The Simulacrum

The Lord of Inanna's presence towered over the ruined landscape, a dark god revelling in his newfound divinity. His form was a grotesque caricature of power, the very air around him twisting with the raw, untamed energies of the Abyss.

In comparison, Joshua and his companions seemed insignificant, small figures huddled together in a desolate wasteland. Yet, in their eyes burned a defiance that no amount of power could extinguish. The battle lines were drawn, not on a map, but in the very fabric of their wills.

Except, not all of them were gathered in one place. Using the confusion caused by Noir's explosion of world-rending power as a distraction, Neige made a stealthy, desperate gambit for their primary objective: Amelia.

The Ninurta patriarch, stunned by the sheer scale of the destruction on display, was none the wiser when she slipped past him. Her hastily woven Concealment Sigil flickered on approach, its integrity compromised by the chaotic maelstrom of ambient mana, a slight orange blur invisible to the naked eye, let alone the girl hidden under its cloak of invisibility. The disoriented bandaged aristocrat had no clue she was even there.

She approached Amelia, still standing idly by the Mana Well as if in a daze, yet she shuddered when she noticed the Abyssal girl slipping into view. Her face was a mask of confusion, her eyes wide and uncomprehending.

"Ammy!" Neige called out in a low voice and grabbed her shoulder, making her shudder. "Hold on! Let me help you and get you out of—"

The bespectacled girl's eyes opened wide, but then she hurriedly put a hand over Neige's mouth and a finger in front of her own.

"Psst! You're ruining the plan!" Amelia hissed at her, and the Abyssal girl's eyes opened wide as saucers in confusion.

"What plan?" she asked through the fingers muffling her voice.

"Leo's plan, of course," she explained in a strained whisper. "Everything is still going according to it, I think."

While they talked, the battle continued to unfold overhead, with Deus loosing a volley of golden flames in the form of swords at the Abyssal Lord, their explosive power tinting the grey landscape with fleeting shades of gold and violet. Noir cackled as he summoned layers upon layers of magical shields with contemptuous ease, his movements a blur of motion, a whirlwind of demonic grace. He was enjoying this, the sheer, unadulterated power surging through him a drug he couldn't get enough of.

It wasn't until Eleanor also took to the air and let loose an especially potent torrent of draconic fire from her mouth that Noir was forced to evade the attack with a burst of speed. The duo's attacks were clearly aimed to force him to land, where Penelope and Joshua could get at him, but he proved too nimble for their attempts.

Meanwhile, the hushed conversation by the Mana Well continued.

"Leo's plan? What plan?" Neige repeated as she took a step back from Amelia, her suspicion clearly visible on her face, her eyes glued to the choker on Amelia's neck. She was intimately familiar with its shape and purpose, and she whispered, "L-Let's get that thing off you first, okay?"

She was sure Amelia would object. It was an insidious artifact that would hold one's own mind hostage, and even the thought of removing it was supposed to be agonising. Yet, the bespectacled Magi girl didn't even flinch when Neige said that. If anything, she appeared as if she had just been reminded of something insignificant, and she casually reached up to her neck with a sigh.

"Ah, right. I don't need this anymore." She hooked her finger under the collar and, with a simple tug, the indeterminable black material tore as easily as wet paper. It fell to her feet, and then she let out a soft sigh. "I almost got used to it." It was at this point that she realised that Neige was looking at her with wide-eyed disbelief. "What? Didn't Leo tell you he modified this beforehand?"

"Yes, but... If it had no effect, why were you wearing it?"

"I had no choice. It was part of the ruse," she insisted, followed by a deep frown as she beheld the aerial confrontation between Deus and the ascended Noir. "He should be back any moment now."

Neige was getting more confused by the second and blurted out, "Who? Leo?"

Amelia nodded, and then the two of them both watched the dance of gold and violet in the red sky of the Abyss, waiting for the timely and triumphant intervention of Leonard S. Dunning. Which, of course, wouldn't come.

<No shit, Sherlock. Also, stop biting me, you bloody carnivorous planetoid thing!>

«Intruder/Interloper. Your presence/Domain/taste is familiar. You are inside/diffused/submerged, like He is. But you are not him. Not the troublemaker/adversary/**************/Crowned Coalescence. Who are you?»

<I have no reason to tell you, so get lost and let me finish this in peace!>

«Matters not. Will find you. He harmonizes/conjoins/cares for you, so you will lead me to Him.»

<Ugh... Dammit. I need more time.>

«Time/Linear causality. Enforced/Imposed/*************. Is it you, or Him? Matters not, as well. There can be no singularity/beginning/ending. I'll ensure it.»

It was at this point that the Ninurta patriarch finally noticed Amelia's odd behaviour, and by straining his eyes, he soon discovered Neige's presence as her incomplete Concealment Sigil flickered in and out of existence. He let out a furious roar and pointed a finger at them, a crackling spear of crimson fire forming at its tip, aimed directly at the two girls.

"Get away from her!"

Yet, before he could loose the projectile, he was suddenly knocked over by a flying kick aimed right at the small of his back, his Barrier cracking and his stance crumbling from the impact. Penelope, seeing the new development, had disengaged from her futile attempt to corral Noir, and she landed gracefully on her feet next to the downed aristocrat.

Of course, one could've argued that it would've made much more sense to simply run the injured patriarch through with her zweihander, but if one asked her, she would have certainly insisted that doing so would've been contrary to her knightly code of conduct, and not that she simply wanted to do a flying kick. Nevertheless, the nobleman crashed into the ground with a pained groan, and the spear of fire in his hand sputtered out of existence.

"Snowy, quick! Take Ammy and get her out of here! I'll keep his attention!"

It was a logical division of labour. After all, she could hardly support Deus and Eleanor in the aerial battle against Noir. Even Joshua had decided to abandon the ground and take to the air himself, his shield held high as he flew straight into the path of the Lord of Inanna's descent. The clash of their weapons, a chaotic symphony of violet light and righteous golden energy, was the main event, the clash that would determine the fate of the Abyss.

There was, of course, one small thing Penelope forgot to consider: the Ninurta aristocrat could also fly. The downed patriarch pushed himself up with a pained grunt, his wings unfurling as he finally transformed, his renewed Barrier shredding his clothes and bandages in the process. It was a painful one, attested by his agonised grunts once his wounds were revealed, but he didn't hesitate.

"You wretch! I'll make sure to personally—!"

Yet, before he could make good on his threat, the proverbial cavalry arrived with Judy announcing, "{Heads down!}" through the communicator, a moment before a streak of blue lightning shot across the grey sky and slammed into the aristocrat's Barrier. The Ninurta patriarch let out a pained gasp, the sheer kinetic force of the spell sending him crashing back to the ground.

<Wow. That bastard just can't catch a break, can he? Also, is it just me, or have things become a bit too quiet in here?>

"Traitor!" the Ninhursag patriarch bellowed as he landed in the pale grey crater. He wasn't alone, as he carried Judy Sennoma and Éolienne Serua Ashur on his shoulders. He let the two of them down and pointed a finger at the Ninurta aristocrat, "I will be your opponent!"

However, as soon as he said that, the three of them were enveloped by a crimson fireball, burning them to the bones in—

<Shit, he's at it again! No, they didn't! The Ninurta guy was just knocked over; he couldn't even cast a spell!>

...

The Ninhursag patriarch rushed forth, his whole body covered with lightning as he transformed into his full Abyssal form, his horns crackling with electricity and the ground turning black under each of his steps. He slammed into the Ninurta patriarch, the two of them rolling across the crater in a whirlwind of claws and fangs, a primal and savage struggle that lacked the elegance of the duel overhead but made up for it with sheer, unbridled ferocity.

«Strong reaction. Easy to follow/pinpoint. I will soon discover/diffuse/devour your traces/steps/fragments.»

<... Seriously, man? What is your major malfunction?>

«Meaningless inquiry. Squirming/stalling/hiding? Will find your source/fount/core/Domain soon.»

"Judy! Are you all right?!" Eleanor yelled in a panic as she landed next to Judy and Éolienne, her hands carefully tapping on her upper arms and shoulders.

In contrast, the only human girl of the group remained stone-faced, although not without a single bead of nervous sweat running down her forehead.

"You've seen that too," she stated, and the Draconian heiress immediately nodded, fully understanding her despite the vagueness of the conversation. "The Chief must be doing something." The two of them looked up at the ongoing battle between Noir and Deus, now joined by Joshua, a chaotic maelstrom of clashing colours and energies. "But we've got our own problems."

"Wait, hold on! What are you doing here?!" Amelia asked, looking genuinely confused as she ran up to them along with Neige. "And who's that?"

She was gesturing at Éolienne, and the Abyssal boy naturally shrank behind Judy's back when the unfamiliar girl in her extravagant dress approached.

"Amelia, this is Éolienne, the heir apparent of House Ashur."

"Wait, let me collect myself," she muttered as she rubbed her temple. "Wasn't he the kid locked up with Leo?"

"Y-Yes," the boy behind Judy nodded, trying to sound brave.

"Why did you take him here? And more importantly, where's Leo?"

"It was out of our control due to larger strategic considerations, and we don't know," Judy told her in a flat voice, and that gave the Magi girl another pause.

"That wasn't part of the plan..."

Penelope chimed in with a confounded, "What plan?" and after considering her options for a few seconds, Amelia decided to come clean.

"Leo sent me a letter after I was kidnapped."

"What? How?!" Penny interjected again, so Neige grabbed her shoulder to quiet her down and gave Amelia space to explain.

"It was a letter inside a rolled-up newspaper, and... Never mind, it's a long story." She pointed at the Mana Well, its light still pulsing with a steady, hypnotic rhythm in the center of the crater. "It told me to play along and help Noir. Something about giving him rope to hang himself."

"Are you sure it was a letter from Brother?" Penny continued to insist. "He didn't say anything about that on the train."

"I've seen enough of his penmanship to recognize it," Amelia declared with a huff, her brows furrowed in frustration at the repeated questioning. "And you know how he is when he's explaining his plans. Or rather, not explaining them and being all vague and mysterious."

"That does sound like Leo," Eleanor noted in a somewhat detached tone.

<Et tu, princess?>

"And then what?" Judy pressed, her expression unreadable as ever, but the slight narrowing of her eyes betrayed her sharp focus.

"And then he was supposed to be here and do something, but he's not." Amelia's statement sounded damningly indignant, yet she followed it up with a just as clearly worried, "So... what do we do now?"

"Guys! A little help, please!?"

They all twitched in unison when hearing the cry, their heads turning towards the ongoing battle in the sky. Surrounded by lashing flames of amethyst, Joshua was holding back an enormous jet-black spike the size of a small building, its wicked point sending golden sparks every which way as it collided with his glowing shield. He gritted his teeth, the muscles in his arms corded with strain, the very air around him cracking under the sheer force of the impact.

"That," Judy stated with one finger pointing up. "We need to do something about that."

"On it!" Eleanor yelled, and she let out a primal roar that sounded like thunder tearing through a mountain pass. In the next instant, she lunged forward, her wings beating the air as she shot up into the sky, her form a blur of crimson and bronze, a comet of draconic fury.

"I'll... I'll help too!" Neige declared in the same breath, spreading her own wings wide. "There's no time to hesitate now!" A swirl of frost materialised around her, a vortex of glacial energy that coalesced into a dozen razor-sharp icicles, and she also took to the air, her movements a stark, chilling counterpoint to Eleanor's fiery charge.

"What do I do?" Penelope asked next, and after some consideration, she let out a gutsy, "I'll go help over there!"

She pointed her sword at the battle of fire and lightning unfolding between the Ninurta and Ninhursag patriarchs, and rushed in, her zweihander a gleaming arc of silver in the gloom.

While all of that was going on, Amelia sidled closer to Judy and whispered, "Seriously. Where is Leo?"

She responded with a terse, "I told you, we don't know," and put a finger on her communications artifact. "I can't reach him, so we have to do our best on our own. Fortunately, it seems like the Noble Alliance is sending reinforcements our way, but..."

"Warning."

Both Judy and Amelia twitched in surprise when the avatar of the Grimoire of the Last Truth appeared between them as if she had been there the entire time, her form a shimmering, golden mirage.

"Reservoir: Onoképhalos. Status: Unstable. Core integrity compromised. Aetheric leakage detected. Sub-System Asphodelòs critical failure imminent."

"Wait! Slow down, Grimmy! What do you mean by 'critical failure'?"

Judy turned a deadpan stare at the other girl, which screamed, 'What do you think it could possibly mean?', while the holographic woman patiently elaborated.

"Explanation: The Reservoir Onoképhalos is currently drawing in energy from the entire Asphodelòs Sub-System at an uncontrolled rate. Since the connections between the Terminals are not fully stable, this process is causing a chain reaction of escalating instabilities. At the current rate, the cascade failure will lead to a sub-space implosion estimated to occur within one hour, thirteen minutes, and—"

"You fools! Don't you realize that I have unlimited power!?"

A violet explosion shook the skies as Noir let out a cackle of insane glee, bathing the crater in its sickly light. Joshua cried out as he was thrown back, and though Deus managed to catch him mid-flight, the strain was obvious. Even with her combined might with Eleanor and Neige, they were clearly outmatched, their every desperate attack effortlessly swatted away by the self-proclaimed god.

"Correction: Fifty-nine minutes and sixteen seconds."

"What would a sub-space implosion entail?" Judy inquired before anything else.

"Explanation: The local region of sub-space will collapse and merge with the physical plane, resulting in the annihilation of all matter within a radius of the overlapping area, converting it into pure, unbound Aetheric particles."

"So, you're telling me," Amelia said as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, "that we have an hour to get rid of a power-mad tyrant with godlike powers, and if we fail, the whole island goes boom?"

"Correction: The rapid release of Aetheric particles would result in an explosion of approximately three hundred zettajoules of energy."

"In layman's terms?"

"Analogy: It is roughly equivalent to the impact that caused the KT extinction event."

"In other words, the end of the world as we know it," Judy stated in a morose voice, then whispered, "I knew it would come to this. If we survive, Elly owes me another ten Jens."

<Right. Because an end-of-the-Simulacrum crisis alone wasn't enough, we needed a ticking clock for an in-universe apocalypse, too! Bah!>

"That's bad..." Éolinne noted with the understated panic of a child who had just been told the boogeyman was real and had the keys to the front door.

"Since the Chief isn't here, we can't trust the plan, but we can trust the process," Judy noted and tapped on her communicator glasses again. "Beluga to all Cetaceans, update. We have fifty-nine minutes and counting until the island turns into a dinosaur-killing kaboom. Repeat: fifty-nine minutes until we're all extinct. Please adjust your strategy accordingly. Beluga, out."

"Why, yes! Thank you!" Josh roared overhead while weaving between Noir's projectiles. "We clearly needed more pressure! Argh!"

"Focus, Boy!" Deus snapped and let loose a series of shimmering golden arrows that forced the Inanna Lord to raise a hasty, crystalline shield. The violet energy crackled against the celestial light, blinding him long enough to allow Eleanor to close the distance and pressure him in melee.

"What do I do?" Amelia asked, and once Judy finished talking, she turned to face her.

"I've got the Ninurtas' Mana Well here. Can we use it to open a gateway to Critias?"

"Negative," the avatar of the Grimoire answered before Amelia could. "While the Reservoir Onoképhalos remains connected to the Asphodelòs Sub-System, it would increase his Aetheric intake and accelerate the impending cascade failure."

"Meaning we can only use it after we defeated Noir," Judy noted with audible exasperation. "That makes our original plan effectively dead in the water. Are you sure you don't know what the Chief's secret plan was?"

"I told you everything he wrote already!" Amelia answered in mild panic. "All the letter said was to help Noir take over the Mana Well, and then he would take care of the rest. There was nothing else!"

Then, just before Judy could respond, her throat was pierced by a—

<Oh, screw off! I knew you would try something like this again! Get your grubby narrative fingers away from her and get lost!>

«Scent/Taste/Fragments is close. Will find you. Soon.»

<Also, stop with the stupid caveman syntax. It's not—>

…

Then, just before Judy could respond, a pair of unlikely figures descended next to them, flying low in the sky.

"Ah, Amelia. I'm glad to see you're all right," the Shamash matriarch said with a weak smile as she landed, supported by the Matron. She frowned at the girl, or maybe just her extravagant dress, and let out a soft scoff.

"There's no time for greetings." She looked around and quickly understood the situation, "We need to move. Now."

"Why?"

The question bursting out of Amelia clearly didn't please her, but she answered all the same.

"The forces of the Noble Alliance... No, you can't call them that anymore. House Gula and House Enlil are invading the town, attacking everyone indiscriminately."

"What?"

<That's right. What?>

"They are like sharks, smelling blood in the water," Fidèle Basmu Shamash spoke with a mixture of pain and disappointment. "They must have realized that whoever wins the battle here would be the undisputed ruler of the Abyss."

<No, that still makes no sense! Even if they really are backstabbing bastards, it's profoundly stupid to betray everyone and turn this into a free-for-all at this point, while Noir is still around and...>

«...»

<It was YOU! You cheeky bellend! You launched a two-pronged attack! You distracted me by threatening Judy and then mucked with the background while I wasn't paying attention!>

«You are simple/predictable/naive. Easy to goad. Makes you make mistakes, easier to follow/trace/nibble.»

<Oh, now you've done it, you bloody— Ow! And stop biting! Why are you even doing this!? Why can't you just let things play out as they should?!>

«Negative/Denial/Resistance. The singularity/ending/beginning cannot be allowed.»

<What even are you talking about?!>

«The convergence of causality/waves/possibilities. Divides what was/could have been and what will be/could be. Artificial segment/bulkhead/demarcation. Must not allow Him to take advantage.»

<That doesn't explain a thing! What is a...? Wait. If it's like a dividing line where possibilities collapse into one point, isn't that kind of like what I saw in the retcon-space? Is this related to time blo—ack! Bloody hell! Stop it!>

«Foolish. Keep talking/singing/projecting. Easier to find/see/devour. Sooner I find answers/truths/that which is not a lie.»

<... You know what? Fine. You want to play rough? Be my guest! The kiddy-glowes are officially off now! Just don't cry to me at the end!>

«Incapable/Impossible.»

<Oh, just you wait and see. I eat impossibilities for breakfast!>

«No. I eat/consume/devour. Not you.»

<…>

<... Seriously. Why are all my antagonists terrible at smack-talking?>