For a long while, I just held him. Bruzigan told me it was just as well we stopped talking about this for now—the rest of the team needed to hear this.

Half an hour later, Anna and Ri’legh had gathered with us. Mewi and I had spent 20 times that playing some games and calming down. I started the explanation of my theory over from the beginning. Anna took it better than any of the others had, or Ri’legh did, or at least followed it better. By the time I’d gotten to where I’d left off, she was shaking her head continuously. “This just,” she said, “this explains so, so much. It just explains so much. Like how he’s a freaking teenager but never seems to act like it.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” said Bruzigan, “but anyway...if it’s not too hard on you both, please tell us. Why are you convinced Mewi dies without the Rainbow Mage changing the timeline?”

Mewi looked at me. I looked at him, and swallowed. “There was one thing bothering me about the visions almost from the very start. Half of the visions so far had been of me, but the other half, including the very first one, had been of some kind of masked figure with a disguised voice.

Just as the trait promised, I still remember each dream vividly. But I found that they were also all recorded on my Memory Gem, without my conscious effort. And in the memory data, I found that the first two dreams had been arranged in reverse order.

So, each time I had another dream on the 4th Floor, I checked again. By the time I’d experienced a total of 5 visions, I was convinced they were being arranged in chronological order—and the two with the masked man were listed as being after the ones of me. And then...when I had the 6th vision...

In it, the masked man took off his mask. They were an older me. The visions were never half him and half me—it was always visions of me.”

“But, you don’t know for sure that Mewi is dead, in the vision timeline,” said Ri’legh, “you didn’t have a vision of his death, so what makes you so sure?”

I gave him a look. Amusingly, for just a moment I caught Anna giving him the same look, like he was being seriously dumb.

“You mean besides the fact that I apparently became a total edgelord?”

Mewi nodded, mock sagely. “As sickening as it is to think about, I definitely think he’d react like that.”

I gave him a side-eye. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“No problem,” he said, starting to blow a bubble gum bubble. He was definitely still freaked by this, but he was doing his best to keep it together and recover.

“Anyway, as it happens, I do have another reason and that’s that Mewi never showed in any of the scenes with Hellflame. And if he was only missing instead or something, you bet your ass I wouldn’t be settling down and becoming the protector of some community, or even becoming a terrifying mercenary. I’d be looking for him.

No...Hellflame wanted to die. In the very first vision, he did die. That version of me, did the things he did...to rejoin with Mewi. Without just killing himself so that Mewi’s memory would still be honored.”

“That’s how you believe you would think if the Rainbow Mage had never interfered,” said Arvallei slowly, “and Mewi indeed died.”

“Exactly. I’m nothing if not self-aware.”

Silence. This time, Anna was the one to break it. “I apologize, but I’m really not sure what this means for us. After all, we’re not planning to let each other die or anything. The future’s already been changed.”

“You’re right,” I said, and almost missed the quick grin she flashed me as I went on, “if we do our job as a team, history shouldn’t repeat itself. Especially now that he’ll have a Gold class by the 6th Floor.”

Bruzigan moved forward to take the floor again. “It’s true that there aren’t many practical concerns to take from this. Though if and when we end up working with the Rainbow Mage, the new working theory about his origins could be useful.

But Anna is right. The future has already changed from the one Lheticus has seen. We’re a team, and on any Floor team worth a damn, no one gets hung out by their teammates or sacrificed.

Now, we’ve got systems to liberate. We’ll also reconvene tonight to begin going over the 5th Floor. Move out!”

Everyone was already en route to their next liberation missions anyway, so we really just went back to our training regimens.

To be honest, I’m still a little worried that there’s going to be some kind of Final Destination BS somewhere along the line. But even if that does happen...even if fate itself wants to take Mewi from me, then as far as I’m concerned, fate’s just another thing I won’t let take him from me!

Soon after, I finished the 7th and last system liberation on the starter itinerary. The Firebrand’s liberation fleet had grown to a pretty decent size. While it was resupplied, I needed to discuss the next move with General Karl. But his opening proposal wasn’t a good one.

“Since the Rainbow Mage has barred us from Zone 312, I’ve drawn up a plan to take us sideways centerward, hitting an entire series of high-value Federation locations, if you have no objections.”

“Unfortunately, I do.” For starters, I finally looked at the location file of the Fire Sanctuary, and that’s the exact wrong direction. “I can’t tell you exactly why—not yet. At this time, though, I believe I should at least tell you when I can tell you.

Now that I’m finally through the 4th Floor, the team is going to climb the rest of Area 1s floors as quickly as the Tower’s system allows. Once we’ve cleared the 9th Floor...that is when the Firebrand Liberation Fleet will commence its primary mission.”

“Its primary mission?” said Karl, “System liberation isn’t our primary mission?”

“That’s a difficult question, general. Suffice to say that there are aspects of the mission that only I know. You remember the little folder I brought on board, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“When we commence the primary mission, you’ll need to know what’s in it. Until then, for now I’m going to need you to trust me that on rare occasions such as this that I do exercise my authority as overall mission commander, it is not for arbitrary reasons.”

“Understood...sir. What alternative course are we taking?”

“Sticking to a single Zone is fine for now, but let’s make it Zone 746.” From that Zone, a straight shot to Zone 942, where the Fire Sanctuary was located, would cross only four more Zones.

“That’ll take an entire week of transit.”

“I know. It’ll be the last time for such a long transit. Can we have a new list of target systems by the time we’re ready to leave in 3 days?”

“Yes sir.”

“Then make it so. Now, I should return to my training.”

“Yessir.” He saluted and left. He’d gotten a lot more respectful ever since I’d taken out Dieter.

For both Mewi and I, our training, other than the briefings on the 5th Floor and the occasional teamwork drills, focused mostly on profession training. Over the next few days, Mewi successfully became a Grade 1 Alchemist. My own progress to Grade 3 was much slower, though I did benefit from helping cook meals for the Firebrand’s crew as well as practicing recipes from my new book in the virtual world. And of course, over the space of the 30 days before I could enter a Floor again, even taking the first ten days for repair and travel, I was able to liberate another four systems. And though it was now taking substantially more kills to gain AP from Kinetice, I was still getting it.

And so, the time came for the special Federation Alliance team to enter a Floor together at last.