Chapter 42 – Reason.

"Hey dad?"

Leo's teenage voice rang out through the quiet laboratory as he stepped inside, the door beeping as it locked automatically behind him. His eyes widened in alarm as he took in the state of the room.

Everything had been utterly ransacked.

Drawers had been blatantly cast out of their housings, their contents spilling everywhere onto the laminated floor. Mad scribbles had been scrawled on the white boards hanging around the walls in the place of normally neat and nuanced diagrams. In the corner, the servers ran with their maximum load, the tiny electric fans struggling vainly to keep up with the excess heat.

At the end of the lab table, Leo's father sat at the edge of his stool, his eyes fixed on his laptop as he scribbled down notes incessantly, adding to the piles of papers already littering his workspace.

"…Dad?"

Leo's hesitant voice didn't seem to reach the man at all as he violently flipped a page in his notebook and scrawled furiously onto the next page.

Gingerly, the teen made his way through the rubbish on the floor towards his father and put a hand on his shoulder. There was no response at all to the touch. Leo sucked in a breath.

"DAD!" His shrill yell resounded throughout the lab.

With a jerk, the older man whipped his head to the side, his entire body trembling with energy.

"Who-?!" Leo's father gasped, his eyes taking an abnormally long time to focus on the image of his son standing there with a worried look on his face.

"Oh. My boy." The older man murmured. "What is it?" He asked in confusion.

"Dad?" Leo asked hesitantly, glancing at the mountains of scribbled work on the table and the calculation models on the laptop screen. "…What's going on?" He asked nervously.

With considerable effort, the father tore his mind from his work and swiveled the stool about to face his son. "Leo… My boy." He began, boundless excitement seeping into his expression. "I've come up with a brilliant idea!"

Leo blinked. "Does it… have to do with the Davidson Phenomenon?" He prompted hesitantly.

"Of course it does!" The older Davidson exclaimed as he suddenly leapt off the stool, proceeding to pace up and down the aisle heedless of the things he was stepping on. "I've come up with a machine, Leo! A device that could channel the power of the Phenomenon using the hypothesis we conjectured and manipulate it in order to project a human being between worlds!"

His eyes scared Leo.

"Think about it, Leo!" His father declared heatedly, slapping his hands on his son's shoulders. "A person could venture into a different world entirely! Think of what it could mean! A whole new frontier for mankind!"

The teenager gaped as he searched for words.

"…Wh-what the hell are you talking about?!" He exclaimed, pushing his father's hands off him. "The hypothesis is just that! A hypothesis!" He glanced around wildly, trying in vain to comprehend the surreal concept being presented to him. "We haven't even confirmed the existence of the other worlds, Dad!" He yelled. "Using such a machine on a human subject would be suicidal, no matter how much research you put into it!"

His father wasn't dissuaded in the least. "But if you had a volunteer," he argued, "who agreed to the experiment knowing full well the risks, then the benefits would be completely worth the sacrifice!"

Leo stared in shocked silence.

In the background, the whirling fans reached a new pitch as a particularly complex structure was rendered.

"…Who?" Leo stammered, completely lost and scared by his father's irrationality. "Who would possibly sign up for such an experiment?!"

His father's eyes went soft.

Comprehension dawned on Leo as he realized the full picture. And it was horrifying.

"No." Leo gasped. "Not you…!"

His father's eyes were sad.

"…I'm sick, son." He whispered. "Terminally sick."

The world cracked around Leo, falling apart. He stood there silently, gaping uncomprehendingly at his father. His beloved father.

The middle-aged man turned away, instead facing the research displayed on his laptop. "…The doctors say that I only have a handful of years left, give or a take." He stepped forward and leant heavily onto the desk, running his eyes placidly over the mathematical scribbles arrayed on its surface.

"All of this research… it's all I have left." He muttered, sitting back onto the stool with a quiet squeak. "That's all." He finished.

With stunned eyes, Leo glanced between his father and the diagrams of a strange-looking device on his laptop.

"No…" Leo breathed, quivering in blatant denial. "No…!"

His dad turned back to him quietly, a sad smile on his face. "…You can help me, if you'd like, my boy." His eyes were soft.

"It'll be just like old times."

Those words broke something deep inside of Leo. His father… was dying.

No… No! This can't be happening!

This can't…

With a ragged sob, the teen whirled away from his father and bashed his way through the door to the lab.

Running away.

As the heavy door slowly slid closed, Leo's father listened sadly as the boy's receding sobs tore through the hallway. The door closed and locked with a beep, returning the lab to silence.

He let out one last sigh.

And then the scientist turned back to the laptop and picked up his pen, scribbling once more.


Almost a decade later, a newlywed Leonex Davidson would enter the lab for the first time in years, only to find his aged father sitting on that exact same stool, slumped over his laptop.

Dead.

The screen would still be on as well, displaying a detailed diagram of a device that would never be completed.

…By Leo's father, at least.


…EP!

BEEP!

"Warning. Device capacity reached. Error code: 4402."

BEEP!

BEEP!

"Warning. Device capacity reached. Error code: 4402."

BEEP!

BEEP!

Leo groaned into the hard rock as he slowly awoke, registering each and every sense as they returned to him.

He was lying somewhere on ragged rocks, the points of stone jabbing uncomfortably into his body. The air smelt peculiar; it was permeated by a musky scent that made it seem as if he were in a cave of sorts. And yet there was light. So much so that he was blinded the first moment he cracked open his eyes. He groaned, wondering why the sunlight was so blue.

"Warning. Device capacity reached. Error code: 4402."

He blinked in surprise, wondering if his ears had tricked him as the augmented reality warning resounded in his skull.

With a grunt, the man sat up, sending a thought to the device in his head to see what the hell was happening. The moment he did so, the beeping blessedly came to a stop. He blinked in shock at the interface that appeared in response to his command.

…999.99%?!

What the… fuck?!

Instantly, the memories came back. The device charging as the void consumed him. The void that had been spawned by Innominat. Whom had had Laphi's face. Whom had been trying to eat-

"Velvet!" Leo gasped as he stood abruptly, groaning as the world around him shifted.

"Gah…!" He groaned, clutching his head and waited for the nausea to fade. "Where the hell…?" He muttered, shaking his head firmly and lowering his hand from his face.

The view that awaited him was otherworldly. If there was a purgatory, Leo figured this place would fit the bill nicely.

Floating rocks hovered above a sea of green, the sky above a dark, hazy blue. Pillars of neon energy rose and fell heedless of gravity. Massive rotating azure crystals spun endlessly in random points in the air, glistening in the mystic light emitting from the sea. The jagged landscape, if one could even call it that, went on for as far as the eye could see. All around him, the constant thrum of some strange being surrounded him. It was almost as if the very stones he stood on were alive, somehow.

"…An earthpulse, I'd bet." Leo concluded to himself.

Trying to regain his bearings, the man abruptly registered the lack of weight on his right shoulder. A quick look around at his feet revealed his rifle laying loyally on the floor besides his tattered notebook. Both items must have gotten loose during the fall.

He leant down to pick up the notebook first. In doing so, he accidentally opened it to a familiar page.

Cascading blonde hair. Warm brown eyes. The hint of a smile playing on her lips.

Once again, Leo's eyes were drawn to the augmented reality box hovering in his vision.

999.99%.

He could finally leave. Right now, if he wanted to.

Leonex Davidson could run away, once more.

Abruptly, a flash of green lit up the surrounding rocks as Hawk materialized in front of his master.

Leo glanced down at the malak with conflicted eyes. "Hey Hawk… glad to see you're okay." He greeted tenderly.

The malak nudged him with worry clear in his eyes.

Leo's gaze fell back onto the portrait of his wife held in his hands. He let out a hmph. "You can always see right through me, can't ya, you mutt." He muttered fondly, meeting the malak's eyes.

"…We can go now, Hawk." He whispered softly. "…Do you wanna go?"

The malak's eyes were wide.

"Yeah." Leo confirmed quietly with a nod. "It's charged. Overcharged, in fact." He explained. "Completely and utterly full of background radiation."

The malak cocked its head in confusion.

Leo shrugged at the implied question. "I have no idea why." He gazed out into the massive sea of neon green spanning the world beneath him. "But it has something to do with this place. But I have no idea why that is…" He trailed off, deep in thought.

Should he go?

Leo didn't know.

Suddenly, Hawk let out a warning snarl. Leo's eyes widened in alarm as he whipped around to discover massive armored daemon charging directly at him spear first. His eyes flew to his rifle laying on the ground in front of him. There was no time.

He shoved his notebook into his coat pocket and jerked his gauntlet blade upwards in preparation to fight for his life.

"DEVOUR!"

With a crunch, the daemon was ravaged by another monster. Over and over again the flaming red claw fell, pounding the daemon into the blood-stained rocks.

Velvet Crowe screamed hysterically as she devoured the daemon, blood splattering onto her face and tattered clothing. With a scrunch, the armored daemon disappeared into the therion's red claw.

Leo watched in shock as Velvet slowly straightened, residual blood dripping off her claw and body.

The unadulterated image of a crazed daemon.

"Kill… Kill… Murder… Slaughter…" Her hushed, mad ravings reached his ears. "…It was all for him… I killed for… him…"

Her breathing grew uneven and her eyes became unseeing as she abruptly froze in place.

"But…!" "But he said I was… ugly… Nothing… N-nothing… All for… nothing… I can't… I have to kill… Die… Die..."

Leo's eyes were wide with horror.

Velvet's mad mutterings continued eerily, echoing off the rocks and merging with the humming of the earthpulse.

Suddenly, Velvet's eyes violently latched onto Leo's hesitant form.

Instantly, a mad rage overtook her emotionless eyes. Her body tensed sharply. "Come on. We're leaving." She urged harshly. "I have to kill them."

Leo found his voice. "Velvet-" He began haltingly.

"IT'S JUST AN ILLUSION!" She roared abruptly, advancing menacingly towards Leo. "A FAKE! A TRICK!" She raised both her hands, as if it were obvious.

Behind Leo, Hawk began to growl warningly.

"Or… what if it was really him?"

"Then that means he betrayed me… doesn't it?" She asked quietly, her voice dramatically weaker in volume.

Her eyes narrowed evilly as she glared at Leo. "…You think I can't kill a traitor like him?" She asked. "Why?" She seethed, taking a step forward.

"WHY WOULDN'T I?!"

Leo gaped wordlessly as she stopped before him, her eyes consumed with rage.

"And just how many do you think I've killed, Leo…?" She breathed. "You, who WATCHED ME DO IT!" Her fist wrapped around Leo's coat as she violently tugged him towards her.

"ANSWER ME!"

Leo opened his mouth, but nothing came out. There was no collection of words that would accurately describe his horror just then.

"Tch!" With a careless toss, the vengeful therion threw the man to the side, walking heedlessly away without another word.

Hawk sent a hateful glare at the receding woman, whining in worry as he ran over to his winded master lying on the rocks next to his fallen rifle. Leo groaned as he picked himself up and stared uncomprehendingly after his friend. The friend who was walking away from him. Time slowed down as he gazed after her.

You can't do anything for her.

It was always the same line of thought.

She's gone. She's lost. Leave her.

The same hopelessness that drove his very existence.

You can go now, right? Well?! Go now!.

The feeling of uselessness. Of self-loathing. Of doubt.

You're leaving anyways. All of this is pointless in the end.

His mind flashed to all those times he ran away.

Leave. Run away.

Aball. Velvet. Laphi.

Run.

The Abbey. Eleanor.

Run.

Home. Father. Mother. Martha.

Run.

All of those times…

RUN!

All of that regret.

RUN!


All of a sudden, Phi's words rang out clearly over his doubts.

"Do what feels right, Leo." The boy had urged him. "After all, that's what it means to be alive."

Leonex Davidson's fists curled.


RUN!

With a fierce, wordless cry, Leo seized the rifle lying by his side. Without hesitating, the man jerked the weapon up to his shoulder and fired.

CRACK!

Velvet howled in agony as the anti-daemon bullet struck her, burrowing deep to her shoulder blade and rendering her right arm useless. Her body stumbled forwards in shock, a congealed mass of her blood splattering onto the stones below.

Deceptively slowly, the monster turned around.

Her eyes were trembling with rage as they met Leo's, his rifle still smoking from the discharge it had made.

"…You too?" She asked in a shaky voice.

The humming of the earthpulse made up the world around them.

Chink. Chink.

A spent cartridge plinked loudly onto the rocks below. Leo glared angrily back at his friend.

"Yeah." He agreed callously. "I've decided to betray you. Totally."

His body shifted, the tension in his legs preparing for a fight.

"I've actually been working for the Abbey this entire time." He announced casually. "Nobody knew! I've been their spy, working in the shadows to undermine the Lord of Calamity." He let out a scoff.

"Now." His eyes were dead serious as they pierced the crazed eyes of the woman standing across from him.

"Kill me." He ordered.

"W-what?!" The shaky and hysterical question escaped the shocked woman's lips.

Leo didn't move. "You heard me. Kill me." He ordered flatly.

Absently, his right hand slid into his jacket pocket and pulled out a fresh, lethal bullet, inserting it into the feed of the rifle with a loud click. "I'm here to kill you." He declared.

"So, you need to kill me to get your revenge." He cocked his head at the woman. "That's all that matters to you, right?"

With that, he raised his rifle once more, the raven-haired woman positioned directly in the middle of his sight picture.

"Now, DIE!" He roared.

CRACK!

It was instinctual. Velvet's daemon arm flew out and guarded against the incoming bullet. She cried out in pain as the malak-infused metal burrowed deep into the hot flesh, sending waves of pain down her arm.

He… He's hurting me. She thought as she observed the blood oozing from her giant palm in shock.

He's… a betrayer. She realized.

He's another person to kill.

To kill.

KILL!

With a crazed scream, the therion exploded into motion, charging forward as the man began to fire his second shot.

CRACK!

The sound of the rifle firing echoed through the empty Earthpulse. Velvet let out a feral howl as she leapt high into the air above the projectile, her eyes fixed fanatically onto her betrayer.

CRACK!

The woman side-stepped the next bullet which sliced off a few stray locks of raven hair as it missed her by inches. Her scream of fury rang out, piercing the quiet as she lunged for the man.

CRACK!

The rifle clicked loudly as the last bullet exited its round. Leo's eyes widened as his vision was enveloped with an alarming volatile shade of red.

CRUNCH!

"AGH!" Leo grunted in pain as his feet left the ground. His rifle clattered uselessly to the rocks below. The man winced in agony, his body in the clutches of the daemon. Utterly at the mercy of the unstable, damaged, Lord of Calamity.

The man stared down sadly at the crazed face of the daemon holding him captive; his friend.

She shook violently with indecision, her daemon claw shaking as she clutched the body of her ally. Her muttering was nearly incomprehensible. "I… I… I'll devour you… you… betrayer… just like… all of them…"

The pressure around his torso tightened unbearably with a squelch. Leo grunted, hacking out blood as the air in his lungs was involuntarily squeezed out.

He wheezed dryly, "You know Velvet…" He coughed, meeting her crazed eyes. "I-It's funny how things work out."

He gave the confused woman a wry, pained smile. "This is how we ran into each other that day on the Danann Highway, remember?" He let out a choked laugh of nostalgia.

Velvet's mind flashed back to all of it. She shook her head repeatedly.

"You…" she breathed. "You should have never followed me…" Blood veined down her right arm from the gunshot wound in her shoulder. "You should have forgotten about me." She whispered.

Leo scoffed abruptly, spitting blood to the side. He glared down at the woman holding him captive. "The same thing I said back then still applies, dipshit." His face softened as he intoned, "You're you, Velvet." He shook his head. "I'm still willing to bet my life on it. I told you. I don't mind giving you a wake-up bullet whenever you stray too far."

He grunted as the daemon claw clenched around his body, crushing the air out of his lungs.

Velvet shook her head violently and glared madly at the man. "I am NOT your old Velvet, DAMN YOU!" She gnashed her teeth together in denial. "I am a MONSTER! I… I devour anything to fulfill my goals."

"My sister, my brother, even the world." Velvet's shoulders shook with pure emotion. "That's who I am. That's all I am." She whispered, glaring at the rocks below.

The declaration didn't faze Leo in the slightest.

"Prove it."

Velvet took a breath of surprise, her head shooting up to the man.

"Eat me." He ordered calmly.

She struggled for words, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly. Hopelessly lost.

"…W-What?"

Leo's eyes were hard. "A proper Lord of Calamity would kill and eat anyone and anything for her revenge, right?" He splayed his captive hands. "Go on then!" He urged. "I serve no purpose to further your cause! In fact, I just admitted I'm an Abbey spy, and I tried to kill you!"

"What other motivators do you need?! Come on!" He yelled into the silence.

There was no response.

"Well?! Devour me, Velvet!" Leo roared.

Silence.

"…"

The shimmering of the distant floating crystals and the ambient hum of the earthpulse took up the silence as the two stayed like that, staring each other down. One with a steel resolve, and the other floundering hopelessly in the dark.

Leo had made his bet. He was sticking with his guns.

He sighed abruptly. "I told you this once before, and I'll say it one more damn time to get it through that thick skull of yours." He glared angrily at the stubborn jackass holding him hostage.

"You've never convinced me you're a complete monster, Velvet. Never." He declared.

Velvet shook her head incomprehensibly. "No… I… I… kill… devour…" The words tumbling out of her mouth were nonsensical and obsessive.

Leo's fists curled. He wasn't getting to her.

No matter what, it would seem that Leonex Davidson would always be useless.

No. Not this time.

He rallied mentally.

I'm not losing you too!

He opened his mouth to try his best to help the lost cause standing in front of him.

…And then his world went white.


Velvet Crowe was not amused.

Standing just outside the doorway of her brother's room with crossed arms, tapping her right index finger on her left bicep and glaring daggers at the occupants inside, the young woman was an image of fury; a dramatic contrast to her usual cheerful self.

"No way! A ship could never be built out of metal!" Laphicet's shout of disbelief echoed through the house.

"…"

"There's just no way! Take a tree log and take a cannon. Both circular objects of approximately the same dimensions. Drop them into the ocean and see which one floats. The density of the latter is just too dense to float compared to the former!"

"…"

"Well, actually Leo, I'll have you know that the human body can float just fine due to its light size and weight, relative to the water."

"…"

"Nu-uh!"

"…"

"Nu-uh!"

"…"

Velvet's eye twitched.

No. This would not do. This would not do at all.

"Nu-uh!"

"…"

"What. Are. You. Doing. Up?"

"O-oh, h-hi there, Velvet! What's up?" Laphicet stuttered nervously, suddenly distinctly aware of the time of day judging by the darkness outside the window.

"'What's up' yourself, mister. You should be in bed." Velvet growled. "And you," Velvet turned her wrath to an empty point in space, "should NOT be bothering my sick brother this late."

"…"

"You've been having 'nuanced nautical discussions' for half the day now!" Velvet huffed sharply through her nose. "You've been here since lunch! I think Laphi will be perfectly happy mulling over everything you've talked about today. Unconscious." The sister made a sidelong glare at her brother, who shivered in fear.

"…"

"OUT." Velvet narrowed her eyes in anger, pointing a single finger towards the door.

"…"

Laphicet burst into a fit of poorly-restrained snickers. "Totally!" Laphicet stage-whispered to himself.

Velvet's face darkened.

"…"

The properly pissed-off older sister promptly twisted some imaginary person's arm around its back and began marching resolutely to the door. "Bed. Now."

Gulping audibly, a thoroughly cowed Laphicet hid under his sheets as if his life depended on it.

…A flash of white.


Velvet looked at the map with interest over her porridge. "So… you two are planning a trip to Islegand?"

Laphi brightened. "No way, Velvet! Not just Islegand! Across the entirety of Midgand! Maybe even the whole world!"

Velvet chuckled. "That's crazy talk." She remarked dismissively. "Think about how far away all of it is! These things you two are talking about; snow, sand, far off continents. It's all looking to be just a tiny bit out of my depth!"

"…"

Velvet shook her head in exasperation. "The only thing I want to see right now is you two finishing your food before it gets cold. Now come on!" She urged. "Or I'll light a fire under you!"

"…"

Laphi giggled, while Velvet let out a warning growl at an empty chair.

"…"

Velvet sighed and slapped a spot of empty air. "Come on, Leo. Honestly, I have to worry over you twice as much as I have to worry over Laphi!"

Laphi shook his head, eating his own porridge at a steady pace. "It's good, Velvet! You made it just right! Not too sweet, not too flavorless!"

Velvet smiled. "That's good to hear, Laphi! I'll make sure to write down this recipe then once we're done."

…A flash of white.


Velvet looked intrigued. "A land that's not on the map…" She parroted.

"…That's it?"

"..."

Velvet gave the spot of empty air a strange look. "…You're weird, you know that Leo?"

"…"

Velvet stared at the air for a good long while.

She abruptly gave a small tentative smile. "…Alright. I'll give you a chance, Leonex Davidson. If anything, just to give Laphi a friend to talk to about boats while he's sick."

She shook an imaginary hand.

"…"

Velvet looked on with wry amusement. "But you should probably go get your prickleboar. It's going to get maggots soon."

"…"

Velvet stood there, still holding a wad of netting in her hand, staring thoughtfully into the distance. She shook her head in wry exasperation.

Something about him just gave her a good feeling. She didn't know what.

…A flash of white.


Leo blinked as the visions ended as quickly as they had begun, the three floating bubbles of white dissipating back into the ground of the earthpulse.

That… that was…?

He blinked uncomprehendingly from his spot lying winded on the rocks.

"What was… that?"

Velvet's voice broke Leo out of his shock. He turned and looked up from his position on the ground to find the woman staring directly at him in confusion.

Leo breathed, "That was… Aball." The memories flooded his brain in nostalgia. "That was back then, when all of this hadn't happened." How he longed for those days.

"But…" Velvet began hesitantly, staring at the man. "Why… weren't… you there?"

That was a cause for concern. Evidently Velvet had seen the same things he did… and what they had seen was a full, true-to-life recording of the past.

Except he had been missing.

Everything else had been spot on, down to the orientation of the map on Velvet's table and the steam wafting off the freshly cooked porridge. Everyone and everything had been correct. Except, for all intents and purposes, Leonex Davidson didn't exist. Not in these memories.

And there was only one reason he could think of to explain that.

"…Leo?"

With a grunt, Leo found his feet and stood up shakily, coughing up blood and massaging his crushed shoulders as he did so. By his feet, Hawk whined, channeling mana into his master's broken body, healing him slowly. The dull glow of the healing arte framed the man's rigid expression as he stepped forward, staring out into the strange otherworldly sea.

Otherworldly, in more ways than one.

He glanced down at Hawk healing him and met the malak's gaze. His friend, who knew his deepest secrets.

His friend.

Acutely recognizing his master's line of thought, Hawk gave Leo a soft, encouraging nudge on the leg.

There was no ambiguity as to what the malak wanted him to do.

"Well…" Leo muttered contemplatively. "…I suppose it would get her attention, huh Hawk?"

Hawk gave a single nod.

"What?" Velvet's voice was rife with confusion.

And just like that, he made his decision.

He'd thought about it all. His desire to help Velvet. Eleanor and Laphicet's words. His temporary lease on this world. The indicator blinking in his vision. His wife Martha. His father. All of it. And he had decided that he wouldn't be running away anymore. Not from what he wanted to do.

He would do what felt right to him. Reason be damned.

"Velvet?" He asked softly. "Can you keep a secret from the others?"

She blinked.

Leo inclined his head and gazed up at the floating crystals shining like stars in the horizon. "…I never did tell you where I'm from… did I?"

He heard her breathing catch.

This was it. No going back. Leo sighed. "The place I'm from…" He grasped for a way to put it. "…It's a place that a person could never find, no matter how far he or she sailed this world." He met her wide gaze meaningfully.

"This world." He emphasized quietly.

The humming of the earthpulse filled the shocked silence.

"…This world?" Velvet parroted uncomprehendingly.

"I have a machine in my head." Leo pointed sharply at his temple, where the scars of a surgery still stayed to this very day. "It was designed by my father and myself, based off of my grandfather's secret research."

"Long story short…" He shook his head, preferring not to go into the details at the moment. "…There are infinitely different worlds out there." He explained concisely. "Each with their own quirks and qualities."

He shifted on his feet impassionedly. "Now, think of how that sounded to someone like me, a person who always, always loved to explore." He muttered.

His eyes grew distant. "I had thought that… that as long as I was exploring new lands… I would feel happy. That's why I didn't care if I couldn't go home once I had left." He glanced meaningfully at her. "I was never so wrong in my life."

The silence was incredulous. No stopping now.

In an abrupt shift of tone, the man threw his hands up in anger. "Can you imagine how lonely it would be to be marooned from everything you knew like that, Velvet?!"

"Can you imagine how utterly empty you'd feel?!" He took a step forward the words tumbling passionately out of his mouth, long overdue. "Can you imagine that?!" He yelled. "Can you imagine just how alone you would feel, knowing that you didn't and wouldn't ever belong?!"

He gestured harshly to where the memory-bubble had surfaced.

"That's the only reason I can think of why I don't appear in that memory! Because I'm unnatural." He shook his head. "I never belong anywhere I go."

"I'm just a Wanderer of Worlds. That's all."

He stopped for a breath as the emotions began to override his determination. He furiously swiped at the moisture in his eyes.

Velvet stared at him wordlessly.

This… This was his true self. The same person Velvet had seen that day when they had first gone hunting together alongside Lake Perniya. This was the true face of Leonex Davidson.

Despite the impossibility of what he was saying, Velvet did not doubt the raw emotion in those eyes. Emotion that spoke of a long and haunted existence. She didn't doubt his words. They explained so much about her friend.

It just fit. It fit perfectly.

"…Why tell me now?" She asked incredulously. "After all this time of keeping it a secret?"

There were no words that could describe Leo's relief at how steady her voice was compared to before.

He huffed softly.

"…When I came here," he recounted quietly, "I was nothing but a soulless husk, waiting for the next step in an endless path to oblivion." His eyes were haunted. "I didn't feel. I wasn't happy. I had no hope."

He glanced fondly at her. "But you… you made me feel as if I belonged. You and your brother did."

He shook his head quickly. "Even now, three years later, you and the rest of your little group of weirdos make me feel… content." He sighed. "I find that in the moment, whether you're punching me for a joke I made, whether we're glaring at Magilou for her stupid puns, or whether we're laughing together at Laphicet's innocence… I find that I don't care about any of it."

"I feel alive whenever I'm with you all." He breathed. "And it feels great."

He gave the woman a determined smile. "…Loneliness, isolation, and fear of goodbyes be damned." He took a step forward. "I'm not leaving a friend like this. It feels right to help you. That's all that matters."

"So, wake the hell up." He ordered roughly. "You're not alone, Velvet."

He grinned self-deprecatingly.

"If a cowardly Wanderer of Worlds like me is sticking around in this world for you, you'd better believe that you're not a monster." He finished softly.

"That's all there is to it." With that, it was done. She knew it all. She knew the full extent of her friend's dedication.

It would be up to her if it mattered at all.

The two figures stood there, with the full knowledge of each other's secrets. Two friends from a different age and different worlds, one utterly lost, the other desperately trying to find his way to reach her.

The shimmering crystals surrounding them continued to spin in place like floating clocks.

And then the silence was broken by a faraway yell.

"Velvet!"

The two of them whipped their gazes around to find Laphicet and Eleanor running up to them in the distance.

And just like that, the spell was broken. In Laphicet's face, Velvet saw Laphi. She saw Innominat. Her brother. Her betrayer.

Leo's sudden history… his stupid, stubborn, delusional trust in her… Everything he had just entrusted to her.

It didn't matter.

It DIDN'T.

She violently whipped away from Leo, storming forwards towards her revenge.

CLINK.

An amber comb slid on the rocks and stopped by Leo's feet.

"Velvet!" Leo shouted.

The woman stopped abruptly and looked over her shoulder, cold pity in her eyes.

"You're a fool for staying, Leonex Davidson." She muttered harshly. "If what you say is true… Leave." She ordered softly. "There's nothing here for you."

Her gaze drifted slowly away from the man. "…Your thoughts about me don't matter. None of you people matter." Her eyes narrowed. "I will achieve my goal." She forced out, clenching her fist. "Nothing will stop me. Nothing."

And with that, the woman whipped around and stomped forwards, towards her revenge. Away from the wanderer trying to help her.

Leo watched sadly as the woman wordlessly shouldered right past the astonished malak and exorcist running towards them and kept on going. Towards the only thing she knew. Back to madness.

A clock that he had failed to fix.

He sat on the nearby rocks with an exhausted groan.

At least she'd listened to him, if only for a while. He'd tried, at least. Now, he wouldn't have any regrets. It was up to her now to find her own answers. The only thing he could do would be to be there for her.

With a single shake of his head, he dismissed the blinking indicator in his vision.

The Wanderer of Worlds would be overstaying his welcome. There was no way he was running away anymore.

He groaned as a spike of pain lanced up his shoulder. Maybe he'd stay there for just a little while longer before being there for her, though. Hawk whined in distress and hopped up the stones beside him, continuing to heal his wounds.

Phi ran up hesitantly up to the man and picked up the comb on the floor. The one that Velvet had heartlessly abandoned. "Leo…?" Phi was torn between him and Velvet, her form receding into the foreign distance.

"Go." Leo urged softly, waving a hand. "I'll be right behind you guys. Don't let her go it alone."

Phi nodded quietly and turned towards Velvet's receding form.

"…Phi?"

The malak turned around.

"…You were right." Leo whispered. "Don't give up on her. You're her best bet."

Phi was reassuringly determined. "I told you. I'll never give up on Velvet." He promised.

Eleanor walked over with worried eyes. "Leo... what was that vision about? Why were you not…" She trailed off.

"That's not important right now." He waved them off, stretching his abused legs. "Go on, you two! I'll be right behind you guys."

"Come on, Eleanor!" Phi urged. "Velvet needs us!"

"Yes… she does." The praetor muttered. She met Leo's gaze. "…Okay. Stay safe."

"Of course." Leo promised softly.

With a final worried look at her friend, Eleanor turned away. With that, the two ran after the Lord of Calamity, leaving the man alone once again.

Leo watched them go, absently rubbing Hawk's fur. "…Well pup. Secret's out." He sighed. "I hope something got through to her."

Hawk whined questioningly.

Leo chuckled. "Yeah. I suppose I do feel better telling her."

Another whine.

"…Yeah. We're staying." He whispered.

With a self-deprecating huff, Leo chuckled. "I guess I really do make life too difficult for myself." He shrugged. "Who knew?"

Hawk rolled his eyes and went back to healing his idiot master.

With a sigh, Leo leant back on the cold rocks of the earthpulse and stared out into the strange horizon, a soft smile on his face.

He missed his dad.