Kaito was in his shrine, smiling tiredly as he watched the fish swim. In his arms was Miyako, who had finally fallen asleep, hours and hours after her little baby bedtime, and perhaps more worryingly, hours and hours after his partners’ little husband bedtimes. Kaito, absolutely failing to soothe her to sleep in the room, had finally gotten dressed and taken Miyako for a walk around the castle, soothing her fussy cries as he walked up and down the stairs, moving quickly to up-tick his heartbeat and letting her listen to the stronger bumb-bumb-bumbs until Miyako, either adequately distracted from whatever had been bothering her or adequately soothed, had finally quieted a bit. 

Kaito had ended up heading to the shrine rather than back to the room, partly just needing to be a little bit soothed himself and partly because he wasn’t sure if Miyako was quite done shouting yet, sitting in the warm, watery colors of the aquarium’s light. Watching the fish as Miyako had eventually snuffled into sleep. 

Kaito’s gaze, occasionally, went to the Orecchiettes. Kaito had known when he got them that it was a bit silly, to get clams as pets, and it had made him both laugh and wince a bit as he had heard Kokichi’s story about scrambling to make sure the aquarium he had just spent half a year designing would adequately house Kaito’s impromptu pets. They weren’t very interesting pets, they didn’t look like much more than stone decorations at the bottom of the aquarium, filled with bright, colorful, vibrant life. But they made Kaito feel a warm burst of affection when he looked at them. Kaito’s impulsive, grand moment of finally just getting himself the pet he had been idly talking about for ages. Ill thought out, sure, but, well, his husband had rescued him. So all’s well that ends well.

“We’re very very lucky, Miya,” Kaito murmured sleepily to his small, snuffling baby, “Kokichi’s a good man to be loved by. We lucked out.”

But almost as if to remind Kaito that he had many reasons to consider himself lucky, thank you very much, the door pushed open, and in peeked the head of Shuichi. A slight hint of pink flashing in the odd lighting of the aquarium–a trait Kaito was becoming endeared by, rather than disturbed, the more time went on–before Shuichi headed inside. Sitting by Kaito. “I wondered where you both had gone. I thought you’d be back sooner.”

“I was hoping to let you both sleep.” Kaito grinned lightly, pleased as Shuichi leaned against him. “It’s late, handsome. What, you think cause the semester is over you can just stay up all night now?”

“I can do as I please.” Shuichi smirked into Kaito’s arm, who chuckled. “But you can’t. I was worried. I don’t like when you disappear with Miyako at night. A crying Miyako is an everyone problem, not just you.”

“I know, I know. It’s not a ‘oh I have to do it wah I’m so self-sacrificing’ thing,” Kaito promised, rolling his eyes at himself, “She calms down if I can get my heart pumping a little faster, so walking the stairs helps soothe her, that’s all. And after that, I was just awake and wanted to visit the shrine. That’s all, I’m not hiding Miyako for you guys, I was just indulging a whim.”

“Alright…” Shuichi closed his eyes, listening to the bubble of the aquarium, “...any more thoughts on the Tiavel thing?”

“I want her to go,” Kaito said immediately, barely needing to think about it… before he sighed, “I’m just gonna miss her. And I’m worried about Tim. I… don’t really want him to go, if that’s up for debate. He has friends here and school, I’d rather he didn’t take a break from all of that stuff to follow Maki around. I genuinely think he’d be better off here… but I’m a little worried I’m just biased. Me and him are doing so, so good lately. I really feel like I’ve found my stride with Tim. I don’t want him to go when I finally feel like I have the ‘day to day’ dad stuff figured out. Consistency, you know?”

“I think so, yes.” Shuichi nodded. “Still, you have to talk to Maki about that. I don’t know if she plans to take Tim either. But it has to be a group discussion between you three.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to ask him to ‘choose’,” Kaito winced, “He worships Maki, he still thinks she walks on air. What if he chooses to go because he’s worried she’d be upset if he didn’t?”

“Still have to discuss it.” Shuichi said, “Can’t just order him to stay for his own good.”

“Caaaaaan’t Iiiiiiiiiii?” Kaito whined, pouting, “I’m gonna be a sort of king, can’t I just order people to do whatever?”

“Mmmm, as the head of the household? I say no.” Shuichi smirked, laughing a little with Kaito, the two thoroughly amused with themselves. “You guys will figure it out.”

“Yeah.” Kaito sighed, watching the fish swim. “...how pissed do you think Kokichi is right now, being the only person in bed?”

“Oh,” Shuichi snickered, “So mad.”

Back in the bedroom, a disgruntled Kokichi fell back asleep, starfishing wide across the bed. Sensing no worry or panic when he’d woken up and noticed he was alone, his mood had settled into sleepy, mild annoyance, and as he drifted off, two notes were perched on the blankets on either side of him. 

Reserved for People Who Respect Bedtime

-

Never let it be said Josie couldn’t be a nice guy!! The Freeze was expected to hit any second now, and yet here he was, walking through snow that was starting to get into thigh territory all the way across town to the pub he’d learned Yuta’s sister-in-law owned. They’d shared commiserating looks for too long!! Josie loved Dimitri like a brother, adored the guy, but enough was enough.

Sure, he’d been hinting that Dimitri should think of something nice to do with Yuta for Unity, but taking all the hints over the past month as historical evidence… Something more drastic needed to happen. ‘Dating without knowing you’re dating’ was a cute trope in books, but it wasn’t actually dating in real life, and Josie was too nice a guy to let Yuta drown in the water like that. 

So. 

Off he went to Oogami’s Pub.

Yuta wasn’t allowed to serve alcohol, but according to his sister, he was allowed–and in fact, required–to assist at the pub with a dozen other little tasks if he was going to hang out in it, dammit! “We can’t just sit around and watch them work, it’s rude.” 

“It’s literally their business!” Yuta had whined, but Hina would hear none of it. As far as Hina was concerned, her wife’s pub was her pub, and that meant her side of the family helped out when they were visiting. Which, now that it was so cold, and the pub’s massive fireplace was oh-so-warm, was often. 

Sakura gave Yuta an appreciative and somewhat sympathetic nod as the boy was handed a broom and told to sweep by his sister. She had used to argue with Hina that, no, you didn’t have to help out with the pub, it was fine, their marriage or dating didn’t make her an employee there… but Hina couldn’t seem to sit still when her wife was working, so Sakura had let it go and just embraced it. Her brothers both thought it was funny and helpful, so they rarely tried to stop her as well. Poor Yuta was simply doomed.

Yuta sighed as he started to sweep. Clearly, he had escaped one bout of Indentured servitude only to land right into another one! Making him sweep was cruel and unusual punishment! At least let him drink some of the beer, dammit, he had been legal back in Luminary!!! 

Oh, the only thing that could salvage the day would be to hear the door open and see that beautiful, shining glint of blond hair. Those steamy blue eyes! That chiseled chin! That–

Ding.

“Dimitri!! Oh.” Yuta pouted, seeing Josie. “Not Dimitri.”

Josie chuckled, taking a moment to adjust from the temperature shock as he came inside before giving Yuta a wave. “Sorry, not quite the Prince Charming you were hoping for, huh?”

“Though, that is actually what I wanted to talk to you about, if…” Josie glanced at the broom in Yuta’s hands, “...you’re on break soon? Geez, way to set an example of responsibility. Makin’ the rest of us skatin’ by without part-times look bad.”

“I’m not part time. I’m captured. I’m enslaved.” Yuta whimpered. 

“Not a fun joke!” Hina called from behind the bar, “Also don’t stop sweeping! I want to see those floors shine!”

“Free me,” Yuta said, eyes shining with tears. He was very good at putting on the waterworks, and immediately turning them off as he sighed, leaning dramatically against the broom. “Dimitri said he was going to stop by. But he’s still not heeeeere. Whyyyyy?”

“Woe be, the obligation of a family business,” Josie sighed sympathetically, patting Yuta’s shoulder. He might’ve been a carefree man of indulgence, but even Josie’d had to help out at his mom’s convenience store, time to time. Luckily, his mom was a strict adherent of union laws, and every time his help was needed she’d whipped out a temporary contract and he’d been compensated for his time. And, well, the only thing he could do for Mamá was change her paint water, really, and Josie barely considered that work. 

However, learning that Yuta’s expectations hadn’t just been from daydreaming, Josie’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “He did? Damn, we really are synced up sometimes…” He gave Yuta a mildly worried glance. “Did he give you a time? Dima’s not really the kind of guy that enjoys being fashionably late.”

“Not really, he just said sometime after his and Dedan’s one on one pathfinder session. Apparently, Victoria and Raven need to stop impersonating each other and finish their prince/pauper scheme. I very generously offered to step in and be a villain for their session, but apparently ‘carefully constructed political intrigue’ doesn’t need a random fight with a minotaur,” Yuta huffed, “Or something.”

Still sweeping mindlessly– clearly not actually collecting any dirt, just pushing it around–Yuta raised a conspiratorial eyebrow at Josie. “Why? What’s in your miiiind?”

Josie relaxed, before chuckling softly. Okay, an RP session could go on a while, so no worries there. “I think I’ll have to respectfully disagree with our pro-role-players there. What could move politicians to action faster than having to fight a minotaur? Or fight one in court~”

Snorting a little, Josie grinned slyly. “Why for asking about the time? It just gets a little scary when people go missing in this weather. But why I came over to talk about Dima at all?”

Josie sighed, grimly bemoaning, “Dimitri’s been one of my closest friends his whole life, I deeply cherish him… He’s an absolute blockhead that needs to ask you on a proper date.”

Yuta nodded, deadpan. “Yes, you’re correct. By this point, I am currently reckoning with the idea that I may be moron-sexual. Why am I so attracted to this moron? He’s so, so dumb. I want to jump his bones so badly.”

Josie sighed, joining Yuta’s nod. “He’s the whole package, and yet thick as a brick when it comes to romance. I’d seen him missing flirting before, but I didn’t realize how bad it was until he met you.” Josie sighed deeper, looking at the ceiling in misery. “Where did I go wrong…? You think you raise your best friend right, then you see the wasteland around you. I’m a terrible friend-parent.”

“But, no time to rectify that than the present,” Josie shrugged, losing the dramatics. “Alright, I’ve been pushing him to think up a nice Unity date for you two, but we’ve got to get him to actually recognize it as a date. Just bringing it straight up out of the question?”

Yuta crossed his arms, gave Josie a looooooong, pouty look, before saying, “I actually high-key blame you. See, Dimitri talks about you, sometimes, reminiscing over fond childhood memories? Up to and including~”

Yuta put up one finger. “That summer you both decided to visit ‘The Tunnel of Love’ in the permanent fair the next town over, to which he, and I quote, ‘still doesn’t understand why it was called that, it was just mostly really dark. But it was fun to hang out with friends in it.’”

Yuta put up a second finger. “His total comfort with being naked with other people because ‘there’s nothing really sexual about it, me and Josie have been naked together tons of times, he really enjoys skinny dipping and we’ve shared a bath a few times, I don’t get the hype’.”

Yuta put up a third finger. “And, my absolute favorite, ‘I kissed you back because that’s just a thing bros do sometimes, like me and Josie’.”

Yuta glared daggers at Josie. “...you bastard. You’ve ruined him for everyone else! You normalized everything! Nothing gets through! You jerk, if you weren’t twice my size I’d kick your butt! Fix this!”

Josie looked at Yuta with mild surprise, before staring into the middle distance. Each memory Yuta brought up replaying with clarity in his mind’s eye. Flopping over at the waist, Josie groaned, “I’m a failed parent!”

“Though the being naked one is still normal,” he amended, straightening back up, before pouting, “And I only kissed him when I was drunk! Khalid and I ended up making out for like half an hour that night, Dimitri should know better than to take that night as evidence for anything.”

Pausing, Josie did consider Yuta’s first point with a grimace. “...okay, the Tunnel of Love thing really was my bad, though. It was hot! And the whole thing’s shaded with water, and there’s all sorts of perches in the tunnel for security to camp out and keep people from getting too frisky.”

Sighing, Josie rubbed the back of his neck in shame. “Alright, alright… So, what? I haven’t just sat him down to have The Talk yet since I was coming he’d clue in the more you guys hung out, but obviously that’s not working. I just start off telling him, hey, you’re dating Yuta in all but name, you should fix that?”

Yuta snorted a bit. That was what Hina kept trying to tell him too, but honestly, he hadn’t quite bought into the nudist thing Diceans had going on. Hina had offered to take him to a few events to try to desensitize him, and he had almost gone, but… he had gotten too flustered right before. It was a lot to get your head around! 

And who goes to a place called ‘The Tunnel of Love’ to cool down!? It’s in the advertising! It’d be like going to ‘Make-Out Peak’ back in the city just for the breeze!!

Gah. Moron-sexual.

Yuta considered the option Josie had brought up, crossing his arms around the broom and pouting. “...nooooo,” Yuta huffed, grimacing, “Dimitri feels like one of those guys where if we tell him he’s already dating me? He’d just date me. He’s just kind of awkward like that, I don’t know if that would actually mean he wanted to. I’d actually just like any sort of real proof that he likes me… like that! Not as a friend, or a bro, or a pal! But specifically in a ‘I want to make out with you sloppy-style and maybe touch butts!’ sort of way.” Yuta frowned. “I don’t know if he does? And I don’t want to accidentally pressure him into it. Just…ugh! I need a sign! Anything!”

“You need to sweep!” Hina called.

“I am sweeping!” Yuta shouted back, furiously pushing dirt nowhere.

Josie sighed, scratching the back of his head lightly. “He does like you a lot, that’s obvious…but you’re right. Dimitri’s one of those guys that literally doesn’t have romance on the brain at all until someone brings it up, so I can’t even mindmeld and be like, oh he’s totally into you. And as much as obligations are the things he feels the worst about, he still does go through with them…”

So how do you nudge a romance-blind person into thinking about that sort of stuff without making it an obligation? Josie had a feeling that if Yuta just asked Dimitri about the dating scene in Usott, Dimitri’d just refer him to Josie, and they’d be right back where they were. So…

“Ask him on a ‘first date’, explicitly?” Josie tried. “People aren’t obliged to take up first dates, even for friends.”

“...eh?” Yuta gasped, covering his mouth, offended, theatrical tears welling in his eyes, “Weh? M’wuah!? Me???? Ask him???”

Josie smirked, wholly amused as he raised his eyebrows at the display. “Yeah? C’mon, you really think so low of me to assume even I don’t know relationships are two-way? If you want something to happen, and all your manipulations aren’t turning out, unfortunately initiative is the,” Josie rolled his eyes, doing air quotes, “better’ and ‘more honest’ thing to do.”

Yuta pouted, gesturing to himself. “I am a prize. I don’t chase, I reward. Any man should know that he’s lucky–gah!” 

Sakura hadn’t actually meant to scare him. She had come up behind him and patted his head, frowning a bit as Yuta promptly buckled under the weight of her hand, collapsing into a nearby booth like he had been brained. “...dramatic.”

“What?” Yuta said, sitting up on the booth, giving Sakura a dry look, “We’re talking. About important stuff.”

“I heard,” Sakura rumbled. “Didn’t like what I was hearing. Figured I’d join the conversation. It doesn’t say less of you to be the one to ask.”

Yuta sniffed, unimpressed, “Look, maybe there’s no nuance to this stuff in Dicea, but in Luminary–”

“Hina asked me,” Sakura rumbled, giving the boy a dry look, “She’s still desirable. And I was flattered.”

An amused smile had still been playing on Josie’s lips from Yuta’s dramatics, but as his sister-in-law came up, it slowly faded as Josie gave Yuta a surprised look. “Wait, I thought you were just playing it up--the act of asking someone on a date has social implications in Luminary, beyond the date itself?”

Yuta didn’t actually look that surprised by the question, though his face scrunched up as he put a hand out, wiggling it back and forth. “Sort of. I’m not sure how to explain it…” Yuta, who had not had a thousand culture explanation conversations by this point and wasn’t entirely sure how to even begin expressing a cultural observation to someone, paused, thinking about it. “You know how like… if someone of a higher class asks you out, it’s a huge deal?”

“He doesn’t,” Sakura said.

“Oh.” Yuta frowned, before trying again. “Okay, so, you know how, when you’re taken on a date, it matters who pays for–”

“He doesn’t know that one either,” Sakura said.

“What?” Yuta’s brows furrowed, kneeling against the back of the booth chair as he floundered half on top of it, splaying his arms out as he flopped onto his side, “Okay, okay, so! So… so, like, when kissing, right? That’s a good example? How if you’re lower ranked, you can’t lean in first–”

“Hina!” Sakura called, “We need help.”

Josie hadn’t just gone ‘huh, interesting’ after his conversation with Kaito about Atua, and hadn’t bothered learning anything else about Luminary since. While it was just the occasional whim he followed to seek out cultural information purposefully, he was friends with Dimitri, and there was a lot more information about Luminary just…out in the wild these days, so Josie had been learning little things here and there sporadically. Still, though, there were some differences in culture that he hadn’t even thought to question if they might be different. 

And there being an…implication? Of sorts? Between who in a relationship initiated certain things? Was definitely one of them. 

“Hm,” Josie hummed, running a hand through his hair as he started piecing things together. “...so, all this time, it hasn’t just been you playing coy, or wanting to take things slow? And more…like you’re holding yourself to a standard of self-respect.”

Josie closed his eyes and tilted his head a little. “...which is totally not working out, since Dima’s head isn’t in that space in the first place, and that distinction of asking first ‘n that other stuff doesn’t exist here, so even if he was thinking about it…he might just be taking your affection but lack of initiative as a sign that you’re just playing around and not looking for anything serious, rather than waiting for a courtesy.”

“...” He peeked an eye open. “Sound right?”

“I BLAME YOU!” Yuka shouted, grabbing a tissue from the dispenser and throwing it at Josie, balling up a few more and throwing those as well, “CURSE ALL YOUR FLIRTING!!”

“Yuta! This is literally the opposite of sweeping!” Hina scolded, a dish rag over her shoulder as she came over, looking over the mess of tissues before glancing to Sakura. “What’d you need help with, sweetheart?”

“Everyone’s saying I have to ask Dimitri out!” Yuta said, wobbling his lower lip at Hina, “Tell them they’re wrong!”

“Oh… nope.” Hina shook her head. “They’re right. You have to.”

Yuta gasped, clutching his chest, “Et tu!?”

“Are you talking about the ‘gold digging’ thing?” Hina said, sighing as she shrugged, before explaining to the other two, “If you don’t have the money to spoil the other person on a date with? It’s considered pretty tacky to ask that person on a date. It’s like selling yourself. The person who’s going to be paying for everything has to ask, otherwise you’re a hoe.”

“I AM NO ONE’S HOE!” Yuta shouted dramatically. “...but I am broke!”

“No you’re not,” Hina said, rolling her eyes, “I’ll give you funds for a date, okay? You can spoil Dimitri to your heart’s content.”

Yuta gasped, before looking imploringly at Hina. “...you mean it?”

“Of course! What’s family for?” Hina smiled. The two entirely oblivious to the Diceans’ stares. 

Josie withstood the tissue attacks with mournful dignity, taking his penance. He knew his reckless flirting would catch up with him one day--more than it already had--but admittedly, sabotaging his friend’s ability to recognize when someone was into him was a path Josie hadn’t anticipated. One of the trickier forms Ruin had ever taken. 

He hummed consideringly as Yuta’s sister came over and explained the exact social moor Yuta was grappling with--he could see the logic, at least--before just…staring at the siblings. Recalling a half-remembered story or rumor, and leaning over to Sakura. 

“...you guys have told him about UBI, right?”

Yuta sheepishly looked away, while Hina smiled warmly at that, giving her brother a fond, if slightly scolding, look. “Someone has been a little too enthusiastic about sending coin home every month. Which, I can’t blame you for. But Yuta, you really should keep some of it for stuff like this.”

“Yeaaaaah, yeah,” Yuta said, flushing, looking genuinely embarrassed that how he had been spending the last few months’ payment had come up. “I’ll start sending less. It’s just…she’s really enjoying school.”

“She’s fine, Yuta.” Hina said. “You’ve already given her enough for two semesters, everything else has basically just been spending money. I know you miss your friend, but you don’t need to pay for her entire lifestyle.”

Yuta pouted… before sighing, “Fiiiiiine. Fine. She basically said the last thing in her last letter too. I just miss her.”

“Awwww, my cutie-patootie brother,” Hina cooed reaching over to smoosh his cheeks together, “So cuuuuute–alright, pick up the tissues.”

“MONSTER! SLAVE DRIVER!”

“Still not a funny joke!” Hina said, heading back to the bar, Sakura following after.

From what he’d heard, Hina had lived in Dicea for ages, so Josie figured that Yuta would know about UBI, but he would’ve figured the heir apparent would’ve told his husband too. And, sure, he knew a few folks here and there with big spending habits, but for a kid their age, Josie wasn’t sure what you could even drain a bank account on. 

…but sending it out of the country was definitely a way to do that. 

Chuckling at the sibling-love, Josie squatted to pick up the tissues--they were closer to him, and he could be generous once in a while--before giving Yuta a grin. “...aw. That’s really sweet, you paying for your friend’s school. You know, I trust Dima’s judgment in people so it’s not like I’m a tiger-parent, but I do look out for my friends’ hearts. I’d be honored to get a guy like you as a friend-in-law.”

“You’re a freak,” Yuta said, sticking his tongue out at Josie, “but, you just spared me tissue-pick up duty, so I guess now I’ll die for you.”

“But, anyway!” Yuta said, popping out of the booth, sniffing as he put his hands on his hips, smirking, “Now I’m the dominant one! I’m going to sweep Dimitri off his feet! I am going to make him feel so!” Yuta sneered, clutching his hands into fists in front of him, eyes practically burning with passion, “Doted on!”

“At a reasonable amount! I’m not made of money!” Hina shouted from the bar.

“REASONABLY SPECIAL!” Yuta cackled.

“Were you like this when you asked me out?” Sakura asked Hina.

“Oh, I was worse,” Hina snickered, “I declared my decision to ask you out on a rooftop in the middle of the night. People shouted at me.”

Josie nodded graciously. “You learned pathfinder for my best friend--I’m supporting your relationship all the way.”

And part of that meant nudging Dimitri to dote on Yuta as well. Maybe it’d feel a bit weird in dynamics to Yuta, but the guy deserved to be cherished too. All it’d take was Dimitri actually realizing the romance happening around him. 

“Well, glad we figured that out,” Josie hummed approvingly, before casting a wary glance out the front windows. “...figure I should probably disappear before Dima shows up and I poison this with platonic vibes too. Gotta make the mail today before it stops anyway.”

“You don’t have to go, buuuut I won’t stop you either.” Yuta smiled, before tilting his head curiously. “What are you mailing?”

Josie chuckled sheepishly. “A procrastinated Unity card for my brother. Figure the Freeze already hit where he is, so it’s gonna be in holding anyway, but I should probably get it out before the middle of spring.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you had any siblings,” Yuta smiled, “They’re great, aren’t they?”

“Just the one, by blood anyway,” Josie returned the smile, “And they can be. I had a feeling he’s already gonna grouch about me getting him anything for Unity, which is why I didn’t go for a gift, but it’s a really good card. Couldn’t pass it up.”

Josie snorted. “Actually, if you’ve been to the stationary store recently? You might’ve seen it. The ‘Seasons Greasons’ collection?”

Yuta raised an eyebrow. “Seasons… Greasons?” He paused, trying to imagine what it looked like. “....is it… about grease??”

Snickering lowly, Josie unzipped his jacket and reached inside the hard folder he was keeping in his inner pocket, getting out one of the cards he’d bought just for the art, not to send out, at least just yet. 

There was a quaint ink drawing of…well… some sort of yeti-like creature on all fours, piggy-backing some brown creature that looked like it could be a chimp, but not quite. There was snow on the ground and white-speckled trees in the distance, where more yetis roamed, and in elegant script at the bottom, it read, “Seasons Greasons”. 

“I have no idea if this is just a shitpost or what, but…isn’t it incredible?!” Josie snickered, enthused. 

Yuta stared at the card… before looking back to Josie, eyes wide and watery, lower lip wobbling. “Don’t you like your brother at all???”

Josie blew out an amused puff of air. “If he can’t appreciate modern art? We can just call it even for the shit he did to me as a kid.”

“Truly baffling,” Yuta said, before hearing the bell ding at the front, and looking over. “HE’S HERE! Go, go, get out of here, go!” Yuta insisted, pushing Josie to the front. 

Dimitri took off his hat, brushing some snow off his shoulders, before noticing Yuta shoving Josie to the front. “Oh. Hey Josie. Hey Yuta.”

Putting his folder back away as he snickered, Josie let himself be pushed back to the front of the pub. Giving Dimitri a wave, he greeted, “Heeeey~ What timing, huh? At least it’s perfect to make sure poor Yuta doesn’t waste away from loneliness. Nice to see ya, Dima, but I’m just heading out.”

Giving his friend a side-hug, Josie winked. “Make good decisions~ I’ll catch ya later.”

Dimitri happily leaned into the hug… before grunting as Yuta grabbed his hand, jerking him to the back of the pub. “Uuuh, bye Josie!” 

“Come on, come on, come sit!” Yuta said, pulling Dimitri to a booth, before smiling wide at him, “You look nice today! Cold though! Let me get you something warm to drink! Do you want some tea, or warmed mead?”

“Um, tea would be nice… You seem happy today,” Dimitri noticed. 

“Just excited!” Yuta said, before sputtering, “For no particular reason! …okay, no, for a particular reason! I’m not going to delay. HINA! BRING DIMITRI MEAD!”

“NO, HE’S UNDERAGE!” 

“TYRANT! FASCIST! CAN WE HAVE TEA!?”

“FINE!” 

“Okay, okay, so.” Yuta sat down, smiling at Dimitri, even as he picked at his nails nervously. “So. So…So!”

“So?” Dimitri asked.

“..........OKAY SO!” Yuta scrambled forward, grabbing Dimitri’s hands, the startled, taller man blinking slightly at him as Yuta said, “I have something important to ask you, and it just can’t wait, okay!?”

Dimitri nodded. “Okay.”

“It has to happen now! Now or never! Not the answering part, the asking!”

Dimitri nodded again. “Okay.”

“Okay, yes! Going to… do it now!” Yuta bit at his lower lip, squeezing Dimitri’s hands as he stared at him nervously for a moment, “...DIMITRI, WOULD YOU GO ON A DATE WITH ME!?”

“...what?” Dimitri frowned.

“HA HA HA HA OR SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW!?” Yuta said, suddenly taking his hands back like they were burned, giggling manically as he leaned back into the seat of the booth, “A date or maybe we could just go as two bros, pals, friendos to something that could be cool too, date, who said anything about a date, though, though, if you let me take you on a date, I’ll cover everything, I promise it’ll be a nice place too and–”

“Are we not dating?” Dimitri asked, looking bewildered.

“...WHAT!?” Yuta gasped.

Dimitri started to sweat. “Isn’t that… why you asked me to the dance? That wasn’t a date?” Dimitri asked, looking more and more embarrassed, “Oh…um, I guess that’s why… you didn’t invite me in that night. Sorry, I really misread that… you must have been so creeped out.”

“Creeped out!?” Yuta said, looking increasingly perplexed, “By what!?”

“All the flirting I did that day?”

“WHAT FLIRTING!?”

“Actually, I’m bringing you two mead after all, this conversation is a carriage wreck,” Hina said, plopping down two meads, shaking her head at both of them, before heading out. “Little morons, the both of them.”

-

Lazaro had firm working hours. Something Doppio hadn’t noticed at first, since a lot of them were in the middle of the night, and, well…it wasn’t really like Lazaro ‘went out’ for them. There was no gathering of daily items by the door, wishing someone a good day; Lazaro was just…gone. Sometimes. 

Officially, on his taxes, Lazaro worked in the home, but that was because there wasn’t a decent form to fill out for being a reaper. And Lazaro knew he was one of the few reapers who was paid in human currency at all. Did that qualify as tax evasion? …what, you a snitch, stop asking.

Reapers, as the mechanism greasing the wheels of death, had the ability to sense people’s souls. To see what made up a being, and to see its strength. When a reaper saw a weak soul, teetering on the edge of oblivion, no longer able to be housed in its proper living vessel, that’s where they did their work, comforting and stabilizing the soul to send it off to the afterlife. 

Of course, there were a thousand little edge cases, which made protocol a nightmare, but in general, that was how being a reaper worked. And given that tried and true expectation, Lazaro had his working hours, and didn’t pay any mind to work outside of them. 

But there were edge cases to that as well. 

His coworkers knew damn well by now that Lazaro didn’t give a fuck if you were dealing with a stubborn ghost or a confused undead--it was trickier than a usual soul, but that was your problem, if he wasn’t on the clock. So for someone to notify him outside of working hours, with something they couldn’t even describe?

He was getting overpay for this.

-

…Lazaro was getting double overtime for this. Fuck. 

He usually wasn’t one to mince words or waste time, but for a moment, all Lazaro could do was look at the figure in the hospital bed. Young teenage boy--the clipboard at the end of his bed said 14. Fuck.--with a smattering of freckles across his face…or what Lazaro could see of it, outside of bandages. But unlike Aceto, this child did have a soul. 

One that was…

Okay. He understood where his coworkers were coming from now. 

By all accounts, the soul in front of him looked like a spirit’s, a vulnerable, over-expressed little thing. But…it also looked like a living soul, and Lazaro could very much see the boy, Quincey, breathing, even twitching a little in his sleep. The first thing that came to mind was a rare living possession, but…there was only one soul, and it seemed right at home in Quincey’s body, so…

The boy stirred, a small gasp coming from him, and for a moment, Lazaro noted glowing green eyes and what looked like mist coming from Quincey’s mouth. But after a blink, hazy, human blue eyes looked around the room…before looking at him. Right at him. 

Hm. 

“What in le tette della madre happened to you, kid?”

“...huh?” Quinn croaked eloquently, squinting at the…strange man in his room. Things had been…weird. He could remember waking up a few times since… I-in the hospital, but everything felt so hazy and…weird. Not to mention…

Another breath of fog came out of Quinn’s mouth, and he glanced down warily before looking back up at the man. “...look, all these jokes about me going towards the light are starting to feel really in bad taste. If the hospital started up some…” His already raspy voice died, though Quinn only breathily cleared his throat before continuing. “S-some new dark humor program, it’s really not working.”

“Bad taste covers that, yeah,” Lazaro agreed, before looking the kid over more. “But I’m not with the hospital. And the others weren’t either. Considering you’re still here…you shouldn’t be able to see any of us, but you are.”

“Because of the ghost stuff,” Quinn said.

Lazaro nodded. “Because of the g--” He blinked, before giving Quincey a dry look. “You know? And I was still called out here?! Fio de ‘na mignotta, those useless assholes…”

As Lazaro muttered to himself, Quinn cleared his throat again. “I mean, I’d hope I’d be able to recognize it. And, uh…going transparent and…green, isn’t really normal for electrocution…I think. I don’t really remember that part.”

Normally Lazaro would lazily correct the usage to ‘electric shock’...but the kid sure had died, so electrocution was right. Sighing, the reaper took the bud out from behind his ear and twirled it around his fingers. “Probably better you don’t. Alright, I’ll tell the others to stop harassing you. However this happened to you, it isn’t our business to shuffle the living to the other side.”

“…” He side-eyed Quincey. “...you have someone to talk to about all this?”

Quinn let out an incredulous snort, looking at Lazaro like he was crazy. “Are you nuts? No way I’m telling anyone this. I can handle things on my own.”

Lazaro gave the kid a flat look, before sighing in irritation and pulling out a card holder, starting to flip through it. “...you know, you’re the same age as my son. If my kid was electrocuted, but survived with a soul in flux, well, first, he wouldn’t leave my sight for a month, and we’d probably be housing his boyfriend all that time too, but I’d scour the world for someone for him to talk to, if he didn’t want to talk to me, or his other dad, or any of the bums that live with us, or his therapist. Trust me, Quincey, death isn’t something you just brush off, even if you can walk away from it.”

Quinn looked a bit annoyed, just another adult saying that they knew best…but his expression softened a bit. He…guessed it was different, if your parents knew about…death stuff. Conclusively. And…accepted it. That they’d still…

“...it’s just Quinn,” he croaked.

Nodding, Lazaro corrected himself as he held out a card, showing Quinn the print on the front. “Quinn. This is contact information for The Ghost Bureau, a group of paranormal investigators. A man named Kyle works for them, and he’s been a ghost for a while. Talk to him. …where’s a safe place I can put this for you?”

…a real ghost?! Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised, considering…everything, but…there were real ghosts just…out and about? With jobs?!

As Quinn reeled from that revelation, he glanced around the room with his uncovered eye. “Uh…um, I think that star plush has a zipper somewhere? I…think I remember Lyra saying something about that… That should be safe.”

Finding the plush--it looked more like a spiked ball with swirls to Lazaro, but whatever--he found the zipper and slipped the card in, smoothing it within the stuffing for perfect concealment. “Alright, I’ll leave you to rest, then--”

“Wait!” Quinn called out, his voice, instead of being raised, dying to almost nothing. Clearing it, he asked, “What’s your name?”

Lazaro looked at Quinn in amusement, before snorting. “Lazaro Gepano. If you’re ever in Usott, let me know. My son is already accruing a squad of strange friends, but he could always use more.”

Before Quinn could say anything, Lazaro just…disappeared, leaving him looking around his empty hospital room. Leaving him wondering if any of that had been real, and not just the hallucination of a gravely injured mind. 

“...” He huffed. “Geez, I don’t need someone setting up a playdate.”

-

Siffrin was fishing in the fountain again.

They stared at the hook, bobbing lightly in the water. They liked fishing. Once, they had almost caught a fish, even, they were pretty sure. At least, they had seen a fish in the water they were fishing in. It had swam past. Very exciting stuff. 

Siffrin was sitting on the fountain edge, his full garb on. Hat: Low. Robe: Warm. Boots: Fashionable. He felt most comfortable in these clothes. It was like each piece had been designed with him in mind. Which was odd, but that is what it felt like. 

Siffrin had started to remember the letter, because they were reading it every day. Either their long-term memory was better than their short-term one, or more likely, reading it every morning just meant Siffrin was fresh with the info. Re-reading the letter every day reminded him what they were doing, going to the dungeon. Not just the actual actions of it, but the motive: a city lost. Mirabelle. Isabeau. Odile. Bonnie. 

Mirabelle. Isabeau. Odile. Bonnie. 

Four people who mattered to Siffrin. They didn’t know why. But it was true. Four people who had put their trust in him. Four people who needed rescuing. Four people who had cared about him.

Mirabelle. Isabeau. Odile. Bonnie. 

Siffrin fished.  

Time was coming up. The council had met, the kids’ argument had been heard, and…ultimately it had been decided Eslley couldn’t turn a blind eye to a potential nation in peril. Even without all the answers, the logistics of governance fell to the core of why Eslley was a nation at all--the decision in their people’s hearts to do what was right, for others. 

Tiana was proud. She had been as a young dancer on the road, seeing a prince just as humble as a farmhand and just as capable of a Fennoxi warrior take on causes that had nothing to do with him. She had been as a first time mother, seeing the way her daughter idolized her husband, taking after those ideas to her very soul. She had been as a refugee back in her homeland, watching her son discover that protecting peoples’ smiles was just a worthy cause as their lives. She had been as a reunited family, standing up against terror and tyranny. 

Tiana was proud of her family…but she also knew the cost of altruism, even if it was something they all gave willingly. 

Walking out to the fountain, the queen smiled as she watched Siffrin fish, her elaborate chestpiece of curling silver anchoring flowing fabric accented by the close-fitting underclothes meant to off-set the deep winter chill. 

“Fishing today, Siffrin?” Tiana’s soft, kind voice asked. “Would you mind some company?”

Siffrin startled, peeking up from the brim of their hat, before pushing it backwards a bit to make it easier to look at her. “Exalted,” Siffrin greeted, smiling lightly, “Sure, take a seat. Want a turn at the fishing pole?”

“Oh, I’m alright, sweetie; it looks like you’re enjoying yourself,” Tiana smiled, taking the offered space. Despite being in the middle of winter, it still was such a lovely day. The sun behind clouds was still bright enough to give the day a light, cheery feeling, and there was a lovely calm in the air. She sometimes missed Fennoxi winters, but not having to quickly snow-proof anything was pretty nice. 

“Are you ready for tomorrow? I keep seeing Ingo at all corners of the Palacio, putting things together.” Tiana tittered fondly. “It’s probably a good way to get anxious energy out.”

“I suppose so, yeah,” Siffrin said, looking back to the water, watching the hook bob and shift in the water. “...are you nervous?”

“A little,” Tiana admitted, watching the ripples Siffrin’s line made. “Some people might disagree but…I think you’re a little silly if you’re not nervous before a battle, or something similar. Experience gives you wisdom and confidence, but when the show starts, anything can happen, and nerves keep you alert. I have faith in Leana and Ingo and Brathy, Jeremiah, Eddie, Melia…you as well. But I’m still watching my family and friends go into the dangerous unknown.”

Tiana took a breath of the cold air, listening to the music of nature for a moment. 

“...there’s a custom, in Fennox Wry, for people going into battle,” she said softly. “Not for spars, necessarily, though it can be a nice gesture, but…for hunting, or disputes. It’s to give the person going out a token, with the expectation that they’ll be able to return it when they come back. Like a lucky charm, promising they will come back.” 

Tiana looked down at the small pendant in her hand, smiling wistfully. “I don’t really expect this back--consider it a gift. But the sentiment is the same.” She giggled softly. “I think Ingo still has some of the tokens I’ve given him, so you can take that word for real.”

Holding her hand out towards Siffrin, Tiana presented a little pendant in the shape of a bell, smiling at them with a gentle kindness. “...good luck, Siffrin. Make it back, safe and sound.”

Siffrin looked down at the little bell pendant. It was small, suitable for a necklace. They shook it– ding ding– and the sound was as small as it was, but still sweet. A little chime. 

Siffrin smiled warmly at Tiana. “Thank you. It feels… lucky. Maybe you gave it to me because the universe wanted me to have it. I’ll keep it close.”

Then Siffrin looked down at the bell– ding ding– before looking up more firmly at Tiana. “I’ll keep them close too. I have no intention of not bringing your family back home to you. I promise.”

“Doesn’t it?” Tiana agreed. “If this was the path for the bell this whole time, I feel like it’s been a nice one. Funny how things just work out sometimes.” It had been something she’d had for ages by this point, one of many trinkets she’d picked up on her travels. Dancing wasn’t always the most profitable profession, depending on where you were, but Tiana had always liked getting a little something to remember where she had been. Perhaps a pressed flower, or some local embroidery when funds were easier, or…a small pendant. 

Her expression softening at the seriousness in Siffrin’s, Tiana touched her heart. “Thank you.” She paused, before huffing an amused breath at herself. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by any sentimentality today… Sorry if this is starting to sound more like a lesson at this point, but there’s another Fennoxi custom that’s come to mind.”

Tiana looked up from Siffrin and the fountain, glancing over at the Palacio, her eyes lingering on a window, before drifting further, pointed north. “Many of us don’t have family names. Some people use indications of which tribe they’re from, if you need to be more specific, but that’s only in certain cases. What shows a person’s allegiance more is the title they’re given.”

She looked back at Siffrin with a grin. “It’s a great honor to earn your title. Like you’ve come into yourself, you know?” Her smile grew sunnier. “The boys were all too young to earn theirs while we were still in Fennox Wry, but Eimdall’s always had a mind for heroics…and theatrics. While it’s more of a nickname…I always thought his title for Ingo was perfect. ‘Ingo of the Blue Skies’.”

“...my son has love in his heart like the sky--vast, and given to everyone who looks up, wanting a sunny day,” Tiana said softly, her smile dimming. “I think it’s wonderful, and I couldn’t be prouder of the man he’s grown into. But wearing your heart on your sleeve does mean it gets battered more easily, and giving it to everyone means that sometimes he’s not left with much himself.”

Tiana gave Siffrin a soft, quietly sad look. A plea from a mother. “Ingo’s found a true friend in you, Siffrin. He’ll follow you to the ends of the earth. It’s not a duty for you alone, but…if you find yourself thinking about jumping off that end…speak up, and figure out another way together. Because it wouldn’t just be you.”

Siffrin frowned at that, before dipping their hat beneath the brim, hiding their eyes. 

They had no intentions of ‘jumping’, metaphorically or otherwise. They wanted to live. To survive this journey. They felt a little ashamed she would think otherwise.

…but.

Siffrin was determined to get her children home. And the others. Anyone who had volunteered to follow them into the dark… he owed them. He owed them everything. 

Especially Ingo. 

He looked up at Tiana, smiling brightly. “Of course. I’d never put him in danger like that. We’ll be safe!”

Tiana nodded kindly. “That’s the hope, of course. Ideally you’ll all be well-suited for whatever’s awaiting you in that House of Change, you’ll be able to save your friends, and come back with an incredible story. I am looking forward to that,” she giggled.

“But things rarely go according to plan. So…be safe, and I’ll be wishing you as much luck as I can.” Rolling her eyes a little, Tiana smirked, “I may not have Abatea’s ear like my family, but there’s a lot more to the world than gods.”

She paused for a moment, before giving Siffrin an encouraging look. “...and if you get to see Ingo’s dancing? Lucky you, for one, but please give him all the applause he deserves. A dungeon isn’t quite a stage, but it can still serve him well as one.”

Siffrin nodded, entirely confident. “He’ll dance.” He smiled lightly. “I trust him. If he needs to? He will. And I’ll be really happy when he does.”

It was stuff like that that gave Tiana confidence when she talked about how Ingo had found a true friend in Siffrin. Her son didn’t struggle with making friends (these days), and it was quite the opposite really, but…someone that you could have absolute faith in, and have it given in return? 

Cordovan and Finch had won a war with that kind of bond. Ingo and Siffrin could save a country with theirs. 

Cheeks pinking, Tiana giggled in second-hand embarrassment, just remembering the event. “...I caught him once, has he told you? I think he thought he was being sneaky, leaving camp in the middle of the night… I got worried, so…” She shook her head, blush deepening. “...I think he’s wonderful, but I understand how it feels to have someone watch a dance when you don’t feel ready. I won’t rush him, but I am looking forward to when he feels ready. He’s a fantastic dancer. If you inspire him, then I’m even happier.”

She gave him a kind, sunny smile. “It’s always nicer when there’s someone to dance for.”

Siffrin didn’t doubt it. Admittedly, he still didn’t entirely understand why Ingo doubted himself so much about this. They knew it was a lot of responsibility and expectation, but… Ingo was great. Siffrin couldn’t imagine them performing poorly. And even if he did, it was okay. It was nice seeing someone you liked doing something fun and creative. Sure, Siffrin would be biased for liking it, but that didn’t make it any less charming. And he bet everyone else felt the same way.

There was a slight jerk from his fishing pole, and Siffrin gasped, looking to see if they had actually–!! Oh, no, the hook had gotten caught beneath some of the fountain drain. Ah well. “Are you sure you don’t want a turn with the pole, Tiana? It’s relaxing.”

Tiana’s eyebrows raised in surprise as Siffrin’s lure bobbed, before she giggled quietly at the reveal. Well…when in Eslley… “Sure, I’ll give it a go, now that I’ve passed off your token. Honestly I was just worried about somehow fumbling it into the fountain.” She shook her head a little. “I love Cordovan, but I’m a little thankful we haven’t been in a position for him to shower me in jewels or all the other little romantic things he said when we were dating. I’d be mortified losing half of a country’s wealth just because I’m clumsy.”

“It can be a little tough to keep track of a lot of things,” Siffrin agreed, passing her the pole, watching the hook bop and move hypnotically, “I have a lot of pockets in this robe, which is good, because if I didn’t I’m pretty sure I’d lose everything. Helps to always have it nearby.”

“...” Siffrin smiled lightly, “It’s nice to be loved like that.”

“That’s good advice,” she noted, taking the pole and just settling into the enjoyment of being next to water. “I don’t wear as much these days, but I used to think performers’ clothing had some sort of vendetta against pockets. What we did get was pretty sneaky, though.”

Tiana smiled fondly. “It is. I don’t need Cordovan to give me the world, but it does make a girl feel special that he wants to give it. My friends back home said I was crazy to fall in love with a prince, but, well…I guess I’m just happy with the kind of crazy I am.”

“I don’t know if we can help who we fall in love with,” Siffrin said, watching the hook bob. “My friend Odile said she fell in love with someone she hated, once. At the same time. She’s not the type to lie or exaggerate, even if… I don’t really understand how one doesn’t cancel out the other. Just makes it seem really hard to fight.”

Tiana hummed consideringly. “I think if you try to fight your feelings, for any feelings, that’s just a good way to make yourself unhappy. You just have to feel them, even the ones that don’t feel great, because they won’t just go away on their own. It all just…piles up and combines together, rather than anything canceling. The only way for them to go is to accept it, then let it go when you’ve felt all you can.”

“It’s not to say you can’t control your reaction to your feelings…but you still have to feel them.” Tiana watched the ripples in the water consideringly. “For a case like your friend…feeling that love and hate, maybe there’s a path for her in getting to know that person more, and maybe the things she hates won’t feel as all-encompassing. Maybe they will, and she’ll have to reconcile that that love won’t bear fruit, since it’d harm her to do so. Maybe she’ll just have to sit with the feelings until they both fade. We can’t help who we fall in love with…but we can decide what to do with that love.”

Siffrin nodded lightly–that made sense–before he chuckled lightly. “Jeremiah thought I was in love with Ingo.”

They tilted their head a bit, amending after a moment, “Or something. Something like that. He was worried I was gonna break his heart…” Siffrin pouted, brow furrowing in confusion, “Or something. Which is silly. Ingo’s afraid of flirty people. We wouldn’t be friends if I was in love with him.”

Tiana raised her eyebrows before considering that. While he was a bit thorny and difficult to get to know at first, Jeremiah was a good kid. He had already banded together with Leana when they all reconvened with the resistance army, and he had watched her back faithfully ever since. And while they butted heads now and again, Tiana knew that he and Ingo had become close friends as well. 

Maybe more. But, unfortunately, Ingo had run head-first into the wall that was Esllean social customs right in the middle of his teens, and it hadn’t exactly treated him kindly. Not to mention they were in the middle of a war at the same time. So considering the panic that Ingo went into whenever someone even mentioned his attraction to anyone besides women, Tiana had left him to his privacy.

But if Jeremiah saw something in Siffrin…?

“...would you flirt with him if you liked him?” she asked.

“Hmm,” Siffrin hummed, blinking… before his face scrunched in uncertainty, clearly having never thought about it before. “Mmm?? Yes? I mean… that’s what happens when you like someone. You flirt. Like…” Siffrin tilted his head, “...instinctively? I wouldn’t be able to help it. Right?”

“Not necessarily,” Tiana said lightly, remarkably unruffled to be talking about her son’s love life, “It comes naturally to some people, and others flirt taking cues, because, like you said, that’s what they see. When you like someone, you flirt, that’s just the order of things. But what flirting looks like is almost entirely formed by the culture around you, and some people still just don’t do it at all.”

“For some, they just prefer to enjoy the company of the person they like, and not pursue anything more. For some, that act of pursuing is bluntly asking to date, and then…nothing looks that different from the outside. Some people just ignore the matter entirely, which I find a little sad, but it’s not my place to put any judgment on it.”

Tiana shrugged a little, adjusting her grip on the fishing pole. “Love looks different on everyone. It’s why I asked.”

“Oh.” Siffrin considered all of that quietly… before admitting, “Then, I guess I don’t know. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been in love before.”

[Grabbing the taller man’s collar and pulling down, desperate–????]

Siffrin winced. “...I’m a little nervous about finding the people we’re trying to save,” they suddenly admitted, speaking softly, “We’re… made up of our memories, right? They make us who we are… so if you suddenly remember a lot of things… you’re different. You’re not the person that you were before you remembered. Maybe.”

Siffrin put his hands in his lap, frowning at them. “Maybe.”

“...maybe,” Tiana said softly, looking over at Siffrin, before gently reaching over to put a hand over his. “...if you suddenly remember a lot…I think you will be different. But I don’t think the person you are before remembering disappears. You’re just…that person, plus. And, rather than or.”

She gave him a kind look. “It’s alright to be nervous. But Ingo’s told me a lot about how you clearly care for your friends, the people you’re saving. Whatever you end up finding…I think that’ll stay true, and I think that truth is important. You’re a person that cares for others, and whatever ends up happening around that…it’s a beautiful place to come from.”

Siffrin, +. That didn’t sound so bad… they nodded. “Thanks. That’s a nice way of thinking about it.”

If the new person Siffrin was was just someone who could care even more about people? Siffrin was okay with that. He liked the parts of himself that cared about the others. It was the parts of himself that…shone? The most. Felt most vibrant. 

“...no offense, but I’m curious how you and Cordovan met,” Siffrin said, looking up to her, “No one has ever suggested it’s odd, but the way you said it just now, how strange it was to be in love with a prince… made me realize it's probably not that common. What happened?”

“I like to think so too.” Tiana nodded, accepting the thanks. 

Though, when Siffrin asked about her own love life, Tiana could only giggle bashfully. “Oh, I’ll be embarrassed if I set up some amazing story in your head… We met while I was traveling.” Patting Siffrin’s hands once more before giving him back their space, Tiana explained, “I was used to traveling in Fennox Wry, we’re nomads, but I’ve always been more of a performer than a warrior, and I couldn’t keep myself standing still while there was a world of stories to listen to. So…I left, and started traveling around Eagane, off-continent too. Just…anywhere I could get to on my feet, or with a favor exchanged for travel.”

“I’d just come back to Eagane, through Eslley, and…” Tiana laughed softly, “to be honest, I was having the worst day. One of my packs was missing, I was horribly seasick, I hadn’t heard from my friends or family in months… I felt like I was one bad look away from crying, and I just wanted to disappear into the ground.”

“Someone working at the port started to harass me, and I was barely holding it together… Then this guy out of nowhere pulls out a sword and tells them to back off, and I lost it.” Shaking her head, Tiana’s smile was fond, even as she flushed at the memory. “Full-on bawling. I don’t even know where the port worker went, but I scared the daylights out of the guy that tried to defend me, and he tried to comfort me, but everything about the day was just crashing out of me at once. It was a disaster, until his little sister came over and started browbeating him about how carrying a huge sword everywhere finally caught up with him and of course he was going to scare pretty girls that way.”

She gave Siffrin a sheepish grin. “Cordovan and Izzy took me in, after that, and even stuck around to help me get my luggage back. We got around to being friends…and I nearly fainted when it was only weeks later someone called them ‘Blessed’ and I realized I’d been hanging out with the Esllean prince and princess that whole time. How embarrassing…”

Siffrin looked down at their hand. Tiana had such a calm presence, that it hadn’t occurred to them to be alarmed at the touch of their hand until the slight, surprising pats. A natural ease to how they moved keeping him relaxed. Odd.

Was that dancers’ grace why Ingo sometimes didn’t startle him?

“That’s a sweet way to meet someone, honestly.” Siffrin smiled. “It’s nice to have someone look out for you. Feels safe.”

“Cordovan’s very good at that, in my experience,” Tiana giggled, everything in her expression soft and fond. “He can be a bit silly in his attempts, sometimes, but I just find that even more endearing. He’s someone I can always trust to have my back, and he trusts I have his.”

She glanced over at Siffrin with a slightly sad, commiserating look. “It’s the greatest thing I hope for, in my kids’ futures. To have someone like that.”

“They’ll find it,” Siffrin said confidently, no doubt. “They’re both awesome. How could anyone resist? Leana is cool and competent and surprisingly funny, when she feels like it. Ingo is charming and sweet and dedicated. They both got your good looks. They’ll be fine.”

“Flatterer,” Tiana giggled, giving Siffrin a wink, before she sighed. Glancing over to Ingo’s bedroom window again. “...I hope so.”

She knew it was a little hypocritical. She’d fallen in love with a prince, one of her best friends was a princess, she’d raised and helped raise a princess and three princes. Tiana knew intimately that there could be great kindness among royalty. 

…she just wished that Ingo could have greater freedom to choose, she supposed. Hoped, that he’d be able to find that kindness in the other royals of the world.

-

“...ACHOO!” Madeline squeaked.

-

“They will.” Siffrin said again, “The universe won’t let them down.”

-

The fissure in the center of the jungle was long. Long enough that while Siffrin knew they had come from there, eventually finding the waterfall at the farthest end of its point and climbing up it, they admitted they had no idea how far in the ‘door’ they had come from actually was in it. 

“I was in there long enough that I forgot why I was in there,” Siffrin explained, warily looking down at the massive ravine he had been trapped in, trees growing sideways on its edges as birds flew beneath them. “Maybe I only walked for a few days and it’s relatively close to the waterfall? Or I might have walked weeks.”

Eddie, claws dug into the saddle and looking warily at the long drop down, called out through his translator, “It can’t be that far. Ingo was able to catch a glimpse of it in the swoop around, so while it might be a few days walk on foot, by flight it’s not far. At the very least within eye distance.”

“That can be pretty far by flight even. Just because a mountain peak is within view doesn’t make it a quick journey,” Leana cautioned, looking over to Jeremiah and Ingo, “The three of us split up? I’ll explore around the waterfall, Jeremiah, you search the left side wall, Ingo, right!”

“What a nightmare,” Ingo muttered, glancing back at Siffrin with a wary, yet thankful look. “I’m glad you made it up, even if walking around here for days is still scary. But hopefully it’ll be much faster this time!” If…what he had seen had even been what they were looking for. But Ingo had faith. 

Everyone else did, so it was only fair for him to do his part, right?

“We’re on it!” Ingo called back to his sister, heading right, while he watched Jeremiah, Brathy, and Eddie on Minuet head left. 

Melia, riding with Leana, tucked her wings more firmly against herself, while Bryce hovered over their heads, her father deciding to make the trip to the ravine with them, even if he wasn’t going to go dungeon crawling. “Oo-hoo! You think it could be behind the waterfall like in the stories? Hoo-hoo-hoo, that’d be a nasty entry, we’d all get bludgeoned by the falls before taking a step inside!”

Sighing, Melia wrapped her arms a little tighter around Leana as they fell in descent. “If Ingo had been able to see it, I doubt it’s behind water… But it could be close by. Having people get distracted by the waterfall would be a good way to keep it hidden, I guess.”

“Siffrin said they don’t recall falling into the water itself,” Leana said, her eyes glancing down to the thin river that separated the two sides, “That feels memorable, even for them, so I think we can assume he didn’t.”

Eddie, peering down into the ravine in his spot between Brathy and Jeremiah, suddenly said, “Wait, is that–no, no, false alarm, that’s a particularly smooth rock in the wall. This is meant to be the work of the God of Change, I hope this isn’t a door that moves.”

Siffrin, holding onto Ingo, stared down at the path next to the river…before narrowing his eyes at a burnt tree. “Wait.”

[He needed to leave a sign for himself. Anything. Before he forgot.]

[He had a box of matches when he started. It was gone by the time he got to–]

“It’s on this side,” Siffrin confirmed, pointing to their right, “I burnt that tree not long after I left the door. Maybe around that corner?”

“Would be just our fuckin’ luck if it is,” Brathanial grumbled, keeping a lookout. “Siff’s already all geared up to kick ass, would just be more fuel to our fire to deal with divine bullshit.”

“So says the healer,” Jeremiah noted, earning a scoff. 

“Hm?” Ingo hummed, slowing their falicorn to look over where Siffrin was pointing. “...oh! Wow, Siffrin, that’s a good sign! Alright, lemme take us over…” 

Sure enough, there was an abnormality in the clifface, a metal set of doors just dull enough to miss on casual survey, but still different enough to, for instance, catch the light and whisper into the air that there was something there. 

Grinning brightly--step one, completed easily!--Ingo took a deep breath and called out, “FOUND IT!!!”

The door was both clearly important, while oddly subdued. 

It was large enough that a large horse could easily walk inside, but a small carriage would scrape its sides. In the right light, it could easily be mistaken for just more ‘shiny’ rocks on the side of the ravine wall. A few of its corners had plants and vines growing from it. 

As the group all landed around it, one thing was immediately clear. There was no sign of how to actually open it. No markings. No handle.

Though, entirely unnoticeable from the sky, and even easy to miss on the ground, was a small little rock podium, maybe a few inches high, where a small Change God statue was sat… and as the group approached?

It looked up. And bleeding onto its face, like ink bleeding through paper, formed a little smiley face : ) as it picked up a tiny pebble in front of it and brought it up to its face, clicking it against its surface. The small rock it was holding actually carved to look like a small cup, with a second one placed next to where the tiny change god had picked up the first one. 

…

“...the fuck?” Brathy muttered, a weirded out look on his face. Sure, he’d seen clockwork figures before, it wasn’t like he was some barbarian freaked out by anything inanimate moving on its own, but, uh, they weren’t usually made of stone. Or could change their faces. 

“At…least it’s trying to be friendly?” Ingo hummed, tilting his head a little. Glancing to the others, he asked, “Do…you think we should fill the cups? Like a friendship offering?”

“I don’t know if touching weird, mysterious objects is a good idea…” Melia worried. 

“It can’t hurt to try. Perhaps this is meant to be a sign of what we can expect inside?” Eddie offered, glad to be able to stretch on land. He was surprised by the moving figure, but was ready to file it away under ‘weird god stuff’. “Does the god of change like… logic puzzles?”

“That feels wrong,” Leana said, squatting down in front of the little stone statue, who waved cheerily at her before picking up to ‘sip’ its cup again, “Change isn’t always logical, I think. Shoot, I sort of wish we had invited a believer with us. Maybe this is something to do with their mythos?”

“Change is desire,” Siffrin recalled, “It doesn’t have to make sense, you just have to want it enough. And the Change God themselves…they like watching things change. Morph. Good or bad. Their worshippers were good people, amazing people… but that’s because that was the change they all wanted. They wanted to be nice, and safe, and happy. The god had nothing to do with that.”

“I don’t suppose you can remember how you know that?” Eddie asked. 

Siffrin flushed, looking away. “...not really. It sort of feels instinctive. I can’t remember why I know that. The Change God’s worshippers are good people. The Change God themself is…cruel.”

:D the little figurine waved their cup.

Ingo gave Siffrin a worried look. Sure, sometimes Abatea’s influence seemed a little confusing, but at her core, they believed her to be a kind god. The basis of their worship and beliefs was entirely based on the concepts of kindness and being good to one another on this planet. He didn’t doubt Siffrin’s assertions that the Change God’s followers themselves were kind, because a god didn’t dictate what kind of person you were, but…knowing a god to be not just uncaring, but cruel was…scary. 

“Change is…desire,” Melia repeated, looking at the statue warily. “So, to get inside a House of Change, maybe…we have to express a desire that…makes change? S-somehow?”

Jeremiah sighed exasperatedly, before breaking from the group all deciding what to do. Reaching into a pocket, he withdrew a few copper, setting them on the opposite cup, before standing back and crossing his arms. 

Ingo blinked, before raising an eyebrow at the retainer. “...that was literally nothing we were talking about.”

Jeremiah frowned deeply. “It’s change. A pun.”

Something that sickened him to consider, but if this stupid lock wanted something transformative, then…Jeremiah making a pun was that. 

:O

:D 

8D HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Siffrin, along with a few of the others, instinctively stepped backwards as a booming laugh ripped through the air around them. Not from the figurine itself, but it was clearly miming the laughter that was happening around it, taking the coin filled cup and shaking it around, before falling backwards onto its back and kicking the air, ‘laughing’ hysterically as the wind became heavier around them. HA HA HA HA HA HA

HA!

(•⚗৺⚗•)

Points for creativity

SIFFRIN!

Siffrin stepped closer to Ingo, starting to sweat as the wind sound screamed around them, the little statue’s face changing and expressing based on what it screamed. “Y-yes?”

MY FAVORITE LITTLE COSMIC PUNCHING BAG!

I was hoping you’d be back soon ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

AND WITH FRIENDS! 

I’m. So. Pleased.

I’ve been hoping Abatea’s brood might… ‘drop in’.

(。≖ˇ∀ˇ≖。)

Siffrin was about to worriedly ask ‘why’ the god was hoping for the Dianthes–was it to save the city? But their question was cut off as, beneath their feet, the floor just opened up. The door in front of them, with no entrance and no sign of opening, remaining firmly shut as air suddenly opened up beneath the party’s feet. 

“Ahhhhhhhhh,” the translator translated as Eddie ROARED, trying to catch the edge with his claws before falling into the darkness. 

“Oh fu–” Leana managed to get out before disappearing into the dark below. 

Siffrin didn’t get out a word. Just looking mutely surprised as he fell into the abyss, before his back hit a smooth, slanted surface… and continued to slide him down. Faster and faster.

Bryce snickered a bit at the joke, but he was quickly drowned out by--

Ingo held out his shield arm slightly in front of Siffrin even as they all stepped back, looking around the laughing air with varying reactions of wariness and confusion. He jolted, the voice almost buzzing around in his head, and Ingo realized with a drop of his stomach…oh. This was a voice of the divine. 

…it was really loud. 

Though, the sudden shock of awe through him gave way to irritation. Siffrin had said the Change God was cruel, had been dismissive and offended at the insinuation that it was their god, but Ingo hadn’t expected the god to be such a…jerk. 

“Hey!” Ingo called out to the literal divine, not thinking. “Siffrin is no one’s punching ba--AAAAAIIIIIIIGHHH!!!”

Perhaps it was better that his insolence was cut off by a scream, plunging into the abyss.

Jeremiah growled, tucking in his limbs to fall faster, hoping to aid Leana and Ingo with their falls, while Melia yelped, her wings flaring as she grabbed Brathy’s hand, the two of them warbling in panic. Even so, they were still slowly descending, and Bryce gave a disparaging look to the little Change God statue before taking off from Melia’s shoulder. 

“Good luck, Melly!! I’ll be waiting out here for you guys, so don’t make me wait an egg-ternity! Have fun, my brilliant daughter!”

As Melia and Brathanial slowly floated down into the pit, Melia shouted out, “YOU JERK!!!”

The little figurine statue waved from the edge of the pit, face blank, until the pit closed up. It looked up at the ‘raven’. An expression bleeding into its face :o … before pointing at the raven, rolling onto its back and ‘laughing’ hysterically… before sitting up, pulling its legs in, and suddenly sitting with serene dignity. Lifeless. The wind gone.

“Hoo-hoo,” the raven cooed, before sighing, flying up to one of the sideways trees growing out of the ravine wall, settling his feathers to wait. They’d be alright. They were a clever, creative, powerful group, and what’s more…they were friends. Bryce believed in them. It was only a matter of time.

-

It was a massive, spiraling slide in a dark pit. But, as the group slid down, they realized they could see something below, even in the mad, dizzying movement--a mansion. Or, as what its worshippers would call it, ‘A House’, massive and grande in scope, surrounded by a dark landscape that, as the slide caused the entire group to shoot briefly into the air, for those able to peer down in the strange lighting, they would see was a dark reflection of the surface of water… with odd figures standing in it. Strange, dark statues, standing among strange, dark houses, like shadows made physical.

And as they fell down to the slide again, there was a brief moment where they could see the sun, beneath the water. Too far away for its light to reach this place, but clearly shimmering beneath the surface. Like they were, somehow, on the wrong side of the water, and the sky was beneath them.

But these were all mere glimpses and glances at the odd shadow village beneath them. And the slide caught them as they fell again, before leading them in through an opening on the roof of the house, and–much slower than they should have been sliding, but still very fast–the group piled onto the roof, dizzy and collapsed in the middle of a roof garden. 

In the center of the garden was a… ‘statue’? Of a tall, beautiful woman. Looking sadly in front of her, regal and reserved. Like she was standing proud against something terrible. 

Leaning against the statue, was…a bright weirdo. Who seemed distinctly unimpressed as they watched the group groan on the ground, before clapping sarcastically. “Wooooow, Stardust! What an entrance! Very graceful.”

In other circumstances, the wild twirling slide would’ve been the height of summer fun. As it was, being plunged into the darkness unceremoniously and being shown strange, unsettling visions, it was all very scary…though Ingo may or may not have let loose a ‘woo!’ or two during the airborne section. 

The end was just as irreverent as the start, through, and the adventuring party all tumbled together on the roof. 

Ingo reeled a bit, his vision still spinning as he opened his eyes…though there was no missing the figure there to greet them. And, as bright as they were, looking almost haloed in the darkness…

“...wow,” Ingo murmured, blushing a bit as he looked at them, upside-down in the pile. “Has anyone ever told you you have fantastic shoulders?”

“Not the time, Ingo,” Brathanial groaned, pulling himself and Melia out of the pile before checking over everyone for injuries. 

“Oooooh~ what a flatterer!” the figure cooed, bashfully covering their… mouth? And chuckling coyly as they peered with sharp eyes at Ingo, “Flirt. Thank you! They’re very…” the figure waved a hand vaguely, glancing at their shoulders like they needed a reminder of what they looked like, “Bumpy.”

Siffrin sighed, readjusting their hat and standing up, frowning as they looked around, confused. “Where…?”

“Confused? Lost?” the figure asked, pushing off the statue and walking down the few steps to join them, ‘smiling’ brightly, though you could only see it in their eyes. “How expected! That’s why I’m here, after all! May I introduce myself~ I am Loop,” Loop said, giving a small curtsey, and then a low, theatrical bow, “Here to perform my literal god-given role: your guide through the house!” 

“A guide?” Eddie purred a little uncertainly, having licked some of his fur straight, pulling himself together from the fall, “Who are you? You’re not the change god, are you?”

“Do I look like a god?” Loop asked, raising an eyebrow at Eddie.

“Um…” Eddie’s tail flicked, staring at the head made of light, “Yes?”

“Oh. Well, appearances can be deceiving! Let’s be civilized about this: you assume I’m not the brat god putting us through all this for noooo reason, and I’ll assume you’re not actually some sort of horribly burnt dog,” Loop said, snickering at Eddie, “Fair trade, puppy?”

“I’ll ask you to treat my people with more respect,” Leana said, stepping to the front of the party, raising her chin as she addressed Loop, “You said you’re a guide?”

“More or less!” Loop said brightly, “The kind who’s nooooot going into any of the conjoining rooms, just so we’re clear. Or walking with you at all! Basically, I’ll show up when I feel like it. Or if you beg really, really loud.”

Getting up, Jeremiah gave Loop a skeptical look. Change wasn’t deception…but it wasn’t not misdirection. Their entrance had exemplified that. However, given the distaste Loop seemed to have for the Change God as well…whatever they told them about getting through the house could likely be relied on. Not blindly, not without personal observation, but…not a trick, most likely. 

Though he still didn’t join Ingo and Brathy touching their hearts in response to Loop’s curtsey and bow. And it seemed that Melia didn’t either, considering how she was hiding behind him. 

While Ingo gave Loop a hard look, nodding with Leana’s request for…you know, not just insulting them…habits were hard to change. 

“A shame,” Ingo sighed, giving Loop a charming smile. “You really seem like the type to light up a room. Say, wh--Owww???” 

Brathy gave Ingo a dry look, unaffected by his cousin’s dramatic gasping from the bonk to the head, before looking back at Loop. “Whatcha gonna guide us on, then? Just directions?”

Siffrin laughed lightly at the pun, but there was a clear sense of nerves in it. This person made Siffrin a little nervous. Their voice was light and bouncy, their posture calm… but there was something in their eyes. Sharp not just by shape, but sharp in the way a freshly sharpened dagger was: something dangerous in the shine. And that dangerous gaze kept snapping back to Siffrin, like they couldn’t keep their eyes off of him.

“Oh ho ho ho, we have comedians! Well, good, if Siffrin was going to bring back anyone to save an entire country's worth of doomed people, it’s very important he bring back someone funny,” Loop said, clapping their hands brightly, “Good job, Siffrin! Definitely worth the trip!”

“These are the Dianthe children–” Siffrin tried to explain.

“Oh, I know, Stardust, I’m just teasing. Don’t be sensitive,” Loop said dismissively, looking back to Brathy, “And ultimately? Yes! See, in this house, things can be a bit screwy and dangerous if you don’t know the order of things. And figuring out the order takes a lot of practice, since the order changes so often. You can’t trust that the rooms in this house will be the same ones they were the last time you were in, they keep moving around and shifting. But despite that, the basic layout still needs to be done in a certain order to get certain keys to open certain rooms.”

Loop huffed a sigh, like they were exhausted just thinking about it, before explaining, “So to get the right rooms in the right order, you have to learn to find little context clues. Little signs and patterns. Which, if the Change God just let your little party here do willy nilly, through trial and error? Ooooooh, that would take so soooooo loooong for you to learn all the little patterns!” Loop laughed brightly… before saying dead pan, “So long. Who has time for all of that? So I’m here to speed things up a bit by pointing you in the right directions. So it’s not as boring, watching you all fumble your way through.”

“If the Change God doesn’t want to watch us struggle, why not just not change the rooms?” Leana asked. “Why not make it easier for us to explore?”

“They can’t help it!” Loop explained brightly, “This House is a tunnel, from one space to another. The Change God is keeping it sustained so it can be traveled through, yes. But by their very nature? They can’t keep it unchanged from moment to moment. It is, quote unquote, ‘Boring and feels bad.’” Loop said, shrugging, “So they don’t bother. Easier to make a guide.”

Ingo frowned a little. It wasn’t even a dig at him, really--okay, it sort of was--just something that Loop redirected to Siffrin…again. Maybe…Loop and Siffrin had history together? It did sound like Loop knew Siffrin, at least. Still, even if there was some bad blood, it did sound like Loop’s goals aligned with theirs, so there was no need to be so…

Putting a hand on Siffrin’s shoulder, Ingo gave them a soft, encouraging smile. As Feray said, sometimes haters were just going to hate, so it was better to not pay them any mind. At…least past the directions they needed to get from Loop. Ducking a little to speak quietly to Siffrin, Ingo mentioned, “You know, despite the other stuff, ‘Stardust’ is a cute nickname. It suits you, I think.”

Frowning a bit at Loop’s explanation, Melia glanced farther into the house, not really…seeing anything yet that looked like a clue or pattern to her, but she guessed that might be the point. “I guess gods are bound by their natures too, sometimes…”

“Where should we go first?” Jeremiah asked, getting to business.

Siffrin flushed lightly. He guessed so… though, he couldn’t guess why Loop would pick that for them at all. 

Loop hummed, looking over their shoulder at the statue. “What do you think, Madam?” they said to her, “Shall we take the risk and go through the king’s room? Hope he’s not awake?”

The statue looked sadly in the middle distance. Loop watched it, before humming, “That’s a good sign. He rarely moves if she doesn’t. Let’s go through the king’s room.”

“Do the statues move?” Eddie asked, following as Loop walked off, leading them down the roof staircase and down a long, open-ceiling hall, “Or are you being theatrical?”

“Can’t I be both? Drama is the spice of life, puppy,” Loop said, before pointing up at the pillars around them, where upon gazing at them, it was easier to spot the little Change God figurines. Some still, some dancing. “They’re not ‘statues’, they’re reflections. Not that it really matters. But depending on which reflection is moving or not? That’s a clue to the pattern we’re on. Past these large doors up ahead? Will either be a very big, ugly ‘statue’,” Loop said, heading to the doors, “Or! It will be a massive, murderous man who will easily kill us all! If Euphanie isn’t moving, he proooobably isn’t, but! No way to tell without walking in! Wouldn’t it suck if you all died at the start? What a waste of time!”

And without further ado, Loop pushed the doors open… and in clear view of the doors, was a massive, well armored man. Big enough that he had to sit, curled up, head brushing the ceiling, the floor covered in long, blond hair… dark and statuesque. 

“Lucky us,” Loop mused, walking past him, “Hopefully the next time this room pops up, we’ll be just as lucky.”

Melia shuddered, shuffling closer to Brathanial…though he did the same towards her. “Yeesh… Great, love that we get the ‘creepy doll’ dungeon. Daddy really set me up for weird expectations.”

Brathy snorted nervously. “Yeah? This shit does seem like something your old man could come up with. What’d he actually say?”

“Ball puzzles over lava in an active volcano, half-submerged shrine filled with spiders, a mining processing plant with impossible technology…and only some of those were ones he told me about as a kid,” Melia griped. 

Looking at the positions of the ‘reflections’, Jeremiah narrowed his eyes. “Aren’t we here to kill this king? The letter said he’d be by a sundial room, so either Mirabelle didn’t know about the changing rooms, or this place is going to make us backtrack a million times for no reason.”

Not given time to muse, Ingo hurriedly drew his sword as Loop pushed open the door, hearing the familiar sounds around him of the others doing the same, but…well, as Loop said. Lucky. …mmmmmaybe. 

“...ah,” Ingo said softly. “Massive was…an accurate descriptor. That changes a few strategies, I think.”

“Darling~” Loop cooed, looking over to Jeremiah with a near leering ‘smile’, “Repeat after me. ‘Tunnel’. ‘Reflection’. Oh, nevermind. You’ll figure it all out eventually.” Loop said dismissively, shrugging as they opened the door, holding it open for them, “Feel free to head in. Down the hall will be the first level…as in, floor, that you’ll need to puzzle through. Do watch out for Sadnesses. The rooms themselves rarely have them, but the halls? Almost always! Couldn’t guess why. They’re definitely not the Change God’s, and they don’t seem to be reflections. They’re super real, they won’t freeze, and they WILL kill you… good luck!” 

It didn’t matter what was actually happening if it would feel like they were going in circles. Jeremiah thought the Change God could use a little boredom and struggle--now that would be a change. 

“Thank you, Loop!” Ingo called back, not wanting to be impolite even if Loop was a bit of a jerk, before smoothing over a grimace with a grin. “Sadnesses, huh. If Siffrin’s comparison was right and they’re like rot-beasts, then we may be able to just outrun a good few, but…well, we were expecting a fight.”

Brathy sighed, but (marginally) straightened and held his staff aloft, taking his position in the party composition they’d discussed in the previous weeks. Eddie and Jeremiah led, Eddie having the best senses to give the best warning for anything coming up, and while not a battlefield one, Jeremiah was the best ‘tank’ their group had. Then came Siffrin, near the front to take advantage of his speed, with Ingo not far behind. Brathy and Melia were behind them, Brathy staying in the middle to heal, and Melia taking advantage of distance with her bow, while Leana watched their backs. 

“Onward we go, then…” Melia groaned, the group moving forward into the first…level.

The group headed down the hall. It was dark and quiet, red lanterns on the wall. Siffrin glanced back. “Loop, how long is… oh.”

Loop was gone. Well, they had said that they wouldn’t be there the entire time. Siffrin supposed that they were going to try to avoid the battles, if they could help it. Fair enough. 

Though, down the hall, there was a creature on the floor. Its body melted and warped into itself, and it shuddered and shivered on the floor. “Hhhh… hhhhhh…”

Before anyone could say anything, Siffrin brought out his hook dagger, immediately getting into a defensive position. “Sadness,” he whispered to the group. 

“WAAAAAAAAAAH!” The creature screamed, suddenly shooting up to its spindly feet. Its one wide eye sobbing as it wailed, running at them with fervor, its mouth opening wide to reveal dozens of sharp, biting teeth. Clearly intent to sink them into their flesh. 

Siffrin, near the front, smirked lightly, before darting forward. Moving quickly and able to hide the direction of their movement in their cloaks until the last minute, where they ran past the Sadness, taking some of its flesh with him as he ran his hook dagger through its side. The Sadness wailed again, but kept running, the wound not slowing it down as it ran towards the group, focusing its gaze on Brathy, like it was determined to rip into him first.

They all readied themselves, a group used to battle. 

May you find peace. Ingo whispered a quick prayer in his head, before focusing. Most often, rot-beasts took on, well, beastly, animalistic forms, given that they came from the bodies of animals that had stayed in corrupted magic for too long. But sometimes, they looked humanoid. 

As disturbing as it was, Ingo preferred humanoid rot-beasts to…you know. Killing people. 

Readying his axe--smaller than the full-sized halberd he used when fighting with Minuet, but while that was his forte, there was no chance Jeremiah was going to ask her to come along a cramped, trap-ridden dungeon crawl--Jeremiah charged back at the Sadness, getting a solid cleave across its body. He’d barely followed through with the motion before Ingo was at his side, striding over like he was flying to get in a hit as well. From behind, an arrow sailed through the air, not quite striking true, but lodging in one of the creatures’ limbs. 

Seeing where it was heading--it would be a problem if this wasn’t just random chance, and the enemies here knew to identify and take out healers first--Brathy backed up, giving the others more room to act. 

Eddie howled before his two sharp, dagger-like tails both whipped out as he jumped past it, stabbing two more slices into its legs. The creature didn’t bleed, but the bits of it that were cut seemed to puff and distort like smoke coming off water. It was clearly slowed down, and it tried to swipe at Eddie as it passed, but the creature staggered and wailed under all the assaults against it. It was clearly struggling to remain steady, but still seemed hyper-focused on Brathy, wailing as it jumped towards him–before squealing as a whip wrapped around its leg, tightening around its ankle as Leana snapped the whip back and stepped on it, catching the whip’s middle with her elbow and slinging the creature up, over, and slamming it down onto the ground. 

That seemed to be the last straw for it. It made a small, gurgling sound as it splatted onto the ground…before melting into a puddle. The water thinning into almost nothing. 

“So that’s a Sadness?” Leana said, wrapping her whip up and placing it back on her hip, staring down at the puddle, “Actual tears?”

“We don’t know how it works,” Siffrin admitted, putting his hook away, “It's something that happens around the king. The people he fights, if he beats them? He does something to them before they freeze. Like he pulls all the sadness of losing the fight out of them and turns it into a monster. You can sometimes tell what the person was sad about before they were frozen. The way it was clinging to the ground like that? Probably someone he caught running for their lives.”

“Grim,” Eddie said, looking at the puddle, “But not the person themselves?”

“The people the Sadnesses are pulled from stay frozen,” Siffrin said, “So no, not them. Just their sadness.”

Melia shuddered, her feathers ruffling as she looked over at the puddle warily. Freaky… (...and not the sort of magic she was looking for. Even if she could extract her mother’s happiness, or peace, she didn’t want some mindless echo for a parent. And it would still be leaving the actual person to suffer.)

“Disturbing,” Ingo agreed. “It’s bad enough losing; to have an aspect of yourself made to fight for the cause you lost to…it’s insulting.”

Seeing as it wasn’t the actual person, Brathanial didn’t bother giving a prayer to the deceased, though he did shake his head grimly. “...Siff, these things usually hyperfocus on one target at a time? ‘Cause we might have a problem if they’re gunnin’ for me in every fight.”

“Our cleric being injured puts us all at risk,” Jeremiah gruffly agreed.

“It’s hard to judge,” Siffrin frowned, “The Sadnesses reflect some of the priorities of the person they came from. If you don’t know anything about the person, you can’t guess why or what choices they’ll make in battle. Maybe it wanted a healer and could sense it on you? Or maybe you looked like someone it knew. They attack regardless of anything, but it might have focused on you because you reflected something they were thinking about when they died. But that’s really just a guess.”

“This king guy is a real piece of work,” Leana said, “Who uses magic that makes someone more likely to attack someone they care about? It’s horrific. Why would he do any of this?”

“I…” Siffrin paused, trying to think, “...sorry, I don’t remember. Maybe I didn’t know before? Or nothing is triggering that knowledge. I just know he freezes people and makes Sadnesses.”

“You seem to be remembering things more clearly now either way. Is it this place? Does it seem familiar?” Eddie asked.

Siffrin looked around. “...maybe?” Siffrin said a tad helplessly. “It might have been just literally seeing him a few minutes ago.”

“Are you all done down there?” Loop called from the end of the hallway, “We don’t have all day!”

Ingo held in a frown, looking around at the lanterns in the hallway. A giant, murderous king that defiled his opponents and froze people. Located in a House of Change, and yet…didn’t seem to be a follower of the god, if the Change God had set things in motion for his downfall. It…wasn’t just a giant play the Change God had made, right? Creating a monster and the circumstances for it to be slain wasn’t change by any definition--it was rigid prediction. 

…maybe someone who couldn’t stand for things to change?

Ingo looked over, startled out of his thoughts by Loop’s voice. “That’s news to us if it’s true! We’ll be there in a moment!”

“Some of us want to get an early bedtime tonight!” Loop tsked, disappearing behind the door they had called from. 

As the group went through the door, inside was a large, ornate room. Lightly playing overhead was jazz music, coming at least partly from a grand piano over by the bar. At the piano, a statue, or a ‘reflection’, was playing it. Jauntily tapping their foot and bobbing their head as they played, while at the bar, another reflection stood perfectly still. Mid-cleaning a glass. 

Throughout the red-velvet drinking lounge, most of the reflections were perfectly still, while some made small movements. Loop looked around the drinking lounge, murmuring slightly to themselves. “Bar’s frozen, piano’s playing, is there water coming from beneath the right hand door…?” Loop went to go check.

One of the reflections walked up to the group. A woman made of stone, smiling emptily, as she held a tray of drinks. “Drink for the end of the world?” she offered. No pupils in her stone eyes.

“Don’t drink it,” Loop called over their shoulder, reaching to touch the carpet outside a door, “Unless you’d like to be frozen like her.”

“She’s… frozen?”” Eddie asked, “She doesn’t seem frozen.”

“Time works funny here. Half of everything being frozen thins the lines,” Loop explained, wiping their hand on the wall before heading back to the group, “Some of the reflections ‘stutter’ through time, depending on the pattern. It can make them seem like they’re moving linearly again, but they’re doing micro-loops. She was hosting an end of the world party in this room, wherever it actually is, somewhere in frozen time. Briefly, she is still doing that, sometimes. If her loop goes on long enough, she can even interact with you. But it’s not real. It’s seconds, minutes, of time for her that are immediately being erased as soon as she loops again. Like someone talking in their sleep.”

“Drinks for the end of the world?” the woman offered again, smiling blankly, “Might as well go out having fun!” 

“Speaking of!” Loop clapped their hands together, smiling brightly, “Who here is both extremely self-aware and incredibly mentally stable? Because I know what the first room is!”

Of everything Ingo could’ve expected to walk into, even preparing himself to expect the unexpected, he hadn’t anticipated…a jazz lounge. A swanky, classy place that reminded him terribly of Velvet Midnight, and he couldn’t help but glance to Siffrin with a snicker. “Too bad we didn’t bring Feray, eh? She’d be right at home in a place like this, could get the whole thing wrapped around her finger with two minutes on stage.”

He was…glad, though, that she hadn’t brought up coming with them on their adventure. She had been a deadly knight on the battlefield, an image of victory atop a falicorn in Ingo’s vision, but…she had hated fighting. While a lot of them still kept up training, or went into professions that could make use of the skills they’d honed in the war, Feray had gone into a completely different field, choosing peace. He wouldn’t want to drag her back into a conflict that was settled with steel, rather than words. 

Jeremiah, doing a quick sweep of the room, thought it was a little ironic. Ever-repeating tableaux in a place dedicated to change? Perhaps that fickle god was using them as exterminators. 

Melia sighed and turned down the drink from the reflection, the bright outlook of something horrible just reminding her of her dad, while Brathy took a look at their group, when Loop called back. Eventually, he looked between Leana, Eddie, and Jeremiah. “...I’ll go if no one else feels confident, but, an’ I’m feelin’ like a parrot here, we’re fucked if I’m busted right at the start.”

Jeremiah looked to Leana. Willing to go on her word.

Leana did glance at Jeremiah, before crossing her arms, looking to Loop sternly. “What exactly are we facing?”

“What do you mean?” Loop asked, smiling cheerfully.

“What’s going to be in the room, exactly?” Leana said. 

“Oooooh,” Loop tilted their head, seeming to consider the question, “...no.”

Leana’s eyes widened in surprise. “Sorry? No?”

Loop shrugged. “I’m not going to tell you what’s actually in the rooms before you go. They’re all challenges of sorts. In certain circumstances, they’re all dangerous. And I know how to get through all of them… for me.” Loop clarified, “But if I told you how I get through the rooms, you’ll be tempted to copy me. And that’s a death sentence. The Change God wants to see how you, individually, get through stuff like this. I can give hints as to who might be best suited for the challenge. But prepping you any harder than that is sabotaging you. Soooo no.”

Eddie growled, “Can you explain why the skills will be useful? Why do we need to be self aware?”

“And why do you make it sound like only one of us is going?” Siffrin frowned, “Can’t we go as a group?”

“Only if you want to make it very hard for yourselves,” Loop said. “Maybe two might increase your chances of getting it done quickly? But more than that will just add chaos and noise for you all to push through. And you don’t want to send anyone who’s too, how should we say… complicated?” Loop looked over at Siffrin, “So you’re staying here, Stardust~ Who else is mentally ill? Don’t be shy! Stay here, enjoy the music! Let your friends head to danger!”

Leana narrowed her eyes… before she looked to Jeremiah. “I could come with you? But when it comes to ‘knowing yourself’? I trust you with this.”

Ingo pouted a bit and looked to the side. He wasn’t a fan of any of them being singled out and going into danger…but he did trust them with it. And while he wouldn’t call any of them completely mentally stable--going through a war gave you a lot of ghosts, and…well, Ingo didn’t know Eddie well enough to speak for him--if that was the criteria, then there were some choices that were better than others. 

…such as not sending a person with a known anxiety disorder. So that took him and Melia out. 

Perhaps that was a credit to her self-awareness, though, that she hadn’t spoken up to volunteer. Instead, Melia just sighed, wilting. “...challenge gauntlets. Lemme guess, we’re going to find a mirror in here that forms a being made out of your most repressed desires? Typical…”

Jeremiah gave Leana a solemn nod, crossing a hand over his chest. “As you will it, Blessed.” He then turned towards the door, heading towards it without hesitation. 

-

When Jeremiah entered, the first thing that happened was that, briefly, the room seemed much bigger than it was. It would take his eyes a moment to adjust to the reflections on the walls and ceiling above. 

The mirrors down the hall all reflected the door he just came through, making it seem like there were more doors down the hall. He’d notice, once he realized he could see the door behind him, ahead of him, that he couldn’t see himself. This would register as odd. When he looked up, he’d see the mirrored ceiling reflect many, many hallways. A maze reflected, to which he could see in the center of the maze a noticeable, singular mirror, not connected to the walls. That was his goal, he could guess. 

He could see himself up in the ceiling, but not the walls around him. Beyond that, he couldn’t see what the actual challenge of getting through the maze was. He could see the maze laid out above him, after all. It’d be hard to make a wrong turn. 

Jeremiah glanced around, left, right. Up. Noting the reflections, the maze, his lack of reflection…the mirror in the middle. Melia had said a mirror, huh? 

He sighed. He supposed it would be against the spirit of all this to just break all of the mirrors. Which might just end this more quickly…but also might just halt their progress until the rooms shifted around again. Or went through a loop. Or any other godly nonsense that they were dealing with here. The assholes. 

Nowhere to go but the middle, he supposed, and nothing to do but play along. 

“Does seem to be what we’re good at,” Jeremiah agreed, though the bitterness in his voice was apparent. 

Jeremiah paused, looking at the reflections again. Oh. 

“Melia was right. I wonder if she’ll actually be happy about it,” Jeremiah mused. “So what, then? Am I supposed to have some revelation upon literal self-reflection? It might take a while.”

“Couldn’t say.” Jeremiah shrugged, following the original’s movement across the mirror, but otherwise more or less moving on his own. “I can tell you that as far as I know, the only point of me is to get you through the maze alright, but, well…” the reflection pointed upwards, “Honestly how could you mess it up? Easy tools, clear goal, obvious path… you should be set.”

The reflection paused, before admitting, “I do get the sense that I see things you don’t? So that might be helpful.”

“It would be,” Jeremiah agreed. And, knowing himself, he asked, “What is there, then? Other than the center, it looks like an empty maze to me.”

“Well, for one, one of these doors reflected up ahead?” Jeremiah said, pointing ahead, “One of them looks real to me.”

….hm. It looked like he could get to the center of the maze without detouring out of the maze…however, nothing had told Jeremiah that was the goal. It was simply the only object of note. However, if his reflection was meant to be a guide, then perhaps there was a different objective. 

And he wasn’t one to point out unnecessary things anyway. 

Heading towards the door his double had pointed to, Jeremiah reached towards the mirror, where the handle would be. 

When he opened it and stepped through, he was in a different hall. Glancing up at the ceiling, he could see he was now on the other side of the maze. There were more things visible in the ceiling now, too. For instance, there were now Sadnesses visible, wandering the halls of the maze. 

“Guess it’s lucky you listened to me,” Jeremiah said in the mirror opposite of him, looking up as well, “Now those won’t surprise you… well. Assuming they were there before you went through the door.” 

Jeremiah sighed, and adjusted his grip on his axe. “Lucky, or foolish, time will tell. But I’ll achieve nothing standing still.”

Thinking on some of his earlier musings on this ‘puzzle’ as he continued through the maze, trying to just avoid the Sadnesses if he could, Jeremiah asked, “If the part of you that’s manifested from this place knows, what would happen if I broke the mirrors?”

“Might just hit a wall,” Jeremiah said, walking with his original. “Or maybe you’ll make a hole to other halls? Don’t know. My knowledge has really specific limits. I don’t intend to mislead you on purpose. I just know I have to get you through the maze.”

Jeremiah seemed to watch his feet a bit. His body shifting every time his original turned a corner, the reflection clearly debating with himself about something. 

“...I could get you out of here,” the reflection suddenly said, glancing over at him. Tense and uncertain, like he wasn’t sure if he should have said it. “Out of the maze. Back to the door upstairs. I can see the path. If you took a shard with you? I could lead you all the way out.”

Jeremiah nodded a bit. As enticing the idea of shattering the whole ‘challenge’ was, without knowing that it wouldn’t just sabotage their group? There was no point. Other than making it more difficult for his double to walk alongside him, that was. 

Though it seemed the illusion was having some other type of difficulty. 

He glanced over at his reflection dryly. “...and what would that achieve? If this really is a trap, and I’m meant to wander aimlessly for all time, then by all means, let’s skip the faff. But if leaving means that I really am just at the beginning, and one of us has to complete the asinine goal of this maze, then I’d rather not waste time retracing my steps in a moment of hesitation and doubt.”

Somehow the masked expression grew even more dry. “I wonder how much truth was actually in Loop’s hint of self-awareness.”

“I think Melia was just more right than she realized,” Jeremiah huffed, shoving his hands into his pockets as he glared at the ground, “Though, I’m not a huge fan of what our ‘desires’ are. It’s not like I’m proud of the suggestion, I just… it’s frustrating. It’s like I can see our life without a filter, just laid bare as it is, and it’s frustrating. How did we end up here? At what point did we sit down and decide everyone else–every other person–was more important than us?”

The reflection looked at Jeremiah, tense. “Why is our life in service to someone else? Why are we here?”

Jeremiah let out a slow sigh, keeping his eyes on the ceiling to watch out for Sadnesses. The last thing he needed while having this sort of conversation was to be jumped because he wasn’t paying attention. 

“I’m here because the people I care about are determined to place themselves in danger. Leana and Ingo might be just fine here, but I can ensure they’ll be better if I come along.” …Siffrin had lost everything he had ever known. Would lose it permanently if this quest failed. Jeremiah knew he wasn’t such an altruist that that would be his main drive for coming along, he wasn’t Ingo, but it wasn’t like he didn’t sympathize with Siffrin at all. 

“They’re not more important. But I’ve chosen to place importance upon them. And I’m choosing to pursue that importance, because I’ve given it meaning.”

…it really was only him and reflections here. And if this place was looking for honesty?

“...Ingo was right. I never could’ve lived with myself, abandoning everyone to the slaughter,” Jeremiah said quietly, a heartfelt plea echoing in his head, the phantom squeeze of a hand in his. “I would’ve said it was all for Minuet, but letting myself waste away into bone and obscurity in a crag would’ve been self-imposed penance, for that choice.”

“There are some things about ourselves we can never escape, even if we want to.” And Jeremiah supposed he had just been made for duty. 

The reflection in the mirror grit his teeth at that. Breathing harder. 

“...there’s another door up ahead,” Jeremiah muttered, clearly irritated with himself. “We’re not leaving anyone to slaughter this time, if we left. Look at this simple challenge. This is easy, it’s just your doubts said aloud and a simple maze. If the whole dungeon is like this, they’ll be fine. The country was won! We oh so valiantly helped our conquerors gain our land back. To them.” 

Jeremiah clenched his fists tightly. “...maybe the Dianthes aren’t bad people. But they already took our kingdom. Do we really owe them our servitude?”

“I’d be a fool to think this is all this dungeon is,” Jeremiah said simply, following his double’s instructions. “We’ve seen the Sadnesses, and we know how dangerous even a weak-looking rot-beast can be. That lounge was nothing but a testament to cruelty, creating puppets out of people, replaying the last things they ever could. This is the first room. And doubts can have their own dangers.”

…he doubted a double of Ingo would convince the prince to leave…but there were a lot of other things it could taunt him with. 

“It’s not our land,” Jeremiah said, voice soft. “Osyren was lost to idiots and manipulators centuries before I was born. The fact that people recognize Voltaire as anything but a fop is the truly absurd thing. And even if it had been more recent, it still wouldn’t be mine. I’m a member of the serving class, I would inherit nothing. I owe nothing to the grandeur of people who’d barely acknowledge my existence.” 

Jeremiah paused for a moment, waiting for a Sadness, before continuing on. “I don’t owe the Dianthes anything. But Leana has earned my respect…and my friendship. I will not abandon her, or any of the others.”

“It’s frustrating… it’s frustrating…” the reflection muttered, the sound increasingly like a mantra.

It kept going like that. The reflection tried to argue for Jeremiah to leave, to abandon the others, but kept dutifully giving directions, until finally, they reached the center. A single mirror in the center of the maze, standing alone.

The reflection stood in the mirror, looking increasingly stressed. Increasingly manic. He leaned against the glass reflection, palms pressed against the glass, and in fury shouted, “You have nothing! No personal goals, nothing that’s yours! You’re just an extension of other people! We deserved better! I! I deserved better!” The reflection snarled, slamming his fist into the glass, the mirror shaking as he did so. “Let me out! LET ME OUT! I’D DO IT BETTER! LET ME OUT SO I CAN GET US OUT OF HERE!”

On the ceiling, the Sadnesses’ paths were starting to direct towards the center. Attracted to the noise. 

Jeremiah looked up, irritated by the swarm of Sadnesses heading his way. 

“Idiot.”

Taking off his mask with a sigh, Jeremiah safely stowed it in his pouch before sending a truly scathing glare at the manic reflection, amber eyes burning with emotion. “If you can’t recognize what I have? What I fight for? Then,” he scoffed, face twisting with scornful, disparaging mirth, “Then you think you could do it better? A half-baked imitation, all veneer with no substance?”

Jeremiah pointed his axe at the mirror. “You absolute moron.”

Shoving it forward, he broke through the mirror…not aimed at his double. Extending a hand towards it. 

“Get out here, dummy, don’t make me fight all these alone. Maybe then you’ll learn something.”

When the axe was coming to the mirror, Jeremiah had just glared at it, not flinching, just waiting for it to impale him. There was something about being a magically constructed figment–for what Jeremiah was, at the moment, was not entirely different in practice from what an Empath’s construct was, just in a different plane under different rules–that made you specifically un-existential. He wouldn’t exist once he was hit anymore, but that thought didn’t fill him with any dread or regret. He was just going back to the Source. And at least it’d be peaceful there.

But that wasn’t what happened. The axe struck the mirror, yes, and regardless of where it struck Jeremiah should have ‘died’ right then and there…but that hadn’t been the other Jeremiah’s intention. And for the God of Change? Intention meant a lot. 

Jeremiah stepped out of the shattered mirror. Giving Jeremiah a bewildered look… before gritting his teeth, grasping his own axe and looking to the approaching Sadnesses. “Tsk. Frustrating.”

It said more about the power of two Jeremiahs than it did the Sadnesses, that the battle was a slaughter. The most dangerous part to the Jeremiahs was the shattering glass or the mirrors around them as the Sadnesses were thrown into them, buckling under the swing of the axe. It turned out, Jeremiah’s original expectation had been right: there was no wall between the mirrors, so when they shattered the walls just fell. And by the time the last Sadness was gone? A mirror-shattered path had been carved to the door Jeremiah had come in through.

Mirror Jeremiah panted, resting on one knee as he stared at the door, sweating… before he huffed. Standing up, he looked to Jeremiah. “...there’s another door in here. I was supposed to lead you to it and say it was the way out, but it’s not. It’s just another room that the key on the other side of the floor is going to open. It’d have spared you having to do the other side-room’s challenge. I know ‘abandon everyone you care about’ isn’t really the better option, but…” Jeremiah tsked, looking away, “I wish you’d value yourself more. We’re not just what we can do for other people. We’ve already given so much… someday it has to be enough.” 

Then Jeremiah frowned, like he was startled by something…before grunting in pain, collapsing back to his knees again. Some of the mirrors shattering more beneath the weight of his body as he grunted in pain…before melting down into one of the shards he had been kneeling on. Disappearing into it.

Despite being a person that was often only in fights at the behest of others, Jeremiah was a lethal combatant. He had spent his childhood sparring and learning wyvern care and how to mend clothes, and it all added up into a muscle memory built into the threads of his body. He and the mirror Jeremiah made quick work of the swarming Sadnesses, the room left as just a wet, glass-covered floor before long. 

Jeremiah breathed slowly as it ended, glancing over to his double. Still unmasked, he rolled his eyes in clear exasperation. “Tsk… Annoying. Not that I was going into this expecting things to be straight forward, but that’s just aggravating.”

He’d been about to ask the mirror double to lead the way getting on with things, before his eyes widened in worry and he was at his double’s side, looking him over for injury, or whatever would make him grunt in pain…before, once again, Jeremiah was alone on this side of the glass. 

(...it wasn’t that he didn’t value himself, necessarily. By this point, Jeremiah just…didn’t know what he’d do without other people. There was always the vague idea of taking Minuet to the nesting grounds, but by the year that just felt more and more like a pathetic joke.)

(As seriously as he took it, being Leana’s retainer was…just a job. One that was incredibly secure, and let him just hang out with his best friend (other than Minuet) all the time. One that let him keep an eye on her, and the other idiots he was unfortunately fond of. Jeremiah wasn’t actually annoyed by waking Leana up in the library when she’d gotten focused on some project too long, or searching the forest for wherever Ingo had disappeared this time. He was…glad he was there. And every time he and Leana traded snarky insults about others under their breath, or Ingo came to him with a bright smile and a poorly thought out adventure to go on, it…made him happy. Warm, and like he was living life, rather than just watching things happy. The good parts of caring.)

Leaning over the shard, seeing his reflection back, Jeremiah grunted in contemplation, his eyes narrowed in thought. “...hm. Well you did suggest taking a chunk and heading out.”

“Did I? Clearly I’m a genius,” Jeremiah said dryly, though his voice was odd now. Weak, almost distant. Like he was talking under water. His form shimmering like behind thin fog within the glass. “...I think I’m an item, now? Ironic, considering my whole argument. I…”

The mirror shard closed his eyes, like he was listening to something. “...I can be used for ‘tips and tricks’. Courtesy of the Change God, for the party member who now managed to impress them twice. So… hurray. I guess.” The mirror shard pouted a bit, before shrugging. “I won’t know anything about a room until I’m in it. But once I am? Basically think of me as an item that can more quickly scan a room and might see things you missed. Not a guide, just an aid, if you should ever need it.”

That would be helpful, if it were true. Even if it was his own voice and image, the Mirror Jeremiah really was just some magical construct made by the Change God, Jeremiah hadn’t forgotten, and it had misled him before from that nature. But getting more help than from Loop, even if just a different set of riddles, would likely help the group quite a lot. 

…however. 

(...damnit, this was why he didn’t take the mask off. Ingo would have a field day, calling him a softy.)

Jeremiah’s gaze softened as he considered Mirror Jeremiah. “...do you want to?”

The shard shrugged with the small bit of shoulders that was actually in view. “See, this is exactly what I mean. Do anything selfishly. I can help you. Why would you give that up?”

Then Jeremiah paused, before amending, “I guess enslaving even a magical construct against its will does give one pause. I’m a thing whose existence is restricted to its use. Perhaps being allowed to fade might soon feel like a relief. But for right now? It just feels like a natural thing to do. I’m not suffering, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Jeremiah gave Mirror Jeremiah a flat look. He didn’t think asking consent, especially for something that basically wouldn’t have any agency going forward, was that selfless. If anything, Jeremiah was trying to save himself future nightmares of being trapped in a mirror and used as a fancy map for eternity. 

It still wasn’t an indication of desire, but…well, they couldn’t stand here forever, and if Mirror Jeremiah wasn’t opposed to it?

Jeremiah searched in his pack for a moment, getting out a cloth before using it to pick up the shard Mirror Jeremiah was in, wrapping it in layers around the sharp edges. Glancing away to retrieve his mask, Jeremiah grunted again. “Let’s go, then. Lead on.”

The mirror shard led Jeremiah to the door on the other side of the maze, still hidden out of view by some of the left standing walls. But as Jeremiah put his hand on the handle, the mirror shard suddenly called out, “Wait…”

Its eyes were closed again, like it was listening to something, or perhaps ‘sensing’ something… before its eyes opened. “Going in there by yourself is a death sentence. It’s a multi-person room. You should return to your party and ask Loop for more advice.”

Jeremiah paused, before nodding, heading back to the original door and the lounge. 

He hadn’t been gone for terribly long, but it was long enough that it seemed that some of the party had found ways to entertain themselves. Mellia and Brathanial had broken out their respective lute and violin and were jamming with the pianist, apparently having worked out a fun way to keep the tune going even through loop-resets. Ingo was sitting on the floor, watching them, though by his slightly awkward positioning, it looked like he was keeping his legs stretched. …and by the fact that he kept glancing to the door every few minutes, he was the first one to notice Jeremiah return, his face lighting up with happiness and relief. 

Shooting up to head over to him, Jeremiah just stood still, half holding up the mirror shard and looking to Loop. “Found a door that needs multiple people. He said I should ask you about it.”

Leana had been sitting at the bar, able to learn bits and pieces of what the ‘End of the World’ party had been in the small bits of conversation she could get between the very short loops. According to the bartender, this club was in the last standing city of the kingdom that had been gradually freezing, the curse coming in from all sides with nowhere for the residents to run. Realizing their time was coming as the king approached, the curse following him, some of them had decided they wanted to be frozen in a nice moment, so decided they’d have a party at the same time the curse arrived. 

Where the party members were, the bartender wasn’t capable of explaining. Leana got the sense from the moment where the bartender was frozen in time, the room was full of people. Leana had started to suspect that perhaps the club really was full of people, somewhere… but not here. Specifically. Though she’d struggle to explain to anyone what she meant by that suspicion. The weird water skyline on her mind.

Leana had been determinedly, but somewhat fruitlessly, trying to get the bartender to talk about some sort of ‘hero adventurers’ that she was hoping might stop the king, but the bartender clearly hadn’t wanted to think about it when she was frozen, so it was almost impossible for Leana to get her to mention them beyond acknowledging some group was trying to save them. Perhaps the hope had been too painful to consider. In some ways, Leana was glad that Jeremiah had returned to give her an excuse to turn away from her attempts, getting up to join him. It was unnerving, talking to someone who could only focus for a few minutes at a time.

Eddie had been resting on top of the piano, enjoying the vibrations of it playing. Siffrin had been nearby, watching the show, but mostly trying to avoid Loop’s gaze, who kept blatantly staring at him. He got the sense Loop wanted to say something to them. They were a little nervous by whatever Loop had to say.

Loop, in turn, glanced lazily at Jeremiah… before raising an eyebrow. “I’m sorry. ‘He’?”

The shard’s image showed the foggy image of Jeremiah. The Mirror Shard said, “Hey. I’m an item Jeremiah earned in the challenge. I offer tips and tricks for the rooms.”

“Tips and… Tricks?” Loop said dryly, peering at the mirror shard, “...what? Having a personalized guide wasn’t enough? I’m sorry, if they could have just gotten items willy nilly in the very first room that will literally do half my job, what the blinding stars am I doing here!?”

There was silence as Loop waited, like they were expecting an answer… before they sighed. “Fine~ Fine~ It’s curious you can get into that room even refusing the temptation of the mirror. Normally you’d have to get the key to progress, but I guess not this time.” Loop shrugged, before giggling, “You were wise to refuse the mirror. Going to that room without the warning that it needs multiple people? Is nearly a death sentence. And it doesn’t give you what you actually want anyway.”

“It didn’t give you what you wanted,” the shard told Loop, “But you follow different rules than the party. There’s no actual leaving, for you. It would have worked for him.”

“...cute,” Loop said, squinting at the mirror, “Shame if someone were to shatter you…”

“Bring it on, sunshine,” said the mirror shard.

OoO!!!

O0O!!!

“Jeremiah, there’s another you!!” Ingo gasped, eyes the size of plates as he scurried over and saw at least a bit of what Jeremiah had been doing in the mysterious room. Though his excitement faltered a little as what he was looking at processed a bit more. Giving a little wave to the Mirror Jeremiah, Ingo’s eyebrows raised in concern. “Hello, other Jeremiah, are…you okay in there?”

Though Ingo could only feel more concerned as the other version of his friend (and it was lucky for Ingo that he was distracted with worry, as processing the fact that there were now two Jeremiahs was…something he wouldn’t want to do in front of his friends and family) and Loop sniped at each other. He gave their guide a concerned look. 

…there was no actual leaving for Loop? 

He had been thinking, a bit, as they waited. Loop said that they were a god-ordained guide for them, in this place, and they’d obviously spent a lot of time figuring out the puzzles of the House. Ingo…had been a little too nervous to really contemplate how much time. But what a ‘god-ordained guide’ actually meant, and…Loop seemed resentful of…everything? So…

“...that’s not very fair,” Ingo muttered to himself, an idea slowly coming into sharper relief in his mind the more he ruminated upon it. 

“Calm your heads. We’re still only at the start of this, and I won’t have in-fighting putting the party at risk,” Leana said, stepping between Loop and the Jeremiahs, before peering down at the mirror shard. “...we will address the issue of some of our party being less willing to be here than others, but by this point we’re all in the same situation: stuck in this dungeon, trying to get through it. Jeremiah, you trust your little reflection here?” Leana asked, giving Jeremiah a discerning look. “The Change God doesn’t seem above trolling or lying to us, but I trust you if you trust it.”

Jeremiah gave a short nod. “He followed the conceit of the ‘challenge’ before, but I believe the rules around that have changed now. If he gives us information about a room, I trust that it’s accurate.”

Ingo continued to peer curiously at the shard. “Jeremirrah, what’s it like in a mirror? Is there, like, a whole opposite dimension?”

“Jeremirrah?” the mirror shard–Jeremirrah–echoed dryly, before explaining, “It’d be like asking what it’s like to live in your body. Your insides aren’t a place, it’s a form. As for how do I exist here, with you, I think the closest way to explain it would be to reference rot-beasts that use sonar. Every few seconds, I let out a pulse that makes me aware of the entire room at once.”

“Do you do that?” Siffrin asked Loop.

“No, Stardust. I have eyes.” Loop sighed, crossing their arms. 

“Do you eat?” Eddie asked.

“Why is that relevant to anything?” Loop asked.

“You have eyes but no mouth.” Eddie shrugged. “It’s interesting.”

“Says the guy with knives for tails,” Loop muttered, before sighing, “The room that the mirror leads you to is best with four people. Nimble, quick, light on their feet. It’s a test of skill, though again, I’m not explaining beforehand, in case you see another way through that I haven’t. My only warning is that it might feel like a race. It’s not.”

Ingo nodded eagerly. Look, it’d get confusing with two Jeremiahs, and non-mirror Jeremiah Ingo had just known longer, so mirror Jeremiah got the nickname. Thus, Jeremirrah. Ingo thought it was clever, at least, and he was far too used to the dry, masked stare pointed his way, even if it was doubled, to be bothered. 

“I noticed,” Mellia muttered, eyeing the mirror shard warily as she and Brathanial came over to the rest of the group, having packed up their instruments. With a sigh, she nodded. “We need our four quickest? Then that’s me, Ingo, Siffrin, and Eddie. You all up for it?”

“All prepared!” Ingo said cheerily. “Can’t say I’m eager for danger, but it will be nice to do something for our progression.”

“Then let’s head out. Cushy as this place is, if we’re goin’ from room to room like the tunnel Loop said, ain’t much use forcin’ people to make the trek back each time t’ tell the rest of us what’s what,” Brathy advised, though they all looked to Leana for the final decision.

Leana looked to Loop. “Is there any reason to double back?”

“Eventually we’ll need to go downstairs, and if you don’t mess up the challenge you’ll be able to get to the last room before you have to head downstairs, so we could avoid the other side of this floor entirely. That said? I’m not going into the rooms. If you don’t come back for advice, I have none to give you. You’ll go into the last room blind.”

“Why won’t you just come with us?” Siffrin asked–before flinching as Loop, without a word, slapped his hat off. Glaring at him for a moment, Siffrin staring warily back. “What? It’s a reasonable question!” 

“I’m not. Going into. The rooms,” Loop said, before shrugging, heading to the bar, “I’m going to stay here and make chitchat to the time prisoners. The final room isn’t that complicated anyway, you all will be fiiiiine~ have fun!”

Siffrin sighed, picking up their hat and shooting Loop a small glare, before turning to Leana for her decision. 

“...We’ll go as a party, minus Loop. We can handle thinking on our feet for whatever comes next,” Leana decided, leading the way to the mirror room door. 

“Hey!” Ingo interjected, immediately inserting himself between Siffrin and Loop, giving the latter a frustrated look. “Whatever your problem is, you don’t get to just take it out on us! If you attack us, we won’t stand for it.”

“So sensitive. You’re never going to get through here if you can’t keep your temper, good looking,” Loop said dismissively, sitting at the bar stool, giving Ingo an amused look, “Now~ your leader called. Bounce that butt to the next challenge, cutie. Good luck!” 

“Come on, Ingo,” Siffrin whispered to him, “It’s not worth the fight. We have other things to do.”

Ingo gave Loop another frustrated look. If…if he was right? And Loop was a person…or even something like Jeremirrah, created by the Change God just for this House, and was stuck here with no hope of leaving, stuck for however knew how long with hallways of monsters and wind-up dolls of people long succumbed to curses… It made sense to be angry. Bitter. Resentful, of bright-eyed new adventurers stumbling into the place they’d inspected every inch of and able to leave. 

It still didn’t make it right for them to take it out on Siffrin. 

(Divinity’s will seemed impossible to break away from. Ingo had seen first hand how even the most individualistic path just looped right back into a Goddess’s plan. But there were changes people could make.)

(Maybe there was something they could do for Loop.)

Huffing, Ingo gave a soft, “Thanks,” to Loop before turning, following the others. 

Giving Siffrin a soft look, Ingo smiled gently. “Even if you are right…you’re worth defending. I’m not going to just say nothing to move us along faster and let Loop bully you. I may not ever change their mind, but it’s still something that needs to be said.”

“They don’t seem to like me much,” Siffrin admitted, the two following the group through the door, Siffrin frowning at the mess of glass everywhere. The group carefully walking through the mess. “I’m not sure I like them much either. But, at the same time… their situation makes me sad. It seems like they’ve been trapped here a long time. I can’t help but wonder what I would act like, in their shoes. Maybe not all that different.”

Ingo balked a little at the wet, glass-covered floor (what had Jeremiah been doing???) before glancing over his shoulder at the door, a difficult expression on his face. “...maybe. The reflections seem like they could offer some form of companionship, but even just in the time we were waiting, it just…” It was too apparent that none of the people were really there. If you were determined to pretend, maybe it could work out for a while, but Ingo really doubted the timeline on that. 

He huffed a stressed little laugh. “If the picture I’m getting is right, they’re in a nightmare. …but even if it’s understandable, it still doesn’t make it right to hurt you in their own pain.”

“Siffrin, Ingo, are you ready?” Mellia called, the rest of the group standing in front of the door that Jeremiah had led them to.

Inside the new room was a pyramid made of colorful squares. 

It was a small one, but it still towered over them. More worryingly, the pyramid seemed to hover above a massive, seemingly bottomless pit. What was keeping the pyramid hovering in the air wasn’t clear, but the nature of the challenge was. As soon as they walked in, they watched a feather gently float down from the ceiling, falling elegantly onto one of the cubes… and then the cube shuttered, before slipping down and falling into the abyss. 

At seemingly random, but high points of the pyramid, were flags. On the other side of the room was another door, with four holes in the ground near it. “Ah, so this is why this is a death sentence without multiple people.” Eddie realized, looking at the setup, “If the boxes are going to fall but we have multiple flags to grab, one person would have a much more dangerous time navigating the pyramid to get them all then four going after one of each. Though…”

Eddie tilted his head, reaching up his hind leg to scratch at the back of his ears a bit. “Is it truly just a test of skill? Is that something the Change God values?”

“Maaaaybe it’s…” Leana frowned, looking at the pyramid, “Changing the structure of the pyramid?”

“Seems a bit of a stretch,” Siffrin mused, looking around the room and then down in the pit, “...where does this go?”

“Death, most likely,” Leana said. 

“The structure of this place makes no sense,” Siffrin muttered, peering into the pit. Shouldn’t the next floor be down there? If this place worked realistically, it would, but… Siffrin couldn’t trust that the landscape here would react realistically. 

Jeremiah observed the pyramid, before glancing at the pit. The ‘easy’ option of the first challenge had wanted its participant to ‘fail’, essentially…but there had been nothing that told Jeremiah that taking Mirror Jeremiah up on the offer to leave would result in death. It had just been an option that was personally distasteful to Jeremiah. 

Both Mirror Jeremiah and Loop had explicitly said doing this challenge alone was a death sentence, so…

Mellia squinted at the pyramid. “...isn’t this too easy?” she asked hesitantly. “I can just fly over and collect the flags, no platforming needed.”

Brathy tilted his head and considered that. “I mean, guess the Change God couldn’t account for every possible kind ‘a person that could come along with Siffrin. So it might really just be that easy for us.”

Pouting a bit, Ingo glanced over the side of the floor, into the pit. “...well, I suppose there are other challenges coming up…”

“Perhaps we should just be grateful.” Eddie cautioned, “We have a party member who can make short, easy work of a potentially dangerous puzzle. If there is more to it, like going down into the pit is some sort of shortcut or there’s rules we’re not aware of, Mellia’s flight might just subvert all of that. She can grab the flags, so we have access to the door, and potentially can even peek into the pit itself after, yes?”

“That’s true…” Leana said, looking around, “And like my brother said, there’s more challenges coming. Perhaps the god gave us some gimmies. We were already at an advantage from when Loop went through this room by having four of us, while they had to accomplish this alone. Perhaps that actually worked to our advantage, that Loop had to playtest all of these? Theoretically, every room has to be possible to be beaten by one person. Perhaps that limited how dangerous or complex these things could be by necessity of who was testing.”

“That… makes sense.” Siffrin nodded. “It should be fine then.”

Ingo fussed with his hair a little, his eyebrows drawing in. …he didn’t like the idea of Loop having been the guinea pig for all this. They were already there to break one curse, but…it couldn’t hurt keeping an eye out to break a second, right?

It was one thing to be wary, but with no signs otherwise? They risked overthinking things and missing out on an easy answer. Jeremiah was concerned about Mellia doing a specifically teamwork-based challenge alone (though he still hadn’t figured out how a dropping block puzzle was supposed to spur change in anyone) but without a good reason…

“Alright.” Taking a breath, the others shuffling away to give her some space, Mellia took off, flying towards the first flag she could see. She didn’t feel any weird magic passing through her--other than Jeremirrah--there were no fine-threaded nets in the air, no gravity changes… It really all seemed that simple, as she plucked the first flag from its spot.

Leana gasped, the sense of vertigo immediate as she immediately started to nose dive into the pyramid. “H’ah!” 

“Mellia!?” Eddie called out, watching as ‘Mellia’ seemed to just fold up her wings out of nowhere and crashed into the pyramid, taking a moment as she clutched the flag to stare in bewilderment at it, like she had no idea what it was… before Eddie shouted, “It’s shaking! Run!”

Leana felt the block start to shake beneath her, before forcing herself onto her feet and, just knowing she needed to get back to solid surface, ran down each block as one after another started to fall and crumble beneath her… wincing as each time she did her jump came up a little short. Adjusting for height and size that was…wrong. It was hard to run. Her shoes felt weird. The wings–wings??--were dragging. 

But still she managed to jump to the surface. The others quickly coming to drag her safely further onto the platform. 

“What happened, Mellia?!” Siffrin asked Leana, “Are you okay!?”

‘Leana’, on solid ground, suddenly stumbled a bit, mostly unseen because the others were a little more focused on… 

Mellia looked up, her mouth falling open as she…watched herself fall from the sky, stumbling across the pyramid. She felt the gauntleted hand on her shoulder--Jeremiah?--but she could only look down at her hands. A different skin tone, nails perfectly manicured into little rounds, rather than just cut down. She noticed navy hair falling onto her shoulders…no wings at her waist. 

Ingo, helping ‘Mellia’ up, looked over with immediate nerves at the wary, freaked out tone from his sister, a type of sound he’d never really heard from her. 

“...guys?” ‘Leana’ said, “That’s Leana.”

“...” 

The group looked from ‘Leana’, to ‘Mellia’, to ‘Leana’ again… and then at the flag. Laid out on the floor. 

“...oh, this could be very bad,” Siffrin realized, looking back at the other three flags. “What are the odds we get snapped back to normal once we leave this room?”

“N-not worth risking,” Leana gasped, shakily standing, wincing as her ‘wings’ shifted uncomfortably around her waist. “Okay, what do we know?”

“You don’t have to be on the pyramid to be switched,” Eddie observed, “If we’re hoping to limit the damage, it might be wise to move people out of the room.”

“Wh-what?!” Mellia squawked, balking, the implications dawning on her. “I-I can’t be a princess!! Or a human!” Suddenly her gaze turned fiery with fury, the sigil in her eye only making the expression more daunting. “This fucking place better switch us back, or the change that god’s gonna see is my foot up their ass!!”

Mellia seeming…well, physically stable, at least, Jeremiah left her side for Leana’s, giving her some stability. Maybe it was just Mellia’s anger distracting her, but he couldn’t imagine suddenly changing species, on top of frame, was particularly easy to adapt to. 

(...it brought Ingo a lot of shame, for the second the idea popped into his head. Mellia wouldn’t suddenly have Leana’s title and accolades even if the switch was…stickier than just this room, but the body that had Abatea’s blessing was important. And…just for a moment, he thought, oh. If I didn’t have a Deity Mark, then I don’t have to get married, do I?)

(...like he said, shameful. And Ingo didn’t want to give any of his friends that pressure either.)

Brathy scoffed a little, looking at the pyramid with disdain. “...so that means Leana or Mellia has to go again, to switch ‘em back, huh?” He looked at his cousin with worry. “...ya don’ look too good, Leana. Even if one ‘a ya could do it again…I dunno if it’d be wise t’ go two more times too. So that’d put two more of us in the ring.”

Ingo shifted his weight nervously. He’d easily volunteer, but…that moment of awfulness whispered in his ears, making him question if it was just selfish to.

“I’m not entirely certain I could navigate this in Mellia’s body,” Leana admitted, holding onto Ingo’s arm to steady herself a bit, “Mellia, I have no idea how you’re managing my body, but having new, additional limbs? I’m lucky I managed to get off the pyramid…”

“I could ride you on my back,” Eddie offered, “You or Mellia. Get you to the next flag, have you grab it–”

“And hope that it doesn’t switch you with one of them?” Siffrin pointed out, “It’s a real risk, and we’d end up with three people switched around.”

“It’s still a better option than letting one of them potentially fall,” Eddie said, “And we’d have two more flags to attempt to fix it.”

Mellia seethed for a little bit longer, before calming, frowning down at Leana’s body. “...I feel strange. Weirdly…heavy? Like everything’s duller…and I can’t breathe as well.” Scowling, Mellia put her hands on her chest, feeling out her ribs (or just the resistance of them, considering Leana’s armor). “Why’s your chest so small?”

Ingo choked a bit before quickly saying, “You know?! Why do you two practice moving in the other room a-and rest for a bit while two of us get another flag? Then we can consider our options and still have a buffer for changes? That sound good?”

“What…my chest isn’t…” Leana looked at Jeremiah, “Is my chest small!?”

Siffrin, ready to listen to Ingo, herded Leana and Mellia out of the room, shooing them back to the mirror room, promising to come let them know when anything changed as soon as it did, before heading back. “So, they didn’t immediately switch back once they left the room. Not a great sign.”

Nope. Jeremiah wasn’t touching that with a ten foot pole. Still, he left with the girls, wanting to keep an eye on how shaky Leana was, and figuring the others would call out if they needed a hand. 

“Really ain’t,” Brathy grimaced, before squinting at the pyramid again. “There’s still a hope for them t’ switch back once the puzzle’s solved, but I don’t think we should bank on that.”

Looking at the others, he huffed and put his hands on his hips. “Alright, you three were originally gonna do this anyway. Guess I’m fine as anyone switchin’, but I ain’t a clamberer.”

Glancing at Siffrin and Eddie, Ingo smiled sheepishly. “Maybe we hope for you and me switching, Brathy? N-no offense, of course, but…it’d be the easiest height difference and, er, species difference.”

Brathy snorted in mild amusement. “Be like being a brat again, bein’ your height.”

Ingo’s eyebrow twitched a little in annoyance, but he didn’t rise to the bait.

“Actually,” Siffrin looked down at themselves, “I’m smallest, it might be easiest to adapt to my body. I mean, everyone here has been small at some point. It’d be like suddenly being in your body when you’re… you’re…”

Siffrin pouted, looking away with a bit of a sweat. “...16?”

“Try 14. Maybe.” Eddie said, “I’d struggle with any of you, so I agree. Let’s hope it’s just the humans switching, and adapting to being slightly smaller does sound easier.”

Siffrin looked to Brathy and Ingo. “What do you guys think? Should I go up?”

Brathy made a short, gruff sound. “Tryin’ t’ climb after suddenly having one eye might be an issue…but ya got a point about sizin’. Might be our best shot.”

“Go for it, Siff,” Ingo encouraged, before grinning sheepishly. “Though, maybe give a holler once you’re about to touch the flag, just so we can ready ourselves.”

Siffrin startled, touching their eyepatch. They forgot, sometimes. 

“Alright, I’ll shout. Wish me luck,” Siffrin said, looking to the next nearest flag, taking a breath… before bolting onto the pyramid. 

Siffrin was quick and light, and his boots barely made a sound as he hopped from block to block. His steps were so light that a few of the blocks he only stepped on didn’t fall, though they did shift down a bit, making them more precarious to risk stepping on for anyone else. The only blocks falling being the ones he actually jumped from, which he did to grab at the flag.

“NOW!” Siffrin called, grabbing the flag.

Everyone in the room braced themselves…and ‘Siffrin’ collapsed against the blocks. Rolling down a few of them roughly, catching themselves on the last block for a moment before dazedly looking around. 

“Who is it?” Eddie said, realizing nothing had happened to him, looking to the other two, “Siffrin?”

‘Siffrin’s eye followed the sound of the voices, frowning at the group… before their face went grim as they felt the block beneath them start to shift down. Rolling backwards and ending up on the corresponding block as soon the block fell, before kicking off the new block and jumping onto a new, fresher block.

And then… kept going. Running determinedly for the next flag. 

Ingo, Brathy, and Eddie looked at each other, noting that…none of them looked off kilter. When ‘Siffrin’ didn’t answer, too, Ingo’s eyes widened and he bolted for the door, peeking his head back into the mirror room. 

“Are you all you?!”

Jeremiah looked over, raising an unseen eyebrow before nodding, while Mellia, mid-in-place jog scowled. “...it’s not just confined to people in that room?”

Ingo’s mind raced. It…wasn’t any of them, so who else… They were still helping them, knew what was going on, so--

His eyes widened again as he turned back to the pyramid room, saying astonishedly, “Loop?”

Loop didn’t answer. Just grit their teeth and leapt for the flag.

And Eddie yipped as he suddenly found himself with the flag in his–OH GOD THIS WAS WAY WORSE THAN HE HAD IMAGINED.

‘Siffrin’ couldn’t keep his grip on the flag, fumbling it and dropping it, and worse, couldn’t seem to figure out how his legs worked. He stumbled and fell onto some of the blocks, which only because of Siffrin’s light weight didn’t immediately collapse beneath them. “Y’AAAGH!” Siffrin shouted. “RNGH!?” 

“Rnng?” ‘Eddie’ growled, immediately looking unsteady on their own feet, paws, making strangled, uncertain sounds before the translator shouted, “SOMEONE GRAB HIM!”

Despite being by the door, it was like Ingo was across the room in an instant, sprinting towards ‘Siffrin’ with a focused look in his wide eyes. “Eddie, hold on!” he shouted, pushing himself faster, before barely tapping on the blocks with light feet. Most still fell--Ingo might have twinkle toes, but he definitely wasn’t as light as Siffrin--but Ingo made it to Eddie easily, hefting him over his shoulder before scooping up the fallen flag and running back to the main flooring. 

Maybe it was…a little late. Considering what had happened to Leana. But in Brathanial’s defense, he never thought anyone would have any reason to cast Featherfall on a Flutian. But just in case, this time, he concentrated, holding his staff sideways in both hands, before a faint blue flash surrounded Ingo and Eddie. 

Or, uh…’Ingo’ and Eddie. 

“GRoough?” ‘Eddie’ yelped, skittering on his paws, while the translator said, ‘Aaaaaaaaaaa?’

“OH COME ON, THIS IS BULLSHIT!” ‘Ingo’ shouted.

“Guys, guys! Loop is me!” ‘Loop’ shouted as they finally got to the room, panting as they looked around wide eyed, “We switched!”

“SHUT UP, STARDUST, YOU’RE LATE”! Loop shouted, tightening their grip on Eddie as they watched the cubes slowly approach, expertly landing on their toes before immediately moving again. Adjusting to Ingo’s body surprisingly well as they took advantage of the feather fall and this time quickly headed to a more stable surface, jumping off the pyramid, which was missing a good chunk of its blocks now. 

As they landed, they scoffed, tossing Eddie down– “Rngh–grrr??”--before looking grimly back up at the pyramid, tossing the flag back down next to Eddie. “What is there, one left? Fine, I’ll…”

‘Ingo’ frowned, suddenly looking uncomfortable. Shifting awkwardly their weight foot to foot… before, decent enough to at least seem embarrassed about it, suddenly, desperately started adjusting the cloth around their crotch, grumbling, “Oh, come on, how do you walk like this??”

Jeremiah and the girls re-entered the pyramid room, finding no reason to remain apart amid the chaos, after Ingo’s intrusion and ‘Loop’ running by in a panic. Though, seeing the situation as it was now…

“RrrrGGr!” Ingo growled, before a pitiful whine left him, back paws skittering a bit, though he somehow managed to hide his snout under his front paws without much issue. “What do you mean? My body is fine,” the translator said, more clearly and calmly than Ingo ever would have managed. 

Just leaving that one, Brathy checked in on Leana and Mellia. “You guys feelin’ better? One ‘a us might be able to make it to the last one with the blocks left, but if you’ve figured out flyin’, Leana…”

Leana shook her head–or, well, Mellia’s. “Bad idea. Unless you feel comfortable being the next person potentially spontaneously learning how to fly, mid-flight.”

“Try hitting the damn thing,” Loop said, shaking out ‘their’ leg, clearly trying to shift some room between their thighs. 

‘Siffrin’ tried to say something, but just grumbled and growled, looking a little defeated. Still, Loop guessed what Eddie was trying to say, as they explained, “We know wearing gloves doesn’t stop the change, because Stardust was changed. But hitting the flag with a weapon and sending it to where we’re all standing? Takes away the danger. Assuming you don’t mess it up and send it down the pit.”

Leana frowned… before considering the flag. “That’s not a terrible idea. I can try that.”

Ingo whined again, burning in embarrassment…or the equivalent of it for 13s. 

Mellia gave her body a concerned look, before a familiar, determined expression solidified on Leana’s face. “Remember, tucking my wings feels like clenching your abs, like we found. I don’t have the same types of tendons as you, so it’ll be faster feeling like you’re walking on your toes. Breathe slower, deeper than you’re used to.”

A prideful, slightly yearning look softened Leana’s features. “In legend, Flutians could fly for miles at a time. I think you can handle my body climbing up a few blocks.”

Leana nodded, taking a deep breath. Mellia had had her fly around the room a few times, but admittedly, Leana had felt like she was barely staying in the air. She had never felt more clunky and clumsy in her life. Still! She could manage it for just a rise and a drift! 

Focusing on her ‘abs’, Leana clenched, unclenched, clenched… and was still startled when she lifted above the ground. A nervous sound running through her, high and unfamiliar, as she tried to slow her breathing. On your tippy toes, on your tippy toes…

Getting high enough, Leana adjusted her wings a little, tried to ignore the vertigo in her stomach as she suddenly dove down, having taken her whip from Mellia and at least that feeling familiar as she snapped at the flag, whipping it off its block and throwing it back to the others… before crashing back onto the stable surface. 

“Nnngh,” Leana groaned, “...sorry, Mellia. You’re going to have a headache.”

Mellia laughed softly, kneeling by Leana--though leaving space for Brathy to swoop in and start looking at Leana’s head. “I think I can handle that to get through this. Well done, Miss Princess. I’d say you’re almost an honorary Flutian with a show like that.”

“Ruuugh!” Ingo growled happily, perking a bit before Eddie’s body flinched all at once, startled by the…tails. Moving. 

“So the swaps still happen just by touching the flags,” Jeremiah half-stated, half-confirmed, before looking at ‘Ingo’ and nodding towards one of them. “Time to finish the second half of this ‘challenge’ then. I assume you’re eager to get out of here, since you were conned into helping us out with this one.”

“Yes, of course… though, this is a bit alarming,” Loop said, looking at the mismatched people, before looking at the flag. Their tone oddly calm despite the words being said as they pointed out, “I didn’t realize there were aspects to these challenges that wouldn’t apply to me as a single person. This always seemed purely like a skill test. I wonder what other rooms I’ve mastered that have hidden rules for multiple people.”

“Ngh.” Leana groaned, leaning against Mellia, pouting a bit as she touched her bruised noggin. “...my shoulders are surprisingly comfortable. I’m sorry for how much I stink. The sweat catches in the armor, goes right up the nose, I know it’s bad.” She sniffed. “You smell nice. Perfume?”

Jeremiah crossed his arms and frowned a bit. It occurred to him that perhaps they should’ve consulted Mirror Jeremiah…but it wasn’t something he was going to bring up right now. He wasn’t really one for bragging…but blunt, harshly truthful insults were on the table, and considering some of the other mannerisms he’d noticed in his double, Jeremiah wasn’t chomping at the bit to hear how the mirror would take their total fumble of this challenge. 

“Good to know now, I suppose.”

Leaning against Leana and closing her eyes against the white glow coming from Brathy’s hand, Mellia smiled softly. “It’s not the most pleasant, but I don’t mind. It’s…kind of a nice feeling, actually, being so…secure. Anything but light armor always seemed so awkward and clunky to me, but yours feels…safe.” Giggling quietly, Mellia nodded. “Is it silly to put on perfume before dungeon crawling? I’m just used to it so I didn’t think anything of it this morning.”

If Ingo had proper lips, he would be pouting. He put on scent oils before going to a dungeon, so he didn’t think it was silly.

“It’s nice. Perhaps I’ll try it in the future,” Leana said, taking another, steadying breath against Mellia… before sitting up. Mellia’s face stern as she stood up. “Alright, hopefully this next part isn’t going to take terribly long. We need to get everyone back in the right body. It’s going to be a lot of passing the sticks around.”

Siffrin went over to Eddie, who still was pouting, looking over their own body before smiling sheepishly. “Sorry about that, Eddie. It can’t be fun to not be able to talk… oh,” Siffrin looked over to ‘Eddie’, “Them too, actually. Who’s in Eddie’s body?”

“Bubble butt,” Loop said, shifting their pants around, before sighing, literally just squatting and standing up, “Who’s not compensating for anything, shockingly enough. This is going to be ridiculous. Let’s start.”

Ingo whined, huddling in embarrassment again. 

How it worked for a bit was that all four flags were passed around in a circle, with quick check-ins to see where everyone was before another pass around. The goal being that once someone was in the right body, they’d hold onto that flag. 

Eddie winced in Loop’s body, surprised that Loop’s eyes weren’t immune to how bright their head was. 

Loop flapped Mellia’s wings, before raising an eyebrow at Eddie, who was carefully touching Loop’s face. “Careful, darling: mind you don’t burn yourself.”

Eddie hesitated, just about to touch Loop’s lower face to search for a mouth… before putting his fingers down. He had no idea if Loop’s star-head actually was hot, but probably better to not take chances. 

Mellia groaned a bit, the difference in height not too different from her regular body, but… “Goddess, Brathy?? Why does your back hurt so much? I know you slouch all the time, but this is a lot.”

Siffrin’s body shrugged a little, casually looking around. “Got used to it, I guess. Prolly could use sittin’ up more, though. Would make Ma happier.”

Leana’s body had gone stiff and tense, absolutely silent through everyone adjusting to the next switch, before Ingo quickly got out, “Flag. Please.” 

Siffrin was curiously looking down at Jeremiah’s body–tall–before glancing curiously at ‘Leana’, passing over the flag as Jeremiah’s gruff voice asked in a surprisingly light, amused tone, “Struggling in Leana’s body? Why?”

‘Mellia’s’ gaze narrowed, peering at ‘Leana’... before snickering. “Rude to ask, Stardust. Who knoooows what kind of answer you’ll get.”

Ingo just stiffly shook Leana’s head. It felt disrespectful enough to be in either Leana or Mellia’s body, but the fact that it was his sister… Nope. He was trying to block out as much as possible and get out of here, now.

A pass of the flag, and, “Oh!”

A grin broke out on Ingo’s face. “This is me!”

“Congratulations. Hopefully you don’t switch again, while not holding a flag,” Jeremiah said through Eddie’s translator, laid out on the floor. He had his three-part jaw open a bit, internally marveling at just how much Eddie could smell regularly. 

“That is a bit of a concern. There’s no guarantee keeping hold of the flag will help.” ‘Siffrin’ sighed, crossing her arms and looking up at everyone as Leana frowned, pushing the hat up more. “Siffrin, how do you see anyone or anything under this? If I let it settle naturally, all I can see is everyone's feet and knees.”

‘Mellia’ shrugged, smiling lightly. “People have lovely feet and knees. I’m not usually missing out.”

Then Siffrin ran his tongue over his teeth and… “Mellia, you need to see a dentist. I think your wisdom tooth is growing in. That’s what that little jaw ache is.”

‘Loop’ startled, the light of their head flaring brighter for a moment before their eyes darted anywhere but at Siffrin. “I-I just clench my jaw sometimes, I’m working on it.”

Brathy sighed and stretched Leana’s neck a bit, the almost irreverent look on her features strange. “Ain’t nothin’ to be embarrassed about, know a lotta us missed out on doc visits ‘n shit while practices were comin’ back up. Hard to get check-ups when all the clerics ‘round you know are focusin’ on field medicine.”

Mellia just huffed, simmering. 

There was another flurry of changes, and– “Ah! I am good,” Eddie called, before looking warily over at Ingo, “Will I stay good?”

“I…am so far?” Ingo said just as warily, for being pretty hopeful proof. Though, he soon smiled warmly. “It’s good to hear you again, Eddie. Just as confusing as we thought, the difference between two and four legs, huh?”

“Uuuuuuuoh!” Mellia cried out, a flutter of her wings carrying her a few feet into the air in a little spiral as she hugged herself. “Me again! Oh, I never want to be a human again, your bodies suck!”

“Rude,” Loop said, before placing their finger against where their lip might have been–Eddie gasped. He knew it wasn’t hot!--as they considered, “But accurate. I don’t miss having ‘bits’. Overly sensitive is a rough mix with constantly touched.”

In Leana’s body, Siffrin squinted at Loop–who hadn’t bothered to announce they were back in their own body–before asking, “Did you have… bits? At some point?”

“Another very invasive question, Stardust, you really do need to learn some basic social manners,” Loop said, before passing someone else the flag, “I’m about to make a bet that the Change God is bored waiting for us to move on, so! Here, take my flag. I bet I don’t change again anyway.”

It took a little while longer, but Loop’s bet seemed to pay off. Without anyone re-switching, they were all back in their own bodies, breathing a collective sigh of relief. It was one thing to practice empathy and put yourself in another’s shoes, but that was a little much. 

While the four who ended up with the flags headed over to the far door to place them in the holes, Ingo looked over at Loop, smiling sheepishly. “Hey, so…sorry about that. But since you’re already here… Have any advice for the next room?”

Loop bitterly looked up at the half demolished pyramid, watched the door shift open once the flags were placed, before huffing in exasperation, heading to the mirror room door. “Build a snowman.”

“Sorry, what?” Leana called. 

“Build a snowman! Good luck!” Loop said, waving their hand dismissively before disappearing into the mirror room. 

Inside the new room, was indeed, a lot of snow. But more alarming–or, maybe delightfully?--there were elaborate snowman displays lining the walls. Snowmen positioned to look like they were building other snowmen. Children snowmen excitedly on a small snow hill with little snow sleds. A group of snowmen in the corner grimly looking down at a snowman that had been ripped to pieces. 

And in the center of the room, a circular snowball. The base of a snowman.

“...I can’t help,” Eddie said. Claws flexing in the snow.

Loop had said the last room was easy--though Ingo wasn’t sure how sarcastic that had actually been--but…what the challenge appeared to be? Ingo lit up, giddy just like, well, a kid seeing a perfect snowfall. He hadn’t seen this much snow since leaving Fennox Wry… 

With a little, excited sound, Ingo pulled his sleeves over his hands and eagerly started gathering snow for the next segment of the snowman. 

Brathanial snorted, looking on amused at his cousin getting right into the spirit. Back up north, this time of year, this would be the sort of thing they’d be doing. Snow could be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but…Brathy did miss it occasionally. 

“Might as well,” he said, shrugging to the others, before squatting down, gathering snow not for the implied snowman, but for the type of snow art he’d more been a fan of. 

Jeremiah looked around the white landscape, before heading off without a word. Doing a search of the whole room, just in case. He wanted to form an idea before asking Mirror Jeremiah what was up, this time. 

Siffrin, smiling lightly at Ingo’s reaction as well, scurried over by his side, looking over it as they noted, “Do you think we have to decorate it? Maybe we should grab some of the items off the other snowmen?”

Leana looked around, frowning. “There has to be more to this. Grabbing flags in the last room was a whole thing, the mirror room was a whole thing… this has to be more.”

“Perhaps it’s merely an assessment of how creative we are?” Eddie offered, “The Change God does seem to enjoy things for its own sake.”

“You mean the little dancing figurines? No, I feel like it’s foolish by this point to take any of these rooms at face value,” Leana said, looking at the group of snowmen staring down at their fallen snowperson. “Keep your eyes open.”

Jeremiah would see everything mentioned before, but in greater detail, he’d notice the accessories that were decorating the snowmen. Hats of various styles. Jackets worn around stick arms. Stick hands sharped and sharpened like long, sturdy claws. 

And an igloo, tucked into the corner. The size of something built by a child. Curiously, while every other snow structure was being directly interacted with or observed by a snowman, this igloo seemed to exist by itself. None of the snowmen looking its direction, like to them it didn’t exist. 

“It is a bit weird they’re wearing clothes, huh,” Ingo noted, to the point where he could start rolling his snowball. “Maybe that’s how they decorate snowmen…uh…wherever the Change God is basing this off of?” Ingo thought for another moment, before blinking and looking at Siffrin in excitement. “Wait, you know what a snowman is! Okay, okay, what does a perfect snowman look like to you, Siff?”

Holding Mirror Jeremiah in his hand, Jeremiah peered over the igloo, crouching to look inside it. “...what do you think about all this?”

Siffrin blinked, before flushing a bit. “I do? Um. I mean–”

(The black mountains were always covered in snow, sand leading into ice the closer you got to their climb. It was common to take day trips up the slopes during the summer, when things could be unbearably hot, to enjoy the cooling snow. And in the winter, the snow came to them, constant avalanches creating waterfalls of snow that spread over the sand for anyone to reach to, leading to joyous festivals where decorating with the snow and ice was common and–)

“I mean, the traditional one is the carrot nose and the top hat and a nice waistcoat you steal from one of your parents…” Siffrin smiled crookedly, something almost reminiscent on his expression… before his eyes squinted. “Coal smile. Coal eyes. You guys don’t do that?”

Jeremirrah looked up from the mirror shard, before closing his eyes… and opening them, explained, “There’s a reflection in there. But, probably more important, is that there’s vents and wood beneath the snow. A lot of it.”

Ingo giggled, enjoying the rare happy nostalgia from Siffrin, and just having fun imagining what that kind of snowman looked like. “It sounds cute, but I think Aunt Marissa would have my head if I’d taken clothes to decorate snow.” It wasn’t that clothes were sparse, necessarily, but cloth was important. People could recognize that kids playing in snow was important, so losing a whole outfit to be dried once they came in was an accepted loss, but to drench more than that? No way. 

“The ones I always made growing up were all snow. Maybe leaves, if it was a late snow,” Ingo reminisced, smiling softly as he rolled the snow. “These have some pretty creative scenes, but the ones I’m used to were, well, warriors.”

Ingo rolled his eyes a little, knowing it was a little stereotypical. “You’d usually make two at a time, packing and sculpting the snow as sturdy as you could, maybe making an action pose or snow-weapon if you were feeling cheeky, then it’d be a sort of competition, seeing which snowman would melt first. Like which warrior outlasted the other.”

He snorted a little, happily lost in memories. “A lot of the time we’d never get to see the outcome of early-season snowmen, since we’d’ve moved on by then… But I always liked to think travelers coming by would get a kick out of what we left.”

However, while that had been the norm, there were outliers. 

Melia, not much a fan of snow, wrapping her wings around herself tightly, stood by Brathy’s work, quietly observing. All until a form started to take shape, and… “...it’s a rabbit?” she asked, smiling a little at the tender look on Brathanial’s face.

“Been a while since I made one,” he nodded in confirmation, smoothing the round body of the bunny, before sniffling, his eyes going wobbly, “They…they’re just so cute…”

Jeremiah made a low sound, before calling back to the others. “There’s a lot of wood under the snow!” And…well, with no other leads, he started digging.

As Ingo and Siffrin continued to work on the snowman, Siffrin marveling at the idea of posing the snowman to be a warrior–that sounded like a lot of fun!--over at Brathy and Mellia, the little snowbunny figurine was coming together much quicker, and…

The little snowbunny’s nose twitched. One of its ears flicking. 

Around the walls, there was an odd sound. Like snow shifting. Coal eyes moving across a snow face to look at the adventuring party's direction. 

Jeremiah didn’t have to dig down long to find what he was looking for: pushing snow aside, near a foot down, revealed a grated metal vent. The metal slats covered in little puncture holes, just big enough to peek through. Peeking in confirmed what the mirror shard had said: there was wood beneath the vents. A lot of it, along with little tufts of firestarters. A blaze waiting for a spark.

Jeremiah narrowed his eyes. That posed a simple enough directive--melt all the snow. However, Jeremirrah--damnit, he was using Ingo’s name--had said there was wood under the whole room. If they lit it up, then where would they--

“Whoa!”

Jeremiah quickly looked over at Brathy’s exclamation, hand going to his axe, though the cleric just looked astonished, rather than alarmed. 

“We got some sort ‘a animation spell goin’ on,” Brathy called out, entranced and pretty delighted watching his little rabbit snuffle and start to look around. 

Ingo calmed, also having gone to his sword hearing Brathy call out. “Oh, that’s neat! And a little daunting,” he chuckled, looking over to Siffrin, “If the thing you make is going to start moving around, then it gives more consideration to what you make it, right? Even if it’s not really alive, it’d be nice to make a nice thing.”

The snowmen watched. 

Siffrin mused at their own snowman, having been delighted at watching Brathy’s snowbunny jump around before reflecting on Ingo’s words. “A nice thing, huh…I’m not sure what makes a person ‘nice’...” Siffrin tilted their head, “Maybe someone making cookies?”

Leana wasn’t listening to all of that. She was staring at her feet, having heard what Jeremiah had said about wood being beneath them. “Why is this room set up like an oven?” she asked, walking over to Jeremiah, peering at the hole he made to confirm the vent, “Are we being prepped to burn this place? Does anyone have any firestarting tools on them?”

“I’d certainly call that nice,” Ingo hummed, finally lifting his middle snowball onto the snowman that was already started. “...aw, I bet two snowmen, like, hugging would outlast warm weather better than any single snowman. It’s the kind of thing that makes a nice metaphor.”

Jeremiah nodded, before looking over at the igloo again. He hadn’t seen the reflection Jeremirrah mentioned when he looked in, but…it did still seem significant. “We’d need a good exit plan for ourselves before starting anything. And if the animated snow is supposed to play at being alive, starting a fire without knowing why seems unwise. Unprovoked violence doesn’t seem counter to anything we’ve seen here, but I’d still hesitate before simply deeming everything we come across an enemy.”

“Not sure it’s wise to try to make friends with every challenge you meet…” Jeremirrah sighed, “But, hard to argue with results.”

“Aww, hugging snowmen,” Siffrin smiled, “Let’s do it. We have to build another snowman then. I’ll start rolling a base.” 

Still looking for danger, Leana also peered into the igloo… and didn’t see anything. It was dark in there. She noticed that the spacing seemed smaller than maybe it should have been, based on the outside, but dismissed it as the igloo not being entirely carved through as she stood up, heading to Siffrin. “I’ll help. This place gives me the creeps; if the goal is to make snowmen that’d be willing to help us? I say let’s get it done.”

Within the igloo, behind a false half wall, a reflection knelt frozen. Waiting for time to catch up to its loop. 

“Not friends,” Jeremiah grunted, watching Leana go off to help Siffrin and Ingo. Despite what he advocated for, Jeremiah walked to the farthest point from the door they entered from and dug another hole in the ground, getting his lighter out. “Just not enemies. You don’t need a slaughter to walk through a forest, though most of its inhabitants would be happy to eat you. Just walking by without disturbing things unnecessarily saves you both a hassle.”

While he worked on another ball, Ingo raised a playful eyebrow at his sister. “It’s creepy?” he repeated, a little amused. “C’mon, Leana, it doesn’t make you nostalgic at all? You weren’t always taking up chores instead of playing with the rest of us.”

(...though he supposed her winter childhood memories wouldn’t have been in a snowscape. Light flurries would be far more nostalgic.)

“I don’t know if you noticed, but we have an audience,” Leana said, pointing to the snowmen, whose heads had slowly turned to watch them as they had all been talking. “The mere fact that they’re waiting and not doing anything? Means you all might have a point. But I do feel like I’m being appraised. Keep alert.”

Eddie watched Jeremiah prep for lighting the wood, his tails flicking in small, orbiting loops as he looked to the other farthest corner, just on the opposite end of where Jeremiah had settled. 

As the two snowmen started to form, Siffrin and Ingo enthusiastically designing them to hug while Leana added structural support, the snowmen started to shift. Turning their bodies towards the party, like they were waiting to witness the birth of two more of their kin… and Eddie’s ear twitched. His long, pointed ears both going up, adjusting towards the igloo, listening for something.

“I’m not scared, I’m not scared, I’m not scared.”

Eddie sniffed–nothing new in the scents in the air–before heading over to the igloo. A soft, repeating mantra becoming a little clearer the closer he got, a soft voice whispering barely audibly to itself. Eddie only able to hear it because his ears were trained for hunting soft, distant sounds, as he shuffled into the igloo. Sniffing–still no change– before he shuffled forward, realizing the ‘no change’ scent included the curious little scent of the reflections that he had gotten used to in the lounge. A not quite human scent, not warm, but like freshly broken stone. 

And in that same odd, slightly broken tone that the reflections in the lounge had, a young voice whispered, “I’m not scared, I’m not scared, I’m not scared,” in a tone of voice that suggested to Eddie, no, the child very much was scared, as he dug through the wall. 

The wall came down, and a small child, maybe 11 or 12, was staring down a hole they had made that looked exactly like the sort of setup Jeremiah had made on the other end of the wall. Up to and including holding a match and a matchbox, shakily trying to light the match as they sweated, staring wide eyed at the match as they tried to light it. “I’m not scared, I’m not scared, I’m not scared.”

The hugging snowmen came to life. Siffrin, Leana, and Ingo all stepped back, watching the two snowmen shift against each other, getting used to their form… before seeming to settle against each other. Pleased to be in each other's embrace. 

“Awww,” Siffrin smiled, “They seem happy…”

In the igloo, the kid looked up. Their eyes wide. “Sif…?” 

And then the kid seemed to ‘see’ Eddie. The room catching up to the loop the kid was trapped in, briefly making them seem linear as they gasped, staring at Eddie with a look of horror–

“Keep calm,” Eddie tried.

–before suddenly snarling, looking determined. “I’m not scared.”

And flicking the match against the box. Lighting it. And dropping it. 

Just as the snowmen looked at each other, pleased with their new additions, one of the hugging snowmen untangled themselves slightly, before reaching into their chest and digging something out. Smiling, they handed the key to Ingo, rewarding him for the idea. And then Eddie came out of the igloo, dragging a small, thrashing child out by the back of their shirt in the clench of his teeth, as his translator shouted, “Fire, fire!” 

“Ah?” Ingo said, glancing over and…y-yeah, those snowmen sure had moved. After the bunny, it did make sense that all the snowmen were animated, but since they hadn’t obviously moved, he just hadn’t really…thought about it. So…he could get the creepy angle. Flushing a little, Ingo just tried to focus on sculpting kind features onto the snowmen. “...well, that is a little unsettling, but I don’t know why they’d attack us for…making more of them? So it should be fine, I think.”

And…it really did seem fine. Brathy had made a few more snowbunnies to be friends with his original, even coaxing Mellia into crouching in the snow and making one too, and Ingo laughed sheepishly as his snowman offered a key, touching his heart in respect back. It was…peaceful, honestly. Just a bit of fun, after everything else. 

Until…

Jeremiah bolted from his spot, his own interference unneeded, though, well, the second part of his plan had been good to think out. In the time it took him to get to the middle of the room, Siffrin was already heading…not towards the door, but towards Eddie and the child reflection--making sure they all got out--so that was one. He could trust Leana to run for her own safety, Mellia and Brathanial were closer to the door already, so…

Goddess damnit. Jeremiah recognized that look on Ingo’s face. The pain and concern as he saw him look over the snowmen, then towards the fire… 

Nope.

As he ran by, Jeremiah grabbed Ingo’s wrist, starting to drag him towards the door, unphased by the offended squawking and slight tugging after a moment. 

“J-Jeremiah, let me go!”

The snowmen were not helping the situation. They visibly looked distraught, watching as the igloo melted and snow melted rapidly in that corner of the room, the fire starting to rise as its heat overtook the water of the melting snow. A few of the snowmen tried to push more snow onto the approaching fire, but their little wooden hands weren’t good at pushing snow, and quickly they had to back away from the approaching fire. 

Eddie, focused because of the kid reflection in his grip, headed out the door, and Siffrin with him, but Leana stopped at the door, looking back in concern at her brother, being pulled back by Jeremiah… and irritated, called out, “Move it or lose it! Evacuate the room!” And feeling ridiculous, she picked up a snowball and threw it at the back of one of the panicking snowman's heads, getting its attention, “That means you!”

And outside the door, Brathy, Mellia, Siffrin, Eddie, and as they evacuated Leana, Jeremiah, and Ingo, all watched the very bizarre sight of many, many, many snowmen, leaving a trail of snow behind them, running out the door and into the pyramid room. Leana standing by the door and watching the running line, readying her whip to grab a flag… and as flame started burst out of the door, the last of the snowmen evacuating, Leane snapped her whip at a flag and knocked it out of the hole. The door sliding shut. Trapping the fire inside. 

Huffing, Leana looked back at the room of, well… now snowmen and her party, though the snowpeople had the good sense to keep going around the platform, evacuating to the mirror room, leaving snow in their wake. She watched them go, before saying, “We are FAR too empathetic for our own good! Is everyone okay?!”

Once out of danger, Jeremiah let Ingo tug his arm from his grasp, unaffected by the glare he received in return. “I’m not an idiot, Jeremiah, I wasn’t going to, just, stand in the middle of a burning room!” Ingo hissed at his friend, “You didn’t have to drag me out like a misbehaving child!”

Jeremiah just shrugged, leaving Ingo’s words be. Ingo’s self-preservation instincts weren’t that bad, but he did have a worrying tendency to never leave anyone behind. Even beings that weren’t necessarily even alive, it seemed. 

“We’re good,” Brathy called, Mellia nodding in agreement as she shook out her wings. 

“Fine,” Ingo said tersely, before holding up the key he’d gotten from the snowmen. “And challenge completed, I suppose.” 

Turning towards Eddie and the…child? Ingo’s face softened, as he addressed the kid. “Are you alright? Nothing’s dangerous in this room if you just stay on the platform.” He…wasn’t sure what would happen to a reflection outside of the setting they’d originally been in. 

The kid looked up at Ingo, looking briefly like they could see him… before their form seemed to shift. Their body jerking slightly though the space they were staying in, before saying, “It’s just a stupid snowman. I can handle tha–it’s just–it’s just a stupid snowman, Belle, I can handle– it’s just a stupid snowman, Belle, I can handle that.”

The kid kept repeating that, their body shifting back and forth between the phrase uncertainly. Asserting over and over to someone named ‘Belle’ that they could handle the snowmen. Sometimes the sentence came out clear, and they almost looked like they were going to say more, but each time they jumped back to the start of the sentence. “It’s just a stupid snowman, Belle, I can handle that.” 

Siffrin stared at the kid. 

His head hurt. His head hurt so badly. He felt sick, like he wanted to vomit, and the vein in his forehead throbbed. There was so much pressure in their skull. Like his brain was throbbing. Who was this? Who was this? Who–

Siffrin had no idea. But he frowned, determinedly walking over to the kid and, without a word, picking them up into his arms. Ignoring the pain in his head as they knew they just wanted to get the kid to the lounge. To somewhere safe. Who cared why. Who cared. 

The kid seemed surprised to be in someone’s arms. They looked up at Siffrin and gasped, as Siffrin quickly moved into the mirror room, ignoring the rest of the party as they moved quickly. “Sif? Sif? Did I do it!? Did I save you from the snowmen!?”

Siffrin’s head hurt so badly. He grit his teeth and didn’t trust himself to speak. Simply nodding. 

But it didn’t seem to help. The kid just kept asking the same question, over and over. “Sif? Sif? Did I do it? Sif? Did I save you from the snowmen? Sif? Did I do it?” before shifting and shuttering, phasing in and out in Siffrin’s arms, “I’m not scared. It’s just a stupid snowman, Belle. Did I do it? I’m not scared.” 

As Siffrin hurried into the lounge–now filled with milling about snowmen, who seemed uncertain what to do next–-Loop glanced over from the bar, where they were either having a drink or pretending to, glancing at the kid in Siffrin’s arms… before humming. Looking back to the bartender. “Top me off a bit more, darling~ I’m getting low.”

The walk back was…quiet. Other than the reflection repeating his questions…and making new ones. Ingo’s eyes widened a little. It…could be a little too convenient. Belle…Mirabelle. He couldn’t remember the exact phrasing, but in her letter, she had mentioned that their group’s original plan was to send someone other than Siffrin out to contact his family, and it had sounded a little like that person was maybe unprepared. Like…maybe a child. 

Ingo knew that sometimes circumstances didn’t allow for kindness, but he couldn’t help wincing a little at the thought of a child having the mantle of ‘hero’ put upon them, and having to go through all this. And seeing this kid now, that the moment he was stuck in was just…terror, and having to push through it regardless. 

The king really was doing something despicable. 

Quietly, Ingo went to Siffrin’s side, just putting a hand on his shoulder, while Brathy observed them for a moment before looking to Loop. “We got a key. You said we’re headin’ downstairs next?”

Loop took a ‘sip’ of the drink, clearly just miming it out as the alcohol went nowhere, before glancing over at Brathy. “Oh! You got it~ Good job everyone! I knew you could do it. Yep, you just use that key on the door over there, and it will lead you to a staircase down. Good news, there’s really only two more levels to go. There’s some stuff at the courtyard around the house, same as there’s stuff on the roof, but when it comes to rooms like this? Filled with challenges? Only these three floors had those–”

Siffrin, after putting the kid down at a chair, watching them repeat the sentences over and over, had shaken Ingo’s hand off and gone running at Loop. Hook dagger out as they tackled them off the barstool, holding the dagger to their neck as he seethed, eyes flashing red beneath the shadow of his hat. “Why didn’t you tell us they were there!?”

“Who?” Loop asked, their tone more casual than the strained, frustrated look in their eyes as they were pinned to the floor by Siffrin, “Oh, the reflection? That’s not a person, silly. Don’t be fooled, none of this is real. These aren’t even the real people frozen in time. Just their reflections. What’s worth mentioning?”

“They could have burned!” Siffrin shouted, digging the dagger into Loop’s neck a little, just barely keeping the sharp end from digging into the star-studded skin as he shouted, “If no one had known they were there!? They would have burned!” 

“Sooooo?” Loop said, raising an eyebrow, “What, are you a completionist, Stardust? Want to collect them all? Fun to see you brought all the snowmen here too, by the way. Very cute. I’ve done that a few times. It’s fun, filling this lounge full of npcs, isn’t it? For a time.”

“Siff,” Ingo said quietly, though he didn’t try to stop Siffrin. Or…rather, he just wasn’t able to, Siffrin moving across the room so quickly that he had barely been able to turn. And while he didn’t think Siffrin would seriously hurt Loop…that anger was real. 

Not that it was Siffrin’s alone (though it could be guessed theirs was more…personal). As Loop dismissed the beings in the lounge, Brathy cracked his neck a bit, a glower forming on his face, while Ingo walked up to Siffrin and Loop, not interfering yet, but frowning at their guide. 

“...this isn’t a matter of arguing for your own sense of empathy, Loop,” Ingo started, his voice more serious than the jovial tone he usually had, “If you’ve been through all this enough that you’ve lost the ability to care, then I’m sorry. But you are more than capable of understanding why we care. For all that the beings here might cease to exist when we take down the king, they’re still experiencing things now, and passively allowing something to experience pain, when there is something we could’ve done, is painful to us, and something that will follow us even when their time is up.”

There was a pause, before Ingo’s voice softened. “...Siff, please get off them.”

“I understand you’re blurring fantasy and reality,” Loop said, glancing over at Ingo, their tone perfectly casual, like a knife wasn’t to their throat, “And honestly, dears, I was hoping you’d miss them entirely. You don’t need your dungeon crawling adventure hindered by a misplaced desire to ‘save’ shadows. Better if you had never known there was anyone there at all. Oh well.”

Siffrin glared at Loop, something seriously considering running through them as they gripped their knife… before they sighed, getting off as Ingo had requested. Glaring down at Loop. “...is that why you don’t go into the rooms?”

“I don’t go because they’re dreadfully boring, Stardust,” Loop said, sitting up, “No other reason.”

Siffrin felt an urge to attack them again… but he couldn’t help but notice that through all of that, Loop had refused to look at the kid sitting across the lounge in the chair. Had barely glanced at them before immediately turning away. 

Maybe after a dozen, a hundred, a thousand loops of pulling a child from a fire, only for them to end up right back there…maybe after a while you just decide to not go into that room anymore. Maybe you do all you can to avoid it.

Siffrin didn’t know what he would do in Loop’s place. It felt impossible to imagine, knowing the kid was in there and not racing to beat the fire to them. Maddening. Maddening enough to avoid it?

“From now on, you’ll warn us if there’s a reflection in one of the challenge rooms,” Leana decided. 

“That’s dumb,” Loop said dryly, “You’re dumb.”

“It’s better than being blindsided, and I’m ordering it. It’s not a request. You will tell us from now on,” Leana said, crossing her arms, “Or I’ll drag you into the rooms myself, if you mislead us again.”

“Tsk. Bully,” Loop said, narrowing their eyes at Leana, trying to guess how serious she was, “...fine. It’s your funerals.”

Nothing on the conscience if you didn’t know what was happening. Hypothetically. Unfortunately, their party did know what was happening, so…too late for that. 

(Maybe Leana was right, that they were too empathetic. But…certain prayers had come to mind, for Ingo. I pray no one kills me for the crime of being small. If I am ever caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, just being alive and not bothering anyone, I hope I am greeted with mercy.)

(Maybe Jeremirrah, the snowmen, the reflections, maybe they weren’t alive. Not ‘real’. But as Ingo had said…their here and now was real. And if there was ever a version of Ingo, trapped as set dressing for a puzzle or endlessly repeating an action of his real self, he would hope people coming across him would be kind. Not just for the sake of that energy in his shape, but for the hopes that…there were kind people in the world.)

(It was easier to trust that someone kind in a situation with no consequences would be kind in a place where there would. Would be kind when the world decided you were of no consequence.)

Ingo really was sorry, that Loop had been stripped of that. 

Giving a grateful look to his sister, he startled at Mellia’s sigh. “This place seems safe enough, so our ‘npc’s should be alright. Ready to head down?”

Siffrin took a steadying breath… before smiling lightly at Ingo, nodding. “Yeah. Let’s go. They’re…”

Siffrin glanced back at the kid. Who was now just sitting calmly, looking a little bored. No longer repeating their phrases, maybe because there were no triggers around to spark the desire to say it. They looked okay. They were kicking their legs, their feet not reaching the ground. 

“They’re okay. Let’s go.”

-

Levi was pretty damn good at doing nothing. It was one of his favorite things to do, after all! But even he had his limits, and with a massive headache preventing him from napping or listening to music or, hells turned upside down, starting on his homework? 

Levi was boooooored. 

After a long, long stretch of lying in bed, staring at the wall, he decided to get up, ache traveling down his back like a wave, crashing more violently around his side like a rocky out-cropping. O Night was…out, he guessed. Likely stretching his wings, getting some sea air. What the Kyuu did a lot, while Levi was lounging at school or just hanging out at home, and while Levi liked their adventures together, sometimes it was just as fun hearing what his friend had been up to. 

Did mean he was on his own getting painkillers, though. Mega bummer. 

Stumbling out to the kitchen with a throw blanket around him, Levi regarded the quiet house. Weekends had never really been rest days. The tunnel didn’t stop with the work week, though when he had been younger, Shamal and Torn had often worked out shifts to give them weekends off to spend with the kids. His mom did rarely have weekend shows, and only the occasional shoot, but weekends were the busy days at the park.

So no mom, no uncle. 

Downing a small handful of painkillers, Levi would guess that there’d be no Drampa too, considering that city hall still was technically open on weekends, even with reduced staff, and since Lilia had become an adult Sagan had taken to working a little more on the weekends to work a little less during the week…but he really didn’t know. His grandpa’s schedule seemed so weird lately.

Levi supposed that was his fault. 

Blinking blearily in the kitchen for another moment, Levi then started shuffling towards his grandpa’s office, figuring he could just curl up in one of the cushy chairs in there if Drampa wasn’t home. 

Rose was sitting at Sagan’s desk, her feet on the wood, reading through a file. She didn’t so much as glance up, just greeting, “Sup loser,” before shifting to the next page.

Levi paused, squinting at Rose, though a small, incredulous grin crept up on his face. “...how’d you get in my house?”

“You guys really need to lock the kitchen window above the sink,” Rose said, “Just because it’s an annoying way to get inside doesn’t mean you can’t. Also, I did your dishes. Sort of felt like I had to, after stepping on them.”

Levi huffed, imagining the image of Rose slipping in through the kitchen window. He could practically imagine the sorts of curses she’d throw the dishware. “Mom always did like you. Well, don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get proper credit.”

Eyeing the files she was looking through, Levi let out a little growly hum. “So, got some big political agenda you simply needed insider info for? Or you really miss me at school that much?”

“I’m here to copy your homework, nerd,” Rose said, dropping the file onto the desk, “But you were asleep so I thought I’d keep busy. And I saw that this thing had a big ol’ CONFIDENTIAL mark on it, so of course I had to read it… and I have no idea what any of it says. Bunch of math stuff. Boring. Anyway, let me copy your homework. You’ve had all week to do it, you must have all of it done by now.”

Levi grinned a little wider. “Rosie~ You know you can just say you missed me. There’s no way you thought I’d have it done.”

“Still probably have more of it done then I do. Cough it up,” Rose said, standing up from the chair, heading over to him and clenching her fist with a grin, “Or I’m gonna set back your recovery so hard. You’ll feel the noogie next year.” 

“Ooh, is that a promise? I do love it when you bully me,” Levi chuckled, before sluggishly turning, his tail curling around the end of his blanket to keep it from swishing out too much. With a nod, he started leading the way back to his room. “Alright, alright~ If you’re twisting my arm. Come accost me of my homework, Miss Delinquent. Don’t need to push me up against a wall.”

Getting back to his room, Levi deigned to actually turn the lights on before ambling over to the somehow crumpled stacks of papers he’d gotten from Grace and the others over the last few days. He hadn’t done nothing, so there was a chance Rose was actually right, but the amount that was done was…not much. 

Carefully lowering himself back on his bed, one hand pressed to his brace under the blanket, Levi handed over seven sheets of paper: three physics worksheets, a questionnaire from history, two prompts from literature, and a page that looked like it had to do with environmental science, but was mostly filled with doodles. 

“So?” he smirked, “Am I safe another day?”

Rose scoffed, rolling her eyes even as she shoved her hands into her pockets, hunching up the hood of the sweater she was wearing around her neck as she followed him. “You wish. I know you’re a freak like that. Shame for you that you were a skinny little stick of a nobody back when we were dating. No fun to bully.”

Rose looked over the work he had gotten done with an appraising eye… before frowning. “Really? You’ve only done this much? What have you been doing all week?”

Levi snickered. “14-year-olds tend to be like that. Though it didn’t stop you much.” It would be nice to pretend that she wouldn’t just call him a skinny little stick of a nobody now, though. Growth~

Shrugging irreverently, Levi said dryly, “Sleeping, mostly. Yanno, trying to rest and let my bones fuse back together. Staring at the ceiling’s been a nice passtime too, very chic.” Just…anything that didn’t require him moving much. 

“Why do you need to lay still for bones to fuse back together? They’ll do that either way. Don’t be lazy,” Rose chastised, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking through the papers, before shrugging off her backpack. “Come on, help me copy over your answers. We’ll fill in the rest together, I guess. Easier than doing it alone.”

Passing him a pencil–and as demanded, one of her blanks sheets that he had already mostly filled out on his end–she started looking over the half filled out ones, muttering to herself as she started to fill in answers. “....ugh. This sucks, I hate this,” Rose said after a while, flopping backwards onto the bed, “We’re never going to use any of this stuff! Why do we have to learn it!?”

“Heard and acknowledged,” Levi said easily. Ideally, the brace would do its thing and his rib would heal up all spik and span. But, well, just call it a hunch, but Levi had a feeling that if his bones healed incorrectly? They’d never catch it, unless he fucked up so royally again that he needed another x-ray. And even then, he had a feeling that doctors would just say it was fine since he was obviously dealing with it. 

…ugh. His head still hurt. 

…but it was very cute how Rose was ‘tricking’ him into doing homework. He wondered who in the group put her up to it. Probably Amarys asking, since Rose was actually doing it. 

Smiling a little to himself, Levi grabbed one of his uncompleted sheets and…

…

…ugh. He really just didn’t have the energy to force all the letters to stop moving around today. 

After struggling through making sense of anything, Levi was more than happy to take the break Rose offered, scoffing in agreement. “‘Cause school is a glorified daycare, and they have to find stuff for us to do? I’ll be honest, I really wouldn’t mind if they just kept finger-painting and naptime through every grade.”

“I just wish they’d teach us something actually useful. Like Coordinator stuff. Or… how to make furniture?” Rose pouted, trying to think of more useful things, “...home budgeting? Stuff like that, I guess, I don’t know, I’m not a teacher. Just not this stuff!” 

Looking over at Levi, Rose closed one eye, stuck her tongue out, and brought up her pen, aiming it. “Dooooon’t… mooooove…”

She threw it. It landed in his hair and stuck. “Woo! Still got it!” 

“Preaching to the choir,” Levi snorted, casting a side-eye at one of their papers. “If O Night and I could actually train at school with other coordinators, that’d be incredible…and way more helpful than learning how to do calculus proofs. The number of people in our grade that are gonna be mathematicians just doesn’t justify us all doing this.”

Raising an eyebrow at Rose as she told him to stay still, Levi could only chuckle a little as he retrieved the pen, twirling it in his fingers. “Three points just as the buzzer sounds, Rose of Deneb Algeni wins the match!”

With another laugh, there was another snarky comment on his tongue, but instead Levi’s eyes widened, and with an uncharacteristic amount of speed he lunged for a heavy-duty, reinforced cauldron that had been on his floor. Just in time to heave, a slight sizzling sound and the smell of ozone filling the room. 

“Ew????” Rose said, frowning as she stood up, raising an eyebrow, “Are you drooling? Ewww… let me get you a towel. You’re basically grown, who starts drooling now?” 

She muttered to herself as she went to the hallway, grabbing a towel from the linen closet–she knew the layout of the house–before heading back in, throwing the towel against his shoulders. “Gross.”

It was more than he’d drooled in a bit, but as Levi crossed his arms over the lip of the cauldron, resting his forehead on them as he panted, he wasn’t that concerned. Reportedly, this type of cauldron was almost impossible to melt in potion-making, and would take around 13 hours to start to break down from liquid eternabreath. He could probably get around to cleaning it out before then. 

...eugh, not feeling how he was, though. His ears weren’t ringing, but there was some far off noise that almost suggested that he could be, and even with his eyes closed it felt like his gaze wouldn’t focus. Not Good. 

Still, he snorted when he felt a towel flop over his shoulders. “Better now than the expected time, I guess, since even I wouldn’t know how to explain drooling on you. It’s kinda neat! Since you don’t see eternabreath too often. But I’m starting to get a little over it now.”

“How long does it last again?” Rose asked, sitting back on the bed. She knew about Drooling because they had done a day on it during sexual education in class, even though it really only applied to Levi. She remembered making fun of him for it, but never actually seeing it happen. “You’re a crazy late bloomer. Also, wow, you could have really melted my face off, in some alternative reality where we kissed and you did that.”

“Drampa said about a month, so that’s our best guess,” Levi hummed, before realizing…huh. He…actually didn’t know if his dad had been able to breathe eternabreath, or if Uncle Torn could. It wasn’t like it was something that came up all that often. He figured that if he still had a plasma bladder then they likely did, but it wasn’t like he really knew the…the genetic…stuff. That came with being a mix like them. “Doesn’t seem that long, but the last week has sure stretched on.”

Slouching more against his arms, Levi chuckled weakly. “Like I said, lucky. I can usually feel it coming, but I’ve still burned myself a few times. Still would’ve been mortified to stop kissing my girlfriend to essentially throw up.”

“Yeah, those makeout sessions were already awkward enough. Pfff… remember when you sat on my tail?” Rose snickered, looking amused even as she said, “I clawed you so hard I left a scar. Kinda feel bad about that, but wow, it hurt. That scar still there? Or has it thinned out?”

Levi’s laugh echoed in the cauldron. “It’s a fair response. It hurts enough when I get mine caught in doors ‘n stuff, and yours is bonier than mine, I’d be pissed too.” Even with her chitin, he figured that evened out the protection. He always had thought it was cute when he noticed her tail was shinier than the day before, figuring she’d waxed it. Some very cool styling, Tiegres could do. 

Opening his eyes (the pupils still wide, not shrinking in the light as much as they should’ve) Levi snorted and set the cauldron aside, pushing up the sleeve of his sleepshirt to show the inside of his shoulder, a thin, yet still visible scar running vertically almost like a seam. “Still here, but kinda just looks like I clipped my shoulder on something, huh?”

Rose made a show of wincing, looking at the scar. “Oof. Felt bad about it then, still feel bad about it now. It’s kind of cool looking though, at least. You should tell people you got it in battle.”

Then she frowned at his gaze. “You alright? You look awful.”

“Drampa might put me on babysit-duty for another year if he hears around I got hurt in another battle,” Levi snorted. “It’s all cool calm for now since I’m not goin’ out anyway, but I can just feel the staredown the second I try to go out and do some training.”

Levi…still couldn’t quite focus on Rose’s face, but he got the gist. As was the pattern of his life. Giving her a bemused look, he joked, “Just saying that now? I’m surprised you didn’t just barge into my room when you broke in just to tell me I’m ugly.”

“You’re always ugly. You’re not usually sweaty and weird looking though.” Rose frowned, wrinkling her nose a bit. “Do you need… water or something? I don’t know, just tell me what you need, nerd, I’m not going to guess.” 

Rose was a lot of things. ‘Nurturing’ wasn’t one of them. If Levi needed help, she just wanted him to say what he needed. It was one of those things that had broken them up in the first place, as far as she was concerned. 

Levi eyed Rose for a moment, though the calculating look he sometimes got was rather unachievable at the moment. As much as their trashfire of a relationship had turned into her cursing him out and warning people away, citing that he was the worst, Levi knew that it wasn’t just pure hate in Rose’s heart. However things had changed, they had just been too close to truly put each other out of their lives…at least while they were both going to the same school and seeing each other almost every day. 

But Rose usually wasn’t…well, so blatantly caring. A bedside manner wasn’t something Rose ever bragged about having. Had…he really screwed up that badly that his friends were seriously considering laying off him?

Levi cracked a small smile and waved Rose off. “I’m alright, Rosie, though it does warm me up knowing how much you care~” He shrugged a little. “Took painkillers before I found ya, I’m fine.”

Rose scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I just don’t want to end up doing the rest of this homework by myself because you went and died over there. And you always make everyone guess what’s wrong with you, rather than just telling anyone, hey, by the way, I haven’t eaten anything except for jalapeno slices for three days straight and that’s why I passed out, by the waaaaay. You’re insufferable. You’d be less of a burden if you just asked people for help, stupid.” 

Rose frowned, like she hadn’t quite realized she was going to say all of that before she said it… before she scoffed, getting up. “Whatever, I’m coming back for the rest of the homework tomorrow. If there’s not progress made on it? I’m gonna dunk your head in the toilet. You know I really will, too.”

Levi’s grin didn’t move, but his gaze deadened. 

He was a burden either way so…what did it matter? Asking for help only got people telling him he was lazy, or faking, or just…nowhere, people not understanding how he was having his problem in the first place. Keeping it to himself…well, maybe made his girlfriend break up with him, and made his grandpa pissed off for ‘hiding injuries’, but most people just took his ‘fine’ and left it at that. It was astonishing how many people never followed up with anything if you told them you were okay.

In some ways, Levi preferred being ignored to being yelled at. 

“Not planning on dying anytime soon, Rose,” Levi said quietly, before giving her a half-hearted wave. “I’ll make sure to give the toilet a good scrub, then. Just in case. I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

Rose scowled at him, randomly kicking the doorframe, before stomping off. Aware something was wrong, but not good enough at understanding situations like these to really comprehend it, and nowhere close to knowing how to deal with it.

Ugh. This was why she didn’t visit. Amarys owed her big time.

Levi huffed a small, amused sound at the kick before…stomps echoing out. One…two slams. …nothing. 

He let out a breath, before bringing a hand to his head. Ah…so Rose hadn’t just invented ‘sweaty’ to put on the list. Yikers. 

“Ooooh boy, Levster, this really isn’t good,” he muttered to himself, a pitch of a laugh in the back of his throat, but not sounding out. Instead, it was only heavy breathing as he slowly tilted himself sideways, lying on his bed again. Closing his eyes against his unfocused vision and the feeling of nausea that hadn’t actually gone away after he’d drooled. 

…two more weeks. Then they’d be back at the hospital, and if there was anything wrong, the docs would catch it and…if they didn’t then… Then he was probably faking something. Like usual. 

Levi shuddered, feeling his eyes get wet. 

Just hold out two more weeks, big guy. You can do it. 

-

As the staircase down didn’t just immediately lead into another room, it was, well, right back to the start of the routine. They walked down the stairs, Ingo feeling the air get marginally cooler, the light coming from the hall lanterns a cozy orange, rather than the red upstairs, and…there were some audible huffing growls. No sooner had Eddie and Jeremiah touched down on the floor than several Sadnesses descended upon the group. 

A few were no problem at all, sent flying back from a swing of Jeremiah’s axe or one of Melia’s arrows, and that served to make space for the rest of them to get onto the floor. However, with two larger, more humanoid Sadnesses more like the one they had encountered upstairs, and an even larger, more bestial one, it wasn’t an encounter they could just breeze through. 

Thankfully none of these Sadnesses seemed particularly inclined to hone in on Brathy, so he stayed comfortably in position, keeping an eye out to immediately heal any injuries the others took on…though he did get one solid whack in with his staff. Melia paused from her shooting for a moment, hovering safely in the air, to pull out her lute, playing a quick ditty to cast an Enhancement of minor magic armor on the group, recognizing they were in a longer battle. 

Even dispatching the two humanoid Sadnesses and driving the largest one back, a few more came to take their place from farther in the hall, the chance encounters starting to look more like a slog. Still, the party kept up their attacks relentlessly, Jeremiah pushing back initial lunges, Eddie preventing any pincers with sharp teeth and deadly tails, and Ingo and Siffrin swooping in when the opponents were reeling, doing as much damage as they could, Melia and Brathy providing assistance where they could, while Leana took care of stragglers and watched their backs. 

It was a good, effective system…but no one could keep it up forever. Before anyone could feel the fatigue weighing down on them, however, Leana darted forward, eyes focused and calm, and grabbed a smaller Sadness around the middle with her whip. Slamming the poor creature into a wall to stun it, before launching it straight into the bestial Sadness’s open mouth, the creature reeling more from the force than offence and stumbling around its paws. 

Leana’s eye glowed, and for a moment the Deity Mark of Rally glimmered in the air, and it would feel like the greatest second wind of all time hit the rest of the party. Any muscle ache or dwindling concentration suddenly snapped back into peak performance, and Ingo could only laugh, giving his sister a grin and a wink. “Show off~”

And they all dove right back in, more enthusiastic than ever. 

The boost had been needed. By the time they got to the second floor safe zone, they were all drenched in sweat, practically stumbling into the new room before even really seeing it, Siffrin holding the door open for the others to file in quickly before shutting the door hard, leaning against it. While thankfully the truly big, tough Sadnesses seemed to be ‘one and dones’, the smaller Sadnesses? Just kept coming. The group realizing too late after Leana’s buff that, no, there really wasn’t going to be an end to them and they really did just have to push through them. 

Inside the room, Loop waved cheerfully from where they were sitting. “Yoo~hoo! Got through the stairs alright? You look tired.”

Siffrin blinked… before they squinted in concern. “What is this.”

“Whaaaat, Stardust?” Loop said, shifting their hips in the large bath they were in, crossing their legs as they lounged in the steaming water, “Oh, surprised that the NPCs are here? Or surprised it’s a bathhouse?” 

Both. Siffrin was surprised by both, as they looked around. The Safe Zone this time was a large bathhouse, filled with wide, shallow pools of water. Some of the pools of water steaming lightly, but a few…very likely freezing, based on the snowmen all chilling in or around those pools of water. In the corners of the bathhouse were large, decorative privacy paper walls, folded out around little seats and towels and mirrors, allowing someone to prep for or dry from the baths. The smell of soap and lavender was strong, and for good reason: soap buckets were around all the baths, and above, hanging from the ceiling, was a garden of lavender flowers. 

“Oh,” Eddie said, looking around… before perking up, “Lovely. This is one of the nicer bathhouses I’ve seen, especially for being in a dungeon.”

Leana looked around too, frowning. “...Siffrin, weren’t you unfamiliar with bathhouses?”

Siffrin bristled, still glaring at Loop, who giggled. Instead of answering, Siffrin asked Loop, “Where’s the kid?”

Loop pointed, and Siffrin noticed that the kid was on one of the bathing buckets in the corner, soaping up, prepping to go into the baths. Siffrin relaxed slightly. Bonnie was oka–(???)

Siffrin winced. The kid was okay. 

“Waaaah,” Melia groaned, her wings half-open and fluttering slightly, making it easier for the warmth and steam to seep into every feather-nub. “This place is high class… I guess divine magic is more of an answer than money, but I’ve never seen a bathhouse this nice.”

Ingo had dramatically collapsed to his hands and knees once they got in the room and his brain recognized it as a safe place, though he simply sat up on his knees and looked around in wonder as he caught his breath. It…really was incredibly nice. He didn’t have any memories of what any bathhouses in Esllesium or the Palacio were like before the coup, but…something like this? It did fit in with some of the designs he’d seen others try to recreate in the rebuilding. 

Glancing over to where Loop pointed out the kid, Ingo smiling faintly, he then glanced to Leana, a sheepish, yet cheeky grin on his face. “...think we might have time for a bath? It is a bit of a luxury, but it’d be nice not going through the rest of the dungeon warding Sadnesses off with our stench.”

“Should rest here a bit regardless,” Brathy said, gruff tone allowing no argument as he started to bully Jeremiah into taking off one of his pauldrons, wanting a closer look at his shoulder. “Gotta check in with all you punks, an’ we need to refill our energy. Have a snack an’ chill out for a bit at least.”

Siffrin still thought the idea of a public bath was bonkers… but they had to admit, it was strange to see a bathhouse here and not feel like an outlier in that. It felt reasonable to assume that anything in The House was something that reflected the place he had come from, and apparently?? Bathhouses were a thing! Weird! 

Maybe it was just a Siffrin preference? 

(Or maybe Siffrin didn’t entirely know where they came from yet.)

But, regardless of anything, they were more or less used to them, by this point. So, sighing, Siffrin looked to Ingo, ready to take his lead on it as they said, “Trying to push through this whole place all at once will probably make things harder on us in the long run. Breaks are important.”

Leana, in turn, was taking Brathy’s cue, adding in, “I want everyone to do a thorough check in with both Brathy and your equipment before we move on. Most of the challenges are some sort of mental game, but that sure hasn’t stopped things from attacking us in general. We can’t assume we’re not in for more of a fight.”

Eddie, who was wearing a pack around his neck that went down his back, doubling as both armor and holding supplies, untied it with a quick pull at a string, dropping the pack, before cheerfully bounding into the pool that Loop was currently lounging in. Loop rolling their eyes as he jumped in. “Great, now this pool is going to smell like sweaty dungeon dog. Could you all please soap first? Thaaank youuuu.”

“If the leader says so~” Ingo chimed, finding enough in himself to pop up and head over to the privacy screens, excited at the prospect of not being sweaty and drenched in magic monster tears. …sure, he’d had to just change back into his clothes (...he would, anyway), but some amount of washing up always helped!

Melia seemed to decide to hold off on hopping in the baths right away, instead taking her and Brathy’s instruments to the least steamy place she could find, before just sitting at the edge of one of the baths, stretching her wings wide and getting out some provisions. Not just in the battles, but in the rooms too, she and…h-her body, she guessed, had done a lot of precision flying, so it was nice to take a break. 

Soaped up and returning with a long towel around his chest, Ingo sunk into the water with a happy sigh, this time far more at peace than the first time he’d taken Siffrin to a bathhouse.

If some of the group members were more shy than others, Siffrin was still shocked at how brazenly Leana just… undressed. Seeming to barely even think about it as she went to soap up, placing her under clothes and armor around and over the privacy walls to let them air out and dry a bit as she headed back to the baths, stepping in. Siffrin, who had taken his cue from Ingo and kept his towel on as well, stared at Leana as she sank into the water, until some water flicked into his eyes.

“Ow.” Siffrin winced, before glaring at Loop. “What?”

“You were staring, Stardust, I was getting embarrassed on your behalf,” Loop said, relaxing back into the water, even as they looked over to Leana. “You’re very comfortable though.”

“Not as much as you, since this is starting to look like you’re always naked,” Leana observed, looking at the submerged star-dark lining of Loop’s body, “I wasn’t sure what was happening there, but I did assume it was some sort of skin-tight suit.”

“Nope. It’s just all me,” Loop cooed gesturing vaguely to themselves, “I have nothing to cover up, so I don’t. And even if I did, what do I need modesty for in here? Before you all came along, there’s never been anyone to stare.”

“Armor wouldn’t have helped you with the challenges?” Leana asked.

“Oh, I experimented with making myself armor every now and again, but after a while the hassle of making it just didn’t equal the benefit of having it. Besides, most everything in here is effortless for me to defeat. Sadnesses run from me.” 

Eddie raised an eyebrow. “Really? Then why don’t you join us in battle then?”

“Because, puppy, that’s not my job,” Loop said sweetly, “My job is to guide you all. Not do the dungeon for you.”

Ingo flushed a little, looking away, feeling embarrassed just by the conversation about bodily comfort. He didn’t always go the modest approach, even these days. Sure, if he was feeling a little too aware of his scars then he did usually use a towel, but… He guessed what was sitting in his pack was weighing more heavily on his mind than he’d thought. 

…Tiana had assured him he didn’t have to use it, and she wasn’t expecting him to. And he’d been honored, truly. Most of the party had even been there when he’d gotten most of his scars, and he didn’t think Eddie or Siffrin would judge or anything… Just more mental blocks, he supposed. 

“The asinine suggestions of divine providence,” Jeremiah grunted in response to Loop’s ‘not my job’ comment, he and Brathy now joining the others in the bath after Brathy had tended to his shoulder. Both men were mostly nude, Brathy taking a towel, but just wearing it around his neck, and Jeremiah, well… Of course the mask stayed on. 

Ingo gave Jeremiah a huffy look, but…well, while he’d normally argue that Abatea’s paths weren’t asinine, at least…he didn’t particularly feel the need to defend the Change God. Half grimacing, he pushed his bangs out of his face. “...well, the letter did say that Rally was needed to defeat the king, and taking on that sort of fight by yourself is just madness, but…any requirements or…things outside of that I suppose are up for any kind of arbitrary rules…”

“That’s a point, actually.” Leana looked to Loop, who ‘smiled’ cheerfully at her as she asked, “Why ‘Rally’. Why specifically Rally? Our ability is great, but I can’t understand why a thousand other solutions wouldn’t have been possible, if no one with Rally was willing to come? At best, Rally just gives others a second chance to do their best. Strong enough fighters or a good enough plan can more than accommodate anything Rally could provide. It’s a boost, not essential.”

Loop closed their eyes, considering–or perhaps listening–before saying, “This I can actually tell you. You know, I’ve been through this dungeon a thousand… upon thousands of times. Getting smarter. Better. Faster. More brazen. You know what I’ve never been able to do?”

“Escape?” Eddie offered.

“Hah!” Loop laughed, looking genuinely startled. “Okay, fine, two things I’ve never been able to do. The king you saw upstairs? Not the real king. It’s a reflection. And here’s a spoiler for you~ how this dungeon ends is you get to the very bottom of the house, and the Change God will do something they can only do for a short period of time, once,” Loop said, putting up one finger, “They will open up the other side of this tunnel. You will go through. And then, all at once, in one big push, you will climb up the actual house. The real one. Briefly, through the Change God’s blessing, unfrozen in time.”

“Wait… this isn’t the real one?” Siffrin frowned.

“Reflection. Tunnel. This House isn’t the true one frozen in time in the frozen city in the frozen country,” Loop said, “As far as I’ve been able to understand it, the point of this is to get you familiar with the House and ready to fight the Sadnessess without being entirely spent by the time you get to the King. This place makes you stronger. Familiar with the layout. The inside of the rooms won’t be the same, but the house structure never changes. And presumably there won’t be a thousand mind games in each room. You’ll know where the keys are, you’ll go up, up, up, back to the roof, where you will fight the real King, who will likely be very upset to be up and about.”

Leana frowned. “...so all of this is, what? A tutorial?”

“Think of it as a test,” Loop said. “The Change God needs to know that you can get the job done before they waste their one chance unfreezing the real House to let you through and fix things. Same reason it had to be a Dianthe. See, your powers do more, in this case, than just heal people. It’s very much that ‘second chance’ that you mentioned. The reason I can’t beat the reflection of the King, is because that reflection simulates what would happen in a real battle: the king will freeze whoever is attacking him in time. Don’t worry, you’ll know when it’s coming, he loves to brag about it while it’s building,” Loop said dryly, their gaze distant, “Rally, in turn? Will stop that time freezing attack. Get everyone moving through time again. As far as I’m aware, Rally holders have a natural resistance to Time based magic. Your party will freeze. You do your little ‘special ability’. They live. That’s why it had to be Dianthe.”

Loop shrugged. “Sooooo, if you're in a position where you have to choose between saving teammates? Ooooor heroic sacrifices? Don’t let your Dianthes throw themselves on the swords. You need them. Everything fails without them.”

Mellia flopped backwards, groaning. Great. Their prize for a dungeon crawl was the exact same dungeon crawl in reverse. Well, Loop hadn’t said exact… While this place was a little more metaphysical…look. Mellia figured the others wouldn’t exactly be enthused if she’d started plundering loot, but she had at least expected…you know! Loot! Archives or treasures left behind from when this place wasn’t a dungeon. It was the whole reason she’d asked to come!

…but if this whole place so far was just a copy, a training grounds? Then…maybe Mellia would have better luck in the real dungeon, even if it sounded like they’d have to hustle more there. Just…anything. Even a scrap of paper to snag and read later… Anything to make all this worth it. 

…other than, you know. Saving a country. 

Ingo looked surprised, hearing that he had anything extra just from having Rally--it was the first time he’d heard of a resistance to time-based magic, which…was pretty fair, since that kind of magic was exceedingly rare to the point of being dismissed as fiction--though as Loop reiterated the importance of the Dianthes…

Ingo winced a little, looking away and muttering under his breath, “Well, just Leana…”

“It’ll be useful to know that you’re also immune, Ingo,” Leana said, “There’s a possibility that it’ll take me a moment to bring the party back out of the time hold, and having another person there to fight the King while I focus on that will be exceptionally helpful.”

“Also, you’d be able to do it too, in a pinch,” Siffrin smiled brightly, “So that’s reassuring too!” 

“Oh? That’s a mix of reviews. Is Bubble Butt compensating for something?” Loop asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Siffrin glared at Loop… before smirking. “It really shows that you haven’t talked to anyone in a thousand loops. I don’t think you could be likable if you tried.”

“...” Loop stared at Siffrin, left eye twitching…before they stood up. “Well, that’s enough Q & A for now~ I’m going to go hang out with the cool kids. Enjoy sitting around being ignorant and stupid,” Loop seethed, stomping off towards the snowmen pool. 

“...I think you hurt their feelings,” Eddie said.

That was true. Ingo gave his sister a small smile before it faded, his gaze dropping again as Siffrin spoke. It was nice, someone having faith in him. But Ingo… It wasn’t like he’d never tried to activate Rally. When fighting had become life and death, rather than training to goof around in, Ingo had tried. He knew how invaluable an activation could be for turning a battle in your favor…for potentially saving someone’s life. 

He took practice seriously, just trying to be a force on the battlefield--nothing. He started trying out flashier moves, keeping a grin on in a fight to be inspiring with his ease--nothing. He tried out one-liners and cheeky taunts--nothing. 

Despite what he’d told Siffrin, Ingo didn’t even know if dancing was connected to his ability to use Rally. The only time it had ever gone off, it had been an accident. He and the other kids goofing off after the main events of a feast, Ingo wrapped up in recreating a story from the battles that day and mimicking a battle dancer and…suddenly there had been light. Ingo knocked on his ass and stunned, while the others had looked on, mouths agape. 

…his family had been so proud. Excited to see him coming into his own, able to use the gift of his lineage… And Ingo had never been able to do it again. 

…he would still try. Of course he would try, when his friends’ lives and the fate of a nation was in the balance. Ingo just…worried that his efforts wouldn’t mean anything. 

…it didn’t help that Loop kept talking about his ass. The first few times, Ingo just thought it was regular snark, but since Loop kept doing it, and he was the only one of the party Loop made comments about their appearance to…

Ingo turned a deep red, sinking down into the water. 

Brathy let out a whistle when Siffrin called Loop out, impressed with the take down.

Even simmering in insecurity, Ingo managed a soft, disapproving, “Siff…”

“They’re bullying you, Ingo,” Siffrin said, sagging a bit into the water, “You, me, Eddie–”

“They are?” Eddie asked, surprised. 

“I think they are. I don’t think the way they call you ‘puppy’ is friendly, even though you never react to it,” Siffrin said. 

Eddie shrugged, opening their three-tiered mouth to lick their razor sharp teeth for a moment, a yawn. “Oh, I knew that. But that’s a pretty common one for me, in the bi-pedal communities. Someone always thinks they’re being clever.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean we should put up with it. They’ve been taking jabs at the easy targets. It’s telling they’ve never mocked Jeremiah or Leana,” Siffrin said, “who strike me as the ones of us who’d actually do something about it.”

“You’re right, I would say something, at least,” Leana agreed, “But I’m not that worried about it either. There’s always one person in every group who uses antagonism as a coping method. I could make them stop, yes. And if they were bad enough that they were risking group unity or plans, I would. But for the most part, forcing them to bottle it up when the most they’re being is irritating is just asking for a big, blow-up incident in the future. They become ticking time-bombs. It’s usually safer to let them vent.”

“Maybe we’d just be better without them entirely,” Siffrin muttered.

Leana shook her head. “Weirdly enough? There’s something about not having someone picking fights in a group that invites the next person to start. I don’t know why, but I’ve seen it in enough group dynamics to know it’s a thing. It’s like a void that needs filling: if there are no natural troublemakers in the group, someone’s going to devolve into one. You can have a group that’s entirely free of rebellion, conflict, or disobedience, but it requires a level of control and discipline I don’t approve of.”

Ingo averted his eyes a bit. He supposed so…though it wasn’t a level of ‘bullying’ that he wasn’t accustomed to (though usually with more understanding). It just…

Look, being a hurt person didn’t validate you to hurt others. But Ingo couldn’t help but think… Loop had actually started to give them a solid timeline of how long they’d been here. Thousands upon thousands of loops. Even at the most generous, and saying after a while Loop might be able to do two runs of the dungeon a day, that was still…years. Years, of puzzles that poked at your creativity and empathy and insecurities, all…alone. 

Siffrin had said before something like that was madness. Ingo wasn’t sure he’d be able to survive it at all. 

Just because pettiness was a way to cope didn’t mean they had to put up with it, sure, but…how was Loop ever supposed to find kindness within themself if no one ever reached out with it first? For the first time in years, Loop was around people, and, sure, maybe they resented it all, but punishing Loop with social isolation for the crime of being mean because of social isolation seemed…cruel.

Jeremiah nodded along with Leana’s explanation. “As aggravating as it can be, some amount of eccentrism helps things along more smoothly. It might cause spats, but people generally fight better together when they actually know each other.” Not just regimented veneers of pre-made plans. 

Ingo let go of a long breath before looking over to the bath Loop had relocated to. Never got anywhere without trying… Getting up out of the warm bath, Ingo mentioned, “I’m gonna try talking to them.”

“Ingo, you don’t have to–”

“No, no,” Leana said, putting her hand up to Siffrin, watching her brother go, “This is the other part of dealing with the troublemaker of the group. And more importantly, it’s what Ingo needs right now. He might not get the trouble to stop, but trying for it will destress him. Action taken for its own sake is often a massive stress reliever, because then at least you can say you tried.”

Siffrin deflated in the water, pouting. “It’s not up to him to make peace. Loop is a jerk.”

“You don’t even know what he’s trying to do. And again, stopping him from doing anything will stress him out,” Leana said, relaxing back into the wall, “My goal is to get this party through this dungeon, then the ‘real’ dungeon, and beating the King, with everyone’s heads still on their shoulders. Long term relationships can be figured out after the danger is done. For now? Everyone just needs to be functional. This is part of that.”

“...despite everything, I do hope Loop gets to… have? Long term relationships?” Eddie said, “I know they’re magic, or something, but… they don’t seem that way. They seem like a person. With a star for a head.”

“Who knows what they are,” Leana murmured. 

Sat among the snowmen, who were all silently miming talking to each other, Loop fumed in the freezing water, clearly not feeling it. They glanced up at the approaching Ingo and huffed, “Don’t bother. I’m going to guide you either way, you don’t have to come here groveling. Go back to Siffrin. Since apparently they’ll explode if they’re more than a foot away from you at any given moment.”

Brathy nodded with an exasperated look, before giving Siffrin a slightly commiserating shrug. “‘Go’s always been a people pleaser. Don’t stop him from bein’ an annoying little twat sometimes, but it’s like he can’t sit still if he notices someone huddlin’ with a frown. If he wants t’ think of anything else while we’re here, better to let ‘im try.”

He knew his little cousin was aware on some level he couldn’t ‘fix’ people or make everyone happy all the time, but Ingo at least tried to talk to them. Would brainstorm until he came up with at least one plan for something others might like. It wasn’t the worst quality, honestly, though Brathanial did wish that it’d let Ingo focus on his own life a little more sometimes. 

Giving the water a wary look, Ingo took a breath and didn’t let himself think about it any longer before plunging himself in, his body freezing up for a moment before he forced himself through it. Cold cold cold cold!!

“I didn’t think y-you’d abandon us,” Ingo said, breathing through the chill. “You’ve shown it clearly that you’ll help us, regardless of circumstance. A-and Siffrin’s a dear friend of mine, so…” Abatea’s ears, okay… Another breath. “It makes me happy they want to defend me, but to me, at least, it felt like they crossed a line with you. So…I’m checking in.”

Ingo let out a soft, self-deprecating laugh. “...sorry the first people to talk to in years is us.”

Loop raised an eyebrow, watching Ingo get into the water. “Darling, you didn’t have to get in with me. I’m a star. I don’t feel cold the way you do.”

But they huffed at his apology, leaning back and crossing their legs as they said sweetly, “Who says you’re the first people I’ve talked to in years? I have great conversations all the time. Annnnd some not so great ones. For instance, these snowmen? I just know any second they’re going to start getting into Geo-politics, and you do not want to be around when they start, they will go on and on and get louder and louder, they’re not even arguing! They just want to agree with each other loudly. Watch, watch.” 

Loop put up a finger. Watching the snowmen. Who continued to quietly mime the act of talking. The distant sound of the rest of their party talking being the only bit of communication.

“...see what I mean? Insufferable.” Loop sighed.

“No, I do,” Ingo said, not offering any further explanation. It was almost starting to get bearable now! Heh, brought back memories.

Looking a little surprised--since Loop had dismissed the reflections and other magical beings in the dungeon before, Ingo thought that counted in this regard too--Ingo watched the snowmen at Loop’s behest…before tilting his head a little. Giving Loop a curious look. “...you can hear what they’re saying?”

“Awww, you’re cute. You’re dumb! Dumb and cute. Thank the universe you’re pretty~” Loop giggled, entwining their fingers over their knee, giggling at Ingo, “Not a lot else going for you, huh champ?”

Ingo snorted softly, before giving Loop a grin. “I like to think I have enough going on up here when it counts,” he tapped his head, “But I’ve never claimed to be more than a pretty face. Thankfully that’s worked in my favor well so far.” 

“And coming up, I guess.”

“Hmmmm,” Loop hummed, nodding along. “Aw, yes, the big thing coming up. That large, upcoming event. In the future! The… near future? Far future?” Loop paused, “I have no idea what you’re referring to, bubble-butt. Are you modeling? Did you pick up a modeling career? Congrats!”

“It would suit me, no?” Ingo laughed with a wink, before laughing more sheepishly. “...sorry. This is probably, like…who asked, right? More than you’d want to get into. I, uh…” Ingo gave a little shrug. “I’m getting married…in the middle future? Arranged, political thing. We’re holding a ball for the world’s royalty so I can hopefully impress some princess, tie the knot, and, yanno…”

Ingo’s gaze went a little stressed. “Not be completely useless to my country.”

“...” Loop looked mildly uncomfortable now, crossing their arms, glancing between Ingo and, across the room, Siffrin, before glaring at their knees. “...yeah, that makes sense. Always have to cling onto people who aren’t available… moron.”

Closing their eyes, they took a deep breath… before looking a bit calmer, gazing at Ingo. “So~ not exactly a ‘congrats’ moment then. Not every day you meet someone whose approaching marriage date sounds like a prison sentence. Any idea who the lucky princess you’re sharing a cell with is yet?”

Ingo looked up, just in time to miss Loop’s glance at Siffrin, and gave Loop a wholly confused look…before blanching. Balking in panic a bit and bringing up chill-paled hands to wave the notion away. “I-it’s not-! I-I’m not upset, a-and it’s not a bad thing! It’s really important and I’m sure all the princesses in the world are quite impressive; i-it’s not like that!”

“Though, uh,” he calmed a little, fussing with his fingers by his chest, “No idea. We’ve heard back from a few countries that they’re coming to the ball, at least, so that’s some information, and, like, some places don’t have any princesses of age, so that’s off the board entirely. C-considering the trip, a lot of envoys will probably be in the country for a while, so that’s kind of…go-time, for me. Getting to know people as well as I can before,” Ingo shrugged a little, though there was a flash of fear on his face, “proposing, I guess.”

“...??” Loop looked around, bewildered, “I’m sorry, is there a journalist here I wasn’t aware of? Some PR meeting I didn’t realize I was a part of? Are you worried about the opinions of the Snowmen? They’re not real, cutie. Who are you putting up a front for? Me??”

Loop rolled their eyes, leaning back as they listened to the timeline. “Things can be important and still suck, pretty-boy. I like to think my whole existence makes up that idea. At least, it should have been important…and then they gave you a mirror that basically does the same thing as I do on the very first floor, soooooo~” Loop rolled their eyes, looking exhausted, “Anyway. Regardless of your little correction, you sound less than enthused, so sorry to tell you that you’re not passing very well, if you wanted to sound super okay with it. So what has you so freaked out about it? Other than just the dread of meeting a new person?”

Ingo grimaced, pinking even through the ice water he was currently chilling in. …it was important, in a general sort of way, for everything about his upcoming marriage to go well. And even if the arrival of foreign dignitaries was months and months away, Ingo would be doomed if someone was doing some sightseeing in Esllesium and heard gossip about Ingo being anything less than composed and enthused to get married. So…it was better for no rumors at all to start. 

…and even if it was a little late now, with the invitations already sent out, Ingo knew that if his family thought he didn’t want to do this? Then…they’d figure out a way around it. And Ingo would’ve let them down…again. Would force talks about his cousins marrying out, if other countries would consider it an insult to not have a Dianthe with a Deity Mark, if it was Brathy, would put just…so much pressure on Leana to get married and have kids if it was Eimdall, just so Ingo wouldn’t be alone in the line after her. Sure, Ingo was expected to have kids too, but as an eventuality. Just getting married was way less stressful than having everyone breathing down your neck to start a whole family. 

And more than that. Ingo just…needed to convince himself. If he kept telling himself it’d be okay, then…maybe by the time the princesses showed up, it would be. 

“I still think you’re important, Loop,” Ingo said softly. “Jeremirrah can tell us things we haven’t noticed in a room, but he doesn’t really know what the challenge is, like you do. Your help is invaluable.”

Biting his cheek as Loop continued to ask about his marriage, a little incredulous squeak came from his throat. “You ever been married?” Though immediately, Ingo balked, waving his hands again. “Er, I mean…wow that would suck if you were and you’re here, but… I-it’s important! That’s…what I mean.”

“Mmmm,” Loop closed their eyes, “...no idea. You’re right, hopefully not. Wouldn’t that be tragic? Looking and looking for me and…well, what a bummer it’d be even if they found me, by this point.”

Loop paused, staring tiredly at the water… before saying brightly, “Thank goodness I know how to keep busy~ otherwise you could go crazy thinking about it! And I think we can all agree that I’m not crazy.”

Loop glanced away… before humming brightly, nodding. “Yep! Not crazy. Fairly certain. And maybe, for you, cutie, marriage shouldn’t be important. What do married people even do? Spend… time together?” Loop asked, sounding genuinely uncertain, “If you’re going into an arranged marriage, maybe just spend time with other people, instead. Who does it hurt? I’m sure Siffrin would be happy too.”

Ingo gave Loop a soft look. “...it would suck, because of the time forced apart, but…” Ingo laughed sheepishly. “I guess I can’t speak for everyone. But if I were one of your loved ones, I would be thrilled to find you again, Loop. Whatever your relationship looked like going forward…” Ingo gave them a teasing look. “I’d advise to mention the sensitive stuff upfront, because if it were me, I’d hardly register anything before coming in for a hug.”

There would be struggles, of course. Ingo wouldn’t even know where to begin, building things over with someone who had been alone (even with reflections) for so long, trying to learn the person they’d been. But, well, he wasn’t working purely in hypotheticals. His mother had thought his father was dead for years, and their marriage now seemed happier than ever. He could remember the pure delight on his aunt’s face, seeing her brother again, and it had been one of the few times he’d ever seen Leana cry when their family had reunited. 

Even when people changed, that moment of reunion was still sweet. 

A sweetness because of the love that had been there before. 

Ingo sighed and ran a hand through his hair, the slight dampness enough to make the blue stay up a bit, revealing more of the pink layers. “...I don’t think I have that in me, to be honest. I wouldn’t be able to help myself, trying to be the best husband I could. Whoever I marry, I want to love… I want to cherish them, and make certain the appreciation I have towards the person I’m going to spend the rest of my life with.” Ingo smiled warily. “If I’m going to live in a new country alone…well, I wouldn’t want it to be alone. At the very least, I’d want to be friends with my spouse.”

He gave a quizzical look to Loop. “Ah, sorry, I don’t think I follow your last point? I…do spend a lot of time with Siffrin? We’re friends.”

“Ah, you’re the one moving then? That… does sound hard,” Loop admitted, looking away, “It’s hard to be the weirdo in a strange land… well, not that you’re not probably a weirdo here too. All of you seem like freaks, honestly.” 

But the concern for Ingo that had briefly shown on Loop’s face disappeared as they rolled their eyes, their calm, mildly amused mask right back on as they said, “Please. The way they follow you around, like a baby-bird that’s imprinted? I guarantee you, whatever you two have going on, is a much bigger deal to him than it is to you. You’re definitely more than friends. Siffrin would probably cut his own head off if you asked him too. I’d be shocked if they stopped long enough to ask why before they did it. They’re pathetic like that.”

Ingo chuckled softly. “Not wrong there. It’s a little lucky all the princesses will be from off-continent, because I’m not sure what I’d say if someone asked what this dumbass Fennoxi kid was doing with an eye tattoo.” 

Though Ingo was getting more comfortable talking with Loop than he’d even meant--enough to admit what he just had--his expression darkened a bit, lips pulling into a frown. “Siffrin’s not pathetic. If you wanted to ascribe that term to one of us, it’d easily be me, with what he has to put up with. But…they do, because we’re friends. I’d probably balk at decapitation, but if Siff asked, then I’d trust they had a good reason for it.”  

“Oh, geez, there’s two of him,” Loop said dryly, before seeming to startle themselves. Eyes widening for a moment… before they giggled, apparently very amused, “Oh, that’s funny…let me ask you a serious question then… Ingo, is it? I’m fairly certain I’ve heard the others call you Ingo.”

Loop scooted closer, leaning in as they asked, eyes sparkling at him, “Is there any part of you that wants something more, from them? Something a little more… touchy-feely? Intimate? Now’s the time to be honest with yourself: whether you know it or not, a clock is ticking.”

…oh, Ingo supposed Loop hadn’t really called any of them their names…other than Siffrin. That was a little disheartening, but Ingo reminded himself…alone for a long time, loss of attachment. He surmised by this point Loop and Siffrin had history, so that explained the outlier, but…still. 

However, there was no reasoning what Loop said next. 

Ingo blinked. Before his eyes went wide, face, and even neck down to his shoulders lighting up cherry red, his head practically steaming despite the frigid bath. “What?!” Ingo squawked, a little too loudly, turning some heads from the other bath. He stammered for a moment, words starting to clog up in his throat. I-it wasn’t that Siffrin - no, of cou - their relationship wasn’t - Ingo wasn’t - no, he didn’t - 

Just as Ingo started to make the high pitched whistle of a kettle, finishing the metaphor up, he latched onto the last bit of what Loop said. “W-w-what do yo - you mean?” Ingo stuttered, “Is something sup-posed to happen to Siff?”

Watching Ingo have a conniption, Loop laughed a little. “You’re very easy to tease. I can’t even tell if that means you do like him or not. You might just be Like This,” Loop realized, gesturing to all of Ingo, “But no. What I mean to say is, Siffrin’s single now, but they might not be by the time this whole thing’s over, that’s all. It won’t pay to wait. You’re not the only person in line. And either way? I know him… he’ll say yes. Just to whoever,” Loop rolled their eyes again, “asks first. So if you’re super confident that’s not how you feel? Good! Less of a conflict there~”

Oh…oh. Oh, that was so much better than… Again, Ingo felt himself falter. It would be far too unimaginably cruel…for his god. But for the Change God…Ingo just didn’t know. Loop, again, was a good example to point to. 

Trying to calm down--the break in composure making Ingo lose his concentration against the fierce shivers starting to wrack him now--Ingo shook his head a little, embarrassed even as he put his hands on either side of his head and pushed…though he managed a little grin. 

“...b-be very h…happy ifs…S-siffrin found love. H…” Squeezing a little tighter, as Ingo mouthed around the word. “...ha…has. St-tandards. Though.”

…and even if Ingo wanted to date Siffrin, which he didn’t because neither of them were women…he was getting married. That just wasn’t fair to anyone he’d want to start a relationship with. 

Loop squinted at Ingo. “Did I break you?”

Ingo shook his head, still huffing a bit. He glared down at the bathwater, the expression sharper and more…vitriolic than anything Ingo had given…anything in the dungeon so far. 

“Talking. Trouble,” Ingo bit out, his words clipped and overly precise. “Not. Letting. It. H…hap-ppen.”

“Ah, I see…” Loop looked away, clearly uncomfortable… before looking at him sternly and putting a hand over their own heart. “Hey. Do what I do.”

Loop took a deep breath in… then out… deep breath in… then out…

Breathe in…then out…deep in…

…ha~ How familiar. 

…like…really familiar. 

Breathe. 

Following Loop, Ingo breathed, some of the bright red starting to fade from his skin, and the tension that had coiled up starting to relax. Slowly, he dropped his hands from his head, just following along. It was incredibly relaxing, honestly, and--

“Eep!” 

Ingo squeaked, startling, before he looked up at Brathy with a betrayed look, covering the ear which Brathy had twirled one of his earrings from. Unphased, Brathanial put a hand on Ingo’s shoulder, frowning at the flinch and surprised look on Ingo’s face. “Oi, whatever you wanna talk about, don’t give yourself hypothermia for it. Still need to check you over too.”

Shifting his stern gaze to Loop, Brathy asked, “You still too cool for the other bath, or do I gotta drag li’l cuz across the floor ‘cause he’ll chat with folks for hours.”

“Perhaps I’m one of those people who need some alone time?” Loop ‘smiled’ at Brathy, “Crowds are a lot. Go, take your little popsicle here and relax. Trust me, you all will have more than enough time with me.”

“Suit yourself.” Brathy shrugged, before helping Ingo out of the bath, indeed looking more like he was dragging his cousin away. In part, because of the grateful, warm look Ingo gave Loop before his leave and, uh…well, Ingo hadn’t quite realized how cold he’d gotten, and trying to get his legs moving again was a bit of a struggle. But, a dutiful cleric, and a long suffering cousin to Ingo Dianthe, Brathanial was prepared. 

-

Despite the peak of cozy comfort Kokichi was enveloped in, surrounded by warm husbands and under a few blankets, including the quilt his sister had gotten them earlier that year, Kokichi woke up without lingering drowsiness in the morning. He had grown used to the light coming around their curtains, the albedo of the snow-covered ground a constant, but today…it was bright.

Curious, Kokichi snuck out of bed and peeked behind the curtains…and his face lit up with excitement. Grinning widely as he turned at the sound of sleepy gurgles, picking up his daughter and kissing her cheeks with a whisper. “Your first freeze is here, sweetbun.”

Miyako yawned, her body briefly stretching, then curling in Kokichi’s arms, pleased with little kisses and more pleased with the idea of falling back asleep in Daddy’s arms. Mmmm. Living bed. Living bed with soft sounds and warm kisses. Nice. If Miyako was entirely conscious of what days were yet, she’d call this a solid start to the day.

In bed, Kaito was subconsciously starting to stretch out–no person, no person, no person, PERSON– before wrapping his arms around Shuichi’s arm, subconsciously scootching closer to him, yawning in his sleep. Mmmm, husband smell… though?? Not the husband smell he had fallen asleep with?

Kaito peeked an eye open and looked up, peeking over Shuichi’s sleeping body. “Miya cry out, babe?”

“Barely,” Kokichi softly called back, still smiling brightly. “Kai-chan, there’s snow.”

Kaito blinked sleepily at his clearly insane husband. “...yeah, beautiful, there’s been… snow for a while. Did you just notice or–oh.” Kaito’s eyes widened, suddenly scrambling up rushing to the window. “Oh no, is it time???”

Kaito peeked out the window… and groaned. Thumping his forehead against the window as he looked down in horror. “Oh god, I could reach down and touch it.”

“Come back to bed,” Shuichi grumbled sleepily.

“Handsome, we’re buried alive.”

Shuichi looked up, squinting at the window. “...no we’re not, don’t be dramatic, Kaito. Come back to sleep.”

“The castle’s halfway buried alive,” Kaito whimpered.

Kokichi turned back to the window, making a giddy sound. The second floor windows under them were completely submerged. Kokichi would likely have trouble, but Kaito would absolutely be able to touch the top of the snow from their window. 

“The Freeze is here!” Kokichi said cheerily, still staying somewhat quiet for Shuuichi and Miyako’s sakes. “Ooooh, I can’t wait to go downstairs and get hot chocolate and see all the deep-winter lights we have up… It looks great in sunlight, but I love seeing the Unity tree with all the lights.”

Looking far too excited for that early in the morning, Kokichi turned to Kaito. “How should we spend the first day? I feel like we should set a good tone~”

Kaito pouted, staring at the snow as he muttered, “We don’t even have any snow dogs, what are we gonna do…” before glancing down at Kokichi. Smiling lightly, if for nothing else happy to see Kokichi excited, reaching over to lightly rub his thumb over Kokichi’s ear shell, a small little affectionate gesture he had taken up when one of his husbands were holding the baby and he didn’t want to be too in their space during so, cupping the side of Kokichi’s cheek a bit as he said, “Well, I’m sure everyone in the castle’s going to end up downstairs wanting to check in. Guess we could say–”

“HELLO, BITCHES!!”

Said a surprisingly muffled voice outside the door. Followed quickly by the sound of Kirumi saying, “Just because I said Miyako wasn’t in the room with us doesn’t mean I meant the princes were.”

“What!?? Get me an entrance already, Ecchi-Maid!”

“Again, you have no idea what I look like, let alone if I count as ‘ecchi’.”

“You have a sexy voice, and a good voice can make up for a real uggo face! Are they here yet!? Kokichi! Kokichi, stop leaving me out in the cold, I know you’re there!”

“...who the hells is this?” Shuichi asked, groggily glaring at the door. 

“Wow,” Kaito whispered, looking surprised, “Shuichi said ‘hells’. He’s annoyed. Babe, go fix this.”

Kokichi startled slightly, not having expected an intrusion like that on what was the start of his yearly, forced lazy vacation, but then, after glancing down at Miyako, making some soothing noises and bouncing her a little…confusion set in. That voice… He could feel Kirumi, and recognized her voice too, but there wasn’t anyone else there. And yet…

Passing Kaito Miyako--knowing to preempt loud noises--Kokichi went to their door and was about to greet Kirumi, hand halfway up…before he was struck silent. Before…

“HA!” Kokichi ugly laughed, wheezing a little, “Miu-chan, what did you do? You could’ve chosen anything to present, and you made a robot that’s as ugly as you? It’s somehow impressive!”

“W-what!? H-how dare you! Thiiiiis is t-top of the line new technology… AND NEW TECH IS ALWAYS SEXY, YOU BRAT!” 

Kaito, who had been lightly bouncing Miyako–little baby Miyaaa~ Sleepy baby Miyaaaa~--startled, his eyes widening. 

He hurried over to Shuichi, who had gotten out of bed and was pulling on a robe he kept near the bed in case of surprise visitors–like already sleeping near fully clothed wasn’t weird enough–yawning as Kaito hurried over to him. “Who on earth…”

“Shuichi, Shuichi, handsome!” Kaito whisper-shouted, eyes wide. 

“Um… yes? Kaito?” Shuichi asked, a very odd energy coming off his sometimes very odd husband. Kaito looked some mix between shocked, in awe, and oddly anxious. “I’m not actually upset at the noise, I was waking up anyway–”

“Shh!” Kaito shushed, ignoring Shuichi’s offended gasp as Kaito hurriedly said, “We are in new territory.”

“Kaito–”

“Koh territory. We are in Koh. Territory,” Kaito whispered hurriedly. 

“...okay, I’m going to call all the energy you clearly have right now a win, since it’s just another sign your sleep schedule has been fixed,” Shuichi said dryly, heading over to the door to join his husband, “Kokichi, your Kaito is acting… weird…”

Shuichi trailed off. Seeing who–or, what–was actually outside. 

Kirumi, looking mildly ashamed to be a part of this at all, stood just behind what looked like essentially a dressed up metal pole. A… A… scarecrow? An odd scarecrow? A–

“Kirumi, did you bring us a sex doll?” Kaito asked, peeking over his husband's head, “On a stick? Cool! Why?”

“HA HA HA! THAT’S RIGHT, THERE’S THE RIGHT REACTION!! BOW! BOW TO MY GENIUS!”

“I think I prefer it when they don’t talk,” Kaito decided. 

Kokichi just snorted, shaking his head in amusement and awe, before he gave a more sheepish look to Kirumi. “Ah, sorry Kirumi--good morning! And happy first day of the Freeze! I hope this loser hasn’t roped you into a ridiculous favor during your time off.”

Peering more at the gussied up pole, Kokichi…couldn’t believe it. A…speakerphone? But without cords, and all the way up at their room, outside of the phone room…and obviously trying to emulate what Miu looked like, from the few sketches she’d sent Kokichi back in the day, but just…

“You know, when I was thinking of the day I could introduce my husbands to you face to face, I was thinking it’d be your face. I guess this is a much kinder option, though. Harvest has already passed, they don’t need a scare like that,” Kokichi mused, before grinning back at his husbands. “Guys? I dunno how she did it, but this is Miu Iruma…on the walking phone? Miu-chan, you’ve spoken to Kai-chan before, but these are my husbands, Kaito and Shuuichi. Little Mi-Mi’s here too, though…” Kokichi peered in Kaito’s arms. “...still trying to hold onto sleep despite the mean adults being way too loud, it looks like.”

Mmmmm…the warmer living bed. Nice. Toasty~

Shuichi stared at the… well, Kaito was right, it looked like a scarecrow pretending to be a sex doll pretending to be a person, and he decided that despite everything, he was going to try to make a good first impression on one of Kokichi’s oldest friends. Stepping forward, he bowed his head a little–feeling silly–before introducing himself, “Good Morning, Miss Iruma. This is Shuichi Saihara–”

“Ecchi Maid! You still there!?”

Kirumi sighed, “For some reason.”

“Does the shota’s husband look good this morning!? Be honest!”

“Of course he does! Shuichi always looks like a sexy beast, even first thing in the morning!” Kaito declared proudly. “Especially first thing in the morning!” 

“Gya~aaaawn.” Miyako yawned through her solidarity dad-noise.

“Mr. Saihara looks presentable,” Kirumi said.

“Eh, that averages out to pretty good,” Miu decided, “Hey good-looking! If Kokichi’s leaving you wanting, don’t worry! Miu Iruma, world’s sexiest, most advanced inventor, blessing to the WHOLE WORLD, is here to pick up alllll the slack~” 

“Pass,” Shuichi said immediately. 

“Damn! What about the taller one? How’s he looking?”

“Barely dressed,” Kirumi said dryly.

“Oh, shoot, pants!” Kaito realized, passing Miyako to Shuichi before hurrying off. 

Kokichi rolled his eyes a little, giving another apologetic look to Kirumi. “I keep telling you, Miu-chan, you’ll simply never measure up. I’m in love, and my husbands love meee~” 

Chuckling a little, he asked, “When did you even get this thing here?” To Kirumi, he asked, “I’m assuming there was a note attached in the mail or somethin’ for a gig doing this? Just like Miu-chan to wanna bullhorn the most peaceful morning of the year… Hasn’t Carbosi already been in the Freeze for a while? You guys should be thawing out soon, I think.”

“O-oooooh, s-sure!” Miu whined, her voice warbling, “B-brag about it, why don’t you?? J-jerk!” 

Kirumi sighed. “It arrived a few days ago, and of course we safety checked it, but yes. We were informed it was meant to be a surprise for you on the first day of the freeze, and were requested to assist. We–and I–agreed, since we assumed it’d be a nice surprise from your friend… I have regrets.”

“Don’t be a sad-sack, lighten up,” Miu said through the speaker, “Kokichi, am I looking at you evenly? Don’t let me be talking to a wall! Ruins the illusion! And yeah, we’ve been stuck in snow for ages. I’ve been keeping busy inventing and chatting with people through these Miu-avatars–I’m calling them ‘avatars’ by the way, learn it, love it, it’s the future!!--but otherwise it’s been snoresville. Can’t wait to be done with it so I can go harass your cousin in person.”

“I’m back, I have pants!” Kaito said cheerfully. 

“Oh, shoot, I should have made a dick joke while I had the chance,” Miu grumbled, before saying, “Actually, you said my niece is here!? Mi-Mi! Come meet your aunt! Come say hi! Is she near me? I’m your Aunt Miu! I’m going to spoil you with sooooo many toys! The coolest toys in the world. And when I visit, I’m gonna be the cool aunt that gives you a sip of vodka.”

“Aiichi and Miu don’t babysit,” Shuichi whispered to his husbands, rocking Miyako in his arms, “Also, I’m not bringing her anywhere near that thing. She’ll get nightmares.”

“Agreed~” Kaito smiled brightly, stepping around his husbands to give the thing a closer look. “This is kind of cool though! Man… we should give it to Mike.”

“What? Give what to who!?” Miu demanded.

Kokichi laughed softly, giving Kirumi a grateful look. “That’s really kind of you all, Kirumi. It is a nice surprise…as regretful as hanging out with Miu can be,” he snickered. “But even for a favor, you should enjoy the first day of the Freeze! We can handle this ‘avatar’ if you don’t wanna be harassed anymore.”

“This is a really good way to keep in contact with people through the Freeze, though,” Kokichi praised. “I’ve always had it easy at the castle, but it can be really isolating for folks… This is really gonna shake things up, Miu-chan.”

Kokichi lit up a bit, hearing that Miu was going to spend more time with Sou-- “Man, I don’t wanna say you’re giving us a softball meeting in person for the first time after suffering through you, but I’m so excited for when they get to Usott!” -- and he never turned down an opportunity to gush about Miyako -- “She’s crawling like a pro now, and I bet she’ll say her first word any day now!” -- but it was just another layer of excitement as Kaito brought up Mike.

“Oooh, he’d be over the moon, wouldn’t he?” Kokichi agreed. “Miu-chan, Tim made a new friend in town, his name’s Mike. He’s brilliant with electronics and machines! Just the little I’ve seen really reminds me of some of the side projects you’d write me about. Oh, oh, Kai-chan, tell her about that beeping thing he made!”

Kirumi hesitated, reluctant– “I’ll carry it back down, Kirumi, no worries,” Kaito assured her. 

Kirumi got that slightly tense expression on her face, the way she always did when Kaito spoke to her, before relaxing. Nodding as she said to Kokichi and Shuichi, “Please feel free to call on me if you need anything, even during the freeze.”

Giving them all another nod, she headed off. 

“A little inventor, huh? What, he making those little ‘build it yourself’ science projects they sell in boxes–”

“Oh, man, the beeping thing! He has this device that will make a sound when he clicks on a transmitter, and if it has a range limit we haven’t found it yet. It’s incredible!” Kaito said cheerfully.

“...really,” Miu said, “...wait, wirelessly?”

“Oh yeah, he does little pranks with it, it’s scared the daylights out of me a few times now. He likes to hide it among stuff.”

“Wait, how big is it?”

“Um, maybe the size of half my palm?” Kaito mused.

“...........” the speaker was quiet for a moment, before Miu suddenly buzzed back to life, “Alright, Kokichi, I’m coming for a visit with your uptight cousin. You’re welcome!”

Kokichi smirked a little. He knew the sound of interest in Miu’s voice, even if it was an inflection he’d only been able to hear with any regularity over the past year and change. “He’s 11, Miu-chan, you can’t poach him.”

His voice softened. “But he really has made some incredible stuff. Hey, if you’re recording anything, get ready ‘cause I’ll only say this to you once, but…I think getting to talk shop with you would be a dream come true for him.”

“I-it would?” Miu said, sounding briefly caught off guard, “...HA HA HA! OF COURSE HE WOULD! I’m the world's most impressive inventor, baby!! Any techhead would bend over backwards for a personal audience with me!!”

“Yeah, I’m making sure someone supervises you two,” Kaito said, giving his husband an affectionate brush of his shoulder as Shuichi headed back inside with Miyako, deciding to get ready to feed her. “Just so we’re all super clear about that beforehand.”

“What!? I’m not going to do anything weird to an 11-year-old, what do you take me for!?”

“I’m less worried about that and more worried about you teaching him how to make a death ray or something,” Kaito lied–there was always a part of him that was a little worried about that, it’d be a lie that that wasn’t one of the reasons he got hyper protective/paranoid about kids–as he wrapped his arm around Kokichi’s shoulders, drawing him into a half-hug, “He’ll ask to learn. As a Prince of Dicea, I am saying no to death rays.”

“Hey, shitty-shota, isn’t this meant to be your fun husband?? The Wild Momota??? Have you neutered him before I got the chance to have fun!?”

“No!” Kaito pouted, before saying proudly, “I neutered myself, thank you very much.”

Kokichi gave Kaito an agreeing nod at that. He trusted Miu not to be weird with Mike…but he didn’t trust the two of them together not to create the world’s nightmares, just to prove they could. As needed as weirdo mad scientists were, there had to be someone around to see reason as well. 

“Kai-chan is fun,” Kokichi asserted proudly, “Death rays would be the opposite of fun, since for fun you need people. Kai-chan’s out here putting in the work to keep the party going. One of the reasons I’m deeply in love…and one why he’s way too cool for you.”

Kaito lit up, preening a bit. Heck yeah~ He was too cool! 

Miu, in turn, gasped! Before scoffing, “W-well, I’m not j-jealous! And I don’t have any more time for this! It’s lunch time over here and I’m starving! But expect me to come back! At some point! I didn’t make this whole setup just to spend the entire time locked in a closet, got it!?”

“There’s always someone stationed on the phones, give it a call and maybe,” Kaito said, his grin all teeth (even if she wasn’t around to see it) as he whispered wolfishly to where he suspected the mic was, placing a hand on the machine’s back, patting it, looking for something, “Your prince Ouma will allow you an audience. Peasant.”

There was a shocked gasp in the speaker, “P-P-PEASANT?” before Kaito found what he was looking for, and flipped the switch. The speaker shutting off.

“Oh, look! That did work!” Kaito said cheerfully, turning the machine around to show Kokichi the small flipswitch he had found, “I figured she’d put it on the back.”

Kokichi snickered a bit, nodding in vain though he really was looking forward to chatting with Miu more over the Freeze, but he watched as Kaito decided to get the last word in. Eyebrows raised in amusement before he stifled laughs with the back of his wrist, peering at the switch and then leaning against Kaito affectionately. 

“She’s definitely gonna bring that up when she comes to visit,” Kokichi laughed, before giving Kaito a more sheepish look. “Well, that was a far more energetic morning than I had anticipated… Sorry if I was a little too much, Miu-chan and I can get a little carried away.”

“And yet, those two–” Kaito smirked, nodding his head into the bedroom, peeking around the door to see Shuichi had crawled back onto the bed with Miyako, the two snoozing together, “Still managed to fall back asleep. How do they do that? It’s wild to me how much Shuichi can sleep on demand these days.”

Wrapping his arms around Kokichi, leaning down to give him a quick kiss, Kaito laughed, “That’s alright, babe, I kind of like when people who love you kind of loudly intrude. It’s a nice reminder of my favorite thing, which is people like my ‘Kichi. My sweety-’Kichi, popula-richy~”

“...” Kaito grinned down at him wolfishly, “It was kind of sexy. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken name-calling off the table so early on. You make it sound good~”

Kokichi smiled softly at the adorable sight. It wasn’t insanely early in the morning, but it wasn’t like it was creeping around noon either. And especially during the Freeze, it could be the coziest thing to sleep in… And his husband and daughter made it look very enticing. 

Pressing into the kiss, Kokichi put his arms around Kaito, nuzzling him. …he liked it when the people he loved were loud about it too. And when he got the chance to be loud right back at them. He knew he had a…unique relationship with Miu, but it was one he really enjoyed and…it was so nice, hearing her voice. Just being able to…chat, not waiting days for a letter, or trying to make the most of their phone appointment. He meant it when he said the avatar stuff was a game changer. If people across cities could just randomly talk to each other at their whims? Kokichi could hardly begin to imagine the ideas that could spring from that. 

Giggling at Kaito’s name-song, Kokichi raised his eyebrows a bit at the wolfish smile. “We’re never telling her that. And I’d still feel bad calling you names, even if we agreed on it…but thanks~” Giving Kaito a look for a moment, Kokichi popped up to kiss his cheek, before grinning impishly. “...you wanna head downstairs to get breakfast for the snooze crew? Theeeeen maybe see how this ultra snowy day looks from your shrine?”

Kaito lit up with excitement, before nodding, stealing another quick kiss before saying, “Let me go put on a shirt and some slippers.”

-

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Maybe so,” Ingo laughed, giving Jeremiah a devil-may-care grin. “It’s not something I often argue, though I think it gives me charm. Can I ask what I did this time, though?”

“It’s even more ridiculous that you have to ask,” a voice behind Ingo grumbled, causing him to look over his shoulder in surprise as…a second Jeremiah walked up. Right behind Ingo, trapping him between both Jeremiahs. “You know you don’t have to put yourself in trouble just to talk with people, right?”

Ingo started to flush, not from being called out, exactly, but more from the fact the behind Jeremiah looped his arms around Ingo’s waist while chastising him…and then in front Jeremiah grabbed his shoulders, leaning in so close Ingo could almost see his eyes behind his mask. 

“Stop risking yourself--you think any of us are happy when you’re hurt?” in front Jeremiah demanded, shaking Ingo’s shoulders a bit, while he felt the arms around his waist tighten protectively. Possessively. 

“S’cuuuuuse me, pardon, coming through~” 

Ingo felt a hand grasp his, and he was prompted to follow along, away from the Jeremiahs’ glowers. “Sorry, Jeremiah, important business, you understand!” Siffrin waved, trotting along with Ingo in tow. With an amused look from under their hat, Siffrin asked, “I save you just in time?”

Ingo couldn’t help but laugh, blushing even more from how he could feel Siffrin’s gloved thumb stroke down the side of his hand. “You seem to have a knack for that. My true Prince Charming.”

“...heh.” Siffrin pulled his hat down, but Ingo’s heart soared, seeing the bashful grin before they covered it up. 

“Playing the hero again, hm?” 

Siffrin and Ingo paused, Loop suddenly in front of them, lounging against a tree. While Siffrin frowned a bit, Loop seemed to lose interest in addressing them further and instead walked up to Ingo, eyes intense. They lifted a hand, a finger extended, almost like they were tilting up Ingo’s chin, but without touching him. Ingo looked up regardless. 

“Well, if you’re on your way, cutie, I do love to watch you go~” 

The way Loop pointedly looked up and down Ingo’s body made his knees weak, and he felt like he was going to melt, which seemed pretty plausible by how hot his face felt, and--

“Srrk!” 

Ingo woke up with a snort, looking around blearily. 

…Goddess condemn him, could he literally meet anyone without having romantic weird dreams about them?!?

-

Somewhere in the world, for reasons he couldn’t possibly guess at, Kaito snorted softly in amusement.

-

In the dungeon, though, everyone was starting to wake up. Jeremiah had gotten up first, and was–loudly–pulling on his armor and securing his packs, which Leana took as a cue to do the same. The two’s movements and loud preparing a signal to the rest of the party that it was time to get up. 

Loop, who was sitting on one of the few real chairs in the room, watched them all groggily start to rise like they had been awake the whole night, as they greeted, “Mooorning sleepy-heads! Maybe. There’s no day/night cycle here, so really we can only assume.”

“I thought sleeping on these towels would be worse, but the heat of the room made this fairly comfortable,” Eddie observed, stretching his body.

Siffrin, who had bundled up his robes and hat as a pillow, admitted, “I don’t feel heat much with the clothes I wear. I think someone told me they were magically enchanted once to handle temperature.”

“Our clothes are drier than I feared they would be. You were right, Mellia, it was wise to hang them near the snowmen,” Leana said.

Running her hands through her feathers, setting them in order, Mellia hid a pleased grin at the praise. “I was a little worried about reading the air flow wrong and that we’d put them in the condensation zone, but looks like it was the right side. Thankfully,” she groaned a little. “I have a few spares of things packed, but I’d rather not continue through half-naked. Even if the reflections probably wouldn’t care.”

“Would be somethin’ weird to explain to the folks we unfreeze,” Brathy snorted, a little amused by the weird lore that would come from that. 

Ingo had snuck off after waking up, gathering his clothes and heading to a privacy screen. Had it been just about any other circumstance, he would’ve needed about an extra hour to get ready, but, er, other things were a bit more pressing. As it was, though, once he came out he headed to one of the snowmen baths, dipping a hand in and…not washing his face, but pressing cold water against it. 

Siffrin lightly headed over to Ingo, a slight waddle to their walk, still waking up first thing in the morning as they yawned, “Felt hot last night?”

“Something like that,” Ingo muttered, before giving Siffrin a small grin. “I suppose sleeping in steam isn’t the worst thing for your skin, but considering we don’t know what we’ll be up against coming up, I’m going to do future me a favor and make sure my pores aren’t all wide open. It’d be humiliating meeting all your friends while I’m breaking out.”

Siffrin glanced over at the kid–the kid and the snowmen had, of course, kept up their looping, pre-set movements, regardless of how much time passed, the kid still soaping up–before smiling lightly. “I think they’ll like you either way. I do.”

“Alright, group, huddle up. We need to discuss the game plan today,” Leana said, crossing her arms. 

“I’d hope so, but it never hurts to put your best foot forward.” Ingo winked at Siffrin. Knowing full well that they had met while Ingo was caked in mud. 

As they joined the group, Ingo giving a nodded thanks to Jeremiah passing over ‘breakfast’, Brathy sat back in his squat, giving Leana an inquisitive look. “Well, we traveled over an’ did one floor yesterday, so if the challenges give us ‘round the same timin’, then…we try to get to the bottom today, and do the real House in one push tomorrow? If the whole point ain’t to have us wear out before facin’ the king, like Loop said, don’t make sense t’ try an’ finish everything today.”

“I agree,” Leana said, before looking to Loop, “In theory, how long will getting the key down to the first floor take today?”

Loop shrugged. “For me? About twenty minutes. For you? Mmm… three hours? Maybe four?”

“How can you get it done in twenty minutes?” Siffrin frowned, brow furrowing, “You’re exaggerating.”

“I’m just a much better version of you, Stardust,” Loop said lightly, “I can do alone in no time flat what your party will need all day to. That’s why I’m the guide.”

“Enough bragging. We’ll limit it to… roughly what feels like three hours, before we break for the day, regardless of if we get the key or not,” Leana decided, “In theory, we will get the key in that time. But if not, that means something’s gone wrong, and I don’t want to push the party to a breaking point by keeping us going after emergencies. So. Three hours.”

“What kind of challenge is coming up?” Eddie asked. 

Loop hummed, looking around for things only they knew what to look for… “This is the floor where you’re going to end up bouncing back and forth. You need pieces from both sides. It might be faster to split your group, tackle both sides at once.”

“Are there skillsets you’d recommend for a particular side?” Leana asked.

“Both have physical challenges, both have mental ones. It’s just a suggestion, if you’re looking to make it quick.” Loop shrugged.

Ingo whistled lightly, before bumping Siffrin’s shoulder encouragingly. “More practiced version, at least. But that’s a real time difference. Wow.” Still, three hours didn’t seem like…that much to do for a whole day, even if it was high-intensity stuff. Depending on what happened, Ingo felt like he might argue with Leana a bit, especially accounting for the fact that they’d have to deal with Sadnesses while traveling around, while Loop didn’t. He wasn’t sure if that was part of Loop’s time estimate, or if it had just been for the challenges, but it would add time for them regardless. 

“Weakening our numbers for the travel back and forth seems unwise…but if the rooms are a straight shot like before, we’d only have to worry about that twice,” Jeremiah mused. 

Mellia pouted a bit, looking over the group. “...we do have an odd number, so…maybe you should go with the smaller group, Brathy, since they’d have less coverage. I know a minor healing spell or two, though I wouldn’t call myself a cleric, but…it could work out for this.”

Ingo didn’t know how he felt about splitting up, but… “...maybe we go to a first room, see who’s suited, then decide from there?” he suggested. 

Leana considered all the input, before nodding with Ingo. “Without more info on what I’m sending the split party into, then I agree, let’s get a sense for it first before deciding on splitting the party. Loop, do you have a suggestion on where to start?”

Loop looked to the left door, then the right… “The right one. It’s a bit easier.”

“Right it is, then,” Ingo hummed, seeing no petty dissent from the others, and he gave Loop a grin before heading over to the right door, holding it for the others. “Thanks, Loop. Hopefully we’ll be seeing you again soon~”

“Have fun~” Loop said, wiggling their fingers at him, “I’ll be here~”

-

{The sky cities had not needed true standing armies. They had fighters, yes, those trained to defend and to grapple and to triumph… but they had really only had those things because always there were those among them who wanted to practice at being warriors, whether war was on the horizon or not. Those who knew how to fight were largely daydreamers playacting with each other. The true safety of the cities was being always out of reach. Out of sight.}

{And when the King had arrived, and his forces doubled every day… no one had known what to do.}

{They had never fought a war before.}

There were four people standing around what, at first glance, looked like a table holding within its corners a war map. As the group got closer to the table though, depth perception would quickly show that the table was more a window, and the map a large area beneath them, elaborately decorated to look like an island in the sky, covered in what looked like small figurines from a distance, but if stood next to, would be large statues, the size of a person. 

The four figures were clearly reflections, but they moved more than any reflection the group had seen before. Talking to each other, sustaining a conversation. One of them was familiar. It was the tall, beautiful woman they had seen, briefly, on the roof. 

“...we were wrong to allow the spread to the east,” Euphrasie said, shakily pushing her hands together, dipping her head in regret, “The Flutians were overrun. We just got word… Sadnesses have been seen on their border. It’s spread from us to them.”

“Dammit,” said another reflection, a person with a straw hat, a fishing pole on their back, as they reached into the table and, with a flick of their hand, black bubbles emerged and submerged all the figurines on the east side of the map. More and more black bubbles bubbling up on the rest of the map. “There goes our food supply.”

“We knew it was a possibility. So did they. We had to ask them to try,” an older, white-haired woman insisted, looking at the eastern map in regret. 

“Can we not spend the first fifteen minutes of this meeting showing our regret to people who cannot see it?” a thin woman, with dark, black hair, insisted, crossing her arms after she pushed up her round glasses, staring at the map, “We can weep when we’re done. We need to focus.”

“A moment to remember makes us better at the next decision,” Leana said automatically, unable to help herself. 

She was startled when all four figures looked up, staring her in the eyes… before they nodded, accepting her as Euphrasie stepped aside, like she was making room for Leana as they looked back to the map. 

“I’ll accept any method, if it slows down the spread to the western corner,” Odile, the black-haired woman, insisted, “Once they get there, that’s it, we’re surrounded on all sides. Mirabelle and her party should be there. We should be on the ground, she’s the only one who could hold that line.”

“She’s not ready,” Euphrasie frowned, “Her Rally mark barely functions. She needs to be ready for the king.”

For nothing in the room stylistically being familiar, Ingo felt a rush of deja vu run over him. 

There had been two kinds of strategy meetings in the resistance army, which Ingo had dubbed ‘open meetings’ and ‘closed meetings’. Open meetings had been the ‘normal’ ones, their entire force gathered around in mornings or before operations and brought into the conversation of what to do, and while it was a genuine dialogue, and people piping up with their opinions had saved their hides more than once…a lot of people just took their leaders’ words for it. 

Meaning Cordovan, Finch, once they joined, and eventually…Leana. 

The room they walked into reminded Ingo of one of the few times he’d stumbled into a closed meeting. His father and sister and the future ruler of Mypros huddled over maps and missives, moving around little rocks and making notes… 

He had been asked to join, once. Ingo had felt like he’d rather go streaking through their whole camp than have his father ask what he thought about infiltration points. 

That wasn’t the only thing he noticed, though. 

Leana seemed more than perfect for this kind of challenge, but Ingo couldn’t help but gasp softly. Another mention of Mirabelle (and her party?) was news worth remembering on its own, but… “She…has Rally?” Ingo murmured, confused and intrigued. 

And he wasn’t the only one. 

Fluttering after Leana, Mellia scowled at the map. “Flutians were overrun? Just what kind of bullshit…”

“Yes, I thought I heard that too,” Leana murmured, staring down at the map, “Try not to get caught up, Mellia. We’re here to defeat this room, not learn the history. We can ask them about it when we’re triumphant.”

“What’s the function of this room, then?” Eddie asked, getting on his hind legs and peeking down, “This is very high up.”

At that, Leana’s eyes shifted uncertainly. “I… imagine to come up with a strategy? To win the war?”

“One that they lost,” Siffrin reminded her dryly, staring at the woman with glasses, “With their best minds on it. That might be asking a lot of us.”

“Winning wars in theory is always much simpler than practice,” Leana said, “They possibly even came up with a winning strategy, in here. But plans turn to shit once you actually play them out. It’s almost impossible to account for chance and tragedy. But theory? We can manage.”

Eddie squinted down. “...I think it’s worrying, that there’s a person sized map down there. I bet you anything Loop, when they did this, just had to come up with a strategy. But there might be consequences for more of us being here. The setup is too strange, otherwise.”

“Think we’re gonna end up in the map?” Siffrin asked, trying–and failing–to look away from the woman in glasses.

“I think we’re gonna end up in this map,” Eddie agreed.

Brathy frowned warily, looking at the map. “...can’t say I’m eager to get back on a war battlefield…but even bein’ in a different room didn’t stop the flags upstairs.”

“Well, we still don’t know if that’s a sure thing,” Ingo hummed, not very eager either, before he gave his sister a warm smile, “But if Leana’s calling the shots and it really is theory more than practice, I think we’d be just fine.”

Mellia’s eyebrows knit as she looked at the black, bubbly part of the map. …she’d always thought that the poetry and songs about her people coming from the sky had been just that. Metaphor. Pretty words, meant to aliken them to their closest element. 

…Siffrin had known her people, had known the myth of Icarus. These people had lost their war with the king and the Sadnesses…they said the Flutians had been overrun. 

There wasn’t a nation of Flutians. They were just like humans, just wherever they happened to be, from wherever their families had traveled to. 

The Flutians had been overrun. Her kin had their home taken. 

A dark, malevolent, curse-like energy started forming around Mellia, her fingers digging into the table. She was going to tear the king limb from limb.

She looked up, the sharp cut of her eyes cruel. “Leana, send us in. It’ll be a nice intro before the main chorus.”

Leana startled, looking to Mellia, ready to talk it out…

The woman in glasses looked up, like she had heard her, and smirked. Taking out her book, she opened it up as she said, “Practical science always requires a test group.”

And then she waved her hand over the book, and four diamonds appeared over four of the party members: Mellia, Brathy, Eddie, and Jeremiah. The diamonds closed on them, and they disappeared, reappearing on the map in different squadrons already set up on the map, clearly positioned roughly around the center of the map. 

“Four units left,” the fisherman sighed, “It’s dire.”

“We have to trust that they can manage it,” Euphrasie said, leaning into the map, staring sadly down at it, “We have no other choice. No backup is coming.”

“We must try to keep the west open. It’s our only evacuation point for our people. If it closes, it’s just a matter of time,” the old woman insisted. “So…”

They looked to Leana. “What do we do?”

Leana took a deep breath, looked into the map… “Jeremiah, we need environmental advantages. Check the area in the west. Any cutoff points we can take advantage of that you can see better than I can? Mellia, go recruiting in the buildings of the towns you’re near, perhaps we can muster up more statues to work with. Eddie, be careful, but I want you to start experimenting with how quickly you can burst bubbles. The bubbles form fast, we don’t have the luxury of slow and safe, just test to see how fast we can manage before it gets dangerous.”

“Yes, princess,” Eddie said, heading to the nearest bubble batch, his figurines following him.

“It’s done, Blessed,” Jeremiah said, mounting a--in his opinion, poor imitation--wyvern and heading west, off to do recon, his figurines following suit as well. 

Shooting into the air, an image of wings and darkness that was…scarily and painfully familiar to the battlefields in Eslley, Mellia took off with a growl, a song of fury and rebellion starting to find notes in her heart. She was not going to stand idly by during this and…well, inspiration was a broad term. 

“I’ll follow Eddie, then,” Brathy called, figuring to go where the greatest danger was. 

Ingo watched the…war preparations begin, he supposed, a little concerned…before he glanced down at Siffrin. “...I don’t suppose you think trying to check out the other room with just the two of us is a bad idea? I guess we could help with strategy, but that’s never really been my strength.”

Siffrin shrugged. “Loop said they could do this whole floor in twenty minutes. In theory, we could handle whatever’s next ourselves? Maybe ask Leana?”

Leana looked over her shoulder, hearing him. “Why don’t you scout the next room, and come back if it’s overwhelming. None of the rooms have actually locked us in yet, so presumably it should be fine to look.”

“Well, if Queen and Commader’s said it’s fine~” Ingo teased, before heading back to the door. “Now we’re actually sanctioned for a scouting trip.” 

Had his last ‘mission’ with Siffrin been…incredibly scary? Yeah, but on kind of a fluke, and now they were more prepared for whatever might be thrown at them than taking a day trip out to a waterfall, so…it’d be just fine!

Heading back to the sauna, Ingo gave Loop a wave--and a wink with a ‘told you we’d be back’ sort of energy--before heading to the left door.

Loop gave them a mildly curious look–surprised to see them alone but unconcerned–before humming to themselves, “I suppose the map needed more than one person? Hm. Don’t get distracted by the shinies, darling!”

Siffrin, subconsciously, moved ahead of Ingo. There was a different mentality in the large group they had been traveling with so far: he had felt comfortable just being near the front, because there were so many eyes and their leader had assigned the spot her was in herself. But now they were all gone, and in the back of Siffrin’s mind nagged, you go to the front. Your job is to spot danger. Look for ambushes. Look for traps.

Scurrying inside, Siffrin looked around the new room. Keeping his eye peeled…

It looked like a blacksmith shop. With a large, burning furnace against the wall, where an anvil stood in the center of a small molten moat. But the weapons hanging from the walls…weren’t. They were made of strange, gem-like material. Rubies turned into daggers, gold into elaborate bows and arrows. Weapons that in practice would shatter or bend under real pressure. They were…

“Decorations.” Siffrin recalled, vaguely remembering someone explaining to them, “They bought framework for weapons from the surface cities, but they didn’t need them as weapons. They liked to use them as frames for artwork.”

Ingo did try to take Loop’s warning to heart, but he couldn’t help but look around the blacksmith’s shop with awe and surprise. He’d seen a few smithies in his day, helped out in one once, but he’d never seen one that was so…

Yeah, decorative was the word. 

Giving Siffrin a mildly curious look, Ingo then sighed a little as he looked around. “...so it really is a city in the sky, huh? It sounds impossible, just from like…shadows? And like, air pressure or something,” Ingo waved vaguely, “But I guess if it’s meant to be forgotten, that kind of makes sense…” He shook his head a little. “I couldn’t even begin to imagine the kind of magic needed to maintain a place like that.”

Ingo walked farther into the shop, just looking around. The anvil seemed prominent, but…it was asking a lot for amateurs to forge something. Both Siffrin and Loop had now said things about ignoring the weapons on the walls, but Ingo found his attention drawn back to them anyway. It was hard to ignore things that glittered!

“I know a few people who’d probably be offended, but,” Ingo snickered, before his laugh softened, turning a little wistful, “it seems…really nice to me? Maybe in a weird way. A place where people have such little need for weapons that they’re just decorations. Made from things that’d chip whittling wood, but just there to look nice. It’d be nice to feel that safe.”

…though considering what they were doing, and what the group was specifically now doing in the other room, he supposed that sense of safety wasn’t entirely true.

Circumnavigating the moat, Ingo peered at the furnace a little before sighing, twirling one of his earrings casually. “...well, I’m no expert. What do you thi--”

Ingo cut himself off, hearing a weird, heavy…plopping noise behind him. By the door. 

If Siffrin or Ingo had looked at the ceiling, they’d have noticed something curious. Like how water condensates, there was droplets of the molten material around the anvil hanging from the stone ridges of the roof. Not just hanging, but moving, and doing so quickly. Rolling and spreading towards the door they had come in from, mixing and joining together into bigger and bigger globs of the molten-looking material, before finally becoming heavy enough to drop from the ceiling and–

Siffrin glanced over, his eye widening at a reddish-orange sadness–formed to look like a large, slime-glob–started to stretch and grow in size in front of the door, before wailing at them as soon as it had grown big enough to form a mouth: “WAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Siffrin immediately took his hook dagger out, intending to attack, but cried out when the Sadness suddenly laughed out, it’s body able to shift and morph into long attacks as its brief arm slapped at him, knocking Siffrin off his feet. 

Ingo drew his sword almost entirely on instinct, instead just looking at the…slime? Were they fighting a slime?! Incredulously. Siffrin getting knocked away seemed to jolt Ingo into action however, and he ran forward, trying to cover Siffrin’s position long enough for them to get back on their feet. 

“You know, I really would’ve expected this more from a cave,” Ingo mused, going in for a slice. Which made contact, but nothing…happened. Ingo’s sword feeling more like he’d just run it against mud than the solid contact he’d had with the other Sadnesses, though he was able to pull it away from the slime again. Confusion crossed his face again, though it wasn’t long before…

All at once, though just for a second, the slime Sadness burst into flames, Ingo quickly backing up, instinctively reaching down to bring Siffrin with him if they hadn’t gotten up, his face paling. 

“Oh,” he said weakly, “No, I think you’re right at home in a furnace then.”

Siffrin had gotten to their knees, Ingo’s grip pulling them to their feet as the two backed up, looking in concern at the molten slime Sadness, “W-well, it’s still just a sadness at the end of the day. Still two against one!”

Almost like to spite his words, the sadness wailed in grief, before splitting into two identical smaller versions of itself. Both rushing Siffrin and Ingo. 

“Oh come on! That’s hardly fair!” Ingo whined, but readied himself nonetheless. Trying to slash at it before did nothing, and Ingo didn’t think losing his sword would be particularly helpful either, so how did you…

“Whoa!” he cautioned, jumping over an outstretched arm attack, like the one that had hit Siffrin before. He was forced to dance back a bit, though there was only so much room in the shop and he was already close to a wall, so…

Ingo blinked, looking up. 

There was a slight clamoring noise, before Siffrin would find both his and Ingo’s slimes pelted with decorative weapons. Not even thrown like ranged daggers, but just lobbed. “The more stuff in a fire, the faster it cools, right?!” Ingo called, not wanting to just be called crazy.

“I don’t know!? Sure!?” Siffrin shouted, scrambling up as his own slime had managed to knock him down again, brushing off the hot slime from where it had globbed on their arm, starting to burn until Siffrin pushed it off. “If you say so!” 

Siffrin looked around, spotting a vertical row of shields that were near the exit door. Running to it, their slime on their heels, they lept and grabbed the wooden shelves, kicking against the wall and breaking the shelving, all the shields dropping onto and over Siffrin, with a splat lodging themselves into the molten sadness. 

The sadness wailed, squishing and squirting between the spaces of the shelves and the shields, before those broken pieces separated from each other, hurrying back to the other slime. Rejoining it, now just one sadness in the room as the two split halves rejoined to try to salvage their heat. It wailed at Ingo, before glancing at Siffrin, who had gotten bombarded by the falling shelves themselves, and was still shakily pushing shields off himself. 

Ingo whooped, seeing Siffrin’s solution, while he kept pelting his own slime with anything he could reach. He…wasn’t sure if it was actually cooling the slimes, but it was annoying them at least, and that was keeping them off them so…a win? 

But maybe that was counting your blessings before understanding them, and Ingo’s smile quickly dropped as he saw the shields fall on Siffrin as well. He’d gotten a moment of reprieve, as the slime reformed into one being, but seeing it eyeing Siffrin…

“Oh no you don’t!” he huffed, taking a leap and trying to side-step the slime, only to brush against it, feeling the goo start smoldering in his clothes. Still, Ingo wasn’t phased as he tried to put himself between his friend and danger, figuring, well…gotta try. “All eyes on me, please, darling!” 

Ingo put all of his strength into a wide slash, just squinting his eyes in a wince as globular cinders spattered upon him. 

Siffrin pushed the shield off of themselves, scrambling up with a wince–they had hurt their back with that stunt, they could feel their body refuse to straighten–as they stood by Ingo. They had been planning to accompany his slash with a few coinciding jabs, but were just as taken off guard by the splashing globs as he was, ducking down their hat to cover their eye but still feeling it lodge into their neck and around their ears.

Whimpering slightly as he brushed off the globs before the burns became too bad, Siffrin tried to focus, tried to attack, but as soon as he looked back to the sadness, he saw that the sadness was doing something new. It had created two arms again, bringing them high into the ain, before slamming them both down on Siffrin’s shoulders. Siffrin crying out as they buckled down onto their knees. 

The fight was going poorly. It didn’t help the two were now trapped in a corner, the sadness large enough to box them in. 

“Siff!” Ingo glanced over, his heart clenching as Siffrin cried out. As brazen as his last attack had been, he could only back up, trying to defend his friend. 

Which wasn’t working, Ingo, Siffrin was hurt. Look at him, you’re doing nothing. You’ve been playing around like an idiot while Siffrin’s been slammed and slapped to the ground. Some friend you are. 

Somehow, the slime looked even bigger, thoroughly boxing them in, and no way to get by unless they wanted to leave as scorched bones. 

Your fault, you were the one who suggested feeding the thing. And Siffrin got hurt from that too. 

You’re going to get the both of you killed. You can’t do anything, take away the others, and look at you, whimpering in the corner? What are you gonna do now, crybaby, when big sister isn’t here to save you?

Ingo flinched back as the slime burst into flame again, his shirt catching on fire. Siffrin wasn’t getting up. They weren’t getting up, and they were going to…

Abatea, if you can hear me…please let this work.

I don’t want people to die anymore.

Batting down the flames on himself, Ingo took a breath…and started to dance. The space was limited, but he used what he could, limbs moving in sweeping motions as his whole body glided with the same rhythm. 

Please…

He worked himself into a spin, his sword acting as an extension of his arm, a part of the dance as well, the attack not as forceful as his earlier ones, but with a sort of deadly grace, each movement flowing into the next. 

PLEASE!

Another spin, Ingo’s eyes starting to tear up as the slime oozed closer, he launched into a sort of roundhouse trade of a kick…

And there was a burst of light that bathed the entire room, a sigil crisp and clear in the air. 

Siffrin, even down on his knees and struggling to find the strength to stand back up, still couldn’t help the small, slightly bleeding smile as he watched Ingo move. Their faith rewarded. They had known he would at least try…

But all thought was pushed out of their head, once the sigil’s light literally baked something into their skin. Siffrin taking in a deep breath in… out….

It was the most awake they had ever felt. The most human they had ever felt, if being human truly was some grand, wonderful thing. They were suddenly aware of all their fingers and all their toes, and could feel the strength in their own grip with perfect clarity and insight. They took a deep breath in and out and could feel the power in their lungs, eased and painless now, the feeling spreading out to their neck and arms and stomach, the core of their muscles like vibrant, internal lights, as easy to control as adjusting a light switch.

The full scope of Siffrin’s potential. Unhindered. Fully accessible. 

Time didn’t slow down, but it didn’t matter, because Siffrin’s vision could suddenly keep up. Their single good eye now more than enough to take in every shift of the blobs form, making it so much easier to see, oh, that’s where the attack was going to come from. It had felt so random and unpredictable a second ago, the arms growing seemingly instantaneously and from anywhere. Now? There. It was going to come from there, where the molten was lightly bubbling. Dodge now! 

Siffrin rolled to the side as the next arm came out to slam him, and grasping his dagger, he kicked off the floor, focusing on the sadness. It had eyes. The eyes weren’t false, or shifting or malleable like the rest of its body. It’s eyes were stable. Important.

Jumping off the floor, Siffrin slashed his hook-dagger against the left eye and kept pushing, the sadness wailing as they slashed across the whole of its face. The eyes scratched out, molten exploding out. Siffrin barely felt it, as mid-air, he kept slashing. It felt easy. It was so easy. Just attack.

And just as the sadness let out a final wail, crashing and falling apart into water, the sigil’s light faded and, and Siffrin landed on his feet and… oooof… wooozy….

The first and, before now, only time Ingo had ever activated Rally, he had been immediately aware of it. Shocked, and honestly a little frightened, knocked right back onto his ass. Gaping and processing until there had been a swarm of adults and explanations forth-coming. 

This time…

Well, Ingo knew what was happening…sort of. But as soon as the room lit up, his vision entirely encompassed with the grace of Goddess, it was like…tunnel vision. Ingo knew where the slime was, he knew where Siffrin was, the bounds of the room, but it was like…Siffrin was the only thing that mattered. Ingo’s body falling into comfortable routine (because he’d spent nearly every day of the last six or so years practicing, etching dance into his bones) and…that was the only important thing. 

Keep dancing. Your bond with your companions is as precious as diamonds and twice as strong. Dance, so they may fight. 

So Ingo danced, moving in a natural flow, his body relaxing and…the whole reason that Ingo danced, why he had practiced it for so many years unseen, why it mattered to him… 

That pure joy? Settled over him, Ingo’s smile coming over him like the most natural thing in the world. A smile he didn’t need to remind himself to make. 

And then the enemy was gone. And in a slowing motion, Ingo stopped. And everything returned. 

“...”

“...”

“...oh my goddess I did it,” Ingo whispered once his heavy breaths allowed him words. But he didn’t wait longer than that before his voice blasted up in volume, an ecstatic grin coming over his face. “Great Mercy, I DID IT!! Siffrin!!! I - YOU - Oh Goddess, what was that?!?! You were amazing!!” 

Running up to Siffrin, Ingo picked his friend up into a twirling hug, smacking a kiss on Siffrin’s cheek before (once he let Siffrin go, thankfully), promptly collapsing backwards flat on the ground. Still, an almost deliriously giddy giggle bubbled out of Ingo as he laid there, breathing heavily and covered in burns, his clothes in tatters. “Ha ha!! Ow… We did it!!!” 

@v@ 

Siffrin’s body cooled down from the boost it had been given, and while admittedly the woozy feeling of falling back to earth, metaphorically, wasn’t helped by being hoisted back from it, less metaphorically, he couldn’t help but still be pleased by Ingo’s excitement. The face kisses were new too! That was nice! Siffrin was too tired to overthink it!

When they were put back down, they flopped backwards as well, needing a second to catch their breath and remind themselves how their body worked when it wasn’t rushing forward at 150%. Their clothes were signed with dark burn marks, but as usual, had held up to the damage extremely well otherwise. Phew! Haha… ha!

“We did it!” Siffrin echoed, increasingly pleased, before suddenly sitting up, beaming at Ingo, “YOU did it! You did the thing! That was the thing!” 

Ingo giggled again in delight, before shakily pushing himself up a bit, looking a little more anxious. Still smiling, but…tentative. “It…worked?”

“...I-I mean, for you?”

“What, do you think I can do that on the regular?” Siffrin asked, gesturing to the puddle around them, “That was intense! It was like…I was made of caffeine. But without the jitters. I felt perfect.” Siffrin mused, closing their eye, “Like I was the best version of myself… it was incredible. Though… phew.” 

Siffrin took off their hat, waving air into their face sheepishly, “The cool-down’s a bit rough. I’m glad we beat it when we did, because once the effect was over, I would have struggled for a moment. Just so you’re aware,” Siffrin stuck their tongue out playfully at Ingo, “For next time.”

Ingo laughed sheepishly, knowing it was a little silly to ask considering what had just happened. Sure, there was something to ‘do-or-die’ adrenaline, but…that wasn’t what had happened to get them from backed against the wall to completely decimating the Sadness. Still…

He gave Siffrin an embarrassed, but pleased grin as they called out for a next time…before he looked down. (...yeah, these pants weren’t salvageable. Damn.)

“...I wanted to be a dancer,” Ingo said softly.

“Ever since the first time I ever saw my mum dance… She looked like she could be a goddess herself, and she looked so…happy when she danced too. I wanted to be just like her when I was little. Still do, a bit,” he snorted, hints of a laugh on his breath. 

Ingo paused, swallowing. They…really should head back to the saferoom, wait to get checked out by Brathanial. The longer he sat, the more Ingo could feel the burns across his body sting. 

“...when we joined the resistance… Um, usually there’s this whole, like…preparation and ceremony that you go through, when you decide to be an adult,” Ingo awkwardly explained, “But there wasn’t any time, or resources, and if you were going to fight, then…you needed to be an adult. To be responsible and serious, with others’ lives right next to yours in battle.”

“I always thought I was going to dance for my coming-of-age ceremony. Thought I had years to prepare for it.” Ingo smiled at the ground, though it came out as a pained grimace. “...I was told I couldn’t be a battle dancer. That’d I’d just embarrass myself, a-and…no one would be inspired by a male dancer anyway. And that’s important, for a battle dancer, it doesn’t work if no one…”

Ingo sucked in a breath, startled and a little embarrassed by the realization he was close to tears. It felt daunting, but he glanced back up at Siffrin. Something pleading in his face. “...it worked for you?”

Siffrin, still, didn’t entirely understand. He probably never would. Maybe there were some things that you just had to grow up around, for you to understand the logic of it. But even if he couldn’t understand why Ingo’s smile strained when he talked about watching his mother, or what it meant to choose to be an adult, or why it mattered that Ingo was a guy when it came to dancing… he could understand that those things mattered to Ingo. They could see how it affected him.

Siffrin looked over at him, hands on their chest, hat skewed as their wild, white hair curled around their face. “Why wouldn’t it have inspired me?” They asked, “You looked beautiful.”

Ingo’s eyes widened a little, before they scrunched, a few tears spilling over…though Ingo laughed. Grinning and wiping an eye as he blushed. “...thanks, Siff.”

Sniffling in a breath, Ingo looked around the shop before letting out a puff of breath. “...well, I have no idea if that was the challenge we were supposed to face, but I don’t fancy sitting around here with my clothes falling off to figure out more. You okay with going back to the baths to wait for the others?”

Ingo winced a little. “I can’t wait to hear how Brathy’s gonna chew me out for this one while he heals us.”

“Did we even get anything this room?” Siffrin asked, looking around before huffing, flopping their head back, “Nevermind. Loop said we had to do both sides inevitably anyway, so regardless we made progress. I think everyone should be impressed. We did it! …ow.” Siffrin winced, having raised their hands in triumph, feeling the burn on their neck, “I wonder how the map is going?”

-

“Alright, file out, file out! The larger statues make way for the smaller ones, it’s quicker if you wait!” Leana called out, an army of statues filling the bathhouse, hopping around the snowmen while the haggard looking reflections were lead out by the party, “Ugh, this is getting ridiculous. Don’t push, the bathouse is big enough but the door isn’t! One at a time!”

“Went the ‘mass evacuation’ route, did you?” Loop called from where they were lounging by one of the pools, “Are you trying to win an achievement? There’s no trophy for saving all the npc’s, darlings.”

“It kind of just worked out like this more than anything.” Eddie admitted, watching as the black haired woman–who, at some point the party just started calling The Researcher, since she kept referring to stats and facts she had researched for the battles– immediately bee-line for the kid. Going to sit next to them, suddenly wearing a robe herself as the two chatted to each other while they soaped down. 

“A winning strategy is the one that leaves you with the most people.” Leana said, looking around, “Where is my brother? Still on the other side?”

Mellia was…quiet, as she reentered the bathhouse. Physically, she seemed alright, if a little tousled and wind-swept, but…quiet. Not with pouty exasperation at the others, not with internal anxiety…

If anything, she seemed a little…shocked. Drained. Ashamed. 

And people thought they had seen the last of the Black Star on the Myprosian battlefields. 

Not speaking to the others, she found as empty a corner of the bathhouse that was possible with the influx of reflections and sat down. Just leaning against the wall. 

Brathy gave her a worried look, as he had since, well…since he’d heard a screech across the map, roiling and boiling blood as it called, “Silenced by the heartless and violent, mother of all pain.” But she hadn’t wanted to talk since she’d…snapped out of it, or whatever, so…he left her some space. 

Just as Leana called, almost as if summoned, the left door opened, and Ingo and Siffrin, looking burnt and ragged came through. Immediately, though, Ingo lit up and ran over to his sister, colliding with her in a hug. 

“Ana!!! I did it!!” 

“Did what?” Leana asked, before her brain caught up with her, eyes widening, “It? Did it??”

“What’s it?” Eddie asked, watching as Leana seemed to light up with joy, hugging Ingo back.

“You know,” Siffrin said, shuffling out, smiling at the display, “It. The thing.”

“Are you being obtuse on purpose?”

“I’m so tired, the names escaping me. The ‘make you awesome’ thing.”

His giddy little noises returning, Ingo nuzzled into his sister’s shoulder, uncaring of his burns or her armor. Though he didn’t even need Abatea’s blessing to light up the room with the smile on his face as he grinned at the group. “I used Rally!!”

Brathy’s jaw dropped a little before he let go of a proud guffaw, quickly joining in on the hug and ruffling Ingo’s hair. “You didn’t, you punk! Aw, Ingo…”

Leaning against the wall by the right door, Jeremiah settled back, a small, pleased smirk on his face. It was about time. Minuet would be thrilled, if this also meant Ingo would be willing to dance freely now.

Leana giggled some more, hefting Ingo to the tips of his toes in a bear hug… before she suddenly went, “Wait.” Before sternly looking him over at arms length, “How bad of a fight was it then? Are you okay!?”

“We’re okay!” Siffrin said brightly, before sweating a bit, “Just… burns. Lots of burns!”

Ingo grinned sheepishly in Leana’s hands, the full extent of his burns put on display. “We’re okay! Was a little touch and go for a moment, but it worked out!”

Huffing, Brathanial looked between Ingo and Siffrin before flicking a (non-pinked) part of Ingo’s forehead, dragging him off to sit down. “Siff, you’re next. Only doin’ Ingo first since Rally’s prolly given ‘ya a headstart on healin’ up, ‘long with that fancy cloak of yours. Hope you brought extra clothes, ya little reckless moron…”

As Brathanial chewed him out, as expected, Ingo took it with the full grace of dramatic pouts and whines, though he did look over to Loop, giving them a weary grin. “So…fire slime, huh?”

“I’m surprised you fought it at all,” Loop admitted, watching the caring display with idle amusement, “You were just supposed to make some arts and crafts, not that big a deal.”

“We didn’t even get a chance to think about it! It was instant!” Siffrin whined. 

“Hmmm…” Loop tilted their head, “That is strange… oh! Perhaps starting the right hall challenges automatically started the left hall challenges. Obviously that’s not something I myself could have ever tested. It might mean that the rooms you have left will need…quicker thinking. Oops!” Loop said cheerfully, “My bad!”

Ingo wilted a bit, sighing. “In some ways I think fighting that slime might have been easier than arts and crafts…” He looked up at the others, filling them in. “It’s a smithy…aaand our resident weapons master is safe and snug at home.”

After Brathy healed up his burns and moved onto Siffrin, Ingo excused himself back to a partition, planning to deal with the whole ‘clothes’ situation. 

…he had been almost unbearably honored. Getting a battle dancer’s set, a proper one? Ingo had almost been distracted from the fact that meant his mum knew he danced. But Tiana had insisted, even past his arguments that something like a dancer’s set was way more than a trinket for a favor, and he couldn’t accept something like that…

It did…make a nice feeling in his chest, thinking about how he could fulfill her wish of seeing him wear it one day. While he danced, too. 

…he wasn’t, er, sure his mum had gotten the right measurements for the bottoms, though. They were a bit…snug. 

But, taking a breath (just because this was the kind of thing he’d dreamt about, didn’t mean it wasn’t still daunting…and showing a lot of skin), Ingo glanced down at himself before leaving the privacy screen, trying to just walk out nonchalantly. 

The group glanced over… and while Siffrin immediately turned red, sputtering, Loop in turn leaned forward and leered as they greeted, with their non-existent mouth, a deep, loooooong whistle, before snickering, “Well, the views certainly improved. Glad to see someone fully leaning into their curves for once.”

“Look easier to move in,” Eddie said approvingly, “I always do wonder how you all manage to move in all those clothes you wear. I have to assume bipedals would be a lot more flexible without them. Seems more sensible.”

“It does seem more sensible,” Leana agreed, giving her brother an approving look, before smiling lightly, “A suitable, sensible outfit for a battle dancer. Very good.”

Ingo flushed deeply at the whistle--yeah, yeah, he knew he had a tummy, sue him--but gave his sister a shy smile at her approval, laughing softly as he looked to the side, fussing with his earrings. 

“Mum,” he gave as a sheepish explanation, before shrugging a little. “I mean, i-it is clothes, so…works out.”

“Works out for a battle dancer,” Jeremiah corrected, for all accounts looking unaffected by Ingo’s wardrobe change, though he was honest with himself, acknowledging that he had been staring at Ingo’s backside for a while. “Siffrin should be a little in front of you, then, when we’re in formation, since you won’t be charging in as much.”

Brathy gave a little approving grunt, working on healing the burns around Siffrin’s neck.

“If the rooms challenges are more likely to be quick activating because we started the process, then I say we keep the party together from now on. While I’m pleased with how this went, putting just two of our people against any monster that’s using fire without backup is not something I would have volunteered us for,” Leana said, looking around at the additional NPC’s, as Loop kept calling them, “And some of these challenges are elaborate, additional people even on standby couldn’t hurt. No more separating. Agreed?”

“Seems wise to me,” Eddie nodded, before looking over at Mellia, “Though, perhaps a small break before we start again is also wise. Give everyone a chance to recuperate.”

“Agreed,” Jeremiah said.

“Need a break anyway,” Brathy grunted, looking Siffrin over one last time for anything he might’ve missed. “Practically bleedin’ mana out here for you guys. This is why I said you were fuckin’ dumb.”

“And why you agreed to come~” Ingo sang, before plopping down next to his cousin, giving him an affectionate bump of the shoulder. Though, after a moment, the break decided, he did give a pointed glance Mellia’s way, lifting his eyebrows in question. 

Brathy just shook his head a little, sighing as he glanced over at her, muttering under his breath to Ingo, “...she started actin’ like her ma, for a second there.”

Ingo winced, before he looked over at Mellia again, worry etched over his face.

Siffrin looked back and forth between Ingo and Brathy, before looking to Mellia.

…and they headed over.

“...” Siffrin stood few feet off from Mellia for a moment, uncertainly shifting their weight from boot to boot. He and Mellia hadn’t had many conversations with each other. But, after the brief thing they had heard in the strategy room, “...can I sit?”

At first it looked like Mellia hadn’t even heard him. She was just sitting slumped against the wall in the same position she’d been in since she came back to the baths, staring at nothing. But, then she shrugged a little. Enough of an invitation as Siffrin was likely to get.

Siffrin took it. Sitting beside her.

“...” Siffrin stared at his boots. Scuffing his heels lightly against the beautifully colored tiles. “...I don’t really know anything. About this place or what happened. It’s all blank. But… sometimes I say things by accident, and its maybe? Me remembering things on instinct?”

Siffrin shrugged, “If you want to try asking, I mean.”

Mellia’s dismayed gaze slid over to Siffrin as they spoke, and for a while, it was silent. But then, in a small, soft voice, she asked, “...what does being in the air feel like to you, Siffrin?”

“Like I’m going to fall.” Siffrin said immediately, closing their eye, focusing on that feeling, “...but in a sad way. Not a scared one. Like… that wasn’t something I realized could happen until recently. I don’t know how to explain it. It feels… like a betrayal.”

A betrayal… Something so natural to you, something that was home…taken. And you were unable to return… Some changes irreversible. 

“...some people call me a monster at home,” she whispered to Siffrin, gazing along the wall. Loss etching into the creases under her eyes. “Not because Flutians are monsters, necessarily…but because the only other Flutian a lot of people in Esllesium have ever seen is my mother. The only other Flutians I know of on the continent are just a handful in Mypros.”

“...Mother always warned me not to fly too high,” Mellia murmured. “After a point, even we aren’t able to breathe up there.”

Siffrin still closed their eye…

(Black mountains. Snowy peaks. High, higher and higher. The gravity was strange there. You didn’t roll down the slopes, you jumped… and fell, fell, gently down…the sand–)

(No black mountains. Beautiful gardens. Dancing and singing. But no black mountains–???)

Siffrin winced, losing their grip on all of it. The images shifting through his mind like sand through someone’s hand. Gone, gone… they couldn’t remember what their mind had grasped onto. It was just… gone.

“I have an accent.” Siffrin said. “...it’s rare. I know that. I know that I have an accent and it’s rare. I know that because I actually do have one memory. It’s really clear… it just doesn’t make any sense by itself.”

Siffrin dug into their pockets, briefly petting Beatrice’s hair before grabbing the item tucked next to her. Pulling it out. A little coin. 

Across the room, Loop noticed what Siffrin was doing, and scoffed. That old thing…

“No one ever commented on my accent. I think even my fam…” Siffrin winced, “No one ever commented on it. But everyone knew I had one. It made me different. People would stare at me, trying to place it. My accent made them wince, made their head hurt… I stopped talking a lot to random people, when I noticed that. I didn’t like giving people headaches.”

“But one day, I was getting a pastry, and I wanted a croissant. So, I went to this pastry chef, who was selling them in a stall, and he was quiet too. Didn’t say much of anything, the two of us just gesturing to each other, that one please, sure…” Siffrin frowned, “Until he gave me my change. This coin. And he wished me a good day. And I froze, because… it was the same accent. And I heard it and my head immediately hurt. And I didn’t know what to do or what to say, because I had never met anyone else with my accent before… and I panicked. I started to run, and he grabbed my arm. And he asked me… where I was from.”

“...he looked scared too. Scared of me, the same way I was scared of him. We both looked… so out of place. We weren’t supposed to be there. Looking at him, hearing his accent, reminded me of that. That I’m not supposed to… he looked like a monster to me, and I’m sure I looked like one to him too. Two people who don’t belong so much that even our voices hurt people. But he was willing to try to remember, and I wasn’t. So I shook him off and I ran. I never went back. And… I’ve held onto this coin ever since. Because it’s the only time I can think about my accent without it hurting. Without forgetting. It reminds me that I have an accent.”

“I don’t understand what it’s like to be a Flutian among surface people. But I get what it’s like to be out of place, and always feeling it.” Siffrin murmured, “Flutians were always most natural in the sky. We envied that. We adopted the sky, but they? They were it. It was beautiful.”

Mellia hadn’t noticed an accent on Siffrin, really. As Ingo had once noted, Siffrin had a more Esllean accent than he did. But…in a different culture, to clearly be the odd one out, for it to be physically painful just…existing… Mellia’s eyes focused on Siffrin as he told her their story about the coin, about their accent, about the baker, and their fear…

Her face crumpled, tears welling in her eyes. She had been born in Eslley, but…

“...it’s not fair,” Mellia got out in a tight voice, “People shouldn’t just be able to take our homes from us… Make us strange and unsettling just…living. It’s not fair…”

(“YOU HAVE TO SAY ITS NAME!”)

(“Oooooh… to keep it all the same… to keep it beautifu–”)

Siffrin took a steady breath. In… and out… in… and out…

“It’s not fair,” Siffrin agreed, one eye wet as he looked tensely at Mellia, “...but chasing the past? Chasing the idea of it? It doesn’t work. We never get it back. That’s… what change is. It’s destruction. We’ll never actually get it back, even if we salvage some of its pieces… wanting anything else is just going to hurt you.”

Mellia pressed her hands to her eyes as she wept, her wings lightly encircling herself and Siffrin. And, quietly, she admitted something. Something she hadn’t said even to the knowing glances of her father, or the ignorant questions of her friends. 

“...I don’t want her back,” Mellia whispered, “I just want her different than this.” 

Mellia wanted a mother, sure, not the vegetable that hardly recognized her and her father as anything but ghosts most days…but what she truly wanted was someone Haraja had never even been to her. But there’d never be a chance for that if things stayed the way they were.

“...yeah,” Siffrin agreed. Unable to understand really what Mellia meant, not familiar with her family situation, but able to empathize with, “It’d be nice if things were different. Not recapturing the past but… just better, now. Change working for us. That’d be nice.”

Mellia nodded against her hands silently. And after a moment, she sniffled snottily. “...I’m glad your voice doesn’t give us headaches. You’re nice to listen to, Siffrin.”

“I like it too. It’s nice, getting to talk freely,” Siffrin smiled softly, “...I think your wings are cool. I’m sure you already know that. But they’re very cool.”

“They are,” Mellia warbled. “It’s so lame none of you guys can fly. Ingo cried the first time I took him three meters up; he had to ask Feray for flying lessons to impress you without having to cling to Jeremiah’s back the whole time.”

“He did???” Siffrin asked, looking befuddled… before chuckling lightly. “...the last time I tried to hug someone while they were crying, it didn’t go well.”

“...” Siffrin stared at his knees, “Do you want a hug?”

Mellia harshly siffled again, peeking up at Siffrin. “...you hate touching people other than Ingo.”

“No I don’t.” Siffrin said, “I’m just not used to it. It surprises me and suddenly I don’t know how I’m supposed to hold myself or where to put my hands or what my face looks like…it’s a lot. But I don’t hate it. It feels nice.”

Mellia studied Siffrin for another few moments, looking him over. But whatever it was she seemed to see…

She nodded shyly, wings coming closer in around them. “...then, yeah. I’d like a hug, please.”

Siffrin scooted over. And–uncertain where to put their hands, their shoulders stiff as they tried to relax, feeling a frown involuntarily etch itself on their face and not sure how to fix it–they closed their eye and wrapped their arms around her.

(“See,” a bright smile, looking up at him, “You know how to hug.”)

Siffrin suddenly sniffed. Clutching her a little harder, “...I miss my family.”

Mellia curled herself into Siffrin’s arms, her wings wrapping around them both. And feeling someone hold her…it made something waver and collapse in her chest, her chest plumage fluffing up as she huddled against Siffrin. 

She had a good friendship with Brathanial, sure, but most of their time together was spent jamming or geeking out over music, not having heart to hearts. Gods, when was the last time Mellia had been hugged?

Curling an arm around Siffrin’s back, Mellia hugged him back. “I miss mine too,” she warbled, before making a dismayed noise in her throat, “My dad’s a raven.”

Bryce tried, bless ‘em, but there was only so far you could go without arms.

“I think mine might be those weird stone looping people over there,” Siffrin sniffed, glancing over at the researcher and the kid, prepping with soap for the bath, “Or, maybe are just statues in some other place? I don’t know. It’s really confusing. I kind of hate it.”

Sniff. “...I like your weird raven dads puns.”

Mellia held Siffrin closer, sharing in his grief. People not…gone, necessarily. But wrong. Out of reach in the exact ways that hurt the most. It was one thing to mourn something truly gone and destroyed, it was another for a fun house mirror to constantly follow you around, always taunting what could’ve been. 

“It sucks,” she agreed, “And Daddy’s jokes are horrible. He used to make awful puns about all sorts of things, but it’s been 90% bird puns since Mother cursed him.”

“Puns are hard. Finding a niche might make it easier.” Siffrin said, before snickering, “That’s not helpful… is that why you’re here?” Siffrin asked, recalling Mellia’s reluctance to join them, “To help your dad? If you can’t find something yet, maybe a whole new kingdom might have something that could help?”

“...my mother,” Mellia quietly admitted. “If I could find something to help her, sh-she could undo Daddy’s curse herself. It’s hers, anyway… This whole place we’d talked about having crazy rare magic. If there’s anything out there that could help her…I could find it here. Or in the frozen kingdom.”

Mellia sniffled a little. “...The Researcher…your family member. Her reflection was using magic I’d never seen before. I-if…I could talk to her, when we save everyone…”

“Who?” Siffrin asked, before realizing, ah. The black haired woman. “...maybe. I’ll try not to ruin it for you. I’m sure they’re going to hate that I don’t remember them.” Siffrin frowned, “I hoped the memories would come back when I saw them with my own eyes, and I guess it sort of did… but it’s like remembering them on the tip of my tongue. Holding smoke. If the memories don’t come back when time does? They might hate me. I hope they won’t hold that against you.”

Mellia’s feathers settled around Siffrin. “...my mother doesn’t know who I am, most days. If she’s aware that there’s people with her at all…she just tries to kill us. And it’s…painful, how she laughs when she realizes she can’t.” Haraja hadn’t been sentenced to execution, Exalt Cordovan recognized that she had been a victim, for all the destruction she’d wrought…but she was still dangerous. Even keeping her at home, there had been precautions Mellia had been forced to follow, for her mother to stay. 

“Even if she never remembers me…for her to just…exist in the same space? As a whole person again? I could never hate her.” Mellia huffed a broken, self-hating sound. “...I can’t even hate her now.”

“...I’m sorry.” Siffrin whispered, leaning against her, “...and I’m glad.”

“You’re doing everything you can to save people you hardly remember,” Mellia whispered back. “That’s one of the greatest acts of love I could think of… They could never hate you for that.”

“...and if we make it through this insane thing?” Mellia added after a moment, a small smile on her face. “Then…you’ll have plenty of time to make new memories with them.”

“New memories…” Siffrin sighed, the sound stuttered as his tears settled, “...I guess I was the one that said you have to move on. Accept that some things are lost. Harder to embrace than say. I so badly want those memories back… but new memories could be good too.”

“It’s hard…and it doesn’t stop you from wishing, but it’s part of life,” Mellia said, a bit of petulance in her voice. “Life is change, and growth. So if you want to live, you have to accept those things. Even when they suck.”

Mellia gently wiped her tears with the back of a hand. “...but they don’t always suck. And sometimes you get what you want in a new way you never considered, once you stop chasing it.”

She snorted softly. “...couldn’t tell you how many songs I’ve heard like that.”

“...I could use a song like that.” Siffrin said, “I only know the songs you guys have shown me, since we’ve met. Could you play one of them now?”

Sniffling and taking a breath, Mellia nodded. “Yeah… Yeah, I think I have one in mind.”

Stretching out her talons for a moment, Mellia gently untangled her arm from around Siffrin and opened her wings, getting up to retrieve her lute. She could see the others watching, but Mellia didn’t say anything as she returned, crossing her legs and gently placing her instrument in the nook made by them. 

Testing the strings, turning one up a bit, she took a breath and started playing a slow arpeggio. 

“We broke into Dreamland, just so we could have one more day there

But I could not stand to see it in such sad disrepair

He wanted to hold me in the cradling grassy knolls sunken into the ground

All I could think about was how much I wanted to burn it all down”

Mellia’s voice tended to have a personal tone to it when she sang, and this song was no different, feeling like it was something admitted in whispers within the confines of a hug.

“He tried to tell me things get abandoned, it’s okay for them to rot

I told him that we should fine some gasoline, he said we’d better not”

“We broke into Dreamland to find the parts of us that we left behind

But I could not stand the smell of death when everything was still alive

If only I could clip the birds’ wings, take them home to keep with me

Euthanize my loves and buddies, put this dream out of its misery”

“He tried to tell me things get abandoned, it’s okay for them to rot

I told him that we should find some gasoline, he said we’d better not.”

The past was a pretty picture, and it was painful to see it tarnished from age. Tempting to keep the pieces of it you could, pristine in your hands, and torch the rest, like the decay didn’t exist…but that prevented new life from growing in those hollowed corpses, and spread blood to your hands. 

Siffrin sighed, leaning against the wall to listen, feeling tired. It was a pretty song…

Over at the rest of the group, Eddie looked up, listening to the music that was coming from their bard. “I’m guessing that’s a good sign.”

“Music usually is.” Leana said, cleaning her armor while they all had a moment, polishing the ridges of her boots, “I don’t actually love bringing Mellia out here. Siffrin either. Siffrin because he’s ultimately a civilian and I don’t really know what they’re capable of in battle yet. I don’t like risking him on things I don’t know he can handle. But Mellia… that families already suffered so much. I don’t know what I’d say to Bryce if anything happened to her.”

“He’s good at fighting, from what I’ve seen,” Ingo declared, resting his chin on his knees as he watched Mellia play, feeling melancholic, but soothed by her song. “And…I think they’ve been doing it a while. They said they looked out for traps…”

He sighed softly, twirling some of his bangs around his fingers. “...I wouldn’t have asked Mellia if she hadn’t demanded to come first. I’d really just meant to ask her and Bryce about curses… I mean, I’m glad she’s here and it’s more comforting with more familiar faces…but I don’t love the idea of her being in danger.”

“That’s the same for all of us,” Brathy corrected, having been watching Mellia and Siffrin for a while. “It ain’t safe, but that’s why she’s in the back with me, partly. Archers damn harder to hit when ya gotta get through four or five people first.” He scoffed, cracking his neck. “Said I was gonna drag you all through this alive, and I ain’t going back on that. Only thing Bryce is gonna talk about is askin’ Mellia if she had fun down here.”

“That’s a comfort.” Leana smiled lightly–to who, exactly, she was speaking to left up in the air. Both Ingo and Brathy, maybe–before she turned to look at Loop, who had remained quiet through all of this. “I can’t decide if you’re full of shit.”

“Hmm?” Loop said, lightly popping little bubbles within the pool, “Generally, no. But what about, specifically?”

“We only have your word on it that you could get through all of these challenges as quickly as you could,” Leana said, “We only have your word that Sadnesses run from you and that you could defeat any of them with ease. We only see you in safe spaces, except for the pyramid. And, admittedly, you were composed on the pyramid, but… that’s still not a sign that you’re as powerful as you say.”

“Don’t I look it? Certainly I’m just bursting with muscles,” Loop said idly, “What does it matter if I can or can’t? Though, to be clear, I can.”

“There’s always a chance you’ll accidentally end up in a fight with us.” Leana said. “I want to know how to handle you if that happens. Eddie’s basically a fighter for hire, a mercenary, he can handle himself. Everyone else here, besides Siffrin, I know and have seen trained in real fights. But you? You might need protecting.”

“How sweet~” Loop said, sitting up and beaming at Leana, “Do you know… I don’t know if I can even die? Oh, that’s not quite right, I know very well I can die. I’ve died many times. While you were off fighting your wars and training for battle, me? I was dying. Over and over and over~” 

“But,” Loop said, placing a finger daintily where their lower lip might have been, “Perhaps that’s done now? Maybe, because you all are here, the next time I die really will count. Maybe I won’t loop back this time. Isn’t that a curious thought? Should I be afraid? …” Loop smiled, the curve in their eyes, “Should we test it out? Just to say for sure?”

“No!” Ingo said, too quickly and too loudly, straightening up so violently that his back popped. Eyes too wide and with just enough genuine distress in them to be concerning. Though, before Ingo could sort out anything to do or say or deny next, Jeremiah let out an annoyed sigh. 

“Don’t dodge the question. Dying isn’t fighting. Will we have to cover you in a fight or not?” Jeremiah asked bluntly.

“No,” Loop said, sitting back, “I’m much stronger than all of you. But I’m not going to be in any of the fights either. I don’t fight. I did alllll the fighting already, I’m not doing any more. It’s your problem now! If you want to throw someone’s body at some stupid Sadness, Siffrin~ has volunteered.” Loop gave a little wiggle of their shoulders, winking as they insisted, “I’ll be cheering you on!”

Ingo still gave Loop a distressed look, his fingers pressing at the ground like he was just aware enough not to try and dig into the flooring, before he forced himself to relax, at least a little. “...hopefully that pyramid room really was just a fluke, and you won’t have to fight anymore, Loop. But we’re not throwing anyone at the Sadnesses. We have a plan for fighting and we’re sticking to it.”

He glanced to Leana, confirming that with her, as the leader for such plans. 

(Planning was essential, plans were useless. Anything could happen in a fight. But whatever happened, they were not going to abandon each other to peril.)

(No one. Was going to die. Anymore.)

(...Ingo couldn’t think about it. Even just thinking about the space around it made him feel sick. Even if they were alright now, had looped back into living, the fact that Loop had died before? Countless times? If Ingo thought about it, he felt like he would… He didn’t even know. He couldn’t do it.)

…he needed to go pray. 

Mumbling something that likely didn’t make any sense, Ingo got up and headed towards where he’d left his pack, getting on his knees and clasping his hands. 

“Uh oh~” Loop sighed, “I upset him again.”

“Actually, this one’s not your fault.” Leana said, standing up, “You’re allowed to talk about your own life, and that’s just what you did. Though, do be a bit more careful in your wording next time. We need Ingo at his best.”

With that, she left them. Heading over to where Ingo was praying. 

She didn’t say anything. She just knelt next to him, following the same movements. Not praying about the same things, of course. In fact, Leana didn’t always pray, when she went through the motions of prayer. Sometimes she had nothing to say to their god, but it was time to pray and so she just… let her body exist. Feeling the ground beneath her hands, the weight against her shoulders. 

Just… existing. In her space in the world. Where divine providence had sent her to be.

Ingo didn’t always pray for the dead. Clinging onto his guilt, saying the names, or just remembering faces or bodies if he didn’t know them, over and over every time he prayed to Abatea was just…torture. No longer about them, wishing rest and peace for their souls, but just Ingo warping their ghosts into tormentors. 

Learning to cope with that didn’t mean he didn’t still feel guilty sometimes, though. Feeling like the knowledge of what a sword felt like cutting through organs or hitting bone was a horrid curse. That sometimes it was hard to do anything at all when he knew what others’ blood felt like on his skin, pretending that he didn’t remember standing in a field of corpses, that sometimes after a battle he’d just had to sheath his sword and start picking them up for identification and clean up. That he could so clearly replay the scenes in his mind of the last times he’d seen people. 

Ingo didn’t want to kill people. He’d had to, and those were actions he had to live with. He didn’t want anyone to die. He didn’t want anyone to die anymore, and he’d been so happy at the end of the war because it meant they all could stop, and people would stop dying. 

Ingo wasn’t praying for the dead. He prayed for the living, and prayed for the mercy and dignity of them all to stay that way. 

…along with, you know. Getting very excited to personally tell Abatea that he’d finally been able to use her blessing for good. To thank her countless times, and promise to use his gift as wisely as he was able. He was the surest thing able to keep people alive, after all. 

“...Mum and Dad are gonna freak,” he murmured to Leana after a bit.

“They’ll be very proud,” Leana agreed, “Though, we all always knew you could do it.”

“Always have to make me the odd one out, huh?” Ingo laughed quietly, before sending a sheepish glance around the room. “...are we still sticking to that three hour estimate? I feel like I might just put on my idiot hat and start exploring on my own if we’re meant to spend the rest of the day here.”

“We’ll go soon,” Leana promised, sitting on her ankles, resting her hands on her thighs, “But our time limit isn’t one, not really. Enemy forces aren’t about to break down the doors. They’re just… waiting for us. It’s a very peaceful way to fight a war, really. It’s not very often I can let my people work through a fight, before pushing them to run or to the next one. I haven’t hated my time here, I must say.”

She glanced over at him. “You have, though. The fact that you even had to cast Rally in the first place… the situation had to have been dire.”

“...it is nice being able to go back to a place that’s genuinely safe, whenever,” Ingo softly admitted, before glancing over at Leana, feeling her eyes on him. Grimacing a bit at being read so easily, he looked down, his brow pinching slightly. As much as he could feel the urge to play it off…as much as Leana said they didn’t have a time limit, they still didn’t have the time to do that whole song and dance. Not that Ingo really wanted to in front of a room full of people. 

“...it blocked the door. Fell from the ceiling behind us,” he started to explain, preemptively wincing at the ‘you’re careless, you’re a horrible strategist’ lecture he could feel coming. “When we tried to attack, it just…absorbed anything we did, and then of course it just had to be on fire too… Some of the things we tried stunned it, I think, but not enough to maneuver around or do damage, while it kept chipping at us… It cornered us.”

Ingo’s eyes squinted, feeling horrible just thinking about it. “...Siff got knocked down. Whip-fast pillars made of freaking fire slamming down on him.” Ingo looked down more, his shoulders hunching as he adjusted the rings of his gloves around his middle fingers. “...I had to try something.”

He grinned hesitantly. “Just…lucky it worked.”

“Not exactly luck, but I understand the sentiment,” Leana said, returning his grin with a small smile. 

“...” She looked down at his battle outfit, before sighing. Looking away. “...did anyone ever tell you? About my conversation with our parents, when we were all first discussing the marriage prospects? I wondered sometimes if it got back to you, but you never felt comfortable coming to me about it. Did you hear?”

Ingo looked back up at his sister, eyes widening in surprise slightly--and a little confusion, but he figured the connection would make sense later--before he shook his head. With a bit of wary sheepishness, he fussed with his bangs. “I…try not to enable my own eavesdropping with you guys, these days. Even through gossip.”

“Heh. Well, I admire the restraint,” Leana said, “...I argued with our parents, that perhaps…”

She paused, considering her words… before simply saying, “Perhaps we had a responsibility to you. To allow you to rescind your coming of age ceremony. To push you backwards. That you might need more time.”

“...I was told a child couldn’t be arranged for marriage.” She said, “And that it was cruel to ask you to be a child again. After everything you had seen. I didn’t push my argument. But I’m still not sure I was wrong.”

It was so much that Ingo physically startled in shock, staring at Leana, not without a little hurt in his expression. But it wasn’t like his family griping at him for being immature, sighing at his dalliances. He did…get what she meant. 

Ingo adjusted his gloves again. “...we both left to join the war around the same age. You were just in it for longer. …do you think you’d take your vows back if it’d ended when you were 21?”

“...I couldn’t. Not then or now. Maybe not even if the war had ended when I was younger,” Leana admitted, “...I can’t remember what being a child feels like. I did have a childhood, at some point, and I have memories of that person… but they feel so disconnected from me. All I can remember from being younger was being a smaller, weaker version of myself. I wouldn’t know how to recapture that feeling, and I don’t know what the point would be.”

“But I know that’s not how it feels, for most people,” Leana said, “There’s a reason you have to decide when you’re ready. The way people talk about it, it’s like childhood is this... Physical location. No, maybe…ugh, I don’t know how to explain how I feel, when other people talk about it. It just sounds like another place. And you can’t rip someone out of that place too soon. Like… cracking an egg before it’s incubated. The results are bad. And what happened to you… I don’t think you were ready. Capable, of course. But not ready.”

Ingo looked down, before he scooted over a bit and leaned over to put his head against Leana’s. Where her childhood intersected with his, it felt so simple to point out. To recall fond, warm memories, and silly ones, and gross ones, and just… Maybe childhood really was a place, for him, because it felt like Fennox Wry. He’d spent his entire childhood there, a comforting stability of what life had been like, even if they’d gotten news about the horrors going on down south. 

Leana’s childhood wasn’t like that. She had been the celebrated princess of a country strong and beautiful, growing up aware, but far from the pressures of the throne. She had only become a big sister far later, the selfishness of a childhood indulged in to the fullest for years. Then, three years later, it had all gone to ruin. Leana still a child, but…maybe not in her childhood anymore, Ingo mused. Her memories of Fennox Wry tinged with a loss he had never known. Then she’d gone to war and…that was that. There couldn’t be children in war. 

Ingo thought about the tattered and repaired headband in his room. 

“...I couldn’t stay,” he said softly. “No one asked me to go. But I couldn’t stay. Not with the rest of you gone. I know she did it for me, but…I don’t understand how Mum couldn’t follow you, when you left.” Ingo grinned warily, a more pained expression than anything else. “That was too early for me. He’s beaten me over the head about it enough, that it wasn’t my fault so I’m not allowed to feel guilty anymore, but almost getting Brathy killed when I tried to follow you…it was the first time I realized how real everything was. And I wanted to be with you so badly, but I was too terrified to leave.”

“When the call went out and Mum and everyone got ready, she…everyone told me over and over that I could stay home. That I should.” Ingo let go of a shaky breath. “...but you all risking your lives fighting scared me way more by then so…there wasn’t any other option I could take. Guess that was my version of being ready, having my ceremony.”

And for his efforts, Ingo had killed another person before his voice dropped.

“I won’t say your efforts didn’t help.” Leana said softly. “For the same reason I wanted you here, now, your efforts back then… every little piece helped. But you were more than a small piece. Don’t think what I’m saying diminishes that. You fought. You helped.”

“But I remember seeing you for the first time, everyone telling me my younger brother had grown up to be a fine, strong man. A warrior, grown before his time, yes, but certainly grown. And I saw you up on that hill and… knew everyone had lied to me. Everyone was lying to themselves,” Leana said, “You weren’t grown. You were still a child. We had just put armor on you.”

“I always hoped when the war was over, we could fix that mistake,” Leana said, something deeply sad in her eyes. “Then the marriage proposal happened and… it was too late. The ball was rolling, and there was nothing I could do.”

“...I’m sorry, Ingo,” Leana said, looking to him, “I’m your sister. There should have been more I can do.”

Ingo huffed a little. Even then he was so used to people writing him off that he hadn’t bothered to argue. Yeah, so what if he was a bit goofy and seemingly irresponsible? His skill with a sword was on par with anyone else, so he let that speak for itself, claiming his space on the battlefield. If he’d had a choice, obviously he wouldn’t have wanted to be at war, but it wasn’t a choice. The options were fight or hide, and hiding while knowing the rest of his family was fighting would’ve destroyed him. 

People respected when people took their vows, there was no sort of preliminary or second class of adult that was wholly determined by people outside yourself--even in Fennox Wry it had been like that, sort of. They didn’t have the same ceremonies as they did in Eslley, but the first time you led a hunt on your own was your gateway to adulthood, and that was something you had to decide if you were ready for on your own--but… Ingo did think there was a sort of specific horror from just how many other teenagers he had known in the resistance army.

Ingo closed his eyes for a moment, sighing as he leaned against Leana more. “...Ana, I love you and you’re cool and all, but asking you to win a war on your own is a little narcissistic, I think. Very cool, 14-year-old traveling across a country on their own, let’s see you end a violent conflict that’s targeting you specifically just so it ends before your baby brother can hold a sword. It’s a little much, is all I’m saying.”

Leana pouted a little… before laughing lightly. Deeply tired as she said, “No one else seemed to think so. No one ever had a conversation like this with me. I had old women, collapsing to their knees, begging for my help, like I could somehow unburn their villages by prayer alone. I had people asking me to repeat my vows to get our country back everywhere I went, just wanting to hear it for themselves. People didn’t look at me and see a 20 year old woman. They looked and saw a god, walking among them… I know that’s blaspheme, but for many people, they can’t see the difference between the mark and divinity. Me arriving looked like divine intervention. I suppose it was.”

“...I would have liked to have spared you all of that, yes,” Leana sighed, leaning against Ingo a bit, “It would have been a silver lining.”

Ingo opened his eyes a bit, smiling grimly at the ground. They had divine gifts, and their actions and interference in matters, in a sort of way, were divine interference. Abatea didn’t hear people’s prayers and whisper into their ears to lend aid, but following her creed and teachings meant that if people were in need, then of course the Dianthes would help. Not doing so was sinful, it meant that you were forsaking the very core of faith. 

…so the distinction between the person and the divine could get a little…muddied, sometimes. Especially when people hyperfocused on the marks on their bodies. 

“...Dad thought so,” Ingo protested, maybe just to be contrary. “Prior to my non-eavesdropping ways, I did hear you two got into some huge, blowout fight after you found him and the resistance started organizing plans ‘n stuff. Considering what he said to me when I joined, I figured that it was about that.”

“...” Leana’s lips tightened. An old hurt stretching painfully across her features. “...he argued that I needed to be ready to replace him when he fell. That having both him and his heir fighting the same battles was giving our enemies an advantage. He said I needed to train to replace him.”

“Maybe what he meant was that he wanted his young daughter away from the fighting,” Leana admitted, “Father’s always been bad at communicating. But what it sounded like was that he was certain he was going to die, and wanted me as a backup plan. I couldn’t stand it. It made me even more determined to fight. I wanted to save him.”

Ingo’s gaze slid over to Leana, softening in sympathy. He stole one of her hands off her thigh and laced their fingers, giving her hand a squeeze. “It’s not really the same, since he’s old, but…I can see him being worried. He had forever to learn Exalt things, but I doubt he thought he’d ever really need to use any of them in practice. And then…after what happened to Aunt Em…” Ingo’s voice trailed off for a moment. “It was just…go time. And it was a disaster.” 

With minimal changes, there could’ve been a world where Cordovan really had died in the aftermath of the coup. There was a reason he had been presumed dead by…basically everyone but Leana.

So Cordovan not wanting his daughter in life or death fights, and not wanting her to be caught off guard the same way he was? Ingo could see that being the case. Even if he explained it horribly. 

Snorting, Ingo rolled his eyes a little. “Is that just a thing with dads? Brathy and Eimdall say Jaxxon is the same way.” His voice growing drier, Ingo explained, “Your big ‘Dad can’t talk’ moment might even be worse than mine, even if you didn’t swear off eavesdropping after it.”

“Not great, overhearing your parents call you a mistake,” Ingo griped, “Even if Mum clarified later a better term is ‘happy accident’.”

Leana snorted, rolling her eyes as she lightly pushed Ingo, “Did that bother you? Shocker, baby brother, our parents are attracted to each other. Sometimes kids happen. Do you need a talk about the wyverns and falicorns?”

Ingo scrunched his nose and puckered his lips, blowing out air as he lightly pushed Leana back. “Yes, yes, I’m happy they’re in love but I never need to hear the details. Though I suppose considering our age gap, I probably could’ve guessed before then I wasn’t exactly planned.”

…it hadn’t been that that had bothered Ingo so much. 

He had already been struggling. Weirded out, having people actually treat him like a prince and that not just being something his mum and aunts said, trying to adjust to the parts of Esllean culture they hadn’t kept up in Fennox Wry, struggling to connect in…any way with a father he’d functionally just met. Along with all the other foibles that came from just being a teenager. 

No, the thing that had struck Ingo was the, he’d thought, implication there that he was a mistake his parents regretted. That he was such a disappointment that Cordovan wished that he’d just never been born. 

It had just…shattered any self-confidence Ingo had managed to build, and, shamefully, he had…seriously considered defecting at that point. Just full-on running away. Thankfully Tiana had talked to him after that, and while Ingo still wasn’t wholly convinced that there weren’t some of those feelings still involved…the talk had helped. 

“I’m shocked we didn’t end up with another little sibling when the war ended and they were reunited for good,” Leana smirked, “Though I suppose there’s still time.”

Laughing a little more, Leana smiled a bit, looking more relaxed…before reaching to pat Ingo’s back. “How are we feeling? Ready to go?”

Ingo snickered. “Now there’s an age gap I’d really feel sorry for.” 

…though it would be a nice thought. A little sibling that’d never know war, never know a family torn apart… 

Well. Other than him, he supposed. But if their parents had a kid now, they likely wouldn’t remember Ingo at all except for as that strange guy that visits every so often. 

(Maybe that would be better.)

Smiling a little at the back pat, Ingo hummed brightly. “All good on my end. Ready for some arts and crafts, apparently? Ingo’s grin turned sheepish as he twirled a bit of his hair. “Uh…if Siff and I didn’t end up destroying the things we need for that…”

“Eh, we’ll salvage something,” Leana said, standing up and giving him a hand up, “Nothing we can’t handle.”

-

While the adults were meeting and greeting in the dining hall, seeing definitively who had ended up in the castle before the freeze began, Timothy had arrived–wearing a full snow jacket–and asked Kaito, “Can I play with Miyako?”

“Doing what?” Kaito asked, though this was mostly just a courtesy knee-jerk response. In truth, he was practically burning with the desire to immediately say yes!! You can play with your little sister!!! Be a good Big Brother!!! “She’s still little, Tim, she can’t do much.”

Tim shrugged. “Me and the girls want to put on a show for her.”

YES!!! YOU AND THE GIRLS CAN PUT ON A SHOW FOR YOUR LITTLE SISTER!!! KAITO WAS SO PROUD!!!!! 

But what he said was, “Just the girls? Not Mike too?”

“Mike hasn’t woken up yet,” Tim said, “I think he pulled an all-nighter.”

“Alright, I’ll ask Medli if she needs any help getting him up for lunch later,” Kaito murmured to himself for later, unstrapping Miyako from his chest, passing her to Tim. “If she fusses, you?”

“Bring her back to you or one of the uncles,” Tim recited.

“If someone acts weird around you both, you?”

“Let it run its course if it looks like it’s Miya, and come to you after, or come to you during if it starts to feel ‘off’,” Tim said, “And trust my gut on whatever ‘off’ is.”

“And what do you never do?”

“Leave Miyako alone anywhere.”

Kaito grinned, rubbing Tim’s hair. “Good lad. Go ahead, I’ll check in in a bit.”

Tim nodded, heading off. He was going to be a very responsible older brother. When he and the girls had gotten bored that morning and decided to repurpose one of the less used first floor rooms as a new playroom, well, he wasn’t going to leave Miyako out. Not after all the work they had already put into it. 

Though, being very responsible, Tim did steal another snow coat from one of the closets to wrap her in, as he went into the parlor–he was pretty sure no one was using this room–where Cali, Kimiko, and Bianka were currently building two different snow forts on either side of the parlor.

From all the snow on the ground.

Which they had dug into the room by opening up a window and jabbing at it with a shovel for a while. 

See~ it didn't matter if they couldn’t go out and play in the snow. They had brought the snow to them. “I brought Miya. She’s going to be the ref for the snowball fight. We need to make her a ref throne.”

“Yesss, our perfect ref!” Bianka cheered, an orange scarf tucked into the collar of her snow jacket. “I have every faith Miyako won’t let her biases get the best of her and call everything in Tim’s favor.”

“Though she might for who makes the best throne~!” she sang as she ran over, starting to pile up snow for the base of a kick-ass throne. Giggling, she commented, “This is going to be awesome. My dad would never let me do something like this at home! I gotta make a petition for us to spend every Freeze at the castle!”

“Same~” Kimiko giggled, “Mommy would ground me for a thousand, tens of thousands, of years for doing this to our living room. You’re sure no one uses this room, Timmy?”

“Pretty sure.” Tim shrugged, carefully placing Miyako down on the snow, making sure to bundle the coat beneath her to protect her skin, Miyako giving him a wide eyed, bewildered look as he pointed to the different towers the girls were now making. “Miyako, first you're going to pick the best seat to lord over the game with, and then you’re going to be the deciding vote every time we have a dispute during the snowball fight. Make a baby sound if you understand.”

“G’ryaa,” Miyako said, “Brroooa’phhh.”

Timothy nodded. “You get it. Here, play with this proto-type snowball for a bit while we get everything started.”

As Miyako looked–somewhat distastefully–at the snowball that had been rolled into grasping distance, Miyako reaching over to touch it every now and again, her nose wrinkling at the feeling of the cold, Tim looked to Cali, who was still working on one of the forts. “Don’t want to get into the throne competition, Cali?”

“Mmm, I might double check that the throne actually works for a baby to sit on, but no, I’m okay! Still working on this!” Cali said, clearly focused on reinforcing the walls. Cali had proven, of their little group, to be the best at making functioning snow furniture. Her igloos actually stayed up, when she made a ceiling, unlike everyone else who could only make walls. It turned out she just had a good head for architectural structuring, as she started making little pointed pillars in the wall. “Also, you guys are kidding, right? You super know we can’t be caught here or they’re gonna make us clean all this up.”

“A little,” Bianka giggled, “But mostly I mean I wouldn’t even be able to start at home. Dad already does most of his work in the living room, and if we were all stuck at home he and Cheri would probably be baking or something. And there’s no way I’d flood my room with snow!”

She frowned, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “I might be able to get away with it for one night, but my sisters would figure out something was up if I demanded sleepovers every night.”

Bianka…was not very good at sculpting snow. Some of the stuff she made looked pretty cool…for the few moments they stayed up. But no matter how many times people told her about structural integrity, the allure of making thin stocks and tapered swirls for decoration was just too much. 

Considering that Cali was the best of them, Bianka figured that was evidence for her theory that she just didn’t have the same snow in her blood as the born Diceans.

Kimiko–who also wasn’t a born Dicean–had a similar issue as Bianka: it was too exciting to make neat little designs over structural support! But she knew Cali would be able to fix both her or Bianka’s designs to something that would actually support Miyako’s weight, once the little princess picked the design she liked better. So giggling, she said as she continued to work, “We’re soooo going to be caught~”

“No way! Like Tim said, no one uses this room, so if we just keep this hushed up, we can use it as a snow playpen for the whole freeze!” Cali said–because while she was wise in some regards, she was 11 in others– as she created more neat little spikes into the fortress, “It’s a big castle! There’s lots of weird little sitting rooms. No one will miss this one!”

Miyako made a happy little gurgling noise. She had gotten the ball to roll! She was the most clever person in the universe!!! 

-

Meanwhile, back in the dining hall…

King Aiichi was making a speech to the crowd, expressing his delight in seeing both old and new faces for this latest freeze community. As always, the castle was delighted to be a community hub for people to retreat to during the harshest of Dicean weather, a physical beacon to represent the hard work and community-driven efforts by the beating heart of Dicea, its people! And how King Aiichi was looking forward to the opportunity to speak to each and every one of them, individually, as the freeze progressed…

Shuichi, who had come down for breakfast and was still munching on some fruit as they listened to the speech, glanced over at Kaito… before suddenly whispering, “Wait, I saw Kokichi a second ago, he doesn’t have Miyako. You don’t have Miyako?”

“Relax, handsome, I know where she is,” Kaito whispered to Shuichi, grinning proudly, “Her big brother wanted her to join in on the big kids’ game. Isn’t that sweet?”

“Aw, that is nice…” Shuichi looked around, “Where?”

“Hm?” Kaito hummed happily.

“Where are they playing?”

“...” Kaito’s grin froze. Looking around. “.........um…”

“Kaito Momota, find my baby.”

-

“Fie!” Bianka gasped, tumbled out on the snow, dense imprints of snowballs that met their mark still clinging to her jacket. “Thou knows it common, that all lives must die, passing through nature to eternity! For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this immortal coil, must give us paws…”

She threw a dramatic hand into the air, grasping at some vision of light calling her beyond. “O proud death!! What feast is toward in thine eternal sell, that thou so many princes at a shot, so bloodily hast, struck?!”

Kimiko sniffled, dabbing the side of her eyes with an elegant handkerchief, “She dies so beautifully.” 

“Does this mean Bianka’s out?” Cali asked, she and Kimiko huddling behind the fortress, Tim on the other side, while Bianka was laid out in the middle. Bianka, very bravely, but perhaps a tad foolishly, having tried to rush Kimiko and Cali with a bucket of snow she had prepared. 

They had pelted her down. It had been brutal.

“Um, I feel like we should get more lives than that. Miya?” Timothy said, looking up to his sister, “What’s your call? Is Bianka permanently out?” 

Miyako kicked her legs a bit, cradled in a winter coat on top of a beautifully crafted double sided snow throne. Cali, looking at both Bianka and Kimiko’s thrones, had decreed… nope! Neither would be safe for Miyako! But the two fused together…

So Miyako was safely tucked into a burrow on a large, elaborate engraved throne. Lightly eating her own fingers as she watched the confusing older kids throw things at each other. 

“Give us a ‘gwah’ for yes, and a spit bubble for no,” Timothy prompted. 

Miyako suckled her fingers, curiously watching Timothy. 

“Hmmm… I feel like Miyako’s grown shy in the face of ultimate power,” Kimiko decided, “Maybe she’d feel better about making decisions if we set up a democracy and voted her into power?”

“I think that means it’d be rigged, which might give her an even bigger complex,” Cali pointed out. 

“Just give her a second, she’s thinking–”

“Noooooooo.” Kaito groaned, all the kids startling, not having realized the door had even opened, Kaito leaning against the door frame and putting his head in his hand. “Oh nooooo this is going to take so long to clean uuuuuup… augh.”

“GYAH!” Miyako said cheerfully, kicking her legs. Dad was here!

“Bianka dies!” Kimiko declared.

“I think we’re next,” Cali whispered.

-

“I’m really sorry about this,” Lio apologized again, packing snow into a bucket to throw back out of the window. It was looking like they wouldn’t be able to get everything back outside, but it would be the heavy majority, and then that would just leave them with the very fun task of drying out everything in the room. “The kids probably all collaborated, but Bianka usually has more sense than hijinx this crazy.”

The whole clean up wasn’t just left up to them. In a very kind gesture, some of the housekeepers that lived at the castle, Lio had learned, had decided to take up work on their time off and help out, though most of what had been done was moving out smaller items they could save from the snow. Shoveling and bucketing out the snow, though, was a task that he and Kaito took up. Thankfully Lio’s shoulder wasn’t acting up much, and it was just a brace day.

Kaito was just relieved they could actually pack it out of the window. He had thought for a minute there that they’d have to move the snow up to the third floor and throw it out an open window. That’d be so many stairs. Thankfully, the hole the kids had made in the snow outside the window hadn’t caved in.

“Oh, no, trust me, I’ve been through this with them before, and trust me… it’s a group mentality,” Kaito said darkly, shoveling up another bit and packing it into the hole out the window, “Individually? They're all so smart! So charming! So reasonable? Put them together? They become little goblin children.”

Kaito paused. Were goblins real things? Was he insulting actual goblin children?

“Well, you know what I mean, trouble makers,” Kaito amended. “I think they just egg each other on until stuff like this happens.”

Shovel, shovel… “Okay, and maybe Tim talks them into it,” Kaito admitted, a bit shame-faced, “He’s got a pranking side. You should ask Aiichi about the tar-seat prank. I swear, I thought that one was going to be an international incident.” 

Lio huffed an amused breath. “Yeah, I did hear about the vents… Never thought Bi’d be so into theater either, before she met the others. They’re a real wild crew together.” Which was nice! For some things! And Lio was happy his youngest had made some close friends in Dicea, and, well, some mischief was expected from childhood. It just sometimes ended up like this, shoveling snow out of a castle parlor.

Shaking his head a little, Lio smirked. “In fairness, Boss is probably a good person to prank. He’s always seemed to take things in stride, way I’ve seen it. Tim being a prankster is probably why he and Bianka caught on like a house on fire, though. ‘Droll’ was a common word in our house last year, once Bi learned it.”

It was why he’d requested a block change for her, really. Boring wasn’t the worst thing to have, and it was better than a lot of things, but he’d figured the amount of trouble Bianka could get into depending on what classmates she had wasn’t much of an issue. So if she could find people she clicked with better in another class? It was something he was willing to navigate with the teachers and faculty. 

…again, he hadn’t anticipated ‘flooding a room with snow’ to result from that, but it was still ‘alright trouble’ in his book. Could be way worse. 

“He suuuure does take things in stride,” Kaito agreed vaguely, taking the back of his shovel and, with a few solid wacks, packing in the snow out the window into a more solid wall, creating more room for the snow. “Phoo. And honestly, Bianka’s been great with all the kids. She’s even good with little Miyako! You have a good kid on your hands, even if she’s a nosy little thing. She’s made me answer a few interview questions now… Hey, what does she do with all that stuff?”

Kaito looked to Lio, rubbing the back of his neck, easing out the ache there for a moment before pulling up his collar to wipe at some of the sweat of the work. “Is she actually writing out articles?” 

Lio lit up, looking pleased with another parent saying his kid was good--he was winning at being a dad, totally--before laughing a bit, starting up another bucket. “Will it surprise you too much if I say yes?”

“It really depends on what she’s working on, though,” he explained more, expression fond and proud, “If it’s something like an opinion piece, she’s actually submitted some of her articles to the paper.” Lio grinned cheekily at Kaito. “Which we absolutely have framed up at home.”

“Others she just collects into what probably could be an article with more research or an event that’d tie it together, and some she just has on hand.” Lio shrugged with his good shoulder. “But everything she keeps as a portfolio, like…proof of her work, you know? She’ll probably trim it down when she gets older and if she going into writing or investigative tracks at school, but for now it’s everything.”

He let out a small, sheepish laugh. “I guess seeing what Nela and Cheri are doing in school has gotten into her head to start prepping for the future.”

“Wow! She’s gotten articles published in the paper? That’s really impressive! But you’re right, that doesn’t surprise me. Still just had to ask,” Kaito said cheerfully.

Shovel, pack, breath, shovel, pack, breath…

“Tim won the spelling bee last year,” Kaito suddenly said, like the thought had just occurred to him out of nowhere, “He’s a pretty smart cookie himself, y’know. He had to beat out his entire class, and then beat his school, and then there were like these five finalists from the schools around the city… ahem. It was pretty impressive, is what I’m saying.”

“It’s been very encouraging for her writing career,” Lio said, equal parts amused, proud, and a little wary. Bianka had a good head and a good sense of danger…but it was a sense she tested sometimes. Tests that Lio’d rather she didn’t brush up against. 

They worked in comfortable silence a little longer, though Lio looked over in surprise as Kaito spoke up again, mid-shoulder stretch. “Oh, no way, that was Tim? Man, am I bad at remembering names…”

“That’s awesome, you all must be really proud!” Lio cheered. “I remember hearing that an Usott kid made it to nationals, but I never put that together. Though it really does suit him,” Lio hummed with cheerful approval, “Haven’t talked with your Tim as much as you all chat with Bi, but she talks a lot about how much she respects his judgment. One of the best things you can have, in my opinion.”

Kaito preened. Damn right. Tim was killing it! 

“Well, maybe not great judgment about what parts of the castle are and aren’t playgrounds,” Kaito admitted, “But otherwise, yep. He’s real sharp. Gets it from his Uncle Shuichi. My husband is determined to make prodigies of all the kids.” Kaito snickered.  

“Not a bad thing to want your kids to take after you,” Lio huff-laughed, “Especially in that sort of academic sense.” 

He sheepishly ran a hand through the back of his hair. “Not sure where Cheri gets that from, but I’m happy it happened.”

“Hah, word to the wise. Go ahead and just say they get all their best traits from you.” Kaito snickered, giving Lio a wink, “No one’s going to argue with it, and I think everyone knows it’s mostly a joke anyway. Well, Shuichi really did help Tim study a lot during that time though. But obviously there’s no genetic component.”

“Besides, you’re Dad! I’m sure they’d love being compared to Dad.” Kaito grinned, leaning against his shovel and saying fondly, “Tim wants to be taller than me so badly. It’s weird, but a part of me is so proud of that. It feels like he’s saying he wants to be like me… even if I think he partly just wants to be able to beat me in a fight. Heh… fat chance, kid~”

“Hey, nurture’s still a big factor. I just know I am not the best study buddy. The number of times I tried to help Cheri with her homework, and the two of us had to go ask Clara for help together? It’s honestly a little embarrassing,” Lio laughed.

A fond, warm look crossed over Lio’s face, seeing Kaito’s pure passion for his kid, and recounting Tim’s wish. Cute. 

Though Lio couldn’t help pulling a half-wary grimace right after. “I don’t know if she’s talked to you or Maki about it during ‘training’? I think Bianka’s getting some fighting ideas of her own.” Lio sighed, scratching the back of his neck. “A friend of mine is coming to town after the Freeze, and he was getting, er, reminiscent in his last letter. Think it gave Bi some ideas.”

“Look, we barely teach the kids fighting, it’s mostly just fun little flourishes and little defense stuff, and, like, a smidge knife throwing sometimes.” Kaito suddenly said quickly, “Well supervised! For fun! They’re not actually little assassins!”

Kaito paused, his brain catching up with the moment, before he laughed sheepishly, “Not that you suggested otherwise… um, what was he reminiscing about? Something I should keep an eye on during the kids’ training sessions?”

“I know,” Lio said, amused and giving Kaito a light look as he passed by to throw out another bucket. “I really appreciate it, actually, on top of the, yanno, keeping the kids active and entertained and watching them stuff. Even if you end up never having to use it, it’s good to know some self-defense, just in case. It’s not something I feel right now, but I like knowing that as she gets older, Bi’ll be that much safer, out and about.”

Sighing exasperatedly, Lio rolled his eyes as he leaned against the wall next to the window for a moment. “Giancarlo wrote some dumb stuff about how he was ‘excited to see me bend’ like the old days.” Lio shook his head for a moment. “I don’t think Bi even has the flexibility to do a bridge, so I think training should be fine.”

Kaito, who had still been catching a breather, leaning on his shovel, nodded along with Lio, smiling cheerfully… before his smile twisted uncertainly, a bead of sweat at the corner of his brow as a burn lit up beneath his skin, crawling up to his ears as he asked, “Huh? What?” Don’t ask, don’t ask, don’t ask, it’s none of your business, think of both of your husbands’ very cute butts– “Bend?”

Oblivious to Kaito’s plight, Lio nodded, before looking a little sheepish as he scratched the back of his head. “Look, I don’t do that stuff any more, it’s behind me and I’ve got my kids to think of. Just some of the ridiculousness you get up to when you’re younger, right?”

“You’re…” Lio trailed off, squinting at Kaito for a moment before he said unsurely, “In your mid-20s? Right? Some habits had to change once there’s a family depending on you, yeah?”

“Mhm, mhm, ya know, hrm,” Kaito cleared his throat, leaning back from his shovel and re-gripping it, digging into the snow a little harder, trying to focus on the labor of it as his damn betrayer body–fuck you, body, they were literally just talking–made him shift his weight uncomfortably. “You know, I’m 24, 44 in raising kid years, am I right? Haha…”

The physical labor helped a bit, as Kaito said a little more evenly, “Sure, I mean, there’s nothing wrong with what we did before we were family men! Nothing to be embarrassed about, I don’t think. But yeah, it’s a whole different thing when you have spouses and, heck, even if it was just having the kids, it’s not like you can just keep going out at night or, worse, bringing a bunch of strangers into their home… Habits have to change! Inevitable.”

Didn’t mean it was always easy, but he and Miss Crystal had been working through that. Kaito was still the same high libido man he had been a year ago, before life circumstances had put a very strict limit of how much he could indulge it. It was understandable for Kaito to still want it! It was only how he acted that mattered! It was a-okay that Lio was a very pretty man with soft looking hair and firm, strong shoulders! Who… liked to bend… That was okay! For Kaito to notice those things! Totally fine! 

“Right!” Lio joined in, giving an emphatic nod as, seeing Kaito get back to work, he did the same, not wanting to leave the whole chore to him. “It’s not embarrassing, and perfectly fine for what our lives were like at the time! And, yanno, it worked out, we’re doing well now. Just…things change.”

Lio had partially sounded like he was convincing himself along with agreeing with Kaito, until he started exasperatedly muttering, “And then old friends who never let stuff go start writing about the shit you did in your late teens and your kids read the letters because you’ve always been open about things and suddenly they’re asking questions and wanting demonstrations and--”

“Woah, woah, what!?” Kaito suddenly said, eyes wide as he whipped his head over to Lio, the reason this had come up in the first place suddenly racing back to the front of his mind as he suddenly said, “We’re not teaching that during training! That’s not–what!?”

Kaito, stammering out that training was not about that, thought about the word ‘demonstration’ and… subtly adjusted his grip on the shovel. A bell (literally) ringing in his head as his suddenly focused gaze considered the side of Lio’s head.

Lio startled, before looking a little embarrassed. “Well, yeah, I figured. It’s not really the most practical thing…or a good idea at all, really,” he winced a little, “Bi did say Maki showed off some suplexes once, but it seemed more like a showcase kind of thing.”

Lio let out a hesitant, awkward laugh. “I, uh…know that kind of stuff is more for a wrestling ring than an actual fight.”

“...” Kaito readjusted his wrist on the shovel, laughing. “Oh, right! Wrestling! Wrestling?” Kaito half whispered to himself, going over the conversation again in his head. Bending… “Because we… bend… during wrestling… oh! Oh, a bridge, right, that… okay…”

Kaito smiled cheerfully at Lio, like he hadn’t been a hair's breadth from slamming a shovel against his head, saying cheerfully, “I never really used to wrestle, but I did date a wrestler who showed me a few moves! I don’t see any issue with Bianka learning some wrestling! It’s great exercise!” 

And because Kaito was sweating now, he huffed, pulling off his shirt after standing his shovel in some of the snow, dumping part of it into the snow, before wrapping it around his shoulder like a folded towel to cool the back of his neck as he laughed, “Man, I misunderstood you for half a second… anyway! Wrestling! Very cool! Did a lot of it back in the day?”

Lio gave Kaito a puzzled look, not really sure…how he’d lost the beat of the conversation. It seemed really clear! They were on the same page! Kaito was a guy that got it. But then, uh… No, even going over what they said, Lio wasn’t sure where he’d taken a wrong turn. 

Lio made a sort of worried grimace as Kaito was suddenly gung-ho about teaching Bianka wrestling, before he gave Kaito a mildly wary look, airing out his own shirt a little. “Uh, not quite. I…” Giving Kaito another searching look, Lio tried, “I, uh, used to end certain fights with… You heard of a suplexed piledriver?”

A very fun memory of Kaito feeling like he was on a roller coaster, upside down, his underwear bunched in his boyfriend’s grip, heart pounding as his boyfriend smirked at him before Kaito dropped down onto the bed.

“I think so,” Kaito said a tad dreamily, “You get held up by the shoulder and a thigh, thrown down onto your shoulder?”

The echoed sound of crunches played faintly behind Lio’s ears. 

He smiled warily. “Nah, that’s a regular piledriver. A suplexed piledriver is when you grab someone’s middle from behind, so they end up ‘taller’ than you, and you drop into a suplex using their weight as extra force, and, uh…” For once, Lio caught himself, and he let out a small, anxious laugh. “Well. Little morbid, sorry.”

He shrugged with his good shoulder. “It’s a dangerous thing to practice even normally, and I just don’t want Bi thinking it’s something useful to use in a fight, just ‘cause I was an idiot about it, you know?”

Morbid? God, their heads could not have been in more different places, as Kaito tried to recall if Reyes had ever used that particular move on him. He didn’t think so. Reyes tended to like flashy moves that put Kaito on his back in a fun way. Kaito wondered if Kokichi would like any of those moves.

But, thinking about it, those hadn’t been ‘real’ wrestling moves. That was just fun stuff Reyes had learned basically for sex and to impress people. What was it called… “Oh, are you talking about Performative Wrestling?” Kaito realized, “Where your partner has to take, like, half the weight and know how to move to fake it? Oh, yeah, I can see why you wouldn’t want Bianka to learn that. I guess I was just imagining more ‘pins’ and the occasional body flip when I said it was something we could integrate into training. Maki wouldn’t be willing to show them the other stuff anyway. She’d say it’d form bad habits.” 

Kaito lit up. “Still, that’s impressive! You have to be really dedicated to learn that sort of thing, right? Anything you could try on me, one fairly in-shape guy to another?”

(Okay, yes, a part of Kaito just wanted to be flipped again. Just once! For nostalgia’s sake!)

Lio relaxed a little, nodding. The way he had fought hadn’t been performative, at least in the sense that it wasn’t meant to hurt other people, but it was something people could do for a wrestling show. “Yeah, exactly. I trust you guys to keep an eye on things, but I could just see the kids getting overexcited and trying something like that not realizing that both people have jobs to make sure they don’t get hurt. Like, hey, if Bi wants to join a wrestling team in high school or gets into show wrestling later, that’s all fine by me, but I have a hunch she’d take it a little too seriously right now.”

Snorting a little, Lio looked Kaito up and down before laughing sheepishly. “If I don’t want to get chewed out by my kids for throwing out my shoulder again, I better not. I’m not that much older than you, but I do feel it some days.”

“Yeah, I did notice that. That happen recently?” Kaito asked, taking the end of his shirt and patting it against his face a bit, pleased as his body started to properly calm down. Ah well~ he wasn’t going to get flipped and bent like a pretzel today. Platonically bent like a pretzel! Mmmm… Kokichi was flexible… “I feel like I’ve never seen you without it.”

“Ah, nah.” Lio shook his head, on to scraping the more sporadic clumps of snow now that they’d gotten the bigger swathes back out the window. “Took a bolt to the shoulder while I was in the war, and while it’s been ages, it never really healed right, or the damage was too much to do so. Thought it was fine right after I healed up so I didn’t wear the brace then, but it kept giving me issues. Just being more safe than sorry these days.”

Something seemed to dawn on Lio, and he straightened before giving Kaito a concerned look. “Oh, uh…that’s not…weird for you, is it?”

…man, he was certain Lio had just said… something. Definitely something. About his shoulder? Something about a war… war? Had Kaito misheard? He had gotten a bit distracted.

“Hm?” Kaito said, not even kind of struggling against the new daydream in his head. Yeah, no, he was just doomed now. Fingertips tracing the lines just above the– Kaito imagined–full curves of ass, painting out the tattoo with his fingernails as Lio looked back at him and said… “Weird for me?” Kaito asked, blinking back to reality.

“Well…I guess not, since there are plenty of vets around,” Lio considered, before resuming his concerned look. “I guess just…people talking about the war? But from the Dicean side of it. I think I’d feel kind of awkward talking to someone who fought for Luminary, especially if we were talking about, yanno, life-changing injuries.” He half shrugged. 

“Maybe it wouldn’t, but doesn’t hurt to ask.” He offered Kaito a sheepish smile. “So we’re clear, I didn’t intend to mean anything weird by it.”

“Oh.” Kaito blinked a few more times, reminded himself he was a (happily married!) prince, beating down the daydream as he realized, “Oh, the war, right. Fifteen year war. Married Kokichi to end it. Yep, we’re on the same page.”

Considering the most recent conversation with more clarity, Kaito smiled lightly as he shrugged. “I don’t hold anything against the vets. I mean, maybe I’d say don’t brag about any kills you got to me or anything, but honestly I don’t think you would either way. All the vets I’ve met have been much more discreet and kind about the war than a lot of the civilians who have had something to say about it. You guys have never given me any problems.”

“And it’s good that you fought to protect Dicea!” Kaito said cheerfully, giving him a thumbs up and a wink, “It’s a noble and worthy reason to fight! Believe it or not, even the people you fought probably respected that. Luminary values its fighters, we consider it a virtue. I know you guys hate it, but I can’t deny the good you did, fighting back against us.”

“Besides, I’m a Momota,” Kaito shrugged, turning his shovel sideways to start bunching more of the snow together for easier digs, “If anyone deserves to be made to feel uncomfortable about it, it’s me. My family has a lot to answer for, and that includes me. So! Did you get that tattoo during the war? Injury!” Kaito startled himself, “You got that injury during the war!?”

Lio tilted his head a little. He didn’t think the war was that easily forgotten, especially for a prince. It hadn’t even been that much more over a year ago. 

Though, maybe Kaito just needed to focus himself, so Lio didn’t think more on that, and just…relaxed a little. Glad he hadn’t just been prodding into a sore spot by accident. He chuckled a little at the thumbs up, going back to bucketing up snow, nodding a bit. “Maybe call me a bit of a weirdo for a Dicean, then, because I get what you mean. Having something to protect, and having the skills to protect it is valuable. Haven’t been to Luminary in a long time, but I did meet a lot of good people there, even if sometimes our goals were different.”

His daughter, for one. And one of his best friends. 

Lio shrugged again. “Maybe it’s a shallow way of looking at it, but you weren’t the person that shot me, so I’d just feel bad for stumbling into something sensitive for you.” Looking a little confused at the slip-up, but moving past it, Lio looked a little sheepish as he rubbed over the brace. “But, yeah. Was having a conversation where I probably shouldn’t have been. My…” There was a moment of hesitation, before Lio continued, “...friend was right in the line of fire. I just happened to see the crossbolt before it fired by luck, really, so I tried to push her out of the way. We weren’t really in an area we could get medical aid, so some of my issues now are probably from messing with it too much then.”

Something a little stern hardened in Lio’s eyes. “I don’t regret it. In a hundred do overs I’d push her away every time.”

“Good. I admire that,” Kaito said easily, feeling comfortable to be on old, familiar territory. “I admire anyone who fought, but I’ll admit, there’s certain ways to approach battles that makes me respect them more or less. The folks who fight just because they like fighting are… valuable, and at least pointed in the right direction their service can still be ultimately ‘good’, but…” Kaito frowned, “I don’t respect it as much as people who fight to protect others, and that’s their motivation, you know? The point of fighting is to eventually stop. It can’t just be endless war for its own sake. You need a goal. An end point.”

Kaito glared at the snow wall, turning his shovel over and–WHACK WHACK–packing in the snow again, huffing a bit… before stepping back. “...if you don’t have an end goal besides ‘everyone on the other side is dead’ then you shouldn’t be fighting. There has to be a motive. Or you shouldn’t be there. And I mean, considering you came back with a handful of kids, clearly you have a strong protective streak,” Kaito said cheerfully, scraping up some more snow. 

Lio’s expression softened again as he nodded, agreeing with Kaito. Yeah, like, if you were working for a good cause, your reason for being there didn’t really matter… But people who had that extra motivation to do good in the world, to protect people, make it a better place to live…in…

Lio slowed, straightening and looking over at Kaito, blinking owlishly. “...come again?”

“Hm?” Kaito hummed, before glancing over at Lio, surprised at his surprise, “I mean… Bianka’s a Luminary kid, isn’t she? Her and her sister? Or, wait…” Kaito tilted his head, “I guess you could have adopted them from family in Dicea. Sorry, I heard ‘the war’ and just immediately assumed you were there for a while. Luminary was such a long war, and most of the vets I know spent years down there. With how young you are, I figured it made more sense for your kids to come from Luminary than here, but that’s still a pretty big assumption. My bad.”

“Oh…” Lio said softly, before doing his little huff-laugh, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “Uh, no. You’re not the first to assume Bianka and Cheri are biologically related, though I usually get swept up in that too. Poor Nela getting left out of the blond club,” he joked. 

Sweatdropping and looking shy, Lio admitted, “I was actually only in the war for two months? I got injured pretty quickly, and…” another moment of hesitance, before Lio figured, well, it didn’t matter much anymore, “with Cheri to take care of, I was back in Dicea faster than some people take vacations.”

Somehow, Lio looked even more sheepish. “Know it wasn’t the most orthodox thing to do, but…I couldn’t just abandon Cheri once we got back to Dicea, even if she would’ve had more stability going through the adoption system. We just were lucky Clara was already 20 so we could at least get the paperwork done clean.”

“Nah, I get it. It’s hard to not want to take on responsibility yourself. Even when you know better, it never doesn’t feel like abandonment, letting them go,” Kaito mused, shoveling more.

…a part of him. The Luminary part. Wanted to clarify that they really couldn’t have stayed in Luminary. Wanted to ask… did they have parents that were looking for them? That had wept to find them missing? You hadn’t just… stolen children, right? It had needed to happen? They were better off?

But Kaito couldn’t bring himself to ask. They were ugly accusations, and worse, what would be the point by now? Sending Bianka back to a country she didn’t know to live with strangers? Undoing any progress Cheri and Nela had made, integrating into their new home? Breaking up their family?

If Lio had stolen them–which Kaito was choosing to believe he hadn’t–then it was too late to fix it now. Not without hurting them more.

So, instead Kaito said, “Well, your girls seem to be thriving, so unorthodox or not, you clearly are doing something right! Long term I hope my adoption of Tim turns out as good for him as it clearly did for your kids. Family goals!”

Lio sighed softly. He’d been 18, still a kid himself, freshly traumatized from war and learning that the monsters under your bed were actually real, but the ones wearing suits were ten times as scary. And he’d shown back up in Dicea with a kid that could easily be a little sister clinging to his hand and refusing to let go. She had been so brave at the NEST facility. Lio wished she hadn’t had to be. 

By then, Cheri knew exactly what happened to orphans in Luminary. Lio hadn’t even gotten a word into explaining that it wasn’t like that in Dicea--he thought he was a pretty good example--before admitting defeat, and promising not to leave her. 

And now? She was older than he was when they’d met, thriving in college with tons of friends and goals for her future and…safe. Happy. Everything that Clara had promised in the wagon they’d ridden back to Dicea in, bloodied and exhausted. 

Lio had tried so hard and…it was nice to see he’d succeeded. 

“Thanks,” he grinned back at Kaito, before nodding his head toward the door, “And if you care at all about the word of someone who’s been and is currently going through it, looks like you’re right on track with Tim.”

Lio laughed softly. “Not making any assumptions, but hopefully you have an easier time without any 2am, ‘dad, I think I can read people’s minds’ scares.”

“Ha~” Kaito laughed cheerfully, “Kids! The imagination they have on them!”

Now that Kaito knew more about magic–had had time to grasp his mind around it–it was easier to not have knee-jerk, panicky reactions when someone mentioned something that sounded like it was similar. There was a sequence of events he was supposed to do, that Dr. Mariah had given him the idea for and Miss Crystal had him practice (not for magic reasons, but just as a mental wellness exercise), when something like this happened.

Take a breath, and take out your stone. Kaito did so, leaning the shovel against the wall for a moment and pulling out his focus stone. Clean it, don’t just rub it, clean it. Kaito took out his cleaning wipe from his pocket, starting to rub it. 

Wipe one two three–one two three–and then think to yourself, Not everyone knows everything you know. This is not an open secret. Assume they don’t know.

It was a quick, fluid movement that got Kaito in the right headspace, as he chuckled, “I have to hear the story behind that one though. What happened?”

Lio nodded good-naturedly, crouching down to get at the little trails of snow. “Cheri’s always been intuitive, good at picking up on cues, you know? Probably why she knew Clara could help her, if I’m thinking about it…”

Almost lazily, Lio glanced at the door, a, by this point, constant subconscious check to see who exactly was listening. “Of course, I didn’t know much about Empathy back then, or really any kind of psychic ability past what you’d get in fiction. And even less about how it might manifest in kids. So I was just there, still half-asleep while my kid’s freaking out and I was just like, oh? How’d you figure that?”

He snorted, pinking a little just from the memory as he facepalmed, though there was a small grin on his face. “If you thought I was concerned about Bianka mimicking my old fighting styles? Having a 12-year-old go on a hyped up psychoanalysis session about stories I’d never told anyone woke me up real fast.”

…oof. This was so bad for Kaito’s ‘not everyone is just keeping an open secret’ mental health. 

He cleaned his rock for another few wipes, mostly out of habit, before whistling low, shoving the material back into his pocket and rocking back and forth onto his heels, staring at the ceiling. “...um… um…” Rock back and forth, before Kaito said, voice high and tight, “Oh! Give me a minute! I have to use the bathroom!” 

And with that, Kaito turned around and hurried out. 

Okay! That would give him time!! To think it through!! And not accidentally out his husband and child to the first person who just…happened??? To know exactly about Empathy?? And???

Go to the bathroom! Give yourself a second on the toilet! Think it through! 

“Oh, uh… Have fun?” Lio said, mostly to an empty room by the time he finished, though that didn’t spare him the immediate cringe. “...’have fun’? What’s wrong with you?...”

Sighing a little to himself, Lio continued on gathering the last bits of snow. He had been meaning to talk to Kaito for a while, ever since it became more apparent that the royal family was definitely in the community. Sure, it was good to always make connections, but, after their brief talk during Harvest and taking the kids to the candy circles, he’d really thought that Kaito was someone who’d…get it. 

But maybe Lio was assuming too much. Sure, there was a lot saying that the main Momota line weren’t magic folk themselves, but you really never knew when a psychic would pop up in a family. And even if Kaito himself wasn’t magically aligned, Lio had no proof that anyone in his family was--they could all just…know about it. Which was a good sign for their government!

…less so for Lio finding someone to relate to in the whole…’I was just a normal guy and now my family is magic and I’m scrambling for ways to be there for them with things I don’t quite understand’ way. 

Had…he screwed this up?

HOW DOES LIO KNOW THAT KAITO KNOWS!?

Kaito stared in the mirror, asking himself that. Was he missing context!? Had his family said something to Lio!? Kokichi’s had conversations with the guy because they were figuring out Bianka playtimes, so has Maki, so has Kaito, shit, did Kaito say something!?

Kaito wracked his mind back, cracking and twisting his knuckles. As far as he could recall, no? He hadn’t? Would the others have?

Okay, stop, Kaito. Think.

Look at it from Lio’s perspective.

Lio has an empath kid. Cool! Awesome! The second Kaito was calmed down he’d be thrilled about that! Love new empaths! Cheri! Shuichi’s Cheri! Shuichi’s… oh, yeah, no doubt, Shuichi knows. 

Kaito pouted in the mirror at that, before shaking his head. No, no, no being petty. Shuichi was allowed to know friends secrets without telling Kaito, there was no reason for Kaito to know. Okay! But that was probably the connection! Shuichi and Cheri had probably discussed empath stuff, Cheri had probably told her dad, and Lio probably guessed Kaito was on the same wavelength! Easy! 

(Or, Lio knew about the empath abuse in Luminary and very reasonably assumed Kaito, as a prince of the family literally mass-imprisoning empaths and subjecting them to slavery to further enslave other people that Kaito Momota would very reasonably know about Empaths as a common day thing.)

(...........which yeah! Would have made a lot of sense! Kaito didn’t really know why it hadn’t happened like that! Did Kaede know? Byakuya!? Who knew!)

Okay! Kaito felt… reasonably sure it was okay to talk to Lio about empath stuff… though just in case, real quick, he thought very hard ‘Kokichi, are you listening?’

He paused.

Nothing.

Well, Kokichi, just in case!! Lio seems to know!! So… um… okay!

Just letting you know! In case you’re listening!

Another pause. Kaito stared at the mirror and felt a little insane. Alright. He’d be acknowledging, but subtle. Suuuubtle. Kaito Momota: King of Subtlety! 

Kaito burst back into the parlor, closed the door behind him, and said, “EMPATHS ARE COOL!”

Lio had finished up what snow they could reasonably get, and had started moving the sopping parlor items closer to the door, seeing what would need to be dried and what had survived the kids’ snowglobe assault, though he jumped when Kaito returned, arm spasming and dropping the scatter rug with a wet-sounding ‘plop’. Right after, though, he grinned softly. “They really are. Uh…”

Eyes softening into a real ‘wet puppy in the rain look’, Lio scratched the back of his neck uncertainly. “Look, I…might’ve made some assumptions about you? I…kinda thought you were in the same camp as me, but I just kinda went with that, ‘cause, I mean, for clarity, I don’t actually know if you’re in-in the community, or just in the know, which is still part of it, of course, and still really cool to talk to you, but I might’ve just jumped the bow on this and made things weird and it can be a little alarming--”

“Oh!” Kaito said, before quickly adding in as he realized, “So, see, that’s why I had to run off real quick! Because I’m not sure if you know that I know that empaths are, in fact, cool, or if you’re just assuming I know for a lot of really, really valid reasons, because, well, I’m a ‘Momota’, so Momota’s should know right? And they super should know, by the way, if that was your logic, was that your logic!? Because, here’s the thing, they should know, but I didn’t know? But I do now! Or maybe I shouldn’t have told you that because I don’t know if you know if I know any empaths personally–”

“I don’t!” Lio quickly cut in, holding his hands up a little. “And I wasn’t sure about the Momota thing, because I know there’s evidence that someone in the Luminary government knew what was happening in the Togami facilities, but there’s never been confirmation about specific members of the Momota family, so, like, it could be reasonable that you knew, but I wasn’t sure, and I guess that doubt was good since you didn’t know, but you do, a-and I know about that because,” Lio sucked in a breath, starting to run out, and his voice trailed off a little lamely, “Cheri told me that your husband and Maki knew so that mean you knew so…I…just wanted to talk, I guess.”

“Oh yeah, that makes sense…” Kaito grasped both ends of his slightly damped, rolled up shirt around his shoulders, playing with it a bit as he stared at the floor, the two standing in awkward silence for a moment… before Kaito looked up, grinning brightly, “I love to talk! I’d love to talk, actually. It’s really hard not talking about this stuff, isn’t it? Like… you can’t just bring it up casually, or ask anyone for any real, practical advice on it. You said Cheri was 12 when she told you she thought she was reading minds? Because, like…”

…Lio had told Kaito about his kid. Maybe it’d be okay…

……Miss Crystal didn’t know. Dr. Mariah he only talked to as a group. Everyone else who knew either was his family–who he couldn’t always talk about his bigger gripes or insecurities too–or weren’t really his friend. 

God, Kaito wanted someone to talk to…

“...mine’s body snatching people.” Kaito grinned awkwardly, feeling a spark of fear run through him, not sure if he had made a mistake or not, “But she’s like a baby, so what do I do? Discourage her from using a whole limb, just because it’s kinda waaaay invasive? Babies need to put things in their mouth to learn about stuff! They don’t know it hurts when they bite! It feels wrong to discourage this whole, like, side to themselves, ya know?” 

✪o✪

“Wooow,” Lio gasped, truly amazed. “Yours is a super strong Empath?! That’s incredible… I-I mean, I didn’t discount it, but everything I’ve read about Empaths affecting people physically like that is all theoretical! Your daughter is like a shiny!!”

(The Critter Crossing toys were getting very popular. Bianka had written up a whole speech about how the ‘collect them all’ advertising was marketing propaganda, but they were still very cute so could she get something please? Lio was more than happy to, and Bianka now had a little set of figurines on her dresser. While she thought herself above propaganda, though, Lio had read up on the toy line more, wanting to be more in touch with what was popular with his kids, and he had to admit, the 1 in 8000 chance for a toy to be a different color? It was very tempting.)

Laughing a little, realizing how awkward that was, Lio gave Kaito a commiserating nod. “Miyako? Yeah, that’s rough as a baby… I know there is information out there, but I haven’t been able to find any for truly young Empaths like her. As much as Cheri caught me off guard later, I think I got off lucky since we met when she was older. Apparently it’s common for Empath kids to have this burst of ability when they’re infants, but it goes dormant until they’re older? So that’s the theory we have for Cheri…but it was still so painful listening to be so scared about a part of her, you know?”

He shook his head a little, before giving Kaito a hopeful look. “Hopefully you guys will be able to have psychic stuff feel more normal, as she’s growing up.”

Kaito gave Lio a curious look, as he headed over to start helping him sort the wet items. “We should probably light the fireplace, maybe we could dry out some of these by hanging them in front of it… a burst of psychic energy as an infant… that would make a lot of sense, actually.” Kaito said, taking one of the cushions off the chairs that had been used to reinforce the ‘referee throne’. “Awwww, if that’s the case, Miya’s gonna be so annoyed when she loses that ability. She loves grabbing people and jumping into minds willy-nilly. I’m going to have a very grumpy baby for a while… but that’d probably be a good thing, in the long run. It’s a lot of power for a little kid.”

Kaito had said the opposite at one point, and in various ways, he meant both sides of it: growing up with that power at your disposal might make it easier as an adult to live with it. But having it vanish while you were developing and then gradually come back? There were silver linings in that idea too, some tough moral lessons that would have been difficult to reinforce by himself. 

Hell, if Miyako didn’t even lose her powers completely, but they were just… less all-incompassing? She was so strong. Kokichi had said Miyako had created a mental network of everyone in the city like it was nothing. That was… a lot of power, Kaito was pretty sure, even for a strong empath. 

“Tim’s been talking about those Critter Crawling things too. He hasn’t asked for one yet, but it keeps coming up, so I think secretly he’s hoping I’ll surprise him with some.” Kaito mused, “I’ll probably grab some after the freeze. Don’t tell him I said so, I still haven’t figured out what the punishment for this is going to be, but I have suggested he’s going to be grounded until he’s 80, and I don’t want him calling my bluff yet.”

The kids weren’t there helping with the cleanup because, honestly, it was a bit too much work for a group of children. The snow was cold and heavy and wet, the room was already starting to smell and Kaito kept having to catch himself from tripping on the slippery wood. They had been separated and sent to their rooms, leaving the two dads to do the heavy work of actually drying out the furniture and hefting the snow. 

“Do you have any advice?” Kaito asked, “Just, generally, for raising an empath?” 

“Oh, good call,” Lio murmured, heading over to the fireplace and starting to set it up. Though, he couldn’t help but laugh softly. “I bet minds are like the best playground ever for a baby. Everything she could ever dream of doing without such limitations as ‘being able to walk’ or ‘speaking full sentences’. Though…probably good for her in another way to lose it. It’s scary enough when young kids, like, root through an attic or something and find things you wouldn’t want them too. I imagine that risk goes through the roof with people’s thoughts.”

Better to learn it back gradually, with people able to help talk them through the things they might find. 

Feeding the fire until it started to catch properly on the logs, Lio nodded encouragingly. “My lips are sealed, dad’s honor. But that would make a great Unity gift. I’ve seen Nela look at Bi’s figurines a few times, so I was thinking about getting her one of the pillow versions. Even if she grows out of infatuation with the animal characters, it’d still just be a nice pillow to use, right? And 15’s definitely not too old for toys.” Lio grinned a bit, enjoying thinking about gifts to get his daughters. 

Getting up with a bit of a sigh, Lio stretched his back before helping Kaito move things over. “Well… I feel like it might be different, with how powerful your daughter is, so I wouldn’t say to take my advice as gospel or anything, but in general?” Lio tilted his head up, thinking. “Something I worked through with Cheri a lot was, like… Noticing someone is having a bad day, and wanting to help them isn’t a serious breach of privacy or anything. People can notice that sort of thing even without Empathy, and just because she might have a better clue as to what’s going on doesn’t mean she’s suddenly overstepping boundaries. You just have to respect what the person wants from you if you decide to interfere.”

“And on the flip side…just because you notice something, doesn’t make you obligated to interfere. You aren’t suddenly expected to be the world’s therapist because you have better senses in that regard. Check in if you want to, keep going with your day if you don’t, you’re not actually that different from someone with really good hearing or smelling, or someone with average senses compared to someone with below average.” Lio shrugged a little. “It can be kind to point things out, but they aren’t really in a league of their own. Just have different strengths.”

Kaito nodded along with that, he and Lio moving the cushions close to the fire, before hefting up the chairs themselves, bringing them close. They had towels and a mop in the corner that they’d probably need to start using soon, Kaito going to grab the mop and bringing it over… before he smirked at Lio, “And who taught you that one. Did you get lucky and get someone to ask advice yourself?”

Lio smiled thinly, heading over to the drying supplies. “Some self-deconstruction, honestly. And when your kids are upset, you wrack your brain real fast to find anything that’d help. But I did have a friend that kinda sped that realization up. As in over my head as I can feel, Cheri and Nela aren’t…gods, or forces of nature. They’re just people, my kids, who have different abilities. I’m out of my depth in the same way someone with a kid genius is, so…in the same way, I just have to do my best to learn about what’s going on in their world, and be open to listening and learning from them. Not pretending I already have all the answers, so anything they bring up that I don’t have an answer for is, like…forbidden, or wrong… You know?”

“Ugh, yeah.” Kaito groaned, kicking the cushions a little closer to the fire, “That’s a big fear of mine. That I’m not going to have an answer or a reassurance fast enough, and in that silence there’s going to be a big ol’ sign that screams ‘somethings wrong with you!’” Kaito said, exaggerating his tone, before huffing, rubbing his hand around his temple, “...sometimes I think I really set myself up.”

“Basically every member of my family literally is that example you brought up. They’re all kind of… geniuses?” Kaito said, wincing a little, “In specific ways. They’re so good at stuff that even the shit that isn’t actual magic? Feels like magic. It’s well and beyond anything I’m capable of, or even really capable of comprehending sometimes? I’m a little… slow in comparison to all of them. Or it can feel that way, anyway. But!” Kaito said, scratching the back of his neck roughly, “I’m Dad! And I’m the Husband who’s Always Supportive! And Always knows what to say! For Maki and Shuichi, even, I’m the Prince and the Friend who, somehow! Despite not going through what they were going through. Always ‘got it’. Even when I clearly had no idea what I was talking about or what was going on, I put myself in this position where if any of them were having problems or overwhelmed, they could come to me, and I would know what to say…”

“And wow, I super don’t, most of the time!” Kaito said, laughing awkwardly, “I am scrambling every time they bring me some new, big thing that literally knocks my whole concept of reality apart, and I have to think of something reassuring or grounding to say. I’m usually saying how everything is going to be fine and we’ve got it taken care of and we’re handling it, before I’ve even stopped to comprehend what the hell it is I’m reassuring them about.” Kaito whistled low, before laughing nervously again, “Maybe it just always feels like that to be a dad? But wow, does it feel like I’ve set myself up. Because when I fuck up? It… really affects them.”

Lio nodded with a deep sigh, that fear one he understood completely. Sometimes you just needed a moment to think or process, but when someone was coming to you for reassurance, it was difficult to hold back that knee-jerk response that if you didn’t have an answer immediately, it was now The Worst Thing Ever. And it was hard to reel things back from The Worst Thing Ever once it had gotten there.

With a small smile, Lio huffed an amused breath. “Having exceptional family is incredible, and it makes you so proud of them…but it’s not always the easiest thing, even just to be there for them. Let alone if they’re asking you for a solution to something you can’t even understand the problem of.”

“I like to think the reassurances are most of what they need, at least in the middle of a crisis?” Lio theorized, sopping up water with some of the towels, “But it doesn’t always feel…” He thought for a moment, before frowning. “...fair. Then I kinda feel like an asshole about it, because I’m the adult here and my kids are supposed to depend on me, but…sometimes I just need a second. But I don’t always get that when my kids are in tears and just want someone to make it better.”

“I’m Dad, I’m the make it better guy. I just…don’t always know how.”

Kaito chuckled, “Awww, ‘the make it better guy’. Yeah. Yeah… it’s what we signed up, for, huh?”

A momentary pause. The fireplace starting to crack and pop, the fire really catching, warming the room. Kaito started to mop, knowing the thin layer of snow left behind was going to start melting quicker.

“...okay, but between us, some of it’s wild, right?” Kaito said, “Can Cheri actually do the ‘jump into minds’ thing? Has she shown you? I’ve seen it, it’s like going to an actual place, and it’s so hard to remember that it's someone's brain! Sometimes your own brain! Most of the time it’s my own brain, and I don’t recognize it, and that is soooo bizarre!”

“I can’t even imagine what that’s like,” Lio said, amazed and bemused. “No, Cheri can pick up what people are feeling, and some of the thoughts associated with those feelings, and…” Lio trailed off, grasping at a way to describe what his daughter had explained to him. “I guess calling it a place works? But she does that with her own mind. Cheri says that it’s like meditation extreme, being able to sort out your thoughts but, like…physically. I can barely conceptualize it, really.”

He gave Kaito a curious look. “If you’re okay sharing…what’s being in your brain like?”

“Um… I think my ‘lobby’, which I’m told is the place that you sort of default end up in when you first go in… but not always? And it might not be there anymore, actually, I don’t know, I didn’t entirely understand the explanation I was given.” Kaito admitted, “But in my experience, more often than not I end up in a really empty version of my city–uh, I mean the city I grew up in, NGP. It’s always daytime, it’s always a bright day, probably early or late summer. I’m always wearing something I’d wear to go to school, even if I don’t look school-age anymore. Going to and from school was when I was allowed to dress the most casually, and I think the lobby’s meant to feel… safe and casual? I don’t know.”

Kaito smiled, “That’s usually where I start, but then…once I’m ‘awake’ in there? And I understand what’s going on? It’s kind of amazing… I don’t really have control over what’s going on when I’m in there, not like how you’d… light the fireplace, right? You made a conscious decision to light the fireplace, took the steps, knew how those steps would lead to a lit fireplace?” Kaito clarified, “For me, in there, I don’t know how the fireplace lights. But it’s like the fireplace is a part of me, and it lights because I wanted it too. Like the fireplace is a muscle that I don’t consciously flex but still does what I need it to.”

“If you ever get the chance? I’d recommend it. It’s amazing.” Kaito admitted. “It’s maybe one of my favorite things to do, honestly. It’s a gift.”

Lio listened to Kaito with a look of wonder on his face. Other than the things that came up with his daughters, Lio hadn’t actually had much first-hand experience with magic that was…nice. That wasn’t terrifying or so extremely urgent that he didn’t have even a moment to consider and experience what was happening. Hearing about a trip to your own mind, where things were safe and casual, and the stuff that could happen was all…

“Intent,” Lio nodded, before looking to Kaito a little sheepishly, “I-I think? Like, you don’t need to know all the mechanics of a daydream for it to still have things happen, sort of thing.”

He sighed wistfully, a soft sound, as he leaned back against the chair they’d moved to the fire a bit, still moving towels around. “That does sound incredible, though. Oh!” Lio lit up, thinking of something he could recommend. “Have you ever been a part of a telepath chain? I guess it’s a little less impressive now that phones are a thing, but it’s still crazy to me. Being able to speak with people across countries or continents, through your thoughts? It takes a sec to figure out, but it’s really amazing.”

“Oh, yeah, intent!” Kaito agreed, mopping up some more of the water, “That’s why my hus–uh, that’s what the empaths call it! Empathy is all about the intent of stuff, and it really shows in your mind.”

Kaito liked the way Lio looked at him as he explained what he had seen. Because it really was exciting! And cool! It was easily one of the best things Kaito had ever experienced, and it was fun to get to tell someone about them! Speaking of which…

“No?” Kaito grinned, lighting up with excitement, squishing some water from the mop into the bucket before leaning in to listen, “When did you get a chance to do that?! That sounds cool!”

Lio chuckled sheepishly in the face of Kaito’s returned excitement. “I have a few connections around Basacta that I keep in touch with. Mostly trading information we find about mystic stuff, world events that might be related, that kind of stuff. Mostly we just write to each other, but every now and then we hold ‘in-person’ meetings…which is more like ‘in-mind’?”

“One of us that’s a telepath makes sure to be with everyone who’s part of the meeting, and then they ‘chain.” Lio half-shrugged, giving Kaito a grin. “Don’t ask me how it works more than that, I have no idea. Just, like…mind connection things. But once it’s up, we can all talk to each other like we would in person, no matter how far away we actually are.”

“Hah! Wow, that’s incredible. I mean, empathy’s got something similar, but it’s very much ‘relaying messages’ and half the time it sort of feels like I’m just shouting into the void.” Kaito laughed, “It’s a weird way to communicate. You can’t actually lie? It’s that ‘intent’ again, they just hear whatever it is you’re actually thinking as, like, a ‘whole’.”

“Wild stuff,” Kaito said again, chuckling, looking down at the mushy water around them, “...and yet! It’s this stuff that keeps catching us off guard, huh? The very normal stuff. If our kids deciding that shoveling snow into a random room in the castle is ‘normal’.” Kaito said, rolling his eyes.

Lio nodded eagerly. “I think that’s one of the main differences between Empaths and Telepaths? Though they still seem incredibly similar to me. Like…Telepaths can ‘hear’ the…conscious things you think, the actual words or images, depending on how your thoughts form, while Empaths ‘hear’ more of the subconscious stuff? Your emotions and what you truly mean, before communication forms. It’s pretty interesting.”

Though, it wasn’t all that important in the day to day.

Huffing a little, Lio started wringing out the fully water-logged towels into the bucket. “If I wasn’t keeping an eye on things at home? I think Bi would’ve tried something similar. Little ice sculptures kept in the icebox, and what, I’m supposed to be the bad guy, anti-art villain, and throw them out? I’m not a monster.”

He tilted his head a little. “Hm. Think it’s too cruel to ask her to help out with people’s chores as a consequence for this? Doing dishes is an easier cleaning task than what we’re doing, so that might be 10-year-old appropriate…” 

“I’m thinking of throwing Tim to the kitchens.” Kaito threw out there, glancing at the snow lined window, wondering if it’d be wise to try to dump the water in the snow hole of if it’d just end up pouring right back into the room, “I’ve volunteered to wash dishes and do little chores in the kitchen for the staff, they’ve always got something they need doing. I just don’t know if it’s… technically illegal?” Kaito said, tilting his head, “When I was a kid, the priestesses used to have me sweep and scrub the temple and shrines when I was causing problems. I could have the kids scrub my shrine? I don’t think there’s enough work there to make an impression though.”

“Parenting books and circles generally say it’s good for a consequence to fit the issue…but also that it should be stated and given after explicitly saying what you don’t want them doing.” Lio scratched the back of his head exasperatedly. “The kids obviously knew they weren’t doing something okay, though, and I think it’d asking too much foresight of me to ask Bi not to shovel snow indoors, so…think this won’t mess her up too bad.”

Tilting his head the other way, he thought for a moment before giving Kaito a shrug. “Maybe it’s illegal normally? But for this week, at least, I think it should be fine, since technically no one’s working and we’re all supposed to make use of the castle facilities ourselves…even if folks volunteer for bigger shifts and such.”

He smirked a little. “Bet people would be more than happy to have extra kitchen help this week. And I don’t mind doing some extra washing either.”

“Ugh, we are going to end up washing dishes right next to them, aren’t we?” Kaito realized, sticking out his tongue, “You know, some of us wanted to spend the freeze cuddling with their super hot husbands. Maki’s absolutely going to leave ‘make sure Tim actually does the chores’ to me, she likes short-term punishments more than long ones, she never keeps up with them if it lasts longer than a day. Hanedaaaaa~” Kaito whined, a single tear in his eye, “Whyyyyyy did you want to spend the Freeze at that tavern place? Whyyyyyy…”

Kaito sniffed, pouting, “Probably because she knew something like this would come up. Man these kids like damaging the castle. It. Is. Their Favorite.”

“Brag about it,” Lio snorted, rolling his eyes a little. For one, he didn’t want to leave Bianka unattended in an industrial kitchen, even if she was just going to be by a sink (Lio knew his daughter, and knew she wouldn’t stay right by the sink), but if he was going to be doing their family’s dishes anyway, he may as well join in with Bianka’s consequence. It could be a bonding experience. 

“Tim’s nanny is wiser than all of us,” Lio sighed, shaking his head in admiration. Though, he took a look around the room. “...well, the others did say they were gonna come back for the rest of the wet stuff in here. Think we can call this a job well done and head back to our miscreants?” 

Kaito looked around as well–man, this parlor was familiar for some reason. When had he been in here before…–before nodding, “Hell yeah, let’s get out of here. We helped! We’re done!” Kaito said, raising up a hand for a high five, “Did the dad thing!”

Lio grinned, going in for the high five. “Absolutely nailed the dad thing.”

An enthusiastic SMACK later, Kaito cheerfully started to clean up… before turning bright red. Lio’s wording intruding into his daydreams again.

Gah!!

-

Loop was lounging by the bath again, laying on their back, their legs crossed over each other, foot lightly bouncing in the air. They were staring at the ceiling. Waiting. They were very good at waiting.

They glanced over when the door to the left half of the floor burst open, and the entire party–stressed, panting, and covered in glitter–all ran out, along with a number of flying, squawking chickens, rushing into the room before slamming the door shut. 

“Chickens, hm? Weird. I usually get peacocks.” Loop mused, “I wonder if that says more about me or you.”

“How on earth did you get Peacocks!? Every choice led to chickens!”

“Siffrin! Siffrin, can you hear me!?” Leana demanded, having been dragging in Siffrin by the wrist and now kneeling in front of them, trying to help brush off the sheer matted faceful of glitter they had accidentally faceplanted into. “Did it get in your ears!?”

Siffrin tried to answer, but every time they opened their mouth, they kept accidentally breathing in glitter, couching. “Mmm.” Siffrin whined. Leana continued to try to clear his face of the matted glitter, focusing on unsticking his eye.

Similarly to last time, Melia parted from the group, though this time it was with obvious and clear ire. Glitter was already a notorious, sticky fiend, but in feathers? Mindful, even in her rage, of the baths, Melia shot a few feet into the air, rapidly flapping as a veritable rainstorm of glitter fell from her. 

Even Jeremiah looked a bit hassled, though he was gentle of the armfuls of chickens he brought in, laying them down by one of the empty baths. It turned out wearing all black had a different effect when it was glittery black. 

Really, Ingo was the only person who looked moderately alright with their wardrobe alterations, though he hovered by Leana and Siffrin with some worry. “Hold on, Siff, we’ll get you sorted out right away!” He did consider Loop’s comment, though, looking back over at them. “...male or female ones? I figure getting male peacocks back here would be enough of a hassle not to do it…”

“I’ll leave it to your imagination, bubble butt~” Loop said, winking at him before their gaze turned to Siffrin. They didn’t say anything. Just snorted a bit, before going back to looking at the ceiling, “Just a warning. Since you got the animal room, the next room is either going to be really long, or obnoxiously short. Neither one should be terribly dangerous though… there is a third one, where you get chased by your worst nightmares down a hallway that only gets longer and longer as you run down it, but I’ll be honest, darlings, I don’t know if that’s a real room or just a recurring nightmare I have. If it is real, you are doomed, there is no way to escape it. Sooooo good luck with that I guess.”

“Let’s assume that’s a nightmare then,” Leana murmured, wincing as she took the risk of scratching off the last of the glitter to open up Siffrin’s eye. Siffrin blinked open, looking around, before coughing out the last of the glitter, “Better?”

“Better.” Siffrin whimpered.

Ingo flushed a little. Okay, he was positive Loop talked about his body way more than everyone else now. Which was flattering! As compliments always were! But also a little embarrassing, especially since the comments always seemed to be about his behind. But…considering that Loop never said anything more, and Ingo didn’t really know what to say…

“Let’s hope for obnoxiously short,” Brathy said, fully confident in tempting fate as he joined Melia’s corner and started shaking out his clothes. Though he significantly calmed his gestures as a few chickens came by, just chilling near them. Cute… “If we can finish this up soon, all the better.”

“No way to tell until we see it,” Jeremiah grunted. “I can take a look, if everyone’s still cleaning up.”

“Sure, just don’t go too far in,” Leana said, grimacing as Siffrin tried to take off their hat and accidentally poured more glitter into their eye, “Oh, no, hold still… Eddie, Ingo, you two made it out okay! Go with him, make sure he’s not jumped by anything. Come right back!”

“As you wish, princess.” Eddie agreed, shaking their thin fur before hurrying after Jeremiah.

Wincing a little at Siffrin’s predicament, Ingo gave them a pat on the shoulder before giving Leana a bright grin. “Got it! We’ll be the greatest and most prompt survey corps ever~ See you soon.”

Giving Leana a short nod, Jeremiah turned, expecting Eddie and Ingo to be following, heading through the door. 

Ingo, a little behind, squawked in offense and quickly jogged after Jeremiah, already starting to complain about the retainer going off on his own. 

When they got into the new room, however, his protests were cut off, taken a little off guard by…well, the smell, more than anything. The rooms didn’t have any sort of logical sense, so seeing trees indoors wouldn’t be odd, but the smell? Ingo took a deep breath, really feeling like they were actually outside.

Eddie, sniffing the air, came to a similar conclusion, as he said cautiously, “I don’t suppose this is any more unusual than the various dark pits into nothing we’ve seen, but… this feels like we’ve actually been transported somewhere else. We should hurry back and… oh.”

Eddie had immediately turned his head, intending to go back out the door… but it was just a wall of trees. An impenetrable wall of trees, the wood, roots and branches all encircling and pressing against each other in a way that basically made it a solid wall of wood, blocking their path. There was no door.

“...your sister is going to be cross with us.” 

Ingo winced at the wall of flora, grimacing as he wilted. “She’s gonna be so mad… But!” He perked, literally hopping a little as he looked between Eddie and Jeremiah with hope, “It’s nooooot our fault! Sure, Siffrin and I got trapped in that blacksmith’s, but only by an enemy. None of the doors have actually disappeared before, so there was no reasonable expectation for that, and she said we could look so-!”

Ingo nodded conclusively. “Not our fault!”

“Doesn’t matter,” Jeremiah cut in, Ingo immediately deflating to pout at him, though Jeremiah’s focus was on the forest around them, “Though presumably the door will reappear when this room is completed. So we should get on that, if we’re stuck.”

“That’s exactly not just taking a peek,” Ingo grumbled nervously, before looking around as well. “...but I suppose we’re kind of in the same boat just standing here as looking around.”

Taking a few steps forward, he hummed softly before looking back at the others. “Boost me up so I can see above the trees, maybe?” Though considering the density of the canopy above them, Ingo was more just throwing ideas around.

“You can stand on my back if you like.” Eddie offered, his twin-tail knives flicking back and forth mindlessly above it.

“Thank you kindly, Eddie!” Ingo chirped, touching his heart before looking at Jeremiah expectantly. And when Jeremiah just let out a defeated sigh, Ingo cheered, before carefully getting on Eddie’s back, then using the extra height to, with the cupped hands Jeremiah offered, get up on Jeremiah’s shoulders, just barely able to reach the lowest hanging branches of the giant trees around them.

With a little hop--missing Jeremiah’s hidden incredulous look up, Ingo, you’d crush us if you missed--Ingo latched onto a branch and started to pull himself up, climbing the tree. 

“Watch your head!” the man next to Eddie said, smiling brightly as he called up, “That’s not a real sky!”

“!!!?”

Eddie jumped backwards, said twin-tailed daggers waving dangerously as he bore his teeth at the sudden new person–how had he not heard him coming!?--before he blinked. The odd coloring briefly confusing him, before he realized, oh… it was a reflection. 

Though, this reflection cheerfully watched him jump, fluid and even in his movements. Like he was entirely aware of him. And Ingo above them. And Jeremiah behind him, as he said, “Oh! You guys are a bit jumpy, huh?”

The reflections in the map room had been similar, but really only to Leana. They couldn’t seem to comprehend the nature of the game they were playing, the weirdness of the map, or the fact that the pieces they were moving around were alive. They just talked like they were looking over a table, planning, Leana the only linear thing real to them. And even then, only the woman with glasses, had been truly comprehensible, more ‘real’ than the other three in her suggestions and rebuttals. 

It was like when the kid had struggled against Eddie when he was pulling them out of the snowroom. This reflection was actually reacting to him, in real time, at least for now, as he smiled warmly. “Relax, I’m a friend! My name is Isabeau!”

“WHa-?!”

BONK

The unfamiliar voice, very close by, startled Ingo, his gaze snapping down just in time for the warning he’d been given to come into effect. Bonking his head on the false ceiling, Ingo lost his balance, just barely thinking to wrap his legs around the branch he’d tripped from, leaving a disoriented and bewildered prince hanging upside down from the tree. 

Jeremiah had tense, not having noted the reflection come up either. His axe was out in a flash, though thankfully he noticed the same things Eddie did just in time. Though, despite the ‘friend’ claim, Jeremiah only put his weapon away after glancing up at Ingo once more. 

Once his vision recentered, Ingo lit up, waving excitedly at Isabeau. “Oh! OOHH! You’re him! Hello, Isabeau, my name is Ingo, and these are Eddie and Jeremiah! It’s incredible to meet y--AAAH!”

With a yelp, the branch under Ingo’s knees broke and sent him plummeting to the ground…

Or right into Jeremiah’s awaiting arms, as the retainer gave Isabeau a small nod.

Isabeau watched Ingo fall with a bit of concern, before chuckling a bit when Jeremiah caught him, clapping in applause. “Impressive! But then, that’s what I would hope for our would be heroes! Glad to see the calvaries arrived! …assuming you guys didn’t literally accidentally fall down here.” He admitted, grinning a little sheepishly, “If that’s the case, oof, sorry about that. Still hoping you win against the king though!”

“No, we are who you were… hoping? To see?” Eddie said, watching as the man looked around, the smile on his face tensing a little as he continued to search. 

“Hmmm… just you three?” Isabeau noticed, resting his hands on his hips, clearly a little disappointed as he asked, “So, no Sif then, huh?”

Don’t blush don’t blush oh goddess Jeremiah really had just caught him in a princess carry DON’T BLUSH INGO

“You okay?” Jeremiah said quietly while Eddie and Isabeau spoke, a little concerned with how…red and dizzy Ingo looked, as he let the prince down. 

DON’T BE DISAPPOINTED WITH BEING PUT DOWN

“Perfect!” Ingo squeaked, self consciously trying to pull his shorts down a little more. Refocusing (on to anything else), Ingo cleared his throat before shaking his head, giving Isabeau a bright grin. “Seven of us, actually! Including Siffrin!”

“Though, uh,” sheepishly, Ingo tucked some of his hair behind an ear, unconsciously trying to fix his hair, “Most of them are still in the safe room with Loop right now. Glitter attack. We were just going to take a peek at this room to give the others a heads up, but…” Ingo gestured a bit at the forest wall. “The door disappeared.”

“Ha! Yeah, the glitter room,” Isabeau chuckled, “Hope that didn’t give you too much trouble. I considered the glitter room, but beyond being a bit annoying, it wasn’t really dangerous, so… well, had to make a choice, right?”

Crossing his arms, Isabeau looked down at the ground, still smiling, but something clearly regretful in his eyes as he said, “Yeah, that door disappears once you’re in. So Sif’s here but didn’t end up in this room? Hm… well…” He kicked the dirt a little, before laughing, “Well, I’m sure real me will see him soon! Which basically means I’ll see him soon! Just gotta get you guys through this maze!”

“Maze?” Eddie asked. 

“Oh, yeah, it’s all a maze. A pretty simple one, I think… not that I’ve done anything past this first part yet,” Isabeau admitted, gesturing to the dark tunnel ahead, “But I’m sure the me in the next area has a better idea of how to get through than I do! If it’s not obvious? You go straight. Since it’s literally the only way to go from here!” Isabeau laughed, “Easy enough, right?”

Ingo gave Isabeau a curious look. “A…choice?” And talking about the ‘me’ in the next area was a bit confusing as well, but…

“Well, we’ve been inviting all the reflections and…other? Beings? In the dungeon to come back to the safe rooms with us whenever we finish a room, so you’ll get to see Siffrin as well,” Ingo said, trying to cheer Isabeau up, before grinning brightly. “And we’ll be seeing the real versions of all of you soon as well, so it’s a well-rounded reunion isn’t it?! All aspects.”

Seeing Jeremiah already heading off to the tunnel, Ingo huffed. “Can never wait for anyone… Well, thanks for your help, Isabeau, and…I…suppose?” Ingo said unsurely, “We’ll be seeing you in the next room? But you-you in the saferoom! Later. Bye!” 

With a wave, Ingo quickly ran off after Jeremiah.

Isabeau just gave them a small smile and a wave, Eddie giving him a nod before hurrying after his party members.

Past the tunnel, was another dense part of woods. But this time, including the tunnel they had just came from, was four tunnels. And in the center of the area, Isabeau was there. Giving them a smile and a wave, “Hey! I’m assuming you know my name, but just in case you rushed past the first me, nice to meet you! I’m Isabeau! I’m here to help!”

Then, looking past them, like he was waiting for someone, Isabeau smiled sadly, “Just you three, huh?” 

“Hello, Isabeau, I’m Ingo and these are Eddie and Jeremiah,” Ingo introduced again, returning this Isabeau’s wave. “And, sorry, Siffrin’s here but they didn’t come to this room. But! Everyone’s been coming back to the safe room once we’ve done the challenges, so you’ll be able to see him soon!”

“Which way should we go?” Jeremiah asked, unphased by the flat look Ingo gave him. Chatting at every point of the maze would make them take a million years to get through it, and if Ingo really was going to promise that these reflections could see Siffrin soon, then they’d better start getting through it faster.

Isabeau gave Jeremiah a mildly amused look, before grinning wide, “I will, huh? That’s awesome to hear! Siffrin’s okay then? Alright… I went that way,” Isabeau said, pointing to the left tunnel and giving the group a charming grin, “Be sure to give the next me a quick hello, before moving on! I’d appreciate it, I’m sure!”

Eddie nodded, “Of course.” Before hurrying to the left tunnel.

Eddie had been expecting to see another Isabeau immediately, but the area was empty. Though, weirder still… there was just one tunnel ahead again. Were just some areas only one tunnel, or…

Eddie looked behind them. Brow furrowing in concern. It was a solid wall of trees. “What?”

“Door disappeared on you, huh?” Isabeau chuckled, standing among their group suddenly. “Yeah, it does that.”

“They’re currently trying to clean his face of glitter, but other than that, yeah,” Ingo chuckled, before giving Isabeau a thankful nod (and being totally normal about appreciating how beautiful Isabeau’s smile was). “Thanks, and we will!”

Jeremiah wondered what was really going on here. He’d already been in one maze where getting through it hadn’t been the real challenge, and here, again, it wasn’t much of a maze if they were getting directions the whole time. As asinine as the Change God’s creative mind could surely be, Jeremiah doubted the challenge was something based on time--there had been no way to tell that someone chatty like Ingo would end up in the room. So…

He narrowed his eyes, looking behind them at Eddie’s indication, before frowning as Isabeau appeared out of nowhere again. 

This time the only one to jump a little, Ingo stifled a squeak in his throat before blinking at Isabeau, then the wall of trees in confusion. “Oh, uh… Maybe…things are supposed to look like the beginning sometimes? Or…?”

They had already talked to Isabeau about the door disappearing. 

“Uh, Isabeau,” Ingo asked uncertainly, “To you, is this the first time we’ve met?”

“Mhm~” Isabeau said easily, nodding, before chuckling a bit warily, “Though, with the way you asked that, I’m guessing this isn’t the first time for you? That’s probably not good.”

Looking around, Isabeau’s smile waivered a little, “Hey, you three don’t happen to have more party members somewhere else, do you? A short cutie in a big white hat and a badass white robe? I mean, I suppose they could be wearing something else, but he doesn’t have much other clothes right now…”

“Siffrin is safe and elsewhere,” Eddie said, tails waiving uncertainly, before looking to the others, “Perhaps we misunderstood the next Isabeau’s instructions? Should we try again?”

Ingo nodded with Eddie’s assurance about Siffrin, but he looked around with a small frown, muttering, “Oh, this isn’t good. I wouldn’t mind doing introductions for several Isabeau, but if their loops reset every time we leave the area, it’ll be difficult bringing everyone back to the bathhouse…”

Jeremiah glanced at Ingo for a moment before giving Eddie a short nod. “We have no other options, really. Complete the maze, or just sit here forever, assuming that the door’s disappeared on the other side too.”

Striding forward after that, Ingo followed, though he gave Intro Isabeau a small wave. “No offense, I hope we only meet again once we’re done!”

Still in the tunnel, Jeremiah said quietly to the others, “Isabeau didn’t say that it was the right way to go. He said it was the way he went.”

“Ah, sounds like it’s complicated. Well, these rooms always are. Good luck figuring out whatever the twist is! Hopefully the next me can help!” Isabeau called after them, giving them a wave as they left.

“That’s a point, but… ultimately, what does that mean?” Eddie wondered, “Do they not know when they went the wrong way?”

In the center of the room stood Isabeau, giving them a wave and a smile, four tunnel around him. “Hey! I’m assuming you know my name, but just in case you rushed past the first me, nice to meet you! I’m Isabeau! I’m here to help!”

Then, looking past them, like he was waiting for someone, Isabeau smiled sadly, “Just you three, huh?” 

Jeremiah gave a small shrug, not sure what that meant quite yet. 

“Sorry,” Ingo called to the next Isabeau, not sure what Jeremiah was implying either and just choosing to focus on the more concrete things, “Siffrin’s back in the safe room. He’s doing well! And you’ll get to see them once we figure out what’s up with this maze and the door opens again. 

“Oh, and we’re Ingo, Eddie, and Jeremiah,” Ingo continued, grinning sheepishly, “Shoot, I forgot to re-introduce us to the last Isabeau…” 

“Er…” Shifting his weight, Ingo gave Isabeau a plaintive look. “So, it seems like if we go the…potentially? Wrong way, we end up at the beginning, and all the versions of you we’ve already met reset their loops too. We went the way you said last time, but that’s what happened, so…do you know what’s up with that?”

While Ingo chatted, Jeremiah ignored the conversation, bringing Jeremirrah out. “Don’t suppose you can see the way out of this maze too?”

“...” Jeremirrah closed his eyes, concentrating… before saying, “What maze? It’s just a room.”

Isabeau frowned at Ingo, scratching his light chin hair, “That’s… well, that’s pretty weird. I know you go back to the start if you go the wrong way, but I don’t remember going back to the start in the way I went. I told you to go this way, right?” Isabeau confirmed pointing to the left. When Eddie nodded, he shrugged, “That’s the way I went. I should have kept going from there.”

“Interesting… perhaps we should just try a different way then? In theory we have a fifty-fifty shot.” Eddie said, looking to the others, “And if we’re wrong, we’ll just know the exact correct way then. Not that alarming.”

Jeremiah narrowed his eyes. Just a room? 

“Weird…” Ingo said uncertainly, before he perked up again. “Well, maybe it’s different for everyone that goes through? Loop’s said they’ve gotten different challenges than us, and this is a House of Change, so it’s not the craziest thing.”

His smile faded as he looked over to Isabeau again, however. “...that really sucks if you chose to be here to help Siffrin out, though. I-I mean, I suppose the company would’ve been nice--and it is very nice for us--but…still a bit disappointing.”

Just a room… But, again, the functional difference was little if they were just getting teleported to one side or another…but it would also mean that there weren’t ‘next’ or ‘previous’ Isabeaus. Just a reflection with short loops that did seem remarkably aware while he was in the middle of one. Still, if the way Isabeau had sent them before was wrong, then…

“We’re going right,” Jeremiah grunted to the others, before stalking off.

Ingo rolled his eyes a little before giving Isabeau a small smile. “Sorry, he only speaks ‘broody, rude asshole’. See you at the end!!”

Isabeau chuckled at Ingo’s assessment, but he didn’t say anything. Just briefly looked a little sad, before grinning and shrugging.

As for the comment on Jeremiah, “Heh, it’s alright, we have one of those at home,” Isabeau smiled, giving them all a wave as he called, “And I’m sure you guys will get through the maze just fine! This is only the start, after all! Good luck! See you there!”

The three went through the right, and immediately there was a good sign. It was four tunnels again, with Isabeau in sight. He was looking down one of the tunnels, frowning a bit… before glancing over, “Oh! Someone’s here! This must have been right, then! Great!” Turning to them, he grinned and waved, “Welcome! I’m sure you’ve gotten my name by now, but just in case–”

“No, we did, Isabeau,” Eddie said, tails wagging, “It seems we’ve figured this out after all! Good, I was worried for a moment all the tunnels would be dead ends.”

“Oh, already having issues?” Isabeau asked, before laughing, “Yeah, me too. But! If you’re here, and so am I, then it’s definitely this way.” Isabeau said, pointing to the tunnel he had been looking down, before chuckling, “Took me a second to find it, but yep! This way! …hey, by the way, is there a fourth–”

“Siffrin’s in another room.”

“Ah,” Isabeau’s smile strained, “Shame.”

“Isn’t it?” Ingo offered a sympathetic smile, before starting to launch into his repeated introduction, giving this Isabeau their names and telling him about the growing hub in the safe room where they could see Siffrin once the door opened…

However, Jeremiah didn’t give him the chance this time, just grabbing Ingo’s wrist and heading down the opposite tunnel from the one Isabeau had pointed to. 

“...so you can meet with everyone there a--HEY?! J-Jeremiah, wha - let go!”

Jeremiah didn’t stop, just pulling Ingo along.

“Oop, coming!” Eddie called, hurrying after Ingo. 

They ran into a single tunnel space. There was no Isabeau. 

But this time he didn’t get a chance to show up. Determined, Jeremiah kept going. 

Isabeau, in the center of the room, gave them a surprised look, “Oh, hey–”

They kept going, heading to the right. There was Isabeau, looking down a tunnel with a frown, before glancing over at them, “Oh, hey–”

They hurried forward. And crashed right into the Isabeau in the next one, who seemed to be starting to walk into the tunnel they had just come from. “Ow!” Isabeau ground, thumping backwards onto his butt, “Oh! I’ve found something! Or… oh, you guys must be the people I’m supposed to help guide.” Isabeau realized, looking them over… before frowning, looking past them, “Hey, is there anyone else with you?”

Ingo had kept up some amount of protests as Jeremiah dragged him onward, his expression growing more confused and more agitated as they walked past two Isabeaus, but as they got to the third, knocking him down, he’d had enough.

“JEREMIAH VALTAN, LET GO OF ME!!” 

With all of his strength, Ingo pushed against Jeremiah’s grip and freed his arm, looking truly angry for a moment before he turned, heading over to help Isabeau up. “I’m so sorry about that… Yeah, Siffrin’s back in the safe room, he--”

“It’s the same Isabeau, Ingo,” Jeremiah cut in. “We’re walking in the same room every time.”

“Shut up,” Ingo snapped, voice uncharacteristically sharp.

“Oh! Hey, let’s calm down, okay?” Isabeau said, grinning as he put his hands up, “Trust me, this isn’t the sort of place you want to get frustrated. It can uh…” He glanced back at the other tunnels, “Get to you, if you let it. I promise, you guys are going to get out of here! I’m here to help!”

“Why were you coming back this way?” Eddie asked.

“Oh, the other three didn’t work, so… it’s gotta be this way, right?”

Ingo took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he held it for a few moments, before calmly letting it go. He still looked a little irritated when he glanced Jeremiah’s way, but a smile came easily in the face of Isabeau’s optimism. “Right! There’s only so many paths, after all.”

Arms crossed, Jeremiah tapped a finger on his arm, thinking. “...it was the opposite of what you said in ‘room 2’. But not here. If it was just a matter of doing the opposite of what you do, then literally any other direction would work, but it didn’t. So there’s more going on here.”

“Well, maybe it is the way Isabeau says this time,” Ingo said, a little tersely. “If this…is just a single room, then that means that, like…the tunnels aren’t connected? To each other?”

“I have a thought,” Eddie said, “Why don’t you two go into a tunnel. Any of them. But I wait here? Since we seem to be struggling to verify if we’re even going anywhere at all, in theory, I’ll be here no matter where you go, right? And if that’s not the case, I can just wait for you all to catch up again.”

“I’ve been leading you all the wrong way?” Isabeau frowned, looking around, “I didn’t do that on purpose. But I’ll admit, I’m pretty thoroughly lost myself. I can’t tell when I’ve gone the right way at all. Everything looks exactly the same. Seeing you guys has been the first bit of proof that I must be on the right path.”

“I believe you,” Ingo said immediately, giving Isabeau a nod as he stood--wow, it had been apparent before, but standing right next to each other, Isabeau was tall, “Considering every version of you we’ve met has only gone up to a certain point, I imagine that gets pretty confusing. But…” Slow dawning crept up on Ingo’s face. “...oh. Bonnie and…I suppose she might be Odile? They were both moving the challenges along in their own ways, so I believe that for you as well.”

A choice. Siffrin’s friends’ reflections had…chosen to help in certain challenges. 

To Eddie’s plan, Jeremiah gave him a nod. “Sounds reasonable.”

And it was, though Ingo gave Jeremiah another frustrated look before sighing. “...alright. See you soon, one way or another.” 

…and just to make a point, Ingo started heading down the tunnel they’d come through, the one Isabeau had been peering down, expecting Jeremiah to follow him this time.

When they got into the tunnel, they came out and there was only one tunnel ahead of them, and no Isabeau. 

As they got their bearings for a moment, confirming they were once again back at the start… in the distance, what sounded like a wolf howled. 

“Uh oh,” Isabaeu said behind them, sounding worried, “I wonder what that is.”

Ingo had stopped once they got to the clearing, and, seeing no Eddie, he’d been about to say something to Jeremiah like, oooooh look who’s so clever now; all the same room, huh? But…

Ingo frowned in worry. “...that doesn’t…sound like Eddie…”

Jeremiah frowned, and quietly drew his axe. “...Isabeau, why can’t you go through the tunnels with us?”

“You guys are the ones I’m supposed to be waiting, for, huh?” Isabeau laughed a little nervously, looking down the tunnel, “Well, the plan was to lead you through! Though, I was told what I’d do was point you to the right tunnel once I found it. Figured it’d be a piece of cake here, since there’s only one way. Isn’t there a me further ahead that keeps pointing the right way? That’s what I volunteered for…”

Isabeau bit his lip, “...I hope the others weren’t tricked into doing something they didn’t volunteer for. The Change God can be a bit… cagey. With the truth, I’ve found. Guess that’s change for you! Can’t expect to always know what you’re rushing into.”

“But, sure,” Isabeau grinned, straightening his sleeves a bit as he flexed his bicep, “If you think it’ll help! Anything for Siffrin… uh, and you guys! I assumed Siffrin’s with you?”

Giving another nervous look at the woods--wolves could be territorial, sure, but if you left them alone, they usually weren’t issues--Ingo turned slightly to give Isabeau a small smile. “Yeah, Siffrin’s in the saferoom. I’m Ingo, and this is Jeremiah, and…” he glanced back at the tunnel, “We did come in with our friend Eddie, but Jeremiah had some idea about this being one room so we went on while he stayed where we were, so that’s obviously not true, but…” Ingo shook his head a little, cutting off his rambling. “Well, you’ll meet him soon enough. And Siffrin again, once we get through here.”

Jeremiah frowned. ‘Once he’d found it…’ The ‘other’ Isabeaus had talked about trial and error too, but it seemed like they’d never moved from their ‘rooms’...though it seemed possible, with this one agreeing to come with them, so…

…where was Eddie?

“Pretty much nothing here is straight forward,” Jeremiah said, leading the way again down the single tunnel. “You might’ve not been tricked, but maybe just didn’t know what you were getting into.”

“And that is also a good way to describe change,” Isabeau laughed, walking alongside them into the tunnel

And thankfully, he did come out the other side. But he paled, “What…?”

In the middle of the room, another Isabeau stood. But he was clearly staggered, holding a wounded arm and with a massive gash mark on his face. Eyes wide and trembling, he glanced at the approaching party, before making a small, frightened sound. Staring at them for only a moment, before rushing off, blood dripping behind him as he disappeared into the right tunnel. 

“Wait!” Isabeau called out to himself, hurrying forward to follow down the tunnel, “Wait, I can help you!” 

Ingo’s reaction was similar to Intro Isabeau’s, shocked at the state of second room Isabeau. All at once he tried to remember all the medical supplies he had in his pack--damnit he wished Brathy had come with them--but what was almost more alarming was the way second room Isabeau looked at them. Ingo couldn’t tell if it was recognition or just…fear. 

“Hold on!” he called along with Intro Isabeau, running after him down the right tunnel, and, well, Jeremiah had no choice but to follow suit as well. 

When Ingo and Jeremiah ran through the next tunnel, they came both stilled at the next thing they saw. 

Isabeau, knelt in front of the left tunnel, was leaning down, chewing on something. Isabeau himself was bigger. Most of his clothes hung off him in tatters, but the bits that were gone were thick with a tuft of red hair. Fur. Out of his back, curling down his spine like a blade, was a massive, sharp piece of bone, curling like a tail.

The thing he was eating was a mesh of red and pink and brown. Bordered by what was theoretically clothes, similar to what he was wearing.

He glanced over at them, eyes blank. Confused… before snarling with long, sharpened teeth. 

He lunged at them.

Ingo’s eyes widened, his pupils shrinking, the Deity Mark of Rally in stark relief in his eye. 

No…

Nonononononono

(Unthinking, Ingo got into a battle stance. Body ready, practiced through repetition, even if the mind wasn’t.)

These were reflections. Loop had told them explicitly that there weren’t any real people in the dungeon, not until they got to the other side. In theory, so many of the reflections had ‘died’ in countless ways, for every loop and strategy Loop had ever done through the dungeon. 

Ingo wasn’t thinking about any of that. All he saw was a corpse of someone who had been kind and friendly and clearly adored Siffrin and was so ready to see them again…

There was a clang, as Jeremiah braced his axe in front of himself like a shield, trying to push the changed Isabeau away, before scooping Ingo up over his shoulder and sprinting down the tunnel that had taken them to the ‘third room’ before. 

Eddie and Isabaeu looked up from their conversation as the two arrived, Isabeau raising his eyebrows, “Oh. You two have an argument again?”

“Ah, interesting. You both had barely left, and already back.” Eddie observed, “I was just explaining to Isabaeu where Siffrin is. Though, you both look distressed. Did something happen?”

The snarling Jeremiah had heard at their back abruptly stopped once they came into the clearing again. Perhaps foolishly, he chanced a glance back and…

Just a tunnel. 

With a small sigh, catching his breath--he could pick up Ingo, but it wasn’t like the prince was light--Jeremiah put Ingo down, giving Eddie a small nod. Before he could explain, though…

Looking thoroughly shell-shocked, Ingo’s eyes had glassily trained on Isabeau, his mark still bright against the dim light of the canopy…before it became warped with tears. Ingo choking out a feather quiet, “I’m so sorry…” as he started to shake, his breathing going off-kilter. 

“Woah, hey, hey, it’s alright!” Isabeau said immediately, standing up and hurrying over to Ingo, giving him a concerned look as he approached, “Are you okay? You don’t have anything to apologize for! Though, also, I forgive you! What am I forgiving?” Isabeau asked, glancing at Jeremiah a little helplessly, even as he tried to grin reassuringly at Ingo. “Is Sif okay?”

“One of you turned into a sort of werewolf and killed another of you,” Jeremiah bluntly explained. “We heard wolf cries in the first room, so something changed when Eddie stayed here. Though if no time for you passed…”

…

…they had a task here, but even Jeremiah wasn’t so heartless. 

With a more gentle hand on Ingo’s shoulder than Jeremiah had handled him thus far, Jeremiah nudged him down. “Ingo, sit down before you pass out. Isabeau’s fine.” A small sigh, before Jeremiah’s voice softened a bit too. “...you didn’t do anything.”

In a daze, Ingo sat down, choking on his breaths as he tried to pull himself together, even as tears ran down his face.

“Oh, yeah, that’s pretty terrible.” Isabeau agreed, paling as he chuckled nervously, “What?” 

“Wait…” Eddie gave Ingo a concerned look, but turned to Jeremiah, “I stayed behind, and a werewolf appeared? I mean, clearly I’m neither a wolf nor man nor man-wolf, but… I must have had some sort of effect. Maybe the maze doing a poor mockery or imitation of me?”

Isabeau didn’t love any of that… but he couldn’t ignore Ingo. He went to go sit by him, whispering little reassurances, before asking, “Do you like to be touched? Can I rub your back?”

Jeremiah shrugged. “Maybe. It’s a weird slant, but…possible.”

Ingo nodded stiffly, trying in vain to copy the remembered rhythm that both Siffrin and Loop had guided him through before, but… 

Ingo had a pretty wild imagination. But real life was so much worse. 

Through his tears Ingo could see an amalgam of Isabeau’s coloring, and he blubbered out a sob, getting out half-formed apologies through the mess. Yes, Isabeau was right here, just fine. But as he’d told Loop earlier…it didn’t matter if the reflections were just magic-made versions of people. Their experiences still mattered. And, for a version of Isabeau…they’d gotten him killed. 

And no apology would be enough for that. No apology brought back the dead.

Sighing softly, Jeremiah sat on Ingo’s other side, making sure their legs touched. The prince was the wordsmith between them, and Jeremiah had never been even passable at comforting ones, but he could be there as a solid presence. A person still there.

Isabeau smiled sadly, rubbing his hand up and down Ingo’s back. Considering the poor guy, trying to find the words.

“...you know, I won’t say it’s how I would have wanted to go, being eaten by a… wolf version of myself?” Isabeau admitted, “But, as the version that gets to hear about that? To look in on it? It’s a bit poetic.”

“I like change,” Isabeau said softly, “Honestly, I blinding love it. Change saved me. Realizing I could be anyone? Anything? And not only that, but I never really had to commit. I could change, and then change again, and then again… I love it. It’s the best feeling in the world. Getting to take yourself and try someone new. Someone exciting! Or comforting. Or challenging. It’s incredible.”

“But everytime I do it, especially the big changes?” Isabeau said softly, still rubbing Ingo’s back, “It always feels like the person I was before that? Has to die first. It can sometimes feel violent. Like to make the cool, new version of myself, I have to rip apart the old one. Take away any good thing they might have been, risk anything I might have liked about them, because you don’t get to change and know exactly what’s going to come with you. Sometimes you lose perspective. Sometimes you lose people. Sometimes, I guess, you lose your mind and eat another version of yourself? In a waaaaaay more literal way than I usually use this metaphor.”

“...but I still love it.” Isabeau said, “Change is destruction, but change is hope, and I’m someone who embraces both. I bet the Isabeau that turned into a wolf was excited, at least in some part of him. I bet the Isabeau that was eaten understood. We always make that choice eventually. It’s how we… how I live my life. It’s not a tragedy.”

“...” Eddie tilted his head, tail flicking, “...I mean, I suppose vore is a thing–”

“I DON’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT, I’M BEING POETIC!” Isabeau shouted.

…hearing the sincerity in Isabeau’s voice, the true love in him for change… Remembering Siffrin’s staunch insistence that while the Change God sucked, the people that followed the religion were some of the best, kindest people out there…

Ingo hadn’t realized before how much he was terrified of change. 

Isabeau was elated by the vast frontiers of change, taking the opportunities to be anyone and running with them to his heart’s delight. Ingo had created a persona he played on the stage of life so frequently that it was a costume that felt like skin…but he hadn’t actually changed. He was no braver than the shy little kid who couldn’t even muster up the ability to say hello. 

Ingo couldn’t change himself, and when it came to other things…it was always people leaving. His aunt, his father, his sister, his mother, Ingo just…chasing after where he could, desperate for that change not to occur. But there were places he was unwilling to follow, and the change he was most scared of was death. Because it was the most irreversible change there was. 

…it felt so…disappointing. Living with that fear, instead of grand love. 

Ingo saw a half-eaten corpse on the ground. 

He shuddered, gulping in a breath that at the end sounded almost like a heave, before he sniffled messily. “...w-would still p-p-prefer if we don’t get any other v-version of you killed. Too repetitious.” 

Isabeau chuckled a little, “No argument here. Cool or not, there’s more fun ways to change than becoming a furry.”

“I feel like I should be offended,” Eddie said, though he just sounded amused himself, looking at the tunnels, “The maze changed because you left me behind. How it changed could just be the change god amusing themselves. Perhaps we could inspire more positive changes?”

“I’m sorry you all, I wish I had been more help.” Isabeau frowned, “I was supposed to guide you guys. But if I wasn’t here, it sounds like you all would have started with a totally blank slate. Might have been easier.”

Seeing Ingo start to calm down, Jeremiah offered a handkerchief, putting his hand on Ingo’s back farther down than Isabeau’s after he took it. 

…Isabeau was a champion of change, huh? 

“...any action on a blank slate is a change,” Jeremiah said after a moment. “But it’s an uninteresting one. Unentertaining, for our audience, apparently.”

Jeremiah turned his head a bit, making it clear he was looking at Isabeau. “I think you literally are our guide. Your trip was the original path. And we have to change it.”

Blowing his nose, Ingo gave Jeremiah a confused, mildly disgruntled look. “...what does that even mean?”

“No, I agree. I think the point is to change Isabeau’s journey.” Eddie agreed, looking around, “Perhaps even more than we already have. Or, perhaps we have to finish the maze with a changed Isabeau? We know we can progress, but maybe the maze isn’t that long, if that’s our true goal. Maybe we should find the end, and then spark a change and see it through?”

“Change me, huh…” Isabeau’s brow furrowed, briefly looking uncertain… before he grinned, nodding, “If that’s the goal? Then yeah, count me in! Any version of me you find, I’m speaking for all of us! Let’s get wild with it! Let’s see who I become!”

Ingo wiped his cheeks--Leana was going to fucking erupt when they met back up with the group…--and looked around uncertainly at the others, before he sighed and smiled softly. “Well, sounds like that’s the plan. But I’m still in favor of a non-death change.”

Jeremiah nodded--he very much agreed--before asking Isabeau, “You went down all three other paths in this room before concluding it was the one you came through, so we know there should be at least four more rooms. Which was the first you tried?”

Isabeau raised his eyebrows… before grinning wide, “I go counter-clockwise! That way I always know what I’ve tried! I start at 3,” he said, pointing to the right, “then 12,” he pointed forward, “then 9,” and then pointed to the left, “then 6! So, if it’s going backwards from what I tried, go counter-clockwise from here?”

“So, then the first one he tried was 3.” Eddie surmised. “...right? Am I following the logic?”

“...I don’t know why you ascribe it to clock positions. Counter clockwise is always the same direction,” Jeremiah commented, the situation just too bizarre, even for him, before he noticed Ingo starting to get up. Getting up himself, he then helped the prince, despite the wet, embarrassed look passed his way, and looked to the right. 

“I think that’s a pretty standard way to get through, er, normal mazes,” Ingo hummed, giving Isabeau a small smile. “At least, I think I read that somewhere. But it does make it easy to follow. Thanks, Isabeau. For, um, more than just that,” he laughed awkwardly, starting to feel the embarrassment from freaking out in front of a new person now.

“Well, I started to notice after a while that I could tell which way I was coming in through based on what the walls looked like. There’s little patterns to all of them,” Isabeau explained, “And I thought I’d assign a consistent number face to each of them, in case the maze started taking me to different sides… but admittedly, I literally only just decided that within the last two turns.” 

“If it makes sense to all of you, I’ll take your lead on it.” Eddie said, “Let’s go see if we can find where the maze ends, and then change things up.”

Knowing Isabeau’s thought process made it significantly easier to figure out where the correct turns were. They just had to see where he was stopped, ascertain he came in in the same direction, and then go in the opposite direction. Honestly, they likely would have figured out it was ‘always the opposite’ either way, but double checking where he came in gave Ingo the chance he wanted each time to inform Isabeau what was happening, where Siffrin was, and that they’d get him to the common area soon.

Some of the Isabeau’s, further into the maze and stressed to not find the end yet, looked notably relieved at the reassurance. But Jeremiah allowed it mostly for Ingo’s sake either way. Ingo unwilling to just leave any of the Isabeau’s behind and confused.

They finally got to the last area, which they knew was the last one because when they exited the tunnel, there was only walls of wooden-pressed trees around, eerily similar to the one they had first entered. Isabeau stared at the wall, frowning, “Did I take a wrong turn? Where’s the door? …oh!” he looked back at them, before grinning and waving, “I guess I got you here alright! Welcome! Though, I’m not sure there’s much to celebrate…” and he peeked around them, grin straining,”...just you guys? No one else?”

Ingo smiled warmly, having gotten calmer the longer they walked. Maybe just from time, maybe because seeing each sequential Isabeau more stressed out made him want to be more comforting. “Siffrin’s alright, just in the safe room, you’ll be able to see them soon once we finish up here, Isabeau. I’m Ingo, and these are Eddie and Jeremiah.”

Laughing sheepishly, Ingo explained, “I’m a bit sorry, but this maze is kind of misleading. We’re working on a theory that, now that we’ve followed your path through and know the way to go, we’re supposed to…leave something here, I guess, which will change what your journey through was and…that’s the answer for the door. Bit convoluted.”

Looking to the whole group, Ingo hummed. “We should decide what that should be, though. Ah…I have to be in favor of it not being you, though, Eddie.” Ingo gave his guard a strained smile.

“It’s hard to know what sort of change could come from anything,” Jeremiah shrugged, “Even choosing the most harmless thing we could think of might result badly, so I don’t think there’s too much point in stressing out about it. Something will change. We’ll deal.”

Ingo frowned a bit. “...I still think that we should consider it a little.” 

“Perhaps we should leave Ingo?” Eddie said, tilting his head a bit, “While I still think my personality had nothing to do for why Isabeau was killed–”

Isabeau winced, “Ouch.”

“--perhaps it’d be wise to use someone who’s so strictly against it? And to Ingo, it’ll feel like he’s only waiting here a moment.”

Then Eddie paused, before saying, “Oh, wait. That might sabotage us. Once you found me again, it all went back to normal, right? Perhaps leaving someone conscious behind stops the change from happening? Like Isabeau can’t change if someone is watching.”

Jeremiah was inclined to agree with that. If there was anything they could affect, then Ingo, who really only wanted people to be alive and happy at the end of the day, would surely be a positive influence over whatever changes could happen…

…but also it meant that if anything did go wrong, Ingo would be safe. Considering Leana, Ingo, and Brathy had come to the dungeon at all, there was only so much safety anyone could assure, and if Jeremiah suggested them doing something like only staying in the safe rooms, there wasn’t a lot of reason for any of them to be there. But…still. In any small way, Jeremiah wanted to assure that Ingo would be walking out of the dungeon alive after all this. 

…but if it couldn’t be someone conscious at all?

“Hmmm,” Ingo thought aloud, twisting a bit of his bangs around his fingers before he twisted, looking through his pack. “Well, if we’d still go by that logic, then maybe something of mine would work… Let’s see…”

Ingo started pulling things out of his pack, crouched and setting them on the woodland floor. Small bottles of oils--”...I can’t believe a bath being here actually worked out for you.”--, the belt of his regular clothes, a bit singed but still salvageable, a card with a purple lipsticked kiss on it--he scrounged around his medical supplies and food, figuring they were less personal--a cleaning cloth for his sword, embroidered with his Deity Mark in the corner, a tube of stick glue, a compact mirror…

Eddie looked over everything, before taking off his own pack. Opening it up with a yank of his teeth, he pulled out a few things himself, adding it to the pile. A small bottle of wine he had stolen from the lounge upstairs. A pair of dice in a dice holder– “In case we wanted to kill some time playing dice,” he explained– and two long, red feathers tied together with a golden bead, “I definitely want that back. It’s a good luck charm.” 

Isabeau looked at the pile, considering all of it. Hesitantly, he picked up the card with the lipstick. Then the dice. “Think what will be enough?” Isabeau asked, looking to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah shrugged. “There’s no way to tell until we t--”

“A-HEM!” Ingo cut in looking up at Jeremiah expectantly. “Rule of three, dear Jeremiah. One from you too.”

Jeremiah just looked at Ingo for a moment, and it seemed like nothing would come of it…before he let out an irritated sigh and opened his pack. Holding out to Isabeau a mask identical to the one he was wearing. “Want it or not?”

Isabeau grinned sheepishly, but when he took the mask, he gave it an interested look, before putting it on over his face. Then, straightening up as they collected their things, he took small clip from his pocket, clipping the card to his lapel, before shaking the dice and rolling it on the ground. 

“...think that will be enough?” Isabeau asked in the mask.

“I think you’re about to be a very interesting person.” Eddie agreed.

Isabeau, surprisingly enough, looked pleased.

Ingo packed up the rest of his things before standing up again, touching his heart toward Isabeau. “I look forward to meeting who it is you’ll become. See you soon, Isabeau.”

And the three of them walked back through the tunnel behind them.

-

Isabeau walked into the maze. 

The explanation had been simple. Every part of the maze would have him looping in it, pointing the right way to whoever showed up. Easy! It just required Isabeau figuring out the way himself, and then counting on each iteration of himself knowing how to explain. Simple.

But immediately, the maze was… interesting. 

There was a scent in the air, and he didn’t know how to explain what it was. The closest he got was the way a fair felt when you visited as a kid, the way pop rocks tasted as a teenager when you forget and had tried them again for the first time in a long time, and the way it felt when someone you were attracted to came over to flirt. 

It was exciting. Alluring. Like electricity in the air. 

While before Isabeau might have hesitated, taking in the scene around him, this time he just pressed forward. Testing his luck.

The next area was a square patch of woods, just like the previous one, with four tunnels around him. That electric, exciting feeling was still in the air. He did not notice that his clothes had shifted from the long striped battle robes he had been wearing, to tighter pants with a heart shaped corset strapped around him, his lips lined with gloss as he looked around.

He’d trust his luck. He headed to the door on the right. 

The next area had music. He could hear it, though he wasn’t sure from where. He laughed, listening to the jazzy, festive music play. Listening… it was coming from the tunnel straight ahead.

Excited, Isabeau hurried forward.

It was easy. It was light. How was this even a maze, when you could just hear where the music was coming from? 

Isabeau laughed, dancing in his heels, mask over his face, lipstick turning from a mild gloss to a dark pomegranate. He felt lucky. He felt beautiful. He felt anonymous and sexy. 

He followed the music, heading left. 

The woods had started to change. Wooden brick walls were clearly just hidden behind the wooden trees, which were thinner now to show it off. Lights were flashing in the air, fireworks as people cheered, the strong scent of food stalls. There was the distinct but difficult to pin sound of a roulette wheel spinning, each end of it catching against little bending stoppers to slow it down, before it rolled to a stop, people cheering.

Isabeau followed the music. The thick, well embroidered sash dancing around his hips.

He felt lucky. He felt desirous and confident in that desire. He wanted to show himself off to adoring stares and be the life of a party. He wanted Siffrin to take him dancing. He wanted to win Siffrin a prize and make him duck his cute head under his massive hat to hide the blush. 

He picked a tunnel at random. Music roared through the air as he ran through and laughed. 

He ran again, barely even registering what this patch looked like. His heels flicked against stone and decorative gems. His hair pulled back into a colorful, short braid. 

He walked out of the tunnel to the entrance of a fun, bouncing club, music roaring to life inside the gated garden, fireworks bursting in bright, blinding colors above in the night sky. Isabeau watched the colors and laughed. He reached for the handles… and glanced over his shoulder, the bells around his neck brightly singing as he grinned though his golden mask as the three new people. 

“I hope it was easy enough to follow me,” he greeted the new three, leaning against the door and grinning with pseudo-bashfulness at their approach, hips slightly pushed out as he rested a heel against the length of the door, handle in his hands behind him, “Though the noise had to have been easy enough to follow.”

He glanced past them, sighing, a little disappointed. “Siffrin not with you? That’s a shame…he’d look cute in this shade of red,” Isabeau grinned, tracing his fingernail lightly below the curve of his pomegranate lips, “Don’t you think?”

It had been a little surprising, the changes they saw going through the maze the second time--the changes in Isabeau--but…that had been the entire point. To change. Not knowing what the changes would end up like. But…given the lively sense of fun in the air, how excited the Isabeaus had been, the distinct lack of death…

Ingo was pumped to call this a win. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever asked them their stance on makeup, but it certainly wouldn’t be a bad color,” Ingo chuckled softly, feeling proud to see the door, plain as day, behind Isabeau. “Though, Siffrin’s in the safe room, and we’d love to have you come back with us, Isabeau. Everyone we’ve been meeting here has joined us, though this place is certainly a lot of fun.”

For the final time, until the real Isabeau, hopefully, Ingo introduced, “I’m Ingo, and these are Eddie and Jeremiah. Thank you for your help through this.”

Isabeau grinned, alight with excitement, before with a flourish, he gave a bow. A performance done. 

Then he turned, opened the door, and the three party members stood in the middle of a small room. The walls painted like a dense forest, the sky a sloppily splashed night sky, and standing by the door an unchanged, glitching Isabeau. Holding a small key in his hand, staring at it like he wasn’t sure what to do with it. The even small act of looking at it a miniscule loop in time, the small, curious look repeating, his hand started to close before restarting to its open palm. The vibrant and fun man reduced to a still, quiet moment in time.

“...I guess we did it?” Eddie said, feeling a little sad to watch the man loop. He had been kind. Consistently and asking nothing in return.

Ingo’s eyes scrunched a little, having similar feelings to Eddie. But he mustered up a smile to his friends. “...he did say that his real self meeting Siffrin again would be like meeting him. So I suppose the best thing we can do is just get through the rest of this dungeon, and the next, and expedite this reunion.”

Jeremiah nodded quietly, before going up to the glitching Isabeau, tapping his arm gently. “Isabeau. Your duty’s done.”

Isabeau looked up at the tap. It was clearly a struggle to focus on Jeremiah. His gaze looping back down to look at the key over and over, eye glancing up to try to capture the image of whoever was standing next to him. Managing to look at Jeremiah. Managing to look at Ingo and Eddie. 

Managing to look past them…and, briefly, lighting up with a grin. Eyes widening, elated, as he held out the key to someone past them. His body glitching and shifting through time as he did his best to hold the key out to them.

“Thank you,” Siffrin said softly, taking it. 

Isabeau beamed… before the light in his eyes faded. Returning to looking down at his palm staring at something that wasn’t there anymore. Unable to see any of them anymore. 

“Oh, there you all are,” Leana sighed, heading over, “You didn’t come back right away, so we thought we’d meet you here. Are you all ready to start?”

Ingo jumped slightly, not having heard the others approach. 

Jeremiah looked at all of them, before tipping his head back. Staring at the child’s painting of a sky. 

“...I fucking hate time magic.”

-

The key easily went into the door, opening up the stairs downwards. 

They knew Sadnesses were coming this time, and in preparation they put their heavy hitters up front, their quicker fighters pacing behind them to dart–or fly–in and out between them, getting hits while they could. 

The Sadnesses were, surprisingly, becoming a little easier. Either they were getting weaker, or the party getting more efficient and practiced at fighting them, as Jeremiah was quick to step back to let Leana’s whip hit past him, Mellia swooping from above.  Eddie focused on taking out the bigger one in the middle, able to hit twice each time he got close, while Siffrin focused on taking out the small ones that exploded out from it every time it was hit.

But like before, soon they came across a long, empty hallway, and in the center, they could see a large Sadness… no, upon getting closer? Two of them, swirling around each other, both crying, but one looking manically happy in their tears and the other clearly despairing. The despairing one was looking at the manic one, the manic one focusing on the approaching group, before shooting multiple spikes from its hands at them.

Ingo had been a little timid, at first. Shy, facing his first group battle in a new role, and it wasn’t as if he’d thrown his sword away. Though, before he could even think to draw it…the others gave him encouragement, and with a breath, that was all Ingo needed. Considering they were in a hallway there wasn’t a lot of room to move around in, but Ingo made it work, starting to dance and connecting the whole group with Inspirational magic. 

Not with Rally. For one, it just…wasn’t needed, but considering the exhaustion that had hit Siffrin and him before, Ingo figured it’d be better to save it for tougher battles. But dancers’ magic was still a boon, providing the party with extra power and energy. 

And, making up for Ingo taking a more supportive role--though he didn’t shy from catching any smaller Sadnesses with his dancer’s chakrams--Mellia started mixing in mage spells with her arrows, a bard’s buff unneeded with a dancer. 

In some ways, that just made the group’s synergy even more powerful. As they came upon the intertwined Sadnesses, Mellia called out, “Shield up!!” as the spikes shot towards the group, summoning up an ice wall to catch the spikes. 

“And down!” Brathy followed up, melting the wall down just to shoot the reformed ice back at the Sadnesses. 

The manic one winced in pain, while the despairing one looked more disturbed. The despairing one lifted its hand and water formed around their feet, hardening and thickening like sludge, slowing their movements. 

“Hey~” Siffrin suddenly called, smirking as he readied his dagger, “See you around again!” 

He threw it, and the dagger spun around like a boomerang, knicking the manic one before it came back to Siffrin, who caught it. He lit up: that had felt right! 

Leana also was able to whip at the manic one, hoping to distract the despairing one, though Eddie was thoroughly stuck. The despairing one wailed as the manic one winced again, looking more and more haggard.

The despairing one, staring at the manic one, seemed to make a decision. It plunged its hand into its own chest, scooping out some of the water, and with one last wail, coated the water onto the manic one before dissolving. The manic one healed again. 

Ingo felt a tug at his back, Brathy pulling him farther away from the water that hit the front lines, and he gave an appreciative wink to his cousin. Dancing didn’t have to include leg movements, but it did tend to be more effective. 

Even with his axe, Jeremiah didn’t have the reach to get to the Sadnesses, so instead he hunkered down in the sludgy water, embracing it rather than trying to pull out of it. He couldn’t reach all of the others in front, but it was enough that he’d be able to bat away or shield against most incoming attacks. 

Mellia, ranged and in the air, had no trouble, and just stuck her tongue out as she pulled an arrow back, aiming for the manic Sadness. “Round two, I guess!”

The manic sadness, revitalized, threw more attacks at them and wiggled in sporadic ways that made it harder to hit… but after a while, sheer number and skill alone was wearing it down again. The sludge from its lost partner thinning away over time until it was gone and they could move freely, surrounding it and getting in hit after hit. 

The manic one seemed to look at the puddle next to it, as if seeing it for the first time. Like it was looking for its partner and was surprised to see it wasn’t there… before wailing and dissolving as Leana whipped out the last hit against it. The hallways now covered in thin, wet puddles. 

“Phew.” Eddie said, panting, “That one took a little longer.”

Ingo slowed, cooling down, before glancing sadly down at the puddles. Missing the searching, calculating look Brathy was giving him. “Bit like a mini-boss, huh? Though we’re not exactly halfway.” 

Landing daintily on the ground, Mellia tested her bowstring before nodding and holding it to her side. “If this is all a big test, then I can see the Change God being like a kid working on a project, messing around at first then realizing they actually need to hit all the graded points by the end. Th-though I’d think our battles ahead would be a lot tougher than that…”

“The final one, no,” Jeremiah mused, taking a look at the state of their party before moving forward, hoping to get them moving again as well. “But the other Sadnesses, maybe. Loop said they weren’t the Change God’s, after all.”

“The Sadnesses are the King’s,” Siffrin reminded them, closing their robe around their dagger as he headed to follow Jeremiah, “But I think our biggest concern is the King. Loop said they’ve never been able to beat the King, and not just because he freezes them in time. They said he’ll linger and take his time with it, which means he never feels like he’s in danger when they fight.”

“Well said, Siffrin.” Leana nodded, though she was waiting for her brother to catch up, giving him an approving pat on the shoulder before walking with him. “Still, Loop is one person, and as confident as they feel, I’m certain our group together is more of a matchup. We’ll be alright.”

“Right!” Ingo chirped, practically preening at the pat on the shoulder, “After all, we’re an intrepid group of adventurers, aren’t we? Practically destined to put on a good show.”

Brathy snorted. “You know, I’d take a sweep if we could get it. Really wouldn’t mind that.”

“Seconded,” Mellia sighed, stretching her hands as they walked. “There’s always time to embellish after the fact. After I tell Daddy what happened, I’m sure the story over Esllesium won’t resemble what happened at all, anyway.”

“To have a legend made after us, accurate or not, is still an honor,” Eddie said, tails wagging happily, “But, considering all we’ve seen and done? What exaggeration could do it more justice than the truth? This has been an incredible adventure.”

“You really are enjoying this, aren’t you Eddie,” Leana realized, glancing over to him.

“Aren’t you all? Magic puzzles, saving lost friends in distress, surrounded by surrealism at every turn… this is a once in a lifetime experience,” Eddie said fondly, looking around the floating tears in the hall, “It’d be foolish to not recognize the beauty in it, while we stand among it.”

“...it is more storybook than I thought,” Jeremiah admitted. “If someone told me beat for beat what we’ve already experienced, and I hadn’t gone through it myself, I’d’ve deemed it the creation of a novel-inspired fever dream.”

“The kind of adventure dreamers yearn for,” Ingo laughed, before sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, “...even if the stakes aren’t, when you’re actually facing them. People love to imagine being heroes. It’s less grandiose actually realizing how much danger people are in.”

“No more danger than they’ve already been in,” Brathy pointed out. “Really, we’re in the most danger here, since our failure changes nothing for the people already frozen. Just means we’re dead meat too.”

Ingo pulled a face and made a weird ‘nnnng’ noise in his throat. “Aaaaaand thanks for pointing that out, Brathy.”

“...seeing the fighter reunite with the kid and the researcher was nice,” Siffrin said, thinking back to the bathhouse. Like the other two, when they dragged Isabeau to the bathhouse, he had briefly vanished, before joining the other two in towels over by the sitting stands, chatting with them as they soaped up. Unaware of anyone or anything else in the room. 

Loop had called Isabeau ‘The Fighter’. Siffrin felt odd, trying to say his actual name. It hurt. 

Ingo glanced over at Siffrin, his sour face easing out into a soft smile. “It was. I wonder how they’ll be hanging out in the next safe room. Or what it’ll be, for that matter. Space hasn’t really been an issue, but I hope it’s big enough for everyone to be comfortable.”

…they were the reflections of Siffrin’s family. That was clear as day, and while Bonnie’s recognition of Siffrin had been a big clue before, the way the maze Isabeaus had talked about Siffrin through the challenge… Every single time they’d been able to speak with one, he’d asked after Siffrin. Ingo had been confident from Mirabelle’s letter that they adored Siffrin just as much, but now it was without doubt. 

Siffrin may say they didn’t remember them, but how he had been acting, the longing and concern and names at the tip of his tongue, even if they couldn’t say them…Ingo knew he’d been right before. That there had been a love so deep that even when the memories were gone, the feelings remained. 

He couldn’t wait until they were reunited. 

“Looks like we’ll see right now,” Jeremiah called, a door up ahead. 

Space wasn’t an issue. It was a two story library, and even as all the NPCs were already milling about, the crowd of the bathhouse had thinned out in the massive space, warm, golden light coming in from long, elegant windows.

The snowmen were milling about the aisles, looking at the books. The chicken were roosting on the wooden beams that lined the ceiling, cooing contently in the warm sunbeams. The map pieces seemed to be working at private desks, doing studies. And up on the second floor, talking to each other and laughing, the fighter, the researcher and the kid all looked over a massive book together, leaning it against the safety railing.

“Not bad.” Eddie said, looking around. “There’s even couches to sleep on.”

“This will be a good place to rest tonight,” Leana sighed, “Good.”

“Whaaaat? Surely you don’t want to slow down now?” Loop called over from where they were lounging against the book checkout counter, where the people who had run the bar lounge were crowded around, drinking together. “You’re on a roll, darlings! It’s been an excellent show!”

Mellia couldn’t resist. None of the places they’d been had had particularly low ceilings, but a wide open space above them, with support beams absolutely tantalizing in a golden glow? With a giddy noise, she gracefully flew up towards the rafters, giggling a bit at the chickens looking over her arrival in surprise. 

Not pausing, Jeremiah headed over to an open space to check up on his weapons, while Ingo basically did the opposite, looking around amazed at the gorgeous library. They had been lucky, to have so many tomes and records saved at home, but a place so…cozy. And feeling like it was brimming with knowledge like this… “Gorgeous…”

Focusing on Loop as they spoke, though, Ingo gave a sheepish shrug. “We probably should take a break, at least. Since we never know what the challenges will really ask of us, it’d be a bad idea to go straight in from a fight…” He glanced tentatively over at Leana. “...buuuut we might be able to do more today? Maybe?”

“Ask me again in an hour,” Leana said, taking off her armor and already starting to hang it on some chairs, airing it out, “See how everyone’s feeling. For now, take a break.” 

“Fair enough~” Ingo sang, trotting off to explore the library a little more. 

As the group all settled into however they wanted to spend their break, Brathy settled into a chair and decided to take inventory. They’d all still brought provisions for a few more days, so time still wasn’t pressing down on them. And thankfully the majority of their injuries he’d been able to heal with magic, so medical supplies were still at a comfortable level…

Brathy glanced up, spotting his cousin’s head bobbing around bookshelves. 

…Ingo seemed just fine. Which was a good thing, but…Brathy didn’t know if it was a good sign, necessarily. Ingo was a fantastic swordsman, and he’d trained at it for years, but choosing a martial path meant he hadn’t focused on magic at all. When they were all little, Izzy and Marissa had sat the boys down, seeing who had proclivities for magic, as was normal for young kids. Brathy had an inclination for light magic, which all but confirmed his intentions of following his mothers’ footsteps into healing magic. Eimdall had had a little trouble at first, his magic more prone to acting out subconsciously, but once he’d gotten a handle on it, his black magic was strong, and only grew stronger from his twin’s fascination with learning everything he could about weird magicks. 

Ingo showed no sign of magical ability at all. Of course he had Rally, which they all expected he’d be able to channel one day, but Deity Marks played by their own rules, where it concerned the logistics of magic. So…Ingo took up a sword, and set his efforts in that direction. 

Which meant Ingo had never trained his mana. 

…still, he seemed alright. No wooziness, extra fatigue, nosebleeds… No signs Brathy could tell of mana depletion. He’d just…keep an eye on it. Make sure his little cousin wasn’t draining himself dry. 

And damnit, he’d force the little punk into mana lessons when they got back home even if he had to tie Ingo to a chair.

Leana knew some mana based magic, and on occasion she used it. But in truth, it had never felt second nature to her. Strategy had been a skill she had honed, fighting something natural in her body, but magic was always something she had to stop and remember she needed to do. 

Rally, she tended to not even think about. Rally happened when it needed to. Like breathing. 

But because she used it so little, its effects on her newly blossomed brother were far from her mind. She was more worried about his mental state after the last floor, glancing over at him as she spoke strategy to Jeremiah. He seemed okay now, but Leana had spoken about him receding to a childhood state for a reason: this all often seemed to be too much for him. She still worried that any moment he might need more intervention. 

Quietly, to Jeremiah, she asked, “How was he in the last room?”

Checking over his armor, Jeremiah hummed lowly. 

“One of our attempts ended with Isabeau being killed by a beast-morphed version of himself. Ingo didn’t take it well.” In some ways…that was a good thing. They had all seen too much death in the war, and unless you wanted to end up that way yourself, you just had to…take it. Glance over the mutilated bodies of your comrades and foes alike and just treat them as parts of the terrain until the battle was done. And then after clean up and treatment were done. And then after camp chores were done. And then just maybe, in the middle of the night if you were willing to give up on what little precious sleep you could get, maybe there was a chance to mourn then. 

Jeremiah had never seen Ingo unaffected by death, but he’d seen him move past it, continuing the fight. The fact that he could process it in the moment, even if that reaction was pure horror and panic, could, in a way, be counted as a good thing. Them able to leave the war behind them. 

But it still wasn’t great for the prince’s mental or emotional states. 

“Considering he’s still speaking to Siffrin, I think he’s alright,” Jeremiah mentioned, “...and he may be a bit mad with me. He wanted to speak with every iteration of Isabeau we met, and on a hunch I figured it to be a waste of time. Ingo wasn’t happy about that.”

“Sometimes the right choice is the one that pushes you forward,” Leana murmured, crossing her arms and giving her brother a concerned look, before looking back to Jeremiah, “Though, I know you. A little bit of consistent patience tends to smooth the wheels, long-term. Sometimes little concessions are what keeps them going forward.”

Jeremiah nodded a little, acknowledging the truth in Leana’s suggestion. Patience wasn’t exactly what he was known for, but it did seem to manifest in the strangest ways when it came to Ingo. 

“...I think we should look out for him hiding, when we get back home,” Jeremiah said after a moment. “It doesn’t seem like he’s pushing everything down now, but I think there’s a chance for everything to hit him more later. Especially if Siffrin makes up for lost time with his friends then.”

“I have been worried about that,” Leana whispered, her eyes glancing to Siffrin, who seemed to be having some sort of small snarking contest against Loop over at the book checkout/makeshift bar. “If we’re bringing back an entire country? Which it’s looking more and more like is what’s happening, who knows logistically how that’s going to work; I’ve been wracking my brain trying to imagine which bit of land they lived on… but regardless of anything. It’s highly unlikely Siffrin is coming back with us. Even if right now they think they’ll want to, it’s going to be different when the three upstairs are… well. Actually able to talk to them.”

“Ingo isn’t without friends. He had a social life before Siffrin and will have one after… but Siffrin’s been around for a considerable amount of the marriage fears,” Leana said, “I’m worried about Ingo finding new coping methods without the fun new friend to focus on.”

Like Mellia, Jeremiah was skeptical of just how there could be a city, let alone a whole kingdom in the sky. But he knew there were magics beyond him, so it wasn’t something he dwelled on much. What was more pressing was…a nation of people suddenly around again. How that would affect Eslley, if it would even be anything more than new foreign agreements to draft. 

…a nation of people that lived in a certain place, that had sent a hero out to find foreign help…that had a home to return to, once they saved it. 

Jeremiah nodded slightly, before sighing, resting his head back in the chair he’d settled in. “...I can stick by him more, when you don’t need my services. I’m sure Phoenix would be willing to help as well.” Feray likely wouldn’t go all in, putting her hand in a group huddle, but she was a clever woman. She’d notice any changes in Ingo, and Jeremiah believed…well, she’d do something. He wouldn’t call it ‘help’ preemptively. 

“I tried to offer him an out,” Leana said, turning over his suggestions in her head, “I don’t think even Father officially telling him he no longer had to do this would get him to put this responsibility down. I don’t think he was ready for war, or battle, and honestly, I’m not sure if he’s ready for marriage either. He’s barely comfortable with his own sense of sexuality, and we can’t ensure that whoever he’s going to be married to will respect his boundaries. Once he’s out of the country, living with someone else? That sort of thing is out of our influence.”

“... I don’t have the resources I need to narrow down who he’ll end up with,” Leana sighed, crossing her arms, looking agitated, “I can’t push off the proceedings, I can’t give him time, I can’t give him any real guarantees. This is… frustrating.”

“I think locking him in a tower away from any threat would make Ingo the most miserable of all,” Jeremiah said, bemused, even though he knew that wasn’t even what Leana was implying. Ingo was just…so annoying. Frustratingly stubborn. A bleeding heart that seemed like he’d wither without anyone else around. 

…and all that meant that Ingo was kind. A type of person that tried to make friends with any and everyone that gave him the time of day, and quite a lot of people that didn’t, and who’d champion their causes with his own hand the second anyone indicated that they had a cause. For all that Ingo was neurotic and flighty and temperamental, he…loved. And that love drove him into the worst circumstances on the planet, all for the people around him. 

It was such a painful way to live. It frustrated Jeremiah to no end. 

He was grateful beyond belief that Ingo was the way he was. 

…and one day, sooner than they’d like, he’d be…gone. Away from people who had learned the vulnerabilities of his squishy heart and tried to defend them, off into the great unknown. 

Jeremiah closed his eyes. “...before the ball, we’ll have around a month. Most of the guests making the trip worth it. The Exalt’s made it clear that Ingo’s the final decision, but it won’t be uninformed. …we’ll have a month to see what his options are like.” It wasn’t much, but it might be the most they could do.

“A tower would be a punishment. Living in the home he fought for should have been an expectation,” Leana said, though she sighed. Understanding Jeremiah’s point. It was just… frustrating. 

She didn’t know what she would do, if given the option to lock her loved ones away in a tower, safe and well.

Probably wouldn’t take it… but she couldn’t say she didn’t see the appeal. There had been enough violence and uncertainty in their lives already. Stability had an appeal, more to her now then it had when she was a teenager, rushing out into the unknown, determined to rescue her father and carve her destiny. It wasn’t an easy or fun way to live. She wouldn’t recommend it if you didn’t have to do it. 

She wished Ingo didn’t have to.

“I’m going to rely on your and Phoenix’s help, then,” Leana decided, “And we’ll help for as long as we’re capable of it. And then it’ll be out of our hands.” She looked back to where her brother had disappeared into the aisles. “After that, it’s just… accepting it.”

(One of the many things that made her different from Byakuya. But even the need for it, one of the things that made her the same as him. Not that anyone would ever know or think to make the comparison.)

Jeremiah grunted in agreement. “...he won’t be lost to us forever, into the unknown. He’ll still be able to write, and if he chooses someone that wouldn’t let him visit, then we’d have failed in our duty to him. We won’t be able to be right beside him any longer, but we’ll still be here.”

He smirked at the irony. “It’ll just be a change.”

“Ugh,” Leana groaned, “Abatea spare us.”

-

It turned out that the Inuzuka solution to the ‘dog v. several feet of snow’ problem was tunnels. In the preceding days to the Freeze, the family had done a more thorough shoveling of their property of the non-Freeze snow, and placed down semi-rigid half-tube structures across the yard. They weren’t quite big enough to stand in, but more than tall enough for the biggest inuken, which meant that crouching was easily comfortable to do, and, once the Freeze snow came in, the tunnels were littered with long vents that were bent at the end, allowing fresh air at every venture without flooding the whole thing. 

Still, it wasn’t some air-tight structure, so that meant that every day, someone needed to go check for leaks or drips or collapses. And that was what Kiba and Tsume were doing, when, inexplicably, there was a knock on the front door.

Arven had been diligently doing the task of giving Many Pets. Chief, Akamaru, and Akemaru all sat in front of him, tails thumping, every third dog waiting their turn while Arven did his best to pet with two hands. Pat-pat-pat for Chief. Pat-pat-pat for Akemaru. Some good scritches for Akamaru, for being patient…

Arven looked up at the knock, a little confused. Was some snow hitting the wood? Too curious to ignore it, Arven got up, opening the door.

There was a sloped divot now in front of the Inuzukas’ door, snow occasionally crumbling inward. And in the middle of the divot was a shivering, tear-stained Hinata Hyuuga. While dressed in snowgear, she definitely wasn’t dressed for a blizzard, and that was apparent in her soaked pants and snow-crusted gloves, the bits of her hair sneaking out from the bottom of her hat plastered to her neck and jaw. 

Sniffling through a shaky breath, Hinata asked in a cracking voice, “...c-can I come in?”

Arven stared at her for half a second, like he was certain she was a brief, baffling illusion…before he gaped. “HINATA!?”

Arven reached out and grabbed her, bodily pulling her in as he shouted, “What are you doing out there!? It’s the freeze, you can’t go out in the freeze! You’re half frozen! Oh geez, oh geez, oh geez, can you feel your fingers, your toes!?” 

Arven sat Hinata in the chair he had just been in, turning to the dogs and saying, “Warm her up! Furry body heat! I’m going to run a hot bath; seriously, Hinata, this is how people lose toes!” 

Inside the tunnels, furry ears perked. 

Stumbling inside, Hinata went where Arven pushed, not quite moving in a daze, but moving stiffly. Her gaze turned down as she took shaky breaths, nodding slightly. “S-sorry…”

There was the sound of skittering paws, before Kiba came literally sliding into the living room, staring agape at Hinata. He gave Arven a baffled look, before returning his attention to Hinata…and his expression hardened. Growing dark and stern in a way that was unlike him. 

Gently, he went towards Hinata and knelt by her side, looking over her, before starting to take off her snowy gloves. Couldn’t be good for her fingers, surrounded by cold… 

“...I’m gonna kill him,” Kiba said, like a finality, his voice low.

Chief, who had enough experience with Arven to know what to do when someone was covered in snow, put his paws up to the side of the chair, tucking in his upper body onto her lap, trying to soak in some of the chill to his fur. 

Arven wasn’t sure who ‘he’ was, but had given Kiba an urgent look before hurrying to the bathroom. Plugging it, he turned on the water, making sure the faucet was running hot, though not burning. The quickest way to handle symptoms of extreme temperature damage was to correct the temperature. And it was always best to assume someone found in the freeze had some sort of temperature damage. A fire, hot water, outside or inside of her, Hinata needed heat. A hot bath was the fastest way to get it to her. 

Hurrying back to them, Arven said, “Hinata, can one of us undress you? We can get Tsume, but we need to get you warm.”

By the time Arven returned, Kiba had coaxed Hinata out of her gloves and outer jacket. Thankfully she looked to be in alright shape, only the edges of her sweater sleeves damp while the rest of her was dry. Still, that was only one sign, and Kiba had taken Hinata’s hands, warming them between his own, a frustrated, worried expression on his face. 

They both looked over when Arven returned, but it was Tsume who answered, breathing lightly as she took in the scene. Her expression pinching for just a second. “Don’t worry, I made it. Oh, genia, you really made it all the way over here, huh?”

Hinata’s face scrunched a little as she nodded again, though she easily got up and took Tsume’s hand. 

Clasping Arven’s shoulder as they passed, Tsume said, “Good thinking with the bath, hotshot. You or your brother go get Hana, start getting heating pads set up, I’ll take care of Hinata.”

“Kay,” Arven said, worriedly watching Tsume and Hinata go, before turning to Kiba. “What was she doing out there? Even I know better than to travel in the middle of a freeze! And I’m an idiot when it comes to risking the weather!”

Kiba watched them go as well, a consternated expression on his face, before shaking his head a little at Arven. His hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. “...it’s never been this intense before. I mean…” He shrugged stiffly. “She’s just showed up at breakfast since you’ve moved in, right? Traveling at night on your own is iffy enough, but she’s done it in the rain ‘n shit too… But going out during the Freeze…”

Kiba’s nose scrunched, as a low growl shuddered through him. “It’s her fucking Second-forsaken dad. I can’t…augh!” Kiba made a few gestures like he wanted to punch something before just tugging on the strings of his hoodie, tense with anger. “I’m gonna fucking destroy that douche!”

“Her dad?” Arven frowned. “...what, did her family kick her out!? In this weather!? That’s a death sentence!” 

Kiba shook his head a little, before pausing, glancing worriedly over in the direction of the bathroom. “...I mean, I wouldn’t put it past them, but she’s never been, like…literally kicked out before. He just…” Kiba let out a huff, fuming, “makes it impossible for her to stay. Like, I know you’ve said you know parents who are the worst, but he’s the worst.”

Grinding his teeth, Kiba glared at the ground. “...Ma’s offered to help Hinata get emancipated, before. She’s always said no, since Neji and Kenna are still there…” A harsh snort. “...she’s turning 16 soon, and that’s, like, easier emancipation shit. Hopefully she’ll take it up.”

Arven frowned, not liking the idea that Hinata had volunteered for the death sentence either. Maybe she had just been confident she would make it? It was far from a safe bet. 

They headed over to Hana’s room, knocking on the door and telling her what was happening. Hana quickly went to go assist Tsume, the boys trailing behind her, hanging around the bathroom door.

Arven crossed his arms, sniffing a bit, annoyed. “...I’m halfway considering siccing Kaito on this guy, I’ll be honest. He’d get annoyingly involved, but that’d be fun to watch if it was him being annoyingly involved at her dad. Mmmmm… ugh, I can’t believe they chased her out into the freeze. I’m so mad, I want to go knock all their walls down. See how well they do in the freeze.”

“Honestly, he deserves having the royal family get all in his business,” Kiba spat, before grinning ferally. “Even more Kaito-style, from the shit you told me. See how he likes it, being humiliated and disparaged and…” huff “n…grrrr….rrrrRRRG!”

A truly wolf-like growl started coming from Kiba, the guy working himself up with rage. Fur started to prickle around the edges of his clothes, his eyes dilating.

Pat-pat-pat. Arven, barely even looking, reached over to pet Kiba’s head. Hoping to soothe him a bit from transforming, even as he himself growled. Damn freeze. Arven was only half kidding about telling Kaito. If the guy was actually capable of traveling, Arven might have honestly done it. But vengeance would be slow, as stalled by the weather as everything else. Shame.

Kiba flattened a bit, before nudging up into the pats. Blinking a few times before his growls cut off, and he shook his head, panting lightly. “Uurgh… Thanks, bro.” Thankfully, other than their first moon, Kiba hadn’t accidentally shifted in front of Arven so far, but it was still a little embarrassing to lose his grip on himself like that. Though, it was telling for just how pissed off Kiba was at the situation. 

Shifting his weight, Kiba gave a worried look at the bathroom door, before sighing. “...c’mon, let’s get the heating pads set up. Make somethin’ cozy for Hinata when she gets out. If the dogs don’t all claim it first.” It was a little forced, but Kiba sent an amused look down at Akamaru, who’d followed them over to the bathroom. 

“I mean, nap time can only be improved with dogs,” Arven pointed out, following Kiba.

They set it up in the living room, a bunch of blankets and heating pads on the couch, with a fresh cup of hot chocolate made up and waiting by some cookies, along with a small platter of cheese and crackers and nuts, all little filling things that would help recovery. 

Hana came out, sighing and shaking her head, muttering her own frustrations with the situation, before turning to the boys. “Hinata will be sharing a bedroom with me for the rest of the freeze. Maybe even past it. This is a step too far, there has to be a limit.” Hana seemed to be talking to herself as she grumbled, heading into the kitchen, “Can’t believe they would–”

Whatever they did, Arven couldn’t hear Hana grumble about it anymore. 

Kiba had…moderately calmed down as he and Arven focused their efforts on making a cozy recovery pile for Hinata, but seeing Hana’s ire at the situation returned his frown. But, whether natural or forced, it eased as small pats came their way, a sheepish Hinata bedecked in flannels and a fluffy robe looking over their work. 

“Hinata!” Kiba popped up, floundering for a second, like he was unsure if getting too close would shatter his friend like glass. But it was only for a second, as she gently pressed in for a hug, and his arms quickly came around her, not squeezing, but firm. Protective. “You’re insane. You didn’t tell me or Shino you were thinking of becoming a courier ‘cause we’d talk you out of it, huh?”

The little laugh that garnered eased most of the tension in Kiba’s shoulders. 

Pushily guiding her into the den of blankets, pads, and dogs, Kiba passed Hinata the mug of hot chocolate--”An Arven specialty, so you know it’s gonna kick ass.”--Akemaru huddling into her lap. 

Taking a sip, Hinata closed her eyes and made a soft, pleased sound before smiling softly at Arven. “Can confirm, that’s true advertising.”

Chief went over and flopped himself against her side, another bit of heat to add to the pile, and Arven sighed as he sat down nearby. He smiled lightly at the compliment to his drink, but wasn’t easily distracted from the first question he had thrown at her. “What were you doing out there? That was dangerous, Hinata!”

Shrinking a bit, Hinata lightly winced. “I know… I-I’m sorry, I just… I couldn’t…”

Kiba’s lips twisted. “Your old man’s right Second bait, and I certainly wouldn’t spend a second more around him than I had to, but… People die going out in the Freeze. What happened?” What was so awful that she couldn’t hide out in her room and wait for it to blow over?

Hinata wilted again, her eyes growing misty, but she took a breath. And even if her voice wavered, she told her friends the story. 

“...Uncle’s in the hospital, he had to check in before the Freeze,” she softly started, pain already lacing through her features. “We thought that it was starting to be managed, but…his MND is getting worse. Neji-nii… Neji wanted to stay in the hospital with him, b-but Father and our grandparents said that the hospital needed all the Freeze resources it has for patients, a-and not just…healthy people staying.”

Kiba had issues with Neji, for a lot of reasons, but unlike Hinata’s dad, he hadn’t become an outright enemy. Someone to heckle at sporting events, sure, but not someone he reserved the worst sort of curses for. Not someone he was serious about, when he talked about ending them. 

Hearing that Neji’s father’s health was seriously declining was just as painful as the expression on Hinata’s face. 

Hinata took another steadying breath, huddling against Chief. “...Father said we…we needed to start making plans f-for when…Uncle passes away. He kinda said it like…he expected it during the Freeze.”

She huffed a wet, upset laugh. “...Neji-nii was furious…of course. He’s always been mad at our side of the family, and…and if the elders were expecting that Uncle wouldn’t… That h-he’d pass, but still told Neji-nii to stay…”

Kiba bit down on a growl, hands clenched into fists in his lap. He knew Hinata’s family sucked. This was still a new low. He couldn’t imagine it, the thought of a family member dying alone, purposefully separated, the thought of being denied last moments with a loved one…

“Neji-nii challenged Father to a Shinri-Yuuetsu no Arasoi…um…” Hinata turned to Arven, explaining, “It’s…this tradition in my family. Since we used to be a martial clan… G-generally our family decisions are dictated by the elders, a-and the oldest member of the main branch, m-my father, but if you have a…a decision, or a point of view that you’d defend with your life, then you can challenge the clan head to a fight, and the winner has their way.”

Hinata’s shoulders dropped. “...Neji-nii was going to win. B-but…but Father said that i-if he went through with the finishing strike then…then they were going to disown him. A-and…and if that happens, then Neji wouldn’t be able to see Uncle a-anyway, since only family and emergency contacts can see people in critical care, and if Uncle can’t tell them that he wants Neji-nii there…”

It was already bad enough, Kiba feeling ready to challenge Hinata’s dad to a fight himself, but what she said next…

“I said I’d challenge Father to a Shinri-Yuuetsu no Arasoi on the grounds of him disrespecting our family’s rules, a-and to make sure Neji-nii wasn’t disowned,” she explained, Kiba’s eyes widening in shock, “Neji told me not to get involved, which I k-kind of expected from him, and…Father said not to embarrass myself.” Hinata’s expression hardened. “I said I’d challenge every elder in our family, for making all these…these stupid rules! And expectations that don’t mean anything anymore! That a-are only for controlling everyone but the head.”

“...he said that…that if I hated our family so much, then we’d have to go to the castle when it opens again to get my own disownment papers. And all the elders just looked so…disgusted with me…” Hinata closed her wet eyes and shook her head, a fist trembling before she punched down into the blankets (carefully avoiding any dogs, of course). “I just couldn’t stay there anymore!”

Chief put back his head and howled. 

Arven had rarely seen him do that, and gave his dog a bewildered look, before giving Hinata an equally bewildered look. “That’s… wow, that’s a lot. That’s…” Arven frowned, “...okay, screw all those people. I mean, I still don’t think you should have gone into the snow, but I get why and… augh! Do you need help beating up some old people!? Because! …Aceto could probably help beating up some old people!” Arven said, knowing he wasn’t much of a fighter himself, but still wanting to help as he puffed his cheeks in frustration. “We could definitely beat up some elders! And by we I mean you guys and Aceto! And Chief! And probably some other people I can wrangle up!”

Not even a beat after, all the dogs around--Akamaru, Akemaru, Kuromaru, and even the Haimaru brothers were hanging around--all took Chief’s lead and howled too. Kiba found that he had to bite back the impulse to join in. A lot of howling was for fun. This wasn’t one of those. 

Kiba gave an emphatic nod along with Arven’s ‘let’s fight them all’ solution, though he wasn’t surprised when Hinata shook her head. 

“...I just want my father to not…” she huffed, screwing up her face, “Not be a total dickwad!”

“Think we’d all like that,” Tsume said dryly, rounding the side of the couch, checking up on the kids. One, two, three, four in the kitchen, all accounted. “Hinata, we’ve talked before…but it’s not healthy for you to stay in that home. Or for your cousin and sister. You’re always welcome here, but we need to find a better solution that doesn’t force you into the streets in the middle of a weather emergency.”

Hinata’s gaze dropped. “...I know.”

Tsume sighed. “...think we could convince your mom to come back to Usott? She’d understand your position better than anyone.”

Hinata grimaced, looking…unenthused by that prospect.

“There’s always the castle?” Arven said, assuming there was some reason why Hinata wouldn’t stay with them, “Aceto and I stayed there for a while, before I came here. I was told I could stay for as long as I needed. I doubt they’d turn you away, Hinata.”

Sighing, Hinata shook her head, looking apologetic as she reiterated the reason she’d always told Tsume and Shino’s dad throughout the years. “It’s not about finding a place to stay… I’d never be able to convince Neji-nii and Kenna to come. Though…”

Hinata looked more crestfallen. “...Neji might listen this time.” For Arven’s benefit, she explained, “He’d always planned on impressing the elders, earning their respect. Showing that someone from a branch family was just as good, if not better than the main branch.” She rolled her eyes a little, never not irritated that that was a concept at all. “And with Uncle there too, he’s never even entertained it. But now…”

She folded her fingers around the hot chocolate mug. “...Neji and I wouldn’t just be able to emancipate ourselves. For Kenna to come with us, we’d need to find a guardian to stay with. Maybe the castle would work for that but…I don’t know…”

Tsume reached over, ruffling Hinata’s hair gently. “I’ll reach out to your ma, see what we can get going there. I’m sure she’d wanna hear about Ugène regardless, and your folks sure ain’t gonna do it. Then we’ll invite Neji and Kenna over and chat, alright? There’s only so much you can do guessing about what they want.”

“Okay… Thank you, Tsume.” Hinata smiled softly.

Arven frowned, not overly reassured to hear there was an absentee mother in the picture that they were going to reach out to for help. Still, he knew he didn’t know the whole story, which he asked for about forty minutes later, after Hana had come out with some real, solid meals for everyone to eat. 

Still hanging out with Hinata in the living room, Arven asked her, “Where is your mom? Why hasn’t she intervened before?”

They’d just chilled out for a while, getting warm and snacking, the dogs breaking once for pee breaks, though it was telling that they always left at least one by Hinata, leaving in shifts. With a pout, Kiba had grumbled but relented to helping finish check on the tunnels, though he promised to be right back, which left Arven and Hinata enjoying each others’ company. 

Even with less than great topics. 

Sighing, Hinata leaned back, wiggling her feet under Akamaru. “She lives in Ursa Falls, my parents are divorced. Bad divorced. Only Kiba’s dad is worse, I think…”

She gave a tired shrug. “I was pretty little when it happened. Before Father got so bad… She couldn’t take living in the clan anymore, but to avoid…I don’t know, rumors or something, my grandparents convinced her not to do any paperwork about it, and they’d pay for her to live anywhere she wanted, as long as it wasn’t in Usott. She took the deal.”

“Father didn’t want her connected to us anymore, but she still writes, sometimes.” Hinata smiled painfully. “...she’s asked before if Kenna and I would come visit, but…Father always said no. I think she’s under the impression that we’re better off here, more stable, with a bigger family…” Hinata winced. “...I never told her that’s wrong.”

Letters weren’t enough to be a parent.

But Arven didn’t say that. He just sighed. Hinata had her own baggage, he didn’t need to make it more complicated by running it through his ‘all absentee parents are shit parents’ black and white filter. Especially when a whole family was working together to manipulate the situation?

Still. He wished parents didn’t have to be told their kids were suffering all the time before anything got done about it. He wished Hinata’s mom had just been more around to see it for herself. Or her father had been less shitty. Or– “Wait, Kiba has a dad?”

Maybe if Hinata had been more candid with her mom, things would be different. Even though the woman was more just like a nice stranger who wrote to her sometimes. Maybe if Hinata had focused on getting in the good graces of one of the elders, things would be different. Maybe if her dad hadn’t been The Worst, things would be different. 

But they weren’t different. And as much as being home had become more and more unbearable, the last thing Hinata wanted was to be separated from her sister and cousin. 

It just…sucked. 

…

Hinata blinked at Arven, before quickly looking towards the kitchen and backdoor. Looking a little uneasy. “...uh…had, I guess…”

Arven gave her a bewildered look… before tilting his head a bit. “Okay, I’ll admit, I’m not sure why that’s as shocking as it is? I guess I just never thought about it before. I’m just surprised that I’ve never heard about this guy before.”

“I’ll ask him about it someday,” Arven reassured her, smiling lightly, “I won’t ask you, I know it’s probably not a story you can tell. What are you hoping’s going to happen? After the freeze, I mean. Aceto got asked that a few times, when everything was happening. I always knew I wanted out from my mother and her home, but I always wondered if that question helped him think about the future a bit more.”

Hinata gave Arven a mildly relieved look. “I’ll, uh…wish you luck with that. Kiba’s never seemed mad or anything, but…I-I don’t know, it does still seem like a sore subject.”

Sighing, Hinata ate some of their meal as she thought, before giving Arven a wry look. “Think you’d be up for letting your mom’s house? If I don’t go back home and Father suddenly apologizes for everything and the elders become super cool.”

Her smile faded. “I want Neji and Kenna to agree to leave. Tsume’s right, that that’s not something I can force to happen, that it’s their own decision and I won’t know until I ask, but…it’s what I hope. I…I hate seeing Neji-nii keep throwing himself at this brick wall, and while everyone treats Kenna the best, it’s like…conditional.” Hinata’s expression tightened. “Keep meeting our ridiculous expectations, and you won’t be treated like…garbage. She’s 13, that’s too much to put on her…or anyone, really.”

“...I’m not sure, beyond that,” Hinata admitted. “Us living at the castle might make the elders throw a fuss. A public spectacle that the Hyuuga are losing their kids. I know Tsume’d say that’s a fuss worth fighting against for us, but I’d rather just…do something that’d have them just leave us alone. So…that probably looks like private housing, one way or another, with a dedicated guardian.”

Arven wasn’t sure if he could just say ‘why not ask Tsume’. He had to assume that if his mother was okay with it, she’d have offered. And if she had offered and Hinata had already said no, there had to be a reason. Ultimately, there had to have been a conversation about it already. Arven respected his mother enough to not try to pressure her into something that wasn’t going to work out.

So, instead he said, “Well, you could always ask Kaito to be an official, unofficial guardian. I bet he’d put his name on some paperwork, if it helped you out, without having to live in the castle.”

Hinata blanched, balking at Arven a bit. “...if staying at the castle would cause a fit, being legally fostered by the Oumas would cause a conniption. I could never look Doppio in the eye again, willingly asking Prince Kaito to help with my guardianship stuff.”

Arven snorted at that last part, though he nodded in understanding. “I get it. He’s just my ‘guy who will do things’ guy, so I usually think of him when I need a guy who will do a thing. Honestly, I’m not sure who else would,” Arven admitted, shrugging a little uncertainly, “I didn’t realize my family would adopt me until they practically already had, admittedly. I tend to need someone to just tell me point blank if they’re going to help. I’m not always the most observant person, when it comes to people.”

“...thus it never occurring to me that Kiba might have a dad,” Arven pointed out, “Or that you might have a mom, thinking about it. It just never occurs to me to wonder.”

Hinata nodded in understanding. “It can be hard to tell… I-I mean, you want to believe that if you needed it, anyone would be willing to help out, but when it’s…long term, or really serious, it’s hard to guess who around you would be willing to step up. It’s why people are always saying you have to ask, I guess.”

“You never know, in that case, though,” Hinata mused, about Arven not questioning her and Kiba’s parent situations, though a voice cut in after that. 

“Never know about what?” Kiba asked, having just heard the last part, shaking off a bit of dampness from his hair as he quickly came over to rejoin them.

“Nothing!” Hinata quickly squeaked.

“We’re talking about how it’s hard to ask for help,” Arven said, “And how I’m bad at noticing things about other people's lives. I never really thought about it before now, but Kiba, who’s your dad?”

“Oh, yeah, that can be rough,” Kiba agreed, claiming a spot on the couch, just raising an eyebrow at the panicked look Hinata gave Arven. “Eh, and my old man’s some doofus, ran out on us when I was 7. Prolly got scared of Ma and hightailed it out. Don’t know a ton about him, honestly, but I don’t really care.”

Arven nodded, less surprised to hear his father had run off than he had been to hear he existed at all. “Jackass. Our parents suck… not Tsume,” Arven amended, “But the others.”

Kiba nodded proudly, sneaking some of the snacks they still had out, even after a full meal. “Mom’s awesome. Everyone else can suck it.”

Hinata sighed a little, but managed a grin. “I’ll agree to that.”

-

Okay, Mike could admit that there were some inventors and engineers he’d read about that were pretty cool. Underground irrigation was a game-changer, and the people who’d put it together initially were badass. The concept of a battery? Mindblowing, and if Mike had people he considered heroes, it was the inventors that made the first battery. 

But checking out the journals and papers that Enoch had recommended, and getting the book Ava had said she’d loan him, and finding out that they were both written by Dr. Norman Darling, theoretical physicist and genius centaur progressive inventor extraordinaire? He’d say, yeah, okay, Dr. Darling was cool. 

(...Mike miiiight’ve started to develop a bit of an idol crush.)

But! Having just about every perspective of Dr. Darling’s work he could hope to get, at least at an introductory level, Mike’s path seemed so clear. His plans to utilize radio waves, the breakthrough of using magic to shrink components after the construction, Enoch’s sister’s initial mock-ups for a device that could detect Hedron resonance… It was like everything in the universe was aligning for Mike to expand on Dr. Darling’s work. He couldn’t waste a second.

And if the greater world hadn’t been ready to acknowledge Dr. Darling as an exceptional centaur, well, Mike would just have to make the biggest splash for the both of them. The world that Tim and Ava talked about, where everyone could live as themselves, out of reach still, but not impossibly anymore…Mike would kick in those doors with his hooves and demand the world take notice of him as he was. 

The most badass centaur inventor in the world!

…he just had to get people to stop interrupting him for stuff like ‘meals’ or ‘checking to see if he’d slept yet’. 

…though, Tim’s uncle coming with a deal to check out a ‘wireless phone’ was well worth taking a break from the HRD mkIII. Even if it was incredibly ugly. 

-

Doris truly didn’t know if it was better or worse for her nerves that Prince Kokichi got Mike to leave his room. But she knew she had to muster the courage to ask him about enrolling in school after the winter break soon.

-

Hookah did not have to make you high. 

It could! It could be full of nicotine too. Honestly, it could be filled with all sorts of things. But Kaito didn’t necessarily always like that sort of stuff. He had never taken up a big nicotine habit, not even necessarily due to lack of desire, but because there was just something about his body that didn’t get much of anything out of it. Chad had smoked nicotine and Kaito had smoked with Chad sometimes, and then when they had, uh, broken up, Kaito hadn’t felt any desire to touch the stuff again, apparently not the type to get addicted. 

And Kaito also, as a rule, hadn’t done weed much in Luminary. Or, really, at all. Weed had a weird reputation in Luminary, one Kaito had technically known was mostly weird, random propaganda, but weed had always seemed like one of those things to Kaito you did specifically to hurt yourself. The way schools and the official chambers talked about it like, sure, all it was was a ‘floaty’ feeling, but deep down there was something demonic about it…

(Kaito, and most people, did not know that weed was phenomenal at dampening conditioning effects. Some people found this out accidentally. But otherwise, it was not common knowledge. Even the people who talked about its evils usually were not aware of WHY weed had been so lambasted in Luminary, or how helpful it otherwise was for a significant portion of its population.)

And so, as silly as it was, when Kaito was usually using hookah, it was literally just… steamed water laced with things to flavor it. Unless it was ritual time, of course. But yeah, Kaito just didn’t have a strong desire for anything more. Which was something he was used to getting teased for, as he grinned sheepishly at Waku and Souda, saying, “Though, we can put some stuff in it if you guys want? I don’t really mind. I have the supplies, we can mix some stuff.”

Souda, who had been staring at the hookah like he had never seen anything like it before, asked, “Okay, what’s wrong with just literally rolling and lighting an actual joint? This seems overly complicated just to smoke.”

“For the flavoring!” Kaito insisted, “I’m telling you, man, when you try it you’ll get it!”

Waku nodded with Kaito, lounging out with as many spare seat cushions as she’d felt like dragging over to their table in the shrine’s second room. “Sometimes it’s just nice to be surrounded by things that smell and taste good--why do you think people window shop in candle stores all the time? And I have some questions for anyone who lights a joint for the smell. Mostly, ‘are you just kidding yourself?’”

It was only the second day, but Waku was thoroughly enjoying her time off. She loved her job! Cleaning was meditative and gave her a lot of satisfaction, and it was an expected and thus ethical way to snoop through people’s stuff, which was always a fascinating time. But it was nice getting to sleep in and not have to sit through all-hands meetings and getting to just vibe. 

Which was even better with friends, and Waku had been thrilled to learn that Souda had decided to spend his first Freeze in the castle. So for the slightly more planned out hangout that the three of them had decided on, Waku had decided to do something a little more fancy than usual. 

Barely, but the extra effort did make things nicer in her opinion. 

The lemon juice and simple syrup already in the shaker, Waku measured out enough of the very nice whiskey she’d bought before the Freeze, the hair she’d left out from her wide braid falling over her shoulder a bit. 

“I don’t mind just having the flavors and vapor, Kaito,” Waku reassured, giving him a grin. “This is probably the best time for me to get crossfaded, but I’m not shooting for it.”

Kaito grinned at Waku, both pleased and a little relieved. It had been a minute since he had hung out with his friends, and he had been afraid this would be a bit tame for Waku, honestly. And while Kaito was planning to drink a bit, he wasn’t planning to go back to his room obliterated, which was harder to pull off without a long walk back to the castle to sober up a bit. So he just wasn’t going to drink very much.

He was still planning to have one nice mixed drink though. Otherwise, it was beer. Though good beers! Not that crap he had forced down his throat that Waku had unloaded on him… aww, good times. Good, terrible beer times.

Souda didn’t seem convinced of any of this, but that was Souda for you. “Here, go ahead and have the first try,” Kaito prompted, “Though I have enough pipe leads for all of us.”

Setting everything up, Kaito gave Souda his pipe, encouraging him to just try holding it in his mouth. Souda took a deep breath, before immediately coughing, looking surprised as thick smoke pooled up and out of his mouth. “Oh, that’s strong.”

“I have to assume you mean the favor, because that’s literally all it is,” Kaito said.

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting it to actually taste like anything!” Souda said, glaring suspiciously at the pipe, “...alright, that’s not bad.”

“Woo!” Kaito wooed, before reaching over to high five Waku, “We win!”

Laughing triumphantly, Waku completed Kaito’s high five with a satisfying smack, before starting to shake up their drinks. “Another successful instance of peer pressure! But for once not with drugs, booze, bets, or spicy food. We’re really branching out.”

Pouring out the drinks, Waku gave Souda an interested hum. “Oh, I was meaning to ask, how was checking out that weird robot thing Miu Iruma sent over? Kokichi seemed just bursting with excitement, collecting you and Mike Teavee to nerd out over it.” She gave him a lightly teasing grin. “He didn’t bully you too much over it, did he? He doesn’t talk much to staff, but Kaito’s told me stories.”

“The loudmouth kid? Eh, he wasn’t bad,” Souda shrugged, “He was kinda impatient. I think every second I spent looking at it was this lifetime of wasted research time to him. But when he was looking at it, he got pretty excited to talk about it, which was cool. That boy is smart. He could give me a run for my coin.”

“Mmmhm~” Kaito hummed happily, nodding as he held the smoke on his tongue, that sweet, fruity taste coating him. It was a great flavor, though Kaito would struggle to say what it tasted like. ‘Fruity’ was closest, but if you asked him which fruit, he’d immediately get a little lost. “He’s a little genius! And a bastard. Guys, when I say I thought he had literally busted my balls open, I mean it, I was convinced when I peeked down there that they’d just be little exploded pieces of shrapnel meat. It was terrible! Little asshole~”

“Wait, was this when you were limping?” Souda asked, before blinking, “Wait, didn’t some other kid punch you in the face? I remember you had a bruise on your chin for a while. This the same one?”

“Nope! Different asshole!” Kaito said fondly, before laughing, “Did I ever tell you about the time Tim stabbed me? Then he tried again later. Almost got me that time, but I saw it coming~”

“Why do you keep fighting children?” 

“I do not! They keep fighting me!”

Passing around the glasses, Waku took a hit of the hookah after Kaito, a charmed, delighted look on her face, even as she coughed through the steam after a moment. It was such a sweet, weirdly artificial flavor, but it fucked. Perfect for a snowy day spent lounging inside. 

Waku nodded as Kaito recounted his nightmare encounter with Mike Teavee, having heard the story when it happened, having noticed Kaito limping around. It was tough, being the violent kid. Mike had an angry streak a mile wide, even barely seeing him Waku had noticed, and…well, she knew it was tough. Awful for Kaito, and still not okay that he’d been hurt, but it made her proud to know Kaito was the kind of guy not to hold it against Mike, at least deeply. One day she hoped the kid would grow enough to apologize. 

“His mom is one of the most anxious people I’ve ever seen, and I know myself,” Waku recounted, before shaking her head a little. “And Doppio too. I’m not all that surprised, since he did seem like the kind of person that could knock someone out when we met, but those were some nasty fights you guys got into. As cringe as it was to befriend a 14-year-old at a pub,” Waku rolled her eyes with humor, “I hope he’s having a good Freeze with his folks.”

Kaito thanked Waku, quickly taking a sip and letting out a small, contented sigh. Waku made a damn good drink. 

“Shit, face punch was Doppio!? That scrawny runt from the pub!?” Souda said, looking shocked as he took his own drink, nursing it in his lap for a second… before squinting at Kaito. “Are your muscles inflatable or what?”

“I don’t work out to punch children,” Kaito said dryly, taking a long breath of his hookah before saying through the smoke, “And you didn’t answer Waku’s question. Is the weird non-wire thing as impressive as it seemed?”

“Oh yeah, very,” Souda said, “Though, also not that surprising? It’s the natural progression of this sort of technology, and it's been technically possible for ages, in theory. The phone towers themselves are wireless. But those are towers. At the size she made it? It’s astounding it’s picking anything up, I have no idea how she worked it out.”

“Sure, but… Mike’s made a smaller version,” Kaito pointed out, “Like, the size of my hand.”

“Bullshit.”

“Swear to Atua.”

“Fucking hells, we are going to live in Interesting Times,” Souda grumbled, “Communication and information? Is going to explode in the next decade.”

Kaito grinned, “Neat~” before looking to Waku, “Also, please tell me it wasn’t just Kaito Vision, but Doppio did not seem 14 when we met him in the pub, right? This is proving to be an issue for me. You know I thought Kokichi was a 14-year-old kid when I first met him? I ever tell you that story?”

Sipping her drink--mmm, simple, but she still had it--Waku let out a huffed breath, giving Souda a knowing look. Since it was his explanations she was about to point out. “The difference between theory and practice is huge, though. I still can’t believe phones are a thing, and already people are working on ways to talk to anyone without a giant tower with all sorts of cables running through a building and all the things needed to set up a phone? It’s crazy.”

Interesting times indeed. But Waku was of the mind that the more information that could be shared and accessed by more people, the better.

Taking another sip, Waku shook her head with a frown, honestly looking a little weirded out. “I’m usually pretty good at guessing that stuff, but he really seemed like an adult when we met. Kind of a mess, but that doesn’t automatically scream ‘child’.” Current company proved that point. “And he didn’t seem like he was lying, either. When that whole case with his dad was going on, I was genuinely shocked.”

Which, to the degree she was, wasn’t something that happened to Waku often. 

Snorting a little, Waku raised her eyebrows in amusement. “I remember you mentioning something like wanting to mentor him, but I don’t think you’ve ever told the full story.”

“Oh, it’s a great story. I used to be afraid of telling it, because I was still figuring out what was and wasn’t okay to talk about, but I’m pretty confident this is just a funny story now.” Kaito grinned, before getting into it. Making a little flourishes here and there, playing up how charming Kokichi was and holding back on admitting how bad the fight in the park had been, but still more or less telling the entire story. “I had no idea it was Kokichi, as in Prince Kokichi until the next day, when I went to propose to him.”

“Wow, that’s kind of insane,” Souda frowned, “You had never seen a picture?”

Kaito shook his head. “Was told it’d give me bad expectations. Actually…” Kaito snickered, “I sort of thought that meant he was, I don’t know… I was imagining someone a little grosser? Like, if they were worried about me getting expectations seeing him? I thought maybe he was just one of those guys who looked like they considered baths optional and being nice to their spouses suggestions, sort of deals. Instead he was itty bitty and cuuuute~”

“Yeah, yeah, you love your husband, we get it, don’t start,” Souda said, rolling his eyes as he sipped his drink… before saying brightly, “THIS IS AMAZING MISS WAKU–Ow???”

“Nope,” Kaito said, putting down the small straw he had prepared for this occasion, little wads of paper already rolled and ready to be spat, “Not today, man, not in my shrine.”

“I was just paying her a compliment!”

“Which Waku deserves! But maaaaan, the way you flirt sucks. Get better at flirting and I’ll stop spitting wads at you.”

As always, Kaito was a fantastic story-teller, and, knowing how this particular story all shook out, it just let him lean into certain parts even more, making it all seem more serendipitous than it likely was. And more horrible, in some cases. 

“Yikes,” Waku sighed, tucking some hair behind her ear, “I already thought when you were poisoned was so scary, but thinking back on it knowing what your relationship with Kokichi was at that point? Truly terrifying. I wish he hadn’t felt so alone and responsible, but it’s crazy that Kokichi didn’t report you to the guards or anything after that…” She snorted. “And I’m glad I kept my promise not to either.”

The princes’ early relationship was a whole clusterfuck. Waku couldn’t really say she was glad no one had gotten hurt, because that wasn’t true in the slightest, but she was grateful it wasn’t worse. 

Grinning proudly at Souda’s praise, Waku could only snicker at Kaito’s ‘anti-drool’ weaponry. Honestly, that was pretty tame for Souda, only the volume really making it different from any regular compliment--other than his intent, she supposed. 

Looking between her friends, sipping her drink, Waku let out a soft chuff. “Get better’ is really vague, dude. It’s not like there’s a handbook out there to teach you how to flirt that Souda just missed out on.” She paused, before rethinking her words. “...or, at least one that isn’t super creepy.”

“Honestly, I sort of wish he had, in the early days. I could have used a good guard asskicking a couple of different times. Buuuut I don’t really mean that, Kokichi would have hated that. My husband’s too generous,” Kaito said, before smirking, gesturing to the decked out shrine around them, “Exhibit a thousand.” 

“Yes, yessss, we knooooow, you love your husband, he’s soooo nice, he’s soooo cute, he’s soooo good to you, blegh! Let those of us not being spoiled rotten by hot princes get our flirt on!” Souda whined, glaring at Kaito as the other man laughed, nose full of hookah, “What do you know about it anyway? I bet you can’t flirt to save your life either.”

“Whaaat!? I can’t flirt!? Me? I, Kaito Momota, Dicean Prince-Consort of the Cacti Fields, Luminary of the–”

“Don’t deflect by dropping all of your titles! I’m calling you out, Kaito! You can’t flirt either! You got lucky with your two guys!” 

“Rude. Not entirely wrong, but rude.” Kaito pouted. “Though I can flirt. I had a reputation once!”

“Being rich and buying dates doesn’t count as being good at flirting.”

Kaito gaped–exaggeratedly–at Souda, before looking desperately at Waku. “My honor! Is being bismirched! Bismerched? Bis… trampled! Sullied! Disparaged! Wakuuuu, Souda’s being mean to me!”

Waku snickered, taking another turn at the hookah. “Get what you give, Kaito.”

Shaking her head a little, Waku sat up more before gesturing around to the three of them. “You can flirt, Kaito, though your forte is with people who are already in the mindset of flirting back…which being rich and pretty helps with. I’m willing to say people just saying salacious things to each other still counts as flirting, though other judges may not be so lenient.” 

“Souda, you just simp over girls you think are pretty and try to do everything you can to impress them, but in over-the-top, often self-disparaging ways. Unfortunately, the kind of people who’d like that would treat you like shit, which sucks.”

“I,” Waku finished, gesturing to herself, “haven’t seriously tried to flirt with anyone since a little after high school, which I gave up on because people just thought I was creepy for asking about things I noticed they were interested in. And having to navigate a relationship when I’m having a paranoid episode sounds like the worst thing ever. So we all kind of suck in our own ways.”

“Booo!” Kaito called, though he grinned as he did it, laying back into his seat, Souda laid out on some massive pillows on his side, “You’re creepy, sure, but in the sexiest way possible! Being mind read, or heart read, is hot!”

“Okay, now who’s being over the top and simping?” Souda demanded.

“I’m not flirting flirting, I am paying my friend an objectively true compliment, because I am happily and specifically spoken for, and our Waku here already comfortably knows that,” Kaito huffed, “If this was three years ago and I was flirting? I’d ask her to read my mind and just keep reinforcing lewder and lewder guesses.” Kaito smirked… before shrugging, admitting, “Whiiiich she might be more inclined to do if I was, say, buying her whatever she wanted on the menu and wearing the latest clothes and also, you know, traditionally famous and famously loose. In a bar. If she was clearly looking to be flirted with.”

“Pffff. So basically someone who’s already down, like Waku said,” Souda laughed, “Yeah, real tricky Kaito.”

“Yeaaaah, yeaaaaah, drink her booze and smoke my hookah, ya jerk.” Kaito pouted, smoking a bit. “...Waku’s right about you too though, man. I’d be a bit worried about any chick that actually falls for the ‘Miss whoever, step on me’ thing you do. I mean, I’m not judging if you’re a masochist, but I bet you anything Dicea has some, like, safe ways to find a dom, rather than just throwing yourself at random people.”

“Masochist? Eh… I don’t know about that,” Souda admitted, “Those are the ones that like to be hit, right? Eh. I want a strong personality, not bruises or whatever.”

“Right, well… I feel like you’re advertising more to people who hit, rather than just… what, authoritative types?” Kaito asked, before frowning, “Waku’s not authoritative.”

“She could rule over me any day!” 

Kaito spat another spit wad at him through the tube.

Waku shrugged easily, though there was a small grin on her face. “Some people don’t really think so, and even with a healthy sense of self-confidence there’s only so long you can take being called a stalker, bug-eyed freak before you just get tired. Luckily, I just happened to find other freaks that enjoy my company.”

Because for all that she liked them, Kaito and Souda were absolutely freakish weirdos. Honestly that was the reason she liked them--if they didn’t have freaky stuff going on, Waku probably wouldn’t have paid them much mind. 

…okay, sure, her friendship with Kaito had started more from a sense of empathy, but Souda…

Resting her chin on the table, Waku gave Souda a long, considering look as he and Kaito argued over the kind of romantic interests he attracted…before, with a casual bluntness, she asked, “Hey, Souda? Wanna go on a date with me?”

“?”

“!?”

Kaito and Souda both just stared at her. Kaito still with his little spitwad tube in his mouth, Souda having entirely failed to hold in his mouth his latest breath of hookah, it spinning up and around his head. Both of their eyes wide. 

“...wooooooaaaaah–” Kaito said, looking at Souda, about to say ‘what the hell did you just fall into!?’

But Souda suddenly sputtered around his hookah, pulling his weight up and scrambling to his knees, practically slamming his hips against the little table the hookah was on, Kaito hurrying to keep the glass from falling off the table as Souda sputtered, “REALLY!? YES!? REALLY THOUGH!?” before squinting at her, “Is this a joke?”

“Not a joke,” Waku said, still casual but a little more serious saying that, as she shook her head, “I’ve been asked out as a joke before, it sucks. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

Sipping her drink, she shrugged and gave him an amused look. “I’m still not really looking for a relationship, but…it could be fun, right? Since neither of us have really been on real dates, where the other person isn’t trying to exploit us or make fun of us in some way. So why not give each other a good first experience?”

Waku paused, before tilting her head. “...I don’t mean that in like a pity way, though. I do think it’ll be fun.”

Souda and Kaito, again, both stared at Waku… before Kaito looked dryly at Souda. “You lucky bastard. I’m going to bully you so hard over this.”

“H’aaaaah,” Souda whispered, the sound like a balloon losing air, before wincing, “OW!?”

“Don’t blow it, man, talk to her! I am so mad at you right now! I am so jealous! Where are my husbands?! I need a damn kiss!” 

“Shut up, this is my time to shine!” Souda shouted back at Kaito, before giving Waku a nervous, and little shy, smile, “Uh… I like that idea! I-I mean… I haven’t sort of gone on a real date, but… I mean, you need to know, maybe, that Kaito’s full of shit, I’m not a virgin, so if that’s what you’re hoping is gonna be a ‘first’ experience for us both, that’s… I just don’t have that to give you.”

“I’m gonna die,” Kaito muttered, sinking into the couch, grumbling around his drink, “I’m going to burst into flames.”

Waku waved Souda off, though she gave him a kind smile. “At the risk of being xenophobic, get your weird notions of ‘virginity’ out of here. I don’t need that from you, Souda…and I dunno if I’d even want to have sex on a first date anyway. Maybe, we’ll see how we feel.” She shrugged. 

Right after, though, she gave Kaito a highly amused look. “If you’re that jealous, then ask your husbands on a date, you dork. You have babysitters galore, and you know Kokichi and Shuuichi love doing romantic stuff with you. I’d give you ideas, but I gotta brainstorm for my own date.”

Kaito snorted, “I will ask my husbands on a date, thank you very much. But I am specifically jealous that Souda gets to date you, Waku. You’re a catch! Souda’s a nerd!” 

“I am not! I’m incredibly cool! You’re a nerd!” 

“Ugh… you know what,” Kaito pouted, “I’ll admit it, I’m jealous of Waku too. Cute, stupid, loud nerd. Ugh! You two are going to have such a good time! Assholes! Waku, can I steal a shot of rum from you? I’m not going to have a full second drink, but a shot sounds good.”

Souda squinted at Kaito. Was that a compliment? He honestly couldn’t tell… before he blushed, looking brightly at Waku. “You’re going to decide where we go, Miss Waku!?”

“Auuuugh.”

Waku nodded knowingly, leaning over to get one of the shot glasses she’d snagged from the kitchen when she’d collected their other cups, and looking over the bottles she’d brought up, pouring out a dark rum for Kaito. “We’re both catches, I know it’s rough. Too bad we met a week before you got married, and you tried to kill me, and you met Souda like a year after you got married. We’ll tell you how things go so you can seethe and work yourself up in excitement.”

Passing the shot over, she grinned at Souda. “If you don’t have any ideas? Figured I’d run stuff by you, at least, so we can decide on something we’d both enjoy. Going out for dinner or a drink is pretty classic, but it’s what we already do so I dunno if you’d wanna try something new.”

“I mean, I want to do whatever you want to do–STOP THROWING SPITWADS AT ME!”

“Ask to go see a movie or something, you dork,” Kaito grumbled, drinking down the offered shot. “I’m still very sorry I tried to kill you, but maaaaaan, damn pollen bullshit took my chance to flirt. Buuuuullshit.”

Kaito was, to be entirely clear, mostly playing. Oh, absolutely, a part of him was a little jealous because his friends got to do something new and exciting together, yes. They were both appealing in their own rights. Kaito, by the nature of who he was, couldn’t help but find his friends appealing, in not always a romantic way, but definitely physically. And going on dates was fun! He really should take his husbands on a new date.

But even with all of that being true, he was still playing up his reaction. This was cute! Two of his little starbursts were going on a date together! They were going to be so pink! And cute together! 

But Kaito had the good sense to not say that part out loud, as he smirked, watching Souda scoff before asking, “Well, we could do something more unusual… we could go to a museum or something? I still just want to do whatever you want to do though.”

“Absolute bullshit,” Waku agreed, grinning wryly, “You missed out on me trying to psychoanalyze just how deep your impulse to flirt went. And trying to, like, change up your room service to whatever I thought you’d like most. Instead you just got severely poisoned and ended up bonding with your husband in one of the most traumatic ways possible, a shame.”

Snorting, Waku took a hit from the hookah, managing to cough less this time. “I’ll figure out what you’d really enjoy, don’t worry about it.” Her grin got a little more smug. “We could sneak into the restricted area of a museum and see all the behind the scenes stuff, and snoop on the people going through.”

“Oooooooh,” Souda whispered, eyes practically shining into stars, “Dangerous.” 

“I like being psychoanalyzed. I like psychoanalyzing. Navel gazing is fun. Especially kinky navel gazing,” Kaito snickered, twisting his tongue into a tunnel, breathing in from his pipe, before letting it build for a second… before poofing out a little circle in the smoke. Giggling when he realized he could still do it! Yes!! “You two are going to be so weird together. I demand play by plays after your dates, dammit. I will psychoanalyze you both so hard… and let’s be honest, Souda would be amazing to analyze. He’s got some stuff going on.”

“I’m the most normal person among us,” Souda insisted, before beaming cheerfully at Waku, “Except for you, uh, Princess!” 

“What? Dude, you can’t use ‘princess’ as a nickname, you literally hang out with a prince,” Kaito said. 

“S-sugar?”

“Wait literally five whole seconds before you go pet names, please, I’m begging you man, you’re killing me.”

Waku nodded, sipping her drink with a pleased look. She absolutely was going to over-analyze their date, so it’d be more fun with friends. And they were absolutely going to be a couple of weirdos together. It was going to be a good time. 

Looking between Souda and Kaito, Waku hummed softly, seemingly considering that claim. “...hm. You know, I think you’re right, and the fact of that is kind of ridiculous. Kaito’s just got so much going on that you do actually seem more normal by comparison, but your weirdness is just pronounced enough that, on good days, I look more normal. Which is absurd, just for the record.”

She paused, considering again, before saying, “...Champ.”

“...” Kaito snickered, “Cute.”

“Ch-champ? Alright, um, whatever you say, champ! C-can I call you Champion? I like the elegance of it–”

“Dude, please, I’m dying, she means you, you’re Champ.” 

“ME!?” Souda gasped, looking absolutely baffled by that idea, pointing to himself to make sure he had it right… before he turned bright red, “Champ.”

Kaito snickered, before suddenly saying, “HEY! How am I weirder than Souda? My circumstances are weird, sure, but me as a person? …no, I can’t even finish that thought.” Kaito snickered, “You guys are going to be so cute together… I give you two, three dates top before Waku notices she’s dating you, Souda.”

“You’re such a jerk!”

“YOU GET TO DATE WAKU, I TOLD YOU I WAS GONNA BULLY YOU!” 

“I’LL TELL YOUR HUSBAND ON YOU! EITHER OF THEM!” 

“Oh, those are fighting words,” Kaito decided, scrambling off the couch to grab Souda, who squealed in outrage, scurrying around the table to escape Kaito’s grip as Kaito said, “Come here, you scrawny punk, I’m about to give you the arm burn of your life!”

“WHAT THE HECK IS AN ARM BURN, GET AWAY FROM ME YOU BRUTE!” 

“YOU’RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT, COME HERE!” 

“W’AAAAAAAH! MISS WAKU, HELP!!! PRINCESS!”

Waku snickered, leaning back on her collection of cushions as she drank her cocktail, watching the guys tussle. Her friends were awesome. 

-

Loop looked at the door outline, humming a bit. “Hmmm…are any of you musically inclined?”

Leana sighed, “Yes, but, we’re all going. We keep getting separated in dangerous rooms, and I’m of the mindset that these rooms have been getting harder as we go. I’d rather we have everyone at the ready.”

“I’m feeling pretty rested, personally. The library was a comfortable place to sleep,” Eddie said, tails flicking eagerly, “Do you think we’ll end up tackling the real house today?”

“We might,” Siffrin murmured, glancing upstairs to where the Researcher, the Fighter and the Kid were. “That will be good, the sooner we can. I’m… feeling a little restless, to get through this fake version.”

“I agree. Three days proving ourselves to fight the actual battle is a struggle to stomach, this close to the end,” Leana said, reaching for the handle. 

They had prepared for a crawl. There were things like excursions that nearly all of them were used to--a sighting of a rot-beast, scouting missions during the war. Those you’d expect to take up maybe a day, at worst, so you’d pack lightly, head out, maybe be a little put out, but not shocked if you ended up sleeping outside that night. 

Something that had been called a dungeon, though, they hadn’t expected to be like that at all. Honestly there had been some talk about them over-preparing, but when it came to the sort of concept of a place where you’d be facing grueling trials and wouldn’t be able to leave easily, it was better to be over-prepared, rather than finding yourself scrambling. 

Still, three days of tension and trial was a lot, even if their safe places were truly safe. 

Mellia, who had taken to the library with aplomb after her initial rafter appreciation, set the book she had been looking through to the side, drawing herself up with a breath. She met Brathy’s eyes, each giving the other a nod. If they were up against a musical challenge, that was their time to shine, then. And no time like the present to get it done. 

“Just don’t get impatient,” Jeremiah gruffly cautioned, his hidden gaze ever vigilant as their group gathered and Leana opened the door. “We’ll need our best chances for the real house and that king, so don’t burn yourself out trying to speed through this last bit.”

“Agreed~” Ingo hummed, his tone just bursting with optimism, especially compared to Jeremiah’s voice. “I mean, we’re awesome so I bet it’ll be a breeze getting through these last few rooms, but no rushing. Let’s do this!”

And with that, he pumped an encouraging fist into the air, practically bouncing into the lush, verdant room that awaited them. 

In some ways, the atmosphere would have been very familiar to most everyone who came into the room. 

There was a trickling of water. It was light, like a bubbling brook. But, considering the small, light waterfall on the stone wall that could be seen around the trees, and the light twigs that snapped beneath their boots as they walked onto the dirt, it was eerily… quiet. For what a jungle setting like this would normally sound like. No small songs of bugs. No rustling of wind through the trees. No distant roars of rivers, birds cawing, animals slinked through the shadows.

It was a small space, but in a different way than the room Jeremiah, Ingo, and Eddie had been trapped in. It was clearly a brick room, walls behind the vines and the trees, but while the room before had been clearly fake, a mockery of a forest, this room felt like a room somehow grown among a jungle. Like, if you knocked down the wall, you’d have access to the rest of the vast jungle, past the horizon. In every way except for sound. Which was what made the silence just that much more noticeable. 

Next to the brook, was a podium. It was made of stone. Etched into the stone were four musical notes, small and in the center of the podium. 

Leana frowned at the podium, the four simple notes… before looking to her bards. “I’m assuming it’s not as simple as ‘play those four notes’. Any immediate insights?”

Ingo was feeling a little nostalgic, honestly. It wasn’t exactly like the forest just outside of Esllesium, but it was close, and…it’d been a while since he’d managed to slip away to go walking through the forest again. Not since he’d met Siffrin, really. Walking around this room now…he missed it. 

…he hoped there would be forests, wherever he moved to. 

Brathanial and Mellia looked at the podium and the notes, Brathy’s brow furrowing while Mellia frowned lightly. 

“...I feel like it’d be a high ask for anyone to compose a song with that motif spontaneously,” Mellia said cautiously. “I suppose people could do it, just playing any notes, but understanding musical composition isn’t really something you learn sitting around a kitchen table.”

“‘Sspose we could try it.” Brathy shrugged and picked up his violin, playing the four notes. 

There was a paltry gust of wind, just barely noticeable enough to indicate that it likely wasn’t the regular ambiance of the room, but…just that. 

“...higher, higher,” Jeremiah said after a beat, seemingly staring at a nearby wall. 

“...what?” Mellia said with slightly flat confusion. 

Looking back at the group, Jeremiah shrugged, before pointing to the wall. “I can’t read music.”

Eddie, wanting to help out, leapt up, climbing the tree near where Jeremiah was pointing. Walking the branch, he reached over and clawed off the vines that were partially covering it… before calling down, “It’s C D F G.”

“Is that the challenge?” Siffrin asked, looking around, “Find more of the song?”

“Be careful. Let’s go with the solution we can see for now, but keep in mind every room seems to come with some sort of trick,” Leana said. 

Mellia flew over, taking a look at the piece Eddie uncovered. “...it’s notated in staff too and…it looks like there’s more than one part. I think we’ll need both of us for it, Brathy.”

Brathy ‘tsk’ed a little, though not by the prospect of playing a song. Just because… “Well, if Eddie knows notes, then that’ll help, but if the rest of you punks can’t read notation, then that means Mel an’ I gotta look at every part to see how the song goes. So it ain’t like we can just spread out and reconvene.”

“We could for finding the next part, though,” Ingo pointed out, eyes already going to the walls, and almost labyrinthine branches he could see around corners. “And it’d be faster to just flag you two down to read each part than leave the entire thing to you.”

Jeremiah looked to Leana. “Should we spread out, then? This place doesn’t seem big enough for us to truly be split up.”

“If you find something that might potentially separate you, call out and don’t go any further,” Leana ordered, “Alright, let’s find these notes.”

For how fast Jeremiah found the first one, it was a little bit before Siffrin, looking carefully at the roots of a big tree, called out, “Found one!”

Almost immediately after they spoke up, Leana called on the opposite side of the room, turning over stones next to the brook, “Here too.”

The plan was set. For there being multiple parts, the first few sets of notes the group found were singular, and as Mellia and Brathy went from the podium to Jeremiah, then to Siffrin and Leana, they discussed the song. At first they theorized that the entire thing would be in single, melodic notes, which Mellia figured she’d just sing…though considering every time she or Brathy hummed parts together the wind picked up, they were starting to get the feeling that their practice time was limited. 

However, soon enough--going to Ingo, then Jeremiah again, doubling back to Siffrin when Brathy pointed out that the parts sounded better at that point in the song than with Leana’s before--other parts came in, clearly chords, and as odd as the choice might’ve been going into the dungeon, they were rewarded for having brought instruments. 

The group continued in that fashion, working together quickly and efficiently, and…

Looking around a pillar, Ingo winced a little, allowing himself the expression in private. He’d certainly felt rested before, but he could definitely feel a headache coming on. And despite the stop-and-start blusters of wind, it was so…stuffy in the room. It was starting to feel like a chore to breathe, like the worst days of summer humidity. But unlike summer, and definitely because of the wind…damn, it was getting cold…

The others started to crowd around, Leana came down from the tree she had climbed as she asked, “Any idea how many more notes we might be missing? Is it starting to look like a complete song?” 

Siffrin glanced over at Ingo, frowning as they noticed he was breathing a little heavily. Shuffling over to him, they whispered, “Are you okay? You look red.”

“It damn feels like a denouement,” Brathy noted, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his violin as he strung together the piece as best he could in his head, not wanting to test the weather. 

“Scales and feathers, some of these notes are high,” Mellia sighed, before giving the group a concerned look. Her shoulders hunching in anxiety. “I…might need a warm up, especially if we might only get one real shot at this…”

It had only gotten harder to breathe as they looked around for the pieces, and after a bit, Ingo hadn’t called out any more at all. In part, because…it was getting harder to think, too. It was all Ingo could really do to just stand in a corner and try to will away the mounting headache stabbing behind his eyes, and the way his skin was feeling too tight and uncomfortable all of a sudden. 

Ingo’s cheeks were a little red, but the rest of his skin was starting to pale, and he just gave Siffrin a disoriented look before seeming to shake himself out of it, offering a small smile. “Uh, yeah, I…maybe just, um…” Ingo trailed off, sounding confused for another moment, before breathing in like it took effort. “...really stuffy in here, isn’t it.”

“...is it?” Siffrin asked, giving Ingo an increasingly worried look, “...you look sick.”

Eddie put his paws up to the podium, peeking at the new notes–they had been penciling them into the stone as they had found them–before stating, “I could help with some of the chorus, but it’d be purely howling. Actually, I retract my offer, I don’t want to disrupt our attempts.”

“Every time you’ve played notes, the weather has gotten stronger,” Leana said, giving the light waterfall a wary look, and then looking up at the trees. “...Jeremiah, confirm if we can actually get out of this room, would you? Though I’m betting by this point that the door is locked.”

“It could still work, Eddie, since you can still howl to a pitch…b-but if you’re not confident, that’s fine too,” Mellia reassured, taking a cue from Brathy and just fingering notes onto her lute, careful not to make a sound. “Thankfully it seems like the kind of piece that can be played pretty slowly, so that gives us some leeway figuring it out, but…” She followed Leana’s wary glance around. 

Breath.

“Do I?” Ingo said, a teasing lilt in his voice, though…just barely there. “You’ll…”

Swallow. Breath.

“You’ll give me some confidence issues, saying stuff like that,” Ingo attempted to joke. But the way he’d briefly reached up to press between his brows wasn’t playful in the slightest. 

Breath.

“On it.” Jeremiah strode over to the door.

Breath.

“...Siff…I…” Ingo quietly said, “I don’t…”

“Locked,” Jeremiah called over. 

B…

…

…

GASP.

His eyes widening in alarm for just a moment, before losing focus, Ingo choked in a gasping breath, before his legs gave out. 

“INGO!?”

Leana’s eyes glanced over at Siffrin’s shout, before she immediately bolted to Ingo’s side. She didn’t shout, but she quickly straightened Ingo onto his back and laid his head flat. “Ingo, can you talk!? Say my name!”

“Le…” 

Brathy had been hot on Leana’s trail, his hands immediately lighting up, trying to sense any sort of magical ailment the room might’ve shot at Ingo, though…well his main symptom was apparent, in how he struggled to even get Leana’s name out, each breath short and choked. 

He put a hand on Ingo’s chest, feeling out what was physically wrong, though it seemed mostly like…

Suddenly over from the door, Jeremiah knelt in the free space on Ingo’s other side, only looking for a moment before reaching into his bag. Pulling out a thin object, he pressed it against Ingo’s thigh, a small clicking sound coming from it. 

Momentarily, Ingo sucked in a deeper breath, his eyes scrunched closed, but Jeremiah didn’t address him, instead looking at Brathy. “We need to get him out of here. Play the song with Mellia, or I’m going to break down the door.”

Every healing instinct in Brathy roared in him, refusing to leave a patient…but the longer Ingo was in here, the worse it’d be. And him continually trying to clear Ingo’s airways wouldn’t work forever, if they were stuck in here. A small growl in his throat, Brathy gave his little cousin a despairing look. 

“...we have a little time from the epipen. Leana, keep Ingo awake, put his legs up and don’t let him get up. If he stops breathin’ again, start doing chest compressions.”

Getting up, Brathy gave Mellia a look that would be terrifying, if not for the mists in his eyes. “Showtime.”

Without any sort of aplomb for a performance, Mellia gave Ingo a scared look before going over to the podium. She took a breath, and started to sing. The wind picking up. 

The wind started to pick up. 

As the music began to build– hauntingly, achingly slow, considering the urgency of how they needed it to finish soon, Ingo gasping for breath at every light melody–it started to drizzle, the sky above them shifting and turning with rolling dark clouds. Real now, in a way it hadn’t been moments ago. 

As Mellia began to sing, the drizzle turned into rain. The wind whipping up, shaking the leaves which hissed at the assault. 

Eddie kept looking back and forth between the bards and Ingo, Leana and Siffrin and Jeremiah looking over him, protecting him from the onslaught of the rain with their bodies and Siffrin’s hat, as Ingo’s rasping felt like one more terrible sound as the rain and wind picked up more violently. Mellia having to raise her voice to be heard, while Brathy’s violin screamed out through the noise.

Then, thunder lit. And in the light of the thunder, a second voice joined in. 

A woman made of light hovered above the brook. Wings on her hips, hair whipping in the wind. A chorus accompanying Mellia’s singing as she reached out to her, something unbearably sad in her expression… and then more thunder. Lightning. Each bout of lightning adding to the chorus, as up in the trees now were more people made of light. Wings stretched out, sorrow etched into their faces. All looking at Mellia. The chorus becoming a cacophony that shook the walls, as the storm raged, and Ingo gasped.

Despite hunching over to protect Ingo from the rain, one arm outstretched to cast the back of his cloak over it like a tarp, Jeremiah’s other hand had found Ingo’s. Unable to feel how chilling Ingo’s fingers were, or the light, clumsy spasms, since he was still wearing his gauntlets, but surrounding his hand with a light pressure. Reminding Ingo he was there, squeezing every time the prince’s eyes fluttered closed, every time the tension in his body laxed a little too dangerously. 

Mellia sang into the wind, the rain. Steady and slow, despite her friend…dying. Behind her. Determined to get the door open, and furious with the only option being the worst legato of her life. Her fists clenched around her lute and stance wide, opening her whole chest to sing while her best friend cried next to her. 

And as the beings of light appeared…Haraja…the Flutians appeared. Looking just as distraught and hurt as Mellia was feeling right then…she started to cry too. Voice raw but unfailingly melodic, even as it cracked or fizzled at the ends of notes, each note representing a scream. 

Why this? 

Why now?

Why were her brethren around her, when her friend’s life was starting to be counted in seconds?

Why was death always at a fingertip’s length away? 

Why was the world always taking from them?

And it didn’t seem like the illuminated crowd of Flutians were cowed by Mellia’s rage. The chorus they sang with her simply joining in, rage and sorrow as every question in their voices was the same as hers. 

A lament of things lost. 

And then, all at once, it was just Mellia’s voice alone, once again. Hanging on a note that didn’t seem to quite finish, just…echoing. The Flutians hadn’t found an answer for their ‘why’s either. 

With the song barely finished, Jeremiah scooped Ingo into his arms and ran to the door, kicking it down with a BANG that shuddered through the library. Brathy, sans violin, hot on his heels.

Loop glanced up from the book they were pretending to read. “Get your duet dooooone–uhhhh?” Loop sat up, giving them a bewildered look as the group put Ingo down on a table, Ingo gasping for breath, “How on earth did you all make the sing-along-song dangerous? Is he alright?”

“Is he?” Siffrin asked, looking a little lost, staring at Brathy as he came to Ingo’s side, “He was looking sick and he just collapsed!”

Brathy had barely taken a second look at Ingo before his hands lit up with a bright light, pressed to Ingo’s shuddering sternum as he started compressions. Determined just to blunt-force heal any bruising or bone cracks he might cause. “Mel, he needs to get warm, you know a heat or wind spell to dry ‘im?”

“On it,” Mellia said, the thought of her people pushed aside as her eyes focused on Ingo. 

“He’s in anaphylaxis, I figure,” Jeremiah explained to Siffrin and Loop, standing by with a frustrated tension running through him. “Allergic reaction either way. Ingo’s morbidly allergic to ulfinium.” Jeremiah grit his teeth as he put things together in his head. “...the rocks in there must’ve been made of it. Waterfall putting particles in the air.”

Which Ingo would’ve been breathing the whole time they were puzzling together sheet music, the fucking…dose small enough that he wouldn’t have noticed… 

Hand over Ingo’s throat now, Brathy tapped Ingo’s cheek, imploring his cousin to look at him. “C’mon, ‘Go, stay awake. Gotta breathe, li’l cuz, don’t do this…”

Breaths still shaky, Ingo looked like he could barely focus on Brathanial, his eyes glassy. “...can’t… gon..na pass’out…”

“Little longer, ‘Go, up, up,” Brathy repeated, the light around his hands growing even brighter. “Please, stay awake.”

Leana frowned as she watched Ingo’s eyes start to flutter… before looking around, taking out her whip. “Siffrin, throw your hook dagger! Anywhere!”

Siffrin sputtered, before quickly taking out their hook dagger and, aiming for the scaffolding, threw it as hard as they could. Leana, shaking out her whip with a snap, immediately flicked her wrist, catching the blade in the air with the tips of the whip, before snapping her wrist again, hurling the dagger back towards Siffrin. It lodging straight in the middle of the space between his feet. 

There was a small burst of warm energy the second the dagger lodged itself into the floor wood.

As it had been for countless scenarios throughout time, Rally was a turning point. Ingo sucking in a deep breath. Brathy standing taller as he worked healing magic into his little cousin’s body, trying to mitigate his body’s immune-response. The warm glow spiraling from Mellia’s hands growing larger, enveloping them all as their clothes dried and bodies warmed. 

Jeremiah feeling audacious enough to go kick that king’s ass right then and there. But not foolish enough. 

There was still more work to do, though, but…a little less urgency, Ingo responding to Brathy’s questions as his cleric work went on. 

-

Eddie couldn’t help but pace the library nervously, energy and concern driving him. Siffrin and Loop, in turn, were now watching from a distance. Siffrin sharpening his dagger after its end had blunted a bit at the impact. 

“...well,” Loop said, “That had been exciting, I suppose. Was expecting you all to come out sad, not dying.”

“Why?” Siffrin asked. 

“That room typically has you sing a duet with someone you miss,” Loop said, “Someone you’ve lost.”

“Oh…” Siffrin glanced over at Loop, “...have you lost someone?”

“Hmmm~” Loop hummed, before looking cheerfully down at Siffrin, “What about you, Stardust? Any thoughts on who you would have sung with, if you had done the challenge?”

Siffrin’s instinct was to say no, but… they glanced up at the second floor. “...does it count if you don’t remember them?”

“I suppose I should say it does. After all, I’ve never known… anyone, I suppose.” Loop said, “And yet~”

“...” Siffrin looked worriedly over at Ingo, but… his attention was divided on Loop, as he asked, “Loop, who are you?”

“Forgotten me already, Stardust? I’m Loop! Your guide.”

“I mean, sure, but… there’s something more to it,” Siffrin said, “You can’t really just be a reflection, you’re… more of a person, than the chickens or the snowmen or–”

“The fighter, the researcher and the kid?” Loop said, “I agree. I am much more than all of them. Very complete! Three dimensional.”

“Right,” Siffrin frowned, “So who are you? Why were you trapped here?”

“I’ve told you, Stardust. I’m here to guide you.” 

“But why?”

“Hmmmm,” Loop hummed, closing their eyes, “...because I volunteered, I suppose. I wanted to be here. To help. I’m very helpful.”

“Really?” Siffrin said, “You weren’t held against your will?”

“Oooooooh, eventually I was,” Loop snickered, though the sound was dry. Bitter. “Eventually I’d have given anything to escape… but! In the beginning? Nope! I wanted to be here. To help. I learned everything I could about the dungeon, wanting to guide you safely through… and I did! I got very good at this dungeon. And then I got good at it again. And then again. And again… You get worse, as time goes on.”

“At the dungeon?”

“At being helpful,” Loop said, “Turns out, that’s a trait you can lose, after enough time. It starts by being tired… then a little bitter… then angry. Resentful.” Loop paused, before giggling again. “After a while, you start to wonder if the sacrifice had been worth the help you gave. If maybe you had given the whole of yourself for… what? A slightly more convenient timeline? You all getting through in three, four days, rather than, oh… maybe a few weeks? Rescuing people who would never notice the extra bit of time it took. Was that really worth all the suffering you volunteered for? Minor, minor convenience?”

“...what do you think, Stardust?” Loop said, ‘smiling’ down at him, “Would you have done what I did? Seeing me now?”

Siffrin watched Ingo’s breathing stabilize. Though he still looked so weak. “...if it meant they got through safer? I think so.”

“Oh,” Loop snarled, “What do you know? Easy to say, but much, much harder to do.”

Siffrin didn’t respond to that. It seemed true.

-

“...yeah, I can. Mhmm… Can I sleep now?”

“Yeah, ‘Go. Get rest. We’ll be lookin’ out for ya, you’ll be okay.”

It had taken some time. Once Ingo was regularly breathing, it wasn’t like Brathy had clapped his hands and the prince jumped off the table, raring to go. Instead, it had been a steady, consistent stream of magic from their cleric, he and Ingo speaking softly every now and then. And while the prince looked better, some color returned to his skin, and his eyes clearly seeing Brathanial, better was definitely relative. And as Brathy worked, Ingo looked more and more exhausted, until Brathy finally relented. 

When Ingo closed his eyes, it didn’t take long until soft, slightly wheezy breaths came from him. 

And in a slow breath, Brathy sagged, rubbing a hand down his face as he just stared across the room for a moment, looking pretty tired himself. 

While the healing had been going on, Jeremiah had taken off some of his armor, freeing his cloak fully, and he came forward to drape it over Ingo once Brathanial leaned back from him. The two men sharing a few nods before Jeremiah picked Ingo up again and took him over to one of the couches, laying him near the end so while his back was straight, his legs went up and over the arm. Ingo not stirring at all. 

Damn dancer’s kit worked for battle, but it wasn’t exactly warm. 

Mellia came forward as Jeremiah left, looking over Brathy worriedly. “...so…he’s okay?”

“No,” Brathanial said bluntly, hopping up on the table himself and taking a bottle from his pack, starting to knock it back. Ugh, even boosted by Rally, his magic system did not enjoy that… “I’m good, but I’m not that good. Ingo don’t need someone good at healin’ magic, he needs a fuckin’ hospital.”

Jeremiah’s jaw tightened before looking at Loop. “Can we get back out by going up?”

“...” Loop seemed to consider Ingo, before saying softly, “I have no idea. You could certainly try? The rules might be different for you. But I don’t know.”

Leana had been over in a corner, staring at a wall. Needing a minute alone to think. Her glare burning a hole in the plaster.

“Perhaps one of us could go check?” Eddie said, “If I move quickly…?”

“If we drag him back to the top and can’t escape, it might take longer trying to leave than just finishing the dungeon,” Siffrin pointed out.

“We’d have to deal with the Sadnesses in the halls too,” Mellia lamented, wrapping a wing around Brathy’s side as she sat next to him. “We saw before, they just keep coming even if we clear a path. We could fight back up…but we’d be down at least two people, if someone’s carrying Ingo.” And that wasn’t exactly safe for him either. 

Brathy let out a tired sigh. “...he’s stable, mostly. S’why I’m okay lettin’ him sleep, since over-exhaustion is just gonna mess with him even more. But he can’t stay here forever. Long enough, and even me futzin’ around his system ain’t gonna do squat.”

Jeremiah’s hands squeezed his biceps tightly, from where he’d been lurking, arms crossed. Feeling impatient, but knowing, with frustration, that they couldn’t move out in any way with Brathy exhausted too. It looked like he was drinking a mana reliever, which would pick him up…but Mellia’s original point stood. They’d be down two people, and likely their healer, no matter what, so…

Mellia’s feathers slowly ruffled up, before laying flat again all at once with a quiet, sha-sha-sha sound. Her expression tight and demanding as she looked up at Loop. “...you don’t go into the rooms anyway.”

Brathy looked over at Mellia, his brows knitting, before his eyes widened a little in incredulousness. 

“You could look after Ingo while we finish the dungeon.”

“Hmmm,” Loop hummed, closing their eyes, “...I could.”

“But?” Siffrin said warily.

“No ‘but’, I could!” Loop said brightly, “Though, if something were to go wrong with him? I have no healing abilities. Not for that sort of thing.”

Siffrin’s eyebrows raised lightly. “So you do have some healing?”

“I can heal bruises. Cuts. Things helpful in the middle of battles, keeps me going, sort of thing,” Loop explained, “But nothing that could get someone’s lungs filling with air, or heart beating again. I can watch him. If he died, I could definitely tell you exactly when. If that’s helpful~”

“No one’s asking you to be a doctor, but–”

“Could you help him sit up if he needed it?” Leana said, finally looking away from the wall, looking sternly at Loop, “Get him water? Help him walk?”

“...sure,” Loop said, “If that helps.”

“It will. It has to. We’re finishing this dungeon, it’s the fastest way out of here,” Leana said, “We’re splitting up, tackling both sides at once. We’re getting back to the real world, tonight. Wherever the other end of this ‘tunnel’ leads us.”

Jeremiah stood taller. Leana’s conviction everything he needed. She gave a direction, and he was ready to go.

Brathy turned his incredulous look on Leana next, then to the rest of them. Sure, just staying in the dungeon wasn’t an option, but…leaving Ingo in the care of some dipshit that only barely cared about helping them, that they met three days ago??

(It had been easier, in a sense, in the war. Yeah, while a lot of people had encouraged them, others in quiet moments telling them they didn’t have to join…as far as he knew, Brathanial had been the only person to straight out tell Eimdall and Ingo not to join the resistance. Had gotten into the biggest fight in his life with his twin, it getting to the point Eimdall had broken from talking about his aching swordhand lusting for blood and the legends of ages all coming down to the coming battles, just…speaking plainly. Talking about their lost home and culture, how each village burned was like the Myprosians destroying pieces of their souls. Their rights. About how their mothers and aunt had never let Eslley die in their hearts, and Eimdall was refusing to let it as well. That if Brathy was going out there, then fuck you ‘Thanial I’m coming too!)

(It was a little unfair that by comparison, his fight with Ingo had been less cutting. It had felt like a sick joke, his little cousin--his little brother, basically--seething to stop being treated like a baby when he’d been a head shorter, face still rounded with baby fat.)

(It had been easier entrusting Ingo to other clerics, when Brathy couldn’t be everywhere, because…the other best clerics in the resistance were his mothers. The women who had cleaned Ingo’s scrapes and iced his bruises and healed his cuts while Brathy’s magic had still felt like painful sparkler embers. If there had been anyone Brathanial could trust Ingo with, it was family.)

Not…

Brathanial knocked back the rest of his bottle and rolled up his sleeves, giving Loop a stern look. “I’m teachin’ ya CPR. Last resort, before makin’ yourself a coroner. Ingo’s not dyin’ on your watch ‘cause ya don’t know basic first aid.”

“Oooooh, a new skill~ How fun!” Loop said, clapping their hands together, “Sure. I’m sure I can handle it.”

As Brathy took Loop aside to show them what to do, Siffrin went over to Ingo’s side, giving him a concerned look. He seemed okay now… asleep, but okay. Leana came by not long after, staring at her brother.

“...he’ll be okay,” Siffrin said softly, wanting to reassure her.

“Allergies,” she murmured, reaching up to push the hair from Ingo’s forehead, “Allergies… not Sadnesses or monsters or any enemy at all, but allergies…”

“That’s not his fault,” Siffrin said, feeling oddly defensive for how she kept saying it.

“No, I don’t mean it like that,” Leana said, running her hand over her face, “I’m just frustrated that I can’t help him. Nothing I do seems to help… Feeling helpless is something I have a particularly hard time coping with, Siffrin. I’m someone with a ‘fix it’ nature. I always feel like there must be something I can do, something I can influence, control, that would just… make things better for everyone. At the very least for my family. And then, just as he’s come into his abilities, just as he’s started to get more agency in himself, his identity, confidence… allergies.”

“What could I have possibly done to prevent this?” Leana said, her tone obvious that she knew the answer was ‘nothing’. “What could I have possibly done to help?”

“...” Siffrin shrugged, tired, “Maybe taking care of him now that it’s happened?”

“That’s a kind way of looking at it. I just wish there was something I could do to prevent this from happening at all. But life’s going to keep punishing Ingo for nothing, over and over, and I am helpless to do anything but watch from the sidelines…” Leana sighed, looking away, “Let’s get this dungeon done.”

-

There was only so much assurance you could have, teaching someone CPR over the course of a half hour, but Brathy had done his best to teach Loop everything he knew about resuscitation…along with a laundry list of things to keep in mind for Ingo while they worked on the dungeon. Keep him warm, unless the damn library was on fire, don’t let Ingo get up, keep an ear out for him struggling to breathe, if he mentions being numb, let them know immediately if they returned to the library…

Jeremiah basically had to drag their cleric away, but the party did split up to blaze through the dungeon, and the library was left quiet once more. Only left with the sounds of the reflections perusing through books and the soft wheezing sounds of Ingo sleeping. 

Time was already a nebulous concept in the dungeon, but it could at least be said it was later, when Ingo’s breathing slowed for a moment, bleary eyes half-opening. 

…ugh…what? Oh he felt awful, and not in a hangover way… Whatever blanket he was using felt nice, but it was freezing and…he felt so heavy…

“...Mum?” Ingo barely mumbled out, disoriented, his accent thick in his throat. “...Ana?”

“Ah, prince charming has awoken from his slumber!” Loop said cheerfully, putting aside the book they had not been reading as they went over to the couch, leaning against its back to peer down at Ingo, “Shame, I was going to try the ‘kiss’ trick at some point or another. I was just busy, it was on my to-do list, you know how it goes~”

Loop looked over Ingo, eyes darting around their shiny face, before asking, “How are you feeeeeeling?”

Ingo’s gaze slid over to Loop, uncomprehending confusion clouding his expression for…more than a moment, before understanding dawned on him. Ingo mumbling a confirming, “Loop…” more to himself than calling out to their guide. 

“Been better,” Ingo slurred tiredly before looking around a little more. “...where is everyone?”

“Running the dungeon. Mmmm, you’re probably a bit confused. Let’s see, what do you need to know… oh! You almost died,” Loop said cheerfully, “Specifically you had an allergic reaction in the music challenge. I was told you mustn't get up, or walk oooooor do anything other than rest, I suppose. Do you want some water? I imagine you’re allowed to sip some water.”

Ingo’s eyebrows scrunched (they were running the dungeon…?) before he grimaced. “...fuck,” Ingo sighed, before wincing as his breath caught, having to turn his head to cough lightly and…already feeling winded from that, even as he got his breath back. “How does that even work? I didn’t eat anything in there…”

Hazily, though, he could remember…rain? His chest feeling even tighter than it currently was, air not getting through… His sister and cousin’s concerned faces, a hand in his…

Ingo’s frown tightened, frustrated and ashamed, before he looked back up at Loop. “...Yea, I’d like some, please. I…guess…” Ingo tilted his head a little, looking around, though his vision was pretty limited by the couch. “...wherever they put my stuff?”

“Your pack? Mmmmm,” Loop looked around, trying to guess where it might be, “I’ll take a look around, charming. Give me one moment.”

Loop eventually found the pack discarded near the door to the musical room, and huffing as they picked it up, they brought it back to the couch Ingo was on, placing it next to him. “That’s heavy. I’m assuming you wanted it for a reason? Believe it or not, there is water in this library that I could bring you, but if you wanted your canteen?” Loop said, looking over the pack, “...wait, is that it? I was about to say I didn’t feel like looking through your whole pack, dear, but if it's just going to hang off the side like that, I suppose I can be bothered to unclip it.”

Doing so, he held it to Ingo’s lips. “Don’t sit up, just sip.”

“...oh,” Ingo said belatedly, “You know, I didn’t really consider that a magic library in a dungeon would have a water fountain or something. Think they only added some to the public library last year…”

Still, either way, Loop had brought water over, and…

…ugh. Don’t be stupid.

Flushing lightly, Ingo sipped as carefully as he could while lying down, instinctually raising a heavy hand to the side of his canteen as well, though it really was just Loop supporting it. When it flopped back down, though, Ingo done and breathing shakily, he still managed a small nod. “Thank you…”

“Of course! Your party would skin me alive if I left you to rot on the couch. They were all very concerned about you.”

Letting him drink for a bit, Loop eventually took the canteen back when the exhaustion was just too much on the man’s face. Screwing the top back on, Loop sat back on their heels, resting the canteen on the floor as they said, “The current thought is they’re going to get through the dungeon as fast as possible. Then, who knows… I suppose they plan to fight the king? Get you to a hospital? I’m not sure if they’ve planned that far ahead, but your situation sure did light a fire in them either way!”

“...fuck,” Ingo muttered again, the thrum of frustration through him making him want to pop up and march on through whatever room his friends were currently in and…h-he didn’t know?! Join them? Call them idiots for not taking a rest before the king? Ingo felt like the biggest idiot, though, considering he felt like he wouldn’t even be able to crawl to the door. 

“...shouldn’t get me to a hospital,” he grumbled, that at least clear to him. “You said the dungeon changes every time you start from the beginning, right? So if we left, then we’d have to do everything over again. Not the worst thing in the world, I guess, but…”

Ingo’s eyes flicked up, towards where he knew the balcony of the second floor was…and where Siffrin’s friends were. They had a nation to free. Friends to save. A cycle of torment to end. Putting it off just because Ingo had…

Guilt and shame scrunched Ingo’s eyes. “...I’m so fucking stupid…” he whispered to himself. 

“Are you?” Loop asked, just sounding curious, “I’ll certainly take your word for it, but I didn’t notice it myself.”

Ingo scoffed softly. “You were the one to say I didn’t have a lot going on other than being pretty. And just straight out called me dumb.” He looked away. “...you know, I don’t even have a reason to be here?”

“It’s Siffrin’s quest. You need Rally to beat the king, and until yesterday I couldn’t use it, so that’s why Leana’s here. Wherever she goes, Jeremiah goes, a party needs a healer so Brathy joined, Mellia’s got personal reasons… I guess Eddie’s here because of me, but he’s truly excited for adventure…”

Ingo squinted at the couch. “...I’m just here because I have to always be a part of things. I told Siffrin I’d come, even when people told me not to, and likely made the council decision more difficult, despite having no…useful purpose to the group, and now I’ve just made everything harder just by…existing. Being so stupid, having a dumb allergy to preservatives. It was already humiliating at home, having to change up food provisions…”

“Did I? It was probably true at the time,” Loop said easily, listening to Ingo before giggling softly, “Actually, I take back my take back, you are very dumb. I would say something comforting, like, ‘allergies’ isn’t an intelligence thing… but! It’s dumb to have assumed you could have seen that type of allergy holding you back for this. If it's something you have to eat and you need to avoid? Well, you didn’t eat anything. Apparently it was some sort of stone particle getting into the air or something. Not something you could have seen coming, is what I mean.”

“...you know,” Loop smiled brightly, “I’m very allergic to pineapples. Deathly. I died by accident, once, eating a pineapple in one of the challenges.” They paused. “It’d have been a very stupid way to die, if I didn’t come back from ‘failing’ challenges, over and over. But that doesn’t make me stupid. You know that.”

Ingo didn’t look incensed by Loop’s comment, but he didn’t look comforted either. Instead, he just muttered despondently, “The dumb thing is assuming I’d ever be good for anything.”

But he did listen to the rest of what Loop mentioned, eyebrows raising a little at the pineapple allergy. Ooph, that was a rough one… “...it does sound like an awful way to die. I’m sorry you did, even if you do come back,” Ingo said softly, “...did it at least taste good before the attack set in?”

“It tastes spicy,” Loop said, “Not bad.”

They still had it on occasion. Why not, after all.

Loop stretched their legs a bit, resting against the side of the couch as they peered at Ingo through their long lashes. “...it does sort of sound like you’ve made a bit of a nuisance of yourself. You’re a bit of a busy body, it sounds like.”

Bizarre. Ingo tried to imagine what a spicy version of a pineapple would taste like. He supposed the acid had a similar tingly feeling to spicy things, sort of, but…heh, now that was a difficult thought experiment. 

“Even saying it that way is kinder than some descriptions I’ve heard,” Ingo confirmed, tilting his head a little to keep Loop in his vision. “People keep a lot less close to the chest than you’d think, maybe. I just like hearing about it.”

…and doing things about it. Because if he managed to make them smile, then…the world felt a little brighter. 

“Even if it’s not like that now, I figure you could…at least conceptually relate, a little,” Ingo mused, “Since you know Siffrin, and…at one point decided to help them. And everyone frozen.”

“Can I relate?” Loop asked. “I’m not sure… A part of me wants to say that I enjoy attention. And that…” Loop paused, considering their own life experience, “...attention tends to be a trade. You do things that make people like you? Appreciate you. And they’ll finally, finally look at you… give you space in their lives. Maybe even, dare I say, love you sometimes! But first you have to earn it.”

“...but in truth, I don’t know if attention is what actually motivates me,” Loop admitted, looking around, “I certainly don’t get any around here. I’ve only talked to shadows on the wall. The only real bit of attention I get here is challenges that personalize themselves to hurt whoever’s taking them on. Sometimes that’s nice. It’s nice having a whole room, a whole dungeon, all about you. It’s nice to be seen.”

“But it’s not the same as actually talking to someone, I’ve recently rediscovered,” Loop said, giving Ingo an amused look, “I don’t know why I help people. Maybe it is for attention, but I’m just very bad at getting what I want. Why do you do it?”

Ingo’s expression softened a bit, finding himself relating a little more to what Loop was saying. Not entirely, because what was his life than proof that you didn’t need to earn love to receive it. And…many of the people Ingo did things for never loved him or would pay him any mind, and half the time that was by design. Doing things in secret, ideally no one discovering it was him. 

…but people making space in their lives for him? Maybe it was…just backwards from what Loop was saying. Ingo just desperate to make the space he was given worthwhile.

He nodded a little, understanding what Loop meant about the customized rooms--even if it was bad attention, sometimes any form was still incredible--before returning the amused look with a little smile. Looking at Loop for a moment, before his smile grew into…well, still a shadow, but one of a more familiar cheeky grin. “Feel free to dispute it, but I’d toss my guess in saying that maybe you’re just a kind person, Loop. Despite that kindness not being repaid.”

The question turned at him, though, Ingo shrugged a little. “...I suppose I just like seeing people happy. Things just feel…” He trailed off for a moment, thinking. “...better. Less scary, maybe. But more like things are okay, if someone can find something to smile about during their day. Or even just feel at ease, if they’re not the smiling type, though I do have a bit of a preference.”

Ingo’s expression softened into a bit of smitten fondness. “I think people are exceptionally beautiful when they smile.” Because of a genuine reason to smile, actual happiness driving them. Not just the expression, regardless of situation.

“Me, kind? Clearly nearly dying has scrambled your brain, bubble butt,” Loop tsk’d, “But, think what you like. I certainly can’t stop you. I’m not a tyrant.”

Loop, surprisingly, tensed slightly at Ingo’s explanation. They looked away, looking a tad uncomfortable… before their expression relaxed. “Well, who am I to judge why people do anything? I suppose people do look nice when they smile. If you’re into that sort of thing.”

It felt foolish, but briefly, Loop brought their hand up to where their mouth might once have been… before they shrugged again, putting their hands on their lap. “To each their own. I suppose that’s why people keep letting you butt in, really. You are charming, it’s hard to deny. And it is usually nice to have someone positive around. You have your place in this group.”

“I think lack of air to the brain literally does that,” Ingo mumbled, before giving Loop a long look. Maybe his brain indeed scrambled enough, either to slow down his thoughts, or encourage odd connections. “...you don’t need a mouth to smile, Loop. Or, at least for what I like about them. I think you’d be quite stunning, with something real to smile about…more than you generally are, I guess,” he hummed sleepily, the weird floatiness in his head definitely not about to let him sleep soon, but, well…maybe making Ingo a little more loose-lipped than usual. 

Softly snorting, Ingo looked to the side with a grim smile. “I do appreciate the flattery, though that is stretching things a bit. …I kind of feel like that at home, but, here? I’m not sure how much an optimist is needed…especially when all I’ve been doing is stumbling over myself and making people worry.”

Loop, again, looked startled… before they waved their hand at Ingo. “Charming~ me, stunning? Well, I certainly won’t argue.”

But for how confident the wording was, they still seemed a little uncertain and taken aback. And, well… they would be. Since they really only had the barest idea of what they actually looked like, now. They knew they didn’t have a mouth, that their head glowed, that their body had become doll-like in its anatomy… but they had never looked at themselves properly. Not in a long time. 

It was too unnerving, to look in the mirror and think ‘what on earth is that?’

“Well, I’m just trying to be a bit reassuring, charming. Though I don’t think I’m wrong. Your sister is a bit of a hardass, I doubt she’d let you be here if you truly were just a brat begging to come along. You have a value that she is most definitely utilizing. She just seems the type to not tolerate anything else,” Loop said, before shrugging, “But, that said? Even children dragged along for their own sake can find value in a group. It’s not hard to find a way to be useful. But it’s also not hard for something to happen to you and, boom, suddenly you’re the heavy weight. It could have happened to any of them, is what I’m saying, it’s just luck that it happened to you.”

“She lets me get away with a lot--sibling privileges,” Ingo hummed, frowning a little at the description of ‘children’, specifically. “...even if she’d rather I really was still a child.” A bit of the irritation and hurt from Leana’s confession before bled through Ingo’s face, before he shallowly sighed.

“...I guess so. Even avoiding risks, injuries and accidents still just…happen. Just hate feeling like it’s always me.” Slowly bringing up his heavy arms, Ingo tested flexing his fingers a bit, before loosely crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ll just have to make a good case about them not fighting the king foolishly…or leaving entirely. I’ll just make it impossible for them to drag me out, so finishing here will end up being the only choice,” he decided, pouting a little.

“Is it always you?” Loop asked, raising a thin eyebrow, “I’ve only known this group for three days, but you don’t seem particularly unlucky in comparison to the others. But of course, I can’t guess how things have been for you all before.”

Ingo grimaced, before tugging at his blanket, er…Jeremiah’s cloak? (@////@) Pulling it off half his body, Ingo pointed to the set of dark, slash-like scars coming out from his shorts on his left side. “...it’s a bit of a long story, but essentially…the old Myprosian regime was trying to resurrect a dragon, cementing their hold over Eslley. More or less, we were in kind of the last battle, trying to stop that plan, final push… Got hit by this ‘raining arrows’ spell. My aunt had insane reflexes, got off a seraphim spell before I bit it, but it still left me in no shape to keep going. Just…watched everyone head in, going to a fight we all had our hearts in, but…chances were spelling suicide.”

Ingo’s eyes dulled a bit, before he sighed and kept going. “The big scar on my back I don’t feel as bad about, from how I got it at least since I was covering someone, but I was in med-watch for weeks after. Got sick right after meeting Siffrin, so it was a few days before we actually managed to hang out again. Couldn’t tell you how many meetings or events I’ve missed from being knocked out from a tea date gone bad…”

“It’s always me,” Ingo grumbled.

“That does seem like a lot, yes,” Loop said good naturedly. But there was definitely something a bit indulgent in the accession. Yes, yes, you got injured quite a bit, but, “You were in battles, though. It seems like someone getting injured should be expected. And I’m sure I’m not hearing about plenty of battles you were in that you saw the end of. I think you’re just focusing on the times you didn’t too much, charming.”

“...okay, I’ll bite,” Loop giggled, giving him a dryly amused look, “What on earth is a ‘tea date’?”

Ingo stuck his tongue out a little, looking away as he huffed. …maybe. Maybe that was true. People got hurt all the time in battle, that’s why clerics were so important, and…yeah, he’d been in a lot of fights, and…there were a lot of them where he’d only come out a little bruised… But the ones he got completely taken out for always felt so important. 

…he’d hated watching everyone he cared about nearly walk right into their deaths. Ingo didn’t remember anything about sitting on the outer battle field, waiting for the end, until the skies had cleared and he’d seen his family walk out triumphantly. Though his aunt scolding him for nearly reopening his barely healed wounds by running to meet them was a clear memory. 

Sighing a little, Ingo looked back at Loop a bit sheepishly. “...okay, n-not real dates, but…asking someone to get a drink! Or buying something for the person behind you at a cafe. Just…sometimes you get unlucky and someone slips something into your drink and then you wake up half a day later and your parents yell at you because you missed a big meeting that we were all supposed to be at.”

Ingo said. Like that was a completely normal, mundane and expected thing to happen.

“...nooooo?” Loop said, hands pressed together in their lap, expression nakedly incredulous, “No, that’s not a thing, darling. Or, not a thing you say like ‘that’. You need to practice telling that story in a mirror a bit. Add some horror to your tone, maybe some valiantly held back tears. What on earth are you talking about?”

Ingo just gave Loop a confused look. “...no? What do you mean, ‘that’s not a thing’? I-I mean, I guess it doesn’t happen to everyone, ‘cause I know a lot of people who never accept drinks they haven’t made themselves, but…it does happen. Just have to accept the risk, for trying to flirt.”

“Nothing’s ever happened,” Ingo shrugged at Loop, “I usually just wake up in a bathroom stall or behind gutter gates. Which is kind of gross, I guess, but it’s not like I’ve ever been injured.” Ingo paused, looking up at the ceiling for a moment. “...usually lose my pocket money. Had my wrists tied once, too, that was a weird one.”

“Hmmmm… no, still horrifying,” Loop decided, tilting their head a bit, now looking at Ingo like he was some bizarre specimen they had stumbled across in the wild, “This is common, where you come from? You get drugged and mugged? I mean, it’s still horrifying even if it is common, but I suppose I can accept your tone about it a bit more if that’s just… hmm.”

Loop squinted at Ingo, a tad uncomfortable. “...I feel like if you’re getting regularly drugged, charming, perhaps you really should stop accepting drinks from strangers. Not to victim blame, but also, stop doing that.”

Ingo went quiet, an uncomfortable look now coming over his face. His body language going smaller, for as much as it could while he was still laid out on the couch. “...I mean, I’ve never told anyone, ‘cause it’s embarrassing, so…I assume that’s the same for other people too.”

Though he did have a feeling he was a bit more unique as a repeat offender. Most of the time his flirting went…well, not great, but not ‘I’ve been given a roofie’ badly. And he couldn’t help it, really. People were just amazing! And if they were a woman, and thus it wouldn’t be weird, he wanted to let them know! A-and, you know, maybe find a romantic partner! So it was just a numbers game at that point, and sometimes Ingo lost, was all. 

Ingo opened his mouth to explain that, defend his flirty ways as he’d been doing for years, but…all of a sudden he deflated, looking unsure and defeated. “...I guess so. No point in trying to start anything now, anymore, since I’ll just be shipped off, like next year or something. Months.”

“Oooooh, you should definitely tell people. Especially if it’s happened more than once~” Loop said brightly, “Because it shouldn’t! And someone could have helped you with it by now. If it sounds like I’m scolding, I am.”

“And what do you mean, ‘shipped off’?” Loop asked, “I’m almost afraid to know, by this point. I feel like I’m about to hear in the most casual tone possible that you’re about to be sold into slavery or something. Your standards for how you should be treated are just awful.”

Ingo made an uncomfortable face. He’d tried to involve his family as little as possible in his romantic endeavors…though he supposed they’d involved themselves now. 

“Me getting married,” Ingo reminded, frowning a bit at the extreme example Loop gave. “Since I’ll be marrying a crown princess, most likely, I’ll be moving to their home, and since I won’t be marrying anyone from Eagane…me getting shipped off. Even the closest continent is still a few weeks by ship, depending on the current.”

“Ah, I see,” Loop said, “You seem less than thrilled about it. Can you refuse?”

Loop had noted that before, and…Ingo just didn’t have it in him to refute it again. Loop had been right, after all. Other than still trying to convince himself, which was still very much a work in progress, there…wasn’t anyone for him to convince. And it wasn’t like Loop cared either way. 

Sighing softly, Ingo said, “...technically. It’d be a whole…embarrassing hassle, for our country and not just me, since we’ve already sent the invitations, but…my dad and everyone did ask me before we planned the ball. And when marriage talks first started coming up, I could’ve refused then.”

Ingo’s eyes lowered. “...I’d just rather it’d be me, than my sister or my cousins. And I’m no good at leading, or any of the governance stuff. I’d at least be helpful as a bargaining chip.” He attempted a small smile. “I’ve always wanted to be in a relationship, so it is more my forte than theirs.”

“Well, jumping into marriage does sound a little less harrowing than dating, I suppose,” Loop said, “I wouldn’t know, I admit. But then, it seems like neither would you. At least in this we have something in common.”

“...at least you don’t have to worry about being drugged by your spouse,” Loop finally said, sounding a little uncertain, their voice ticking up a bit as they reasoned out, “I’d advocate you being in an open relationship again, but honestly, dating seems to be a bit dangerous for you. Along with going to a cafe. Or…drinking? Tea? I’m assuming that’s what you do with tea.” 

“...does it?” Ingo asked uncertainly, blushing a little at Loop pointing out that, yeah, okay, Ingo wouldn’t know. “Marriage is an enormous commitment, it’s a vow under Abatea’s eyes herself that the person you’re marrying is someone you’re committed to cherishing and uplifting for your whole lives… And for my marriage, it’s another vow that Eslley is going to have an unconditional ally.” …and a country willing to consider better trading contracts, and to offer financial aid to a country that was…quite behind in the world economy. At least that was Ingo’s understanding, from the little he was able to glean in meetings. 

Ingo softly tapped the sides of his boots together. “...but I guess you’re right about…that commitment being reassuring in itself. I can’t really be panicked about being dumped…” Or any of the other scary stuff about dating. 

Though, going to a cafe?

Ingo blinked, looking at Loop in surprise before making a little ‘:o’ face. “Oh! S-sorry, Siff didn’t know either, but I guess I wasn’t thinking… Yea, you drink tea. It’s a hot beverage like coffee, but instead of seeping beans, it’s with other plants, usually leaves or flowers.”

Looking at the ceiling again, Ingo hazily considered something. “...Siffrin didn’t like it much, but you should absolutely try it, when this is all done. I can ask someone at home to make a pot, if I’ve kind of ruined cafes for you.”

“No, not at all. Cafes are familiar to me, though… plants?” Loop gave Ingo an amused look, “So, is it water that tastes like… grass? Vegetables? It doesn’t sound appealing. Still, if I go with you, well… a good piece of scenery can make up for any poor experience.” 

Ingo snorted softly, before breathing in a shaky breath. “Some taste like grass. I had green tea once from…I don’t remember, but somewhere foreign. Most bitter, grass-like thing I’ve ever tasted, including grass. The teas I like, though, are more like…drinking something that tastes the way the best flowers smell. And I’d say don’t make up your mind until you’ve had a good orange spice tea.”

“Mm,” Ingo hummed softly, “I do know some great vantage points. The backside of my home looks out over a cliff, and if you can get up on the roof right after rain, it looks like the whole ravine is filled with rainbows. One of my favorite sights in Eslley, to be honest.”

“It sounds nice,” Loop agreed, that amused look deepening, “...but I did mean you, charming. You’re a very appealing sight. Whoever gets to marry you will at least not be suffering from the view. Of you. Specifically.” 

Ingo blinked, at first giving Loop a startled look, before his face lit up red and a little squeaking noise came from his throat. 

Loop had called him good-looking before. In several ways, honestly. But there was just something…different, about this way. It not being a tease, or some offhanded thing said like a fact. Loop was saying that they liked how he looked, and his spouse would be lucky because of that, all said in a…

Flirty. Way. 

While he’d been uncomfortably cold, suddenly now Ingo felt far too warm, his stomach fluttering as he felt the need to get out from Loop’s amused (confident, expressive, snarky, kind, gorgeous) gaze, but wholly unable to look away. 

If life were a comic, this would be the moment a cloud of steam erupted from Ingo’s head, thoroughly flustered. 

“Thanks,” Ingo managed to squeak out, his voice an octave (or two) higher. 

Loop laughed lightly at the reaction, “Having another allergic reaction? You’ve gone very red, bubble butt. Here, let's put more water into you just in case.”

Loop took the canteen, encouraging Ingo to sip at it again. They knew they were being a little silly. Ingo would never flirt back, and in some ways Loop wasn’t sure if they’d want that. If they had had almost no sexual interest before everything had happened, literally having a smooth, doll-like crotch had sort of taken any sexual desire out of the book for them. And for romantic… well. Loop didn’t have high hopes or expectations in that regard. Not for anyone. Not ever. 

Easier to be realistic. 

But, that said… flirting was fun! Flirting with someone who was in absolutely no reasonable position to take you up on it? Darn near relaxing. Loop would probably be more flustered if their flirting could actually lead to anything, but, it couldn’t. And they were entirely okay with taking advantage. 

“I’d hope not, but my body having an exaggerated response to you is far from out of the question,” Ingo said, bright red and his eyes still wide and trained on Loop. Looking almost awed in his fluster. “My poor heart’s not having a good day today.”

…even if it was sort of a joke, Ingo still accepted being given more water. He probably should stay hydrated, or something. (Especially when he was so thirsty. Honestly he’d take anything Loop was putting in his mou--)

NOPE.

Ingo choked a little on the water, turning even more red.

“You’re a funny little thing. If it makes you feel any better, which it probably shouldn’t, anyone who drugged you missed out on a very nice date,” Loop said, taking back the canteen after a moment, “You’d be delightful to spend an afternoon with. Preferably fully healthy. And not locked in a dungeon.”

…damnit, why did this keep happening with people who weren’t girls?! And while he was pre-engaged!

Ingo brought an arm up, coughing a bit into the back of his wrist, his heart beating wildly. “...better situations to be in, yeah. Though I’m glad I’m here, since you are. It, uh…”

Looking still just incredibly flustered, Ingo fussed dumbly with his fingers a little. “...i-it can’t be a date, but…would you want to hang out, when everything’s over? If you’re not already sick of me, when you have a world open,” he grinned sheepishly, “Have you ever seen a Noctma? I’m pretty sure they only live in Eslley, s-so… If you can catch ‘em right before or after hunting hours, the spots on their fur make it look like a sudden meteor shower.”

“...” Loop didn’t say anything for a moment. Just looking away from Ingo, staring at nothing in particular. Lost in thought. 

……when the world was open, hm?

What a thought.

“I have not seen a Noctma, no,” Loop said, looking cheerfully at Ingo, “You’ll have to show me. Someday.”

Ingo, for the first time since waking up, lit up, beaming brightly. “It’s a promise, then.”

-

As Levi expected, to his dismay, while he had managed to stay home last Friday, come Monday he was back at school, actually with a good bit of homework done, thanks to Rose’s visits. 

He still…didn’t feel great. But with painkillers in him, he could at least walk around without feeling like his bones were going to jitter and pop apart, so that was something. And considering that between his mom and his friends all making a fuss, the faculty knew he’d been away for an injury and he did get a few pity points to cash in over the incomplete assignments. 

And he had gone to class! Sat through lectures, figured out what was going on since he’d been gone…but in a completely different way from staring at the ceiling at home, Levi’s brain was fried, and he was Done. Oh, he hadn’t left school, no, he was still being a good little student and staying…close, at least. But he had needed some fresh air, so a little walk around the edges of campus sounded nice. 

Which it was, and very peaceful, until Levi had been walking near an old storage shed and heard, “uuuRAUR!” 

…???

Levi paused, looking around. Just one of the school courtyards, frost on the grass, nothing by the fence… “uuuuR…rrr…” Levi turned back to the shed, before carefully kneeling down. Lazy gold eyes widening, as he peeked under the foundation. 

-

It was rare to see Levi in any sort of hustle, but there he was, hustling, his jacket oddly bundled in his arms.

Grace glanced up from where she was looking through her locker. It was the middle of class, but she was working on a research paper that had her out and about school, taking advantage of the empty hallways. Well, should have been empty. Levi hurrying down the hall, unusually quickly for him.

It really wasn’t any of Grace’s business… but she could practically smell the mischief coming off of him. It smelled like cut grass. 

Revealing herself by closing the locker, Grace called out, “Levi, what are you doing?”

“Heeeeey, Grace,” Levi drawled, tone casual, if offset by the way he kept glancing down at his jacket. “Wow, what’s a top-notch student like you skulking about the slackers’ hour? Don’t tell me you’re turning over a new leaf this late in your career!”

From there it would just be too easy to avoid her question or say a bunch of nonsense around it…but Levi glanced down at his jacket again, his smile straining slightly. “...since you’re not in class and all, think you’d mind doin’ me a solid and getting the door to the lounge?”

Grace glanced over at the lounge doors. She considered demanding to know what on earth was squirming in his jacket, but, well, she supposed she’d find out faster by letting him in. 

So she opened the door, watching him head inside before following suit. “What are you doing, Levi? You’ve only just gotten back to school, you’re causing problems again already?”

“Causing problems? Little ol’ me? Too cruel, Grace,” Levi drawled, though his eyes weren’t even on Grace as he hustled into the lounge, using his knee to open the door to the bathroom, and his shoulder to turn on the fan. Ooph, joints didn’t like that… No future as an acrobat, he was positive. 

Getting on his knees, Levi gently placed his jacket in the humidity pool before shuffling over to the knobs, getting warm water going into the deep end. And, rustling in his jacket, a small, “UuuRAUR,” sounded, before a little scaly face peeked out, blinking blearily. A tiny Therefore Infinity, not even longer than a forearm sniffing warily, before huddling in the jacket more. 

His back still turned, Levi hummed, “I know you’re all about bein’ a stickler for the rules, but I’d really owe you one not telling the faculty about the whole, non-students in the school thing.”

Grace’s eyes widened when she saw what Levi had… before her cheeks puffed in agitation. “Really, Levi? You brought in a Kyuu? Not even that, like, a baby Kyuu! Why!?”

“I found it under a storage shed outside,” Levi…didn’t explain, not Grace’s question, at least, his voice growing gentler as he shuffled back to the Kyuu, putting a hand near the entrance of his jacket that Therefore Infinity had peeked out of before, letting it know he was near again. “And I suppose I should expect as much from the trivia queen, but you’re exactly right. This is a baby Kyuu.”

Levi hadn’t turned on the light in the bathroom, and he was thankful Grace hadn’t, just using the light from the open door as he slowly and gently lifted his jacket away from Therefore Infinity. Not all the way, but enough to expose more of the Kyuu’s body. It was an emerald green bud type…though the whole bud still looked frosty, the outer leaves slightly shriveled, and the scales around the kyu-spawn’s body looked mottled. What was more concerning were some almost purple, crusty-looking scratches on the creature’s side, which Levi frowned at. He had only been able to see them for a second when he had coaxed Therefore Infinity out from under the shed, and seeing the rest of its condition he hadn’t wanted to stick around outside, but…that wasn’t good.

“There you go, bud, about to get nice and warm,” Levi softly promised the Kyuu, lowering his jacket and swiping a gentle thumb over the top of its head, before glancing back at Grace. “...Therefore Infinity eggs don’t hatch in winter. Even crystal forms can’t survive in the cold when they’re this young.”

Grace pouted again, very much wanting to continue scolding Levi for clearly breaking a very well established and repeated rule–No unknown beings, especially Kyuu, in the school!--but… ugh. 

Coming closer, Grace gave the Therefore Infinity a more appraising look. “What do you think happened? A late bloomer?”

“Dunno,” Levi said truthfully, watching the water start to fill the deep part of the pool, steaming. “Could be early bloomer too, Kyuu not getting the memo spring’s not for a few more months. But this little guy isn’t gonna make it to spring chillin’ out under a shed.”

He gave Grace a side-eye. It was already a good sign she hadn’t gone off to tell a teacher, and babies did tend to garner more sympathy, even Kyuu babies, so maybe… 

“Think you’re up to implicating yourself in some rule-bending? ‘Cause I could use a hand. Don’t really wanna leave this little buddy alone if I can help it, but it needs those scratches looked at, and a meal couldn’t hurt either. If anything, I’d just appreciate you letting Helios know I need a favor.”

Grace sniffed, pouting some more. She really should tell a teacher… but, the little Kyuu clearly did need some help. And it had big eyes. It looked pretty pleased with all the attention it was getting. Like it was having an exciting day.

Ugh. “Fine. But only for a little bit,” Grace insisted, stomping off. 

“Thank you~” Levi sang after her, “Owe ya big time for this!”

“GrrOU!” Therefore Infinity chirped after him, drawing Levi’s surprised attention for a moment before he chuckled softly. 

“You knew exactly what you were doing, calling out from under there, huh? You’re gonna be quite the force to be reckoned with, when you get older.” Smiling amusedly to himself, Levi pulled out one of the sleeves of his jacket from the little cave the Kyuu had made of it, dipping it in the warm water and waiting for a moment to make sure it wasn’t too hot. “Alright, time to get all clean and cozy, bud. Let’s get that frost out from your scales…”

-

“LEVI!! ARE YOU OKAY?!” a loud voice boomed into the bathroom, Helios bursting in through the door with a heated, frantic energy. 

Helios was always happy to…well, okay, he didn’t want to be a liar. Levi sometimes asked for weird stuff, so Helios wouldn’t do any favor the senior asked him. But he was happy to do any food-related favors! A-and especially any favors Grace asked him, because she was super put together and smart so anything she asked would be a good idea, a-and Helios just wanted to help out like a cool guy, you know?!

But Grace asking on Levi’s behalf for a food-related favor? Helios’ bread and butter, pun intended, if something that set his nerves ablaze in worry, considering, yanno, Levi had just come back to school from a massive injury. 

…there really was no balancing out Helios’ energy, but Finneas had been curious when Grace came by their class, so he’d tagged along as well. But of all things to find, he hadn’t expected…

Startled by the sudden loud volume, Therefore Infinity leapt from the shallows of the humidity pool into Levi’s arms--Levi wincing a little--huddling against his stomach but peeking out around his arm. 

“Is that a baby Kyuu?” Finneas breathed, bewildered.

Getting his breath back, Levi soothingly rubbed Therefore Infinity’s ear nubs and waved Helios down with his free hand. “Perfect scores all around today; yeah, it is. And, uh, more of an indoor voice, ‘Lio, please. I’m fine.”

“Sorry,” Helios whispered loudly, ducking into his shoulders sheepishly, before marveling at the little Kyuu. And perking as he put things together. “Oh, you wanted food for it? I did bring some fruit, would that work?”

“Absolutely,” Levi smiled encouragingly. Before he glanced down at the Kyuu, still seeing its claws furled in his shirt. “...once I convince this buddy to let go of me.” 

“What on earth are you going to do with it?” Grace asked, leaning against the sink counter, “I mean, are you going to report it to someone, or… you can’t just take it home.”

Finneas, tamping down his instinct to seethe in envy that a baby kyu-spawn was nestling in Levi’s lap, gave Grace a confused look. “...who’d he report it to? A coordinator?”

Levi snorted a little, untangling Therefore Infinity from his shirt and placing it back in the shallows, the little Kyuu seemingly placated from being separated with the reminder of the warmth of the water as it wiggled happily. “True point, and I could just take it home…if I wanted my grandpa to actually slaughter me. Or my sis to snitch.”

Carefully creeping closer, not wanting to spook the Kyuu again, Helios put down the container he’d been holding and knelt by Levi, still peering curiously at the creature. “...should I just put food on the ramp, or…”

Levi eyed his three underclassmen for a moment before grinning. “...you guys wanna feed a baby Kyuu?”

Finneas was practically vibrating with the desire to say--

“YES!” Helios whisper-shouted, looking starry-eyed.

“....I mean, yeah,” Grace said, still annoyed, but, well… of course she did! Look at it! It was adorable! 

Risking coming closer, Grace spoke softly to the little Kyuu. “Hello, Infinite… does anyone know why these ones were called Therefore Infinity? I can’t recall.”

Chuckling softly, Levi looked at the food Helios had brought and nodded approvingly at the apple slices--those would be perfect. With a brief explanation, Levi demonstrated to the others how to hold the slices by the ends and hold it just below Therefore Infinity’s mouth once it had sniffed the food (“I don’t think it can use its vines yet, but this is how they’d hold food for themselves.”) and to hold the last bit in a flat palm (“It’s not big enough that a bite would even break skin, but you might feel a little nibble.”). 

Looking amazed as he fed the Kyuu, Finneas awkwardly spoke up. “It’s because there are so many forms of Therefore Infinite, and new variants are always popping up. L-like this one is a bud form, which a lot of the young look like, but you can kinda tell if it’s a succulent form or a type of flowering form, fruit forms or crystal forms, lava forms, tidepool forms, coral forms, sweet forms…” 

He trailed off as he realized he’d gone a little more than an explanatory list. “U-um, but, yeah. It seems like all the different types are infinite, so…Therefore Infinity.”

Levi grinning, watching Finn get through the explanation. “Well said.”

Finneas gave Levi a suspicious look, before shrugging and moving out of the way for the next person to feed Therefore Infinity, the baby Kyuu looking thrilled at the veritable buffet presented to it.

“So cool~” Helios marveled, before looking back up at Levi. “You didn’t answer before, though. What’s gonna happen to this fella?”

Sighing a little, Levi crossed his arms over his knees and shrugged. “Hope that one of the coordinator guilds has room, I guess. We’re not really supposed to take in Kyuu that aren’t going to be a partner, though there is an exception for infants. Baby Kyuu aren’t helpless, but they have a much better chance if they get care for a few months after hatching.”

He grinned sardonically. “Maybe I’ll take the Drampa’s wrath--Bear Witness has fostered a lot of baby Kyuu over the years, since local and migrant Kyuu keep laying eggs at Grandpa’s house. Know this guy’d be safe and snug there, at least.”

Grace’s eyes, for all her attempting to be very adult and grown up about this, wobbled and dazzled in amazement as she held the fruit how Levi had instructed. Gasping lightly when she felt the Kyuu’s tongue. “Awwww… well, you can’t just put it back under the school either way, so it makes sense to take it to your grandpa’s.”

“And baby Kyuu might not be helpless, but like you said, leafy guys like this aren’t supposed to be hatching in the middle of winter. Just putting it back outside would probably be a death sentence.” Grace frowned. “Mmm… yep. Levi, it’s official: the smart thing to do is to take this Kyuu to wherever you’re going to next. You already weren’t going to be in class anyway, might as well do it sooner rather than later.”

Helios flushed a bit as he took in Grace’s reaction to feeding Therefore Infinity. Y-yeah…super cute…

Levi raised an eyebrow. “Whoa, who said I wasn’t gonna be in class?”

He was met by, somehow, four unimpressed stares, even Therefore Infinity matching the others’ looks. 

Sweatdropping, Levi put his hands up. “Yeesh, okay, okay. Fine, once my jacket dries out I’ll take the tunnel back to Opelucid, get any and all Kyuu off school grounds.” And it was the middle of the day, Drampa for sure wouldn’t be home this time. Therefore Infinity would be alright if Bear Witness was home, and they could just sleep under the heat light in the atrium together. 

…how would Levi explain a baby Kyuu suddenly showing up in the house? …he could think of something on the way, and he knew his grandpa wouldn’t turn away an injured baby Kyuu regardless. 

Finneas frowned a bit. “...you’re gonna take a kyu-spawn on the tunnel? I know O Night isn’t here, but…wouldn’t flying be faster?”

Levi shrugged a bit. “Sure, but not warmer.”

(...and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold onto O Night’s harness and Therefore Infinity at the same time. Not with how his rib was feeling right now.)

“You should just ask the princess for help. She could probably have a private carriage here in five minutes. And she’s kind of obsessed with you, sort of, not really, but kinda,” Grace said, “She’d help if you asked. Do you want me to ask for you? Nevermind, I’m just going to go ask Madeline, stay here.”

And without another word, Grace headed off. 

Levi watched Grace go with raised eyebrows, before he snorted, amused. “There’s Grace for you. Oh well. I won’t complain about a free ride.”

“Then why weren’t you thinking of asking Maddie in the first place?” Helios asked, genuinely curious. “She had that whole thing at your house before about helping you out with travel.”

Finneas wasn’t sure that that was exactly the princess’s intent, more just wanting to give a helpful get-well gift that was, uh…a little over the top, but Madeline did seem to have a focus on Levi either way. 

“Just didn’t think of it,” Levi shrugged, gently sprinkling water from his cupped hands over Therefore Infinity’s bulb, the bud not looking healthy, but at least less frozen than before, “I’m just used to taking the tunnel if O Night’s out doing his thing. But it probably would be less trouble getting this little buddy around privately.”

“...I’d hope no one would try attacking a baby Kyuu, especially on the tunnel,” Finneas muttered, feeding Therefore Infinity another apple slice.

The corners of Levi’s mouth tightened for a moment before he nodded. “...yeah, me too. Uncle Torn has better things to do than rip some jerk a new one.”

After a bit, a high pitched sound started to fill the air. At a distance, you could be forgiven for thinking it was, perhaps, some sort of high pitched alarm. Or a kettle boiling. Or a fabric of the universe ripping at a seam.

But then it got closer, and no, that was– “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” Madeline squealed, crashing into the bathroom and excitedly looking around, “A baby!?”

Since the sound had had significant lead up, Therefore Infinity wasn’t as startled by Madeline’s entrance, though it did huddle a little closer to Finneas, peeking warily at the new person. 

Helios, now an expert, put a finger to his lips even as he gave the princess a wave. “We gotta be calmer around the baby, Maddie, it gets scared.”

Amused, Levi gave Madeline a lazy wave as well. “So I’ll assume Grace gave you the rundown--willing to lend a hand? I’ll be willing to concede this little buddy might not find the tunnel as calming as I do.”

“Oh of course,” Madeline whispered, clasping her hands together and beaming happily down at the little Kyuu, sucking in a little, barely squealed breath, before nodding fervently, “Leviiiiii it’s so cuuuuuute okay okay okay, ahem.” She took a breath, clearly trying to calm herself, before gesturing for Levi to follow her.

“Come along, Levi,” she continued to whisper, skipping a bit as she headed out of the bathroom, down the hall, “I’ll have my driver sent for promptly, we’ll get to wherever this little flower is going to on the double~”

Levi chuckled softly before shaking his head a little, giving Helios and Finneas a wry grin. “...either of you guys gonna snitch if I steal some school towels? I’ll bring them back~”

Levi would Not bring them back, and Finn knew this, but as he glanced to the tiny Kyuu nuzzling up into his hand… “I-I mean, it has to stay warm while you guys are out… I won’t say anything.”

“My lips are sealed!” Helios chirped.

“You guys are the best~” Levi sang checking on his jacket. Time to get a Kyuu to safety.

-

Out in front of the school, one of the towels still steamed warm and wrapped around Therefore Infinity, Levi caught up with Madeline. “So, I was thinking’ of sneakin’ this fella into my grandpa’s house, but if you’re springing for a ride…have you ever been to the Urban Kyuu Rescue? It’s way closer than Opelucid, and they have a bunch of incubators and free-roam areas for kyu-spawn, so it’d probably be a better place to drop Therefore Infinity off at.”

“I have never heard of that place in the whole of my entire life,” Madeline smiled sweetly, “I will have my driver take us there post haste! One moment~” 

As the carriage approached, Madeline headed to the front of it, animatedly talking to the driver, giggling and hopping onto her toes, her hair bouncing against her shoulders, before she hurried the door, climbing in with Levi. “I’ve been assured we will be there presently. Oh, such a sweet little thing,” Madeline cooed, looking at the little Kyuu on Levi’s lap, “Look at those eyes! I could die, Levi, truly. Augh… I know why I can’t, but I do wish I could have my own Kyuu partner. I used to beg Mommy and Daddy to let me have one when I was little, but, well…”

Madeline smiled, shrugging lightly. “There were always a dozen decent reasons why not. But, still! It’d have been delightful!”

While Madeline was away, Levi pressed a hand to his side, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. …okay. 

In the carriage, though, he gave a little grin, happy to let Therefore Infinity peek out of the towels at its leisure and curiously look at the princess, letting out a few little coos. He nodded knowingly at Madeline’s wish, holding the Kyuu stable against the minor rumble of the carriage. “Think a lot of people confuse being partners with a Kyuu with having a pet, which makes all the rules around workin’ with ‘em super strict. Though I can see why, with little guys like this--it’s just a baby, after all, so they have all that baby cuteness that drives people wild, without the smarts you get from growing up. But it’s important to remember that while some might have totally different goals and instincts, most adult Kyuu are just as intelligent as any humanoid species.”

Levi snorted a little. “I know O Night is smarter than me, for sure.”

Giving Madeline an encouraging look, he offered, “If you let it sniff you and get used to ya, it might be happy to get some royal head scratches. Therefore Infinity are generally super chill, so they’re a good genus to make casual buds with.”

“O Night is smarter than all of us, there’s no shame in it,” Madeline said sagely, before lighting up, scooting closer and trying not to squeal as, slowly, carefully, she reached her hand out.

…gently pet.

“Eeeeeeeeeeee,” she whisper-squealed, “babyyyyyyyyy.”

“UuuRAUR :}” Therefore Infinity nuzzled up into Madeline’s hand, looking absolutely spoiled. After huddling, freezing, under the shed, being pampered by so many people had made this the best day. 

“True,” Levi laughed, before smiling at the scene in front of him. He could get why people were scared of Kyuu, sure. They were beings made of the vestige of a god that had been leading their home to destruction, they had powers and abilities that even to coordinators were still being discovered, and to the average person seemed like arcane magic. A lot of them were big, strong creatures, and there were a decent percentage that were really aggressive and territorial, because people didn’t know how to interact with them. 

…but Levi really couldn’t understand why anyone hated kyu-spawn. They were incredible creatures, and taking the time to understand them granted you insight into how huge and diverse the world really was. Any time he could help facilitate someone having a good experience with a Kyuu, even someone that already liked them like Madeline, Levi felt…

Heh. Hold on, crackshot, that’s almost close to having an ambition. Don’t want to get too far ahead of yourself.

Spending the carriage ride fussing over Therefore Infinity, the ride was over in a snap. The rescue center was called ‘Urban’, after all. Swaddling Therefore Infinity snugly back in the warm towels, Levi started scootching out of the carriage after Madeline.

The mixed feelings on Kyuu was on full display at the front of the urban ranch, the most immediate thing they noticed as they stepped onto the sidewalk being a sign at the front, singed at the edges: If you see fire please knock first before calling for help!! Thank you!!!

And then, attached on a smaller sign board, nailed into the side of the first fire one, was a sign that read IF THERES A STORM HAPPENING JUST ON TOP OF US PLEASE DO NOT KNOCK WE KNOW!!! THANK YOU!!!

And then, a much bigger sign, leaned onto the first two signs and half shattered, like at one point it had been the original sign holding up the others and then someone had to rapidly nail them all back together again, read a sign IF YOU SEE A KYUU THEY ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE OUT HERE, DO NOT APPROACH, PLEASE KNOCK!!!!! THANK YOUUUUUU!!!! And that one was signed at the bottom right, Sunny the Rancher~~~

Behind the signs was a large, stone building, out of place looking in comparison to the tasteful, colorful wooden structures that made up the rest of the street. The stone building itself wasn’t all that elegantly designed, but there had clearly been an attempt over the years to make it prettier, artwork of flowers and kyu-spawn painted onto the stonework, and some of the flowers and vines looking like they were purposefully cultivated there… though, the rest, like the clearly overgrown lawn, with random patches with noticeable bald spots, like something had dug through them, was clearly just the flora around the house taking over as their owner’s attention was divided into more urgent things.

There were also lots of barriers, all pointed towards the building. Wooden gates in odd, mazelike patterns, some large wooden poles that were in random spots in the yard, like someone had decided to try to make it just that little bit harder to run straight across it, out into the road. And, doming around the back of the stone building, were larger wooden gates, padded with stone, and mesh wrapped around over the top. 

It all seemed like a lot. And as Madeline and Levi approached the front door, Madeline hummed, not hesitating a second to pick off a paper that had been taped to the front of the door, reading it for herself, Dear Sunny, this is a warning that I’m reporting you, AGAIN, to the city, because AGAIN my garden has been entirely torn up. Now, I know I can’t prove one of your ‘babies’ has burrowed out again, but honestly, there is such thing as common sense, and there is a new hole in your lawn!! Something is escaping and eating my garden!! As I am a cordial neighbor, just be aware I was the one that sent the investigators again. Have a good day! -Terrior. Well, that’s very rude, maybe?” Madeline said, glancing over at the recently dug over bald patch clearly on the lawn, “Though, welllll, hm… anyway! I’m sure all of that is fine!”

Taping the note back onto the door, Madeline knocked on the door. 

After a moment, the door–three times the size of an average door and made of metal–creaked open. And above them loomed the chittering, hissing face of a creature with a long, skull-like face, massive spider arms tapping against the stone flooring as it loomed above them, white eyes blinding sideways as it hissed–

“No, no! Night Sky Eclipse, we’ve talked about this, we let Rancher Sunny always open the front door, remember!?” Scrambling from down a long hall, leaping over little hay bale barriers, a man with tan skin, brown hair and thickly covered in light scars, practically caught himself on the massive Kyuu’s legs, gently pushing the hissing spawn back as he grinned manically at the visitors, “HELLO!!! WELCOME, TO THE SUNFLOWER RANCH!!! I’m Sunny!!! Please don’t mind ol’ baby Eclipse here, it’s a helpful little thing, is absolutely convinced that just because it can open the door means it should!! Back baby, let’s give them some space! The Burnears are cooking in the kitchen, maybe go look after them!?”

Night Sky Eclipse clicked and hissed in consideration… before turning, its massive spider legs moving slowly as it headed to presumably the kitchen. Sunny took off his sunflower covered hat and waved it over his face for a moment, before looking back to Madeline and Levi. “Hello! How can I do you for!?”

Levi freaking loved the Urban Kyuu Rescue. Despite the name, the ranch didn’t only take in kyu-spawn, though they did specialize in it. But among all the bureaucracy and red tape, the ranch was the only place Levi knew that adult injured Kyuu could…well, safely go and get help from humanoid species. Not just being lucky to be a genus that wasn’t solitary or territorial, or finding a cluster that would be willing to take them in. 

Sure, unofficially he’d seen and heard stories about injured Kyuu recognizing and seeking out coordinators for help…but even that was iffy over the years, if they’d actually receive help. Despite not being all that different, past governments still treated kyu-spawn like animals, and thus an injury or illness was just…the law of the wild. As if people didn’t try to help other animals too. 

But times and laws were slowly changing, and the Urban Kyuu Rescue was the most established and comprehensive wildlife reserve and rehabilitation sanctuary Levi had ever seen. 

Even if some of the neighbors weren’t all that appreciative, apparently. 

Levi rolled his eyes a little, before looking up in amusement as Night Sky Eclipse opened the door. He gave the spindly Kyuu a little wave, before chuckling as Sunny came to the door. “Hey, Uncle Sun, no worries, it’s always nice to see Nessie doing well. We’ve got a drop-off for you, if you have the room.”

“Levi!?” Sunny realized, squinting–now that Madeline was looking, she realized the rancher’s eyes were very red and puffy, like something had recently gotten into his eyes– before grinning, “Oh! Of course, Levi! Then that must be your sister, how are you Sena–”

“No~” Madeline sang cheerfully.

“...oh! Apologies, I made an assumption! Sorry, everything’s blurry right now! Have a Gasping Breath who’s DETERMINED to live up to its name!” Sunny laughed loudly, even as he scratched his arm, “Though, seriously, if you see Gasping Breath floating around, it’s in a foul mood and I haven’t managed to herd it back to the pond yet. Just give it space! Um, you have a drop-off??”

Heading closer, Rancher Sunny squinted at Levi, taking out a rag and patting his eyes a bit, trying to clear them a bit, before searching the fuzzy image. “...oh! Ooooooooh how precious, oh noooo, oh, you’re an itty bitty thing. You can’t have been hatched more than a day or so! Oh, little Infinite, what are you doing, huh?? This isn’t your season?”

Taking out his magnifying glass, Rancher Sunny peered at the little kyu-spawn closer, before murmuring, “Crystallization, browning, bruising, yep, that’ll take some berries. Gonna want to clean and bandage those scraps, looks like it had some issues with its hatch, ah, poor thing, that must have been a struggle. Alright! Let’s get it to the greenhouse, come along! Follow your friendly Rancher Sun! Watch your step!!” 

The rancher led them through the house, which was both very homey and half destroyed, several pieces of furniture either heavily repaired or needing repair, until they got out through the back of the door.

In the backyard, heavily enclosed by massive wooden gates and the sky semi-blocked by mesh covering, were a few different enclosures. Near the back was a clay-brick igloo, pumping full of smoke, the inside clearly lit by a strong fire that you could partially see from a partially open door. There were large ponds, far deeper than they were wide, and a thinner pond on the other side that had massive square ice cubes resting in the center. To the right was a large, closed off glasshouse, filled with plants. And to the far left a ton of stones, with holes burrowed in between them.

It was a small space that was trying its best to replicate many regions at once. It was all very practical, and again, while certain attempts had been made to beautify the place, make it seem more decorative or cohesive, the purpose of the regions had taken precedence. It was messy, it was a little chaotic…

But, it was clearly working. There were several Kyuu, and other fauna with either specialty abilities or advanced intelligence, creatures that needed very specific types of help, all utilizing the different regional spaces. An Of My Eye was snoozing happily in a hole that it had dug, fruit having been dragged into it to nuzzle among. A Grey Waves was resting within the pond, little pinwheel fish swimming in circles around it. Hanging from the meshing Whispered Declarations of Love were hanging upside down, sleeping. In the frozen pond, a Shining Shivering Splendid was grooming itself against the ice.

Rancher Sunny looked around suspiciously, whispering, “No sign of Thundering Confidence… alright! Let’s go, greenhouse. Come on in~” 

“Got it,” Levi chuckled, before opening the towels a bit to let Rancher Sunny take a look at Therefore Infinity. Nodding at the assessment, Levi hummed shortly, a small vibration in his chest. “One of our underclassmen, Finn, found this little fella under a shed at school. He said it was all frosted over, so he got a little sauna going in a bathroom before he got word to me. Seemed to me he did a good job getting Infinite outta the scary zone, but we can’t really keep a Kyuu at school, right? So I figured we’d bring it here, and Princess Madeline was kind enough to help out.”

It was slow work. Considering a lot of new coordinators tended to be related to established ones, it was a hard field to just…get into. Especially because the guilds tended to be suspicious of anyone declaring out of the blue they wanted to work with kyu-spawn. With how Kyuu had been exploited during the war, and the abilities they had, there tended to be a lot of suspicion about people wanting to use Kyuus for personal gain. 

It wasn’t exactly what Finneas’ situation had been, during his possession, but how Total Mayhem had used him was…close enough that Levi knew just endorsing the guy wouldn’t be enough. 

So, he was playing the long game. The more stories people had of Finn being an ally for kyu-spawn, the more responsible he was painted, the better chance he had at actually getting an apprenticeship. If Finneas got over his anxieties about it to ever apply, but Levi had some plans for that too. 

As they walked out to the main area of the ranch, Levi couldn’t help the grin on his face, seeing all the kyu-spawn and wildlife just…chilling out. Happily coexisting in a safe, accommodating space, perfect for their needs. 

Sneaking into the greenhouse, Levi glanced back outside. “Tee-Cee still full aggro, huh? Winter does tend to be a tough time for them…not that Thundering Confidence ever really needs a reason here.”

“Oooooh, ol’ Tee-Cee’s as full of spit and vinegar as ever!” Sunny laughed, only sounding somewhat exasperated. Honestly, if Thundering Confidence treated any of the other spawn the way it did Sunny, Sunny might have long ago decided enough was enough and the stormy goat needed to be holed up somewhere else… but darnit, Thundering Confidence was so damn nice to all the other spawn. It was honestly a little insulting, watching the spawn headbutt Sunny onto his butt again, and then go lick one of the other spawn as they napped.

(Thundering Confidence was never going to be able to be properly rehabilitated. Its back leg had shattered when it had been brought in, and while it was healed and recovered, the leg would never let it navigate the mountains the way it had used to. For better or for worse, the ranch was where Thundering Confidence needed to be.)

There were more spawn in the greenhouse, but they were harder to spot among all the plants. But inside was a small pond that was warmed by the humid heating of the greenhouse, and rolling up his pants, Sunny motioned for Levi to pass him the towel-covered spawn. “Let’s do a little dump, the moisture will help, then, Levi, would you mind grabbing the medicinal berry spread and some numbing leaves, we’ll get these scratches cleaned up… You said a kid named Finn cleaned off the frost? Clever! People tend to overthink those sorts of problems, it's always good to hear someone had the good sense just to put it in some warm water when they found it freezing. Good head on their shoulders!”

Madeline hummed a bit, not correcting anything–if Levi wanted to give away credit, she wasn’t going to sabotage him–as she peeked over the rancher’s shoulders. “Are you the only one who works here? This seems like a lot.”

“Oh, there are others who help out! Contractors for building, volunteers for cleaning and feeding, things like that. But, it takes a lot of specialized knowledge to run a place like this, and, well, there’s not exactly a career pipeline for it yet. It’s hard to prove you can work here full time! God knows I just sorta fell into it,” Rancher Sunny snickered, “I need just one or two more people to get lost in the wild for a year or so and theeeeen decide to dedicate their lives to these weirdos, rather than run for their lives forever and ever, the end. Not the usual response!”

“You were lost in the wild!?” Madeline gasped.

“Oh yeah! Well, sort of, I lived off the grid for a loooong time more or less by choice, before deciding to rejoin society. Learned a lot about kyu-spawn during that time. Learned a lot about myself too! Like, for one, I didn’t want to live in the woods forever and ever. Theeee end.” Rancher Sunny giggled, gently cupping up the water and sprinkling it over Therefore Infinity.

“Sure, sure, figured I’d probably end up helping out,” Levi said blithely, heading over to where he’d spotted medicinal plants before. They looked a lot more grown in than the last time he’d been by; probably some young Kyuu learning good lessons that numbing leaves weren’t satisfying at all to eat, even if not feeling your tongue was novel. Cutting strips of leaves that would be the right size for Therefore Infinity’s scratches, Levi only gave an agreeable hum at Sunny’s compliment. Always best to let ‘em think their opinion was something they came up with on their own, couldn’t be too eager to sing Finn’s praises. 

Giving Madeline a small nod as he returned with the berries and leaves, Levi mentioned, “Gramps was thrilled when Rancher Sunny opened up this place. It’s pretty much the best way a coordinator-in-training can learn about Kyuu care and Kyuus that might not be in the area, and Uncle Sun gets free volunteer labor by folks that are gonna take it all seriously. Meant Drampa could make sure Lilia and I got our experience hours in without hovering over our shoulders the whole time.”

And given that it was a place for Kyuus to live and heal, Sagan had been more than happy to volunteer his own labor. Levi had been quietly amazed watching his grandpa heft over lumber to help Sunny with some of the more minor construction, and Bear Witness digging trenches for the ponds and pipelines. As exhausting as it’d all been, Levi had fond memories of his summers being put to work. 

He snorted a little at Sunny explaining his time in the wilderness to Madeline, watching fondly as Therefore Infinity wiggled happily back and forth under the water. Back in the sauna, hooray!

“Wooooow… I want to help!” Madeline squealed, before putting her hands on her hips, beaming, “Put me to work!”

“No,” Rancher Sunny said cheerfully.

“No!? Gah?! Whyyyyyy!?” 

“Sorry, I know, but I can’t actually just take any volunteer who’d want to help,” Rancher Sunny explained, picking up the little Kyuu again and, taking the supplies from Levi, started by wiping some of the numbing sap onto the scratches, before taking the berries and smearing it on the side. The berries hardening after a moment, before whispering to it, “Want to try floating? Come on, let's see how you do… eyyyy, there you go! You’re a natural!” 

Watching Therefore Infinity easily start to kick its little legs, floating around the pond, Rancher Sunny explained, “There’s a lot of people who just want to see a kyu-spawn or touch one or whatever, just to tell people they have? And while normally that’s okay, there’s an alarming amount that look at kyu-Spawn and are just like… hmmm… I should take a souvenir. From their bodies! Like a feather, or something they saw them holding in their enclosure. Once, a visitor tried to leave with an egg. An egg! Oh my god. Hahaha… hah.”

Laughing weakly, shaking his head, Rancher Sunny then beamed at her, “So, yeah, there’s like a whole process for accepting volunteers, vetting them, all of that. I have to ensure they’re someone I can take my eyes off of for five whole seconds.”

“Oh,” Madeline pouted, “...I’m the royal princess.”

“Hahahahahahah… oh.” Rancher Sunny grinned crookedly. “...wellll… I mean??? I guess????”

Levi smiled softly, watching Therefore Infinity start to swim around. That was better… The Kyuu would be alright, kept under watchful eyes and a warm greenhouse all winter. Heh, it’d be a little older than all its peers, come spring. Could show them the ropes, pass on the best tips for the tastiest fruit to eat, safe places to bask… Little guy would be just fine. 

…a good deed like this definitely deserved a nap. 

Levi glanced between Madeline and Sunny before letting out a tired sigh. “Maddie’s hung out with O Night since we met, and she can understand Kyuu. Your call, but I could go around with her, and we could just do stuff that doesn’t have us directly interacting with any kyu-spawn. Ooooor we could just head back to school and pass on that Therefore Infinity’s all set up. Lotta possibilities, today,” Levi yawned into the back of his arm, his tail flicking lightly, “Limitless potential.”

“Of course, I’d be more than happy to stop by after school!” Madeline smiled brightly, “To assist!”

“Hahahahah…” Rancher Sunny sweated a little… but yeah, no, no part of him was capable of insisting to a royal. “Sure! I can show you how we feed some kyu-spawn. But, wow, is it still the school day? Not to be a buzzkill, but I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to insist you both go back to class. Have to get that education all pushed up into your brains! Learning… algebra? Do high schoolers learn algebra?”

“We’re on chemistry!” Madeline beamed.

“Very helpful, probably! Gotta go learn that chemistry!” Rancher Sunny said, leaning down to pluck Therefore Infinity from the water, not trusting the little kyu-spawn would know how to climb out just yet as he put it in a towel, “Let me walk you two out the door!”

Darn… Well, he could sleep for the next few periods, he guessed, before Madeline wanted to come back. And it’d be kind of scummy to back out after he’d tried to reassure Rancher Sunny that he was willing to be an extra pair of eyes, but…hey, if Maddie got over excited and just left school on her own? It wasn’t like O Night’d scold him. 

“Paragon of responsibility as always,” Levi hummed, easily turning back at Sunny’s prompting. “Thanks for taking Therefore Infinity in, though. Know this tends to be the slow season, but new-hatches are always a whooooole extra bit of work.”

Tilting his head back and scratching his cheek a bit, Levi said in the same light tone, “Since you don’t have to declare Kyuu unless the guilds are asking about potential partners, mind keepin’ this more on the DL? Like, just not that I came by. I’ve been trying to stay on Gramp’s good side lately.”

“Sure, sure, not a problem. This little Kyuu’s got a long time yet before it could potentially want to partner with anyone, so, no need to make it anyone else’s business,” Rancher Sunny agreed, walking them to the front door, “Say ‘see you later’, Therefore Infinity! We’re gonna have to come up with a good nickname for you, huh? Oh, you’re so sweet-tempered, it’s gonna have to be a nice nickname. Can you wave your little footsie? Wave~” 

Madeline giggled, waving back as the rancher tapped Therefore Infinity’s front leg to have it ‘wave’ at them, before sighing happily at Levi, “We did it~”

Yessss, no notes coming to Lilia’s place about Levi’s behavior today~ Rancher Sunny was a total bro. Another reason why the ranch kicked butt. 

Waving back at Sunny and Therefore Infinity, Levi hummed happily and gave Madeline a wink. “Mission accomplished. You could put this on a resume, Maddie, ‘aided in a Kyuu rescue’. Though if you really are gonna volunteer here, all that might be more impressive.”

As they headed back to the carriage, he gave her a nod. “Thanks again for the ride. That went really well, and Therefore Infinity’s gonna have a great chance going forward.” Levi hadn’t really brought it up since he’d mentioned it to Grace, but…if no one had found the baby Kyuu, it likely would’ve died under the shed. They’d saved its life today.

“Of course I’m really going to volunteer! After all, he’s clearly struggling with resources and negotiating with the city, if investigators keep coming by and he has to do all those little tricks to keep Kyuu from accidentally wandering into the neighborhood,” Madeline mused, the driver hopping off to open the door for them as they got into the carriage, “And it’ll be easier to understand the crux of that whole situation if I have a little hands on time with the establishment itself… and theeeeeeen maybe I can help~~~” She giggled, smiling brightly. 

“But it was good of you to help the little guy, Levi~” Madeline sang-songed, as the carriage started to move, “And it was nice to give Finn some credit for it. You’re a mischievous little thing, aren’t you?”

Levi gave Madeline a subtly surprised look out of the corner of his eye, before grinning a bit, giving her driver a nod of thanks. Looked like he wasn’t the only one thinking a few steps ahead today. “Still a good sign that the note mentioned not being able to prove it, though. That means there’s been reasonable doubt before. Uncle Sun does have extra permits for everyone staying at the ranch, but most Kyuu tend to still be considered wild by law. Only so much you can do if a “wild animal” is in your garden, so…that’s probably the safest thing to bet on. Just a little Levster tid-bit to keep in mind, on the house~”

He didn’t think Madeline would end up getting the ranch in trouble just by volunteering, but since he’d already figured that out, couldn’t hurt to pass it along.

Snorting a little, Levi waved Maddie off. “Hey, I asked for some secrecy, but gossip still does get out. If the story gets around that Finn found Therefore Infinity, no one can get on my case about missing class. I was just asked a small favor by a classmate, no one could get uppity about that. And he did help out feeding and warming the fella up anyway, so it’s not really giving him any more credit than what actually happened.”

“It suuuuper is, but okay! Anyone who found an itty bitty baby Kyuuuuu should know to bring it to you anyway. Whatever order it happened in, it was good of you to help,” Madeline smiled sweetly… before grinning, “Let’s be nefarious and get some sweets on the way back to school!!! My treat~”

“Okay, okay, I won’t be that contrarian,” Levi laughed, before grinning. “And who am I to say no to a snack? I’ll graciously accept, Princess~”

-

There was some part of Doppio that muttered that he really shouldn’t be surprised, but he still startled when, with no warning at all from oblivion, his room started blasting out disco beats, colored lights splashing on the walls. Letting out a little breath, he peeked out of the mountain of pillows and plushes on his bed, looking for…

“Ciao, Angelo,” Doppio greeted, smiling at the angel who’d turned the top of his dresser into a dancefloor. “Nice to see you.” 

He sat up a little more, looking around his room. There was still room to decorate, but it was really starting to come together, from when he’d moved in. All the aforementioned Critter Crossing plushes, of course, but a low bookcase filled with fairytales, cookbooks, and finance texts, a very velvety-looking loveseat with even more squishy pillows on it, a work desk that had sorting containers filled with chess pieces, clay, and clay molding tools, a poster from the Usott hockey team on the wall, right next to a safety poster about what sort of chemicals were particularly dangerous to mix, which were both across from a huge print of a coelacanthe, and a small stack of journaling supplies on his dance-stage dresser, which he’d yet to put away properly. 

All those things were around. But no…

“I thought you were gonna bring Arven around when we did this?” Doppio asked, more confused than accusing.

Amaina looked over to him from where she was boogieying down, giving him a mildly confused look… before singing out Right in the middle of it!? Ruuuuuude but alright.

And before Doppio could even hope to guess what that meant, Arven suddenly fell in from the ceiling, landing on the mattress with a bounce and a startled yelp, before just as rapidly sitting up and grabbing the nearest cute cat-looking pillow and shoving it onto his crotch as he shouted, “AMAINA! I WAS… WHY!?” 

OoO your boyfriend missed you it’s not my fault

QOQ HE WAS SO PUSHY HOW COULD I SAY NO!?

Again, he shouldn’t have been, but Doppio was surprised when Arven suddenly dropped in, though his face immediately lit up. It had only been a few days, but still…he’d missed Arven. 

“Sorry,” Doppio laughed sheepishly, before pushing himself up more properly through his pillows. “But I did miss you… How’s your Freeze going?”

Arven whined, taking another pillow and throwing it at Amaina, who stuck her tongue out at him as she caught it, hurling it back at him in one clean movement, the pillow ‘frumping’ against his face as he huffed, just taking the pillow and adding it to the pillow already on his lap.

“Ugh… I mean, for me, individually? Not bad. But, Aceto, you would not believe what happened!” Arven said, giving Doppio an exasperated look, “Hinata showed up! Half frozen! Through the snow! Her family drove her out, can you believe that!?”

All of Doppio’s warm excitement from seeing his friend and boyfriend dropped out of his face, all at once. Shock flitting by his freckles in an icy, pale blue, before horror and concern came by in dark greens and deep purples. He gaped for a moment, before asking in a small, worried voice, “But, she’s okay now…r-right?”

“Yeah, of course, I wouldn’t have brought it up like that if she wasn’t,” Arven quickly reassured, giving Doppio a small smile, before huffing, “I’m just still pissed. Can you believe that… She’s staying with us for the freeze now, but I swear, I just want to punch her father in the face. Jerk.”

OoO I can give him horrible nightmares if you want

“...” Arven considered this… before nodding, “Definitely. Make him piss himself.”

OvO on it!

Arven watched her still swaying happily on the dresser.

O.O

OoO I can multi-task

“Okay,” Arven said, before looking back to his boyfriend, “Sorry, I came in really hot on that. This just happened today, so it’s still on my mind. What about you? I hope your freeze has been less eventful than mine.”

Doppio let out a little sigh of relief, though by the way the inside of his cheek slotted between his teeth it was clear he was still worried. Hinata was his friend, but even if she wasn’t…the Freeze was dangerous. Being exposed to freezing temperatures that low, inevitably getting wet no matter how layered or prepared you were, the struggle of moving around in that much snow even if you had snowshoes or a sled…it was deadly. 

Hinata had been out in it, and even just that was horrible, but if she had… Doppio knew Arven wasn’t that callous, to say it so casually, but…still. Something scared nestled in Doppio’s chest. 

“Her father drove her out?” Doppio repeated, before letting out a long sigh, an empathetic pain scrunching his face. “We don’t talk about family a lot during our lessons, but…she has mentioned her father sucks. That’s awful… Parents shouldn’t drive you into the Freeze.” 

Doppio started gnawing on his lips. His new parents didn’t do that, and…well, he knew Tsume would never. At least Hinata was safe, and…

(he hoped whatever happened with her father went better than with his)

“N-no, I get it, I… I’m really glad she’s alright with you guys.” Doppio attempted a small snort. “Kiba didn’t insist on you guys having a big sleepover in the den together with all the dogs, did he? I guess you wouldn’t really be noticing it asleep anyway, but I’d feel a little bad about drawing you away from something like that.”

“The Freeze has been mostly fine here,” Doppio assured, nodding…before blushing a bit sheepishly. “I, uh…decided to not be a vegetarian while we’re stuck inside, since it’s a lot easier to make and plan big stews ‘n stuff that are warm and hearty with meat. We made a huge pot of cassoulet today and the house smells amazing.”

Almost as an afterthought, Doppio shrugged. “Had a blackout today too.” 

Arven just smiled when Doppio talked about the stew, having no strong feelings about his boyfriend’s diet choices either way. If Doppio wanted to be a vegetarian sometimes and not others, Arven would just keep it in mind as best as he could. It was ultimately just whatever made Doppio happy. 

Though… Arven frowned. “A blackout? But, I thought… didn’t you only blackout because of possessions? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Doppio assured first, nodding to Amaina as well, “Though, uh…it turns out blackouts in general just might be a me thing. Maybe just exacerbated by my father, I don’t really know.”

“Apparently Uncle Matteo just found me standing in the hall?” Doppio shrugged, this all coming second-hand, “And I wasn’t really responding to anything, so everyone just kinda got me onto a couch and kept an eye on me. I, uh…”

He grinned sheepishly. “When I ‘woke up’, Uncle Firenze was in my lap, and Dante was messing around on his guitar nearby. It was…kind of nice, honestly. Really calm way to come back into things.”

Arven sighed, though he scooted over to Doppio, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him into a hug. “I guess that’s alright… I’m a little disappointed for you, I guess I was hoping that wasn’t something you had to deal with anymore. But it sounds like your family can manage it.”

OoO You’re the universe again and then again sooooo 

O.O I dunno maybe you can’t be that big without ‘skipping’ sometimes

OOO JUST A GUESS

OoO but yeah the upgrades should be useful for dealing with it

O.O

OoO stilllll can’t believe I missed the whole ‘wolf’ thing really dropped the ball there

“It’s alright, angel, it’s not your responsibility to make sure we get exactly what we want,” Arven said, “And it turns out living with werewolves is great! We didn’t do it tonight, but Aceto’s right, it’s probably going to be a lot of dog piles this freeze.”

OoO no I mean I can’t believe I missed YOU’RE a wolf

“I’m not,” Arven said, rolling his eyes, “According to Tsume, I probably had wolf ancestry that makes me smell right? And gives me a good sense of smell too, along with a small hormone thing during moon shifts, but for ‘being a werewolf’, I’m not. I’m human.”

Doppio happily nestled into Arven’s arms, hugging him back. Ahh…he’d missed this. This week would really suck if he and Arven weren’t lucky enough to have a P O W E R house as a friend. “Yeah… I mean, it’d be nice if I never blacked out or had memory gaps or any of that stuff anymore…but it’s not the end of the world that I still do. I was used to dealing with them before, and I’m learning how to get used to them in better ways with more help now.”

He shrugged a little at Amaina’s theory. “Maybe… I’m an idea of a person, but maybe not one that was made with the idea of being, like…’on’ all the time. Even outside of when I get really overwhelmed with stuff, sometimes I just kind of feel like I need to…’stop’ for a little bit. Mariah and Lazaro say that’s not really a unique feeling, though.”

Snorting a little, Doppio kissed Arven’s cheek, before grinning teasingly. “Come on, can’t even concede to being a little not human? You’re really stranding Angelo and me out here, with our ‘we have weird existential circumstances’ club.”

“I fully support and am available for all your existential crisis dread,” Arven said nobly, patting Doppio on the back, “But, honestly? Maybe if I had heard about my ‘wolf ancestry’ before I met you guys, maybe I’d have made it a bigger part of my identity… but I know you two.” Arven smirked lightly. “Who, according to everything the royal family has ever said to us, are unique even among the unheard of. Being around you guys makes me feel very normal. In the sense that, even if I’m a little supernatural or something, it’s not in a way that changes how I exist in the world, like you guys. Comparing myself to you two pretty thoroughly grounds me in reality. Humbles me.”

OoO Dr. Mariah says that when you break our situation down we’re VERY normal, thank you very much!

O.O

OoO though I think she just meant we have normal feelings about things

O.O

OoO and by ‘we’ she meant ‘Doppio’

QOQ WHY DON’T I GET THERAPY!?

“Amaina, you sit in on all of his therapy sessions, there’s no way you’re not getting helped too,” Arven told her dryly.

QnQ mmmmmm

OvO I do usually get my own little chair and snacks so alright

OoO anyway the golden cat said Doppio’s not not human he’s just a new type of human soooooooooo

OOO THE KITTY BOY BAND HAS DECIDED

“Boo,” Doppio booed, smirking back at Arven, “Get an inflated ego, a sense of overblown individuality and uniqueness. Have a crisis about being the only person like you out there. I have too much saved up advice to only use it for myself.”

Nodding that Amaina was absolutely benefitting from his appointments she sat in on, Doppio hummed shortly. “I still don’t totally understand everything Alter Ego’s said about existence, but I do kinda like that idea about a new type of human. Um…descendent of mind, rather than body, I think they said. It does make it a little easier to think about stuff, especially when it comes to my father.”

Rubbing Arven’s arm affectionately, Doppio was quiet for a moment, before tilting his head, making a questioning sound. “...does Hinata know about the werewolf stuff? I mean, it’d be a super long freeze if it was still going on by the next full moon…and I guess she and Kiba have been friends for ages.”

“I have no idea, actually,” Arven admitted, enjoying Doppio’s little touches against his arm, “I sort of assumed no, so I haven’t mentioned anything close to it. But I haven’t asked anyone.”

Putting up his palm, catching Doppio’s hand and interlocking their fingers a bit, Arven said, “But I’m sure the family is thinking about it, either way. I trust that they can come up with a plan and make it work. They’ve been keeping their secret this long already. The only reason I knew was because they were convinced I transformed too.”

Tapping his palm against Doppio’s, Arven said, “It’s kinda sad, why werewolves hide themselves so much. It’s kind of wild, how recent it was, comparatively. Obviously a lot of people didn’t know werewolves were a thing, but the way Tsume explains it, most of the big hunters knew exactly what they were hunting. It’s scary to think how bad it got.”

OoO Empaths too

OoO it’s scary to be an empath in Luminary

OoO better in Dicea but it still spooked people

Doppio nodded a bit. However Arven’s family decided to do things, it’d probably be fine. Even if Hinata didn’t already know--which would make sense to Doppio, considering how often she came by the Inuzuka house unannounced over the years--then…well, he couldn’t really imagine her being anything but a little surprised at first. 

She was a really kind person, similar to Kokichi, in that regard. Doppio couldn’t see it going poorly. 

But while it sucked, he did understand why that was a thing to consider at all. 

Tapping his fingers on the back of Arven’s hand, Doppio sighed. “Even having that kind of…zeal, I guess, for hunting regular animals is still pretty terrifying. I’d kinda like to think people were smarter than that, but…the right kind of propaganda can make anyone seem crazy.”

“...Prince Kokichi’s said there still isn’t anything to report about the people who were looking for a Tulpa,” Doppio noted. “I feel like it’s such a weird concept that I don’t even know what Empaths or psychics would do, especially since it’s not like they can poke at my brain anymore, but still better to be selective with the knowledge, I guess.”

“Who could meet you and want to hurt you?” Arven asked, and though that was a very naive thing to say, he believed it. Kissing Doppio’s cheek, Arven said, “If anyone wants to dare, they’re going to have me to deal with… and by me, I mean Chief, and Amaina, and your family, and my family, and the royal family, and Maki is still very intimidating, and…” Arven shrugged, smiling, “We’re okay, Aceto. I’m not worried.”

Doppio felt like there was a very well-established list of people who’d met him and wanted to hurt him, some of which Arven knew, but…well, Arven’s point still stood. Anyone who wanted to mess with him? Or Amaina or Arven, for that matter? Had a much longer laundry list of people who’d stand in the way very intimidatingly. And competently. 

“We are,” Doppio agreed, returning a kiss to Arven’s cheek. “...you think Hinata would mind if we all went to go stand intimidatingly outside her house, when things thaw? I know I would’ve hated that, but her dad always sounded more like a pure jerk than a, uh, neurotic one like mine, when she’s mentioned stuff.”

Doppio tilted his head against Arven’s. “Lazaro really likes Hinata, he’d be happy to go back her up on stuff. And Uncle Eddie and Abramo would really just jump at any reason to be a little unhinged. Especially once we’ve been all cooped up for a while.”

“We should probably ask her, but I think Kiba’s practically gearing to do it now, freeze or no freeze.” Arven said, “I’ll admit, I’ve been making a lot of ‘going to sic Kaito on him’ jokes today. Kaito couldn’t intimidate a cat out of a bag, but he’s weird enough about stuff like this to be weirdly obsessive about it… though, again, it’s been mostly a joke and we’d probably just want to do whatever Hinata wants us to do.”

OoO I dunno about you all but I’m getting plenty done right now

“You get bonus points if he can’t sleep for the rest of the night, Amaina.” 

Doppio was starting to get that it was all the same sort of vibe, but… He frowned a little. “...even if it is hyperbole, or a joke, please don’t let Kiba go out during the Freeze. If she’s with you guys now, then everything can wait until outside is safer.”

…or, well, most things. 

“Don’t think it’s up to you, Angelo, but I’d think it’s one heck of a nightmare if he ends up reconsidering everything he’s done to Hinata,” Doppio scowled, before huffing softly. “I hate to say Kaito’s right, but…an apology, or them at least saying they were wrong is kind of like…the pinnacle.”

OoO I’m not a miracle worker 

O.O

OOO HAH NO I AM

OoO but I can’t force people to be who they’re not

O.O

OoO I’m pretty sure I’ve never actually tried and I’m not going to

“Really?” Arven asked, raising an eyebrow, “Don’t get me wrong, that’s wise, I think, to not experiment with that. Just never thought of you as someone with that sort of self restraint.”

OoO Senpai loves me so long as she can be proud of what I do

O.O I don’t want to be a part of senpai that she’s ashamed of

OoO so maybe I could maybe I couldn’t I don’t know and I never will

OOO BUT MAKING A GROWN MAN PISS HIMSELF I’M ALLLL ABOUT

“You’re very cool, Angel,” Arven smiled lightly… before giving Doppio a soft look. “You’re talking about what he said that day you guys baked together, right? Kaito’s kind of an idiot, 90% of the time, but that was the day he was talking to you like he wasn’t trying to be your dad, right? It’d make sense something he said that day would still ring true. He had his own weird history, right? He knows a little about it, at least… I don’t know what I’d do with an apology from my mom. But…” Arven tilted his head back, frowning, “...it’d be nice to get the chance to reject it. So I guess it’d be nice to have it.”

As someone who was, uh…more malleable in a lot of ways than the average person? The idea of magically changing who someone was did sit uncomfortably with Doppio. Sure, it kinda seemed helpful for some things, but…it felt like a type of cheating that wasn’t just a means to an end, entirely. More lost than gained, even if the lost stuff wasn’t exactly stuff you wanted. 

Even erasing time wasn’t a ‘escape consequences’ panic button. 

Doppio gave Amaina a soft look--she talked about a type of pride he was familiar with, but he couldn’t imagine her senpai being ashamed of her--before snickering a little. Scaring the shit out of Hinata’s dad was well-within the range of cool stuff to do. 

“Mm, yeah,” Doppio confirmed about when he’d had that conversation with Kaito, shrugging a little tiredly. “The apology wouldn’t change anything, really. The shit they did still happened, and…I at least would find it insulting to go on running back to them after an apology…but at least them confirming, ‘yeah, that was fucked up’?” Doppio shrugged again. “Other people can confirm it, but it just…it’s another layer of making it real, I think. That you weren’t just making things up, or perceiving things weird. And I think that helps in moving on.”

Doppio smiled thinly. “...I didn’t get an apology, but…I at least saw how warped my dad’s perception was, and that kinda did the same thing. Like…oh. It wasn’t me.”

“Ah, right. Your dad less apologized and more just gave you permission to move on with your life… ngh.” Arven huffed, “Your dads a jackass. A lot of our birth parents suck. You know what I just found out today? And I don’t know if it’s a secret, so don’t bring it up to Kiba on your own, but apparently his dad just disappeared on him too? Why do the most selfish, self-centered people end up being the ones to actually have kids?”

OoO I think you guys might be exceptions

O.O

OoO I mean at this rate barely but STILL

Of all the things his father had done, telling Doppio to go live his life wasn’t something Doppio considered jackassery at all, and even with a little distance still made Doppio kind of emotional. Whatever his dad had decided about their relationship…that acceptance proved that there was something there. 

Not anything healthy, and not something Doppio could pursue, but…well, like Dr. Mariah had said after that conversation. Without any evidence to the contrary, the moments Doppio had liked from his father the most were likely the least filtered moments his dad had. And being able to safely keep those nice moments for himself, for once accepting that it hadn’t just been him, made it easier to move on. 

Sighing a little, Doppio could only shrug a bit, having no idea why so many parents sucked. …but not all of them. “Tsume’s really cool though, and so are Shino’s parents. And even if he’s a little intense, Maki’s dad is cool. And…we might have, like…statistical biases in some way, like…people with shitty parents bonding together? Like, I bet most of your classmates have unremarkable or fine relationships with their parents.”

“Maybe… Josie’s adopted after getting taken away from his parents,” Arven said, thinking about it, “Um…hmm… I think Dimitri’s still with his parents? Though that poor guy’s living in his head, who knows what those people did to him.” Arven mused, “Ummm… I’ve heard something about Fiora’s parents, but I can't remember if it was good or bad… I seriously need to pay more attention to my classmates. I think Trish has a good relationship with her mom? I have no idea how I know that, I think I overheard it at some point.”

OoO I don’t understand how you can just ignore people little king

OOO PEOPLE ARE FASCINATING

OvO I love exploring them

“I mean, if I could just jump into peoples head and look around, maybe I’d be tempted. But most of the time I just have other things to do.” Arven shrugged. “It’s sort of a miracle I was nosy enough to even notice when you were ‘stealing’ something, Aceto.”

Doppio gave Arven a bemused little grin. “Dimitri and Eden are step-siblings, so for talking about birth parents, they each have one, and Gerard lives with his parents and siblings. I haven’t heard him talk much about his dad, but he said some nice stuff about his mom before. I heard too that Fiora got into something with her folks, but if it’s not getting CPS involved, I think it’s probably something that they could work out. Dedan mostly talks about his sister when family stuff comes up, but Khalid’s super close with his parents.” Doppio huffed a soft laugh. “I mean, I know about the chess club, but I more meant with people in your grade, since I don’t talk to them as much…and it’d be a bigger sample size. Like…we met Nela’s dad, but I don’t remember him much, and I’ve never talked to anyone else in Giovanni’s family except when Elia was with Maki before, but we did have that whole parent talk so I’d put that down as a ‘good relationship’. But I don’t really know anyone else.”

Knowing by now just how oblivious Arven could be to the people around him, Doppio just gave him an amused kiss on the cheek. “I know I’m not good at it, so I try really hard to remember the things people tell me about themselves. It’s not really an interest thing, it’s more like…I don’t want to be rude. Or have someone have to tell me something 15 times. Just 10 will do,” he snorted.

“While it went against everything I wanted at the time, I’m glad you were feeling particularly nosy that day,” he hummed, giving Arven an affectionate squeeze.

Arven gave Doppio an increasingly bewildered look the more names he rattled off… and by the end said, a tad dazed, “Do I even know that many people? I’m pretty sure I don’t. I think you made up half of those names Aceto. Classmates are a myth.” A pause, “...Eden and Dimitri are step-siblings!?”

As Arven considered the implications of all of that–they were such different people! Did they live together!? Did they share a bathroom!?!?-- his thoughts were interrupted by another little cheek kiss, and he smiled lightly, chastly kissing him back. “I missed you. It’s felt longer than two days.”

Doppio chuckled softly, nodding to confirm the information--he’d written it down, so unless Eden, Dimitri, and all of the chess club had decided to play a very strange prank, it was correct. “Sometimes I would be a little worried that your memory is worse than mine, but it’s more like…you just don’t give a shit about most people you talk to. So you don’t bother to remember stuff about them. It sounds pretty freeing,” he sheepishly laughed.

Doppio hummed happily at the kiss. “I missed you too… It’s weird anyway not leaving the house at all, but…not walking over to your place, or meeting you at the market or dog park or anything… I’m really looking forward to it when everything thaws.”

He gave Amaina a grateful look. “Even if being able to see you before then kicks ass.”

OoO I know I’m amazing

OOO PRAISE ME

“Thank you, Angel, you’re the best!” Arven snickered, leaning against Doppio, looking around his room, “...you’re so cute. I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting you to be as cute as you are, even after getting to know you a bit.” Arven said, picking up the cat shaped pillow he had grabbed before, calmed down and no longer needing its protection, “You have such a soft style. It’s sweet.”

“Grazie, angioletto meraviglioso!” Doppio brightly praised, before blushing lightly and giving Arven a sheepish look. “I guess? I mean, I never got the chance to decorate all that much moving around with my dad, just like…sheets or towels ‘n stuff like that if we needed to get some. So everything was pretty…”

He tilted his head, looking for the word. “...stark, I guess. But now, every time we’re out shopping and there’s something that I kinda want, my dads and uncles are like, ‘get three!’ Like, not even debating with me to get it at all, just how many,” Doppio giggled lightly, “And…it’s kinda nice. I like kinda burying myself to sleep.” He nodded to his bed, the avalanche of stuffed animals somehow still contained on his mattress. 

“But soft stuff is nice,” Doppio decided conclusively, “I barely ever run into stuff that hurts anymore.”

“You do like being buried under people.” Arven noted, his tone casual, unaware if that was something Doppio knew that Arven had noticed yet. “It makes sense that things like blankets and pillows would have a similar effect on you, considering the tragic lack of dog in your life right now. Chief misses you too, by the way. He hasn’t said it, but I can see it in his big goofy eyes. Where, Arven, where is Aceto? Where is my favorite pillow?” Arven whimpered.

He was kidding, of course. Chief was thrilled to spend time with the other dogs, running up and down tunnels and getting all the dog piles and pets he could want. Sometimes Arven regretted that he hadn’t found a family sooner. Chief was so happy… Arven hadn’t realized how much happier his dog would be, surrounded by people. 

He was still surprised how much happier he was. And he was happy to see Doppio happy too, spoiled by his doting, pampering family. “Your family is a fun bunch. I like that they want to bury you in anything you want.” Arven smiled, bringing up the cat pillow and booping Doppio’s nose with it.

Doppio nodded with knowing agreement. The weighted blanket Lazaro and Dante had gotten him when they met was incredible, for anxiety as they’d initially bought it for, and just for general coziness (especially as winter had come in), but for making up for the lack of his favorite guy and dog in bed with him. It wasn’t the same, of course, but it made Doppio feel secure in a similar way. Even if…

 ｡ﾟ( ﾟஇ‸இﾟ)ﾟ｡

Doppio’s eyes went wide and watery, reminded of his separation from Chief. “Chieeeeeef,” Doppio whimpered back. “I miss him t-tooooo…”

Arven laughed, wrapping his arms around Doppio and swaying back and forth with him a bit, “It’s not foreeeeveeer, just a week, maybe two! And maybe Amaina will stop being weird about dog brains and connect him–”

OoO noooooooooooooo

QnQ dog smell

“How do you smell anything–”

OOO CONNECTING DOG BRAIN IS LITERALLY THE ONLY WAY FOR ME TO SMELL DOG BREATH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Doppio sniffled a bit more, letting himself rock in Arven’s sway. A week, gods forbid maybe two… It was so loooong… Sure, Doppio liked hanging out with Scotti, but Chief had a special place in his heart. 

Though, he did give Amaina a curious look. “...do you not smell what we’re smelling? Dog breath has definitely been included in that.”

OoO No I smell what you smell

O.O but you don’t smell what Chief smells

o.o;; and Chief can smell his own breath

o.o ………….

OOO NEVER!!!!!!

“That… makes a weird amount of sense actually.” Arven said.

Doppio looked at Amaina with wobbly eyes…before blinking a few times. An awed look coming over his face. “...you can smell dog smells. And see shrimp colors.”

Arven’s eyes widened, looking to Amaina in awe, “...what are the secret colors?”

O.O ???

OoO uhhhh

O.O

OoO Like a bluish-red?

“Purple?”

O.O no.

Doppio sighed mournfully. “They’re colors outside of our, like…spectrum, so they’ll defy description… Thanks for trying, though, Amaina. Wow… I can’t believe I never considered that you could see shrimp colors before just now.” He glanced up, contemplatively. “...I guess Uncle Eddie and Uncle Firenze and Uncle Matteo can all see in the dark, and Lazaro’s got his whole…thing. Wild, how differently people can experience things.”

“Mhm,” Arven agreed, “...I wonder if you experience time differently than I do?” Arven said, looking at Doppio curiously, “Would you even notice if you did? I’m not even sure what I mean by ‘differently’, I just… time is something you can sort of touch, right? There might be all sorts of little things about it that you notice that I can’t, but you wouldn’t know I can’t.”

Doppio frowned a little, but just from thinking that through. “...I mean, yeah, I wouldn’t really know how to describe what…I wouldn’t know is different. I mean…when I use my abilities, I can feel that, and it’s usually disorienting at the least, a-and kind of painful worse than that. I kinda remember that when I did that big jump back, I couldn’t stay conscious until Angelo gave me some power. And that kinda felt like…”

He narrowed his eyes, knowing there was a specific metaphor he - ah! “Like falling into a vat of those old school, inhumane mouse traps,” Doppio landed on, nodding a little.

“Oh,” Arven pouted, “That’s not good. Don’t do that. Cool time powers aren't worth rat poison.”

“No, not poison,” Doppio shook his head, before sitting up a little to pantomime what he meant, “Like those ones that are spring-loaded, with a little pressure plate that you’d put bait on, and then a metal bar would snap down to kill the mouse. But like getting the side of your hand in one of those…but all over your body.”

Arven squished Doppio’s face between his hands. “No. Don’t like it. Don’t do that anymore.”

“Oh-kaa,” Doppio agreed, his nose scrunching a little between his Arven-squished cheeks. “Buh I do shtill ha- tuh practish.”

Arven raised an eyebrow at that, before glancing up at Amaina, who was sitting on the dresser, kicking her legs over the edge.

O.O

OoO what?

OOO GOTTA LEARN BY DOING!

OoO its a part of him you can’t deny the core of our existence.

Arven sighed, taking his hands back and placing a quick peck against Doppio’s forehead, “Fine… but you shouldn’t do it a lot if it hurts like that. Not that you do it a lot anyway. Have you lately?”

Doppio blew his cheeks out a little, combating the squish, though he gave Arven a soft smile. “I won’t… That’s what some of the practice is for, actually. Lazaro’s helping me get more comfortable with my abilities so I don’t accidentally use them when I’m panicking, which is what’d happen every time I did it and it hurt. He said, like…basically if it’s more second nature, and just a regular tool in my toolbox, then it’s not this super special thing to kneejerk when I’m startled.”

He shrugged a little sheepishly. “For like…seconds. And whatever I do, doing it focused and for that short of time doesn’t really feel like anything more than…like, balloon static. And kind of…” Doppio tilted his head again, thinking. “...less like it’s happening to me? And…I don’t really know how to describe it… Like kinda…reaching, or pulling? Like something I’m purposefully doing…physically.”

“Huh,” Arven said, taking Doppio’s hands in his, interlocking their fingers together as he scooting to be sat more directly in front of his boyfriend, “Can you show me? Not with time, but the movement.”

Doppio just sat looking blankly at Arven for a good few moments…before he softly said, “oh,” and gently disentangled one of their hands. 

“It’s…kinda just like…” Taking Arven’s free wrist, Doppio paused for another moment, before gently guiding Arven’s hand to lightly trail down Doppio’s arm…before he shrugged a little, looking unsure. “Sorry, I don’t really know how to describe it…”

Arven trailed his fingers up and down Doppio’s arms. In truth, he wasn’t sure what he was trying to accomplish. In truth, he might have just been looking for an excuse to hold Doppio’s hands. He was enjoying his boyfriend’s company, and as odd as Doppio’s abilities and perspective and life was… when all was said and done, he was idly making conversation with him. Each question and request a new excuse to not look away from him. To focus on him.

“That’s alright,” Arven said, gently pressing his forehead to Doppio’s, smiling lightly, “Maybe it’s just like Chief’s breath and shrimps’ bluish-red. It’s okay if I just can’t understand.”

Doppio returned the smile, pleased with the proximity. “Yeah…but I promise that if I figure out a better way to describe it, I’ll let you know. Sometimes the process and attempts of understanding are more fun than getting there anyway.”

“...hey, I love you.”

“I know~” Arven said smoothly… before turning bright red. His confident smile going crooked and wavey, flustered as he started to shake a little, “Shoot, I almost pulled off being cool about it. O-one day that I’m going to be so smooth about it.”

Laughing sheepishly, Arven said, “I love you too, Aceto. Amore mio~”

Doppio giggled, flustered, and turned pink, a rosy wave going through his freckles. “Il mio tesoro piu caro~”

O.O

OoO gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

-

Freezes tended to be pretty boring anyway, but Quinn now knew that spending a Freeze in the hospital was the absolute worst. Sure, the first handful of days he hadn’t really been able to stay awake much, which was aggravating but not something he really noticed. But once he’d been able to stay awake longer, and had been eased off the heavier duty painkillers, he assumed, it was just…so…

Boring. Which felt a little weird to say, when he’d almost died. 

…or, did. 

And his parents and Lyra were around, so he did still have company…even if the haunted looks (ha?) they gave him were kind of discomforting…as was the sort of huffy disgruntlement he’d noticed from his parents in the last few days and…things seemed kind of weird between them and Lyra… But since weird people talking about death…that weren’t his family or healers, had stopped coming by after Mr. Lazaro had seen him (Quinn still wasn’t sure if that was a fever dream…but the card was real) it had been…quiet. 

…so what if Quinn had started snooping on the rest of the hospital when he could focus himself into transparency? He had to fill his time with something. 

-

This Freeze had felt a little different from normal. It still sucked, in the way Edgar hadn’t been able to see Orlin for a week because his parents apparently never wanted to spend it in the community center, and Orlin had never been willing to just sneak out or leave on his own terms for the Freeze, but Edgar couldn’t remember the last time such a huge piece of gossip had hit Entente Grove right before the Freeze, causing an absolute hotbed of…more gossip, he guessed. 

Quincey Pectra had been electrocuted. 

Uh, no, electrocution meant you were dead, dipshit. 

Yeah, that’s what I mean, he’s dead.

I heard he was in the hospital, not dead. 

His folks are there, so they wouldn’t spend the Freeze in the hospital otherwise, right? 

Maybe just for clout? You’ve seen their crackpot ‘inventions’, I bet they killed Quinn and are trying to cover it up!

You’re insane, those wackjobs wouldn’t kill their own kid. 

It was the most mind-numbing week of Edgar’s life. But something discomforted had settled in his chest, listening to the town talk about Quinn’s…whatever it was. Accident, murder, attempted murder…the few theories about suicide sat with him even worse. Quinn was kind of a loser, but he wasn’t a bad loser. Edgar could remember even last year the two of them gushing over a new sketch of Roseus’ rings some astronomer had made from the latest telescope observations. 

The thought of Quinn dead… And especially if someone had done it to him…

“I missed you, honey,” Edgar said, finally after about fifteen minutes of silent hugging outside of Orlin’s house, still not enough after being apart so long. “You need to sneak out next year.”

“Sneak out!? I can’t sneak out! The Yuki-Onna would get me! She’s out there, scratching at my windows already! Every time it's windy!” Orlin insisted, stepping back and pointing up to his second floor window, slightly covered by the branches of a tree, “I always have to be extra vigilant during the freeze! That’s her time!!!”

Orlin flinched, looking up at the window furiously… before suddenly taking off his backpack and readjusting three large, tubed posters he had half buried in it. “Anyway I missed you too, WE HAVE TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!!” Orlin insisted, tightening the zipper to keep the posters steady before putting his backpack on again, “I figured it out, Edge! I put it all together!! Quincey must be warned!!! Let’s go!”

Edgar mourned the loss of his boyfriend from his arms, but Orlin was not a man to be contained. By boyfriends, popular opinion, or even his jacket. But Edgar could see a sweater under the misaligned buttons, so they’d be fine on the walk to the hospital. Putting his hands in his pockets instead of around Orlin, Edgar glanced up at his window before humming lowly. “Your window is covered by snow for most of the Freeze, though. You’d hear her trying to tunnel through it ages before she’d even get to the window.”

With a little nod, Edgar turned to walk with Orlin, heading to the hospital. “How much have you heard? I was buried in rumors all week, it sucked. A lot of people right now are talking about Mrs. Pectra and Mr. Fenton being taken to court, though, so it probably isn’t as simple as just an accident.”

“They’re being framed,” Orlin insisted, stomping his way down the snow-covered paths, certain Edgar would keep up, “I worked it all out! It’s his socks, Edge! They’re after his socks! He needs to stop wearing bright red socks! Who even wears red socks!? It's like he was BEGGING for something to happen! Oh god what if it was all a setup for a greater plan…??” Orlin whispered, starting to sweat, “Either way, someone needs to talk sense into him! BROWNIES ARE NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH!”

Hm. It would probably be easy to frame the Pectra-Fenton family--it wasn’t like their reputation in town was stellar. Exorcists…really. It was like they were just begging for their kids to get bullied. Edgar had always seen Quinn’s family as a bit kooky, a bit vindictive just by the nature of what an exorcist was, but…even so, he found himself quietly agreeing with the people who didn’t think Olivia and Xuan would kill their son. 

Really, Edgar didn’t know anyone who’d actually want to kill Quinn. Speedrick and the other bullies were total losers, but always just in the idiot sort of way, not that they’d murder anyone. 

(...unless it was an accident. Injuries could be a lot worse than they seemed.)

So if someone did hurt Quinn, and needed a scapegoat…

“We’ll give him the rundown, honey, Quinn won’t be left hanging,” Edgar assured, though he blinked as he looked up at the grey sky. “...wouldn’t brownies be all over him, though? Quinn’s kind of a neat freak.”

“It’s the socks! Augh! Why do you think everyone's socks are boring white and grays!? The most colorful ones are kept right to your heels for a reason! To hide them! Gah, I can’t explain it twice, just come on!” 

Orlin refused to be baited into explaining any more of this theory until they got to the hospital, storming up to the receptionist and saying, in the calmest voice he possibly could, “G-Good afternoon, our F-FRIEND nearly died?! We’d like to see him, please!! Thank you!”

The receptionist, maybe to their credit, only barely hesitated, looking between the two teens at their counter, before giving a sympathetic nod. “Good on ya to visit, starlings, let me see… I could assume, but if you could give me th--”

“Quincey Pectra,” Edgar bluntly cut in, reiterating, “He almost died.”

“Right, let’s… Now, kids, he’s still on restricted visiting, to ensure he has the rest he needs to--”

“He almost died, and we’re his friends,” Edgar said once again, staring down the receptionist. “He’s been alone during the Freeze too. We’d like to see him.”

The receptionist sighed a little, looking at their record books. “Well…we could ask his primary healer…”

“AHH! Please, we’re the closest people in the world he has!” Orlin lied, eyes suddenly wide and wet with tears as he leaned against the reception desk, his voice wavering in heartbreak as he said, “We’ve been so scared ever since we heard he was hurt! Just going to bed, every night, worrying WHAT IF??? What if we never had a chance to say goodbye!? After all those late nights talking about our futures, all the long days in class encouraging each other, rooting for each other, just to lose him all at once!? No warning!? When we couldn’t even leave our houses to know anything had happened!? It was agony. I just want to hold him and tell him everything’s going to be o-okay…”

Orlin looked back at the posters in his backpack, and added in, “AND WE HAVE HIS HOMEWORK!”

“Over break project,” Edgar quickly clarified, catching the problem in Orlin’s lie. “Teachers are brutal this year.”

The receptionist’s expression softened, before their mouth tightened, glancing down at the record book. Leaning forward, they put a hand to the side of their mouth. “Room 214, second floor, if you turn right from the stairs it’ll be the third door on the left. Go see your friend, starlings, but be patient if he’s resting.”

“Thanks,” Edgar said shortly, before immediately turning towards the inner doors of the hospital, remembering enough where the stairs were. 

Edgar only visibly looked a little nervous once he and Orlin were in the stairwell, and he gave his boyfriend an awed side-eye. “...I never understand how you do that so well, honey. I was thinking of just distracting them and looking at the charter book, but I had no idea what to say.”

“I don’t know, it probably means I’m a BAD PERSON or maybe I’m just a good actor, GAH, don’t ask me to explain!” Orlin twitched, storming up the stairs as he insisted, “I can’t be asked to make ethical observations on what it means for the overall character of a person who can lie well when it’s ME, I CAN LIE WELL, WHAT IF I’M LYING TO MYSELF oooooh that’s too much!! Way too much!”

Floored by the horror of trying to create an opinion on lying when he himself had the bias of lying and did that mean it was a blind spot on his moral code that would eventually end up leading him down to a life of villainy?!!? And would he still be able to date Edgar if he was a villain!?!? Would Edgar be his partner in crime!? What if they were caught!?!!?! Orlin thought about this until they were outside room 214, and shaking like a leaf, Orlin was too impatient to move on in his thought process, immediately opening the door. 

Edgar idly thought about it as they went up the stairs towards Quinn’s room. He definitely didn’t think Orlin’s ability to drum up elaborate lies on the spot--despite his difficulty in recognizing lies in others--made him a bad person, at least how Edgar defined that. And that was the most important thing, so everything else?

“...hm, nah,” Edgar decided. “You’re not lying to yourself, because then you’d be lying to me too, and you’re not. You’re just quick on your feet. It’s cute.”

As they strolled--or burst--into Room 214 with no aplomb, Quinn jumped slightly, sat up in the hospital bed, looking…definitely like he hadn’t been sleeping or drugged out on heavy stuff or…

Edgar’s eyes lingered on…well. The new things. The bandages around…most of Quinn’s body, the branching, lightning-like scars coming down from his left eye and going down under the heavy bandaging around his neck… Sure, they knew Quinn had almost died, that he was in the hospital, but…seeing him?

Edgar shifted his weight a little.

For a moment, Quinn just blinked at the newcomers…before looking increasingly disbelieving. “Uh…Orlin, Edgar…hi?” he rasped, voice quiet, “What…are you guys doing here?”

“Holy SHIT man they nearly KILLED YOU, Oh my GOD!” Orlin squawked, giving Quinn a gobsmacked look as he blatantly looked him over, “Are all of those scars permanent?! FUCK that’s scary! Fuck!!” 

“We’re here to visit,” Edgar explained, though he looked Quinn over just the same. “What happened to your voice?”

Quinn squirmed a little, feeling a little embarrassed by his classmates gawking at him. He…didn’t really get why the power duo were visiting. It was normal to visit a friend in the hospital, but Orlin and Edgar weren’t…really his friends? Sure, they’d hung out sometimes before, but the power duo were always off in their own worlds. They weren’t really the type to come by and get a laugh from a freak show, though, so…it was just confusing. 

“Most likely, yeah,” Quinn confirmed, glancing at the few of his fingers that weren’t bandaged and seeing the scars there. He hadn’t noticed for a while, but Lyra had held up a mirror for him a few days ago and…yeesh. Quinn was not looking forward to going back to school. “They’re called Lichtenberg scars, happen from electrical injuries. A-and my voice is kinda from that too. Fried my vocal chords, apparently.”

Edgar stared at Quinn. “...holy fuck, dude.”

“Oh GOD, NO that’s so shitty!” Orlin gasped, before looking around, “Do you have your clothes here!? Where are your socks!? We have to correct this before it gets worse!!! I just wouldn’t be able to live with myself, man!”

Placing his backpack on the floor, Orlin ran to the dressers, opening up random cabinets, looking for clothes. Obviously there wasn’t a lot, one outfit, some underwear, one pair of socks…

…they were white?

“Where are your red socks!?” Orlin asked Quinn, taking out his socks and showing them to him, “I know you have red ones… wait,” Orlin’s eyes widened, “Did they get them!? It might already all be over… maybe that’s for the best!??”

“Uh…” Look, Quinn would say he was used to Orlin’s…Orlin-ness, but there was no getting used to it. Once upon a time, he had been excited to meet the first kid who hadn’t just laughed when Quinn explained that his parents hunted ghosts for a living, but considering the extremes Orlin went to when it came to supernatural things, Quinn wasn’t sure his reaction was much better. 

Looking a bit puzzled with the questions about his socks, Quinn lightly cleared his throat. “My socks are probably at home? Do…I want to know who ‘they’ is? A-and I’m not going to get worse… Hm! Worse? I, uh,” Quinn gave a crooked, sheepish grin, “I’m out of the danger zone, according to the healers.”

“Orlin’s worked it out,” Edgar explained, shifting over to lean against a wall and get out of Orlin’s path. “Something with brownies and your socks.”

He tilted his head a little. “...what happened, dude? People are talking like your parents made you a lightning rod.”

Quinn balked, paling as he startled from that. “What?”  The word was just barely there, more of a squeak and aspiration than anything, before Quinn brought up a fist, trying to clear his throat, still giving Edgar an alarmed look. “N-no, no way, my parents didn’t try to… No.”

“It wasn’t his parents, it was the BROWNIES! HERE!” 

Orlin scurried over to the backpack, looking around before pulling a box of tacks out of his pocket and, with a few definitive SLAMS, pinning the three poster boards onto the door and walls, before pulling out of his backpack a small metal stick, which he straightened out long before smacking the boards. “Pay attention!”

Sure he had their attention, he turned to the boards. “So, 1200 years ago, a wicked witch, taking advantage of the desire Brownies have to keep their spaces tidy, left a bunch of rags out in her otherwise pristine mansion of the time! The brownies had moved in,” Orlin tapped hard on the picture of happy little gnome-like creatures moving into a house, where a looming witch hovered over the picture, “because it was nice and big, but then THE RAGS! They had to pick up the rags!! But when they did, they were cursed! The rags wrapped around them like burlap sacks, and cursed the brownies to forever clean the mansion, unable to escape!” 

“But!!” Orlin said, smacking another part of the poster, “Another witch saw what her neighbor had done, and having pity on them, put out a NEW curse! And that curse was that for every time the brownies collected a sock!? BOOM!” Orlin pointed to an explosion drawing, “The wicked witch would blow up!! Hearing about it, the FIRST witch panicked, and recursed the curse to make it so that only BRIGHT colors would blow her up, and then to preserve her life, she made a CURSED MIRROR that would steal her soul every time she exploded, stepping out of it. And she cursed the brownies to not be able to see any socks that weren’t BRIGHTLY COLORED!”

Smacking the picture of the socks, Orlin explained, “So, for a long time, the brownies weren’t able to find any brightly colored socks. UNTIL!! A sorceress came to visit the witch’s house to ask for help resurrecting her dead boyfriend! Who died at sea! But the witch refused, and in vengeance, the sorcerous kicked off her shoes, and threw her red socks at the brownies!! The brownies blew up the witch and made a run for it! But not all of them escaped. The witch eventually came out of the mirror, recaptured the ones who hadn’t escaped while they could, and vowed VENGEANCE AGAINST THE SEA! That has nothing to do with the socks though so DISREGARD! Are we keeping up so far!?” Orlin asked, looking wide eyed to the other boys, visibly shaking.

Edgar settled in, listening to his boyfriend’s new theory. He didn’t think a lot of the stuff Orlin came up with was true, necessarily, but he didn’t think it was completely unfounded. Magical disputes, put-upon creatures caught in the crossfire--Edgar figured there was a good chance stuff like that really happened. He just wasn’t sure it was over socks. Or had to do with…

Quinn looked over Orlin, a little concerned. “...you okay, man? I know Lyra was practically going through withdrawals this past week, but if you were with your folks…how much coffee have you had, Orlin?”

Edgar sighed quietly to himself. Trying to help with Orlin’s addiction was…a work in progress. 

“...and I didn’t blow up?” Quinn said after a moment, trying to follow at least some of what Orlin was saying. “I…” Glancing away, Quinn lightly crossed his arms over himself. “...my parents were working on a new invention. I…guess something might’ve been wrong with the wiring, or something… They thought it didn’t work, and I was curious, so I took a look… There was a safety switch on one of the undersides, which is probably why it didn’t turn on, but when I switched it…”

Edgar watched for a moment, as Quinn’s gaze went far away. “...then it shocked you.”

“NO BUT SEE…gah!” tapping on the last poster, he explained, “Long story SHORTER, brownies have to steal bright colored socks to keep blowing up the witch so that while she’s regenerating in the mirror more brownies can escape!! Duh!? I thought that was obvious!? Did you not look at my posters at all!?” Orlin demanded, pointing to the poster, where little gnome like creatures were swarming an electric machine with Quinn looking shocked against it, the gnomes stealing the socks from his feet, a picture of the witch blowing up with some of the brownies happy, “And now that they know you wear socks like this, they’ll stalk you, WAITING TO STRIKE AGAIN! GAH!!”

Twitch, twitch, flinch. “....I dunno, I’ve had a few cups, WHY!? A-anyway, we have to get rid of all your bright socks!”

“Geez, sorry…” Quinn muttered, clearing his throat again. 

Edgar huffed softly, before pushing off the wall and going towards Orlin, the presentation done. He put an arm around his boyfriend, slowly and calmly rubbing a hand down his arm. “...they should’ve just asked Quinn. You wouldn’t do shit from someone trying to steal from you. Might even ask if you could go buy more socks for them.”

Quinn gave Edgar a dry look before sighing. “...look, I appreciate you guys visiting, but…I don’t even think I was wearing bright socks when I got shocked? I’ll look through my drawers when I can go home, promise.”

“When do you think that’ll be? You’ve already been here for ages.” Edgar closed his eyes for a moment, sighing. “If not for the nearly dying part, it sounds nice. Like staying at a hotel, but people can tell your family to fuck off whenever. That kind of peace and quiet would make me so…happy.”

“I’d be happy to trade if I could,” Quinn said dryly.

“NO! I don’t want you to be in the hospital, you’d be hurt!! And the food here is TERRIBLE! I g-guess the lightning scars would be kind of cool!?!? I’M NOT AGAINST THEM!!! GAH!!!” Orlin flinched in Edgar’s arms, before wrapping his arms around him, burying his head in his neck as he tried to calm down. Too much adrenaline!! Too much!! Ahhhh!!!!!

Edgar wrapped his other arm around Orlin and tilted his head onto his boyfriend’s, able to feel the tickle of his hair around the side of his hat. Slow but firmly, he started rubbing Orlin’s back, making his breaths a little more obvious against him. “Mm, yeah. Getting hurt isn’t worth the peace…especially being away from you too, honey.”

Quinn watched the lovebirds exasperatedly for a moment. Randomly come see him in the hospital, yell conspiracy theories at him, then cuddle? Quinn really didn’t see why they had to be here for all that. 

…Orlin said the scars were cool. 

Quinn looked down, lightly touching the scars on his face. 

(...he hadn’t seen them when he’d gone to find a mirror himself.)

People were saying that his parents had hurt him, huh? That…might explain some of the weird vibes he’d been getting from them lately. 

“Hey, don’t get in your head,” Edgar quietly called out. “What happened to you was fucked up enough, making it worse for yourself is dumb.”

Quinn looked back up in surprise, before sighing quietly. “...why are you guys here?”

“TO STOP THE BROWNIES FROM KILLING YOU FOR YOUR SOCKS DID YOU NOT WATCH THE PRESENTATION, GAAAAH!!!”

“You’re our friend,” Edgar said simply, “We were worried about you.”

Quinn looked between the couple for a moment. The two massive weirdos that, maybe just because of the rule of small towns, he kept running back into. Like satellites with crossing orbits. 

Quinn smiled softly. “...thanks. I know I cut it close, but I’m really not planning on dying again.”

“D-damn RIGHT you’re not! Because we’re not going to let it happen!” Orlin said, pulling out of Edgar’s arms and stomping over to Quinn’s bed, slamming the tip of his metal pointing stick onto the bed, before pointing it at Quinn, “You’re clearly not taking my warnings seriously, so that leaves us only ONE choice!! We’re going to have to bodyguard you!!!”

The nice sentiment was startled out of him, as Quinn jumped from Orlin’s approach. “Wh-what?!”

(...again?)

Edgar nodded and sidled on over to the opposite side of Quinn’s bed from Orlin, peering over him with a lazy seriousness. “Can’t have you kicking it, so we’ll just have to watch your back.”

Quinn looked between them. You couldn’t be serious… His shock twitching into annoyance, he half-glared at the other teens. “...I could just call the healers to kick you guys out.”

“Try it,” Edgar challenged, lifting a hand to flip Quinn off.

“W-we’ll LIE OUR FACES OFF and you’ll STILL BE PROTECTED y-y-you BITCH!” Orlin cursed at him, flipping him off without hands. “I’M SO GOOD AT LYING!!! YOU’RE DOOMED!!!! TO BE SAVED!!!!!!”

“Get saved, idiot,” Edgar agreed, lifting his other hand to add another bird. 

-

Maki smirked. 

Today, she had gotten to be the ‘cool’ parent. And honestly? She was reveling in it.

Kaito was still desperately trying to punish Tim for what he had done in the study. Punishment so far had been Kaito going with him to collect dirty dishes from people’s rooms and taking them to the kitchen to clean. Beyond that, Tim had been scolded quite a bit about ‘being patient’ when it came to the freeze, and that while he loved playing in the snow ‘sometimes you just had to accept that you couldn’t do something fun for a bit’. Yes, even if you include your sister! Especially!!

That afternoon, Maki had told Tim to follow her. Bringing Chase and collecting the girls, Maki lead them up to the greenhouse, showed them how to open up a window, and brought them out to a little known square of roof that was covered in snow, the snow still falling above them as she leaned back, watching the kids play, the walls around the square area decent enough that she didn’t have to worry about the enthusiastic dog jumping off by accident as the kids threw snowballs back and forth at each other. 

When they had wrapped up for the day, Tim had reached to touch Maki’s wrist, staring at his feet as he said, “Thanks, Mom.”

Maki could have died happy in that moment. Kaito had asked her why she was in such a good mood when they had crossed paths in the hall. And why she was so wet. She told him not to worry about it, before heading to bed.

Elia was spending the freeze with her siblings, and Maki missed her as she nestled into her pillows, wrapping her arms and legs around a longer pillow, imagining it was Elia. But beyond that small ache of loneliness, Maki was happy, as she fell asleep.

When she closed her eyes, she opened them. 

Waves gently flooded around her feet, sand pressed in against her arms. Maki stared at the blue sky, uncomprehending. The playful sound of children running around in the distance, a familiar sound of a ball getting kicked around. 

Somewhere, a mountain stirred. I’m dreaming, Maki thought. Uncertain why she believed that, but knowing it was true. 

The mountain stirred. Someone’s here.

Maki tried to feel the Danger that should have instilled in her. Danger. Danger. She was in danger. She was…

…she couldn’t feel it. Her paranoia, her fear, her anger. It was like those sides of her had been closed off to her. Trapped behind a wall. Maki conscious that something was wrong, that she should be feeling a certain way, but unable to break through the wall, unable to feel why she should try, why…

Blue eyes–bluer than she had ever seen them before, bluer than felt possible, glowing even in the sunlight–looked over her. A woman peeking over her, sitting on her own ankles as she peered at her. Blond hair pouring over her shoulder like a short trickle of water. Beautiful. Beautiful in an almost inhuman way…

…Danger. Danger. Danger– “It’s okay,” the woman whispered, reaching over to touch her forehead, “...I found you…”

“Found me?” Maki asked, calmly. She was in Danger. She was calm. She couldn’t feel any other way. The mountain stirred, but Maki couldn’t fathom why it should open its eyes. Why should she be afraid?

“I found you…” the woman said again, like she was barely hearing Maki. Tracing her thumb down the side of her face, a gentle pet against her cheek. “...I always knew you were different.”

“Am I?” Maki asked, blinking at the woman. 

The woman stood up, stepping back. Maki took this as permission to sit up–Danger, Danger, Danger, why could she–before looking around calmly. 

She was at a beach. The air smelled of salt, the wind cooling against the warm sun. She was on an island, she was– (If she didn’t hurry, if she faltered even a little, then they were going to DIE the shadows the SHADOWS THE SHADOWS) she flinched, closing her eyes. Feeling dizzy.

The woman took a step back, staring at Maki. Then she pointed out into the ocean. “I could see that, sometimes. Only sometimes. No one else has that.”

Maki looked to see where the woman was pointing. 

A mountain, the only blemish of an otherwise perfect ocean horizon. Just out there, in the water. Distant, but unmistakable. “That’s me,” Maki said.

“I know,” the woman said, “I couldn’t understand what it was. I still don’t really understand. But I think… I think some part of that is what makes you you. Do you know what it is, Maki?”

Maki blinked, staring at the mountain. “...I’m not supposed to say.”

“Oh,” the woman said… before laughing lightly, something sad in her gaze as Maki went to look back at her, “...a cruel part of me thought, well, I could just pull it out of your head. What’s the harm? But… that’s not a habit I want to keep. I don’t want to just pull things out of you anymore, Maki. Not out of anyone, but especially not out of you. I owe you everything.”

Maki felt calm about this. She felt calm about everything. “You’ve done something to me,” Maki said, standing up, “I haven’t tried to attack you yet.”

The woman flinched, something guilty in her expression. “...I guess not all habits die so soon. I didn’t think you’d notice. Do you know where you are right now?”

Maki walked across the beach, sand between her toes. The woman was shorter than herself. Maki was not tall, and so that made the woman seem all the more frail. Maki stared down at her. “The island.”

“...yes,” the woman said, “Do you know what that is?”

“You’ve taken away my desire to kill you,” Maki said instead, reaching up to brush the hair out of the woman’s face, marveling at how silky it felt against her fingers. The woman was immaculate. Like a doll. “But I’m not stupid. Logically, I should attack you right now. I might still. Even though I’m not angry, and I don’t feel unsafe, and I don’t want to. I may,” Maki gripped her hands into the woman’s hair, “still kill you. Because you’ve trapped pieces of me away. And I know you shouldn’t.”

“You can’t kill me here,” the woman said gently.

The mountain stirred, and Maki felt hot. It was a heat that came from inside of her. That made her hair flow slightly in the steam she let off, gripping the woman’s hair harder as her eyes started to glow a bright, burning red. “You. Should. Give. It. Back.”

The woman shuddered, eyes widening in confusion… and Maki gasped as the rest of her came back, suddenly. 

Danger. She was in danger.

This was an Empath.

Maki stepped back, letting the woman’s hair back as she suddenly snarled, reaching for her knives, frustrated as she patted nothing but cloth. She looked down at herself, at her clothes. What was she wearing…? That was far too many belts for a dress. She glared at the Empath. “What are you doing here!? This is my mind, you have no right to be here!”

“Do you know who I am?” the woman asked.

Maki was about to demand how she was supposed to know that, when– (If you hesitate, the shadow men come and they take them. All of them. They grab their hair and they pull their heads back and they slit their throat)--she stepped back, flinching. A sudden rush of fear running though her, like she hadn’t felt in nearly a year. Like if she didn’t obey immediately, everyone she knew was going to die and it was going to be all her fault and she needed to listen, to obey, to move!! 

Maki lashed out, kicking forward to grab the woman and make good on her threat. The woman disappeared from where Maki leapt to, and Maki crashed into the sand. Panting in frustration and fear as she looked around. Where had she…?

But there was no sign of the blonde now. Warily, Maki stood back up, looking around the beach… before refocusing her gaze on the buildings? No, more like playhouses. That the sand led to. 

She didn’t know where she was. She couldn’t really remember what had made her feel like her siblings, loved ones, Elia, Shuichi, Kaito and Kokichi, her son, were going to die… but she recognized the effect of her conditioning. That paranoid fear that had always compelled her to obey. 

…fine. Let’s see what this was. 

-

As Maki walked onto the wooden pier, heading into one of the treehouses, more figures stepped onto the sand. Taller, watching the woman disappear pensively… before one of them sighed, “Well, THAT seems like a lackluster start. Is it too late to say this is a terrible idea? I mean, look, I get it, we’re never going to be able to get our hearts back if we don’t confront this stuff, but… that is a very angry, very scary woman. That’s all I’m saying. Can’t we start with someone easier?”

Namine glanced up at Axel, smiling tiredly. “Maybe… but she deserves the attempt. She’s the one who got the program shut down. She saved us… I want to try to make this work. Not just for my sake, but because I owe it to her.”

“Is it just me, or was her reaction strange… you told her to stop moving, right?” Roxas asked Namine, who nodded, “It’s weird that her conditioning didn’t kick in.”

“Perhaps trying to snare a woman specifically notorious for rebellion wasn’t the wisest choice,” Zexion said blandly, though he had been looking out into the sea the whole time. Looking at the distant mountain. The thing that had been wholly unique to…her. 

It was weird that her conditioning hadn’t kicked in. Namine’s work was nothing to scoff at. So the fact that…that woman had been able to not only recognize what was going on, but resist… 

“...she knows far too much of what’s going on.” He frowned slightly. Still looking at the mountain. “She didn’t, before. So a variable changed…”

So, then, time for observation. 

Zexion started heading after Maki.

“Oh geez, aaaaaand he’s off. Seriously, we are all begging for trouble at this point,” Axel snickered, glancing at his smaller companions as he said a tad sarcastically, “Thank goodness we don’t feel things like ‘fear’ or ‘basic survival instincts’, huh guys?”

Namine smiled lightly while Roxas scoffed. “Whatever fear you think you’re feeling? Is an illusion. We all turned off our emotions. That’s why we’re doing all of this at all, remember?” Roxas said, heading off himself.

“Where are you going?” Namine asked him, “They went the other way.”

“One woman doesn’t need everyone following behind her. You do your thing, I’m doing mine,” Roxas said, not looking back as he rounded the corner of the beach, disappearing behind some trees.

“Great. What are the odds he’s not about to make this way more complicated?” Axel asked, looking back to Namine– “Oh, come on! Seriously!?” he demanded, looking around, Namine gone too. “Seriously, the disrespect. Gooooood thiiiing I can’t feel exasperated!” Axel said, rolling his eyes as he hurried off, trying to find… kind of anyone, right now.

-

Maki was looking around the inside of one of the treehouses.

It was like something out of a dream, which, well… made sense. It was a massive, hollowed out tree, filled with little knick knacks and toys and, upon inspection, a full kitchenette setup that wasn’t actually attached to any pipes or heating wires or with any sort of power connected to it. And yet, when she turned on the oven, she wasn’t surprised to feel it warm before turning it off, and the same with the faucet. 

Dream logic. Whatever internal rules this place had, attention to detail like that wasn’t a part of it. The kitchen didn’t have to work to be functional.

On the wall, above the small, child-sized bed, were sketches, etched into the wood of the treehouse. Maki stared at them. They were simple children's drawings. Stick figures smiling in the sun. Flowers. Kids holding hands.

She was staring because one of the little etchings looked familiar. A small hat with three distinctive horizontal dashes on its side… she reached out to trace her fingertips over it. It was small, but there was something clean about the way the hat did or didn’t bend in its lineart. The artist clearly young, but good at drawing from life.

She was on the island.

But where was she? And why did that feel like an answer when it wasn’t?

Zexion had always had a sensitive sense of smell. It was really one of the wonders of the island, though once he’d grown up a little and had a more rudimentary knowledge of the brain other than ‘an organ in your head’, it wasn’t surprising at all. Scents were processed in the mind. The fact that wherever he went on the island or any of its connecting worlds he could smell the sea breeze or gardens or the way sand baked in the sun or sweets in the air was just a natural effect of their minds working together to fill in the logic of their surroundings. 

(It made breathing bearable)

Climbing the ladder after Maki, Zexion took a breath of deep, living wood, before he crossed his arms on the floor of the treehouse, watching Maki. 

“Shuuichi Saihara,” he answered a question not asked, “If you’re finding it difficult to recall, here.”

This time, Maki didn’t hesitate. 

She grabbed a thin, wooden block from the ground, one of many little wooden play blocks, and turned back to slam it against the face of the man who had spoken behind her. But, by the time she had moved, he was now a foot further back from where he had spoken. Gripping the block in a new way in her palm, she threw it at his face, but without even a flicker to suggest movement, he was a foot to the side, the block hitting the wall on the other side. 

Maki paused, considering the man. “...hitting you is going to be difficult,” she concluded. 

“And unnecessary,” Namine said, walking into the treehouse door, “We’re not your enemy, Maki. We came to talk.”

“You separated me from entire chunks of my own emotions as an introduction,” Maki said dryly, “If you’re not enemies, that still doesn’t make you allies.”

Half-sitting on a low bookshelf, now, Zexion nodded, before glancing dully at Namine. “She is right, you know.”

He looked back to Maki, something searching in his one-eyed gaze. Not literally probing; if she had even been able to, Maki wouldn’t feel the fine-toothed rake of someone going through her mind…but just looking at her. Like she was a puzzle box he was examining. 

“We could be allies, though. Now that we’re both lacking a certain regime breathing down our necks.” His curious gaze narrowed, looking over her again. “...how did you resist your conditioning? That wasn’t just a coping method. And you’re not a psychic. They never took you.”

“...” Maki’s eyes narrowed, eyes darting back and forth between the woman and the man. The man, like the woman, was nearly immaculate in appearance. No hair out of place on his blue hair, not a single blemish on his skin, no little lines suggesting any ailment such as sleep deprivation or dehydration or too little or too much oxygen. Nothing. More like an extremely realistic doll, than a person. 

A body designed. Maybe designed based on something real… but still designed. 

Maki took a step back, her mind making quick connections. “...you’re more Togamis,” she realized, looking between them. “You’re Luminary Empaths.”

“Togamis?” the woman said, looking a little startled, “No one calls us that… My name is Namine. This is Zexion. We’re… yes, we’re from the Togami Corporation, I suppose.”

“The only person I’ve ever met who was trained and still primarily lived in the factories was a man who called himself Togami,” Maki explained, “I got the impression it was a title more than a real name.”

“Eh, maybe,” said a red-head who leaned on the doorframe, shrugging. “Names are weird in the factory. I wouldn’t pick the name of the damn factory myself, personally, that seems creepy, but we’re all familiar with picking our own names. Mine’s Axel,” Axel smirked, tapping his forehead, “Got it memorized?”

“...I don’t know how to feel about this,” Maki admitted. “I’ll admit, I’ve never thought about the Empaths in the warehouses much.”

“That was a bit by design.” Namine said gently, “Anyone who came and went from our doors? Usually didn’t feel much about us at all. It was… easier, I like to believe.”

So she put that together too. She shouldn’t have been able to. Knowing what an Empath was, knowing that there were Empaths in Luminary, connecting them to the Togami Corporation… She knew the whole circumstance. 

How? 

Zexion gave Namine a dull look. “Easier for us. Easier to control people when they don’t even comprehend what’s manipulating them. Though it’s hard to say if giving hundreds of people personal vendettas would be easier or harder to cope with everything.”

He shrugged a little. “Seemed to work out for you, though, even if I wouldn’t call warfare easy.”

Pausing for a moment, Zexion tried again. “...would you be willing to offer more information for a trade of some sort?”

Namine looked sadly down at the ground. “Yes, easier for us, but… I liked to imagine it was peaceful. To not be angry.”

“Well, that’s our whole philosophy, isn’t it? The fewer emotions the better?” Axel pointed out, before snickering, “Well, used to be anyway. For as much as any of us actually managed to pull it off.”

Maki stood there, tense, listening to them banter at each other. In some ways, she knew she was fine, because of the mountain… but in every other way? This was extremely alarming. These were… these were the people who had made controlling her possible. For her entire life. Who had wiped themselves from her memories, the warehouse, even the desire to know about them or the warehouse. These were people who had taken her mind, and made it their own.

And she was trapped on an island with them.

What did she know? She knew they were all mostly low level empaths. The sort of power level that could be trapped in a building with no way out. If Kokichi was in the same situation, and was willing to just flex a little, he could have controlled the guards, opened the doors, and been led out with an apology and a newly reformed, recreated citizen, exactly as he preferred them… or at the very least called for help. These guys couldn’t, and hadn’t, so they weren’t that strong.

But they were strong enough to manipulate memories. Or, at least one of them was. They were strong enough to jump into minds and manipulate them, at least all of them were. Was her mind in danger? Was Maki as a person at risk?

No. The mountain. She had to trust that…

Maki relaxed her shoulders, forcing her stance to loosen as she considered the ‘offer’. “What are you trying to trade?”

Honestly, Zexion was…undecided if he wanted his emotions back. By the time he had been dragged into the compounds, the others had already well-established the island and their methods for…being. And while he supposed he had always been a bit precocious, Zexion supposed it was reasonable for a 7-year-old to feel a bit squeamish torturing people. At this point, he’d spent the majority of his life without emotions, and he was certainly doing just fine. 

(Despite what Marluxia, Axel, and Xigbar said, he did have a sense of humor.)

For all that he understood them mechanically, the whole realm of emotions was a field bursting with discovery to make. At the same time, anything that brushed Ienzo felt like the worst pain he’d ever experienced. 

So for now, Zexion was a little more focused on understanding the intricacies of conditioning than finding his humanity. He had little doubt there were many more motivations among the others as well. 

“What would you want?” Zexion asked back. “If I’m understanding your recognition right, you know a lot of what we’re capable of. As for information in the physical world, I’m afraid, we don’t have much to offer there.” He gave Maki a look that nearly bordered on sarcastic. 

(A sardonic look from a bright blue eye over a shoulder, before returning to his book, curled up in a corner.)

“Physical favors, as well, you’d find lacking from us.”

Maki tilted her head slightly, appraising Zexion. Trying to figure out…

(“You shouldn’t just stare,” she huffed, having caught him looking again, fed up with it as she pushed over the wooden block tower she was building to pass time, even if it was a baby toy, “If you want something, you have to say it. Just staring is stupid.”)

“If you don’t have anything to offer, just say what you want then,” Maki said, moving her weight from one end of her hip to another, “And I can decide what it’s worth.”

“Oh, this is a bit more combative than I meant any of this to be…” Namine whispered.

“What were you expecting, Witch?” Zexion asked, almost bored, “Anyone would be happy to speak with us? That we’d put people right back in the crux of the power imbalance they’ve had since we met, and they’d laugh at the reunion? Isn’t it quaint to see each other again, now that everything’s changed?”

His one-eyed gaze was heavy on her. “Nothing has, in this realm. We have nothing to offer any of these people but pain, subjugation, and our own desperate attempts to relieve our guilt. Nothing more…yet.”

Zexion looked back at Maki, his expression a little firmer. “How were you able to resist your conditioning? Barring psychic interference, it should be impossible.” It was barely there. Don’t focus enough and you’d miss it. But there was a flicker of desperation in the young man’s face. “Nothing we’ve ever tried works.”

“Can’t undo your own conditioning?” Maki asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Uuuuuh, putting them in? Easy! Just follow the manual!” Axel said, shrugging a bit sheepishly, “Isolate a little here, terrorize a little there, convince your subconscious it wants to change, and it will! Your little indentured brains start maintaining the same endless cycle of torture we start, no muss, no fuss! Buuuuuut,” Axel frowned, waving his fingers in the air a bit, little fire sparks trailing it as a fidget, “Well? It’s not like we have access to do all of that in reverse. Annnnnnd the few people who have agreed to try that? It’s not working. It’s making it worse! Everything we do makes it worse.”

“We think maybe we just don’t understand people, anymore,” Namine said softly, “Though, as far as we can tell, no one else has managed to undo conditioning either, so maybe being whole wouldn’t help but… either way, we’re trying to be whole again.”

“Whole?” Maki asked.

“Eh, a fun little experiment we pulled on ourselves! Again, alllll part of the manual.” Axel said, “Though, some of us are more effective at it than others.”

“...” Maki looked to Zexion, frowning, “...I’m not the answer you’re looking for. You can't replicate how I break conditioning.”

Zexion matched Maki’s frown, quiet for a moment, before asking, “Biological?”

“If it helps to explain it that way,” Maki said dismissively, “But I can’t help you. And for that information, I’m trading you getting out of my mind–”

“Maybe he can help.”

Maki’s eyes widened, as into the room was thrown– “Shuichi!?”