Ely's reaction when she saw the five of them was priceless.
She had just stepped into the chamber, still at her full five meters of height. She was clearly still adjusting to being permanently stuck at that height.
Five identical Veneris were standing in front of her, each one looking up at her with different colored eyes. For a long, awkward second, nobody said anything.
"What the fuck is going on?"
All five of them raised a hand in greeting at the same time.
"Hi."
Her eye twitched.
Before she could even process that properly, the cerulean-eyed one—the Water Pentarch—stepped forward and lifted his hand toward her.
"Hold still."
"What are you—"
He activated Body Reconstruction before she could finish the sentence.
Her body shimmered. It wasn't painful. Her perspective began to shift rapidly as the floor seemed to rise toward her. Within seconds, her towering five-meter form compressed smoothly down to a much more manageable height, stopping just a little taller than the Veneris.
She blinked, looking down at her hands, then at them.
"You could do that this entire time?"
Water Veneri shrugged. "Yeah. You just never asked. Also, it was a punishment."
She stared at him like she was debating whether to strangle him with a vine. Eventually, she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Explain. Now."
The gold-eyed one—the Justice Pentarch—stepped forward and gently touched her forehead. A stream of compressed information flowed into her mind, showing her everything. I watched her expression change from confusion, shock, disbelief.and finally tired acceptance as the data settled. When he pulled his hand away, she swayed slightly.
"So you're all him."
All five nodded.
She looked directly at the pink-eyed one—the Love Pentarch—and narrowed her eyes slightly.
"So… do you still love me?"
All five Veneris answered at the exact same time.
"We're still mad at you."
Her shoulders dropped a little.
"Okay…"
The Love Pentarch shifted, glancing at the others.
"We can cut her some slack, right? She was scared of what we'd think of her."
The Justice Pentarch crossed his arms.
"That may be true. However, betrayal of trust still warrants a penalty."
The Time Pentarch nodded in agreement. "Justice should deliver a verdict."
Justice Veneri hummed thoughtfully, tapping his chin like a judge in some bizarre courtroom. Then his eyes lit up.
"I have decided. Your punishment will be to wear a swimsuit."
There was a brief silence. Then all four of the other Veneris nodded.
"That's reasonable," Protection said.
"Very fair," Water added.
"Darlings, that's not a punishment, that's—"
Ely, however, had gone completely still.
"A swimsuit?"
To anyone else, being told to wear a swimsuit might sound like a joke. But Elyonari was a Verdarite who treated modesty like it was a sacred law. The idea of wearing something revealing in front of five identical men she loved was basically psychological warfare.
Justice Veneri continued, completely serious.
"We will also take turns inspecting said swimsuit to determine whether it meets our aesthetic and structural standards."
Water Veneri smirked. "And if it doesn't?"
Justice shrugged. "Then we will pin her down and tease you until it does."
Ely's face went completely red. "That is sexual harassment!"
"You're getting a punishment and a fashion review at the same time," Time Veneri said. "I call it efficient."
I crossed my arms, scowling slightly and, to my own surprise, I felt… jealous. Ely noticed immediately.
"Why are you mad about this? They're literally threatening me with indecency!"
The Love Pentarch leaned closer to her with a smile.
"The silent ones are always the most dangerous. Look at Phae. looks calm, but she's actually the craziest out of all of us."
"Excuse me?!"
"Both of you could, in theory, order all five of us to stay in the same bed and dominate you and we'd probably comply."
"YOU CANNOT SAY THAT OUT LOUD!" Ely shrieked, slapping her hands over her ears.
"I would never—" I started, then stopped, because my brain unfortunately supplied a very vivid mental image.
I groaned, covered my face, took a deep breath and forced myself back into mission mode.
"We are not having this conversation. We can handle the… bikini contest later. Right now we need to discuss logistics. There are five of you, which means five Codices. The most efficient approach would be to—"
I was abruptly cut off when the green-eyed Time Veneri casually grabbed me under the arms and lifted me off the ground like I weighed nothing.
"Hey!"
At the same time, the Justice Veneri did the exact same thing to Ely, hoisting her up with zero effort.
"We'll discuss that later," Justice said cheerfully. "Right now, morale is important."
Water Veneri clapped his hands. "Barbeque."
Protection nodded immediately. "And a picnic."
Love grinned. "With desserts."
Time added, "And we'll test who can cook better."
Within seconds, all five of them had unanimously decided that what this deeply traumatic, reality-altering situation needed was grilled meat and fresh air. I dangled uselessly in Time Veneri's grip, staring at them in disbelief.
"We just split your soul into five parts and you want to… have a picnic?"
"Yes," all five said in unison.
I opened my mouth to protest again, but then all five of them looked at me at the same time. They all had one unified expression that clearly said: Don't ruin this for us.
I deflated immediately.
"Fine. I admit defeat."
They cheered like children who had just been given permission to skip homework, and I realized with a sinking feeling that managing one Veneri had been hard enough.
Managing five of them is going to be a full-time job.
°°°°°°
By the time we finished cooking and eating outside, the sky above the clearing had shifted into that warm, lazy orange that only appeared in the late afternoon. The spaceship's exterior deck overlooked a stretch of quiet, artificial greenery Hansel had apparently cultivated for "psychological stability," and it actually made for a surprisingly perfect picnic spot.
What still messed with my head was the time discrepancy.
We had spent ten entire days inside the Jack and the Beanstalk fairytale yet outside, in the real world, not even a minute had passed.
Jack, Luciana, and Griselda were sprawled out a short distance away already asleep from sheer exhaustion. Jack was snoring softly, Luciana was curled up like a cat with a coat pulled over her shoulders, and Griselda had fallen asleep sitting under a tree.
That left just the seven of us.
Ely was currently seated on the Love Pentarch's lap. Her massive Verdarite pride was completely absent as she quietly ate grilled vegetables from a wooden skewer. Meanwhile, I found myself perched on the Protection Pentarch's lap with his arm resting securely around my waist as he casually munched on roasted meat like this was the most normal outing.
I stared at them all for a moment before finally voicing the question that had been bothering me since the splitting.
"Are you guys actually okay? You're literally five separate people now."
All five of them answered at the exact same time.
"It's fun."
The Love Pentarch leaned back slightly as he stared into the sunset.
"I don't feel stranger. My personality hasn't changed. It's just… certain aspects of me are stronger."
"Such as?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"My cravings for affection," he said shamelessly, pulling Ely a little closer. She was amazed but didn't move away, which told me more than she probably intended.
The Protection Pentarch nodded in agreement.
"My sense of protecting others is still present in all of us but in my case, it's stronger."
The Time Pentarch, who was lying on his back on the grass, shrugged.
"I'm the same too. I still love all of you. The only real difference is that I'm not as bothered by the passage of time anymore. Waiting doesn't irritate me."
The Justice Pentarch adjusted his glasses—he had apparently decided to wear them now, probably to complete his "judge" aesthetic.
"I remain the same as well. I am simply more decisive. I reach conclusions faster than before."
The Water Pentarch rolled his shoulders, testing his range of motion. "I feel normal too. Actually, I feel stronger. It's like all the messy overlap is gone."
"Do you all still love us?"
All five of them answered in unison again to Ely's question.
"Yes."
The Love Pentarch chuckled softly. "It's not like each Pentarch loves a different beloved. We all love all of you. The feelings didn't split. They just duplicated."
To prove his point—or because he was incapable of not being dramatic—the Protection Pentarch gently turned Ely's chin and kissed her cheek. She blinked and then looked at him suspiciously.
"Do I feel different to you?"
She studied his face carefully before shaking her head.
"No. You feel the same. But the Love one is more handsome."
"Yeah, I agree."
All five of them turned to look at us.
"We have the exact same face."
"It's the charm," I said, waving my hand dismissively. "And the Love Divinity. It gives him unfair bonuses."
The Love Pentarch smirked like he had just been crowned king of something. I exhaled slowly, leaning back against the Protection Pentarch's chest.
"I was honestly worried you'd change after this. But you're still the same idiot. You're just more whimsical."
The Water Pentarch snorted. "Can you blame us? It's not every day you get to see yourself from five different angles. One day, when all of you are together, I'm going to touch you all at once and see if the sensations sync across all of us."
Ely choked on her food. "That is absolutely going to cause favoritism."
"It already is."
"Phae, you already have a favorite, don't you?"
"Ely, I do not."
At that exact moment, the Love Pentarch reached up and gently brushed his fingers along the side of my neck. A shiver ran down my spine so violently I had to clamp my mouth shut to stop a very embarrassing sound from escaping. Heat rushed to my face as I slapped his hand away weakly.
"That's not true! I love all of you unconditionally—"
He leaned forward and kissed me before I could finish. This time, he didn't just use his lips.
His Love Divinity seeped in my mind. My thoughts became hazy as a warm, dizzying sensation flooded my chest. He pulled back just enough to whisper.
"Do you still think the same?"
The next thing I knew, I had tackled him onto the grass, pinning him down with far more force than I intended. I was breathing heavily. My hands kept gripping his shoulders as I stared down at him. My thoughts were dangerously close to spiraling into places I absolutely did not want them to go.
For a split second, I almost lost myself in it. My mind kept conjuring vivid, treacherous scenarios fueled by his Divinity and my own traitorous imagination. It took me every ounce of my will to get back to my senses.
I sat down a few feet away, covering my face with both hands.
"I… liked it? Why did I like it? Why do I enjoy being manipulated by a Love Divinity? This is humiliating."
Ely snorted. "You're weak."
The Love Pentarch, of course, decided to prove that she was in no position to judge. He leaned toward her slightly, letting that same peony scent drift into her space. Within seconds, her cheeks flushed and her breathing grew uneven.
"Wait. Don't—"
Too late.
Her vines shot out and wrapped around him, pulling him closer to her as she leaned down and kissed him repeatedly. Each one was more desperate than the last. The rest of us stared in silence as the supposedly dignified Verdarite matriarch completely lost control.
When he finally dispelled the Love Divinity, the peony scent vanished.
Ely blinked, suddenly aware of her position. Her vines were tangled around both their bodies like a suspiciously affectionate cocoon.
"You're the most dangerous one."
The Protection Pentarch nodded thoughtfully. "That means we now have leverage against our beloveds if they ever get mad at us."
The other four hummed in agreement like they had just discovered a new strategic resource. Ely and I looked at each other, then back at the Love Pentarch.