Tick, tock— Tick, tock—0

After two hours of private tutoring, the room fell into a hollow silence—space broken into fragments, with time slipping forward in uneven ticks. Alone in that silence, Sylvia sat, her eyes resting on the assignments Deculein had left behind—revised magic circuits, a list of Etynel words riddled with homonyms, and stacks of equations meant to train her mind.0

“I’m not afraid,” Sylvia muttered, her eyes staring at the pile of assignments.0

Deculein, as he is now, is only a fake. Until I draw the real one, each iteration is just a fake—part of the process, not the result, and a string of errors in search of something whole. So there’s no need to be afraid if he fades, and no need to worry about what was never meant to stay, Sylvia thought.0

… Chirp, chirp.0

Suddenly, Swifty fluttered in with a delicate chirp, perching gently on Sylvia's shoulder. Moments later, Bearbie Panda whimpered as it climbed onto her lap and curled into place.0

“Yes.”0

To the two who worried for her, Sylvia offered assurance that there was no need for concern, telling them that in the world she had created, nothing would change and nothing more would be taken away from them.0

“I’m fine.”0

Determined not to be swayed by a fake, Sylvia composed herself and began working on Deculein’s assignment.0

It’s ironic that a fake is able to teach me something as if he were the real one, but anyway.0

“A fake like him doesn't shake me,” Sylvia said, forcing a smile. “If anything, he’s just ridiculous.”0

“He said he pities me,” Sylvia muttered, her fingers brushing over Bearbie Panda’s head. “But I look at him, and I feel pity for him....0