His eyes fluttered open. Where were they? He could recognise that log cabin. And yet nothing seemed to make sense. There were stars sparkling through the wooden roof. He sat up. Why were they here? And why was there music?

A thing hung over him. A black blob, with a pair of eyes that pierced into this soul. A belt tightened around its body, splitting it in twain.

“What the hell?” There were two voices.

He stood up. The floor of void sucked him in. A sky of galaxies. The familiar water took him in, and he sank.

The cold stone floor welcomed him. What was happening? He could recognise the area. Water dripped from above, as thick iron bars towered in front of him. A jail cell.

“No, no no. I’m not supposed to be here. Where’s the Dark Room?” he asked.

“What’s happening?” he asked again.

“Calm down,” he said to himself.

“It seems like you recognise this place.”

“Yeah. It's the prison beneath our mansion.”

“And yet nothing here makes sense. Hypothesis: We’re dreaming.”

“It would seem so.”

Beyond the iron bars, a dragon popped in and out of existence as he blinked. First, a dragon. Then it was a tree, and a whole rollercoaster. A black column of shiny rock, and a volcano with molten lava flowing down.

“Dream.”

“Definitely. No other explanation.”

“To get yourselves into a screw up as big as this.”

A man sipped his tea. The same sickly sweet smell that he could recognise. She grimaced at the aroma.

“What are you doing here, you fucking lizard?”

“Your snark is as present as ever. A True Dragon is able to do many things.”

“But you can’t fuck off?”

“Oh please. That language means that it's the otherworlder. And here I thought linking you two together could change that.”

Bahamut stood up, and the floor fell out from beneath them. The wind rushed by, and his hair flowed up. Yet with divine style, nothing was out of place.

“So being a god means that you can meddle with things?”

“Yes, it does. And you cannot get rid of each other. You two are intertwined-”

“This is not your stage.”

All of them looked up. An old woman spoke, then a young man, then a skeleton. Bahamut was taken aback, and stood in the air. His eyes nearly popped out, and his heartbeat echoed throughout the endless void. So even dragons possessed hearts.

“Bwa- Ha-” Bahamut struggled to speak.

“Shush. This is not your stage, Dragon. Be gone.”

With a wag of its fingerbones, Bahamut disappeared. Actually, rather than disappearing, it might be more accurate to say that he was folded inside out, his limbs becoming long and spaghetti-like as his body collapsed upon itself. It resembled what a blackhole was imagined to look like. It snapped its fingers.

“Whoa.”

“It's a good day for the two of you.” The skull moved. If it still had flesh clinging on, it looked like it would have been in a sitting position, with their legs crossed.

“Yes, and you are?”

“We are unidentifiable. Even in your language, our words cannot be conveyed to the fullest. But in essence, we are Fate.”

“Ah. So are you here to stop me from preventing our fate?”

“Try as you will, but you cannot escape. In all the universes that we have seen from birth to heat death, there were less than a 100 then managed to escape our grasp. It would be interesting if you two managed to join those ranks.”

“So what are you here for then?”

“We are the watchers of the multiverse. Are we not allowed to partake in an activity that we find entertaining?”

“I mean, you are. But why us?”

“Because you two are trying to defy a fate that is strange. And for that, you two are trapped in an eternal dance with each other. In simple terms, it is interesting.”

“Eternal dance? What do you mean?”

“Huhufu. It is ironic, is it not? In an attempt to separate, you two simply got bound tighter. Much like quicksand, we believe the natural phenomena is called. You have gained the best, and worst traits of his half. And yet, you are interchangeable.”

With a flick of their finger, the floor swapped. Standing on a sea of stars, with the ocean for a sky. A whirlpool roared from above, and he could see right into the eye of the storm.

“Alas, the sands of time fade away. Our time here will be cut short. But, in half the universes we saw, you were killed by the same person.”

“Iris, I know. But what do you mean you’re time is being cut short?”

“This is being aborted, we’re afraid. Our time is cut short. Of course, we saw this.”

“Saw this?”

“Of course. We know all. We see all. But even our knowledge can be flawed. Perhaps you will join the ranks of those who managed to defy the fate given to them.”

“What?”

“What?”

***

The first thing he saw was the white ceiling of the palace room. His head hurt. Someone probably dropped a rock weighing several hundred kilos on it. He groaned as he tried to sit up. Tried. The moment he lifted his neck, it was pulled back.

“What the?”

His voice was strange. No, rather than strange, there were two voices. One vocal track overlaid upon another. He could recognise the other. It was obvious who it belonged to.

A cold metal touched the skin of his neck. It wrapped around. As he moved, a long chain behind him clanged against the links.

“He’s up,” someone whispered.

The room of pristine white had a certain similarity to the hospital rooms he was familiar with. All around him, white curtains blocked his view. He tried to move his arm, but to no avail. His arms and legs were chained down, along with his neck. No longer in his weird swimsuit with a skirt in the beach house, some stranger changed him into a soft white gown.

The curtain parted. A woman with blonde hair peeked in. Princess Haein. Her eyes narrowed onto his face, and she stepped in.

“Your Highness,” he said. There it was again.

“Lord Francis.” Did she not notice the double voices? Or was it all in his head?

“What is the meaning of this?”

“The oracle detected a major change in his prediction. The epicentre of it was... Salenros Beach.”

“And your point being?”

“You have no idea what you have done.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mr Frium and his crew detected the magic as well.”

“Again, what do you mean?”

She shook her head. Moving towards him, she sat down on the bed. She rubbed his forehead with her tender fingers.

“You have put into action so many things. His Holiness had to mobilise his holy knights, and my father had to command the imperial knights. Everything culminated in Salenros. Why did you have to do that? Soul magic? Why?”

“Did... Did you abort the ritual?”

“Yes. Of course I did. The mage was siphoning all the mana from his surroundings. Everyone could tell something was going on. Your group is already in custody. Once you get better, we have to interview you.”

“What? I don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to. Just answer our questions when the time comes, okay?”

Francis nodded. There was another person in his head. The original Francis. He seemed to have calmed down.

“So nothing changed, huh?”

“No. But Fate mentioned something about being interchangeable, right?”

“Yeah. I- I can feel a change. It’s not the same as before.”

“Same here. I think...”

“Whoa!”

“Yeah, this is amazing.”

In an instant, he was out of control. A voice he recognised spoke for him. And he had access to the Dark Room.

“So we can switch between each other now?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’m just going to give you control most of the time. I’ve seen your memories. You are far more capable than me. But, if there’s anything you can’t handle? Just let me take over. I’m giving you control back.”

“Thanks.”

A few men walked in. The one in front reached forwards. A click. The tension on his neck was gone. The chains fell one by one. Francis sat up. His legs quivered, and the men held onto him for support.

They pulled him into a room, and locked the door once they left. Small, but not without amenities. A bed, a table, and a mosaic floor.

He spent a few days there. The princess often visited, but besides that, the only communication he had was with the few guards that delivered food and water. Boring. But with the dawn, came news. A man came, and unlocked the door.

“It's time for the interview. Your group is already there,” he said in a gruff, low voice.

“Fine. Lead the way.”

“Cause no trouble.”

Through a maze of converging corridors, the man stopped. A red door stood in front of him. Made of metal, it was tough. He knocked, and pushed the door open.

“So the main actor is here.”

“And this room only gets more powerful.”

“Perhaps the most important meeting in the century!”

Francis walked in. In the large room, a long table stretched from one end to another. On one side, Katalina, Kim Hye-Sung, Iris, and his sisters. On the other, Benjamin Wynt, Edmond Ren, Princess Haein, and three people he didn’t recognise. An old man, a young looking woman, and a young man with light blue hair.

“Ahem. Lord Rayleigh. This is Headmaster William, of the Atlas Association. This is His Holiness. And this is the de facto leader of the Arcane Tower, Thalia.” The old man, the young man, and the woman.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Francis said.

“Take a seat.” His Holiness pointed to a chair next to Katalina.

“Thank you.”

“I understand you were involved in dealing with a cult that happened in my territory. I apologise for the inconvenience, and any offense.”

“No worries.”

“And I understand that one of my members committed several transgressions against you, such as... Forcefully seizing you.”

“Yes. That too. Rafelgo’s someone that I would not like to talk about.”

“If the introductions are done, I would like to ask several questions,” Princess Haein began, “But really. This room contains a lot of powerful people.”

The princess chuckled.

“Yes. The highest authority of two magical organisations, me, the crown princess of a country, and most of a duke’s family. If this room blows up, rest assured, I can protect all of you without issue.”

“Right. And moving on...”

All of them asked questions. And they answered questions. The interview lasted half a day. When they were done, they stretched. Even Iris was tired. Of course, none of them mentioned anything about their special fates.

They were released. The people in power mentioned that they would find some way to explain it. But whether that was the truth was an entire other matter altogether. And he hadn’t even started factoring in whatever a god might be planning. Strange. Was he always so paranoid?

“There is a lot to fill you in on. So I’m just going to say it. We were attacked by the cultists, the knights got involved, your knight got injured but she got healed, and that mage woman is terrifying,” Iris said.

“Wait, what?”

“The princess arrived on horseback and ordered the thing to be stopped.”

“I got that much. But why did they attack?”

“They attacked because you drew them to you. It’s a long story.”