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The Simulacrum - Chapter 132 - Part 1
🕑 Added 2023-12-18 16:52:44 +0000 UTCLooking through the glass automatic doors of the school, I couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that time was, in fact, a fact. The season was changing. Two months before this day, during the school festival preparations (which somehow felt simultaneously like it was yesterday, but also a year ago), the sun would've been already descending close to the horizon at this hour, yet today, it was still bright outside.
It reminded me of many things, and I was lost in thought by the shoe-locker for so long, that my impatient sister poked me on the shoulder just to get a reaction.
"Brother? Shouldn't we just look for the others?"
Glancing at her, I considered her idea but shook my head.
"Nah. They should be finished already, and will come here anyway."
Penny let out a disappointed huff, while my other sister looked at her with an amused, affectionate smile. As always, seeing my family getting along made me feel nice, but before I could hand out some customary head pats, my knightly sister winced and hurriedly hid behind Snowy's back.
Sighing in defeat, I let my hand down and looked in the direction of the corridor leading to the gymnasium. Truth be told, even I was getting a tiny bit impatient, so I was just about to Far Glance in the guys' direction when Penny startled me.
"Ah! Judy's coming!"
Blinking, I stared at the empty corridor, and then belatedly turned the other direction. Lo and behold, my dear assistant was coming from that direction, and by the time we locked gazes, my redhead sister was already at her side.
"You won't believe it, but Brother actually called me cute today!"
"Really?" Judy responded with a flat voice coloured by an ever-so-slightly raised impressed brow, and while I always prided myself on my ability to read her expressions, the others were apparently also catching up to me, as Penny's face immediately bloomed into a bright smile.
"Yes!"
"Why is that such a big deal?" I asked as I also made my way over to them, closely followed by Snowy, and it was she who answered first.
"Uuu… Is it because girls like it when they are praised?"
"I'm pretty sure everyone does," I countered, but she didn't argue and only smiled awkwardly.
"But you never praise me!" Penny suddenly blurted out, accompanied by a pout right out of the princess' handbook. "You are only saying those things to Snowy! It's discrimination!"
"Well, I would call you cute more if you wouldn't be running away whenever I'd want to pat your head."
"T-That's a different thing entirely!" she floundered and continued to mutter about it being unfamiliar and strange with a flushed face that, once again, reminded me of Elly. Which, in turn, had me address Judy.
"Where are the others?"
"In the infirmary," she answered matter-of-factly, and I couldn't help but blink in surprise. True to form, when I checked their red dots at the edge of my vision, there was a cluster at the end of the hallway where Judy came from, but before I could actually shift my point of view over, she continued. "There was a small accident during the tennis match."
"Who got hurt?" I asked, my attention snapping back to my body again.
"I'll explain on the way," she told me and turned on her heel, expecting me to follow her. There was no reason I wouldn't do so, and therefore I quickly caught up to her, ignoring my redhead sister fuming behind me because I wasn't paying full attention to her grumbles.
"So? What happened?"
"Angie got too into the game," Judy explained tersely, and after a beat, elaborated a bit. "At first she was leading, but then Elly got serious and won two games in a row, one of the going 40-love, and…"
"Dormouse, you know I have no idea how tennis scoring works, right?"
"As Elly's significant other, you really should," she shot back, and for once, I had no snappy comeback.
"It's on the priority list, but kind of on the low-ish end?" I said a touch bashfully, and my girlfriend let out a shallow sigh. "Let's move on to what happened, please. Did Angie get desperate and pull a tendon or something?"
"No."
"Did she trip?" Snowy interjected from a step behind us.
"No, not that either. According to Joshua, she tapped into her Deus powers, and it gave her a headache, she lost focus, and got hit in the nose by a fastball."
"Considering it came from the princess, that probably wasn't pleasant…" I noted, just around the time the door to the nurse's office came into view. "Did Josh scoop her up and bring her here."
"Exactly."
"So it was most likely an event."
"Most likely."
"So long as it's relatively benign stuff like this, I guess we're good."
"Don't get too complacent," Judy warned me, and I nodded by reflex and reached for the doorknob in front of me.
"Oh… Hi, Leo," a nasal voice greeted me from the bed in the back, and a moment later continued with, "Hi Neige, Penny."
Angie was sitting on said bed, still in her usual tennis outfit, including the fluffy scrunch socks and all. Next to her, Elly was wiping her forehead with a towel, and knowing her, she probably felt responsible for what happened. On the other side, Josh and Ammy idled a touch awkwardly, accompanied by our new nurse, who was just in the process of putting away one of those diagnostic monocle-thing artifacts he used on me as well a while back.
"Welcome, Lord… Leonard," he greeted me with a hint of uncertainty, and I acknowledged him with a nod before walking over to the bed.
"Are you all right?"
"I'll live," Angie answered with the same, nasal voice, caused by the two swabs of cotton-wool stuffed in her nostrils. "Have you heard what happened?"
Before I could answer, Josh came over and said, "This airhead was going to use her powers in a tennis match, that's what happened."
"Hey! Whose side are you on!" his girlfriend whined, but oddly enough, Josh remained adamant.
"Yours, you dummy! Didn't Leo tell us that using your powers all willy-nilly like that is dangerous? I have all the right in the universe to be mad at you right now." He paused, and his determined frown wavered as he glanced over at me. "Right?"
"You sure are."
"Aw. Pile on me, why don't ya…"
"Only because we…" I very nearly said 'love you', but that would have been wildly inappropriate, so after hammering my inner Polemos back into its hole in the back of my mind, I softened it into, "care for you. You have to be careful with your powers, or you might end up hurting someone. Including yourself."
"Well…" Angie whispered, suddenly sounding sheepish. "To tell you the truth, around the fourth game, I was getting a really strong urge to bring out my bow and shoot at Elly, but it would've been very unsportsmanlike, wouldn't it?"
"To put it mildly," Josh responded while holding his forehead in his hand. "I really should've just interrupted your game as soon as I felt something was off."
"Then why didn't you?" I asked, and while I was only curious, he must've mistaken it for an accusation, as he hastily raised his palms.
"I was distracted, okay?"
"By me," the class rep interjected. "I was asking Joshua about his impressions about the Elysium, since he had seen much more of it than I did."
"It wasn't your fault. I should have paid more attention to her."
"If it was anyone's fault, wouldn't it be for not controlling my strength and hitting Angeline with a ball?" the princess also butted in, and before things could get more chaotic, I raised my hands to get their attention.
"How about we agree that it was nobody's fault, and treat it as a learning experience? Everyone agrees? Good. Why don't we head home then?"
"We still have to change," Elly pointed out, so shrugged and gestured towards the door.
"Then please go ahead. We'll wait for you at the usual place."
The girls still in their tennis clothes didn't argue, and left the nurse's office, along with everyone else. However, when I wanted to join them, I noticed how intently Jaakobah was looking at me, so I figured he had something to say to me. As such, I lingered behind, and closed the door after my sisters, leaving only the two of us in the room.
"Is there something to report?"
"Yes, Lord Archon." He straightened his back, as if preparing for a salute, but only put his hands behind his back. "I requested Judy Sennoma to bring you here, because there is an urgent matter we need to discuss."
"Why are you using her full name like that?" I blurted out the question that elbowed its way to the forefront of my mind, and he gave me a puzzled look.
"I have not been briefed on her official status yet." He paused, and when I didn't respond right away, he tentatively asked. "Is he truly engaged to you, Lord Archon?"
"I thought that was common knowledge."
"True, but I have to admit, she appears too—"
"Before you continue," I cut him short, with a not-at-all menacing smile. "If you try saying anything along the lines of 'plain', 'expressionless', or 'insignificant', I will be forced to terminate our relationship by launching you into the sun. Just for your interest."
Jaakobah blinked, then looked at me in disbelief, and finally shuddered.
"I was going to say 'harmless'."
I rolled the word in my mouth for a few seconds, and I found it tolerable.
"Fine. You get a pass. So? What did you want to talk to me about?"
Visibly relieved that I moved the conversation along, the dour man let out a relieved breath, only to then straighten up and assume a professional demeanour again.
"Our investigation revealed a group of suspicious individuals."
"Students?" I asked reflexively, immediately figuring that they were talking about the four creeps, but for once, I was wildly off the mark.
"No, outsiders. Preliminary surveillance indicates that they are freelance operatives belonging to the Magi.
"Non-causative Science Research Society?"
"Potentially. According to our correspondence with the local School officials, they have no information on them, making them a rogue element." He paused for a long beat, letting the information sink in. "Your orders?"
Normally, I would have told him to let them be, and then maybe sic Fred on them to see if they were potential recruits, but the words of Lord Grandpa still echoed in my ears. There were people out there who preferred the current status quo, and since Angie's mere existence was a threat to that, they would do anything to get her out of the picture. As such, it was probably better to clear any such 'rogue elements' off the board as soon as possible, before they could cause trouble, or complicate the picture once the inevitable climactic kerfuffle careened into our lives, as it tended to do.
"Deal with them as you see fit," I told him, and after a bit more consideration, I added. "Discretely."
"As you command."
"If you need help, cooperate and coordinate with the Ordo Draconis and our other forces. Use my name as necessary."
"Understood." I thought that was the end of the conversation, but then he threw a curveball at me by saying, "I have also taken the opportunity to inspect Her Grace's astral body on this occasion."
"Did you, now?"
"It was part of the treatment," he excused himself but remained non-apologetic as he continued. "I have noticed several minor anomalies."
"It's to be expected," I granted to him and raised a curious brow. "What is your opinion, as a medical professional?"
I wasn't making fun of him, considering that, as an ex-field-medic of CIEL, one of the Celestials' elite enforcement squads (as much as that was worth nowadays), and the one who healed my severely injured hand, I gave his opinion on such issues about as much weight as I gave to Fred and Mr. Plague Doctor.
"It is hard to say with a single cursory examination, but it appears as if the First True Archon was being… restrained. Or maybe 'suppressed' would be the better word."
"That's correct," I nodded along.
"If the Lord Archon is already aware, then why don't you let her use her powers? With a strong enough stimulus, I predict that all of Her Grace Deus's power could be brought forth in one fell swoop."
I closed my eyes for a moment, and after some contemplation, I firmly answered, "It would be dangerous."
"Dangerous?"
"Yes. It's too soon. That's why we have to ensure she remains at peace, and wouldn't be forced to use her powers any time soon. At all cost."
Jaakobah ruminated over my words, and ultimately gave me that salute that was in the making since the very beginning.
"Thank you, Lord Archon." Was he thanking me for giving an answer, I wondered? In any case, I was about to dismiss him, but he continued on with, "The Praetorian Guard will strive to ensure the peaceful life of Her Grace until the time is right. Also…" He paused, and after some hesitation, he reaffirmed his salute. "Also, I shall inform them to treat Lady Sennoma with the utmost respect befitting of the Lord Archon's partner."
"Don't overdo it," I told him flatly. The last thing I needed was to have our so-called school security bow and salute Judy whenever they saw her. "Is that all?"
"Yes, Lord Archon. I thank you for your time."
With all of that sorted out, I bid my farewells, and by the time I walked back to the shoe lockers, everyone else was already waiting for me, including Angie and Elly.
"What did you talk about with the nurse?" Josh inquired the moment I got near him, and I lightly shrugged.
"Mostly Celestial stuff. Nothing for you guys to worry about right now."
He accepted that at face value, and once I changed my shoes, our merry little group set out together.
"It's been so long since the last time we all walked home like this," Elly noted with a pleased grin, clinging to my arm as always.
She wasn't wrong about that. While we came to school together, this was the first time since I came back that we were doing the same on the way home. It couldn't be helped though, as until now, either I was busy being tutored by Judy and Ammy in the school library after classes, or I was running around taking care of 'official business'. The girls were also hanging out on their own, and the childhood couple also had their own circumstances.
"Do you think we're going to miss this when we graduate? After we go our separate ways?" Josh asked an unexpectedly profound question, but before anyone could give it a proper thought, his girlfriend let out a loud 'Naaah!'
"I mean, why would we?" Angie asked, seemingly unable to even conceptualize the problem.
"Isn't that what happens after high school?" Ammy commented with a hand on her glasses, serving as a warning to keep the volume in check.
"For normal people, maybe, but we aren't normal at all!" the Celestial girl exclaimed, earning another menacing glasses-tweak from the class rep. She didn't even notice. "I mean, we aren't going our separate ways, or whatever."
"You sound confident," Penny noted, sounding skeptical of her claim, but Angie doubled down.
"Of course I am! We're all going to live together in Elysium, won't we?"
That question caused everyone to freeze in their tracks, and not just because we hit a red light at the crosswalk.
"What makes you think that?" Judy inquired, deadpan as usual, but Angie didn't mind at all.
"Oh come on, guys! It's obvious!" In the meantime, we started walking again, so she skipped forward and started walking backwards while facing us and pointing at each one of us in turn. "I will obviously live there, because Deus, so it's kinda duh. Josh is gonna live with me as my Joshticar, so that's a given. Leo will also come to live with us, because he's Polemos, and so he will bring Neige and Penelope along, and once they get married, Judy and Elly are going to live with him too. Finally, Ammy is going to move in with Mike's family once we get rid of those dumb laws that don't let him go home. You see? We'll all be living together in Elysium, so we'll hang out any time we want!"
"You're thinking way ahead," the class rep noted, and she was followed up by Josh.
"You should also look ahead!" With that, he dashed forth and pulled the still backwards-walking Angie to the side before she could hit her head on the incoming telephone pole. "Seriously, you just got healed! Be careful, you dunderhead!"
"I'm not a dunderhead, you big dummy, and I don't need to be careful, because I have a Joshticar to save me."
"I don't even know where to begin explaining how much wrong there is with your logic," the guy grumbled, and the two of them soon descended into their usual bickering/flirting routine.
Meanwhile, Elly was tugging on my sleeve, and when I glanced at her, she immediately asked, "Are we really going to move there?"
"I never really gave it a thought," I admitted. "I was too happy to finally get out without being forced to overturn the whole of Elysium, I never really considered what would happen later."
"Low on the priority list?" Judy inquired while holding onto my other arm, and I shrugged.
"Sure, let's go with that."
By this point, we were getting close to the spot where Ammy and Elly would depart from the group, and I was just in the process of giving my kiss-heavy goodbyes to my draconic girlfriend (and remind her that I would pick her up in the afternoon the next day) when I was startled by someone forcefully grabbing onto my upper arm and shaking it. When I glanced over, I found the class rep, brown scrunched up in a troubled frown, and with her phone pressed against her ear.
"Yes, he's here with me," she said into the phone and looked me in the eye before adding. "I'll put him on the line." She handed me her phone, and as I automatically accepted it, with Elly stepping back, I raised a brow at the caller ID. "Grandfather said he needs to talk to you, right now."
That was rather unexpected. She didn't say what he wanted from me, but if he went as far as to call his granddaughter, it had to be urgent. As such, I raised the phone to my ear with an expectant, but at the same time kind of resigned expression.
"Hello? Leonard—" Before I could even get to say 'speaking', I was hit by a torrent of rather angry tirades coming from the other side. At first, I wanted to cut him short, on principle, but once the words sank in, I could feel my face slacked, culminating in an incredulous, "They blew up a what?!"
"Chief? Did something happen?"
I glanced at Judy, then at the rest of the group, and after a beat, I handed the phone back to Ammy.
"Nothing major. I just have to go back to the School and have a long and severe talk with my Praetorian Guards about the meaning of the word 'discreet', that's all…"
Comments
Patryk Rys
When he said "Deal with them as you see fit" and then he even used "use my name if needed" then everybody saw how it gonna end. Come on, thats basic one, Leo, youre getting lazy!
Egathentale
Hello, dear readers. Since I'm planning to "take a week off", so to speak, for the sake of the usual Christmas activities, I'm aiming to hammer out three chapter parts this week. Wish me luck. Till next time, have a nice day, and a lovely holiday season.
