Kly blinked.

Twice.

A third time.

"Kly... Don't. Panic."

Blinking rapidly.

"Kly. I'm begging you here."

He inhaled sharply through his nose.

Lecil covered her eyes. Waiting for the explosion. It never came. Kly just sat there. He seemed mostly normal except for how he was looking at everything like it was brand new. He opened and closed his hands, turning them over and examining them. He ran a curious, almost lazy hand through his dark hair, pinching a few tufts and rolling them between his fingers.

The possibilities ran through Lecil's head like a bullet train.

Kly looked through the ornate stone columns to the ground below and then up at the ranging clouds. His neck carried him to a standing position, the palace architecture drawing his attention. Blue-glazed roof tiles, sandy exterior, a plethora of stained glass windows, excellently groomed fruit trees and accompanying flora. The weaving garden path below was complete with the occasional hedge and sparse seating that allowed for private interaction. Odd furniture and sparse items were sticking out of the hedges or lying on the walkway.

His palm along the stone railing, reveling in the pocketed and bumpy texture. It continued stroking the material as he examined every square inch of the palace landscape and architecture. No readable expression adorned his face, which may be the only completely normal thing about him at the moment and was incredibly frustrating.

Finally, he turned back to Lecil. Down. He saw her hiding in her hands.

And he smiled.

"Nice to see you again, Ci-ci."

=

"Kly?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you call me Ci-ci?"

"It's your nickname."

Lecil cleared her throat. Trying to think.

"I... No one has called me that since I was seven..."

Kly frowned. He seemed to be trying to remember. His silence gave Lecil time to get to her feet.

"Kly? What is the last thing you remember?"

"Oh, I remember coming in here to talk to you. I'm not forgetting anything, as far as I can tell. Tristan and Annie were arguing, and no one wanted to get involved. Annie handed me that candle-stick-thingy. Did you want that back?"

"But... Kly? I don't understand."

Kly pressed a hand to his head.

"It was fuzzy before. Strange. Like I was doing things I didn't really care for but didn't know why. Was I being controlled?"

Lecil's heart jumped to her throat.

"The chains are gone. Completely. And you're aware that you've been manipulated?"

"Vaguely. I'm not sure what these... chains, did. But I feel lighter. And I'm starting to get angry. Why did I train like a rabid northerner? My hands feel so... crusty."

"You mean you didn't want to train?"

"I did. But I didn't. I was not fond of it. But still. I'm starting to get a headache. Do you know what's going on?"

Checking the blue symbol above Kly's head one more time, she confirmed she wasn't dreaming. At least not any more than she already was. The anxiety in her chest settled and she felt her breathing ease.

"So it appears everyone's being manipulated by some type of odd mind magic and I'm the only one who can see it because I have a special ability since I died and merged with Lecil and now I have this crazy girl's memories from another life on another planet with all these fantastical things but I am stuck here with all these death scenarios and failed endings around every corner and I was just crying because there's no one I can truly trust after having been betrayed by what I thought was my closest ally and friend and did I mention that the stupid mind magic tried to make me kill myself but it was Bellavarn Sallow who saved me and was blamed for it and he will die in that wasteland as the entire kingdom is plunged into a civil war and there's nothing I can do to stop it!"

*GAAAASP*

Lecil coughed roughly as all the air was expelled from her lungs before it tried forcing its way back in.

"Are you alright?"

"Huaah~ I'm~ Huuaaah~ Panic Attack"

Kly panicked, looking every which way. There was nothing around to help—broken pens and shredded parchment. Littered fruit; some whole and others rudely bitten. A sterling silver chalice...

"Cup!"

Kly exclaimed.

"I found a cup."

He waved it in the air triumphantly, then noticed his sister's exasperated/dying expression. She was hyperventilating, attempting to recite a mantra.

"No place like home. There's no place like home..."

She paused. Recontemplated. Then tried to kick a still standing stool, hit her big toe, hopped around on one foot cursing, then fell back onto the floor, rolling in pain.

Kly watched the tableau with mixed fascination before he remembered the cup he held. He ran over to a small faucet still attached to the wall and filled the chalice to the brim. His feet tiptoed back to his prone sister as he held it aloft like the holy grail, water sloshing out with every step.

Then he tripped on the candelabra.

*Splash*

"I'm so sorry."

Silence.

Dripping.

The incoming word was sweet like nectar.

"Kly."

=

Kly kneeled several feet away as his sister paced back and forth. She went over everything that had happened since the "game" started, what she'd been forced to do, and how she'd been tricked. She only went on a ranting tangent twice. The first was about being duped into thinking Bellavarn Sallow was the villain when she could have easily gotten the "good ending" much faster. What led to the second rant was something a bit more convoluted.

"It shouldn't be so difficult to make iced tea. It is literally cold and sugary tea. That failed, so I thought I'd try making lemonade. Not only are lemons exorbitantly expensive, but I failed seven times. It's not my fault that mom and dad didn't want me setting up a lemonade stand on the corner. Oh, honey, no one will buy it, don't waste the lemons. I refuse to believe that she was right. I will synthesize lemonade, and it will be a sensational hit that will rake in loads of dough and faction supporters."

The speech ended considerably positive.

"But the first step is becoming more affluent. I need a better reputation and following. Anne surely has her social circles that I'll need to gain access to. I'll need a new maid. Maybe Rain can do it?"

"Do what, exactly?"

It was the first time he'd spoken up since the unfortunate splash. Lecil inhaled to speak, but the incomplete words held on her tongue as she didn't know exactly what she was implying.

"Nevermind. I've done my makeup before. It'll just take time. Besides, I have you now."

Kly squirmed.

"Relax, I'm not going to make you help me get dressed. I just need your help getting in good with the military aspect of the palace."

"What military?"

"Yeah. You know. The palace guards, magic knights, and whoever else it is that you train with every day nonstop."

"Oh."

Kly thought about it. He felt abnormally strong. Like absurdly so. Like he could punch a hole through the reinforced stone wall into the next room and keep going. Then there was the sword at his belt that he barely noticed. Shouldn't it clank around more often and get in the way?

The recruits. He remembered each of their faces. He trained with them every day and was even still in touch with some of the graduates. Everyone seemed to admire and look up to him for some reason. And then there was that time he threw a tree log over a dozen yards. Could he do that again?

Kly stood abruptly. He turned his head and spotted a second recliner.

"What are you doing?"

Her words didn't register because Kly had to try it. It would be so cool.

"Put down that chair. Kly? It was expensive."

Lecil followed him to the balcony, a strange imitation of earlier events. She watched helplessly as Kly took a shotputter's stance and started a log thrower's jog. His muscles bulged with power to the point where his skin glowed softly. Each muscle moved in perfect order to prevent strain and maximize output.

Then he tossed it.

It flew.

And flew.

And kept going.

It glided through the air almost effortlessly past the position of the previously downed recliner. It soared past the center of the garden. Then it dipped and started falling rapidly. It reached the entrance to the garden right where a pair of startled dignitaries scurried out of the way. It landed like a rock in mud, slamming itself neatly into the gap like a portcullis.

The startled nobles inspected the random object, examined each other to make sure they both saw it, and shifted their gaze to the balcony from where it originated.

Kly turned to Lecil with a silly smirk. Holding back his giggle.

"I'm super strong."

Lecil stared at him, mind-boggled. Then she smirked in turn. Her eyebrows quirked.

"I wonder what else is left?"

Both their heads craned back inside to find more stuff.

=

They got yelled at. By many people. On the plus side, Kly did most of the heavy lifting when they were relegated to cleanup duty.