"Quite the impressive structure, this Chaldea Security Organization is. This place is the design of my overlord's father, Marisbury Animusphere, correct?"

"Indeed…Woz, right? Marisbury's vision and genius created the foundation we stand on today. Chaldea exists to safeguard humanity's future, a mission we all take very seriously."

I see. Then I shall do my utmost to honor my overlord's legacy and assist in this mission. After all, I am bound by my loyalty to her.

The man across Sherlock was not human. He may have looked like one, but the detective had the feeling he was not what he seemed. However, his curiosity for this… Woz's identity could be temporarily put on the side as there was a bigger mystery afoot.

Namely, what was the connection between Olga and this Hiryu Kakogawa that has assumedly taken control of the Russian Lostbelt?

Upon the forward team's return to Chaldea— and moving the still unconscious Kadoc into the infirmary (which was a whole nother mystery that needed solving) while the Servants moved somewhere else to recover their mana —they all convened in one of the meeting rooms that rarely went used as there was no need to before.

Sitting at the head of the large, round table was Olga, who was nervously tapping her finger on the metal surface, as if it would somehow do away with her anxiety. Woz was standing close next to her, like an ever-present shadow, his expression calm and composed - if too self-assured at the moment. At the other end of the table was Goredolf, arms folded in front of his face, his fingers steepled as if they could hide his nervous glances at the new enigmatic presence in the room. Next to Olga sat Ritsuka, his expression a mix of concern and determination. He glanced occasionally at Woz, trying to gauge the intentions of the mysterious herald. Mash was beside Ritsuka, in her own chair, her eyes were wide with curiosity and a hint of wariness. On Olga's other side, the two versions of Da Vinci—Caster and Rider—were seated. Caster Da Vinci had a relaxed posture, but her eyes were sharp and analytical, studying Woz with interest. Rider Da Vinci was more animated, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the table as she seemed to consider a multitude of thoughts simultaneously. Sherlock Holmes sat next to Rider Da Vinci, his sharp eyes missing nothing. He observed Woz with a keen interest, his fingers were steepled in front of him, his classic pose of contemplation.

"So then, what exactly is going on, Miss Animusphere?" Holmes opened the not-interrogation with that question. "Please spare no details in your explanation."

"That… would take a long while," Olga nervously replied before letting out a heavy sigh. "To be honest, it's such a long story I still can't fully wrap my head around it. Woz? Can you do it for me?"

"Of course, my overlord,"

Woz replied with a bow. He moved forward from his previous spot and opened the strange book he carried, and soon, the whole room was startled - sans for Woz and Olga - when an image projected directly from the book, showcasing an imposing figure in black and gold armor standing in the background of a desolate land as large statues towered over them.

"As stated in this book, Olga Marie Animusphere is destined to become the demon queen of time, Oma Zi-O, and rule over the world."

Predictably, the room erupted with murmurs and gasps, Goredolf among the loudest. "What!" he exclaimed, his voice filled with shock.

"Ripping the bandaid straight off…" Olga sighed again before addressing the others. "Please let him finish first. There's a lot more that needs to be said before you start asking questions."

Woz, however, didn't wait for a reply before resuming once Olga finished talking. "Once awakening to her powers, she would undertake a journey to obtain the powers of every Kamen Rider in history before creating an eternal kingdom, ensuring peace throughout the entire world." Various more images of Olga's journey were shown as the prophet went on, "As her herald and loyal follower, I was tasked to nudge her onto the correct path chronicled within this tome as closely as possible. There were… complications along the journey but Olga reached the end of her path and obtained ultimate power. That is to say, until she threw it away."

"I threw it away because everyone was gone, Woz," Olga grumbled at Woz's rather dismissive way of explaining what happened. "And I never wanted to go the same way as that old tyrant; especially not at the cost it had. I used up the powers of Oma Zi-O so that future would change." Her ambitions to become queen may have remained the same, but she'll do everything she could to ensure that such a terrible future would not happen. Especially when…

"Olga...The two worlds... are in your hands."

Olga swallowed thickly at the memory as Woz only responded with a small hum before turning his attention back to the others. "Now, for that speck who is refusing to accept his place in the world, he is one of the complications I spoke about." The images in his book changed to three individuals— an older man in purple, a young woman in light blue, and a boy in navy. "The Time Jackers were a group of opportunists. They saw the rise of my overlord and attempted to make… alterations to the timeline. You see, as a Kamen Rider, anyone could be behind the mask of Oma Zi-O and the story would remain the same and they seek to exploit that. By creating Another Riders, they sought to make it so that the one who'd be king or queen be someone they could puppet. At least, that was what most of them were led to believe."

The images changed to focus on the man in purple. "Their leader, Swartz, had been manipulating from behind the scenes longer than any of us realized. He had his own ambitions and wished to make himself the ultimate ruler and usurp my overlord's place. To do that, he made sure she would grow stronger and stronger until the time was right— which involved the Time Jackers creating the Another Riders and necessitating her to obtain the corresponding Rider's powers. And one of those Another Riders—" The book then displayed a young man in his late teens with a black Ridewatch. "—was Hiryu Kakogawa, Another Zi-O. He, at one time, crossed paths with my overlord when they were young and Swartz believed one of them to be able to become the ruler of time. Ultimately, he decided on Olga Marie Animusphere and turned Kakogawa into a stepping stool."

"A very annoying stepping stool…" Olga muttered under her breath. "But what I don't get is how he came here. To this timeline, I mean. Heck, I don't get why I returned here too with the memories I had as Zi-O."

"…Unfortunately, that answer is in the hands of my overlord— that is to say, your older self. It is in all likelihood her doing that our timeline of Kamen Riders merged with this one, which did not have any," Woz answered with a look of deep thought. "The contents of the Oma Korin Reki have changed since your previous ascension; it now contains knowledge of this world's history up to a certain point. Even now…" He flipped his book to near the back, which contained pages that were still being filled out with words as they spoke. "This world's history is still being written. And it will continue to do so until your reascension as Oma Zi-O, if it can still happen."

Olga let out another sigh at that; things just kept getting more and more frustrating. However, now that storytime was over, it wouldn't be long before the obvious question came out of someone's mouth.

As the room fell into a contemplative silence, Ritsuka broke the stillness, his voice tinged with frustration and confusion. "Olga, why didn't you tell any of us about being this… demon queen of time? Why keep such an important part of yourself hidden?"

Instead of outright answering the question, Olga lowered her head to the point of her white hair falling forward and covering her eyes. "It's not about whether you could handle it," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's about me not wanting to admit something to myself."

Ritsuka leaned in, his concern growing and his eyes searching hers. "And what's that?"

Olga's grip tightened further, the metal creaking under the strain. Her head bowed even lower, the tension in the room almost palpable.

"...That I reveled in it."

The room fell silent, the weight of her words hanging heavily in the air. "...What?" Ritsuka's voice was almost a breathless whisper, a mix of disbelief and concern.

"I SAID THAT I ENJOYED BEING OMA ZI-O!" Olga's head snapped up, her eyes blazing with a mixture of anger, guilt, and a hint of that old power she once wielded. Her voice echoed through the room, reverberating off the metal walls.

The declaration sent a shockwave through the room. Mash's eyes widened in shock, Da Vinci Rider's fingers halted their rhythmic tapping, and even Sherlock's composed expression faltered for a moment.

"Olga…" Ritsuka's voice was filled with both understanding and pain. "Why?"

"All my life in that world…I wanted to be queen," Olga continued, her voice trembling but growing steadier. "I remember it like it was yesterday; riding on my bike while my parents watched and telling them I would be a queen to help the world. And remember every single time I told someone, they looked at me like I was stupid, or insane, or didn't know what the hell I was talking about even though I felt my destiny in my very bones. I knew it was true even if no one else believed it. I knew my fate was to be the greatest, most kind queen the world had ever seen, and I can count on one hand the people who didn't look at me like I had a screw loose. All my life, I had to deal with the laughing, and jeering, and all the goddamn talking behind my back as if I was still that useless girl whose own father saw me as useless enough to teach some outsider -" The way she spat that word out held an amount of venom no one in the room thought she was capable of " - my family's secrets while I was left to rot and be forgotten by history. So many in that time saw my dream as a fantasy that would never come true."

Olga then began to shake with an unknowable emotion,

"Then… I became Oma Zi-O and had the power to turn that fantasy into reality through my will and my will alone. I had control over time itself, it kneeled before me. I could shape reality, bend it to my will, and it felt right, like I rediscovered a missing piece of myself. For the first time in my life, I felt… invincible. And it was intoxicating. I could do anything and I was in love with the feeling. There was nothing out of my gasp and I could do anything I wanted to from that moment forward."

"...Then why didn't you?" Mash dared to speak up in a low whisper, though everyone could hear her.

"...Tsukuyomi."

"And who is that?"

"One of the first people in the world I can really call my friend in either lifetime I lived. The other one came from the future to kill me before I could ever become Oma Zi-O." The white-haired director let out a short laugh, "But not her. She honestly came back in time to try and convince me to find a different way. That I didn't have to become the worst, most evil demon queen in history. Even in that short time when she turned against me, I never got the impression that she honestly wanted to see me hurt because she genuinely believed I could become a better person than what fate itself had ordained… and she died for it. The moment I became Oma Zi-O and was ready to take the world as my own, she turned against her own brother, Swartz, and died for it, because she honestly thought it would be a better place in my hands than her own flesh and blood. I became the very nightmare she tried all this time to prevent and she still had so much faith in me. God, I can still feel her smile at me…"

Her look shifted, near tears, reddening the edges of those amber eyes, before she seemed to fight back against them, clawing the expression back into one of near-misery.

"After everything we've been through… Could I ever rightfully call myself the greatest queen in history if I betrayed my friend like that?"

Silence blanketed the room as Olga waited for the inevitable next question, doing her best to rein in her messy state of emotions, though she could see Ritsuka, Mash, and both Da Vincis exchanging glances, the weight of Olga's confession sinking in.

However, to her surprise, the next question was different than what she expected. It came from Holmes and was directed towards Woz. "If I may ask, your book contains knowledge of what has already happened. Am I understanding that correctly?"

"You are."

"Then can you explain what happened on New Year's Eve?" Holmes questioned with a serious look. "The invasion… as well as the Crypters' motives, if possible."

Seeing as that would also be in his overlord's interests, Woz flipped back a couple of pages. "When the coffins containing the cryo-frozen bodies of Team A opened, none of them were inside. Shortly after, Chaldea was invaded by the forces of the Lostbelts. Is that what happened?" After seeing the occupants in the room nod, he continued on. "There is not much information recorded yet… but it seems they struck a deal with someone or something powerful. The one behind those alternate histories and responsible for the world being bleached. In my calendar, there is only one title: the Foreign God. Whatever deal they made with it, the members of Team A now serve it as the Crypters and work to expand the Lostbelts until one of them completely covers the planet."

"Why would this… Foreign God aim to do such a thing? What are its motives for doing so?" The younger Da Vinci asked first.

"To replace Proper Human History— otherwise known as the true history all timelines must follow. It has dictated that humanity has followed the wrong path and seeks to correct this mistake. Or at least, that is what Kirschtaria Wodime stated in his message to all of humanity before they bleached the planet." Woz looked up from his book to stare at all of them gathered around the table. "And he has challenged Chaldea to stop them— if you seek to restore the proper history as well as humanity again, you must destroy the seven Lostbelts. But beyond that, the future is still being written. Or perhaps… someone's obfuscating what is going to happen."

Holmes was quick to follow up on that and asked another question. "And what is going on within the Russian Lostbelt now?"

Woz let out a small sigh at the constant questioning but answered anyway given that the situation at hand deemed it necessary. "Kakogawa has successfully taken the place of the Lostbelt King there. As of now, we cannot confront him as he used his powers to seal it away." That meant their only choice was to head to another Lostbelt and figure things out from there. Woz glanced towards Olga, already knowing what she would ask next. "As for his motives for doing what he's doing, there is no reason to believe it is anything beyond trying to take what he thinks is rightfully his. He is simply being the petty speck of dust he's always been, my overlord."

The Field Director of Chaldea couldn't help but roll her eyes, "Of course he is. Next you're gonna tell me water is wet or that the sky is blue. Some things aren't gonna change no matter how time passes."

Olga gathered as much the moment she saw his ugly mug but she couldn't help but wonder if there was anything more. Mainly due to Finis's strange way of calling him "king" when he was not present.

"…Alright, I believe that is enough for this meeting." To her (and everyone else's surprise), Goredolf suddenly spoke. "From everyone's faces, we need time to process what Mister Woz has told us. I propose we take a break and reconvene at a later time to figure out our next course of plan."

'Right, he's the leader here now,' Olga thought as she recalled their deal. She would call the shots while out on the field while he takes charge here in Chaldea. Seeing as no one was raising any objections, the meeting soon ended although Holmes did request Woz to continue talking in private. The prophet naturally declined but Olga told him to go along with him. "He's the ace detective here. Might as well just tell him instead of waiting for him to figure it out."

With that, the rest of the staff present left the meeting room; Goredolf headed off on his own while Mash and the Da Vincis went to the latters' workshop for something. That left her and Ritsuka alone. At first, she went off in a random direction but Ritsuka went in the same way too. She then quickly realized they were headed in the way of the Master's quarters where he would no doubt want to go for rest.

The two walked in silence for a bit, passing by the large windows that were battered by constant snow. Olga was not sure what to say after her earlier outburst and luckily for her, Ritsuka initiated the impending conversation. "…If it means anything, I don't blame you."

"Huh?" That was not the first thing she expected him to say.

"You're only human after all. I don't think many would be able to fight off that temptation, gaining supreme power like how you described," he continued with a small but understanding smile. "The fact that you did, and refused to let the die fall where they did is impressive."

At his words, she paused in her step, prompting him to do the same while waiting for her response. "…I nearly didn't, and that's what hurts me the most," she admitted again. "I wanted nothing more than to continue on the path set out for me, to take my place as queen. To finally see my dream come true. I wished for it more than anything and it was right within my grasp…"

"But you didn't grab it, because the cost was too great."

Olga wryly laughed at what he said; he had hit the nail on his head. "I didn't think it was worth it. Geiz and Tsukuyomi… I couldn't give up what they meant to me for my dream."

"Then you didn't lose sight of what was important," Ritsuka's smile was broader now. "You could have gotten something more, but chose to keep what you already have."

She laughed again at him, this time in amusement. "You really know what to say to make people feel better, huh? But yes, I… want them to be with me when I reach my dream. And I will reach my dream, no matter what."

"Expect them," Ritsuka reminded her with a laugh of his own. "Well, I believe you can do it— reach your dream, I mean. If you did it once, you can do it again. This time, those two will stand with you. I'm sure of it."

Olga could not help but smile at his reassurance. She knew she could do it but to hear someone say it too made her feel better. Their conversation came to an end then, however, as Ritsuka let out a yawn.

"Well, I'll see you later. I'm tired and I'd rather not pass out in the halls again," he joked before waving farewell and heading off towards his room.

"See you later… and thank you," Olga muttered the last part under her breath, feeling as though a load was taken off her shoulders. She never quite processed what happened in the end with Swartz until then and she was glad they forced the truth out of her for that.

Before she could take another step, she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She turned to see Woz having caught up. "Already done with Holmes?" She asked with slight confusion. She had expected him to keep Woz for at least an hour.

"I didn't have the answers he wanted," Woz simply stated. He glanced in the direction of where Ritsuka walked off to and asked, "So that is him? Ritsuka Fujimaru, Humanity's Last Master?"

"Yes… Why?" Olga raised an eyebrow at his question.

"I expected someone… different. He seemed a bit too normal for someone of his station," Woz explained.

"Pfft…"

"Mmm?" Woz the herald raised his own eyebrow as Olga covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud, "Have I said something amusing to you?"

"That's exactly what Tsukuyomi said to me when we first met." She answered with a giggle, recalling their first meeting all that time ago. "She couldn't believe someone like me could be Oma Zi-O but hey, looks aren't everything, right?"

"I don't believe that's the right term to use, my demon queen," Woz tutted at Olga's choice of words. "But I suppose that is close enough. Although if your path is what shaped you to become Oma Zi-O, I wonder what path could lead him to…"

"To…?" Olga repeated, wondering why he would trail off like that.

"…Nothing, simply stories I've heard from DiEnd. There's no need to worry about that, my demon queen. We have more important matters to discuss: finding a way to restore your powers," Woz changed to topic off of Ritsuka as he opened his book again. "And I believe the answers lie with the speck, as annoying as he is."

"You think so too, huh?" Olga let out a small grin as she realized Woz and her were on the same track. "Of course, we just need to set things up. Once we get to the next Lostbelt, I'll figure something out."

"Impressive, my demon queen," the herald smiled upon seeing the plotting grin on Olga's face. "Is there anything you require?"

"Hmm… Do you still have your Rider powers?"

"Of course. Whatever you ask of me, I shall give." Woz reached behind him and took out something - not a Miridewatch that was associated with Kamen Rider Woz, but the same type of Ridewatch that she and Geiz typically utilized. "I believe your future self foresaw you needing this and made the necessary alterations."

"Nice~!" Olga smirked as she took the Ridewatch, a plan formulating in her head for the near future, "Now here's how we're going to handle him…"

And now came the exposition chapter headed by everyone's favorite tokusatsu hypeman! Hoped it made sense given the context. I thought it would make sense for Woz to be the one to be able to fill in the gaps since Chaldea would miss Kirschtaria Wodime message thanks to Olga's interference to canon's events. I also thought it'd be interesting to twist things so that Oma Zi-O power really did get to her in that moment in time, which made Tsukuyomi's actions and last words hit that much hard for her.

FB: Surmising Zi-O's events to be as simple as they can be was fun. As well as letting Olga finally admit what happened after her basically bottling things up for long. I also couldn't help but make a slight reference to a little something near the end.

Until next time!