Dunnottar didn't really know what the hell he was doing, when he thought of his Wonder and… transported himself to it.

Magically.

Because that was his life now. Magic. He felt like he was still getting used to it, given he mostly only had battled others who hadn't yet achieved the stage of power where their magic would come to them yet. The Code and its summons to the Moon had sort of brute-forced it, and now… here he was.

Standing in what looked like the grand foyer of a castle of some kind. Huh. Well, now, that he could get behind. He wondered, briefly, what the castle grounds must have looked like in their glory days as he peered through a window, seeing remains of a garden and some kind of stables in the distance. But that wasn't what he was here for. He took a deep breath, not focusing on looking at anything in the castle. As much as he desired to give admiration to the fine craftwork, the art that covered the walls depicting unicorns, he needed to focus on what was actually important—stabilizing his Wonder so… the universe didn't collapse, or something. Whatever it was the Code was worried about, precisely, he wasn't entirely sure, but it was obviously rather important.

What he did notice, though, was beautiful. Perhaps Lanting would like it here? He seemed like the type to…. Appreciate art, and that sort of thing. But he focused, breathing slowly, and asked the Code for direction to his piece.

The sparkles appeared, and he followed the trail, down, down, winding through many hallways, staircases, and then back up in a dizzyingly confusing manner that had him absolutely certain that there was a faster way the previous Dunnottar had known about, and that this was the way an intruder might follow.

Eventually, he was led to a flat wall with another depiction of a unicorn. This one was in a fierce battle—something that… didn't quite match the "vibe" as he understood it. So far, everything he'd seen had been peaceful—he'd noticed that much, at least. So if this was wrong… There was obviously a hidden panel of some sort, somewhere. He studied the wall, trying to see if there was something… Well, it definitely wouldn't stand out in a way that the background and foreground of an older, 2D animated movie or cartoon would, like the way you knew which book would be picked up because of the different method of coloring it and the more simplistic the cover was. But there had to be something.

As he studied it, he realized there was a series of five bricks with more… discoloration than the rest of it after all—not nearly as obvious as the kind he'd been thinking of, of course, but the kind that came with punching the same code on a keypad over several years. Only a few numbers wore out from the oils on one's skin, and the most worn number was definitely the one pushed first, and the least worn pushed last…

So that left him with figuring out the order of the middle three. The first brick was clearly the horn of the unicorn that he was, thankfully, tall enough to reach—though he didn't push it right away, unsure if there would be some kind of… time limit where it would reset, and then he'd get obliterated by some old trap. He wasn't entirely familiar with fantasy worlds—none of this was really his cup of tea, as it were, but he knew a few things—his father had adored Indiana Jones.

He shoved the thoughts away before they could sicken him and studied the picture. The horn first, tail last. It should follow in order along the body, perhaps some kind of qi points? He didn't know what the qi points or meridians of a horse would be, let alone a unicorn, but he decided after all that the bricks to push probably followed along the spine. There didn't seem to be much trickery to this, and it was difficult enough to get here, notice that this painted wall was out of place with the rest of the depictions, and then notice what bricks the paint had eroded from. He wondered if, in his past life, the painting was redone every so often so that it would not be quite so… obvious. That would make sense—after all, the Knight would know the pattern well enough after a while, and wouldn't need the hints that he needed, given the whole reincarnated thing. He wondered, too, if someone else would have known, to be able to pass the torch properly, that sort of thing.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed the bricks. The wall rumbled, dust shaking from it, and slid away to reveal a passage. He descended with little to no apprehension—

Until the wall slid shut behind him. Damn. Well… He shrugged. He'd look for a way out of here properly once he had the time to figure that out. Right now, at least, he could just think of home and transport himself out, once he met with his Code Piece, anyway.

The room where the Piece was stored seemed rather simple, compared to everything else, but it was clearly sick, the way the Code itself had said. He sat down cross-legged in front of it and concentrated on its energy, on fusing his with it.

The memory of dying slammed into him like some kind of isekai truck.

Lanting, not the one he knew now, but the one he knew before, stood over him, a look of rage on his face. Dunnottar, injured, dying, struggling to breathe, orchids clouding the rest of his vision.

Lanting knelt, opened his mouth to speak, but Dunnottar's eyes closed without his permission, so he couldn't hear what was said. His ears rang with the sounds of some kind of battle around them, and whatever Lanting wanted to say seemed lost to the winds.

Dunnottar jerked away, hyperventilating and clutching at his unwounded chest. As the adrenaline faded, he looked to the Code Piece, noting that that, at least, was peaceful now. It seemed he'd done it.

… He'd been ******** murdered. By the very person he'd been awkwardly trying to connect with—or at least, that Page of Ida had the scum-soul of the person who'd done it to his own previous self. He absolutely seethed with anger—he knew, also, from the memory, a lingering emotion—he'd loved Lanting in the past. And he'd been betrayed.

Going back home, seeing that new Lanting—he would not work with him any longer. He refused to be betrayed by another person in his life. Never again.