Chapter 3
— Destiny —

The next morning required some introspection. I was thoroughly exhausted, but the fatigue reached far deeper than my physical body. I hardly wanted to face the rising sun, much less the rest of the world.

Not that I could even if I wanted to. At some point after I passed out, Ariel came into my room and crawled into bed with me. She was laying down halfway on top of me, one leg straddling me. Her nightgown was thin and did little to hide the feeling of her breasts against my chest. I had an arm around her, my fingers lightly tracing her spine. I imagined if someone saw us they would think us more lovers than brother and sister.

That dream, or rather nightmare, would probably be burned into my memory forever. I would have liked to forget it, dismiss it as an unlucky night to peek on her dreams, but they say dreams have power and meaning. I couldn't just dismiss the idea that it could be prophetic, or that Ariel at least believed it to be. The implications were simply too large to ignore.

Ariel stirred awake, mumbling a good morning before nuzzling into my chest. "I'm sorry," she said, making no attempt to get up. It wasn't the first time she crawled into my bed, and I gave up thinking her apologies meant she would stop. Her leg brushed over the front of my boxers. Even if I tried to protest her being there, my body was already betraying me before I had a chance to speak.

"Morning," I said.

I'm not sure how long we laid like that. I was going over every detail of the nightmare in my head when she broke the silence. "Thank you."

I looked down at her. Her eyes were still closed, but I could just see the sweetest smile on her face. "What for?"

"For being there last night," she said. She opened her eyes and looked up at me. There was a fondness there that filled me with warmth. That was the Ariel I knew. Not the one that spoke of aspirations to take the throne. "For the nightmare."

I stared down at her with a furrowed brow. I thought I would go unnoticed.

When I didn't respond Ariel continued. "You should be careful in the future, you know? My Unique Skill warned me about someone trying to read my dream. I was going to block it before I realized it was you. Others could probably do the same."

"You have a Unique Skill?"

Ariel was the one that was puzzled this time. "You didn't know? Huh. I thought it came up at some point."

It made sense in hindsight. She always was the talented one, and with a father like ours a certain degree of strength was to be expected. I was the strange one in that regard. Still, it was nice to know that I had to be careful. I wondered if there was a way to properly hide my interference, but I concluded that if there was, I probably just had to get stronger and more proficient at it.

"Thank you, then," I said awkwardly. "And sorry. I… Well, I guess I'm sorry I was caught peeking."

Ariel wasn't angry, her smile instead growing. She crawled up and leaned forward, kissing me softly on the lips. With her frequent flirting and admittedly very attractive body, there was always a certain amount of sexual tension between us. Surprisingly, that was the first time we kissed — outside of a dream, anyway. "You don't need to apologize, you can peek on me whenever you want. I'd be happy to share our dreams together every night, even. Though I hope the next one is less grim."

She put her head back down, using her fingers to trace circles on my chest.

"About that dream…" I started. There was no easy way to address it. If I wanted the easy way out I'd need to pretend it never happened, and that seemed like the most irresponsible thing I could possibly do. "I don't understand what it means. Was that just, like, a one-off?" I let out a short, awkward laugh. "Should I be worried about the future, or something?"

Ariel was quiet for a few moments, but her fingers never stopped moving. I gave her time. If it wasn't easy for me to bring up, then I doubted it was any easier for her to answer. "You know, I've probably had that dream a hundred times. It's the first time you were there with me, though. I really thought things might end differently because of that. Usually the angels kill me as soon as I make it to the throne room."

Her face was mostly turned away from me, but I could hear the sadness in her voice.

"I can't control my dreams, if that's what you're wondering. What you saw was a gateway directly to my subconscious."

I stared at her, or what I could see of her, hoping she would look up and let me get a read on her face. She stubbornly avoided eye contact. "I still don't understand. Why was… How…" There were too many questions I needed answered.

"I know," Ariel said softly. "But telling you the truth isn't my role. You'll learn soon, I promise."

Role, huh? I'd be lying if I said that didn't strike a nerve. She knew the truth, it just wasn't her responsibility to tell me? If her nightmare was anything to go by, I had a role to play, too, but I couldn't even begin to do that if no one would tell me what the fuck was going on.

"Fine," I said. I doubted I did half as good of a job at hiding my annoyance as I thought I did. "Then can you at least tell me what you meant the other night? You said something about killing — no, exterminating me, and taking the throne for yourself? Is that what your role is?"

That got her to look up at me, of course, but the heartbreak in her eyes made me regret my words. It was only my anger-fueled annoyance that stopped me from taking them back and apologizing immediately.

Ariel looked like she wanted to say something, but tears were starting to fill her eyes. Whether it was the tears, or the fact that she couldn't think of the right words to say, she put her head back down and cried in silence. The feeling of her tears on my skin made my heart ache.

I wanted to trust her. Of all the people in this world, she was the one I was closest to. I avoided most people, and those that I couldn't were all top military officials working under my father. They had always treated me well, far above any of themselves and only just below the emperor himself — even when I really didn't deserve that standing in an official or unofficial capacity. But they treated me like that because of who my father was. Not because of who I was.

Ariel was different. She was my twin. My other half. The one who understood me better than anyone, and the only one that I felt a genuine closeness with. I'd feel lost without her, I knew it, but in the last several days she had seemed like a completely different person than the Ariel I knew and loved. Was it all fake? A mask she put on so she could fulfill her role, whatever it was?

I wasn't sure. What I did know is that whether it was my sister plotting for the throne, or father plotting… whatever the hell that nightmare was, I needed to get stronger.

Thankfully my power had been waiting on me since I woke up. I waited because I wanted time to process everything that happened, but the time to wait was over.

100 CP Granted.
Feat Achieved - Successfully enter your first dream (+100 CP)

200 CP Available

[Ice Elemental] (Witcher) - 200 CP

Images of a large monster made of solid ice came to the surface of my mind. It wasn't the same as the elementals that were native to this world — I'd never heard of an ice elemental here — but I clocked it somewhere between a Medium and a Greater Elemental. It wouldn't be a bad addition, but what I wanted more than anything was a way to bolster my own abilities, not another summon.

[Weapon Seed] (The Beginning After the End) - 500 CP

A living weapon of possibly infinite potential. If allowed to consume and adapt, it seemed it would grow ceaselessly alongside me. And I had to watch as it slipped out of my fingers. What a blunder. That sort of weapon would have been comparable to Legend grade eventually, if not something even greater.

I allowed myself to calm down some. I wasn't sure what the first hundred points were for. Usually I had some idea of why I got the points, but there were occasions where I earned a hundred points for seemingly no reason at all. It was always a hundred points exactly. Still, that meant I technically earned points from two different sources this time, so I still had another chance.

[Library of Raum] (The Dark Wolf Shiro) - 600 CP
The biggest library of magical knowledge in all of Europe, and most likely the world. This library is chock full of all types of spells, potions, runes, history, forbidden magic, and more. You name it, this library has it. That alone is not what makes this a 600 CP purchase; in future worlds the library will fill with every slip of magical knowledge in that world, including those that were never written down or were lost to time. Don't worry, you keep the knowledge of past worlds when moving on to a new one.

I could work with that. I had already made significant improvements in regards to magic, so if my power wanted to throw more magic stuff at me then I wasn't going to complain. The library came filled with knowledge from Harry Potter, or at least a version of it. That had interesting implications on its own, but I was already an isekai character, so it wasn't that hard to come to terms with.

I wasn't sure how useful Harry Potter magic would be here, even if this version seemed to include stuff like demonic rituals. It didn't matter, though. The ability to fill with 'every slip of magical knowledge' from the current world was invaluable enough that it was well worth the price. Between the academy and the Imperial Library, I had access to more books than I could ever read, but I doubted it was anywhere close to everything this world had to offer.

I locked the perk in. I'd need to earn another 400 points before I could claim it, but that was just another incentive to get myself out there and find a way to earn them.

The lure of power had done a lot to brighten my mood, so I tried to talk to Ariel. "Were you able to arrange that meeting with Echidna?" I asked.

"Yeah," Ariel said, her voice sounding strained and almost dead. We fell back into an awkward silence before she added, almost as a whisper: "I'll make Damrada explain everything to you."

The meaning was clear enough. Beyond my meeting with Echidna, Damrada had all the answers I was looking for. I felt bad for making Ariel cry, but at least I got someone to direct my questions to in the process. I started to move to get up, but was stopped by Ariel squeezing me and burying her face into my chest.

"Can we please stay like this?" she asked. "For just a while longer?"

I sighed and put my arm back around her. I went back to tracing her back with my fingers. "Sure."

Ariel and I stepped through a Warp Portal that opened up to a room with black walls and a single square light embedded in the ceiling. It almost reminded me more of an interrogation room than a meeting room if not for the fact that the table and chairs appeared to be of a high quality. The kind a noble would host a meeting with to try and flaunt their wealth and status.

I took a seat in one of the chairs and Ariel did the same. Thankfully we weren't left in an awkward silence for long before Damrada joined us through the attached door.

Damrada had blond hair that was tied into a long ponytail that reached down to his waist. He had an aged appearance, but he looked like he hadn't aged a day since the last time I saw him. He offered a hand across the table with a smile on his face. "Shinra, it's been a while." His smile only grew as I took his hand. I felt the magic inside me stir slightly before it calmed. "You've grown stronger, haven't you?"

I returned a short smile of my own. "Yeah, I'm finally starting to feel like His Majesty's son."

Damrada took a seat across from me. Ariel had her eyes glued to the table, not even bothering with a proper greeting as Damrada started. "Right, so Ariel said you were interested in doing some work for us, and potentially had some interest in some equipment. Is that correct?"

I nodded. "I've always wanted to be an adventurer, so now that I feel I have the means to survive I thought I'd give it a proper go."

"Simple enough. Did you want to register as Shinra, or were you interested in hiding your identity?"

"Shinra is fine," I said. I had considered the benefit of hiding my identity, but I thought it would be more valuable to build up a public reputation. Besides, if I wanted to do something less PR-friendly then I could always arrange a disguise at that point.

Damrada slid a sealed letter over to me. "That's a letter of introduction. The receptionist may not recognize you, and they're not gonna take your word for it when you come walking in claiming to be the son of His Majesty. I'll send word ahead of time so your registration is done before you get there, but you're just another wannabe without that letter, got it?"

I nodded.

"Good. Now, equipment. I assume you want a sword and armor?"

Father was trained in a sword from what I had been told. In fact, the long line of emperors had all been skilled with a sword, even the ones that never needed to use one in battle. It was easy to forget since she was a skilled mage as well, but Ariel was better with a sword, too.

"Maybe? The truth is, I'll probably end up relying on magic more than anything else. I'm going to continue training in battlewill, but right now I think my priority will be magic."

Damrada seemed surprised by my answer, but he didn't question it. "Hmm. Okay, I'll just arrange some armor, then. Any interest in artifacts? We get a lot of magic items. Some more useful than others. It's hard to put together a proper catalog, but if you've got anything in mind I can look through what we have and keep an eye out for anything coming in. Or if you've got the time we could go take a look together."

"Maybe another time, but nothing off the top of my head seems crucial. Unless you have a recommendation?"

Damrada showed a toothy grin. "Careful, Shinra. You never want to ask a merchant what they think is best for you." He looked down and jotted something onto a piece of paper. "We'll hold off on a magic item, then. If you change your mind you know where to find us. As for payment… ah, what the hell, this one's on me. It's almost your guys' birthday anyway."

I thanked him for the gift. Despite his words of warning, he had never hesitated to spend money on us for gifts in the past. He called it an investment, which at the time I took to be a quirk derived from his life as a merchant, but now I wondered if it was more literal.

Damrada started to gather his things. "Alright I think that should be everything. I'll get this sent over to the guild immediately."

I started to protest, but found I didn't have to. Before Damrada could fully rise to his feet, Ariel looked up and addressed him. "Wait," she said. Her pointed tone lacked all of her normal cheer. "Tell him the truth. Everything."

Damrada and Ariel shared a look, then he looked at me. He let out a sigh and sat back down. "I must say, I wasn't expecting to have this conversation today, but alright." He looked directly into my eyes, almost challengingly. It didn't feel like there was any hostility behind them, but more like he was trying to gauge something.

"Shinra," he said. His voice was piercing and made me sit just a little straighter. "What I've got to tell you is a matter of national security. It's something that comes directly from His Majesty, and by his direct order it is something so confidential that it is even forbidden to share with Lady Velgrynd."

I breathed out slowly. That alone basically confirmed that there was something going on behind the scenes. Something big. A part of me wanted to take it back. Go back to the world where I didn't know anything about it, pretend that everything was going to go great. But I knew that wasn't possible.

"From my understanding, it has something to do with me whether I know the truth or not, right? I deserve to know."

Damrada nodded solemnly. "I guess I should start at the beginning, then. The truth is, His Majesty is over two thousand years old. The Emperor Rudra that you've heard stories about — all of them — they were your father. A much younger, and kinder version of him, but him all the same."

"That's not possible," I said, to myself more than anyone else. People in this world could live a long time, I knew that. A human that trained their body to become a Sage could already live for several hundred years, and I remembered something about some people living to be far older than that. The idea wasn't impossible, but… "There are birth records. Lady Velgrynd, she approves of the next emperor herself. There's a verifiable line—"

"Correct, but it's all a plot to ensure that His Majesty stays in power." He paused, waiting to see if I'd interrupt again. When I didn't say anything he continued. "I don't know all the details, but His Majesty was entrusted with a skill long ago. You've heard of Unique Skills, I'm sure, but this is something beyond even that. An Ultimate Skill. Any one of them is probably beyond your current comprehension, but this skill in particular was a power meant for a god. Unfortunately, it quickly proved to be rebellious. Like it didn't approve of His Majesty at all. His Majesty had spent years, decades even, trying to gain control over the skill. He used the skill to work towards his ancient dream of uniting the world under one nation, but prolonged use was eating away at his soul. Over the years, he'd continuously performed a ritual to reincarnate into his first born son. The ritual was meant to help keep his soul strong and buy him time as he fought for control, but he was losing."

I sat quietly as I listened. I wished I had a way to check if he was lying in real time, but I think a part of me knew he was telling the truth.

"This is why Lady Velgrynd approves the next emperor, and why she watches over our empire at all. She is the eternal partner of His Majesty. Across however many lives it takes to achieve his dream. She'll be there, by his side." There was a sadness in Damrada's eyes. "One day, long ago, he confided in me the truth. That every time he reincarnated, he could feel that he had lost something of himself. A skill one time, or his status as a True Hero the next, but what he feared most of all was that there'd come a day he'd lose his sanity. This gifted skill, Justice King Michael, constantly wages war within His Majesty's soul. He fears the day he'll finally lose control, so many years ago he asked me to take his life if he ever lost himself."

There wasn't just sadness in his eyes, now. There was anger, and remorse. He squeezed his fists closed as he worked through his rising emotions.

"I knew I'd never be able to do it, and he knew that what he was asking was unreasonable. Eventually he amended his plans. He told me that, in the event that I couldn't fulfill my promise, that I would find someone that could. Someone that could kill him. That's around the time I transitioned to the role of a merchant. I scoured the lands for someone, desperate to find someone so I could fulfill my promise, but even up until now I'm still left looking."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I can't imagine that sort of pressure."

"You will," Damrada said grimly. "It wasn't long ago, around eighteen years in fact, that His Majesty asked to speak with me again. He told me his body wouldn't be able to take another reincarnation. He asked if I had made any progress on finding someone to fulfill my promise, but he didn't seem bothered when I told him I hadn't. Instead he had a new plan. He'd have one more child, but this one he wasn't meant to reincarnate into. He'd entrust everything to them. His will, his dream, and even his fate."

My eyes looked over to Ariel. She was looking back at me, a look in her eyes I couldn't quite understand. I silently questioned if that child was supposed to be her, but she shook her head no.

"He always said his successor would be his son, and he's kept to that even now. I guess us old men are old fashioned like that. Ariel was a surprise — no one was expecting twins — but what was even more of a surprise was you. You didn't seem to inherit any of His Majesty's talent or skills. It would have been impossible for you to do what was asked of you, of course, so I never bothered you with the truth. All the while, His Majesty insisted that you, as his firstborn son, would be emperor. It wasn't what we had planned, but I took in your sister and told her the truth in your stead. One way or another, the job had to be done."

I stared at Ariel in disbelief. I had no idea. How long had she been living with this pressure looming overhead? She couldn't even confide in me, or anyone else except for maybe Damrada.

"My theory was that your sister was the one to inherit His Majesty's will anyway, so I thought it would be fine. You know, when she was told the truth, she insisted that you would grow into your role. I was skeptical, I'll admit. She's always considered herself your support. To her, you were already one and the same as His Majesty."

Ariel wore a soft smile. "If it's good enough for Lady Velgrynd, then it's good enough for me. I'll support you no matter what. As His Majesty's successor."

"Yes, well, it's not quite the same, but that's not important, I guess." Damrada let out a heavy sigh. "I'll be frank. You're stronger than you were in the past, and maybe you really will grow into your role, but you're nowhere close to ready, yet. His Majesty's skill… its power is unfathomable. Even your sister is nowhere close to strong enough. And I'm afraid we're running out of time."

Feat Achieved — Learn the Truth (+300 CP)
500/600 CP Acquired

A part of me was still holding out hope that it was all a lie, or at least an embellishment, but I had no reason to think my system would lie, too. The only saving grace was that I was almost ready to claim my new personal library, but I doubted I could find what I needed inside.

"This skill. What does it do?" I asked.

Damrada had a conflicted look on his face. "I don't know most of the specifics, but I do know that part of the skill is the ability to summon forth an army of angels."

"The Great Tenma War," I said, remembering Ariel's nightmare.

"Correct. It was supposed to be used as a way to weaken surrounding nations, making them more reliant on us and easier to absorb, but I suspect it is also a convenient way to drain the skill of its power. Maybe it helps His Majesty control it."

New Quest Available!

[Coup D'etat]
Objective: Defeat Justice King Michael
Objective: Be recognized as the emperor of the Eastern Empire

I clenched my jaw as the new notification entered my mind. It was possible the quest was generated for the future. A message to say that at some point my father will lose himself to his skill, and defeating him will fall on me. Read another way, Justice King Michael is already in control. The idea of a skill controlling its wielder was insane, gifted or not, but with every other revelation it seemed somewhat tame in comparison.

"What are the chances that Michael is already in control?" I asked. The question caught Ariel by surprise, but Damrada seemed unconvinced.

"Not a chance," he said. "His Majesty might have degraded some over the years, but he's still in there. I know he is. He may have slowed down due to his condition, but he's still working toward his goal."

It would be nice to believe him. I wish I could. "Sorry, but I'm not sure I can just take your word for it. Justice King Michael could be playing along, biding his time until he can act, couldn't he?"

Damrada looked like he wanted to dismiss me again, but something stopped him. He looked like he was reliving every moment of his life in the span of just a few moments. "There is a slight chance," he finally said. "Another one of Justice King Michael's sub-skills is the ability to put someone under their control. Regalia Dominion. His Majesty has used it several times in the past to help seamlessly absorb other countries by putting their leaders under his control. If Justice King Michael was using that…"

Then there was no telling how deep its control went. "What about Velgrynd—"

Damrada shook his head immediately. "His Majesty was right about one thing: we can't afford to let Lady Velgrynd know. She'd be furious to know His Majesty asked it of me in the first place. She'd insist that she would be able to know if he was losing control, and that she would take the responsibility herself. It was his wish that she didn't need to hold that burden. He couldn't ask that of her."

No, but it was fine to ask it from his child, or his friend. Or some stranger. I rubbed at my temple.

Damrada continued. "Lady Velgrynd would never accept it. I suspect she'd hold on to the idea that His Majesty was still alive until it was far too late. Not to mention, if Michael really is in control, then it's possible that Lady Velgrynd herself is already subjected to its will."

It was annoying to realize my father hadn't even thought about how we would deal with the aftermath. Velgrynd could destroy the world, and there was no guarantee she wouldn't if we killed him without convincing her of the truth. It wasn't that he had left the specifics to us, but that they were impractical to make from the get-go.

"Velgrynd? Under control?" Ariel asked. "Is that even possible?"

Damrada ran a hand through his hair. "Lady Velgrynd is unfathomably strong. All True Dragons are. But like I said, Justice King Michael is a power for gods. The one that gifted it to His Majesty was the great Veldanava himself. If there is anything that can control a True Dragon, it's that skill. I'm sure of it. But never mind the Marshall, if Justice King Michael is in control, there's no way to tell who all he has under his control. Hell, we might all be playing in the palm of his hand! Dammit!" Damrada slammed his fist against the table.

"Does that mean we've already lost?" I asked. It wasn't a comfortable question to answer, but it had to be asked.

Damrada didn't answer at first. He seemed to be under so much newfound stress that I thought he might start aging rapidly. "I- I don't know. If Michael is in control, then what's he after? There has to be a reason he isn't acting recklessly. If he's really the one in control, then he's keeping up this charade, at least in some capacity. Why would he do that?"

"Maybe he's looking for something," I offered. "Or someone. Maybe control was just the first step in his plan."

"It's a scary thought, but I don't know what else it could be." We sat in silence for a few moments as Damrada continued to think and process. "If people are under control, then it's possible that you aren't. If he saw you as a non-threat, then there'd be no reason to control you."

I frowned. "You said it yourself, I'm not strong enough. I'm sure as hell not strong enough to do it all myself."

"No, you're not," Damrada agreed. "I'm afraid you'll need to build up your own forces if you want to stop Michael. I can't guarantee we won't wind up fighting on the battlefield. You'll need people that either have no ties to the empire, or you'll need to take in those that are too weak to be seen as a threat and build them up yourself."

Already my mind was considering my options. I didn't have many. Someone like Eris — most of the students, actually. They should be safe. They shouldn't be strong enough or important enough to be on Michael's radar. If I could convince them of my cause… but I'd be suggesting treason. The Marshall didn't take too kindly to acts of treason, and that threat was only going to get worse if they learned who the Marshall actually was.

"You'll have to keep your guard up," Damrada said, breaking me from my thoughts. "In fact, it might be best for you to leave the empire. Go west for your allies."

There was panic on Ariel's face as she whipped her head toward me. I didn't want to be separated, either, but it was debatable whether she was under control already. On one hand, she wasn't a threat, but on the other hand she was actively working to assassinate Michael. It was possible that Michael was letting them keep things up. Maybe they were still useful to him in some way. Or maybe he truly didn't see any of us as threats. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

The truth is I couldn't guarantee I wasn't also under control. We were just hoping I wasn't. There was always a chance I could get something from my power to counteract the control, too, so hope wasn't all lost. All that was certain was that the odds were stacked against me.

Moonlight peeked through the canopy of trees. A breeze danced through the forest and ran through my hair. The sounds of the woodland nightlife could be heard for what felt like miles. It was peaceful. An escape from it all.

I found a fallen tree to sit on.

When I gained my power, one of things I got was a summon of sorts. It was something called a taratect, and according to my power it was a type of spider monster. I held out my hand. I had always felt the itch in the back of my mind. It was ready to come at a moment's notice, whenever I called for it, but I hadn't had the time to properly meet it.

A magic circle appeared on the ground, illuminating the forest around me. My pet taratect came forth, and the light died out.

Most of its body was white, but the pattern on its body and the tips of its legs were all black. Piercing red eyes stared back at me. I never liked spiders if I was being honest, but I always told myself I wouldn't mind them so much if I could just speak to them or communicate that I wanted my own space.

This spider was quite a bit larger than any spider from my old world, though, and maybe that had something to do with my uneasiness. I knew it was safe. My power assured me that the spider was loyal to me. A faithful summon. Somehow that didn't do much to help. Minds are funny like that.

The spider looked up at me. I had no idea what it was thinking, or if it was thinking at all. I had a feeling it could understand me. My power claimed it would listen, at least, and I didn't understand how it could follow orders if it didn't understand me. That didn't help me understand it, though.

"Sorry I didn't summon you before." I reached out a hand and scratched the top of its head like it was a dog. It was the size of one, anyhow. "I don't really have the space for a pet as big as you right now."

I wasn't sure if the taratect was native to this world or not. It wasn't a species I was familiar with, but it was definitely a type of monster. I could feel it. People having monsters as pets wasn't unheard of, especially in the empire. An entire division of our military included the subjugation of magic beasts. I could probably arrange some sort of environment for it at the academy if I asked, but I didn't see any point in putting it into a cage if I didn't have to.

"I'd like to train you. Make you stronger. God knows I can use all the help I can get." I looked up into the sky. It was a clear night, the moon nice and bright if not obscured by leaves. How would I even go about training it? As far as I could tell its main way to attack probably involved biting with its fangs and injecting its venom. "How about you hang out around here for now? Make this forest your temporary home. You can hunt prey here and familiarize yourself with your abilities. Just try not to antagonize the humans. They'll kill you without a second thought."

It wasn't that big of a deal if it died. I could respawn it after twenty-four hours. That wasn't an excuse to become suicidal, though.

As far as I could tell, I didn't have many limitations with my summoned creatures. There wasn't a time limit, or a summon limit. I only had the one taratect now, but I could feel the possibilities from my power. Creatures of all shapes and sizes. An entire hoard at my command. Some of unfathomable strength, and others that were mundane in every sense of the word.

"Go on, now," I ordered. I thought there was the slightest nod from the taratect before it scurried off. I could still sense it in the back of my mind. I had a vague idea of where it was and could track it with ease if I needed to.

I continued to sit there, thinking. Thinking about how much my life had changed the last few days. Hell, how much it had changed in the last few hours.

After some time, I could hear the sounds of someone approaching.

"There you are," Ariel said. She sat down next to me and started to rub my back. "How are you feeling?"

Before I could stop it a short chuckle escaped from my lips. "Stressed, mostly," I said.

I had long since given up trying to hide from Ariel. Ever since we were little she somehow always knew where I was. Even during hide and seek it felt like she was only taking it easy on me. Was it part of her Unique Skill? She never did say what her skill did, just that she had one.

Ariel put her head on my shoulder. I had to admit, the feeling of her nails lightly scratching my back through my shirt did a lot to ease my mind, if only temporarily.

"I'm sorry," I said finally. "For this morning. I was angry and confused."

Ariel put her free hand on my face and made me look at her. "It's okay. I understand." We shared another kiss. A part of me wondered why I hadn't started kissing her earlier. How could something so wrong feel so right?

I had no more doubts. I was confident that Ariel really did care for me. Probably more than she cared about anyone else in the entire world. I had been hung up by her words, but I realized now they were never about me at all. Not really. They were about the will I was supposed to inherit. She was willing to take on all of that responsibility and carry that burden herself if she needed to.

She loved her brother Shinra, but her duty was to His Majesty the Emperor. To her, I just happened to be both. At least in a manner of speaking.

Ariel and I sat together in a comfortable silence. It was so much nicer than the awkward tension we had shared the last several days.

There was a very real risk of keeping her close. I wasn't naive, or blinded by lust. If Michael was still waiting on something, then I doubted the risk would prove to be an issue in the short term. Maybe I was just making excuses, but I thought that, in the event that Ariel really was under Michael's control, then it may even be a good thing to have her nearby. It could help to have something to reference while trying to find a way around the control, and in the event I did find a way around it, I'd ideally be able to recognize the effects in others.

I had decided. Even if it was God himself, I wasn't going to let anyone take her away from me. She was mine.

Author's Note: It's amusing to me that I rolled a perk from the DWS Jumpchain since this story was inspired by him in the first place. I'm taking some liberties with it to open up a lot of potential options for Shinra, including a demonic master-servant contract. I'll probably also have him discover the wonders of Slime Bodysuits from this library because… I want to. The local knowledge is actually ridiculously strong, but Shinra isn't going to be pulling out Twilight's research notes anytime soon.

This chapter may not have been the most entertaining, but it was important to set things up. Maybe Damrada was a little quick to accept the idea that he had been under control, but it's not like he can act freely even while knowing the truth. Unfortunately it's only chapter 3 and I already wish I had did some things differently. Oh well, I'll work with it and take it as a lesson. Onward!