After extensive searching, Capella's head was not found in Crush's mansion, so there was no actual reason to stay any longer. As a result, your group left the night of Pandora's rewriting of reality.

Omega, as promised, traveled with you since there was no need to hide anymore. Presently, Elsa and Meili are giving her looks since she sat next to you in the dragon carriage, but neither she nor you cared.

You, Omega, Garfiel, Elsa, and Meili were sitting close to each other while Subaru and Beatrice sat in the front. The carriage, not having suffered damage from the now nonexistent battle, made no groans as Patrasche pulled it onto the Liafus Highway, back towards Miload Manor.

Garfiel stretched out and bumped Omega's knee, which was located across from him.

"M'bad," the demi human grumbled. 

Omega was about to answer when you saw a grin appear across her face.  Apparently changing her answer, she replied, "Do not worry, for it is I who is rude. I never properly introduced myself, did I?"

Garfiel looked towards you with a confused expression. He then looked at Elsa, who ignored him, then Meili, who shrugged.

"Didn't'cha say yer' name w's Omega? Is ya memory 'kay? Or 're ya like a barpone on frilt?" Garfiel questioned.

Omega's grin grew wider before containing itself and disappearing. "Ah, did I already give my name? I do not consider that a proper introduction. For you see, my true name is Echidna."

As soon as those words left Omega's mouth, Beatrice screeched from the front. "Gwalamashrwat?!!" 

Simultaneously, Garfiel deadpanned. "But she done hit th' dirt a while 'go. An' you ain't lookin' like 'chidna. I bet ya ain't 'chidna. So how do ya know 'er an' why're ya lyin?"

Beatrice stuck her head into the passenger area and glared at Omega. "Why are you claiming to be Echidna, in fact. What do you want, I suppose."

Omega leaned back and relaxed in her seat as she began her explanation. "This reveal was most definitely premature, but I suddenly felt the need to reveal my true identity. You see, it is better to get it out of the way now rather than planning out an optimal situation in which I can confess the same thing." 

Omega disengaged her illusion, and her Ryuzu clone form led to disbelief in Garfiel and Beatrice and gained the interest of Elsa and Meili, who have never heard of Echidna but have seen the clones.

"Wha..." Garfiel mumbled.

"Oh." Omega added. "Since a certain Knight is no longer present, I can also present another facet of proof. Please excuse me, for most of you will feel nauseous in a moment."

You looked at her with disbelief, but Echidna telepathically chimed, 'You did tell me to reduce my scheming, so this is the result. Now I am enjoying myself and the reactions of those who know less than I do.'

'But... did you have to do it out of nowhere? I mean, this is going to get really awkward now.'

'Perhaps, but I believe that it was effective as an event to associate surprise with my character. I like to believe that my confession just now was similar to the one in Attack on Titan.'

'Well, it was very unexpected. I'll give you that.'

And it was the unexpectedness that brought conflicted feelings to an unprepared Beatrice. Was this actually her Mother? Why did she look like Ryuzu? What was she doing here? 

All of these questions swirled around Beatrice's mind and similar ones plagued Garfiel's mind.

The demi human had met Echidna through the Trials and learned about her from the different Ryuzu clones he lived with in the Sanctuary, so hearing somebody who looked just like the people who raised him claim that she was Echidna was confusing.

Omega took a breath and then closed her eyes in concentration. Before anybody could ask about what she was doing, Echidna's true form rose up from inside Omega. 

It was translucent, but the waves of miasma that it emitted were dense - dense enough to make Garfiel gag and Elsa heave. Meili stood no chance, but the other occupants were fine as the little girl yelped in surprise. 

In response, the Bowel Hunter grabbed one of her knives and prepared to eliminate this frightening threat.

Noticing this, Omega retracted her true form back into her body and braced herself, getting ready for what was probably about to happen.

Just as Omega predicted, Subaru stopped Patrasche, and inertia carried all of the other occupants forward, making the nauseous riders feel worse.

 "Th' h'll was tha'?!" Garfiel chocked out, not appreciating his queasiness.

Omega sat comfortably in place, her expression not revealing the slightest bit of remorse. "You see, I revealed my true form. I am now undeniably Echidna, so I have proven my identity. Please do not blame me for your current condition, as I would not have had to resort to this if you had believed me at the beginning. You have nobody but yourself to blame-"

Subaru opened the back of the carriage and entered furiously. He gasped when he saw Omega without her illusion, and gasped even louder when he saw the vomit at Meili and Elsa's feet.

"What are you doing, Omega?! Didn't you make an oath not to hurt anybody?!" Subaru exclaimed, not knowing how to take in this situation.

Omega shook her head and crossed her legs as she replied, "That never happened. Of course, I will be happy to do so, but it might be helpful to understand the story before you judge the situation yourself."

Reluctantly, Subaru waited for Omega to elaborate.

The other passengers, excluding you and Beatrice, were slowly passing their nausea and found themselves able to get back up comfortably as Omega explained, "You see, I told them that I was Echidna and they did not believe me. As a result, I briefly revealed my true form. Like I have stated to you before, most people cannot stand before me and live due to my miasma, so these three unfortunate individuals suffered a slight inconvenience, which caused the yelp that summoned you."

Omega's monologue caused three separate reactions: 

Subaru was shocked that Omega revealed her identity so soon.

Garfiel realized that Subaru had already met Echidna, and he wondered if you did too.

Beatrice snapped out of a trance-like state and began tearing up, since - somehow - Echidna was sitting down right in front of her.

As she absorbed her surrounds, Omega sighed. "Perhaps I have created a little more trouble than intended... This will indeed be a long ride."

Time Skip

Over the following hours, Omega had explained her contract with you similarly to how she did it with Beatrice in the different timeline, and you were assaulted with questions just as she was.

In the end, Beatrice was happy that Echidna was there even though it wasn't the same as her Mother, Garfiel accepted the truth, Elsa didn't seem bothered, and Meili couldn't help but feel afraid of this new companion. 

Subaru had forced Omega to vow once more that she wouldn't harm any allies, and she complied, even though it didn't matter since her contract with you could void any other oath.

At daybreak, you had arrived back at Miload Manor, where Clind had been waiting. Whether he saw the carriage from a freakishly long distance or just somehow knew when you would arrive, nobody knew, but he stood there regardless.

"Welcome back. Did you have a safe journey? Greeting." The butler bowed, but mid-bow, his form stiffened. 

'(Y/N), there is a sixty-five percent chance that this butler has just seen through my illusion.'

Subaru answered Clind with a sigh, since he was exhausted after driving for several hours. "It was perfectly fine. Beako didn't act up, so we made it just fine!"

'Wait, seriously? Is Clind that good?'

"Subaru, you are infuriating, I suppose!" Beatrice reared her arm back to hit her contractor, but stopped because of a certain somebody.

'I believe so. However, I will continue to cast my illusion. I will have fun engaging in psychological warfare with this man and the clown, so I will consider this as a way to train myself with magic in order to restore my mana capacity.'

Clind straightened back up and didn't spare a glance at Omega, electing to ignore her in order to not seem suspicious or rude. "I see. There are several persons awaiting your arrival, so please proceed. I will attend to this carriage. Punctual."

The thought of Emilia immediately vanquished all drowsiness in Subaru as he enthusiastically strode into the mansion.

Beatrice briefly looked back at Omega before following her contractor, and Meili was close behind her. 

Truth be told, Meili was apprehensive about Omega and didn't want to be close to her without a decent amount of company.

Elsa, being the sister-figure she was, followed Meili, which left you, Omega, and Garfiel.

Clind seemed to disappear into the dragon carriage, as if he had to inspect the inside closely without being viewed. Omega noted this but didn't see any issues with it. As of this moment, she had the upper hand in the mind games that would ensue, and almost nothing could tip the favors against her. This certainly couldn't.

Time Skip

When you found where Subaru went off to, you found the rest of your group (minus Meili and Elsa) plus Emilia, Frederica, Otto, Roswaal, and Annerose Miload. Ram was not present, and neither was the comatose Rem. 

Emilia was giggling about something Subaru said, but she and the others who had stayed at the mansion quit what they were doing to look up at Omega, who they had never seen before.

The first to comment was Roswaal. "My my! Now whooooooo do we have here?"

Omega curtsied and introduced her alias. "My name is Omega, and I have decided to accompany (Y/N) and Subaru, as I had the privilege of joining The Crusaders recently."

Upon hearing this, Emilia made her way towards Omega and greeted her with an extended hand. "Thank you so much for helping (Y/N) and Subaru! They are super good people, and so is everyone else here. I hope that you will be really happy here!"

Omega expertly hid her repulsion and shook Emilia's hand with a smile. "Thank you so much! I feel very welcomed! You must be Emilia, correct?"

Emilia nodded her head and looked overjoyed by the fact that Omega seemed nice.

As Emilia walked back to Subaru, Otto approached Omega. 

The merchant did the same as Emilia and went in for a handshake. As Omega took his hand, Otto said, "Hello, Omega-san. I am the Emilia Camp's Head of Internal Affairs-"

"Otto Suwen!" Omega exclaimed in mock surprise. "Out of all the people in this room, you are one of the ones I am most excited to meet!"

Otto paused and made noises of pure happiness. The fact that somebody was excited to meet him, especially in the face of all of the impressive characters in the room, made him the happiest he had been in months.

Similarly, Omega was getting more and more excited as she looked around the room. 

'(Y/N), I believe that the next several months will encompass the most fun I have had in centuries. Manipulating people is too thrilling! Perhaps you are correct, and I need to live more in the moment rather than planning out my every move for the next few months or even years. Of course, I will not completely stop scheming, but reducing my plans has made life much more enjoyable. Thank you.'

'I don't know where that came from, but you're welcome. I like to think that I've learned a few things in my life, so I'm relieved that I could be useful in a way that I can't usually help.'

Time Skip

For the remainder of that day, most everyone who had come back from the trip elected to get some rest since the ride back to the mansion was not one that invited sleep. 

However, Elsa chose to run around the forest and swing at trees. She didn't get to fight, so she took out her disappointment and brimming bloodlust out on nature, where she wouldn't get punished for 'accidentally' killing some people since there were no people nearby.

Aside from her, Beatrice couldn't sleep even if she wanted to. She had just learned that her Mother had partially found success in resurrecting herself. Omega was not the same as the Echidna that Betty knew, but somehow knowing that a part of Echidna was alive made her happy and reminded her too much of the past.

These complex emotions were displayed through Beatrice's facial expressions, and Subaru noticed that his contracted spirit seemed different when he finally woke up in the morning. 

And that is why he woke you and Omega up, or so he says.

"What was that reaction for?!" Subaru complained. "I'm worried about Beako and it's already brunch time so you really shouldn't be sleeping any longer anyway! What happened to being a responsible person?!"

You shrugged. "In my defense, me and Omega binged all of the Fate series last night."

Omega nodded her head once, silently agreeing that binging anime all night made you really tired the next morning.

Subaru sweat dropped. "I-is that so... I don't know what you mean by the 'Fate series', but I guess that it's pretty long." He sighed and composed himself quickly. As if he was a different person, Subaru stood up tall and firmly said, "Omega, the fact that you told everyone about your identity so soon is messing with their heads. Like I already said, Beako isn't herself and I'm sure that the others are uneasy around you. Shouldn't you try to do something to make them feel more comfortable around you?"

Omega considered this for a moment. "What do you suggest? There are several ways to go about this."

"Hmm..." Subaru dropped his chin and brought a hand up to it. His thoughts came out in low murmurs, and when he was finished, his head slowly rose back up. "I guess we can play games. I can teach them Othello or something. If it ends well, everyone will be more used to you."

Omega smirked as an idea came to mind. "In that case, please summon anybody except for the clown and the butler who is willing to play a game with me."

"What are we going to play?" you asked out of curiosity.

Omega put a finger up to mouth and whispered, "Shh. I will announce my decision after we have collected the players."

Subaru narrowed his eyes at Omega but decided to listen to her. "Okay. Let's say that we'll start in... 30 minutes in the room we use for meetings."

Omega made a weak shooing motion with her hands, motioning for Subaru to leave. "That is fine with me. Now, gather the players."

31 Minutes Later

You walked into the meeting room with the remainder of a pizza (masterfully made by Frederica) in your mouth and Omega by your side.

Assembled at the bare table was Subaru, Beatrice, Elsa, Meili, Garfiel, Emilia, and Otto. Everybody in this room, except for Emilia and Otto, knew about Omega's true identity.

Subaru, who was seated at the head of the table, looked at Omega with apprehension. "Now that we're all here, what are we going to play?"

Omega took a seat at the opposite end of the table, and once you took your seat, there were only three spare seats.

Noticing that nobody undesirable was in attendance, Omega decided that she could answer the question. "We will be playing something that Subaru knows as Dice and Deception."

"YESSSSS!" Subaru jumped out of his seat and pumped his fists into the air. "I love that game!"

His reaction startled Emilia, and Beatrice was suffering from second-hand embarrassment.

Seeing that Subaru was the only person who knew what this game was, Otto raised his hand. "Excuse me, Omega-san, but can you please explain what this game is and how to play? I assume there are dice involved, but unless we can all share two of them, I do not believe that this game will be playable."

"Of course!" Omega replied confidently. "Dice and Deception is a role-playing game in which one plays the part of a character that they create, and dice are used to determine the effectiveness of one's actions." Glancing at you, she added, "This game is also known as Dungeons and Dragons."

Otto sighed while a smile was simultaneously beginning to form on your face. Dungeons and Dragons was a game that many people enjoyed, and people who haven't played it have often heard other people give nothing but praise to this tabletop RPG.

This smile stopped as Otto began talking again. "I understand the concept of the game now, but that still doesn't address the issue about dice."

Subaru suddenly looked heartbroken because Otto had a point. "There's usually seven or so different dice per person, and we only have two of the standard six-sided one!" Sulking, he announced, "I guess we can't play D&D. We don't have the dice, so I guess we can go with my idea and play Othello."

You looked at Omega with puzzlement, since dice weren't something that she would usually overlook. Perhaps she could make them or calculate the dice rolls for everyone.

Omega smirked, and you knew that the lack of dice were included in her calculations.

'(Y/N), there is an option that you haven't considered yet. Against my instincts, I will consult you about it.'

'What is it?'

'You can use the pendant to bring everybody into my Castle of Dreams, and I can materialize the dice there.'

'Are you crazy?! Why would you let everyone in there? Are you so set on playing this game that you want to let every secret out? I get that I said that telling the truth earlier would be better, but this might be going too far.'

'Are you certain? My main objective is not to play this game, but to verify the existence of the Authority of Lust within Subaru, and I can abide by your earlier point and expose the truth, with the bonus that these simpletons are already reeling from the shock of my identity. We can reveal the truth for a reduced price if we choose to do so now.'

'I can't believe that I didn't think of that! I totally forgot about that Authority, and you make a good point about them already being shocked about your true identity. At this point, only Otto has no idea about who you are. Emilia knows about you but doesn't know that you are Omega.'

'Tsk. I would rather not let her into my Castle of Dreams again, but I am willing to do so in order to fulfill my goals.'

'In that case, I guess that we can do it. I'll tell everyone to close their eyes and I'll touch them with the pendant one by one.'

'No. You must have all of them maintain contact with the pendant for the duration of the game in order for them to remain in my world. Have them gather in a circle and close their eyes if you do not wish for them to see the pendant.'

'I hope that they'll actually do it...'

You cleared your throat loudly. When that didn't divert attention from Subaru, you exclaimed, "Everyone! Listen up!"

The table went silent, so you continued. "I figured out a solution for the dice problem. First, we need to get in a circle."

"How's that gonna' help a' all?" Garfiel asked.

"Just trust me," you replied. 

Garfiel shrugged and stood up so that he could start a circle next to you. Emilia and Otto followed him, and Subaru was slowly getting up with a confused expression.

However, Meili seemed reluctant to go near Omega, who still scared her. The only reason she was here in the first place was because Elsa was interested in getting to know more about Omega/Echidna.

Elsa was intrigued by the person who made her throw up by