Jackie turned her head against Fiore's chest, gently smiling and rubbing his chest while she was trying to wake up. Fiore was so cute … she was beginning to get addicted to his cuddling while they slept. Jackie smiled and cuddled closer to Fiore, kissing his chest and up his neck. She was pleasantly sore and although she was new at this, she thought she did alright last night. She continued to kiss up to his chin, cracking her eyes open before pausing, seeing clear as day eyelids. Her eyes widened, backing up in fright before looking down at Fiore. It was definitely Fiore but, but his face!

Feeling her movement, Fiore slowly opened his eyes and looked at Jackie. "Morning, Jackie. Wanna go for another round?" He smiled, his tail already wagging slowly. For some reason he felt different. Not that he didn't already like Jackie but also there was something awkwardly new and attractive about her. He didn't have any idea what it was in particular but it was pulling his interests towards her. Seeing her horrified face, however, he paused. "What's wrong?" He asked.

Jackie staggered off the bed, her eyes wide and her stance, very, very frightened. "Why?!" Jackie gasped, leaning in just a little bit to get a better look at him, "W-WHY DO YOU HAVE EYES?!" She shouted, grasping at her heart in shock.

"Eyes? What eyes?" Fiore sheepishly moved, flickering his ears and yawning, closing his eyes tightly.

"ON YOUR FACE!" She shouted, her heart racing, "y-you have eyes! How?!"

He grabbed his own face and accidentally poked his eyes, flinching as he felt the sensation of blinking. His eyes widen, closing his eyes and feeling them more gently as they throbbed in pain from his initial poke. "AhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHH I HAVE EYES!"

"Why do you have eyes?!" Jackie shouted, pointing at him in horror.

"I have eyes! And they hurt! OH, MY LADY! How did I get eyes?!" He shouted, running into the bathroom and staring at his own reflection to see bright olive green hazel colored eyes staring back at him over somehow quite more define features. "I-I'm a Role Holder?" Fiore said, looking at his own reflection before covering his mouth in shock.

"F-Fiore, are you alright?" Jackie asked, hurrying in after him and looking at the reflection as well, staring at his beautiful green eyes.

"It … It can't be!" He screamed in shock, his ears dropping back as his tail puffed while going between his legs. "NO, NO NO! I can't be!"

"F-Fiore, calm down!" Jackie said, grabbing hold of him. "Look, w-we can't panic. U-Uh, stay here, I'm going to go get Aria, she'll know what to do." Jackie said, firmly hugging him before she quickly ran back into the room to get dressed

"NO! What will Lady Aria think … what will she do!? She'll kick me out! I'm no good anymore, I'm, I'm … " He whined before shifting into his animal form and rushing to hide under the bed, trembling and whining in fright.

"F-Fiore? What in the world are you doing?" Jackie asked, looking under the bed to see Fiore trembling in fright while softly whining to himself. Jackie ran her fingers through her hair, doing her best not to panic before she quickly ran downstairs and into the back room, flashing her urgent emergency letter before quickly handing it to someone. "I need to see Aria; now." Jackie said, her hands shaking in fright.

The man saw it and the urgence in Jackie's trembling voice. So he placed his hand over her eyes and quickly dragged her off into the back.

.

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Fiore was scared to meet his lady. Not having a safer place to go, he ran towards the safest, most familiar place he could think of out of utter fear and cry out his panic amongst the baking ingredients of the kitchen.

He ran down the stairs and flew into the royal Staircase's kitchen in a scurrying panic, smacking into someone who was going to bake a cake. The faceless staggered, dropping the bowl of ingredients and dropping it over the panicking pooch, causing a huge mess of flour, sugar and baking powder to cover Fiore. With flour clogging his nose he scampered to safety and leapt into a cabinet to hide where he began loudly crying in the relative safety and darkness of the ingredients cabinet.

"F-Fiore?!" The second in command chef and operations chief of the immediate premises, Giorgio Bale Arquette Charest, cried in startelement before he pulled out his gun. Two other cooks shifted their cooking utensils into guns as a third kicked over a heavy table to use as a barricade against whatever had scared Fiore so badly. They took up positions, waiting but nothing ever came.

"My lady, oh, my fair lady, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Fiore loudly yelped from within the cabinet as his nervous claws ripped into the bags of flour and made a soft cushion of cake ingredients to lie in. "This isn't real, it can't be, it just can't be-!"

The faceless staff remained tense. They knew that Fiore would never enter the kitchen in such an embarrassing manner, in his wolf form no less that he rarely ever used in public, unless something was terribly wrong.

"Keep watch on the door." Giorgio ordered as he walked over to the cabinet and knocked on the door with a frown. "Fiore, what is the matter? Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" Giorgio asked, knocking on the cabinet again but his only response was hearing Fiore loudly crying from the other side, no longer even speaking.

With an uneasy frown Giorgio opened the cabinet to find the large pooch having destroyed at least 40 great cake's worth of flour and completely white from head to paw. Fiore remained trembling and whimpering loudly, covering his face with his paws while his tail held between his legs. "Fiore, what were you running from?" Giorgio asked but Fiore did not answer, only continuing to hyperventilate amongst the flour particles now in the air, sniffing and sneezing occasionally. With a stern frown Giorgio reached in, grabbing Fiore's back leg and trying to drag him out of the cabinet.

"No, no! I can't let my Lady see what I have become! I am ashamed!" Fiore screamed in panic as Giorgio grunted, struggling to pull the powerful wolf from his hiding hole. Two other faceless came over and helped, pulling with all their might before Fiore was dragged out with three more flour bags. Fiore's face was caked in flour, making it impossible to see the expression on his face.

"Fiore, that is enough! Look at the damage you are causing. Now tell me what the problem is." Giorgio ordered as he grabbed Fiore's face and brushed off the flour only to run his hand over something odd. Giorgio's lips parted, feeling his clock tick harder before running his thumbs over eyelids before Fiore's red and puffy olive green eyes looking up at Giorgio in terror, all the while Fiore's chest huffed and puffed.

Giorgio looked on in shock before covering his mouth. "By my lady!" He breathed as the others glanced back, seeing the eyes on Fiore's face. Suddenly understanding the situation they abandoned their posts to take a closer look at Fiore's face.

Seeing the horror and shock on their faces was enough to make Fiore's face scrunch up in agony, baring his teeth before he pulled away from Giorgio and leapt back into the cabinet and cried even harder if possible.

The faceless remained in silence, all looking at their peers or at the cabinet for some time. There were no protocols in place for situations like this.

Two of the faceless silently left the room, gently ushering customers out of the shop before they flipped the 'closed' sign over and locked the doors. They returned quickly as they looked amongst one another as to what to do about this situation. One of their close friends and comrades had turned into an awful Role Holder. Now they knew why they felt the fear in their clocks and why they felt the instinct to flee now - this was a new Role Holder, which were known to be vicious and violent first after changing but their friend Fiore was grieving and in clear pain and regret.

"Mmmhh. Fiore, are you still in there? Do you still think like Fiore?" Giorgio spoke softly to him, unsure of what to do or say. "Why don't you come out and tell us what happened?"

"No, no! Leave me be, I can't be around anyone, I-I can't, I'm one of them, one of those disgusting Role Holders!" He howled, trailing off into a whimpering cry of despair.

"Well, you made a mess. You need to clean up for when Lady A and Jackie come for you." someone else said in an attempt to help calm him down.

"No, they can't! I can't let my lady see what I've become, I'm a monster! And, and Jackie, my Jackie! I can't stay near them, y-you know what happens to Role Holders around foreigners, t-they get possessive, greedy and awful! I don't want that, I don't want that, not to them, not to anyone I love!" He screamed in horror as he sobbed hard.

"But you aren't like that, she won't leave you." One of the chefs gently spoke, setting her hand near the new Role Holder.

"I can't … no, not ever, I can't-! You know how awful they are, how awful they will be and always will be-! And now, and now I'm one of them, I hate this, this can't be real, but it is!" He howled before choking off into harder sobbing. "Please, please tell me this is a nightmare, a nightmare and just that!" Fiore cried in shame. "My Ladyyy!"

"Fiore … ," someone else gulped before asking. Finally questioning what all of them were thinking, "do you want to kill us all?"

"No, no I would never!" Fiore loudly cried. "I don't want to, I don't want that!" Fiore cried and choked off at the end with a strangled cry. "It's awful, I don't want this, I don't want to hurt anyone!"

The same person asked again. "Do you want to betray the Lady or the Lullaby?

"No!" Fiore cried in terror. "My lady is everything, the Lullaby is everything to me, I would never, I could never!" He cried, unable to finish his sentence.

"Are you still Fiore or just a monster without memories of all your life?" Was the next question.

"I don't know, I don't know!" Fiore cried loudly, "I'm a Role Holder now, I'm a monster and awful! A Role Holder that my lady hates, a terrible Holder-!" Fiore loudly sobbed.

"Yeah, but do you remember baking all those pastries with us and going on missions for your post, and then reporting to lady A?"

"Of course I do!" Fiore gasped, beginning to hyperventilate in his terrible sobbing.

"And do they mean anything for you still?"

"Of course they do, they, th-they were all for my lady, my beautiful lady!" Fiore sobbed.

"See, you are still Fiore Rico Barone Cerqueira, at least for now." Giorgio said while crossing his arms.

"I'm not, I'm a monster! A Role Holder! Why, why me?!" Fiore screamed and loudly whined.

"Just get the heck out of there!" Someone else told him. "You're messing up the flour."

"No! Leave me in here, I don't want to come out, I don't ever want my fair lady to see me like this, a Role Holder!" Fiore cried loudly.

The faceless looked at each other again and nodded before they dragged the maned wolf out and hugged him tightly despite him weakly resisting and trying to crawl back into the cabinet while crying.

"No, no no no! Run away! I can't, I can't-! You know what new Role Holders are like, please! Leave me!" Fiore loudly screamed in terror.

"Fiore! You are a Lullaby note, we are different than normal cards, so you could be a different pedigree of holder too." One of them said, thinking about it.

"You know how they are, vicious and awful! Role Holders are awful, every last one!" Fiore cried.

"And yet you have not attacked us." Giorgio told him while a woman used her weight to keep him in place.

Fiore only cried harder, struggling to run away from them. The woman holding him struggled, falling over and hanging on while he tried fleeing but two more faceless grabbed onto him, along with a fourth and fifth who were finally able to weigh the powerful wolf down to the ground and prevent him from fleeing. "Please, please-! I can't let my lady see me like this, I'm a monster!" Fiore loudly howled in anguish.

"She will judge that." One faceless said and then looked at the others. "That must have been why Jackie rushed down here earlier."

They all nodded in silent agreement to keep Fiore there until their lady arrived to assess the situation. They carried him upstairs to his apartment while hugging him tightly to prevent him from running, giving him many pets and caresses even though he was super distressed, whining and crying the entire time with his tail between his legs and covered in flour.

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Jackie was rushed through a series of corridors and taking even some lifts and transports before getting to an office where he told the secretary this seemed to be an emergency. A few discussion later before Jackie was let in, Aria herself came out.

"Ok, what's up … ugghh let her get in." Aria groaned, opening the door for Jackie and then closing it behind her. "What happened?" Aria went to the desk and grabbed the bottle of wine, giving it a long drink and even spilling some right over her chest, not caring about it in the least as it disappeared in shadows. She looked like a wreck to say the least.

"Aria, Aria oh fuck! Something is wrong with Fiore!" Jackie cried, trembling in fright. "H-He has eyes! Green eyes! W-We woke up this morning and he had freaking eyes!" Jackie shouted in a panic. "Please, he needs your help, he's freaking out a-a-and so am I!" Jackie cried.

"Wait. What?" Aria dropped the bottle and it was caught by darkness on its fall down.

"H-He said he was a Role Holder b-bu-but how is that possible?!" Jackie shouted, breathing fast and hard in fright.

"He what?!" Aria was too stunned for a moment, apparently somewhat disoriented too.

"She just said that Fiore got eyes and became a holder. Maybe it has something to do with what happened last night." Aegis voice appeared as the A.I. materialized in the form or a flying squirrel.

"Aria, you have to come see Fiore, he's freaking out really badly." Jackie said, hurrying over to her. "Please, Aria! I'm so worried about him!" Jackie said, shaking Aria's shoulder.

"Wait … tell me exactly what happened last night and this morning and all. We can go once you mention that. Did anyone else see?" Aria went to the kitchenette to grab a jar of cold coffee and began gulping it down.

"Aria, I can tell you that on the way there but I'm scared about what he might do to himself!" Jackie said, seriously worried for his health. "And no, I told him to stay in the room while I came to get you."

"Fine. start speaking while we get there." The Berceuse snapped her fingers and a half mask appeared over Jackie's mouth which would prevent others from hearing her. "I can't let this get out, so speak and Aegis will transmit."

"Okay, okay fine! Last night w-we got a little frisky but nothing much after that, we just hugged and c-cuddled before going to sleep. I woke up this morning to see him with eyes on his face, that's all that happened. I don't understand how this happened to him." She said, freaking out.

Aria growled and cussed a really long string of profanities in spanish that somehow managed to keep going through all the process of opening a portal to her territory, pulling Jackie in, and from there opening a portal towards Fiore's apartment.

Jackie quickly opened the door to Fiore's apartment where they could hear Fiore's distressed puppy yelping inside. With a quick twist Jackie opened the door, hurrying to Fiore's bedroom while Aria noticed that all the doors and windows were shut tightly to prevent any spying.

"W-What the?" Jackie asked, startled as she stopped short - in the middle of Fiore's room was Fiore covered in an explosion of flour while the entire Royal Staircase's staff were hugging and cuddling him. "U-Um, Aria's here to take a look at Fiore." Jackie said as Aria came up from behind Jackie and looked inside.

"Thank you everyone for your fast response." Aria spoke calmly but with a firm tone, making everyone stop and turn her way. "I see you took quick action despite there not being a protocol for this situation. And more so, you are helping a member of our family. Well done."

Fiore suddenly jolted, recognizing the voice as his fair lady's before he yelped and darted out of the arms of his cuddlers. He quickly shot beneath the bed and softly cried.

"T-thank you, my lady." Giorgio spoke as he and the others quickly stood up and bowed to her. They remained stiff in their thanks, worried for Fiore's potential fate. But whatever their lady decided, they would stand by her as her loyal cards.

Aria nodded. "No, thank you all. Now please leave us alone. I'll deal with this situation. Please continue with your normal activities."

Everyone scurried away fast and silently, leaving the apartment and closing the door upon exist.

"F-Fiore, please come out of there." Jackie said, getting down and looking under the bed to see Fiore hiding his head under his paws, trembling and whimpering in fright while leaving a small trail of flour.

"Fiore." Aria spoke, a bit harsh perhaps. "Get out of there."

"No, no my lady, don't look at me!" Fiore loudly yelped, tucking his tail between his legs and softly crying.

"Fiore, come on! We need to figure out what happened." Jackie said, reaching in and grabbing his back leg. "Fiore, I understand why you're freaking out so much but come on." Jackie said, pulling Fiore out from under the bed as he leaned away, trying to scamper back underneath while crying. Finally giving in, he laid down and covered his eyes with his paws, shaking uncontrollably.

"Fiore. Let me see." Aria spoke calmly but firmly. Crossing her arms and tapping her foot on the floor to add some pressure.

"My lady, my lady!" Fiore cried, wildly yelping in distress. "Please, forgive me!" He cried, trembling and trying to ball up in fright. "Please don't throw me away!"

"Fiore, please calm down." Jackie said, hugging Fiore's head to her chest before turning to Aria. "Aria, hug him." Jackie said, looking up at her.

Aria took a deep breath and then went up to the crying maned wolf and began petting him, softly scratching his fluffy ears and cheeks or neck. "I am not kicking you out, Fiore. I'm not killing you either. This is not your fault. It simply happened and we are going to figure out what to do next, so let me see."

"B-But you hate Role Holders, a-a-and I've become what you hate so much-!" He cried with thick tears falling from his eyes. "I am so ashamed, my lady-!" He wildly cried, yelping loudly in distress.

"I don't hate you, Fiore Rico Barone Cerqueira." She pet him some more, awkwardly trying to be reassuring. "As long as you don't betray us I don't have a reason to kill you."

Still trembling, Fiore looked up to her with terrified eyes, searching his lady's face. "I-I would never betray you, my lady! I would never dream of doing something like that, b-bu-but now, I am a filthy Role Holder-!" He cried, closing his eyes tightly and crying. "Just like those awful Role Holders who hurt you so terribly, my lady." He hiccuped, his jaw trembling terribly.

"We first need to determine which role you have." Aria said, petting him more and more but it seemed he was too distressed, so she had an idea. "Fiore. You are...err...ahh….mmhh... my puppy, yes? Alright? I … I'm putting a collar on you. So now you can't betray me. Ok?" She almost desperately said, conjuring a necklace that looked exactly like the one Jackie had but with a sturdier chain, which she quickly put around his neck, not really knowing how to deal with this.

"M-My lady?" Fiore questioned, trembling and as he felt the weight of the collar around his neck. "A collar?" He sniffled with his ears down.

"That's a temporary model. You'll get a real nice one soon." Aria said, planning to give him a collar that at least had the same functions as Jackie's did.

"And not just any collar would do, of course." Aegis stated as he materialized to look like a Pomeranian. "Now you'll have to be a good pet for Aria."

"I-I, my lady." Fiore trembled, shakily breathing between his tears. "I will serve you to the end of time, my lady. I could never betray you!" Fiore said, bowing down and keeping his head against the ground.

"Just calm down, Fiore. I don't know how to deal with this." Aria exhaled. "I need another drink."

"Y-Yes, my lady." Fiore spoke, shaking before he turned his head and nuzzled against her chest, closing his eyes as he tried to slow his breathing. Jackie happily hugged him back, petting him and holding him close while kissing his head and snout to help.

Aria rolled her eyes and sat cross legged on the floor, pulling the big but light canine over her lap to pet him even more, not knowing what she was getting herself into.

Jackie smiled, happy that Fiore was finally beginning to calm down.

After a good 20 minutes of petting, Fiore stood up, facing Aria.

"I-I am calmer now, my lady." Fiore nodded slightly, standing in front of her like a strong wolf but his tail was still tucked between his legs, unsure of what to do now.

Aria grabbed his head and looked at his eyes. They resembled hers with the olive green color, which might be some of her influence in this world but overall and more importantly, they were real as if they had always been there, and there was no other visible change that she could see. "Let's go so you can be examined. Some experiments need to be performed on you now that there is the chance for it."

"Experiments?" Jackie asked, sounding alarmed. "You're not going to hurt him, are you?" Jackie asked rather defensively.

"I'm not." Aria huffed at Jackie. "He is my pooch or whatever, no?"

"It's alright, licorice." Fiore said, leaning over to Jackie and nuzzling her face. "My lady will do with me as she pleases." He happily smiled, not exactly offering words of encouragement while he gently pawed at his new necklace, looking mighty proud. His mane perking and his tail wagging somewhat.

" … i-if you say so." Jackie frowned, clearly still worried for him.

Aria stood up and opened a portal. "Fiore, come with me. Jackie … you don't say anything about this to anyone. Especially to other holders." Aria hissed.

"Y-Yeah, I won't say anything." Jackie nodded.

"Good." Aria said and went into the portal with Fiore, closing it and leaving Jackie behind in the apartment.

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After hours of extraneous and tiresome test and experiments, Fiore was exhausted, barely managing to keep himself awake. He was very proud of himself for lasting as long as he did against his lady's experiments to test how much stronger he's gotten.

"Well, your physical resistance certainly has improved exponentially and now you can use your ability for entirely 5 more seconds. That is amazing." Aria commented, looking at the charts in her notepad.

"Yes … I can feel that I've gotten much stronger." He said, lowering his ears and staring at his hands. "I can feel that my senses have sharpened … I can hear your heartbeat much clearer now, my lady." Fiore smiled happily.

"You are more than 1 meter away. Interesting … we should test your hearing soon then. Your blood tests should come soon, so once I got that we can go on to the other tests. It's quite nice that I have your performance tests from before this happened. Now I can compare and draft some metrics."

"I am glad you are pleased, my lady." Fiore spoke happily, flickering his ear slightly as he felt his eyelids grow heavier very quickly. He twitched, feeling his body grow heavy.

"... yes, this is interesting. Also it seems that all the holders are alive, so I wonder what role you got. That is yet to be clarified but luckily I have the historical notes from the kings, so I can at least start a list and eliminate some of the possibilities one by one … " She kept on talking.

"Thank you … my, my lady." Fiore slurred before his eyes rolled back. He collapsed onto the ground, barely catching himself before he soundly passed out.

Fiore's eyes opened to find himself in a strange dark space. He blinked, confused as he looked about the space he was in. His ears lowered, feeling very unsettled. Where was he?

"So you are the new role holder. This is quite a surprise. There hasn't been a recalled role for quite some time." Nightmare Gottschalk appeared between the greenish purple mists of the dream realm

Fiore whipped around, freezing as he spotted Nightmare, the silkworm Role Holder. Fiore's ears lowered, nervous. However, him being here might be a good thing - he might be able to get some answers. Steeling up his mind, he was careful about what he thought about. "Nightmare Gottschalk." Fiore nodded in acknowledgement with a short stiff growl.

"Don't mind being careful or not. I'll simply read your mind and know it anyways." Nightmare darkly chuckled.

"What do you want?" Fiore asked with a frown, keeping his ears tall and alert as his chest rumbled with a threatening growl.

"So aggressive." The incubus commented. "I'm here to make sure the new holder understands his duties."

"Which are?" Fiore asked, nervously gulping as his ears lowered nervously. What were the new duties that he would have to follow as a Role Holder? He was almost too anxious to even want to hear them.

"Oh, what a cute puppy." Nightmare mocked. "Maybe that's why she found you so adorable."

"If you are here to deliver what role I have then tell me already. Please." Fiore asked, deciding to be more submissive for the moment. "What role do I have? And what does it mean?"

"Oh dear, the puppy doesn't know what he is?" A new voice asked, making Fiore jolt before he turned and saw Joker step into the space, smiling in amusement.

"What are you doing here, Joker?" Nightmare narrowed his eye. "The game ended, so your presence is not required anymore."

"On the contrary, my presence is needed now more than ever." White smiled. "You happen to be meddling in my wife's territory, and I can't just let that slide without saying hello." White smiled with a shrug.

Nightmare immediately launched an attack to mind rape Joker and see the truth. He expected Joker to fight him back or kill himself before giving up that information, but he didn't meet a single resistance and was immediately presented with every single detail of a plentiful and active hidden love life with an equally hidden foreigner.

Joker happily smiled with a light blush on his cheeks, reliving every delicious moment of happy lovemaking with his lovely wife.

Nightmare almost fainted from blood loss due to the torrent of it streaming down his nose even in the dream realm. It took him quite some effort to block even more images of even more hardcore memories, but after that, he at least understood.

"So there was second foreigner all along before Jackie." The incubus said, pressing his handkerchief over his still bleeding nose. "And you, of all people, won that game and then the puppy won the last one." He practically spat before looking at the new holder that was oblivious and confused at whatever was going on. "You really don't know?"

"I-I won?" Fiore asked, confused. "What do you mean I've won?" He asked, blinking with his ears pulled down.

"So the puppy doesn't know he won Jackie's game?" Joker laughed while clapping. "Well, congratulations. You are probably the holder that has won a game faster in all of Wonderland's history."

"Bu-but to win she must have a connector from me, right? But I never got one." He said, thoroughly confused and nervous.

"You used it right after you got your role apparently. Maybe you weren't even awake." Joker laughed, now pointing at Nightmare. "And now you fools lost every single chance! But you never even noticed it, all obsessing over Alice. This has been much too fun to see you fools miss what was obvious!"

Nightmare remained too stunned for a few seconds before using psychic attacks to hit the laughing jester.

"S-So Jackie, a-a-and my connector … ?" Fiore mumbled to himself, trembling in shock. "H-Hey, I have to wake up!" Fiore shouted, flustered.

"Come along to the Circus when you can, Fiore. I'll tell you what role you have." White smiled before he vanished.

With a final attack, Nightmare kicked Joker out of the dream entirely before he turned to Fiore. "Listen up. You're 'the puppy'. And you won Jackie's game." The incubus huffed, still in a very bad mood from Joker's interruption, much too bothered to remain here much longer, allowing the dream to start fading away. "Come to the tower if you want me to tell you about your role."

"P-Puppy?" Fiore said, stunned. S-So he went from wolf to dog, and dog to puppy … that seemed more degrading than anything else. Nightmare smirked, letting out a small laugh before he snapped his fingers.

Fiore's eyes burst open before he let out a loud scream and shot up, clutching his clock in alarm before looking around the room to see Aria sitting at her desk staring at him with a frown at his scream.

"Fiore!" Aria practically barked, already considering possibilities of why he passed out and awoke so suddenly, his chest seeming to be in pain.

"M-My lady-! That horrible worm N-Nightmare contacted me. A-And so did Joker." He said, immediately reporting to her what happened.

"I see … it was expected, I suppose. But the nerve of that a**hole. " She growled, tapping her foot on the floor and then grabbing a small box from the table and tossing it to Fiore, whom caught it easily. "In that box is your new collar. I had it manufactured as fast as possible." She crossed her arms. "It has the same properties as Jackie's necklace, including blocking that b****** from entering your dreams while you wear it. I used a pseudo relic, so it should also blurr that worm's perception towards whatever you are thinking. Now tell me all that happened in that dream."

Fiore opened the box, looking inside and finding a tight dark band with a little pendant with his name on it. In the back it said 'Property of A.H.S. if lost return to the Royal Staircase.' Fiore gently smiled, kissing the pendant before looking up at Aria. "I am the Role Holder of the Puppy role, my lady." He stated, not sounding too proud at the fact he was not only degraded to a dog but to a 'puppy' status with his role. "I have to admit I am embarrassed to be called a puppy. That's worse than being called a dog." He huffed.

"Of course you aren't a dog. But you are a cute puppy." Aria smiled. "Just not puppy of a different canine species if you want to see it that way. And you are only mine and Jackie's puppy. You can rip apart anyone who says otherwise. "

"Yes, my lady." Fiore smiled, wagging his tail happily before stopping short. "Both Nightmare and Joker informed me that they were aware of what role I was and what pertains to that role. Both suggested I should go see them." Fiore explained with lowered ears. "A-And … a-a-about my connector," Fiore trailed off, nervously frowning.

"You should go see Joker then." Aria sighed. "And yes, I suppose you have a connector now. Is there something about it? … well, since you have one please let me see it. I need to examine it because of … reasons." She grabbed her glass of iced tea from the table and began drinking from it.

"I-I'm afraid I can't, my lady." Fiore whined, tucking his tail between his legs. "I-It appears I placed my connector onto Jackie last night at some point. A-And it seems I've won Jackie's game." Fiore said, nervously closing his eyes and trembling.

Aria spat her beverage and almost choked. "YOU WHAT?!"

Fiore softly yelped under his breath, nervously frowning. "Nightmare told me that I must have placed it on her while I was sleeping since we were so close together. I-I had no idea where my connector was until he told me." He explained.

After an entire minute of stunned silence, Aria began laughing really hard, so much so that she had to sit down on the floor and then roll in her laughter.

"M-My fair lady, are you alright?" Fiore asked, worriedly looking at her as she continued to madly laugh.

Grabbing from the edge of her desk with some difficulty, Aria managed to get up, still giggling and snickering. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. You go see Joker, tell him to explain everything in detail and all." She waved her hand to dismiss him.

"Yes, my lady." Fiore said with a small bow. "I'll find out about my role and report back to you in detail about what my role pertains." He said before turning away before pausing. "Should I hide my eyes, my lady, or expose myself?" Fiore asked, turning back to her.

Aria took a couple deep breaths. "It's something permanent, so there's no point in hiding it. I already informed the rest of the Lullaby. You are still a part of our family."

Fiore smiled, seeming bashful as he blushed in happiness. "Yes, my lady. Thank you." Fiore said with a bow before he left, nervously frowning. What would the lullaby think of him now? They all had rather angry feelings towards Role Holders, as did he. He wagged his tail slightly

He got out of the area and into the office of Aria's secretary. The 'manzana agria (sour apple)' of the organization. It was at least a way to test how this change would affect other faceless. With a happy smile he walked over to her desk, leaning over and gently smiling. "You know, Ava? There are many stars in the sky, but none shines like you."

The woman heavily sighed in annoyance. "Fiore, how many times must I tell you-," she stared before looking up with a stern frown before seeing his gorgeous hazel green eyes staring down at her in an endearing way. The woman leapt back, gripping her desk. "IT'S TRUE!" She bit her lip, looking up and mumbling, "you poor thing." Before she forced herself to regain her professionalism. Fakely coughing in the back of her hand and looked down at her work. "Don't you have some mission for the lady now?"

"Oh yes, but I wanted to come see your beautiful face first, manzana agria." He smiled cheerfully. "Just being near you can warm anyone's clock like a good coffee on a cold morning."

The secretary stiffy put her finger over the intercom button. "Lady Aria. I must inform you that Fiore is still here and he is goofing around."

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