When Miko opened his eyes, he was inside an unfamiliar room.
The room was white and only had two pieces of furniture. They were a chair and mirror.
Miko was sitting in the chair, and the mirror was directly in front of him.
However the mirror was weird.
Instead of showing himself sitting in a chair, it showed the empty chair.
“…What the hell is going on?”
Said Miko, as he looked around the room.
He then looked at his own body. It was then he realized something.
“I’m not injured? Even though I'm sure I fought a tough battle.”
He stared at his arms a bit longer, and then it hit him. He suddenly realized that his lack of injuries wasn't the weirdest thing about his body.
“I'm an adult?!”
He no longer had the child body he got accustomed to over the years. But that wasn't all.
“My skin color is also different.”
As Gamiko Dragna his skin was olive tone like that of someone from the Middle East, Latin America, Asia, or Northern India. Sasha, Tiamat and the twins also had this skin color; but it wasn't the case for Miko right now.
His skin was light brown which showed his multiracial heritage.
In other words, he regained his original skin color.
He quickly checked his hair and saw that it was black instead of azure. This confirmed that Miko had returned to his original appearance.
“You look confuse about returning to your previous appearance.”
Miko suddenly heard a voice and looked towards the mirror.
There he saw someone sitting in the previously empty chair. No, it wasn't someone. It was more like something.
“Yo, Logan.”
It called Miko by his old name.
He was unable to see any distinct features. Only thing he saw was a humanoid surrounded mosaic.
He couldn't make out the face, but the voice was strangely familiar; even though he can't recall ever hearing it before.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Haha. Aren't you a little hostile?”
“I'm in a strange place, in front of an even stranger person. Of course I would be hostile.”
“Hahaha. I see your point.”
“Again. Who the hell are you?”
“I can't say.”
“Why?”
“Because that would be boring.”
Logan took his chair and throw at the mirror.
*Bam*
It bounced off the mirror without breaking it.
“As violent as always, I see.”
The mosaic figure spoke leisurely.
Logan angrily took the chair and sat back in it.
“I take it that I won't be able to break this mirror and shut you up.”
It nodded.
“And if I take my previous experiences into consideration, this place is probably my soul or something.”
It nodded again.
“I'm going to start charging rent in this place. There's too many of you bastards you taking up residence here.”
“Hahaha! Don't worry I was here first.”
“What does that mean?”
“I can't say.”
Logan threw the chair again.
*Bam*
He then took it up and sat on it again.
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“I really hate people like you.”
“Stop acting like you don't do the same thing every now and then.”
“Oh, you didn't know? I'm a big hypocrite. I don't mind screwing around with people, but I don’t like being screwed around with.”
“What a coincidence. Me too.”
The two remained silent for a while before Logan broke the silence.
“So what do you want?”
“What makes you think I want something?”
“You went through the trouble of summoning me to this place; and in my previous form at that. So you must want something. And it's something you want from Logan Cross, not Gamiko Dragna. So what is it?”
“It's nothing at all. I just wanted to meet the current you.”
“You talk as if you knew me before.”
The mosaic looked like it smiled, but didn't respond to Logan and changed the topic.
“Congratulations on defeating your first Proxy. It was an entertaining fight. Tiamat really enjoyed watching it.”
“….Why can't I see you?”
“That’s because you're not strong enough to see my true form.”
*Bam!*
Logan sprung out of his chair and kick the mirror.
“Just talk already, you bastard! Why are you acting so secretive?! Are you a third-rate writer trying to stretch the plot of your crappy story or something?!”
“Hahaha! Now, now. I was just playing around. The truth is I don’t know why myself.”
“I'm leaving.”
Logan took the chair and slammed on the wall. The wall shattered like glass and revealed a tunnel.
Logan then throw up two middle fingers and turned his back to the mirror.
He could hear the mosaic laughing behind him.
He entered the tunnel with an annoyed expression.
A light envelop him and he could feel his consciousness fading.
In the last second he could've sworn he heard the voice say-
“Take care of our country for me.”
The first thing Miko saw when he opened his eyes was a pair of adorable blue eyes.
“…….”
After a few seconds of staring in the eyes, he immediately knew the owner.
“Sup, Tes.”
“Sup!”
Tessa replied happily as she saddled Miko.
“Where are we now?”
“At big bro’s and big sis’s home.”
“Big Sis? Ah, Hina.”
Tessa nodded.
“Are mama and the others here as well?”
“Yes!”
Miko remembered that his house got blown up, and considering the fact that he was heavily injured, Sasha must have decided to stay here for the meantime.
“Have I been asleep long?”
“Yes, a week!”
“…Seriously?”
Miko have always slept for long periods of time after a battle, but this was the first time he's slept for an entire week. He couldn't help but think that his meeting with the mosaic being had something to do with it.
“Tes, got off me for a bit.”
“Okay.”
After Tessa got off him, Miko sat up and got off the bed.
He stretched his limbs and checked if he was aching anywhere.
After a variation of stretches, he smiled with satisfaction and took the bandages off.
“Looks like I'm all healed up.”
He suddenly heard Tessa’s voice behind him.
“Wow, your hair is really long Big Bro!”
When he turned around he saw her playing with his hair, that was now so long it trailed on the ground.
“That's one of the side effects of a technique I used. My hair grows and I have to cut it. It's a really annoying side effect.”
Miko looked at Tessa playing with his hair, and had the urge to ask her to carry it for him, so he wouldn't trip and fall. But just before he did, the image of a flower girl carrying the end of the bride’s dress flashed in his mind. So he decided against it.
He wrapped it into a long ponytail and left the room with Tessa.
After walking down the hall towards the entertainment room, he saw a surprising scene.
*Clack!*
“Hahaha! It's my win! Pay up, Ana!”
“Dammit. That's 8 games in a row. Why are you so good at games?”
“I wouldn't be able to use [Boost Player] if I wasn't good at games.”
Ace and Ana were at the pool table. It looked like they were gambling.
Seeing Ana here surprised Miko. But he still had the leisure to stir things up a bit.
“Yo, Ace. I see you're still boosting your luck in order to win games.”
Ace was initially happy when he say Miko, but when he heard his words he couldn't help but curse him.
“Boosting your luck? You can do that?!”
Ana instantly became angry when she heard Miko's words.
“We weren't supposed to use magic when playing games! Give me back all the money you won from me, you cheater!”
“Oops.”
Miko covered his mouth with his hand in an innocent manner.
This made Ace want to slap him.
“Give me back my money!”
But he didn't have the leisure of slapping anyone. Before he knew it, a gun with runes all over it was placed on his temple.
“Wait wait! He's lying! I don't have a way to boost my luck!”
Seeing the panicked Ace satisfied him, so he left the room with Tessa, leaving Ace to deal with Ana.
When he closed the door, Miko could hear Ace’s frantic voice followed by gunfire.
The reason why he didn't ask why Ana was here, was because he already figured it out.
When Miko was fighting Luka he had already known that the fight would be interrupted.
He just didn't know who would interrupt it. Tiamat, Ouroboros or both.
The fact that Ana was here meant that Ouroboros had interrupted the fight and called for a ceasefire.
“Tes, where are mama and papa?”
“Papa is at work. Mama is in the kitchen with Big Sis, teaching her how to cook. Kristen is following behind mama as always.”
There was a hint of mockery in Tessa voice when she mentioned her twin brother. Miko thought it was because of her sibling rivalry towards him, but when he remembered his past experiences he made a decision to monitor their relationship more closely.
The last thing he wanted was him having to kill one of them for murdering the other.
“I’m over thinking it. They're still kids.”
Tessa looked at her brother innocently not knowing that he was preparing to kill them if necessary.
When Miko and Tessa reached the kitchen, he saw Hina and Sasha sitting around the table chatting.
Their eyes caught Miko's figure at the same time.
“Miko!” “Mikky!”
They both came up to him and began examining his body.
“You're finally awake! Is your body alright?”
Sasha asked worriedly.
“I'm fine. More importantly, where's Luka?”
The two of them put on bitter expression, before answering.
“She’s in the lobby with the other members of Fate. Ouroboros ordered for them to stay here until you woke up.”
Sasha answered.
“Then I'm going downstairs.”
“Wait, Mikky.”
“What is it?”
Hina had a troubled look on her face, like she didn't know the right words to use. Seeing her like that Miko-
“Is this about your jealousy towards Luka?”
His words made Hina flinched.
“H-How did you know?”
“I always pay close attention to you, Hina. So it's natural for me see your discomfort every time I mention her name. So I figured you were jealous of her.”
Miko spoke nonchalantly.
“Just to be clear. I have no romantic feelings towards Luka. Just interest and admiration.”
Miko placed his hand on Hina’s cheek.
“However I have more interest and admiration towards you. So there's no need for you to be jealous.”
He then looked Hina straight in the eyes and spoke with determination.
“There's no need for you to be afraid. No matter what you became, I won't abandon you.”
Hina's eyes widen when she heard Miko said that. His words had addressed the issue that has been weighing on her mind since her battle with Saika.
She didn't know if Miko realized the changes in her body, or it was pure coincidence, but those words had calmed her anxious heart.
She smiled and nodded.
Seeing that Miko also smiled.
“Good. Then accompany me downstairs to meet with Ouroboros.”
“Sure.”
Miko then look at Sasha and the twins.
“Mother, can you call Ace in the entertainment room and come along as well?”
“….Sure.”
Miko then turned and left with Tessa and Hina.
Sasha stood there and stared at his retreating back. After his figure could no longer be seen, she mumbled to herself.
“The way how he can naturally handle and manipulate people remains me of them."
The images of her father and brother appeared in her head.
“….I must prevent them from meeting, otherwise….”
The image of her son sitting on a mountain of corpses, with two similar mountains which had her brother and father sitting on top them, on each side, popped up in her mind.
“…Even I'm afraid of what might happen to this world if they get a hold of him."
Miko reached the lobby shortly after.
The first thing he saw was Sora talking to Aya and Remi.
“Oh, Gamiko. You're finally awake.”
Said Sora.
When Remi and Aya saw him, he saw hostility in their eyes.
‘Well, I did almost kill them after all.’
He shrugged as he thought that.
“Yeah, just now.”
He ignored Remi and Aya's glares, and walked over to the five persons sitting around a table.
“Hey, is that all you got? There's still over a dozen bottles remaining before the fifth round.”
The melodious voice of Tiamat reached his ears.
She looked like she was having a drinking contest with Saika, Robin, and a handsome black-haired man. Miko figured that he was Ouroboros.
Luka was also sitting at the table, but she was only watching them.
Robin and Saika looked like they were about to pass out, while Tiamat and Ouroboros looked fine.
“D-Don't compare us mortals to you gods.”
Said Robin, who was holding onto the table in order not to fall off his chair.
“Tch. Lightweights. It looks like it only us Boros.”
“Why are we drinking in the middle of the day again?”
“Because I'm bored that's why!”
“What a unreasonable woman.”
“I agree.”
It was at this moment that Miko arrived at the table.
Luka glared at him the moment she saw him.
He ignored it and turned to Ouroboros.
“Infinity Dragon, nice to meet you. I heard you were waiting for me.”
He said politely.
“Hey! Why are you so polite to Boros, and so disrespectful towards me?!”
Miko ignored Tiamat and continued to talk to Ouroboros.
“May I know your reason for wanting to meet me?”
Ouroboros smiled wryly, when he saw Tiamat fuming.
“Yeah. But before that I want to tell you a story.”
“A story?
It was at this time that Sasha came down with Ace and Ana.
“Yeah. A real life story about the world shattering events that led to the birth of a girl, and her reason for vengeance against those that wronged her.”
Miko looked at Luka and saw that she was frowning.
He smiled mischievously and nodded.
“Sure. I'll love to hear that story.”