I realized I forgot to update here ^^;;

The first thought that entered Gaius' mind when he stepped into the apartment was that Rowen had overdone it again. The entrance led to a large room with a kitchen and long dining table on one side, and a lounge with a big sofa and a TV on the other. It was not unlike Ludger's apartment layout, except it was probably at least twice as big. In truth, this was nothing compared to the space his castle offered, but he knew it was spacious by Elympion standards.

"This is seriously nice," Leia commented. "And look at that fridge! Mine is so tiny I always run out of space…"

Gaius let the others inspect the kitchen to their hearts content and took Rowen aside. "How much is the rent?"

"I managed to negotiate it down to 460,000 gald."

"A month!?"

"Including service charges. This is actually a good bargain, considering the standard cost of living in Triglav."

"A hotel room is only 1,500 gald a night…"

Rowen shot him a disapproving look. "What kind of hotels have you been staying at for that price?"

"Is Elympios generally that expensive?" Wingul inquired. He had been listening to their conversation and looked rather displeased. Though born a prince in a lavish palace, their years of military campaigns to conquer Ajur had taught him to be thrifty, and he had always kept meticulous track of his account books. When Gaius had gone through his belongings after his passing, he had discovered that his right hand had saved up a small fortune over the years. It all would go back to this Wingul now, and Gaius was suddenly glad he hadn't been able to throw anything away. When they went back to Khan Baliq, they would find their living quarters exactly as the prime Chimeriad had left them.

"Resources are scarce and Triglav is very popular. The cost of living here is much higher. Other towns are more affordable, however."

Leia joined their conversation to share her own experience. "Salaries are higher to make up for it, though. I'm earning a lot more than I was in Leronde. But I guess I'm not really saving more…"

"Living here is not hard if you can budget well," Rowen said. "Unfortunately, many people fall prey to predatory money-lenders who charge high interest rates."

"This is especially a problem for Rieze Maxians who try to move here," Gaius added. "Elympios' cut-throat business environment is often the biggest culture shock when they come here."

"We should be contributing…"

"You can do that when you get back to work. Let me handle it for now."

"If you don't have money, you can pay with labor," Elize suggested, "like Ludger."

"Oh right!" Leia exclaimed a little too cheerfully. "Gaius is going to need your help for house chores."

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Can you use a washing spyrix?"

"I… can learn."

The girls were stifling giggles at his expense, and the Chimeriad looked back and forth between them, unsure of what was going on.

"What are you talking about?" Agria asked.

"You'll see," Leia giggled.

"No, we should warn them!" Elize exclaimed. "What if something explodes again?" She walked up to Jiao and told him seriously: "Please make sure Gaius doesn't go near the kitchen spyrixes."

"All… right…?" Jiao answered, glancing at Gaius uncertainly. "I will take your advice to heart."

"We'll come back tomorrow to teach you how all of that stuff works," Leia promised.

"Shall we visit the rest of the apartment?"

A door between the lounge and the entrance hall led to a corridor with rooms on either side, and a large master suite at the end.

"Unfortunately, I could not find any bed your size," Rowen told Jiao apologetically, "so I had the office converted into a bedroom with futons. I hope that will be sufficient."

"Good enough for me. I just need a place to lie down."

There were two shower rooms next to Jiao's bedroom, and Agria was quick to assign them. "Boys," she pointed to the right one, "and girls," the left one. "No trespassing," she warned.

"A shower would be very nice right now…" Presa said, staring longingly at the door. "I haven't felt clean in days. Are they different than the kinds we're used to?"

"Not that much," Leia reassured her. "Here, I'll show you."

While Leia was teaching them, Gaius left to look around his own bedroom. It was much bigger than the other rooms, with an en-suite bathroom and a balcony overlooking the apartment complex' courtyard. On the bed, he found a bag containing the change of clothes he usually kept at the Rieze Maxian embassy. Rowen must have had them brought over. No detail escaped the old butler, which Gaius felt suddenly really grateful for. He definitely deserved a raise.

When he got back to the living room, Rowen and the girls were putting on their jackets. Since it was dark out and Leia's apartment was quite far from this place, Rowen was going to accompany them home.

The first rays of sun peeking through the high-rise buildings of Triglav woke Gaius. He got up and sleepily walked to the window to close the curtains, before he stumbled back into bed, face into his pillow. But no matter how much he wanted to drift back to the comforting realm of dreams, once woken, he could not stay in bed for long. If anything, his stomach was telling him it was time to get up. Yawning, he put on a shirt and made his way to the kitchen, as silently as possible so as not to wake up his new home's other occupants. To his surprise, he was not the first one up despite the early hour. Wingul was sitting at the table, his back to the door, and he was hunched over something Gaius could not see from his vantage point. He did not seem to have noticed his entrance, so Gaius waited before making his presence known, instead taking the opportunity to just look at him and take in his presence back in his life.

In the past, he would have sneaked up on him and hugged him from behind, perhaps even surprised him with a kiss. But the past was the past, and that was another Wingul.

Instead, he crossed the room toward the fridge and started rummaging through the food they had brought from Ludger's place the day before, before settling for the scrambled eggs and a glass of porange juice. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Wingul had lifted his head and was observing him.

"You're up early," he stated.

"So are you."

He sat down in front of him and watched him resume writing. Upon closer observation, he realized Wingul was simply copying the contents of a small booklet. It was written in Elympion.

"Practicing?"

"I'd never thought I would have to learn to write all over again..."

"It won't take long. It is only confusing at first glance when you are not used to it, but the characters are mostly similar."

"I can see that."

"Where did you get that book?"

"The utility room." He raised the booklet to show him the cover. It read 'user manual'.

"Oh? Are you volunteering for laundry duty then?" Gaius teased.

"I must earn my right to stay here in some way."

Gaius' smile vanished. "I told you, you needn't worry about that. I'll take care of everything."

"Stop that." Wingul slammed his pencil on the table. It rolled off to the floor, but he ignored it.

"What?"

"Stop trying to take charge of everything."

Before Gaius had a chance to answer, Wingul got up, picked up his pencil and gathered his notes, then retreated to his bedroom.

Wingul's mood did not improve for the rest of the day. He stayed in his room most of the time, and only came out to eat or to listen to Leia's explanations about how the various appliances worked. He also refused to accompany them when Ludger showed up with Elle and Elize to take them shopping. Gaius somewhat understood his reluctance to let him spend money on him—Wingul was a prideful man, after all—but his lack of cooperation was starting to become frustrating.

"Please do not take it personally," Presa told Gaius on the way to the station when she noticed he was still glancing back toward their apartment building. Gaius slowed down to match her pace, letting the others walk a bit further ahead. "You know how he gets sometimes." She paused, frowning. "You do know, don't you?"

Gaius nodded. Wingul's stubbornness was hardly new to any of them.

A few steps later, Gaius was suddenly struck by the realization that he did not, actually, know what she was talking about. If this had been this dimension's Presa, he was confident that he understood her meaning without needing confirmation. But she was another Presa, he reminded himself. She could be referring to something else altogether, for all he knew.

"Wingul never liked relying on others," he said.

Presa hummed in agreement. "Especially in these circumstances. Since it's you… Well…" She trailed off, casting him a cautious glance.

"He is going to have to get used to it," Gaius stated. "I know you would all prefer to be independent, but for now this is the most efficient solution. Besides…"

Besides, if I can be the one to make life a little easier for you…

"I understand," Presa answered. "We are grateful for everything, truly."

Shopping with the Chimeriad was a chaotic experience. Or, more accurately, shopping with Agria when Leia was around was a chaotic experience. Leia seemed to have taken her role as tour guide to heart, and insisted on stopping to describe every new thing. Of course, Agria was unable to refrain from picking a fight on any occasion. "I lived in Il Fan for years, airhead. I know what a department store is. Just because you come from some small town in the boonies doesn't mean this kind of stuff is unusual to most people."

Leia just rolled her eyes and dragged her to the ladies' section, pointing to what she thought was trendy among young people these days. Or maybe it was just her own tastes. Agria made sure to loudly object to anything Leia presented to her, but Gaius saw her discreetly sneak some articles into her basket anyway.

Elize and Elle soon got distracted by the new collection in the children's section, which displayed a rather impressive variety of shades of pink.

Presa turned to Gaius. "I'll meet you in the men's section later to pick something for Wingul. Go get something for Jiao. I'll… make sure they don't kill each other while you're gone." She gestured toward Leia and Agria, who were currently bickering about whether raincoats or umbrellas were superior. Gaius smiled at the sight. The two girls may not be getting along, but Leia's presence ensured that Agria was quickly getting used to her new circumstances and was acting like her usual self, and for that Gaius was grateful. He suspected that Leia herself was sometimes provoking Agria on purpose to achieve that.

Unsurprisingly, finding anything that fit Jiao proved to be impossible, but fortunately Ludger had a solution. "There's a tailor on the fifth floor. It'll be a bit more expensive, but he should be able to make something that fits Jiao's measurements."

On the way up, Gaius noticed how people were staring at them without even trying to be discreet about it. Next to him Jiao had tensed and his eyes were darting from side to side, as if he was plotting the best escape route. Gaius put a hand on his arm and squeezed reassuringly. "There is no enemy here."

Jiao looked at him apologetically. "I don't like crowds," he explained. "Especially since…" He did not finish his sentence, but stared at Gaius silently with a sad expression on his face. Gaius did not press him. If he had a reason to be wary of crowds beyond what Gaius was supposed to know, he would tell him when he was ready to talk about it. Gaius nodded, then let go of his arm when Jiao returned the gesture. The rest of the walk up was spent in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, Ludger only daring to interrupt to tell them they had reached their destination.

The tailor Ludger introduced them to was very excited at the prospect of designing clothes for, in his words, a literal giant, can you believe it? and they had to dampen his enthusiasm a bit and convince him that all Jiao needed were a few functional outfits that fit Elympios' style. He was all too happy to comply, and promised them that everything would be ready in a few days.

As promised, Presa helped Gaius choose something for Wingul. They only picked a couple of casual outfits and nightwear, as they supposed that he would prefer to select his own formal costumes himself once he decided to stop moping (Presa's words). The pants and shirts they bought were all black, except for one article that caught Gaius' eye. It was a simple white T-shit with an elegant print of light purple wisteria flowers. A wave of nostalgia swept over Gaius when he saw it, bringing his mind back to memories of times that were equally more chaotic and straightforward.

"Your Highness?" Presa inquired.

Gaius shook his head and forced his mind to come back to the present. "Wisteria. Long Dau symbol." A past Wingul did not look back to, yet shaped the man he had become.

"Oh." Presa touched the fabric, her hand lingering a moment before she picked one up from the pile in the right size. "I think he'll like it."

"Hmm."

If Wingul had any objection to the purchase, Gaius didn't know. Presa threw the shopping bag on his bed with a warning not to waste their effort, and the next time Wingul left his room he was wearing proper Elympion lounge wear—all black, but comfortable and fit for staying at home.

The following two weeks passed in a similar fashion, with Wingul either holing up in his bedroom or casting Gaius intense glares when he thought he wasn't looking. Gaius did not know what to make of that. At first, he thought of fractured Milla, and how disoriented she had felt in this new world. How she was constantly irritated. Perhaps this was just one of the consequences of being ripped from your world forever, of losing the life you thought you had.

"That's not it," Jiao refuted. "Comparatively, this world is much better than ours. We don't really miss it much, honestly."

It was true that the other Chimeriad had adapted surprisingly well—not only to the whole other dimension situation, but even to life in Elympios itself. Presa had reconnected with Alvin and gone out for drinks with him and Ludger thrice already, going as far as using their connections to land herself a part-time job at a local trendy bar. Despite initial reluctance, and after a lot of perseverance, Agria eventually accepted Leia's offer to tag along on her investigations ("That way you get to see more of Elympios and find out for yourself whether you like that kind of job," Leia had said enthusiastically, and that was the thing that finally made Agria sigh and agree to go with her, "but only for one day!" It had now been a week.) Jiao, for his part, had mysteriously acquired a reputation as a cat whisperer in the neighborhood, and was often called at any hour of the day to help retrieve lost pets (with sometimes very generous rewards).

It was not that they had completely abandoned their old life. Though they tried to hide it, Gaius saw it in the exchanged glances, the hushed conversations, the wistful looks they sometimes could not completely conceal. But in spite of everything, they decided to make the most of their situation and to move forward. It was not that different, he realized, than the way they had adapted to their changes in circumstances back when he recruited them. And wasn't their resilience exactly the reason he had wanted them by his side in the first place?

However, Wingul… Wingul was different. Gaius had expected him to bounce back as quickly as the others. To interrogate him in detail about the current state of the world and what he was doing about it. To assist him with astute remarks and observations. To jump right into it, like he had always done for as long as Gaius had known him. But perhaps he did not know him that well after all. The only thing Wingul had actually achieved in the past couple of weeks was mastering the washing spyrix and other appliances, which… Gaius was actually secretly grateful for, because the things had way too many buttons and settings for his liking. However, that was not exactly the life he had imagined for his former right hand. He had also not expected him to actively avoid him, but now, after weeks of observing his strange behavior, there was no denying that was exactly what he was doing.

Was this Wingul truly similar to the one he had known? Or was that just his misguided assumption, encouraged by the fact that the other Chimeriad were mostly as he remembered them? He was from a fractured dimension after all; perhaps there were more divergences than just their survival. Perhaps this Wingul had never gotten close to his Gaius, and was still carrying a decades-long grudge, and the mere sight of Gaius repulsed him—

"He's just taking time processing," Jiao offered gently.

"He's moping like an idiot, you mean," Agria quipped.

"It is not like Wingul to mope for so long."

"Aw, well…" She squirmed a little in her seat. "He's been pretty mopey over the past year. Since… Yeah."

Gaius was about to ask Agria what she meant when Presa provided her own insight. "He's probably feeling inadequate. You have another Wingul here, so he must be wondering where he stands, exactly. You know his role was a big part of his identity."

Ah, of course. Gaius knew how deep Wingul's insecurities could run. The last time Gaius had done anything that led him to believe he was no longer useful, he had gone and subjected himself to dangerous experiments that eventually contributed to his death. It was an oversight to think he would have taken the situation well. Besides, if what he suspected was true…

Gaius felt a pang of guilt at the thought that his reluctance to talk had worsened the situation. Keeping information from them was not sparing them; on the contrary, it was doing them a disservice to delay the inevitable. He had to face this head-on, no matter how painful it was. He owed them—and the Chimeriad of this dimension—that much.

He asked Presa to fetch Wingul, who took his place at the table without a word. Although his state had improved since the day he came, he was still unnaturally pale and bore dark circles under his eyes. For someone who spent the majority of his days in his bedroom, he looked exhausted.

Gaius took a deep breath.

"There is something you need to know."