Fortuna Verto

57-Divergence Phenomenon

The concert had concluded a dramatic success, doing far better than they could have ever hoped to imagine. Events had still left them more than a bit shaken, but this was a marvellous leap in the right direction.

"I figured you would show up here again, right as expected." "Axln, hells, you surprised me. Well, this is quite the reversal.. as now you're suddenly predicting what I'm doing. How exactly did you pull everything off, if you don't mind me asking." "Well, some of it is thanks to your own ideas. I mean, here we are again, at the academy, and you're here sneaking in by phase craft.. like no one ever notices one passing through. I mean, after testing it for myself, I can see why." "You used a phasecraft?" "Well, mostly for the supplies, it was the best way to get Ezhyrae to the site. She needed transport either way, phasecraft seemed the most interesting idea. It was extra helpful that there was a transit center right beside the mall.. one that was extra quiet while everyone should have been sleeping." "But.. that was you two at the foundry, right? How did..." "Okay, I admit, that was my favourite part. From what I had learned, I had fully expected you weren't aware of our most recent accomplishments on the other side, so it was a sure win to make use of it. I expect you had heard tales of the three musical events held.. times which seemed to have been a sizable trigger in a chain reaction to each other. Apparently, in your timeline.. things hadn't gone so well. Well, I'm proud to let you know that we didn't just end with one shining victory, we had an unbroken chain. Our encounter with Velvet left her pretty much as powerless as yourself. Thanks to that, we could freely wander around that side, even had our own shuttle booked for the occasion." Axln was pretty much just basking while Mheridz stared at her. Mheridz was convinced, something had just sundered the entire timeline.

"So.. that was more than just a simple feint or bait, you were completely testing your predictions that I would be there, freely capable of moving at will." "Well, more than that, the whole foundry was such a pristine idea, it was actually the whole original plan.. but things had gone so well in the commercial district on the other side that we decided to try our luck there again here. It seems there really is quite a lot of value in committing the attention of the masses over just a couple of distinct people. I heard the social standing we forged has left quite the impact on the foundry." "It might have gotten their attention, but Lyun literally creating money still left the greatest impact on them. I had really thought that those were exaggerations, that she hadn't actually filled the citadel with kyumu dust, just left a lot of if in there." "Oh, yeah no.. Luna had to pretty much evacuate because there wasn't room to stash an ersatz anymore. We've removed most of it already though, the foundry willing to provide an actual vault for such property.. at our cost, of course. Paid for using the same dust too, I should add." Mheridz felt that even Axln's clarification of true facts showed just how much this timeline had actually lost it.

"Oh, actually, you want to actually go upstairs? I hear your aunt is actually trying to catch up with her studies, but your father should be free today." "You know I don't see the people who would one day be family to me in my timeline as family in your's, I don't even see you as my real mother." "Ah, well, up to you." "If it was up to me, you would have already..." ".. already given up and let you take over, huh? Maybe you've missed it, but things are changing already. It might not be enough to fix the future, but it's something.. something big." "I would give you that you've defied my expectations, certainly. Your songs were almost thunder.. and you didn't even seem to notice. The stuff you used to play was a lot more timid. What ever happened to being afraid of loud noises? Lyun too, I had a really nice illusion of lizards handy.. it was supposed to be great.. she totally didn't even notice." "I guess we might have just gotten caught up in our own momentum to realize there might be things to be afraid of." Axln contemplated Mheridz's message, realizing that the booms they had played.. especially at the start of both concerts.. would have typically put her in shock. Especially all the bass boosting they had done on the other side, the holo was positively vibrating through so much of it. There, she was more distracted by concerns about being introduced as a conduit.. but she was also having a lot of fun through the process. Especially after the whole conduit thing had gone so well, her momentum had become more of an unstoppable avalanche.