Hermione rubbed her temples like she was trying to massage the chaos back into order.
Harry sat beside her, still looking like his brain had been drop-kicked through five dimensions.
Silence hung for a few thick seconds before Hermione finally lifted her head. Her eyes were sharp, but genuinely overwhelmed.
"Alright… let's get straight to it."
She pointed directly at Nova. "You have a clone in another world. Really? A clone? And you can control them like some remote puppet? How does that even work? Wouldn't they eventually rebel or — or start thinking they're the real Nova?"
Her voice cracked slightly at the end, the mixture of fear and disbelief slipping through.
Nova shook his head quickly. "They're not clones. Not in the sense you're thinking. They don't have their own thoughts or personalities. It's my soul controlling all of them at once."
Hermione blinked. "So… a hive mind."
"Exactly," Nova said. "One consciousness. Multiple bodies. Same me."
Harry leaned back, letting out a low whistle.
"Mate… that's honestly terrifying," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Cool — but terrifying."
Hermione shot him a look. "Cool? Harry, that's not—"
She turned immediately back to Nova, fingers fluttering like she didn't know where to point next. "Okay, but if it's your soul controlling all versions, then how do memories work? Do they merge automatically? Do you experience everything at once? Or do you switch focus? And— wait— if one of you gets hurt in another world, do you feel it here? What if a body dies? Does that affect the rest? And how many bodies can your soul even control without—"
"Hermione," Harry groaned, gently patting her knee. "Breathe."
She inhaled sharply, a little embarrassed, but her eyes were still full of a thousand questions fighting each other for dominance.
Nova lifted his hands in surrender. "Okay. Slow down. One at a time. The short version? I can shift my main attention between bodies. Memories sync when I want them to. Pain is… muted, unless it's really bad. And no, a body dying doesn't kill me."
Hermione frowned deeply. "That's still unbelievably dangerous."
"Yeah," Nova said, shrugging. "I noticed."
Harry crossed his arms. "So you've basically been living triple lives like it's normal."
"It's not normal," Nova said quickly. "I get headaches and a few problems. My brain is not having fun with this. But I can handle them all."
Hermione and Harry exchanged a look — disbelief mixed with something closer to concern.
After a moment, Hermione exhaled, trying to stabilize her voice," Alright… next point."
"So you're telling us there are different worlds out there. And you managed to find one you call 'Black Clover'… and you're living there with another body of yours."
Her tone wavered, but she pushed on. "In that world, governments don't exist. Everything is run by kingdoms and royal families. Everyone has magic — elemental magic."
"Yeah," Nova said. "That's basically it."
Hermione's eyes tightened as she processed that.
"And you," she continued, "have a four-leaf grimoire. And you can use multiple elements. How— how is that even possible? Does your soul-split ability affect your magic? Or is this something entirely different? Was your grimoire tied to your identity from the start? Is—"
Nova opened his mouth, then closed it again, unsure how to make any of this sound less insane. Afterall he can't just tell them about his reality altering power granted by Soulless, after it altered his Wish Grating ability.
Harry leaned forward, eyes wide. "Wait— you said everyone there has magic. Every single one of them? Actual combat magic. That's terrifying."
Hermione let out a soft, shaky laugh — the kind people make when life has officially stopped making sense.
"Every single person has magic," she repeated under her breath. "Merlin's beard…"
Nova rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. In Black Clover, magic is basically… breathing. Everyone's born with an affinity, an element. Some are powerful. Some are useless. But everyone has something."
Harry blinked rapidly. "So if you're born with water magic, you fight with water. If you're born with fire, you burn people. And if you're born with… I don't know… feathers or something—"
"There is a Feather Magic," Nova muttered.
Harry stared at him like that was the final straw. "Of course there is."
Hermione wasn't even listening anymore — her brain had leapt to something bigger.
"And you have access to multiple elements," she said slowly, "even though everyone else only has one."
"That's…" Harry trailed off, trying to find a polite word.
He gave up. "That's bloody unfair."
Hermione nodded firmly. "Extremely unfair. Statistically improbable. Completely illogical. And—"
"And you definitely shouldn't be able to do that," she finished helplessly.
Nova just smiled at them and said," "It's connected to one of my secrets. So don't poke at it too much."
Hermione's eyebrow twitched — the universal sign she was one question away from launching into a three-hour interrogation.
"Nova, you can't just say that and expect me not to ask."
He shrugged, absolutely unbothered. "I can and I will. Trust me, Hermione — some things don't fit into neat magical theory. Not even yours."
That somehow annoyed her more.
Harry snorted under his breath. "You're about to send her into a spiral."
Hermione glared at him. "I am not spiraling."
Harry nodded slowly. "Right. Your left eye twitches when you're spiraling."
Hermione slapped a hand over her eye defensively, cheeks pink. "It does not twitch—!"
Nova coughed into his hand, amused. "Guys, please. My dramatic reveal is losing momentum."
Hermione threw him a look. "You don't get to act dramatic after telling us you're living multiple lives across dimensions."
"Fair enough," Nova admitted.
Hermione steadied herself with another breath, then focused on the part she clearly couldn't let go of.
"So… let me get this right," she said slowly. "In that world, you're not just some random traveler. You're actually a noble — and the princess of the Clover Kingdom is almost engaged to you."
Harry stared. Hermione stared harder. Nova nodded like they'd asked him if he wanted tea.
Hermione threw her hands up. "Nova, that's not a small detail!"
Harry leaned forward. "How does something like that even happen?"
Nova scratched his cheek, looking almost casual about it.
"The King offered his little sister's hand to me," Nova said. "Because I have a legendary four-leaf grimoire, and not only that — I can use multiple elements, including Light Magic."
Hermione blinked slowly. Her mind clearly snagged on one specific phrase.
"…Light Magic? Is it something important?"
Nova gave a short nod. "Very important."
Harry frowned. "How important?"
Nova leaned forward a little, elbows on his knees. "Light Magic isn't just rare — it's the royal family's magic. As in, historically only people born in the royal bloodline can use it."
Hermione's eyes widened instantly.
"Oh. Oh— that is important."
Nova continued,"For them, Light Magic is proof of lineage. Prestige. Authority. It's their symbol, the thing that sets the royal family apart from everyone else. So when they saw me using it…"
Harry's eyebrows shot up. "…They assumed you were one of them?"
"Or someone meant to stand with them," Nova corrected. "The King said my four leaf grimoire and magic made me a worthy match for his sister."
Hermione almost choked. "So he thinks you're royal-level material."
Nova shrugged. " Maybe that's what he think."
Harry stared like Nova had grown a second head. "So basically… you show up in their world with this overpowered magic, and the King instantly goes, 'Right then, marry my sister.'"
Nova sighed. "Pretty much."
Harry stared at Nova like he'd just sprouted a second head.
"So basically… you show up in their world with this ridiculous magic, and the King immediately goes, 'Right then, marry my sister.'"
Nova let out a long sigh. "Pretty much, yeah."
Hermione wasn't satisfied with that at all.
She leaned forward, brows furrowed, voice sharp with confusion.
"Then why did the four noble houses challenge you? Is it because they like Princess Sarphina? Some political crush? Competition for her?"
Nova shook his head immediately. "That might be one tiny reason, sure. But the real reason is a lot more complicated."
Harry and Hermione both straightened, sensing the shift in tone.
Nova continued, slower now, choosing his words carefully not because he was nervous, but because the topic carried weight.
"You see… in every generation of the Clover Kingdom, only one person is born with Light Magic. Just one. And that person is naturally destined to become the ruler — the symbol of royal authority. The entire kingdom is built around that idea."
Hermione's eyes widened, the logic snapping into place instantly. "So… if there's suddenly more than one?"
"There would be a royal struggle," Nova finished for her.
Hermione nodded tightly. "A crisis of legitimacy. Two people with Light Magic means two potential rulers. Two 'chosen' by fate. Two rightful heirs. Civil war in the kingdom."
x------x
[CHAPTER 153: (THE UNEXPECTED) IS AVAILABLE ON MY P@TREON]
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