A long while after entering his room, modeled exactly as it has always been back at his home, the key difference being the corner allocated to Yuno, decorated with the smaller size furniture and items that his size would need, sporting the same glossy, brown wood style as did his own home back in the forest of Kaci. Dante came out of a streaming bathroom, looking more relaxed than he ever was from that days morning, as he sat on his bed soon after, still trying to let the last bits of anxiety leave his body. Yuno flew from his own corner on the side, flying his way at a careful manner as he hoped not to further distress Dante as he dressed up again, leaving all of his equipment on the side.

"So now are you nice and relaxed? Shower served you well?", Yuno curiously approached Dante.

Dante finished wiping off, "Yeah. Man, this whole behavior needs a screeching halt. Knowing me, my mother, or otherwise, that was the main governing body of an entire country I assaulted with my words.", he exhaled deeply.

"Luckily one that met with Weis before anything, hence the large tolerance on that. Strange as that is, Insinia and Kaci are quite far away from where she's at now. Let alone that land beyond the Solar Sea she said my kin originated from."

"What, no books to read on your origin?"

"I mean, yes, but I'm surprised to see it is contradicting to what Alexandra said. I always read about what happened after Weis's arrival into the continent, and then the founding of Kaci, where 'The Martyr of heaven and abyss graced the few gone by, in the Elysian Plains to rest before their souls wither and they truly die'."

"At least you have a referral for your people. Screw the events that transpired in Dirunon when I was little, I get it, it's not an easy thing to get by so soon. But it still pisses me off when my referral is to no one but Cecilia. 'Son of Cecilia' as if I were into the upper class rulers of a country when all Cecilia was, was a good fighter. Instead of that long and ironically formal string, Dante Elysia would be tenfold more polite and honorable."

"I think you're severely downplaying Cecilia's role and all she did. Remember, commander of the Valkyrie's, the first Alexandra would talk to for national military matters, and she even held a Gate for that matter, making her more than just a good fighter. She was an Overseer, the Overseer Of The Beginning, if I recall correctly...or was it Overseer Of Beginnings?"

"That's her story, not mine. You all seem awfully bent on attaching her lineage on me, when I don't have anything close to what she did. Maybe my powers will grow to that of an Overseer, but even then, I will surely not be anything like her. Truth be told, me and Cecilia had our on and off days, because I could never really level with her the same I did with my little sister."

"Speaking of little sister...Angelica and Angelico might still be alive. And with that, I'm more than certain you'll want to track them down."

"Just to see them, yes. I don't really feel like doing a full reconnection yet."

"Seriously? Why?"

"I can't measure myself up to them the same way. I was forcefully placed on a leading spot after failure because of Cecilia, for the Silverlances that never once wanted to listen to me. Angelico, as much as I despise him, earned his spot as a squire, and a leader when the previous commander of the Goldenlances died during the attack, and Angelica was a proven and respected member of the Sister Knights, being trialed during her deployment on a post-battle defensive front to heal and care for the wounded who fought the usual monsters. Hell, she was able to use her Obsulyte alone, not her weapon which was forbidden, to take care of a small, but challenging group of monsters for her age, that approached them. Luck or skill, that alone still net her a nomination for the class of Exorcist from the church. Someone who can fend off and destroy evil, both in it's pure, monstrous form, as well as dispel that evil and pain from the body of one inflicted with it. Never received it, however...only nominations happened once a year, and that same year she earned it, we got destroyed and it was never recognized."

"There's still Freya. Your eldest, right?"

"She is...I don't know about her like I do the others. She left when she was like eight or nine to study abroad. One thing I do know, she was so, so far detached from reality, it was crazy. Genius she was, she probably knew exactly what she was doing and wanted from that age, despite the norms. Her treatment of others and how others treated her was substantially different due to that as well, for better or worse, I couldn't tell you. One thing is for sure, were she around in that house, Cecilia and Ray included, we'd all be using her shadow as a roof above our heads."

"I've seen worse families, honestly. You were all at least attached with each other as siblings."

"Minus the brother."

"Ok, minus the brother. Now what I am most curious about, is my family due to that. You see, when I spoke of Guardia-sorry, 'Links' and Children before, I really meant intertwined fates. Which means that if you were born quadruplets, that surely must mean that I also have brothers and sisters!"

"No kidding? There's more of you?"

"A lot more apparently. Or rather allegedly. It's not always guaranteed that someone will be boring with a Link next to them. Actually, throughout the ages, Links were few and far between, as it obviously takes an above average Obsulyte user to have one, because they need a certain level of power outflow to manifest us into life."

"So...you just popped up into this world once I did?"

"No, stupid. You think I lack a mother and a father?"

"You have a mother? Wait, scratch that, you have a father?", Mellistar manifested behind Dante.

"Yes? It's kind of a requirement for me to be born? Males and females have that ability, necessary for survival and all?"

"The way you're acting, I had always thought that only one of the two parents remained. That of course being the mother.", Mellistar mocked him.

"I'd love to meet your parents. Surely you grew up with both present to be this much of a prick. And no. I actually think I accidentally avoided talking about this before, but Weis is my dad. Kind of a small reveal considering you realized it somewhat from the favoritism against me, but yes. And my duty in the village was no less important than his, even though he almost never got out of his house, due to size and age. Naga, the Dragon Mother, my mother, is sort of...a mystery. I met her once, I think, and then never again. She was definitely within the group of the Trailblazers along with Hikari and Cecilia, but she's still one of the unknows in my life."

"Wait a minute...Yuno, your mother, what were her relations with Victoria as a whole?"

"Different from Cecilia's, that's for sure. From the elder's words, she was completely unaffiliated with any country or other bodies than her friend group. She definitely has met you and your siblings, as she was with Cecilia for a very considerable amount of time, and due to their bond, you'll definitely have a bleak image of her in your mind."

"Naga...Nana?", Dante tried to think, "Still, her name does speak to me, but there's a heavy catch here. No way Naga was in the Trailblazers without being a considerably strong figure."

"Correct that. She was known as the Dragon Of Nurturing or Dragon Mother."

"Swap 'Dragon' with 'Overseer' in today's terms and there's a huge possibility I figured something out. There's something seriously wrong with that thought, though. I need to ask Magi something. If what I think is actually true, then there's multiple explanations for why Alexandra based her speculation of my sibling's, other than Freya, whereabouts on rumors from the north."

"Care to share with the class? If you're about to do something stupid, at least let us know.", Mellistar echoed.

"Alexandra would have the resources to track almost all of her former allies across almost two continents, and there was never a mention that any of them were classified as Overseers, meaning that finding someone considerably stronger than them, would be a cakewalk, even if they went to hiding. Angelico and Angelica survived with me from the attack, that I remember before blacking out. The only logical explanation for how they ended up there would be that someone intervened. Drima and Magi never mentioned that they took away my siblings along with me, so that must mean someone else did so. Someone who would be present on the very next day of the conflict, which is a presence other that looters for the very recent wrecks. Hikari disappeared, Cecilia and Viola died, meaning that one of the few and only people who could take such a fast action was your mother. Someone who feared for the lives of children she knew since little, while feeling that Cecilia might have in fact died due to conflict. Naga."

"But that would also mean that Alexandra was actively afraid to go looking for Naga. But...why? My mother was gentle, a great presence to be around and mostly had everything down not to fighting, but caring for others as well as having killer household skills. That much I knew from the one day I met with her, so you can probably guess how much those things radiated for me to instantly latch on to and attach along with her in my mind. But even if relationships soured and mom became actively hostile against Alexandra for whatever reason...afraid of what, exactly?"

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"An Overseer is an Overseer. Where your Obsulyte is distributed you have no control of, but being a victim of circumstance instead of working with what you were dealt is not how one who attains that title acts. Surely, had it boiled down to combat, the edge would be on Hikari and Cecilia for coming out victorious, but had it been a lesser Obsulyte user against an Overseer alone, death would be all around them.", Mellistar pointed out.

"I actually need to consult with one of the only people who might actually know something about this first..."

"You guys will be fine, geez. She went around back to talk with Drima a little, now she's with Terna talking about things from their world in the lobby if you want to find her. Though keep in mind, Hikari would do a much better job at explaining things from her memory.", Yuno guided him.

"They're the same thing, who cares. You stay here, I'll need my space around her. That goes for you too, Mellistar."

"You cannot leave me behind, idiot. I am not a part of you like Yuno, I am you."

"Just shut up for once and let me go at it."

Saying so, Dante finished dressing up and left his room behind, heading directly for the lobby in a hasty manner, setting his sights on both Enemy and the duo of Drima and Magi thereafter. Surely enough, now off their gears and relaxing around the area, Enemy was conversing with Terna as Yuno said, keeping it up ever since last time he saw them.

"So that Serena girl was all the way back from the Holy Roman Empire times? Hmm...Madrigal too. She must have surely had some experiences with that, since Italy was divided then as they are now, north and south, which means they could have very well ransacked her home in favor of their god and conquest.", Enemy thought.

"I believe so. Most of her songs at the beginning point out to such, first her being ostracized because of her Obsulyte, then the conquest of the Romans.", Terna nodded as she held on her notebook, partially translated.

"Then that must also mean she could somewhat jump between not only worlds, but timelines too.", she pointed out in Terna's notebook, "The Greek guy she mentions that she met first was looking very much that he was from ancient Greece, and then there's the lazy soldier dressed in all black, who spoke long words like these, which look oddly like German. No way those timelines are together, since one is B.C., and the other is in like Germany in the 1940s. Additionally, it says here that she met with the mother full of lust before the German guy, and from the looks of it, she looks to be from the mid 2000s instead, judging off how she portrays the era and the connections via the internet at the time. Could she not really be immortal into waiting for time to pass, but rather jump between timelines instead? That would answer some things, along with confirming that her first few 'worlds' were her jumping between eras that happened around Europe, making sense of why a bigger amount of people she met are from there, where her origin was, before she started going around to such weird places she describes later on. Man, my eyes are fooling me or what, it's getting hard to read these things up close. Maybe it's your writing.", Enemy rubbed her eyes as she looked over the notebook.

"I daresay you're more interested in this than me, Enemy!"

"Of course I am. To you, it's a detached part of self...to me and Hikari, it's home. Plus, by understanding the Abyss Hunters, their origins and such, we could both find more about this entire world, as well as how to save it. Rather, push it into saving itself."

Dante approached them, "Hey."

Enemy turned around and looked at him, "What's up? Calmed down?"

Dante was surprised about her lack of sarcasm or hostility within the greeting, thinking in earnest that it was an attempt into mocking him going for a fake out.

"I uh...yeah, I'm good. I was hoping to talk to you about something, related to Naga from your Trailblazer group, down to my siblings."

"I've got time. Terna, we need to talk about this with Drima and Magi to better understand it. Wait for a couple minutes, ok?"

"Yeap, will do! I'll go ahead and start the informing up though, because I also have to make plans for Galatea and Mesonisi!"

As Terna left them behind, with a faint prayer of peace among the two, she went inside Drima's study, notebook at hand as she hurried to catch them up with everything.

"Clear change of attitude coming from you. How so?", Dante asked.

"Thought you wanted to ask me about something else?"

"Yeah, but this one came in hot before it."

"Nothing much, other than what I said before. We're stuck looking at each other through Hikari blocking us with her body, so I can keep going on the insults and bravado, which would end in nothing. In any case, I'm still a living being, so granted I finally got the feelings you've got right now through my skull to process them, I decided to be more lenient."

"Yes, it's now of all times you've processed it, not when you first learned it."

"When I first learned it, I had a handful of your psycho ass going around in a frenzy threatening to kill everyone. As you can tell from the sound of it, the only thing I couldn't process, was how you felt in relation to the events you remembered, since I had to care for staying alive, keeping the others alive, and formulating a plan close to, but not killing you in battle. God forbid I break Hikari's heart yet again.", she sighed, "Thinking I am placing any bit of trust in you is a bold move."

"You surely did put enough trust to jump in front of Terna and take a bullet to the head."

"Luckily both energy based weapon, and weak one at that. But that's not trust, just me doing what is beneficial to Hikari and her alone."

"For someone who portrays herself as someone entirely different, your real name is an adjective and your mind, as well as life's purpose, revolves around a liar."

"Ask the god damn question, Dante.", Enemy started to get ticket off.

Dante backed out, "Hikari was a part of the Trailblazers that also consisted of Naga, the Dragon Mother, right?"

"Yes. She was also an Overseer, the Overseer Of Nurturing. Granted, myths and legends surrounding the times, she was labeled a Dragon, hence the Dragon Of Nurturing...also her real form was a dragon, so there's that."

"What were her relationships with governing bodies?"

"Alexandra, you mean? Not the best. In fact, not good. Naga was quick to point a finger at Alexandra who went to Cecilia all the time, thinking that her true sense of duty as a mother was overshadowed by that of a soldier, and as such, leading to how you were treated like. She would frequently visit Dirunon, passing by the northern foundations of the Church to check on Hikari and such...well, me. I had to take over for Hikari after the final events after the war, and despite hiding the fact I was the worship subject of the Church, in a way, and possessed an entirely different outlook, she quickly saw right through me. It was through her that I found out about Hikari, the original owner of this body, as I had essentially been reborn as a vessel for her, much like Serena did, through sheer particle and Obsulyte particle manifestation. When she was done with her visits, she'd normally drop by both Viola's restaurant and Cecilia's home, quickly finding out how things were spiraling out of control but able to do nothing about it. However...according to Cecilia, when she was told by Naga about who I really was, she did tell me something in particular about Naga, among other things. She forced Naga to accept a promise that, upon dying, she would take the kids in and raise them herself, until they were ready to get out there. This happened around four months before the genocide, and up until that point, I found it severely outlandish that anything would happen, given how absurd Victorian defenses were, and despite their part, how heavily unaffected the mainland, as well as outskirts of the country in the north were. And well...we know how that turned out. Now, I heavily suspect you're asking me this because of Alexandra's mention about Angelico and Angelica, but I suggest you hold on to the idea of seeking them out. Something about you going back to them would be...wrong. If they do learn about the state of the world today, I'm pretty sure that from their personalities, the Victorian knightly culture and the such, their first few words would be something along the lines of, 'Well, what are we waiting for? The world is burning up and we'll just stand by and watch?!'"

"True...still, thanks for telling me this. Although, I'm raising more questions the more I talk to you. One of which is...you were born the way you said, no name or anything. So what really happened to end up in Dirunon?"

"You really want to get into that?"

"I don't know how you grew up to be as you are now, compared to your demeanor back then too, but I'd like to know."

She sighed, "You're asking me this because you'll go after them, won't you?"

Dante pondered for a moment, "Yes. Naturally so. If just to check that they're ok, then leave. Dragging them into this is nothing compared to what I really want."

"To boil it down to a digestible nugget of information, when Makaro and Kikaro beat the shit out of each other in the Abnormal String after managing to kill Mellistar, or Dante of the past, Hikari was gravely injured in order to divide the conflict. She bled out in a field full of white roses, turning them red, and I then took over, giving her a second chance on life, as she gave me my first."

"Wait, Makaro and Kikaro beat the shit out of each other? I thought they were both in on this.", Dante was surprised.

"I don't remember much, since Hikari doesn't and she blacked out from the bleeding, but I do remember that once they were done with that Dante, they swapped over to each other. Now as far as I go, I was little, but overloaded with Obsulyte. Soon enough, because I was careless while travelling literally god knows where, I was found out as the 'god' of this world. Hence, because wounds were recent from the War Of Zero, I was treated less than ideally. I-I...I escaped a rich guy's house, got out and was saved by the then super small faction of the Church's preaching groups. Treated like a deity, I escaped yet again and was then found by some weird lady, someone who run...oh. The Falana Orphanage. Right. She was someone second in command to 'The Martyr', and who forwarded me to Dirunon's faction of the Church, which by then they started to gain immense power and popularity due to their affiliation and presence in Larussia. Or just call it Russia, because someone must've become really bored with coming up for country names by that point. And there I was again. After Dirunon was destroyed, luck and fate would have it, I found myself in your house. Case in point, someone definitely has cursed me to run to those bearing the crest of the family of Elysia."

"I am not certain you were that 'lucky, but rather naturally passed down. 'The Martyr', was the one the person who ran the orphanage, right? That is the title of Tallulah. But strange...no one ever really mentioned anything about my grandmother, if she actually is my grandmother. But for one of the Abyss Hunters who bares the same last name, sending you over to Dirunon, where Cecilia of the Trailblazers would be at close proximity to you at all times? Doesn't sound lucky, it sounds very much planned. Still, I feel you're oversimplifying this way too much."

"I said I'd make it digestible. And food is shared in a conversation of two, so I'll feed you whatever I like, so that you may shut your mouth and shove it down your throat.", she angrily replied, "We were acquaintances, not friends. Only one I'd consider a 'friend' is Angelica, much less she thought we were close, because we weren't."

"You seem awfully hellbent on burning down bridges."

"I just don't build them in the first place, dumbass. You don't like talking about something, and so do I. Simple to understand, right?", she turned around and left, going back towards Drima's study.

"That went better than expected.", Mellistar echoed.

"Mellistar. What happened between you two?", Dante quickly asked.

"Knew this question would be posed some day. I fought against Hikari, is what happened."

"Wait, really? You two love each other, don't you?"

"It's more complicated than it sounds. But to make Hikari realize her mistake, which was then too late to fix, I had to oppose her. Little did I know, Makaro would pray on such a moment to have a chance to kill her too, when I turned around to protect her. I loved Hikari because of looks, getting closer to her only to understand that she filled a part of me I was missing...but quickly realized that this girl had a far too twisted and wrong grasp on the world."

"Twisted view of the world? The world she created?"