The official unofficial SV female lead Isekai contest: Story Thread

BiopunkOtrera · May 21, 2018

[ ] Record of the Inherited Memory Girl's Efforts

"So because the memories tied to the skill cannot be easily separated from the skill itself, the skill sharing system will result in a slow degradation of sanity. We have done all the development we could from the skill uploads but this only resulted in reducing the loss in sanity. We need a full memory upload to compare with the skill uploads to complete the system. "

Petra nodded to the summary. She of course, already knew all of that, being on the developer team herself. Right now, the ethics approval was still posing an obstacle but team leader, Aldar, was confident he could convince the board.

The Knowledge Database, from a curated collection of facts and articles, was already old. Grafted onto the popular Status system, itself a development of the AR labeling project, the Database was a non-profit organization that had changed the world with their replacement of academic study. Being able to just dump knowledge into your head made studying easy, though not completely effortless. Fact checking had never been easier in history.

Skill Share, Petra's ambitious company, was to take the system to new heights. Instead of an encyclopedia of knowledge of all sorts, carefully handcrafted and tested, Skill Share would allow anyone to upload any skill, knowledge or even muscle memory, and allow anyone else to download it. For a small fee, of course. Unlike Database, Skill Share was not a naive do-gooder public works company. This would make them rich beyond their wildest dreams and improve the world!

If they could just solve the little problem of the system driving people insane, that is.

"Upload complete. "

Petra awoke to the nurse's voice. The upload process was not instant and even though a flat copy was fast, a human mind contained lots of information. Trying to read it all off someone's lifeforce meant you had to put them to sleep for the whole process.

She stretched and worked out the cricks in her neck. Oh, that felt good. She was stiff as a board.

Frankly, no matter what the ethics committee complained about mind autonomy, Petra was always of the opinion that having to lie down and sleep for two straight days was the worst part of being a volunteer.

Still, they had a full upload of her entire mind now, hopefully the project could be completed.

"How's everything?" she asked.

The nurse smiled and nodded, "all good! You're still healthy, lifeforce at 88%. You're pretty strong, aren't you?"

Petra smiled back, "yeah, I got power booster grafts specially for this. Ethics, you know, even though any healthy person could survive sleeping for two days easily. "

A trio of servant wisps ferried her office clothes from the closet and Petra changed out of the hospital gown.

The nurse waved her off, "well then, you're clear to go. I believe there's a cake with your name on it out there. "

"Back in the land of the living, I see," Aldar clapped her on the back, grinning broadly.

"Yes sir," Petra replied, concentrating on not spilling cake crumbs over the conference room's carpet. The wisps were already overworked, running around serving drinks and food as they were. The company wasn't turning a profit yet and couldn't afford too many luxuries.

"Good, good! You take the day off and rest, join us tomorrow and we can get down to filing off the last few contamination points," he laughed, "get you back to your team lead position and we'll be done in a few days, then it's testing and deployment!"

Petra nodded and smiled as the company leader went off into his fantasy land again. While visionary, Aldar had the tendency to be overly optimistic. Still, a few days work was what most of them had expected was left, the ethics committee approval had taken so long that all the prior groundwork was already complete. Steering her team lead to the seats put against the walls, she settled down to enjoy the party.

She just raised her forkful of cake to her mouth when the wall exploded.

Boom!

The explosion shocked the researchers in the room into stunned silence.

From the new entrance, caped men and women stormed into the room, projectile throwers and swordshields at the ready. One of them, the leader, even had a coherent radiation weapon. Oh what the heck, that was military equipment! Though it seemed there were no combat wisps.

"Everyone down! Obey us and you will not be harmed!" shouted a strong voice from the man in the center of the intruders. The man's force wing grafts flared intimidatingly, though combat flight harnesses were useless in an indoors hostage situation. Funny how Petra could know that objectively but the threat display still froze her into inaction.

With muffled screams and the occasional sob, the gathered researchers of Skill Share company slowly sank to the ground under the armed terrorists. A pair of gloved hands pushed her down next to Aldar.

"Your attempt to monopolize the collective skill of humanity will not be tolerated!" the man continued to shout, even as his captive audience was barely listening. "Since you have ignored our demands, we have no choice but to take things by force!"

What demands?! Petra knew nothing about that and she was the lead researcher!

She looked at Aldar, who just grimaced. "I thought it was a prank," he sighed.

Hey.

Petra sighed. No choice then? "I have developer access to the system," she spoke up, drawing the attention of the ranting terrorist leader. "If I give you a copy of the skill sharing system, will you leave peacefully?"

Aldar jerked under the arms of the terrorist behind him. She met his betrayed glare flatly.

"Oh! That's fast! Well then, give me a copy and I will keep my promise. None of you will be harmed and we will leave once our business is done," the man leered at her, "no tricks now, you'll be giving me a skill to show it works. "

Petra just nodded, "alright. I'm assuming you can't juggle, we have some test uploads for you to try. "

She concentrated and a virtual keyboard appeared in front of her. Logging into the AR system with her developer account, Petra took the last version of the skill sharing system, marked it complete and stable, hiding all the warnings and then sent the man a copy.

Confirming he received it, he grinned, "let's see, test download. "

He picked up two empty wine bottles from the buffet table and juggled them perfectly in the air. Well, juggling was small and easily integrated, and had the least mental contamination, part of why it was a test skill.

"Right then! Our goals are at hand! Put them against that wall! Davor, Carver! Let's get this done before Security gets here!"

Petra sank back down next to Aldar, who was still glaring at her. She winked at him, after verifying none of the terrorists were looking at her.

"What did you give him?" he whispered.

"Oh, I just took the last version and made it ignore safeties," she suppressed a smile, "they don't know anything about the problems the system has, these guys probably thought this party meant skill share was complete. Well, if they use it, serves them right. "

It wasn't everyday you got to hoist violent terrorists with their own petards. When they used the flawed skill sharing for themselves, the subtle flaws in the system would drive them all insane.

Poetic justice. The best kind.

Aldar's face went blank and she could see him repressing a smirk. His mouth did always twitch when he was trying not to laugh after all. Petra eyed her abandoned cake still sitting on the chair next to her. Oh well, at least she could sit back and enjoy the show. The three men guarding the research team looked at her skeptically when she picked up her fork, but she just smiled sheepishly at them.

"I'm hungry?" Petra offered. They sighed but gestured for her to go ahead.

She watched as Davor and Carver and the as yet unnamed leader of the terrorists open their AR windows and log in. They seemed to be inserting the skill sharing system into a pre-prepared framework. How nice of them to set up a macro to upload and download all their own skills. It would just drive them all insane right here and right now.

Her fork almost reached her mouth when she saw Davor log into the Database server.

Wait. He was a Database developer? Why log in to Database at all?

She knew those windows. Everyone on the skill share research team had to disconnect from Database updates to avoid changing their mental baselines when testing the skill share. None of them had tested skill share enough to actually go crazy beyond a few memories that weren't their own, but they weren't going to risk taking any more Knowledge downloads until they had the problem solved.

Then she saw him insert the prepared skill sharing macro, program and all, into the Database. Oh no.

"Wait, are you going to put skill share as a Database update?!" Petra shot up, feeling a creeping sense of panic crawling up her legs to nestle down in her gut.

"Ah, I knew you were an observant one," the leader turned to her, "indeed! Just like Knowledge Database, Skill Share should be the property of all humanity! Finally, we shall have a world where all people are equal in ability! Not a fascist monopoly like you were going to create!"

"Sir," Davor opened up a window.

Database Update v192.168.181.45 compiled, publish Public Update Y/N?

"No you blithering idiot!" Petra screamed and tried to take a step forward but the terrorist guarding her shoved her back roughly.

"Save your words! Those are just the dying screams of the defunct capitalist era! You have created the tools of your own demise, now watch as we create the new world!" the leader shouted over her and stabbed the Yes button with his finger.

There was a pause as a desperate whine crawled its way out of Petra's throat. Aldar seemed frozen by the rapid developments. Everyone else didn't know what she had just done.

There was a simultaneous chime from all the terrorists and an AR window popped up in front of each of them. The Database update flashed into operation before anyone could react. Then hundreds of skill upload and download bars appeared, that fool set it to share everything with everyone!

All the terrorists collapsed to the ground as the skill share macro went to work. Diligently uploading and sharing all the skills of everyone whose updates were automatic. Driving the vast majority of humanity insane. Including Davor, the only Database Administrator in the room.

Poetic justice, huh.

Petra stood up from where the falling terrorist had dragged her down. "Anyone happen to be an undercover Database Administrator?" she asked the research team, who were in varying states of shock.

There was no reply. Well, of course not.

"Anyone happen to have a Database Administrator on their contact list?" Petra asked again, "or know how we can contact them immediately? One of the devs' got to be off automatic updates, right? By the time a support message gets dealt with, it'll be the end of the world as we know it. "

A trembling hand went up further down the line, "I have a friend who says he knows an Administrator-"

"Then call him now!" she screamed at him.

The cheerful waiting tone rang through the silent conference room. No one picked up. His friend probably had Database on automatic update. Almost everyone did after all.

She stepped back to her seat, sinking feeling in her stomach growing faster and faster. The fallen forkful of cake squished under her shoe. She looked down and saw the cake still sitting innocently on the empty chair. And she still hadn't gotten to eat her cake.

And thus the world ended.

"Download complete. "

Petra jerked awake, feeling very very odd.

For one thing, her eyes were heavy, she was incredibly sleepy, and she felt as if she was being smothered by a heavy weight. And her body also felt awkward and uncoordinated.

And while questions arose together with a sinking dread, she was just so sleepy...

The first thought that occurred to her after Petra awoke properly was that the experiment had gone wrong.

What she should have seen was the roof of the medical room, a nurse to check on her, all the soft sounds of the company's offices.

What she actually saw was a wooden ceiling, no one in her field of view and only a faint twittering of birds in the distance. In fact, her head was heavy and she couldn't move her arms or legs beyond a spastic jerk.

Had she suffered brain damage from the upload process? That was vanishingly unlikely, the upload process was perfectly safe, being read only.

The opening of the door startled her and a wordless cry came out of Petra's mouth, almost involuntarily.

There was a sob and the person who opened the door rushed over to Petra, picked her up and started crying happily over her. "Alice, you're awake! You're safe! Thank the System!"

The woman who had picked up Petra was fair skinned with a long braid of green hair tossed over her shoulder. She wore a practical and undyed cotton dress, with soft texture that felt reassuring to Petra's skin. Younger than Petra when she had gone to sleep and with a sharpness to her face that had softened in sheer relief, the woman continued to babble without knowing that Petra was listening to every word in stunned silence.

It seemed that she had gone to sleep for a mind scan and woken up in the body of a year old baby.

Being a baby, she had trouble even lifting her head when lying down. She had to learn how to move her arms and legs all over again, like a trauma patient in rehabilitation. Talking was right out, the most Petra could manage was an uncoordinated babble.

What Petra had gleaned from her mother's daytime baby talk and carrying her around the house however was worrying. There was no sign of any of the devices Petra had recognized in the past, no air control, doorways left empty or the doors were manually operated, no appliances or servant wisps. Even the ever present AR labeling was missing. It was a confusing and strange world she had woken up to, with much fewer comforts than she had come to expect.

Petra still felt safe in her mother's arms. Even going so far as to call her 'mother' in her mind, something that felt innately obvious to her.

She expected to be shocked at the sudden change in the world, and the loss of all her friends and family, but none of it seemed to matter. 'Mother' was here and 'Father' came back at day's end and her parents fussed over her awakening, therefore loved her and thus all was right in the world. With a bone deep certainty that lulled her to sleep in her mother's arms long before dark.

It was a distracting few days before she realized that she really was a baby again, complete with the instincts of a baby and even the vague baby memories of her past few months that her baby self was not able to interpret before she had woken up with Petra's memories. And really, this confusion was because she thought those memories were her own. They were not, Alice did not think any of those memories were really her once she reviewed them; the goals and motivations of the woman she remembered were not her own. Not that Alice remembered having any goals or motivations beyond food and mummy before all this.

She was more Alice than Petra, even if Petra's memories and maturity were sharing her head.

Alice felt it was less of a shock than it should have been.

Those few days also prevented Alice from pulling up her AR system. Her parents had been worried about her, apparently Alice hadn't woken up for two days straight and now that she was awake, her mother carried Alice with her everywhere, even going so far as to sleep next to her.

While grateful that they so obviously cared about her, Alice didn't want to suddenly call up a very visible AR window when she couldn't even talk coherently enough to give verbal commands. Mother and Father did sometimes use the "Status" command to view their personal page, that Alice never got a good look at, but they didn't seem to use the mental interface.

Not that Alice could form words nor would normal parents believe a one year old baby could use the AR system.

In that time, Alice found that they were speaking the exact same language that Petra remembered, which was definitely not called Common in her inherited memories, and that the Status window itself was viewed as something akin to a blessing from a god called System. A very rare few babies would be touched early by a System window at one year old, without invoking the special "System Registration" blessing, and all of them went to sleep and never woke up.

Her parents had feared the same had happened to Alice but it seemed now that they had written it off as a strange disease coinciding with her birthday.

So it was a few days of constant fussing that Alice was happy to indulge in and yet impatient for it to end, before she managed to find the privacy when her mother finally ran out of energy and had a midday nap together with her.

Alice woke up first and rather than wake her mother, she opted to try opening the System.

Status. She tested the mental command but nothing happened. Hm, she wasn't registered?

System Registration, Name Alice.

The characteristic blue window of the System appeared in front of her, a simple hovering box.

She dutifully waited for the loading bar to fill, the window disappeared before Alice called up the Status page.

That was totally barebones. Self maintenance would allow her to convert lifeforce power to maintain her body condition, a basic civilian grade healing ability that mostly prevented you from dying so you could reach proper medical services. It also let you get away without food or water for two or three weeks before your power ran out. One did not generate lifeforce power when starving after all.

She had nothing more than the basic set, none of Petra's lifeforce power grafts nor any modules. Not even Database or Skill Share. Then again, lifeforce grafts were not part of System even if the AR system could detect them, needing specialized medical facilities to add to one's lifeforce. Alice was not Petra after all.

Strangely, Petra did not remember any such thing as a Skill Analysis. While such a function to label your own skills had to be present for their skill share to work, Petra definitely did not remember it being integrated into infrastructure as fundamental as Status was.

Sighing to herself, Alice sent a mental command. Logout.

A confirmation window appeared and she confirmed, her status window disappeared. Time to see if Petra's account was still active.

Log in, Account Name PetraZivoska91, Password *********

Using the mental interface to type was slow and terrible but the results of her effort was well worth it.

Right as the welcome page finished displaying, another box appeared on top of it.

She blinked at it for a moment before opening her personal details page. Status was Local and wouldn't have changed apart from her new messenger module, but account details was on the System network. The difference between the Local and System was well hidden but Petra, being a module developer, knew it all like the back of her hand.

That said, the fact that her log in had worked meant that those memories were very real.

Huh. So it was over three hundred years since Petra's last login and her account had not been archived. Judging by Petra's 115 years of age at her last memory before the upload process, that would put the current date at least over 2617. Petra also wasn't a System Administrator, a government access level that could change someone's System permissions, perform routing actions on the System's grid network and even commit updates and changes to the underlying software the System ran.

A module developer would only have access to an experimental System grid within their local offices to prevent crashes from affecting public utilities. Likely Petra was dead, there was no way an admin would get away without logging in for hundreds of years. And having a System Administrator account remain active even after death was a major security no-no, someone with administrator access had to have prevented the automatic archival.

Alice had a very bad feeling that something terrible had happened. Three hundred years would have made the world unrecognizable to Petra, and while this wooden house was unrecognizable in its lack of everything, that was not what Petra had imagined when she speculated about the far future.

She set Privacy Mode to ON and the windows faded into a mental construct that only Alice could see.

The Messenger module finished installation into her Local and another box popped up, Petra had evidently set a macro. This one was a long message.

Alice sat in her mother's arms stunned. Petra's memories had no indication that the end of the world was approaching. Even now, all her memories were ones of accomplishment, progress and optimism. And her newfound maturity wasn't any help in deciding what to do.

Alice was a one year old baby! Even if she could think clearly and had a century of memories in her head, that didn't mean she could just accept the old Petra's desire for her to... to do what? Improve the world?

Ah, this must be a bad dream of some sort. Petra had told her to live her life as she wanted. Fine! Alice would do just that. She might end up a very intelligent one year old, with some strange memories and System permissions, but Alice was just going to grow up like a normal kid and decide what to do later.

Mhm.

Alice rolled over deeper into her mother's embrace, wriggling her cloth pajamas into a more comfortable position. Time to sleep.

Growing up in a peasant farmer's household was far harsher than any of Petra's experiences, but Alice decided to take life as it came. After all, her mother, father, two older brothers and one younger sister, all of them were her family. They had enough to eat, even if bland and unvaried compared to Petra's food. Potatoes, root vegetables and chicken was their feed.

Alicia, her mother, was weather beaten with age and work and her body showed signs of her four pregnancies. Still, one could see in her fair skin and decent figure that Alicia had been relatively pretty when she was younger. It gave Alice a bit of hope of her own appearances, which were similar to her mother's. Long dark hair and expressive black eyes were the family traits. Nothing like Petra's dazzling raw perfection of lifeforce modification though.

Her mother was stern and occasionally snapped at them irritably, but Alice could tell that the harsh realities of their life was wearing on her mother. None of the outbursts were truly angry and Alice always made sure to hug her mother whenever that happened. It never failed to melt the steely mask her mother put on outside of their home.

There was apparently a custom that the oldest daughter would inherit a shorter variant of their mother's name, until there was no possible contraction, upon which a new long name would be picked. So Alice's first daughter would be Ari and her granddaughter would have something new, preferably not starting with 'A'. The same applied to the first son and the father.

Denka, her father, was wiry and not much taller than her mother. But his body concealed a strength and stamina forged through countless hours of fieldwork and hunting. He shared her mother's black eyes but his hair was more a dark brown than black. Quiet and not outspoken, her father was still knowledgeable about the forest and land, paying great attention to his farming and hunting in order to feed the family. Yet, if any of the family were truly threatened, Denka would show his seething anger and deal with the threat coldly and ruthlessly.

Alice still remembered crying for hours after seeing her father use his hoe to grind to a fine paste a poisonous snake that had almost bit her. The cold fury on her father's face was not something she would ever forget and she had to comfort him in slow lisping words afterwards. The sadness in his eyes was heartbreaking for the short time when he thought he had frightened Alice. She lied that it was not her father's face that had shook her, just the snake.

Her elder brothers, Den and Erias, were almost clones of their father. The same pointed nose, slightly short stature, only their black hair was at all like mother. Both of them were hardworking, like father, though Erias was more adventurous and dreamed of leaving the village one day. Den however, wanted him to stay and help on the farm, dreaming of an extended family like the bigger households nearer the center of the village.

Alice's younger sister, Rishiamaher, was clearly the subject of high hopes from her mother, what with the absurdly long name to cut down through the generations; the family nicknamed her Ri. The mischievous little monkey was fast and she dodged all of Alice's attempts to rein her in, her feet were fast and sure and Ri had never tripped a single time in her life. Only a year younger, with golden-brown hair and fair features, Ri was also set to be the most beautiful girl in the village of her generation.

They had no cousins and only Den remembered their grandparents. Denka's brothers and sisters had all left the village, leaving Denka the farm.

Alice loved them all, and ignored the way her father and mother sighed at Ri when her sister wasn't looking. Her parents treated Ri and Alice fairly and equally. Unless a problem appeared, Alice would do the same too.

Still, Alice kept her memories a secret. Alice wasn't sure if her family would treat her differently if she told them, and she was already considered a weirdly intelligent child as she was unable to act her age. While childish amusements did distract her easily, Alice quickly grew bored of non-physical games she learnt too easily. Some day, Alice would find the courage to tell her parents, when she could trust them more.

On her third birthday, Alice was taken to the governor's building and the man in charge of the entire village had recited the same guest registration process and activated skill analysis for her account. Alice was deathly afraid her secret memories were about to be exposed but he didn't even look at her AR display. Nothing strange appeared on her Status however, only the lone Common Language line was shown.

She quickly swapped back to Petra's account though, after changing all the personal details to match Alice's. At the same time, the redundant language blessing was given and Alice decided to no longer conceal her adult like vocabulary.

This drew a little suspicion but it was eventually written off that her language developed faster than others. Children took time to integrate the language blessing from the System and while most were completely fluent by five years, Alice's sudden development of language mastery in a week stood out.

Alice dutifully kept her mouth shut about the truth about the language blessing. Whoever it was that had made a language skill a default download for all accounts, it wasn't Petra, judging by the contents of her letter.

The results of the Skill Analysis was also surprising. She had nothing at all, despite having all of Petra's memories. Querying the System using Petra's access, she found out that Petra had adjusted Skill Analysis to ignore any memories gained from downloading Petra.

So it was with some relief that Alice got through her third birthday without raising too many questions.

Helping out on her parents' farming efforts, Alice could only peel and wash vegetables or grain. After all, no matter how mature she was, Alice was just a five year old.

Their village was a small one with only three hundred population. Growing food and hunting wildlife were the main activities, even if the grain tax to the governor took half of all the produce. But the villagers could do nothing about that.

The village was in the domain of the Elemental Empire, itself composed of four magical clans that each manipulated one of the four elements, Fire, Air, Earth and Water. The governor of Alice's village, Lochar, was an offshoot of a branch family of the Divine Fire Clan, essentially a nobody. A third son of an unimportant family, whose only prospect was to be consigned to squeeze taxes from a small village, protecting it from monsters and keeping the peasants in line.

He and his daughter could shoot fireballs from their hands. Upon arrival, Lochar had demanded all the virgin women in the village line up in front of him and chose the prettiest one to be his bride. Mindful of potential inheritance disputes, the governor had not ordered any others to his bed, much to the relief of everyone else.

No matter how much the villagers resented this state of affairs, what could they do against someone who could easily burn the whole village down if he felt like it one day? His wife's brother had objected to her forced marriage by attempting to poison the governor and had been made an example of.

No one else said a peep as the man was sold off as a criminal slave.

That said, Lochar was not stupid or lazy. He had ended the dispute between two of the older farming families by force, rallied a tiny militia to beat back encroaching monsters and used his powers to clear swathes of forest by fire. Abusing his absolute power, the governor conscripted sons and daughters into reclaiming the cleared forest land and even tried to start a pottery work with clay from the river.

Underneath his fiery boot, Lochar had quashed all the petty squabbles by uniting the village with the threat of force. Within this tiny pond, Lochar was king. Of course, the governor had did that to improve tax yields and thus his position in the clans but the villagers did receive some trickle down benefits. By the time Alice was born, in the same year as Lochar's daughter, all thought of rebellion had ended and the villagers had adjusted to living under his firm yoke.

All of this wasn't an unusual state of affairs in the Elemental Empire, as the governor's speeches to the children said. The Clans were familial in structure, their magical abilities were all dynastic, and each family had a network of relatives to call upon in case they needed extra firepower. On top of clearing monsters and ruling by force, their magical abilities were also indispensable. Fire was used to clear land, metalworking and as the strongest element for military use. Water could adjust water supplies and control floods. Earth was suitable for terraforming and mining. Air could predict and influence weather, as well as control rainfall in conjunction with Water.

If a village had a clan family attached, the governor would use their abilities as well as trade favours with the other three clans. Together with the familial hierarchy and the discipline expected of clan members, they often caused their territories to develop rapidly. At the cost of a tyrannical government that viewed the no-ability villagers as nothing more than raw labour force.

Of course, Petra's memories spoke of the real truth. Humans didn't normally have magical abilities like that. Alice recognized those as variants on a certain class of lifeforce grafts. Those with that series could expand their lifeforce boundary outside their skin, and with lifeforce to power the active abilities, create changes in the environment within that expanded boundary. Originally experimented on animals to create self-replicating cannon fodder for war, some of Petra's memories aligned roughly with what Alice heard of monsters, the same innovations had been applied to humans.

Those artificial soldiers with extensive combat mods eventually became known as Alva, created as a black project by a military scientist. What to do with clone soldiers who could demolish whole city blocks with enough lifeforce power, or with many in concert and an external power tap could unleash destruction on the scale of strategic weapons, was a thorny question not yet solved by the time Petra's memories ended.

It appeared that some of those had not been drive insane by the faulty Skill Share. And of course, Alva would have no trouble surviving hordes of zombies. Likely they would have been able to shelter some normal humans too and with their power, would naturally float to the top in the post-collapse society where military strength would rule.

Alice sighed mentally and closed the window. Accessing the account activity logs in the system, even when out of date by a year for AR nodes on the other side of the planet, had revealed that no Administrators or Supervisors had logged in within the last two hundred years.

She would have started studying the lifeforce modification notes that Petra wrote but her fifth year was full of chores. Much more than usual. She couldn't find the time or energy after the work was done to test the manual rune writing used before rise of magical technology in Petra's history.

Alice dumped the basket of wheat chaff she had painstakingly picked out of the harvested brans. Petra's memories of what farms were like pre-collapsed only told of large magical devices that automatically harvested, sorted and even milled the wheat. Obviously, Alice had no ability to reproduce any of that, Petra didn't even know how they worked.

She bent down and swept into her basket a another load of fallen chaff her mother had fanned to the floor with a wooden rod. She had to pick out the small amounts of wheat from the chaff.

Normally, chaff was separated from the wheat by blowing air over the harvest with a fan. Chaff would fly further than wheat and the fallen wheat that fell nearby could be collected. With multiple rounds, most of the chaff would be blown away. Inevitably, this also blew away some wheat with the chaff but retrieving those was deemed to be not worth the labour to retrieve manually.

Not this harvest. Every child too young to work in the fields was pressed into this task during the harvest sorting.

"Mama," Alice looked up at her mother, seeing the lines of exhaustion on her mother's face.

"Yes Alice?" her mother continued to fan the wheat.

"Why are we doing this, mama?"

Her elder brothers paused and looked conflicted but resumed their fanning work when her mother glared at them.

Her mother sighed deeply, "the first time this happened was when you were born. That was a difficult year. Harvests were falling, just like now, and Lochar demanded the same improvement in yield. At the time, no one knew what was going on and some youths were even discussing trying to attack the governor. "

The wheat yields had been falling as Alice was growing up too, Petra's memories indicated that the continuous planting of wheat every year was exhausting the land, but in the village meeting before the wheat planting, Lochar had given instructions to the entire village that the harvest was to be increased by a third. Yields were to be made up by expanding the farm area. Hunting and gathering activity was to be at a minimum until after harvest, whereupon every able bodied adult would strip the land around them clean.

Alice had wondered at the unused farmland all around the village that was much larger than the adults could normally plow and plant. Supposedly, that area had been cleared of forest by Lochar after he arrived.

"We knew, from stories of other villages, that Lochar's demand to plant wheat all the time for tax was going to result in this situation. And yet, there was nothing we could do to him. That year, a branch of the Divine Earth clan sent thirty Fingers and one Palm to consecrate our village. The huge harvest we sweated and bled for was taken away by them," her mother sighed again, "they came, we threw large feasts every day, forced to wait on them. The sorcerers set up a huge ceremony in the middle of the village, did their magic that none could see, took as much as they could and left. In the end, we were left with nothing for our efforts. But what could we do? Lochar was bad enough, but he's just a Finger of Fire. The Palm of Earth could destroy our village with a wave of a hand. "

She continued, "the next year, the wheat yields were twice what they were before Lochar arrived. That is what the Consecration cycle is, as explained by our governor. Every five years, when our land grows poor, we have to make an extraordinary effort to pay the Divine Earth clan to restore the land. Then we plant wheat every year until the land is exhausted again. "

Hm. Wouldn't that mean that her family was going to eat poorly for the rest of the year? Alice did think that her food had reduced a little, so it wasn't just her imagination! And more importantly, she wasn't going to get the time to herself to 'play'. Alice did want to start testing the ancient runic script that Petra had made notes on.

"So there's no chance I'm going to get any time to play for the rest of the month?" Alice asked.

"I'm afraid not, dear. "

The grueling month of work came to an end two days before the Earth clan arrived in their village. Their harvest was collected, the wheat, fruits and meat stockpiled in their barns. The village was overflowing with the collected food, with earthenware pots of pickles, bread and fairer delicacies stacking high in their houses.

The day the Earth clan arrived, Lochar had the entire village, down to the last newborn baby, turn out along the road that afternoon to welcome them in.

"Ri!"

The excited shout turned heads but Toli's gang of boys paid no attention. Alice grinned at them as her sister paled and hid behind her back.

"Toli, Jo and Bachi, aren't you supposed to be with your parents?" Alice asked innocently.

The three boys were dressed in the local best clothing, which was still terrible by Petra's standards, all the festival bead decorations hanging off their caps in a jingling mess. In contrast, Alice and Ri had their beads woven into their braided hair by their mother earlier today.

"Hey, Alice," Toli grinned back, peeking around her shoulder. Ri shuffled around her, keeping Alice between them. Without looking, Alice already knew her sister's face was totally red.

That childish crush was so adorable!

She would have fun teasing her sister into a puddle of embarrassment once this hell of work was ended. Toli, in his dense insensitive way, just thought it was funny how Ri acted so differently in front of him.

"Hey. " "Hi!" Jo and Bachi greeted her as well. Alice nodded back at them.

"Don't think I didn't notice you're dodging the question," Alice said smugly.

Toli ended his game of chasing her sister and looked sheepish, "well, every time I see them, we get told to do something. There's just no time to play any more! I wish the Earth people didn't have to come. "

She frowned and looked back at her parents but they were distracted with talking to old man Tas, a neighbour.

"Shh, you don't want Lochar to get angry with you," Alice hissed. Inwardly, she was glad none of the adults had noticed Toli's words. He would surely get scolded.

"Eh, you can't scare me with that, Lochar doesn't care about us," he waved a hand dismissively, grinning at his friends. It was something of a childish game, to show that one wasn't afraid of even the governor. A way to reinforce social status, Petra's ghost whispered in Alice's ear.

"Anyway-"

Alice's words were cut off with a shout from the front of the lines. The crowd lining the dirt road stirred and everyone looked to the village entrance. Out of the corner of her eye, Alice saw Lochar and his daughter position themselves in the middle of the open space at the center of the village. Right in front of the rows of tables and chairs laid out by the villagers last night.

The Earth sorcerers had arrived.

The travelling group contained more than fifty people, but the brown robes of the Earth sorcerers were obvious. There was also the way that none of them held any baggage, leaving it up to their white robed servants to struggle with the horses and masses of empty carts.

Lochar greeted the leader of the group of Earth sorcerers with a deep bow. A hand wave into a fist sent out a serpent of fire as thick as his arm to drip angry flaming droplets onto the dirt ground of the village center. His daughter beside him, golden curls bouncing, did the same hand wave but all that happened was a small gout of flame shooting out from her fist.

The two Palms of Earth, marked by their greater ornamentation of iron and gold, brought their hands together with a clap that was echoed immediately by their entourage of Fingers. In an practiced motion, they all stamped their feet at the same time. There was a huge deep noise and the ground vibrated beneath their feet, as if someone had hit the ground like a drum.

They bowed back to Lochar, but distinctly shallower.

Having proved their identities, Lochar guided the Earth sorcerers to the tables and barked at the villagers to set out the feast they had prepared.

Alice carried a small basket of bread, standing around as rehearsed for any of the thirty or so sorcerers to fill their plates with. Lochar sat at the head of the table, with the two Palms of Earth sitting on either side. Despite his position, it was clear the two of them were the superior in this meeting and they only let him sit there because he was the host.

Ri stood beside Alice, holding another basket of forest fruit. Her sister watched the feast with envious eyes and Alice had to nudge her occasionally to get her to keep up.

"More bread!" called one of the Fingers of Earth close to them. In the setting sun, their faces all blurred together and the way they treated the villagers as if they were just made of air did not help Alice in remembering who they were.

Alice stepped forward to place a hard loaf in front of the man. He snatched it up and bit into it without even looking at her.

As she moved back to her position in the line, Ri sighed beside her. "I wish we had something to eat too," she whispered.

There was nothing she could say to her sister. They watched the raucous feasting in front of them silently.

"Gah!"

The shout behind them was not early enough for Alice to dodge. The boy carrying the flagon of mead tripped into her and they went down messily. Wine and bread flew everywhere, drenching Alice's clothes with the yellow liquid and the smell of alcohol. Ri bounced away from her, ignoring the hit on her shoulder with nothing more than skip back, not even dropping a single piece of bread from her basket.

The catastrophe attracted the attention of the feasters as the sorcerers all stared at them. Alice could only look up at them in terror, the boy next to her sniffled in a vain attempt to stop his panicked tears.

No. They were not looking at Alice, all their eyes were focused on her sister. Who met their looks with a confused and worried frown.

"Lochar, who is this girl?" asked the female Palm of Earth mildly. Despite her gentle tone, the words made Alice shiver. They were like a hidden knife, a hair away from unleashing death and destruction.

"Lady Erina, that is Rishiamaher, second daughter of Alicia. The one on the ground is Alice," Lochar answered.

"And her father?"

"That would be Denka. One of the farmers. He owns a plot-"

"He's not her father," snapped the woman.

"Did Alicia serve at the last Consecration?" asked the male Palm of Earth on Lochar's other side.

Lochar didn't answer. Instead the three of them just stared at Ri. Similarly, all Alice could do was watch.

A few seconds of uncomfortable scrutiny let their parents rush up behind them. Alice brushed pieces of bread back into the basket as her father checked her for injuries. Ri seemed frozen to her spot.

"Alicia, who was it, five years ago?" Lochar asked her mother.

"That was Broma," she replied with a hurried bow.

The two Palms shook their head. The woman, Erina, spoke up, "no. He's Palm now. And the nephew of the Eighth Valley branch head. You would have thought he would be more careful but I suppose rumours have to come from somewhere. We can't take her. The scandal would make us all enemies of him. "

Another silence.

"What do you intend to do?" Lochar asked them, no doubt the same question running through Alice's parents' minds. Though Ri was still completely confused as to what was going on, Alice already had a hunch and judging from her parent's reaction, it was correct.

The woman shrugged, "we can't train her. Keep her away from Consecrations, don't let her have children. Untrained, nothing will happen. If something does happen, it won't start with me. I'm not going to risk that sort of attention. "

It was with great relief when Lochar let her family be excused from the rest of the feasting duty.

Her parents hurried them back to their home with haste, both to wash Alice's clothing and to avoid further attention. All the way, Ri was still stunned at the strange happenings, and mother and father were in no rush to explain.

Ri was going to be insufferable when Alice told her she had magic. Not until the Earth clan had left though.

The Consecration ceremony lasted from dawn to midday.

The two Palms sat in the center, backs to each other, with the Fingers sitting in two rings around them. Occupying the center of the village, everyone had once again turned up to watch them, all work in the fields and travel into the forest beyond was prohibited by order of the governor.

It was boring. Really really boring. All they did was sit there.

According to her mother, the first time was the same. According to what Petra knew of how lifeforce grafts worked, each of the sorcerers had to be expanding the boundaries of a huge magical effect outwards over the land. That covering such a large area was not how grafts were supposed to be used was understating matters. It was inefficient and would consume lifeforce power just to expand that influence. It was almost always easier to travel there yourself, throw the results of your magic or even move the whole effect itself, rather than cast at a massive distance.

The fact that the thirty Fingers were sharing their power with the two Palms was the only reason why the Consecration could work at all.

If Alice had a Sensor class graft, something that was clearly part of their set, she would be able to see the boundaries they had set up. If she had an Analysis class graft, she might even be able to take snapshots of the rune base describing the effect they were using. Since they had so kindly included her in the boundary, it would be trivial to intercept whatever they were doing.

Having none of them, she saw and felt nothing at all.

Beside her, Ri gaped down at the ground, seeing things that no one else could. If the feast last night hadn't convinced Alice, this would. She clearly had a sensor graft as part of the whole Earth sorcerer package.

At midday, the Earth clan sorcerers were done. Most of the Fingers just sat there, groaning with exhaustion. Alice had discreetly used her Administrator powers to observe their Status pages.

Most of them had lifeforce power in the single digit percent or actually at zero. Having zero lifeforce power remaining would shut down the self maintenance graft that everyone had, which explained why they were so exhausted. Not a healthy state to remain in for a long time but without further drain, they would recover quickly. Switching to quantified view showed most of them had maximums of hundreds of units, according to Petra's memories, magical devices could demolish a sturdy stone building on a budget of four or five hundred.

The Palms, however, were at eighty percent and a maximum of about a thousand units. None of Petra's memories had indicated that anyone in the pre-collapse society had that much power. How they managed to get that much lifeforce storage and power generation, Petra had no answer for. Plus, they were the leaders of that magical effect, how did they avoid spending most of their lifeforce on this? Not every question could be answered by consulting Alice's inherited memory, however.

That said, from what Petra's memories contained of the Earth strain Alvas, the Consecration had likely just adjusted the contents of the soil. Conjuration of matter at its most wasteful. That sort of magical adjustment of soil makeup was only used in the most exacting of requirements, like the attempts to recreate wine from a specific year. Physical fertilizers were just easier and more efficient. A few quick words with her sister had confirmed that no magical effects remained on the fields.

Alice's family was excluded from the feast but obviously not the tax.

"What was that? The sorcerers were doing something to the ground!" Ri's excitement had been clearly suppressed through the day and now exploded as the family sat around their much poorer meal.

Her brothers looked at their parents curiously, but Alice's mother just sighed and buried her face in father's shoulder.

No matter how young she was, even Ri could tell the mood was unpleasant. At their parents' continued silence, she grew quiet and worried.

Alice had more on her mind than possible indiscretions in the past. Petra knew, vaguely, that farms needed fertilizer, especially with the monocropping their governor was forcing them to do. Added to the massive payment for Consecration, the lowered yield meant that everyone had to exhaust themselves farming far more land than they normally could do.

Petra's memories did not include how to make fertilizers, especially since the pre-collapse society had chemical fertilizers that were specially made in factories. But of course, they just had to take the soil from somewhere that wasn't using it. The forest surrounding their village except in the southwest had soil that did not suffer depletion. If they just took the soil from the forest, they could maintain high yields and work far less to pay for the Earth sorcerers to come Consecrate the forest.

And since the forest was much bigger than the village's farmland, they could take a bit from everywhere, Petra's memories indicated that soil would recover over time. Then the Consecration could probably be shorter or rotate between sections of forest, so they wouldn't need so many Earth sorcerers.

So maybe this was what Petra had meant by improving the world? For once, Alice agreed. If her inherited knowledge could help her family, then why was she ignoring it?

Why was she afraid her parents would treat her differently? Her sister was the result of that Earth sorcerer Broma in the last Consecration, her mother wouldn't be in any position to refuse. But in all four years, her parents had never treated Alice and Ri differently, even her father who wasn't her sister's father.

"Mother, Father," Alice spoke up, drawing her family's attention, "I have something I need to tell you. "

BiopunkOtrera · May 21, 2018

[ ] Lonely Dreams
Genre: Fantasy/adventure

"Hey. Hey, kid, you need to wake up."

The tip of a boot nudged her ribs in time with the words, and Mae had no choice but to wake up and smell the variety of bodily secretions that gave the subway such a welcoming charm. Combined with the burn of not nearly enough industrial cleaner it was as unmistakeable as the security guard's blend of sweat, cheap aftershave, and cheaper booze.

Not that she had any room to throw stones on that front. Two days since she'd last found an unattended public bathroom and all. Yet where she could forgive him for being a sweaty sack of lard and waking her up, Mae had far stronger feelings about the pity in his voice. In his eyes.

"I'm sorry kid. I have to clear you out of here. Do, do you want to come to the security office? There's tea, and-"

"Tea alone with a strange man, sounds great, not creepy at all." Mae ignored his denials, focusing on bundling up her things and getting away before he decided to call someone nosy and well-meaning.

She was pretty sure she was too old for any more foster homes and orphanages, but between a small build and her endless damned hunger she didn't exactly look it. The last thing she needed was the guard deciding she could be his good deed for the day and making the usual half-hearted attempt at saving her from the streets.

It wasn't her problem if he felt bad looking at her. Not as long as she didn't let him make it her problem.

So she shrugged on both of her spare coats, stuffed the ratty old blanket between her shirts and slung the meagre weight of her bag up onto her shoulder. Already walking for the exit before he'd finished assuring the world at large that he wasn't a predator and he'd only been trying to be nice, not planning to add her to his collection of dismembered women.

If she took a little satisfaction at the way his vague kindness had turned into indignation at her lack of gratitude? Well that was just proof of what she'd known for years.

"People are..." Mae trailed off, losing her vicious grin to a wave of frustration and misery as she rounded the last bend on the way out and saw a wall of water pounding the street above. The noise had been hidden by the busted sounding ventilation, and she cursed it even more than she had when she was trying to fall asleep the night before. If she'd known the weather had turned then she'd have taken Greasy McGuilty up on his offer of a hot drink and all the condescension she could stomach.

Hell, she might have been able to wheedle an umbrella out of the guy. She'd definitely have been able to charge her phone, and running out of battery was the whole reason she was being caught off guard by something as predictable as rain in a city with free (or poorly protected) wifi on every block.

All of it traced back to the bitchy new manager at Bits and Beans who had refused to let her just buy a coffee without any of their 'optional' toppings. Stranding her on the wrong side of the city to charge her phone, all because that cow hadn't wanting her sitting inside with all her precious customers.

Hesitating now, just a few steps from the waterfall that the clouds had seen fit to arrange for the sake of her misery, Mae was far too seasoned to reach for where she kept her money but that didn't stop her counting it. One bill and a handful of coins wasn't enough of a bounty for her to forget it.

It also wasn't enough to risk spending it on anything but food. She'd have to walk to the nearest spot, a library whose day staff would let her sit for a few hours so long as she didn't push her luck. She'd have to walk in the pouring rain, instead of taking shelter, or else risk wandering around without any information source but her own eyes. Not an option after the bridges she'd burned in the last few years.

At a sound of movement from behind her, Mae knew her time was up. Stepping out into the rain before the guard could throw her out was a small victory but with how quickly the rain began to soak through her layers Mae doubted she was going to have any more of them any time soon.

Good thing she'd gotten so much experience making small pleasures tide her over for a long time.

Beneath the din of the rainfall, her stomach was growling its familiar complaints. The usual low rumble that had earned her dirty looks and punishments and eventually medical check-ups back when she'd been in the system. Though she couldn't be certain any more, she definitely hadn't had a parasite of any kind back then, so Mae had no idea why she was always at least a little hungry. Instead she had a lifetime's experience in ignoring hunger pangs and a solid grasp of how long she could go without eating.

If she sat around and did nothing but beg all day, then she would probably be fine with just her earnings for the day. The supermarket a few streets away would let her squeeze more out of the money than the usual fast food, one of the few advantages to being out on the edges of the city.

If she spent the day walking, circling around the dangers of downtown, then begging wasn't even an option. Her other source of funds was too risky without a good crowd to hide in. Meaning she'd have to spend her reserve and she'd still be going to sleep hungrier than she had the night before.

Shoulders hunched and already shivering, she considered stopping. Maybe trying to build up cash over a few days. Or she could try to stretch the journey out over a few days.

Mae snorted and kept walking, shoulders hunched in against the cold. She might not have many friends, or any friends, but she still had enough ears out and about to know where she needed to not be on any given day. Losing access to that information could do worse than leave her hungry.

Then again, she might get unlucky and stumble across the wrong person on her way across town. The right call from the wrong person and she might as well throw herself out into traffic, no matter where she was at the time.

It was all, to borrow a phrase from one of her foster parents, a calculated risk.

Which was what gave her the idea.

It was too early for regular buses, but she got lucky with one just a few minutes after her brain wave, and parted with all but a few coins out of her stash to spend twenty minutes huddled in a seat surrounded by people coming to and from their shitty jobs and feeling sorry for themselves. Hopefully she gave them a glimpse of how much worse it could be. A flash of inspiration for the ungrateful shits.

Mostly she spent the journey alternating between trying to hide in her seat and staring at each and every person who got on the bus after she had. Each stranger reduced the ball of tension sitting in her gut just a little, and yet it kept growing as the buildings got steadily newer and the streets significantly busier despite the combination of awful weather and early morning.

When she finally got off the bus Mae had her hood drawn up as high as it would go, and her eyes couldn't rest on one spot for more than an instant. Appropriate behaviour given she was in the one part of the city she hadn't just been asked to stay clear of by implication, but clearly told to keep out of.

The consequences if she was caught had none of the slight ambiguity that a chance encounter might have had going for it.

She reminded herself that ambiguity almost certainly wouldn't have saved her, and headed for the busiest street she could find. Busy enough that even a girl dressed in rags and stinking of stale sweat wouldn't have any personal space. All the better to get herself the bus fare she needed and get back to the relative safety of the outskirts.

She rubbed her hands together to fight off the chill that might slow her fingers, and thought warm thoughts about the library she would hopefully be waiting out the rain in. Quickly spotting a juicy looking target in the flow of the crowd, Mae's thoughts jumped all the way to the luxury of a hot breakfast as she manoeuvred herself for the pass.

Normally, with better hygiene on her side, Mae would have simply bumped into the yuppy, muttered an apology, and been free and clear before he finished his phone call and realised he was missing the contents of his jacket pockets.

Once, with much better hygiene and clothes that didn't look as well worn as they were, she might even have tried to distract him with something gentler than a collision. However beauty was as much about effort as the base materials, and coming from beneath hair gone stringy with grime any smile she might muster would do the opposite of putting him off his guard.

So instead of all that, she kept her eyes on the ground as he came closer and picked just the right moment to tangle one of her feet with the woman behind her. Tripping the older lady and setting off a short line of dominoes that went from the lady, to her, to the suit. Though the press of the crowded street kept them all on their feet, that was no comfort to the man who found himself playing one piece of bread in a hobo sandwich.

She expected the shove, but not the one from behind, and a faceful of dirty puddle was her reward. That and the wallet and keys she shoved into the depths of her clothes instead of protecting her face from the fall.

Pain and cold and something slimy on her cheek all went ignored. If she'd chipped another of her teeth then she'd live, but a lift gone wrong would draw exactly the attention she wanted to avoid.

Lucky for her, she looked up to find the guy she'd robbed giving the woman she'd tripped an earful of abuse and getting just as bad back in turn. Neither spared her more than a glance, which was...well it had never quite lost the sting, but a fat wallet was a hell of an emotional anaesthetic. She'd live.

Only, as she pulled herself to her feet before anyone remembered their conscience and made her life difficult, Mae found reason to doubt that declaration.

It came in a stranger's face, from eyes she'd never seen before.

Eyes wide with recognition.

Not knowing who he was meant nothing. Street crime was a high turnover business, and she knew it better than most. What mattered was that her face was known and it had just been seen.

Any thoughts of conserving energy were abandoned with the arguing pair and the man suddenly yelling at her to stop. There were absolutely no thoughts of doing as he asked. Dashing out into traffic was a much safer bet.

Mae left a trail of horns in her wake as she crossed the road, sprinting for the nearest break in the buildings and running down the alley as fast as her legs would carry her.

Either her pursuer had braved the cars or he'd had a friend across the street, because she could already feel someone close behind her. Hands grasping for her bag and catching the trailing strap with a jerk that might have taken her off her feet if she hadn't let go of it.

It had been empty but for some clothes and a toothbrush that even she'd been intending to replace. Mae left it behind without a second thought.

She was far too busy remembering the last time she'd been caught to have any room for even a first thought. Then she burst from the dimness of the alley and saw a shape close ahead, looming in the rain.

It might have been a random person, or another conveniently positioned 'friend'. The risk was enough for her to throw herself past them and keep running without ever seeing a much larger shape that was coming down the street.

The horn was the last thing she heard.

And pain was the last thing she felt.

*****

It was warm, and familiar. She knew the dream well.

How could she not? She'd been dreaming it all her life. It was only dream she'd ever had.

Other kids had described abstract nonsense, or told her about dreams all about doing things. Then she left the system behind and it was her forays into the internet that told her how dreams were supposed to be.

Knowledge had never changed her reality however. In spite of what was supposed to happen, Mae had kept on dreaming her dream.

A dream of a place. A great hall, stretching out of sight in every direction. Majestic and still. It was a place of rest and peace.

A place that changed.

Sometimes the pillars that supported a distant roof were trees, or roots, and the floor was a soft carpet of wildflowers like a storybook meadow. Sometimes it was towering marble that held the roof above her, and she lay on a floor of cushioned velvet.

Materials changed between blinks sometimes, or lingered for months and years. There was no pattern that she'd been able to find.

The only constants were her inability to move, or speak, or do anything but lay in comfort and stare in whatever direction she chose to.

Somehow it had never bothered her.

When she was awake it was hard to understand how she wasn't losing her mind each night. Yet in the moment what should have been torment became undeniable comfort.

She was safe and at ease and it was simple enough to fight off any traces of boredom if she cast her gaze to the shadows that danced around her.

No matter the decorations, she had never seen a light source anywhere in her dream. Yet there was light, and there were shadows. Cast by nothing at all, they were easy enough to ignore when she wished to, and when she longed for diversion they would answer.

There was no form they could not take. Like a film made with just two colours, they had never failed to entertain her. Sometimes even spelling out words to let her read in the same unbroken silence.

It was familiar.

The agony was not.

Mae arched a back that would not move, and screamed without making a sound. She wanted, needed, to move, to vent the pain of her broken body in any way she could. Her mouth would not open and her tongue would not move, but she could still breathe and she blasted the air from her lungs as if she could expel the pain with that alone.

It did nothing to numb her suffering, but it got the shadows' attention.

The sight of them surging towards her marked the first time Mae had ever looked at them as anything but friends. Though her apprehension vanished just as quickly, buried by a pool of contentment that spread across her skin and began to seep inside her-

The cough split the air with a noise that somehow managed to be more chiming bells than dying cat, and the spell was shattered.

Mae screamed, and shook, and she would have curled into a ball if a single one of her limbs had been willing to obey her instead of sending hot spikes of agony pulsing through her nerves.

She was broken. Broken and bleeding enough to feel the heat of her blood pooling beneath her. All the while the shadows around her surged and roiled and finally erupted and exploded with light.

Light became water, and where a shadow had stood she now saw a mermaid swimming in a floating pool of water.

She was naked and so beautiful it should have been intimidating. If she hadn't had such impossibly kind eyes. If she hadn't twisted and swam towards Mae, cool water flowing ahead of the mermaid and soaking every inch of her ruined body in something far better than the illusionary comfort the shadows had offered.

It wasn't the absence of pain. More like numbness, exactly like she'd grown too cold to feel anything, but without any discomfort. Mae looked down and saw frost concealing her body, already going red in several places. She'd definitely hurt her head and neck, but she didn't feel anything when she moved them. In fact-

"Princess! You must not move!" The woman spoke the same language that the shadows had used to write things out for her, and for the first time Mae realised that she'd never seen those symbols anywhere but in her dream. She didn't even know how she understood the language, because it was nothing like anything else she'd ever heard of.

She held still, because the woman was doing something with light and water and her hands and it felt nice enough that Mae figured she had to be a doctor of some kind, but her mind was racing.

Whatever had kept her from thinking clearly before had vanished, and Mae found herself aware of the place she dreamt for the first time. Not as the blurry dream, but crystal clear reality.

Not that anything had changed. She just felt like she was seeing it all for the first time.

The grand hall had lost the aura of peace she had always seen it through, transforming the space -currently made of grey stone and endless abstract tapestries- into something vast and intimidating. It made her feel very small, like an insect in the home of giants, and when she looked down to escape the feeling she found something else.

Though she'd always been able to look around freely enough, somehow unimpeded by the body that should have gotten in the way of her vision, Mae had never looked at the ground she was lying on. Only felt it and seen the matching texture some distance away.

Now that she finally looked down, she realised for the first time that she had lain at the centre of a pattern. A sign of some kind, like, well, like something out of a fantasy story.

She glanced towards the mermaid healing her with hands that had become light and water and ice. Then the shadows that she recognised for the first time as people, men and women, all made of shadow as surely as she was made of flesh.

They surrounded her at a short distance, looking like they'd like nothing more than to crowd around her and soothe her pain again. Maybe plunge her back into the dreaming state she'd always known their home through?

She didn't know. She didn't know anything. Which only made it worse that she was falling asleep.

By the time she realised it was too late to fight it. She could hardly keep her eyes open long enough to look at the mermaid as she turned and spoke to the shadows like they'd said something.

"Of course we cannot renew her seal! Unless you are a high elf and have kept it secret until now? Do we have some nibelung I do not know about? No? Then..."

Whatever the absence of elves and nibbles meant, Mae was too tired to listen any more. Too tired to do much of anything. Only she didn't fall asleep like she normally did at the end of her dream, but drifted instead. Floating on a sea of light that whispered to her in words she didn't quite understand, but was sure she'd heard before.

The words called to her. Called to something inside her. A...something. Something bright and dark and calm and chaotic all at once. Something that was an endless number of things, or could be them, or had been them, and eventually Mae fell asleep trying to wrap her head around it.

*****

Beeping woke her. A beeping so cliché that she recognised it despite having as few opportunities to watch medical shows as she had had.

Sure enough, she opened her eyes and found herself in a hospital.

Specifically, she was in a hospital bed and wrapped so many casts that she felt like something out of a dimly remembered cartoon. Like she should have been nursing a stack of tiered bumps and cursing something small and fuzzy.

Of course this wasn't a cartoon and she was almost certainly crippled. She certainly felt like…

"The hell?"

She felt...fine.

Within the confines of her casts, she could move as easily as she ever had. Not at all like the agonised twitching that she should have been just barely able to manage after being hit by a truck.

Yet she didn't even feel fuzzy. In open defiance of the tube that vanished into her arm and should have been pumping her full of drugs. Mae felt normal.

She got to spend almost an hour feeling very normal indeed and staring at the clock, wishing she hadn't woken up quite so soon, before the curtain around her bed twitched and a doctor ducked through it. Walking with the busy stride of someone with things to do and no time to waste explaining themselves.

At least until he looked up from a clipboard and saw Mae staring back at him.

"Ah. Miss, I mean ma'am, you're awake?" He was already walking to where her arm tube connected to a bag full of drugs, plucking it from its place and staring at the label like it was about to bite him. Mumbling, "She's tiny, how-? Another screw-up? Seriously?"

"What's going on?"

"Ma'am." The doctor looked at her like he wasn't sure what to say but was very sure it would get him in trouble, and Mae found herself very aware of how young he was. Barely a few years older than her, if that. Not that she was inclined to let him off easy for being new, but it did fit her expectations for how an organisation treated the people at the bottom.

"That bad huh?" She had spent the last hour bracing herself for bad news, having realised that since it made no sense at all for her to be fine, she had to be so messed up that she couldn't even feel the pain of her injuries. "I can take it. I promise."

"Oh don't worry, there's absolutely no charge Ma'am. This mistake was ours, I mean, you didn't do it on purpose so we can hardly hold you accountable."

She paid his frantic babbling no mind, "Yeah I don't care about that. I wanna know how badly hurt I am."

"You're not."

"What?"

"I see why you'd think that, with all this," he waved to the casts and tubes and abundance of beeping monitors, "but you're in perfect health. I'm afraid you somehow got confused with another patient, though we have no idea which one or where the mix-up happened or, I mean, it's all fine though. Everyone in surgery knew as soon as they rolled you in that there'd been a mistake and got a fresh round of x-rays and..."

She stopped listening.

She stopped paying any attention at all to the world around her.

Because she had very definitely been hit by that truck, with the mind shattering pain to prove it, and she had a doctor telling her she was healthy and not in any way resembling a sack of shattered bones and blood.

Except the only thing that had happened between then and now, the only thing that could possibly explain what had happened to her, was a dream.

It had to be a dream.

Didn't it?

*****

BiopunkOtrera · May 21, 2018

[ ] The Ups and Downs of A Villainess
Genre: Fantasy, Medieval, Politics, Kingdom-Building, Economics

"Ah, thank you, Alice. Hmm, as usual, your tea is always so refreshing."

"Of course, milady. Only the best tea leaves for you."

The red-headed young woman smiled with a silent pride, as she bowed towards her mistress in front of her. Oh, how she was so fortunate that she could serve her.

She had no idea however that her mistress was thinking the same thing.

Lune von Eirhenbact. The sole daughter of the famed Eirhenbact House, one of the strongest and most influential house of the Grandberg Kingdom. With her father serving as the prime minister under the king, she enjoyed a considerable status in high society among other nobles. She wasn't just beautiful, with her illustrious silvery blonde long hair that flowed down to her waist, but she was also famous for being the very epitome of grace. But recently, her name had spread around as the genius reformer who had elevated her family's territory miles further than any other territory in the kingdom.

It wasn't always like this however. In fact, just a while ago, she almost ended up being a disgraced noble, stripped of from her title and banished from the kingdom.

How did she dodge that, you wonder? Well, she had a help from a certain someone.

Someone that was not of this world.

Her name was Misaka Miyako. 30 years old. Single, unmarried office lady of Japanese heritage. Looks? Average. Nothing worth mentioning. Brains? Well, she liked to think she had those, but in the end, she merely ended up being a drone in a corporate office, working as their tax accountant. Love live? Ha, don't even ask. It wouldn't really matter anyways if she had one or two suitors in her office. She would reject them as none of them fulfilled her type 100%. The handsome newcomer? His income was lower than her. The rich one on another department? His nose was too big.

Her maiden heart could only be sated by the games she played.

Otome games, as they were often called. They were video games where you could choose between a bunch of cute and hot guys to be your love interest. Most of them came in the form of visual novels where the only gameplay involved was just you choosing between the various choices the game threw at you, but some actually had gameplay like a more mainstream videogame. She preferred the former by a mile. She was never good at playing normal games. She once tried an otome game with time management and crafting elements in it but she never really got far, always getting the bad end where the heroine was deemed as a failure. It eventually pissed her off to the point that she stopped playing it entirely.

What, you say she should've played with a guide? Hah! She was too proud for that! She had pride in completing every game and getting every route with her own efforts and knowledge. To her, looking up a guide just meant that you let others finish your game for you.

And so imagine her surprise when one day she was transported into the world of one of said games.

She still wasn't sure what happened even until this day. The only thing she knew that she had a car crash when driving home late from work, and then, the next thing she knew, she already ended up in this world.

The game's name was Wish on The Shining Star; just another cheesy title the games tend to have in this genre. The story was about the star-crossed romance between a lowly noble the girl (your character) and all the various high-ranking and influential nobles that existed in the school the game took place in. The setting was in your average Middle Ages Europe-inspired world that the games in this genre tend to have. It was really a pretty cliched game, come to think about it, but she still enjoyed it nonetheless.

The problem was, what she ended up becoming when she arrived in this world.

Or to be more exact, who.

She had become the villainess character, the kind you often find in this genre that would stand between the main character and her quest for love. As usual, unlike the heroine, the villainess held quite the power in the society inside the school. As the daughter of the Prime Minister himself, she naturally was respected by the other noble children in the school. Her words and opinion held weight over the masses, so it was easy for her to make the heroine a pariah in the school, especially since the heroine came from the lowest rank of nobility. They saw her as an upstart who tried to hook up with a high-ranked noble just to improve her own standing in society. Such was the logic that prevailed among their society.

Of course, in the end, the villainess received her downfall.

She ended up taking the blame for all the bullying the heroine received and, after being humiliated in public, was forced to apologize to the heroine, forever losing her face and social status amongst her peers.

Thankfully, she arrived just before that could happen.

With her knowledge, gained from both her obsession with European middle age era politics, her genre savviness, the villainess' own knowledge of manipulation, and her own wits in traversing office politics, she managed to stop her fate from being the trainwreck that was about to happen. She failed to stop the heroine from getting her admirers, which surprisingly didn't annoy her that much, even though they included her own little brother and her (former) fiancee, but she managed to get out from the school in time before the heroine's lovers could join together and put the blame on her, saving her face and social status in the first place. She dodged the scene where her own brother slapped her and called her terrible, terrible names. She even managed to keep most of the school sympathetic to her, resulting in the heroine and her groupies losing face instead amongst the other nobles.

And now, she ended up receiving the authority to rule over her family's territory from her father.

Normally, it would be the male son who received said the authority, that being her little brother, but said little brother had disappointed her father for being a lovestruck puppy towards the heroine. Instead of supporting her older sister and upholding the name of their family, he instead went off to the heroine's side, cheering on for her own sister's downfall. He very well knew her sister was on the right. The upstart noble was making moves towards her sister's fiance so she deserved every bit of humiliation she received. Every person born in this world should know their place after all, whether or not they were a commoner, a low class noble, or even the king's family themselves.

And so began her new life as Lune von Eirhenbact, free from the shackles of her old life and the game's script. With the plot of the game derailed like this, who knew what would happen next. However, she knew that she would live her life to the fullest in this world. She had always dreamed of being part of royalty, wearing pretty dresses and being taken care by servants loyal to her. And she got just that. She was now the daughter of the second most powerful person in the kingdom and her family possessed a considerable amount of influence and wealth. And now, she had the authority given by her father as well.

I shall make the name of the Eirhenbact Family the greatest in the land!

Said thought did not just come from her own mind. It also came from Lune's own thought, who had merged with hers when the transfer happened. Lune also wished for the everlasting greatness of the Eirhenbact Family, so she was not just fighting for her own will. She was also fighting for the happiness of the girl who had graciously allowed her to stay in her body.

And so began the reforms in Eirhenbact Family's territory.

They were not just done out of a mere whim. As someone who used to work as an accountant, she had quite the knowledge about economics, both at the macro and micro level. She knew that to improve her territory to an acceptable level, she would require at least a hundred years worth of planning and consistent managing. There were still so many things that were backwards compared to modern day Japan. Naturally, their technology was backwards, but there was nothing much she could do in that aspect. She was no engineer or scientist after all. But socially and economically speaking, there was a lot of things she could do.

To start, she desired compulsory education to all her citizens. There was a huge gap of wealth between the upper class and the lower class in her territory. As a stern believer in capitalism, she believed that the best way to tackle that was to employ the poor with the skills needed to advance in the social strata. Most peasants in her territory could barely even read, thinking of it as a useless skill only suited for scholars and the like.

To do that, she obviously would need quite a lot of money. So she had to reform the tax system, as well as look for another source of income that she could use to fund her projects. She also thought of starting a bank, so that her territory could get loans more easily. Just like in the real world, all nations had debts. As long as said debts were used to develop the nation, and not just for mere consumption, then it would be advisable to take as much debt as your nation could handle.

Of course, she would also use said money for infrastructure building, particularly roads as after some inspection that she attended personally, she knew that so many already existing roads in her territory was in a poor state. Not to mention that there were still quite some remote regions where roads didn't even exist yet, limiting trade incredibly. With her knowledge, she knew that if trade increased, that would mean jobs would increase as well. That meant there would be more wealth to share with the common poor.

As for the other source of income, she already got a good idea on what to do for that.

Chocolate and cosmetics.

It seemed the locals still didn't know how to produce both of them well even though the raw materials were quite readily available. And as she was a woman after all, she was well-versed in both the process of chocolate and cosmetic-making. The warmer part of her territory had cacao in abundance, while the colder part had many herbs that she could use to make some natural beauty products from. She was relieved that the flora in this world was relatively similar to the flora back on Earth.

Her customer target? Naturally, the nobles. It would be too expensive to sell them to the common folk. And besides, she could market them as an exclusive item, making those loaded wives and daughters even more willing to buy them.

But surely, they wouldn't be taken in easily to purchase and consume such strange food and items they had never known before.

Not when Lune's mother was in charge of the marketing.

If Lune had a major influence at her former school, then her mother had a major influence on pretty much the entirety of nobility. She was a trend-setter that everyone looked up to. If she were to introduce Lune's products at the many tea parties she attended, there would be no doubt that they would become popular in an instant.

Of course, Lune's mother would do this willingly. After all, she wished her daughter to be successful just as her husband did. Just like her husband, she also had written off Lune's younger brother as a lovelorn fool who would not amount to anything. Instead of inheriting the name of the family properly, he instead chased around some low class noble girl. It was a well-known taboo to bring him up in the tea parties she attended.

The result was a major success.

The demand for both was so massive that they could not keep up. However, instead of increasing their production capability, Lune decided she would keep it as it was, so that the scarcity factor would stay high, thus keeping their price high as well.

Just like the diamond corporations back in Modern Earth… she thought to herself with a smile. From a poor person's perspective, this might look unfair, but to her, who was now the owner of her own corporation, it was just another business tactic to maximize her profits.

And speaking of mimicking rich corporation tactics, she also made sure to brand those products, so that if one day a competitor appeared, she would have the advantage of brand loyalty on her side.

The next step she took to fund her plans was the establishment of a regional bank.

The concept of a bank hadn't really taken off in this world. Sure, you could store your money (meaning, gold, silver, and copper coins) in the various branches of the Merchant's Guild (for a fee of course), but the concept of pooling said coins for a large investment was not there yet. Instead, each branch mostly just kept the coins in their storage. They were other people's money after all. They couldn't just use them as they wished.

She came down to shatter such a naive belief.

After calling on all the leaders of the branches of the guild for a meeting, she explained to them how they could use the money stored to them in a much better way that would benefit both the owners and themselves. Similar to how a modern bank operated in her world (though obviously massively simplified here as this world was nowhere near ready for a stock market), she told them that they should loan back those money they got to businesses that needed them so that they could bloom and enrich the area. Normally, they would only give loans using the guild's own money, massively limiting the amount of cash they could give. With this modern method of hers, more businesses would be able to flourish. And more flourishing businesses meant more jobs. More jobs would mean more wealth. Trickle-down economics.

And then they asked, "What if the business failed and they couldn't repay their loan?" With a smile, she answered, "That's why you have to make sure the business they run are actually healthy, with the capability of paying their loans."

And here, she gave them the idea for the double entry ledger. All this time they had been only using the classic single entry ledger, with no matching accounts, and the terms they used were not standardized at all, leading to a lot of confusion and even scams. For her, a simple double ledger journal was child's play to make, but for them, it was like a revolutionary invention. This quickly won them over as they realized that Lune was not a mere noble girl who knew nothing about mercantile. She even had written a couple of books for them to read themselves so that they could learn the method on their own, which they gladly took, as they were already convinced on how much superior Lune's method of bookkeeping was to their own.

And when they had begun to respect her, Lune gave her the plan for her regional, Eirhenbact Family-owned bank. She proposed a cooperation with them, saying to them that she would like full access to the funds collected by the banks, which would be established in the already existing Merchants' Guilds' branches. The reward for them would be a percentage on what they collected. She assured them that she intended to use the funds to further enrich the region, pointing at the already successful selling of her chocolates and cosmetics by her company. With this arrangement, they would be able to continue as usual, not really thinking on how to invest the money they had received. All decisions would be made by her instead.

And so, a deal was stroke that day; a deal that satisfied her very much indeed.

***

"Haah, that's one done deal…" Lune said as she rested in her aromatic bath, right after the guild representatives had returned back to their respective offices.

"That was amazing, Miss! You clearly dominated them back then!" Alice said as she washed her lady's back.

Lune just smiled proudly to herself in response.

"This was only the beginning, Alice. Now that we have secured the funds we needed, we could begin doing all the development I have been talking about."

"The academy, Miss?"

"Yes. That would be a priority project. We could not let our citizen's hidden talents be wasted after all."

The academy she was talking about was nothing like the academy all the noble children attended in the royal capital. It was more tailored for usage by commoners. Nothing really fancy like the nobles' academy. It would just be a comfortable place well-suited for academic purposes. Really, the noble's academy seemed to be more about the luxury instead of the education itself.

Her plan was to have basic classes that everyone must attend, where they would be taught reading and writing. She believed that increasing the literacy rate of the populace would pay off immensely in the future. Perhaps not in the immediate present, but her plan was a long term one after all.

After they finished said classes, then they could choose to attend the more advanced ones. These would be classes tailored to a specific skill mastery. She planned to start with an agriculture, administration, and medicinal classes.

For agriculture, she wished for the farmers in her region to be able to cultivate their fields better. They didn't even know a simple thing like crop rotation, leading to them just continually opening forests up from new farmlands. Such a thing would be far less efficient, and it would have a negative effect on the environment as well.

For administrative classes, she was anticipating the necessity of expanding the government she ran. She would need well-qualified people to act as her hands and legs.

For medicinal classes, there was still a major lack of qualified doctors. Most of them only worked for the nobility. The commoners had to rely on shady folk remedies and herbalists that didn't really know what they were doing. She intended to bring a culture of science to this world, where every medicine would be really examined and questioned on their efficacy and effects on the body. She already invited some of the famous doctors to tell them about bacteria, viruses, and microorganisms in general. They didn't believe her, until she gave them a look with a makeshift microscope she had ordered her servants to build. She was so thankful that she still remembered her lessons about lens magnification from high school.

And speaking of doctors, she also would fund the research and development for new medicines. Any new medicines would be developed under the name of her company. Too bad the concept of patents still didn't exist in this world. She planned to petition the king to change that soon enough. Same with the farmers doing agriculture. She would also fund research for new and better crops. If she could sell them to the rest of the kingdom, or even beyond, her company would surely profit immensely from it, while at the same time, raising the living standards of the people as well. Two birds with one stone.

The other project she would prioritize was the road improvement project. She knew that some of her subjects would not see why establishing her academy was important. But they would all agree that improvements on roads was something they could all get behind with.

***

Six months had passed since then, and every single project that Lune started was running smoothly. The academy was not quite ready yet for operation, but the bank had already received many funds, even more than she had expected, to be honest. With the extra money she received, and the partial reserve policy she had set for her bank, she could fast-forward the road construction project quite massively. She also had expanded her company's business to cater to middle-class commoners as well. Of course, the goods it sold would be more cheaply priced than the ones sold to the nobility, so she made sure to brand them as less exclusive and good as the latter, just so the nobility would keep buying the more expensive ones. With this move, her company alone had opened so many jobs to the populace; mainly cooks and herbalists. If she made sure to only use the best of the best to produce the goods aimed at the nobles, then she opened the gates high and wide to all kinds of people who had the skill to produce the goods aimed for the commoners, as long as they met a certain minimum standard. The difference between the two goods lines was more about the prestige anyways. But she knew how much prestige was important in the eyes of the nobles.

Meanwhile, back at the capital, the heroine and her harem were still naively living their day to day lives in the nobles' academy. Lune's mother, being heavily sympathetic to her daughter, made sure to rally the other nobles against them, weakening the influence they had in high society. She even declared one day to Lune that if it weren't for him being Lune's brother, she would have crushed him as well.

Lune felt really blessed that her mother was on her side that day.

One day however, Lune's mother expressed something that had concerned her lately.

"Lune, do you know about the kingdom of Wernard?" she said as she sipped her tea.

"Wernard?"

Lune seemed to recall having heard that name before.

"I wouldn't blame you for not knowing about them. They are located quite a distance away from our kingdom after all. Across the Eastern Ocean, to be exact."

"The Eastern Ocean?" Lune replied.

She knew about said ocean quite well. It was a really dangerous ocean filled with malignant storms and oceanic creatures that could sink a ship or two on their own. It was the reason why they had barely any trade and contact with the kingdoms on the other side. It was simply not worth the effort trying to brave such a horrid sea.

"Indeed. And the other day, their ship came to this kingdom."

Lune's ears perked up..

"The strange thing is, it was quite the small ship. There were barely any people in it for what I have heard. The envoy only had a couple of servants with her. For her to brave such a dangerous sea with such a minimal force, it was simply unbelievable."

"But that wasn't the most outrageous part. After she landed, she immediately headed to the royal castle to meet with the king alone. Naturally, the guards didn't let her in at first, especially since she was dressed in such an odd and impolite dress--really, her dress' hem ended up midway through her tights--but in the end, she gained access thanks to that fool of a prince.

Ah, Mother must be talking about Arthur.

Arthur was the prince of this country, and Lune's former fiancee. Like your usual princes and princesses, their arranged marriage was more about politics than love. However, Lune herself, the original Lune, that is, actually loved the prince. Unfortunately, it seemed the prince himself wasn't that fond of her. But he went along with it anyways as he felt it was his duty to do so.

Until he met the heroine, that is.

He fell in love with her. A pure, romantic sort of love the bards loved to sing about. It was also an obsessive sort of love as it overturned his own sense of duty that had been nurtured to him ever since he was but a fledgling. He ended up rejecting his arranged marriage and took the heroine to be his bride, politics be damned.

Naturally, the original Lune wouldn't stand for this. She became consumed with jealousy and she took it out with the heroine.

The Lune now no longer had any love for the guy. She thought of him as an immature, love-obsessed young man who would abandon even the kingdom itself just to chase a girl. This was also the opinion of her father and her mother, and many of the other high-ranking nobles. Marrying a low noble like the heroine would just invite future chaos and instability for the kingdom. The prince should know his duty and devote himself to it, instead of being selfish like this. Lune remembered how in the game, he would ascend to the throne at the end and rule together with the heroine at his side. The way his popularity was now, she had no doubt that he wouldn't be the true ruler of the kingdom. Her father, the Prime Minister, would be the one running things. He was simply too unpopular with the influential nobles. You may think that a king's authority is absolute, but more often than not, he needs substantial support from the nobles to be able to rule properly. The prime example of this would be the French King just before the Revolution happened. He was a weak and unpopular person, with his Austrian wife not helping matters. The nobility didn't really heed his authority, instead choosing to do their own things.

Thankfully, this kingdom had the Prime Minister as a "backup" ruler. And he was still as popular as ever amongst the nobility, with his wife making sure that their family's name remained as exalted as ever.

Really, Yune preferred for the Prime Minister to be the one to rule instead. And that's not just because he was her father. She viewed the prince as too much of a lovesick hot-headed fool to handle the power and authority that would be bestowed upon him. She imagined if he had to drag the entire country to war just to make the girl he loved to be his wife, he would do it with no hesitation.

He still wielded a considerable amount of influence however, If it weren't for his protection, and Lune's brother being on their side as well, Lune's father and mother would have definitely use their influence to crush the upstart family of heroine, just to say to them, "Know your place, o lowly one".

Naturally, he would be the one to break the much respected protocol this country had for decades, if not centuries. Ever since he met the heroine, he began disrespecting the country's customs and protocols more and more. A messenger or an envoy from another nation would be required to dress appropriately in front of the king. This rule projected the strength of the kingdom, saying to the other nation, "We are a sovereign kingdom. When you step into our land, you must follow our ways."

But instead, the foolish prince just told the guards to let her through. She ended up breaking in in the middle of a court session. And she outrageously walked forward right to the king, not caring how she had broken the decorum, and announced her purpose of coming here. She didn't even bother to hide her weapon; the silver staff she was carrying with her. The king's royal guards naturally had their hands on the handle of their swords, ready to unsheath them and attack if she made any suspicious move.

At this point in the story, Lune was fully invested in the story. Such an outrageous entrance. There was no way this would end up well for her.

"So, how did the king react?" Lune asked

"At first, he was naturally angry at her sudden appearance, refusing to even hear on what she had to say for the insolence of just strolling into his court unannounced. But she immediately shut him down by presenting to him bars and bars of pure gold from the bag she was carrying. She said it was a tribute from her kingdom to his, and that she still had more in her ship that she would gladly give if he would listen to what she had to say."

"Bars of gold?" Lune exclaimed, surprised at the sudden turn of events.

"Indeed," her mother replied. "It's truly a disgusting thing to forwardly bribe someone like that, as if the pride of our kingdom had a price. If it had been me or your father who was on the throne, we would certainly have sent her away. But that fool of a weak king, he was immediately taken by the glitter of the gold and the praise the envoy was giving to him. She said that it was a tribute to the great kingdom of Grandberg and its great ruler, from their tiny and insignificant nation. She hoped that it would be enough as proof of the commitment of their nation to establish a trade with our kingdom, so both sides could gain profit from it."

For old and well-established nobility, flaunting your wealth and being obsessed by money were a sign of a commoner's soul. It was what divided old wealth and new wealth, the so-called nouveau riche. A handful of commoner merchants in this country were actually wealthier than some of the smaller nobles. But they would never be accepted as one of them. They weren't like those other, less honorable countries where you could buy a noble title with money. Nobility should only be earned by blood or by performing an extraordinary service to the kingdom.

"I don't know much about that kingdom, but if this is how they're going to introduce themselves, I say we shouldn't trade with them. It's too risky and costly anyways with how far and how dangerous the route is."

"Now, now, mother, don't write them off just yet. They may be disrespecting us, but we could use them to increase our own prosperity. They just give us so many gold after all, just so they would be allowed to trade with us. We just have to make sure that we get the better half of the deal."

Lune might say that but she didn't really trust them as well. There was just something about them. Her instinct was telling her that there was something strange going on. Why would they give out that many gold so easily? Were they that rich of a nation? If so, then why would they need to trade with us so badly?

"Mother, I would like to have our company's spies and informants investigate all they could about them."

Just like a good businesswoman would act, Lune always kept a close eye on her competition. If they were going to be trading with this country, that could mean she would have another competitor to her trading company. Even today, she already had a few. To stay ahead on the curve, she would have to continuously improve her business and react accordingly to the changes occuring in the market.

"Are their ship still harbored in our port?"

"Oh, are you going to send a subordinate to go with them? I'm afraid that would be too late. I hear they're returning immediately after meeting with the king and giving their gold."

Lune cursed internally. She had just missed a great chance. With a spy going along with them, she could gain an intimate knowledge on how their country worked and what kind of trades they were going to make. And no doubt they knew a secret route across the seas that this kingdom's sailors never knew, if they could get here safely with just a single ship. If she knew that route as well, that could become a major advantage to her in the future once she decided to expand her trade overseas.

"...No matter. Then I would just have to wait until they returned. I shall tell my subordinates to keep an eye on our port town so that they could inform me immediately when they returned back. Ah, that's right. I should give them an invitation for a tea party, just so I would know their personalities well. No doubt their big traders would come along in their next excursion. Mother?"

"I know, I know. Keep an eye on the court's reaction to them, right?" Her mother replied with a smile. "Your father's doing the same thing, you know. He's the Prime Minister after all so it's his job to keep an eye of things."

Lune smiled as she finished her tea. This was no major cause of concern. This could even be a golden opportunity. For now, her production could only fulfill national demand, but once she expanded even more in the future, she could start doing exports. And that small country might be a good place to expand her business, especially since it most likely had a different weather and terrain than here, meaning, something common here might be rare over there.

However, there was still one other thing that bugged her.

Wernard… Wernard… I seem to have heard that name before…

***

Three months had passed since said event, and sure enough, they returned, this time bringing with them five ships. Lune's subordinate immediately sent to them a letter inviting them to her party. The title would be a welcome party, to greet and welcome the people of Wernard to their kingdom.

Naturally, some of the other nobles had the same idea. But Lune was confident that her invitation would be received. She had made quite the name recently as the young miracle entrepreneur lady that had boosted the prosperity of her territory by leaps and bounds. Her company had gained quite the significant influence over the kingdom's economy. If they were wise, they would certainly accept her invitation, even if it was just to have a good relationship with her.

Meanwhile, the prince was also inviting them to his own party. His engagement party. With the heroine.

Ignoring the backlash from the other nobles, he decided to make their engagement official at last. Of course, he also invited other nobles to his party, but thanks to his declining influence, not to mention Lune's mother who actively sabotaged any good opinions the other nobles might have towards him, it seemed only a few would come.

Only that all the visitors from Wernard chose to attend their party.

"Apologies. We have chosen to attend the prince's engagement party instead. If you would like to talk, then it would have to be at another date.

Ah, that date would most likely be quite far away from today, unfortunately. We would be quite busy setting up shop for the next few weeks."

So did the rejection letter that Lune, and the other nobles had received, say. They didn't even bother to change the message. Everyone got the same generic, repeated message, as if they were not important at all. It reminded Lune of those copy-pasted customer service response that got sent to your email.

What's most baffling about it was how they added the part about them being busy for the next few weeks. Any dignitary with an ounce of common sense would know that saying that would mean you were snubbing the person who was inviting you. It would be a death sentence to your popularity.

Could it be that they were expressing their views to the high nobles, that they were not important at all to them?

But then, why did they bother to attend the prince's event? And all of them for that matter. One would be enough, just to have a representative.

Lune was now reminded of how the envoy was let in by the prince. Was it payment for that time? There were also rumors that after meeting with the king, the envoy met with the prince's soon-to-be-fiance for a short while.

She just couldn't figure out how these people worked. It was as if they came from an entirely different world.

...A different world…

Different...world…

And just like that, it dawned on her.

N-no way! B-but that couldn't…

...No, it's definitely in the realm of possibility… this world is originally a game world after all… it wouldn't be strange if it actually happened…

"Alice, contact Father at once. Tell him I would like to attend the prince's party."

As the Prime Minister, he was pretty much obligated to be there. If he refused to come, it would bring down the wrath of the king. The old man spoiled his son too much, which might be another reason why he ended up becoming such a useless prince.

"T-the prince's party? But I thought--"

"Just do it, Alice. I have something I must check with my own two eyes."

Yune knew that by attending his party, she could be seen as giving approval to his union with the upstart noble, which she really did not want to do. But her curiosity won ever over. She just had to meet those Wernardians right away.

***

With the help of her father, she managed to get an invitation for the party.

Originally, they had no plans whatsoever to invite her. In their eyes, she was still the evil villainess that bullied the heroine. Such a narrow way of thinking, Yune thought.

She would've arrived together with her father, but unfortunately, due to his schedule, they couldn't meet up first. They had to arrive separately.

When she arrived at the party, it was immediately obvious that they didn't really want them there.

Her own brother, which should be there, didn't open her carriage door when she arrived like a proper gentleman. Instead, a mere guard had to be the one to do it. This meant they were saying that she was no special noble that should be treated like a VIP guest.

Her father could be the one to open her carriage door, but perhaps he hadn't arrived yet. Or he was not informed at all that her daughter was arriving. She could just imagine them doing such a petty thing like that.

She went straight to the main building. Like a proper lady, you were not supposed to stand and gawk around, even though the mansion she was in right now was more luxurious and big than her own.

When she arrived at the dining hall, the first thing she noticed, other than the really lavish state of the room, was that the number of the people attending was quite low. Just as she had expected, most of the other nobles had decided not to attend.

What she didn't expect however, was the look of some of the attendees..

Right in the middle, there was the heroine. And beside her, the foolish prince. But all across the room, there were a bunch of outrageously dressed girls whom she had never seen before.

...No, she had seen them once. A long, long time ago, when she was still in her old world.

I was right…

The company that made The Wish on The Shining Star--they didn't just make otome games. They had branched out here and there, making games that belonged to other genres. And one of said side-series was a kingdom-building, crafting-focused role-playing game set in a fantasy world. The game's title was "Blessings of The Emerald Tablet". In there, you took the role of an alchemist, which was a lost, ancient art of sorts in the setting that was just recently discovered from the ruins the kingdom had. You then helped your small kingdom to grow with the items you created with it. She barely knew anything about it, as the gameplay really didn't interest her whatsoever. She might have taken a look at it closer if she heard that there would be some romance subplot in it, but the developers had clearly stated that there wouldn't be any romance whatsoever as they didn't want it to take away from the focus of the game.

However, she had seen images of the characters that appeared in it. Just a small look but the information was stored on her brain, which only now returned to the surface.

And sure enough, the images she had seen matched perfectly to the people she was seeing in front of her. And their outfits really showed how they had come from a different game entirely.

First, there was the blonde girl with the pink dress, well, more like a woman as she seemed to be the oldest of the group. Her hair was gathered up into one curly buns on the back, with some sort of a hair decoration attached to the left of her head. Her eyes were as golden as her hair, and her face certainly could pass off as an elegant noble daughter's face. Her dress was quite provocative, with an exposed shoulder and detached sleeves. Her chest area was only covered by her white underdress that came with buttons, making it look more like a shirt than the usual underdress noble ladies tend to wear under their gowns. Her legs were exposed up to her mid-thighs, as the front of her pink dress was raised up, tucked to the small round handbag she wore on her belt, so only her white underdress covered her legs on the front. On the back, the pink dress actually covered up to her knees. To add to the outrageous look, she wore a pair of loose white socks above her pink shoes. She was currently talking to her father the Prime Minister, which made Lune worry a little bit, though she was sure that her father could handle her just fine.

The other blonde girl was dressed less provocatively than the other. She wore a peach-colored square hat adorned with a blue jewel on the front. It looked like it was about to fall down from her head at any time since it was quite smaller than her head and it was just put on her head instead of being worn properly. At the left side of her head, just above her left ear, she wore a similar blue gem, only it was larger than the one on her head. Unlike the previous girl, her hair was let down, reaching to her waist. The dress she wore was also a peach-colored one, with a white undershirt and a small brown shoulder cloak. Her dress reached down to her knee (which was still not acceptable for a formal gathering like this) and she wore brown leather boots underneath (which was also not acceptable for a formal gathering like this). She carried with her a peach-colored sling bag on her shoulder, which just added to the impression that she was a traveler. Really, why would she still carry that thing around? Anyone with common sense would not bring something like that to a noble party like this, unless if the bag was just a small purse bag. This one was having a chat with the heroine. Both seemed to enjoy the other's company very much.

The next girl returned back to the trend of scandalous, leg-showing clothing. Like the previous girl, she also wore a square hat, though this time her hat was actually properly-sized. She had a similar blue gem on it. The hat itself had two colors on it, pale red and cream. The pale red part was on the top, and the cream part was on the bottom. The two colors were also seen in her actual dress, with her waist-length cloak being cream-colored, and her actual button-up dress being pale red. She wore a brown leather belt with a small bag attached to it on her waist. Just like the first girl, her dress ended on her upper thigh, with the rest of her legs being covered by a pair of black leggings and a pair of white boots. She had quite the extraordinary hair, with a fluffy and wavy long brown hair that reached down all the way to her knee. Her hair was actually longer than the hem of her dress. She was also carrying with her a plate with a slice of cake, which she was eating with a blank expression on her face as she stood around the table where the food was served. Perhaps she was the introvert of the group? Lune could not see any attempts from her to socialize with the other attendees. An introvert and shy noble was a weak one, Lune thought strongly. You need to make friends and connections with other noble houses after all. This attitude was also one of the reasons why the heroine became bullied so easily. She always preferred to keep to herself as she was not brave enough to socialize with the other nobles, especially the ones more high-ranked than her.

The girl who was smiling giddily beside her wore a more conservative clothing, though it was clearly still not suited for a party like this. Unlike the others, she wore a two piece, with the top looking like some sort of a casual, ethnic-themed dress, with long and wide sleeves. It also showed quite a bit of her cleavage, The bottom however looked somewhat like the plaid skirt schoolgirls would wear. It was blue and it reached just a few inches above her knees. Her hair was a really light pink, reaching down to her waist, and she wore a cloth headband above her forehead. Oh, and she wore white socks and brown derby shoes, which also reminded Lune to the type of footwear schoolgirls would wear. She was shamelessly gawking around, as if she had never been to a party like this before.

The last girl probably looked the most outrageous of them all. She wore an outfit that resembled something a hunter would wear; a large, billowing brown cloak complete with a dark red hoodie that reached down to her lower knees, a white buttoned low cut shirt that strained to cover her breasts while showing off her cleavage at the same time, and a red short skirt that showed off her legs generously, ending on her mid-thigh. She carried on her what looked like small vials of various colors on her belt and pocket, which were attached to her brown bodice. Lune imagined would be used against her enemies, which meant she was actually carrying weapons to a party like this. Her legwear was a pair of brown boots and black socks. Her middle-length hair was brown and its long two ends was brought to the front, one of them resting right in the middle of her cleavage. She was happily chatting with Lune's brother, Lune could tell how he was being flustered by her presence. She could even see her stealing glances to her cleavage multiple times as she talked.

What is this? Aren't you supposed to be in love with the heroine? Are you just going to abandon her now when you meet a prettier girl? You are really a useless man, aren't you?

The heroine had her own charms for sure but she was more of the cute type, while this girl he was flirting with was more of the daring type. As for herself, obviously, she was the beautiful, elegant type. She always liked those kinds of female leads the most in her games. Unfortunately, the market just had to prefer cute and clumsy leads instead.

Anyway, Lune knew these five girls. She was sure that they were characters from Blessings of Emerald Tablet. And the name of the kingdom there was indeed Wernard.

B-but that game should have no relation whatsoever to Wish on The Shining Star! So why are they here?

She approached the blonde girl who was talking with her father. Even from a distance, she could tell that they were having quite the heated talk, even though both parties were still being courteous to each other. This was a skill any noble should have; to know how to annoy and insult the person you were talking too without actually saying outright insulting words. Her father was subtly trying to provoke her, but it seemed the blonde girl was deflecting everything he was throwing at her.

"Ah, my dear Lune. You finally arrived," her father said once he noticed her presence. "Miss Lettmann, please, meet my daughter, Lune. Lune, this is Maya Lettmann, one of the representatives from Wernard."

The blonde woman smiled brightly at Lune and said, "Good evening! Nice to meet you, Miss Eirhenbact!" She curtsied, raising the hems of her already short inner dress even further upwards. Now Lune could definitely tell she was not wearing bloomers, the traditional undergarments for ladies in this era. She probably wore panties instead. Panties were definitely not a thing on the game's setting, so it must be from her game world.

"Good evening," Lune curtsied back, raising the hem of her own dress. She chose only the best dress for this occasion, just so no one could blame her fashion sense. She wore a flowing silvery white gown that matched perfectly with her silvery blonde hair. Her maid said how she looked transcendental in it, as if she was no Earthly being. And after seeing herself in the mirror, Lune had to agree.

"So you are the president of the Eirhenbact Company? I didn't expect you to be this young when I heard about your accomplishments. You're quite the talk of the nation, you know."

"Ah, you flatter me too much, Miss. I'm merely running a little family business," Lune replied with a smile.

Inside her mind however, Lune didn't really take her compliment to heart. In social gatherings like this, compliments were nearly obligatory. You had to play all nice and keep up your pleasant appearance at all times.

"You sent a letter to invite us to your place, correct? I apologize once again for not being able to come. Our schedule is just too busy to accommodate any more parties other than this one. We only came here because Lady Tira is a good acquaintance of ours. We see great potential in her ability as an alchemist. Ah, forgive me. I got ahead of myself. I don't believe our art of alchemy have spread to this land. You must be confused on what I was talking about."

"A-ah, no worries. I understand perfectly well how busy one could get when running a business."

W-what? The heroine is already that close to them even though they only have met recently? And what's this about her being an alchemist? That's never a thing in the game! There's no such thing as alchemy in the first place! The setting has no magic whatsoever!

This gave quite the confusion to Lune. All of a sudden, the world she thought she knew very well was introduced to a foreign element. No, to be more exact, the foreign element was there all along. She just had never realized or noticed it.

"Anyways, I also would like to express my appreciation to your efforts of improving your domain. We would hope that we could also do a similar thing in this land. We wish to share the bounties of alchemy to everyone, you see. We first started with our own kingdom, then the nations on the eastern continent, and only now we are starting our efforts on the western continent."

Do a similar thing? Did she just declare that they were going to be a rival against my company?

Lune knew this was a possibility. But for her to just declare such a thing bluntly…

She looked at Maya's expression. She couldn't see any malice in her smile.

Did she just not realize the implication of her own words or was her acting just that good?

The rest of the party went quite well, even though there was a noticeable lack of guest. The heroine and her prince were clearly not bothered at all by it, which was another sign of their lack of awareness of the politics of this kingdom. Lune's brother was still acting all derisive towards Lune, but his partner, the girl he was flirting from before, told him not to act so cold towards his own sister.

"But Rebecca! You know all the horrible things she had done to Tira!" he protested.

"Well, that's all in the past, isn't it? Tira doesn't seem to hold a grudge against her. And she seems to have changed as well from her old self. You've heard of all the amazing things she has done lately, right?"

"Still…"

The blonde man gave another cold glance towards Lune. Lune didn't mind at all though. For her, she had disowned him as her brother in her mind. And her family seemed to feel the same thing.

The other members of the harem the heroine had also attended. There was the son of the current knight general and the son of a duke. And the two of them were socializing and chatting merrily with the visitors from Wernard, just like Lune's brother. Lune felt disgusted by their attitude. She remembered how they declared their undying love to the heroine one by one in the game. And back when she was still studying on the nobles' academy, they all acted so coldly towards her.

Where's that undying love you guys blabbered on about, huh? Where is it? Now you're all flirting with other girls!

In the end, Lune ended up being the isolated person in the party. The other nobles who attended were more fond of talking with the heroine or the Wernardians. Lune consoled herself. At the very least, she got some info about what the Wernardians were going to do in this country, even though that info was not good at all. Their plan for business pretty much went against her own business. Firstly, they were also going to establish a confectionary chain all over the country. They told them their business would be more oriented towards the common people, but with their current product, she had no doubt that the nobles would prefer theirs over hers. I mean, who could compete with cakes and sweets that would never make you fat? Such a thing would be the dream of every sweets-loving girls, even back home. Unless they tasted really disgusting, which Lune seriously doubted they would, the people would flock over to their products for sure. Sure, they could also be lying, but she really doubted that also, as they said they would make their products with alchemy. And she knew that magic could accomplish things science could not do.

And secondly, they did not stop there. They would also produce and sell beauty products as well. They didn't give much details but Lune knew those products would probably be miracle products as well as they would also make them with their alchemy. Stuff like instant weight loss pills would be insanely desirable to anyone, especially to girls.

T-this is unfair! I can't compete with them like this!

N-no matter! I would just have to get my own alchemists!

Later on however, she would find out that doing that was far easier said than done.

For starters, the only alchemists she could find were those affiliated to the Wernard Kingdom. And only a handful of really skilled alchemists could make all those wonderful stuff. The five who came to the party belonged to said rank, along with a couple more back at their kingdom. So then you ask, how could they mass-produce their goods then? Why, by employing their homunculi, of course! Artificial life created by alchemy, they would obey their master's orders without any complains. Naturally, only a really skilled alchemist could create one, so only those handful of people had them. And they could also do alchemy just like their master, so their master could order them to continuously make something he or she could already make, as their aptitude in alchemy seemed to be tied to their master's own aptitude. There were no bribing to bring them over to your side as they were perfectly loyal to their master, just like the ideal servant. And to make matters more unfair to Lune, they were perfectly content to barely get anything from doing their jobs as they viewed their sole reason of existence to serve their master. It was like slave labor only the slaves were all smiling. Slavery was already forbidden in Grandberg but who would really care if none of the slaves were complaining? This, logically, made their company much more profitable than normal.

***

Three months passed from that party, and already, Lune could see the effects of the Wernardian's trade against her own. Sales were slowly declining as more and more people preferred their products over hers. Lune's father had already brought the matter to the king, saying how their trade was ruining our own local trade. But the king didn't listen. They paid their taxes, which was actually higher than the rate the kingdom charged for local companies, so what's the problem? Lune's father could only shake his head at the short-sightedness of his king. He suggested adding more tariffs on top of their taxes so local produce could compete, but the king dismissed his advice, while snarkily remarking that he was just asking that so his own daughter's business wouldn't go under.

"No, I would not do that," said the king, "Especially not when they had generously used their own money to improve public facilities."

Lune's father could not really argue with that. But he knew very well the danger of trading with the Wernardians this way. They barely exported anything to their country but the Wernardians sold so much stuff here. He already researched and investigated the kingdoms across the ocean, neighboring kingdoms to Wernard, and what he found worried him deeply. They were all so dependent on Wernard that they could barely be called independent nations anymore. There were even rumors that they were planning to do a merger, with Wernard being the dominant nation. Wernard itself was not-so-secretly being controlled by the alchemists, as the king there always followed whatever the alchemists instructed him to do. He could not let this happen to Grandberg, the kingdom he loved so very much.

Lune herself on the other hand tried to stay afloat by turning to exports to the neighboring countries; places where the hand of Wernardians hadn't reached yet. She knew it was just a temporary solution however, as eventually the Wernardians would expand there yet.

She felt like she was a small department store who tried to compete with big department store chains that could supply their goods cheaper and with a higher quality.

Three more months passed, and Lune's business was declining further and further. The Wernardians were already starting their talks with neighboring kingdoms to expand there. To make matters worse, Lune was starting to lag behind on her company's debt payment to her bank. This, of course, caused liquidity problems to the bank, leading to bad rumors being spread around that it was going to fall. She ended up having to stop all the improvement projects to her territory, including the funding of her commoners' academy. With bitter heart, she handed the ownership of the academy over to Wernardians, which they accepted with a big smile.

Before you ask, yes, Lune had tried to learn the Wernardian's alchemy herself, along with all the scholars and scientists she could get. But none of them could really understand it at the level that the top-ranked Wernardian alchemists could, especially Lune, who always had bad grades at chemistry, biology, and other "hard science" subjects. Lune was convicted that those Wernardian alchemists were geniuses comparable to the likes of Albert Einstein. They probably even had inhumanly high IQs, although there was no way of determining it in this world.

Six more months passed, and Lune declared bankruptcy on her business, and her bank for that matter. After a terrible bank run, her bank just didn't have the needed liquidity anymore to function.

It wasn't just her however. Many other merchants were badly affected by the domination of Wernard in the markets. Many of them went bankrupt as well, and those that did ended up becoming employees of the Wernardians.

They had petitioned for help to the king, but he did not care in the slightest. The masses didn't care as well, as their needs were fulfilled, with cheap and high quality goods that would not be possible before the Wernardians came. And speaking of the king, he had replaced the prime minister with Maya Lettmann as his de facto adviser. She would often be seen in the court, officially as the representative of the Wernardians, but the king was clearly more fond of her than the rest of his ministers. The prince also supported her greatly as well. The two often talked about the great reforms they were going to do to this country. This, of course, led to great distrust against the king, along with some rumors about plans for a rebellion, but that quickly ended once the people implicated in said rumors mysteriously died due to illness afterwards. No poison was detected in their bodies.

As for the heroine, well, she had joined the ranks of the alchemists. Lune had no idea where her talent came from, especially since she was never that bright when she played her game. But being socially bright was not the same as being intelligent. And it turned out that the heroine was quite intelligent indeed. Lune suspected that she was filling up the empty spot of the protagonist of Blessings of The Emerald Tablet, since the protagonist there was a completely blank spot for the player to enter, complete with character creation at the start of the game. Seeing the opportunity to finally have a top class alchemist on her side, Lune swallowed her pride and asked her to join her company. But she just gave her annoyingly innocent smile and said to her, "Sorry, I can't. I want to help Miss Maya, you see."

She was utterly, completely defeated.

***

And so ended the tale of Lune von Eirhenbact. She rose as quickly as she fell. After this, she still enjoyed a relatively well-off life as a noble, though she could only watch in the sidelines however as her territory, and the rest of the country for that matter, was transformed by the Wernardians. Just like the other countries they meddled in, Grandberg ended up so dependent on them that they pretty much surrendered their autonomy, as every major decision the country made would need to be approved by them first. The people didn't care though, as they enjoyed a much higher standard of living once they stepped in. That included Lune's territory, as her citizens there slowly but surely forgot everything Lune had done for them (the whole bank fiasco certainly didn't help). The nobles who went against them would lose their influence and power. Only those who chose to side with them would keep their prestige, and even so, they knew who were actually running things around. The Prime Minister belonged to the first group unfortunately and he was eventually stripped from his position by the prince who had risen into power as the new king, with the heroine on his side. He was replaced by his son, Lune's brother. Officially, it was the previous Prime Minister inheriting his post to his son, but everyone knew he did it involuntarily. As you would expect, the new Prime Minister ended up marrying the alchemist he was fond of, tightening Wernard's grip on the kingdom even further.

This, along with her pride, led to Lune to refuse to cooperate with the alchemists. She could've given them ideas of all the modern inventions from her world, but she knew if she gave them that, they would get all the praise while she forever would live under their shadow. And Lune could not stand that thought.

It was never really about making her people happy. It was always about satisfying her own ego.

Just like a villainess.

BiopunkOtrera · May 21, 2018

[ ] All the Stars in the Sky

Kiran swallowed hard, her stomach twisting as though entire swarms of bottle flies were swirling down there, and forced her shaky legs to carry her forward, the swishing of her colorful sari deafening in the silence. The grand doors, enameled with ornate scenes from the past, the same scenes captured in plainer fashion in her childhood scrolls, opened in a silence that spoke to both their craftsmanship and to the skill and diligence of the staff of the Maurya Great House.

She had thought herself ready to face this when she had donned her sari, a garment far finer and more expensive than any she had worn previously. It was emblematic, she had felt when she had admired herself in the silvered glass mirror, so much clearer than the beaten silver mirror she had used throughout her childhood, of the lift her own house, her own clan would receive if she succeeded.

She had spent the past two weeks being groomed and trained for her summoning, and now, as she walked through the great doors into the three-level summoning chamber, and saw the golden glow around the great summoning crystal hovering above its resting cushions, with success and failure racing towards their inevitable conclusion, she found herself wishing it had been much longer.

She knew she could never be as ready for this as a Maurya, or a Gupta, or a Chalukya, or as a Haryanka summoner would have been before the Dissolution, for they could be chosen and trained for much of their life to seize the opportunity and bring honor and glory to their great houses. She could not even hope to be as ready as one of the minor houses. The Para house could never have afforded this opportunity for her on their own means.

"Breath, young Para." She looked at the kindly face of Tarkesh Maurya, seeing in his mien a reminder of her own father's look of pride, and she breathed deeply, forcing her stomach to settle, and straightened her spine. She gave him a small nod, and continued forward, trying to project an air of strength and self-confidence. Hitesh offered her a grin as she passed him. She resisted glancing left to follow his pleasing form with her eyes. He was not in the direct line, but he was still above her station, out of her reach until and unless she succeeded to the greatest degree.

The aura of the mana of the summoning stone washed over her as she reached the first of the flight of steps that led to its normal resting place. It pressed against her, ruffling her sari and lifting the pallu, the loose end, the golden light from it washing out the gold threaded zari ornamentation she had so admired. Soon it was difficult to take the next step. She knew it took time to so charge the giant crystal, which limited the number of summonings that could be performed in a year, and kept it from being used as a simple or direct means of supplying materials for the war effort.

Teams of acharya, mystics who had risen to the rank of teachers or masters, would channel the mana of their acolytes into the stone for hours every day. The exact amount of time thus spent was not publicly known, for indeed it was something of a secret of the Great Houses. Actually knowing that the Maurya spent, say, seventy-two hours charging their stone, the Gupta might seek to exceed the time to achieve a greater result, and then the Chalukya to exceed them, and finally the Maurya to exceed both their rival Great Houses, and on and on until far too much time was spent charging. Indeed, some feared this was what had led to the Dissolution of the Haryanka. Alternately, they might seek to undercut the times, and thus achieve more summonings in the same time, of close enough mana to be indistinguishable in quality, and thus race to the other extreme, summoning faster and faster in ever diminishing quality. This too was claimed by some as the cause of the Dissolution, and the end of the Haryanka Great House.

She pressed forward, beginning to chant a sutra under her breath to clear her mind and focus her intent. The Maurya had strong precepts to their summonings, to avoid potential disasters that were likewise theorized by some to be the cause of the Dissolution, of summoning an unwilling yet powerful entity, or an ultimate weapon that like the sand mystics tales of djinn might turn against the one that sought to wield it.

At first, Kiran had feared the requirement that the summoned person be from a world starved of mana had been added to ensure she failed, but Acharyra Adi had reassured her in this. It was a fairly new prescription but she had been given the tales of three such Outsiders whose summonings had been deemed successes to reassure her. Apparently it had been the Gupta who had suffered when an Outsider from a mana-rich world had managed to pervert the limits of the summoning and make it through even though it did not match the rules, and thus had been lost an heir and several high members of the house.

The other two houses had added a proscription limiting the mana, but according to Adi, only house Maurya had gone so far as to seek someone from a mana-starved world, and they had such success that now they alternated between summoning those with and without mana. It was just a coincidence that she had this requirement, and not any action against her.

The strongest precept the Acharyra had impressed on her was that the Outsider had to be willing to be summoned. This, above all, would increase her chances. To be sure, once the summoning was complete, she still had to go forward and attempt to convince the Outsider to accept the emblem of Vāc, the charm that would grant them to speak the language of the nation.

She knew, as she forced her hand through the pressure, now akin to pressing through a meat pudding, to rest on the hand-shaped imprint on the crystal, that the Outsider might seek to instantly slay her. Just because someone was willing did not mean they would be compliant. An Asura, or especially a Rakshasa, a man-eater, might be very willing to be summoned, as a guest at a buffet in their honor as it were.

She paused then, and focused her mind very clearly on what she sought. A willing female human from a world without mana yet familiar with the concept of mana, of the age of competence in her society, knowledgeable and inquisitive, strong of both body and mind, from a culture dissimilar to her own. She knew that each addition beyond the prescribed ones increased the chances that her Outsider would fill the role she wanted, and yet correspondingly decreased the number of such that could possibly fill her summons, and so made her failure more likely. This limited how much she could add and still hope to succeed. But she had not forgotten anything, she thought... she hoped.

She wanted more than just success, though. Merely succeeding would lift her own status in the world, but it would not bring the Para with her. To bring honor and glory to her family, she needed something more. She stilled with horror when she realized that she had accidentally let an image creep into the summoning, and she quickly threw her minor pool of mana forward, catalyzing the immense spell and sending its feelers hurtling across space, hoping against hope that her brief image would not disrupt the summoning.

Her elation was immediate when she felt it take hold of someone and draw them swiftly across whatever immaterial distance lay between. When they coalesced on the summoning platform, on the third level down below her, where the Outsider had the low ground compared to the observers on the balcony above, however, her stomach twisted within her. The Outsider was holding a sword outstretched already!

Kiran drew her hand away as the crystal sank to rest on its cushions, its glow and the force of its aura dissipating with the expenditure of its vast reserves, and stepped around it to look down on her Outsider. Fear shortened her breath as she gazed on the dark figure. Black skin shone in the steady white-orange light of the gas-lamps, and the light glinted off of gold in her hair - a crown, of sorts - and her ears, and adorning the top of her armored choli. She had no sari, and her parkar, if such it was, was short, not quite reaching to her knees, and it too was edged in gold. Far from simple sandals, she wore elaborately decorated boots that nearly reached her knees, and on her waist hung a sheath for the blade she held, and opposite, a loop of golden rope. Her hair floated about her head like a cloud of fine black curls.

Had she summoned a Rani, a princess or queen? Surely she had remembered to exclude nobility? A willing commoner female she had thought, definitely... The evidence spoke against her, as the Outsider turned in a slow circle. Her choli, a gleaming red that looked possibly metallic, joined to her blue parkar as if it was one piece, and it was sculpted as if displaying muscles. Her arms spoke of strength where they were not covered by silvery wrist guards, but even more so her legs where the light caught and picked out the play of powerful muscles. Not just a princess, but a warrior, too. She held the blade out defensively as she turned in a slow circle, looking all about her, and called out a challenge.

The only element that stood out incongruous to the rest was the bag hanging from her left shoulder. Kiran focused on that, a bag of purple that looked more like it should contain currency, perhaps a small hand-mirror rather than sling-stones or a hidden knife, as she started down the stairs. Her hand dipped into the fold of her sari where it was draped and tucked into her parkar, and drew forth the image of the goddess of speech, Vāc, holding it out as an offering. She held her other hand open, palm facing forward, her arm out to her side to display that she was defenseless as she approached.

---

Samara suppressed a groan of frustration when she saw the arrogant tosser she had turned away was waiting outside the building. She was momentarily tempted to turn back to the driving music of the still lively college costume party behind her rather than deal with him, but she did need to get home. It was passing two in the morning already, and while her next midterm was not until that afternoon, she knew if she hung around, she would end up having another drink. She was at her limit now, three beers down but over the course of two hours, so just a bit past tipsy still. Fine for her, since she was walking and not driving, though her costume was a bit chilly since she'd let Dana borrow her jacket.

Hopefully he was not about to... no, of course he was stepping in her way, of course he was going to make a scene.

"You've had too much, darling, you shouldn't be driving, how 'bout I bring you home?" He gestured to a fancy black car with red highlights. It was not even parked, the ass had gone and driven it around and just left it in the street running. Like she was going to let her head be turned by a car, even if it did probably cost between a quarter and half a million dollars.

"Back off," she said, not slowing. "And hands off!" she snarled, twisting away from his reaching hand as she slipped past him.

She had missed the over-privileged rich boy's jock friend waiting in the shadows, and with her attention on rich, white, and grabby, she bounced right off his over-muscled companion. "You should watch where you're walking," he said, fairly mildly all things considered, without any of the aura of threat she had been keyed up for when she realized she was boxed in. She spun to avoid grabby, ducking under and around the big guy and backing into the street. Big and mild did not look too bad, but she did not like the ugly look on the rich boy's face.

It was a very unfortunate move just then to reach for something to defend herself with, coming up with her costume's sword just as a police car turned onto the road, its lights illuminating the far too real looking sword, well larger than the legal limit for knives. Shit! And she was so damned close to making it out of university without any of those bad ends she was warned about. Red and blue lights blared to life as the car screeched to a halt, and she just knew she was about to get shot, but her hand had tightened convulsively, grasping at her only defense against being threatened, even though it was what was going to get her killed, and God, she just wished she could fall through the ground right now. Be somewhere else, anywhere else but here on this street about to get shot for not wanting to let some rich brat drive her home in a vain attempt to score.

Time seemed to stretch out interminably, she could see the sudden horrified realization in the eyes of the twit, could see beefcake's eyes widening as he looked at the direction of the cops, could hear someone shouting a command. Unaccountably, she found herself considering what held her tied to the world. What would she lose in being shot?

Her family, sure, but hey, she was already moving out, already loosening those threads as she prepared to go her own way, carve out her own life. No significant other at the moment, she had been properly focused on getting through school, and getting the most out of it she could without completely sacrificing having a life. She had her track and field, her competition archery, and her swimming, but she could continue what she wanted out of that anywhere, once her scholarship was played out and she was out of school. Anywhere! Anywhere was better than dead. "I don't want to die," she said aloud, almost startled to hear the words come out of her, but even as she spoke, she heard a bang, and she knew...

Then she did not know. Everything had changed in an instant, the lighting, her footing, her surroundings, everything! She turned slowly, her heart racing, trying to come to grips with what had happened. Holy fuck! Someone was really up there, someone had listened to her!

"What the fuck?!"

Samara Dorsey found herself in something akin to a fighting arena, surrounded by steps leading up in all directions, a soft orange-white light casting dozens of thin shadows from her in all directions, and high up, above the steps or seats of the stadium, a balcony and on it faces looking down at her.

And one lady in very recognizable Indian garb, though Samara could not remember the right name of it, coming down the stairs towards her, one hand held towards her, the other held out and up and open. Samara was a little surprised not to see the little dot on the forehead she sort of expected. That was a thing with Indians, right? Indian girl looked pretty nervous as she approached, taking the stairs one step at a time, her trailing leg catching up on the same step rather than leading with alternate steps.

She was not very threatening, and after a moment, Samara remembered the sword she was holding, and forcing herself to relax, sheathed it. She had not been able to make the back sheath work for her costume, so her sheath was at her side. It was a proper, well-made sheath that had come with her replica sword, which itself was a proper steel sword though one that did not have an edge, and she suddenly worried that she would be in trouble for the leather it was made of. There was something about Hindu and cattle, right? Like they revered them or something. No beef, she could probably live with that, if they did not throw a fit about the leather.

---

"No, seriously, this little pendant is straight up magical?" Samara fingered the emblem curiously as she followed her new guide.

"Yes, Princess. It is a token of Vāc, goddess of speech, and is the reason you can understand me."

"And bringing me here? That was magic, too? From that big crystal thing up at the top of the stairs you came down?" They had company as well, two jock-types not so different from the big guy she had bumped into just before all this went down. Guards, she supposed. They had slender curved swords belted at their waists, and funny hats that she thought she might have mistaken for turbans had she only seem them from a greater distance. Like her new bestie Kiran, they had the brown complexion of the Indian subcontinent from her world, but the general evenness and symmetry of features and clear, unmarked skin of Bollywood stars. No scars, no pock marks, straight teeth albeit tea-stained - perhaps they had magical healing as well.

"It was."

"You do that a lot, just reaching out and picking up people from another world?"

"It was my first time, but if you mean in general, then yes, it is not infrequent."

"And that doesn't backfire? I mean, like, you get someone who is just really jacked off about being pulled out and goes wild on everybody?"

"It has been known to happen, before they started adding restrictions. Now we only summon the willing."

Samara laughed. "Yeah, willing. I was pretty happy not to be where I was, though I'm still not sure..." She trailed off as Kiran slowed at a doorway.

"Here are your rooms, Princess Nubia," she said, swinging the door wide, and gesturing Samara in. Samara grinned to herself as she stepped in. She was definitely happy she had gone with the impulse of giving her costume's name instead of her own. Well, technically, she was going as Wonder Woman, and thumbing her nose at anyone who said she couldn't cosplay as WW just because she was black, but there had been a black sister of Wonder Woman in the old comics, and Princess Nubia had been what popped in her head as a safer answer when she was asked if she was noble.

As Winston Zeddemore had said, "Ray... when someone asks you if you are a god, you say yes!" She figured the same ought to apply to being asked if she was nobility, when they had no way of verifying it and might treat her quite differently depending on the answer. After all, as an American, literally everyone was the same theoretical class, even if in practice it did not work that way, and with no genuine nobility, she did not want to discover that on this world that meant being a serf or a slave. Her ancestors had more than enough of that, thank you muchly.

"This looks..." she paused. It looked hella nice, actually, a posh suite at a swank hotel, but if she was a princess... "acceptable." She moved into the room, Karin following behind. The door was closed behind them, presumably by one of the two beefcakes. She let herself fall gracefully into one of the cushioned wooden chairs.

"So, why are you going around summoning people, willing or not?"

Karin sat and began to explain. They were interrupted a short time later by a servant bearing drinks and finger foods. Samara listened with interest and growing fascination. This was almost certainly an alternate Earth, she mused, as Karin touched on historical events such as invasions of horse-riding barbarians from the east, and desert nomads from the west. But with magic, as every now and then Karin would casually mention that so-and-so wove the first flying carpet, such and such a person first bound a genie to a ring, this king was the first to unite the land against the devils and drove most of them out of the land.

The stories of waves of crab and beetle people attacking from the sea and driving them away from the vital coastal regions, though, put her in the mind of El Hazard, an anime she had enjoyed that had also had students from Earth being brought to a magical world, though it had more resembled Arabia than India. If there were such things as Demon Gods, androids of ancient technology and immense power here - and she had no idea how to ask about it when they had already mentioned devils and gods as real things - then that was more than a little worrisome. Not that waves of attacking bug and crab things was not bad enough, of course, and that was really all she had going on there being any connection to El Hazard. Not very much at all, actually, given the number of anime that had someone from Earth traveling to a magical world.

Samara refocused her attention as Karin got to the part of the tale that involved summoning. Bimbisara, friend of Buddha, had convinced his friend to create the first great summoning stones, that let them reach far beyond their world in search of a way to throw back the hordes of the East. That was interesting. That would not have been the Mongols, Samara thought, she was pretty sure the Buddha was alive well before Christ, while the Mongols had invaded Europe at least a bit and been turned back only because one of their leaders had died, which meant Europe was a thing, so that had to be after the Romans, right? The specific dates eluded her, but she was pretty sure that was... well, then again, that would have been the time the Mongols were massively successful and conquered a significant portion of the known world, but maybe they had been a problem for a long time before then? Or it was just different in this world.

The upheaval that followed sounded like the result of the Industrial Revolution, or the introduction of computers; a whole series of new... was technologies even a relevant term when it sounded like so many of them were magical? techniques or devices being introduced.

"Huh?" She looked up, realizing that Kiran had stopped. "Come on, don't look at me like that," she protested, realizing that Kiran had stopped because she had noticed that she was distracted. "It's a lot to take in, all at once."

"Indeed, Princess," Kiran apologized tartly, clearly not actually happy about it.

"Look, we'll come back to that later, I'm sure... right now, can we skip ahead to why I'm here? Why are you summoning people? I mean, I'm sure all this background is relevant to the ultimate reason, but what's the proximal reason, what's the immediate cause that has you summoning people? Are they going to want me out there fighting these bug guys?"

Kiran looked startled and then understanding. "Oh, no, not all, Princess Nubia. Though if you wish it, I'm sure arrangements could be made in the future. I think it would be clearer if I explained the background, but basically, you are here to do what I did, and summon something. Only, not a person, as I did, but something else, something that would be useful to society or particularly the defense of the nation."

"They want me to use that big crystal thing? It doesn't need skill or training to use, or magic?"

"It does require mana, the rest is having a clear visualization and set of limits. Not everyone can do it at all."

Samara sat up straighter, an icy hand gripping her spine. "And if I can't?"

Kiran pouted. She had good lips for that, Samara noted, full and soft. "I surely hope that is not the case, Princess, but fear not, you would not suffer greatly for it. Yet, neither would you nor I be rewarded. You would be as a widow then, a responsibility that the Maurya would provide for, but no more than was needful to maintain you in reasonable comfort, and I, I would go back to my family, and..."

"And if I can, we get rewarded, you said?" Samara leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. "What kind of rewards?"

When she smiled, Kiran's face actually looked more relaxed than she had when pouting, and Samara got the sense that the other girl was generally cheerful, when she was not a ball of stress. "Oh, wonderful things, riches and comforts, privileges for learning and access to magics and the fruits of smaller summonings. How much depends on what you manage to summon, whether it is something that can be successfully resummoned, whether it can be recreated by the mystics or the crafters, and how long it remains usable, or how hard it is to get the materials to keep it usable."

"Remains usable? What, like how much gas it needs? Or batteries?"

"Yes, like batteries," Kiran nodded sagely, and Samara realized she had half-expected the other girl not to even know the words. Was that a trick of the translation device, had it translated it to a word the other girl knew and back, and she had really affirmed something different?

"Some have summoned tools that need oils or serums, or little round cylinder batteries. But there is some limit to what can be summoned from nearby realms, and the smaller the summoning stone, the less mana it can hold, and the nearer its reach. Sometimes, someone brings in a thing that is unique, and no more can ever be brought no matter how we try. If it only lasts a time, this is not looked on highly, but if it is a Grand Creation whose existence defines itself, so that it remains forever undiminished, then even that could be highly prized, and if it grants some great martial advantage, then the Outsider that summoned it is highly exalted for it, and wins renown, especially if it brings glory and honor to a champion who wields it and their glory reflects well then on the Outsider.

"Things have been summoned that can be readily summoned with little effort, though, and if individually they are of some value, then that too could be highly valued. Sometimes a thing can be summoned with a small stone, but each summoning takes more effort, until eventually only a great stone can retrieve another. That might balance one way or another," she offered, tilting a hand back and forth in demonstration, "but if the mystics were able to understand and reproduce it, then it might have even more value for being hard to summon, because it means no enemy can recreate it merely by summoning their own."

"Ok, so like, you are being real vague here - thing, something, it? Is there a reason you haven't been using concrete examples?"

Kiran frowned momentarily, looking puzzled. "I don't quite understand the question, I think. But if you mean why I do not name what another has summoned, well, that goes to what you called the 'ultimate' cause. We summon Outsiders to attempt summonings because of the importance of visualization to the success. Things no-one has ever seen or encountered before have been successfully summoned, it is true, but they were known in our tales for years before. As I was trying to explain by giving you the history, we have been doing this a long time, and in some ways, I suppose, our inventiveness in summoning has been exhausted. Who can think of a thing no-one else has seen or imagined in several hundred years? One who has a totally different background, one who has seen things no-one here has seen or imagined, of course! An Outsider. You, Princess Nubia."

"Well... then shouldn't you still tell me what has been summoned before, so that I can avoid summoning the same thing as the last ten people?"

Kiran shook her head. "I am still pondering on the examples to give you. I may only tell you of three, for it was theorized, and none has yet proved this to be wrong, that it is the knowledge of the many many uses of summoning that we all know that shackles our mind and keeps us from thinking of more that are not simple variations on the rest. This, this is the way we have learned is best. A very few examples, to give you a taste, but not so much as to satisfy your palate."

Samara frowned thoughtfully. "And how long do I have to come up with something?"

"Well, that depends, but do not be too worried. Two weeks, at the least." Kira frowned. "You could take as long as six weeks, but I do not suggest it. You see, we have up to three chances to use the summoning stone. They will charge it for the next six weeks, and we can try up to three times. One week is too little - you would barely be reaching beyond our world and its closest environs, and the chances you would be able to get something you knew that was not known to us would be slender at best. You were two weeks of charging away, after all. Well, it is not so precise as that... perhaps better to say, you were within two weeks."

"So, three shots... so we could do one every two weeks, but then we'd only have the reach to get to my world or just a bit beyond. Or we wait longer, and have a greater reach, but if we wait the whole six weeks, we only get one shot, and failure means we lose big, that it?"

"Yes, basically."

"If we get something the first time, can we still try again, for a better result?"

"Until the six weeks are up, yes, though if there was only a week remaining, there would be no point, and I don't think they would be happy about wasting the week's charge when they could have just used it as a boost on their next Outsider summoning."

She must have gotten an avaricious expression then, for Kiran leaned in suddenly, face serious. "I must warn you, whatever you summon is not for you, not to use, not even to touch. It is for the nation, and the Maurya clan will take it and examine it, decide what its value is. If you want something for yourself, it must be something that we can end up either recreating, or summoning with lesser stones, in which case you can petition to obtain one."

Samara was not dissuaded. It would take some thinking, but from the sound of things, this was her one shot at the real big-time, at a summoning that could bridge the gap between this low-tech high-magic world and her own high-tech low-magic world. Not that she had seen much to confirm her low-tech assumption about this place, aside from the general feel of the similarity to ancient India, and the absence of any visible or obvious technology. Though they did have shaved ice in the drinks, which was nice and refreshing and hinted at the possibility of tech. Beyond that, the lighting she had seen was glowing stones, there was no apparent wiring, and all this talk of magic but no talk of high end technology. And the guards had swords instead of guns.

"So, we try first at the two week mark, pull something valuable from my world that can be recreated here. Then we hit the four week mark and blow their socks off?"

Kiran grinned, flashing her teeth and inclined her head. "I can hope. If we succeed beyond my dreams, then while for you it will mean riches and benefits, for me it will lift my entire clan, my family up to be a retainer house of the Maurya, and I, I will be their heroine! And if after that you still want to go fight in the war, we can be wonderfully equipped and none shall stand before us!"

"So," Samara leaned back, and sighed, "now I get two weeks of history lessons? And... I don't know? Meditation? Yoga? Ooh," she leaned forward, "any chance I can learn to pick up some of your magic?"

"You were drawn through the space between worlds while cradled in mana," Kiran nodded sagely, "you have now within you a kernel of our mana that will grow with time. If you have magic of your own it should not displace it, but you ought eventually to be able to use our form. That is one of the benefits you might gain if we do well--access to the Maurya library, or even the time of their Acharyra to train you. At the very least, if you succeed at least once with the summoning, even if the item summoned is poor and of little worth, you would be granted access to the Maurya Lifestone." She smiled brightly, looking suddenly happy beyond words.

"I succeeded in summoning you. I am only just beginning to realize it, that I actually succeeded. I so feared I was being set up to fail, but I did not fail! Now I will have access to it as well! But of course, you do not even know yet what it is, and I am meandering. I used my family Lifestone, poor as it was, and so I passed my childhood years in good health, and any injuries I took were soon healed. I shall live a quarter again as long as those who have never touched a Lifestone; but now I shall access the Maurya Lifestone, the Lifestone of a Great House, and if you succeed, so shall you, and our life shall be twice that of a pauper, and even that only if you never chance to touch it again."

My ambitions go well beyond that, Samara thought to herself. She had been given a miracle, and she was going to reach for the stars. Already, ideas were percolating. She did need to think of what to pull for her first attempt, though. Then she would have to figure out how she could genuinely draw something immensely valuable for this family, house, whatever, preferably something that fit that super-high-value combination of 'unique, useful, and everlasting' that seemed to be the winning trifecta here, while simultaneously getting even more for herself. Tricky, but worth every iota of the attempt.

"A goal worth striving for, then," she conceded verbally.

If she was here in a world that not only had magical monsters attacking, but was as she suspected in the equivalent to her own world's distant past, she did not want any part of experiencing the dark, dirty, or painful side of that past. She wanted the magic, sure, but she did not want to give up all the benefits of the twenty-first century, and if she could grab for the benefits of centuries well beyond that, it seemed a more worthy goal. She had not said for whom the Lifestone was a goal worth striving, after all.

---

Kiran had been exceedingly nervous about revealing to the princess that they were supposed to share the suite of rooms, but when she had finally gathered the courage and broached the subject, she had found Princess Nubia surprisingly accepting and genial about it. It had not reduced her intimidation any when she had introduced the princess to the clothing provided for her, since of course she had only had her armor when she had appeared, besides that small bag.

Then she had to assist the dark-skinned warrior in disrobing and show her how the unfamiliar garments worked. Kiran had formerly thought herself not displeasing to the eye, but around the Princess, she felt positively outclassed. Not only was the Princess nearly a full head taller than her, she was tautly muscled - practically every moment, one movement or another was showcasing hard muscles moving under that smooth skin. Her skin, again, was a point of surprise. Outsiders were frequently like the lower-classes. Having never touched a Lifestone, they scarred, they bore the marks of pox, the wrinkles and toughness of skin that had long been in the sun, sand, or salt air, the natural effects of occasionally insufficient food, or illness; their history was writ for the wise to see upon their skins. Nubia looked like she had already touched the Maurya Lifestone, her skin was smooth and free of blemishes. Her legs were impossibly smooth and free of hair, her teeth were even and brilliantly white, even beyond the contrast with her skin, her facial features remarkably even and symmetrical. Even her hands were smooth and surprisingly lightly calloused for one who was clearly a warrior.

She had brought in the concept of a world without mana to go with the familiar with mana, she knew she had, but she also knew she had slipped there at the end, in her visualization. She was not confident that the woman she had retrieved was not a traveler from a mana-rich world that had simply been in a mana-starved world when she had been summoned. The way she had asked if she could learn their magic, as opposed to simply "can I learn magic" hinted to Kiran that Nubia might have magic of her own.

She was reasonably sure that the smart talking stone Samara had used occasionally, treating so carefully, was not magical in spite of bearing some resemblance to mana-based talking stones, but she was not so sure of the armor and weapons she had borne. They seemed to be steadily collecting mana. It was still a tiny amount, far too little to accomplish anything, but it put her in mind of some of the unique artifacts she had seen, artifacts that had the strength of a world's belief behind them, that grew their own power from that belief. At any rate, her lessons in moving her mana had been quickly successful, so she was confident that Princess Nubia would be able to accomplish the shift of her mana needed to activate the stone.

When she had questioned her on what her first attempt was going to be, the Princess had claimed it would be entirely technological, with no mana used, but that if it succeeded, they would probably come to value it nearly as highly as a summoning stone. That seemed ambitious to Kiran, especially when Nubia admitted that it was not an item that actually existed on her world, though she insisted that it was well-known on the world she had come from, and that almost anyone who was worldly there would both recognize it and value it.

Hope was burning in her breast as she followed the princess, now in the finest silks and jewels appropriate to her station--she had not exactly admitted as much, but they basically had access to most of the merely material components of their eventual reward now even before they had succeeded, as an incentive to succeed, and she had taken advantage of that to ensure that the princess was seen as such by her peers. If you make a mistake, own up to it rather than trying to hide or conceal it, and you may yet be respected for your forthrightness, where the one who hides her failings will see them found anyway, and be seen forevermore as honorless. She had failed to retrieve a commoner, but she would not hide that failing. It was hardly unknown for someone to fail to apply one of the restrictions, for even if you deliberately held it in mind, if another that you held more strongly could not be achieved with it in place it might be disregarded, if your desire to summon something rather than failing entirely was strong enough. This was known.

There were the doors before them, already opening.

It had been the shortest two weeks of Kiran's life, she felt. How could the day already be here? She had spent so much time guiding the Princess through sample visualizations, and explaining their history, and telling stories of her life and the world she lived in so that Nubia might not be taken advantage of when she was finally permitted to move beyond the walls of the Maurya and enter her new life. Had it been enough? Could it have been?

There was the great summoning stone, glowing at the top of the steps, hovering over its cushions.

Princess Nubia had refused to reveal what she intended to summon. "You will see when I succeed, or it will not even matter," she had asserted. In the end, Kiran had only yet revealed one of the three summonses she was allowed to reveal, and she had chosen the example of the first Ring of the Djinn. She had told of how for years the desert nomads and the people had alike had tales of items that could control the desert spirits of one land, the rain and flood spirits of the other, before finally a summoner had determined that it must be true somewhere, and successfully summoned a ring that could indeed bind a djinn into itself, and thereafter wield its power at man's command. The spirits of the air had been wroth at being contained, and tricked the man unto his death, but over time success had been forged, between more summonings, and the finding of ways to communicate, ways to bind agreements, ways to find and give rewards that could motivate even such fickle spirits.

The princess strode forward proudly and strongly, seeming hardly slowed by the intense aura, though her own mana had grown enough that she could surely by now feel its pressure pushing against her own reserves. That this was one of the ways that a person's mana reserves could be forced to stretch and thus grow she had not mentioned. She had not wanted to chance the princess deciding to bask in it to grow her reserves only to find the pressure growing too great and forcing her to fail the summoning for failure to even reach the stone. For what could be stretched that had not also the point where it would fail, and be torn asunder?

She could not see Nubia's face from here, could not see if her friend, for yes, she could say that now, was wide-eyed, or had her eyes closed in meditation. She had only her hope to hold onto while the princess reached the stone. She paused but a moment, before her hand pressed down into the indent.

Kiran felt it then, as the mana rushed outward like a driving wind. Before, she had been at the center and had felt it reaching out and searching, but had not felt it pass through her. Now, with Nubia driving the search, for the first time Kiran felt the mana flow outward through her. She knew it was a gamble, as Nubia had admitted that her goal was not actually on her world, so it might therefore be beyond the reach of two weeks worth of mana, and Kiran felt her breath catch in her chest as all the world seemed to still for an interminable passage of time.

The mana flowed back in a rush, and Kiran had to struggle to resist trying to run up the steps. She could not see the summoning platform from here, she could not see if anything had appeared! The princess stepped to the side, much as Kiran had done, to look more clearly past the crystal as it slowly settled down to its cushions. Her face as she turned around, her silk sari swirling about her, spoke of triumph. She stepped easily down the stairs, reaching out her hand, and Kiran felt like a firework had been lit in her chest.

"You succeeded!?"

"It sure looked right to me, and larger than the ones we see in the vessels, so I think it is the right one. Fully independent and self-contained, with its own computer system, power supply, and material storage buffers." She led the way out of the doors, heading back to their rooms with a lack of concern that was startling but also reassuring. "That is a colony-class bi-function industrial and service Star Fleet replicator." She laughed delightedly. "Oh, Kiran," she let go of Kiran's hand and spun in place like a dervish, her trailing pallu rising up as if it was still being pressed outward by the stone's mana. "That big grey box is the next thing to magic without a drop of magic in it. I'll tell you all about it when we get inside. Come on!" She started running then, her long strides eating up the halls in a way Kiran could not have achieved without a pair of seven-league boots. Kiran hurried behind her, curiosity burning within her.

---

Kiran's amazement when she learned of what the replicator could do had been delightful to Samara. When they received confirmation that the mystics had succeeded in getting the device to speak their language, and had it operating, and that beyond merely looking right, the thing actually worked, she was over the moon! She was a little disappointed that they rated it about the same as a 'moderate wish-granting device,' but Kiran had been over the moon herself at that.

Apparently that was more than enough to assure that Kiran's family was going to get the upgrade she had talked about. And yes, it was the sort of thing that apparently she could submit requests to either access, or get the creations of, so that was a good backup.

But as awesome as it was, Samara wanted more. She had no idea that her firm intention that she would get more, and that one of the things she would do with it was give her costume the legitimate powers it pretended at had already touched into her world's belief in those items, and started causing them to draw in mana. She would not really have cared much, either.

Star Trek had been merely a test. She had summoned something from her world's fiction, and it had worked. That meant there was either a flipping full-scale multiverse out there, or it was imagination made real. She had an imagination, and she had plenty of fiction to draw on. If she had been able to perform the summoning herself, for her own use, then there were any number of simple power granting items she could summon. A Power ring, a Lensman's device, a Transformation Rod from any of dozens of shoujo anime... the possibilities were basically endless. But she needed something she could summon for them, for these people, that would give them power without giving them power over her, and at the same time give her what she wanted, hopefully without revealing to them that it had been done. And it needed to put a Star Trek replicator in the shade.

That would take some doing, and some thinking. But she had been thinking for two weeks already. She knew now what she wanted. The replicator was a great example of Clarke-tech, of technology so advanced it might as well be magic. She wanted the ultimate example of that, and if the distance between this world and not merely hers, but even Star Trek's universe was two weeks, then two more weeks beyond her and them might give it to her.

She made two requests from the replicator, each of things from her world that she had at one point, but had not had on her when she was transported. One was a large battery for fast charging her phone, the other a foldable solar panel for trickle charging the battery. That gave her back free use of her phone.

Well, mostly, she had still needed to kill most of the apps and block them from auto-starting, and put it into moderate power saving, and dim the screen. But it gave her a place to write a story that was behind a lock, with a key that she could only hope they could not bypass with the wave of a wand or a hand. She kept it on her, though, so it was not too much of a worry, and she remembered to close the program before turning the phone off, so they would also have to figure out how to navigate the phone's OS. It would not help them as much as the replicator's computer doubtlessly had.

Here she began to sketch out her idea, and then to flesh it out, creating a background for it, to make the features sensible and logical rather than ad-hoc. She wanted it to all flow.

Finally, the day came.

---

At first, Kiran had been disappointed with the tale that came back. She had been allowed to watch from the balcony above the second time, once it was confirmed that the princess could summon without needing her aid. The item that appeared looked like nothing so much as an ornate bathing tub, albeit one with two levels, and filled with glittering golden sand. Princess Nubia had been closed-mouthed about it when they got back to her chambers, not wanting to reveal what it had been.

Another moderate wish-granting device, had been the initial verdict, leading to Kiran's disappointment. The princess had still seemed smug, though, so Kiran held out hope they would soon hear more.

Shortly after, they did. It was a duplication device, capable of replicating items like the replicator, though without the fancy display screen and voice activation. This had been discovered fairly early in the testing, and no-one had quite understood why the princess would summon something that could only do what her first achievement could. Then someone had duplicated a magic-bearing blade, and the replicated blade not only appeared identical, it still bore the spell! That lifted it to the level of a major wish-granting item, and Kiran was ready to throw a party.

The princess had acquiesced, and they had enjoyed themselves intensely, and eaten and drunk to excess.

The next morning, Kiran had informed Nubia that they had one more week at the suite, while her family's new home was being completed, and then Kiran would be moving to that new home.

"You're welcome to join me there, of course! But with your success, the Maurya will also be glad to house you if you would prefer somewhere more suited to your station."

"I cannot decide yet," Nubia told her. Ever since they had learned that the item could replicate magical spells on items, which had been confirmed now several times over, Nubia's smile had gone from smug to brittle, her eyes watchful and waiting, though for what Kiran was not sure. She did not think that Nubia was expecting some disaster to befall after her great success, but she did not seem as enthused as she should be either.

"At the end of the week, then I will know, I think."

Kiran was not sure what difference the week could make, but she was riding an unstoppable high, and her friend's sudden bout of uncertainty could not bring her down.

For the next several days, she noticed Nubia's mood swinging up and down, as if at one moment hopeful, and the next fearful or even expecting of disappointment. Then word came that access to the mana-replicator had been approved for them. Nubia's had flared up with a strange aura of determination and intensity, as she had handed over the coil of yellow cord that she had worn, asking strangely that it be placed first in the upper bath, and then in the lower, with no replication requested.

"What was that about?" Kiran asked, trying to gauge Nubia's mood.

"The upper bath scans, the lower replicates, and also consumes materials. It can do more, though. It can also repair and recharge. Beyond that..." She sighed suddenly, and stretched, before jumping to her feet. "Come down to the courtyard," she said, speaking on an inner courtyard Kiran had taken her to the first time she confessed to requiring a run every morning. "I need to run or I'm going to explode."

---

Samara was on edge. This was the culmination of everything, she knew, as she ran the perimeter. She had been as successful as Kiran had needed her to be, but she was yet to learn if she had been as successful as she desired. The summoned construct had looked just as she imagined it, the sort of thing a magical society might construct, gleaming and over-wrought with tremendous details, as if entire lives had been poured into creating it, like the grand cathedrals of Europe.

At the same time, if she had done everything right, it was a grand bit of magic-aware Clarke-tech, a faux pair of nano-bot baths capable of molecular reconstruction and mana manipulation. Faux, fake, Clarke-tech on top of Clarke-tech, because there were no actual nanites. No, if she did everything right...

Someone had come in, and her eyes snapped to the brilliant glowing lasso he held. She veered across the inside of the courtyard, pulling up hard just in front of him, and opened her hands gleefully, accepting what had now become the veritable Lasso of Truth.

"Wow! That really increased the mana it is holding," said Kiran. "It's literally glowing with it now. Was it just drained by the summoning?"

Samara shrugged, not wanting to explain. The delivery fellow bowed and left, leaving her with her brand new glowing Lasso of Truth, though, if her hopes were not to be denied, he had also left her with something far more important. But nothing had visibly changed yet, and she did not know how long it might take, so in the meantime, she might as well give it a try, under the pretense of a demonstration.

She spun and let the lasso unfurl. She could not crack a whip yet, but she had practiced with the costume element a bit, to make sure she would not fumble it embarrassingly if some geek boy called her out on it. Geek boys were prone to that when you let your geek flag fly a bit, like they were in such disbelief they had to poke at you, expecting you to pop like a bubble, or evaporate like a dream, especially the less socialized ones.

She whipped her hand forward, sending the lasso curling out, and following her intent perfectly, it lashed out and the end spun around a decorative pillar and held fast. She tugged lightly, and it stayed put, then she tugged a second time and it obediently unwound and came loose, then with a flick was coiled back in a neat set of loops about her hand. She let it fall once more, and lashed out again. This time, it blatantly disregarded the length it had originally had, and formed a cat's cradle between two posts.

She laughed in delight, and Karin clapped.

---

It could not take more than a day, in her estimation, so when she lay down that night, Samara was even more nervous than before. She had the lasso still beside her even after changing into the nightclothes she had been given.

Her sleep that night was disturbed at first, as she kept awakening, thinking she had seen or heard something. After a time she fell more deeply asleep, and slept soundly the rest of the night, dreaming strange dreams that vanished with the morning light.

She opened her eyes, and immediately felt tears of joy flowing down her cheeks. "I reach for the stars," she said aloud, and Shirley Bassey sang to her as she wept. "Mine, all mine."

Status: 0.1% unlocked. Training mode initiated.

There were words hovering in her view, and beyond them, everything she saw had knowledge lingering about it, not obtrusive, but available. She focused on the cloth draped above the bed, and knew it was silk, but more than that, she knew the threadcount, she knew the number of fibers woven into each strand, she knew how many individual silk fibers were in the entire piece of fabric.

She held up her hand and looked at it, and with the slightest effort of will, her nails, which she had cleaned of the chipped and crumbling polish that had been on them, were suddenly decorated once more in a nice deep blue.

She threw off her light coverlet and jumped out of bed, feeling remarkably light on her feet. She put a little effort into a jump, and easily touched the ceiling. "Point one percent," she muttered. She hurried over to the low chest that held her things, and drew out her costume sword. It was a real blade, of course, a proper replica of a movie sword. She focused on it, and words appeared in her view. "Pattern found. Infuse? Hell, yes!"

Golden light and particles, like dust dancing in a sunbeam, flowed from her arm and sank into the sword. The dull edge brightened to a gleaming sharpness, and the balance of the blade shifted. She repeated the process with her costume armor, watching as painted and gold-leafed leather became true metal. Her bracers, she felt quite sure, would now deflect bullets just as the ones they were patterned after had done.

Her tears dried and her face was cleaned as she glanced in the mirror, the redness in her eyes fading away. She smiled, and her smile widened as her hair obeyed her whims, suddenly straightening and coming together, then plaiting itself into a neat braid, which then twirled and undid itself, like time running backwards, and her curls were restored.

"Utility fogs rule," she proclaimed happily, "and mana-capable femto-fogs kick all kinds of ass."

She glanced at her armor, then tested her interface by mentally picturing a process, and questioning its viability.

High-speed spin-based visually cloaked costume change procedure created.

She activated it, and the world vanished into a swirl about her for the briefest instant, and then she was standing again, facing the mirror while fully armored, her sword belted on and in its sheath, her lasso by her side, her hair neatly braided.

One last test. She held out her hand, waiting and hoping. A very familiar looking crystal formed in it, tiny, and slowly grew. She received a warning about insufficient resources and mana, and just laughed, letting it be reabsorbed.

What did any of that matter when she had a working utility fog? Enough time and resource gathering and it could create a fully realized summoning stone, which meant that Star Trek replicator computer, with all its patterns, was within reach too, even if she couldn't get to the one here. Though she felt pretty sure she would be able to at some point, and her cloud would surely have no trouble snatching its contents.

"You sang it right, Shirley," she said, walking to the window and looking at the sky. Almost casually, her fog looked beyond the veil the sun's light cast in blue across the sky, and the blue peeled back revealing more stars than she had ever seen.

"All the stars in the sky, Are mine, all mine."

BiopunkOtrera · May 21, 2018

[ ] Scars

Scars

He shouldn't be here. This meeting was a sham and he knew it, even though he didn't want to accept it.

"Tell us, Master Cyne. How does our unfortunate visitor fare?"

"She is alive and well, Grandmaster. We came close to losing her several times, but she's stable now."

Sitting on a lone chair in front of a semicircular table, apprentice Aerin stared at the floor with a dark look. Even now, they reminded him of his failure as they discussed the unexpected results of what had been gross miscalculations on his part.

Or so they would have him believe. There was a reason they hadn't addressed him yet, despite requesting his presence, after all.

"I see. Her injuries?" Grandmaster Idho asked.

"Definitely not a sight for the faint-hearted. Twenty six broken bones between limbs, hands and feet among others; those of the legs were shattered repeatedly. Additionally, over half her skin sported multitude of cuts which varied in length and width and in some parts, the outer layers looked as if they'd been flayed off by a frenzied pauxena. Her throat was pierced in multiple areas as well and it was on the verge of collapsing when we got to her," Master Cyne said, listing off the woman's injuries in a dispassionate voice.

Aerin could only grit his teeth as the memory of the crumpled woman that the Calling had spat through, broken, bleeding and screaming. He only dreamt of that blood-curling scream now.

"Akkala's mercy, how is that woman even alive?" Master Agrios asked, disbelieving.

"Who knows? Perhaps it was the strength of her will that made her hang onto life or maybe simple luck; however it is, she survived crossing to this side," Cyne explained with a shrug.

The Grandmaster nodded. "Anything else, old friend?"

"There is, in fact. Putting aside the extent of her injuries, the most interesting part is that the outsider has no trace of magiachilite in her except from that of the Calling as far as we can tell. I ignore what exactly apprentice Aerin did to accomplish such a thing, but it seems that his botched Calling brought forth a woman with no amount of magiachilite to call her own from the void."

Said apprentice didn't react to being mentioned, doing his best to maintain his composure as several Masters broke into badly concealed murmurs. He didn't look up to see the look of utter calm in Master Cyne's wizened face.

The disappointment in his eyes had been enough.

"Is that even possible?" a Master Etros questioned with that gravelly voice gravelly voice of his. Aerin could understand the skepticism – such a thing was hard to believe.

"We have theorized several times about others worlds. The void is proof there is something more beyond our little corner of life. It is not farcical to believe, merely unexpected," Master Isabila proposed, tapping the table in boredom. "Besides which, magiachilite was once reserved only for gods and myths in our own world. It's not so unbelievable that the outsider's world could be in a similar situation."

"Master Isabila speaks truth," Grandmaster Idho mused as he agreed with his protégé. "Master Cyne, I assume the wounds are still proving difficult to heal?"

"Indeed. With no magiachilite in her system, her external injuries are resisting treatment since they're infused with residual energy from the Calling. The Healers assured me it would eventually… bleed out, for lack of a better term. We're keeping her asleep while we work on them."

A burly and bald man with a lame eye spoke up in that moment, a thoughtful frown on his face. "Why her, though?"

"Why does the oxfly have purple wings and not yellow ones? Why does lightning strike a house but not the tree next to it? Though we endeavor to understand the secrets of this energy within us, some things are governed by mere chance, Master Kilran," the Grandmaster replied with the proverbial shrug.

"Regardless, the outsider isn't in immediate danger anymore. I suggest we turn to the other pressing concern: the apprentice's punishment."

Aerin had to use all his willpower to remain seated when the measured words of Master Lyram filled the room. However, he couldn't keep ignoring his situation any longer.

Looking up from the ground, he crossed gazes with Lyram, a middle-aged man with piercing grey eyes and lips vaguely curled up into a ghostly smirk permanently etched into his face. Aerin couldn't remember a moment where he hadn't hated that face.

'Remember the lessons: mind and body, one and the same. From the union, attunement. With attunement, hûbra. And with hûbra, revelation.'

"I stand by my claim of innocence. I followed all the correct procedures, with the sigils and protective wards set up in the appropriate order," he declared.

"Then how would you explain the magical backlash during the Calling to open a portal to Obsydius? Would you say the combination of Vivitrandite and Cronokita arrayed into a half moon bow shape performed to your expectations?" Master Lyram questioned with a faint smile and Aerin had to summon all his years of experience to refrain from snapping at him like some ignorant kid during his first Kur'os.

He took a deep breath. 'That smug snake… Mind and body, one and the same.'

"I can only give an account according to what I saw, Master Lyram. I clearly remember not making a mistake during the procedure. You were there as the Mastery Overseer, you saw it," he challenged.

However, the man simply shook his head. "What I saw was an Apprentice who let his ambition get the better of him. You are clearly gifted but that blinded you. You used a full Chant for something relatively trivial such as a portal Calling and moreover, used several gemstones rarely tested together, all in order to surpass all previous attempts. This is the result of your ambition."

"I know what I saw. Those weren't the gemstones I used," Aerin replied, hands curling into fists. He'd never commit such a rookie mistake as junctioning untested gems together! Everyone who had a certain degree of skill knew the result to that and he had skill in spades.

Grandmaster Idho chose that moment to intercede, stroking a beard of graying hair as he gave him a reproving look.

"Apprentice Aerin, you have been pushing past your limits these few months and exhaustion is the Wiseman's bane. Regardless, you pulled someone who doesn't belong here to this world, knowingly or not. That has consequences."

"Then what is to be my punishment?" Aerin demanded to know with gritted teeth. There was no point in trying to appeal; their minds had already been made up. He'd thought Master Cyne would stand up for him – he'd always had a soft spot for him – but the old man stayed silent.

Swallowing, Aerin avoided meeting his eyes.

"Hm… apprentice Aerin, you will clean all of the experimentation pits without any magiachilite aid during two full months. You are also forbidden from attending any of the advanced lessons until deemed otherwise, for it seems that you must return to the basics. And lastly, you shall be barred from applying to Mastery trials until this board of instructors considers you have learnt from your mistakes."

Aerin gaped. They were practically kicking him down to the level of a lowly snot-nosed brat still in his first Kur'os, on top of having to clean for two months the most wretched place of the Tower. They… they couldn't do that!

Face twisted in anger, he shot to his feet. "Masters, this is-"

"Entirely warranted! Be grateful we haven't done more, apprentice Aerin," Grandmaster Idho coldly rebuked, shutting him down. "Consider yourself dismissed."

"Suffice to say, you failed to pass the trial for Mastery of Higher Practices," Lyram added with a bland smile and in that moment, Aerin very much wanted to wrap his hands around the neck of that insidious vhorulspawn and throttle him until he breathed his last.

Barely capable of containing the snarl that threatened to escape his throat, Aerin fled the room.

xxxOOOxxx

Everything hurt.

Unfortunately, such truth had become her newest friend these last few days ever since she'd woken up.

It felt like red hot knives were being stabbed into her body, an agony to which she couldn't even scream against. From time to time, strange people came to her and did… something, which lessened the pain, but that meager comfort just made it all the more insidious – it became a dull throbbing, a ghostly feeling that would never leave her body.

It was never far from being at the forefront of her mind and it was maddening.

Cassandra opened her eyes to the sound of knocking on the door of her room. Turning her head to the sound, she didn't answer. Her throat still hurt like hell and even if it didn't, the person at the other side of the door would understand nothing of what she said.

But she needn't worry because a young man who looked to be in his early twenties promptly stepped into the room. For a moment, Cassandra could swear she heard faint music reach her ears, but she quickly dismissed the thought in favor of inspecting the man's appearance. He looked vaguely nervous, with large dark bags under his eyes and a disheveled mop of slick brown hair plastered onto his forehead.

Cassandra recognized him. He was the guy that had been visiting her ever since she'd woken up in this… this place. He'd told her his name, but she'd happily forgotten it in favor of calling him Bastard in her mind.

"I told you to never show up again, you son of a bitch."

Bastard couldn't understand her, but Cassandra didn't really care. She was angry… no, she was livid and he was the perfect target for her anger, whether he could understand her or not. After they'd told her what happened when she was deemed strong enough to endure it, she'd wasted no time in raging whenever he showed up. It was a shame she couldn't raise her voice. She'd found that out the hard way.

Without reacting to her words, Bastard approached her bed and raised a hand with two fingers extended. Cassandra knew what he was trying to do; hell, she'd experienced what it did before! And yet, despite what she told herself, she still violently flinched away from him the moment his fingertips lit up with a strange whitish light.

He immediately reared back, an apologetic look on his face. Cassandra was intimately aware of how her body was shaking but no matter how hard she willed it, she was incapable of making it stop.

She was scared of it and she hated even admitting that much to herself… but she hated even more being unable to speak to anyone. No one here understood English and if it wasn't for the strange shit they did to allow them to communicate, she was afraid she'd lose her mind sooner or later.

Cassandra finally inched her body towards him; it was a small movement at best, hesitant, but she still did it. Bastard raised his fingers again and despite the instinctual terror that gripped her, Cassandra stayed put as they moved towards her face and tapped her forehead. A slight zap of electricity ran through her, making her whole body shake for a moment before settling down. Something shifted in her mind.

"So – huh, how are you feeling today?"

In any other situation, she'd be amused by the vague awkwardness, but Cassandra found she had few reasons to laugh about. In fact, now that he'd made sure they could speak to each other for a while, she was determined to make the most of it.

"Fuck you; fuck you and your freaky cult," she spat. He let out a weary sigh, but screw him – she had no reason to play nice after what they'd done!

"The Crystal Tower is not a cult, it's a school for – oh, why do I even bother? Look, I get it, I'd be upset in your… situation too, but I already apologized for what happened, I can't do much more," he retorted with an annoyed look.

Unfortunately, that only served to make Cassandra even angrier.

Sitting up with a groan of pain from the effort, she glared daggers at the idiot who had the gall to say that to her face.

"Sorry? Sorry? You're sorry, but it's me the one stuck in this fucking place I know shit about. It's me the one separated from the people I know. I almost died, you piece of shit, and you say you're sorry?!"

She could feel a burning sensation building up in her throat but Cassandra paid it no mind. It was just too bad they hadn't replaced the vase she'd thrown at him in a fit of fury when they'd told her of where she was and how she'd gotten there.

"So what I'm supposed to do now? Should I just smile and say everything's alright?! Because it's fucking not – some sort of bloody freakish portal abducted me from my own home and now I'm stuck with some assholes in robes that just so happened to almost kill me!"

"Please, calm down. Your injuries –"

"I don't give a fuck! You think I'll accept a simple apology after what you did?! You almost killed me, for fuck's sake! You–"

Cassandra's rant stopped dead on its tracks when she coughed. Ignoring Bastard's expression shifting from self-commiserating to genuinely concerned, a confused Cassandra brought hand to the bandages over her neck when she felt something warm running down from it. She could only stare in mild shock when she took it back and saw it was covered in warm blood.

"Oh."

"Karsuj! Press on the bandages now!" the brown-haired Bastard exclaimed, rushing to the bedside.

"Don't – touch me…" she said in disgust and fear when he raised a hand glowing with faint light, but it just came out as a weak whimper. Her body felt heavy all of a sudden and small black spots appeared in her vision; she was dizzy, light-headed.

She opened her mouth to say something, anything… and then only darkness.

xxOOOxx

"I am relieved to see we prevented your premature passing to Roa's embrace. Such a thing would be most unfortunate."

Propped up on her bed, Cassandra made a point of not looking at the old man – call me Master Cyne. The bandages around her neck were heavier and it made her feel uncomfortable; wrapped tightly as they were, she couldn't help but feel as if they were a chokehold around her neck. It had been a few hours since her outburst and the reopening of her throat wounds, but they'd apparently treated them while she'd been unconscious.

"Yeah, whatever. You guys made this mess and you are the ones who have to fix it. I want to go home and I want to go there now. Preferably, without dying," she clarified icily.

His rebuttal was swift.

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid that is impossible." Seeing how rage twisted Cassandra's features into an unflattering snarl at his response, the old man quickly followed up his words with an explanation. "It's not that we don't wish to make amends for our mistake and return you to your place of origin – we simply lack the ability to do so."

"Why? Explain it to me."

Cyne paused for a moment, clearly considering his request and though he looked downright skeptical, he finally acquiesced with a resigned sigh. That really pissed her off – sure, she wasn't some highbrow genius but she wasn't a simpleton, she could follow a topic well enough if it wasn't an overly technical or scientific topic.

"Your situation had been theorized before, but considered highly unlikely to achieve. Whatever happened, the Calling apprentice Aerin was casting to attain his Mastery of Higher Practices backfired, sending its hooks too far into the void and catching you in its net. As one without magic, you had no real way of fighting the pull; moreover, the portal couldn't take magic from you to create a stable bridge between the two end points. As such, it forced you through the portal in the harshest of ways… thus the wounds," he explained, sending a quick inscrutable glance at them.

Cassandra made a point of not following his gaze. She'd tried very hard not to think of them too much so far. She'd vaguely seen them from the corners of her vision already and what little she'd seen scared her.

But she'd needed to make sure they were real, that they felt real to her own touch beyond the constant flares of torment they gave. Cassandra wished she hadn't done so. She still couldn't find it within herself to move towards the life sized mirror placed in one of the corners of the room to take a look.

"That's interesting and all, but that doesn't tell me why you can't send me back."

"Simply put, we can't recreate it."

"What? You did it already, doing it again should make no difference," Cassandra questioned with a disbelieving look.

The old man waved a hand dismissively. "All Callings are inherently different due to the preparations beforehand – the gemstones used, the type of wards set up, whether a Chant was used and if it was a full one or not… all that could be recreated, but not an individual's magic and that is the most important component in a Calling. Just like there are no identical two people, their magic is likewise unique."

"So what? Just have him do it again, but making sure he doesn't fuck it up this time. Don't want to bring someone else, heh?"

"Given Master Lyram's account of the event, apprentice Aerin was reckless in extreme due to his… haste, but he had no way of knowing something like this would happen. None of us did," Cyne said, raising a hand in a placating manner.

"And that's supposed to make me feel better? He messed up so badly that he almost killed me and you just wave it off?" she hissed, seething. She had no intention of playing nice with a bunch of condescending old men in tunics and their fuckup students.

However, the old man looked genuinely scandalized by the insinuation. "Believe me young lady, apprentice Aerin is most definitely regretting his blunder right now. However, none of us ever expected such a thing to happen and he never intended to do you harm. For that reason, we can't place the harshest sentences on him in good faith."

Cassandra wasn't feeling particularly charitable at the moment. They were obviously biased, but her throat was already itching again and she'd rather not open her wounds again with more shouting.

Instead, she settled on giving the old sack of bones in front of her a fierce scowl, which he easily shrugged off.

"In any case, the biggest hurdle is not the magic itself, but rather your own world. I'll be frank; we know nothing about it – its position in the void, its path, its attunement to the hûbra and several other details that would be essential to opening a portal to your world and that we have no way of knowing. In short, it would take a miracle for you to return home. "

"But – but there's got to be a way! You have – you have magic! Christ, wizards are supposed to be able to do anything!" she cried before breaking into a coughing fit.

"Please, be mindful of your own injuries," he said mildly before continuing. "I appreciate your faith in our abilities, but there are limits to what we can do. Despite what the populace thinks of us, we are very much fallible men and women, not demigods."

Her anger surged at his words. "Then what good are you for? Just leave me alone," Cassandra spat out before shifting on her bed and turning her back on him, face twisting in pain from the movement.

Was her reaction been petty and childish perhaps? Yes, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Cassandra knew the old man was still sitting on that weathered wooden stool he'd pulled up when he'd come. He hadn't stood up yet, but the small sigh he then let out was impossible to misunderstand. However, Cassandra remained stubbornly silent and he left the room not long after that.

Now alone, Cassandra lied down on her bed in an attempt to rest but her thoughts were a raging maelstrom of disjointed thoughts keeping her awake as minutes slowly passed by in silence.

If these guys weren't even capable of sending her back, then what was the point? She knew nothing of their… magic and she had not a single drop of it according to their own words. Her only option was to rely on others to return to her own home and the only people with the means to help told her they couldn't. What then, what was she supposed to do?

She shouldn't be here. She should be in her two-bedroom flat in Balham with Alice, her flatmate, seeing a movie together or just finishing reading her ancient copy of Ten Little Niggers, not writhing in pain in a bed not her own! She should be doing her late evening shift at The Regent and saving some money to apply for a Master next year, not wondering if she'd ever see her family again!

Why her? Why?! She didn't belong in this place and yet she was stuck in this bed, maimed, crippled and ignorant of who these people were or anything that could help her! She couldn't do anything to fix her own problems and it was so… so…

No.

Cassandra took a shaky breath.

She had to stop thinking like that because once she started, there was no stopping it. She couldn't wallow in her own misery, wasting away until there was nothing left of her! No matter how hopeless it all looked, how uncertain everything in her life had become, she had to do something.

She needed to do something.

Turning her head to look at the mirror in one corner of the room, Cassandra hesitated. She knew sooner or later she'd have to confront the truth and yet, she didn't move. She wasn't sure of what she'd see once she stood in front of it and the uncertainty… it was terrifying, if only because there was a good chance her suspicions would be confirmed.

Some people were content in living while lying to themselves, but Cassandra knew she couldn't do that; she couldn't afford the luxury of ignoring such an issue. She couldn't let her own fear control her to such extent because…

Because fear is the mind killer.

Cassandra fidgeted under the blankets of her bed, still hesitant despite her own silent encouragements. Gathering all her courage, Cassandra finally threw the covers aside and moments later, wobbling legs touched the ground.

Wincing from the spikes of pain travelling up through her legs, she didn't think of her next action, she just did it. With a heave, she sent all her strength to her legs and pushed.

Growling in pain, Cassandra stood from the bed. The sudden change of position made her feel nauseous as her whole world spun around. Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited it out as the flickering colors under her eyelids stopped glowing and darkness became the only thing she could "see". Only a sharp pounding in her head was left.

Cassandra opened her eyes once again.

Her legs burned like nothing else but she was relieved that they were merely throbbing from her injuries and not bleeding like before. Even now, a week and half after she'd woken up, her wounds still looked all too raw and recent. It would take them time to fade.

She stumbled towards the mirror, which seemed to loom over Cassandra as she hobbled over to its position. Her steps were awkward – limping and uncomfortable to compensate for the constant agony of every step she took. Her body hurt like never before, but much as she wanted she couldn't curl up in a ball and rest, not when she'd finally decided to do this.

At long last, she reached the mirror and she placed her hands onto the frame with a tight grip, partially in reassurance that she'd reached her destination and partially to steady herself and not fall to the ground from the effort.

Her legs ached terribly and closing her eyes, Cassandra let the cool surface of the mirror's glass soothe the burning of her forehead when she leant her face on it. It was only to stop the shaking of her own body, but the woman was acutely aware of the tight lump in her throat, feeling as if she were standing at the edge of a bottomless pit while looking down.

After a moment, Cassandra lightly pushed against the mirror with a deep breath and stood in front of it, eyes still closed. The imperceptible shaking of her body wasn't due to any pain she could feel in her body and yet, it was still a pale imitation of the wild bucking within her chest.

Fear is the mind killer.

With no small amount of trepidation, Cassandra slowly opened her eyes and stared at the woman in front of her.

The first thing that grabbed her attention was her hair. It was a mess, a dull mane of brown locks with most finishing in frayed and split ends that framed the average features of her face. Said face had never really stood out to Cassandra: the nose was a tad too large, the cheekbones too low... the only remarkable thing she'd ever liked about her face was her striking, clear blue eyes. However, they were now overshadowed by the newest addition to her face.

Angry red lines, both thin and thick, crisscrossed all over it. Over her nose, over her cheeks, over her brow… there were only a scant few spots where her skin was clear, unmarred by the angry, jagged scars.

Scars.

The face staring at her with some sort of horrified rictus was still her own – but it was a chilling face now, marred with the proof that something incredibly horrible had happened to her.

Cassandra stared as trembling, equally scarred hands rose and traced the jagged line that started near her jaw line and zigzagged over to her nose. A dull throbbing erupted over her cheek but Cassandra paid it no mind, numb as she was.

She couldn't look away from the injuries. She… she…

Looking down with wide, bloodshot eyes, Cassandra couldn't avoid the small choked gasp that escaped her throat. The loose dark tunic they'd slipped her in was sleeveless and there was no way to miss the array of numerous lines traversing her arms, turning them into something that vaguely resembled a grotesque puzzle made out of arm parts.

Something bitter rose up her throat and Cassandra doubled over, heaving and hacking. Panic gripped her. She needed to get out of these clothes. She had to see. See her body – see them. This couldn't be real. This couldn't be happening to her. A nightmare, it had to be. Yes, an horrible nightmare.

Hyperventilating, Cassandra tried to grab the hems of the tunic and pull the tunic over her head, but her entire body screamed in protest and she wheezed from the agony, stopping immediately.

Shaking violently, she took a deep breath. Clarity slowly came back to her.

She couldn't get out of her clothes, but it wasn't necessary. If her arms looked like that… how would her entire torso look? Her mind, traitorous thing that it was, was quick to supply her with plenty of sickening imagery to answer the question and Cassandra couldn't suppress the grimace on her face.

She was lost in some god-forsaken place, cut off from her parents and her little brother Dani, cut off from her friends and with little hope of going back. As if that wasn't enough, she was surrounded by people she didn't know and who were capable of things she always considered fantasy.

And yet, the thing that brought her down to the floor, unmindful of how much her body protested, was the realization that she'd been marked; no matter where she went, the scars of her body would accompany her until the day she died.

Scarred, maimed… that's what she was now. She never asked for this and yet, she'd have to live with such reminder on her skin from now on whether she liked it or not. It felt like a deeply intimate part of her had been mindlessly violated.

'I look like a monster,' Cassandra thought, numb.

Her eyes couldn't look away from the sight in front of her: a monster straight out of a children's fairy tale; the woman with horrifying scars, carved up as if she were a piece of meat. A monster that never wanted her fate but could do nothing to change it.

Cassandra blinked furiously, struggling to keep the tears from her eyes but her efforts proved meaningless; when the first sob racked over body, nothing could stop the flood. On the floor of her room, Cassandra finally broke down and the tears flowed freely.

Fear is the mind killer.

The Litany never mentioned that hopelessness could serve just as well.

"God… Oh, God…"

xxOOOxx

Days passed by.

As life went on around her, Cassandra kept to herself, sullen and morose. Very few people came to visit: Aerin –the Bastard– visited her the most and a few people checked her bandages regularly and soothed her pains with their… magic.

'Magic is real. It's not fantasy here,' she thought from time to time and she couldn't help but shudder when remembering that the scars she had were also the result of magic.

Old man Cyne sometimes stopped by as well; once, he'd been accompanied by a middle-aged guy called Lyram. Apparently, he was Master Lyram, just like Cyne, but he hadn't said a thing and he'd never showed up again.

Cassandra was glad for that. The intense stare of his grey eyes as he regarded her was nothing short of fucking creepy and it had left her feeling very uncomfortable.

Regardless, her injuries had forced her to be bedridden so far, especially since she forced herself when she looked in the mirror… but that was fine with her. With little to do and even less enthusiasm to go outside, her own thoughts were the only reliable distraction Cassandra had, apart from looking at the world outside her room through the window next to her bed.

She could only see the end of a mountain range and a small stretch of land with snow-covered trees. Beyond that, water and since there was no end in sight, Cassandra assumed it was some kind of sea or an ocean. If she strained her eyes, she could spot a small point of light far away into the ocean; during the nights, the point of light became a bright beacon.

It reminded her of those summer nights when she and Dani would stay up during a thunderstorm and watch as lightning lit up the dark sky. God, what would he be doing now? What about her parents, for that matter? How long until they realized she was missing? Her father would go frantic and her mother would try to keep calm but she worried about Dani's reaction.

Annoying little shit that he could be, he'd been really excited for the two-week vacation to Italy she'd planned for them both and Cassandra would be lying if she said she hadn't been looking forward to it too. But now–

Resolute knocks on the door brought Cassandra out of her thoughts. Turning her head, she watched as the Bastard slipped inside, giving her a nod of acknowledgement. He… Cassandra didn't know what to think of him, the guy with the ever-present dark bags under his eyes.

She'd made abundantly clear she hated his guts the first days after she woke up and they'd told her what happened… but much as she tried, it was hard to hold onto that blinding rage and with each passing day, her resentment drained out of her bit by bit. She didn't know how to feel about that. He'd been the one to get her here, almost killing her… but he'd visited her every day without fault despite her outbursts and he'd apologized for that absolute mess, even if he'd been kinda an asshole when doing so.

Well… no one was perfect.

"What's that?"

He looked up in mild surprise when she spoke and though his reaction miffed her, Cassandra had to admit it was to be expected. She hadn't replied to any of his attempts to he engage in conversation whenever he visited and he eventually stopped trying, simply giving her some company.

However, there was only so much sullen silence she could bear.

His eyes followed the direction her finger pointing to the roll of parchment in his hands and connecting the dots, a light dusting of pink colored his cheeks. Without saying anything, he quickly brought a glowing hand up and Cassandra had to congratulate herself when her flinch wasn't as pronounced as before. She'd take whatever victories she could get.

"What is that?" she repeated once they could communicate properly, curious at his reaction.

"This is… a hobby of mine. I like to draw maps," he told her, only the tiniest bit embarrassed.

Cassandra gave him a deadpan stare, but he merely coughed, valiantly trying to hold her gaze.

"Maps."

"Yes."

"You draw maps as a hobby," she repeated, unable to keep the disbelief entirely out of her voice.

He gave her a vaguely irritated look. "I said that, didn't I? I enjoy doing it, okay? It helps me relax."

Cassandra raised her hands in an attempt to placate him as her lips curled into an amused grin. Even that much hurt. "Alright alright, no need to get defensive. I was just curious – so that's one of yours, then?"

The Bastard looked suspicious of her, but Cassandra was honest in her interest. In her defense, she couldn't remember anyone who liked to draw maps as a hobby. It was just amusing.

"Yes, this is my latest project." They fell silent then, each not quite sure what to say after that until he seemed to make his mind up about something and he held it up. "Would you… like to take a look at it?"

Cassandra's eyebrows shot up to her hairline in surprise; she hadn't expected that. Sending a dubious look to the parchment in his hands, she took a moment to consider the question. Did she want to look at it? It was just a map, but…

"Okay."

The parchment had that distinctive smell of old books she liked. Smiling softly despite herself, Cassandra unfurled the roll and was greeted by the sight of unknown lands and unfamiliar islands.

Cassandra took the time to inspect every trace and outline drawn onto the parchment but it only confirmed her fears: she recognized nothing of this map, effectively crushing whatever remaining hopes she had of this being just a bad dream.

'I guess this is what Dorothy must have felt...'

"This is… huh – I don't really know much about maps. It's incomplete, right?"

"Of course, I haven't finished yet. So what do you think?" He looked especially interested to hear her opinion.

"It looks good, I guess? I just don't recognize any of these places," Cassandra muttered, trying to hold down the rising lump in her throat. She gritted her teeth, clenching the covers with her hands.

His eyes widened in realization. "Of course, I should have remembered. Do you want me to give you a brief explanation of everything?"

"… Alright."

And with that simple agreement, the Bast - no… Aerin started telling her of every place marked in the map: she learnt of the Akkalan continent, the map's eastern landmass and of the Imperium that ruled over there, both named after Akkala, the Goddess-Queen that descended from the heavens to guide them to enlightenment.

She learnt of Archades, the smallest continent south of Akkalan and of the Naval Confederacy that controlled its lands, a loose coalition with the sole interest of protecting their independence.

She learnt of Treumenica, the westernmost continent divided between numerous monarchical kingdoms, like Herreus or Liboria with its Slaburg Dynasty, and all of them locked in a veiled struggle to control the others.

And lastly, she learnt of the Simadara archipelago, nestled in the Walled Ocean between Akkalan and Treumenica; a smuggler's haven with a disorganized government at best and a squabbling pit of backstabbing scum at worst, according to Aerin's words.

"So where are we exactly in this map? What is this place exactly, anyway?" she asked.

In a mocking gesture of grandiosity, Aerin swept his arms outwards. "In reverse order – you are currently in the Most Ancient and Esteemed Institution of Natural Practices, the Crystal Tower," he explained with fake solemnity.

Despite herself, Cassandra snorted. "Natural Practices?"

"Something of a misnomer. In layman terms, magic," he helpfully supplied. "The technical term would be magiachilite, but magic's simpler; some of the older fossils that pass themselves as Masters frown on such bastardization, but it's not like they can enforce such opinion."

Magic…

Ignoring the painful tingling that ran through her body, she pointed at the map. "So where is this Crystal Tower?"

"See that building up north in Treumenica? That's us, that's the Crystal Tower."

Cassandra didn't take long in locating it. It was an isolated building in the map, placed very close to the coast, which was drawn with several fjords of irregular borders that looked more like savage cuts into the earth made with no finesse, only with the intent to tear it up.

'Just like my scars,' she thought before she quickly shut down that line of thinking. Morbid as it was, she couldn't let such mindset take hold.

"You guys are in the arse end of nowhere. Are you monks or something?" He rolled her eyes at that, but Cassandra didn't see why: it was a legitimate question. The robes they wore were loose and wide-sleeved and with the ornate patterns she'd seen on them… they very well could be some sort of monk's habit.

"Despite what the simpering psychopaths of the Church would have you believe, religion had no role in the appearance of magic. No, the Tower was built here, isolated from almost everyone, due to the location itself." Aerin pointed at the smaller landmass closest to the Tower's landmark. "See that large island up there next to us? That's Magic's Bay, where Sigil Tower still stands to this day."

"And I assume it has something to do with this?"

"Of course." he said with a nod. "Folk tales say this is where Mittur reborn clashed with Asfvarthal, the Demon's Heir, and ended up frozen in an eternal clash from which magic was spread over the world. To this day, we give thanks to humble Mittur who gave us the gift of magic at the cost of his life," Aerin recited, though it sounded like something born from rote repetition to Cassandra. "No one can get close to the island due to the violent churning of the waters around it and the constant discharges of raw magic, but the closer someone gets to it, the stronger their magic is."

"And of course, as people who study magic, it was obvious where you'd set up shop."

He gave her a pleased grin. "Exactly."

It made sense to Cassandra. She wasn't sure she believed what the folk tales Aerin mentioned recounted, but the individuals he spoke about sounded more like semi-mythical figures born from legend than anything else, just like the oldest kings of Mesopotamia or perhaps more fittingly, king Arthur.

They might have existed at some point, but it sounded very much like whatever conflict they had eventually grew into a religious myth. Perhaps the Church Aerin had referenced had something to do with that?

Regardless, she didn't pry further. He usually dropped bits of information whenever they talked – places he'd visited and people he'd met. None of it was familiar to her but she didn't say anything about it; it was obviously not conscious on his part but she never mustered the nerve to ask for clarifications whenever it happened. Perhaps it was foolish of her to ignore it, but the entire thing was unnerving to her. It was easier to deny the truth, even though she knew it couldn't last.

Aerin told her a bit more of Tonophria, the world she now lived in, but he eventually stood to leave. However, faint music reached their ears the moment he opened the door. It was hard to make out, but Cassandra was pretty sure it was a slow piece, with long notes that hung in the air.

"Oh, they must be practicing their attunement," Aerin mentioned offhandedly, peering into the hallway.

"You do music here? I thought it was a school for magic," she asked with a surprised look. Actually, now that he mentioned it, hadn't she heard music from time to time before?

"Yes and no, music helps us in attuning our magic in order to reach hûbra. Actually, do you want to come and watch? It will be easier to show you."

Cassandra hesitated. Did she want to take him up on the offer? Maybe not, but she realized that the spartan décor of the room would simply mean more hours of staring out the window. Unable to speak or read their language without their help, she couldn't pass the time reading books and there was nothing else to occupy her mind with except for thinking.

After being cooped up in this tiny room for close to three weeks with almost nothing to do, it definitely beat staying here.

With determination that she didn't quite feel, Cassandra quickly threw aside the covers and slipped her feet into the shoes they'd brought her, a strange style of sandal with several vertical stripes that clamped onto each side of the feet to hold the thing in place.

It was a snug and comfortable fit, so she didn't think much about it.

Standing up, her body only made a mild jerking motion when a familiar uncomfortable tingle ran up her legs. The pain from the wounds faded a bit more with each passing day, but it still acted up regularly. However, she had already decided to go and she wasn't going to back down now. At least, she could stand the pain better now.

"Let's go," she declared and with those simple words, they left the room that had been Cassandra's entire world ever since she'd arrived.

Despite her initial reluctance, Cassandra couldn't suppress her curiosity. As their steps echoed through the empty hallways, her eyes roamed over every nook and cranny, taking in everything they could see: the corridors were large and spacious and the many windows carved into the stone walls allowed plenty of light into the building.

Looking out of one of them, Cassandra was greeted to the sight of a sheer cliff of rock, the stillness of a frozen river down below and irate gusts of icy cold wind that buffeted her face.

She quickly reared back in shock, teeth chattering. Sending Aerin a scowl of displeasure, she rubbed her cheeks to bring blood black into them.

"Since most of this area is located in the middle of the Glacial Ring, the founders of Crystal Tower quickly ensured the building would stay warm at all times to protect against the yearlong frigid temperatures."

After that explanation, Cassandra decided to give them a wide berth. 'Bastard, he could've warned me first at least!'

"Where are we going exactly?"

They hadn't stumbled upon anyone else so far but since the sun was still high, she guessed most people were still in their lessons. This was a school, after all. In any case, the music's volume had been steadily growing as they walked so at least they were going in the right direction.

"To the main Hall of this floor. Students practicing their attunement usually go there – there's always a group of us at any given moment," Aerin replied.

It was strange, Cassandra considered as she resumed her inspection. Nothing in the architecture of this place gave the impression of being a school of magic… or even a different world from Earth. Really, if she didn't know better, she'd have assumed it was some kind of historical building from the Middle Ages still in use.

'But it's not. It's the farthest possible thing from that,' she thought with a scowl.

The two kept on walking for several minutes and they eventually started seeing a few other people walking around the halls. If it wasn't for the fact they were studying magic, Cassandra's brain would've pegged them as unremarkable.

Just like Aerin's, their distinctive clothing was comprised of cloaks, robes and other types of cloths with ornate patterns woven onto them, but other than that they looked exactly like people from Earth: there were men and women in equal measure, some younger and some older; some had blond hair and others had manes of dark hair; some had black skin and some were fair skinned. All in all, none of them would have stood out too much back home.

However, she couldn't miss the shocked and horrified glances sent her way and though she tried to ignore it, it didn't take long for Cassandra to start feeling self-conscious. It was obvious what they were looking at and it was… Her cheeks heated up from shame and mortification, an unpleasant flush that spread to the entirety of her neck.

"They're staring at me. Why are they staring at me?" she hissed at Aerin when there wasn't anyone around and she absolutely hated how her voice hitched for a moment. She had no reason to feel humiliated!

"Forgive me, I should have thought something like this would happen. Most of us know everyone by sight at the very least so your appearance is bound to attract attention." Aerin gave her a vaguely contrite look, but she couldn't even tell how genuine his gesture was and it was really annoying.

"Just… just let's go."

However, the damage was already done. They were looking at her as if she was something to be pitied; they weren't even being subtle! She didn't need that shit on top of everything else!

As Cassandra fumed in silence, they eventually reached a large room which served as the main Hall of this floor, according to Aerin.

The first thing that caught her attention was the stone staircases that flanked both sides of the room, leading up and down to different floors. Next to them, huge tapestries of landscapes hung on the walls… but looking at them, Cassandra didn't miss how the water flowed freely or how the treetops swayed to the gentle action of an inexistent wind.

Overwhelmed, Cassandra gulped and directed her attention to the center of the Hall, only to be further shocked from what she saw next.

In the middle of the room were seated a handful of people in cushioned chairs and armchairs, arrayed in a haphazard formation without any real rhyme or reason. Some were just like the people they'd passed by, but others… others were completely different.

She could see a girl with a very obvious purple hue to her skin, with unnaturally sharp facial angles that gave her a haunting, gaunt look despite the peaceful expression on her face. With unnerving long and slender fingers, she held an elongated piece of dark wood that looked like a flute with two connected mouthpieces and quite a lot of finger holes.

Wide-eyed, Cassandra watched as a red-haired man of pale complexion directed the six arms he had in an harmonious choreography of movement, playing a bizarre instrument that resembled a guitar only in the most vague of terms… except for the fact it had three sets of strings instead of just one, all located in different parts of the instrument.

A mature woman whose robes shifted in shape and color with strange flickering held between her knees what could only be a bastardized set of bongo drums, bouncing her hands rhythmically over the strange sigils etched in a metal disk along drums' rim which glowed and produced a wide range of notes as she struck them.

Startled, Cassandra watched as her dark hair flickered to a long ponytail of blonde hair and her features changed to youthful ones for a moment before changing back.

Cassandra could only stand there in shock as they all played their instruments with their eyes closed and even though it should have been a chaotic cacophony of mismatched sounds, all the sounds somehow blended together into one single melody of various layers, woven one over another.

There were no mistakes made, no mistaken note that contrasted sharply against the result of several people playing music in concert; there was only surety in their movements as they created music unlike anything Cassandra had ever heard before: a slow tune of long, deliberate notes that hung in the air before fading.

It struck a chord in Cassandra. Despite the solemnity, there was an uplifting element to the song that resonated deeply within her to the point tears welled up in her eyes… but this time, she made no move to stop them.

For the first time in a long time, she felt much lighter, as if a great weight had been suddenly taken off her shoulders.

"It's beautiful…" she murmured, blinking but unable to look away from the musicians. There were other people milling about in the Hall, listening to the music, but Cassandra only had eyes for the musicians doing their magic.

"It certainly is. Music is one of the wonders of this world. Notice how their music weaves together in perfect synchrony? That's a skill only the Masters and the oldest apprentices can accomplish: to immerse in yourself deep in your own attunement practice and yet be able to reach out and join the others as one single voice," Aerin explained, a soft smile on his face. "It's shame you don't have magic, you simply can't feel the beauty of it."

Cassandra could barely understand the importance of such accomplishment but she kept listening, even though Aerin's thoughtless remark earned him a tart glare that quickly faded in favor of more pressing concerns. "How can that man do anything at all with those arms? There are six of them," she questioned with a dumbfounded look.

"It's magic, Cassandra. When magic was spread all over the world, people eventually started changing – they were born with different traits. More arms like Pamex over there, different set of eyes, unusual color of skin… They all are signs that the individual has been given a stronger connection to magic," he explained, looking away from the silent musicians for a moment to glance at her.

"But… how can he even live with them?" Never mind artificial limbs, the man had been born with them.

Aerin shrugged. "We adapted. We learned to live with it, some better than others. Magic wasn't going to go away, what else could we do?"

It was such a deceptively simple answer to something that boggled her mind that Cassandra could only look at him in utter surprise.

'He makes it sound so simple.'

But perhaps that was the beauty of it: to break down something as complex as life into small little blocks. Do this or do not. Accept this or do not. With such a life-changing event hoisted on them, what else could they do but shrug and adapt?

As she considered his words, Aerin suddenly put a hand on her shoulder, shifting her attention to him. "Come, I wanted to talk with you about something."

With some confusion, she allowed him to lead them to an alcove carved into the stone wall outside the Hall. It had open windows that overlooked the snowy mountains outside and two small stools for sitting. Once they arrived, Aerin turned around with a grave expression on his face.

Seeing the seriousness of his demeanor, Cassandra tensed ever so slightly. "What is it?"

He didn't answer immediately, obviously considering his words. If anything, he looked nervous and hesitant. "I didn't want to drag you into this, but... I need your help," he eventually revealed with reluctance.

Cassandra gaped. "My help? You realize I've got no magic, right? What could I even help you with?"

His face twisted into a scornful glare. "I have reasons to suspect that Lyram – the Master overseeing my Calling when you appeared – sabotaged said Calling. I know I followed every instruction correctly and put every failsafe possible in place, but the ritual still backfired. That bastard has had it in for me ever since I dared question the validity of his application of the Karlessian theorem to a loopback-fed Calling and I'm sure he tampered with mine to spite me," Aerin growled, not even noticing how Cassandra stared in bafflement.

"That's great and all buddy, but my point still stands. What could I even do?"

"I don't know," he admitted, "but Lyram has a lot of respect in most circles of the Tower. Roping some student into going against him is unwise, but you're an outsider. He can't leverage anything against you and you'll be free to move freely eventually due to your lack of magic," he explained.

"So what, you want to use my shitty situation to your advantage and bail your sorry ass out of your fuck up?" she asked with a glare, wholly unamused by the situation.

"It's not like that, woman! Everything in the Calling was set up with utmost care, I swear; I know better than going into something like that half-cooked! I'm telling you, I'm sure that Lyram had something to do with it. Think about it: if I'm right and he sabotaged the Calling, he is the one responsible for bringing you here."

"Yeah well, what if you are the one mistaken?" Cassandra asked, crossing her arms over her chest with an angry frown. "Besides, what if I'm the one to get into trouble?"

"I'm not, I'm certain of it. And you have nothing to fear, if something goes wrong, they will punish me, not you – they have no real power over you and I'll make sure to tell them I coerced you into this, anyway. Will you help me, please?" Aerin didn't look particularly pleased to have to beg her for help, but he was apparently humble and desperate enough to go for it.

Cassandra considered his request. She'd rather stay entirely out of this kind of power plays. She had no time to play spy amongst the members of a place she knew nothing about… but on the other hand, she couldn't stand doing nothing forever and besides, that Lyram guy had been a creep. Cassandra wouldn't be surprised if Aerin turned out to be right.

Perhaps things really could be simple, as long as you wanted them to be.

"Alright, I'll help you – but I want something in return," she quickly said when she saw the relief on his face. He still nodded eagerly regardless.

"I'd expect nothing else. What is it?"

"First, I can't keep moping in my room. I need to do something or I'll go mad. I want to learn; if you want my help, you'll teach me about Tonophria, about its lands and its people in return. I also want to learn the main language. I don't want to rely on that spell of yours and if I have to start living in here, I need to know."

"That's a sensible request. Teaching you Akkalanis might be tricky, but I'm confident I can give you the basics and we can go from there," Aerin acquiesced.

"And finally, you'll help me find a way to send me back home," she finished, narrowing her eyes when he winced. "Is there a problem? Because that is non-negotiable."

"Depends on what you consider a problem. I'll do what I can, but you've got to understand that it's very likely we won't find anything. I don't think we've ever had a case such as yours."

"I don't care, I'm not the one asking for help. I'm not going to sit down and wait for a miracle to happen and besides, you owe me. You got me here somehow, it's only fair you help me find a way home," she told him, daring him to deny it with her eyes. "So, deal?"

"Yes, of course. On my honor as a Toorkow, I shall help you and all that," Aerin announced as he quickly crossed one arm over his chest before bringing it down.

"Great! Then perhaps we can start right away," she declared, moving to sit on one of the stools. Her legs were already starting to hurt too much and they'd thank her for it. "Let's see… tell me more about this music magic?"

Perhaps she was stuck in some sort of fantasy Land of Oz isolated from everyone she knew, but only Cassandra herself could decide how to react to that. Maybe it was just a matter of accepting it and adapting, as Aerin had said. She wasn't so naïve as to think it would be easy at all, but sometimes, maybe a single step forward was all it took to get everything moving.

She had to believe in that.

BiopunkOtrera · May 21, 2018

[ ] Termagant

Genre: [Original/Fantasy/Comedy/Genderbend/Overpowered Protagonist/Crackfic/Isekai]

[Disclaimer: This story is meant to be a comedy and not to be taken seriously. I expect that will be obvious, but just wanted to make that clear at the beginning just to be on the safe side.]

August woke up to find himself lying on his back. It was very hot that day and he was very wet. August opened his eyes and saw a bright, hot sun beaming down on him from right overhead. He felt water all around him, so he knew that he must still be at the beach, lying on the shore where the tide rolled in. Except, strangely, he didn't feel sand under him. Instead it felt like he was lying on a flat piece of stone. August bolted up into a sitting position and looked around in surprise. He wasn't at the beach anymore. Instead he was lying in the base of a shallow stone pool that was placed in the middle of a courtyard that was full of plants. There were trees, grass and bushes planted all around him; and behind them he could see four walls that surrounded the garden (or whatever it was) on all sides forming a rectangle. The walls were ten feat high and made of smooth, tan stone. One of them had a door in the center of it and there was no roof at the top which explained how it could be that there was bright sunlight shining down on top of him.

"Huh…"

It was all August could think to say as he looked around the courtroom in confusion. It was unlike any place that he had ever remembered visiting before. August tried to remember how he had got there. He remembered going to the beach and… he may have lied down to take a nap on the sand? Or did he go swimming? August tried to think of it but for some reason he could not remember what had happened no matter how much he tried. He sat down in the pool (it didn't matter if he got wet because he was already wet to begin with) and closed his eyes trying to concentrate and think of what could have happened. But even then nothing came to his mind. Everything after him arriving at the beach was a blank spot in his memory. It was as if if something had stolen that part of his mind away leaving just a blank spot in its place.

Nothing like that had ever happened to him before and that scared him. His heart started beating a little quickly. Opening his eyes and standing up, August decided that if he couldn't remember what had happened he could at least try to figure out where he was now. He saw the door in one of the walls, he thought that he'd look outside to see where the weird place he was in was. And also so that he could begin searching for a doctor immediately. He was starting to be worried. But before he could leave, August noticed something even weirder. He noticed that there were bits of red around the edges of his peripheral vision. He had been seeing the red all along of course, but he had been so surprised by his surroundings that he hadn't really started paying attention it until just then. He reached up and brushed it with his hand. When he did he realized that it was silk or something like it. Then something else that had been confusing him clicked in his mind, August wasn't wearing his swim suit anymore. He could feel the clothes clinging to his back because of how wet they were. The red was just part of whatever outfit that he was wearing at that point. When had changed his clothes?

August barely had time to begin wondering what that meant, when the door in the wall opened and a strange looking man walked in. He had dark skin and several scars over his clean shaven, handsome face. But that wasn't the strange part. The strange part was that he was wearing metal armor with an opened face helm and had a sheathed curved sword at his side.

"Huh…"

August said again as he was still unable to think of anything else. He had reached the point at which he had absolutely no clue what was going on anymore. The man seemed confused as well. He stopped, stared at August in shock and his mouth opened into a wide 'o' shape. He stammered out something unintelligible before managing to say a complete sentence.

"So, it is true then?"

"What's true then?" August asked him. August's voice sounded weird, but that might be because of… he had no idea what could be wrong with his voice. "I have no clue what's going on."

"Are you the one that was spoken about?" The man's eyes were wide with awe and surprise. August was starting to be creeped out (especially because the
apparently crazy man had a sword).

"How should I know? I have no idea how I even got here."

The man nodded his head then gave a quick trembling bow.

"Yes, that's just what I had thought that you would say. I must go for a moment, I will be right back, please stay here."

The man left through the door that he had came through. That left August to wonder about all of the nonsensical things that were happening that day. Why did his voice sound much different then it had last time he had spoken? And thinking about that made him start to think about how he had gotten changed into a new outfit without remembering it. August reached up to his face and figured out that he was wearing some sort of head wrap that covered his head all around except over his eyes. He was also wearing a veil of all things that covered his face and was wrapped around the back of his head. August reached into his head dress and felt around the back of it causing him to realize something that was strange even by the current day's standards. His hair, which had been short that morning, was very long but was all contained in his outfit. His hair currently reached down to about the bottom of his shoulder blades. That was so surprising that his mind went blank for a moment. It was the first thing that he had experienced that wasn't just surprising but completely impossible.

Am I dreaming? As soon as that thought entered his head, August started to feel much calmer. He realized that he had been on the verge of panic before then. But as soon as he thought about the possibility that he could just be in the middle of a dream, he started to feel a lot better and the panic left him. August took in a few deep breaths and exhaled to calm himself down. He remembered a dream he had several years ago before he had taken an important test. He had dreamed that he had missed the test. That freaked him out, but then he had thought to himself 'this is so stupid, I must be dreaming' and sure enough that was the case. August thought that it must also be what was going. He was simply in the middle of a rather realistic dream. August looked down and saw that in the dream he was wearing a featureless long sleeved red outfit that completely covered his body except for his hands. It jutted out in a weird way that seemed very seemed to August. It took his addled brain a few seconds to work out that what he was looking at were breasts. Feeling embarrassed, August poked his chest and, sure enough, he now had breasts. It had taken him a while to notice because their shape was obscured by the loose fitting red outfit he was wearing. He had noticed a strange weight on his chest when he had stood up earlier. Feeling nervous, even though he was pretty confident that he was dreaming August did a quick check of his genitals that confirmed what he had suspected. He had somehow become a she. August laughed a little when she figured that out. This wasn't the first time that she had a dream like that.

Suddenly the door opened again, and a crowd of people walked in. The man with the sword from earlier was with them and there were a few other armored figures as well along with about half a dozen women each of whom wore a red or teal outfit that completely covered their bodies except for their hands along with a veil obscuring there faces except for the eyes. August was apparently wearing the same thing as they were. Everyone of the gathered crowd seemed shocked and stared with wide eyes at August. August wasn't sure why since she seamed to look not much different then any of the gathered women. but then again it was all (hopefully) a dream so she didn't expect anything to make sense. Was she dreaming? It didn't feel like a dream to her, but it didn't feel anything like real life either.

"So it is true?" one of the women in a teal outfit said. "She is here now?"

"Is the sorceress coming?" someone else asked from the back of the crowd asked.

"She'll be here soon." The man with the sword from earlier said.

"High everybody." August said interrupting them. They all became dead silent. "Um… one question. Is this all just a dream? Because I'm pretty sure I'm just dreaming right now." Usually when August asked, the people in her dreams were very open about the fact that she was dreaming. So she assumed that the same would be the case this time.

"I don't think so." The man with the sword she had seen earlier that day said. "This all seems real to me. And besides, if you are dreaming then what does that make me? Anyway, the sorceress is coming to speak with you. She can explain it all better then I can."

August was about to say something else, but then the crowd parted and a woman, presumably the Sorceress walked into the courtyard. She had dark skin like everyone else that August had seen so far, but otherwise looked much different from the other gathered women. Unlike everyone else, most of her body was uncovered. She wore what looked pretty much like a bikini except made of some sort of gold material and with a golden veil over her face. She was barefoot and had several golden anklets on her left ankle and had a golden headdress of some sort over her long brown hair. She also wore a small silver ring on her left hand. She seemed to be in her late forties (though it was hard to tell exactly since August could only see her eyes and forehead) and was rather overweight. August stammered when the sorceress walked in and couldn't manage to say anything coherent.

"Ah yes, you have arrived," the Sorceress said as she walked forward "I suppose I must introduce myself, I am Nalsa the Sorceress of this kingdom. May I have your name?"

"I'm uh… um. August. My name is August. Um… are you guys sure that this whole thing isn't just a weird dream?"

As far as August was concerned that was the only way that any of this could make the least amount of sense. On the other hand it felt too real to be a dream. But on the other other hand dreams rarely felt unreal when she was having them.

"No, this is no dream Aguste." Nalsa said. "And I'm glad that it is not because now that you're here there is hope for our land after all."

"Huh?"

"As you must already know Termagant is in danger and you are destined to save it Aguste. Before you meet the Sultan would you mind a test of your strength?" August scratched her head in confusion.

"Um… I guess so. I'm still thinking that this has got to be a dream."

Nalsa laughed and then she gently tapped the ring she was wearing on one of her fingers. There was a bright flash of light and a human shaped mass of flame appeared in the air next to her. It gave off no smoke. That was the point at which August became confident that she was just dreaming.

"My djinn will carry us to the place where the test will begin." The sorceress explained. "My apologies for this, we just want to make sure that you're what the legends make you out to be before we begin. I'd hate for you to die in the fight if such a thing was unnecessary."

"Okay, but…"

The djinn grabbed the Sorceress with one arm and August with the other. It didn't seem to give off any heat. Then the djinn flew off, literally. August screamed in surprise as she looked down and saw that they were rapidly flying away from a city and into what looked like a sandy desert. After the initial shock passed though, she started to enjoy it. The experience of flying did remind her of a few other dreams that she had before. But the flight lasted only a few seconds before the djinn dumped them onto the desert's sandy floor before flying off again. A short time later it came back carrying the man with the sword and a women in a turquoise outfit. August stood up from where she had fallen and brushed sand off herself.

"Where are we now?"
August asked while looking around the desert in confusion.

"We are in the Great Desert near the ruins of the ancient Niatpieg civilization." The Sorceress explained "I'm surprised that you didn't know that already."

August looked and, sure enough, there were broken stone pieces of an ancient structure peaking out from the sand. Other then that the entire place was a barren wasteland for miles around. It was also hot and windy but the veil and headdress she was wearing helped to alleviate it.

"So what exactly is the test that you were talking about?" Since August had no clue what was going on anymore and believed that it was all just a dream, she had decided just to run with all of this and see what happened.

"As you are no doubt aware…"

"I have no clue what's going on here."

"Okay then… The Niatpieg were a very magically advanced civilization I wish for you to test your powers against one of their creations. A great War Sphinx" As soon as the Sorceress finished speaking the sand began to shake and move in golden waves as August felt a vibration from deep below.

"What is…" Her question was answered when a giant arm ending in a cat-like paw broke out of the desert's surface. It was made of rough stone and was covered in blue symbols that glowed with a soft light that was just barely visible under the bright sun. Then a massive head pushed itself out of the ground as well. It was human looking but made of stone and the left half off it was missing. The sphinx finally pulled itself all the way to the surface causing an avalanche of sand to fall from its body. It was a huge monster with a stone lion body, one wing (the other seamed to be missing) and it was covered all along its body with glowing blue writing.

"You… you want me to fight that thing?"

August took an involuntary step backwards.

"Relax," The Sorceress said with a laugh "I have put a spell on it to prevent it from harming anyone. Daeda, would you please demonstrate?"

"Certainly." The man with the sword said as he walked towards the sphinx with a smile on his face. He stood right next to the monster, and then with a loud sound like grinding stone it raised its arm and then crushed him with it's paw using a lightning fast movement that August could just barely see. Blood flew everywhere and splattered all over August and Nalsa. August screamed, fell backwards, keeled forward and got her veil off just in time in order to avoid getting vomit all over it as she puked onto the sand. If it was all just a dream then clearly it had become an outright nightmare.

"Well…" the Sorceress said. "I wasn't expecting that."

The sphinx turned to August and raised its arm for a moment, only to stop. August thought she saw surprise in the things one black marble eye as it looked at its arm. Then its arm snapped off and fell to the desert. The sphinx exploded in a massive burst that knocked August and the Sorceress back. Bits of stone were thrown everywhere (somehow missing the two of them) and the main body of the thing fell down as the light disappeared from the writing all over it. It crashed into the sound with a loud sound that shook the desert and it sent up a plume of sand into the air

"It's true!" The Sorceress said as she hastily got up to her feat. "You are the one!"

"What did I do?"

"You defeated the War Sphinx, we must go back to speak to the Sultan."

"I made the Sphinx explode?"

"Yes! Come on, we must be off at once. I have to report this to the Sultan. He will be delighted to hear about it"

The Djinn picked them back up and flew off again leaving the women in turquoise standing in the middle of the desert. This time as they were flying August saw that they were heading towards a palace that was located on top of a hill in the middle of a walled city. The palace was mostly made of tan stone, but was decorated with turrets and blue domes and was surrounded by a wall on all sides. The courtyard that August had woken up in was on the inside, connected to the outer wall. The djinn didn't stop there though. Instead it headed towards a dome shaped structure near the top of the palace and flew in through an open window. The Djinn dropped them off in a large chamber full of people before flying off through the window. August wiped her mouth and then hastily pushed her veil back up over her face. She didn't want to accidentally offend the sensibilities of whatever this place was. The room that she was in then was a massive rectangular chamber with a rug running down the middle of it and elaborate tapestries along the left and right walls. There were dozens of people in there, and guards carrying spears standing against the walls. At the front of the room was a golden throne that sat on top of a circular stone platform. Sitting on the throne was a man that August presumed was the Sultan. He was an old man with deep laugh lines and dark skin. He had a full beard and was wearing an ornate golden robe with a thin gold circlet on his head.

"It is true!" the Sorceress said taking a step towards him and giving a quick bow. "This woman really is the one that we have been waiting on."

"Are you sure about that?" August asked. "I still really don't get what is actually going on here."

The Sultan nodded his head and smiled.

"After all these years, who would have thought that it would happen? I had almost given up on hope. But now there is no reason for me to do so. I trust your word on this Nalsa, thank you."

August also took a step towards the Sultan and rather awkwardly bowed.

"Hello, could you please tell me what's going on here? I'm still very confused."

"After twenty years you've come!" the Sultan said as he stared into space. "I never thought that I would have seen it with my eyes. It appears that I will have a kingdom to give to our descendants after all. Termagant will not fall as long as… what is your name again good lady?"

"August?"

"Termagant will not fall as long as we have August here with us!"
Upon hearing this everyone in the room cheered and the guards all raised their swords into the air. That made August feel happy and confused at the same time.

"So um… what am I supposed to…"

August tried to say something, but the Sultan interrupted her.

"Even now the Rakshasa king, that vile demon, is laying siege to our fair city of Constant. The monster's army is made up of three thousand Rakshasa demons who are each as strong as a dozen normal men. That's the equivalent of an army of thirty-six thousand humans. He also has almost a hundred War Hellephants and his own squadron of personal guard each of whom is said to be as far above a Rakshasa demon as a Rakshasa demon is beyond a normal man. And of course, there is the Rakshasa king himself whose one eye paralyzes anyone who sees it."
Suddenly August's throat felt dry.

"So… you guys expect me to fight all of that…"

"We could not hope to defeat this monster on our own. As I need not tell you already three of our cities have been burnt to the ground, destroying much of our art and scientific knowledge along with thousands of lives." A single tear slid down the sultan's face as he spoke. "But now all that pain shall be avenged when August leads our army to victory."

August barely knew how to respond to that.

"Wait what?

"Tomorrow she shall take a contingent of five hundred of my best soldiers and twenty Djinn and will do battle against the Rakshasa King and his hordes."

Everyone except for August cheered after he said that.

"But tonight, she must rest and there will be a feast to celebrate our coming victory! Now, I beseech everyone to wait for a few hours because we didn't know that the Mighty One was coming today so we do not currently have a feast prepared for this event."

That seamed to be a que because when he said it one of the women wearing teal ran out of the room through a door in the back, presumably to get some people to work on the feast. The Sultan stood to his feet, it took him awhile as if standing up was an effort for him.

"One more thing needs to be done, there are some items that the Mighty One must be given so that she will have the edge against the Rakshasa King. Her own strength should be sufficient, but I believe that it is always better to overdo things then to underdo them."

The sultan tapped a ring on his right hand and three djinn appeared around him. They flew out through the windows and came back a few seconds later carrying things. The first carried a small pillow on which rested a tiny silver signet ring with the symbol of a crescent moon on it. The djinn presented the ring to August and, after hesitating for a second, she put it on her own finger.

"The signet ring will let you summon and command Moonbeam. She is the strongest djinn in Termagant's arsenal."

"Thank you." August said bowing to the Sultan again. "But I really don't see how I'm supposed to fight the army you want me to fight by myself."

The Sorceress laughed.

"After seeing you fight that War Sphinx I am confident that no power that the Rakshasa king can field will be enough to stop you."

"Yeah but…"

The second djinn flew over. In his hands he carried a long polearm that ended in a short curved sword blade.

"This is the Spear of Falling Stars." The Sultan said with reverence. "It was my father's own weapon and he used it to drive out the barbarian hordes from the west. It will serve you well August and will be the only weapon that you'll ever need."

August took the spear in her hand feeling more nervous by the second. She hadn't known that she was supposed to be fighting an army of demons. Though the fact that she was most likely dreaming did give her some comfort.

The final djinn came forward as the one who had brought the spear pulled back. The djinn held a platter on which sat…

"This is the armor worn by one of our heroes many years ago." The Sultan explained.

"That's not armor." August said. It looked a lot like what the Sorceress was wearing except maroon colored instead of gold. It was basically a bikini.

"It doesn't look like much, but the magic in it is powerful protection." The Sultan explained.

"Yeah, I'm not wearing that." August's cheeks turned a little red. It was a good thing that her face was veiled. Then she thought about it some more.

"Actually, I think that I can make this work. Thank you." She took the pieces of the 'armor' in her left hand and held the spear with her other.

"Now come on." The Sorceress said to her. "I'm going to take you to your room where you can stay for the time."

"She's not going to stay so that we can ask her some questions?" someone asked from somewhere in the room.

"There will be plenty of time for that during the feast tonight. Right now she needs some time to rest after her fight with the War Sphinx."

Hearing her mention the War Sphinx made August feel so ill that she felt almost like she'd throw up again. The sorceress started to walk away, and August followed her. They passed out of the room's door and down some steps that went to the left. The two of them continued through the massive interior of the palace for a while passing past several more people as they did so. Eventually they reached a door that the sorceress opened with a key that she then handed to August.

"We'll send someone for you when the feast is ready, get some rest please. Everyone is counting on you." August walked in through the door which was closed behind her. She stood in dead silence for several seconds.

"Woah."

August couldn't think of anything else to say. Nothing made sense anymore. August pinched her arm. She felt some pain but didn't wake up. August didn't know if she was dreaming or not or how long the dream could last. If she was dreaming, then it was the longest most complex and most realistic dream of all time. If she wasn't dreaming… August didn't even know what to think of what it would all mean if it was real. She started to wonder, what would her family be doing now if it was really happening. She would have been missing for a while by that point. That thought made August feel sick, but there really wasn't anything that she could do about it.

The room she was in was huge. There was a coach against one wall and a few dressers with drawers along the opposite one. August tried opening them, but they were all empty. The room didn't seem to have a bed in it, or a bathroom. August didn't need to go though, which was a relief. Lying against one wall was a mirror, which let August finally get a look at her appearance.

She had become a woman all right, she even had hips now. She was wearing the same outfit that every other woman except the Sorceress was wearing, it completely covered her body except for her hands and the area just around her eyes. August took off her veil and headdress and examined her reflection more closely. Her face looked different, it still had features of her normal face but had changed. She still had a wide nose and blue eyes, but her skin was darker, and her features were more round, soft and feminine looking. Her hair was very long, as she had noticed earlier, and was straighter then it used to be. It was a testament to how strange all of this was that her sex spontaneously reversing was comparatively tame compared to a lot of the things that had been happening that day. August poked her chest a few times. She really didn't know how to feel about any of it.

And thinking about it made her think about how she didn't know how to get back home which made her feel ill again. August would have been near to throwing up, except that there was nothing in her stomach because she had already thrown up earlier. She hadn't yet given up hope that I fact she was dreaming though. August tried pinching her arm a few more times, but it was still to no effect. When that didn't work she lied down on the coach and tried to close her eyes in the hopes that she could clear her mind from all the nonsense of that day. With any luck she would wake up back home…

…But that didn't happen. Instead August woke up back on the same coach a long time later. So long later that the sky outside of the room's open window was a dark blue. She was also feeling very hungry but she had heard that there was going to be a feast soon, so she was actually okay with that. Unfortunately, the fact that she had woken up there meant that she was either in a coma or that this was all really happening. August couldn't decide what option was worse. Not long after that, she heard a knock coming from her door. She got up and almost opened it before remembering something.

"Just a second."

After a minute of struggle, August managed to get her headdress back on in a rough approximation of the way it had been earlier and put her veil back over her face. August didn't care about it herself, but she did care that the people living in whatever the strange place she was in might care about it and she didn't want to risk offending anyone. After she finished that she opened the door. The Sorceress had been the one knocking.

"Glad to see your awake Aguste." She said. "The feast is almost ready now."

"That's uh… good. So do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Of course not."

August was surprised to get a clear answer for once.

"Okay, so let's start with the obvious. Why am I a girl now? That doesn't make any sense even given all of this."

The Sorceress laughed when August said that.

"Haven't you always been a girl? What kind of question is that. Now come on, we better get going."

She turned around and started walking down the hallway and August followed behind her.

"Okay." August said. "So I went to sleep on a beach and next thing I know I wake up in this place, I have no clue what's going on, my gender has been inverted, no one's explaining any of this to me and… so basically what I'm trying to say is that I don't know what's going on or what I should think about it. I'm honestly still holding out hope that soon I'll wake up and this whole thing will have been just one sick, twisted dream. But really after all this time I'm starting to think that's not really what's going on. This is real isn't it."

The Sorceress laughed again. August was starting to hate the sound of it.

"Of course, this is all real Aguste! How could it be anything else. And I'm glad it's all real to because as you can probably tell we'd be in rather dire straights without you."

"That's another thing though. Why do I have to be the one who saves uh… whatever you call this place again."

"You're the only one who can save this place. You're the only one that's strong enough to do so."

"But why?"

"Why not? You saw how you fared against that Sphinx."

"You're not being very helpful. Anyway, the way that Sultan guy had been talking about it makes it seem like a lot of people are going to get hurt or die or something along those lines. So, if that's true, then I can't really walk out of this. Whatever this is anyway. So that really means that I have to stay to see the end of this even if it kills me so really there's no point in going back even if I could go back. Which I can't because I don't even know why I'm here. So, what I think that I'm trying to say is that I think that I have to stay until the end, but after that I need to find a way to go home. Did that make any since or am I just rambling now? I might be legitimately insane at this point."

The Sorceress looked back at August seeming concerned. Even August was confused by what she had just said.

'Um… okay then. I think we've just about arrived. Maybe you'll start feeling better after you've eaten something. Hopefully."

They stepped from the hall that they had been in into a room with a table at the center of it. The table was covered with food of different types that for the most part August didn't recognize. Getting something to eat would be nice…

After she ate August had immediately returned to her room and gone back to sleep again. She slept on the coach because she still didn't know if there was an actual bed in there anywhere. So, when she woke up in the morning to see bright sunlight streaming in through the window she was feeling somewhat sore. August was once again disappointed to find that the whole thing had not turned out to be just a mad dream after all. She had no clue what to think about anything anymore. She felt rather ill and would have liked to stay in her room if she thought that she had a choice. Which she really didn't. August put on the 'armor' and then put the red clothes she had been wearing the previous day on over it. August picked up the spear, which had been lying next to her coach, and tried waving it around in a crude imitation of what she had seen in movies occasionally. The spear was strangely light, it barely seemed to weigh anything at all. She was fine with that because she had no training with weapons and had no idea how to even use the thing anyway.

August was feeling very nervous. She knew that everyone living in that place was convinced that she'd be able to save them from demons or whatever, but that didn't change the fact that she had no clue what she was actually supposed to do. So she just shrugged and walked out of her room. She walked down the hall holding her spear in her hand for a while and passed by some people all of whom smiled and cheered when she walked by. After wandering around aimlessly for what felt like a long time she finally bumped into the Sorceress.

"I was looking for you in your room." The Sorceress said. "We need to get to the roof."

"The roof?"

"Yes, the roof! Let's be off."

After that they both started walking through another series of twisting confusing passageways through the palace before finally reaching a set of stairs that led to a door that led to the roof which was painted blue and bathed in intense hot sunlight. August started sweating almost as soon as she got up there, she had thought that it was hot enough on the inside of the building, but on the outside it was much worse. And to make matters even worse it was crowded up there as well. The one hundred soldiers that the Sultan had mentioned the previous day and the Sultan himself were stationed on the roof. The Sultan sat on a short chair and the soldiers stood in ranks in attention holding spears in their hands and with bows on their backs. When August showed up the Sultan looked at her and nodded.

"I was wondering where you had went to. There's no time to wait and you all must leave soon. Even as we speak the Rakshasa King may have already began his assault.

"Quick question." August said. "What exactly do you expect me to do against this guy."

"Don't worry Mighty One. We are all confident that you will find something out just as the ancient legends have described."

"What legends? I'm still really confused here."

The Sultan was about to say something, but then one of the djinn picked August up and flew off. The Sultan shouted something after her, but she was flying up so fast that she didn't hear it. The djinn also picked up the Sorceress, carrying them up high over the city and then away from it. First, they passed over a region containing a massive river surrounded by fertile farmlands, but then they left that behind and entered a vast, windswept desert. The desert looked nearly empty except for...

"What's that in the desert?" The Sorceress said, though because of the sound of wind rushing passed them August could just barely hear. The djinn slowed to a stop and began hovering over a part of the desert where a small plume of smoke could be seen going up into the sky. The djinn flew down towards it and quickly reached the desert floor. What they found was a large herd of camels and people wearing long flowing robes. The camels were carrying lots of bags and what not so August assumed that they were a caravan of some sort or another. Also, several of the camels and people were dead, and one women was busy trying to pull an arrow out of the arm of a man who was lying on the sand groaning in pain.

"What happened to your caravan here?" the Sorceress asked, hearing that confirmed August's guess about how it was a caravan. One man holding a sword, who hadn't seen them fly down, jumped and turned around. But he seemed to recognize the Sorceress and when he saw her he had a wide grin on his face.
"I recognize you Nalsa." He said. "And I'm glad that you're here. We were attacked by bandits, they pulled back, but they seem to be returning judging by the fact that I can see them riding back over there in the distance." Far away across the sands, a dozen or so men on horseback were running towards the caravan while brandishing bows and swords. They didn't seem to be firing any arrows though, so August guessed that they might be out of those.

"Is there anything you can do about these men?" he asked the Sorceress. "And by the way, what's wrong with your friend?"

Seeing all the dead bodies and wounded people had made August feel queasy so she had to sit down on the sand and start breathing deeply.

"That's Auguste. And don't worry about her. In fact, I think that she might be able to solve your problem."

The Sorceress tapped her ring and the djinn picked her and August up and carried them up into the air. Then he put them back down right in front of the horde of bandits all of whom came to an abrupt stop. There was a twang as one of them, possibly accidentally, let an arrow loose, but the djinn grabbed the arrow out of the air before it could hit anyone.

"You have got to be…"

August tried to say but was interrupted by the Sorceress beginning to speak.

"Turn back now."
The bandits looked at each other, and then one who sat on a horse near the front of the group asked a question.

"Why?"

"Because if you don't I and Auguste here will kill you."

The bandits looked at each other in confusion and for a while there was no sound other then that of the wind blowing through the desert. But finally, the bandit who rode at the front of the group spoke up.

"And do you have any idea who it is that you are speaking with? I guess that I need to introduce myself. I am Vekkis Vellis. Most just call me Vekkis though. I am the leader of us band of desert bandit. I am the robber of thousands and slayer of hundreds."

"Yeah, so?"

"Maybe we should get going…"
August said. She didn't like the direction that this conversation was heading.

"Maybe a demonstration should be in order." Vekkis said. "Do you see that black vulture over there to my left?"

"Yes."

"Then witness this."

Vekkis pointed his bow to the left and looked to his right, He released the bow and the arrow flew through the air before striking the vulture dead and knocking it out of the sky.

"That was… not really impressive." The Sorceress said.

"I hit the vulture without even having to actually look at it."

"Yeah, but I've seen better."

Upon hearing that Vekkis put another arrow in his bow, pulled it back and shot at the Sorceress. But the djinn just grabbed the arrow out of the air again. That seemed to enrage Vekkis who kicked his horse forward and swung with his sword. He missed the Sorceress as she dodged backwards. The other bandits started riding forward as well and some of them started aiming with arrows. But then Vekkis tried to slash at August. She screamed and ducked back, but as soon as he did so he exploded in a massive burst that knocked August over. This caused the rest of the bandits to stop in their tracks with an equal mixture of surprise and horror on their faces. And then the Djinn attacked them, running forward and punching the first man in the face so that his head exploded into a shower of gore. The djinn moved insanely fast and ran threw the horde of bandits killing them with punches from its fists. August looked at it all in shock and disgust as the djinn finished off the last of the bandits.

"I knew that there would be nothing to worry about as long as you were here!" the Sorceress said as the djinn flew back over to them. "you did a great job with them."

"Thanks, but I'm not really sure what I did, or how I did it."

In the background she could hear the members of the caravan cheering.

"We need to get going now, but I'll make sure to send someone back to make sure that this caravan is okay."

The djinn picked them both off and began flying again. They passed over miles of similar looking desert.

"So we're going to fight the Rakjshatha king right?"

August asked while they were flying through the air.

"Yes, he has preyed on these lands for too long. With your aid we will no longer have to live in fear of him and our kingdom of Termagant will be free of his evil after so much waiting and fighting."

"That's great. So you're sure that I'll be able to beat this guy right."

August felt a little better after that… whatever it was that had happened involving the bandits, but she still felt nervous. She was sorely wishing that she had stayed at home instead of going swimming.

"Of course you will! You already proved your worth against the Sphinx and the bandits. I don't see any reason to think that you'll disappoint us after that. And furthermore, you have the Spear of Falling Stars now. It is said to be the greatest weapon in this entire kingdom. And besides, I will also be there to offer any assistance that I can if it is necessary, which it won't be."

"Okay, well thanks then. So, I do have another question though, do you know how I got here in the first place?"

"We found you in the pool in the garden remember? How could you forget that so fast? It happened literally just yesterday."

"I meant how did I end up in that pool in the first place?"

The Sorceress laughed.

"How should I know that? I wasn't there. Why don't you tell me?"

"Because I don't know, the last thing I remember was… is that the city?"

They were flying towards a walled city built next to a river. It was smaller then the capital city that they had just left and built on level ground instead of a hill top, but it still looked impressive. It was made all of tan colored stone and was surrounded by farmlands. The farmlands were burning.

"That's Constant. It looks like the Rakshasa king is already attacking. We need to get down there right now."

The djinn swooped down and placed them on top of the city walls where the one hundred men that August had seen earlier that morning were standing.

"What took you both so long?" one of them asked.

"Sorry, we got distracted with bandits. Is there anything we missed?"

While the soldiers and the Sorceress were talking, August walked up to the side of the wall and looked down. She saw that in the middle of the burned field was a massive sea of tents that were each the color of blood. Figures were walking through the group of tents, but they were so far away that August couldn't accurately make out any details about them. Except for that they all seemed to have four arms each. Worse yet, a horde of giant monsters were approaching the city walls.

"Are those the hellephants?" August asked.

"Yes."

The hellephants were monsters that looked much like elephants except three times too big and with skin that was salamander smooth instead of rough and leathery. And they each had a long forked tail that ended in two wicked looking clubs and their bodies were longer then an elephant's with eight legs each of which ended in a twisted bird-like claw and they each had two eyeless bird heads at the end of two long necks and smoke came from their nostrils and each of them had a dour four-armed black furred tiger headed man riding on top of them. That pretty much proved that the whole thing was a nightmare if it really was a dream. Though at that point August was starting to think that all of it was somehow real. The hellephants approached the walls and soldiers from along its perimeter shot arrows at them. The arrows stuck shallowly in the monster's slimy skin and they responded by breathing out great gouts of flame that licked at the top of the walls.

"This could be bad." The Sorceress said. "Let's fly down to fight the Rakshasa King himself while the rest of the soldiers keep these archers occupied. That's what one of the heroes in the old stories would do."

"Um… Okay."

August's heart was beating at an increased rate and her throat was feeling very dry, but she went along with it anyway because she didn't know what else to do. The djinn picked them up and flew them over to the perimeter of the tents and placed them down on the ground in front of them. August could smell smoke. The djinn had just put them on the ground, when suddenly another djinn, this one made of blue flame instead of the natural looking fire of the first, slammed into it and knocked it away from them causing it to slam into the ground hard enough to send a plume of dust up into the air. The blue djinn turned around and looked at the Sorceress and August, but the Sorceress just sighed and grabbed it on the shoulder. She squeezed, and her hand ripped through the djinn as easily as through wet tissue paper. The blue djinn exploded scattering sparks everywhere. August had been so surprised that she wasn't even able to speak, when she looked and saw that a group of monsters were walking towards them from the direction of the blood red tents.

The monsters looked like men, but were covered in black fur, had tiger heads and possessed four arms each along with being seven to eight feat tall. They all carried an array of brutal looking swords and other weapons, and there were around a hundred of them. The one at the front was even taller then the rest and had only a single eye in his horrifically scarred face. He was wearing several rings on his fingers, but as August watched one of the rings corroded and broke apart before falling off his finger.

"Ah, so at last you show yourself Nalsa." He said. August caught a glimpse of the gaze from his bright yellow eye. Her muscles seemed to lock up for a moment, but then it passed. "Why is it that you have come here? Surely you must know that not even you can defeat all of us."

"Your right, I can't but she can." The Sorceress pointed at August who was trying very hard to avoid wetting herself or fleeing in a panic. She leveled her spear at the tiger headed monster, but really didn't know how much good it would do.

"And you are?" he asked her.

"I'm uh… Auguste. I think. Who are you?"

"I am the Rashasa King."

"Okay, but your name is?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you really just called the Rakshasa king?"

"Yes."

"Oh, okay then."

"You do not seem very strong girl." He said with a horrid grin that showed a mouth full of double rows of sharp teeth. "I actually would be surprised if there wasn't one man in my army who could not kill you on his own. But I suppose that if you must stand against me I should give you the honor of telling you more about myself before I kill you. I am the great demon king who rules over the Rakshasa tribes. I am the bane of this land and its destroyer. For thirty years I have pillaged and ruined this place and you certainly won't stop me on this day. Before you challenged me thousands have tried, including this lands former ruler, and they all fell to me. My might transcends all your kind! Three mighty cities have I already destroyed and their people I have slain with my own hand and the hands of those who are with me. If you stand against me you will perish just as they and all their defenders did. For no member of your weak kind can hope to stand against a demon such as I! Turn back now and I'll let you live until later today when I destroy this city with fire."

"Well okay then," August said while she considered her options. "That really doesn't sound like that much of a better deal." If August was going to die she at least intended to die fighting. "I guess that I have no choice but to fight you in that case."

"Then you will die at this very moment."

The Rakshasa King leveled all four of his swords and ran at August while laughing. But then he exploded sending blood flying everywhere. August could feel the heat of the explosion from where she was standing, and she was momentarily blinded by the light. The other monsters stopped in surprise before they roared and rushed at her and the Sorceress. The first few monsters exploded. And then the ones behind them did as well. Soon the landscape was filled with the sound of dozens of loud explosions and August had to put her hands over her ears because the sound was so loud. When the smoke cleared all of the demons were dead leaving only a burnt-out crater wracked field stretching for hundreds of feat in front of her. Augusts ears were ringing. Ffrom the tents beyond them even more Rakshasa came out probably attracted by the noise. There was a vast horde of them, likely a few thousand strong. They saw the field full of craters, and then began rushing towards the city brandishing weapons in the air. Starting to feel annoyed, August stepped forward and swung at them with her spear. Several small meteors fell from the sky and wiped out the entire army in a single volley. The Sorceress was so happy that she hugged August briefly before letting go.

"See! You did it! There was never anything to worry about. I had known that you'd pull it off. And look, it appears that the soldiers finished off the hellephants!"
August turned around and, sure enough, the hellaphants had all been killed by concentrated archer fire.

"I guess that's all then." The Sorceress said as she sat down on the smoking field. "Strange, I can't believe that after all of this time it's finally over. We should probably get back to the palace now that the battle is over. There's is something that the Sultan wishes to speak to you about."

The Sorceress tapped her ring and another djinn appeared. This one appeared to be female. It picked them up and flew them over the burning fields and the dead monsters towards the palace that they had been at earlier. They landed on the roof of the palace where the Sultan was still siting in his chair and staring at the sun.

"So it is true, you have defeated the Rakshasa king?" he asked not turning away from the sky.

"He is no more." The Sorceress said. "August slew him and his army just as I knew that she would." The Sultan turned towards them and smiled, but there was also a single tear on his cheek.

"Opposing the Rakshasa King has been my only goal ever since he killed my father in the same battle in which my father took out his right eye. Now that he is gone I have nothing else to do with my rule and I am increasing in age rapidly anyway. This kingdom owes you a great debt, August, you have singlehandedly saved Termagant and ensured that there will be a future for our people. Friend, I never intended to continue my reign after the monster was defeated. Would you be willing to reign as Sultaness in my place?"

August thought about it. She still wanted to find a way to get home (assuming once again that she wasn't dreaming), but that still seamed like a nice deal. And it would give her more opportunities to find a way back.

"Um… sure I guess. Thanks!"

The Sorceress hugged August again and the Sultan stood to his feat and bowed to her. It could have been a lot worse all things considered.

The end

BiopunkOtrera · May 21, 2018

[ ] The Princess and the Student

Genre: Fantasy, Kidnap, Politics

Part One: Returning Home

When you look at it from the air, Naha is a giant donut. A great expanse of midrise cityscape surrounding the long, unsafe runways of the base USAF base. I watched it resolve out of distance, from a window midway down a slim commercial airliner that reminded me of a flying cigar. As the plane came down, I saw the brightness of the bay and the way the July sun caught the bay and found myself, for the first time in two weeks, feeling a sense of contentment. It was strange. I'd done so much to try to get out of Naha, to go to the bright lights and gleaming towers of Tokyo, and now I was back and feeling content.

Maybe it was the weather. I've always had difficulty feeling anxious when it's sunny. It was gorgeous in Okinawa that July. When we landed and got out into the boarding tube fancied I could smell the sea. I couldn't, but I would when I got outside. Maybe it had been the unseasonably bad weather of Tokyo that had finally brought the overextended disaster that had my relationship of two years had become to a head. Or maybe Tokyo itself had just started to feel too familiar. Had started to become another lace I lived, another prison.

Maybe I was wrong about the sun. Maybe it didn't make me feel better at all.

My mother met me at the exit gate. She was about as I remembered her, short, elegant and beaming up at me from under short pixie cut hair. I'm always a bit jealous of my mum, as I'm honestly rather too tall. "Sakura!" she hugged me. "Did you have a good flight? You didn't get too wet on the way from the airport?"

"It was fine Mum." I smiled at her and hefted my bag. "How's Dad and my sister?"

"Both, unfortunately, out of town. Your Dad has business, your sister is apparently delayed by something with that fighter pilot of hers. So, it's just the two of us."

"It's fine. Thanks for paying for my ticket." I had only a small bag, my laptop, and some clothes. Most of my stuff was just here. "And thanks for meeting me."

"It's no problem." She looked around, deciding on the best direction out of the airport. "So, tell me all about this idiot thug who used to be your boyfriend." The glass of the airport terminal let in clouds of brightness. It was tourist season, and the whole place seemed packed full, every bench and surface playing host to people from everywhere. I wondered who they were, entertained, as I did every so often, the fantasy of talking to them, of finding out about their lives.

I paused, unsure. Trying to think how to say what was inside me.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want too, but I think you do."

"He was keeping secrets." I looked up at the bright windows of the terminal, the aircraft passing across it. "I don't really know what they were, but he was."

"How did you find out?"

"I phoned him at the campus and he told me he wasn't there but then I saw him. That was the when it started. And I guess I started to notice things. There was a ticket stub in his recycling to a concert. Usually, we'd have both gone to something like that. And there were just… dead times, when he would say he was meeting me, and then he wouldn't or say he couldn't but there wasn't a reason for it."

"Oh Sakura." She squeezed me.

"Did I do the right thing? It might have been nothing. He told me it was."

She shook her head. "Just because someone tells you they're a good person, doesn't mean they are. You're better off without him." Her expression turned sly. "Besides, if you want a replacement, this is a perfect time. The beaches are full of tall foreign men this season."

"Mother!" I laughed, performatively scandalized in the way that daughters must always be by their mothers, feeling my tension broken as we stepped onto the monorail platform. As with any airport, there were people from all over the world here. Indians and Chinese and Europeans and South Americans. By far the majority though, apart from locals were American service people and their families, some in uniform. "How are Dad and Sis?"

"Out of town. Your Father is on "business" again, by which I mean he's off in Tokyo playing gulf and complaining about the weather. Your Sister is somewhere in America, sending me pictures of her and her Air Force Captain." My mother grinned again. "Of course, there are upsides, your sister having a girlfriend gives me something to scandalize Mrs. Yamagusuku next door with."

I laughed again, realizing just how much I'd missed her.

The monorail swept into the station and the doors opened. I pushed my case's handle down and picked it up, and in the moment of standing up, someone passed me. Long black hair and blue eyes. Tall and perhaps a little inelegant.

I stepped into the train and looked back out but all I saw outside was my reflection, looking back at me with puzzlement, then a strange, building rage.

#

Below the monorail, there were military vehicles on the street. It's funny what university does to you. I would never have thought I'd be someone who would recognize the types of US military vehicles. However, now after of an exchange program in America, and in various international security modules I'd looked through enough military publicans to recognize these and find them strange.

The armored carriers were eight-wheeled, thickly armored looking things, that you could mistake for marine LAVs or JSDF type 96s. Turret placement and general look told me that they were Stryker dragoons, with an old MGS in support. While the guns were carefully pointed upwards, I couldn't help notice that the troops riding in the air guard hatches were in full war gear, with helmets, not caps.

It was unusual, but not unheard of to see military vehicles nosing down the streets of Naha, but it was unusual to see so many, and I hadn't heard there was a Stryker unit in residence.

"What are they doing down there?"

"They're rolling around the city a lot recently, them and the JGSDF." My mother said, following my gaze. "A lot of people don't like it. They're saying it's an anti-terrorism exercise."

Anti-commando more like. Chinese or North Korean special-forces assault on US facilities in Japan was one of the scenarios you almost always found mentioned in US publications. "It's murder on the traffic. Everyone is riled up."

I nodded and looked around again. From as high up as the monorail was here, you had a good view, and there seemed to be a surprising amount of military activity: helicopters and Ospreys, the Strykers down on the street. As we went on I saw a number of police with submachine guns and full tactical gear talking with a group of US Marines standing next to a pair of Humvees, passers-by staring, annoyed, or ostentatiously pretending not to notice.

"We're getting off at the next stop. We need to buy some stuff for dinner."

"You're still using that convenience store?"

"The owner is a very handsome man, and my husband neglects me."

"You're terrible."

The car swung into the station and we stepped out of the doors. The heat hit me immediately and uncomfortably. I really felt for the JSDF and US marine platoons drawn up on either side of the street in their fighting vehicles on the street, the amphibious fighting vehicles must have been uncomfortably hot inside. Oroku Station hadn't changed much, nor had the mall connected to it.

There was the coffee shop I'd hung out in with my high school friends, the convenience store where I'd brought manga. My mother steered me towards it, picking up a basket. I looked over at the manga racks. "Are you still reading those magazines?"

"Some different ones. I guess I've grown up."

"I'll treat you to some if they have any that aren't in Tokyo yet."

"You don't have to Mum. I can buy my own manga."

"You're looking after your lonely old mother disserted by the rest of her family. I'll reward you."

I pushed my hair back, a bit embarrassed, but went over to the rack as she started to pack food into the basket. This was really too much nostalgia. I reached down for the rack and had my hand on a copy of LaLa the world fell in around me.

I was on my knees, my ears filled with a terrible ringing. There was glass everywhere, fallen all around me, small sharp flakes on my clothes and against my skin. Customers screaming silently at me. The lights had flickered and gone out, leaving only the intense sunlight pouring in through the now shattered windows of the food court.

I looked up at them and saw a fighter aircraft falling out of the sky, a comet of fire pouring from its after section. It passed the building and there was a bright, distant explosion.

"Mum!" I couldn't even hear myself screaming through the awful sound in my ears. I was afraid, deep down terrified I'd been hit by the glass and hadn't yet felt it. I tried to fight it down, had to look for her. I crawled across the glass-strewn floor.

I looked for her, crawling across the glass-strewn floor. She was in the food aisle, looking confused and scared but not hurt. My ears were starting to clear and I heard her calling my name.

"I'm alright! I'm alright." I hugged her, crying.

Outside there was another crashing sound. One of the American armored vehicles reversed back into the mall's lobby, shattering the doors and sending people scattering out of its path. The whole vehicle was scorched, one track threw, its grey paint bubbled and blackened all across one side. It crashed into a clothes shop and the ramp fell, marines stumbling out, smoke belching out of the troop compartment.

They gestured to one another, their leader pointing at the door. Guns were pointed and they spread out, finding cover. Some ran up to the floor we were on, sheltering behind the pillar outside.

When the knight entered, they gave her a fusillade of fire. She was tall, her whole body clad in the armour of silver and blue except for her head and flowing hair the color of the bay. In one hand she had a long glaive, which hovered, almost but not quite held in her hand. Across her shoulders, a sword dripped green fire. A halo of knives spun around her as she walked, gait seeming almost jaunty. The marines fired, rifle and machine gun rounds, even a rocket. She wasn't there when they impacted, instead reappearing in a series of flickering instants, each one leaving one of the Americans cut or impaled.

She made a mistake on the second floor, appearing by one marine and stabbing the glaive through him into the pillar. His partner, a heavy set African American man turned, screamed and fired at her on fully automatic as her weapon was trapped. Bullets sprayed and sparked across her armor without expression, but though most deflected impossibly around her face, one hit home, opening up a long bloody wound. The knight swung around, the scar closing up and leveled the sword at him. The marine dropped his rifle and went for his pistol, then green fire tore down the blade and sent him flying backward, cored out.

The knight pulled the glaive free and looked at the cowering civilians around her, pleased. It was only when she saw me that her expression changed. She gasped, prostrated herself, head pressing to the ground.

I must not have reacted in the way she wanted, because she raised her eyes, and an expression of anger and a peculiar exaltation came over her face. She stood again, laughed, and raised the green fire sword to point at me.

I did the only thing I could do, screamed and covered my head. For a moment I saw the Knight's eyes flick to the side.

Another figure flashed in from above her, silver-armored but wearing a full mask helm. He, I was sure it was he from his silhouette smashed a long, heavy lance into the spot where she'd been as she vanished back. She spoke, saying something in a language I didn't know, then swung her sword up and sprayed a line of green fire at him. The lance spun, parrying it away each bolt.

She snarled, cursed him in words I didn't understand and attacked again, glaive and sword swinging together in perfect, too fast arcs. The other knight met her every blow, knocking them aside, seeming just about able to keep up with her attack with the most frantic defense. At last, he knocked the glaive aside, overextended slightly. The knight jumped back to give her sword room, blade leveled.

Another figure stepped out of the shadows behind her and there was a sudden flash of green fire.

#
I woke up on an overwhelmingly large, incredibly comfortable bed. Above me, the ceiling was an unfamiliar, intricate mosaic, sprays and waves of reds and blues and greens and yellows curling around solid squares of white and black, seeming as if the wind around city towers had been rendered in color and abstraction. Below the abstract ceiling, the room was an intricately painted forest scene, and for a moment, despite the stylization of the art, and the window on one side, I was convinced that this was some strange forest, and I was inside an open-air pavilion.

None of it had the slightest commonality with anything I'd ever seen before.

I sat up and looked myself over. Nothing hurt. Nothing even ached. I felt, incredibly, strangely good. It took me a moment to realize that this was the feeling of perfect health. That the slight congestion of my nose I'd had since Tokyo, the slight twinge and stiffness in my back from bad posture, the scar on the right leg that I always hid with socks, even during the summer. They were all gone. My eyes and my ears worked better. I hadn't even been aware of how unclear my view of the world had been.

Also, I was naked. That was mostly an afterthought. This situation was too strange for me to really care about modesty. I wrapped the bedsheets around myself and walked to the window. It was a single sheet of glass, covering one entire wall, perfectly clear and finished. Outside, there was a city.

Great buildings, platinum and glass bells far larger than any skyscraper I'd ever seen rose in long, ordered roads beside tree-lined streets and huge, elevated parks in giant bowls of the same shiny material. Bronze tracks and sky rails linked between the buildings, pods rocketing along them.

Above, in the sky and attached to some buildings there were huge aircraft, long, fat cigar shapes that hung at their docks without apparent lift mechanism.

I was in another world.

That was when the door opened. It was carefully concealed in one wall, hinging open with a click as I looked around. The man standing there was tall and had the same long aqua hair and unworried beauty as the knight. Unlike the knight, he wore not armor but a black outfit that combined robe and bodysuit. I wrapped the sheet tighter and he politely averted his eyes. "Ah, Glory, you are up."

"You're calling me Glory. I am a Royal?"

"A good joke Mistress. You are of course the first Princess Satsari of Bethran, the unquestioned ruler of an empire of one hundred worlds."

"Of course I am."

"Shall I have you dressed Mistress? Then perhaps we can discuss things."

"Please."

He nodded, withdrew through the door, closing it. I paused and then slapped the sides of my face hard. I didn't entertain the idea that I was dreaming or similar notions. I know what being awake feels like and it doesn't feel anything like being in a dream. But if this wasn't a dream, that meant there could be real consequences. I needed to get my head in the game.

Two women entered, both blond, Western European and smiling. They dressed me in a flare sleeved dress of soft, black and white material that seemed not to be actually silk and a succession of bright jewelry. Makeup was applied, and I was ceremoniously crowned with a small golden circle with long points. Thus equipped, the servants showed me down into a covered balcony that seemed made out of a bubble of glass, decorative bracing climbing up the inside, gold and intergrown with vines and floors. There, the man waited for me, seated next to a cloth-covered table holding a golden standard of cakes and snacks, and a large insulated vessel that smelled of some kind of spiced coffee. As I looked at it, I realized I was very hungry. Beyond the glass, air traffic moved in great profusion, lines of great skyships coming in over the ocean. I blinked, realizing suddenly the familiar shape of the bay.

I was in another world, but I hadn't moved very far.

He stood as I entered, bowed slightly and resumed his seat only when I did. He seemed to be waiting for me to speak, but I didn't, let him back the first move.

"You're probably wondering what happened. How you came to be here?"

"You're the same people who attacked Okinawa. I'm wondering who exactly you are?"

"My name is Alshas, In a way, so are you." He poured me coffee. "In a very real sense, you are the one who led the attack. You are Princess Satsari. The version of her born on your home world."

"That's…" I looked at him. "A little absurd. How could the same person be born on two different worlds with what must be very different histories?"

"Chance perhaps. The law of very large numbers. There are very many worlds and very much chance for such a coincidence. In truth, we have altered you slightly, with our arts, to resemble the Tyrant more closely. We wish you to pretend to be her you see. To rule instead of her, so no one knows what we did."

"The knight who found me was going to kill me."

"The Knight? Oh, the royal guard, of course. Your very existence is a danger to someone like Satsari, and one of her loyal women would, of course, be well rewarded for your slaying. It is fortunate that I was able to find you in time, to save your life."

"Were you the one who saved me?"

"I had that honor."

I took one of the snacks off the table, some kind of creation of cheese and meat, and began to eat it slowly. It was of course, delicious. Better when I washed it down with coffee. I ate another, then a third, knowing it wasn't good to eat this much but not caring, the situation too strange to bother with. I seemed to have an endless hunger. Was it the changes they'd made to me? This strange feeling of perfect health? Or was I just using food to give myself more time to think how to ask the question I needed to ask?

Finally, I just asked it directly. "What the hell is going on? What is this Bethran? Who are you? Who do you serve? What do you even want me to do?" I ran down slightly, looking at him, feeling my own worry pulse in my stomach, "and, what happened to my Mother?"

"She is alive, and in our care. You understand that the presence of the last queen, who Satsari killed to make her ascension, would undo our scheme immediately. The invasion of your world would resume. We Bethran are a mighty empire, as you can see outside. We have plumbed the arts which your people believe to exist only in stories. Magic. Thaumaturgy. The ways of dealing with gods and demons. The power to break through from one world to another." He looked at me seriously. "We are an empire of conquerors. Great in art and in power, but ruled by a tyrant queen, whose heart goes out to the joy of conquest. I serve a number of interests. Noble houses, merchants, those skilled in magic and priests of divine power. We wish to overturn the Tyranny of absolutism, to have a system where the best rule society, not those of ancient blood."

"And what happens if I refuse? Ask you to send me home." To whatever ashes my home might be in.

"I would hope you would not, and if you did, then the invasion of your homeworld would certainly resume, and you would be conquered. Tell me, do you believe that you could stand against us? You witnessed the power of a single royal guard.

I thought about it, then shook my head. "What happened at my home?"

"Somehow, your people learned of our intentions and dispatched forces to attack the scouts, including her Satsari. The Royal Guard counter-attacked. I extracted you, and then, as the First Princess was returning, my confederates destabilized the gate. She was killed in the collapse of the portal."

I finished the coffee and put my cup on the table. "It seems like I don't have a great deal of choice. I'm not that good at acting though."

"My art will let you act as she did, all you need to do is say the words that I put into your head."

Part two: The demon in the mirror

After the interview, I was taken back to the royal chambers. "It isn't unusual for the Princess to spend a long time alone in her rooms. You should avoid contact with other people, who might notice that you're different." Alshas told me before we left the balcony.

"But… I won't be able to do that forever."

"Don't worry, you won't need to. Only for as long as it will take us to put things in place to take power officially. I glanced at him but kept my thoughts to myself. "This way, I'll walk you." He led me down some steps to an elevator which fell, seemingly forever, to someplace deep in the earth. "The Princess's rooms are traditionally at the lowest level of the palace. Closest to the Earth, which is the source of all strength, and the best defended in the event of an attack."

I nodded, accepting this explanation, as strange as it seemed to my sensibilities. "There's one thing I was wondering, what exactly is your position in the court?"

"I am the Princess's Castellan. It is one of the few positions that require blood or money, and the Princess distrusted it, but it wouldn't be surprising to see us meeting in private. We did so regularly."

"You were lovers?" I guessed.

"On occasion. Most men of the court as handsome caught the Princess's favor at one point or another." He took the question with the same lack of emotion he seemed to take everything.

"I see." I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with that, so I let him lead me along the painted corridors to another artful wooden door, this one banded with metal in patterns that seemed decorative, but also thick enough to reinforce it.

"I can go no further. The wards prevent anyone but a member of the blood royal from entering her sanctum. You need only touch the plate here to enter. I will call you when the first council meeting takes place." I put my hand on the plate and the doors swung open. Inside there seemed to be only darkness. I stepped through it, into a set of rooms whose color and opulence dwarfed anything I had seen before.

Rather than merely painted, every wall was decorated with elaborate silk hangings that fluttered as if in unseen breezes, giving the impression of being outdoors, in a friendly forest or garden. Both floor and ceiling were inlaid with artful patterns, with waves of color that suggested sky and ground, as if I walked, a colossus, across the whole world.

And this was just the entry chamber. Doors led off on all sides. A lonely palace within a palace. I walked around, finding a room full of war gear of diverse sorts, gold and silver armor, swords and glaives like the ones I'd seen but also guns, spears, and other devices I couldn't really fathom. There was a cavernous vault of books extending into the distance in the way I'd only seen from national libraries before, a sitting room, a bedroom, what might have been an office, a giant swimming pool painted so it seemed to be a distant lagoon in such realism I wasn't sure if I could swim out and make my escape through the gap out to open sea.

Finally, at the end of the corridor was a large but bear room, its floor decorated with strange geometric designs like nothing I'd seen previously here, with a mirror at one end.

In the mirror, standing across from me was the reflection of a man.

He was quite as attractive as Althsas, with perhaps a similar long-haired beauty, but a wholly different cast. If Althsas was stern, smiling only on occasions, this man wore a smile which promised… quite a lot. Small horns extended through his red hair.

"Ah. So you've returned." He said, then laughed suddenly. "Or, no, you have not. Oh ho! The Princess will be so mad."

"She's dead." I kept at the edge of the designs.

"Dead? No. I would know if she had been slain. Who told you that?"

"Who, and what are you?"

"Ah. I am the Empress's Demon." He walked forward, till the width of characters separated us. "Her lover and confidant. My name is… well, I'll let you find that out for yourself."

"Fine." I turned back towards the door.

"Leaving so soon? Did your people have some myth you should not talk to demons?"

"Yes actually."

"Yet, I suspect, as you're here, you're willing to go along with a conspiracy you know nothing about. I bet they haven't even told you how the royal line kept its power have they?"

I shut the door on him and went to the library.

Part Three: The Throne of Black and White

The throne room of Bethran was both just as I had expected, and nothing like it. I sat at one end of a vast space, waves of color like those on the ceiling of my chambers radiating out from me towards the far ends as if I was the center of some rainbow. The vast chamber was almost empty, with only a half-dozen people standing around it. When I'd asked Alshas, had told him that on my Earth the monarch's private meetings were conducted in smaller, more reasonable meeting rooms he'd laughed. "So primitive. The First Princess can hear her advisors from any distance thanks to the throne and see their faces up close. In turn, they must regard her at a distance, and guess at her reactions. That gives her an advantage." He'd handed me a small silver coin. "Keep this with you, it will allow you to act just like the Princess would. I will be feeding answers into your ear through it."

"What kind of issues will I encounter?"

"For this meeting, it's best you just go along with what I say."

And now here I was, sat in the cushioned comfort of the Imperial throne, its gleaming top, made out of pure diamond rising up behind me. White and black, apparently, were the royal colors. Of the five in the room, three were women, two men, all kneeling, both knees down, on cushions. The women were another of the warriors, dressed in silver armour and with her weapons holstered, an older lady in the same kind of robe suit I'd seen Alshas wear, and a young woman of my own age with long dark hair and blue skin whose figure was shown off by an outfit that mostly consisted of jewels. The men were less flashy, both older, one a handsome actor type, the other an enormously bearded sage. I sat, legs stretched out, watched them.

"Your Glory." The silver armored woman said. "I am glad to see that you are fully recovered from your injury. We stand ready to burn that world to ash for its impudence."

"Your loyalty and willingness to fight for me is welcomed General, however, for now, the invasion will remain on hold." I felt Alshas speak through me, felt like I could override him, but didn't."

"But, Glory, surely the insult cannot go unavenged."

"My injury is of little note next to that done to my guard, and the units of the imperial army that accompanied them. I will not lightly spend your lives against an enemy of unknown power Thesra. You are too precious to me for that. Until we learn how such primitives knew of our coming, and how they were able to collapse the gate, we will seek other avenues of expansion. For now, let us turn to other matters."

"The city of Olkon was hit hard by the collapse of the gate. City authorities report over ten thousand dead and much damage. They ask for royal assistance in their rescue and recovery efforts."

He hadn't told me that.

"Grant it. Let no expense should be spared in helping the victims of this tragedy, and let the local nobility be repaid for any money they spend on reconstruction efforts."

"Glory." The Blue skinned one said. "Is that wise? That will essentially allow the nobility to gain much benefit with the people while spending none of their own cash. Surely it would be better if royal authority were to see to the reconstruction itself, thus granting you the popularity of largess."

I smiled, feeling my face try for weariness. "I think it will do no good to make my noble's bankrupt themselves to score a few points at their expense Masni. Let the Imperial house be magnanimous."

"Of course Glory."

There were other matters, minor and administrative, compensation of the dead royal guards. Finally, the Blue skinned woman spoke up again. "There is one other matter Mistress, it is not related to what has happened, but it is urgent enough I wish to bring it to your attention."

"Please then."

"There is another dispute in Hirokuni. Representatives of the population have petitioned my office for redress. They say that House Olni has broken the edicts, enforced codes of dress and behavior, while failing to enforce the edict of fair working conditions. How should I respond?"

I'd seen the country of Hirokuni in the atlas I'd found in the library. It corresponded to no land on my earth. I wanted to ask. I'd even found reference to the Edicts, which seemed like some kind of constitution. I wanted to ask: "is this accurate."

Instead, the Talisman overrode my voice. "I don't think we need bother with the complaints of churls. Let the Olni deal with it as they see fit."

I saw Masni's mouth thin. She didn't like that. "Of course, Glory. I serve at your will."

***

"What will happen to the Hirokuni?" I asked Alshas as we walked out of the audience chamber.

Alshas shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"Well yes! If you'd let me, I could have prevented that."

He shook his head. "No. House Olni are far more important to our enterprise than are the population of Hirokuni. Besides, if the royal house becomes unpopular for allowing its own edicts to be broken, so much the better."

I looked at him, horrified.

"This is a revolution Sakura. Do you think it will be entirely clean?" He looked at me, then sighed. "Shall I have you returned to the royal quarters?"

"Please."

We went back down. I noticed, at the door, a guard now stood, a tall woman with the same straight sword I remembered strike the killing blow back on earth. I passed through the black curtain and into the royal chambers.

******

"Back so soon? Your meeting did not go so well?" The demon smiled at me. He was naked now, his silk robes of earlier gone to reveal a sculpted body covered in black and red tattoos. I was not in the mood right now.

"I'm not so naïve." I rubbed my eyes, feeling the makeup smudge and not caring. "I realized that they maybe didn't have my best intentions at heart. This conspiracy. They have my mother. What can I do?"

He laughed, a beautiful, corrupt sound. "In your world, you are without the arts are you not? And I suspect, without Queens or Princesses."

"Royal families exist, but they don't have any power."

"I've seen many worlds." He sat down next to me, leaning on the line of text that constrained him. "Many without the Art. They were my darling's primary target. Because their overthrow was so easy. Some few keep absolute monarchies into the industrial age, but most, most fall. Power spreads, people become richer and they won't accept a queen or an empress or a first princess anymore. Sometimes nobles stay in power, or nobles in all but name as with your world, but in general it is the lesser rich who wield the power, even on many worlds who do have the art."

"So why didn't that happen here?" I asked the question he wanted me to ask.

He turned to me and smiled. "What will you give me to answer you?"

I looked him over. "How about a book to read?"

His smile dropped to an expression of anger, then he laughed. "Not just a naïve but a virgin."

"The library here is very big. I bet I can find my own answer if you prefer." I got up.

"Wait! No! Don't just leave me!"

"Then answer my question."

"The royal blood, that which runs in your veins as much as hers gives power. If your family had known the technique, you would have ruled your own world too." The demon stood and glared at me. "I can teach you those techniques. You may find them in the library but do you have time to learn. There was a guard at the door was there not?"

"And what will it cost me to accept your teaching."

"I only want one thing from you." The demon looked at me, beautiful face devoid of its earlier humor. "I only want my freedom."

I looked at the door and thought of the guard beyond.

"Alright," I said finally. "How exactly would we begin?"

End of Book One

Epilogue: In another world

The thing I noticed most about this place was the stink. Not just the smell of battle, of burned flesh and ruined war gear, though I could smell those too, metallic smoke and thick sickly sweet pork of cooked flesh. The industrial smell, thick and unclean, the smell of the primitive's vehicles and industry. The air was thick with it, fouled. I envy the crews of the skyships above. They are primitively built, battlefield constructs far lesser than what I could control at home, but at least their crews can be up in the cleaner air.

The fighting was only just done. They'd tried six times in the last seven days, to take the fortresses I'd placed in the heart of their civilization, tried with every weapon they had, even with atomic fire. It had not worked. I had their measure. A useless, wasteful, courageous war.

I looked out at the shattered rubble that bomb and spell hade made of the buildings around me, the abrupt end of the rubble where I had allowed their city to survive. They stood there, a council of old men, clad in the shapeless dark suits and camouflaged uniforms of their officials.

Behind them, the city's streets were empty, military vehicles drawn up, covering the street with their guns, men covering behind the brightly painted petrol cars that they road in.

I left my guards back and strolled forward to meet them.

One by one, as I approached, they knelt and touched their heads to the ground.

"Please Gentlemen. Rise and look on me. You have fought well, even if I and mine are the victor." My voice is infused with the power of my blood, and they can only obey, staring up at me.

One speaks, an old man from the land they call "China": "So, you have us all at the point of your blade. What will you do now? What will become of us?" He sounds defiant, but I let it go. No one likes to lose.

"Gentlemen, I have no desire to rule you. I came to this world as a conquer, that much is true, but it is cursed. Unlucky. You've spoiled it, even before you tried for me with atomic bombs. You've shown that it'll be too much trouble to conquer you."

"Then, why all this? All this dead?"

"Well, the problem is that I can't go home. The bridge I used to get here was destroyed, I suspect a conspiracy among my underlings, among noble houses. A coup." I look around the kneeling men and the ruined, primitive city. "I will not let that lie, no one of my blood can. I won't let it lie and your world is the only weapon that I have to restore my throne."

"You want us to build a dimensional gate?"

"I want you to take my gifts, to become more than you are. To become a civilization in my image, my clay to mold." I sniff the foul air. "I shall make you into a nation as strong as mine. And then, and then I shall return, and we shall see, we shall see exactly what this Usurper is made of."

BiopunkOtrera · May 21, 2018

[ ] Falling Far (From The Tree Is Fine, but This Is a Little Extreme)

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

Falling Far (From The Tree Is Fine, but This Is a Little Extreme)

A too-blue ocean surrounded impossibly white beaches, in turn surrounding a jungle more idyllic than wild, all palms and shrubs and orchids. Frog-people frolicked all over the island, the younger ones darting in and out of ponds as they played tag, their elders industriously at work near the volcanic caves. I overlooked it all from the top of a tree I couldn't identify, easily twice the height of the tallest palm. The tropical paradise that was my afterlife.

I considered dying again.

Not suicide. Disrespectful, to call it that when I was counting on another rebirth, which... was probably its own kind of disrespectful, not to mention a whole new league of presumptuous. I couldn't help feeling I deserved another try though. Because my island? Great weather, gorgeous scenery, pleasant neighbors, and human population: zero.

I was in the giant tree, and not in the sense that I climbed it.

Flowers burst on my upper branches, budding and blooming in seconds. It was the only method of expression this body was allowed, and I'd needed to purchase a skill to do even that much. My sighs blossomed white and blue.

Past lives, what did you do to saddle me with this kind of karma? I didn't know enough about every faith to claim I'd lived without damnable sin, but I'd like to believe I was a good enough person to at least stay a person. Did every dead soul go through this, spending lifetimes as nature? Was it all just a big game of chance? Did I, perhaps, come back as a tree because that truck pasted me into one?

Dearly hoped it wasn't that last one. The appropriate reaction was difficult without a face, as the only tree around that wasn't a palm.

Detached as I could act about it now, when I first woke up, enough days ago I'd stopped counting, life had been a nightmare. A conscious mind in an unmoving body, unable to do anything except see without eyes, listen without ears, and wallow in the guilt and regret of having left life behind at twenty-three.

Oh, and get burrowed into by bugs. That didn't help.

If there was a single point where I began to calm down, it was my first level-up, when I bought my flowers. They were something I could do, distract myself with, the only thing in this life I could control. As far as coping mechanisms went, certainly my most flattering.

Black flowers filled those first few months. I still grew them sometimes, but not as often, fewer when I did. There was a different kind of guilt there, about having begun to move on, but I deserved to deal with that much.

Nowadays, I could tell myself my afterlife could've been worse and believe it. It wasn't heaven, or I wouldn't consider leaving it every other day, but it wasn't hell. The view was stunning, sunbathing wasn't something to carefully manage anymore, and the frog-people were interesting neighbors, lovable in their own ways. One of the gray-skinned ones kept me company sometimes. The little imp liked my flowers.

But even if it wasn't bad, it was difficult to call my life worth living. I had no attachments, besides one to the freaking ground. If I found a way to die, perhaps sabotage my photosynthesis... would I really end up someplace worse? I struggled to think of a—wait, no, sea cucumbers. Yellow-green disgust bloomed on my branches. Eating sunlight was heaven compared to breathing through your anus. Blossoms showered down as I shuddered.

Existential hazards to my dignity aside, I wasn't about to make sea cucumbers my reason to live – I'd have to kill myself on general principle. Got me nowhere.

By now I'd reached the point where I'd given myself a headache. I could consider death again tomorrow. If not me, it would at least kill some time.

=∬=

User Status

『Te»Φ-rM※ excelsa』

Class: Tree
Level: 4
Experience: 98/100

HP: 130/130
MP: 110/110

Attack	0
Defense	6
Speed	0
Mystery	4
Virtue	1

Affinity: Earth

Skill Points: 50

Purchased skills:
Flower control. Virtue+1. User may control flower growth.
Resistance I. Defense+1. User repels minor pests and pathogens. No effect on sapients.

Class skills:
Photosynthesis. User regenerates HP/MP while active. Scales with leaf-like surface area. Diminished effect outside sunlight.

Unique skill:
Thanatochorous. Mystery+1*. User maintains capability of growth. Removes zonal level limit. Removes zonal class restriction. Removes essence role restriction. Removes lateral transition taboo. Remov»Φ-dR※

=∬=

While my will to live fluctuated throughout the day, being a tree, it had little impact on how I spent my time. Photosynthesis, more photosynthesis, with occasional flower-based distractions. Once in a while, I'd open my system menus to check if anything changed, because it was nice to have a different flavor of disappointment sometimes. For a clearly magical process that governed my body, it offered absolutely no solutions to my body problem. It just wanted to make me a better tree.

Skill Menu: Skill points: 50

Available skills:
Root control (100 SP)

Stem control (100 SP)

Leaf control (100 SP)

Flower control (50 SP)

Scent control (50 SP)
Nectar control (50 SP)
Pollen control (50 SP)
Fruit control (100 SP)
Shape control (150 SP)
Toxin control (150 SP)

Resistance I (50 SP)

Resistance II (200 SP)

Like tracing branches, I could feel the capabilities that lay beyond the skills I saw. For the most part, they expanded toward defenses – from thorny roots to toxic leaves, from camouflage to lining my cellular structures with microscopic crystalline needles that could, quite unnecessarily, also explode.

Root control seemed promising at first, except no skills branched off it that allowed locomotion. Its shape control might allow me to... crawl, I supposed, but limbs weren't in the cards. More control over my leaves was also attractive, but even if it would let me write notes, the only intelligent life on the island hadn't invented script yet. The frog-people were in their stone age – some of the red-skinned variants at least knew how to spark a fire, but I'd only seen them do it four times. Three funerals and once some kind of lunar ceremony.

The unfortunate gist of it was, I could spend years becoming a vicious fortress of a tree, and I'd still burn when lightning struck. For anything less, I was already covered. The pests and diseases on the island hadn't evolved to affect me, and the dreadful few inclined to try anyway were nowadays repelled by resistance. Thank whichever god wasn't responsible for stranding me here in the first place. I wasn't fussy.

I'd still choose to grow, of course. Perhaps, at some point too far for me to see, with knowledge I didn't yet have, there would be a combination of skills capable of creating a humanoid body. Or at least let me chat with someone. That wasn't asking too much, was it?

I brought up my status. One more experience point, and I'd have enough skill points to buy another skill. If I went about this strategically, it would have to be stem or leaf control. Considering my photosynthesis seemed to generate experience, and regenerated more MP than it cost to keep active, growing more leaves or more branches to have leaves on sounded sensible. Not that I expected dramatic results. Photosynthesis was as automatic as breathing used to be, and it'd still taken months to get to where I was. I shouldn't complain. The skill description said nothing about experience points at all, so it was a nice bonus. Certainly preferable over having to kill for it. The frog-people hadn't shown me any hostility despite my nonsensical existence, and I couldn't betray that.

『Level 5 attained』
+50 SP
+5 HP
+5 MP
+1 Mystery

Ah. I—

『New class advancement(s) available (1)』

Excuse me? I mentally fumbled around until I found the new class menu.

Izam Aen (New!): 『Tree』→『Izam Aen』

Class conditions:
Apex species, immotile plant class, Earth or Water affinity, Mystery 5, 50 SP.

Overgrowth terminus. A moss-lichen composite of unrivaled growth. It is known to monopolize entire regions, depriving all other plant life of sunlight. It exacerbates erosion and flooding, and uses this to propagate. Warring nations commonly call ceasefires to unite against the threat of this devastating plant.

No. Just no. I liked to think I could look at cold-blooded nature and accept it as the circle of life, but there was a limit. A monstrous moss that could trivially depopulate my island and quite possibly sink it into the ocean went firmly too far.

Really, what was wrong with this class? Would a tree normally get this kind of option at level five? I'd been assuming the system displayed illegible characters because parts didn't translate to Earth scripts, but now I suspected something was legitimately wrong. Orange flowers of alarm were popping up across my branches.

Down by my roots, a frog-girl carving stone in my shade noticed the spontaneous eruption of color. She was one of the rare gray-skinned ones, an urchin that wouldn't have reached past my human waist, and one of the few individuals I could recognize by the pattern of pigment – black stripes across her limbs. For some reason, she seemed to consider me her personal tree. I'd retaliated by naming her Rill, after a sound she made. The other frogs never addressed her, so it would have to do.

Rill stood, put some distance between us, looked up, then opened a mouth riddled with more fangs than I could count. And squeakily beeped at me.

An inherently comical sound, like air escaping a balloon. My blossoms snapped back to their regular pink. She giggled at it, then plopped herself back between my roots to resume her handicrafts.

With a wry smile in mind, I grew a large flower from the branch nearest to her head. She promptly launched her tongue at it. A practical sort, my frog. I'd loaded it with as much nectar as basic flower control allowed.

I had to admit, the frog-people were a large part of why killing felt so unacceptable to me. Part of it was their child-like appearance, and part of it was me latching on to the closest thing to human contact I had, but I couldn't see them purely as herbivores to defend myself against. They simply weren't inhuman enough.

In fact, I was suspicious there was at least a little human in them. Bipedal, opposable thumbs, five only slightly webbed fingers, omnivorous, hair on their heads. They did have some inhuman features, like their damp skin, their tails, uncannily large eyes with triangular pupils... but still. They were closer to humanity than any ape on my past world.

Not that a sentient tree had a leg to stand on when it came to biology. Or a leg in general.

Somewhat reluctantly, I turned away from cute distractions of nature and back to the unnaturalness of my system. I reread and memorized the description of my one available class, then carefully dismissed the menu. No choice but to look at this optimistically. I had one more option than yesterday, and more importantly, I might receive more in the future. There had to be humanoid classes somewhere down the road. And the faster I got there, the better.

I navigated to my skill menu and selected stem control. More branches, more leaves, more photosynthesis. Likely less than pure leaf control, but this afforded me more protection and stability. The trunk was just a big stem, apparently? More efficient leaves would have to wait until later.

As a hundred skill points drained away, a deeper level of awareness opened in my trunk and branches. Like rousing a sleeping limb, it almost felt like regaining control, even knowledge. I knew what I could do, the nutrients it needed, how much MP could compensate, the size I could afford to grow with the roots I had. Stem control was a lot more costly than my flowers. Disappointing, but fine. Practicing patience was my life.

I moved my perspective to my crown, where a handful of little shoots were emerging from other branches. A quarter of my MP spent. I'd recover it while I planned precisely—why was the ocean black?

In the distance, a massive blotch of darkness was homing in on my island. Here and there, the water foamed where bodies broke the surface.

I knew what this was. They weren't supposed to come back this soon.

Orange-red flowers. Not indiscriminate like before, but a single line, from roots to peak. After a split-second of confused hesitation, Rill shot up the flower path, a combination of natural dexterity and powerful legs taking her to the highest branches. She spotted what I'd seen immediately.

Rill gasped. Not out of surprise – for air. She inhaled enough to visibly inflate her torso, then howled, loud enough to hurt ears I didn't have. Incomparable to her cutesy beeps, a piercing wail that likely reached across the entire island. Was she spending MP to do it?

Perhaps a fourth of the frogs within my vision turned to stare at me. The remainder ran for their weapons and their lives. Their enemy was coming.

The approaching blackness was now close enough to make out individuals from the squirming mass. Serpents, some prehistoric mockery of moray eels, easily two or three times the size of giant anacondas. I still couldn't tell if they were sea-snakes or eels that could hunt on land, and I hated how those were equally possible options.

This would be the fourth time I'd see them attack. The last hadn't even been two weeks ago.

Nervous yellow petals budded on my branches. I wasn't itching for a fight by any means, but it wasn't comfortable being a complete outsider either. The eels had no interest in trees. If the previous attacks were any indication, they wouldn't have an interest in Rill either – the gray-skinned frogs were poisonous to the point of being outcasts even among their own people. The eels were after the vulnerable greens. Hopefully the early warning would help the reds coordinate the defense.

Rill slammed the stone she'd been sharpening into the base of one of my smaller branches, shaving off some bark and a sliver of HP, not enough to round up to one. There wasn't a trace of her usual impish expression on her face. What was this look? Frustration? Desperation? Another strike, knuckles pale from clenching branch and stone.

It took me a second to realize what she was doing. The branch would make a good spear for her size.

Rill was a gray variant, not in any danger so long as she stayed out of the way. The green frogs didn't speak to her, the red leadership was likely to blame for her kind's isolation. And she still wanted to fight for them.

Worry and a strange pride played tug of war with my heartstrings. Could I stop her? Should I enable her instead? Rill was the headstrong sort, and reckless, considering how she interacted with the clearly alien tree the rest of her species avoided. Was it to an extent she would charge the eels with just a sharp rock?

Better for her to have the reach of a spear.

I held my breath, my regeneration, to allow the damage Rill was doing. Smooth the branch, make it straighter, wider, stronger, as much as stem control allowed on short notice. Uneven growth to sharpen a point, aborted shoots to create grooves for better grip. I had to leave the smaller branches – she could tear them off, and I didn't have the MP to spare. Nothing left, now.

The spear was small, maybe four feet. As Rill finally broke it from my body, I wished this wasn't the only role I could play.

『Class shift registered』

What?

『Er»Φ-iH※. Consolidating...』

=∬=

Darkness, like a slow blink. Did time pass? I couldn't feel my roots anymore, or my crown, and the rest of my body was violently shaking. My epilepsy?

No.

Movement. The first true motion I'd felt in months, intensely nauseating. My perspective shook as I tried to find my bearings – a suddenly much larger Rill was carrying me as she dodged and jumped forest obstacles. What? The spear. What. Confusion left me short of breath, though that might also have something to do with Rill ripping off the branches I breathed with. I made a wild mental grasp for my status window, for answers.

User Status

『Te»Φ-rM※ excelsa』

Class: Small Spear
Level: 5
Experience: 26/100

HP: 21/21
MP: 1/25

Attack	3
Defense	3
Speed	0
Mystery	5
Virtue	1

Affinity: Earth, Death

Skill Points: 0

Purchased skills:
Flower control. Virtue+1. User may control flower growth.
Stem control. Defense +1. User may control stem growth.
Resistance I. Defense+1. Repels minor pests and pathogens. No effect on sapients.

Class skills:
Photosynthesis. User may regenerate HP/MP. Effect proportional to leaf-like surface area. Diminished effect outside sunlight.
Spearpoint. Thrusting attacks receive Attack correction (Mystery).

Unique skill:
Thanatochorous. Mystery+1*. User maintains capability of growth. Removes zonal level limit. Removes zonal class restriction. Removes essence role restriction. Removes lateral transition taboo. Remov»Φ-dR※

Information yes, answers no, only more questions. I was a spear now. My stats had shifted, I had a new skill, even a death affinity? Weird leap in experience, too. Things to contemplate and freak out about later. Rill had cut her arm on something during her run, probably intentional, and was dabbing my point in her blood. She had reached the battlefield.

The jungle floor was unrecognizable. I saw no soil, no fallen palm fronds, no orchids, only black skin. The hand that held me trembled, in part because the ground trembled. An army of huge serpentine bodies whipped into trees, the ground, each other. Violently unpredictable and frighteningly fast.

All over, green frogs had climbed the palms, were harassing the eels by slinging down bright orange stones. A whirling film of water around each eel deflected the projectiles, though some of the orange coating transferred into the shields. Poison, borrowed from the red frogs, not the most vicious kind. Not if the greens were handling it.

Most of the eels were clearly advancing in one direction – the volcanic caves. Five or six decided to try the trees instead, coiling around trunks to slither upward, or pull the entire tree down. The frogs evaded by leaping from palm to palm. Tried to. A young green misjudged her jump, and I couldn't look away as the eel that caught her chewed.

Rill's jump launched her forward. Her face expressed everything she wasn't screaming.

My point raced at the eel's flank, the gray flesh bordering back and belly. The thrust wasn't perfect, but it was better than anything anyone could expect from someone who hadn't ever practiced.

I slid off.

Magic. From the outside, the layer of water around the eel seemed too thin and too still to deflect anything, and it did it anyway. Rill's head-on stab became a graze, not even breaking skin.

The eel whipped around, eyes dull and unfocused, its attention focused to a point sharp enough to feel. Non-existent blood roared through veins I didn't have. The monster opened its maw, lined with with needle-like fangs, glassy, gleaming red in the sunlight. Rill raised me a fraction. Aiming for the unprotected mouth? Did I give her enough reach for that?

The eel raised itself, cobra-like, poised to lunge forward and bite. Then it whirled around for a tail-slam instead. The thing could feint?

Moving with impossible reflexes, Rill kicked the ground and shot at a palm. Not to evade, not for cover. She braced the base of my shaft against the tree, using her own body to keep my point aimed squarely at the incoming eel. No no I'll break—

I swam through flesh and blood and bit into bone.

『-4 HP』

What? That wasn't right. I'd cheated nature, wrung every scrap of durability out of my limited control, but I was still a thin stick.

The eel thrashed, flinging its tail and me skyward – and Rill with it, because she wouldn't let go. I came loose at the apex, where her tail shot out and coiled around a palm. With a wild look in her eyes, she swept the area for other foes. None. The other eels in the vicinity were moving on – not fleeing, moving toward frogs that did rate as prey. Rill's expression calmed as she slid down the tree.

『Level 6 attained』
+50 SP
+1 HP
+1 MP
+1 Mystery

Already? The eel Rill attacked was still alive and flailing, if mindlessly. To the system, was it already dead? Did I get experience just for fighting? I guessed that was what experience was, come to think of it.

Watching the writhing eel left me ill at ease. It had feinted. Was there an intelligent mind in there? Like me, like Rill? It would be the mind of an aggressor and murderer, but... killing was one thing, torture was another. Stupid, probably, but it felt important to at least pretend I was still that human.

Rill, for her part, ran after the other eels. Fight first, pity foes never, apparently. Fair.

Now that the level-up recovered my MP, I could use my skills again. Stem growth to resharpen and reinforce my form... damn it. Growth that would've cost me one MP as a Tree now took ten. Was there some kind of penalty?

What else did I have like this? Flower control would have the same problem and wasn't useful in the first place, photosynthesis needed leaves I didn't have, the new spearpoint... was passive. Rill didn't seem to benefit from it. Did she have no Mystery? Or was the skill supposed to improve my thrusting attacks? The hell was a spear supposed to thrust itself?

Be productive. Fifty skill points. Were there Small Spear skills I could buy? Apparently not. I couldn't even access my Tree skills anymore, even though the ones I already had still functioned. Made no sense, though that might explain my durability. It was just a gut feeling, but if Small Spears couldn't ever have more than one defense... exactly how durable was I with three?

My suspicion that real life was bugging out was profoundly worrying, but I'd save the anxiety for when it wasn't clearly in my favor.

Rill was nearing the mountain at the center of the island, the area with fewer trees, where the main body of frogs was mounting a defense. Zigzagging half-circles of palm stakes jutted from the ground, forming defensive lines around the caves. Even here, quite a distance from the worst of the fight, three eels already lay bleeding on them.

Not enough. Not enough stake-lines or impaled eels. The attack had come too soon.

Dozens of green frogs were fighting desperately, reinforcing the lines, harassing the eels with spears, rocks, knives, clubs, even flinging small buckets at them. Every tool they held dripped with poison, even as it blistered their fingers. The only red frog of the group spewed a wave of pink liquid at an eel cluster, more than his body could've contained. Within seconds, his targets were moving with half the vigor.

Even so, the eels advanced. They made their dead and dying into bridges and slithered forward. As far as I could see, none had reached the actual caves yet, but they got perilously close. Did the caves have to be protected at all costs or were there more defensive lines inside? I'd never seen an attack get this far.

Rill charged the eels, and not the crippled ones. A kick sent pebbles at her target first, to test the water shield, then she aligned her spear thrust with the direction of the current. Almost trivially, my point raked open skin. One eel, poisoned, then another before the rest even caught on.

『Level 7 attained』
+50 SP
+1 HP
+1 MP
+1 Mystery

If I doubted the frog-people had their own version of the system before, no longer. I didn't need to see Rill's status to know she'd leveled up. Even now, she was visibly improving between eels, started to use their shields to propel herself between different targets, slipping through a chaos of tail-slams and bites. Toward the end of it, she had enough leeway to flick drops of her blood into incoming maws.

『Level 8 attained』
+50 SP
+1 HP
+1 MP
+1 Mystery

What was this? What made Rill special? Compared to the other frogs... some of the reds might be more powerful, hell if I knew, but she was still a clear outlier. I doubted the one frog who got attached to me just happened to be a once-in-a-decade prodigy.

Rill broke away from the eels and caught her breath behind the stake defenses. Every frog within sight spared a few seconds to stare at her. Some with slack-jawed awe, others with eyes just as wide, but with fear in them instead. Not panic, but they were definitely worried. What?

The red who'd spit poison earlier approached Rill, shrilly yelling. He looked like an adolescent to my human standards, though the stone beads around his neck marked him as a leader-priest. He gestured wildly – at me. Demanding an explanation for where she got a spear? Demanding I was handed over? I couldn't tell. Were gray frogs not allowed weapons? Even in this situation?

Rill beeped at him, and I could more or less tell the message was for him to go beep himself. Yeah, you tell him. She ran off then, and whatever the red's problem was, it wasn't urgent enough to abandon his position in the defense.

I wasn't myopic enough to believe Rill was completely in the right here, but she had to be helping more than doing harm. The frogs could sort out their differences after the fight.

Rill made her way through the lines, stabbing eels where she could or needed to, though moving with clear purpose. I was fairly sure I saw her target.

In the distance, spearheading the most advanced eel offensive, it rose above the forest. An ivory serpent, easily half again as big as the other eels. Where the others had smooth gray-black bodies, this one was encased in plates of bone, overlapping like scale armor. The beast wasn't completely limbless either. Back in my world, I would've guessed the stumps on its back were vestigial arms. Here, I suspected it was becoming a dragon.

All of the previous attacks had brought one of these monsters to the island. A commander, a problem-solver that hunted down the strongest red frogs, and, I suspected, the single member of the eel swarm with the brawn to smash through cave barricades. When it was forced into retreat – or killed, once – the others would follow.

Normally, the red frogs would've made progress by now. This time... there were too few stake-lines, not enough time to barricade all the caves. It would've been worse without Rill's warning, but even then, the fighters had needed to spread themselves too thin. There were only four red frogs defending this position. They hadn't left the bone eel completely unhurt – one startlingly blue eye was surrounded by burned skin – but most of their attention was clearly occupied with the eel infantry. Two of the reds fought with waves of venom, one with bullets of acid. The last, a particularly crimson frog, launched a stream of liquid that caught fire, which would've been formidable if it weren't for the water-shields and the unacceptable risk to the forest. Perhaps there were red frogs with less indiscriminate skills defending choke points inside the caves, but here, the situation didn't look good. All four were flagging, only half of them uninjured.

Despite everything, not one of the fighters ran for shelter. Not the reds, not even the greens, who had to know they weren't more than distracting snacks. This was the culture that had birthed Rill, outcast as she was. Those who could fight, fought.

I felt a vague pang of guilt at that.

Rill circled around the fight, uncaring about pools of poison, though wary of the fire. Her tiny gray body darted through a sea of gray-black while most eyes were aimed elsewhere, and she reached the bone eel unnoticed. And struck.

『-2 HP』

Her thrust didn't even chip the bone. Stem control shored up my damage, resharpened, but I needed to do more than repair. How could Rill fight this thing? I was vaguely aware scale armor had fallen out of favor at some point, but had no idea if that was because of an exploitable weakness. Maybe a hook to get underneath? Increase my weight to hit through the armor? Not viable options, didn't have the MP either way.

I grew my point thinner, flatter, surgical. Fragile. I'd compensate with growth.

『Level 9 attained』
+50 SP
+1 HP
+1 MP
+1 Mystery

Rill was defending herself against some of the less disciplined eels, distracting the offensive if nothing else. The bone serpent had noticed, and it didn't seem to care. A single frog with a stick, not a concern. Its lower body was protected. Its only obvious weak point, the eyes, rose beyond her reach.

Whipping her head to the red frogs, Rill trilled a screech. Two ignored her or didn't hear. The frog with the acid bullets spared her a glance, turned away from the eels he was fighting, and refocused his fire on the bone serpent's eyes, firing high. The beast lowered its head, just a little.

Enough for Rill. She bounced herself off an eel's shield, accelerated, steered herself onto another shield and launched herself toward the eel commander. Her legs swelled to an almost grotesque width as her body prepared to do what it was most designed for. Like a released spring, she shot into the air.

Her target wasn't an eye. The monster didn't give her that angle. Instead, she hurtled at the back of its skull, ramming my point beneath a scale.

The squelch of drawing blood.

Not much. I hadn't pierced more than the upper layer of skin, not an inch deep. I was a twig to this monster. It shook its head, not even all that wildly, appropriate for dislodging a minor annoyance. Despite the skin tearing on her palms, Rill didn't let go. More of her blood was running toward the wound, but not enough of it, not fast enough. I'd come loose, and she would fall.

I did the only thing I could.

Stem control. All my MP, thrown into growth. My point extended into flesh, not even half an inch deeper. Virtually nothing.

But the system considered it a thrust.

Green lightning crackled along the length of my body. Spearpoint activated, interpolating nine Mystery into my Attack score of three. Four times the offensive capability any Small Spear should have.

Four times the Defense I had.

I shattered, pulverized, snapped at five different points. My vision fractured, now a mosaic as I saw out of every fragment. The largest piece that remained of me was my handle, not even a foot long. But, as though the world was honoring my attack score too, the splinters that were once my spearhead burrowed deeper. Inexorably.

The bone serpent froze. Blood dyed the whites of its eyes. A heartbeat – around me, inside me, I didn't know. Heavy. Final.

The dimming awareness of my smaller pieces told me precisely what my splinters had ended up inside. It was over.

Rill safely slid down the serpent's back, doubling my relief. Which lasted a second. A new problem screamed for attention – it wasn't just the smaller pieces I was losing awareness in. It was all of them.

『0/25 HP』

Ah. I mentally blinked at the information on my status window. No notification for catastrophic damage, apparently. Not something the dead would need. Dizziness, as reality slowly caught up to me. I... I was going to—

『Class shift registered』

Oh. Not dying, then. Well, that was... good? Maybe? I thought I'd be able to accept my death when it happened, but it seemed I didn't want it to be sudden. How picky.

『Er»Φ-iH※. Consolidating...』

Darkness. My vision filled up with a sequence of system messages.

Experience: Experience gained. Temporarily suspended.
Achievement: 『Heromaker』(minor)

Achievement conditions:
Bestowal of name to unit, mentorship of named unit (accomplished: feed, equip, assist), instrumental role in major accomplishment of named unit.

Rewards:
+500 SP

Effects:
Lesser Poison Atolli『Rill』ascends to hero species.
『Atolli (Death)』→『Atolli (Dark Hero)』
Class: Class shift complete.
Experience: 『Level 10 attained』
+50 SP
+1 HP
+1 MP
+1 Mystery

=∬=

I regained awareness after what must've been some hours. Night had fallen. The area outside the caves was lit by crackling bonfires, with hundreds of frogs casting huge dancing shadows on the face of the mountain. The frogs themselves weren't dancing. Where groups had formed, there were subdued exchanges, more somber than I imagined beeps could be. Most stood alone.

Rill was one of them, still holding what was once my handle. I wasn't sure what she was doing. She held me strangely, with both hands, resting against her forehead. Mouthing words, inaudible.

She walked forward, and laid me on top of a pile of wood.

A chill as I realized what was happening, what I was. No. Don't. Stick me in the ground somewhere. I might grow new roots.

Despite my pleas, Rill left me there, in what would soon be another funeral pyre.

I felt breathless, empty. Phantom pains in my chest – more painful than death, and I couldn't blame anyone for the betrayal I felt except me. Me, and my naive thinking that communication existed between us. Me, who had at some point begun to think of Rill as a partner.

A delusion, just so I'd feel a little less lonely. Idiotic. We were user and tool, and now I'd broken.

I'd been telling myself I'd be able to accept my fate when it came, but I hadn't a moment ago when I broke as a spear, and I couldn't now. I didn't want to die. I wasn't okay with it. But even as my MP uselessly drained into skills, there was nothing I could do to stop the torch approaching my pyre. Don't burn me.

What would happen? Would I class shift into a speck of ash, floating on the winds?

No. I didn't think I'd be coming back from this.

Resin teardrops vaporized as I burned.

=∬=

I woke up back in my tree. As level eleven, because apparently Firewood gains experience for burning.

...

A storm of emotion, a thundering cascade of one into another... there wasn't. My mental energy was spent. The storm was more of a drizzle, the cascade a few especially loud drops. The hell was my distress for? Frustration warred with the relief of survival, which was itself conflicting, because I was still inhabiting a tree. More conflict, then, when I realized how comfortable this body had become. That wasn't okay.

Numb, I stared out over the starlit sea, away from the frogs' pyres and their licking flames. The stillness I'd grown accustomed to now felt like a strange and alien thing. Hours passed like that, trying to recover my equilibrium.

Eventually, darkness fled before my breakfast. The sun's warmth, the deep breath its light felt like, the calming effect of imaginary endorphins... they helped.

Okay. A small thought, careful, mental gears groaning as they resumed motion.

All other considerations and uncertainties aside, at the most simple level, it was clear I wanted to live, even like this, no matter what corners I could reason myself into. If this tree body was acting as something of a... rebirth anchor? Then I needed to make it the best I could. As soon as possible.

My focus fell on the system message taunting me from the corner of my eye.

『New class advancement(s) available (4)』

Fine. I could handle some reading. Let's see what horribleness it had in store for me. Though even as I tried to stomp down my expectations, I couldn't help hope a little.

Izam Aen: 『Tree』→『Izam Aen』

Class conditions:
Apex species, immotile plant class, Earth or Water affinity, Mystery 5, 50 SP.

Overgrowth terminus. A moss-lichen composite of unrivaled growth. It is known to monopolize entire regions, depriving all other plant life of sunlight. It exacerbates erosion and flooding, and uses this to propagate. Warring nations commonly call ceasefires to unite against the threat of this devastating plant.
Mors Hylde (New!): 『Tree』→『Mors Hylde』

Class conditions:
Apex species, immotile plant class, Life or Death affinity, Mystery 5, 50 SP.

Addiction terminus. A small but bountiful fruit tree that appears at grave sites. Despite its ghoulish habitat and preferred fertilizer, its fruit is regarded as a delicacy in all six major cultures, and both bark and leaves have many attractive properties for industry and trade. Naturally hardy, and often jealously guarded by local lords and merchants.
Urasa-Haj Uzu (New!): 『Tree』→『Urasa-Haj Uzu』

Class conditions:
Apex species, immotile plant class, Earth affinity, Mystery 10, 50 SP.

Subterfuge terminus. A subterranean orchid known to ancient civilizations as the Warstarter Bloom. Far from its concealed main body, a sprawling root network captures prey by excavating pitfalls, typically filled with stake-like thorns. Due to its mimicry and immunity to magical discovery, most intelligent species regard its trap holes as enemy constructions.
Heen Zay'le (New!): 『Tree』→『Heen Zay'le』

Class conditions:
Apex species, immotile plant class, Fire affinity, Mystery 10, 50 SP.

Infernal path. An invasive plant native to a lower plane. It assumes the appearance and functions of a local tree, sometimes for centuries, until its patience expires. Then, it and all its progeny assume a form of magical flame, growing toward the most central conflagration. Oracles remain divided on what would happen should this reunion fully succeed, but even demonists are known to cooperate with efforts to stop it.
Aliph Nox (New!): 『Tree』→『Aliph Nox』

Class conditions:
Apex species, immotile plant class, Death affinity, Mystery 10, 50 SP.

Assimilation terminus. An expansive shrub system that ensnares other lifeforms. It combines an array of gaseous poisons with prehensile vines covered in nigh-inescapable adhesive resin. If a victim's cries for help seem likely to lure in more members of its species, they are integrated into the plant system, their lives maintained. The wailing bog of Giffa was comprised primarily of this plant prior to its ascension to Dungeon.

... I was a little glad for the warning at level five. Someone seriously needed to have a word with whoever was in charge of plants on this world. Not me though. Seemed unhealthy, and if there was a designer, they weren't my kind of sane. I shivered, shedding some older leaves.

No classes that evolved from Small Spear or Firewood, I noticed. Just as well. Options were options, but the system could keep career opportunities as super death stick or infinity bonfire to itself.

Giving morbid non-options the consideration they deserved, I moved on. My skill menu, at least, was encouraging. Eight hundred skill points.

With an odd feeling of shopping after payday, I immediately selected leaf control and root control. Leaves meant photosynthesis, photosynthesis meant HP, MP, and experience. It'd pay for itself eventually. Root control had some interesting applications, but I mostly needed it to regrow my roots if I ever lost them again. Six hundred points left, though first things first.

Nutrients and MP exploded into two thousand newborn leaves, which immediately began to soak up the midday sunlight. My crown grew visibly denser over the span of seconds, the shade I cast darker, more complete.

Shape control for my leaves... better not. My leaves worked well, and I hadn't a clue what I'd change about them. Even if I fiddled with... heat dispersion? Water retention? I doubted I could make an improvement worth a hundred and fifty skill points. I'd consider it after I experimented with the basics. Quantity over quality, for now.

I did buy shape control for roots, and the slightly more expensive version for stems. I was still aiming for a humanoid body, but as long as I stayed a plant, mobility would always be valuable. Two hundred and fifty points left.

Finally, I bought fruit control and the seed control it unlocked. One hundred points each.

To ensure I was sterile.

If my species trapped human souls from earth inside trees, it could end with me.

If my species birthed intelligent minds in sapling bodies, it could end with me.

If my species matured into country-killers at level five or ten, it could end with me.

I refused to be responsible for that kind of anguish and misery. No offspring until I had a body that would let me be a mother to children who would get to be children.

The expected emptiness of having spent all but fifty of my points... didn't happen. I was at peace with my choices. Good.

User Status

『Te»Φ-rM※ excelsa』

Class: Tree
Level: 11
Experience: 7/100

HP: 220/220
MP: 230/230

Attack	0
Defense	10
Speed	0
Mystery	11
Virtue	4

Affinity: Earth, Fire, Death

Skill Points: 50

Purchased skills:
Flower control. Virtue+1. User may control flower growth.

Fruit control. Virtue+1. User may control fruit growth.
Seed control. Virtue+1. User may control seed growth.

Stem control. Defense +1. User may control stem growth.

Shape control. Defense+1. Additional control of growth shape.

Leaf control. Virtue+1. User may control leaf growth.
Root control. Defense+1. User may control root growth.

Shape control. Defense+1. Additional control of growth shape.

Resistance I. Defense+1. Repels minor pests and pathogens. No effect on sapients.

Class skills:
Photosynthesis. User may regenerate HP/MP. Effect proportional to leaf-like surface area. Diminished effect outside sunlight.
Spearpoint. Thrusting attacks receive Attack correction (Mystery).
Conflagrant. User may catch on fire.

Unique skill:
Thanatochorous. Mystery+1*. User maintains capability of growth. Removes zonal level limit. Removes zonal class restriction. Removes essence role restriction. Removes lateral transition taboo. Remov»Φ-dR※

For a good while, I created leaves while staring blankly at the class skill from Firewood. So I could combust on demand now. Lovely. I couldn't deny the use of it, especially if circumstances ever trapped me in a troublesome form, but... it felt a little too utilitarian to happily receive what could be seen as a suicide pill. Said something about the life you led. Better to have and not need, I supposed.

As the sun rose, the island roused. Green frogs poured from the caves, most sluggish, all solemn. The battle had left its marks on them, like it had on the island. Toppled palms, stained earth, bodies that hadn't been retrieved due to the darkness. The dead eels, most too poisoned to be food, were being gathered at another pyre. The bone serpent, at least, was being torn apart for material. The scene didn't fit the beautiful weather.

I cast another glance over the island. As expected, the number of red frogs had noticeably decreased. I could only hope they were resting instead of at rest, because as it was, the frogs were critically undefended.

And that, of course, was when the attack continued.

=∬=

They arrived by ship, a large double-masted vessel, pristine save for some patchwork repairs. Not predators like the eels, or if they were, it wasn't a natural predation. They looked like feline humanoids, muscular, more like clothed upright jaguars than anything as cute-sounding as 'cat-people'. The immediate impression was power, not elegance. I'd loved cats in my previous life. These, I loathed on sight.

They had chained frog-people on their deck. Slavers.

This couldn't be a coincidence. These cats had either followed the eels, or somehow herded them toward this island in the first place – it explained the unexpectedly early attack. And now the frog-people's most powerful defenders were dead, crippled, or exhausted.

Close to sixty of the jaguars disembarked, almost leisurely, unconcerned. Most were armed with steel and armored in leather, but two carried cudgels mounted with fist-sized crystals instead. They'd even brought magicians.

I didn't warn the frogs. I tried, through leaf and flower, but no one understood.

I didn't prepare for combat. I would need ten thousand times my current MP to even get there. Maybe, just maybe, there might be something I could do if I upgraded my class... but if 'terminus' meant what I thought it did, it would sacrifice my future. I couldn't afford it.

No. I was too selfish to.

Fuck it all.

The wailing alarm of frog scouts signaled the slavers' detection. What followed wasn't a fight. Slung rocks coated in poison did nothing against magical barriers of solid air, against proper armor and reflexes comparable to Rill's. The cats didn't retaliate, didn't venture into the jungle except to gather some fruit. This wasn't a fight to them. They were stocking up.

The only thing they did to the frogs was send out one of their slaves.

An hour later, my frogs surrendered.

I understood. Even as my body creaked and cracked and seething roots churned the earth, I understood. If they resisted, win or lose, they'd be in no shape to survive the next eel attack. They couldn't afford to fight, not against opponents whose departure could be purchased with sacrifice.

A hundred frogs volunteered for the chains. Greens and grays. One familiar pigment pattern among them.

A treacherous voice inside me told me to say goodbye. To tell myself there was nothing I could do, because I was a poor pitiful human stuck in a powerless tree. The me of half a year ago, she would've listened. I didn't want to be too uncharitable to the me of yesterday, but her too, maybe.

I would at least try.

Professionals, magic, their ship and their actions. Scraps of information connected. It wasn't brilliant, it wasn't likely, it wasn't even something I could influence all that much, but there was a chance.

Magic radiated out of my heartwood. Knots deep inside me revived, migrated to the surface to become branches once more. Internal gaps drew back together, the grain of my trunk realigned. I scoured my body of as many weaknesses and imperfections as possible without looking eerily artificial. As the tallest abnormality of the forest, it was only a matter of time before the cats investigated me. I needed to be ready.

It didn't take half an hour. A party of five males, one pitch-black, four with typical jaguar coloration. I couldn't understand their expressions, but they exchanged words in my shade. Didn't understand those either actually – it was a mess of growls and hisses, aggressive, often verging on a roar. Could something please use a language I could at least try to learn?

They left me, took their machetes and retreated back into the jungle. I held my mental breath. Had I failed? No. They'd return. They had to.

Eventually, the same group did return, with three more cats in tow. One sailor with gray flecks in his fur, a better-dressed male the others seemed to tread carefully around, and the first female I'd seen up close, one of the cudgel-wielding magicians. The elder rumbled some at the one I'd pegged as an officer. Still couldn't understand a word, but I could hazard a guess.

I was the timber of carpenters' dreams.

Without warning, the woman waved her wand, once, twice. Two thundering impacts, as masses of sharp solid air hacked huge chunks out of my body.

『-97 HP』
『-123 HP』

I toppled in a cacophony of breaking branches, a heavy thud its finale. There was a distant keening, then, a high-pitched wail. Probably reached the entire island. I smiled softly.

『Class shift registered』

Rill needn't worry.

『Er»Φ-iH※. Consolidating...』

I called this success.

Let's see more of this world.

BiopunkOtrera · May 21, 2018

[ ] So this is my life now, being a living battery in an unknown world

Genres: Isekai, FeMC, No humans, Science Fantasy

'So this is my life now, being a living battery in an unknown world'

Have you ever felt a random pain? Okay no, stupid question. What I mean is more a you're going about your day, nothing special there, when all of a sudden your whole body lights up in a crushing feeling, skin to bone in heat and needles. Well, see, that's what kind happened…..or, is happening to me.

My life is….simple?….average?.....relatable? That's what dull people call themselves to sound more sympathetic right? Yeah let's go with relatable. Wake up, wash body, eat food, go to and do my job if I'm scheduled that day, go home to sleep, any and all off time spent online doing….who cares. I'm not that attractive so I'm not asked out often and those that do are far too desperate for me to agree too. And friends? They left our no name wasteland as soon they could with no way for me to follow without so much as a glance back. Family? I don't think there's a limit to how many things could be said about them.

Where was I?

Right, so the day was just like any other day I suppose. Work was over and I was heading home when for no real reason everything 'hurt', like I was hit by something big and heavy, my last few moments of consciousness was laying on the ground unsure if I was face up or face down and someone's foot next to me.

That more or less sums up everything important in less than two hundred and fifty words.
.
.
.
Wow, when said out loud like that you kind of realize how barely functional our existence is.
.
.
.

Huh? Oh right, that's in the past, what of the present.

The first sensation I recognize is touch and oh is there a lot to unpack there.

The warm needly feeling is still there but not as strong, more like how you feel clothing, there but at the back of your mind after a while. What's more of a problem is how floaty everything is. My arms outstretched alongside my head, something pulling on my ankles, a dry pressure over my mouth and nose. The heaviest part of me are my eyes as I struggle with the recognition of everything going on as I begin instinctually stretching as I always do when waking up but not really able to move at all.

Head and face, check. Shoulders, lungs, and fingers, there. Torso, legs and toes, haven't lost them yet so I guess I'm good.

Sight and hearing come on at about the same time. I think I hear some rhythmic motor first sounding as if it's linked up to my breathing. My eyes however are blinded by a dull orange color causing them to hurt more than anything for a few seconds. All the while non-rhythmic sounds, voices I guess, mettle through mixing with the motor noise, my own groggy groans and…bubbles?

"Commander, it appears to be waking up."

Commander? As in military? What the hell happened to me?

The orange light seems to be lessening as things come into a blurry view going to a darker red or brown, globs of white running around to blinking orbs of green.

"The readings are rising again, more than double when it was dormant."

What, like heartbeat or brainwave readings? Wait that was a different voice. The white…things are people. Four, no five of them. Lab coats?

Ah, the pressure on my mouth, it's a breathing mask. A little big but I'm not suffocating and everything else feels wet in comparison.

!

Shit. I'm in a liquid filled tube being researched by a bunch of military scientists. What is this, Sci-Fi? No, hold that thought, my vision is getting clearer to see the people in front of me. They aren't human, they're….rats?...or rat like, like a ratman….thing. Yeah, perfect description there gir, 'ratman thing', you should write for a living.

Okay, better detail. They seem closer to upright mice at first what with their long thin tails and large ears, but they seem very human too but having short fur as well as hair and human like limb proportions, except for clawed digits. Ah, those are hazmat suit they're wearing not lab coats.

The hell have I gotten sucked into? A half assed Lord of the Rings rip-off? So Fantasy, not Sci-fi…..but with computers? At least I think those are computers, very fifties. Wait no, those are crystals. Magic…science? A~nd the headaches have begun.

"Director! It's looking mighty angry."

"Shut up Ralph. So long as we keep draining the radiation it cannot do a single thing."

"Are we sure the restraints will hold?"

Restraints? Oh right, the reason my arms are up like that is because something's holding them, ankles to. Not like I can look and see them, something's holding my head as well.

"Director. It just tested the restraints."

"A coincidence Ralph. The Goriji do not understand our language. They are far too primitive for that."

"Are you sure? It's looking right at me."

"Ugh. For the last time Ralph, shut up and wait for the Commander to get here so he can review our data. If I hear you speak out of turn again I'm throwing you right off this train with no care where in this backwater land we are. Have I mad-"

Goriji. Primitive. Train? Info for later I guess. Not like it does me much good in this state, not till the Commander gets here, if I'm lucky. Whenever that'll b-

On the far side of the room came a noise as a small light changed and something slid open, a door I suppose as it's too dark to tell. A figure walks forward from it, a small pack of similar but lesser dressed people behind them, as the scientists stand as straight as they can putting a stiff arm over their chests. A salute? A strange one if it is but this person is returning it speaking to the rat….person that I guess is the director of this whole debacle.

"How is everything coming along Clause." The Commander said, or someone very commander like at least. They are of the same species that's for sure but they seem a bit taller than the rest by half a head, their garb very uniformistic as would be for a military person in a dull blue gray with bits of black along the edges, either yellow or plain gold pieces along the chest and some sort of speaker box over his heart, the face a bit aged, their whiskers droop like a mustache and cuts on the right side of the face and ear.

"Nothing much of a change. It's being unexpectantly docile for a Goriji though I suppose draining all its excess like this is not leaving anything for it other than basic awareness if it's even capable of that." The Head scientists mixes between respect for his officer and vile toward me. Rude rat doesn't even look any different than the other four so 'neh'.

"Speaking of, how much are we getting off of her?"

"Oh tons of it sir. Even using it to power the carrier it still has not run out. In fact we are still draining so much it has increased our stores by a full month in just this past day. I feel it could power an entire city with little effort."

Did….did it just call me a battery? AM I A FUCKING DURACEL TO THEM?

"Ah, it seems to have gained too much energy back. Ralph, reengage full drai-"

"That will not be necessary Clause. This is why I asked you to call me when it woke up in the first place." The leader mouse said to their ass shaped associate while coming closer and attempting to break the ice. "Hello ma'am. Can you hear me from in there?"

"With all due respect Isle I do not think this 'thing' is capable of conversat-"

"Ah, hello? I can hear you if you can me." I try to say as both respond in silence, one in acceptance the other in fear, a faint echo of my voice rolling around the room. "Oh, good. I was fearing I would have to stay mute this whole time."

"See Clause." The Commander smirks off to his…friend? I think I'm starting to like this guy. "Yes. I ask forgiveness for our troubling. Are you able to remember?"

"Remember? Remember what?"

"Anything. We found you in a hole so we know little."

"A hole? I know my life was in a rut but I did not believe it was that bad." The tall rat chuckled at this. YES! HEADWAY! "Um, my last memory was myself leaving work for home and before blacking out from pain. Then I was here."

"Work? Then you had a tribal task?"

"I got paid, however low that was, so maybe. Felt tribal."

"Ahm, Commander. I'm not saying I'm intrigued but, what is it saying?"

"Oi Ralph. Could you get off your high ass and stop acting as if we were speaking some unknown language for even a second?" The whole room froze at my words all looking at me, some things were even dropped completely. Hope those weren't dangerous. "Uh….I'm not speaking the same language I take it."

"IMPOSSIBLE!"

"…..No. You are not. What, did the one I first use to you sound like?"

"…Odd grammar choices and a funny accent. Compared to the one you're using right now which sounds more….formal. I guess."

"And how much did you hear from my colleges who were unaware of this and thus freely spoke their minds." An angry tone rolled from the Commander's tongue. O~h, someone's in trouble and if I can word this right it won't be me this time.

"Ah, let's see. I'm radiating something that you people are draining off of me. It's so much that even in my sleep I'm not only giving you a city's worth of stored power but you're also using me to propel my transport, which means you have not had me for long. This transport being a Train, and if it's the same thing as where I come from it's a large vehicle that rides a pre-laid out rail or rails to make moving things easier."

"Yes, that is correct."

"How?"

"How, what exactly?" The Commander returned my question.

"How, uhm, how anything really?" I try to gesture as best as I can in my restrained position. "All I've gotten past what I just told you are some proper nouns with no context to link them together. So, like, think of me like a newborn that can talk. Or maybe a Goriji that you think me as."

"So, you are not a Goriji?" It's the Director that speaks up this time. His voice a bit shaken but his body language no less prudish, for as prudish as a ratman can get.

"Hell if I know. My species call ourselves 'Humans'."

"Hue-mans, Hughmens, Houwmeens?" The Commander rolls the word around scratching the fur beneath his mussel. "No, I do not believe I have heard any Goriji tribe call themselves that."

"Which is odd as we sort of rule the whole planet." I'm actually bragging about our Manifest Destiny obsession. Boy have I hit an all new low.

"Now that is impossible." The Director feels prideful enough to boast. "There is not one single species that rule Grain, though we Nazelve own the most."

"Oh come now Clause, the Raigees are far more wide spread."

"I would not call what those beasts have anything resembling a kingdom."

"But they do have a culture no matter how split their territories are. We need to negotiate with three of them just to have proper trade routes between our cities. And that is not considering how far the Marrow lands stretch or how many hives of the Faireek there are."

"Bawgh. This is no time for one of your political talks Isle."

"Yes, please stop." I conjecture. "You're using too many proper nouns. And none of this answers my question."

"Ah, yes, eheh." The Commander, Isle, seems I bit bashful at this. "Well, as far as our scientists can tell despite you being fairly organic your body seems to be mostly made of Manacite 5."

"Proper. Nouns."

"Hold on, I am getting to that." Isle holds up his hands. His right one has a glove while his left does not. Strange. "Manacite is a crystalline material that either absorbs, transfers or radiates the planet's life energy." Okay, where have I heard that before? "However the compound in you is an extremely rare mixture that can do all three, more than a thousand times than it was ever thought possible to find in one place in fact."

"So, I'm a living battery to you?"

"A simplification of it, seeing as you can talk and be reasoned with, but essentially yes." Point blank and dry. I never thought there'd be anything that'd make me wish for my old life but here I am, being used as a lab rat by a bunch of lab rats. Nazelve, Nazelves, Nazelvites? Whatever.

"Then, I'm just going out on a limb here and say inbetween being your personal power source this train is taking me somewhere, maybe even your headquarters, where I'll be poked and prodded so you can replicate me, chained down all the while so you can strip me of all my….." No. Nonono! NONONONONONONONONO! WHY DIDN'T I NOTICE BEFORE? ALL THAT I WAS FEELING BEFORE I REALIZE WHAT WASN'T ON ME. "…..OH MY GOD I'M NAKED!"

White light fills my vision as I desperately pull at what is holding back my limbs, screams and electrical sounds threaten to deafen me as I'm engulfed in heat burning my exposed skin in all failed attempts to gain cover.

"Release her restraints. Now!""But Commander it-""Would have already done so if she could. Do it now! THAT'S AN ORDER!"

Freedom, in a sense. My arms and legs could move again, their first task to wrap themselves around me in an all too needed hug. The lights died down past my clenched eyelids, ringing static pulsed through my body as I attempted to calm my aching, shaken nerves. 'They didn't see me as ugly, how could they as rats.'

That thought doesn't help in the least.

"Damage report?"

Don't.

"Massive power leak Sir. Many of the circuits were melted and most of the Governors are busted."

Don't look.

"We experienced a massive burst of speed but luckily we are still on a major straight. If we were on a curve-"

"That is still a few hours away." The Commander rang through the room, little comfort that was. "Get everything back to proper speed. Drain as much as you can from it to go dormant again."

Don't look at me.

"Sir. We may be able to do that but we are running out of storing cells, especially after that outburst."

Don't look at me!

"Then expel any excess and use the cells in rotation. I do not care if we are in Sylfilis' territory. He can deal with a little mana storm better than we can breaking down or crashing in his lands. This 'Human' is as of now being moved up to a Con 2 rating priority."

DON'T LOOK AT ME!

"I apologize Ma'am. If I had known you found this distasteful I would hav-"

"DON'T LOOK AT ME!" That was, me. It didn't sound…human anymore.

"….Of course. Seems we uncovered a trauma. Clause, try to cover the tank as best you can if the draining doesn't relax her enough."

"Isle. Why are you even bothering to be nice to this thing?"

"She's a living being Clause. One with an alien mind and possibly origin, or at the very least one vastly different than anything else we know. We could learn many things about our early world from this 'Human'."

"Early world? Commander, you are not suggesting that this thing is a-"

"Celest? It may very well be considering where we found her. Besides that she is missing a lot of fur and a tail to be a Goriji and many Raigees stories tell of creatures that can speak many languages at once like her. Legends or not however, we now hold something with immense power in our possession. We had better not lose this chance."

Everything feels numb again. Like how I how I woke up in this tank but in reverse, the lights before anything else leaving a faint glow. Myself it seems now that nothing else can see me but myself, everything still human except this light and heat I radiate.
.
.
.
.
.

"That fool." I'm…not asleep yet? My insomnia or did the Director's annoying voice wake me up? "Bunch of children's faytales just because of some stupid glowing…..thing. We could rule the world with its power and he just wants peace. An idiot who gained a rank he doesn't deserve." Yep, his voice is what did it. Who does cliché monologues at this hour? "Where are we?"

"About an hour before the turn at Shire Ridge, about four hours before we leave Raigees Sylfilis' territory, and approximately twelve hours till our station in Anaheim."

"Bloody Hell." Oh hey, they say that here to. "I do not get enough recognition for this. Change our course for Jalphaine."

What?

"But Director, the Commander-"

"Had a terrible accident when an outburst from our new experimental power source electrocuted him. And as he is our negotiator for the Anaheim Empire we had no choice but to travel to a neutral city where we can sell our loyalties and new experimental weapon to the highest bidder. My sister will understand the loss."

"…..Very well Sir."

That…That…THAT RAT! Is that how it works? Can that really be done? They're going to kill their commanding officer to profit on continuing some possible war?

"Report to me when we leave that lizard's lands, that is when the 'accident' occurs. I will find a way to deal with his troops. Until then I will be in my quarters contacting a 'Certain person'."

All is silence but the ambience of machine rhythms. Are they really going through with this?

"Are we really going through with this?"

"Why not? It's not the military that writes our paychecks but Director Clause. If he gets paid more this way we get paid more."

Greed. I guess it's the same everywhere.

Heh. Ha. Hahahahahahaha. So this is my life now, being a living battery in an unknown world.

Not a single thing I can do.
.
.
.
.

No. Fuck that. Take that thought and dump it in the farthest levels of 'Fuck that' I can find. I am not going to be someone's object again.

But what can I do? 'Manacite is a crystalline material that either absorbs, transfers or radiates the planet's life energy.' He had said, and I have something that can do all three in me. I can release high amounts of this energy when….angry, afraid,…..embarrassed? Doesn't matter, 'About an hour before the turn at Shire Ridge' one of them had said, and I happen to be the fire in their engine.

Under one hour to train….heh, a funny. Focus, one hour to practice and find out how to burn like that again.

"Thank you sir. Your contributions towards Nazelve kind have been noticed." I was told by the other person as I closed the line. Success. I had secured my future as the new scientist of the coming regime. All the recognition I ever needed and all the money that could come from it.

Why had I not thought of this years ago? Likely because everything I had was owned by the Anaheim Empire but this. This thing, whatever it was, had enough power to drive a kingdom to the edge of the world and back if that little outburst of its was to be believed. With it as a bargaining chip I could get more tools, better equipment and lackeys, I would have to get rid of my current ones of course as traitors to the crown they would be, both quality and quantity everything. Not like how those nest fondlers that keep their money back for the needy. I'm needy, why do I not see any of it?

Oh my tail will not stop twitching from excitement of the deed. This was far too eas*BOOM* "WHAT IN ZALRINE'S NAME WAS THAT?" An explosion? But from….the front car.

"Status." I called as soon as could get back to my line.

"Director, it's woken up again. The energy its producing is off the charts."

"Then expel the drain and engage the brakes you fool."

"We are not able to sir. It went and fried all the control panels."

Idiots, the lot of them. Grabbing my emergency pistol I head out of my room and to the front of train as fast as I can. "Clause. What is happening up front?" Followed by the world's largest imbecile and his ever present 'troops' it seems.

"Your little experiment by the looks of it. That thing is sending the engines into overdrive and fried the control panels so my crew cannot stop it." That seemed to quiet him down for the first time in his life as he followed where he should have always been.

Getting to the engine room was surprisingly easy even with the train at full speed as all gates were open from being tripped by this thing's tantrum. Immense light and heat awaited me from passing the last portal as the 'Human' screamed louder than a Myoki in labor pains.

"Troops, cooling spray on the double!" Isle commands his slaves as they extinguish the panels with an electrical retardant and pump the thing's tank with a heat one, its anguish to the unexpectantly chilly foam return a form of joy to my heart.

"Commander." What, it's still awake? Was its heat strong enough to resist the extinguishers? "Do charaid bheag .... Planaichean airson do mharbhadh."….Goriji? But why would it change to…..No! NONONNONO! It was not asleep at all and overheard me talking to the crew.

Me and Isle draw our guns, both in our left hands, on each other at the same time, I at his heart and him to my head due to our slight height difference. Damn it all. I was so close but as I am now we would shot at the same time but I have a higher chance of dying.

"Clause. How long were you planning this?"

"W-what would that be I-isle? A-as far as I can see this Goriji looking creature has convinced you that I, your longtime friend, am planning something behind your back. Other than that unreliable source what other proof is ther-"

"It's true Sir." Ralph? "He was planning on selling out to the Halbean Kingdom in order to continue the war against the Lapine, killing you and maybe your troops before we got to the edge of Sylfilis' land to show his new loyalties."

"Traitor!"

"No Sir. If it was not for the Anaheims I would not be here today. My heart will always be for them."

"There you go Clause. You could have just called the boy a liar but instead you said 'Traitor'. You always were a bad liar under stress." DAMN IT! ONE SECOND IS ALL I NEED JUST ONE SE-"Now, can someone stop this train?"

"….Ah…n-no Sir. The brake controls were part of the control panels….t-that were fried…"

"And how close are we to Shire Ridge?"

"About ten seconds."

"Oh. Right." This was not what I was asking for at all.

"Duilich," The Human spoke again. "Ach thagh mi saorsa."

"Heh. I cannot blame you." With his right hand Isle reached his radio speaker, his eyes never leaving me for a moment. "Attention all personal, this is Commander Isle. I would advise you all to hang onto something stable, as we are about to crash." Dry and to the point, even in dire times. "Also, blame this on Director Clause if you get the chance. And sorry." Wait what?

At that moment the train jostled and turned to my back, more than I could balance with my tail causing me to begin tumbling backwards. Using my fall as an opening Isle quickly stole the gun from my hand. The room spun around, myself floating in between, but he however just stood there in the same spot, as if the world never changed at all.

"I do apologies for how this came to be my friend. But my wife will understand the loss."

When did you change so much? Did you-?

Have you ever burned yourself?

Ow.

Okay, I need a better icebreaker. Like fire.

Ow.

Let's just jump to the point. I, am on fire. Ow. The train I road on and crashed, is on fire. Ow. The woods said train fell into, Ow, are also on fire. The ground I'm Ow trying to walk on Ow is fire Ow.

And you know what, I'm not sure how I Ow got out that metal Ow coffin. After all the tumbling Ow I woke up already in Ow motion painfully limping Ow away.

Hey. I think I understand Ow what's going Ow on. This is a dream. A fever Ow dream. All this fire is just a reference to Ow how my body is trying to kill the Ow germs. Rat people, Ow disease. Being in a Ow tube, likely my Ow bedsheets, meaning I could be Ow sleepwalking right Ow now. I don't remember Ow going home but Ow I'm sure that's just Ow how dreams wor-

Somewhere between thought and step I tripped or my legs gave out, one or other, causing me to land face and drift first onto the dry, but surprisingly cool dirt.

For the first time since leaving the train my lung fill up again, I not even realizing I had shallow breath till now. I hurts a lot less down here. Am I actually immune to fire like this? Wait, I thought this was a dream? What does feeling cool dirt mean? Get back to your roots? Nope, I finally got to where I have a place to myself so that's not happening. Maybe someone is a damp towel to cool me off. But then again I still live alone. Am I in a hospital? The bills are going to be huge. Where am I going to find the money to-

Oh this is stupid. Stupid animal people world. Stupid magic light and fire energy producing body. Stupid betraying Director rat. Stupid train. Stupid….stupid me. If I hadn't of freaked out like that the Director wouldn't of thought about going turn coat. I could have lived a decent life. Sure one where the places I could go were pretty limited and had my life energy drained for other people's existence but since when was that not the norm? Is that why I did that? Guilt?

Oh well. I guess where I am now is good as any. Too weak to move, face down, naked in the dirt as the world burns around me. Sounds like one of those songs I used to listen to.

A~nd now a bird is circling above, a scavenger looking for some wood smoked meat, very well done, like a crow…..or a…vulture…or A HOLY HELL IT'S HUGE!

The impact of a creature that's about the size of a bus rocks the world about as much as you'd expect even with wings to slow its fall. Heck, the wings make it even worse by causing gale force wind strong enough to knock me into a nearby tree and putting out the surrounded fire. Plus side, no more lying on my back or being on fire, which, minus side, means I have a clear view of the creature that just came tumbling down gazing right at me.

It's as if someone mixed a snake, gecko, and a bat into a genetic blender set to fine. A face wider than high and large floppy ears but with a far stretching mussel and nostrils as large as its eyes that it's using to smell me on an extended neck. Its front legs double as wings spread out far to its sides to let it closer to the ground, the hind legs of the beast out similar but with no wings, and of course it had a tail but looked more like someone had taken one from a beaver and pulled it far past its breaking point curling like an 'S' and shifting side to side in curiosity, a mixture of fur and scales upon its hide.

But the front should have more importance in this sort of situations. Oh god it's right on me. I can feel the vacuum of its breath trying to smell me. Said me balling up as small as I can to look unappetizing and…oh right, I can light up and heat things naturally. Better keep that under contrOH No, I'm strobing, I'm strobing. Not Good Not GOOD NOT GOO-

"Greetings Star Child."…..huh? "It has been a long time since one of your kind has visited this realm."

HUH?! "WHAT?....S-star Child?...W-who, me?....What?" The dragon like thing backs away at this sitting on its hind legs like a dog. In fact if it wasn't for the long neck, wing arms, floppy rabbit like ears, squirrely beaver tail and, you know, THE SCALES, it kind of looks like a dog. That's actually kind of calming.

"Ah. My apologies. It seems you are still an infant star child."….what. "Where are my manners? I am Sylfilis of the Northern Raigees tribe." Sylfilis? Sounds like a disease. Am I sure this isn't a fever dream?

No, back up. Didn't those rat peop-I mean the Nazelves on the train say something about the guy? I think it's a guy as it's kind of hard to tell by anything other than voice. More like a teenager than an adult really.

"O-oh, s-sorry for the intrusion. I…sort of got brought here against my will and…" I look at the charred remains of the forest we were standing in, I mean sitting in, still smoking even with the wing wind blowing it out, the train nowhere in sight, not that I'd know what it looks like from the outside anyways, "…things happened. Sorry about that."

"Oh it is fine. This is but a small part of my lands, plus it drove out some tasty meals for later." ….Right, large carnivore. But it's full so it won't be after me, for now. "Ah! Be not afraid. We do not consume those that who come from the sky. You would give me indigestion if I even attempted either way."

That's….calming?

No, hold on.

"From the sky? I fell…from…is that you mean by 'Star Child'?" The hole they found me in, was a crater? This does not help my self-esteem.

"Yes. A Star Child falls from their world to ours spreading the knowledge of the universe and gaining power to return or rule. Or so says my Grandfather. I have never met one myself."

Return, or rule. So I can go back? If want to that is. But that raises an even bigger question.

"So, Lord Sylfilis," His floppy ears shoot straight up at being called that, his tail wagging even harder. Oh god he's so cute for a giant murder beast. ",you are saying there are others out there like me?"

"Not currently to my knowledge." Oh. I'm not sure if that's good or bad though. "The last one my people knew of was the friend and soul head of my grandfather many centuries ago. His name was Todd."

Todd? That's a human name alright. English at least.

"Speaking of which, do you go by anything?" Huh, name? Wow. WOW! That's right, I haven't introduced myself yet, to anyone. When was the last time anyone asked for my name that wasn't for business? I don't think I've even thought about my name since coming here.

"AH! Yes. M-my name is R-ruth." A~nd flubbed it. Great going there-

"Ruruzuru?" WHAT? NO! That's, "A very strong and powerful name. I like it."

….Well, when put that way, I mean, what good is my old name in this world anyhow? So yeah, Ruruzuru, Star Child. Not bad.

For a five year old.

Wait, I'm missing something in this conversation.

"Lord Sylfilis." He still looks so happy about that. It's sort of contagious. "You called Todd a 'Soul Head'. What did you mean by that?"

"Oh? You do not know? Ah, yes. I remember Grandfather saying your people do not know of soul union. I will admit it is rare for even our kind to do such." I think I've made a mistake. "A 'Soul Union' comes when two willing souls wish to imprint themselves on each other. One with knowledge and one with power."

"So, say, I give up my memories to gain your strength?"

"No, not 'give up', 'imprint'. And less memories and more just general information about what you know of. In fact, yes," Sylfilis bends back down close to how he was earlier reminding me he could eat me in one bite. ", would you like to union with me?"

WHAT?! A dragon wants to bond with….NO! Head, out of gutter. You are NOT into that.

"I-I, I'm not sure. I do not believe I'd give you much. And I'm not one for fighting."

"Oh it is much more than just that Ruruzuru." He backs away just a smidge. "Grandfather knew so much from Todd then even a fraction of what he learned will make me feel so much closer. And power is not just for muscles but for skill and control as well. Something you may need considering what are doing to that tree you are sitting on."

Eh? Tree? I turn to look at what I'm leaning against to find it engulfed in fire once again. In adrenalin induced fear I try to get away from it before previous injuries cause me to fall once more. I didn't feel the heat all while we were talking.

Actually, since when has it been night? Things look like it's been daytime or was that the fire?

"Ah, you are injured."

"Oh this. Yeah just…a lot of 'train'ing." Heh, I'm stupid.

"Oh? So you are learning to control yourself then?"

"N-no that, that was a pun. Sorry, I get snarky when tired."

"Then you are injured. That is fine, a union heals both parties when performed."

Wow, isn't this just getting more and more convenient. You know what-

"Fine. What have I got to lose?" Sylfilis seems real happy, I think I even heard a little 'Yeh' escape his maw. "So…how do we…union?" That sounds so weird.

"Here." He uses the claw on his wing arm to help me up. "Look into my eyes and repeat what I say, exchanging words as need be. And be sincere about it as that is the most important part."

Sincere. Free of deceit. He's being truthful with me about this as I look him in his basketball sized eye, my image reflected like a mirror upon it. This is the first time I've had a good look at myself since coming here. Not beautiful, but not ugly, just normal, and glowing I sort of laugh at myself. I can do this, I can be….powerful.

I nod, more to assure myself than to tell Sylfilis to start.

"I Sylfilis, give all the power of my being to you, Ruruzuru."

Here we go. No backsys.

"I-I Ruruzuru, give all the….knowledge of my being to you, Sylfilis."

"To learn and grow. Two bodies and souls coming closer to one."
"To learn and grow. Two…bodies and souls coming closer to…one."

This feels strange. We are both big and small, cold and hot at the same time.

"The same being in two growing from each other so as to never be alone."
"The same being in two growing from each other so as to never be…alone."

Oh. OH. We see. We have been missing something like this in our lives. This intimacy that someone should not violate but has at one time or another. The want of control and stability we've seen in other people but lacked ourselves. The things Grandfather spoke of. Hovels of stone and wood, tower of steel and glass. So many cultures, so broken, so angry, so fearful of themselves, so much like mine, but all, them and ours, striving for the chance of a better life. We have that chance now, the words slipping from our mouths.

"One being, two bodies and minds.
As close as we are we will never be the same.
As far as we are we will never be apart.
Come sickness, come health. Till life or death do us part."

WHAT!

Did I just….what?

I push away from Sylfilis and fall to the ground, my body aching. I feel cold, exposed, I feel something pulsing from within, bubbling, wanting to escape my skin. I look down to my hands as it glows and hardens like magma, like….armor. I flex and it bends, the heat trapped within, shown through little crack like veins, but able to be released whenever I choose.

"Oh my. OH MY. This is. That's what he. Oh my."

Sylfilis. He's confused, sad and…happy?

"Sylfilis. Are you okay?"

"Oh Ruth, I…I mean Ruruzuru, or would Ruth be better?"

"No, Ruruzuru is fine." I shake my head to comfort both him and myself. "I was just going to roll with it but, I think a new name should cement this new life of mine." I felt calm, like I'd just found my sense of balance after so long, still having the chance to lose it again but right now I'm in control.

"I believe I understand. The world, it is so much bigger, and so much smaller than I could imagine." He keeps changing where he's looking, from me to himself to the trees and night sky. "So many things to see and do. So many things to learn and ways of doing even the simplest and tasks. I'm so….overwhelmed. Thank you. Thank you so much."

"No it's, it's no problem. And Thank You." He almost looks shocked at this, as if he wasn't expecting me to say it. "I found a part of myself in you. Something I'd never thought I'd have again. I fell….driven. I want to see this world I've become a part of. To learn from it and…tell me, can I do that with others? Teach them about my world as I did you?"

"Well, yes. There is nothing against it." He brings his head back down near mine as I begin scratching the ridge of his mussel. "But doing so may spread yourself thin and giving more to someone then they can give back could cause them to lose something rather than gain it."

"So equal in exchange? Wait, we traded a large amount. Are we-"

"We are fine. The common knowledge of a Star Child for the strength of a Raigees. It's a very equal trade."

"No. Bad drago." I lightly boop him on the snout. "No unioning yourself with strange women."

"Raigees."

"Drago."

"Raigees."

"Same thing really."

"….Essentially, yes, but in practice, no."

"How much about fantasy and Sci-fi do you understand?"

"As much as you do I believe. All the literature you have read I have a recollection of but not a memory of every word as well as what movies are and the ones you have seen, like that one with the two cowboys on the moun-"

"Shush. Quite you. We do not talk of that."
.
.
.

After some odd seconds of us staring each other down we slowly, but heartfully, laugh. A deep laugh I haven't been able to share in ages. Oh how I missed these.

"You know," Sylfilis begins talking again first. ", with your outer shell like that you look like a Gabirol."

"Oh? Am I supposed to know what those are?"

"A creature of a non-organic form of life." Huh. I take a look at the reflection in his eye again. The rock like armor is rather bulky on me but not by much, almost bug like in a way. But my face is completely covered hiding my face in one piece and my mouth in jagged teeth like protrusions. How am I even looking out of this?

"So a Golem?"

"Gabirol."

"Golem."

"Gabirol."

"Golem."

"Raigees."

"Ugh. Gabriol, Raigees, Nazelve, Marrow, Goriji Is there any way I could have you share your knowledge with me like I did with you so I know these thing mean?"

"Uh…sorry, no. By keeping a connection with me you can now only give knowledge, not take." He turns his head away in shame.

"So….the best to learn about this world is?"

"To go out and see it yourself."

"In other words, what I was going to do anyways?"

"Yes."

…..Did that make things easier, or harder?

"Uhm, are you coming with?" I try to give the best puppy eyes I ca-shit no one can see them behind this mask.

"I am afraid not, Star Child Ruruzuru." He sits back up, a sad look on his face. "Though this land is my hunting grounds, it is also my kingdom as you have taught me. There is much to do and protect here. Now more than ever." Oh. That's….disheartening. "But worry not. No matter the distance we are one. If you need me just reach out and I will answer. You will know the way."

Right. Alone, but not. I give him one last hug to his face before he leaves, a tornado like wing flap that barely pushes me now lifting him back to the sky.

One more glance at my new rocky body, one more look at the burnt wood cooling off as dawn makes its way in the clear sky.

Breath in, breath out.

So this is my life now, exploring a human less unknown world.

A~nd I'm hungry. Great.

BiopunkOtrera · May 21, 2018

[ ] All Roads

Arck 1: Life and Death

-o-

"I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as a plant and rose to animal,
I died as an animal and I was Man.
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?"
― Jalaluddin Rumi

-o-

I've never really liked death in movies. They get shot or something falls on them and their friend or lover holds them in their arms and has some long drawn-out talk with them while they lay dying. It always irked me. That's just not how it happens it real life. People rarely have the chance to make peace with a loved one or hear their final words before death. In real life, death either comes far too quickly... or far too slowly.

And when you die slowly... You start thinking about your life. I haven't led a great one.

I was born in New York City in October of 2005. I've never been what you would call blessed. My mother died due to complications giving birth to me. My older brother died in the ongoing war against terrorism. Little sister was hit by a drunk driver while playing in traffic. No aunts or uncles, grandparents gradually died one by one as I got older. From age ten to later it was just my dad and me. Dad had lung cancer from smoking but he said he just wouldn't die until I was old enough to take care of myself. I think it was the sheer willpower that kept him going, just to keep that promise. It seems everyone in my life succumbed to something that modern medicine could help, but not enough. Injuries, diseases.

Even I wasn't immune to it. I found out I had AIDS at age eleven. It had been lying dormant in my body for ten years. No clue how I got it, but I suspect it was something sharp I stepped on as a barely-walking baby. It was a long battle against it but I stayed smiling for my dad and what few friends I had. I was often avoided because, ya know... AIDS girl. I was pretty much a walking zombie contagion to most kids.

You can imagine why I turned to anime, manga, video games, and the Internet for entertainment. I wasn't exactly fit for athletics or socializing, after all. I even planned that, if I made it to graduation, I'd try to become a doctor, and I usually played MMOs as a healer class of some sort. I loved RPGs, especially, and I also got really into isekai manga and anime. The idea that there were other worlds out there that you could get sent to just fascinated me.

I was just approaching my sweet sixteenth birthday when I could tell my end was coming. My immune system had weakened considerably from my disease and I had just caught the flu, of all things.

I lay in my hospital bed, barely conscious and staring up at the ceiling. It was a feeling that not many people are familiar with... facing your own mortality. I didn't know what was on the other side. Was it like a toy that was just turned off, existence completely vanishing entirely? Would my consciousness be cast into a void with only my own thoughts to entertain myself for all eternity? Would I be reincarnated with no memories of my previous life? Or was heaven, hell, or some other mythological afterlife real?

My body grew cold and my eyes closed. Oh, I wasn't dying, not yet. That was the sedatives kicking in. They were putting me out while they did what they could to keep me going, but... yeah, I didn't have high hopes for that. When the anesthesia finally stole my consciousness, I felt myself drifting in a black void, my last thoughts turning to how how much my life would've been better if injuries or diseases were as easy to fix as waving your hand and wishing them away. That was when I opened my eyes again.

I was staring up at a wooden ceiling, composed of old-fashioned rafters instead of the blank whiteness of the hospital ceiling. I must have been moved to somewhere after whatever miraculous medical procedure they used to save my life. Wow, maybe I was wrong to doubt modern medicine! Oof, I felt a bit stiff, though. Best get up, go for a walk around the building, maybe see what kinda place I was moved to. I felt a little disoriented and woozy, but there should've been a doctor or nurse or two nearby to help me.

But... I found I couldn't really move my arms and legs. They seemed to be tightly wrapped within a blanket. I wriggled and wriggled, but found that I just didn't have the strength to get out of them. Perhaps I was still weakened by whatever surgery I'd undergone or whatever drugs they'd given me for pain? I managed to tilt my head enough to look at something other than than ceiling and what I saw shocked me!

I seemed to have found myself in a wooden crib. More importantly, I realized how large everything was! The room was the same wooden planks as the ceiling and was decorated with kiddy wall decals. Okay, now I was starting to get worried... Had I shrunk somehow? When I opened my mouth to call out, instead only a crying sound emerged. I tried to speak, but again more crying. So I did the only thing I could do... I cried. I cried and cried and after a solid minute of crying, someone finally came.

Shuffling caught my attention and someone walked into my field of vision, looming over me. She had black hair and dark brown skin, like an African-American woman, but it was the strangest thing... She had floppy ears coming out of the side of her head where her human ears should be, covered in brown fur, while little nubby horns emerged from her long, curly black locks. She stared at me with big, doe-like brown eyes, a maternal warmth in them. She seemed far larger than she should've been, reaffirming for me how small and helpless I was. She reached down and lifted me up into her arms, causing a feeling of security and safety to wash over me. She held me to her chest, undoing her blouse to reveal a surprisingly large breast. Bringing me to her nipple, instincts took over and I began to suckle, relieved when thick, warm milk trickled down my throat. It was sweet, at that.

She cooed and whispered soothingly to me, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. It was like she was speaking an entirely different language. I reached my far hand up to grasp at the bosom I was held against and suckling from, surprised at the tiny size of my hand. Before I could properly contemplate this, the sweet, warm, thick cream filling my belly made me sleepy and my eyelids fell shut as the horned woman placed me back in the crib.

I briefly wondered if this was all some kind of fever dream... Maybe when I woke up, I'd be back in my hospital bed again?

-o-

I awoke and this time was able to fully grasp my situation. I was a baby. Reincarnation was real, and I'd been reborn, but somehow with my memories of my previous life intact!

I wasn't sure if the woman taking care of me was my mother or nanny, so for now, I referred to her as my "caretaker." My caretaker returned after I slept and lifted me up into her arms once more, again giving me a fulfilling feeling of safety and security. She began walking me across the room and I took the chance to look her over a bit more.

The woman who was tending to me, besides her ears and horns, also sported a long, whip-like tail with a tuft of fur at the end that emerged from her skirt. The source of the clacking on the wooden floorboards that I assumed was heels was actually hooved feet complete with brown fur going up her legs into her dress. It was clear that she wasn't human and that meant one of two things. Either this was the future and animal-human hybrids had been genetically engineered, or this was some kind of fantasy world where non-human races were aplenty.

She took me across the room to a rocking chair and sat herself down, holding me to her chest and singing some unknown but soothing song as she rocked. I took the opportunity to look down at my hands, where I saw I had the same dark skin as I had back home, but something was off. I felt something present on the top of my head, but couldn't reach to feel what they were. I also felt something twitching against my leg in the folds of the blanket, but just didn't have the strength as an infant to extricate myself from its folds and check.

As my caretaker sang, I tried to study the words, but I made no progress in comprehending them. I soon heard footsteps and turned to see someone walked in. I was quite surprised to see it was a man who looked not even four feet tall yet had the features of a youthful adult, not a little person. But more importantly, he had the ears and tail of a mouse and digitigrade furry mouse legs! He was wearing a simple tunic and breeches and spoke with my caretaker briefly before departing. I still couldn't understand what he and my caretaker said. Other people occasionally came in to speak with her, and they either looked fully human or had the ears and tails of various breeds of dogs. Others still were extremely short and petite, too much so to be human but not like the little people back on Earth. Their clothes consisted of tunics and breeches and some even carried daggers or short swords, further leading me to believe that this was some medieval fantasy world. Time would only tell what kind it was...

-o-

The first time I soiled my diaper wasn't pleasant, but I'll spare you the details. Luckily, a lot of crying got the attention of my caretaker. The cow-like woman came in a hurry, giving a sniff to the air. With the care of a woman trained and experienced with babies, she took me to a nearby flat surface in my nursery and unwrapped me from my wrapping, then began changing my diaper. I call it a "diaper" but it was just a piece of cloth and judging from the stains it had been reused many times. I shuddered at the thought.

My first changing gave me my first chance to better examine myself. To my surprise, like my caretaker, I had a tail! But this one was long, thin, had a rounded tip, and was quite prehensile. Like a monkey tail, but covered in black fur. I didn't have much dexterity with it due to my underdeveloped muscles, though. Maybe when I was older I could use it as an extra limb?

My legs were also a shock. Digitigrade and ending in paws, covered in black fur all the way up to where my thighs met my hips. It was then I realized that the presence I felt on top of my head were ears. I was some kind of cat-human hybrid! Question was... was I a black housecat or a panther? Hmmm...

Also worth mentioning, I could see I was female, just like my previous life. So... that was a plus. Yay.

-o-

As the days passed, I found being a baby again wasn't really all that bad, especially now that I had the mental maturity to actually be able to enjoy it. It was like being waited on hand and foot! I could sleep when I was tired without having to get up, I got to enjoy the soft, warm body of a matronly woman and listen to her songs, I didn't have to use the bathroom since I only had to cry to be changed, and I got to enjoy suckling the richest, most delicious milk I'd ever drunken whenever I was hungry. While I didn't have a libido due to lacking sexual hormones, I still had my mental perversion, and I must say, my caretaker's breast was probably the loveliest I had ever seen.

Unfortunately, after a while, sleeping became an issue. The first few nights were fine, but eventually I started to feel like something was missing. Every time I tried to close my eyes and fall asleep, I felt an intense feeling of longing, like a piece of me was missing. I only ever felt it just as I was about to doze off too and it always jerked me awake and set me crying beyond my own control. My caretaker would rush in and rock me to sleep against her bosomy chest. Feeling her warm body against mine seemed to complete me somehow and I would happily fall into a sweet sleep.

However, when my caretaker placed my sleeping form back in the crib, the lack of warm softness against my infant body would cause me to stir awake again and begin crying. Eventually Caretaker found a solution.

She brought in an old teddy bear. It was clearly a hand-me-down and had been patched and mended several times. What was likely brown fabric at one point had long faded into a kind of beige. She placed it against me and I happily wrapped my arms and legs around it, even suckling on its ear a bit. The feeling of that stuffed animal's soft, plushy body against mine, while not as warm as Caretaker's, still fulfilled my need to have something close and pressed against me. I had no issues sleeping once my caretaker had given me 'Theo,' as I called him.

-o-

Solid foods were a problem. After a while, I was fed a kind of goop that was bland and wasn't as flavorful as my caretaker's milk. She still breastfed me a bit, but was slowly weening me onto this stuff. It was gross and wasn't as satisfying, but... Ah well. Hopefully I'd get to have actual food instead of slush soon enough. I'd just have to be patient.

-o-

The days passed quickly. You know that sense of wonderment you have when you're a kid, where every new experience is an adventure? Yeah, I kinda had a dumbed-down version of that due to this new and exciting world I was in. On top of that, time just passes by quickly for kids due to all the energy in their systems and the speed of their brains. It wasn't long before a year passed. Even with all that time passing, I couldn't help wondering if this was just a long-term coma dream...

I gradually began to notice subtle patterns in the words Caretaker and the people around me were using. Certain repeated words stuck out to me and it wasn't long before I was completely fluent in this language as if it were English. Still, whenever I tried to actually speak it, only crying came out.

My caretaker was named Cremia, so I figured it was about time to stop calling her 'Caretaker' in my head. There was a woman with pointed dog ears and blonde hair who helped out named Sheba and a human woman named Kate. They were dressed similarly to Cremia. Modest long dresses with buttons on the chest, aprons over them, and bandannas over their heads that honestly reminded me of spring cleaning. Sheba's made sure to make room for her ears and, in Cremia's case, horns. The mouse-man I'd seen during my rocking sessions was named Deril, by the way.

I still didn't know what exactly Cremia, Sheba, and Deril were, but I could gather they were some non-human race, possibly similar to my own cat-like one. I was old enough to sit up and reach up to my head, so I could confirm there were indeed flicking, twitching, live cat ears atop my head. I also found that my tongue was rough like a cat's and my teeth had noticeable felines fangs.

Cremia stood over my crib, running her hand through my hair, when Sheba walked up.

"Do you think it's time for her first bath, Cremia?" she asked.

Cremia sighed contentedly. "I'd say so. Get Kate and fill a small tub. Oh, and have Deril get the soap and baby shampoo. It's time Kaya got clean."

Kaya... I guess that was my name. Good to know!

Cremia lifted me up, holding me in her arms, and carried me over to the changing table. She held me there and I got a look at my face for the first time in the mirror on the wall. Sure enough, my eyes were golden and had slit pupils, and I could see that my hair was the same black as my fur. I also seemed to have a youthful smattering of freckles across my cheeks and nose!

Soon Kate and Sheba brought in a small tub filled with hot, steaming water. Deril also came in with a bottle and bar of soap, but he didn't say anything and left before Cremia started to remove my diaper.

"Is that the new baby shampoo from Hub?" Sheba asked.

Kate nodded. "Yeah. Supposedly it's made by alchemists there so it won't irritate a baby's eyes."

"I take it Deril brought it in from his last trip there?" the dog-girl continued.

"Yup! Came out of his own pocket. Spent a good bit of dolla getting it past the guard into the United Federation. Luckily Doormice are found all over, so he wasn't searched and tariffed getting it into Grandia's city limits. I'm just glad Hub exists. We'd never be able to get quality goods we can't make ourselves with all the nations at each other's throats without that neutral trade town."

"It's like they say. All roads lead to Hub."

"Shhh," Cremia shushed gently. "No discussing politics in front of the baby."

"Right. Sorry, Cremia. You're the boss," Sheba said.

"Speaking of, Cremia, I always wondered..." Kate began. "Minotaurs aren't native to the United Federation. Why'd you open an orphanage here in Grandia?"

Cremia was silent for a time as she began mixing the shampoo into my wet hair. I couldn't help noting how the water matted the fur on my legs, and I was briefly grateful I probably never would have to worry about shaving my legs ever again.

"That's a long story... But I guess I can tell it to you later."

There was a loud bang, then the sound of crying. A little dog-eared boy came running into my nursery, bawling his eyes out.

"C-Cremia! I-I scraped my knee!" he cried.

Cremia giggled. She squatted down and pulled the neckline of her dress and apron out, reaching between her breasts and pulling a small, straight stick from her cleavage. She pointed it at the boy's knee. "O healing power, come to me... First Aid!" There was a green glow that shined on both the tip of the wand and the wound on the boy's furry, digitigrade knee, and I watched as it closed up and soon was good as new. "How's that, my child? Feel better?"

The little dog boy giggled. "Thanks, Cremia!" He then scampered off, tall wagging.

Whoa... healing magic existed in this world? Would I be able to learn it someday? I hoped so!

-o-

I was two years old when I started walking lessons.

Cremia, Sheba, Kate, and Deril gathered around me while the matronly Minotaur held me up by my arms.

"You can do it, Kaya!" "Yeah!" "Use those cute little paws!"

My paws touched the floor and after a brief moment of build-up, Cremia let go. I stumbled forward, but managed to catch myself and stand on my own two paws. I began a slow, wobbling walk. It was strange, walking on paws instead of feet. My knees were digitigrade instead of plantigrade, so at first this felt completely foreign. It was like learning to walk all over again. I mean, it literally was, but in a different way than you might think. I was so used to feet and plantigrade knees that having paws and digitigrade knees meant I couldn't rely on my past life's knowledge when it came to walking. On top of that, my two-year-old body just didn't have the strength to walk for long. Luckily my tail was such a big help! Every step I took, I felt it move on its own, like the rudder of a ship, to correct my balance. Still, after seven steps, I fell right on my rear.

"Awww... Poor dear." "She did so well her first time, though!" "Well, you know what they say about cats landing on their feet."

Cremia picked me up and cuddled me to her prodigious chest again. "Such a good girl, Kaya! You'll be walking like a pro in no time!"

She was right.

-o-

It wasn't long afterwards that Cremia took me from my crib and down the halls.

"Kaya, guess what? We have a new person here at the orphanage, and he's your age! Do you want that, hm? Someone your age to play with?" Cremia asked, using a baby talk-like voice.

I could only coo in response, not having the oratory skills to use proper words yet.

"I thought so!" Cremia exclaimed, taking me into a side room. She set me within a fenced-in pen, where a toddler my age was seated. "Kaya, meet Runey!"

Runey? I was pretty sure that was a pet name of some sort. I looked him over and saw he had dark brown skin like me, but his hair was white. While his eyes were yellow like my golden ones, they lacked the slit pupils. He looked human otherwise, but his ears were long and pointed. Was he a dark elf? Probably! It kinda excited me, knowing elves were no doubt a thing in this world.

"You two place nice! I'll be back in an hour to check on you!" Cremia cheerfully explained. She turned on her hooves and clopped off, her bovine tail swishing behind her.

I inwardly shrugged and stood, teetering over to the little boy. Like me, the lack of a diaper indicated he'd been potty-trained by now. Yeah, I spared you the details of that tale for obvious reasons, but suffice it to say that aside from the dexterity issues, I had no mental maturity issues with swapping from diapers to potty seats, and I was relieved to find that this world had indoor plumbing. Unfortunately, they still used straw for wiping. We can't have everything...

Anyway, with both of us potty trained, Runey was wearing some black breeches and a black tunic. I was wearing a white dress with a modest skirt and thin straps. I have to say, I think I looked cute in it.

Runey watched me curiously as I gathered some blocks and started stacking them between us, hoping he would join in soon. He just watched at first, but as soon as I got a good stack going, he knocked them over, then laughed with great joy. I shrugged and began stacking them again, but he yet again knocked them over when I got a pretty good structure up. This repeated until I eventually got frustrated. I tried to chastise him, but instead only goo-goo ga-ga noises and the occasional almost-word came out. The dark elf boy responded to this by bonking me on the head with his fist, eliciting yet more joyous laughter.

I sighed and felt immensely grateful that, while I had mental perversion, I didn't have physical hormones yet. Not until puberty. I shuddered to think what I might think of Runey as we got older. It'd be weird, developing a crush on a ten year old while I had the mind of a fifteen year old girl going through life a second time. Oh crap, I'd have to go through puberty again, wouldn't I? Dammit...

Anyway, I did my best to entertain and play with Runey, and he took every opportunity to mess with me or even occasionally bonk me on the head. I don't think he meant any malice in it, since he always laughed gleefully whenever he did it, but I still decided to keep an eye on my first friend, just in case...

-o-

"Cow!"

Cremia stopped in the middle of reading to me from a picture book, her eyes widening.

"What did you say?"

"Cow!" I repeated.

Cremia stood up and set me down on the rocking chair with the animal picture book, then ran to the door to the nursery, her hooves clip-clopping on the floor. "Everyone, come quick! Kaya just said her first word!"

In no time, Sheba, Kate, and Deril came running and gathered around the rocking chair. Cremia picked me up and held me upright in her arms. "C'mon, say it again, Kaya!"

"Cow!" I proudly repeated again.

"Oh, wow!" "Her first word!" "You must be so proud, Cremia!"

I couldn't help but grin. I'd been trying to talk every day just to see if I could finally get it. Looked like my mouth was finally developed enough to say my first word! I even made sure it was a word that would show my caretaker I thought of her a lot! I mean, I thought of making it "mama," but I didn't want it to be too weird for her, considering she was just the orphanage owner. I felt "cow" got my point across. Hee hee! About two and a half years old and I'd already said my first word! Give it a year and I'd have my oratory skills down pat!

-o-

At three years old I was talking like a pro, but I held back any questions that might hint at an overly precocious nature. I didn't want to alarm anyone by showing I pondered things I couldn't have pondered.

I played with Runey most days and he continued his habit of being a little bully. As I was on my hands and knees one day, scribbling in a color book, I felt a sharp pain that actually made me let out a very cat like "Yoowwwwww!" I whirled around to see Runey standing there, laughing, evidently having pulled my tail.

"I'm telling Cremia!" I exclaimed, turning to stand.

The Dark Elf just stuck his tongue out at me. "Go ahead, it was worth it!"

I left and ran down the halls. I stumbled on occasion, but each time I recovered easily, likely due to my feline nature. I eventually made it to the kitchen where I found Cremia cutting vegetables. I wandered up and tugged on her skirt.

"Mith Cremia, mith Cremia!" I exclaimed, my poor grasp of the letter "S" apparent.

Cremia glanced down at me, even as she chopped parsnips. "Hm? What is it, Kaya?"

"Runey pulled my tail! It huuurt!" I cried, tears welling up in my eyes.

Cremia set her knife down and squatted lower to meet me. Holding her arms out, she wrapped them around me and hugged them to her generous bosom. Wow, I loved these things. So soft, so warm, so full of delicious milk... What? Like I said, no physical libido, but I still had my mental perversion.

"I'm sorry, Kaya... I'll talk to Runey. I promise," she soothed, stroking my back. When I stopped crying, she stood up and returned to preparing lunch. Hmmm... Runey giving my tail a hard tug and running to cry to Cremia about it actually gave me the perfect opportunity to ask something very important.

"Hey, Mith Cremia, can I athk a question, please mith?" I asked, tugging on her skirt once more.

It was odd how a lot of my speech was involuntary. While the words were clearly formed in my head, I spoke them with a lisp without meaning to. Also, that 'please miss' on the end? Totally didn't intend to say it. There were also words I knew, but simply couldn't say. Usually big, smart words. It was as if my mind knew them, but my mouth didn't.

Cremia smiled down at me. With the tail-tugging incident with Runey, she seemed to understand what I was about to ask. She knelt down and reached up to rub my ear. I was deeply surprised by how good it felt. I even felt something I didn't know I could do until that point welling up from my chest: A purr.

"You're a Cait Sith, Kaya. They're part of the Beast Races. Your's is... kind of a race of kitty people," she explained.

"Mmm... Prrr... Prrr... What about you, Cremia, mith?" I asked, downright enthralled by the ear rub.

"I'm a Minotaur. We're cow people. You've seen cows in your picture books, right?" She said with the patience and warmth of a mother.

"Yeth, mith! Oh, what about Katey? And Sheebee? Oh, and Derry! What're they, mith?"

"Well, Kate is a Hume. They're really resilient people. Sheba is a Hellhound, a race of doggy people. Deril is a Doormouse, a race of mousey people. Oh, and you be sure to show him a lot of respect, because while I'm in charge around here, Deril is my number two! You got that, Kaya?"

"Mmmm... Prrrr..." Damn, those ear rubs felt good! "Yeth, mith! Bu' how come we're the only cow and kitty here, mith?" I asked. In all my time here, watching people come and go, they'd all been Humes, Hellhounds, or Doormice. Also, I'd intended to say 'Minotaur' and 'Cait Sith,' but it somehow came out like that. It was like my mouth couldn't keep up with my mind.

"Well, Minotaurs aren't native to this country, sweetie. As for Cait Sith, well... Um..." She seemed downright uncomfortable at something, and I couldn't fathom what. Was my race dying out, or something? "Your people just aren't usually in orphanages, hun. Okay?"

She was clearly covering up a mature matter, but I just smiled and nodded up at her. "Oh, oh! Mith, mith! Prrrrrr... What are na... nati... from here? What is from here? Oh, oh! And mith... Where is here?"

Cremia giggled. It was a mature, matronly giggle. "Such a curious, precocious child... Well, this is Grandia. It's a city in the United Federation. The native races are Humes, Kerdils, Hellhounds, Cait Sith, and Doormice. Your little friend Runey is a Dark Elf, by the way! They're native to Alvos. I'm a Minotaur, and we're native to Fertile Valley. Fertile Valley is a big country with lots of farms and ranches! Cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, horses... Most of the world's food comes from there!"

Huh... This was really interesting! I'd have to milk this opportunity for all it was worth!... Uh, bad phrasing! Sorry!

"What'th a Ker... Ker... Ker-dil, mith!" Odd word for a three year old, but I pulled it off!

"Kerdils are the tiny people in the hoods. They all wear hoods of some kind, be it from a cloak, a cape, a robe, or a coat, so they're easy to recognize! Oh, and the races are actually put in categories! You read about categories in your book, right? Humes, Kerdils, and Dark Elves are part of the Human Races, while Cait Sith, Hellhounds, Doormice, and Minotaurs are part of the Beast Races!"

Huh, so races were categorized in this world? Fascinating! "But mith... Mmmm... prrrrr... Why do Kerdils all wear hoods?"

Cremia smiled, still rubbing my ear. "They just like hoods, dear!"

That... seemed like a silly answer you give a child, but... Hey, I was three years old. I'd let it slide.

"What other rathes are in those groupth, ohhhh right there, mith Cremia?" I asked, leaning further into Cremia's ear rubs.

Cremia just giggled. "Don't worry about it for now, dear. They'll be plenty of time to go over that when you're older."

Being young sucked... But it was hard to stay mad about it when these ear rubs felt so good!

-o-

Cremia had long since begun feeding me actual food. Problem was, my senses were much higher than in my previous life. Mostly taste, smelling, and hearing. My ears would flick and pivot in response to any sudden sound and I was noticing smells I wouldn't in my last life. Cremia often had to be careful with spices and sauces in my food because of how sensitive my tongue was to taste and texture. I notably had a huge preference for seafood and dairy products. The orphanage had quite a supply of Cremia's milk, since it was apparently natural for female Minotaurs to perpetually lactate without pregnancy. Go figure.

Another thing I found was that my teeth were noticeably sharper than a Hume's, more befitting of a carnivore than an omnivore. It was mostly my canine teeth, though. The others were only subtly sharper. I found pure vegetable dishes were a bit hard to chew and weren't as satisfying as meat, poultry, seafood, or dairy.

"What's wrong, hun?" Cremia asked, noticing my pickiness with my food.

"Um... Mith..." I began, stirring my veggies with my fork. "The veggies are... hard to chew. A-And they're... th-they don't make me feel as good as meat."

Cremia, ever accommodating of her children's needs, just smiled and nodded, setting my mind at ease. "I understand, hun. I'm sorry, I forgot about a Cait Sith's dietary needs. I'll try to make your veggies as a side dish or when they they're mixed with meat."

I smiled up at my caretaker, my tail swishing.

-o-

When I was four years old I realized I was getting too big for my crib. Luckily Cremia realized the same thing. One afternoon after lunch, she lifted me up and carried me down the hall.

"I have a surprise for you, Kaya!"

"A thurprise? Yay!" I cheered.

Cremia carried me into Runey's room. I was delighted at what I saw.

What was originally a second nursery had been converted into a child's bedroom. There were two child-sized beds, a toy trunk, a bookshelf, a dresser, and a rug for a play area. But wait, why two beds? And where was Runey going to slee- Oh, no...

"Mith? Why are there two beds?" I asked, trying to play it innocent.

"Oh! Because you're going to be sharing a room with Runey, of course!"

I fidgeted uncomfortably. "But, mith... Runey's a boy!"

Cremia got a confused expression on her face, a rarity for her. "Uh... yes, he is. What about it, dear?"

Wait, was there no taboo about people of the opposite sex sharing a room in this world? Good lord, I could only hope it wasn't the same for bathrooms!

Sure enough, that night, I shared my room with Runey. It was kind of weird at first, sharing a room with a boy. I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it had I had a natural child's mind, but currently, I still had the mind of a fifteen year old girl! Still, once I was snuggled up to Theo, I slept fine. Surprisingly, Runey didn't pull my tail or bonk me on the head when it was time for bed or to wake up. He was too tired come bedtime and too out of it in the morning.

-o-

Time to switch from the potty to the toilet! I'll spare you the details, other than that it was fairly painless due to my previous life. In fact, the only real thing to note is that toilets in this world are made of metal instead of porcelain and there is no taboo about boys and girls sharing a bathroom! In fact, I can't say for sure since I've never left the orphanage, but I'm starting to think there are no gender-segregated bathrooms in this world! Also, straw for wiping... Thaaat's still taking a while to get used to.

-o-

Yup, still four years old. What can I say? It's been a busy year. Anyway, I'm now running like a pro! Still on my bare paws though, but... Well, these things aren't like feet. Cats run around on their paws all the time, so why can't I? Cremia doesn't wear shoes, and honestly, I'm kinda liking running around barefoot. Errr... bare-pawed.

Besides, what can I say? My paws are just adorable! Black-furred, pink-padded, little claws! I'm liking them a lot more than feet! And like I said earlier, with fur going all the way up to my pelvis, I'll never have to shave my legs again! Hee hee! Feet suck, paws rule!

Though this raised a question... Did races with paw-feet like Cait Sith, Hellhounds, and Doormice even wear shoes in this world? I didn't notice Deril wearing any, and Cremia had hooves, but she didn't wear shoes... Time to ask my caretaker.

I started looking for her, but I was surprised when I ran into a small person in a green hooded cape, the hood up and shading his eyes. Under it I could see he was wearing gray breeches and brown boots.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Almost didn't see you there," he said.

Wait... This was a Kerdil! Had to be. "Oh! A Kerdil!" I exclaimed. "Hey, hey! Mithter, mithter! Why are you wearing a hood?"

He shrugged. "I like hoods."

I sighed. "B-But why do all of the little Kerdils wear hoods, mithter?"

He shrugged again. "Kerdils just like hoods."

Was this some kind of conspiracy?

"Oh, Kaya! I see you've met Kilk."

I looked up to see Cremia step in from the kitchen. She squatted down and rubbed my ears again. Sweet sugar, didn't she realize how damn good that felt? I immediately felt a purr emanate from my chest.

"Kaya, this is Kilk. He's going to be working here from now on! Kilk, this is one of the good little girls at the orphanage and currently my youngest girl, Kaya!"

Kilk smiled, giving me a friendly wave. "Lovely to meet you, Kaya. Cremia and I are old friends. She realized she needed more help here, so she called me in from Metia."

"Mmm... Prrrr... N-Nithe to meet you, thir! Oh, oh! Prrrr... Cremia, mith! Cremia, mith! I have a question!"

"Oh? What is it Kaya?"

"Do they make shoes for paws and hooves?"

Cremia giggled. "I take it you've been wondering about Runey's boots, huh? Well, they do, Kaya, but most don't wear them. Paws work just fine on dirt and stone without shoes. There are sandals and specialty boots made for paws, but most people don't bother with them when they don't need them. In fact, shoes for hooves like mine are so unnecessary, I don't think you can get them unless you actually ask a cobbler to make some custom for you."

Huh, so shoes for paws and hooves are more of an unnecessary luxury item in this world? Good to know! I won't ever have to worry about shoes ever again! Yeah, I know, I know. Most girls adore shoes and some own more pairs than outfits. But I always found shoe-shopping to be a hassle. Like, a total chore! And I was in the hospital so much, I kinda got used to not wearing shoes. With paws, I would never have to worry about shoes ever again!

"Good!"

Cremia cocked an eyebrow. "Good?"

"Runey's bootth are yucky! Imma go bare pawed forever!"

Crema burst into a motherly laughter, and even Kilk couldn't help chuckling.

"Cremia, she's adorable," the Kerdil said.

"Isn't she?"

I couldn't help blushing.

-o-

In addition to no shoes, I usually wore dresses. Cremia chose my clothes and hairstyles, in fact. I had at least persuaded her that I wanted to grow it long, and it was typically tied into braided pigtails. Unlike a black person back on Earth, my hair in this world was soft and wavy despite my dark skin and black hair. Still, I liked the dresses. They were cute and comfortable! I was a little concerned about my lack of, er... underwear. So I walked up to Cremia while she was wandering the halls and tugged on her skirt again.

"Mith?"

She stopped. "Hm? Yes, Kaya?" She squatted down and once again reached up to rub my ears. Ohhhhh goooood why did that have to feed so good? It was like a relaxing massage!

"Mith, thith feels... breezy. Do I get to ohhhh... prrrrr... Wear thomething under my dreth?"

Cremia looked surprised... and then a bit uncomfortable. Guilty, even. "Oh... I'm sorry, Kaya. I really should've considered doing this sooner. I was just hoping to avoid having to get you underwear until you were old enough to be more self-conscious. Money is tight, you see. Yes, it was wrong of me, and I'm sorry. I hope you don't think less of me... I'll have some undies specially made for your tail ready by tomorrow, I promise."

Oh... it was a monetary issue? I kind of felt bad now... In fact, I was kind of starting to think that there just wasn't underwear for tails in this world, but... Hey, if Deril had pants with a hole for his tail, why not underwear?

-o-

It was, sure enough, the next day. Cremia came into my room with a bundle of undies.

I'll spare you the details to avoid making you uncomfortable, but they were quite modest panties. But rather than built-in holes for my tails, they typically had a dip in the waistline for them. I also noticed that there was no elastic! Instead, the sides had threads that you tied together, almost like a side-tie bikini bottom! Then again, I think I read somewhere that that's what was actually used in the medieval era.

I looked guiltily in the mirror as I modeled one, worried how much Cremia shelled out for them... They looked brand new, too. Great, now I had guilt... But at least I was more modest in my dresses, now.

Feeling bad, I walked up to where Cremia sat in her chair and I hopped into her lap, curling up against her chest.

"Thank you, Mith..." I said softly.

The matronly Minotaur said nothing, just holding me to her chest and rocking me gently back and forth.

...Holy hell, why didn't anyone ever tell me laps were so comfortable? Was it a cat thing? It was probably a cat thing. I could just... ohp. Yup. I woke up in my bed. I really did fall asleep in Cremia's lap. Yikes! Note to self: Beware the power of laps!

-o-

The floodgates were opened. The switch had been flipped. I was now a lap kitten like no other.

Every chance I got, whenever I found Cremia sitting down, I'd climb into her lap and just cuddle. It felt so good. Comfortable, secure. It was fulfilling. I felt complete! Protected, safe. It was kind of similar to how I needed Theo as a body pillow whenever I slept.

"Miiiith..." I whined as Cremia rocked me in her lap. "Why do lapth feel tho good? Is it thomething to do with Theo?"

Crema sighed, but it was a happy little sigh. "I figured this would happen sooner or later... You see, Kaya. Beast Races tend to be more in touch with their instincts than Human Races. Female Minotaurs like me, for example, feel bliss and fulfillment when we're... well, when we're milked. Hellhounds love being pet on the head and told they're a good boy or a good girl, and are incredibly loyal. Doormice live to serve and hate being in the limelight. As for Cait Sith, well... They can't physically sleep without something to snuggle up against, like your Theo, and laps are just the comfiest thing in the world to them. When you're in my lap, you feel something deep down, like you've found the place where you belong, right? Like you were meant be in my lap, yes?"

I nodded, my face nestled against the matronly Minotaur's bosom... What? How many times I gotta tell you, I may not have had a physical sex drive, but I still had my mental perversions, and those chesticles were primo!

"That's your instincts, Kaya. Cait Sith are natural cuddlers, with laps being just irresistible to them. Just... Kaya, please don't try and climb into Runey's lap or anything? If you need some good lap time, you can use me, Kate, Sheba, or even Deril or Kilk. Just don't try it on anyone who it'll make uncomfortable, okay?"

I just nodded, too content and absolutely complete to really put up much of a fight. "Yeth, mith..." Was it weird? Maybe. But it felt so right, who was I to argue with it? Mmm... Call me crazy, but laps were sweet, sweet fulfillment.

-o-

Yet another event from when I was four years old? Again, like I said, busy year.

I was nearing five and, like I covered earlier, was running around like I'd been doing it all my life. I occasionally tripped, but I seemed to have a talent for landing on my feet. Must have had something to do with my feline legs and tail. Since I was more ambulatory than usual, I took great pride in more independence. Going to the bathroom on my own, examining my new body in the mirror (my feline eyes were so cool!), running away from Runey. You know, typical kid stuff. Still, I noted that I always ate meals in my room with Runey. Runey and I had a private bathroom, but that was it. The furthest I was allowed to go was the kitchen. Beyond that was a locked door.

It was actually during one of my mirror-examinations that I actually started to test some things about this new body.

My toes had extendable claws, but I didn't seem to have claws on my fingers. I also noticed I was pretty flexible, so... time to test that.

I began some stretches, reaches, and contortions. I found I had a limited ability to reach my own back and, more impressively, I could bring both legs up beside my head at once! Wow!

I also found that, to go with the kitty ears atop my head, I had no human ears on the sides of my head. It was honestly kinda weird at first to look at...

I tried purring on command, next. And it worked! Sweet, I could purr when I wanted to! Huh... And it looked like I could purr whether I was breathing in or out!

I examined my ears and tail one more time, reflecting on the fact that my ears and tail had a very unintended drawback to all they gave me, besides their sensitivity: They tended to make it very hard to hide my emotions. My tail dropped when sad, went between my legs when scared, hooked its tip when I was playful, and swayed vigorously when I was happy. It was the ultimate betrayer to any poker face I could attempt, and my ears weren't much better. How any Cait Sith managed to lie was beyond me.

-o-

It was also thanks to my newfound freedom of movement that I had access to Cremia's room, which was back there with my room and the bathroom. I rarely had nightmares, but... I occasionally did. Usually about things from my last life. Being in a hospital room and feeling hopeless... things like that.

When I got my first one, I got out of bed and went out into the hall. It was my first time being awake in the middle of the night, and to my surprise, I found that I had really good low-light vision! Like a proper cat, my eyes adjusted nearly instantaneously to sudden changes in light and I was able to see very clearly in the dark condition, though I had no ability to see color in total darkness. It would be really useful since Cremia was teaching me to read and I could read in the dark like this! I ran back inside my room and checked the mirror. My eyes seemed to reflect light in the way you usually see your pet cat's doing and widened to take in more light in the dark. Awesome!

I ran back out into the hall and down to Cremia's room, dressed in my little nighty and bloomers, and clambered onto her bed. She was sitting up on it, reading a novel before bed.

"Oh, sweetie! Did you have a bad dream?" She asked, worry in her face.

I climbed onto her lap, immediately feeling calm and content, nodding as my lip stopped trembling. Wow, laps were like living Prozac! Cremia set her book down and cuddled me to her breasts. Her soft, warm breasts, mmmmph!

She stroked my back and whispered soothing words into my little kitty ear, which flicked in response to her breath. After a while, I posed a question.

"Hey, mith? I have claws on my paws... Why don't I have them on my hands?"

Cremia giggled. "Oh, don't worry, little one. You'll get them when you're older!"

Ah. Puberty, I assumed. Made sense. "Oh... Oh! I have another question!"

"Yes, my child?"

"Why am I not allowed patht the kitchen?"

Cremia sighed. "I swear, you're too precocious for your own good. And that's... partly why. There are plenty of other boys and girls in this orphanage, but they're all older than you, and none of them are Cait Sith. I was... holding you back until you were ready. But... yes, you're surprisingly smart and mature for your age, Kaya. I think it's time I expanded your world. I'm sorry."

Dammit... I swear, this woman was way better a parent than I deserved. I never had a mother, so... this was honestly a new experience for me, but I knew most mothers weren't this good. I sighed and nuzzled into her bosom and lap, when a thought struck me.

"Hey, mith?"

"Yes, my dear?"

"Cow-cows like you feel good when milk comes out, right?" More of my forced childish wording at work!

"Uh... yes. It's... fulfilling, much like when you sit in someone's lap."

"Mith Cremia... C'n I drink thome from you? I want to make you feel as good as I do when I'm in your lap..." I offered.

Cremia was silent for several moments, and for a while, I worried I might have said something extremely inappropriate... But then, she began to unbutton her nightgown, sighing with a smile on her face. "I swear, child, you're too smart for your own good."

I just giggled.

...And I swear, I didn't offer that to Cremia for perverted reasons! Well... not entirely.

-o-

My exploration of the rest of the orphanage began. I found out there were about fifteen kids there including myself and Runey. Sure enough, while there were plenty of Humes, Kerdils, Hellhounds, and even two Doormice, I was the only Cait Sith.

I noticed that all the Kerdil children were wearing hoods of some sort. I was determined to get to the bottom of that! But I also noticed that Hellhounds and Doormice all had different ears and tails. Not just fur colors, either! Ear and tail shapes, too! And, like me, they had the legs of the animal they were based on complete with shoeless paws and fur.

While Cremia was stirring a stew, I ran up to her and tugged on her dress again.

"Mith Creamia! I has a question!" I exclaimed.

Cremia giggled, looking down at me while still stirring her stew. "Oh, my curious little Kaya. Did you discover something new?"

"How come the doggies and mouthies have different ears and tails?" I asked, cutting right to the chase.

My caretaker, infinitely patient, giggled. "Well, all the Beast Races are based on different... breeds of their animal, I suppose you could say. Sheba for example is a shiba inu breed of Hellhound, while Deril is a dumbo rat. Even Minotaurs are based on actual breeds of cows! I'm a jersey cow, for example!"

Really? Wow this was actually really interesting! "Oh, oh! Mith, mith! What breed of kitty-cat am I?" I asked, eager to find out.

Cremia stopped stirring her stew and squatted down to rub my ears. Ohhhhh... Laps were great, but this still felt like heaven! "You're a bombay, Kaya! Though, considering how much smaller you are than most Cait Sith your age, I think you might be a munchkin Bombay."

"Hmmm? Prrrr... Munchkin?" Like that cat sub-breed that was just starting to get well-known back on Earth?

Cremia nodded. "Yup! Any Cait Sith born has a small chance of being born a munchkin version of their breed! Munchkin Cait Sith are a full foot shorter than average and tend to be one or two cup sizes larger than average!"

Wait, cup size? Were there bras in this world? Okay, play it cool, Kaya. How to phrase asking that? "Cup thize? Why would munchkins have bigger tea cupth?"

Cremai bit her lower lip, even stopping her ear rubs. "Oh, dear... Um... I'm sorry, Kaya, I shouldn't have said that. I'll explain when you're old enough to need one, okay?"

So there were, in fact, bras in this world! Good to know! Hopefully when I got older, I could go bra shopping with Cremia! Growing up with only a dad, I didn't really have a mother figure to do a "my first bra" thing with. Not to mention I was flat as a board, so I never really needed anything more than a training bra...

...Wait, was I hearing all these animal breeds after Earth places and measurements in Imperial because that's how my brain interpreted them, or were they named after some ancient language?

-o-

As I explored the rooms, I generally avoided the older kids, and they avoided me. Just as well. We likely wouldn't have had much in common, and I would've hated to make Cremia worry. Still, I found what was no doubt a classroom! Did classes get taught at this orphanage? Curious, I woke up bright and early one morning and came to the classroom. Sure enough, I found children lining up and taking their seats. Cremia stopped me as I entered, though.

"Whoa, Kaya! What do you think you're doing, young lady?" She scolded.

"Wh-What'th thith, mith?" I asked, trying to play innocent.

"This is school. I make sure all my children get a proper education, at least in math, history, reading, and writing. But you won't have to attend until you're five, young lady," she explained.

I stomped my paw. "But... but... I want to learn! Please, mith! Please c'n I jutht thit at the back of the room and watch? I won't bother anyone! I promithe!"

Cremia's gaze was stern for a bit... but then she smiled and sighed. "Oh, how can I say no to a young heart aching to learn? Fine. Just don't ask any questions during class, okay?"

I jumped for joy. "Yay! Thankth, mith!" I hugged her and the matronly Minotaur patted me on the back of the head.

-o-

One of the first interesting tidbits I learned was how time worked on Arck. That was the name of this planet, actually. Arck.

Arck had a twenty-five hour day, and each month was one hundred days. However, there were only four months in a year, and nine days in a week!

The months were Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. So... yeah, seasons and months were interchangeable.

The days of the week were Fireday, Iceday, Waterday, Lightningday, Windday, Earthday, Natureday, Lightday, and Darknessday. I could only guess that they were named after the elements of magic.

Time was measured in fifty seconds per minute, fifty minutes per hour, and there was no AM and PM. It was like military time, with a twenty o'clock and such.

The years were also measured kind of different. Every millennium since the calendar began was an era, then followed by a nine digit year. The current year was Era ten, Year ninety-five. This was abbreviated as E10 095, but the E10 could be easily omitted outside of historical documents.

Complicated system for someone like me so used to Earth time, but I had a lot of time to re-learn things.

Oh, and I also found out that the language we were all speaking in the United Federation was called Common, and our currency was called dolla and was made out of hemp! So... I guess that meant other nations had different languages and currency?

-o-

Sitting in on Cremia's lessons plans became a regular thing.

"Okay, that's enough math. Let's learn more about the history of Arck," Cremia addressed the class, composed of a mix of Humes, Kerdils, Hellhounds, and Doormice.

"Arck's history only goes back roughly ten thousand years. All records before that just go blank, no matter the location, culture, or civilization. What we do know is that life on Arck seemed to exist before that since we've found cave drawings and ruins that pre-date our own history. But the curious thing is that no matter where on the planet these cave drawings and ruins are located, their etchings on the walls seem to indicate the same thing, and it is from this that we gained our world's name: All the races of Arck came to this world... on a giant ark," she explained.

The class all set to murmuring amongst themselves. Even I was incredulous. It just seemed so farfetched!

"I know, I know, class. If it helps, scholars continue to question and debate the merits of this theory. There's no records of where the people of Arck could have come from in the first place and the numbers needed to sustain so many races to repopulate an entire world would mean the ark used was not only capable of traveling worlds, but enormous! If so, you would think that some trace of that ark would exist on Arck, but so far, no evidence of such a ship has been found. The distribution of races also doesn't suggest a single point of origin, unless the first to embark from this ark decided to divvy up the continent between them. So far, we have only ancient etchings and faith to go on, but it might explain why official historical records just don't go back further than ten thousand years."

A few more history lessons and Cremia put her book down and clapped her hands once, smiling at the students. "Okay! Class dismissed! Go do your chores then you can go play."

As the class scattered, I got up from my spot at the back and pattered up to Cremia, tugging on her skirt.

"Hm? What's the matter Kaya?" She asked, turning and squatting down, hands on her knees to better reach my level.

"Um... Why am I not doing chores?" I asked, hands awkwardly fidgeting with my skirt.

The matronly Minotaur giggled in response. "Honey, you're too young. Children don't get chores until they're old enough to attend classes. Give yourself another month and you can start."

I stomped my paw. "But, but mith! I am attending your clath, mith! Please, I want thomething to do to help out around here!"

Cremia's eyes softened. I just... I didn't want to spend my first few years of life just playing with Runey or cuddling in Cremia's lap. I wanted a head start. And I wanted to help the woman who worked so hard to take care of me!

"Well, I suppose you could do some cleaning around here, but... nothing beyond your ability, okay? When you're older, I can probably upgrade you to helping me cook."

"Yay!" I cheered, jumping up and down. "Thankth, mith! I promith I'll do a really good job! Promith!"

Cremia giggled. "You're such a dear... There's a lot of roads on life. I can't help but wonder where yours will lead."

Ignoring that kind of philosophical statement, I turned and ran off, grinning to myself. Finally, a chance to do some good!

-o-

My days continued like that. I'd stop by the classroom and sit in the back to attend Cremia's lesson and then do cleaning around the orphanage. Mostly scrubbing floors or walls and dusting with a long rod whenever I could. I still hadn't gone outside. I wasn't allowed until I was at least seven years old, it seemed. Cremia's rule.

A strange thing happened as I was scrubbing the floor one day, though. A voice entered my head. Androgynous and monotone, and it clearly wasn't my own thinking voice.

"Skill proficiency reached. 'Cleaning: Rank I' has been granted."

What was that? It honestly scared me. My tail poofed up and I jumped twice my height and everything! Was I hearing things? Was I crazy? I think... it was time I asked Cremia more about how this world worked.

The official unofficial SV female lead Isekai contest: Story Thread

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