??I told you, Mr. Origin. I know you better than you do.??

  [Pfft, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Right, right, you did say something like that. I remember now.]

  Hmm, yes, he knows the Origin of this Universe better than that Origin itself.

  A little wanker knows things about the man who brought forth existence from the void that even the man does not know.

  Yup, makes perfect sense.

  ??Humour me. How did you remember a memory that was supposed to have been permanently deleted???

  [You are free to kneel before my awesome brain, plebeian.]

  I mean, I'm the First Being; of course, I can remember something that was supposed to have been permanently deleted.

  I'm the one who created reality as mortals and immortals know it; bending it a little to revert something is more than easy.

  Reality can be whatever I want.

  ??Actually, no. You can no longer bend reality. Not in your current form, at least.??

  [Right.]

  ??So you are going to stay adamant, are you? Then let's test it.??

  [Test what? The fact that I can bend reality to my will? And how are you going to test it?]

  ??Through this,?? he chuckled and snapped.

  …


  What.

  The.

  Actual.

  Fuck.

  "Where's Noelle?" I asked.

  "Hmm?" Azell raised his eyebrow as he turned to me.

  "Where is Noelle? You know, our friendly domestic assassin. Is she in the bathroom?"

  "I have no idea who you are talking about," he frowned in confusion.

  "What about you?" I looked at Neia. "Do you know any Noelle?"

  "…" she scowled, got closer to me and whispered. "Did getting yourself cut into pieces mess with your brain or what?"

  "So, you don't know either. Well, what about the rest of you?"

  "No idea," Arteria replied curtly as she sipped her orange juice.

  "I don't know any Noelle. Are you sure you aren't confusing her for someone else?" Vafferan asked.

  "I don't know any Noelle either, unfortunately," Jennifer shrugged.

  I see.

  Well, this is interesting.

  [Did you do this?]

  ??Who knows??? He grinned.

  [Did you actually just change reality to wipe someone out from existence?]

  ??Who knows???

  Noelle's very existence has been erased. The reality has been changed such that the woman called Noelle never existed.

  The timeline hasn't been messed with, it would seem. So in this new reality, everything that she has ever done has been accomplished by someone else.

  Every memory people have of her has either been erased or been replaced to swap Noelle with someone else.

  [Looks like you are more capable than I give you credit for.]

  ??Oh come on, another lie. I know that I'm at the very top of the list of people you are going to personally hunt down.??

  [Whatever.]

  The question is; what happened to Noelle?

  Has she disappeared from everywhere, or is she trapped in the information dimension?

  ??Once again, who knows??? He chuckled. ??What we do know is that right now, you are the only one who can bring her back. So go on, prove that you can still bend reality.??

  [What?]

  ??What???

  [What the fuck are you talking about?]

  ??…No, what the fuck are YOU talking about???

  [That's what I'm asking of you! Why the hell would I bring her back?]

  ??Wut???

  [Her absence is greatly beneficial to me. Bringing her back would be like shooting myself in the foot.]

  And like all normal people, I don't like that.

  I mean, sure, Noelle's very existence has been erased from the Universe, and it's possible that she's trapped in the information dimension where she will slowly and surely lose her mind, but that just means I have one less wanker to deal with.

  This is a win-win.

  In other words, get fucked, Noelle. I hope we never see each other again.

  Hmm, though I might chance upon her if I ever dive into that dimension. But she'll probably have lost her mind by then, so we're all fine and dandy.

  Of course, there's the possibility that she wouldn't really lose her mind but in fact overcome her situation and learn to live in the information dimension.

  But in that case, she would just be integrated in that dimension and become one of its pieces.

  Anyway, the bottom line is that Noelle is gone.

  This calls for a celebration.

  [So, if you'll excuse me, I have a party to enjoy.]

  I was initially planning to test how much wine I could drink before keeling over from alcohol poisoning, but today is a very joyous day.

  So, no suicide plans for today.

  Let's just enjoy it.

  ??…Are you being serious right now???

  [Oh, absolutely. And please leave me alone, I want to enjoy this night.]

  And I don't think I can do that if, you know, I have a voice speaking inside my head.

  ??Wow. And I thought I was the psychopath.??

  [As they say, there's always a bigger fish out there.]

  The people of this world actually say 'There's always a bigger dragon out there', but I'm currently in my Earth mode, so I'll use idioms from that place.

  ??Bruh. F for Noelle.??

  [Bruh, indeeed.]

  But that's what life is all about.

  I guess this is a metaphor for life, about how unexpected it actually is.

  One could just be chilling with their friends while sipping some fine champagne, and then the next moment, some motherfucker would snap them out of existence.

  Sed.

  Anyway.

  ??What about proving your abilities to me???

  [And why would I do that? If you want to believe that I'm incapable, then believe you shall. Who am I to decide what you can and cannot believe?]

  It's my policy to grant a certain degree of freedom to those around me.

  So if you watched a serial killer documentary and were so amazed by it that you want to follow down the same path, then power to you, chief, power to you.

  As I always say; to each their own.

  ??Wow.??

  [Or did you actually believe that I considered you important enough to spend the effort to make you believe my words.]

  ??Well, you got me there,?? he chuckled wryly.

  [Sed.]

  ??Or did you??? He asked as he snapped.

  What the fuck is he up to now?