Faiz…wasn’t back in that shop, whatever it’s name was. Instead he found himself floating in an off-white plane, suspended by some invisible force. He couldn’t move his head, or indeed, the rest of his body, and so was stuck gazing at a shining ball of light which occupied his vision. It seemed to be busy doing something, for he could hear voices emanating from it, not directed at him.

  “…Uh…Hello?” A friendly greeting, heavens knew he didn’t need another enemy this soon.

  The pearlescent orb appeared to swivel, and Faiz felt a strange pressure and awareness descend on him.

  “presence. identity confirmed. native of nodule. were you expecting transference?”

  A voice radiated out from the light, sounding awfully monotone and featureless. Faiz pondered the question a bit before responding, “Yeah, I was,um.. told I’d be going home? Oh dear me, did that fail?! Please tell me I’m not in one of the low beyonds...”

  “you do not incur cessation. coincidental convergence of this nodule occurred. you are classified as a protected existence still. per convention 74-A please seek restitution from agent. standard protocol is issuance from nodule pre-ordained information wellspring. do you wish to avail damages for breach of interference?”

  The ball spoke with a lot of weird words mixed into it’s speech, but Faiz at least understood the last part, “So-knowledge? You could make me like one of those inward seeing futurists?” The thought might’ve been appealing, once. Being able to know the future or uncover a load of secrets…he’d be an oracular hero! But right now Faiz was rather tired of finding out more and more explosive information, something unfathomable seemed to happen daily!

  “No, thank you. I’d rather not know, honestly.”

  “alternative options include form conversion or application of leave or transportation.”

  “Application of…leave? Leaving what exactly?”

  “extraction from nodule with option of upgradation to higher relevancy nodule points.”

  Huh? Wait, Faiz could just…leave the world?! That sounded amazing!...but wait, he probably wouldn’t be able to save Allie that way. He still enquired out of curiosity, “So, I’d be able to vanish and leave it all behind now if I agreed to the application?”

  “affirmative as long as you consent to be interred in pan-network waiting list.”

  “Always a catch eh? How long is this line anyways?” Couldn’t be that lengthy, could it?

  “current applicant id latest is 95673 and average wait time is 2.1 thousand years.”

  Never mind. “Efficient system you have there. So, transportation…can you bring someone over to me? Say, a very pretty and maybe nearly divine girl my age?” If he could get Allie back just like that…

  “awarded damages may be transferred on ruling from central department within average of 100 weeks.”

  Useless any time soon, and if he went over to her now he’d probably get slaughtered immediately. Nothing seemed particularly attractive to him from his list of options currently, so he inquired, “Is it alright if I defer uh…accepting my benefits? For a particularly needy day I mean. I have nothing to gain from all this now.”

  “deferred damages may persist until statue of reparations expires with a limited time of 1 year.”

  “Wonderful! I imagine you’ll be like a voice in the head if I want to claim my benefits?”

  “please visualize calling agent unit 9).1Ao whenever you wish to avail damages without fear by temporal sink.”

  Having resolved that issue, Faiz remembered that he was still floating in this blank void, “Okay, good to know. Can I go now? I have places to be, as much as I’d love to remain in your company, friend.”

  “your reconstruction is almost completed and you will return to stabilized nodule plane 4 shortly with all affects.”

  “That’s swell, I’ll…maybe meet you later-if it’s still you-when I ask for gifts next. Bye, then.”

  He saw the orb (agent?) get back to work on whatever it was doing, and then his whole body shuddered, a strange sensation of roiling growing in his belly. It took him a moment to understand what was happening; Faiz was being launched straight down, falling at great speeds. Good thing there was no-

  “Floor..” Ow. His eyes snapped open, and he found himself sprawled out on a very dusty (but thankfully very real) wooden floor. Was he back? Faiz lifted his head, glancing around. Sure enough, all around him were arrayed rows and rows of ancient and grime coated schemalinks, and that high backed chair in the corner, and the stairs leading up, and an ajar door.

  He had returned! And his corpus wasn’t undone anymore! “The Levin Trap! I made it! Heh…ahaha! I lived! I-where are those two?! Oho, those two imbeciles, I’ll get my revenge yet, just you wait..”

  Faiz murmured darkly to himself, chuckling with menacing intent as he got to his feet! Oh, hello there! That amulet was back on his neck, despite being missing in action for the entirety of his foray into the fading mind. Fancy that…

  A shadow at the door shook him from his conjecture, and his gaze sharpened. A visitor to the shop, and most likely one of that duo…Faiz got into position behind the door, readying his fist. One smash and a finisher, that’s what was needed. As soon as the door swung open, Faiz threw his fist forward.

  “I’m here~ Mas-Eegh!

  Oh.

  Faiz’s eyes widened in horror even as his arm lashed out, for he’d seen that his target was either Jesyll or Ellery, but someone else entirely. Alas, despite his panicked attempt to throw off the strike, he’d put rather a lot of force into it, and so even weakened as it was, his fist laid the stranger out.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Ah! Oh no, heavens, this er…this, you..are you, ehm-are you alright?” Faiz asked (somewhat pointlessly) , fretting over the stranger, who was now clutching their face and sobbing away, their body curled up.

  The stranger’s wails only grew louder as Faiz helped them up into the chair, “

  Faiz felt terrible, knowing he was completely at fault, and tried to coax the delicate ailing soul in front of him, “I’m sorry, I tell you! Really…really sorry. I didn’t know you’d be the one behind that door, please don’t cry…I’ll um..help you! Yeah, just..just let me see the injury okay? It’s all fine.” He hoped he sounded authoritative but gentle, as he spoke.

  It had some effect, the stranger’s rain of tears slowing and their breaths levelling into ragged gasps. He managed to pull their hands slowly off of their face, sighing in relief as he saw the damage wasn’t so bad. He’d managed to dissipate most of the force behind his blow thankfully. In fact, he felt a little confused. Either this person was pretending, or ethereally fragile, for this level of crying wasn’t warranted by such a minor wound.

  Their big, expressive eyes were scrunched in a watery scowl as they glared weakly at Faiz, their antennae (and yes, Faiz had to check, this person had antennae) twitching this way and that way. “W-well…aren’t you going to apologize to me..?”

  “I…did? Multiple times in fact! Just now, even!” Faiz wanted to argue, but seeing the stranger start tearing up again, he grit his teeth and bit out an apology, “…If you want another then-fine. I, I apologize, I shouldn’t have hit you. I take full responsibiliTEE?!”

  His apology ended in a confused squeak as the stranger immediately cheered up and pulled him into a-rather emotional, judging by the strength-hug, trilling, “It’s okay~ You apologized to me, friends shouldn’t fight! I forgive you!”

  Wonderful, he’d encountered another being with a deviated personality, almost alike in behaviour to Ellery (though thankfully one much cuter than a hunk of steel). This almost certainly meant they were a part of that pretentious sounding order too, since all its members he’d met so far were weird. That, and the fact this person had entered the nearly derelict Luminous Snare with some purpose in mind.

  “I-ah, friends? That’s one way to put it, but fine. You can er, you can let go now…” If they heard him, they gave no sign of it. Eventually he had to pull them off, and finally get a better look at his assaultee.

  They looked to be around his age, but appeared quite a bit more delicate than Faiz himself. They wore mostly white robes on their thin frame and had a very dense covering of snowy hair cascading down their body, from the top of which sprouted two fuzzy, swiveling antennae. They also had what first seemed like a multi-coloured cloak draped across their shoulders, but when the ‘lining’ started fluttering, Faiz realized they were a massive pair of wing-like structures, though lacking feathers of any sort.

  And this person was looking expectantly at Faiz, literally quivering with excitement, pink eyes fixed on him, all past pains seemingly forgotten. Faiz cleared his throat and opened his mouth, “Ahem, pleased to meet you? I am-“

  “Faiz! The one who’s super close to our newfound heir! Hehe, Masters Jesyll and Ellery told me all about you! You don’t look so scary though, and we’re friends now!”

  Splendid, that saved him the trouble of introductions, and confirmed this person was also an orderite; Faiz was mildly concerned about what exactly this person had been told about him, but he moved onto more pressing matters.

  “Ah, so you know those two? Good, very good. Out of curiosity, where are they now? I want to show my for them, if I can. Also, mind telling me your name?”

  “Oh no, I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Keite! It’s sososo nice to meet you, again I mean!” So this person was a boy, just like Faiz. Well, not exactly alike, given his extreme cheer and propensity for dispensing hugs, something that Faiz had to hold his hand out to prevent.

  “If you’re wondering where the masters are, I also don’t know! I could’ve sworn they be here at the Snare though!” Unhelpful. Faiz did ponder where this other person had come from, but seeing as he’d been in Ragan for all of two days before being thrown outside time and space, he went with the simple assumption that he’d missed out seeing him. He wouldn’t dare ask for fear of being exposited to.

  Faiz had been a tad too wrapped up in thought, allowing the other boy to resume hugging him, those gossamer wings creeping up to cocoon him. Before he could get Keite to stop, he froze, hearing a very familiar voice…

  “Well kid, you sure move fast! Already charmed our dear Keite here eh? So when’s the wedding?”

  That warble, that arrogant chorus-and the way he was called ‘kid’-made it clear who was speaking: Jesyll, in the flesh! They’d just slipped into the shop, it looked like. They seemed about ready to quip some more, but an angry cry interrupted them.

  “YOU!!

  Jesyll’s appendages flailed and curled as Faiz started tying the rubbery things into knots, righteously furious and grinning angrily all the while. “

  Faiz was completely incoherent, flailing at thin air even as two pairs of arms (one pair svelte and the other chrome) dragged him off of the thoroughly abused one-time captain. Who! Who was interrupting his revenge?! On one side he saw the soft insect boy, and didn’t care to fight him off, but on the other..Ha! There was the scrapskin, morphed into a grasping humanoid shape as it strained back.

  There was no stopping Faiz, he immediately changed focus and starting trying to crush and mold the soft metal body of this other horrid fiend, “If I can’t kill that rubbery menace, I’ll settle for your shiny headyour ears as nails!”

  “Jes! Urk…I’m being bent! I’m bending! I saved you, but who’s going to save me?! Owie owie I’m sorry! I don’t wanna become commercial goods!”

  All this continued for a good long while until Faiz finally had to stop, partly because he was exhausted after his outburst and partially because an irritating trill filled his brain, making it harder to move. “Is this some new trick? It won’t work, because as soon I’ve recovered I’ll tear you two apart! Just wait! I’m not going to spare you..you.., sending me to my death like that! Heh…you have got this coming for an eternity now!”

  Keite was by now back into hysteric tears, desperately trying to hold Faiz in a restraining hold, putting every flap of his wings into it. Obviously, being so delicate, the effect was nearly nil. He also kept wailing, “”

  Faiz clenched his hands into fists hard enough to draw blood as he glared swords at the unhappy duo, who were slowly recovering from the pummelling of a lifetime. Still, he let out a deep exhale and patted the other boy, “I am fine now, really…I wasn’t going to kill them anyway, life is usually more painful than death anyways.”

  The annoying trilling in his mind faded away as the fluffy kid flopped onto the floor heaving. Faiz turned his dark stare onto the two again. “Got anything to say?”

  “I haven’t been so humiliated in eons! You’re lucky I’m feeling kind kid, or I’d surely beat you to death! My sense-limbs, they’re all tangled! Oh this’ll take forever to right, ah…I’m senseless..” Jesyll let out pitched whines as they tried to unwind their very ‘lovingly’ knotted tendrils.

  Ellery wasn’t far better, letting out exaggerated sounds of pain to rival the greatest of tortures as it melted and reformed again and again, trying to fix all the severe structural damage Faiz had caused, complaining, “My core is lengthways! Jes you traitor! You promised me he wouldn’t beat me up! I’m so injured, so hurt..”

  “Hehe, they didn’t lie, you slag pile. I decided in my magnanimity to ruin you two equally, isn’t that nice? I’m already being nice to you, you know? After all, you two liars sent me off to that green hell didn’t you? Trying to kill me?” Faiz was morbidly curiously as to how these part-time schemers would attempt absolving themselves of all guilt and blame now.

  Jesyll finally managed to hold themselves upright, shuddering and adjusting their cloak before answering, “Glad you asked me that kid! We’ve had our differences before, but I’ll forgive this brutal beating of innocent me just this once. I have a plan! A new Plan!”