Black Swan opened the door and stepped into Aleph's room.
Her gaze immediately locked onto the woman seated in a luxurious chair placed beside the dream bathtub.
She had her legs crossed, an open book resting on them, as if she were enjoying a private reading session. Upon seeing Black Swan, she lifted her gaze and smiled calmly.
"What a surprise to see you here. Is there something in particular that brings you into a man's room on a night like this?"
Black Swan did not respond at all, aside from fixing her with a hard, silent stare.
"Why the long face?" She remarked, offering her a serene smile. "Does my presence beside the heir bother you? Don't worry— the last thing I would ever do is something that could harm him."
"And you expect me to believe your words after learning what your true nature is? After everything he has suffered because of you?"
Constance let out an exaggerated sigh and rested her cheek against her hand, as though exhausted by an unnecessary nuisance.
"I'm honestly impressed by how grouchy you can be. And to think you're Kali's older sister. At least she knows how to be fun. And what suffering are you even referring to? It's nothing more than a bit of tempering he needs to reach his full potential."
Black Swan stepped forward a few paces.
"You know it yourself. Only by completely breaking his outer shell can the thing inside him truly bloom."
She looked at her coldly.
"Tell me why you're here. There's no reason for a fly like you to be buzzing around him."
"What to do? What to do…?"
Constance tilted her head as she blinked, tapping her lip with the tip of a finger. The expression on her face was deliberately innocent, almost childlike, though her eyes made it clear she was anything but.
"Perhaps I've finally taken an interest in leaving behind offspring? After all, our species is becoming increasingly rare across the Cosmos, and for a female and a male to meet is a truly momentous event. You know, even if he ends up being incompetent as an heir…" Constance's cheeks flushed as she cradled them in her hands. "He could still be a greaaat stud~ Being chosen by him to carry his descendants would be a tremendous honor, don't you think?"
She repeated the line in a sing-song tone that caused Black Swan's jaw to tense even further. Constance noticed, but paid it little mind as she let out a lazy yawn.
"Keep your filthy, treacherous hands away from him."
Constance brought her hands to her mouth, wearing a wounded expression.
"Oh, how sad. Is the big sister unwilling to acknowledge me as her sister-in-law? How unfortunate~ Perhaps I should consummate the act with him in secret, bear his progeny, and inform you only once there's no longer any chance for you to interfere."
"You truly know how to make someone hate you."
"Oh? Could it be that what really bothers you isn't the act itself, but the fact that you wouldn't get to witness it? Don't worry, I could always impose some restraints while allowing you to watch comfortably from a chair. I'm quite kind, you know."
The coldness in Black Swan's eyes intensified as the floor beneath her feet began to crystallize.
"What a temper. You can't even tolerate a simple joke anymore." Constance pouted. "Reuniting with him after thousands of years really has affected you."
Black Swan's expression did not change, but the faint tremor running through her body was enough to betray that the words had struck home.
"…Though I suppose there's nothing left to be done now."
With her eyes half-closed, Constance gave Black Swan an oddly amused look.
"…What do you mean?"
"Kali fulfilled her role, after all."
Constanza watched with curiosity as numerous hands began to emerge from the shadows of the room, alongside several floating jellyfish-like entities.
For a brief instant, Black Swan's hair turned pink before returning to normal.
"…What is it with you sisters and hiding your true hair color?" Constance asked curiously. "Are you perhaps in your rebellious phase?"
"What kind of stupidity did you and Kali just commit?"
Constance hugged herself as she blushed, tilting her head to the side as if recalling something pleasant.
"Hmm? Should I tell you?" She murmured. "Well, I can say we gave the heir a little push to help him take his first steps along the right path."
She smiled sweetly.
"Though if you'd prefer prettier words… why not say I saw a lovely little bird preparing its feathers to take flight once more?"
Black Swan's eyes widened, and she couldn't help staring at her as if she were an idiot.
"Do you even realize what you've just done?"
Constance laughed again. A flame the same color as her eyes flared up, swallowing several of the hands and jellyfish foolish enough to approach. She lifted the book in her hands, holding it delicately.
"I saw it through Kali. The beating of those fragile wings against the cruel wind trying to slam it into the ground. But no matter how much I try to convey that feeling to you with words, the message seems to get lost along the way." She sighed, looking at Black Swan as though she were a troublesome old woman. "Even though I'd like to keep this sight all to myself… I suppose I can be generous and show it to you. After all, it would be improper not to extend proper courtesy to a guest, no matter how unwelcome her presence may be. Don't you agree, mi-se-ra-ble sis-ter-in-law~?"
She opened the book. The blank page seemed to absorb the light of the room, and the entire space was replaced by another.
The sound of countless insects and vermin reached their ears, accompanied by a muddy, sinking sensation beneath their boots.
"…A swamp?" She murmured as she surveyed their new surroundings. "Where are we?"
She asked Constance, but the woman merely observed everything with a gentle smile, her fingers resting on the book's binding as they tapped against the cover in time with the dripping water.
Black Swan's expression darkened as she watched a blue-haired woman with twin ponytails—wearing something that barely qualified as clothing—floating in front of Aleph.
"This isn't necessary, heir. You still have other paths and options you haven't explored."
"I've already made my choice, Kali." Aleph moved forward without hesitation. "Even so, I sincerely appreciate your offer."
Kali sighed, bringing a hand to her face.
"Always stubborn, aren't you?"
"You could die."
Aleph snorted as he continued onward.
"Hmph. If I die, let it be by my own decision, not someone else's."
Kali extended a hand toward him, then stopped with another sigh.
Aleph passed by her without looking back.
Black Swan clenched her teeth.
"Stop him, idiot. You still have time."
Constance traced the edge of the page with her fingertip and let out a soft giggle.
"Not anymore~."
Aleph reached the edge of a lake.
Its waters were black as pitch. Skeletons of horrific creatures moved across its surface, as if the faintest trace of consciousness still lingered within their bodies.
He stepped into it without hesitation.
The thick liquid covered him in a matter of seconds.
Black Swan tensed when she saw the first movements beneath the surface.
Thousands of limbs emerged.
Arms, legs, tentacles, claws—everything seized Aleph at once.
Claws tore his flesh into strips, arms ripped it apart, legs trampled him without mercy, and countless rows of teeth finished the rest.
Despite it all, the expression on his face did not change, though the light in his eyes was beginning to dim.
Black Swan leaned forward.
"This is absurd. Stop it!"
Constance kept smiling, her eyes fixed on the center of the events, as if she did not want to miss a single detail.
"It's beautiful, don't you think?"
Black Swan glared at her with icy fury.
"This isn't beauty. They're simply staining what's inside him."
Constance blinked.
"Staining?" Soon her body began to tremble as she burst into prolonged laughter. "…No, it's just his true, authentic self rising to the surface! What he should have been from the very beginning."
Aleph vanished beneath the sea of limbs.
"Watch him rise from misery…" She commented, hugging herself.
Then a blue-green flash burst from the depths.
An ethereal flame emerged from the remains of that amorphous mass of flesh.
It had no defined shape, but it moved like something alive. Every creature that touched it was consumed without a trace.
The temperature of the water rose to absurd levels.
The heat lifted white vapor that quickly rose and covered everything.
Black Swan tried to see through the haze, but it was useless.
Constance closed one eye, amused.
"You can't see him~. Peeping~. Don't you know that even a man can be shy when changing his look~?"
When the vapor dissipated, Aleph emerged from the black waters. His footsteps echoed through the silent swamp. As his figure rose from the water, it became increasingly crystalline.
The musculature of his torso had changed, more sharply defined. A strange black mass moved across his body until it formed armor similar to that of an Antimatter Legion Voidranger. Two horns formed on his head; their bases were purple, shifting toward a bright pink near the tips.
His golden eyes had been replaced by purple ones with pink hues, shining with inhuman intensity.
Black Swan took a step back.
"Do you even understand the magnitude of what you've done?"
Constance watched the scene with an almost dreamy expression. She closed the book without taking her eyes off the final vision.
"Understand it? Oh, dear. I understand everything."
Black Swan gave her a dead stare.
"Are you sure you're not the one who understands nothing, 'Black Swan'? Part of the chains you placed inside him have been purged."
Kali approached Aleph. Her face showed a mix of relief and unease.
"How do you feel?"
"I'm hungry—very hungry." Aleph lifted his gaze toward a point the vision did not show.
Black Swan turned to Constance.
"Your stupidity has no limits. You could have broken something that can't be repaired."
Constance rested the book on her knees and brought a finger to her lips.
"Broken? I'd say that, for the first time, this poor little bird will be able to take flight without hindrance."
Her attention returned to Aleph, who in the vision stepped out of the swamp, black droplets sliding down his collarbone, chest, and abdomen.
"Wasn't that what you wanted?"
"I… wanted his salvation, not to see him turned into something that justifies being hunted."
"A new sun will rise at the end of times."
Black Swan closed her eyes.
"It's sad that, despite knowing those words—"
Black Swan's gaze met Constance's as ghostly flames began to carry her body elsewhere.
"—you don't understand their true meaning in the slightest."
***********
"Are you sure your actions are correct?" Kali asked as she watched Constance calmly drinking tea from her cup. "Was it right to tell her that?"
Constance set the teacup on the table and gave her an amused look.
"What's wrong with it? I only said a few words and let her interpret them however she pleased. Don't you find it entertaining to watch that fool try to piece together the picture with incorrect information?"
Kali's expression twisted slightly as she moved away from her companion.
"Don't worry. I'll only play within what's necessary. I have no intention of being so 'cruel' to a woman foolish enough to fall for the deceptions of the Enigma."
Kali sighed and sat down in a chair before taking a teacup for herself.
"I don't understand why you both seem to have such a strong fixation on the heir…"
Constance tilted her head, thoughtful.
"You want reasons? I suppose it won't hurt to talk to you a bit more about it."
Constance held the teacup delicately between her fingers, as if the simple act of holding it were part of a carefully rehearsed performance. She took a slow sip before speaking.
"In truth, there is nothing special about Aleph Avesta."
Kali immediately raised her head.
"…What do you mean?"
Constanza tilted her head with a thoughtful expression.
"He isn't brilliant." She continued. "Nor particularly intelligent. He doesn't stand out for wit, composure, or presence. He's clumsy with his words, impulsive when he shouldn't be, and absurdly emotional at the least appropriate moments."
Kali frowned.
"That doesn't sound like an objective assessment."
"It is." Constance replied calmly. "His personality is childish. His emotional maturity leaves much to be desired. He reacts before thinking, clings before understanding, idealizes before accepting."
Kali pressed her lips together.
"That still doesn't explain why you're so fixated on him as the center of your plan."
Constance lowered the cup and rested her elbow on the table.
"Because none of that is his 'real' self in the strict sense of the word. What we need is his real self."
Kali blinked, confused.
"…Explain."
"That isn't his natural state." Constance said. "It's the result of an unnecessary intervention."
Her fingers traced the edge of the saucer.
"Some idiot decided she had to 'protect' him. She wrapped him up, restrained him, bound him with chains that should never have existed." She smiled faintly. "And by doing so, she introduced variables that had no place in the role he was meant to play."
Kali felt a slight knot form in her stomach.
"Black Swan?"
Constance nodded gently.
"Those variables…?"
"They're behaviors that don't fit." Constance explained. "Reactions that don't originate from him, but from instilled fear, artificial attachments, and inherited guilt. A sense of responsibility that doesn't correspond to his origin."
Kali looked away.
"Even so, she believes she's saving him."
Constance laughed softly.
"Saving him from himself." She murmured. "What a charming idea."
Kali watched her uneasily.
"You don't seem concerned."
"I'm not."
"Why?"
Constance crossed her legs calmly.
"Because no matter how many chains they put on him." She said, "his true self will always end up surfacing."
Kali swallowed.
"You speak as if it's inevitable."
"It is."
"How can you say that with such certainty?"
Constance rested her cheek in her hand.
"Because the Slave of Fate is surprisingly cooperative when he knows it benefits him." She said lightly. "In exchange for my involvement in certain future projects… he showed me some interesting things about the heir."
Kali felt a chill run down her spine.
"…What kind of things?"
Constance smiled more broadly.
"There is a being." She said. "One whose greed knows no limits. It does not desire balance. It does not seek exchange. Its longing is absolute."
In the silence, the only sound besides her voice was the teacup being set down on the saucer.
"My desire." Constance continued, "is to find it, and Aleph Avesta is the key."
************
All around him, space stretched in every direction, deep and unfathomable. The blackness of the cosmos was dotted with countless asteroids drifting in erratic orbits around a gigantic blue vortex that dominated the center of that strange domain, as if everything that existed were being slowly yet inevitably dragged toward it.
It took Aleph a few seconds to process where he was. He blinked, frowned, and finally let out a dry laugh before slapping his own forehead.
"Of course…" He muttered. "It had to be this… Show yourself, Aha, you laughing bastard!"
The answer he expected did not come, and that brought him no sense of peace as he wondered what might be happening.
"What an idiot—once again biting off more than you can chew. Two weren't enough to satisfy your stupid hunger, so you went for a third."
The thought was so absurd he nearly laughed, but ultimately chose not to. Instead, he took a deep breath and began to move, without any clear direction, because standing still wasn't going to solve anything.
"Do you really believe that?"
Aleph stopped. The voice had no clear direction. It didn't come from ahead or behind, nor did it even seem to exist within space itself.
"Great." He growled. "Now I'm talking to myself too."
"Can you say with certainty that even if you leave this place, you won't keep biting off more than you can chew?"
Aleph frowned at the sound of a second voice and turned around, searching for a face, a silhouette—anything.
"Show yourselves." He said. "If you're going to bother me, at least have the decency to do it face to face."
"In the depths of the night, what thoughts plagued your mind while your gaze remained fixed on the sky?"
Aleph's body tensed; he recognized that manner of speaking.
"…Dante Angello Alessio." He said quietly. "That was my name, wasn't it?"
Standing before him was a young man made entirely of crystal. He wasn't tall, barely reaching one meter fifty-eight, with hair falling a little past his shoulders and bangs covering one eye behind a pair of glasses. He wore loose clothing. His face, like his voice, was distinctly androgynous.
Upon hearing his full name, Dante raised a hand and scratched his cheek, clearly uncomfortable.
"There was no need to use my full name, you know." He replied. "Dante is fine, or if you prefer, Angie— that's what the others used to call me. You remember, right?"
"I didn't know 'the others' existed here." Aleph shot back.
"Why so stiff?!"
Aleph felt the presence even before turning around. A second crystal youth materialized behind him, noticeably taller, around one meter seventy-six. He had short, messy hair and a cheeky grin that contrasted sharply with the tension of the place.
"Same as always." Caelus added. "Relax a little, will you?"
Dante let out an annoyed sigh.
"…This was supposed to be a spectacular entrance!" He complained. "While this idiot was wandering around like a distracted fool, we had already planned exactly what we were going to say."
"Oh, come on." Caelus scoffed. "What kind of impression did you want to make? Remind him that in the past you had the face and voice of a little girl?"
Dante fell silent, staring at him expressionlessly.
Before Caelus could react, Dante drove his fist into his stomach. The impact forced him to double over, letting out a mix of curses and groans.
"Damn midgets…" Caelus spat from the ground. "You're all equally vicious."
Dante smiled and kicked him away. Ignoring him completely, he turned his attention back to Aleph.
"Now then." He said calmly. "I asked you a question."
Aleph watched them in silence for several seconds before finally sighing.
"Freedom. That's my desire. I want to be able to move beyond the limits of sight, past any horizon or boundary."
Dante nodded, satisfied. Caelus, now back on his feet, mirrored the gesture.
"Then explain something to us." Caelus said, his seriousness wiping away his smile. "If that really is your desire… why do you seem to be acting against it?"
Aleph frowned in irritation.
"What are you talking about?"
Dante stepped forward.
"How can you dare to long for tomorrow when your heart is still bound to the past?" Dante asked.
"How can you move forward if you're dragging an anchor you yourself refuse to let go of?" Caelus added.
Aleph clenched his fists.
"You don't know anything." He snapped. "You aren't even real! You're just my damn intrusive thoughts."
He turned his back on them, ignoring their words, and kept walking for several minutes. Soon, however, he noticed something.
He was moving farther from the starting point, yet the blue vortex seemed just as distant as ever.
As if, in truth, he hadn't taken a single step at all.
"Denying it doesn't make it disappear." Dante said, appearing at his side.
"Nor does it make it false." Caelus added from the other.
"You deny being afraid, yet you tremble in the dark, nervously watching closed doors and windows… what is it that provokes this reaction in you?"
Aleph stopped abruptly and clenched his fists in silence.
"What's more pathetic?" Dante asked. "To be afraid and still stubbornly choose the path you'll walk?"
"Or to hide behind a fallacy and let that fear wander inside you until it blows up in your face?"
Aleph let out a slow breath. He sank to the ground and raised his hands in surrender.
"Fine." he said. "Talk."
Dante crouched in front of him.
"Who are you trying to fool with this confident façade?" He asked. "A disguise, no matter how well made, always wears down eventually."
Caelus crossed his arms.
"What truly drives your actions? Do you want to be dependable? Is it a desire for approval? Or is it simply fear of abandonment?"
Aleph closed his eyes, offering no answer.
"Then tell me." Dante pressed. "Why do you cling to traumas that aren't yours?"
"To memories you never lived." Caelus added. "To experiences that belong to others. To dreams taken from someone else."
Aleph swallowed.
Dante and Caelus looked at him seriously.
"That's the truth." Dante said. "You can't move forward…"
"Because you're still clinging to the past." Caelus concluded. "And as long as you do, no path will take you anywhere."
"You can't keep pretending this is an accident, that it just happens and you merely suffer through it."
Caelus clicked his tongue.
"Because it's not." He added, shaking his head in disappointment. "You choose to stay there."
Aleph jerked his head up.
"Choose?" He repeated. "Do you really think all of this is a choice?"
Dante did not avert his gaze from Aleph's hostile stare.
"I submitted myself to fate." He said calmly. "I accepted what was coming, even when I didn't like it. Even when it hurt… And where did that lead me? You of all people should know the answer. If Kevin hadn't been there that day, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Caelus ran a hand through his hair.
"And I wanted to do the opposite." He interjected. "I refused to accept that everything was written. I decided that if I was going to fall, at least it would be by my own hand."
Aleph looked at both of them, confused.
"And what exactly do you expect me to do with all that?" He asked. "Cry? Shout that I've made my choice and that I can stand on top of an Aeon while declaring myself the master of the universe?"
"Decide." they replied almost at the same time.
Dante took a step forward.
"We are the shackles that bind your emotions to the past." He said bluntly. "The chains you keep dragging even when you say you want to move forward."
"You use us as anchors." Caelus continued. "As mere excuses and justifications for your actions."
Aleph shook his head.
"Aren't you part of me?" He asked. "Shouldn't it be natural that, to some extent, I resemble one of you?"
"No. That may be what you believe." Dante corrected him. "But it's far from the truth. We are nothing more than remnants."
"Like mere ghosts brought before you by the specter of Remembrance." Caelus added. "Echoes that have already fulfilled their purpose."
"If you keep clinging to us." Dante said. "You will never stop perpetuating our lives."
"How can you begin your own life if all you do is continue ours?" Caelus concluded.
Aleph clenched his teeth.
"Then what do you want me to do?" He asked quietly. "Abandon what defined me in the first place?"
"You must leave us behind." Dante replied.
"You must let go of all that accumulated pain." Caelus added. "All those fantasies that don't belong to you."
"And what if I don't know what I want?" Aleph asked. "What if I don't even have a starting point?"
He closed his eyes as a slight tremor ran through his body.
"Everything that defines me, everything I am—even most of my relationships, my dreams, my hopes… most of it was inherited from you."
Dante placed a hand on his left shoulder.
"It is not a sin to have no dreams or ambitions."
Caelus placed his hand on Aleph's right shoulder.
"The only unforgivable thing would be to remain motionless."
Aleph rubbed the back of his neck.
"The only true end to possibility is death." Dante continued. "As long as you live, your options are limitless."
"Today you don't have the answer." Caelus said. "And maybe tomorrow you won't either."
"But you will." Dante affirmed.
They both pulled him up. Aleph stood awkwardly and suddenly let out a laugh.
"…Tch. How lonely do I have to be for a couple of ghosts to give me a motivational speech?"
Dante and Caelus smiled.
"Maybe all of Himeko's coffee finally caught up with your system." Dante said, giving him a light tap on the shoulder.
"…Or maybe Stelle dragged Dr. Jonathan in to give you a consultation while you were asleep." Caelus added with a laugh.
As Aleph walked away, the crystal that formed their bodies began to crack, turning opaque, slowly fading until nothing remained.
"Whatever you do, make a decision you'll never regret." Caelus murmured.
"Embrace the new day. Stop losing yourself staring at the stars in solitude. Enjoy the warmth of dawn alongside those you cherish." Dante murmured.
"…Let us hope the weight of Remembrance's 'love' does not crush you."
...
Aleph continued moving forward, smiling as he saw himself drawing ever closer to that distant vortex.
A strange sound made him stop. It was loud enough that even the vastness of space could not drown it out.
"…An insect's screech?" He murmured, trying to recall where he had heard it before. Aleph looked between the vortex and the direction the sound came from, weighing his options.
"Ugh…" In the end, he scratched the back of his neck in annoyance and veered to the right, toward the screech. "Damn curiosity."
....
As he drew closer, Aleph's expression shifted more and more, until he began to realize that choosing this path had been a terrible idea.
His eyes widened in shock when he saw what lay barely a few meters ahead of him.
Before him lay an insect of titanic proportions, so vast that Aleph did not even dare to try to measure it. Its shape resembled that of a beetle, with an exoskeleton as black as the void itself and two enormous horns extending forward, streaked with hues of purple, fuchsia, and pink that clashed violently against its dark body. A headless humanoid torso was embedded atop its back.
The rear half of the insect was destroyed. Its body was split, severed, crushed against nothingness, as though something of even greater magnitude had pressed down upon it without quite finishing it off. Fragments of its exoskeleton floated around it, and the creature barely seemed capable of holding itself together.
Aleph swallowed.
He recognized what he was seeing.
The once-majestic King of the Sands reduced to a pathetic, dying state, barely clinging to existence.
Sensing Aleph's presence, the insect let out a euphoric screech.
Before Aleph could react, his body was splattered with the insect's blood.
The substance, an intense purplish-pink in color, erupted violently and spread across the floor of the domain, expanding until it formed a perfect circle around the two of them.
Aleph tried to step back, but an invisible force held him firmly in place as Tayzzyronth released one final screech—weaker than the last, yet filled with an incomprehensible euphoria.
Aleph let out a sigh.
"What the hell am I doing?"
he wondered as he extended his hand to touch one of the insect's legs.
At that instant, a shrill laugh echoed through the space, and a chill ran down Aleph's spine.
From nowhere in particular, party supplies began to fall.
Streamers, confetti, balloons, and beach balls rained down in abundance.
Within the circle of blood, a bright orange opera mask slowly descended until it settled over Aleph's face.
His vision began to blur as he saw Tayzzyronth position itself above him.
**********
Stelle snapped her eyes open.
"Ugh…" She groaned as she felt a mild headache accompanied by an uncomfortable pressure in her chest.
She sat up in bed and scanned the room. For some reason, the lights were completely off. The illumination did not come from any visible lamps, but from a diffuse glow that seemed to seep in from every direction, like sunlight seen from the bottom of the sea.
"…It's like Misha's room." She murmured as she stood up, grabbed her faithful companion—Jonathan the bat—and stepped outside.
A short distance away, Acheron stood motionless with her back to Stelle, silently observing a dark corridor.
"…Angie."
Stelle tilted her head in confusion.
"Acheron?"
"Oh?"
She turned to look at her.
"I see you're awake."
Stelle scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"Yeah…"
Acheron nodded without adding anything else and began to walk. Stelle followed, straining to come up with a topic of conversation to dispel the awkward silence between them.
They had not gone far when a figure emerged from one of the side corridors. Black Swan stood there with her arms crossed and a noticeably dark expression. Upon noticing them, she observed them in silence for a few brief moments before softening her expression and smiling.
"It's good to see you awake."
"Black Swan! Just the person I needed." Stelle replied. "I need a clear answer. Where exactly are we? Are we out of the dream or not?"
"Yes and no." She replied. "This is an intermediate space that exists between dream and reality, accessible only to those who have awakened from Ena's Dream."
Stelle sighed.
"Great. So we're still stuck."
"You could say that."
Black Swan took a step forward.
"Tell me, Stelle… do you remember what Sunday's ambition was? You see—"
"Don't tell me! I can figure it out myself."
Black Swan raised both hands in surrender.
"Very well."
Stelle snapped her fingers.
"Ugh, it should be—ah! Using the Stellaron and that collective will thing or whatever, from the more than one hundred thousand members of the Oak Family, plus the wishes of everyone still asleep to…"
Stelle fell silent for a moment, wearing a thoughtful expression. Then she frowned and scratched her cheek, slightly embarrassed.
"Uh… that's about as far as I can remember…"
She smiled and gave a proud thumbs-up.
"But I'm not doing too badly, right?"
Acheron closed her eyes for a moment, and Black Swan sighed.
"That's fairly accurate. You were only missing one thing—his ultimate goal, which is to use all of that to usurp Harmony and restore Order."
Stelle slowly lowered her arm.
"Wow." She murmured as the three of them resumed walking. "Really not modest at all. By the way… where are we going now?" Stelle asked.
"To meet up with the others who have awakened from the Dream." Black Swan replied.
"I'd like to ask you something." Stelle said. "How did this happen? How did the dream end up mixing with reality?"
"The followers of Order used the Stellaron to filter Asdana's memory into reality, causing an overlap between the dreamscape and the real world, resulting in the current situation." Acheron explained. "That's why people believe they are awake, when in fact their spirits have already been claimed by the dream."
"I explained some of this to you before." Black Swan added. "This 'paradise' gives them a world where everyone lives out their ideal fantasy—one no one wants to wake up from. If not for Acheron's timely intervention… this dream would have become permanent."
Black Swan looked slightly embarrassed.
"Even I, despite being a Memokeeper, could not avoid falling prey to those illusions…"
"This conversation can wait." Acheron said. "First we must gather those whose will remains firm, and finally bring this long night to an end."
**************************************************************************
Sorry for taking so long to write and for only leaving this. I had some family issues and wasn't in a good enough state to go any further.