"He has been punished for disregarding the lives of the warlocks for a prophecy of his to rebel against Grande."
—The Officer
"The Reason He Lies
" is a Tweeny Witches one-shot fic written by IukaSylvie. It was originally published in Japanese on Pixiv and Archive of Our Own before it received an English translation by the author herself.
The story takes place before the events of the TV series, detailing Sigma's backstory and inner thoughts.
Due to the nature of the fic, all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
"The Reason He Lies" provides examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: The fic expands Sigma's backstory, detailing how and why he joined the military as a scout after the death of his father.
- Alternate Character Reading: The kanji 理由 (normally read as riyū) in the original Japanese title of the fic is given the reading wake (normally spelled 訳).
- Arc Words: "[X] appeared to be telling the truth."
- Malicious Slander: Sigma's father is wrongly accused of high treason merely for disagreeing with Grande's plans.
- Mythology Gag: Sigma mentions Jestor, the best scientist among his people, as another example of how not even a warlock in the majority is safe once he offends the dictatorship in the slightest way. Jestor is the posthumous antagonist of "The Secret of Dragon House" in The Adventures, the OVA spin-off of the TV series, and he was accused of high treason in canon just like Sigma's father is in the fic.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Grande plans to evacuate the warlocks from the dying Magical Realm with the forbidden dark magic, but as Sigma points out, "there was no way Grande truly cared for the lives of his own people when he ate Sigma's father alive merely for disagreeing with him."
