“Your idea of a safehouse is to teleport into my apartment soaking wet and casting dirt everywhere?!”

  “We’ll cause less of a mess than you had,” Morgan threw down his hood and found a roll of paper-towels in the kitchen. After some levitation magic, we were patting ourselves down while standing on actual towels she'd fetched from her closet.

  I snatched a handful. The coarse white towels turned into a damp brown and I hadn't wiped more than a quarter of my body. Wet clumps of dirt, mud, and other nonsense flaked off. Despite the towels, we created a thin layer of filth over her nice floor.

  Leo wiped down her neck and collarbone, sighing and wincing. “Ignore Problem. The malies were coming at any second, so we had to take an emergency teleport.” Thank Wonder for that. “Last thing we want is to get handcuffed out of Glory Guild, and…”

  Although she didn’t finish her sentence, we mentally finished it for her and looked across Silverhonor's luxurious living room. By the fogged screen-doors leading to the balcony, a soaked young boy stared out into the gray city as small clusters of red and blue fluttered across the narrow roads. He leaned his head against the cool glass and stayed there, unmoving, listening and watching the rain pitter-patter.

  If we’d stayed there and gotten caught by the malies, they would’ve taken Rei.

  “Rei,” Morgan was the first to call out to him, “what did you do back there? How were you able to form an Inner Mirage?”

  His shadowed blues drifted in our direction. “I sensed her existence in our world was unstable, so I severed the connection and freed her. I slew the imposter.”

  Morgan dropped the moist towels he was holding and they plummeted to the floor like a rock. “You conceptually severed her existence?”

  A brief gloss of confusion overtook the kid. “...Yes?”

  “I need to—” Morgan looked at me, waved a finger, and said nothing. Realizing whatever mistake he made, he waved his finger at the other Angels instead, “—put this boy on the already long docket.”

  Rei didn’t ask what he meant or ask anything really. To us, the next steps were obvious. He was an Anomaly—an irregular entity existing in our world just like Silverhonor by technical definition—and thus, he was the Anomaly Bureau’s jurisdiction. Seraph and Rector couldn’t let him go after what happened earlier. They, through both curiosity and the kindness of their hearts, had to take him in.

  That was for a later date. The kid didn’t look like a flight risk, so for now, I think we could leave him be and not worry about anything.

  I clapped my hands and moved to block Rei from their sight, hoping to stir the conversation onto more immediate issues. “Let’s talk about the elephant in the room, yeah?”

  Silverhonor bit her lip and hid in the doorway of her kitchen, holding another fresh roll of paper-towels. “What about Archknell and Mongrel—?”

  “They’ll take care of the malies, our GMs too. Cleaning up is their job.” I narrowed my eyes. “Getting down to the truth is ours. Why did you leave?”

  Her defensiveness switched to anger pretty quickly, she shoved the roll into Leo’s arms. “Why are you assuming I left—?”

  “Your phone.” I looked around her living room like I’d find it here; it would be in her bedroom or in Archknell's possession. “It has a tracker that Archknell uses, and it led him here. He confirmed it the morning you went missing, so you left your apartment the night before. You mentioned earlier that you had dreams of your vacant memories, so you know what I think? Something happened that night, and in a desperate bid to regain your past, you dropped everything and left without telling or letting anyone know. That’s how you ended up in Crystal Forest again.”

  Somehow, her pale skin became even paler and her ears drooped toward the floor.

  Chie protested, “Alex, she just went missing—”

  “She ran away and left everyone scrambling. I can overlook the first thing but not the second, but Archknell will handle her punishment.” I crossed my arms, imprisoning her with my gaze. “Who did you meet? The woman you mentioned.”

  The elf held a hand close to her lips. She glanced sideways to Leo, the closest friend she had in this group, but while there was sympathy, there wasn’t support. Normally, I wouldn’t pry but she had information that we needed.

  SH swallowed the shame and put on her brave face. “I… I had forgotten that you’re far smarter than you look, Shen—” (“Conqueror.”) “—Conqueror, yes. I’ll tell you what happened. From the beginning, I mean.”

  ***

  Silverhonor had suffered from unwanted dreams—rather, nightmares—since she became a citizen of our world. Images. Sounds. Blurs. The images were never clear or made logical sense, like ten terrible movies edited into one. The sounds were wild, chaotic, too confusing to make heads or tails of. And the blur stayed as a bad filter that she couldn’t tear off.

  For the past two years, she searched for a remedy to her amnesia—to her dreams. Not even the best mentalist could restore her memories, and while they could block these dreams, she refused. They were the last artifacts of the previous Lyressa fey Suntear; without them, you could say that woman was effectively dead.

  The night before last was another one of those nights for Silverhonor, except she heard a voice piercing through the fog.

  “‘Lyressa, Lyressa, Lyressa, your fortune has come true once again,’” Silverhonor said, trying to mimic the mysterious voice. I wasn’t quite sure what she was trying to get at, but I nodded along and listened. “She insistently called my name, and the images… How do I say this? They achieved a certain clarity. They flashed before my eyes but I recognized them: whoever had reached out to me, they awaited my company inside the Infinity Dungeon.”

  Morgan, who’d taken a seat on one of her couches, said, “That’s where you ran off to?”

  His accusatory tone did the opposite of helping her mood, evident by how her ears were straight like daggers. “Two years, Problem. I’ve… I’ve been tormented by my missing memories for two long years. Have you ever had the feeling that you’re forgetting something important?” (Most of us nodded.) “Imagine that feeling but intensified a hundredfold and it lasts for every waking second of your life. Knowing my answers may lie within the Dungeon... I had to take it.”

  “So you went into the Dungeon?” Leo asked, sitting next to the elf. She’d taken the “good cop” role, because God knows none of us could fill those shoes. "The city closed the entrance due to the breakthroughs."

  "It'd explain how we didn't detect the mysterious woman," Problem commented.

  SH nibbled on her thumbnail. “I snuck inside and entered the Hub. That's where I found her."

  The original four members of the team took sneaky glances at each other.

  Morgan scooted forward. “Describe her as best as you can.”

  “I…” SIlverhonor pressed a hand against her forehead, the act of remembering a challenge for her cruelly enough. “Half of her face was shrouded with a veil of depthless pixels, and she wore this strange yet alluring gown. Her hair was—I don’t know—it was blue or black, I believe. It’s the color of a starry night. That’s all I can readily remember, because…”

  She clasped her hands together and squeezed them tightly. We understood the message: she couldn’t remember everything about their meeting.

  “What do you remember in that case?” Morgan asked next.

  “I can’t fully recall… I remember interrogating her but our conversation is lost on me. Really, only a single word stands out to me: ‘Astraria.’”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  We quizzed each other through eyes, seeing if that word held any significance to anyone. No one knew what that meant.

  Seeing our lack of answers, Silverhonor continued, “Yet another unanswerable question… That’s the limit of my knowledge, because the next thing I knew, I woke up inside a crystal with Conqueror hovering above me.”

  "It’s her,” Chie said, restlessly tapping her thigh. “I-I think Lyressa met with the Mother.” (“Pardon?”)

  Morgan picked at the band-aid on his face. “That’s what I think as well. Let’s brush aside this ‘Astraria’ for a later date. Silverhonor, you attracted the creator of the recent breachers. I'm assuming the timeline of events went like this: you had your dream, you infiltrated the Infinity Dungeon and encountered the creator, then you were incapacitated. A day passed with no activity for some reason, then on the very next day, the Crystal Forest was recreated in Glory Guild HQ. Surprisingly, neither us or the Dungeoneers registered anything on our systems."

  “Okay, but…” Silverhonor rose in her seat, hand over her heart. “Why me? Why did this ‘Mother’ target me specifically?”

  I shrugged. “Why did the Mother target Seraph, Jin Tianyou, and myself?”

  Aiden butted in, “The Mother reached out to Silverhonor specifically. It didn’t do that for the others. I think, anyway.”

  “Is it possible that she may be related to my past, then?” SH popped the question for the whole group.

  Well, I was about to add that specific addendum to my sarcasm; while yes, the Mother had explicitly approached Silverhonor, it didn’t make her motives any clearer. In fact, it probably obfuscated them more. If you ask me…

  I whistled, glancing at the downpour still battering the windows outside. “Personally, from what we’ve seen so far, the Mother likes to dine on her targets’ pasts like Seraph and Jin Tianyou. There’s nothing more intriguing and delicious than an amnesiac whose history is effectively non-existent.”

  “It’s the likelier theory,” Morgan admitted after giving it a good think. “Evidence shows that the Mother has the power to peer into our histories; it’s the foundation for the breachers’ existences, after all. She must’ve peaked into yours, which led to this whole catastrophe.”

  “...I see.” During our conversation, there had been a glimmer of hope in the elf’s capturing eyes. Despite this mess, a part of her must’ve believed that the Mother was connected to her past. We extinguished that hope, and thus her pointy-ears fell. The Mother and her Alternates were, in a nutshell, cruel voyeurs. No different than a monster that, let’s say, took the form of your worst trauma.

  Silverhonor stood and uncomfortably scratched at her shoulder, gloom wearing her down more than the rain, dirt, and exhaustion. “Thank you for everything. Truly. I know we have our disagreements…” (Glancing at me.) “...but I offer you my sincerest apologies. Feel free to freshen yourselves until you’re needed back at HQ. I need to take time to myself.”

  Leo reached out but SH was faster; she took Rei’s spot from earlier, standing at the screen-doors leading to her balcony and silently watching the rain.

  ***

  As expected, the malies showed up at Glory Guild to investigate the incident. Shame, though, that they were turned away at the gates. Archknell himself, bleeding and bruised, had told them to, and I quote, “Fuck off and crawl back into your mother’s asshole.” He had many, many disagreements with Angels Guild—him and Mongrel—but we were commonly united against the bigger enemy: the Global Union. I suspect Archknell hated them more than he did us, but an ally was an ally.

  I don’t doubt the malies could force their way into Glory Guild HQ, either through the strong-arm of the government or their own underhanded ways, but not before the mess was cleaned up.

  The news was already running wild with stories and speculation. They knew something happened at one of the training fields. Out came an injured Archknell and a whole team of Angels, a breacher was killed, and the Angels fled. It didn’t help our case, but a larger conversation was dominating the news cycle: was this the end of the world? Was Ordo ground-zero for yet another massive outbreak? Should the Global Union and the Encampment call an international emergency?

  Due to the excitement, we were ordered to stay at Silverhonor’s place for a little while longer. At least until the rain stopped.

  All we could do was watch TV and talk amongst ourselves; mainly, we threw theories around and discussed our next moves. And of course, we spoke about Rei and our next steps for him. Silverhonor didn’t involve herself in the fun talks and preferred to be alone, a stranger in her own apartment.

  I could tell Leo wanted to get up and strike a heart-to-heart, but something was stopping her. She kept checking on SH, frowning every time she saw the solemn elf stare wistfully at the rain or at the floor.

  Like I said, don’t ask me why Leo didn’t pull the trigger, and especially don’t ask me why I pulled the trigger myself.

  Before I knew it, I joined Silverhonor at the screen-doors, standing across from her, as the cold glass kissed the side of my head and raindrops tickled my ears. I received a sign of life from her: a fast flicker of her eyes, lips pressed together, and her ears slightly raised and alert. In this angle, in this lighting, she could be a painting but there was nothing romantic or beautiful about the scene.

  “...Leave me,” she muttered, her voice as soft and dour as the rain. “Or have you come for another apology?”

  “I’m not that petty.” I crossed my arms, my breath creating condensation on the glass. “You remember what you said after I got out of the station?”

  “You’re asking an amnesiac to remember, Shen.” She broke a slight and twisted smile. “I do. I suppose you proved me wrong. You picked a world, and you may just find what you’re searching for. Unlike me, who’ll go forever without knowing about her past self.”

  I sucked in my cheeks. “I wouldn’t say that. You never know what’ll happen. It’s why I’m here. I made a choice because I might not be able to choose again in the future.”

  My vagueness earned a quick side-eye before it returned to the rain. “I had to choose because another miracle may never appear again. Even with my recklessness, I earned nothing. I really am sorry, Shen, that I made such a mess. I deserve your scorn and admonishment.”

  “I won’t spit acid in your face. Won’t praise you either.” I sighed, white puffing over the windows. “I’ll just stand here, if that’s alright with you.”

  She didn’t answer, but she didn’t tell me off again. Good. That’s good. Maybe we could have a decent relationship after all. We stood there, not exactly content with ourselves or with the way things were going, but it was peaceful and the world wasn’t going to fall apart further in the next few minutes. A little moment of respite between the chaos of life.

  Silverhonor exhaled, parting her lips, and it took a second for her to say something: “...Shen, have you ever wondered what your otherselves were like?”

  I chuckled and wiped my bottom-lip. “Not often. I imagine they’re as tortured as I am.”

  “Well, I consider my past life as an otherself so-to-speak,” she said, leaning fully against the glass. “The life she’d lived, the tribulations she’d faced, they were hers—a complete and separate existence to mine. Yet we are the same person. I lack everything she has, all the defining moments to make her ‘her’ are missing, but we’re still the same. If… If those painful memories didn’t exist for you, Shen, would you still be ‘yourself’?”

  I could hear the rain mocking me, now. “That’s too big of a question to ask me, SH. Those memories exist, it doesn’t matter what I think. We’re the people we are. All we can do is live with them and try to move forward.”

  “Right, yes…” Silverhonor inhaled and shut her eyes. I could tell she wasn’t satisfied with my response.

  I took a chance: “I hope you find your memories, SH, but I hope you’ll be happy with yourself more. Even if you might never regain your previous life, we’ll help you create a better one.”

  She opened her eyes, shock rolling through them, but they beautifully softened and the pink glow of her cheeks were illuminated in the rain. “I didn’t mean to worry you, but thank you for your kind words. I want to extend the same wish to you. You survived your own troubles, much more than I have—”

  “Don’t say that. Too many people said the same thing to me.” I relaxed a little bit, putting my hands in my pockets. “I thought about that, you know. Erasing those memories. Removing every trace of the Hangzhou Disaster from my head, but the imprints it left could never be stomped out. It wouldn’t be a solution, just a quick fix.”

  “You simply have to live with them?”

  I chuckled loudly. “Exactly, yeah, your memory’s working pretty well.” She pouted. “Alright, I’ll stop teasing. But yeah, yeah. For the longest time, I’ve been hanging on to what my parents had taught me. For my own sake but especially for my sister's. Even then, life always seems to have other ideas and fuck us over.”

  “You'll find your peace.” I detected both genuine admiration and snark from the elf. “You still perplex me, Shen. It’s hard to match the two images I have of you: the strangely gentle and handsome man I’m speaking with, and the rogue who’d fought several Slayers and threatened me and Glory Guild.”

  “I’m too complex for my own good,” I joked. “I’m working on that. Trying to be more simple.”

  “No, I’m beginning to understand you. Slowly. You are…” Silverhonor offered a smile, like she was waving away our very first meeting and starting anew. “You’re a hapless fool who enjoys confusing maidens, aren’t you?”

  “That’s definitely a way to describe me. Not sure if I agree, but it sounds like you see me in a better light.”

  “Oh, make no mistake, I still loathe you.” Her words didn’t meet her twinkling eyes. “As an Angel, you’re officially my rival. We have unfinished business to settle as they say. I’ll start praying for you, as one of these days you’ll face my unbridled wrath.”

  I tried to hide my shudders, remembering how I had nearly died from her Alternate. “Fantastic, I look forward to it, SH.”

  “Mhm, and it’s ‘Lyressa.’ Though, I’ll have you calling me ‘Madam Suntear’ very shortly.”

  Maybe we should’ve stayed as enemies, but I showed a smile anyhow. “Don't threaten me with a good time, Lyressa. Call me 'Alex' or whatever funny nicknames you can think of."