3. Chaldea Breaktime
SimpleScribe
I cast "Wholesomeness"!
- Location
- Mobile, Alabama
Per routine, Taylor Hebert brushed her teeth as she wandered from the misty bathroom to the drier living room, with a towel as a hat and holding a cup of clean water. Morning showers are the best.
There in the living room came a sneak attack.
"Bye, Taylor. Take it easy, okay?"
"'kay, dad. Love you too."
With a kiss on his daughter's forehead and a prideful smile, Danny Hebert went out the door for work.
Taylor smirked at her father's renewed vigor. He seemed happier than she last remembered. She wondered why.
A swig of water plus spit later, Taylor used a free hand to dry the rest of her hair while holding the cup of spittle with a toothbrush in the other.
"Mom had some weird fashion sense…" Taylor muttered, dressed in a colored tank top and drawstring palazzos, pajamas you would expect from an English professor. Your old clothes can't really fit you anymore if you had a growth spurt of three years. "Then again, who cares about the clothes you wear in your own house?"
A flicker of history lessons came to mind. Some of the very prideful and vain figures that maintained a high status all their life, regardless if they're alone. Some of which she knew personally.
"Oh. Right. Nero. If anything, she'll make it a contest." Taylor shuddered at the memory of NeroFest.
"Good morning, master." Came a soft and ragged voice.
"Morning, Ma- aaaaah?!" Taylor jumped at the sight of her dining room filled with paper, strings, and clippings.
But she was more focused on the sight of her beloved kohai in her casual attire looking very exhausted, who was up and at attention. The Round Table leaned on a nearby wall, equally caked in papers and string.
"Mash! Were you up all night!? I thought I tucked you in!" Taylor sputtered.
"I couldn't sleep after what Vinci told me last night." Mash laughed weakly. Taylor saw the bags under Mash's eyes. "We've been working on researching this parallel world. Here."
Mash held out a particularly thick dossier to her master.
"I thought I told you to not worry about it. Whatever Vinci told you could wait for today." Taylor scolded her kohai, taking the dossier. "What did you two work on anyway?"
"A generalized list of interests, more or less." A voice crackled into existence. "We figured since you've been gone for so long, you should be refreshed on what you've forgotten."
"Capes, gangs, persons of interests, organizations, unspoken rules of agreement, modern shared mentality, the current status of countries…" Taylor flipped through the document that was written with care. Her memory refreshed in remembrance as she continued on. She couldn't help but compliment Mash's penmanship.
"Thank you, senpai." Mash had the hint of embarrassment upon being praised or it could be the exhaustion catching up. You could see her wobbling in place.
"Ok." Taylor dropped everything to the dinner table, the cup and the document. "You need sleep."
"But-"
"No buts, Mash. You're human now and humans need sleep." Taylor refused to let her kohai be like this. "Come on." Abruptly, she lifted Mash up in a bridal carry and made a beeline to the stairs. There was no sign of Taylor struggling with carrying Mash.
"No…" Mash muttered, her strength leaving her. She wanted to put up more of a fight, to do more for her senpai, but her body betrayed her.
Kicking the door to her room open, Taylor dropped Mash onto her bed without any fanfare. Her old room, Taylor sighed in content. Nostalgia is always nice.
"Senpai's bed." Mash's voice lets out a sigh of relief. "So soft."
"Get your rest, Mash. You've done great." Taylor patted Mash's head and tucked her in, replacing her glasses from the bed stand with Mash's.
Mash didn't reply, already whisked away to dreamland.
Tossing the towel hanging on her shoulders to the laundry bin on the way out, Taylor closed the door behind her.
"A few hours should do her good." Taylor sighed.
"That was rather out of the blue." Vinci giggled.
"A senpai should do all they can for their kohai." Taylor lectured. "I wouldn't be a senpai in the first place if I didn't."
"Yes yes, I know." Vinci chuckled.
"So give me the abstract." Taylor changed the topic quick. "I remember enough to know the world is awful and spiraling out of control."
"Aw, and Mash stayed up all night making that for you." Vinci teased.
"I know I know. You know what I mean." Taylor was in the midst of washing the cup and her toothbrush from earlier.
"Fine fine. I'll just start with the most pressing issue." Vinci snickered. "This world doesn't have mana, no?"
"Nope." Taylor began pulling down all the strings and papers and clippings, neatly putting them in a pile for later use.
"Then why were Chaldea's systems able to analyze this world's history?" Vinci questioned. "There are no spiritrons nor magic particles for Chaldea to analyze with."
"I would like to say the holy grails infused within me, but I didn't output any mana ever since I came here." Taylor shuts down one theory.
"Curiously, the world does have some sort of energies floating about. Or worlds rather." Vinci explained. "Tapping into these energies for the same results was child's play for someone like me." Her voice was beaming with pride.
"Okay, I'm going to assume these energies are related to parahumans." Taylor jumped to a conclusion. After everything that happened so far, it wouldn't be surprising. "Just get to the point please, Vinci."
"Alright alright. I've studied these energies and they do indeed correlate to parahumans. They essentially lead to alternate dimensions should an individual realize their potential." Vinci revealed. "I've looked into these worlds and noticed organisms, not unlike Beasts. They're connected to those individuals. These organisms are parts of a whole, much like how demon pillars can connect to each other."
Flipping through the papers again, Taylor looked at the section relating to Vinci's debrief. "So basically, when people trigger, the transdimensional organs connect to them and grant them powers to warp reality according to who the individual is and how they are at their current moment. This process spans across multiple versions of Earth excluding the Earths where the World and Mana exist, oddly enough."
Taylor sighed and stood up to stretch.
"What are we looking at? Demons? Extraterrestrial life? An alternate incarnation of the World and its mana? A manifestation of a facet of Humanity? The best specimen of a powerful species in hiding? Spirits hiding in the spaces between Worlds? A secret technological breakthrough went horribly right? Is Scion involved?" Taylor began comparing her previous exploits to the current situation, a type of sizing up the competition.
"Do you remember he was the first parahuman to appear?" Vinci asked.
"Yep. Who could forget the flying Oscar?" Taylor twisted and stretched her body as warm up. She was surprised she remembered all of this parahuman knowledge so quickly. It must've been the buzzwords and key phrases. Much like how a musician remembers musical terms despite years of no practice. "Plus with how mysterious he was, it'd be obvious to ask questions."
Taylor humored the idea of Scion being a holy grail himself. They're both golden. Same difference, right?
"It's an alien. Multidimensional. It came in a pair." Vinci classified the apparent threat. "I've seen its actual body. It spanned several dimensions, fairly enough. It was also rather depressed. It's a widower."
"Being a renaissance woman is fun for you, huh?" Taylor rolled her eyes, making her way to the laundry room.
"Oh, you know me so well." Vinci giggled.
"One more question," Taylor grabbed her dried mystic code from the dryer; she was glad they're machine washable. "Is it doing anything wrong and should I care about what it's going to do?"
"Not particularly. It seemed resigned to do nothing exciting. Without its partner, it can't do anything." Vinci felt pity for the beast. "Oh, it's so sad."
"Then let sleeping dogs lie." Taylor straightened her collar. She smelled of lavender fabric softener. "If it doesn't plan on pulling a Velber, then we should leave it alone. It's not a threat to Humanity. If anything, it gave Humanity powers. That's a plus. Now obviously there would be an ulterior motive that possibly involves destroying the host species; however, I'm assuming since it has no one to tango with, its plan is dead in the water. Case closed."
"As you say, master." Vinci chuckled.
"Now all we need to do is to deal with the people misusing its gifts to Humanity… I should grab breakfast and groceries." Taylor made plans for today. "The fridge is emptier than I remember…"
"Ho ho? Planning a vacation, I see?" Vinci teased.
"Now that you mention it, it wouldn't hurt to take a few days off," Taylor hmm'd, "Vinci, were there any other signs of singularities when we left?"
"No. CHALDEAS has been quiet ever since you left." Vinci laughed. "Enjoy your vacation, Taylor. I'll always be here whenever you required assistance-"
"HUSBAND! MY HUSBAND! WHERE ARE YOU!? ARE YOU OKAY?! WHEN ARE YOU COMING BACK!? YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOR A DAY!!" Came a loud yet worried cry of passion.
Ah, there she was. Taylor was sure Kiyohime would skip communications and just go straight to her altogether. For once, the young maiden put her husband ahead of herself.
That reminds her…
"I love you too, Kiyohime." Taylor gave one quick declaration before adopting a serious tone. "Da Vinci, is there any way to recreate the 2nd magic like Mash and I had done?"
"Ah, I was wondering when you were going to ask that." Vinci lit up while Taylor could hear a flurry of embarrassed and prideful mumbling. "To be frank, I was curious about how you two managed the 2nd magic in the first place. The only person capable was the old man."
Taylor thought about the Wizard Marshall. He was infamous in the Mage Association for his… eccentric tendencies. Whether her returning home was some magical fluke or the result of his machinations will be known in due time, Taylor was sure of it.
"But! I have been able to work around the fact that the world you're in lacking mana! With the combination of the other energies there PLUS the kaleidoscope craft essence, rayshifting is back in business!" Vinci sounded particularly satisfied with herself. "Although, I find it odd with how quickly I managed to solve that hiccup. It's as if the problem solved itself rather conveniently."
That… does seem a bit strange. Puzzle pieces don't fall into place so easily.
"Post it on the fridge, Vinci. I'm hungry for breakfast." Taylor cradled her growling stomach. There was a time for critical thinking; now was not it.
"Ah yes, of course! Well, if you need anything-" Vinci made it clear that the conversation was over.
"Wait." Taylor had one last request.
"Hm? What is it?" Vinci was a bit too quick on answering. It's as if she was waiting for Taylor to ask for something.
"Have you tested it yet?" Taylor sounded as if she's giving a stern lecture.
"It? Oh! You mean the rayshift!" Vinci played innocent. "Of course I did! I've used it on Cú several times! It works perfectly!"
Taylor hoped PETA doesn't hear of this. She'll need to make it up to him after all of this. "Right, assemble a team."
"Oh? Are you in trouble?" Vinci teased, knowing why.
"No. I just need someone with me. I don't like shopping alone." Taylor tried her best attempt at an excuse.
"Alright, who do you need?" Vinci giggled. She knew Taylor didn't want to be alone anymore. With what she went through, Taylor always wants to be with family and friends. She wants to show her servants her home! Her master isn't honest with herself at all!
"Let me think…" Taylor cupped her chin.
Whoever she's bringing, Taylor just hopes this vacation of her goes smoothly.
There in the living room came a sneak attack.
"Bye, Taylor. Take it easy, okay?"
"'kay, dad. Love you too."
With a kiss on his daughter's forehead and a prideful smile, Danny Hebert went out the door for work.
Taylor smirked at her father's renewed vigor. He seemed happier than she last remembered. She wondered why.
A swig of water plus spit later, Taylor used a free hand to dry the rest of her hair while holding the cup of spittle with a toothbrush in the other.
"Mom had some weird fashion sense…" Taylor muttered, dressed in a colored tank top and drawstring palazzos, pajamas you would expect from an English professor. Your old clothes can't really fit you anymore if you had a growth spurt of three years. "Then again, who cares about the clothes you wear in your own house?"
A flicker of history lessons came to mind. Some of the very prideful and vain figures that maintained a high status all their life, regardless if they're alone. Some of which she knew personally.
"Oh. Right. Nero. If anything, she'll make it a contest." Taylor shuddered at the memory of NeroFest.
"Good morning, master." Came a soft and ragged voice.
"Morning, Ma- aaaaah?!" Taylor jumped at the sight of her dining room filled with paper, strings, and clippings.
But she was more focused on the sight of her beloved kohai in her casual attire looking very exhausted, who was up and at attention. The Round Table leaned on a nearby wall, equally caked in papers and string.
"Mash! Were you up all night!? I thought I tucked you in!" Taylor sputtered.
"I couldn't sleep after what Vinci told me last night." Mash laughed weakly. Taylor saw the bags under Mash's eyes. "We've been working on researching this parallel world. Here."
Mash held out a particularly thick dossier to her master.
"I thought I told you to not worry about it. Whatever Vinci told you could wait for today." Taylor scolded her kohai, taking the dossier. "What did you two work on anyway?"
"A generalized list of interests, more or less." A voice crackled into existence. "We figured since you've been gone for so long, you should be refreshed on what you've forgotten."
"Capes, gangs, persons of interests, organizations, unspoken rules of agreement, modern shared mentality, the current status of countries…" Taylor flipped through the document that was written with care. Her memory refreshed in remembrance as she continued on. She couldn't help but compliment Mash's penmanship.
"Thank you, senpai." Mash had the hint of embarrassment upon being praised or it could be the exhaustion catching up. You could see her wobbling in place.
"Ok." Taylor dropped everything to the dinner table, the cup and the document. "You need sleep."
"But-"
"No buts, Mash. You're human now and humans need sleep." Taylor refused to let her kohai be like this. "Come on." Abruptly, she lifted Mash up in a bridal carry and made a beeline to the stairs. There was no sign of Taylor struggling with carrying Mash.
"No…" Mash muttered, her strength leaving her. She wanted to put up more of a fight, to do more for her senpai, but her body betrayed her.
Kicking the door to her room open, Taylor dropped Mash onto her bed without any fanfare. Her old room, Taylor sighed in content. Nostalgia is always nice.
"Senpai's bed." Mash's voice lets out a sigh of relief. "So soft."
"Get your rest, Mash. You've done great." Taylor patted Mash's head and tucked her in, replacing her glasses from the bed stand with Mash's.
Mash didn't reply, already whisked away to dreamland.
Tossing the towel hanging on her shoulders to the laundry bin on the way out, Taylor closed the door behind her.
"A few hours should do her good." Taylor sighed.
"That was rather out of the blue." Vinci giggled.
"A senpai should do all they can for their kohai." Taylor lectured. "I wouldn't be a senpai in the first place if I didn't."
"Yes yes, I know." Vinci chuckled.
"So give me the abstract." Taylor changed the topic quick. "I remember enough to know the world is awful and spiraling out of control."
"Aw, and Mash stayed up all night making that for you." Vinci teased.
"I know I know. You know what I mean." Taylor was in the midst of washing the cup and her toothbrush from earlier.
"Fine fine. I'll just start with the most pressing issue." Vinci snickered. "This world doesn't have mana, no?"
"Nope." Taylor began pulling down all the strings and papers and clippings, neatly putting them in a pile for later use.
"Then why were Chaldea's systems able to analyze this world's history?" Vinci questioned. "There are no spiritrons nor magic particles for Chaldea to analyze with."
"I would like to say the holy grails infused within me, but I didn't output any mana ever since I came here." Taylor shuts down one theory.
"Curiously, the world does have some sort of energies floating about. Or worlds rather." Vinci explained. "Tapping into these energies for the same results was child's play for someone like me." Her voice was beaming with pride.
"Okay, I'm going to assume these energies are related to parahumans." Taylor jumped to a conclusion. After everything that happened so far, it wouldn't be surprising. "Just get to the point please, Vinci."
"Alright alright. I've studied these energies and they do indeed correlate to parahumans. They essentially lead to alternate dimensions should an individual realize their potential." Vinci revealed. "I've looked into these worlds and noticed organisms, not unlike Beasts. They're connected to those individuals. These organisms are parts of a whole, much like how demon pillars can connect to each other."
Flipping through the papers again, Taylor looked at the section relating to Vinci's debrief. "So basically, when people trigger, the transdimensional organs connect to them and grant them powers to warp reality according to who the individual is and how they are at their current moment. This process spans across multiple versions of Earth excluding the Earths where the World and Mana exist, oddly enough."
Taylor sighed and stood up to stretch.
"What are we looking at? Demons? Extraterrestrial life? An alternate incarnation of the World and its mana? A manifestation of a facet of Humanity? The best specimen of a powerful species in hiding? Spirits hiding in the spaces between Worlds? A secret technological breakthrough went horribly right? Is Scion involved?" Taylor began comparing her previous exploits to the current situation, a type of sizing up the competition.
"Do you remember he was the first parahuman to appear?" Vinci asked.
"Yep. Who could forget the flying Oscar?" Taylor twisted and stretched her body as warm up. She was surprised she remembered all of this parahuman knowledge so quickly. It must've been the buzzwords and key phrases. Much like how a musician remembers musical terms despite years of no practice. "Plus with how mysterious he was, it'd be obvious to ask questions."
Taylor humored the idea of Scion being a holy grail himself. They're both golden. Same difference, right?
"It's an alien. Multidimensional. It came in a pair." Vinci classified the apparent threat. "I've seen its actual body. It spanned several dimensions, fairly enough. It was also rather depressed. It's a widower."
"Being a renaissance woman is fun for you, huh?" Taylor rolled her eyes, making her way to the laundry room.
"Oh, you know me so well." Vinci giggled.
"One more question," Taylor grabbed her dried mystic code from the dryer; she was glad they're machine washable. "Is it doing anything wrong and should I care about what it's going to do?"
"Not particularly. It seemed resigned to do nothing exciting. Without its partner, it can't do anything." Vinci felt pity for the beast. "Oh, it's so sad."
"Then let sleeping dogs lie." Taylor straightened her collar. She smelled of lavender fabric softener. "If it doesn't plan on pulling a Velber, then we should leave it alone. It's not a threat to Humanity. If anything, it gave Humanity powers. That's a plus. Now obviously there would be an ulterior motive that possibly involves destroying the host species; however, I'm assuming since it has no one to tango with, its plan is dead in the water. Case closed."
"As you say, master." Vinci chuckled.
"Now all we need to do is to deal with the people misusing its gifts to Humanity… I should grab breakfast and groceries." Taylor made plans for today. "The fridge is emptier than I remember…"
"Ho ho? Planning a vacation, I see?" Vinci teased.
"Now that you mention it, it wouldn't hurt to take a few days off," Taylor hmm'd, "Vinci, were there any other signs of singularities when we left?"
"No. CHALDEAS has been quiet ever since you left." Vinci laughed. "Enjoy your vacation, Taylor. I'll always be here whenever you required assistance-"
"HUSBAND! MY HUSBAND! WHERE ARE YOU!? ARE YOU OKAY?! WHEN ARE YOU COMING BACK!? YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOR A DAY!!" Came a loud yet worried cry of passion.
Ah, there she was. Taylor was sure Kiyohime would skip communications and just go straight to her altogether. For once, the young maiden put her husband ahead of herself.
That reminds her…
"I love you too, Kiyohime." Taylor gave one quick declaration before adopting a serious tone. "Da Vinci, is there any way to recreate the 2nd magic like Mash and I had done?"
"Ah, I was wondering when you were going to ask that." Vinci lit up while Taylor could hear a flurry of embarrassed and prideful mumbling. "To be frank, I was curious about how you two managed the 2nd magic in the first place. The only person capable was the old man."
Taylor thought about the Wizard Marshall. He was infamous in the Mage Association for his… eccentric tendencies. Whether her returning home was some magical fluke or the result of his machinations will be known in due time, Taylor was sure of it.
"But! I have been able to work around the fact that the world you're in lacking mana! With the combination of the other energies there PLUS the kaleidoscope craft essence, rayshifting is back in business!" Vinci sounded particularly satisfied with herself. "Although, I find it odd with how quickly I managed to solve that hiccup. It's as if the problem solved itself rather conveniently."
That… does seem a bit strange. Puzzle pieces don't fall into place so easily.
"Post it on the fridge, Vinci. I'm hungry for breakfast." Taylor cradled her growling stomach. There was a time for critical thinking; now was not it.
"Ah yes, of course! Well, if you need anything-" Vinci made it clear that the conversation was over.
"Wait." Taylor had one last request.
"Hm? What is it?" Vinci was a bit too quick on answering. It's as if she was waiting for Taylor to ask for something.
"Have you tested it yet?" Taylor sounded as if she's giving a stern lecture.
"It? Oh! You mean the rayshift!" Vinci played innocent. "Of course I did! I've used it on Cú several times! It works perfectly!"
Taylor hoped PETA doesn't hear of this. She'll need to make it up to him after all of this. "Right, assemble a team."
"Oh? Are you in trouble?" Vinci teased, knowing why.
"No. I just need someone with me. I don't like shopping alone." Taylor tried her best attempt at an excuse.
"Alright, who do you need?" Vinci giggled. She knew Taylor didn't want to be alone anymore. With what she went through, Taylor always wants to be with family and friends. She wants to show her servants her home! Her master isn't honest with herself at all!
"Let me think…" Taylor cupped her chin.
Whoever she's bringing, Taylor just hopes this vacation of her goes smoothly.
---
AN: If you've been fighting nonstop for three years, of course, you would want a vacation. I've been reading the discussions and I'm loving what I'm seeing. Food for thought. It's giving me ideas."See, your policy is essentially fear, intimidation, and/or tugging on their heartstrings until the other party complies. My policy boils down to carrying the biggest stick in the room and the detonator to the nuke in the next room over. I'd like to thank Colonel for that one."
-Taylor Hebert, attempting diplomacy
-Taylor Hebert, attempting diplomacy
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