The initial analysis of the game was concluded, as well as the day that supplemented its time to it.

The two witches dismissed themselves for the day to get some rest, and Lambdadelta found herself in one of the numerous guest rooms in the maze-like library, trying to get some sleep on the majestically decorated queen-sized bed. It was a very elaborately decorated room; gold curtains adorned the numerous windows, the room space was more than she can handle and almost everything she needed in a bedroom was in there. A dressing table, a large closet, a tea table, and it was as if this room was prepared especially for her. However, despite the softness of the mattress and the pillows of the bed, Lambdadelta really couldn't bring herself to sleep at all no matter how she tried. She doesn't even know how much time she had wasted just by opening and closing her eyes again and again, and Lambdadelta really hates wasting time.

Maybe it was because she couldn't understand the reason behind the fact that Featherine Augustus Aurora had licked her ear.

Lambdadelta usually wouldn't react to provocations (ever since the Logic Error happened), but this was a drastic exception. The feeling of Featherine's gloved fingers on her shoulders gripping her gently yet possessively, the feeling of Featherine's tongue licking oh-so-slowly behind her ear and the feeling of Featherine's hot breath against her skin couldn't escape Lambdadelta's memory no matter how she tried. She could still remember how it felt even though it's been hours since it happened, and to be honest, the jolts of shock that Lambdadelta had felt that very moment felt very unsettling and uncomfortable. The way Featherine held her, the way she conducted her actions, the way she spoke into her ear in such a quiet, low yet sharp tone; it was all very unnerving. And what's worse, the entire thing made Lambdadelta horrifyingly confused.

She hates being confused, because it's equivalent to being unable to understand. But the question was, why was she thinking too much of it?

Because it shook her more than it should have.

For some reason, it unnerved her more than it should have. The monstrosities of the Logic Error that she had experienced should have been more frightening, more fearful, but there was something about Featherine that really made her feel rather unsafe. Lambdadelta used to think that Featherine was merely an eccentric witch who did certain things that might have displeased others (and even the whimsical decision of throwing her miko in a Logic Error seemed very much like her character, when one comes to think about it), but after what had recently happened, Lambdadelta wasn't sure whether that was a whimsical act anymore. There were too much emotions-no, there was only one emotion at that moment, and it was insanely suffocating. It would feel the same as being strangled slowly while struggling for breath in order to survive. Featherine held her like a porcelain doll; being so careful as to not drop her or release her lest she might break, but her pincer-like fingers clutched onto Lambdadelta's shoulders until there were light red marks on her pale skin.

Naturally, Lambdadelta had felt immensely aggravated, humiliated and confused, but she chose not to give away any more reactions asides from her slightly blushing face and her widening eyes as bodily reflexes. She still has her pride and dignity, and Lambdadelta refused to give away any signs of weakness at all. If Featherine wanted to play games with her like this (actually, she wasn't very certain whether Featherine was playing or not though), she will not permit it as long as there is business to take care of. Lambdadelta is a witch; a being with wondrous powers, a being who was constantly relied on by many, and an esteemed being who held the title of 'Lady'.

But even so, nothing seemed straight to her anymore. She can't understand the logic behind Featherine's earlier actions, no matter how hard she tried. It was horribly unsettling; the fact that you can't comprehend something just scares you and angers you at the same time.

Lambdadelta felt confused.

Terribly confused.

And she hated it.

Mendacium Speculorum

Chapter 5: Commenced

There were two cups of tea at both sides of the table in the game room.

Lambdadelta had always wondered why tea was the trademark drink of witches, because she didn't like it very much herself. The overall taste was appetizing, but she hated that aftertaste that felt like she was partially dehydrated in the span of 2 minutes after drinking it down. Despite the fact that tea was some sort of an esteemed drink that only witches and noble beings could drink, the Witch of Certainty's tastes wandered somewhere else, probably wishing that she had gotten a glass of water instead of yet another cup of tea. And as Lambdadelta stoically stared at the game projection before her, Featherine was still wearing that saccharine smile of hers which never left her face since the day before.

The Witch of Drama was of course, very hard to comprehend.

Maybe too hard to comprehend.

But to Featherine, the Witch of Certainty was the incomprehensible one. As her eyes studied the surly witch, Featherine applauded Lambdadelta in her heart at her success in maintaining the convincing facade of a witch who couldn't care less about anything in the universe, much at what had happened the day before. And Lambdadelta truly looked like a pretty doll; purple bows on her equally purple gown, a matching choker and a stern expression to match her doll-like face. It would be nice to have her chained up and broken in Featherine's private chambers, responding to nothing but to whatever Featherine says or does, and it would be so delightful to see the Witch of Certainty reduced to such a beautifully pitiful state. Then again, Lambdadelta would look beautiful to Featherine no matter what her condition is.

"Did you have a good night's rest, Lady Lambdadelta?" Featherine asked, exercising her hospitality to the only being who she had deemed worthy of it. "If there is anything that you are dissatisfied with, you can tell me. I can replace them right away for you if you'd like."

Lambdadelta drank a bit of the tea, eventually concluding that she needed any form of liquid in her throat anyways. "I slept well, thank you."

A small giggle escaped Featherine's lips, who was clearly amused at Lambdadelta's dry, strict tone. "I'm pleased to hear that. It would be a blow to my hospitality if you aren't satisfied with your own room, and I will feel very regretful that I have failed in providing the best for the Witch of Certainty, aaah...But it is a pleasure to know that you are satisfied with everything, Lady Lambdadelta~"

"I wouldn't want to waste any more time, if it is alright with you," Lambdadelta pointed out. "And I would appreciate it very much if you would care to explain further about the game. We have already covered the cross-section and the layout, but it seems that we've been doing nothing but waste more time on such trivial conversation. And I have noticed that you haven't been telling me everything about the game, so I would like a straight answer right now."

Featherine only smiled wider. Tilting Lambdadelta's chin upwards in a very careful yet nonchalant manner with her slender fingers, she then proceeded to speak.

"Ah, that is impressive! But I must know, how did you know that I didn't tell you everything?"

There was it.

There was that look again.

That disturbingly suffocating look again.

"You never tell the full context of your games in front of the Senate," Lambdadelta answered with a rather dry frown on her face. "One of your infamous tricks in making your opponents lose to you is by making them think that they know the entirety of the game based on what you have explained to them in the Senate beforehand. I don't think that I need to say anything more about it, so I will refrain from adding on."

Aah, that was a good observation.

"Oh my, did it seem that way to you, Lady Lambdadelta?~" Featherine giggled, letting go as Lambdadelta frowned further out of impatience. "Then I am terribly sorry if you had thought of me that way. Instead of trying to clear my name, I won't delay it any longer and get straight to the point. Is that what you had wanted, Lady Lambdadelta?"

"It would be easier on the both of us if you do so."

"Mm, that is true," the Witch of Drama nodded, clapping her hands together. "It has been a while since I have dug up this game. But not to worry, I remember the rules of this game by heart, so I will proceed to tell you everything that you need to know." With that, Featherine cleared her throat, and Lambdadelta prepared herself to listen closely to catch any hidden details beneath the Witch of Drama's smooth words.

"Please take note that the game is currently unsolvable," Featherine advised with a smile, then continued speaking as she laid back against her rocking chair.

"The game originally began with a piece in a locked room," Featherine began, conjuring up a tiny white chess piece. "The piece must then try to get out of the room using the limited items the room has, which leads the piece to another room once she has escaped the first one. Once she has successfully escaped all of the rooms, she must then make her way to the bottom of the tower that holds all the rooms that she had been locked in and exit the tower.

"There are a few locations in the game; the locked rooms, the Hall of Stairs, and the tower. The game locations are based on the City of Books itself," to which she giggled softly at the very mention of her abode, "so I can say that the game is pretty large in terms of interior design. Originally, the game starts in the locked room as I have told you, and it still does, but the Logic Error slowly surfaced at the supposed end of the game."

"The supposed end?" Lambdadelta arched her eyebrow, slowly getting interested in the explanation of the game.

"It didn't become an end anymore, so to say," the Witch of Drama smiled in amusement. "In fact, something went wrong towards the end, and from there, the game became looped. The end went back to the beginning straight away, and the cycle repeats itself again and again."

"What do you mean?"

"Throughout the piece's attempts to escape, there is something that is following her. It will follow her everywhere she goes without fail, and when she reaches the exit...let's just say that I didn't think through the entire game when that happened. Apparently, I found out much, much later that there was a tiny mishap in the game where the piece has a doppelganger of herself, which, well, takes the piece's place and loops back to where the game starts: in the locked room. Like a nice game of cat and mouse, the original piece and the doppelganger will constantly pursue each other with the doppelganger having the main objective to kill its original."

From the insides of her mind, Lambdadelta was trying to put the pieces together with the current information she has. "And the Logic Error happened when you couldn't find or create a fitting end, is that correct?"

"With the original and the doppelganger switching places during each cycle, yes," Featherine nodded. "The only way to break the Logic Error is for the piece, which is currently my miko, to successfully escape the loop by killing the doppelganger. But it seems impossible at this point...which is why I have chosen such a game for our duel. No Knox, no Dine. Fair, unless contradicted."

It's almost impossible. There are no loopholes: everything is there. There is no mystery yet it seemed like one, but everything was already explained.

So the game isn't a mystery at all. It's all mixed up.

Twisted, as Lambdadelta puts it in her mind.

"Would you like me to commence the game, Lady Lambdadelta?" Featherine smiled, offering her gloved hand for Lambdadelta to accept as part of the private commencing ceremony of the game. It was a simple gesture of acceptance, and Lambdadelta reached out her hand to accept Featherine's gesture.

"I will try to solve this twisted, unorganized game you came up with, so we might as well commence it right now," the blonde-haired witch stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Featherine gleefully laughed. "Well, if you say so, Lady Lambdadelta~ I'm pleased that you would want to use your efforts on such a poorly organized game~"

With that very action, papers started flying around the room and a gust of wind blew in the game room, activating the magic that would commence the game in full and to inform the Senate that the game has started.

The game has commenced.

Blood. Vermin. Water.

More blood. More vermin. Less water.

The blue-haired miko waited and waited, hugging her knees as the only things illuminating the dark and almost inescapable room were the glowing eyes of the rats. She was scared; if she moved, they'll attack, if she stared at them too long, they'll bite off her flesh and worsen her condition. It was bad enough that she couldn't move (more accurately, can't move), but she really needed to escape the room.

Even if it's just one more time. She almost made it.

If only there would be another chance for her to escape...

Good morning.

At once, her eyes widened as she heard the voice again. Looking around her, the miko realized that it was the same voice that spoke to her the day before in her head, and attempting to make herself presentable to her own delusions (in her own poor perspective since she was left alone for so long), she cleared her throat and spoke as softly as she could.

"H-Hello...?" the miko spoke, trying not to arouse the attention of the rats, if they even bothered.

You can stand, can't you?

"U-um...I..."

Try to stand. Now don't worry about the rats devouring you. Can you see anything in the room?

"N-No...but there are the eyes...from the rats..." the blue-haired miko trembled. "W-Who are you...?"

I'm your Master's new opponent.

"M-Master's new opponent...?"

The miko's mind started working all of a sudden. Her Master is playing with a new opponent? That means...maybe she is the opponent that her Master told her about? Maybe she is the opponent who is playing against her Master for the title of the most powerful witch in the world?

Yes. You said something about eyes, right?

"Y-Yes..."

Gather the rats in one place.

"W-What?"

It seemed rather impossible for the miko. How can she gather the vermin in one place without them scratching and biting her half to death?

"W-Why should I listen to you?" the miko retorted rather angrily. "Why should I listen to someone whom Master wants to fight against-"

Because if you don't listen, you'll end up rotting here.

The voice didn't sound at all angry, but it sounded as if it was calmly telling her the facts. Reproaching, even. The voice was even gentler than her Master's, but a wave of doubt began to wash over the blue-haired miko. If she doesn't listen, she will end up rotting there for all she knows, with all her wounds gaping open, but if she listens...

What will happen if she listens?

The miko then found herself running, and as the vermin lunged towards her, she took hold of a rat and started swinging. Frantically searching for an exit, the rats started chasing her, and true to her theory, their glowing eyes slightly illuminated the room, and at last, she found a silhouette of a doorknob. Throwing the rat towards the rest of the vermin, she twisted the doorknob, but she found it was locked.

'I-It's locked!' she panicked.

The rats started closing in, but the miko took a risk and elbowed the door open, proceeding into the next room and locked the door shut, and to her surprise, the door vanished and became a wall. Panting, she slumped down, and when she raised her head to look around, she nearly gasped in disbelief.

It was another room.

We all look at things in our own perspectives anyways.

A/N: I have updated ^^ This chapter mainly serves to explain the game in further detail, and I'm really sorry if Bern seems too OOC here . A-And there's not much Featherine/Lambda here either...oh no...I think I failed ;A; But thank you so much for reading and reviewing :'D Please keep them coming and if you're unsure, you can ask ^^

-Densetsu-no-Maguro.