Dimensional Descent

"It's not your fault, you know," Aina's voice suddenly called out as she plopped by Leonel's side. She leaned her cheek against his shoulder with a smile, pulling his hand into a sandwich between her palms.

She could feel Leonel's thoughts more clearly now than ever before. She knew that he was wrestling with himself, a battle between the man he naturally was and the man he wanted to be.

She could still remember that scowl of rage Leonel had on his face when he sent her to deliver that letter back in the Three Finger Cult. She could feel that he was suppressing what he wanted to do with what he thought the smartest choice was.

When there were no other variables, Leonel felt that he could take all the risks in the world and still come out on top. But when it was a matter of the safety of everyone around him...

He had no ability to guarantee that.

If he were to describe it cruelly, there were added variables that he couldn't account for. Trying to make sure that everything was dialed in on his part was difficult enough without also having to deal with an array of people that wouldn't act predictably.

That was how Leonel had always seen it. Or, rather, it was the way he had tried to pretend as though he didn't see it, while knowing full well that this was how his mind worked.

It seemed though... that even now his future self, though having disappeared, was still influencing him.

Even before he changed the path of his Dream Force, the back of his mind was still churning with ways of changing himself, of destroying what seemed to be an inevitable future and swapping it for something better.

What he had done to Aina had felt like that first step. It made him greatly uncomfortable, and it also struck right at his pride, but he still forced himself to do it nonetheless.

matter with Anastasia... but that was still just one part of

so many people? Opening her up to ridicule

that filled him with more rage than he knew what to do with, things that made him want to snap the current foundation of his Sovereignty and go back to what felt good, what could

things was another layer of discomfort, and Anastasia's tears seemed

lie low and avoid trouble. That was only made obvious by the fact that

them, so long as the two of them

was only when the opinions of others began to encroach on her husband did she react like a

of her husband was because of her

filled her with

would she care about

much clear to Leonel. But even then, she had only planned to be "angry" for a small while because she understood the necessity of it all. If not for Anastasia, she would have let

to Leonel, even those few minutes of

way in the future. The universe has an infinite number of variations and changes. Existence would have whatever number

alright, mister brains," Aina giggled and squeezed his hand between hers more tightly. "We can carry

at Aina. His heart wanted to say