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The Simulacrum - Chapter 117 - Part 1
🕑 Added 2023-06-19 17:16:50 +0000 UTCBy the time we got back to my designated quarters, I was feeling exhausted in more ways than one. Maintaining my Polemos persona was tiresome at the best of times, but when I had to do it in front of a small crowd while pretending to know what I was talking about at the same time was exponentially more so.
Sighing, I moved over to the bedroom, silently lamenting the lack of a comfy chair in this entire luxury suite (by Celestial standards, at the very least), and rested my butt on the softest surface I could find. Namely, the bed. In the meantime, Mountain Girl wordlessly followed after me, and once I got seated, she let out a muffled voice to get my attention.
"Is Leonard-dono really planning to take the Celestial warriors under Leonard-dono's wings?"
At first, I didn't know how to answer, but then I let out an ambivalent noise and told her, "Nah, not really. I'm just maintaining my cover."
"Really? Rinne would've sworn that Leonard-dono was planning to grow them into another division under Leonard-dono's command."
"… No, I was just giving them some tips, for appearances' sake," I emphasized. Not only that, it wasn't even particularly deep advice; just the same kind of obvious suggestions I gave Josh whenever I sparred with him. Not that they cared; if I told these guys that their combat techniques needed more salt and a hint of periwinkle, they would've probably accepted it as the gospel. But back to the conversation, I shook my head and lamented, "Just where did this misunderstanding get started? Why does everyone think I'm some sort of grand unifier?"
"Hasn't Leonard-dono already unified the descendants of the mountain- and river-deities, as well as the warriors hunting them?"
I was pretty sure the first two were referring to the Western and Eastern Draconians, but putting her weird terminology aside, I flatly told her, "A single data point doesn't make a pattern."
"… Rinne doesn't understand that."
I wanted to yell 'You're a university-educated teacher! How can you not grasp basic statistics theory?', but then I remembered that I was talking to Mountain Girl, and thought better of it.
"I'm just grumbling to myself, don't worry about it." I stood back up and stretched my back. "I guess you should be tired after eight matches in a row, so feel free to have a break. You did a great job, by the way."
"It was Rinne's pleasure to serve."
After acknowledging her response with a tiny smile, I walked into the bathroom to get a drink. The fact that this place had no kitchen, or even a magitech fridge of some sort with some refreshments was a constant source of annoyance, so I had to work with what I had, and that was the bathroom sink. I apparently really needed the extra hydration, as it was only after I drank to my fill that I realized something that should've been obvious in retrospect.
Since I could Phase home any time I wanted to, there was no reason why I couldn't stock up on drinks. Sure, bringing over something big, like the whole minbar from the base, would've been too conspicuous, but there were other ways to achieve the same effect. With Rinne serving as my anchor, I could make as many round-trips as I wanted, and as for storage, I could just get a big backpack, and by wearing it, she could take all of those drinks into the shadow-subspace, hiding all the evidence. Heck, I could go one step further and just get a cooler, and ask Judy to make a bunch of her artisanal sandwiches for me while I was at it, and that would also get ahead of any tampering with my food the Celestial top brass would get up to.
I returned to the bedroom to ask Mountain Girl for her five cents, and I froze mid-step the moment I passed the threshold. She took my suggestion to rest up very literally, and I found her lying on my bed, her helmet put aside but still in arm's reach, and with a book in hand. Rationally, I knew that it wasn't 'my bed' per se, and I wasn't ever going to use it for its intended purpose, but seeing someone who wasn't one of my girlfriends lounging on it still felt subtly wrong.
Before she could question why I was so startled, I theatrically straightened my outfit and walked inside like nothing happened.
"What are you reading?"
I didn't ask just out of courtesy, as I couldn't read the title. It was in Japanese.
"It's a commentary on Dream of the Red Chamber by Fumio Haru." I was about to hum in acknowledgement and ask where she hid that book until now in her disguise, but she beat me to the punch with an irate groan. "Naoren-san made fun of Rinne for never reading one of the four classic Chinese novels, but it's just too long and boring, so Rinne is going to read a lot of Redologist books about its plot and themes and prose and style and themes instead, and then the next time Naoren-san will try to make fun of Rinne, Rinne with turn the table around, and Naoren-san will be sorry!"
"… Sure. You do that."
She nodded with the kind of gravitas that absolutely didn't suit the topic and returned to her book with fire in her eyes. Before she could get too immersed, I hurriedly waved to get her attention back and gave her an outline of my plans.
"Rinne agrees. Rinne would also like to request curry and melon soda."
"I'll see what I can do about it." Pausing, I quickly Far Glanced at the three Celestial bigwigs, plus Jaakobah, to make sure they weren't planning to break down my door and drag me to a meeting, or a parade, or something equally boring and asinine, and when I was sure I was in the clear, I told her, "I'm going to put that into motion then. If anyone's looking for me, tell them I'm busy. Otherwise, make yourself at home."
"Can Rinne use the shower?"
I didn't expect her to ask something like that, but after that workout, it really shouldn't have surprised me.
"You can't. I mean, you literally can't. It works on Celestial magic and stuff." She was looking at me funny, so after a while I added, just a tad morosely, "Fine. I'll figure out a way to jury-rig it before I leave."
"Thank you."
I waited to see if she had anything else to add, but after some time, when we both remained silent, she unceremoniously continued to read her book. I left her at it and returned to the bathroom for the second time. Since I already explored the enchantments operating the tower's non-plumbing system, I figured it shouldn't take long to hammer together some kind of alternative control scheme that didn't rely on aggressively humming at the bloody faucet. In fact, I doubted I'd even need to do a 'deep dive' into the non-euclidian representation of the enchantment to do it.
Using three Phantom Limbs at the same time, I rapidly analyzed the arrays on display, and once I knew what to do, making the necessary changes was something I could do pretty much with my eyes closed. As a matter of fact, I couldn't help but feel that multitasking, even while performing difficult tasks, was became even easier than before. I wondered if it had something to do with the number of phantom limbs, my encounter with other-me in the not-dark not-room, or something else entirely, but since I was always ready to push my supernatural boundaries, I figured I save some time by using Far Sight at the same time.
Paying full attention to that while rearranging the enchantment arrays wasn't entirely feasible yet, but by cycling through my marks, I could at least gather a few snippets of information. First, I caught a glance of my sisters helping Arnwald work out in the base's training room housing some fitness equipment borrowed from the Dracis mansion. Judy and Elly were eating a late breakfast in the company of Sebastian, served by the twin maids whose names I still didn't know. Crowey was on a tour around the outskirts of his castle while talking with some officials, all of them surrounded by about two dozen generic Fauns. Speaking of which, my glance at Brang and company told me that they had mostly finished tidying up and re-decorating the secret hideout I 'inherited' from Fred, and they were on standby.
They weren't the only ones there, as I also found Morgana, Agrawain, and Roland sitting around a small, round table in another room. As in, opposed to the 'jail room' that used to house Mike back in the day, which was turned into a bona fide medieval dungeon by the overachieving ministrations of our Fauns, complete with chained manacles hanging from the walls, makeshift torture racks, and even honest-to-goodness torches set into sconces on the walls. Credit where credit's due, these guys never did a half-assed job.
But putting that aside for the moment, I was much more interested in Roland's presence. Since he was there, it presented a perfect opportunity to hold a strategic meeting and decide how to deal with Percival, and just as I made up my mind about that, I finished tweaking the enchanted showers cabin and fully returned to my body.
By putting my hand on the ball embedded in the wall, the shower-head above sprung to life and started spraying warm water. It wasn't exactly hot, more like lukewarm, but I couldn't be bothered with jury-rigging a temperature control as well, so Mountain Girl would have to deal with it. Chances are, no matter what I did, she would demand either icy cold or scalding hot water to temper her yin-yang energies or whatever anyway.
Anyhow, once I was done, I turned off the outlet by touching it again and returned to the bedroom.
"I fixed the plumbing, so now you can take a shower," I told her, and she immediately perked up. "Just poke the white marble on the wall, and you should be good to go."
"Understood."
"Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to step out for a while. Hold the fort in my absence."
I waited for her to acknowledge what I said, and once I got it, I limbered up my neck and immediately Phased away to hit the iron while it was hot.
"Hello."
"Gah!" Raven Boy gasped and nearly fell out of his chair the moment I arrived, while the other Knights only looked mildly startled by my sudden appearance. Once he gathered his wits, the youngest let out a protracted groan. "I hate it when he does that!"
"Welcome back, your majesty," Morgana greeted me in turn, imperturbable as usual.
"Huh? It's pretty warm in here," I noted absently, and Roland soon answered my unspoken inquiry, though only after he rose to his feet first.
The air of the basement hideout was heavy and more than a little musty, but other than that, the whole place was completely rearranged to the point I would've been hard-pressed to recognize it at a glance. While the simple light fixture hanging from the ceiling and the metal pipes running along the walls were the same, the rest was markedly different. The concrete floor was now covered with a thick green carpet, the wooden boxes and old furniture were moved to the far corner of the room, while the space was now dominated by the prefab table and chairs in the middle, the similarly simple beds in the back, and a brand new fridge so big, it immediately made me wonder how they managed to get it down here. All in all, this particular chamber gave off a surprisingly liveable atmosphere, only slightly marred by the exposed brickwork and the steel beams visible on the ceiling.
"Since we are planning to hold Percival in indefinite captivity, I advocated for furnishing this base for long-term use," Roland explained and gestured at the oil radiators at the back. "We have arranged for heating, food, as well as comfortable lodgings for the wardens."
"Meaning the Fauns, right?" I inquired, and Morgana responded in his stead.
"Since your majesty wishes to uphold the pretense of a kidnapping by the forces of the Abyss, they are a natural fit."
As if waiting for the right cue, the door on our left opened, and in walked Karukk and Rabom. They were momentarily startled by my presence, but adapted quickly and gave me a salute.
"Welcome. Prison is ready. Came for refreshment," the friendly Faun explained, with his compatriot repeatedly nodding along.
"Efficient, as always," I noted and was about to tell them to be on their way when I recalled something and waved for them to wait. "Did you find any bugs last night?"
The two ram-men were stumped for a moment, but then Karukk's eyes lit up with realization and he hastily told me, "Electronic ears. None in your house. Found five in dragon's house."
"Destroyed," Rabom added to the explanation with a note of pride.
So, since they did manage to find some listening devices in the Dracis mansion, but none at home, I could be reasonably sure that Percival didn't bug my place. That was good to know.
"Thanks for the hard work. Feel free to write up some bonus stuff on next week's requisition sheet. Snacks, tools, whatever you want. My treat."
Karukk flashed a toothy grin, followed by an elated "Thank you! Will do!", and once they were sure I had no other questions, the two Fauns headed to the back of the room to pilfer the fridge there. That reminded me of my pet plan with the cooler bag and the drinks and the food again, but I put it aside for the moment and returned to the Knights at the table instead.
"Sorry for the intermezzo. So, what's the plan?"
"I ensured that Percival would remain in his room for the time being," Roland told me without missing a beat, though it was information I was already privy to. "Since the holding cell is ready, I recommend that we take Percival into custody within the hour."
"Whoa there! No need to rush things that much," I objected, but Roland stood his ground.
"Leonard, we talked about this. We cannot let a hostile element like Percival operate freely in the heart of the Draconic Federation. Ideally, you should remove him right now, and then immediately make your return to stabilize the situation."
Before I could reply, Raven Boy let out an over scoff and muttered, "This is such bullshit…"
When I turned a questioning eye at him, he froze up for a moment, but it didn't take long for his defiant streak to flare up and he doubled down.
"What? It is! Shouldn't Sir Percival be given the benefit of the doubt first?"
"That boat sailed already," I pointed out, and Morgana agreed with me.
"He was scheming against our King and the Ordo Draconis."
"Says him," Agrawain pointed at me and exhaled sharply through his nose. "Not to mention, didn't you also do just that with your— ugh, disguise of you-know-who? Multiple times? Have you ever heard about people in glass houses throwing stones?"
"Wow. Is it idiom-day today or what?" I whispered under my breath, but then shook my head to get rid of the distracting thought and told him, "The difference is that I've been doing that with everyone's best interest in mind. He's doing it because he's on Celestial payroll."
Raven Boy looked like he still wanted to give me a piece of his mind, but he never got the chance, as Roland stepped in to grab the reins of the conversation again.
"On the topic of Celestials, how are things proceeding on your side?"
"Hm? Ah, that…" Pausing, I wracked my head over how to best put it, and ultimately settled on, "Everything's getting more complicated, as usual, and my current objective is slowly shifting from 'find the good guys' to 'find the least worst guys', but I'm trucking along. Oh, and before I forget it, I accidentally found the source of my extra income we never managed to track down until now."
"Did you?" Roland asked back with a curiously raised brow.
"Yep. Turns out, before I lost my memories, I was a Celestial triple-agent working behind the back of Percival."
My explanation left a long spell of silence in its wake, ultimately broken when Raven Boy threw his hands into the air.
"Do I even have o say anything at this point?!"
"Agrawain. Please behave yourself."
After being chided by a glaring Morgana, her nephew stood down with a slurred 'Yes, auntie…', while our Mr. Griffon thought long and hard about this new revelation and ended up exhaling a dispirited groan.
"You're right. The state of affairs keeps getting more and more complicated as time goes on. All the more reason we cut through it all as soon as possible."
"Fine, fine. I get it. You want me to grab Percival ASAP, right?" I grumbled, and he let out an approving hum.
"Yes. Right now, if possible."
"… You mean that?" He continued to look at me humourlessly, and it didn't take me long to relent. "Oh, fine. I don't like rushing things so much, but if you insist…"
Without further ado, I used my phantom limb to interface with the Leoformer on my belt, and in a flash of colourless light, my outfit was replaced by my full Bel getup, complete with mask and all.
"Gah!" Raven boy gasped, in a mirror image of his expression when I first appeared. "I hate it when he does that too!"
In the meantime, I took off the mask and walked over to the stack of old boxes and furniture set aside in the corner, culminating by pointing a beckoning finger at one of the chairs. I could feel the three Knights' confused eyes on the back of my head, but then it was replaced by surprise and Raven Guy exclaiming for the third time.
"Since when was that thing here!?"
Ignoring him, I patted the newly de-transformed Pudding-kun on the top of its… well, it wasn't a head, considering the mini-shoggoth didn't exactly have a standard body-plan, but that was beside the point. After that, I gestured at the mask in my hand, and it required no further instructions to crawl into it and turn into a thick, fleshy lining on the inside.
It looked a little bit gross, but using Pudding-kun this way to secure the mask onto my face was by far the best way to protect my identity, so I didn't complain. However, just as I was about to put it on, a brand new notion popped into my head, stopping me in my tracks.
"Hey? Before we go any further," I spoke as I turned back to the three Knights, now accompanied by the two Fauns on their way back. "Do we have a mirror somewhere around here? I just got an idea…"
Comments
carebear90
And this is why everyone who sings in the shower is probably of Celestial heritage. :D Hmm... different thought: Is it possible that Polemos always was Bel of the tenebrous flames in disguise? Or did we establish already that Bel and Polemos had different 'special flames'? I forgot.
Danielle Warvel
Uh oh. He has an idea. You know what that means everyone! Bring on the CHAOS! 🎉🥳🤺🥷🧯
