Yomi hadn't noticeably changed in my absence, not that I believed it would. The eerie land of the dead still felt just as unwelcoming as the first time I had been here. Though I knew that nothing would actually harm me or even try as Izzy had a firm hand on what occurred here. Honestly, I don't even know if anything 'lived' here besides her anymore. There were legends and myths about certain creatures and such, but I had encountered nothing in my – admittedly few – times being here.
Well, I now had some free time, maybe I should explore in the future?
Izzy's house was almost comical in how out of place it stood. Like someone just cut out a normal house and slapped it right inside her realm without doing anything else.
I walked up the familiar steps and didn't even get to knock on the door before it opened before me.
"Wilhelm." Izzy looked surprised to see me.
"Izzy." I smiled as I saw her for the first time in too long.
"….would you like to come in?" She moved to the side, gesturing into her home.
"That'd be lovely." I nodded, walking inside. "Hooh, I've had a long day." I flopped onto her couch. "How've you been? It's been way too long."
"Yes, it has been quite a awhile." She nodded closing the door, but stared at me with a scrutinizing gaze from a fair distance away.
I looked back and felt weird with how awkward she was being. "Oh…" I realized. "I guess you can feel it, huh?"
"Are you referring to the feeling as if you will draw a weapon on me at any moment?" She raised an eyebrow. "Or perhaps are you referring to the aura of my son that seems to permeate your being." She added an extra dry tone. "You are very different, and I don't know what to say. It makes me question if you are who I think you are."
"Wait."
"What?"
"You think I might not be – me , yet you let me into your home?"
"Yes?"
"….do we need to have a talk about stranger danger?"
"I take it back, you are definitely Wilhelm." She snorted. "I doubt anyone else would say something so ridiculous to me."
"Does my new 'feeling' make you dislike me?" I know that there was a strange relationship between Campione and Gods in that particular world-line. An instinctual desire to fight each other even if they had no true dislike.
"No….it's difficult to explain." She shook her head. "It was almost like an instinctual repulsion. Though I am over it now."
Well, as long as our relationship didn't sour.
"But I wish to know why you feel so similar to my son." She added. "Others may not be able to recognize it, but I would know my son's presence anywhere."
"So…..that's a long story." I paused, letting out a sigh. "You're my friend, Izzy."
She blinked. "I greatly appreciate you saying such a thing, but I don't understand the sudden admission. in fact, I am slightly worried now."
"You wondered about Artoria didn't you? And about other things around me that confused you? Like how I could come and go to Yomi without you being able to stop me?"
"Yes, you being able to tear a hole into my Realm without my input. And I am curious about Artoria's origin, but I don't want to press."
"Well…."I scratched my head. "It's a long story."
"Should I go get a bottle of wine?"
"Probably." I nodded.
Though it was more of a figure of speech. She merely flicked her hand and one appeared in her hand with a couple wine glasses. She didn't speak as she poured us both a glass, taking a seat…weirdly far from me.
"Izzy…"
"What?" She questioned me.
"Why are you being so distant?" Did I do something wrong?"
"I am not being distant." She said curtly.
"Bullshit."
She let out a huff. "I am not being distant."
I gestured to the space between us.
"…."
"Hug." I held my arms out.
"What?"
"Hug or I'm not telling my story."
"You are blackmailing me."
"Yup, now hug." I smiled.
"You know, without context, trying to blackmail a woman into being touched would make you a creep." She snorted again, getting up from her seat. But there was also a faint smile that wouldn't leave her.
"I think I'm legally still registered as a minor in Japan." I pointed out. "A mature woman inviting a handsome young boy into her home….."
She opened her mouth. "Are you implying that Izanami-no-Mikoto, Goddess of Death, Mother of Japan, is a cougar!?"
"Hey, I didn't say it, you did."
"I should smack you."
"Bold talk for someone in hugging distance." I took a step forward, wrapping my arms around her. She didn't stiffen either, if anything she welcomed it wholeheartedly.
"I said it before, but you are infuriatingly kind sometimes." She said quietly.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It was about half and half."
"Still taking it as a compliment." She seemed to be more at ease. "What's wrong, Izzy?" I finally asked as we separated.
She let out a sigh. "It's nothing important." She waived me off. "Go on with your story, I want to hear what you were about to tell me." She sat down next to me, sipping her wine. "And I really wish to know why you feel so similar to my son. I'm trying to hold myself back from being aggressive about it, Wilhelm, but for some reason it's giving my anxiety."
I let out a sigh. "Alright, but it'll take a bit to get to that part."
"That's fine...I have nothing else planned….ever." She leaned back. "Thank you…..by the way. I'm not used to having people care about me like this, it's nice."
"Well, you're stuck with me now." I grinned.
"Joy." She drawled. "I suppose it could be worse. My life would be more boring were you not such a fool."
Admittedly, I did have her go fight Godzilla-lite with me, however….
"Whose more foolish, the fool or the one who's friends with the fool?" I smirked.
She raised an eyebrow. "So that's how it's going to be."
"Come at me." I did the little gesturing motion as an additional taunt.
"I'll remember this, don't you worry." She calmly set her wine glass down. "But stop getting distracted. Explain what you were going to explain."
"Fine, fine." I huffed. "Alright, so I should talk about my origins. To be honest, I'm not exactly normal –"
"Yes, You're a half devil." She said dryly.
I opened my mouth and closed it again. "Okay, that's fair." I sighed. "Let's try this again. My origin isn't really normal for this world, even considering the supernatural aspects."
"Are you an Alien?" She asked.
I blinked at her sudden question. "What?"
Her lips curled up.
"You're messing with me."
"Well, you are smart enough to catch on."
"Now whose getting distracted?"
"Ugh, you're right. Seriously, keep going."
"Now I lost my place."
"How did you lose your place, you spoke like two sentences?" She groaned.
"Maybe I'm not smart enough to remember." I hummed.
"Well as you keep proving, being able to speak does not make one intelligent." She retorted with a little smirk.
I just nodded, accepting it. "I was expecting a more subtle remark." Honestly, I love how she's able to quote Star Wars with me.
"Please, like there's anything subtle about me." She said with an arrogant little smile.
"…..Definitely not a Cougar." I'm sure she could sense my sarcasm.
"Y-you!" She slapped my shoulder. "Just for that, you're punished with being confined to Yomi. Insulting a Goddess like that!?" She huffed.
"Mmm, for how long?" I leaned over.
"Atleast another few hours." She looked away.
Izzy…what's wrong?
I didn't want to push her on it, but something clearly had her upset.
With a sigh, I decided to not bring it up again for the moment.
"You know, it's funny, you're not the first person who asked if I was an Alien." I laughed remembering my first time meeting Ruby on Remnant.
She seemed to recover a little bit. "Really? That's either a strange coincidence, or I'm closer to the mark than I thought."
"I'm not an Alien." I rolled my eyes. "....Technically..." Now that I think about it….
"I was joking, but your tone is making me question many things now."
"I was…..born on this planet?" I offered.
"And that comment doesn't fill me with assurance." She pointed out.
"Alright, I usually start this off with explaining my Magic."
"The one with the colorful portals that lets you trespass into my home without my consent?"
"Do you have to make it sound so creepy?"
"I'm sorry, did this 'Cougar' hurt your feelings?"
"You're never going to let that one go, are you?"
"Nope."
"Alright, moving on." I clapped my hands. "So, my Magic is known as the Kaleidoscope, which is the Operation and Manipulation of Parallel Worlds." I looked at her as she digested that information.
Que awkward silence.
"I see….." She finally spoke after a couple minutes.
"You do?" I tilt my head. "It took a lot of explanation on my part when I told Yasaka."
"Wilhelm." She responded. "I am a Goddess. Nothing against Yasaka, but she does not have as much of an understanding about the world as I do."
"Fair point."
"Yes." She pursed her lips. "Though I am still….confused at a great many things."
"That's it, no other reactions?"
"I'm processing." She snorted. "I think some things are starting to make sense now. You said before that you traveled to the Land of Shadows and trained under Scáthach, yet Scáthach died centuries ago. I didn't question it before and merely wrote it off as something unimportant."
"Oh, she's dead in this world?" I sort of voiced my thoughts. "I didn't realize…."
"And a comment like that answers many more questions." She said dryly. "Parallel Worlds...it's not an unfamiliar notion, but not one I thought a mortal would touch upon."
"So, yeah, I travel to other worlds frequently."
"I could've guess as much." She replied. "I have many – many questions regarding that. But I want to urge a response about what I mentioned earlier."
"Okay...but I'd like to preface this by asking you to listen until the end and not get mad."
"I have a feeling I won't like where this is going."
"….it's not as bad as it sounds on the surface."
"I hesitantly accept your words for now, please continue."
"Okay, so I went to a certain variation of Earth. Rules there were a little different. Basically…..I may have killed a God and usurped a bit of their Authority?"
She paused, her gaze turning intent. "Wilhelm. I would like to punctuate this by saying that I understand the concepts you are stating. Other worlds, variations and what-not. Even in popular media, the idea is rather common so I'm not completely ignorant even if my nature was ignored. So, I would like to ask – did you kill my Son and take his Authority?"
"...He started it."
She opened her mouth then closed it again, the little bit of tension seemed to evaporate. "Please explain properly."
"So killing a God there isn't really 'killing' in a normal sense. Basically….they just get banished back to the realm of immortality where they descend into the Mortal World from."
"Okay, I feel as though I'm missing much context, but that alleviates many of my concerns."
"So….not mad?"
"I'm not upset." Izzy replied. "I was thrown off guard by your first admittance and I believe I just required a moment to think it through. The idea of my son getting killed…..it is not one I can process easily." She let out a long breath, pouring herself another glass of wine.
"I should have asked first, but you believe me?" I kind of glossed over that notion and just kept going.
"Yes, I do not believe you would lie to me." She replied honestly.
I'm happy that she trusts me like that. "Alright, why don't I start from the beginning?"
She let out a sigh, curling up on the couch next to me. "Sure, let me hear about your totally-not-an-alien life." I could see the corners of her lips curl up in amusement.
"It starts as many stories do." I started to paint the picture.
"Why do I feel like this is going to be a Disney-esq tale?"
"Fuck that, it started when I got stabbed through the chest with a Magic-Holy Lightsaber."
"….I am both horrified and intrigued. Well done."
***
Izzy and Wilhelm meeting after too long.
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