Head pains were a curse upon humanity.

Be they hangovers, migraines, or ghost-induced brain trauma, it was Elster’s sincere belief that the torture of one’s mental faculties through the repeated, involuntary vandalism of her cranium’s neurovascular mechanisms has to be one of the worst afflictions any sentient being could endure. Such twisted malaise could only be the carefully crafted product made by some fiendish, malevolent God set on the continued ruination of the sanity and happiness inherent in all thinking creatures.

And now she was sat atop the Sovereign’s throne of pain and suffering, and on that alter of despair, Elster swore that she would one day find the God responsible for this atrocity and kill them–

“Oh, stop being such a baby. You are fine.”

“Hnnnn…” Elster pitifully whined.

“Please don't vomit in my office. The smell won’t rid itself easily, and getting an Eule to clean up that kind of mess in here would require a very lengthy and difficult explanation.”

“I won't as long as you don't s-stop whatever it is that you are doing… hrruph…”

“Maybe try not to talk as well.”

Elster had long lost count of how many times she had been left deliberated by a particular punishing migraine — which was a little sad considering the first occurrence happened barely more than two days ago. Still, she could easily say that her current agony was well within her top five experiences on the brain pain totem pole, perhaps even in the top three. Falke’s continuous efforts to ease her suffering were just about the only thing that kept her from throwing up or passing out.

Its severity likely did not top the first place, however. Elster specially reserved that spot for her supposed brain surgery, the pain of which the Replika was certain must have been so traumatic that her mind had to mentally erase the entire experience from memory, lest she went insane.

“I still can't believe I am using Bioresonance to cure your hangover,” Falke murmured as she stroked her head. Elster had to resist leaning into her touch as the surging waves of pain smoothened from the Commander’s healing hands. “One of the greatest mysteries in the world — now turned into your personal Morning-After cure.”

“You o-offered earlier. And besides – hic – You were the one who got me drunk.”

“And you were the one who chose to drink four full glasses of it.” Elster couldn’t see the FKLR’s expression, as her eyes were squeezed shut from pain and her face buried into the Commander’s lap, but she could practically hear the scowl in her voice. Rather than replying, she nestled herself further into her impromptu pillow, sighing in relief as another swell of throbbing torment vanished from Falke’s gentle ministrations.

For an armoured juggernaut built for war and all-encompassing authority, the FKLR had surprisingly comfortable thighs to lie on.

Normally, Elster would be horribly mortified to be in such a position — her lying face down on the Commander’s lap while the FKLR had her long legs somewhat awkwardly folded beneath her to accommodate as she caressed Elster’s head — but she was in far too much pain to care. And though Elster would never admit it aloud, the Commander’s rhythmic stroking of her hair was astonishingly relaxing. It was well worth baring the humiliation for.

Propriety be damned. After everything that has happened so far, she deserved to be pampered for once!

“You know, I didn’t mention this when I was healing your migraines earlier, but your head is surprisingly difficult to manoeuvre around,” Falke remarked.

“Hnng… A-Are you calling me thick-headed?” Elster drowsily slurred, before frowning at the strange sense of familiarity the words brought. Did she had or somehow heard this particular conversation before?

“You are, but that’s not the point,” Falke said fondly, even as Elster grumpily brooded. “I think there is an alternative presence in your psyche. It’s not actively obstructing my attempts to help you, but its sheer bulk is making it difficult to navigate your neural mindscape. I could try to shatter it, but I suspect doing so would carry severe consequences.”

Elster hummed in pleasure as more of her pain disappeared. “I like my neural mindscape as it is. Please don’t shatter it.”

“It's just a suggestion. The object is clearly not malicious. Judging by its shape, I’m guessing it is a Bioresonance shield of sorts. An expertly crafted one at that.” The hand stroking her head paused. “However, this workmanship… For some reason, it feels… familiar.”

Falke’s finger delicately traced from the crown of Elster’s head down to the tip of her spine. “Elster,” the Commander lightly said, her tone instinctively making the LSTR stiffen. “This is just an idle thought, but you haven’t been cheating on me with other FKLRs, have you?”

Now that was a ridiculous statement, but even in her half-drunk condition, she was still smart enough not to voice it aloud. “Ma’am, where in the world would I have found another FKLR?”

“Someone has been in your head. Someone who is clearly a proficient Bioresonant, by the look of their work. Since I don’t remember putting this in there, the only possible suspect would be another FKLR, or–”

Falke cut herself off. At the continued silence, Elster turned her head and blearily opened an eye, to see an uneasy and perplexed expression on her Commander’s face. “Or who?”

The other Replika hesitated, before sighing. “Or no one. It’s nothing. Perhaps the shield somehow manifested from your time in the Dream. In any case, it doesn’t look dangerous, and there’s little I can do to it save for trying to break through with brute force. It’s probably best if I leave it alone.”

“I, too, concur with you not breaking upon my head like a hammer to an egg.”

“That is NOT what I said.”

The shield is probably the work of the Empress, Elster idly wondered as Falke resumed her tender aid. Even now, after having the Commander give her some confirmation that her madness might not be entirely imaginary, it was still hard to believe that the outlandish events from the day before were real.

She had met the Empress. The Grand Empress of the Eusan System had come in person (or in whatever ghostly Bioresonance projection she took) to address Elster’s brain damage, which was presumably caused by being in the presence of Ariane. That shield in her head was likely responsible for allowing her to interact with the wraith after her ‘surgery’ without becoming overwhelmed by visions and pain.

In her half-inebriated state, a ridiculous thought occurred to her. What if the Empress were capable of producing a mental barrier that could block out her hangovers too? With a boon like that, Elster would happily defect over to the Empire, and then she could drink all the sinfully delicious brandy she could ever want without worrying about the consequences again.

Falke would be sad if she left her, however. Maybe she could convince the Empress to take both of them along together. Elster needed a drinking partner anyway. And with the less stringent restrictions on alcohol consumption in the Empire, the two of them could even try other types of beverages as well.

… Was she turning into an alcoholic? From a single drinking session? Elster didn’t even know if Replikas could become alcoholics. She might be the first.

“There, done.” The FKLR announced. “Congratulations. You might be the first Replika in history to have their hangover cured with Bioresonance. All thanks to me.”

“I might also be the first Replika to become an alcoholic. All thanks to you.” Elster hesitantly got off the Replika's comfortable lap and rubbed her eyes. “That brandy had no right tasting as good as it did.”

She eyed the drink longingly again, which now sat sealed off atop the FKLR’s table. It was a large bottle; they had barely even scratched a quarter of it. Maybe now that the hangover was gone, she could sneak another glass of it?

Probably best not to. That way lied madness.

As Elster shakily sat up, the engineer Replika hissed at the vertigo that slight movement caused. Falke levitated a glass of water over to her, which then frosted over with a single twirl of her finger.

“Here. Drink slowly,” Falke said as she rubbed slow circles on Elster’s back, who gratefully accepted the water. It was delightfully cold, with ice cubes already floating inside — another subtle application of Falke’s Bioresonance. Elster took a sip before pressing the drink against her temples, sighing in relief as the icy coolness sapped away her fatigue.

“I have removed most of the pain, but you might still feel the lingering effects of exhaustion or dehydration. Take it slow for now. You should feel your strength and cognitive functions return to normal soon.”

The Commander was near. Even if it wasn’t deliberately intimate, Elster could feel the traces of affection from the gentle touches between them — Falke’s hand worriedly rubbing her back, the heat of their frames intermingling with each other due to their proximity, the Commander’s breath lightly brushing her neck as she murmured her concern, their legs entangled with each other when Elster had tried to sit up.

So this is what being cared for feels like, Elster sleepily thought.

“El?” Falke looked at her. “Are you alright? You were staring off.”

“I’m fine,” she muttered, before yawning. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

Then, as if by instinct, Elster leaned over and planted a kiss on Falke’s neck.

It was hardly the at the same level of intimacy the two had shared earlier with their passionate lip-lock, but there was a vulnerable and open sense of tenderness in the act.

Falke froze, and when Elster sleepily leaned away and looked at the Commander’s lovely face again, she briefly thought about trying to kiss her lips again.

Then the moment passed, and Elster's rationality finally caught up to her. She blinked, before the incredulity of her boldness evoked a violent blush from her. Seeing this, Falke’s expression mirrored Elster’s with her own reddened face, and the two of them shuffled awkwardly and hurriedly from each other.

“How long have I been here, anyway?” Elster asked, desperately trying to change the subject as she just about drowned in embarrassment. “The other Replikas might start getting suspicious soon.”

“About four hours,” Falke replied after she had a moment to compose herself. “I should send you on your way soon, or Adler is going to think you have killed me.”

“… Don’t you mean that the other way around?”

“No, I really don’t,” Falke huffed. “Knowing that man, he’s probably preparing his rifle right now. I’ll probably have to assure him of my safety personally later, otherwise he would constantly fret over me. In any case, you are right that I shouldn’t hold you up any longer.”

It looked like their impromptu drinking session was coming to an end. There was a tinge of disappointment that accompanied that thought. Elster had enjoyed her time with the FKLR far more than she ever thought she would.

But the greater miracle was that she had finally managed to receive some answer concerning her abnormal circumstances. If only the Commander’s answers to her question had not been so vague… Elster hesitated, before deciding to venture once more. “About my condition–”

“I can’t tell you more, El,” Falke sighed. “As you have already repeatedly ask earlier while you were drunk.”

She did? That was bad, she couldn’t remember much of it at all. “Did I… er, say anything else?”

“Well, you were complaining a lot,” Falke remarked with amusement. “Most of it was directed to AEON, but there were some aimed towards your Storch superior for giving you the ‘crappy and dangerous’ assignment, as well as some criticism thrown at me for allowing you to take it.”

Ah. “That’s… I meant all of it only in the best possible way?”

“I take no offence, El.” The FKLR laughed. “And besides, I stand by my decision I made that you are the best person for the job, regardless of your official qualification and experience.”

The Commander’s confidence in her was as equally worrying as it was grim. She was going to be quite disappointed when Elster failed to live up to her expectation and end up dead in a ditch somewhere.

“Regardless, I can’t tell you more about your condition, so you will just have to live with what you know for now.”

Well, great. Elster felt her eyebrows twitch in irritation. While she was still grateful that some light had been shed on her situation, she still wished the FKLR had been more forthcoming with the information. The little titbits of insights dripped fed to her by her broken psyche were similarly obscure and frustratingly useless.

It also really didn’t help her patience that everyone who appeared to have an inkling of what was wrong with her — Falke, Adler, even Ariane — seemed hell-bent on being as maddeningly enigmatic as possible and ensuring she was the only one out of the loop, despite her being the one seemingly the greatest affected by it.

It was just one useless riddle after another.

Elster took a deep breath, before expelling every ounce of her pent-up frustration in an explosive sigh. “You said earlier that you answered to someone else now. A ‘Her’, whose authority is beyond AEON or even the Grand Empress. Does this person or entity at least have a name?”

She already had an inkling of who it was, but there was no harm in confirming it.

“Not telling,” the Falke teased.

Why do I even bother trying, Elster lamented.

At the engineer Replika’s despondent expression, the FKLR’s countenance became a little more earnest. “Don’t look so upset. I understand you are worried about the sporadic visions and how they are affecting your actions without your control. While I will not tell you everything, I am more than willing to help you alleviate some of your woes. Here, take this.”

Something floated to her from the side. A small piece of metal, round and flat like a coin. The object was deceptively heavy, as Elster found out when it landed in her open palm and she nearly dropped it. An ornate medallion, made of a dense, silver-like metal with the beautiful symbol of a falcon moulded into it.

The symbol of the Commander’s will, Elster realised in disbelief. She’s giving me permission to speak directly with her authority.

“With that badge, there should be no one who would dare challenge you. Inform them that you are acting on my behalf, and they should let you be,” Falke said. “This way, even if you get caught behaving unusually in front of a witness, you have a way to leave the situation unscathed.”

Elster flicked the medallion between her fingers. It was perfectly balanced, with nary a scratch or hint of imperfection. “This may let me out of trouble, but it doesn’t stop me from being a serious danger to others. I am a walking time bomb that could be triggered into a violent response at the random drop of a hat.”

Elster thought back to when she first saw Falke’s face earlier. Intimate and invasive as the kiss was, at least there was little physical harm to be found in it. But the act of her trying to choke the Commander without even realising was incredibly frightening.

If her vicious actions were to be repeated on someone else, the possibility of her causing a casualty is not negligible. The strength she had brought to bear would have easily crushed a Gestalt’s windpipe, or severely harm the neck of any other Replika that was not a FKLR, and the worst part of it all was that she had no control over herself while doing it.

In a way, it was fortunate that it was Falke she assaulted, because at least no one was truly harmed this time. But if she acted like this to an innocent and defenceless bystander…

Then even Elster would agree to being decommissioned. She did not want to become a psychotic murderer.

Once again, completely defying all rational sense, the Falke simply waved off her concern. “I doubt that. I have faith in your self-control. You have been managing rather well ever since the start of your service, after all.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

That was a ludicrous amount of confidence for someone who had just blindly attacked her mere hours ago. Where in the world was the Falke’s confidence in her self-control coming from? “You have no basis for that.”

“Untrue. I know you, perhaps even better than you know yourself. Your willpower is exceptional, even for an LSTR unit. That you have managed to maintain rationality despite all the visions and abnormalities occurring around you already speaks volumes.”

Elster thought back to the events of yesterday — she had attacked Ariane on the train, broke down the room door in her apartment, and nearly killed herself with an illegally modified stun baton by using it on herself. She wondered if Falke would still praise her as ‘rational’ if she knew all that.

“Besides,” the FKLR continued. “Your reaction to me was an expected and mostly singularly anomaly. I doubt you will experience such a strong and hostile reaction again.”

The Commander’s smile faded for a moment as she spoke her next words. “There's only one other I know of that could invoke a similarly explosive response from you, but you shouldn't have to worry about that any more. At the very least, I doubt any future psychosis would accidentally result in a murder.”

Falke pointed at the badge. “Should you lose control, however, show whoever you have offended that you are under my direct order and protection. Tell them to submit a report of the incident straight to Headquarters, and I shall handle the rest for you.”

Elster grimaced. “Won’t that be too suspicious? For an Elster to report directly to a FKLR, it’s unheard of. At the very least, my direct Storch supervisor should be informed of this.”

Falke waved her hand. “That’s already taken care of. As of today, your mission in Rotfront is now under my personal oversight. I hope you do not take this as a reason to shrink your duties, however. Your task to catch the spy in Rotfront Sector C remains in effect, and the need for your discretion remains.”

Elster scoffed. “I still don’t understand why I was chosen for a task like that. A Starling or Kolibri would be more effective if you want to sniff out a spy. I’m just a combat engineer.”

“Did the Storch not explain the need to you? Your unique skill set and appearance make you the best suited for this. STARs and KLBRs are too well-known and feared by the populace, and have a bad reputation as AEON’s favourite hunting hounds besides. Your model, however, is less prominent among the public since LSTRs are often deployed closer to the war front rather than as a police force.”

It was nothing new that she hadn’t heard off. The Storch had explained it well enough, and Elster could see the reasoning behind it. But something about it all still felt off.

Or maybe she was just trying to get out of the job. To AEON, she might just be a disposable Replika unit, but Elster still possessed quite a healthy sense of self-preservation, and after seeing the bodies of the last Replikas that went after these ‘spies’, she was quite certain she would not survive.

“There is also the matter of your combat skills, which are beyond exceptional for an Elster unit,” Falke continued. “In combat scenario tests, you scored the highest among any other Elster model within your group. Even when compared to combat-oriented Replikas like the Starlings or Storch, your combat data exceeds the top ten percentile among their records. I was even informed by your supervisor that you scored second within the combined shooting range tests with the S-23 Replikas that arrived just a few weeks ago.”

“What use is being chosen based on my shooting score for a mission if I’m not even given a gun?” Elster grumbled.

She desperately wanted a firearm. She couldn’t explain why, but ever since she was created, there was something she found inexplicably reassuring about the weight and presence of a gun on her person. It was half the reason why she spent so much time on the shooting range, since no one was willing to authorise her one to carry on-base.

Falke considered this for a moment. “True. Go to the armoury after this. I will authorise the quartermaster to pass you a pistol, along with some ammo and supplies.”

Wait, just like that? Finally, something good comes her way. Despite the situation, the Replika couldn’t help but grin.

“Any chance I can get a submachine gun too? Just in case,” Elster tried, pushing her luck.

“Absolutely not,” Falke flatly said. “Not only would it be far too suspicious that I am letting an Elster carry that much firepower off our base, but the sight of you using one of those has haunted me for enough lifetimes already.”

Disappointing, but not unexpected. Besides, a pistol was more than sufficient already, if Elster was being honest. She already couldn’t wait to start tinkering with it.

… What was that comment about the sight of her having one haunting Falke for lifetimes? Never mind, it was probably not important. Just another oddity to add to a day of craziness.

“If there’s nothing else, you are free to leave.” The FKLR waved her hand, and a platform of floating stairs formed behind her, back down to the ‘door’ from which she came through. “I understand quite a lot has happened today. Take the time to process the information. We will meet again next week, to discuss your progress with the spy, as well as any developments regarding your unique situation.”

Unique situation. Elster supposed that was the most polite way to say it. She came into this meeting confused, became sure she was going to die in the first minute of meeting the Commander, drank until she was completely wasted, and now was going to leave while a million questions were bursting through her mind.

Pretending that she was insane was almost easier than this.

Falke made another motion of her fingers. A familiar, tortured groan echoed through the chamber, as the twin obsidian monoliths that blocked up the doorway began to swift. Elster waited.

And waited…

And waited. Before finally turning to Falke. “Does it usually take that long–?”

“Yes,” Falke cut in with a tired sigh. “I don’t know why AEON designed it like this, either. While the material does serve a practical function in keeping my Bioresonance contained and insulated within the chamber, there’s no excuse for the hideous size of it. You won’t believe how inefficient this is, considering I have to open that contraption several times a day. If I ever meet the architect of this design, there will be some choice words to be had.”

It took another minute before the doors were finally pulled open. The Falke wryly smiled and nodded for her to leave. Elster looked back down the stairs. Part of her wanted nothing more than to leave as fast as she could. But a small nagging voice in her brain insisted on asking one last question, even though the Commander had already made it abundantly clear she did not wish to speak more of the matter.

“One last matter, if you will indulge me,” Elster asked after a brief hesitation. She heard Falke let out an amused sigh.

“I already told you I can’t speak more of it, but very well. You are already here, ask your question. Although I hold the right not to answer it if I choose not to.”

That was fair enough. Elster nodded, before she spoke: “You said there was one other person that could trigger a heavy response if I met them.”

A brief flash of emotion flickered on the Commander’s face before Falke let out a huff to calm herself. “Yes, I did, but I also told you that you won’t have to worry about meeting them any more. And don’t bother asking for their name, I can’t–”

“Is it Ariane? It’s just, there’s this strange white hair ghost that keeps following me around.” Elster blurted out, interrupting her by accident. “She seems to appear and disappear at will, and has no reflection. The first time I met her fully in person, I lost control over myself.”

The need to know was too strong. Of all the strangeness that surrounded her recently, amidst a hundred worries of her seemingly deteriorating mental state and the risk of being decommissioned, it was the mystery of that white-haired waif that occupied most of her mind.

She was half-expecting Falke to declare her mad or start laughing, but the Commander’s reaction was far from what she expected at all.

The demigod Replika suddenly blurred forward, moving at a speed far beyond Elster’s ability to react in her unguarded state. She barely had time to flinch before the Commander was already before her, her hands grabbing her shoulders in a crushing grip.

The expression on the FKLR’s face was nothing like what Elster had seen before. Pure, naked disbelief, mired with a mixture of fear and… a glint of hope? “Ariane? Did you say Ariane? You met her? When? Is, is she here now? Can you see her?!”

Face with a barrage of urgent questions while the Commander shook her desperately, Elster could only try futilely to respond. “Wha– what are you–”

“Elster, please!” The Falke pleaded. Pleaded! With her! It was such a far cry from the Commander’s usual confident and powerful persona that Elster was left flabbergasted. “Ariane, is she still here with us? The last time I saw her, she said we won’t meet again. That she was planning to erase herself now that she had finished her role. But you say she’s still here?”

“Wait!” Elster eyes shot wide open. “You know her too? Long white hair, petite, and-”

“Red eyes, dressed in a nightgown, yes! For the Empress's sake, tell me! Is she still alive?! Is she here?!” Falke eyes grew impatient. Hungry. Desperate. The fingers clamp around Elster’s shoulder began to tighten uncomfortably. The bookshelves began to rattle, and the room glowed with an eerie golden light as the spear beneath started illuminating threateningly.

Sweat dripped off Elster’s brow as she hurried to explain. “Okay, c-calm down! Look, she’s not here, alright! Just, relax, please!”

Falke’s expression turned into stark despair. “So, she’s already left? She’s… dead, then.”

Dead? “No, I meant, she’s not currently here in this room with us. She said she had errands to take care of. We split up before I entered the compound, but she said we will meet later tonight.”

Hope blossomed across her face. “She’s alive? But she told me… no, it doesn’t matter. You are certain? You saw Ariane?”

Elster fidgeted uncomfortably in the Falke’s grasp, but nodded.

The Falke relaxed her grip. The room stopped glowing and vibrating. The Bioresonant Replika rested her head on Elster's shoulder and, to her shock, let out a sob. “Thank goodness. I thought… I thought I would never see her again. I begged her not to go, but she kept insisting it was for the best. She even tried to remove my memories of her. But I didn’t let her. Won’t let her. They are mine now. Mine and mine and no one else's…”

Her words grew incoherent, turning into a babble that kept repeating the same mantra over and over. The Commander collapsed to her knees and buried her face into Elster’s shoulder as she cried. The engineer Replika, in turn, began to consider the possibility of the FKLR in front of her being the first of her kind in the Nation’s history to go insane, and the possible ramifications of such a powerful being losing her mind.

She paled, and then, very slowly, started patting Falke’s back in as comforting a manner as she could. “Just, breathe. Okay? Look, Ariane’s fine. No one’s taking her away from you. I can even bring her here later to see you once she returns. Just don’t lose your head over this, alright?”

What was it with that ghost and her making women cry over her? First the Empress, and now Falke. Elster herself, too, if she was being honest.

The Falke sniffed, before leaning away. The usual confident Commander was nowhere to be seen. In her place was a teary woman who looked lost, but somehow happy at the same time. Tears were falling from her face, the sight of which would have sent AEON into a mass panic.

But all Elster could think of while looking at her was that someone that scary and powerful had no right looking so beautiful when they cried.

I’m a terrible person for thinking that when she clearly needs my help right now. Elster grimaced. Before being transferred to Rotfront, she had never experienced any form of attraction for anyone before. Had her madness caused her to develop a sapphic infatuation with women? She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“She came to see you, didn’t she?” the Falke murmured. “She said she would leave without interfering with your life. So that you could start anew without her influence. But I know her. She could not have bear ending her life without seeing you at least one last time.”

Elster felt her chest tightened. “I… yes. She did see me. Took her a while before she decided to talk to me, however. It was driving me insane, the feeling of someone watching me the whole time, but never seeing them there.”

Falke chuckled. “That sounds like her.”

There was a moment of awkward silence, with the Falke’s head against her shoulder while Elster shuffled in place. Before Elster could think of what to say, the Commander spoke first.

“I begged her to stay. Told her she could be happy living her second life. A fresh start. Told her…” Falke swallowed, looking miserable. “Told her that she could be happy with me. That I would do anything for her. That I didn’t care about what she had done to me before. That as long as she stayed, I would not need anything else.”

Adler’s earlier words came to mind.

I shall not presume more than what is warranted. I merely wish to know if your god will be taking responsibility for the damage she had done to the Commander, as she rightfully should.

“But she refused. And nothing I said could change her mind. But you…” Falke turned to look at her, those vibrant blue eyes now ashen cold. Elster took an involuntary step back. “What did you say to her? How did you convince her to stay?”

I remember our Promise.

Elster looked away. “I asked. And she agreed.”

Silence. When the Falke spoke again, her voice sounded unbearably small. “That’s it?”

Elster nodded, unable to look at her. “Yeah.”

Long seconds passed, and when the Commander spoke again, her voice sounded heartbreakingly lost. “I see. That was all it took. Of course, it would be you. But then again…”

The Commander’s hand slipped under Elster’s chin and gently cupped her cheeks. She tilted her head to face hers. Their cobalt eyes mirrored in each other's gaze.

“I knew,” she said. Elster didn’t know what to say. “I always knew. That she would never choose me. That I wasn’t enough. That I was just an imitation of the one she truly loved. But I had hope, in time, she would have seen me for what I am and was. The true me, instead of just a shade of you. That the love she had given me during those times we spent together in the Dream, fleeting as it was, was for me, and not just a fake of you.”

“She always saw you.” The words came out of Elster's lips before she even realised, as if by instinct. “She never saw you as anyone but yourself. But the pain and suffering she caused you was real, and she… she could never see your love as anything but the obsession and damage caused by her actions.”

Elster grasped the Falke’s hand. “She never loved you because of the me reflected in your psyche. The love she gave to you, it was meant purely for Falke, not Elster.”

For a long moment, Falke said nothing. Another tear fell before she spoke. “I don’t know if that’s true. But, you know her the best. So. She loved me. In her own, selfless way.”

Falke looked away. Her voice was a whisper. A painful, lonely thing. “But in the end, she doesn’t want me.”

Elster reached out and held her tighter. “You still have me.”

They hated each other. To Elster, Falke was the penultimate obstacle that stood in her way to her goal. To Falke, Elster was the blight that always inevitably came to destroy the first shreds of love and happiness she had come to learn.

Her dream within the Dream.

The Commander gave a tired chuckle. “I don’t even know what we are.”

They hated each other. But there was something beautiful that the two of them found in each other as well. For Falke, she came to understand the person her newfound God had loved. For Elster, she found the determination of someone willing to endure an eternity of torture to ensure her lover did not have to suffer alone.

Within that Dream that lasted an eternity, as the both of them relentlessly searched for the same, long-distant, tortured girl, they found each other instead.

“I don’t either,” Elster admitted. “It’s complicated. But I know this is real, at least.”

Elster didn't know which one of them approached each other first, but it did not matter. Their lips touched, a scorching kiss that made the one they shared earlier paled in comparison. Falke held her greedily, her arms pressing Elster up and against her as the other Replika wrapped her hands into the Commander’s hair to better anchor herself. Their bruising kiss was equal parts pain and pleasure, a mirror reflecting sorrow into passion. Elster felt wet lashes against her cheeks, and thought that perhaps not all the tears were Falke’s.

Her hand in the Commander’s hair; her teeth biting the soft underside of her lips; their bodies melding into one in passionate embrace; their breaths intermingling as they pushed and pulled themselves apart again and again in repeated, gasping touches.

When it was over, and Elster’s lungs burned for air, Falke pressed her cheek against hers, her mouth to her ear. She thought the Commander might have tried to whisper something, but held back at the last moment.

They stayed that way for a while, a demigod and a Replika bounded by something that lacked a name. At one point, Elster pressed her forehead against the Falke’s, their identical dark blue eyes locked into each other as she wiped away the Commander’s tears.

The demigod gave a weak smile, before she broke the silence. “I think I can understand now. Why she chose you over me.”

Falke squeezed Elster’s hand one more time before separating, leaving the Replika yearning for her warmth. “I… I think I would like to be alone.”

Elster looked at her. “Are you sure?”

The Falke smiled gently. “I’ll be fine. I just need a moment. Thank you, El. When Ariane meets you again, tell her… tell her I want her to be happy.”

“I will,” Elster replied numbly.

The Commander nodded, turning away. “Off you go then. For real, this time. There will be time for talk later. Right now, there is much for the both of us to do.”

Elster regarded Falke for a moment, then hesitantly nodded. “Until next time. Please take care.”

The Replika turned away. She walked down the floating golden stairs, doing her best to resist the urge to look back. The Replika pondered on what she learnt. What she saw. The words of the Falke, and her tears.

And in those days people will seek death and not find it

A familiar presence made itself known the moment she stepped through the exit. Ariane was there, leaning against the wall. Her smile was sad.

“You could have at least gone in and said hi,” Elster said, the words numbly falling from her lips as she wiped away the wetness on her cheek.

“It wouldn’t have helped,” the wraith replied. She pushed herself off the wall. “Shall we go?”

The mystery of this god is finished, as she announced it to her servants, the prophets

Elster closed her eyes for a moment. The sigh that escaped her felt more tired than any before. “Yeah. But no more surprises today, okay? I feel like my heart is about to blow.”

If there were any more grand revelations awaiting her that day, Elster was just going to take a page from the Alder’s threats and jump down an elevator shaft herself.

“No promises on that, I’m afraid,” Ariane replied. Elster rolled her eyes and playfully bumped her shoulder into the wraith, taking assurance in the brief, tender warmth she felt in the contact that Ariane was real and Ariane was here.

How strange her life had become. Tumultuous events had barged into and ruined her peaceful days. She had thought she lost her mind, been assaulted by harrowing nightmares of a life that could not be, and now shared a strange relationship with both a ghost and a FKLR. And yet, in that mess of madness and heartbreak, something infinitely more precious was gained.

Or perhaps it was merely returned to her.

The chaotic splendour of her new life may not soon see its conclusion, and she may yet yearn for peace and quiet in the days to come. But even so, having shared the turbulent, painful affections of a wraith and a demigod, Elster could only bear a single, strange thought:

Seven hundred years, to fulfil a Promise.

In the end, it was not all for nothing.

We are free.

…

…

…

My Hollow Magpie,

This was not the Promise we made.

You are still mine,

And this is but a season.

May you never Die,

And may the Dream never end.

—

Arc 1 Complete: Lilies for Three