Agung took a deep, shaky breath, closing his eyes to shut out the weight of the wives' stares and the clinical coldness of the room. He reached deep into that shimmering, chaotic well of Creation Magic.
He didn't think about his quadrillion dollars. He didn't think about his 35 years of being a "nobody" in Pekalongan. He thought about the small, pure joy of a child waiting for a father who never came.
A soft, golden light began to swirl between his palms, humming with a gentle melody that sounded like the opening notes of a long-forgotten idol song.
Poof.
As the light faded, a tiny alpaca sat in his hands. It was the size of a picture book, covered in wool so white it seemed to glow, wearing a tiny, hand-stitched red bowtie that matched Hime's hair.
"Is it... another toy?" Hime whispered, leaning out from Maki's arms, her curiosity finally overriding her fear.
"Not just a toy," Agung said, his voice soft. He nudged the plushie gently. "Go on, little one. Say hello."
The plushie's head tilted. Its glass-bead eyes blinked with actual life. It stood up on its stubby, soft legs, shook its woolly tail, and let out a tiny, musical bleat: "Mweee!"
The little creature hopped off Agung's palm and trotted across the duvet toward Hime. It didn't walk like a robot; it moved with the bouncy, clumsy grace of a real baby animal, yet it remained soft to the touch, like a cloud turned into fabric.
"It's alive!" Hime gasped, her face lighting up with a radiance that seemed to thaw the icy tension in the room. She reached out, and the magical alpaca nuzzled its soft nose against her tiny hand, purring like a kitten.
Maki's grip on Hime loosened as she stared at the creature. She looked at the alpaca, then at Agung, her expression unreadable. Behind her, Umi let out a breath she seemed to have been holding for three years, and Eli leaned against the doorframe, a faint, sad smile playing on her lips.
"I made him so he never gets hungry, never gets tired, and most importantly..." Agung looked Hime in the eye, "he'll never leave your side. If you're scared, he'll glow. If you're sad, he'll play your favorite song."
Hime scooped the tiny, living plushie into a hug, giggling as it licked her cheek with a tongue that felt like warm velvet. "Thank you, Papa! You really did find the stars!"
Agung felt a lump in his throat so large it was hard to breathe. He looked at Maki. The reflex hammer was back in her bag, but her gaze was still sharp.
"A living toy," Maki murmured, her voice finally losing its jagged edge. "A clever distraction, Agung. You've won the daughter over in thirty seconds. But Hime is four. She doesn't understand 'interdimensional shifts' or 'debt.' We do."
She stepped closer to the bed, the silence returning, but this time it felt different—less like an execution and more like a crossroads.
"You have the magic. You have the money. And apparently, you have the heart of a man who spent his life sweeping streets just to stay honest," Maki said, her purple eyes searching his. "But I need to know one thing. If that 'Operator' appears right now and offers to take you back to your quiet life in 2013... would you leave her again?"