This is about Plans and Pups

12 January 423

Something wrong just happened, and I wasn't sure what it exactly was.

I knew this much even before I woke up in my mindscape. A loud yelp left my lips as I felt someone particularly furious headbutt onto me, a head burrowing quite intensely onto my poor sore chest. Getting greeted quite roughly by Edna wasn't much of a novelty, but the way I could tell the girl was far from happy from my current arrival just cemented that something was indeed wrong.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Edna was chanting that single word without any pause, her face red in clear anger as she tried to get through what looked to be the beginning of some rant. Her scowl was deep and too serious for it to be ruled out as a simple personal problem of hers, but still I couldn't tell what got her this much irritated.

Holding her arms, I tried to stop her from drumming her fists onto my shoulders, finally shaking her off from that little annoying 'greeting'.

"Okay, what the heck, Edna?"

"No, you- you don't understand. He- He did something stupid. Something so, so stupid and foolish!" The pseudo-witch snapped back. "That idiot- he said he was my friend and... and he still went through with this. He- He is a... A BASTARD!"

I tensed up at the sudden foul word, taken by surprise with that sudden change of attitude from the usually calm 'young girl'. Something had her going through the extra mile for that furious reaction and... my mind started to drag up the likely suspect behind that fierce behavior.

Ivan. It has to be Ivan.

There were only two friends Edna could rely on, with me being one of them and... the other being the particularly infuriating prick from Gusteko. Now, what the heck did he do? And why did I feel so sure that it had some implication with why I was feeling that something bad had happened and I couldn't remember why?

It took a couple of silent seconds spent quietly lying in the middle of nowhere, with Edna huffing and shuffling on my chest as she tried to hold herself back from falling back in her own anger. She stared at me intensely, giving me some shivers as I had yet to detach that kind of look from someone different than Echidna, but soon I was given some clarity of what had driven her so mad to her first and closest attachment to the real world.

"That idiot Ivan. He- He did something stupid. He broke the one rule the Spirit had said to not even gaze about and... and now everything might end," Edna lamented with a nervous voice. "The Spirit, the one that is considered the holy protector of Gusteko and the one that created the stone, strictly mentioned that it should never be used to alter something through an abstract mean."

...What?

"I don't understand-"

"The stone can easily bring forth much out of this world. It makes use of rules that can be bent and sometimes even broken for the realization of a wish or a desire," The girl started to explain, getting a quick nod out of me. "But there are rules of this world that can't be broken even though the Stone could easily do that."

I felt like I was going to regret asking but... now I was interested.

"Which one did Ivan break?"

...

"Edna-"

"It's not simple to just accept or explain, John," She snapped again. "What Ivan did was beyond irreparable, and beyond despicable by all natural laws."

Understanding her reasons to be so reluctant to give that answer out, I decided to wait for her to speak once more. I waited just about a full minute, and then the girl spoke up once again.

"Ivan... reforged his soul," Edna muttered with a sigh. "While this might not seem much, the process to 'reforge a soul' isn't as simple as it sounds. While a soul can be warped, removed, or even shattered- reforging is something akin to tainting the magical and natural orders of things. Everyone has a single soul to depend on, and the moment this is changed even for a minimal reason, the world starts to grow unstable with each passing second."

"So he 'reforged' his soul and..." I felt myself pausing, my head burning as I finally started to remember 'something'. Something horrifying and at the same time in need of some serious contemplation. "He broke the contract through that. Changing his soul, he was no longer bound by magical means to it."

"That's correct."

I sighed, feeling frustrated over the fact that I didn't think of any chances he could've gone through to bypass the limitations of the contract. I had been so convinced that the usage of the Stone in that matter would've put an end to this kind of threat- or at least limit his chances of becoming a problem for me and everyone that I loved and cared for. Now that purpose was voided all because of that world-ending BS he decided to pull, all because of his obsession he has for me.

"You... You mentioned that the world was going to collapse if this isn't fixed- that everything was going to end. How do we prevent that?"

The girl gave me a nervous look and... nodded. "If someone used the stone to revert the change, then things will return to normal. But... Ivan will never do that and-"

"I should be able to do it," I pointed out with a frown. "One wish of that degree should be something I could deal with."

"I... I know you can," Edna admitted. "But the problem is that you can't approach him. At least not in the ways you would usually tackle a problem."

... "What?"

She sighed. "Ivan has found a way to know what you're planning to do. I don't know exactly how that ability works, but he can tell your next step whenever you're in his proximity."

That sounded incredibly close to... Epitaph. I found myself pausing over the fact the Mad Prince had remained 'faithful' to a specific set of known abilities. The 'Reforging' could be considered something similar to what Funny Valentine's D4C: Love Train could do, with the exception that it wasn't dimensional-meddling that got him to dodge the clauses of the contract, but the capacity to 'change' his soul to break out of magical oaths. Then I realized that this new detail added to a creeping suspect of mine, one that put everything under perspective.

"He... He has no brothers," I commented quietly, still getting a nod from Edna as my suspicions were finally confirmed. There was no 'Dvoynoy'... only Ivan. I had been juked, really hard from the looks of it. Now I had to find a way out of that and... Oh Gods, he can revert time.

Now everything was flowing inside my head. What once was restrained by some frail barriers that kept me away from the truth, now I could feel two memories overlapping as I realized what happened hours earlier. The bombs going off at 'Dvoynoy's signal, the mad rant from the bastard after revealing himself through the stillness of time, and finally the 'time rewrite' I had felt through. At that moment, not only was I horrified by this single case, but I felt worried that this could actually happen the same way when Subaru was going to come into this world.

I was going to be able to see all the timelines Barusu was going to create through RtD. I was going to live through those and- No, I can't allow this mere thought to bring me to this state of panic. I had to deal with this problem first, and then I would accept being terrified by anything else that would come out of this development.

With that in mind, I decided to step up the conversation to the next important point.

"Edna, how long do I have before-"

"Two days. Maybe more... or maybe even less."

I flinched at that uncertain prediction, and I felt a shiver going down my spine at the news. That was still too little to work on, especially knowing how difficult it was going to be to approach the man without being forced through another time rewrite. I had to make some hefty planning if I wanted to win but... maybe it could still be done. Maybe there was a chance.

I just needed something else that could help. Especially with Elsa and Meili.

If it had been only Ivan, things would've been far easier. But I had to face the fact I was going to work against both assassins too if I wanted to get hold of the Stone. The two females were skilled, one being the Bowel Hunter and the other being capable of creating and controlling Mabeasts. These two abilities combined were going to make things difficult if I didn't make preparations to keep them away from blocking my path to my goal.

I needed to... do a lot of things early in the next morning. Things that could potentially end up with another rewrite, this time with Ivan being more suspicious of me and more cautious in how he was supposed to handle me in the next loop. If he ended up rewriting again, he would also learn that the effects of the 'mind-wipe' weren't as effective as those were with the others.

Still, I was confused by something about the situation that made zero sense to me.

"Why was I left unaffected by it?" I muttered quietly. "I know I have some immunity from Authorities, but nothing that should work on something like the Stone's effects."

"You're... tied to it," The girl answered with a sigh. "Or better- you're tied to me. I'm connected to the stone, and while I can't use its power, I'm unaffected by it when it is used."

"So the effects are either dulled or non-existing because of this."

Edna nodded slowly before quietly settling her cheek on my chest as she grew more tired for some reason. Frowning at that drained expression on her face, I decided to inquire about her sudden change of mood.

"Are you tired? Do you need to sleep?" I asked, and she sighed again.

"I'm just angry... but also hurt that it happened like this. I... I knew he was mad by normal concepts, but I didn't expect him to go that far for... you," The girl answered with a dejected voice. "I want to believe it's only him being an idiot. That it is an 'one-time thing'. But the more I look at it, the more I can tell that this will escalate even more if he isn't given a proper call to reality."

...

"I know you're already doing a lot for everyone but... can I ask you a favor, John?"

She sounded so tired, so defeated. To lose your first friend like this... I could tell she was angry, but also too melancholic over all of this to actually give in to her own frustrations.

"Sure thing, sweetie," I replied quietly, ruffling some of her hair in an effort to comfort her.

Edna smiled, nodding before speaking up once more.

"Don't kill him. Please... I know he is bad but... I don't want him to die."

...

...

"I will try."

"I..." She tried to reply as soon as I delivered that tentative offer. "I know you will."

I sighed in relief at that, but I knew that I was going to deal with an even more complicated mission because of that promise. Was I happy because of it? No. But was I going to regret having made it? A little bit, but I knew that I had to try. Not for Ivan, but for Edna. She deserved this much from me for being a friend and... saving my ass together with Alice's from her 'original self'.

With that promise made, I soon found myself dragged out of that mindscape. It wasn't sleep forcing me out, nor the fact it was morning since I could tell it was still midnight. No, I could tell the cause of my wake up was coming from someone from the real world.

My consciousness forced itself through the sleepiness and... I found myself jumping in surprise as I felt a burning sensation coming from my lower back. Staring wide-eyed around to try and see if I was still alone in that room, I finally turned to see what was causing that burning sensation. I pulled the heated mirror that was currently displaying Satella's face and I frowned at her.

"Okay, not funny," I muttered half-tired, and the young woman sighed, showing an apologetic look.

"S-Sorry. I didn't want to speak up too loudly to wake you up since I couldn't tell if you were awake or not."

Nodding at her explanation, I tried to get over the new situation I was forced to face and... the fact that I was still tired from the recent ordeal.

"Why did you wake me up?" I asked, and she glanced at me nervously.

"S-Something within the castle... I can feel from there that something woke up."

...

"What?"

When I decided to dive down the massive sea of books that contained information known to Lugnicans about the Vollachian Empire, I wasn't expecting to find an unknown legend about its formation. While the story that the first members of the Royal Family were among the heroic army rallied by Flugel to stall the Witch of Envy while his party handled the sealing process was pretty much easy to get through with, the problematic bit was the uncertain tale that was used to describe how the Vollachian State came to be.

A couple of years after the Witch had been defeated, the first Vollachia tried to consolidate his domains by exploiting the fertile soil of his homeland to create a prosperous domain that could then become a glorious kingdom for his descendants to rule. Similarly to how it was today, the ancient reign was enjoying the excellent lands where it was standing, with the agriculture sector being favored the most considering how rich the business related to it was.

While the war-like mind that now was a defining trait of the kingdom had yet to form, hunting parties and other activities that would lead men to still fight and kill people or animals were still pretty common. The legend of the 'foundation' starts when a witless hunter decided to hunt down a monster that was known to have lived long before the Witches became a real threat to humanity. A creature that lived by the same rules of animals. He wouldn't attack without reason except for hunger or irritation.

So, when the hunter finally arrived at destination and attempted to slay the powerful being, the result was less than ideal. For everyone living in that simple land of peace, joy and relative quiet. A monster that stood tall several meters, lurking around the land with natural grace and terrifying speed. A massive wolf with gray fur that almost glowed when bathed by the moonlight... and his eyes. A pair of silvery orbs that stalked his prey until its last breath. Numerous villages were destroyed in retribution to the unwarranted attack. Many armies were crushed and devoured by the beast as it tried to find reprieve from its unquenchable hunger.

The description was chilling for a tale meant to be known by children at an early age. But perhaps it was the resulting finale that could be seen as the redeeming element of this specific story. The Legend mentions how the first ruler of Vollachia stood alone against the beast, a man that was grieving the loss of his three children to the creature and holding the three swords his sons had received by Flugel himself when dealing with the Witch of Envy. Driven by pure paternal madness, the monarch attacked the monster head on and, after a gruesome battle, ended up subduing the monster to his bidding, using the three blades to keep the monstrous at bay while numerous magicians worked on putting the beast into a deep slumber.

In the end, the tale was also meant to explain why the Emperors, all of them coming from the line of the younger brother of the first ruler, would end up producing a senseless amount of children instead of limiting themselves to a number easier to manage. The fear of having their own dynasty lost in history was enough to have this tradition to last for this long. I wasn't sure if Vincent was going to keep up with it since he just had a single wife but... I wasn't going to say anything until much later in his reign.

Now, I believe an explanation to why I had to bring up this tale is pretty much token considering how extensive it was. The motivation that brought me to have this mentioned within my head was all related to the fact I ended up wandering all alone through the halls of the castle to try and convince Satella that the disturbance she wasn't feeling wasn't Flugel. I knew that the chances of the old magician being alive and within the castle were non-existing, but the girl was difficult to convince despite my best efforts to calm her down.

Her energy was fluttering and passing through the mirror, causing the tool to become incredibly volatile until I accepted the need to check if she was correct or not. The moment I stepped inside the balcony of the room and then passed to the ones of the rooms beside mine, I started to feel regret as a powerful cold gust almost froze me up in a single moment.

I was stunned by the chilling weather, something that was seriously going to hurt if I had remained for too long outside the walls of the warmer castle. I was spared a lengthier approach through the balconies when I spotted a metallic ladder that led two floors below the one my room had been, landing me to the first floor of the palace. Still shivering from the experience, my efforts to move around and not get detected by the guards ended up mostly in success. I still had to throw some pebbles around to distract some stubborn guards from looking at the small ways through the other rooms, but I wasn't spotted by any by the time I arrived at the staircase that led directly to the floor below the ground one.

The mirror was almost buzzing with activity, with the witch openly growing more excited at the 'certain reunion' with the old magician and... that hope was quickly crushed as soon as her eyes were blessed with the horrifying sight I ended up finding after making my way through these unused halls of the castle. The room that I ended up entering was fairly big. It was massive enough to house one of the scariest beings I would've wanted to be this close to.

Now, I know I had some close-ups with dangerous beings... but until that point I had reasons and preparation to handle all these individuals without having to fear for my life to the point I was in that precise instant. Eyes wide open as I stared at two bored silver eyes, I expected to be killed swiftly by the monster, quickly realizing that this one was actually the beast mentioned in the first Vollachian legend.

...

"Sup," The terrifying wolf replied with hi- her tough voice.

...

"W-What?"

"I said 'Sup', you little human thing," She rebuked dryly, narrowing her eyes on me. "What? Are you deaf or stuff like that?"

My brain needed a couple of quiet confused seconds to try and understand that was just going on. The wolf was a female and... she was speaking the same way a punk would. I was... baffled by the kind of beings that existed in this world, only now remembering that nothing was what it seemed to be.

"Not deaf, just surprised," I admitted with a nervous voice. "I mean... I wasn't expecting to find myself before such a powerful being."

...

"Heh, of course you would cower before me, pitiful man," The big predator flaunted mirthfully. "I'm a creature that is known to have slain numerous armies, to have humbled many tyrants and- why are you moving toward the door?"

"I was..." I paused, my attempt to 'nigerundayo' failing before I had the chance to get set for that simple rush out of that scary situation. "Closing it. Tonight there is a chilling wind and I don't want to catch a cold because of it."

"..."

"How about you tell me more about that tyrant humbling you're famous about, oh glorious and beautiful being? I can tell from the luster of your fur and the... why is there only a sword keeping you bound?"

She blinked, slightly turning her head to glance behind to the big blade piercing through her neck and driving to the ground.

"Oh... Well, I know that one was already missing when I woke up, and the Elemental one was easy to break on my own. Now I'm... having some trouble with the Yang one and- wait, why am I telling you this?"

"How long have you not spoken to a living soul?"

Her maws opened, trying to come up with a response to my sudden question, but soon the big wolf paused as she realized that... it had been a long time since that actually happened.

"It's not important-"

"You were literally giving herself out just moments ago," I pointed out. "Like, if you want, I can leave and-"

"Y-You're not leaving, you stupid prick!" The wolf boomed furiously. "I'm not feeling that kind of shit, I just didn't expect to find such a sneaky bastard when I woke up."

"Apologies?" I sarcastically offered, shrugging as I ended up getting her to snort and look away as several seconds went by in utter silence.

...

"Look, I really have important business for tomorrow. I wanted to check since my good friend wanted to see if the energy coming from you was someone she knew of, but it ended up being... well, you."

"I have a name, you puny jerk."

...

"And... that is?"

"I am..." The monster spoke up, stopping as she started to think up something. "I am..."

"Silly?"

"Yes!- Wait, no! You bastard-"

"Can you also stop calling me a bastard? It's starting to get annoying," I nagged back. "Can you just admit you don't have a name?"

"I... I think I have a name."

I frowned. "You think? Wait, you mean to tell me you really don't-"

"I don't remember properly and... and- how long it's been since I've been sealed away?"

I was still frowning, trying to wrap my head over the fact this 'big bad wolf' was none other than someone rather... adorably stupid.

"Give or take four centuries. Why?"

Her maws dropped open. "What? It's been that long and... wait, where am I then?"

...

"I think I will leave now-"

"No, wait. Who are you, y-you bastard?"

I stopped, narrowing my eyes at the umpteenth use of that word. Surprisingly enough, the wolf actually flinched at my glare.

"I mean, c-can you tell me who are you?"

...

"My name is John Bukharin."

She blinked, nodding slowly at the response and... sighing.

"I really don't remember my name."

"How about you pick one now to use for yourself?"

The 'monster' seemed to consider this and... then she sighed again.

"I can't think of a good one."

Is she serious or is she trying to piss me up even more?

I was slowing my good mood because of this strange interaction, as I knew I was wasting precious sleeping hours that could be used to be ready for tomorrow's troublesome schedule.

"I have to go-"

"No, wait. P-Please."

I paused again, this time staring intensely at the nervous-looking big creature.

"I really have stuff that, if not solved, could potentially destroy the world as a whole. Can you please go ahead and tell me what you want?"

She stared back at me. "Freedom."

"I refuse. I'm not freeing a bloodthirsty being out of that confinement."

"How about we come to an agreement? I promise to leave this place and not kill for... three days?"

"Sounds like a cheap offer," I pointed out, getting a huff from the big doggo.

"That's my mercy."

"Then I should show mine by leaving you to rot some more-"

"O-Okay, what do you want to offer then? What can I give you so that I can be freed by you?"

...

"I want you to become... my familiar."

...

"Yeah, no. I'm not buying a lesser form of freedom all because I'm here and- no, wait don't leave!"

"That's the only thing I can offer that would prevent you from going full berserk at innocents. Nothing more, nothing less," I muttered with a serious tone. "I will not mistreat you, and I will offer you the chance to hunt around in my domain, but I don't want you being an utter pest with other humans if they don't attack you first."

...

"Fine. But... I want a name first, before signing any contract."

I nodded, accepting the legitimate request and... smiling as I had a good candidate for that very detail.

"How about... Majima?"

...

"'Majima'? The fuck is that?"

"A brilliant fighter. He was fast, terrifying and incredibly vicious with his opponents and rivals."

Also good at the Karaoke and handling Cabarets.

"Aren't you trying to pass some strange new swear word as my new name?"

"I'm beyond that kind of belittlement. But I see you've taken a liking to give me pet names of that nature."

She had the decency to blush in embarrassment at that comeback. Still, she seemed to lean onto accepting the name and...

"Fine. Give me that blasted contract..."

Smiling, I quickly took some papers and ink I had kept on myself before leaving my room, now quickly writing down a contract that would finalize this agreement. Once I was done with this, I offered the paper to her paw, the wolf having cut it so that she could drop some of her blood to fully bind herself to the contract as per natural laws of familiars.

As soon as she did this, I proceeded to walk up to where the top of the remaining sword was and... I started to work onto it. Since it was a Yang construct, I knew that I should have plenty of knowledge to disassemble it and free Majima from her final restraint without hurting her in any sort of way. So I started to apply my magic and, just like planned out, the spell collapsed to the point the blade disappeared.

The wolf happily stretched as she was given permission to move around, growing more accustomed to her surroundings.

"It's been so long and... I suppose we should go now, right?"

I nodded, and as I did so, I felt my eyes widen once again as I saw her form bathing in pure light as her frame decreased until... a tiny wolf pup remained. I quickly remembered that if Majima was a little more 'higher' in the scale of the magical order, then switching her size was something fairly easy for her to achieve.

Skipping towards me, the pup launched herself towards my chest and happily accepted my hands catching her mid-air before pulling her close to me.

"Let's go, Majima."

The pup nodded her head, and soon we were moving out of that containment room. And while the wolf admired all around us as I made my way back to my room, my mind exploded in glee as with Majima now I had the key I had been missing for my possible success against Ivan.

And boy, I wasn't going to accept anything less than success about this matter!

Afterthoughts : Majima joins the 'party'!

Before anyone asks, yes. I did finish Yakuza 0 today and yes, Goro is my fave madlad.

Still, I hope this chapter helps soothe some worries from the last one. I know I was pulling some madladdery by bringing up a brief collapse of the 4th Wall, but I can assure you all the next chapter will bring an end to the multi-dimensional nature of Ivan's Bullshittery.

Omake 13: What if (Priscilla)

A curious look adorned her face, but she still went around the table and stopped right by my left side. But instead of pushing me down to the floor, she merely forced me to sit as she made a seat out of my lap. She leaned back a little bit, enough for her lips to move closer to mine and-

"This wasn't what I expected would've happened."

"Oh? Would it matter if I said I wasn't planning for you to assault me with such vigor? That I was just planning for a simple kiss and nothing more."

I facepalmed at the clear sarcasm coming from Priscilla as she pleasantly glowered at the intense escalation that happened just after that smooching session, still helping her to put on her dress.

"I recall that the kiss was a little more than simple. And especially not chaste. Far from it."

She sighed mirthfully. "I suppose it was a little more than it. But I would be a foolish liar to say that I didn't enjoy our little entendre."

"Now we've to call it that?"

"It's best to define it as such if we don't want to draw attention," The woman happily replied. "While I loved every moment of that and more, I believe it's best to not create scandal. I'm still a... grieving widow after all. Wouldn't want people to think any less of us."

I felt happy to hear that she wasn't just thinking of herself to that. But as I smiled at this very discovery and she turned with her dress fully put on, the woman snorted and grasped my cheeks, bringing my face close to hers.

"Are you having fun at that thought, little mayor?"

My smirk twitched as I leaned forward to land a quick peck. Her cheeks flared in surprise, but she didn't run from my happy smile.

"I was just loving the fact you're thinking about us as an item just now."

Her jaws dropped at that, but the girl recovered quick enough to go on for a longer kiss.

Once we parted way again, her lips curled in a determined smile.

"As if I would deny such a lovely thing. My greatest treasure and pride."

The comment left me stunned by such intensity, and I almost ignored her giggle as she leaned for another quick kiss before walking to the entrance of the room.

"I will meet you in three days. I believe we have... some papers that need to be discussed."

"Y-Yes," I replied with a nod. "And... I love you."

She paused, her wide eyes locking onto my face and... she sighed.

"Love you too, you foolish man of mine."

And as she left that room, I found myself wondering how things were going to develop when my current love interest had a rather special kind of luck that tended to kill her love interests. Hopefully my own dumb luck will spare me that kind of trouble.