The Moon hung quietly in the night sky, pale light slipping through the window.
Ritsuka slept in his bed, blanket kicked halfway off. He had to wake up early—planes, airports, family chaos. His body knew that.
His mind didn't care.
He shifted in his sleep.
And the dream took him.
—
When Ritsuka opened his eyes, cold air brushed his face.
White floors. Vast space. Familiar humming systems.
Chaldea.
He froze.
'…This isn't random.'
The place wasn't fuzzy or warped like a normal dream. The lights were stable. The walls solid. Even the temperature felt right.
'Is this a memory?'
"Master."
The voice echoed clearly.
Ritsuka turned.
Ishtar floated a few feet off the ground, arms crossed, Maanna hovering behind her like a waiting beast. Her expression was smug—too smug.
'I feel like I should remember this day,' he thought. 'But it's… out of order.'
"Yeah?" he said. "What is it, Ishtar?"
Instead of answering, she grabbed his wrist.
"Come with me, Master."
Before he could protest, the floor vanished beneath his feet. Ishtar hauled him onto Maanna with practiced ease, placing him in front of her like this was the most natural thing in the world.
"We're going for a ride," she declared.
Maanna roared to life.
Ritsuka blinked as Chaldea shrank below them, the hangar doors peeling open to impossible sky.
'…Wait.'
Something felt off.
'I didn't do this with her,' he realized. 'This was MHX.'
The wind tore past them as Maanna surged forward, stars stretching unnaturally, like reality itself was bending to keep up.
'So why—'
Ishtar leaned close, her voice unusually quiet.
"Dreams don't replay memories perfectly," she said. "They rearrange them."
Ritsuka stiffened. "So you know this is a dream."
She smirked, but there was tension behind it. "Of course I do."
The stars flickered.
The sky cracked, just slightly.
"And you," she continued, eyes glowing faintly, "are remembering things you're not supposed to yet."
Maanna shuddered.
Alarms—Chaldean alarms—howled in the distance, distorted and wrong.
Ritsuka clenched his fists. 'This isn't just nostalgia.'
The dream was reacting to him.
He looked at Ishtar. "What happens next?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, the sky split wide open—
—and Ritsuka felt himself falling, the sound of rushing air turning into the steady beep of an alarm clock far, far away.
Ritsuka jolted awake.
Morning light spilled through the curtains, warm and ordinary. His room was quiet—no alarms, no stars tearing apart, no flying divine warship.
He stared at the ceiling, breathing steadying.
"That was a dream," he muttered.
His hand pressed against his chest. His heart wasn't racing, but there was a strange heaviness there, like something important had brushed past him and slipped away again.
'Still… it felt real.'
From downstairs came the faint clatter of luggage and muffled voices. The trip. The plane. Reality calling him back.
Ritsuka sat up and rubbed his face. 'Yeah. Just a dream.'
—
Back in the Void—
Ishtar crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks, clearly sulking. "Come on! You could've at least let me kiss him!"
Oei snorted. Abigail slowly turned in midair to watch.
Void Shiki didn't even look impressed. "We couldn't."
Ishtar snapped her head toward her. "Why not?!"
Void Shiki's eyes shifted, reflecting fragments of time and memory. "Because what you created wasn't a single memory. It was a stitched composite."
She continued flatly, "And the one he kissed that day was MHX."
Ishtar froze.
"…Ah."
Yang Guifei giggled behind her sleeve. "Wrong heroine, wrong scene."
Ishtar groaned and covered her face. "I knew it. I knew it felt off."
Oei tilted her head. "So what now?"
Void Shiki closed her eyes. "Now we wait. His mind is opening. Slowly."
Abigail nodded softly. "And when it opens fully…"
Ereshkigal slowly raised her hand, like a student asking a question she already half-knew the answer to.
"What does fully open mean?" she asked quietly. "He's already remembering things… events from before the reset."
Void Shiki turned toward her, eyes reflecting countless branching timelines. "What he's accessing now are surface fractures—memories brushing against the present. Instinctive recalls. Emotional echoes."
She continued, calm but heavy. "A fully open state means his soul, memories, and temporal existence are aligned. Past, present, and potential futures overlapping without rejection."
Oei picked up the thought, folding her arms. "Ritsuka has ridiculous potential. Even in proper human history, he summoned Divine Spirits—things he shouldn't have been able to handle."
She glanced toward the distant glow of a forming timeline. "If events play out the same way as last time, his body won't be stable enough to summon us until the Sixth Singularity."
Yang Guifei nodded, expression uncharacteristically serious. "And that's too late."
She twirled a finger, ripples spreading through the Void. "By then, too much damage is already done. Too many sacrifices. Too many scars."
Ishtar clenched her fists. "So you want to accelerate him."
Void Shiki answered without hesitation. "Not rush him. Prepare him."
Abigail drifted closer, voice soft but firm. "Open him fully, slowly—but earlier than before."
Ereshkigal lowered her hand, eyes darkening with understanding. "…So he won't have to break himself just to reach us."
Yang smiled, sharp and dangerous. "Exactly."
She looked out into the Void, where countless worlds shimmered. "This time, we don't wait for the story to hurt him first."
Touko sighed, rubbing her temples as she watched the family move ahead.
'This is really happening. When did my life turn into this?'
They joined the line and made their way through airport security.
Tomiko and the kids passed through first. No issues. No alarms. Smooth.
Then Touko stepped forward.
The moment she walked through the scanner—
BOOM.
The machine sparked, screamed, and promptly died in a shower of smoke and broken lights.
Silence followed.
Security froze. Travelers stared. Someone dropped a water bottle.
Touko stood there, blinking. "…Huh."
Masaru slowly turned his head toward her. "Should I… ask?"
Tomiko didn't even look surprised. She just sighed the long, tired sigh of someone who had already accepted this outcome. "Touko."
Touko shrugged. "Body modifications. Mystic circuits. Puppet frame. You know how it is."
"…No," Masaru said weakly. "I really don't."
To everyone else—normal people, non-mages—it was just a freak malfunction. Bad luck. Cheap airport equipment. One of those things you complain about online later.
But anyone who knew could tell immediately.
The machine never stood a chance.
Security hurried them along after a rushed apology and a lot of confused paperwork. No one wanted to deal with whatever that was.
A few minutes later, they were boarding their plane.
First class.
Of course it was first class.
Tomiko guided the kids down the aisle like this was non-negotiable law. "I am not letting my children's first flight be economy. Absolutely not."
Gudako stared around, eyes sparkling. "Whoa… the seats are huge!"
Ritsuka sat down more calmly, but even he had to admit—it was nice.
Touko dropped into her seat and leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
'Exploding security scanners. Family trips. Demon-slaying techniques casually lying around.'
She closed her eyes.
'I really did get adopted into this family by accident.'
The seating situation was… unfortunate.
Or fortunate. Depending on who you asked.
There were five of them. Three seats per row.
After a short discussion—one that mostly consisted of Tomiko staring and Masaru immediately backing down—the decision was made.
Touko ended up seated next to Ritsuka.
Masaru and Tomiko took Gudako.
It was, unanimously, a tactical decision.
"She's your problem now," Masaru said, already buckling Gudako in.
Gudako grinned like she'd just been crowned queen of chaos. "Hehe."
Tomiko nodded seriously. "We'll handle the energetic one."
Touko glanced at Ritsuka, then at Gudako, who was already poking every button within reach. She felt something unfamiliar settle in her chest.
Relief.
She didn't show it, of course. She merely adjusted her coat and sat down. "Good choice."
Ritsuka buckled himself in neatly, legs not kicking, hands folded like he'd done this a hundred times before.
Touko leaned back slightly.
'An eight-hour flight… and I got the responsible twin.'
A pause.
'…I must have done something right in a past life.'
Across the aisle, Gudako was already asking dangerous questions.
"Mom, what happens if I open the emergency door mid-air?"
Masaru visibly flinched.
Tomiko smiled calmly. "You won't."
Gudako tilted her head. "Why?"
"Because," Tomiko said sweetly, "your father would pass out first."
Masaru did not deny this.
Touko closed her eyes, a small, almost invisible smile tugging at her lips.
Yeah.
This was going to be a long flight—but at least it wouldn't be that long.
The plane rumbled as it picked up speed, engines roaring while the city below shrank into a blur of lights. A few moments later, they were airborne.
Touko glanced sideways at Ritsuka. "So," she said casually, "eight hours. Movie marathon? I can tolerate one… maybe two."
Ritsuka didn't even hesitate.
He pulled out a notebook—already half-filled with neat writing and diagrams. "We can do that. But I also want to talk about Sun Magecraft theories. And how it might interact with Breathing techniques."
Touko paused.
Then she slowly reached into her bag and pulled out her own notebook.
"…Very well," she said, adjusting her glasses. "But if you start asking questions even I don't have answers to, I'm blaming your parents."
Ritsuka's eyes lit up. "Deal."
He flipped to a page covered in rough sketches of magic circuits, breathing patterns, and little arrows connecting them. "So, Sun Magecraft feels external—drawing from a source—but Breathing feels internal. I think they might interfere with each other if—"
Touko leaned in, genuinely interested now. "Unless the breathing is used as a stabilizer instead of a power source."
Ritsuka blinked. "…That's exactly what I was thinking."
Touko smirked. "Kid, you're terrifying."
---
Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle—
Gudako had somehow activated the ambient LED cabin lighting.
Not just turned it on.
She'd cycled through the modes.
The flight attendant stared at the glowing cabin ceiling, then at the seven-year-old girl proudly sitting in her seat.
"…This is the first time I've seen a passenger figure that out," she admitted.
Gudako beamed. "It beeped differently. That means it wanted a second input."
The attendant slowly nodded, deeply unsettled. "Of course it did."
Masaru stared at the lights, then at his daughter. "…She's never touching my phone again."
Tomiko sipped her drink calmly. "You say that every time."
Gudako leaned back, hands behind her head, completely satisfied.
"Best flight ever."
Meanwhile with Ritsuka and Touko were still discussing.
They were using coded Magic languages so nobody would understand them
Then.
"Excuse me, can I join".
They looked up, to see a little girl of Ritsuka's age, with white hair and Yellow eyes.
[Inset image of Olga Marie Animusphere here]
Touko looked at her. "Yes, little girl"
She looked then with a soft smile. "My name is Olga Marie Animusphere, I am very interested in what you are talking about".
Touko was surprised to see her. "The Heir of Animusphere, here, will that's something".
Meanwhile, Ritsuka screamed in his head. 'Why are you here, I am not supposed to meet you here, not now'
Touko blinked once.
Then twice.
She adjusted her glasses, peering at the white-haired girl like she was a particularly interesting magical anomaly. "Animusphere," she repeated. "That's… not a name you hear outside certain circles."
Olga straightened proudly. "My family studies astronomy and magecraft. Very seriously." She paused, then added, "I was bored, and you were speaking in at least three layers of obfuscation. That's usually a sign of something fun."
Touko let out a quiet laugh. "Sharp ears. Dangerous trait."
Ritsuka, meanwhile, was having a full-blown internal meltdown.
'No no no no no—this is wrong. This is WAY too early. You're supposed to be loud, stressed, older, and yelling at Romani, not—'
He looked at her again.
She was… normal. Curious. A little awkward. No crushing responsibility yet. No Chaldea on her shoulders.
Olga tilted her head, eyes narrowing slightly. "You're staring."
Ritsuka snapped out of it immediately. "S-sorry! I was just—uh—thinking."
Touko glanced between them. Slowly. Suspiciously. "You two know each other?"
"No!"
"Yes—!"
They both froze.
Olga blinked. "I mean—no. Not really. Just… a feeling?"
Ritsuka nodded far too fast. "Yeah. That. Feelings. Normal ones."
Touko hummed. "Interesting. Very interesting."
She closed her notebook with a soft tap. "Well, Miss Animusphere, if you're interested, we're discussing a theoretical interaction between internalized kinetic reinforcement techniques and solar-aligned magecraft."
Olga's eyes lit up. "You mean Breathing-type bodily optimization layered over thaumaturgical output?"
Touko's smile sharpened. "Oh, I like you already."
Ritsuka sank a little into his seat.
'Great,' he thought. 'Future Director of Chaldea. Past version. Trapped next to Touko Aozaki on an eight-hour flight.'
He glanced at the aisle, where Gudako was laughing maniacally while changing the cabin lights again.
'…This trip is cursed.'
Meanwhile, back in the Void—
Yang blinked. "…Was that in the plan?"
Oei slowly looked around, as if checking whether reality itself was about to explode. "Nope. Absolutely not. This is gonna cause so many butterfly effects."
Abigail hugged her knees, drifting slightly lower. "The probability threads just… tangled. A lot."
Yang groaned, rubbing her temples. "Of all the places. A plane. A random plane. Really?"
Void Shiki, calm as ever, folded her arms. "Ereshkigal, calm down. He'll be fine."
Ereshkigal, who was already halfway to panicking, clutched her sleeves. "You say that, but this is Olga. Early Olga. That's not a small deviation!"
Void Shiki continued evenly. "He didn't awaken anything. No memories were unlocked. No contracts were formed. He simply… met her early."
Oei squinted. "You're saying this is a 'soft contact'?"
"Yes," Void Shiki replied. "A resonance without ignition."
Yang leaned back, grinning despite herself. "Still funny though. Fate really said, 'You're not avoiding this girl, no matter what timeline you're in.'"
Abigail tilted her head. "Will this change how Chaldea forms?"
Void Shiki paused for a fraction of a second.
"…It might," she admitted. "But not yet. Right now, it only means one thing."
Yang raised an eyebrow. "And that is?"
Void Shiki looked at the drifting image of Ritsuka on the plane, sitting awkwardly while Touko and Olga talked shop.
"He's starting to overlap with his destiny again."
Oei whistled softly. "Poor kid."
Yang smiled, eyes gleaming. "Or lucky one. This time… maybe he won't be alone."
Somewhere far below, in a flying metal tube full of unsuspecting humans—
Ritsuka sneezed.
Touko glanced at him. "You okay?"
Ritsuka nodded quickly. "Yeah. Just… had a bad feeling."
And in the Void, the gods watched, very aware that the story had just taken a sharp, irreversible turn.
To be continued
Hope people like this ch and give me power stones and enjoy