Chapter 195

The Simulacrum

The conclusion of our final battle, and by proxy, scenario, had a profound effect on my rather huge circle of friends and acquaintances. For the ones directly involved with the battle in the crater of the late Castle Shamash, pretty much everyone experienced a deep sense of enervation. It wasn't surprising; all that travelling, fighting, and narrowly avoiding the literal end of the world (in more ways than one) clearly drained everyone, and now that the tension was gone, they all deflated all at once.

In contrast, the people left out until the very last second were in a veritable frenzy, as if trying to catch up to the rest of us in effort and make up the difference by giving their one hundred and ten percent. Because of that, the hotel where we were staying got transformed into a temporary headquarters, with the whole floor serving as the heart of the entire Abyss occupation apparatus. I still wasn't too happy about that one, but I was also part of the first group, and too tired to get up in arms about it. I had to pick my battles, and there were lots of other things to argue about. Such as…

"No," I stated firmly as I glared at the holographic face hovering over the crystal ball sitting on the table in the middle of the hotel room. "We aren't burying secret nukes under the castles 'just in case'."

"But Lord Archon…"

I interjected with a soft, "Mensah?" making the ex-Director on the other end fall silent. "I had a rough day, and I don't have patience for this. Don't make me go over there in person."

"I… understand, Lord Archon." That seemed to be the end of it, but then just as I was about to move on, he readjusted his glasses and asked, "What about seismic charges? We could make the damage localized to infrastructure, and—"

"Sumboulos Dolion Mensah." He flinched when a new voice joined our call as Judy leaned over so that the communicator would show her face. "I recommend you don't test the Chief's patience today, or he might just throw you into the Sun."

"… Metaphorically, or…?"

"Literally," she stressed. "Very literally."

"I…" he hesitated for a second, but eventually inclined his head and backed down with a quiet, "Understood. I shall follow the Lord Archon's wishes."

One more nod later, he finally cut the connection and his semi-transparent, scan-lined head disappeared.

I turned to my girlfriend and said, "Thanks, Dormouse," followed by a considerably more annoyed, "He's going to try to plant some bombs anyway, won't he?"

She agreed with a deadpan, "Guaranteed," making me groan.

"It's like herding cats with these guys."

Elly let out a cute giggle on my other side, while I leaned back and exhaled a long sigh. The three of us were sitting on the generously padded green couch next to the aforementioned table. In fact, there were over half a dozen Celestial communication orbs lined up in front of us, one for each 'theater of war', as the ex-Directors put it. Things were proceeding relatively smoothly so far, but as the de-facto head of Elysium and the Ordo Draconis, they would occasionally contact me to ask for my advice and/or permission.

"Maybe I should be happy that he even had the sense to ask, instead of just booby-trapping the Abyss and only telling me about it later," I quietly mused at first, then turned to Elly. "What were we talking about before we got interrupted?"

I had already brought the girls up to speed with the latest development, though trying to explain the business with the Emergents, my origins, and the multiple layers of me-s I had wasn't easy. I had a feeling it would take weeks of repeated discussions before we were all firmly on the same page.

As for my princess, instead of replying to the question directly, she abruptly caught me in a bear hug and squeezed hard enough to knock the breath out of me.

"I can't believe you got eaten! It must've been so scary!"

"It's lucky you got better, or I would've been really mad," Judy spoke next while poking my shoulder with her forefinger, but then she turned to my other girlfriend and continued in an imperceptibly more contemplative tone. "But speaking of scary, at one point you got literally beheaded."

"That's not that scary," my princess responded with a careless shrug that tugged on me, courtesy of still being trapped in her hug. "Before Leo, we've been fighting the Brotherhood for centuries. Being cut with swords is… what's the idiom? Occupational hazard?"

"Close enough," I said, but my attention was still focused on Judy.

Elly taking things in stride was nothing new, and while she was shocked by it in the moment, since she didn't actually suffer any injuries, I could see how she could shrug it off. It wasn't like all the other battles she fought were safe, so she was already used to imminent danger of death, and this one wasn't even 'real', so to speak. The only reason she was even aware of her 'would be beheading' and the narrative tug-of-war between Benjamin and me was my ring anchoring her and letting her perceive continuity-altering shenanigans.

However, she wasn't the only one; Judy had a ring too, and Benjamin targeted her more than he did Elly, so I was more worried about her.

"What about you, Dormouse?"

"Right!" The princess finally let me go and leaned around me to look Judy in the eye. "You did get fireballed once, and then there was that time the ground exploded, and… I think there was one more? I couldn't see it well."

"It was more startling than anything. And it didn't really happen, so it's fine," Judy insisted, but then after a several seconds long beat, she softly added. "At least it's not bothering me right now, because we're busy, but… can I ask you to sleep with me tonight? Just in case."

Before I could respond, Elly practically climbed over me and caught my dear assistant in another (though this time slightly more delicate) bear hug.

"Awww! Don't worry! I'll make sure to hold your hand all night and punch all the bad dreams away!"

"How would you even…?" Judy started, but seeing her enthusiasm, she soon gave up and turned back to me. "I didn't have it the worst. At least I didn't keep exploding."

"Right." Elly let her go and sat down between the two of us, as true to her word, she was already holding Judy's hand. "There was this part where Josh kept bursting into flames. What was that about?"

"Just Benjamin being a dick," I answered with a slight shrug. "At least he doesn't remember any of it."

"Right. Because no rings," my princess concluded, and now that she said it out loud, it made me realise something for the first time.

"What about the class rep?"

"What about her?" Elly blurted out, but then her eyes opened wide. "Right! You gave her a ring too!"

"The Chief had Michael give her a ring, yes," Judy insisted. "Unfortunately, it seems Noir took it from her when she was captured."

"Riiight…" I crossed my arms with a shallow sigh. "I really should've just added the enchantment to her Magiformer, and… No, wait. Crowy took that too, didn't he?"

Judy responded with a deadpan, "He sure did."

"Figures. I guess I'll have to make a replacement. And a replacement ring, too." I threw my head back, and this time, I let out an outright groan. "Worries for later."

Judy agreed with a soft hum, while the princess just kept hugging her in silence. I let the moment linger for a while, and just when I was about to move the conversation along, someone knocked on our door.

"Polemos? May we come in?"

That was Savir, but who was the other person in that 'we'? I could've checked with Far Sight, but what was the point when a simple, "Sure, come in," did the trick just as well?

The only entrance to the hotel room opened at once, and in walked the ex-Director, this time without her silly power armour ensemble. She still had the toga, though. She nodded to me as soon as our eyes met, but then, when she noticed Judy by my side, she nodded again, this time so hard it became more of a shallow bow. Was she still traumatised by what happened during our impromptu Elysian beach episode, I wondered. Good.

Moving on, I was more curious about the one accompanying her. The Matron, clad in a fresh black dress in place of the one that got singed, torn, and otherwise damaged during the battle, was even more sour-faced than usual. As soon as someone closed the door behind her (again, I never bothered to check, but I was two hundred percent sure it was one of the newbie praetorian guards), she levelled a flat stare at me.

"Peacemaker."

"Address the Archon and his wives properly."

Judy interjected with a deadpan, "Fiancées, but go on," and Savir did a semi-bow again.

"Do you have something to report?" I asked, and as soon as she straightened her back, the ex-Director made a sweeping gesture towards the older woman.

"As a matter of fact, I most certainly do!" she declared with a smug smirk. "Do you happen to remember what I told you in private during our meeting back in Elysium?"

"… You have to be a bit more specific than that."

"The matter of Her Grace Deus's biological parentage," she exclaimed, the smug smirk never leaving her face. "Allow me to refresh your memory."

"A moment," Judy cut in as she hastily untwined her fingers from Elly's, and she took out her notebook, more than two-thirds filled by this point. She tapped her stubby pencil against it, then uttered a plain, "Proceed."

Savir dutifully waited for her, then started as soon as she gave her the green light.

"We discussed how Her Grace's mother died due to an unfortunate accident not long after childbirth." The Matron flinched when she heard that, but Savir didn't notice. "I also mentioned that her only known, living relative is her grandmother, who was unavailable for questioning at the time, and…"

"Stop, say no more, I got the gist of it," I interrupted with my palm showing, followed by a brief facepalm. "Goddamit, Fulgor."

"Pardon?" Savir whispered in mild confusion, but I quickly dismissed her.

"Never mind, I'm just lamenting our worldbuilding." I turned to the old woman next. "Matron? Am I to take from this that you're Angeline's grandma?"

She flinched again and let out a decidedly displeased harrumph.

"I scarcely think this situation warrants such a flippant description, but I'm led to believe that it is indeed the case."

Ugh. There was no way in hell I was going to deal with two people doing the whole extra-emphasis-on-words thing, so I addressed Savir again.

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Since it's a personal topic, I'd like to discuss it with the Matron in private, so you're dismissed."

"Wait!" Savir blurted out in a hurry. "That's not why I brought her here!"

"It's not?" Elly asked with her head tilted. "Then why?"

"Because she's, by Elysian Law, a deserter and traitor! Yet, since she claimed diplomatic immunity, I brought her in front of you for your deliberation."

In other words, she wasn't sure what to do with her after I declared her an ally back in the crater, and now she was passing the ball back into my court. Typical.

"Yes, very thoughtful of you, Savir. A bit misguided, but I love the initiative. I'll take it from here, and as for you…" I pondered for a while, but then shrugged. "Eh, let's go with the carrot and the stick approach. Dormouse?"

"Yes, Chief?"

"As our unofficial collector of politically and personally embarrassing secrets, do you think this warrants the erasure of one or two?"

"Hm. Maybe one," my dear assistant noted with her pencil tapping against the notepad once again. "I believe I can justify removing the evidence of her magical nose-job from the files."

"Splendid. Please, do so as soon as we're back home."

"Excuse me?" the Matron spoke up with a brow raised high. "Evidence of what?"

"Never mind, never mind," I said with a dismissive wave of my hand and then turned back to Savir again. "Please return to your duties. Dismissed."

She obviously had something on the tip of her tongue, but after glancing between Judy and me, she swallowed it and took a step back.

"As you command, O Archon."

Then she turned on her heels and left the room with a rather dignified, if also a bit mechanical, gait. As soon as the door closed behind her, I exhaled hard and muttered an exasperated, "Finally," and then pointed at the Matron. "Please, take a seat. We really do need to discuss this."

"Ah? Should I ask for some snacks?" the princess chimed in with a question, but the Matron quickly declined before she could gather any steam.

"That will not be necessary. I'm not in the mood for such trivialities right now."

"Fair," I noted, then quickly tented my fingers and assumed my classic mastermind position. "So? What's your story?"

"Blunt, as always." The Matron shifted in her seat and looked me in the eye. "I was born in Migdál Iodes into a military family with a long service record in the Elysian Kruptós, and because of my upbringing, I…"

Oh, crap. When I asked about her story, I didn't expect her to actually tell her whole life story! Especially not from the beginning. But interrupting her at this point would've been just rude, so…

"Hey? Leo?" My immediate rescue came in the form of a knock and a voice coming from the other side of the door. "Do you have a minute?"

"Yes, come in!" I called out in a hurry, much to the Matron's annoyance.

A moment later, Josh waltzed into the room, much to the Matron's even much-er annoyance. He was in his new getup, with the mixture of white, red, and black, and while his wings weren't out right now, I was pretty sure they would've still been a vibrant crimson instead of the usual angelic gold. He stopped as soon as he came into the living room and noticed the old woman on the sofa.

"Oh. I didn't expect her to…" He pointed a thumb behind his back over his shoulder. "I ran into the annoying lady in the toga on the way here, so I didn't think you had other guests. Should I come back later?"

"No, no. Your timing is perfect," I placated him as I quickly rose to my feet. "Let's go and talk on the balcony. Girls? Can I leave this to you?"

Elly was a bit whiplashed by the development, while Judy only nodded and shifted a bit on the couch so she would be facing the Matron. "Sure. You mentioned something about your upbringing?"

"Yes, I…" the old woman hesitated while I hurriedly sidled over to Josh and guided him towards the back of the room, where the glass door opened to the small balcony.

As soon as I was outside, I let out a relieved breath and told him, "Your timing is impeccable. You just saved me from an info-dump."

"You're… welcome, I guess?" He eyed me with a critical look, then glanced over his shoulder at the girls and the Matron still inside. "Was the old hag bothering you with so—?"

"Wait, hold on, time out!" I blurted out with my hands in a T-position. I also glanced inside, but she was already engaged in discussion with Judy, so she probably couldn't hear him. I let out a pent-up breath and put my hands on the handrails. "Listen, pal. Take this as a friendly advice: you really need to be careful about your image with the Matron."

"Why?"

"Because otherwise it's going to bite you in the ass, big time." He still wasn't convinced, so I let the cat out of the bag. "It seems like she's related to Angie."

"… Oh. That's a…"

"Yeah. Family relations getting dramatically revealed at the last second is really weird and disconcerting. Ask me how I know."

"Would you mind if I didn't?"

"Not at all!" I declared with a smile, then adopted a slightly more serious look. "So? What's bothering you?"

"First of all, this." He pointed at himself, or rather, his new transformed state and the outfit that came with it.

"Looks stylish enough," I joked, but he wasn't very receptive. "What's the problem with it?"

"It's not going away." He flexed his hand, causing a flash of red light to coalesce around his forearm, only to dissipate just as quickly. "The capsule should've worn off by now, but I'm stuck in this…" He paused and wiggled his fingers a few more times, causing more subtle magical flashes. "Abyssal? I think it's Abyssal."

"Obviously."

"Yeah, but…" He pulled his hand back, but only so he could fold his arms. "I was too busy trying to survive and stop the world from ending and stuff, so I didn't have the time to pay much attention to this, but… Why the hell am I an Abyssal now?"

"Oh, that's simple. You ate Sebastian's blood pill. He's a full dragon, and then you got a big dose of Deus, who's a full Celestial. Add those two together, and you get an Abyssal. It's like supernatural genetics, or something."

"Dude, how did you know that I…?" He stopped and then shook his head. "Never mind. Let's say that I accept that, but why am I still an Abyssal even now?"

"Oh, that's probably because of the whole prophecy thing," I answered off-handedly. "You know? The part about the Herald absorbing the power of the Abyss?"

"But I'm not doing that!"

"Of course you do. Sillu?" There was no response, so I called out again, "Hey, Sillu? I know you can hear me."

Or… could he? The omniscient narration from back then didn't quite say that, but Grimmy could hear me when I called out to her in the presence of the class rep, so he should also—

"What do you require, descendant of Polemos?"

Without any fanfare, the pale red hologram of a man casually appeared on the other side of the balcony's handrails and floated over the busy street below. He looked just like my homunculus version did during the retcon, just with a fancy toga and a rather dry disposition.

"Ah, here you are." I didn't bother with niceties and just pointed at Josh. "He's still connected to the Mana Well Network, right?"

The hologram-spirit-whatever narrowed his eyes at me in displeasure, yet dutifully answered all the same.

"Yes, the Nagiru is still connected to the Nine Altars."

"Thank you, that's all we needed to know." I turned back to Josh and made a casual gesture with my hand. "There. That's the long and short of it."

My friend continued to eye me suspiciously, and he even sent a sideways glance at Sillu before his attention finally settled on me again.

"And that's the other thing. Since when did you know about Sillu and the real meaning of this whole Herald thing? Was everything really going according to some scheme of yours?"

I couldn't really blame him for being so suspicious, so if it made him feel a bit better, I decided to come clean with him for once.

"Honestly, not at all. My original plans were completely dashed, and I had my hands full with my own situation that made Crowy and his stuff small potatoes in comparison."

"… Dude. If we didn't stop him, he was gonna destroy the Abyss! And cause an extinction event… I think?" He scratched the back of his head and muttered, "I was kinda out of it at the time, but I swear Judy said something about a kaboom as big as the ones that killed off the dinos."

"Precisely," I said as I nodded along. "And what I was dealing with was even bigger. Imagine that." As soon as I said that, I shook my head. "Actually, no. Don't imagine it. Just… Just know that I couldn't have dealt with things on my end if you didn't beat Crowy on yours, so it was a good hustle. You really bailed me out with that."

"Erm… Thanks, I guess?" He remained silent for a beat, then hesitantly asked, "So, is this it? Is the world officially saved now?"

"Yeah. We did it."

"We did, huh? That's kinda cool, actually."

This would've been a nice bonding moment if it hadn't been immediately interrupted by Sillu, still hovering outside with a sour look on his face.

"Nagiru. If you're done talking with the descendant of Polemos, I urge you to return to the Emperor's side. The vile betrayer is attempting to indoctrinate him even as we speak."

"The vile what?" I blurted out, while Josh's brows immediately descended into a scowl and snapped at the hologram man.

"Hey! I told you to stop calling Deus that. She's my girlfriend, and…" His mounting momentum came to a screeching halt as soon as the word 'girlfriend' left his mouth, and he turned to me again. "Right. That was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about."

I had a bad feeling about this, but I wiggled my fingers to have him continue.

"You see…" He started, but faltered again, and gulped hard. "So, the thing is, I need advice. You see, the whole thing with Deus has been weird for a while. I mean, you know? It hasn't even been that long since Angie stopped calling her 'grandpa', and then stuff happened in that Coepi Urbs place, and… erm…"

"And?" I prompted him again, against my better judgment.

"We kinda ended up kissing during the battle. I mean, it was under pressure, but it was still, like, a proper kiss, with both of us consenting and stuff, and… How do I put this? Since then, Deus has been way more… clingy than usual."

"It hasn't even been that long," I pointed out with a small frown settling on my brows. "Just a couple of hours."

"Yeah, that's my point. She's waaay clingy already. I mean, I think she thinks we're dating now."

"… Are you?"

"I dunno, man!"

I waited for a beat, but when he didn't continue, I asked, "What does Angie think about it?"

"That's the even weirder part! She seems to be really into it, saying how she feels much better now that we're all together and both she and Deus are in sync and they feel the same way and all kinds of sappy stuff!"

"... Okay. Noted. Where do I come into the picture?"

Josh looked at me like I was dumb, and he spelt out, "Dude? You're the one with the two girlfriends! If anyone can give me advice, it's you!"

I wanted to snap right away, but I held it in, took a deep breath, and responded in a more diplomatic, "Listen, pal. I'm not doing relationship advice stuff anymore."

"Oh, come on, man!"

"Nono, I'm serious," I told him with a palm showing. "I think you've already got things mostly figured out; I don't want to meddle."

"But I haven't got it 'mostly figured out'! That's why I'm asking for help!"

He sounded unusually frantic, but I was firm in my resolve not to meddle. In fact, I swore that I wouldn't touch Josh's odd body-sharing triang-relationship drama with a ten-foot pole, and I wasn't planning on walking back on that now. It was all about the principle. That said, he leaving a friend in trouble also didn't sit well with me, so after some rumination, I decided to throw him a bone. Reaching out, I patted him on the shoulder and spoke in a calm, level voice.

"Chill out, pal. It's all new and weird right now, but consider that you've just been through a cataclysmic battle of epic proportions. You're both high-strung and tired, and maybe there's even some suspension-bridge-effect is in play as well."

"Suspension-what?"

"I'll explain that later." I patted his shoulder even harder. "For now, just relax, sleep on it, and work it out with a clearer head and fresh eyes tomorrow."

"That's… Actually, that's probably not a bad idea," he admitted, and then slouched his shoulders. "I was hoping for something more concrete, but I'll take it."

Then, as soon as he said that, he suddenly manifested his crimson wings, making me reflexively pull back my arm.

"What's that about?" I asked, and he made a vague gesture towards the building.

"We're staying on the upper floor. I slipped away, saying I was going to the loo. I can get back to our room quicker this way."

"You had to slip away?"

"I told you. She's reeeally clingy today."

I couldn't say anything to that, so I just wished him the best of luck with an encouraging smile, and then he flapped his wings and disappeared from the balcony, along with his red hologram, and… Oh. I just realised something. If Sillu worked the same way as Grimmy, it meant he was present twenty-four-seven, and watching. Which meant…

"Yeah, it's just a question of time before Josh comes back to complain about the lack of privacy…" I grumbled as I returned to the living room and got immediately flagged down by Judy.

"Great timing. Chief, come over here, please."

"Coming, coming."

As soon as I reached the couch, Judy showed me her notes (not that I could read them from this distance) and told me, "We made a significant discovery."

"Very significant!" Elly chimed in, looking oddly excited.

"… I'm listening?"

My dear assistant pulled her hand back and looked at her notes before stating, "Once we're home, I have to redo the whole relationship chart."

"You have a relationship chart?" I asked in the spur of the moment, and she gave me a look that said I was silly for even asking. "Never mind. So? What did you find?"

"To summarize, the esteemed Matron Tsarah Calypso had two daughters. The older daughter followed in her footsteps and joined the Celestial Intelligence Division's spy program. She was sent on a honey-trap mission that led her to the Abyss, so Matron Calypso followed her to provide support while leaving her younger daughter, who was still a minor at this time, in the care of an old friend."

That… sounded suspiciously like an info-dump, but for the time being, I maintained a professional attitude and nodded along.

"But then, but then!" Elly cut in, eager to share the story, "Her daughter met someone in the Abyss, and they fell in love!"

"More importantly," Judy said, grabbing the reins of the conversation again, "When Matron Calypso decided to support her daughter's decision to stay with her lover instead of following the mission, they were declared traitors and couldn't leave the Abyss."

"Also," the princess chimed in again, as if competing with my other girlfriend, "Because of that, her other daughter had to leave Elysium, she started traveling the world, and then she also had a baby! But then she died, and the baby was put up for adoption by the Celestials, and she ended up on Critias!"

"And that one's Angie," I guessed.

"Yes, but the other daughter's fate is more interesting," Judy noted with just a hint of anticipation in her otherwise deadpan voice that made me involuntarily raise my guard. "The man she fell in love with was the third heir in line of House Inanna. Thanks to the Matron's expertise at clandestine operations and backroom deals, they not only successfully married, but he became the Lord of House Inanna. Of course, the daughter had to be disguised as a normal human to avoid a scandal, meaning she also had to distance herself from the Matron. Because of this, almost nobody today knows that they're related."

"A moment. Which generation was this?"

"They were Noir's and Neige's parents," the until-now silent old woman spoke in a low voice, and I couldn't help but be stumped for a moment.

"But that would mean that Snowy and Angie are… cousins?"

Judy raised a finger.

"Yes, but consider this. You adopted Neige, meaning she's your sister now. The Matron is her grandmother, meaning…"

"She's your grandma, too!" Elly exclaimed, unable to hold it in any longer, and she even threw her arms into the air as if this was something worth celebrating.

As for me, I was completely stumped and bamboozled by this development. Not just because now I suddenly got yet another family relation out of the blue, however tenuous, but due to the fact that this was way too on the nose. I mean, it could've been a later development, one of those 'filling in the blank spots in the scenario' kind of deals, but drawing a connection between Snowy (or more like, Crowy, considering he was a major antagonist in the scenario) and Angie was way too deliberate.

It had to be a conscious world-building decision, which meant my family tree got even more complicated because…

"Goddamit, Fulgor. Again."

Half an hour after the previous revelation, our hotel suite was abuzz once more, this time thanks to the whole gang deciding to cram themselves into the living room. It wasn't a small place, but it wasn't a conference room either.

I was once again sitting on the couch, and the Matron was still seated on the sofa, a fresh cup of espresso in hand, but the rest of our little gathering was all over the place. Let's start with the least talkative individual in the room; Ollie was sitting next to me and, despite all the noise and talking surrounding us, he looked like he was just about to doze off. I couldn't blame him; this was a pretty long and eventful day, and he got caught up in the middle of it all.

"This was such a crazy day!" Angie exclaimed on my left, echoing my sentiment. "I mean, think about it!"

"We're thinking about it, yes," Josh responded flatly, but she kept insisting all the same.

"No, I mean, really think about it!"

She was standing a bit away from the couch, in the company of Josh and the class rep. The latter took the time to change out of her fancy blue dress and was wearing a casual outdoorsy kind of outfit. It looked a bit too short and tight in a few places, so she probably borrowed it from one of the girls. Probably not Angie though, as she was using her Magiformer all the time. Speaking of her, despite her boyfriend's efforts to quiet her down, she continued to talk like she was compelled to.

"First, we went over to rescue Leo, but then Leo already rescued himself, so we had to turn around and rescue Ms Shamash, and then we had the biggest battle ever, the world nearly ended, and somehow at the end of it all, I got myself a brand new grandma! How surreal is that?"

In the meantime, the Matron took a sip from her tiny coffee cup and let out a soft noise that wasn't quite a groan, but infinitely approaching one.

"Surreal indeed." Her voice, raspy as usual, had a disconcerting, almost pained undertone to it. She levelled her eyes upon Angie, her face trying, and failing, to hide her conflicted emotions. "I have gained an unlikely grandchild on the same day I lost another."

"Yes, it's…" The Celestial girl's words got stuck in her throat, and she hastily waved her hands in front of her. "W-Wait! We all agreed that it couldn't be helped, right? And, I mean, I wasn't the one who shot him, it was Deus!" Seeing that the old woman's eyes continued to bore dispassionately into her, she tugged at her boyfriend's sleeve and hissed, "Josh! Support!"

"What?" Suddenly finding himself dragged into a topic he really didn't want to touch, Josh tried to come up with a satisfying response. He failed. "Don't look at me like that! Aren't you the one who always says that you and Deus are the same?"

"You're not helping!" she hissed again, followed by a tagged-on, "Deus! Tag in!" She blinked, and even once her eyes turned gold, she remained stumped for a few seconds before suddenly snapping. "Girl! You can't do this!" Whatever inner discussion they had after that, I wasn't privy to, but in the end, she also turned to Josh and pleaded, "Boy! Say something in our defense already!"

"I mean…"

Seeing that he was still stumped, the Matron exhaled another breath, this one more of a tired sigh, and flicked her finger in their direction to signal she was about to speak up.

"There's no need to fret, children. As you have said, Noir had made his choices, and he suffered the consequences."

"Exactly," the class rep chimed in, her hand twitching as if she had a hard time restraining it from reaching up to tweak her still-missing glasses. "He was asking for it."

Oh, wow. If this were one of our tabletop RPG sessions, I would've been getting suspicious that the dice got cursed, seeing how they kept fumbling their persuasion checks. It wasn't a game though, so no fudging, and the Matron narrowed her eyes at Ammy, urging her to quickly clarify herself.

"He was! He kept draining the Mana Wells even after we repeatedly told him it was literally destroying the Abyss!"

"And the world!" Angie commented on the side, taking control just long enough to say that before retreating behind Deus again, metaphorically speaking.

"Yes, that too," the class rep doubled down with a soft huff, and shockingly enough, it was the old woman who backed down first.

"I wish I could say you're incorrect, but you aren't," she admitted, but before we could breathe in relief, she tagged on a contrary, "However, if we must lay today's events at someone's feet, it should be Bel of the Abyss."

She… wasn't entirely wrong about that, from a certain point of view, yet the class rep was oddly adamant about rebuking her.

"Yes, some of the blame lies with him, but he didn't make me wear the enchanted choker. Or Neige, for that matter."

"While yes, I admit that Noir's actions were beyond the pale, his intentions can no longer be ascertained, since he's no longer with us."

"Intentions?" Josh interjected with a critically raised brow. "He was shouting about being the 'god of the Abyss' and 'destroying and rebuilding the world in his image' from the top of his lungs. I think he was very clear about those."

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Boy!" Deus backed him up with a satisfied huff. "That man had the worst god-complex I've ever seen!"

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Once again, the Matron narrowed her eyes and directed an acerbic gaze at her.

"Aren't you claiming to be Deus, the god of Elysium?"

"I'm not claiming, I'm…" She suddenly faltered, her eyes opening wide as if just realising she stepped on a landmine, and she hastily said, "I'm suddenly very tired! Girl, tag in!" A confused blink later, Angie stood there, her blue eyes open wide, and she looked down at her chest with a fiery scowl. "Hey! You can't do that! No, actually, how did you even do that?! Deus? Don't act like you're asleep!"

While that skit was playing out on my left, my attention was soon drawn to my right, where my sisters were busy discussing something else.

"You didn't know?!" Penny whispered, but that loud kind of whisper that I could hear even over Angie's outrage. In other words, not a whisper at all. "How could you not know?!"

"I was never told," Snowy told her, and in her case, I had to strain my ears a little.

"But, like… She's the mum of your mum, right?"

"Apparently."

"And you never noticed? I mean, in the way they talked to each other, or…?"

"I was still small when mother died. I don't remember much about her."

"Ah, s-sorry! That was thoughtless of me," Penny apologised first, but then immediately continued asking questions all the same. "But if you didn't know, then who did? Did your brother know?"

"I don't—"

Before she could respond, the Matron let out a loud harrumph and put her coffee cup down with a loud clank, probably on purpose, to draw attention. Her attention was on my sisters, and it wasn't too surprising, since if I could overhear Penny's 'whispering', so could she.

"I have purposefully kept my blood relation with my Persie a secret, but Noir, as the next head of House Inanna, had to know," she explained, and after a long beat, Penny awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Ehm… E-Excuse me, but who's 'Persie'?"

"Persephone," Snowy clarified, her voice barely audible. "It was my mother's nickname."

Really? Someone from a 'divine' (applying a very loose definition of the term) background coming to the 'underworld', only to fall in love with a ruler therein and deciding to stay behind? And her name's 'Persephone'? I know I shouldn't be too surprised, as the names of our main actors were also quite on the nose, but it was rarely this bloody blunt.

Meanwhile, the old woman let out a wistful breath and spoke in a quiet voice full of reminiscence.

"She was such a free spirit, that girl. Once she made up her mind, nothing could deter her, and as her mother, I chose her happiness over duty. Sadly, I knew from experience that the Nobility of the Abyss would not readily believe that she stayed behind without any nefarious intentions, as our Celestial kin is often poised to do, so I did the only thing I could and cut ties with her. Officially, of course. We had to ensure that nobody would even suspect her to be of Celestial origin, lest the same ire would befall on her family as the one which consumed House Ashur."

Hearing the word, Ollie stirred at my side, but seeing that he wasn't the one being addressed, he soon dozed off again. On a different note, I could've pointed out that the one who effectively destroyed them was Crowy himself. Now I had to wonder; was it just pure realpolitik calculus, or was it one of those 'suspiciously over-committing' situations? Kind of like how, statistically speaking, the priests and/or politicians who were the most adamantly and loudly against the 'gays' were the most likely to turn out to be gay all along. Usually revealed by them being caught escaping some 'special interest orgy' or the other. I had a feeling it might've been the same kind of psychological effect going on with Crowy.

In any case, the Matron didn't wait for me to finish my pondering and continued.

"We faked her demise and crafted a new identity for her, one that would allow her to stay with my late son-in-law. As for me, I stayed behind to support her and her new family, and before long, I became an accepted part of House Inanna's inner circle. For many years, it all worked out flawlessly." She paused and let her straight back slouch a little, as if just remembering something put physical weight on her shoulders. "It all started going wrong when I was informed that my youngest died. I could not believe it at first, suspecting a Celestial ploy, so I put my resources to work. Yet, I couldn't find much." Once again, she fell silent, this time looking at Angie. "I never even knew she had a child."

"Ah, to be fair, I didn't know anything about my biological mom either," she told her, sounding just a tad awkward. "I was a baby when I was taken by the Celestial Intelligence Network and put up for adoption, so I only know my current mom and dad."

"I see. It is indeed standard CIN protocol." The old lady nodded, then she returned to the topic. "The grief distracted me. I put too much time and effort into discovering what happened to my youngest, and I neglected what was right in front of me. My eldest and my son-in-law both suffered a terrible fate while I was away. To this day, it's hard to tell if it was an accident or a masterfully executed assassination, but it does not change the fact that I wasn't by their side when it happened. The heartache…it broke me. I retreated from the public to mourn, and in my grief, I let many a troubling development escape my sight. Too many."

That was one way to put 'I didn't notice my grandson put a mind-control slave-collar on my granddaughter', but I digress.

"Aw, don't worry, granny! It all worked out in the end! Sorta!" I imagine Angie was trying to cheer her up after her melancholic confession, but seeing the Matron's scowl, she decided to quickly change the topic. "More importantly, does that mean that we're cousins?"

That question was aimed at Snowy, but before she could formulate an answer, the main entrance of the hotel room was flung open, followed by a deadpanly upbeat (or maybe upbeatly deadpan), "That is a perfectly timed enquiry. Allow us to investigate."

Judy was standing in the doorway, holding it open, while my other girlfriend was holding a…

"Is that a chalkboard?"

The question slipped out of my mouth unbidden, and the princess flashed a grin, barely visible behind the frame of the large, green… whatever it was made of. Slate? Painted metal? I had no clue.

I was just about to get up to help, but then Ollie tipped over in his sleep, so I had to grab him instead, and by the time I laid him down, Elly somehow managed to manoeuvre the portable chalkboard into the room and set it down onto its wooden easel.

"Wow!" Penny skipped over to take a closer look, and she was closely followed by my other sister as well. "Where did you get this?"

"We asked the Praetorian Guards to get us one," Elly answered with a cute little smirk, and my dear assistant nodded along.

"The new recruits are very eager to prove themselves." She acted like that was a full explanation, and she casually took a big, white piece of chalk out of her pocket, like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Let us discuss the relationship-chart."

"Do we have to?" I asked, but I was summarily ignored.

In a few short seconds, Judy proceeded to write up a whole lot of names, circled in various, stylised ways, and connected by either straight, wavy, or dashed lines. Once she finished, she tapped the chalk against the wooden frame and turned to the rest of us in a manner that reminded me of Mrs Applebottom.

"Since the most relevant related parties are here, let us discuss how the Chief…" She paused here, just long enough to write my name into the hitherto empty circle in the middle, then turned to face me in particular. "… is related to everyone."

"… Excuse me?"

Once again, I was completely ignored.

"First off, the Chief is related to us two, since we are engaged. That means he's now part of the Dracis family, including Mister von Fraenir…" She drew a few more lines, then pointed back to me. "As well as the Sennoma family, including Éolienne."

"A moment, child," the Matron interrupted, and she looked the most confused out of all of us. "How are you related to the heir of Ashur?"

"We're adopting him," Judy stated matter-of-factly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, then she moved on before she could ask anything else. "Now, the Chief is also obviously related to Penelope and Neige, which not only links them all to the Dunning family, but through Neige, House Inanna as well. For the sake of simplicity, we'll refer to it as the Inanna-Dunning line from now on."

"And that," Elly chimed in, eager to get a word in, "connects Leo to the Elder Matron here, making her his grandma."

Judy uttered a simple, "Indeed," followed by a few more lines on the chalkboard, and a rather enthusiastic (by Judy standards), "But wait. There's more. As you can see here, Neige and Angeline are both related to the esteemed Matron Tsarah Calypso, making you cousins… But. Since the Chief is Neige's brother, it means he is also Angline's cousin."

Angie's eyes lit up, and she turned to me with an excited, "Really?!"

"Yes!" Elly cut in before I could respond first and pointed at the confused guy by the Celestial girl's side. "And if you two marry, then Josh is also going to be part of the family."

"Am I?" he blurted out, while Angie muttered, 'This is so cool!' in the background.

However, that wasn't the end of it.

"But wait. There's even more." A few more lines later, she pointed at Angie again. "Michael Khurshid is also Angeline's cousin."

"Who's that?" the Matron inquired, prompting Elly to quickly clarify things for her.

"Oh, he's like, Angie's cousin on her human parents' side."

"So, he's a human?"

"No, actually. He's a Celestial too…"

"But legally speaking," Judy cut in again, tapping on the chalkboard, "it means he's technically part of the greater Inanna-Dunnig family tree. Legally speaking."

"You said that twice," I pointed out, but she didn't respond, because she was busy writing even more lines and names. As in…

"Me?" the class rep blurted out, flabbergasted.

"Yes!" Elly declared in turn and pointed a forefinger at her. "Since Michael is technically Angie's cousin, and Angie is technically Leo's cousin, it means he's technically a cousin's cousin, and since you're dating him, you're technically part of the family now! Or at least going to be!"

"That's technically right," Josh noted with the kind of mild disinterest the topic deserved.

"And being technically right is the best kind of right," Judy said with a hum, and then a beat later, she raised her voice again and tapped the board for the umpteenth time. "But wait. There is even more."

"How? Everyone's already accounted for," I pointed out, but it didn't stop Judy from making a brand-new branch on the diagram.

"Ms Rinne Yamako," she proclaimed, underlining her name. "As per her newly established identity, she is also the Chief's cousin. Since Ichiko Yamako is registered as her sister, it makes her the Chief's cousin by proxy as well. But more importantly…" She started furiously writing again, nearly running out of chalk in the process. "Since Ms Yamako is to marry Mr Naoren Feilong, it means the Chief is soon going to be related to the top echelon of Clan Feilong, including Zihao Feilong and Xiao Feilong."

Seemingly finished, she put down the small bit of remaining chalk and turned to face me.

"In other words, the Chief is technically related to pretty much everyone."

"So what does that make me? An honorary Habsburg?"

I intended that as a joke, but then the princess suddenly dropped her fist in her other palm and declared, "Actually, my great-great-grandma was from that family! Didn't Sebastian tell you about it?"

Did he? Maybe he did, but in any case, I had no idea what to think of this whole thing. No, actually, that was a lie. My first thought was that the girls really needed to get some proper rest, because they were getting weird, but I couldn't say that out loud, so let's pretend I was drawing a complete blank.

Luckily (or maybe due to Id-me's meddling, if he was real, that is), it was at this very moment, just before things could get even more awkward and/or zany, that someone knocked on the door.

"It's open! Come in!"

They did, and I soon found Karukk poking his head through the door. He glanced around, and when he found me, he fully walked in and said, "[Sorry to interrupt, boss, but the general's looking for you. Sir Roland just came back, and they want to discuss this whole…]" He made a vague gesture with his hand, eventually dropping it with a quiet, "[Eh? You know?]"

"Yeah, I know," I answered in a hurry and stood up, making sure not to bump into Ollie on the way, and turned to face the rest. "I have to step out for a moment. Don't mind me."

"Don't worry, Chief," Judy reassured me, even while she was ominously wiping the board with a sponge she got from somewhere, while I was paying attention to the Faun. "We won't start the power level discussion without you."

"Oh, but you can. Don't worry about me, and just do your thing."

Quickly slipping by, I planted a peck on her forehead (and the princess's too, for good measure) before beelining towards the door and practically pushing Karukk outside.

"Phew. Dodged a bullet there."

"[Is… everything all right?]"

"Yeah, it's fine," I said as I closed the door behind me and circled my shoulder. "I just wasn't in the right mind-space for this family-tree malarkey. Or ever, for that matter."

"[… I don't get it.]"

"Maybe that's for the better," I said solemnly, and gestured down the hallway. "Lead the way."

Karukk did so, and I followed right behind him, all the while wondering if Judy would actually get along really well with Fulgor. She might even be considered a 'woman of culture'. Or maybe not.

"… I really need to look up what that means one of these days…"

Pretty much the whole hotel was requisitioned for our use, and despite it being the effective nerve center of our impromptu blitzkrieg of the Abyss, there weren't frantic people running around with maps and stacks of papers, nor gruff commanding officer types yelling orders into radio transmitters.

In fact, since the leaders of all of the supernatural blocs in the World of Mystics operated on the 'Asskicking Equals Authority' trope, it meant most of them were out there on the front lines of the conflict. Since those were far away, all over the island, the hotel was surprisingly tranquil.

But then we finally reached the room where Sir Roland was staying, and as we entered, I passed through a thin film of colourless magic, and then I finally realised what was going on.

"Riiight. Privacy magic," I noted absently as I looked around, but I only found Roland and Brang in the chamber. I expected more.

The old Faun greeted me with a subdued, "Blackcloak," accompanied by a quick salute, while the Knight remained seated on the couch, identical to the one in the room I just came from.

"Finally," he murmured under his moustache and gestured for Karukk. He waited until he closed the door, and only then did he look me in the eye. "Was all of this really necessary?"

"Define 'all of this', please," I requested back, but it was obvious he wasn't in the mood for verbal games, so I walked over to the empty sofa and took a seat. "I admit, things got a bit more complicated than expected, but it worked out in the end. More or less."

Sir Roland squinted at me, then he glanced at Brang, as if expecting him to say something. When he didn't, he exhaled a long sigh and rubbed his temple.

"Let's be frank now. Was taking over the Abyss part of your plan all along?"

"No, not really," I admitted, trying not to sound too sheepish. "I was only planning to play along with Josh's plan and have you guys establish a beachhead in the Abyss and help clean up the mess after the big battle, but then I got myself tangled up in something else, one development followed another, and things got a little out of hand."

"An understatement, if I've ever heard one." Roland didn't take his eyes off my face for a moment, and then he finally broached the main topic (or so I presumed) by flatly asking, "Did you succeed in killing off your Bel alter ego?"

"Straight to the point, eh? Also, yes. It didn't go as smoothly as expected, but I've got credible witnesses, so it should work out."

"Good. It was a major liability, but was letting yourself be kidnapped, drawing your friends into the fray, and starting a war really necessary to achieve that?"

"Well, no, but I had other considerations as well."

"Such as?"

"Metaphysical stuff. It would take too long to explain."

My attempt to dodge the question fell flat, and it looked like Roland was just about to unload his pent-up frustration on me, but then we were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," I said reflexively, only to realise that with the privacy spell blanketing the room, they couldn’t have heard me on the outside. Karukk, on the other hand, could, and he graciously opened the door.

"I'm back!" Tajana declared the moment she exploded into the room, looking a bit dishevelled but also way more energetic than usual. She was back in her rather flattering gothic style dress from way back when, along with a pair of large wire-frame glasses, and she finally looked the young but capable spymaster back in her element. At least until she noticed me. "Aaah! S-Sorry, I didn't expect to see you here!"

Roland's expression was inscrutable, though I could tell from the subtle twitching of his brows and the corners of his lips that he was simultaneously annoyed by the interruption and amused by Tajana's flustered reaction.

"Welcome back. Anything to report?" Brang spoke up on the side, clearly trying to move the conversation along before things could get awkward.

"Ah, yes!" She clapped her hands, as if to delineate the start of a new discussion, and turned to the seated Knight on the couch. "I arranged to transport the captured aristocrats to the Chasm of Desolation, but I still don't know where we could house all the soldiers and Fauns we captured here in New Larsa."

"Temporary camp? Outside the city?" Brang proposed, but Tajana shook her head.

"No, that doesn't work either. We have the space, but the tribunals could take weeks, if not longer. We can't just make them sleep on the ground in the middle of a field!"

"We're already running short on rations and bedrolls meant for the civilian relief effort," Roland groaned as he started rubbing his temples again. "Even if we use our supply chains in the Draconic Federation, it would take days for them to arrive."

"No rain. Civilians can sleep in ruins," Karukk proposed, only to shrink back with, "Just idea," the moment both Roland and Tajana glared at him.

"We can't have that," the man stated emphatically. "We're already an invading force; we have to at least show that we're here as allies, not as conquerors. We can't have the whole population turn on us."

"But if we don't do something about that, we're going to have a lot of hungry and desperate war prisoners on our hands ready to resist to the bitter end," Tajana added, and Roland let out a hum in agreement, even as his eyes remained on me with a 'You see? Starting a war was a bad idea!' kind of scowl on his brow.

"Ask the Axis of Evil for support," I proposed on the spot, making everyone in the room, even Brang, look at me funny. "You know? The guys accompanying Bel, who kept pestering Josh and the others for a while? They should have a lot of surplus tents and beds and stuff."

After all, before Coepi Urbs was fully realised, I brought a crapton of those into the Abyss and Bel-me, and most of them were already packed up and gathering dust in a depo.

Roland looked like he was already putting two and two together, just by me mentioning Bel beforehand, but Tajana remained unconvinced.

"How do you know that?" However, before I could answer that, she hurriedly waved her hand and changed the question to, "Are they going to cooperate?"

"Sure. Just tell them I sent you." Once again, everyone was looking at me with a mixture of suspicion and confusion, so I explained, "We reached an understanding. They are the honour guard of the Emperor of the Abyss. That's Ollie, and as his guardian and honorary uncle, it means I can tell them stuff, and they get it done. It's very straightforward like that."

"Ollie? Do you mean the heir of House Ashur you came here to rescue?" Roland blurted out, closely followed by Tajana's next question.

"Since when is he the Emperor!?"

"Since this morning," I told her, then faced Roland and tagged on an insistent, "As I said, there were a lot of unforeseen developments I had to work around."

"I can see that."

In the meantime, the young spymaster finally digested what I said, and she rubbed her face before asking, "I understand. I'll go and try to find them, and… Where's Lord Éolienne right now?"

"Back in our suite, with the girls and Josh."

"Is My Lady there as well?"

"Obviously."

She hesitated for a moment, but then she balled up a fist and declared, "In that case, this is a good opportunity to pay them a visit, too!"

"… I can't seem to think of a reason why you couldn't do that beforehand, but you do you."

She nodded with gratuitous elan and a dramatic, "So I shall!" and she turned on her heel to leave, only to come to a stop after a single step and glance over her shoulder, right at Roland. "L-Let's talk about that other thing later, okay?"

"Sure," he said, with a kind of world-weary resignation.

She then let out a soft hum and left, and only when she was already outside did I realise that I had forgotten to tell her that the Matron was also in the room. Oh well. It's not like she can miss her.

More importantly…

"Other thing?" I asked, but Roland dismissed me with a soft grunt.

"A personal topic. We don't have time for it right now."

"Oh?" Brang muttered on the side and flashed a toothy grin. "Congratulations?"

"Not now, general," Roland snapped, then he linked his fingers and gave me a good stare before asking, "Do they know?"

"… Can you be a bit more specific?"

Another grunt later, he clarified, "Do the 'Axis of Evil' know that you and Bel of the Abyss are one and the same?"

"Oh, that? It's a bit complicated, but…" His brows were hovering dangerously close to descending into an outright glare, so I showed my palms and told him, "Technically speaking, they are under the impression that I killed and took over the identity of Bel through a hare-brained multi-dimensional time-travel body-hijack scheme, which… isn't that far removed from the truth, now that I think about it, but technically speaking, they know."

"Oh, for the love of god, Leonard," Sir Roland burst out, already palming his face. "Yet another layer of deception and cover story? Do you never learn?"

"Hey! You speak like it didn't work out so far."

"That 'so far' is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence," he said with a deadpan frown and finally let his hand down. "Can we trust them?"

"They are good guys, and most of them more or less owe their lives to me, so it should work out fine. I trust that they won't let it slip, and even if they do, I'll just say I used my super-special-awesome illusion powers to impersonate Bel and sow chaos in Crowy's ranks."

"And another layer…" Roland grumbled, followed by a slightly less judgmental, "What if their loyalties conflict?"

"Loyalties to whom?"

He sent me a critical look, followed by an exasperated sigh.

"The leadership of their Abyssal Houses, for a start."

"Oh, that. I don't think we're going to have much trouble with that," I told him off-handedly and started counting on my fingers, a habit I picked up from the princess. "I mean, we have Chayson, who's third in line for House Enlil. With the rest of his family being caught during the last-minute betrayal of the Noble Alliance, I think now he's at the top of the succession chain. Same for Arrie and Crevvie from House Gula, now that I think about it, thought I didn't exactly know how close they were to being the next House Head. As for Hameau, I got her out of the Nergals' prison where her younger brother put her during their succession-squabbles, so she should be fine too, and then there's the…" I wanted to continue, but then I noticed that the stare Roland was giving me subtly changed, so I blurted out a slightly confused, "What?"

"Are these people all members of the 'Axis of Evil'?"

"Yeah? Obviously."

"And all of them just happen to be high nobles and heirs poised to take control of their houses after the dust settles."

"Well, no, they don't just 'happen to be'."

I mean, I needed people who were strong enough to provide a genuine challenge to the gang, especially the rapidly growing Josh, and the Abyss operated on the also prevalent 'Authority Equals Asskicking' trope, meaning if I wanted powerful fighters, I had to look among the Abyssal aristocracy. The fact that getting them out of sticky situations during encounters with Crowy or other stereotypical noble backstabbery scenarios also left them eternally grateful towards Bel-me only made the selection process simpler

Unfortunately, before I could clarify any of this, Roland already let out a throaty groan followed by an annoyed, "And you told me you weren't planning on taking over the Abyss from the beginning. With a straight face. And I almost bought it."

"Hey, listen. I—"

And then, just as I was about to get a proper word in, someone knocked on the door again, and Karukk automatically opened it up, stuffing my objections back down my throat before they could leave it.

"Sir Griffon. Lord Polemos."

The one stepping through the doorway was Tsephanyah, clad in his usual purple toga and looking rather dignified, despite the dark circles under his eyes. He was closely followed by Jaakobah, who looked pretty much the same as usual.

"Sir Sumboulos," Roland responded graciously, followed by a slightly less polite, "Your arrival was somewhat ill-timed."

"Is that so. My apologies." Tsephanyah sounded as sincere as a used car salesman, but I was used to it, and by the looks of it, so was Roland. He waited until Karukk closed the door behind him, and he turned to face me. "I was looking for you, O Archon."

"Were you now?" I asked back, and he gave me a deep nod in return.

"Indeed. I was told by Her Grace that you came to visit your right-hand man, so I took the liberty to seek you out in person." The mention of 'right-hand man' was a very transparent attempt to butter up Roland, but he remained entirely stone-faced. "Please forgive the interruption, but I believe this is a vital enquiry that requires an immediate answer, as the entire nature of this campaign is dependent upon it."

"You're dressing this up a lot," I noted with mild distaste. "Stop beating around the bush and just say it as it is."

"Straightforward and decisive, as always," the blonde Celestial bigwig said with a smile, then he pointedly cleared his throat. "Please allow me to be frank, then. Do you wish for us, and by 'us' I mean the combined forces of Elysium and the Draconic Federation, to permanently take over the Abyss?"

"… No?"

Despite answering his question in a less-than-confident manner, he nodded along like he already expected it.

"Yes, I have surmised as much from your orders to Sumboulos Mensah as well. Do I presume that you are planning to install a puppet-government?"

"That was exactly what we were discussing," Roland noted on the side, and I would've snapped at him if it wasn't more important to clear up this misunderstanding.

"No, not at all. We're only going to stop the civil war and ensure a peaceful transition until… Éolienne gets on the throne, I guess."

Once again, my response wasn't exactly water-tight, but he smiled and responded like it was exactly what he expected.

"Ah, yes. The young boy you took under your wing. My understanding is that he's been granted the mantle of emperorship by an unforeseen twist of fate, making him something akin to an Abyssal Archon. A truly unexpected development."

His tone was just a wink away from one of those 'if you know what I mean' kind of punchlines, but Roland beat me to it by saying, "Yes. Leonard apparently faced a lot of such 'unexpected developments' lately."

"Indeed, indeed," Tsephanyah said with a knowing smile, followed by a deferential, "I have heard the Archon's will, and everything shall be done accordingly." He paused there for a second, then tagged on, with just a hint of telegraphed hesitation, "I just hope that Sumboulos Mensah won't get too zealous, and—"

"Ah, thanks for reminding me," I cut him off and turned to the phlegmatic man standing slightly behind him. "Jaakobah?"

"Yes, Lord Archon?"

"Can I ask you to look into what Mensah is doing? Specifically, if he's been giving any orders related to digging, high explosives, or both?"

He didn't ask any questions and only saluted with a curt, "As you command."

Seeing that, I turned back to Tsephanyah and slightly tilted my head.

"Any other questions or anything to report?"

"No, nothing else, O Archon. The conquest—" He suddenly let out a cough, then started again. "The peacekeeping efforts within the Abyss are proceeding as projected. I only wished to learn your… grander strategic designs, to ascertain that we wouldn't inadvertently displease you with our actions."

"Good initiative, but I can't help but feel that we're—"

"Kihihi! Boss, listen to—" The door was slammed open, nearly hitting Karukk in the nose when a familiar face marched in, only to come to a screeching halt. "Ah? Sorry, did we interrupt?"

Behind Fred, Galatea subtly rolled her eyes and said, "Master? My emotional co-processing units have indicated that there's an eighty-seven-point-nine percent chance that you have created an awkward situation. I recommend feeling ashamed."

"Oh, stop it!" our neighbourhood mad scientist snapped at her, while the ex-Director used the opportunity to slink back with a knowing smile.

"No, don't mind us. We were just about to leave," he said with a shallow bow, and he retreated through the door along with Jaakobah, the two of them muttering a canned 'Long live the Second True Archon' before closing the door behind themselves.

"Master? I believe the probability of this situation being awkward has just risen to ninety-six-point-eight percent. I recommend nervous shuffling."

"Easy, you two," I said with a sigh, and waited for Roland to finish grumbling about how 'Everyone's just coming and going as they please' before I addressed Fred again. "So? Were you looking for me?"

"Kihihi! That's right!" he exclaimed and rubbed his hands together. "You see, Boss, the preliminary readings are just in, and I wanted to tell you about them, but then when I started looking for you, I was sent to your room, but you weren't there, so I told the missuses about it, and said I should tell you about this in person, so here we are!"

While he was saying that, he started making pointing gestures with both of his hands, and when he finished, they ended up aimed at me like a pair of finger-guns. There was a long beat of silence, then Galatea spoke up.

"Please forgive Master's behaviour, Grandmaster. Master has been intaking too much caffeine over the past two days in preparation for today's operation."

"There's no such thing as 'too much caffeine'," he snapped at her, but she remained poker-faced.

"According to my logs, Master imbibed seven-hundred and thirty-four percent over the recommended maximum daily dosage of caffeinated beverages, which is over one-point-nine times higher than his usual intake."

"What? Since when are you logging how much coffee I—?!"

"Can you get to the point?" Roland cut in, making Fred twitch and start rubbing his hands again.

"Ah, right! No time for side-tracks! Where was I?"

"The preliminary readings of something," I supplied the prompt, and he started rubbing his palms even harder.

"Kihihi! That's right! The readings! Galatea, please!"

"Understood."

The android stood to the side, and the robotic bits in place of her ears lit up with green lights, then a pair of slots opened up on their sides and out came a pale green beam. After a few frantic passes, the light began to coalesce into a three-dimensional holographic model of the crater, with the Mana Well and the remains of Castle Shamash also present, and the huge Abyssal Gate dominating the scene.

Then, a bunch of charts and numbers showed up, with arrows pointing here and there, and before I could read any of them, Fred let out another of his trademark laughs and presented the image with both hands.

"Kihihihi! Look at this, Boss! The data's in, and if the aetheric radiation metrics are to be taken at face value, it seems the trans-spatial wormhole is completely meta-stable!"

We remained silent for a moment, until Brang on the side tugged at his beard and asked, "Meaning?"

"Meaning the portal is here to stay!" Fred declared with a grin. "Do you know what that means, Boss?"

Roland answered in my place with a deadpan, "It means we have a permanent portal linking our base back on Critias to the middle of the Abyss," followed by an audibly more exasperated, "There's always something…"

"Yes, but that's not all!" Fred chimed in, and he gestured to Galatea, at which point the hologram changed to focus on the Gate alone, with more scrolling texts and equations on the sides. "Look at this! If my calculations are right, it means this trans-spatial wormhole can transfer an unlimited volume and weight of material between its endpoints! Do you understand! This is the silver bullet we've been looking for to make the Boss's Portal-Port idea work seamlessly!"

"No offense, Wissenschaftler, but I'm more concerned by the political ramifications of this new gateway than the economic ones."

"Hah! Don't limit yourself, Sir Roland!" Fred scoffed and crossed his arms. "Politics and economics are nothing but trifling temporal matters in the face of SCIENCE!"

In perfect synchronicity, the hologram projection by Galatea changed again, this time to a dense jumble of text and even more math. Fred proceeded to try and explain it to us, and at first, I tried to follow along, but once the tables came into the picture, I was already getting lost. Then came the diagrams, and it was the moment four separate pie-charts appeared on the projection at the same time that I completely tuned out.

Luckily for me, I didn't have to wait for long for rescue, as there was yet another knock on the door, and for once, it wasn't a new face. As soon as Karukk opened it, Jaakobah came in, stepping right through the holographic display.

"Lord Polemos."

"At ease. Do you have something to report?"

"Yes." He put his hands behind his back and stated, "According to the investigation of the Praetorial Guard, Sumboulos Mensah has sequestered three Colossi for an 'underground structural operations' at Castle Enlil, along with a requisition of several portable mana-reactors."

"Mana-reactors?" I echoed him with a tilt of my head. "Can those explode?"

"Of course they can, Boss. What kind of question is that?" Fred scoffed on the side, none too pleased to be interrupted in the middle of his presentation.

I, on the other hand, couldn't have been happier. Also furious, but the two emotions kind of cancelled each other out, so I calmly stood up and tugged on my sleeves.

"Thank you for the quick and efficient work, Prefect."

"It is our duty to serve, O Archon," Jaakobah responded solemnly.

Meanwhile, I turned to Roland and told him, "Let's continue this conversation later. I'll just quickly throw someone into the Sun first. It shouldn't take too long."

"Into the… Sun?"

I nodded with a smile that said, 'Sorry, inside joke,' before disappearing from the room. The scenario might have ended, but it seemed my days of herding cats were far from over…

I announced my return to the hotel room with a quiet, "I'm back," yet I still got hissed at for my trouble.

"Psst!" My princess frowned at me with a finger in front of her puckered lips, and then she spoke in a whisper that was not an iota quieter than mine. "We just put Ollie to bed."

It was maybe a bit too early for that, but to be fair, the little beansprout was already completely tuckered out even before I left, and the sun was indeed going down, so maybe the girls had the right idea. In the meantime, Judy finished tucking him in and walked over to our side.

"Welcome back, Chief. You missed the power level discussion."

I responded with a not-at-all cheeky and completely, genuinely, one hundred percent mortified, "I know," followed by a theatrical glance around the room. "When did everyone leave?"

"A while ago," my dear assistant told me, and seeing that my other girlfriend was really eager to elaborate, she graciously stepped aside to allow her to do so.

"Okay, so Mrs Talvipäivänseisaus came over to pick up Ammy first…" she started, and it took me a second to realise she was talking about Lord Taika. I never used her surname, even in school, because of the obvious reason, and I was quite impressed by how fluently Elly managed to say it. Anyhow, she didn't notice my momentary confusion and barrelled on with, "She's probably getting scolded for sneaking into the Abyss now."

"I think we're all going to be," Judy noted on the side. "My dad's probably not going to be happy once he learns what happened."

"My mom and dad were impressed!" Elly declared with a grin. "Dad was especially thrilled when I told him how I got in a few good punches on Noir, and how I hit him with a True Dragon Breath!"

Judy cut in with a snappy, "Watch the volume," making Elly cover her mouth reflexively, and after making sure that Ollie wasn't stirring, she also tagged on a slightly dour, "I'm more worried about Mr von Fraenir's reaction."

"Oh, right…" the princess whispered, and it might've been just the lighting, but it almost looked like she paled for a moment. It really only lasted for just a moment though, and then she insisted, "It's going to be fine. Also, where was I? Oh, right. So, after she picked up Ammy, the Elder Matron returned to her quarters, and Angie went with her to discuss family matters. Josh tagged along, too."

"I figured as much. What about my sisters?"

"Tajana came by, and they went with her. Something about talking to the Axis of Evil to get tents? They left in a hurry, so I might've misheard that part."

"No, you heard it right," Judy noted, eyes on me. "What about you, Chief?"

"Herding cats, as usual," I told them as I made my way over to the couch and sat down. "I had a talk with Roland, then we kept getting interrupted, so I Phased over to slap some sense into Mensah…"

"Was he trying still trying to booby-trap the Abyssal castles?" Elly inquired, and when I nodded, I was surprised it wasn't followed by a 'See, I told you so,' and a five-Jen banknote changing hands. The Celestial ex-Directors were apparently so predictable that even the girls weren't making any bets about them anymore.

Fortunately, they didn't ask about whether I threw him into the nearest solar body or not. Not only because the joke was getting a bit stale, but also because the more I thought about it, the more confused I got about its logistics and more apprehensive about the possibility that maybe, just maybe, I could actually do that.

In any case, I continued the previous train of thought with, "After he was sufficiently sense-knocked, I got back to Roland, and we talked a bit more about the logistics of pacifying the Abyss and what to do afterwards. Lots of dry economic and political stuff. Oh, and before I forget it, according to Fred, the big portal Ammy made is not going to go away, so we have to deal with the fallout of that too."

"Fallout? Isn't that a good thing?" Elly asked, and when I gestured for her to elaborate, she in turn pointed outside a nearby window overlooking the distinct lack of a castle in the middle of town. "Rebuilding all of that is going to take a whole lot of resources, and a permanent gate will make getting them here so much simpler! Also…" She stopped pointing at the skyline and turned to me with a familiar glint in her eyes. "The Abyss is the biggest untapped market in the World of Mystics! We can import all kinds of stuff, like cars and electronics, and… and…"

"Food and spices," Judy proposed, and my princess snapped her fingers in approval.

"Exactly! We can build a big monopoly here!"

"Sure, but I want to remind you that the Abyss is going to take a while to recover from the civil war and half of the ruling families either getting decimated or thrown into prison for treason."

"Also," Judy chimed in, supporting my point with, "Éolienne is going to be the new Emperor of the Abyss, with Joshua as his Herald, so exploiting the Abyss would be as bad as exploiting them."

"Okay, okay, I get it, so…" Elly extended a hand, her thumb and forefinger poised as if she was holding an invisible coin between them. "How about just a… little monopoly? Just a small one?"

"Let's discuss it once the political situation is fully under control, okay?" I proposed… or rather, kicked the issue down the line. Let it be future-me's problem.

…

I mean, not 'literal' future-me's, as we're not doing another timey-wimey retcon (I dearly hope). And yes, the fact that we reached the point where I had to go out of my way to specify that to avoid confusion was filling me with exasperation and ennui in equal measure.

"Then what?" Judy prompted me, and it took me a second to collect my thoughts and realise that she wasn't talking about my dear draconic girlfriend's monopolistic plans.

"And then I got flagged down by Naoren, who wanted me to find Rinne because Xiao and Ichiko were still in her shadow, but then I got blind-sided by Ambrose and Gulliver, who wanted to hear what happened from me personally and I was nearly dragged into the hotel's salon when Duncan and Agrawain returned for a break after securing the outskirts of the town, but I managed to slip away, only to then stumble into Fidèle in and the other aristocrats of Shamash, Ninhursag, and Inanna composing a ceasefire treaty and I needed to signs some stuff and act like I knew the first thing about peace deals, and then I finally managed to abscond and come back here." By the end of that run-on sentence, I was seriously out of breath, so I inhaled hard. Then, after a short beat, I muttered, "So, you know? A bunch of annoying political malarkey."

"You'll need to get used to it," Judy told me mercilessly and poked my shoulder. "You caused this mess; you need to fix it."

"Hey! I didn't 'cause it'! I didn't start the fire! It was always burning since Simlacrum's been turning."

My dear assistant instantly narrowed her eyes (a little) and said, "You've been holding onto that one for a while, looking for the right time to use it, haven't you?"

"Guilty as charged," I admitted, underscored by Elly's giggle on the side, but then I switched gears and told her, in a serious tone, "I'm not entirely kidding, though. The scenario was already nearing its end, and it had to be resolved in some way. The fact that it was also a prerequisite for me to realise my true nature, and I needed to do that to kick Benjamin out of the Simulacrum before he broke everything, was a happy coincidence… I think."

If that sounded uncertain, it's because I really wasn't one hundred percent sure about it. I mean, time-blocks were a thing I still consciously refused to think about, but if I actually wanted to do that, there was a non-zero chance that it really wasn't a coincidence, but kind of like a retcon on an even bigger scale, using future-knowledge by some other part of me. It would've explained why Benjamin was freaking out so much, because Oriole repeatedly hammered into me that retro-causality was a big no-no for Emergents, but it wouldn't have been the first time I broke some rule without knowing about it.

And as for which kind of 'other part of me' could've been responsible, honestly speaking, I still wasn't entirely convinced that there wasn't some kind of Over-Leo on top of all my layers who's been pulling all the strings. A kind of 'One Leo to rule them all' type of situation. As for whether that me was even conscious or not was another bloody bee-hive I wasn't going to kick right now, because I had a hard enough time wrapping my head around Id-me and Superego-me being parts of the Simulacrum already.

More importantly, the mention of my nature made Judy's brows scrunch up, just a little bit, and she said, "It'll take some time to get used to the idea that my boyfriend is an Elder God."

"Come on, Judy. Don't be silly," my other girlfriend chided in with a playful swipe at her shoulder. "Leo's not an Elder God. The Emergents are like, celestial objects and consciousnesses embedded into space and existing outside time, right? That makes Leo an Outer God. Obviously." There was a long beat, during which neither of us responded, so Elly started fidgeting and said, "W-What? I do my own research too, you know! And I read books too, sometimes."

"Calm down, princess. I'm just not sure that kind of terminology properly reflects what we are."

At this point, Judy interjected with, "You mean 'we' as the people in the Simulacrum, or 'we' as you and the other Emergents."

"The… latter?" I told her, once again sounding just a tad unsure.

"What about the other 'we' then?" Elly asked, her previous momentary nervousness gone and replaced with an excited light in her eyes.

I wasn't remotely familiar enough with the Lovecraftian Mythos to come up with any kind of analogy, but luckily for me, Judy raised a hand to cover up a big yawn, providing me with a great segue.

"Sleepy, that's what you are," I declared and put a hand on each of their shoulders. "In fact, we're all too tired to have metaphysical discussions right now. You haven't had proper sleep since the day before, so how about we get some shuteye, and then we give this another go tomorrow?"

"I second the motion," Judy spoke in agreement, and since yawns were notoriously infectious, now it was Elly's turn to stifle one.

"There are two single beds, and Ollie's already using one. We should've pushed the two together to make a big queen-size bed, and then we could've all slept together."

"Hindsight is always a pain in the neck," I noted, and nobody argued about it. "Even if it's a single bed, you two could probably fit on one."

"What about you, Chief?"

"What about me?" I echoed my dear assistant, and seeing that she kept intently staring at me, I awkwardly muttered, "Erm… Dormouse? You remember that I don't need to sleep, right?"

"That was before," she told me in turn and grabbed my arm, as if afraid that I would run away. "You said you got eaten by the Predator Moon and had to re-insert yourself into the Simulacrum, so we can't be sure the new you doesn't need sleep either."

"That's a good point!" Elly exclaimed, only to realise that she was a bit too loud and tag on a quiet, "I-It's going to be a bit cramped, but I think we can manage."

"It's decided then," Judy declared, and my girlfriends pulled me towards the bed.

I still had my reservations, but the girls were adamant, so I had no choice but to give up and follow their whim. Not right away, though. Despite the big hoo-haa about me being dragged to bed and such, we first needed to clean up and change into nightclothes. The bathroom of the suite was relatively modern, with both a fancy free-standing cast-iron bathtub and a shower cabin.

It clearly wasn't designed for three people to use it at the same time, but we managed. The girls were genuinely exhausted after the long day, so we didn't get up to any lewding, but there was still a healthy amount of skinship and flirting to be had.

At last, we returned to the bedroom and squeezed ourselves under the sheets. Me in the middle, the girls on my left and right, their heads practically resting against my shoulders, and my arms wrapped around them to make sure they wouldn't fall off the bed. It wasn't the most comfortable arrangements per se, but they didn't seem to mind.

The sun was down by now, lights out, the curtains drawn, and without the ever-present hum of a city's traffic noise (missing due to obvious reasons), the room felt very still and uncannily quiet. I mustn't have been the only one to feel a bit odd, because Judy soon started fidgeting. When I glanced over, I found her eyes, barely visible in the gloom of the room, glued to my face, and when our gazes met, she immediately whispered, "Is it really over now?"

"What's over?" Elly whispered on my other side.

"If you mean the scenario, then yeah, it's pretty much done."

"So this is our ending?"

I blinked at her in a dark and, if they weren't occupied, I would've shrugged my shoulders.

"Eh. That's debatable. I mean, do you guys remember those fantasy movies? With the hobbits and elves and throwing jewellery into volcanoes?"

"… Yes?" Elly muttered, audibly confused.

"You know that had a whooole lot of endings? We're kind of in a similar situation. We're past the ending where we're stranded on top of the volcano, and we're past the ending where everyone gathers and laughs together in slow-motion, but we're not yet at the part where someone gets crowned, and we're still some way from the ending where we all sail away to new shores. Do you get what I'm saying?"

Judy remained silent for a while, then let out a soft huff and shifted on the bed, fully resting her head against my shoulder.

"This was a bad idea. You were right, Chief; I'm way too tired for meta-talk right now. Remind me to untangle and interrogate your analogy tomorrow."

At the same time, Elly also nuzzled closer to me with a soft giggle.

"Hehe… Good night, and sleep well."

Judy responded with a quiet, "Mm," and closed her eyes.

Elly followed suit, and I soon followed their example, slowly drifting off into… not sleeping.

…

Was that déja vu? I couldn't help but feel that we've already been here before. And yes, even after an hour, I wasn't getting sleepy at all. Figures.

Okay, so what did I do the last time Judy roped me into sleeping together like this and I was trapped between my girlfriends?

…

Right. I used my original phantom limb to go outside the Simulacrum and scout out the not-dark not-room. Which, in retrospect, was kind of a weird way to do it. With my current knowledge, I understood that all I really needed to do was to shift my attention a bit and…

"Oh."

Before I knew it, I was in the… Well, it wasn't a 'void' or 'space between spaces' anymore. It was my Domain, and it was currently a blinding white, like standing inside the mantle of a star, which… I kind of was, now that I thought about it? I still had no idea how that worked, so at least I could say Judy wasn't the only one confused about the mechanics of Emergents. Oh well. I'll have plenty of time to figure things out, and…

"Wait a minute…" I whispered, though since I was a disembodied consciousness distributed across my Domain at the moment, the concepts of 'sound' and 'volume' had little meaning.

Anyhow, the keyword was 'time'. All the Emergents present in my Domain, including the formerly not-dark not-room, were kind of 'synced up' with my sense of time right now. The last time I visited them, the exact same amount of time passed inside the Simulacrum as what I experienced in their company. Meaning… I technically could sleep inside the Simulacrum while my consciousness could 'dreamwalk' outside and spend time with the Emergents.

That wasn't quite hitting two birds with one stone, but it was certainly preferable to spending the whole night staring at the ceiling, so I decided to pay Carmine and the others a visit. I did promise that I would have a private talk with her soon-ish, so might as well get on with it.

At least with them, I didn't need to worry about things getting out of hand, like with the guys inside the Simulacrum, and…

"Ah, Sol! Help!" Oriole called out to me the moment I materialised inside the quite-bright mostly-room, before I could even announce my arrival. "The Venerated Benjamin wants to bite me!"

"Come back here and face righteous judgment!" the white-haired kid lunged after her, and the two of them started running circles around me. "How dare you make me eat flowers!?"

"B-But you said you'd eat anything!"

"P-Please don't fight!" Obsidius yelled on the side, trying to sound brave, but the fact that he was covering behind a transparent riot-shield made his attempts to moderate come off as less than effective. I would've asked where he even got that, but knowing the nature of these pocket-spaces, he probably just conjured it out of thin air, or something.

"Forget about that!" a thunderbolt snapped next to me, revealing Fulgor. "Listen, Sol! Do something about those two, would you? I can't work in this noise."

"Are you talking about these two, or…" I started, pointing at Oriole and Benjamin, but then the whole principally-bright categorically-room shook as, in the closest of its round corners, an immeasurable ocean of blood-red waters and an enormous red star surrounded by thorns made of the midnight sky collided, spewing explosions of vermillion steam everywhere. "Ah, I see. Those two…"

Shaking my head, I lightly bonked Benjamin over his head and then started moving, my legs carrying me towards the astronomical clash with profound resignation. By the looks of it, my days of herding… erm… lions, I guess, weren't over either.