There's a theory that Phantom came to Rhodes Island to assassinate someone there under someone's orders and was found out by Schwarz. Very plausible, but god knows who his target is.

In my AK universe or lore or whatever you call it, the target is Doctor.

It feels even more possible with Phantom's line: "I can end many lives for you, but I first need you to confirm that I am awake. Something is trying to influence me. It doesn’t want me to leave the stage. It wants my song to echo forever... and it wants me to kill you. Before I play the role of your assassin once more, I must discover the truth."

"Before I play the role of your assassin *once more*". ONCE MORE

Phantom lurks for a while before going in for the kill. That's when Executor notices his presence.

Executor's line tends to be interpreted as mentioning Phantom's presence: "I know not whose work this is, but I am well aware that there are those here at Rhodes Island who specialize in infiltration and assassination. They are hidden here on this vessel. My mind is just playing tricks on me Nonsense, Doctor. My mind never plays tricks on me."

It's clear that Doctor dismisses his words as nothing more than an imagination. Is it because they really don't know and don't believe it Or...

In Dr. Hana's case, it's an act. Her previous line of work involved sneaking and spying around, so she can sense "hidden presence" like Phantom. Even though she doesn't remember anything now, she still instinctively senses his presence. It's like a skill that's always on.

She dismisses Executor's words and acts ignorant because she wishes for Phantom - or should I say, the unknown assassin at the time - to come to her. While she can't ascertain what their deal is, it's most likely to kill her, and so she'd be more than happy to take that chance to "accidentally" die. Like playing with a fire, she gambles her life. If she dies, so be it. If she lives, so be it.

Here, Phantom actually attempts to kill her twice. The first time, he manages to ambush her in her room, but is startled at her reaction (and vaguely realizes she sensed his presence and intentions long ago) and then gets disturbed by a guest, which forces him to run away. Of course, Dr. Hana keeps silent about this. The second one, Schwarz manages to stop him, one way or another. I haven't thought of the details yet for this one.

If Phantom is an assassin sent to kill Doctor, then why did they let him join Rhodes Island Well, Dr. Hana simply wants to keep him around and close for him to possibly kill her in the future - she's playing a long game, basically. Nobody else but Schwarz, Amiya, Dr. Kal'tsit, and Dr. Hana know of the assassination attempt, so there's no reason to refuse him for outsiders, especially since he has Oripathy. Unfortunately, they can barely keep an eye on Phantom (Dr. Hana can only sense him when he's near), so they can only tighten the security around Dr. Hana.

Naturally, Phantom is confused by this decision, especially by how Dr. Hana seems to keep him close instead of pushing him away. Nobody in their right mind would do this to someone who clearly tried to kill them. What if he tries to kill her again Who would save her then

Later on, it becomes obvious to him that she has some kind of death wish, and he infers that this is the main reason why she keeps him around. He doesn't know the reason and he doubts he wants to know. There's something about her that kind of scares him. The shadow always follows her, sometimes seemingly about to consume her whole. Her heavy footsteps and the occasional glimpses of darkness. He can sense that she is, in reality, a being of darkness, much like him, just in a different way. So while it is a bit scary, it also comforts him. There's a sense of similarity, a connection. Perhaps that's why he feels more at ease with her than anyone else in Rhodes Island.

After a prolonged time together, with how she cares about him, he too, in turn, comes to cares about her. Regardless of her initial reason of keeping him around, their relationship progresses to be genuine. Even Phantom knows that. While he wants to know more about her and perhaps pry open her secrets, such as how she's able to sense him, there's a more pressing issue at hand: her wish to die. While she doesn't jump at the slightest chance to die like an idiot, that urge still persists and is largely the driving force behind her every actions.

However, at the same time, he's still struggling with himself - with whatever is inside him. The more he loves her, the more it feels he's being called to grant her wish of death - something he desperately doesn't want to do. He wants her to live...and he wants to live alongside her.

And so, before he loses control, he wants to find the truth about himself. He must find the truth, and if possible, a solution that'll let the two of them live.

(Perhaps this is all pointless. Perhaps at the end, his existence means nothing to her as long as "that person" exists. But that doesn't matter to him. Yes, ultimately, this is all for his own sake.)

"Doctor. Promise me. You must not die yet...not before I discover the truth."

Saying "please live for me" is too selfish of him and he doesn't think he has the qualification to say it, so this is all he can say.

"After you found the truth...will you kill me, then"

"...That, I cannot say."

Only time will tell. At the very least, the search for the truth will prolong their lives, even for a bit.

---

VICTORIA DAYS

Both Phantom and Dr. Hana came from Victoria. While Dr. Hana wasn't an assassin, her job made her meet various people. Perhaps they heard of each other's names and reputation long ago. Not that the current Dr. Hana knows, anyway - she only knows what's written in her diary.

---

MIRROR WITH SILVERDOC

It's interesting how phandoc and silverdoc somehow mirror each other. In silverdoc, SilverAsh eternally waits for Dr. Hana (will elaborate this at a later date), while she's the one waiting for Phantom (for him to find out the truth and come back) in phandoc. SilverAsh uses post-amnesia Dr. Hana as a replacement for her pre-amnesia self, while Dr. Hana (initially) kind of uses Phantom as SilverAsh's replacement in her suicide act - or to be more precise, a safety measure in case SilverAsh fails.

Dr. Hana resents SilverAsh for looking at her pre-amnesia self (spoilers for my works in progress for months whoops lmao), and yet she does a similar thing to Phantom. Sometimes one becomes a hypocrite like this. I'm unsure if Phantom will ever say it directly to her, but if he does, she'll be furious.

Phantom realizes that he's being used like this, and of course he isn't happy. But over time, their relationship grows into something else. As I wrote previously, it became genuine, so much that Phantom completely trusts her. While perhaps he can't be the number one in her heart, there's still a place for him. He can carve out his own place and path.

Perhaps, at times, Phantom thinks his existence is completely meaningless to her, which is incorrect. She'll get angry if he ever says that right in her face. She'll undoubtedly be crushed by despair if he dies, coming even closer to the edge.

Another interesting thing to note is how Phantom makes Dr. Hana promises to not die before he find out the truth. It's the most effective way to keep her alive (binding her to that promise), at least for a while. This is also what SilverAsh uses in Happy End (if they get married), namely saying "please live for me", something Phantom has no guts to say.

Perhaps it's annoying that SilverAsh is here as though he's the main male lead and Phantom is the second lead with inevitable heartbreak, which is...not entirely incorrect. Honestly, it's kinda unavoidable since I first fell in love with silverdoc and already built so much things revolving around them. It also makes things more interesting and spicy when they intersect with each other and clash.

There's always alternate universes, though In an universe where SilverAsh doesn't exist or isn't important...well, it'll play out in a similar way still. Just less "third wheel" feel for Phantom.

Speaking of that...while Phantom dislikes to be SilverAsh's "replacement", it's not like he's entirely hostile to him. While he might feel jealous sometimes, he doesn't really mind to not become the number 1 in Dr. Hana's heart. He'll just bare his fangs when SilverAsh hurt Dr. Hana, intentionally or not, and bitch slap him when needed. I like to see their catfight and them fighting over Doctor, sure, but that doesn't really apply in my universe, especially in the serious one. Frankly, they have too much shit going on for that to happen lmao. Dr. Hana supports polyamory and loves her lovers equally, so there's no need for fights. SilverAsh is also used to have her flirt with someone else right in front of him lmao. Yeah, I love "peaceful" harem the most, okay It's very obvious

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A/N: HOLY SHIT THAT'S SO LONG WTF. I think I'll add and edit this one with some links to my other headcanons I briefly mentioned (since I can't really add it here) to Privatter and/or AO3.