I was feeling that itch again. The same one that drove me to Eorzea all those years ago. That itch that comes from deep within my very soul.
From who I used to be.
It's almost time for me to move on. I don't want to, not really. I'd be damn happy to take on these Eikons and save the world, but it's not for me. Not this time. I'm really a bit part in this play, right Hythlodeus? The mysterious and powerful mentor who goes away at the end of the first act.
Taylor. She's coming along nicely. And yes Hades, I'd probably have given her my seat and did what Venat did back in the old world. She's what this star needs.
I took a deep breath, focusing on the aether. It was still pretty stagnant everywhere but Brockton Bay. Not like The First, but like standing water. Life could be there, but nothing really circulates
The aetheryte I set up, already being moved to outside Transit Station's future location, was putting enough umbral into things to stir it up. Glad I copied the notes in Sharlyan! Of course, it's not a 'real' aetheryte, just a good enough substitute. I'm not sure what Leviathan-Bet was made of, but the crystal was weird.
Still… still…
Gods I'm worried about Taylor. I'm throwing her into the deep, trusting my instincts about her and her friend were right. I know she can handle it but I can't help it. Is this what being a parent is like? Did you feel like this when retiring Venat?
It's the right decision. This star, this world, can't rely on me to solve its problems. I have Etheirys, Earth-Bet and its reflections has Taylor.
I just have to forge ahead. Just like they do.
-XIV-
Rebecca Costa-Brown gently closed the book in front of her and rested her head against the back of the chair. "So… what have we learned?"
"That we stand no chance if Echo was to turn her attention against us." Doctor Mother succinctly said.
"The numbers don't lead to any other conclusion." Number Man offered, the various computers he worked with off from running too much data. "Even the Simurgh avoided any kind of conflict with her. At its most distracting, it spends more time engaging."
Rebecca sighed. "And David?"
Contessa, not one for flagrant displays, popped a couple of pain pills into her mouth and took a sip before answering. "Sulking, as expected."
The heroine known as Alexandria looked over at her compatriot. "Are you all right? You look… depressed. And more than normal given what we do."
Contessa nodded. "It has been a difficult few months. Echo's presence has upset every. Single. Path. And it's been difficult to get back on track to compensate."
"Is she the silver bullet we have been looking for?" Doctor Mother questioned. Contessa shrugged. To the members of Cauldron, the non-committal answer was more worrying than confirmation.
-XIV-
PoV: Kiyome
A train. Cid's big plan is a train.
"Technically speaking it's a monorail." He said when I brought it up. It's still a train. "With the information you were able to download from the Crystarium's deeper levels," I ignored the shudder at the thought of that second layer of defense systems. "We have basically narrowed down exactly how the Crystal Tower moved. Now, we set up a beacon on both sides and can send people and cargo through the rift along that signal line!" Cid punched his palm in excitement.
"it's still pretty risky Cid." I said, trying to make sure he didn't say something dumb like he did with Gaius in Werlyt about his adoptive children.
"Life has risks! Besides, this could be just what is needed for Ultima Thule. You have mentioned the Dragons aren't happy about having to squeeze between hatches on the Ragnarok."
I sigh. He's right, too many benefits if this does work. I looked over to the open see and the rings jutting out suspended by rails. It lit up, allowing a portal to open and a small, sealed cart to slide through and stop at the end of the track. The cart opened and I smiled as a few friend popped out.
The Boulder brothers, Coultenet, Aenor, Clemence, Riol, and Alianne. Well, that makes things easier. They can definitely handle problems once I head off.
Sophia
Read somewhere that only two things were certain, death and taxes. I'd always put a third on there, Hebert was weak and an easy target to work out issues on. Ems thought the same once we cleared the air.
Then the damn flute.
If we hadn't broken that, we'd be riding clear. But no, Ems wanted to get one last personal shot in to Hebert and broke her mom's flute, sending Hebert to Her.
Echo. Kiyome. A Case-53 with echolocation and a talent for fixing stuff.
Until she wasn't. Until she was a borderline god, actively venerated religious warrior-queen from another planet who eats Endbringers like bite-sized Halloween candy!
And started teaching Hebert to be the same!
Okay, most of that is recent, but seriously!? Hebert picks up a couple knives and suddenly she's a goddamn magic ninja! She beats me to a pulp while barely trying!
I though, 'Fine. You got beat by a newbie. It can happen, she's still weak and you've got her number now.' But nope! She keeps getting better. And not in the 'practice makes perfect' kinda way. No, that I could even kinda accept that she was maybe not as completely useless as the blabbermouth I first met appeared.
No! She starts hitting harder from one day to the next! One day she can't even crack a wood board and the day after a long patrol, Hebert makes it into sawdust!
And then there's the stealth! I am literally Shadow. STALKER. Even Halbeard has trouble finding me when I try. But "Mirage" takes even that from me! No one without a breaker power is that light! Even Strangers have footsteps if they can't fly! But not her, no! That would be fair!
Then Echo kills fucking Leviathan damn near on her own while dressed like a stripper. And takes Hebert with her back to her home world for a vacation. Fine, I can relax and clean up the seriously stupid people who think Echo being gone means nothing can stop them.
…Then Hebert came back with a giant sword made of pure rage and hate strapped to her back.
Stronger. Faster. More sure. Just all around better than when she left. Confident she too could kill an Endbringer while in a straight jacket.
And the worst part? The real thing that really gets me?
…I think she can too.
I'm, gah, scared of Taylor Hebert. There, I said it, happy!?
Echo? It's logical to be scared of her. You'd be insane to not be. I won't even deny I've had nightmares about her coming after me for what I did to Hebert.
It's like how I explained to Emma, there are two types of people in the world: those who fight and survive, and those who don't. Predators who take what they need to keep going, and Prey who just let it happen because they can'r fight back.
Echo is so far above the food chain you just go "no, I cannot take her and am insulted you suggested it". Hebert wasn't that.
He- Taylor never showed herself like that. Sure, I thought she was better than most when she got powers. Not the sickly part of the heard the wolves bring down, but one that could get away to survive.
Taylor scares me because there's a mountain between her and Echo.
And she just keeps climbing.
-XIV-
Emma
I washed my face, desperately trying to wipe away the puke and tears.
It came back. The nightmare. Ever since Taylor did.
It's always the same. I walk into school and see My crowd talking. I go up and they turn to me, faces of disgust.
I'm less than a worm in stool in their eyes.
Then Sophia, My Sophia, is in costume putting me in handcuffs. The crowd parts and I'm standing in front of me. I mock myself. The scars on my face, my missing ears.
My flat chest, my too wide mouth, my freakishly gangly limbs, my dark stringy hair, my glasses.
I turn away and see a bottle in my purse. A beautiful bottle. A fancy bottle.
A fantastic bottle.
I scream myself hoarse, running into the bathroom. I'm there waiting, playing a broken flute, wearing a costume. Mirage, but me.
Taylor stole my life! She knew everything to live My Life!
I scream! I wake up. I rush to the bathroom and puke. I was my face.
Still me. No scars, beautiful… still Emma Barnes.
-XIV-
Dragon
I can safely say I am one of the smartest beings on Earth-Bet. Hampered as my program is, I can still process information at a pace humans can barely comprehend.
So, I can say with absolute certainty, Cid Garlond is a madman.
Oh, I do not disparage his achievements. Reverse engineering technology and improving on it is my specialty, so I know he must be a genius based solely on the files of what he's worked on.
But no, he's crazy too. A transit system between planets? Sure, why not? He worked on his world's first interstellar vessel. Said transit system being a train?
No one in their right mind, or even their unright mind, would think of that.
"But that's why it needs to be done." Cid said, looking over the blueprints. "The fact is, we don't have the ability to refine adamantite or generate enough aether to recreate the Ragnarok."
Looking over the plans for said starship, I was inclined to agree.
"Instead," Cid continued. "An energy rail not unlike the connection between aetherytes forges a bond. We know its possible, anyone who attunes to Ultima Thule's aetherytes can teleport between it and Etheirys, so distance isn't a major issue."
I did point out that Sharlyan experiments with aetherytes does leave sickness from the transport.
"And that's what the rail is for!" He punched his hand in excitement. "The vessels will travel along it, carrying cargo and people, but won't be subjecting themselves to aether-sickness. Because it won't be moving at the same speed as the rail itself!"
It wasn't a… bad plan. A few independent Thinkers and Tinkers agreed it was more possible than building a starship from scratch with so little resources.
"Now all we need to do is finish testing on this one-car version. Once it's safe enough, I can get the full version with cargo loaded up and sent here to Earth-Bet!"
With Cid around, it certainly wasn't going to be boring.
Glenn Chambers
Most people would think Public Relations and Image work is solely about what colors match and how to hike the price of toy sales while making it look like a discount. While not an insignificant part of the job, it was not the whole thing.
"Yes, I understand the President will be there for the grand opening. Yes, Mirage will be on stage at the ribbon cutting. No, I cannot guarantee Echo will also be there. She isn't a member of the Protectorate."
Truth is, most of the work is phone calls, emails, faxes, texts, and enough paperwork to make the Library of Alexandria (the destroyed place, not the person) weep at the loss of trees.
No, the office of Glen Chambers is not the glamorous fashion and decorating show most people think it is. For one, I actually have to get suit re-fitted before I head up to Brockton Bay. I hate wearing suits.
"Yes. Yes. I think she will be willing to sign the Carbuncle plush for your son. Yes. Of course. Thank you Madame President." I hung up the phone and sighed. You would think after knowing several Presidents since joining the PRT, this would be easier. Or maybe it's just the subject? Mirage has definitely made my job harder.
*knock knock* "Come in." One of the interns opens the door and is followed… by walking figurines barely knee high. "Am I going to be losing someone?" Dreading losing even a single peon to the costumed side.
The intern shook her head. "No sir. These were sent over by Garlond Ironworks. Mammets, they said." She handed me a note with Eorzean letters under a gear and torch symbol. Sheer memory let me know it was the company's attempt at a letterhead.
To PRT Public Relations/Image
Enclosed are a collection of Mammets, semi-intleligent automatons capable of self-movement and interaction. We regularly use the smallest as toys based on various figures. TaMirage suggested they might be of use to you. We included the instructions to build you own, as well as a model based on KiEcho.
Almost as soon as I finished, another Mammet strutted in between the others. Where the ones with the intern had been similar with black, featureless bodies and glowing white eyes, this one was a perfectly scaled down version of the Endslayer.
I reached down and she, it, whatever climbed into my palm so I could place her on the table. I spun my finger so she'd give a little twirl, and she obeyed. The horns were perfect, the hair sublime! Without any prompting, she pulled a stick off her back and made a shower of sparks appear, before going back to a relaxed position!
I looked up at the intern whose own attention was shifting between the Echo and the Mammets on the floor. "What was you name again?"
"Maggie, sir."
"Did you happen to see the instructions for these?"
"Yes sir. I… even drew up a sketch while walking." She undid a paper form her clipboard. I ignored the fact she doodled on official documents, instead focused on the drawings.
Each of the Triumvirate plus Hero. All rough, but the same proportions as the Mammets. Big head and cute with a bit of a blocky look to them. Legend even had some lines indicating lasers.
"Maggie," I paused, trying and failing to reign in the fortune rolling in my head. "How would you like a full time job working with these little money makers?"
-XIV-
Amelia
Pull the socks from the new drawer by the bed, pull on the long pants, slip on the gloves, roll out of bed and into slippers.
Put on the robes, cover the face in scarf, pull hood over head.
When I first got my powers, the first thing I did was convince Carol I needed synthetic linens and clothes. That was rather easy because even 'dead' fibers were something I could see with my power. Sure it could be annoying to forget to pull my hand into my sleeve before shaking someone's hand, but nothing to be worried about unless they were a cape.
That was the norm. Until Echo killed Leviathan.
That… aetheryte. It did something to… everything. I forgot to put on shoes before stepping out onto the deck of the backyard. Normally, seeing the dead wood through my power is enough of a shock to go back inside and put them on.
Not this time. This time I saw everything.
Wood used for planks in a deck aren't dead, they are sleeping. Bugs, tiny ones, burrow in with the bacteria and make a thriving community between the cracks. The stakes holding it in feed the ground and the worms within it. The worms eat the grass and are eaten by the birds which are eaten by bigger birds and people and-!!!!
IT'S TOO LOUD! LOUD LOUD LOUD LOUD!!!
I passed out. I woke up in the hospital, a patient for once in my life. Carol thought I had somehow Second Triggered. Maybe I did, she definitely looked at me even worse than before.
'Visually' I could still see everything. But now there was a… voice, I guess. Vicky tried to get me to describe it, but I can't really. It's like an old person waking up from a long sleep. It's not really saying anything but at the same time trying to say a lot.
Sleepwalking, I guess. But it's not really cognizant the same way a person is. It's as much the flora as it is the fauna. The living things in the water and hiding in the rock. The warm rays of the sun and the chill of the moonlight.
If I had to liken it to anything, it would be The Force from Star Wars. It simply… is. And it's been asleep for a while.
My powers, my second trigger, that aetheryte. All of them had a part. The aetheryte started waking it up, and at the same time started enhancing my powers. What I saw that day was beyond any of the temptations I'd had before.
I… changed. There are these nubs of bone growing out of my head, growing fast. Carol hates them and is fighting the urge to file them off if not surgically remove them. But even she knows that would be abuse she can't hide.
But these horns of mine, as they grow I can 'hear' better. This thing or things that woke up, I can… I don't want to say understand them. Empathize? Comprehend? Something like that, but not a lot. Maybe it's still too tired, maybe I'm not mature enough.
It's… calming. Soothing. Being able to see and interact with the food chain, to see how it all works, see how life really works. Don't even the urge to change things.
Much. It's still there but abundance of aether already making changes keeps that part of me quiet.
I'm still scared though. I'm different. Very different. I'm going to try talking to Echo and Mirage in private about this. Maybe this is some Etheirys thing that jumped here with them.
Taylor
Today was the big day. Garlond Ironworks, Kiyome, and a few tinkers had finished the Earth-Bet and Etheirys stations for the transit rail. It was an exciting time and would dramatically change both worlds!
The station was amazing too! Dad had picked a prime spot in one of the old, large boat launches. Enough space to put a hotel in and not impede function. I could already see a sign for Hilton coming soon.
The outside had been dressed up to look like someone put an old west train station through a 1950's sci-fi serial. It clashed with the aetheryte in front, but it had a charm that way.
I just wish I could enjoy it.
I mean, I shook hands with the President! Sure it was right before a signed a carbuncle plush for her son, but still! The President of the United States!
Unfortunately that was about as much excitement as I was going to get until the speeches started. Image was going over me with a comb fine enough to find atom sized diamonds to make me presentable. Not to mention the constant arguments about which 'costume' I should wear.
Gods I'm glad Kiyome made glamours for everything. As much as Justicia looks good as a mass of shadowy darkness radiating the color black, she does not look very heroic. A simple onyx broadsword based on something Kiyome picked up from Tataru was much more acceptable.
Could have done without the metal face mask though.
My Scholar and Summoner costumes were honestly easier to pass muster. Except for the horn, that needed some tweaking so it matched the grimoire better. Which in turn needed to look more gaudy, something Kiyome was exasperated by when she made it match Image's image.
For Scholar, they went for a graduation gown and hood with a gold-trimmed book. Wearing glasses over a domino mask was interesting, just to keep my identity 'secret'.
My normal Mirage costume stayed the same, obviously. Though I did notice Image had added my Soul Crystals as visual flair to each outfit, which meant Kiyome had to re-glamour my original costume.
I was able to shoot down any suggestion of me going on stage as a Mechanist though. Not because I had a gun, but what they did to my gun. They forced me to glamour it as squirt gun and my aether-reactor as a water jug! Then my whole costume as a Mechanist was made to look like summer and beach wear!
It's a gun! Couldn't you have chosen something less stupid!?
I shifted to Dark Knight and just walked out from backstage. I was not going to be held up just because a bunch of morons can't make up their minds.
I took my usual stage spot next to Stalker, in between her and Tress as we were the newest Wards, and waited for the speeches to begin.
Hail to the Chief started playing pretty quickly, and the President took the podium. "Hello Brockton Bay!" The crowd started to cheer. "I am so glad to be here for this momentous occasion! This official opening ceremony of a connection between two worlds!"
The crowd cheered again, almost overtaking the hum of the aetheryte in the middle of the crowd. The President waited for things to quiet down before continuing. "With great thanks to the Parahuman Response Team, Protectorate, and of course the Ward Mirage," she indicated towards me and I stood a little straighter. "And our new, dear friend from Etheirys, I am proud to cut the ribbon and welcome the first true transport of good between us!"
Chief Director Costa-Brown and Legend stepped forward and began to unroll a bright red ribbon, having Kiyome and Cid take the other end. Despite not knowing Cid as well as my teacher, I could tell both hated this. The President pulled a large pair of golden scissors with the Presidential Seal on the screw and posed to cut for the cameras.
Everyone was smiling, though Cid and Kiyome were strained. As soon as the flashes died down, the ribbon was cut.
Then the alarms started.
"Bloody hells!" Cid raced into the station, Kiyome and I right behind him. He pushed the technician operating the dock control console out of the way. "Damn it! Something's interfering with the rail line! The train's stuck somewhere in the Rift!"
"Is there any way to unstick it?" Kiyome asked.
Cid nodded. "If we use one of the small carts and send a team, they can do it. Kiyome, I need you to teleport to the Etheirys end, you're the only one who can handle any problems on that aide while Nero and I are here."
"Then whose going to the train?" Alexandria, though something was off about her, asked.
"Taylor." Kiyome said with absolute confidence. "She can lead the team." And then she teleported away before anyone could say anything else.
Hoary Boulder patted my shoulder. "High praise from her. Coultenet and I will keep you safe!" The Elezan man nodded.
"Not without us you aren't!" A small Hyur woman with an astrolabe on her back next to a larger Hyur woman with a bow said. "Aenor and I aren't letting our friends throw themselves in harms ways."
"Clemence is right." Aenor said, punching her palm. "Besides, what would Ocher say if his brother didn't come home?"
I looked at the heroes of a different world and took a deep breath. "Okay, let's go!" Cid sent out one of the small carts onto the physical rail and lined it up with the portal.
"Good luck. All of you." We stepped into the cart and it shot off like a rocket. We felt it shudder and shift as it entered the Rift. Our Warding Scales began to glow as they protected us from the outside.
I opened one of the windows to see the destination. A forest of crystals had speared the train, the light of the rail scattering between them.
"That's our target…" I mumbled to myself.
???
————————
Rift Transit Rail
Aenor activated the emergency break and we scraped across crystal until we came to a stop. "By the gods…" Coultenet said when we stepped out.
It was a sentiment I echoed. The crystal forest seemed to stretch and twist into infinity. The pink and purple of the Rift refracting a million times through the pillars.
"Can you hear me?" Cid's voice came over our linkpearls. "Good. Listen, you need to get the cars free of whatever is holding them before activating the rockets. As soon as you do, Kiyome and I will restart the rail and you can ride it back to Earth."
We all gave our understanding and started towards the nearest car. "Never seen crystal quite like this." Aenor mentioned. "It's almost… alive."
From behind one of the pillars, a goobue almost made of the crystal around us appeared. "That is not a normal goobue." Clemence said.
I didn't bother a response to the obvious, just switched to Mechanist to draw it and similarly crystallized creatures in so Hoary could keep them busy. I slipped to Ninja and behind the goobue to bring it down on top of the creatures, then Scholar to help Aenor heal everyone from the fight.
Hoary sighed as the battle finished. "Something about this crystal has done this. I don't like it."
I nodded. "Me neither. This isn't like the corrupted crystals Kiyome showed me. It's even more… wrong, if that's the right word."
The Scions and I kept moving forward, closer and closer to the train car that was clearly in view. "What was in this shipment anyway?" I asked as we tore through more crystallized creatures.
"I think it's supposed to small flora and fauna," Aenor said, checking her cards. "Nothing this dangerous." The crystal was left unsaid.
As we approached the car, one trapped almost fully in crystal, I could feel… something. "We aren't alone."
Lights from the aether rail coalesced into a crystal spear. It warped and twisted until it formed something that looked like a cross between a stereotypical ghost and a goblin. Its face, if it could even be called that, was like a kindergartner trying to understand how faces worked.
"Well, this ought to be interesting." Coultenet said, pulling his staff from his back. I shifted to Dark Knight and brandished Justicia. Hoary sent his shield flying as I made a flying leap towards the monster, drawing its attention towards us as its back became exposed.
Aenor kept us boosted with her cards, and cast as many area healing spells as she could to mitigate the damage this thing could do.
Quickly, however, the thing began to shift again. No longer haphazardly swiping with feeble claws, they condensed and grew into daggers as it began to attack faster.
"The beast is learning!" Clemence shouted, strumming a few notes on her bow-harp to increase our own speed. The creature started to dart around the area, and I could barely keep up with the experienced adventurers as we avoided its attacks.
"Again!?" I yelled as the form shifted, one of its arms gaining a giant blade reaching back towards its shoulder in place of a forearm. It was slower now, but hit a lot harder.
Its swings were more obvious, but the sheer power from them made being anywhere within its range a problem. But thankfully it didn't seem to be learning fast enough to out maneuver us.
Then it shifted again, gaining a witch hat and a staff in its hand, absorbing all the spells Coultenet sent out.
"Twelve forefend!" Aenor exclaimed, diving out of the way of a fire ball. The creature began pelting us with magic, making us race around the arena we found ourselves in. Coultenet had to shift his magic constantly to not have it absorbed.
I raced forward, not heeding the calls for me to stop, and plunged Justicia right into the monster's mockery of a face. With a satisfying smirk on my face, I pushed down with my knee and pulled my sword upwards in a cleave.
The monster fell backwards and shattered into tiny, glimmering dust particles. I turned towards my companions. "Well? We do need to free the car." I turned back and started hacking away at the crystals holding it in place.
Eventually, all of us managed to break it free and let it rest on more stable ground. A quick check of the inventory list inside confirmed that most of the flora and fauna hadn't been corrupted, only those too close to a breach in the side. We patched that up with a burst of ice and moved deeper into the train.
We made our way through the train cars, breaking it out of its bonds and destroying more crystal creatures like the one we fought outside but smaller. If our theory that the crystal is alive is right, then these things must be its… antibodies I guess. But it's so alien that it's trying to take human forms based on what we do, but no understanding how these forms actually work.
Eventually we made our way to the caboose. A large car filled with piping and some controls to handle the back portion of the aether rail. "That might be a problem." Clemence said, pointing to a pillar of crystal speared through the back of the caboose.
The pillar began to glow and the tip liquidated, a piece dropping off onto the ground. Like living mercury in a half-recalled sci-fi thriller, the crystal took on a humanoid form.
Of course, 'humanoid' was being generous. The proportions were good for a twice sized Roegydan stretched by a taffy maker, but it lacked a head. It had four arms, each ending in a different weapon. A mace and staff knob above the shoulders, a sword and axe on the arms that should be normal.
And the torso formed its face. Where the first one was a kindergartner trying to describe a face, this was like an asian demon mask filtered through a lawn gnome. A bulbous nose framed by tusks and a bearded mane stretching to the floor.
This monstrosity looked tough, so I switched to Scholar to back up Aenor. Hoary bore its full attention and I kept my pixies supporting and healing him, while Aenor focused on keeping everyone else alive against the onslaught the creature brought to bear.
Its arms stretched and bended as it attacked. Rapid fire pummels from the mace, incredibly wide swings from the sword, reaching back with the and catching anyone behind as it cleaved forwards. Spinning the arm-staff to direct focused magical attacks .
And the worst thing is when it went limp. It would lean back and open its mouth, then spring forward like from a loaded gun and wrap itself around one of us, chewing on us with its oversized fangs.
Slowly but surely, we wore it down and it too collapsed and shattered.
I activated my Linkpearl. "Cid, are you there?"
"Yes, go ahead."
"The engine on the caboose has been busted. We sealed the hole but there is no way it's going to propel anything."
"Blast! Kiyome, you hear that?"
"I did. I think we can send a pulse from my end to push it along, but it will be a bumpy ride."
"It will have to do. Ta- Mirage. You and your team get the train free. We'll handle the rest. Cid out."
I lowered my hand from my ear. "Well, you heard them. Let's get this train free."
We all climbed onto the roof of the train to break the last remaining restraints of the crystal and patch up what holes we could find. Pretty quickly, the train completely dropped and connected with the aether-rail. Hoary posed with a cheer as everyone else celebrated, and then we headed for the front to activate the engines.
My… chosen…
"What?" I stopped and turned behind. But there was no one there. "I swore I heard something."
"Taylor, come on!" Clemence called and I raced to catch up.
Then an earsplitting roar echoed around us. What remaining crystals there were pooled themselves together, forming into a serpent with eight spider-like legs. It roared again, shaking the train and threatening to tip it off the rail into the Rift.
I turned into my Summoner form, flames flickering off the pages as Ifrit readied itself to be called upon. I stared at this last obstacle in defiance. I was not going to let it stop me. Not after coming so far, not with so much riding on this train!
Crystalline Worm
—————————
Planesgorger
I don't know what subconscious signal was given, but we all charged forth against the creature. Egi-Ifrit tore itself free of my tome, launching a devastating fireball in tandem with Coultenet. Just before it made impact with the monster, Aenor's Arrow card joined it alongside a song of Clemence's. Hoary's shield drew it's attention, allowing the now massive fire to strike at the back of its head.
The thing roared again, scuttling about as it tried to avoid us, eventually forming its legs into wings. It dove over the side and I led the effort to avoid it trying to sweep us across the sides as it rise and charged forward.
A chill filled my chest as I called on Shiva. The miniature version of my teacher's friend spun about me, forming a shield of blue sparkles. I skated forward on literal ice skates, dancing around the insectoid serpent until it was trapped in a pillar of my own making.
I swerved back to the others and opened my book again. A shimmering blade of of transparent smoke rose from it, swinging itself in a Z formation. Cracks appeared along the creature as it ceased its struggle against its bonds.
Was it fear? Acceptance? Or was it already dead but the body didn't know it? At that point, I didn't care.
I grabbed the handle of the sword and swung it straight down, a gust of wind racing forward and past my trapped enemy.
There was silence, as if nothing in the universe was sure of its next move.
Then the silence shattered like glass. The monster split into pieces along every line drawn against it, then dispersed into motes of light.
We had won!
Everyone climbed down into the cockpit and Hoary pressed the engine button. Energy raced through us as we were pushed forward. We emerged from the portal grinding along the physical rail to cheers of the populace.
Kiyome finished teleporting into the aetheryte and I could see her confidently approaching the train with a knowing smile on her face. She gave me a nod as she passed to approach Cid, the President, and the Chief Director.
"That was amazing!" Vista said, rushing to give me a hug.
"Wait? You saw that!?"
Clockblocker gave a thumbs up and pointed behind me. A small drone phased into view. "Leet sent one of his snitches in with you. Don't worry, he set up a thing to block any names from being heard." He smiled, patting the thing as it landed on his shoulder. "It's probably their highest stream yet!"
The Wards laughed and I couldn't help myself but join in. My vacation in Eorzea may have been over, but my adventures had only just begun!
Taylor
The increased popularity for rescuing the first large Etheirys-Earth train was, honestly, pretty expected. Mirage merchandise started selling like hotcakes and more forum threads than I could reasonably count got locked for deviating to talk about me.
Last I heard, the Versus threads were getting the brunt of it.
But of course my actions, as heroic as they were, did lead to some issues. "Children should not traversing the... whatever that was!" Such as the current 'meeting' with the Youth Guard, dad, the director, and myself. No Kiyome of course, she'd actually be able to get them to shut up. "Parading a child around with giant swords and firearms. Letting them go on month long trips to other planets!" My so called representative shouted across the rather small conference table.
"I did approve of Taylor going." Dad meekly tried to remind the representative and the record.
"Not to mention keeping her out of school! Children need an education!"
Okay, that was kind of fair. I hadn't actually gone to school since... geeze. It feels like I haven't since I became Mirage. I know I had to have but after Leviathan and Eorzea it's just flown out of my mind. Have I gone since I came back?
"Cavorting with people who have no actual understanding of anything, including child endangerment!" The rep continued. "Can we even trust an alien who perfectly placed herself to become a close confident of a teenager? Just because she killed an Endbringer does not mean such a close relationship is appropriate!"
Wait? Was she arguing what I think she was?
"You, Mr. Hebert have been woefully neglectful to allow your daughter close proximity to actual Master effects, cure or not. CPS will be hearing about this, I assure you. How can you guarantee Echo wasn't manipulating your daughter for her own ends?"
She was!
Justicia slammed my hands on the table and stood us up. "Shut. Up." We growled. "You do not get to insult and threaten the people I care about in my name." I looked the representative right in the eyes and didn't even try to hold back the smirk when she flinched. "I am perfectly capable of speaking for myself."
"Y-yes, of c-course. But Taylor you are child so-"
"And?" The rep only swallowed nervously. "I get you think I need protection, that I shouldn't be putting myself in danger, and I thank you for trying to look out for me. But you are in the way."
"E-excuse me?"
"I said : You. Are. In. The. Way." I stood up fully and rolled my shoulders back, never breaking eye contact. "I'm here because I want to me. If I so chose, there is nothing you could do to stop me from leaving the Wards and going it alone as a vigilante." I smiled coldly. "And that was before I went to Etheryis."
The representative pretty much collapsed down into her seat.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "All my life I've wanted to be a hero. And now that I've learned what being a hero actually means," I remembered Kiyome smiling at Hamon's wake. "I'm not going to let anyone stop me." I opened my eyes and made sure to lock with everyone in the room. "I'm going to do what is right before anything else. I'm going to help people, not just stand around and look pretty."
I left the conference room and headquarters without permission, but I didn't care. I barely held Justicia back from cutting our way out, damn the consequences.
And you wondered why I said we should burn it all / I never disagreed.
I made my way to the Transit Station, quickly becoming the safest place in the city. Ward patrols were already being regularly scheduled to stay in its vicinity, and apparently not even Sophia was too upset about that. Probably because we are allowed to use the training facilities there.
And honestly? With only Uber and Leet still around for villains, it's not like we Wards have anything better to do than look pretty and make friends with the new neighbors.
I passed the aetheryte and the pop-up tents with shops from Earth and Etheryis forming a new marketplace. Already I could see the Adventurer population making their way to Brockton Bay and plying their trade, from day laboring to... that is a pub. And clearly is serving alcohol. How did they get a license that fast?
I made my way into the public area of the station and sat down to watch the workers go to and fro like busy bees in a hive, listening to the people already making a routine to visit before regular passenger trains were active.
"You know, my brother is trying to get his kids to drop out of their college?"
"Really, why?"
"He wants them to apply for this place called 'The Studium' on Etheryis. Apparently it's basically the only center of higher learning on the planet!"
"Explains why so many kids are here during a school day. Apparently our visitors have set up a school house on property. I heard something about magic lessons on my way in."
Eorzean schooling huh? Better than wandering around doing nothing. I got up and slipped through the crowds towards the directory and then towards the school house. It wasn't much, really just a roof and pillars holding it up with a back wall for a white board. What surprised me more were the students.
Sure, there were plenty of kids that were there clearly for a field trip, but there was a group that should not have gathered like they did. "Uh, guys? Kinda conspicuous don't you think?"
Amy sighed and put the cigarette she had just pulled out back in its box and back in her coat. "Let's be real, secret identities aren't going to survive much longer once everyone gets magic powers."
Chris looked up from his notebooks, things I know he wasn't supposed to let leave his lab, and the copious texts with the Ironworks symbol. "To be fair, today was a patrol day for me and I was assigned here so..." He shrugged.
Sophia and Missy both rolled their eyes. "I'm just here because track was canceled. I needed something else to do and school wasn't providing shit." Sophia said, arms linked behind her head.
I looked at Missy, who just glared at me. "It was this or listen to my parents on a day they pulled me out for 'cultural enrichment'."
"And Vicky? Pretty sure you don't have an excuse." I said looking at the blonde powerhouse.
"Nah, I dropped out. Ames too." Victoria said with a smile.
"Don't drag me into this."
"Mom said yes because of those horns of yours. We all figured it would be better if I kept an eye on you while you deal with it. Plus, getting credits for college for doing this." Vicky shrugged. "This is way more interesting than the biology degree I was working on."
I mouthed 'horns?' as I looked at Amy. The healer sighed and pulled off her hood, revealing two very small but very distinct horns sprouting from her skull. My mind briefly flashbacked to meeting the Elder Seedseer. "Oh, you're a Padjal. When did you become a Padjal?" I asked rather calmly considering the sudden species change.
"Hebert, you do not ask how someone gets horns like you would a dog."
Amy tossed an eraser at Sophia's head who ducked instead of phasing through it, keeping the bare minimum of her identity a secret. "I don't know. I started getting a headache not long after Leviathan was killed, right around the time the aetheryte network was set up."
I hummed in thought as I sat in a desk next to my... friends. Great, I actually consider Sophia a friend. What is my life? I pulled out my Scholar grimoire and started leafing through it. "Let's see... it might have something to do with the aetheryte and network 'stirring' the ambient aetherical energy brought about by Kiyome's presence."
I looked up and saw blank looks. "Kiyome brought magic, but it kind of just... sat there. Like standing water, not completely still which would be very bad, but not really moving either. The aetherytes are making currents, like underneath the ocean."
"Is that why I've been seeing balls of green wind now and then?" Chris asked, pointing outside the school. And yep, there was clearly a ball of wind hovering on top of the transit station.
"Yes, that would be why." I closed my grimoire and turned towards Amy. "Now, that explains learning magic and when it started, but not. the why."
Amy held up one of the books she had been studying. History of Gridania was proudly placed on the cover, note tabs poked out of various pages. "This says that Padjal are Hyurs chosen by Elementals to speak for them to mortals. Except I'm not a Hyur."
Vicky patted her sister on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out. Taylor, wanna help?"
"Sure. At the very least I can spare some time if you don't mind walking me through your hospital rounds. I need the qualifications now." I said then looked at the others as I saw the schoolhouse teacher gathering things to start a new lesson. "I'll help everyone with something, okay?"
"I could use a sparring partner." Sophia admitted. "The dummies aren't cutting it anymore."
"You are more familiar with airships than I could hope to be." Chris said.
"Anything to keep me out of the house!" Missy begged. "I'll go the Image and become a goddamn magic girl at this point!"
I turned to Vicky who was already readying her desk and copying what the teacher wrote before the lecture started. "What? ...Uh, patrol together? Kinda focused right now."
Fair. I snapped my fingers and my fairies brought a blank notebook and supplies from home. Sure I didn't really need a lesson on Eorzean to English letters, but a refresher to take home for dad wasn't going to hurt.
Besides, I was 'attending school' for any more Youth Guard barking that shows up. Just not American.
For what ails you
"...and finally, initial here and sign here." Amy pointed out the proper parts of the Parahuman Healing Contract to finish off. "And there we go, all it took to sell your soul to the medical industrial complex was a case of carpal tunnel."
I rubbed my wrist while glaring at the unmasked healer, who shrugged. "You got lucky, I had to sign both as Panacea and Amelia Dallon."
"Lucky, right." I mumbled while calling on Eos, who flitted about my wrist and sprinkled magic on it, getting rid of the cramps. "Thank you, Eos." the fairy giggled and sat on top of my trencher, kicking her little legs in a happy beat.
Amy stared at the glowing creature, clearly resisting the urge to touch it and see what it is made of. "Seriously weird how your powers work." She said, leading me from the hospital's break room to the administration office to turn in my paperwork along with the official forms from the Protectorate and PRT to approve said paperwork. "A flick of your wrist and you can heal anything."
"Not anything." I emphasized after sliding the paperwork to the secretary and heading towards the elevator. "I don't think I can cure cancer like you."
Amy scoffed and pressed the button for the first floor. "Does Eorzea even know what cancer is?" I shrugged. "Yeah, you probably can." The doors shut and the elevator headed down. Amy pushed away her hood to scratch at the base of her left horn. "Why are these things so itchy? There aren't even cuticles to get that way."
The elevator chimed and opened before I could answer. "Blue ER, Blue ER."came over the PA system and Amy took off like a rocket, and I wasn't far behind her. I didn't know much about hospitals, but I'd watched enough old shows to know Blue was code for 'someone is dying right now!'. We raced towards the gathering staff. That had to be the dying patient.
"Sitch!" Amy commanded, entering the patient's room and pushing some orderlies out of the way.
"Heart failure. Paddles to max safety and still nothing!" The doctor said, scrambling to get a needle ready while the EKG blared a single note.
Amy practically slapped her hands onto the patient. "He's dropping! I can't keep his cells going before another group fail! I need 60 CCs of-!" The doctor put her hand on Amy's shoulder and shook her head. Amy sighed. "Call it. TOD is…" she looked over at the clock. "Thirteen fo-"
Before she could finish, I directed Eos to fly over the body and opened my book. I held my hand over the pages and took a deep breath before casting the spell. "RAISE." The aether echoed through me, channeled into my fairy who flew about the body with trails of energy following her and sprinkling down.
The body jerked, taking a deep breath, the man's eyes darting around as the EKG beeped to rhythmic life. Amy touched the man's arm in awe. "He's… everything is functional again. Not perfect, I'm handling that but it's working." Everyone, including the patient, looked at me and Eos who was patting my cheek. "You brought him back to life…"
I shrugged and chuckled. "Did I not mention there was a spell for that as long as it was recent? Oops." The silence, aside from the medical devices, was deafening.
+XIV+
Paid as Collateral
I landed in a comfortable crouch on the roof, Vicky floating next to me. "You don't need to hover, you know. I am rather good at parkour."
"Yeah, when you're a literal ninja. Not," She gestured to the sword on my back. "Carrying around a hunk of metal as long as you are tall and about as thick." I rolled my eyes and grabbed my sword, easily twirling it with one hand before letting it rest on my shoulder. Vicky glared at me.
"It's not like I'm actually that strong. The sword still weighs a ton."
"Literally or figuratively?"
I cocked my head to give the blonde powerhouse a look. "I'm not going to be lifting cars like you any time soon. I just… hit stuff real good."
We laughed before getting ready to move on, when we heard what sounded like an out of tune music box blaring alongside police sirens. We looked down to the street where a heavily armored… ice cream truck? Was speeding down the road followed by several cruisers.
"I thought the Merchants got out of town." I stated as we began pursuit from the rooftops.
"That's Uber and Leet!" Vicky charged below and shoulder checked the truck, sending it careening but unfortunately not out of commission. Civilians barely managed to get out of the way just as the ruck righted itself.
"Be careful!" I shouted, jumping from roof to roof to keep up with the speeding vehicle.
Vicky either ignored me or didn't care and kept trying to force the truck off the road and onto its side. A rotating machine gun popped out and began hammering her, pushing her back. Crossing her arms to protect herself, Vicky kicked upwards at the truck, catching it at just the right angle to send it flying onto its side… right for some people who can't get out of the way fast enough!
I jumped down and sprinted as fast as I could, the world becoming a tunnel. I pushed myself and pushed Myself farther than I knew I could go.
Vicky's reckless. She doesn't pay attention. She charged right in, no thought of anything but stopping the bad guys! She'll get people killed this way! …Whose to say she hasn't already? Amy would stop it. And how many times do you think she has?
I planted my feet on the ground and my sword pierced the asphalt. The truck hit me with all 80 or so miles plus whatever Vicky's kick had caused. The truck's armor crumpled like foil against me, bending like an accordion to form a V before falling back to Earth on what remained of its four wheels.
I pulled my sword out of the ground with a sharp swipe, cutting the door to the passenger's side open. "You aren't Uber or Leet."
The driver and passenger raised their hands. "They left town, bunch of stuff stayed behind. We just wanted to go for a spin." My glare was a solid indicator that I didn't care for their excuse.
I let the police take them into custody while I joined Victoria. "Nice job partner! We gottem!" I slapped the Brute upside the head. "Ow! How the hell!?"
"What was that!?"
"What?"
I gestured to the civilians giving their statements to the police. "That! If I hadn't been there, they would have been seriously hurt! If not killed!"
"Geeze, what is your problem? It all worked out. Seriously, how did you do that?" Victoria rubbed her head.
I could not believe what I was hearing. Yes I can. "'It all worked out'? Is that all you have to say for yourself?" Victoria shrugged, obviously confused by the point I was trying to make. "We are HEROES! We are supposed to protect people, not put them in danger!"
"It was an accident! They happen!"
I turned and gave Victoria a half hearted wave over my shoulder. "If they are like that chase, it's not an accident. It's recklessness."
"Oh come on Mirage. Mirage! Hey! Where are you going?" Vicky flew after me, but I teleported away to another point on the network. I was not in the mood to listen to her justify herself right now. Justifying is what they all do.
+XIV+
Space to call one's own
I had barely even approached the house in the very affluent neighborhood when I heard the shouting. All the training I had been given told me to race inside and break up a clear case of a domestic incident that could turn violent, but when I saw that Missy was calmly, if annoyed, sitting on the porch of the house and not rushing anywhere I decided to leave it alone.
Against my better judgment, of course.
The fact she was sitting on the porch of the house with the shouting with an almost bored, but definitely resigned, look on her face explained everything.
"Ready to go?" Missy asked me.
"Isn't that my line?"
She patted her backpack and nodded to the door. "I was ready quite a while ago, as you can probably guess."
"Then yes. Yes I am."
I took Missy's hand and led her to the training ground set up by the Grand Company of Eorzea near the Rift Station. I slipped on a simple domino mask and Missy put on her helmet, but the disguises were paper thin. We hadn't even bothered to hide ourselves as we did so. Really it was more for pretense than anything else.
"Okay!" Missy said excitedly, pulling the most girly wand from her pack. It was in her costume's green and white, but looked as though it had not only been designed by a committee that thinks it knows what girls enjoy, but clearly was made for form over function. "I'm ready to learn some magic!"
A lalafell ceased overseeing the drills of some thaumaturges and approached us at Missy's shout. "Well, after so long dealing with the unnecessarily dreary Guild, that wand is quite the change of pace." The lalafell was a woman, a bit shorter than Missy herself, but with an aged voice that matched her white hair and the monocle over an eye. "I am Yayake Yake and though normally I act as receptionist for the Thaumaturge Guild, I was chosen to oversee any training here on Earth Bet. You are… Vista, correct? I'm still getting used to all this 'Cape' business."
Missy nodded. "Yes ma'am. Um, not to be rude but… how are we talking to each other?"
Yayake chuckled. "I'm a receptionist. If I couldn't learn a language quickly, I'd be out of a job." Her smile fell almost as fast as it had risen. "Now, I do need to clarify something: Thaumaturgy is not for the weak of heart. It is a lesser version of what is known as Black Magic, a very dangerous art."
"Black Magic? So it's evil?" I asked. Kiyome hadn't actually explained any details of the various magics to me aside from what was in my Jobs.
Yatake shook her head. "No, it is inherently destructive. Where the Conjurers, and their predecessors the White Mages, have the ability to cause pain they also have the ability to alleviate it. Thaumaturgy has no such ability. Though it has been adapted from funerary rites, its sole purpose is to destroy."
Yayake looked at Missy, locking eyes despite the helmet Missy wore. "Are you absolutely sure you want to walk this path? I can easily talk to an Arcanist and they would be willing to take you on. Or perhaps one of the healing arts?"
Missy gripped her wand tightly. "No, I need to do this."
"Need eh?" Yayake hummed, holding her chin. "I see. Very well, I shall see what you can do. Approach the range please. You as well… Mirage. Such a strange culture."
We approached a grassy firing range, shared between various Archers, Machinists, a few locals with guns, and mages. "Now, Mirage, I want you to demonstrate a Ruin spell." I nodded and cast the bolts of light at the target down range of me. "Very good. Now, Vista, did you feel anything from Mirage as she did that? Even if through your unique power more than aetheric senses."
"Sort of. Like she was… pulling on something?"
Yayake smiled. "Yes, that is correct. She was gathering aether and releasing it."
"Like making a snowball and throwing it!" Missy said.
"Not an incorrect depiction, especially with the first spells you will be practicing: Fire and Blizzard." Yayake stepped up to the line and drew her staff from her back. Black and purple energies gathered at the tip, before she unleashed a fireball on the target. Not long after, a blast of ice sprang forth and put out the fire.
"What you will be doing, that Mirage does not, will be gathering up a specific 'feeling' of aether." Yayake explained to Missy. "Now it's quite thin here still, so I don't expect you to get it on your first tr-"
I glanced over at Missy and so she was straining, the magic was beginning to form on her wand but it was different from what Yayake did. It was bubbling instead of smoking, and when she unleashed it there was no change. The bolt of energy hit the target dummy and exploded into purple rings, pushing it and all the dummies around it away from the impact point.
"Uh… sorry?" Missy shyly shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
Yayake rubbed her monocle and replaced it on her shocked face. "Well, I don't know what that was but it certainly was not Fire or Blizzard. We'll need to examine exactly what you were gathering to determine what you did. Mirage, we will need your help." I nodded dumbly. That was no spell I'd ever seen before.
And a part of me was looking forward to finding out if I could do it too.
+XIV+
The tools in your box
"So, how'd you get Image to alter your Machinist look?" Chris asked while arm deep in one of his hoverboard prototypes, looking for something.
I shrugged while going over my aether-converter, free of its glamour. "I think I made the point that carrying around a water jug and walking in flippers just looked incredibly stupid."
"Still a lot of merch, like those mammet things, that they have to get rid of." Chris pulled out a device and set it on his workbench. "Though maybe they can up the price on Summer Fun Mirage version 1!"
We both laughed and continued our work. It didn't take long for me to notice that he was focusing more on my bench than his. "Yes?"
"Um…. Can I… look at your crystal?"
I set down a wrench and focused on Chris. "Why?"
Chris looked down at the device on his bench, an anti-gravity generator I think. "I… maybe it can tell me something? Clear up this… mess in my head."
"Chris, you're a good Tinker."
"Yeah right. A Tinker with dyscalculia isn't a real Tinker."
"You can't blame yourself for how your brain works. And a Job Crystal, even if you could use it, isn't going to magically change that."
Chris clenched his fist and then slammed it onto the workbench, the generator tipping over onto its side. "I know that! But I just feel so… Useless! Nothing I make works right! Leet can build better than I can!"
I put a hand on his shoulder. "You just need to take it slow."
"I'll never be ready if I take it slow. Armsmaster's practically on my ass to have something to show him."
"Screw him." Chris looked at me in shock. "If he's not going to give you the time to grow at your own pace, then don't try to match his. You aren't Armsmaster, your're Kid Win." He looked away from me at the generator. "You may share some skills, but you don't share everything. Just like being a Machinist might make me a Tinker now, it doesn't mean I share everything you and he do."
"So you won't let me become a Machinist?"
I shook my head with a smile. "That's my toolbox. I'm willing to help with what I can, but you need to use every tool in your toolbox."
He looked over his bench. "The tools in my box? What do you mean?"
"What does Chris like to do that Armsmaster or Mirage don't?" He tilted his head in confusion. "When was the last time you did something for fun? No powers involved."
"Before I got powers." Oh. "Used to play with Legos a lot. Legos were easy." He chuckled. "You could build a blaster without having to worry about stuff like math all the time! Pieces just went where you wanted them and… fit… together…" Christ gained a very far off look, middle distance really.
"Chris?" I gently shook him out of his stupor and before I could do anything he jumped athis hoverboard, tearing it apart from the inside, then grabbed one of his prototype blasters and did the same to it. He put the pieces together and gazed in almost reverent awe at… whatever he made.
"That's it… Lego…" He turned to me with a giant smile on his face. "Can you get me some of those Ironworks notes from the shelf? I think I know what to do now!"
+XIV+
Inevitable Confrontation
My left hook impacted Sophia's jaw like a sledgehammer, sending my enemy-turned-friend spinning to the floor. I immediately followed up with a leg drop that only charitably would not be called a curb stomp, but she shifted into her shadow form and dropped through the floor.
"Okay, we're doing powers now." I snarked, pulling out my knives and immediately jumping into the shadows of the room, vanishing from all sight and sound.
Sophia reappeared and immediately shifted back to race to grab a staff from a rack on the side. "Come on Hebert, I've been waiting for a real fight with you for a while!" She held the pole behind and one hand out, ready to grab anything heading towards her.
"If you insist." My voice came from every part of the room. I leapt from my hiding place, running my hands through the mudras. "Katon!" I put my fingers to my mouth and spewed forth a stream of fire.
Sophia dodged to the side, swirling the staff, that was what I now noticed to be a shepherd's crook, from behind her to catch me with the hook piece. I dropped under the swing with a split, swiping at her ankles with my daggers. Sophia shifted into shadow again, so I did the mudras for Raiton and swung wide again and caught her with the bolts.
"Damn it!" Sophia dropped from shadow form and swung her crook about. She caught me by the wrist, spun on her heel, and sent me flying towards the other side of the room. I ran through my mudras as fast as I could to summon my Hellfrog… and hit the wall with a thud, the fluffy rabbit falling off my head as I did so.
"Shit." I didn't keep my focus, messed up the mudras.
Sophia walked over to me, crook over her shoulder, and held a hand out to me. I glared at it before grasping it and letting her pull me up. "Good fight."
"Thanks." We walked over to the bench and grabbed a couple of towels, I tossed one to her. "…I have to ask."
"Why I'm being so friendly?" I didn't actually dignify that with a response. We both knew this would come up eventually. "Because you proved me wrong."
"About what?"
Sophia wiped her brow and sighed. "I had this… thing about people. You were either strong enough to survive the bullshit the world dishes out, or you weren't. I put you in the latter category."
I sat down and took a drink of water. "What changed. I didn't exactly fight back in school."
"Pfft. Yeah, no. That wouldn't have done it. I would have called it fake and just upped everything." Sophia leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. "It was Echo. When she killed Leviathan, I started to realize that you were catching up to her. And if you, someone I thought less than shit,"
"Gee thanks."
"Could catch up with her." She continued as if I hadn't interrupted her. "Then what the hell was I doing wasting my time trying to keep pushing you down."
We stayed there for a while, in silence, thinking about our past actions with each other. "That's still not a healthy outlook." I said eventually.
Sophia shrugged, put her crook on the rack and waved goodbye as she headed for the showers. I waited for a time, idly sipping on my water. I had to wonder about when I started actually liking Sophia, given I knew a very real part of me wanted to actually kill her. Maybe when I saw that we weren't so different? We both valued strength, I just thought I was healthier about it.
My rabbit summon hopped into my lap and I started petting between its ears. "Life never gets any easier, does it little guy?" The rabbit purred and thumped against my leg in agreement. Or happiness at getting scritches. Either or. "Yeah, me too buddy. Me too."
Yes, I live! Turns out having, admittedly currently undiagnosed, medical PTSD does a hell of a lot of damage to one's ability to write. Not long after the last update here I tore my left knee apart, had a surgery to fix it, then dislocated my left shoulder and ended up in rehab for two weeks. I only started actually fully walking again in September. Been a rough year.
So I'm going to alternate between Role Quest and MSQ chapters… when I actually can write this. However! I do have a plan now, which is rather rare for me.
