I have to suppress a sigh as I look at Ellie again. Now that… uhhh, what do I even call her? Alea’s imposter? Now that she pointed it out, it is visible to anyone somewhat used to dealing with people. As the party face, and son of a successful merchant, I believe I qualify. Ellie is shaken by the display of the dungeon, somehow. I have no reason to believe she is a member of a devil cult, she went through the same screening we did in order to enter here… though we cannot be sure, of course, that this is the same Ellie that entered with us. The Dungeon could be playing tricks on us via the medium of the already revealed Doppelganger among us.
That being said, I don’t think that dungeon would do that at this time. Dungeons present us with trials, and it could be said that a lot of the trials were situational and social awareness. Well, the first trial, where we got split up and had some members replaced, is probably also for spatial awareness, I suppose. But still, my point stands. After doing some variations of the same thing - in vastly different forms of course, the dungeon is rather creative in its challenges - I doubt more of the same would be in its interest. Especially because the number of trials on the first floor is already pretty high. There shouldn’t be a lot more left before the bossfight. My guess is, after the play concludes, we will be allowed to challenge the boss…
I suppose before that happens, we will need to have a talk, however. I don’t want to go any deeper with Ellie like this. I repress an oncoming sigh again, as I realize this might require me to use my [Commanding Voice] to get her to talk, before turning to… Not-Alea again, who is standing next to me acting all nonchalant, but looking at me expectantly.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“I got it… I’ll… I’ll deal with it when this all…”, I gesture vaguely at the stage that is obscured by the curtain at the moment, “is done. Wouldn’t want to make a scene before the grand finale, right?”
I smirk at her with feigned confidence, and the faint smile that fights its way onto her stoic, expressionless face involuntarily expands my smirk into a lopsided grin, before I turn away. She is so good at wearing that mask, but seeing these cracks of her… or wait, is it their… personality shine through, somehow dispels any worries I had about… their intentions.
“By the way, I have just been thinking of you as Alea’s Imposter until now. Could you… Do you have a name?” I ask somewhat lamely, remembering halfway through that they are a monster and it's not guaranteed they even have a name to share.
“Oh.” they seem surprised by my question, and then look away. Did I… upset them? Shit, I don’t know enough about Doppelgangers, maybe this is a sensitive topic?
“It’s… My name is Replica.” the being imitating my longest friend mutters quietly, so quietly, I’m not even sure I heard them correctly. Are they worried the others will overhear? I look around and there is not even a bit of attention on us right now. Wait… I look towards the monster… towards Replica again. They studiously avert my gaze, and I see their elven ears quiver in what I would interpret as nervousness. Are they… shy?