-So, what’s our next plan? - asked For out loud. - We find the house you mentioned, then what?

-Then we wait for the real host of this body to awaken - replied the other me. - I’d rather not get too comfortable in here.

She shuddered when he mentioned that.

-Say… it’s really true… that you’re… split? - asked Kon, after a long pause.

-What, I thought we already cleared that up - I replied. - It’s just as we explained. You essentially cloned me.

-In a manner of speaking… - nodded the other me.

-Yeah, I sort of understand… or, well I want to understand. It’s more like… I am accepting it… But…

He went silent and looked over each of us, like he was judging each of us.

-But… how does that feel?

His question was so unexpected that both of us, like commanded, turned our heads towards him and looked directly at him.

-W-what?

-Nothing… it’s just a question that I expected from… well, maybe Il. Or myself. Not from you… - I admitted.

-Hey! - perked up Il. - I can hear you!

-Am I wrong, though?

-Er… well…

-See? - said the other me. - Even she agrees.

-Hah. Well, but back to your question - I said, chuckling. - There’s nothing much to explain. I don’t feel anything, really…

-Huh?

-I mean… I am just still me. We don’t share senses. Or thoughts. Well, we can, but I can do the same thing with each of you, remember? - I said.

-Same here - the other me agreed with me. - It’s not like we have some magical bonus connection… I mean, we can tell what each of us is thinking, but that’s not because of magic or something, it’s just… how do I put it…

-I mean, you just know what you are thinking right? - I picked up for him. - I am just assuming: “what would I do?” Or “what would I think about that?”, or something like that. It’s always spot on.

-He said it - we agreed once more. - That’s pretty much it.

-Oh… I thought… that you have… like another pair of eyes… Or… I don’t know…

-Nah, I don’t think it works that way - I laughed. - Ha. Would be great.

-It would be a lot handier if it worked that way, I think - continued the other me. - Right now I am more worried the more we spend time as separate minds.

-Yeah… I’ve been thinking about that as well - I agreed. - For now we’ve been traveling together, so there’s no discrepancies. But how would that work if we’d… let’s say, split, and couldn’t share information for some reason. Would we still be able to understand each other perfectly or would we drift away into being two different people?

I didn’t want to say it out loud, but I did anyway.

They should know.

-Yeah - nodded the other me. - There’s no telling if one of us sooner or later stops agreeing with the other one… and then what?

-Would we be hostile to each other? How would that work? If we were to try and attack each other, who’d win? Would one of us even resist if that came to pass? How would our individuality work then…?

-Axelrod apparently didn’t have much of a problem with that - pointed out For. - He was able to take over Goldie and Rob without any problems. And aren’t you at least as powerful as him?

-Yes. But as far as we are aware, he managed to kill the other personality, and then promptly eliminated himself.

-It was like that with Rob, sure. But what about Goldie? We are not sure what happened to him, really…

-I guess.

-There is also the other, more concerning example - said the other me. - The one that is probably still partially involved.

-...

-ILMA.

-Right. The other me, so to speak. Multiples of it.

-Exactly.

-I mean… she was mostly civilized… - said Kon. - Only one was really… well, weird. And even then, you managed to somehow… er, pacify her.

-That one? Well, that’s not the one I was worried about.

-Oh?

-Right - picked up the other me. - I was more worried about the one we found inside that weapon of hers.

Right.

The ILMA that was working with actual Ilma.

She was full of rage, and even broken, she was still not done. What was exactly up with that one?

I had some ideas, but most of them were really far-fetched.

But again, what wasn’t? At this point everything going on was just feeling like one big fever dream.

I kinda wished that someone would finally put all of this together.

And I don’t mean understand what’s going on. Just…

I don’t know.

I shook off the strange feeling I got from that and instead focused on what was in front of me: the place where Melle used to live.

From the outside, it was hard to tell it was still there: the “security system” so to speak, was still well and working. The home was transformed into a tree and from afar it was only visible thanks to my enhanced senses.

All of us knew what we were approaching, so we treaded carefully: we didn’t want to get caught in yet another trap

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-I don’t think I need to say that, but we need to be careful and not trip any magical defenses in here, you…

But, as I was saying that, I felt a surge of mana next to me.

I turned quickly, but it was not a trap, like I expected: the mana was coming from Il’s wooden form.

-What are you…

Before I was able to finish my sentence, I felt a rather large wave of magic leave her body and head right towards the hidden house.

Reflexively, I wanted to leap and absorb the magic leaving her body, but it was already too far away from me.

I don’t think she cast a spell, though, it looked more like pure mana that left her and was racing away from us.

What the hell was she trying to do here? She knew what we were dealing with! If she’s done that, the vines would for sure engage us in a second.

I kneeled and prepared for the inevitable awakening of the plantlife nearby.

And so it did. But not in a way I expected it to.

Instead of spreading and shooting towards us, the branches and vines nearby started pulling back, like they were repelled by something… No. It’s like they were recalled back…?

-Wha…?

Same with trees. It was like everything started to shrink, almost like time was turned back.

The more overgrown parts pulled themselves back into the trunks or ground they originated from. Even the house: the tree that I knew was a house, again started reversing to a more “civilized” shape, so to speak.

But it did not turn into the same one I’ve remembered being there before.

It looked… different.

I want to say more modern, but I am not sure why it felt to me that way. It wasn’t much different, it just was cleaner and smoother.

Soon we were standing in an open clearing that hosted just the house.

Even the place where I knew the garden used to be was clear. Well, maybe besides a few stray pinecones and dried branches.

-What the hell?

-What did you do?

Both of me asked, not hiding the obvious surprise.

But, she was looking as bewildered as everyone else.

-I… I have no idea.

-What do you mean?! The mana was clearly from you! I didn’t feel any spell, though, but… - For was amazed herself.

-Subconscious magic…? - I muttered. - I mean… how does that even work…?

-Does that mean… she has…

-I know what you are thinking, but I honestly am not feeling it at all - she interrupted. - It has to be some kind of remnant from when I was connected to Mike…

-I mean, most likely… but…

-I don’t think it’s just his fault… It might be more connected to Melle.

-Right - mumbled Kon. - When Mor checked for where she was, wasn’t it you that got detected instead?

-Yeah…

-Somehow… hah.

Without even thinking twice, I once more tried to bring up our contract with Melle, just to startle everyone and lit Il’s body aflame.

-AH! Warn me next time!

-My bad… - I mumbled and continued aloud. - Yeah… seems like it’s still hanging onto you.

-It’s even more pronounced - pointed out the other me, looking closer at the marks that appeared. - Weird.

-Right? This magic is something else.

-Well, not like it’s helping us much.

-True… - I agreed and dismissed the flames.

-What now…? - asked Kon, a bit concerned.

-We move in, what else? - shrugged For. - Or do you think it’s still trapped?

That was actually a good question.

I was not sure how this strange surge of mana would change the state of “defenses”, so to speak.

So I decided to move first.

-Let me check - I said, stepping up. - I am the most resistant, if anything was to react, I am the best one to be targeted.

-And on top of that, you have a backup in case something goes wrong - added the other me, standing next to Il.

-Let’s hope not.

I slowly started approaching the house, looking carefully, expecting some kind of response. Maybe from the plants nearby, or maybe directly from the building itself, but nothing happened.

Even when I was right at the door and peeked inside, there was no reaction.

That was also when I noticed that something had changed inside.

As I remembered correctly, the house was supposed to be made out of more than just one singular room, and when I looked inside through the membrane windows, I could see that there was just one singular room inside.

And on top of that, it was empty. No furniture, no nothing.

My first reaction was that I was getting tricked by some kind of illusion.

It probably would be possible, knowing Melle and her husband, but it was not the case. I could tell that there was no illusion magic in play. The windows weren’t fake, everything seemed as mundane as it gets.

You know, besides the whole house being able to be disguised like that.

Without much of a different idea, I grabbed the door and opened it slowly.

It opened without an issue.

And, just as I saw, there was nothing inside.

The windows weren’t an illusion. Same with the insides. Everything was really empty.

I sighed and walked in, but that also didn’t change a thing. Nothing reacted to my presence, so I just shrugged and called out to my other companions.

-Seems fine to me. But be careful either way. This place is strange.

-You don’t have to tell me twice - mumbled For to herself.

I didn’t really hear that, though.

The whole party walked forward, with Il and other me at the front, expecting the unexpected, but they also had an uneventful walk.

-There’s one problem, though… - I said as they were next to me. - The indoors…

-...are a lot different - finished the other me for me. - Wow. Shit’s cleaned up.

-You think someone was here…? - wondered Kon. - I don’t feel any magic residue…

-Neither do I - agreed For.

-Isn’t this place also missing walls…? - pointed out Il, looking closer. - I swear I thought you said…

-Yeah. That’s why I am wondering.

-If someone was here - said the other me - they really didn’t want anyone to find anything.

-But if that was the case, why even leave the place at all? - asked Kon. - Why not destroy it? Torch it to the ground or something.

-Great question. I guess someone was attached? Or wanted to come back at some point in the future…? - proposed For. - Why, though…?

-There’s a source of infused water not so far from here - I reminded them. - Melle said it was the best she’d seen. So no wonder someone wanted to keep that at least.

-”Someone”... - mumbled For. - You say that, but the only person that knew that was her. And, well maybe Axelrod.

-I am not certain if he even knew about it - I agreed. - If that was the case, he would’ve told her about it sooner.

-If he trusted her, that is - said For. - It took you a whole contract to share the information with her.

-I was more worried about people discovering my own past and the ruins of MIRE than anything. If he was trusting her…

What was I even saying.

It was clear that he didn’t completely trust her. If at all.

It was understandable that he didn’t want to share his past with her, especially if he was still looking for his other wife…

Mike’s strange man.

-We can’t be certain about anything. But, the important thing is that no one has been here for a while. There is no residue, so we could stay here for a while.

-Well, sure, we can - nodded the other me. - But that’s… not what I imagined would be here.

-Yeah - I agreed. - We came here to have an actual equipped home that we could hide in, to wait for Il to wake up, but instead we got essentially an empty lot.

-It’s better than sleeping outside - pointed out Kon.

-Like any of us really requires that any more… - mumbled For. - But sure. I won’t say no to a roof above my head for a change.

It was hard to not agree with her.

It wasn’t the best, especially after leaving the palace, or rather what’s left of it, but not like we had a better choice.