In comes a young man from the backyard with a bag full of herbs and fruits, some of which glow flaintly.

He sees the boy with the panther, recognizes the face but immediatelly knows it can't be Kaede.

"Hello. What is your name?" he says with a flat voice.

He looks up from his book. "I am Eriol. It is a pleasure to meet you."

The panther looks up at Fernando, revealing a crystal embedded on its forehead. Its eyes and the inside of its ears are bright blue.

That is hardly the weirdest thing he has seen in Milliways. If anything a regular panther would be weirder by Milliways standards.

"I am Fernando. You look like someone I know. Their name is Kaede."

"How long have you been apart?"

Fernando looks at his wristwatch and then looks up and says without a pause, "Five hundred forty-seven days, eighteen hours, nine minutes. With a thirty minute error margin. But that is how long it was for me; due to time weirdness it could've been way longer on their end."

"It has not been as long for Kaede and Felix. It's... been longer for Sadde."

Fernando doesn't react. "I actually know it has been longer for Sadde - their world has reliable periodicals - but Kaede's doesn't. And how do you know that?"

He shrugs uncomfortably and averts his gaze. "It's complicated to explain. And Sadde's no longer in their world. Hasn't been for a while."

Fernando still doesn't quite react, but there is something there, like he is trying to remember how to emote properly. "And where is Sadde?"

"Right now? I'm not sure. Last I checked they were in a world full of magic, with terrible creatures of a winter that lasts years, but the way time works around these places, they could be anywhere right now."

"How casually can you check? What are the means by which Sadde is moving between the words? Can it be replicated or learned? How dangerous are the terrible creatures?"

"I can't check very casually. Sadde found a magical artefact of some sort that allows them to create doors to other worlds, but they can only be opened from one side, so Sadde cannot return through the doors they've made. The terrible creatures are very dangerous to humans, and that world is on the brink of war with them, but unaware of it. Sadde won't be harmed, though."

Pause while Fernando ponders on this. "Could you explain yourself to me? In the sense of what are your motivations and capabilities."

"I'm an alt of your Sadde and Kaede, from yet another world." One corner of his mouth tugs up. "I'm significantly older than I look, though."

The panther snickers at that.

"I developed my world's magic farther than anyone else, but this required sacrificing the largest part of my magical abilities, and I wasn't finished yet. So I died and was reborn. In two pieces. One piece has my memories and old magical powers—that's me—but the other is completely new and can develop their own abilities farther than I can. They're called Sadde, too, by the way. My world isn't paused, because I'm coming here in a dream, and I can't leave Milliways without waking up. I used to be able to see the future rather well, and managed to make myself immortal, but couldn't get farther than that without this little trick."

"I see. Are you two an item as well? Do you have one of me or my brothers?"

"I have not met my other self yet, and they don't know I exist. The manner through which I achieved this separation means I can't interact with them much without risking merging with them and losing all our progress, at least until they've developped and become distinct enough. They do have a you and a Felix but not a Thomas."

Fernando is quiet for a moment. "Is there any resource or information or anything else that you could share to help me? Help Sadde?"

He lowers his eyes. "No. There might have been, once upon a time, but nowadays I'm limited in what I can accomplish. I think... Sadde is going to find you, eventually, but it'll cost them dearly. I don't know whether Kaede and Felix will find you or the other way around. I'm sorry."

"I understand."

"I have been here by myself for about ten months. I have yet to find anything that could help." He doesn't know why he is saying that. It isn't useful.

"...you stopped time for your brother and Katur. It's only been seven months for them?"

"Yes. No point in making them go through another minute of unhappiness over it."

"I'm not sure either of them will thank you for this. And I'm not sure Sadde will disagree with you."