The Simulacrum

"Um… Are you sure you're all right?"

I glancde at the kid nervously peeking at me from outside the cell, and I tried my best to force a reassuring smile onto my face.

"No problem, Beansproud. I just got a little… heated. That's all."

Thus explained, I continued to pace up and down in the chamber while occasionally sipping from my tea reserves. I was trying to be frugal about that as of late, since I had already drunk more than half of the enchanted flask's contents, but if I ever needed a pick-me-up, it was now.

Ollie didn't look particularly convinced by my words, so I stopped pacing and turned on my heels to face him.

"Uncle has to pay attention to some other things right now. How about we try out those cards you were so curious about after lunch?"

His eyes lit up at once with an eager, "Really?" and when I nodded in the affirmative, he practically beamed at me.

"I'll prepare the table!"

The cards in question were the same Celestial ones Penny and the class rep were playing a lot ever since our vacation there, and while I wasn't super-interested in the game, there was a whole pile of them in Ollie's toy box. While their magical hologram aspect obviously didn't work down here, the kid was still enamoured by the illustrations and the effect descriptions (he would've probably liked the flavour text too, but that was in Celestial Script only). The fact that future-me also smuggled a printed booklet of the comprehensive rulebook in here only made talking him out of the game all the harder, and goddammit, I just reminded myself of him again.

I took another sip from my flask to calm my nerves and sat down at the edge of my bed. I needed a short break lest I burst a blood vessel, but since I was only nominally livid right now, I decided to bite the bullet and cast my Far Sight out again. First off, a quick glance at Crowy and the class rep told me they were still in flight. The bastard seemingly still hasn't fully recovered from his wing injury, because his pace slowed down considerably compared to his frantic launch velocity.

He was also soaring high up in the sky. As in, high enough to touch the clouds, which told me two things: the Abyss's fake red sky wasn't a shallow imitation, and apparently 'flying under the radar' didn't apply here. Which, on second thought, made sense considering that the Abyssals had no radar facilities (as far as I knew), so flying high was probably better for avoiding being noticed.

More importantly, the class rep was still unconscious in his grasp. He was holding her by the waist, where she hung limply, and despite them flying at high altitude, the wind barely even touched her. I figured the purple aura thing wasn't just for show after all, but even though she looked fine on the surface, I couldn't help but be worried about her. Normally I would've insisted thatshe obviously wasn't going to get hurt, since future-me set this up, but my faith in my future self was eroding by the minute, and so that argument was starting to sound increasingly hollow.

Sure, it was probably step seventy-nine in a long and convoluted plan of epic proportions, without which there was no way to achieve optimal results. The kind of plan Josh thought I was scheming all the time, except this time actually I was. Or will be.

But speaking of him, I have delayed the inevitable for too long. I exhaled hard and shifted my point of view over to the gang's side. For a start, I looked at Judy, and… then looked away. Not because she looked mighty peeved, and I really didn't want to have an awkward conversation. I just said I wasn't delaying the inevitable, and therefore it logically followed that the only reason why my attention was needed elsewhere was because something time-sensitive was happening there. Such as…

Penny was patrolling… Snowy was outside, alone… Fidèle was on her way to meet up with a Shamash task force consisting of half a dozen Fauns and about as many dapper Abyssals… Okay, if nobody else, at least Josh must be doing something important.

"It was my fault."

Oh, look! An important discussion! I knew I would find one of those!

The previous line came from Angie, sitting with Josh on top of a mostly unburned barn. Why they chose this of all places to have a discussion, I had no idea. Maybe because it gave them a nice overview of the wrecked settlement? The scenery certainly had that classic 'Event CG' feel to it, with the two of them sitting side-by-side, their feet dangling off the edge of a wooden shingled roof, with the sun behind their back and Angie's head resting on the guy's shoulder and everything. If not for the smoke trails and the general devastation, it would've been pretty romantic.

"We were all caught by surprise. It's not your fault," Josh insisted, and despite being alone with his girlfriend, he looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Yes, we were, but I still made a tactical blunder," she argued back, and… Wait.

That's not Angie. That's Deus. But then why was she leaning on Josh like that? Just how far did that whole 'we're both two sides of the same person' thing go while I wasn't looking?

"That doesn't make it your fault. By that logic, it was my fault as well."

"Yeah! Listen to Josh!" Angie interjected, which looked silly, considering the circumstances, but her determined expression was immediately replaced by a distressed one when Deus gained control again, and she adamantly stated, "No, you don't get it, Girl. I let my emotions get the better of me! I should've focused on saving our companion, but when I saw Bel of the Abyss, I let my anger overwhelm me! I didn't even attempt to pursue that lordling. It was my failure."

While saying so, she snuggled even closer to Josh, clearly looking for comfort, and after some hesitation, he put his arm around her shoulders. Considering the mood, this was the moment when he was supposed to say something reassuring, sweet, or both, but before she could muster up something suitable for the occasion, their attention was grabbed by the sound of rushing wind.

My Abyssal sister descended and gingerly touched down on the roof next to them. It was only when she took a closer look that she awkwardly utter, "S-Sorry! I hope I'm not interrupting… um… something?"

"No, actually, it's good you're here," Josh spoke carelessly and gestured at the girl still leaning on his shoulder. "Can you help me convince her that it wasn't her fault things turned out the way they did?"

Snowy let out a soft, "Ah…" and she would've probably uncomfortably shuffled her feet if it wasn't ill-advised to do so on a rooftop. "I… might not be the best person for that." Josh raised an intrigued brow at that, so she quietly explained, "When Noir showed up, I… I wasn't ready. I didn't know what to do, and by the time I came to my senses, he had already flown away. Maybe if I intervened, then Amelia…"

Her words trailed into an uncertain, depressed silence… only to flinch when Angie let out an uncharacteristically annoyed groan.

"I can't even with you two! Listen, I'm worried about Ammy too, but beating ourselves up over what happened like this isn't gonna help anyone!" The moment she finished that, her eye colour switched, along with her tone as Deus insisted, "While that's true, we must also reflect on our mistakes. We could've done better."

"Tell me about it," Josh grumbled, and when the girls both focused on him, he hastily explained, "I mean, the fact that out of all of us, the only one who immediately tried to save Ammy was Hareng is just… I can't find the right word…"

"Pathetic?" Deus proposed, only for Angie to reassert control and puff out her cheeks. "Hey! If you're like that, then no more cuddling for today!"

That made my sister tilt her head in confusion, but the guy next to them lightly waved his hand and said, "She's not entirely wrong, you know? Freeing Ammy should've been our first priority… Heck, protecting her and making sure she wouldn't get captured should've been that, but I guess we got a bit too cocky after our previous victories, and we cocked up. That really is a bit pathetic, I guess."

Angie's brows shot up, and she poked her boyfriend with a peevish, "Hey! Language!"

Meanwhile, Snowy let out a gasp, as if she just recalled something important, and gestured at the two to get their attention.

"Ah, right. Mister Ninurta. I came over because he woke up."

"Oh?" The Celestial girl stopped poking the guy and got up, then put her hands on her hips and declared, "See? I told you he'll be fine! I'm getting really good at patching up broken bones!" with a delighted grin that was just a tad dissonant with the topic of the conversation.

"Um… He said he had something important to say. I already told Penny, and she said she'll call Judy and Eleanor over. They might be waiting for us already."

"Then let's go!" Angie exclaimed as she casually jumped off the roof and flashed her wings open. She was gliding towards one of the few fully intact houses near the southern edge of the village, and Snowy quickly followed after her.

Josh, on the other hand, lagged a bit behind and muttered something about Deus being weird before following after them, and in just a minute or so, the three of them were already indoors. Contrary to Snowy's worries, the others haven't arrived yet. The owners of the building escaped during the battle, and they haven't returned yet, so under Fidèle's supervision, they commandeered the place for the war effort (read: they were frantic to find a place where they could deposit Hareng, and they couldn't be picky).

The guest room of the house was simple but clean, with a kind of earthy atmosphere. It wasn't as rustic as the common Celestials' homes in the Elysium, but it wasn't exactly up to modern standards either. In any case, Hareng was lying down on an old divan bed set next to the far wall, and as soon as Josh entered the room, he immediately raised an arm over his head.

"Hey, Boss. What happened? Is everyone okay?"

"If we don't count you," Josh began, but then he shook his head and blandly stated, "Ammy got captured."

"The fair glasses maiden? Drat."

It looked like he had more to say, but then Angie entered the room, pushing Josh aside to inspect the guy on the bed. He was no longer transformed, so he was naked from the waist up, save for his right arm, which was wrapped in a makeshift sling made of some wood and half of a flower-print curtain. His upper body was covered in bruises and lacerations, but it was a testament to Angie's capabilities as a healer that he looked like he had been in a car accident a week ago instead of an hour earlier.

He tried to prop up his upper body, but the Celestial girl hissed at him and menacingly wagged her finger.

"Hey! No moving around! Do you have any idea how long it took me to set your shoulder? Compound fractures are no joke!"

"Really? It doesn't feel that bad…" Hareng mused, prompting Josh to stifle a guffaw.

"Yeah, not that bad. Say that after the healing magic's out of your system."

The young noble muttered a flat, "Oh, bother…" and he once again looked like he really wanted to say something, only to be interrupted for a second time by the other half of the group entering the room, with the Shamash matriarch in tow. She looked as elegant as usual, though maybe a bit paler than her already ashen complexion, which could've been either exhaustion or just her biology disagreeing with sunlight. Either way, as soon as she entered, she directed a warm smile at the guy on the bed.

"I'm glad to see that you're hale and hearty."

"He's alive, but I wouldn't go that far," Judy noted behind her, only to shudder when Elly suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders from the back and started theatrically massaging them.

"Psst! Remember: stress is bad for you. Happy thoughts."

My princess must've realised that she was grumpy due to the recent development (I mean, it would've been stranger if she didn't notice), so she was on placating duty.

"Um… I think being stressed is entirely reasonable right now," Penny pointed out, being the last in line, and when the others focused their attention on her, she stammered, "W-What? I-I mean, isn't this the worst-case scenario? Amelia was our trump card! Without her, the whole plan is kaput!"

In response, Fidèle straightened her back and tapped the end of her closed parasol against the floor, then declared, "Fear not, children. I swore upon my name and my House that I will aid you and ensure your safety. The Lord or Inanna will not escape my fury. As soon as our forces assemble, I will personally lead them to rescue your friend."

She must've been feeling just as guilt-ridden about the situation as Deus and Snowy, considering she also tried and failed to take the class rep from Crowy's clutches, but due to her not being in her element, she was too slow, and the bastard got away. I had to give it to her; she didn't give up easily, and pursued the two of them for a couple of kilometres before it became obvious that she couldn't catch up to him, but just as with the others, her failure to get Ammy back must've been weighing heavily on her conscience.

"Penelope isn't wrong," Judy chimed in, her voice extra flat and her brows infinitely approaching a frown, something that looked a bit incongruous with the princess vigorously kneading her shoulders. "The plan hinges on her, but it also requires that we don't come into conflict with Noir until we're ready to put everything into motion. That's impossible now, because we need to rescue her." She glanced at my sister and added, "So yes. It's definitely kaput."

"There's not much we can do about that. What's important now is to rescue Ammy," Josh stated emphatically, his gaze sweeping over the people in the room. "Noir and Bel of the Abyss set everything up to capture her alive, so she shouldn't be in mortal danger, but that doesn't mean she's safe."

Fidèle nodded along and tapped the tip of her parasol against the ground again.

"You're correct, young man, but our options are limited. There's no telling where the Lord of Inanna took her, so our best course of action is to strike first and gather intelligence from the officers of House Inanna. In a few days' time, we should uncover her whereabouts."

"There's no need for that," Judy cut in and pulled the party glasses communicator out of her pocket. "As soon as the Chief graces us with his presence, he should be able to tell us where they are."

"Don't you mean, when he calls?" Penny tried to correct her, but my dear assistant didn't react, especially since Fidèle was looking at her with a hint of skepticism.

"I understand that Lord Polemos-Dunning established a communications channel with you, but can he really tell you the location of your companion from the depths of the Chasm of Desolation?"

"The Chief is—"

"Leo is a man of many talents!" Elly cut her short, and when Judy turned a flat stare her way, she hastily added, "I just wanted to say it once. For the sake of variety."

While the two of them were busy with that, Fidèle let out a long sigh and closed her eyes. Seeing that, my Abyssal sister sidled up to her and asked, "Lady Shamash? Are you all right?"

"Don't worry, child. I'm just tired." She exhaled another breath and reasserted her presence by straightening her back and making another series of taps with her parasol, for the third time. "I'm also worried about what we might face when we engage the Lord of Inanna again. He's a difficult opponent at the best of times, but he's going to be much harder to overwhelm in his home territory. And that's presuming that he doesn't bend the Mana Well of the Ninhursags to his will before we get there."

"Um… Y-Yes, that is a possibility."

"Right," Angie noted from the bedside, and it looked like she had just finished giving Hareng a quick check-up. "Why else would Neige's brother kidnap her? He's probably gonna use Grimmy to give himself control over all the Mana Wells." She paused, then flatly stated, "And that would be bad."

"Obviously," Josh griped, and it was at this point that Hareng flung his legs down on the side of the bed, much to Angie's annoyance.

"Hey! I just told you not to move around!"

"You did, my angelic maiden, but I have something important to show you all." He tried to get up, but he had trouble rising from his sitting position, so he extended an arm towards Josh. "Boss? Can you give me a hand?"

He obliged, and once the young noble was on his bare feet (again, he didn't have the opportunity to get dressed post-transformation), he pointed towards the doorway and loudly exclaimed, "Follow me, fellows!" and marched out of the building, much to everyone's confusion.

Once outside, he stumbled around a bit, as if he were drunk, but he soon figured out where he wanted to go and used his good hand to gesture in the direction of a collapsed building.

"Over there!" He didn't even wait for anyone to respond and quickly made his way over to a fallen chunk of a wall. "Boss? A little help, please?"

Josh looked skeptical, but he, along with Elly and Penny, grabbed the large piece of half-burned wooden debris and dragged it to the side, revealing something startlingly familiar underneath. A brown bag. Not a hiking backpack, but a cross-body bag made of thick linen with a single long strap, which was currently broken at the clasp.

"Is that… Ammy's bag?" Josh asked, and the guy cheekily rubbed his nose.

"What, Boss? Did you think I rushed the Herald of the Emperor without a plan?" He crouched down and, after a bit of rummaging, took out a familiar cube with a shit-eating grin. "Look! Not a scratch!"

"But Amelia was wearing that when Noir captured her," Judy pointed out, but it only made the young noble's grin widen even more.

"At the beginning, maybe." He turned around and wiggled his butt, as if pretending to be a dog wagging his tail. "You can't cast spells with it, so nobody pays attention to the tail."

Meaning, he must've used it to snatch the bag off Ammy while pretending to rush in, and he ate a hit to keep up appearances. I had to admit, I didn't see him do it either, but the bag (and more importantly, the Mana Well) was here, so he clearly wasn't lying.

"You see, my fellows?" Hareng tried to juggle the cube with one hand, but he nearly dropped it, so he hastily handed it over to Elly and tried again. "You see? Our bespectacled fair maiden may be missing, but the Mana Well is safe and sound, and the Herald can't make use of it."

"That's true," Fidèle said, sounding just a touch cautious. "Let's hope the Lord of Inanna won't take out his anger upon your friend once he realizes the Mana Well is missing."

Hareng let out a dismissive huff. "Oh, please, my dear madam! You just discussed how important our fair maiden is to him. There's no way he would hurt her. None at all."

I could see Judy already on the verge of facepalming in the back, and I was of the same opinion. This guy, as occasionally useful as he could be, was a jinxing magnet, and if I took that into consideration…

"Shit. I'd better keep an eye on the class rep…"