“No, no, no, no, no!” Arthur screamed, his arms trying to catch the air while maintaining a grip on his katana. He could not let it loop, not right now, and not like this. Of course, it meant that he would be ready for the attack this time, but it did not mean he wanted to go through all of that again. He didn’t want to fight Dean Farland ever, ever again in his life. He wanted to give up.

  Elle said nothing at all. He just stared at the man as they fell down, closer to the streets of the city every second. The shadow figure standing beside Dean walked away, back into the castle. It was the same person who had messed with him back during the escape. Arthur knew it.

  Dean’s expressions had said it all. He had been genuinely fascinated by the information he had gotten about how one got two abilities. And if his own ability was Hear Me, Ye Angels, and it had something to do with how the wood was broken, it could not have had anything to do with the illusion they had been fighting. But illusions? They were the forte of that shadow.

  Whoever it was, was the one handling all of this behind the scenes.

  For now, though, Arthur turned and tried to accept the death hurling at him at nearly 50 m/s. There was nothing to be done about it. The system already seemed to be preparing for a loop. The words started to jumble up as the ground got closer. The moment he went splat, he would go back in time.

  That made him think, though. Why didn’t the survival skill for the other Modules ever activate? Johnny’s hadn’t. Vil’s hadn’t. It hadn’t happened for Dean just now, but at least that had a reason behind it. The only survival skill he had ever seen had been his own. Only for a Time Module.

  He shook his head. Why was he thinking about that right now? The ground was closer than ever. Arthur started considering what he would do if he got reset, and then closed his eyes.

  Only to be saved by a very familiar feeling.

  A second later, he was on top of a blue dragon. It hadn’t been great, though. Falling from all the way there to the city was death. But a dragon’s scales weren’t exactly better than the stones of the streets. A searing pain travelled through his entire body and sent his body into a state of disarray. The text in front of his eyes changed. It wasn’t speaking of his death anymore, which was good. But it was still annoying –

  Ah, fuck, that hurts…

  Arthur knew. The parasite didn’t need to remind him. He knew very well. He groaned and held his back, rolling around on the dragon.

  “You’re quite a handful, both of you.” Dee sighed.

  “Yeah? You just broke our backs…”

  “Would you prefer dying, Elle?”

  “No. I meant, uh, thank you?”

  “That’s better.”

  Arthur didn’t even have the time or patience to actually reply or participate in the conversation. He didn’t have the mental capacity to do anything. His health had dropped all the way to a measly 07 the moment he landed on the dragon, and his stamina was at a critically low 01.

  The only thing Arthur knew how to do in the moment was drift off to sleep and hope that he woke up a bit stronger and healthier.

  _____________

  When he got up, his health had gone back to 78, and his stamina had boosted up to a solid 103. That was more than enough for him. However, the moment he opened his eyes and looked at the sky, he noticed that it was evening. That was not very good. Of course, he had gotten his health and stamina back if he had basically slept for a whole day. Arthur sat up and looked around him.

  He was near the foot of a mountain. It rose, way too high, to the left of him. To the right was a massive field full of grass and scattered trees. Far away, he could see the spire of the Palace of Chicago rising in the smog. Slowly, lights were turned on in the city, and a faint glow rising from the many candles appeared all over it.

  Looking back at the mountain, he noticed it had a small opening right between its rocky base. Vil appeared from that opening and immediately raised his hands in joy the moment he saw that Arthur had sat up. He quickly walked over to the man and stood tall beside him, hands on his waist.

  “So, Sy, what kind of trick were you playing on us? Was it so necessary to betray us and leave us all alone when we were escaping the city?”

  “I didn’t betray you.”

  “Ha! Of course you didn’t. I was merely testing you. Here, stand up.”

  He put a hand forward, and Arthur took his help to get on his feet. Now that he could see a bit more clearly, he noticed that Dee was also sleeping a few dozen meters away from him. Elle was nowhere to be seen, though. He must have already woken up and moved inside.

  “You must go inside and wait for me. We shall be beginning a meeting soon. I will wake Dee up and ask him to join us.”

  “He will join us? In the small cave?”

  “Yes!” Vil turned and looked at the cave, and then back at Dee, “Or perhaps, on second thought, we should go together and then later inform Dee of all the decisions that were made.”

  Arthur nodded, and the two of them started walking to the cave entrance.

  “Don’t you think he ever feels left out? He rarely gets to attend any meetings, and by all means, he is the one who should be attending them. He’s really the only…”

  “Yes? Only what, Sy? And as for your question, no. I do not believe he gets lonely. He is a dragon! Dragons do not have human emotions.”

  “Vil, dragons also don’t speak. But he clearly does. The guy takes children on rides across Maria for fun. What are you on about?”

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  The knight looked back at the sleeping dragon and sighed, “I am just repeating what Dee once told me, that is all. He really does not have human emotions. He is…replicating them. According to him, at least. Now, we must join the others, or Celia will be very, very angry.”

  Arthur agreed, and both of them went quiet. He looked back at Dee and wondered if that was true. It hadn’t seemed like it. Back when Arcadia had tried to bring up his original universe, the anger he had shown had been very real. That’s what Arthur thought, at least. It was weird for a dragon to be able to speak, but not have emotions. Everyone had emotions…even the smallest of animals. But that was Dee’s own business. Best not to interfere too much.

  He was also glad Vil had forgotten about his incomplete sentence and changed his focus. Arthur had almost accidentally said that Dee was the only sane person in the entire group. That was true, of course. But to say that to the face of the knight would have been a bit too rude. Even if Vil laughed it off, Arthur would have felt bad about it.

  He had let his rationality get the best of him recently. It was something he was proud of, by all means. It was what had gotten him all the way over here and helped him survive way too many fights in the last three days. But at the same time, he had ignored the tragedy that the versions of Arthur and Celia had been going through in this universe. He had forgotten that he was first and foremost a teacher. It was his job to think of the kids first.

  The adventure and his fascination were taking over him.

  The two entered the cave, and he was almost blown away by how big it was. Because it was massive. The entrance did not suggest that, which is what threw him off. Vil had also not been completely insane about letting Dee in here, since the dragon could clearly fit. If he could get in in the first place, that is.

  Other than the size, though, the cave itself was pretty simple. It had multiple bedrolls lying all over, with medium-sized rocks arranged in a circular pattern right in the middle. Celia was sitting in one of them and gave him a quick nod when he walked in. Elle was sitting on the rock right beside her and sipping on what seemed to be a packaged mango drink. How did he even get that in here?

  Out of the four soldiers, it seemed like only one had survived and was in a bad condition. Wrapped up in bandages, he was sleeping in a corner of the cave. Arthur and Vil went and took random positions on the rocks. Once he sat down, the teacher noticed that the suited man had a small, white plastic bag beside him. Elle reached into it and pulled out two packets of apple juice, threw one at him, and one at Vil.

  Arthur caught it and looked at him in wonder.

  “I didn’t just spawn it in, dude.” He replied, “Dee went on a little supply run back to Maria. Also, he informed Arcadia about everything. Best to be safe, you know. I love some milk, but I don’t love it on my suit.”

  He then tried to give some to Celai, but she refused. The loss of her men had clearly been hard on her. She was sitting with a sour expression on her face. Staring at the ground, the girl did not have even a single bit of joy or hope in her eyes. That sparkle that should normally be the default look for a five-year-old child was nonexistent in her. That made Arthur feel even worse about his decisions.

  She looked at him and asked a single question, “Will you run us down everything you saw, Uncle Sy?”

  Something about being called that only dug deeper into the wound, but he ignored that pain and started with the story. One by one, he started from his assumption about when the shadow figure had wrapped him up in his skill, and then ended with the fight they had against Dean Farland. Every time he took the name of any of the Knights of the Round Table, there was a visible reaction on Celia’s face.

  When he was done, she nodded and looked at Elle, “It’s true. It happened again when he narrated the story. I remember Dean Farland. Eudon Belrose, too. The other Arthur Cross…I don’t know much about. He is not that important to them, as far as I know. But Farland and Belrose, I remember very well. They…had something to do with all of this.”

  “Well, we already confirmed that they made you age up somehow.” Elle told her, “Farland was quite direct about it, too. He knew exactly what he was saying and doing. He ruined your lives.”

  “King Arthur Cross ruined our lives.”

  “No, he did not, Celia.” Arthur joined, “When I met him, it was obvious. He is still the same child. These people from the CAIB are just manipulating him. I mean, they need him for their own purposes, and that’s the whole reason why they age both of you up.”

  “Why me, then? Why did they also give me the same treatment when Arthur is the only one they need? Also, what about my memories? I very vividly remember Arthur killing King Gikanamous. I remember every single moment of it, as clear as day.”

  “However, if Sy’s words are to go by, then it can be supposed that that was the shadow figure’s doing too. Illusions can be created pretty easily by this man, as we know. All we need to do is find out more about him, and we will be at an advantageous position.”

  “You’re letting your love for him blind you! Every single one of you.” Celia growled, “I understand why you are being like this, but you haven’t been in this city for the last month. I have. I have seen what he has done to my people. I have seen how much cruelty oozes out of that man every time he steps out of the palace. There is no shadow figure, uncle! There is only that bastard Arthur Cross!”

  “Then how do you explain the illusion, Celia?” Elle asked, “We were there. We saw it. Dean’s skill broke the wooden handcuff. It had nothing to do with the illusion.”

  “And if it was an illusion, then why would it be affected by a parasitic skill?!” Celia screamed and turned towards him, standing up in her anger, “There are so many different answers to what you saw, but you are picking the only one which supports what you want to see. You are picking the one which makes Arthur the victim, when he is the one doling out all the torture!”

  “Celia, calm down. It’s alright. Sit and put your point forward.”

  Arthur held out a hand and gestured for her to sit down. She nodded and did.

  “We have no proof that illusions react to skills.” She explained, “Could it not be possible that Dean used the skill to create an illusion, which effectively removed him from the skill and caused it to shatter because there was nobody there anymore? Then he went out and drank a healing potion. But even if that is not the case, there are other explanations.

  “For example, Uncle Elle, you were hurt. What if you blinked for a second, or accidentally caused the skill to stop without realising it?”

  “That’s not how Sin works, Celia.” He replied.

  She groaned, “I just…need you to understand me. Please. I don’t remember being that man’s friend. But all I have seen of him now has been a ruthless psychopath who treats people’s lives as if they were playthings. He killed three of my men yesterday. Jaffer is the only one left alive, and he’s in no condition to fight anymore. I just want to save my city, Uncle Elle.”

  Arthur heard her defeated voice. He heard the pain it carried and was trying to put across. But he also heard Elle’s wish. He had seen these kids grow up and play together for months. He could just take one of their sides and declare the other to be the villain. Especially not when there was a variable like the CAIB standing in their way and acting as a potential explanation for it all.

  Then, Arthur also saw the desperation of Dean Farland and his fellow soldiers. Morally wrong or not, they had taken the steps necessary to save their own universe. Millions of lives were on the line. Angered by what had happened to Celia and Arthur, Elle had been willing to break his streak of not killing anyone. How could they then blame the CAIB for doing the same thing to save so many?

  Yet, he really only believed in one side. He believed in Elle. For the last two years, he had been a teacher. His version of Celia had taught him how to be a good one, too. And being a good teacher always meant putting the kids’ lives first. It wasn’t about getting information through to them, but about making them believe that that information was worth it. Arthur could not choose a side between two children. Because that’s all this was.

  This was two children fighting against each other and making a big deal out of it.

  “Celia,” he said, “We’ll get him. We’ll get them all. But we need you to trust us, too. We need you to trust that what we are doing is for the benefit of everyone. We will figure out a way to set things right.”

  “You…!” She controlled herself, shook her and stood up, “You won’t get it. You’re not even from this universe, at the end of the day. The people of Chicago are not people to you. They’re just…there. But not to me. I’ve lived with them and felt their love. I will not let Arthur keep torturing them for his pleasure. Whether you’re with me or not, I am going to kill him tomorrow.”

  “Celia, child.” Vil stood up too, but she had already stepped out of the circle and left them alone.