The Simulacrum

Okay, so I know I said I would keep a very close eye on the class rep and Crowy, but there was something I simply wasn't accounting for: it was boring. I mean, really boring. Like, 'listening to Lord Grandpa's principal-speeches at school' kind of boring.

First, they ate in silence. Then they ate some more when the second course arrived. Then they continued to do that with the third course, except at this point they were obviously full, and so it was most just the two of them (plus Dimas in the background) awkwardly staring at each other and occasionally pecking at a dish or another. They were simply going through the motions, as if it were a rehearsed scene from a drama, except that in those, something should've happened already.

How did that famous quote go? Have a bomb suddenly explode under the table, and you give the audience fifteen seconds of surprise; show the audience there's a bomb under the table that'll explode in a quarter of an hour, and you give them fifteen minutes of suspense. Something along those lines, just paraphrased.

Anyhow, the problem was that there was no bomb under this table, so there was neither surprise nor suspense. As such, I, the audience, decided to look for something more riveting (and maybe plot-relevant), and shifted back to the gang's side.

By this time, everyone was packed onto the train cars. The last original car, damaged during the final scuffle with the Chimera, was replaced with a pair of smaller second- or third-class passenger cars, meaning they didn't have any fancy salons or restaurants in them, allowing for more seats and, consequently, more soldiers to be squeezed in there.

As for Josh and co, they settled down around the front of the train, making themselves busy in various ways. Judy and Elly took a passenger cabin, and they were discussing tactics with the Ninhursag patriarch, Josh, and an unfamiliar middle-aged man. From the context, I figured that he was essentially a liaison officer in charge of the token reinforcements the Noble Alliance provided for the cause.

I listened in on their planning for a while, but it wasn't exactly deep. Just 'rush in, capture the castle, free Leo, figure out the rest from there', which meant that either Elly was in charge of the battle plans, or everyone was getting really impatient.

At one point, Judy asked, "What's our ETA?"

"Do you mean when we'll arrive at Eanna?" the patriarch asked back, and when she nodded, he lightly tugged on his pointy beard and then aimed a finger towards the window of the cabin. "We're traveling at full steam, so with some luck, we should arrive right after sunset."

"I'm still not sure how much of a tactical advantage that's gonna give us," Josh griped, his arms already folded and his brows furrowed. "It would make more sense if Miss Fidèle was with us, with her being allergic to the sun and all, but…"

"Don't worry!" Elly chimed in, doing her best to look self-assured. "It'll be fine! They won't be expecting a sudden attack like this! Probably!"

"It's a war," Judy pointed out, then put down her notepad. It's been only a week, but it was already full at this point, and it visibly annoyed her. That reflected in her tone when she stated, "It would be foolish to assume they won't be prepared for a surprise assault. We're lucky if they didn't cut the rails already."

"Nobody else did," Josh mentioned off-handedly, followed by a sigh. "Whatever happens, we're just gonna have to rely on Lili's familiarity with the terrain and blitzkrieg them."

"Yes. Quite."

That last comment came from the aforementioned middle-aged liaison, and he even nodded along like he just heard something profound. Needless to say, even if he wasn't effectively a placeholder, it was clear he was the odd man out, and as the third (or in this case, fifth) wheel, he didn't seem too eager to add anything of value to the conversation.

Anyhow, these guys weren't going to change the world any time soon, and since she came up in conversation, I shifted my attention over to my Abyssal sister. Surprisingly enough, I found her in the driver's cap of the locomotive, along with Penny and Angie. Or rather, Deus, who was staring intently into the magic-fuelled firebox of the steam engine.

"So if I added more fire, we could get to Polemos faster?"

Her question made both my sisters and the hapless driver, yet another placeholder I'd never seen before, tense up with apprehension.

"I'm… not sure it's that straightforward," Snowy told her in a mousy voice, but it only made Deus stare at the orange flames inside the firebox even harder, as if that alone could make them burn hotter.

"But the other companion… Amelia, was it? She made it go faster."

"Maybe, but…" Penny chimed in, only for Deus to immediately let out a triumphant huff and pretend to be rolling up her sleeves.

"That settles it then. The quicker we get to our destination, the sooner we can free Polemos, then the sooner we can rescue our companion! Now, if you just—"

"Um… L-Lady Deus!" Snowy called out in a near-panic, and that finally made the Celestial stop in her tracks. "Or, um…"

"Just Deus will do for now," she said as she turned away from the fire and faced the two. "We're all dear companions on this journey, practically family. There's no reason for pretenses."

"R-Right?" my Abyssal sister nodded in a hurry, then asked, "Wasn't there something you wanted to discuss?"

Penny exclaimed a loud, "Ah, right!" as if she just remembered something, and she dropped her fist into her other palm with a satisfying smack. "That's why we came over here! Before we got distracted, I mean!"

Meanwhile, the train driver sneakily closed the round metal hatch of the firebox, lest the three girls would get sidetracked again. As for Deus, she put her hands on her hips, a very Angie-like pose, and let out a soft huff.

"Right! I wished to procure some advice from you, while the Boy is busy with the others." Right after saying that, she shifted her posture again and crossed her arms. "I'm aware that you possess a special constitution, do you not?"

"If you mean that I'm a Seducer then… um… yes?"

"Good!" Deus stepped up to Snowy, her body language changing again for the less confident as she whispered, "Can we step outside for a moment? I need your advice on something personal."

"By outside, do you mean…?"

Two minutes later, the two of them were sitting on top of the first passenger car, feet dangling off the front end, with a peevish Penny glaring at them from inside the driver's cab. I had no idea how she was planning to have a proper talk with the wind blowing past them and the noise of the engine from below, but Deus was hell-bent on having a 'private' talk like this, and Snowy was too polite (or just shy) to tell her it was a dumb idea.

Anyhow, once they settled down, Deus raised her voice and asked, "So, since you possess this rare constitution, I'm certain you have a deep and personal understanding of attraction between the sexes."

"Y-Yes, you could say that…" my sister responded a touch sheepishly, her voice nearly drowned out by the wind.

"In that case…!" Once again, Deus started out with some bravado, but then after a long silence, she… lightly tapped her index fingers together in front of her chest? Wait, wasn't that one of those cutesy gesture tropes? I'd seen Angie do that before, but not Deus, yet her eye colour was still amber, so…

"In that case?" Snowy prompted her, and she let out a soft groan.

"Listen, little sister of Polemos. You know that the Girl is lovers with the Boy, right?"

"D-Do you mean Angeline and Joshua?"

"Of course I do!" She leaned back, propping herself up with her arms behind her back, and exhaled a more overt groan. "The Girl and I are the same, and as time goes on, I can feel it all the more acutely. My memories as the Archon of Elysium feel more distant, while everything I shared with the Girl is vivid and alive. I have learned so many things and had to get used to many a new sensations."

"Is this about Joshua?" Snowy pried, and Deus nodded along.

"Indeed. I have fully accepted that the Girl and I are one and inseparable, and that is fine, but we're now at an impasse. Men change, and the Deus I am is not the Deus I used to be. I experienced things and wrestled with wants and desires that the me of the distant days of the past couldn't even fathom, and I wish to come to terms with them before they would cause discord in a moment of crisis."

Snowy suddenly cut in with an awkward, "W-Wait… let me think for a moment…" followed by a very long beat of… not exactly silence, considering the background noise, but something like it. "Does that mean you… like Joshua?"

"I certainly don't hate the Boy," Deus responded in a quick, almost snappy manner, making my sister blink.

"Is that… a yes?"

Deus grumbled something so quietly I couldn't hear it, then firmly stated, "Listen, sister of Polemos. My shared philia with the Girl is only one facet of this problem, and one that we can resolve with time. Unfortunately, we don't have much of it before the next battle, so I was looking for advice about how to approach the subject with the Boy, so we could hopefully reach a mutually satisfactory agreement."

"… Meaning you want to know how to… confess to him?"

"No!" Deus denied at once, and it was hard to tell if her face was red only because of the setting sun. "I simply wish to have a mature conversation about my place in this relationship, and that he needs to be more considerate about my— I mean, the Girl's feelings. We're stuck with each other's company either way, so I don't think it would kill him to be a bit nicer, right?"

"Have you tried telling him about this?"

"No? I mean, he's the man. Or boy, at any rate. He should pick up on these things."

"But you just said you wanted to have a mature conversation."

"Yes! It's precisely because he's not picking up on…" Deus fell silent and frowned, then hissed, "Stop it! Stop making fun of me!"

That was probably aimed at Angie, who was no doubt listening in on the conversation, and once my sister realised this, she hesitantly proposed, "So… Um… I'm sure there's a lot on Joshua's mind right now, so I'm not sure he will recognize what you wish for unless you're direct. If you want to resolve this quickly, you need to sit down with him in private and tell her how you feel about the situation."

She also muttered something along the lines of 'That's what Leo would've said, right?', which made me feel a bit self-conscious, but not as much as Deus was feeling at the moment.

"Are you sure? I was expecting something… different?"

"Different?"

"Yes. The Girl's head is full of these books of drama of the young adult variety, and in those, they never do that. It's usually all about coy looks and thinly veiled hints and the men taking the initiative to act on their desi— I mean, mutual favor."

"I haven't read any of those, but… um… I-I'm not sure they are entirely accurate when it comes to depicting attraction and s-seduction."

"Truly? Then, can you enlighten me about the accurate means of allurement? F-For the sake of not making any mistakes when interacting with the boy, of course!"

…

Okay, time out. I'm not listening to any more of this. Not only because it's just suuuper awkward, but also because this is Josh's bloody relationship drama, and the further I stay away from it, the better. Last time I got involved with something like this, the whole Naoren/Rinne/Yseult triangle nearly blew up in my face, and I had to play matchmaker to make sure it wouldn't cause a rift in the Draconic Federation. I had my fill with weird love-triangles, thank you very much, so let's let Josh and his girlfriend(s?) figure out this one on their own. I wash my hands of this whole malarkey.

Speaking of which, I glanced over at Josh, who had just finished the impromptu strategy meeting with the others and was looking for Angie, meaning there was a good chance the discussion between Deus and my sister would soon morph into a UST-laden, melodramatic scene between those two instead. As such, since there was not much else to see here until they arrived in my neck of the woods, I bid farewell to the train and the romance dramatics that were sure to follow, and returned to the side of the class rep, who was currently being led back to her room by a pair of handmaidens.

Or at the very least, I presumed that's what they were, based on their fancy gowns, and… on a closer look, they seemed somewhat familiar. It wasn't until they returned to the 'guest room' and one of them started to merrily comb Ammy's hair that I finally figured out where I'd seen them before: they were two of the Seducer girls from back when I came to the Abyss, and Belette Nergal tried to stall and distract me with a magical honey-trap.

They must've been kept around in the castle afterwards, then got assigned to the class rep. Speaking of which, despite being pampered by two chatty girls, she remained completely expressionless while sitting in front of the dark wood vanity desk in the corner of the room. It wasn't there the last time I checked, so I was pretty sure it was moved in to maintain the illusion of Crowy taking care of his brand new 'fiancée', which was… frankly, a rather odd development.

I mean, sure, the last time they interacted back on Critias, during the kidnapping incident, he made a few rather disturbing comments about her, and as the Conduit of the Grimoire, marrying her would've definitely lead to some political and metaphysical advantages, but I wasn't even sure he knew about that. From the looks of it, I was about eighty percent sure that this was just part of some kind of charade the bastard was putting up. For whom? The Nergals? The Noble Alliance spies? Bel of the Abyss? Take your pick.

My money was on the latter, but since I knew about it, then it meant future-me had to know about it by definition, so it had to be accounted for. Of course, considering our recent track record, I couldn't decide whether I should feel more or less worried, so I just shelved that whole dilemma and listened to the conversation unfolding in the room.

There wasn't much of it though. Mostly just chit-chat about how impressive Crowy looked, and how pretty the class rep was in her flashy dress, and other girly stuff I couldn't care less about. On the surface, Ammy seemed to share my opinion, but the more I looked, the odder I felt. It was almost like she really, really wanted to take part in the conversation, but forced herself to remain silent and adopt this stone-faced ice-queen persona in front of the handmaidens.

The minutes kept ticking by, and I was just getting impatient and ready to move back to the train, where Josh and Angie/Deus might or might not have been trapped in some kind of romance-dramedy Mexican standoff kind of scenario, when the door unceremoniously opened and in walked the grey-clad right-hand lackey of Crowey.

"Please get ready," he spoke mirthlessly, not even bothering with greetings. "My Liege is waiting for you."

The handmaidens let out a series of tinkling giggles, accompanied by cheerful, 'Best of luck!'-s and 'Tell us about it in the morning!'-s, neither of which was appreciated by her. Or Dimas, for that matter, because he directed a disparaging look at the two girls before impatiently gesturing for Ammy to get moving. She didn't need the encouragement, and the two of them soon left the 'involuntary guest room' and headed down a series of familiar corridors. Familiar not because I'd seen them in particular, but because they looked exactly the same as the ones from Castle Ninhursag during the guys' chaotic break-in attempt.

Passing through, they took a much more official-looking staircase down, and the moment they entered the basement, Crowy immediately greeted them with an impetuous scoff.

"What took you so long? I told you we need to get this done while the Lord of Nergal is scheming with Bel."

Wait. Did that mean that Belette was also doing some skullduggery of his own? Or rather, why was I even surprised about that? He was the one who set me up when I officially came down here, so it shouldn't have been surprising. I marked him back then, so I was tempted to Far Glance over, but this looked more important, so I focused my attention on Crowy and Ammy.

He waved his hand, sending out a couple of wispy black tendrils that seemingly formed from the shadows surrounding him in the poorly-lit anteroom of the Mana Well Chamber. After just a few short seconds, the heavily warded metal door leading in there opened to a crack, bathing the whole room with blue light tinted with the colourless hues of mana.

He didn't even wait for the doors to fully open and squeezed through, and Dimas urged the class rep to follow right behind him. As soon as they were inside, the guy waved his hand again, and while it didn't immediately close the entrance, it stopped the doors from flinging any further. The insides looked the same as all the other mana-well chambers; smooth stone floor, domed ceiling, lots of decorative columns, and a round pedestal in the middle with the cubic Mana Well lazily floating over it.

"Do it," Crowy ordered, making the class rep flinch, but after a moment, the eye-shaped mark flared up on her forehead, and the golden-yellow shape of Grimmy materialised between the two of them.

"Final Warning: Forceful connection to the Mana Well System as a Reservoir could lead to unforeseen consequences. Query: Are you certain you wish to proceed?"

Crowy gave the holographic woman a flat stare and growled, "Haven't I made this clear enough? Do as I command…" He extended a finger towards her, or rather, pointing at Ammy behind her, his fingers coated with the inky substance of his unique magic. "… or she will suffer the consequences."

Grimmy looked over her shoulder (though I had no idea why, maybe just for theatrics), and when Ammy weakly nodded, her attention returned to the man.

"Response: Confirmed. Please stand by for coupling. Reservoir Designation: Onoképhalos. Already existing connections confirmed. Initiating…"

As soon as she said that, the faint aura around Crowy burst into life. Not just that, but it looked like his transformation was triggered as well, because in a few seconds, his original clothes disintegrated and he spread his wings as his whole body was enveloped in purplish flames.

The colour spread in the room, and before long, the pale, piercing blue of the Mana Well was being tainted by it. The light slowly but steadily shifted its hue until it matched the bastard's, and then after a sudden burst of radiance, the room settled down.

Meanwhile, Crowy was groaning as purple streaks were dancing across his body, like small electric arcs. He grit his teeth, then roared towards the ceiling. There was another flash of light, and then the aura surrounding his body finally settled. He didn't look too happy.

"What is this? This feeling of… restraint…?" he muttered, then reached right through the holographic woman and grabbed Ammy by the throat. "What have you done?"

"I… did exactly what you asked for, L-Lord Noir," the class rep answered, sounding rather… meek?

Okay, this was really starting to bother me. Why was she helping him? I mean, sure, mind-control choker and all, but that was something I had already tweaked, so I was expecting her to screw him over at some point. It looked like maybe she did, but I was expecting something a bit more… dramatic, I guess? From here, it looked like she was just obediently following his orders, so… Was there a second choker I didn't account for?

No, that's stupid. The law of Chekhov's Gun doesn't just mean that an already established plot-device had to exist for a reason, but also that if a plot-device wasn't established, it shouldn't exist. Otherwise, it's that other trope: Deus Ex Machina. Or, as colloquially known, a bloody ass-pull.

That meant it had to be the same choker, meaning it should've given her lots of wiggling room, meaning she was helping him on her own accord, meaning… was this part of some kind of ploy? Was she maybe trying to lull him into a false sense of security? Was everyone scheming right now?

In any case, Grimmy's form rematerialized next to the two of them, and she calmly stated, "Report: Connection efficiency at sixty-seven percent due to interference from unconnected segments of the Asphodelòs Sub-System."

"Explain!" Crowy barked and finally let go of Ammy's throat. She only continued once she caught her breath and was standing again.

Grimmy raised her palm, and over it, a three-dimensional model of Critias (or rather, probably the Abyss) materialised from the same translucent yellow holographics as her main body. On it, there were seven bright dots; three of them purple, the remaining four a familiar shade of bright blue. They were connected by straight lines vaguely matching the elevation of the terrain, and they were also colour-coded for Crowy's convenience.

"Report: Due to a lack of regular maintenance, the Asphodelòs Sub-System's synchronicity rate is below seventy-two percent. Direct connection to Reservoir: Onoképhalos is negatively affected by interference and backflow errors caused by the anti-tampering protocols limiting throughflow at Mana Well Node Four."

One of the dots on the map lit up, and when Crowy looked closer, his eyes shone with a mixture of revelation and something approaching madness.

"Yes. Yes! I understand now! That's why the Mana Wells rejected my control before!" He let out a harsh laugh that was as relieved as it was manic. "Haha! I should've known! The Mana Wells form a structure, all interconnected! They must be bent to my will in a set order!"

Grimmy looked at him dispassionately and stated, "Correction: The conjecture is—"

Before she could finish, Crowy's violet aura burst forth again, and he turned his back on them, a finger pointing at the man by the half-open doorway.

"Dimas! Mobilize everyone! We're going to Castle Shamash!"

"But… My Liege?" The man tried to object, but Crowy walked past him with a gait that said if he tried to stand in his way, he would get trampled, so he wisely stepped aside first. "Most of the men stationed here belong to the Lord of Nergal. We must first talk to—"

"It matters not!" Crowy bellowed, his aura growing bigger and more violent by the second. "It is the Herald of the…!" His words trailed off into silence as he pulled back his hand. He stared at his palm for a second, then snapped his fingers shut into a fist. Simultaneously, the violet power surging around him flared up, making the flames hovering over his crown of horns take the shape of an actual, giant crown as he bellowed, "I AM THE ONE WHO COMMANDS IT!"

All right. So Crowy was going into his megalomania phase. Neat, but much more importantly, did he just say he's going to invade Castle Shamash? As in, the headquarters of the Noble Alliance? The one Josh and co just left?

…

There's no bloody way that's a coincidence. Was this a part of the plan? Whose plan?

No, wait. That's not important right now. I mean, it was important, but I had to tell Judy about this first. Except…

"Oh, come on, Dormouse…"

She just put the glasses away! Why!? I mean, I get it; those things need to charge on ambient Mana and she probably wanted them to be full during the upcoming battle, but this timing was just the worst! Or maybe just another facet of the plan. Oh, god. Was Josh right all along? Are my plans really going to be this bazillion-step mind-melting schemes in the future?

Speaking of him, future-me still didn't give me a heads up, so I was on my own. The question was, what do I do?

Let's apply some deductive reasoning here. On one side, the gang was set up to get me out of jail. On the other hand, Ammy was set up to give Crowy another power-up and direct him towards Castle Shamash. Josh and co were taken out of there at this point so that when Crowy would show up, they wouldn't get trapped in battle there, ergo, they were supposed to get here and rescue me. Combining all that, it told me the final battle would be taking place in Castle Shamash, and we, including myself, would need to make a late heroic entry to change the tide, which also meant I wa expected to officially get out of the Chasm of Desolation at this point.

Did all of that check out? Was it logical enough? It was good enough for me, so…

"Hey? Beansprout?"

As soon as I called out, Ollie pattered over to my cell and peeked in with excitement.

"Yes?"

"Change out of your pyjamas," I told him as I got off my bed and slapped my belt buckle (mostly for theatrics), shifting into my Polemos outfit, much to his surprise and intrigue. "We're leaving."