Hypothesis.

Reina and Anna shared a look that was hard to describe. Incredulous, confused, worried, angry, surprised… Will couldn’t say which one of those was more prevalent.

“Where do I even start?” Reina said. “That you met your ex-girlfriend there is bad enough, but… You agreed to a fight with someone who can potentially leave you with all your bones broken?”

“Will… Are you okay in the head?” Anna asked him.

“Of course not,” Will answered with an easy shrug. “I hear a nagging voice inside every day. Sanity left me a long time ago.”

‘Fuck you. You’ve always had a screw loose. It’s not my fault.’

“I mean… I’d understand if you wanted to sleep with her,” Reina said. “But fighting her just for the sake of it?”

“In his defense, it’s not for nothing” Aoi began. “If he leaves a good impression, we might be able to work together with an actual Amazon. Think of it like having 10 MMA champions on your side. Had I been there, I would’ve offered to fight her myself.”

“Come on, not you too…” Reina lamented. “Nanami, don’t stay quiet! Say something! Tell them they’re being irrational.”

Nanami looked startled, suddenly being brought out of her thoughts. “Ah. Um… Actually, I think it’s pretty logical,” she said. “S-Sure, I’m worried about Will because it’s very likely he’ll… um…”

“Get smashed to a pulp,” Anna said, not very happy with the idea.

“W-Well, yes. But the likelihood of their duel being lethal is low. Remember, Will can heal himself.”

“The pain would be hellish, though,” Cynthia said with a sigh of concern. “But if this is what you chose, dear, then you better take it like a man.”

“That’s the plan,” Will said. “And hey, it’s not like I want to be beaten to a pulp. I’ll fight back. I’m not that weak.”

Nanami nodded. “Yeah, you aren’t. So if you can get someone like this woman to our side, the whole hunting business gains an even bigger margin of safety.”

“Ah, I get it,” Amelia said, nodding along. “Get beaten up now so you don’t die later. Is that it?”

Nanami smiled sheepishly. “Yeah… Not that I want to see Will all battered and bruised, but…”

“But he asked for it, so he deserves it,” Aoi said bluntly.

“To be honest, I’m more interested in that other thing you said about the Amazon woman. Johana, was it?” Nanami asked.

“Yeah.”

“Hmm… She’s someone Ishtar had already seen before. And… You say she looked just like she did in that other world?”

“So she claims,” Will told her. “Not 100% the same, but enough that Ishtar recognized her immediately.”

“We know spirits are able to modify the body of their host to suit their needs,” Aoi said. “It’s why Ishtar changed yours, or why stray spirits possessing animals end up twisting them beyond recognition.”

“Then it’s not that strange that Johana modified the body of her host to look just like her, right?” Cynthia asked.

“I wonder,” Nanami said. “Would it really be possible? To that extent?”

“Maybe they just happened to look very similar already?” Anna said. “It could be just a coincidence, right?”

“I suppose it could be.” Nanami smiled wryly. “Yes, maybe I’m just overthinking it.”

“Did you have something else in mind?” Aoi asked her niece.

“Well… Yes. A theory that my grandfather had. No, it was more of a hypothesis than a theory. He had nothing to back it up. He posited that the Aether Realm was a parallel world to our own. That the two were once the same before something happened to split the magic from the material. He believed that was the reason the two exist while our world lacks magic and aether is no longer a natural part of us. He also believed that, in the split, the magic inside people gained sentience in that other world and became its inhabitants. So following that logic…”

“He thought there was a copy of all of us in that other world?” Will asked.

“I’m not sure if he would’ve called it a copy, but yes, something along those lines.”

“But if such a split actually happened, it would’ve been millions of years ago,” Amelia argued. “There aren’t any records of magic being commonplace, right? So even if his hypothesis was true, there would be no way for that other world to have a copy of a young woman who was born 30 years ago at most.”

“I believe her grandfather also had ideas about reincarnation,” Aoi said.

“Yes,” Nanami said. “He believed that aether had a unique signature that was directly tied to the soul. Supposedly, that would mean the people in the Aether Real would die and be born again with that same signature.”

“Wait, but… I can use aether, remember?” Reina said. “Not very well, but I can. What does that mean?”

“I’m not sure. Like I said, my grandfather’s ideas had no basis. There were too many holes in his hypothesis, so… Um… Not many took him seriously.” Still, Nanami smiled fondly. “He would share his ideas with me. Some were very silly, some made a lot of sense. I was thinking that maybe this one could have some merit.”

“I wonder if old man Belphegor would know,” Will mused. “He seems old enough to have seen the split happen.”

“I doubt it,” Nanami said. “Like Amelia said, this would’ve been millions of years ago. Really, this is probably just a coincidence like Anna said. The girl most likely just happened to look like Johana.”

Will sighed grimly. “And that same girl decided that she had enough and gave her life to Johana. I can’t imagine what she must’ve gone through, but… I think I can understand the reasoning.”

“...”

There was a brief silence in the room. Will tried to tell himself it was none of his business, that there were a dozen other things he had to worry about before he could start thinking about stranger’s issues.

He knew the thought was gonna keep nagging him, though.