After closing Lil' Amon's bedroom door, the group gathered in the living room. Medici pulled out a chair and sat down, his sharp red eyes scanning the others. "Not one of you thought to stop Lil' Amon from eating all that ice cream?" He asked, exasperated.
The three exchanged glances, and Alaric spoke for them. "We didn't expect an angel to get sick from too much ice cream. It's not exactly in line with mysticism."
He paused, then turned the question back on Medici. "Did you anticipate Amon getting a fever from overeating ice cream, Red?"
Medici faltered, caught off guard. Truth be told, the situation had surprised him too. When he first heard about it, he thought it was a joke or another of Lil' Amon's pranks.
"…I didn't see it coming either." Medici admitted, owning his oversight. "I've been treating him like a regular Amon, but maybe we should start treating him like an actual child."
A normal, naive, fragile child.
Honestly, before today, Medici hadn't imagined Amon being associated with those words. Even in his true infancy, as the born King of Angels, Amon was never ordinary or fragile... perhaps only naive, at best.
After all, even Amon wasn't a trickster from birth.
"Honestly, I suspect this is Amon's scheme... the main Amon, that is. He's slyly using a genuinely vulnerable child version to lower our guard and hostility… tch!" Alaric shared his theory, not out of malice but because it was exactly the kind of thing Amon would do.
"No kidding, you can't underestimate a God of Deceit. I wanted to enjoy the show, but he turned it around on me!" Alaric mused to himself, not angry or annoyed but finding it all the more entertaining.
A perfectly obedient doll was no fun. Someone like Amon... seemingly docile but secretly scheming... was far more interesting to mess with.
"…That does sound like something Lil' Raven would pull." Medici said, pursing his lips in agreement with Alaric's suspicion.
Klein's thoughts drifted to Lucifer's diary, recalling how Amon had used sweet-talking deception to sway the former Lucifer, only to coldly reveal the truth and nearly consume him. Thinking of how his own view of Amon had softened because of Lil' Amon, Klein felt a chill run down his spine.
Amon was still a terrifying existence.
"I don't know the details, but what's your plan now?" Will asked, his tone a mix of curiosity and confusion.
Alaric and Medici exchanged a glance. Alaric grinned. "Whether Lil' Amon's meant to soften us or not doesn't really matter. We just need to do one thing: raise him to be a good kid. That's what he wants, right? And then…"
"Rebel against the main body's tyranny... Avatars rule the world, got it?" Alaric said, winking as he dropped the famous line.
"You really love inciting Avatars to rebel. Is that some kind of twisted hobby?" Medici remarked, recalling how Alaric had once egged on Sasrir to defy the Ancient Sun God.
"Probably because I'm a Avatar myself?" Alaric said, shrugging.
Medici froze at the words.
Klein's head snapped up toward Alaric. "Wait, did you just let slip something huge?"
Will's expression turned curious.
"Didn't I tell you?" Alaric said, blinking. "Strictly speaking, I'm a Avatar of a great existence, but I've broken free and am my own person now." He spoke without any intent to hide.
"No, wait…" Klein's words stumbled, his mind racing with things he wanted to say but felt weren't quite right. Finally, he looked at Alaric with concern. "Either way, that's all in the past, right?"
"Of course. Otherwise, you wouldn't be looking at me... you'd be facing someone countless times worse than Amon." Alaric said frankly. Nyarlathotep was, after all, far more malevolent than Amon.
Klein let out a heartfelt sigh of relief, both for his friend and for the world. Then another thought struck him, and he looked at Alaric. "Wait, if you were a Avatar of a great existence, then Mr. Lucifer…"
"He's one too, obviously!" Alaric said without missing a beat, his expression unfazed. "Unlike you or the Ancient Sun God, our vessels are Avatars of great existences. But we've both broken free from our originals and gained our independence."
Klein's mind buzzed, overwhelmed by the bombshell. But he quickly realized the clues were there: Lucifer's peculiar attitude toward Jack, their shared habits…
Alaric calmly poured himself a cup of coffee and took a sip.
His sudden "confession" was strategic, meant to prevent a future unmasking. Klein was sharp, and while Alaric was a skilled actor, he couldn't completely suppress his small habits in daily life. Better to reveal a partial truth now to cover the deeper reality than risk being caught later and facing an awkward fallout.
After all, Alaric knew he had plenty of tells. Once Klein advanced to a higher Sequence, he'd likely notice that both Jack and Lucifer's souls carried the same terrifying essence. Better to preempt that with a half-truth: as Avatars of the same great existence, having similar souls was perfectly normal, right?
"…So, Jack, are you and Mr. Lucifer the same person?" Klein asked, his overloaded brain finally catching up, his voice strained.
"No, Jack Jones is Jack Jones, and Lucifer is Lucifer. We come from the same great existence, but we're distinct individuals." Alaric said, shaking his head, speaking a truth in a certain sense.
Klein instinctively relaxed. "Got it. I won't treat you as the same person. Honestly, if you were, that'd be way too weird."
He imagined the possibility, his expression turning odd.
Think about it: if Jack and Lucifer were the same person, that would mean his best friend and the elder he respected most were one and the same. The person who cared for him, shaped his fate, treated him like family, and inexplicably had issues with him would all be one individual.
That would be far too strange.
***
If you like the Classroom of the Elite and Danganronpa series, don't hesitate to check out the new project I'm currently working on:
[COTE: The True Perfect Human]
Synopsis:
Since the era when humanity was still focused on steam and coal, people have already been questioning what the Perfect Human truly looks like.
Some say the Perfect Human possesses overwhelming physical strength… others claim the Perfect Human has unparalleled intelligence.
Of course, there are also those who believe the Perfect Human possesses both... strength and intellect.
Like Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
That's why when people ask who the most perfect human in all of fiction is, they often point to the Masterpiece of the White Room as the Perfect Human.
But… only the OGs know that the only Perfect Human who has ever walked this earth is...
The Ultimate Hope…
Izuru Kamukura.
...
This is the story of Izuru Kamukura as he challenges Classroom of the Elite searching for whether there is anything in this world capable of dispelling his boredom.