Roselle opened his eyes in a daze, greeted by a familiar ceiling.
Blinking, he recognized it as the ceiling of his tomb. He was strapped to a bed, flanked by two figures staring at him... one with curiosity, the other with scrutiny.
It took a moment for Roselle to register them as his boss and his boss's sidekick.
What had just happened?
"How do you feel now?" Alaric asked, his tone more inquisitive than concerned, like a researcher probing for results.
For some reason, Roselle's body shuddered, an instinctive fear etched deep within him.
"I'm… fine?" Roselle replied, bewildered. His brain seemed to stall, incapable of coherent thought.
"Hiss, this reaction... did he really break?" Alaric's voice came again, followed by hands prying open Roselle's eyelids to check his pupils.
"Good, good. It's just temporary overload from the madness. His brain's shut down briefly... not even full temporary insanity. No big deal!"
Roselle heard his boss speak again, unfamiliar terms sparking a reflex to think, but his mind remained blank.
The two beside the bed began discussing something.
"You seem familiar with this state." Amon remarked.
"I've seen it plenty before. Let's see, how to do a mental analysis for this…" Alaric mused.
Roselle's memory of what followed was hazy. A jolt seemed to clear his mind, and fragments of memory flooded back... about himself, about the treatment.
Finally snapping out of his stupor, Roselle looked at Alaric, weak and pleading, "Boss, just kill me."
"Uh…" Alaric, unusually sheepish, touched his nose, then rallied with confidence. "Why don't you check your corruption? Isn't it much better than before?"
Roselle, slow to respond, sensed his internal state and was stunned. Alaric's plan had worked. His power and the Outer Deity's corruption had indeed formed a balance within him.
It wasn't perfect... like resisting a primordial being's will with too few anchors, precarious and easily disrupted... but it was progress.
"Keep going?" Alaric asked.
Roselle was silent for a few seconds before nodding. "Yeah, keep going."
Backing out now would mean all that suffering was for nothing.
…
Roselle opened his eyes in a daze, greeted by a familiar ceiling… Wait, why did this feel so familiar?
For some reason, he felt an urge to laugh hysterically, and he did.
"Hahahahaha!"
Along with the laughter came an impulse to break free and leap up, but the seals binding him were too strong. Not yet fully resurrected, with only a Sequence 0 status and less power than a true Sequence 0, Roselle couldn't budge.
Deep down, a feeling warned him against breaking free, dampening his efforts.
"Hahahahaha!"
Roselle laughed again, unsure why, but unable to stop.
"Damn! Temporary insanity? Even Sequence 0s get it?" Alaric's voice exclaimed, and Roselle's vision went black.
…
Roselle opened his eyes again, staring blankly at the ceiling for seconds, thinking, This ceiling is way too damn familiar.
"You okay?" A head leaned into view.
Recognizing Alaric, Roselle felt a sudden epiphany... this was the most important person in his life, his… daughter?
"Daughter! Daddy loves you!" Roselle blurted, struggling to sit up but failing. He gazed at Alaric with fatherly affection. "Daughter, can Daddy get a hug? I love you so much! I missed you!"
Alaric's mouth twitched, at a loss for words.
"He's gone nuts again?" Amon said, his expression odd.
"Interpersonal dependency, a symptom of temporary insanity. He shouldn't see me as his daughter, but whatever, no point arguing with a lunatic…" Alaric explained, shaking his head at the deranged Roselle before raising his hand.
Roselle's vision went black.
…
Roselle opened his eyes for the umpteenth time, staring at the ceiling with overwhelming fear.
He desperately wanted to flee, no matter the cost, and thrashed wildly.
"Alright, this time it's escape-driven insanity…" Alaric's voice noted, and Roselle lost consciousness.
…
After an unknown time, Roselle stirred, hearing a voice nearby.
"Phew! Finally done. That was the toughest treatment I've ever done."
Treatment?
Roselle's awareness returned. He opened his eyes to that maddeningly familiar ceiling, with Alaric and Amon leaning over him.
For some reason, his neck ached. Sitting up, he instinctively rubbed it, wincing. "What's going on? What did you do to my neck?"
It felt like he could cosplay a detective knocked out one too many times. But he wasn't even in a proper human body... shouldn't he be immune to physical harm?
"Well…" Alaric touched his nose, then said shamelessly, "It was for your own good."
For my good? Really? Roselle wasn't buying it.
He gave Alaric a skeptical look as memory fragments flashed through his mind. Incredulous, he said, "Wait, how did you knock me out by pinching my neck? I'm a Sequence 0!"
***
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