I could still remember the days when the secret base was just an old, decommissioned cold-war-era bomb shelter, with a single central hall and a few commons rooms and barracks. Since then, we repurposed the main layer, expanded the lower layer from just a generator room to house the entire Research Division with their workshops and living spaces, and Fred and company had been working on the third layer for a while now, adding new training spaces, office sections, and extra living and storage facilities. The rate of expansion was quite astonishing, but I figured that's just what happens with liberal usage of mad science. Even so, there I had seen propositions on my desk about adding even more magitech generators to the base, producing enough surplus electricity to pump some into the electric grid of Critias for a profit (or at least to take the edge off our operational expenses), and there were talks about expanding even further into the mountain, and even some off-the-wall proposals about hydroponics chambers and wat-grown meat being used to make us entirely self-reliant. Maybe we were the mole people all along. Putting that alarming thought aside, I decided to focus on the chamber that prompted this entire chain of thoughts. It was a large, circular room with regularly spaced indentations around its whole circumference, each one about two meters wide and a meter deep. They were meant to be display cases, though currently completely empty. The even lacked the glass panels at the front, yet each segment had its own little lamp at the top, which combined with the light fixtures embedded into the domed ceiling of the chamber created a well-lit yet slightly eerie ambience. The center of the room was dominated by a round table; the same one that used to be inside the Brotherhood's temporary base within the old office building. I still had no idea from where they got it, but it could be disassembled and reassembled with relative ease, so I wouldn't have been surprised if Arnwald and Duncan brought it over from some European stronghold or somesuch, just so that they could sit around it while having discussions. To be fair, that was the room's main purpose. This whole place was meant of be a 'Hall of Honour', where Ordo Draconis personnel could gather while surrounded by the old relics of the Brotherhood, as well as trophies and other artefacts provided by the Draconian clans. It was supposed to represent the pride and gravitas of the organization, but since the room was still under construction, the empty displays and bare grey walls gave a poor showing. The people gathered here didn't seem to care though, and there was quite an unusual combination of them present. At the head of the table (as much as that could even apply to a round table, but I digress) was Arnwald, with Roland and Duncan sitting on his left and right, respectively. Continuing counter-clockwise, the Draconians were in full representation with Naoren, Yseult, both of my in-laws, and even Sebastian got a seat at the table. Then there was Jaakobah, in his Celestial form (probably to emphasize his official position) next to the Magi representatives. That group consisted of Lord Grandpa, with Taika and Barnabas on his sides. Last, and in some ways least, we closed the circle with Tajana, sitting between the dark-skinned arch-mage and Roland. Oddly enough, Rinne and Brang were both missing from this strange meeting, despite being official representatives within the Ordo Draconis, but maybe it was for the better. There were already what? Thirteen people present? Sheesh. Anyhow, before anything else, Jaakobah politely raised his hand and waited for Arnwald to acknowledge him. "Before we begin, I took the initiative to involve another party in this discussion, as I'm certain that their knowledge on matters related to Bel of the Abyss would be appreciated." "Who are you talking about exactly?" Roland interjected with a hint of a squint, sounding just a tad irritated. I couldn't really blame him though; being the only person here who knew about Bel's true identity put him in a rather awkward situation, so I could understand why he was a bit snappy. "If you allow it, I think it's best if I let them explain themselves," Jaakobah responded glibly and placed a familiar wooden box onto the table. He flipped the lid, revealing a milky white orb embedded into the velvety insides of the container, and soon after the artifact lit up, projecting a semi-transparent blue hologram into the air above it, covered in scan lines and occasionally twisted by static noise. I was long used to the peculiar way these Celestial communications devices operated, so I focused on the person on the other side, and I could barely stop myself from groaning out loud. "Please excuse our long-distance incursion into this meeting. If the circumstances allowed it, we would've been honored to attend in person, but due to time restraints and official duties, we had to request Prefect Arpachshad's assistance in the matter." Savir, looking prim and proper as usual, spoke in a friendly (though in no way deferential) tone, and would've likely continued to do so, if not for her face suddenly shifting out of focus and being replaced by Tsephanyah's. "Please accept my warm greetings, ladies and gentlemen. What my esteemed colleague is trying to convey is that all matters regarding Bel of the Abyss are considered the highest priority of Elysium, and as such, we found it necessary to attend this gathering in one way or another. Please excuse our lack of forewarning." He spoke the last line while looking at Arnwald in general, and the senior Knight soon exhaled a defeated breath. "I understand your concerns, Sumboulos, and as such I warmly welcome you and your brethren to this discussion. I would only ask you not to make this a regular occurrence, and to inform us of your intent in advance in the future." "Naturally, honorable Speaker and Knight," the Celestial bigwig responded with a slight nod and a polite smile, the calculated trappings of a seasoned politician. "Let us put this intermezzo behind us and begin the meeting," Roland proposed, and Duncan reflexively raised a hand. "Aye. Let's git stairted." "I-I also concur!" Tajana joined in with her hand in the air, and that started a chain reaction where everyone raised their hands one by one to signal that they were ready. I was pretty sure that wasn't something they agreed upon ahead of time, but peer pressure was an insidious thing like that. Once everyone indicated that they were ready, it was Arnwald's turn to speak again, and he started from the beginning. "Let us pool our knowledge and wisdom and attempt to discover the secrets of Bel of the Abyss." When no one else interjected, he picked up a bundle of hand-written pages and squared them on the table as he glanced at his fellow Knights one by one. "Let us start with his first recorded appearance, whereas Brother Roland and Brother Duncan encountered him during our…" He stammered for a second and cleared his throat, casting a glance at my in-laws at the other end of the table. "During our ill-fated strike upon the Dracis domicile." Abram, noticing the awkward atmosphere, let out a hearty chuckle and waved at the Knights. "Don't worry about it! Water under the bridge, water under the bridge!" "It was a harrowing night, but everything changed since then, and there's no reason to open up old wounds," Mom-in-law backed him up, and the people around the table silently nodded along, most likely because they felt that those words also applied to them to some degree. "We have encountered Bel of the Abyss in the entrance hall of the building," Roland spoke up, sounding even more detached and professional than usual. "He introduced himself as a collector of curios and rare artifacts, and during our encounter, he took the enchanted spatial restriction relic belonging to the line of Unicorn Knights." "As well as a certain spear in my collection," Sebastian noted in a remarkably calm tone. "In a manner of speaking, at the very least. It's a rather complex tale we scarcely have the time to explore." "Has he already exhibited his strange and uncanny mastery over teleportation back then?" Hearing Lord Grandpa's question, Duncan let out a grunt and nodded along. "Aye. Th' bas wis skipping aroond th' steid. 'N' th' neist time, tae." "Next time?" Yseult, conspicuously seated next to him, asked with a brow raised high, and the big guy vehemently nodded in response. However, it was Roland who gave a proper answer. "Our next encounter with Bel of the Abyss was during a meeting of the Brotherhood, where he attempted to coerce us into suspending our activities on Critias for the time being." "Was this before or after the Elder Xinji first encountered him?" Naoren inquired, and after a long beat, Arnwald shook his head. "Before. Morgana wasn't on the island yet." He let out a soft groan and tapped on the table. "It was between that incident, and the attack on the tournament grounds, that he captured Sister Morgana and Brother Agrawain and forced them under his yoke through magical means." "Our own intelligence reports also paint the same timeline," a new voice chimed in, with Mensah replacing Tsephanyah over the hologram orb. "Were the Oathb— Pardon, the Knights affected by mind control able to provide any further information about the time of their captivity?" "I'm afraid not," Roland interjected in a hurry. "The artifact used to control them interfered with their memories, I'm afraid." "What kind of artifact?" came the next question from Taika, and the other Magi representatives looked just as intrigued. "This is the first time I have heard of this detail," Lord Grandpa spoke thoughtfully. "It was of Abyssal make," Tajana told them, only to shrink back when everyone looked at her at once. "I-I mean, based on the description I heard from Morgana, it was a tool of restriction in the form of a collar, or rather a choker. I-It's a rare piece of enchanted article, even in the Abyss, and only the Lords and retainers of the Noble Houses would use them, and only under the direst of circumstances." I would've liked to ask that if this was the case, then how come she never realized or cared that Snowy was wearing one such choker for who knew how long? I wasn't there, so I couldn't, but even if I was, the conversation moved on too fast to interject. "According to what we know," Savir, taking her spot over the communications device, raised her voice to get everyone's attention. "The activities of Bel of the Abyss could be sharply divided into three distinct stages. During his early appearances, he would show concern for maintaining a semblance of peace on the Ancestral Lands." "Excuse me? What are these 'Ancestral Lands'?" Naoren cut in, only for Sebastian to swiftly answer him. "It's what they call this island," followed by a quieter, "Leonard's correct; they are very insistent with their terminology." "I see. Thank you, Elder." While that was going on, Savir continued unabated. "During this time, Bel of the Abyss not only attempted to mitigate conflicts between the various forces present, but actively supported Polemos from the shadows." "From what I gathered," Lord Barnabas spoke up next, sounding rather contemplative, "Leonard had no idea about Bel's true identity at the time." "Indeed." Savir flashed a smug smile and declared. "However, that doesn't mean that Bel of the Abyss himself wasn't aware of the identity of Polemos!" "Wait, we're rushing too much," Emese cut in with a frown and linked her fingers on the table. "Before with discuss the Celestial connection, isn't there something else we're forgetting about?" Seeing that nobody responded, she let the cat out of the bag. "During all of his early appearances, Bel was looking for something. He said he was collecting rare and valuable items, and his attack on the first tournament was prompted by a missing article from the auction held by Clan Feilong." "I was just about to mention that!" Savir snapped at her, only to be suddenly replaced by Tsephanyah. "Please excuse Eris. As for the objection, it is entirely valid, and we believe it ties into why the modus operandi of Bel of the Abyss changed soon after." He fell silent for a dramatic beat (or maybe just to see if anyone else had something to add), and seeing that everyone was waiting for him to continue, the Celestial launched into a long explanation. "As I'm sure you're all at least tangentially aware, the Lord Archons, as well as Bel of the Abyss, are reborn in the present time through an ancient and lost ritual of reincarnation. Her Grace Archon Deus, honored be Her name, chose to practice a form of 'natural' rebirth, whereas she would be born-again in a new body and reawaken her powers and memories, which happened upon her… unexpected return to Elysium." He pointedly cleared his throat to chase away the awkward memories and continued a bit more animatedly. "As for Archon Polemos, he chose to instead house his consciousness and power within an object of great significance, awaiting an heir to become whole again. Her Grace was generous enough to enlighten us about the process during her latest visit to Elysium, and based on her words, we have come to the following conclusion: both of their methods were based on a single technique, focusing on different aspects to suit their needs." "Are you implying that Bel of the Abyss did the same?" Yseult inquired, and the Celestial smiled as if he was waiting for this exact question. "Precisely. As a matter of fact, we suspect that he used the original method to return, and since the technique comprised of both natural reincarnation and imprinting through a medium…" He purposefully trailed off and waited for someone to say the quiet part out loud, which happened to be Sebastian this time around. "So you think that the item he was looking for at the auction was this 'medium'…" Yep. It wouldn't be the old butler without at least one air quote. I knew it was only a question of time. Anyhow, he put his hands down and added, "Which he used to complete his rebirth, and that's why his priorities changed." "But didn't he say that it was missing, and that's why he was attacking the tournament venue?" Mom-in-law posited, and it was Tajana who let out a surprised yelp, as if she just had a big revelation. "W-Wait! Didn't Lord Bel… I mean… didn't he say that it was missing because he already took it? And… in the same vein, doesn't he often talk about different time-lines, and moving through time? Maybe he was serious." "Precisely!" Savir came back into the conversation by literally pushing Tsephanyah out of the picture, and I was half-tempted to Far Glance at them, just out of curiosity, but I decided against it. It was best not to divide my attention. Meanwhile, she fixed up her laurel headdress and lightly cleared her throat. "As I was saying beforehand, this marks the first major shift in the behavior of Bel of the Abyss, and it is almost certainly related to this mystery item! After this point, he was no longer interested in artifacts and curios, and his focus shifted to subtly influencing the World of Mystics through subterfuge, misdirection, and outright coercion! He even maintained a strenuous partnership with Polemos, even after they were both aware of each other's true identities! In effect, Bel of the Abyss likely approached Polemos before anyone else precisely because he knew of his true identity!" "In other words, Bel was manipulating everyone from the beginning, including Our Liege," Arnwald summarized, followed by a soft huff. "This was something we have long suspected within the halls of the Ordo Draconis, yet hearing it confirmed by a third party doesn't make it feel any less vexing and confounding." "We are hardly a third party, Sir Eagle Knight," Jaakobah interjected, causing Arnwald to mutter something about 'you know what I meant', only for his voice to be drowned out by a question from Lord Grandpa. "Assuming that this deduction is correct, how does it bring us any closer to apprehending this menace to the peace of the World of Mystics?" "We need to understand our enemies before we can truly face them," Naoren responded laconically, earning him some approving nods from the other Draconians, while the Magi remained skeptical. "With all due respect, Clan Head," Lord Barnabas spoke up next in a mild, non-confrontational manner. "Do you believe that our understanding of Bel of the Abyss is comprehensive enough for us to say that?" "It's better than it used to be!" Dad-in-law exclaimed, his voice full of bluster. "But still not enough." Lord Grandpa's voice was like a wet blanket. "How are we to interpret the idea of him being able to move unbridled in time, and how does it help us better face him and his machinations?" "A fair question," Mensah took the helm of the communication orb, no doubt because of some kind of argument unfolding between the other two ex-directors in the background. I was once again tempted to Far Glance over, but one thing at a time. "To answer it, we have to look at the third stage of Bel of the Abyss's conduct, what prompted it, and how it is currently affecting us." "Please, do tell," Lady Yseult prompted him, and the youngest of the three Celestial bigwigs, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose in a rather dramatic pose. Why did all the glasses-wearing people I knew do that, I wondered. "Let us presume for a moment that Bel of the Abyss is truly capable of traversing, or at the very least observing the time-stream." "Which would go against one of the Three Laws of Magic," Taika noted quietly on the side, but she got no reaction, so Mensah continued on. "To put frankly, the recent actions of Bel of the Abyss appear remarkably irrational. He and his so-called Axis of Evil staged numerous attacks on the soil of the Ancestral Land without accomplishing anything of perceivable value. This is in stark contrast with his earlier approach. He also goaded the Abyssal Houses into an open civil war, and even directly threatened the local School and its personnel, something he avoided until recently. However, we think that it's too early to conclude that he abandoned his methodology. If we assume that his powers have to do with time itself, it is entirely possible, nay, likely that what we're seeing is just an extension of his manipulative efforts!" "Meaning," Arnwald interjected, a finger rubbing his chin and looking rather contemplative. "Meaning that what we see as disparate and illogical actions are, in fact, just the surface level of a complex ploy he enacts already knowing their outcome." "Precisely!" Mensah confirmed with a self-satisfied smirk. "Therefore, we propose that we look at his actions and work backwards; instead of trying to predict where Bel of the Abyss would strike next, we ought to look at which was he's trying to guide the flow of history, and from it, deduce his ultimate goal!" "A rather daunting task, if I may say," Sebastian noted with a hint of skepticism. "Let us entertain the idea for a moment, then. So far, what did Bel of the Abyss's actions lead to? Besides the destruction of my property, that is." Oh, look. The grumpy old dragon still wasn't over the destruction of his stupid spear. Go figure. More important, Tajana meekly raised her hand. "He caused the civil war and empowered Lord… I mean, Noir Irdu Inanna of House Inanna." "That was presumably just a means to an end," Naoren proposed, and the Draconian side of the table was in agreement. "Exactly! He's not getting anything out of it, is he?" said Abram, followed by Emese's point. "True. With his powers, he could've subjugated the Abyss without a need for such a conflict." "Or a so-called 'Herald'," Roland chimed in, probably just to maintain his presence in the conversation. "T-That's right! I agree!" Tajana backed him up a bit too conspicuously, but nobody seemed to notice. "Presuming that is accurate," Lord Grandpa posited with a thoughtful hum and a slight frown, "What do you propose the true reason behind his actions could be?" "A convenient excuse?" Naoren proposed, making the old Magi squint at him. "An excuse for what, exactly?" "A great question!" Savir's voice rang out as she reasserted her position in front of the hologram orb again with a huff. "And we believe that the answer is obvious! Bel of the Abyss requires Polemos for something, but since he is no longer cooperating with him, he's using the hostilities as pretense to goad him into doing what he wants." "Meaning, you also think that Leonard is walking into a trap in the Abyss," Arnwald posited with a frown and didn't even wait for her to respond. "All the more reason why need to convince him otherwise." "We already tried," Roland spoke in a flat voice, making the senior Knight's brows furrow even harder. "You aren't going to change his mind at this point." "We should still try," the other man insisted, to little avail. "What should we do then?" Mom-in-law moved the conversation along, and Savir jumped on the opportunity to give her five Jens. "Just allow Polemos to do whatever he wants," she proposed, much to everyone's surprise. "Consider this: the one thing that's common in all of the recent attacks is that Bel of the Abyss immediately retreats as soon as Polemos arrives at the scene. Why do you think he does so?" Nobody came forth to answer, so Tajana swallowed hard and raised a hand. "Because… he's afraid of him?" "No, not that! Weren't you listening?" Savir snapped at her at once. "Bel of the Abyss fought Polemos in the open twice, so it's clear that he's not hesitant to confront him, yet he chose to avoid him on all subsequent occasions. Even you should be able to recognize that—" Before she could finish speaking, she was suddenly yanked out of the field of view of the hologram projector and replaced by Tsephanyah again. "Let us not beat around the bush. We believe that the answer lies in one of Bel's prior statements, whereas he likened himself and Archon Polemos to… what was it again, Dolion?" The blonde Celestial glanced to the side, then back to the group around the round table. "A cruise missile, yes. I think the precise words were 'we always know where we are because we know where we are not'. From this, we surmised that Bel's biggest concern is the location of Archon Polemos, and these attacks are to ensure that he would be at a certain place at a certain time. Or rather, that he wouldn't be somewhere else." "That makes a lot of sense," Yseult spoke up as soon as Tsephanyah stopped talking, and she forcefully tapped the table. "Leonard Dunning can temporarily shut down Bel's powers, can't he?" "So we have heard," Lord Grandpa responded flatly, followed by a slightly more animated Lord Taika. "Certainly. Bel of the Abyss may be able to manipulate time, while Leonard seems to exert control over space. Those concepts are linked through space-time, and when mystic powers operating on such adjacent domains overlap, it's common to experience such interference." "Meaning?" Dad-in-law prompted her, and Taika hastily continued in a slightly more professional tone. "What I'm trying to say is that it's very possible… No, it's downright likely that Leonard's presence is something that's interfering with not only Bel's ability to teleport, but also his other powers." "Such as his ability to perceive and manipulate time," Sebastian concluded, but then added a tentative, "Hypothetically speaking, of course." "Yes, that was your conclusion as well," Tsephanyah noted with a hint of a smile and swept his gaze over the people around the table. "Without exaggeration, we could say that Archon Polemos is our only effective counter-measure against Bel of the Abyss's insidious machinations, and he knows this as well, explaining why he would go to such lengths to disturb and distract the Archon." "Therefore, all the more reason to stop him from playing into that despicable cur's hands and go into the Abyss!" Arnwald exclaimed, causing Roland to bury his forehead in his hand. "We were just over this…" he hissed, only for his eyes to open wide when the senior Knight's outburst was met with approval. "I trust Brother Leonard, but I agree that entering the Abyss at this time may be playing into the hand of the enemy." "I concur." Lord Grandpa supported the notion with a stony face and a shallow sigh. "We are already facing numerous enquiries from Glasgow, demanding that Leonard Duning would testify about the recently transpired events related to the Ottawa School of Restoration and the Grimoire Keys, and…" He glanced at the hologram. "Could it be that distracting him from such obligations may also be part of the plans of Bel of the Abyss?" "More than likely," stated Tsephanyah with undue gravitas, prompting Lord Barnabas to nod along. "If that is indeed the case, then I believe that we are obliged to object to Leonard leaving to the Abyss all the more." I could see Roland quietly getting more and more exasperated, which peaked when Duncan smacked the table with his palm. "That's th' blether! Noo, does a'body hae an useful idea aboot howfur tae dae that?" Chapters first released on NoveIꜰire.net "Clan Head Ambram? Maybe you could reason with him?" Naoren proposed at once. "How about you, Miss Sukkal?" Taika addressed Tajana at the same time. "You're close to Neige and Penelope, and Leonard truly treasures his sisters. Maybe you could convince them?" Before long, the already loosely structured round-table discussion broke down into a bunch of individual talks, where everyone was brainstorming how to make me 'see reason'. The only two people who remained silent around the table were Roland, who looked like he wanted to give me a piece of his mind for landing him in this situation, and Jaakobah, who remained completely motionless, as if none of this was any of his business. All in all, I tried to listen in a bit more, but none of the snippets I caught felt in any way important or useful, so I soon gave up and returned to my body. I had to give it to them though; they probably put more thought into my overarching Bel act than I did. Or… on second thought, it was maybe a bit too conveniently consistent, so was future-me purposefully guiding them to this conclusion. But then he told me that I would be distracted when coming over to see Ammy and pick up my paperwork, so he knew I would see this. Did he want me to see it? Wait. On second thought, the meeting effectively recounted all the major events in the scenario related to Bel. Did… did future-me jus trick me into watching a recap-episode?! "That bloody sunova…" I whispered, causing Mike to tense up on the other sofa. "Sunshine! He woke up!" "I wasn't asleep," I grumbled as I rolled my shoulders. "Where's Ammy?" "Here," she announced as she walked in with a tray. "Since you were staying over longer than expected, I decided to be a good host and make you some tea." "Really? You shouldn't have." I was pleasantly surprised, only to get a closer look at the purple-coloured pear-and-rosehip infusion thing in the glass cup in front of me, and echoed myself in a slightly less pleased, "You really shouldn't have…" "Can I have one too?" Mike asked, eyeing the teapot and the class rep happily filled up a second cup for him. As for me, I swallowed my pride, threw a couple of sugar cubes into the tea-adjacent concoction, and did my best to smile. "So? What did you learn?" Ammy probed me as soon as she put the pot down. "That I'm going to have another intervention about going to the Abyss soon." "Which you shouldn't do, so it serves you right." "How about we don't start arguing about this again?" I proposed, and she soon relented. It was probably because of Michael's presence; she was always more mellow while he was within earshot. Speaking of him, he took a deep whiff of his cup, as if it was some amazing blend, and turned a curious gaze at me. "So… If I may be so bold to ask… what are you going to do?" "Right now, I'm going to finish this cup, and then leave," I answered between two gulps of the sweet brew. "I have a prior engagement, so I'll get back to that, and then I guess I'll visit the arch-mage early in the morning, or something." "No, I meant about the Abyss," Michael insisted. "No change in the plans," I assured him (though he didn't look reassured at all). I quickly forced the rest of the fake tea down my throat, pocketed my unsigned exemption document, and got on my feet. "Thanks for the hospitality, but I think it's time for me to move on. Have fun flirting." "Thank you, we will!" the hapless Celestial responded with a grin, making his girlfriend flush red, which was fun to see. An embarrassed class rep was a rare sight, after all. "You're not going to come to school tomorrow either, right?" she inquired in a transparent attempt to change the subject, and by the time I responded, we were at the front door. "Probably not. You know that I need to be on full alert nowadays." It was clear that she had more to say, but she was holding back (again, probably Mike's proximity was the cause), so I managed to say my farewells and slip out of the building without any further ado. Retracing my steps, I got back to the same spot where I previously arrived, and once I made sure nobody was looking, I Phased right back to the abandoned factory. "Ah, right on time!" future-me exclaimed in place of a greeting. "Yeah, yeah. You set me up again, you wanker." I grumbled aloud and walked over to the crates. "It was something you needed to see," he responded glibly and stepped to the side to present the last person in the room. "More importantly, ta-dah!" I stopped in my tracks and looked Raven Boy over from head to toe. "Huh. The resemblance is uncanny." "I don't know what you're talking about, but no, it isn't," the guy fumed and wobbled for a second before regaining his balance. "Who the hell looks ?!" To be fair to him, that was a valid question. Right now, he was wearing a set of worn shoulder pads; not the armour kind, but the type one would see on an American football player. It could barely be seen though, as he had a long cape draped on top of it, which was a repurposed curtain cut and tucked to form by Brang of all people. Future-me also got him a long, black wig from somewhere, just for the looks, and most importantly, he had a pair of old shoes attached to small stilts, looking kind of like those Japanese geta sandals. "He's about the right height this way, but can he move with those shoulder pads?" Future-me gave me a 'Who do you take me for?' kind of look and grabbed Agrawain's arm, raising them over his head and nearly making him stumble again. "Look! We already did all the stretching and the warm-up. He's going to be fine." "You still haven't told me why we're doing this. Am I supposed to stand in for someone? For whom?" Seeing his confusion made future-me chuckle and pat Raven Boy on the shoulder with a cheeky, "Spoilers." "What does that even—?" "Let's stop messing around," I cut in by donning my Polemos gear and grabbing him by the arm. "Come. Stand over here." "Fine, fine. I'm coming. It's just a pain in the ass to walk in these and…" He continued to gripe and moan until we reached the middle of the usual rehearsing grounds, at which point he glanced around, suddenly looking just a tad apprehensive. "This might be a bit late for me to ask, but… what exactly am I supposed to do here?" "For, now, nothing." Future-me patted him on the shoulder again and walked past him so that he would stand a few steps behind his back. "Just remember, don't move a muscle unless we tell you otherwise." 'Otherwise, you might lose an arm', is the part we didn't say out loud. We had a long evening (and night, even if Agrawain didn't know this yet) ahead of us, so there was no point in getting the prop even more nervous for no reason, was there?