Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He didn’t remember his dreams often, especially for somebody who slept as much as he did.

But sometimes, he’d wake up and know that, just a few moments ago, or maybe a few lifetimes earlier, he was somewhere else entirely. A place that maybe didn’t even exist anymore at all. In that place he was filled with emotions he now couldn’t quite put a name to, feelings that he found hard to recapture, along with a power he wasn’t sure his small body in the real world could ever really hold. It was him in that place. That much he knew. But it did not feel like him, not a side of him he’d ever known. 

There in that place, cheered on by toneless voices of friends whose kindness he couldn’t quite grasp, in a body much too big and powerful to be his own (and yet it was, and he knew that), he raised his hand and voice and cast his mighty spell to protect this home he’d never seen.  A flash of purple – red and blue, mixing and mingling – and then the cheers of those around him: A gentle hand brushing some long hair out of his face. A kind voice, laughing in happy tears.

“I knew that we could count on you, ___!”

A name that was his, but somehow didn’t sound like it at all. Sometimes he’d try to mouth the word to himself in order to capture the strange difference, but it would always be at this point that whatever thin line connected him to his self in the dream would break, and he would wake up looking up at the ceiling in his bedroom, interested in the dream’s lingering remains in his head just barely long enough to feel, if only for a second, a short moment, as if suddenly something inside him was missing.

Usually he would stare at the ceiling for minutes afterwards, until all those thoughts and emotions were done fading for his mind, and all that was left were his idle wondering what he would have for breakfast and a faint desire to turn his head towards the windowsill and see how his favorite bugs were doing this morning.

Today his awakening was far too sudden to give him the chance to let the dream fade away like that.

*Bang!*

A noise. The house shook. He bounced off his bed a little bit.

“Huh…”

Still too tired to even rub the sleep out of his eyes, he silently wondered to himself if that sound just now was really worth his attention.

*BANG!*

There it was again. An even louder sound, a slightly higher bounce off his poor mattress. Okay, maybe this was a bit noteworthy. If this kept going, it would be pretty hard to go back to sleep-

*BANG!*

This time, Sig bounced right out of his bed, landing on the hardwood floor just to its left.

“-Ah.”

Luckily, his red arm caught most of his weight and he managed to land in a way that prevented him from hitting his head on the nightstand. Still…

“Oof… ouch…”

…There were definitely less unpleasant ways of waking up in the morning. Yeah. Um, come to think how late was it anyway? Was it a school day or the weekend? Did he have any reason not to go back to bed again-

*BANG, BANG!*

Ah, right. Explosions outside his window. Now, that would be a reason. Come to think… The window…

Sig turned his head and took a few moments to let his eyes wander across the sill.

“It scared the bugs away, huh...” he concluded with a slightly dejected cadence in his voice. “What’s ‘it’, though…?”

Just before Sig had the chance to lose interest in that question that he’d just asked himself, there was another sharp noise right next to his house. This time he felt as if he could hear familiar voices mixed in with all the racket. Yelling commands, chanting spells, screaming each other’s names...

“Bayoen!”

“Lemme help! Fairy Fire!”

“Take my aid, Arly! Ascension!”

Alright, that sounded like two friends, and one strange guy he didn’t really think was a ‘friend’. A Puyo Battle outside maybe? A pretty loud one, though…

“You shall be mine! Now…”

“Gather, silver moon, golden sun, jet-black cosmos…!”

“Sting Shade!”

“Ursa Major!”

…Even more people? That would have to be a really big battle then. A party, maybe?

“AHHH!!”

“Arle! -Ungh!”

“Pull yourselves together, both of y--- GYA!”

No… That didn’t sound like a party. It sounded way more… bad? Yeah. Bad things were probably happening outside. Things that woke him up, scared his bugs away…

Things that were hurting… his friends.

“Ah-“

The information finally having made its way into his consciousness, Sig’s eyes widened a little. Someone familiar with him would also have noticed his already fair skin turning just a slight shade paler.

“Amitie… everyone...”

Pushing himself off the floor far too quickly for his own comfort, Sig tried to shake off whatever sleepiness he could and made his way out of his bedroom, the hallway and finally, the front door.

There it was. A big battle. Puyos being matched, spells being cast and. The floor all around was already full of craters, which Sig, honestly, found to be quite an unsettling sight. He liked his front yard nice and green. Now it was full of brown, dusty holes. It wasn’t pretty and he was sure his bugs wouldn’t like it either.

No, wait, that wasn’t the point, was it? The situation, the situation…

Right, the situation right now was that a lot of people he knew where gathered here in the plaza close to his house, fighting. However, they weren’t battling one another, but rather appeared to be working together, uniting their powers. He saw Amitie, Arle, Klug, Raffina, Rulue, even Schezo and the Dark Prince, Satan, were helping. And then there was the person they all were fighting. A lone girl dressed in red, standing further back.

Wait… wasn’t that just Arle again?

“HA HA HA HA hah…!“

Sure, didn’t laugh like Arle, though.

“Foolish, all of you! Hah, this could be so easy for you if you just let me. Finish. Her. Off!”

Ah, there it was. The weird Arle-but-not-Arle girl charged her power in a strange jewel she held, matched a few red Puyos and…

“Eclipse!”

A wave of magic ran across the battlefield, striking almost everyone involved, but especially Rulue and Amitie, who had attempted to form a protective wall in front of Arle-the-actual-one. Their pained yelps prompted Sig to walk up to this very part of the battlefield and offer his hands to the two girls on the floor.

“Amitie. Are you guys okay?”

“Ugh…” Amitie blinked, rubbing some dust out of her eyes. “S… Sig…?”

“Hey,” he greeted.

“Oh, look who’s there! The one person in town dense enough to actually almost sleep through all of this!” Klug’s half-panicked, half infuriated voice echoed across the plaza, as the young mage in purple wildly gestured around, several times in a row pointing at Sig’s current attire: A fluffy blue onesie, clearly a set of pajamas of some sort.

“…Just got up,” Sig said.

“OBVIOUSLY!” Klug yelled.

“Not the right time for this, noodles-for-limbs!!” Raffina yelled right over Klug.

“Not the right time for this, both of you!” Arle joined in. “Everyone, get ready! The Doppelganger is chaining up again!”

And, indeed, Arle-but-not-Arle had already gathered another array of Puyos, red and purple, to power her next attack. In response, Arle-the-actual-one and her friends scrambled to gather and match Puyo of their colors of choice. They had to offset whatever spell was incoming with their own.

“…Not sure what’s going on,” Sig mumbled at Amitie after having observed the scene for a while.

Amitie, busy shoving about 20 Puyos into place for another Fairy Fire, gasped her answer to him, “School… Bad presentation… Satan summons evil, fake Arle from an evil, weird dimension because he’s a bad teacher!”

“I SAID I WAS SORRY!” A horned demon’s voice echoed across the plaza, though his protests were soon cut off by a wave of magic.  

“I am not! A FAKE!”

The “fake” Arle just kept attacking and didn’t seem like she was about to let off any time soon, which only made things so much more confusing for Sig. Things were just happening one after another, far too quickly for his liking. It really didn’t give him the time to think about what he was hearing and seeing...

“So… I missed first class?” he scratched the back of his head.

“That is NOT the issue here!” yelled Klug, desperately trying to keep up with parrying incoming enemy spells.

“I’ll let you copy my notes later, Sig!” Amitie was matching Puyos again. “Right now, we gotta stop this Not-Arle!”

One could see the Doppelganger Arle’s eye twitch at Amitie’s way of addressing her.

“I am not… ARGH! Labyrinth!”

The spell swiped across the battlefield, parried by Satan, but causing Schezo to stumble, and flat-out smashing Klug through a nearby wall, a sight which made Amitie yelp. In her surprise, she broke the meticulous chain of popping Puyos she had prepared, greatly limiting the magic she could draw from the result. A Fairy Fire, this wouldn’t suffice for. Now she had to scale back.

“Ah! U-Um--- Akteena!”

Amitie’s improvised spell was quickly parried. In fact, the “fake” Arle completely no-sold it. Amitie gulped, as she saw the opponent’s magic break through hers with ease, the remaining wave of power heading her way.

“Uh-Oh…”

And since she didn’t have anywhere to dodge behind, the spell was bound to connect. She braced herself for the impact…

“Sapphire.”

A flash of blue light dispelled the incoming wave of purple, leaving nothing but crystalline sparkles in the air. Having forgotten to breathe for a moment there, Amitie, now gasping her next couple breaths, turned around to see Sig with a couple of stray Puyos around him.

“…Chained some,” he told her. “Did that help…?”

Her eyes lit up, “Sig, you’re the best!”

There wasn’t really much time to marvel at Sig’s counter-spell. The battle raged right on, with the angered opponent attacking everyone and everything in her sight, especially those who dared to intercept her spells. Satan, Rulue and Amitie thankfully had little problem dodging her next couple of attacks that, aside from their speed, were not all that noteworthy. Sig, however, wasn’t so lucky. Entranced in trying to build up another chain in order to make himself useful some more, he missed the window of opportunity to escape.

“Chaos!”

“…Ah?”

The purple magic simply came in too quickly for him to react.

He could hear Amitie shrieking and Klug, who’d just peeled himself out of his hole in the wall, screaming something unintelligible as the force of the spell ripped Sig off the ground and into the trunk of a nearby tree.

“W-What…huh?” By the time Sig registered what had just happened he found himself uncomfortably lodged between two branches and the snapped off remains of a third. “Oh.”

“Sig, are you okay!?”

“Amitie, no, you’re drawing attention to him!”

He was still in the process of thinking about how to answer Amitie’s question when he saw that Arle was right and the opponent had readied another chain for a spell to send his way. A big chain, even. Yep, that wasn’t good. Up here he was basically a bright blue-and-red target. So, he hooked the claws of his left hand into one of the more stable-looking branches, and tried to lower himself off the-

“Eclipse!”

…Yeah. Definitely too slow.

“Ah…” And again, he felt himself lifted up in a high arc, magic harshly whipping against his skin until Sig finally and mercifully, hit the ground. “…Ouch…”

“Sig!” Amitie rushed to her friend’s side. “Does it hurt?”

“Uh…”

“He can’t keep up!” Amitie heard Klug’s voice yell.

“You can barely keep up!” Raffina shot back.

“We ALL can barely keep up,” added an exasperated-sounding Rulue. “Tch… Just what is this copy’s deal? It’s seven on one, including the marvelous Prince himself, and yet she is still wiping the floor with us!”

“Eight,” a mumble from the floor responded to Rulue.

“…Heh?”

“…I’m here too,” said Sig, rubbing the back of his neck. “With me… it’s eight. I think?”

There was a beat of silence among the group after this quite unexpected announcement, Rulue briefly raising her eyebrows at the boy as if she wasn’t sure whether this was an attempt at humor or not. Finally, the tension was broken by Klug’s loud scoff.

“As I was just saying! Sig absolutely shouldn’t be here! This is out of his league. Amitie, get this child out of the way!”

“Um… Alright-y?”

Amitie seemed only slightly less confused than Sig himself when she took his hand, helped him up from the ground, then proceeded to pull him towards the first building she spotted among the many lining the edge of the plaza.

“Ami. I can fight,” Sig tried to tell her, but Amitie bit her lip.

“I know, it’s just… Klug has a point. I-It’s probably better to have someone hiding as backup, just in case…”

“Just in case…?”

She didn’t elaborate further, but Sig managed to pick up on the way the hand she was pulling his right hand with was trembling. Amitie… was scared. Actually, Raffina and everyone else seemed pretty scared as well. Was this Arle-but-not-Arle really such a dangerous enemy? Even though the real Arle was so nice and fun? Was this Doppelganger so bad that seven people he knew could be taken out in a Puyo-match with her…?

Amitie tried opening every door around the plaza but found each one locked and her attempts at knocking at them unanswered. In the meantime, the remaining six fighters on their side of the battlefield could be heard talking to one another.

“It’s no use! It’s like my attacks won’t even connect!”

“Rulue’s right…” Arle agreed in a strangely thoughtful tone. “Actually, I think so far the only spells that have done anything at all were Satan’s and mine.”

“That is… quite possible, actually,” the dark monarch audibly clenched his teeth. “It could be that among all of us, only Arly’s and my magic is actually capable of harming this other Arle.”

“You mean… because we’ve both met her before or something?” asked Arle. Satan, however, did not elaborate further.

Raffina backed off, “No way. So, we from this world can’t even make a dent in her!?”

“…This is not the sort of extracurricular I signed up for!!” Klug gulped. He too took a step back. “M-Maybe we should try to stall for time and wait for backup? Somebody could call Ms. Accord and Lemres, and-!”

“You dunce, didn’t you listen just now? There’s TWO people who can attack this enemy, and they’re both already here!”

“S-Shut up! Lemres would figure something out! He-” Klug did not get to finish this sentence, as an enemy spell then and there exploded right to his feet. “GAH!”

By now, Amitie was shaking the doorknob of the tenth door she’d tried in succession.

“C’mon…! Somebody, open up already! I need to get back out there and help the others!”

“They just said that our magic won’t work,” said Sig.

“Still! I can’t just run away when everyone’s fighting! I gotta do something! I need to help…!”

“Right... Then I should do something too.”

Amitie stopped shaking the doorknob. Even though to most people, Sig’s voice right now wouldn’t have sounded any different from his usual speech, the way he said those words – the fact that he went through the trouble of saying them at all made her halt for a moment. She looked at him.

“Ami, let’s go back to the others,” he said. “Let’s help.”

“Sig…”

It was rare for him to find the motivation to make decisions of his own accord. But then again, it made sense. That was just how dire this situation was. So bad that even Sig knew that they all had to stand together and have each other’s backs right now. Finally, Amitie nodded.

“…You’re right! We should be fighting toge-“ a sudden change in Sig’s expression made her stop. “Huh? What’s wrong, Sig?”

“Amitie… um, behind… there’s…”

It took him five seconds to string together three words and say absolutely nothing with them. Five seconds at the tail end of which somebody else finally made the same discovery as him and gave the same warning far more effectively.

Arle called out, “Amitie, behind you!”

By then it was too late. Amitie had been too distracted trying to decipher Sig’s expression. When she was just about to turn around, the spell the “fake” Arle called ‘Labyrinth’ had already hit the blonde girl in the back. She shrieked.

“AAAHH!”

It was enough of a shock for Sig to let go of her hand, and for Arle to abandon her spot in her back and rush across the plaza to help her friend. This, of course, left her wide open as well. Another quick chant of ‘Chaos’ and Arle, too, had been hit.

Talking of ‘chaos’, that was the state the party was in right now.  Satan and Rulue scrambed to cover Arle again, while Klug and Raffina bitterly focused on defensive counter-spells and Schezo went off attempting get into the “fake” Arle’s melee range to give her a, ahem, ‘taste of his long sword’, as he loudly announced.

Meanwhile, Sig, whose face didn’t look nearly as mortified as he felt, had bent down to lend his best friend a hand.

“Amitie...”

“I-I’m okay!” she quickly squeezed out a laugh. “Look! I’m getting up already. It takes more than that to keep me down, mhm~?”

It wasn’t okay, though. He could have warned her. He saw the spell coming, but by the time he’d opened his mouth… Ah. So that’s what the Glasses meant when he said he ‘couldn’t keep up’? Sig quietly looked around. Right. Amitie and Arle had gotten hurt… because he’d been bad at helping. But why? He was trying, he really was. One-on-one Puyo Battles had never been a problem. But this was so much more frantic and chaotic. He really didn’t do well with fast and stressful things. So, maybe…

“I’m going home,” said Sig.

He tried to turn and leave, Amitie grabbed his red arm and shook her head. “Your house is on the other side of the the plaza, Sig! You’ll get caught in the crossfire!”

“Ah… Right.”

“Let’s… keep knocking on doors!”

“Is that gonna work?”

“W-Well…”

Just then, another spell, ‘Abyss’, was headed their way. This time, it was Amitie who noticed the flash of light announcing the attack, and also Amitie who noticed a half-opened window at the height of her waist. It was located just a bit less than a meter behind Sig... In a moment acute awareness, Amitie leapt, pushed Sig through the window into the foreign house, slammed the window-pane shut and then dove out of the way herself.

By the time Sig realized that he was now lying on the soft woolen carpet of somebody’s living room, he could see a bright, purple flash beam through the same window he’d just ‘been entered’ through.

“…Amitie…”

Did she manage to get out of the way safely, he wondered?

“I would ask if you and that girl have ever heard of a doorbell, but I see that this wasn’t the time for that.”

The voice from behind made Sig turn his head, and, yes, there she was. Long, blonde hair, blue eyes and dark blue robes.

“Hey, Witch.”

She motioned her hand at him. “Howdy to you too! And don’t bother with the explanations, I’ve been listening in. Sometimes it does pay to have the thinnest walls in town.”

“Um… huh?”

“Just give it a listen. You’ll understand what I mean.”

Being quiet and listening. Now there was something he could do. As soon as Witch stopped talking, both of them turned their attention to the window. Outside, the battle still raged, and just as witch had claimed, it was really quite easy to hear everyone talking, chanting and warning each other of incoming attacks outside.

“See? We basically have front-row seats in here!” Witch laughed.

“…Amitie and Arle are okay, huh,” Sig said to himself, after hearing repeated chants of ‘Diacute’ and ‘Accelerate’ from outside. He made a sound that resembled a sigh. 

“Pssh, like that’s a surprise! Arle’s always been a hardy one, and as for Amitie... Well, you should know that better than me. They’ll be fine. Backup will keep coming, and eventually that dummy-Doppel will be forced to retreat.”

“Backup.... You mean like you?” Sig looked up at Witch. “…Are you helping?”

“W-What’s with the disbelieving tone! I am helping!” she gestured to the back of her house/shop. “…In my own way!”

Much further back in the shop, a cauldron was bubbling. Thick, syrupy liquid swayed and occasionally splashed outside its container in heavy droplets. Now that he was looking at it, Sig realized: He recognized that sickeningly sweet smell hanging in the air.

“That’s…”

“Yep! My Wonder-Power-Up-Potion! I am sure you remember it? It’s the potion that Amitie-” But, upon remembering the exact events that had transpired, Witch halted. She realized that she would have to correct that sentence. And oh, how awkward she looked doing so. “The potion that... almost killed you once, if I remember correctly? Ahahaha…”

“Yeah,” Sig nodded. “I remember.”

*BANG!*

Outside the window, two spells, one Satan’s, the other the “fake” Arle’s, had just clashed. The lightshow their failure to thwart one another’s offsets had caused was almost spectacular. 

“Cease this!” yelled Satan. “As the maker of your reality, I command you to stop!”

“Yeah, right. As if you EVER had any authority over me!” The sinister girl chuckled, before gathering another array of Puyos. She was setting up another large chain. “Get ready, Honey. After this next attack, you’ll curse yourself for ever leaving me behind in that crumbling sandbox of yours!”

Had anyone cared to watch the Prince’s lips that moment, they would have seen him mouth – but not voice- the words ‘I already do’. His declaration of regret remained unobserved, however. Soon he found himself addressed by the other fighters on the field.

“We can’t keep offsetting her spells for much longer!” Amitie yelled, quickly followed by Arle.

“C’mon, Satan! We’ve gotta strike back already! Don’t you have some kind of super-special secret attack you got saved up just for something like that? Look, I’ll even do a team-attack with you!”

The Lord of Puyo hell grit his teeth, “As much as I’d adore to take you up on that offer, Arly, I’m afraid there are certain limits to how I am ready to use my power right now.”

“S-So you can? You just won’t!?”

It had been so very, very long since Arle had last felt such a strong desire to punch the demonic monarch in his pretty face. And this time she didn’t even know why he was being an obstacle! They were on the same side right now, weren’t they?

“Hah…!” Another young man’s scoffing laughter sounded out. “So, the Master of Debauchery himself refuses to assault this maiden of ambiguous purity!? Well, I have NO such restraints! None, in fact!”

Schezo Wegey brandished his crystal blade, a confident smirk on his lips.

“She shall be all mine! And so shall be all of you-” -Schezo noticed the way the entire party was staring at him- “-r powers!!”

“Lame save, Schezo,” said Arle.

“Nice try, though,” Amitie laughed awkwardly.

“No, not really,” Raffina contradicted.

Rulue’s face sunk into her hands, “Ugh, that damn pervert mage…!”

Only Klug was focused on another aspect of Schezo’s declaration, “Wait, what was that about taking our powers!?”

Schezo recovered his smirk,

“As Arle’s and the Dark Prince’s powers divorced of one another do not appear to suffice to sate the maiden’s thirst for punishment, I surmise that to defeat this foe we must combine all our magic powers into one! And what better vessel for such purpose, than the strong, reliable body of one who has already sucked on the spirits of many before!”

“So, you wanna do, like, a team-attack with all our magic combined… Except you’ll be the one doing it?” Amitie seemed puzzled.

Arle saw an immediate problem, “W-Wait! That’s just an excuse for you to take the magic of everyone here and then run off with it all as soon as the battle is over!”

“Oh, is that what you think? How skittish…” Schezo brushed some hair out of his face. “Now, now, don’t let your fears deter you from such a chance. I assure you, if you all just surrender yourselves to me, I will prove to you just how reliable a partner I can be! On my sword!”

“Yeaaah, I don’t trust him, let us just do a normal team-attack,” Raffina said, popping a few more Puyos to further offset the insanely long chain the Doppelganger Arle had still going.

“That won’t work!” Klug was feverishly browsing through the incantations in his book. “A Team Attack would only hit like a single spell if we synchronized our actions down to the nanosecond. Now, if it were me and another genius mage, that might not be a problem, but with the collection of people here right now, I deem it impossible!”

“… I hate to agree with brats, but this one has a point,” Satan groaned. “That is… Unless the ties of love miraculously allow for Arly and I to become one in spirit for just a mo-“

“SCHEZO! Do you promise you’ll give everyone’s magic back afterwards!?”

Arle’s question made Satan’s face fall in shock, while Schezo’s smirk widened. Of course, what other choice did they all have but to trust him right now?

“…Yeah, he’s no good,” Sig, sitting on a chair in front of the window, observed the going-ons from inside Witch’s house.

“Oh dear… Doesn’t look like I’ll be able to finish enough of the potion for all of them in time to prevent them from cooperating. And I’ve got only one bottle left from my last batch.”

“You think he’s gonna run off?”

“Schezo is… not a bad person. But his obsessions quickly get the better of him. He’s thin skinned and loves showing off. Personally, even if I did decide to let him have some of my power, I'd never count on actually getting it back.”

“Oh.” It sounded like she knew the guy well. Which only reaffirmed Sig in his distrust. “…We should stop them.”

“Yeah, but maybe let’s wait and see if there’s anyone still left to stop a minute from now first.”

“Hm?”

“Sig. The chain.”

Chain? He hadn’t really paid attention to the Doppelganger Arle for a while now. Now that Witch mentioned it, though, Sig could see that the chain she had been working on was still going. And going, and going…

Amitie, Klug and Raffina had been feverishly at work trying to offset the power the opponent was gathering with Puyos of their own for a while now. But Sig could tell it wouldn’t be enough. The scales were already tipped far too heavily into the Doppelganger’s favor. As soon as the last of her Puyos fell…

Ah. There it went. A wide, twisted smile spread on the sinister girl’s face as she raised her arms. A warm, powerful magic aura radiated from her.

…Huh? Why did this feel kind of… familiar?

“Grand… CROSS!”

It was like something right out of one of Klug’s presentations on ancient magic during show-and-tell. The very heavens themselves appeared to shift, dark stars appearing in the daylit sky, tinting it eerily purple, before moving into a cross-shaped formation. Energy shot down from star to star, into the Doppelganger Arle’s body, into her hands, and…

…Sig gasped. Familiar. Yeah, definitely familiar. He didn’t know why or how, but… He leaned closer to the window, hands flat against the pain of glass, through which dazzling light flooded into the room. As he squinted, he could see Satan using a counter-spell – something that sounded like ‘Satan Cross’ – to shield Arle and the others from the brunt of the impact, but that wasn’t what Sig was focusing on. It was that first spell, the one cast by the Doppelganger that had him so mesmerized, he just kept starring into the light…

“Whoa, kid, what’cha doing? Do you want to go blind?” Witch pulled Sig back from the window, the lack of tension in his muscles making him flop back so far, he ended up looking at the ceiling. It was in this odd position that he spoke to Witch.

“…I… know this.”

“Huh?”

“…Know this spell,” he said. “…Seen it before, somewhere.”

“What? Where?”

Sig paused. “…Dunno.”

And that answer was truthful, because ‘a dream’ wasn’t a place that existed in reality. Just images. But he knew that spell, he was sure of it now. ‘Grand Cross’. Someone… he’d seen someone cast it before. Right. And back then, in that dream, against that ‘someone’, the person he was used…

“…”

Sig sat up straight, a thoughtful look on his face. Would that… work?

“…Gotta go outside,” he said.

“What, who, me? Us? …You!?” Witch very much opposed the idea. “You saw how it went for you earlier. You barely got in one spell before she started pummeling you!”

“Yeah. Just gotta cast one spell again.”

Sig’s demeanor just baffled the Witch. “…Since when are you the type to play hero?”

The boy just shrugged.

Witch sighed, “Look, I don’t know if you got a plan or something, but if I let you go out there and you get into serious trouble, you know who that entire party out there will end up blaming for that for the rest of her life? That’s right, me! Then who’s ever going to come and try my potions again, huh?”

“I…”

“You heard them. You’d be a liability to them. All your skill chaining up Puyos won’t help if you can’t move two of them into place without getting pelted in the face by magic shocks and Nuisance Puyos!  You’re not a fighter, kid. You’re not strong enough.”

Sig paused for a moment.

“…I can be stronger.”

“Huh?”

Meeting the Witch’s puzzled face without another word, Sig rose his left hand and pointed a large, clawed finger… right at the cauldron in the back. Witch looked at the bubbling container, then back at Sig. Her eyes widened.

“Wait… You’re serious!?”

Sig nodded.

Heavy beads of sweat formed on Witch’s forehead.“L-Look. Usually, I wouldn’t be opposed to someone wanting a free-of-charge sample of my work. But from what I was told, you had a REALLY bad reaction to this potion last time. Like, this exact one…!”

“Maybe not this time. Could be.”

“Sig….”

The boy evaded Witch’s attempt to look straight into his eyes, turning his own heterochromatic gaze at the carpet instead.

“If everyone keeps fighting like this, they’ll give Schezo their power. All of them.”

The length of this sentence was… surprising, to say the least. Witch pulled back a little and listened to what else Sig had to say.

“It would be bad for them. I mean, I don’t know about everyone, but… Amitie’s dream is to be a ‘Wonderful Sorceress’,” Sig raised his head again, and Witch now found something in his expression that she thought might be ‘determination’. “Klug has dreams like that too, I think. Maybe some of the other’s, too. Taking away Amitie’s and everyone’s dreams… That’s not right. Not if there’s another way.”

“…And you’re sure you know a way to counter that other Arle’s magic?” asked Witch.

Sig thought a moment, then shrugged.

“Probably.”

“P-Probably, huh…?”

Outside the shop, fighting had erupted, not only between the Doppelganger and our party, but also between the friends themselves. As Satan did whatever he could to keep the enemy spell-locked with him, there was a squabble between two camps within the party: Those who agreed with giving their power to Schezo and those that did not.

“I-I’m really not so sure about this!” said Amitie, eyes squeezed shut. “I-I mean! I don’t want to be selfish! I really don’t! But… my magic…”

“What she’s trying to say is that there is NO way in Puyo Hell that we will do this,” yelled Klug. “What do you think I enrolled at this school for, to spend the rest of my life as an extremely overqualified librarian!? Tch…! The whole proposal is ridiculous!”

“But it’s not like we have many other options left,” Raffina bit her lips, and Rulue nodded with gritted teeth.

“The Prince may be enormously magnificent and powerful, but even he has his limits. Once she breaks through his spell, that might be the end of us all!”

“Schezo promised he would give it back once we’re done…” Arle tried and failed to sound confident. “I know, he’s not all that… trustworthy, but what choice do we have? Besides, we still have other friends we can sic after him if he tries anything funny! Like Ms. Accord or Lemres!”

“You want me to beg the Warlock of Comets to retrieve my magic power from that creeper!? How much more humiliating can you get! We HAVE TO find another metho-” That very second, Klug’s book snapped open of its own accord. In shock the boy quickly slammed it shut, “GAH! Stop! I already said no! I swear, you are just as bad as that Schezo-person…!”

“Um… who are you talking to?” Arle squinted at the student, and Rulue sighed.

“Someone as bad as the dark mage? Yeah, not very likely…”

They were at a stalemate. Neither side was ready to give in. Maybe Schezo would accept a compromise of taking only the magic of those of them willing to ‘lend’? But before they had the chance to even discuss the idea, an ominous electric buzzing, along with the exhausted gasps of one Satan, Prince of Darkness, could be heard from overheard.

“Everyone, get ready! Fake Arle is about to break through!” warned Amitie.

The party quickly gathered Puyos around them and got ready to cast counter-spells.  Would they be able to divert the energy of the enemy’s attack? In all honesty, none of them were too sure that they could.

“Do you really want to do this?”

“Yup.”

The vial of potion in Witch’s hand was still so warm that bubbles had not yet stopped rising to the surface. It only a small dose, not even half of what Amitie had once spilled over him by accident, but Witch had assured him it would still work. The smaller the dose the likelier that he wouldn’t end up having his personality suffocated underneath his own power like last time, she’d said. The liquid still looked rather ominous, but Sig decided to ignore that fact. He was good at that – ignoring things. With his human right hand, he reached out to take the vial from the witch… only for her to pull it back on him at the last moment.

“Ah… hey…”

“I need to know that you, really, really know what you’re doing,” Witch fixed Sig with her eyes. “That you are fully aware of it. Even I don’t know what exactly caused the potion to make you lose control of yourself last time. Without knowing what variables to account for, I have no way of preventing it from happening again either. And if it does… This time, there might be no going back.”

Sig halted for a moment.

“…The antidote,” he mumbled.

“Just barely worked last time around. Lemres told me.”

“Amitie and everyone are gonna be with me…”

“That’s no guarantee,” said Witch. “Just because Amitie called you back once… It doesn’t mean she can do it again.”

Sig’s right hand felt like frozen in mid-air. What if Witch was right? Could he really end up getting stuck like that? As that cruel, loud person who didn’t care at all for any of his friends…? He couldn’t really remember much of what he did back then, but what little he recalled of that cold, hard feeling, like dead iron.... He didn’t like it. At all. He didn’t want to be someone capable of hurting his friends like that ever again. But, right now, the others were outside fighting, and he was in here, not being any help at all.

“…Amitie and everyone are here.”

He moved his hand towards the vial again.

“I… trust in them. Right, I won’t run away again like that time. I’ll… listen to their voices, closely, all the way. Then I won’t slip away. Proba-” Sig shook his head. “…Definitely.”

It wasn’t like he wanted to disappear like that either.

The Witch sighed loudly, “You’re a really strange child, you know that?”

With those words, she surrendered the vial to Sig.

(I won’t disappear… Won’t sink down again… Nope. Won’t. Definitely.)

Focusing on that thought with all the strength his mind could muster, the boy nodded to himself and emptied the vial into his mouth.

Satan’s strength was failing him. With every new chain the party set up to counter the Doppelganger’s power, she would strike back just a little bit stronger. Right now, Arle, Rulue and the three Primp-students were trying to fever-chain their party into the clear but… It wouldn’t be enough. They were losing concentration, all of them. And setting up complex chains becomes a lot harder when you begin having trouble telling the difference between a yellow Puyo and a green one.

 Then came the moment when Satan managed to somehow stumble mid-air fall out of the sky. Now, you may make all the “fallen angel” jokes that you want about this, but you must understand that for the party, this was definitely a big ‘Oh no’ moment.

“Dark Prince, My Lord Satan!” Rulue exclaimed, rushing to her crush’s side to tend to him.

Arle and the Primp Students meanwhile looked at each other in terror. So much for their demonic meat shield.

“Arle. It is time for us to mingle!”

She didn’t even know when Schezo had placed himself right next to her, neither if he was aware just how plain wrong the way he was holding out his hand to her right now looked. All Arle understood was that they were out of options and out of tie. As they were speaking, her Doppelganger was charging up her next attack. 

“Just so you know, if you betray us, I’ll never forgive you.”

All Schezo did in response to that was chuckle. Not a very promising reaction at all. But what else was she supposed to do? Fearing for what lies ahead, Arle held out her hand to Schezo, and-

-was interrupted by a bright, blinding flash of azure, breaking through the fog of everyone’s tired minds and lighting the sky up brilliantly.

“Celestial!”

The spell was aimed directly for the Doppelganger’s arrangement of Puyos, and thus did the unthinkable. Rather than obstructing the enemy’s progress with a rain of Nuisance Puyos, it struck the pile directly, bringing down Doppelganger Arle’s beautifully prepared chain in a colorful rain of jellies.

“W-What!? How in the---”

Everyone gasped at once.

“This shouldn’t be possible!” Klug called out. “Owanimo’s 2^nd law of Magic prevents one mage from directly attacking another’s Puyo pile! What in the name of all the stars…”

Amitie, meanwhile was focused on something else entirely. “That spell…! Is that-“

She tried to turn to search for the mage who had cast it, but only caught a glimpse of a person rushing past her. Someone around her age, with short, blueish-black hair. Was that the user of the magic that had protected them? ...No, no way. ‘Celestial’. There was only one mage she knew of using that spell. Well, however that may be, there was now someone new on the battlefield, a person who’d come to their aid. And that person now kicked off the floor, visibly ready take right over from where Satan had stumbled.

“Who is that kid? Did anybody see where they came in from!?” Klug asked loudly.

“Nobody I know, it isn’t!” Raffina said. “Black hair is surprisingly rare in these parts.”

“Um, did anybody see their face by any chance…?” asked Arle.

Amitie just kept second-guessing the powerful suspicion she felt in her gut, over and over. “No… way…”

When the stranger ascended, ready to strike back against their attacker, everybody waited with bated breath for the black-haired mage to gather his Puyos and set up a chain to power his next spell. None of them expected that this would not be what happened. No Puyos in sight anywhere, the stranger raised his arm – an arm that looked strangely large and bestial at that – and called out his incantation.

“Cerulean!”

Everyone’s attention was now at 110%.

“P-Puyoless magic!?” Klug browsed through his book so quickly, one might have been afraid he’d end up ripping some pages. “I mean… What!?”

Arle gasped, “I… I haven’t seen anything like that, since….”

-She didn’t continue, too distracted by the expression of the man right beside her. Schezo Wegey’s eyes, previously cold and calculating, had now lit up with a downright childish, greedy glee.

“That… That is it!” He exclaimed with the joy of a child about to steal from the cookie jar. “Oh, how long I have longed for this! To find you, no, possess you again!”

“Yeah. That magic… it’s…”

“The arcane art of the lost world!”

A kind of magic that derived its power from the world around, rather than from Puyos. Reliable, repeatable, and limited only by the user’s potential to control the forces within and around them. In this mage’s case, the sources he drew from were quite visible to those who knew what to look for.

“Blue light… The flowers on the townspeople’s windowsills…” Satan lifted his upper body off the ground, observing the flow of magic energy all around him. “Hm… Amateur.”

“My Dark Prince!” Rulue exclaimed, trying to help him sit up “Are you feeling alright…?”

“…That brat clearly has no idea what he’s doing.”

“Huh…? Prince?”

Satan laughed.

“How wasteful. At this rate, he’ll have anything blue in this town sucked dry of its essence before ever being close to dealing the finishing blow. Then again, and thankfully, I doubt it will come that far,” the dark monarch tilted his head a little. “This one doesn’t have the heart to do such a thing. Literally. And also… Well, I am sure after all this time she must have at least learned the value of a tactical retreat.”

“My Prince… she…? Are you talking about that fake Arle?”

Satan said nothing, but quietly observed the battle happening above their heads.

Arle’s Doppelganger had taken a defensive stance, glaring at her opponent. “Gh…! Who are you…? Another one of her new friends…? As if the ones she took from me weren’t enough already, that greedy—"

The mage ignored her.

“Cyan!”

A small flash of blue shot towards the Doppelganger. With a shriek, she dodged out of the way. But there was more where that came from.

“Cyan!”

“Ah!”

“Cyan!”

“Gh--!”

“Cyan!”

“AHHH! Give it a rest already! What are you, a housefly!?”

“Well, they’re better than you.”

“Huh!?”

“Houseflies. They’re better people than you.”

And with that, the Doppelganger’s face turned raging red.

“Why, you little…!”

By now, the peanut gallery down on the ground had gathered quite a few thoughts to voice.

Klug adjusted his glasses a little, squinting at the mage fighting the Doppelganger, “Hey, you know… Those spells. Strange magic or not, are they not sort of… familiar?”

“Yes, well, I don’t think you’re the first one to notice that much,” said Raffina, pointing towards Amitie, who was staring up at the battle like lost in a daydream.

“…We gotta keep going,” she mumbled.

“Hm?”

“Huh?”

“We gotta help him!” Amitie turned towards her friends. “Even if it’s different magic, as long as we can still pop Puyos, we have to do what we can to chase that weirdo Not-Arle off, too!”

A brief moment of contemplation. Then, three Primp Students nodding at each other in unison. They were all on the same page here. Whatever it took to protect their town from this intruder.

The Doppelganger gathered together all the Puyos she could pull close from her surroundings in an effort to both, shield herself, but also set up another chain to power her next – and, she was aware, possibly last – attempt at a spell.

“Huh? ...She’s hiding?” Her opponent was thrown off by this maneuver for just a moment, however, quickly shook his head and gathered his thoughts enough to launch another attack against the wall of Puyos.

“Lapis Lazuli!”

“Heheh… you fell for it.”

“Huh?”

“VOID HOLE!”

Suddenly, a gigantic hole in the world opened up right in front of the boy, absorbing not only his attack, but also threatening to drag him in as well.

“W-Whoaa…!”

“Hang in there! Cyclone!”

“Tornado!”

Amitie’s and Arle’s spells acted as a counterbalance to the pull of the void hole, dragging the boy into the opposite direction and thus preventing him from being sucked in.

“Ah…wheew. Thanks!”

Just that moment, the wall of Puyos he’d been prevented for attacking went down right before the boy’s eyes, collapsing in one single, ridiculously complex chain. Its collapse revealed its own behind it, smirking wider with each new Puyo popped. Just how much energy had she gathered by now? In preparation for the last Puyo to fall, the Doppelganger raised her hand.

“Rag…”

No! He couldn’t let her do this. Without a second thought, the boy rushed forward, gathering whatever magic he could still pull from the blue sky all around him. He raised both of his large, demonic arms…

Arle’s Doppelganger kept chanting

“…na…ro…”

It was now or never.

“Hy… HYDRANGEA!!!”

A firework, like a million deep-blue flower petals exploded in the sky, momentarily making it seem gray and dull next to the magical light’s glory. The beautiful, pure blue light spilled across the plaza, no, the entire town, like a shower of spring rain, painting everything, even only for a brief moment, brilliantly blue.

In that moment, Klug on the ground below thought that he could feel the book he carried shut tightly underneath his arm shiver. Not that he cared. His attention, along with that of every other onlooker was consumed entirely by the spectacle in front of their very eyes.

The “fake” Arle Nadja was screaming, her chain collapsing, her spell interrupted. The last thing they saw her do in her panic when the dancing petals of blue light were about to consume her, was to pull a gem of sorts out from underneath her cape. Then, from one moment to the other, she was gone, as if she’d never been there in the first place.

Silence fell over Primp Town’s main plaza. Just a few seconds of peace and quiet before Arle let herself fall down onto her knees, sounding out a deep sigh. Her little friend Carbuncle, who’d been hiding underneath her cape this entire time, finally saw it fit to come out again.

“Gu-gu?”

“Yeah… looks like it’s safe for now, Carby.”

“But it was close… far too close for my liking,” Rulue punched the ground with one fist.

“Yes. Painful, but also entertaining in that same way, wouldn’t you agree?” Schezo felt the need to add. The fact that he peppered the statement with a wink did not make it better.

Arle and Rulue looked at each other before groaning at Schezo together.

Raffina, Klug and Amitie, meanwhile, had different thoughts entirely on their minds. First and foremost, there was Amitie, who was currently watching the black-haired mage, the person who’d secured victory for them, descend back down onto solid ground. Amitie gulped and began to carefully approach the boy with slow steps.

“U-Um… Hey…” She held out a shaking hand. Short, black hair, jet-black claws, and the use of her best friend’s spells... Memories of Amitie’s least favorite day in the ruins outside of town were claiming most of her thoughts right now, just like uninvited guests would like to claim one’s couch. She was almost scared to see the boy’s face. “B-By any chance… Are…you…”

The boy turned around.

“-Amitie!!”

Before she knew what was happening, the boy had leapt at the blonde mage, closed his arms around her and started holding her tightly.

“Amitie…You’re okay! Thank goodness… I… I was so scared!”

“Uh… Um… Huh? W-What…?”

She felt something wet on her shoulder. Was he crying into her shirt?

“How about Arle? And Raffina, and Klug! Everyone!?”

“T-They’re all okay!” Amitie, not sure how to feel about being squeezed like this. It didn’t feel bad, not at all, but the situation was so confusing. “They’re all okay, because… you helped us.”

“I…I see. I’m so glad…” Sniffling a little bit, the boy pulled away from Amitie enough for her to finally see his face. She saw him rub some tears out of his eyes. “I… I was able to help, huh? …Yay! Ahahaha…”

That laughter sounded so sweet, Lemres could have used it in his tea. Amitie couldn’t help it. She just had to stare. At the boy, his black hair and jet-black arms, and his mismatched red and blue eyes.

“S… Sig!?”

It came out sounding much more incredulous than Amitie had meant it to.

The boy tilted his head a little, “Um, yes? What is it, Ami?”

“Is that… really you, Sig?”

“Hm? …Ah! Right!”

Suddenly hitting a minor panic, the boy let go of Amitie entirely and instead looking down himself, taking some extra time to examine his arms and also grabbing a strand of his black hair to take a good look at it as well.

“I still look like that! That’s no good…! W-Where’s that antidote? Bag, bag, bag…”

“Um…” Amitie found her anxiety from earlier being gradually converted into confusion. “I actually think the way you look isn’t the really weird thing here… Sig.”

“Hm?” the boy – Sig – took his head back out of his bag and looked up at Amitie. “What do you mean?”

“Well, um… Oh gosh, I dunno how to explain this…!”

“Amitie. Are you really okay?”

And with that very ironic question, he was standing right beside her again. Seeing his face up close like this, yeah, there was no doubt about it, this was Sig. Their Sig, even. Same features, same odd hairstyle, gosh, he was even still wearing that same onesie from earlier. The dark aura tinting most of his body black right now had just obscured it a bit. And then, there were his eyes: One blue, one red, just as they should be. Good, not the crazy person with a thing for ridiculously complicated chains from the ruins then. Heck, there was even still some of his trademark sleepiness in those eyes! This was the real deal, her classmate and friend, Sig! …Right?

“You’ve been staring at me for a while now,” ‘Sig’ told her and at once his face fell. “Wait, I’m not scaring you, am I? D-Do I look that scary? Uhh…Gotta fix that. Antidote, antidote…”

And his head was in the bag again. Amitie used the chance to exchange some baffled looks with her friends around her. Judged by their expressions they didn’t understand what was going on here anymore than she did either. In fact, she was sure Klug’s jaw was just a couple centimeters away from hitting the floor.

“Um…” Arle took the brave first step in trying to steer this conversation to its point. “Sig... You really don’t realize what’s different about you?”

His head still in his bag, he kept cramming, and thus his voice reached the others in a muffled state, “I know, I know! All that black stuff and using magic without Puyos… I didn’t know it would work like that either! But, I promise, I’m not ‘gone’ again! See, I just kept in mind that everyone would be there for me if anything happened, and it worked! So, I’m really still normal on the inside!”

Raffina held her hand up to her head, “Perhaps a little ‘too’ normal…!”

Arle gave an awkward smile. “It’s just, if your goal with, um, whatever this is, was to not turn all creepy like in the ruins again, then you waaaay overshot your goal.”

“Hm?” Sig’s head popped out of his bag again. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Emotions!” yelled, Klug, who’s nerves clearly had already been pushed far beyond their limits today. “Emotions, Sig! Human emotions! A whole, complete range of them! Where, pray-tell, did those come from, huh!?”

And then Sig starred. And starred. And starred at Klug’s face. It was a familiar sort of stare. The kind of just-about-to-doze-off look that made everyone briefly wonder if the whole ‘lively Sig’ thing hadn’t just been a collective hallucination of theirs. But then, Sig opened his mouth.

“Klug. You’re being weird today. Weirder than usual, I mean. Do you need to lay down? You can use my couch if you want.”

And that was it. This was all Klug could handle for today. Maybe even the week. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. It was an odd sight, one that Raffina found fit to laugh at.

“Um… Sig?” Amitie had gathered herself a bit by now and took the word again. “You keep talking about an ‘antidote’ or something, and then there’s all that black… Did you take Witch’s Potion again?”

“Ah…” Sig shied away a little. “…I know, I shouldn’t have. I wouldn’t have if I’d known another way! But you were all in danger, and I couldn’t just stand by, so-“

“Then you might actually go back to normal if you take the antidote, right? Since nothing seems to be weird with your memories this time, at least.”

“As ‘normal’ as you can call him normally,” said Raffina.

“Huh? Normal me… isn’t ‘normal’?” Sig raised an eye brow. “I don’t get it.”

“Hm. Well, all you need to ‘get’, is that that just now was the most Sig-like thing you said in the past 20 minutes.”

Amitie tried to elaborate, “Um, well, Sig… You know how you’re usually always kind of tired? Like, you do stuff like sleep standing with your eyes open, don’t talk much unless it’s important, and kind of, sort of, take everything at your own pace?”

“…Yeah?”

“Right now, you’re not being... that.”

Sig looked at Amitie, and for a moment, she almost thought he understood what she was trying to tell him. Then, however, his eyes wandered off, and he turned his attention back to his bag,

“Let’s talk about this later, alright? I gotta take that antidote.”

And though Amitie had looked worried for a moment there, eventually she laughed, “Yeah… I guess once you’ve put yourself back to normal, it won’t matter that much anymore anyway! Ahahaha!”

“*sigh* It is almost a shame,” Klug had regained his composure sometime in the past five minutes and was now acting like his little freak-out earlier had never happened. “Personality-irregularities all aside, that power you displayed just earlier was quite fascinating, especially for someone without Yours Truly’s natural-born genius. It would have been in the interest of my scholarly integrity to study it.”

Talking about interest, someone else currently also had his eyes transfixed on Sig, specifically his arms, both of which were currently colored jet-black, alongside skin of an almost rubber-like texture. Thank goodness Schezo’s mouth was closed. Arle felt like he may have salivated if that hadn’t been the case.

“This power… You wish to remove it? Hm Hm… If so…!” Schezo drew his blade. “Let me be of your servi--- EEEK-!”

The reason he did not get to finish that sentence was that Arle had grabbed Schezo’s ear. Now she was pulling on it. Hard.

“Yeah, I think we’ve all had a pretty long day and could use some rest. You included, Schezo!”

“Ghh--- the humiliation. Cease treating me like a child, this instance!”

“I call ‘em as I see ‘em, oh, ‘Dark Mage’. Anyway, let’s go home! Right, Carby?”

“Gu Gu!”

A quick succession of ‘goodbyes’ and Arle and Carbuncle skipped off, heading for the part of town they had been staying at ever since arriving in this world, dragging Schezo along with them. As Satan and Rulue had already departed sometime during the commotion around Sig earlier, this left only the Primp Quartet – Amitie, Raffina, Sig and Klug – still left in the Plaza.

Amitie soon sat down on the floor, “Wheew…Now Arle mentioned it, I actually do feel pretty pooped…”

“Wanna stay over at my house tonight, Ami?” asked Sig, turning his attention away from his bag once again. “Klug and Raffina are invited as well. I have a big room downstairs; I can put out some mattresses and pillow and blankets.”

Amitie’s eyes lit up. “You mean, like a slumber party?”

“Um... Yeah! I mean, I’ve never really thought of it before, but I guess I have the space for one, so why not?”

“Oh, yay!! I’m in, I’m in! Raffina, Klug?”

Klug scoffed at that, “Me? Sleep in a house probably infested with insects in every single nook and cranny? No, thank you!”

“Aww… I think they’d all really appreciate having a bookworm-friend join them.”

“…Wait. was that a joke?”

Judged by the fact that Sig began to laugh a little, the answer was probably ‘Yes’.

“You should really think about it, Klug!” said Amitie. “I mean, didn’t you just say you wanted to study Sig’s weird power some more? Why not make it a study-group!! We can stay up aaaall night and talk about weird magic together!”

“Hmmmmmppff….!” Suddenly Klug looked quite conflicted. He was sweating, even. A night of creepy-crawlies, in exchange for first-hand knowledge about magic yet unknown to this world? Was this a price he was willing to pay...?

Raffina, on the other hand, seemed less impressed, “Personally, I will have to decline. Bugs and mattresses on the floor aren’t good for my skin. It’s nothing personal. Aha Ha Ha~!”

The slightly disgusted look and the laugh she was giving Sig and Amitie did make it look and sound pretty personal, though.

“Raffina has no tact,” said Sig.

“Ooh, that’s not something you should be saying out loud, Sig.” laughed Amitie. “Even if it’s true!”

“...I said that out loud?”

“You didn’t notice?”

“Hmpf!” Raffina scoffed at her schoolmates, dismissively flipping her hair their direction. “I don’t have to take this from you two! My work here is done anyway. Well, then. Au revoir!”

And thus, Raffina walked off, taking great care to express her supreme grace in every single step. And then there were three.

Sig and Amitie looked at Klug with big, expectant eyes. The young scholar broke into sweat in response, feeling threatened by the sheer pressure of their pushiness.

“Slumber party!” The two friends chanted in unison.

“S-Slumber party...” repeated Klug, mentally defeated.

(Tsk... As if one Amitie hadn’t been enough for this town two times over,) he thought.

And thus began one of the strangest weeks ever in the already very strange town of Primp.

Chapter Text

It was the one house in town that always smelled of curry, regardless the time of day or whether anybody was at home or not. Whether this was just the result of the owner cooking the dish so many times that the scent now irrevocably clung to the walls, or if Arle had spread the fragrance intentionally with some sort of spell was hard to say. Whatever the case, Schezo found the intensity of the smell repulsive, just for how appetite-inducing it was. He held his nose. Meanwhile, Arle was taking a close look at herself in a tall mirror on the other side of the room.

“Hm... It really wasn’t a dream. She does look exactly like me.”

“Gugu-Gu.” Carbuncle agreed.

“That you rely on consulting a mirror to learn as much only means that you are still not sure of this fact,” Schezo stated. “Which is surprising, given that all of your companions identified her as yourself in your earshot.”

“It’s not that I didn’t know... It’s just... so hard to believe,” Arle sighed. “All this time I was trying to tell myself that that other me was just something my mind made up because it’d gotten bored with the big bad always being Satan. But now she’s suddenly just here again! It’s a lot to take in...”

“However that may be... Would you, please, untie me!?”

In the room behind her Arle could hear Schezo desperately tug and pull on the chains made of light-magic she’d laid from his left wrist to her kitchen sink, trying to get either the chains or the sink to break and release him.

“I would like to go home now!”

Arle turned around and glared, “Nuh-Uh, no way! You’re just going to go to Sig’s house and harass him for his magic all night!”

“Harass!? I would never-”

“Besides, I still got plenty questions to you about what happened today! You’re staying here tonight.”

“Grrr...”

Schezo probably meant to sound threatening with this growl, but at best it made him sound like an angry puppy barking up at a cat in a tree. This was humiliating. If he only had the Sword of Darkness on him, he could’ve shattered these chains with ease! But, of course, Arle had made sure to disarm him and seal his magic with a charm before entering her house. All Schezo could do was longingly stare up at the shelf where his assailant had placed his precious crystal blade. He especially resented the way Carbuncle, who sat on the same shelf, was eyeing the weapon. The little beast already had a history with trying to eat his sword in the past...

(Yes, you just dare to as much as touch this blade with your tongue; I will make sure the next batch of curry cooked in these halls will be jewel-beast-flavored...!) Schezo thought to himself, gritting his teeth. Come to think, could the power of the little monster’s Rubelcrack Gem be absorbed by eating, he wondered?

He did not get to ponder the topic much longer. Arle had walked over to him, carrying a chair with her that she placed a rough meter in front of Schezo and sat down on. The dark mage himself had no choice but to remain standing. His chain was too short to sit down.

“So. Let’s talk about what happened earlier.”

Schezo gave Arle a dismissive glare.

“You mean how you abducted me to sate your unrestrained urges?”

“Eww, no! Can you say anything like a normal person? Just say that I ‘kidnapped’ you!”

“That’s the same thing!” Schezo protested.

“Okay, look, let’s just do a recap! So, Satan and I were called to Primp Magic School to give a lesson on the magical implications of the Multiverse...”

“Ah. So that is why the two of you were in that place.”

“Yeah, because Ms. Accord had a day off and needed someone to fill in- Hey, come to think, why were you there? I know Rulue just came after ‘her prince’ because she saw him walking down the street, but you-”

“I-I just happened to be around. Yes. Coincidentally. For no deeper purpose whatsoever.”

“You... were trying to steal some of the magical artefacts they keep in that school, weren’t you? I thought I heard that Akuma-guy make a fuss about something in the library...”

“Continue the recap!”

Arle sighed. Some people just never changed.

“So, basically, Satan, Rulue and I spent half an hour or so rambling about our own world. How we can warp back and forth because popping Puyos involves opening tiny rifts in spacetime to draw magic power from, which means that in this world, where all magic involves popping Puyo, the spacetime-border is pretty thin by default. Thing is, some of them – not singling anyone out, but Klug – wanted a ‘visual demonstration’ of what it looks like in the rift between space and time. It didn’t look like it was going anywhere but... Then he started flattering Satan to get his way. You know how it goes.”

“Yes, I can imagine.”

“So, Satan, um... Kinda challenged me to a Puyo Battle... Except he changed up the spells he uses. He used one that, instead of using the power from the spacetime-rift, makes the rift bigger instead, big enough to look inside- And then, before we knew it, there was my Doppelganger.”

“I see...” Schezo turned his gaze to the floor. “So, she escaped from limbo via a gateway of the Dark Prince’s making, following the scent of your magical power.”

“I think the first time I saw her was back in our world... But once I beat her, she just faded into thin air! I was so confused. But when I asked Satan about it, he said there’d never been anyone there, so I thought that maybe I’d just imagined the whole thing.”

“Tch... A foolish thought indeed,” Schezo smirked.

“...Do you know anything about her?” Arle got out of the chair and took a step closer to Schezo. “Thing is, you and Satan both didn’t seem surprised to see another me at all!”

Schezo turned his nose up, “So what if I do know of your double? That information would be of no use to you at all.”

“Wha-- Yes, it would!” Arle gave a baffled stare. “Schezo, she attacked everyone! I’d like to stop that from happening again, please!”

“Everyone? Arle Nadja, you cannot really be this mistaken.”

“Huh?”

“Come on. Even you must’ve realized that your Doppelganger’s goal was to dispose of you and you alone.”

“...” Arle’s stance shifted. Eyes looking at the floor, she crossed her arms. “...Yeah. You’re right. She was after me. The others only got involved because they were trying to protect me. Just like back then, when she took Carby...” Arle sighed. “So, maybe if I retreated back to our world for now- No, that’s a bad idea. Mama and Granny are there. If she came after me, they’d be even more defenseless than my friends here. Ugh, this is so annoying! I don’t even know where that other me ran off to! If only I could do like Sig and use normal magic instead of Puyo Magic to fight her...”

“Of course, you wouldn’t actually want to do so,” said Schezo. “Because this world’s thin spacetime-border means that drawing magic from environmental sources is bound to cause decay very quickly.”

“I know, I know! It’s so annoying! If I used environmental magic here, I probably wouldn’t be able to cast a single Bayoen without accidentally blotting out the sun for an hour... But maybe I’ll just have to take the risk. I mean, Sig did.”

“Yes. That was quite a surprising turn of events,” Schezo smirked.

“Tell me about it! I didn’t think that school taught normal magic... I wonder where he learned it?” Arle put a finger to her lips, looking slightly puzzled. “I’m not surprised he’s good at it. He always felt pretty strong to me somehow, in a mysterious way. But all that black stuff and his right arm growing just as big as the left one... That isn’t normal, is it? What’s the deal with his left arm anyway?”

Schezo chuckled at that. “Of course, you would be unaware. I, however, do have my suspicions.”

“Those would be?”

“I am willing to give up that information. For a price,” Schezo’s eyes wandered to the shelf across the room. “The Carbuncle’s Rubelcrack Gem should do nicely!”

“...Gu?”

*BAM!*

Schezo didn’t even see the large iron pot coming, that was how quickly Arle had thrown it at him. The dark mage’s body now limply hanging from the chains that tied him, tears formed in his eyes as a gigantic bump began to form on his forehead. He whined a little.

“Y-Yeouch...! I-Is that what I get for cooperating with you!?”

“’Cooperating’ my Puyo, you’ve got some serious nerve asking me to let you have Carby!” Arle yelled. “Hmpf! I should’ve known better than to ask you for anything! As if a run-of-the-mill creeper like you would actually know anything useful...”

“THAT again!? I am NOT a creeper, I am a gatherer of magical power! And just for your information, as the Dark Mage, I happen to be an expert on matters such as that boy’s demonic energies!”

“...Demonic, huh?”

“...ACK-!”

Hoist to his own petard! To think that it was usually it was his own M.O. to talk people into accidentally volunteering information to him. Schezo felt like kicking himself.

“So, you’re saying that Sig’s left arm is possessed by some sort of monster?” asked Arle.

Schezo looked away, frowning. “It is not a possession. As far as I can tell.”

“Hm? What is it then?”

“And why in Puyo Hell do you think I would tell you?” yelled Schezo. “After all the ways you’ve violated me tonight!”

*BAM!*

This time it was a frypan.

“I can keep going like this all night if we have to!” Arle huffed angrily.

Schezo grit his teeth, “Very well then! Test my endurance! I have survived far worse than this.”

“Carby, get the Wok.”

“Gu~!”

“W-Wait, I didn’t mean—YAAAARGHHH!!!”

It looked like it would be a very long, sleepless night in the Nadja household.

In another house halfway across town a very different kind of meetup was underway. The floor of a simple living-room-kitchen-combo had been laid out with three mattresses and littered with pillows, blankets and stuffed toys, most of which resembled various species of insect. All in all, it was a little kid’s dream. Amitie was in heaven.

“Ahhh, so fluffy and soft!”, she squealed, bouncing on one of the mattresses and cuddling a pink stuffed caterpillar. “I never knew you had a thing for cute plushies, Sig~! I should really show you some of my own one of these days!”

“Cute…? I dunno, I just think they’re neat,” said Sig, while washing his hands. He was about to make dinner for the three of them. “I never before realize I already had so many … I guess whenever I go to the store and see one I like, I kind of just end up putting it in my basket without thinking about it, ahaha…”

“Heh heh… Yes, I can totally see you do that!”

“So, you have plush bugs too, Amitie?”

“Ah, no, not exactly bugs! Just plushies in general. Like, kitties or Puyos or little hearts with arms and legs! Things like that.”

“A heart with arms and legs? Sounds weird.”

“Haha, yes, maybe! But it’s sooo cute! I know, I’ll take one to school and show you some time,” Amitie grinned, hugging the pink caterpillar tight. Then, she turned. “Hey, Klug! What kind of plushies do you like?”

“…Tch!” The answer came back as a scoff. A pair of glasses was readjusted. “Plush? Really? Hah! You two are still children after all.”

“What, you don’t like them?”

“Of course, I don’t! When you have ambitions, like me, you have no time for such trivial things as toys! …Not that I ever played with such things in the first place. All I need to entertain myself are my books and skills.”

Amitie looked a little disappointed, “Wow, being you sounds boring.”

“It really does,” Sig agreed.

“H-Hey! You agreed with her out loud! Again!” Klug shot back.

“…I did?”

This was not the first time this happened today, neither was it the second or third. Ever since the events that transpired in the morning Sig had apparently had trouble keeping his thoughts to himself. Nine out of ten times this manifested as him making unexpected comments about how people (Klug) acted. As far as Amitie understood it probably had something to do with how much easier a time Sig had had talking than he usually did. Was that also a side-effect of the black stuff, maybe?

By the way, the antidote hadn’t worked. Sig had tried drinking it, spilling some of it over his head and arms, and even doing both of these things again while letting Amitie repeatedly call his name. The closest it got to working was when a strand of his hair turned cyan again for about four seconds before reverting to black. For the time being he appeared to be stuck like this.

“We’ll just have to wait until it wears off then, I guess,” Amitie had said with a hand on Sig’s shoulder.

“…I wonder if it is going to wear off,” he had responded in a tone even more subdued than his ‘normal’ mumble. He didn’t seem to be enjoying the situation at all.

Back in the present, however, Amitie was determined to not let Sig dwell on his current predicament. Thus, she did what she could to change the course of the conversation.

“Even if you don’t like plushies, Klug, shouldn’t you at least come and sit over here where it’s nice and soft? Wouldn’t that be a waaaay comfier for reading that book of yours?”

Klug, who was sitting in one of the room’s four corners, legs pulled tightly to his body and face hidden behind a thick volume with the title ‘Advanced Alchemics: from Mercury to Gold’, briefly lowered said book just barely enough for his glasses to peek over the upper edge- specifically so he could glare at Amitie.

“I am not going anywhere close to where you are until I am absolutely positive that none of those things are going to suddenly reveal themselves alive and attack me,” he hissed and pointed at the plush Amitie was hugging.

Amitie took a look at the caterpillar, frowning. “Aww, c’mon! Don’t tell me you’re scared of them? Get real! They’re cute.”

“Only until they start spinning their cocoons on your body and eating your belongings!” Klug shrieked.

“Won’t happen. The live ones are all upstairs,” Sig explained. “I mean, I was going to have everyone come down so we can play together, but, since Klug doesn’t like them… It’s kind of sad though. I’m sure they’d all have loved the company.”

“The only ‘sad’ thing here is that tonight I am stuck with the one person who would unironically keep free-roaming bugs for pets and the one other person who would call this behavior ‘cute’ rather than ‘a cause for a psychological examination’.”

They didn’t indulge Klug’s complaining any further after this. Amitie, because people ragging on other people’s passions bummed her out and Sig because people ragging on bugs bummed him out. Especially right now, when every word registered so much more clearly in his head than it usually would have… Oh well, maybe cooking would take his mind off Klug not being a very good houseguest so far. First step, cutting the vegetables.

-Except, there were some issues with that.

“Ah... Huh..? O-Oh.”

Amitie picked up on the distressed noises, “Sig? What’s wrong?”

“I-It’s my hands…” he responded. “I… can’t really figure out how to hold the carrot. It’s way too small…” A brief pause. “Ah-! Now it’s stuck on my finger…! Unghhh….!”

“Hold on, lemme help you!” Amitie put down the plush caterpillar and hurried over to the kitchen-part of the room, where she indeed found Sig with a carrot impaled on the middle claw of his right hand. This would have almost been a funny image, if Sig hadn’t looked like he was about to cry.

“Ahh…!” the boy’s panic was audible. “I-I can’t get it off… I keep poking myself with my nails…Ouch!”

“Uno momento!”

Amitie to the rescue! She skipped in and snatched the carrot right off her friend’s claw. *Plop!* and the problem was solved. The troublesome vegetable was placed back on its previous position on the counter, and Sig took a moment to breathe, then let out a deep sigh.

“…I miss having a good hand,” he said, looking at his claws.

“Sig…” Amitie bit her lip. The dejected look on his face really hurt her. “Hey, don’cha worry! It’s gonna be A-Okay! You’re still with us, right? So, I’m sure, once that potion is out of your system, you’ll go totally back to normal!”

Sig looked up, “And when will that be?”

“About 24 hours.”

Sig and Amitie turned in surprise. It seemed Klug had decided to join the conversation.

“Of course, it depends on the exact composition of the tincture,” Klug stated, liking a finger in preparation to turn a page in his book. “But the average magic potion is metabolized by the human body within about 20 to 28 hours, give or take. Most active ingredients lose their effectiveness already after 18 hours, however. And generally, any meal taken in after the potion’s consumption will speed up the process.”

“So… eating makes it go away faster?”

Sig’s eyes lit up. This eagerness was not lost on Amitie. She picked up the kitchen knife. “Sounds like it’s time for a feast then! I’ll lend you a ha--- I mean, I’ll help you out, Sig!”

“Ah- Yeah! Thanks, Ami.”

Amitie grinned, “Oh, Klug, you should help too! I’ll be fun!”

“…”

For a moment there was an expression on Klug’s face as if he wanted to protest or throw an insult. But then he apparently thought better of it. Placing the book he’d been reading aside with a sigh, he got up from the floor and brushed his pants straight.

“…I can make pudding, I suppose,” he muttered. “For dessert. It isn’t a ‘feast’ if you only have one course, after all.”

“Wow, that’s surprisingly nice of you!” said Amitie.

“I-It’s in the service of semantics!” Klug scoffed.

“Thanks, Semantics!” Amitie cheered. “Even though I have no idea who that is!”

Klug didn’t bother explaining the misunderstanding to her. All three of them got to work preparing their dinner: Meat-sauce pasta for the main course and chocolate pudding for dessert. Amitie took over from Sig handling anything that could possibly get stuck on his claws, such as the vegetables or the meat. Since she only had experience making sweet dishes, she got a bit confused when it came time to add spices, at which point she let Sig take back over. Sig himself took care of prepping the pasta, and Klug did his own thing, combing through Sig’s kitchen for the ingredients for his pudding. As it turned out, Sig himself wasn’t necessarily sure where everything was, meaning that it took quite a while to locate the corn-starch especially.

“How does one not remember where they put their groceries?” said an irritated Klug, snatching the box of starch out of Sig’s hands right after it had been located.

“I… don’t really know,” the other boy replied, brows furrowed. “I guess I just… didn’t pay attention when I did…”

There it was again. That tense, uncomfortable atmosphere. Uuuhh, Amitie didn’t like that at all. Time to dispel it!

“Hey, hey, Sig, we’ve got some time left before food’s ready, right?” she flung out her arm. “How about a quick Puyo match before then? Y’know, just for fun!”

A friendly game, no spells and no consequences. She wouldn’t have wanted to ruin her poor friend’s furniture. Just as Amitie had hoped, Sig perked up a little.

“Um, sure. Why not? Sounds fun!”

“Alright-y, let’s go! Puyo poppin’!”

The matchup declared, the two of them began stacking their piles. They decided to use Tiny Puyo in order to save space. Because they were not going to use spells other than the basic Owanimo needed to open the match, Amitie and Sig instead resorted to counting their chains out loud to keep each other informed of their progress. Nuisance Puyo would still be falling after all. From over by the stove, Klug was observing the two of them, keeping one eye on his pudding and the other on the match.

 “One! Two! Three!” Like almost always when her and Sig were playing, Amitie got the first chain in. Nuisance Puyos fell. 

“Let’s see... One. Two!” Sig’s short, first chain was entirely dedicated to cleaning up the garbage Amitie had sent him.

“Not exactly high-level play you two are engaging in over there, now is it?” Klug remarked smugly.

Amitie rolled her eyes, “Klu~g it’s for fun! Relax a little, alright?”

“I am just saying, if the two of you have the same attention-span with your textbooks that you appear to have with your chains, that would go a long way explaining your grades. Heh heh.”

Though she couldn’t help pouting, Amitie decided to ignore Klug being… Klug. She knew he didn’t mean it badly (probably). He just liked making himself feel better, which was probably because others being better than him at anything made him feel like a loser- Huh, actually, when she put it like that in her head it was pretty sad. Maybe she should offer him a shoulder to cry on some time?

Well, even if Amitie was fine with it, that didn’t excuse going after Sig. Poor guy had already had a rough day. Taking a glimpse across her board, Amitie could see Sig genuinely frowning, which was a weird, unusual expression on him, usually reserved only for the funerals of his most favorite members of his bug collection. The way his eyebrows furrowed additionally made him look irritated, which was an expression she’d never seen on him before… Oh boy. This wasn’t going as planned at all.

“Hey, Sig! Don’t take it so hard. This match isn’t about anything, so it just makes sense we’re not bringing our A-game, okay?”

“…”

Sig didn’t respond – which, usually, would’ve been perfectly normal for him, but right now it Amitie couldn’t help but worry. If he was overthinking something as common as Klug belittling him, then what about all the other comments she and other people had made about him ‘acting weird’ today so far? Had he taken those to heart, too? The thought alone hurt Amitie. The last thing she’d ever wanted was to make him sad or uncomfortable. Absentmindedly, she kept stacking her Puyo pile, trying to come up with a new plan to cheer up her friend…

(Let’see, let’see… Maybe I could go out and catch him a new bug? Ah, no, that’d be to obvious, he probably doesn’t want me pitying him. Try to talk about our plushy collections again? Argh, but Klug doesn’t like those, so he’d probably mess that up. We’d have to talk about something all three of us like!) Amitie closed her eyes a moment. (But… Is there something like that?)

Lost in her thoughts, Amitie hadn’t paid much mind to her own Puyo pile, much less Sig’s. Her attention was only drawn back to the game when she, finally, after a few seconds, realized that Sig had been chanting – no, counting out loud for quite a while already.

“…11. 12. 13. 14…”

“Uh--- H-HUH!?”

Amitie could only stare. What was going on with Sig’s pile? At first, she wondered if he was just counting wrong, but as soon as she actually took a look at it – Holy spirits of all things magical and Puyo, what was this!?  That chain he had going was WAY too tall! And they just kept popping and popping, and Sig kept counting and counting… Amitie threw an asking glance across her shoulder, at Klug, but she quickly realized that he was just as dumbstruck as her. The fact that the pudding was cooking over, yet Klug wasn’t doing anything other than look at Sig with his mouth gaping wide open was a dead give-away.

“17… 18… 19… 20…”

What even was this chain? It just looked way too complex! Amitie kept watching them pop, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out how exactly it worked, let alone how Sig had built it-

Wait? What was this sense of Déjà vu…? Amitie suddenly couldn’t help but feel like this had happened before. …Yeah. She’d seen him make a chain like this one before… That was back when-

-Memories of the musty smell of the inner halls of the old ruins and two red eyes gleaming at her with nothing but contempt and a hunger for power flashed in her mind. A painfully familiar voice, telling her that, because of her mistake, her friend was someone else now, he was gone and was never coming back, because she’d spilled that potion on him, because of her-

Amitie dropped the red and yellow Puyos she’d been holding. She froze up.

“…24. Yes, nice!”

 A satisfied smile brightened up Sig’s face. He did it! He made a big chain! He didn’t care if it was going to be offset or countered, all that mattered that he showed he could do it when he tried! Now who couldn’t even focus on playing Puyo?

He looked up from his pile to ask that exact question to Klug, but when he saw the downright mortified way the other boy was looking at him, he decided to stop.  Klug had obviously gotten the point. No need to rub it in, Sig decided.

Time to turn his attention back to the game- Except, he quickly realized, there wasn’t much of a game left to still return to. Much to Sig’s confusion, he realized that not only had Amitie failed to make some chains to offset his, her pile was also a complete mess, none of the Puyos connecting right, and the middle rows were already dangerously close to the top. This next attack was going to his hard.

And then there was that empty, glazed-over expression in her eyes. She looked terrified. And she was looking at him. Why… why was she looking at him like that…!? No, wait, much more importantly-

“Amitie, the garbage!”

He had no trouble warning her this time – but she didn’t react. At this rate, the whole pile would collapse right on top of her and, friendly match or not, with this amount of garbage, that was bound to hurt. He couldn’t abort the attack anymore either… Sig lunged forward, to Amitie’s Puyo pile to scatter it before it could topple over. That way at least she wouldn’t take the full brunt of the squishy slime creatures dropping down onto her.

The Puyos rained down on them. Sig and Amitie got pelted, but not too badly. It was mildly annoying, as opposed to possibly causing bruises. The match ended and the scattered Puyo began to fade back to whence they came. Sig was looking at Amitie.

“Hey, Amitie… Why…”

He didn’t continue. She was still looking at him like that. Still starring at him.

“…”

And, Sig realized, it didn’t take a genius to know what had her so scared. He looked down at himself, his claws, the weird aura… His face fell.

“I-I…”

…He got up from the mattress he’d been sitting on.

“I’m so sorry, Amitie!”

Sig ran off. Up the stairs, to his bedroom.

For a moment, aside from Sig’s footsteps echoing out, everything was dead silent. Then, Amitie came back to her senses.

“Ah… S-Sig!?”

Her brain was only just putting together fact that he’d left the room. “N-No, wait! Sig! I didn’t mean-”

“What’s gotten into both of you?” She heard Klug ask behind her. “F-First that chain of his, then you, freezing up like a deer in headlights… And what in the name of Andromeda did you do to make him run off? He looked like he was about to burst into tears!”

“Sig…”

Amitie didn’t lose any more time. She hopped up and rushed for the stairs.

She tried knocking on the door softly and got no answer. Maybe he needed space… But, no, she couldn’t leave it like this! Her conscience didn’t allow her to. Thus, Amitie slowly and quietly opened the door to Sig’s room.

It was like a terrarium in there. The walls of the room were lined with potted plants in all shapes and sizes, many of which had an equally as varied selection of insects sitting on or eating them. It was much warmer than downstairs, and the air felt humid. Amitie wondered if that was thanks to all plants, or maybe because the small tub of water which stood in one corner of the room. She could see some water skitters scooting along on the surface.

Then there on the bed, which stood with he headend to the wall opposite of the door, sat Sig. He was feeding a millipede a piece of apple with his right hand, while letting a couple of butterflies and moths rest on the palm of his left hand. And, of course, there was his favorite ladybug, sitting in its favorite spot in his hair.

Amitie quietly stayed in the doorway and watched the scene for a while. Though Sig didn’t exactly look ‘happy’, being surrounded by his bugs like this had clearly calmed him down a good bit already. It was like Klug said: Just a minute ago, Sig clearly looked like he was about to cry. Now, he was gently and contently stroking the back of a millipede like it was a kitten, and eventually, even gave a small smile. Even Amitie felt a bit more peaceful watching him like this.

“…You really are Sig,” she smiled and whispered, just loud enough for him to notice her present.

Sig turned his head towards her, “Ah-! Amitie…”

“Is it okay if I come in?”

“Y-Yeah. Sure… If you want to.”

She closed the door behind herself and sad down on the bed next to Sig, being carefully not to harm any of his pets.

“Looks like it’s dinner time for them too, huh?” she managed to muster a grin.

Sig hesitated, but gave a small nod, “I’d put some food out for them earlier, so they’d be fine if I stayed downstairs tonight. But I guess they still like it better when I feed them myself. They’re probably used to it.”

“Or it’s because they really love you!”

“Y… you think so?”

“I know so!” Amitie laughed. “With how much you care for them, how couldn’t they?”

Amitie’s laughter echoed out a bit awkwardly when Sig stayed quiet for a moment after her words.

“I… was worried they wouldn’t even recognize me,” he admitted. “Some bugs have really good color-vision, y’know. So…”

“Hey.”

Amitie took Sig’s hand. His reaction was to turn towards her. They locked eyes. Red and blue was what Amitie saw. Right, red and blue… She took a deep breath. Everything was still alright.

“You’re still you,” said Amitie. “You look a bit different, and you talk a bit more. But that’s okay. You said so yourself, right? Inside, you’re still the same Sig.”

Sig’s eyes wandered off, “I wonder about that. I mean, I didn’t really notice at first but… Yeah. Something does feel strange. Something… something’s just different. Maybe everyone is right, and I’m really not acting like ‘me’ at all.”

“Um, maybe, a bit. But when it comes down to it, you’re still just you.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Well, um… hm…” Amitie pondered the matter to herself for a moment, before seeing the metaphorical lightbulb light up in her mind and snapping her fingers. “Like, these guys, for example!”

She pointed at the butterflies eating out of Sig’s hand.

“My… bugs?”

“Yeah! I mean, nobody else would love these little guys here as much as you do, right?” she grinned. “That’s proof enough that you’re Sig! And that’s not all. You’re still super-chill and super-nice, and you invited everyone over because you’re still everyone’s friend! Those are all very ‘you’ things!”

“Amitie… when we were playing earlier, you-“

Oof, there it was. The dreaded topic.

“T… That wasn’t your fault!” Amitie insisted awkwardly. “I just… Was totally floored by how big that chain was! Like, wow, have you ever seen anything that big?! It just kept going and went like ‘PLOPPLOPPLOP’ and ‘PA-LOP’! So cool! Yeah, ahaha…”

He let her finish rambling.

“Amitie. You’re a bad liar,” Sig told her.

“Ah…” she backed away a little.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two of them.

“…Look, Sig. Back there, I… I was just being an idiot,” said Amitie. “I, um. Saw some things that weren’t really there. And then I remembered some stuff. And that freaked me out. And. Yeah… That’s all.”

“Stuff from the ruins?” asked Sig.

Pause.

“I don’t wanna imagine Primp Town without you in it,” Amitie muttered. “It’d be too sad.”

“…Yeah,” Sig nodded a little. “I… I don’t wanna disappear again either. I like being with everyone. That’s why this all… ” he looked at his claws again. “…is really scary.”

Amitie sighed, “Sig, I’m so sorry… You did this to protect everyone, and now you’re the one who’s the most afraid. That’s so wrong. I really hope this wears off soon.”

“What if it doesn’t?” Sig asked, still looking at his hands. “Wear off, I mean. At all.”

“Klug said-”

“But what if not?”

She backed off and took a moment to think.

“Then… we’ll find another way to get you back to normal!” Amitie declared. “With one good hand, so you can cut veggies again, and blue hair and everything!”

“What sort of other way?”

“Just… a way!”

Sig looked at Amitie, half baffled at how insistent she could be on a goal she clearly didn’t have any strategy for accomplishing, half touched by how hard she was trying to make him feel better. To think he’d been the one who scared her so badly earlier. Running away to the ruins during the potion incident and making it so hard for everyone to find him was his fault, too, yet she put all the burden on her own shulders. But then again, that was just like Amitie. She always made sure not to let anyone down. That’s what made her such a great friend.

“Ahem…! You two…”

The door to the room cracked open again. In the doorframe- or rather, a meter behind it – he’d used the tip of his finger to push the door open – stood Klug. His body language was awkward and tense, though Amitie wasn’t sure if this was due to him trying to respect Sig’s privacy, or if he just wanted to avoid touching any bugs by accident.

“Dinner… has been ready for 13 minutes,” Klug declared, clearing his throat again. He crossed his arms and looked away. “I just thought maybe you would like to join me in eating before everything is cold. Just, perhaps… Yes…”

…Okay, definitely the privacy. Amitie almost had to laugh at how hard Klug was trying to not sound ‘nice’ or ‘caring’ while telling them to come eat.  They really were all good friends in the end.

Dinner went over without any further incidents. To his friends’ surprise, Klug refrained from commenting on anyone’s intelligence – including his own – for the rest of the evening. Maybe Sig’s monster-chain had just humbled him into silence, but Amitie suspected there was more to it. In retrospect, the panicked way he’d talked to her after Sig had run up to his room had sounded like Klug had been perhaps, just possible, maybe only a tiny little bit worried about Sig and Amitie. The fact that when they came downstairs the kitchen had been cleaned stainless and the table had been set up completely, tableware, food, drinks and everything, made her even more sure of this theory.

“Huh? Didn’t the pudding cook over and get burned?” asked Sig upon seeing the beautifully presented dessert bowl full of chocolatey goodness next to his plate. “I could have sworn…”

“I have noooo idea what you are talking about,” insisted Klug, conspicuously grabbing a spell book off the kitchen counter and shoving it into a random drawer. “A-And even if it had, – and I’m saying if! – there are spells to reverse such trivial mistakes thoroughly, which means the mistake may just as well never have happened in the first place and you should not waste any mind on it! It is pointless to even think about!”

Most people would have had follow-up questions after such a suspicious explanation, but, fortunately for Klug, both Amitie and Sig happened to be deadly allergic to word-salad and decided to leave it be.

Spending the rest of the evening by stuffing themselves with food and talking about Puyo was way more fun anyways.

Chapter Text

This was exactly why Klug didn’t tend to ‘hang out’ with others his age. They were all so emotional, totally unpredictable. One moment they’d be indulging in random nonsense, the next they’d run off crying. It was just such irritating behavior, the kind of irrational actions that his books couldn’t explain to him.

He just couldn’t deal with things he didn’t understand.

Klug watched Amitie chase upstairs after Sig. Good, let her deal with him. It was her fault the guy was having a fit anyway, right? ...Though, if Klug hadn’t provoked Sig, he most likely would’ve never built such an unreasonable chain. Klug knew that Sig wasn’t the type to show off for no reason. Even with the weird state the boy was in, that... shouldn’t have changed...

It was just one mystery after another today. Usually puzzles didn’t bother Klug, but all of this was just so nonsensical. He crossed his arms, leaned against the kitchen counter and sighed.

Just then a harsh smell like carbon hit his nose. Something burning...? Drat! The pudding! Klug whirled around to see that the pot he’d been so carefully tending to was bubbling and boiling over, throwing large blobs of chocolatey goo all over the place.

“ARGH!”

The boy rushed to extinguish the stove and pull the pot off it, but by then it was too late. Half the kitchen was already covered in a thin layer of milk, starch and chocolate. Klug groaned. H-He wouldn’t have to be the one to clean this up, would he? ...No! This was Sig’s and Amitie’s fault. They distracted him with their whining! Why should he have to pay? He never wanted to join this silly ‘party’ to begin with! Come to think, he really should just throw the pot in the sink and go right now, while he had the opportunity. ...But even as he told himself that, he realized he couldn’t bring himself to toss out the pudding. Just looking at the pot made him sad somehow. For some reason he couldn’t help but think about how fun it might’ve been to share something he made with Sig and Amitie… Well, however that may be, there was no way he could still serve the pudding to them in this state. Another, even deeper sigh left Klug’s lips.

‘Oh dear, oh dear. Two whole sighs. Is the four-eyed ‘master’ feeling a little troubled this evening? Heh heh heh…’

“Hmpf… Seems like you’re having one of your chatty days again,” Klug threw a glance across his shoulder, at the golden-rimmed, leather-bound book poking out from his bag on the coat rack. “Well, while you’re here: Tell me, why is it that on the one hand you only decide to make your presence known once in a blue moon, yet when you actually do start talking, you’ll keep going through the entire day without ever shutting up?”

‘Who knows, who knows~,” the voice singsonged teasingly. “Perhaps it’s boredom? Perhaps I’m just oh so lonely. Or maybe I simply enjoy the incredulous stares people give you whenever they catch you standing by yourself and talking to a book in public. Ahahaha.’

 “Of course. Of course. Why would I ever assume an actual reason behind your erratic behavior? I must’ve forgotten who I was talking to.”

‘I could lend you a hand, you know.’

Klug listened up.

‘With that mess you’ve made, I mean. I trust you are capable of casting a simple time-slow spell?’

“Tch!” Klug scoffed. “Of course, I am! Who do you think you’re talking to? I’ll have you know that used to cast that sort of magic for fun. When I was four!”

‘Gather power and touch the book.’

For a moment Klug considered to simply ignore the instructions. An, ahem, certain incident all aside, the book had proven itself quite mischievous in its past interactions with him, and he was not in the mood to get pranked by a glorified dictionary right now. Eventually, though, his curiosity won out. The ancient magicalt arts the spirit of the Tome of Sealing taught him almost always ended up being deeply fascinating…

He walked to the coat rack and picked up the book, then walked back to the kitchen. He also summoned a small group of purple Puyo and popped them to gather energy.

“Magic power has been charged, and I am touching the book,” Klug stated.

‘Cast your spell on the pot’”

That was all? It seemed exceedingly simple. Klug snapped his fingers and pointed at the remains of his pudding.

“Tempus Mora!”

 There was a sudden but familiar surge in power, the same Klug felt every time he used the Tome of Sealing to enhance his spells. Seeing how the spell’s purpose was to slow time, he didn’t expect any impressive effects on the pot. However, after just a few seconds, the liquid inside appeared to start bubbling again- No, wait. The bubbles were actually… reconstituting themselves? Then they proceeded to sink underneath the liquid’s surface and vanish. The pudding was boiling in reverse.

Stunned, Klug adjusted his glasses observed the phenomenon. The pudding’s dark color began to lighten back to a much more appetizing, chocolatey brown and the chunky texture continued to smoothe out, back to the creamy consistency it was supposed to have.

“Ah, that’s it! Fin!” Klug cancelled the spell.

In front of him now stood a steaming hot, perfectly cooked batch of chocolate pudding, ready to be served. One taste-test later, the boy whistled a little.

“Time reversal…Fascinating. I didn’t think it could be achieved this easily.”

‘Yes, but maybe don’t try this specific method on a living being. Trust me, the outcome would not be pretty.’

“Trust you? No. But I’ll make note of that.”

‘And while we’re at it, would you also recite the spell I am displaying on page 245 right now?’

Klug raised a brow with suspicion, but still opened the tome to at least look at aforementioned page. Once he’d read it, his expression quickly turned to one of confusion.

“A… cleaning spell?”

‘This place is absolutely horrid! I will not stand even a single minute more of looking at this filth!’

“Looking? You’re a book. You don’t have eyes.”

‘…Just get it over with before I forget myself.’

“Tch… Plenty pushy for a pile of paper, aren’t we?” But Klug took a look around, at the pudding-stained wallpaper, some decorative items and chairs that had been knocked over by Amitie’s and Sig’s Puyo Battle, a carpet Sig had accidentally dragged halfway across the room when he stormed off, and the collection of grotesquely cute, bug-shaped dolls strewn all over the floor. “Though, I admit, cleaning up right now… Would probably help.”

And thus, the offer was taken. To think that he would use the Tome of Sealing to clean up someone else’s house. This was definitely not the sort of application Klug had imagined when he first checked the old tome out of the library. Then again, he also hadn’t imagined he’s ever be spending the night – let alone a school night – at a classmate’s house. It was as they said: There’s a first time for any- and everything.

The spell turned out to be of the variety that needed to be ‘directed’ after the initial casting, so Klug found himself waving his hand around the room, commanding items to change position, dirt stains to fade and dust to exit the room through the window. It was far from an instant method, but there was a certain charm to having all objects in the room do his unquestioned bidding. He even got Sig’s plushy collection to line up in a row between Sig’s and Amitie’s mattresses, all neat and tidy. Would you look at that, the little abominations almost looked aesthetical when placed in such an orderly manner. While he was on it, Klug also took the freedom to command Sig’s dinner table to pull out and tableware to levitate into place, ready for use. Now just two coasters, the pot with the pasta and the one with his pudding – Excellent! Klug proudly looked over his work. Not a thing out of place! From Cavern of Chaos to Dust-free Delight! He must’ve been a famous interior decoration artist in a previous life, Klug thought to himself while laughing a weirdly boastful sort of laugh.

“Well, well! Looks like we will be having a feast tonight after all! Hah… I can only hope Sig and Amitie properly appreciate the things I do for them.”

‘Yes, truly, you are Friend of the Year.’

“Ahahaha! Of course, I am!” -Beat- “Wait, was that sarcasm...!?”

The book’s low chuckle was only fuel to the indignant glare Klug was shooting it. Not that the spirit cared. The young apprentice mage’s emotional outbursts were one of the few joys still left to it in existence. Klug could only scoff at the book’s laughter. Why did he even bother with this thing? If damaging it didn’t technically count as destruction of public property, he would have had a good mind to toss it on the floor and use it as a stepping stool to reach the higher shelves sometimes.

“You’re more trouble than you’re worth,” mumbled Klug. “…Is what I would say if I didn’t still require your power.”

‘And yet you refuse me when I offer you the most of it. Curious.’

“I’m not falling for that!” Klug pressed his index finger harshly against the pages of the book. “You just wanted to take over my body again!”

The spirit laughed, ‘So? What of it? A small price to pay to save your friend’s life, I’d believe.’

“I beg to differ!” Klug hissed. “Especially since I highly doubt, you’d have been trustworthy enough a ‘savior’ to not immediately go on to finish what Arle’s Doppelganger started… And that all aside, the situation resolved itself anyway!” Klug crossed his arms and smirked. “We found a perfectly functional way of driving back the fiend, all of our own accord! I’ll admit, Sig’s unexpected surge in power was a little unorthodox… But it did the trick, and your intervention turned out to be unnecessary! I got to keep my body, Arle got to survive another day and Sig got to make himself a little useful for once. Hah! A perfect resolution.”

‘He won’t revert, you know.’

An oncoming laugh got stuck in Klug’s throat.

“W…What are you talking about?” The boy tried to not drop his smirk. Not yet. The book’s comment seemed so random. And yet, it made a shiver travel down his spine.

‘The one you call ‘Sig’. I happened to hear what you told him and the girl regarding his currents state. A nice guess, but unfortunately incorrect. The shift he has undergone is not something that can be undone by simply letting it ‘wear off’. If that was what you were planning to do… Well, you will be waiting for quite a while. Eheheh…’

“W-Wha...” Klug took a step back. No way. Sig’s condition was permanent? But wasn’t it just a power-boost of some sort? How could something like that last forever? If it were that simple, there wouldn’t be a single weak mage in this world! And besides… “What do you know? Last I checked you were a spell-book, not a guide to magic potions! Don’t you think you are speaking a little outside your depth here?”

‘The potion is not the original cause of these changes. It merely triggered them. I doubt there are many others in this world that would have had the same reaction to it.’

Klug could feel the sweat droplets form on his forehead.

“What does that mean…? H-How would you even know that!”

‘Oh, please. Don’t pretend that you’re unaware,’ the spirit sounded strangely gleeful. ‘You were there, were you not? You must’ve heard about it from your very own mouth… The truth about how that child and I are connected. Mwheheh…’

It was the final straw. Not only was this poltergeist asking him to call upon those incredibly humiliating memories, there were also these insane insinuations about Sig again…!

“That’s enough from you!” Klug angrily smacked the book’s covers shut and tossed the volume onto the kitchen counter. “I don’t want to hear another word! Sig is a classmate, you are a book, and I am leaving this room so you can no longer bother me!”

With those words, he clicked his heels and turned towards the door-

‘Ah, running from a slightly uncomfortable social situation. Like a true awkward teenager.’

“U-Um…No!?” Klug changed trajectory. „I… I am going upstairs! Where there’s MORE people! HA!”

‘Hmmm…?’

Not giving the book a chance to make any more emasculating comments, Klug left the room and climbed the stairs up to Sig’s bedroom. He didn’t care if he’d end up barging in on the other boy and Amitie crying about bugs and anatomically incorrect hearts to each other – Okay, actually, he did care about that. That did not sound like a scene he wanted to witness. Well, point being, the further away he got from the Tome of Sealing trying to bedazzle and confuse him right now, the better!

 It… was just trying to confuse him… right?

Halfway up the stairs, Klug came to a brief standstill.

That Sig was different from most of the other students had never been a secret. His left arm had caught the attention of everyone in school from the first day he transferred. Of course, whatever speculations and rumors about it had made the rounds were soon quelled by the blue-haired boy flatly answering all questions about it with variations on the phrase ‘I don’t know, and I don’t think I care.’ That was why nobody ever addressed the topic these days. That didn’t mean they weren’t thinking about it. And it also didn’t mean that Klug hadn’t long noticed the eerie similarities between the magical pattern of Sig’s powers and the power Klug felt whenever he used the Tome of Sealing…

“…”

Klug grabbed on to the staircase’s handrail.

 Sig not reverting? What would that even mean? Well, the power boost wouldn’t go away, for one. The changes to his appearance, namely the color of his hair and the mutation of his right hand in addition to his left would remain. But those weren’t ‘bad’ things per-se, right? People rarely minded being gifted strong power, and if the hair color bothered him, there were always spells one could use for that. The matter of his arms was trickier but could probably be worked around. So, there wasn’t any real downside to any of this, was there? And yet, all day, whenever anyone had brought up that Sig wasn’t acting like Sig, the blue mage’s heterochromatic eyes had looked so… unhappy…

From the upper end of the staircase, Klug could hear voices.

“What if it doesn’t? Wear off, I mean. At all.”

“Klug said-”

“But what if not?”

“Then… we’ll find another way to get you back to normal!”

Klug bit his lip. Stupid Amitie, making promises she didn’t know she could keep. Sig really wanted to go back to normal, huh? It wasn’t necessarily a sentiment Klug understood (-again, something he didn’t understand), but if it turned out the book’s spirit had said the truth…

Further up the stairs he went. That dinner would better do something to help brighten Sig’s mood. If Klug really would end up having to break bad news as soon as tomorrow afternoon, then the least he could do to soften the blow was make sure the rest of the evening would be somewhat enjoyable.

Night fell quietly over Primp Town. The magical lanterns in the street slowly turned on one after another, and, having taken care of the day’s last errands, people began to return to their homes. Somewhere, a demon possessing a stuffed toy sealed up a library tightly, using twice as many hexes as usual. Somewhere else, a young sorceress continued interrogating the wizard she held captive in her abode with questionable methods and even more questionable results. A prince’s attendant was once again running through the streets in a panic, calling the name of a royal who had long escaped to the beach outside of town. A teacher returned to town after a brief but well-deserved vacation. A young warlock, attracted by the sweet scent of mystery, floated just above the town on a giant lollypop, silently surveying the going-ons beneath.

And in a lavish mansion at the edge of Primp, two young ladies laid on their bellies, indulging in the relaxation they knew their graceful selves deserved.

“Ahhh~ Higher, Minotauros, just a biiiit… Ah, yes. That really hits the spot, ufufufu…”

 Tonight’s dedicated massage artist gave a happy huff at that.

“Eheheh. Always glad to please, Lady Rulue~♪ “

On the table to Rulue’s right someone stretched and gave a princessly laugh.

“Haaah~, I have to say, Rulue, this Spa-night was a wonderful idea.”

“Raffina, Raffina, by now you really should know that all my ideas are wonderful~!”

“Ah, of course of. How silly of me. Tee-hee~”

Just two best friends, spending time together in the younger friend’s mansion, letting the older friend’s personal servant pamper them. What better end to a day could there be?

“There really is nothing above a good massage after a hard day’s battle~!” The pink-haired girl swooned.

“The only way this could be any better would be if my darling Prince were here,” the blue-haired lady agreed, sighing. “But, unfortunately, he turned down my invitation! I have no idea why…”

“Hmpf. His loss. Some poor fools just don’t know how to appreciate what they’re given. Ahahahaha!”

“…Halt just a moment,” Rulue had turned her head towards Raffina. She looked irritated. “Did you just call my Prince a ‘fool’!?”

“Hm…?” The outburst confused Raffina, who tipped her head a little. “Well, of course. What else would he be, to refuse the advances of a magnificent, strong and beautiful lady such as yourself?”

Rulue’s face was now a confused mess of emotions. Offended disgust and prideful glee mashed and mixed together to an extent that it looked like Rulue’s mind’s circuits were about to be fried and give out any moment.

“Y-You don’t understand!” she insisted. “He… merely hasn’t recognized my true worth yet! That is all!”

“If it takes him this long to recognize it, he is hardly worth the trouble, if you ask me,” Raffina replied with a dismissive scoff. “What’s more, he appears to be pursuing that terribly unrefined Arle. That is hardly a standard I would want to see myself measured up against. Don’t you think it’s about time you started pursuing someone with more…adequate tastes? There are plenty fish in the sea, you know.”

“Raffina!”

Rulue sat up so quickly, the force of her back raising catapulted Minotauros right into the wall behind him. Rulue’s servant sputtered and groaned in the indent in the wall he’d been embedded into, but she paid this no mind.

“How dare you…! Nobody insults the Dark Prince in my presence! Not even someone of your grace and strength!”

“Hmpf. Very well!” Raffina, too, sat up, a confident smile on her face. “A Puyo Battle it is then! I shall-“

But before Raffina could cast Owanimo to open the battle, something else caught her attention and she stopped in her tracks. Her face fell.

“U-Uhh… R…Rulue…?”

“Hm?” Rulue tilted her head a little. “What is it, Raffina?”

“I… I don’t mean to alarm you, but…” Raffina gestured towards Rulue’s face with her right hand. She didn’t point, pointing was rude and unrefined. “Y-Your hair…”

“Hm?”

“Y-Your fringe-hair…. T-There’s… um…”

Raffina couldn’t bear to say more. Oh, it was too dreadful! She would have to leave poor, poor Rulue to discover the truth for herself. And, indeed, soon the Fighting Queen had located the offending feature. After running her hands through her fringe hair a couple of times, she finally held it between her fingers:

Grey hair.

Not just a single strand. A whole, entire lock of it.

All color drained from Rulue’s face immediately.

“Ah… Ah…. AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

The two young ladies rushed to hold each other’s shoulders in terror and shock, offering one another comfort in face of this truly horrifying discovery.

“This is awful!!” Rulue screamed. Tears were welling up in her eyes. “N-No!! I am too young and graceful to be going grey!! What will the Prince think of me!?”

“I-I will arrange to have this fixed right away!!” Raffina declared shrieking. “Butlers! BUTLERS! Get the emergency hair-dye, this instant!”

“Minotauros! TO THE BATHROOM!” Rulue commanded.

“Y-Yes, Lady Rulue!!”

The minotaur’s recovery was speedy once the possibility of Rulue taking a bath had been mentioned. Gathering up all of Rulue’s and Raffina’s clothes and other belongings, the three of them rushed towards another room within the mansion’s private wellness-area at the speed of absolute terror.

Just what had caused the color of Rulue’s luxurious, blue locks to fade so suddenly?

It really had been a lively evening at Sig’s house. The three of them found plenty of wonderful conversation topics over the course of their delicious dinner, such as Amitie trying to badger Klug for the recipe of his pudding, or Sig voicing his surprise at how clean the place was. They also found the time to talk about the actual subject of their gathering – the magic Sig had used against Arle’s Doppelganger earlier in the day.

“I… really don’t know how I did that, honestly. I suddenly just had this idea pop on my head, that I could gather power from all around, instead of just from the Puyos and… it worked.”

“Environmental magic…” Klug tipped his glasses. “But… that’s a legendary technique!”

“Enviro…. Whaaaa…?” Amitie didn’t understand a word.

“A method of using magic spoken off in ancient texts,” Klug explained. “Rather than taking the energy needed to supplement one’s own magic power from the spacetime rifts opened by vanished Puyos, this method instead draws the required energy directly from the world around you. This results in lower casting times and higher overall reliability.”

“Whoaaa!! I’m not sure I got everything, but that sounds really cool!” Amitie’s eyes lit up with excitement. “I wonder if I can use magic like that too?”

“Of course, you can’t. Nobody can,” Klug declared. “Environmental magic is just a myth! Even if a method like that actually existed, it would be far too hazardous to put into practice.”

“Huh!? Why’s that?”

“Because the energy required to cast magic is the same energy that secures everything’s and everyone’s existence and placement in spacetime. Drawing this much power at once from the planet itself would be disastrous! Reality itself might collapse.”

“…That sounds really bad,” Sig lowered his head, “Did I really use dangerous magic like that? It… didn’t feel so bad.”

“Eh. Unlikely,” Klug shrugged. “I just told you: It’s a myth! Whatever you used was probably a different technique that just looked a bit similar. So I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.”

Sig thought about that, then gave a small nod.

“Yeah. I shouldn’t worry about it,” he paused a moment. His head sunk again. “…I can’t stop worrying.”

“Huh… That’s so weird to hear…!” Amitie laughed a little- before realizing the open wound she just touched. “A-Ah! I mean! Of course, you’re worried! After all, a lot of worrying things happened today!”

“But I don’t like worrying… It feels weird.”

“You two! I just told you, there’s nothing to worry about! Tsk, are you even listening to me!?”

They continued their conversation while doing the dishes, then spent some time with a few friendly Puyo matches among one another. No more crazy-long chains (Klug secretly wondered if Sig was intentionally holding back now, or if he simply didn’t find it fun to build anything like that without a proper motivation) , but just a couple of friendly games before they all went to change into pajamas (Sig had lent Amitie and Klug some of his). Finally, they closed out the evening by playing Old Maid for a while, using a deck of cards Klug happened to have in his bag. Amitie was the first to fall asleep. She closed her eyes with a yawn, let her cards slip from her hand and toppled over into the middle of the cycle they’d been sitting in, tipping over the entire deck of playing cards and spilling it all over their mattresses in the process. It was at this point that Sig and Klug, too, decided to call it a night. Amitie was carried onto her own mattress and covered with her blanket. Sig made sure to give her the pink caterpillar doll she’d taken such a liking to, to snuggle with, before retreating to his own sleeping space. Klug finished gathering up and putting away his playing cards, then extinguished the lights in the room went to bed as well.

Silence. The entire house was quiet and dark. Well, that is, aside from the bioluminescence of some of the insects in the room upstairs… And a single, red eye, shining in the dark of the room downstairs. Its owner was starring at the ceiling, silently counting the tics of Klug’s pocket watch on the counter by the wall. One, two, three, four, five… Tick, tock, tick, tock, it just kept going. For minutes, for hours…

Four hours. That was how much later it was when the owner of the red eye sat up on his mattress, shook his head a little and then got up to walk towards the kitchen. The floorboards creaked under his steps. It was just a small sound, but enough to cause the blond girl on the mattress next to his to stir. She opened her eyes and looked around.

“Uh?... Wha…”

It took her a moment to register where she was, that Klug was sleeping sprawled out two mattresses over from hers and that the center mattress was empty, the blanket having been thrown aside

“Sig…?” she wondered quietly and looked up. She strained her eyes to see something in the darkness.

Ah, there he was. She could see his silhouette moving, roughly where she remembered the sink was. She hadn’t heard any water running, though… Wasn’t he going to get a drink?

Amitie got out of her bed and carefully approached him

“Sig.”

“Ah-“ The boy turned around. Even in the middle of the night, Sig’s red eye made it very easy to locate his face. “Amitie… Did I wake you up? Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“Sig, why are you up?” she asked. “It’s been a long day. You should really be getting some rest.”

“…Can’t.”

“Huh?”

As Sig-like the briefness of this response was, the cadence he said it with definitely was not. The boy crossed his arms.

“I… can’t sleep,” he admitted, averting his eyes from Amitie. “I’m… not tired.”

“Sig…”

“It’s weird, isn’t it? I… I’ve never had trouble sleeping before. Usually, I fall asleep just daydreaming. And we were in a battle earlier today. I should be tired, right? But… I’m not. Not at all.  I… I didn’t even realize that this was how it felt to… not be tired.” Hesitantly, he turned his gaze to his friend again. “Amitie… This… really isn’t like me. Is it?”

His question sounded so sincere that it was heartbreaking. Amitie shivered at how much his voice was shaking. Sig was really scared… What should she do? She couldn’t just tell him again that it would ‘wear off’. Wouldn’t that just upset him even more, given how unsure he seemed that this all would go away once the potion lost its effect? No, she had to do something else. Something… something…

Ah, this should do.

“Hey,” Amitie smiled at Sig. “You know, being up in the middle of the night really isn’t all bad! It can be loads of fun, actually.”

“Huh?”

“C’mon, Sig,” she took his hand. “I wanna show you something.”

“…Something?” he asked.

Amitie grinned. “A very ‘you’ thing that you can only see at night!”

Led by a small flame Amitie had conjured up, the two of them left the house and walked into Sig’s backyard. She knew he had a small pond where he liked to catch water insects, so she hoped- Ah! There they were.

Just above Sig’s little pond a hundred tiny lights floated in the air. Immediately, the boy’s eyes grew wide.

“Ah-! Nightlightflies!”

A special species of firefly that only gathered to mate long after sundown. They were native to Primp Town, and yet…

Sig leapt a few steps closer to the pond, a bright, cheery smile on his face. The light of the tiny creatures reflected in his eyes.

“I’ve never seen them up close before! So pretty…!”

Amitie caught up with him and grinned, “Right? It’s like the stars came down from the sky to play with us!”

“Yeah! They’re so cool…” Sig stretched out a claw to let one of the Nightlightflies land on it. He laughed, “Hey, little fella. How are you doing tonight? …Wanna be friends?”

The Nightlightfly rested on Sig’s palm for a few seconds, curiously mustering the boy, before raising its wings and taking off again. Sig laughed.

“Hahaha.”

Amitie, too, smiled. Sig looked so happy. It was the sort of happiness she thought suited him best, the kind she’d always seen in him whenever he had a chance to really indulge in his passion. That part of him didn’t change, and as long as it didn’t, she knew everything was gonna be alright. Sig was still Sig. That was all that mattered.

“Wanna watch them for a while?”

“Yeah!!”

There, in midst of a hundred tiny lighting bugs buzzing all around them, Amitie and Sig sat down in the soft grass and observed the spectacle.

“They really do look like stars,” Sig marveled.

Amitie nodded, “But, but! If they’re stars, then there’s gotta be constellations too, right? Let’s see if we can find some!”

“Hm…” Sig took a moment to search something out. “The five over there make an earthworm! And those over there look like a butterfly.”

Amitie flung out her hand. She was not going to lose to him, “Those six over here make a red Puyo, the ones over there make a blue Puyo, and over on that side there’s a yellow Puyo-“

“They’re… all Puyos?” asked Sig.

“W-Well, um… What do they look like to you?”

“…Bugs?”

The two of them looked at each other for a moment, then burst into laughter.

“Ahahaha! This is so much fun!” Amitie wiped a happy tear out of her eye. “And the best part is! Because they keep moving, we can always keep searching for new pictures!”

“Yay! Nightlightflies are the best!” Sig agreed. “If the stars in the sky moved around like them too, they would be a lot cooler.”

Amitie giggled, “Yeah! A shame that they don’t move.”

They heard a voice from behind them, where the door to Sig’s house was.

“That’s not entirely correct.”

Amitie and Sig looked up.

“Huh! Klug…”

“Did we wake him up too?” Sig wondered out loud. “Oh boy…”

Klug didn’t comment on that matter. Though his original intent for coming out here had indeed been to scold these two firefly-fanatics for waking up the entire neighborhood with their chortling, something much more interesting had now grabbed his attention: A chance to ramble about astronomy.

“Though appearing immobile to the naked eye, the stars in the sky do, in fact, move! Many at tremendous speeds, even.” Klug walked up to his friends. “They are just much too far away for us to notice it on first glance. However… If you were to wait a hundred- no, hundreds, maybe even thousands years, you would begin to see their motions across the sky. The very identity of the pole star will change, old constellations disappearing, erased by the movement of the heavens, and new ones being born in their stead… In this never-ending cycle of cosmic destruction and creation!”

Amitie and Sig felt crushed by the surprising grandeur of the speech Amitie’s innocent remark had triggered.

“Whoa…!” Amitie subtly moved away from Klug, not sure whether to be impressed or frightened. “So, um… If a day were 1000 years long, then I’d get to see new constellations in the sky every night?”

“Yes, pretty much!”

“But… it’s not,” Amitie surmised. “So, knowing this is kinda pointless, right? If they move so slowly that we’ll never notice anyway.”

Before Klug could call Amitie a ‘cretin’ for this comment, Sig voiced another question entirely.

“Where are they going?”

Klug and Amitie turned their heads.

“The stars, I mean,” Sig clarified. “Where are they going when they’re moving?”

Klug gave a knowing smirk, “This is the same as asking where the sun goes when it sets!”

“Heh?”

“Each star orbits the center of mass of its galaxy,” Klug explained. “And these galaxies form clusters, which orbit the center of their combined mass. Altogether, all stars, planets and planetoids and even the void between them all orbit the very center of the universe itself. You see, they’re not really going anywhere. Everything in this universe is spinning around a greater force pulling it into its draw with its power. And, of course, each planet orbits a star. For example, our planet revolves around our sun!”

“The sun is a star?” asked Amitie, wide-eyed.

“And each star is somebody else’s sun,” Klug confirmed.

“Whoa, really!?”

“Naturally. Let’s take the constellation of the Milkmaid, for example,” Klug pointed into the sky. “Can you see the 7^th star in the order, just beneath the milkmaid’s jug? The point where she is pouring out the milk.”

“Um, yeah? I think so…”

“That star’s name is ‘Solis’. According to my research, in Ringo’s world, this star serves as their sun.”

“What!? That’s Ringo’s sun?” Amitie’s mouth formed an O-shape. “It looks so small from here!”

“Because we’re very far away.”

Sig, too, found that piece of trivia unexpectedly cool. It made him think of another question.

“Whose sun is the moon?” he asked.

“Wha—The moon isn’t anyone’s sun! How would you ever get that idea?”

“Well, it’s in the sky and it’s shining. If the sun is a star, then shouldn’t the moon be one to?”

“No! The moon is a satellite!”

“A ‘satellite’?” asked Amitie.

“A satellite is a celestial body orbiting a--- I mean, it’s just something that follows a planet around wherever it goes!”

“Oh, you mean like Sig’s ladybug?”

“Ah, y…yes? That could be a comparison.”

“So, my ladybug is the moon in another world…?”

“Wha--- No! That’s not at all what I said!”

“And then Sig’s a planet! That means… Is there a whole world full of Sigs out there!? With their own Sig-language?”

“How are you getting this from any of what I said!?”

The conversation continued, sometimes approaching the firm grounds of facts and sanity, sometimes leaping off so far into nonsense that Klug felt his head spinning and the need to take a break. It only took a short while until the three children were lying head on head in the grass, watching both the fireflies and stars above them, searching for constellations, giving them names and, occasionally asking Klug for the actual names of the brighter, more interesting stars they spotted in the distance. Gradually, the trio’s chattering slowed, and their laughter grew quieter, as the lively atmosphere calmed, and they began to allow themselves to just take in the soothing song of the cicadas in the bushes around them.  Eventually, Amitie saw one of her friends’ shapes move from the corner of her eye. Sig stretched his arms out wide and gave a long, drawn out yawn.

“Ahhhhh…. Tired…”

Immediately, Amitie sat up, “It actually worked! Yay!”

“…Heh?”

“You said you couldn’t sleep earlier!”

“…Ah. Right…”

Amitie would’ve never thought that such a deadpan delivery would ever bring such a smile to her face. Even if  she didn’t think anything else had gone back to normal yet – the lack of a strong light made it difficult to tell –, that drowsy, half-asleep look on Sig’s face was so wonderfully familiar that Amitie felt relief wash over her.

“Thanks, Ami…For the Nightlightflies.” Sig mumbled, giving her a small, gentle smile and another yawn.

“No problemo-!”

“… I’m going to bed…Night.”

The boy got up from the ground, and, with-sleep drunk motions, stretched one more time before heading back inside the house. Amitie couldn’t help but grin as she watched him leave. Mission accomplished! …Actually, maybe even more than accomplished.

“Thank goodness. Looks like Sig’s going back to normal already…”

“What makes you think that?” asked Klug, sitting up as well.

“Well, the way he was acting right now!” Amitie grinned. “Wasn’t that totally Sig-like?”

“If by ‘Sig-like’ you mean ‘too tired to think straight’, then maybe,” Klug sounded unconvinced. “It is 1:30am, Amitie. It’s just as likely that his internal clock just finally caught up with him.”

“But, but! You said it yourself! I think it’s been more than 18 hours by now,… Maybe the potion really is beginning to wear off?” Amitie’s eyes were bright. “I bet’cha, by tomorrow morning he’ll have slept it all off. And then he’ll be totally back to normal!”

She expected Klug to agree with her. After all, it was him who’d suggested these timestamps in the first place, and why would Klug, of all people, ever contradict his own reasoning? The brown-haired boy, however, turned his gaze away from Amitie and… sighed.

“Is… Sig going back to normal really that important…?”

“Huh?”

“I- I mean…!” Now Klug was facing her again, but there was a weird smile on his face, and the way he held his glasses in place made it hard for Amitie to see his eyes, especially in the dark. “Wouldn’t it be much better if he stayed the way he was today? Think about it! His increased magical ability and better attention span will probably end up greatly benefitting his lackluster academic performance, he has been infinitely easier to hold a conversation with, and the added ability to emote surely counts as a social boon! Better grades, better relationships… Why would anyone want to undo such obvious improvements? If you ask me, there are absolutely no downsides to what’s happened to him! As his friends, we should be supportive of his personal progress.”

“But… Sig doesn’t like being like that!” Amitie got up onto her feet. Baffled, she starred down at Klug. “It scares him! He’s scared that he won’t be Sig anymore!”

“He’ll get used to it,” Klug dismissively waved his hand. “Or rather, ‘grow into it’. Overcoming your personal flaws is all part of growing up, you see. You’ll understand it too one day.”

“Flaws…? You make it sound like Sig was wrong the way he was before!”

“W-Well, we don’t need to sweat the details of it right now, do we? I mean ‘wrong’ or not, for the time being at least, that potion has fixed Sig, so-“

*Clap!*

It came so unexpected. Had the person he was talking to been Raffina or even Feli, he might have seen this coming, and would have tried to dodge. But not like this. Not right now.

Never, not in a millennium, would Klug have thought that Amitie would ever slap him in the face.

It was dead silent by the pond. The noise had made the cicadas hide and the fireflies scatter. But there was still enough starlight left for Klug to see Amitie’s features and the look of absolute indignation on her face. She was staring at him, angry, baffled… and very, very disappointed. For a good while they both just stood there like petrified, neither saying anything to the other, until tears began to gather in Amitie’s eyes.

“I… I’m so stupid!” she chocked out. “I just thought, you- I…  I should never have trusted a weird person like you to help cheer up Sig!!”

“W-Weird…!?”

“Thinking everyone and everything just needs to be a certain way that’s ‘normal’ and that’s ‘easy to deal with’, just because that’s how it’s ‘supposed to be’ or ‘that’s just how it works’… that’s so super weird!” Amitie would have been yelling if her tears hadn’t been making her choke down her own voice. “People aren’t like your dumb stars, you know! They don’t just move when nobody’s looking or all spin around the same, boring old things everywhere, all the time! Everyone’s awesome because they’re just who they are! S-Sig’s always been awesome! Because he’s spacey! Because he does everything his own way, at his own pace, just the way it makes him happy! I… I thought you’d understand that too! Because you’re his friend as well!”

“A-Amitie…”

“Shuddup! I dunwanna talk to you anymore, Klug!!”

Just like that, Amitie ran off, tears dropping off her face, without looking back, and yet still making sure to open and close the door quietly, as not to wake Sig again. It was his wellbeing she cared about most right now, that had been made abundantly clear.That fact wasn’t exactly a revelation to Klug… but still, the tone of her voice defending Sig’s ‘usual’ personality kept echoing in his head on endless repeat. Klug kept one hand on the cheek Amitie had struck, feeling a forming bruise painfully pulsate underneath his finger. He was still to stunned to use magic and heal it right now.

“I’m… the weird one…?”

It wasn’t the first time he’d heard someone call him something like that. But it was the first time this felt like more than just a childish insult. Much, much more.

Chapter Text

Spinning, spinning, round and round. Lights spinning around bigger lights that spun around even more lights, and everything and all spinning together around nothing at all... Amitie was feeling dizzy.

“Ahhh~ Make it stop...!” she pleaded in a high-pitched tone as she tumbled through the revolving void.

“Nobody can stop it! As long as time exists, this world will keep turning! The very identity of the pole star will change, old constellations disappearing, erased by the movement of the heavens, and new ones being born in their stead… In this never-ending cycle of cosmic destruction and creation!” some stuck-up meanie’s grandiose voice boomed through the cosmos. “AHAHAHAHA!”

“Urgh... Klug, pipe down a little...!” Amitie complained into the void. “I’m getting a headache... Ahhh~”

She was going to add a “please” to that, but then she remembered that she was angry with him, and decided to turn her nose up instead.

“Hmpf! Whatever, I’ll... just go somewhere else!”

...Where exactly to, though? There wasn’t really anything around, just stars, stars, as far as the eye could see. And though there were so many, they all looked so far away! Could she really reach any of them?

“Amitie... Amitie...” she heard another voice call out to her.

“Huh?” Amitie turned around. “Who is there?”

There was a large, red Puyo in the wide, black sky.

“Amitie...” the Puyo called her. “Every star is someone’s sun,” it said.

“Hm? The sun?” Amitie asked. “You mean... like that one over there?”

Amitie found herself pointing at a large, yellow star – no, a large yellow Puyo – in the sky, not too far away from her.

“That’s right, Amitie. It’s the sun of someone very important...”

“Whoaaa.” Amitie voiced her awe. “It’s so bright! Just like the real sun...”

She starred at the Sun-Puyo for a brief while before having an epiphany.

“Wait! If there’s someone’s sun here, then there should be a world with people around too, right? Where is it? Hmmmm, a world, a world, a world...”

Amitie looked around and found that there was a planet just underneath her. A large, sprawling world, with forests and rivers and beaches and towns.

“Aha! World spotted~!”

Not missing another beat, Amitie descended upon the planet underneath her. Through the stratosphere, through the clouds, past the mountain tops, through the forest canopy, right until she reached what looked like the gates to a large, ancient building. A palace, maybe? Or a dungeon?

“Woooow….!” Amitie marveled at her discovery. “Well, it looks a tad creepy, but there have to be people in there, right?”

She heard voices from inside the dungeon. A wide smile spread on her face.

“Yay, people! Here I come!”

She didn’t know what kind of people she was hoping to meet here or why, going in to meet someone just felt like the right thing to do. Maybe this was something the red Puyo had told her to do as well? Even now she felt as if she could hear its voice someone inside her.

And so Amitie entered the dungeon’s labyrinth and made her way through the many twists and turns of its halls. She kept going and going and going. Hm, how long would this take, she wondered?

“Hello? Is there anybody thereeee?” she called into the halls, but the only answer she got was her own echo. “Hmm… But I was so sure I heard voices before!”

Speak of the devil, there was a voice. Right behind her.

“Are you the Sorceress?” it asked.

“Huh?” Amitie turned around. “Well, um, I’m still learning, but… yeah?”

“We have located the Sorceress.”

In the hallway just behind her, Amitie found a small group of odd people with long hair, impossibly fair skin and large, feathery, golden wings on their backs. Each of them was decked out in white robes and jewels. They also carried weapons.

“Oh!” Amitie felt dazzled and also a tad intimidated by the figures. “You guys’ feathers are so pretty! It’s a pretty cool look!”

The figures ignored her flattery. Their leader raised a hand.

“By order of the Lord, it is our holy duty to find the Sorceress…”

“Huh? You were looking for me?”

“…and eliminate her.”

Amitie blinked once. Twice. Then opened her mouth.

“Wait, w…w…WHAA--!?!?”

The figures each drew their weapons.

“Prepare for your soul’s ablution, oh sinful Sorceress! May this suffering purify your future incarnations, so they may live righteous lives in His service!”

“W-What is happening…!?”

This was going to be a battle, wasn’t it? Ah, why did she always get thrown into these situations without time to prepare? Well, no can do! If those weird, feathery guys wanted to fight her, then she’d have to just go for it! Except-

-When Amitie cast Owanimo to gather Puyos to match, nothing happened.

“H-Huh!?”

She froze up. What was the meaning of this? Without Puyo to draw power from, how was she supposed to fight?

“Perish, Sorceress! Holy Laser!”

Wait, the opponent was able to use magic? Just like that!? No fair! No fair at all, she had to do something, but she didn’t know what to do, this was all so sudden and confusing, and all Amitie could do was try to shield herself from the incoming magic and instinctively yell:

“R-Reflection!!”

And even though she had no Puyos to pop and shouldn’t have had any magic power to charge…

Amitie’s counter spell worked. She didn’t know how or why, but a blinding beam of light rose up from under her feet. It collided with the enemy attack and annulled it.

“Huh…?”

It was this point that Amitie realized: There was a staff in her hands. A golden mage’s staff topped with the symbol of a red sun.

“Heh!? H-How did I do that? And where did this thing come from!?”

No time to think. The enemy was already attacking again.

“Ah-! Fairy Fire!”

Amitie swung the staff. Again, her spell worked. There were no Puyos, but her magic worked! This would’ve been kinda cool if she hadn’t been busy trying to protect herself from a group of weirdos trying to kill her!

“Flame! Cyclone! Ekrixis!”

Struggling to keep the attackers at distance, Amitie recited every spell she knew, one by one. Every one of them seemed to work just fine! But she was growing tired. Phew. Casting magic like this really took it out of her. Would she be able to keep going like that for long? Nope, not likely. She had to find a way to get away from these guys, quickly! But what was the best way to do that…?

Ah. That might work.

“Accelerate!!” Amitie raised the staff and began to charge whatever energy she could muster. (Please let this work before they attack again…!!)

Already she could see the winged people raise their own weapons and charge them with a magic that looked uncomfortably like very, very hot, blue fire. This was going to cut it close, but… She had to release her spell now!

“BAYOEN!”

It was the spell Arle had taught Amitie the first time they met. She didn’t especially like using it, except for when she had magical power to burn or in a pinch, but, well, this was a pinch. Besides, the spell’s unique properties were bound to be helpful right now.

Wildflowers bloomed, the hallway was flooded with a disorienting light. All of a sudden Amitie’s winged attackers began to stumble and tumble around, mumble confused nonsense to each other and then seemingly forgot about what they were just about to do. This was her chance! She had to get out of here.

Amitie grabbed her staff, turned on her heels and ran.

Normally, she wasn’t the type to run away from a battle like this, but it was, like, what, ten on one? That was just way past unfair! Most of her opponents left it at two or one at least, geez! No, this was one fight she knew she couldn’t win, at least not on her own. Now, if there were friends here with her, that would have been another story…

“W-What do you mean you lost the map!?”

“Don’t worry about it! It’s going to work out! This way!”

“Do you even know the way?”

Were these… the voices of friends? Amitie wasn’t sure, but she could swear that from somewhere down the hallway to her left she was hearing the words of people that on the one hand sounded very, very familiar, but somehow also so strangely ‘off’. Well, regardless, hearing those voices was the closest she was to knowing where anything was in this strange, strange place (even if they didn’t exactly sound well-orientated themselves), so she decided to follow them.

Down the hallway to her left, past the lanterns and weird inscriptions on the wall, until she finally found herself approaching the shapes of three people. Two young men, one of them winged like her attackers before – though he appeared to have a lot more wings than they had – and a girl. The girl was carrying a large sack that was rattling and ringing as she ran, as if it were filled with broken glass.

“I really hope you know what we are doing here! For both our sakes,” the many-winged man whined at his accomplice.

Amitie, again, found the man’s voice suspiciously familiar when she heard it, and now that she was getting closer, she could also see that he had long, green hair- Hold on a second, what? That… that wouldn’t be…?

“Eheheh. You worry too much, Luce!” the girl laughed at him. “Trust me, if this works out, it’ll be the best for everyone! Not just you and I, right?”

That girl, too. Brown hair, magical armor, that stature, that voice! Was… was that Arle? It had to be! But somehow, something still felt off.

“Please consider, if He finds out about this, it’ll be the end of us! But especially of me!” the man whined some more.

The girl scoffed, “Hmpf! Then just run faster! No more complaining!”

“Lilly, dear, please-“

“Both of you. Halt,” the third person’s voice had finally joined the conversation. “We are being pursued.”

“Huh!?”

“ACK! I-I knew it…!”

The girl who looked and sounded like Arle and the man who could almost have been Satan, had there been more horns and less wings on him, both stopped in their step at their companion’s warning. Soon, all three of them were facing Amitie.

By now, she was close enough to see all three of them clearly, and, yes, there was no doubt! That girl, the color of her clothes was off, but that was still definitely Arle! And that guy was just the spitting image of Satan, wings and lack of horns notwithstanding!

And that third guy… huh? Who was that? Amitie felt like he was familiar too, but for the life of her, she couldn’t tell why. It was a short, young man, who couldn’t possibly have been much older than her, though the fact that he clearly wasn’t human made it hard to tell. Some of his features, such as his hands and ears, were a tad beastly (though his cape and long sleeves probably hid most of it), but he also had a very young-looking face, and long, messy, dark purple hair, tied together in a low ponytail that split apart into two separate locks in an odd manner. On the bridge of his nose sat a pair of thick, ornate reading glasses that Klug would probably have been jealous off.

Amitie would have said “Hi” to ‘Arle’ and ‘Winged Satan’, if she hadn’t been too confused trying to figure out where she knew that third boy from. His glasses made it so hard to see his eyes well, too…!

The group stared at Amitie.

“A… human?” said ‘Winged Satan’.

“Did someone else have the same idea as us?” asked ‘Arle’.

The third guy, however, silently kept his gaze trained on the girl for a good while before, finally and slowly, taking off the glasses from his face.

Two red eyes starred at the blond mage in a mixture of surprise and confusion.

“A…Ami…tie…?”

He didn’t even need to say that much. The brief flash of blue in his eyes that Amitie saw for a moment wasn’t needed either. Taking off the glasses had allowed her to see his full face, and that was enough. She now knew exactly who this person reminded her of.

“S… Sig…?”

-This was the moment where reality around Amitie, the hallways, the shapes of the people, and even her own body, began to fade away. She was so confused, had so many questions, but before she could even think to ask them, she felt herself slipping, falling slowly, slowly, into the blindingly bright void, until she-

-opened her eyes.

In silence and darkness Amitie starred at the ceiling above her. She’d woken up suddenly for the second time tonight. Not that she realized that right away. It took her a couple of seconds to rearrange her thoughts, remember where she was,  notice that it was still in the middle of the night and, finally, realize how nonsensical the things she’d just seen and went through really were.

“…Weird dream,” she quietly mumbled to herself with a yawn, instinctively touching the brim of her red Puyo Hat.

Oh boy. She was so gonna end up falling asleep in class tomorrow, wasn’t she? Ms. Accord wasn’t going to like that.  With that thought in her head, she rolled over to her side to at least try and get a few more Zs in before the sun came up.

(I wonder, what that dream was all about?) Amitie asked herself silently. (Arle, Satan, Sig. Why would I ever dream of meeting the three of them together in a strange world like that?)

Little did Amitie know that she wasn’t the only one in the room asking herself this exact question right now.

On the mattress next to hers, Sig, too, rolled over, sighed, and tried to get a little more sleep.

Chapter Text

The glimmer of hope Amitie had seen the night before was dashed when she realized that Sig had been the first one to wake up and leave bed the next morning. Even before spotting a head of black hair behind the kitchen counter she had already guessed that Sig’s unusual state had, in fact, not worn off overnight.

“Morning, Ami. I made breakfast. You want some?”

He was smiling at her, but Amitie could tell that Sig was holding down a lot of discomfort. He’d probably started cooking so early in the morning to distract himself from that.

“Yeah, sure!”

She did the same, smiling back at him and doing her best to not let him see how spooked she felt because he still hadn’t gone back to normal, or let him notice the fact that the bitter aftertaste of her conversation with Klug last night was still on Amitie’s tongue.

Talking of that conversation, Sig had no idea that it had ever happened. By the time his friends had started fighting outside he’d been fast asleep inside, not hearing any of what they’d said to each other. Amitie and Klug were not about to let him know about it either. At breakfast they pretended to be fine, wishing Sig a good morning separately, asking him about how he was feeling and such. And yet, the air between them remained tense. Sig quickly noticed how Amitie and Klug kept avoiding each other’s line of sight, and how, though they’d talk to him, answer his questions and ask him things in return, it almost felt like they were making a concerted effort to not talk to each other.

He had no idea why that could be, though. Weren’t they all fine talking to one another last night? He could’ve sworn everyone was having fun back there. It was so confusing. But, in a way, being confused like that felt ‘right’. It was a much more familiar feeling than the strange clarity that allowed him to notice Amitie and Klug avoiding one another in first place. He found it comforting, in a sense. Thus, he decided to focus on that feeling, rather than ask his friends strange questions they might end up being uncomfortable with.

They walked to school together that morning. Sig in the middle, Amitie and Klug to his left and right respectively.

“I really hope Ms. Accord is back already,” Amitie moaned, skipping along the path. “I seriously don’t think I can take another lesson like yesterday! I just want some normal school right now…”

“Did you get far into the lesson before Not-Arle attacked?” asked Sig.

“Um, a little bit? Maybe half an hour. But the rest of the school day after that was kind of… shot. Lidelle and Tartar helped evacuate the school. I think they probably went home after that too.”

“Guess that explains why you didn’t actually have any notes to let me copy from,” Sig noted. When he’d asked Amitie for her notebook this morning, all that was written on the page she’d let him see was ‘I think Satan needs a haircut’.

“Eheheh...” Amitie giggled.

She stopped laughing as soon as Klug opened his mouth.

“...I have a complete transcript of the lesson, if you'd like to take a look,” the bespectacled boy said. Without even looking at Sig he pulled a notebook the size of a phonebook out of his bag and offered it to him. “Just in case you were looking for something a tad more... detailed.”

“That’s pretty nice of you, Klug,” Sig sounded a bit surprised. “But, no, I think I’m good. I mean, if it really was just half an hour...”

“Well, the offer stands. Just tell me if you reconsider.”

Amitie stayed silent.

She really was in a weird mood. Falling quiet so suddenly wasn’t like Amitie at all, neither did it suit her. Sig found himself observing his friend as they walked. He really couldn’t ignore her acting like this.

“Amitie, what’s wrong?”

“Huh? Who, me? I’m fine! Everything’s cool, don’t worry!”

She really was a bad liar. The bright smile and wink she gave him did nothing to hide that. She clearly was worried about something. Well, then again, so was he. In fact, he felt so worried, it was driving him crazy. Maybe his worrying had infected Amitie somehow? Just the thought that this might be what was happening made Sig feel even more worried.

Uhh, distraction, distraction! Getting so hyper-focused on a bad thing wasn’t like him at all. He needed to distract himself. He couldn’t let his weird mood make Amitie’s weird mood even worse. Wasn’t there anything around that could take his mind off all the strange things happening? Sig let his eyes wander around the street, seeing if there was anything he could focus on, like a friend passing down the street, or maybe a flower bed that might have some interesting bugs in it.

-A flower bed really did catch his eye. However, not for any of the bug. Rather, it was because, even just looking at it in passing, Sig quickly realized that there was something odd about those flowers. Followed by the eyes of his surprised friends, Sig strayed from their path. He walked over to the flowers, knelt down and took a look at them.

“Sig?” Amitie followed after him. “What is it?”

“Those flowers...” Sig stretched out a finger to point. “Half of them are dead.”

He was right. Though the patch of forget-me-nots still had plenty of color, its beauty was marred with small clusters of brown, withered plants. Was the flowerbed sick somehow? No, all flowers that were still alive were in full bloom and looked perfectly healthy. It wasn’t even as if just a specific spot of soil was affected either. The withered patches’ placement seemed random. Amitie quickly spotted a sort of pattern regardless.

“White, pink, purple... Wait. Forget-me-nots usually come in blue too, right?” Her eyebrows knit together. “Why is it only the blue ones that are missing?”

“...It could be...maybe...”

Sig and Amitie heard Klug mumbling to himself behind their backs. He had joined them at the side of the road by now, but unlike them, he hadn’t knelt down in front of the flower bed, but was instead tugging on his glasses, trying to get a good look of the blossoms while standing.

“Huh? Klug, do you know something about what’s wrong with the flowers?” asked Sig.

“U-Um... Well...”

The other boy seemed hesitant to reply to that question. His eyes were darting about oddly behind the thick lenses and Sig could see a conspicuous drop of sweat on his forehead.

“Klug?” Sig asked again.

Klug looked away.

“...It... might be because of yesterday’s battle.”

“The battle? How?”

“This is... just a theory- No, not even! A hypothesis. Really, it’s nothing but mere speculation! Though, admittedly, since it is speculation on my part, it is, of course, well-founded, but-”

“Klug. What are you talking about? I don’t understand a word.”

Sig really didn’t like the way taking charge of the conversation like this made him feel. But if he wanted to know what this was about, he really didn’t have much of a choice. Amitie wasn’t saying anything again. In fact, she wasn’t even looking in Klug’s direction. Maybe she really was trying to avoid talking to the other boy, even if Sig still had no idea why that might be.

“Well… your magic,” said Klug, his eyes still shifting about awkwardly. “It’s Blue Magic, right? A rare brand of spells...”

“Um, it’s what I’m good at,” replied Sig. “But why are you asking? ...Does that have anything to do with this?”

“Ah.. Ahahaha! N-No? Nothing! It’s probably nothing at all! In fact, forget I said anything at a-”

“Do you think... those flowers died because of my magic?”

The uncomfortable tension that ensued in the three seconds that followed was so thick, you could have cut it with a knife.

“...KLUG!” Amitie was suddenly back on her feet, and also glaring at Klug with a fire to rival her flame-spells. “I can’t believe you! Why would you blame Sig for that? Do you think making him feel bad is funny?”

“I-I didn’t!” Klug defended himself. “I was just... I mean, he asked me to-!”

“Ungh! I’m so sick of this!” With this statement, Amitie grabbed Sig’s wrist, “C’mon, Sig! Let’s go to school.”

“Huh? What... H-Hey-!” Being dragged along like that took Sig off-guard. “Amitie, what are you... C-Calm down a moment, please-”

“I am calm!”

“No, you’re really not, you’re acting strange- What's wrong?”

“Let’s~ go~ to~ school~!”

Klug stayed behind alone, watching dumbfounded as the usually so sunny girl dragged her best friend down the road, towards Magic School. He readjusted his glasses a bit.

(Well, it’s happened. I broke Amitie,) Klug thought to himself. (...This would better not go on my list of achievements one day.)

With all the things he wanted to win a prize for, ‘catastrophic failure of social interaction’ was not one of them. Klug sighed. So, this was a mess. It seemed he’d be better off keeping his distance from Amitie for a while. Not that this would be difficult, given how he didn’t consider himself especially close to her to begin with. As long as Ms. Accord didn’t pair them up for a project or something, it should be fine. Though... There was also Sig.

Klug turned his head to look at the withered flowers one more time. (The magic he used yesterday was powerful... But that it would cause something like this...)

Was what Klug was feeling jealousy or worry? If he was honest with himself, it was probably something in in-between. The idea of wielding the power to control life and death like this made Klug’s fingers tingle, but at the same time, this was Sig. The boy who literally wouldn’t hurt a fly.  This just didn’t feel right... And if that was already how Klug felt about it, then how must this feel for Sig himself?

Still standing in the middle of the road, Klug, took off his bag and pulled the Tome of Sealing out from inside.

"Alright, out with it. What do you know about what’s happened to Sig?” he queried the book’s blank pages.

At first, there was no response. Klug frowned.

“I know you’re in there!”

‘Fufufu... Oh, has it been a blue moon already? Else I think it might be a tad early for our next rendezvous.’

“You may think you’re very funny but let me be the one to break it to you: You’re not.”

‘Meh. Comedy is subjective.’

“But the burn marks I’ll put on your covers if you don’t stop mocking me right now aren’t!” Klug was, of course, more bark than he was bite. He didn’t have the money to pay the astronomical fees destroying an ancient library book would surely incur. “Anyway, you’re a book, so act like one and give me information.”

‘Heh heh heh... So, you want to know...’

A small, red specter poked its head out of the tome’s pages. Klug did not like the way the apparition was grinning at him, but he gulped down the bad feeling he had about this and prepared to listen. If the spirit of the tome knew what triggered Sig’s change, then it also had to know how to reverse it, right? Learning about that was Klug’s priority right now.

‘You may want to know... But are you ready to handle the knowledge?’

“Amitie...! Slow down a little, please. You know I don’t like running...!”

Right... Right, she knew that. She knew it, but she just couldn’t help it. She was just so angry, her head felt like ‘GRRR’ and ‘ARGHH’ and she didn’t like it, and it was awful, and she wanted to get away from those feelings as quickly as possible. But... if she made Sig feel bad doing so, then was there really a point to it? That would make her no better than-

Amitie came to a halt just a little in front of the school gates. There, she let go of Sig’s wrist.

“... I’m sorry, Sig,” she said, looking at the ground. “I shouldn’t have pulled.”

“It’s okay. It didn’t hurt.” His left arm had always been a lot more impervious to pain than the rest of his body, and now the same was true for his right arm as well. “But you were being pretty unfair to Klug back there. I was the one who asked the question. He was just trying to answer.”

Amitie kept starring at the floor.

“Y...Yeah,” she nodded slowly. “Yeah, you’re probably... right.”

“Right. Let’s go back and apologize then?”

“No!” Amitie looked up and stomped a foot to the ground. “I won’t apologize to him!”

“Why?”

“B-Because...”

Amitie bit her lip. While she didn’t like being dishonest, she also couldn’t let Sig know about what Klug had said last night. No, she’d never repeat such an awful, awful thing to him.

“Amitie?”

“A...Anyway!” she shook her head a little. “About those flowers, Sig... Please, don’t blame yourself! I’m sure it had nothing to do with your magic! And even if it did, you didn’t know, right? So, it’s really not your fault.”

Now it was Sig’s turn to look away. Crossing his arms, he quietly looked to the floor for a bit.

“The flowers will grow back... I know that. But I’m still worried. Because that’s not what my magic usually does…” he sighed. “I’d really like it better if everything just felt normal again.”

“Yeah. I know,” she nodded. “Sig, look...”

“But anyway, I’m way more worried about you, Amitie.”

“Huh? Me…?”

“Yes. You’ve been so tense all morning.” Sig turned his gaze to Amitie. She could tell he was being serious. “I know you’ve been trying your best to make me feel better since yesterday. I really can tell. But I don’t want you to work so hard for my sake, especially if it means you’re gonna be unhappy.”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about! I haven’t been-“

“Ami. I’ll be fine, okay?” He tilted his head a bit. “Klug said so too, right? It’s probably gonna wear off later today. So please, don’t push yourself so hard.”

 “But…!”

She wanted to object, but she wasn’t sure why. After all he was right: The potion was going to wear off later today, things would go back to normal, and nobody needed to worry about anything. So, what was that nagging feeling in the back of her mind? Was it somehow because of her fight with Klug last night? Or maybe it was that weird dream she’d had? Amitie didn’t know. She just had this strange feeling like there was something to this whole situation they didn’t really know yet, and until they knew… maybe things wouldn’t just ‘go back to normal’?

But she couldn’t say that. No, ‘Maybe you won’t go back to normal’ was another awful thing she just couldn’t say to Sig’s face.

“Amitie. Look. Maybe I shouldn’t put it like that, but… if you worry like that, I’ll worry even worse,” Sig frowned. “I can’t really help it right now.”

Surprised, Amitie cut off her own train of thought. “Ah! I’m sorry, Sig! I didn’t mean to make you feel bad!”

He shook his head.

“It’s really not your fault. This is all just… weird for me,” Sig rubbed to the back of his neck. “Right now, I’d really just rather try and spend the school day like normal. With normal, happy Amitie and normal everyone. You know?”

“Mhm… I think I get it, yeah.”

If it were her, she wouldn’t want the others to make a big deal about her troubles either, Amitie thought to herself. Feeling resolved, she shook the worries out of her head in a single quick motion and put on a big smile.

“I mean… Yeah! You got it, Sig!” Amitie pointed at Sig. “One day of normal, silly Amitie, coming riiiiight up!”

And he pumped a fist in the air, “Heh heh, yay! That’s what I like to hear!”

Their conversation ended just in time for the first ring of the school bell to reach their ears, calling the students to their classrooms. Surprised by just how much time they’d lost talking by the gate, Amitie and Sig grabbed their bags and hurried inside.

Raffina happened upon a quite unusual scene on the way to school that day.

It really had been a dreadful night. Not only was she forced to break the news of premature greyness to her gracefully powerful kindred Rulue, upon attempting to fix the damage they also had to discover that all of the blue dyes in Raffina’s collection (and only the blue ones) had somehow lost their luster overnight and would now barely do anything to cover up the calamity. The ladies realized that they would have to resort to magic to return Rulue’s hair to its usual brilliance- except, neither of them had the innate magical power to actually cast the spell needed to do so. Thus, with shame in their hearts, they had decided to call in some favors and pay Arle Nadja a visit. Unfortunately, the sight they were greeted with upon crossing the doorstep of the Nadja house was one Raffina would never be able to purge from her memory for as long as she lived.

No detailed descriptions would ever serve justice to the horrors the two battle ladies witnessed that night, but be assured, magical ropes were involved. And kitchenware. Oh the amounts of kitchenware…! What’s more, that awfully deranged, perverted Dark Mage Arle had tied up in her kitchen seemed to be enjoying the whole spectacle, too! -At least Raffina thought he did? Honestly, the guy’s inability to speak without his foot firmly lodged in his mouth could make it hard to tell… Oh, whatever! Darkness-elemental mages were total nutcases anyway, the whole lot of them! Raffina didn’t need to know much about Arle’s odd- acquaintance? -friend? -beneficiary? – from her other world to understand as much. The one darkness-elemental mage she’d grown up knowing was enough for her to reach her own conclusions.

It was because of these mentally scarring events that Raffina hadn’t managed to get even an ounce of shut-eye last night. She’d overslept, barely managed to get out of bed even when she was already running dangerously close to being late, and, finally, had resorted to borrowing Rulue’s minotaur to carry her to the academy’s front door. Else, she reasoned, there was no chance she’d ever arrive in time to avoid an unsightly mark on her record. So, there she was now, standing at the school gates and yawning into her palm as she dismissed the minotaur from her service with the other hand. First bell had rung already, but if she made it a sprint, she’d surely make it to class before second bell. Plus, that mountainous Tartar sat in front of her in class… If she snuck around elegantly enough, nobody would have to notice her seat was ever empty in first place.

Now that we have caught up with events and are back in the present, let us return to the unusual scene Raffina happened across at the school gates. Said sight was, in fact, a boy with badly disheveled, brown hair in a purple blazer. Raffina did a double-take when that person dragged himself past her like that. O…Oh dear.  Not only was her least favorite geek sporting a bad-hair-day to end all bad-hair-days, his usually so neatly kept clothes were a complete mess, even notably damaged in spots and the frames of his glasses had an odd bend in them that made it visibly difficult for him to keep them balanced on his nose. To top it all off, the guy’s hands and cheeks were covered in tiny scratch-marks – No wait. Were those… paper cuts? What?

“Klug!? What happened to you!?” Raffina shrieked, her eyebrows raised high.

“Dunwanna… talk about it…” Klug angrily coughed out. He didn’t even turn to look at her.

It was at this point that Raffina’s attention was grabbed by what Klug was dragging along behind himself: On first glance she almost thought that he may have an unruly cat on a leash in tow (which might have explained the scratches), but, upon a closer look, Raffina identified the ‘pet’ as that cursed spellbook the guy always carried around with him everywhere. It seemed that Klug had, for some reason, repurposed his trademark cyan necktie as a rope to knot the book shut like a sort of parcel. The ‘leash’ Raffina was seeing was, in fact, one of the tie’s two ends. Klug was using it to pull the book across the floor, rather than carrying it as he usually would.

Yes, an odd sight, indeed. So odd in fact that Raffina had to keep starring at Klug for a good couple of seconds before her heartfelt disdain for the boy finally caught up with her and she started laughing loudly.

“PFFF-HOHOHO! Seriously, who took you to town like that?  If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you got into a fistfight with that book of yours!”

For a moment, Klug stopped walking to turn around and look at Raffina. Or rather, glare at her. It was a silent but very telling glare. The sort that said, ‘I told you, I DON’T want to talk about it’. Then he turned back around and continued his path. Raffina took a step back. The heck was the guy’s deal? Not even halting for a sec to bicker with her? That wasn’t like him. And the way he was dragging his precious book behind him also made Raffina wonder. She’d really just been joking but, wait, maybe, did he actually…?

Oh well. Their classrooms were right next to each other anyway. As long as second bell hadn’t rung yet she had time to get to the bottom of this. Time to follow a dweeb around! No matter what she found, it would definitely yield some wonderful ‘I’ll never let you live this down’-material, she was sure.

It was almost like things had gone back to the way they were when he first transferred. Back then, he always drew the attention of other students when they passed by him and noticed his mismatched arms and eyes along with his vacant gaze. He’d sometimes hear other kids say things like ‘Is he alright?’ or ‘He’s from class A, right? How’d he end up like that?’ behind his back. Back then, he didn’t really pay those comments much mind. He was good at ignoring them. Today, however, it was a bit different. His usually impeccable talent at spacing out was failing him and the eyes of all his schoolmates following him everywhere through the hallway were sending chills down his spine.

“Is that… Sig from class A?”

“No way, it can’t be…”

“Maybe it’s from the explosion that got everyone sent home yesterday…?”

Sig tried to hide behind Amitie. Unfortunately, she was shorter than him, a fact he’d never taken notice of before, so this didn’t quite work. The boy breathed a sigh.

“Everyone’s looking at me…” he mumbled.

“Because you’re a super cool guy!” Amitie assured him, but Sig shook his head.

“No, I don’t think it’s that.”

A familiar voice then addressed them.

“O-Oh… Sig? Is that you…?”

Sig and Amitie hadn’t really been paying attention to what was in front of them while they were talking, so it took being talked to like that for them to notice the two familiar faces right before them.

“Ah… Lidelle, Tartar!”

The two of them stood in the hallway before Sig and Amitie, the tall boy waving cheerfully in response to Amitie’s greeting.

“Good Morning~! It’s such nice weather out today.”

“You sure about that? The sky has been looking a bit grey, you know.” said Amitie.

“But when it’s cloudy, we don’t go outside for practice lectures, which means I get to sit in front of R-Raffina a bit longer…”

“Ah, I see~!”

Amitie giggled. It was actually kind of cute how open Tartar was about his crush, despite his shyness. Now, if only that crush had been on someone more receptive to it than Raffina… Poor guy.

While this small conversation was happening between Amitie and Tartar, Lidelle had carefully shuffled closer to Sig. Big, blue eyes were mustering the boy curiously.

“Um… So, Sig… I-I hope it’s not a bother to ask, but… Today, something about you seems a bit… um…”

“Different? Yeah. I know,” he sighed.

“Ah! So, I didn’t just imagine it… And your voice… it’s a bit different too!”

“It is?” Sig blinked. He hadn’t even noticed that yet.

Lidelle gave him a small nod.

“Yes… Compared to normally… it sounds so much more… straightforward… Ah, so confident…!” The girl’s face was starting to look a little flushed. The situation seemed to be getting her exited. “D-Do you think… You could teach me how to do that, too…? Sound more confident, I mean…”

“Ah … I really don’t know…!” Sig admitted, taking a step back. “I don’t actually feel any more confident. Just less tired.”

“Oh… Is that so…?” Lidelle seemed a bit disappointed. “I-I’m so sorry for assuming…!”

“I see!” Tartar clapped his hands together. “Sig must’ve gotten plenty of good sleep last night. That’s so nice~.”

“Um, actually, no, not exactly…?”

This felt so weird. His mind feeling as clear as it did made all the weird conclusions his friends were jumping to just seemed so glaringly obvious to Sig. He wanted out of this awkward conversation. But how to do that? Just say ‘I’m going to class, bye’? Somehow that felt mean… Thankfully, Amitie picked up on his discomfort. She stepped between him and the other two.

“Guys, guys, let’s talk more during recess, okay? It’s super nice to see you and all, but if Sig and I stay here for much longer, we’re gonna miss Homeroom.”

“Ah, right… Ms. Accord is coming back today…!” Lidelle realized. “Yesterday was so troublesome…S-She probably heard already…! We should make sure everything is extra-nice, so she doesn’t feel worried…”

“Right! That’s what I’m saying!” Amitie grinned. “So, Sig and I should really hurry to class now. Right, Sig?”

“…Ah, right!”

Wheew, good move, Amitie. A little longer than ‘I’m going to class, bye’, but just as effective. Who knew she could reason herself out of a conversation like that? Maybe she’d actually picked up a thing or two from Ringo with all the time they’d spent hanging out.

Having bid Lidelle and Tartar a ‘See you later’, Amitie and Sig continued their path to their classroom. Sig sighed a few more times while on the way.

“So weird. I should’ve just said that it’s all not a big deal,” he told his friend. “But that somehow just felt like the wrong thing to say.”

(Because right now, it is a big deal to you,) Amitie thought to herself, but stayed quiet on the outside, simply smiling. Poor guy usually barely talked about himself to the point that he tended to drop first person from his sentences, and now he suddenly couldn’t avoid being the center of attention. If it had been her, she’d have been pretty overwhelmed as well.

“I wonder if more people are going to ask questions,” said Sig.

“Well, um… Ah, I got it! If they do, I’ll just answer for you!” Amitie beamed at him. “Just lemme do the talking!”

“But you don’t know anything about what’s going on with me either, Ami.”

“U-Um well…”

Sig then shook his head, “You coming up with answers for me would be lying. I don’t want you to lie for me, okay? That wouldn’t be right.”

“Yeah… I guess so.”

“Still, thanks for the offer,” he smiled at her.

He really did seem rather unhappy with all the attention his changes were earning him. This wasn’t the first time Amitie had seen Sig be self-conscious about his body either. Even though he often claimed that or acted like he didn’t mind, she had caught him fidgeting about at mentions of the color ‘red’ or trying to hide his left arm from strangers’ views in the past. Then, there was the time he told her that he didn’t remember when his arm had started changing. Amitie made the mistake of joking about his whole body turning red back then, which was the first time she’d ever seen Sig look properly terrified. Maybe Sig himself hadn’t realized until now how much these things really bothered him? He said himself that until now he’d always been sleepy, and Amitie just knew all too well how easily being sleepy could make things slip your mind, even if those things were important or hurt you. It then occurred to her that this was probably part of why he was so uncomfortable with himself right now. Being awake enough to really think about the things that are bothering you for the very first time in your life… what must that feel like? Amitie reckoned that it couldn’t be a very nice feeling.

That’s why she had to make sure that today would be a super-chill, super comfortable day for Sig.

And why she had to make extra sure that a certain know-it-all wouldn’t say anymore mean, insensitive things about Sig to him or anyone. 

Klug’s movements were surprisingly speedy for how much he was dragging his feet. The desire to maintain his spotless attendance must’ve been powerful enough to overrule even the laws of physics. With the stealth of a master martial-artist, Raffina stalked the boy down the hallways, until they reached class A, Amitie’s, Sig’s and Klug’s class. First period was Homeroom, so Raffina would have to make sure she was over in classroom B by second bell, but for now there was no harm in poking her head into classroom A and check what Goody-Two-Shoes was up to. Aha, there he was! Shoving his spellbook into his desk with all the gentleness one usually reserved for a broken appliance, Klug sat aside the rest of his school supplies, then made his way over to Amitie’s desk. Amitie, huh? Just what could he want of her? Raffina kept observing Klug’s actions.  

“Hey…. Look, I need to talk to you, about-“

The moment Klug had opened his mouth, Amitie made a very deliberate motion to look away from him and find anybody else in the room to talk to.

“Lidelle! What are you doing over in our class?”

“O-Oh, Ammy… I was just giving the flowers on Ms. Accord’s desk a bit of water before homeroom.”

“That’s so thoughtful of you!”

 Klug made another attempt for the blonde’s attention.

“Amitie, listen, it’s-“

Amitie ran over to something white she saw moving next to the backboard.

“Yu! Sneaking into class again today?”

“You bet’cha I am! Haunting school is so much fun! You might even say… I have the school spirit!”

“Ooooh~ good one!”

Clearly agitated by now, Klug chased after his classmate.

“Amitie! Just listen to me for a minute, this is-“

“Raffina~!!”

Eeek! Now Amitie had spotted her. Had her masterful stealth failed her? Before Raffina had a chance to turn tail and escape to her own classroom, Amitie had run up to her in the doorway and taken both of her hands. The blond girl’s big eyes were now sparkling right in Raffina’s face.

“Good~ morning~!” she singsonged at her. “Phew, yesterday sure was a rush, huh? Did you sleep well?”

“It… could have been better,” Raffina admitted. “Anyway, second bell is about to ring, so I should get back to my own classroom.”

“Aww, just stay a little while! I’m sure there’s LOTS we can talk about!”

“Or, you could talk to the person who, you know, apparently actually wants to talk to you?”

Behind Amitie, a walking, purple pile of exasperation was shaking in his oncoming nervous breakdown.

“AMITIE! Would you listen to me!? For just ONE second!?”

No. No, she would not. She, in fact, completely ignored his outburst, and continued to treat Klug as if he were inaudible and invisible.

“A~nyways, Raffina, Sig and I will see you at recess, right?”

“U-Um, yes? I… suppose?”

“Alright~y! Laters then!”

And with that cheerful greeting, Amitie skipped off back to her desk. Left behind in the doorway were a very baffled Raffina and a deeply humiliated Klug.

“So… let me get this straight…” Raffina starred down at the slumping boy. “Amitie is giving you the silent treatment? THE Amitie!?”

She was in utter shock. Until now Raffina wouldn’t have thought that Amitie even knew what the ‘silent treatment’ was, let alone how to apply it. Anyway, she expected Klug to now come up with some overly loquacious way of defending himself. He did not. He was too busy gnashing his teeth and making weird, nerdy noises of dismay aimed in Amitie’s general direction.

“HmmjssjdsjnjsdsGHHHH….!”

Raffina took this as a yes. Her reaction was somewhere between awe and bemusement. “Just how in the world did you manage to make that happen!? I spend years trying to get her to see me as a proper rival to her lifelong dream, and you go and make her hate you without even trying? Now, that must be the ONE impressive feat of dark magic you’ve ever pulled off!”

“Please, just… shut up…”

Hmpf. It wasn’t as fun antagonizing him when he wasn’t even trying to be witty in return. Well, then again, who cared? Raffina got the future teasing-reference material she’d come for and that was all that mattered.

Aaand, like on cue, there was the second bell. Not paying the pathetic puddle of perturbation next to her any further mind, Raffina marched off to the classroom next door. Klug, too dragged himself back to his desk, making sure to violently strike a fist against the top of it before he sat down. The book inside rattled in protest against the way this made the desk shake, but all Klug could think to that was: ‘Good’. If he had to suffer, then so did that stupid, glorified cleaning supplies catalogue. This was all its fault anyway.

That Raffina found yet another reason to laugh at Klug, that Amitie didn’t want to talk to him anymore, Sig’s predicament: Everything was somehow that miserable book’s doing.

Of course, the biggest problem with all of this was: How was he ever going to break the news about the third item on that list, now that Amitie wouldn’t listen to him?

Chapter Text

The school bell’s ringing echoed all throughout Primp Town, informing every house, every store, every person and pet that another day of learning had begun for the town’s generation of future sorcerers.

A lone girl with brown hair stood hidden behind a tree outside the academy’s gates, gazing up at the clock tower longingly.

“Magic School...” she breathed the words out with a sigh. “If I could only go back to those days too...”

But no, not yet, she still had to hold out. There was still much she had to prepare before she could erase the shadow that had stolen her future and reclaim all that was hers. The jewel she held in her right hand gleamed eerily, eager to be used. She cast a look at it.

Maybe fooling around just for a little while before continuing her work would be acceptable?

“Ufufufufu...”

It was in her nature to play the clown, after all.

Nobody knew why, but Professor Accord arrived late that day. Amitie was in the middle of keeping a group of curious students from crowding around Sig’s desk when the lady with lavender hair finally entered the room about half an hour after the bell had rung. She apologized to her students for the delay, stated that she’d been informed of the ‘troubles’ that had occurred during yesterday’s class and assured them that she would find a better substitute teacher to fill in for her next time.

Neither Accord nor Popoi lost a word about Sig’s appearance. Amitie wondered if someone had already filled her in on what had happened to him. Maybe Satan or Arle had given her the rundown of yesterday’s events?

The day’s first proper class was on Numerology. Ms. Accord’s calm, soothing voice filled the room as she explained the lesson’s subject matter to her students, jotting down notes on the blackboard as she went.

“…So, you see, the musical vibrations used in some branches of magic can be calculated and predicted in their effect by the notes’ corresponding numerical values. Another application for the predictive numerological method is to divine someone’s magical potential by their name- and birth-numbers. Now, this is how you divine your name- and birth-numbers.”

Accord wrote her name and birthday on the blackboard, then, based on a table she had previously drawn on another part of the board, assigned each letter in her name a number. Finally, she added together the individual digits of all the numbers she had just written on the blackboard, birthday included, over and over, until only two were left.

“Now, who of you can tell me what we call the kind of calculation I just did?”

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the first hand that shot up was Klug’s.

“Yes, Klug?”

“Repeated Digital Sum,” he replied. “Also known as Digital Root, Cross Sum, or Iterative Digit Summation.”

“Very good! That’s correct! A person’s magical name-number and birth-number can be calculated through the repeated digital sums of their name and their birthdate respectively! As you can see, my name-number is ‘8’, while by birth-number is ‘5’. In numerology, 8 stands for ambition, focus and drive, meaning that, in the short term, my magic works best when cast in a goal-oriented way, with single-minded intent. Meanwhile, 5 stands for dynamic change and impulse, meaning that in the long term my magic flourishes best if I allow curiosity and impulse to guide me as I refine it!”

“With this method, each meowge can find the best way to hone their own, personal magic! Oh, and these numbers are said to have an effect on how well you do with chaining Puyo, too, meow!” Popoi explained.

With ‘Oh’s and ‘Ah’s, the students took in what they had just been told and began whispering to one another

“Whoa, that sounds so cool! I wonder if my magic would get stronger if I tried that?”

“Heh? Impulse…? That doesn’t sound like Professor Accord at all!”

“But, but… Maybe that’s the hard part! Having to train in a way that’s totally not like you, you know?”

Accord softly tapped her flying cane against her desk a couple of times to signal her students to quiet down. Soon the whispering ceased.

“Now then… Since you all seem so eager to apply what we’ve just learned, would any of you like to tell the class your own name- and birth-numbers?”

The sweet smile on Accord’s face was deceptive. Her students were well aware of what she’d just asked of them: Math. A few groans were heard in the backrows; however, they were not loud enough to sound over the voices of all those students who had started counting out loud to themselves. Amitie for one was feverishly trying to use her fingers to add together the numbers she saw next to “A” “M” and “I” on the blackboard, as well as remember what number month her birth month was again. Of course, everyone in class more or less knew that hurrying to answer Ms. Accord’s question first was a bit of a fool’s errand. The first hand up in the air would be Klug’s. It always was Klug’s. As long as this class had existed, there hadn’t been a single time when he hadn’t been the first to answer the teacher’s questions. That’s why the entire class was well prepared for a long-winded speech on the astrological significance of September 29^th, as well as the maniacal laughter that would surely follow once their teacher explained to them how exactly this birthdate’s digital sum could help its owner acquire greater magical power.

But, by some miracle, that wasn’t what ended up happening.

“Oh, we appear to have our first volunteer! Sig, would you please stand up and tell the class your name- and birth-numbers?”

Amitie jumped in her seat. Klug almost spilled the contents of his inkwell in surprise. Both of them couldn’t believe their ears. Did… did their teacher just say Sig had finished calculating his numbers already?

In under 5 seconds!?

Sig was standing and talking now.

“S, I and G are 1+9+7=17, 1+7=8. And, um, my birthday… June 16^th, 6+1+6=13, 1+3= 4…” he looked at Ms. Accord. “I think that should be it. 8 and 4. Teacher, is that right?”

Accord clapped her hands, “It’s exactly right! Good work, Sig!”

Again, the class as a whole expressed their awe by ‘Oh’ing loudly. While it wasn’t a secret in class that Sig was a lot better with numbers and wordplay than one might have expected, the speed at which he not only matched his name’s letters with the table on the blackboard, but also calculated everything was definitely not within the norm for him… Then again, what even was anymore? After that gigantic chain Klug and Amitie saw him pull last night, was ridiculously fast thinking on Sig’s part really still surprising?

Not to Professor Accord, apparently. She went on with her lecture as if nothing special of note had happened,

“Now, everyone, I’d like you all to calculate your own name- and birth-numbers and then research their meanings from chapter 24 of your textbooks. Please write down your findings carefully, you’ll have to present them to the class during second period!”

And back to their math-problems the collective of the class went. Well, all except for Sig, who already knew his name- and birth-numbers now, and Klug, who’d finished his own calculations a little bit after Sig. Which meant that all the two boys had left to do for the rest of the period was to copy passages from their textbooks. While Amitie was distracted with the struggle of figuring out whether the second ‘I’ in her name counted for its own number, Klug took the chance to lean over to Sig’s desk. Maybe he could talk to him without having Amitie notice.

“Hey, Sig…”

“Hm? Yeah?”

While Sig’s eyes remained on his textbook and he didn’t turn to face Klug, the boy in purple knew he had the other’s attention, which was a start. Good. Now to get to the main point.

“So, Sig… how…”

-And that was where Klug stopped. How… what? What exactly was he going to ask? ‘How doomed do you think you are’? Or ‘How much would you like to hear the worst news you’ve ever gotten in your life’?

He couldn’t just tell Sig about what he’d learned. No, anything but that. At best, it would cause a panic in the classroom. At worst… Actually, let’s not think that far ahead. One step at a time, right?

“How… are you feeling?”

Right. Good. That was an acceptable question to ask a classmate, right?

“…I can’t…”

“Hm? Can’t… what? Can’t tell? Can’t really put it into words? …Can’t breathe?”

Please, don’t be that last one-

Sig, however, shook his head and finished the sentence with a frustrated groan.

“I can’t… write…”

At this point Klug caught a glimpse of the reason why Sig wasn’t taking his eyes off his notebook: The odd, crooked lines the boy’s pencil was making on the paper couldn’t even be called ‘chicken scratch’. It was totally illegible.

“It’s… my hands…” he whispered to Klug. “I could use the right one before, but now… They’re just too big. My fingers, I…  just can’t hold the pencil right like that…”

“Oh.”

Come to think, Sig had expressed similar problems making dinner last night, right? Had the guy really been relying on his right hand alone for all everyday tasks these past couple of years? If so, then his current state must’ve felt downright debilitating. How ironic, given the immense power he’d displayed the other day…

…Aaand Sig was still trying to copy those lines from his textbook. Alright, alright, enough was enough. Klug couldn’t watch these crimes against the written word any longer. With a quick lunge he grabbed Sig’s notebook.

“Gimme that! I’ll…” He paused a moment. “…I will copy the lines for you, I suppose.”

“…Really?” Sig’s face brightened up. “Thank you! …But, what about your own notes?”

“I already finished writing down mine. Heh heh. I work fast, you see.”

“I see! That makes sense.”

“Anyway, your numbers were 8 and 4, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Anything else you wanted to write down for the presentation later?”

“Um, let’s see… “

While Sig dictated the notes he’d been meaning to take to Klug in a hushed whisper as to not disturb their classmates in their work, there were still a couple of people in the room taking note of Klug’s unexpected act of charity. For one, there was Ms. Accord who, instead of scolding her students for talking to each other during a lesson as she might have done normally, observed the scene with a calm, satisfied expression, softly petting Popoi as she did. Then, there was Amitie. Having interrupted her own work to peek over to what the boys were doing, she quietly watched as Klug wrote in Sig’s notebook.

Come to think, Klug had offered Sig help with studying earlier today too, right? That was so rare. Usually Klug wouldn’t even let others know what kind of books he used to study for tests, let alone share his notes with anyone. It was then that Amitie started to wonder if maybe Klug actually did feel a little bad for the things he’d said about Sig the previous night. ...Maybe he even felt sorry? Maybe that was what he’d been trying to tell her…?

Amitie bit her lip. Oh gosh, what was wrong with her? She’d been so mean to Klug all morning! That wasn’t like her at all, was it? And even though she’d promised Sig she’d try to act like her normal self.

(I… I really do have to apologize!) she decided then and there. (But… he has to apologize first! Otherwise, it would feel weird. But how do I let him know we’re talking again if I don’t apologize first…?)

She racked her brain over it. She had to give Klug a chance to apologize, BUT she also couldn’t just ask him to apologize, because then it wouldn’t count, right? Right. But talking to him normally without apologizing first would feel so wrong! How to make this work? If only someone else could speak for Amitie, then-

“Oh!” Amitie struck her left palm with her right fist. “I got it!”

She realized too late that she’d said this a little too loudly. The entire class – Klug, Sig and Professor Accord included – had turned to stare at Amitie’s brief outburst.

“A-Ah! I-I’m sorry, everyone! Please, don’t mind that! Ahahaha…”

Awkward laughing all aside, Amitie made sure to make a mental note for the plan she’d just come up with. She’d have to wait for recess to put it into action, but if it worked out, then Sig wouldn’t be the only thing that would have gone totally back to normal by afternoon!

…That is, if Sig actually would have turned back to normal by then.

He would, right?

“Now, that is interesting… Hm…”

This meeting had been going for quite a while already. The original plan had been to begin early in the morning, so they’d be done by the time Accord needed to go tend to her classes, but well, clearly that hadn’t quite worked out. Ms. Accord had left after asking Akuma to inform her of everything else the group ended up discussing.

Lemres wished he could have left a little sooner as well. Not only was he missing his own classes back home over this, his breakfast tea plans had been thoroughly destroyed as well. Oh well, no crying over spilt chocolate milk. He’d just have to grab a muffin or two on the way home later… That is, if he would make it home today at all. This whole situation had turned out to be a lot more complex than he had expected when he’d first been called over.

With a calm sigh the young warlock looked over the faces of the others still in the room with him – the Dark Prince Satan, Arle Nadja, the museum’s keeper Akuma, and a young, nameless witch. 

“So, let’s summarize one last time. A Doppelganger of Arle Nadja has manifested in this world and we have no idea where she currently is or what she is planning to do next. At the same time the legendary Material Gem has disappeared from this school’s basement archives, and though the suspected culprit is Schezo Wegey, Arle – the real Arle, I mean – has already ascertained that even if he had the stone on him at some point, he didn’t have it anymore by yesterday evening, at latest.”

“That’s right,” Arle nodded. “I mean, I thought that he might’ve been in town for something like that, but by the time I was told that he’d actually stolen anything, I’d already taken all his stuff off him, and there definitely weren’t any gems in there!”

“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time Schezo had an item he’d hunted down taken back off him right away,” noted witch. “As much effort as he puts into gathering power, he’s sometimes not all that great at keeping it.”

“Which means we can’t rule out the possibility that Arly’s Doppelganger acquired the Gem from him somewhere along the way,” Satan deducted, stroking his chin with his hand. “That would at least explain how that dark mage got tied up in the fight against her in the first place. Hmpf. Now that is quite the unfortunate situation…”

“Yes, I am afraid such might be the case-ma,” Akuma confirmed with a downcast gaze. “If so, the chaos that lass might cause if and when she learns to properly control the gem is untold-ma.”

“What kind of power does that ‘Material Gem’ have anyway? Is it anything like Carby’s Rubelcrack Gem?” asked Arle.

“You are much closer to the truth than you might suspect, Arly,” Satan mused.

“Huh?”

Lemres took it upon himself to explain, “According to legend, the Material Gem, Iolith, is one of three powerful gemstones that were sealed away in this world long ago in order to remove them from the reach of the ‘Foolish Lord of the Cycle’… Whatever that may mean.”

“’Whatever that may mean’, huh?” Arle didn’t seem convinced.

“Explained simply, it is a magical stone that controls the physical properties of everything,” Satan said. “And I do mean everything.’

Lemres nodded, “It’s said to be able to give physical shape to things without one, separate objects from their essence, and even create whole landmasses out of nothing. It’s an immensely powerful magical artefact.”

Arle’s widened, “If that’s true, then we need to get it back right away! Nobody in the world should have that much power! Not even an evil me!”

“Gu-gu!”

“I really hope you meant to say ‘least of all’, ahahaha,” Lemres’ laugh sounded quite awkward.

“Unfortunately, tracing the gem’s current location won’t be so easy,” said Satan. “You see, Arly, the other you has, um, ‘special armor’ that allows her to mask her presence from the world itself. This extends to everything she carries on her as well. So, tracking her or the gem is out of the question.”

“I see. Then I guess your best bet right now is to keep our eyes and ears open until she makes her next move,” Lemres concluded.

“Uhh, you mean just wait? I have a bad feeling about this,” Arle shivered a little. “I mean, we have no idea what she’s gonna try next, right? What if she ends up hurting someone?”

“Yes...! What if she ends up stealing my heart!?” Satan suggested melodramatically.

“Yeah, that won’t happen,” Arle scoffed. “Not even with an evil copy of me.”

Satan cried a single tear.

“Oh dear,” Lemres tilted his head a little. “And as if all of this wasn’t complicated enough to deal with already, there’s also that other uncomfy situation on our hands...”

“You are referring to the case of young Sig, correct-ma?” Akuma adjusted his monocle a little, gazing into Witch’s direction. “It really is a tragedy. The power within the boy is not meant for a human child to control-ma. The restraints upon him should never have been broken.”

“I-It’s not my fault!” Witch defended herself with her hands flat on the table before her. “He asked me for potion, I gave him potion! It’s what I do! You can’t sue me for doing my job, can you?”

“I don’t think anyone was going to sue you at all...” Arle smiled awkwardly.

Akuma continued speaking, “I am afraid the Charm of Kumamori won’t last much longer under the strain his awakened soul is putting on it, if he hasn’t broken it already-ma. If this protection shatters, there will be nothing but his own willpower keeping him safe from the bookbound one.”

“Yeeeah, about that, Akuma, don’t you think it’s about time to finally take the Tome of Sealing off Klug’s hands?” Lemres asked the old demon. “Not that I don’t trust the kid, but I think we all agree that right now that book shouldn’t be anywhere close to Sig, let alone in the same classroom.”

“Unfortunately, the boy continues to renew his lease on the book in a timely fashion-ma,” Akuma stated.

“No, we’re saying, you should take it back anyway!” explained Arle.

“He has renewed it,” Akuma repeated.

“...A real stickler for the rules, huh?”

“No can do about it,” Lemres shrugged and sighed. “Guess I will have to talk to Klug about returning the book to the library myself then.”

“And I’ll be on the lookout for Schezo!” said Arle. “He took the chance and ran off when Rulue started making a fuss at my house last night. But Carby and I still have his sword, so I’m sure he’ll come back, and when he does, we’re gonna ask him whether the other me really did take that gem!”

“Gu!”

“Oh, and you better help out too, Satan! This is all your fault, after all!”

Satan backed away from Arle’s accusing eyes. “Hmmpf...! Alright, alright. I suppose I could mobilize my forces to locate the Doppelganger. It’s in my best interest to find her quickly as well...”

“That’d be great! Thanks!”

“Which would leave the young witch, Accord and myself to tend to the matter of Sig, ma,” spoke Akuma.

“Yes, yes, already working on it. A specially developed Emergency-Power-Sealing-Potion! But, please, everyone, keep in mind that I have to come up with this recipe from scratch! It’ll take me a while to finish it, especially taking testing into account. Unless you don’t mind the risk of having the boy explode on us, of course.”

Arle shrieked, “Yikes, that’s not an image I needed in my head today!”

Carbuncle covered its eyes with its ears, “G-Gu!!”

Yeah, exploding Sig was NOT an option. They’d have to do whatever they could to stall for time until Witch was 100% ready and sure her recipe would work. Arle only hoped that they’d find a way to keep their friend safe until then. If what Accord and Lemres had revealed about Sig at the start of this meeting really was true, then…

…Well, the point was, Arle didn’t like losing friends. So, she wasn’t about to let it happen. That was all that really mattered.

The group stayed in the empty classroom that Professor Accord had provided for this meeting for a while longer and discussed their next course of action. Of course, Amitie and all of the other Magic School students that had gotten directly involved in this mess would have to be informed of the situation as soon as possible, but as Accord had requested to not distract them from their studies that would have to wait until after school. Today was Friday, so after class they’d have a whole weekend worth of time to panic over the situation! …Wait, that didn’t sound right.

In any case, they’d sort this out. Arle knew they would. Even if she was worried about her Doppelganger, or the situation with Sig, or the fact that Schezo was currently running about somewhere in the Nahe woods in his underwear.

It would all work out, because it always did.

“Whoa…!”

Amitie couldn’t help but marvel at what Sig was showing to her. Had she ever seen anything so pristine and untarnished before? She didn’t think so.

“I can’t believe it…! It looks like it came out of a printing machine!”

“Nope. That’s his handwriting,” Sig reconfirmed.

Because of how protective Klug was of his study materials his classmates rarely ever got to see his handwriting, save for the times he’d solved equations on the blackboard, which wasn’t quite the same as writing on paper. The couple of times Amitie had seen Klug’s handwriting, she’d always just glanced over it too quickly to take in much, but now that she had a chance for a closer look... How was this even a thing? Each stroke was placed in an exact angle, each letter spaced precisely from the last, not a single droplet of stray ink or a smudge anywhere. That’s right: Ink. Klug was one of the few students in their class who actually used a quill to take notes in class as opposed to a pencil. Amitie herself couldn’t imagine ever switching over to ink. Just seeing a glass of the stuff always made her feel like she was about to make a huge mess of everything! But right there, in Sig’s notebooks, was Klug’s writing in jet-black ink, looking so clean that it was almost scary.

“Wow, just wow... Well, if sorcery doesn’t work out for him, now we know he could totally start a career copying textbooks for Ms. Accord!”

“Maybe don’t say that, Ami? I don’t think Klug would like that.”

“Haha, yeah, you’re probably right.”

Amitie’s laughter was awkward, but sincere. Her previously so unbearable anger at her classmate had pretty much dissipated by now, which was partially because she wasn’t the type to hold grudges to begin with, and partially because of how much he’d helped out Sig in class earlier. Besides, Klug seemed to be having a bit of a rough day as it was. For some reason Amitie didn’t quite understand his presentation during second period hadn’t gone too well, and a few of the other students in Classes A and B – it had been a joint lecture – had broken out into such roaring laughter during it, that Ms. Accord had had to cut Klug explaining his results short. She still gave him an A+, of course, but that didn’t change how totally, soul-crushingly frustrated the guy had looked when he returned to his seat. Maybe it was the universe’s way of telling him off for the mean things he’d said last night, but even so, Amitie hadn’t been able to help but feel sorry for him.

“It’s a little weird,“ Sig spoke, pulling Amitie out of her thoughts.

“Huh?” she tilted her head. “What is?”

Sig’s eyes widened, “Ah…! Wait, did I think out loud again?”

“You said something was ‘weird’ just now! What is it?” Amitie shuffled a little closer. “C’mon! I’m curious!”

“Um, well…” Sig closed his notebook, which he’d been holding up for Amitie this whole time. He brushed a bit of black hair out of his face. “I was just thinking about Klug and you. You’re really different people. But you’ve got the same dream. And that just kind of feels strange… I guess?”

Amitie seemed confused, “What do you mean, ‘we have the same dream’?”

“Don’t you? I mean, you both want to be great magic users.”

“…Huh! Whoa, you’re right, Sig! I never actually thought about it that way before!”

It hit Amitie like an epiphany. Of course, Klug had never made a secret of his insane admiration for first-class magic users like Lemres from the neighboring town, but Amitie somehow had never made the connection between this and her own aspirations of becoming a fantastic sorceress until now. Apparently, it was true what people said about a ‘fresh pair of eyes’…

“Heheh… That’s actually kind of cool! I’d never have thought we actually had something so big in common!” she grinned.  “Then again, is it really the same? I mean, Klug always acts like he already is a great sorcerer.”

“I wonder about that,” replied Sig. “Maybe it’s like, hm, that thing?”

“Thing?”

“You know… The thing when you tell yourself something is true to make it come true faster?”

“Wait, wait, wait! That’s a thing!?” Another revelation for Amitie. Her mouth hung wide open. “Omigosh! That’s so smart!”

“Yeah, makes sense. I mean, Klug is pretty smart, isn’t he?”

“I totally have to try that too some time!” she beamed. “Ahem! Let’s start. I, Amitie, am Primp Town’s greatest sorceress, ever!”

“Yes, you are!” Sig cheered.

“I’m unstoppable! Nobody can beat me, ever!!”

“Long live Amitie, the Great!” Sig declared.

That all said and done, Amitie took a deep breath in and out. She grinned.

“Ohhhh…! I think it’s working already! I feel full of power! I could do anything right now!”

“Anything, like, what?”

“Anything, like… make all my dreams come true!” Amitie replied happily.

Seeing that eager light in Amitie’s eyes, Sig couldn’t help but smile right back at her.

“Yeah! You can! Good luck with that!”

Just seeing each other smile so wholeheartedly made the two of them feel even more cheery than they already did. Eye in eye, they started to laugh.

“Hahaha! Wow… I never knew talking could be so much fun!” Sig wiped a happy tear out of his eye. “It always used to just make me tired…”

“You’ve talked lots before! Like, about your bugs.”

“I don’t think that was the same as this! I don’t think I’ve ever talked so much about people before,” he carefully ran a claw through his hair. “And it’s not like I only just noticed that thing about your and Klug’s dream today, either. I’ve been thinking that for a while. I just never said it out loud until now.”

“Hm? Really? It stood out that much to you?” Amitie seemed surprised.

“Yeah. Again, because you two are so different.”

“But, hey. It’s not just Klug and me, right? I mean, there’s also Raffina, and everyone!” Amitie flung out a hand to point at nothing in particular. “We’re all going to this school because we’re all the same there!”

Sig’s laughing subsided. He blinked a little,

“The same… where?”

“The same where it comes to wanting to be awesome at magic!”

Given Sig’s current state especially, Amitie expected an enthusiastic confirmation of her statement. Instead she received a reaction that was much more ‘Sig’ than made sense right now. The boy looked at her blankly for a moment, blinking, once, twice, before his eyes wandered off a little.

“I’m…” The way he trailed off made it sound like he was hesitating “I’m… not the same there, though.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve been good with magic ever since I was small, but that’s kind of it. I was never really that interested in it,” Sig explained. “Not that I don’t like it at all. Puyo Battles are really fun.”

“But…!” Now, Amitie was extra curious. She struggled to even just keep all the questions this made her ask in order. “If you never wanted to be a mage that badly, then why did you come here, to this school?”

 Sig shrugged, “…Don’t really know.”

“You transferred to our class so suddenly back then, I thought ‘Wow, he must’ve really wanted to go here badly’! But now you’re saying that’s not how it happened?”

“Nope,” Sig shook his head. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I like it a lot here now. But I probably would never have come here if it hadn’t been for that letter.”

“Letter?”

“The one my Mom got. One day it’s in the mailbox, the next she suddenly says I’m changing schools.”

“What? Just like that?”

“…Huh. Now that I’m talking about it, yeah… It’s kind of strange isn’t it?”  Sig scratched the back of his head a little. “But back then, I really didn’t think much of it. And, also…”

“And, also?”

Despite Amitie’s question, Sig never finished that last sentence. His brows furrowed, and his expression turned thoughtful, almost confused for a moment, but then, after a quick glance down his left side, the boy suddenly decided to change the topic of the conversation entirely.

“Well, anyway. I’m glad I ended up here. I mean, if I didn’t change schools, I’d never have met you or all of the others.”

“…Do you ever miss your old school? Your old classmates?”

“Hm, no, not really? I mean, I barely knew them. People back there rarely ever went out of their way to come talk to me. …That’s why I was pretty surprised when right on my first day here, you came up to me and started talking up a storm!”

Amitie grinned, “Of course, I did! You seemed so nice, I just had to try and make friends right away!”

“You… thought I seemed nice?”

“Yeah! Super-nice!”

For some reason, Sig seemed surprised to hear this. Once again, his eyes drifted off, “Th… thank you…”

“You’re welcome! …But for what?”

People had often called Sig ‘slow’, but sometimes, like right now, he couldn’t help but feel that ‘speedy’ people like Amitie were actually much slower to understand certain things. Well, then again, maybe that was for the best. He’d already worried her enough for the whole week, let alone the day. That sad story about how he maybe, possible, might’ve felt a bit lonely in the past could stay up in his head, where it belonged. He consciously made sure to keep his lips sealed about it.

“But, hey, Sig… If you don’t actually want to become a wizard when you grow up, what do you want to be?” Her eyes big and interrogative, Amitie leaned forward to muster him. “What’s your dream, Sig?”

“I…”

He’d opened his mouth, but his speech stalled quickly when Sig realized that he was drawing a blank. Was this his usual lethargy, finally returning? No, that wasn’t it. This blank felt far more… definitive than that.

“…I don’t know,” he finally admitted. “I’ve… never really thought about my dreams.”

A loud, echoing ring sounded out from the clock tower above their heads, cutting through Sig’s and Amitie’s conversation like scissors through a tense string. It was the day’s sixth bell, cautioning Primp’s student-body that half of their recess had already passed. In fifteen minutes the seventh bell would ring in the beginning of the day’s next lesson.

Amitie jumped. “Ack! It’s that late already!? Oh no! I haven’t even made up with Klug yet!”

“You really should go do that. It’s pretty important.”

“Yeah, but…” casting a hesitant glance at the boy with her, she sighed. “Sig, to be honest, um… I’d really rather you didn’t know why Klug and I were fighting in the first place. So, if I do go make up with him, I can’t really let you come with. You know?”

“Oh… Um, okay. Yeah, I think I get it.” He really didn’t, but asking Amitie why it would be so bad if he found out what the fight had been about just felt too awkward. “Alright. See you in class then?”

“And it’s really okay? You don’t mind spending the rest of recess alone? I’m really super sorry about ditching you like that…”

“Nah, don’t worry! Trust me, I want you and Klug to get along again too,” he smiled at her. “Say thanks to him from me. For the notes, you know?”

“Yeah! Will do!”

One last promise to meet up in front of the classroom before the next lesson, and Amitie skipped off, towards the school library, where they both knew Klug liked to spend recess and free periods. Sig stayed behind in the schoolyard on his own, the sounds of the school’s remaining students enjoying the rest of their recess all around him. Now that he was no longer talking to anyone, these noises seemed to be growing louder and slowly but surely began to ring in his ears as he just stood there, doing nothing in particular.

“...Hmmm…”

It now occurred to Sig that this was the first time he’d actually been entirely on his own ever since taking Witch’s potion the day before. Before he knew it, he found that he’d started fidgeting around.

(Uh, that weird feeling again…) It was the same feeling that had kept him awake the previous night. There was just way too much energy in him. It kept him from calming down, dozing off, or even just standing still.  Sig found it irritating. (I have to do something…)

But do what? He wasn’t particularly well-versed in how to fill out his free time. Usually he just did things when he felt like doing them and fell asleep whenever he didn’t feel like doing anything in particular.  Right now, he needed something to keep himself occupied and calm this anxious sense of needing to move. His best bet for that was probably to go bug watching, but the school yard wasn’t exactly full of places where you could quickly find interesting bugs without prior preparations. The frantic motions of the playing and dueling students tended to drive the little guys off. Though, Sig remembered, there was that one tree surrounded by a flower patch not too far from where he was right now. That place always had at least a couple of butterflies and honeybees fluttering and buzzing around this time of the day. With a quick nod to himself, Sig set off towards there.

It really was not his day.

‘6’ and ‘2’. Those were the name- and birth-numbers he was supposed to present to the class. However…

“6 is the number of harmony and kindness. Spells used by mages with this name number function best when cast with warmth, understanding and a willingness to self-sacrifice.”

…just reading out these lines from his notes had been enough to send the entirety of classes A and B into a charge of undignified, roaring laughter, which he highly suspected had been led by one Raffina. If that accursed book hadn’t been locked away in his desk back in Classroom A at the time, he bet it would’ve laughed at him as well. He never even got to explain his birth-number… Then again, looking over what he’d written down for that one, maybe it was for the better. Modesty, gentleness, sympathy… What was up with all this nonsense? How was any of that supposed to help him refine his skills? Well, he could have worked with the ‘intuition’ and ‘insight’ parts, he supposed. Maybe he should’ve led the whole presentation with that. But it was too late for that now. He let the situation with Sig and Amitie distract him, read out the lines he’d copied from the textbook without thinking about them, and this was the result. Shame and ridicule. That’s what he got for wasting his thoughts on others.

It didn’t help that Amitie and Sig had their presentations go off without a hitch. Especially Amitie had garnered comments from other students about how ‘perfect’ her numbers seemed for her. ‘3’, for optimism and a playful attitude, and ‘1’, for an adventurous, experimental, risk-taking nature. Professor Accord had explained that this was all very much in-line with how easy both applying and refining her magical prowess seemed to come to the girl. Her personality resonated well with both her magical identity and her magical destiny, the teacher had said. So, in other words, that natural talent of Amitie’s was life rewarding her for being childish? That couldn’t be it. That wasn’t how these things were supposed to go…!

Tch! This was all just silly nonsense. ‘Harmony’ and ‘kindness’ didn’t strengthen one’s spells! ‘Modesty’ and ‘sympathy’ wouldn’t help him refine his knowledge and skill!

His classmate Sig’s current state, too, wouldn’t just ‘get better’ from someone being nice to him, or hoping to help him very, very much. ‘Love breaks the spell’ was a trope that only worked in fairytales. This was real magic, in the real world. So, if Klug, for his own reasons, of course, wanted to know more about this situation and how to fix it, he would have to research it himself, relying only on his own smarts and skill, just like always.

That’s why he was spending the recess with a huge stack of books on countercharms, exorcisms and magical detoxification in his usual spot in the school library’s study hall.

‘It isn’t a curse,’ the snide voice of the tome's spirit whispered into his thoughts.

Klug groaned, slammed the book on enchantments on the table before him shut and grabbed the next one.

‘It’s not a poison either.’

Another book shoved aside. Klug grabbed the next one.

‘Oha… Changelings? Closer, but still useless. Just like this entire exercise. Hah. Don’t you think it’s about time to give in and see reason?’

“-Gah! Would you SHUT UP??”

It was lucky that he and the spirit were the only people present in the study hall at the moment, else Klug’s yelling would probably have turned more than a few heads. So would have Klug picking up the Tome of Sealing from the spot next to him on the bench, only to slam it on the table and ram a fist into the cover. Now, he didn’t actually know if the book could sense pain, but, hey, it was the thought that counted, right?

“I am trying to work here!” Klug hissed.

‘Trying to waste your time, you mean,’ the spirit chuckled. ‘I already told you everything there is to know about that boy’s predicament. You already know the only thing that can be done about it. And you won’t find any alternative solutions in these books either, I assure you.’

“Hmpf! And how would you know that?”

‘Because I’ve read all of them.’

A book reading books. Of course. Well, it was at least a more creative response than the usual ‘I know everything about this situation because I just do’ that the spirit liked to try on him. Of course, Klug knew the legends surrounding the Tome of Sealing, but he wasn’t naïve enough to just believe everything said in those stories – at least, not again.

Once was enough. Once, and never again.

In the end Klug had to accept that 30 minutes just weren’t enough to work his way through the entire corpus of state-of-the-art magic studies, even for someone as well-read as him. As important as this little ‘project’ of his was, he wasn’t quite ready to sacrifice his perfect attendance score for it. He’d just have to get back to it after school. In fact, paying the town library a visit seemed like a good idea in general, as it probably had some useful materials that the school’s smaller study library lacked. Of course, going there might also mean having to put up with Mr. Akuma’s complaints about the length of his lease on the Tome of Sealing, but right now that was a price Klug was willing to pay.

‘I am surprised. Why are you so insistent in helping that boy? You don’t usually seem too invested in the fates of your classmates.’

“Hah! Don’t be ridiculous, this isn’t about helping! This is-“ Actually, what was this? “…This is about knowledge! Discovery! Accolades!”

‘Oh, is it now?’

“Of course! If I prove you wrong in your ridiculous assertions and find my own way of reverting Sig back to normal, wouldn’t that mean that my genius managed to accomplish what even the experience of an ancient, magical being thought impossible?” Klug stood up straight and forced a smirk onto his face. “Don’t you think that would finally earn me some of the respect I deserve?”

‘I think that you are in denial,’ said the spirit. ‘And that you are deluding yourself if you think that there is anything an apprentice mage like you can do to save your friend. …Well, anything other than follow my previous suggestion, of course.”

Why’d he brought this book here with him again? He should’ve left it in his desk, no, better, he should have tossed it in the dirt somewhere and left it! But, as much as he hated to admit it, the spirit’s claims, true or not, were still the closest thing Klug had to a hint regarding what had happened to Sig or how to change him back. He wanted to try and change him back. Even if it ultimately would make little difference to his own life and success, he just had to find a way to do it. Maybe if he did that, then this dumb book would finally stop mocking him for good, and maybe Amitie would realize that-

…Realize what? What did he want Amitie to know? That he was a great wizard? Tch, she should already know that much! That he could do the impossible if he put his mind to it? That girl already believed that of everyone!

That he… could be a good friend too, maybe…?

Tsk! What was he thinking? Maybe he should try and grab a Chocolate Latté from the cafeteria before getting back to class. The book’s babbling must’ve really started to mess with his head.

Klug stuffed the Tome of Sealing into his bag and was ready to head back to the school’s main building, when he heard a high-pitched voice calling out for him.

“He~y there! Klug!”

He was surprised to see Amitie standing in the school library’s doorway, waving one hand in his direction in her usual cheerful fashion. It wasn’t just her, either. The other person she’d brought along in tow with her was… Raffina? What? Why her, of all people?

Great. Amazing. Two out of the three people who could possible make Klug’s day any worse than it had already been (and he was thanking the stars right now that Feli didn’t go to school in Primp) were now standing between him and his path to ‘not being late to class’-town. Well, no way around it, short of jumping out the buildings’ second story window, he supposed, sighing to himself.

“What is it?” Klug finally answered Amitie’s greeting, sounding irritated as he approached the girls. “Let me guess. Have you two come to mock me some more?”

“W-What? No!” Amitie shook her head. “It’s! Um… Well…”

And that was where she trailed off again. It looked like she genuinely wanted to say more but was hesitating for some reason. Amitie’s smile eventually returned when she turned towards the companion she’d brought along with herself.

“Alright-y, Raffina! Your turn! Just like we discussed earlier, okies?”

“I never agreed to this!” Raffina huffed.

“Aww, c’mon! Pretty, please?”

Amitie made big puppy-dog eyes at the taller, rose-haired girl. It took only a few seconds before Raffina began to roll her eyes and groan at the spectacle.

“Fine! But only because I have better things to do than listen to your whining about this for the whole rest of the day.”

“Yay! I shall whine no more!” Amitie cheered. “I owe you, Raffina!”

“Yes, yes…”

Klug blinked a couple of times. What even was any of this?

Raffina sighed and turned to the boy, “Klug. Amitie wanted you to know that you can now speak to her again.”

Amitie underlined this statement with a big nod.

Klug blinked again, “And… she couldn’t tell me that herself?”

“No. She could not,” said Raffina. “Because she still isn’t talking to you.”

Another empathic nod from Amitie. Another blink from Klug.

“But… you can pass on to me what she would say to me if she were talking to me?”

“Yes. Apparently.”

Raffina looked just as unamused as Klug felt. This was too many levels of pointless to even list.

“Raffina! Ask Klug what he wanted to tell me before school, please!” Amitie requested chipperly.

Raffina groaned, “Klug, what did you want to tell Amitie before school?”

She very pointedly omitted the ‘please’. She hadn’t fallen that low yet.

“Um, well…!”

Wait, she wanted to know right now? With Raffina around? Could this situation get any less comfortable! No, Raffina was the last person he could let know what had happened this morning, least of all the exact specifics of it. She’d refashion the entire story into gossip about him to spread around school. It seemed that he would have to go about this a bit more craftily than he’d first planned…

“W-Well, Amitie, you see… It’s about Sig…”

“Ah! I knew it!” Amitie interrupted, but quickly changed her mind and turned to Raffina instead, “I-I mean! Raffina! Please tell Klug that I already thought it was about Sig!”

“She says she already thought it was about Sig.” This must’ve been the most deadpan delivery Raffina had ever given in her entire life.

If only someone, anyone, would put an end to this madness…! Ah, whatever. Klug would just have to keep running with it.

“So, you see, I was thinking… It has been much longer than 24 hours by now, yet the potion doesn’t appear to have worn off. Given the scientific consensus on how potions are metabolized, which I so helpfully recited to you last night, wouldn’t you agree that this is perhaps a bit… noteworthy?”

“Yeah, I was getting a bit worried about that too… I tried to not bring it up to Sig, but it really doesn’t look like whatever that black stuff is will just ‘wear off’ anymore,” Amitie furrowed her brows. “…Raffina, tell Klug that, please!”

Raffina seemed slightly more invested now, “Ah, well… Amitie says that she agrees and is worried about Sig.”

“Ah, y-yes… It is worrisome, isn’t it? A lot more than I first expected, actually! I mean, you saw him in class today. Having claws for hands… Not very conductive to a productive school life! Not to mention his hobbies. Entomology sometimes requires a very gentle touch, you see!”

“He claimed it was okay, but he really seemed so unhappy about the thing with the flowers too. What if he ends up hurting something with his hands while they’re like this? Like, a bug! That would break his heart!... Is what I’m saying to Klug.”

“…Amitie says: Pest extermination is bad now,” Raffina summarized, significantly less interested again.

Klug ignored the middle-woman and carried on the conversation.

“Right! That’s why I am thinking, maybe it would be a good idea to start and think about options?”

“Options?” asked Amitie.

“Options,” deadpanned Raffina.

“Yes, options! Options to …help Sig return to his usual self? We could look into transfiguration, alchemy… Maybe a bit of Qi-manipulation could do the trick…?”

Amitie’s eyes widened and filled with an eager sense of anticipation, “So… You’re taking back what you said last night?”

“Um… Well-“

The girl’s arm flung out, “Raffina! Ask Klug if he’s taking back the awful thing he said!”

“Hm?” Raffina raised an eyebrow. Her interest-levels instantly increased by 500% percent. “Awful thing, you say?”

“W-W-Wait! We don’t need to drag this back up again right now do w-?“

Amitie, however, loudly and fiercely repeated her request, “Ask him if he’s taking it back! Ask him if he’ll apologize for saying that Sig was broken before!!”

Oh.

Oh no.

Klug dreaded looking at Raffina’s face, but, against his better judgment, he still did. What he found was quite within his expectations: A wide, fascinated grin spreading slowly, from powdered cheek to powdered cheek and blue eyes lighting up bright and hungrily, as the top student of Class B realized just what golden nugget of information had just been presented to her. It wasn’t much longer before a loud, self-congratulatory laughter echoed through the study hall. Raffina was pleased.

“Oh… Ohoho! HOHOHO! Really!? You called Sig broken? Right to Amitie’s face?!” she didn’t stop laughing. “How much of a reprobate can you be? For someone who goes on about books as much as you do, you certainly failed to read the room there, didn’t you? HOHOHOHO!”

It just went on and on, the laughing, the insults. Klug pulled his hat down over his face. What did he ever do to deserve this absolute worst-case-scenario?

“What’s next, are you going to go call Popoi a ragdoll? Or tell Oshare Bones that his boyfriend is never coming home? Oh, no, I know! You’ll hand out fliers about the health hazards of sugar at Lemres’ school! HOHOHO!”

“Ah, Raffina…” Now even Amitie was starting to get a tad uncomfortable. “This is a little… W-We’re getting off topic!”

Making an effort to speak loudly enough to be heard over Raffina’s laughter, Amitie pointed at Klug,

“Anyway! What I’m trying to say to Klug is! If you really know that what you said yesterday was wrong, you should apologize!!”

Apologize… for being wrong? But that requires admitting to being wrong!

Every single fiber of Klug’s being rebelled against that very idea. Violently.

“Um… Well…!  I wouldn’t quite put it like that! Y-You see, what I meant yesterday was-“

“SAY IT!” Amitie demanded. “Say that you were wrong and you’re sorry!”

“Um… Ureemmddkskdss…….!!!”

Meanwhile, Raffina’s laughter continued to provide its backing-track of shame to the scene.

“Klug!” Amitie yelled.

“…Okay! Okay, fine! I’m taking it back!!” Klug screamed with his eyes closed so he could imagine no one was there to hear him. The next sentence spewed out of his mouth at the speed of a river during deadly flood rains. “I didn’t mean what I said last night, Sig was always perfectly fine, I spoke without thinking, and I am sorry!!”

“BUT WERE YOU WRONG!?” queried Amitie.

“YES! YES, I WAS!”  bellowed Klug.

Raffina’s laughter grew yet louder. Well, at least one of them was having a good time.

Klug, on the other hand, felt dead inside. Today, he’d violated his own most treasured principle. Suddenly that second story window didn’t even seem like such a bad idea anymore.

“Uhhh…” By the time Raffina finally needed to stop and catch her breath a little, Klug felt like all the air and life had been sucked out of him by the two girls’ bizarre interrogation, leaving him little more than a sad, deflated purple balloon on the floor. “…There! I said what you wanted! Happy now!?”

“Yes. Very!” Amitie was indeed beaming with joy. Not only was her usual, cheery smile back on her face, her cheeks also somehow looked a whole lot rosier than they did before. Being cross with friends really didn’t suit her at all. “I’m sorry for being mean to you too, Klug! Oh, and for slapping you…! I really don’t know what came over me there!”

“Please… don’t mention it…”

Too late. Raffina was already laughing again.

“So! Let’s be friends again?” asked Amitie.

His face held in his hands, Klug slowly nodded. “I-If it means that we’ll never do or speak of what just happened again, then… yes. Just… yes.”

“Great! Then we can talk for real again now, huh!” Amitie grinned. “That’s awesome! We’ll come up with a way to help Sig much faster this way, I bet!”

“Does that mean we can go now? And maybe leave her?”

Klug raised a shaky hand and pointed a finger at Raffina who was, yes, still laughing. Amitie took a quick look at her other friend’s current state before giving Klug an awkward smile.

“Ah… Ahaha, yeah… Maybe we should give her some time to cool off. I don’t think she’ll have much to say that’ll help Sig while she’s like this. And I don’t think we still have the time to calm her down with a Puyo match, either…”

There were less than five minutes left before class, after all.

Klug and Amitie decided to go meet up with Sig in front of classroom A. Whatever time would still be left before class they’d use to discuss what to do next. They could all go to the Town Library together after school and try to find some info on what was going on with Sig. Their combined eight eyes had to be better than Klug’s four, even if Klug’s eyes probably knew their way around the library best (Amitie made sure to let him now that). Maybe they could ask their other schoolmates and Arle and Lemres to help out, too? In any case, what mattered was that they were officially on the case now!

They’d find a way to put Sig back to normal. Definitely!

He didn’t get to watch any bugs in the end.

The other students in the schoolyard had made sure of that, crowding around him, asking question after question about his hair, about the weirdness of his left hand spreading over to his right hand, and the black aura all around him. ‘Ominous’, some of them called it, and now that he’d heard it like that, he couldn’t help but think that it was ominous, too. Definitely not his ‘normal’ self. Why couldn’t he go back to normal already? There was a time years ago, before Primp Town, when the only thing about him that ever caught anyone’s attention was his tendency to space out in the middle of a conversation. But then his left hand and left eye turned red, and now he looked like this… Well, then again, could he really complain? Witch had warned him. He’d been perfectly aware what he was getting himself into when he took that potion. He just hadn’t realized that he’d be feeling too restless to just ignore what he’d gotten himself into.

It had all gotten too much, the other students’ questions, Tartar asking if it was difficult to do this or that or another thing with those hands, Lidelle asking him why he’d started hiding his arms behind his back while talking to people, Yu making puns about arms and the color black at every chance she got… The final straw was when Onion Pixy showed up and accused Sig of trying to ‘one up’ him in front of his girlfriend. That was about all that Sig could take. He stuttered out a “Sorry, guys” before dashing for the school gates and out into town.

So, there Sig stood now, somewhere at the outskirts of Primp Town, leaning against a tree and sighing to himself. This was the first place he’d found with no people around, and it was at least a mile away from school. Kind of amazing how fast he could run when he had a reason to. Still, this sucked. He’d promised Amitie to meet up with her in front of class, but there was no way he’d make it back in time for class at all with how far away he was now.

Feeling awake really was the worst.

“…I guess I’d better start walking back to school,” Sig thought out loud, having finally managed to calm down a bit. “Wonder how long that’s gonna take… Sorry, Ami. I hope Professor Accord won’t be angry.”

It was then that another person, presumably drawn close by the sound of Sig’s voice, spoke.

“Oh! It really is you!”

“Hm?”

Sig turned to find a girl with chestnut-brown hair in blue clothes approaching him.

“Oh… Arle.”

“I thought I saw you run by, so I followed!” the young mage grinned. “Hey! Let’s have a Puyo-Battle! …Is what I would say, but you do seem pretty out of it, huh? Did something happen?”

Sig hesitated with replying at first, but then he raised his right hand and showed it to Arle.

“It won’t go back to normal,” he said. “My body, I mean. It’s been like this ever since, y’know… Yesterday.”

“Oh…!” Arle leaned forward to get a closer look at Sig’s hand. “I was already thinking that you were pretty powerful during that battle yesterday. And I did feel a really incredibly power… Wasn’t that just your normal strength?”

“No,” Sig shook his head. “I can’t do things like that normally. That was all Witch’s potion… At least, I think it was.”

“Witch… Ah, you mean the blond witch who sometimes hangs around Schezo?”

“Um, yes? She’s the only witch I know.”

Arle laughed, “Ahaha, sorry, sorry! There’s a lot of witches back in my own world, you know! Our Witch’s grandmother is a famous witch too back there.”

“Really? I didn’t know that. Is she good with potions, too?”

“Probably a lot better than our Witch! Well, I’ve never met her myself though.”

“I see,” Sig’s eyes wandered off. He took a glimpse at his hands. “I wonder if Witch’s grandma would know what to do about this…”

“Would you like to go ask?”

He turned his head to Arle, expecting her to say that she was joking, but no. Her smile seemed sincere, and so did the suggestion.

“I’m pretty sure I know where she lives, so I could show you the way. And, while we’re at it, I could give you a tour of my world back home, too! There’s tons of interesting places there, you know!”

“Can we do that? I thought most of the times you went back and forth between your world and this world were accidents with Puyo Battles.”

“I think I have figured out how to do it on purpose now,” Arle winked. “We just need to gather enough Puyos and draw a spell-circle. That should do the trick! So, are you in or are you in?”

Sig thought about the idea for a moment, “I don’t know. I’m actually supposed to be back in school right now…”

“Hey, don’t worry about that! When I was your age, I skipped Magic School a~ll the time, and I turned out just fine, right?”

“I promised Amitie we’d meet in class, though.”

“You can apologize to her after class! You’re friends, she’ll understand.”

Okay, this was getting a bit weird now. Why was Arle so insistent on showing him her world now? He couldn’t remember her ever bringing this up before. And, besides, even if he did have time to go…

“Arle, look. It’s nice that you want to help, but I’m really not sure I wanna go to your world right now. I mean…”

A growling sound came from Sig’s stomach just that moment. He made a face.

“…I didn’t have lunch yet,” he admitted.

Immediately Arle’s eyes lit up.

“Curry Time!” she declared. “Let’s go have lunch together? My treat!”

Now, this sounded like a tempting invitation. Still, Sig had reservations.

“I’m still supposed to be in school right now, you know.”

Arle gave him a begging look. “Aww, c’mon! It’s been so long since I’ve last had lunch with a friend! Besides, you can’t exactly study well on an empty stomach, right? I’m sure your teacher would understand that!”

That made sense, actually.  Besides, if he was being honest with himself, he didn’t actually wanna go back to his classroom full of students quite yet. He needed to be somewhere quieter than that for a while. Maybe skipping class to have curry with Arle would be okay?

“Alright,” he nodded. “Let’s have lunch together. Your treat.”

Arle laughed, “Sure! I’ll sponsor the ingredients! Buuut… that’s all I said! We’ll decide who actually cooks in a Puyo Battle!”

“What…? Ahh, I walked right into that one!”

Then again, that wasn’t so bad. Puyo Battles were fun, and he kind of liked cooking too. Maybe this little hangout with Arle was just what he needed to take his mind off everything that had been happening. And Arle seemed pretty happy about it as well.

“Haha! Okay, let’s go! I won’t hold back! I haven’t had friends to cook for me in a long, long time, you know…”

He didn’t ask her what she meant by that, even though he found the way she said it a little strange. Of course, this wasn’t the only thing that seemed a bit odd about Arle during their conversation.

The second thing was something Sig only really noticed as he was following Arle back into town: Whether he looked at her shoulders, in her hair or underneath Arle’s cape whenever the wind blew it up, Carbuncle was nowhere to be found.

BONUS:

The purple-haired boy from Amitie's dream in Chapter 4.

Chapter Text

“Sig isn’t here.”

Amitie was right. When they arrived at the door to Classroom A there was nobody waiting in front of it. A look inside the room revealed that Sig wasn’t waiting in there either. This was odd. Hadn’t Amitie and he promised to meet up before class?

“Maybe he fell asleep somewhere out in the schoolyard!” she suggested.

“Somehow, I doubt that…” said Klug, without elaborating on why.

“We should still go out and look!”

But just Amitie said this, the school bell rang. The next period was already starting. With the rest of their classmates flooding inside the room to take their seats Amitie and Klug didn’t have much of a chance to make their way past them outside to look for Sig even if they wanted to.

At first, they thought that maybe Sig would just show up alongside the last stragglers making their way to class as he sometimes tended to do anyway, but that didn’t happen. By the time Professor Accord came through the door Sig’s seat was still empty. Amitie and Klug threw each other nervous glances. Where had their friend gone? Did something happen?

They weren’t the only ones to notice the missing student. Rather than starting her lecture, Accord kept worriedly looking at the empty chair next to Amitie.

“Oh dear… It seems like we are short a head. Does anybody know where Sig might be?”

Some of the students in class gave half-mumbled replies.

“Well, I did see him outside earlier, but…”

“I think I saw him run off somewhere? Seemed pretty unhappy about something.”

“He’s been pretty weird all day, huh?”

“Yeah, I mean, I really just wanted to know what all that black, smoky stuff was…!”

“You asked him that to his face? Really?” Klug dismissively scoffed at his classmates’ chatter, “Tsk! You children really don’t know how to read the room, do you?”

“Ah, I don’t think you’re allowed to say that today, Klug…” Amitie awkwardly told him. Then she raised her hand, addressing Ms. Accord instead. “Teacher, if it’s okay, I’d like to go and look for Sig!”

“Um,” Before he knew it – and he wasn’t even sure why – Klug had raised his hand too. “And I’d like to go and… supervise Amitie, while she looks for Sig! So she doesn’t get sidetracked.”

“Just say you wanna go look for him too…!” Amitie told him, though she looked more bemused than annoyed.

Ms. Accord meanwhile took a moment to think about the proposal.

“Let them go,” Popoi said to his master. “Given what’s going meown right now, we really can’t afford to lose sight of that kid. And you still have a class to teach.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Accord nodded, petting the stuffed cat. “Alright, Amitie, Klug, please be so kind and go look for Sig. If all three of you could be back here before the end of class, that would be wonderful.”

Klug and Amitie looked at each other briefly and nodded before getting out of their seats. With a polite bow and greeting to their teacher they excused themselves and left the classroom.

“Now, here goes hoping these two don’t get themselves into any sort of cat-astrophe while looking for him,” Popoi mused in a whisper.

Professor Accord sighed at the thought. “Oh... Oh dear.”

When Arle said they’d be making curry, Sig had thought she meant at her house or maybe somewhere else in town. Instead, after having gathered all the ingredients they needed from Primp Town’s shopping district, the magician girl had led him out into the Nahe Woods. Now she was showing him how to set up a fireplace and light a campfire.

“Carby and I used to make lunch like this all the time when we were still traveling around our own world!” Arle said with a grin, blowing in air to stoke the flames. The fire was coming along nicely, and as for the curry pot, that appeared to be something she just carried around with her in her magical inventory. Sig wasn’t even all that surprised.

“This reminds me of Gogotte’s cooking... But as long as it won’t taste like that, I guess it’ll be alright,” he voiced his immediate thoughts. “Talking of Carbuncle, where is it anyway?”

“Ah, you know. Around!” Arle laughed. “He likes to kind of go off and do his own thing sometimes. You probably know how it is!”

“I actually didn’t know, but if you say so, I’ll believe you.”

Nobody knew Carbuncle as well as Arle did, after all. The fact that they were always together was why the little critter’s absence had struck Sig as so odd in the first place.

Well, anyway, it was time to cook. Sig lined up the ingredients they’d gathered around town, both by buying them and by winning a couple of Puyo Battles against people who happened to have something they needed. He was especially looking forward to using that rare, fancy-looking spice the Ocean Prince had given them after a friendly match. Among all of Sig’s friends, the small prince had always been the one who’d given him the tastiest things to eat. Maybe this would make the curry taste just as good?

“Okay... I think that’s everything you said we’ll need,” Sig told Arle.

The girl replied with her usual enthusiasm, “Alright, let’s go then! Curry cooking time!”

While Sig had lost the Puyo Battle to determine which one of them would do the cooking, it turned out that he didn’t actually know the recipe, so Arle ended up helping after all. They started by peeling and cutting the vegetables, something Sig still found difficult to do with his changed hands, but Arle was nice enough to show him a few tricks to make it easier. His claws made for surprisingly good potato-peelers, as it turned out.

“Finally, useful for something...”

“You don’t like your hands?” asked Arle. “That’s a shame. I think they look pretty cool!”

“A lot of people think that. But they’re inconvenient like this. Too big to catch bugs and the nails scratch up everything,” Sig explained.

“Why not use magic to do those things? I can feel you’re not lacking in power.”

“That’s not as fun. If I can do everything that’s fun to do by not actually doing it, then where’s the point? No, magic is for Puyo Battles. Catching bugs and making food is what my hands are supposed to be for. So I really wish they’d do that right.”

“...Huh,” Arle seemed a tad surprised by this level of insight provided by Sig. Her mouth forming a small o-shape, she clicked her tongue before replying. “I guess you have a point! I’ve been using magic for pretty much everything all my life, so I never even thought about that at all...”

“But you still use your hands to cook curry, don’t you?” he asked.

“You got me there!” Arle laughed.  “I guess it would feel strange if I suddenly had to use magic to do that!”

“See?”

“Mhm. I get it now. So, you want your body to go back to normal, even though you’re gonna lose a lot of power if it does?”

“I mean, I don’t really care much about power in the first place...” Sig stopped a moment. “Ah- I already had that conversation with Amitie earlier, actually.”

“Oh really?” Arle seemed curious. “What did you say to her?”

“That I don’t really have that same dream as her,” he explained. “I’ve never wanted to get much better at magic.”

“Really? That’s kind of rare for a magic student.”

“Amitie said so too.”

“So, if that’s not it, then what’s your dream?”

That question again. Sig found himself looking at the floor for a while. It really was weird that he didn’t have an answer to this, wasn’t it?”

Arle, however, didn’t dwell on it.

“Haha, hey, it’s okay if you don’t wanna tell! Wanna hear my dream instead?”

Sig looked up, “What is your dream, Arle?”

“We~ll...” putting down the carrot she’d been peeling, Arle took a few slow steps towards Sig. There was an unusually calm smile on her face. “My dream... is to have a happy life together with all my friends. With Carby, Rulue, Schezo, Witch, Draco... heck, even Satan! And of course, all of you guys from this world, too! Everyone is invited to my life-party! Yeah... everyone. As long as they want to be my friend. Living life always surrounded by people who are happy to be around me, just because I’m Arle Nadja... That would be truly wonderful.”

Sig found himself in awe at the sheer sweetness of the girl’s seemingly so simple life-goals.

“That’s a really nice dream!” he said. “But, wait... does it count as a dream if it’s already true? That doesn’t seem right.”

“We~ll...” Arle began a sentence, but didn’t finish. Instead, she giggled. “Ufufufu...”

“Okay, that laugh sounds a little creepy. Maybe don’t laugh like that?”

“-Ahahah! Sorry, sorry!” Arle straightened herself. “I just felt like being a bit mysterious there.”

Just a mood then. Okay. Somehow it still felt weird to Sig, but he let it slide. Especially because he didn’t get that oppressive feeling right now that he always felt when he was around powerful or dangerous or suspicious people, like Schezo or Lemres, or that one time Klug had been acting strange. In fact, he actually didn’t feel anything at all from Arle, neither anything weird, nor anything normal.

Wait. So, she wasn’t being weird, but she wasn’t being normal either? Did that make sense?

Usually, he would have ignored suspicions like this, but again, right now he found it hard to do that. Without meaning to his mind was slowly but surely going into high-alert-mode. Something... something was really strange with Arle. Yeah. He had to be careful...!

…But he STILL really wanted to have lunch.

“Everything okay? You’re looking a bit tense,” Arle pointed out.

Sig didn’t need to be ‘awake’ to know he was a super bad liar, even worse than Amitie. So he didn’t lie.

“I’m excited for the curry,” he said. “I hope it’s done soon.”

“That makes two of us!” Arle grinned. “You know what? You’re pretty fun to hang out it! We should do stuff like this more often. I think I really like having you around.”

...Aaand that anxious feeling inside him was calming down again. He felt like he had to think about this again. Was Arle really ‘suspicious’? Could someone so nice really be ‘off’?

Even if she had failed to use his name even once this entire time...

Okay, this was getting a bit annoying.

This was already the fourth unwanted roadblock Amitie and Klug had encountered on their search so far, and just like the previous three the only way to get past this one was to defeat the perpetrator in a Puyo Battle. That wasn’t exactly anything out of the usual in this town, but did they really have the time for this, when they had to hurry up and find Sig? In any case, they had been taking turns fighting off the challengers. This time Klug was battling.

“Gathering stars, flares of creation, form thy spirals and give me power! Stella Innerans!”

Wait, did he change his incantation again? Amitie seriously couldn’t keep up with this anymore! What’s more, she had to wonder why he even needed to recite the whole thing every single time to begin with. Klug was the only mage she knew who did that. Everyone else she knew just did that part in their head, unless they really needed to aim carefully.

Oh well, anyway, Klug’s spell hit and hit hard, crushing the little, pink fish-creature's Puyo pile underneath an avalanche of garbage. This match was over. 

“Hey, great work, Klug!” she cheered.

He lightly brushed some dust off his blazer. “Hah, of course. Don’t act as if you expected anything else!”

Another bad liar. She could totally tell how happy he was that she praised him.

For a few seconds there was a small, pink-haired boy lying on the floor in front of them. Apparently being hit head-on by Klug’s dark magic had had the side-effect of disabling whatever light magic Salde was using to maintain his fish form. His humanity didn’t last long, however.

“Ack! No, no!” Having gotten back up on his feet, the prince quickly recast the spell and with a ‘poof!’, the huskier-voiced fish was back. “...Ahem! You common folk have some... interesting magicks there. Ahem, indeed, verily! To make me take such a surprisingly unsightly, unbecoming form! But you shall not tell my persistent attendant should he ask if you have seen this form, for I command you to silence! Quiet, quiet!”

“Kind of makes you want to tell that poor butler even more whenever he says stuff like that, doesn’t it?” Amitie whispered to Klug.

She didn’t get an answer, because her companion was too busy cackling and writing a self-congratulatory note about accidentally disenchanting the prince in one of his notebooks. Amitie sighed.

“Anyway! We beat you, fair and square, so now you gotta tell us where you saw Sig, like you promised!” she demanded.

The Ocean Prince closed his eyes and smirked, “Ah, yes, Sig, my most loyal servant! So reliable! So becomingly humble! And very easy to hide behind!”

“Yeaaah, that’s not what we’re asking about, though!” Amitie still wasn’t comfortable with hearing a friend being called someone’s ‘servant’, even if Sig never seemed to mind. “C’mon! We just wanna know where you saw him! You said you did earlier!”

“Indeed, I saw one closely resembling Sig in the peasant’s market close to this place once upon twenty minutes ago! Though, to my surprise, that person’s hair was of ebony color and their demeanor was strikingly alert compared to my servants’ dreamlike gaze...”

“Yeah, that was Sig!” Amitie confirmed. “Twenty minutes ago? Then we can still catch up! Which way did he go, Your Majesty?”

“He and the lass in cerulean won from me but the finest eastern spices, and then set off yonder over there, forest-wards!” spoke the prince. “If only they had headed for the beach, I would have accompanied them on their way, but, alas, the forest is not pleasing to a creature of the waters such as myself!”

“Lass in cerulean?” Amitie asked.

“He probably means Arle,” said Klug, who’d rejoined the conversation. “‘Cerulean’ means ‘dark blue’. She’s the only girl wearing anything like that around here."

“So... Arle took Sig into the forest? Huh?” Amitie’s confusion was written all over her face. “Whaaa--- Why would she do that? She knows we have school today!”

“Well, we can ask her that ourselves once we’ve caught up to them,” Klug shrugged. “Right now, what matters is that we have a destination. Let’s go Amitie.”

“Um, yeah. Let’s.”

Of course, Klug was right, but Amitie still thought that it was strange. Like, she was glad that Sig was around someone trustworthy who could protect him in case anything bad happened, but dragging one of them away from school for no good reason? That somehow didn’t sound like something Arle would do. Like, maybe she would if there was a reason, like a big emergency or an adventure that needed to be adventured, but that wasn’t what the Ocean Prince’s description had made it sounded like.

She’d really, really have to talk to Arle once they found her.

“The road forks here.”

They should have seen this coming, actually. Amitie and Klug stood in the crossroad in the middle of the Nahe Woods, each of them looking down a different path, and, of course, now that they actually could have needed a random stranger to ask for directions, nobody showed up.

Klug adjusted his glasses, “No can do about it. We will have to split up.”

“Hm? What happened to ‘babysitting me’ or whatever?” Amitie laughed.

“S-Stop wasting time and pick a path!”

“Haha, okay, okay! I go left, you go right?”

“No objections.”

Amitie and Klug promised to meet back up at that same crossroad in half an hour at latest to check and see if either of them had any luck finding Sig. Then they parted ways.

On the left-hand road Amitie skipped down the path, humming a little with her steps. Just because this was a serious search mission, it didn’t mean she couldn’t stay in good spirits about it. After all she didn’t want Sig to be worried because she showed up with a face like seven days of stormy weather. Besides, this situation wasn’t even that unfamiliar to her. It reminded her a lot of back when Ms. Accord had sent her out to pick up Lemres from the Oasis… Though, hopefully, this expedition wouldn’t end quite as badly as that one! Not that that was very likely anyway; she knew Arle and Sig too well to *accidentally* beat up either of them in a Puyo Battle!

And just as Amitie thought of Arle, a familiar, exotic scent reached her nose.

“Huh? Hmm… Mhmmm…!” She took a deep sniff. “Is that… curry? Oh, yes! I bet Arle is close by!!”

Wicked! Where there was curry, there was Arle, and if the Ocean Prince was right, then Sig would be there too! Following the smell of strong spices, Amitie sped up her step. Soon, the flame of a warm campfire in a forest clearing came into view.

“Hey! Hey, Arle! Siiii~g!”

Her calling voice and the way she waved her arms as she ran quickly caught the attention of the people at her destination. Sig turned towards her first.

“Ah! Amitie?”

“Great! The more the merrier!” cheered Arle.

Amitie soon arrived by the campfire.

“There you guys are! Sig, we missed you in class, what happened- Hey, are you guys cooking?”

As always when she was excited, Amitie was rambling so quickly that it was difficult to follow, but in his current state Sig could manage. Awkwardly, he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Sorry, Ami! I’m fine, things just got a bit weird during recess. I needed some space… And then Arle invited me to lunch.”

“Oh! So that’s what happened!”

Suddenly, everything made perfect sense! -To Amitie, that is.

“Thanks a bunch for helping out Sig, Arle! He’s had a lot going on since yesterday… Ah, but I guess you’ve had a lot of stuff on your plate too, what with that faker and all!”

“Hah, don’t you worry about that,” said Arle, smiling. “I’ll be taking care of that situation very soon.”

“Well, if you need any help, just say the word! We’ve got your back just like how you got ours’!” Amitie replied. “Anyway, I think Sig and I’d better get head back to school now. Professor Accord is waiting, you know.”

Like on command, Sig’s stomach growled in loud protest to this suggestion.

“...Can I still eat before we go back?” he asked bashfully.

“What, you’re that hungry!?” Amitie took a surprised step back. “But we had a big breakfast today!”

“Not big enough, I guess,” Sig himself seemed somewhat confused just by how badly he wanted more food right now. “Anyway, we already cooked. Please, let’s have a plate before heading back. You can have some too, Amitie! Ah, I mean... Is that okay, Arle?”

The brown-haired mage nodded enthusiastically, “Of course! Shared curry is double the joy!”

“Hmmm...!!” This offer was very tempting to Amitie. “I don’t know... Ms. Accord is waiting for us back at school...”

Then again, she couldn’t exactly leave the forest before meeting up with Klug back in the crossroad anyway. There still had to be at least 20 minutes left before their agreed-on time, right?

“Ah, whatever, you’re right!  I mean, you guys put all that effort into cooking already, and, besides, it smells soooo good...” She licked her lips a little. “Alright-y, thanks for the food! Let’s eat!”

“Yeah, let’s!” Sig agreed.

“Curry Party!!” Arle cheered.

Curry Party, indeed. It was amazing how difficult it could be for the average citizen of Primp Town to resist the allure of Arle’s strange, otherworldly signature dish.

Back on the right-hand path Klug kept his eyes peeled, both regarding the forest around him and the pocket watch in his hand, just to make sure he wouldn’t be searching for any longer than the agreed-on time. He must’ve been walking like this for about ten minutes, when a voice reached his thought from the tome in his bag.

‘Just so you know, the left-hand path was the correct one.’

Klug stopped walking and pulled out the tome.

“Wait, what!?”

The book gave him a low chuckle, ‘I am saying that you are going the wrong way. The girl is going to find the boy, and you are out here wasting your time.’

“How would you-”

‘Know that? I could sense the boy’s presence from the west. Given how much magic he has been leaking, is it any surprise?’

“T-Then why didn’t you-!”

‘Tell you earlier? Because your face right now is priceless. That’s why. Heh heh heh...’

By now Klug had stopped counting the times today that he’d wanted to rip the Tome of Sealing up and use the pages to stoke his fireplace back home. Probably for the better. He suspected that if he knew the exact number it would only make it harder for him to maintain the saintly patience that prevented him from destroying the spellbook. ‘Think of the book’s power, Klug,’ he told himself over and over. The knowledge, the spells, the magical energy... The ungodly screeching Akuma would unleash upon him if Klug brought the thing back to the library in shreds-

Yeah, that was a good motivator. That, and the fact that he still didn’t have the money to pay for the destruction of an antique.

“...One day, I’ll figure out how to block out your voice. Then you can spend the rest of your days quiet, watching me hone your power in peace!”

‘I await your attempts with bated breath,’ the spirit mused.

Anyway, as there obviously was no point in going down this way any further, Klug decided to make a sprint back for the crossroad and follow Amitie down the other path. However, he hadn’t even gotten as far as completing a 180° turn, when he was interrupted by high-pitched yelling piercing his eardrums.

“GET BACK HERE!!”

“NEVER! YOU ARE INSANE!”

 *Bam!* A body in white robes rammed into Klug from behind, harshly slamming the boy into the ground. *Crack!* A blue leather boot stepped onto Klug’s back, very briefly loading the entirety of someone’s bodyweight onto it, before that person took their next step on their merry way.

Klug cried out in pain. The attention of the blue boot’s owner was thus attracted.

“Huh? ...Klug!?” Arle Nadja’s eyes widened in surprise at what she’d just stepped on. “What are you doing down there?”

“Being unfairly hated by the universe,” the boy groaned in a small voice.

Arle was just about to take pity on the poor child and lend him a hand to get back on his feet, when she remembered what she’d been such a hurry for until a second ago. She turned her attention down the road again, just in time to spot a blur of white reaching out an arm to grab for a branch above his head and swiftly disappear into the crown of the tree it belonged to. Arle ran up to that tree.

“Schezo, oh, what the heck! Come down there!”

“Gu! Gugu-guu!” Carbuncle on her shoulder enthusiastically agreed.

“NO! I’ve had it with your shenanigans!” The dark mage’s voice thundered, and yet somehow also sounded dangerously close to tears. “You abduct me, assault me, rob me of my property, and after that horrid night, you still expect affection from me!? Believe me, you would have to be a lot, LOT cuter to still be worthy of my grace at this point!”

“Hey, I’m plenty cute!” said Arle, before suddenly thinking better of it, “Actually, strike that. Look, can you just come down from that tree so we can talk like, you know, normal people?”

“There is nothing normal about you, you banshee!!”

“Says the guy who’s been running around the forest in a nightgown all morning...”

“It’s not a nightgown! They’re ceremonial robes!”

“Yeah, and they’re ANCIENT and LAME! I didn’t know you still had those old rags! Why are you even wearing those!?”

“BECAUSE YOU STOLE MY CLOTHES!!”

By now Klug had made it back on his feet, giving him a better look at the whole ridiculous scene. Just barely covered by foliage and twigs, the Dark Mage, Schezo, looked far more like an angry kitten than a powerful, ancient sorcerer sitting up on that branch. Just as stated in his conversation with Arle, the man wasn’t wearing his usual swordsman attire, and, in fact, appeared to be entirely unarmed. The simple, white robes he wore were all he appeared to have on him. He wasn’t even wearing his trademark cape or armor. Klug wasn’t sure whether the appropriate reaction to all of this was to ask what in the world had happened ‘that horrid night’ or to hightail out of this situation as quickly as possible. Somehow, he heavily leaned towards the later.

Of course, there was one thing that prevented him from doing so: Arle. Hadn’t Prince Shellbrick told them that she was with Sig earlier? If that was true, then Sig had to be close by! Maybe the tome's Spirit had just been trying to confuse him when it said that Klug had gone down the wrong way. He had to ask Arle about Sig… If only this scene didn’t make him feel so hilariously out of place.

“A-Ahem, excuse me? Arle…?”

Without turning to answer, the sorceress held up a hand towards him.

“Klug, can this wait? I’m a little busy here!” Arle then yelled up the tree. “I’m not taking my eyes off this tree until you come down and talk to me, Schezo!”

“Then perish gazing at a tree!” Schezo yelled back.

“I have your sword, you know!” Arle waved the crystal blade around as if beckoning a puppy with a stick.

“Oh, I do know! Eventually I shall pry it from your cold, withered body!” Schezo hissed poisonously.

Apparently he was seriously hoping that Arle would just starve to death waiting for him to climb down that tree. Oh dear. There was far too much nonsense going on here for Klug’s liking, and he had no idea how to intercept it to ask his query. Even if he’d decided to try and draw attention to himself with a Puyo Battle he would’ve had no idea which one of the two of them to challenge, and he definitely did not want to take on both at once. N-Not because he wasn’t confident in his ability to take on both of them! (Actually, yes, that was exactly his reason.) He just didn’t want to incur the chaos of a three-way Puyo Match! (But mostly: Two powerful mages with far more practical experience than him. Yeah, no contest there.)

Maybe Klug should just retreat and tell Amitie that he found Arle? It didn’t look like the sorceress was going anywhere anytime soon at this rate anyway…

However, before Klug could make a decision, the situation changed when he heard a familiar voice speak behind him.

“Oh, hey! Who’d have thought our missions would lead us to the same place?” A calm, young man walked up to Klug’s side. “Hey again, Arle. And a ‘hello there’ to Klug, too!”

“…Lemres!” Klug felt a wave of relief wash over him when he saw the familiar green robes and hat of his idol. Finally, a bastion of sanity in this madhouse!

Arle quickly realized she’d been addressed as well and likewise seemed happy to see the arrival of backup, “Oh, comet warlock! Nice timing!”

Lemres tilted his head and nodded, “I’d say so. Looks like you just found your target as well, hm?”

“Yeah, I did, but…” Arle sighed, “Listen, could you maybe try talking some sense into Schezo? You know, from weirdo to weirdo? He just won’t come down there!”

“Sure, I can give it a try- Wait, ‘weirdo’…?” Lemres’ usual smile didn’t falter, but his voice betrayed the offense he took to the moniker. “W-Well, anyway, I hope you don’t mind me taking care of one thing after another, though. I wouldn’t want my own assignment to walk off on me while I’m helping you with yours.”

“Assignment?” Klug couldn’t help but be curious.

“I’m talking about you,” Lemres told him. “I’ve been looking for you Klug.”

“F-For me?”

“Yeah. You weren’t back at your school when I looked, so I came to check out here. Anyway, would you like some jellybeans?”

The purple-clad boy’s heart skipped a beat, and he had to resist the urge to pinch himself and test whether this really wasn’t just one of his usual dreams.  Lemres coming all the way out into the forest to meet him…! Suddenly this day didn’t seem half bad anymore.

Bowing with far more gratitude than was necessary, the child accepted the sweet treat. Now that Lemres was sure that Klug wasn’t going to just up and leave before they had a chance to talk, it felt safe to tend to Arle’s problem. Lemres stepped up to the tree.

“You know, Dark Mage, I’ve heard that you like Café au lait. If you’d like, I could treat you. I’ve been told I make a mean Caramel Latté.”

“Your sweet temptations will not seduce me, Warlock of Comets! And, besides, a Latté is just Espresso pretending to be Café au lait!”

“Ah, but mine has caramel in it!”

“Save me your cavities!”

Lemres sighed. What a tough customer. And who preferred Café au Lait over a Caramel Latté anyway?

“I don’t think talking will get us anywhere, if he’s not coming down for his sword or a treat.”

“Looks like it,” Arle agreed. “Well, that leaves only one option! Let’s knock ‘im down there with a Puyo Battle!”

“Um, before you do that…”

Klug, who had been enjoying himself picking out and eating the chocolate- and licorice-flavored beans from the small satchel Lemres had given him, now called attention back to himself.

“I had an important question to Arle that needs answering within the next, em…“ He glanced at his pocket watch. “…seven minutes.”

Wow, it had been more than 20 minutes already?

“What is it, Klug?” Arle asked.

“Thank you. Well, I actually came here looking for Sig. Could you tell me where you left him?”

“…Huh?” It was the first time ever since this spectacle had begun that Arle properly took her eyes off Schezo to focus on something else. Eyebrows raised, she answered Klug’s question with one of her own. “Where I did… what?”

“Gu gu?” Carbuncle seemed equally confused.

“Where you last saw Sig!” Klug repeated, now a little agitated by how clueless Arle was acting. He didn’t have time for this! “Look, Prince Shellbrick said he saw the two of you in the market place earlier, so obviously you must know where he was before the two of you split up! That’s really all I need to know.”

“Klug, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Arle. “I haven’t seen Sig since the battle yesterday. I didn’t even know you guys weren’t at school until I ran into you just now!”

“Uh… huh?”

Now, while Klug hadn’t necessarily expected a helpful response after the silliness he had just witnessed, this was still outside his range of expectation. What did she mean, she hadn’t seen Sig? That couldn’t be, could it?

“But…! The fish said-!“

“Not to accuse Prince Shellbrick of being a liar, but I can vouch for Arle there,” said Lemres. “There was an important meeting at your school this morning, with both of us in attendance. I got on my way here right after we wrapped up and, given how Arle obviously did the same, she wouldn’t have had the time to go on a detour to the market with Sig.”

“She… wouldn’t…?”

Klug was stumped. If that was true, then what did it mean? Did Prince Shellbrick lie to them? He wouldn’t have had a reason to do that, would he? Plus, the prince’s description of Sig’s current appearance had been far too accurate to be a coincidence. This didn’t make any sense! Unless Arle somehow found a way to be in two places at once, there was no way-

-Wait.

Arle… in two places…?

The blood in Klug’s veins froze and his breath stopped as an awful, awful possibility occurred to him.

“…Klug? Hello? You still in there?”

He barely even noticed Arle waving her hand in front of his face, too occupied by the horrifying scenario eating up his mind.

“…Amitie… Sig!!”

Without thinking, saying or doing anything else, Klug turned on his heels and ran off, in the direction he had originally come from. Arle, baffled by the boy’s strange words and actions, Schezo, still clawing to his branch in the tree and Lemres, still being Lemres, stayed behind.

“H-Hey! Don’t just- Aaand, he’s gone.” Arle could only stare into the dark of the forest. “What was that all about?”

“I have a bad feeling about this…”

Lemres’ smile had dropped. With a flick of his wrist, the warlock turned his crystal wand into a broomstick and saddled up.

“Sorry, but I’ll have to let you take care of the Dark Mage yourself,” he told Arle. “I’ll be going after Klug.”

“Um… Alright!”

Arle still had no idea what was going on, especially now that the atmosphere had suddenly turned so heavy that it weighed in her stomach like a boulder. Why did she get this gnawing feeling like she should know what had Klug so riled up and scared? It was on the tip of her tongue, she could swear…

Oh well. She couldn’t focus on that now! Lemres had left, so that left only her to apprehend and interrogate Schezo. And apprehend him, she would.

“Well! Looks like it’s just you VS me! Like old times!” Eyes focused on the figure in white above her, Arle cast Owanimo. “Be ready, Schezo! Incoming Puyo Battle!”

Schezo bared his teeth.

“Be ready yourself, Arle. For I have the high ground!!”

Sword or no sword, as long as he had his magic, he would not let her best him.

Neither he nor his would-be opponent knew that not too far from them, on the other end of the forest, a battle was raging that would have been far more worthy of their attention than this petty dispute.

Chapter Text

It was June 15^th and it was noon, 12:14 to be exact, as the girl made sure to note in her research report. The experiment was going quite well. Just as expected, the more milk she added to the carefully prepared rectangular glass of water, the deeper the colors of the light passing through the container became. The light scattered throughout the glass turned cyan, then sky-blue, then a dark shade of cerulean. The light that hit the wall behind the glass became yellow, then orange then a vivid shade of crimson.

“…There. Solved it!” Satisfied, the girl clapped into her hands then took a hearty bite out of her lunchbox apple. “See? The milk in the glass scatters the blue light, leaving only the red light to pass through to the other end! Our planet’s atmosphere does the same. That’s why the daytime sky is blue, but the sunset is red! ...Alright, that’s about it. You can take the flashlight down now, Maguro.”

“Nice. My arm was just getting a li~ttle tired★“

“Heheh, yeah, you did well! Thanks for the help!”

 ‘Oh’ing and ‘Ah’ing could be heard in the physics lab. Some of it came from their upperclassman Risukuma of course, but there were other voices as well. Today was one of those rare days when the elusive remaining members of the Physics Club had decided to actually spend their lunchbreak in the clubroom alongside the club’s core trio. Ringo Ando, club president and connoisseur of all things explainable and rational giggled to herself. Another boring lunchbreak spiced up by the power of science! Oh yes, this got her blood pumping.

“Haa~h! Physics are just so~ ex~ci~ting!” she sing-songed to herself. “Light is white~ until it’s not~ the colors are hidden~ so let’s~ not~ stop~!”

In the back of the room, the rest of the club was clapping.

“Nice colors. Fashionable.” A girl in lavender said.

“And so~ pretty!” A girl in orange agreed with a happy squeak.

“Mhm… Ringo, as always, your experimental conduct is impeccable,” Risukuma agreed.

All the praise was causing Ringo’s face to turn flushed, “Aww, shucks, everyone! I just followed the instructions, that’s all.”

The last to stop clapping was a girl in rose-colored clothing with a large, butterfly-shaped barrette in her hair. 

“Hee hee… This was very cool. But you know what I think would be really impressive?” the girl flung out her hand, her pointing finger aiming straight for the red-head at the other side of the room. “An experiment involving Ringo’s mysterious powers! Right here and now!”

Hearing the prompt, Ringo could only roll her eyes, “That again? Anzu Kimura, as always your obsession with the paranormal is difficult to grasp.”

“But Ringo, is it not in the nature of science to explore the unexplored and uncover the truth of the unknown?”

“I mean, you’re not wrong… But look, not all my experiments can involve Puyos! Once in a while it’s important to go back and remind yourself of the basics, too!”

“But the basics are so… basic.”

What a predictable reaction. Despite technically being a member of the physics club Anzu Kimura rarely had her feet placed firmly on the grounds of tangible reality. She was a year above Ringo, in the same class as Risukuma, and infamous there for her fascination with all things metaphysical and preternatural. It was perhaps due to this bizarre behavior that in their younger years, some had called Anzu ‘Ringo’s evil twin’, but that had mostly stopped after a certain incident just over a year ago had caused Ringo to become involved in matters quite beyond the scientific state of the art herself. It was widely known by now that ever since the fateful day, Ringo had gained abilities that could only be described as ‘magic’: Manipulating gravity, distorting light, bending the forces of nature with nothing but her will! …Well, popping a couple of those mysterious creatures she called ‘Puyos’ helped too, usually. Well, however that may be, ever since that day Anzu had spent many a club-meetings obsessively and relentlessly badgering Ringo for demonstrations of her powers. Sometimes she would make the same demands of Maguro Sasaki and Risukuma, who had abilities similar to Ringo’s. Ringo and her friends didn’t mind per-se, but it could get annoying at times.

Today, Anzu Kimura was not alone in her demands for a presentation of the preposterous powers of Puyo Puyo. The two other, younger girls in the room, too, raised their voices.

“Actually… I’d like to see Ringo do something with the freaky jellies again as well,” admitted the girl in lavender.

“Yeah! They’re funny and squishy!” laughed the girl in orange.

Ringo took a step back, then sighed.

“Et vos, Sumomo and Momo…? Guess I don’t have a choice then,” Ringo put on a defeated, yet still cheery smile. “We still got some time before lunchbreak ends. Hey, Maguro? Ris? You guys up for a three-way Puyo Battle?”

“Sure, I’ve got nothing better to do★”

“It would be an interesting way to pass the time until the next lesson.”

“Great! Alright then, let’s-“

But just as Ringo was about to cast Owanimo and start the match, an echoing voice rung out from like from thin air.

“Now, hold on, just a second!”

Unexpected and uninvited, a cloud of black smoke manifested itself in the middle of the room, centered around an otherworldly core of light of which nobody quite knew when it had appeared. Soon, the black cloud took humanoid shape.

“If anyone here is going to battle Ringo, it’s me! I have Ringo-Puyo-privileges!”

Ringo shrieked in terror, starring upon the sudden apparition,

“ECOLO! What are you doing here!?”

“Hey there, Ringo! I got bored, so I watched what you guys were doing! The milk-thing looked fun.”

A light like the splitting of a nuclear core shone in Anzu Kimura’s eyes, “OH~! An otherworldly phantom of grand power and importance has appeared!”

“Nah, I think it's probably just some weirdo we know★” Maguro denied with a headshake.

Ringo, meanwhile, had changed all her shock and surprise into anger, “…Ecolo! I can’t believe you! Were you seriously spying on me the entire lunchbreak!?”

“Ringo, what do you think of me! Of course, I wasn’t just watching you during lunchbreak! I also watched you during Math, English and Social Studies!”

Ringo gasped in embarrassment, “NO! Not Social Studies! My weakest subject!”

“Dunno, I wouldn’t exactly call a B+ weak…★”

“This is unforgivable!!” The red-headed physicist pointed at Ecolo while also shooting the creature a poisonous glare. “The Suzuran Junior High School grounds are off-limits to unaffiliated persons during school hours! In other words: This is trespassing! Besides, how many times have I told you to! STOP! STALKING ME!”

“Aww, c’mon! Take some pity on me. You have no idea how boring the multiverse can get when you’ve been around the block a bit. Like, I mean, the whole thing!”

“Yeah, I seriously doubt that!”

How infuriating! As if her privacy hadn’t been compromised enough with how often Ecolo tended to just pop up out of nowhere in her spare-time, now he was trying to claim her precious schooltime as well? Interdimensional friendship was all good and fine, but a girl had her limits. No, Ringo would not allow this! Another bite out of her lunch apple, before she sat it aside. She gestured Maguro and Risukuma to join her, before declaring,

“Alright, looks like somebody here needs to be taught an extra lesson! Maguro, Ris, let’s take out Ecolo!”

“Whaaaat, all three of you at once?” Ecolo backed away a little. “No fair! I wanted to play with Ringo only!”

“You should’ve thought about that before disrespecting my favorite time of the day!” By which she, of course, meant ‘science-time’. Ringo raised her finger and gathered power to cast Owanimo. “In any and all cases! Let’s! Puyo Puyo Battle!”

The match commenced. Barraged by three opponents at once, it didn’t take long until Ecolo was caught in a rain of Nuisance Puyo, which would have made it difficult for most players to continue focusing on building their chains. Not Ecolo, however. The interdimensional being only experienced slight difficulties maneuvering past the incoming attacks. Whether it was Maguro charging his Kendama with magic and shooting the ball Ecolo’s way, Risukuma using sparks of magical energy to trigger chemical explosions or Ringo using her physics-based magic to telekinetically control the trajectory of the air and items in the room and shoot them at Ecolo in sudden blasts, to the creature dodging these moves was little more than a fun dancing game. Not that he didn’t take any damage, but, hey, where would the excitement be if he didn’t? Ecolo giggled loudly while unleashing his first chain.

“Fake Speech!”

“Ouch-!”

Ringo took the first blow, but her confidence didn’t waver. Ecolo had fired off only one chain so far, whereas they’d already sent him plenty of garbage. Alright, this should work out…

Since Ringo and her friends weren’t trained mages it was, of course, a fact that they weren’t as skilled at using their powers as the likes of Arle or Amitie would have been, but what they lacked in magical prowess they could make up for with their Puyo-puzzling skills. This battle shouldn’t take too long.  The complicated part was making sure to not let the other club-members come to harm in the chaos of the battle. Ringo, Maguro and Risukuma had only gained their powers by accident due to Ecolo’s interference a year ago. Anzu, Sumomo and Momo, who hadn’t been present for said event, had no magical abilities whatsoever. Even if they were to try and match up Puyos, they wouldn’t be able to draw power from them or send Nuisance Puyos. They needed to stay off the battlefield.

Thankfully, that wasn’t too tall an order: The three other girls had nicely stayed put in their chairs on the other end of the clubroom thus far, mesmerized by the spectacle occurring before their eyes.

“There it is! Ringo Ando’s mysterious, wonderous power in action!” Anzu couldn’t help swooning “Ah, I’m so lucky to have been born in the correct timeline to witness this~!”

“The colorful jellies are always so fun to watch as well!” agreed the girl called Momo.

And the girl called Sumomo nodded, “Mhm... They’re mesmerizingly odd. There’s always so many of them. I wonder where they all come from...”

The mysteries of Puyo Puyo were indeed numerous, many of them laying far beyond the people of Suzuran City’s wildest imagination. For Ringo, however, these matters had become a regular part of her life by now. It wasn’t that she’d stopped questioning the strangeness of it all; it simply no longer fazed her. And if she’d allowed herself to, then maybe that fact alone would have worried Ringo Ando’s usually so rational, analytical mind.

Somewhere in the background a bell rang. Ringo bit her lip. Uh oh! Time to wrap this up.

“Sine! Cosine! TANGENT!”

Calculating all necessary variables at lightning speed, Ringo skillfully manipulated the velocity, acceleration and jounce of the clubroom chairs to snap into the position she needed them in and form a cage around Ecolo’s core.

“Playtime’s over, Ecolo! …Literally.” The pigtailed girl walked up to the trap of her making. She squatted down to be on eye-height with her captive. “Look, this was fun and all, but lunchtime is almost over, so if you could just accept defeat and get out of here now, that’d be a huge help.”

Clearly not resentful at all of his entrapment, Ecolo was laughing.

“Ahahahaha! This really was huge fun! Aww, I know why you’re my favorite, Ringo~!”

“Okay, don’t push it.”

“But, hey. Do you really want to go back to studying already?” Ecolo’s big, round eyes shone up at Ringo with deceptive innocence. “I mean, not that I mind. But if I were you, I’d rather use the time to prepare.”

“Hm? As always, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ecolo,” Ringo crossed her arms. “Maybe you don’t understand that, but school is preparation. It prepares us for our future as productive citizens out in the adult world.”

“Not that kind of preparation, dummy! I am talking about preparing for later today!”

“Later today? What’s going to happen, later today?”

“Oh, you don’t know yet?” Ecolo briefly looked at Ringo with wide, confused eyes… Before bursting into laughter once again. “-Gotcha! Of course, you don’t know! I mean, that’s why I’m here in the first place! To tell you!”

“Tell me? Tell me what?” Ringo was starting to feel genuinely curious. If there was one thing she had to give Ecolo, it was that he had a knack for being fascinatingly mysterious, in a weird way.

Talking of which, she absolutely couldn’t read the face he was making at her right now. It was almost creepy, but then again, this was Ecolo, and she was already so numb to his specific brand of creepy that it was sort of hard for her to gauge how high up his behavior would rank on a conventional creepy-scale.

“You see, I ran into an old friend of mine again last night,” Ecolo explained.

“You have other friends?” Ringo was genuinely surprised. Now she found herself imagining a whole planet full of weird, bouncy creatures like Ecolo. Where did he come from anyway?

Ecolo ignored the question, “She and I talked for a while about this and that, and when she asked if a mutual friend of ours had any other friends she should know about, I brought up this place and you. She got really excited, you know! I didn’t expect that at all. So, I’m preeetty sure she’s planning to visit here. Probably pretty soon. Wouldn’t be surprised if it were today!”

“A friend of yours is planning to… visit…?” This sentence would’ve been innocent enough coming from anyone else, but from Ecolo’s mouth it sounded pretty ominous. What’s more, Ecolo had apparently come to warn her about it, too… What kind of ‘friend’ was he talking about?

“Hmpf! It’s so irritating! I even told her that Ringo is already my special friend! But she is the stubborn sort. When she wants something, she goes and takes it! So, I thought it would be a good idea to warn you about her. I mean, if she actually does show up here later and you aren’t prepared to fight back, that would be ba~d, right?”

“Uh… Uh huh…”

What was this about? A stubborn person who was friends with Ecolo was coming to… fight her? Why? And who was that ‘mutual friend’ Ecolo had mentioned?

Ringo didn’t get to ask any more about the matter. The next bell rung, warning the Suzuran students to return to their individual classrooms ASAP. Ringo used the remaining magic energy from the Puyo battle to telekinetically put all the scattered items in the Physics lab back into roughly their original places and left Ecolo with a stern warning to not bother her for the rest of the school day. (“If you wanna play another match after school, that’s fine. I'm up for it," she told him. “Just stop stalking me!”) Still, the dimension-traveler’s words of warning didn’t leave her mind. Who was that ‘friend’ that even Ecolo thought was dangerous enough to require warning Ringo about? If Ringo were to assume that this was Ecolo being sincere and not just one of his usual misguided-to-downright-malicious pranks, then this was bound to be bad news.

Bad enough news for Ringo to spend Literature class secretly reviewing her notes on Puyo-chains and Fever-patterns under her desk. Just for the case. What if some weird, interdimensional threat really ended up attacking Suzuran City? In that case, it would be up to her, Maguro and Ris to protect everyone. Their class- and clubmates, their teachers, their families and neighbors; everyone.

Uhh, talk about a huge responsibility! Somehow it made her head spin. Suddenly, Ringo wished she’d eaten a bit more for lunch than just a single apple…

“Hm… This is soooo good~!”

Amitie was in heaven. While she wasn’t usually a big eater, there was just something about exotic foods from other worlds like Arle’s curry or the fruit from Ringo’s store that tickled her palette.

“I’m so glad we stayed~! Hey, all in attendance who think Arle should cook for everyone more often, say ‘me’!”

“Me!” Sig’s hand went up in the air. Just like Amitie, the boy had curry all around his mouth.

Arle laughed when she saw her friends’ enthusiasm for the meal.

“Heh heh, thanks, but I don’t think you’d be too happy with me once I start cooking anything else. I AM confident in my curry, though!”

“You should be. It was really nice,” Sig licked his lips. “Now I finally feel full, too.”

“Yeah… I think you ate half the pot, Sig!” Amitie pointed out. “I mean, I knew you sometimes eat a lot, but geez!”

“Yeah, I don’t really get it either. I’ve just been kind of feeling hungry the whole day, I guess.”

“Wait, is that why you started making breakfast at five in the morning?”

“Could be… Yeah, now that you say it, probably.”

So, this was another weird thing with Sig as he was right now: A bottomless pit of a stomach. Amitie wondered how this fit in with everything else, but it didn’t really, did it? Weird magic, black stuff all over, big, pointy hands, feeling super awake, and eating a lot… How did any of that go together? Gosh, Amitie wasn’t an expert or anything, but this all was starting to sound way more like some bizarro-version of puberty to her, rather than anything a magic potion does! Well, that wasn’t anything she was about to say out loud, though.

“We should probably head back to school soon.” Now that Sig’s belly was full, he had his priorities straight again.

Amitie nodded, “Yeah, it’s about time we meet back up with Klug, too.”

“Huh? Klug?”

“He came out here looking for you too!”

Maybe it was the revelation that his little midday-detour had caused Ms. Accord to send a search party consisting of two persons after him, or maybe it was the realization that his absence had been worrying enough to his friends to cause the local bookworm to skip class. Whatever the case, Sig looked a little stunned for a moment.

“I really did cause you guys trouble, huh…”

“No, no! Everything’s peachy! Don’t worry about it! Things have been weird for you, I’m sure everyone understands that you needed to get away for a bit,” Amitie assured him.

“But now you and Klug are missing class because of me…  T-That’s not okay! Let’s go back quickly!”

“Aww, you guys wanna leave again already?” Arle looked disappointed. “C’mon! The party only just started!”

Oof, that look on Arle’s face! It was so powerful…! If there was one thing Amitie absolutely loathed having to do, it was disappointing friends. However, the fact remained that she was a student and students were meant to go to class, especially if they wanted to be great mages in the future.

“We can hang out some more after class! It’s gonna be a weekend after today, right? So, don’t be sad. Okay?”

“Why wait until after class, if we can hang out right now?” Arle protested. “It’s just one day! Nobody’s gonna get mad at you for skipping just one teeny-weeny day, right?”

“Well, um...”

Amitie took a step back. Had Arle always been this clingy about spending time with her friends? The otherworldly mage was acting uncharacteristically pushy. Well, as Amitie would learn in just a moment, she wasn’t the only one wondering about these things.

“Arle really is acting weird today.”

Sig was thinking out loud again, but, judged by the look on his face, it seemed that this time he realized that he was doing it and didn’t mind being heard.

“...Oh?” Her friends watched as Arle’s eyes narrowed a little, yet her smile didn’t drop. It was an unsettling sort of expression. “How exactly am I ‘acting weird’?”

“Um, well...!” Amitie began counting the items off her fingers “You’re making curry out in the woods when you have a house in town, you want us to skip school even though you know we can’t do that, you’re being really creepy, like, right now...!”

“You haven’t been using our names,” added Sig. “And Carbuncle isn’t here.”

“I already told you, Carby is off doing his own thing.”

This only made Amitie more suspicious.

“And you don’t wanna go look for the little guy? Usually you always get super-worried when you don’t know where Carbuncle’s gone!”

Arle didn’t answer Amitie’s question, instead just giving her an oddly knowing gaze. Okay, yes, definitely creepy. Something really wasn’t right here.

“I’m hurt. All I wanted to do is spend some time with my friends in this world.” Arle’s expression didn’t change as she spoke. “Is that such an awful thing?”

“But we can see each other whenever we want, can’t we?” asked Amitie. “So why does it have to be right now?”

“I just want to see you right now. I don’t need a reason. Are you saying that you’d rather not see me anymore?”

“A-Arle...”

That one stung. Amitie didn’t know what to reply anymore.

The conversation was at an impassé. It didn’t seem like Arle was going to budge to their questions, and, actually, the more they asked her, the weirder she seemed to get. In addition to being creepy, it also felt so confusing to Amitie. Did they do something wrong? Was Arle angry with them? No, this was something else, wasn’t it? Something that had more to do with Arle than with them. But what could that be?

Amitie thought about asking her, straight out and honest, but that was when Sig, who was standing next to her, spoke up.

“By the way, Arle. I hope it’s okay if I ask...” he fixed Arle with his eyes. “Where did you and Rulue go yesterday after that battle anyway?”

“Hm?” Arle answered without missing a beat, “Sure, I can tell you, but it’s really nothing exciting. She just dragged me off for a Puyo Battle. Something about me ‘monopolizing’ Satan again. I’m sure you know the drill by now! Ahaha!”

Just as Arle peppered this statement with a small laugh, a ring of light flashed underneath the three mages’ feet, sealing off the area from escape. Somebody had cast Owanimo, and it didn’t need much guessing to figure out who. Amitie’s hand was up in the air, her eyes wide and alert.

Arle blinked at that, “Huh? Hey, what are you-”

Amitie didn’t even let her finish the sentence.

“Arle... Arle didn’t leave with Rulue yesterday!” The blond girl’s eyes slowly filled with fire. “Arle went home with Schezo! If you didn’t know that, that means... That means...!”

A pointing finger flung out rudely towards the other sorceress.

“YOU’RE NOT ARLE!”

At first the brown-haired mage just looked at Amitie’s outstretched finger as if she had trouble makings sense of what the other girl was saying. Gradually, however, that expression faded from her face, replaced by an idle sense of amusement. ‘Arle’ began to chuckle.

“Huh... Ufufufufu... With Schezo, hm?” Her eyes now looked even narrower than before. “Really...? She let that creeper dark mage come with her? What an odd taste in company...”

“If you’re not Arle, that means you’re the weird imposter from yesterday!” Amitie yelled, disregarding ‘Arle’s’ ramblings. “Not-Arle!”

Finally, the Doppelganger dropped her smile. “Hmpf. I would appreciate it if you didn’t call me either of those things… 'Amitie’, wasn’t it? You know, it’s a shame. I can feel that you and I were meant to be friends.”

“If you really wanted to be friends, you wouldn’t be trying to hurt us and our friends!” Amitie took a stance next to Sig who had already taken one of his own. “We won’t let you do that anymore! You, us! Puyo Battle!"

A sigh left Arle’s Doppelganger’s lips. It seemed that she had really been hoping to avoid this scenario. Still, whatever dejection she felt wasn’t for long. Soon she raised her hand to summon her first batch of Puyos.

“Very well. I accept your challenge. Ufufu... Now... entertain me!”

“Sig! Let’s take her down right now, so she can’t cause trouble anymore!”

“Right behind you, Ami!”

The battle commenced. Amitie drew first blood with a quickly built staircase-chain. Green, yellow, blue, go!

“Flame!”

A burst of fire and a couple of nuisance Puyos shot off towards the opponent’s field. The garbage trickled down onto the Doppelganger’s Puyo pile, as it should, but Amitie’s flames did not appear to have any effect. Smirking, ‘Arle’ shook them off with wave of her arm.

“Heheh...”

“I-It’s not working again!” Amitie gasped. Right. She did remember how their battle the previous day had gone.

Just then Sig finished setting up an 8-chain.

“Lapis Lazuli!” he called out. A flash of royal blue light pierced the battlefield, striking the magic students’ opponent. Unfortunately, this attack too caused no apparent effect aside from the Nuisances Puyos it produced.

“Mine’s no good either!?” Sig seemed genuinely surprised. Even though he still felt so powerful!

Realizing what that meant, Amitie took a step back, “Looks like our Puyo magic really is a total no-go!”

This was bad, really bad. Amitie gulped. She was the one who had started this battle, and now they had no way to win it! Well, that was... except for one. She threw a look to her side, at her friend.

“Sig, maybe-”

But Amitie stopped talking when she saw that Sig starring at something at the edge of the battlefield: A small patch of blue violets, surrounded by a few butterflies of matching color. She could see the boy’s clawed hands balling to fists. He apparently already knew what she had been about to ask him.

“I... I won’t do it...”

“Sig...” Amitie shook her head. Oh, this all sucked so much! “I get it, but we don’t have a-”

“I won’t!” Sig whirled around to look at her. “Because! We don’t know what’s going to die this time!”

Right. Right, it was true, if Sig used his strange magic again, something might die, just like the flowers back in town. Even if those Puyo-less spells were a way of defeating the fake Arle, even if they were doing it to protect Primp Town, did they have a right to use lives that weren’t theirs just to cast magic? Sig didn’t seem to think so, and Amitie, panic all aside, of course fundamentally agreed with him. No, they had to find another way to do this!

“L-Let’s just keep fighting!”

“Yeah!”

They knew it wasn’t going to work. It hadn’t yesterday, so why would it now? Still, they couldn’t just lie down and do nothing. Thus, Amitie and Sig continued building up their chains to offset and counter the enemy’s spells. The Doppelganger observed their struggle with agleeful smirk, well aware that there wasn’t much these children could do against her. It had been foolish of them to challenge her in the first place, especially seeing how they’d apparently realized the issues with using environmental magic in this world by now.

“We don’t have to do this, you know,” she told the two of them. “Didn’t we all get along just fine a few minutes ago? I see no reason why we shouldn’t continue to have fun like that.”

“That was because we thought you were Arle!” Amitie yelled, firing off an Akteena, which was, of course, doomed to be no-sold.

“Oh,” The opponent replied, brushing off the spell. “But I am Arle.”

“No, you’re not! Stop trying to trick us!”

“There’s no trickery involved. My name is Arle Nadja. That is who I’ve always been from the day I was born. The fact that the same might be true for the girl you call ‘Arle’ doesn’t make her the ‘real’ one among us.”

“Huh?”

Amitie stopped attacking for a moment. It freaked her out just how sincere her opponent’s eyes looked right now. So, the fake Arle’s name was ‘Arle’ too? From the day she was born...?

“W... What are you talking about?” Amitie asked.

“I mean exactly what I said,” ‘Arle’ replied. “I am Arle Nadja. So, if you truly believe that ‘Arle Nadja’ is your friend... That makes you rightfully my friends!”

“W-Wait! That’s not how it works! ...I think?” Honestly, Amitie wasn’t even sure at this point. The stuff this girl said was taking her brain for a wild loop-de-loop ride.

Arle’s Doppel ignored Amitie’s objections. An odd gleam shone in her eyes as she continued to speak with wide, sweeping, playful gestures

“It doesn’t matter if you think this is ‘how it works’! You are on my stage! In my show! And mark my words, I will make sure that you will perform your role as Arle Nadja’s friends for me! Ahahahaha!!”

Sig and Amitie didn’t need to understand what this clearly deranged girl was trying to tell them to know that it was bad news. It was around this time that they started to notice another unusual quality of this match: As the two of them cleared away the Nuisance Puyos their opponent had been pelting them with, each of the colorless creatures seemed to be releasing a small charge of energy, just as colored Puyo would upon popping. However, the magic power set free this way didn’t flow towards Amitie and Sig. Rather, it seemed to be returning to the original source of the garbage, the Doppelganger. She seemed more than happy to gather up the power coming her way, too. She collected it in an odd jewel that she kept just barely hidden in her left hand underneath her cape.

„W-What’s she doing?“

„Dunno…“

Abyss, Chaos, Labyrinth… The more spells the other Arle cast, the more garbage there was to clear away for Sig and Amitie, and the more Nuisance Puyos they popped, the more energy flowed straight back into that jewel of hers. It was an unsettling cycle, but one they saw no way to break. Not without risking themselves getting crushed under the garbage, that is. Eventually the jewel had absorbed so much energy that it began to shine with an eerie brilliance.

“Ufufufu…” A wide smirk spread on the Doppelganger’s face. It was time. “Now then… That should be enough to liven up this little party of ours. Would you two mind if I invited another friend?”

“Another friend…?” Amitie liked the sound of that a lot less than she thought she would.

Sig, too, backed away a little. “What’s happening now?”

What was ‘happening’ now was that the Doppelganger held the glowing gem high above her head and snapped the fingers of her other hand. Sparks flew, both from her hands and the jewel itself. Soon, a beam of light shot onto the battlefield.

“Appear! Thoughts made flesh! I command you to life!”

The light gathered somewhere between the two Puyo piles and began to take shape, first only as a vague blob, then turning more humanoid. The forming figure quickly appeared to grow wings, then horns, and a tail. Finally, the light’s glow dulled and faded, leaving behind in its place the familiar form of a person.

Amitie couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Wait, is that… Draco!?”

Yes, no doubt about it, those draconic features, that hairdo, that unusual style of dress, that girl could only be the half-dragon, Draco Centauros and nobody else! But something was wrong. Even aside from the fact that she’d just appeared out of thin air, summoned by a magic jewel, that body, that face, it all looked like Draco, but it didn’t feel like her. That girl’s eyes didn’t shine like Draco’s. Her stance was far too loose and relaxed. There was clearly none of the boundless energy and feistiness of the dragon girl they all knew in this person.

“It’s… not really her… is it?” Amitie wondered out loud.

Arle’s Doppelganger soon began to speak to the girl who looked like Draco.

“Hey, Draco, could you do me a favor? I’ve kind of got some stuff I need to set up, so if you could take over this battle for me, that’d be great!”

It didn’t look like there would be a response at first, but eventually the empty-eyed girl who looked like Draco roused a little from her daze.

“Help out… Arle…”

“Right! You’re a good friend, aren’t you?”

“I’m… a friend… I’m helping… Arle… I…” ‘Draco’ suddenly stood up straight, her dull eyes focusing on Amitie and Sig. “Hey. You guys. Are you giving Arle trouble?”

While the voice actually sounded like Draco’s, the fact that lacked all of her energy still made it feel like a poor imitation.

“D-Draco…?” Amitie wondered. 

“If you’re gonna bother my friend, you’ll have to take it up with my beautiful, adorable self first. Rawr.”

And with that, the dragon girl entered into the fight, summoning Puyos to build a pile of her own. This was a full-on pair battle now. Arle’s Doppelganger and the ‘Draco’ she had summoned versus Sig and Amitie. As if knowing that one of these two opponents was invulnerable hadn’t been enough, now there was one more roadblock to deal with!

There had been so little enthusiasm in the roar ‘Draco’ had started her assault with that it had ended up sounding pathetic, but Amitie was still spooked by it. So, was this, like, a copy of Draco? Some kind of doll? Or was it the real one, but possessed? If it was the real one Amitie would feel bad about going all out on her… Wait, wait, they learned something about that in school, didn’t they? Something about how each person has their own, unique, magical pattern, that you could sense if you… did what? Uhh, she wasn’t good at this theory stuff! Even though this would be so helpful to know right now…

“I don’t think that’s Draco,” Sig said after offsetting and blocking a first Burning Breath. “That attack somehow didn’t feel like her at all.”

“Huh! You can tell?” Thank goodness. Amitie breathed a sigh of relief. It really was nice to have reliable friends around to pick up the slack for her. “Awesome! Then that means we don’t have to hold back at all!”

“Mhm! Right!”

“Alright! Here I go!”

Time to get out the big guns. Sig and Amitie began to set up a pair attack to decisively crush the opponent. Both of them built the largest chain they could in the time they had before the fake Draco could strike back. Then, once they’d signaled one another that they were ready, both of them placed the last Puyo to trigger their chains at the same time.

“One!”

“Two!”

“Three!”

Plop, plop, plop, the Puyos went. They counted about 15 links in their pair-chain before the last Puyo fell. Sig and Amitie took one another’s hands, gathering magic energy for a pair-attack.

“Blue Fairy Flare!”

The friends’ magic heeded their call and combined into a single, powerful wave of blue, sparkling light and glitter, which, while failing to have any effect on the Doppelganger Arle, soon enveloped the fake Draco along with her field, also showering it in Nuisance Puyos for good measure.

“Raaaawwwrr…”

The fake Draco had nothing to answer their attack with. Barely making an effort to get back up after being dealt this hit, her body soon began to break apart, disappearing into small shards of the same eerie light that had created her.

“Yay! It worked!”

“Yeah, wheew… Nice!”

Sig and Amitie gave each other a cheerful hi-five. That brought the enemy-count back down to one! Or, so they thought… The confident smirk on the Doppelganger’s face quickly clued them in that she wasn’t done yet with throwing obstacles their way.

“Ufufufu…”

Just one more snap of her fingers, and another ray of eerie light shot out of the gem, taking shape once more. The fake Draco reappeared just where she’d stood before, no worse for wear. The Primp students on the battle’s other side froze up for a moment. Their efforts to at least regain their numbers advantage had been undone that easily…? Then, what else could they even try?

“Ami, this isn’t working. Let’s run!” Sig grabbed Amitie’s hand. “Let’s warn the others in town!”

“Y-You know we can’t!” Amitie looked even more terrified than he did. “I cast Owanimo… So we can’t stop the battle until somebody loses…”

Right, that was the 3^rd Law of Owanimo: If the spell was used to open and declare a magical duel, no mage within the area of effect could just quit and leave without surrendering or becoming unable to continue the battle. At school they had been warned to never break these rules… And even if they did, wouldn’t the Doppelganger just come chasing after them anyway? No, they had to take her out, at least for a little while! But how to do that if none of their magic showed any effect on her? Wasn’t there any way they could harm her?

…There was a noticeably large branch of an old tree, just above Doppelganger Arle and her fake Draco. It looked heavy and half-rotted. The gears turned quickly in Amitie’s head. This… this could work, couldn’t it!?

She rushed to pile up a chain.

“Huh? Amitie…? What are you doing?” Sig wondered.

The opposing mage meanwhile could only laugh at the younger girl’s actions.

“Ahahaha! It’s useless. No matter how many spells you use against me, your magic cannot touch me! I exist beyond its logic.”

Sig tilted his head. Existing beyond the logic of magic? What did that even mean? She was here right now, just the same as them, wasn’t she? Such a strange person. She looked like a friend, but wasn’t that friend, she could be incredibly nice but also awfully mean, she wanted to be their friend, but also attacked their friend and made a creepy copy of their other friend… He didn’t understand what this girl’s deal was at all. Was she a bad person? A mischievous person? A lonely person?

He could have asked her. Right now he actually felt like he could find the words to do something like that. But even if he’d wanted to, he lost his chance to do so the moment Amitie set off the chain she’d build. Empowered by the popping Puyos, the blond girl raised her hand and called her spell with confidence,

“Blast Beat!”

Amitie aimed her spell, not at her opponent, but at the piece of rotten wood just above her head. Neither the Doppelganger nor Sig had much time to process what Amitie was doing before the branch was struck with a shockwave of sound and enchanted wind and broke off its tree. ‘Arle’ and her dull-eyed companion were torn to the ground underneath its weight.

“G-GYAAAAHH!!”

This did the trick. Not only did the heavy object’s impact immediately cause the fake Draco Centauros to weakly groan and disappear into another rain of sparkles, the Doppelganger Arle herself also had no way to focus on her own Puyo Pile while she was pinned down like this. The Puyos on her field quickly piled up under the garbage Amitie had sent her, until the pile finally collapsed underneath its own weight. Her Puyos scattered and disappeared. The Doppel had lost the battle.

It was an absolutely unprecedented way of winning a Puyo Battle. Even Amitie herself couldn’t believe her plan had worked that well. In her surprise, the girl leapt and cheered.

“…Yes! I did it! I actually--- ACK!” Her joy wasn’t for long. A piercing pain, like being stabbed with a thick needle, struck Amitie’s face. She found herself grabbing onto her right cheek. “Uh... Unghhhhh!!”

“Amitie!? What’s wrong?”

She didn’t reply to Sig’s worried question, too distracted by the pain. What’s more, he didn’t have the time to wait for her to recover either: The Doppelganger was already in the process of freeing herself from her unfortunate predicament.

“Gah…!! You little, cheating…!”

This was bad. If the weird girl managed to free herself, she could just cast Owanimo again and restart the match. Then Amitie’s efforts to get her off their case would’ve been all for nothing! Sig knew that they had to get out of this place, now. Without thinking about it any longer he picked up Amitie – she barely seemed able to focus on standing by herself, let alone walk – with both of his arms and ran.

“I need to find them, quickly!”

That was all Klug had had to say for Lemres to tell him to get up onto the warlock’s broomstick so they could search the forest together. Usually, an offer to ride on Lemres’ broom would’ve sent Klug over the moon, but right now he didn’t have the time enjoy it. Holding on to the broomstick with one hand and to his hat with the other, the magic student closely surveyed the sea of trees below them.

“And you’re positive we’ll find Amitie and Sig down that way?”

“Absolutely! That’s where Amitie said she would check, and I doubt she’d just have turned around and gone home.”

“’Aight. But why are you so sure Sig is with her?”

“The Rec-” Wait. Klug stopped himself. This wasn’t a good time to bring that up, was it? “...J-Just my intuition!”

There was no way a genius like Lemres would buy that. Klug knew as much and felt ashamed by his own feeble attempt at deception. But what else was he supposed to say? Admit that he’d been talking to the spirit of the Tome of Sealing? Lemres already didn’t think he was fit to handle the book as it stood! If he knew that the demonic spirit inside was conscious enough to hold a conversation with him, Lemres would definitely take the book away from Klug...

Anything but that. If he lost access to that book, he’d-

“I think there’s someone right below us,” Lemres’ voice took Klug out of his thoughts. “I gotta focus on steering. Klug, could you check?”

“Ah! Yes, just a moment!”

Trying to get a good focus with his lenses, Klug adjusted his glasses until he could make out the shapes moving in the bushes below them clearly. An arrangement of golden yellow, blue and pink and black, with an aura like thick, dark smoke trailing behind.

“That’s them! It’s Sig and Amitie!”

“Great. Hold on, I’m taking us down.”

The broom descended at a steep but manageable angle, bring the warlock and young mage back down to solid ground right in front of the figure they’d spotted.

Said figure – Sig, carrying Amitie in his arms – came to a stop when he saw them approach.

“Huh? The green weirdo… Ah, Klug’s there too!”

Lemres was just about to give a greeting, but Sig’s ‘observation’ threw him off.

“W-Weirdo… So, you’ve been calling me that too, huh?” He was smiling, but it was a bitter smile.

“Now, hold on just a minute!” Klug seemed like he had a thing or two to say about that. “How come I’m not just ‘the Glasses’ anymore, yet you go and call Lemres, of all people, a weirdo!?””

The defensiveness confused Sig, “…Do you want me to call you ‘Glasses’ again?”

“N-NO! That is not the point!”

This conversation had derailed before it had ever really started. Good thing Lemres had enough sense to pull it back on track. Said “track” was Amitie’s curled up body, shaking in Sig’s arms. Occasionally something that sounded like a whimper could be heard.

“Now, that’s no nice sight… What happened to her?”

“I-I don’t know!” Sig snapped to attention. “I think Amitie got hurt, but I don’t know how!”

“Let me see.”

Lemres approached Amitie, who still didn’t even seem aware of his presence. Carefully he brushed some golden-blond hair aside and lifted the hand she was covering her right cheek with. What he found underneath was enough to make him open his eyes to take a closer look, if only for a moment.

“Oh… Oh boy…”

“A PENALTY MARK!?” Klug, who had pushed closer to catch a glimpse himself, shrieked at the sight of the vibrantly red, X-shaped symbol on Amitie’s cheek. “She broke the rules in a Puyo Battle!?”

“S-She did…?” Sig didn’t seem sure himself, and Amitie’s current state clearly upset him too much to think about it much.

“Sig. Please, focus. What happened right before Amitie got hurt?” asked Lemres.

“We were having a Puyo battle, and it really wasn’t fair. Magic wasn’t working, and I didn’t want to do that weird thing again…I think Amitie came up with a trick to win!”

“By ‘trick’, I think you mean ‘cheating’!” Klug’s shock made his words come out far more disdainful than he meant them to sound. “A Penalty Mark is a seal placed on a mage’s magic as a result of the mage breaking the laws of Owanimo! Whatever she did must’ve been preposterous enough to anger the Goddess of Spacetime herself!”

Sig’s eyes sprung wide open at the accusation.

“Amitie did nothing wrong!!” he screamed.

Klug flinched. That voice, that usually so slow, calm, quiet voice, rarely raised above a mumble… yelling. At him.  It made Klug take back a few steps and freeze up.

Why… did this keep happening? Why did he keep causing these things…?

“I… I didn’t mean it…” Klug stuttered. “I… didn’t mean that… just now…”

He couldn’t read the way Sig was staring at him.  He didn’t look angry, or even spiteful.

Had Klug been able to look into the other’s mind, he would’ve known that Sig was mostly surprised to hear his own voice sounding like that, that he actually regretted screaming just now. He hadn’t meant to scare Klug.

But all Klug saw was a shocked, disbelieving stare in red and blue, directed at himself. And, combined with the memories of the previous night, it felt painfully deserved.

Lemres stepped in, “Now, both of you, simmer down. Let’s try to get along, alright? Sig, why did Amitie need to use a ‘trick’ to win the battle? Was the opponent that strong?”

“N-Not really… Like, not in the normal way,” Sig was still recovering from the shock of hearing himself yell. “But it was that weird other Arle from the other day, so-“

Before Sig even finished the sentence, a good bit of color had drained from Lemres’ face. Clearly, this was not a scenario the warlock had been prepared for.

“Weir—I mean, Lemres?” Sig asked.

“Ah… Ahahaha! Haha… hah…” That was probably one of the most awkward laughters Lemres had ever forced out of his throat in his life. “S-So… After Amitie defeated the other Arle… Prey-tell, where’d you leave her…?”

“On the floor,” answered Sig. “But she probably followed us. That’s why I was running.”

“A-Ah…aha… And now that you’re not running anymore… where do you think she is…?”

“Um…” Sig thought for a moment. “Probably right behind us…?”

*FLASH!*

The spell came right like on cue. Lemres barely had the time to react and push the children out of the way of the beam of ice-magic shooting their way. He took a nasty load of Ice Storm right to the back in their stead.

“Lemres!” Klug called out.

If the warlock was in pain, he didn’t show it. Still, he staggered a little when getting back onto his feet.

“Wheew… Close one. Are you three alright?”

There was no time to answer, because just that moment an angry, disheveled looking ‘Arle Nadja’ burst out of the dark of the woods.  She wasn’t alone either. Left and right of her were two figures that looked exactly like Schezo Wegey and Rulue. Of course, Lemres knew that one of them could not be the actual Schezo Wegey, for he had seen that one about five minutes ago crouching in a tree, disarmed and lightly dressed. Which left only one possibility, and it wasn’t ‘Schezo’s long lost identical twin brother’.

“Oh. You’ve already mastered the Gem’s powers that far?”  finally turning his broom back into a wand, the warlock took a subtly defensive stance. “Yikes. That’s not what I’d call good news at all…”

‘Arle’ stopped growling for a moment to raise an eyebrow, “Do I know you?”

“I know Arle Nadja,” Lemres shrugged. “So… well…”

“Oh, I see…!” A smirk appeared on the Doppelganger’s face. “You are another person destined to be my friend!”

“Ahaha… That’s a conversation I’d usually love to have over a nice custard biscuit and a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade… but…”

A swing of his wand, a row of green Puyo summoned and popped behind his back: Lemres brought up a force-field barrier between his group and the Doppel’s.

“I don’t think today’s a good day for that!”

“You won’t escape that easily!”

The force field gave Lemres enough time to pick up Amitie – Sig had dropped her when Lemres had pushed him and Klug out of the way before – and gesture for Klug and Sig to run.

“Let’s make like powdered sugar and scatter!” he told the boys. “She can’t come after all of us if we’re split up!”

“S-Split up? B-But, Lemres...!”

“I don’t wanna leave someone behind!”

While Klug’s reservations laid mostly with the idea of finding himself alone and unprotected in case the enemy chose to chase him, Sig felt sick imagining what this weird, weird person would do to the next friend she managed to trap in a Puyo battle. She’d caused so much trouble the day before, and just now Amitie had gotten hurt fighting her... What if they split up now and then the person she decided to chase after had to fight her without anyone to help? No, Sig didn’t want that.

Lemres kept pushing, “Just trust me! We’ll have better odds if we’re not clustered up!”

“But-“

They hesitated for too long. Soon, the barrier began to crack under the magic their assailant and her mooks were bombarding it with.  The sight of this finally convinced Klug and Sig to follow Lemres’ plan and run off- in the same direction. They had failed to coordinate their paths. By the time the boys realized their error and tried to split up properly, they found themselves smacking face-first into… thin air? No, an invisible wall, or rather a forcefield. Klug, at least, knew exactly what was happening when he saw golden lines shine underneath their feet.

“What…!? A spell-circle?”

If one were to imagine filling out the small forest clearing they were in with a regular triangle, then each of the three “corners” currently held a small group people: Arle’s Doppelganger and her lackeys in the first corner, Lemres carrying Amitie in the second and Sig and Klug in the third. Of course, one didn’t need to ‘imagine’ such a triangle, because it was clearly visible right now, and so were several others, confined within two large cycles, all drawn onto the ground in lines of a thin layer of gold, forming the shape of a bizarre star.

Lemres clicked his tongue, “Now, that’s bitter…”

His greatest fan, meanwhile, was at the verge of a panic-attack. “B-But… ritual… preparation… requires time… H-How did she-!?“

“She’s using a magical artefact to manipulate matter. Didn’t think she’d come up with the idea to use it to skip out on drawing a spell-circle, though… Smart girl.”

Sig didn’t understand a word of all the theoretical stuff Lemres and Klug were talking about – ritual magic was a bit above his education level – but the two other mages’ panicked tone was enough to let him know that the situation was bad, not good, very un-nice. Meanwhile, over in Corner #1, the Doppelganger was chanting something that sounded like a long-winded spell, which (to Lemres and Klug) explained the invisible walls: The spell had already been initiated and thus nobody in its area of effect could leave.

And if they couldn’t stop the casting process before the Doppelganger finished, they’d be entirely defenseless against whatever magic she was invoking.

Fortunately, being distracted by her incantation left the Doppel open to being attacked.  Lemres quickly summoned a row of green Puyos.

“Parfait!”

And Klug, eager to pull his weight, soon followed, popping purple Puyos.

“Defectio Lunae!”

A sparkling wave of colorful ice- and light-magic and a shock of dark energy burst forth.

Unfortunately, being distracted by her incantation didn’t mean the Doppelganger hadn’t planned for this very scenario. The “Schezo” and “Rulue” standing to her left and right stepped forward with blank expressions, raising their weapon and fists and blocking the spells. They accepted the recoil damage taken from this maneuver wordlessly, and none of the magic made it through to its destination.

Lemres sighed, “Should’ve seen that coming…”

Klug, meanwhile, seemed actively angry. “What is wrong with those two!? Why are they protecting her!! Turncoats!”

But Sig shook his head, “They’re not turncoats… Cuz’ they’re not the real Schezo and Rulue.”

“Very eagle-eyed,” Lemres gave the boy’s a nod from across the field. “That’s right, those guys are duplicates. Empty bodies without souls.”

“What? But… That’s immensely powerful and unusual magic!”

“Yeah. And she’s got an immensely powerful, unusual artefact.”

If Klug hadn’t already wanted to tag out of this fight before, he definitely did now. What kind of powers were they dealing with here!? This sounded like even the full power of the Tome of Sealing wouldn’t match that artefact’s magic…

Why in the name of the heavens was he here?

Lemres, meanwhile, feverishly ran any possible scenario he could think of to get the children and himself out of this mess through his head. It was a complicated situation. On the one hand, nobody had declared a Puyo Battle yet, meaning that they could use their magic without restrictions, but on the other hand that didn’t help much as long as they were on a time-limit and there were two obstacles in the way-

Wait. Why didn’t the other Arle declare a Puyo Battle? That could only mean that she wasn’t actively trying to defeat them. And if that was the case, then this ritual and spell-circle-

He took a look at the lines drawn underneath their feet. Things clicked into place in Lemres’ head. This… He could work with this! …Uh oh. The cadence in the Doppelganger’s voice made it obvious that she was about to finalize the spell. He had to act fast. Without another moment’s hesitation Lemres conjured up a bottle of edible gold glitter. It was time for some DIY improvisation.

In the meantime on the left-hand side of the spell-circle, two boys felt both literally and figuratively backed against a wall.

“Break the circle…? She probably has protections against that… Escape from above? No, no, a spell-circle’s force field always forms a dome! But… But…”

“Klug?”

Sig found it painful to watch the usually so overconfident Klug shaking and rambling to himself in such a desperate tone.

“There’s… there’s nothing… There is no way out of here…” Klug’s body kept shaking. “We’re going to… I’m gonna-“

…Yeah. His personal reservations really weren’t worth this. They hadn’t been worth letting Amitie get hurt, and they weren’t worth letting Klug be scared like this. Even if a few more flowers would end up drying out, or even if a few, poor, innocent butterflies might end up losing their wings… He couldn’t think of that now.

Sig decided to do something.

Closing his eyes to focus, he began to gather power in his hands. The pale, blue radiance produced by the surge of magic soon attracted Klug’s attention, bringing the aimless, fearful rambles of the boy in purple to a sudden stop.

“…Sig?”

It took him a second of watching to realize what Sig was doing, that he was drawing power from the forest, that he was going to cast – Klug’s breath stopped, his eyes widened, and he shrieked.

“Moron, no, DON’T!”

Sig didn’t have the time to turn around and ask Klug what was wrong and who was a ‘moron’, because Klug was already leaping at Sig, pushing him down to throw off his concentration and interrupt his spell.

The noise all of this -Klug’s shrieking, Sig’s surprised yell and both of them hitting the ground – in turn caused Lemres to flinch.

“Hey, what… Oh. Oops-”

That slight motion of his upper body was all it took for the beautiful, clean line of golden glitter that Lemres had been drawing on the floor with whatever precision he could muster while carrying the unconscious Amitie, to go askew and turn crooked. It had been difficult for him to speedily decipher the language the circle’s runes had been written in far enough to attempt to rewrite them in the first place- Now, even Lemres didn’t know anymore what he’d changed the words to.

“Oh… Not good… Guess I spoiled that one.”

The Doppelganger didn’t notice that her magic circle had been messed with until she spoke the final words of her incantation, throwing her hands to her side in a dramatic fashion. When she then finally looked at the ground before her for the first time in minutes, her confident smirk immediately fell.

“W-Wha-“

But it was too late, the incantation was finished. The spell-circle began shining brightly.

“What did you do!?” yelled Doppelganger Arle at the warlock in green.

“I honestly have no idea,” Lemres answered with a shrug.

Well, at very least, they didn’t explode – a surprisingly common side-effect of botched magic, if one may remark – but what the magic did do couldn’t exactly be described as a ‘smooth’ result, either. From one moment to the other, all of them, the Doppelganger, her duplicate-“friends”, Lemres carrying Amitie, Sig and Klug, lost the ground under their feet. The golden light around them grew brighter and brighter, it pulled on them, dragged them into its shine mercilessly, forcing them, in spite of all struggling and screaming, into a hole made of nothing but blindingly white radiance-

When the light faded, there was nothing and nobody left in the small forest clearing.

On her way home from school Ringo Ando spotted what looked like two suspiciously large shooting stars, landing just above Suzuran Public Park in broad daylight.

“Huh! Looks like Ecolo was onto something,” she said to herself, turning on her heels to quickly head for the park.

She knew this sort of strange light far too well to dismiss it.

EXTRA

Anzu Kimura

Age: 15 (Born March 11th)

Blood Type: O

Zodiac Sign: Pisces

Special Skill: Cat-shaped Origami

Favorite Thing: Movies featuring parallel universes

Least Favorite Thing: People yelling at one another

A Suzuran student in Risukuma's homeroom. Despite her attempts at playing the Reliable-Big-Sis type towards her peers, most people perceive her as quite childish for her age. She is obsessed with Multiple Universe Theory, Existentialist Philosophy, Quantuum Physics, and generally anything that calls into question whether the reality she lives in is the only one. Despite this, an interest in quantuum physics isn't actually the reason she "joined" the Physics Club. Rather, she considers herself a member of the "Parapsychology Club" (the only member, actually), but is squatting in the Physics Club for lack of her own club-room. She hangs around Momo and Sumomo a lot.

Her given name means "Apricot".

-

Momo & Sumomo Lee

Age: 13 (Both born June 6th)

Blood Type: AB

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Special Skill: Nonogram (Momo), Crossword Puzzles (Sumomo)

Favorite Thing: Romance Stories (Momo), Horror Stories (Sumomo)

Least Favorite Thing: Goth Fashion (Momo), Pop Fashion (Sumomo)

A pair of fashionable twin girls who are Juniors at Suzuran Junior High. They are actually members of the Literature Club, but since that Club was dissolved halfway through the year for a lack of members they have been camping out in the Physics Club despite no actual interest in the subject (as appears to be the case for anyone not named "Ringo"...). They're actually identical twins; the differences in their hairstyles are caused by Sumomo dyeing and and Momo curling her hair.  While they get along well, the sisters generally disagree on a lot of things, such as fashion choices, literary genres and food. Whenever they're not writing (questionable) poetry or tongue twisters together, they can usually be found squabbeling over their likes and dislikes. Their father, who comes from another country, owns the fruit-farm that the Ando Greengrocery gets most of its produce from. 

"Momo" means "Peach". "Sumomo" means "Plum". 

Chapter Text

There were rules to magic that even those with the power to create a world had to obey. Whether in rituals, in battle or even in potion brewing, all forms of magic were subject to their own set of immutable, all-encompassing laws.

One such rule stated: No dual instances of the same spirit. Now, two uneven fragments of the same soul were okay, and so were clearly distinct variations of the same person carrying different names. However, two instances of the exact same individual, claiming the same name and same destiny? That sort of dangerously unstable set-up went against the laws of the world. In the end only one could remain. The stronger soul would overwrite and absorb the weaker, and if the weaker soul refused to be absorbed, it would disappear from the world entirely. Such was the law. Such was reality.

Such was the reason why he’d had to use so much of his incredible power these past years just to keep her soul alive in Phantom Space. To stall for time to finally, finally find a way to save her.

He wanted (almost) nothing more than to restore Arle to her true power and glory as the golden warrior maiden who had once slain demons and gods. But he’d acted rashly, thrown caution into the wind, and now all of the past years' worth of preparation were in jeopardy. Still, nothing was lost quite yet. He had to maintain a cool head and keep looking for a way to maybe, sort of, just a little, bend things back into their proper tracks.

If only that obnoxious Dark Mage would quit glaring at him from across that table. And if only said mage didn’t carry so much information in his head that Satan would much have preferred keeping undisclosed. But as long as Arle was in the same room, he had to hold his tongue. Actively trying to keep Schezo from talking would’ve been far too suspicious.

“So, you think that she’s not just a copy? But something that’s actually connected to me?”

“Hm, hm... The true question is: Do you believe me to be the person in this room best endowed to answer this query?”

“Schezo!”

“Hmpf! Alright, alright! Yes, I have... a theory.”

Arle threatening to withdraw the set of pants she’d placed on the table was doing wonders in loosening Schezo’s tongue. For almost an hour now they had been playing a bizarre game which involved Arle offering up a piece of Schezo’s wardrobe currently in her possession, only fully surrendering it to him once he answered one of her questions. So far, he’d reclaimed his headband, cape and boots. She was, of course, saving the Sword of Darkness for last, a fact that Schezo was well aware of even without having been told so, and he loathed it.

“I’ve had an... experience, quite a while ago. Maybe you still remember? It was the case of the 'Exciting Puyo Land’ Amusement Park-”

“Ah! Sure, I remember!” Arle looked pretty angry. “That was that super cool, fun park you totally trashed on us! I didn’t even get to try all the rides!”

“Yes! Weeks and weeks of labor put into that park! For nothing!” Satan exclaimed.

“And you never made up for breaking that magic crystal I wanted either, you clutz!” Rulue, who incidentally also happened to be present, chimed in. “I could have been a powerful sorceress, just like—ahem, other people... But, NO!”

“Oh, don’t you three start with that again!” Schezo hissed at them, “Arle, a mage of your caliber is supposed to pull, not push! By which I mean, pull her weight, not push for frivolousness! As for his Princeliness: You barely lifted a finger to construct that park, that was all the crystal, so shush! And speaking of said crystal, Rulue, trust me, there is no accessory amazing enough in this world to make up for the many departments you are lacking in!”

Now, there is putting a foot in your mouth, and then there is eating both your legs wholesale with seasoning. What Schezo had done with that little speech just now was most certainly the later. Three sets of golden hazel, red and blue eyes, as well as Carbuncle’s adorable little button eyes all glared at the Dark Mage in unison, threatening to sear his very spirit with their anger.

“You know what? Let’s take back his stuff and put him up on that tree again. I think I liked him better when he was whining up there,” said Arle.

“OR we burry him under the tree!” hissed Rulue. “I swear, I will dig that pervert’s grave with my very hands...!”

“Save yourself the blisters, you don’t need to dig to reach my Puyo Hell,” stated Satan. “The only place with torment worthy of such flagrant disrespect!”

Now, in a usual situation, Schezo would have answered such threats with violence of his own – But he was still disarmed, and even if he were to use magic, it was three on one. Even he knew when he was outmatched. Ghh... If only he had his sword again!

“Hah...! Your words ring empty! I know that you would never seriously plot my demise as long as you still require information I hold!”

(He really hoped he was right about that. You could never know with these insane people.)

“Then stop wasting time already! Hurry up and tell us what you know!” urged Arle

“Yes! Tell us! And I shall pound you into the earth!” declared Rulue.

“I believe you meant ‘or’,” Schezo corrected.

“Believe what you want to.”

...Why did he keep associating with these lunatics? Schezo sighed. Oh well. There was no harm in telling the story. With any luck, the others would get lost enough in the tale’s charms to forget their violent urges.

“Deep, deep within the dungeons of where the park would later be erected, was the entrance to an impressive tower. It was within this spire of temporal distortion that I found what I came seeking: The legendary Spacetime Crystal. Adding its power to my own, I could have gained tremendous strength. However, the moment I touched the crystal, I was hoisted by my own petard. The crystal ripped from me a large part of my power – and, as I would later realize, a part of my selfhood, too. I managed to escape before the crystal could claim the entirety of my essence as part of itself. When I later came to the park in hopes of restoring the power that had been taken from me, I instead came face to face with a young man of my exact likeness, speaking with my voice and using the magic I had lost.”

Arle now realized how exactly this story was relevant to their current situation, “Wait... That sounds just like...!”

Schezo nodded, “As it turned out, the Spacetime Crystal had integrated the part of me it had stolen into its being and become another version of myself. He shared my memories, abilities, even a part of my personality... I am certain, had I lost the battle against him, the crystal would have absorbed me entirely and surely taken my place among the living in our world. A truly dreadful fate...”

“Um, but hold on. If your whole soul had ended in that Doppelganger, wouldn’t that just have been you with fancy crystal powers in the end?” Arle raised an eyebrow. “Like, the exact thing you wanted to start with?”

“Wha...I-IN ANY CASE!” Schezo clearly had never noticed this technicality before as the surprise followed by embarrassment on his face let everybody know. “I defeated my Doppelganger, thus conquered my past self, gained great power IN SPIRIT doing so, the other me faded, the crystal ceased existing and that’s that! The end!”

That just sounded like he was desperately trying to convince himself that he did not let the greatest chance of his life go to waste. The others in the room almost felt sorry for the guy. Almost. 

“So... You think that my Doppelganger could be the same? A part of my power that somehow got split off from me?” asked Arle. “But that doesn’t make sense! I don’t remember having any of my magic stolen! I mean, you definitely tried to a couple of times, but-”

“WELL, if Arly doesn’t remember, then clearly it didn’t happen!” Satan cut in with a dismissive hand-gesture. “Case closed, the Dark Mage proved himself useless as always, let us move on to greener pastures, yes?”

“...Satan.”

Arle’s attention had shifted, from Schezo towards the sinister monarch sitting to her left. Her eyes narrowed a little, as she mustered the man closely. Feeling uncomfortably called out, Satan backed away.

“Y-Yes? What is it, Arly, dear?”

“Don’t you ‘Arly-dear’ me!” Arle’s cheeks puffed up in a defiant pout. “The way you shot down Schezo’s theory just now was super suspicious!!”

A-Ack! His masterful restraint and secrecy had failed him!?

Arle kept glaring at Satan, “Acting like that is pretty much the same as saying that what Schezo said is EXACTLY what happened! So, out with it! What do YOU know?”

At once intimidated and charmed by the beautiful, beautiful anger in Arle’s expression and voice, Satan took a carefully defensive stance.

“Now, Arly, Arly...! You’re making it sound like I’m the one being interrogated here now! You wouldn’t subject me to the same treatment as that awful Dark Mage, now would you?” He paused a moment. “-Then again, if you’d like to remove my clothes as well, I wouldn’t be opposed to that!”

“Once again, I pose the question: How exactly am I the pervert here!?” Schezo yelled from across the table.

“UGH! No, shut up! Both of you are being super gross!” Arle was just about reaching the limit of how much Schezo and Satan she could take in a day.

Rulue, however, protested, “I beg your pardon, there is NOTHING gross about my Prince! No, this is all the Dark Mage’s bad influence! How dare you corrupt this innocent conversation, Schezo!!”

“Yeah, really, please, just stop making things awkward for once in your life, Schezo!” Arle agreed.

“GU GU!” Carbuncle, too, joined the chorus.

Schezo couldn’t believe his ears, “What... HOW IS THIS MY FAULT??”

Whatever productive conversation had been had until just a moment ago was all but forgotten as Arle’s kitchen descended into chaos. Arle, Carbuncle, Schezo, Rulue and Satan kept yelling at one another (mostly at Schezo), throwing accusations and insults, all the while Satan secretly breathed a silent sigh of relief. The shenanigans of Arle and pals continued, almost culminating in a 4-way Puyo-battle, when the door to the house swung open and crashed into the wall with a loud *BAM*, kicked in by the foot of a surprisingly petite teenager in orange.

Raffina stood in the doorway, leg still half-raised, starring at the conduct of the, ahem, ‘adults’.

“What the h-” she stopped herself short of cursing. “I mean...! May I ask what in goodness’ name is happening here? I have been knocking on this door for minutes! Minutes!”

In response to Raffina’s question, Arle and her guests just starred at each other awkwardly for a good while. It appeared none of them had heard the knocks on the door over their own bickering. Raffina groaned.

“Well, whatever.  Luckily for you, you are dealing with a lady, and a lady knows better than to lose her composure over trifles.”

“What brings you here, Raffina?” asked Arle. Out of the students of the local magic school she was acquainted with, Raffina was probably the one she was the least close to, so being visited by her was just a tad surprising.

Having straightened her back and brushed the wrinkles out of her skirt, the rose-haired girl responded,

“Professor Accord sent me. Would any of you have happened to have seen Sig, Amitie or Klug around?”

“Wait... All three of them? Are they missing?”

“Apparently.” Raffina rolled her eyes. “From what I heard Sig went missing during lunchbreak. Amitie and Klug went out to look for him, and that was the last anyone in their class has seen of them for the rest of the school day.”

“I knew about Klug being out searching for Sig,” responded Arle. “I met him in Nahe Forest earlier. But that was hours ago! You sure he didn’t make it back to school?”

“Not unless he somehow managed to get himself locked into the bathrooms next to classroom C again, no,” Raffina said, but not without snickering at her proposed scenario.

“That’s so weird... Last I saw him, Lemres went with him, so nothing should have happened. I mean, Lemres may be a total weirdo, but he’s usually super reliable!”

“I see, ‘name-calling-but’ is your only apparent way of voicing opinions on people,” Schezo scoffed, “Glad to know it’s not just me.”

“Anyway, what I’m saying is, if Klug disappeared or got into trouble, wouldn’t Lemres have come back to tell someone about it and get help by now? Come to think, I haven’t seen him either since I beat up Schezo back in the forest...”

Satan decided to assess the situation, “Hmpf. I see. If the bespectacled boy was last seen with the Warlock of Comets, that leaves only two possibilities. Either the child is, in fact, not missing, but still in the company of the Warlock, or ...The Warlock, too, has gone missing!”

Unimpressed, Arle raised an eyebrow, “Yeaaah... Thanks for stating the obvious, Satan.”

“So, in summary there are four people currently missing in action, correct?” Rulue counted them off on her fingers. “The blue mage boy, the girl in the Puyo hat, the boy with the glasses and the Warlock of Comets. And the last people to have seen any of them... were...” Irritation entered Rulue’s expression once more, as the wheels turned in her head and she came to a conclusion. “Schezo! Arle! What sort of trouble have the two of you caused now?”

Arle stumbled back. “H-Huh? What? Me...?”

Schezo, however, started hissing and screeching like a cat that had its tail stepped on: “Oh, COME ON! You cannot make this my fault as well!!”

Rulue did not relent, pointing her fan at the both of them, “Why? The two of you were the last to see that kid before he vanished! It follows that you are the most likely to know how he vanished!”

“I mean, that’s technically true, but...” There was an awkward smile on Arle’s face, but she seemed pretty done with everything right now.

Schezo, too, groaned, “As mentally weak as she is bodily ample...”

“What did you just say!?” Rulue angrily growled at the white-haired mage. “You... You lech!!”

“Yes, well, at this point I am not even sure if I should feel indignant or amazed that it took you a whole year longer than Arle to find a synonym for ‘pervert’... Which, again, I AM NOT!”

“All of you, SHUT U--- I mean, let’s stay on topic, kindly!” yelled Raffina. “So, do you have any idea of where the four of them may have gone, or do you not? I’d much prefer to not waste all day on this errand.”

“Um, well…”

While she still didn’t appreciate being blamed, Arle also wanted to take the situation seriously. After all some of her friends had gone missing here, and while Rulue wasn’t entirely right, she did have a bit of a point: Right now, Arle’s and Schezo’s recollections of their last encounter with Klug and Lemres were their best bet for figuring out what had happened to them, Sig and Amitie.

“I bumped into Klug in the woods… He seemed pretty out of it, I don’t think he’d been having a very good day. He tried to talk to me about something, but I was busy with Schezo. Then, Lemres showed up… Him and Schezo fought over coffee for a bit…hm…”

Somewhere through the process of recounting the events, Arle had started gnawing on her thumb-nail. Wheew, recalling the details sure was exhausting. She wasn’t usually the type to look back on things that already happened but preferred looking forward in general. Accordingly, her memory wasn’t exactly well-trained when it came to recounting the finer points of past events. It was an issue she’d had been dealing with ever since her own school days, when the teachers would often scold her for misremembering her lines during presentations or failing to correctly recite newly learned spells. Like that one time, when she got yelled at for-

-Huh? Scolded for… what? What happened back then? Did it even happen? Suddenly Arle didn’t feel so sure anymore. The whole thing seemed pretty blurry, actually. It happened after she qualified for the tower exam, right? …But somehow, she had trouble remembering much about that time in general. Was it because it had happened so long ago? Or because her memory was a little bad in general? Why did it feel like there was a bit more to it…?

Taking this astonishing mental detour, Arle had drifted away quite far from what she’d been intending to talk about, a fact the other parties present took notice of when they saw how her eyes glazed over a little, almost as if she were about to fall asleep. The sight was so awkward, nobody dared speaking up for a while. That is, until Raffina loudly cleared her throat.

“AHEM!”

“A-Ah!” Arle snapped out of it. “Ahah… Sorry! Just… thinking about something.”

“That’s nice,” Raffina said, not at all sounding nice. “Now, would that be all? Or do you have anything else to tell me? Maybe something a tad more… useful?”

“Huh? Oh! Oh, right! Hold on, where was I…” Arle got back to remembering the incident in the woods. “So, Schezo was being Schezo, Lemres was being Lemres… Then Klug took me aside and asked where I’d ‘left Sig’!”

Raffina pulled up an eyebrow, “Where you ‘left Sig’?”

“So! Are you saying then that the children’s disappearance really was your doing, Arle?” Rulue widely gestured with her fan.

“No, no, not like that!” Arle laughed. “I hadn’t met Sig all day. But for some reason, Klug thought I’d been out shopping in town with Sig.”

Raffina cocked her head a little “Huh? Why would he think that?”

“If I recall correctly…” It was Schezo who chimed in here. “The reason the boy thought Arle had been in company of his friend was because he’d been told so by a reliable source. One ‘Prince Shellbrick’, I believe?”

“Huh?” That only confused Raffina more. “Wait, that pint-sized excuse for a prince said he saw Arle with Sig? Even though Arle never met Sig that day? How is that even possible?”

Arle nodded eagerly: “Right!? It’s so strange! I wasn’t even anywhere close to the market today! So that couldn’t have been me there. It’s totally impossible!”

“Hm… Yes, indeed, it does seem impossible,” Rulue finally folded her fan and agreed. “As utterly impossible as Arle being in two places at once.”

“Ahaha, right? Im…possi…ble…”

Halfway through the line, Arle’s laughter got stuck in her throat, and as soon as she finished speaking, a tense, uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Nobody said anything, but instead the group began starring at one another. Schezo and Rulue starred at Arle. Arle starred at Raffina. Raffina starred at Arle, Schezo and Rulue. Carbuncle starred at Satan. And Satan starred at nothing in particular, his already pale face slowly turning a very unflattering shade of snow-white.

Talking of which, it was Satan who eventually broke the silence by gulping down a heavy lump in his throat and voicing a quiet, but definite, “Oh no.”

“We’re… we’re all thinking the same thing, aren’t we?” asked Arle.

“Oh no,” repeated Satan, and Rulue nervously began bending her fan almost to the breaking point.

“But… But I thought we had the Dark Prince’s followers on the lookout for that other Arle throughout this entire world! How could we have missed her waltzing through Primp Town unhindered!?” the fighting queen wondered out loud.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no…”

“Well, perhaps somebody in charge of a certain army of darkness forgot to inform his monstrous minions that their target is, in fact, capable of the simple act of changing clothes.” noted Schezo. “Thus causing them to search exclusively for a strange, magically undetectable Arle Nadja wearing a red cape and skirt, while utterly ignoring any strange, magically undetectable Arle Nadja wearing a blue cape and skirt.”

“Ohnoohnoohnoohno-“

Arle decided to take the green-haired demon lord’s continued stuttering as a confirmation of Schezo’s guess.

“Yeah, um, great job on that, Satan,” she deadpanned.

“Um, my prince?” asked Rulue, plenty worried by the dark monarch acting like a scratched record. “Are you… alright?”

“I think it’s a few hundred years too late to ask that,” laughed Arle.

“More like a few thousand,” corrected Schezo.

It was like the moment the record player is kicked allowing the needle to jump back into its proper tracked when Satan’s continuous and frankly quite creepy chant of “Oh no” finally found its end, even if the blank, utterly horrified expression on his face had yet to disappear. In fact, even if that expression had been to fade anytime soon, none of the people gathered in this room would have the chance to find out.

“I-I have to g-go somewhere…!”

A flash of dark magic, a *poof!*, and Satan was gone, having teleported out of the room. Arle, Schezo, Rulue and Raffina stayed behind, baffled.

“M-My Prince, no!!” Rulue cried. “Don’t leave without me! At least give me a chance to console your marvelously bruised ego!!”

“Don’t worry, I think that bruise is big enough that there’ll still be enough of it left for you to pity him over later,” Arle assured Rulue, petting her shoulder. “Anyway, if there’s a chance that Sig really ran into my Doppelganger, then him and the others going AWOL can’t mean anything good! We have to go out and try find them!”

“Gugu! Gu-gu guu guu!“

The group briefly discussed where to go from here, a conversation that resulted in Arle thanking Schezo for his cooperation and finally returning his weapon and the rest of his clothes to him. (The unfortunate things the Dark Mage uttered while tearfully kissing the crystal blade upon reunion are better left unstated here. Just know that they resulted in a dual face-punch curtsey of Rulue and Raffina.) It was decided that Arle and Schezo would be going back into the forest to try and find the missing students, a team-up Schezo openly only agreed to as he was still interested in getting a closer look at the changes that had happened to Sig as well as retrieving the Material Gem from Arle’s Doppelganger, while Raffina and Rulue would head into town and try to find more people who might’ve run into the Doppel, so they could attempt to retrace her steps. Moving in pairs was for the best, they decided. They had no idea what could happen any one of them happened to run into the other Arle without backup.

“Alright, everyone! Let’s meet at the Magic School in two hours! Oh, and Rulue, Raffina, remember: If you run into me, and Schezo and Carby aren’t there: Don’t trust me!”

“Noted,” both ladies replied together.

With that, Arle and Schezo went off forest-wards, while Rulue and Raffina headed for the Primp Town Market Square. It was a route the two of them weren’t taking together for the first time. Despite the four-years-wide age gap between them Raffina and Rulue had been close friends ever since they had gotten to know each other after Rulue first crossed over into this world. They would often go into town together to shop or train or simply find a nice café to chat at and flaunt their looks, as ladies like them were want to do.

“Fufu… Well, well, maybe this day won’t be so bad after all,” Rulue mused on the way. “Taking a trip to town together has never been unpleasant thus far, wouldn’t you agree? It is a shame that we won’t have time to shop, of course.”

“Hm… Yes…” Raffina replied in a strangely quiet voice. “A shame…”

“And just you think! Should we be the ones to locate Arle’s double before her and that dark mage, I can have the unfathomable honor of restoring the Dark Prince’s honor! Ohohoho! I wonder how he’ll thank me for it? With a charming smile perhaps? An invitation to dinner? Or… *gasp* a kiss!?”

“Hm… maybe…” Raffina replied, not even looking in Rulue’s direction.

“…Raffina!”

Rulue had stopped walking. With a swift turn, she placed herself in front of Raffina, looking down onto the shorter girl in an imposing way.

“Huh? R… Rulue…?”

“Now! Tell me what is wrong,” Rulue demanded. “This non-comital tone… This dejected frown… They do not suit you in the least!”

Raffina jumped, surprised by Rulue’s assertions. “I-I haven’t been non-comital! Or dejected! I just…!”

“Don’t lie! An honest, bold heart is a woman’s adornment!”

Realizing that Rulue was not only correct but also genuinely worried about her, Raffina took a step back. She crossed her arms and looked away, taking a moment to consider what to do. Then she faced her friend again.

“Rulue… Would you promise to not speak to anyone of what I am about to tell you? …And by that I mean, swear! On your honor and your grace!”

“Ohoho… Well, if honesty is a woman’s adornment, then secrets are her allure~” Rulue straightened herself and nodded. “Alright. I swear solemnly. Now, what is your secret, Raffina?”

“…What if – and I am saying *if* – the reason Klug and Amitie disappeared wasn’t that the other Arle attacked Sig? What if something else is responsible?”

“Hm? An interesting thought. What would make you consider that?”

Raffina looked away again, “Now, Amitie, she is a klutz. Her missing school in a misguided attempt to ‘help’ someone, I can see. But Klug? Hah! That teacher’s pet would rather eat his glasses than have his perfect attendance record stained. Evil copies of people or not, as long as there is still a class with a teacher capable of noting absences in session, he won’t be caught dead missing it.”

“So, you are saying that he would probably have run from a fight against the other Arle, even if it meant leaving someone else behind. An understandable reasoning. However, did you consider that he may have been caught off-guard? I have seen this boy. He is physically fragile. A skilled fighter should have no problem dispatching him before he has a chance to escape.”

“… That’s not all,” Raffina, clearly not at all soothed by Rulue’s words, sighed. “There is also that book…”

“Hm? A book, you say?”

Raffina nodded, “He always carries it around with him. I believe it is some sort of dark spellbook? Anyway, a while ago, before I had the pleasure of meeting you, there was an… incident. The annoying nerd managed to get himself possessed by that book somehow. Well, he was back to normal by the next day, of course, as expected. It takes a bit more than some old magic to keep his obnoxiousness down for long, so I was never all that worried, but… I think it could be that the book has started acting oddly again as of late.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I mean, this morning, Klug came to school looking like a total mess, with the book knotted shut with his scarf! That is just plain weird, even for his standards. And do you remember yesterday, during the battle, when he suddenly started yelling at it? Also, I am pretty sure I heard him yell at it again in the library today! All very suspicious.”

“Hm… Suspicious, indeed,” Rulue agreed. “And, of course, an adequate cause for worry! After all, unrefined, strange, dark magic-obsessed people like him tend to drag others into their messes when they fail to resolve them!”

“E-Exactly!” Raffina eagerly balled her hands to fists and struck a pose. “Hmpf, this whole mess has cost me enough valuable beauty sleep already as it is! I swear, if the reason I’ve had to come out here and look for him and Amitie is because that stellar geek went and got himself hexed by something weird again, he’ll taste my left hook! …Gracefully, of course!”

“Fufufu… I understand! Well then, add my right hook to your scheme for revenge. You have my full support.”

Raffina’s face brightened, “Rulue!”

“But before that, let us see what we can find out by asking around town. It could be that your worries prove true, in which case the Prince would be exonerated of having missed the spot-check on Arle’s double, and his honor would be restored!”

“Ah… It’s about that Dark Prince again, huh…?”

“However, should the culprit actually be that other Arle… Then, Raffina, I expect you to help me capture her!” Rulue raised her fan and struck a pose. “Let us restore my Prince’s honor! Thus, earning me his attention! Ohohoho…!”

“Mhm… I don’t know about the last part,” Raffina admitted. “But, of course! It’s a deal. Let us settle this incident together, so I can finally get some peace and quiet again! Ohohoho~!”

The two young ladies laughed together for a short while before getting back on their way to town, now taking longer strides than before. Raffina even had a slight skip in her step.

“Hah! Now that we’ve talked, I feel quite refreshed~! I thank you, Rulue.”

Rulue chuckled, “Oh, never mind it. Trust me, I understand how worries can eat away at your mind. Even worries for your most infuriatingly annoying rivals!”

Hearing that, Raffina jumped a little. “I-I’m not worried about anyone! Just a tad… aggravated!”

“The line can be thin, can’t it?”

“S-Shuddup! I am telling you, it has nothing to do with worry!”

“Fufu… Of course it doesn’t.”

“Yes, it doesn’t!”

But no matter how much Raffina would protest and deny, it wouldn’t change that Rulue knew better. She’d seen herself in the mirror too many times to not look straight through Raffina and recognize in the girl her own worried face at times when she’d been worried for the wellbeing of Arle Nadja, sometimes even the wellbeing of Schezo Wegey…

…Strangely enough, however, Rulue at the moment found it puzzlingly difficult to recall specific instances of such a thing occurring. Huh. Whyever could that be?

Whyever could it be…

That, whenever he closed his eyes recently…

He felt himself slipping away?

It was a frightening feeling, like forgetting what you want to remember and remembering what you want to forget. He felt dizzy without spinning and nauseous without wanting to throw up. Everything was uncomfortable and yet he felt so, so safe. As if he already knew what was about to happen. As if he’d seen it all before.

There were two people in front of him. A so-called “angel” with long, green hair and a human with short, chestnut-brown hair.

“You sure have nerve, showing yourself before me… Prince of the Morningstar, wasn’t it?”

He heard himself talking even though he wasn’t trying to say anything. Maybe that should have scared him, but somehow it didn’t feel frightening.

“Please, just call me, Lucifer,” the green-haired angel replied with a haughty laugh. “Though I appreciate being recognized for my radiance!”

Having acknowledged the angel’s introduction, he turned his attention to the human.

“And you are…?”

“Lilith Claire!” The girl replied cheerfully, bouncing a little. “Though, these days most people call me the Sorceress, the Heretic, the Apostate, or ‘the girl on the wanted posters whose head is worth more cash than most people will ever see in their entire life’! Charmed!”

The girl held out her hand for him to shake with a wide, confident smile.

‘This is weird,’ he thought to himself. ‘What’s she talking about? I mean, that’s Arle. It has to be Arle, right?’

So, why did she say that her name was ‘Lilith’? Why didn’t it feel weirder that she did?

For a reason he didn’t know he didn’t accept her offer for a handshake, but instead threw a dismissive look in her direction before turning his attention back to the angel.

As shameful as the existence of angels was, they were still far closer to him in both nature and power than humans, especially a high-ranking one such as the Prince of the Morningstar. That only made sense; “Angels” were the beings that were created when that person decided to split off aspects of his power to fashion a world in his image. Because of that there were essentially no real differences between what he was and what this ‘angel’ was. It was a mere question of semantics and allegiances. Thus he supposed that it would make a lot more sense to talk to the “angel” than to the girl.

“Why would you bring a human before me?” he asked the angel. “If this is an attempt to taunt the true order with one of your kind’s creations, the target is poorly chosen. Might I suggest you go and bother one of the actual gods with this instead? Of course, I cannot guarantee your survival should you choose to do so…”

“Tsk. You would actually expect such silly mischief from me? You must be poorly informed on my greatness.”

“Au de contraire, my sources make it quite clear that you have an infamously low tolerance for boredom, Lucifer,” he smirked. “In fact, I know of many stories that would make it appear that you are indeed quite prone to, as you might call it, ‘mischief’.”

The angel, who should’ve been called ‘Satan’, but was called ‘Lucifer’ for some reason, was taken aback not only by the confidence with which his self-description had been shot down by his conversation partner, but also by the way the girl next to him had started to snicker in response.

“Lilly! Not you too!” Lucifer pleaded.

“Pff—S-Sorry, Luce…!” the girl who should have been Arle but wasn’t laughed. “I-It’s just… he kinda has a point! Some of your ideas are just… so dumb…Ahahaha…!”

“Hmpf…!” scoffed the angel.

Our dreamer, however, was preoccupied with something else.

“’Lilly’…?” he asked, curious.

“…Oh, that’s what Luce calls me! And ‘Luce’ is what I call him!” The girl stopped laughing and straightened her back. “Personally, I can go without the nicknames too. But he gave me one, so I had to fire back! Can’t let him outdo me, you know. Even if I’ll never top him when it comes to really dumb ideas!”

“Enough with the ‘dumb ideas’, already!” complained a highly flustered Lucifer. “Give it a rest!”

“Aw, why? C’mon! Your dumb ideas are part of what makes you so loveable~!” She cheekily began to poke the man’s cheek. “You should know that!”

That line shut Lucifer up, even if his expression ended up stuck halfway between genuinely touched and seriously humiliated.

“You know I love you~!” teased Lilith.

“Hmpf…. *sigh* Yes. I just can’t stay mad at you. Love you too, my flower~!”

‘Really… Really weird…’ he thought inside.

And, just this once, his confusion was reflected on the outside as well. He blinked, once, twice, three times, beholding with awe and intrigue the scene of the angel and human before him holding hands and giggling at one another.

“You have gotten involved with a human,” he noted in surprise. “One of the humans you were to subjugate to his law.”

The angel pried himself away from the girl for a second to shrug and chuckle.

“Well, what can I say? Of the many things my Lilly is, boring is not one of them~! Hm hm~!”

Lilith, too, laughed, “We met out on the battlefield. He was pretty tough! But nothing a little of my magic couldn’t have taken care of! Heh heh~!”

The girl effortlessly conjured up a flame to demonstrate what she meant and let it dance around the room for a while. The dreamer, however, didn’t pay much attention to it. He was far too preoccupied by the playful way in which the girl kept expressing her boundless energy. Eventually he concluded that Lucifer had a point: This human’s cheer was infectious. He could see why one would seek out her companionship. Still, that didn’t make this situation any less unusual.

As if to answer these doubts, Lucifer stepped up, now wearing a far more serious expression, and spoke in a booming voice.

“The moment Lilly’s power revealed itself to me…! Yes, the instant she defeated me in combat, I decided! A world in which this girl is not allowed to realize her true potential is not a world I wish to exist in any longer!”

“Ah, the dramatic sort, aren’t we…?”

“Eheh! Please don’t mind him. He likes making a big deal out of nothing, that’s all,” said Lilith.

“Nevertheless… Your magic potential is indeed impressive for a human.”

“Thanks! Luce says it’s, like, hm… One in a billion? Maybe even rarer. I wouldn’t know. But it’s pretty neat! Besides, if I weren’t this strong, I’d probably be long dead by now.”

“Dead?” he asked, before quickly realizing what she meant. “I see. You must be… that sorceress. The human he calls the ‘Inciter of Insurrection’…!”

Lilith’s eyes grew wide, “Whoa, I haven’t heard that one before! Is that title new?”

“It is a recent development, yes,” the dreamer nodded. “Only uttered by that person himself thus far, though I am sure he will soon begin to spread use of the moniker to his subordinates.”

“But, of course, you already know about it,” Lucifer spoke knowingly. “Because of your role.”

“That is correct,” the dreamer chuckled with a certain sense of accomplishment. He gestured at the large, ancient tome on the pedestal behind him. “As holder of the Chronicles, it is my ability and duty to remain immediately up-to-date with the great historical events across all worlds and dimensions.  It would be unthinkable for me to be uninformed.”

“Is that so? And yet, you failed to recognize someone as gloriously important as Lilly on first glance!” Lucifer smirked at the other. “How shameful.”

Lilith wasn’t quite as harsh, “I guess that’s probably because nobody other than you has really gotten a good look at me so far, Luce. I mean, I kinda did wear a mask when I caused those riots in the capital… Would explain why they still draw me with sharp teeth and fangs on those wanted posters…”

The dreamer nodded at her, “Your guess is correct, Lilith Claire. In terms of historical significance, your identity is yet irrelevant. That is why I wasn’t immediately able to recognize you. I, however, am aware of the riots in the capitol city of Babel, and the small seeds of rebellion your many acts of kindness have sown in the hearts of people in the greenlands, snow valleys, the fire mountains, the desert oasis, and the city of night. These embers you have kindled on your journey are currently growing, and if the course of history is not changed… Well, I am no seer. But, judged by experience, I believe grand things are inevitable. Very grand things.”

As he spoke, Lilith’s eyes grew wide with wonder. She clearly had never heard her own tale recounted like this before. It left her in awe.

“Wow! You know about all that stuff, even though you live all the way out here? Your powers are the real deal, huh?”

“Fufufu…”

Now, he didn’t consider himself a very social being. He tended to be fairly indifferent towards visitors in his domain. Whether or not they came or where from mattered little to him as long as they didn’t disturb him in his duties. However, even he had to admit that it felt good to flaunt his gifts every now and then. People’s praise conveyed a sense of purpose to his work, he supposed. He wouldn’t have minded having people come by to remind him of the importance of his craft more often.

“Well, if that is the case, then your certainly already know what we are here for,” Lucifer flipped his long hair and smirked. “Don’t you?”

“Hmm…” the dreamer closed his eyes briefly and looked inside. “Oh… Interesting. You’ve come to request my aid in your plans to topple the so-called ‘divine order’ imposed upon your world…!”

“I’m so sick of seeing people suffer and then being told to pray to a ‘creator’ who doesn’t even care!” Lilith stomped a foot on the ground. “People should have the right to choose what to believe in themselves! They shouldn’t be called ‘sinful’ just for having hopes of their own! So, when Luce told me that there might be a way to change our world once and for all, so no one can control it anymore…”

“The Treasures of the Keeper,” Lucifer faced the dreamer with a sense of certainty. “Their exact locations have been kept secret from even me for eons now. However, if there is but one record in existence of were those jewels were hidden by him, it would have to here. In the pages of the Chronicles of  Everything. Am I correct?”

The dreamer began to understand the plan. Using his infinite knowledge of events of significance, they meant to acquire the power needed to topple him, the very same power that person had once used to crown himself ‘creator of a world’. An adventurous plan indeed, and also a very dangerous one. But these qualities only made what they wished to do all the more intriguing… Still, he had to remind himself of his place.

“You are aware that I am meant to be an impartial observer?” he asked his visitors.

“You don’t have to help us fight or anything!” Lilith argued. “We just want to take a peek at that book, that’s all!”

“Hm…”

He should have said ‘No’. He knew he was supposed to say ‘No’. But, this scenario they were painting… It seemed so fascinating…

“See it like this,” Lucifer began to propose, “Lilly and I are going to find the treasures eventually. It is only a matter of time. All you would be doing is speed up the inevitable. That is technically not changing history, now is it?”

“Hmm……!”

This was preposterous. Outside his scope! He was supposed to record history, not write it! And yet, in his mind, he kept painting all these different scenarios, different situations that the scheme these two meant to involve him in could possibly lead to. An angel and a human, forging a bond, working together, to overthrow the one who has made the heavens his domain…! What a fascinating premise!

It might lead to such a good story.

“…Alright. I will let you have part in knowledge.”

Lilith’s smile shone like the sun as she was about to turn to her companion to celebrate.

“…Under one condition.”

The celebrations were swiftly postponed. Lilith turned her attention back to the person who was speaking.

“Yes? What kind of condition?”

“In exchange for giving you access to the Chronicles… I wish to witness the progress of your endeavors,” he said. “With my own eyes. Let me accompany you.”

“Hm?” Lucifer seemed bemused by this proposal. “What was that about you not being allowed to meddle just now?”

“I wouldn’t be aiding you in any way, neither in battle, nor with advice. I merely wish to observe.”

“So dead weight, then.”

“Luce!” Lilith hissed. “He’d be helping with that book! Isn’t that enough? Plus, even if he won’t help us fight, I wouldn’t mind having more people along! It kind of gets boring with just the two of us sometimes.” She paused. “I’ve always kind of wanted a pet, you know!”

Hearing this, the dreamer immediately stumbled back a few steps, wide-eyed. “E-Excuse me? I am not a pet…!”

Lilith laughed, “I know, I know! I was just saying.”

“Hah… I cannot deny a request from my Lilly,” Lucifer sighed. “Alright then. You may, ahem, ‘observe’ our path to world-domination!”

“No, our path to world-liberation!” Lilith insisted.

“Yes. What did I say?”

What an odd pair.

‘Yeah… so weird… It’s them, but this is somehow… not like them.’

He almost couldn’t believe he had actually agreed to- no, proposed this!

‘Did I… do that?’

Yes, he did. He decided this of his own free will.

‘But… I didn’t decide anything…’

Well, what was done was done. He had given his word. Now all that was left was to wonder: Where would this illogical decision of his lead?

‘Is this… really alright…?’

Where will the story go from here?

‘Where will the story go from here?’

He’d had a really strange dream, full of familiar faces, but set in an unfamiliar place. The strangest part wasn’t even the weirdly small number of butterflies and bumblebees – at zero much too low for his taste – that appeared in the dream. No, it was actually how many details he still remembered when woke up, and also just how little he understood of said details.

None of it made sense at all.

Just like how it didn’t make sense that when he woke up, he didn’t find himself in his fluffy, soft bed, but on a hard, rocky floor, tiny pebbles pushing and scratching uncomfortably into every part of his skin that wasn’t covered in the same rough hide as his arms. Sig lifted his upper body off the ground. It took some head-shaking until he finally felt awake enough to assess his situation.

“Uhh…”

Feeling groggy and not at all satisfied with his quality of sleep, the boy sat up and began to take a look at his surroundings. He was somewhere outdoors, surrounded by weird, colorful buildings that had equally weird and colorful signs plastered all over them, written in a language he couldn’t read. He felt as if he’d seen these symbols before somewhere, though. Looking up past the tops of the oddly-shaped buildings, he could see a slightly cloudy but still blue sky. It looked like afternoon; he could tell by the way the shadows fell. Strange. What was he doing sleeping outside in a place he didn’t know in the middle of afternoon? Had he fallen asleep while looking for bugs again? No, that didn’t feel right.

Gradually Sig began to recall the last couple of things that had happened. Right, he’d been out in the forest with Amitie and Arle – except, it hadn’t really been Arle, because Carbuncle hadn’t been with her and she didn’t know who Arle had gone home with, either. Then Amitie and he fought her, but Amitie got hurt. Then Klug and the weir--- em, Lemres showed up. And then-

Alarmed, Sig quickly got up on his feet looking around if he could find anyone.

“Amitie! Amitie, where are you? …Klug!? Lemres!”

He would have called their names again, hadn’t this been the moment he spotted a bookbag on the floor next to where he’d woken up that Sig knew wasn’t his own.

“Klug’s bag…!” he recognized. Sig went back down to the floor and opened the bag.

As expected, the thing was filled to the brim with books. Big books, small books, textbooks, notebooks, and, of course, Klug’s fancy leather pen case was there, too. And, also-

“Huh. It’s that book…”

Stuffed in somewhere between textbooks on arithmetic and astrology, Sig spotted the golden-rimmed leather cover of the spell-book Klug always carried around with him. It looked like there was some dirt on it, though. Had he dropped it somewhere? Hm, maybe, the right thing to do would be to take it out and try cleaning that…

It… It really did feel like the right thing to do… Yeah. Sig couldn’t really explain it himself, but for some reason it almost felt as if that book was… calling out to him…

He was just about to reach into the bag and take the book into his hands, when he felt something human-shaped and noodle-limbed tackle him into the back.

“Idiot, STOP!”

“Ah-!”

Back to the floor Sig went, pinned down by a very frazzled-looking fellow apprentice mage, who had seemingly materialized behind him specifically for the purpose of shoving him away from the bag.

“Klug-“ Sig began to say, but the other boy quickly took the word.

“Don’t! Ever touch my things!!” he spat out. “Especially not that book!”

Sig realized that he was right. He really shouldn’t have touched Klug’s things without asking.

“Sorry…! I just… wanted to know where you’d gone.”

“Well, I’m here! There you go!”

“M…Mhm. There I go…”

There was a weird tension between him and the other boy that Sig couldn’t quite peg. Sure, he understood that Klug was angry that he’d looked into his bag without permission, but was that really enough to make the other boy’s body shake like this? He could feel Klug’s hands tremble while he had Sig pinned down by the arms. It almost felt like Klug was more afraid than he was angry…

Actually, maybe that was just it. There was plenty to be afraid of after all that had happened, what with that strange Arle attacking them, and Amitie getting that weird mark on her face- Ah, right! That was important, too!

“Where are Amitie and Lemres?” asked Sig while both boys were in the process of getting up from the floor and brushing their clothes clean.

“I don’t know,” admitted Klug. “We were in a different quadrant of the Hexagram when it activated, so I assume the magic positioned them with slightly displaced locational coordinates relative to us.”

“…Huh?”

Klug rolled his eyes, “I am saying, the spell probably sent them somewhere else!”

“…Oh.”

“Yes. ‘Oh’.”

This tension between them still felt awkward.

“Do you… Do you think Amitie will be alright…?” Sig asked carefully.

“Well, she won’t be using her magic any time soon,” explained Klug, cleaning his glasses in his blazer with a disgusted look on his face. “But if you are asking whether she is still in pain: Probably not. The initial shock of having her internal mana-lines blocked so suddenly should have passed by now. Besides, Lemres is with her. If anyone can protect her while she is helpless to defend herself, it’s him.”

“I see… That’s good,” Sig breathed a deep sigh. “I didn’t want to imagine her being in pain the whole time when we don’t know where she is.”

“To be begin with, we don’t even know where we are!” Klug pointed out. He sounded irritated. “So maybe we should worry about that first, before worrying about Amitie?”

Right… There was also that. Sig began looking around him again, mustering the strange shapes of the buildings and the odd contraptions attached to some of them. A few of them almost looked like the tracks that the “trains” Ringo had once taken them to ride on moved along, but rather than being laid on the ground as the ones he’d seen before, these appeared to be suspended midair, taking odd twists and turns along their length. There were also a lot of odd little huts that almost looked like permanent market stands, displays stuff-full of old toys and little booths shielded by huge glass windows with small holes in them, adorned by even more signs in that strange language Sig couldn’t read. Try as he may, he had no idea what kind of place they were in.

“Have you looked around here already, Klug?”

“For quite a while longer than you, at least. The place is full of machines, but it appears they need a sort of energy-source to function. Well, even if we could get them to run, I doubt there would be much of a purpose to doing so.”

“Mhm, right. Even if we did get something to move, that wouldn’t tell us where we are.”

“Exactly. Ergo, now that you’re finally awake, the only logical thing to do in this situation is to get moving ourselves,” Klug went on to close up his bookbag tightly and pick it up. “Take your things, Sig. We’re leaving.”

“Um, right. Coming!”

Sig picked up his waist bag and slipped it back on. The two boys began walking through the unfamiliar streets. This place, with all his gaudy colors and eccentric architecture, was also paradoxically empty, entirely devoid of people who could have enjoyed the odd aesthetic, let alone explained it to them.

“I’ve never seen a place like this before,” said Sig. “I don’t think there’s anything like this in Primp Town, is there..?”

“Brilliant observa-“ Klug began to say, but stopped his own snark halfway through. He shook his head and groaned. “If only it was nighttime, then I could use the stars to tell our position.”

“Oh… Should we wait for nightfall then?”

“Do you want to see what this w-weird place looks like by night?”

“…Yeah, you’re right.” Sig shivered. “I’d rather not.”

Just like how they didn’t know where they were, there also was no telling what lurked in this place. For all they knew there could be monsters or bad people hiding behind every corner, waiting to attack. They’d just come out of a battle, too. If possible, Sig would have liked to avoid fighting another one already …But, if it came down to it again, he didn’t want to stand around doing nothing useful, either.

Sig took a look over at Klug walking beside him. The image of the poor guy frozen with terror back in that last fight was still fresh on Sig’s mind. No, in the next battle Sig didn’t want to wait so long. He’d have to be faster, so he could actually help before anyone had to get scared the way Klug did, or get hurt the way Amitie had gotten hurt…

…Amitie… What was she doing right now? Was she really feeling better? And, if she really couldn’t use magic right now, would that get better, too? Amitie being unable to use magic was just so… wrong…

A wonderful Sorceress had to be able to cast magic, after all.

It was his fault, Sig knew it. If he hadn’t fussed and refused to use his strange magic right away, then Amitie would have never had to use her magic in a way they hadn’t been taught to use it in school either. Then she wouldn’t have gotten that weird mark, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt and would still have her magic. And anyway, to begin with, the only reason Amitie and Klug ever came into the forest was to look for him. So if he hadn’t just run off during lunch break, none of this would have happened at all.

He’d acted weird, hadn’t he? Him being weird as his normal self had made him a burden during that battle the other day, and now him being weird the way he was now had gotten his friends into trouble again. If he’d only paid a bit more attention, if only he’d been a bit faster, if only he hadn’t done the weird thing, the wrong thing, then everything would still be okay, right? But it wasn’t okay. Everyone had gotten separated because of him, and now all he could do was try and make up for that by being extra vigilant.  If anything happened again he had to be ready. So, no getting distracted, not even if there was a really cool-looking caterpillar or a rare moth or a stag-beetle moving in his peripheral vision-

-Wait. Something actually did move there just now. Something that was way too big for a bug.

Sig turned, and there it was. A large animal with reddish-brown fur, sneaking up on the two of them from behind. A dog? Was it about to attack them? Or maybe it just happened to be heading the same direction – No, no time to think! Better scare it away quickly, before anything can happen!

He raised an arm and gathered power.

“Cerul-“

This was as far as he got before he felt Klug shoving him in the right shoulder. His spell was interrupted and before he had the time to catch his balance and charge his magic again, Klug had already cast his own.

“Nebula!”

A flash of purple light and a small sphere of antimatter hitting the ground more than sufficed to scare off their canine stalker. The dog let out a whine and ran away. Sig was left to process what had just happened, as well as realize that this wasn’t the first time it had happened today either.

Yes, come to think… when he’d tried to cast in the battle before, Klug had stopped him as well.

“Klug… why-“

The brown-haired boy ignored him and started talking himself, “Well, that proves it then. We are certainly not in our own world anymore. Information obtained!”

“Huh?” Sig wondered for a moment what Klug meant by that before the answer occurred to him. “Ah! You didn’t use Puyos to cast magic just now, either.”

Klug chuckled in a self-satisfied way, “Hehheheheh… Perfect practical application of an unproven theory on first try! Hah, sometimes my own genius scares me.”

Well, Sig didn’t know about that, but it was definitely pretty cool to know that they were in a place where they could both use magic without having to call up Puyos first. Good thing Klug had realized that so quickly. That made things a lot easier. If anything else bad happened, they’d both be able to-

“Anyway, Sig,” Klug turned to him. There was a notably more serious expression on the bespectacled boy’s face now. “In light of your, ahem, reckless demeanor… I believe we should lay down some ground rules before proceeding!”

“Um, ground rules?”

For some reason Klug fixed Sig with his eyes with an intensity the blue mage had never even known the other boy to have.

“Rule Number 1: You will not touch my stuff! Especially that book!”

“You mean, the book with the gold on it?”

“That book is, em, extremely important to me, and I will not have you smudge your grabby little claws all over it! Are we understood?”

“I don’t know about that, it looked dirty already when I saw it…”

“That is beside the point!”

“Alright, alright! I won’t touch it again. Sorry.”

Now, Klug being protective of his books wasn’t anything special, but seeing him get so fierce over one specific book that he clearly hadn’t been taking care of all that well was still kind of weird. Suddenly Sig couldn’t help but wonder what the story behind that was, but he quickly decided that it was probably none of his business.

“Ground Rule Number 2!” Klug continued, “Starting now, you will not be using magic!”

“…Huh?” Now, that one Sig did not understand at all. “Why?”

Klug raised a finger and opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Evidently, he hadn’t considered his response to this obvious question far enough to actually voice it, so for the next couple of seconds, he and Sig just starred at each other blankly.

“Well… I mean… Y… You saw what happened to those flowers!” Finally having found a straw to cling to, Klug pointed at Sig accusingly. “In your current state your magic is unpredictable and dangerous and should not be used! So, don’t do it!”

Sig backed away from Klug’s pointing finger, blinking in confused. “But what if we get into a battle with someone? If I can’t use magic, then-“

“Leave the fighting to me! You stay in the back, where you won’t bother me!”

“But I don’t want to stay in the back. I wanna help too.”

“You would just be in the way!”

“…I guess something really is wrong with me if he’s that angry that he has to put up with me…”

That last part clearly was just Sig thinking out loud again and his face made it pretty clear that he had no idea that he had just said any part of that sentence. But Klug had heard it all, and it struck him light lightning. Amitie’s words from the previous night came back to him…

‘Sig’s always been awesome! Because he’s spacey! Because he does everything his own way!  I thought you’d understand that too!’

‘I should never have trusted a weird person like you to help cheer up Sig!’

“Huh? Klug, what’s up?”

Sig had noticed Klug falling silent all of a sudden. The brown-haired boy’s stance had slumped as well, making him seem much shorter than before. Clearly something that had happened in the last 30 seconds had deflated his confidence, but Sig wasn’t really sure what.

“I… I need to rephrase myself!” Klug then suddenly started talking again. He tried standing straight again. “What I meant to say, Sig, wasn’t that you would be ‘in the way’… It’s more like…  Because of your situation… You see… em…”

Suddenly understanding what this was about, Sig’s expression brightened a bit.

“Ah, I get it. You’re worried about me, right? Because we don’t really know how my body works right now.”

“Huh? …Yes! Exactly! That is one way to put it…”

Sig nodded, “Alright, that makes sense. Thanks for caring. I’m still surprised you’re looking out for me that much…”

“W-Well! Don’t let the attention go to your head! But… You’re welcome, of course! Heheheh…”

“Still, I don’t really wanna stay in the back,” Sig put on a determined expression. “I don’t want you to be doing everything on your own when we end up having to fight. That wouldn’t be right.”

Aaaand they were right back where they started. Klug clearly was not happy about this development. He starred at Sig in a way that just screamed ‘Really? Like, really?’ but only got a defiant look in response. Alright, benching Sig wasn’t going to work. Time for a new idea then.

“Um, well…” Think Klug, think! What alternatives were there? “Aha! Do you know any healing spells? …That don’t consume a lot of magic! Yes, that is important… f-for efficiency!”

Sig thought a moment, “Well, um, ‘Azure’? But I almost never use that one.”

“Perfect! You’re on healing duty, Sig!”

“Huh? Um, okay then. Got it.”

“And! No boosting the spell with ‘Acid Wash’ either! That would be unnecessary!”

“Um, sure. Whatever you say, I guess?”

Alright, healing duty didn’t sound bad, he had nothing to complain about with that. As long as he was able to help, that was all that mattered, even if he still didn’t entirely understand why Klug was so dead set on forbidding him from using combat magic. It wasn’t just about their little debate just now. Klug had already stopped him from casting two times today. Maybe it really was dangerous for Sig to use his magic right now? Klug was a smart bookworm after all. If he was acting like this, chances were that he knew something Sig didn’t know. Then again, there’d also been times in the past when Klug really knew nothing at all about a situation. Maybe Klug really was just worried about all the things they didn’t know about Sig’s body as it was right now.

Sig was worried about that himself as well. Between scaring people, hurting flowers, not being able to use his hands right, feeling constantly restless, barely being able to sleep and having those odd dreams, he was really starting to wonder if this was just his life now.  The thought scared him. He didn’t want to have to feel strange like this for the rest of his life, getting overwhelmed by everything and being able to yell loudly enough to frighten even himself. So, he thought, maybe Klug was right to be careful about using Sig’s magic. Maybe, until they knew more about it, it would be better to try and hold back a little.

Of course, what Sig didn’t realize was that Klug already knew much more about this problem than he would be willing to tell him any time soon.

BONUS

The outfits Amitie, Sig and Klug wear in this story: 

Amitie: 

*) Pink&Yellow suspender-pants with mismatched buttons (Hearts and flowers, because Amitie)

*) Red Puyo Hat takes the form of a winged Beanie

*) A sleeveless, sky-blue shirt

Sig:

*) 20th' Outfit

*) A light-blue hoodie-jacket over that (though the dark aura makes it look more indigo)

Klug:

*) A white button-up shirt and an open, long-sleeved blazer in his usual color scheme. 

*) The rest is his 20th' Outfit. 

Chapter Text

Why did things always end up like this for him?

He hadn’t meant to come off as unsettling, let alone scare anyone, he really hadn’t. He’d just thought offering that kind stranger he’d just met a nice toffee in exchange for guidance towards the nearest settlement would be the correct and polite thing to do. Well, perhaps making the offer while he was carrying an unconscious mid-teen girl in his arms wasn’t one of his best decisions… But still, was that a reason to point a weapon at a man?

Well, he thought it was a weapon at least, but he wasn’t entirely sure. It looked like a small spray bottle of sorts, a dangerous-looking chili-red in color. At least he couldn’t sense any magical charge from the item, so that was promising, but even so, he wasn’t exactly itching to find out what would happen once that fierce-looking girl with the dirty-blond hair in the orange sweater pushed down on the nozzle.

Lemres tried to defuse the situation.

“N-Now, now. Let’s calm down a little, alright? There’s no reason to get all agitated. I promise, I don’t mean any harm.”

“Yeah, right!” the girl shrieked. “Y-You won’t fool me! D-Daddy told us a-all about people l-like you!!”

“Um, people like me…?”

“Yeah! W-Weirdo!! Stranger-danger!!”

Lemres didn’t even sigh. Rather, he made a mental note to reassess his image at the next possible opportunity. With a consistent pattern like this, he couldn’t help but begin to wonder if maybe he was the problem.

“Anyway… Look, if you don’t trust me, I understand. It hurts, but I understand. Still, would you please not fire that thing? ‘Cause if you do, you’re gonna hit my friend here too, and I really don’t think she deserves that.”

The girl in orange gasped, “You mean… You’re using her as a shield!?”

“N-No? That’s not really what I-“

“Hostage-taker!” screamed the girl. “Kidnapper! He’ll take me too! Somebody call the police!!”

“Oof… I don’t like the sound of that…”

Maybe, rather than offering it to her, Lemres should’ve taken a bite of that toffee himself. Perhaps then he’d have been able to try and teleport himself and Amitie a few meters away and out of this situation, but after that last battle he could feel that his blood sugar had unfortunately gone down quite a bit. Plus, this world’s atmosphere felt rather low on magic in general, so even if he did teleport, how would the poor girl react to that? No, he’d have to keep trying to reason with her, as unlikely to succeed as it seemed…

Just then, another figure stepped in, changing the situation.

“Heeey, Sis. What are you yelling about? Did tank tops finally come back into style?” said the girl in lavender who had newly appeared on the scene. Incidentally, aside from her straight, purple hair, she looked quite similar to the first girl, Lemres noted.

The girl in orange turned her head yet kept her ‘weapon’ pointed at the man in green.

“Stay back, Sumomo! There’s a dangerous, suspicious person here!”

“Dangerous and suspicious, huh?”

“He might be a serial kidnapper! No, a serial killer! … *gasp* What if he’s wanted in five prefectures!?”

“Hm…?’

In spite of her sister’s frantic ramblings, Sumomo didn’t seem too impressed by any of it. Rather than ‘stay back', as she had been told, she stepped closer, trying to get a good look at the stranger. Brown eyes mustered the young man from top to bottom, making Lemres feel just a tad compromised in his privacy. Finally, a slight, soft smile appeared on the lavender girl’s lips. She nodded in approval

“Ohhh~! That style is pretty interesting. I like it. Is this that ‘Halloween in January' thing I’ve heard about?”

“Um… huh?”

Lemres was confused, and he wasn’t the only one.

“Halloween… in January…?” Momo asked her sister incredulously.

“I mean, he’s obviously some sort of cosplayer. That hat, that coat, the accessories... Pretty sweet wizard costume, if I’ve ever seen one. And then there’s that candy he has. Clearly going for that trick-or-treat vibe.”

“Costume...? Trick or treat...?” Lemres mumbled, but not loudly enough to interrupt the sisters’ conversation.

“Um, I don’t think any of that is actually a thing, Sumomo,” Momo gave an awkward smile. “I mean, Halloween in January? Sounds dumb. Who’d go for that?”

“It’s not dumb. It’s a style-choice,” Sumomo scoffed. “Besides, I know plenty of people that would go for it.”

“Like, who?”

“People. On the internet.”

“That doesn’t count!”

“Does too.”

“Does not!”

And thus, the bickering commenced. As if Lemres couldn’t have felt any more awkwardly out of place. Still, he didn’t dare to use the chance to move out of the way. Mostly because the orange girl had somehow kept the spray-bottle steadily pointed in his direction throughout the whole thing and he didn’t know how she would react to sudden movements on his part, but also because just walking off in a middle of a conversation about him felt rude to the point that he wouldn’t have been comfortable with it. Even if he had no idea how exactly his clothes had prompted this discussion.

“Really, you can be so close-minded. Judging other people for their personal style is very early 2000s of you.”

“If their style is lame, then yes, I’m gonna judge people! And this guy is clearly bad news!”

“So, disagreeing with you on fashion makes one a bad person? Good to know that’s what you really think of me, Sis.”

“He’s carrying a person, Sumomo!!”

“Mhm, yeah. He is. ...Oh, wait, that’s what you meant by ‘he’s bad news’.”

“That’s what I meant!”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes more sense.”

“Yeah!”

“Yep.”

A brief couple of seconds of silence fell between the sisters

“S-So... We agree this guy is major trouble then!?” asked Momo.

“Yeah. We agree,” Sumomo shrugged. “Even if his style kind of rocks.”

“I’m gonna spray him!” yelled Momo.

“Yes. Please do,” Sumomo nodded.

“No, please don’t,” Lemres smiled politely, but inside he was shedding a tear. He already knew that she was not going to listen to him.

“HEEERE I GO!!”

However, fortunately for Lemres, it was at this point that yet another person entered the scene, preventing Momo from realizing her threat.

“Now, hold on just a minute, Lee-sisters! You mind telling me, what is going on he- Huh! Lemres!”

The girl with the red ringlets had barely arrived on the scene and was already jumping in surprise. Meanwhile, Lemres breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh, hello there, Ringo,” he said. “So, this was your world all along? That’s good to know.”

“Huh? Ringo, is that... a friend of yours?” Momo asked surprised, yet still not ready to let her grip on the spray-bottle waver.

“Yup!” Ringo nodded widely in confirmation. “He’s from Amitie’s world. I’ve mentioned her, right? Oh, talking of which... UWAAAHHH!! A-A-AMITIE! W-WHAT’S WRONG WITH HER!?”

Ringo reaction to the bright-red elephant in the in the room may have been delayed, but in exchange it was plenty powerful. Lemres scratched his head a little.

“Ahaha... That’s a bit of a long story. I’d love to explain everything, really, but first I’d rather get Amitie somewhere comfier. She really needs some rest, y’know.”

“That much is obvious!” Ringo agreed. “Oh dear... Does this have anything to do with the unfortunate encounter Ecolo predicted, I wonder?”

“Ecolo, huh?”

“Yeah, he showed up at our school earlier today. That’s why I hurried over here as soon as I saw the meteors... In any case, you’re right, now isn’t the time to talk about that! Let’s find a place for Amitie to lie down.”

“Oho... So that’s the famous Amitie…" Sumomo took a closer look at the unconscious girl. “Hm... Nope. That style needs work. The colors don’t match at all.”

“Sumomo~, what are you talking about, those colors are so cute! I especially like the hat!”

“The hat is the biggest problem, actually... Red on top of blue, pink and yellow? And on golden-blond hair, too? That’s just too much.”

“Hmpf! Everything that’s more than two colors is too much for you!” scoffed Momo.

“Um... You guys, maybe save the fashion-check for later?” Ringo butt in. “We kinda have an unconscious body on our hands.”

“Hm, yeah, maybe that really is a bit more pressing,” Sumomo agreed with a sigh.

Momo nodded, “How about we take her back to our place? Daddy has that biiig guest-bedroom he never uses.”

“Perfect!” Ringo pointed her finger down the path to the park exit. “To the Lee-residence we go! Momo, Sumomo, lead the way!”

“Yay~,” cheered Sumomo, slightly subdued.

“YAY!” cheered Momo, not at all subdued, pumping her hands to fists. It was in this moment, that a loud, pained scream could be heard from behind her.

“YEEEOUUUCH!!”

The chili-red bottle had still been in Momo’s hand, her finger still on the nozzle. When she clenched her hands, she ended up pressing it... causing a certain somebody to get a face full of pepper spray.

“...Oops.” was Momo’s only comment.

“L-Lemres!!” Ringo shrieked.

The warlock had meanwhile sunk into his knees, quietly crying. Now they had two people in need of medical attention to deal with.

Regardless of where she went, Rulue never failed to turn some heads. It sometimes made Raffina feel a tad jealous, but only a bit. She knew that a lot of her friend’s appeal doubtlessly came from the sort of mature charm ladies like them gained naturally with age. Raffina would catch up. She had no doubt in her mind.

One day she would have everything she deserved in life.

“Iron Fist!”

They’d been held up a little on their way. Some of the townspeople had managed to derail the ladies’ interrogations enough to force them to challenge these people to Puyo Battles for the sake of their honor, then Witch had also insisted on getting in their way for goodness-knows-what reason. Sometimes it seemed like that girl just enjoyed annoying people for the heck of it.

Well, that battle was behind them now as well. Witch, who had dropped some potion vials thanks to the impact of Rulue’s last attack, was now scrambling to pick her merchandise back up from the floor.

“You could have been a little gentler about it, you know!” she huffed at the blue-haired woman. Rulue, however, just laughed.

“Hohoho! Now, out with it!” Rulue pinned one of Witch’s vials down with her foot, preventing her from taking it, and threateningly pointed her fan at the blonde.

“H-Hey!”

“Have you seen any of the persons in question, or have you not?”

“Hmpf, fine! I attended an emergency meeting with Arle and Lemres at the Magic School this morning. But that was the only time I’ve met either of them today! And I know nothing about those children.”

“An Emergency meeting at our school?” asked Raffina.

“It was about the situation yesterday. I was the one who gave Sig the Power-Up Potion, so my presence was required. And I’ve spent the entire day since then working on a recipe for a stronger antidote, so I also know absolutely nothing about the fake Arle’s supposed shopping trip out here! I only just left the house to stock up on ingredients myself.”

“Tch... Useless,” Rulue scoffed, releasing Witch’s last vial. “What a waste of time.”

“But that’s interesting. I didn’t know there was a meeting at our school at all,” said Raffina. “Hmpf, now I’m annoyed. Somebody should have let me know! If I have to be involved in this mess, I want to at least be kept in the loop about it!”

“I agree. How dare they not invite us! Somebody needs to be punished for this,” Rulue posed.

Witch backed away with a frown, “Hey, don’t look at me!”

The sound of somebody’s footsteps approached from further down the street. Having spotted Rulue, Raffina and Witch in midst of their conversation, Draco Centauros sped up her walk and rushed over.

“Heey~!” The half-dragon cheerfully swished her tail around, skipping until she had joined the other women. “Oh! Whoa! All three of you in one place!? T-That can only mean one thing-!”

“We are not having a beauty pageant,” Witch quickly cut through her delusions.

“Awww!” Draco groaned her disappointment. “I swear! One day, my time will come!”

“Your time to lose and take third place at best, you mean?” Raffina laughed. “Ohohoho~!”

“Excellent timing, Draco!” Rulue took the word. “You are next. Now! Have you seen a girl of Arle’s exact likeness today?”

“Hm? A girl that looks exactly like Arle?” Draco tilted her head. “You mean... Arle?”

“I mean someone who looks like Arle without being Arle,” Rulue corrected.

“Hmpf, I’m not sure what you’re talking about. But if we’re actually talking about Arle here, sure I saw here! She was in the market with Sig this morning, buying beef and potatoes!”

All alarm bells rang for the other three with this proclamation.

“With Sig!?” Raffina exclaimed, and Witch added something of her own.

“Arle definitely was at the meeting this morning! That couldn’t have been her!”

“Hm! We’re finally getting closer to the heart of the matter!” Rulue smirked. “Draco, continue! What else did you see that ‘Arle’ do? Was she acting unusual in any way?”

“Hm? Nothing special, really. She wanted dragon’s charcoal for cooking, so she asked me for some and we had a Puyo Battle over it. Then the two of them went off. Though, now that you mention it, yeah, I guess it was kind of weird. Like, for some reason, I think Arle might’ve not had any scent to her? Which is strange, since you can usually smell her magic from miles away. But on the other hand, Sig’s scent was kinda super-extra strong today, like really dark coffee, so I’m not sure. Could be that he was just covering hers up.”

“Wait... Maybe that is why the fake Arle tagged along with Sig while moving through town,” Witch scratched her chin. “His magical aura has been overpoweringly strong ever since he took my potion yesterday. Perhaps she was using him to cover up her own lack of aura?”

“Huh? Using him? ...W-WAIT THERE’S A FAKE ARLE!?” Draco’s eyes grew twice their usual size. “WHAAAAT?”

“Oh, hey. Someone who’s even more out of the loop than us!” Raffina seemed strangely pleased by this fact.

“No fair!” cried Draco. “Why do I have to be the last to find out!? *gasp!* What if that was the fake Arle I ran into earlier! She could have totally used her evil, fake-magic on me, and I wouldn’t even have known!!”

“Chances are, that’s exactly what happened,” said Witch. “You said you had a Puyo battle with her earlier, right? Then it’s likely there’s still traces of her magic on you. Draco, you’re coming with me. I’ll need to take a closer look at you in my brewery.”

“W-What, right now? But what about the pageant-”

“There is no pageant.”

“Aww!!”

As Witch continued crushing Draco’s dreams, Rulue and Raffina spoke among one another.

“Hmpf... That explains where Sig went. Well, more or less.” Raffina’s forehead creased. “But that still doesn’t tell us anything about the other three.”

“Yes, unfortunately. We’re still barely closer to exonerating the Prince of the disappearances of Amitie, Klug and the Warlock Lemres.”

"Tch! I don’t care about that, I just want to have something to tell Miss Accord, so I can finally put this errand behind me and go home!”

Draco chimed in, “Wait a sec, are you saying Sig, Amitie, Klug and Lemres all disappeared when that fake Arle showed up this morning?”

“Yes. Apparently,” Witch confirmed.

“WHAAAAT!?” Draco gave another incredulous yell. “But that’s, like, the whole school!”

“It’s just four people!” Raffina protested. “How small do you think our school is!? And Lemres doesn’t even go to Primp Magic School!”

“Well, it feels like the whole school to me!” said Draco.

“This line of conversation isn’t leading us anywhere...” Witch sighed, grabbed Draco’s wrist and started pulling. “Hop, hop, Draco! Next stop: My shop. If you’re a good girl while I examine you, I might even let you test some of my latest Beauty-Boost-Potion once we’re done!”

“ACK, n-no! Everything but that! You’ll just turn me into a lizard again!!”

“W-Why are you saying that like it’s happened before!?”

“Because it has!”

As Draco and Witch continued to fight over whether specific previous incidents involving Witch’s potions actually happened or not, Rulue and Raffina decided to accompany the witch and half-dragon for the check-up. Right now whatever magic might have gotten stuck on Draco was the closest thing they had to a lead regarding what happened to the missing persons, and besides, unlike them, Witch was actually present for this ‘emergency meeting’ nobody had bothered telling them about. Maybe talking to her for a bit longer would help fill in some of the gaps in their knowledge. Still... Even if it did, there was no guarantee that this would lead them any closer to Amitie or Klug specifically.

Raffina was feeling uneasy. It wasn’t as if she cared what dumb misadventures Miss Natural-Talent and Mister Sleeps-With-A-Textbook-Under-His-Pillow got themselves tangled up in, but... Of all the ways she wanted to ascend to the top of the student rankings in her year, this was wasn’t it...

Ugh, what was she thinking? This wasn’t even anything special! Just normal Amitie-nonsense, like it happened every other week! Come tomorrow, Amitie, Sig and Klug would probably be right back in their seats in Classroom A, no worse for wear. Absolutely nothing would have changed in their lives, and Raffina would keep going about her day, doing her best to outshine Amitie’s ‘talent’ and Klug’s ‘smarts’ at any chance she could get! There was absolutely nothing to worry about.

There was nothing to worry about... So why would that weird, foreboding feeling in her stomach not go away...?

“Azure.”

Sky-blue light gently radiated from Sig’s hands, washing over the scrapped skin on Klug’s knee. The scratches quickly and painlessly closed up, leaving no blemishes. Klug cleared his throat.

“Ahem! Now... let’s pretend that never happened.”

“Pretend what never happened?”

“Exactly!”

The non-event in question was a failed attempt of Klug’s to climb across the tall, white cast-iron fence that surrounded the area he and Sig were currently in. It measured about five meters in height and encompassed an area of about 50 acres in a ring-shape. In other words: It was the obstacle that currently kept Sig and Klug from exploring this strange world they found themselves in any further. They were locked in from all sides. Being that the fence was fairly ornate, it had occurred to the boys that passing it by climbing over it might be an option, but while Sig, who had experience climbing trees because of his bug-watching habit had little trouble making it across, things had turned out differently for Klug, who’d made it barely two meters up before losing his balance and tumbling right back down to the ground.

As long as splitting up wasn’t an option, neither was climbing the fence again.

“No can do about it,” said Klug, unhappily eyeing the ripped left knee of his pants. He only just bought this pair, too. “We’ll have to try opening the gate again.”

“But how do we do that?” Sig asked. “It didn’t budge an inch when we tried pushing together. And I don’t think I saw a lock anywhere on it either...”

“Well, this place is full of machines. It follows that the gate is probably controlled by a machine as well. So, what we have to do is find said machine and activate it.”

“Hm... Yeah, that sounds like it makes sense, I guess.”

“Of course, it does!”

“But where do you think we’ll find that machine?”

As much as Klug wanted to brag that he already had everything figured out, the truth was that he was clueless. There were 50 acres worth of nonsense-shaped buildings, permanent market stands and strange machines here. 50 acres they would have to explore if they ever wanted to leave this strange prison.

In other words: They’d better get started.

They didn’t split up far from each other, the possibility of one of them getting lost in the maze of this place’s streets was too high to try that, but they still tried to cover as much ground as possible in their search for hints regarding the “key” to the gate in their way.

“Huh? Hey, Klug, over here!”

Sig was the first to find something. Ripping off some of the vines growing on the cast-iron fence, he uncovered a large metal plate attached to the fence. It was inscribed with the same strange symbols that they’d already seen in many other spots in this place.

“I think there’s something written here...” Sig scratched the back of his head “But what?”

Klug tugged his glasses a little, focusing the plaque intensely, “Hm... Wait... I know these runes! Yes, I’ve definitely seen them before!”

“Really? Can you read it then?”

This was a challenge Klug felt confident accepting. Racking his brain for every possible language and writing system he’d ever studied, however briefly, he began his attempt to decipher the symbols.

“Bell... orchid... may-bell? No, wait, Suzuran! This says ‘Suzuran’!”

“Heh? Suzuran, as in... Ringo’s town?” Sig looked up, surprised, “So, this is Ringo’s world?”

“I think so. I’m starting to remember these symbols, too. It’s the same writing-system used in the books in Ringo’s school. I started learning to read them purely out of interest the first time we ended up here. That’s why they looked so familiar.”

“Whoa...Try reading the rest too!” prompted Sig, genuinely impressed. To him everything written on the plaque just looked like funny scribbles.

“Suzu-ran Do-Rii-Mu-Ra... Suzuran Dreamland. Connected... Involved... persons...outside... placing in... forbidden...? Aha! I see. This is probably meant to say, ‘Entry by uninvolved persons not permitted’.”

“Huh? Uninvolved in... what?” wondered Sig. “And why ‘dreamland’? Wait, are we asleep? Is this a dream?”

It didn’t feel like a dream to Sig, then again, he still didn’t feel ‘normal’ enough to really know for sure.

Klug, however, shook his head, “Hah, as if! It’s probably just some silly name for this place. I mean, look at all those childish contraptions. For all we know, this might be a playground of sorts... Ah... Actually, the more I think about it, the more likely that possibility seems!”

“A playground? You think so?”

“Of course. You see these seats hanging from chains over there? Doesn’t it look sort of like a swing? And that large toy-ship hanging from those beams could be a seesaw of sorts. Taking a closer look at that ‘tower’ over there, it might actually be a gigantic water slide. And those stands over there have targets in the back, like the ones we use to practice aiming our spells in the school yard.” 

“Ohhh...” Having it all pointed out to him like that, Sig was starting to see what Klug meant. Suddenly it made sense that this place was so colorful and full of odd shapes. The playground back home was pretty similar in that regard, with elephant-shaped slides and colorful beams holding up the swings and the jungle gym. “Now I kind of want to play here...”

 “Play? Hah! You really are still a child!” Klug laughed with a sense of pride.

Sig didn’t see what was so funny, “Um, yeah? You’re a child too.”

For some reason, Klug seemed offended. “Hmpf! Do I look like a child to you?”

“Well, we’re the same age, so...”

“I am not having this conversation!”

Klug huffed loudly and then that was that. Sig really didn’t understand what he had suddenly gotten so angry about at all. Come to think, though, this wasn’t the first time he’d seen Klug act like this after somebody had mentioned him being a child. Why? Was there something wrong with being a child? He knew that being an adult might be nice because it meant being taller and reaching higher places, but aside from that...

While Sig was busy thinking about all that, Klug had gone off on his own, trying to decipher more of the writings around the park. Soon he discovered something potentially useful.

“Sig! Come open this door for me! It says ‘power’ on here!”

“Power... is that good?”

“What are you talking about? ‘Power’ is always good!”

Sig didn’t know about that, but if Klug said so, there was probably something to it. He’d been right about a lot of things today already, more than he had been wrong about, so that had to count for something.

Sig’s arm strength made short work of the somewhat rusty metal door that Klug wanted out of the way. Behind it the boys found a small, musty, dark room. When Klug cast a spell to give them a light-source, they found it filled with incredibly complex-looking machinery. There were so many odd displays and different colored buttons on everything, it made Sig’s head spin.

“I can’t read everything,” Klug said after looking over the room for a while. “I-I mean, I can, but you see, some of these runes, are, *ahem* very complex. Too complex for most of everyone, in fact! If I took a tiiiny bit more time, I could surely decipher them. But I am already pretty sure this one says ‘lightning’.”

“Mhm, you’re probably right,” said Sig. “Actually, I think there was a picture of a lightning on the door, too.”

Klug chuckled, “Lightning magic is a potent source of energy. According to my reasoning, if we apply lightning magic, we should be able to use it to power the machines around here.”

“So, just cast lightning magic and we’re good? Ah, I don’t know any lightning magic though.”

“All the better. I do! My talents are versatile, as you’ve surely noticed. Nyahyahyahya~!”

We would now like to break the fourth-wall for a moment to bring your attention to the fact that these boys are currently in a room full of sensitive electronics and high-voltage equipment, and one of them just had the brilliant idea to fire off a lightning bolt. One does not need to be a ‘versatile genius’ to see how this could end badly.

Anyway, back our main feature. Or whatever it is left of it, seeing how two of our main cast are about to explode and all.

In preparation for the spell Klug had pulled the usual book out of his bag. Lightning wasn’t an element he usually specialized in, so he wanted to make sure to be precise, for whatever that was worth. Meanwhile Sig stood back and looked around the room. There were so many buttons here. Did every single one of them do something different? Sig couldn’t even imagine that there could possibly be enough machines for all these buttons out there. Big buttons, small buttons, sliders, switches, levers- Wait, what was that on that lever? Right there, on the handle of the largest lever in the entire room Sig saw something move. Its black body contrasted nicely against the crimson red handle. Sig’s mouth opened a bit and he gasped.

A longhorn beetle! And a really beautiful one, too! It was black with yellow and white spots, and its wing-cases had a wonderful sheen. He had never seen one quite like it before, so the sight alone made his heart jump a little. Oh, he just had to take it home with him! Maybe he could put it in his waist bag, so Klug wouldn’t notice and complain? No, wait, first he had to catch it. How to go best about that? Approach it slowly, as to not scare it away, or try a surprise catch? Sig decided to go for a mix of both, lying in wait and tensing his body to ready himself to strike when his newest friend-to-be would least expect it.

It was around this time that Klug had finished his preparations and was about to execute his electrifying plan. He stopped when he realized that the sole member of his audience for this feat wasn’t currently paying attention.

“Alright, here I go! Hyahya, don’t blink now, Sig—Sig? …Sig, what are you doing now!?”

The shrill, scolding tone in Klug’s voice made Sig flinch, and that brief, sudden motion was enough to make several things happen: Firstly, the longhorn beetle noticed the boy’s presence and quickly spread its wings, flying away and out the door, never to be seen again. Second, Sig lost his balance, stumbled, and caught one of his claws on the very lever the beetle had been sitting on until just now. Thus, and thirdly, Sig turned the lever by accident. Fourthly, following said turning of the lever, electric lights suddenly flared to life, flooding the room with their brightness. Their glare in his glasses made Klug shrink away. At the same time the colorful buttons and displays all over the room also lit up, flashing with rainbow-patterns and symbols. This all was accompanied by the loud humming of several fans and motors.

“Huh? What happened just now?” Sig looked around, adding ‘Where did the beetle go?’ quietly in his head.

“Ah… Um, well…” Klug tried his best to not look surprised. “It appears… I mean, clearly, the machines are running now! So, my idea must’ve worked!”

“It did? Wow! Great work, Klug!”

“Y-Yeah! Ahahaha…!”

He’d left out the part where he never actually ended up casting the spell, because Sig didn’t need to know that. All that really mattered was that the machines worked now, bringing them one step closer to leaving this place.

“Anyway, let’s got back outside and see if anything has changed with the gate.”

“Um… Yeah! Sure…”

Sig’s mind was still half-occupied with trying to relocate the escaped longhorn beetle, but he was beginning to accept that this catch was probably a lot cause. A real shame, for sure, but well, the little guy would probably be happier staying here in this world with its other bug friends anyway. Instead of mourning the bugs you didn’t get to keep, be thankful for the bugs you got to meet, Sig decided.

Anyway, they left the power room.

If the lights switching on inside the room had surprised them, then the lights they were now greeted by outside were positively dazzling.

“W-Wha…!” Klug took his glasses off for a moment just to check whether they were broken. They were not. “What is all this?”

Sig gasped, “Whoa… So pretty…!”

What before had been a quiet, somewhat dreary landscape of bizarre design-choices and colors muted by the slightly overcast sky had now become a wonderland of neon lights and mismatched music pieces playing over one another. The signs on the buildings were shining, the dolls attached to the buildings and structures were smiling, waving and some even seemed to be dancing. Each and every part of this previously so uninviting place now seemed to be begging for them to step closer and take a look. It was like something out of a magic show or a traveling circus.

“This… Well, um… This is… something…” Klug muttered to himself. He had trouble understanding what was going on. Had this happened because they’d restored ‘power’ to this place?

Sig, on the other hand, wasted no thoughts on those trifles.

“Ah! This looks fun!”

And off he went, towards the strange carousel of seats hanging from chains that Klug had identified as a type of “swing” before. Speaking of Klug, he hadn’t expected his companion to just run off on him like that.

“S-Sig! Wait!”

Klug didn’t like having to run after people. In fact, it was one of his least favorite activities in the world. However, sometimes you just didn’t get to choose how to spend your day, and sometimes making it out okay on the other end involved trying to keep up with an unusually energetic classmate indulging his own sudden whims. By the time Klug had caught up with Sig again, he found the blue mage inside one of those booths with the large glass windows. Sig sat behind a dashboard of sorts, his little hair antennas twitching excitedly as he curiously eyed the selection of buttons and switches before him.

“They’re shiny now… I’m sure they weren’t before. I wonder what these do?”

“D-Don’t touch anything!” Klug shrieked, scrambling to the booth, but he was a little too slow.

“Huh? Why?”

*bleep!* Even as he responded to Klug’s question, Sig’s finger had already pushed down on one of the buttons, the largest one on the board. The sounds of motors whirring and gears turning could be heard. Outside the booth, the large carousel with the swing-like seats slowly began to ride and turn.

“Wow…!”

Round and round, faster and faster. The boys watched the contraption spin with wide eyes. What a pointless and yet fascinating machine.

“…Well, this confirms my suspicion from before,” Klug stated factually, secretly breathing a sigh of relief because nothing had exploded. “This clearly is a toy of sorts.”

Sig’s eyes were bright and eager, “I wanna try.”

“Hm?”

“I wanna try riding it.” he explained. “C’mon, let’s give it a go.”

Klug seemed quite taken aback by this proposal, reacting first with surprise, then with irritation, “Is this really what you think we should be wasting our time on right now?”

“Huh? Why, are we in a hurry?”

“Even if we’re not, that isn’t the point!”

“What is the point?”

“We are in an exceptional situation in unfamiliar terrain! And all you can think of doing is to try play around with some machine? Tch!”

“…But it looks really fun.”

It was no use. As many times as Klug argued back, Sig’s gaze would wander back to the spinning carousel, mesmerized by its motions. The bespectacled boy could only groan at the sight. So, this was what Sig was like when he wasn’t constantly tired? Klug got a feeling that this kid had been hanging around that hyperactive Amitie a little too much.

“One time can’t hurt,” Sig reasoned.

“One time is still lost time!” Klug replied.

“And just look how high up the seats go when it moves. I bet from up there we could probably see the place where you can make the gate open too.”

“Um-!” Klug had opened his mouth and raised his finger but stopped short of actually saying anything. He let what Sig had just suggested run through his head for a moment. “That… is actually not a bad idea.”

“…! So, we’re gonna ride?”

Not sharing Sig’s enthusiasm at all, Klug groaned, but nodded, “I’ll handle the controls. You board one of the seats. Wait… I’ll try to stop the movements for a bit.”

“Yay!”

Since he could read the local language at least somewhat it didn’t take Klug long to find the button labeled “stop” and bring the silly contraption back to its starting position, allowing Sig to hop onto one of the suspended seats and secure himself underneath its safety bar. It clicked into place with a satisfying sound, surprising Klug by the foresight regarding security that whoever had built this plaything must’ve put into it. In any case, he turned the machine back on.

The swing carousel started spinning again, its top lifting the chairs higher and higher, until they were flying higher than many of Suzuran Dreamland’s other buildings. Down on firm ground, Klug could hear Sig giggling.

“And? Do you see anything?” he called up.

What he received in return was cheerful laughter. If there were any meaningful words mixed in there, Klug wouldn’t have known. Once again, he groaned. For goodness’ sake, this wasn’t a field trip! When the ride came to an end and the carousel returned to its resting position once more, Sig was still laughing, cheerily dangling his legs off the edge of his sit. He was grinning ear to ear.

“Alright, your turn now,” he told Klug, who had left the booth to meet Sig halfway.

“I beg your pardon? I never said I was going to ride!” Klug scoffed at the idea. “Anyway, just tell me what you saw already, so we can get this over with.”

“I’m not sure.”

“Heh!?”

“When I was up there, I realized I kinda didn’t even know what to look out for. I mean, I don’t know what a machine that opens a gate would look like. So, I’m not sure if I saw one.”

“Really now…?” This kid…

“But if you saw one, you’d probably know, right? You’re smart, Klug.”

Klug felt baffled. Absolutely and totally stumped by that easygoing expression on Sig’s face and the carefree tone with which he told him these things. If he didn’t know any better, Klug would’ve thought that Sig planned this! But no, that couldn’t be, Sig wouldn’t have come up with an actual, reasonable solution to their gate-problem, just to trick Klug into riding a carousel…

“You should hurry up and get on. You didn’t want to, um, waste a lot of time, right?”

…Or would he?

A sigh of defeat later, Klug was sitting in one of the swing carousel’s seats, double, triple and quadruple checking whether the safety bar had correctly clicked into place, while also holding on to his glasses tightly. Only then did he give Sig the cue to turn the ride on. Motors and gears whirred and spun, and once again the ride lifted the seats up into the air and began to move.

(Just what am I doing…?)

This was the sort of colorful, pointless kind of pass time that Klug usually wouldn’t have been caught dead indulging in unless there was some sort of knowledge or gain to be won off it. He felt silly sitting in the narrow chair as it lifted itself off terra firma, and it also occurred to the boy that he had never been a particular fan of heights either. Well, too late to protest now. Good think he never had any lunch that day, else he might’ve had trouble keeping it down.

In any case, the carousel spun, round and round, and the faster it went the higher up it carried Klug, broadening his view of the scenery around. Talking of which, Sig had indeed had a point: You could see quite far from up here. For the first time, Klug had a chance to make a proper mental map of the park. Just as he’d previously estimated, it measured about 50 acres across, though upon closer examination the walls surrounding it really took more of an oval-shape than a ring. Outside the walls the place was surrounded by fields and small forests, though, from certain angles one could see a larger township in the distances, split in half by a river across which a large, white bridge extended. Was that Suzuran City? If so, they were in luck; it was definitely in walking-distance. Still, it might be difficult reaching it before dark at this point. When he looked west, he could see the sun already beginning to sink beneath the horizon, a couple of its rays already tinted red by Rayleigh Scattering…

It was sort of a beautiful view… The fields, the forests, the town in the distance, the vividly colorful park right below him, slowly being colored in the hues of sunset…

After what felt like a fleeting moment, the carousel slowed down and came to a stop, lowering the chairs back down to the ground. Sig ran up to Klug.

“So? How was it”

“Well, it was, um, interesting. But this thing just moves too fast to get a good view of all facilities. We’re probably better off just searching the area close to the main gate by foot.”

“Yeah, but you had fun, right?”

Klug paused a moment. What was Sig grinning like that for? Why did he keep bouncing like he just found a whole hill of rare dinosaur ants?

“What kind of question is this? Having fun wasn’t the point-“

“So, you didn’t…?”

“W-Well, I didn’t exactly say that-“

Before Klug could finish the sentence, Sig had taken the other boy by the wrist, making sure that his claw’s grip was firm but gentle enough to not hurt.

“Let’s go,” he said. “There’s a lot more tall things to ride around here. We can keep looking that way.”

“I don’t know…” Klug mumbled. “Searching by foot might actually be more efficient.”

“Klug… Are you scared of tall rides?”

“I-I didn’t say that!”

“Yay! Then let’s go!”

“H-Huh? H-Hey! Don’t just drag- HEY!”

There really was no point trying to argue. Klug got whisked along on Sig’s quest to figure out what exactly the many odd devices scattered all across this place did and how people could have fun with them. First, the toy boat, which, just as Klug had predicted, turned out to be a giant seesaw that moved back and forth like a ship swaying in the costal waves. Well, the sway didn’t take them as high as the swing carousel did though, so it didn’t help much on their search. Then they found a small arena filled with tiny karts, each just big enough for one person. These might be useful for getting around quicker, Klug reasoned, and so they tried riding them for a while. Unfortunately, it turned out that the karts didn’t work outside their arena, so that plan, too, was a bust, and Klug dragged Sig away from the karts as soon as he realized that. Next, they went inside what looked like an old, half-ruined mansion, aiming to get to the balcony on top for a better view. This time it was Sig who quit halfway through, storming out of the building screaming after one jump scare too many got the better of him.

“T-There’s ghosts in there! I’m not going back in! Nope!”

“Those things were just dolls with some clever mood lighting- Wait, why are ghosts even an issue for you? You play Puyo against the ghosts in our town literally every other day!”

“I-I do!?”

“…And that’s not even mentioning the fact that your own soul is showing half the time!”

“I-IT IS!?”

Okay, now, he knew Sig’s attention-span in class was infamously poor, but this amount of absentmindedness seriously made Klug wonder how this kid had ever made it through grade school, let alone gotten any passing grades at their current level. Maybe it was true what people said about talent and dumb luck…

By the way, now that he’d mentioned it, Klug realized that the cyan specter that sometimes flopped out from Sig’s back hadn’t showed itself in quite a while now. In fact, he was quite sure that he hadn’t seen it once since Sig had taken that potion yesterday… Klug decided to make a mental note of that. Just for the case that it might turn out to be important later down the line.

Their next stop was an odd line of train tracks that turned and twisted in improbable ways around a very short distance. The train carts parked in the station were much smaller than the ones Ringo had taken them on before, just big enough for two people per cart, but that was all they needed now, wasn’t it? Anyway, the tallest point of the ride was decently high up and seemed to be overlooking a nice bit of the park, so Sig suggested to take a ride on the small train next.

Klug would never have agreed if he had known that the train in question moved downhill at 37mph and had no in-kart brakes.

There were also a couple of loops in the tracks he had failed to take notice of before boarding the ride. Much screaming ensued, both terrified and cheerful. At first both Sig and Klug were yelling about in horror at the madness they’d unknowingly subjected themselves to, holding on to each other and the cart’s safety bars for dear life.  The screaming from Sig’s side though quickly turned into laughter when the boy realized that they had made it through a first loop unscathed, which reminded him that, oh yeah, these were playthings, this was supposed to be fun, so it really wasn’t dangerous, was it? Right, that made sense. From that point on, he decided to just enjoy the ride. Klug wasn’t as easily won over. By the time the cart began it’s second round around the track, the boy in purple was shrieking, screaming and pleading for somebody, anybody to let him get off, but his prayers remained unanswered and he found himself weeping in fear as the vehicle ascended uphill once again. However, when they reached loop number 1 for the second time, something just… clicked. Right, this loop hadn’t killed them before, so why would it now? And if the danger wasn’t real, if the speed and the fall and the velocity all couldn’t hurt him, then-

The moment Klug stopped thinking about all the ways this vehicle could possibly be their demise was the moment that the ride’s sheer thrill finally registered with him. It wasn’t unlike the rush of pulling of a very large Puyo chain and feeling the magic power course through yourself before unleashing a mighty spell. Excitement, challenge, anticipation, but without the pressure of needing to prove your skill to anyone, even yourself. He wasn’t the one driving the cart after all, the machine was doing that. Right, and because none of this was up to him, because making sure that this worked wasn’t his responsibility, wasn’t up to his skills, his powers or his efforts-

By the time the train stopped in its station again, both boys were laughing, cheerily and carefreely.

‘That was fun! Let’s do that again,’ Sig wanted to say, but he was laughing too hard to speak properly, so instead of words all he got out were incoherent squeaks in-between laughs. What finally motivated him to stop himself wasn’t the need to speak, or even a need to take a few proper deep breaths, however; instead, Sig only calmed his laughter when he took notice of Klug’s. Specifically, the way the other boy’s laugh sounded. It wasn’t Klug’s usual self-congratulatory high-pitched cackling. Instead the laughter Sig heard sounded soft and sincere. It was almost odd, hearing such an honest, warm laugh coming out of their bookworm’s mouth, so Sig couldn’t help but stare a little, fascinated. Noticing that stare was what finally got Klug to stop laughing, too.

“W-What?” he asked, sounding almost embarrassed.

“That’s a nice laugh,” said Sig. “It sounds like you’re really having fun.”

Red color shot into Klug’s cheeks, and now it wasn’t just his voice, his face looked fairly embarrassed too. Coughing into his fist to clear his throat, Klug looked away from Sig.

“A…Anyway! That wasn’t very helpful either, now was it? The train moved way too quickly to get a good look of anything. At this rate, the carousel from the start was still the most useful thing we’ve tried.”

“There’s one more,” said Sig. “One tall ride we haven’t tried yet.”

“Oh? And what ride would that be?

Sig pointed up to a place above their heads. Not too far from them there was a large, metal construction that looked like a wheel with gondolas attached to its sides, turning slowly, inch by inch.

Clicking his tongue, Klug tugged his glasses and took a close look at the spinning object.

“Yeah, that… could work,” he admitted.

And so it came that at the end of one very stressful but also very exciting day Sig and Klug sat together in a Ferris Wheel’s gondola, watching the last rays of this world’s sun disappear behind the horizon. They’d spent all evening trying to find a way out of this park, but now they could just lean back, idly scan the scenery beneath them and… breathe.

“This place is a lot of fun,” said Sig while taking a look at all the attractions they’d been on thus far from above. “I wonder why we’re the only ones here?”

“It might only be in normal use during special dates,” suggested Klug. “Like a ritual of sorts, or a festival.”

“Huh… Then maybe we should come back when there’s more people. It’s probably really lively here on a day like that.”

“‘Crowded’ might be a better word. Just imagine hoards of people all trying to get onto the same ride! Sounds awful. I prefer it this way.”

“…I bet Amitie would love this place,” Sig mused, before something occurred to him. “Ah- Come to think, I think she actually told me that she went somewhere like this before!”

“Oh, she did?”

“Yeah,” Sig nodded. “With Arle and Ringo. It was something Satan did, um… I don’t remember it all. But it sounded a lot like this place. With carousels and a train that went downhill really fast…”

“Hm, so in other words, if we hadn’t gotten separated from Amitie, she could have explained everything about this place right from the start? Tch, just our luck.”

“…Amitie.”

Sig’s sigh was deep and long. As relaxed as he had sat in his seat before, now he was slumping, looking down at his own feet. Noticing the turn in Sig’s mood, Klug stopped scanning the scenery outside their gondola for a moment.

“Hey. I told you-“

“I know. You said she was going to be alright, and I believe you,” Sig nodded. “I mean, Lemres is with her… He’s strong, for a weirdo. He’ll figure out how to help. But I really wish she were here…”

“Okay, now, listen, Lemres is no-!” But Klug stopped his oncoming sermon when he realized that Sig was already gazing out of the gondola again, clearly not in the mood to listen to it. Good, fine then. Another topic, one that was more relevant to Sig’s current state of mind. “…Well, you shouldn’t worry about Amitie missing out. Knowing her, she’ll probably be really happy to hear how much fun you had here today, even if she wasn’t there to see it.”

“…We,” said Sig, with emphasis.

“Hm?” Klug looked up.

“She’ll be happy to hear how much fun we had today,” Sig explained his correction. “You and me. ‘Cause, there’s two of us, y’know.”

Taken aback by this, Klug looked away, “I-I… I didn’t exactly-“

“Hey. Klug?” Sig shuffled a bit closer to him. “Would you tell me… What’s so bad about having fun?”

“Uh- h-huh? Why would you ask-“

“You said Amitie liking plushies makes her a kid, like it’s a bad thing. You said you’ve never played with toys, like it’s a good thing. And just earlier, you acted like it’s weird that I got excited about wanting to play. Actually, you act like that a lot, saying stuff like ‘I’m busy, unlike you all’ or ‘You all don’t take life seriously enough’. That’s why I was thinking… Maybe you just really don’t like having fun? But that doesn’t make sense, does it? So, I don’t really understand it at all.”

In Klug’s mind the pieces fell into place. Could it be… Was this why Sig had been so insistent on making him ride the machines in this place? Because he wanted to test whether or not Klug was capable of just enjoying himself? Tch, how shameful, the scholar had been studied without his consent! And for such a silly experiment, too. No, what’s more, that whole hypothesis Sig had come up with… Was this really how he came across to his classmates? A stick-in-the-mud killjoy? Klug turned his head away.

“It’s not that I ‘hate’ fun,” he mumbled.

“Right. That wouldn’t be it. You wouldn’t have had fun if you didn’t like fun,” Sig nodded. “But then… why?”

Klug looked outside the gondola, where the sky was growing dim and dimmer.

“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked.

“Um… no?” Sig replied, not sure if this was a question that he was meant to reply to.

Klug sighed, “I don’t usually indulge in childish things, because I am not a child. That’s all.”

He underlined the statement with a shrug and then let it stand as if it were perfectly self-contained just the way it was. Sig, however, tilted his head in confusion.

“But… you are-“

“You know, Sig, how about we don’t have this conversation?”

“But, you’re-“

“I said: How about no!”

That last take sounded almost poisonous. Did he touch some kind of nerve, Sig wondered?

No, he really couldn’t understand Klug there, as hard as he tried. As long as he could think there had never been a time Sig didn’t like being a child. Going to school, making friends, learning about the world around him, playing Puyo had all been so much fun. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to grow up into an adult one day, but he really enjoyed all the time he’d spent as the child he was now. If Klug didn’t feel that way, did that mean he didn’t like the person he was as a child? Did he want to be something or someone else?

Sig really, really didn’t understand. But, seeing how he was the one who asked the questions that had upset his companion so much, the least he could do was cheer Klug up a little, right? He even knew how exactly to do that too. Putting on a gentle smile, Sig pointed his finger at the night sky outside the gondola.

“Hey. Which one is the sun?” he asked.

“Hm?”

“Last night you showed us Ringo’s sun in the night sky. If you can see this world’s sun from Primp Town, then you can probably see our sun from here too, right?” Sig curiously tilted his head. “So, which star is it? And what’s it called?”

Considering Sig’s query for a moment, Klug turned his attention to the sky, spent a few seconds pin-pointing specific celestial objects for orientation, then pointed at a star.

“…There. The maiden’s navel. It’s the brightest star in the constellation. Alpha Virginis… also known as ‘Spica’.”  

It wasn’t difficult to find the one he meant, because it shone so brightly that it was hard to not have your attention drawn to it if you just looked in its general direction. Still, Sig stretched his neck a little bit to get a better look.

“Spica?” he asked.

“It means ‘spike’. Because it lies at the cusp of the constellation.”

“Huh? No, that’s not it…” Sig turned his head. He looked at Klug with a puzzled expression, yet spoke with absolute conviction as he continued, “A spica is a golden yellow moth.”

For a moment, Klug just stared at Sig blankly and silently… before, finally and almost out of nowhere, bursting into laughter.

“Pf…. PFHAHAHAHA!! You…”

“Huh? Did I say something funny?”

Klug just kept laughing, “You’re… incorrigible, Sig…!”

“Um, yeah?” He really didn’t get what the other boy was on about “I mean, I don’t think there’s anything to ‘correct’. I like myself.”

“Hah… Yes. That was probably what Amitie meant as well…”

“Huh? Amitie?”

“Ah- Nevermind.”

Even in this strange, unusual state, Sig was still Sig, with all his likes and dislikes, his fascinations, obsessions and odd charms. In a way, Klug understood what Amitie found so admirable about this. Whenever Sig spoke there was never even a second of doubt that he was truly sincere about whatever subject he addressed. He had no need to keep up appearances or pretend he was something he wasn’t. No wonder then that the thought of turning into a different person scared the blue mage so much. Klug sighed. To be so comfortable with your own, flawed self. It was almost... enviable.

Sig, on the other hand, didn’t really know what to make of Klug’s outburst just now. Oh well, as long as the glasses-wearer cheered up a little, that was all that mattered. Sig smiled to himself. If there was one upside to being so full of energy, it was definitely that he’d been having a much easier time coming up with ideas and solutions to problems than usual. It felt good, putting that strange power to use for the sake of his friends, even in a small way like this.

“I think it’s really cool that you can find our world from all the way over here. I guess your glasses give you super star-sight.”

“Tch-! My ability to do some basic trigonometry has nothing to do with my diopters, I assure you.”

“Huh?”

“…Anyway, it’s all a matter of research. I studied some star charts in the library the last time we were here. That was how I figured out where our sun is in relation to this world’s sun and what it is called in this world.”

“You can remember all that, just by reading about it?”

“Well, that is how learning works, isn’t it?”

“That’s pretty amazing.”

The unexpected praise stumped Klug. Not in a bad way – having his talents acknowledged by others was never a bad thing in his book – but still. Coming from walking entomology lexicon Sig, being told that his knowledge of stars was ‘amazing’ seemed like high praise. Then again, Sig probably didn’t even realize that most people actually couldn’t name every single genus in the order of lepidoptera off the top of their head without needing to consult a textbook first. Obsessing over bugs came as easy to the boy as breathing came to others. That was the difference between their learning-styles, Klug supposed. Sig probably had never actually had to “work” for his knowledge – at least, not in a way that felt like work…

“Ahem… In any case,” Klug shook the useless thoughts out of his mind and cleared his throat. “Talking of research; ours up here is complete.”

“Huh?”

“A few minutes ago, I spotted something that looked like heavy cables extending from the gates towards one of the smaller buildings. That would probably be the control panel we’ve been looking for. Let’s wait for this gondola to dock and get out of here.”

Chapter Text

The faeries’ song echoed; the hallway was flooded with a disorienting light. All of a sudden, the girl’s winged attackers began to stumble and tumble around, mumble confused nonsense to each other and then seemingly forgot about what they were just about to do. The girl grabbed her staff, turned on her heels and ran, down the hallways, deeper into the labyrinth.

Soon, she heard voices.

“W-What do you mean you lost the map!?”

“Don’t worry about it! It’s going to work out! This way!”

“Do you even know the way?”

The girl didn’t know these voices, so she was scared, but they also didn’t sound nearly as stiff or stern as the voices of the ones who had just attacked her, which was comforting. Maybe that comfort was deceptive, but regardless, hearing those voices was the closest she was to knowing where anything was in this strange, strange place, even if they didn’t exactly sound well-orientated themselves. She decided to follow them.

Down the hallway to her left, past the lanterns and weird inscriptions on the wall, until she finally found herself approaching the shapes of three people. A young man, winged like her attackers before – though he appeared to have a lot more wings than they had –, an androgynous figure with purple hair and a young woman. The woman was carrying a large sack that was rattling and ringing as she ran, as if it were filled with broken glass.

“I really hope you know what we are doing here! For both our sakes,” the many-winged man whined at his accomplice.

“Eheheh. You worry too much, Luce!” the woman laughed at him. “Trust me, if this works out, it’ll be the best for everyone! Not just you and I, right?”

“Please consider, if He finds out about this, it’ll be the end of us! But especially of me!”

“Hmpf! Then just run faster! No more complaining!”

“Lilly, dear, please-“

“Both of you. Halt,” the third person’s voice had finally joined the conversation. “We are being pursued.”

“Huh!?”

“ACK! I-I knew it…!”

The woman called ‘Lilly’ and the man called ‘Luce’ both stopped in their step at their companion’s warning. Soon, all three of them were facing the shivering girl, mustering her from top to toe. Her off-white robes, her old, worn boots, the ceremonial staff she was holding and, especially, the mess of dirty-blonde curls that was her hair, which was so unruly, it made it hard to see her face underneath.

The group stared at the girl.

“A… human?” said ‘Luce’.

“Did someone else have the same idea as us?” asked ‘Lilly’.

The third person, however, silently kept their gaze trained on the girl for a good while before, finally and slowly, taking a step towards her. Two red eyes mustered the blond mage in a mixture of surprise and confusion.

“Please, don’t hurt me!” the girl whimpered, shakily holding her staff in front of her body. “I-I never meant to intrude! I swear, the moment I find the exit, I’m gone and I’ll never bother you again!”

“You…” The purple haired person slowly began approaching the girl. They seemed fascinated “You are not supposed to be here.”

Though they attempted to move slowly as to not scare the young human, these intentions failed when they raised their arm, causing their long sleeves to fall in a way that revealed the inhumanly sharp, crimson claws underneath.

The sight of their hand startled the girl. She threw up the hand that held her staff and called out,

“R-Radiance of Purity! Akteena!”

From the tip of her staff, a ray of blinding light broke forth, shooting out towards the person in front of her. The purple-haired one reacted quickly, deflecting the spell with a flip of their cape. Still, the attack had surprised them. And they were not the only one.

“She is a sorceress…” ‘Luce’ noted with a gasp.

“The same as me…!” added ‘Lilly’.

Yes, that was indeed the correct way of putting it. Not just ‘similar’, but ‘the same’. The purple-haired one starred at their cape for a short moment, focusing on the traces of magical power that had gotten stuck on the mithril thread woven into it. What they saw and felt shouldn’t be possible… at least not under usual circumstances.

The plot thickened, and they couldn’t deny that it intrigued them.

“You,” they turned their attention to the girl again.

She had, meanwhile, backed away from the group so far that her back was now pressing up against a wall. Her breathing was fast and disordered and though the sheer volume of her messy hair made it impossible to see enough of her face to read her expression, they could tell that she was terrified.

“You can calm down. We aren’t here to hurt you” they told her. “Who are you? What is your name?”

“I… um…”

Though still timid, it seemed that she decided to trust the stranger’s reassurance just a little. Carefully, the young sorceress brushed some of the hair out of her face, revealing brilliantly emerald-green eyes underneath.

“P-Philia…” she said. “My name… is…”

“Hm~? ‘The Brave Fairy’ by ‘Philia Defae’, huh?”

“Sumomo~! I don’t think it’s good to go through a stranger’s things like that…”

“But, Sis. If she’s Ringo’s friend and Ringo isn’t a stranger, is she still a stranger?”

“Oh, hm? The friend of my friend is my friend… I see! So, we’re just borrowing a friend’s things!”

“Yep. That’s what we’re doing.”

“Yeah!”

Amitie just barely registered this conversation happening a meter away from her at the very edge of her returning consciousness. The only word in there that stood out to her was ‘Philia’. It was a familiar name, one that she’d grown up hearing many times. A name she looked up to, even. Just a few moments ago she felt as if she heard that name in her dream, which was strange, because it was a dream she was sure she’d had before. Only this time it had felt a little different. As if she’d seen it from another perspective, with another set of eyes.

Maybe if she could go back to sleep, she could see more of the dream and figure out where it had been going. But, no, there were people loudly talking around her, which meant that she wouldn’t fall asleep again, even if she tried. Hah, probably her own fault for sleeping in a place with other people around. …Wait, actually, did she go to sleep in a place with people around? And if she did, then why didn’t she recognize the voices of the girls that were talking?

Uh, the more Amitie thought about it, the more unsettling it seemed. Okay, maybe she should just stop wondering what was going on and open her eyes already…

She blinked once. And twice. Then the ceiling above her came into focus, painted pure white and dotted with weird, tiny things that radiated light. Next, she made out the walls, plastered with a gaudy flower-patterned wallpaper. Then, finally, the people. Right by Amitie’s bedside stood a pair of girls around the same age as herself, chatting to one another merrily while one of them kept pulling one item after another from- Oh…

Um, yeah, that kind of wasn’t okay! Time to step in.

“Hey~…!” Amitie called out, her voice still sounding too groggy for her own liking. “W…What are you doing with my bag~…!”

Hearing and seeing Amitie move and talk, the girl in orange squealed and dropped the young mage’s bookbag on the floor. Her lavender-clad sister meanwhile shrugged and sighed.

“Looks like we were caught red-handed.”

“I see… So that’s the situation.”

Ringo nodded sagely, taking a bite out of the candied apple Lemres had insisted on making for her as a thanks for her first-aid efforts. Poor guy had had to suffer through the effects of the frontal blast he took from Momo’s pepper spray for a good half hour, though Ringo immediately helped him wash his eyes out with clear, warm water, then gave him an Ibuprofen to numb the pain and itching. In the end what actually helped Lemres was getting his hands on a package of dextrose Ringo happened to be carrying in her pocket for studying purposes. The quick sugar boost turned out to be exactly what he needed in order to cast a healing spell on himself that finally cleared the capsaicin from his system and quelled the skin irritations. Now he was back to his usual calm, collected and only slightly weird self, and Ringo was thankful it. Lemres weeping on the floor in pain while also terribly failing to articulate himself in trying to explain what he needed to do to stop his suffering was an experience she truly never wanted to repeat.

That was roughly an hour ago. The time since then had been spent in the kitchen of the Lee residence, which the twins graciously had allowed their visitors to make themselves at home in. Lemres had used the chance to indulge in some patisserie (mostly to calm himself down, as well as take his mind off the pepper spray incident), while also explaining everything that had happened in Primp in the past two days to Ringo. They had to do some catching up in the start; Because of the confusing nature of dimensional travel between worlds that are connected but somewhat far away from one another, details about their previous encounters always tended to slip from their memories in the time they spent not seeing one another, so Lemres needed to remind Ringo of the identities of several of the people from his world that she happened to be less close to, while Ringo reminded Lemres of who Risukuma and Maguro were. They also briefly compared notes on Ecolo, and Ringo assured Lemres that he had, in fact, never met the Lee twins before, alleviating the warlock’s silent fear that he might’ve been judged and attacked by a forgotten friend. Once all the necessary characters had been set up, the redhead listened closely to Lemres’ further explanations, scribbling a flowchart on a notepad she’d brought in her schoolbag to keep track of all relevant information as they went along. Mapping out her thoughts like this was a habit of hers when taking notes. She found that this sort of methodical approaching tended to prevent her from missing important pieces in a conversation’s puzzle.

By the time the warlock had finished off his elaborations along with the preparation of the day’s first batch of homemade macaroons, Ringo’s notepad looked something like this:

“Hm… Alright, let’s do a quick recap,” she said once Lemres finished talking. 

Time to put her freshly assembled chart and her newly refreshed memories to the stress-test. “There are two major, tangentially related threads in this story. Let’s call these two threads “A” and “B”. Notable features of thread A include: A second Arle appears in you guys’ world, she appears unaffected by any magic cast in Puyo Battles except for that of Satan or the real Arle and she is really, really into the whole ‘kill and replace’ shtick. A little cliché, but okay. Thread B follows resident blue bug boy, Sig, taking Witch’s potions again and gaining magic that can actually harm Arle’s Doppelganger for some nebulous reasons, alongside a barely explained goth-makeover. Wait, you said it had something to do with his ‘vibe’ or something…?”

“His aura,” Lemres corrected and nodded. “Let’s just say that ‘magic’ in the air ‘round him is pretty thick right now. That’s what is tinging everything black. It’s pretty much like what happens when you add too much food-dye to your icing.”

“Ah, I see what you’re saying! So, the, um ‘magic particles’ in the air around him absorbs so much light that barely any color is reflected, which makes everything look black.”

“Yeah, that’s an accurate way of putting it.”

“I see… fascinating,” Ringo leaned across the table, licking some caramel off her treat. “I mean, it doesn’t really help me understand what’s going on with him, but still, fascinating. So, anyway, I can see that one thing led to another and a magical accident led to you, that Arle Doppelganger and a bunch of our friends to all being teleported into this world. Y’know. The usual for us.”

In a corner of her mind Ringo somewhat knew that she should have felt concerned about the fact that she had come to refer to such insanity as ‘the usual’. Oh well. It kept her life interesting, she supposed. Lemres, on the other hand, let out a long, deep sigh. He seemed worried, and Ringo was about to learn why.

“Not sure if I would really call this ‘the usual’. I mean, even if I couldn’t really read the spell-circle anymore by the end, I’m afraid it did a bit more than just split us all up and bring us here.”

“In what way?”

“Well…”

Lemres took off his hat, placed it on the kitchen counter and raised his wand.

“So, Ringo. In all the times you’ve seen people cast fire spells on me in Puyo matches, have you ever seen my clothes catch fire? Or get even a little singed?”

“Huh… No, now that you mention it, I guess I haven’t! Would you tell me why that is?”

“A lot of mages use elemental magic, so back home it’s common to proof our clothes with small protective charms to prevent stuff like severe burn damage. Spending the little magic that uses is less annoying than buying new clothes every day.”

“Oh, I see! That makes sense… Wait, what does that have to do with what we were just talking about?”

Rather than mince words, the warlock sighed, quietly mouthed a word that Ringo couldn’t quite read off his lips and pointed his wand at the hat on the counter. A spicy aroma filled the room as a burst of energy shot towards the hat, placing a tiny flame on its tip like a candle on a birthday cake.

Shocked, Ringo backed away.

“Uh…UWAAH!! What the- A warning would’ve been nice!! …huh?” The anger barely lasted a second, as Ringo quickly grasped the point of the demonstration. Her eyes widened and her brows furrowed. “Wait, it’s… burning? But didn’t you just say…?”

Lemres meanwhile, picked the hat back up from the counter and blew out the small flame. The black marks and small hole it left behind at its tip where hard to miss. Of course, a quick tap of his wand fixed it. Still, he owed Ringo an explanation, and she would receive it.

“Yeah. I suspected as much… Looks like the enchantments on my clothes were broken on the way here. Dear, oh dear… That’s bad news.”

“Um, yes, I guess having to watch out for clothing damage during Puyo matches constantly would get annoying quickly,” Ringo attempted to relate to his judgement, but Lemres shook his head, telling her that this wasn’t what he meant.

“If that charm broke, there’s a good chance the same is true for other spells that got caught in the spell-circle’s range. For example, a friend of ours used a protective charm on Sig a while back to keep him safe. Then there’s the spellbook Klug is carrying. It has a powerful sealing hex on it… Well, I wouldn’t think that one would’ve broken entirely just because of this, but still.”

“So… basically what you’re saying is that our friends are out there, totally unprotected from all sorts of enchantments and curses,” Ringo surmised. “…And there’s an evil Arle running about that they might run into at any minute…?”

“Yep. That’s the situation.”

“Y-Yeah… That sounds… bad. Yes, that’s the word. Bad.”

That settled it then. Even if there were some things Ringo, who lacked experience with the arcane and mystical, had trouble understanding, she felt Lemres had conveyed enough of the situation to her to bring the both of them on the same page: This current situation was nothing to sneeze at. They had to find Sig and Klug, then locate the second Arle and apprehend her, as quickly as possible. Ringo gulped heavily. The fact alone that a crazy woman with magic powers was possibly running about Suzuran right now was bad enough as it was even without two of her otherworldly friends being M.I.A. and a third one unconscious. If any of the locals, the ones without any Puyo-playing-powers, ran into that other Arle, unwitting and unprotected…

“…Yeah, I’m gonna call up Maguro and Ris and ask them to patrol the town with me tonight. Just in case.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t do that. I don’t think splitting up our fighting strength any further right now is that good an idea. Nothing against your friends from this world, from what I remember they’re pretty amazing at Puyo, but even Amitie and Sig had trouble in a battle against the other Arle, and they’ve got experience with their own magic. I don’t really wanna think of what would happen if Maguro or Risukuma ran into her on their own…”

“T-Then what, should we just let her roam around town!? There’s innocent citizens here! Some of which have never played Puyo! Hard to believe, I know, but true!”

Lemres sighed. It wasn’t that he didn’t acknowledge Ringo’s worries and agitation, he understood the way she felt, but at the same time…

“We need a plan,” Lemres said. “Several parties acting on their own without staying informed of what the others were doing or why was what got us into this situation. So, I think, for now we need to make sure to keep a cool head and stay together.”

“Yeah… Yeah, I agree,” Ringo took a deep breath. He was right. She knew he was right. Rushing in and possibly getting her two best friends in the world hurt over it wasn’t the right thing to do. It was bad enough that Amitie had been harmed already. Talking of which, “Alright, first things first then. Let’s go back to the other room and check on Amitie. I mean, the “medicine” you were making for her is done now, right?”

Lemres nodded gently. “Yep. A whole load of delicious, delicious strawberry macaroons with my secret ingredient~! Won’t exactly take the mark off her, but it should at least keep her mana levels decently regulated until we can find a way to resolve that.”

“Heh heh, and I always thought doctors that put vaccines on sugar cubes were fancy!”

“Would you like to taste test? I promise, they’re the best you’ve ever had.”

“Hm, seeing how you’re not exactly a stranger anymore… Don’t mind if I do! But I’ll be the judge of their quality!”

Once Ringo had convinced herself of the taste of Lemres’ mana-regulating strawberry macaroons (which was, of course, excellent), the two of them cleaned up whatever dirty dishes there still were in the kitchen and then headed back to the bedroom they had left the Lee twins and sleeping Amitie in. Their efforts to be careful and not make any noise as they opened the door turned out to be pointless; To their surprise, they found Amitie already awake when they returned to the room, sitting upright on the bed she had been left to sleep in, legs dangling easily off the side of the mattress.

“…and though the way was long and treacherous, she never dropped her smile again, for she had her friends by her side, giving her the courage and hope to fulfill the words the little dream had whispered to her.”

There was a book in Amitie’s lap, one that looked looked fairly old. Its soft-pink cover was covered in smudges, which made it look like, while the owner had tried to take care of the volume, their continued use had still left it worn. Still, that didn’t detract at all from the strangely serene joy on Amitie’s face as she read from the book. On the carpet in front of the bed, right below Amitie, sat Momo and Sumomo, quietly entranced by the tale their otherworldly guest was telling them. The scene was so tranquil, it downright seemed like a shame to interrupt it, but there wasn’t much to be done about that…

“…Ah! Lemres… Rii~ngo!”

The moment Amitie spotted her friends in the doorway, she stopped reading and instead began to broadly wave at the two of them, a bright smile on her face.

“Good morning!” she called out.

“Um, Amitie? It’s 8pm,” said Ringo.

Amitie briefly paused, turned her head towards the window, confirmed the slowly darkening sky to herself, then turned back towards the door and laughed, “Ahahaha… Guess I kinda lost track of time. I don’t usually take midday naps like that.”

“I sure hope you don’t! I mean, this wasn’t exactly a normal nap,” Ringo sounded a little snarky, but her care and worry for her friend were still obvious in her tone. “How are you feeling? Lemres told me everything. You think you’re okay to be up again already?”

“Mhm, I’m okay. A bit woozy, but fine, mostly!” Amitie nodded. “To be completely honest, I don’t even know why I was asleep! The last thing I remember was having a Puyo battle out in the woods… Then I wake up, and your friends here tell me I’m in your world, and it’s, like: Whaaaaat!?”

“Yes, it’s a bit of a story,” Lemres admitted.

“Lemres and I will give you the rundown,” Ringo said. “For now, all that matters is that you’re okay and back to your usual self. And you seem to be getting along with our hosts too, so that’s plus.”

Honestly, Ringo had been a bit worried that the twins would tear Amitie’s wardrobe apart the moment the blonde girl comes to, so she was happy to see that scenario hadn’t come to pass. Meanwhile Amitie enthusiastically nodded at her twin tailed friend’s assessment, holding up the pink volume in her lap as she did.

“Yeah! It’s always super nice to meet new friends! I was just reading to Momo and Sumomo from my favorite book!”

“And it’s cute and thrilling!” commented Momo.

“And quite mysterious~,” added Sumomo.

“Your favorite book? ” Ringo wondered out loud. “Huh, curious. I never took you for the reading type!”

Sharpening her gaze, Ringo took a step closer to catch a glance at the writing on the cover. A useful trait of Primp Town’s local script that Ringo had learned about during one of her previous visits was that its letters had the mystical property of being legible by whoever looked at them, regardless of the languages the person spoke, so though she wasn’t a native to Amitie’s world, she had no trouble reading the book’s title.

“‘The Brave Fairy’, huh…?”

“Ah, that’s a classic,” Lemres noted. “I like that one quite a bit myself. Come to think, the author… She was the founder of you guys’ school, wasn’t she?”

And again, Amitie gave an enthusiastic nod, “Yeah! Philia Defae! She was a famous, amazing sorceress! My Mama told me a lot of stories about her when I was small.”

“Wow, sounds like she’s kind of a big deal in your world, huh?” Ringo noted, then smiled. “And by the way you talk about her, I can tell she’s someone you admire.”

“You got that right, Ringo! One day I wanna be just like her~!”

Ah, that made sense. Frankly, Ringo had always felt a bit as if Amitie’s dreams of becoming a “wonderful sorceress” were a little vaguely defined, but knowing that she actually had a role-model she looked up to in that regard made things quite a bit clearer.

“Actually, hold on.” Amitie opened the book back up in her lap, this time browsing all the way to the last section of the book. She quickly found the page she was looking for. “There! See? That’s her.”

The people in the room lined up in a circle around Amitie, looking at the page she pointed at. It displayed an image, a picture of a young woman in colorful robes with long, blonde hair that reached almost all the way to the ground despite being tied up in a wide, mismatched variety of small braids, buns and ponytails, almost as if someone had attempted to tame it with all measures available and failed miserably. Around her stood a group of children, most of them smiling, just like the woman herself. ‘Class of the Moonflower Year’ read the image caption.

“At the time Primp Town Magic School was founded, the town was still an outback area with little contact to other larger settlements,” Lemres explained. “Philia’s promise of instructing a new generation of mages in the art of sorcery was the first time outsiders had a genuine incentive to come into town and do business with the people there. The Primp Town we know today probably wouldn’t exist if it hadn’t been for her.”

“And that’s not all! She invented Fae Magic, too!” Amitie interjected.

“Fae Magic?” asked Ringo, still looking at the picture of Philia and her students.

“My favorite kind of spells! They work by taking happiness and eagerness, and turning them into light and… um, I don’t know all the technical stuff! But they’re really pretty and really fun to use!”

Yeah, that did sound about right for Amitie. While Ringo couldn’t claim that explanation had told her a lot about what exactly made ‘Fae Magic’ different from other magic or what it was used for, in a way she was just happy to see her friend so excited to talk about it. Yeah, as long as Amitie could be cheerful like that, everything was just~ right~ with the world~….

…Except it was objectively not, wait, no, what were they even doing here!

“GAH! This isn’t the time for this!” Ringo croaked out. “Amitie! Story-time will have to wait! Now that you’re awake, we need to take care of your super sleepy and super glasses-y friends!”

“Huh? Sig and Klug? Why, is something the matter with them?”

“Right now, they’re missing!”

“HEH!?”

“That weird, aggressive Arle Doppelganger that attacked you guys, is out there too! And Lemres mentioned something about all you guys’ protection spells being toast, so-“

“W-Whoa, whoa, Ringo, slow down! That’s way too much at once!” Amitie squeaked.

“Sorry. What I was trying to say is: It’s time to come up with a game-plan. And also, a search-party. The latter being included in the former.”

“O-Okay…!” Amitie took a deep breath. Ah, the shock of suddenly waking up here seriously had almost made her forget how messed up and confusing everything was right now. “So, what’s the plan?”

“For now, it’s probably to get together everyone we can and start searching for Klug and Sig,” said Lemres. “And we should probably do so without splitting up among ourselves… Hah… That’s gonna make contacting Ringo’s friends a hassle, but-“

“Oh, that’s not a hassle~! At~ all~!” Ringo chimed in in a sing-song voice. “I mean, what do people have phones for, right?”

Lemres and Amitie briefly looked at each other, exchanging confused looks, before looking back to their friend. Amitie was the one to voice what they were both wondering about.

“Um, Ringo? What’s a ‘phone’?”

They found the control panel they had been looking for in a small hut close to the gate. The door had been covered by poison ivy vines, but an ‘Ignis’ spell took care of the vegetation without either of them needing to touch it. Klug stepped inside, read the markings on the buttons, commanded the gates to open. Sig watched.

‘Your time is running out. You can feel it, right?’

It had been a fun day, but Sig was starting to feel really tired. Hungry, too. Even though he’d had more curry than Amitie and the other Arle combined for lunch, his stomach was already feeling like a bottomless pit again. So strange… Sure, he liked food, but he didn’t usually feel that hungry that often. This was one of the rare times when he’d actually have accepted some of Lemres’ candy without eyeing the man with suspicion. But… Lemres wasn’t here. Neither was Amitie. It was only Klug and him.

It was just… the two of them… right?

‘I can sense it. The seal has weakened. Right now, you could initiate it.’

From time to time, Sig found himself turning, looking across his own shoulder, checking if there was someone behind him. There was nobody there. He tried to shrug it off. He was probably just imagining things, because it had been a long day, because he was hungry, because he was getting tired…

But… being tired had never made him hear voices before.

‘Stop ignoring me. I know that you can hear my voice.’

Who said that? He’d never heard that voice before, he was sure, and yet, it sounded so… familiar.

Something was strange, even stranger than things had been in general since yesterday. His heart was racing, his hands felt warm. Something felt as if it was poking at the back of his mind…. Sig felt dizzy.

‘All you need to do is reach into the satchel.’

Satchel…? Did they mean Klug’s bookbag? Why would he reach in there? He wasn’t supposed to touch Klug’s things, he’d promised he wouldn’t. Well, okay, not exactly ‘promised’, but Klug would get angry if he did, and he didn’t want that. Not after they’d just had so much fun together. It had only just started to feel as if the next time Sig, Amitie and Klug were all together they could maybe have a sleepover again without Amitie and Klug getting angry at each other for weird reasons… Sig would like that. Because, aside from him accidentally scaring Amitie and Klug and her acting weird in the morning, that slumber party had been fun.

Spending time with Amitie, with Klug, with just any and every of his friends was always so nice…

…Why was he thinking of that right now? Why couldn’t help but feel so uneasy? So… scared?

“Sig? Is something the matter?”

Because they were so used to it from him, people rarely called out to Sig when he was spacing out, so Klug’s voice took him by surprise. Sig blinked a couple times, then shook his head,

“Um… No. Don’t think so…?”

Despite that reply Klug fixed Sig with his gaze for a couple seconds, as if to search the other boy’s face for a more precise answer. He soon realized that Sig kept glancing at a very specific item Klug carried on his person. A suspicion creeping up in the back of his mind, Klug narrowed his eyes.

“Then why do you keep looking at my bag?” he demanded to know.

“Dunno…” Sig replied.

…Sig sounded more like his usual self. Which was to say, tired and low on energy. Klug wished he could call this as a good sign, but given that Sig’s appearance didn’t seem like it was about to revert to normal anytime soon, chances were that it absolutely wasn’t… To the contrary, there was a chance that this actually meant the worst possible thing.

“…I’m kinda hungry,” Sig eventually added to his status update with a delay.

Klug sighed, trying to hide his trepidation.

“Well, we have been here for a while.” As large as this mechanized playground was, if any of its facilities were meant to dispense refreshments, they weren’t currently stocked. “But we could see Suzuran City from up on the wheel. I’m sure Ringo will let us have something to eat when we arrive at her place. So, just be patient!”

“Huh? We’re gonna go there now…? But it’s dark… It looked kinda far away…”

“Are you hungry or are you not?”

“I guess I am…but…”

Sig had trouble articulating that he found it weird that Klug suggested they walk all the way to town in the dark of night when, just a while ago, he’d made comments about how potentially dangerous that could be. Combined with the fact that he could totally tell that Klug was trembling and looked mighty nervous for some reason as the both of them were heading towards the now opened gate... Was wandering out into the open fields right now really a good idea? Just because Sig was kind of hungry? No, something about this didn’t feel right. Sig got the feeling that there was something Klug wasn’t telling him. Why else would he insist on leading the both of them out of that gate into the black of night, when he clearly didn’t want to do that himself?

‘That boy is a liar, that much should be obvious. Disrespect his trust like he is disrespecting yours! You should open the bag.’

“Whose voice is that…?” Sig wondered out loud, just barely catching a yawn in his throat.

Hearing that, Klug froze up mid-step.

“W-What voice?” he asked, without even turning to face the other.

“Not sure. Feels like I know it, but… I don’t,” said Sig. “…Keeps telling me to go through your stuff, though.”

‘A-Ack…!’

“And now it went ‘A-Ack’.”

There was a pregnant silence that lasted a couple seconds. For some reason which Sig couldn’t even start to guess at, Klug’s motions following that pause were rather robotic, as he turned, put on a weird, uncharacteristic and very obviously fake smile and then stood in front of Sig, stiff like a wax figure. He spoke:

“Ah… ahahahaha! Ha! Ha… So… Sig! It just occurred to me! That I… forgot something in that hut just now!”

“Um, you did…?”

Sig took a look at Klug. Glasses, hat, clothes, bookbag. Was there anything else Klug was supposed to have on him? Like, ever…?

“Yes, I did!” Klug insisted. “Something important, in fact! Vitally important!”

“Oh.”

Sig had no idea what Klug meant by ‘vitally’, but he didn’t feel like asking… Ah, he really did feel tired. Like, more tired than his usual self. Actually, he felt pretty close to nodding off…

“Now, wait here, while I go and retrieve my, ahem, vitally important thing!” Klug instructed with outstretched pointing finger. “Don’t move from the spot until I am back! In fact, don’t do anything! Take a nap, if you want to!”

“…’Kay.”

Actually, that nap sounded like a wonderful idea. So wonderful, in fact, Sig decided to not point out how much Klug sounded like he was just trying to weasel his way out of giving a real explanation for what he was about to do, or how it made no sense that he asked Sig to stay out here if they could just go back to the hut together… Ahh, but who cared about that? Not him.

Good night. Eyes wide open, Sig said ‘bye’ to his conscious thoughts and let the sleepiness claim him.

…

Once he noticed his companion’s eyes glaze over as well as a clear reduction in the output of said companion’s magical aura, Klug waved a hand in front of the blue mage’s face, just to be sure that Sig really and truly was out like a light.

He was.

Good.

Grabbing on to his bookbag with the same sort of grip one usually reserved for the collar of a naughty child, Klug rushed back into the hut with the control panel, where he swiftly and angrily banged the door shut behind him and made sure it was sealed properly. Next, he ripped open his bag’s top flap, clamped on to the leatherbound volume sticking out from the mass of text- and notebooks, and smashed it onto a counter in front of him.

“I am going to rip you apart!!” he screamed at the tome, his voice breaking an octave.

In front of Klug, the book’s front cover opened of its own accord, an annoyed-looking little red figure poking its head out from between the pages.

‘Oh dear. Someone isn’t in the best of moods here, hm?’ the spirit mused. ‘You do realize that those empty threats of yours lose some of their power with every time you repeat them, don’t you?’

Klug was not in the mood to indulge the specter’s teasing.

“Leave Sig alone!” he hissed at the demon, smacking his hand flat onto the counter. “Don’t talk to him, don’t reveal your presence to him, don’t even look at him! Whatever connection or right you think you have to him is absolutely irrelevant as long as this book is in my possession and I decide what happens to it! Are we understood!?”

Rather than confirming compliance with Klug’s stipulations, the spirit scoffed at the boy. Its tone and expression were far from its usual mocking demeanor. Instead, they appeared surprisingly serious.

‘…So, you have decided you’d rather let him waste away slowly than see reason.’

Klug gnashed his teeth.

“I have decided that I don’t need your help or opinions to find a way to fix Sig’s predicament!” he growled.

‘Which is factually incorrect,’ the spirit replied. ‘As always, your ego is blinding you…. Tch, but what else to expect from a naïve child like you?’

*bam!*

Klug’s fist hit the pages, going straight through the spirit’s translucent form. He had tried to punch it. Even the demon was surprised.

“I’ve had enough of you and your jeering! So unless you’re ready to give me an actual solution to Sig’s problem, I won’t-“

‘There is no other solution,’ the spirit cut Klug off. ‘Whatever safeguards there were in place have been broken. Now time is running out fast.’

“But that doesn’t mean he has to-!”

‘Stupid boy, how much more time are you going to waste in denial!? I have told you and told you, there is nothing to be done! Unless I rejoin with the blue spirit, its body will burn itself out!’

“…!”

Without a word, Klug smacked the book shut pressing his hands down onto the cover and his own eyes closed.

He could feel his body tremble, every single, tense muscle. He had to keep reminding himself to breathe, in and out, in and out. Else, he would have just let himself freeze up where he stood entirely, hoping that time would freeze along with him. Because then, he would have more time. Time to think, time to do research, time to find a solution, another one, one he could accept! Because he couldn’t accept what the tome was telling him. He just couldn’t.

Failure in his ambitions had never been an option to Klug, and it definitely wasn’t now.

“H…How much time do we have left?” Klug asked the closed book.

‘A day, maybe two. That is, if he eats, sleeps and saves his strength. Which will be difficult, as he has never had to actively regulate his magical output before. I doubt he knows how to hold back.’

That was okay because Sig wouldn’t use magic. Klug would make sure he wouldn’t. If anything, he could do that. Two days was… workable. He could gather plenty of information in that time, maybe even conduct some experiments, write some spells of his own...

In any case, standing around here and yelling at this troublesome tome wouldn’t help anyone. While he really had no surefire way to make sure it wouldn’t attempt to contact Sig again, he could hope that his stern talking to would keep the darn thing quiet for at least a while. Hissing at it one more time (with all the intimidative force of a baby tiger), Klug packed the tome away again and left the hut, heading back to the park gates.

Maybe he should have carried the book under his arm, as he usually did in any other situation. If he had carried it closer to his body, he would have been able to sense the shift in magic in the area through it. Then he would have been prepared for what he saw when he returned to the spot where he’d left the sleeping Sig:

A figure stood right in front of Sig, mustering him closely from top to bottom, until her eyes rested on one of his hands with great curiosity. That person then reached out to touch the napping boy’s arm.

It was the fake Arle. It just had to be! Even if right now, for some reason, her aura felt exactly the same as the real Arle’s, when it hadn’t before, it still was the only explanation. After all, why would the real Arle be examining Sig in such a creepy manner! Why would she try to touch him before trying to talk to him, like a normal person? It was all very suspicious. And because it was, Klug knew that he had to do something before that dangerous lady could do anything with or to Sig. He hadn’t been investing so much energy into preventing Sig from burning through his magic reserves today, only to have him abducted or worse by an enemy of Primp Town!

He quickly retrieved the spellbook from his bookbag and channeled his power through it,

“Fossa!”

Klug’s spell struck the ground between Sig and the unsettling, young woman. The earth shook, then split apart, forming a crater between them.  The Doppelganger was taken aback, she gasped, stumbled and fell into the crack in the pavement. Sig, on the other hand, toppled over onto the ground like a ragdoll, yet stayed fast asleep, snoring loudly to underline that fact. O-oh dear… He really had been rather powered-out, hadn’t he?

Anyway, no time to think about that! Tome in hand, Klug rushed over to the hole in the ground he had created and looked into it.

“T-That takes care of you!” he shouted down, not happy with how his own attempt to sound confident had failed right at the start.

While it was difficult to make out her face in the dark, Klug swore he could see the young woman’s expression change from bafflement to anger as she starred back up at him from down in her trap. If looks could kill, Klug would be full of the daggers her two golden-hazel eyes flashing were shooting him right now with their red flashing – a fact that he gulped at the moment he recognized it. A shiver ran down his spine.

“Who do you think you are, kid!?” Arle’s Doppelganger snarled at him. “Tch! Is this how you treat a friend?”

Suppressing the urge to voice his current state of mind in a succinct ‘meep’, Klug straightened his back and cleared his throat.

“E... Excuse me? I don’t recall making friends with the likes of you! I believe I know how to choose my company better than that, thank you very much!”

“If you know what’s good for you, you will help me out of this crater, right now!”

“Tch, forget it! You’ve caused us plenty of trouble already as is! ...Ah, plus!” something occurred to Klug. He tugged his glasses and smirked. “If I set a beacon now so Lemres can come and apprehend you... I’ll get the credit for taking you out, once and for all! Ahyahyahya~! Yes, that sounds good! Down in the hole you stay!”

“...Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Before he could even ask what she meant by that, the Doppel reached under her cape, seemingly trying to touch an item she was keeping there, then snapped her fingers.

“Warp.”

The girl disappeared in a flash of light. Klug gasped.

“W-Wha-!”

Oh shoot! Come to think, she’d used a teleportation spell already back the other day, right? Stupid! Stupid, stupid, he should have known this would happen! Alarmed, Klug whirled around, grasping tightly to the Tome of Sealing and trying to sense which way the magic had flowed. He soon found the Doppelganger again, standing dramatically perched on top of one of the surrounding rides.

“H-Hey! That’s not fair!” Klug called out without thinking when he saw how easily she’d taken the high ground. His opponent found that exclamation strangely amusing.

“Hah! ‘Not fair’, you say?!” The other Arle faked a laugh, then glared down at him, “I will tell you what’s ‘not fair’! Spending an eternity trapped in-between worlds, only to be rejected by everyone you’ve ever known or were supposed to know when you finally make it out!”

...Trapped … in-between worlds? What was she talking about? Was that what she was planning to do to him? Wait no, somehow this sounded much more... personal.

“Anyway, your friend’s powers are interesting. Let me take another look at him.”

At once, Klug shook off his apprehension, “You stay away!”

Undaunted by the purple boy’s command, the girl jumped off the structure she was on, making a dash towards Sig. Klug flipped the Tome of Sealing open,

“Nebula!”

His attack, aimed specifically to keep her from continuing her path, struck by her feet. She shrieked and backed away in a leap. Of course, the setback was temporary. Seconds later, she was right back on her way. Except Klug, wasn’t done yet.

“Ignis! Tectonics! Stella Innerans!”

Hop, hop, hop, the other Arle stayed on her feet, dodging the incoming attacks, and, to her chagrin, getting further and further away from her target as she did. Angrily she clenched her teeth and whirled around to hiss at Klug,

“You little…!”

Meep! That face again! Why did that woman look so terrifying? No, no, no, keep it together, Klug, he told himself. This wasn’t the time to lose his nerves, what with no backup in sight and all. Sure, the damage he was doing with the few spells that actually did hit her wasn’t exactly awe inspiring, but-

…

Wait. ‘Damage’…?

Klug’s eyes grew wide at the realization. Right… Right, the way she backed off! Those shrieks! He was doing… actual damage to her!

In the blink of an eye, the boy’s meager confidence in his attempts to repel the enemy’s approaches rocketed from maybe 5% to a decent 55%. This… this could work! Maybe… maybe he could…!

Incidentally, this was also the moment when Doppelganger Arle decided to change her target for the time being.

“You and your low-spec spectacles are really starting to get on my nerves! Ghh… Looks like somebody needs their number of eyes reduced by two…!”

Oh, of course. Jokes about the glasses. Har, har, like he hadn’t heard that before. Geez, for someone so terrifying, that lady sure was uncreative… Of course, that didn’t leave him any less in terror when he saw her suddenly come charging his way!

“Abyss! Chaos!”

“Y-YIIIKES!”

On his feet and off our bespectacled boy went, towards the park’s outer walls and out the gates. Back when he was up on the wheel-shaped ride, he saw that there was a small grove right outside the park’s fence. If he could get there and dive into the shrubbery, maybe that would throw her off his trail for long enough to formulate a plan to strike back…!

It was a long shot, but it was really all he had right now. Quite honestly, he’d been out of ideas from the moment she’d shown up before him, and improvisation had never been Klug’s strong suit. Then again, neither had running.

If there was ever a time he cursed himself for never taking up Raffina on her dumb taunts to ‘stop skipping leg day (and arm day)’, it was probably now. Barely out in the open he already started to feel out of breath, feeling the reverberation of every step he took on the wide, open plane of grey pavement painted with odd, white symbols that separated the park from the greenery he was aiming for. It wasn’t just his general lack of fitness that was causing this. Casting spells without relying on Puyos to power them was definitely getting to him. It was draining, surprisingly much so, and made him feel hungry and unfocused. While he still had some of the jellybeans Lemres had given him earlier, he didn’t exactly have the time to stuff some into his mouth right now. That would have to wait for later.

‘If there is a ‘later’,’ mused a bookbound soul with an odd amount of Schadenfreude.

“S-Shuddup!” Klug coughed out. Gah, why was that book only ever talkative when he didn’t want it to be?

By the time he made it across the concrete field, the place had quite a few new holes, courtesy of the magic a certain cape-wearing lady had been flinging all over the place. Klug gulped at the thought that each of those smoking craters in the ground could’ve been him. Hiding place, hiding place, hiding place…!

He made it to the grove. Diving into the second set of bushes he found (the first would’ve been too obvious), the boy curled up as small as he could and took short but heavy breaths, while also trying to be quiet while doing so. Don’t be found, don’t be found…

“Ufufufu… He~y, little friend? Where are you~?”

Her voice, echoing through the local flora… it sounded so deceptively sweet that it made its resemblance to Arle Nadja’s voice even creepier. Klug’s mind was racing. What could he do, what could he do? Usually, he’d long have called for help at this point, but there was nobody around… Except for Sig. And Sig couldn’t help. Him helping would only make everything worse.

Klug was on his own.

‘Well, not exactly… heh heh…’ a voice sounded out in his mind. ‘Have you forgotten about me already? Hah, I’m hurt.’

…Ignore the book. He didn’t have time for it right now, neither did he need its advice. No, he could do this without its nagging voice! Use it to cast spells, ignore its voice, deal with that pesky spirit later.

He could do this on his own. He could do this. He could do this…

“Come out, come out~! I know so many fun things that I could show you~. Wouldn’t you want to be my friend? Because I’d really like to be yours… ufufufu…”

Right, right, spells… He could damage her now. He had to fight. Even if she was terrifying…

Trying to ignore the tension all throughout his body, Klug gathered energy. He focused in any way he could, reciting the full incantation of the spell he meant to cast in a hushed whisper,

“The planet’s might, gravity strike, unseen force that bends time and light…!”

“Hm?”

‘Arle’ turned her head. Had a little boy’s voice just reached her ears, perhaps? A smirk spread on her face. Ah, these kids needed to learn a thing or two about stealth. Somehow, she got the feeling Primp Town’s magic students wouldn’t do so well trying to navigate your average dungeon. Anyway, she turned around, approached the bushes-

“VIS ATRAHENDI!”

Suddenly she felt a powerful energy grip her body so tightly, she could barely breathe. Before ‘Arle’ knew what was happening or how to stop it, her feet were ripped off the ground, the magic violently dragging her through the small forest until she soon hit and smashed into a large, old tree.

“G-GaaAAAAHHH!!”

The pain in her back was only rivaled by the pain in her ego. T-That brat!

Klug was out of the bush now. No use cowering in there still if he’d already made his presence known. Now he had to keep up the barrage. If he worked quickly, maybe he could take her out before she could strike back…!

He gathered as much power as he could handle at once,

“Starlight! Ursa Major! Prominence!”

The opponent girl’s eyes were wide when she saw the boy go all out like that. Tsk! It seemed she had to take off the silk gloves… as much as she hated going tough on a little kid like that.

“Void Hole! Illusion! Eclipse!”

The first spell absorbed the brunt of Klug’s incoming attacks. The second concealed her location, taking the boy aback for a moment, and then the second was an attack of her own. All Klug saw was a flash of dark magic, descending upon him from above.

He forced himself to focus and not freeze up. ‘Eclipse’, she said? Well, two could play at that game!

“Defectio Lunae!”

A wall of light-consuming dark power blast into the path of the Doppelganger’s magic. Two charms, both deriving their power from the moon, pushed against each other, struggling to reflect one another back at the source. Back and forth, back and forth they pushed, both mages firmly planting their feet into the ground as they pushed more and more of their magic power into their spells. ‘Arle’ summoning the power of the sun with her large, internal magic reserves, versus Klug, calling onto the powers of the earth with his far more modest initial potential, though enhanced by the magnifying powers of the Tome of Sealing…

In the end, natural talent won out. ‘Defectio Lunae’ broke and shattered, leaving the boy entirely unprotected from ‘Eclipse’. The taste in the boy’s mouth the moment he realized that he hadn’t been able to subvert the enemy’s attack was… incredibly bitter.

“Ah… AHHHHHH!”

The Doppelganger’s spell hit and hit hard. This time it was Klug who found himself thrown against an object behind him, a boulder, to be exact.

And there went his confidence, back down from 55% to maybe 1% or 2%. W-What had he been thinking? Trying to take on that woman on his own?! Idiot! Stupid, stupid, stupid! He should just have set a beacon when he had the chance and prayed for Lemres to come and, by some miracle, find Klug quickly enough to save him! Now Klug didn’t know if he could even still do that much. That last spell, he put so much of his energy into it, he felt basically empty now. His mind was swimming, he felt starved and tired and had a stabbing headache…

Why… Why’d he have to try and see if he could do it by himself? Because it had been an emergency, and she was threatening Sig? Or because of the credit he could have gotten had he actually succeeded in defeating her?

…Well. Not like it mattered much now. That woman was walking up to him, eyes glaring, flashing red. He heard her mutter, “Diacute”. She was already gathering power for her next spell. Trembling, Klug whimpered and pressed his eyes shut.

(T-That’s it…? That’s as far as I go…?)

He pressed his book tightly to his chest.

(S-So… I’m gonna die here, huh…? Ahah… hahaha…)

Out in another world, in some unimportant little thicket, where there was no guarantee his body would ever be found. He couldn’t even be sure there would be a grave to remember him by…

This was… the worst…

‘It doesn’t have to end this way, you know.’

The voice of the red demon rung in Klug’s mind.

‘You may have used up your power, but I still have plenty of mine. I will win this battle, I am certain… If I am the one to fight it.’

(… I… I don’t want to… I don’t…)

‘Well, then are you alright with perishing here? Out in nowhere’s land, never having done anything of value with your life? Don’t be a fool. You know that I don’t really have any interest in your body and life. If you cooperate, you might get to keep them. Hm~ hm~…’

(If I cooperate… but, I… you… Sig…)

…If it had a body to move around with of its own, what would it do to Sig?

‘But if you refuse, this really is where you end.’

The book’s leather covers radiated warm energy under his fingers. It was as if it was trying to convince him of its claims. Klug found the warmth compelling. Anything was better than imagining the cold embrace of death, a nothingness where all his efforts would go to waste and there was no more “progress” to be made, no more “being looked at”, and no more “future”.

It made it easy to forget about the next couple hours, and about Sig.

“A…Alright!” Even though some small, insignificant part of him still wanted to resist, Klug forced the words out of his dry throat. “Do what you want with me! I don’t care anymore! I… I just don’t want to die!!”

‘Ahahaha….’

The words weren’t magic, but they were meaningful, like the key to unlocking a set of chains. There was no use in trying to reach out to a vessel that would only slap away the grasping hand before it could even try to force itself through whatever tiny opening the book’s seal had left for him to observe the outside world.

But with a willing host, things became a tad easier.

It also helped that today the usually tiny window leading outside the book was large and more accessible than it had ever been before. Like this, maybe he would be able to make his way through, even without the blessing of the Sun’s Bookmark. Maybe, in its unusually weakened state, the book wouldn’t claim his soul again immediately before he had a chance to latch on to the boy’s mind…

Ah, there.

He did it. He grasped, held on, pulled himself through.

It worked.

“…”

And there they were, those sensations. The cold nighttime air around him, the moist dirt under his fingers, the hard rock pressing against his back. To anyone else such feelings might have been uncomfortable, but with how rare they had been to him these past centauries, he found them refreshingly pleasant.

The demon chuckled.

“Ahaha… Hahahaha…!”

The sound of ‘his’ voice made the approaching sorceress stop in her tracks. Surprised, she lowered her hands and observed the ‘boy’ before her, as he stood up from the ground and stretched as if he had just gotten out of a particularly uncomfortable bed. That done with, the demon, sighed, snapped his fingers and willed his cloak to materialize itself on his shoulders. Finally, he threw off the boy’s hat and shook his hair loose.

“Ahh… Much better,” he said to himself, satisfied.

‘Arle Nadja’ raised an eyebrow, “Who are you?”

“Hmpf. I don’t believe that knowledge will serve you any purpose. But if you really have to know,” showing his flair for the dramatic, the demon flicked his cloak a little. “I am the one that was sealed away inside the book this boy carried.”

“Aha, so that’s what it was,” the girl seemed fascinated, but not at all scared. “I did think I felt some sort of ‘presence’ from that thing. Hm…”

‘Arle’ thought through that new information. It was unexpected, to be honest. Tch, she’d really hoped to get her hands on that kid at least, but if he wasn’t even really ‘there’ anymore, that defeated the point. She was only interested in “Arle’s friends”, after all, and it didn’t seem like this spirit was one of them. Oh well...

“So…” the sorceress tilted her head. “What now?”

“Now,” the demon smirked and raised an arm. “We battle.”

“Huh? Battle you? I am not particularly interested in that, to be honest. Really, you can just leave, if you want.”

The demon, however, sighed, “Unfortunately for you, that won’t be happening. I have business to settle with you.”

“Hm?”

“The other boy you expressed interest in earlier happens to be intricately important to me. So, seeing as us battling for him as soon as we return to the park from earlier is clearly inevitable, I figure it would make more sense to dispose of you right here and now and save us both the needless trouble.”

“Oh? Is that so? …Ufufufu…”

The Doppelganger Arle laughed. Now, this was getting surprisingly interesting! The encounter with the unknown and the many unexpected twists and turns of such tales had always been the part of adventuring she enjoyed the most. So, why not have a little fun with this odd person while she was at it?

“Very well then. I am not known to reject a challenge,” she took a stance. “Come, entertain me!”

“Likewise!” the demon laughed and gathered power. “Rejoice, girl! You shall have the rare honor of witnessing my power!”

Somewhere in the darkness, in a place that at once felt far more familiar and far more alien than it had any right to, a dizzy, little spirit slowly came to, blinking and squinting to make out its surroundings. He could recall what had just happened, but this was all still strange, strange, much too strange.

“Where… where am I?”

Even after all this time, Klug clearly remembered what the inside of the Tome of Sealing had felt like, and this wasn’t it.  

Bonus:

Philia DeLune

Age: ??

Blood Type: ??

Zodiac Sign: ??

Special Skill: Juggling lots of small balls

Favorite Thing: Clear, sunny days and full-moon nights

Least Favorite Thing: Long words

A sorceress who ran into Lilith and Lucifer while the two of them were raiding a "Palace of the Lord". She wears ceremonial clothes of some sort, but why? Appears to come from a different world...

She is proud of her name, which, in her world's old language, means "friend". 

Chapter Text

The sorceress cocked her neck a little, letting out a small “Oh…” as she traced the golden markings on the floor with her fingers. It had been a while since she’d seen a spell-circle, and this was a particularly large one at that. By the shape of the central hexagram, she could tell that it had a warp function, but the actual spell in the outer ring was written strangely, portions of it looking more like gibberish than meaningful words. In fact, she was sure that some of the symbols weren’t even actual runes.

Arle stood up and tried to get a better look of the writing. Maybe she could decipher at least some of it?

“Bring… the second desire… entirety … into …?”

Nope, still made no sense. Arle tilted her head again. Maybe she was looking at it from the wrong angle?

“Don’t even bother,” Schezo told her. He seemed to be picking up something from the floor. Arle thought she saw golden dust fall from his fingers in thin flakes, “The spell has been tampered with by someone who clearly either couldn’t or had no time to correctly adjust the runes. It is nonsense, for the most part.”

“But if it’s nonsense, then what did it do?” Arle turned to Schezo, her hands resting on her hips. “I mean, we can both tell that somebody did use this thing, right?”

“Gugu, gu gu!”

Schezo stayed silent for a moment, looking over the ring of runes again for himself. Finally, he gave Arle his opinion,

“The teleportation component of the spell is well enough intact. Though, it appears its priorities were altered. Rather than bringing the user to the first place on their mind, it would probably have brought them to their second most desired location.”

“Wow, that sounds like it could go super wrong. I mean, when do people ever consciously thinks about what the place they’d ‘second most’ want to go is?”

“That’s not all. Do you see this section? I believe it was supposed to be some sort of emotional manipulation magic…”

“Huh?”

Arle took a step closer to the spot Schezo was pointing at and looked at it for herself. Soon her eyes grew a little wider. Sure, the letters were smudged a bit with weird, golden dust, but… She totally knew those words!

“But… Hey! That’s the full incantation for Bayoen!”

How could she not recognize these runes? That spell was one of her specialties, after all! What was even stranger, though, was that it was written almost exactly the way she would have written it if she’d had to integrate it into a ritual like that, grammatical style, lack of flourishes, placement of sigils, and all. Well, except for some small details, that is.

“Look at all those boost sigils… Whoever got hit with this would have definitely gone into a complete emotional meltdown! Like, this could totally break a person for good!”

Arle shuddered. This was just insane. Who would ever use this spell like that? It was just cruel.

“Well, whatever the caster’s aim was, it probably did not work,” Schezo showed Arle his finger, which was covered in the same golden dust she saw on the floor. “Some of the runes were covered up or altered. Before I removed this powder, the spell read ‘Bayohira’.”

“Huh? Bayo…hira? That’s not a real spell! What would that even do?”

“Well, between the two of us, you are far more familiar with Bayo Magic,” said Schezo, folding his arms. “So, Arle Nadja? What do you believe a hypothetical spell called ‘Bayohira’ would do?”

“Heh? Like… I’m supposed to just make something up? Um…”

Arle scratched the back of her head. Really now? It wasn’t as if she’d never tried her hand at spell-writing before, but still, this was so sudden! Would this actually help them figure out what had happened here?

“Well, let’s see… ‘Bayoen’ debilitates the target emotionally, ‘Bayo-Bayo’ debilitates their whole body, ‘Bayohihihee’ debilitates the magic they cast… Ah! Bayohihihee! Bayohira! That’s similar! Okay, I think I got it. It would have to be a spell that debilitates magic!”

Schezo nodded, “And the rune ‘ra’ in the ancient tongue often refers to previously existing states… Thus, it follows: The hypothetical ‘Bayohira’ would be a spell that debilitates already existing enchantments.”

“A charm-breaker then! Well, if that spell was actually a thing, haha.”

Arle smiled weakly. She still wasn’t sure if this was actually a useful conversation they were having here. After all, she’d never heard of just mixing and matching already existing spells to make a new one before. Was that even possible?

“You may laugh now, but it is very possible that even this mangled spell did, in fact, have an effect,” stated Schezo, as if to answer her thought. “Given who we believe its user was, and the power they currently wield…”

Her mouth forming a slight o-shape, Arle remembered what Schezo meant. Right, they’d determined a while ago that whoever drew these glyphs must’ve been a denizen of their native world, and seeing how nobody they knew would’ve had a reason to use a complex spell like this in the middle of the woods…

“Is that ‘Material Gem’ my Doppelganger took really this powerful?” she asked.

Schezo looked at her from the corner of his eye, “So you really don’t know the stories?”

“Nope, not at all. I mean, I got the gist that it’s an important magical artefact, but…”

“Ages ago, in a world that has long ceased to exist,” Schezo began speaking, getting up from his crouched position and standing tall in front of Arle. “It is said there was a war waged between the Demiurge, creator of the world, and the ‘wicked’ forces that opposed his rule. In order to turn the tides of battle in their favor, the leaders of the wicked took to stealing the source of the Demiurge’s power: The Keeper’s Treasures. This collection of forbidden magic is said to have consisted mostly of magical crystals, such as the Flame Garnet or the Rubelcrack Gem…”

“Huh? You mean… Carby?”

“Gu!”

“The crown jewels of the collection, however, were four crystals of especially impressive might: The Material Gem, Iolith, the Dimensional Gem, Onyx, the Gem of Heart, Korund, and the great treasure that rules over all of the others and thus, all of creation: The Seraphim Orb.”

“The Seraphim Orb…” Arle repeated to herself, letting the words slowly roll off her tongue. She didn’t know why, but for some reason she felt this unfamiliar term resonate with something far, far in the back of her head.

“According to ancient verbal tradition the Seraphim Orb was used to win the war and the world was reborn anew, the Demiurge banished to its flipside. However, as Iolith, Onyx and Korund combined held enough power to possibly subvert and even undo the miracles of the Seraphim Orb, the wicked saw it necessary to seal these Gems away, far beyond the Demiurge’s grasp, to make sure he could never use them to restore the old world-order. Thus, they were sent to the Otherworld.”

“And that ‘Otherworld’ is here?” asked Arle.

“It would appear so,” Schezo crossed his arms. “I was quite surprised myself. However, once I came across legends regarding the Keeper’s Treasures in this world as well, there was no doubt. Yes, it is quite clear… This world and our world have a very intricate, complicated relationship status… Much like you and myself! Mhmhm~.”

“Y-You were doing so well… If you’d only left out that last part…!”Arle’s previously intently solemn expression had been replaced by an awkward smile.

Schezo stepped back, “W-Why! What did I say!?”

“…Never mind that. So, what I’m getting from this is that this world is the “Otherworld” to our world… and then our world is probably the “Otherworld” to this world, right?”

“Yes, precisely.”

“But… what’s an ‘Otherworld’?” Arle cocked her head a little. “I’ve heard of the term before, the spellbook that taught me how to use Owanimo said something about it as well. Something about how it’s where Puyos go when they are popped… But why is it that way? Why is it here, and not somewhere else? Why is this world the only place we ever get transported to when something goes wrong during a Puyo battle and nobody interferes?”

Schezo raised a finger and half-opened his mouth as if he were about to answer Arle’s question. However, he froze up halfway through the gesture and then said nothing. For a couple of seconds, it was just the two of them blankly starring at each other.

“…You don’t know either, do you?” Arle deadpanned.

Schezo gasped, “I-It’s a complex matter! Mysterious, even! What I do know is that these worlds are tied to each other, much like-“

“Yes, yes, ‘much like the red string of fate that ties you and I together’, I get it.”

“Don’t finish my sentences for me!”

Arle rolled her eyes a little.

“So, what we do know is that that Gem was originally in our world, and then it was sent to this one. And now my Doppelganger has it, and she probably used it to power this spell-circle here. Which would mean she sent herself and maybe someone else somewhere and maybe spell-broke… something.” She paused and sighed. “Is it just me, or is this all still somehow incredibly unhelpful? We still don’t know where any of the people we’re looking for are right now!”

“However, we do know one thing now,” Schezo remarked. “The other you must have some sort of scheme. Else, it wouldn’t make sense to prepare a spell-circle as intricate as this one.”

“Great. So, if Amitie and the other really did run into her, they probably had an extra bad time, because she was prepared.”

“That may very well have been the case.”

“Ohhh boy…” Arle groaned and held her head in her hands. “This is getting to be a huge headache! Ugh, why can’t that other me make like me-me and go in totally unprepared for anything!”

This should probably have been the end of Schezo’s and Arle’s excursion into the forest. They would have secured the area with a barrier spell, went back to town to inform Ms. Accord and Akuma of what they found and then regrouped with the others to search for further leads. However, their stay ended up extended by an unlikely cause. An unexpected sound startled the two mages to attention.  A rustling noise in the bushes… A person? Somebody coming their way? Schezo drew his sword.

“Who goes there!?”

“Ah…”

The voice sounded dull, almost lifeless, and yet Arle immediately sensed familiarity when she heard it. Wait, could it be…? The young sorceress stepped forward to get a better look at who was approaching her and Schezo.

Out of the shrubbery stepped a girl around Arle’s age, lush, golden locks tied up in a large ponytail in the back of her head with a big, red bow. She wore the robes common of magic students back in their own world. Arle’s eyes grew wide.

“…Lala!”

The ponytail girl slightly raised her head, “Arle…”

It didn’t take long for Arle’s surprise to be replaced by genuine joy. A wide smile spread on her face as she ran forward to greet the ponytail girl.

“Whoa! It sure has been a while! I’d never thought I’d ever see you here! How have you been?”

Schezo moved to interrupt the joyous reunion, “Arle, do you know this woman?”

“Ah, that’s right, you never met her, did you? Schezo, this is Lala! We go way back, you know! Rulue and I went to school with her back in our own world!”

“Someone from our world…?”

“Lala, this is Schezo! Professional creeper!”

“You don’t get to assign me professions like that!”

Arle didn’t let Schezo’s predictable reaction to her teasing interrupt her. Instead, she kept talking and talking to Lala, like a waterfall.

“Oh stars, there’s so much stuff I gotta tell you about! You’re never gonna believe everything that’s happened since we last met. Anyway, now that you’re here, I just gotta show you around! There’s so many people I’d love you to meet. Like, this one girl, who’s just as intense about her crush as you, I bet you’d get along! Oh, or that one boy who’s just as serious about studying magic as you! I’m sure you’d have a lot to talk about- Ah, he’s not here right now, right. But, anyway! Look, I know you never got into Puyo-battling and all, but everyone here is totally crazy for Puyo Puyo! You really have to at least give it a try now, okay?”

By the time Arle’s rant ended, she was holding Lala’s hand, fully expecting the blonde to grip back and shake. However, that didn’t happen. Likewise, when Arle paused her speech, waiting for a reply from Lala’s side, the other sorceress remained silent. For a short while Arle passed this off to herself as her old friend simply being too stunned to answer – she had only just gotten to this world, so, clearly, she had to be overwhelmed, right? – however, almost a minute passed and the blonde mage remained silent, blankly looking at her former classmate’s face. Slowly, but surely, Arle grew worried.

“…Lala?”

“Gu…!” From her shoulder, Arle could hear Carbuncle’s make tense, warning noises. “Gugu! Gu!”

“Huh? Carby, what-“

“Arle…”

Lala’s voice still wasn’t any bit more emotive than before. Arle turned her attention back to her. The other girl was still starring at her with empty, dull eyes, face unreadable like a blank sheet of paper.

“Arle… is my friend… and my rival…That is how it is… That is… How she wants it…”

“How I… want it?” Arle pulled her hand away from Lala. She took a step back. “L-Lala…? What are you talking about…?”

“I have to fight… for Arle… for the real Arle… who is my friend, my rival… so that’s who she can be… forever and ever…”

Something was wrong, so deeply, deeply wrong, Arle felt it in her heart, in her senses, through the way Carbuncle had tensed up on her shoulder and, finally, reaffirmed by Schezo stepping forward with his blade held high.

“Arle! Get back!”

“H-Huh? But… What is-“

“She is about to assault you!”

Schezo’s warning came not one moment to early. There already was a spell on ‘Lala’s lips.

“…Gli Amanti.”

Heat. Two flames, one blue, one red, descending and bursting like grenades. Arle managed to get out of the way, but it was so close! Just a moment later, and she would’ve been burned.

“Gah-! L-Lala!” Arle called again, this time louder. “What’s the big idea! What are you doing!?”

“Why do you even feel the need to ask!?” Schezo called, half-mocking. “Clearly, something is wrong with her!”

“Lala…!”

It wasn’t as if Arle hadn’t gotten the same idea as Schezo already, but she still had trouble wrapping her mind around the situation. Running into an old school friend so suddenly, in this world, just to be attacked in such an out-of-nowhere, creepy way? Why was this happening, what did it mean? Was this even Lala? It had been so long since they last met, she wasn’t really sure what Lala’s magic felt like anymore… What if it wasn’t her? What if it was? What would happen if they fought…?

…Arle soon realized that at very least the last question would be answered, whether she wanted it to be or not. Standing between the girls, Schezo had summoned his power and cast Owanimo.

“Hm, hm... This ‘Lala’ has never fought using Puyos before, you say?” Schezo smirked. “This should be a quick victory!”

Arle’s eyes were wide and her face turned pale.

What… what if this really was Lala…?

Primp Town, far in the back of a certain witch’s shop. A cauldron bubbled and boiled, a draconic girl wriggled and squirmed. Witch was taking scale-samples from Draco’s wings, and Draco didn’t like it, a fact she made sure everyone in vicinity was aware of.

“Ugh…! Y-You can’t do this to me! What if you leave a scar!? Beach season’s coming up, and if you force me to go with a one-piece swimsuit this year, I’ll NEVER forgive you! Roar!”

“Would you relax? You and I both know that dragons don’t scar. Besides, the more you squirm, the less pleasant this is going to be, so hold still.”

Witch held back a question about how a blemish on her *wings* could possibly affect Draco’s choice of swimsuit. That was one rant she really didn’t feel like listening to.

While this was going on, Rulue and Raffina stood in the shop’s entry hall, talking. Witch had just brought the two of them up to speed with current events regarding Arle’s Doppelganger as well as Sig, and that explanation had included a lot of information they had yet to digest.

“Tch… I knew all along that there was something unsavory about that geek’s book. But I had no idea that it had anything to do with Sig’s left arm… That explains so much and yet so little…”

“Well, this certainly explains the dark mage’s interest in those children,” Rulue scoffed. “And there I was thinking it was just Schezo’s usual perverted self coming out. Turns out it was actually his usual power-hungry self.”

“Wait, that guy was, um, ‘interested’ in Klug and Sig? Really?”

“Mostly the blue boy. I believe he once mentioned that he had ‘considered’ pursuing the purple one for his spell book once, but upon encounter he – and I quote – ‘found that brat so insufferable, the book couldn’t possibly be worth enduring his presence for more than ten seconds’.”

“Yes, that sounds like Klug alright,” Raffina sighed. “Tch… he was the one who went after Sig with Amitie. The one time four-eyes decides to make himself useful and, of course, it turns out to be the worst possible thing he could have done! If that book goes off while he’s close to Sig, they’re both in immense trouble, right?”

“It does seem so. Hmpf. I wonder if that boy is even aware of the danger.”

“Oh, I bet you, he knows. He clearly doesn’t mind that carrying that thing around is a risk to his own safety, so why would he care about Sig’s?”

While Raffina certainly wasn’t a saint herself, Klug’s egotism was legendary throughout the entire school. When given the chance between high-tailing out of danger or saving a bystander, he would always go for high-tail, no question. That is, unless a reward of some kind was involved, of course… Raffina sighed. It wasn’t as if she thought of Klug as outright dangerous, but the guy was fundamentally a coward. Whatever magical shenanigans Amitie and Sig had gotten themselves into, four-eyes being along for the ride was not good news. Tch. And here she was, back in this shop, unable to help…

Wait. What was she thinking? This had nothing to do with her!  Why should she care what kind of trouble the kids from class A had gotten themselves into this time? Sure, the whole situation was a lot messier and maybe even more dangerous than she’d first expected, but that didn’t mean she had to care! None of this was her problem!

…Besides, it was Amitie, Sig and Klug. They would be fine. They always came back fine in the end. They always did. It wouldn’t be different this time… would it?

 “Calm your worries, Raffina,” Rulue read the girl’s expression. “Now that the Dark Prince’s forces are out there scouting for the other Arle properly, I am sure we have nothing further to fear from her.”

“I-I’m not worried about anyone.” Raffina claimed, scoffing.

“Then, perhaps, you are worried about something?”

“...About how all this nonsense will interfere with my beauty routine, maybe.”

“How about another night of training and spa once we have put this behind us, then? Hm, hm~. This time the treat is mine.”

“You mean it? Yes, alright!”

What a heavenly prospect! Rulue always knew how to cheer her up. Great minds think alike, she supposed. With the thought of another session of all-around self-improvement waiting at the end of this ordeal, Raffina found herself reenergized and full of new motivation.

“Well, what are we waiting for? While the witch is doing her thing, we should proceed with ours! Let’s go over our leads one more time!”

Rulue nodded and began listing everything they had on her fingers, “Well, let’s see... We know the fake Arle is magically undetectable, while the boy with the hair-antennas stands out strongly...”

“But neither of us can naturally detect magic... So that won’t help,” Raffina bit her lip.

Rulue continued undeterred, “The girl with the red hat and the boy with the book left to track down the boy with the hair-antennas, and the boy with the antennas was seen with what we can assume to have been the fake Arle. All of these people are currently M.I.A. So, it follows that they are most likely all currently in the same place.”

“Amitie and the others might be on the run from that fake Arle...” Raffina still remembered how strong that girl had been. She couldn’t imagine her classmates holding their own against her for very long, so thinking of them avoiding combat with her was easier... Then again. “Ah, but Lemres might be with them as well! With his help, they might’ve just been able to edge her out, right?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Remember the information we got from Witch regarding the other Arle’s source of power.”

“That’s right! That jewel...”

Hmpf, just thinking about, Raffina felt a bit peeved. There had been a powerful, beautiful, magic-boosting jewel hidden underneath their school all this time, and she’d never known? Such blasphemy! That item sounded like made for her! ...But right now, the enemy had it. More uncertainty. More lip gnawing – Ah, wait no, stop. If she kept going like this, she’d break the skin, and then no lip gloss she applied would look quite right for the next couple of weeks! Calm, Raffina. Calm.

All would resolve itself. They just had to stay on top of this.

“Alright, on to the next question then: Do we actually know what that jewel can even do?” Raffina asked. “I mean, the witch said it was some manner of ‘material’ gem, but-”

“’Material Gem’ is its title!” somebody corrected. “Oh, and as for what it does, hm… Just about anything?”

“Anything…? Well, that doesn’t sound good at a- Huh! Wait! Who said that?”

“You’re right about that, Pinky! It’s no good at all! And, also…!” While Raffina was still whirling around, trying to locate the person talking to her and Rulue, a cloud of odd smoke had gathered around an eerie light in the room. Ecolo manifested, without giving the ladies any chance to prepare. “…Your chances finding your friends are looking pretty bad right now, too! Seeing how they’re not even in this world anymore and all!”

“Eek!” Raffina found herself involuntarily stumbling into the bookcase behind her. “Y-You…! You are…!”

For a few seconds, the young lady tried and failed to retrieve the information on what exactly she was looking at from her memory. She’d seen this… this thing before, she knew it, it was on the tip of her tongue, and yet-

Thankfully, he phantom soon took the burden of identification off her, “Ha~h… People who can’t remember my name are so bo~ring… Oh well! Hello, you guys! It’s me, Ecolo! Starts with an ‘E’, ends with an ‘O’, as in ‘Oh no, what did Ecolo do now!’ Hee, hee!”

“R-Right… You’re that thing, that…”

But, as Raffina still found it difficult to put her vague recollections into words, Rulue took over.

“The shadow that I spy conversing with the Prince from time to time…! What is it doing here?”

Hearing this description, Ecolo’s perma-smile dropped for a moment. His features pulled into a scowl.

“Wait, that I hang out with the old man sometimes is what you remember me for?? Geez, lady, you need to get your priorities straight! I’ve almost blown up the universe, like, twice now!”

“Answer the question! What do you want of us?”

Not impressed by Rulue’s commanding tone, Ecolo made a reverse somersault in midair and giggled, contorting his formless body into a position that only looked comfortable once he’d fully settled into it.

“Oh, I just thought I’d drop by and see how everyone over here is doing, seeing how you guys ended up scattered through spacetime this time around. At this rate, it’s gonna be reeeeaally hard to keep track of this adventure, huh?”

“Scattered through spacetime…?” Raffina muttered. “Wait, are you talking about Amitie and the others? You know where they ended up?”

“And that place would be… another world?” surmised Rulue. “Hmpf… Well, that would certainly explain why nobody has found them yet.”

“Yeah, I really didn’t expect that myself!” Ecolo giggled, seemingly amused by the plot-twist. “And because things are pretty serious right now, I wanted to come to gramps with the information right away, too! …Except, he bolted and flew off, the moment I brought up her! Tch, some people just don’t know how to treat their friends!”

Raffina, having finally regained her composure, did her best to keep up with the odd creature’s fast-paced, somewhat fragmented ramblings.

“‘Her’? Who do you mean by ‘her’? That doesn’t sound like you’re talking about Amitie…”

“Pff, of course I don’t mean Amitie, silly! Amitie isn’t the one behind this all! That’d just be weird!”

“Wait, the one behind it all…?” Rulue was catching on. “Then you must mean-“

“Yup! I’m talking about Arle! You know! The red one! …Well, or at least, she was pretty red, until she changed clothes, that is!”

Raffina and Rulue starred at each other, thoughts racing in both their heads. There was so much to unpack here. Firstly, what thus far had been only a theory about the whereabouts and actions of Arle’s Doppelganger for the past 24 hours had just seemingly been confirmed to them. Secondly, it appeared that, without even meaning to, they had just stumbled upon a large source of information about all the current going-ons in Primp Town, all hand-delivered to them gift-wrapped by a seemingly quite willing informant. Now, whether said informant was actually trustworthy was another question…

“You’re saying that the Prince refused to discuss the fake Arle with you? Why?”

“Ooooh~ I wouldn’t call her a fake, if I were you! She doesn’t like that at~ all~!” Ecolo giggled. “But if I had to guess, I’d say gramps probably just didn’t feel like talking about her to anyone. Since the two of them got a complicated history and all! Probably blames himself a bit for what happened to her, too. I mean, why wouldn’t he! She’s soooo furious with him!”

As cheerful as Ecolo seemed to recount all of this, his answers only gave Raffina and Rulue more questions. They briefly deliberated with each other, deciding who would provide the follow-up, and quickly decided that Rulue would keep doing the talking for now.

“How do you know all this?”

Ecolo did the closest gesture to rolling his eyes that his features would allow, “Of course I know! They’re my friends, after all!”

“Friends? Plural?”

“Yeah! The old man, and Arle. The displaced Arle, I mean. The two of us go waaay back!”

Raffina and Rulue exchanged glances. If this was true, then they had just found somebody who could possibly shed light onto everything about their mysterious attacker. Where she’d come from, who she was, what she was capable of, even her motivations! …Of course, that required them to deem this being trustworthy first.

“And why should we believe you?” Rulue asked.

Once again, Ecolo frowned, “Really? You’re going to be like that about it?”

“It’s just… We don’t really know you at all!” Raffina stated, arms crossed. “For all we know, you might be something she sent to confuse us and tell us lies! Yes, come to think, that would make a lot of sense!”

“Oh, come on! If I were lying to you, I wouldn’t be telling you all her deepest, darkest secrets now, would I?”

“Well, yes, you wouldn’t! …If those really are her deepest, darkest secrets, that is!”

“So, you want me to go deeper?”

“We need proof that you’re true! That’s all!”

“Hmpf! You’re not making helping you guys easy, Pinkie. What do you expect me to do? Down some truth serum from this shop and hope that it doesn’t make me explode?” Ecolo fell silent for a moment, before he started smirking. “…Then again, that actually kind of sounds like fun! Maaaybe I should, heehee!”

“Don’t make fun of us, shadow!” Rulue’s voice was stern. She pointed her fan at Ecolo. “If you know so much about the fake Arle, then why don’t you start by volunteering information that may actually be helpful in defeating her? Maybe then we’ll give you the time of the day! Maybe!”

Ecolo let out a loud, belligerent sigh. By now he seemed thoroughly annoyed. It was a miracle that he hadn’t just teleported away by now, in all honesty.

“Well, to start with, again: Not a fake. She’s the real deal, just as much as the Arle you guys know is! No tricks, no strings attached. She’s the same Arle Nadja you, Rulue, remember meeting in the forest and going to school with when you were younger! But the Arle you guys think is the ‘real’ one is, too!”

“That makes no sense! How is that even supposed to be possible!?” Rulue sneered.

“Why don’t you ask your ‘beloved Dark Prince’ about it?” Ecolo shot back. “He’s the one to blame for it, after all! …Well, not like he’d tell you, even if you did ask. It’s a pretty sore spot for him, I guess.”

“This all still just sounds like nonsense to me,” said Raffina. “If you ask me, I don’t think we can trust this one.”

“Yes, you said it! Someone who would blame this whole situation on the Dark Prince is not to be trusted!”

“Shock!” Ecolo shrieked out loud. “Is that what I get for trying to help!? You guuu~ys! I’m telling the tru~th!”

“Well, then! Where’s the proof!?” asked Raffina, pointing finger rudely flung out.

-Just that moment, Witch came bursting out of the backroom, Draco in tow, wildly waving around a vial in one hand,

“Guys! You’re never going to believe this! I analyzed the magical pattern of the person who last battled Draco, and it’s completely identical to Arle’s! The person Draco fought back in the market was Arle, no doubt about it! Even if I have no idea how that is poss-“

She stopped in her tracks when she finally took a better look at the scene in the entry hall before her. While Ecolo could have been mistaken for an optical illusion on first glance, his presence was not quite as easily denied on second or third glance. It stunned Witch and she forgot the rest of her sentence.

Meanwhile, Ecolo excitedly gestured at the witch and her vial,

“Ha ha! There. Proof! Is that gonna do it for you guys, or do I have to get really weird on you first?”

Two martial artists, a potion-brewer and a half-dragon all exchanged looks, unsure how process their current situation for various reasons.

“Hey, what are you writing?”

Emerald eyes wandering over the pages his quill slid across, she watched him and asked this question. Even just by observing her from the corners of his eyes he could tell that she was transfixed on his work.

“Everything,” he replied, matter-of-factly. “All that has happened and will ever happen.”

“Heh!? Are you writing the world, then?”

“No, I am merely recording it. Every event of significance that occurs in this or any other world will eventually be written down by me in this book.”

“Whoa…! And you can do that all by yourself?”

“It’s the purpose of my existence.”

The girl said no more, but mouthed words of amazement quietly by his side as her gaze remained fixed on his work. Though he attempted to maintain his focus, he found it harder and harder while knowing that she was looking over his shoulder. Eventually, he turned to face her.

“…Would you like to read a page?” he asked, hoping it would quell her curiosity.

The girl laughed, “Ah, I can’t, actually! But I think it’s really amazing how much effort you’re putting into it! I like watching that.”

“You can’t read…?”

“Um...“ she fell a little quieter. “Well, you know… Back home they always told me that there was no need for me to learn, because… y’know. So, I never did.”

“I see…” Somehow, hearing this made him a little sad for the girl. He deliberated with himself for a moment. “Would you like to be taught?”

She gasped. “You’d teach me?”

“It isn’t difficult to learn.”

“Really?”

“As far as I know, Lilith only learned to read and write fairly recently as well. If she could teach herself, I believe you too will pick it up quickly.”

The girl’s face brightened, “I wanna learn! Please, teach me!”

“Well then. Let us begin with…” he flipped through the heavy tome in his hands until he found a suitable section. “Ah, this paragraph should do nicely. Follow the text with your eyes as I read it to you, understood?”

“Alright!”

He made sure to speak slowly, and expended a small part of his power to make the letters light up successively, so she could follow the words as he read:

“Thus it came, that Lilith Claire, Protector Mankind and Inciter of Insurrection, began gathering allies among those called ‘Monsters’ and ‘Demons’ by the occupants of the celestial realm. Though the same in nature as the Celestials, these beings had been judged as fell and depraved by the order instated by the one who fashioned himself ‘Creator’ of this world, and, for this reason, it was simple for Lilith to move them to align themselves with her once she’d proven her power to them.”

“Um… What does ‘depraved’ mean…?”

“Corrupt and devoid of just morals.”

“And, um, what’s ‘instated’?”

“…We can start with something simpler, if this is too difficult for you.”

“No, no! Let’s keep going, please.”

“Very well…”

“Not only those that had been cast into darkness came to pledge their allegiance to the fearsome Lilith. An angel of the highest rank, Lucifer, Prince of the Morning Star, and a stray Prayer Maiden of the Otherworld, Philia DeLune, came to walk by her side and accompanied the formidable sorceress into battle as her comrades. Together they marched against the celestial stronghold of Midas-Solomon, and cast it into flames, until nothing but ashes remained of the fortress’ splendor and countless weapons.”

“…That makes it all sound so scary.”

Her words sounded much more inspired by genuine critique than by fear. He lifted his eyes from the book and looked at her.

“It is a retelling of what happened.”

“But doesn’t the way it’s written in that book kinda make it sound like Lilly and Luce were really mean and violent people? It doesn’t sound like them at all!”

He glanced away and adjusted his glasses by the bridge, “…I wrote the book.”

“Ah! S-Sorry!” The girl seemed genuinely embarrassed to have called the poor author out like that. “I’m just saying…! I think there’s nicer ways to talk about everyone!”

“How would you describe them?”

“Huh? Um, well…” she took a moment to think. Quickly, a smile painted her face. “Well… Lilly is… Kind of like a big sister? She’s super nice to everyone, even if she can be a bit pushy at times and likes to tease people when they’re being silly! And Luce, um… He’s honestly a bit weird, with how much he talks about himself and how great he is, but he’s really strong and reliable too, and always helps Lilly when she needs it, so I think he’s a good guy, probably!”

“And yourself?”

“Hm? Ah, I kinda thought what you wrote about me was pretty fine the way it was!”

He shook his head, “If I am making corrections, I want to be thorough. How would you describe yourself?”

“Um, eh… well…” She was fidgeting, unsure how to respond. It was the same state he saw her in whenever anybody praised her abilities. Her hands clammy, and her gaze lowered, she slowly gathered her thoughts. “I’m… really just glad to be here with everyone! I’d never have thought that a world as big as this one exists out there and needs help. I’m glad that I can help. And… everyone has been so nice. I just really love everyone here a lot!”

“That is not a description of yourself.”

“Eheheh… I just don’t have much to say about me, I guess!”

“Though you have so much to say about everybody else? I find that unlikely.”

“How about you? I could describe you first, maybe I’ll come up with something about myself while doing that!”

“Hm? Why? What for would you describe me?”

“Well, aren’t you going to put yourself in the book too?”

He once again adjusted his glasses, then looked away. Her question had taken him off-guard.

“My purpose is to write the chronicles, not to appear in them.”

“Huh? But that’s not right! You’re here too!”

“To observe. Not to participate.” he explained. “I record history, from the outside. I don’t have a place in it.”

“You said that you were writing down everything important that happened in that book, though!”

“Yes. So?”

“Well, then you should be in there, too!”

Stunned by her words, he fell silent for a moment. Never, not in eons, would he have expected for anyone, let alone a human, to make such a suggestion to him. Him? Significant to the path of the world? As far as he could think, his significance had always begun and ended with his role in recording the flow of time in the chronicles…

“Don’t you want to be in the story?” the girl asked him.

He looked away.

“That doesn’t matter”, he said.

“If you want to be, it does!” she retorted. “It’s like Lilly always says! Everyone should have a right to live their own life and have their own dreams!”

“That’s…”

“That’s why I think that you should put yourself into the story too… If that’s what you want to write about, of course!”

“What… I want to write about…?”

How had it come to this? He could no longer trace back the flow of the conversation; It absolutely eluded him. Humbled by the girl’s strange suggestions, he was surprised to realize that a part of his mind was now indeed humoring them. It was true; He had only ever written about the things he was supposed to write about, only ever using his talents to fulfill his duties… Even though a part of him had always craved for stories that hadn’t occurred yet in any world he knew of. Tales too fantastical to pen down in dry, factual language.

A part of him yearned to be told such tales by the pens of those with the imagination to fashion them. A part of him hungered to fashion such tales by his own power.

“I know, I shouldn’t be mean about it… I just really think that, since you’re here with us too, you should be in the story, just like everyone else.”

Her demands may not have been ‘mean’ in any way, but they had certainly put him under pressure. With a sigh, he set the heavy tome aside and pulled his legs closer to his body.

“Even if I were to acknowledge my presence in these events in my writing, there would be no given name to mention me by.”

“…Ah, that’s right! I don’t think I’ve ever heard your name before.”

He glanced at her, “I don’t have a name.”

The girl gasped, “Huh!? Really? How come?”

“It is the same as the reason for your illiteracy: I’ve never had a need for one.”

It was a simple statement of fact to him, but she looked as if she’d just been told of a tragedy. Her eyes big and sad, almost wet, she suddenly grabbed his right hand.

His large, scaled claw in her small, fragile fingers.

“But… You said you’d teach me!”

“Y-Yes… I did.”

“Then, that goes the other way around, too!”

“Hm…?”

“Your name!” she said, the kind, warm smile returning to her face. “I think I’ll call you-“

…A weird dream again.

He woke up with a gasp on a rocky concrete floor. It took a few moments until the world came back into focus, but when it did, it was all crisp and clear; The neon lights, the mismatched tracks of music blaring from all sides, the starry night sky above the park and the memories of the fun time he’d spent here with a friend not too long ago.

And yet, right now, his thoughts were with a different friend.

“…Amitie?”

Why did he feel like he’d seen her just now and like she’d been holding his hand just a moment ago? Because of the dream? Was the dream about Amitie? He wasn’t even sure. Everything had felt so strange and foreign again, he couldn’t really connect himself to it. And yet there was that feeling like she’d been smiling at him just moments ago, telling him to look out for himself.

“Amitie… Where are you right now…?” Sig wondered out loud to himself, running a claw through his hair and sighing.

Oh well. Klug was right; as long as Lemres was still with her, Amitie was probably fine. And Sig would be fine too. After all, as long as he wasn’t alone-

…

“Klug?” Sig called out. “Klug!”

No answer. Klug wasn’t there. What was going on? If Sig remembered right, then… Right! He’d heard a strange voice, told Klug about it, then Klug suddenly ran off, saying he had forgotten something, then Sig… fell asleep, he guessed? Well, there was a blank between then and now, so, yeah. Sleep, probably, that usually was what that meant. Then again, he wasn’t even really that sure what anything about himself meant anymore, with how weird he’d been feeling ever since the potion…

…A quick check down his body. Yep, black stuff everywhere. A quick check in his head. Yep, it still felt like his thoughts were going stupidly fast. Not back to normal then. Combine that with the absence of one bookworm classmate, that made the whole thing a double-bummer.

Sig liked nothing about this situation, no, not one bit. If he’d really been asleep for long enough for the sky to go completely dark, then Klug must’ve been gone for a while. Where’d he disappear to? His best guess was probably to check the place where the bespectacled boy had told him he’d go. Sig decided to head back to the small cabin with the buttons they used to open the gates.

The door was half-open when he got there and there was light inside, which seemed promising. He also thought he heard somebody’s footsteps. Was Klug really here? Sig’s hand was on the doorknob and he already had it pulled halfway open, when a voice reached his ears from inside- a girl’s voice.

“Look at that! Everything’s up and running! The rides are going, the gate is wide open… This has to be paranormal activity!”

“Oooor somebody just broke into the generator room.”

“Who would do that!”

“Dunno. A person?”

…Correction. Two voices. A girl and a boy. Neither of them Klug.

Sig had the door open now.

Two pairs of eyes had turned his direction and were now starring at him. He starred right back.

“Ah! An alien!!” shrieked the girl’s voice.

„I think that’s a person,” reason the boy’s voice.

Sig, however, stayed quiet for a moment. He’d suddenly found himself face to face with two people he’d never seen before: A tiny boy wearing a brown and beige hoodie with decorative horns on it and a collar pulled up so high it was impossible to see the lower half of his face, and a girl with straight, red-orange hair, held up by a large barrette in the shape of a-

“A Morpho!” Sig exclaimed without thinking about it.

“Whoa, the alien knows my favorite species! Amazing!” said the girl with the barrette, pointing at Sig. She had been pointing at him ever since he’d entered the room, actually.

“Hm? No, I just recognized your hair clipper,” Sig shook his head. “It’s a Blue Emperor Morpho, right? …Is that your favorite bug?”

“Huh! So well-informed!” The girl marveled at Sig’s recognition of the butterfly-design. “That’s right! My hair is held up by the greatest of all of our earthen animals, the marvelous Morpho Peleides! I am impressed that you recognized it, alien stranger!”

“Anzu, I still think that’s a person,” mumbled the small boy next to her.

“Yeah, I think I’m a person too,” said Sig. “Probably. Anyway, I don’t know about ‘greatest’, all bugs are pretty great. But I do like Blue Morphos! Their color is really nice.”

“Hm~ hm~! There is much more wonderful about this butterfly than just the color of its wings!” The girl chuckled. “After all, it is a symbol… A symbol of endless possibilities!”

“Huh?” Sig tilted his head a bit. Had he zoned out without realizing, or was what this girl was saying just really, really confusing?

“Don’t mind Anzu,” the small boy mumbled into his collar, replying to Sig’s expression. “She doesn’t make sense a whole lot.”

“Ah- Okay, that makes sense then,” nodded Sig. “…Or doesn’t, I guess.”

The girl, however, looked mortified by her short companion’s words.

“What the—Ushio! Rude! That’s not how you talk about your Big Sis!”

“We’re not related.”

“Anyway! Ignore Ushio, alien stranger! Ignore! I make total sense, I promise you!”

Again, Sig tilted his head, “Um, okay? I guess I’m just not following then. I mean, I’ve never heard of a Morpho being a ‘symbol’ or something.”

“Heh heh heh…!” The girl giggled ominously. “Tell me, have you ever heard of the ‘Butterfly Effect’?”

“Huh? No, can’t say I have.”

Those words seemed to set off something primal and powerful behind Anzu’s eyes, an eagerness that quickly prompted the boy called ‘Ushio’ to take a step away from her and let out a small groan, apparently in preparation for what was about to come.

“Now you set her off,” he mumbled. “Maybe sit down? We’re gonna be here a while.”

“Um, okay.”

Sig still had no idea what was happening or who either of these people were, but he didn’t want to be difficult or rude, so he sat down on the floor, crossed his legs and waited. The barrette wearing Anzu’s eyes shone down at him like a pair of very excited diamonds.

“Ahem! The Butterfly Effect,” Anzu declared “Is the fact that every little thing that happens, every breath you take, every word someone says, even just the flap of a butterfly’s wings, is bound to change this world’s history forever in unpredictable ways! Because of this fact, it is impossible that there is only one possible future for our world! No, the future has to be varied and manifold!”

“Hm… Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Sig nodded.

“Please don’t say that,” mumbled Ushio next to him. “You’re gonna keep us here all night.”

Anzu, however, accepted Sig’s approval with glee. “Right!? And that’s why I’m a firm believer in the Everett Interpretation!”

“Everett?”

“Why do you ask her these things!” Ushio whined, ready to just lie down on the floor.

“According to the Everett interpretation, every possibility that could have happened according to quantum mechanics and its universal wavefunction, did happen! …Just each in its own, separate world! Every possibility split off and became its own, parallel universe! You see…!”

The girl went on rambling, for at least two minutes, about “wavefunctions”, zombified cats and tiny stuff that could be in two places at once, even though you couldn’t tell. Sig wasn’t really sure how much of it was really important, so he just kept the one follow-up question he did come up in mind and waited for what seemed like the right moment to ask it:

“Oh, so is that why there’s so many worlds out there?”

“Just stop…” muttered Ushio, flopping on the floor in defeat.

“Yes! Many worlds! Maybe infinitely many!” declared Anzu.

“Wow, so that’s how that works! I didn’t know there was a reason.”

“Oh, come on!” If his collar didn’t muffle his voice, Ushio would’ve sounded rather shrill by now.

Anzu then continued to explain, how the genealogy of parallel worlds extended like a tree, all starting at the same trunk, but branching off into more and more different timelines, which became more different from one another the more distantly in the past their last common point was. For ten minutes, or maybe fifteen, she kept going, about theoretical worlds she has wanted to visit, about “ESP” and “Synchronicity”, and an old philosopher, who wasn’t sure whether the world he lived in, or the world from the dream where he was a butterfly was the real one – Sig, of course, listened especially closely to that part.

“Whoa… That sounds way cooler than the dreams I’ve been having. Now I’m jealous.”

“Right!? The multiverse is a treasure trove, just waiting to be explored! Hah… If only I could go out there and see it for myself.”

“Well, some people from here have been to our world before, so maybe you can come over too some time? I’m sure nobody would mind having you over!”

“Hah! What a kind offer! That would be so wonderful!”

Sig and Anzu looked at each other and smiled. An odd sort of mutual understanding that didn’t quite exclude possible misinterpretations yet, but still allowed them to at least form a basic grasp of one another had been formed over this conversation, and both of them were feeling fairly at ease now. This became clear when Sig got back up from the floor and laughed a little,

“I knew butterflies were cool, but I didn’t think they were making new worlds too! And it’s really nice, talking to someone else who likes them a lot.”

“And I thank you for listening! It’s rare I have such a receptive audience!”

“What, really?”

“Yeah, really! Like, people usually tell me I’m ‘annoying’ when I start to explain these deeper truths of our multiverse! Can you believe it?”

“No, that doesn’t sound right.”

A groan was heard from Ushio on the floor. Anzu ignored him. Instead, with a bright grin on her face, she offered Sig a hand,

“By the way, I’m Anzu! Anzu Kimura! A third year at Suzuran Junior High! And that cute sour grape on the floor next to you is Ushio Tottori! Say hello, Ushio!”

“If there really is more than one world, then I want a word with whoever decided to put me in the same one as you.”

Evading the child’s death-glares, Anzu laughed awkwardly, “I know he may not sound like it, but he’s a grade schooler. The son of a local farmer. I babysit him on weekends for pocket money!”

“Nice to meet you guys. I’m Sig,” Sig said, and accepted the hand-shake. Then he paused for a moment to think. “You know, I just realized. You kind of sound a lot like our friend Ringo when you talk about stuff like that.”

“Huh! Ringo? As in, Ringo Ando? Do you know her?”

“Yeah,” Sig nodded. “She shows up in our world from time to time. We play Puyo Puyo a lot.”

“Then… You must be from Primp Town!”

“Yep, that’s where I’m from… Um, why are you grinning at me like that?”

Anzu’s eyes had once again been filled with eager fire, except this time her attention was focused exclusively on Sig. Her voice sounded louder and higher pitched than before, when she asked him,

“Then… Do you have magic powers, too!?”

“Um, well…” Sig was about to stretch out a hand and use a weak spell for demonstration, when one of his earlier conversations with Klug came back to him and he stopped. “Actually, right now probably isn’t a good time to show.”

Anzu’s face fell, “Huh? Why?”

“Sorry. My magic’s just been… weird lately. So, I don’t think I should just use it. But yeah, I have it.”

“Aww, what a shame… But still, this is amazing!! I was right! You really are an honest-to-god, real life alien! Woohoo!”

Intimidated by her cheer, Sig scratched the back of his head, “Um, I don’t know what that means, but… yay! I’m glad if you’re happy!”

“I still think he’s just a person,” a voice chimed in from down on the floor.

“Ushio, he’s got claws!” argued Anzu.

“Could be cosplay,” said Ushio.

“And a mysterious, smoky-black aura!” argued Anzu.

“Really elaborate cosplay,” said Ushio.

“Hmpf! Just get up from the floor already!” Anzu grabbed Ushio by the arm and, much to the child’s annoyance, lifted him up from the ground. “If you catch a cold on my watch, your Dad won’t pay me my bonus!”

The boy struggled and flailed a little, hissing like an angry cat at his babysitter, before he finally complied, stood upright, then defiantly crossed his arms.

“My Dad won’t pay you at all,” he grumbled. “Not after he hears you dragged me here, he won’t.”

Anzu gasped, “You wouldn’t tell him!”

“Betcha, I will.”

“Huh?” hearing this argument, Sig scratched his head a little. “Wait, are you guys not supposed to be here?”

Anzu laughed, “Oh, no, absolutely not! The park’s been off-limits ever since it was closed down last fall!”

“Closed down…?”

“But when I saw those shooting stars above the Ferris Wheel, I just KNEW I had to check it out! My sixth sense was calling out to me, loud and clear! So, I packed up Ushio, and made my way here, towards my destiny!”

“She kidnapped me, and if I had my phone, I would be calling the cops,” insisted Ushio.

“Shooting stars?” something occurred to Sig. “Oh, that must’ve been Klug and me. There probably was a light when we fell down here. That’s usually how it goes when people travel worlds.”

“Wow! So, your people travel on shooting stars? What kind of advanced technology this must be!”

“Huh? Tek-no… No? It’s just… something that happens. It’s usually an accident, too.”

“Fascinating!” Anzu was swooning. If her expression had been any more cartoonish, one could probably have seen little hearts floating and popping above her head. The way she bounced around almost looked like a little dance. “So, you and somebody else came here riding on shooting stars by accident!”

“Yeah, I guess so… But Klug and I got separated somehow. Now I don’t know where he went. Which makes me worried, because we have other friends out there, who we should be looking for too, “Sig sighed. “I really hope he’s okay…”

“Huh… That does sound like trouble! Do you think he got lost?”

“Yeah, could be. We both don’t really know this world well, even if Klug can read the stars… Maybe he read something wrong? I mean, if he hadn’t gotten lost, he would probably be back by now.”

“So, he’s out there all on his own? Oh no! Your friend must be so scared and confused, all alone in this dull, unremarkable world!” Anzu flung out her finger and pointed. “I’ve decided! I can’t stand by idly in this situation!  Don’t worry, Mr. Sig! Ushio and I will help you locate your lost friend!”

Immediately, Ushio started wildly flailing his arms, “Nope. Nope, nope, noooo! I don’t agree to this. I’m going home!”

“Ushio!” Anzu spoke with a scolding tone. “A foreign boy has gotten lost in the rural suburbs of Suzuran City! Wouldn’t you agree that it is our civic duty to locate this poor, lost child and return him to safety?!”

“I don’t have civic duties. I’m 11,” he deadpanned. “Just file a police report, geez!”

“A police report, for an alien, what!? That would just call the men in black on the plan! Nuh-uh! We’re not E.T.ing him!”

“You’re the one who’s E.T.ing everything!”

As Anzu and Ushio kept arguing like that, Sig took a step away, closer back to the door. Geez, these two were sure getting heated, and he didn’t even really know about what. Sure, he was really thankful for Anzu’s offer to help with finding Klug, but at this rate they weren’t really going anywhere, were they? Maybe he should just say ‘Thanks, but I’ll be fine’ and go out searching on his own? No, wait, Anzu said she knew Ringo. Ringo’s home was probably where Lemres and Amitie went, too, so it would make a lot more sense to stick with Anzu and let her guide them there… But Klug was still missing. So, stick with Anzu, find Klug together, then go to Ringo’s place? Yeah, that sounded about right. But… first Anzu and Ushio had to stop bickering.

Sig sighed. He didn’t like going in-between arguments, he really didn’t, but it didn’t look like he had much of a choice here.

“Um, you guys?” Sig raised his voice – carefully, he didn’t want to go over the top again, like earlier today with Klug – and made sure Anzu and Ushio would both hear him. “Calm down! If you’d help me find Klug, that’d really be great. But it’s late already. So, if it’s not trouble, I’d really like to get going.”

That did the trick. The argument subsided as its participants turned to look at Sig for a moment. Then, they looked back at each other.

“Look. The sooner we get this done, the sooner I’ll get you home and to bed,” Anzu told Ushio. “I’ll buy you that Nintendo Switch you’ve wanted from my bonus, and then you can just be quiet to your Dad and pretend that this all never happened!”

“Why would I be quiet about this to my—Wait. A Nintendo Switch?”

“The blue Limited Edition one with Dragon Quest that’s coming out next month.”

It only took Ushio two more seconds of consideration after this to make up his mind,

“Deal.”

“Heh heh! I’m glad we are in business.”

Sig watched the two of them shake hands. While he had no idea what they were talking about, it was good to see that their quarrel was over.

Their arrangements made and mission decided, the three of them left the gate control room and went back out into the park. First, they’d search inside the park walls, which, as there were three of them, should go fairly quickly, then, if Klug wasn’t there, they would move on to search outside, in the surrounding fields.

Of course, none of the three knew that who they were looking for had long left the park’s premises, and that two dangers of two very different kinds were lurking for them, both inside and outside the park’s walls.

BONUS

Lala, Arle's childhood classmate (appears in Madou Monogatari I and Madou Monogatari: Chaotic Final Exam)

Sig, Amitie and Klug's outfits in this story (in color)

Chapter Text

This was his own fault. He had nobody but himself to blame and he hated the fact. The worst part was that he had no idea what exactly had happened either. His consent had released the sealed demon soul from within the book, right? If so, the two of them should have swapped places. According to what he had been able to research, the curse of the Tome of Sealing demanded a soul whenever its pages laid open. And yet, the book’s inside was not where he was right now. No, this place was… different. He couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but if he had to put it into words, from what he remembered, the inside of the Tome had been akin to a narrow, empty, static box with a tiny window one could just barely peek through to catch a glance of the outside world. This place, on the other hand, held an odd, familiar warmth that was almost soothing. In a strange, abstract way, it felt alive.

Klug righted his not-body and adjusted his not-glasses to take a good look at his ethereal surroundings. The area immediately around him didn’t contain much of anything, but a short distance away a light-shine drew the contours of more concrete scenery. There was something over there. Was that a good thing? Or…

He gnawed on his imagined lip.

“What do I do, what do I do…?”

Well, the answer was obvious. He couldn’t exactly just lay down and pray that somebody would miraculously come by and save him. That sort of thing only happens once in a lifetime and Klug had probably used up his one ticket back when Amitie pulled the Sun-Bookmark from the tome during the first, ahem, “incident”. Trying to find a way out on his own it was then. Even at the risk that even more trouble might be waiting for him wherever that light led.

Though he was gulping, Klug forced a smirk onto his face, “Hah…. Ha ha! What am I worried about! I’m not really in my physical body right now, so I also can’t really get hurt! …Right?”

Maybe if he told himself this often enough, he’d actually start believing it. That’d be nice.

Anyway, off towards the luminescence he went. He made sure to remind himself to high tail out of there as soon as he saw anything that looked even remotely ‘afterlife-y’.

Those precautions turned out to be unnecessary. When Klug arrived at the source of the light, he found himself in a cave of sorts, not unlike the one just outside Primp Town, where he used to collect mountain quartz before a certain unsavory fellow claimed the place for himself. Walls of crystal, as well as similarly crystalline stalagmites and stalactites glowed softly in many colors, reflecting onto each other the light that reached this place from wherever the cave’s entrance may have been. The larger crystals were so smooth, one seriously had to wonder if they were polished. Their glass-like surfaces gave the place similar qualities to a hall of mirrors. Klug tried to not let the fact that, with as many things he could see reflected in those crystals, his own reflection was not among them, unsettled him, but truth be told, it creeped him out. He didn’t seem to be casting a shadow either… Stay calm, stay calm, he told himself. These are totally normal phenomena to experience when you are not currently in your body! -Yeah, those thoughts didn’t help him calm down at all. Plan B: Force self to ignore own terror. Meep.

He took a look around the cave and soon spotted a sort of throne and a pedestal right next to it, both made of the same crystal as the rest of the place. More strikingly, there was a person in front of the pedestal, bent over it as if they were observing something on its top. It was a figure clad in a cape with gold embroideries, and with long, purple hair tied together in a ponytail in their back that split apart into two separate strands of hair in an unnatural way. Though all Klug could see right now was the figure’s back, he immediately spotted a few peculiarities in their appearance, such as a pair of inhumanly long, beastly ears, or occasionally, when the person moved just right for their arms to peek out from under their cape- Klug, in defiance of his current inability to breathe, gasped. He saw a pair of large, clawed, scaly red hands.

They looked just like Sig’s left arm.

…A suspicion was starting to creep up in the young mage’s mind. However, in order to confirm it, he would need more information. And that meant getting closer to… that person.

Sneaking on the tips of his toes until he realized that his steps weren’t making sounds anyway (Oh great. Something else to feel creeped out about.), Klug approached the person standing hunched over the crystal pedestal. More of their features came into view: A lean, androgynous body, ornate, regal clothes befitting of aristocracy, skin covered in strange, red markings that appeared to have a similar texture as the rough, red hide on their hands.

They were probably not human. A “Generalized Magical Lifeform” then, or, as the more colloquial term went, a “demon”. If this was who he thought it was…

“Um…hello? …Good day?”

Carefully Klug waved his hand in front of the demon’s face. No reaction. He sighed. Alright, they couldn’t perceive him. That was… actually relieving, in a sad way. That also meant there was no reason to try and stay out of sight. Time to get a better look at the man… lady? Person. Klug settled on ‘person’. Finally, Klug had a chance to look at what it was that had the person so deeply focused on that pedestal. In their left hand, they held a large, beautiful quill, filled with vibrant, red ink. Their right hand, meanwhile, was turning the pages of a heavy-looking tome. That book – it looked much larger and far more ornate than the Tome of Sealing, its cover made of what looked like silver adorned with golden runes and inlaid with gems – rested snuggly on the crystal pedestal like a hand in a glove. The pedestal had clearly been made just for this volume. And the demon was writing in it. Swiftly and with precision, rune for rune.

Klug found himself watching closely. After he’d seen Sig struggle to do as much as just take simple notes with those exact same claws, it was actually rather impressive to see someone use them to write with such ease. Klug then tried to take a look at what the demon was writing, but to his dismay, he found that the entire page appeared blurry to him, as if he were looking at it without his glasses. Of course, given his current state, it was easy to surmise that his glasses were not the problem. Rather, it was probably this place itself that prevented him from seeing the writing in the book.

“…I see. They probably don’t remember what they wrote themself.” Klug thought, not paying any mind to the fact that he was speaking out loud. It wasn’t as if anybody was going to hear him anyway.

Alright then. It was time to get a better look at the person’s face. He positioned himself behind the pedestal and, not without awkwardness, looked straight in the quiet writer’s face. He was met with a pair of piercing, red eyes, stern brows, and a fair face spotted with patches of red. The demon was wearing reading glasses, not unlike Klug’s own, but far more luxurious with carefully smithed frames made of what looked like pure gold. Having acknowledged this fact, the boy adjusted his own glasses, useless as that gesture currently was, and examined the person’s features more closely. Their pale skin, surprisingly messy hair, petite nose, and narrow lips… Even if the signs of inhumanity and laser-focused gaze were taken into account, a resemblance to Sig could not be denied. This person could have been his parent, or, at very least, a close relative. But if this person was who Klug thought they were, it would mean that they lived hundreds of years ago.

…Did this mean that the spirit’s stories had been true? Everything the tome's voice had told him about Sig… All the things Klug had heard it say about the blue mage in his own voice…

The thought was sickening, because it meant that not only did Klug have only himself to blame, but the thing he had himself to blame for was also so much, much worse than he had hoped it might be.

Klug gulped. He’d been stalling for far too long. He had to fix this. He had to get out of here, back to his body, in the real world. But… how could he do that? If there was an exit, which way was it? He kept agonizing over this question, starring at the crystal pedestal for seconds, for minutes, until, finally, he heard footsteps from somewhere.

Somebody had entered the cave. Somebody who, unlike Klug, actually existed in this scene.

“My greetings, Storyweaver,” said a voice that had no tone.

Klug tried to look at the person who had spoken, but, again, his vision was blurred, and he couldn’t make out their face or even the exact shape of their body. Another damaged memory, huh?

“Greetings, _____,” the demon, having turned away from their work, said and bowed politely.

Just as it was impossible to see the person they were bowing to or describe said person’s voice, the name the demon called that someone by, too, was indistinct. All that was clear was that this newcomer was somebody the demon held great reverence for. Their body language and the cadence of their voice as they welcomed the visitor told Klug as much.

“I see you are hard at work as always?” the indistinct figure seemed to be smiling warmly.

“Naturally. In my profession, there is not much time to rest,” the demon replied with a smirk.

“Which is ironic, given your kind have all the time they could ever want in these physical worlds. Hah… sometimes, I envy you,”

“Envy, you say?”

“You understand what I mean, do you not?” The indistinct voice sounded sad. “My existence, eternal as it is, is also transient on a certain level. One day, this current form of mine might no longer be here anymore to enjoy your beautiful work. Even if the Will remains…”

“…That day, should it ever come to pass, would be a great loss to both of us, I assure you. I cannot imagine a life without such a receptive audience to my craft.”

“Which brings me to the first reason for my visit…The matter if your role as the Storyweaver…”

Hearing these words, the demon’s expression turned sterner. Whatever semblance of a smile they’d worn before had been dropped at once.

“Yes. What of it?”

“Are you certain that you don’t want to reconsider? This may be your only chance to. You see, the role of the Keeper of Dimensions has already been replaced by a mortal…and will be succeeded by other mortals thereafter…”

“Tch…” The demon’s scoff was harsh and cold. “Because of one single, bad seed…!”

“A single, bad seed which has caused the creation of an entire world the Will of Worlds holds no power over. It is shameful… They may call my kind ‘god’ in other worlds, but for the people in the world He created with the power He took with him, there is nothing I or anyone like me can do. They may forever suffer under a system and under rules that were not meant to exist. This incident must never repeat!”

“And that is why you want me to lay down my quill? Because you don’t trust me that I won’t turn out the same as Him?”

“Of course, I trust you!” The toneless voice sounded desperate now. “But eternal solitude is simply too much to ask of any creature! I understand this now. And as much as it pains me to subject anyone to this fate, at least a mortal will never have enough time to do and become what He ended up doing and becoming. Even if future Keepers suffer, their suffering will at least be theirs alone…That is why, as long as I still can, I want to at least try to give you, too, the chance to-!”

The demon raised their voice, “I will not surrender the role I was created for!”

“Don’t you yearn for freedom? To see the worlds that you have been writing about and forge connections with the names mentioned in the Chronicles’ pages?”

The demon fell silent. They looked away.

The visitor continued speaking, “I may not be able to leave these important, administrative roles vacant, but I now know that subjecting a single, immortal life to them for eternity is simply too cruel. Please, at least consider the offer. It hurts me to think how thousands of years spent alone might affect you once I no longer exist to come visit.”

“…There is one great hole in your reasoning: Unlike the Keeper, there is nothing in my role that prevents me from traveling.”

“And yet, you never have.”

There was another brief silence between them.

“…This is the place where you come to visit and read my work,” the demon mumbled under their breath.

The visitor sighed, “Once I am no longer… like this… Will you go out and travel?”

“…Perhaps.”

The response sounded as non-committal as can be.

“Please… Consider your own desires. I beg on you.”

“Is this sad display of sentimentality your only reason for visiting me today?” the demon scoffed.

“N-No. To be truthful, I had another request.”

“What is it?”

“You see, I was given a vision, from another, more playful part of the Will… A spell, which can release small amounts of power from rifts in-between spacetime in exchange for a sacrifice. However, I am yet unsure if there is any meaning in, or even use for this kind of magic. For the time being, I would like to seal it, just until I am certain what it is meant to be used for.”

“I understand. Provide me with the details, and I shall create a suitable spell-book.”

“Thank you! I knew I could rely on you.”

“What is the name of this magic?”

“Owanimo.”

The rest of the scene unfolded almost in silence. Only occasionally, the formless figure would speak to the demon to explain the details of what they were supposed to write down. Klug watched it all play out, transfixed and baffled. He’d never read about anything like this, in all his time studying the history of the Owanimo-spell! In fact, all he’d ever been able to find on the spell’s origin was a vague myth that stated that it had been bestowed upon a sorcerer by the Goddess of Spacetime a long time ago… Wait, was that who this blurry figure was? The Goddess of Spacetime?

-The moment this idea occurred to Klug, it was as if a fog was lifted. He gasped as he watched the lady’s – she was a woman – features become visible and clear. Long hair that fluctuated in the colors of the rainbow, pure-white robes, and a staff, topped with a complex sigil.

Accepting the newly created spell book, the goddess smiled at the demon,

“Thank you. I will see you soon, my friend.”

“Fare-thee-well, Luditria.”

The goddess left the cave without any further words, and Klug watched her walk away, mesmerized by the otherworldly way her robes and shawl trailed behind her. Even her hair seemed to move in an impossible way. He couldn’t help but mouth a silent ‘wow’.

“I can’t believe what I’ve just seen!” Klug said out loud to himself. “W-Was this real? The actual creation of the Owanimo-spell? If that’s true, it would be an amazing discovery for Magiarcheology! And-“

“And then what? That useless discovery would make you famous? Tch. You overfocus on the most unimportant details. It is a bad habit of yours.”

Klug jumped when he heard the voice completing the sentence for him. Soon, he realized that the demon had turned and was now looking in his direction – no, straight at him. In fact, they appeared to be scowling at the unconventional visitor.

“W-Wait, you can tell I’m here!?” Klug shrieked. This wasn’t expected.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, the demon turned away, back towards their work, “In any case, this memory is over. You would do well to leave now.”

“B…But…!”

“Do you wish to relive the scene you just witnessed over and over in eternity?”

“…No?”

“Then leave.”

Too intimidated to argue any further, Klug got on his feet and made for the exit of the cave, the same direction the goddess had left.

Outside he found – nothing. Just a cliff, beneath which there was an empty, blurry landscape that only became less convincing the further away you looked. No wonder – If this was a memory, then whatever laid outside the cave was probably just not worth remembering. However, one thing that Klug did see was another light, just like the one that had led him to the crystal cave. It shone in the distance, up in the sky. Usually, he would have deemed reaching that light impossible, but if this place wasn’t real, then maybe gravity wasn’t real either, and maybe, if he just thought about getting up there and reaching that light hard enough…

Klug gulped. He needed to get out of here. Back to his body, back to Sig, back to finding Lemres and Amitie. He really needed to.

“…This body isn’t real, the fall can’t hurt me, this isn’t really real, it can’t hurt me…” the boy chanted to himself over and over as he, with some hesitation, took a running start and leapt off the cliff.

A ‘phone’, as Lemres had now learned, was a small, flat device that let one instantly speak to any other person that had a ‘phone’ as well without the need for any complex magic.

“Oh, wow! Why didn’t you tell us earlier that you had something like that? If we all had one, then we could always talk to each other, no problem!!” Amitie had asked Ringo, but unfortunately the red-headed, twin-tailed girl had then informed them that these ‘phones’ probably wouldn’t work back in their own world. Something about a lack of something called ‘reception’ that apparently only existed in this world. Oh well. At least for now, these little things would definitely prove useful- Even if Lemres wasn’t the one holding one here. No, that honor belonged to Risukuma, whom Lemres had been paired up with for this search effort. Lemres and Ris were searching the east of town, Ringo and Maguro were searching the west. Amitie had stayed behind with the Lee twins. She had, of course, objected, but with her magic sealed as it was, it was simply too dangerous to risk her getting pulled into a battle. 

“Hey, the coast is clear in the Shopping District, how’s it on you guys’ end?★” the unmistakable cadence of Maguro Sasaki’s voice reached them through the speakers on the small machine.

“No problems detected thus far,” spoke Risukuma. “The school district is peaceful as always.”

“Yeah, but no sign of Klug or Sig either,” Lemres added. “Hm, even split up like this, finding them might take a while. I mean, I could use my broomstick, but I guess that wouldn’t help much in this darkness… then again…”

“Ix-nay on the oomstick-bray!” Ringo screamed through the phone in a panic. “What if anybody sees you fly!? That’d cause a city-wide panic! And if the commotion in the streets wakes up our parents, Maguro and I are definitely grounded. 100%.”

“Ringo, if you keep yelling like that you’re gonna wake the whole neighborhood up either way ★ ”

“Eheheh, point taken, Maguro… Okay, okay, I’ll try to cool it. Still, candy-man, keep your feet on the ground, please.”

“Oh dear, a young man on a broom is really that big of a deal here, hm? Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. Still, you two be careful yourselves. Again, if you actually do run into the other Arle, try to avoid a battle.  As much as both of you have improved your skills since we first met, in terms of raw magical power, you’d be totally outmatched.”

“Hey, hey, don’t worry! No Puyo-popping on our end this time, I solemnly swear! Besides, Maguro here happens to be a triple-black belt and the two-time school wrestling champion! If we do run into her and she tries anything funny, he can just Ultimate-Ultra-Suplex-Hold her! Right, Maguro?”

“Um, I’ll do what I can★ Though, you know that’s not an actual move, right, Ringo?”

Levity. In dire times like these, they could all use some of it, and Lemres appreciated that, despite how obviously everything he’d told her was stressing Ringo out, she was still not beyond joking right now. Besides, she was a smart girl. He was sure she’d know what to do when it came down to it. Better to have her and Maguro patrol those districts with their ‘phones’ on hand to call for backup, than to leave that entire half of the town unprotected.

One request from Risukuma for his underclassmen to observe what he called ‘basic safety protocol’ later, the senior student ended the call. It was just Ris and Lemres now, walking down the road towards Kimikage Bridge.

“I’ve gotta hand it to this world, it’s impressive how you manage to keep the streets lit like this at night without using any magic,” Lemres mused. “And you’ve even got ovens that always stay at the same temperature and function without fire, and these large, cold boxes you can keep food in to keep it fresh longer…”

“Thank you, but the praise is not mine to take! It is all due to the amazing achievements of science and the human love that fuels it!”

“Haha, is that so?”

“Very much, my friend! Say, have you ever wanted to achieve something that seemed impossible by mundane means, from the bottom of your heart?”

“Well, can’t deny that there have been moments like that, yes.”

“Now, if you couldn’t rely on your magic, how would you go about achieving it?”

“Hmm… That is a good question. I’d say it depends on the situation? Though, that’s probably not the response you wanted from me. Lemme guess. Your point is: If enough people just want to achieve their dreams dearly enough, they will always find a way to do so eventually, regardless of all weakness or obstacles?”

“Exactly,” Risukuma nodded. “Necessity is the mother of invention. When the means needed to achieve your passion don’t seem to exist, you must go out of your way to create them!”

“And that’s how you end up with a world full of lights powered by captured lightning and little tablets that allow you to speak to far-away people,” Lemres smiled. “That is pretty amazing. Hm, I wonder if that principle applies to other things as well? Like the development of magical studies in our world, or patisserie?”

“Wherever there is creation, I assure you there is love,” spoke Risukuma with a solemn conviction that could easily distract one from just how nonsensical that sentence actually sounded.

Lemres nodded. He had to appreciate just how thorough Ringo and her friends were about these things. Whereas many mages he knew tended to resort to boosting their raw magical power whenever they hit a wall in their undertakings, the people here seemed to operate on ‘where there is a will, there is a way’ instead.  There was something beautiful about that.

That didn’t mean that everything he saw in this world always made sense to him, however. For example…

“Still… I have to wonder, are the blinking neon lights out in the open fields really necessary?” Lemres asked. “I mean, even if it’s ‘passionate’, it’s also just a li~ttle tacky, isn’t it?”

Risukuma looked up, “Hm? Blinking neon lights in the open fields, you say?”

Lemres pointed a gloved finger out across the river. There, at some point down the highway that extended from Kimikage Bridge, a true cacophony of illumination was shining in the middle of seemingly nowhere.

“Oh!” Risukuma took a step back, beady eyes widened. “Now, that’s…!”

He recognized the location, of course. But that didn’t explain how Suzuran Dreamland was suddenly operational again and, apparently, in use.

Truly, truly curious. Perhaps they ought to notify Ringo and Maguro of this?

The next place Klug reached was a battlefield. Literally.

From all directions, spells rained down onto the two sides of the conflict. Despite knowing that nothing in this place could actually affect him, Klug couldn’t help yelping and reflexively dodging every flash of energy he saw coming his direction. Trying to use a defensive spell, even just for the sense of security, didn’t work, but honestly the fact that he couldn’t freely use his magic in this place barely surprised the guy at this point. Eventually he just dived behind a rock and quietly observed the terrifying spectacle from there.

The battle was between two army-sized factions. The right-hand side was mostly airborne, uniformed magic users flying on large, feathered wings, that gave them a clear height advantage. The left-hand side, however, was led by a small group of people that stood out in their demeanor. Again, their faces were blurred, but their bodies were visible enough for Klug to make an educated guess and assume them to be two young women and an apparently masked man. And then, by the sidelines, watching them fight with a tense, focused expression on their face, was the demon.

At some point during the fight, while one of the young women – she wore white robes – was busy healing injuries that her allies had sustained, the other young woman, who was clad in magical armor adorned with amethyst plating, made an attempt to break through the enemy lines by charging forward and using a powerful spell on short range.

“Aurora!”

She seemed very sure of herself, rainbow-colored rays of light bursting forth to consume her enemies, right until ten of said enemies, barely impressed by her attack, raised their arms and chanted in unison:

“Revia.”

A magical barrier appeared, the spell was repelled, sent right back to its caster. The young woman screamed as her own magic descended down onto her. Further back in the battlefield, the masked man was yelling something, most likely the woman’s name, but it was indistinct, and Klug couldn’t make out what it was.

The woman in the amethyst armor now laid on the floor, defenseless. That moment Klug heard somebody close to him gasp, and he was surprised to find the demon, who was still observing everything from the sidelines, looking genuinely terrified.

Up on the air, meanwhile, one of the winged attackers’ booming voices echoed out,

“Insolent human… Hah! It is hardly any wonder that a world filled with foolhardiness such as yours is now headed for ultimate judgment. You shall receive yours ahead of time… Grand Cross!”

Things happened very quickly then. The masked man was yelling, rushing forward to help, the girl in the white robes cried out something, and their entire faction on the battlefield was scrambling to hurry and do something, as the very heavens themselves appeared to shift, dark stars appearing in the daylit sky, tinting it eerily black, before moving into a cross-shaped formation. Energy shot down from star to star, into the winged attacker’s hands, gathering there as a brilliant orb of energy. This attack could have vaporized the young sorceress with ease, no doubt about it. But it never came to that. Not because of the masked man, or the girl in the white robes, or any of the other members of the armored girl’s army rushing to her help, but because of the demon at the sidelines in front. Like in a trance, they’d raised their arms and chanted,

“Hy… HYDRANGEA!!!”

A firework, like a million flower petals, white, red, blue, and purple, exploded in the sky, its beautiful, iridescent radiance spilling across the battlefield like a shower of spring rain, painting everything, even only for a brief moment, in the colors of dusk and dawn.

The winged soldier was screaming his attack interrupted. He, along with every other member of the battalion he led, was consumed by the light of the demon’s spell. In a last-ditch attempt to save but their lives, the winged ones cast ‘Warp’ and disappeared, one after another, until none of them remained, as if they had never been there in the first place.

Silence fell over the wasteland, but it lasted only for a moment, before the masked man ran forward, again calling out the armored woman’s name. He picked up her body from the ground and gently cradled her, repeating the words, ‘thank goodness, thank the stars…!’ over and over.

Meanwhile, the demon stumbled closer to the scene as well, dazed by what had just happened. They looked up at the empty skies, the last remnants of their own magic’s light fading away. The masked man kept holding the armored girl. And then came the girl in the white robes, who threw her arms around the demon and hugged them. She squeaked with joy, right into their ear. 

“Aaaahhhh!! I knew that we could count on you, Frith!”

Her hand brushing some long hair out of their face.

“I… I…” the demon kept stuttering, unable to put their thoughts into words properly. What a rare state for them to be in. “I… wasn’t supposed to… I mean… I…”

“What are you talking about!? You saved her! And you were so amazing!!”

“I… saved her…”

The words rolled off their tongue in a heavy, unreal way.

Soon, the armored girl woke up. She told the masked man to let her down, laughing and saying that she was fine and could walk, but he insisted on carrying her. And carry her he did, over to where the demon was still having dear life squeezed out of them by the cheerful girl in the white robes. There, the masked man went to his knees in front of the demon. A gesture of reverent gratitude.

“…Thank you,” the masked man spoke with utmost sincerity. “Thank you. Just… thank you.”

The demon said nothing in return, simply too dazed to reply.

A person who didn’t really exist in this scene finally came out from his hiding place behind the rock and drew closer to get a better look at what was happening. In a strange way, this scene seemed almost familiar. Right, now Klug remembered. The spell ‘Grand Cross’, and then ‘Hydrangea’, used as a counter. Was this why Sig had known that that maneuver would work? Did he… remember this…? No. That couldn’t be.

But the fact remained that this was probably a memory. This was something that had happened to… that soul.

“Why don’t any of these people have faces?” Klug asked out loud, as if he couldn’t already guess the answer.

The scene froze, the people stopped moving. Only the demon remained mobile and stepped out from the white-robed girl’s arms and closer to Klug.

“Because there is nothing worth trying to remember here,” they sighed.

“What- An amazing memory like this!? Not worth remembering...?”

“This memory is awful,” the demon scoffed, looking away, “It was the first time I violated my duties. To record, not to interfere… Hah. Such shameful conduct.”

“You saved your friend,” Klug pointed out.

“A ‘friend’ whose name I don’t remember, out of an emotional whim I can no longer recapture. It couldn’t possibly have been worth the trouble…”

“You may say that, but with how they treated you, I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want to remember who they were…”

Saying nothing, the demon looked away and spat. The gesture intimidated Klug a little, but despite that he decided to keep talking, raising a voice a little louder,

“A-And! You remembered the Spacetime Goddesses’ face and name when I mentioned who she was! So, these memories can’t be completely broken, right? I am sure, with just a bit of probing, the blanks can probably be restored! Plus, there are some interesting details you clearly haven’t forgotten! Such as that word, ‘Frith’. That must be your-“

“It is no name of mine,” the demon interrupted. They glanced back at the blurry image of the girl in the white robes. “Just something she called me because she was too naïve to know any better.”

“Wha- That’s what a name is! By definition!”

The demon’s obstinacy was beginning to frustrate Klug, almost enough to make him forget his general fears regarding this entire situation. Especially so when, instead of giving a response, the demon turned away from him and started walking.

 “Hey! What gives! I am still talking to you!!”

“The next exit is uphill from here. If you know what’s best for you, that’s where you’ll head next.”

“But! I said-“

“Just go.”

Once again, the demon’s cold, harsh tone managed to intimidate Klug into leaving the scene, turning on his heels and heading uphill… Though not without turning around one more time to reflect on what he’d just seen.

He’d always known the stories behind the Tome of Sealing, but he’d never really thought about the past that the soul sealed inside must’ve had.

“Golden glimmer, thread of red,
There sits a girl there on my bed,
From far away she says she came,
And tells me tales of a strange game-

“…Okay, now it’s your turn, Sumomo!”

“Sure…

“Peach’s Pit and Apple Core,
I hear a knocking on my door,
Danger, danger lurks outside,
That’s why good girls stay in tonight…”

“Ah! Why’d you have to go and make it scary right away? I had it all set up for a magical vibe…!”

“It’s how the game works, Sis. Anyway, your turn.”

“Hmpf… Fine.

“Remember, this time we’re going AB-AB.”

“Sure, sure! Alright…

“Unknown worlds and magic lights,
Be careful, careful as you go!”

“Adventure tempts us with delight-
-You fly too high, the fall is low…”

“High up there the stars all shine,
They’ll make up for all disappointments!”

“They whisper ‘It is worth the climb’,
You just must endure their resentment…”

“-Heh!? W-Wait, who’s they!? W-Why do they ‘resent’ us?”

“Nobody, Sis. We’re making quatrains, remember?”

“B-But, you must’ve gotten this from somewhere! Out with it! What do you know that I don’t know?”

“Who knows? Not me. Maybe.”

“Oh, c’mon!”

…Amitie really didn’t understand this game.

Of course, she’d tried joining in with Momo and Sumomo at the start, but the speed at which they made up their rhymes had just been too fast for her and she couldn’t keep up. Chaining together words was so much harder than chaining together Puyos…! Well, anyway, that was why, while the Lee twins were sitting on pillows on the floor, rhythmically clapping into each other’s hands and making up poems, Amitie had turned her attention to something else.

This ‘phone’ thing was pretty neat. It made visons appear without using any magic power, could play music and show pictures and even moving images. Plus, it was pretty cute too! If only she could figure out how to use it right.

“Um, so, if I touch here, the little images move up, here they go down… If I touch here, it makes more little images, and that’s the one I need to touch for music, right? Huh, why’s there a switch on the side? What happens when I press tha--- Heh!? Everything’s dark now? W-Wait, there’s numbers?? Huh?? W-What did I do…!!”

Down on the floor, the twins interrupted their rhyming.

“Sis. Amitie engaged the lock screen,” said Sumomo, and immediately her sister leapt up.

“Ah! Wait, wait, hang on! Don’t enter anything!”

“H-Huh?”

“If you do it wrong three times, it locks everything, and then I have to enter the PUK code!!”

“HUH?”

“But I don’t have my PUK code anymore, so don’t! Touch! Anything!!”

“HUUUUH!?”

Amitie froze up, looking positively terrified by all the word salad Momo was throwing at her. Meanwhile, Sumomo rolled her eyes.

“Why do you even still have PUK enabled? I don’t know anyone else that still uses it.”

“Um, well, Daddy told us to enable it…!”

“Hah, of course he did. He’s a dinosaur.”

“Don’t tell me you kept it off, Sumomo!?”

“Of course, I did. It’s totally pointless.”

“Huh!? No fair!”

Yeah, again, Amitie had no idea what they were talking about. With a shaking hand she handed the phone back to its rightful owner, Momo, who took it and swiftly placed her thumb on a small, round panel on the lower end of the device. With a quiet *click*, the screen lit up again. Grinning, she handed it back to Amitie.

“There, see? All fine now!”

“Y-Yeah… Thanks,” the young mage sounded intimidated.

“Maybe we should just give her my phone instead,” Sumomo sighed. “Less of a hassle than having to explain to the phone company that you need a new SIM because an alien didn’t know how to unlock a smartphone.”

“No way! I know that your phone is full of all those weird and creepy story things! It’d just scare the life out of her!”

“If by ‘story-things’ you mean visual novels, I don’t even have any scary ones on my phone.”

“LIES! The one with the birds gave me nightmares for weeks! Uhh… And it looked so cute in the start, too…!”

“Eh, the girl deals with magic. I bet she’s seen worse.”

Another conversation Amitie couldn’t follow. Geez, she didn’t realize Ringo’s world had so many things in it that she had no idea about…!

“I…I really just wanted to know how to talk to Ringo…!”

It was a little frustrating, really- Not the sisters constantly talking about things she didn’t understand, Amitie was used to that from her friends back home, but the fact she was forced to sit here not doing much of anything. Amitie had really, really wanted to help Ringo and the others search for Sig and Klug, but…

…Well, anyway, Lemres had asked her nicely to stay behind here with the twins, so that’s what she did. And, just for the case, Momo had lent Amitie her ‘phone’. That way, if anything bad happened and they all had to scatter and run, Amitie would still be able to get into contact with everyone- in theory. Being able to use the thing was a prerequisite for that. She had the basics down already; each ‘phone’ had a number, and if you entered a phone’s number into your own phone and then touched the big, green symbol, you’d be able to hear the voice of the person who had that other phone. Ringo’s number was “2424-705”, Risukuma’s was “6490-1559” and Maguro’s was “7106-1096“. Those were the important ones to remember, so Amitie had made sure to write them down on the palm of her hand. That way, if anything happened, she’d be able to talk to everyone and tell them about it right away…

Momo took a moment to explain everything to Amitie again: The switch on the side locks everything, don’t touch it, the pink symbol plays Momo’s music collection (which, Momo reminded Amitie, was super-cute and she definitely had to give it a listen), the green symbol brings up the white screen with the numbers that you could use to ‘call’ people, and that big, colorful symbol…

“Ah! That’s the games folder!”

“Huh? Games?”

“You can try some if you want! I don’t play much, so I don’t mind if you mess with my scores.”

She might not have known what Momo meant by ‘scores’, but games did sound fun. What kind of games could you play with a little, flat thing like this, she wondered?

Eventually, Momo and Sumomo resolved to go prepare some dinner. The macarons that Lemres had made for Amitie, they reasoned, were delicious but couldn’t possibly count for a full meal! No, they had to make something more nutritious for their guest. And so, the Lee twins skipped out the door of the guest room, leaving Amitie behind with the mess of scattered sheets of paper on the floor that they’d been writing their poems on all evening.

The room had quickly become much too quiet for Amitie’s liking.

“…Games, huh?”

She wasn’t really up for scary stories right now, but a game might be nice, if only to pass the time. Was there anything she could play by herself?

“Um, so the ‘games’ were here, right…? Let’s give it a try! And, tap!”

A new row of small symbols appeared before Amitie’s eyes, each colorful and with a title written in small font. Amitie couldn’t exactly read the writing of Ringo’s world, but making guesses based on the little pictures the ‘phone’ showed on its surface wasn’t hard. The symbol that drew her attention the most was a small picture that showed a bunch of differently colored, round jewels lined up in a row. She decided to touch it.

Amitie gasped when for a brief moment, the screen went black. Huh? Was that wrong? Did she break something again!? But, to her relief, just moments later, color returned to the rectangular glass pane, more vivid than before. Amitie smiled. She didn’t know what the illustration of a bunch of gemstones falling from the sky she was seeing meant, but it was pretty, so that was a good start. There was some writing on the screen, none of which she could read, so she just touched the screen again a couple times, hoping something easier to understand would happen.  After doing this a couple of times she was finally met with a… strangely familiar sight.

“…Huh?”

Colorful shapes piled up on a board before her. Something very, very deeply ingrained in Amitie’s nature immediately flared up when she saw that and made her smile.

“Hey…! That kind of looks like…!

Without even having thought about it, her finger had ended up on the screen again. She tried “dragging” the jewels around, and they actually moved! Though, not exactly as she expected.

“H-Huh!? They’re swapping places? W-whoa, get real! They popped at three! That’s not right! Hm… But I’m not giving up! Alright-y, here I go!”

Amitie kept going, dragging around the jewels as it felt right to her.

“Hm~! It’s kinda hard to make chains when they pop so easily! …Wait, no, I think I’ve got it now! One! Two! Three…!”

 Before Amitie knew it, she was standing upright on guest-bed, bouncing excitedly on the mattress, counting the links in the chain of vanishing jewels she saw in the screen.

“Yeah! Go, go! Six, seven, eight… Tempest!!”

She spun in the air, gathered her joy, and flung out her arm-

-But nothing happened.

No rays of mysterious light, no gust of wind rustling the curtains in the room. Just the empty echo of her own voice, and then, nothing.

Amitie’s arms dropped. Still standing on top of the bed, she fell silent.

“…”

Quietly, she starred at the wall across from her for a short while, the game on the phone all but forgotten.

“T… Tempest…” she eventually repeated to herself. “Cyclone…Akteena… Luminescence…”

Nothing.

Breathing out slowly, Amitie went into her knees, then fell backwards into a mattress that suddenly felt so much harder and unforgiving than she knew it really was. The little dots of non-magical light in the ceiling above her seemed to be making fun of her. For some reason, Amitie could see them blur before her eyes. She raised her hand up so she could see it, and tried, with all her heart, to focus.

“...Owanimo…”

No power gathered in her hand, no Puyos appeared before her. All that she got for her troubles was a brief, stinging sensation in her cheek, that she endured with clenched teeth… and the feeling of tears gathering in her eyes.

“I… really can’t do anything now… huh?”

The room was much, much too quiet for her liking.

Scenes of lost battles. People that don’t believe the words of those trying to save them, and stay in their homes against better judgment. Houses destroyed; thankless people evacuated at the last moment.

Scenes of allies getting hurt, healed, hurt again. The battles continue a ridiculous amount of time. When does it finally end?

…Somewhere along the line, a scene of a group of people sitting together. There is the armored woman, a little, yellow creature in her arms (…huh? Doesn’t that seem familiar?), the masked man – now unmasked, but his face still impossible to discern – and the demon. The girl in the white robes is missing.

The demon speaks, “At the risk of overstepping my boundaries… I must advice you that it would be wise to return her to her side as soon as possible.”

“What!? But, why?” The armored woman cannot trust her ears. “___ said that she wants to stay and help us fight! I know it’s dangerous, but making the decision for her doesn’t seem right…”

The unmasked man, looking at the demon, now speaks, “Let me guess. You are suggesting that she will betray us?”

The demon adjusts their glasses and glances away, “…This so-called Otherworld only exists to maintain the cycle of reincarnation and thus circumvent this world’s inability to create new souls. Once that system is broken, that world, too, will cease to exist. You understand what this means, correct? The fulfillment of your goals is diametrically opposed to her desire to return home. As soon as she learns of that fact… I have no doubt she will turn her back on your cause and become your enemy.”

“You’re wrong!” The armored woman leaps, the little, yellow creature in her arms yelping a little as she does. “___ wouldn’t do that! How could you even think she would! She’s our friend!”

The demon is unfazed, “Would you want to maintain a friendship with a person trying to destroy your home?”

“…!” The woman takes a step back. She is too stunned to speak. Still, the demon isn’t looking at her.

“Take my advice or don’t. It is all the same to me. I just wanted you to be aware of the danger inherent in allowing her to fight by your side…”

The scene ends here. Other scenes follow. Many of them featuring the girl in the white robes fighting alongside her friends… But none that shows her going up against or betraying them.

Sad scenes. Angry scenes. Scenes of fighting between the friends. And then…

…A scene of a world about to be taken apart by someone who claims to be its “Creator”. That person’s voice booms across the sky, announcing imminent judgment. Is this what it all amounts to? Where it all ends? A young, armored woman stands up and walks. She has made her decision.

“…I’m going.”

“Huh? Where to…?” The girl in the white robes is shaking. She has a bad feeling about this. “W-Wait! You don’t mean…!”

“Yeah. I’ll finish this.”

And the unmasked man with the long hair objects, “What are you saying!? Listen, there is no way your power-”

“It’s alright. I know what to do. I’ll be using the Seraphim Orb.”

“W-What… No! Don’t! You will-“

“Make sure all the people get to safety, okay? …Everyone, thank you for everything up till now! I swear, I won’t forget you, as long as I exist!”

Mouths are opened and there is screaming but is impossible to tell what they are yelling. Probably the armored girl’s name.

She just smiles at them and at the little, yellow creature on the floor by their feet.

“Hey, Carby? Take care of them for me.”

“Gu?”

And then she and runs off, over the screams of the friends calling her name in vain. Then there is a light. Then there is nothing but silence.

…

…

“W-What was that memory just now? The end of the world…? … N-No, that couldn’t be… I mean, that can’t possibly be what happened! I mean…”

“It is.  What you just saw was, without doubt, the end of a world.”

“D-Don’t be ridiculous! If the world had ended back then, then… then…

“…Tch. Why do you even waste your time peering into matters you are clearly not equipped to understand?”

“W-What! I’ll have you know that I’m-“

“Weren’t you in a hurry?”

Klug fell quiet. It was true, he was supposed to be focusing on getting out of here. And yet, for some reason, he was still here, watching these memories as he made his way through them, one after another.

“I-I am hurrying! These exits are just… rather well-hidden!”

“Even the ones that spawned right before your nose, hm?”

“Gh-!”

“Hmpf… What an odd time for you to suddenly take an interest in the thoughts of another…fufufu…”

…They were right. Klug was wasting his time here. Not wanting to hear where the demon was going with this conversation, he got on his feet and continued on his way.

-A scene of the long-haired man screaming, lashing out against the girl in white and the demon.

Scenes of the demon on their own, quietly writing in the book they’d called the ‘Chronicles’.

And…

“Stop this nonsense! She isn’t coming back! She is… never… coming back…”

“Luditria… won’t you ever read my work again…?”

“Don’t go! You can’t! I… I haven’t taught you yet… how to…!”

This wasn’t just a single scene. It were several, all playing out before his eyes at the same time. Overlapping and mixing, like they had been stirred together in an uneven stew. The battlefield where the armored woman had given her life, The lonely crystal cave, and… an image, of the girl in white, gently pulling her wrist out of the demon’s grip.

“I’m sorry. Another time, okay?”

“Don’t go….”

“By the way, I finally came up with a dream.”

“A dream…?”

“One that I can definitely fulfill with this power of mine! Next time we meet I’ll tell you all about it!”

“But…!”

“Until then… You keep working hard on your own dream, promise?”

Smiling, running away… disappearing.

A bright light, darkness, a storm of screams and curses.

And then, in the distance, voices.

“Huh? A dream? Why are you asking?”

“I was simply… wondering.”

…There was a hill, surrounded by the same Moonsunflowers that bloomed in Primp Town every summer. On top of that hill, he saw the demon and a woman who wore a magic teacher’s robes. Judged by the sigil on her collar, she had to be a very high-ranking sorceress…

“You’ve asked me this question every other month now, ever since we first met, but I still don’t know why. Aren’t you happy with the answer that I gave you when I was small?”

“No. That answer couldn’t possibly be all there is to it…”

“But it is. I just really, really like doing what I am doing now. Isn’t that enough?”

“If it were, then you would remember…”

“Huh?”

“…Nothing. I am just… deluding myself, I supposed.”

“Hm? …Ahahahaha.”

The woman got up from where she was sitting in the grass and brushed her robes straight.

“Anyway, I’m really interested in that novel you were talking. If you don’t mind lending it out, I’ll come by tomorrow to pick it up. I’ll bring by some of those flowers you like so much, too. Is that alright with you?”

And the demon smiled, “I would like that very much.”

“Alright then. See you tomorrow!”

She walked, somewhere into the distance, further away than the scenery was painted. And the next scene…

There was no next scene. Just a huge, gigantic, rectangular shape that descended upon the form of the demon, who had been left behind alone on a hill that was no longer even visible. What was that? A vehicle? A plate, a window, a door… No, wait. Those markings, that texture. Klug knew what this thing as was.

“The… Tome of Sealing…?”

The book came down and it opened, it swallowed up the lonely figure…

And then, there was silence. Klug once again found himself in the same sort empty, but strangely warm darkness that he’d been in when he first woke up in this place. Only that now this pulsating warmth of “life” was much stronger than it had been before. He wasn’t running in circles. He had to be close now, he was sure!

“The next exit…! Where is it? It has to be somewhere-!“

He didn’t need to search for long. Just a second later, Klug found himself faced with a radiance far more dazzling and powerful than any of the previous exits he had gone through. Peering right into the light, he could make out a large, ornate, purple door, inscribed with runic phrases that seemed extremely familiar to him right away, even before he had the chance to process what they actually said, and a doorknob that closely resembled the sigil of Primp Magic School. A moment later, he realized that the phrases on the door where spells he knew, quotes from books he’d once read, words people had once said to him. This was it! This had to be the door back to his own consciousness, back to the real world!

Taking a deep, relieved breath, Klug began to dash towards the door… Only for a figure to step into his way.

“This is as far as you will go.”

“Heh? Wait, what…You!”

The tome’s demon, as it had appeared in all of the memories he had just observed, stood before Klug, blocking the way to the large door.

“Given your ridiculous pace, I suppose I should congratulate you on coming this far before I was planning to release your body. But here shall be your waiting room. Don’t take another step.”

“W-Why! You were the one badgering me to get moving! Make up my mind!”

“Oh, I assure you, my mind is very made up. Having you shuffle about in those unpleasant memories was an unfortunate ordeal I would much rather have done without. But now that that is over and done with, I’d prefer it if you didn’t make the rest of this unnecessarily difficult for either of us, child.”

“Don’t call me a- Just give me back my body already!”

“I will, once I have retrieved my own.”

“Once you’ve stolen Sig’s, you mean!”

“…You still don’t grasp the situation your absentminded friend is in, do you?”

“I understand enough to know that you don’t have his best interests in mind. I won’t let you use my body to harm my classmate, if I can help it!”

“Tch… Playing the righteous hero all of a sudden, are we? What a cliché development. Well, it isn’t as if I expected anything more interesting from you,” with a half-disappointed, half-annoyed sigh, the demon raised their arms. From one moment to the other, what appeared to be Puyos began descending upon them and Klug. “Well then, come. If you wish to proceed without my consent, you will have to fight for your right to do so. A proper battle shall decide.”

“A-a Puyo Battle? Here!?”

At once, Klug was alert. Reflexively, he reached to his side to pull out the- Ah, right. He wouldn’t be able to rely on that book here. -Well, whatever! He’d win this battle, Tome or no Tome! He was smart! The best in his class. He knew how to structure his board, strategize, overwhelm the opponent with sheer wit…  He could do this. He would do it, by his own power!

… And maybe if he told himself that for long enough, he’d actually start believing it.

Time may be flexible inside one’s dreams and thoughts, but in the outside world it was unforgiving. There wasn’t much time to stop and think when you were battling an opponent whose power and skill almost matched your own. Almost. While the young sorceress’ magical ability was impressive, even considering that she currently wielded Iolith, her technique was still amateurish compared to his own. If only he could wield his full power, she would stand no chance against him. But, alas, for the time being he was limited to whatever that boy’s frail excuse for a body would give. It didn’t help that the child hadn’t eaten well all day and also had already expended a large portion of his internal magic reserves in the battle before the spirit had taken over. Hmpf, wielding environmental magic willy-nilly, without any prior experiences… What had that boy been thinking? He was just an apprentice, and one of exceedingly average magical potential at that… It was a good thing the spirit had taken over when he did. Else there would’ve been no telling how much longer the boy would have lasted fighting like that. For now, this body could make do with whatever portion of his own magical reserves the spirit was able to feed into it.

Anyway… The long and short of it was that this battle was getting to be very, very annoying.

“Diacute! Chaos!”

“Maroon! Oxblood!”

Spells clashed and exploded into a rain of red, which shattered surrounding rocks and burned away the plant life. Arle’s Doppelganger needed a moment to steady herself. She seemed surprised by the force the colliding magic forces had unleashed, but also amused.

“Heh… You’re strong. But I’ve faced worse than you. When it comes down to endurance, I’m sure you’ll give out before me. Would you like to give that a try? Fufufu…”

“Tch! Your obstinance is far from as endearing as you seem think it is.”

“That’s just your opinion. I’ve been told my stubbornness is one of my charm points, you know.”

“By whom? Your mother, perhaps?”

“Hmpf! Just because you are in a child’s body, you shouldn’t use that as an excuse to act like one.”

“My patience with you is running dry. I have places to be, so you would do well to give in and head the other direction. I will not follow, I promise.”

As the two of them kept flinging spells at one another, ‘Arle’ came up with a question to ask.

“…Why are you so obsessed with that odd boy with the hair antennas anyway? Not even Schezo would put himself through this kind of endurance run just to take a single person’s magic power…”

“I turn that question right back to you: What business do you have with that boy? You don’t seem like the type of mage who seeks to strengthen herself by just syphoning powers from others. Your technical skill betrays your training.”

The laughter that followed from the Doppelganger’s side sounded almost flattered, “Oh, that is easy! He was able to attack me when I was supposed to be untouchable to that world’s magic. I got curious and now I want to know why that is. That’s all.”

“There is a simple answer for that: He could attack you because his magic is not entirely of the world he grew up in,” the demon explained. “Your immunity was irrelevant to him once he stopped using his magic the way he had been taught to in that school.”

Surprised, the Doppelganger Arle stopped laughing and took a step back. “Huh? Wait, how would you know-“

Her moment of inattention was all the demon needed to find a convenient opening. Not missing a beat, he raised his arm and chanted,

“Hydrangea!”

‘Arle’ gasped, “R-Revia!!”

At the last possible moment, she managed to reflect at least some of the crimson light that was threatening to engulf her. Of course, her rushed counter wasn’t perfect. A good amount of the magic still broke through her defenses, singing her skin and tinting the world around her red. Familiar… This was familiar. The quality, the temperature and the color of the spell were all different, but overall, the similarities were much greater than the variances. And so was the magical pattern she could feel striking against her body. It was the same, identical to the one that had bested her the previous day…

This time, she wasn’t forced to escape. She had reflected and weakened just enough of the spell to allow her to keep standing her ground, even though she now felt shaky on her legs. That feeling, however, did not distract her from the thoughts that were now wildly rushing through her head.

“It can’t be…” the girl gasped out in disbelief. “You’re… the same as me…?”

The demon raised a brow “I beg your pardon…?”

“You’re… that boy’s other half. Aren’t you?”

“Hm?” he approached and looked at her, half-impressed and half-confused. “…Assuming your guess is correct, it would make me… The same as you?”

“Right. I am Arle Nadja. I have… always been… Arle Nadja…”

The pieces clicked into place. The demon couldn’t help and gasp a little. Ah. Now things were beginning to make sense…

“…Half of Arle Nadja,” he elaborated for her.

“Yes,” she replied with her head lowered.

Interesting. A very, very fascinating development.

The battle wasn’t going so well.

Somehow, the Puyo pairs wouldn’t quite turn the way Klug wanted and the chains wouldn’t stack as he imagined them to. Something, somewhere, would pop prematurely, and he’d be forced to fire off a weak spell, lest he let the gathered power go to waste, and when he finally did manage to set up a nice, long chain, the last piece he needed to trip the reaction just wouldn’t come until it was too late, and the contact point was buried in garbage again.

At this rate… he would definitely lose.

“Hah… Is that all you can muster? I am almost disappointed. After all that high praise regarding your skill that I had to hear you heap onto yourself in the mirror every night... Ah, but, I shan’t forget, without my power, your magic is really quite average, is it not? So, I suppose it isn’t a surprised that I can barely tell that you are attacking me at all! Ahahaha!”

No, that wasn’t it. Klug knew the spirit was just taunting him. In the first place, the difference in their magical potentials shouldn’t be playing much of a role in a place like this, right? ‘Magic’ was what you called the manifestation of spiritual power into the physical world, but this wasn’t the physical world. This void, the Puyos they were matching and the spells they were flinging, none of it actually existed in a tangible manner. All that was really happening here was a battle of minds...So, iIf he lost, would that mean that his mind was weak?

Wait, wait, no, no time to think about that! If he turned the tides, he wouldn’t even need to worry about it anyway. For now, he tried popping a few chains. They were playing by Primp Town’s customary Fever-rule, so as long as he could offset the enemy’s attacks consistently enough, there would always be a chance to overwhelm them with a rush-down. Of course, Klug had never quite gotten the hang of how to maximize his damage-output during a fever rush, but... Battle of wits! He’d come through, of course he would, why would there be any doubt that he would, it was the only possible outcome!

First fever rush. All the power Klug’s fever-chains built went into dispelling an incoming enemy attack. In the end, nothing was left to go through to the other end. Second fever rush; While Klug hurriedly slammed down one Puyo-pair after another, the opponent triggered a massive chain that was more than enough to offset the power the boy’s rush down was building up. In the end, the opponent wasn’t the one to take damage, Klug was. Third fever rush... He bungled the first Puyo’s placement and triggered the wrong link of the chain.

He felt as if everything was freezing.

“A-Ah! W-Wait, let me try that aga-”

“Pardon? Do you think this is a pop quiz and your teacher will take pity and go easy on you? Tch.”

“Ah...!”

How could everything be moving much too quickly and yet also much too slow all at once? Klug felt as if there was a low, droning drumbeat in his ear. His own heartbeat? Even though he wasn’t even in control of his body? Was this an auditory illusion, or... Wait, no. It was the demon’s voice, scolding him from across the battlefield.

“Grow up, child. Even someone as conceited as you would have to understand that you are hopelessly out of your league.”

“Y...You’re wrong...”

“You never were in the position to handle the power you were hoping to draw from the book, not really. You could barely grasp its true extend to begin with. So how, prey-tell, could you hope to overcome that power now?”

“Y-You...”

“In all your ego-driven endeavors to control the book, you never understood what it would take to claim control of my power, never understood why all your attempts to do so failed, always averted your eyes from the truth of what really lurked inside that book!”

“You’re the one who is averting their eyes, aren’t you!?”

The stutter was suddenly gone, not because the boy was any less anxious than before, but because all the mortification he was enduring had given him the focus to yell out his accusation before he could be interrupted again. The demon stopped for a moment, maybe confused, maybe curious and intrigued about what the child was trying say. Maybe it was a bit of both, actually. In any case, Klug kept yelling.

“You have all those amazing memories in here, witnessing grand wars, actual deities speaking to you, and seeing the rise and fall of entire worlds, but you act like none of it is worth remembering, and like bringing it up is just a nuisance to you! What’s more, your memories are full of people who think highly of you! There’s constantly somebody thanking you, constantly somebody admiring your skills, constantly somebody giving you their attention, without you even needing to ask for it... And you don’t even care! You don’t even seem to value it! You’ve not even tried to reconstruct the parts that have gone missing, have you!?”

...Already, the spirit regretted having given the boy the chance to talk. With every word Klug said, the demon was feeling sick and sicker. Their expression pulled into a poisonous scowl.

“Shut your mouth...”

“Why? I am just stating the facts!” the boy scoffed. “You’ve lived such an impressive life and now you whine about how you didn’t want me see it? You don’t make any sense! If it were me having all those experiences, I’d-“

“I said SHUT UP!”

It was under the thundering roar of the demon’s scream that Klug realized that he might have just tripped a switch that wasn’t meant to flipped. Shrieking as the void around the both of them began to radiate in a deep, crimson-red color, like flames threatening to burn away everything, Klug stumbled as he watched the form of the demon before him distort and become monstrous. Where just moments ago an unusual but still fairly unassuming and refined-looking person had stood, there was now a red beast of terrifying proportions, slashing its claws in the young mage’s general direction.

“You understand nothing!” roared the voice. “You conceited brat! You may fancy yourself a genius, but we both know perfectly well that under that thin façade, you are nothing but a naïve, cowardly child who is afraid of being forgotten!”

Klug wanted to object. He wanted to raise his voice, argue back and shut that creature up, but he couldn’t. He was too scared of what he was looking and the sheer volume of the voice yelling at him, locked in place to the point that he could only make a token attempt to dodge the creature lashing out against him.

“You should consider yourself lucky! You will never know what it means to experience what I had to endure! And you know why? Because you are unremarkable in every possible way, and the dreams that you are chasing are just as shallow as your skin-deep personality! The truth is that you are just one insignificant human among millions!”

“N…No! No, you’re wrong…!”, was all Klug could throw back, even with effort, but the demon ignored him, simply continuing its sermon.

“None of the people around you would be living different lives if it were not for you, and one day you will disappear without having left behind anything worth remembering!”

“You’re wrong!!”

How had it come to this? Klug just couldn’t focus anymore, it was all getting too much, the situation, the Puyo match, the demon’s accusations-

He… He wasn’t going to just disappear without having achieved anything. He wouldn’t. It wasn’t possible, he wouldn’t let it be, he wouldn’t he wouldn’t he wouldn’t…

-This was driving him insane! He had to get out of here already! But what could he do? Fever rush was almost over again, he was so close to losing the battle and couldn’t possibly take another attack, and the demon was raging out of its mind- Wait. The demon was raging! It didn’t seem to be paying attention to anything but yelling and slashing at him. Maybe this was his chance…

Without wasting a single thought more, Klug abandoned his board (it was about to top out anyway) and ran, past the demon’s monstrous claws, diving through underneath its inhuman legs, leaping for the wing-shaped doorknob.

“…u-uh…? What.”

Garbage Puyos were raining down and bringing Klug’s pile to fall, but it didn’t matter. By the demon realized that their opponent had thrown the match, it was too late. They whirled around only to see Klug pull on the purple door’s knob for dear life.

“No… you can’t! You lost!! How dare you!!”

The demon was roaring and screaming, lunging to grasp Klug and drag him away from the door. It was too slow. By the time their claw reached the door the boy had already opened it and jumped through, leaving the raging spirit behind in the void of their own mind.

“Coward!” its voice screamed after the boy “Dishonest hellion, charlatan! You may be able to lie to yourself, convince yourself that you are worth something, but everybody else knows the truth! Everybody!”

The words didn’t just fade out into nothingness. They reached through the door, and Klug heard them. They echoed all around him as he dove into the light…

“I’ve… never met anybody else like me before… I didn’t even think it was possible…!”

The fighting between them had long ceased. Now they just stood there, eye in eye, starring at one another in disbelief. The girl who claimed to be ‘Arle Nadja’, and the red demon ‘borrowing’ the young mage’s body; In that moment they both felt something that they had been denied for an incredibly long time. To ‘Arle’ it was the longing feeling of being understood, something like a distant hope glimmering through the darkness of her outlook on life, but for the demon, there was also something else, an odd sense of familiarity that only grew stronger the longer he looked at the young woman’s face. He hadn’t noticed it when they were fighting one another, but now that they were taking the time to speak in peace…

“You said your name was ‘Arle’?”

“Yes. I am Arle Nadja. A sorceress.”

…No. That name still didn’t mean anything to him. But her face did, if only faintly. Was this sense of recognition only an illusion? Maybe the memories of this body’s owner were playing tricks on his mind. The demon’s forehead creased. Oh well. Perhaps there was no use in overthinking this feeling. For now.

“Does the other you know about it?” he asked the sorceress. In response, she laughed and spat.

“Her? Hah! She’s oblivious. To her, life continued as if nothing had ever changed…” her hands balled to fists. “…I was just left behind and forgotten.”

“…A pitiable fate,” the demon stated stoically.

“I wouldn’t exactly call your existence enviable either. You were sealed in that book, you said? How did that even happen?  I’ve never heard of magic that can split a soul apart-“

“It wasn’t meant to split,” he interjected. “It was meant to rob. But it seems that the sheer volume of my power was too much for the book to handle. And thus, I ended up… like this.”

“Huh… What a sad fate for someone so powerful.”

“Yes. Indeed.”

Quietly, they looked at each other. Even without speaking, they felt as if there were many things they were beginning to understand. “Kinship”. That was the name of the feeling that had piqued their interest in one another. It wasn’t a feeling worthy of loyalty or even trust yet, but it was a connection, nonetheless. 

“…Do we need to continue the battle?” the sorceress asked. “I don’t feel like there is a need for us to fight each other.”

“No, I agree. Our battle was a waste of time,” he nodded. “It doesn’t seem like our needs and goals are opposed after all.”

“Then, I’d much rather talk to you.”

“Yes. Perhaps we should talk.”

A much longer conversation could have begun here, but it seemed that fate had decided that it had other plans for this scene. Before the demon could open his mouth and suggest to the young sorceress to search for a better place to sit down and talk, he was overwhelmed by a sudden rush of thoughts and feelings that were definitely not his own.

“-Ungh!! …A-AH!”

“Huh?  Are you alright?”

He couldn’t answer the sorceress’ question, too busy listening to the sound of an incredibly obnoxious voice droning inside his head.

‘Get out, GET OUT!’

‘What… You!? How did you… Where from did you…?!’

He didn’t need to have these questions answered, the solution to both quickly occurred to him. Right, the seal on the book had been weakened… So, not only had it failed to reclaim his soul in time, it also apparently hadn’t bothered to claim another in exchange. The boys’ soul must’ve been in here all along, buried underneath the weight of the demon’s mind.

And now it had clawed its way back to the surface, it seemed.

‘Didn’t you hear me!? I said get out of my body!’

‘I-Idiot! Settle down! You have no idea-!”

‘No, shut up! I’ve had enough of your insults for a lifetime! Right now, I want you GONE!’

Since when did that child have so much fight in him? He seemed impressively enraged for some reason, angry enough for the raw emotion to make it difficult for the demon to maintain his grip on his host.

‘Wait, you don’t understand! Right now, your body is-‘

‘SHUTTUP! Stop saying that I don’t understand!! Stop saying-“

This latest wave of emotional energy was too much. It burst the dam.

“-ANYTHING!”

The word came out loudly and shrilly, with plenty of voice-cracking to go with it. Surprised, ‘Arle’ took a leap backwards and took a defensive stance. She didn’t even need to see the ball of blazing red light that was violently expelled from the boy’s body and then, in want for any better options, reentered the book on the floor. She could tell what had just happened either way.

“Tch… Just when I was beginning to enjoy myself a little…!”

She meant the statement to be playful, but the words came out sounding far more sincere than she meant them to be. A shame, it was such a shame…! Who did that brat think he was, to go in-between them like that?

…Well, apparently, he didn’t think much of anything right now. ‘Arle’ blinked when, just a moment after regaining control over his body, she heard the boy yelp weakly, and then watched him collapse onto the floor next to the book, like a ragdoll. With some wariness, she bent down and poked the purple mage’s shoulder with her index finger.

“…Hello?”

No response. He had passed out.

“Huh… Really now?”

It actually made sense, she supposed. Until just seconds ago, another soul had been using the boy’s body, casting magic that seemed far too powerful for a mage of this kid’s caliber and parrying her attacks over and over. Even if powerful magical beings were able to keep their bodies up and running under those circumstances, most humans definitely weren’t.

By reclaiming his body, the annoying, little twerp had knocked himself unconscious, indirectly, but still. ‘Arle’ could only marvel at how pathetic that was. She almost felt like he deserved her sympathy just for that.

Well, it wasn’t as if she wanted to end him anyway, and, in all honesty, she wasn’t exactly interested in making him her friend anymore either. When it came to disagreeable, awkward elements in her social circle, Schezo would more than suffice, she decided. She could probably just leave the boy like this then. The chances that he would wake up in time to annoy her again were pretty low, and even if he did, he didn’t have the magic left to seriously hinder her anymore. Time for her to leave these woods and get back to work. Ah, though… There was one thing she did want to take away from this little detour.

‘Arle’ bent down and picked up the book laid on the floor. In the heat of the battle some dirt had gotten on the cover and some of the pages had been creased. No, that wouldn’t do. Arle opened the book, brushed the paper flat, then closed it tightly and blew on the book to remove some of the dust and earth. Finally, she gave the volume a fond look.

“Don’t worry. I’ll find a nice place for us to continue our conversation from earlier…fufu.”

She ignored the slight stirring of the body next to her feet, didn’t even notice when the barely conscious boy weakly reached out, trying to grab her by the ankle. He didn’t find a grip. Observed by him, and carrying the Tome of Sealing under her arm, Arle Nadja’s Doppelganger walked away, disappearing into the dark of the night.

Bonus

Anzu Kimura (Color)

Momo&Sumomo Lee (Color)

Ushio Tottori

Chapter Text

Watching the dark aura around it swirl ominously, Sig flexed the fingers of his right hand. The motions came heavily and with too much force behind them, but he realized that he was getting used to the way it felt by now. It had been the same back when his left hand had changed, it had felt weird at first, but then started feeling normal after a little while.

He hated it. First his left hand and eye, now his right hand, his hair, and even the way he perceived the world. He didn’t want this to become ‘normal’. It felt as if he just kept drifting further and further away from the boy he was in his memories from when he was little. Maybe, eventually he wouldn’t even feel like he was the boy who transferred to Primp and met Amitie and everyone else there back then anymore either. That thought frightened him.

“Hm? Why do you keep looking at your claws like you’ve never seen them before?” asked the girl with the large butterfly in her hair, curiously peeking over his shoulder.

Sig shook his head.

“That’s not. I’ve seen it, it’s just… It wasn’t always like this. That hand, I mean,” he decided to try and articulate himself a little better. “It used to be only the left one that was like this. And it was red. But now, they’re both like this, and black.”

“Huh? Is that so? That’s interesting,” Anzu seemed far too fascinated by what Sig was describing for his taste, if not to say ‘enthused’. “I see! A progressive mutation then! A sort of magical puberty, perhaps? Ah, this reminds me of this one comic I read! Maybe eventually it will progress into a full-body metamorphosis!”

Hearing those words, Sig froze up, stiff like a board. In his head he could faintly hear a friend’s nonchalant, innocently insensitive laughter.

“Heh heh!! Then maybe one day you’ll end up all red, head to toe!”

“H-Hey…” Anzu had backed away from Sig a little. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Amitie said that too…” he muttered, turning his head away. “She was laughing.”

“Amitie? I’ve heard that name from Ringo before… Is she your friend?”

Sig gave a small nod.

“Then, hey, you shouldn’t be worried! I mean, I don’t think it seems like a bad thing, and if I am talking about it and your friend was talking about it and laughing it off, then it can’t be a bad thing, right?”

“Right after Amitie said that, something really bad happened.”

“Ah…I-Is that so…?”

“Right now, really bad things are happening too,” Sig flexed the claw again. He still couldn’t stand how normal it was starting to feel. “Everyone is getting hurt, getting separated, I can’t find anyone, I don’t know what’s happening at home…”

He left out the part where he was worried about himself and how he factored into all of it, because he honestly still didn’t quite know how to process that part. He’d never liked thinking about himself a lot, but now he was practically forced to, and it was so strange to realize how little he really understood about himself in a lot of ways. In the meantime, the girl with the butterfly next to him was fidgeting, then sighing.

“So those words are a bad omen to you… I understand. Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you even more worried.”

“It’s okay. You couldn’t have known.”

“But, hey, listen! It’s gonna be fine. We’ll find your friends.”

“I really hope so.”

“Not ‘hope’! We will!”

How Anzu could be so sure about this, Sig didn’t know. They’d searched the entire park. Klug hadn’t been anywhere. If they went outside searching, would they be able to find him? This world had looked big from up on the wheel, at least as big as their own world. Finding a single person, let alone three people, in a big world like that seemed like it would take a long, long time.

And Sig was still hungry.

“You guys. It’s getting late,” Ushio walked next to the two older children, dragging his feet and occasionally kicking a pebble. He moaned. “Just so you know, I should’ve been in bed an hour ago.”

“You’d just be playing videogames under your blanket even if you were in bed right now,” Anzu scoffed.

“Like that’s the point!” Ushio scoffed back.

“If you’re sleepy I can carry you,” offered Sig. “I just had a nap earlier, so I’m not all that tired right now.”

Ushio’s only response to that was to look surprised and humbled by the older boy’s offer at first, then turn his head away as if to hide a blush. Anzu laughed when she saw that.

“I think he just really wants to get home. He’s not much of an outdoor person, you know. Kind of strange, since he lives on a farm and all.”

“We feed the animals, we don’t take them on round-trips to abandoned amusement parks,” when Ushio said that, he almost sounded like he was… laughing? “Pff… I mean, Dad wouldn’t even take me here when the place was still up and running!”

“Ah, yeah, that’s right. Mom did tell me that Mr. Tottori was always pretty vocal against the park on the city council.”

“That’s putting it mildly. Dad loathed this park! I bet if he could’ve, he’d have bulldozed it with his own tractor!”

“Huh, what?” Sig widened his eyes, surprised, “He hates this place that much? Why?”

“It was always super loud and kept the livestock up till far into the night. Like, some of our cattle had serious sleeping problems from all the noise. Oh, also, apparently the wood they used building it brought some kind of beetles into the area that started killing all the fruit trees? I think a bunch of his friends were up in arms about that too.”

The moment he realized what Ushio was referring to, Sig started to pout.

“Hey! Longhorn Beetles are cool!” he insisted.

Ushio rolled his eyes, “Not when they’re killing the local economy, they’re not.”

Oh poor, sweet, innocent Ushio yet did not know the hell he had unleashed with such blasphemous statements, though one glimpse at Sig’s face was enough to at least give him a premonition of it. The previously so mild-mannered and soft-looking eyes of the strange, older boy were suddenly filled with a fire that made the grade schooler long for the safety of his home and his room, which had a door that he could lock and a bed that he could hide under. Lacking either of these options right now, he chose to rush and hide behind Anzu instead. A very confused Anzu, one should remark. She wasn’t really sure what was happening right now, or why Sig suddenly looked like he was on the verge of holding a very long and very loud sermon with the title ‘All Beetles Are Objectively Wonderful, so Shut Up’, but just when she put on an awkward smile, preparing to make a token attempt to go in-between the two boys and defuse the situation, something stopped her in her tracks.

A noise, a loud clattering, as if a large, wooden object, was hitting a large, metal object.

“D…Did you guys hear that just now?” she asked.

Before she could receive an answer, the noises continued, louder and louder, in a certain rhythm. And then, there was a voice. A very loud and angry one.

“I SWEAR TA THE HEAVENS, I’M GUNNA TEAR DOWN THIS WHOLE PLACE, AND IF I HAVE’TA USE MY OWN TRACTOR!”

The sound of this loud, roaring declaration immediately struck terror into Anzu and Ushio’s hearts. The word they both mouthed as they stood there starring at each other’s shocked faced cannot be repeated here without raising this story’s rating unnecessarily. Just be assured that Sig was really quite confused by the whole situation.

“Um, what’s happening now?”

“It’s my Dad!” Ushio squeaked in a voice a whole octave higher than how he’d spoken the whole evening thus far. “Oh, this is bad! Super bad!”

“But, how!?” Anzu tried to keep her voice low but was also failing. “I thought he was visiting friends for the weekend!”

“That’s code for ‘drinking with his buddies in the backyard of Mr. Inoue’s bar’! He must’ve seen the lights from there!”

“Oh, so he’s angry and possibly drunk! Great!” the despair in Anzu’s voice was quite tangible. “What do we do now!? If he finds us here, he absolutely won’t pay me!”

“Pay you!? If he finds us, he’ll end us. Both of us! We’ll get a nice headstone to share in the graveyard outside of town and then that’s the last thing anyone’s ever gonna see of us!”

Yeah, Sig didn’t get it. Where Ushio’s words hyperbole, or was the danger really as scary as he made it sound? Wait, why was there even any danger at all? It all didn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense to him. Maybe it was all just a joke or something... However, there was one thing he could gather: If Ushio’s father really was dangerous, it sounded like that danger would only really apply if he saw Anzu or his son here. Which meant...

“…I might have an idea. How to keep it a secret that you guys are here, I mean.”

Immediately Sig had 100% of both his companion’s attention. Whatever it was that he’d come up with, if it was an alternative to the rage they expected of Mr. Tottori, then it had to be worth a try, they thought.

Thankfully, Sig’s plan didn’t require any excessive sacrifices from them. Just a few minutes later, Anzu and Ushio were crouching behind the counter of a shooting stand in the plaza in front of the Ferris Wheel, keeping dead-quiet as they listened to the scene that was unfolding outside their hiding spot. Sig had intentionally made some noise in the plaza to attract the attention of Ushio’s displeased father – nothing special, just a little feigned whining here and some crocodile tears there – and it worked. A burly man in checkered suspender pants with the same brown hair as Ushio soon stood in the plaza before him, looking down onto the unfamiliar boy with pity, but also suspicion.

“What in da heaven’s name are ya doin’ out here, kid?

“I… I got separated from my friend. W-We thought it’d be fun to come play here a bit. Now I can’t find him.”

Now, while Anzu couldn’t see what was happening, only hear the voices of those involved in the conversation, she kept her fingers crossed that Sig was keeping his arms hidden behind his back, like they’d discussed. The smoky aura was easy to miss in the park’s temperamental, colorful lighting, but the claws were another story. Mr. Tottori was bound to panic if caught a glimpse of those, and that couldn’t happen, not before step two of the plan.

So far, everything seemed to be going fine. At least Mr. Tottori didn’t yet sound like he’d just seen anything too out of the ordinary.

“So yer the ones who turned the power back on… Goshdarnit, can’t ya children read!? This darn place is C-L-O-S-E-D, closed! Over, done, finto! Yer’ve got NO business coming here at all, let alone play with the electricity!”

“I know. Sorry.”

“Tch… Lil’ delinquents you are… I’m tellin’ ya, if I were yer parent, I’d let ya have it for even thinkin’ ‘bout setting foot inta a place like this.”

“…My friend’s still missing, though,” Sig said, making sure to sound as helpless as possible.

The large man before him scoffed, then sighed, “Yeah, yeah, yer friend, got it. ‘Aight, lessee what we can do ‘bout that. Can’t have gotten ta far? We get outta this danged noise first, then we call up 110, ‘kay?”

“Ah, yeah! Thanks, Sir.”

“…Probably just fell asleep in a ride or sumthing. Anyway, don’t think yer just gettin’ away! Yer’ll have a lot to explain once the police get here.”

“Mhm, I know!”

“Just, stay behind me, kid.”

Perfect. Everything was going swimmingly, just according to plan. Anzu had known the guy wouldn’t want to make a phone-call surrounded by all this noise. Next, Sig was going to let Mr. Tottori lead him outside the park, and, as the men would be crossing the gates, his back still turned to the boy, Sig would cast a spell he called ‘Periwinkle’. It was a very weak spell, he’d explained, something that usually just soothes the target’s mind, however, to somebody without any magical power or experience with countering spells, it should be more than enough to put them to sleep, just like a proper Heedon-spell.

(Of course, even if Sig had been able to cast Heedon, he wouldn’t have used it. He still wanted to be careful with his magic right now.)

Anyway, the plan was to put Mr. Tottori to sleep for the night, get him back to his house, and then continue the search for Klug. The next morning Anzu and Ushio would pretend Mr. Tottori had just come home late at night and fallen asleep in his bed fully dressed. That way, he’d think he just dreamed ever coming to Suzuran Dreamland in first place and wouldn’t have a reason to be angry at anyone. Simple. They just had to make sure he never had any idea that anyone had “attacked” him before he fell asleep, which was why Sig had to catch him completely off-guard when casting the spell. Hence this whole performance.

Sig kept his attention sharp as he followed behind the man in the checkered suspender pants. He had to find the right moment to use his spell, else Mr. Tottori would remember him the next morning, which, according to Anzu, would be bad and might possibly ‘call the MiB on the plan’.

(What are ‘MiB’?)

A couple meters before the gate was when Sig decided would be the right place to execute the plan. It was fairly dark on the path they were walking down, so even if Mr. Tottori happened to take a peek back right now, he wouldn’t necessarily see the boy move. Carefully, Sig began to lift one of his arms and chant in a hushed whisper:

“Periw-”

-He didn’t get further than that. Two piercing screams echoing through the park, shrill and loud. The sound made Sig freeze up where he stood at once. And he wasn’t the only one.

“That voice...No, that can’t be...!” Mr. Tottori had whirled around, his face white as a sheet. “...Ushio!”

“Butterfly Girl!”

Without saying anything to each other, both Sig and the burly man by his side dashed off, back into the heart of the Amusement Park. It didn’t take long until they reached the source of the screams they’d heard. Right there, on the floor in the Ferris Wheel Plaza, cowered Anzu and Ushio, terrified by approaching figure of a large... What was this? It looked kind of like a man, but also kind of like a dog. Or a wolf? He looked fluffy and wore some kind of red leather jacket and really tacky metal pendant... No, wait, that wasn’t what mattered here!

The point was that that wolf-man was attacking Anzu and Ushio, and it scared them.

“W-Werewolf!!” Anzu was yelling. “We’re gonna be eaten by a werewolf!”

“I don’t care what kind of wolf it is, I just don’t wanna end up in its stomach!” protested Ushio, holding onto his babysitter for dear life.

Indeed, the fluffy wolf-man was baring his (admittedly less-than-impressive) fangs in a way that indicated that he was getting ready to feast, however the non-comital way in which he kept mumbling “Fear me, yes, fear me, whooo…” in their faces made threat seem somewhat moot. Nevertheless, Sig couldn’t fault his new friends for being afraid of the weird person assaulting them in the middle of the night. If it had been him being attacked by someone like that, he’d have been scared too, probably. In any case, before Sig could go in-between the wolf-man and the kids and try to defuse the situation, Mr. Tottori had already taken things into his own hands.

“SHOO! Back off, ya big, ugly mutt! Tug in yer tail ‘n scram!”

There he went, that 5’11” man, a large, wooden plank he’d broken off from one of the stands on his way back here in hands, running right towards his son’s would-be assailant while wildly swinging his makeshift weapon. Young Ushio’s eyes went wide. As the wolf-man gave a half-hearted yelp and stumbled back, the brown-haired boy stood up from the ground, ”D-Dad…!”

Immediately Anzu shrieked and leapt up as well, nervously shaking dust off her skirt, “M-Mr. Tottori! Ha…Haha! W-What a surprise to see you out he-“

“Kimura.”

“Yessir?”

“Yer fired.”

Anzu sighed in defeat, “…Yessir.”

“And tomorrow mornin’, imma have a long word with yer mother.”

“…W-What! N-NOOOOO! Everything but that!”

Well. So much for their plan then. Sig bit his lip, kinda feeling guilty, even though he wasn’t sure what he could have done to change the situation, other than leaving the two of them to their weakly barking fate. Anyway, this wasn’t the time to consider this anyway. The oddly unmotivated wolf-man was down, but far from beaten. It would take a bit more than one strike to zonk that foe out. And while Mr. Tottori was still at it with his piece of wood, hammering away at his opponent in a rhythmic manner, he didn’t seem to be making much more progress.

“Back! Back ya, overgrown mongrel!”

“Woof… woooooof… Yes… Be afraiiid of meeee…”

“Yer a nuclear mutant or sumthin’! I don’t give a damn, get out!!”

Yeah, this wasn’t going to work. Whatever kind of monster this was, being beat up like this didn’t seem to especially impress it. What’s more, the longer Sig watched, the surer he became that he was sensing something familiar. Magic, maybe? It felt like a kind he’d been close to recently, too, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“W-Whoa! Dad, watch out!” Sig heard Ushio sounding seriously worried.

“S-Somebody! We need a silver bullet over here, ASAP!” he heard Anzu’s pleading voice.

Yes, he really had to do something. If that enemy was magic, then it was no wonder that attacking him with wood like that wasn’t doing much. Mr. Tottori would probably end up breaking his weapon before that weird man-wolf-something’s skull. No can do about it… He’d promised Klug he wouldn’t use powerful spells, but this was important. Everyone was scared, and he was the only one who could cast magic here.

“Cerulean!”

He’d apologize to Klug for being careless later. For now, helping his new friends took priority.

Sig struck the ground to unleash his power, and his spell lit up the plaza in a deep blue light, shooting out to its target as a powerful shockwave. It worked so well, even Sig was surprised by the results: With a small ‘Huh!’ and his mouth in an O-shape, he watched as the wolf-man was swept off his feet and let out a small and fairly dull whine before suddenly and without warning falling apart and disintegrating into a rain of bright, unnatural sparkles.

“Huh? That… seems familiar…” Sig said to himself taking a step back. Where he’d seen this before? It was recently, right?

He didn’t get the chance to think it through. There was barely a second of silence before he heard a heavy stomping sound to his right. A turn of his head later he realized that Mr. Tottori had jumped. Standing in front of the other two – especially Ushio – like a large, living wall, the man starred down at Sig, wide-eyed and pale.

“Y-You… What’dya… What…!!”

“…U-Um, huh?”

Sig took a step back. Why did the man seem so scared? Just because Sig had used magic? Wait- Ah, right, now the boy realized the reason. His arms were out, in plain view. Anzu had said that the man might have a weird reaction to them, hadn’t she?

“…What in the heck are you…!?”

Sig flinched. Oh no. The exact sort of question he disliked most. It had been bad enough whenever people asked about his arm in the past, but asking like this, with that sort of tone… It made Sig feel like he’d, again, done something wrong, and he didn’t even really know what.

Thankfully, Anzu was there to at least try and speak up.

“M-Mr. Tottori, wait! He’s just… I mean, he’s not dangerous, I promise! He’s one of the good guys!”

Ushio nodded empathically, “Yeah, Dad, and he took that wolf-thing out for us! You saw that, ri-“

“Quiet, kids, both of ya, I dunwanna hear a word outta either one of ya!” the man cut off his son’s words. “Ushio, yer should’ve known better than ta wander out here in the dead of night! I’m disappointed in ya! “

“Wait, Sir, it’s my fault! I took Ushio out here, because-“

“Yeah, ‘figured as much. Tch, Sasaki warned me yer’d be a bad influence on my kid. Should’ve listened…”

Now it was Ushio and Anzu’s turn to flinch and pull in their heads between their shoulders in shame. All in all, these were very bad vibes, and nobody here was happy.

Actually, Sig was worse than not-happy. He couldn’t quite describe it, it was a sort of feeling he wasn’t especially familiar with, but it felt similar to what he’d felt like last night, when Amitie had been scared of him, or earlier today, when he’d run from school. Just… overwhelming. A lot of emotions, all at once. He didn’t know how to deal with that flood of feelings. Before he knew it, he was hiding his arms behind his back again, even though he knew that wouldn’t change the fact the man had already seen them. He did stop himself from running away again, like he’d done earlier in the day, though. He was already lost enough as it was and he still needed to find Klug, too, but…

…Right now, even just for a moment, he felt that disappearing as well would have been nice. Just to not be there anymore.

“Anyway, I’ve just about had it with all this BS, Imma call the cops, right now, so they can shut down this darned place once and fer all, and maybe figure out what the heck…” he tossed a glance at Sig. “…is goin’ on here.”

“Wait, Dad, don’t call the police, if they see Sig here, then-“

“Ushio.”

“…Yeah. I’m quiet already.”

What was going to happen now? Anzu had said that it could be dangerous for him if these ‘police’ people found out about his magic. Was he in danger then? As if Sig hadn’t already been feeling sick enough as it was, now he was scared, too.

Anzu came over to Sig’s side while Mr. Tottori wasn’t paying attention, too busy typing numbers into that small device he’d pulled out of his pocket.

“I’m so, so sorry…!” she both sounded and looked genuinely apologetic, if not to say pained about what was happening. “I promised I’d help you, and now I got you into trouble…!”

“I-It’s not your fault,” he said. “I… don’t really know what’s happening now, is all…”

“You should run away!” Anzu then told him. “Right now, while Mr. Tottori isn’t looking!”

“Is running away going to help?”

“If you don’t, they’ll catch you and bring you stars-know-where!”

Those ‘police’ people would take him somewhere? Then maybe he really did have to run away. After all, he still had to find Klug, and if he was taken somewhere he didn’t know, he wouldn’t be able to get back to Amitie and Lemres, either.

Sig thought about it for a moment, then, his body still shaking more than he’d have liked it to, gave Anzu a definite nod,

“Okay. I’ll run.”

She smiled a little. “I’ll cover your back!”

“Thanks!”

He felt bad about leaving Anzu and Ushio behind like that, but it didn’t feel like the intimidating man meant them any harm. He was Ushio’s father. Even if he was scary, they’d be safe around him. Thus, Sig took Anzu’s advice, turned towards one of the dim paths extending away from the Ferris Wheel Plaza and-

-He didn’t run. Because there was something else already on that path, blocking the way.

“Huh?”

“Sig? What’s wrong?” asked Anzu.

“There’s someone coming…”

“Hm?”

The lights of the park, colorful as they were, were not especially bright, so it took a while for the three silhouettes approaching the plaza to be close enough for them to make out details of their appearances. When they did, the first thing Sig and Anzu realized was that the three newcomers were a trio of girls, two blondes and one with strikingly pink hair and wings. It didn’t take long for Sig to recognize that all three of them seemed familiar, two of them strikingly so. Like, the one all the way to the left, with the blue robes and long, blond hair, had to be their Witch, without any doubt. And that in the middle-

“A… Amitie!”

Sig’s heart made a leap and the corners of his mouth pulled into a smile. Thank goodness, at least one friend found! Leaving Anzu where she stood, he dashed off, towards the three girls in the dimly lit path. Witch, Amitie and the loud Harpy who sometimes visited Arle. That was who he saw, in that order. Of course, Amitie was the one he chose to focus on most.

“Amitie! I’m so glad! I was worried, ‘cause you got hurt, and then we got separated, and then Klug went missing too…! But you’re here now, so it’s gonna be fine. We can go look for him together! …Right?”

-Something was wrong. Deeply so.

For one, there was the fact that Amitie hadn’t come running towards him the moment their eyes met, as she’d usually do even under less worrying circumstances. She also had yet to return Sig’s greeting, her mouth remaining closed, even after Sig had said a whole three sentences, which was an uncanny reversal in dynamic by any measure. Most worryingly, however, Amitie wasn’t smiling. Not even smirking. The corners of her mouth remained stiffly fixed in place in the most neutral possible position, regardless of how close Sig came or what he said.

Sig took a step back.

“…Amitie?” This wasn’t normal. Yes, it looked like Amitie, but it didn’t feel like her. “Is… something wrong?”

He knew the answer, of course, but he wanted to be wrong. He just wanted for something good to have finally, finally happened, after this whole weird day of almost nothing but bad things. He wanted Amitie to start grinning, laugh and say ‘Just kidding!’, wanted her to say overly optimistic things to cheer him up like she always did, then go on the search for their friends with him, which would be a successful search, because it was Amitie, and things always went well when Amitie was around, because she was good at making bad things better and a dark night brighter…

But that wasn’t what this would be, was it? No, he should have noticed right away, that empty look in her eyes, that weird, magic aura that he’d felt several times already today. This was…

‘Amitie’ looked up at Sig, but barely acknowledged his presence. Instead, she raised a hand.

“Ekrixis.”

…One of those copies again. Just like Draco and Rulue and Schezo earlier today. That wolf-person earlier had been like that too, right? He realized that now, but he hated it. Enough. Enough already. So many bad things had happened already today, and every single good thing was immediately undone by something even worse happening. Amitie goes to make up with Klug, Sig ends up getting weird feelings in the school yard and runs away from school. Arle eats curry with him, but it’s that weird, fake Arle and she attacks them and Amitie gets hurt and can’t use magic anymore. Klug and he find this place and have fun here together, but then he falls asleep out of nowhere and Klug goes missing. He makes new friends, but then they’re attacked and yelled at and he is told he has to run away.

He finally thinks he’s found Amitie again and that Amitie is fine, that she isn’t hurt anymore, but it’s not Amitie. Just something that looks at her. Something trying to hurt him while looking like his best friend.

Enough. Enough already. He’d had enough of this day.

He mouthed ‘Celeste’ without even voicing the incantation and brought up his barrier, which took the brunt of the explosion caused by the fake Amitie’s spell and then shattered like glass. The noise of the clashing spells of course attracted the attention of the people he had left in the Plaza behind him. He heard Mr. Tottori’s and Ushio’s panicked voices.

“W-What’s the ruckus now!?”

“M-More monsters!?”

…This was gonna be another battle. One that he’d have to fight, because he was the only one who could fight here, and he didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Even though he’d promised not to, even though his magic was still being weird, even though he was already sick of this day.

Even though one of his opponents looked just like Amitie.

The ‘Witch’ and ‘Harpy’ with Amitie had meanwhile stopped being idle as well. They were now both gathering power to attack.

“Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La…”

“Meteor.”

A sound-shock and a falling star. Sig couldn’t just dodge either; He knew if he did that, there was a chance the attacks would hit the people in the plaza behind him instead. He had to counter their magic with his own and let nothing get through.

“Sapphire!”

A flash of blinding blue absorbed the magic the ‘Harpy’ and ‘Witch’ had aimed at him and returned it two-fold. The strike was heavy, but the trio of dull-eyed girls seemed hardly bothered by that. The noises they made upon being hit sounded incredibly fake. Even so, Sig grit his teeth when he saw his counter send the person who looked like Amitie stumbling back a meter. It wasn’t her, he knew it wasn’t but somehow that didn’t make it better, because it only reminded him that he still didn’t know where the real Amitie was, if she was okay, if she was still unconscious or in pain…

That wasn’t all. He’d cast a couple of spells so far and by now, he was starting to feel it. Not only was using magic in such quick succession and without Puyos getting exhausting quickly, but there was also something else… It was like a tugging. If he had to describe it, he’d say that there was some sort of ‘dark space’ inside that he ended up reaching into whenever he used his magic, and with every spell he used, he found he had to reach in a little deeper. Each time that happened, it felt as if the void he was reaching into was pulling back on him. Was it trying to pull him in? Where to? What was in there? Why didn’t he know that? Why did this feel like another bad thing, why were there nothing but bad things happening?

No time to think about that. Countering three opponents at once had been a bit too difficult for him after all. The Harpy had managed to slip by, and now she was bothering, no, attacking Anzu.

“Fa-Ti-So-Do-Mi-So~”

“W-Whaaaaa!”

At this rate, she’d get seriously hurt.

Sig turned on his heels and tried to run back into the plaza to get the Harpy off the girl’s case, but stumbled when a familiar mix of yellow, pink, blue and red stepped into his path. The fake Amitie blocked the way.

“Lightning Bolt.”

The lights in the park flickered and the music blaring from the surrounding speakers distorted for a moment, when a bright flash descending from above struck the ground to Sig’s feet. He’d managed to dodge out of the way, even though he’d much rather have talked ‘Amitie’ out of casting that spell in the first place. He didn’t do that, because this wasn’t Amitie; just a mean trick somebody was playing on him. Of course, knowing that didn’t make him feel much better about still being faced with that... something.

“Ungh... Out of the way!”

He pushed past her, shivering when he felt the side of his arm bump up against the fake girl’s torso. She’d made a token attempt to trip him up, but his physical strength had more than sufficed to simply bulldoze through that without even giving pushing her away any thought... Anyway, he had to help the people in the plaza.

A ‘Teal’, and the Harpy stopped her song in a dull gasp and backed away from Anzu. A ‘Cyan’ and the Witch jumped and stopped chasing Ushio and his father in circles for a moment. Next, he used
'Paraiba’ to round the two enemies up in the center of the plaza, charged up a ‘Robin’s Egg’ to try and entrap them entirely...

 “Fairy Fire.”

As if that creepily familiar voice alone wouldn’t have been enough to make him stumble, a moment later he felt a pressure in his back. He couldn’t finish the spell. A surge of dazzlingly bright energy struck him and knocked the air out of his lungs. Sig gasped as he was punched three meters forward, through the air and into the ground. He got back up onto his feet quickly, but, as soon as he stood, there she was again, that fake Amitie. Emptily starring at him from afar, with eyes like a mannequin.

“S...Stop it!” Sig yelled at the figure. “You can’t use that! It’s not yours!”

It wasn’t fair, using Amitie’s spells, when the real Amitie probably couldn’t right now... because of him. It wasn’t fair.

Sig was so preoccupied with thinking about how unfair it was, it took him by surprise when the ‘Amitie’ in front of him suddenly started speaking.

“Hey.”

“Huh?”

“Hey. Wanna be friends?” The dull-eyed girl said in a deadpan tone. “I really hope you like it here. Let’s hang out lots and lots, okay?”

Sig froze up.

“What... No. Don’t do that...”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Amitie. My dream is to become a wonderful sorceress.”

“I-I said... don’t...”

“Let’s be friends, okay? I’m sure, we’ll have loads of fun together. Ahaha... haha...”

He wouldn’t have cared, any other day. He would have frowned at this mean, awful illusion, walked away and found something else to distract himself with from how wrong what he’d seen felt and how much he wished he could just put the memory away and not revisit it. But today, everything was overwhelming.

And he already had one foot stuck in that dark, murky void that pulled on him whenever he reached for his magic to cast.

‘Don’t say that... with her face... It’s not fair, when she can’t... ’

Sig kept thinking barely coherent thought-fragments.

‘It is wrong,’ something echoed back at him from within the void. ‘How dare it make a mockery of her ambitions... How dare it...’

‘Right... Right, it’s wrong...! It's wrong to say those things and use that magic, when Amitie...!’

‘I am sure, that girl’s ambitions were grand and marvelous. But now, because of me, because of my inaction, she might never have the chance to bring those dreams to fruition.’

‘N-No...’ Sig shook his head. ‘I... I don’t want that... I... I didn’t...’

‘That girl called me ‘friend’, and I brought her such misfortune. If this guilt I am feeling was what this story was meant to amount to all along, then maybe...’

‘Then... maybe...’

‘...maybe...’

Then maybe he wouldn’t mind disappearing just for a little bit.

All hell had broken lose in Primp Town in the meantime, and Satan wasn’t even around.

It had all started in Nahe Forest, when Arle, unsure whether or not the person Schezo was planning to decimate in an unfair Puyo battle was actually her old classmate Lala or not, had tried to hinder and prevent the dark sorcerer from beginning the match. She’d meant to try and find another method to restrain ‘Lala’ for the time being, to then try and find out what was happening to her, rather than just rushing her down in a battle she would be defenseless in. The ensuing struggle had led to Arle, Schezo and the person who may or may not have been Lala all chasing one another out of the forest, back into town.

That was where the real insanity began.

It wasn’t only ‘Lala’ anymore. People, demons, monsters of all shapes and sizes soon started appearing all throughout town, antagonizing the citizen's, trying to drag them off to stars-know-where. They knocked on people’s windows, ambushed students on the way home from school, broke into Dapper Bones’ shop, wrecked chaos in the Town Hall and Library. Even Raffina, Rulue, Witch and Draco found themselves rudely interrupted in their intermezzo with Ecolo.

Soon, all of Primp was caught up in one gigantic, town-spanning Puyo-battle.

“Vivo! Solfège!”

“Hata! Vajra!”

“Whip, meow!”

These were the sounds of Ms. Accord and Akuma (and Popoi) doing their best to drive a horde of banshees and cat-demons out of the culture district to protect the town archives.

“Hmpf! Usually, I wouldn’t mind some cute new kittens in town!” Popoi grumbled, as a Cait Sith before him and Accord broke away into magic light. “But these girls are just way too annyaing, meow!”

His keeper, meanwhile, was preoccupied with another aspect of the situation entirely, “Soulless husks, comprised of magic made manifest… Oh dear, just what is that girl using the gem for?”

“Accord.” Akuma regrouped with the teacher. “I believe the danger has been baned, ma. Let us seal this area and attend to the rest of town.”

“…Yes, you are right.”

“Guess we’re heading back to school next, meow!”

Combining the rest of the power they had gathered during the previous battles, Accord and Akuma sealed the culture district underneath a dome-shaped forcefield and headed uphill, to defend the Magic School.

At the same time, the Town Plaza was under attack by a horde of mandrakes and water elementals, accosting a couple of very terrified magic students on their way home from school. Lidelle and Tartar were among the group.

“M-Miss Flower, please… C-Calm down a little…! We don’t even know what you’re so angry for…!”

“Hmmm… Do you think they want a battle, Lidelle?” asked Tartar, confused by the situation.

“I-I don’t know… They’re not saying…” she backed away a little. “Oh, I have such a bad feeling about this…!”

“Then maybe we should just battle?”

“M-Maybe? B-But… There’s so many of them… Ah, I don’t know…!”

The rest of their schoolmates didn’t have any more of a clue, what to do. Indeed, there were many more of the mandrakes and elemental spirits than there were of them. And so, it came that the small group of mage apprentices was encircled by their attackers, their backs pushed closer and closer to the plaza fountain, until, finally, a bright flame broke through the wall of magical creatures, singing their petals and evaporating their liquid bodies.

“Inferno!” roared a draconic girl, and at once her fire had cleared a way for the group of Primp students to escape from peril.

“Ah, Big Sis, Draco!” Lidelle recognized.

“Everyone quick get out of here! I’ll take care of these guys!” Draco waved her hand in a motion that urged the children to run. A few of them immediately followed her command. Not Tartar and Lidelle, however.

“B-But…” Lidelle took a look around the plaza, and how many enemies were still left, then at Draco, who had come to help them all on her own. “…H-How about we fight together?”

“Heh? Really?” Draco actually seemed relieved to hear that. She grinned. “Thanks! That would help a bunch!”

“T-tartar, are you going to…?”

“Well, I don’t usually like fighting much, but these girls have been really mean to everyone. That’s not nice. Okay. I’ll help out!”

“Hah! Thank you!”

“Oookay, you two! Let’s clean up! After this, we’re getting dinner together!”

“Yay!”

Thus, Lidelle, Tartar and Draco were taking care of the Town Plaza.

Speaking of Draco, the place where she had been just moments ago, the Town Market Place right around the corner, was also quite the mess right now. While Dapper Bones had successfully managed to expel a couple of very foreign and very unfashionable skeletons (“How dare you disgrace my holy halls of elegance with your trash taste!”) from his shop, outside he’d found a situation that was barely preferable, with a troupe of extremely tacky-looking Succubi, Incubi and Eggplants (!?) attempting to gain entry to every building in the neighborhood, harassing the citizens as they did so. Dapper’s neighbor, the witch from the Potion Shop around the corner was already hard at work trying to dispel the crowd in a Puyo Battle.

“Hmpf!! As if I didn’t have enough of you guys already back home! Don’een! Moon Beam!”

She returned fire on them, shooting a laser that hit a small crowd of Eggplant People, causing them to pop almost like the Puyos she had used to power her spell. Witch looked thoroughly disgusted. “Siiigh… Sometimes I wonder why I even bothered opening this branch. -A-Ack! They’re still coming! M-Meteor Shower!”

This time the target was a rather persistent-looking Incubus who, much to Witch’s horror, had decided to make half-hearted googly eyes at her. Nope, nuh-uh, everything but that! Wildly and without any precision whatsoever, she flung any spell she could think of in the direction of the attacker, half of them missing their target. Then finally-

“Psychedelic!”

The death blow was dealt by Dapper Bones, whose own crusade against the eyesores in his neighborhood had eventually crossed paths with Witch’s.

“Oh! Yo, neighbor. That’s some great timing, I’ve gotta say.”

“Miss Witch! What did I say about wearing blue on—No, no, wait, this isn’t the time. Anyway! Would you tell me what in the name of good taste these crimes against aesthetics are doing in our town!?”

“Don’t ask me, I wanna know that myself!” Witch moaned. “These guys all look like some folks I know from back home… But they don’t at all act like it. In fact, I don’t even think they’re real people!”

“Tsk… I understand what you mean! Their hearts are clearly just as empty of passion as their heads are devoid of common fashion sense!”

“Yeah, they really are getting to be a pain! As if this day wasn’t stressful already, I won’t get anything done at this rate! And they’re driving away all the customers, too!”

“So, we’re in agreement! Well, shall we dispose of them together?”

“You handle the Incubi, I handle the Succubi!”

 “’Handle’ them…? Tch, as if I’d give those bar queens the honor! No, they’ll be what their style has been for decades: Ended!”

The crowd of enemies in the Market Place was thinned out quickly.

Townhall wasn’t quite so lucky. The sheer number of aggressive-looking monsters the place was overrun with was ridiculous. Zombies, shapeless blobs, angry mermaids, scorpion demons, fish that were somehow even odder than Suketoudara… Oh, talking of old ‘Dara, he happened to be there, along with Yu, Rei, an Onion Pixie, an Acorn Frog, and the timid mermaid Serilly, who seemed far from happy to see her own kind act so unbecoming in front of strangers. In fact, she kept apologizing profusely, the whole time.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m so, so, sorry, I swear, most mermaids, we aren’t like this, we really aren’t, we’re not dangerous, you don’t need to hunt us, please, please, don’t hunt me for this-“

“H-Hey, ‘Rilly… Chill it, okay? Ain’t nobody gonna gill-t ya for this,” Suketoudara attempted to console her. Unfortunately for him, his efforts were quickly hijacked, along with his fish-pun.

“Yes, yes! How cou~ld anybody gill-t her… When she might be the sole survivor! Of this MERMAPOCALPYSE!” Rei’s voice grew louder and louder and cheerier and cheerier. “YAY! I’m hooked on this plot!”

Hearing this, Serilly turned pale as chalk. She let out a high-pitched scream.

“E-EEEEEK!!!”

“W-Whoa! What da- H-Hey, what gives! How dare ya scare the living sealight outta a lady like that!” Suketoudara loudly complained to the ghost girl, but was ignored.

 “Soon, there’s gonna be so many new ghosts in town!!” Yu kept giggling. “I can’t wait!”

“…Please, forgive her,” mumbled Rei.

“Like shell I will!” yelled Suketoudara.

A little further away from that unfortunate group – intentionally, out of a desire to avoid getting involved with them – were Rulue and Raffina, fighting off the crowds of monsters the way they knew to do best: Kicking and punching, and putting them into headlocks from which there was no escape. All while powered up by sufficiently long Puyo-chains, of course.

“Ciel Arc!”

“Iron Strike!”

Unlike Rulue, who was entirely limited to close combat, Raffina’s special pouch allowed her to convert her physical power into magic energy, which at least gave her attacks some amount of range. Because of that they had coordinated themselves so that Raffina fought from a little further in the back, rounding up the enemies with sweeping kicks, and allowing Rulue to finishing them off with precision strikes, one by one. It was working fine, but was still long, arduous work. Not that either of them minded the workout… Still, given how dire the situation seemed, the fact that there actually was a way this battle could be resolved much, much quicker floating right above their heads and doing nothing peeved off Raffina quite a bit.

“You know, you could at least pretend to be helping us, hmpf!” she eventually snapped at the shadowy figure giggling like a maniac between the rooftops above them.

“Ahahaha! Why would I? Watching this is way, way more fun!” Ecolo rolled around, laughing. “Everyone’s trying so hard to not run out of breath! It’s like the whole town is upside down!”

Raffina fletched her teeth. The way that cosmic brat was reveling in the chaos all around town made her want to assume it was him that had unleashed this madness in first place and take him to task for it. Except, they already knew that this wasn’t the case. Ecolo had told them right from the start what these things were: Copies of creatures from Rulue’s world that the other Arle had unleashed onto this town in an attempt to round up and capture Primp’s citizens. And since Rulue corroborated the story and confirmed that these monsters, in fact, all were species she was familiar with from back in her own world, Raffina had no reason to distrust that story. Still… how infuriating could one single being act!! Once this was over, she would have to punish that Ecolo-thing with a good ol’ (and graceful) fist to the face! Even if she’d have to challenge him to a proper Puyo battle first.

In fact, there was a lot they’d have to do and talk about once this battle was over. A whole lot.

Meanwhile, at the edge of town, halfway between the playground and the residential districts, Arle and Schezo were only just beginning to grasp the situation they found themselves in. Townsfolk were fleeing into their houses left and right, as Schezo struggled to fight-off the horde of seemingly mindless ‘former classmates’ of Arle’s that had gathered around them as they left the forest.

“Tch! I could have taken them out one by one when I still had the chance if you hadn’t insisted on hindering me! But, nooo…!”

Arle, still not happy with watching Schezo attack familiar faces, tried to protest “W-Wait! Wait, we haven’t tried yet… We don’t know yet…!”

“We will know! Once we have dispatched them!”

“But-!”

“Arle! Do you really believe these people, assuming they even are people, are going to listen to reason!?”

…He was right. Arle knew that Schezo was right, but it was still hard, seeing all these young mages, many of them her childhood friends, acting strange like this. A part of her wanted to try and do absolutely everything else she could think of to find out what was wrong with them before resorting to violence. It wasn’t even as if she didn’t think they could take a bit of a beating. Lala, Camus, everyone she’d studied with were all powerful magic users and strong enough to withstand a hit or two. But still, she disliked this situation. She wasn’t even sure why, but somehow it felt as if it were calling back memories to her mind that she’d much rather have forgotten entirely…

“Gugu?”

“…Ah, Carby… Yeah, sorry. I know, I need to focus! “

Oh well. There was no use in sulking! Carbuncle was right, and so was Schezo. If the enemy wanted a fight, they would get one. Shaking off her doubts, Arle finally joined into the battle by the dark mage’s side.

“Fire! Ice Storm!”

“Gu, gugu, gu!”

“Finally, good grief… Areiado!”

From the moment that it was no longer Schezo all by himself versus the entire horde, the battle became a cakewalk. Arle’s and Schezo’s magic cut through the crowd like a warm knife through butter- literally. The enemies seemed to be downright melting away under the force of the incoming spells. Arle shrieked and leapt when she saw that. Frozen and wide-eyed, she starred as a boy – someone she knew, he used to sit next to her in transfiguration class – dissolved into sparkles before her eyes.

“W-What… No, that’s-“

“Hmpf. Copies. I should have known.”

Broken out of her shock by that word, Arle turned to Schezo, surprised. “…Copies?”

“It’s the power of the gem, Iolith. It controls material world and can add to it however its user pleases,” said Schezo, eyes narrowing. “You say you know these people? Well, then, if they are part of your memories of your school days, back in our own world… Then we both know who must’ve created these facsimiles. Don’t we?”

“Created… them?” Arle’s eyes opened wide when she processed what Schezo was saying. “Wait, why would she do that!?”

They didn’t have time to discuss the question. While knowing for sure now that these people were, in fact, not really her old classmates and that defeating them probably wouldn’t really cause anyone any harm made the battle a lot easier for Arle , the enemies were still numerous and Arle had to focus on keeping her Puyos in order to maintain a steady output of magical power.

“Hah! There! Here I go! Diacute! Diacute! Revia! Diacute! Diacute! Bayoe~n!”

Everything was going swimmingly, Arle felt the magic power surging through her, and her counterattack cut down the crowd like weeds. But then she attempted to user her signature spell to finish the job and- nothing. Arle gasped. Even though she was sure she had hit the crowd head-on, Bayoen had no effect. The apparent ‘copies’ of Lala, Camus and a couple more of her old friends still stood before her, no worse for wear.

“What…?”

Schezo, too, seemed baffled, but for different reasons ,“Why in the world would you use Bayoen on them!?”

“Shouldn’t I have?”

“Of course not! I just told you! These are copies created by Iolith, the Material Gem!  As powerful as that artefact is, it holds no power over the hearts and souls of living beings!”

“Wait. You mean…”

“Yes! You cannot debilitate emotions where none exist!”

“…They don’t have souls?”

If Arle already hadn’t understood the meaning of this invasion before, now it made even less sense to her. So, her Doppelganger had created these people, these ‘copies’ of her old friends, some of which she’d known since early childhood… But they were soulless. Just dolls, that happened to look like people she knew, but really weren’t much different from machines that just mindlessly fired off one spell after another. Why? What was the point in doing that? If the other Arle had wanted to attack the town, wouldn’t it have been easier to just create an army of faceless mannequins and sic those at them?

No, even more importantly… It was just as Schezo had said. All these ‘dolls’ were people from her memories. Which meant that those memories weren’t just ‘her’ memories. The other Arle, that Doppelganger, must’ve had the same memories of her schooldays as Arle. If they shared those memories, then could it be true? Was the other Arle really a part of her? A lost fragment of her power, just like the Doppelganger Schezo had spoken about?

How had that happened? When? Why?

“…Judgment!”

She took out the last of the copies, the two that happened to look like Lala and Camus, with her last attack. Even though the battle was practically over, Arle could feel her heart beating fast.

There were so, so many questions she wanted, no, needed answers to right now.

When the town finally came to peace again, the first thing that happened was that several of the stronger mages in town, under the leadership of Ms. Accord, combined their powers to extend the forcefield above the culture district over the whole town. Now even if there were still more of these mindless attackers out there, they at least wouldn’t be able to make their way into town from the outside for a while. It gave them time to think and space to breathe.

Everyone who hadn’t been terrified into seeking refuge in their homes had gathered in the Town Plaza now to be informed of all that was currently known about the situation. Satan, who was meant to attend meetings like these, failed to show up, a development which Rulue seemed extremely disappointed and Ecolo not very surprised about. In any case, those that were in the know about what was going on provided summaries to each other.

“…The other Arle… is a part of me,” Arle Nadja finally concluded, standing in the middle of the plaza with her hands balled to fists. “Something that must’ve come from inside me, even if I don’t know how…”

“Ding, ding, ding! You’re absolutely right on that!” Ecolo cheered. “And we’re not the only ones who know that! She’s known all along, and everyone’s favorite dark grandpa, Satan, has known for a long time as well! That’s why he’s being so fidgety about this whole thing!”

“Tch! Of course, he knew,” Schezo scoffed. “The one day that old man gives up actual useful information he holds, is the day I’ll accept him into me.”

-The entire plaza starred at Schezo.

“I-I mean! Into my social circle! As a person I would willingly interact with! S-Stop looking at me like that!”

Somewhere in the back Dapper Bones sighed, “Sheesh, that man is such a waste of a pretty face…”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Witch frowned.

“More like a waste of my nerves and patience, if you ask me,” Rulue groaned.

Arle decided to move the conversation along, “I kind of thought already that Satan might know more about her… But I don’t understand. If she’s me, like, a part of me, then why has he been so cagey about that the entire time? Wouldn’t he have made a big deal about how there’s something he knows about me that even I don’t know? Like, I would have expected him to try and resolve all of this for me in a way that makes it so I owe him a favor, or something…”

“That was probably the original plan, I think!” said Ecolo. “But I guess he ended up kiiind of sidetracked and let her out of that place before it was really safe to!”

“That place? What place? …W-Wait, you don’t mean…”

“The place he was keeping her! Just for the time being, until he was ready to try and put the two of you back together again. I guess he probably thought it was already time. Maybe she convinced him it was? She probably flattered him a lot! Flattery tends to work reaaally well on him, you know.”

“Hnnnn! How dare that harlot, seducing and taking advantage of my Prince’s kind and merciful nature!” Rulue fletched her teeth, bending her fan to its breaking point.

Usually, Arle would have tried to inject a bit of reality into the martial arts queen’s delusional ramblings, but for once she found herself agreeing for the most part, and it scared her. If that other self of hers was capable of manipulating Satan like that, - Right, she did that back then too, didn’t she? - that meant she was probably even more dangerous than they’d already thought. She had  Arle’s own power and memories, but apparently none of her reservations. And, to top it all off, she also had that stupidly powerful rock on her right now…

“...I really need to talk to Satan about this,” Arle mumbled.  “If only we knew where he’s gone off to. He really picked the worst possible time to go M.I.A., geez!”

“Gugugu, guguu, gu!”

“We will have to track him down by the traces of his magic,” Schezo stepped forward. “Allow me to do the honors. I’ve been handling the old fool for long enough to recognize his scent blindfolded.”

“Careful with your words, Schezo,” warned Witch. “I think Rulue is seconds away from declaring open season on you.”

Indeed, the eager gleam in Rulue’s eyes was hard to miss right now. For a moment it actually did look like she was about to go off on the dark mage, but then she appeared to think better of it. Striking a pose, she stepped up to Arle,

“If you are going out to look for the Dark Prince, then I shall join you! My pure and innocent passion for him shall lead us to-!”

“Actually, Rulue. There’s something else I need to ask you for.”

Interrupting Rulue’s speech, Arle had stepped towards the blue-haired lady, taking one of her hands into her own. The brown-haired mage was now fixing her old friend with a pleading gaze in her eyes.

“Could you please, please head back to our world and check if everyone is doing alright?”

“Hm?” Rulue raised a brow. She clearly didn’t know what to make of that request. “Arle…”

Arle kept explaining, “I know, you’d really rather go and help looking for Satan, but after seeing everyone like... well, that, I just can’t help but worry about what’s going on with them back home. I mean, I know those were all copies, but I still have a bad feeling about it. If the other me really did this all just to round up and capture everyone in Primp Town, who’s to say she didn’t do something like that back home either? And that’s not all... If what Ecolo said is true, then she couldn’t come back here right now, even if she tried.”

Right. According to the words of the shadowy being, using the spell-circle Arle and Schezo had found back in the forest had inadvertently broken the enchantments on the armor Arle’s Doppelganger had received from Satan. That meant she was currently incapable of existing in the same world as Arle and would fall apart and be absorbed if she attempted to. After all, Arle had previously won a battle against her.

“Primp Town should be safe right now as long as I’m here, but I’m worried about our home. Even if the other me really came from me, I have no idea what she wants to accomplish, or what she’s gonna do next. So... If she ends up hurting anyone back home-"

Somewhere along the way in her more and more desperate-sounding speech, Arle's body had started to shake and she’d squeezed her eyes shut, as if the images in her head had become too vivid for reality to distract her from them. It was at that point, with Arle in this pitiable state, that Rulue pulled her hand out of Arle's grip and, interrupting the girl’s words, declared with a swing of her fan,

“I understand. Well, then! I, Rulue, shall see to it that those worries are alleviated!”

“…! R-Rulue!”

“Now, take that frown off your face, Arle Nadja. Such weakness is unbecoming of one I call my rival! I won’t have you seduce my prince with childish tears!”

“Y-Yeah…! You’re right. I’ll try and pull myself together, ahaha.”

There really was a little wet in Arle’s eyes that she now attempted to dry with her sleeves, though it was hard to tell if they were tears of worry or happy surprise. While this was going on, Witch stepped out from the crowd.

“A trip back home, huh? Nice timing! I think I’ll join in. There’s a couple of things about this recipe I want to go over with my grandmother, just to be sure… Besides, I doubt Rulue has any chance getting back to our side without someone to draw a proper warp-circle for her! You know how it is!”

“Ah, right, right, you’ve got a point there!” Arle laughed.

Carbuncle nodded sagely, “Gugugu gu guu gugu.’

Rulue, on the other hand, seemed indignant, “I beg your pardon?!”

In lack of appreciation of the direction the conversation was headed, Raffina stepped in, trying to bring it back on the right path,

“I will continue accompanying Rulue for now as well. It doesn’t seem like Amitie and the others are still in this world anyway, so until we learn anything about where they ended up, it probably makes more sense to so spread ourselves out a little as we search for clues. Seems more efficient.”

“Ah! That’s right! Ecolo! About Amitie and the others-“ Arle only just realized that in all the commotion, they’d completely neglected to ask the Spacetime Wanderer for his input on the Sig-Amitie-Klug-Lemres situation. However, by the time she had turned her head to pose the question, she found nothing but thin air where just a few minutes ago a dark shadow had been floating. “-Oh. He’s gone…”

Nobody had noticed when exactly Ecolo had left, or where too. Maybe he’d just gotten bored with the scene. Maybe he’d realized there was somewhere else he needed to be. Whatever the case, the chance to ask him about the location of their missing friends had clearly passed. Arle bit her lip.

“Well, dang it…”

“Don’t worry about that,” Rulue told her. “What did our perverted companion say again about the magical circle you found? If that fake Arle truly is the avatar of a part of your power, I believe it would make the most sense if the place ‘second most' on her mind at the time of casting was somewhere in our home world!”

“And if that’s where the others are, we’ll pick them up on our way and bring them back home, chop-chop!” added Raffina.

“And I will be here, reminding you of the immutable fact that I am not a pervert!” added Schezo.

The group dispersed here after little more discussion. Ms. Accord announced that she would head into the forest to investigate the magic circle Schezo and Arle had found. A few other townsfolk decided to accompany here, others decided to watch the town limits, just in case the barrier ended up failing. Accord gave Arle and Schezo the spellword needed to pass through the barrier, for the very likely case that their search for the Dark Prince Satan would lead them outside town. Rulue, Raffina and Witch would have to venture outside town themselves. Warp circles were a very finicky type of magic and wouldn’t work just anywhere. Drawing one underneath an impenetrable barrier was definitely out of question.

“I have to say, I was surprised how quickly you accepted this mission,” Raffina told Rulue as the both of them trailed after Witch in their search for a suitable warping-spot. “Given the alternative, I almost expected you to protest.”

“Ufufufu… Now, now, don’t be naïve, Raffina. Lest you forget, my home world is also the Prince's home world! So, it goes to reason that by going on this errand, I will be the one, who-!”

“You are actually worried about Arle, aren’t you?”

 Raffina’s question cut through Rulue's confident claims like a flaming sword through ice. Stunned, the blue-haired woman fell silent for a moment. Then she began to stutter,

“W-what… Ahem, I-I mean… You see…”

Her fidgety demeanor clearly displeased her younger friend. With eyebrows tightly knit together, Raffina engaged Rulue,

“’An honest, bold heart is a woman’s adornment.’ Isn’t it?”

The use of her own words against her defeated Rulue. She sighed, and her stutter disappeared. Arms crossed, she walked next to her friend,

“…You must’ve have seen the look in her eyes as she spoke, did you not? Learning that the other Arle’s power is her own has rendered her discouraged. She blames herself for what is happening.”

“Huh…Yes, I think you might be right about that,” Raffina admitted. “Come to think, she really did look like she was just a sentence away from trying to apologize to everyone.”

“I won’t stand for it!” Rulue declared. “As my rival in love, I expect her to walk with her head held high! The woman contesting my future with the Dark Prince will not be some meek, grey mouse hiding her eyes in shame!”

“Oh! Now I see! It’s matter of honor between rivals!”

“Exactly! Arle is not allowed to go soft! Not before I say so! That is why I will personally prove to her just how pointless those worries of hers are!”

Now, those sentiments Raffina could understand! It wasn’t much different for her. If it were Amitie acting discouraged and hopeless in front of her, she’d be the first to try and smack some sense back into that girl’s beanie-wearing airhead, and if Klug’s unbearably puffed ego were to suddenly deflate in front of her for no good reason, Raffina knew she’d be infuriated rather than delighted. She hadn’t invested all this time in trying to surpass those two only to have them give up halfway without ever allowing her to settle the scores properly. Amitie’s ridiculously high magic potential. Klug’s unreasonably perfect test scores. Those were thresholds Raffina wanted to overcome one day, with nothing but her own, honest efforts to allow her to do so, with no tricks or outside circumstances to help her. Sometimes she realized just how ambitious a goal that was; no training in the world would ever change her own lack of magic potential, and as hard as she studied, she doubted she would ever have Klug’s ability to flawlessly recite entire chapters of a textbook from memory, word for word. But even so, she wanted to try. She was a fighter, and true fighters always kept fighting and never gave up. Rulue probably felt the same about Arle. As obvious as it was that that Dark Prince guy had a crush on Arle and not Rulue, and that there was nothing that could ever possibly change that, Rulue was a fighter. She couldn’t give up. No matter how impossible the goal, her honor demanded that she kept chasing it, fairly and with all her heart.

…As if she needed any more reasons to respect the woman, Raffina suddenly felt even prouder to call someone as wonderful as Rulue her friend.

“Oh-hohoho! A true maiden of honor, through and through! How silly of me to expect anything less! Let me apologize, Rulue!”

“Au de contraire, I must apologize to you, Raffina! I should have known better than to try hiding my pure intentions from you! After all, you are clearly growing into a very fine, peerless young lady.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t quite say ‘peerless'. After all, there is you!”

“That is true, of course!”

“OHOHOHO~!”

“OHOHOHO~!”

Up in front walked Witch, frowning and wondering if she should turn around and inform these two clowns that she could hear every word of that embarrassingly cozy conversation they were having.

Dark.

Tired.

Can’t see anything, dark, tired, tired, a weird, faint sensation like power flowing all around him, but not inside and never into him, tired, tired, blue, red, flowers blooming, somebody’s voice-

“…ig…! …a…e ….p…!”

Tired.

Whose voice was that? He didn’t really want to open his eyes and check. It hadn’t been a good day today at all. He’d much rather have slept through the rest of it all and waited until the world looked a little brighter again. Whenever that would be.

“…S...g! …ou…ed to… s…ap …t of i…!”

…That voice sounded really worried. Maybe even a tad desperate. He… probably should check why, huh? If somebody is in trouble, you try to help. He knew that. But somehow, he really didn’t feel like doing anything, especially not things that involved people feeling bad about something. He’d much rather stay asleep. He didn’t have to worry about others or himself or about himself troubling others when he was asleep. It felt so, so much safer.

“…Amitie…wai…ing…or…you!”

…Amitie?

Right, that’s right, there was something, something about Amitie… She’d gotten hurt, hadn’t she? And then they all got separated, and he was alone with Klug, but then the two of them also got separated, and then… and then…

…Wait. When or how did he fall sleep in a situation like that? That didn’t really make any sense.

‘Guess I really do need to wake up,’ Sig thought to himself and opened his eyes.

…

His vision was blurry at first, so the first thing he made out was a jumble of dimly lit colors. Grey, no, white and… green? Ah, the figure was starting to take shape. Soon Sig realized who he was looking at.

“H…Huh? The weir-“ Oh, right. Klug told him to not call him that. “…Lemres?”

The comet warlock was breathing a deeply relieved sigh when his face came into focus for Sig.

“There we go, blue… Thank goodness. Looks like you came back to your senses by yourself.”

Back to his senses? Sig had no idea what the older mage was talking about. All he knew was that something felt weird. Really, really weird, actually.

“What’re you… talking a...bou…” Sig shook his head. Somehow, the words wouldn’t come out right. He felt dizzy for some reason. “What… happened?”

Sig tried to take a step closer to Lemres, but his feet didn’t work the way he wanted either, and he stumbled. Thankfully, Lemres caught him.

“Hey now, don’t overdo it. Try to not move too much. You just used a lot of magic.”

“I… I did…?”

Was it because of that battle with those weird fakes? That was bad… If Klug found out about that, he’d be angry with him for breaking his promise. But what else could he have done? His new friends were in danger, and then there was that mean, fake Amitie-

…Wait. What had happened to that fake Amitie? For the life of him, he couldn’t remember defeating her.

Using as little energy as he could, Sig righted his upper body and took a look around.

“Uh….H-huh?”

The shock set in immediately. The machine playground that had been so full of colorful lights and noise a little while ago, was now dead-quiet and almost completely dark, aside from occasional sparks jumping out from random places. Still, by the pale light that shone from Lemres’ wand Sig could make out the shapes of the roughly broken lumps of rocks and jagged pieces of wood scattered all about. Rubble. Was this… the plaza in front of the big wheel? It laid in complete ruins. And just a few meters away, sleeping propped up against a wall, Sig saw the silhouettes of three people, an adult and two children. Wait, were those…?

“B-butterfly gir…” Sig began to talk and stretch out a hand in the people’s direction, but the word ‘butterfly’ took more out of him than he would have thought it ever would. Lemres gently put a finger on his mouth to quiet him.

“Shh, it’s okay. They’re fine. Just exhausted. Whatever that fit just now was, you were enough in control of yourself to not hurt them.”

“Huh…? T-This place… I… did…?”

“Don’t worry about that now. You probably saved their lives, you know?”

Sig felt himself slump a little.

“…Tired…”

“I know. Hang on just a sec. I’m sure I’ve got one on me… Ah! There we go~”

He didn’t know where from Lemres had taken it, but the warlock was suddenly holding something pink and soft-looking in the hand he wasn’t using to keep Sig propped up.

“Sig, I need you to eat this,” said Lemres.

“Um…”

Sig wasn’t a fan of macarons and didn’t feel like having candy right now in general. He wanted to say that, but his tongue wouldn’t move right. Lemres appeared to understand either way.

“No time to explain, please just eat it. If you don’t like the taste, I’ll make it up to you, promise.”

As weird as Lemres was, Sig knew he wasn’t a bad person and usually always had everyone’s best interests in mind. If he was asking him to eat candy rather than just offering some, he had to have a good reason for it. And give how awful Sig was feeling right now, he even had a guess as to what that reason was. Weakly, he opened his mouth, allowing Lemres to feed him the macaron. Chewing took more effort than it had any right to, but eventually Sig managed to swallow it. Slowly, the world around him stopped spinning.

 “Good thing I found you in time. I can’t even say what would’ve happened if you didn’t wake up when you did,” Lemres told Sig while he was eating.

“What… happened…?” Sig asked again, this time with significantly better enunciation.

“Well, if I really had to explain, I’d probably say… That you lost control of your magic?”

Sig’s stomach felt like a pit when he heard that.

“Like… back… when we were making that café…? In the ruins…?”

He almost wanted to puke that macaron right back out again.

“You came back. That’s all that matters. Just… Try to stay calm okay?”

“Amitie… is she…”

“She’s fine. Some of Ringo’s friends are taking care of her. Do you know where Klug is?”

“…Did, but… Lost him…”

“Oh dear… I was afraid of that.”

For how much he wanted Sig to stay calm, Lemres didn’t exactly seem serene right now himself. Not that Sig could blame him. This entire situation was so messed up. Even just thinking about it made him want to go right back to sleep.

“…Tired…” he said again, slurring the word a little. It was one of the rare times in his life when even just keeping his eyes open as he drifted off seemed impossible.

“Yeah. Of course, you’d be,” said Lemres and nodded. “Don’t worry. Risukuma and I will take it from here. You try to save your strength right now, alright?”

Sig could just barely nod before he lost his grasp on the waking world again.

Bonus: 

Philia in Color

Chapter Text

There were many uses to the power to control all of physical existence as you desire. One of the more mundane ones was to create shelter for the night.

The small cottage the girl in red had made in an unassuming place, far, far away from where those children were, was damp and drafty, heated only by a small fireplace in the middle of the room, but she liked it that way. It reminded her of her days traveling with-

…Well, there was no time to reminiscence on that right now. She had to focus on what was right in front of her, and for the moment, that ‘something’ happened to be a book.

‘Hello, are you in there?’ she’d asked. ‘Can you hear me?’, and when a voice really did respond to her queries she couldn’t have been happier. Eagerly, ‘Arle’ began to ask questions to the voice in the book, such as ‘Who are you?’ or ‘Where did you come from?’ and ‘How long has it been since you got to be your own person?’.

Though that last question clearly stung, the spirit inside the book kept talking and talking, answering the girl’s questions readily and with what appeared to be relief. Some of their descriptions contained what appeared to be intentional omissions or holes, but she didn’t mind. The way the words just kept pouring and pouring out of the poor thing made it obvious to ‘Arle’ just how long it must’ve been since the spirit had last gotten to speak about any of these things. With a wry smile, she sympathized. She knew all too well, how lonely it was to be stuck in absolute darkness for ages, only to then be expected to hold your tongue and only do as you’re told.

Eventually, questions started coming from the spirit’s side as well. ‘How did this fate befall you?’, ‘How come that both, you and the other retained your flesh and blood?’ and, finally ‘Have you been alone for very long?’

‘Arle’ had to take a deep breath before beginning to talk. Just like the spirit, she was eager to tell her story, she really was! …But recalling those memories was still difficult. It made it hard for her to breathe. She had to gather herself and her courage before she could do it.

“There was… a battle, somewhere between worlds. I was at my most powerful back then, and felt like nobody could defeat me,” she sharply sucked in air between her teeth. “I was fighting to protect everyone. I… I wanted to continue traveling and having adventures with all my friends. That’s why I couldn’t surrender our world to him! I just had to win! And… I did win. At least, I think I did…”

‘Arle’ looked away. Even though books don’t have eyes, she didn’t want the person in the book to see the look on her face. She knew she probably looked pathetic. Beaten and hopeless.

“When I came to, there was… nothing. No, light, no sound, just nothing. Emptiness. Not even my best friend was by my side anymore. But I didn’t want to just sit down and die. So, I kept looking. And looking and looking and looking and looking… Until I heard familiar voices.”

A spark of light returned to ‘Arle’s eyes. She leaned forward.

“I was so happy! I’d found it again! Our world, everyone! But… When I tried to go inside, go back home, I couldn’t. Because… ‘I’ was already there. Somebody who looked just like me. She talked like me, laughed like me, everyone I’d ever known, I’d ever cared for, was there by her side. But it wasn’t me. I just had to… keep watching whatever snippets I could catch of her living my life. And I kept calling and calling ‘I’m here! I’m still here! Don’t forget about me!!’”

Again, she looked away.

“Don’t… leave me alone…”

There was silence in the cottage for a short while, only broken by the sounds of air whistling through the wooden boards.

“…After a while – it felt like years, like many years, it had to have been an eternity – He found me. Somebody finally found me!! Gosh, I’d never been so happy to see Satan before! I was crying, I was so happy that somebody was there, somebody who remembered me and cared for me! And he held me. He took me into his arms and then he said ‘Don’t worry. I will figure this out.’…!”

She paused.

“…He lied. He put me away, into some kind of… box? I am not even sure what to call that empty world. He told me to wait, that he was getting things ready, he just needed to figure something out, and it wouldn’t be long, I just had to stay put, and so I kept waiting and waiting and waiting… until I’d grown sick of it.”

She balled her hands to fists.

“So, I gave him an ultimatum: Let me go back home, or I will FORCE my way back into my life. That’s when we negotiated and made a deal: He’d let me meet the ‘other me’ and let us figure out together how we wanted to handle this. Of course, that wasn’t what I wanted, but I agreed. He gave me a body and a way to stay in our world without being pushed back out again… then, when he wasn’t paying attention, I got into his head and took control. I wanted to meet the ‘other me’, but not to ‘talk’ to her, or to ‘figure things out’.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“I just wanted my life back. With force, if it had to be.”

Her words echoed out, coldly and hollowly. The melancholic tone in them clued the spirit in the book in that this could not be the end of the story. Thus, thoroughly hooked on its plot and trappings, the book’s voice carefully queried,

‘…What happened next?’

A bitter, sad laughter.

“I lost,” she said. “The other me… the other half of me won the battle and took my place in our world for good. I couldn’t stay. If I had, I would have disappeared or been absorbed into her. So, I ran away, back into the space between worlds. And I ran, and ran and ran… Until eventually, I met someone.”

She sounded a little calmer now. Clearly, whatever part of the story was to come next she felt less attachment to than the previous parts.

“It is difficult to remember their face or if they even had a face at all. Whenever they’re not right in front of me, I am barely sure if they even exist at all. But they were playful, laughing and smiling like a child, joking around and telling me how ‘interesting’ I was. They told me that we were the same, beings without a place in time and space, destined to just drift around, be forgotten and, eventually, forget everything. They told me that they were very ‘happy’ about that fact. Hah! Have you ever heard something so cruel?” she scoffed, showing her teeth for a moment. “…I went along with that being’s ramblings for a while, just because it was ‘sound’, just because it was ‘contact’, just because I didn’t want to be alone… And then, once I’d realized just how powerful this strange, strange person I had in front of me was, I had an idea.”

‘Arle’ straightened herself and changed the tone of her voice. She now sounded playful, as if trying to explain a fun game to a little child,

“Hey! You know, somewhere out there, in the world where I came from, there is a girl who looks just like me! That’s the ‘other me’, the ‘other Arle’. She’s a very, very powerful person. And seeing how you’re very, very powerful yourself… Doesn’t trying to erase her and take her power for yourself sound like fun? Ufufufu~”

‘You wanted that being to destroy your other half, so you could reclaim your life safely,’ the spirit surmised.

“It didn’t go as planned. I later learned that, rather than killing her, that weird thing decided to take the other me’s body and use it to try and destroy another world for their amusement. But apparently her power disappointed them quickly, so they let her go. What’s more… It appears that Satan ended up questioning that odd creature and learning about my whereabouts. He found and caught me again. ‘Apologizing’ and saying that he’d ‘do better’ this time, that he wouldn’t make the same mistakes again. Pah! Yeah, right. Before I knew it, I found myself in an unfamiliar world with some people whose faces I recognized. But… that was all they were. Familiar faces. I quickly realized that it wasn’t really them, and that I wasn’t really free. It was just… another toy box. Just another prison that man had made for me…”

Her teeth were clenched, the edges of her nails dug into the book that rested open in her lap. She felt sickened by the memory occupying her thoughts.

“There were people all around me now… New and old faces, living their lives right front of me. But even so, I quickly realized that I was ultimately still alone. I battled and traveled, and spoke to the people, but I couldn’t connect to any of them. The voice of the girl who would sometimes approach me in the playground and ask me to be her friend always rung hollow. That… just wasn’t my life…!”

‘I see… That is why you appeared now in the way that you did.’

“Yes,” she nodded. “I took the first opportunity I could and escaped. The final push I needed was this strange vision I saw of her and of Carby and… and a red-haired girl. A friend I knew I’d never made…! I just had to find her and settle this, once and for all! I… I want her to know what she’s done to me! I want her to understand the pain I went through, looking in from the outside and finding myself surrounded by specters of memories I never made! Only then, I’ll able to go back! I just… want to finally, finally, be myself again…!”

‘That is a sentiment I can relate to…’ spoke the spirit, not commenting on the tears that had gathered in the girl’s eyes. Even if they’d wanted to, they had no means of drying them anyway.

“…What about you?” asked ‘Arle’. “The boy that is living the life that was meant to be yours… When you find him, what will you do with him?”

‘Hm…’ It wasn’t a question the spirit had expected, and it took them aback. They quietly considered their words before responding, ‘Truthfully, I have never thought of it before. I don’t especially care for what the child does or doesn’t feel. All I wish to do is reclaim myself.’

“But you do want to take back his body, right? When you do that, what are you planning to do with the soul already inside?”

‘That cyan soul is but the other half of what is rightfully my power.  It will naturally return to me when I become whole once more.’

“And all the time that ‘cyan soul’ spent living in your stead? All that time that was stolen from you... Doesn’t thinking about it anger you? Don’t you want to pay the boy back for it even a little bit?”

‘Even if I do, what difference does it make?’ the spirit smirked to themself in their own mind. ‘When the time comes, all I have to do is take back what was always meant to be mine. Body, mind and soul alike. And... if at that moment whatever feeble sense of selfhood that boy may have is plunged into never-ending slumber, then I see that as nothing but a small and irrelevant consequence of things being restored to their rightful order… Ufufu…’

“Hmm… That’s such a surprisingly naïve way of looking at it.”

‘…What!?’ The spirit was aghast at the sorceress’ words. Could they have gasped, they would have done so. ‘I? Naïve?’

“You’re just assuming that when you and that other soul merge, it will be your heart that is left standing in the end,” spoke ‘Arle’, unintimidated by the spirit’s harsh tone. “But what if that won’t be the case? Let’s assume that the moment you become one, that kid’s will turns out to be stronger than yours. Wouldn’t it be you then, who ends up ‘trapped in endless sleep’? I am no expert, of course, but…”

The spirit scoffed at the girl’s suggestion. It sounded remarkably ridiculous. ‘…Me? Weaker than that child? Hah! Are you even listening to yourself? As if that could ever be possible…’

“Why? That magic student drove you out of his body, didn’t he? And that even though I am sure there is nothing all that special about him. He just had to get a little upset at you, that was all.”

‘That’s…’ They wanted to rebuke her but found that they couldn’t. It was true after all that that boy-that Klug had successfully driven them out with nothing but his willpower alone. They would have never expected that. Not from such a thoroughly unremarkable human…

In the few seconds of quiet the spirit’s trailed-off sentence had caused, ‘Arle’s expression slowly turned softer. Letting out a small sigh, she gently led her fingers across the pages of the book.

“I am not trying to doubt your strength. I just don’t want you the same mistake as me. I challenged the ‘other me’, thinking that there was no way she could defeat me. That arrogance of mine has marked me, and now, unless I can find a way to beat her in a rematch, I will be the one to vanish should we ever coexist in the same world for too long.”

‘Your concerns are wasted. That rule doesn’t apply in my case,’ the spirit told her. ‘Two spirits are only unable to coexist should they claim the same name and destiny. But I never had a name to claim, and that child couldn’t be any less aware of fate if he tried. I have nothing to fear from him.’

“But you still can’t guarantee that it won’t be his feelings and ideals that’ll be left when it comes down to it. Can you?”

‘…’

Though their opinion of the girl in the red armor had been rather positive thus far, the spirit now found themself slowly getting frustrated by her words. Of course, there was truth to what she said, but… What was she trying to tell them? That their attempts to regain their life were foolish, or even for naught? That they’d be better off remaining sealed in that cursed book forever?

They wanted to scold her, lecture her on how little she understood and how much she had disappointed their high expectations in her intelligence- But before they could say any of this, the girl breathed out slowly and raised her hand. Iolith was shining between her fingers with its wonderous power. The spirit could sense how the girl gathered her magical power, saw her lips part as she mouthed a spell. Then it appeared. Right in front of them, taking up what little space was left in the tiny cottage, Iolith’s light gathered and formed a vague figure which soon took tangible shape. Short, soft hair, a lean body and large arms tipped with sharp claws. It didn’t take long for the spirit to recognize what it was the young sorceress was conjuring up: Though its colors were muted and its eyes empty, what they saw before them was, without doubt, the  likeness of the body that had inherited their blood. The bearer of the cyan soul.

“What do you think?” asked ‘Arle’. “Of course, it isn’t a permanent solution… But I am sure, once you’re restored to your true power, you’ll find a way to make it last.”

‘Make it last, you say...?’

“See, here is my idea: Rather than trying to merge with the kid, you could just take your power out of him and leave him to wither without it, right? That would eliminate any chance of him coming back out and taking your life away from you again, right? Plus, that shell still has to be better than staying trapped in that book any longer.”

The spirit was baffled, and not sure how to respond. It took them a moment to decide what to say next.

‘…Why are you being so kind to me?’ they finally asked.

“Because there is nothing worse than being alone,” she replied. “Left behind, replaced and forgotten by the world, without anybody told talk to or understand you. I figure, if we’re going to reclaim our lives, we might as well do it together. We already know that neither of us has much left to lose in that arrangement anyway.”

‘Are you asking for my ‘friendship’?’

“I’m asking for your company. What you choose to call it is up to you,” Arle averted her eyes for a moment. “...Or reject the offer but take this gift. After all I’ve heard tonight, I’d rather see you go free of your curse, even if you choose to not stay by my side.”

The spirit stayed silent for a while, quietly gazing at the empty shell the girl had created for them from underneath the book’s covers. Even through this small window they had to observe the outside world through, they could tell that, just as the sorceress’ other creations, this vessel was unstable and fragile, not built to last, but- The girl was right. They could change that. Their current power should be more than enough to stabilize and sustain this puppet. And if they were to reclaim their full power, then perhaps more than that wouldn’t even be required…

Even if they had wanted to be skeptical of this offer, they couldn’t decline. The prospect of freedom was far too sweet and the sincere sympathy and kindness of the girl currently holding the book far too obvious…

‘Before I give you my answer, let me ask you a question. What is your goal? What do you wish to do in order to ‘reclaim your life’ as you say, if not merge with your other self?’

Hearing the spirit’s question, the girl’s grip on the tome’s covers once again grew tense.

“I want… to make memories,” she spoke, her voice wavering. “Memories that are true, and mine alone, and that make those she made with my stolen life worthless and empty, as if they’d never existed. I… I don’t care what I have to do to accomplish that. Break her friends’ minds and make them mine, rewind time, rewrite the world itself…! It doesn’t matter. As soon as I’ve completely mastered the power of that Gem-“

‘That Gem alone won’t realize those goals,’ spoke the spirit. ‘It doesn’t hold that power. All it can do is change the material world.’

“I… I will find a way! I have to! If I don’t I… I…!”

They could sense the girl’s grip on the book tightening yet again. The spirit sighed. The agony she expressed was all too understandable in their eyes.

“I… I have to do this…! I’ll never find peace unless I can take back what she’s stolen from me…!”

The spirit’s mind was now made up. She spoke the truth. And thus, they decided to share truth with her. Who knew? Perhaps, they, too, could draw an even greater advantage out of this surprising arrangement in the end.

‘While that Gem alone may not hold the power you seek… There is indeed a way to fulfill your desire.’

The girl’s eyes widened. Pleadingly, she stared at the book. The spirit kept talking.

‘There are actually three Gems, you see…’

If Ringo had ever had to actively hold herself back from whipping out her phone, snapping a picture and impulse uploading it to all her social media, it was right now. This all looked so funny and she wanted to laugh, but she knew that it actually wasn’t funny, no, it was actually very, very bad and so she swallowed down the oncoming fit of laughter and instead tried to make the most solemn and serious expression she could muster.

Still.

Just how could anyone have such a ridiculous ‘I’ve lost all motivation to exist’-pose!?

Klug was despondent, to say the least, not having said a single word to either, Ringo or Maguro, ever since the two of them had found him curled up into a strangely pear-shaped ball in a clearing in the woods, silently weeping to himself. Occasionally he’d mumble something into his collar that neither of them could really understand, but that was it. Initiating a conversation with the guy proved impossible, and so did any and all attempts at comforting him. Eventually, through observation and context-clues, Ringo managed to discern the likely cause of the apprentice mage’s distress: The large spellbook he always carried around on his person was nowhere to be found, not in the guy’s bookbag, nor anywhere on the ground around him. Had he lost it? Had it been stolen by somebody? They had a hard time figuring out which it was, because, again, talking to Klug right now was about as simple as trying to explain the functionality of a bicycle from the standpoint of modern physics: The discernable information was unclear and the truth yet to be determined.

“H-Hey… Mr. Shiny-Glasses Smarty-pants? Cheer up! Lookie what I got here~! It’s a book! A big, hardcover physics textbook! You like books, right? Right?”

Rather than getting the desired reaction, Ringo instead had to watch as the boy on the floor before her vacantly starred at her offering for but a brief moment before suddenly, and without warning, bursting into an even more intense stream of tears than before.

Ringo leapt back, “A-ACK! That made it worse somehow!!”

 “Yeah, I don’t think physics are quite his forte, Ringo☆,” Maguro pointed out.

“Well, and I don’t have any magic-related textbooks! They don’t exactly teach Alchemy at our school! …Discounting some of the more, ahem, interesting Home Ec lessons we’ve had, I mean.”

“And even if you gave him the Necronomicon right now, I’m not sure that would help either☆ I think it’s probably just about that one book.”

“Hmpf… I guess you’re right. Where could it have gone?”

“If that isn’t the question, huh? ☆”

“Ugh. This is a mess. We need to regroup with Ris and Lemres for now. You said you got a text from them about Sig earlier?”

“Yep. Looks like they found him. Though, it did say he passed out right when they did☆ So I guess the two of them probably got their hands full carrying him☆”

“Which, I guess, means that we’re stuck trying to transport this bundle of smiles and sunshine here from point A to point B on our own. That’s great.”

Ringo groaned. While she was glad to hear that Sig had been found, the part about him being unconscious was far from good news, and, combined with the state their purple friend here was currently in, seriously made her wonder what the heck had happened around here. Had they both been attacked by someone in the old Amusement Park? Ugh, this situation just kept getting worse and worse.

“Think you can use your magic to move him?☆” asked Maguro.

Ringo nodded, “Yeah, probably, if I keep popping Puyos the whole way… But we can’t take him to the Lee Twins’ place. If Amitie sees one of her friends like this she’s gonna freak out, and not in a good way!”

“Yeah, Lemres agrees with you☆ He already texted me that they’re taking Sig to your house for now☆”

“Alright, then let’s take our own payload to your place,” Ringo decided.

“H-Huh? Wait… why?☆”

“Well, if we’re already gonna split them up, we might as well go all the way with it! Not like either one of them would be any use in a fight right now anyway.”

“Makes sense… I guess…☆ Not really, but y’know☆”

“Also, I only have one bed in my room, and I know that you have almost a dozen siblings’ individual beds and a gaming couch to spare.”

“Ah, okay, now it makes sense☆ Good thinking, Ringo☆”

“Heh heh! Alright, let’s shoot Ris and Lemres and message and get going. With any luck, Klug here’s gonna snap out of his funk before we get to the Sasaki residence.”

As she was still saying that, Ringo ended up snapping a picture of Klug’s thoroughly defeated pose... Not to put on the internet, of course! Merely as a descriptive measure to send to Risukuma in order to illustrate the situation to Lemres! That was not mean at all, and a totally understandable and useful course of action! …Even if it just so happened to make a great excuse for keeping a memento of this occasion on her phone for the foreseeable future.

…It wasn’t as if she didn’t care the guy was clearly not in a good place mentally. While she wasn’t particularly close to Klug – half the time she couldn’t even remember the guy’s name – he was still somebody Amitie cared about, and as her friend she felt a responsibility towards him as well. But Ringo, of course, also knew of the boy’s reputation in Primp Town, that he was arrogant, a notorious provocator, whiny and a know-it-all. Well, then again, ‘know-it-all’ was admittedly a title Ringo herself had been ‘graced’ with frequently in the past, here, in her own world. It wasn’t something she’d ever taken to heart, but when it came to a thirst for knowledge so great that it comes off as odd or even creepy to others, she certainly could relate. That didn’t excuse any of the other things she’d heard or witnessed about this guy, but it was enough to give her a bit of an understanding of why anyone would react like that to losing their favorite textbook. Well, somewhat. The extend of the shock still seemed a bit ridiculous, even to her. They’d really have to try and ask Klug about what had actually happened as soon as he calmed down...

…Which would hopefully be soon.

The hearty scent of deep-fry batter, pork cutlet and marinaded rice was wafting throughout the entire Lee household. Momo and Sumomo were certainly glad their father wasn’t home right now – He hated it when they messed around with scalding hot oil without supervision. But hey, they had a guest, and they both agreed that hospitality always trumped fire security, come what may! So, the vegetable oil kept bubbling, the batter kept frying, the rice kept cooking, and finally, when the first batch of food seemed just about ready, Momo made her way upstairs, to the guest bedroom to fetch their otherworldly tenant.

“Hey~, Amitie! Food’s ready! Come on dow-”

The scene Momo found behind the door was quite interesting, but not in a good way. As if the awful disorder of the many sheets of paper that construed the leftovers of the twins’ poetry session earlier hadn’t already been bad enough, now the pile of them had been joined by a collection of pillows strewn about the floor. Meanwhile, on the now pillow-less guest bed, rolled up in the blanket like some misshapen sort of human burrito, laid Amitie, head hanging upside down from the edge of the mattress (how did her hat manage to stay on like that?) as she mindlessly tapped away on the screen of the phone she was holding on front of her face.

“Ah… Um…” Momo was stunned and not sure what to say. Still, she forced a smile onto her face. “Hey~? Are you… okay?”

“…*sniff* H-Huh?”

Amitie took a moment to register the presence of the other girl and look towards her. Her face looked wet, her eyes looked red, and occasionally you could hear a small ‘hiccup’ coming from her. It wasn’t the most comforting thing Momo had ever seen, but she maintained her smile, lest she should alarm the blonde. It didn’t exactly help when Amitie responded to this by returning an even more obviously forced smile.

“…O-Oh… Y-Yeah! I’m f-fine! Y-Your game is just… so… fun…!” She started sobbing noticeably halfway through that sentence. “Ah…haha…ha…Uhhhh….”

Fine? The trail of snot under her nose said otherwise. Momo decide to drop the formalities and walked up to the girl in a beeline, helping her untangle herself from the blanket and sit upright. Asking Amitie what exactly had gotten her so worked up seemed awkward, so she didn’t do that. Instead Momo handed Amitie some tissues and told her that dinner was ready.

“We kiiiinda wanted to eat together downstairs, but… If you’re not feeling well, I can bring your plate upstairs too!”

“No, no, that’s fine! I’m coming down.”

“You sure?”

“Totally! I mean, I’m sure you guys worked really hard to prepare everything and eating together is always fun! …Plus, I don’t think I wanna be up here alone anymore. Eheheh!”

“Well, if you say so!”

Thus, the two girls quickly put the pillows and blankets roughly were they belonged, gathered up the scattered poems and then headed downstairs.

Down in the kitchen dinner was waiting, Sumomo already having started to eat without them (for which she was lightly scolded by her sister). The dish they’d prepared was something Amitie had never seen before: Thick stripes of deep-fried pork on a bed of white rice and scrambled eggs, with a lot of fragrant, dark sauce on top.

“It’s called ‘Katsudon’!” Momo explained. “It’s totally delish! Plus, we farm all the meat and veggies locally here, that makes it even tastier!”

Amitie gladly believed that. Even just taking in the fragrance coming from the bowl before her made her mouth water, her previous unhappy mood almost forgotten. With a quick clap of her hands, she thanked her hosts for the food and dug in.

Meanwhile Momo had stealthily swiped back her smartphone, which had beend on the table next to Amitie’s elbow. She just needed to try and find out which app of hers exactly had put that infectiously cheery magic girl into such a sorry state while they were cooking. Had her sister secretly loaded some kind of Horror Adventure onto the phone…? No, when Momo flicked away the screensaver and checked what the most recently used apps were in the menu, she raised an eyebrow and creased her forehead. That game? Really…? How?

“Ahhhh, so good~~!!” Amitie swooned, wiping some crumbs of breadcrust off her face. “Why do other worlds always have all the best food? No fair!”

“It’s not that hard to make,” said Sumomo, cleaning up the last few stray grains of rice from her bowl. “If your world’s got meat, oil, eggs and bread, I mean.”

“Meat, oil, eggs, bread… Got it! Alright-y, I think I’ll give it a try and make some for everyone, one of these days!”

“Okay. So, first you need to heat the oil to a bubble and then be very careful to not let it get too hot or spill. That might set your house on fire.“

“Ugh! …O-Or, maybe not…”

Amitie almost fell out of her chair for a moment there. Handling something that might set a building on fire? Yeah, that probably wasn’t a good idea. Her friends already barely trusted her with that Flame-spell of hers half of the time. Amitie’s clumsiness was legendary. She sighed. Right, her clumsiness. Her stupid talent for making the exact wrong split-second decisions when it came down to it. From dropping Puyos where they didn’t belong and ruining her chains, to accidentally making jokes that upset her friends, to tripping over her own two feet and making a whole mess of everything ever… Ah, right. Speaking of making a mess of things.

“By the way, sorry for messing up you guys’ room like that,” Amitie apologized, eyes downcast. “I guess I got, um… bored? Kinda? But I really should’ve been more careful. It’s so nice of you guys to let me stay, and then I go and act like that…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Sumomo dismissively waved a hand.

“Yeah, totally fine…,” Momo mumbled, her eyes still glued to the phone.

Momo, incidentally was looking at the game’s scoreboard right now. These had to be the local rankings… Wait, no. Was this… The Online Rankings? Wait wha…

“But it’s not fine…!” Amitie insisted. “I really don’t wanna be a burden, y’know? But I’m not that smart, and kind of clumsy, and, sometimes, when things get super bad, I’m not sure what to do. I mean, I’m good at cheering people on! I think. But I can’t just stay by the side and do that all the time. I wanna help too! So-“

“-YOU ARE THE TOP 20!?”

“Whoa-whoa-whoa-WHAAAA…???”

Out of nowhere and with no warning, Momo had suddenly thrown up her hands and started to yell, shocking Amitie so much, the mage shrieked and leapt in her chair, toppling it over and tripping to the ground with a loud *crash*! Sighing to that, Sumomo got up from her own seat, helping Amitie back up on her feet. Momo, however, continued to have absolutely no chill. The moment the blonde stood upright again, the girl in the orange cardigan was already all up in her face, waving around the phone screen, full of symbols Amitie couldn’t read.

“How!! Why!! Whaaaat!!”

“Huh? Huh!? HUH!?”

Amitie understood nothing. Sumomo, meanwhile, rolled her eyes.

“…So, she made it into the Top 20 on one of your puzzle games. Big deal.”

“No!!” Momo protested. “Not into the Top 20! She is the Top 20! Like, my account’s filling out the entire thing now!!”

“Hm~?”

Now, that had gotten the lavender sister’s attention. Meanwhile, in that strange panic of hers, Momo kept shoving the phone in Amitie’s face and started scrolling up and down odd lines of text and numbers, which, as Amitie eventually realized, she’d seen several times already today. That still didn’t give her any more of an idea what they meant.

“T-Top, what? U-um!? Come again?” She blinked a couple times.

“Ahhh!! AHHH! Ahhh—a-ah, I mean…!” Momo had to try gather herself before continuing. Lowering the phone, she took a deep breath and began to explain, “I mean! You played the game better than anyone else in this world! Twenty times in a row!!”

“Whoa, that actually is kinda impressive…” Sumomo commented.

“Um, huh? For real…?” Amitie asked.

“Yes, for real!” Momo nodded widely. “Waaay too impressive for a beginner!  What kind of black magic did’cha use to accomplish that, huh!”

“Huh?!” Without even thinking about it, Amitie started touching her cheek. “I-I didn’t use any magic! I mean, I…”

“Geez, you were crying so hard earlier, I thought maybe you were sad about losing a bunch! I was, like, worried! But now I’m just confused! Like, really confused!!”

“Um…! UM…!” Amitie didn’t know what to say to any of that. “I-I’m sorry??”

“Don’t be sorry,” said Sumomo. “You’re just gonna make her apologize back to you.”

“Yeah! Don’t beeeee!!” shrieked Momo.

“O-Okay?? Not sorry, then? I guess?”

“AHHHHHH!!”

Momo continued to bounce around like a rather underdeveloped kangaroo, causing the floor in the room to shake and her sister to roll her eyes. Amitie, meanwhile, was in shock. She still had no idea what was happening. The only thing she could gather was that she had somehow played that game in Momo’s phone really-super-well? Like, well enough for it to be weird? That was so strange! She hadn’t even really tried to do well.  She’d just… done what had come to her without thinking about it. That was all. She hadn’t thought it was anything special, but apparently Momo didn’t agree with that assessment. She continued to bounce around for a short while longer before finally, and with some effort, managing to shake off her surprise and the tension it had made her feel. The girl sighed, head in hands. She tried to find back to her usual, self-proclaimed-cutie-self.

“Whoaaaa….You’re kinda… super-amazing…! You know that, Amitie?”

“Huh? M-Me? Um, no. Not really…”

Any other day, she would’ve taken the compliment with a large dash of humility, but today, she couldn’t accept it at all. Amitie turned her eyes away.

“I’m really not that special! That game…I guess I just kept chaining and chaining without thinking? But I don’t really know what I’m doing most of the time. My friends, they’re all way better at that stuff! Like, Raffina always knows when to counter at just the right time to come out on top, and Klug always builds chains so big, I can’t keep up with offsetting them. Sig doesn’t usually do big chains, but stays in the game as long as he needs to and then comes from behind with the really strong spells when you least expect it. Arle’s magic is really powerful, and Ringo always plans 10 steps ahead, Lemres’ piles always have a lot of different colors that just cascade down in ways I can’t even imagine and-“

“You’ve been watching all your friends real close, huh?”

“Hm?”

While it was obvious what Sumomo was talking about, why the girl in lavender had felt the need to mention this didn’t really make sense to Amitie. Of course, she knew things like that about her friends! That was just the way things should be! …Wasn’t it?

“By the way, that tattoo on your cheek… You keep touching it…”

“Tah-tuh…? Ah, you mean…”

The mark on her face. She reached for it again.

“Ah, yeah! I noticed that too!” Momo, finally having calmed down, nodded. “What’s that thing anyway? It doesn’t go with your style at all, so I guess you didn’t put it there on purpose.”

“It would look a lot better if you wore black,” Sumomo agreed.

“But you’re not the black-wearing-type, right?” Momo laughed. “Does it bother you?”

Amitie looked away. This was the first time anyone had asked her about the mark ever since it had appeared. Other than Lemres explaining why it was there and what it meant, of course. It all felt a little awkward still. Though, now that the topic had come up, Amitie had to ask herself… did it bother her?

“Um… Kind of? I mean, I’d really like it if it went away, but…”

“We totally can help with that!” Momo quickly called out

Amitie blinked, “H-Huh? Really?”

The twins smiled at her, Momo radiantly, Sumomo with a more subdued, but cheeky demeanor. The two of them looked at each other and nodded.

“We can start right after you finish your food,” said Sumomo. “If you’re up for it, of course.”

And then, Amitie’s face, too, finally brightened again.

“Y-Yeah! That’d be awesome!”

You had to give it to that witch; as unpredictable as the intended outcomes of her magic could be, when she knew what she was doing her spells were very swift and precise. Drawing the glyphs didn’t even take her ten minutes, enchanting the whole thing just few seconds plus a healthy sacrifice of yellow Puyos. Raffina, who had never traveled by spell circle before, was, of course, somewhat apprehensive about stepping into the eerily glowing symbol, but a pat on the shoulder from Rulue resolved her doubts.

“Should our transport be unacceptable in any way, we can always punish her for it afterwards. Ohohoho~!”

Ah, yes. A very reassuring sentiment indeed.

“H-Hey, now! I never agreed to that…!” protested Witch.

The worries turned out to be unnecessary. The trip, while not exactly luxurious, was swift and mostly painless, not unlike being accidentally spirited away alongside a row of popping Puyos, but significantly less rocky and uneven. The radiant light that engulfed them made it difficult to perceive what exactly they were traveling through, of course…

When the three ladies came back to, they were in a beautiful, ornate hall made entirely of meticulously chiseled… ice? Or maybe glass? No, actually, now that she looked closer…

“I-Is the whole wall… a crystal!? Oh…! Wow…!” Raffina was at once both shocked and enamored. Whatever travel sickness the journey might have made her feel in her stomach was immediately lifted. The radiance of the room around her reflected in the girl’s blue eyes. “Oh my! I’ve never seen a jewel this big before!!”

A gem so perfect and pure…! Hah. If only she could take a piece of these walls and have it fashioned into a necklace or belt!

By her side, she heard Rulue speak.

“And this is only but one of the wonders in this world,” the lady chuckled. “In any case, welcome to the Shrine of Wayward Stars.”

“You may already color me impressed…!”

Raffina admittedly hadn’t thought too much of what her first taste of Rulue’s home world would be like, but how could she have ever expected anything like this? If this was only one shrine, she had to wonder what else there might be to see.

A voice soon echoed off the crystal walls towards the newcomers.

“Who is here? Why would anyone set foot into the sanctuary… *gasp!* Might you be thieves!? I-I shall not allow you to defile this place!!”

“Hm?”

When Raffina turned to see who was speaking to them, her eyes once again went wide. There, in the doorway before them, stood a girl with long, red hair, wearing earthen brown and golden robes and carrying a large, golden staff. Those things weren’t what had Raffina so surprised, of course. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the girl’s long, pointed and slightly bestial ears…

“L…Lidelle…?” she found herself uttering.

“Whatever might you speak of?” the girl replied, sounding firm but looking flustered. “I am Chico! A priestess entrusted with guarding this sacred place of ceremony. Now, in the name of the Twin-Goddesses guarding this boundary, I must ask you to leave! Or else… Engage me in battle!”

Summoning a semblance of fire into her otherwise timid gaze, the girl raised her staff, seemingly preparing to cast Owanimo. Raffina was already getting ready for a fight, when Rulue stepped forward to stop the priestess.

“Now, now! There is no need to waste our time with something so pointless, wouldn’t you agree? Calm yourself, shrine maiden.”

“Ah-! L-Lady Rulue!”

The girl – Chico – at once lowered her staff and began to bow and apologize profusely.

“Forgive me! I did not know it was you! I did not sense Lady Arle’s or the Dark Prince’s presence… Are you traversing the boundary on your own today?”

“Not alone. As you can see, I have brought an acquaintance,” Rulue gestured towards Raffina.

“Ah! That must be… a denizen of the Otherworld!” Chico recognized quickly. “What a rare guest!”

Meanwhile, one could hear Witch unhappily mumble to herself in the back, “One acquaintance…? And what am I, carry-on luggage? Tsk!”

Her complaints were ignored. 

“My name is Raffina. Charmed, I am sure.” The introduction was formal, polite and refined, of course. “Now, um… Chico, was it? Sorry for before. You just remind me of a classmate of mine, that is all.”

“Oh, is that so?” Chico’s ears flicked a little, and Raffina nodded.

“Yeah, you… resemble her. A bit.”

“Well, that is only natural, I suppose,” Chico smiled. “Given how the balance between our worlds always seeks to maintain itself, even in this age.”

“The balance between our worlds…?”

“Ah, but where are my manners. I must assume you didn’t cross the boundary for idle chatter, did you?”

“You’re correct there!” Witch raised her finger. “I have business with my grandmother. And these two here headed for Bizet Village.”

“Huh? For Bizet? Without Lady Arle?”

“Arle has gotten herself caught up in something, I’m afraid,” Rulue nodded. “We are here on an errand from her.”

“I see. What a shame… Ah, I do not mean to sound disappointed! It has simply been a while since I have gotten so see Lady Arle’s face.”

A friend of Rulue’s and Arle’s then… Okay. That explained why she was suddenly okay with them being in this hall after she’d seen Rulue. Ah, but that wasn’t important now, was it? Raffina had other things to worry about.

“By the way, when you say ‘boundary’ do you perhaps mean that this place is something like a gateway between our worlds then?”

“Well, that description is quite inexact, but… I suppose you could say so, in certain situations…”

“Then, have you seen any others passing through here lately? Like, a gentle boy who likes bugs, with a conspicuous red eye and other oddities, or a guy in purple with an obnoxious laugh who just won’t shut up about himself?”

“Huh? Such specific descriptions…!”

“Or what about a girl with a large hat that looks like a red Puyo?”

“…Huh!? A… red Puyo, you say…?”

Her descriptions of Sig and Klug hadn’t gotten much of a reaction out of the young priestess, but when Raffina talked about the hat, Chico’s eyes turned wide and round for a moment. Looking confused, the girl’s forehead wrinkled, and she nervously looked to the walls, at her staff, then to the ground, as if trying to puzzle out her own thoughts.

“…N-No. That can’t be,” the priestess muttered under her breath.

“Hm? What can’t be?” asked Raffina.

“-Ah, nothing to concern yourself with!” Chico looked up again. “In any case… I am sorry to say that I do not believe the people you speak of have passed through the boundary as of late, or ever.”

“Oh. Is that so…?” Raffina sighed. So, this was a bust then. If the three from Class A hadn’t come through here, was there even a chance they were in this world at all? The thought that the answer to this might be ‘no’ bothered Raffina more than she thought it would. She crossed her arms. “That means we still got no trace of them… dang it…”

That last part was only a whisper, but the echo off the crystal walls amplified the words, allowing Chico to pick up on Raffina’s discomfort.

“Um, well! If you are troubled, might I offer my assistance with whatever you are trying to find? The Mirror Cats living in these walls might know what you seek! Or perhaps another form of divination-“

“Hmpf! No, thank you! If I’d wanted my fortune told, I could’ve gone to Feli!” Raffina scoffed, but then quickly regretted it when she saw Chico shrieking and stumbling.

No, no, what was she snapping at a stranger for? Compose yourself, Raffina! Think of your blood pressure. Tch… Missions like these just weren’t her style. Why did Amitie, of all people, have to go and disappear too? This sort of thing was usually her whole deal…

“F…Forgive me. But my duties lie inside these walls, so I know little of what lies outside,” Chico timidly held her staff in front of her body.

“No, it’s alright. You said it yourself, they wouldn’t necessarily have had to come through here, right? Like, for example if somebody intentionally made a spell that would have sent them somewhere else in this world…”

“Oh, that’s possible. Especially with enough Puyos and magic power,” said Witch. “Which our suspect would’ve had more than enough of. She is Arle, after all. In a way.”

“Huh? Lady Arle is… a suspect?” Chico seemed confused. “How am I to take this?”

“Don’t concern yourself with it,” Rulue waved a hand. “In any case, we shall be on our way to Bizet now. Are you coming, Raffina?”

“Ah… sure. Just a moment.”

Standing here and interrogating Chico wasn’t going to get them anywhere. She’d already told them that Sig, Klug, Amitie or even ‘Arle’ hadn’t come through here as of late. Raffina knew that this was why Rulue was pushing for them to move on. The martial arts queen had a very low tolerance for needless time wasting (as opposed to the needful time wasting of ladylike dramatics), and rightfully so. Even so, Raffina couldn’t help feeling uneasy when she watched Chico open the gates and guide them outside, bestowing her blessings on them as they left. She kept glancing back at the priestess over and over.

Maybe she should have insisted to ask a few more questions? Even though none of the things that confused her seemed related to their current issues at hand, there were a couple things that now just kept gnawing on her mind, such as…

“She really did look a lot like Lidelle…,” Raffina mumbled. “They could be sisters, but… No, that’s so unlikely.”

“Chico is part of a very long line of shrine maidens,” Witch explained. “Perhaps little Lidelle is a distant descendant of the same line? I mean, they’re guardians of a temple that lies at the boundary. It’s not impossible that somebody crossed over by accident at some point.”

“Hm… I suppose so…” But even as she said that, Raffina bit her lip, wondering if that really was all there was to that. “Anyway, I assume we split up here?”

“Yep! Grandma’s tower is west of here aaand… Bizet is north, if I remember right? Hm. It is a bit of a hike. Will you two be fine by foot?”

Witch’s concerns were actually warranted; while both Rulue and Raffina usually wouldn’t have had any trouble crossing the distance to the village swiftly, their lack of sleep the previous night combined with the battles earlier this same day had left them both fairly powered-out. Fortunately, Rulue had thought of this fact ahead of time.

“Ohohoho, how bold of you to assume we will be traveling by foot. Let’s just say that I have some… favors to call in around these parts.”

“Oh, is that so? Well, guess no need to worry then! Let’s meet back up at the shrine then once we’re all done. Anyway, see ya!

With that, Witch hopped onto her broomstick and took off, up into the skies, leaving behind Rulue, Raffina and, incidentally, Rulue’s minotaur, the one true piece of underappreciated carry-on luggage in this scene. As his role in this journey consisted entirely of carry Rulue’s and Raffina’s bags, we shall not hold ourselves up with elaborating on his presence any longer (poor guy). What, however, shall be mentioned, is the surprisingly large group of mythicals and demihuman woodland creatures that soon gathered around Rulue when her and Raffina stepped foot into the nearby forest. She certainly hadn’t been kidding when she said that she would be able to cash in some favors around here. Persons downright begging for Rulue to allow herself to be carried on hands by them soon started lining up, and then that was the end of their transportation issues. Raffina was in awe at the authority her friend commanded over these men and some women.

(And yet, she insists on chasing that Prince of Not-So-Brightness,) Raffina thought to herself in her head, but didn’t say anything. Not that she expected someone like Rulue to ever just ‘settle’ for a submissive, servant-like partner, but… She certainly had a lot of options, that much was now clear. Well, in a way she could understand it, she supposed. Raffina herself knew that she would never fall for someone that would so easily surrender their dignity just to please her…Even if such people could be quite convenient in times like right now.

There they were, sitting in a carriage pulled by Rulue’s fan-club, snacking away on free fruit and curry they’d been gifted. Even though it’d been nighttime when they’d left Primp Town, in this world it was currently noon, and Raffina found it difficult to try sleeping with the sun in her eyes. So, instead, she decided to ask Rulue some questions.

“What is that ‘boundary’ anyway? That’s the first I’ve heard of a gateway like that between our worlds.”

“I am not entirely sure myself. Arle only told me she had found a stable passage between here and Primp Town after making a wish to a medal.”

“You mean at the tournament last year?” Raffina yawned a little. “Huh. I’d heard she’d won, but… So, that was her wish?”

Rulue shrugged. “I just know that when Arle showed me the spell she’d learned, we came out here, at the shrine. Chico was surprised to see us back then, but it didn’t seem like our appearance was entirely unexpected either. It appears that sanctuary has been considered a sort of passageway between worlds for a long time.”

“I see… But she called our world… what was it again? An ‘Otherworld’? Did she just mean another world by that, or…?”

“I wouldn’t know. Though, I am surprised. Why are you so interested in these things, Raffina?”

“I am not sure myself. I just have… This feeling about it all.”

“A feeling, you say?”

“Somehow… Somehow I worry…”

But she wasn’t sure about what she was worried, or why.

Maybe it was just the tiredness finally catching up with her, but when Raffina found herself yawning again and drifting out of consciousness to finally get some much-needed and well-deserved shut-eye, all that was on her mind was how this unfamiliar world she now found herself in might not even be the same one where her friends had ended up.

…Huh? Did she just call them ‘friends’ in her head? Hm. She really had to be very tired… 

Sweat dripped off Lemres forehead in heavy beads when he was done. He stumbled back, onto an arrangement of soft red and blue beanbags that served as the room’s reading chair and sat down, sighing. While he was no stranger to risky magical maneuvers, this had been extremely exhausting, even for him. 

“Will this help the young ‘un?” asked Risukuma, handing Lemres a bar of chocolate the warlock had asked him to keep on standby for just this case.

"I hope so", Lemres replied and took a hearty bite out of the candy. “I gave him as much of my magic as I could without putting myself in serious danger. Now the rest is up to Sig.”

There the boy was, tugged into Ringo Ando's bed with a green blanket, breathing flat but steadily. The dark aura that had been thin enough this past hour to reveal the cyan hair and fair skin underneath, was now growing thicker again, tinting everything black once more. The boy was already leaking out the magic energy Lemres had only just bestowed onto him under great struggle. It seemed like a waste, of course, but that wasn’t even what had the warlock so worried. Rather, the rate at which the energy was escaping from the boy bothered him. Was he just imagining it, or had it gotten worse? It almost felt as if everything Lemres had given was just flowing right back out like water from a bucket covered in holes. Just how unstable had Sig’s condition become? Could his soul really just not hold on to even a base amount of energy anymore? Maybe it was already too late…

…No. It would be enough. It had to be. As much energy as those spells Lemres saw when he arrived at the scene must have consumed, and as poorly as his soul seemed to be holding on to Lemres' donation right now, Sig was strong. Too stubborn to just let himself fade away without putting up a fight. Lemres had seen that once before, and he hoped he’d see it again.

By all that was out there watching over the worlds, may it be gods or spirits or something else, Lemres was hoping, pleading that they wouldn’t lose Sig. That sweet, sweet child didn’t deserve that. It wasn’t his fault that he’d been born with that soul. Destiny or not, he deserved to live, to grow up and live a long, happy life, just like his friends. To see that cut short like that, just because of what he was, just because of what the universe thought he should be… That would be nothing short of awful.

The exact sort of tragedy Lemres had always wished to prevent with his powers. One of the many reasons he’d turned his back on the dark arts and chosen to walk the path he did.

(Please, help us protect him…) the warlock prayed to nothing in particular. (He doesn’t deserve this, and neither do the friends who care so much for him.)

It was ironic. People compared Lemres to a comet, but when it came down to it, he couldn’t just make it rain shooting stars and grant wishes, not even his own. Sometimes he wished that the people who relied on and put him on such a pedestal would understand that fact, as well as the fear that came with it.

Chapter Text

Momo and Sumomo didn’t have a magic spell that could make all of Amitie’s troubles go away. They couldn’t turn back time to stop her from bungling up that Puyo battle or reach inside her and put her magic back the way it was supposed to be. What they did have, however, were lots of little brushes, creams and powders, lip gloss and eyeliner, and a nice-sweet smelling shampoo for her hair.

The last thing the three girls did that night before going to bed (which ended up being very, very late), was give Amitie a makeover. A nice, relaxing bath, tons of lotions and about half an hour of Momo having her way with the canvas that was her new friend’s face later Amitie barely recognized herself in the mirror. Not only was the weird, red mark completely invisible now, her hair framed her face in a much softer way than usual, and her cheeks looked a lot rosier. She couldn’t help giggling at her own reflection.

“I kinda look like Raffina now…! Hee hee!” she mused to herself. It wasn’t that they could actually have been mistaken for each other of course, but the way Momo had applied that makeup seemed kind of similar. Then again, maybe Amitie only felt that way because she never really used makeup herself. As fun as it seemed to try and be super fashionable, wear cute clothes and make herself look pretty, she already tended to sleep in in the morning way too often as it was. She would never have the time to think much about what she was gonna wear for the day, or to paint her face like this. She also kind of didn’t think she’d be good at doing it by herself in first place.

“You sure you wanna stick with that hat...?” asked Sumomo while going through clothes she could lend to their guest with her sister.

“H-Huh? Of course, I’m keeping my Red Puyo Hat! I feel naked without it!”

“Just saying, it’s a shame. Your hair's got such a nice natural wave, and on comes that thing presses it all flat.”

“Aww, give it a rest, Sumomo, it’s part of her style, you know! You wouldn’t want anyone telling you that you can’t wear your favorite eyeliner ‘cuz it makes you look like a zombie, would you?’

“Never stopped you, Sis.”

‘Heh heh…”

As little as Amitie appreciated the suggestion to ‘lose the hat’, the atmosphere overall remained light-hearted and upbeat. The twins had a lot of different clothes to let her try, and while generally she tended to like Momo’s suggestions better than whatever Sumomo suggested her to wear (in fact, all the stuff Sumomo made her try on distinctly reminded Amitie of Feli), it was huge fun to experiment, mix and match and then pose in front of the mirror. Still, in the end the outfit Amitie decided to wear for the rest of the evening was not too different from her usual gear. She just didn’t feel right when she wasn’t wearing at least five different colors at once.

“My eyes are in hyperglycemic shock,” deadpanned Sumomo, unimpressed by her client’s final choice.

“Uh, what?”

“She’s saying you look like candy!” Momo laughed. “And that she doesn’t like it, ‘cuz she’s boring.”

“Right back at’cha. You can’t tell me that she looks any different from before now.”

“Because she already looked super cute to begin with!” Momo insisted, then put on a swooning smile. “Ah, colorful pop fashion looks so good on you, Amitie! I wish I had your complexions!”

“Her complexions are wasted potential… They’d contrast so neatly with a deep purple, if she’d wear it… And lose the hat.”

 “Hmpf! Sumomo~! You can’t just force your style in everyone.”

“I can try.”

Amitie really didn’t understand a whole lot of what these two were saying, but that was fine with her. She was having fun and this whole fashion session had definitely helped her calm down a bit from… what was it again that had her so upset earlier? -Ah!

Ringo, Lemres and the others were out there, looking for Klug and Sig. And Amitie was back here and couldn’t do… anything…

-Ah, no, no, now she’d gotten herself sad again! Cheer up Amitie! Happy face, happy face! She couldn’t ruin the mood! These girls were trying so hard to make her feel better, and crying wasn’t going to bring back anything, even if she really, really-

“You’re still worried ‘bout your friends, hm?”

“Huh?”

Amitie looked up to see Sumomo glancing at her with a knowing expression.

“I-Is it that obvious?”

“Fake smiles don’t look good on anyone. They don’t reach the eyes.”

“…Really?”

“Don’t force it. If you’re not feeling well, you don’t need to pretend.”

“Yeah! If you’d rather talk about what’s going on with Ringo and everyone, feel free!” laughed Momo. “And, like, if you really wanna go help too, maybe you should! I mean that weird tattoo is gone now, right? You said that was why you couldn’t use magic.”

“Ah, right!”

With all the fun of dressing up she had almost forgotten about that, but Momo was right! The mark wasn’t there now, so maybe her magic was back? Excitedly, Amitie got up on her feet, gathered her power and raised a finger.

“Owanimo!”

…Nothing.

Deflated, she went back into her knees. “Uhh…”

So, that didn’t work.

“Guess covering it up isn’t enough to lift the seal, huh?” Sumomo mused.

“Aww! That’s such a shame! I really wanted to see Amitie’s magic!” moaned Momo. “I mean, Ringo’s magic is always so pretty and interesting, and that weird guy could do really cool things like healing himself and making stuff fly…! I wonder what you can do!”

“M-My magic isn’t anything as special as Lemres’!” Amitie protested. “I mean, I’m still learning, and I’m clumsy! Sure, I’m gonna be great one day, and I’m working hard for that! But, even if I get my magic back-“

“If? Not ‘when’?” Sumomo asked, raising an eyebrow and whistling. “Whoa, and people tell me I’m a pessimist.”

“Ah! I-I did mean ‘when’! Sure, of course, it’s ‘when’ not ‘if’! But, until then, I can’t really help! I mean, I trust Lemres and Ringo to figure it out, they’re both really smart, and Lemres is strong, but-“

“Amitie.”

Amitie flinched when Sumomo cut into her words. The way she did it… It was the same, calm collected way Sig would often interrupt her when Amitie was getting lost in her own panicked ramblings. It was enough to make her fall silent and listen closely.

“You’re the brave fairy.”

“Huh…? You mean… from the story?”

Sumomo nodded calmly.

“In the book, when the fairy lost the Solar Scepter, she also thought there was nothing else she could do, right? It weighed her down and she got depressed to the point she almost gave up on her journey.”

“Ah… Yeah, that’s how it went.”

Amitie knew the story by heart. The fairy loses the scepter she worked so hard to find, as it is taken by the dark shadows, completing the shadows’ curse, and it looks like the sun is never going to come up again… 

“But! When things got the darkest, did the fairy just lie down and give up?” asked Momo, only to give the answer right away. “Of course, she didn’t! She got up and started fighting again, even without the scepter! Because she loved everyone so super much, and they were all still by her side! The night demon and the moon witch and the familiar spirit, too! Everyone still believed they could win! And they did!”

“In the end, all the fairy really had to learn, was that even at her weakest she wasn’t a liability to her friends. Her courage on its own was powerful enough.”

“Huh…?”

“I’m saying you shouldn’t feel useless. That’s pointless. You wanna go out and help? Then let’s do that. Right tomorrow morning let’s call up Ringo and ask how they’re doing and if there’s any way you could help out. Like, you could give backup support or something. How’s that sound?”

“You think that would be okay?” Amitie’s eyes lit up. If there really was something she could do, she wanted to tr!

Sumomo shrugged, “Won’t know until we ask.”

“And even if they say no, what’s stopping you for going out and helping anyway? Nothing! Nothing, I say!” Momo cheered. “You’re your own cute Magical Girl! Rush in last second and save the day, like in an Anime! And in the end, everything sparkles and shines and everyone gives each other high fives.”

“Sis… You might wanna take that down seven notches. We’re trying to cheer her on, not get her killed, you know?”

Honestly, Sumomo didn’t need to worry. Amitie hadn’t even heard the later part of Momo’s passionate declaration. She was too close to happy tears to still have been paying attention at that point. Ahh! Those two! They barely even knew here, but they were being so nice…! Amitie sniffed and wiped some of the wet off her face. Making new friends was just the best! As often as she tried to hide her insecurities, it felt good to be around friends that reminded here that maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed in her head sometimes, and these two, as little as they still knew about her, were no exception.

“… Yeah! You guys are right,” taking stray tears off her face, Amitie laughed. “Right tomorrow morning, I’m gonna, um, ‘call’ Ringo and Lemres with that phone-thing, and figure out how I can help!”

“That’s the idea,” Sumomo nodded.

“And we’ll help too!” Momo pumped a fist. “Magical adventure, here we go!!”

Once all of this was over and done with, they really, really had to all hang out together, old friends and new friends alike. Amitie couldn’t wait to see how the twins would get along with everyone back home! Honestly, she felt that way every time someone new came to Primp Town as well.

It would be so nice if everyone new they met could end up being a new friend one day…

Failure.

He was barely conscious, yet the word kept ringing in his ears, over and over.

Failure. Flawed. Good-for-nothing, couldn’t do it, will not amount to anything, coward, dishonest hellion, charlatan.

Irrelevant. Forgettable. Just a dumb kid.

…

…None of this was actually happening, right? It couldn’t be. The whole situation with Sig, his own, foolish attempts to defeat that woman, losing the battle, stupidly surrendering his body, losing the book-

He couldn’t accept that any part of that sequence of events was true. He feared opening his eyes only to find that it was true. So, he stubbornly kept them clamped shut and waited for a sign, an omen, just anything telling him that this entire, ridiculous misadventure was just one huge nightmare and everything was still peachy and perfect in the small town of Primp.

That nothing had changed.

That he still had everything under control.

*thump! thump!*

…This didn’t sound like a sign or omen of good tidings.

*thump! thump!*

It didn’t feel like one either. It was more like an impressively small person was using his chest as a trampoline.

Not a comfortable sensation at all.

“Hey, hey is he dead? He’s dead right? Yeah, has to be dead☺”

“Aww, really? That’s so sad…♡ How are we gonna tell Big Bro? ♡”

“Don’t be stupid, you guys⚡ He’s just sleeping, anyone can see that⚡”

“But, but! ☺ I keep pushing and he wo~n’t wa~ke up☺”

*thump! thump!*

“Then he’s pretending ⚡ I mean, look at that haircut. That is the hair of a pretender, I am telling you⚡”

“Oh, oh! How can we tell if he’s pretending? ☺”

“If you karate-chop the knee and it moves, he’s alive⚡”

“Oh, cool☺”

*chop!*

“Y-YEEEOUCH!”

Patellar Reflex. A shriek, a bitten tongue, clenched teeth. A silent curse.

“Ah! He kicked☺”

“See? Alive⚡ Hmpf⚡”

“Aww, you guys, maybe we shouldn’t be doing this? ♡ Big Bro said to let him rest♡ Besides, I’m starting to feel bad for the poor guy… Maybe he just wants to be left alone♡”

“I can’t help it⚡ I don’t trust this guy! You know what they say: Four eyes, zero soul⚡”

“Zero soul…? Oh, so, if we take the glasses away, he’ll probably come back to life! ☺”

“Oh~ Great idea, Kosaba! Let’s try that♡”

“I already told you, he’s not-⚡ …*sigh* Never mind⚡”

The moment he felt little, grabby fingers fumbling around in his face was the moment Klug couldn’t take it anymore. Alright, enough was enough! Harsh reality or not, here he came.

“N-No, no, STOP! Stop, I say! Hands off the glasses!” he flailed around.

It was already too late. With a *flop!* the small boy sitting on his ribcage had swiped the spectacles right off his nose.

“Ah! It worked☺ Yay! Anago, Haraka, look! I brought Big Bro’s friend back to life☺”

“Hah! You really did♡ Kosaba, you’re amazing♡ You’ll be such a great doctor one day~♡”

“No, Anago~ I wanna be an Astronaut☺”

“A space medic, then~♡”

“*sigh* The two of you are going to be the death of me one of these days… ⚡”

The death of *them*? What was that angry-sounding person even talking about! They weren’t the one currently being robbed and brutalized by a toddler! …Talking of which, who were these children anyway? Where was he?

Klug would have tried to make an educated guess as to his whereabouts, but his myopia was doing a great job thwarting him there. The most he could tell was that he was in a room with beige walls, that the lights were on, and that the three multicolored shapes around (and on) him were probably people… Argh, what kind of upbringing did these children have, to just take a stranger’s belongings like that?!

“Argh! Glasses! I-I need my glasses!!”

“Nuh-uh☺ You only just revived! If you die again, Big Bro is gonna be sad☺”

“I WASN’T DEAD!”

“Oooooh, you weren’t? ☺”

“Oh, that’s nice~♡ Thank goodness~♡”

“…I’m giving up on you two⚡” the angry-sounding person groaned. Next, Klug saw one of the figures make a motion that vaguely looked like a person was turning towards him. “Whoa, now that’s disappointing! And the girls in school always say guys like that look very handsome without glasses. Tch, must’ve read too much Manga or something⚡”

“Excuse me for not looking my absolute best when I’m squinting!” Klug snarled. “Anyway, who are you, where am I!? …Gimme back my glasses!”

Having sat up now, Klug made a few more desperate attempts at grabbing for the vaguely humanoid shape that was now sitting in his lap, but he had no idea where the kid’s hands were, let alone in which hand he was holding Klug’s glasses. So, in the end, all he was really doing was groping in thin air and hoping to eventually catch his fingers on something that felt like glass and metal. So far, that endeavor had remained unsuccessful.

In the background Klug could hear the angry-sounding person sigh.

“Kosaba, give the guy his glasses⚡”

“Huh? Oh. Okay☺ But if you feel like you’re dying or your soul is going away again, you need to scream, right away! Like this! AHHHHH☺”

Klug had to clamp his ears shut at the small child screaming right in his face. What, where these people trying to make him blind and deaf!? As if he wasn’t already feeling debilitated enough as it was…

“Alright! Here you go!☺”

As familiar frames were placed back where they belonged the world around Klug came into focus. He found that he was indeed in a room, but not any one he’d ever seen before. Plain, beige walls, an odd contraption hanging from the ceiling that seemed to serve as a light-source and a carpeted floor covered in a mess of toys, boardgames, cards and school utensils. Aside from the bed Klug himself was currently sitting on, there were two more beds in this room. Each of them had a simple, wooden frame into which’s headends runes from the local script had been lovingly edged.  The two beds left and right from him in the room read ‘Ha-Ra-Ka’ and ‘A-Na-Go’ respectively. Klug turned around to see what the bed he himself was on read. ‘Ma-Gu-Ro’… Huh? Maguro? Why did that sound familiar…?

“Ah, Big Brother is gonna be so happy when he hears you’re awake♡ Him and Ringo were really worried, you know♡”

Klug turned to the person addressing him. Now that he was wearing his glasses, he could make out the three people in the room with him clearly. The ‘angry-sounding person’ turned out to be a tall, androgynous teenager with shoulder-length, velvet-red hair that covered half their face and a frown that looked like it was just permanently stuck that way. Further, Klug’s prior identification of the weight pressing down on his body as a roughly kindergarten-aged boy turned out to be correct. The child was small, had rosy cheeks, messy, short silverish-blue hair, a sickeningly sweet smile, and an obvious inability to sit in place calmly. Finally, the person who had just talked to Klug was a girl, older than the little boy, but still clearly younger than the angry teenager. She had straight, brown hair that fell across her shoulders and wore a rather soothing expression.

Processing the way he’d just been addressed, Klug righted his glasses.

“Ringo…? As in, Ringo Ando? Ah, I see… I must still be in Suzuran then…”

That was… good to know at least. After recent, um, ‘events’ he had lost track of his surroundings for a while. While he vaguely recalled encountering Ringo and that boy who could channel magic through that toy of his at some point, he’d admittedly been too out of it at the time to take in much of what had been happening around him.

After all… right before the of them had found him there… he’d…

“…”

Klug’s gaze drifted off, the memories of why exactly he hadn’t wanted to open his eyes until a couple of minutes ago coming back to him. Right. Right, that happened. It happened, and he couldn’t deny it. He couldn’t undo that it happened, couldn’t even convince himself it didn’t happen, and even if he’d known a spell that could have undone it all, as he was now, on his own, he definitely, definitely, did not have the power to-

“Huh? Are you… okay?♡”

“Ah! Now he’s shaking! Like, all over☺”

“Hey, Kosaba⚡ Don’t smile while saying that! ⚡”

“Hm? But Haraka! You said you didn’t like him.”

“Yeah, but he’s our Big Bro’s friend and all…⚡”

“M-Maybe he’s cold? We could try tugging him in♡ Or bring some miso-soup, or green tea…♡”

The brown-haired girl, Anago, seemed like she was perfectly ready to come up with further suggestions to try and make their guest more comfortable, when their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a door being opened. Another person entered the room.

“Oh boy… Guys, what’cha doing? I thought I told you to let our guest sleep it off…☆“

“Ah! Big Brother♡!”

“Look! That boy came back to life! ☺”

“Huh, alright then☆ …That’s grea- -WAIT WHAT!?”

Maguro’s previously very leisurely walk quickly became an alarmed dash when he heard little Kosaba’s wording. Pushing past Haraka and Anago, he made his way to the bedside and found Klug, who, though not in the best of shapes, indeed looked quite alive. The sound the eldest Sasaki child made right then and there was somewhere between a sigh of relief and a foreboding gulp.

“Back… to life? Like, he wasn’t… you guys didn’t☆ Did you...? Nah☆ You didn’t! …Did you?”

Haraka rolled their eyes, “These two are just being airheads again⚡”

“Huh? Me too? ♡”

“Anyway, nobody died here. Yet. So, chill⚡”

Taking another close look at the unusually quiet apprentice mage sitting on his bed and then looking over his siblings, Maguro took a deep breath.

“O…Okay. That’s… That’s okay☆ Yes☆”

A sudden onslaught of a zombie apocalypse would really just have been the cherry on top of this sundae of an already pretty messed up day. If Ringo thought explaining a passed-out nerd to Amitie was going to be an issue, then an undead one would definitely have been a no-go! Oh well, calamity averted. For now, at least. After all, there still were currently three more Sasakis in this room than there needed to be.

Thus, Maguro clapped his hands,

“A~lright, everybody, I’m sure you’ve had a lot of fun, but our guest’s still pretty tired, see☆” Carefully, Maguro lifted his little brother off Klug’s lap and put him into Anago’s arms. “It’s time to go downstairs! Movie night, remember? ☆”

“Awww…! ☺”

“Movie night…” Anago laughed awkwardly. “I-I don’t really want to go watch movies. Not that I don’t like it, but…Hamachi always gives away all the twists…♡”

“This is Anago’s and my room too. You can’t throw us out⚡” Haraka scoffed.

“Guys, come on☆ Work with me here~☆ I’m kinda out of options.  It’s just for tonight, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah…” Haraka sighed. “You owe us the T&D session of a lifetime for this, Gamemaster⚡”

“It will be a night not meant for sleeping~☆” Maguro assured them with a confident grin.

“Okay, guys, let’s go watch that dumb movie⚡”

As soon as Haraka, Anago and Kosaba had all been successfully ushered out of the room, Maguro made sure to close the door and wait a few seconds until he couldn’t hear his siblings’ footsteps anymore. That done with, he breathed one more sigh.

“Sorry for that☆” he turned towards the bed again. “I would’ve locked the door, but that’s just how it goes when you share your room with other people☆ Well, privacy is overrated anyway.”

Klug wasn’t looking at the purple-haired boy. Quietly, he kept his head low, his gaze obscured by the glare of his glasses. To Maguro, himself an expert at hiding his eyes, that wasn’t an obstacle in deciphering the other boy’s expression, of course. Still, the silence was getting a tad unnerving. Now, how to break that ice…?

“Hm, well, let’s start with… How are you doing? It’s been a while, huh? I guess a lot happened☆ I mean, you don’t have to talk about it, but…”

“…Were those kids just now your siblings?”

That question took Maguro aback, not just because he’d gotten Klug to talk much quicker than he’d thought he would, but also because it wasn’t something he’d expected the other boy to ask at all. His mouth forming an o-shape for a moment, Maguro walked closer, sat down on Haraka’s bed and nodded.

“Yeah! Three of them☆”

“There’s more...?”

“We’re eight total☆ Makes for a sweet T&D group! Though, it can get a ta~d noisy at times☆”

“Eight? …That’s a lot.”

“Oh, they all just slowly trickled into the family one after another☆ I was the first, and by the time there were, like, six of us, I was already pretty used to the routine. It’s actually pretty nice, since I always have someone to hang out with around☆”

“…Of course, the eldest would say that…”

“Huh? What?”

“…Nothing.”

And with that non-answer, the conversation ground to a halt and the awkward silence was back. Maguro was just as worried as he was bemused. While he’d expected that Amitie’s friend might still be out of it when coming to, that short exchange just now had been odd. Was this something to tell Ringo about, or just some sort of personal thing he shouldn’t pry in? Wait, no, much more importantly…

“Alright then… Are you hungry? The warlock in green said that you were probably gonna need something to get your MP back up when you wake up. Well, he didn’t phrase it exactly like that, but you know☆”

“…Lemres…?”

“He dropped by earlier☆ Was really glad to see you were mostly unharmed.”

Usually, Klug would have been overjoyed to hear that Lemres had spoken about him to someone, let alone come by to check on him, but right now he only felt embarrassed. Ah, of course. So Lemres probably already knew. About him losing, about him failing, that he was a disappointment, that the book was gone…

Klug’s fingers clenched to a fist around the rim of the blanket underneath him on the bed. How did it come to this? Where did he go so, so wrong…? If he could take it back… but he couldn’t, he couldn’t take it all back, but if he could, then-

“So, the guy said your favorites were chocolate and licorice? Which doesn’t really lend itself to dinner, but I’ll see what I can do☆ Anyway, hope you don’t mind holding down the fort here for a while, while I go whip something up. See ya in a bit!”

And with those words, Maguro Sasaki left the room, the sound of the door closing behind him echoing out emptily for a few moments as Klug remained dead silent.

“...”

Such a strange room. The colors of the walls and carpets were dull and somewhat boring, probably chosen more to hide and potential dirt than to look aesthetically pleasing. It contrasted against the colorful chaos of the playthings strewn about everywhere, not a single one of which was remarkable enough to stand out from the pile of them. 

Plain, yet disordered. Boring, but still unreasonable.

Klug found himself sliding underneath the blanket and curling up in the bed again, using his hat to cover his eyes. He didn’t know how to extinguish the light from the contraption on the ceiling and didn’t feel like using a spell to do it. Even if he tried, he’d probably just mess up. Him and his exceedingly average magic.

His hands felt empty.

He knew that he shouldn’t have been wasting time idly like this. He should have been up on his feet, asking where the others were, if anybody had seen Sig, and what the blue mage’s current status was, but – He didn’t dare to. He was scared.

-Oh, Sig... We’re afraid it is already too late to help him.

If Klug asked the question, and the answer ended up being anything like that, then what would he do? How would he live with himself from then on?

He should have told everyone, right from the start. That night under the stars, rather than trying to convince her everything was ‘fine’ he should have said to Amitie ‘Somebody told me that Sig might not go back to normal, and I think that person might be right. ’ Or, the morning right after, he should have taken Amitie, or, heck, anyone by the wrist and said, ‘Somebody told me that Sig is in danger. We need to go to someone like Lemres or Ms. Accord and look into options right away.’ Instead, he lied and wasted half a day doing pointless research and not being on speaking-terms with Amitie. Why did he do that? Why didn’t he make the obvious right choice?

...He knew the reason, of course.

Klug tried to fall back asleep, but he couldn’t. His heart was beating too fast, his breath was irregular, he was shaking, his thoughts were racing... He wanted to run away, but even if he’d known where to, he didn’t think he had the energy to. What now? What to do next?

Could he really just lie here and... wait for something to happen? Conversely... couldn’t he?

Even being suspended in the void deep inside his own mind hadn’t felt this immobilizing.

…

…

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he vaguely made out the sound of the door cracking open again. At first, he assumed Maguro had returned- That is, until he heard the footsteps, and then the voices.

“Hey~♪ Why are you in our Big Bro’s bed? ♪”

A high-pitched, girlish voice.

“In our Big Sibs’ room? ♫”

A lower-pitched, yet equally girlish voice.

“Maybe he’s sleeping...☾”

A melancholic boy’s voice.

“Awuaeheeheehee~❀”

A toddler’s brabbling.

‘These must be the other four...’ Klug thought to himself, groaning, pressing his face down into the mattress and pretending not to hear them. Maybe this time it would work, and they’d leave him alone, he considered.   

He considered wrong.

“Hey, hey? Why are you sleeping with the lights on? ♪”

“Yeah, why didn’t he turn the lights off? ♫ Seems like a waste♫”

“Ehawhua...❀?”

“He’s probably scared of the dark... ☾”

“You think so, Hamachi? ♪”

“Hm♫ Let’s see... ♫”

*click!* The room went dark.

“Hm... Nope. Still sleeping♫”

“Don’t do that, Hotaru! What if he wakes up and gets scared now? ♪”

*click!* The room was lit up once more.

“What a waste... ☾”

*click!* Dark.

“Wuahoheehee~! ❀”

*click!* Bright.

Finally, Klug couldn’t take it anymore. He threw off the blanket and rocketed up, yelling at the intruders.

“ARGH! What is wrong with this place!? Can’t a broken man self-loathe in peace here!?”

“Nope~♪” sing-songed the owner of the high-pitched girly voice, who Klug could now see was a girl with black, straight twin-tails. “We don’t do peace in this house♪”

“Or calm, or quiet, or self-reflection, or introspection... ♫” the other girl, who sported a silver ponytail, expanded the list.

Not at all appreciating the elaborations, Klug glared at the children that once again surrounded him – there, indeed, were four of them this time – and hissed, “What do you want!?”

“Play with us, new guy! ♪” the black-haired girl demanded.

“Mhm~! Play with us♫” the silver-haired girl requested.

He was taken aback.

“D-Didn’t you have other plans!? I thought your brother told you to do something called a ‘movie night’...?”

“The film was bo~ring! ♪” complained the black-haired girl.

“Hamachi gave away all the twists♫” groaned the silver-haired girl.

“It was so predictable... ☾” sighed the melancholic boy, whose hair was mouse grey.

“And that’s a reason to bother a complete stranger instead?” Klug wasn’t even sure if he was angry or just confused by these children. “There are eight of you, for the heavens’ sake! Go play with each other!”

“But, but! We all already know each other♪ We don’t know you yet♪”

The girl with the silver ponytail agreed, “Mhm~♫ And Big Bro’s friends are always fun♫”

And the boy with the mouse grey hair nodded, “Everyone he’s friends with is really interesting…☾”

“Yeah♪ Totally~♪”

For a moment, Klug fell silent. He blinked at the three children speaking to and about him, as well as the toddler, who kept cheerily grabbing in his general direction and giggling.

“Interesting…?” he repeated doubtfully.

“Hey, hey, big guy? Mind telling us what kind of games do you know? ♪”

“-Games?”

“Big Bro said you came from far away…♫ You probably know a lot of really cool, really unusual games, hm? ♫”

“Can’t be as disappointing as everything we have here…☾”

The four children kept pushing closer, and yet somehow Klug didn’t feel the need to back away. Only his gaze drifted off a little as he pondered, the toddler’s giggling serving as his thoughts’ backing track. Games? While the obvious choice occurred to him, of course – No. He really wasn’t in the mood for it, and besides, even if he’d wanted to play a match, it surely wouldn’t work, not with these kids.

Still… Games, huh?

Games…

Now, while Maguro considered himself a pretty sweet chef, he rather quickly realized that he had nothing on their green-clad guest in that regard. Emphasis on the ‘sweet’ part of course.

Both of them were putting their hearts into the recipe, but the way Lemres spun and tapped the spoon almost like a conductor directing an orchestra was a sight to behold. Not a droplet of batter where it didn’t belong, not a single crumb of flour left unwhisked in the mixture. Maguro couldn’t help but whistle. If he hadn’t known any better he would never have guessed that this was the warlock’s first time making this dish.

“Oho~! Just when I thought this was gonna be mess for sure. Guess I shouldn’t have underestimated the candy-magician, huh? ☆” Maguro elegantly pointed the spatula he was using in Lemres’ direction. “Chocolate Okonomiyaki☆ I guess that’s what they call an idea ‘just crazy enough to work’, huh?”

Lemres calmly chuckled, “Well, when you showed me the recipe I couldn’t help but notice how similar it was to pancakes, so I thought ‘Why not try this?’ Of course, we’ll have to hold some stuff like the BBQ sauce to make it work, but…”

“Hey, as long as it works☆ It’s a snack, it’s dinner, it’s dessert! Pretty fitting for a colorful cast like us, I guess.”

“Isn’t it? Ha ha. I can only hope Klug is going to share your enthusiasm… From what you said it looks like he still is pretty out of it.”

“I wonder about that… It wasn’t like he was totally silent but talking to him back there was ki~nda awkward☆ Then again, we’re not super-close. I wasn’t really sure what to say.”

“Well, I still appreciate the effort. I’m really sorry I wasn’t there to help out.”

“So, um. Remind me again, why didn’t you want me to tell him you’re still over here?” Maguro tilted his head. “‘Cuz, not to be pushy or anything, but I kinda think seeing his idol would’ve done way more for his mood than plain ol’ Maguro Sasaki over here☆”

Sighing, Lemres took a ladle full of batter and transferred it to the frypan before answering. As he spoke, he slowly added the chocolate chips and Okonomiyaki stuffing to the hardening batter.

“I think seeing me wouldn’t be the best thing for him right now. We might not know what happened, but one thing’s for sure: Klug just lost an important battle. As much as I want to help, right now I think his admiration for me would only be salt in the wound of his self-perceived failure.”

“You think so? ☆”

“Yeah. If he saw me, he’d absolutely beat himself up over how much better he thinks I would have done in his situation. That wouldn’t help him. Trust me, I know just how ridiculously tall that pedestal he puts me on is. To him, I’m the impossibly high goalpost he’s trying to overcome one day. Right now, he probably feels further from that goal than ever.”

“I mean, not that I think you’re wrong… But what if you’re a bit off about the whole situation?”

“Hm?”

“See, when Ringo and I found him, the thing that bothered him most didn’t seem to be that he lost a battle or something, but that he lost that favorite book of his☆” Maguro explained. “I think seeing Ringo’s physics’ book made him cry a bit too. It was a whole thing, y’know?”

“Hm…” Lemres gently tilted his head from left to right and sighed. “In that case, it’s probably even more important he doesn’t see me right now.”

“Huh? ☆”

“Because I really don’t think he’d like to hear what I’d have to say to him regarding that situation.”

“And what is that? ☆”

Lemres’ smile looked wry, “That it’s probably for the better this way.”

Maguro was out of the loop. That wasn’t a new experience for him; Unlike Ringo, he’d always had trouble remembering things about their adventures with their friends from Primp Town once they were over, so oftentimes he just found himself going along with the flow until he’d picked all the pieces back up –by then, the adventure was usually almost over again. Still, he knew a thing or two about people, and still, he wanted to help. That was just the kind of guy he was. So, as Lemres let him show how to properly shape a piece of Okonomiyaki and how to make sure the garnishes wouldn’t burn in the pan, Maguro decides to ask a few more questions.

“Sooo, I’m guessing that book was kinda dangerous then? ☆ I mean, my memories aren’t too clear, but I get a feeling I sometimes saw something that looked kinda bad pop out sometimes. Like, *plop*☆”

Lemres remained quiet, only giving a knowing smile as he carefully turned the Okonomiyaki around in the pan. That reaction was enough for Maguro. He kept talking.

“If that thing’s as dangerous as I guess it is, why’d you let him carry it around to begin with? Like, I get you’re kind of the mysterious mentor-type and all, but…☆”

“Klug wanted me to trust him with the book. So, I tried to do so. I thought that was the least he deserved.”

“Even though you thought he shouldn’t have it? ☆”

“I’d always hoped he’d realize by himself that he didn’t need it.”

“Hm~?☆”

Lemres sighed, “Klug and I grew up in the same neighborhood, but the first time I properly talked to him was at a symposium in our hometown.  He’d written a pretty excellent paper on the symbiotic relationship between dark and light magic, and how it is more or less impossible to extinguish one without also weakening the other. Ms. Accord gave him permission to present it in representation of their school.”

“Whoa~ a symposium…? ☆ Wait, he’s around Ringo’s and my age, right?”

“Probably. Maybe even a little younger.”

Maguro whistled, “That’s pretty impressive for a middle-schooler! I seriously wouldn’t have guessed☆”

Lemres then laughed, “I know, the way he acts around his classmates doesn’t give off that impression, but he really is brilliant. A lot of the concepts he’s trying to integrate into his magic I wouldn’t even have thought to tackle at his age. Complex runic invocations, astral channeling… He has a surprisingly detailed understanding on almost every branch of hermetic magic that’s currently being researched. His skill-level is far beyond what is usual for a student of his grade.”

“And the book…?☆”

“It was something I mentioned to him at the symposium. Back then he was so excited to speak to me I couldn’t help but get pulled into his enthusiasm. I got carried away and talked about things I shouldn’t have mentioned, especially considering that I knew that that book was in the possession of the Primp Town Library…” Lemres sighed. “The next time we met, he already carried it on him. I only realized what we were actually dealing with when he let me take a look at it for myself, but… By then it was already too late. He’d become attached to the thing. And who was I to just take it from him by force?”

If Maguro’s eyes had been visible, one could’ve seen him raise a brow, “Wait. What do you mean by ‘attached’ to it? Isn’t it just a spell book…☆?”

“That book holds… a certain, dark power. It would take too long to explain it, but, no, isn’t a textbook. Klug has been drawing magic for his spells from it.”

“And without the book? ☆”

“Like I said, he’s skilled, especially for his age. But that’s not enough for him. Or rather… He doesn’t think he’s allowed to let that be enough. Sometimes it feels like the further he gets, the less he appreciates his own efforts. See? That’s what I meant when I said that I want him to ‘realize he doesn’t need it’.”

“Hm, so, if I’m getting this right…” Maguro tapped his chin, ready to summarize the gist of what he’d just learned, “He’s a min-maxer, and at that the type who, while bragging about his own skill, also secretly has zero confidence in his own ability to maintain momentum and keeps piling up stats boosts wherever he can, to stave off the fear of being out-leveled by the rest of the party? ☆”

“Um…? Yeah? That sounds about right, I think…?”

“And that whole deal with that book… Man, I was joking about the Necronomicon, but the way you’re making it sound, looks like I wasn’t even that off, huh? ☆ Are you sure you couldn’t have just taken the thing from him right when he let you take a look at it? I mean, it really doesn’t sound like something a student should have.”

“Hey, I’m technically still a student myself.” Lemres pointed out, readjusting his hat a bit. He was taking high-level advanced courses, but still. “Besides, I had faith that at the very least the experiences with the book’s dark powers might help Klug get a little closer to learning what he really needs to know…”

“What he really needs to… know? ☆”

Having just taken the last piece of Okonomiyaki out of the pan, Lemres dismissed his spatula with a gentle flick of his wrist, summoning a pastry bag instead. It was time to add garnishes.

“I realized it right away when I read that paper of his, even before ever meeting him face to face. It was all over it, between the lines, throughout the whole text, from the abstract to the conclusion. The author spoke with so much reverence of the darkness, the endless depths of the cosmos, that threatens to shallow the stars sprinkled in-between, to render them invisible and unknowable…But at the same time, he kept stressing those stars’ immortally ancient ages, their luminosity and gravity. I could feel it right from the start: What Klug really admires is not just the all-erasing power of that darkness, but the magic of that small, yet powerful light that is born within and resists it.” A fascinated smile crossed over Lemres’ face as he said this. “If there’s any use for dark magic I whole-heartedly approve of, it’s this: The pursuit of that little star we all need in our lives sometimes.”

“A star…? ☆”

“It’s ‘hope’. Or, at least, that’s what I like to call it.”

“Wheew… That’s… Yay, that’s all deep, alright☆ But hey, impressive character-analysis all aside…Do you think he even realizes that himself?”

“Maybe he doesn’t. But I’m sure he will one day. Like I said, he’s bright.”

The kitchen was quiet, the stove had long been turned off. In the silence of Maguro looking at the floor and processing everything he’d just learned about people he’d just barely considered ‘acquaintances’ until tonight (maybe he had asked a little too much in the end?) Lemres placed the final touches on the dish.

The ambience really helped work his way through the info. His train of thought had easy going. It really was quiet right now…

…Wait. Quiet?

“-Uh☆”

At once, Maguro was alert again, having remembered the very, very important fact that the Sasaki residence’s living room was located right next to the kitchen. A living room which was currently supposed to be housing seven out of eight Sasaki siblings. How could it then possibly be that the kitchen enjoyed blissful silence right now? The answer was: It couldn’t. It wasn’t possible.

Maguro shook as the realization sent a shiver down his spine. He jolted, hurrying over to the wooden partition that separated the kitchen from the living room.

“Hm? Is something wrong?” he heard Lemres ask.

Meanwhile, Maguro found himself starring at the abandoned remains of a Sasaki-Movie-Night, desolate, chaotic, and also entirely devoid of Sasakis.

“Oh…” he gulped to himself. “Oh boy☆”

‘Amitie… Amitie…’

The voice in the night called. Quietly, nearly too small to hear. But she always heard it. It rung in her head, almost as if it came from inside.

‘Who are you?’ Amitie asked in her sleep. ‘I’ve heard you before, haven’t I? And then I’ve wondered, are you my Red Puyo Hat? But no, that can’t be. That’d be so weird.’

‘Amitie… Amitie…’ The voice called out again, without answering her question. ‘Amitie… Do you want to help?’

She didn’t need to think about the answer to that one.

‘O-of course I want to help! I always wanna help! If I can help, then-‘

‘Amitie. What do you think you can do?’

‘I…I…!’

Oh no, there came the question! What could she do? How could she help? Was there still any way she could be useful the way she was now?

‘What do you think you can do?’ the voice asked again ‘With your power…’

‘M-My power…?’ Mentally she felt herself backing away. ‘But… right now… my power is...’

‘What do you think you could do to help with your power?’

‘I… Maybe I…’

“Maybe I can’t do anything…” said the girl with the messy, blond curls. She clutched her staff in her hands. “After all, I never really learned how to use this power right…”

“Exactly,” said the young man with the purple hair. (Sig?) “You are unskilled as a sorceress and would fall at the first confrontation with an experienced opponent. Keeping you alive would be a liability. So, return home.”

(Sig…?)

“But…!” The girl took a step forward. She shook her head. “That’s not really why you’re telling me this, is it?”

“…Hm?”

“It’s true that I’m weak, that I get scared a lot, and that I don’t know much, but… Lilly and Luce knew that too, and they still told me to help fight if I really want to! They said that they believed in me. So, why are you the only one telling me to go home? …Don’t you believe in me?”

“I… Well, I…”

“No, that’s not it,” she shook her head. “I’ve been thinking… really just thinking… That maybe, you’re just worried about me? And that’s why you’re saying these things? Because you think I’ll get hurt trying to fight the way Lilly and Luce fight, and you don’t want that?”

The young man’s eyes widened. He backed away a little. His crimson irises drifted off.

“Frith…” the girl sighed, a slight smile sneaking onto her face. “You’re a good friend. You really are. But you can’t change my mind! I’ve decided to stay and help them fight! Because-“

“What do you know of my intentions!?” he snarled at her as suddenly as loudly. “You understand nothing! All you do is assume and assume, attempting to read my feelings, but you know nothing of the truth! If you did, I assure you, you would want nothing less than to ‘help’!”

“The truth…?” The girl seemed surprised. She took a step back again. “What… what kind of truth?”

The purple-haired one gasped. His red claws went up to cover his mouth. Whatever it was he had begun to tell her, it was clearly something he hadn’t meant for the girl to learn about.

(What… is the ‘truth’? Why wouldn’t she want to… help…?)

(I don’t… get it…)

And suddenly, she felt a little less distant from the scene.

“You need to be more careful.”

“That is none of your concern…”

“Yes, it is! I’m worried about you!”

“You… worry for me?”

“Of course! That’s what friends do!”

A young girl was bandaging a wound on the purple-haired man’s arm. It wasn’t a grave wound, to him barely a scratch, but still, she put all the care and attention she had into helping him heal.

She didn’t seem to be the same girl as in the scene before, even though she looked the same.

“You should keep your distance from me. If the townsfolk see you helping me…”

“Let them talk! You and I both know that there’s nothing really scary about you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Those hunters attacked you first.”

“But that a brief display of my power was enough to frighten the life out of them is a fact.”

“So, you think you shouldn’t have defended yourself?”

“Tch. Of course, it was my right to! But they are human. To be fearful of the unknown and unfathomable is in people’s nature.”

“I’m not scared of you.”

The purple-haired one raised his head a little.

“I’m not scared of your power, either,” said the girl.

He scoffed, “Where do you take this courage from?”

“It’s not really courage,” the girl told him. “I just believe in you.”

“Why…?”

“Well… The stories you tell are so beautiful! Somebody that reads and writes such awesome stories can’t possibly be bad, right?”

Hearing these words, the boy lowered his head again and looked away.

“You’re naïve,” he said. “And insufferably idealistic… Just as she was…”

The last part was a whisper. The girl just barely heard it.

“Huh?”

“…Never mind.”

They fell quiet after that. Having finished bandaging up the strange boy’s small wound, the girl watched as his gaze drifted off once again, towards the open window, starring off through it, into a view that oversaw the village, the woods and the nearby flower-fields.

“Hey…” The girl spoke up after a short while. “You said you came from another world, didn’t you? …Why did you come to this world? Even though you knew people would be scared of you?”

“I… I wanted to see it,” he murmured, still starring outside, unblinking. “I wanted to see her dream come true.”

“Her…dream?”

In her lack of understanding, the girl attempted to seek her friend’s eyes for an answer. What she found when she did, however, was their crimson broken by fractal lights, droplets of tears, gathering, touching his face…

“Huh? Are you… W-Why are you crying?”

He said nothing, quietly keeping his eyes fixed on the sky outside.

A little panicked, the girl began to flail around, “H-Hey…! I-It’s okay! I mean! You don’t need to… I-I mean…Uhh…!”

She was grasping for words she never had. Between the two of them, she had never been the eloquent one. But even so, she wanted to try and dry his tears somehow. He looked like he was in pain, and she hated seeing it.

“H-How can I make it better?” she asked. “Please! Just tell me! How can I help you?”

(What can I do with my power…?)

“…Your face.”

“My face?”

“Please… let me look at you, just for a little while.”

It was a strange request, but the girl complied. She’d never had a problem with her friend looking at her, even though she’d noticed that he sometimes looked sad looking into her eyes. Even though oftentimes she felt as if he was looking at her, but seeing somebody else.

“Philia…”

“Hm?”

“Tell me… Do you have any dreams you wish to fulfill?”

“That question again…”

“I understand if you can’t answer yet. Don’t force yourself. But… One day…”

“One day…?

“One day, I must know the answer.”

“Why?”

“Because if I don’t, that story will never have a proper ending…”

(Is that… how we can help you?)

“…and I can’t allow that.”

(Just by dreaming a dream…?)

Why did it feel like she was getting dragged in closer and closer? Why did things just keep getting more familiar?

It felt as if someone dear to her was standing right behind her, watching these odd scenes by her side.

“Hey, Sig...? What’s wrong? ...Sig! Helloooo!”

“What...”

They were right there, both of them, in the hallways of their school, on the way to the home economics classroom. Amitie standing close to Sig, trying to get him to notice her. Sig, starring off into the distance, as if he were seeing something she couldn’t.

Amitie gasped. She remembered this scene. It had happened a couple of months ago, when Sig and she were preparing to put on a café for the town festival... 

‘...Awaken...power... this sleep... end...’

Huh? She didn’t remember this part. Who was saying that? It didn’t even sound like a real voice...

‘...Who are you? What are you trying to say...?’

But this did. That was Sig’s voice! Even though his mouth wasn’t moving. Even though Amitie didn’t remember him saying anything of that sort back then...

“Sig, are you tired? Are you thinking about something?” Amitie then heard herself ask her friend in the familiar memory.

“No...”

‘Awaken... Soon... Your true...’

‘Stop talking... I can’t...focus...’

“Then, are you feeling ill, maybe!?” Amitie heard herself ask in a panic.

“I... I don’t...” Sig quietly replied.

‘Amitie doesn’t need to know...’

Amitie was looking onto her friend with deeply worried eyes. She remembered this. Because Sig himself had said that he wasn’t feeling sick, she’d chosen to believe him. She thought that maybe she’d pushed him too hard and too far outside his comfort zone, making him get invested in a project and taking responsibilities far beyond what he usually committed to. She had thought that he might be tired and burned out, and had blamed herself for noticing earlier.

But... later on, Sig told her the truth. He admitted that he’d kept secrets from her back then.

Was this that secret? Was she seeing and hearing Sig’s side of this memory right now?

“Hey, Sig, don’t overdo it, okay? How about you take a break today? Like, take it easy! It’s okay, I’ll tell the others, null problemo...”

‘Everyone’s been having so much fun, working on that café... It’s been so fun...’

Sig...

‘I can’t ruin that...’

‘True... red... awaken... your...’

‘Shuddup.’

“I.... I’m okay,” Sig claimed, shaking his head.

“...A-are you sure? Do you, um, wanna go to prep then?”

“Yeah, please, let’s go.”

Back then, Amitie accepted his nod, that smile of his she knew looked fake. She took his words for true and ignored what she saw in his eyes and heard in his voice. She should have noticed. She should have realized that he was just pretending to be fine, for her sake, for everyone. But instead, she’d kept quiet and continued preparing for the festival, even on the days when he quietly left school ahead of time and those when failed to come to school at all.

She’d... let him suffer in silence.

(Sig... Why didn’t you just tell me?)

(But everyone was having so much fun... Even Klug and Raffina were getting along for once... Me being weird shouldn’t-)

(No! Dummy! If you’re not feeling well, then we need to fix that! Do you think anyone wants you to be left behind?)

(Everyone always says I’m weird normally, so... I didn’t think anyone would notice...)  

(...Sig...)

(But you noticed, huh? ...I’m sorry, Ami... )

The scene changed only a little this time. They were outside now, by their unfinished festival stand. Arle and Ringo where there, holding cloth and thread and working on handsewn aprons. And there was Amitie, and in front of her, Sig. They were talking.

“I’m quitting,” Sig said, cutting Amitie off in the middle of a sentence.

“Huh?”

‘I’m sorry, Ami...’

“I’m quitting the café.”

“What...?”

Amitie shook. It hurt to see this again. She still remembered this scene clear as day, the scent of the fresh wood and drying paint all around them, the sound of Ringo and Arle dropping their utensils in shock at Sig’s words. The empty look in Sig’s eyes, both of which had turned a vibrant crimson red by this point. The freezing cold feeling of not knowing what to do, what to say, what would help...

However, what made it even worse were the additions – Sig's memories, she now realized – that Amitie could hear now.

‘Soon, you will awaken. Let’s leave behind this this empty shell of a life and reclaim the truth.’

‘Go away... go away...’

‘This aimless dream will finally end.’

‘Shuddup...’

‘And then, I can finally return... To my true inte-’

‘SHUDDUP!’

“Sig... What are you trying to say? Don’t you want to help with the café anymore? Did you get sick of it? Aren’t you having fun working on it with us and with Klug and Raffina anymore?”

‘It’s been fun... It’s been so, so much fun... But, Ami... I...’

With a large, sluggish nod, Sig confirmed all of Amitie’s wild conjecture. Like it was better to let her think he’d just grown bored of everything. Like it was better to let her think he just didn’t like anyone anymore.

“...That’s a lie, Sig.”

She knew. Of course, she did. But even if she did, what could she do?

He couldn’t stop it and she couldn’t help him; She couldn’t stop him from being weird. She couldn’t stop his arm from turning red and redder and she couldn’t stop the voice in his head. That’s why it would probably be better if he disappeared now, leaving her to think that he was a bad friend and that he hated her and everyone else. You don’t have to cry for bad friends. You don’t have to be sad for them for long.

Amitie now realized that this must’ve been what was on Sig’s mind then. Now, she finally understood what had happened back then...

“Bye,” said Sig, turning around to leave.

Amitie gasped. No, not like this! Not again. She couldn’t just stand there frozen, wondering what she’d done wrong, wondering how everyone else would feel, learning what Sig had just said! Wondering what she could have done better, wondering what she could do, if she could do anything...

...She could do something. She could!

(Wait...!)

She could help, she knew she could. Even if she was weak, and clumsy, and scared and didn’t have much confidence in anything but her own optimism. That optimism alone had to be enough! She just had to turn it into the courage to move right now!

She had to move.  Take a deep breath, step into herself.

Become part of this scene.

“Wait, Sig!”

Amitie lunged forward and grabbed Sig’s wrist.

“You need to talk to me!” she cried out. “You need to tell me what’s wrong, what’s happening!”

Sig stopped walking. He froze up, “Amitie...”

Still clinging to Sig’s arm, Amitie squeezed her eyes shut. “I know that this is just a dream, and that doing this won’t change how it really happened back then! But... But I have to at least try! I can’t just let you go and be alone with this again! I can’t!”

“Amitie...”

“I don’t even know where you really are right now, or if you’re okay...! I don’t know how Klug or anyone back home is doing either! And I’m scared, I’m scared that everyone will get hurt, and I couldn’t help, because I was stupid, because I did something wrong, just like back then, when I got you hurt, and then didn’t even realize how hurt and scared you were!! I just want to do better! I need to do better! So, please, Sig-”

“Amitie,” he cut into her words. He sounded a little surprised. “Are you… real?”

With those words, Amitie’s rant ended. She fell silent. Her eyes now open again, she looked at Sig standing in front of her. What she saw surprised her. His irises were blue. Not just one of them, like usually, but both. Even though back then, in this scene, they’d both been red.

That... that had to be a good thing. Right?

“Sig...” She uttered, loosening her grip on his wrist a little. “You’re... Are you... The real Sig?”

He waited a moment, as if he had to think it through first. Then, he nodded.

“Yeah... I think so. And you?”

“I-It’s me, Amitie!” she insisted. “The real deal!”

“Then I guess we’re both real?”

“Y...Yeah...”

But Amitie’s mind didn’t fully process what she was saying until this ‘Yeah’ of hers had echoed out. Then her eyes grew wide.

“Huh!”

She jumped.

“Huh!?”

She looked at her hands.

“HUH!?!?”

She looked all around her, at the strangely foggy, unclear scenery of Primp Town’s Public Park, the images of Arle and Ringo frozen solid in the background, and then at Sig. He seemed to be the only thing other than her here that wasn’t either blurry or petrified right now.

“Sig!? W-What’s going on? What is this place?”

He tilted his head a little, “A dream... I think?”

“Why are we really talking to each other in a dream!? I-Is this some kind of spell or something?”

“Dunno. Did you cast a-” Sig stopped himself. “Um. Sorry. I forgot...”

“I-It’s okay...” Amitie took a deep breath and sighed. “I’m really glad to see you. But this is so weird, geez! Like, get real! We can just talk to each other in a dream like this!? That’d have been super nice to know ahead of time!”

Sig shrugged, “I don’t think either of us did it on purpose. It is pretty weird though.”

Now it was Sig’s turn to look around at the memory. His eyes quickly rested on the motionless Arle and Ringo in the background. With a frown, he mustered Ringo’s frazzled, confused stare, and Arle’s utterly shocked face as she was squeezing down on Carbuncle just a little too hard.

“Guess I really did cause everyone a lot of trouble back then, huh...? I’m sorry.”

“Sig, what happened back then wasn’t your fault. You just didn’t want us to be worried. It all really started because I-”

“It wasn’t your fault either, Ami,” Sig turned to look at her again.

“Was too! I dropped that potion on you.”

“That was an accident.”

“Yeah, because I was a total clutz, ugh!!”

“I think it would’ve happened either way.”

“Huh?”

She wasn’t sure what Sig meant, until she saw him starring at his arms. Only then she realized that, while both his eyes were blue in this dream right now, in exchange both of his arms were now red. What weird kind of trade-off was this? Anyway, Sig kept talking.

“I’ve kinda started to realize something... That voice, earlier in the dream- You heard it too, right?”

“Um...” Amitie nodded. “Yeah, I did.”

“I don’t think anymore that that was just the potion. That voice is something that was probably inside me all along...”

“You... think so?”

Sig was talking a lot right now, and Amitie wasn’t sure if it was still because of all that black stuff on him in the real world (which, incidentally, didn’t appear to be on him here in the dream), or because he was already asleep and you couldn’t be ‘tired’ inside a dream. It made the conversation easier, but it also reminded her of how hard he’d had it these past couple days.

“...I think I hear that voice either way sometimes. But it’s usually pretty quiet. I always just ignore and forget about it.”

“Hm... You think it has something to do... with...?”

“With my arm? Yeah. Probably,” he looked away. “After I took the potion the other day, I didn’t hear it at all for a while. But then it came back. And it was loud.”

Sig crossed his arms, hugging them close to his body, “I... I think it made me do something tonight... But I can’t remember what. It scares me...”

“Sig...”

Amitie didn’t know what to say. The fact alone that she could talk to Sig right now was a lot to process as it was, but she’d never imagined learning what exactly had been going on inside him the day he ran off to the ruins by himself. She almost regretted asking now… But only almost. Only because it was scary. In the end she still thought that it was a good thing that she knew now. Now that she knew, she could help! Sig wouldn’t have to be on his own with these fears now that the voice was back!

Amitie took his hand, “Hey. Remember what you said to me in the ruins back then? You’re not alone! When that ‘red’ something, your arm, that voice or whatever, starts acting up again, we’ll be right there to help you out!”

“But… What if I completely disappear and-“

She didn’t let him finish that sentence.

“That won’t happen!” Amitie clutched Sig’s hand tightly. “Sig, you’re not going anywhere! If it ever looks like you’re gonna disappear again, I’ll call you back again! And I’ll keep calling and calling until you’re back with us!”

“Amitie…”

“Okay!? So, you don’t need to be scared! No matter what color you end up turning, even if you start feeling off and hear voices and don’t know what they want from you-!“

“I… I think I understand a bit of what that voice wants, though…”

“…Huh?”

Amitie looked up. She hadn’t expected to hear that. Sig had seemed so confused and scared by that odd voice, she’d thought it was a complete mystery to him. But now there he stood, saying he really knew something about it? She couldn’t help but curiously cock her head to the side.

“When I heard it all again tonight… Dunno… It felt like it was making a bit more sense than when I heard it all the first time? It’s… kinda hard to explain, though…” Even though Sig had just said that he ‘understood’, he still looked rather confused. “Um. Ah? Maybe like this…?”

“What? What do you think made more sense this time?” asked Amitie. None of what she’d heard of the voice seemed to make sense to her.

Sig seemed to be considering his words for a while, before he nodded to himself and started explaining.

“Um, well… After we all got separated last night, I met somebody, okay?”

Nod, nod. Amitie was listening closely.

“And… that person told me a story. In that story, there was a person who was dreaming…”

More nodding from Amitie. Even though she didn’t really get where this was going.

“And because the dream seemed so real, that person wasn’t sure anymore if they were a butterfly or not...”

“Huh? Um, wait, wait!” This time Amitie decided to interject. “So, you mean, like… That person overslept and got so confused they didn’t know who they were anymore in the morning?”

Sig shook his head, “Nope. Not like that. More like… They didn’t know which time they were asleep. If it was when they thought they were a butterfly or when they thought they were a person… Like, they weren’t sure which time was when they were awake anymore, either.”

“Whoa! The dream felt that real?”

“Yeah. In the story it did.”

“Huh… Wait, though. What’s that got to do with the scary voice?”

Sig was quiet for the moment, almost as if he wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to keep explaining. Eventually though, while avoiding Amitie’s eyes, he continued.

“When I heard that voice again, I thought that… maybe I’m that butterfly…”

“Huh?”

“That voice thinks I’m the one who’s dreaming and need to wake up. But whenever that voice comes out, it feels like I’m going to fall asleep, everything gets fuzzy and I’m not sure if I can stay awake anymore… So… maybe it’s a bit like that story?”

“So… You think that voice might be, like… another Sig?”

Still not looking at her, Sig gave a small, non-committal nod. Amitie gulped. Right, right, she remembered! That scary, cold, person in the ruins, who looked like Sig, but wasn’t actually Sig- But now Sig was telling her that that might’ve actually been him after all? Like, a Sig who thought that the real Sig was just asleep and dreaming that he was himself? D-Did that even make sense? She wasn’t sure that it did!

No, no. That wasn’t what mattered here. This wasn’t important! Shaking her head, Amitie took Sig’s hand again and gave it another squeeze.

“Well! Even if you really are the butterfly in that story… I also know that you’re the real Sig for sure!”

He looked up at her. Half-surprised, half-relieved. He looked happy, almost.

“So…! Even if you’re right and that voice is another you and it’s coming back now because it thinks you need to ‘wake up’ and stop being you…We’ll just have to go and tell it that it’s wrong! Because it’s good that you’re you! You don’t ever need to be anyone else. Even if you change a bit, and start feeling a bit different, you’ll always be Sig! Right?”

It was quiet between the two of them for a moment, as Amitie glared at Sig with that fiery determination she always showed whenever she really cared about an issue. Eventually, Sig laughed. It was neither the stiff, somewhat muffled laughter she usually knew from him, nor the overly energetic, cheery laugh she had heard from him in the schoolyard the other day, but somewhere in-between. Amitie couldn’t help thinking that it suited him. But, even so, hearing him laugh surprised her.

“W-What? What’s so funny, Sig?” she stepped back a little.

“Amitie. You’re good at making things okay when they’re not,” he calmed down a little smiling at her. “That’s why I’m happy. I know you’re right. If you say so… It’s gonna work out, probably.”

What was this warm, soft feeling Amitie felt when she heard those words? It wasn’t quite ‘confidence’, but… What Sig said felt good. He trusted her. He believed in her. Even though he knew how clumsy she was and how often she messed up and that she couldn’t use magic right now… He still thought she could make this better. He still had faith that she could help.

It was almost enough to drive her to tears.

“Uhhh…! S-Sig…!”

Not commenting any further on the matter, Sig raised a hand and gently patted her head. It was one of those moments when he had to be the one to focus them back to the issue at hand.

“So, Ami. What do we do now?”

“Um… I don’t know? Like, how much longer do you think we’re gonna be like this?”

He shrugged. So, they both had no idea.

“… Ah, I know! We should use the chance to figure out where we are! Like, Lemres and Ringo and her friends went out looking for you and-“

“I know. Lemres found me already.”

“H-Huh!? Really!?” Amitie leapt. “Waitwaitwait! So, they found you and nobody told me? That’s so mean!! I was worried too!”

“…Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, Sig! I’m not mad with you, I’m mad with Lemres! Hmpf! And that after Ringo showed us those phoney-things, so we could talk…!”

Geez, Lemres was a nice person and all, but sometimes she really didn’t understand what he was thinking! She’d at least have liked to be kept in the loop about Sig! Even if she still didn’t know how to help the way she was now…

“Where are you, Amitie?” asked Sig.

“Um, right now? Um, um…“ Amitie actually needed to think a moment. She’d gotten so invested in the dream, real life had almost become fuzzy. “Ah, right! I’m staying with some of Ringo’s friends! You don’t know them, but they’re super-nice! They gave me a bed and made awesome food and let me play games and take a bath and everything!”

“So, you’re doing okay?”

“Yep! Everything’s just peachy!” Amitie grinned.

Sig sighed relieved, “That’s good…”

“Ah…! Right, right, I should ask! So, you were with Lemres before you fell asleep, right? So, if he found you, then what about Klug?”

The question made Sig tense up.

“I dunno. We were together for a long time, but then…”

“But then…?”

“He went off to do something, and I spaced out. I lost him.”

“Uwaaah, that’s bad!! Where’d he go!?”

“Wish I knew.”

Amitie bit her lip. So, they weren’t complete then. Klug was still missing! But… huh, wait! Did Sig say he spaced out? Was that a good sign? Maybe he was finally going back to normal! …Then again, he just said he’d started hearing that voice again, and that it made him do stuff so… maybe not.

“I’m worried about Klug,” said Sig. “I think he seemed really nervous about something before I passed out, but... I don’t remember well.”

“It’s weird he’d just leave on his own when the two of you weren’t split up! Like, I know he likes doing things his own way, but, but, not staying together when everyone’s lost their way already doesn’t seem smart! That’s not like him. I wonder what happened...?”

“Me too,” Sig sighed. “I get the feeling this is all somehow because of my stupid arm again... I don’t like this at all...”

What an odd situation. Just when Sig and Amitie find a way to talk to each other, it turns out both of them were already found anyway, and the one they couldn’t find, Klug, wasn’t here in the dream with them. It felt a bit like walking in circles. Then again, if Lemres had found Sig, then maybe Ringo and Maguro had some success with finding Klug? ...Amitie decided to believe in that possibility for now. She had no proof whatsoever for it, of course, but it felt better than letting worse scenarios roam free in her head.

In any case.

The ground started shaking.

“W-Whoa!!”

Amitie stumbled, almost losing her footing (how did that sort of thing even happen in a dream?), but Sig caught her before she could hit the ground. All around, the two of them could watch the foggy scenery of Primp Public Park break away and fade into wide. Amitie gasped.

“W-What’s happening now!?” she asked.

“The dream is changing again, I think.”

Changing? Changing into what!? And why?

Come to think… what were all these memories they’d been seeing anyway...?

Even Amitie realized that some of them definitely weren’t theirs…

Bonus

Flashback Team: Lilith's Group, hiding in the woods.

Chapter Text

“Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble…”

The grand witch’s study was bathed in a reddish light and filled with the scent of a broth of fenny snake and eye of newt, stirred rhythmically by the tower’s mistress, as she inhaled the fumes and chanted her ominous spell. In the doorway stood the grand witch’s granddaughter, observing the spectacle with utmost reverence. As proud as she was of her own magic, it surely would take decades before she could claim mastery of witchcraft anywhere close to that of her grandmother…

The magic light dimmed, the bubbling of the cauldron subsided. With care, Wish took a flask she had prepared and filled it with two ladles full of the brew from her cauldron. The flask briefly glowed in an eerie green before the old witch sealed up the opening with a piece of cork. She then held it out towards her granddaughter.

“That will be 2000 pieces of gold,” Wish said flatly.

Witch gasped. Extortion! Way to take her out of the moment! Wringing her fingers, she backed away against the door,

“G-Grandma! This is for the sake of an innocent child! I-I was hoping we could perhaps arrange… a family discount? Yeah?”

The girl’s sheepish grin did little to impress her grandmother. The old mistress of witchcraft’s deep blue irises rested on Witch for a couple of seconds with disbelieve and offense, before she raised her brows and narrowed her eyes. She set the flask aside and sighed.

“You show yourself here, having made no progress to speak of and without the funds necessary to retake the exam you failed to complete, beg for my help, and now you demand me to provide my services for free? My dear little witch, you can certainly be brazen at times.”

“I’m telling you, I’m saving up!” Witch had her hands folded, pleading. “Please, grandma! Just this once? I can’t go back there empty-handed after promising them the moon like that…”

“If you have properly kept up with your studies, you should be perfectly capable-“

“Not as capable as you are! So, please? It’s an emergency, I swear!”

Wish was almost surprised to hear her granddaughter admit that she was out of her depth so readily. She was usually a plucky girl, prideful and unwilling to reveal her shortcomings. If she was this desperate to get the potion from a more experienced witch than herself, this indeed had to be a serious situation…

“You said the potion was for a child you met in the Otherworld?”

“Yep! A quiet student of chromatic magic. He had an adverse reaction to one of my potions once before, and the usual power-sealer barely worked back then... So, this time, it just has to be something a tad stronger.”

“A magic student? What kind of student could possibly have latent power grand enough to require my Basilisk’s Bane Potion to subdue? I find that highly unlikely.”

“I, um, admittedly don’t really understand the details myself. According to what this one warlock and the librarian said it had something to do with a sealed power he inherited? The other half of which is sealed in a book another student has? Anyway, I guess it’s something that runs in his bloodline.”

“His bloodline, you say…?” Wish’s interest seemed piqued. “…How odd. That sort of potential rarely manifests at such a young age. At least, not to the extent that it becomes uncontrollable, even if under the influence of a potion that draws out latent power…”

“Grandma! Please…”

The old witch considered her granddaughter’s request for a short while. Usually, she would have refused such frivol point blank. She valued effort highly and did not hold much on those who tried to avoid putting in the work to earn what they wanted, even if they were family. That said, this did appear to be an unusual situation, and, from the way Witch was making it sound, it was also quite urgent.

“…Alright, dear. You have my cooperation. But I am adding the amount for the potion to your next examination fee.”

“Grandma, you’re the best!”

“But if the circumstances are as specific as you claim they are, it would be advisable to run a couple of tests before you leave. Basilisk’s Bane is very potent. I would prefer to make sure that my potions aren’t used to accidentally harm children. Could you perhaps describe the boy closer, so I can get a sense of his magical pattern?”

“Oh, describe his powers? Hm, well…”

Witch took a moment to ponder it. How to describe that boy? Sig wasn’t exactly a regular customer of hers. She knew him because of the incident with her potion and because he often hung out around Arle, but that was it. Aside from the fact that he used blue magic and had an irrational hatred for the use of ladybug wings in potions, what else was there that she could mention? Then again… Maybe she didn’t have to say anything? Witch was struck with an idea.

“I have just what we need!” Witch snapped her fingers and began cramming in the pouch filled with vials that she carried on her.

Interested, Wish took a step closer, “What do you have, my little witch?”

“A lock of the patient’s hair!” Witch stated proudly. “I picked up a couple of them from the pavement the day of the incident. The effects the potions had on him were just so interesting, I had to take a memento to research them by later!”

“And you found enough to call it a ‘lock?”

Witch grinned, “The poor boy sheds like an old woman when he gets stressed! It’s a miracle he still has a full head of hair. Anyway, it really wasn’t hard to find some.”

“He ‘sheds like an old woman’, you say…”

“A-Ah, I mean, l-like a crone! A balding one! Nothing like you at all, grandma, I promise!”

Wish secretly chuckled to herself as she watched her granddaughter scrambling to correct herself. As much as she had decorum to maintain, sometimes it just was too tempting to tease the poor girl. She was awfully adorable when she got flustered.

A couple seconds later, Witch had found the vial she had been looking for. However, rather than retrieving it swiftly, she merely pulled it halfway out of the bag before halting and gazing at it. Her forehead wrinkled and she seemed confused.

“Huh? That’s curious. I could’ve sworn…”

“Is something wrong?” Wish asked.

Witch straightened herself and turned towards her grandmother. The puzzled expression had yet to disappear from her face. She presented the vial,

“When I picked these up from the street, they were black like ebony. But now, they’re suddenly cyan again.”

“…’Again’?”

“Well, cyan is the boy’s normal hair-color. But it did change to black after he took the potion, so reckoned-“

Before Witch could say anything else, Wish had swiped the vial from her hand, and plopped off the cork. A mage’s hair color changed as a reaction to a power-enhancing potion brewed by an apprentice witch!? That was definite not within the norm! In fact, the idea alone gave the old witch all sorts of awful premonitions. What if they were dealing with a bloodline of powerful dark mages or worse, a cursed bloodline here? What if the boy was a changeling or host to a malignant force that feasts on human hearts? In such a case a potion that draws out latent power could have had all sorts of unforeseen effects…

Just as Witch had said, the hair inside the vial was of a brilliant, pure cyan color, like the sky on a clear day. Wish hurriedly readied a smaller cauldron and pulled a number of smaller bottles from her shelves, mixing their contents in the cauldron and lighting a fire underneath with a Flame spell.

“What are you doing, Grandma?” Witch asked, curiously stepping closer and peering into the cauldron.

Wish said nothing, but silently kept mixing her tincture. Finally, once it had changed to a bright, yellow color a small cloud of steam puffed up from the liquid’s surface, turning into a glitter-like, floating substance which then formed into a glowing orb of plasma that remained suspended in the air above the cauldron. The orb’s glow bathed the room in its light. While Witch was busy once more marveling at her grandmother’s handiwork, Wish pulled a few strands of the cyan hair out of the vial. Careful to not touch the plasma with her fingers, she placed the hair inside the orb. Then, she stepped back.  The glowing orb eagerly consumed the hair, its shine changing color as it did, from yellow to blue, to a swirling mix of cyan and crimson, and then a vivid amethyst shine that grew brighter and brighter, the orb becoming opaque, almost as if the plasma was crystalizing, turning solid-

*BANG!*

The orb exploded, shooting blobs of lilac out in all directions, along with shards of a strange crystalline substance. Wish leapt to use her shawl to shield both herself and Witch, who had started screaming at the sound of the detonation. A burst of bright light in the colors of dusk and dawn and a loud, high-pitched noise, halfway between the sound of a boiling teapot and the screams of many people, flooded the study for a brief moment. Then, silence. The terrifying experience ended as quickly as it had begun, though the scattered crystals and blotches of lilac on the floors and walls remained to remind of it. On the surface of the yellow potion, the cyan hairs floated, untouched by all of it.

“Wh… What in the world…!” Wish uttered, starring at the cauldron. “Was this-? No… This shouldn’t be. It isn’t possible…!”

“Grandma?” Witch was still alarmed. She was tugging on Wish’s hem. “Grandma, what was this just now? I mean, that potion was meant to reveal the magical pattern inside that hair to us, wasn’t it? But why did it… Do that? I’ve never heard of-!“

Wish raised her arm to quiet down her granddaughter. Then, without giving answers to any of the girl’s questions, she straightened herself, brushing her robes clean and looking over the carnage caused by the phenomenon that had just occurred here. If one had been to observe her closely, they could have seen her hands tremble.

“…Basilisk’s Bane won’t help,” Wish, her back still turned on Witch, stated.

“H-Huh?” Witch, too, now began to get back on her feet. “You mean… It really is too strong? But, perhaps if we dilute it, so it won’t harm Sig, it might still-“

“It’s too weak,” said Wish.

“Heh…?”

There was a brief moment of quiet between the two of them as Witch waited for elaboration and Wish gathered her thoughts. Finally, the old witch, still starring at the cauldron, began to explain.

“This hair… I thought this sort of power no longer existed in this world. But there I see it, trying to manifest itself before my very eyes, even just in such a small way…!”

“Grandma…?”

Wish turned. She looked at her granddaughter with sharp, but caring eyes.

“That the antidote failed had nothing to do with your capabilities,” she said. “This power… cannot be subdued with any potion we can brew. At least not entirely.”

“Huh? What… But, why!?”

“…You really don’t know at all what you are dealing with, little witch?”

“I… I have no idea! Grandma, what’s going on? What are you talking about!?”

And again, Wish failed to answer her granddaughter’s question. Her silence was unsettling, her body language slow and robotic enough to worry the younger witch. It was, finally, after yet another extended silence, that Wish turned towards the door to her study and began to walk. She picked up a broom that hadn’t been used in a long, long time on the way.

“…My little witch. Stay here.”

“Huh? Grandma…?”

“The gateway to this ‘Otherworld’ is at the Shrine of Wayward Stars, you said? I will be heading there. Please wait here for my return.”

Alarmed and wide-eyed, Witch leapt forward,

“No way! Grandma, you haven’t left the tower in years! And anyway, you shouldn’t be flying! That battle two years ago took so much out of you, what if your wounds open up again?”

“Be quiet and do as I say.”

“No!”

Witch hopped up and dashed for the door, placing herself in-between it and her grandmother. Defiantly, she glared up at the older woman. Wish could only scoff at that behavior.

“Girl…”

“I’m over the fact that you let me fail the exam two years ago. But I’m not over the fact that you almost died when I failed to protect you back then!” Arms wide-outstretched, Witch tried to be the sturdiest wall she could be and prevent her grandmother from leaving, “Just… tell me what you know, grandma! I may not be a fully-fledged witch yet, but I know people more than capable of picking up the slack for me. If I let those people know what you know, I am sure we can resolve whatever has you frazzled without getting you hurt again! You’ve done your part already! You don’t need to be a hero anymore!”

Wish’s expression softened at her granddaughter’s words. It was moving how much the girl cared for her wellbeing. However, that was only one more reason why she couldn’t yield to her demands. Not in these bizarre, impossible circumstances, when there was no telling what would happen.

“My days of heroism may be behind me, but I am strong enough to investigate, I assure you. Traveling to a small town won’t put me in peril, even if it is in another world.”

“But he’s not there! We don’t actually know where he is right now!”

“Is that so?”

Regardless of this revelation, Wish gestured Witch to step aside once again. Clearly, even the purported difficulties in locating the boy weren’t dissuading her from taking matters into her own hands… Which meant she really didn’t care how hard and dangerous it would be to settle this situation!

That did it for Witch. Grabbing her own broom, she raised it.

“G-Grandma! I challenge you!” she exclaimed.

Surprised, Wish raised a brow, “Oh? A challenge? To battle?”

“A Puyo Battle!” Witch clarified. “Should I beat you, I demand that you tell me what you know and let me take the info back to Primp Town, if I think that’s where it should go! If I lose, I’ll do as you say and let you go.”

“A Puyo Battle. Why that specific sort of contest if I may ask?”

The question made Witch shrink away a bit. She seemed flustered.

“W-Well…! I-I know you don’t have that much experience with popping Puyos, so I thought that might… level the playing field a tad…”

“Ah. I see…”

Wish smirked. Now, it would have been easy to decline the challenge. Not only had she no need to accept in the first place, but Witch had also just outright admitted to trying to give herself an advantage. However, in a way, it was that very honesty that made it hard for Wish to just say ‘No’. The innocence in it was both amusing and endearing. 

“Fufu… Alright. I accept your challenge.”

“…! Grandma!”

“But be warned, my little witch. Should you lose this battle, I will double the fee for your next attempt at the exam!”

“Uh… Ugh…!”

Oh dear. Talk about stakes. She already barely made enough money at that little shop of hers to afford retaking the exam within the next 12 months! At this rate, it would take years until she could finally call herself a true witch!

Witch gulped. No backing down now… Even if she had little confidence in her ability to match her grandmother in terms of magic, she would have to try and edge her out in raw skill somehow! Her dignity as a witch was on the line, among other things!

“A…Alright! Let’s go!”

“Very well. Puyo Puyo…”

“…Battle!!”

Their voices rung out and the spell was cast. Today the Witch’s Tower had become the site of a new kind of trial entirely.

Maguro was positively surprised by what he saw when he stepped back into his bedroom. He’d expected chaos, screaming perhaps, just any signs of the misery that is usually brought on by a full assault of seven wild Sasakis. Instead, he found them there sitting in a circle on the carpeted floor. Quiet, focused.

Playing cards.

They’d huddled together in four little groups, Haraka with Kosaba, Anago with Ebi, Hamachi on his own and Aori with Hotaru. Each team shared a hand of cards which they were intently starring at, their heads figuratively smoking as they planned their next moves.

And there, in the middle of the circle, sat a certain bespectacled mage, dealing and coaching the players.

“Hm. Good play. Team Melody takes the trick and bonus!”

Aori and Hotaru gave each other a high five and cheered with a loud ‘Yay!♪♫’, gleefully accepting their victory. Meanwhile, Hamachi groaned.

“Should’ve known… Luck is never on my side…☾”

As Aori and Hotaru gathered up the cards that had been played and added them to a small pile by their side, Klug clapped in his hands,

“That ends the round! Team Melody wins. Everyone, pay your dues. You make your next call once I’ve dealt your new hands.”

Colorful tokens which Maguro recognized as beads from the arts and crafts set Aori had barely used ever since she’d gotten it for her last birthday were exchanged between the teams, while Klug gathered up the cards from the ground and began to shuffle them. Standing unnoticed in the doorway, Maguro quietly watched as the game continued. One each team had received a new hand, calls were made.

“Pass ♡”

“Solo-Call, King of Diamonds! ♪”

“That’s us, and we pass! ⚡”

“Pass…☾”

It went on like this for a few more rounds. Cards being dealt, tricks being played, points being counted, tokens being exchanged. Maguro couldn’t claim he understood what was going on, but had fun watching anyway. He was a little amazed. Sure, tabletop games were one of the few things that could reliably bestow order upon his family, but… Just how could an acquaintance from another world have known that? Or, maybe… Could it be, that it wasn’t that Klug had known that this would work to entrance the Sasaki siblings specifically, but rather…?

Eventually the last round was played. Haraka (and by extension, Kosaba) won, the tokens piled up in front of them dwarfing those of their siblings by a lot. Groans were given, hands were shaken, Losses were accepted with more or less dignity, ever-frowning Haraka had the widest, most smug grin on their face. They weren’t the only one looking happy, however. As Maguro watched the scene of everyone expressing their joy at the game, he was sure that, even if only for a moment, he saw just a ghost of a smile cross Klug’s face.

In more urgent news, little Kosaba, being five years old, had of course started playfully throwing the beads around soon after his team’s victory was announced, invertedly kicking off a quite uncivilized bead-fight among the siblings. It was at this point that Maguro decided to step in before somebody could lose an eye (or, in Klug’s case, a lense and an eye), and break up the chaos. It was late at this point, after midnight, and now that everyone was somewhat exhausted by the mental effort of playing what seemed to be a highly strategic game, Maguro had quite good success with sending everyone to prepare for bed. In a neat row the siblings headed bathroom-wards, lining up to take their turns like every evening. Aori and Kosaba both took the time to turn around and wave at the host of their game before leaving. Then, the bedroom was mostly empty. Only Maguro and Klug stayed behind.

Maguro had used a couple of minutes during the card game to bring dinner upstairs. A plate of steaming hot, dessert-flavored Okonomiyaki had been placed on the nightstand between Maguro’s and Haraka’s beds. Klug, however, refused to touch it. Once the game had ended, he’d gone right back to mulling to himself over his current situation, ignoring Maguro’s presence for the most part. Quietly, he kept sitting on the floor where the card game had been played, shuffling his deck of playing cards over and over, occasionally mumbling something unintelligible to himself. After about five minutes of this, Maguro sighed and decided to move dinner closer to its would-be-recipient.

“Gotta say, that was impressive~☆” he placed the plate on the floor next to the boy in purple. “Most folks I’ve had over don’t last more than an hour around all of them at once, let alone a whole evening. The last person who managed to get them all in line like that was… Ringo, I think? ☆”

The sudden praise registered strangely with Klug. Almost as if he wasn’t sure how to process the flattery, his expression shifted and his eyes darted around for a moment, before he looked away.

“That… wasn’t really much of… well…”

“Do you have siblings too? ☆”

Maguro’s question stopped Klug’s odd stutter. The boy in purple froze up for a moment, before slowly turning his gaze to the floor.

“…Middle of five,” he mumbled.

When Maguro heard this, his mouth formed an o-shape for a moment.

“Ah, now I get it☆”

“What?” Klug asked without looking up.

“Nothing☆” Maguro claimed, with a shrug, silently chuckling to himself over just how much this explained. “So, is that why you’re good at games?”

Klug gave Maguro a shifty look, clearly not impressed with his latest attempt to make Smalltalk but indulged him anyway.

“I... know some card games,” he said. “But why are you even interested...? It’s not exactly a useful skill...”

“You think so? ☆ I think games are super sweet. All sorts of them. If I had the time in a day, I’d learn how to play every single one there is ☆”

“Why?” Klug asked again, finally allowing for a semblance of eye contact between them. “There’s nothing to get out of a game. I mean, some kinds are decent brain training, but just knowing how to play a game alone doesn’t net you success, or power, or fame, or stability, or-”

“It’s fun☆ Isn’t that enough?”

Klug fell silent. It was at this point that Maguro decided to sit down next to him.

“You think it’s not? ☆”

“As if that mattered!” Klug sounded a little annoyed at this point. “Maybe to someone who already has seven children and Ringo flock around and admire them, ‘fun’ can be a top priority! But some of us have ambitions, you know! All play and no work doesn’t get you anywhere in life, now, does it? No, ’fun’ is something you can have once you’re done improving!”

“And when are you done improving? ☆”

Silence. Maguro clicked his tongue.

“There, you see?☆”

“...You think this is funny, don’t you?”

“Hm? No, not especially ☆” Sighing, Maguro leaned back and started messing around with his Kendama. Boing, boing, boing went the ball. Up and down, to the side and up again. “I just don’t like watching people beat themselves up over absolutely nothing, that’s all.”

Klug flinched, “I-I’m not beating myself up! I am just-”

“Look. I don’t know what happened out there. Maybe you did mess up a li~ttle bit ☆ Maybe you lost something or to someone. But even if, so what? Everyone fails sometimes. There’s nothing to be ashamed of there. The only thing to do when it happens is get right back up and try again, until you get it right.”

“...That’s easily said when you’re not the one failing.”

Klug’s eyes were on Maguro’s Kendama. The precise way the ball maintained its intended trajectory, the exact rhythm the user maintained, how not a single hit seemed even slightly ‘off’. It almost made Klug want to fling out his hand smack the ball to the ground. He was feeling petty at the moment.

However, the complaints only made Maguro chuckle, “Yeah, I get that a lot☆ ‘Sasaki, you’re so good at everything, you wouldn’t know what it’s like!’ or ‘Maguro, you’re such a fast learner, have you ever struggled with anything?’ But really, I have. And, besides...”

“...Besides?”

“I think people with big dreams are way more impressive than what I can do.” Maguro laughed. “I’m not particularly trying to go anywhere☆ A friend once told me I could do anything I put my mind to, and I took that to heart. But that’s all there’s to that. I’ve never managed to keep my attention on the same interest for long or had any special ambitions with any of my hobbies, like Ringo with her universe-unraveling physics research or Ris with his experiments. I just go with the flow. Jack of all trades, king of none☆ That suits me, but I don’t think it makes me as special as some people think it does.”

So? Where was the guy going with this? Klug often didn’t understand others, and Maguro’s behavior right now was no exception there. So, when Klug succeeded in his studies and made that fact known people called him a ‘nerd’ and a ‘know-it-all’, but when he failed someone suddenly decided to praise him? Tch. As if. Sympathy. That was all it was. He was being pitied, and he hated it.

…But then why didn’t he feel more insulted by Maguro’s words? Why didn’t he feel the need to yell back and shoo Maguro out of the room to leave him alone with his thoughts?

The Kendama kept bouncing, up and down, up and down. It was mesmerizing both to watch and hear. Eventually, Klug had lost his train of thoughts in the rhythm. Absentminded, he finally picked up the fork on the plate on the floor next to him, robotically cut off a piece of food, brought it into his mouth... -and immediately was snaped wide awake when his tastebuds were met with the unknown dish.

This was…

This was good.

It occurred to him that moment just how incredibly hungry he actually was. Of course he was hungry, of course, he hadn’t had any food since morning and had been casting spells left and right ever since ending up in Suzuran. How in the world had he managed to ignore that fact for so long? Well, whatever the reason, he definitely couldn’t anymore now. At once, Klug snatched the plate up from the floor and began to greedily shovel the still warm Okonomiyaki into his mouth. By his side, Maguro watched, smirking.

“Oho~. MP refill applied☆” the boy joked. “So? Maxed out now?”

“I… I really needed this…” Klug admitted, swallowing down the last bite. The plate was empty now, a fact he greatly regretted. That stuff – he still didn’t know what it actually was – had been so good! He really wouldn’t have minded having a bit more of it. Well, at least he felt decently energized again now.

…Aaaand, now that he had enough glucose in his system again for his brain to work properly, it soon occurred to Klug just how undignified his meal just now must’ve looked to the one onlooker present. Eeek! No, no, that wouldn’t do! Course-correction, quickly.

“Ah… Ahem! I mean… This was… decent! Yes! If I had to give detailed feedback, though, I would say-“ ...On second thought, no. He wasn’t feeling it right now. As much as he wanted to try and brag a little, he couldn’t. It felt wrong. “…That it was good. Yeah… Thanks.”

It really had been delicious. Good enough that, if he hadn’t known any better, Klug would’ve thought that Lemres had made it, but he knew that that was unlikely. Surely the famous Warlock of Comets had better things to do right now than to cook for some child…

Maguro chuckled, “No prob☆ I’d offer seconds, but I kiiinda think there probably won’t be time for that.”

“Hm?” Klug looked up. “Why? Do you have a rule against eating food after a certain time here, or…?”

“No, that’s not the problem. But I figure in, hm, ten minutes, maybe? You’ll probably be too busy for eating.”

Klug raised an eyebrow, “Busy with what?”

“Well, you see...☆” Maguro’s smirk seemed a tad wry now. “I kinda let you stay here only because Ringo and I assumed you’d be boring enough to fly under my siblings’ radar. If you’d stayed in bed without indulging their probing, they’d probably have lost interest started ignoring you eventually. Then there wouldn’t have been much of a problem. But you, um, well… Showed them a game☆ So now we’re in a bit of a bind☆”

“Um… huh?” Klug wasn’t sure he was following. “…Run that by me again?”

Maguro’s laughter was awkward this time, “We’re kind of like sharks here. You let them smell blood. Now they’ll want more☆ Sorry to say, but I think nobody is sleeping in this house tonight!”

There was a silence of precisely three seconds before Klug accepted the reality that Maguro most likely wasn’t joking, and just what that fact meant for the rest of Klug’s stay in this place.

Oh…

Oh.

“B-But!” Klug shrieked. “You sent them to get dressed for bed, didn’t you!?”

“That’s what we call an act of desperation ☆” Maguro shrugged. “I mean, I can hope wearing jammies is gonna pacify them a tad, but if I’m honest, nah, probably not.”

“But.. But…” Klug backed off through the mess of toys on the floor against the wall. “I didn’t sign up for this!”

“That won’t be easy to explain to them, sorry☆”

Like on cue, Maguro and then Klug heard footsteps approaching the room, tap, tap, tap. Were the first of the siblings already making their way back here? Klug gulped. No, wait, he wasn’t ready for this!! Sure, one round of cards had been a nice distraction and all, but he had other things on his mind to worry about, he wasn’t good with people, let alone children, he’d never babysat anything mortal and more demanding than or the class garden or that caterpillar Sig forced onto him that one time, and-

“Alright then☆ Want to get out of here?”

Maguro’s suggestion piqued his interest. Get out? Yes! Yes, please! As embarrassing as it was to ask for such a thing, the possibility sounded amazing just about now.

He thankfully didn’t even have to ask. Without Klug giving any reply to the question, Maguro had gotten up from the floor, walked over to one of the room’s windows and opened it.

“Here you go☆” he said, gesturing towards it.

Klug starred. “Y… You want me to… go through the window?”

“Don’t worry, it’s safe☆” Maguro promised. “The roof right underneath connects to Ringo’s house. Just go straight ahead, don’t look down, and you’ll be at her room in a snap. She usually keeps her window open at night, so it should be fine☆”

“You want me… to go.. across a roof…”

“Sure☆ Ringo and I used to do it all the time.”

This sounded like such an amazingly unsafe idea, Klug didn’t even know how to critique it.

Tap, tap, tap. The footsteps grew louder.

“U-Uwaaah!!” The idea of being accosted by the Sasaki siblings again was enough to make Klug leap. Realizing that the window probably wasn’t such a bad idea after all, he headed straight for it, letting Maguro help him climb out.

“Again, don’t look down and go straight ahead!☆ Ringo’s window is pretty low, you’ll have no trouble getting in.”

“J-Just get me out of here!”

No more words were exchanged as Maguro lifted Klug onto the windowsill and watched him crawl outside. The lack of screaming or a loud ‘thud’ quickly cued the oldest Sasaki in to the fact that his acquaintance must have boarded the rooftop outside safely. Good. That taken care off, he pulled the window down again and sealed it up. He sighed.

“We should’ve gone with that right away☆”

There was a knock from outside the room just then. By the time Maguro had turned around to see who it was, the door had opened, and Lemres entered the room.

“I thought something was up. So, I guess you sent him over there…?” the warlock in green got straight to the point asking.

Maguro shrugged, “Well, you didn’t wanna talk to him. That’s fine and all☆ Still, if you ask me, he really should be with a friend.”

“Even if it’s a friend who can’t speak to him right now?”

“Some things don’t need words☆ ‘Sides, I can’t see the poor guy finding anymore sleep tonight until he’s had a chance to properly process whatever happened back in the Amusement Park. Maybe being around Sig will help with that.”

“You think so…?”

“It’s a hunch☆”

Lemres sighed. He personally didn’t like just working off hunches like that, but… Well, now that Maguro had gone ahead and taken action on his own, there wasn’t really much he could do about it. All that was left to do was hope the boy’s judgment was correct.

“Still… ‘Sharks’, huh? You sure threw your siblings under the wagon for this.”

Maguro flinched, “Oh… You heard that?☆”

“Haha,” Lemres laughed. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell.”

“Yeah~, why am I not sure that I can trust you there? ☆”

Despite the awkward smile Lemres was giving him, Maguro felt secure in the stunt he had pulled just now. As little as he knew about magic and the study of such, he knew enough about people to understand that sometimes it was necessary to just rip the band aid off. He could sense that Lemres meant well, but also wondered if maybe allowing people to come to face with a harsh reality was something this grand, revered master of the arcane arts might have a little trouble with.

Amitie was running, and for a moment she didn’t know why. She didn’t know where she was or when, until she heard two familiar voices ring out behind her.

“Amitie, don’t look back!”

“Just keep running, no matter what!”

Arle and Ringo were calling out to her in her in this memory- Yes, a memory. She remembered.

These were the sealed ruins of Alca. This was the trial she had to take to reach the final hall. She’d had to run forward on this narrow path, through the onslaught of Puyo threatening to swarm and crush her. She’d been scared, unsure if she could do it, especially after her balance had failed her so detrimentally just a few days before. But Arle and Ringo had stood by her, staying behind and fending off the Puyo leaping to attack her with their magic.

“Fireball!”

“Cosine!”

She really had the greatest friends…

“Y-You guys…!”

“Amitie! Leave the Puyos to us!”

“You need to get to Sig, quickly! Hurry up!”

Right, right that was what she’d come here for…! These were her memories of the last day of that awful, awful incident. She’d cross the bridge, and beyond the last hallway she’d find the final hall.  A room made of stone, with walls covered by runes and engravings she couldn’t understand. An ornate sarcophagus made of crimson marble stood on a pedestal in the middle of the hall. And in front of it… and on the floor by the exit…

It was all just like in her memories. Lemres on the floor, exhausted, no longer able to fight. And in front of the crimson sarcophagus, that cruel, cold person who looked like Sig, starring at her with empty, red eyes, like she was nothing but an obstacle to him. As much as she wished she’d forgotten, Amitie remembered every part of this scene. She could recall every word spoken.

What Lemres said:

“Amitie!? Why are you here?”

What she’d blubbered in place of a reply:

“B-But, but! SigCalamitySomethingButHe’sInTrouble -‘cuz, ‘cuz- I-Witch’sPotionAndI-AndI… THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!!”

Yeah. This really was all her fault.

If she hadn’t been clumsy. If she hadn’t dropped the potion. If she hadn’t ignored how bad Sig’s condition had gotten.

If she hadn’t told him to hide. If she hadn’t pushed him through Witch’s window and give him the idea to take that potion again. If she hadn’t messed up and lost her magic.

Why’d things have to go this way again? She didn’t want to be the sort of sorceress whose friends got hurt because of her. No idea felt worse to her than that.

The scene played out just as Amitie remembered it. Lemres confirming to her that the scary, unsettling boy by the crimson sarcophagus really was Sig, telling her that ‘Sig’ had defeated him in battle, that it appeared that the antidote no longer worked on Sig and that now his personality had started to fade. That the only hope to save him was to ‘wake’ his heart.

“Heh…heheh… Hahahahaha…! No matter how many times you apply this so-called ‘antidote’, the outcome will not change… I cannot be stopped now.”

“Sig…?”

“Sig? Ha ha, I’m afraid that person you seek no longer exists…. Ahahahaha!”

Amitie was so, so scared back then. Scared to lose a friend. Scared to see him die, become someone or even something else entirely, just because of one of her silly mistakes. Because she’d been careless, because she’d been clumsy… Because she hadn’t been good enough.

She was scared now, too.

‘No… Stop. Please, stop! I don’t wanna see this anymore! I… I don’t want to watch this happen again…!’

‘Amitie. It’s a dream.’

‘Sig…! Sig, I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry!’

‘I’m here.’

‘Because I was clumsy…’

‘Amitie, I’m right here.’

The scene continued on, just as it had back then, unhindered by Amitie’s pleas, but despite that there was something there soothing her, calming her fears. She could feel Sig’s presence, right there by her side, holding her hand, clutching it tight.

Right. They’d been talking here, in this dream, just a few minutes ago. He was still here with her, wasn’t he? Watching the same scene as her, relieving the same memories…

‘Hey… Sig? Were you… scared back then? Were you in pain?’

‘That doesn’t matter.’

‘O-Of course it does! If you were, it’s all my fault that you had to-‘

‘Stop saying that.’

‘…Huh?’

‘Stop saying that it was your fault. Everyone messes up. I do too. ‘Sides, you were the one who saved me, remember?’

‘B-but…’

‘Please, don’t cry. We’re friends. When you cry because of me… It makes me sad, too.’

Yeah, she realized that. Her self-pity didn’t help anyone. She knew that, but it was just so, so hard. Seeing this all happen again, she wished nothing more than that she could just redo it all. Take back her mistakes, have a second first time to do it all right. Even though she knew that in the real world, that sort of thing just wasn’t possible. There were no takebacks, and there were no redos, let alone rewrites. But still… But still…!

‘Hey, Amitie.’

‘Hm? Sig?’

‘Let’s fight together this time!’

‘What…?

‘That guy, that… something. Let’s fight it together, okay?’

‘Huh!? C-Can we do that?’

‘Well, this is a dream, so… I guess?’

‘But… You said you think he’s you too, right? Are you really okay with this?”

‘Watching that guy say all that mean stuff to Lemres and you, just makes me… really angry.’

The scene had meanwhile arrived at its climax, the point where Amitie had challenged ‘Sig’, the other Sig, to a Puyo battle for Sig’s soul. If the dream had just continued as in Amitie’s memories here, what followed would have been a direly one-sided battle that only succeeded in awakening Sig’s consciousness at the very last possible moment. But, like Sig had said, this was a dream. Amitie didn’t need to play by the rules of her memory here. And neither did Sig.

Just as that cold, cruel-sounding person was about to accept Amitie’s challenge, starring at the Red Puyo Hat on her head as he did, the boy stopped in his tracks. His wide-open red eyes flashed blue for the briefest of moments, and then, before this stranger with the familiar face could even comprehend what was happening… Sig stepped out of him. Blue-haired, blue-eyed Sig. Their Sig.

He jogged across the room, coming to a halt, right next to Amitie, turning to face their shared opponent.

“S-Sig…!”

This wasn’t just the scene from Amitie’s memory anymore now. It was a dream, their dream, one which’s plot they could forge together.

“Ami… Let’s settle this together,” Sig smiled at her. “And then you don’t ever beat yourself up over what happened here anymore. Alright?”

Amitie halted a moment, not sure how to respond. Then, however, she pumped her hands to fists, “Yeah!”

“Hmpf… So, this is how it shall be?”

“…Huh?”

“Hah. Even in a dream, you refuse to allow me to exist. You’d rather waste your thoughts on repelling a memory of done deeds. You really are foolish children…”

This sudden bout of off-script dialogue had caught Amitie’s attention, and she whirled back to facing the other Sig. Said dark-haired boy was now looking plenty angry, much more than she remembered him being at any point of her memory of that day. This surprised her. Of course, Sig being here to help her fight against the guy was a complete break from how things had happened back then, but for some reason she had just expected their memory of the other Sig to carry on as usual, regardless of regular Sig being here and helping out. But now the memory was… reacting to what they were doing? Huh? Was this normal? Somehow it didn’t seem normal…

Almost instinctually, Amitie found herself turning around and looking towards the exit. There she saw Lemres, or rather, the image of him from her memories back then. He appeared to be frozen solid. Right, the same had happened with their memories of Ringo and Arle, when Sig and her had gone off-script in that other part of the dream! The moment they’d changed anything, anyone that wasn’t them had stopped moving and become a part of the background.

…Then, why was the ‘other Sig’ still moving right now? How was he talking to them?

“Tch… How much you must loathe me, that you would rather betray your own memories, than endure even an image of my presence…”

“Are…” Amitie found herself gulping. The aura of that person really terrified her. “Are you Sig? Like, another Sig, who doesn’t think Sig should be Sig…?”

Rather than answering her question, the dark-haired boy glared at her, “I tire of your face, girl. If you want to escape harm – And I mean you none – You’d do well to break this pointless connection and wake up now. As impressed as I am that you have found a way to utilize a power you barely even seem to be aware of, your presence here not required. Return to the waking world.”

Amitie shook her head, “I… I won’t!”

“Hm?”

“Sig asked me to fight you together, so that’s what I’ll do! I’m not gonna leave him all alone with you in this scary dream!”

“Scary dream…? Is that all you think this event was? A nightmare?”

“Yeah. A nightmare,” Sig took a step forward to his double and nodded. “I fell asleep, bad things happened and it felt awful. Sounds like a nightmare alright.”

“Hah… Ahahahaha…”

The other Sig was laughing in a cold, bitter way the real Sig never would. It was more than just unsettling. The sound of his laughter made Amitie shudder.

“I’ll commend you. This game of make-belief of ours has gotten quite more complex than I could have expected. It appears you even built a semblance of genuine social connections… I’m not unhappy. I really am not,” The other Sig’s eyes turned sharp. He glared at Sig. “But playtime ends now. This might be the final chance. If I don’t reclaim my true self here, then…”

“Who are you?” Sig asked. After all, Amitie’s question hadn’t been answered yet. “Why are you inside my head?”

“You already know the answer,” came the reply, along with a smirk. “I’m you. The memories you refuse to awaken to. Your true will.”

“My memories… my… will...”

Sig took a step back. It didn’t seem like he’d heard anything he hadn’t expected, more like he’d received a confirmation for a suspicion he didn’t want to be true. Troubled, he let his eyes wander to the floor. His other self, meanwhile, scoffed.

“Tch… There is no use in talking to my own sleep-drunken self. Fine. Stay in that innocent fantasy of ours, if you so wish. Either way, as soon as the morning comes, I’ll wake and finish what I couldn’t last time.”

“N-No!” This time Amitie stepped forward. “Sig is Sig! You can’t just take over again! I won’t let you!”

The other Sig made eye-contact with Amitie again, “Hmpf. ‘Sig is Sig’, you say? What do you even know about this ‘Sig’? What is there that you feel such attachment to?”

A fire was lit in Amitie’s eyes. Without hesitation, she started rattling off her list, “There’s a lot I like about Sig!! Like, he’s kind and sweet, he cares a lot for everyone and for his bugs, he spaces out a lot, but when it really comes down to it, he’s super reliable! He can sleep with open eyes, but can keep playing for hours and hours when he’s having fun, and he likes watching everyone get along and have fun together, just as much as I do-!“

“Aren’t those all just things you want to see in him?”

“…Huh?”

Amitie was stunned. What did that even mean? Of course, she wanted to see those things in Sig! Those were some of his best qualities! But… that wasn’t what the other one meant, was it? Red eyes starred at Amitie, looking both spiteful, but at the same time also… strangely sad.

“You’re insufferably idealistic.”

…Huh. Why did this line feel so familiar?

“It only makes sense you would see the best possible version of whoever you interact with. That is your nature. But, as cruel as this must seem to you, the person you have been calling ‘Sig’ is nothing but the result of my sleeping soul trying to navigate the world in a debilitated state. …To put it in simpler terms: You’ve been watching me sleepwalk. That’s all there is to it. The ‘boy’ you’ve let yourself get attached to has never been more than just a tiny, barely lucid part of my mind.”

“But…If you’re Sig too, then you still get my point, right!?”

“Hm?”

Amitie’s grasp of what the other Sig was trying to explain to her might not have been too great, but even so, she felt certain and firm in what she was about to say.

“Sig’s care for everything, how much he likes everyone, and has fun going bug watching and playing Puyo with us, and going to school, and how much he doesn’t like when people get hurt or when his friends end up fighting…! Those are all his real feelings! I’m not just imagining that, I know I’m not! Sig told me himself! So, if you’re Sig, then you should know that! Because you’d have to be feeling the same way!”

“Amitie…” The Sig standing by her side seemed almost surprised by the conviction she voiced this theory with.

“…You understand so little.” Without outright denying Amitie’s words, the other Sig leaned forwards, arguing back. “What about emotions felt while asleep is real? Why would a friendship forged in a dream ever take priority over reality?”

“Ah! So, it’s that thing Sig was talking about, right!? With the person and the butterfly, who don’t know which one’s real and which one isn’t?” Amitie took another step forward. “I think both are real!”

“Why…?”

“Well, if both felt real, then the feelings are still real, no matter if you’re awake or asleep!” Amitie insisted. “I mean, if dreams didn’t matter at all, then there wouldn’t be a reason to try and make them come true, right!? And I’m not giving up on my dream! Never! I have to get there! I have to!”

For a moment, it seemed like the other Sig was ready to continue the debate, but then, from a moment to another, it was as if something had snapped. His eyes turned even sharper than before, almost angry, and a low growl, the like of which Amitie had never thought she’d ever hear in Sig’s voice, entered his tone.

“Stop… Just…. CEASE!” He shook his head wildly, almost as if in pain. “I will not let that face make me waver and go astray again!”

“Huh? You mean… my face…?” Confused, Amitie instinctively touched her cheek.

“If I give in…! If I just let these aimless fantasies continue…! The empty pages will never be filled, and the story will never be completed!” A burst of energy. While magic in the regular way did not exist inside a dream, it had the same effect as Owanimo being cast, “I will not let it be lost to the ages!!”

And, almost as if the dream had decided to bring this scene somewhat back on script again, a battle began from one moment to the other.

“W-Whoa!! Puyos are falling!” Amitie shrieked. “What do we do, what do we-“

“Amitie! Let’s fight together,” Sig interrupted her. He took her head. Amitie, however, seemed unsure.

“B-But…! My magic…”

“You had your magic back then, right?”

“Huh?” Amitie touched her cheek again. “I… I did.”

“This is a dream. I think it’s gonna work. Let’s at least try.”

Sig’s words gave her courage, almost more than she thought was reasonable. After all, back when this scene had really happened, Amitie had been completely hopeless in battle against the other Sig. He’d curb-stomped her, from beginning to end. But… it had still worked out back then. It had worked out, because neither her nor Sig had been alone.

“…Okay!” Amitie gathered her courage. He was right, they had to give it a shot. “Let’s go!”

As soon as Klug climbed through the window on the other side of the roof, he was immediately greeted by something familiar: The scent of old paper and printing ink. Books. Much-read ones, at that. The source of the scent made itself apparent with his first glance around. Volumes of all shapes and sizes, some of which appeared to be textbooks, others which seemed to be novels of some sort, lined the shelves adorning the room’s peach-colored walls. A clean, polished softwood floor, red and green patterned curtains. A work-desk right next to the window was littered with tools necessary to create geometric drawings, but there were also other items on it, odd devices the purpose of which Klug didn’t know (was that odd, rectangular pane of glass in a frame on a pedestal supposed to be some sort of mirror? It barely reflected anything). A pile of soft, colorful bean bags was placed in front of the longest row of bookshelves in a way that made it clear that they were meant to serve as a sort of reading chair for the room’s owner, and strange kinetic sculptures which resembled what Klug knew were elementary particles were hanging from the ceiling. Was this… Ringo Ando’s bedroom? Huh. Somehow this wasn’t what he had imagined at all. Even though he’d seen her walk around with a textbook, he hadn’t considered that she might have many more like it, and the cleanliness of the room was equally surprising. He’d always perceived that girl as a chaotic, barely sensical person…

Ah, but that wasn’t what drew his attention most. The room’s true main attraction would reveal itself as soon as Klug took a look to the left, following the motions of the curtains blowing the wind from outside.

“…! Sig…!”

There on a simple bed with unassuming, cream-colored sheets he found the boy, neatly tugged in and sleeping soundly. Klug held his breath for a moment before he rushed to the bedside. Yeah, that was Sig, no question. He would have recognized this magical pattern anywhere, especially with how strongly its power was leaking right now. In fact… the output appeared even greater than the last time he had felt it…

“Oh… oh dear…”

Ignoring his own shaking voice with a gulp, Klug began to examine Sig, reading his magical output as precisely as he could, and gently tapping up and down the boy's arms and shoulders all the way up to the neck to check for any changes. There weren’t any, at least not as far as Klug could tell. Additionally, Sig was breathing, he had a steady heartbeat and his body temperature appeared fairly normal. Klug sighed. That was… that was something, at least.

“Still… He is losing an awful lot of magic right now…”

The amount of free flowing energy Klug could sense right now he’d usually have expected from a power spot or a nexus of sort, not from a living, conscious being. Nervous and tempted to start gnawing on his thumb-nail, a bad habit which he hadn’t indulged in since grade school and surely did not want to slip back into now of all times, Klug turned a little to the side,

“Say, how much time do you think he still ha-“

He stopped himself. Ah. Right. The book wasn’t here. They weren’t here. He was… on his own. With only his own power, and his own knowledge….

Klug shook his head, trying to dispel that train of thought before it could go any further. Focus! Focus! For now, Sig was still alive! So that meant there still had to be time. Time to find a solution, one that didn’t involve that book…! There had to be one, right?  But where to find it?

Almost out of instinct Klug turned towards the only source of such knowledge he could imagine: The shelves by the walls. Wait, no. There wasn’t any way there would be anything useful in there, right? Those were Ringo Ando’s books! She was friends with Amitie! Someone who was on a wavelength with that girl couldn’t possibly have literature on the sort of complex concepts he was dealing with here, right?

…Still, these books were all he had to turn to right now. With a little stumbling, Klug found himself beginning to decipher the titles written on the spines of the colorful tomes:

‘Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 2^nd Edition’

‘Classical Electrodynamics’

‘The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. 1: Mainly Mechanics, Radiation, and Heat’

Klug took a step back, eyes wide and dumbfounded. W-What. What kind of sorcery was any of that!? -Not any kind he was familiar with, that was for sure. Still, by the time Klug’s eyes reached a volume titled ‘Relativity – The Special and the General Theory’, he got the gist that whatever these books were about were probably indeed complex topics. The questionable pronounceability of the vocabulary used in some of these titles gave away as much.

What was he supposed to make of this? Was there seriously a girl reading such difficult-sounding books right in front of his nose all this time, and he didn’t even notice? The thought alone made his head spin…

His surprise was only compounded when he noticed a framed certificate on the wall…

HONOR ROLL

Suzuran City General Junior High School

hereby acknowledges