PART 1

In the end, my roll in the hay with the princess was a short one, mostly due to my consideration. Despite the brave front she put up, Elly was still clearly worried about The Girl interrupting us again, so I did my best to have a quick finish and to keep things under the sheets. That didn't mean she would let me 'work' afterwards though, and she doggedly refused to let me out of her sight all evening. I didn't mind her pampering, though I admit I was a tiny bit worried about making the Emergent wait for too long.

The princess didn't share my concerns and she was clearly trying her best to take my mind off the matter despite its importance. Was it because she was oblivious to the significance of our contact, was it her habitual optimism, or did she just trust that everything would turn out right so long as I was involved? Maybe a combination of all three. In any case, after our quick romp we took a shower and then spent the rest of the evening brainstorming hobby ideas for me.

That part felt a bit unnatural, to be honest. I admit that getting a hobby would've been good for my mental health, but trying to forcefully adopt one felt like putting the cart before the horse. Elly had fun while we were 'shopping for options' on the internet though, so it wasn't time wasted. I seriously doubted that I would ever pick up woodworking or tabletop wargaming as a regular hobby though.

The evening passed us by remarkably fast, and tried as she might, the princess eventually got so sleepy she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. That was my cue to guide her to the bed, and once I tucked her in and made sure that she was fast asleep, I sneaked out of her embrace and, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, I prepared myself for the inevitable.

But before that, a quick mental organization was in order. What did I know about The Girl?

…

Not much, that was for sure. I knew that she was part of this group of Emergents that once planned to do something to the Crowned Coalescence, except back then he was the Red Sun of Somethingsomethingidunno (seriously, some of the Emergent-specific lingo was fundamentally untranslatable). It failed, or maybe not, and I could see them freaking out about it whenever I unconsciously or consciously infiltrated their clubhouse by any other name. Out of all of them, The Girl had the least presence. She was mostly just hanging out with the rest and not doing much, which now made sense, considering she was apparently in cahoots with the Crowned Coalescence ever since I didn't even know when.

Again, my understanding of the situation was so full of holes that the Swiss was about to sue me for copyright infringement on their cheese, but it was still better than the abject lack of understanding I had until very recently. Or maybe it wasn't. Ignorance was bliss, after all.

But putting all of that aside, I sat down at the edge of my bed, calmed my nerves by practising the simple breathing exercises I learned a while back, and once I felt sufficiently calm and collected (or at the very least tolerably shaky and agitated), something occurred to me.

The Girl manifested here, in my room, by ripping a hole in reality. That was markedly different compared to how I usually moved between the here and the void of lack of space that wasn't here. Outside the Simulacrum, I guessed. Either way, since our methods differed, what if I wasn't able to find her? What if we missed each other? Would I need to figure out a way to contact her on the fly?

"I'll build that bridge when I get there," I whispered under my breath and immediately plunged my only unique phantom limb, the one I affectionately called 'the stubby one' into my own head.

I'd experienced this so many times I'd long since gotten used to it, but the sensation of getting compressed and my whole being getting sucked through the metaphysical equivalent of a plastic straw would never not be weird. While I was vaguely aware of the passage of time, or lack thereof, I was still startled by how quickly I found myself in the spaceless void between spaces. Was it because I was getting more experienced with this kind of thing, or just because I kept growing more phantom limbs? They'd been enhancing all aspects of my out-of-context abilities, so why not this one?

But putting these mostly meaningless academic questions aside, I glanced around at my surroundings. Well, as much as that applied to this situation; in truth, it felt less like I moved, and more like everything around me moved in response to my will while I remained perfectly stationary. Normally, I would've looked for some anomalies to search for traces of the not-dark-not-room, but I sincerely doubted she would want to meet me there. In that case, what other option did I have? Maybe I should've just waited for her to make contact again, but that felt both anticlimactic and unpredictable.

Since I came this far, I figured I might as well try to manually look for her. Since she came into the Simulacrum, there had to be some traces left behind, and my off-the-cup deduction was soon proven to be correct. When I focused on her image, it was like there was an odd itch inside my brain (which, need I point out, didn't exist in my current disembodied state, making the feeling extra creepy). Following that sensation like a dowsing rod, the lack of space around me shook and twisted around, until I found myself staring at a tiny yet clearly visible hole.

It wasn't like the tidy, orange-bordered portal she used to manifest, but more like a puncture with frayed edges. It was also in three dimensions, with the plane of said hole pointing in every possible direction at once, but I was so used to weird, non-Euclidian crap by this point, I barely took notice.

I extended my consciousness towards the tear in non-space and I felt a familiar suction right away. It was just like when I tried to enter into the not-dark-not-room, and I instinctively understood that The Girl was on the other side of this… gate? Entry point? Junction?

Hole. She was on the other side of the hole, and I didn't want to make her wait any longer. With that resolve in mind, I plunged into the hole in front of me, and after an especially topsy-turvy journey through an extra-long plastic-straw analogy…

"Eep!"

I was welcomed by a startled cry. Go figure.

While I was still disembodied, it felt different from before. Closer to the way I experienced the world through Far Sight; more of a floating point of view than a fully detached consciousness.

Much more importantly, I was inside a not-room, similar to the not-dark one, but still very different. It was hard to make out its features in concrete terms, but it gave off certain… vibes. It had no colours, and I couldn't fully perceive any of the furniture, or even just the walls and ceiling, but it all felt very soft and upbeat. Girlish. Smelling like sweets and… pumpkins? Or maybe made of pumpkins. As I said, it was more of a vague impression than anything else.

In the middle of this not-room, with its indeterminate features and boundaries, The Girl was glaring at me with her hands on her hips.

"Hey! You can't just barge into someone else's Domain without announcing yourself first!"

Her voice, usually giving off the impression of birdsong, was closer to the high-pitched screech of a hawk, and the same sentiment was communicated by her expression, hazy as it was.

"Oh, that's rich coming from you," I responded with a frown of my own, as much as that applied to my current state of being, and she blinked in shock.

"Ah… Now that you mention it…" She hastily shook her head, her pigtails simultaneously looking like hair and sparkling sand kicked up by the wind. "Water under the bridge, then! But I didn't expect you to show up right away! I didn't even have time to tidy up!"

"It wasn't right away," I pointed out, and she suddenly hammered her palm.

"Right. You're young, so you probably don't quite get how time works. From my perspective, you only just kicked me out a minute ago."

"That sounds confusing."

"Not really. You'll get used to it." She flashed a toothy grin at me and gestured at thin air. "Come in, and sit down. I bet you have lots of questions."

"That's an understatement, but…" I wanted to point out that there was nothing to sit on, or that even if there was, I lacked the body to do so, but then the whole not-room quaked and shifted, and a blink of an eye later, we were both seated around an indistinct round table and I had a similarly vague body. "Huh. How does this work?"

"Definition," she answered me, her voice back to the energetic chirps I was familiar with. Of course, she was completely oblivious to the fact that it wasn't an answer, but before I could point it out, she barrelled on with the conversation, whether I liked it or not. "First, let me stress this hard: don't try to make contact with the others. I asked the Crowned Coalescence about it, and, oh, by the way, he really likes the name you gave him, but more importantly, he also said that you should not come out of the Simulacrum until the project is finished. Got that?"

"Yes, but…"

"Good! Now, ask away!"

She stared at me expectantly, her eyes growing unnaturally large and literally sparkling like stars in the night sky, and I needed a moment to collect my thoughts. Where did I even begin?

"Okay, first thing first: Nobody in the Simulacrum is in danger, right?"

"No, of course not," she told me without any pretences, followed by a borderline sinister chuckle. "Hihi! Even if the others tried to interfere, at this point even the Venerated Emergent couldn't do anything!"

"You mean the Predator Moon."

"Oh! That's another good name! You're good at this!" She grinned and waited for me to ask my next question with bated breath.

"So we aren't in danger of getting cancelled out of existence. Good. Can you give me a rundown of how we ended up here? As you said, I'm new to things outside the Simulacrum, and I could really use a lesson on the basics."

"Sure!"

The not-room changed its shape again without warning, and by the time I regained my bearings, we were suddenly in a small classroom. I was sitting behind a desk at the front row, while The Girl was in front of the blackboard, standing on top of a stool.

"From the beginning then!" she declared, and her stool slid to the left end of the blackboard, so she could start writing on it. "You see, *************** called us to make a new scenario, but it was just a trick!" That indescribable torrent of images and notions was referring to The Woman, by the way. "She got really mad at Crowned Coalescence for a prank he pulled a long time ago, so the goal was to draw him into the Simulacrum, and then give him a taste of his own medicine! Of course, what she didn't know was that he reached out to me first, and we put together this plan to prank her back! Or, at least I think that was the plan. It doesn't really matter though, because when he pretended to get caught in the trap, something went wrong, and he fell into the Simulacrum."

I must've had a rather confused expression on my face, because when she glanced back at me, The Girl crossed her arms and huffed.

"I'm not kidding! I mean, he literally fell into the Simulacrum! It was crazy!"

"That… is the least of my confusion right now," I told her wearily and tried to massage my forehead, but my fingers passed through my skull. By evidence, this vague body of mine wasn't too stable. "Can we first establish what the Simulacrum is?"

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Then, her expression twisted, and somehow a shocked, doubtful, excited, and confused face was overlaid on her at the same time. It only lasted for a moment before it snapped into a mildly intrigued one.

"You don't know? How can you not know? You are… wait. Did he seriously not tell you anything?"

"No?"

She repeatedly blinked at me and crossed her arms.

"Hmm. Hmmmmm. That could mean that he doesn't want you to know this, but why wouldn't he? Or maybe he doesn't know that you don't know? No way! He's too good to miss something obvious like that! Could it be that you do know, but you just think you don't know? You do seem pretty fragmented right now, so maybe…"

"Hold on! Please, stop! One thing at a time!" I called out with my palms raised, and after a startled glance, she produced a piece of chalk from somewhere, and let out a huff.

"Well, he never told me not to tell you about it, so it should be fine. I think. If not, then at least it'll make things more interesting!" She turned around, with her stool automatically getting higher so she could reach the top of the blackboard, and she started writing. "Okay, let's start with the basics of the basics. You know what an Emergent is, right?"

She used the brain-clogging, multi-layered info-torrent version of the term, but my mind automatically translated it, so I nodded. Then, after a moment of consideration, I shook my head.

"Which is it then?" she demanded impatiently, and I could only shrug.

"I have a vague understanding of Emergents and Submerged Ones, but I really don't grasp the substance of those terms."

"But… but you just used the…" Seemingly baffled by the direction of the conversation, The Girl let out a low groan. "This is going to be more complicated than I thought. Okay, listen. Do you know anything about what we are?"

"Emergents," I told her, and she nodded.

"The fact you can say that should mean you already understand, but… Ug, whatever. Let's try again: what are we?"

"… Star-people?"

For a moment, she stared at me in dumb-founded silence, but then her expression slowly softened until it became more of a thoughtful, profound mien, and she absent-mindedly tapped a finger on her chin.

"You know, that's not entirely incorrect, but it kind of is." With a shake of her head that sent her pigtails/sands cascading again, she turned back to the blackboard and started scribbling. How do I describe this…? It was kind of like watching an old-school anime, where the animators were cutting corners wherever they could, and there were just three sustained frames of her writing followed by the whole blackboard being full of text. It would've been amusing if not for the circumstances. "I'm not going into the nitty-gritty details, but think of us as consciousnesses embedded into the… I think humans call it 'space-time', right? We're embedded into that."

She circled a word on the blackboard, which I presumed to be space-time. Or maybe 'Emergent'? Honestly, it all looked like scribbles to me, further reinforcing the whole 'cost-efficient 90s anime' aesthetic of the present scene.

"I don't want to spend too much time on this, so here's how it works: there's a lot of wriggly things in space-time. Let's call it Noise. In this noise, through a riiidiculously long stretch of linear causality, or 'time' as you would call it, patterns can show up. These patterns could amplify themselves over even more 'time', and then a consciousness could Emerge from there. These were the original Venerated Emergents, and they are… kind of scary. They didn't have the concept of Defining themselves at the beginning, so all of them are weird in their own way."

Was that why the Predator Moon looked and felt fundamentally different from the other four, I wondered. I didn't have the time to ask, because The Girl continued without pause, but I made a mental note about it all the same.

"While 'time' means little to us, we still interact with the concept. Retro-causality is a big no-no, meaning one cannot exist until they are born, so even if we knew that a new Emergent would rise from a certain clump of Noise, they couldn't start existing until they did, so the Venerated Emergents had to wait for them to do so. Because of this, the rise of new Emergents was a painfully slow process back then. But as luck would have it, the Venerated Emergents discovered life. Based on atoms and molecules and chemistry and stuff! Some of the Venerated Emergents used them to help Define themselves, but they were all very simple creatures, so it gave rise to ones like the Venerated 'Predator Moon'. Hihi. It's such a fun name."

"Sure, sure, but what does this have to do with the Simulacrum and—"

Before I could finish the sentence, the piece of chalk in The Girl's hand flew across the not-room and passed right through my head. Of course, just like with my fingers before, there was no resistance to it, nor did I feel anything, so it was only for show. I still blinked in surprise, but by then the chalk was back in her hand and she was writing on the blackboard again.

"Don't try to roll when you can't even walk. Is that how the idiom goes? Whatever, you get the point." She turned back to me and poked the board behind her. "So, as I was saying, now that the Venerable Emergents properly Defined themselves, they realized that there were only a few of them, and it would take ages before more of us would Emerge from the Noise, and that was disappointing. Now, before we get to the next step, let's talk about Domains."

She hopped off her stool and stood in front of my desk, and then she opened her arms wide and did a pirouette.

"This is my Domain. It's what I am." Coming to an abrupt stop, she pointed both hands at her own chest. "And this is how I Define myself. It's who I am. All of us are like that. However, there are some irregularities from time to time."

"Such as?"

"I'm getting to it! Patience!" She huffed and puffed and waved her chalk at me. "You see, there are a few places around the galaxy with life, but at one point, when shifting through linear causality, the Venerated Emergents discovered one that was special. Not only because life arose on it early, but because in the future, there would be intelligent life on it! Not intelligent like us, but still intelligent in a very, very different way!"

"So, Earth."

"Precisely! Not only that, these intelligent life-forms, these humans were just boundlessly fascinating, because they would never stop running simulations by communicating ideas through material means and then recreating them in their internal neural networks! They call them stories and tales and myths, but it's all the same, and through these simulations, endless scenarios and behaviors could be observed! It was like they always existed to help us better Define ourselves, so to capitalize on this, the Venerated Emergents stimulated the local star, creating an artificial Domain without a Definition, and then as soon as humans finally emerged from their material world bound to linear causality, their internal simulations were used to give form of this empty Domain. And that's how the ******************** was created."

While the proper nouns used by the Emergents sent me on a loop at the best of times, this one was somehow much, much worse. There was no way for me to understand why, but the deepest reaches of my very being reacted with a strong, instinctual revulsion and denial towards the concepts she was trying to convey to me. Just interacting with the ideas and impressions embedded in there felt like I was about to throw up, but I grit my teeth and, with considerable effort, I managed to chisel their meaning down to two words.

"Stillborn Sun."

"Yes, that!" The Girl smiled at me like I was a problem student who finally got an answer right.

"And this artificial 'Domain' is… the Simulacrum?"

"Exactly."

This whole discussion was starting to make me feel a bit woozy, but I tried to organize my thoughts. So, the Simulacrum wasn't on Earth, or any planet, but… inside a star? The Girl said that her Domain was 'what' she was, so what did that make everything and everyone in the Simulacrum? I doubted I would get a straight answer, so first, I asked about something else that's been bothering me ever since it came up.

"So… are Earth and humanity still out there?"

"Hm? Of course. Last I checked, they are still orbiting the Stillborn Sun."

"So, it's not like they're extinct or anything?"

"Oh, goodness no! I mean, I really hope they stay around for a long while, because we kind of need them to provide ideas for new scenarios. The current Simulacrum is… I guess 'temporally anchored' would be a good way to put it. Last I checked it was around the year two thousand, using the same calendar as the one in the Simulacrum. I have a friend who's living in a wider causality-spectrum, and she said they still were/will be around in twenty years, but we are only progressing the Simulacrum's internal causality very slowly, just in case they suddenly blow up their planet one day. I mean, it would be a tragedy to lose them; where else are we going to find billions of minds endlessly simulating scenarios perfect for helping Submerged Ones to Define themselves?"

"Stop, please. That was… really dense." For emphasis, I raised both of my hands in surrender and followed it up with a groan. "So if I get this right, the Simulacrum is like… a giant nursery for the Submerged Ones, using humanity's stories and tropes as a kind of template to define themselves after?"

"More or less."

"And Submerged Ones are…" I wanted to say 'characters', but it felt wrong. I tried 'placeholders', but it didn't feel right either. "They are in the Simulacrum, but in what way?"

"That's… a tricky question," she told me, and then she walked back to the blackboard and, in another low-budget anime fashion, her arms moved and all the previous scribbling got replaced by a wild array of dots and small circles. It kind of reminded me of one of those magic-eye pictures, where one had to cross their eyes to see an image, and I must've been closer to the right answer than I thought, because she told me, "This is Noise." Then, she waved her hand, and the two halves of the chaotic mess got overlaid, and it formed the vague outline of a dog in the middle. "And now there's a puppy." Suddenly, the abstract dog jumped off the blackboard and excitedly ran around her and her stool. "You could say the puppy was always in the noise, but it needed the right perspective to Emerge, and an understanding of what a doggy is to Define itself. That's what the Simulacrum does. It exists to help the Submerged Ones on the brink of Emerging to help Define themselves through the scenarios within."

Honestly, the longer I listened to her, the more I fell into a state where I was only nodding along. It felt like I already knew this. Well, most of this, at any rate, but I just needed someone to put it into words for me to put the pieces together. Kind of like this whole example with the dog requiring a different perspective and some nudging. But that meant…

"So it's not like Submerged Ones are playing any characters, nor are they watching, but they are literally part of the Simulacrum."

"Exactly."

"And they Emerge when…"

"When the current scenario ends. Or rather, if they do, it's considered to be a successful scenario."

"But if the Submerged Ones are fundamental building blocks of the Simulacrum's scenario, what happens to it when they Emerge?"

"Hm? Ah, don't worry about that!" The Girl dismissed me with a wave of her hand. Or so I thought, but then she kept waving. "No, seriously. Stop worrying. It's making you unstable."

I didn't get what she meant by that right away, but then I glanced at my hand and found that it was already half-sublimated out of existence.

"Ah, darn! You're still young, and spending so much time in someone else's Domain is taking a toll on you."

"Didn't you say that time has no meaning to you?"

"Don't nitpick me," she scoffed and sent another chalk through my head. Was she the 'childishly violent tsundere' archetype, I wondered? I mean, if what she said was true, and the Emergents literally patterned themselves after characters and tropes from human fiction, it wasn't entirely out of the picture. "You better head back before it affects you negatively. We can talk again later."

"Yes, but my last question? About the Submerged Ones?"

"I told you not to worry about that. The Simulacrum is already yours, so there's no reason for you to stress over it. Now, shoo, and relax!"

Before I could respond, the classroom version of the non-room, disappeared, and The Girl hopped off her stool for the last time before abruptly pushing my stomach with both hands. It felt like a cutesy gesture, yet a moment later I felt like I was shot out of a cannon, and with the echoes of a chirpy "Bye-bye!", I reawakened in my body with a startle.

"Bloody hell," I whispered under my breath and rubbed my forehead, finding it reassuring when my fingers didn't pass through this time. "Why do I feel like I learned a lot, but somehow none of that was helping me at the moment?"

My grumbles made Elly stir from her sleep, so I presented her with a hand to hold onto, and once she was back in dreamland, I carefully slipped away and turned on my PC. I was worried that the light might bother her, but I had to note all of these things down while they were still fresh in my memory, as while The Girl's infodump didn't help with our current predicament, I knew Judy would kill me if I didn't share the lore with her.

Funnily enough, it was almost morning by the time a rather important question reared its ugly head in the back of my mind, waiting until I nearly finished taking notes about the Submerged Ones to show up.

So, Venerated Emergents were things like the Predator Moon and the Crowned Coalescence, with non-human or vaguely-human avatars. That wasn't me. 'Normal' Emergents were beings who rose from the Noise of time-space by Defining themselves using humanity's characters and tropes as a template. That wasn't me either. Submerged Ones were Emergents-in-the-making who were still 'unconscious' and part of the Simulacrum's framework, passively absorbing the scenario being played out to help Define themselves. Once again, not me.

If so, then… what the heck was I?

PART 2

"That's the long and short of it," I said into the phone, and my dear assistant on the other side let out a hum in acknowledgement.

"I'll read them before today's meeting," she told me, and there she would've most likely said more if I didn't interrupt her.

"Good. I have to hang up now. Talk to you later. Love you."

"Okay. Xoxo."

Was it just me, or was she getting quirkier with using shorthands like that in actual conversations? I didn't dwell on the question for long. Cutting the line, I pocketed my phone and then put an arm around my other, currently dejected girlfriend.

"Come on, princess. Cheer up."

"But I failed…" She moaned in a low voice, though her outward depression was hard to take seriously when she was snuggling up to me and rubbing her head on my shoulder as we walked. "I was supposed to stop you from working, and you still spent the whole night typing on the computer."

"Not the whole night," I corrected her, but in retrospect, I should've stayed silent.

Speaking of hindsight, I should've also stopped working on my notes when the sun came up and she started stirring, but then again, that thing was still my number one mortal enemy. Not the sun, I mean, but hindsight. I wasn't a vampire yet.

Anyhow, after I mailed the text file over to Judy in the morning I cuddled my princess to make her feel less dejected, we had a hearty breakfast courtesy of Snowy's handiwork, and then we headed over to the Dracis mansion on foot. It was both to help digest the food and for the sake of some Regular Loving Couple Antics™, though because of my draconic girlfriend's sour mood, there was less of the latter than expected.

But putting all of that aside, it was Saturday, meaning no school for the day. Not that I'd been attending this week; I was too busy with way too many things, but thankfully Lord Grandpa covered for me. Being in good diplomatic relations with the principal had many unexpected perks, it seemed. I just hoped he wasn't going to call in the favour during some inter-organizational negotiations. Now that I thought about it, I would have to visit him one of these days, both to discuss relations between the Assembly and the Elysium from now on and to check out if the Grimoire Key would react to Ammy or not, and—

"Stop thinking about work!" Elly interrupted my train of thought and poked me on the forehead, causing me to blink in surprise.

"How would you even know what I'm thinking about?"

"Girlfriend magic," she answered smugly, meaning her mood was finally improving, and she poked me between the brows again while we waited for the lights to turn green at the crossing. "Also, whenever you think about complicated things, you get these wrinkles here."

"Really?"

"Yup. It's very distinctive."

In the meantime, the traffic light switched and we started walking again, and since she was close to me already, she automatically entwined our arms. Smooth.

"Remember: no work today," she told me in a playful tone that also bore no disagreement. "There's no Draconic Council meeting, so take it easy."

"Sure, sure."

Unfortunately, I wasn't entirely honest with her. Depending on the definition of 'work', at the very least. There was a reason why we headed over to her home early in the morning, and it had to do with a simple text message I received from Roland. That was the reason why I proposed to go to the Dracis mansion to 'play', though I wasn't deceiving her per se. I was planning to spend some quality time with her, but I also had some other things to take care of that she might've objected to while she wasn't looking. It was best to do it this way; what she didn't know about couldn't bother her.

Putting my justifications aside, we continued on our merry way in silence. At least until Elly let out a series of thoughtful hums and soft noises, practically begging me to ask what was on her mind.

"What are you thinking so hard about?"

"Hobbies." Her answer was as straightforward as it could be and she thoughtfully placed the index finger of her free hand onto her chin. "We couldn't find you a good one yesterday, and it's bothering me."

"I told you we can figure out something later. There's no need to rush."

"No, there is!" she insisted with an embryonic pout. "If we put it off now, then we're going to completely forget about it when something else comes up, and then it's just going to be infinitely postponed! Like choosing your pet-name!"

My back involuntarily tensed when she brought that up. Did she realize that I'd been purposefully sabotaging that in the past, I wondered. I had nothing against pet-names per se (in fact, I considered myself an aficionado when it came to nicknaming people, for better or worse), but receiving one wasn't something I was looking forward to.

She didn't make the connection yet, thankfully, and she continued to ponder with her finger poised under her lips.

"You're really sporty, so maybe we should think about something along those lines? A sport we can play together."

"Like tennis?"

"No, that's too competitive," she denied my suggestion (though to be fair, I was half-joking anyway). "We need something more laidback that lets you relax. Something more communal."

She continued to wrack her head over the topic even as we reached the large wrought-iron gates of the Dracis mansion. The guards manning the perimeter, a mixture of the usual men-in-black security detail and some of our newly recruited Squires, were falling over each other to be the one to let us in, to the point two of them collided and nearly fell over in the process. This made me once again question if we really needed so many guards here… but then again, this was no longer just the semi-permanent home of the Dracis family, but the temporary seat of the Draconic Federation, so maybe the added security was warranted after all.

In any case, after asking to see if the guys who crashed were all right, and saying a few platitudes about doing a good job and being always vigilant, we headed towards the main entrance. Our steps were accompanied by the giggles of the princess, but she only told me what it was about when we were out of earshot.

"With each passing day, you sound more like a king."

"Is… that a good or a bad thing?"

"Good! You're cool!"

For further emphasis, she nuzzled up to me with an ear-to-ear grin. I… didn't quite get it, but if she was happy, I was happy, so it all worked out.

Meanwhile, we reached the lavish vestibule of the mansion, and we were immediately swarmed by placeholder maids led by a butler. Not Sebastian, just a normal one, though he obviously patterned himself after the old incognito dragon, sporting the same spiffy outfit and slicked-back hairstyle.

Since I moved in and out of the place almost daily, I was getting used to being pampered by them, and after handing over my long-coat and telling them that I would be staying for lunch, we finally managed to break out of their encirclement and head further inside. Yet, the moment we entered the big hall on the other side, we were stopped again by a pair of familiar and overly enthusiastic voices.

"Ue-sama!"/"Brother Leonard!"

From the winding hardwood stairs on our left, covered in red felt carpet and lined with classical paintings on one side and an elaborately carved railing on the other, the sounds of two sets of tiny feet could be heard thundering down. The pair of the petite miko, dressed in a tomboyish casual outfit that nevertheless still used her usual red-and-while colours, and the equally small dragon girl sporting her usual colourfully patterned Chinese dress, came to a screeching halt in front of us.

"Hi, kids," I greeted them, though to be fair, it was a bit of a misnomer.

Ichiko was hundreds of years old, even if she had spent most of that time locked up in a sword, while Odango Girl was, despite her outward appearance, about the same age as my girlfriends. Her childish appearance had something to do with her physiology as a full-blooded dragon in disguise, but since her mental age more-or-less matched her apparent one, it was hard to treat her as someone in our age bracket.

"What are you up to so early in the morning?" Elly asked absent-mindedly. She had detached herself from me during our encounter with the staff, and at the moment she was rubbing the heads of the girls.

Ichiko was a given, as she loved getting patted in her chubby little fox form, while Xiao was… well, technically speaking treating her like that was 'disrespectful' because she was a 'great ancestor' and whatnot, but she liked to be spoiled, and nobody was looking, so it was fine.

"We're scheming!" Odango Girl exclaimed with a toothy grin, and the foxy miko nodded along with gusto.

"Yes! Our plans within plans are slowly but surely reaching fruition!"

"Aw! Isn't that nice?" Elly cooed and redoubled her head-patting efforts, much to the girls' apparent delight. She must've thought that they were just playing, but I knew better.

"Any progress?" I asked half-jokingly, and Ichiko instantly balled her fingers into balls and stared at me with a gaze full of determination.

"We're a critical junction, Ue-sama!"

"Yes! Our web of intrigue is perfect! Now, all it needs is one last push to make them fall!"

"We've got this!"

"We do! We do!"

Tried as she might, Elly couldn't help but giggle uncontrollably at the sight of the fired-up girls. On the flip side, I couldn't help but narrow my eyes. My princess didn't know, but these two had a rather excessive interest in the budding relationship between Mountain Girl and Naoren, and I had no doubt that whatever they were cooking at the moment had something to do with that. This meant there were obviously some shenanigans afoot, which… wasn't necessarily a bad thing. So long as…

"Keep it in moderation, okay?" I warned them, and the kids solemnly nodded.

"Don't worry, Ue-sama! I'm one of the founders of the Kage clan! Discretion is my middle name!"

I wanted to point out that she didn't even have a surname, let alone a middle one, but Odango Girl beat me to the punch.

"Yes! We'll keep collateral damage to a minim—!"

"T-There won't be collateral damage!" Ichiko cut her off by putting a hand on Xiao's mouth. "Discretion! We're going to be very discreet!"

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"Y-Yes! No collateral damage," Xiao corrected herself, and then whispered, "But Ichi? What about the…?"

"W-We're going with Plan B!" the tiny miko declared and grabbed Odango Girl's hand. "We have to hold a strategy meeting! Goodbye, Ue-sama! Elly-ue!"

"Okay. Have fun."

"B-Bye bye!" Xiao also said her goodbyes a bit frantically as the other girl pulled her up the stairs (not the one they came from, a different one), leaving me alone with my girlfriend and her dopey smile.

"Mmm! They're so cute!" she exclaimed, slightly startling me in the process, but I couldn't argue with that.

"They are, but they're also a handful."

"That's just how children are," Elly stated profoundly, followed by another giggle and an affectionate glance at me. "You're going to be a great dad."

"… Where did that come from?" I asked, suddenly alarmed. "Please don't tell me…?"

"A-Awawa!" Realizing the implication of what she just said, Elly let out one of her rare yet just as endearing cutesy noises and frantically waved her palms. "I-I-I didn't mean it like that! We always used protection, so we're good! I meant in general! Just in general!"

"Oh, good," I muttered with palpable relief. "That would've been way too soon."

"Y-Yes, but… One day?"

"Sure," I answered her implied question and gave her a kiss. "Let's talk about this again in a few years, okay?"

She nodded, a little calmer but still beet read, and after a few short breaths, she shook her head and suddenly told me, "I… have something to discuss with Grandpa Sebastian!"

That was probably an excuse she cooked up on the spot because she was feeling embarrassed and self-conscious around me. I played along and nodded.

"I also have something to take care of, so that works out. Let's meet in your room once we're done."

"No work," she warned me, and instead of an answer, I gave her a peck on the forehead. Normally she would've taken that without any issues, but after that exchange, she was extra-sensitive, and she quickly excused herself.

As childish as it felt, seeing my girlfriend flustered like that tickled something inside me. Maybe it was reminding me of the good old times, when she was still acting tsundere towards me. Or maybe it was just the primal instinct of every boyfriend wanting to tease their girlfriend. However, before I could act on the urge, she left the hall, and as if waiting for her cue, a familiar blonde maid showed up from the other direction.

"Future young master," she greeted me with a polite curtsy and a stony expression, but that was just Melinda for you.

Elly's chambermaid and old friend was still a bit frosty towards me, but since I'd been visiting the estate regularly these days, we ran into each other often enough that our relationship thawed up a bit. We weren't exactly on friendly terms yet, but I was doing my best to be cordial, while she was, if nothing else, professional with me. That was good enough, I reckoned.

"Good morning. Has Sir Roland told you I was coming?"

"Yes. Sir Griffon Knight has informed me of future young master's visit ahead of time," she answered matter-of-factly and gestured for me to follow after her.

She didn't lead me to the door where she came from, but instead, we headed to the far end of the hall. Based on Dad-in-law's occasional bragging, the main building was a one-to-one copy of an old mansion they held in some Central European country. That meant it also had a bunch of 'hidden' servant entrances and corridors, originally designed so that the maids and the rest could move the building without disturbing the family.

She stopped in front of a section of the wall under one of the winding stairs, and at first glance it looked like the rest of the wood panelling, if not for two things; a small, hooked knob at waist height, and faint signs of dragging marks on the floor in front of it. That was odd, as wear and tear was rare to see due to how the Simulacrum operated, but maybe it was intentionally there to accentuate the building being 'an old, mysterious mansion'.

Whatever the case might've been, Melinda pulled on the hook and the whole wooden panel swung on hidden hinges, revealing a normal doorway sunk into the wall behind it. She produced an old-timey skeleton key to open it. On the other side, there was a dimly lit corridor that was considerably less lavish than the average interior of the mansion, but still fairly spacious and tidy.

Melinda closed the fake wall and locked the door behind us, and then she gestured for me to follow after her. However, it was only a few steps later that she pointedly cleared her throat.

"Future young master? May I speak frankly?"

I sent a flat glance her way, and uttered an even flatter, "When have you ever not done that?"

She nodded without taking umbrage with my tone at all and firmly stated, "Your relationship with Milady appears to be harmonious."

I didn't expect those words to come out of her mouth, but no matter how I scrutinized her, I couldn't find any sign of sarcasm. That meant it was probably a setup for something.

"Yes, you could certainly say that."

"Future young master promised that he would make Milady happy, and upheld his promise. For that, I'm sincerely thankful."

Okay, this was getting more and more suspicious by the second.

"Thank you, I guess."

She gestured for me to follow after her to the right when we reached a junction, and then she continued with an eminently serious, "I held back until now because I didn't want to endanger Milady's happiness, but since her relationship with future young master seems stable now, I'm going to make my move." That odd declaration was followed by a meaningful pause, and then matter-of-factly, "I simply wished to inform future young master of this."

"By making your move, are you talking about…?"

"I've already received permission from future young master," she cut me off emphatically and while her expression remained neutral, I couldn't help but feel that her eyes were somehow glaring at me without her brows moving a micron. "And future young master wouldn't be so low as to go back on his word, would he?"

We locked eyes for a second, and lacking better options, I shrugged.

"Break a leg."

She solemnly nodded, and her expression not only eased up, but I could almost see a faint smile tug at her lips. Honestly, I mostly forgot about that whole exchange we had in the past where she very heavily implied that she had some kind of crush on the princess, and back then I didn't go out of my way to shut her down. Of course, back then we were operating more on an experimental polyamorous kind of relationship, while now we had a firmer and more settled polyfidelous one, but as she said, I gave my word, and I wasn't going to walk back on it.

I also wasn't particularly worried about this development. Not only that, but while I wasn't a fan of weird shenanigans when they involved me or the girls, we kind of needed those to weather the interim before I could figure out what our plot should be, so… eh? I figured I'd let Elly work out this one.

During the time we had that exchange, we walked up some stairs and reached our destination. After passing through another hidden servant entrance, we were now in the detached servants' quarters. That meant either the elevation difference between the two buildings was more than I thought, or part of the corridors we walked were underground, but I didn't dwell long on the logistics of that.

Once she led me to a door, Melinda did a curtsy again and wordlessly disappeared into the passage where we came from. Left alone, I took a deep breath to center myself and calm my nerves before reaching for the doorknob.

The white room, smelling faintly of disinfectant, was originally just one of the many servant lodgings made obsolete by this allegedly being the twenty-first century and them no longer being actual serfs living on the grounds. It was a bare chamber, with only a single iron bed, a wardrobe, a couple of chairs, and an old CRT television in the corner, currently occupied by two familiar faces.

When our eyes met, Roland rose from one of the said chairs and automatically gave me a salute. He was wearing his Uniformer, just in case, and was a bit haggard. To be fair, he had been about as busy with official business as I was, if not more so, yet I couldn't help but feel that his sour disposition had more to do with the man on the bed. Speaking of whom…

"Ah, Leonard? Is that you? It's been so long!" A frail old man greeted me with a warm, grandfatherly smile, followed by a series of coughs. "Sorry. I'm… not in the best shape right now."

I eyed the old snake, looking as weak and harmless as I'd ever seen him, and when I glanced at Roland, he gave me a conflicted grimace in return. Already feeling exasperated, I faced the bed again and took a deep breath to collect my thoughts.

"Good morning, Sir Percival. Let's talk."

PART 3

It was hard, but I stilled my face as best as I could and beheld the old man on the bed. He was gaunter than the last time I'd seen him, yet his sunken eyes were bright despite the dark purple circles underscoring them. The dry lips partially hidden under the white mess covering his face were bent in a natural smile that didn't falter even when I maintained my silence.

It was a very familiar sight. Searching my memories, it didn't take long to find a match; it was the exact same expression I'd seen on his face when I first met him in front of my house. The uncomplicated, jolly, grandfatherly smile of a lonely old man meeting his distant family for the first time in ages.

Yet, despite the brute fact that I could recognize it, there was something different about it. Was it because it didn't seem fake? No, that wasn't it. His smile from back then looked perfectly natural as well. It was something else. Something more fundamental.

And then, it finally clicked with me. Or rather, it was me. It wasn't his perception that fundamentally changed, but my impression of him, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what happened. Something was missing. Something I took for granted, and got so used to it, its absence made me feel oddly uncomfortable.

I was naturally talking about the unexplainable, nearly instinctive irritation bordering on revulsion I felt whenever I was in the presence of Sir Percival. This peculiar gut feeling of mine was something I got so used to, it felt uncanny not to have it anymore. That raised two big questions though; what was it, and why was I no longer feeling it?

While I had a clearer understanding of many things, I could only speculate. It couldn't have been other-me's fault, because after our merger, I now knew everything he knew and did, and there was no sign of any interference on that front. For a while, I thought it was a kind of Narrative Influence unique to me, but that didn't seem to be the case either. It made sense at the time to speculate that the Narrative was trying to use it to set me up against the various antagonists we would face in the Plot, but based on what I knew now, it was a bit far-fetched.

If anything, it might've been something of a bleed-through effect. Sort of. It's hard to explain, but let's consider this: me, other-me, and Narrative-me (along with whatever other pan-Simulacrum or pan-cosmic versions of me might or might not have existed) were all part of a greater, capital-M Me. That would mean that the same way Narrative-me understood me perfectly, and could use certain tropes to steer my attention, I might've been subconsciously aware of Narrative-me's Plot, and what role some people would be playing in it.

If so, it would've explained why I was feeling aversion towards certain people. People who would endanger my family, my friends, or just generally annoy me with their antics. It was kind of like a premonition; based on the Plot, I subconsciously knew that I would hate these people in the future, and that manifested in a strong dislike in the present, which is now the past. Kind of like the whole Emergent non-linear experience of time, just on a smaller scale, and dammit, I was getting too esoteric with this.

The point: I probably really disliked Sir Percival in the past because I was subconsciously aware that, as part of the Plot, he would threaten Snowy and cause me endless headaches in the future. However, all of that was based on said Plot, which I broke, which stopped the subconscious premonitions, and that's why I wasn't irrationally irritated with Percival anymore. It was all very logical, so long as I was thinking about it as a weird X-dimensional space-alien thing.

Anyhow, I'll get back to this topic the next time I sit down with the girls. For now, let's focus on the source of my far less pronounced but infinitely more rational irritation, still grinning at me from where he was lying. Percival maintained that saccharine-sweet grandfatherly face that made my stomach churn, but I also upheld my poker face quite admirably, if I do say so myself, and walked over to his bedside.

"It hasn't been that long," I pointed out a touch flatly, and his visage shifted at once as if waiting for me to say that.

"What are you saying?" His face a painting of incomprehension, he glanced at the other man in the room. "I already told Roland, but the last time we met was back in England, wasn't it?"

Seeing that I narrowed my eyes, Sir Griffon hastily cleared his throat to get my attention.

"Percival claims that he has lost his memories."

"Does he now?" I whispered, using all my willpower not to sound as incredulous as the claim deserved, and the old man let out a depressed sigh.

"It's the truth. Last I remember, I went to bed at home after a long day investigating a lead about the long-lost equipment left behind by the Kelpie Knight, and the next thing I know, I wake up in an unfamiliar room with my whole body feeling numb." He paused, and raised his left arm, accompanied by a metallic jingle as the links of the handcuff tying him to the bed rattled. "And this. I don't quite understand what's going on, to be honest."

Looking befuddled and entirely harmless, the old man was staring at me with all the innocence of a lost puppy in the rain. It was giving me the goosebumps, so I turned to Roland.

"Is he telling the truth?"

"That's what he claims, yes," he affirmed with a nod and glanced a Percival, his expression unusually difficult to read.

I focused on the old man again, and after locking eyes for a while, I turned around and gestured for Roland to follow after me.

"Wait! Aren't you going to explain to me what's going on?" Percival called after us, but I ignored him, and once we were outside, I closed the door behind me and turned to Sir Griffon.

"Your take?"

"He's most likely lying," Roland answered without hesitation. "I don't know why he would do so at this stage, but it's too convenient."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," I hissed as I rubbed my face. "How are his injuries? He can't escape, right?"

"No." Roland's answer was so definitive, it made me raise a brow by reflex, so he quickly elaborated. "We had three different professionals examine him while he was unconscious, including Sir Arpachshad himself." That made sense, considering Jaakobah was the closest thing to a medical expert I had on my payroll. And yes, I'm purposefully ignoring Peabody. But back to the explanation. "While there was a minor disagreement regarding the precise extent of the damage, the conclusion was that between seventy-two and eighty-six percent of his body suffered permanent mana-burns."

As much as I disliked the old bastard, that still made me flinch. I knew first-hand (no pun intended) how much mana-burns sucked, and if he had that over the entirety of his body, it meant…

"He's crippled," Roland stated blandly; the same level of enthusiasm he would show when striking out a line or delivering a signature of paperwork. It had an odd sense of finality to it.

"To what degree? Can he still fight?"

He looked at me like I just asked something silly, but when I insisted, he categorically stated, "No. According to the healer hired by the Ordo Draconis, he'll be lucky if he can walk without assistance again. Sir Arpachshad's diagnosis was slightly more positive, but even he claimed that it would take years of rehabilitation and multiple treatments using expensive Celestial catalysts to fully cure him." He paused, his face hardening before adding, "It's not going to happen."

"Nope," I affirmed, and he nodded along. He looked almost relieved. "In your opinion, what should we do about him?"

Sir Griffon remained silent for much longer than expected and even used his thumb to rub his moustache, a gesture I'd rarely seen yet could easily recognize as a tic. The last time it showed up was when I revealed myself as Bel, so it probably meant he was simultaneously stumped and vexed by the situation.

"I presume quietly removing him from the board is still not on the table."

Roland had been hard on Percival since the very beginning. From what I could gather, he just really hated traitors in general, and the old man especially earned his ire when he sold me out. Chances were, if it was up to him, Percival would be dead already, but I already fully dedicated myself to a no-kill run, for better or worse. I was on a streak, and I wasn't going to quit until the credits rolled.

Putting the game-analogies aside, while the threat of the Narrative shifting the tone of the Plot in response to someone getting offed was no longer a major consideration, I kind of felt that changing my stance on the issue this late would've been just a tad too hypocritical. Not to mention, I went out of my way to preserve Percival's life at a critical juncture, whether he deserved it or not… but then he just had to complicate things, hadn't he?

I shook my head, both to express my exasperation and as an answer to Roland. His shoulders fell in a gesture that screamed 'I don't even know why I asked'. It only lasted for a moment though, and then he immediately assumed his usual, straight-backed posture.

"Percival's claims of memory loss are irrelevant, and can safely be ignored for the time being. His collusion with the enemies of the Ordo Draconis is proven beyond the shadow of a doubt, and his treason was made evident in front of multiple witnesses. Once able, he will have to answer for his crimes in front of a tribunal of Entitled Knights, but with such overwhelming evidence arrayed against him, the laws of the Brotherhood would also allow summary judgement upon him without having to observe the full process."

"Let's say we declare him guilty on the spot right now. What are the options for his sentencing?"

Roland crossed his arms, and uttered, "Death penalty by summary execution." He narrowed his eyes at me for a moment, and when I didn't react, he deflated a bit. "But since that's out of the question… if we follow the laws of the Ordo Draconis, based on the tenets of the Brotherhood, transgressions of this magnitude would require that we forcefully destroy his Oaths."

"Which I already did," I pointed out, and he nodded along.

"Which you already did," he echoed me, sounding a touch more deadpan than usual. "Alternatively, we can follow the laws of the Draconic Federation, mainly based on the rules and traditions of Clan Feilong. Their punishment for treason involves the permanent crippling of the individual."

"Which I… also did?"

"Yes, you did," Roland echoed me once again, followed by a shallow groan. "With that taken into account, all that remains is exile, permanently striking the traitor from the registry of clan members. Translated to the Draconic Federation, the equivalent would be banning him from holding office or receiving any benefits from the organization for the rest of his life."

"How would that work in practice?"

"We kick him out, and lock him up under house arrest somewhere out of sight," he summarized, and while it sounded reasonable, I couldn't help but furrow my brows.

"No good."

"Why?" Roland sounded audibly baffled by my stray comment, and it took me a second to figure out how to explain it to him.

The main issue was that sweeping Percival under the rug was just anti-climactic. As much as I would've liked to just permanently get him out of my hair and move on with my life, just stashing him away in some nursing home and trying to forget about him wasn't feasible. Not only because of the whole meta-metaphysical thing with the Simulacrum and the Submerged Ones and the Plot and whatnot, but because it would've felt weird to effectively retire him and write him out of our story, so to speak. Especially after all that he had done. He was a major antagonist, after all.

But to answer Roland's question, I took a shallow breath and told him, "After I went through so much trouble to spare his life, I feel obligated to squeeze some drama—" Cutting myself short, I clicked my tongue and tried again. "I meant to say 'use out of him' first."

"What sort of use are we talking about?"

"I don't know yet." He didn't expect me to freely admit that, but after coming this far, I decided to double down. "In any case, I'll give it a try."

Roland eyed me for a while, alternating between deadpan stares and annoyed squints, but when I remained unflinching, he soon settled into something in-between and rubbed the spot between his brows with visible exasperation.

"If you're sure that's what you want, then I'll consult the Draconic Federation's leadership on the topic."

By that, I was fairly sure he meant he'd talk to Naoren and Abram to find a way to let the old bastard off the hook, even if temporarily, and allow me to do my thing. Which, to be fair, even I wasn't entirely clear about yet. Fortunately, while I didn't have Roland's full confidence, I still had his support. That was good enough.

"Thanks." After a beat, I jerked my head towards the door. "In the meantime, I'm going to give a crack to Percival and figure out what this whole amnesia business is about."

Sir Griffon nodded, and after waiting a bit to see if I had anything else to add, he gave me a curt salute and walked down the hallway, leaving me alone in front of the door. Not for long though, as once I steeled my nerves a bit, I reached out for the doorknob and swung it open, visibly startling the man on the bed.

"Leonard? What was this all about?" he asked, an expression of harmless confusion plastered on his face.

I openly disregarded it and walked over to his bedside with steady steps, coming to a halt with a sigh.

"All right, old man. What are you up to?"

"I… don't know…"

"Cut the crap. I seriously don't have the time for any charades at the moment." Percival's eyes shook, but he still acted the confused elder. It was time to step up the pressure. "I have a subordinate whose sword doubles as a lie detector. Do I seriously have to get her over here?" I paused for a beat, followed by a growling, "Just fess up already."

I could see the hesitation in his eyes, and after what felt like minutes, his expression slowly but surely morphed into a terrible grimace.

"Oh, for the love of god, Leonard!" His outburst was punctuated by his trying to throw his hands into the air, only to be stopped by the handcuffs. He let out a hiss, less pained and more annoyed, and turned a fiery glare at me. "Why can't you just take what I offer and run with it!? What's wrong with you?!"

"Your 'offer' of pretending to be an amnesiac," I stated in a low, flat voice, and the old snake exhaled a groan.

"Yes." Seeing that I wasn't convinced, he made a vague gesture towards the room. "You had both the opportunity and the justification to kill me, yet I'm still alive. I'm sure there's a reason for that, so I played along." He paused and made a motion across his lips as if closing a zipper. "I don't remember anything. I don't know anything about Bel of the Abyss, I don't know anything about you two working together, and I don't recall or hold any grudges over being locked up by you. I couldn't have signalled 'I don't pose any threat to you' any harder than that even if I said it out loud!"

I wanted to point out that he just did, and that the way he phrased things sounded like a vague threat along the lines of 'Play along or I will suddenly remember all of those things', but I kept my objections down and moved on.

"Was that seriously your plan?"

"I'm not exactly swimming in options," he groused through clenched teeth and pulled on his handcuffs again for illustration. He must've been looking for empathy, but when I didn't show any, he quickly changed gears and adopted a more solemn demeanour. "Listen, Leonard. Think about this rationally. I can't do anything right now. I don't have the means to oppose you, and I have no reason to lie to you. I just… I know there has to be a reason you kept me alive, so let's just make a deal, okay? Let bygones be bygones and move forward."

He put a hand forward, asking for a handshake, but I ignored him and let him sweat it out for a few silent seconds.

"You tried to poison my sister," I stated so coldly I surprised myself a bit. "That's not the kind of water under the bridge I will just forget about."

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Percival suddenly burst out, throwing his free hand into the air again and making the handcuffs jangle once more. "You have already taken my Oaths! I can't even feel my limbs anymore! Do you have any idea how that feels?!"

"I know. I had my own experience with mana-burns."

"Then what more do you want?! I can't even walk anymore! I can't even go to the loo by myself!" As if a dam was broken, indignation flowed out of Percival's mouth like a river, and I let it wash over me. I didn't care, and I didn't let his words affect me. He wasn't going to get any anger or pity out of me, yet he continued to yell at me anyway. "I'm a wreck, and I'll live the rest of my life as a cripple! You have crippled me! I've lost everything; my reputation, my station, even control over my own goddamn body! My life is already over, and you didn't even let me go out on my own terms! What more do you want from me?!"

"I don't know yet," I answered him truthfully. "But I'll figure something out. Rest assured; I won't let you just quietly shirk away and avoid the consequences of your actions and the mess you caused."

"Consequences? What is this…" He paused, and vaguely gestured at himself and his bed. "… if not consequences?! Or what?" His face darkened, and his lips bent into an almost delirious grin directly clashing with the icy cold glare of his eyes. "Ha! Do you want me to 'atone for my sins', maybe? Seriously? Has the word 'hypocrisy' lost all its meaning to you? Or are you just drunk on being the great, righteous King of Knights?"

I waited for him to finish his tirade, and it happened sooner than expected. By this point, Percival was out of breath, and he was heaving as if he just ran a marathon.

"No." Crossing my arms, I levelled a dispassionate stare at him. "Atonement is for people who regret their actions."

"Bah!"

Ignoring his outburst, I shook my head and pointed at him.

"You wanted to make a deal, so here's one for you: I'm going to make use of you. I don't yet know how, but I will make sure of that, whether you want it or not. Sit tight, old man. Your life might be over, but your role in my story only ends when I say so."

Percival's eyes were wide open for a few seconds. Then, he blinked, followed by a strained laughter, interrupted by short coughing fits.

"Ha… Haha! Now… After all this time, now you sound like yourself again!"

"Oh, shut up," I dismissed him with a wave of my hand, and his chortles soon died down, turning into a wolfish grin.

"Deal," he declared, as if he had a choice in the matter. "Should I keep pretending to be amnesiac, then?"

"… Why?"

"Wouldn't it be more convenient for you?" he asked, slowly returning to his calm, grandfatherly act. "It would be easier to keep me around if I'm just a harmless old man without any idea about the current situation, wouldn't it?"

As much as I hated the fact, he did have a point there.

"Sure, let's go with that."

"Okay." He eyed me for a while, and after a long beat, he suddenly asked, "Say, Leonard?"

"What?"

"Since I'm cooperating, can I receive some benefits?"

"No."

Following that instant reply, I let the dramatic pause linger for a while before I turned around and left the startled old man's side. When I reached for the doorknob, I could hear him mutter 'Well, it was worth a try' under his breath, but I fully disregarded him and left the impromptu sick room.

It was only once I was outside that I let out a long breath, closing my eyes to center myself again.

Without the instinctive irritation gnawing at my nerves, the discussion ended up a lot simpler than I feared, but also a lot less definitive than I hoped. Knowing the old bastard's personality, I was sure that as long as I offered him a way out, no matter how vague, he would leap for it to save his sorry skin, and he didn't disappoint. The only problem was that… how to put it? I was kind of flying by the seat of my pants there?

I mean, we both knew I wasn't going to kill him. I already outlined my reasons for that, and those didn't even count the more Watsonian motivations I had in the back of my head, like how it would make Penny (and even Snowy, despite the way he threatened her) sad. I knew it, he knew it, and it's why we ended up with this… well, not 'alliance'. Maybe not even 'cooperation'. More of a 'necessary evil' kind of deal.

In the end, I'd figuratively locked myself into making him part of my Plot, and I had to figure out how to make good use of him. I needed to create a role for him. Something that fit his archetype and made sense in context. Getting him to atone, or make a sacrifice (or most of the other ways villains got redeemed in stories) was so wildly out of character for him that they would never work. That meant I needed to figure out how to slot him into the plot in a way that both made sense, wasn't letting him off easy, wasn't too contrived, and he needed some kind of arc with a satisfying conclusion, all the while judging all the other things, and…

"Wow… Narrative-me had it hard, didn't he?" I muttered, and suddenly I had a gripping urge to apologize to him for all the chaos I caused in the past. It only lasted for a second though, and I quickly shook the thought out of my head.

There was no point dwelling on this right now, so I got ready to leave, only to stop the moment a creaking noise sounded in the corridor. Turning to face the source, I found the same servant-entrance Melinda used to lead me here opening up, and a blonde head peeking through the gap.

"Ah, Leo!" Elly threw the door open and skipped over to my side. Her face was flushed, and she looked unusually excited. I mean, even by her standards. "I was afraid I'd miss you! Thank goodness!"

"Easy there, princess," I told her even as she grabbed my hand in hers. I wanted to point out that we agreed to meet in her room, but before I could get to it, she started pulling me towards the open door. "Whoa! Why's the hurry!"

Pausing for a moment, she turned to me and flashed a charming grin. The kind that was just a bit smug, and yet oddly attractive. Then, she let go of me, put one hand on her hip and pointed a playful index finger at me with her palm facing up before raising her voice with audible enthusiasm.

"I found you a hobby!"

PART 4

I was standing stock still, eyes closed shut as I softly inhaled through my nose. The cool air, saturated with the scent of floor wax, pine-scented air freshener, and just a whiff of fried foods slowly filled my lungs. I held my breath. One second. Two. Three. Then, I hefted the heavy ball in my right hand and took a step forward, my eyes unblinking and focused on my target.

I swept my arm back with slow, methodical motions and then swung forward with my whole upper body. There was no fancy technique involved. No spins, no tricky wrist moves. I just aimed, and let go of the ball. It made an odd, high-pitched screech as it met the mirror-polished wooden floorboards, but then it quickly turned into the rhythmic sound of it rolling down the lane in the direction of the neatly arranged white pins. It was dead on center… but then, as it was nearing the halfway mark, it gradually deviated from its original course.

I held my breath and watched helplessly as the ball veered more and more to the left until it finally hit the pins with a loud, hollow clatter. Four fell, the rest remained standing. It was a bit disappointing, but I couldn't do much about it.

"Yay! You hit it!" Elly exclaimed from the back and grinned at me like I just made a huge achievement.

She was wearing a light blue outfit comprised of a knee-length skirt, a loose polo shirt, and a pair of white tennis shoes. The latter was mandatory, and everyone had to borrow one at the entrance. It was to make sure the players wouldn't damage the lanes when approaching. She also had her ringlets tied up into a big, eye-catching ponytail, and the whole outfit gave her a refreshingly sporty look.

"Hmm. Yes. Your posture still needs some work, but you have absorbed the basics well," a certain old man commented from the side, and I levelled a straight-faced look at him.

Sebastian, wearing a fancy park stroller outfit complete with knit vest and a checkered shirt, returned my gaze dispassionately while hefting a bright purple bowling ball in one hand.

"I'm a beginner, you know," I pointed out, and I could see just the tiniest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of the old dragon's lips.

"And that's why you must pay attention," he stated with altogether too much gravitas and stepped up to his lane. "Here. Let me show you again."

He got ready to roll, and I guess this was as good a point to explain the situation as any.

Long story short, after we separated, Elly talked with Sebastian about teaching me how to bowl. I already knew it was his hobby, and my girlfriend figured that I should give it a try, as it fit the criteria she set up ahead of time. To my utter shock, the esteemed Dracis steward not only didn't object, but he was downright eager to initiate me into the world of heavy balls and easily toppled pins. It must've had something to do with Dad-in-law not being particularly interested in the sport, while Elly and Emese were more into Tennis. Since I was now technically part of the family, he might've been just waiting for the right opportunity to sink his talons into me. Figuratively speaking, of course. I hoped.

I didn't really… mind though? Okay, that might've sounded a bit too wishy-washy, but it was mostly just because I wasn't expecting to be roped into a sudden bowling excursion like this. It's not that I didn't like it, it was just… weird.

Without warning, I was startled by a loud clatter followed by a jaunty tune coming from the large CRT TV suspended overhead. Each lane had one, fastened to long metal rods hanging from the ceiling, and while the ones over the lanes not in use were playing commercials, Sebastian's was showing his current points.

I wasn't entirely clear on the scoring system of the game yet, but since he knocked down all the pins in one go, I guessed the letter X he got on his table was… probably good? There was also a number under it, and when the princess knocked down her pins in two rolls she got a slash-symbol instead, and it had something to do with adding the number of the new rolls to the previous ones… or something. It was all a bit confusing, but I should get the hang of it soon. Or so did Sebastian insist, anyway.

"Were you paying attention?" he asked out of the blue, and after suppressing a twitch, I hastily nodded.

"I sure did."

"Then try to put it into practice."

I had no idea what he was talking about, because I zoned out a bit, and when I looked at the princess for support, I found her with her fists balled up in front of her chest and an expression that shouted 'Go, Leo, go! Fight!'

"Erm… Can I take a break first?" I proposed, and the old dragon agreed much quicker than expected.

"Certainly. How about we sit down for a while."

"Aw." While my princess deflated in the back, it only lasted for a moment, and then her eyes lit up with an idea. "I'll go get some drinks from the snack bar then! Would you like anything?"

"Mineral water. Non-carbonated," Sebastian responded promptly, while I needed a moment to gather my wits.

"Some coke, please."

"On it! I'll be right back!"

And with those words, like a blonde comet, my girlfriend dashed to the other side of the bowling center and disappeared from my view. Like most such establishments, this place wasn't just for bowling. The front had both a snack bar and a small family restaurant, with tables and everything, while the upper floor overlooking the lanes had multiple billiard tables and darts boards with a bar serving alcohol. All things considered, the ground floor had more of a family-friendly recreational center vibe, while the upper floor was closer to a classy Victorian-era saloon rather than a British pub.

"Come, my boy. Sit." Sebastian was already seated on one of the padded benches behind the ball-recovery-machines (I was sure they had a proper name, but I never asked), and I sheepishly walked over and sat down next to him. I expected him to say something right away, but he looked me over from head to toe and let out a contemplative hum first. "The young lady was right."

"Young lady?" I blurted out, and he wagged a finger at me.

"We're in public, my boy. Professional etiquette has to be observed."

"Then why do you keep calling me 'my boy'?"

The question bounced off him like water rolling off a duck's back, and he thoughtfully crossed his arms.

"She told me you are in dire need of recreation, and she wasn't mistaken. You appear to be distracted even now."

"I… can't really help it," I admitted, and it made him raise a brow.

"Is the game not to your liking?"

"No, it's not that," I hastily explained with a palm raised. "It's fun and all, it's just that I have a lot on my plate at the moment."

"All the more reason to relax your body and mind." Seeing that I wasn't receptive to the typical self-help lines, he soon changed his approach. "I understand you are currently under a lot of pressure. For someone your age, it might feel too much to handle at once, especially after what happened that night." I caught him clenching his fist when he said that. Was he still not over that stupid spear, I wondered. Anyhow, it only lasted for a moment, and then he unclenched his fingers and gave me a thin-lipped smile. "Would you like to talk about your troubles?"

"Not really. I mean, it's pretty complicated, and… I'm not sure I can even properly explain the problem I'm facing right now."

"Oh. So it's a specific problem, is it?" he asked, sounding like an old fisherman's wife smelling some juicy gossip. "Could it be related to your mentor?"

"My what? Ah, you're talking about Percival?" I shook my head. "Nah, not really."

In truth, I still had to figure out a way to put him to use in a narratively relevant and satisfying way, and while currently I was drawing a blank on exactly how I was supposed to do that, this conundrum was infinitely preferable to the constant headaches he caused me when he was still locked up. At least now I knew exactly where we stood, and since the cat was out of the bag, it was one less thing for me to worry about.

"In that case, what is eating you from the inside?" Sebastian pressed the issue, and I gave up.

"Let's just say that my current troubles are more… existential in nature," I told him vaguely, and his eyes lit up with recognition at once.

He traced his jawline with his index and middle finger, pinching his chin at the end, and let out an altogether way too profound sound. I had a feeling that he was about to come to some kind of wild misunderstanding, so I hastily clarified my point.

"It has to do with the realization that I seem to be… fundamentally different from the people around me," I told him, but if anything, it had only deepened his misunderstanding.

"It has something to do with your Celestial heritage, hasn't it?"

His guess was off, but I couldn't exactly explain things to him properly without revealing the Simulacrum and the Emergents and so on, so after some hesitation, I nodded. Also, I would've been lying if I said I wasn't at least a little bit curious about where he was going with his deduction.

"I perfectly understand your problem, my boy."

"Do you?" I blurted out, and he let out a low chuckle.

"Naturally. After all, when it comes to being 'fundamentally different' from others, I could say without exaggeration that I'm something of an expert on the matter."

Oh, look. Air-quotes. I was waiting for him to whip them out.

Much more importantly though, it was sometimes easy to forget, but I was currently conversing with a literal dragon who had been around for centuries, if not millennia. In fact, now that I thought about it, wasn't he around during the big war between the Celestials and the Abyssals? I was pretty sure his first wife (or whatever the equivalent for big fire-breathing lizards was) died in that conflict, so… Did he know Polemos? Did he meet him? Did I have any fragmented memories of him?

I was just about to ask, but then he threw a curveball at me that made me blank out.

"If you truly inherited the power of the Celestials of old, it is only natural to worry about your lifespan."

"… Pardon?"

Sebastian let out a chuckle and swept back his hair, his lips bent in a sentimental, almost affectionate smile. Was he reminiscing about something when he looked at me, I wondered. Or was it something else entirely? It was hard to read his expression, especially when he wasn't acting like his usual self.

"No need to be on guard, my boy. As I just said, I perfectly understand your quandary. You have finally internalized the fact that you are most likely going to outlive everyone you know. It makes you feel different. Isolated."

"I… Honestly, my situation is slightly more complicated than that, but oddly enough, you're not entirely wrong," I told him, unable to hide the surprise in my voice, and the old steward let out a soft chuckle.

I mean, my main issue was that I might have been a completely different kind of existence than the residents of the Simulacrum, and I was now interacting with beings who were definitely radically different from everyone I ever knew. Lovecraftian outer-gods levels of different. Looking from that perspective, Sebastian was off the mark, but… From the perspective of a normal person, like Judy, wasn't the old dragon already an incomprehensibly dissimilar existence, with his long history and great powers? Hell, wasn't I already like that, even before Emergents and Submerged Ones entered the picture?

"It is indeed complicated, and everyone deals with it differently," Sebastian monologued in a soft voice. "I have seen it happen many times in the past. Some would seal themselves away from others in an attempt to protect their hearts. Others would fear to even interact with the world and make connections, becoming reclusive in the process. Yet others might develop a sense of superiority, treating the lives of their lessers as meaningless to shield themselves from the pain of losing them, while some may simply accept that loss as a natural part of life and live their lives in the present, honoring their past and looking towards the future."

"You're obviously the last type," I guessed, and he nodded. "Is that your advice to me?"

"In a sense." He followed that up with the tiniest of shrugs and gestured towards the bowling lanes. "As your elder, it's the best one I can give to you. Live in the present, and never be afraid to share your heart with others. I know all too well the pain of outliving the ones you love, yet I have never felt sorry for myself. My pity is reserved for those who waste their lives away, afraid to love, to hate, or to bond with others for fear of loss. They are the truly miserable ones." He paused, his hand still outstretched, and then added, "So I say, Leonard, my boy: you must never hold back. Don't falter. Enjoy your life, try new things, and find what gives you joy. Treasure every moment you are granted, no matter how fleeting."

I waited to see if he had anything else to add, but he was looked at me expectantly.

"You know, normally I would roll my eyes at such generic life-coaching advice, but when it comes from you, I find it hard to object," I admitted, and based on the way his brows furrowed, he had a hard time deciding how to react to that. Before he could do so, I leaned back with a pent-up sigh and threw my head back, staring at the ceiling. "You know, what you just said sounds good in theory, but it's just so damn hard to put it into practice when the whole world is pressing down on my shoulders."

"It may feel like that right now, with your responsibilities to the Draconic Federation and the Celestial Realm weighing upon you, but it is all transitory. Tumultuous days like these will pass, but the longer you live, the more of them you will encounter. It's inevitable. You'll just have to learn how to deal with them."

"By bowling?" I uttered a touch cheekily, but Sebastian nodded without any pretences.

"Maybe. I would encourage you to find something that truly interests you and provides you a moment of solace in trying times, but I would be lying if I told you I wouldn't appreciate it if you learned to appreciate the sport." He put a fist in front of his mouth and cleared his throat. Was he… getting embarrassed? "To be perfectly honest with you, my usual bowling partners rarely show their faces nowadays, and if you're willing to listen, I'm not against teaching you more than just the basics. Not that I'm particularly married to the idea, but you understand what I'm trying to say."

… Oh my goodness. The old man is being tsundere about me becoming his bowling apprentice. That's… That was so weird, I almost let out a guffaw. I held it in and tempered my reaction into a shrug.

This whole 'hobby' thing was something I mostly went along with because of the princess' insistence. I mean, bowling itself was pretty fun, if a little vexing at times, and I liked the casual, laidback ambience of this place. It was relaxing in a different way than just hanging out with my girlfriends, or playing a tabletop game with the gang. Those were usually a bit more hectic, even at the best of times, so the prospect of taking Sebastian up on his offer and making this a regular thing was a bit tempting.

Yet, at the same time, everything just felt off. Maybe it was because I was tired, or maybe due to the short conversation I had with The Girl during the night, but I was feeling restless. When I told the dapper steward that I felt the weight of the whole world on my shoulder, it wasn't figurative.

…

Well, okay, it technically was figurative, but not in the sense he thought it was. Due to the whole kerfuffle with the Crowned Coalescence and other-me and Narrative-me and whatnot, I was now thrust into the role of a grand director who had to hammer together an ending for this play we called our lives, and I felt woefully unprepared. Also, under-equipped. Unlike Narrative-me, I didn't have any kind of grand influence, where I could rearrange the board off-screen in response to whatever the Plot required. And even while Narrative-me did have that capability, things were so complicated I still mistook his heroic cat-herding efforts as sloppiness. Or was I just giving too much benefit-of-the-doubt, now that I knew that the Narrative wasn't a malicious outside entity, but a part of the greater-me?

While I was lost in thoughts like that, Sebastian patiently waited for me to sort things out in my head, but it took so long that the princess already returned with a couple of plastic cups in hand.

"Mineral water for grandpa!"

"Young mistress. I told you to refer to me according to my station when we're in public," Sebastian chided her, but she just giggled and turned to me.

"And one cup of cola for Leo!"

"Thanks." I absently accepted the drink and immediately took a gulp, only just realizing how parched my lips felt. It was only after this that I noticed that Elly was looking at me with eyes that said she had something to tell me. "Yes?"

"Guess whom I ran into!"

Blinking, I glanced between her and the front area of the establishment. From this spot, I could only see part of the restaurant's floor. There weren't any familiar faces in sight, so I signalled my giving in with an over-exaggerated shrug.

"It's your friends," she told me, sounding pretty excited by the chance meeting. "You know? The boys who worked in the hot springs resort."

"… Do you mean the goldfish poop gang?"

"Goldfish what?" Sebastian blurted out next to me, but we ignored him.

"Yes, them! They're working in the snack bar here, and they asked about you." She let out a giddy giggle. "They said we really helped them out with our donations during Valentine's, so the drinks are on the house today!"

Considering how absurdly wealthy she was, there was no reason to get so hyped up over some free drinks. But then again, despite her oujo-archetype making itself known every once in a blue moon, my rich girlfriend was somehow also incredibly low maintenance, so I decided to share her joy with a smile.

"It's a small world," I spoke off-handedly between sips from my cup, and she repeatedly nodded.

"It is! I mean, putting all of the… you know… those… um… Doylist?" She paused and looked at me expectantly, and when I nodded, she let out a relieved breath. "Those Doylist things aside, it's so weird we keep running into them."

"It's not that weird. If anything, it's just…"

I wanted to say 'the Narrative reusing named characters', if not necessarily in such direct terms, considering that Sebastian was still listening in, but the words got caught in my throat and turned into a weird 'Eh?' sound.

My eyes reflexively turned to the vague direction of the snack bar on the other side of the wall, and I couldn't help but wonder: could this be a coincidence? Nah. The chances of us running into these guys right here and now were pretty astronomical. But if not that, then what?

Narrative-me was supposed to be out of the picture, yet it was hard to explain this as a mere coincidence. Did that mean that there was some other entity, or universal force within the Simulacrum steering things? It would've explained all the times the world responded to us jinxing ourselves. I sincerely doubted that Narrative-me would purposefully keep track of those just to capitalize on them for the sake of some twisted kind of schadenfreude, so was I missing the forest for the trees?

After all, while meeting the goldfish poop gang here under natural circumstances was vanishingly unlikely, if we considered that they were something of a running gag at this point, it would've been weirder not to run into them when some kind of food court or stall was involved. And if that was still enforced even after what happened, then that meant…

"Leo? Is everything all right?"

The princess leaned closer to me to take a better look at my face, and on a whim, I gave a peck on her cheek. She was startled, but then let out a giggle, and after sharing a smile with her, I let some of the tension drain from my shoulder.

"I just realized that things might not be nearly as grim as I thought."

"Hehe. You see? I told you that doing this would help! You're already more optimistic!"

"Hey. Let's not get carried away just yet," I chided her, if playfully. I handed her my half-full cup before standing up and then rolled my shoulders. "All right. I feel a bit better now, so let's give this bowling thing another go."

My draconic girlfriend cheered me on, while the old dragon only followed me with his eyes while I picked up a ball from the machine next to my lane and turned to Sebastian.

"Thank you for the advice. From before. I appreciate it."

I tried not to sound sheepish, but I didn't know how well I did. Based on the warm look he was giving me, I probably failed, so I quickly shook my head and turned to the lane before all of this saccharine silliness would give me a stomach-ache. This time, I didn't overthink it and just rolled the ball in a way that felt comfortable. It once again made that characteristic sound as it rolled down the shiny wooden lane, and I was pretty sure it would end up in the ditch on the side, yet the ball somehow careened away from there in the last stretch. I watched with bated breath, and after slowing to a crawl, it reached the pins with a soft thud, knocking over five of the remaining ones.

Then, after wobbling for a while, the last pin fell down, resulting in the same jaunty tone I'd heard before when Sebastian's score showed up on the TV screen overhead.

"That's a spare," the evidently pleased steward proclaimed, looking rather impressed. "Good job, my boy."

That… felt surprisingly good. Maybe it was because my worries suddenly lessened (even if my hunch about Narrative-me was just that at the moment), or because I just briefly threw my worries to the wind, but that casino-like sound declaring that I scored made me feel better than expected. I mean, I still wasn't entirely clear on the rules, or the exact technique, but the company was nice and the dopamine-hit was something I didn't know I needed. Combine that with the proud look on Elly's face and the unusually pleasant old steward, and…

"Huh. I might actually make this a habit after all…"