"Priestess, let's talk."
When the Doctor said that, Amiya's stiff face slowly broke into a smile.
The geometric pattern returned to her hollow eyes.
"This is rare, Doctor. Every time our ideals clashed, we tried to refute each other by other means—not like this, asking to talk."
"You've changed, Doctor."
"Did the people behind you cause this change?"
Priestess' gaze slid from the Doctor to the two beside him.
Xing waved casually.
Ember stared curiously at the Rhodes Island operators.
Priestess looked at them, and her calmness finally shifted—like opening something familiar only to find the contents utterly alien.
What were they?
One felt like an explosive device.
One like a raging flame.
And on top of that… a faint trace of bloodline.
Why were these things with the Doctor?
Her confusion deepened when she felt the same bloodline in him too.
Same origin.
She fell silent for a long time, then spoke softly.
"Doctor… you really have changed."
"Maybe." He nodded. "So, Priestess—will you talk? Just you and me, alone?"
"…Heh." Priestess chuckled.
"You've never made a request I refused, have you?"
She extended her hand.
"Come, Doctor. Come to me. I'll take you to a place where only the two of us can talk for as long as you want."
"How come her tone feels kinda… like that?" Xing whispered to Ember.
Ember: "Normal. You're in space, floating without gravity—of course you don't get it."
Can you two stop whispering things everyone can hear?
The Doctor's steps faltered. He glanced at Amiya's faint smile, uncertain if she was angry.
If she got mad and smacked him, what then?
"What's wrong? Didn't you want to talk alone?" Priestess sounded unfazed.
His instincts screamed that she was affected—he just couldn't tell how.
Damn those two idiots…
Before he could move, two hands shoved him forward.
He stumbled—then someone appeared and caught him.
"Thank you."
He froze.
Because the one who caught him was Amiya, smiling.
"Doctor, between you and me, there's no need for thanks. Now—please take my hand."
Priestess offered her hand again.
The Doctor inhaled, then placed his hand in hers.
Black energy wrapped around them.
He looked back at Xing and Ember giving him enthusiastic thumbs-ups.
He responded with a middle finger.
Priestess watched calmly.
Then—both vanished.
—
"What do you think he'll do once he knows everything?" Xing nudged Ember.
"No idea. But if it were you, what would you do?"
"I'd take everything."
"Of course you would."
"And you?"
"I'd take everything too."
Ignoring the stares from Rhodes Island, Xing and Ember laughed.
—
When the Doctor opened his eyes, he was inside a building.
A terminal stood before him, cables feeding into it from all directions, scrolling data he recognized but couldn't read.
"So this is PRTS… the machine controlling them."
As he thought that, Amiya released his hand, stepped back, and black energy swallowed her. She vanished, leaving him alone.
For a split second, he thought he saw reluctance on her face as she left.
Was he imagining it?
Then he sensed something and whirled around.
A figure was emerging from the terminal like a ghost, growing clearer with each step.
A woman with a gentle smile, geometric eyes fixed on him.
"…Priestess."
"Long time no see, Doctor."
She walked toward him.
"I remember our last parting. I used to wonder how our next reunion would look—us strolling through a sea of Originium, talking about the future, about what we'd do, about our past…"
"…Sounds like we were close."
"Close…?" Priestess shook her head.
"Our bond transcended time and space."
"We were each other's only ones, the partners who walked forward together."
"If you call that merely 'close,' Doctor, it hurts."
The Doctor felt a heavy pull just standing there.
Those eyes were… too persuasive.
He took a deep breath.
"Sorry. I forgot everything. I even forgot you."
"I only learned your name from my friends."
"Friends…?" Priestess repeated.
"Yeah. Very good friends."
The Doctor stepped closer to her.
"They suggested I come here. Hear the truth from you. Then choose for myself."
"Priestess… will you tell me the truth?"
"…You've never made a request I refused, have you?"
-------
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