Hollows.
The team was stumped. There were really more supernatural things in the world besides the Metaverse?
"Did you get this information from Yu?" Shiho asked with a frown.
They were sitting in Ren's loft bedroom.
"No. I learned it from Igor," Ren answered before correcting himself, "the real one. Not the fake that was in the Velvet Room before."
"Yeah, I still don't get that, but I'll take it at face value, I guess," Ryuji muttered.
"When did life become an anime?" Ann said in defeat.
"Maybe it's always been?" Orihime tilted her head.
"Speaking of supernatural things... I'm pretty sure I met a ghost."
?!?!
Ren began to explain his experience with Kasumi Yoshizawa.
---
"That was the name of the girl who passed there..." Orihime said gently after listening. "Her sister was supposed to transfer here originally, but she suddenly changed her mind. The opening allowed me to come."
"...So she really was a ghost," Ren whispered.
Looking at his team, he was about to continue before he saw Shiho with a pale face and Orihime deep in thought.
"Are you okay, Shiho?" Ann asked as she put her hand on her back.
"AHH!" Shiho let out a cute shriek before blushing and covering her face.
"You're scared of ghosts?" Ryuji was dumbfounded. "You maim monsters for fun!"
"Shadows aren't monsters, and I can't beat a ghost to death," Shiho whispered.
The team couldn't help but smile.
Orihime was still sitting in thought, missing the banter entirely.
"I knew someone who said they could see ghosts," Orihime revealed. She glanced at Ren and then fiddled with her fingers. "The one who passed when we were kids... Ichigo Kurosaki."
The team listened silently. They were aware of this childhood friend of hers, but no one had pried. Ren knew a bit more and was listening carefully.
"He once said that he would protect everyone from the monster ghosts, and everyone called him crazy," Orihime continued with a smile. "But he ignored it and kept working until he—"
She paused for a moment.
Swallowing, she finished, "Until he saved his mother from dying."
The team was silent. They didn't want to ask anymore, but they all had questions. Ren took the lead and suggested,
"Maybe these Hollows are a spiritual monster?"
"That would explain the gas explosion story," Morgana mumbled.
They were just as lost as when they began.
---
Ren gently fell asleep. It was a soothing sleep once more. He somehow knew he would be in the Velvet Room tonight. But it didn't really bother him. The real Igor was a nice man, or being, or whatever. Despite being equally as annoying as Yu when it came to being mysterious.
---
CHOOO!
The sound of a steam whistle rang out as Ren's eyes fluttered open. In front of him was Igor, sitting at his desk with an abnormally serious face.
"Good evening, guest. Terribly sorry to interrupt your sleep."
Ren paused before saying, "It's okay. I tend to sleep better after coming here."
Igor gave a soft smile. Ren didn't know why, but he felt it was happy, melancholic, apologetic, yet still kind.
"I called you here today to fill you in on something important," he said gravely.
"Soon, something confusing will happen. Be strong. Be brave. It will happen suddenly, and you won't be able to predict it. It will be both strange and freeing. Trust your bonds. Lean into the truth you have grasped."
"That sounds ominous."
Igor furrowed his brow in thought and clicked his finger, making a tarot card appear in midair. He observed it before waving his hand and causing it to vanish into motes of light. They felt like butterflies. Ren was beginning to notice the recurrence of butterflies. They were always the same blue as the Room.
But there was the one...
That one in his back...
"Guest," Justine interrupted gently.
Ren blinked hard and looked up. "Thank you, Justine."
Looking back at Igor, Ren steeled himself to hear what Igor had to say.
"It will change you and how you see reality. But it isn't necessarily a bad thing. When the Moon shines and the mysteries are veiled, it doesn't always denote danger."
"I don't like leaving things to fate," Ren sneered.
Ren could have sworn he saw Igor's lips quirk in amusement.
"Quite," he said, then paused before pointing his finger forward.
"Each decision someone makes creates a branching timeline."
Ren interrupted, "Yes. Multiverse, parallel timelines, and whatnot."
Igor nodded. "Do you recall the words I mentioned when you first entered the Velvet Room?"
Ren thought for a moment before suddenly seeming enlightened. His mouth was wide open.
Terrifying!
Horrifying!
Amazing!
"Dream and reality... Wild Card. Really?"
Igor chuckled. "Well, rest, my guest. Bond with your attendants. I know they've been waiting for you to make good on your promise to take them to the human world."
"MASTER?!" Caroline squeaked.
---
After Ren finished talking with Caroline and Justine and left the Velvet Room, Igor looked at his desk in thought.
"Elizabeth, Elizabeth. You have done something exceedingly foolish," he sighed.
"Although, I guess it evens the board."
---