Theoretical Metaphysics

"First off, I only know what I inherited from that man."

The Princess Knight claims, pushing herself off from her chair.

She paces up and down, searching for words.

"Hold on, who is that man?" I'm already full of questions and she's yet to start.

She stops, shooting me a glance, then takes a deep breath and sighs. Yes, this is the real Aratsuki.

"I don't remember his name, but he was the bookstore's owner." Again, with the phrasing.

He was? What happened to him? And how much of it has to do with her? I swallow my questions.

The one thing I learned from her series is that you don't want to piss off Aratsuki.

She's adorable, the twin buns give her this innocent look, but she's always ready to explode.

She leans against the desk, her voice louder than appropriate in a library, but the place is empty.

And even if it wasn't, I doubt anyone was courageous enough to warn her.

"I was minding my business when this man dragged me out of the manga, and we dove into a philosophical book. Am I saying it right? The whole thing was about finding yourself."

"Who the hell reads a philosophy book with the Princess Knight?"

I can't help but wonder, and her eyes narrow.

Right. I did the same with the Iliad.

"My bad. Go on."

"I inherited some of his memories. That's how I knew what was happening, and what the trigger was. It must have been a special case since we didn't become characters from that book."

Yeah. Philosophy books must be weird like that.

They don't tell you a story with people in it, but give you something to think about.

It's not like I've read any of them, only the summaries.

I hate philosophy classes, whoever thought we should learn that shit has no idea what kids need in life.

Teach us how to do taxes or write a good CV, not that crap, please.

"From his head, I realized that I'm not real, that my entire life is a children's story to entertain people. It was shocking, seeing everything in a new light." That's a philosophical book for you.

"But how did you get out? You're right, I saw you in the store, and my first thought was, this is Aratsuki from the manga. But once we returned from the Iliad, you were gone."

Is it strange that I start to believe her?

This whole Dive thing sounds surreal and stupid, but here I am, for the second time.

I rewrote an ancient epic and her manga at once.

Now I'm in this medieval library, it must be a setting of her Academy Arc.

She also remembers our previous adventures together.

The signs point towards the fact that this is real.

Or I lost my mind in the most elaborate daydream I ever had. Well, it's better than writing a CV.

If these Dives are real, I won't need to worry about getting a job anymore.

Imagine spending the rest of my life with the books I love but inside them.

That would be living the dream, in the most literal sense.

She shoots a glance at me.

"Are you listening?" It sounds like I wasn't.

Yeah, I'm easy to distract with bombshells like these.

I could be with her, my Best Girl, inside the manga. Holy shit.

"Hey, Earth calling Maxwell."

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

I shake my head, trying to clear the chaos, but another question arises.

"How do you even know my name? You never let me say it."

"Ah. It's written all over your booklets." She points it out, nodding towards the hill of books on the desk.

She's right, they look like my textbooks and booklets for a school project. Hold on.

"Wait, am I the mysterious new character from the manga?!" The realization hits me in the face.

Of course, I took over Odysseus from the previous Dive, and they all had a local character too.

She said the book that let her escape was special because it didn't have specific characters.

But why does the mysterious stranger have my name? Or he never had one?

Am I that guy?

"I don't know what you're talking about, but can I finish?"

She taps her feet against the floor, losing her patience. Right. Let's have her explain everything.

"Please, go ahead." With a nod, I lean back on the chair, taking in her unrealistic beauty, and even hold my breath. I can draw my conclusions after she finished.

Even if this sounds like a silly fairytale I want to believe her.

The opportunities I'd gain from her magic would change my life forever.

Crap, I should pay attention to her.

"So because we didn't take over anyone in that book, we both desired to clear the trigger as the Anchor. We were both the protagonists of that strange story." She explains, pacing again.

"The goal was to find our true self, and while that man lost himself in the magic of the Dive, I rushed through the process." She wrings her hands, showing a rare moment of weakness.

"You mean you found yourself, and a way out of the book? And it didn't send you back to the manga where you belong, but the real world?" I'm still not sure what is real though.

"That's what it looked like. I found myself in that bookstore, and couldn't believe it. Thanks to the inherited memories, I felt like I always lived there. And then you showed up."

The implication is heavy. Too heavy.

Does it mean, I ruined her chance to live in the real world by dragging her back into the manga?

I'm too afraid to ask, and her voice trails off.

"I want to go back." She notes, her voice less than a whisper. "I want a normal life, I never knew existed. In the real world. Or whatever that was. Anywhere, but here. I want to be real."