-ILMA?! The same thing that was inside his head… Inside your head all that time!? - For was almost yelling.

-Calm down. It’s not exactly the same… you know, it’s complicated.

All three of them looked at me with question.

-It’s… not the same one you heard of.

-There’s more of them?! - yelped For.

“There’s more?”

A question appeared next to her in the air.

-Yeah… shit’s bit weird I think…

-Il, what’s the last thing you remember? - I asked first, trying to figure out how exactly things were.

She hesitated for a moment, thinking.

“MIRE explosion.”

I nodded.

-Well hell… you’re the original then.

-Original?! What do you mean by that?

I ignored the question.

-Do you remember maybe having some visions? Maybe some small flashes of something between that and when we woke you up?

She started thinking again.

“Maybe. But can’t remember what.”

-Maybe something like a dream? That you forgot?

She shrugged.

Another solid “maybe”.

-Enough with maybes! - said For. - What does that all mean!? What do you mean by original?! I thought the one you had in your head before was the one?

“Inside your head?”

Yeah, I was not going to avoid explaining this.

And so I did.

I explained to her how I woke up in the ruined MIRE and about my travels with “her” before.

-As far as I understand… or rather as I suspect, the one that was in my head was also you, but only partially. It was the copy we created… the effect of our efforts. Combination of you, the actual you, and the intelligence we created.

-But what about the other one? That was inside Goldie and all that?

-And that - I continued - was the other original, or, I mean original artificial intelligence. Enhanced with crystal, but still, not complete apparently…

-So wait. Does that mean that there are three of her? Like, your… er, prototype, the actual person, and the combination of both?!

-That’s what it looks like - I agreed with her.

Il was just staring at me, speechless.

I mean, not like she could talk, but I could tell that she was trying to also understand what was going on exactly.

-So wait… what about Axelrod…? What and why was he trying to keep her here?!

-Oh, that’s… I don’t know. I mean, I assume that he was just probably trying to rebuild her, to recreate the experiment we did…

-Again try and destroy that much?! - said For outraged. - Didn’t he have enough of that?

-I don’t think that’s what he had in mind…

-Like I care!

-He definitely did… because…

“He tried reversing it.”

She was right.

Axelrod.

Or rather Mike.

I thought he forgot about her. Or, well, mostly. But that was quite the opposite.

He remembered everything and knew all the time that she was here with him. And he did exactly what I did with Kon.

He assumed that during the “transfer” some of her was stuck into him along with the Origin Crystal. He was absolutely right.

And so, he strived to somehow reverse what happened: he built this room, along with the sculpture, a vessel. To somehow transfer all that remained from her inside him into it, and hopefully awaken it.

But that was not enough.

There wasn’t enough data, or soul rather, of her in his crystal. He only had some scraps.

So he focused on the second best: the remains of the MIRE.

He scouted the world for the “void artifacts”. The remains of our building in hopes of finding some backups, or maybe other crystals.

And poured all of it into this statue.

Yet it was still not enough for her to awaken.

That is, until I appeared. Us three.

We, causing the feedback loop, managed to pour all the parts of her we had back to her.

And managed to bring her back.

In a bit of a weird form, but still. Better than being a disembodied voice inside someone's head.

-The main question now… what about the other parts? - I said, a bit worried.

-The still exist? - asked Kon,

-I only assume so - I nodded. - Sure, we had a lot of connections between me, you two and the Origin Crystal, but I doubt that we managed to pull ALL of the other ILMAs back into here. And not like you’re feeling something like that, right? - I asked her directly.

She focused, trying to feel something out.

“No. I feel the same as usual.”

-Usual? Same as in your fleshy body?

“Yes. This is almost the same.”

-Almost?

She pointed towards her non-existing lips.

-Ah, right. Besides that, no abnormalities?

She shook her head, but mid movement she stopped.

-So there’s something.

“My memories are fuzzy.”

I furled my non-existing brow.

-That’s what I was worried about.

I thought that it was too convenient for her to be just as she was before all this, even after switching bodies, hell, LOSING body.

She did die, essentially.

But, it apparently was not that bad.

Using an extensive amount of illusion magic and questions I managed to find out what exactly she meant.

She remembered clearly our days in the old world and MIRE, but the problem was the day of calamity.

Of course.

She knew that shit went bad, but didn’t know exactly what had happened. She had problems, especially with the finishing part: the one that I had too.

She saw the last of her moments, or at least that’s what she thought back then, but also remembered seeing us get destroyed as well. From different perspectives.

Same as me.

No wonder. So she remembered getting split.

I explained what my theory about that one was and that only managed to make her worried. In addition, the facts about Mike and him being this “Axelrod” also weren’t the best news for her.

-Let’s hope it doesn’t get worse - I said after finishing.

During the explanation, she was just looking at me and trying to take all this in, while Kon and For were carefully watching her.

Kon quickly realized that she was not a threat, be it from my demeanor, or just straight up listening to my own thoughts, and even started warming up to her.

I am not sure if that was me leaking a bit of memories towards him or what, but I wasn’t exactly against it.

Stolen story; please report.

For, on the other hand, was wary.

That was probably because of her earlier experiences with Il, or rather the other one. Can’t blame her.

I did find it strange that both of them had those polar opposites of an opinion about her, while both of them were affected by my own memories. And the memories in the crystal, being hers.

We were essentially parts of her…

-So… what are we doing now? - asked For after an exhausting, almost one-sided conversation about past events.

-That is a great question… - I said, thinking.

-I did think that Il here would be not the one we got… - I said, and immediately added - not like I not prefer this alternative.

She just shrugged, understanding what I mean.

-Yea… I honestly thought that the one inside was the… “robotic” one, so to speak, the one that was inside Goldie and all.

-You hoped to find an enemy…?

-I told you she’s not…

-Yeah, yeah, whatever - shrugged For. - But I get you, you wanted to get more information from her. I can’t deny, she was the… person I wanted to have a talk with, too.

Kon nodded.

-After Axelrod, she is next in line to actually have the most information on what’s going on right now…

-Yeah… - I agreed. - I guess our target has not changed, then…

-You know… I thought about something - said For. - Remember those flashes of visions we had before? Weren’t those Axelrods?

-It was more like those belonged to people connected to the Crystal… - I replied. - But sure, he was among them. What of it?

-Don’t you think we could try and somehow… I dunno, try and somehow influence them?

-To make them appear again?

-Yeah!

-I don’t think that’s a good idea - muttered Kon.

-The idea is good - I said after a moment of thought - but the first problem is actual execution. How exactly do you think we’d do that?

-I was thinking about it… and we communicate with our minds, right?

-Yeah?

-And you said that it probably doesn’t have any range, right?

-Sure…

-And you managed to peer inside this one’s head - she gestured towards Rob. - And not only him I think.

-I might have.

-And we do know how his mana looks and feels… more or less, since he’s also a part-crystal, like all of us.

-That’s a stretch, but sure.

-So why not combine all those and try?

-Sound theory. Why don’t you try it then?

-Huh?

She was a bit confused with my immediate reply.

-What “huh?”?

-How the hell would I do that?!

-Same way as me.

-That is…?

-And how should I know? That’s the problem. Having all the ingredients and being able to make something out of them are two different things, you know.

She sighed.

-I guess you’re right.

-So what, what are we doing then!?

-How the hell should I know? - I said, not trying to not sound tired. - All we’ve been doing was just relying on luck to try and get somewhere.

-And we got results! - she said, not discouraged at all. - We even managed to get to the capital!

-Yeah, and what? I thought getting here would get us closer to him, but did that work? Absolutely not.

-Well, we managed to get a new… ally - she said, although she hesitated before calling Il an ally.

-And discovered that he is not there. You know, it’s hard to believe, but I was betting that he’d be in his palace, you know. Or at least remotely close. That is not the case, if you didn’t notice.

-That reminds me… - said Kon. - Don’t you have a connection to his wife? I thought she was supposed to be close to here?

Oh. I almost forgot about that.

-I guess that’s a good lead… - I said, trying to hide the fact that I was this forgetful. - We can try it, I guess…

-See? We still have leads! - said For, still full of hope.

-Hm…

-What are we waiting for? Let’s do it!

-Fine, fine… I need some paper and…

It didn’t take us even ten minutes to gather ingredients we needed.

Not like those were really hard to find in the capital, really, nor were they rare.

We found a room a bit closer to the exit, I think it was some kind of guardhouse or barracks, and set up in there.

I sighed and focused on the ritual.

Melle’s mana…

It wasn’t hard to remember her visage, it somewhat had already been burned in my memory, probably thanks to the binding we were connected through.

-There.

A speck of fire appeared on the map, pointing towards the…

-In here?!

Both For and Kon gasped in unison.

If Il had a voice, she probably would too.

She was as interested in her as us, maybe even more.

Who can blame her, it was about Mike's other wife. I can’t even imagine what she was thinking about that fact, but considering that some of her emotions were leaking through… they weren’t exactly positive, let’s leave it at that.

-That’s not possible! - said For. - Are you sure about that?

I looked closer at the map.

There was no mistaking it. The mana was pointing right at the city we were in.

-Everything seems to be in order… I feel like that’s not a mistake.

-What, does that mean that Axelrod just left her here?! After that much of a hassle getting her from you?!

-Your guess is as good as mine.

-Maybe it’s not that - mumbled Kon. - Maybe there’s something else at play…. I know! Maybe we aren’t in the capital!

-What do you mean?

-This spell points at the capital, right? So maybe we’re just mistaken, and she is in the capital, and we are not! That it’s just some other city!

-Another city with a humongous tree-palace? With a throne chamber? That has a layout surprisingly familiar to the one of Arbo?

-I mean… What else!? We’ve scouted through the whole place! And none of us had felt any presence! We are alone here!

-Maybe she’s hiding somehow? There do exist some artifacts that manage to interfere with this power of ours? Right?

-More like magic over all - I said, but nodded. - That’s more possible than the first version, not gonna lie. But it’s easy to confirm.

-...?

-Just let me…

I focused on her mana once more.

This time, I was not going to go with the map, just instead try to follow her with a close range version - the same one I’ve tried on For a long time ago.

If she was indeed close, the flame would appear and I would be able to follow her. Maybe even find her.

That is, if she wasn’t hidden by some artifact.

And even then, I might be able to find her anyway. He wouldn't’ be able to suppress her mana completely, artifact or not, there would definitely be some kind of trace. Maybe small, but still.

And then, I got it.

Flame appeared right in front of me.

-It worked?

-It worked! That means she’s here! - said For.

The flame was strong. It meant that she was close.

A bit strange… I was expecting for it to be barely recognizable, since if we weren’t able to find her with our senses it meant that either there was some artifact at play that was messing with mana, or she was far away.

I did think that it would be the second one. That she is somewhere underground.

Since we found Il in a hidden place deep within the palace-tree, I thought it would be the same with Melle.

But that was not the case.

I stood up and walked a few steps, trying to pinpoint the direction she was in.

So did everyone else.

But the flame was acting strange. As soon as I stood up and took a step, it moved in another direction, confusing me.

I turned, trying to figure out direction, but every time I turned, so did it, almost like it was constantly behind me…

Wait a second.

I turned to my companions.

-What’s going on? - asked For.

I did not answer, just looked at the flame, hovering right in front of me, in the direction of…

-Il.

Yeah, there was no mistaking it, the flame was indubitably pointing towards her. And only her.

-What the hell?!

I took a lap around her, just to make sure, but I was sure. It was her.

Why though?

She was also confused, not really understanding what’s going on, so I briefly explained what was the spell, or rather the ritual I was employing, about.

That only confused her.

-Is your spell somehow mistaking her for… someone else? - mumbled Kon.

-That’s not possible.

-So what, you fucked the spell somehow? - questioned For.

-I honestly would want it to be the case, but I am afraid that’s not it…

-Then what?!

-Your guess is as good as mine.

-Does that mean that you’re Melle, not Iloa? - asked For, directly towards the wooden body in front of us.

“I am Iloa. I don’t know what that means.”

For was clearly not convinced, but looked at me for confirmation.

-I don’t know what you want me to say, it’s how it is.

-And that is…?

-Eh… - I sighed and started massaging my temples. - That it’s definitely Il, and that is final.

-So how do you explain this spell then?!

-If you let me think, then I might!

That finally made her shut up.

There was one other thing that I could do to check…

I focused on an old memory.

The MIRE. The bowl and the deal we struck with Melle.

I no longer had the mark I used to have when we cemented that with the contract, but I was sure that it was still there.

I focused my mana on that feeling… and…

Suddenly, the wooden figure that was next to me, its full sleeve, had gotten set on fire.

She jumped back, surprised and tried patting down the flames.

-What!?

-What are you doi…

-Calm down, it’s just…

I didn’t notice before, but my own arm was also on fire.

Well, I guess that confirms it.

I tried calming down and dismissing the flames.

It was a bit harder than summoning them, surprisingly, but I managed to do so after a moment.

-My bad… - I said, seeing as all of them were looking at me.

But… just to be sure… I had to ask her.

Of course, I did that with my mind, trying as hard as I could for me to not leak something to others and made her answer with just one word.

There was only one question needed. That which none other than her would know the answer to.

-First off, I am sorry. Second. I know that’s a bit of a rude question, but you understand that we need…. that I need to be sure about it…

She nodded. I think she knew what I was about to do.

-Back in the old world, how many children did Mike have with you?

“None.”

Yep. That was her alright.

I sighed.

-Thanks. And sorry.

“Don’t worry about it.”