloody sunova—!" I bit back the end of my curse and looked for Josh. Once our eyes met, I pointed at him with my free hand and bellowed, "I'm going after him! Gather up, and stay on guard!"

Before anyone could respond I also Phased away and reappeared in the exact same spot in the second (technically third, but who's counting) secret base. Future-me wasn't here yet, though I had a hunch why, one which he confirmed as soon as he Phased in about five minutes later.

"Sorry for being late," he spoke nonchalantly as he took off his mask. "I had to pick up the other actors."

"I figured." He didn't say anything else, so after some hesitation, I also added, "Honestly, I'm still feeling a tiny bit bad for the guys. I mean, I know the big picture, and that it's technically kinda-sorta training for them, but it still feels a bit… I don't know how to put it."

"Don't worry about the guilty conscience; it'll pass," future-me stated without much emotion as he rummaged through the nearby crates. "It's not the first time we've deceived them like this, anyway."

"Yes, but that scale just feels different and… what exactly are you doing?"

"Looking for snacks," he told me without any pretence and showed me a large bag of cheese-flavoured potato chips. "The Axis of Evil did a commendable job, so we're going to celebrate."

"Isn't it a bit early for that?"

"Nah. Abyssals just love to throw parties at the drop of a hat. They're almost as obsessed with them as the Celestials are with their grand processions and parades."

"Really? I learn something new every day…" I muttered, and realizing that this was a nice segue, I hurriedly asked, "Speaking of learning, just how the heck did you do that floating thing back there?"

Future-me paused for a second, then turned to me with a soft smile.

"I would love to tell you, but unfortunately…" He put his Bel mask on and gave me a wink. "It's a trade secret."

"Wait, wha—?"

And then he disappeared. Along with the whole crate.

…

Sometimes, I kind of hated myself.

Part 2

Monday evening. The end of yet another long and hectic day.

"I'm home…"

My voice sounded a tad morose even to myself as I entered the house. To be fair, I was pretty exhausted, in the mental sense of the word. Keeping track of the play was taxing at the best of times, but I also had to uphold my public image at the same time. The latter required me to skip school for the day, which… was becoming too much of a habit if you asked me.

More on that later. For now, I walked into the living room, where Morgana and Arnwald were poring over some documents on the coffee table. They were dressed in their usual indoor ensembles (read: red plaid shirt and black pants on one, white knit turtleneck sweater and jeans on the other), and they both perked up in my presence.

"Welcome back! Did you get him?" Arnwald enquired right away, sounding hopeful, only to wilt the moment I shook my head.

"No. He's slippery, as always," I answered flatly and walked over to their side. "What are you looking at?"

"We're trying to find a pattern in the attacks," Morgana told me matter-of-factly, accompanied by an odd glint in her eyes. She was one of the few people aware of me playing the role of Bel, and while she wasn't in on the full plan this time around, she shouldn't have had any reason to do this… other than playing along with Arnwald, of course. In a way, it was almost sweet.

"I doubt you'll find anything, but don't let me stop you." I intended that to be the final word on that and leave, but Morgana reflexively reached after me, so I halted in my tracks and faced them again. "Yes? Is there something else?"

"Dinner's in about half an hour." She gestured towards the kitchen first. "Eleanor and Judy did most of the cooking, I'll just have to reheat it." Then she pointed a forefinger directly up. "They're waiting for you in your room, as usual." Finally, she made a vague sweeping notion towards the back. "Penelope and Neige just came back from visiting Percival, and they said they wanted to talk with you. You might want to visit them before dinner."

Before I could get a word in, Arnwald let out a soft harrumph and crossed his arms.

"I tell you, spending so much time with a traitor like that is a bad influence on the kids."

"They go there to learn from him," Morgana spoke softly, only to then add. "At least… I'm certain that Neige does."

"That's the problem! If she wants to learn, I'm sure there are less dishonorable sources to draw upon, such as…" He said, but then he faltered, visibly stumped. "Such as… many others I can't readily name right now. I'm still certain they would serve them better than interacting with him."

"While I share your sentiment, the only reason I kept him alive is to do that, so trying to find a different mentor for her at this stage would be a bit counter-intuitive."

My comment got him groaning, so Morgana grasped the back of his hand.

"It should be fine. Even Leonard says so, and Percival has been behaving himself until now."

"Once a traitor, always a traitor," the man fumed, only to blink and look at me. "Extraordinary circumstances notwithstanding, of course." He must've felt like he stepped on a landmine, because he quickly grasped Morgana's hand back and cleared his throat, trying his best to shift the topic. "Nevertheless, I'm uncomfortable about what manner of skullduggery and treachery he's teaching the girls. Not to mention, those phone games!"

Okay, I admit that gave me a whiplash, and I blurted out, "The what now?" without meaning to.

Meanwhile, Morgana glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the stairwell, then gestured for me to come closer.

"Penelope didn't want you to know, but we're not very familiar with these things," she admitted in a hushed voice and urged me to lean in so she could whisper. "It's a game on their phones, and Penelope admitted that she was using her allowance to buy something called 'Value Bundles' for Percival so that they could keep playing together."

"I think the game they play is called 'Ga-cha'," Arnwald joined in with a conspiratorial whisper. "It's a strange title. I don't know what it means."

"… And you're saying that Penny's been paying for Percival's microtransactions?"

"What's a 'microtransaction'?" Arnwald asked back with mild bewilderment, while Morgana just nodded along.

"She said she felt bad for him because he had his bank accounts closed and his savings confiscated, and since he's not receiving a pension, she said it was the only way they could keep playing together."

"What do you mean he 'doesn't get a pension'? That crafty old—!" I stifled a curse and took a deep breath as I straightened my back again. "Thank you for telling me that, I'll look into it later. It's getting late, so I'll go and do the rounds before dinner first."

The two senior Knights nodded in unison, and since they didn't add anything else to that, I hefted my bag over my shoulder and headed upstairs. I considered visiting my sisters' room first but decided against it and walked into mine first, without knocking. I mean, it was my room after all, yet…

"Welcome back, Chief," I muffled voice greeted me from the bed.

Judy, topless, was lying on her stomach, with Elly straddling her butt.

"Oh, wow. For a moment, I just thought that it was weird that Leo came in through the door. Is that weird?" my princess spoke with a giggle, while also in a state of relative undress, and continued to knead my dear assistant's shoulder blades like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"And you two wonder why you aren't beating the allegations…" I grumbled as I closed the door behind me and threw my bag in the corner, next to my school bag. It only had towels and some other stuff from my morning rehearsal with future-me, so nothing fragile.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Judy responded, still muffled by the pillow, and I had a hard time deciding if she was being cheeky or genuinely didn't understand my point.

In any case, Elly finally got off her and put on a shirt. Judy followed her example, though she didn't bother with a bra, and… Why did I have a feeling there'd be copious amounts of lewding in my near future? And more importantly, since when did I start looking forward to it like this? It must've been the stupid spring hormones and whatever.

"How's the situation?" my lovely assistant asked while buttoning up her shirt. That is, my shirt she took for her own and occasionally used for the 'boyfriend shirt' trope when staying over, but that was beside the point.

"We had three more incidents today," I responded normally, then added, "As planned," in a low voice.

"Isn't this overdoing it a bit?" Elly asked on the side while helping my other girlfriend put on her hair ribbon. "Remember when Friedrich and Galatea were threatening us? We only got pulled into a Restricted Space every other day, not all the time."

"I know I said we're doing something similar, but we have a strict timetable to keep. He didn't."

"So? Who was involved this time?" came the next question from Judy, and I was pretty sure that she was showing off her cleavage through the unbuttoned top of the shirt on purpose, so I pointedly walked over to my PC and sat down. Dinner was around the corner, so I had to make sure not to get sidetracked by those pesky hormones.

"One attack on the Feilong elders and Xiao, one ambush on Josh and Angie on their way back from school, and one final bout with the arch-mages and the new Assembly delegation at the docks." I paused and turned my chair around to face the girls. "The last one was right after messing with Josh and Angie, and it was quick because the Magi were escalating things hard. The rest went just as planned."

"You didn't make little Xiao cry, right?" Elly levelled a sudden question at me, and when I automatically averted my eyes, she puffed up her cheeks. "Leo! You know that she was traumatized by her last encounter with Bel!"

"I know, but it was necessary to show that Bel had no specific interest in her," I argued back. "It's not like future-me hurt her, and I gave her lots of head pats afterwards, so it should be fine."

The princess still didn't seem convinced, but then Judy came to my support.

"I'm sure it was a necessary evil. It was probably better than the Feilongs hiding her away in fear of Bel targeting her."

"Precisely! Thank you for understanding."

Elly still didn't look perfectly convinced, but she let the topic drop for the moment. Meanwhile, Judy shifted on the bed and asked the next pivotal question.

"I'd already got a text message from Angeline, so I knew that there was nothing special going on with the two of them. I also learned that our texting app has a profanity filter enabled by default and that Deus learned how to use it, but that's a different matter entirely. What about the Magi? Did you encounter Lord Marzanna?"

"Nah. I was very emphatically told that I'm not allowed to meet her. By Roland… and Barnabas… and everyone else, really." I shrugged. "I mean, it's not like they can stop me, and I can meet whoever I want, but they weren't unreasonable about it, so I did as I was told."

"Really? I thought she would be with the other Assembly delegates," Elly chimed in curiously, so I shrugged one more.

"Nah, again. She apparently arrived separately for one reason or another."

"Can't you tell where she is?" came the next question from her, and this time I didn't shrug, though my response remained the same.

"Nah, three for three. I never got around to marking her back in Ottawa; I had more important things to consider at the time."

"So we have a rogue arch-mage on the island with an axe to grind with you, whose location you can't track," came the next remark, this time from Judy.

"When you put it like that, it does sound troubling, but future-me assured me that she won't be doing anything stupid for the next couple of days, and by then, I won't be on the island anymore."

"Which conversely means that she will do something stupid later," my dear assistant concluded.

"Should we be worried?" my other girlfriend asked, already sounding worried to my ears, and I sadly couldn't reassure her.

"I have no idea."

"Didn't future-you tell you the details?"

"As hard as it is to believe, I have a very strict no-spoilers policy." My joke didn't land well, considering the deafening silence I received in return, so it was my turn to change the topic. "Anyhow, I'm sure our protagonists are more than up for the task of dealing with her, and if not… well, there's always some wiggle-room for supporting the actors from off-stage with some props or a well-timed poke with a broom handle."

"Chief, you're getting carried away with your theater-analogies. Please, stop."

I capitulated to my girlfriend's objection, and it was only at this point that I noticed that the princess was a bit fidgetier than usual.

"Are you still worried about Marzanna?"

"Hm? No, not really," she spoke off-handedly, and it didn't sound like she was putting up a front. "I'm just… do you really have to stay in the Abyss for this plan to work?"

"Officially? Yes, absolutely. But…" I leaned forward and put a hand next to my mouth. "If you're lonely, I'll come visit. I did it when stuck in the Elysium, so it wouldn't make much difference."

"Oh, right. You did." She flushed red, realizing that her worry sounded silly in retrospect, so I got up and reflexively hugged her. I always did that when she was getting flustered or worked up, so it became a habit.

It soon turned into a group hug when Judy joined it, and I couldn't help but freeze up for as soon as we made contact.

"Dormouse, my love? You really need to put on a bra ASAP."

"Why?" she asked back, pretending to be clueless.

"Because the bumps on my arm are very distracting."

"Are they?"

"Yes."

We stared eye-to-eye for a while, then she finally pulled back with a hint of a smile and added, "We have reached a new milestone in the Chief Libido Development project. I must add this to my observation records."

"What project?" I blurted out by reflex, only to pause and start over. "Wait, scratch that. Did you just say 'observation records'?" She nodded. "You mean the ones from way back? When we first started working together?" She nodded again. "You're still writing that?"

"You hired me to do it, and I was never fired." She paused and gave me a clumsy yet endearing wink. "It's going to make a fun story for the kids."

"Oh, I can already imagine that!" Elly burst into giggles, though only for a second. "Wait. Are we going to tell them about it? The whole Watsonian and Doylist narrative trope things?"

"How about we cross that bridge when we get there?" I said a touch wearily and got up. "We don't even have kids."

"Yet," Judy stated defiantly. "According to statistics, less than one percent of high-school relationships lead to long-term marriage without divorce. I'm dedicated to beating the odds, so get ready to have a nice nuclear family unit, kids and pets included."

"I want a doggie," Elly chimed in.

"Or we can go for a cat. Potentially a parrot."

"Oh, I like that! Parrots are funny, too!"

While the girls were busy planning our future household, I rolled my shoulders, got my hormones under control, and once I felt nominally calm and unaroused, I jerked my head towards the door.

"Let's get back to this, and other things, after dinner. My sisters wanted to talk with me, so I'll go visit them, and we'll meet downstairs."

"That's a plan!" my princess exclaimed and turned to Judy. "I think we have enough time to finish the massage first. Do you want to continue?"

"Sure," Judy told her and was already in the process of unbuttoning, with her eyes slyly looking at me, so I hastily left the room before she could tease me more. Note to self: tease her back after dinner.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

For now, I had other things to do, and I didn't have to go far either, as my sisters' room was just next door. I couldn't hear anything on the other side, though it wasn't surprising; Snowy already sound-proofed all the rooms in the house with her Sigils. It was also the reason why I felt comfortable discussing things in my room while it was only separated from theirs by a thin wall, but I digress.

I knocked, and it only took a few seconds for the door to open.

"Brother, you're back!" Penny greeted me with a grin. She was still in her school uniform, and she grabbed my hand and practically dragged me in. "Come inside!"

That choice of words, while innocent, triggered all kinds of Freudian connections in my brain thanks to Judy's teasing and the talk about children, so I had to forcefully still my face.

"Easy there, Kiddo. Why are you so excited?"

Once I was in the room, I saw that Snowy was sitting cross-legged on the bed, with a whole lot of hand-written notes spread in front of her. Were they school notes, I wondered at first, but then my other sister skipped over and she presented me with a couple of pages.

"Look! We've got a whole lot of intelligence reports from Uncle Percy!"

"Have you now?" I whispered with some reservation, but my Abyssal sister also insisted.

"We asked him about what he knew of the Abyssal Houses and their recent ploys, and we cross-referenced them with what Tajana and I knew to make these." She showed off another densely written page. "I-It's a bit messy, but I'll clean it up later."

"I wasn't worried about that, but…" I squinted to take a better look at the page Penny gave me. "What exactly is this?"

"It's documentation on all the secret alliances, feuds, and ploys between the various Noble Houses of the Abyss," Snowy explained plainly, but then she averted her eyes and muttered. "The ones we know of, at any rate."

"And since you're going there," Penny took the reins of the conversation with enthusiasm and presented the scattered pages on the bed the same way a television quiz show host would show off the car the contestant just won. She paused for a meaningful beat, then exclaimed, "We put this together so that you would be prepared to face those schemers and backstabbers!"

"That's very thoughtful of you, but…"

"Ah, and before I forget!" my redhead sister barrelled on without letting me get a word in. "We explained what's going on to Uncle Percy, and he had some advice for you!"

"… Is that so?"

I glanced at my other sister, and she nodded in the affirmative.

"Yes, and I… I agree with his assessment." Snowy took a deep breath and pushed some of the documents aside so she could sit properly. "Fidèle Basmu Shamash is known as a woman of integrity, but after looking at all the available evidence, we came to the conclusion that the Nergals might be using her influence as a tool, with or without her approval. The Ashurs don't have a great reputation either, especially now that everyone knows of their collusion with Elysium, so we…"

"All three of us," Penny interjected for emphasis.

"… are of the opinion that they might end up betraying you once you're in the Abyss. We're not sure of their exact plans, so we can't tell whether they would do so before or after your rescued Éolienne Serua Ashur or after, but in either case… You need to watch your back."

"Right! Abyssals are a treacherous lot like that, and Uncle Percy said this whole situation reeked of betrayal!" I wanted to say something along the lines of 'Well, he's certainly an authority on the subject,' but Penny didn't let me, because she pushed another couple of papers into my hands. "That's why we wrote these down! If they turn on you, you can just go to their enemies, and pit them against each other! It's not the most honourable thing to do, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do!"

"It's not complete yet, but by the time you set out on the rescue mission, it'll be finished," my Abyssal sister concluded with a solemn mien, and while I could've pointed out that I had more intel on the Noble Houses, thanks to the Celestial Intelligence Network than I ever needed, I obviously wasn't going to rain on their efforts.

"Thank you, I appreciate this, and keep what you said in mind."

"Just… stay safe, okay?" Snowy whispered, her serious surface cracking and letting some of her anxiety seep out. If she was in arm's reach, this would've been the point I tousled her hair, but since she wasn't, I put my hand on Penny's head instead.

"Don't worry, sis. Everything's under control."

My reassurance didn't work perfectly, but she still looked better. My knightly sister, on the other hand…

"B-Brother! Why are patting my…? W-Wait, let me go!"

"No can do, kiddo," I spoke in a level voice and gently guided her onto the edge of the bed, making sure not to squeeze her noggin too hard in the process. Once she was sitting, I let go of her and crossed my arms in front of my chest with a disapproving, yet still brotherly, frown. "We still have a few minutes until dinner, so before that… let's talk about your allowance and your spending habits, shall we?"

Part 3

The thing about conspiracies was that the less people knew about them, the better. The bigger the net, the higher the chances that someone, somewhere, would spill the beans. Maybe not intentionally, but when drunk or otherwise compromised. Heck, the 'deathbed confession' was a trope for a reason as well, so there were a whole lot of reasons why it was best to keep a conspiracy small, whether it was for nefarious reasons or not.

"Holy crap, you were serious… How many of these hideouts do you even have?" came a half-astonished half-outraged outcry from Raven Boy, currently carrying some boxes and staring in full-blown bafflement at the interior of the abandoned factory where future-me set up shop.

But speaking of him…

"Enough."

The casual answer made Agrawain turn to the masked man standing near a bunch of broken crates and he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Erm… Leonard?" he asked a touch nervously, prompting future-me to let out a chuckle.

"Yes?"

"Wait… are you back in your disguise again?"

"Nostalgia," he answered off-handedly and spread his arms. "Hiding behind a mask is oddly liberating. It hides your identity, so you could be anyone, anywhere. For example, I could be right behind you."

"Wha—?"

"Don't confuse him like that," I grumbled as I Phased in, making Raven Boy nearly drop his box.

"Goddamit, Leonard! Do you want to give me a freaking heart attack!?"

I didn't respond, just gestured at him while meeting future-me's eyes.

"See?"

"Oh, come on. We both know you will do the exact same thing in this situation."

I could've denied his accusation, but I didn't. Instead, I gestured for Raven Boy to follow after me and we walked over to future-me's side. Agrawain continued to eye him suspiciously but kept his grievances to himself. For about ten seconds.

"Okay, when are you going to explain to me what exactly is going on here?"

"That's the best part," my other version chuckled and pointed a pair of finger-guns at him. "We don't need to, so we won't!"

"Your character's slipping," I warned him, but he just shrugged, and I got a gruff "I'm method acting!" in response.

In the meantime, Raven Boy put down his package and kept staring at us with clear exasperation, yet didn't raise his voice or object to his treatment. It wasn't because of a sense of loyalty, or any other kind of silly notion like that. He just couldn't, because my old tweaks to his Oaths made him unable to betray me. I put those in place after he tried to kidnap Judy, so I was pretty pissed (and maybe a bit judgmental) at the time, and since he was then recruited into my schemes, I never removed those restrictions.

It did make me feel a bit iffy in retrospect, but in my defence, those restrictions made him the perfect co-conspirator for times like this. After all, he literally couldn't tell anyone about me playing the role of Bel, or any of my other ploys, so there was no danger in involving him in my plans. In fact, it was practically an honour.

However, that didn't mean I would carelessly tell him about all the murky little details. After all, the less he knew about them, the more genuine his future reactions would be, and the less likely it was that someone would suspect him of foul play. It was for his own good, really.

He kept looking around the place, interest clearly written on his face. The lighting wasn't the best, as we made sure to board up the windows, but the afternoon light seeping in still gave form to a site of destruction. The thick cement tiles of the floor were cracked and pulverized at places, with literal footprints embedded in them as if they were made of soft clay. The columns and abandoned machinery didn't fare much better; scattered components and flaked-off plaster surrounded the relatively clear central area next to the broken crates.

This was an old but sturdy building made of concrete and bricks, and while the damage was extensive, none of it compromised the structural integrity of the walls or the roof over our heads. We might've gotten caught up in the heat of the moment from time to time, but we weren't savages.

On closer look, Raven Boy probably didn't share my assessment.

"What were you doing here?"

His question was more confounded than curious, and he traced a sharp sword mark left on the nearest brick column.

"Rehearsing," I answered without much care, and it only made him more baffled.

"Vigorous rehearsing," future-me added, sitting on a precariously balanced crate and clearly enjoying the situation. This time Agrawain narrowed his eyes and glanced back and forth between the two of us with the kind of skeptical expression a jaded teenager would have when the adults talked about Santa, the Tooth Fairy, or stable retirement plans in front of their kids.

"When exactly were you doing that?" He touched the gash on the column again, his fingers running over the ridge as if he was the star of one of those forensic investigation shows. "This is fresh. Just when did you have the time to spar—"

"Rehearse," future-me corrected him with a finger raised, but he was ignored.

"— while you've been busy playing this cat-and-mouse game for… how many days has it been now?"

"We're mostly doing it during the night," I told him off-the-cuff while focusing on unpacking the boxes.

"Do you even sleep?!" When we both looked at him like he just asked the dumbest question in the history of dumb questions, he immediately pivoted and pointed at the column again. "And why are you sparring in the open like this? How are you planning to explain the sword-marks to the owners of this place?"

"Oh, that's a funny story, actually," I responded absently as I laid out the gloves, shoes, and other pre-enchanted articles of clothing onto one of the less-damaged crates. "After this factory was abandoned, it was used as a Celestial safe house for a while, so it's taken off all the registries. It's kind of like what happened to the underground base."

"New Camelot," Raven Boy insisted, as if by reflex.

Despite my initial expectations, the whole 'New Camelot vs. Haven' debate still hadn't reached its conclusion, and so the name of the base remained in limbo. I had half a mind to just cut that Gordian Knot and call it 'The Haven of New Camelot', but I had a bigger fish to fry at the moment, so that declaration had to wait.

"Sure, whatever." I waved my hand dismissively, much to Agrawain's continued annoyance. "The point is that this place is technically owned by Elysium, so nobody will mind."

"But then that means it belongs to you," he stated like it was obvious, but before I could correct him, he tapped on the damaged column again. "Then it should've been all the more reason to take better care of this place! You should've sparred in a Restricted Space, at the very least!"

In the meantime, I finished unpacking and turned to face him, one hand absently rubbing my nose.

"To be honest with you, I'm not very good at opening those."

"Hah! Something the great Leonard S. Dunning isn't good at? Color me shocked." Seeing that I had no reaction to his sarcasm, Raven Boy eventually crossed his arms and asked, "Whatever. Do you actually need me for anything?"

"Of course we do!" future-me exclaimed as he hopped off his perch on the large crate and pointed at the startled guy. "You're our extra! Or… well, more of a 'prop' really, but that sounds a bit demeaning, so let's not go there."

"Oookay, that's already a bit concerning…" Agrawain looked at me, and when I didn't say a peep, he frowned at future-me again. "What exactly do I need to do?"

"First off, put these on." My masked second self walked over to my side and picked up the actual, honest-to-goodness props I laid out on the crate. "Then I'll explain the details while this guy has an appointment to attend."

"Do I?" I blurted out first, then checked my phone and let out a soft groan. "I do. Damn, I hate this stupid strict timetable." Once I pocketed my phone again, I addressed Raven Boy with a forefinger pointed at future-me. "While I'm gone, pay attention to him like you're listening to me. I'll be back in about ten minutes, and then we—"

"Half an hour," future-me corrected me, so I promptly raised a confounded brow at him, at which point he continued in a jovial tone. "You'll get sidetracked."

"Will I?" Future-me only let out an amused chuckle, so I rolled my eyes with a quiet,"… Stupid spoilers."

With that, I waved farewell to Raven Boy and Phased out of the abandoned building. I was sure he wasn't thrilled about it, but it's not like future-me was going to eat him. I didn't even dislike him anymore (or at least not that much), and he earned a lot of brownie points as of late by helping Penny with her technopunk TRPG campaign. Speaking of which, maybe I should give him a reward one of these days. Custom D20 dice with some funny enchantments, maybe?

I shelved the idea for now because I was already running a bit late. Not from any official business or anything like that (I wouldn't have been this worried about that), but from a meeting with the class rep back at her home. Of course, I could've just Phased in and arrived just in the nick of time, but she repeatedly warned me against doing that, so I would be polite this time and use the front door.

After reappearing in the neighbourhood, using one of the many placeholder-marks to Phase to an out-of-sight spot, I walked the rest of the distance and soon reached the front porch of the large yet not especially lavish mini-mansion of Lord Grandpa. I passed through the wards surrounding the property without any trouble; they were similar to the ones Snowy put around our house, and from the looks of it they had been reinforced not too long ago (probably because of the whole Conduit of the Grimoire business). I was already keyed in, so they provided no resistance.

Once I cleared the wards I walked up to the front entrance and pressed the doorbell… or at least I would've if the door didn't swing open before I could even touch the button. Wow. It was weird to be on the receiving end of this trope…

"I'm glad you could make it," the class rep, dressed in a surprisingly cute blue and white dress, greeted me with just a hint of a sulk, and it didn't take me long to realize why.

"Hi, Ammy. Hi, Mike," I greeted both the girl in front of me and the guy further in the back of the foyer. "Did I interrupt something?"

"N-No, not at all!" the blonde Celestial denied with a luminescent blush usually reserved for tsundere draconic girlfriends and silly knightly little sisters, and he tried his best to avoid meeting my eyes.

"Come inside," the class rep urged me, and I did as I was told.

"I didn't expect to see you here," I noted absently as I slipped out of my shoes, and the target of my observation lightly cleared his throat.

"I'm… here as a liaison… and to guard Amelia," Michael insisted, and while I had no idea just how much protection he could provide (I was pretty sure that Ammy was way stronger than him), I wasn't going to heckle him over that. If anything, I was impressed that he managed to convince Lord Grandpa to let him come over to his house.

"That's neat." With that acknowledged, I turned back to the class rep, wondering how exactly I was about to be side-tracked here. But first, the pivotal question. "Did you get it?"

"Grandfather did, yes," she confirmed, still a little sulky, but because Mike was around, she was still mellower than usual. Love did weird things to a person like that. "Come to the living room, and I'll get it for you."

"Thanks, I appreciate that."

With that, the three of us entered into the building's living room, though it was more of a small parlour. There was no television or other entertainment devices in sight, but there were lots of spaces to sit, bookcases full of leather-bound tomes that probably no one read, ever, and only existed to set the scholarly mood, and the walls were covered in portraits and landscape paintings to drive home that 'sophisticated upper-middle-class' décor aesthetic.

Before long, I was sitting on one of the sofas, and once Ammy left the room, it was only the two of us with Mike. That called for some small talk.

"How are you doing?"

"V-Very well! I've got my first paycheck as a Draconic Federation liaison!"

"Is that so?"

"Y-Yes! I'm planning to use it as a deposit and move out of the apartment, so Raz would have more space and I could have some privacy with Amelia."

"Privacy, you say."

"N-Not for that kind of stuff, of course! I-I mean, once all of this blows over, and she starts college, I'm planning to ask her to live together, but that's for later!"

"Really?"

"Y-Yes! Our relationship is very proper and courteous! I told so to Lord Endymonion, and he even gave us his blessing!"

"Did he?"

"T-That's right! I-It was a little scary at first, but he accepted our relationship! We even had a talk! About casual things, I mean, not CIN business, and he was… maybe not 'friendly', but… u-um… agreeable?"

"Was he now? How fascinating."

"It is! And just the other day…!"

I listened to Michael prattle on for a while longer while occasionally nodding along. Being a good listener was a skill, and an important one when one had to deal with two significant others, so I took every opportunity I could to hone it.

A couple of minutes passed by like this until the class rep returned with an apologetic bend on her lips and a standard A4 page densely packed with lines and lines of text in her hands. She walked over to my side and handed it over to me with a quiet, "Sorry it took so long. I was still in Grandfather's study, and I couldn't find it right away."

"Don't sweat it." Saying so, I took the document from her and couldn't help but smile. "Ah! This is exactly what I needed! Thanks!"

"You should thank Grandfather," she told me firmly, and I could see that she was holding back from tweaking her glasses at me. "And to be frank with you, I'm not entirely happy about it."

"But why? This is super convenient. And necessary," I argued, but she remained unconvinced.

"Just make sure you don't abuse it."

"Oh, come on, class rep. Who do you take me for?"

"What's that?" Mike chimed in, so I flashed the document in his direction. Not that he could read it from the other sofa; the letters were quite tiny.

"It's an exemption from school attendance," I explained with a grin. "I've missed so many schooldays that I would normally need to repeat a year, so I asked Lord Grandpa to pull some strings for me at the Department of Education. So long as I still pass all the tests and the end-of-the-year exams, the holes in my attendance record will be overlooked." I held the page in front of me and let out a soft huff. "I wonder why I didn't think of doing this sooner."

"Because it's legally gray," the class rep told me flatly. "Blue Cherry High's minimum attendance limits are mandated by the government, and arranging a special exemption like that took a lot of effort from Grandfather. You better appreciate it."

"I do. I absolutely do," I reassured her with a smile and waved the page again. "I'll thank him in person later, but for now, I'm just happy that this will stop Judy from worrying about my attendance and grades. I'll just have Arnwald or Morgana sign this here, and then…" It was at this moment that my smile withered as I noticed a blatant problem. "Huh. Ammy?"

"Yes?" she blurted out, clearly alarmed.

"Was this the only copy you found?"

"Yes. Why?"

I poked the bottom of the page.

"Your grandpa forgot to sign it."

She blinked at me and took the document back, and once she also confirmed what I said, her shoulders drooped in disappointment.

"You're right. Maybe this is just a duplicate. I'll go and search the study again, and…"

"Nah, don't worry about it." I yoinked the paper from her hand again and flashed a reassuring smile. "I said I'll thank Lord Grandpa in person, so I might as well just have him sign it at the same time. Where is he, anyway?"

I got no immediate answer, so I did my thing and Far Glanced in his direction, only to pause and put the page down with a rather stumped 'Huh?' and a frown.

"What? What did you see?"

Ammy was quick on the uptake and recognized that I was using Far Sight right away, while Michael was getting visibly confused by the abrupt shift in our conversation.

"Something potentially interesting," I answered ambivalently and raised a finger. "Don't mind me, this might take a while."

With that, I closed my eyes and cast my perception across Timaeus again to behold a rather… odd gathering.

"Ladies and gentlemen," spoke a familiar face sitting at the head of the round table, installed inside a half-finished 'Ordo Draconis Hall of Honour' (name pending) within the bowels of the underground base. Arnwald's eyes swept over the dozen or so participants of the meeting. "Let us pool our wisdom and discover… the secrets of Bel of the Abyss."

…

Oh, boy. This was going to be silly, wasn't it?

Part 4

I could still remember the days when the secret base was just an old, decommissioned cold-war-era bomb shelter, with a single central hall and a few commons rooms and barracks. Since then, we repurposed the main layer, expanded the lower layer from just a generator room to house the entire Research Division with their workshops and living spaces, and Fred and company had been working on the third layer for a while now, adding new training spaces, office sections, and extra living and storage facilities.

The rate of expansion was quite astonishing, but I figured that's just what happens with liberal usage of mad science. Even so, there I had seen propositions on my desk about adding even more magitech generators to the base, producing enough surplus electricity to pump some into the electric grid of Critias for a profit (or at least to take the edge off our operational expenses), and there were talks about expanding even further into the mountain, and even some off-the-wall proposals about hydroponics chambers and wat-grown meat being used to make us entirely self-reliant.

…

Maybe we were the mole people all along.

…

Putting that alarming thought aside, I decided to focus on the chamber that prompted this entire chain of thoughts. It was a large, circular room with regularly spaced indentations around its whole circumference, each one about two meters wide and a meter deep. They were meant to be display cases, though currently completely empty. The even lacked the glass panels at the front, yet each segment had its own little lamp at the top, which combined with the light fixtures embedded into the domed ceiling of the chamber created a well-lit yet slightly eerie ambience.

The center of the room was dominated by a round table; the same one that used to be inside the Brotherhood's temporary base within the old office building. I still had no idea from where they got it, but it could be disassembled and reassembled with relative ease, so I wouldn't have been surprised if Arnwald and Duncan brought it over from some European stronghold or somesuch, just so that they could sit around it while having discussions.

To be fair, that was the room's main purpose. This whole place was meant of be a 'Hall of Honour', where Ordo Draconis personnel could gather while surrounded by the old relics of the Brotherhood, as well as trophies and other artefacts provided by the Draconian clans. It was supposed to represent the pride and gravitas of the organization, but since the room was still under construction, the empty displays and bare grey walls gave a poor showing.

The people gathered here didn't seem to care though, and there was quite an unusual combination of them present. At the head of the table (as much as that could even apply to a round table, but I digress) was Arnwald, with Roland and Duncan sitting on his left and right, respectively. Continuing counter-clockwise, the Draconians were in full representation with Naoren, Yseult, both of my in-laws, and even Sebastian got a seat at the table. Then there was Jaakobah, in his Celestial form (probably to emphasize his official position) next to the Magi representatives. That group consisted of Lord Grandpa, with Taika and Barnabas on his sides. Last, and in some ways least, we closed the circle with Tajana, sitting between the dark-skinned arch-mage and Roland.

Oddly enough, Rinne and Brang were both missing from this strange meeting, despite being official representatives within the Ordo Draconis, but maybe it was for the better. There were already what? Thirteen people present? Sheesh.

Anyhow, before anything else, Jaakobah politely raised his hand and waited for Arnwald to acknowledge him.

"Yes, Sir Prefect?"

"Before we begin, I took the initiative to involve another party in this discussion, as I'm certain that their knowledge on matters related to Bel of the Abyss would be appreciated."

"Who are you talking about exactly?" Roland interjected with a hint of a squint, sounding just a tad irritated. I couldn't really blame him though; being the only person here who knew about Bel's true identity put him in a rather awkward situation, so I could understand why he was a bit snappy.

"If you allow it, I think it's best if I let them explain themselves," Jaakobah responded glibly and placed a familiar wooden box onto the table.

He flipped the lid, revealing a milky white orb embedded into the velvety insides of the container, and soon after the artifact lit up, projecting a semi-transparent blue hologram into the air above it, covered in scan lines and occasionally twisted by static noise. I was long used to the peculiar way these Celestial communications devices operated, so I focused on the person on the other side, and I could barely stop myself from groaning out loud.

"Please excuse our long-distance incursion into this meeting. If the circumstances allowed it, we would've been honored to attend in person, but due to time restraints and official duties, we had to request Prefect Arpachshad's assistance in the matter."

Savir, looking prim and proper as usual, spoke in a friendly (though in no way deferential) tone, and would've likely continued to do so, if not for her face suddenly shifting out of focus and being replaced by Tsephanyah's.

"Please accept my warm greetings, ladies and gentlemen. What my esteemed colleague is trying to convey is that all matters regarding Bel of the Abyss are considered the highest priority of Elysium, and as such, we found it necessary to attend this gathering in one way or another. Please excuse our lack of forewarning."

He spoke the last line while looking at Arnwald in general, and the senior Knight soon exhaled a defeated breath.

"I understand your concerns, Sumboulos, and as such I warmly welcome you and your brethren to this discussion. I would only ask you not to make this a regular occurrence, and to inform us of your intent in advance in the future."

"Naturally, honorable Speaker and Knight," the Celestial bigwig responded with a slight nod and a polite smile, the calculated trappings of a seasoned politician.

"Let us put this intermezzo behind us and begin the meeting," Roland proposed, and Duncan reflexively raised a hand.

"Aye. Let's git stairted."

"I-I also concur!" Tajana joined in with her hand in the air, and that started a chain reaction where everyone raised their hands one by one to signal that they were ready. I was pretty sure that wasn't something they agreed upon ahead of time, but peer pressure was an insidious thing like that.

Once everyone indicated that they were ready, it was Arnwald's turn to speak again, and he started from the beginning.

"Let us pool our knowledge and wisdom and attempt to discover the secrets of Bel of the Abyss." When no one else interjected, he picked up a bundle of hand-written pages and squared them on the table as he glanced at his fellow Knights one by one. "Let us start with his first recorded appearance, whereas Brother Roland and Brother Duncan encountered him during our…" He stammered for a second and cleared his throat, casting a glance at my in-laws at the other end of the table. "During our ill-fated strike upon the Dracis domicile."

Abram, noticing the awkward atmosphere, let out a hearty chuckle and waved at the Knights.

"Don't worry about it! Water under the bridge, water under the bridge!"

"It was a harrowing night, but everything changed since then, and there's no reason to open up old wounds," Mom-in-law backed him up, and the people around the table silently nodded along, most likely because they felt that those words also applied to them to some degree.

"We encountered Bel of the Abyss in the entrance hall of the building," Roland spoke up, sounding even more detached and professional than usual. "He introduced himself as a collector of curios and rare artifacts, and during our encounter, he took the enchanted spatial restriction relic belonging to the line of Unicorn Knights."

"An' mah sword."

"As well as a certain spear in my collection," Sebastian noted in a remarkably calm tone. "In a manner of speaking, at the very least. It's a rather complex tale we scarcely have the time to explore."

"Has he already exhibited his strange and uncanny mastery over teleportation back then?"

Hearing Lord Grandpa's question, Duncan let out a grunt and nodded along.

"Aye. Th' bas wis skipping aroond th' steid. 'N' th' neist time, tae."

"Next time?" Yseult, conspicuously seated next to him, asked with a brow raised high, and the big guy vehemently nodded in response. However, it was Roland who gave a proper answer.

"Our next encounter with Bel of the Abyss was during a meeting of the Brotherhood, where he attempted to coerce us into suspending our activities on Critias for a time."

"Was this before or after the Elder Xinji first encountered him?" Naoren inquired, and after a long beat, Arnwald shook his head.

"Before. Morgana wasn't on the island yet." He let out a soft groan and tapped on the table. "It was sometime between that incident and the attack on the tournament grounds that he captured Sister Morgana and Brother Agrawain and forced them under his yoke through magical means."

"Our own intelligence reports also paint the same timeline," a new voice chimed in, with Mensah replacing Tsephanyah over the hologram orb. "Were the Oathb— Pardon, the Knights affected by mind control able to provide any further information about their captivity?"

"I'm afraid not," Roland interjected in a hurry. "The artifact used to control them interfered with their memories."

"What kind of artifact?" came the next question from Taika, and the other Magi representatives looked just as intrigued.

"This is the first time I have heard of this detail," Lord Grandpa spoke thoughtfully.

"It was of Abyssal make," Tajana told them, only to shrink back when everyone looked at her at once. "I-I mean, based on the description I heard from Morgana, it was a tool of restriction in the form of a collar, or rather a choker. Such enchanted articles are exceedingly rare, and only the Lords of the Noble Houses would have access to them."

I would've liked to ask that if she knew about them, then how come she never realized or cared that Snowy was wearing one such choker for who knew how long? I wasn't there, so I couldn't, but even if I was, the conversation moved on too fast to interject.

"According to what we know," Savir, taking her spot over the communications device, raised her voice to get everyone's attention. "The activities of Bel of the Abyss could be sharply divided into three distinct stages. During his early appearances, he would show concern for maintaining a semblance of peace on the Ancestral Lands."

"Excuse me? What are these 'Ancestral Lands'?" Naoren cut in, only for Sebastian to swiftly answer him.

"It's what they call this island," followed by a quieter, "Leonard's correct; they are very insistent with their terminology."

"I see. Thank you, Elder."

While that was going on, Savir continued unabated.

"During this time, Bel of the Abyss not only attempted to mitigate conflicts between the various forces present, but actively supported Polemos from the shadows."

"From what I gathered," Lord Barnabas spoke up next, sounding rather contemplative, "Leonard had no idea about Bel's true identity at the time."

"Indeed." Savir flashed a smug smile and declared. "However, that doesn't mean that Bel of the Abyss himself wasn't aware of the identity of Polemos!"

"Wait, we're rushing too much," Emese cut in with a frown and linked her fingers on the table. "Before we discuss the Celestial connection, isn't there something else we're forgetting about?" Seeing that nobody responded, she let the cat out of the bag. "During all of his early appearances, Bel was looking for something. He said he was collecting rare and valuable items, and his attack on the first tournament was prompted by a missing article from the auction held by Clan Feilong."

"I was just about to mention that!" Savir snapped at her, only to be suddenly replaced by Tsephanyah.

"Please excuse Eris. As for the objection, it is entirely valid, and we believe it ties into why the modus operandi of Bel of the Abyss changed soon after." He fell silent for a dramatic beat (or maybe just to see if anyone else had something to add), and seeing that everyone was waiting for him to continue, the Celestial launched into a long explanation. "As I'm sure you're all at least tangentially aware, the Lord Archons, as well as Bel of the Abyss, are reborn in the present time through an ancient and lost ritual of reincarnation. Her Grace Archon Deus, honored be Her name, chose to practice a form of 'natural' rebirth, whereas she would be born-again in a new body and reawaken her powers and memories, which happened upon her… unexpected return to Elysium." He pointedly cleared his throat to chase away the awkward memories and continued a bit more animatedly. "As for Archon Polemos, he chose to instead house his consciousness and power within an object of great significance, awaiting an heir to become whole again. Her Grace was generous enough to enlighten us about the process during her latest visit to Elysium, and based on her description, we've come to the following conclusion: both of their methods were based on a single technique, focusing on its different aspects to suit their needs."

"Are you implying that Bel of the Abyss did the same?" Yseult mused, and the Celestial smiled as if he was waiting for this exact question.

"Precisely. As a matter of fact, we suspect that he utilized the original method to return, and since the technique comprised of both natural reincarnation and imprinting through a medium…"

He purposefully trailed off and waited for someone to say the quiet part out loud, which happened to be Sebastian this time around.

"So you think that the item he was looking for at the auction was this 'medium'…" Yep. It wouldn't be the old butler without at least one air quote. I knew it was only a question of time. Anyhow, he put his hands down and added, "Which he used to complete his rebirth, and that's why his priorities changed."

"But didn't he say that it was missing, and that's why he was attacking the tournament venue?" Mom-in-law posited, and it was Tajana who let out a surprised yelp, as if she just had a big revelation.

"W-Wait! Didn't Lord Bel… I mean… didn't he say that it was missing because he already took it? And… in the same vein, doesn't he often talk about different time-lines, and moving through time? Maybe he was serious."

"Precisely!" Savir came back into the conversation by literally pushing Tsephanyah out of the picture. I was half-tempted to Far Glance at them, just out of curiosity, but I decided against it. It was best not to divide my attention. Meanwhile, she fixed up her laurel headdress and lightly cleared her throat. "As I was saying beforehand, this marks the first major shift in the behavior of Bel of the Abyss, and it is almost certainly related to this mystery item! After this point, he was no longer interested in artifacts and curios, and his focus shifted to subtly influencing the World of Mystics through subterfuge, misdirection, and outright coercion! He even maintained a strenuous partnership with Polemos, even after they were both aware of each other's true identities! In effect, Bel of the Abyss likely approached Polemos before anyone else precisely because he knew of his true identity!"

"In other words, Bel was manipulating everyone from the beginning, including Our Liege," Arnwald summarized, followed by a soft huff. "This was something we have long suspected within the halls of the Ordo Draconis, yet hearing it confirmed by a third party doesn't make it feel any less vexing and confounding."

"We're hardly a third party, Sir Eagle Knight," Jaakobah interjected, causing Arnwald to mutter something about 'you know what I meant', only for his voice to be drowned out by a question from Lord Grandpa.

"Assuming that this deduction is correct, how does it bring us any closer to apprehending this menace to the peace of the World of Mystics?"

"We need to understand our enemies before we can truly face them," Naoren responded laconically, earning him some approving nods from the other Draconians, while the Magi remained skeptical.

"With all due respect, Clan Head," Lord Barnabas spoke up next in a mild, non-confrontational manner. "Do you believe that our understanding of Bel of the Abyss is comprehensive enough for us to say that?"

"It's better than it used to be!" Dad-in-law exclaimed, his voice full of bluster.

"But still not enough." Lord Grandpa's voice was like a wet blanket. "How are we to interpret the idea of him being able to move unbridled in time, and how does it help us better face him and his machinations?"

"A fair question," Mensah took the helm of the communication orb, no doubt because of some kind of argument unfolding between the other two ex-directors in the background. I was once again tempted to Far Glance over, but one thing at a time. "To answer it, we have to look at the third stage of Bel of the Abyss's conduct, what prompted it, and how it is currently affecting us."

"Please, do tell," Lady Yseult prompted him, and the youngest of the three Celestial bigwigs pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose in a rather dramatic pose. Why did all the glasses-wearing people I knew do that, I wondered.

"Let us presume for a moment that Bel of the Abyss is truly capable of traversing, or at the very least observing the time-stream."

"Which would go against one of the Three Laws of Magic," Taika noted quietly on the side, but she got no reaction, so Mensah continued on.

"To put frankly, the recent actions of Bel of the Abyss appear remarkably irrational. He and his so-called Axis of Evil staged numerous attacks on the soil of the Ancestral Land without accomplishing anything of perceivable value. This is in stark contrast with his earlier approach. He also goaded the Abyssal Houses into an open civil war, and even directly threatened the local School and its personnel, something he avoided until recently. However, we think that it's too early to conclude that he abandoned his methodology. If we assume that his powers have to do with time itself, it is entirely possible, nay, likely that what we're seeing is just an extension of his manipulative efforts!"

"Meaning," Arnwald interjected, a finger rubbing his chin and looking rather contemplative. "Meaning that what we see as disparate and illogical actions are, in fact, just the surface level of a complex ploy he enacts already knowing their outcome."

"Precisely!" Mensah confirmed with a self-satisfied smirk. "Therefore, we propose that we look at his actions and work backwards; instead of trying to predict where Bel of the Abyss would strike next, we ought to look at which way he's trying to guide the flow of history, and from it, deduce his ultimate goal!"

"A rather daunting task, if I may say," Sebastian noted with a hint of skepticism. "Let us entertain the idea for a moment, then. So far, what did Bel of the Abyss's actions lead to? Besides the destruction of my property, that is."

Oh, look. The grumpy old dragon still wasn't over the breaking of his stupid spear. Go figure. More importantly, Tajana meekly raised her hand to grab everyone's attention.

"He caused the civil war and empowered Lord… I mean, Noir Irdu Inanna of House Inanna."

"That was presumably just a means to an end," Naoren proposed, and the Draconian side of the table was in agreement.

"Exactly! He's not getting anything out of it, is he?" said Abram, followed by Emese's point.

"True. With his powers, he could've subjugated the Abyss without a need for such a conflict."

"Or a so-called 'Herald'," Roland chimed in, probably just to maintain his presence in the conversation.

"T-That's right! I agree!" Tajana backed him up a bit too conspicuously, but nobody seemed to notice.

"Presuming that is accurate," Lord Grandpa posited with a thoughtful hum and a slight frown, "What do you propose the true reason behind his actions could be?"

"A convenient excuse?" Naoren proposed, making the old Magi squint at him.

"An excuse for what, exactly?"

"A great question!" Savir's voice rang out as she reasserted her position in front of the hologram orb again with a huff. "And we believe that the answer is obvious! Bel of the Abyss requires Polemos for something, but since he is no longer cooperating with him, he's using the hostilities as pretense to goad him into doing what he wants."

"Meaning, you also think that Leonard is walking into a trap in the Abyss," Arnwald posited with a frown and didn't even wait for her to respond. "All the more reason why need to convince him otherwise."

"We already tried," Roland spoke in a flat voice, making the senior Knight's brows furrow even harder. "You aren't going to change his mind at this point."

"We should still try," the other man insisted, to little avail.

"What should we do then?" Mom-in-law moved the conversation along, and Savir jumped on the opportunity to give her five Jens.

"Just allow Polemos to do whatever he wants," she proposed, much to everyone's surprise. "Consider this: the one thing that's common in all of the recent attacks is that Bel of the Abyss immediately retreats as soon as Polemos arrives at the scene. Why do you think he does so?"

Nobody came forth to answer, so Tajana swallowed hard and raised a hand.

"Because… he's afraid of him?"

"No, not that! Weren't you listening?" Savir snapped at her at once. "Bel of the Abyss fought Polemos in the open twice, so it's clear that he's not hesitant to confront him, yet he chose to avoid him on all subsequent occasions. Even you should be able to recognize that—"

Before she could finish speaking, she was suddenly yanked out of the field of view of the hologram projector and replaced by Tsephanyah again.

"Let us not beat around the bush. We believe that the answer lies in one of Bel's prior statements, whereas he likened himself and Archon Polemos to… what was it again, Dolion?" The blonde Celestial glanced to the side, then back to the group around the round table. "A cruise missile, yes. I think the precise words were 'we always know where we are because we know where we are not'. From this, we surmised that Bel's biggest concern is the location of Archon Polemos, and these attacks are to ensure that he would be at a certain place at a certain time. Or rather, that he wouldn't be somewhere else."

"That makes a lot of sense," Yseult spoke up as soon as Tsephanyah stopped talking, and she forcefully tapped the table. "Leonard Dunning can temporarily shut down Bel's powers, can't he?"

"So we have heard," Lord Grandpa responded flatly, followed by a slightly more animated Lord Taika.

"Certainly. Bel of the Abyss may be able to manipulate time, while Leonard seems to exert control over space. Those concepts are linked through space-time, and when mystic powers operating on such adjacent domains overlap, it's common to experience such interference."

"Meaning?" Dad-in-law prompted her, and Taika hastily continued in a slightly more professional tone.

"What I'm trying to say is that it's very possible… No, it's downright likely that Leonard's presence is something that's interfering with not only Bel's ability to teleport, but also his other powers."

"Such as his ability to perceive and manipulate time," Sebastian concluded, but then added a tentative, "Hypothetically speaking, of course."

"Yes, that was our conclusion as well," Tsephanyah noted with a hint of a smile and swept his gaze over the people around the table. "Without exaggeration, we could say that Archon Polemos is our only effective counter-measure against Bel of the Abyss's insidious machinations, and he knows this as well, explaining why he would go to such lengths to disturb and distract the Archon."

"Therefore, all the more reason to stop him from playing into that despicable cur's hands and go into the Abyss!" Arnwald exclaimed, causing Roland to bury his forehead in his hand.

"We were just over this…" he hissed, only for his eyes to open wide when the senior Knight's outburst was met with approval.

"I trust Brother Leonard, but I agree that entering the Abyss at this time may be playing into the hand of the enemy."

"I concur." Lord Grandpa supported the notion with a stony face and a shallow sigh. "We are already facing numerous enquiries from Glasgow, demanding that Leonard Dunning would testify about the recently transpired events related to the Ottawa School of Restoration and the Grimoire Keys, and…" He glanced at the hologram. "Could it be that distracting him from such obligations may also be part of the plans of Bel of the Abyss?"

"More than likely," stated Tsephanyah with undue gravitas, prompting Lord Barnabas to nod along.

"If that is indeed the case, then I believe that we are obliged to object to Leonard leaving to the Abyss all the more."

I could see Roland quietly getting more and more exasperated, which peaked when Duncan smacked the table with his palm.

"That's th' blether! Noo, does a'body hae an useful idea aboot howfur tae dae that?"

"Clan Head Abram? Maybe you could reason with him?" Naoren proposed at once.

"How about you, Miss Sukkal?" Taika addressed Tajana at the same time. "You're close to Neige and Penelope, and Leonard truly treasures his sisters. Maybe you could convince them?"

"I-I-I don't know!"

Before long, the already loosely structured round-table discussion broke down into a bunch of individual talks, where everyone was brainstorming how to make me 'see reason'. The only two people who remained silent around the table were Roland, who looked like he wanted to give me a piece of his mind for landing him in this situation, and Jaakobah, who remained completely motionless, as if none of this was any of his business.

All in all, I tried to listen in a bit more, but none of the snippets I caught felt in any way important or useful, so I soon gave up and returned to my body. I had to give it to them though; they probably put more thought into my overarching Bel act than I did. Or… on second thought, it was maybe a bit too conveniently consistent, so was future-me purposefully guiding them to this conclusion. But then he told me that I would be distracted when coming over to see Ammy and pick up my paperwork, so he knew I would see this. Did he want me to see it?

…

Wait. On second thought, the meeting effectively recounted all the major events in the scenario related to Bel. Did… did future-me just trick me into watching a recap-episode?!

"That bloody sunova…" I whispered, causing Mike to tense up on the other sofa.

"Sunshine! He woke up!"

"I wasn't asleep," I grumbled as I rolled my shoulders. "Where's Ammy?"

"Here," she announced as she walked in with a tray. "Since you were staying over longer than expected, I decided to be a good host and make you some tea."

"Really? You shouldn't have." I was pleasantly surprised, only to get a closer look at the purple-coloured pear-and-rosehip infusion thing in the glass cup in front of me, and echoed myself in a slightly less pleased, "You really shouldn't have…"

"Can I have one too?" Mike asked, eyeing the teapot and the class rep happily filled up a second cup for him.

As for me, I swallowed my pride, threw a couple of sugar cubes into the tea-adjacent concoction, and did my best to smile.

"So? What did you learn?" Ammy probed me as soon as she put the pot down.

"That I'm going to have another intervention about going to the Abyss soon."

"Which you shouldn't do, so it serves you right."

"How about we don't start arguing about this again?" I proposed, and she soon relented. It was probably because of Michael's presence; she was always more mellow while he was within earshot.

Speaking of him, he took a deep whiff of his cup, as if it was some amazing blend, and turned a curious gaze at me.

"So… If I may be so bold to ask… what are you going to do?"

"Right now, I'm going to finish this cup, and then leave," I answered between two gulps of the sweet brew. "I have a prior engagement, so I'll get back to that, and then I guess I'll visit the arch-mage early in the morning, or something."

"No, I meant about the Abyss," Michael insisted.

"No change in the plans," I assured him (though he didn't look reassured at all).

I quickly forced the rest of the fake tea down my throat, pocketed my unsigned exemption document, and got on my feet.

"Thanks for the hospitality, but I think it's time for me to move on. Have fun flirting."

"Thank you, we will!" the hapless Celestial responded with a grin, making his girlfriend flush red, which was fun to see. An embarrassed class rep was a rare sight, after all.

"You're not going to come to school tomorrow either, right?" she inquired in a transparent attempt to change the subject, and by the time I responded, we were at the front door.

"Probably not. You know that I need to be on full alert nowadays."

"Fair enough."

It was clear that she had more to say, but she was holding back (again, probably Mike's proximity was the cause), so I managed to say my farewells and slip out of the building without any further ado. Retracing my steps, I got back to the same spot where I previously arrived, and once I made sure nobody was looking, I Phased right back to the abandoned factory.

"Ah, right on time!" future-me exclaimed in place of a greeting.

"Yeah, yeah. You set me up again, you wanker." I grumbled aloud and walked over to the crates.

"It was something you needed to see," he responded glibly and stepped to the side to present the last person in the room. "More importantly, ta-dah!"

I stopped in my tracks and looked Raven Boy over from head to toe.

"Huh. The resemblance is uncanny."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but no, it isn't," the guy fumed and wobbled for a second before regaining his balance. "Who the hell looks like this?!"

To be fair to him, that was a valid question. Right now, he was wearing a set of worn shoulder pads; not the armour kind, but the type one would see on an American football player. It could barely be seen though, as he had a long cape draped on top of it, which was a repurposed curtain cut and tucked to form by Brang of all people. Future-me also got him a long, black wig from somewhere, just for the looks, and most importantly, he had a pair of old shoes attached to small stilts, looking kind of like those Japanese geta sandals.

"He's about the right height this way, but can he move with those shoulder pads?"

Future-me gave me a 'Who do you take me for?' kind of look and grabbed Agrawain's arm, raising them over his head and nearly making him stumble again.

"Look! We already did all the stretching and the warm-up. He's going to be fine."

"You still haven't told me why we're doing this. Am I supposed to stand in for someone? For whom?"

Seeing his confusion made future-me chuckle and pat Raven Boy on the shoulder with a cheeky, "Spoilers."

"What does that even—?"

"Let's stop messing around," I cut in by donning my Polemos gear and grabbing him by the arm. "Come. Stand over here."

"Fine, fine. I'm coming. It's just a pain in the ass to walk in these and…" He continued to gripe and moan until we reached the middle of the usual rehearsing grounds, at which point he glanced around, suddenly looking just a tad apprehensive. "This might be a bit late for me to ask, but… what exactly am I supposed to do here?"

"For, now, nothing." Future-me patted him on the shoulder again and walked past him so that he would stand a few steps behind his back. "Just remember, don't move a muscle unless we tell you otherwise."

'Otherwise, you might lose an arm', is the part we didn't say out loud. We had a long evening (and night, even if Agrawain didn't know this yet) ahead of us, so there was no point in getting the prop even more nervous for no reason, was there?