Title Here: Multi-fandom Writings

[minuseven]

✦100✦Survivalist: You become an extremely skilled survivalist, you can survive in the wild while naked, you are able to light a fire, create a shelter and find water and food in the most unlikely place.
✧250 Points✧

A niche but surprisingly useful thing? Nanase's quirk really was weird, she thought as she dabbed at the blood leaking from her nose. Celestial Tamer didn't even begin to cover it. Ah, but well, what else could they have called the mess that it was?

"Hm, nurse? Is it possible that I know so much science because of my quirk? Because this time I've been given a lot of knowledge about, like, plants and geology. It's not very organized though."

The red-haired nurse frowned. "I believe that's something you should talk about with your quirk specialist. Do you want help scheduling a session?" Right. Sure, why not.

Celestial Menagerie NOT 6​

The choir's songs were all so familiar. Not the lyrics, but the melodies, it was like she'd heard them a thousand times before. She was a bit lost, standing on the last benches of the church. Surprisingly, the Sunday service was nearly full. It made some sense, there weren't many churches, and there were several different groups that were united by their religion. There were historical reasons for that. The beginning of the age of quirks had been very troubled. Not only had several groups been stranded in Japan during the many times when international travel and communication had been banned, but just about every country in the world had been the target and the origin of at least two migration wages. Or refugee waves, to be more correct.

There were a lot of enclaves and mixed groups everywhere in the world. And in the countries where order had managed to be reestablished without too much bloodshed, these persisted. Nanase supposed mass was not a bad place to remember that atrocities had been committed back then, and to pray for humanity's strive for a better world.

Pray like everything depends on God and work like everything depends on you.

More words from the obscure past. But they felt good, meaningful. She repeated them in her head as the Father read one of the psalms. She'd have to look them up later. As the service continued, Nanase had to stop herself from getting up for the communion. She felt like she could receive the communion but… did it count if she wasn't even sure she'd been baptized? Why did she only discover these things in moments like these?

She needed to talk to the Father. Or somebody in charge. But… she didn't know anybody. She'd come alone, requesting permission to be absent this sunday morning from her guardians. Her courage had run out after entering the mass and noticing how some people were eyeing the obvious stranger in their midst.

"In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."

""Amen.""

She wished she had taken one of the song pamphlets. She kept tripping up the words, and she was only pretending to sing them, sounding them in her head.

The Father left through the center aisle as they sang, accompanied by the two acolytes, and Nanase felt her chance to talk to him slip by. But she wasn't sure when else she'd have a chance to meet him, so she lingered in the shadows of the church as the churchgoers filed out. The younger ones first, of course, sick and tired of being here for over an hour. The feeling was familiar. The adults and the elderly tending to flock together in groups. Perhaps because christians weren't very common in Japan, it seemed to her that everybody was taking their time.

"Excuse me?" A voice came from her right. A girl, one of the acolytes, greeted her with a respectful nod. She had traded her robe for a long, modest dress. Very noticeably, her quirk was perhaps too religious: her hair was composed of thorny vines. "I noticed you seemed a bit lost, can I help in any way?"

"Oh, hm, yeah, I am. I needed to talk with the Father, if that was possible. Or with somebody else who could answer some questions for me."

"If it's questions about our faith, I can answer them." She provided helpfully.

Nanase fought a wince. "No, I'm… I know the faith. It's a bit more personal? It relates to some health issues… I…" Her eyes darted to the adults still lingering.

"Would you like to talk outside?" The acolyte girl proposed. "The church has a nice garden."

Nanase was grateful for the out. "Yeah, that'd be nice. Lead the way?" The church did have a nice garden, a curious mix of western themes in an eastern layout.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Shiozaki Ibara." She bowed, and Nanase returned it with her own introduction. "The Father is usually busy after the service, I apologize. But if I can be of help, I will. If not, I can arrange for a meeting at another time?"

If Nanase were honest, she felt more comfortable explaining the entire amnesia situation to a girl her age than a priest. "Well, it's a bit of an odd situation. Let me explain." She gave her a very brief summary: she'd been found hurt and awoken with amnesia, her identity and past lost. Recently, she'd discovered she had been christian and probably catholic, but was uncertain on coming to the service. Especially considering she couldn't be sure if she had ever actually been baptized.

"Oh my." Shiozaki was visibly somewhat shocked. "That… that sounds awful." She chewed her lip. "Unfortunately, I don't think I can pronounce anything about your situation. It really should be the Father. I'm very sorry I couldn't be of any help."

She shook her head. "Trust me, you helped. If you hadn't come to talk to me, I might have just given up and gone home."

"The Lord works in mysterious ways." Shiozaki said seriously, but with a small smile. "I am very glad I made your acquaintance. I must confess, I… was not sure of your intentions when I first approached you. I apologize for letting my personal bias cloud my actions."

✧350 Points✧
✧Ready Roll…✧

Nanase wasn't sure of what she'd done or not for her intentions to be under question? More importantly, she was struggling with Celestial Tamer. The energy had just been primed. Since her seizure, she'd felt like there was more energy, so the sudden spike in her head made her twitch. She needed to go to the hospital now.

Did she have enough money for a taxi? "It's fine. Hm, look, can I give you my email and you tell me when I could come talk to the father? Because I really have to go now."

The other girl blinked. "Of course?"

They traded contacts even as Nanase called a taxi, leaving Ibara a bit confused on the curb. The mysterious girl that had caught her attention was leaving, to the hospital if she'd heard it correctly. It seemed there really was some truth to her claims of illness. Ibara decided she'd pray for her health tonight.

---

Ah yes, my not complicated relationship with faith (meh) and religion (urgh.). I'm actually interested in exploring it a little bit, although i'm gonna say that between QUIRKS and this being the future, a lot of things in MHA's churches are likely more progressive. I flirted with the idea of a female priest, but decided not to show them in this chapter.​

Nanase has luck with green haired hero wannabes lmao​

 

[minuseven]

1.1

Eating the powersets of three of the most powerful people in the Grand Line, the leopard man perhaps excluded, doesn't feel like anything but a really good fruit salad. I don't hurry to test it out either. Best case scenario, I out myself. Worst case scenario, large-scale destruction, villainy, a kill order?

No, what I do is check my smartphone. The internet is no longer locked. I was half expecting the entire smartphone to just disappear after it was done. I'm glad it hasn't. How did I live without a smartphone back in 2011? Taylor didn't even have that. Now I can do research on my powers without having to go to the library. I need to brush up on electromagnetism, leopard facts, and telekinetic capes.

Curious, I go to the phone's settings. The operating system is a garbled mess of symbols instead of a name. So is the network provider, the navigational system used, the phone's model… The information button tells me very little else. This thing appears to be a very durable, eternally charged, nigh-untraceable smartphone from the future. I'm keeping it.

It's about time for lunch as well. I take a deep breath. I need to get this out of the way, and if nobody has figured out that I'm really not Taylor Hebert yet, then Danny won't suddenly declare me a changeling now. I really have Taylor's depression to thank. That and the locker incident. Personality changes will just be brushed off for now. That's good, because I need Danny to do a few things for me, and Taylor would never talk to him like I will.

Leaving the phone in the bedside drawer, I make my way downstairs. I take my time, taking in as many details about the environment as I can. The house is small, but fairly organized. Nothing on the floor, despite some shelves looking hoards of papers and knick knacks. Danny is in the kitchen, making what appear to be sandwiches. I can only hope he doesn't put mayonnaise in the darn things.

"Hey Taylor. Are you hungry?" He asks, and I shrug back in response. He visibly witters before putting on a smile and going back to his task. "If you want anything, just tell me."

"Dad, we need to talk." I sat down on the other side of the kitchen table and crossed my hands over it. "Before anything. Please."

Danny stares at me, half-turned from the counter. "Sure, of course Taylor. What is it?" He says more energetically.

I gave more than a passing thought to this conversation. "It's about school. I talked with the psychologist at the hospital, figured out what my options are. Can I lay out my reasoning to you?" I don't want him interrupting me, and I know he has a temper. Now more confused, he nodded. I continue. "I don't want to go back to Winslow. If possible, I would want to transfer to any other school, but actually that's out of the school's hands. Even if we claimed reparations, the school already paid for my medical bills, so…"

"It was the least they could do! I can…" Danny's voice rises. He interrupted me.

Stupid idiot. "Please." I do my best to keep a level voice. I don't need a repeat of my actual family's drama with everybody talking over each other. "Let me finish my thought process."

The forceful tone is enough to get to him and he backs down with a sorry and a thin smile. I take a deep breath. I hope he can see how mad I fucking am and stops it. I just ate three devil fruits. I can't have my temper go off.

"We would have to petition the school district, which could take weeks at best." Another underfunded institution in this decaying world. "And I absolutely don't want to involve any lawyers or any legal battles of any kind. They are stressful. And I can't handle that kind of stress. Not even Alan Barnes. Can I trust you not to go trying to find ways to get back at the school or the bullies and just let that matter lie dead?"

Danny Hebert looks at me like he's never seen me before. "I… Kiddo…"

"I have a solution. Please."

"Yeah, you can trust your dad."

I exhale, close my eyes for two seconds. "So the solution we came up with is homeschooling." I can see Danny holding himself from wincing at the thought. "It's a bit of an expensive option, but it's our best bet. I'm not going back, and the fines for my truancy would be way more expensive. On the other hand, it's only for this year before I age out of the state's mandatory schooling, and I can just start working towards a GED at my own rhythm."

After dominating the conversation for several minutes, Danny takes a moment to understand that the ball is now in his court. He leans forward on the table, mouth opening and closing before he takes a deep breath. As he exhales, I can see his shoulders unclenching and what must a great deal of tension leave him. He looks somewhat sad. "Okay, we can do that. You already know what we need to do and buy, right?"

"My psychologist and I worked on it. I have a list and a few websites that I can give you as well." I used my sessions productively. Fortunately, the doctor in charge of me wasn't a talking about feelings purist and actively helped me get more in control of my life.

"Okay." He repeats to himself. "I'll look that up too, then. I…" I let him have time to think. "I know you don't want to tell me who it was but, can you at least make me understand why?"

It is a reasonable question. I don't have a reason to not answer it. Maybe it will curb some issues in the future. Now, how to word it without implying Emma or make him go do his own research… "Because I'd lose. Bullying between girls, it's a social, game of thrones bullshit, and I suck at it. There's never any evidence, and if there is, obviously it was planted, or faked, or it's not that bad."

He interrupts. "Taylor, they…!"

"Yeah well, nobody saw it. Right?" I sigh. "Somehow, mysteriously, during an incredibly busy morning at school, there were no witnesses to a lockerful of... None, zero. Tch." I rub my jaw. I need to unclench it. "It's bullshit, but it's bullshit they are very good at. I can't win, because they got the other people on their side, or afraid enough not to speak up. On top of that, they have connections. Not just at school, maybe even with the police as well. I mean, come on."

Danny's expression is something between outraged and helpless. Or maybe he's just angry. I don't let him speak.

"And I don't trust you… Dad. I don't trust you to stay rational and keep your head down." Just like that, I break something inside this man. I was harsh, but it's true. "I know it's because you love me, but…"

An uncomfortable silence reigns in the kitchen.

Eventually, Danny speaks up again. "How can you be sure they'll leave you alone, even if stop going to school?"

Right on the mouche. Any normal bullies, and it would be a done deal. Emma… well. "I think they will. It's a lot of work, going to somebody's house just to bully them, and it's troublesome too. I mean, it's one thing to get schoolkids on your side, but somebody's neighbors?" Danny's also a community man, I infer. There's definitely some social power there. "They'll just find another target at school. I might have to deal with some harassment if I meet them outside, but nothing like school was."

"Alright, alright. I'll… start working on it then. Should I talk to the neighbors?" If he thinks that would help, sure. Then, he lays his arm around my shoulders. It's… uncomfortable coming from a man I don't know. But to him, it's just a normal if awkward father-daughter moment. "You've grown up Taylor. I'm so proud of you."

He doesn't have a clue, and I'm not going to be the one to tell him.

"Thanks Dad. Love you too." Sorry your daughter is dead.

---

Conversations are awkward. Not!Taylor gets this one out of the way as soon as she can. It's a personal thing for her that Taylor's so intent on 'not losing' to the bullies. Which is ironic considering the own levels of sunk cost fallacy she often falls into as well.​

Tried for some humanity there too, but, hm, amoral SI's only concern if Danny died would be, how do I, a minor, sustain myself. Yikes.​

 

[minuseven]

✦✦100✦Copyright: Your creatures cannot be forcefully controlled or copied by others. They cannot be cloned, reverse-engineered or mentally dominated.
✧250 Points✧

Nanase
My quirk has drawbacks so I need to go the hospital sometimes​

Ibara
But are you alright?

Nanase
Yeah!
It wasn't serious this time​

Celestial Menagerie NOT 3​

BeachGirl
Hey Izuku:
I've found religion!​

BeachHero
Ok?
Nanase, what do you mean by that?
Nanase?
!?!

The water was cold. "If you are not yet baptized, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The building was silent.

Does God exist? And if they do, do they exist according to which books and traditions?

Well, Nanase wasn't sure. The internet and all its debates hadn't helped.

Perhaps that made her blasphemous to be receiving the sacraments and only half-heartedly committing herself to church and Sunday mass. Regardless, everybody here had been nice, and Father Morikari had accepted to conditionally baptize her. It was fine, according to him, if she still had doubts. The path to Christ was invisible to men, but she had taken the first step and that was what mattered.

It probably helped that just going to catechism a couple of times had made Nanase, and her semi-official sponsor Ibara, realize that she was very familiar with the faith. Another point in the column that said Nanase had been a part of the church before her accident. Privately, Nanase also thought it was because the church was a minority religion in Japan. Some flexibility in everybody's daily lives was necessary. Otherwise, how to deal with the fact that they were surrounded by non-believers?

Even Ibara, who was very excited to re-introduce Nanase to the faith, wasn't overwhelming. Sure, she spoke about the Lord a lot, but she didn't preach. She preached to Nanase, but to be fair, Nanase had asked for it. It also led to a series of fun conversations like: Is All Might barred from Heaven as a non-believer? Ibara had gone to the Father about that one question. The vine-haired girl was very straightforward and honest, and Nanase found that she enjoyed that personality as much as she enjoyed Izuku's ramblings. Neither of them were too loud, just as able of quiet contemplation. She was really lucky with green-haired people.

"Do I really have to have such celebration? I barely got baptized." Yes, it was a community moment but Nanase found herself not enjoying being the center of everybody's attention. It was aggravated by her circumstances, which had already made the rounds several times. She'd gotten a knit cap, books, a backpack… Little things provided by her fellow christians that left her both flustered and a little emotional. Charity and mutual aid were strong within Yokohama's catholic community.

Ibara nodded, very pumped up. "Yes, we do! We're welcoming you within our lives with God! You're sharing your commitment to the Lord with us, and we all celebrate and rejoice." Then, more quietly. "But do you need some space?"

"Hm, not yet? It's just, I'm a little embarrassed." Something Nanase had already known about herself. Some attention was fine, but she had a definite threshold. "Hey, what about we take a picture? I want to send it to my friend." Izuku had seemed so very confused when she'd started talking about it.

There were people more than happy to help them, and soon, Nanase had a whole new album in her phone, full of celebratory photos. Come to think of it, she mused to herself, this was her first real celebration. Even her dinner with Izuku and his mother had been a small, private affair. Now she was surrounded by people. She didn't know them very well, but she did feel more a connection than to her caretakers and fellow parentless kids at the home. A shared background.

"Huh. I suppose you could call this family? Mmm, maybe culture." It was heady. Somewhat reassuring, because now she didn't feel like she was entirely alone. There was something connecting her to people who could have been strangers. A set of understandings about the world, and a willingness to help. It was also the tiniest bit scary. She didn't want to lose it, or to disappoint them.

"Nanase! Come here, there's cake!" Ibara was calling. She stowed away her phone. These thoughts were way too heavy. She'd rather have cake.

---

Me, researching my own religion over fifteen years since my last catechism class: I'd forgotten how ugly the queer and abortion debates could get... or the salvation debates... or... a lot. (I do miss the feeling of singing in the church.) Guess I can do a lot with catholicism in a hypothetical future where at least one in ten people is a MUTANT! ahahahah​

in future MHA, this church is gonna be a good, queer friendly place that doesn't do the whole "hate the sin love the sinner" bullshit.​

 

[minuseven]

Vain Prayers​

You know those wish-fulfillment fantasies? It's something like that, except you wake up and realize that no, it's not a fantasy. Surprisingly, that's not a good thing either.

Back when we still lived together, my brothers and I often debated which was the best superpower to have. We all wrote fanfiction, of course we did. I can't remember what their choices were, but I always ended up debating with myself between time-stop and shadow clones. Even back then, the world was moving too fast for me.

I like my nap times, maybe because I don't often get to have them.

So now, staring down at a rough sheet of paper with my status written down on it, it took my remaining mental strength to not make some sort of undignified noise. Because there they were.

Kage Bushin no Jutsu

Magia Erebea

Akemi Homulily

The first one was self-explanatory, although in her haste, my goddess had not transcribed anything but the name. I wondered how handseals would translate, if they even would. The second one, well. Magia Erebea is, in my most subjective opinion, just plainly the most awesome, full of potential, broken magic ever. If I had to choose one spell, not power, to know, this would be the one. Unfortunately, my goddess was freaking out about it and had just scribbled the last one's name without any more clues. Something about a hole in my soul.

I was more worried about the last one, honestly. Puella magi were not a fun prospect in any way. Holes in my soul? I'll be lucky to keep the whole thing if this spell worked like I thought it might.

So how had I ended up here? In the second-floor storeroom of a bookshop in Orario, holding a piece of paper with the most ridiculous things written on it, while short but stacked Hestia herself paced around me, biting the ends of her hair in distress? I don't know.

Let's go back a couple of days.

+​

There's a village in the Beor mountains, just a day or so away from Orario. Apparently, since that's where I woke up. It's fairly isolated, but actually, a fair number of ex-adventurers ended up retiring there. By which I mean, the washed up and drop outs. Beor is as monster invested as it gets near Orario and its bustling commerce. Pros, nobody will question my origin story. Cons, it's really not a good place.

So I came to Orario. What else was I supposed to do? I didn't even have a plan then. There were absolutely no clues that I had three overpowered spells somewhere in my soul. I was willing to start from the ground up as an apprentice or goffer.

I still went to the Guild first. There's a proper order to these things. And Hestia Familia sounded too good to pass up. It was probably my only chance at the adventurer gig.

It turned out that Hestia was still looking for her first member, something I picked up from a list of gods with no or small familias that were recruiting. Curious about the timeline, I inquired off the cuff, with the acting skills of a somebody who spent half their life hiding their screw ups from their family, if the members of familias were public knowledge.

The rank ups were. It stood to logic that that too did. And it did, even if consulting the books was an incredibly time-consuming process considering they are literally brick sized tomes. No, there were no convenient things like indexes, much less supernatural search bars. Naturally, it only had names, aliases, level and race (and sometimes not even that).

I looked through it. Loki's, in their resplandecent glory with a lot of high levels, Freya's too. Everything looked fine. But then I looked through Hephaestus, and I couldn't find him. So I looked again. I checked the other familias, and nothing.

Welf Crozzo of Hephaestus.

Liliruca Arde of Soma.

Yamato Mikoto of Takemikazuchi.

Sanjouno Haruhime of Ishtar.

Their names weren't there. They were not where they were supposed to be.

By that point I looked sufficiently freaked out that I attracted the attention of a guild member. I made something up about not finding people I was looking for. So he helped me. He clearly was more savvy than me because he did find Mikoto and Lili. In the obituaries.

One reported as dead by her disgrace of an excuse of a familia. Went with a party, party didn't return, she's dead now does that mean a few less members will lower our rankings and taxes? At least the other's body had returned, and her family had given her a grave with all the other adventurers.

I didn't hold a lot of hope for the other three members of Hestia Familia.

There's a weight to knowing you doomed something. Presumptuous maybe, to think I have that much control over my fate, or theirs. But people don't just pop into fantasy worlds without something. I didn't know what, but something.

I moped for a few hours. Found the cemetery, hunted around for the only grave that proved these people had existed, dropped two weedy flowers on it and moped a lot more. I still wasn't sure if I considered these people real or characters. And my level of emotional attachment to them was also frail, another problem I also had back on Earth. But I did feel a bit of duty, mixed with some self-preservation. I wasn't sure how much this would change the timeline, mostly because I didn't know the timeline. I really should have not based my media consumption on what fics I read.

Maybe I could do something. Maybe, maybe, I was capable of doing something. Really maybe… I should do something? Not sure.

However, right now there was a human who felt lost and desperately needed a roof over their head. And there was a goddess who was really lonely out there.

There were a lot of potato puff stalls in Orario. In the main streets you could have four or five to block. The sun slowly setting, I started seriously eyeing the gods and goddesses I could see out and about. Something about them just drew your eye. Still undecided on my agnostic feelings about that whole topic. Gods here didn't have the best reputation, not with the people who actually interacted a bit with them.

Then I stumbled upon Takemikazuchi, merrily garbed in a server's uniform, politely asking for my potato puff order. I stumbled. My heart skipped two beats. It was him. A Japanese man with a traditional hairstyle, deceptively broad-shouldered, calloused hands that didn't at all retract from his air of general divinity and perfection.

I'd always thought he sort of looked like a dad.

"Oh. I… ah." I am so sorry. So sorry but my head needs to be in the game. "S- Lord God, would you know where I could find Lady Hestia?"

Takemikazuchi blinked, then gave me a more attentive glance over. My spine straightened without permission as I stood almost at parade rest. "I do. What is your business with Hestia?"

"I heard she's looking for Familia members, right? And I'm looking for a god. A Familia. What- yeah." Do not 'whatever' in front of a martial god. He could kill a person with those tongues in his hand. "I heard good things about her."

"Really?" The god perked up, then immediately got suspicious. "From who?"

Hestia had good friends, but this was really underscoring how bad her reputation was in Orario. The dirt poor, lazy, mooching goddess. Was it an accurate representation of Hestia at this point in the timeline? Well yes. It was also an incomplete one. Hestia had depths. Or so I hoped.

Takemikazuchi had probably been expecting me to either lie or tell him the name of a god, Hermes' faker face came to mind, an adventurer… people who would cruelly play a prank on Hestia. The truth was: "Honestly, I just read about her. Legends, myths and other... stories. She seems like a good person… goddess."

"Oh." I had surprised Takemikazuchi, but pleasantly so. "Is that so. Well, I am almost finishing for the day. Give me just a moment!"

In five minutes, Takemikazuchi had wrangled an early leave from his boss and was directing me through a set of backstreets down from West Main, where I'd found him, all the way to North Main. We passed through several blocks in disrepair and dark alleys with suspicious individuals but Takemikazuchi exuded an aura that, beyond godly, told me and everybody that he could and would punch somebody's teeth in with their own fists. Just as impressive was how calm he managed to keep me as he interrogated me. All the way, a good twenty minutes minimum, he kept a steady but spaced out stream of questions about my background and motivations.

In hindsight, if I hadn't given him answers he liked, he could have taken any turn in those crooked streets and kept us walking for however long he wished. Or, you know, pinned me to the wall and squeezed the truth out of me.

As it was, he probably caught on to my evasiveness, but I restricted myself to the truth and a few uncomfortable no comment kind of answers. Like, I gave him the name of my birth town, it wasn't like he would have ever heard of it or would find it in a map, but I also preferred not to tell how big of a town it was. Keeping my motivations as honest as I possibly could might have moved him a bit. I was being entirely truthful when I said it was a mix of desperation, ambition, and guilt.

Takemikazuchi didn't ask me about what. I could hope he would forget. Let a person dream.

We did manage to catch Hestia just at the endtail of her workday. Hestia's figure was as… existing as I was expecting, and she was as short as the shortest person I'd known in person. In short, pun intended, she was eye-level with my collarbone. I noticed she didn't have her signature bells on. Maybe those came later?

"Hello." Takemikazuchi had given me a push and now we stood face to face, a grinning japanese god a few strides away. "Hi. So I heard you liked a Familia." Social anxiety, why? "I mean, I heard you were looking to start a Familia! Can I… join, Lady Hestia?"

The goddess looked up at me, eyes wide and mouth open. She looked between me and Takemikazuchi. "I didn't do anything, they were already looking for you when they came to me." He headed that off before Hestia could accuse him.

"Really?" She turned to me.

"Really really."

"I'm a poor goddess."

"I have 15 vals and the clothes on my back." I'd found two coins on the ground and that had been the luckiest I'd been all day. … I don't have enough money for chicken nuggets, I mean, potato puffs.

"I work at a jagamarukun stand all day."

"Okay?"

"I'm lazy and- I'm not good at anything in special."

Girl, if only you knew me. "Yep."

"And you want to be my Familia?"

"I do."

Then I almost had my ribs crushed by a wrestling-worthy hug, and before I could recover my breath she was dragging me away. I threw Takemikazuchi a wave of thanks before we were out of sight. Running through the streets of late afternoon Orario, Hestia dragged me to a bookshop where she had promised she would start her Familia.

That brought us back to the now.

+​

"Goddess, goddess. Goddess Hestia! Calm the... calm down!" I grabbed her by the shoulders and pointedly did not shake her. Fearful, tearful eyes looked up at me.

"But, but!"

"I am not dying at this precise moment. Let's take a deep breath and think this all through, okay?"

A cavernous sound was heard. As if on cue, both Hestia and I looked down. First at our bellies then at each other's. I had eaten stale bread for breakfast and kept the one carrot I'd been given for lunch. I had also trekked several kilometers from the mountains to the closest village, slept in the back of a night convoy, literally on top of a bale of hay. I was starving, my whole body had declared sore was its default state, and only Orario's public fountains kept me awake and hydrated.

"And maybe eat something?"

As soon as we got home to the church Hestia lived in, and now me as well, we could discuss and test my very unexpected spells. What actually happened was that I ate potato puffs until I was full and felt like crying about it. I laid my head down on my arms and fell asleep on the table. I don't remember that part.

I woke up at the ungodly hour of sunrise, on the bed. No boots, but still fully clothed, with a lamprey called Hestia hugging me from behind. Her sleep looked peaceful. I disentangled myself like somebody who has two younger brothers who like suffocating people- I mean cuddling. I regretted getting up, as my blistered feet met the floor. Limping to the couch, I sat down and grimaced as I saw I was bleeding a bit through my socks.

I was accustomed to walking long distances, but that's on modern pavement and modern shoes. My clothes had been translated into a lower technological level, and they just didn't fit me exactly like mine had, even if they looked similar enough. That's fine for say, my trousers, but for shoes it became the equivalent of breaking in new shoes by power walking through a day of standing retail work.

God...dess? Bless thick socks.

Unwilling to part my butt from the couch and doubting Hestia would have paper and pencils lying around, I settled in to mentally review the last 48 hours. Setting aside my entrance, stage left, there were a couple of things I had to think about.

First there were the timeline changes. Bell was… I wasn't quite sure he was responsible for saving the city? I'd read that he was somewhere. But he definitely was super important for the xenos, whose arc I hadn't read, and apparently for Ais. And she was a topic better not touched so I could only hope that Bell's protagonist aura could be replaced by… something. Lili was actually not essential for anything outside Bell's adventures. Sorry, but true. Mikoto either. Welf, I thought he had something to do with Ares' country. Who had invaded. That was another thing I had not read about. And finally Haruhime. It was awful to think but she was probably in a better position dead than in Ishtar. It was really awful, but it also wouldn't impact the timeline as far as I remembered.

So in conclusion! There was nothing I could do, probably, and maybe even nothing I should do. I'd given Hestia her first familia member and realistically that was the only amend I could make.

The other thing, a far larger topic, was me and my future. Or rather, mine and Hestia's future. We were a household now, in many, nay. In every way. My eyes skittered across the cracked ceiling, the holes, the spiders. I did not think about the centipedes. The list started composing itself in my head: finances and the division of wealth (marriage was an institution I'd read somewhere), registration with the guild, classifications, taxes, aid… then spending priorities like food, equipment, home repairs, clothes, soap…

I kept at it, my mind fluidly transitioning from the immediate necessities and practicalities to future planning. And therefore, my spells, with all their incredible potential but also all their potential drawbacks. Ultimately, I didn't know enough. I was nose deep into overly complex ways of testing each parameter of my spells when Hestia started making waking up noises.

They were cute waking up noises, and it was cute watching her snuggle deeper into the covers. I wanted to sleep in too, but I'd forced myself to get up. In short, if I couldn't, neither could she.

"Hey Lady Hestia! Good morning! Wake up!" I cheerily called, louder and louder.

"Mwah? Huh? Ah!" I watched her go from startled to confused to effusive. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at me. I felt my grin turn a bit awkward. Hestia's wholesome expectations...what did I do to deserve them? The bare minimum?

Well, when in doubt, deny, deflect and bury your problems until you have to fix everything at the last minute. "Sorry about that, but I think it's getting pretty late," I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was half past seven. A good enough hour for a retail worker, provided you didn't have to take three or four different busses to work. "And I wasn't sure when your work starts."

As an aside, it's incredibly convenient that I can read, speak and understand the local language because it is not english and it does not use the latin alphabet.

She shot up. "Oh no! I'm- wait! It wasn't a dream! I have a Familia!" She pointed at me. I couldn't help but smile back stupidly. Then her face fell. One-hundred to zero in point one seconds flat. "Y-y-your magic! That wasn't a dream either! Oh no, oh no."

Five minutes were spent explaining to Hestia that no, I felt fine. I hadn't tried to use my spells, because I wasn't a complete idiot, so nothing had happened and likely would not happen. Unless I used my spells, and that was what I wanted to talk to her about.

"Well," Hestia declared as she plopped down on the couch, arms crossed, "I'm not going to go to work today! We need to figure out your magic and besides, it's our first day as a Familia! We should spend it together!"

I was sitting sideways on the couch, facing her, and I objected. "Well, actually maybe it would be better if you went to work, Hestia. Right now, you are the Familia's only breadwinner and I'm… well, I'm really not helping."

Hestia closed her eyes and groaned. "Ah, that is a really weird feeling, being the one with money…" In yesterday's panic, she hadn't really noticed how dirt poor I really was. Not that I had particularly ragged clothes or anything that would make you think of a bum… but I literally didn't own anything but what I had on my body. It led to funny things like having to wait naked until my one set of clothes was washed and dried. "It can't be helped, I'll have to break out the emergency food money to buy you clothes."

Oy, oy, oy! "Wait a moment, if you're not going to work and you're spending the emergency food money, how are we going to eat tonight!"

"We can handle one night without dinner!"

"Hell no!"

Hestia's job was enough to feed her and save some. Nothing else. And when she wasn't forced to spend what she saved on emergency repairs, like buying a new dress, new soap… she spent it on alcohol. Happy hour. I was not a happy penguin when I forced her to admit that.

"You're just like Hephaestus!!" "Apparently that's what you need!!" "I don't deserve this!" "We'll see about that!"

Somehow, we'd ended up with me still sitting on the couch while I lectured her on the evils of alcohol, namely how it sucked your wallet dry. Hestia kneeled on the floor, chastised.

"God-s, we need to get a handle on our finances like, right now." I pulled her up and sat her next to me. Darn puppy eyes. "And while we're at that, we should talk about what we want out of the Familia more concretely."

Hestia gave me a peculiar look. "What do you want out of our Familia?" Before I could get properly startled at the change in maturity, she continued. "I want our Familia to write their own familia myth, like in the books. To have adventures and their name and renown proclaimed by everybody! And then I want everybody to gather and have a feast and tell stories and be happy together." A fantasy where everybody would come back victorious, where Hestia would watch them grow and never be alone.

"That sounds nice." Shame that Bell likely was dead, no? "I would like that."

She pouted. "That didn't answer my question, mister!"

That's right, because I was avoiding thinking of how pathetic I was. Still, she waited as I thought about what I wanted. Since I had to be honest, I told her most of what was going on in my head. "I want to survive. I want to live comfortably but also to go on adventures. I want to make up for some stuff and become a better person. I want to be strong and looked up to and good and I don't want to be alone in the world." I like my space. I like being left to my devices. It's selfish of me, but I do need an anchor and without my brothers, my father…

A small shoulder bumped into mine and I looked down to see Hestia's serious eyes. "You're not alone."

That was almost true. "Thank you. Sorry for being such a downer."

"Nope!" She rejected my apology.

We squabbled lightly back and forth, mood lightening up as I apologized and she insisted me being honest about my feelings was good, which it was not! I got the upper hand though, by bringing us back round to money.

+​

"So, in conclusion," I taped the pencil on a sheet full of scribbled out words and arrows pointing at numbers. "Hestia Familia will have mostly joint assets. So, buildings and other communal assets belong to the familia, under Hestia's name. Along with food, water, basic hygiene products, that will make sure the familia ensures elemental… no what's the name… elementary, ah, fundamental. Fundamental necessities for all its members. This will be paid for by a piggybank, the familia… funds, yeah. Each member, goddess included, will contribute three-quarters of their earnings to the funds. The remaining quarter will be personal money to spend however they want." I was forgetting something, what was it?

"Cheapskate, miser, val counter!" Hestia pounded on my knees weakly.

Oh yeah! "Taxes are also paid communally, obviously. Equipment may be paid for by the familia under the discretion of the quartermaster, which will also be in charge of the rest of the finances, and the captain, me. Considering the familia's state."

"Scrooge! Hoarder!"

"Discussions about spendings will be allowed, of course. And this document will be put up for revision in… three months unless something spectacular happens. What do you think, Goddess?"

A pathetic pile of divinity clung to my legs, eyes tearful and betrayed. "You said you hated finances and management."

"I do. Or at least, I hated the way they were done back home." Capitalist hellhole. Too many weird rules that only served to enrich the rich, punish the poor and give people excuses to fire employees. "This is just common sense and honestly, I am just throwing the numbers around. At least it fits in one single sheet."

Hestia grumbled but sat back down next to me. If she wanted more pocket money, she shouldn't have said she wanted her familia to provide for its members. Society lives on taxes!

"Okay, we're done. No more of this talk." She grabbed our fledgeling charter from my hands and replaced it with the bare status sheet from yesterday. "This is more important!"

The three spells that broke all the rules, in-universe and out, stared back at me. I wondered…

A traitorous finger poked me on my side and I jumped, a giggled half-strangled like a drowning cat escaping my lips. "DON'T Do that!!"

The goddess who I had been tormenting smirked evilly. "Are you… ticklish?"

"No." "Liar~!" "I meant- No like- Don't Even Think About It! Goddess! Goddess!?"

The following five minutes were not pleasant. Was I asking for it? I maintain that no, it was a completely inappropriate and excessive response from Hestia. The breach of trust was deeply hurtful and Hestia stopped once I started crying. I can handle pain just fine, but suffocation by laughter is upsetting, let's say. My goddess, now apologetic, played with the status sheet in her hands. I could hear the paper bending and crinkling, but I couldn't see her, since I was sitting on the floor on the other side of the couch.

I looked up. Hestia peered over the back of the couch. "Let's not do that ever again."

"So…"

"My spells. Let's get back to that thorny issue."

Hestia hummed. "Actually, I noticed… but you didn't seem too surprised when you saw your status."

I sighed. "Believe me Lady Hestia, I had no idea I was going to receive those spells. I sure dreamed about overpowered magic and a protagonist's power but something like those?" I threw my hands in the air. "Not even close."

Now Hestia was bending over the back of the couch, her head closer to mine. "You know what these spells do? I didn't have the chance to look too deeply. I was just transcribing your initial status when I noticed that this one… could hurt you." She tapped my shoulder. "I should check again."

I nodded. "Definitely. They might actually be different from what I think they are." I could feel the goddess' curiosity rolling off her in waves. Also, her worry. I had really chosen well, this goddess. "They're spells from stories I read back home. The Shadow Doppelganger Technique, that created solid copies of the user, signature of the number one unpredictable ninja. Magia Erebea, invented by a vampire, allowed you to make any magic your own. And Akemi Homura. That's the name of a heroine who could control time itself and used her shield to save her… person she loved."

Hestia's eyes were wide open. "Maybe I should check the blessing now." Yeah, I had a feeling she would after listening to that.

And since I was going to have to take off my shirt, "Might as well wash all of my clothes now then. If we want to have them dry at a reasonable time and make it to the Guild." It would take some time considering it was the middle of winter, if sunny. "Plus, you'll have to be the one to hang them outside since I'll be, well." Lacking in clothes.

So I started very normally undoing the laces on my shirt and trousers, only for Hestia to loudly splutter and turn away, blushing furiously. "Y-y-you can't just get n-naked just like that!" It was literally nothing she hadn't seen before and I told her so. "I'm a virgin goddess! I don't g-go to de-depraved parties like other gods! My eyes are virginal too!" More quietly she mumbled something that sounds like, "Is this what other gods do? Isn't it going too fast?"

"Okay," I stopped and stared at her, turned away but occasionally looking over her shoulder to see what I was doing, "that makes no sense. Which part of this," I gestured to the entire room, "made you think we were going to even touch? Let alone have like… sex. We are not. Is this a …" Greek "god thing?"

I knew Hestia had deserved to go to horny jail in canon, but: One, that was for Bell, which I was very much not. And two, she didn't usually act like this.

Hestia's face had reached critical levels and looked redder than a tomato. "A man can't just show a virgin goddess his body like t-"

"Wait what?"

"What what?

I stared at her in such complete bafflement that even the wind seemed to have disappeared. "Hestia. I am a woman."

Silence. "Eh?"

"Don't 'eh?' me. I don't have a bra, you saw my tits yesterday."

"No I didn't, you had your back to me the whole time!"

"Dude, my chosen name is Nana. Na-na."

"I thought that was your family name!"

"I have long hair! I have a girl's voice!"

"In a ponytail! Lots of men have long hair! And your voice is fine for a boy too!"

"Oh my goooood…"

I couldn't believe I was actually this non-binary. Ever since I had stopped cutting my hair like a soldier, my ability to confuse people about my gender had diminished severely. I could still make people look twice and frown in confusion, but Hestia being 100% convinced that I was a man after seeing me half-naked and cuddling me during the night? Something didn't add up. My goddess insisted she'd never seen somebody as flat as me (she'd choked on her laugh and gone very pale, dismayed? At me being flatter than Loki). I pointed at my throat and asked about my lack of facial hair and adam's apple. And found out that, apparently secondary sex characteristics work differently here.

I misspoke. What I actually mean is that, among human men, they either are very prominent or they barely exist. And women, of course, always have… titties. The less was said about sex dimorphism in elves and pallums, the better. As a mostly androgynous female wearing pants, I was indistinguishable from a quarter of the male population.

Rule of thumb: if it doesn't have B-cups, it's a dude. The joys of living in an anime?

Okay, let's get back to what people really want to know. How overpowered I was (not).

+​

My clothes were drying, I was comfortably wrapped in a warm, cozy blanket, and Hestia had spent at least one hour trying to make sense of my spells. There were several sheets of paper with different translations and amendments spread on the table. An adventurer's status is written on their back in divine hieroglyphs. Although puny mortals can learn how to read the divine script, gods just transcribe and translate it for us. What I hadn't known is that even gods can get stumped by the very blessing they gave.

Hestia had been incredibly vague about it, but the gist I got was that the divine hieroglyphs were a higher form of divinity than gods themselves. Or at least, gods with their arcanum sealed. The script looked like an alphabet to the untrained eye but it actually read like said hieroglyphs and worked on a base of symbols equaling ideas. It also had layers only gods could perceive and had to interpret.

So there were several possible translations for several different parts of my spells. Hestia looked like she wasn't sure if she wanted to be happy or panicking.

"Okay, let's put these two aside for now and focus on the simple one." I pushed most of the sheets aside and took the only spell that hadn't made Hestia want to cry.

[ Kage Bushin no Jutsu ]
Multiplication magic that creates physical but fragile copies of the user. The user remains connected to all copies.

There were other notes written down. Different translations like shadow doppelganger or shadow clone technique, the fact that it didn't have a chant at all and the hieroglyphs had drawn this vague hand shape here, how expensive it felt to Hestia and properties she thought the spell might have.

"Looks about right. In the stories, Shadow Clones could take a few hits depending on how much chakra was used to create them. They also transferred all their memories back to the user when they were destroyed, making them great scouting and training tools. The clones looked independent, but they coordinated effortlessly with Naruto so it could very well be that he was more or less in control of them."

"It's not a super-powerful attack or a legendary healing magic," said Hestia, "but I can see how useful and incredible it is. Other gods would definitely want to take you away if they got even a whiff of what this can really do."

I nodded grimly. "Especially the evil, unscrupulous sort of gods. Kage Bushin is a top-tier spying tool. Heck, any exploration familia or even the guild. Being able to check ahead for monsters and traps without risk is a gamechanger."

"I'm not sure if I'm the luckiest or the unluckiest goddess to ever exist. Ahaha." Hestia said spiritlessly.

"We're going to have to lay low." In other words we were doomed but alas. "Anyway, it's not like this spell doesn't have some very real potential drawbacks. The story always described it as very expensive chakra-wise, so I'm not even sure I'll be able to cast it without passing out. And the memories from the clones could overwhelm me and even fry my brain." Now Hestia was staring at me again. "On the other hand there are fun probabilities like exploding clones and weapon duplicates."

"I'm starting to think you enjoy this, Nana."

"There are a lot of things about this situation that I'm enjoying. "

"Urrgg." She scowled and mock hit me in the arm. "Just tell me about the original story you read this from, you scoundrel."

I winced, regretting promising that I would tell her the stories I knew. "Naruto is at least fifty volumes long. How about I tell you the beginning and how he got his ninja headband? So, imagine a city, like Orario but there are large trees everywhere and there's a cliff. It's a very important cliff, because that's where the faces of the Hokages are carved!"

I got into the rhythm of storytelling fairly easily. It didn't take much to have Hestia hanging on my words. I still had Naruto's first episode and chapter engraved in my mind and the fact was that I loved Naruto. Always will, some part of me. And by the end of today, so would Hestia.

+​

"This one… it's not a good magic, Nana."

I winced. "... You're not wrong goddess. It's not evil or anything but it is really dangerous magic. It's the one I understand the least too."

[ Magia Erebea ]
Stagnet - Complexio - Supplementum Pro Armationem
Forbidden Magic that devours everything. Grants the user many times the power of absorbed magic. Anima Erosion. Animus Erosion.

"You shouldn't ever use it. I forbid it." She said, small hands around one of my wrists.

I tapped the paper instead. Besides that, there were several translations and scribbles of what Hestia had thought might be other activation words and strange details. She'd dug deep, trying to find as much as she could about this one in particular. "Anima and animus erosion worries me. I've heard it somewhere before, but I can't remember where."

"It means something that destroys your very sense of self." Hestia's voice was harsh by my side. There was a reason I was keeping my eyes glued to the paper. "It attacks your mind, spirit and soul!"

"That makes sense." I paused. "In the story, to learn how to use this magic, Negi had to face his inner darkness. He fought through a magic dream in which he died over and over again until he overcame that darkness inside of him. If he gave up or took too long, he either died or lost his ability to use magic forever."

"Nana!" Hestia grabbed my hair and pulled so that I had to look at her. Her eyes were red and her voice reedier. "And knowing all that, you still want to use it? No, that's stupid! And you're not stupid!"

I grit my teeth and almost spat the words out. "I don't know if I'll have the choice. The dungeon, hell! The world is dangerous! If I'm going to survive, I have to use all I have. I can't hold back and Magia Erebea is my greatest force-multiplier."

Hestia didn't release my eyes. "You don't want to use it. Why are you insisting on this, Nana?"

Gods and their stupid ability and intuition! I forced my head out of her grip. A few ripped hairs would be worth not having to meet her eyes anymore. "... I want the power of Erebea. That magic was… so cool. You know it was invented by a ten year old child? A kid forcibly turned into a monster that became monstrously strong so she could survive in a world that hated her for no reason. Magia Erebea works by absorbing a spell and fusing it with your soul. It's crazy powerful and crazy dangerous. The spell itself begins to feed on your soul and lifeforce and whatever else."

Hestia just waited.

"I am afraid of using it. The more I think about it, the less simple it becomes. I'm scared of what I'll have to fight, and I'm almost certain I'd lose." I wasn't delusional. A young adult from the modern world that had rarely faced hardships? A mediocre person by all accounts? I didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell. "And then I'd be taken over by dark magic and literally turn into a monster."

I felt Hestia's touch on my shoulder and felt my eyes prickle with wetness. "So don't. We don't need this spell. It's forbidden after all."

I had a premonition then that I would use it. Of course I did.

+​

The final spell wasn't actually any better for Hestia's blood pressure. "Honestly, Lady Hestia, by this point, I was expecting you to exert your divine authority. I mean..."

Hestia opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again and then whimpered, suddenly looking very defeated. "I almost did but I can feel it in the blessing. That magic is not against the laws of the lower world. It's cheating, almost! But only almost! It's not against the rules or in violation of the laws." She bit her lip. "Thank goodness. I… don't want to think about what I might have had to do."

Me neither, boss, me neither.

[ Akemi Homura ]
Creates a lost heroine's shield with the ability to stop the flow of time and store items inside. Its durability and abilities depend on the user's magic stat. Sacrificing a shield will allow for a chance to change fate.

This hieroglyphic translation was apparently the hardest because, according to Hestia, the hieroglyphs and their meanings kept changing. The name, especially, varied between Akemi Homura, Homulily and other variants that included Nutcracker. I was appropriately terrified. Hestia had checked for me though, and nothing in the spell indicated any sort of corruption, turning, transformation. It was one 'simple' spell that just created the shield.

So we only had to deal with the possibility of time travel and whatever complications, likely divine in nature, could arise from it. It was a very big 'only'.

We were probably going to have to test this magic before anything else. Hestia had been freaking out, again, about the possibility of other gods noticing me messing around with time. And not just the ones in the lower world, no! We also had to worry about the ones upstairs.

"Okay so, the way I understand, the shield is actually something like a sand hourglass." I explained. "Homura could stop time by halting the flow of sand in it, like stopping an hourglass by putting it horizontal. And she could reverse time by turning it around, just like an hourglass too. I never quite got the exact mechanics of it, like if she could only turn time at that one spot in the timeline, or how the sand in the shield got there or if it represented the universal time flow or just something more local and a bunch of other little details. I do know how the time-stop works functionally though." Through direct and contiguous contact, essentially.

"That's not a power any mortal should have." Hestia said, and to me she sounded more serious than usual. I turned from the paper back to her. "It's almost… blasphemous. Tell me about the story of Akemi Homura."

"... it's funny that you mentioned blasphemy. Akemi Homura's story… well, she's just the most important character in Madoka's story. Kaname Madoka was just a normal girl. And for her, it all started with one very strange dream, a dream with a girl fighting a monster, and a small white creature with red eyes…"

+​

Somehow, it was already mid-afternoon when we were done. In between debating and writing down what we should do to test my spells, eating more potato salad, and waiting for my clothes to dry, we'd wasted almost the entire day. A good chunk of it had been spent storytelling. Hestia really loved stories and she wasn't just interested in listening about other things I'd read or watched.

I happened to go on a bit of a rant about the lack of good character writing in Naruto when it came down to girls, which led to things I'd have written differently, and suddenly fanfiction! Ironic, I know. But it seemed that Hestia and I would get along like a house on fire.

Since Hestia hadn't gone to work, I considered taking care of the Familia's registration, but there was something we ought to check before we made any moves at all. Before I even considered taking one single step in my adventures. After all… would anything matter if I got smited from existence?

Hestia was biting her nails, hair raised.

I stood ready in the middle of the room.

I was not ready.

You Only Live Once, probably.

I closed my eyes, right hand over my left forearm. Inhale, exhale. My heartbeat got progressively louder as I focussed. There was no chant, so it was all down to instinct. Ba-dump, ba-dump. I was looking for an energy for which I had no reference. I was a blind man trying to swim towards a patch of dyed water. ba-dump ba-dump. And the waters were shark-infested. This was a horrible idea, I should have started with the shadow clones. No, I had to focus. ba-dump ba-dump. Breathe and think of nothing but yourself. Self-awareness. Your body, a machine constantly there. baa-dump baa-dump. Your mind, freely letting thoughts go. baaa-dump baaa-dump.

My soul, touched by divinity.

baaa-dump baaa-dump

tick tock tick tock

ba aa-du mp ba aa-du mp

t ic k t o ck t ic k t o ck

The power to protect. A shield. I could picture that. I'd held shields before, felt the way they dragged my arm down. Keep your hands up. Guard.

b a a d u m p b a a d u m p

t i c k t o c k t i c k t o c k

The power over time. An hourglass, a grandfather clock, a sundial. I could envision that too. Still-motion. Photographs. Moments frozen in time. The steady beat of a pendulum, the murmur of sand sliding against glass, a shadow moving back and forth over carved stone. A film being rewound.

b a a d u m p b a a d u m p b a a d u m p b a a d u m p b a a d u m p b a a d u m p

Why was… my heartbeat so… loud? Why was it so steady? Why couldn't I… control it?

No! I yelled in my mind, but my eyes would not open. This was not right. My breathing continued unhindered and steady, to the rhythm of the universe, despite the panic building inside of me. Every beat, I lost something. Some warmth, some form of… me, was being drained away. I got colder and colder, yet I did not shiver, or felt the need to do so. It continued to flow out of me and very soon, I was all tapped out. Then, the shakes began, rocking my bones, my body, my head.

It was the pain of a migraine, that awful sort of pressure that just did not want to go away, leaving me stuck in bed and crying in frustration. It was the pain of food poisoning, kneading my stomach and intestine with large claws. It was the flu with all of its weight pressing me down to the floor while poking my body to move just to get away from the discomfort. It was like collapsing after running under the summer sun outside, no water, no breath, my heartbeat in my throat, my ears, my eyes.

This spell was too much. That was my last thought before the world fell into incoherence.

Not unconsciousness. Not until I felt it around my wrist. Only then did I fall into blissful oblivion.

---

This is 99% abandoned.​

Yeah, I just wrote this months ago to get the juice flowing. It's 100% wish fulfillment, but you can see some places where I had the bare-bones idea of a plot. You can also see here why RunLess is classified as an SI-adjacent story, there's a lot of similarities between how "I" here and the RunLess version see the world and interact with Hestia.​

Anyway, not planning on continuing this any time, parts of these ideas having been moved to other projects. So here it is, for future perusal.​

 

[minuseven]

8Jun2024 edit: minor orthography fixes and changes to the stats at the end. changed time limit from 330 to 305. put stats in courier new for aesthetics!

---

|1|

The colorful neon lights on the other side of the horizontal blinders created stark contrasting lines inside the hotel room. His form broken by the black shadows and lines of light, a boy sat on the single bed. He let out a sigh and rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

'This is... seriously a problem.' Truthfully, to call his situation a problem was the same as saying the ocean was just a bit of water. In his free hand, he held a suicide note. The note was a rant on the life of Hisashi Tetsuya until this day, a two page long essay on why he had decided to end his life.

Tetsuya had been a child with big dreams. His parents had passed away when he'd been young and he lived with an uncaring uncle. He'd always wanted to be a hero, like Endeavor, and defeat villains. Unfortunately, when his quirk had manifested, it had been as a green gem embedded in his flesh that did nothing. He could move it around over his body, but nothing else. With a weak quirk unfit for heroics, his dreams had apparently been shattered. But Tetsuya knew his quirk was more than that, instinctively feeling that the orb was gathering energy and would reveal its true power when he really needed it. In between this strange belief and his strong personality, he spent his time getting into fights and being mocked. Nobody believed him about his quirk, but it turned out to be true. On his eighteenth birthday, his quirk finally fully manifested.

In the form of a shield.

Not even a big shield or a special shield. In fact, now Tetsuya couldn't get rid of it, and on top of that, it hurt him like a shock collar if he tried to pick up any weapon to use with it. His strength or speed had not improved. After years of being labeled as basically quirkless, all he'd gotten was just that shield.

The universe had been laughing at him, his dreams were finally shattered, once again the object of ridicule.

'And so you ended here, with a pilfered bottle of sleeping pills.' The person inhabiting Tetsuya's body thought. 'And you succeeded for once. But really… killing yourself over a childhood dream? 99% of people don't pursue those and they don't throw themselves off the roof.' Tetsuya hadn't even been heavily bullied or had an abusive guardian. His life hadn't been all roses, but he scowled at the thought that the kid had given up because he just couldn't accept not being a hero. 'He could have become a firefighter or something if he really wanted to save people.'

With another long-suffering sigh, he got up and stretched. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on the train. His night classes were slowly killing him and he'd nodded off like a baby. He'd woken up to an unfamiliar ceiling, soon followed by an unfamiliar body and a weird object attached to his arm.

Evidently, he'd been transported into another world.

'I read too much manga, but it's true.' Not only that, as he got his bearings together and explored the clues left in the hotel room, he recognized the world he was in and the shield strapped to his arm. 'That new Hero Academia manga that I hadn't caught up with, and the awful anime with the cool Shield Hero power.'

The former, he was only familiar with the first two volumes, skimmed at a bookstore a few months ago. They'd been on his to-read list. The world was interesting, and he'd gotten the gist of it online. 'So I sort of know what the world is like, but no clues about the plot.'

The latter, he'd quit after two episodes and spoiling himself about the rest of it. The protagonist's power was interesting and cool, but he was not on board with a plot that was ok with slavery, torture and rape if it was done to the wrong people. 'Just thinking of it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. At least I know and like how the Shield works.'

"First, I should test if it really is the Legendary Shield." He told himself. 'Maybe just thinking will do. Status Window?'

Before his eyes, a semi-transparent white window displaying his statistics opened. It moved with his vision, just an overlay. "... It actually works." He'd been only half-expecting it to work.

||... Hisashi Tetsuya (##### #####) ...||
|| HP 100 :: SP 5 :: ATK 1 :: SATK 1 :: DEF 30(40) :: SDEF 20 :: MOV 10 ||
|| Legendary Hero's Shield :: DEF+10 ||

'I don't know if those were the original's statistics but… it reminds me of another classic game.' It almost felt like it was plagiarizing from yet another source, but then again, wasn't he already in a sort of crossover?

He explored the options presented by the status window. The Shield appeared to function more or less like the original. He had access to an inventory by using the Shield's gem, he could unlock new forms by consuming materials, he could improve his stats by mastering shields, and he could strengthen the Legendary Shield by using essences. The latter was the only unfamiliar function to him. He'd explore it later, because it looked like it involved sacrificing shield forms.

Instead, he slumped back on the bed. "So now I have a potential awesome superpower in a superhero world… and I'm Tetsuya, male, 18 years old and less than a year away from starting uni." He paused, mulling it over. "... It's kind of a second chance. The kid died and now I'm here. I could go to university again but in an area I like better. Or even into a technical school. Those have good employment rates. I mean… do I have to follow the plot?"

|| Objective: Become a Hero Student. T-305d. ||

He stared at the words overlaying his vision, red-colored like a stop sign. Then he closed his eyes and groaned loudly. He'd just had to jinx it, hadn't he?

---

My writing has been so slow lately... well, this idea was originally an MCU civilian thrown into YJ but I've been very inspired by Debut or Die (an idol time travel and body changing with gamer powers manwha and novel). I might switch my MHA OC into YJ and make that the other story. That one has Dauntless' powers (from Worm).
As you can tell, it's a modified MHA world and Shielder powers (bc they are already too much and I don't like RotSH tb-perfectly-fucking-h). The oc-insert was also not originally male, tho it's a small detail that's missable.

 

[minuseven]

Synaptic Architecture//Demon Somatic 1.3

Whether it was the lack of other soldiers accompanying them or the urgency of the slowly worsening raining demons, Cassandra moved at a faster pace, jogging determinedly over snow-covered ice. Volt followed half a step behind, forward facial sensor-pits glowing without a flicker. Mute of breathing to human ears, the focus of a Tenno on the hunt was probably disconcerting.

Certainly, Cassandra seemed somewhat off-put when, ambushed by lone demons, the warframe reacted like a coiled spring and laid low the attackers with two or three devastatingly strong blows.

Truth be told, Ren was letting the equipment do most of the work. Her focus was on keeping her will steady. Rather than immerse herself into the warframe's body, and feel the ice, the wind, the stray branches, the fires from lost barricades, the smell of blood and offal, she took a step back. Unbound from her weak mental constitution, guided only by the detached orders of a mind that knew what was to be done in theory, the warframe moved like the machine it was meant to be. Smooth, strong, silent, mechanically precise if predictable in its flawlessness.

And as much as Ren would like to not see the corpses of soldiers and civilians, and hear the screeches of things that were quite probably literally born from nightmares, she was unable to close her eyes. She shouldn't either, as she was in hostile territory, and because her humanity almost demanded it of her. A careful balance between caring too much and breaking down, and caring too little and just leaving it all behind.

It was ultimately an untenable state of being, but Ren was going to stick with it until she couldn't anymore.

Procrastinate your well-deserved breakdown just like old times, dear chap!

Concrete sounds of fighting increased. Cassandra pointed to the left side of the river. "Over there, up on the bank." Eldritch light and the sounds of combat originated from somewhere behind the pine trees blocking their view.

Volt nodded, then Ren hesitated. Will I get shot at if I burst into scene? But the heavily armored woman behind them didn't have the benefit of techno-augmented muscles and would still take some time to climb that. She shook the warframe's head, willing herself to fall back into the armor. "I'm going to scout ahead."

Breaking from her light jog into a full blown sprint, she rushed the stairs cut into the hill. The path culminated at one end of a bridge, now broken and littered with flaming debris. The large torches that topped the structure held their own fires, struggling to exist in the harsh wind blowing through the valley. On the same slope, the path dropped down, cutting through ruins that days before must have been some sort of building or fort. Ren's sensors sharpened as she focused on the hole in space, fractal edges intercut by stony protrusions that faded out of existence at the edges and intersected like an alien sea urchin. The rift. Shit. A green cloud emanated from it, blanketing the battlefield in a ghostly light.

Ren stepped back, looked over the stairs to see Cassandra just only now starting to climb them. Her head swiveled between the woman and the figures fighting for their lives not a hundred meters away. Priorities. Well, in the worst case scenario I'm still a goddamned warframe. They can't hurt me that bad. "Found it! I'm going ahead!" She pointed to her objective as she hollered to Cassandra, then started running without waiting for an answer. To the defenders, she shouted. "Reinforcements!"

Soldiers attempted to surround and hold down the demons with the sheer force of numbers, while archers fought to not hit them, and a single mage cast homing ice bolts. And then a small-point war machine barreled into a demon, all the weight that had been negated while traversing over ice made manifest. It had about the same result as a car hitting a pedestrian at full speed. The demon was launched away, broken body dissipating as a crackle of electricity ran through it in its last moments.

Volt didn't stop, twirling its bo and side-stepping the terrified soldiers to bat another enemy into oblivion. There were actually only three demons present, although all of them humanoid-ish in shape, the stronger variants she'd observed until now. "Three. All demons defeated." She spoke loudly, hoping to broadcast, if not her allegiance, then her intentions. Please don't shoot me. "Cassandra, the Seeker, is inbound."

The soldiers looked among themselves, looking for anybody to step up and do something. Ren immediately noted the two non-humans in the bunch. To be fair, they were very noticeable. The elf she'd seen before, it was the mage who'd examined her before. And the dwarf, richly dressed, cut an interesting figure himself, what with exposing his chest to the frigid air and the small-scale balista in his hands. Before she had the time to examine the first bit of technology she'd seen in this world further, the elf stepped up.

Apparently unsurprised and unbothered by Volt, the mage had only taken a moment to catch his breath. "We have no time to lose." He fearlessly approached the rift, motioning for them to come closer. "Quickly, before more come through!" He opened a hand to her, asking for Volt's own.

After a moment of silent and unmoving contemplation, Ren moved. With deliberate movements, she presented the warframe's left hand, palm up.

The mage took it, his own movements deliberate as he pulled it closer to examine it. Now with, relatively, time to look closer, the mark on the warframe looked like fade-light had been wedged into small fissures, or scars. Like Volt had cut its hand on the fractal glass-like edges of a rift. Or shrapnel. The mage quickly measured the width of the mark with his fingers, then, pausing to look the warframe in the eyes, or equivalent, he thrust the glowing hand towards the rift.

Something that wasn't electricity arced between the mark and the rift. The edges of reality, visible like rippling water, started to disappear. The stones fading into reality faded out, and the green light physically bleeding onto the ground sputtered out. With a final thunderclap, the rift closed in itself, and Volt's HUD became a gibbering mess. A magnetic proc again? Twice was the start of a pattern.

Ren flexed Volt's hand. Nothing appeared or felt out of the ordinary.

"You closed the rift." Cassandra's amazed voice interrupted her thoughts.

Ren flashed her a victory sign. Whoohoo. Yay. Go team.

With demons no longer invading reality, the soldiers had relaxed, and Cassandra sheathed her sword. The mood was, for now, favorable to the statue-like possible abomination towering over even the tallest of them. As the paladin converged on them, the mage spoke up. "It seems I was correct. The mark can close rifts."

"And it could also close the Breach itself." Cassandra almost smiled.

The mage demurred. "Possibly."

They seemed to be forgetting, or were trying very hard not to address the elephant in the room. Namely, that this mark was attached to Ren's hand. She blinked at them, a purely self-directed action, seeing as warframes lacked such things as eyes, much less eyelids. She must have unconsciously shifted the warframe, because both turned to her.

The elf addressed her, almost nonchalantly. "It seems… you hold the key to our salvation."

"Wonderful." Ren deadpanned.

"That's the spirit." The dwarf joined them, brushing snow from his coat. "I thought we'd be ass-deep in demons forever."

"Not dead?" Said Ren.

"Well, details." He shrugged with a roguish smile. "Varric Tethras: rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwelcome tag-along." An actual roguish smile, complete with a wink and everything. Cassandra's smile disappeared in response.

Varric was, however sad it sounded, the first person to introduce themselves normally to Ren. Leliana had been part of an interrogation, Cassandra had let Leliana introduce her while she glared, and Solas… Can't give away that I was actually conscious that whole time and know your name, buddy. The elf hadn't introduced himself yet, but she was expecting good things from his previous behavior.

A bit happy that at least one person in the whole world wasn't chomping to kill them, Ren joined their hands at chest level and bowed in greeting. "Ren. Volt. Nice to meet you."

The elf huffed, amused, and Varric opened his arms in mock outrage. "You wound me, Chuckles. It's a pleasure to meet me."

"I have met worse people indeed." The elf conceded with a tiny smirk, and turned to Ren. "If there are to be introductions, my name is Solas."

Varric leaned in. "He's the one who's trying to convince people you aren't a demon."

Ren bowed to Solas too, in gratitude as much as a greeting. "Well met. I appreciate your efforts." As useless as they've been. This old timey speech is influencing me. She clapped their hands, making half the people around jump like scared rabbits. "Okay, rift closed, time to take care of the big one?"

Cassandra traded a look with Solas. He nodded. "Yes. We must get to the forward camp. Leliana is waiting for news there."

"Let's go then. Never a good idea to keep her waiting." Said Varric.

It was like stepping on a landmine. Ren tilted her head as she observed Cassandra step up to him, towering over the dwarf in intimidation. "Absolutely not!" She gestured with an open hand. "Your help is–"

"Needed. Have you been to the valley lately, seeker? Your men are barely holding on. You need all the help you can get." And he was offering.

"... Your help is appreciated." The tall woman huffed, like she was making a great concession. Ren wanted to trade a look with Solas, like. Are you seeing these two? Old married couple, enemies to lover in two hundred k, or, well, I'd say Legolas and Gimli but you're the elf here. Tho, Cassandra's prettier.

The party, now a proper adventurer party! Warrior, mage, rogue and… robot?, departed. The regular path blocked by snow and debris, they descended, returning to the frozen river Cassandra and Ren had come from. The path following the river's bank was narrow and barely there, the mountains tight over their heads. Cassandra led, followed by Varric, Ren and finally Solas. The cover also kept them safe. The river widened into a lake, as frozen as the rest of it, sporting what would be a few rustic fishing cabins if not for the demons. And the fact that they were on fire.

Varric crowed at Cassandra and the three of them, obviously used to combat, fell into an easy-looking coordination. Ren took one moment to brace herself, twirling the bo, before finding the biggest demon and sliding down to meet it. Hi. Bye. She probed it with a couple of strikes but despite being tougher than the ones she'd faced before, sporting even spiky armor, it could do very little to Volt. She was strong enough to keep it staggered, and the one hit it got in didn't quite manage to down her shields.

Alone the demons were not so tough, even to an unmodded and unmastered warframe. It was in groups that they became dangerous. Jot it down: under duress, I will admit that having religious nuts at my back isn't… maybe… the end of the world. The group dispatched the demons gathered, wiped their brows, and continued on.

Featuring: stairs. I'm so glad I don't tire. The path picked off on the other side of the lake, and climbed sinuously behind the houses. Pine trees, or their planetary equivalent of needle-leaved evergreens, formed an almost untouched forest around them. It reminded Ren of the most remote walks she had done through her home's trails. She wondered how the bark would feel to a warframe. She clearly had tactile sensation, but would it be the same? It couldn't, her logical mind dictated before her emotional heart discarded the topic. She shouldn't lose focus now.

"So." Varric, certainly the most social out of them all, breached the silence as they jogged on the snowy incline. "Not trying to be rude, but what exactly are you? Because I've never seen anybody like you."

Unseen, Ren smiled at his easy tone and irreverent way. "A Tenno."

He nodded. "Fascinating…"

"I'll explain later." Well, parts of it. It wasn't like Ren herself knew how she'd become… them.

"I must confess," Solas gave his two cents, "I am curious as well." You and a bunch of others, magic man.

"You know what I'm curious about?" The dwarf again. "Do you know how that." He meant the fuck-huge hole in the sky. "Happened?"

"No." Ren snorted. "I was minding my own business. Then there were demons. Then I got dragged into this hellhole!"

"Sounds like it was a shit day for everybody." Varric tsked. Besides him, Solas nodded, giving the warframe a curious look.

They were reaching the top of the last flight of stairs cut into the mountainside, like any proper devoted pilgrim path, when Ren's hand twitched and sparked. The mark flared and the warframe registered something attempting to send signals through the neurons in the area. At the same time, Solas and Cassandra both snapped to attention.

"Another rift!" The warrior unsheathed her sword and prepared her shield.

They crossed the last steps at a run, just in time to see the space in front of a fortified gate crunch in itself with jagged green-edged teeth and rip apart, dropping half a dozen wraiths and demons on top of the soldiers guarding it.

"We must seal it! Quickly!" Solas reached for Volt before they bounded into the fray. "Use the mark on the rift! It might affect the demons!"

Ren nodded. This, she was uniquely equipped to do. Go and slide, bullet jump and double, I love being a warframe! The soldiers watched, surely amazed and flabbergasted, as gravity decided to quietly submit and let Volt walk all over it. The war machine landed in a slide, having crossed something like fifty meters in two seconds, and righted itself jump behind the rift. Now, hmm, like this? Just, gotta not trigger Shock… not that I have enough energy for that. Ren thrust her hand forward.

An eldritch arc sprung from the mark on their palm and hit the rift, striking like a pebble into a pond. The rip in space-time was still there, but it rippled and the demons seemed to feel it. The slightest waiver was enough for the soldiers and Ren's adventuring party, who brutally capitalized on it. They started moping up the demons and Ren, very aware of their supposed role in this venture, focused on closing the portal to the Fade.

I've the macguffin power. I'm in the usual protagonist position. Except for, well. A pair of soldiers were pointing their spears at them, wondering if they should also stab her, and in the arrow slits above, the archers also had them in their sights. That.

"Open the gate!" Cassandra, ordered the soldiers. "We've arrived at the forward camp. Leliana should be waiting for us."

A place where I'm surrounded by people who want to burn me at the stake. Ren didn't say. Joy.

---

Spoiler

I've always wanted to return to this and finally, finally I managed. i don't know what exactly was blocking me but it's gone. I'll probably get another part of this before anything else (i know i know, both runless and sakuragachamon need my attention. ... and others).
i want to finish the prologue already, come on!!
also, no images. i've had no time or inspiration for them unfortunately

 

[minuseven]

Synaptic Architecture//Demon Somatic 1.4

The forward camp had clearly been established on one side of a bridge. Unfortunately, there was an active demonic invasion, so its perimeter had shrunk until said camp was limited to the two gatehouses on each side of the bridge. On the one hand, it was a defensible stone structure; on the other, if a demon meteor happened to land on it like Ren had seen before…

A squad of mean-faced soldiers greeted Ren as the gates opened for their party. Some even had their weapons unsheathed, although none of them were actually pointing towards them. She imagined it was because none of them wanted to be on the very bad side of Seeker Cassandra. The mood was roughly the same as in the town, but some people were looking at Volt with something like curiosity. Or maybe even hope. They spotted Leliana's hooded head ahead, and were a bit impressed. She must have laid the groundwork for this change of opinion. Just a bit though: religious types were easily manipulated by people they considered authorities.

"You brought that thing here!?!"

But of course. We can't have nice things.

A man in one of those priestly frocks, red over white robes, was shouting. And gesticulating. Pointing at Volt and clearly wanting their 'demonic' head chopped off. Leliana, next to him, was keeping a praise-worthy diplomatic face, and surreptitiously gesturing her people to not. Engage. Cassandra herself was now wearing a scowl comparable to the one she'd greeted Ren with. Her steps hurried, shoulders squaring so much a person could use her to teach geometry, she moved like the medieval tank she was.

The non-humans of the party had slowed down, and Ren followed their lead. "Should we…?"

"Let's leave the Seeker to handle that." Varric turned smoothly to go sit on a bunch of stacked planks.

"Discretion is the better part of valor." Solas agreed, taking the opportunity himself to lean against his staff and rest.

Ren didn't begrudge them for it. For one, she didn't need rest. I'm really impressed actually, they're still squishy mortals, who were fighting demons and then did a forced march up a mountain side. So many stairs. Even the wizard kept up. Not everybody could literally be built for this sort of thing.

Across the bridge, Cassandra was somewhere between an epic dressing down, or a shouting match with an equally stubborn person. Leliana had gotten involved and was playing the conciliatory party. That was one smart woman.

Now that Ren had a moment to stop… Well, what should I do? Nothing that'll send people jumping off the bridge either. Right, let's see if I can do that. Logically, she was now in a safe zone, like Cetus maybe. Or perhaps just before a survival mission. In any case, there was something that a warframe should be capable of doing that she hadn't tried yet. She opened her left hand palm up. Do I–

NAVIGATION
EQUIPMENT
MARKET
OPTIONS​

Oh, here it is. Shit, this is not the normal menu.

There were things missing, like Operator, Communications, Quests, Profile, and especially the Exit option. It told her a lot about her situation. She was definitely stuck, at least for now.

After a brief check: nobody was seeing the holographic menu, everybody thought she was looking at the air, good. She quickly went through the Navigation and the Options. One was a map of the area she'd traversed before. No fast travel, but she knew that was asking too much. The options were all related to her HUD. The rest seemed too sensitive, but worth going back to later. Perhaps she could figure out a friendly fire opt-out in this very real world.

The fact that the Market was accessible was hopeful. Not sure by how much, seeing as she didn't have any credits or platinum. But at least the option to expand her arsenal was there. Now, Equipment was the goldmine. Arsenal, Abilities, Mods, Inventory, even the Foundry!

It'd be helpful if I had, you know, anything. A mod. Any mod. But Volt didn't. In fact, as far as the arsenal was concerned, they didn't even have their Braton! The only thing Ren could do was… well, Fashionframe. Hold that thought.

"Hey." She called out to her friendliest companions. "I'm going to do a thing."

Varric looked at Solas, who shrugged minutely. "A thing?" He said, wary. "What kind of thing? Nothing explosive, right?"

"Purely cosmetic." Ren assured him with a-okay sign. Then she started cycling through colors. Since it's winter, let's go for something that doesn't stand out in stark white. I wish I had all the regular colors unlocked, but this palette is good enough for something simple.

Murmurs erupted as the warframe was washed over by waves of invisible light, its colors changing. Before its shell was a light gray with a blue-green undertone, its undersides in two tones of brown. Now the gray was replaced by a tone just a shade off white and the browns by rock gray. Accents around the curves of its shape, previously blending in with the browns, were revealed in a sky-blue tonality. Lastly, the color of the various sensors and lights speckled in strategic points changed from orange to blue. Ren didn't have to look to also know that the sparks that occasionally skittered across Volt had turned white like any ability they cast from this moment on.

"What's going on here? What have you done?" Cassandra walked in, closely followed by Leliana and, surprisingly, the priest from before half hiding behind the nun.

"I changed colors." Ren replied in that tone of voice that showed exactly how stupid she thought the question was. Then, she applied the colors she'd just chosen to the Mk1-Bo. She twirled the staff. Not bad.

The warrior didn't respond in speech. Rather, she was incapable of that much. Instead, several incredulous and furious grunts escaped her.

Ahah, did I break her language processor? Ren was amused, but she also knew she would have to give at least a bit of an explanation to keep their relation to these people non-hostile. "You humans, and elves and dwarves," she nodded to Solas and Varric, "change your appearance too, don't you?"

"That's a bit different. We don't change colors like an octopus." The dwarf pointed out.

"Forgive my presumption, but is changing colors the way that a Tenno changes clothes?" Asked Solas.

"No. I'm not wearing anything right now." Volt crossed their arms, ignoring the reactions to that declaration. "I don't even have a Syandana." Practically naked in Tenno terms. "No," they answered Solas, "this is probably closer to hair dying. I really can't find a non-transhumanist equivalent. Maybe something like tattooing, but that you can change at will?" Or would sigils be the equivalent for that?

"This discussion has gone far enough!" Said Cassandra, ears and nose visibly flushed. Not from the cold. "We need to stop the Breach, not… urgh! Lose time with meaningless details!"

Leliana smoothly interceded. "The Temple of Sacred Ashes and the Breach are directly ahead. However, the concentration of demons is at its worst in our path. Commander Cullen and the majority of our troops are doing their best to hold the line there. Alternatively, there is a mountain path to the East, longer but likely safer." She laid out the situation. "Ren Volt, you know your capabilities the best. How would you proceed? A full frontal charge with the soldiers, or a path while the demons are distracted by the soldiers?" Cassandra nodded to me as well.

Errr… I'm not actually a soldier from the Old War! I'm just a gamer! Ren inwardly panicked for a moment, disconnecting herself from Volt as much as she could. Right. So, as a Tenno, my instinct is to be sneaky. I don't even have my primary gun to sweep enemies. Plus, working with the soldiers? Do I trust them not to accidentally hit me in the melee? I mean, what are the disadvantages of the mountain path? There had to be downsides, or the choice wouldn't even have been presented to them. Well, it's longer and we're on a time limit… and, maybe, less support because the soldiers will be distracting the enemy? Ahh, I can't think of anything on the spot. Gut feeling it is.

"I'm better equipped for a stealth mission." Said Volt. "I'd take the mountain path."

"So be it." Cassandra nodded. "Bring everyone left in the valley, Leliana. Every single one of them. Varric, Solas, we will escort Ren through the mountain. Ready yourselves."

"Time to go. You ready?" Varric asked the warframe.

Ren hummed. With their Arsenal empty, they were already as good as they could be. "There's one thing actually. Do you have money?" Varric nodded. "Cool, mind lending me a couple of coins? I'll try to pay you back."

"Sure, I have a few silvers on me? What do you need them for? Nobody's exactly open for business right now."

Ren pointed to a spot about five meters away. "I need you to throw one to the ground over there, and to give me the other one."

Varric shared a look with Solas, who blinked, nonplussed. "Right, why not?" He tossed a silver coin to where the weird not-demon had pointed, then dropped another in their waiting palm.

Volt looked at the singular coin in their hand. I hope this works. Just… think and it'll work, Ren. They closed their fingers around it and when they opened them again, the coin was gone. Then, they walked over to the coin on the ground. Before Varric and Solas' eyes, as well as several soldiers watching the proceedings, the coin simply disappeared when the Tenno got close. It stopped where the coin had been, staring at the ground, then at their marked hand.

Inwardly, Ren was crowing victory. It works! I can LOOT! Loot all the things!! She quickly went through her menu. It's not in the inventory, and my credits are still zero? Did it… did it count as real world money? A world of possibilities opened before her.

Oh. Oh yes. Now we're talking.

They just needed to take care of the Breach, then they would be free to use this.

---

Spoiler

somehow this was finished and ended up resting on my drive instead of being posted. oh, right, because i'm job searching rn.
Anyway, this introduces how Ren will actually be getting possibly OP. these are the gamer elements people should be worrying about. Also, yes, Ren's been running around in a baseline warframe, for shame.

 

[minuseven]

omg these last months were so... urghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. also, the last what... 3 paragraphs of this chapter have been slowly strangling me for several weeks. but i did it. i prevailed. it's bad writing, but its done. just one or two more to finish up section 1.

---

Synaptic Architecture//Demon Somatic 1.5

Whereas Ren and her guards had followed the river up to the forward camp, low in the valley, now they went high. Heading East, the trail disappeared beneath the snow. Varric was buried nearly knee high in it, but he persevered. They climbed the slope, the majestic view spreading out before them, tall, snow-covered peaks crowning the horizon like shark's teeth.

These, Varric introduced, were the Frostback Mountains. As inhospitable as they looked, there were some tribes of humans? That hadn't been clear. Anyway, the Avvar lived on them. Despite that, they were mostly considered Ferelden territory. Ferelden was the country they were in. To the West of the mountain range lay Orlais, which was, some would say, fancier. Well, it's good to put some context to the names I've been hearing. Also, they were in the planet's southern hemisphere, on account of things getting hotter the norther a person went. Just something to know.

The march wasn't conducive to conversation. Trudging through snow and the rarefied air, the mere mortals among them had to conserve their breath if they wanted to make good time without being exhausted. There were probably going to be demons in the way. They'd lost contact with a scouting party earlier. Ren wondered how people lost contact when they didn't even have radios. Feeling the cold merely as another facet of the air, unable to feel the discomfort of it, and quite grateful for it, Volt walked leisurely. If they went any faster, they'd lose the rest of the party.

Good to know I can ditch the religious fanatics if I want to.

She admired the landscape. She doubted she'd ever been so high up. The closest she'd come to when she'd, well, not been a warframe, had been those snow days at the tallest peak around. A miserable title for a place that didn't have permafrost, and barely more than fifty meters of its height ever did get snow. There were a lot of little hills and mountains back home, and she'd seen some foreign ones on trips. The Frostbacks put most of them to shame. They were gorgeous to boot. The mood lighting ruins the image a bit, but there are things you don't complain about during demonic invasions.

The rest of the time, she kept trying to fiddle with her warframe. The system wasn't customizable in the game, but now that she was actually in a warframe. To be or to inhabit, that is the question. She could bring up the warframe's own settings. Of a kind. It was a lot of trial and error, going through the HUD with focus and attempting to mentally bring up orokin-written menus. She couldn't change her pick-up radius, for example. That made sense, as there already existed mods for that sort of thing. But she could determine what she wanted to pick up. Ren might have ended up with a cubic meter of snow in their inventory by accident. Instead, she prodded the system until she was automatically picking up the local currencies so long as they were resting below a certain height.

Let's not call attention to myself by making people's wallets fly. At least IFF is finally functional.

Another thing she managed to do was to add Cassandra, Varric and Solas to her nominal party. As regular, if magical people, all Volt could do was add neat little markers on their minimap. People on the origin system were all augmented of some sort, that was Ren's feeling. So, being able to gauge their health and shield levels was automatic. Not as simple in low tech fantasy land. This should be enough to stop friendly fire, at least from abilities. Which… I can't use for lack of energy. Likewise, there were no comms and she wasn't hopeful about being able to revive any of them should they go down. The green healing fog used by Tenno had to have some technological base. Nanites, at a guess.

This messing around distracted Ren, but not to a dangerous level. The moment she saw the path, an invisible dirt trail beneath the snow, turn into wooden slats, she turned her full being towards reality. The next step Volt took had their entire focus behind it.

A building in rough stone was built into the mountainside, long ladders leading up along with hefty pulley systems. The ladders went really high. In fact, Ren estimated that each of the two ladders was about two whole storeys tall.

The others were taking a short break, Cassandra informing them of what came ahead.

Ren looked at the ladders. Looked at the mere mortals. Looked at the height again.

Yeah, I'm not betting on the hum– humanoids. "Hey, I can make us get up there in a jiffy." She pointed up.

"How?" Asked Cassandra.

"By picking you up and jumping."

"No."

"Why not?" Ren tilted their head and crossed their arms. "I'm strong, I'm not going to drop you."

"Well… Because…"

Varric snorted. "That's not exactly dignified."

Volt tilted their head the other way and Solas raised an eyebrow. "What is the worth of dignity in the face of disaster? How would you carry us?"

Ren turned over bullet jumping in her mind for a moment. Right, it happened from a crouching position, so as funny as it would be, she couldn't bridal carry them. Maybe with some practice, but not currently. A lot of her transversal abilities were still dependant on the warframe's control. The more she mastered Volt, the more liberty she would have. "Either piggy-back or over my shoulder like a potato sack."

Solas ended up being her first test-subject, regally grabbing onto Volt's shoulders before the warframe rocketed upwards, grabbed onto the first ledge, climbed, and repeated the process. A height of over fifteen meters done in an instant. Volt carefully deposited Solas down, the elf having wisely clung to the warframe like his life depended on it. Then, they jaunty saluted him and stepped back into the drop. Eheheh warframes don't take fall damage! They landed with a puff of snow and a deep thud that belied only a bit of the weight the cyborg war platform should be transmitting.

Cassandra gave up and stepped up, leaving Varric the last to be carried, over Volt's shoulder due to having unfortunately short arms.

Atop the last landing, the incline was soft and there were wooden steps peeking out of the snow. The path curved back to the West, giving the four of them a magnificent view over the breach and what had once been a glorious temple. From their vantage point, they could see the skeletal ruins of the holy building, jutting like blackened ribs amidst the green-tinged haze that covered the valley's depths. Perfect as Volt's vision might be, there was something to be said about the ability to zoom. Did medieval people have binoculars? She thought so, but wasn't sure. She couldn't make out more, and in that moment wished dearly for a sniper.

After one last bend, there laid the entrance to the path they were going to take. It burrowed through the mountain, connecting several old and unused mining tunnels, surfacing every now and then until they reached the eastern border of the temple. The entrance itself was carved like a church's atrium, several pillars meeting into a classical rounded arch. Whatever illumination was supposed to guide travelers through the tunnels was absent in the chaos, leaving only darkness after a few steps in.

But Volt, stopping at the sill, took in the ambush laying in the low-light conditions. One demon of that variety that vaguely imitated a hunchbacked human ahead, and the low but telling green glow of at least a couple of wraiths waiting in the corners. Right. "Ambush, I'm dealing with it." They said over their shoulder, and jumped in.

The moment they crossed into the darkness, the warframe activated its torch. I'd forgotten we had that. I need to be able to turn it off for stealth missions… hey come here! Ren swept the bigger demon's feet with her bo, only to find out it was a lot less solid there than expected. It still unbalanced it, giving her the perfect opportunity to smash its head with a two-handed strike. The two wraiths were easy prey for the rest of her squad.

A quarter of said squad then fell on her like the wrath of an angry mother superior. "What were you thinking! You can't just charge ahead like, like you want to get killed!" If Cassandra hadn't been holding a sword and shield, she was sure she would be grabbing Volt by their nonexistent lapels. Her hands were raised halfway there, face red and trembling, inches away from Volt's collarbone.

I- I suppose I did Leroy Jenkins myself so… Ren caught herself cringing and stopped. No.

No.

The familiar shame at being chastised evaporated from her veins, sublimated. Realization rang in her non-existent ears, increasing in pitch until it blocked out all other emotions. I don't owe you anything. They stepped away from their body, distancing their self from the woman and the other two. You, who wanted me dead without cause or trial. You… zealots of an unknown faith. You people who don't see me as human. You think a little banter is going to make me forget that?

Ren took a deep breath that didn't move Volt's chest. When they replied, their tone was as bland and glacial as a computer. "I was thinking that none of these things can hurt me." They tilted their head. "Unlike you." But that's what I get for trying to be helpful.

The indignation was a sting that would readily morph into resentment and Ren was letting it. Lost as she was in this hostile world, she probably should. She needed to be decisive, steadfast and above all, not a doormat. The hours spent traveling with these strangers and fighting through hordes ever more alien and demonic had created enough distance from that cell under the church that for a moment she'd almost forgotten the paladin's very first words to her.

Tell me what you are and what you were doing at the conclave, and I might not kill you right here.

Very calmly, Volt raised its chin, straightened its spinal core, optics peering down at the woman, and turned on its heel. Their sensors had detected a wooden door in the gloom. It was worth exploring. Medieval ruins, no matter how well preserved, looked very different from when the structures were still being used. Wood rotted, fabric and furs disappeared, the wind picked up the smaller objects and took them away.

Looks something like a guardhouse, or maybe an office? They deliberately and definitely weren't paying attention to the hushed voices behind them. The money they were picking up was more important. Should they also put some of this in their inventory?

The sound of metal on stone announced the Seeker approaching. "I apologize." She was blunt. "I understand that I was… too harsh but…" There she stopped herself, seeming to rethink her words. "Ren, you are the key, our only chance to close the rift. The lives of everybody in Haven… the safety of everybody in Thedas perhaps, depend on you. There cannot be room for recklessness."

And your concern would sound so much more genuine if I didn't know that, if I wasn't so needed, you would already have tried to destroy me. Ren let Volt's head fall back, 'eyes' pointed at the ceiling. But it was true. Ren was these people's one and only plan to stop the sky from literally crashing down upon their heads. Is this their plan, softening me up by making me develop a few personal connections? They thought, glancing at an unknowing Cassandra, both contrite and firm. Finally, the warframe moved as if sighing. "Seeker. The only time I've ever been in actual danger was when that meteor almost hit us; and I'm not sure it would have actually killed me. Worry more about yourself." And keep your fake concern.

---

Spoiler

fuck where do i start.
hm. so i quit my masters became officially unemployed, had that initial phase of optimism about getting a job. ... swiftly crushed, along with my hope and little remaining self esteem over the following three months. THEN, after seeking even more mental health help, i got into a government sponsored programming course (i'm liking it), but then december and the dreaded christmass, aaand my grandma is finally dying after ten painful years of worsening dementia. i'm good, but it's wrecking some people, who can't use their time anymore and so everybody is suffering. i think i've only really managed to write any decent amount in january.
ALSO along the way I played waaaaayyyyyyyyy too much Warframe. good and bad. Annnnd Fontaine's story arc in Genshin Impact had me by my little lesbian brain with a deadly chokehold, so maybe expect some writng about Furina. ... And Arlecchino. I have so many Arlecchino headcanons I've already resigned myself to getting disappointed when she officially comes out. (leaks say she's aATK scaler? plz, she needs to be HP scaling with a mechanic like Star Rail's Blade to really get the connecting threads between Fatui Operative, the curse of wilderness and the Narzissenkreuz that are hinted at in her character design). ... .. you see what I mean, she doesn't live rent free in my head, i'm paying her extra to stay.

ANYWAY the characterization in the last part of the chapter probably feels clunky i know, but i've also given up on caring, if anyone has ANY good ideas... you can comment on the thread. might as well get some use out of it that's not archival...

 

[minuseven]

title still being workshopped. usually not what i write here (romance? in this thread?) but i don't want to lose motivation to finish this longass wishy washy oneshot so i'll put here every scene i finish before posting it on ao3.
part 1.

---

╳ ╳ ╳

"Oh? Come over here, you little critter you!" The god ran carelessly through the streets at night. She was like a child, twirling and chasing the cat that caught her attention. "You dare to run from me?"

Wasn't she so vulnerable, all alone?

"Stop right this instant! Oh?" After turning a corner, the cat was gone. She looked around, but couldn't find it. It escaped, leaving her all alone again.

A rustling sound. The god perked up and slowly turned on her heel. Beneath the bench to the side, she spied two glowing orbs. Like a thief, she tiptoed closer and bent down carefully. In the gloom, a round furry form was barely visible.

The god's hands shot forward. "Got you! Ah?" This was not the black and white cat from before. "Who are you?" It was a big white and black… cat? That dangled from the god's hands.

It was a very weird cat. In the light of the lamps, the big round eyes didn't shine and revealed their bright red color. Sturdy, short paws connected to a wide torso and a long, plume-like. It was entirely white, except for its paws which were black to its cat-elbows, where they faded into a very marked striped pattern. It was…

"Cute." Adorable. "Fluffy." Positively furry. "!" Furina, archon of hydro and justice, ruler over all waters, gasped. She was… holding a cat! Actually holding a cat! "Oh goodness." She'd never gotten this far. Animals didn't seem to like her for some incomprehensible reason. What should she do next? She couldn't let it go, it might run away!

But ultimately her arms couldn't deal with the quite heavy feline. With effort, she managed to hug the cat to herself. The soft fur tickled her neck as she pressed the animal closer. It was… such a heavenly sensation! She squealed and sat down with it on her lap.

"Who's a pretty boy? Who's the softest, fluffiest, bestest kitten in all of Fontaine?" She cooed, rubbing its belly. She patted its head, played with its huge paws while it sat slumped in her lap, even flipped it over so that she could scritch and scratch it all over. "You are, oh yes you are, eheh!"

All along, the creature suffered her ministrations with a half-lidded look on its snout.

But eventually, even Furina had to leave. It was late. "I wish I could take you with me." She confessed to the cat. Alas, the Palais Mermonia had strict rules on pets, considering certain… incidents. Really, it was ridiculous, it'd been centuries since!

Sad, she got up after squishing its head one last time. Perhaps she'd meet this lovely cat again one day. With all of her willpower, she walked away from that magnificent beast.

A soft brush of fur at her calves made her stop. The cat rubbed its flank on her leg once more before sitting down, looking up at her. "We can't." Furina sobbed dramatically and resumed walking faster. The cat followed, trotting at her side. She turned and it did too. She stopped, and it waited for her.

"You… you want to come with me?" She asked it, eyes shining.

The big red eyes of the cat seemed to convey its desire to be taken to a home where it would be spoiled and receive pets and lay down in a special cushion just for it.

Furina bit her lip. She couldn't… "Unless." A devious, duplicitous plan came to her. "Leave it to me, mister kitten!" She grabbed its paws. "I'll take you to your new home, I promise."

It wasn't like anybody had to know what, or who, went inside their archon's bedroom.

╳ ╳ ╳

---

IDK seriously. You know that old, i think it's from anime trope, where a girl takes a cat or other animal home and the next morning it's a naked guy? Yeah, that but Arlecchino is 1) a terrifying shapeshifter of the depths, 2) not turning back into a human bc that would defeat the purpose of spying in animal form, and 3) kinda not there bc i wanted it to be the least problematic possible.
On an important note.... read the webcomic "Tiger, Tiger" it gave me so much inspiration for Arlecchino and it is *chef's kiss* horrors of the depths, bisexuals and queer horrors of the depths wrapped in a packed of awesome art. SEA SPONGES!!!

 

[minuseven]

~~getting back into writing~~ ~~just throw s**t ideas at the wall~~ ~~just hit the keyboard with feeling this time~~

---

<< >> <<< >>> << >>​

​

Life is unfair. The ragged little orphan stares down at the pit of darkness. Her stomach hurts and her limbs feel weak. The fever ravaged her body for hours, something that should have been impossible. She was left helpless, her money stolen, her possessions riffled through as she laid in an alley. She hates this world.

She asked for this. She doesn't want to beg. To be left that vulnerable. Her only option is to commit and enter the breach.

The stairs to the dungeon are full of adventurers leaving for the day. Some give her a look, the little halfling in poor clothes moving downwards. The only thing she cares about is if there is recognition in any of their eyes. She needs to go down. No money, no food, no roof.

And maybe, maybe! If she wasn't just hallucinating (if this entire life isn't a hallucination) this time she won't leave the pit with her soul ground down by this damned world and its damned people.

She just needs to find a monster. A single goblin. A measly beast that can kill her, unlike the others leaving the dungeon with loot on their back. Her backup knife finds its way to her hand. Her crossbow stolen. But it is enough. It has to be. She wanders leftwards. She knows these tunnels like the back of her hand. At this hour, most people are leaving. She is alone as she marches through the dungeon-lit tunnels.

-crack-crack-

There. Her knees bend, her body lowers, her head turns. Muscle memory takes over as she makes herself small. From the way she came, the sound heralds the birth of a monster. The green-skinned limbs of a malformed humanoid come into view. The thing is actually bigger than her. Disgusting. Impossible. Her heart trembles. She hates this.

She hates this weakness. She's so tired of it. She needs to get rid of it.

-stab-

Her lunge catches the goblin unaware. The blade, used as it is, still sinks bellow the ribs of the first floor monster without major resistance. The halfling doesn't stop as the thing screeches. From her lower position, she wrenches the blade loose and uses it again and again and again. Four times it penetrates the goblin's belly but that's not enough to kill it. Not yet. Its flailing claws tug at her cloak. Her breathing is ragged.

With a last yell, she grabs its shoulder and goes directly for its throat. The gurgle of blood and panting breaths fill the stale air of the dungeon.

Finally, it's dead. The child-like girl sits atop the corpse. The rush in her veins is fading and her limbs tremble. Still, she cannot stop. She opens the chest of the monster with familiarity, pulling aside muscle to reach the crystalline stone embedded in a sternum-like bone.

It's a small thing, not even the size of a marble. It's not worth enough for a full meal. But it might be what she needs. What fever-born instincts tell her she can do.

She brings the crystal to her chest and prays it works.

A rush of energy fills her suddenly, the crystal gone like it never existed. Knowledge fills her head with the pounding beat of her heart. It works. It's real. Gods, oh blessed, oh damned. It is real. Amidst fading ashes, she finally believes, just a little bit, that there is hope.

"Potential, is that right?" It feels unreal. The possibility of freedom always has.

Liliruca Arde
[Wind]
Strength 0 :: Stamina 0 :: Agility 0 :: Magic 0
[-](1)

<< >> <<< >>> << >>​

---

I just... have this? Yeah, this started as an insert (as always) so now it's just Lili with some psychic confusion I guess.​

 

[minuseven]

<< >> <<< >>> << >>​

There are a few places that are relatively safe to sleep in the streets. Closer to the center of the city and far away from certain spots. Residential areas are the best. She just has to leave before people wake up. That's what no money gets her.

There is only one way for her to get vallis as she is. Monster stones, or working for somebody getting monster stones. Never again. Now that she isn't hopeless, she's never working for any adventurer ever again. She's been part of a familia, as bad as hers is, for as long as she remembers. But she still knows how hard the first months are. What little money the weak make is quickly spent on healing and equipment.

And she doesn't even have a roof over her head. Food, shelter, hygiene. Everything is a drain.

It's going to be hard. She's back to zero, her soul scourged clean. The crystals are necessary to become stronger, but if she spends all of them, she won't survive. Her circumstances haven't changed yet. The day before, she killed half a dozen isolated monsters so that she would have enough for dinner. Nothing was, neither money or power.

Not that she didn't get anything from the goblins. Excelia is excelia, no matter how differently it works now. So long as she has her new 'skills' activated, she can grow.

Liliruca Arde
[Wind]
Strength 3 :: Stamina 6 :: Agility 48 :: Magic 0
[Thief 3](0)​

Maybe for the first time in her life, she feels motivated to enter the dungeon. The way she immediately gets excelia and knows it, without having to go to her god, is amazing. She doesn't need her familia. She can already imagine a future without them. It's too early, she chastises herself.

No sense in getting her hopes up. Her equipment is in tatters, she only has a single weapon, and her bag was stolen. She reeks. No longer bound by her familia? That's still very far away. She should just start working. She will not fall into the trap of confidence. More than monsters, the girl has many human foes, and little way to hide herself.

Her circumstances favor her for once. The ones who could be looking for her are expecting her to be a supporter, to be seen with her supporter's pack cowering in the wake of a higher leveled party, waiting for her prey in front of the tower. Her routine, her schedule, her mode of life. But no more. Now she disappears into the dungeon early in the morning.

Half a day to get enough money for the day, hunting ever further away from the entrance.

The other half, strengthening herself, taking in the crystals of ever-easier to kill goblins.

She learns the ins and outs of her abilities. The way her knife can make her fingers numb or her robes constricting depending on which facet of her skills she's wearing. The senses of how much more she has to kill and absorb to grow.

Somehow, it takes Canoe a full two weeks before he corners her.

<< >> <<< >>> << >>​

---

Well, let's see if we can finish at least one plotline.

 

[minuseven]

<< >> <<< >>> << >>​

The raccoon man and three of his thugs corner her after she leaves the dungeon. They surround her, walking next to her, boxing her in. They close in, their bellies to her shoulders. She seethes. She hates them. She hates herself for not seeing them.

She's still wearing her blue mage facet. She's been using it, because she can use both her robes and her weapon more effectively. Surreptitiously, from beneath her hood, she checks her assailants. The results make her grit her teeth. Estimating their strength from how tough they are, it's clear she has no chances.

She's stronger than before, but she's not that strong yet.

Liliruca Arde
[Wind]
Strength 316 :: Stamina 321 :: Agility 154 :: Magic 555
[Thief 8](0): Find Passages
[Knight 10](0)
[Black Mage 8](0): Fire, Blizzard, Thunder
[White Mage 4](0): Cure
[Monk 3](0): Kick
[Blue Mage 9](0): Check​

One of them, she could take. Maybe. All four, no, never. Scum like them like to gather in packs. That's how they feel confident when just one higher leveled adventurer could break their teeth in.

Canoe puts a hand on her shoulder and guides her, shoves really, into an alley. "Lili. It's been a while. We haven't seen you around." He pats her head with too much force. "We were getting' so worried."

"Where's your pack?" One of the others asks.

That's what they want. Her money and things. She opens her mouth, closes it. Why is it so hard suddenly? "I- Li- … Lili got robbed."

"Ahahah, really?" They laugh. "You got robbed?" The thief got made by another of her kind.

"I don't believe it. Are you lying to me Lili? To your own familia?" Canoe isn't nearly as amused. His hands go for her belt, riffle around her neck and under her robes. She tenses, but all he wants is her money.

They have no luck. She is telling the truth. She did lose all of her important possessions. Her crossbow, her special pack, her potions, and especially the key to her hidden deposit box. She was left with only the things that didn't have any true value. They get her pouch, with enough money for the next couple of days, and a potion she didn't spend yet.

"Looks like she really only has this."

She's been so focused on growing stronger and exploring her skills that she hasn't been making more than the money she needs for the immediate future. And because she knows she's a less tempting target like that.

"Tch." One of them scoffs. "Just this? A real good for nothing supporter."

"Now, now." Canoe says, sickly-sweet, and that's scarier than anything he's done until now. "It's hard to be a supporter without even a pack. How about I help you out and get you one?"

It's a trap. A favor, a loan. But Lili can't refuse it. She can't refuse Canoe. If she did- "N-no." What is she doing?

"No?"

The feverish fire that took a hold of her heart is raging, trembling. She can't stop now. "No, Mister Canoe. Lili can buy a pack, she just needs a little more time to gather money and-" -slap-

A slap throws her head back. "Huh? Are you refusing my generosity?" His hand is raised.

She can't say yes. "Lili really can do this-" -crunch-

The next punch is harder, throwing her head painfully against the wall behind her. Canoe is spitting, shoving her, talking about how she can't make it without the familia. It's the usual. But the hit… didn't hurt nearly as much as usual. The girl watches them behind shadowed bangs, thinking that, if she used her new magic, maybe she could kill them.

Her incantations are so fast. After they turn around, she only needs a second or two. And then they'd burn to death.

But she wouldn't get away with it.

"And you never know what could happen in the dungeon." Canoe throws as a parting quip.

No, you never know.

<< >> <<< >>> << >>​

---

Lili, after using Check on 'em punks: ...but what if murder?
Whoooo, the new forum view is weird. I need to mess with the settings.

 

[minuseven]

<< >> <<< >>> << >>​

More power, that's what she needs. Is this what other adventurers feel, the ones who have talent? Well, now she's also among them and discovering that even talent plateaus. The difficulty of growing is exponential.

After getting her skills to a certain point, it becomes harder and harder to grow them. On top of that, goblins and kobolds on the second floor are worth only as much as the first's. She believes that further down monsters will grant her more excelia, but she has been hesitant to delve deeper. She's been to lower floors many times before, but always with the protection of a party and the guarantee of decent equipment.

Two of her skills are lagging behind the others. Aside from that, she's been taking most crystals instead of spending them on getting stronger. She's been conservative until now. But nobody gets strong by being careful and conservative. Her situation won't change if she keeps being careful and conservative. Every fiber of her rebels against taking risks, but in the end, it isn't much different than stepping into the dungeon alone for the first time, or hiding monster stones from her employers for the first time.

She descends to the third floor, the fourth. With trepidation, the fifth.

Here, things change, the dungeon shifting, and her profits as well. She sinks her blade into the back of a kobold, striking precisely at its crystal and taking the power immediately for herself. The results are different, greater. Twice as much as she would get in the upper floors.

She adjusts her plans accordingly. Now knowing how to keep growing, she returns above. She needs money for the day, before she invests tomorrow. The rest will go towards making herself strong enough to kill that bastard.

Barehanded, she tears into monsters, growing. It's so much easier as a monk, but it's the white magic she needs. It's much later than usual when she returns to the surface, and she hides in the shadow of the tower until she is sure that Canoe isn't waiting for her.

They could be waiting for her here, or at the guild, or wherever they think she is sleeping. There are a limited number of places she used to frequent. But not today. Even they have to work for a living. At least, they have others to bully and extort. Cynically, she knows they won't appear for a while, waiting for her to gather some money. But it still keeps her on her toes, scared of every shadow.

How bad is it that she's more afraid of them than the monsters? She really hates this world.

Liliruca Arde
[Wind]
Strength 420 :: Stamina 425 :: Agility 159 :: Magic 580
[Thief 8](0): Find Passages
[Knight 10](0)
[Black Mage 8](0): Fire, Blizzard, Thunder
[White Mage 5](0): Cure, Libra
[Monk 7](0): Kick, Focus
[Blue Mage 9](5): Check

<< >> <<< >>> << >>​

---

uhm. that's my buffer gone. i've really been struggling to write recently.

 

[minuseven]

When I woke up, I was riding in a carriage
Ћьԙ чұнћхинлԙнћ чұхчь рұчҩԙд ьхрѧьљї. Нхьидх ҩԙҁћ ьԙр ԙїԙѧ чљұѧԙд.

I'd just had a dream…
Ѧхид ѧьԙ ђуѧћ дрԙхлԙд х нигьћлхрԙ.

I dreamed it was
Дрԙхлԙд ұф ћьԙ дхї ћьхћ ѧьԙ ъхѧ ћхҩԙн.

In the dream, the and his retainers found me
Дрԙхлԙд ұф ћьԙ дхї ћьхћ ћьԙ Дұчћұр ћұұҩ ьԙр.

"Oh Archon, we've finally found you. The can't wait to you"
Хљхѧ, ћьԙ ѧхгԙѧ ҁрхїԙд фұр х нԙъ гұд. Ьԙ ԙхгԙрљї ћұұҩ ћьԙ ұҁҁұрћунићї ћьхћ ћьԙ ѧхгԙѧ ұффԙрԙд.

The began, and everyone smiled as they gathered around me
Рԙхљизинг ћьԙ Љићћљԙ Љұрд ъхѧ хћ ћьԙир лԙрчї, хрұунд ьԙр ћьԙї љұұлԙд. Ћьԙї ѧлиљԙд.

Finally, I got back on the , and
Ин ћьԙ ԙнд, Нхьидх ъхѧ љұчҩԙд ин бї ћьԙ бљхѧҁьԙлұуѧ. Нԙәԙр, нұ ұнԙ рԙхчьԙд ұућ ћұ Нхьидх.​

It couldn't be said that the Knave loved the homeland. The natural beauty of its landscapes, its hidden wildlife and its night sky were soothing. She even held a certain fondness for its people; hardy, loyal, of a temperament not dissimilar to hers. But in her cold heart there was no love for Snezhnaya, especially on such an overcast night.

Certainly not while traversing the coldest corridors of Zapolyarny Palace, so devoid of anything resembling emotion that even her Majesty's frigid abode was warmer. Had she had any other option, she would not be in the Doctor's domain, but minor discomfort was not enough reason to bother the Marionette for her facilities. The bottled flames had been extracted successfully, leaving no reason to linger in this place.

Her footsteps were loud on the marble and mosaic floor, but quickly smothered by the very air, echoless on the grand corridors this side of the palace. It wasn't worth thinking why these walls were more soundproof than others. Despite that, trained ears caught an uneven rhythm, an odd sound between dreary walls. She raised one hand, briefly, but did not stop, shifting only slightly the way her heels hit the ground.

The hurried pitter patter slap of barefoot feet, the huff huff puff of panicked prey.

At the turning of a corner, a small shape barreled into the Knave's knees. Despite their differing momentum, the smaller, lighter one of them was sent sprawling backwards with a cry. Utterly unfazed, the Knave considered her unfortunate assailant. Strewn on the floor like a discarded doll, a child shook. She noted her peculiar appearance, long, pointed ears and waist-length hair of a shade just a tone off Arlecchino's own; and her clothing, if it could be called such. A plain white shift, two rectangles of cloth tied together, stained by darker residues, ash, soot or grease.

She knew where she had escaped from before the child's eyes opened, terrified, horrified, looking up past the great white regalia with its black collar and numerous insignias. Starry green met black pits criss-crossed in blood red, glowing balefully down at her.

The Knave leaned forward and the child leaned back, shaking like a bird. Her fear did not dissipate as Arlecchino knelt down, reducing the difference between their heights. She cowered even more as a black clawed hand, adorned in silver jewelry and red talons, emerged from the folds of that coat and reached for her. Those fingers brushed her cheek and the round line of her jaws, briefly, gently, and painfully.

The child flinched away with a pained gasp, hands flying to her face to pat down the burning licks of flame that had begun to spread from that single point of contact.

"Mmm." The Knave finally made a sound, a deep, thoughtful hum. She had remained completely silent until this moment, only the slightest rustle of cloth betraying her physical presence in the hall. Her shadowed gaze dissected the child's countenance. Whereas before a small spark of defiance had trembled with fear and tiredness; a new primal, atavistic despair now shone in those eyes.

The Knave pulled back her hand, extending it sideways, curling her fingers in some obscure pattern. At her signal, the form of an agent stepped out from the shadows they had concealed themselves with a few moments prior.

The child on the ground jumped out of her skin. Searching the dark corners of the hall, she discovered another fatuus idling behind her, and realized she was and had always been surrounded. Frustrated tears shone in her eyes as she curled in more on herself, ready to run while knowing there was no gap in their encirclement. Motion from the threat in front of her, closest and most dangerous of all, had her flinch. She made herself as small as she could, drawing her arms in front of her face and closing her eyes instinctively.

That hand returned, bypassing her meager protection without effort and grasping once more the edge of her face. The burning did not. The worn touch of scuffed leather yielded against her skin, holding her jaw without force. The little girl dared to open her eyes, slowly, following the grey patterns on a white sleeve to the black and red, ill-fitting glove covering the skin that had harmed her.

"Come with me." Said the Knave when their eyes met again. Her fingers receded, hanging in the air between them. It was not an order, or a question. It was a statement, open like the hand offered to her.

The child on the ground stared into Arlecchino's eyes. There was still fear in her, and a rising hope, tempered by a distrustful frown and the heavy caution holding her limbs ready to run. A shrewdness not found in innocent children's eyes sharpened the gaze searching Arlecchino's cursed orbs.

There was nothing to be found. The dead, black pits of her irises did not even reflect her form, her existence rejected by the image of judgment. An omen if there ever was one.

"Or would you rather stay here?" The Knave's voice broke through the dread her eyes invoked.

The child closed her own eyes, taking a shaky breath. No, she did not want to remain in this horrible place. She took that hand, placing a bet on this unknown, letting herself be pulled to her feet.

The same cold eyes that had frozen her in place appraised her bare limbs and tenuous stance, something approaching disdain in their glow. Somewhat mystified, the child observed as the Harbinger, still kneeling, released the clasps holding shut her greatcoat. A tiny gasp escaped her lips as the Knave took hold of her by her armpits and lifted her body as if she were a simple leaf. Without thought, her hands grasped the Knave's suit as she was pressed against her body, held in one arm at the woman's side. The great coat covered her in darkness, blocking out the outside world, and the invisible weight that emanated from the flesh of the Harbinger settled like a heavy blanket over her.

"Be careful not to touch my skin." The Knave warned before she started walking.

She did not hurry her pace, or slow herself. She paid no attention to the death grip the child had on her clothing, nor even to her presence, bundled close to her shoulder. The agent that had provided her with his gloves followed her silently three steps back, more of a secretary and errand boy than his deadly skills would suggest. Her operative had already departed. She allowed herself one single exhalation, carrying into the wind feelings that had no place in the present.

The Knave left the frigid, desolate hallways. Beneath her wing, freezing at the sound of every footstep and word, expecting to be discovered or revealed at every moment, Nahida hoped she had made the right choice. The black fur of the Harbinger's collar tickled her scalp and ears, and the near scorching warmth of her body felt like being too close to a devastating wildfire. Nahida was so tired and so sick that all the things she was tracking, that she needed to be aware of, muddled into an homogeneous, incomprehensible mass. In the darkness every so often invaded by the northern wind, the fire was almost a comfort, like a bare fireplace. Children just needed to be careful not to get too close to the flames.

Nobody stopped them or dared to approach them, gazes finding reasons to avoid the Knave, and Arlecchino left Zapolyarny Palace as she always did. Without looking back, heading to the House of the Hearth.

---

Title sort of taken from Dark Souls II with the Fire Keeper's quote: "I am a Fire Keeper. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. The Lords have left their thrones, and must be deliver'd to them. To this end, I am at thy side." Which fits a bit with this situation.

 

[minuseven]

|2|

'Well, I can be half-grateful that old-Tetsuya made preparations.' He shuffled forward another bit as the line advanced. His cellphone had been left without a password, and his wallet had been easily visible on the bedside table. In between that and the hotel's spotty wi-fi, he'd managed to get enough information about himself and the world to not get arrested on suspicions of body-snatching. It was probably a thing in this superhero world.

"Next, please." It was almost his turn. Since he'd already been in the middle of Tokyo, he wasn't going to waste any time. In his flailing against an apparent horrible fate, old-Tetsuya hadn't changed his quirk at the registry. That was his first priority, since he was going to be training with it and didn't want any awkward questions asked. It would also be a good excuse to give if asked why he'd absconded to the city.

"Next, please." A truly spindly receptionist sat behind the glass. "How may I help you?"

Tetsuya was glad he'd trained himself not to stare at all the different body morphologies of this future. She looked like a stick-bug had donned human skin. "Hm, I'd like to make an alteration to my Quirk Register. Name and description."

"Quirk Registration changes will be reviewed before approval. Do you have a medical statement? Your ID please."

Tetsuya had read that changing the name or description of his quirk as an adult didn't necessarily require a new examination by a specialist. However, big changes to his registration could demand a new examination. This was likely going to be his case. He just wanted to get the ball rolling as soon as possible.

Previously, Tetsuya's quirk had been 'Embedded Orb', a heteromorphic-type quirk that was described as 'an orb embedded on the skin that can freely move over the body's surface'. Tetsuya's insistence it had a special power had, of course, been ignored by his guardian, doctor and authority figures. The proposed change was for it to be called 'Orb Shield', a possible change in classification to composite-type, and the description to 'attached shield that can change properties by absorbing substances through orb'. He wrote down a quick and half-invented summary of his discovery of how his quirk worked on the 'reason for change' field, and signed the papers.

Not a single notable emotion passed through the worker as she skimmed the papers and then filed it. "Expect an answer by message within 10 to 15 business days."

He left the government building with the weird feeling that such an extraordinary thing as changing his superpower description was the same as changing his address or renewing his driver's license.

Was there anything else to do here before he returned to Tetsuya's home? It was an urban area, so there wasn't a lot of materials he could collect to unlock new shield forms. He'd already fed the Shield several pamphlets from the hotel and the registry, discovering the Paper Shield. It required quite a bit more paper to unlock the form, so he was still limited to his starting form.

|| Discovered! :: Paper Shield (32%) ||

"Well, maybe there is something…" He opened up his phone and booted up a search. Thinking about it, there was one shield form he remembered well and that could be useful. Lucky for him, there were several second hand shops in the city.

'This shouldn't take too long.' He told himself as he stepped into the train. He headed straight to his desired location, making his best to not stare at everything and everyone. The future was simultaneously the same and completely different. 'Ah… I have to focus. If I don't dedicate all my attention to becoming a hero student, I'll seriously die.'

In theory, the shield hero's power was top class. Plus, as any game-like power that evolved its status, its growth potential was unlimited. The original power had a level cap, but not a status cap; and Tetsuya's version didn't even possess a level. That didn't mean he wasn't limited. The greatest constraint was time. No matter how many shields he unlocked, his base stats would remain the same until he mastered those shields. Mastery required experience: more time. He would need to spend his every moment with a shield he hadn't mastered yet.

To that end, discovering and unlocking shields was his first priority. The bookshop was useful for that. As a second-hand store, it had the usual: either old books that were worth something due to their age or newer books that had quickly been outdated. Like software manuals… and a surprising amount of manga. He ended up buying a hefty-looking but cheap guide for a software he'd never heard of, and indulged himself in a single hero-themed manga. For the price it had, he supposed whoever that had been had not become popular.

|| Unlocked! :: Book Shield :: SDEF+1 :: <Read I> ||

"Oh, a skill. Read, hm?" The shield looked like a plain, medium-thick hardcover book strapped to his forearm, the orb embedded in the cover. Tetsuya flipped through the manga before deciding it was worth experimenting. He hovered a hand over the closed volume. "<Read I>." His palm gloved very slightly, he had a flash of insight, and then he was reading the manga. The book was closed, he could even close his eyes, but his brain was still receiving the information crystal clear. He could even flip through it or zoom in for a closer look like he was actually doing the physical motions with the book.

Tetsuya's grin was malevolent. Sure, the speed of reading wasn't as good as his normal rate, but the skill was only Grade I. And well, now he was full of ideas. If he could read, could he not record? Write? Listen? And if he could do that, why not project or turn the volume up? Like that pro-hero. He shouldn't let his imagination be constrained. Different types of skills were also granted by the Shield and he had to make the most out of it.

But first, setting up for the night. He had old-Tetsuya's luggage stored in the Shield. Money was tight but enough to survive for now. To maximize it… in Japan, an internet caffe would be the best bet. He could research there too, and look for a part-time job to sustain him for the rest of the year.

Alright, he could do this.

---

Just been having fun with this story lately.

 

[minuseven]

|3|

For somebody who had wanted so much to be a hero, Tetsuya had left himself in a poor position to become one. 'To be fair, he never planned on anybody taking over after he was gone, but still… Should I be grateful he didn't blow the last of his money before offing himself?' For some reason, old-Tetsuya hadn't splurged everything he owned on food or drink or other things before he took the final leap.

He had, however, taken a train to the middle of Tokyo. Before that, he'd quit school, if the emails on his inbox were anything to go by. Little money, incomplete education, few if any friends and family to support him. Tetsuya had kept his, now, phone on. Nobody had bothered to call. There were a few old messages telling him to stop acting out and get back, but nothing more. He wasn't terribly surprised. He'd read the suicide note. The kid inhabiting this body had not been the popular type. If anything, he'd been the weird and intense obsessive kind.

"The only thing you left me was a body in good enough shape… I'd like to say that. But now my physicality is entirely tied to the Shield's system so that's a moot point." He grumbled to himself. "Aah, what a mess. Damn, damn, fuck."

He wasn't panicking. Yet.

Hisashi Tetsuya's eighteenth birthday had been the 28th of October. Two days later he'd been in Tokyo and 'unalived' himself. It was currently the last day of October. According to his research, the post-secondary institutions that had hero courses, the so-called hero academies, held their entrance exams in February and March. So far, so good.

However.

First and most importantly, Tetsuya had quit school. One of the requirements to enter a hero academy was, naturally, to have a high-school diploma. He'd almost despaired then and there, but, as someone who had a bit more experience with the bureaucracy of higher education institutions than a highschooler would have, Tetsuya went and read the small print. What he needed was a High School Graduation Equivalency Diploma. The dates for those exams were in August… and in November.

'So I just have to learn all the subjects that a japanese highschooler in the uncertain superpowered future would need to know. Biology is probably different too…' He'd gotten through university. He could probably study up in the remaining… two weeks.

So that was bad enough.

The other problem, more of a suspicion than something certain, related to the time limit he'd been given. It was too long. Effectively, his time ran out in September of next year. Why? After his research, he became aware of an ominous coincidence. Some hero academies also accepted applications in autumn. Apparently that was because the greatest hero academy of them all, U.A., didn't start their academic year on April, but in September like the western model.

U.A, with 99% of their graduates retaining their probationary licenses after one year.

U.A., with the acclaimed hero course that old-Tetsuya had wanted to enter so much it had been named in the last words he had written.

U.A., which started their term on September 1st. The very day the timer would end.

There were coincidences, then there were flashing, neon signs.

"Aurgh. Focus. First you need to pass highschool. Again." He grumbled to himself and got up. He stretched, put his phone in the Shield, took his wallet out of it, and left his cubicle.

He'd found himself an internet café more on the expensive side he felt, but only for his first night as Tetsuya. Moreover, it had a bunch of services free of charge that he was going to make the most of while he could. As he browsed the cup ramen section, he noticed the printer and remembered he still had a paper shield to unlock. His eyes roamed the area, looking for things that he could use to unlock good shields. After some thought, he picked up three things in addition to his ramen.

The first was just a soda. What interested him was the can. It was made of aluminium, so instead of chucking it in the garbage, he surreptitiously fed it to his orb.

|| Discovered! :: Aluminium Shield (2%) ||

The second was a small flash drive. It was cheap, but the possibilities intrigued him. So far, he'd deliberately kept the Shield from even analyzing his wallet and phone, afraid it would eat them by accident. While he could discover and unlock shields without losing the initial materials, it was less efficient than having the Shield consume them. The thumb drive was perfectly disposable.

|| Unlocked! :: Flash Drive Shield :: DEF+1 :: <Embedded System: Digital Memory> :: [Upgrade: Digital Memory] ||

He kept himself from squeeing at his new shield through sheer force of will. Rectangular and not a lot bigger than his forearm, it looked like his arm was covered by a gigantic USB drive with the central orb near his wrist by default. It was black and polished, without any great details, just that futuristic look expected from commercial electronics. It certainly didn't look very resistant, but he supposed that was what 1 DEF gave him.

What the Flash Drive Shield had were its bonuses. One unique and one not, which meant it could be used anytime after he mastered it! [Embedded System: Digital Memory] was more or less what it said on the cover. The Shield had now gained a digital data storage. Granted, it wasn't accessible until he mastered the Flash Drive Shield, but afterwards, he would be able to use that memory for any other systems the Shield gained in the meanwhile. That was why it was an Embedded System, and it confirmed that different shields could interact in some way.

'The next step would be to confirm it… if not my phone then, wait!' He remembered he did have something. He quickly rummaged around in Tetsuya's duffel bag. It was practically empty, all the clothes and heavy items in the Shield's inventory, and only outside to allay suspicion. But one of the things that had stayed in was his phone charger. 'Which is a modular electronic… thing!'

|| Unlocked! :: Power Adapter Shield :: MDEF+2 :: <Embedded System: Power Supply><Electricity Resistance +5> :: [Upgrade: Power Supply][Electricity Absorption I] ||

"Not exactly what I was expecting… maybe even better." The Shield's powers were inherently turned towards defense after all. But still, this gave him what was effectively a weak quirk on top of what he already had.

Quickly, he turned to the computer and opened a note to jot down the sudden ideas he had about more shields. Like batteries and cables, screens and… he should have not thrown away the ramen's disposable chopsticks. Too late. Regardless, before he forgot, he had one last thing he wanted to feed to the Shield. If this worked, it might be the linchpin that saved his life.

Tetsuya opened the bottle he'd gotten from a vending machine and put a handful of white pills in the green orb of the Shield.

|| Unlocked! :: Caffeine Shield :: SP+1 :: <Caffeinated III> ||

---

Don't know if we'll get to UA but if we do, I do like mixing things up sometimes. Not the characters, but the setting and stuff.
Making up shields is fun.

 

[minuseven]

There is a House unlike any other in Snezhnaya.

The door closed behind them, the flurries that chased after their footsteps breaking against the solid wood. The dark evening was replaced by the warm glow of the candelabra, and beneath a great white coat, Nahida jolted awake at the sudden transition. Beyond that great white coat that separated her from the outside was an atmosphere so very different from the cold that had permeated her being ever since she'd been taken to Snezhnaya; a feeling she hadn't felt in a very long time. Perhaps, a warmth that she'd only experienced in dreams.

Like a magician twirling a cape for a grand and miraculous unveiling, the barrier of cloth that isolated her from the outside world was lifted away. Nahida closed her eyes against the abrupt brightness, gripping the shape that held her aloft white-knuckled for an instant, before her tired mind remembered who it was. Perturbed, she froze in place, her eyes flying wide open, searching for answers.

An entrance hall greeted them, a well-worn rug spread over a diamond patterned scuffed stone flooring. One wall was covered by coats and jackets of all sizes, still dripping melting snow onto a long brass tin. A staircase in wood and wrought-iron ascended into a second floor and more. The chandelier above cast its artificial light over the teenagers who waited for them.

"Welcome home, Father." The two bowed quickly at the waist.

The girl between them straightened with a smile directed at the child eyeing them warily, sky blue eyes clear and inviting. "Somebody new?"

"No. A guest." The Knave stated as she handed her cloak to the boy, an older, more taciturn teenager on the brink of adulthood.

"A guest?" Both straightened their postures to a military precision, gazes appraising the child with newfound intensity and curiosity. "What kind of guest?"

"The kind of guest that's not to be bothered." The Knave chided, not raising her voice, its low timber carrying it easily to the ears of those it was intended for. "We've had no guests for quite a while, but there's no need to make a fuss about it."

"Yes, Father." Was answered in unison.

"Has everybody already gone to bed?"

"Curfew has been called. Only those who have late work are still up." The boy confirmed, cloak folded neatly over his arm.

"Very well, do not bother them. Helena." She called, and the girl stepped forward. Long black and red nails threatened to poke the pale digits still holding on to her suit and Nahida released her before she could be burned. She was lowered to the floor, where the girl gently steadied her. The child flinched slightly at her touch but did not avert her distrustful glower from the Knave and her cruel hands. "The House of the Hearth extends its hospitality. Helena will tend to you. Georgi, help your sister. Bring her to my office when you are done."

"Of course, Father." Her two children responded obediently and the Knave marched forward, leaving the three alone in her wake.

When her back had disappeared behind a closed door, Helena bent down to address their guest. Her light brown hair was tied neatly behind a wide, kind face. "Hello. My name is Helena, what's yours?"

The white-haired child looked between the two that had been assigned to look after her. "I'm Nahida." She eventually responded.

"Nahida? That's such a pretty name. Is it from Sumeru, or Natlan?"

"Helena…" Her sibling warned.

"I was just trying to make conversation." She stuck out her tongue at him.

"Father made our guest's well-being our responsibility." He murmured. "And she's clearly not well." His eyes were dull, stone grey and half-lidded under the light, but they cut to the heart of the matter. Their guest looked not much different from the orphans that their Father brought to join them, bedraggled and suspicious. Her clothing could barely be called that and her limbs were riddled with small scrapes.

It was fortunate, then, that the House had more than enough experience in the matter.
"Ah, sorry." Helena smiled at Nahida and let her decide her next steps. "How about this, would you like to clean up first, or to eat something nice and warm before taking a bath?"

The desire to cleanse herself became near overwhelming when the option was presented to Nahida. Every pore and follicle transmitted to her brain the need to utterly remove from herself all the things that had made up those awful spaces within the palace. The scents, the sensations, the very air of it created a dreadful aura, carrying with it the pleas of uncountable poor souls. From a supposedly sterile place, its ghosts clung to her like tar.

Her hands dug into the threadbare shift she was wearing, even that imposed on her, another symbol of what had been taken from her. Beneath it, her nakedness became an intolerable vulnerability. "A bath, please." She managed.

Helena beckoned with an open hand. "Sure." She led the way up the wrought-iron stairs, keeping a close eye on the smaller child's pace, but besides some initial stumbling, Nahida did not fall behind. As they reached the second floor, the flooring changed, the material becoming smooth, softer than stone and warmer as well. The snezhnayans were amused at Nahida's perplexed expression. "It's linoleum." Explained Helena. "It's a new material that got invented by the Fatui. Father arranged for the House to get some."

"It's a lot easier to clean than wood." Grumbled the boy. "Here we are. I'm going to get some clothes." He left the two girls in front of a non-descriptive door.

The washing room was communal. Several open stalls with shower heads lined one of the tiled walls, the water-marked metal shining clean. Another wall had a row of standing sinks and mirrors, a myriad variety of little soaps, bottles and brushes in neat rows on little shelves beneath them. But rather than any of those, Nahida's guide dragged over a dented copper tub, more of a large washing bowl than anything. It was just about Nahida's size, one of many small tubs, all nested in a corner.

"Alright." Helena said after she finished filling the tub. "Clothes off and let's wash you up."

And Nahida hesitated. She wanted to take a bath, to wash off everything and let the warmth of the water soothe her, but looking at the open hand in front of her, at those blue eyes…

"Oh, sorry." The girl's voice broke through the distance, making the smaller child startle. She rubbed her forehead with a strained smile. "I'm being an inconsiderate idiot again, aren't I? Here I can turn around," she did as she said, presenting her back to Nahida, "or close my eyes, or even go away for a while. Are you hurt anywhere? Can you take a bath by yourself? We can find some way for this to work!"

A small hand grabbed hers. "Thank you." The white-haired child looked up at her with star-eyes that belayed a wisdom beyond their years, and a tiredness to match. "I… I think I need some time for myself."

With only some reassurances and instructions given, Nahida convinced the teenager to leave her. Perhaps Helena was used to small humans that acted so much more grown up than they looked. Looking at all the things that surrounded her, so many of them in child size, Nahida knew with certainty where she was then. A House that took in all those left alone and adrift for the Fatui to collect.

Was she safe here?

It felt warm, she pondered as she let the hot water sink into her. She soaked in the warmth like arid desert soil, greedily taking all the comfort she could, unstiffening toes from the northern cold, scrubbing and washing away the past from her skin. Unmarred as she was on the outside, not even the water could do much about the fear and dismay that had taken root in the most inner recesses of her soul. She was all alone.

This place and its people were warm indeed, like being covered by the Knave's cloak. But Nahida wasn't a fool, and she had not forgotten how that black hand had burned her. They were also dangerous, and she couldn't be sure of when those claws would be turned on her as well.

Knock-knock, echoed on the tiled room. "Can I come in? I brought clothes." She entered at Nahida's affirmation. "Are you feeling better, warmer? A bath is just the thing, isn't it? Oh, have you washed your hair yet or can I wash it for you?"

Nahida's white and green strands floated on the murky water. "Nobody has washed my hair before." She said, grabbing tangled locks and looking at them as if she was seeing them for the first time.

"Well, can I be the first then?" The other girl kneeled by the tub, uncaring of the water on the floor. "Trust me, having your hair washed feels amazing."

It did. Careful, calloused fingers rubbed suds into her scalp, kept warm water away from her eyes, and untangled her hair. It felt like caring, the child thought as she stared at the water-spotted ceiling, blurring as a sadness she knew all too well was alchemized into a yawning gap beneath her ribs. A hand rested gently on her shoulder as she fought back the tears. These foreigner hands that treated Nahida with more care than the people of her homeland.

They helped her dry herself without intruding. They handed her long-sleeved tunics and trousers to choose from, and brushed her hair with a comb that was missing teeth. They anxiously fussed at the redness of her eyes. They cut fruit and broke the bread for her to eat. They were always looking to know if help needed to be offered. The hospitality of the House was made of meticulous hands and watchful eyes, smiles and gestures betwixt trained professionalism and empathetic friendliness.

They stopped in front of a dark wooden door, engraved with no particularly distinguishable patterns. The children gave their guest respect akin to gods, but now the time had come for Nahida to meet with their Father, and know what reciprocity would be expected of her.

---

I wanted to get the nahida-arlecchino conversation here but i need to post or ill be too tired to write. guess ill up the chapter numbers by 1.