The Simulacrum

~Chapter 158~ Part 2

Day three of our vacation. Late in the morning, sitting in a gently rocking boat out in the open sea, I had many things on my mind. Where was the edge of the horizon? Was nature and the wildlife copied over to Elysium from Critias when it was created, or did the Celestials of old have to transport the original populations over? How did I even end up on a boat? Was the local aquatic life even representative of the one in the outside world?

"Brother, Snowy, look! Dolphins!"

I glanced over at my excited knightly sister, and added yet another question to the pile: Were there even dolphins in the waters near Critias? I had no idea, and since we had no internet connection here, I couldn't check either. As such I focused on the question I could answer: How did I end up here?

Long story short, after yesterday's cultural exchange (which turned out to be a pleasant surprise after the initial rocky start), the dad-group cornered me in the evening and I was unconditionally roped into fishing with them. Under the guise of 'quality family time', the rest of the dunning household was also present, thus my excited sister leaning over my left to take a better look at the dolphins swimming near the boat.

I was just about to tell her to be careful not to fall over, but Snowy beat me to the punch by grabbing the back of her shirt. Since there was no need to intervene there, my attention returned to my fishing rod. No bite. Oh well. Time to go back to relaxing, I supposed. That was pretty much all I could do at the moment. The weather was calm, the waves gentle, and the whole experience kind of mind-numbing.

…

Why did I agree to this again?

Oh, right. Because Dad-in-law insisted. Speaking of him, Abram was at the other end of the boat, in the company of Clarke, Tsephanyah, and a cooler full of beer cans. I wasn't sure they'd drunk any of them yet though; maybe it was there just for the ambiance. Arnwald and Morgana were nowhere to be seen, so I figured they were below deck. This was a fairly large sailboat, with its own crew and everything, so there was a whole lot of space for us to move around.

It was also in pristine condition, so I couldn't help but wonder if the ex-director specifically prepared it for us ahead of time. I wouldn't have put it past him at this point, that's for sure. Heck, for all I knew, he might've literally shipped this boat (no pun intended) into the Elysium just for us. But putting that aside, I tugged on the line a bit and let the rod back down, ready to lean back and relax… until my sisters came over.

"Did you catch anything yet?" Penny asked innocently, so I shook my head without any reservations.

"None. Nil. Nada."

Snowy tried to encourage me with, "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll catch one soon," but I shook my head again.

"Nah, this is fine. It's all about the experience and stuff."

"Oh. Okay then."

Honestly speaking, I preferred it this way. After all the hustle and bustle of the previous day, just lounging in my folding chair under the shade of the retractable fabric canopy over our heads felt nice. A little boring, but nice.

"Where's mom and dad?" Penny put a hand over her eyes and looked around the deck, as if there were many places where they could be hiding. "Are they down there?"

"Maybe? Should we check?" my Abyssal sister proposed, and the two of them soon left my side to look for our parents.

Or rather… How should I put this… I was happy that the two of them had gotten to the point where Penny could naturally call Arnwald and Morgana our parents. While it was originally just for our cover until the CPS investigation had blown over, it somehow became a self-evident part of our lives. I didn't mind it; if anything, I felt that having a proper family was probably good for my sisters, but as for me…

It was probably because my situation was so different, but I had a hard time internalizing the two senior Knights as anything other than that. I was sure time would fix that eventually, but the fact that I was technically their boss certainly didn't help matters either. My sisters had a much easier time than me in this regard. Snowy always struck me as affection-starved, so she was eager to have a loving family, while Penny was… well, Penny. It clearly worked out for them, but I still felt a bit uncomfortable with the situation from time to time.

Anyhow, since I had nothing better to do, I tried to listen in on the conversation at the other end of the boat, but I could only make out snippets of words coming from there. Of course, I could always just Far Glance at them, but I wasn't that curious. Though again, it was a bit odd that Abram was the one who insisted the most on the whole Dunning family coming along, going as far as to pester me to make sure I would do so as well, yet he barely interacted with me since then. Almost suspicious.

Realizing what I was doing, I sharply shook my head and turned my eyes to the sky. My bad habits were returning because I was in the Elysium, so I had to occasionally remind myself that not every small incongruity was evidence of some hare-brained plan being enacted behind my back. Especially when it didn't involve any Celestials. Well, fine, it did involve one, but Tsephanyah had been on his best behaviour lately, so I dismissed my suspicions and reeled in my line.

The bait at the end was completely untouched, so I adjusted the sinker the way I was taught and threw it out before sitting down under the shade again. Anyhow, where was I? Oh, right. Celestial conspiracies. This reminded me of something, and so I closed my eyes and my point of view soon shifted to the side of Judy and Elly.

The two of them were still back at our bungalow, preparing for a certain meeting. I wasn't too worried about them, but I occasionally still Far Glanced their way, just to be sure, this time catching the tail end of a conversation.

"I still think you're overthinking this," Elly griped, sounding just a tad annoyed. It didn't stop her from combing Judy's hair though, and she even helped her put on her hair bow.

"No, we need to be very clear on this," my dearest assistant argued back, sounding a bit more forceful than usual. "She had shown interest in the Chief, so we have to be firm."

"Don't be silly," the princess dismissed her out of hand and rubbed Judy's shoulders. Or maybe she was just adjusting the straps of her summer dress. One or the other. "Even if she did, the age gap is too big."

"That's half the point. She's dangerous because she's a MILF."

Elly's hands stopped and she leaned forward to look Judy in the eye.

"She's a what?"

"MILF," she repeated without a hint of hesitation.

"What does that mean?"

"It's an abbreviation meaning 'Mother I'd Like to'—" She bit back the last part and shook her head. "Never mind."

"Hey! You can't just leave me hanging like that! Is this one of those tropes?"

"More like a fetish."

"Is that what the 'F' stands for? Fetishize?"

Judy looked at her like she was expecting her to be pulling her leg, but when the princess only got more confused, she gestured for her to lean closer and she whispered into her ear. Even though there was nobody else in the room.

"Oh. Oooh. Now I get it!" my rapidly reddening Draconian girlfriend declared while repeatedly nodding, while Judy let out a sigh.

"You can be so weirdly innocent at times…"

Seeing that nothing of importance was happening yet, I was just about to leave them when someone knocked on the door. Elly walked over and Angie beamed at her from the other side, wearing her Deus outfit already.

"Hi, girls! Are we ready to head out?"

"Give me a second," Judy called out from the room and hastily (yet expertly) put on some lipstick that was the exact same colour as the natural shade of her lips. I had no idea why she did that, but I didn't know the first thing about makeup, so maybe it was important. "Ready. Let's go."

The Celestial girl giggled mirthfully and the three of them soon headed out towards the very last building in the line of beach houses. The one where Savir had been holed up since day one.

"Okay, just so you know, I dunno a single thing about mediating," Angie spoke up as soon as they got close, sounding unusually serious. "I think if I tried to wing this, I'll end up messing up big time, so I'm gonna let Grandpa Deus take the wheel, okay?"

"It's fine," Judy reassured her, and so she closed her eyes for a second. When they snapped open again, her atmosphere imperceptibly changed.

"Let us proceed," Deus spoke solemnly, which sounded strange coming out of Angie's mouth.

On a side note, I really wished that when I did the retcon, I had gone the extra mile to give some kind of visual signifier for the difference between Angie and Deus. Maybe an eye-colour shift, or something like that. It would've made telling them apart so much easier… but then again, the whole premise was that they were technically two sides of the same person now, so maybe giving them a clear separator like that would've been bad. I couldn't know, because I threw out most of my memories of the retconning process afterwards. Which reminded me; if I was supposed to do a retcon in the future to put Bel into the present, how the heck would that work out?

It was a question for later, as my attention was drawn back to the scene at hand, where the three girls unceremoniously entered the bungalow. The interior was completely rearranged since the time I had visited the place, mostly so that a plain rectangular table could be wedged into the middle of the room, with nothing but some glasses full of water on it. Savir was already sitting at its long side, along with another familiar face.

"Welcome, O Archon, Miss Sennoma, Miss Dracis," Mensah greeted the three of them from beside the table and gestured at the empty chairs. "Thank you for gracing us with your presence. Please, take a seat."

Judy nodded wordlessly and took the one right in front of Savir. The perma-scheming ex-director was wearing her usual toga getup, but her hair was let down, and she had a slightly more approachable air about her. It was no doubt calculated.

As for Mensah, his presence was surprising, but by no means unexpected. He took a seat next to Savir, while Elly took Judy's side, leaving Angie/Deus to sit at the head of the table.

"I was told my presence was required as a witness to an 'official reconciliation'," she stated blandly, looking just a little miffed. "Normally such trifling matters would be beneath me, but since it involved Polemos's lovers, I graciously accepted your invitation. Pray that you don't waste my time."

"Thank you, Your Grace," Savir spoke curtly and picked up a glass. She took a sip of water, and then exhaled hard, as if what she was about to do took a lot of mental effort from her. "Judy Sennoma."

"Yes," my dear assistant responded flatly, none too enthused to be there.

"Our last meeting was concluded in a rather discourteous manner which, in retrospect, was at least partially my fault. I had failed to properly communicate my intent."

"So I've heard."

Hearing her blasé words, Savir's brows twitched a bit, but she overall retained an amicable expression.

"If you're already aware, it makes things much easier. Put simply, I did not wish to antagonize you in any way, and so I wish to put the misunderstanding behind us."

"One side has clearly expressed her intention," Angie/Deus spoke up and glanced at Judy. "Let's hear what the other side has to say."

My dear assistant levelled a dispassionate stare at Savir.

"I stand by what I said back then. If you want us to start over with a tabula rasa, I have three conditions." She paused for dramatic effect and leaned in a bit. "First, you won't approach me again with ill intentions. Secondly, you won't try to entice Leonard, either directly or indirectly. Thirdly—"

"You—! I mean, Miss Sennoma, I would never!"

Completely ignoring her interruption, Judy continued without batting an eyelid.

"Thirdly, you show proper remorse over your actions. These are my conditions. Make of them what you will, but don't forget…" She inclined her head forward, which made her imperceptible frown a bit more akin to a proper glare. "… I will not tolerate any attempt of weaselling out of this."

Savir was visibly taken aback by how aggressive she was right out of the gate, which resulted in Deus interjecting once more.

"The second party has clearly stated their terms and expectations. Does the first party have anything to add?"

"No, Your Grace," Mensah spoke up in a hurry before Savir could get a word in. "If anything, I only happen to have a personal question I would like to ask the—"

"Shut up, Dolion!" Savir hissed at him and then flashed a practised politician-brand smile at my girlfriends. "Miss Sennoma, as I have already told you, I never had ill intentions towards you. It was all a misunderstanding, and I never tried to… erm… entice Polemos. Again, it's just a…"

"Misunderstanding. Sure," Judy cut in. "What about the third condition then?"

"I…" Savir stammered and squinted at the stoic Angie/Deus, and then back at my girlfriend before she finally gave in, and spoke like she was under heavy physical strain. "I… apologize for my… inappropriate conduct during our last meeting, and my… inability to convey my intentions. I'm…" She took a deep breath, and finally squeezed out, "I'm sorry."

"… That's not very convincing," Elly spoke up for the first time, sounding thoroughly unimpressed. "Back home, if someone made a faux pas of that caliber, they would profess their apologies on their hands and knees. Usually after getting beaten up first."

Her stray comment made Eris's expression blanch. Judy, on the other hand, slowly shook her head.

"Listen, Elly. We're in Elysium right now, so we unfortunately can't resolve things like that. As they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do."

"Right, but what if we do take her to Rome? I-I mean, home? Isn't the portal leading back to our backyard already operational? No one has to know."

"That does sound tempting, but…"

"I'm sorry!" Savir suddenly jumped to her feet and exclaimed, starting the man sitting by her side. "It was all my fault! Please don't make this even more humiliating for me!"

My girlfriends levelled a pair of mirthless gazes at the ex-director, and Elly ultimately shrugged with a soft, "At least now she sounds a bit more genuine."

"Agreed."

The short beat of silence after this was soon broken by Deus lightly clearing her throat, and saying, "Can I assume that with this, the second party is satisfied and will seek no further retribution?"

"Mostly," Judy uttered flatly, so Deus turned to Savir next.

"Does the first party swear to uphold the conditions set by the second party from this day onwards?"

"Yes." Savir finally sat down again and adjusted her toga. "I promise to strive to do so."

That wording made Judy's brows imperceptibly descend again, but in the end, she let it go with a whispered, "Close enough."

"Very well." Deus clasped her hands and hummed a few notes to get a fancy light effect going. "In my power as the official witness, I now declare the grudge between the two parties officially resolved."

"Wait, that's it?" Mensah blurted out the moment she finished speaking, sounding downright flabbergasted.

"We were promised ice cream for playing along with this farce, and it's awfully hot in our official garments," Deus answered flippantly and stood up from her seat. "Let's go."

My girlfriends also rose to their feet and were ready to leave, but Mensah wasn't finished.

"Wait! Before you go, can you at least tell me what the deal is with Eris's noooaaaah—?"

Before anyone could respond, the female ex-director quite literally kicked him over along with his chair.

"Dolion, I swear if you bring my nose up one more time, I'll strangle you!"

Ignoring the bickering duo, my girlfriends and Angie wordlessly left the building, looking both relieved a rather pleased by a job well done. I had to say, I didn't expect them to break out the old good-cop-bad-cop routine, let alone with Elly as the bad cop, but it was surprisingly effective. I made a mental note to give them some head pats (and potentially other services) later.

I kept watching them for a while longer, but nothing interesting happened afterwards. Mensah and Savir continued to argue without getting anything done, while the girls made good on their promise and treated Angie/Deus to some ice cream. I was just about to consider Far Glancing at someone else when my attention was drawn back to my body by some movement.

"How's the fish?" Arnwald asked as he set a folding chair next to mine. He was following Tsephanyah's example and put on some stereotypical angler clothes, though I had to say, they looked infinitely more natural on him.

"Not very hungry," I jested and tugged on the fishing rod. "Nope, nothing."

"Hmmm… Maybe you're using the wrong bait. Do you want me to give it a look?"

My first reflex was to ask since when he was an expert, but then I realized that he had at least one day more fishing experience than I did, so I shut my mouth and reeled in my hook for him to give it a look.

"So, khmsnkh…"

"Excuse me?" I blurted out along with a sideways glance, but Arnwald just continued to clear his throat.

The thing is, I could've sworn that he started to say 'So, son…' before getting a coughing fit, which was a bit odd. But then again, maybe it was just my imagination.

"I wanted to ask… if you're having fun," he squeezed out at long last. It… made me scratch my head.

"For a certain definition of 'fun', sure," I admitted and gazed out at the horizon. "I like the peace and quiet here."

"Yes. It's very peaceful," he echoed me, sounding subtly uncomfortable. It was almost like he was having performance anxiety, which meant…

"Ah!"

The moment I looked over, my sisters and Morgana retreated behind the cabin door leading to below decks. Why were they watching us from a distance like that? No, here's a better question: why were the rest of the dad-group also watching us while pretending to be drinking beer, even though their cans weren't even opened yet?

"What about you?" I asked back while keeping an eye on the onlookers. "Are you having fun?"

"Yes," he responded reflexively, without any pretences, but then his eyes clouded. "Or rather… this kind of experience… a fishing trip, with family. It's something I thought I would never get to experience." In the meantime, he continued to fiddle with my bait and let out a conflicted sigh. "Until very recently, I considered that I would end my life like my predecessors did; in the line of duty, with only my fellow Brothers and Sisters to remember me. The prospect of a family is…"

He was lost in his thoughts for a while so I prodded him along.

"Overwhelming?"

"That… wasn't the first word that came to mind, but indeed, it is overwhelming."

Meanwhile, I kept an eye on Morgana and my sisters, and they continued to pretend they totally weren't observing us. As for the dad-group, they lost interest for the moment, because Clarke hooked a fish and they were stumbling over each other to help, but I was sure that as soon as the excitement was over, they would turn their attention to us again. Suspicious.

"How should I put this…" Arnwald continued to mutter at my side, piling grain balls onto my hook. "I have never expected to get the opportunity to be a father, let alone so suddenly, but…" He inhaled deeply and looked at me earnestly. "… if possible, I wish to live up to the responsibility and be a proper father to the whole family."

Oh. Oooh! Okay, I think I was finally getting what all of this was about. All of a sudden a lot of the circumstances around this fishing trip started to make a lot of sense. Now, how to respond to him tactfully?

"You know, Arnwald," I started, trying to sound as neutral as possible. "I appreciate what you're doing. Penny and Snowy deserve to have a proper family, and I'm glad to see that you're providing a positive role model to them. That said… considering our situation in particular, I'll probably never be able to call you 'father'."

"Is that so?"

"Not without lots of silly air quotes, at the very least." I chuckled, then let out a sigh. "I do like what we have now though. The Dunning family is… cosy. It just feels right, so thank you for being a part of it."

"I… I will strive to do my best," Arnwald nodded intently, and I couldn't help but notice Penny whining in the background. Something about how I 'took control of the conversation', or some such. Morgana and Snowy were already placating her though, so I figured it would be fine.

"Can I still refer to you as 'son'?" the man next to me suddenly asked, and after a long beat, I shrugged.

"Sure. When we're not on official duty."

"Naturally."

With that, he handed my bait and sinker back to me, and I unceremoniously cast it out again. Arnwald stared the plumb hitting the water surface with a plot, and then suddenly perked up.

"Would you mind if I set my rod up over here?"

"No, of course not."

"Good." He flashed a thin-lipped smile at me and turned on his heel, only to return just a few seconds later with his fishing rod and the rest of his gear. "All right, son! Let's catch something big for dinner!"

His voice was still a little strained, but he was trying hard, so I couldn't help but smile.

"Sure. Let's do that."

This would've been a good opportunity to add a cheeky 'dad' at the end of my response, but I was serious about what I said before. I would probably never be able to consider this man, with his silly side-burns and earnest personality, my father, yet he was certainly part of my family now. And if you asked me, that was good enough. I could only hope he shared my opinion.