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Another boring day wandering through the multiverse. Perhaps this'd be entertaining to anyone else, but certainly not to Ecolo. After their last escapade with bringing some traveling partners, they'd been warned not to whisk away any other poor, unwitting souls on their transuniversal trips.
"Oh, what a bore! And neither of them grandpas wanna play with me! Even that Stairs guy wasn’t interested… You'd think that at least ONE of ‘em would be bored enough to think of something fun to do," Ecolo talked on and on, filling the endless void with their own voice. After seeing every universe twice over, talking to yourself became commonplace. Sound might not travel in space, but at least it gave the feeling that something was there in that vast emptiness.
"Hmm, but maybe I need to find some new playmates," they thought long and hard about it. Stroking their ...chin, if you could call it that. "Ah, I know what to do! Let's hope Arle doesn't mind me borrowin' her face for a bit," Ecolo snickered and warped themself to Primp Town. They'd landed in the Nahe Woods, a bit of ways from town, but a doable walk!
Their body shifted and rearranged itself to look almost exactly like Arle...though, the clothes were certainly more like Ecolo than they were like Arle, and so was the face, and so was the... Well, everything was more like Ecolo, so you could say it's more like a bad, low-budget cosplay of Arle if she was evil.
"Hee hee hee, hopefully she doesn't mind me messin’ around a little bit!" Ecolo stretched their arms and did their best Arle impression, hopefully they wouldn't run into Ringo on this little visit.
The demon had been doing some errands today, it was a bit of a slow day, so Klug had agreed to let it stretch its legs just a bit. As long as it went to the store and came straight home, anyway.
...What a world this was, for one so noble to be ordered around by a common person like Klug. Though, it knew it really had no place to try achieving its goals on such a beautiful, peaceful day, the perfect day to sit by a window and read a book…
"Yes...I'll do just that once the time is right," it smirked to itself as it handed the money to Dapper Bones.
"Erm, I'm sorry dear, what was that?"
"...Oh, did I say that aloud? Forgive me, I simply have some plans in mind for later today."
"Honestly, darling, you've always had that dreadful habit of talking aloud. You must keep your deepest feelings to yourself if you ever wish to find someone, some day," Dapper teased and handed it the paper bag and its change.
"...Yes, deep within my heart..."
"It's only expected for a man, you know! And by the by, I lo~ve the new do. I hope you keep that in lieu of that...HORRID bowlcut." He gagged at the thought of Klug's typical hairstyle, causing the demon to giggle.
"Ahaha, I'll keep it as long as I wish to. Have a lovely day, now."
"Ta-ta, my dear! Come back soon~."
As it exited the shop, It stuffed the change in its pockets and quickly looked through the paper bag, ensuring that everything was there ... Eggs, some tea that Klug was running low on, sugar, some junk food ... It should really just throw some of the junk out while Klug wasn't looking, no wonder it always felt so weak.
Suddenly, a chill ran up its spine. As if someone was waiting for it within its shadow... It glanced at it, it was dark against the midday sun, but perhaps it was merely in its imagination... Being sealed within a book for so long does take its toll...
"Hehehe..." Ecolo, still impersonating Arle, concealed themself within an alleyway's shadow. Even though it looked like Arle, that didn't mean it had to play by her rules. They started following behind Klug quietly, something seemed different about him today! And they wanted to know just what it was.
When Klug started up the quiet path towards the student housing district, Ecolo, or Arle, quickly jumped out of the bushes and tackled Klug, or Aya, to the ground.
"Ouch! Sorry, I dunno what came over me...hehehe.." Ecolo said in their best (not) impression of Arle.
"What the-?! Oh, Arle... What are you doing in the student district? Your house is on the other side of town." Aya attempted its best impression of Klug, but it felt like something was off about this Arle. Though, frankly it didn't really know Arle well enough to understand who- or what- this person was.
"Well! I was supposed to see Amitie, but then Rulue and Schezo started bothering me for something else, so I hid in the bushes and I thought you were Amitie!"
"...So then you tackled me?"
"Yep!"
The demon stared dumbstruck at the "Arle" in front of it. Anyone could tell by looking that this wasn't her. The dark clothes and the weird laughter...was this person even trying?
"Well, that's all fine and good, but I don't remember Amitie wanting to see you today."
It shoved her off of its body and began to pick up the scattered groceries on the ground. All the while, it took the time to analyze this "Arle's" magical signature...instead of the typical energy it found, it saw a complicated and intricate web of magic emanating from this duplicate.
It was almost taken aback. That sort of signature would violate the laws of space-time...
...That seems familiar, somehow...?
"Here, lemme help ya!" The Arle duplicate began picking things off of the ground, but instead of putting them back in the bag, it kicked them off farther into the bushes.
"Hey! What's your problem today?"
"Teeheehee! C'mon, you already figured me out! Ain't it time for you to introduce yourself?"
Her blood ran cold. Few people outright said that she wasn't Klug, but this..thing...was it dangerous? The demon couldn't tell.
"Oh c'mon, I'm bored! I just wanted to mess with ya a lil," the can they kicked away suddenly rematerialized within their hand, and they handed it over.
"Well, perhaps we can discuss it while I'm not picking things off of the ground." The demon rolled its eyes and put more things away. "Come on now, we will be more comfortable once we sit down."
Ecolo was surprised at the calm reaction, they expected something more...dramatic...but maybe unexpected is better?
It welcomed the Arle copy into the parlor, and closed the door behind it. "I'll make some tea, you can have a seat by the counter." It eyed their movements carefully, it had no idea if this was a doppelganger, or a shapeshifter, or someone possessing Arle, but they seemed harmless if they wanted to know its true identity.
"Now then...you are asking who I am, but I believe I'm the one who should be asking you that question." It placed a kettle on the stove and turned to look at the double, who was sitting peacefully at the counter.
"Who, me? Why, I'm just a wanderer looking for something fun to do~."
"And that fun apparently involves tackling me to the ground, harassing me, and pestering me for my personal details, I see?"
"Yep! I don't think I've ever seen ya before! Ooor… maybe I have? I'm meeting so many new people these days that I can't really tell who's who anymore."
Aya paused, had Klug met them before...? Well...it wasn't useful to tell them too much information.
"I'm simply borrowing this vessel, perhaps that's why you don't recognize me."
"Oh, what a coinkydink! I'm borrowing this too! Though not literally, the real Arle's still out and about, but I'm just borrowing her face real quick. And hey! I can do this!" They proceeded to grotesquely morph and contort their face into the typical, drooling, Ecolo expression, briefly taking the demon off guard.
"Ah...er...don't do that..again. not in front of me."
"Ahahah, oki dokie! Say, you never told me who you were!"
"I have said already, I'm merely borrowing this vessel."
"Yeah but, that's what you're DOING! Not who you ARE!"
It paused and crossed its arms.
"I suppose you could say that... I am merely someone that shouldn't be here."
"Ohh, no kiddin'! Guess we're two peas in a pod, then."
The kettle whistled. As it turned the burner off and poured the hot water into two cups, Ecolo leaned over and cupped their cheeks in their hands.
"I technically shouldn't be here either, but here I am~ Ain't it funny how the world works?" Ecolo shrugged. "I don't think the 'laws of the universe' are all everyone makes 'em out to be."
"Yes, quite," Aya passed one of the cups over to them, only half-paying attention to the conversation. "Careful, it's hot. ...I trust you won't inform anyone about me, will you?"
"Hmm, and what if I did?"
"I would make it so that the laws of the universe are as everyone makes them out to be," she stared sternly at Ecolo while taking a sip from the cup. "I have my reasons for my secrecy. You, on the other hand, don't seem to have much need for that."
Ecolo giggled and their disguise evaporated like the steam rising from the teacups. Their nebulous, dark form was fully revealed to Aya, and she realized they really were something that violated the laws of the universe.
"Nope, not really! People tend to forget me as soon as they meet me anyway," They stirred a bit of sugar into their teacup, "I guess that's a side effect of being an accidental existence, though."
"Seems like there's too many 'accidents' happening around here lately..." Aya mumbled. Her mind drifted to the strange girl and boy that lived between two worlds. Having to fend off both her host and her other half was terrible enough, but she sort of wished her own memory hadn't retained it all so clearly, especially when everyone else seemed to have already forgotten it. "I recognized you, though. Granted, it was difficult for me to be sure."
"Interesting~ Guess you're as powerful as you look, eh?" Ecolo took the teabag out from the cup and seemed to...eat it? If you could really call it that. Putting that bizarre sight aside, aya responded.
"So that's how you realized I wasn't Klug, then?"
"Yep! Anyone with even a little bit of extrasensory magic could tell your signatures are to~tally different," Ecolo made a sweeping gesture, nearly falling out of their chair. "You've got something way older and more complex than a regular human's, but it looks kinda...broken?" They brought their hand to their chin. "Kinda like some of it's just gone or straight up missing! Never seen something like that before."
"Hmph, that's no surprise. You can probably guess what happened, since you're smarter and more observant than you look," Aya took another sip of its tea. "It is related to my goals, and why I desire to keep my existence here, in this time and place, a secret for now."
"Fine, fine!" Ecolo waved a hand and floated into the air playfully. "But that makes me wonder why you'd risk talking to me, especially since you weren't even sure if you recognized me."
She paused. That was true. She normally would've been more careful, and just completely avoided this interaction, but maybe...something about being recognized as not Klug, as herself, made her curious.
"...I was curious about you as well. I don't think I need to give any more justification than that," Aya glanced away from Ecolo, which made them smile. It must've been keeping more from them, but that was fine.
"Well, I hope your curiosity's been kinda satisfied, then, hehe! And hopefully you'll remember me next time~"
"Next time...?"
"Yep~ I won't be going anywhere anytime soon, so I might pop in and surprise ya since you remember me so well~" Ecolo grinned at it and hovered playfully.
Aya groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Fine, but at the very least don't tackle me while I'm walking somewhere," it muttered.
"You got it!" Ecolo made a mocking salute gesture, "I'll just think of new ways to get your attention, then~" They floated through the door and were already phasing halfway through it by the time Aya tried to open the door for them. “Catch ya later~” Ecolo’s form faded away against the light blue sky.
Aya brushed some hair out of her eyes and sighed. It didn’t expect this on such a peaceful day, and entertaining an unexpected guest was honestly the last thing it had wanted to do, but maybe borrowing Klug’s time once in a while wasn’t so bad.