32.3A:《Prince》Bound To [Disrupt/Nurt]ure

Standing at the heart of the Wibele, Olive set the covered shot glasses out in a neat row on the counter. They were all filled with a liquid-like substance that emitted brilliant light of different shades; and they were labeled according to their origin.  

The one labeled Olive Chance contained a swirl of bright crimson red. The color was so vibrant and bright that the thin green membrane of light coating it was almost unnoticeable. 

The second was labeled Werner Waltz. Indigo light burned bright within the glass. Its size, however, was small compared to the dark green that encapsulated it. In fact, three-fourths of the glass consisted of that green hue.

The glass labelled ‘cardboard from the square’ was filled entirely with that pure green light.

Nico Fabrizzio’s shot glass hosted a warm amber light that, like Olive’s, was wrapped by a paper-thin layer of green light. 

Gabrielle Law’s burned a bright fuschia that too was coated in a barely noticeable layer of green.

The glass labelled Otto Vogt contained a gray blue light that, similar to Werner’s, was almost consumed by green.

Olive had turned over countless hypotheses in his head when he had first seen the results of his and Werner’s tests. Klaus’s explanation of base objects in conjuring kept coming up again and again in his mind. His mind had raced with possibilities—for Lavi. 

Conjuring a body for Lavi? So she could be separate from him? So people could see her? The goal he had been seeking for so long? It was absolutely ridiculous but the answer was literally right in front of him. He just needed to figure out the how. That elation, however, was followed by an intense sense of guilt as he thought of the Olive who had been here before him. 

The row of men and women who now sat in front of Olive were probably turning over those same hypotheses in their heads. Capricornians, Sagittarians, the Twin Cities executives, Geminians, Ariesians, Aquarians—

“So what the hell this mean?” Knovak broke the silence first. “Our vitae like yours, Fabrizzio’s, the peacekeepers? We manipulated? Conjured? Not real?”

“I wouldn’t jump to such a drastic conclusion,” Dunya Kramer said. 

Olive hadn’t seen him nor Dunya Kramer around until now. He wondered what they’d been up to. There were so many moving parts and people here that it made his head spin.

Gabrille leaned back against the table behind her and drummed her fingers on the table’s edge. She glanced at Alice beside her. “Any thoughts?”

“Concerns,” Alice responded, arms crossed. “It would be safe for us to assume that if any one of us were to take this vitae spectrophotometer test, the results would be similar. We all were unconscious coming to in Ndoto, meaning that what we see in those glasses there was most likely done to us during that time period.” Her eyes narrowed and turned partially towards the Capricornians on her left. “I know that Capricorn’s populace is still dealing with the ramifications of Scorpio’s meddling during the Week of Blindness.”

Olive felt his chest tighten as he recalled Werner’s spiral during Alpha’s reign of terror. It felt so close yet so far away here. He glanced over and saw Weingartner holding Alice’s gaze steadily. 

“So what ramifications does this have for us?” Alice finished. “What ramifications does it have for those who have been here longer than us? Obviously the concentration of that green vitae—that conjuring—varies from person to person.”

Olive’s mind went to the other five. And then to Trystan, Marta, his parents, Lavi.

“The people here…” Olive murmured. “The ones who…” He hesitated.

“The ones who died,” Gabrielle provided helpfully.

Olive nodded, gesturing to Otto’s glass. “We know from Francis and ELPIS that people who’ve been… killed by conductors have their vitae elevated to that higher energy level and that their vitae can be stuck at the threshold instead of ‘crossing over’. So…” His mind went to Trystan. “Maybe—I don’t know how—whoever’s behind this is somehow picking out a person’s vitae and building around it.”

 But how, how, how…?

The silence that followed was not as heavy as Olive had been expecting. Of course, not. Olive figured they were all feeling that same tiny glimmer of hope that was beating inside his own chest. It was selfish, he knew, but— 

Heimler and Von Spiel shared a look. 

He felt for them. 

“The question is why,” Alice drew. “Why is this culprit doing this? What purpose does this serve? Appeasing us? Why just us?”

Olive felt the hairs on his back rise.

The silence this time was heavy.

“Anyways, this complicates things,” Gabrielle noted lightly. “Meaning that we were right in treading carefully.”

“How so?” Vogel interjected. “Look at the ratio of the vitae in those containers. Look how much of that vitae is not them. For all we know, whoever is behind this merely extracted a small amount of their vitae—from this threshold or from the individual themselves—and conjured around it. If that is what’s happening. If that’s the case then the actual individuals may be held captive somewhere, tiptoeing around these ‘people’ does nothing for them.”

“That’s a risky assumption to make,” Gabrielle said calmly with a light smile. “I didn’t realize you cared so much about the people affected by Ndoto.”

“What are you trying to imply?” Vogel’s eyes narrowed. “Our main goal should be to leave this place and ensure no others fall into this trap.”

Mai nodded from where she stood with the other Saggitarians.

“Our second consideration should be freeing the people here. Some of them are loyal men. I am not heartless, Peacekeeper Law. I’m simply realistic.”

“If they’re more conjured than they are real,” someone murmured, “then what does that even… make them?”

“You lot must be new to the whole ‘one person being two people at once’ deal,” Carl interjected from his table. “It ain’t that complicated. My brother’s an ELPIS Leader and my brother-brother. Both at once.”

Some of the foot soldiers shot him disparaging looks. Fortuna sighed beside him and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Alice placed a hand to her mouth. “And in there lies the concern.”

“What concern?” Vogel and Carl asked at the same time.

The former was clearly displeased that he was on the same wavelength as the latter which would have made Olive smirk if the situation were any different. But…

“Were you not paying attention at all?” Olive muttered.

Carl made a face. “You talkin’ to me?”

Olive shook his head and eyed Vogel before looking away. “Before Libra cut me, I was just like everyone else here. And now I’m here, meaning that beneath all that green is—”

A person. But the green itself… was what? For Lavi, it was a physical body, wasn’t it? But for the others who were so distinct from their Signum selves…?

“I brought tea cakes!” Werner abruptly burst into the room from the backdoor with Viktoria and Otto in tow. 

The three of them balanced in their hands familiar black trays topped with small cakes. Just enough for everyone.

“I’m keeping a damned tab,” Otto grumbled as he tossed the plates in front of the people he passed by. The only plate he delivered gingerly was to Emilia. “They’re all delusional freeloaders—except for you, obviously, Emilia.”

“Aw, don’t say that, O-man,” Werner chastised lightly as he delivered to Olive a small cake topped with a strawberry. “You know what I always say—mein haus ist dein haus!”

Viktoria offered him a small smile as she set a small plate in front of Ludwig who sat beside Weingartner.

Olive reached out to him through their connection. Thanks, Werner.

Werner turned to him and smiled, but—he felt so far away.

“If everything here made of that green vitae,” Knovak drew suddenly, fork half-embedded into his cake, “then this too made of it. If we eat it then we become… more green. Right?”

Some of the soldiers who had been wolfing down the cakes stopped short. 

Werner’s brows met with confusion when he noticed almost everyone had stopped eating. “Huh? Is something wrong with it?” He turned to Knovak. “You said something about green? We don’t use green dye here! Only natural dyes. J-man says that artificial dyes aren’t good for the environment so I don’t use them.”

Knovak scoffed. “Capricornian, you worry about wrong things.”

Werner’s expression fell. “‘Wrong things’…?”

Feeling insulted on the man’s behalf, Olive opened his mouth—

“It’s good, Werner.” It was Ludwig, working calmly on his orange cake. “It’s very good.” He surveyed those around him. “Are we supposed to starve while we’re here?”

The scrapping of forks against plates answered him. 

Werner, still appearing confused, brightened. “Well, just let me know if any of you need anything different!” 

Olive studied Ludwig as the trio headed back into the kitchen. He then noticed that Allen was giving him a rather meaningful look from across the room. Right. Ludwig was Werner’s older brother and Allen was a pseudo older brother to Cadence. Maybe they shared some sort of… camaraderie.

Allen looked up at him. “Need something?”

Olive resisted startling and cleared his throat. “I was just about to say: shouldn’t we focus on what we really need to do? Finding the roots? Now we know more about what we’re dealing with, we can start identifying roots.” He reluctantly looked over at Mai and Eunji across the room. “Cl—Sagittarius said that the Small Services facility was a root, right?”

Eunji nodded.

“So… we can get a sample from there and test it using the vitae spectrophotometer,” Olive continued, once again becoming hyper-aware of the fact that he was at the center of everyone’s attention, “and then we can identify what makes a root a root. Then we can find roots—”

“And then what?” Valentino scoffed. “Test every single thing here until we find all the roots? Do you know how long that would take?” He jabbed a finger at his table. “We’re rotting here.”

Olive muttered, “If only you had as many solutions as you did criticisms…”

Valentino frowned. “The solution isn’t obvious to you? It’s what we should have done as soon as we learned about these roots. Mass annihilation..”

Olive scowled.

Was he an idiot?

“That’s too rash, Capitano Valentino,” Weingartner said. “There are too many variables involved.”

“I agree,” Vogel said.  “We don’t even have the means to execute such an operation but I also agree with your sense of urgency, Valentino.”

“Then we prepare,” Valentino said. “We can conduct without conductors according to Princess Yuseong, can we not?” He jabbed a finger at the table. “We simply practice, hone, execute. When has scorched earth ever failed?” 

It’s like the revelation of the conjuring had made everything worse.

Why was no one saying anything? Not even Gabrielle was saying anything—no, instead she was giving him a look. Ugh.

“It fails when you’re literally at the center of the earth you’re trying to scorch,” Olive muttered. “I mean, didn’t you all say that Capricorn said to save cutting out the roots in Ndoto last? Don’t you think there was a reason for it?” He caught Eunji’s gaze. “From what I understand about the roots so far… they’re like pillars and doors.” He frowned. “If you break down something that serves as both a pillar and a door in a house then what happens?”

“Then you walk through it,” Valentino pressed as if he were talking to a child.

“No,” Olive interjected, “you can’t walk through the door anymore because it’s no longer there, and because it’s important to the structure of the house, the entire thing collapses. You’re either crushed or locked in forever.” He hadn’t meant to say it in such an embarrassingly dramatic tone, but he begrudgingly appreciated its silencing effect.

Valentino appraised him. “Then what do you suggest, Your Highness?”

“I… have a suggestion.”

Olive turned to Nico in slight surprise. He  recalled the man always being in the background during meetings Werner would hold with his unit and meetings held in the Twin Cities’ underbelly. 

“During the Week of Blindness, Hauptmann Werner Waltz was infected by a very powerful manipulator,” Nico said, not seeming uneasy with all the attention. He locked eyes with Ludwig but the man looked away. “With the help of the vitae of a peacekeeper named Jericho—”

“The pretentious man they call a hippie?” Valentino inquired. 

Olive frowned.

“Jericho of the ELPIS Department when his shoes are on right,” Gabrielle amended. “One of the best there is, actually.”

Nico cleared his throat and continued, “and a Diverger girl named Lita.” He pointed to his eyes. “She had the ability to…”

The idea clicked in Olive’s mind as Nico loosely retold how they had freed Werner from Scorpio’s grip. Olive was embarrassed he hadn’t thought of it immediately.

Olive drew once Nico had finished his story, “If we can get Lita’s help and a sample from the Small Services building which we know is a root, then maybe Lita can look at the sample, see what the characteristics of a root is, and then we can identify the roots and go from there. Seeing it immediately is better than testing everything and waiting hours to see the result”—he eyed Valentino— “right?”

Carl thrummed his fingers hard against his table.

“That’s a good idea,” Gabrielle said, “but we also need to figure out if we need a conducting type like Jericho or our slasher friend to actually cut out the roots.” She nodded at the Saggitarian’s table. “Did your saint candidate friend say anything about this?”

Arjun shook his head. “He has not, but we can propose this question to him once we get into contact—”

“The bigger question is where is this Lita, isn’t it?” Vogel pressed. ‘I heard of this Diverger ability during one of my trips to the Twin Cities several years ago and never thought I would get the chance to see it myself…”

Olive didn’t like the gleam in his eyes.

“She’s with Maria,” Carl grunted. “The Ndoto-version of Maria. See her on the TV all the time.” 

Gabrielle turned to Olive. “You’re a close contact with Maria, aren’t you? In Ndoto? Do you think you could ring her?”

Olive felt like he’d been punched in the gut. “I’ve… tried to get a hold of her before. Using those phone books they have here. But… I’m not sure if it’s because of that murder investigation, but I haven’t been able to actually talk to her.”

In fact the only people he’d been able to really actually talk to here had been Werner and Cadence—barely. When he’d called Jericho’s house the other day, Jericho’s sister had answered instead and informed him that Jericho was out with his school club. Cadence had swung by the other day, obviously, but whenever Olive tried to reach her outside of the Wibele, Feliciano of all people would pick up and say that Cadence was at an important film shoot. Conta picked up whenever he’d try to call Maria and would always try to set up appointments that were weeks away. Ringing Atienna resulted in an unanswered line. 

“Then we go directly to her,” Gabrielle said. She gestured to Nico. “And thankfully we don’t have to deal with thinly-veiled bureaucracy because Mr. Fabrizzio here is our golden ticket. That and I’ve been itching to have a talk with the guidance council here for a while now so with that—”

Nico let out a sigh. “About that…” He pulled out something from his pants pocket. His KM-card. “I was stopped earlier today and pulled into some sort of interrogation ‘cause apparently someone thought I had VNW and reported me—”

“Damn it, Cadence!” Carl slammed his hands on the table. “It was Cadence, alright. She was tellin’ me last night how worried she was about you, Nic, and y’know how she is here with her prissiness and cutesy uptightness.” 

Allen said nothing.

Gabrielle sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, it’s only a minor setback. Sort of. We can’t actually get our KM-levels up with our VNW status so…” She pointed to Eunji. “Your Highness, you haven’t been marked as a VNW infectee yet, right? But your KM-level is below a 4?”

Eunji nodded. “It’s 3.”

“Good on flying under the radar,” Gabrielle said with a nod. “Let’s see if we can get that up without arousing suspicion.”

Mai interjected, “You’re making hefty requests, Miss Law. What do we get in return?”

Olive resisted rolling his eyes. “You get to get out of here quicker. That’s what you get.”

Mai locked eyes with him. “I meant no disrespect, Your Highness. I’m merely stating that we all need to pull our weight here.” She gestured to Eunji. “My sibling has an advantage that we don’t have. I don’t want to risk it being taken away if put in the spotlight.”

“Well, there’s no point in having an advantage if you don’t use it,” Fortuna said, arms crossed. “However, I do think it’s risky just having one person carrying all the cards.”

“I can help!” 

Olive turned. 

Uh-oh.

Hands on hips, Werner stood at the bakery counter.

“Saints…” Carl muttered.

“You’re trying to find the root of the problem, right?”  Werner continued. “Like the person who hurt Nico and Ollie and scared Kaiser off? You said it was someone different from the person they said on the news…” He pointed to Eunji. “And you need someone else who can also take the KM test…?” He puffed his chest out a bit and thumbed himself. “I can do it!”

Olive felt his cheeks burn on Werner’s behalf. 

“Please…?”

“What’s your KM-level?” Gabrielle asked.

Vogel shook his head. “You can’t be serious.”

Werner held up two fingers.

Vogel pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Well, sounds like you have a lot of work cut out for you,” Gabrielle said.

“Thought you said you didn’t like studyin’, Captain Ditzy.” Carl leaned back in his chair. “Why the change of heart?”

Ludwig frowned. 

Werner rounded the counter and stopped behind Nico’s chair. He placed both hands on the man’s shoulders and squeezed lightly as his brows met. He held Olive’s gaze. He looked like the Werner that Olive knew.

“That person hurt my Liebling and Ollie,” Werner said, not sounding like the Werner Olive knew at all. “They also scared Kaiser and caused Atienna and Mari a lot of stress and J-man and Caddy are worried about their families too and so are the guys in the gang and I can’t just sit around here doing nothing.”

Alice’s eyes narrowed slightly and she studied Werner carefully before glancing over at Olive. 

“This is more complicated than that, Werner,” Weingartner said gently. “It’s not just—”

Valentino held up a hand. “Let’s not confuse the man, hauptmann. Besides, we can’t be putting all of our eggs into one basket. The more people who have elevated status we have in our fold, the higher our chances of success will be.”

Olive frowned. It felt like Werner was being taken advantage of. He glanced over at the man, tugged on the thin string of their connection once, twice, thrice before the man turned to him inquiringly. Are you sure, Werner?

Werner nodded. “Like, totally.”

Ludwig glanced between them.

Not noticing the strange looks he was receiving, Werner snapped his fingers. “Oh, I know! We can ask Klaus for help for the KM test. He told me he’s finished with his practical exams for his courses so he can swing by and give pointers! Klaus is really, really smart—”

Vogel turned to Weingartner. “Where is Gefreiter Kleine? Do you not have your able men in order, Weingartner, Von Spiel?”

Weingartner addressed Emilia and then Wilhelm, “I was surprised by Kleine’s absence, Bergmann, Fischer. Have you heard from him today?”

Wilhelm looked to Von Spiel and remained silent while Emilia shook her head— “No, sir—”

“Huh? Didn’t you guys hear?” Werner brightened. “Klaus recovered from his VNW!”

Wilhelm and Emilia visibly paled. 

Olive felt his heart drop into his stomach and his ears began to ring as the room fell silent. His mind raced to how Klaus had helped him during the Week of Blindness and then to how the man had helped him work out his theories just the other day. Then his mind went to how he’d somehow known in his gut that Klaus had become integrated into Ndoto before Werner had even mentioned it.

“Aw, why the long faces?” Werner looked around. “This is a good thing! He’s all better now! I’m sure you’ll all get better too!” He hopped over to Weingartner and nudged his arm while nodding at Gabrielle. “So, will you let me help you… please?”

Gabrielle offered a half-smile. “I don’t see why not.”

Werner positively beamed. “You can rely on me!” He aimed finger guns at Eunji. “Looks like we’re study buddies then!”

Eunji dipped her head.

Weingartner studied him for a moment before saying, “Well, since you’re here, Werner, would you mind if I asked you some questions about the book you gave me the other day.” He pulled out a small book and placed it on the desk.

Der Wehmütige Gärtner.

Olive faintly recalled that this was the book Greta had pressed Werner to give Weingartner.

Weingartner flipped to a page that had been bunny-eared. Leaning forward, Olive was surprised to find a passage marked with a margin there. It was written in Common: 

I wonder if that apple tree could have still been considered an apple tree with such a flaw. I wonder if that apple tree could have still been considered itself. Most likely, the tree itself would not even know the difference. 

The man flipped to another bunny-eared page with a passage marked:

I wonder what would happen
if humans were plants
each one individual blossoming into
a specimen, unique and beautiful.

And another one:

I once proposed a riddle—
“There exists a room without walls, ceilings, floors. 

And another:

Instead of playing with dolls, 
perhaps I should try my hand at gardening now

And another:

I should have mentioned this earlier, as the general assumption is that things listed chronologically, must fall in chronological order. That is not the case here.

“This is your book, Werner,” Weingartner said. “You marked these pages. Can you remember why you did this?”

Werner’s brows met and he rubbed the back of his neck. “I dunno. Maybe someone else marked it? I don’t read that much so it had to be someone else.” He seemed to notice Weingartner’s troubled expression. “Sorry, Volky.”

Weingartner sighed. “It’s alright, Werner.” After a beat, he placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “I know you tried your best. Good man.”

Olive looked away.

“Aside from Werner and Eunji,” Alice interjected after a pause, “I believe reaching out to Shion Myositis may be beneficial. Although her hands appeared to be tied, it’s apparent that she’s willing to help.”

“Well, it seems we all have our little tasks to do, right? Figuring out how to conduct without our conductors, studying up for the KM-test, getting more samples to test using the vitae spectrophotometer, keeping an eye out for our slasher friend.” Gabrielle clapped once. “Let’s get to it then.”

***

Olive had no idea what he was doing and yet here he was dressed in a button up and slacks and standing in front of a white house surrounded by a white picket fence. Beside him stood his sister wearing a light pink dress with puffy shoulder pads. Behind him stood ‘parents’, both dressed in short slacks and wearing off-red shirts.

The door was blue and the doorbell was illuminated by a light hidden somewhere in its body. Olive itched to take it apart and figure out how it worked. Actually, he’d rather do anything instead of ringing the actual doorbell.

His father reached over his shoulder and pressed it for him. Olive glanced back and saw the man arching a brow at him with a smile.

Ugh.

Only a few seconds after the chime rang through the house, the door swung open and a very, painfully familiar woman stood in the doorway. Mrs. Carter, wearing a polka-dot apron over a light blue dress. Her face flushed with gratitude.

“Olivier! I’m so glad to see that you’re okay!” She pulled him into an embrace before pulling away and turning to his ‘parents’. “Solis, Nox, it’s so good to see you two again. And, Lavi—look at that dress!”

Olive felt his stomach churn as his parents exchanged embraces with her.

“Come in, come in!” Mrs. Carter urged as she led them into the house. “It’s nice to see each other outside of that hospital setting, isn’t it? We’re sorry we didn’t swing by after he woke up, but—”

“Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine,” Olive’s father reassured her. “We’re here now, aren’t we?” 

Wait. Had they… visited him too? 

A warm hallway greeted Olive first when he stepped inside the Carter household. It was decorated with numerous picture frames—most holding the image of a core trio surrounded by several others. Mrs. Carter, Mr. Carter, Trystan Carter. There was Trystan and his family standing in front of the high school, Trystan and his family standing in front of a water fountain, Trystan and his family standing posed in front of a posterboard, Tristan and his family at some school graduation, Trystan and his family surrounded by the soccer team.

Olive stopped short, staring, thinking of the golden royal guard badge that swung cold and heavy from Mr. Carter’s neck. A heavy chain pulled at his chest, pulling, pulling, urging him to get out.

He didn’t belong here—

A warm hand wrapped around his own. 

He glanced to his left and found Lavi.

“Ollie…”

Olive studied her for a moment before returning the squeeze. She immediately pulled her hand away.

He sighed. 

“Trystan, they’re here!” Mrs. Carter called out as she led them into a rather large dining room occupied by a very familiar man. “Please sit!”

Mr. Carter rose from his seat as Mrs. Carter wandered into an adjacent kitchen room. He pulled Olive into a half-embrace before locking his eyes with him and giving him a firm handshake. He offered the same gesture to Olive’s parents before pulling out a chair for Lavi. 

Olive felt out of place as he watched his parents settle down into their seats beside his sister. He was ushered into a seat himself as Mrs. Carter and Mr. Carter sat across the table. 

There was food set out, Olive realized. An extravagant amount of food—turkey, mashed potatoes, pasta, casseroles. It was the amount of food that could feed villages, the amount of food Olive had seen every day back in the palace, the amount of food Olive had tried to provide to Torrine every single day as they worked on the ley lines. And this food now was—being served to him? By people who had not been able to experience this luxury until he’d intervened? 

“Trystan!” Mr. Carter called out. 

“I’m coming!” came a muffled and faint voice followed by thudding footsteps. “I’m coming!”

“Olive,” Mrs. Carter said, reaching across the table and holding his hand, “we just wanted to thank you for everything you did for Trystan. He told us everything that happened. He never stops talking about it or you.” She turned to his parents next, placing a hand over both of theirs. “And thank you two for raising such a kind and wonderful son.”

Olive’s father reached over and cuffed him on the shoulder. “Yes, we’re very, very proud.”

Why had he even come here…? To appease Trysfan’s request out of guilt? He wasn’t even really the Olive that Trystan had invited was he? No, that Olive was in all of the green that Libra had most likely cut out of him. Was it to further investigate the conjured people of Ndoto? No, there were better ways to do that. All of those answers led Olive to a single conclusion: what he was doing was self-serving and selfish.

“There you are!”

Olive looked up to see Mr. Carter waving at someone behind him. He glanced back slightly. There stood Trystan dressed in a dark shirt and slacks and with cheeks that were slightly flushed.

“Sorry.” Trystan dipped his head slightly as he took a seat beside his father. “I was trying to finish up some homework…”

Mr. Carter sighed and reached over to ruffle Trystan’s head. “He’s always been so studious, this one.”

Trystan ducked away from the gesture and flushed even further. “Dad!” He peered at Olive. “Sorry. Ignore him.”

“Maybe too studious,” Mrs. Carter noted. She nodded at Olive. “Trystan told us that you were the one who convinced him to join the soccer team at school. I’m sure he’d be still buried in his books if I weren’t for you.”

“Mom!” Trystan sighed.

“I remember the day Trystan and Olive became friends,” Olive’s father added. “He used to always hang out with Ji-Eun’s son—Claire. Now don’t get me wrong: I love the Yuseongs but that boy is a troublemaker if I ever saw one. Anyway, Olive never took his studies seriously until they met each other.”

“They’re good influences for each other,” his mother agreed. 

“Sorry,” Trystan mouthed across from him.  

There was a beat of silence again.

Mrs. Carter reached over and held Trystan’s hand. Gave it a squeeze. Stared deep into Olive’s eyes. “I can’t even verbalize how grateful I am for what you did that day. I’m so, so, so glad you both are okay.”

“I’m sure if their roles were reversed, Trystan would have done the same,” Olive’s father reassured her. “Let’s just be happy with where we’re at now—”

“Trystan wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for me,” Olive interjected.

The room fell silent.

Great.

He didn’t know why he’d said it. Was he just trying to push them all away like usual—even though he’d chosen to come here? Whatever it was, those words had been the truth both for him and—he had a feeling—for his Ndoto self too.

Lavi tried, “Ollie—”

Olive apologized and excused himself from the table. His feet knew where to take him—straight into the guest bathroom. Ndoto Olive must have come here many times before. 

He stared at the reflection of himself above the sink. Identical to his appearance in his memories—even though somewhere, somehow part of him was conjured. But he was more himself than the people who had been integrated into Ndoto and more himself than the people who had died and come back. 

Whatever their makeup, they were real—just like how Trystan and Marta were real even after they’d been drawn into that vitae mass.  Whatever their makeup, whatever they were, because they were real, cutting the roots would collapse Ndoto and all the other ‘gardens’ which would then…

What then…? 

Olive rinsed his hands in the sink and splashed water on his face.

Mustering up his last bits of energy, Olive swung out of the bathroom—and nearly collided with Mrs. Carter who was standing to the side of the door. He could barely get an ‘excuse me’ out before the woman took a hold of both of his hands.

“Your Highness, it’s you isn’t it?” Mrs. Carter whispered.

Olive stiffened.

She pressed her forehead against his hands and then sank to her knees. She dipped her head. “I’m sorry for treating you so lightly. I’d heard about your VNW from Trystan, but I didn’t realize—”

“I-I don’t care about that!” Olive flushed and pulled her to a stand.

“You always did say that…” Mrs. Carter still held his hands. “You’ve always been a kind young man.”

Olive froze as realization finally clicked. “You remember…. You’re… normal…You’re okay? How long have you been like this?”

Mrs. Carter merely offered him a smile. “We’ve been ‘normal’ since the moment we’ve been here, Your Highness. It was a few months ago. We found ourselves in this very house and, while we were trying to get our bearings, Trystan arrived… home from school.”  She took in a breath. “I don’t understand it but I can feel that it’s him, Your Highness. Deep down, it is him. It’s something only a parent would know.”

Olive looked away.

“Since you’re here now, Your Highness, that must mean that you’ll be searching for a way out of here, isn’t that right?”

Olive nodded silently.

“And… do you think people like Trystan will be able to leave too…?”

Here it was again. The thought. Because according to the saint candidates, the only way to leave was by cutting down all the gardens. And what would happen to…?

“I—”

“It’s alright.” Mrs. Carter gave his hands a squeeze. “My husband and I both agreed that whatever happens, we’ll be staying by Trystan’s side.”

Olive felt his heart fall into his stomach. “You can’t stay here, Mrs. Carter. In order to get out of here, we—”

“No matter what,” Mrs. Carter said firmly, staring into his eyes. “I died the day Trystan died. I’m just biding my time now.”

Olive’s ears rang. “Mrs. Carter…”

Mrs. Carter gave his hand a pat. “Just enjoy yourself for tonight, Your Highness. At this dinner table. With everyone. Just one night wouldn’t hurt, would it…?”

Olive hesitated.

Mrs. Carter’s gaze swept to over his shoulder. 

Olive  turned.

Trystan stood at the end of the hall. His eyes were wide and afraid, his face pale and pallid. He swallowed. “They… both have VNW. Both of my parents.” He rushed to Olive’s side. “Please don’t report this in.”

For a moment, Trystan’s desperation confused Olive. Then he just barely remembered how Ndoto Olive had been trying to come over to Trystan’s house for the past few months and how Trystan had shot him down every single time.

“My parents love their jobs,” Trystan continued, “and if they get marked as VNW infectees then they’ll be at KM-level 2 and their jobs require KM-level 3. Please don’t tell the guidance officers. I’ll do any—”

Olive held up a hand and took a step back. He studied Trystan carefully and then Mrs. Carter. He looked back to Trystan. “You said we were friends, didn’t you?”

***

The rest of the dinner went by in a blur. Half of the conversations were about reminiscing about the past. Conversations that Olive normally would have hated listening to and being a part of due to the bitter nostalgia that would come after.  

But Olive found himself imagining himself in those talked-about memories. It felt gross and pathetic and disingenuous but he couldn’t help himself. After all, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t daydreamed about such scenarios when travelling throughout Signum. 

All the what ifs. 

He departed with his family as the sun set. Mrs. Carter handed him a tray of six strawberry cupcakes at the door.  She didn’t say anything else about their earlier conversation and neither did Trystan.

His mother was talking about cupcake recipes as they neared their car parked across the street. Olive couldn’t really pay attention to her as his gaze was focused solely on the tray of cupcakes. 

“What’s wrong, honey?”

His mother was peering at him from the passenger seat window of the car. His dad and Lavi were already inside.

“Let’s go before it gets too dark,” his father said. 

“I…” Olive stared down at the cupcakes. “I’m going to spend some more time with Trystan.”

“Olive.” Lavi locked eyes with him. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Lavi,” his father said warningly before turning back to him. “I don’t want you to be going home by yourself after what just happened.”

They were worried.

“I’ll stay the night,” Olive insisted. “It’ll be fine. I promise.”

His parents shared a look. 

“Well, alright,” his father relented. “I’ll come pick you up at 9 in the morning before work.”

Olive resisted blanching at the early hour. “Alright.”

***

Olive waited until the car pulled out of view before he wandered down the street away from Trystan’s house. 

He walked and walked and walked, eyes focused entirely on the box of cupcakes. Eventually he found a bench along the path lit by a street lamp. He sat down and stared at the pink frosting dusted with golden sprinkles.

To get out, the roots needed to be cut. If the roots were cut, the garden would collapse. All the conjured people and half-conjured people would…

Logically, if a variable was added to one side of the equation, then the value at the other side of the equation would change. That was—at least if the value of the variable was not zero. If it was zero, there would be no change in the answer. The unknown variable was not zero here. Alive did not equal dead. In the simplest of terms:

Hard Vitae + Soft Vitae = Signum State

Holding the assumption that soft vitae was multiplicatively influenced by Ndoto, then :

Hard Vitae + Soft Vitae (N) = Ndoto State

But what was the N? The N was the key, wasn’t it?

(Garden || Threshold) + V = N

No, wait. It was more complicated than that. No, he was just trying to distract himself—run away from—what he really needed to consider here.

Olive shook his head as the variables became jumbled up in his head.

He focused on the cupcakes again.

He thought of Cadence’s dazzling billboards, of her mansion on top of that hill, of her blood brothers, of her poverty-free, crime-free, struggle-free life. He thought of Werner and the Wibele and Nico and Otto and his ‘friends’ in his bike gang and of how simple and chlorowheat-free and war-free his life was. He thought of Maria and her past here untouched and uncorrupted by Monadism and of Morandi who was here alive by her side and of the tattoo-less Conta who stood behind her and of how she was entrusted with being strong enough to oversee everything here. He thought of Jericho, of how he interacted with everyone and everything here with ease, of how he was looked up to here, of how his family was alive here. 

They weren’t the only ones who’d found themselves a small slice of happiness here. Martin Von Spiel and Friedhelm Heimler and the Carters and everyone who’d been reunited with their loved ones in this place. This place with no war, no unmet needs, no feudal lords, no pawns and chess masters—

How could he… take that away from them?

What right did he have to take away their happiness?

But what about everyone outside of Signum…? So many people out there… Wouldn’t it be better if they all… came… here?

Olive felt a chill creep up his spine at the thought.

Did Atienna think the same thing when she arrived here? What did she decide…? 

Olive tried to reach out to her but then froze as he recalled her stony gaze on that night in the hospital room. 

It was clear what she’d chosen, wasn’t it?

“Olive…?”

Olive’s heart leapt in his chest and he looked up from the cupcakes and blinked the blurriness away from his eyes. A shadowy silhouette stood just beyond the light of the street lamp.

Olive’s ears rang as a cold fear that was not he knew was not his own shot through his entire body. 

The silhouette stepped forward slowly, almost hesitantly, and entered the light. A woman with her hair done in a singular braid stood there.

Olive relaxed—just slightly. “You’re… Shion Myosotis.” 

The mysterious potential seventh. A guidance officer here. One of the living deceased in Ndoto. A potentially trustworthy person according to Alice. Someone still bound by something in Ndoto according to Gabrielle. Someone who had just witnessed him crying over a tray of cupcakes.

Olive felt his cheeks burn.

Shion’s eyes lit up. “You remember me?”

“You’re stalking me?” Olive returned, eyes narrowing. “How did you find me? You’re not here to stab me too, are you? If you are, make it quick.”

Shion raised her hands. “N-No, of course not. I was—I just happened to be in the area and I know you’ve been going through a lot right now, so when I saw you I…” She trailed off.

Olive studied her carefully before looking back down at the boxes. “I do remember you. Sort of.” From what he gathered from his Ndoto self’s fading memories, they had been close back when they’d all had VNW together. As for now? He squinted at her. “And I don’t need your pity.” 

Shion offered a small, quiet, strange smile. “No one wants to be pitied but a little bit of empathy goes a long way, don’t you think?”

Olive felt something tug at his chest and looked up at her. She gestured to the seat beside him. He shrugged. She sat.

There was a stretch of silence.

When he peeked at her, he saw that she was studying the light above them.

He squinted. “If you want to have some sappy sort of conversation, I wouldn’t bother. I’m not the one you want to have a heart-to-heart with anyway. I’m not the Olive you know. VNW.”

Shion smiled slightly. “No matter what, deep, deep down you’ll always be the Olive I know.”

Olive paused, the gears in his head started turning, the embarrassment from earlier waning. “We had VNW together before… right?”

Shion nodded slowly. “You, Cadence, Werner, Maria, Atienna, Jericho, and me. We all thought we were somehow psychically connected to each other and…” 

Olive’s heart skipped a beat. “And we had to hide from saint candidates and ELPIS?”

Shion blinked at him in surprise before she chuckled lightly. “Well, I hadn’t figured that out exactly yet.” She studied her hands. “By the time I realized, it was… too late.” There was a deep pain in her eyes that Olive couldn’t understand but she continued smiling.

Olive couldn’t even think of words to say.

“I promised so many things to you all,” Shion continued, “and I hid so many things from you because you were all so, so young. It was stupid of me—not believing that you were capable of understanding things about the world—and it was a lesson learned too late. Trying to do everything on your own—thinking that you have to—will never really end well. Pride and hubris are not so bad things to give up in exchange for staying a little while longer with people you care about, right? Cost-benefit analysis.”

Olive remained silent. 

“Because I tried to take care of everything, I never let you all learn anything on your own.” She studied her hands again. “But that’s what older family members do for their younger ones, isn’t it? At least, that’s how it’s like in my culture.”

Family…?

“You want to shield them from the world and bad outcomes from poor choices so you try to make all the choices for them and point them to the easiest, brightest path. You let them make some choices on their own—maybe—but when they get hurt because of those choices, you regret and start it all over again. But… if you do all that… when you’re gone, then what happens? The world is a painful place and family—”

“Family?” Olive tried the word that had never been said seriously in any of the synchronization meetings he’d had with the others. Thought about—especially during that dinner after Alpha’s attack on Ophiuchus—but never said. 

Shion met his gaze, the corner of her eyes crinkling with sadness. “I was too embarrassed to say it back then and I’ve always regretted it, but I really did consider you all family.”

Olive felt faint. “You mean… in the VNW… right…?” 

Still smiling faintly, Shion pressed a finger to her lips. For a split second, Olive swore he saw black feathers raining down around her. And for a moment, he had the deepest urge to hug her, comfort her, reassure her—but he didn’t. Because he didn’t know her. Not really. And that fact was just so, so, so sad.

Shion cleared her throat and glanced around. “Sorry… I came because you seemed like you were going through something, but I started rambling instead…” She studied him, tracing his features with her eyes. “I understand if you just want to be by yourself, but I just wanted you to know that you’re not alone, Olive. I’m here for you. I always will be.”

Olive didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t snap at her. He couldn’t hug her. He couldn’t comfort her. What he could do, however, was reach out, squeeze her hand just slightly, before returning his hand to his own lap.

Shion’s eyes widened at the gesture and smiled warmly. 

He looked away and stared across the street. “You said the world is a painful place… But it isn’t here, is it? I mean, obviously, there are bumps in the road. I literally got stabbed, but that’s because”—Libra was not a part of Ndoto— “anyways. Even though there are bumps in the road, everyone here is… happy.”

“Are they happy…?” Shion murmured as she stared into the distance. “‘People never know what they really want and will always be unsatisfied, so we have to guide them to their happiness in the least painful way possible’ is generally what guidance officers are taught. When I first started this job, I thought that made some sense. Really though… I think I was just trying to make up for things just like before.”

Just like before?

“Like I said… is shielding people from all pain and hard decisions and consequences really a good thing?” 

Life is hard and becomes harder the longer you live, Trystan had said back on the train bound to Die Hauptstadt.  I believe taking it simple goal by simple goal is a reasonable thing to do. The rest will come later.

Olive thought of Trystan’s guilt and Werner’s tears. “I mean, from what I can see, the people of Ndoto still feel pain—just not as frequently and intensely as… in Signum.” He corrected: “In the ‘VNW delusion’.”

“But are they really allowed to feel it?” Shion murmured. She started wringing her hands. “I’ve been worried about it for a while now, but… I wonder if the meaning and pain and suffering have gotten mixed up somewhere.”

“Don’t they… mean the same thing?”

Shion chuckled. “I used to think so too, but a good friend of mine told me once that pain was inevitable and necessary for growth. Suffering, on the other hand, is a choice.”

Inevitable and necessary for growth versus a choice…?

“If someone gifts you something and tells you that it’s happiness, is it really considered happiness to you…?” Shion chuckled. “It’s all a bit too deep for me, but I’m sure it all comes from a good place.” 

Olive paused. “What do you mean?”

Shion didn’t elaborate. Or maybe she couldn’t. 

“Have you… seen Atienna?” Olive tried. “I’m… worried about her. Not about her being in danger or anything. Just… how she’s feeling.”

Shion studied him for a moment before she slowly shook her head. “I… haven’t seen her. I’m sorry.” It sounded like the apology wasn’t fully intended for him.

They sat together in silence for a long time.

“How about we go home?” Shion asked gently after a while. “I’ll take you there. I’m sure your parents and Lavi are worried.”

***

“But… steel is heavier than feathers…”

“Steel is more dense than feathers,” Weingartner drew slowly, “but, in this problem, they both weigh one kilogram.”

Werner ran his fingers through his hair. “I… don’t get it.”

Across the table from the two Eunji was busy rapidly filling out the answers to the very same question packet Werner and Weingartner were working through. Eunji had procured these KM study packets from school using her KM-level access, and they’d been combing through the packets at the Wibele with varying speeds throughout the week. 

Olive, having just run another test on his vitae spectrophotometer, sat beside Eunji and looked on with mild embarrassment and empathy. The previous day he had tried to run through some of the questions in the math portion of the packet with Eunji and Werner. He was happy to say that he found most of the problems elementary as did Eunji which Werner both praised them for. Werner, on the other hand—he couldn’t even solve 5 + x = 6 which bewildered Olive.

Weingartner excused himself from the table, walked to the back of the Wibele, and returned with a bag of flour, a cup, a carton of eggs, and a scale. 

“Huh? Are you cooking something, Volky?” Werner asked. 

“Not exactly.” Weingartner poured a large amount of flour into a cup and placed it on the scale. He gestured to it. “How much does this weigh, Werner?”

“Five-hundred grams,” Werner answered.

“Good.” Weingartner nodded and removed the cup of flour. “Now show me five-hundred grams in eggs.”

Werner slowly placed one, two, three, six, eight, ten eggs on the scale before he pulled back and beamed. “There!”

“Good.” Weingartner pushed the cup of flour in front of him. “Now if a recipe calls for 500 grams of eggs and 500 grams of flour, which of these two will you use more of?”

Werner’s gaze flicked between the eggs and flour. “Neither…? Because they’re both 500 grams so they’re the same—oh!” His eyes widened. “I get it, Volky!”

Weingartner smiled. “Good.”

“You’re good at teaching,” Olive noted.

Weingartner regarded Olive for a moment before he said, “Before the military, I was a teacher.”

Oh. 

“I never imagined I would be stepping back into old shoes,” Weingartner admitted. “I’m rather surprised I still recall how to teach.”

“I don’t think that’s something you have to recall,” Olive muttered. “It’s innate. It’s probably why Werner and his unit regarded you so highly and why the government put you in charge of a unit again… after everything that happened.”

Weingartner stared at him.

“What?” Olive stared back. “I’m just stating the obvious, not giving ground-breaking news.”

Weingartner smiled slightly and returned his attention to the next problem Werner appeared to be struggling with. “Well, as the Common saying goes: it’s good to have the shoe still fit.”

Olive got the feeling that if given a choice Weingartner would choose commanding a classroom over commanding a military unit. The thought gave him a pause. A chill ran up his spine as he continued watching Weingartner walk Werner through the problems.

This was a good thing… right? 

***

After two hours spent studying, Eunji and Weingartner departed for a short break, leaving Olive alone in the Wibele with Werner—Werner who was pouring over a simple linear system equation. Despite his struggling, it was very apparent that he was trying his very best.

Olive couldn’t help but wonder why Ndoto Werner was so… simple. Was this a choice purposefully made by the creator of Ndoto?  If so, why did the person who was responsible for conjuring these aspects of people make his Ndoto self so mean, make Cadence so dainty, make Werner so simple, make Jericho so judgemental and staunch? If not, then why were all these differences so ironic? Atienna and Maria were the only ones whose Ndoto versions were more on par with their normal selves.

But why?

Olive tried, Werner.

Werner looked up. “Yes, Ollie?”

Olive wondered if the close proximity he had with the other five attributed to their communication across their connection being stronger. He wanted to test it—but then again, the other five besides Werner were always out of reach.

“Are you… happy?” He felt embarrassed even asking such a question.

Werner set down his pencil. “Yeah, I am… even though things are tough right now.” He chuckled. “I think Atienna asked me the same question when she first got VNW!”

“Did she…?” 

So she’d been worried about it too.

“We were close in the VNW we had together, right?” Olive mumbled.

“Yeah! Real close!”

Olive hesitated.  “Then, what about after the VNW? I mean… I always thought we would all be—I don’t know—happy… together…” 

Ugh.

Werner cocked his head. “But we’re together right now?”

Olive sighed, no longer feeling as embarrassed. “I mean… You’re literally the only other person I’ve seen from our… VNW group on a consistent basis. I thought our trauma bond would make us… closer?” There was a beat of silence that lasted a bit too long. “Nevermind—”

“No… I feel the same way.” Werner sported a rare frown. “You all are always so busy so I feel real bad for wanting us to hang out together more but I really do want that. I’m really happy but it always feels like something is missing, you know? Usually whenever I feel uneasy, I spend time with Kaiser and it feels better, but…” His face fell. “Meine King still hasn’t returned to his palace…”

Olive forced himself not to flush. “I’m sure he’ll come home soon,” he reassured the man before he paused in thought. “‘Uneasy’…?”

His mind wandered to Shion’s words a few nights ago and then to Mrs. Carter’s somber request just a few hours prior and then to his sister’s physical form here. As he thought, his eyes strayed to the linear systems in Werner’s packet. The linear system he’d been contemplating that dinner night came back to him:

Hard Vitae + Soft Vitae = Signum State
Hard Vitae + Soft Vitae (N) = Ndoto State
(Garden || Threshold) + V = N

Something clicked in his mind. Trystan and Marta could have been saved back then but he hadn’t even realized that that had been an option. So, why was he not learning from his mistake here? Pain was necessary, Shion had said. Suffering was a choice.

“I need to find the missing variable…” Olive muttered.

“You mean for the problem?” Werner pointed at his packet.

Olive shook his head.

The missing ‘N’ variable.