"Olivia, what are you doing?"

"I already told you that I'm Eloise!"

"Demon! Where is my child!"

"Ah, damn old man, you weren't even a good parent, so fuck off! Are you this sad you don't have a doll to control? Put in your damn mind that I've been acting, and that's it!"

"But what are you doing?"

"Looking for my people. And you? Do you think you won't die if you stay here? Holding into those old memories, thinking you can still gaslight me."

"How can you be such a Demon? Think of our People!"

"Hahahaha, like you think about them at all. Your authoritarian ass only thinks about how much more you can extract from them. And about them, I already warned and helped them, but if they choose to take it and stay, thinking I'm being crazy, it's their problem."

"She's so talkative today. What's happening?" Jon whispered.

"Your shitty emotions are leaking. Anyway, I thought I had more time, but it seems I was wrong. Why is life so unfair?"

"Calm down, baby girl. We can help you deal with your issues!"

"Oh, shut up. I've finished it!" Eloise yelled as she clapped her hands happily.

"I only hope those nightmares don't mean the worst happened. I wished I would've had more time." She added, whispering.

Then, ignoring her narcissistic father from this life, Eloise triggered the gigantic spell she had been preparing.

As her masterpiece activated, one-third of this planet's surface drastically changed once it came under her control.

The portion of the populace that doubted her warnings panicked. And fortunately for them, this spell built up was slow.

When the spell finished, there were still people around, but Eloise's spiraling dread overwhelmed her, so she deployed it as soon as possible.

And as a result, the aftermath left the planet like a bitten apple.

...

Once Eloise could see again, she was floating around.

The first thing she saw was a tree in the distance, so she thought she would begin to fall.

But she didn't.

And after calming down a bit, she finally noticed how the tree was massive.

"Are you Eloise?"

Turning around, she saw a bald man with blueish skin.

"Pel made arrangements for you. And sent the following message: You don't know me, but you can thank Higgs or whatever."

"How can you speak that?" Eloise whispered, bewildered.

"The seer taught me. Anyway, let's go to my place for now."

Eloise suddenly fell to the ground. She looked around and felt the world was strangely fake, but at least she wasn't floating around anymore.

"Don't expect too much. I merely dislike feeling cramped."

"Sir, how do you know Ben?"

"I don't know your friend. I know your friend's friend? Pel is a good seer, and he acted weirdly lately."

"Why are you helping me, then?"

"I made an exchange with the seer. I'll keep you here and teach you until you can get away. By then, you can choose to do whatever you want."

"So, am I stuck here?"

"Exactly. The seer said you would be agitated due to the nightmarish dread, and I understand since I felt something too. Moreover, rumors say this often happens when the All-seer gets involved. But it's my first time experiencing it, so I can't confirm it."

"And you expect me to believe it?"

"He might have arranged for you to stay safe for now, but Pel said neither of us would believe it. He doesn't even trust us, but he said that Higgs would, so he made an exception."

"What happened?" Feeling lost, Eloise whispered.

"What the seer told me is the most I know. And that right there."

The ancient man pointed at a spot in the sky. And looking at it, Eloise noticed the illusion breaking around it.

"Your friend, and allegedly my friend-to-be, passed by and broke my roof."

---

"What happened?"

In his underwear and on the balcony of a spaceship, a muscular man scratched his head, confused.

The ship floated around slowly in the atmosphere of a greenish gas giant.

"Another nightmare?" From within the room, a woman asked. Still curled up in the bed, her voice almost didn't arrive at the man.

"They became uncommon, but it's even more melancholic now."

"Come here then. You know that isolating yourself makes it worse. Come and cuddle. I'm here with you."

---

"What happened?" This humming echoed.

---

After helping Higgs, Pel went directly to the border.

An average place somewhere in the upper level of this massive realm.

Looking at the illusionary wall, he knew this was the limit of his brother's domain. And that outside was only a chaotic field where time and space were too unstable.

Despite being commonplace and easy to access, Pel knew how mystical this place was. His oldest memories always made him overly focused on this place.

Because while everywhere changed, those chaotic pockets remained like unhealable scars.

Burying his nostalgia, Pel looked around. The sight he found was similar to what Higgs would've found far into the future.

Despite not being a unique spot, the ones responsible for his area set up a platform. So, this place served as a tourist attraction.

"Did you choose this because it was easy to access?" Pel whispered, receiving some weird looks from the people around.

He recalled the times he came here sneakily and observed his friend.

Higgs' unstable shell walked toward him slowly and passed Pel without stopping.

His friend didn't even look around and just stepped forward, passing through the complex restriction.

And at that time, Pel expected that to be it, but when Ben's body disappeared, he immediately came back flying out.

Higgs' shell smashed into the platform, creating a small crater.

Pel recalled how surprised and worried he was the first time he watched, but soon, he would discover it was pointless to intervene. So, later, he just watched.

He stared at his friend, that would always end up here eventually.

So many didn't understand Pel's obsession with Higgs. Because despite his achievements, Heaven's Oddity was only another struggler, chained and stuck.

But in Pel's eyes, he couldn't be more unique since no one else was as consistent.

Due to being a seer, Pel understood the explosive nature of the butterfly effect. Therefore, the chaotic nature of this world and its creature terrified him.

"But what a pleasure," Pel whispered.

The stacked images weren't perfect since Ben wasn't robotic. But whenever he could, Ben chose to end up here despite his fear of this place.

Instinctively, he ended up here, knowing his path everywhere else was a dead end.

"And your fear was right."

Recalling his dead friend, Pel sighed.

The body came out, but everything else disappeared. The refined soul Higgs hated was nowhere, but neither were the few memories he tried to protect.

Around the body, chaos happened, but the most common outcome was greedy people appearing. Due to Heaven's Oddity being famous, so many coveted his body.

But the outcome was always the same. It didn't matter if those people cut Higgs or sealed him. The moment his body moved even so slightly, an explosion issued.

The Dimensional Seed planted inside Higgs by Link, without the refined soul restriction, burst. And it took with it everything around him.

There was only one exception. Only Pel remained to see the first sight of Higgs falling. And while he would be the first, he wouldn't be the last. Because, as Higgs' shell fell, it rejected everything else and poked through every restrictive wall like they were nothing.

Closing his eyes, Pel took a deep breath.

He ignored the desire to build that future again because he knew that wasn't his friend anymore.

However, he couldn't see a way to make something else happen either. And every time he tried, he would later get in the way.

As his soul slowly turned him insane, Pel's overwhelming acknowledgment and personal involvement with Higgs would become a hindrance.

In addition to being Oddity's friend, he was also his best counter. And Pel knew might wasn't an issue since his brother tried but always failed to intervene. The problem was this growing dread inside him.

He knew too much, and he always wanted to know too much.

Going against the grain, Pel focused on the present again. He stared at the wall, seeing the visions of the time Higgs flew out of it. And he laughed, his face full of fear.

'The issue is not that you want to die, or I don't want to kill you, but that you're too comfortable. And I would be, too.'

He tried to focus on the present, but Pel still began recalling why he was there.

'I don't want to wake up the monster inside you. I dislike my soul, but I don't mind using it. It protects me.'

"I don't get it," Pel whispered, conflicted.

'I can barely convince myself, so how can I convince you? It's too damn useful. And having to hide inside so many layers, I might be wrong.'

...

'Being insane is not that fun. So much lack of self-control. So lost.'

...

'I mean, I didn't want to understand this world or save it from whatever I might make up. I instead just wanted to remember.'

...

'You can keep asking, but my answer won't change. I wouldn't come out. No way, since this is too hellish. Why do you think I invade every seed I can? Sadly, I can't remain inside.'

...

'Yeah, your brother is amazing, but he's still a control freak. Unfortunately, you can barely remember how it was before, but whatever it was, is this his envisioning a perfect future? I pity him.'

...

'My memories might be flawed, but they feel like the only pure conclusion maker. Everything else tastes like shit.'

...

'My instinct? I dislike it too.'

...

'Why? Too chaotic, yet full of itself.'

...

'Like that place? Yes. But I won't go there if I don't need to.'

...

'Souls existed before your brother. But that doesn't mean that someone else didn't create that system. It maintains the status quo too much, so I smell bullshit.'

...

'See! I told you! My damn instinct was right, and talking about that angered us! If you didn't chain yourself, I would be dead now. And I'm becoming too talkative, so I need to find closure. The seal is leaking, and I don't want this taboo shit to be my end.'

...

'This is a VIP club, and I needed to play along. I'll destroy myself now, though. I don't want to do something I don't want or have someone do something to me that they don't want. Hopefully, if you go back, you don't kill me. But this end doesn't feel great, either, so perhaps that's fine.'

...

'Don't look at me like that. I didn't want to talk. You chose to go on about how consistent I am and whatever. You want to get it, but how can you get from me something I don't? I feel like a fluke, and to be fair, I hope that's it.'

...

'You bothered me until I gave up, didn't you? You want me to give you an answer, but I can't. I don't know. I can't answer or convince you. Instead, I can just be myself. If you don't want to deal with me questioning your underlying existence, erase those memories and go somewhere else.'

...

'Does it matter if you can see everything if you never choose what you like?'

...

'What do you want?'

"I don't know," Pel whispered, walking forward with the sealed bowl in his hand, walking into a future he couldn't see.