In another room prepared by The Mask for the reaction, various people were sitting separated by various pitch-black curtains.
This room was different from the others. This one was circular and was divided by the black curtains as if someone had divided the room like it was pie.
At the center of the room, various screens stood afloat in various directions, allowing anyone to watch, regardless of the angle.
There were eight sections in the room.
In the first one, several people were happily conversing.
All of them mundane.
At the furthest row to the center, four people were sitting.
They were Anvil Valor, Ki Song, and those who were known as Smile of Heaven and Broken Sword in the original universe.
Ki Song and Smile were happily sharing photos of their daughters, obviously, Ki Song was the one with more photos.
Anvil and Sword were awkwardly sitting side by side, not a word being passed around.
Not far from them, a little down, a duo of siblings was bantering, they were, surprisingly, Mordret and Morgan.
"What do you mean, dear sister? Wasn't I clearly the winner last time?"
"You cheated."
"And yet I won. You see, dear sister, while I desired to win against you, and you also wanted to win, you desired so much more, you wanted to win against me and preserve your honor by not cheating or using dirty tactics like trash talking or using distractions, and you also blatantly refused to use the character that you knew I had more problems with. But I was different, I just wanted to win."
His sister looked at him for a moment, an expression of disgust on her face.
"I believe that Sunless' corniness has rubbed off on you, brother."
"Is that supposed to be an insult?. I quite enjoy my friend's weird way of speaking about casual things."
"You are impossible."
As the two siblings bantered, three people were also talking not far away from them, a few rows below.
They were a young man with short black hair, Sunless, a young woman with long black hair and grey eyes, Nephis, and a blonde girl with shining blue eyes, Cassie.
At the moment, the two girls were listening to the young man complaining.
"I have been stressed over the last few weeks because Effie refuses to have a wedding ceremony in a proper place. Why the hell did she choose my cafe? And this?! I have other things to think about than other realities where we have superpowers!"
Nephis chuckled.
"You wouldn't have to worry about something like that if you had accepted Professor Julius' proposal to study archeology abroad, right?"
"I couldn't really leave the country at the time, though. Rain was still in high school, Mom was still sick, and I couldn't just leave Dad and Saint to deal with all the work, right?"
The girls laughed.
"Hey, at least you have to be somewhat curious about what kind of superpowers you have in that reality, no?"
Cassie asked with a small smile.
"Somewhat, I guess. But things don't come free in this world. I bet that for whatever superpower we have in that world, we suffer tenfold for it."
"Pessimistic as always."
"I prefer realistic, thank you."
****
In another section, the tension was much heavier. Only five people were present in that section, none of them seemed particularly cheerful.
They were Kai, Effie, Jet, Cassie, and...
Sunny, or rather, the Mad Prince, a Great Titan that had driven humanity to the brink of extinction in his madness.
Kai was wearing a facial mask to hide the scars in his mouth.
Effie was missing an arm and was using a prosthetic memory for her left leg.
Jet was visibly thinner, as if she hadn't eaten in months, however, it wasn't exactly food she was hungry for.
Cassie was visibly worn out. Her eyebags were deeper than they had ever been, her clothes were a rag, and her body slightly trembled in exhaustion.
Even being a Supreme, she had already spent almost a year without a sleep that lasted longer than two hours.
She was currently sitting on a throne, her body anything but relaxed, because sitting beside her was Him.
The Mad Prince was sitting in a throne similar to hers, several chains wrapped around him.
"Dear Torment, you seemed quite interested in these viewings. I wonder, what kind of information are you trying to get from all this? Are you expecting to receive your answers from that alternate reality? Ah! But what answers are you truly seeking, Torment..."
His face expressed a wide, maddening smile, his face full of scars contorting to contain the broad smile.
Cassie did not answer for a few moments.
"You have already committed various mistakes and killed several people that were vital for humanity's survival. I want to see if there is something else we can do. Besides that, I also want to find a way to cure you from corruption ... Sunny."
The Mad Prince chuckled.
"Cure me? Ah, and I see you still use that name for me? Can you truly see me as I once was? Don't lie to yourself, dear Torment."
"You decided to call me by the name you used most, I will do the same. And, yes, I will cure you. I ... We need you back, Sunny."
The Mad Prince chuckled once again before starting to laugh loudly.
"Hahahaha! You need me back? How touching. But I know pretty well what you need is my power, my connection to fate, my [Fated]."
Cassie fell silent. She wanted to tell him he was wrong, that she needed Sunny back, that without him things were harder to go through, that everyone missed him, and that things weren't like before with him like this.
But she knew. That she needed his powers, his connection with fate, his [Fated] attribute, and his lineage. Because he was the key for survival.
She knew that he wasn't completely wrong, no matter how much she wished he was.
So she didn't rebuke him.
"I will save you regardless."
She left him only those words.
"Ah... Things could be much simpler, Torment. You just have to tell me, where is Nephis?"
"I already told you, she is challenging the 4th Nightmare."
"For a year and a half? Ah! What a horrendous nightmare it must be."
Their conversation ended there.
Now, they needed to focus on the viewings, to find Nephis, to find a future, and to find a way to save their friend.
****
In another section of the Alter Room, only three people were sitting.
They were...
The most controversial detective in Mirage City, Detective Sunless.
The most famous rookie detective, Detective Athena.
And the most beautiful therapist, Doctor Saint.
They were sitting in silence. None of them had really strong opinions on another reality.
Sunless had bigger problems to deal with, for example, the Nihilist.
Athena, or rather, Effie, was someone who couldn't be bothered easily to begin with. Superpowers? Her children already called her a superhero—no surprises there then!
And Saint. Well, what really bothered her was the fact that she had been pulled from her perfect routine. Still, being here with someone she could trust and had a favorable impression of in Detective Sunless, she wasn't that worried about something happening to her.
****
In another section, four people were sitting closely together. They were a young man with black hair and dark eyes, in his lap a young girl with black hair and grey eyes was sitting, swinging her legs excitedly.
Beside him were two beauties. One had short black hair and blue eyes, while the other reminded one of a vampire with her pale skin and blood-red lips.
They were, respectively, Sunny, Nephis, Jet, and Seishan.
However, they were plenty different from the rest of their alternate selves.
That's because this Sunny was a regressor, not just a regressor who was remaking his life, but one that had been spent years before his First Nightmare.
He was now of the same generation as Jet, who was once his mentor.
And now, he was something like an adoptive father to the one he had once seen as the love of his life.
Being in this situation, Sunny was already expecting it. The alternate reality was most likely a world where he didn't regressed.
He wasn't sure if it would show everything from the beginning or from the point of divergence between the two worlds, but he was somewhat worried.
Jet would see that she was older, and refuse to budge until he called her Big Sis.
Nephis would see the one she regarded as a father/brother figure romancing an older version of herself.
And Seishan ... well, his interactions with her before regressing weren't that many. But his opinion of the Sovereigns was!
He sighed, things were going to get hard to deal with.
[Author's Note: This is obviously inspired by the fanfic Shadow Slave: Tender Sea. Highly recommend it!]
****
In another sector, a cohort was gathered.
They were the classic group of Nephis, Cassie, Kai, and Effie.
All of them were Masters, they had just gone through their Second Nightmare together.
Oh, and Rain was also there.
One might wonder how this world deviated from other worlds.
In this world, Sunny, in an act of defiance, pushed Nephis through before she could order him to leave without her, although she had already said his True Name before he decided to do that.
At the moment, Nephis was still trying to open her runes.
'I can't. Before coming here, I was without checking his runes for a full hour. The Mask said that time is frozen outside this place, but what if he died in that single hour? I won't figure it out until I leave this place, but until then, this pressure on my chest...'
A hand clasped around hers.
"Calm down, Neph. I'm sure he is alright, he has withstood this long. I'm sure another hour is still in his capability."
It was Cassie
If Kai were hearing their conversation, he would notice that not even she was sure about it. And Nephis did not need a lie detector to notice these things.
Cassie asked her regularly about him.
And even now, her voice was trembling with uncertainty.
'With these viewings, I will save you and fix everything between us, Sunny ... my Sunny.'
[Author's Note: This one is inspired by not one, but two Fanfics: Moment of Weakness and This World Needs Its Star. The way Sunny was left behind at the Spire is different in my version. Instead of being ordered to stay or sacrificing himself for Nephis, this Sunny pushed her through the gateway not because of survival, but defiance. If his Master wanted him to leave her behind, then he would do the opposite. Check out those fanfics, they are PEAK]
****
In other sections, several other figures were present.
In one section was a Bygone Future.
In another, a world where lovers were instead enemies.
Even a world where the treacherous shadow didn't exist was here.
And they were about to experience the various adventures of the Fated/Fateless Shadow.
****
Author's Note: Another Chapter, what do you think of these alternate realities? Also check out those fanfics that I mentioned.