Chapter 196: Chapter 177 : True Introductions (Part 3)

“...that’s all.”

By the time Lane ended his account, all were emotional. His life story was just too tragic. The former assassin didn’t hold back, fully detailing his torturous upbringing and long-lasting tool-like existence.

Despite the nightmarish content leaving his lips, the blank-faced youth spoke of his story with a mostly indifferent attitude, as though it was someone else’s. The group’s collective heart bled at the happening, sorrow pouring out for the young man and his plight.

Lane wasn’t totally emotionless though. Traces could be found here and there, which the group got progressively better at identifying.

He showed traces of guilt and regret when recounting his many targets; he showed traces of joy when talking about the time he received the red scarf from Sigurd, he showed…

These minute emotional spurts struck the group hard.

Ralf left his seat and engulfed the former assassin in a tight hug. He just had to. After a final squeeze, he pulled back and stared directly into Lane’s black eyes as he spoke his next words.

“Thanks for sharing, Lane. Your past is a miserable one, truly,” he said, the group showing strong agreement in the background. “Still, know this, with me as your friend, your future won’t follow suit. Only good times from now on, buddy.”

Lane’s expression brightened at the words. Smiling at the sight, Ralf gave the former assassin’s hair a ruffle before returning to his seat. On his way back, he tagged in two others, Charlotte and Skye, who went on to wrap up Lane in their joint hug.

“Only good times from now on.”

“Only good times,” Skye repeated as he squeezed the former assassin.

The female Mimics on the couches watched on with unsure looks, both contemplating what to do - and what to think and feel.

Violet’s emotions were chaotic, swirling with no rhyme or reason. The princess took in Lane with a complicated gaze. Hearing that his freedom had come as a result of the post- Bloody Hill hunting had thrown her heart into a figurative blender.

When thinking back on the incident, usually only dread would follow, but now, knowing that someone - the young man before her - was allowed to escape a nightmarish prison, the princess had her feelings on the matter somewhat reshaped. She would never feel happy that the incident happened, ever, but knowing that something good came out of it, lightened the boulder on her heart ever so slightly.

As it did, another boulder grew heavier, and with it, words began flowing from her lips.

“...Lane, I’m sorry for before,” the princess said, hands balled up and resting on her thighs.

Lane tilted his head. “Before…what do you mean?” he asked, genuinely confused about what the other was going on about.

“Yesterday, when I grilled you about which faction you belonged to. I want to apologise. I’ve long thought my life was hell, but compared to yours, everything seems so trivial. I’m almost ashamed - no, I am,” she said, said emotion showing clearly on her face.

“Don’t be,” Ralf cut in harshly, seizing all attention in an instant. “Don’t be,” he repeated in a softer voice, but still maintained his firmness. “One’s worth isn’t defined by how much they’ve suffered. Misery isn’t something to compete in; to do so, is foolish and self-destructive. Everyone’s suffering and plight is valid, no matter where on the scale it lies,” he said seriously, remembering his own suffering at that moment.

The group accepted his words with appreciative looks; they needed to hear them at this moment, especially Violet and the twins, whose privilege had become guilt-coated needles stabbing into their bleeding hearts during Lane’s and Yuki’s accounts.

“Ralf is right, everyone’s feelings are valid,” Lane agreed, his eyes refocusing on Violet. “Your feelings regarding assassins are understandable and valid, so your reaction yesterday needs no apology. Though…”

“Though?” Violet repeated with a quizzical look as she noted the meekness that suddenly overcame the former assassin.

After a few seconds of silence, Lane took a breath and continued his previous thought.

"Though…if you’re insistent, I’ll accept a hug as an apology,” Lane said, his voice losing volume with each word spoken as a shy expression adorned his doll-like face.

Hearts melted at the former assassin’s display. Violet’s hands left her legs in a heartbeat, becoming springs to propel her up and towards her new friend. The twins stepped aside and Violet and Lane shared an embrace.

“Yuki, what are you waiting for, join in,” Charlotte urged.

“I can?” she asked, hesitantly

“Of course, you can. Right Lane?” Charlotte’s question was answered by a nod from Lane. The Onic Master showed approval then turned back to Yuki and spread her arms. “Since he’s busy, warm up with me first,” she said, sporting an inviting smile.

Yuki took the invitation at once and left her couch.

Following Charlotte’s request, things devolved - evolved into a hug-fest of sorts, where everyone hugged everyone else. Needless to say, Ralf joined in as well. Only minutes later did the group find their seats again, bodies now a tad warmer than before.

Ralf wore a radiant smile in the aftermath. The ‘introductions’ had gone way better than he expected; the Transmigrator was honestly floored by it all. His eyes drifted to the notepad he had picked up earlier and let his pen’s tip drift across the blank page.

‘This group is a bunch of good apples. You think so too, no?’ he wrote and then smirked as he imagined his other self’s reaction.

“Mm, what are you writing, let me see,” Skye voiced.

“Nope, this is for my eyes only,” Ralf crumbled the paper into a ball and tossed it toward Violet, who summoned a lightning orb to devour it Pacman-style.

Charlotte watched the smooth sequence with a squint but didn’t pursue her query, and instead chose to focus on her main interest.

“Best for last Ralf, the stage is yours.” At her words, attention quickly gathered on the Transmigrator. “Everyone’s split their guts here today, so make sure to do the same…or those guts of yours will spill in a different way, you get me,” she said, nods of agreement going off in her surroundings.

Ralf smiled wryly. “Of course of course, I promised you a lengthy account and I’ll deliver on that. Now, before we fully dive in, there’s something I have to preface or rather, clarify.” Dropping his words, he conjured up a large Psi coin and had it slowly rotate above the glass table.

Instead of the usual markings, a side profile of Ralf could be seen on them - or rather, Silver. The group eyed the coin faces with intrigue thick in their eyes.

“I said this in the introductions, but this body of mine houses several personalities, with me, Ralf, being just one of them.”

“Really?” Yuki asked seriously; she and the others were on the fence about the existence of Ralf’s other personalities.

“Really. I start with this fact because it’s the most important,” Ralf said, no sign of his usual playfulness. “My multi-personalities state shouldn’t be confused though. Usually, one develops multiple personalities due to some trauma or psychological condition, but that’s not the case in my situation. I’m crazy, but not that crazy,” he said then smiled bitterly as he met with questionable looks from the others.

He shrugged. “Anyways, you can think what you want, here’s the important part. This coin here perfectly represents the three personalities’ relationship with each other as well as their value. I am one side of the coin and Ray is the other, while Silver, the fusion of us two, is the whole coin.”

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“Hmm, so Silver is the original personality then?” Skye mused out loud.

“Yes, you can think of him like that. Importantly, while I and Ray occupy opposite sides of the coin, that’s not to say we’re opposites. We have a few surface differences but we’re basically the same person at our core, which is Silver.”

“Is that everyone, I mean for your personalities? Are there more personalities hidden in you?” Charlotte asked with a chin rub.

“Nope, that is all. Ray and I, and our fusion, Silver. That’s everyone.”

“What do you mean by fusion?” Violet spoke up. “What does it entail exactly?”

“Good question,” Ralf responded with a smile, happy at the group’s collective interest. “With thoughts, Ray and I can fuse at will. There is no time limit…that we know of, and we can separate without issue. Importantly, once we fuse, Silver obtains all our memories and experiences up until that point. It’s why I mentioned value.” The Transmigrator flicked at the floating coin. “No matter how capable or knowledgeable either Ray or I become, we’ll always be inferior to the next Silver.”

“Huh, so you’re telling me that you can become an even bigger pain in the ass?” Charlotte said, subconsciously rubbing her butt as the earlier memory floated in.

Ralf smiled at the phrasing. “Indeed.”

“Impossible…I’ll believe it when I see it. How about calling him up then…or Ray for that matter? Wait, is he present already?”

“Nope, he’s not present,” Ralf said, believing otherwise.

“Interesting,” Skye spoke up. “So, he’s what, dwelling in the deep recesses of your mind right now? Ah,” the air Mimic had a light bulb moment, “don’t tell me… can you only come out one at a time? Or at specific times?”

“Yes, nope and nope,” Ralf took a long sip before explaining himself. “Ray is in my head, in a special zone called the Mental Space, which is located deep in my Mental Domain.”

“Special zone?” Yuki’s eyes flickered. “What’s so special about it?”

“I’ll explain more about the Mental Space later, for now, just know that it is an inner world of sorts. Ray and I can go back and forth between this place and reality whenever we want, unrestricted. Mm, I guess I can give a little demonstration.”

The group perked up at the words.

Ralf dismissed the Psi coin and continued. “You see, when Ray and I are both in the Mental Space, my body turns completely lame. On the surface, I’ll be no different from an unconscious person…but there is an important difference,” he emphasised before shifting his gaze to Charlotte. “In this state, telepathic links will not reach me. Want to test it out?”

Charlotte nodded at once. “Go ahead.”

“Okay, in three two one…”

Reaching zero, Ralf’s body lost all tension and collapsed onto the couch like a puppet whose strings were suddenly cut. The group showed surprise but didn’t jump to any conclusions; the Transmigrator was a known trickster after all. They focused on the telepathic link that Charlotte hastily shot his way and…

“Ah?”

Failing to connect to anything, Charlotte’s face twisted up in shock. She made several attempts, even pouring her entire aura into the exercise…but nothing.

“Sis, you’re not pulling our leg, right?”

“I’m not. I swear on the Evans name; I really can’t feel anything. He’s like a corpse. I’ve never heard of anything like this, it’s…”

“Absurd, right?” Ralf said with a smile, as his consciousness repoured itself into the mould that was his body.

“...Yeah,” Charlotte muttered, astonished.

Ralf delighted in the group’s shock and awe, and then in some chocolate chip biscuits. While he was munching on them, the group mentally and physically adjusted themselves to receive whatever absurdity Ralf would throw at them next.

“So…Ralf, you and Ray can go back and forth freely, right?” Charlotte spoke up again, expression much tenser than before. “Why isn’t Ray joining us? Can you call him over? I want to meet your other self.”

Ralf’s face turned troubled at the request. “Hm, I could ask him, but don’t hold your breath. He’s always busy working on things in there, well I’ll check just in case.”

Mental Li-

Ralf’s face fell into a bitter smile at the happening.

“A dud?”

Ralf nodded at Charlotte’s question. “Yeah, a dud. He’s super busy right now; I couldn’t even get a word in. Maybe another time.”

“I see, that’s a shame.”

‘Really is,’ Ralf sighed before readying his figurative mitt for the next question.

“You said he’s busy, but what would he be busy with? What’s there to do in there anyway?” Skye followed up.

“That, oh, I’ll answer that later. Let’s pull back a bit, don’t want to get bogged down. My relationship with Ray will be explained in greater depth later, for now, a clarification about my introduction.”

Ralf joined his hands and took a breath, before continuing.

“I’ll only be conveying my story to you, the story of Ralf Fawkes, meaning it’ll be an incomplete account. I’ll be omitting Ray’s and Silver’s stories, and even adding lies here and there to protect the secrecy of their stories. These lies will be unimportant to understanding the gist of things, but they’ll be nonetheless false. If you want the lie-free version, you’ll have to ask Silver. Only he can give you a full account, though, don’t expect to meet him anytime soon. With that said, do you still wish for me to go through with my introduction?”

”Yes,” the group collectively answered in their ways, anticipation and eagerness overflowing from their beings.

Ralf’s lips quirked up.

“I see, very well then, let’s rewind time and head to Maima, a small town located in Northern Setsuna. It was an unremarkable stone and wood town, where nothing of note ever happened…that is until a certain baby was born. As adorable as an angel, as cunning as a devil, the most dazzling existence since light itself, yes, that baby was me, Ralf Fawkes…”

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