The Simulacrum

"Here you go! I told you it would work!" the princess exclaimed as she let my slightly rattled assistant down and immediately turned around. "I'll go get my bag!"

She didn't even give Judy an opportunity to collect herself and just started climbing the tree next to them with the agility of an unusually blonde squirrel. Long story short, after getting stuck up in a tree by the straps of her backpack, Elly slipped out of it and used her draconic physique to bear the brunt of the impact of their fall.

Meanwhile, Judy looked around in the dark forest and set her back against the same tree, wary of any potential attackers. There were none that I could see from my vantage point, but she didn't know that, and after a minute or so, Elly landed next to her again, this time holding her backpack. She looked pretty proud of herself, but it didn't last long.

"Where are we?" she asked, looking left and right. "And where are the others?"

"I don't know. I need to check. Please be on the lookout."

"Got it!"

Elly put her back down at Judy's feet and raised her fists, as if daring anyone to come and pick a fight with her. There was nobody else there, but she didn't seem to care. It was probably due to the adrenaline rush.

Meanwhile, Judy also put down her bag and began rummaging through its innards. Before long, she produced a small case wrapped in a thick towel (most likely for extra padding), and from it, she produced a familiar pair of star-shaped glasses.

That made me lurch up on the bed. I forgot to consider this at the time, but since I modded the transmission components of my Leoformer to work through the dimensional gap, would I be able to make contact with Judy's communication artifact from this distance? Off the cuff, I gave it a fifty-fifty chance of it working, especially since I was at the bottom of this anti-magic dungeon, but it couldn't hurt to try. At worst, I figured I might just have to give it another try upstairs.

With that in mind, I activated my Leoformer, switched to my school uniform, and put two fingers near my ears.

"Dormouse? Can you hear me?"

I've got no response on the line, so I Far Glanced over, just to me sure, only to catch my dear assistant raise a finger at Elly.

"Hush. I think I just heard the Chief." She turned left and right while fidgeting with her glasses, looking kind of like one of those phone users from those old commercials going 'Can you hear me now?', before coming to a sudden halt. "I'm getting a grainy image. Chief, can you hear me?"

Oddly enough, there was nothing on my end, and it only took me a second to come to a plausible explanation: while I powered up the transmitter of my Leoformer, I never bothered to do the same with the receiver, and so while I could send a magical 'signal' out, the dungeon's mana syphon effect made it impossible to receive the 'signal' sent by Judy's artifact in return.

It didn't really matter thanks to my Far Sight, so I responded with a loud and clear, "Yes, Dormouse, I can hear you. How's the reception on your end?"

"It is the Chief," Judy whispered over to Elly, then continued with a normal volume, "There's some static, but I can hear you and see a grainy image. Where are you?"

"Still at the bottom of the Chasm of Desolation. More importantly, what happened to you guys? I looked away for just a minute, and then you were suddenly hanging from a branch."

"We're not sure either. We stepped into the gate, but then everything started shaking, and we were suddenly in the air." She paused to look around. "Can you tell me where the others are?"

"Sure, just give me a second, and—"

"Uncle Polemos? Who are you talking to?"

Blinking, I turned towards the hallway outside the bars, where Ollie was curiously peeking into my cell.

"Don't mind me, Beansprout. I'm in a call with someone." I tapped on my ear to indicate that I was using a communicator, but he didn't get it. "I'm talking to an… erm… Auntie?"

His face lit up, and he pattered into my cell with eyes full of wonder.

"Is she the Aunty Judy you talked about? Or Aunty Elly?"

"The former, and…" It was only at this point that I remembered that I couldn't hear Judy unless I was Far Glancing at her, so I closed my eyes and uttered a curt, "Wait a second."

My point of view reappeared in the woods, just in time to hear Judy say, "Is that Éolienne Serua Ashur with you?"

"No, it's…" I started reflexively, only for me to belatedly realise that was Ollie's full name, and hastily amend, "Yes. Yes, it's him."

"Can Aunty Judy hear me?" came the next innocent question from the kid, forcing me to return to my body and glance at him again.

"Yes. She can see you too, through my eyes."

"Really?" Ollie's eyes opened wide, and he hurriedly combed his hair with his fingers and straightened his pyjamas. Once he deemed himself in a presentable state, he waved and flashed a ridiculously endearing grin at me. "Hi, Aunty Judy! Uncle Polemos talked a lot about you! I hope we can meet in person soon! I'll… um…" Suddenly uncertain, he glanced back at his cell, and then his expression lit up again. "I'll show you the LAGO ninja pirate robot I built! I-It's not finished yet, but it's going to be really cool, I promise!"

My immediate reaction was 'Wait, where did the ninja part come from?', but I bottled that up and responded with a level, "I'm sure she'll like it, but I really need to talk with her right now."

"O-Oh, okay. Bye, Aunty Judy!"

Ollie waved at me again and hastily returned to his cell at the other end of the hallway. In the meantime, I exhaled a long breath and then sent my point of view hurtling across the Abyss and back to the dark forest.

"Sorry, I'm back. I can hear you now," I told her, but Judy remained oddly silent at first.

"Chief?"

"Yes?"

"Was that adorable creature Éolienne Serua Ashur?"

"… Yes. I thought we already established that."

She didn't react to my disparaging comment, and instead she stated, "The heir apparent of House Ashur?"

"… Once again, yes."

"The one without any living direct blood relatives."

"… Okay, I bite. Where are you going with this?"

Judy didn't reply right away, but instead she pulled the communicator glasses down and sent a provocative look right ahead. It wasn't exactly accurate, but it was obvious that it was meant for me. "We skipped the Celestial twins, but that kid's getting adopted, and I refuse to hear any arguments to the contrary."

Her declaration was followed by a silent beat, then she unceremoniously pushed her glasses up her nose again.

"But that's for later. Can you tell me where the others are?"

I was glad to see that she was back to business-mode so fast, so before any other side-tracks could manifest, I told her, "Sure. In the meantime, tell Elly that I said hi, and that the way she got you off the three was really cool."

Judy nodded, and I immediately shifted my point of view again. It didn't take long to find the rest of the gang, though some of them landed in a rather… unexpected situation. Before long, I was back with my girlfriends again.

"Snowy and Penny are about five hundred meters to your left, and they're slowly heading your way. Josh and Angie are closer, about two hundred meters in the other direction, but they're heading the opposite way, so I recommend you contact them first and give them directions."

"Roger. What about Amelia?"

"The class rep is safe, but… Let's gather everyone else first, and then I'll tell you the details."

While clearly not one hundred percent satisfied with my response, Judy whispered a quiet, "On it," and tapped her glasses.

"Hey, Leo? Are you Far Seeing us right now? Was I really cool?" the princess asked on the side with a smug little smirk on her lips, but she soon fell silent as Judy contacted Angie first, and then Snowy. After only about ten minutes, the three groups converged at one location, with my sisters arriving first.

"Ah, there they are!" Penny declared from up high, dangling from my Abyssal sister's arms while the latter was flying above the treeline. They made a full circle in the air, and after finding the right approach, they landed not far from where Elly was standing. "See? I told you flying was a good idea! Nobody would notice us in the dark!"

"We can only say that in retrospect," Snowy argued back a bit half-heartedly, but then she stopped and pointed to her left. "Is that Josh and Angie?"

She was right on the money, and after just a few more seconds, the resident protagonist and his grumpy girlfriend arrived on foot.

"Man, it would've been so much easier if we could fly too…" Angie groaned even as she hopped over a gnarled root sticking out of the ground.

"I told you I couldn't be helped. Our wings would draw a lot of attention down here," Josh argued back as he also stepped over the same root and then raised his hand over his head. "Is everyone here?"

"Amelia's still missing," Judy noted flatly. "I'm trying to get the Chief to tell me where she is."

"Wait! You can talk to Leo again?" Angie perked up at once and skipped over to my lovely assistant's side. "Is he close by?"

"No, he's still in prison. I think," Elly answered in her stead.

"Aw. I thought we're gonna get this whole trip over with right away…"

"More importantly," Josh cut in by pulling his girlfriend aside. "Does that mean we're officially in the Abyss?"

"Aren't we?" Penny blurted out, sounding just a bit alarmed. "I-I mean, we didn't arrive in a castle, like the vampire lady said, but this place looks pretty Abyss-y to me."

This time it was Josh's turn to blurt out a startled, "How? These woods look exactly the same as the place where we came from!"

"Idunno," Angie chimed in before my sister could respond, and she waved her free hand (the one that wasn't clasped on Josh's arm) around a bit. "I kinda agree. This place does have some Abyss-y vibes, you know?"

"What does that even mean?" Elly spoke up next, looking just a tad confused. "I don't feel anything different."

"Same here," came the next observation from Josh, and while the gang continued to discuss the alleged Abyssy-ness of the Abyss, Judy impatiently tapped on her artifact to get my attention.

"Everyone's here now, Chief. Are you ready to tell us where to find Amelia?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to make sure you were all in one place and there wouldn't be any misunderstandings." I Far Glanced at Ammy's location again, just to be safe, then back to Judy. "Yep, she's still there."

"Where?"

"Patience, Dormouse. I'll guide you there. First turn to your left." She did as instructed. "A bit more, until you're facing that rock over there."

"I see it."

"Great. Head in that direction, up that hill. Past that, there's a shallow valley with a village at its bottom. That's where you'll find the class rep."

My words made Judy twitch, and she whispered, "Was she captured?"

Despite her efforts, Penny overheard her anyway and exclaimed, "Captured? Who was captured? Did something happen to Amelia?"

I stifled a groan and hurriedly said, "Tell her she wasn't."

"She wasn't," Judy repeated after me.

"I'll guide you guys to her, but first, tell everyone to stay calm and try to be as inconspicuous as possible."

Judy nodded and turned to Penny, "The Chief is telling you to be calm and inconspicuous."

I originally meant that for the whole group… but I couldn't exactly argue with that either.

In any case, once I gave my initial instructions, everyone picked up their bags, formed an orderly line, and began their trek through the dark woods. The underbrush wasn't exactly easy to navigate, but Penny and Elly worked in tandem to clear out any obstacles, so after about a quarter of an hour, the whole group made their way up to the top of the hill. From there, they could already see the lights of the settlement below, and after another fifteen minutes or so, they made it to its outskirts. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NovєlFіre.net

It was a rather rustic community; dirt roads and wooden buildings, without any utility poles or public lighting in sight. I had a feeling it was supposed to be one of those pastoral old villages, but as always, all the houses looked like they were built just a few short weeks ago. More importantly, the fringes of the settlement were completely silent at this time of night, with everybody sleeping, so there was no one to notice the group of teens dressed for hiking cautiously inching down the main road.

The same could not be said about the center. The whole village seemed to be built around the square in the middle, and one place in particular was audibly lively despite the hour.

"Are you sure she's there?" Josh asked a tad incredulously.

"Chief?"

Since Judy reinforced the question, I felt obligated to say, "Yes, she is."

"This place kinda looks like a tavern, doesn't it?" Angie mused while studying the sign hanging over the large wooden double doors leading into the building.

"Sounds like one, too," Elly added on.

"There's no point just standing around like this." Josh stepped up to the doors and glanced over his shoulder, "If Leo says she's here, then she must be. I'll take point, you cover me."

"The Chief also said not be act suspiciously," my dear assistant pointed out, and it made the guy stop in his tracks for a second or five.

"In that case… Cover my back very naturally?"

"I'm on it!" Penny declared and hefted her zweihander.

"P-Penny! Waving a sword around is really, really suspicious!" Snowy hissed at her, and so she hurriedly holstered her weapon with a quiet 'Awawa!'.

Meanwhile, Josh steeled his nerves, grabbed hold of the door handle, and…

"Oy! We have more guests!" a rowdy voice sounded out from the inside before the door was even halfway opened.

"Already? It's been ages since we had so many newcomers!" the voice of a woman responded, and by this time, Josh and company could take a better look at the insides of the building.

Let's not mince words here: it looked just like a medieval-style tavern right off the pages of a tabletop RPG rulebook's cover. It had the wooden tables, the hanging lanterns, the bar with rows of large ale barrels behind it, and even a rotund, moustachioed tavern-keeper in tow, wearing a brown apron over a near-white shirt and dark pants.

More importantly, there was a soft 'Ah!' coming from the back of the room, and a slender hand reached up towards the ceiling.

"Guys! Everyone! Over here!"

"Hah? Are they your friends, little Missy?" I soft baritone asked next, and the class rep, sitting on a stool at the end of the counter and being surrounded by a whole gaggle of middle-aged and elderly Abyssals, hesitantly nodded. In response, the balding man on her left let out a good-natured guffaw and waved at the stumped group in the doorway. "The more the merrier, I say! Come in, don't be shy!"

Josh glanced over his shoulder, and after sharing some non-verbal back-and-forth with the group, he straightened his back, squared his shoulders, and led them into the tavern. Ammy remained sitting, and she had a half-empty mug in her hands, plus a whole gamut of nuts, small pastries, and other snacks piled up in front of her. Combined with the affectionate gazes of the people surrounding her, it was easy to see that she was treated well by the locals.

It didn't stop Josh from asking, "Are you all right?" as soon as he reached her side, and the class rep quickly nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was… erm…" She glanced around and then whispered, "I appeared in the square."

"Fell, you mean, my dear?" One of the older women let out an amused chuckle. "My, you can hardly imagine how surprising it was to hear a scream like that in the middle of the night, I tell you!"

Ammy's ears turned red, so another woman poked the first one with her elbow and told her, "Don't listen to her! We're quite used to this kind of thing, you know?"

"People screaming?" Josh blurted out, and after a long beat, everyone within earshot laughed out in unison.

"No, lad! People falling from the sky!" the tavern keeper told him between guffaws, and then slapped the countertop to quiet the peanut gallery. "More importantly, was this all of you? Was there no adult with you?"

Angie looked like she wanted to say something, but Elly reflexively shook her head, so she didn't have the opportunity to speak up, especially when the man twirled his moustache with a loud hum.

"Ha. That's strange. Noble Scions rarely travel without retinue like that, but…" He stopped short and then shook his head. "Never mind! Let's just be thankful that all of you are fine! Come, sit down, and I'll whip you up something warm to drink!"

"Right, right!" another jovial Abyssal was already pulling some chairs over and setting them next to the class rep's. "You must've had quite a fright, but it's all right now." He then turned to the man behind the counter. "Hey, Bedaine? Do you have enough rooms for them to stay over?"

"If they sleep in pairs, sure," the moustachioed guy responded off-handedly, already in the process of brewing something in the back.

"If you need it, I have a free room back home," one of the elderly women proposed, and the class rep hastily shook her head.

"T-Thank you, truly, but we're fine, I think. I told you we're not planning to stay."

"Nonsense! It's the middle of the night! You need a roof over your head, I tell you!"

"That's right, Missy!" The man from before chuckled and patted her on the back. "We told you that we take care of each other around these parts! It's no problem, no problem at all!" He glanced over and gestured at the rest of the gang. "Come on, kids! Don't just stand around all awkward-like! Sit down and make yourselves at home!"

Seeing that the class rep was fine and the locals were friendly lowered the group's guard a bit, but not completely, and Josh turned to the rest with a troubled frown.

"What do you guys think?"

"Let's just go with the flow and ask around," Judy proposed before anyone else could speak up, and the rest quickly agreed with her.

"They don't seem to be bad people," Snowy noted, and Penny repeatedly nodded along.

"All right then," Josh concluded and turned to face the expectant gazes of the people gathered around Ammy. "In that case, thank you for the hospitality."

"Haha! Don't even mention it, lad!" The tavern keeper walked over and placed six identical mugs onto the counter with a grin that said he was expecting that they would be seeing each other a lot, and he loudly proclaimed, "Let me officially welcome you to Coepi Urbs! I hope you'll enjoy your stay!"