PARADOX

Chapter Three • Plan A

The man leaned back with a smile. "You've just given me an idea."

"Huh?"

"Do you really think that I only asked for the sake of conversation?" Oh, please. You only thought of this midway through her story. he chided silently. Who are you trying to fool?

"Well, that makes sense..." she murmured, pausing for a moment before her expression turned mischievous. "Although, I'll bet you only thought of looking at it like that after you asked."

He laughed, then shook his head in defeat. "You know me too well."

For a moment, the two sat in a comfortable sort of silence -- the kind of quiet when you're in a room with a friend, enjoying the time even in the lack of conversation. It felt almost as though nothing had changed between them -- in those few moments, past events were forgiven as though they'd never happened and grudges were set aside like a weapon no longer needed. Soon enough, another idea piqued the man's curiosity.

"Do you think we can work with the memory lapse?"

The woman stared as though he'd spoken the language of monsters.

"Okay, how do I explain this..." He thought for a moment before putting things into perspective for her. "Whenever I defeated the other version of me -- the older one -- then, for a few moments, I felt like something transferred. I don't remember what, exactly, but I remember feeling it. A ton of different thoughts and pictures suddenly collapsed onto me, like someone dumped a bucket of ice-cold water on my head. It was pretty strange at the time. Anyways, I'm wondering if that little window of time will work with you as well."

"Are you suggesting that I just...let my younger self kill me?"

"No, not exactly. Knowing you, it'd just make her suspicious. Hesitant. We can't have that."

"Why not?" She suggested. "What if we used that to our advantage and just...talk? I could tell her everything, and--" Before she could finish, a sudden sound interrupted her -- laughter. "What? What's so funny about that?"

"You- you really think-" The man could barely catch his breath, but after a while, he managed. "Try and see it from your younger self's perspective. Now, this crazy lady you're trying to kill-"

"Hey!" The woman's voice was indignant, but he continued nonetheless.

"-tries to talk to you. Tells you to go back to the creepy old man-" he got a laugh out of his visitor from this- "who kidnapped you. Would you really listen to her?"

She sighed. "You're right -- there's no way I'd ever buy that when I was younger."

"Exactly."

"Ugh, I hate it when you're right," she groaned.

"Oh, quit your melodrama for two seconds. We're adults; we can deal with things." Despite his words, the man was clearly teasing.

Out of the blue, a low growl was heard. The woman rolled her eyes, as though someone she didn't like had spoken. "Would you like to tell my stomach to shut up as well?" She suggested jokingly. The man leaned back cautiously, holding his hands out in front of him like he was defending himself. The noirette could only look offended for a split second before they both started laughing. "I doubt that you could do much damage, honestly. After all, you can't take what doesn't exist."

"Mono!" She scolded playfully, the name slipping out before she realized she'd said it. "No self-deprecation!"

He lifted his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, I'm only telling the truth here."

She sighed, then smiled. "Fair enough, I suppose."

A small, repetitive thumping could be heard. It was muffled, but it was there nonetheless. It's coming closer, the man realized with a start. I have to be there.

"What's wrong?"

"I believe it's time for us to part ways again," he told her.

Even without explanation, she understood. The two rose from the table, the man taking her hand as they did so. He led her to a door, hesitating just before they reached it. He lifted her hand, kissing the back of it as though she were a sort of monarch.

"Until we meet again, my Lady."

---

Coming back to the ship she called home was the same sort of shock that she'd experienced upon leaving: the light, the sound, the life of the place -- it was jarring, almost overwhelming compared to the cold and quiet of the Pale City. Gleeful visitors, gorging themselves on flesh provided to them by the Chefs, waved and smiled as she walked past. It felt like she had entered another reality entirely. From the contrast in atmosphere to the absent hum of the Transmission, the pair truly existed on different planes of the same world.

"How was your outing, Governess?"

"It was...nice." She didn't have the words to elaborate any further. She didn't want to. Childish as it may have seemed, she wanted to keep this day for herself. Silently, she regretted agreeing to their plan -- she didn't want to lose this.

"I see." Roger's voice, although calm, sounded bitter. "I presume you went to find that...friend of yours."

"We had to settle what was started yesterday."

"Right, of course. Wouldn't want to leave any loose ends, hmm?"

The woman looked at him with a strange expression. "I suppose you could put it like that..."

In response, the smaller man gave her a swift nod and walked away. The woman couldn't help but worry -- somehow, she felt like she'd done something wrong. As if he'd been listening nearby, one of the Chefs approached her.

"Y'know, if you want my opinion," he began, "I think the guy's a little intimidated."

"What? Why?"

The chef laughed, shaking his head. He looked at a patron who he seemed to know and grinned. "I can't be the only one that sees it, right?"

"Nope," the guest replied. "These things are obvious to everyone except the person who's experiencing it."

"I'm standing right here," the woman reminded the two, who both seemed to have forgotten it as they immediately turned to face her with apologetic expressions. "C'mon, just tell me what I did wrong so I can fix it."

"Ma'am, you've done nothing wrong," the chef promised. "Your buddy just seems to be takin' things a little personally -- nothing you can help." He shrugged, giving her a crooked smile. "If this is what I think it is, then I'm sure he'll explain sooner or later."

She nodded, trying to let his words calm her. "Thank you."