Melanie Fitts
Just as I’d expected, Lilian’s proposal was never going to be rejected entirely the moment she claimed to be able to potentially help Elle. Gregor and Newter would’ve been fine with not getting human bodies but Elle not getting lost in her own mind anymore? That was something that was worth losing our independence – especially since Gregor had argued that, if Lilian knew the truth behind the Case 53s, there’s a chance that she would someday be able to safely tell us.
Everything we’d set out to do and more would be available to us in the Travelers Guild and the only downside was that we’d have to work for Lilian Biron, a girl whose greed seemed to rival Thomas Andre’s.
“So, you have an answer for me?” The teenager questioned, folding her hands together before her.
I nodded in response before looking towards Elle. She was having a bad day and it showed by how still she was the entire time. Her mind was in places I could only scarcely imagine due to the way the space around her occasionally changed when her mana flared for reasons unknown to me. “We’re willing to become members of the Travelers Guild under the condition that you can actually do what you said you could. If you can’t help Elle, we won’t work for you.”
“That is acceptable.” Lilian declared before looking towards Elle with a confident smile on her lips. At the same time, I felt as though chains were wrapping around my heart while forcing myself to not react. Looking uncomfortable couldn’t do well for our negotiations. “Give me a moment and we should see whether or not it works soon enough.”
The implications of her words made me blink, the shock distracting me from how horrible entering a binding vow had felt. Not when Elle got all my attention the moment Lilian’s words about it being done so quickly sank in.
I had expected some grand magic or at least some movement of her mana. Instead, I’d felt and seen nothing but, despite that, Elle’s gaze – previously focused on whatever world her magic had drawn her mind into this time – began to focus on the reality around her again. It didn’t stop at the level she reached on what we’d come to call her good days, either.
For years, I’d seen her drift in and out of reality, moving as if she was barely aware she had a body. As she lifted her hand to her own face and seemed overwhelmed by everything around her, I knew that that awareness of her own body that she probably hadn’t had since triggering had been returned to her.
Within a minute or two, Elle had been brought back to reality on what I desperately hoped was a permanent basis.
Despite feeling so happy I could cry, despite the fact that I knew I was shaking, I turned back towards Lilian Biron and swallowed down all that I felt. “As long as this is actually a permanent fix or you at least reapply it every time it wears off, we’ll join the Travelers Guild as promised.”
“We can discuss the details later.” Lilian replied, amusement clear in her eyes. “I believe you have something to celebrate for the time being.” She told me. “The rest, you can arrange with Lisa after you and your group have gotten used to the rather abrupt change.”
If not for her clear amusement, I would have believed her to care. As it stood, she looked as if she were acting on a script only she herself knew. Considering her possible ability to see the future, maybe she was doing exactly that.
I didn’t like it. There was something about the teenager that felt completely and utterly alien and that was without taking into account her unnatural eyes and inhuman beauty. She also looked as if she were putting on a performance both due to her outfit and her demeanor and the fact that she seemed to feel amusement so often rather than anything else was kind of unsettling.
That she was known to bind her employees to their contracts just made me even more uneasy about working for her because people who refused to even consider trusting those who worked for them were not the kind of people I wanted to be in charge of myself and those I cared about.
Despite all that, she had done as she’d promised. Lilian had given Elle the ability to not be lost in what her magic showed her.
Not only was I already caught in a binding vow but there was no guarantee that Lilian couldn’t just undo whatever she’d done. Elle’s wellbeing trapped me more than the threat of some ambiguous but likely horrible consequences for breaking the vow I’d entered.
“I’ll reach out to your assistant tomorrow.” I promised, ignoring all the parts of me that didn’t like this situation.
The people I’d found and taken in had, over the years, became my family. For their sakes, I could ignore all the parts of me that didn’t want to trust the teenager whose subordinates we’d soon all be.
Amelia
My friend had wanted to hang out so I’d come over, not really expecting to end up in a massive castle nor in a room that’d have looked like it wasn’t anything remotely modern if not for the tech displayed in it. Tech which included the TV we were planning to use to watch a movie.
I also hadn’t expected Lily to not wear her usual outfit.
“So, how’ve you been?” Lily asked, lounging on a couch while wearing nothing more than short shorts and an oversized hoodie, both of which suited her way too much for me to stay entirely focused.
Normally, Lily was almost tomboyish in her appearance and demeanor and the absurd outfit she usually wore enhanced that rather than her beauty. I’d almost forgotten how dangerous her natural looks were when she wasn’t trying to look like she were a star-themed circus director.
I could barely even convince myself to not just keep staring at her legs or a bit further up to where the hoodie was barely hiding her privates because I was pretty sure those shorts were skintight.
“And what do you think of my castle? It’s great, isn’t it?” Her smug tone drew my mind out of the gutter it’d ended up in at the sight before me.
“I’ve been good and your castle is very…you.” I answered after forcing myself to remember her first question.
Lily snorted in response. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” There was a teasing lilt to her tone that made it clear she wasn’t offended.
“It’s kind of over the top but still looks good.” I told her honestly.
“I appreciate the compliment.” She apparently decided to continue teasing me, a smirk forming on her lips.
Groaning in annoyance, I all but threw myself into the nearest comfortable chair. “Didn’t you call me here to watch a movie together? Because I get the feeling you just want to tease me.”
“Why can’t I do both?” Lily joked before her smirk grew slightly smaller. “Anyways, you can pick whatever you want. I’m fine with anything, but I will make jokes about you having bad taste if you pick something horrible.” As she spoke, she deposited a bunch of DvDs on the table in front of her.
“I’ll do it on purpose now.” I promised her, meaning every word.
Even with Lily joking around and teasing me during the movie, it was fun. Especially since I joked right back and it was a nice distraction from the increased amount of raids I had to take part in since Leviathan.
Lisa
Recruiting people was, normally, not something to be rushed. Usually, one wanted the best of the best.
The Travelers Guild no longer cared. Mana reserves mattered and everything else was irrelevant when Lilian could theoretically turn a fumbling E-Rank who’d never so much as looked at a kitchen knife into someone actually dangerous.
Sure, it’d require my boss to invest a lot of time despite her being just as whimsical as most children and almost as easily distracted but she could do it.
Most importantly, the boss didn’t give a single fuck about the personalities of those she recruited as long as they weren’t PR nightmares like the remains of the Empire that the PRT was working on recruiting and relocating far away from where people would recognize the nazis.
Her binding people to their contracts meant that even the worst criminals couldn’t do anything to members of the Travelers Guild or their possessions. For someone who didn’t care about the part of the world that she didn’t consider to be her belongings, friends or family, that was enough as long as they’d at least be subtle about it.
Should Lilian die and the vows stop working, there was a decent chance the entire guild would self-combust within days if not hours. Provided her death didn’t destroy the pocket dimension we were currently staying in, that is.
Oh, we didn’t actively try to recruit criminals and power-hungry madmen but our main selling point was Lilian’s ability to empower others. Greed and/or desperation were the main reasons for people to want to join us and a lot of hunters usually had plenty of both unless they’re at least A-Rank, anyways.
It took a special kind of desire to make someone risk their life on the regular and, for all that there was a lot of propaganda going around to entice people into becoming hunters if they triggered, the more selfless motivations usually only lasted for a couple of years before the money made them want more or they’d had one close call too many. Unless they fought an Endbringer, that is, and the selfless people were usually the first to volunteer.
Missy was a prime example of that, really. She’d been raised on stories of how heroic people were for fighting the Endbringers, how important it was to do so if one could. She had been knocked out in the fight against Leviathan and might’ve died if not for the boss being sane enough to run.
Millicent, meanwhile, was a different kind of problem. She had come from lands that had a warrior culture engraved into them and she’d internalized it. Pride as well as a desire to help despite her affliction were what had driven her to fight Leviathan with nothing but a sword.
Aside from them, there weren’t many truly selfless people in the Travelers Guild and those people would have no reason left to stay loyal should Lilian no longer be around.
If Lilian ever died, should this pocket dimension survive, there was a non-zero chance that the remains of the guild would fight for it because, after all, no government from the outside could get in here and there was far too high of a chance of the binding vows just failing without Lilian keeping them active.
As such, making sure that she had enough subordinates so that she didn’t have to do more than one or maybe two raids a week was a necessary step even if it made the problem worse. She already took enough risks with her travels to other worlds.
I just wished she’d stop adding things to the list. Finding people to produce dust out of mana through some weird method on top of finding management for the dust mine and our potential second branch of the Travelers Guild was time-consuming to the extreme without Lilian demanding a personal meeting.
“How can I help you, boss?” I asked, not bothering to hide how tired and annoyed I was. She’d notice it either way.
“I can teach people to make binding vows.” The moment the words left her mouth, I jolted wide awake, energized by the sheer possibilities that single statement opened.
“You want me to speed-up the recruitment of all the management personnel we need, I suppose?” I replied, excited to no longer have to plan around Lilian’s problematic schedule.
The boss didn’t sleep. She also followed her every whim just like a child. If she was curious, she’d poke whatever it was with a stick if she felt like she could survive its retaliation.
Most importantly, this would at least somewhat mitigate the damage of Lilian’s potential death. It’d still be disastrous and definitely ruin my plans for the rest of my life but it could potentially be a contained disaster rather than complete and utter anarchy.
At this point, I really didn’t like to consider that Lilian might die but, between her sister and Lilian’s curiosity, there was a problematically high chance of it eventually happening. Either Lilian would become too powerful to ever be killed or she’d inevitably piss off something strong enough to erase her from existence.
“I want it done as soon as possible.” Lilian confirmed with a nod. “Offer higher salaries if you have to. We’ll produce dust from mana, anyways. Even if a large chunk of it will come from the mines at first, we’ll be able to sell something that literally doesn’t have a production cost aside from the salaries we’ll pay for a price that’s actually worth crystallized elemental mana. Our profit margin is only going to increase from here on out.”
I could see the vision but it’d still take time. It could, however, be sped up. “If you give Atlas their anti-Grimm ward for their tests, it’d make things easier on Remnant once we have the results. The people there would probably leap at the chance for free housing for them and their families in an area that Grimm can’t attack.”
“Set up a meeting with Ironwood then.” Lilian ordered as if she didn’t have more free time than I did. I wasn’t going to complain because she already knew my opinion on this from my body language and emotions but neither was she going to do anything about it.
I had known that I was signing up to be extraordinarily busy when I agreed to my contract, after all. In exchange, I got guaranteed wealth and a chance to maybe become immortal in the future just because replacing me would be inconvenient and I had no doubt Lilian would look for better immortality methods than just agelessness at some point. So, really, I got a good deal. I just had to remind myself of that until things were set up and I could relax a bit.
“I will tell you as soon as it’s been arranged.” I let my boss know. “Anything else or can I get started on the latest mountain of work you’ve dropped into my lap?”
“Not yet.” Lilian answered, an amused smirk on her lips that I just knew wouldn’t fade until a bit after I’d have already left her office.
Akatosh
Time had stuttered. Reality had torn open and the Tapestry of Fate had, for but a moment, faded at a critical juncture.
Alduin’s flames had scorched the last Dovahkiin as Fate had failed to process the new addition to the story. Fate had, consequently, been broken. A tale that was meant to define the End had been burnt off the tapestry by dragonfire. Except, I still had enough ability to influence this world to create another Dovahkiin, a replacement for the one who had been meant to slay Alduin.
Only, a replacement like that would take time to nurture. I could not just alter someone’s soul to be that of a dragon. No, they would have to be born with it. They would have to grow in a world that was likely to become one ruled by dragons in due time and, while Fate would prevent anyone other than Alduin from slaying my newest child, the world had never been meant to suffer the dragons’ rule once more.
I could repair Fate but even I could not turn back the clock to before the Story had been irrevocably changed. Something entirely foreign had inserted itself and there was no undoing that act. It was not a part of this world’s Fate but the Outsider’s presence had left its mark.
To me, it felt as though someone had nailed the moment Fate had been broken to the wall with enough force that it couldn’t be undone and, as such, even undoing what led to it was impossible.
That was also why I was reluctant to act to repair things. If the Outsider appeared again, if reality simply opened before it to let it through, my efforts would’ve been for naught and I’d have invested some of my ability to influence Nirn for nothing.
I was less diminished than some of my fellow Aedra but it didn’t change the fact that I had invested a great deal of myself into the creation of Nirn. I could not interfere as I pleased and certainly not often enough to be willing to risk the Outsider returning after its flight from Alduin to undo my work once more.
As such, I chose to wait. Should the Outsider reappear, I would invest enough of myself to converse with them. If they had been malicious in their actions, I would remove the possibility of them returning but, if they hadn’t been, maybe there was some way they could aid me in restoring things to a semblance of how they should’ve been.
If not, I would at least demand for them to leave this world be so I could repair things.
And, to me, the mere two days between one appearance that scorched an ancient prophecy were nothing. Not just because I was a being of Time but because I had seen more days pass than most Daedra or Aedra would’ve cared to count. Had I not been who I was, I wouldn’t have, either.
So, even though it was not one but two Outsiders – one of which had been invisible to me until I’d already begun to manifest a small avatar of myself and could peer through its eyes – I was ready to at least converse with the being that had thrown Fate into disarray.
Lily
“How can we help you?” I asked, my heart racing in my chest from fear as a small, flaming dragon that was unmistakably Akatosh manifested before Missy and I. I hid my fear as best as I could but getting a visit from what was likely the greatest of the Aedra was terrifying.
All I had wanted to do was confirm that this world was the one I’d suspected it was, find a dragon burial mound and channel some aura into the remains of whatever dragon was underneath it since its soul should still have been in there.
Instead, I had been confronted by the origin of the dragons. At least it almost certainly wasn’t my fault this time.
‘Sufficiently powerful gods can seal our powers.’ I was potentially protected by Trumped the Trump but I had never tested it, never wanted to test it.
My Traveling Home was a failsafe in case it wouldn’t work. The pocket dimension laid within my soul and had entrances to two worlds but to have my ability to travel sealed would mess up almost all my plans, especially the ones involving the world of Bleach.
At my side, Missy was also distinctly uncomfortable and I suspected it had something to do with the immense power we felt from the deity that should’ve been weakened by creating Nirn. Heavily weakened, at that.
If that was its weakened form and probably held only a fraction of Akatosh’s remaining might, I was far from ashamed to admit that I was completely and utterly terrified of what it had looked like at its strongest.
As soon as the avatar began to speak, I learnt the language it spoke and gave my knowledge of it to Missy quickly enough that we could both have it. “I wish to know for what purpose you Outsiders have forced your way into Nirn.” At the deity’s reply, I felt a burst of relief soothe some of my fear.
If Akatosh was open to communications, there was a chance that this wasn’t as bad as I feared it could’ve been. Oh, the Last Dragonborn was almost certainly dead. I couldn’t imagine the mere appearance of us warranting Akatosh’s direct interference otherwise but Akatosh had not decided to smite us for it. Not yet, at least.
“It was an accident. I just wanted to travel somewhere new and ended up here. I’m sorry if that messed anything up.” Missy told the god, definitely terrified by Akatosh’s display of power but putting on a brave face.
For several moments, the Aedra was silent. Then, the small dragon spoke once more, “I believe you.” Missy was relieved but I wasn’t. I held no faith in the deity being so merciful when she’d probably torn apart a prophecy that was related to the end of the world. “However, I now have to deal with Fate being broken. As such, I request that you either assist me in the process or leave Nirn permanently.”
“Unless you explain the situation in more detail, I’m afraid I won’t be able to say whether or not we could help you.” I pointed out.
“The Last Dragonborn, a mortal born with a dragon’s soul, has fallen here when he shouldn’t have. He should’ve gone on to fight Alduin, the World Eater as well as the dragon that destroyed this city, and slay him. While I can replace them, that will leave Alduin to run wild for nearly two decades and likely remove much of the support structure required to train them.” I listened as Akatosh confirmed my suspicions.
I hesitated for a moment before making my offer, “My sister and I can take on the unique qualities of any souls our own come into contact with for long enough. If you can give us access to a dragonborn’s soul, we can replicate their traits and at least attempt to take his place.”
“And yet you have nothing binding you to this place. Nor do I believe you would be willing to stay here permanently.” Akatosh pointed out.
“We would not be but two dragonborn who have otherworldly powers should at least be better than no dragonborn. At the very least, we could slow down Alduin to give you enough time for your replacement dragonborn to grow and try to keep that support network you mentioned alive.” I argued.
A large part of the reason why I even bothered was the fact that I wanted the Thu’um. Another reason was the fact that I found it hard to believe that Missy’d be happy to leave this world behind despite knowing that she’d made it worse.
Akatosh was silent once more before, eventually, making his avatar nod. “Very well. I expect you to fight against the dragons that will soon return. In exchange, I will permit you to continue to access Nirn.”
…I desperately wanted to trap the Aedra in a binding vow that had this many loopholes but, one, there were loopholes on both sides and, two, Akatosh probably wouldn’t enjoy the situation any more than the people I’d previously used my ability on.
No. It was much safer to just take his word for it and, as he presented me with a soul that was quite visible to me for reasons I put down as Bleach-related, I decided to distract myself by slowly, carefully, guiding my aura towards it while Missy did the same.
“I will do my best to make up for my mistake.” Missy promised for some reason after she made contact with the dragon soul before us.
Whatever prompted her to do so, it didn’t matter. Not when I felt my soul changing once again. It came with no obvious new powers. I had already gained the traits required to use the magic of this world, after all, and the Thu’um would not come to me quite so easily.
Well, the words definitely would. Omniglot would see to that. The issue was that making use of them would require a deep understanding of the meaning behind them rather than mere fluency in the language.
That was fine. The reward for my efforts would be worth it. Bending reality with my voice would never not be worth it. Maybe I could even figure out dual meditation with the aid of Skilled Development and my various talents so that I could meditate on both the Force and the Thu’um at the same time in the future.
Not long after Missy and I retracted our auras, Akatosh and the soul he’d called forth vanished. Presumably, he was fine with the outcome of our conversation.
Turning towards my twin, I shared a look with her that told me everything I needed to know. Neither one of us wanted to stay here right now. “Want to play Mario Kart before going to bed?” I offered her, wanting a distraction from Akatosh telling us to either make ourselves useful or piss off.
I really didn’t like dealing with gods, it seemed.
“That sounds great to me.” Missy answered and, not long afterwards, we left this world for the time being.
I’d return in due time but the return of the dragons should still take some time.
So Akatosh wasn’t particularly happy at someone showing up in Nirn and irreversibly messing up a prophecy.
Side note: Faultline is overestimating Lily. Lily has no idea how to consciously use her future sight and doesn’t care much about figuring it out for reasons that’ll be explained later on. That doesn’t stop Lily from purposefully making Faultline overestimate her. She wants her subordinates to think her capable of doing whatever she wishes to.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed and let me know if you have any feedback