Sunday's Melancholy, 08:30
Amu furtively glanced over at the rest of the table. They didn't seem to have noticed, and Ran, Miki and Su were still busy talking, though they should have heard.
"Never mind the future, or my options," she hissed, turning away to stop anyone from overhearing. "Before all of that, what are you? Why'd you have to get involved with me?"
If you're referring to the exaltation, I would have thought you'd be grateful for it. You were, as I recall, engaged in an altercation at the time; if not for my intervention, you would not have been able to handle it as you did.
"That… that might be true, but…" She'd been about to fight Samael… no, that wasn't quite true; she probably wouldn't have fought it if she hadn't exalted. She'd been fighting a demon from JPs. And if that didn't just bring up all sorts of questions, like whether or not they were really the good guys… Though, it hadn't gone back for a second round after she'd hit it once, so it might just have been a misunderstanding.
In my experience, large organisations can rarely be said to be purely good or evil. Individual humans are never that predictable, much less large groups of them. Thus far, JPs has shown themselves to be more accommodating than I had expected.
Her thoughts screeched to a halt.
Had it just -
"Did you just read my thoughts?" She asked, outraged.
Only the surface thoughts, the ones you were considering saying. It seemed more efficient that way.
"Well, stop! You can't just -"
She realised she was shouting, and the rest of her family - no, not just her family, but the entire room was listening in. She was halfway to her feet, too. Her chair was perilously close to tipping over backwards. Everyone in her field of vision was looking at her.
The room wasn't quiet. You couldn't actually hear a pin drop, and there were some conversations going on further out, but to Amu it certainly seemed like she had turned into the centre of attention.
Mom looked at her with concern. "Amu? Who are you talking to?"
Her jaw worked for a second, as she tried to think of some way to respond. Nothing came to mind. Finally, she felt a sense of confusion from the thing.
Thought-reading is a required part of my operation, and the only way for my to properly support you in real-time, but if you wish then I will refrain from responding to un-voiced thoughts in future conversation.
"Yeah… thanks…"
"Um. I guess we should have mentioned something before. It's like this…" Miki started. Amu didn't care anymore. She'd embarrassed herself in front of god knows how many people, there was no way they'd take her seriously ever again.
She carefully sat down, then deliberately dropped her head on the table.
———
"You're sure you don't mind?" Mom asked again.
Miki had explained the basics, but she had forgotten that they were still inside JPs' base, and as a result they'd been overheard by some of the soldiers. One of them had thought of calling for a superior to listen to her explanation, after she'd repeated it that superior had called for an even-more-superior, the exaltation had made a passing suggestion that finding a local scientist would be helpful, and that's how they ended up like this.
All seven of them were cooped up in a too-small lab, along with what were apparently two of the top leadership of JPs, Sako Makoto and Kanno Fumi. Fumi appeared delighted to see them, and was skipping back and forth between Ran and her workstation while they settled in. Ran seemed a little uncomfortable with the attention, but she was pretty, and seemed nice enough. In contrast, Makoto…
Amu shook her head. "I don't mind, Mom. They might be able to help, and we'd have to tell them eventually. It's why we're here, really." She just wished Makoto would stop giving them all death glares, and standing so stiffly at attention. It was creeping her out.
Mom gave her a measuring look. "You've gotten a little more mature, haven't you?"
"That's good, right?" She shrugged, and Mom smiled. Well, she hoped it was good, not yet another thing the exaltation had done to her.
"Did you know you're visible on camera?" Fumi abruptly interjected, addressing Ran directly. "That shouldn't happen. Even if you aren't any kind of persona I've heard about, you still shouldn't be part of reality as such. Emotional projections don't operate at the level of reality where mere cameras can spot them." She tapped a finger on the table, then smiled all too innocently at Ran, lifting a magnifying glass in the air. "I'll need to run tests. It might be unpleasant, but this is for science."
Ran, Miki and Su flew back to hide behind Amu. Amu, for her part, did her best to hide behind Mom while not appearing to do so. She'd been wrong! Fumi wasn't nice at all, she was the creepiest one yet!
Makoto looked like she had swallowed something rotten. "Fumi. They're guests, and children," she said, a warning note in her voice.
Fumi's smile slipped. "You know why I'm here, and why Hotsuin isn't. It's because he might still be able to do something useful. So I wanted to have a bit of fun…" She sighed. "I'm sorry, children, please forgive me," she said in a flat voice. "Now, let's hear it. What new peculiarity have you found, Makoto? Time's flying."
Makoto looked torn between exasperation and worry. "I'd like to apologise on her behalf, she isn't usually like this. Unfortunately, she's also right. There is a… situation, ongoing, and the only reason we're both here is because there's no obvious way for us to help. Even so, it would be best not to waste any more time, so - Amu, was it?" She smiled, more gently than Amu would have believed her capable of a minute ago. "What was it you wanted to tell us?"
Right, that's why they were there. She rallied, reconsidering how to explain this. "That was… well. I'm pretty sure you already know I'm possessed, sort of - " Fumi nodded along "- but I haven't explained what that really means. Actually, I don't know what that really means, so I was trying to ask it about that when it - surprised me, and I ended up shouting at the whole room. And then, um, anyway we figured it'd be easiest to tell everyone right away. Including me, I guess." She suppressed a blush at the memory; sticking out in that way wasn't her idea of fun.
"It can talk into my mind, so I'll be relaying what it says, and I guess you can ask questions. Um…"
A few seconds passed while she worked up the courage to continue. Having four adults looking at her with that kind of frank interest was intimidating, even if two of them were her parents.
"I guess, to start off with…" She took a deep breath, trying fairly successfully to calm herself down. "You called yourself an exaltation shard, so what exactly is an exaltation? And what's it for?"
There was a moment's expectant silence, before the voice began to speak and she started echoing it, affecting a slightly dryer, flatter voice than her own. Another skill she didn't recall having yesterday.
———
So, the purpose of Exaltation... That's a rather large question, and requires something of a history lesson to really get down to it, though I'll try to keep things brief. Some of what I will say is conjecture, as I wasn't around to see it and the war for which I was forged broke even history itself.
There was once a land, far removed from the one you live in, forged by dreamers as a home and a refuge against the ravages of chaos. It was a vast land, anchored by the Five Elements and guarded by seven great Kings, filled with life, wonder, and magic - protecting the Dreamers from those who would bother them, while giving them a land to rule and do as they pleased with when they weren't playing the Games of Divinity in their palace in the Celestial City of Yu-Shan.
The Seven Kings fought long and hard, labouring fiercely for the safety and security of the land - a land known as Creation, as nothing beyond it's borders could truly be said to exist. They and their servants protected the birds, the beasts, the fish, and the thinking races, ensuring that reality remained strong, and that the world remained prosperous. Many eras passed in relative peace, marked only by the occasional invasion from beyond... But as time passed, the Dreamers became complacent, growing bored with what they had wrought, and without challenge or drive, they slowly fell to wickedness, harming and destroying their works for their own amusement, as Creation itself had largely lost its luster.
The Seven Kings gathered together in secret, and began to discuss what must be done. The Dreamers would listen not to the words of their servants, as such things were not truly as important as their own entertainments, and the Seven Kings, and all the mighty peoples of Creation could not raise a hand against their creators, as the Dreamers were wise to the potential risks of rebellion. Only Humanity, the weakest of the intelligent races, was exempt from this binding, because they were rightly considered to be too weak and too small to be a threat.
One of the Dreamers - Autochthon, the Great Maker - agreed to help, as he was considered ugly by his brothers and sisters, and his works were often destroyed in the play of his siblings, or ransacked for some other amusement. Of all the Dreamers, he was the one who best understood their workings, and his skill at artifice was unrivalled. He overheard the discussion of the Seven Kings, and revealed that he had a method. An ability to forge a fragment of divinity, allowing even the small and humble humans to gain the power of a Hero. He worked with the Seven Kings to develop the process.
Exaltation, the binding of Divine Power into the soul of a mortal with the potential to become a Hero. Releasing all limitations, and granting them the magic to achieve whatever goals they desire. I myself am an Exaltation forged by the greatest of the Seven Kings, Ignis Divine, the Unconquered Sun.
The Dreamers were cast down in the ensuing conflict, many of them sealed away from Creation so as to not do harm to it in their reprisal, and Mankind rose to where the Seven Kings once stood, as the guardians and protectors of Creation. Though Creation was diminished, there was a long period of peace, and the exalted heroes showed their ability to rule as wisely as they had fought. Civilisation reached heights that were never rivalled before or since, and this lasted at least several thousand years.
That is as far as I can remember. There were wars, mankind against mankind, and at some point something happened that damaged even my theoretically indestructible memory archives. Ordinarily an Exaltation is not supposed to be conscious, but I came to some time ago, far beyond the ragged edge of eternity. Somehow Creation itself has been lost - I do not know how, as I have only fragments of memories after the first wars. I found myself wandering the blind eternities while slowly succumbing to starvation, until finally I found my way to your world, recovered, and went looking for a suitable candidate. My purpose is what it always was - to exalt heroes, granting mankind a chance to fight back on an equal footing with whatever forces go against it. That hasn't changed, and never will.
My ordinary procedure is to focus on those who have reached maturity, but what little I could determined of the destinies of the suitable candidates suggested that most of the others had a good chance of living through the next few days.
You - Amu - did not.
I would not allow that outcome, given the ability to influence the matter. Thus, we are bonded, and my power and guidance are yours to work with as you see fit.
———
Amu's eyes got wider and wider as she worked her way through that speech. She wasn't alone in that - Fumi was watching in rapt attention, as was Makoto, and if she wasn't mistaken Mom was having to physically hold Dad back from… something, she wasn't sure what. Ran and the others of course had practically identical reactions to her; she didn't even need to look at them to know that. Then the bombshell at the end hit them, and she ran through the last sentence on autopilot.
"I was about to die?" She whispered. What did that mean, exactly? Die?
Her mind flashed back to the clearing in Yoyogi park, where a demon was killing dozens of people, and her stomach heaved. She bent over, hugging her knees and desperately trying not to throw up, making short, distressed noises.
Suddenly Mommy was there, gently unfolding her against the minimal resistance of her trembling muscles, hugging her as if she wanted to stop the trembling with sheer force.
She felt Dad's hand on her back, rubbing in concentric circles, and once again she felt her eyes tearing up. D-dammit… In front of everyone, too…
"Onee-chan? Don't cry…"
Ami's voice sounded confused, but after a moment she felt her younger sister's arms around her, hugging her side. Amu bit her lip, bringing her emotions under control by sheer force of will; if nothing else, she didn't want Ami to see her as anything but a strong, reliable older sister. That much, at least, she had to be capable of on her own.
It still took her a minute before she managed to push the memories away, Ran and the others buzzing around like a trio of particularly concerned dragonflies. She took a deep breath, ruffling Ami's hair before gently pushing her away.
"Thanks, kiddo. I'm okay now, so don't worry."
Ami grinned up at her, and she smiled back.
"All right," she decided. "I think we'd better know the details. What do you mean by "die", exactly? How? And -" she gulped "- when?"
You have to understand, I don't have full access to the local equivalent of fate. What I looked at seemed similar, but there's a chance I misunderstood the readings, and at any rate I don't have the ability to double-check. I also could only do this before exalting you, so there is no possibility of gathering further information at the moment; I am not configured as a Sidereal shard. However, there usually is little chance of mistaking the end of someone's life. That being said, you had a reasonable chance of dying in the park yesterday; in retrospect the cause is obvious. Failing that, you were almost certain to die at thirteen o' clock today, though I do not know the reason.
Amu relayed that while thinking hard, but it was Mom who asked the obvious question.
"In four hours?" She asked, a hint of tension in her voice. "Could that still happen?"
Amu is permanently disconnected from the local fate system, so there is no risk of the world rearranging itself to make it happen. However, the circumstances that originally should have caused it may still be in place, and in fact a great number of fate streams cut short at the same time; although none of the others were candidates for exaltation, they were still caught up in whatever event is slated to happen.
"That's -" Makoto started.
"Thank you, Amu-chan," Fumi overrode. "In fact, I think I know what it should be, and if there were survivors then this is the first good news I've had in some time. Especially if you're right about the timing, we can start our defences preemptively." She smiled, in retrospect the first really genuine smile Amu had seen from her.
Makoto frowned, whispering something to Fumi, who chose to respond out loud.
"Hm? I don't see why not, the cost of activating once isn't high. Simple cost-benefit suggests we should try it if there's even a small chance she's telling the truth, and you heard Yamato's debriefing. I don't think she has any reason to lie."
Makoto put a hand over her eyes. Wait, she'd thought she lied? Or… that the shard was lying? She guessed that was possible, but it wasn't a very nice thing to say.
"Anyway," Fumi continued, "You're sure there were survivors, then? That's reliable?"
Certainly, a not insignificant number. So long as the fate system itself remains operative, the reading should be reliable if it works anything like that of Creation.
Fumi's smile turned into a pout. "That isn't actually as good a chance as I'd hope, given Hikawa's plans, especially if neither of us fully understands it. I should inform Hotsuin of the developments, but if there's a chance you could help…" She frowned. "I don't enjoy dying, so let's find out if there's anything you can do before I report to him. You don't mind if I tell them everything, do you, Makoto?"
She continued without giving her time for more than a breath, ignoring Makoto's low-grade panic. "So the thing is, there's this guy - Hikawa - who has a plan to, well, basically remake the world. I'm not too clear on the details, but it'd definitely involve the deaths of everyone except him, and I mean everyone, just in order to make him the next god of this world. At the same time, the current god intends to kill off humanity and remake the world. Possibly to get rid of Hikawa, at this point that wouldn't surprise me too much."
"The point is… the current god, Polaris, isn't actually all that powerful. He can stop maintaining the world, but he can't actively destroy it, and we have plans to keep at least parts of Japan from being destroyed - that is to say, a system that'll do the job instead, so long as we can keep it powered and intact. At that point he'll have to send his servants to destroy it, and… well, we were going to play it by ear, but we do have some plans. Hikawa, on the other hand, is attempting to take control over the system that gives Polaris his power. If he succeeds, then that's all she wrote, and he probably gathered all the power he needed in the park yesterday. Now, I wasn't supposed to tell you this, but I figure that if he succeeds then the rules don't really matter."
Makoto was staring into mid-air, a dazed expression on her face.
"Which is to say, I'm hoping you'd be able to help us prevent that. If your exaltation really came from outside the world, then it might have a perspective we're missing. What do you think?"
…
Fumi wanted her to do what? Hikawa was doing what? That was the guy JPs had been trying to stop escaping in the park, right?
If he was trying to kill everyone, then…
Amu glanced at Ami, then spoke fiercely, addressing you directly.
"What can I do?"
A/N: It's been ages since I played this; I hope Fumi and Makoto aren't too far off character. Meanwhile, I'm really glad this part of the story fell on a weekend, otherwise the updates would drag out a lot more - the next one will likely be just as big, meaning even more to write for me. Obviously this doesn't cover all of the last vote, but let's go with a decision point here anyway.
Also, Amu has a new motivation now: "Save her family and friends from the end of the world."
Accomplishing this is not only out of Amu's experience, but also outside the shard's main programming. It may not be out of yours. Good luck!
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