Non-Canon Omake – Be Forever, Tanya
Trunko
Dissatisfied writer
- Location
- Milan, Italy
Non-Canon Omake – Be Forever, Tanya
"Here you go." Aletta said, carrying a tray with the dishes we had ordered on it. "A beefsteak with a side of roasted potatoes for Mr. Frederick, and a generous portion of Nabemono for Miss Tanya. Enjoy."
I rubbed my hands together with excitement, seeing the sizzling, fragrant steak in front of me. I already had the knife in my hand and was about to cut the tasting morsel, when I noticed the look that Tanya was giving me.
"What is it?" I asked, unsure of what she wanted to communicate to me.
"Seriously, a beefsteak? We're in the only place we can reach that will allow us to taste the food of Japan again, and you're eating a common beefsteak, which we could also taste in our reality?"
"First, it's not just any beefsteak, as the process and cooking techniques are light years away from those of the Empire and Republic. Second, the fact that this place offers us the possibility to taste Japanese dishes does not mean that we have to take only Japanese dishes every time we come here: we can freely take what we want, depending on our cravings of the moment. And I've been craving a Western dish for a long time, like the ones I used to taste before I moved to Japan for work."
"You could always order it in our reality..."
"Yeah, how soon? You know very well that the command has suspended all licenses because of the enemy offensive. And frankly, I don't think I would have been able to wait for another three months. Nor would any of the other patrons of the club."
Tanya huffed, looking around her. The usual room where the owner of the diner used to host people who had been reincarnated or accidentally transported to other worlds and realities was not available today (Mia Luna Tearmoon, princess of the Tearmoon Empire and "Saint", had returned today after an absence of over two weeks, and had brought... considerable company) so most of us had accepted the chef's invitation and we had settled in the diner's large main hall. Here, seated at tables, intent on savoring their dishes or discussing them with their tablemates, I could see adventurers and lizardmen, orcs and elves, mermaids and harpies, princesses and ghosts, fairies and dwarves. Each of them came from an alternate world, with its own nations, rules and beliefs, like us: however, many of them had been born in such worlds, and had never had reason to suspect that realities other than their own might exist. For each of them, discovering the door to Neyoka was a miracle, in the true sense of the word.
"Are you serious? None of them would be able to stay more than a week without coming back here?"
"Believe me, Nabemono," said a leonine man-beast who I knew by the name of Lionel, intent on devouring a hearty portion of Katsudon, "for all of us, even those seven days represent a very long time, one that none of us would wait so long if it were possible to come several times."
"Wait a moment- Nabemono?" Tanya asked, looking at her own plate in front of her with suspicion.
"Oh, yes, I didn't tell you that." I replied, laughing. "We all call each other by the name of our favorite dish here. Since every time you came you got the Nabemono, now everyone who comes here knows you by that nickname."
"Let me ask you something: what is your nickname? The name of your favorite dish that other customers use to call you?"
"I would gladly reveal it to you, but I thought I would surprise you for today. The chef has already told me..."
At that moment, a murmur among the various customers, and the simultaneous turning of numerous heads, caught both of our attentions. A woman with cocoa-colored skin and cream-toned hair, dressed in a priestess' outfit, had entered the door at that moment. Immediately, Kuro, the only other employee of the club besides Aletta, moved to intercept her.
"High Priestess of Light." Kuro said in her typical, expressionless voice.
"Please, just call me Katarina. I'm here to take... you know what."
"I see. Please follow me: we've already prepared your package to go."
As the woman passed through the tables, I saw several diners shake their heads and assume fearful expressions. Logical, knowing the story behind that person, his owner, and how he involved the establishment.
"Frederick?" asked Tanya with a curious expression. "Who was that?"
"She was... the High Priestess of Light, ambassador of the Child of White. She comes here every week, to get portions of tiramisu, to take to her master."
"This Child of White must be a very rich nobleman or a very lazy one, if he inconveniences a high-level priestess for such a low-level assignment."
"The Child of White is not a nobleman." replied Aletta, a few feet away from her. "He is… the chosen, blessed child of the Dragon of White, one of the Six Ancient Dragons of the world where myself and Kuro, as well as many of our customers, came from. He once found the door to the Neyoka, and visited it, and the master offered to give him a taste of tiramisu, a dish he had never known before."
"He didn't like it?" asked Tanya guardedly.
"On the contrary, he liked it... a little too much." said Aletta, a shadow of sadness on her usually happy and carefree face. "Because he didn't want to wait seven days like everyone else, he tried to kidnap the master, to force him to cook just for him such a dish. For this reason, since that day... he has been banished."
At that word, everyone present in the place assumed a nervous air, in which fear was cut with a knife.
"Did the master banish the Child of White because he tried to kidnap him?"
"No, not the master. The Door."
"The... door?"
"It does not merely create the passage between worlds," Kuno made, reappearing in that instant. Hypothetically, the Priestess of Light was intent on arguing with the owner "It also judges patrons, their behavior. And if a customer tries to do something the door doesn't like, like trying to dine and dash, practicing violence inside the venue, or trying to kidnap the chef to force him to work just for you...the door has the power to never open for you again, effectively preventing you from coming back again."
"In essence, you are forbidden to re-enter the premises again, and unless you have servants or friends who can enter for you, you are prevented from tasting your favorite dish again. How do you think you would feel, now that you are able to taste Nabemon again, if that possibility were suddenly taken away from you, forever?"
Tanya's eyes filled with anger, once again "I would set fire to an entire city, or perhaps an entire enemy region, if someone committed such a wrong against me. No one touches my Nabemon! No One!"
"Now you see," I smiled, somewhat amused by the affair, as well as by Tanya's predictable, but still enjoyable, reaction of Tanya. "The other customers of the restaurant treasure it, and the dishes they love, as some of their most precious treasures. They want to enjoy them, as much as possible."
"Just to ask, who is the Beefsteak here? The ones who almost every time orders this."
"Actually, we have two beefsteaks." I smiled. "They were a vampire couple, a boy and a girl with fangs and huge, visible eyebags under their eyes. Their real name were Romeo and Juliet."
"Seriously?" Tanya asked, keeping a good chunk of her attention on her dish. "They are named exactly like Romeo and Juliet, and they were a couple? But, vampires?"
"Apparently, the whole universe seems to have some kind of perverse, self-referencing irony." I smiled again. "And from a probability point of view, a couple of vampire Romeo and Juliet were kind admissible."
"Admissible? That's almost too crazy to believe!"
"Two cold-hearted bureaucrats," I looked at her. "pushed into death by a train, in an eternal fight with a self-stylized divinity which runs the whole reality among them, all with the objective to turn them from stern critics into loyal, sheep followers. And that, to further humiliate the one who challenged him the most, reincarnated him into an opposite sex body. For a long time, I believed such things would have happened only in comics for young adults"
"That's not what I meant. I mean, what if-"
"Frederick, you here today?" said a male voice coming from behind Tanya. I simply smiled, and looked past her, to the incoming mage and his female warrior servant.
"Indeed, Shirō." I saluted the redhead guy. "You know me: I would never miss a chance to be here, as long as there is such chance."
"Frederick?" Tanya said, turning around and finding her face to face with the female knight-queen Artoria Pendragon.
"I see you brought a friend with you, Tainted One." Saber replied, glancing all over Tanya face. "And judging by her aura, she is as much as tainted as you, if not more. What kind of demon are you?"
"Demon?" Tanya yelled, jumping on her seat. "Listen to me you narcissistic sword-compensating wench, if you are trying to pick up a fight-"
"Tanya, please calm down!" I said, putting myself between the two quarrelling ladies "Save your anger for the enemy!"
"The same goes for you, Saber." Shirō admonished her with a reproachful look. "I told you before, we can't judge the inhabitants of other worlds just because we feel they're 'bad'."
"But your aura-"
"We are child soldiers, enlisted in an eternal war with no hope of victory, living amidst blood, mud, suffering, and with the constant fear of being killed by a stray artillery shell or a surprise enemy attack. Every day we see thousands of our fellow soldiers, of the same age and social extradition as us, dying slowly and abominably, sometimes because of us. Is that reason enough to be labeled evil?"
Saber said nothing, as the words I had said (almost all of them lies or excessive exaggerations of reality at best) sank in. I could see her eyes moving, her lips twitching, her confidence and determination losing strength.
"...I apologize for my assumptions." Saber finally said, bowing her head slightly. "It was not my intention to accuse you of being evil, when you are merely victims."
I maintained a normal demeanor, at least until Shirō brought Saber out of our visual and auditory range. Only when I was sure he could no longer hear us did I stop hiding my amusement.
"What an idiot!" laughed Tanya in turn. "What is that, the reincarnation of Joan of Arc?"
"Close." I replied. "Saber is the king of knights, the figure from whom the mythical legend of a king chosen by a magical sword trapped in a rock was born..."
"What, that was... King Arthur?"
"Her full name is Artoria Pendragon." I smiled. "Quite a development, don't you think?"
"Was she always a female, or simply subjected to something… similar to my situation?"
"I have no idea; I never checked with Shirō."
At that instant, I saw the High Priestess of Light return from the kitchen, carrying containers full of food for her master who could no longer (out of his own selfishness) come to the place in person. Greeting some patrons with a friendly smile, she proceeded to the door, finally disappearing back to her home world.
"Strange, she usually stops to taste something, too." I thought. "Surely, she must have an important reason if she is forced to give up her weekly pleasure."
Meanwhile, our respective plates were now empty, and Aletta reappeared at our side, her cheerful, innocent smile shining through.
"Eaten well, gentlemen patrons?"
"Absolutely." I said. "Excuse me, can we order dessert? Do you have... my favorite?"
Aletta winked. "Two servings coming up, Mr. Meringue."
"Meringue?" asked Tanya with wide eyes. "Your favorite dish in the place that is the name by which you are known here... is the Meringue?"
"Technically, it's a giant meringue, but we call it meringue simply for simplicity's sake. However, there is nothing mere on it, other than the name: it's so sweet and velvety that it almost feels like heaven itself is melting on your tongue."
"If you like it so much, why don't you marry it? So at least..."
Aletta reappeared, setting down two small plates with two giant portions of white meringue on them, neatly arranged and decorated.
"Shall we?" I quietly replied, taking advantage of the silence as Tanya was too busy ogling the sweet to keep pay attention to myself.
The flavor of the meringue was, as always, perfect. The creamy, light texture of a cloud, the sweet, intense flavor of the cream, the crispness of its crust, an explosion of sugary, soft mouthfeel with every bite. In the early days, when I had recently discovered such a dish, I had often eaten it with great frenzy, but I had since learned better. I always proceeded in the same way: I took very small bites, carefully cut with a knife, almost as if I had a scalpel in my hand; in this way I reduced to a minimum the risk of gorging myself, which would have reduced the pleasure brought to me by the taste, and also lengthened the time necessary to completely consume the portion, consequently lengthening the pleasure brought to me by the dessert. At regular intervals, I would take small bites of the whipped cream flowers that surrounded the meringue itself, with a cadence such that I would consume all of the flowers before eating the last, most flavorful, piece of meringue.
For many people, it was just a dessert; for me, it was a weekly treat that gave me the strength, for the next seven days, to fight and lead my men, so that I could be there again the following Saturday.
"I have to admit that the taste is not bad at all." said Tanya as she ate her portion in turn. "Although I prefer chocolate: firmer, stronger, and contains substances useful for proper functioning of one's mental abilities."
"Free to have your opinion, but keep it to yourself. As far as I'm concerned, the flavor of Meringue is unattainable!"
"I beg your pardon, Mr. Frederick?" said a female voice, behind me. Turning around, I saw that it was a girl of approximate age between 15 and 18, with long silky dark brown hair, dressed in a white dress with red highlights, with one stocking longer than the other. Around her neck, just below her chin, was a gray collar with a golden lotus symbol, which had adorned the bow of a ship... very well known to Japanese people.
"Yamato, how are you?" I said, smiling. I had already met the anthropomorphized girls of famous ships from our past: we had bonded quickly over our common military "background", and after a few introductions, had become good acquaintances (since it was far from the time when we could call ourselves friends).
"Very well: since I saw that you were here, I wanted to ask if you would like to join us. My sisters and I... we have a table further to the right, near the window."
"Can she come, too?" I said, mentioning Tanya.
"Certainly. You are acquainted with Frederick, Miss...?"
"Tanya Degurechaff, Assault Combatant mage in the Imperial Army. And you, who are you?"
"Excuse my inattention: I am Yamato, flagship of the Imperial Japanese Navy and battleship, along with my sister Musashi. Mister Frederick...told me that you are from Japan, from the world in which we, or rather, our material forms have served."
"Yamato? You are... the battleship Yamato?" said Tanya with wide eyes.
"Indeed. I know it may sound absurd, from one point of view, but we will be happy to explain the situation to you, if you will allow us of course..."
"Female and juvenile versions of characters from our history, culture, and legends, I can accept that." Tanya said, bewildered. "A post-apocalyptic, ruined world where the means of measuring the strength of enemies is martial arts, I understand. A world of giant robots to fight an alien empire, I can understand that. But, a world of girls who are anthropomorphizations of ships from our history, moreover at war with sea demons?"
"That's a typical reaction, Miss Degurechaff." Nagato replied in an almost teacher-like tone. "In our turn, despite having behaviors or memories... suspicious, none of us exactly knew from the very beginning that we were the reincarnations of the spirit of military ships of the Navy of your own country. It was just around the period that we found out about this place, and we were able to meet and talk with people that came from your old world, that we discovered the truth."
"So you know that some of you, during that war, were…"
"We know." Yamato said, a small aura of sadness all over her face. "It was quite unpleasant to know how my counterpart ended, after how she did lose her sister as well." she briefly glanced to Musashi, which gave her ship-sister a sisterly-love nod. "Nevertheless, it was an honorable ending, fitting as the last, lone warrior of our nation's naval forces. And… Frederick told me that there is an universe where my counterpart got raised from the bottom of the ocean, and became a spaceship to save the whole Earth."
"By fighting alone the evil forces of several alien empires, on a quest to reach the planet Iskandar and return to Earth with an advanced technology to restore the planet to its former glory, all in only one year." I nodded.
"You seriously told her that?" Tanya glared at that.
"I figured out she would be happy to know that her own world is not the only one where she pulled trough."
"Besides." replied Kaga, who was sitting to the right of Tanya's place. "We want to know too. Mister Frederick told us you came from Japan too, so I wanted to ask: how was Japan from where you came from?"
