Vast Lehatot Mansion that same night, inside a locked room.
The two moons lit the room through the full-height window, only slightly blocked by the blue curtains.
Looking out the window from a Baroque chair sat a dark violet humanoid figure. Its body was made of condensed fog, with proportions that leaned slightly feminine. Long hair-like mist, lighter in color and fading toward pink, flowed down past the length of its body. It had no facial features. Around its neck hung two necklaces: one bearing a gold coin, the other a black gem. In its hand was a glass of water that it appeared to sip from despite lacking a mouth.
Music echoed through the room. A chorus of soft voices rose alongside a pipe organ, followed by the distant sound of a violin and then a piano. The melody swelled as the instruments merged together, then slowly descended before a deeper chorus took over. Faint drums joined in, and after a few heavy notes from a trombone, all the instruments combined once more, creating the feeling of standing inside a vast cathedral.
The room vibrated with the depth of the music, yet beyond its walls there was complete silence.
In the room next to the closed door of the entrance stood T2.
Her eyes were closed so as not to see the foggy entity on the chair.
She spoke, and her voice was able to cut through the music.
"The 'dungeon' under the academy has been finished." —T2
The entity spoke; its voice followed the rhythm of the music, sounding synthetic.[1]
"I know. I already checked with 'Cause and Effect.' You should go check with that director of that Heroic Academy of yours once in a while till she dies of old age." —Entity
"I can use the Staff of Starsea to get us there instantly." —Entity
T2 was quiet. She didn't respond.
After a while, she spoke again.
"How long will that appearance last?" —T2
"I almost forgot that you are the younger version. Didn't TIME inform you of this?" —Entity
"She has a name." —T2
"She is an Authority, she is a transmigrator, she has the same name as you." —Entity
"If I call her by the name you two share, she will be forced to either fuse with you and become Salvation and TIME or become a second you." —Entity
"And her old name was lost after I seized all of what First and Second did and abandoned, but she doesn't let anybody apart from you, your mother, and Sorceress call her by what I used to call her." —Entity
"As for the question, it will last until my younger self's memories stop being remembered and I begin acting less like an Incarnation of Causality and more... sociable?" —Entity
"What about Jack?" —Salvation (T2)
"I already gave good reason. I can force myself to act when needed despite the flood of memories." —Entity
"As for the etiquette lessons and how to kill Instability Creatures, you can do that. You were a Count's daughter, after all." —Entity
"And are Faith Deity as well.."—Entity
"You also need someone else to open up to. Jack may be young now, but his future self is very important family for TIME; it's better that you get accustomed to him. You'll need him in the not-so-far future." —Entity
Salvation was quiet and didn't respond.
"Not going to respond? Do you hate me that much from back when we were both influencing TIME?" —Entity
Salvation turned and opened the door. The sound of the music didn't spill out.
"That two-faced personality of yours is a problem, AHIH." —Salvation
She closed the door.
"If you say so." —AHIH
AHIH got up from the chair and took out the gold coin necklace. Then, at that moment, Victor's cane appeared out of nowhere; it then changed into the metallic bar of a staff that didn't reflect people.
Hah... I didn't charge this thing since I was Rover. Better charge it up.
AHIH looked at the glass of water.
Whatever... My future self can deal with this instability.
AHIH moved the staff towards the glass of water, causing the glass of water to vanish.
At that same moment, on the dark side of the smaller moon, a blinding and intense flash of light appeared before disappearing.
Back inside, AHIH lifted the staff and vanished. In its place, a large limestone block appeared before falling to the ground with a thud.
North, above the Mehatot river, underneath the Heroic Academy, inside the 'dungeon' Salvation mentioned.
AHIH suddenly appeared in the hole, as if AHIH had been there to begin with.
[1] like that of a vocaloid.