Chapter 14: The City Where It All Began
Summary:
Tanya explores Xerxes, and in the process discovers a little more than she bargained for. Elsewhere, Mary attempts some research, and runs into absolutely nothing interesting. Meanwhile, Scylla's forces move, both in the shadows and out in the open.
Notes:
I haven't killed anyone major yet. That doesn't mean I won't. In fact, my notes for this fic has a "potential deaths" list. Don't get too comfortable thinking "This person will step up and save this person" ;)
Enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Xerxes.
The southwestern city of the Nasca Namrium Ulmeria United Eastern Empire, or the Eastern Empire for short. Bordering the Great Jura Forest, the city's population sits just above 1 million combined human and Majin residents.
If you were to make a list of the largest cities on the continent, the metropolises of the Eastern Empire would take most of the top 5, and half of the top 10.
My job is to comb through this massive haystack and find a single needle. And, if I'm lucky, that needle will be threaded with a cohort of needles. The sooner Nin is found, and the sooner I put an end to this plot, the better.
They should have known better than to kidnap citizens of Tempest. A still-growing nation we may be, but that does not mean we lack for power.
Honestly, I wish this was something I could ignore. But all the signs point to this being big. Shadow beasts, kidnapping, a man claiming to be a future God...
A future God, he said. Not a current one. That rings more than a few alarm bells. There's also his phrasing. "There's only one person that gets to tell me what to do", and "Can't have someone learning too much, getting in my way and all that."
Learning too much of what? What are you planning? Who is your boss, Nin?
One domino has already fallen. I refuse to let them all fall. Whatever they're planning to do, I'm going to shut it down. Permanently. Before it has the chance to fuck over everything I've gained in this world.
It's time to be a little bit proactive, I think.
-=-=-=-
Morning
The Maj Inn
Xerxes, Eastern Empire
Odd that they serve an American breakfast here. Tanya took a sip of her coffee, pouring syrup over her massive stack of pancakes with her other hand. But I'm not going to complain. Must have a few Otherworlders here, but I suppose that's a given with such a massive population.
As Tanya dug in, she listened to the inn coming alive all around her.
"Did you hear about the tunnels they're digging?" A woman asked.
"I heard they're placing a magitrain underground, if you can believe it." The waitress responded. "Colonel Gen said they were-"
Tunnels? Magitrain? Colonel Gen?
She focused on another conversation.
"These Shades are getting on my nerves." A rough looking man grumbled.
"Is the road still closed?" His buddy asked.
"Yes." A sigh. "I know General Garmstrong is doing her best, but I just wish-"
Magitrain. Shades. Garmstrong.
And another.
"Damn border guards."
"What happened this time?"
Merchants, this time.
"I lost 30% of my stock to an 'inspection'." An annoyed huff. "Granted, it was all skirting the line, but still! They're really cracking the whip, even more than usual."
"You know they're strict for a reason. Even with things that are technically legal."
"I know. I'm just stressed, I'm sorry. It's not like Lieutenant General Drake is helping matters any. 'In these troubled times, we must all make sacrifices.' What a crock! The only ones sacrificing are-"
"Keep your voice down!"
Laws have tightened recently. Lieutenant General Drake invokes anger.
Tanya tuned the chattering out as she continued to enjoy her breakfast.
Xerxes is far more advanced than I expected from this world. And strict. It reminds me of another Empire. She tore a large chunk of bacon and eating it before returning to her rapidly dwindling pancake stack. Looks Like I have plenty of research to do. These officials are important enough to namedrop in casual conversation; I need to know who they are. The railways need investigating as well, as do the walls. At the very least, the former makes the latter easier. And then, there's these Shades-
Someone sat down heavily in the seat across from her.
"How do you wake up so early so easily?" Mary complained, her hair still messy and her cloak folded and thrown over one shoulder. "I swear, you're like-"
She paused, as a plate was set down in front of her.
"Enjoy!" The waitress smiled, before walking off.
Mary turned silently, shooting Tanya a confused look.
"I ordered it a few minutes ago." Tanya said as she polished off her last pancake. Her fork stabbed into a thick cut of bacon. "After waking you up for months, I know pretty well when you get out of bed."
"…Sure, whatever." Mary shrugged it off, ignoring the odd warm feeling in her chest that had been popping up recently. She dug in, continuing to speak around bites, "With how careful you were getting us in here, I doubt we can afford to stay. So how long are we going to be here? We're trying to get this over with quick, right?"
"We are, but not because we can't afford to hang around." Tanya swallowed, then pushed her plate away, "I'm not exactly strapped for coin. The Executives get a stipend that is far too generous considering most things in Tempest are provided for free."
"I don't get a stipend."
"Stipends are for useful members."
"Haha." Mary rolled her eyes.
"Did I sound like I was joking?" Tanya said with a laugh. "In any case, money isn't a concern. Time is our actual problem. We need to track down our target before they can set in motion whatever bizarro plot they undoubtedly have in the works."
"And you can do that, right? Track him down with your little blood magic thing?"
"It's not…" Tanya blinked, "Well, I suppose it is blood magic. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to refine it completely. It's more of a pointer than a tracker."
"Is that a problem?"
"Not really. As long as there's some magically rich remnant, whether it be the residue from a large burst of magic or the blood of a magicules-rich beast, my formula should be able to locate the origin of that remnant. And since our arrogant friend Nin absorbed the beast, the tracer should point me in his direction."
"That's great." Mary was barely paying attention. "This is really good, by the way."
"Careful, you'll give the impression of a glutton if you keep that up."
"What, like you don't absolutely obliterate every meal?" Mary pointed her fork at Tanya, "Who's really the glutton here? If you don't like what you see, stop looking in the mirror."
Just for that, you get the boring job.
"Funny. Keep it up, and you'll make a fine joculatrix."
"I- what? Did you just swear at me?"
"Maybe. You have your jokes, and I have mine." Tanya shrugged. "But enough of that for now. We're going to split up today."
Mary took a moment away from her breakfast to look concerned.
"I'm sending Souka to shadow you, so don't worry too much. She's a good fit for your job today."
"And that is?" Mary hid her relief well.
"I want you to note the main rune structure for the walls. Specifically, at the north, south, east, and western points. I wasn't able to get a good look at the south when we snuck in, and I'm curious."
"Uh…" Her concern was back.
"You only have to note them down, not study them." Tanya resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'll decipher as much of their meaning and use as I can later. Hell, you might even find some joy in it. Some of the runic language in this world uses Nordic runes as a base. Legadonian, if that doesn't ring a bell."
"Really?" Her expression brightened.
Tanya blinked.
I know she enjoys connecting with her homeland, whether it's offhand references to Moskstraumen or Jörmungandr or other things in Legadonian that I can't make out… but this is a bit much.
A happy smile crossed Mary's face, her posture more relaxed than it had been in a while. Such was the way she usually appeared when talking about her homeland.
Or maybe not. Being X took just as much from her as he did me. Her childhood was turned into a useless quest for divine vengeance, and her mind was made not her own. I can't help but feel the slightest sympathy…
"Yes, really. Keep that enthusiasm with you; you'll need it."
Sympathy? No, connection. Connection. Similar circumstances, that's all. Perhaps this is her way of reclaiming the pieces of her that were lost throughout the years. Reconnecting with the only home you've ever known is certainly not a bad way to go about it.
"But what about you?"
Tanya jolted from her thoughts. "Pardon?"
"What are you investigating?" Mary rephrased, pushing her own plate away.
Tanya hadn't even noticed the other woman finish.
"Well, that's easy." She said, "I'm going to do a little investigation of my own. That, and hunting Shades."
"…Shades?"
"I believe they're connected to the Minotaur I fought yesterday." Tanya elaborated.
"If you say so. I never saw him so…" Mary trailed off, looking around, "Well, have fun, I guess?"
"I'll try."
-=-
"Have fun"? Idiot!
Mary resisted the urge to facepalm.
The train station bustled with life all around her, passengers getting on and stepping off the latest train to pull in. It wasn't as advanced as some of the most recent train stations from her original world, but after the past half year or so of living with relatively low to zero industrialization, it was certainly impressive.
Mary couldn't help but view it all with a muted level of shock and awe, though it was largely drowned out by her embarrassment.
Not even the conductor, yelling "South bound! South bound train here!" could break her from it. With her ticket – bought with coin Degurechaff had so helpfully provided – held outstretched and a nod from the conductor, Mary stepped onto the magic-powered train, the awkward memory still painfully fresh in her mind
She's going to remember that forever. Stupid! This is a serious mission we're dealing with! What's fun about that? I need to take this seriously. More seriously. This is a chance to really prove myself. I won't be seen as dead weight. I can and will save people, Degurechaff!
At a much later point in time, Mary would wonder why exactly she wanted to prove herself so desperately to Tanya, of all people. But that was a future problem for future Mary.
Right now, she needed to find a seat.
Mary strolled down the surprisingly wide aisle, eyes running across the rows of seats for an empty space. She didn't need to look far, as the train was only half filled at the moment. Lucky her. Finding a suitably empty row, Mary stepped in and pulled her sheathed katana from her belt. She sat down in the seat closest to the window, placing her blade under the seat and pressing a booted foot lightly against to keep it from rolling.
Her place secured, Mary stared out into the train station and waited silently for departure.
"Hey there!"
Mary blinked, turning her head.
"Gah!" Another face was mere centimeters from her own. She recoiled, nearly bonking her head against the window now behind her.
"Oh, sorry!" The person backed up, letting Mary get a better look at her latest personal space invader. It was rather pretty young woman, somewhat messy and spiky blonde hair that reached her shoulders, and somewhat soft features that gave Mary's the oddest sense of déjà vu.
White button up shirt with the top button undone, black slacks and brown leather slip on shoes. Why was that all so…
With a start, Mary realized that the other woman could very nearly be confused for one Tanya von Degurechaff, were her hair to be done up in a ponytail, her eyes blue-ish green instead of grey, and her face just the slightest bit sharper.
She was also shorter than Degurechaff, though that had long since ceased being an accomplishment since Degurechaff had at some point after their mutual reincarnation hit a growth spurt. Even surpassing Mary's own height, much the Mary's chagrin.
The damn former devil and current intelligence operative was even slightly taller than Shuna now, when just three months prior they had been the same height.
True, Mary had grown as well, to the point where she and Shuna were at the same height, but the point stands that Tanya was and would remain taller. She now had to accept this fact, that as a 19 (and on the cusp of 20) year old woman, her growth had all but ended, and thus, Tanya von Degurechaff would remain taller than her. Forever.
It goes without saying that Mary had been less than pleased to realize this set of facts. Truly, fate was cruel.
"I didn't mean to scare you!" The blonde smiled, "I'm Eve. Nice to meet ya!"
"…Why are you talking to me?" Mary looked around. "There are plenty of open seats."
Elsewhere. She refrained from saying out loud.
"Rude." Eve pouted for a second, before smiling again, "I just saw someone interesting, and thought it would be fun to talk with them."
"Really? Well, you better go find them, then."
Eve laughed. "You're funny!"
I was being serious. Mary had to resist the urge to lean away. Not because the other woman smelled or anything, but because sometime in the past 5 seconds she'd been hit with the realization that she didn't know how to talk to people.
Or more specifically, she didn't know how to be social in ways that didn't involve A) training, military, sword, or otherwise, B) sarcasm, particularly directed at one Tanya von Degurechaff, a person she'd technically known for years at this point and whom was the only remnant of her previous life, and lastly C) religion, a topic she had at one point been an expert and avid fan of, until her God had quite literally led her to her death and then abandoned her all in order to kill a single person (who also happened to be Tanya von Degurechaff).
The closest thing she had made to friends in the past half year plus since her reincarnation was her former enemy turned surprisingly helpful friend, mentor, and something else Mary hadn't been able to pin down yet Tanya von Degurechaff (yes, for the third time), her sword instructor and Sensei Hakurou, the dryad Trya, and Rimuru.
Everyone else interacted with her sparingly (in the case of her fellow student Gobta, Milim who she sometimes was forced to watch over, and Benimaru), through Tanya herself (like Shuna, Geld, and the majority of the Executives), or not at all (the rest of Tempest, really, though Treyni came to mind specifically. She always kept her focus solely on Tanya, oddly enough).
Mary paused.
…Now that she thought about it, that was a little sad.
Sure, ignoring everyone and brooding alone in her room had been interesting and reasonable for a month or two, but now that she'd moved past that it was just kind of pathetic. Was she really so antisocial?
I… should try to make more friends, huh?
"Hellooooo?" Something poked Mary in the forehead. "Are you in there?"
Mary shook herself from her thought, absentmindedly swatting away the other woman's hand.
"If I said no, would you leave me alone?" Mary said, rolling her eyes. She answered her own question, "No, you probably wouldn't. Sit down already."
"You're not just funny, you're quick to catch on, too." Eve slid into the seat across from her. "I like that in a woman."
"…Do you mean 'in a person'?" Mary raised an eyebrow, "Or are you just being extra specific because you can?"
Eve stared at her as she sat down, her leather satchel plopping down on the seat next to her.
"Oh wow. You are adorably innocent."
"Huh?"
-=-=-=-
Late Morning
Southwestern Sector
Xerxes, Eastern Empire
Well, I suppose this is almost fun.
A little over an hour later saw Tanya stepping out of a bakery, a brown paper bag filled with various breads and baked sweets that her appetite and sweet tooth together had driven her to buy.
I should come back here for vacation at some point. She raised a piece of pretzel bread to her mouth, tearing off a chunk and chewing. Or maybe I should steal some of these workers for Tempest.
Tanya swallowed, before letting out a content sigh.
I'll have to see how much they make first. Then, offer them twice as much… and we can cover moving costs too, just to sweeten up the deal. I might even-
BOOM
The sound of pavement cracking and wood splintering. Shouting in the distance.
Just her luck.
Tanya scoffed down the rest of her pretzel bread, her feet taking her casually in the direction of the disturbance. In the back of her mind, Magic Sense pinged, and the pull of her tracer spell tugged a little harder.
How convenient.
Tanya strolled down the side of the road, quickly pulling out another chunk of pretzel bread. She reached an intersection after just a few seconds, stopping at the corner and turning right.
Ah. Tanya thought, already halfway through her second snack. I'm guessing that's a Shade.
Further down the street, a large shadowy beast raged. It towered over the section of road that it had decided to terrorize, several meters tall at the very least being Tanya's best estimate.
Four solid, weighty legs stomped the pavement, cracks forming with each impact. Its form was undefined, black fog and red flashes of light flowing across its vaguely animalistic body.
It was very fortunate that the street was nearly empty. It seems everyone had fled already, the last hints of people disappearing around block corners and inside buildings.
Tanya watched as the beast crouched down slightly before letting out a powerful roar. A massive tail whipped to the side, smashing the front of a nearby store.
Well, almost everyone.
The owners scrambled from the debris, bolting for their lives further down the street.
That won't work.
The Shade saw them immediately. Its shadowy form tensed up like a spring, as if making to pounce. However, it didn't jump immediately, instead almost seeming to wait for its newly discovered prey to get further away.
Tanya frowned.
It's playing with them. She polished off her second piece of pretzel bread, shaking her hand to get rid of extra salt. They're definitely going to die.
Tanya was against death, as a general sort of thing. A life lost was a life wasted, and thus a life that could not contribute any further.
But then again, she'd never shied away from killing. At war, granted, but killing all the same. It was her or them, and was it any wonder she chose herself? You couldn't blame her. Not really.
So, while she didn't wish death on random passerby, she also didn't exactly care for them. Not beyond their inherent value as a resource, at least. And, to add to this, if they died to something like this creature, which was clearly their superior, then was it not natural selection at work?
Tanya stared at the scene impassively, some unknown pit forming in her gut.
That was how she saw things, but...
These people didn't deserve to die.
Did they? They were just... people.
Weak, helpless, innocent people to whom she had no connection nor obligation, who were about to be turned into tomato puree. There would be no real benefit to helping them. In fact, it was almost guaranteed to draw attention, which was exactly what she wished to avoid at this point in time.
-=-
La Creatura made using the Wombo Dream app
-=-
The beast's tail whipped back and forth, almost playfully. Some sort of liquid dripped from its massive open jaw. Drool, Tanya thought, if drool could be crimson. Then, as if flipping a switch, its tail stopped wagging. That spiky, hardly formed jaw snapped open and closed.
It pounced, leaping the growing distance between itself and its prey in a mere second. That massive maw, full of razor-sharp shadows resembling teeth, opened far wider than should be possible. After just second, it slammed into the ground, thrusting its head forward to swallow them whole.
CRACK
The Shade reeled back, shattered shadows reforming and shifting inside its dripping void of a jaw.
"Jeez…" Tanya dropped her hand, letting her barrier spell fade away. "What's gotten into me?"
Saving them boosts my reputation.
She turned.
"Go."
That's the only reason.
The store owners did not need to be told twice.
"You have a permanent discount in our stores forever!" One of them called.
"I'll name my kid after you!" The other yelled.
Tanya ignored them. She ignored the odd feeling in her chest.
"Well, this is familiar." She said, looking forward.
The beast before her crouched low, red glowing orbs of energy on its face – quite resembling a child's attempt at making eyes, in truth – trained cautiously on her.
Smart. Shadow. Beast. The same. She sighed. Fine then.
"You wouldn't happen to know a 'Nin', would you?"
The beast did not verbally respond, other than to snarl at her.
"I figured as much."
A magic circle formed in front of her. Tanya reached inside, pulling her sheathed sword from the small pocket of space. With a thought, the circle widened, and she dropped her bag of baked goodies inside before letting the magic dissipate.
Tanya held her sword loosely in her right hand, noting with mild interest how her foe stiffened at the sight of the naked black blade.
Oh?
Before she could think of a witty remark to make – which would have gone something like "Well now, I didn't think you were smart enough to fear my sword. Good job on surpassing my expectations. Should I praise you?" – the beast let out a roar from the depths of its throat, black mist and droplets of crimson shadow splattering on the pavement.
Without warning, it bolted forward, the ground trembling as it pulled its massive form in a beeline towards her.
What's the best angle for this?
Tanya gripped her sword with two hands and tilted it downwards, the point of the blade just barely above the ground. Her slight amusement from before rapidly disappeared, her face going carefully blank in its stead.
The legs are slightly thinner near the middle. The neck is basically the same throughout. The torso, near the hips…
The beast was upon her.
SHINK, SLASH!
And then, it was past her.
To an outside observer, Tanya would almost have appeared like a statue. It was as though she hadn't even moved. However, the blood and mist dripping from her blade told a different story.
Behind her, the massive Shade collapsed with a pained groan. Tanya relaxed, turning and making her way over to her fallen foe.
This one was a bit harder to cut through than the minotaur. She frowned, poking it in the side with her sword as she passed by. Odd, since this one seems more… messy, by comparison. Sacrificing form for power, maybe. Or, perhaps after a certain size or level of influence or whatever else, the base vessel begins to break down.
There was something familiar about that idea, but for the life of her she couldn't put her finger on it. Something about improper vessels for… energy, or was it souls? She couldn't remember.
Oh well. It would come to her in time.
Another groan shook her from her thoughts.
"Oh, you're still alive?" Tanya approached the head of the Shade. "Even after all four legs, your torso and your head were severed. How is that…? Ah. I see."
Magic Sense and her eyes told a similar story. With the former, she could feel a sort of muddied bridge of magical energy and something else connecting the severed pieces of Shade connected to the places they'd been severed from. With her eyes, a black fog lit by red ghostly undercurrents ran sluggishly between the aforementioned parts.
Tanya looked over the rest of the beast's body.
From what she could tell, there seemed to be two main points of accumulation, with the magic and accompanying strange energy pooling in the chest – presumably the "heart" area of this thing – and in the head.
It's still alive, so I wonder if I-
"I'll put you out of your misery now." She said, stepping forward.
Its head reached her lower thigh, it was so large. Tanya paid this no mind, flipping her sword into an underhand grip and quickly stabbing down as far as she could. She kept Magic Sense trained on her downed foe the entire time, which allowed her to pinpoint exactly what happened in that instant.
Visibly, there was very little to note, other than any outward indicators of energy flow ceasing.
Through Magic Sense, however, it was an eye-opening experience. The pool of energy in the head popped like a balloon, the accumulated power leeching out into the flesh and air. At the same time, there was a snapping sensation, that of tension rapidly releasing as the connection between the head and heart were severed. Then, that pool too released, though slower and more akin to a leak than a pop.
That taught her plenty more than she'd known just five seconds ago.
For one thing, the connection between pools implied a sort of-
"Hey, you!"
Tanya blinked, looking up.
A man in a black military uniform ran up to her, several more following behind him.
"Were you the one to resolve this situation?" He stopped a few steps away, pointing at the downed Shade with white-gloved hands.
Tanya stared him for a moment. Her gaze slowly slid to her sword, which was still buried to the hilt in the Shade's skull, then back to the man.
"…Yes."
The golden-haired man winced. "Right, stupid question. Apologies, but I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."
"Have I done something wrong," Tanya glanced at his shoulders, "Colonel?"
"Well no. It's more the opposite, actually. These beasts have been getting worse and worse over the past month. That you were able to take it down so quicky is a great relief." He held out a hand. "Colonel Ray Charger, at your service."
"Tasha." Tanya responded, reaching out and giving his hand a firm shake. "Adventurer."
"I'm afraid you will have to accompany me to HQ, Tasha." Charger let go, raising his hand again to ward off any questions, "You aren't in trouble. You see, these Shade beasts have become great enough am issue that General Garmstrong has taken personal notice. She'll want to speak with you."
"Then I'll be happy to meet her. Just let me-" Tanya grabbed her sword hilt with both hands, yanking from the Shade's head. "There we go."
She ran her hand down the blade, a spinning ball of water forming over her palm and wiping away any lingering blood and mist. Then, she switched water for fire, drying any leftover moisture before sheathing the sword at her side.
She heard Charger sigh. "Damn. I wish I hadn't seen you do that."
"Hm?"
Something metallic slapped over her wrist.
Tanya looked up in alarm, as the Colonel affixed the other half of the handcuffs to his own wrist.
"Hold on, Colonel. You said-"
"I'm sorry, Tasha, but unlicensed magic usage is blatantly against Xerxes law." Charger gave her an apologetic smile. "Don't worry, you dealt with that Shade and saved the lives of Xerxes citizens. I'm sure you'll get off with scot-free; I'll certainly vouch for you, if need be. This is just procedure, I'm afraid."
Tanya gave him an incredulous look. He stared back at her sympathetically.
"Can I trust you not to fight me on this? Or will I need to cuff both of your hands instead of the one."
Her expression went carefully blank.
"No worries, Charger. I'll comply."
Well, for now she would comply.
No need to antagonize anyone unnecessarily. Besides, this wasn't really a bad thing. Getting an "in" with the local military would go along way towards helping her track down her target.
Hell, they probably had at least an inkling of an idea towards the activities of Nin and whatever buddies he may have. Kidnapping wasn't the quietest of crimes, after all.
So, cooperation. That would be key here. That was more than fine. She was a model citizen, in and out of Tempest. These people didn't know that, but Tanya couldn't help but think that her calm manner and easy agreement to their demands would go a long way towards ingratiating herself with the local Force.
As long as she treated the situation with the reason and intelligence she was known for, then surely she would have no trouble establishing herself as a law-abiding citizen in good standing.
Right?
-=-=-=-
Noon
Southeastern Sector
Xerxes, Eastern Empire
I regret ever speaking to this person.
Mary had been trying for the past 10 minutes – since they'd gotten off the train, actually – to get away and actually take care of the entire reason she was in this damn city, but Eve would not shut up.
That's it. I have plenty of friends already. Even considering this was a mistake.
Eve was just so, so… nice. A bit clingy, too, but extremely complimentary. She laughed at Mary's sarcasm, had even bought her lunch!
The oddest part though was her looks. The more Mary thought about it, the more she could see just how much the other woman resembled Degurechaff.
Like, it was a little creepy. Give or take the few centimeters of height Tanya had over Eve, they could absolutely be mistaken for sisters.
It was weird.
What made things worse was how different they acted. Mary couldn't help but get whiplash, as anytime she saw Eve out of the corner of her eye, she half expected Tanya's voice to come out instead.
And then Eve said something extremely nice, and the illusion shattered.
For some reason, Mary couldn't help but imagine if Degurechaff said such things to her. And then she frowned, because in all honesty a sentence like "Your eyes are the most beautiful shade of green! Like an enchanting forest one could get lost in" would just sound wrong coming from her.
Oh, but if it did…
Her face grew a little warmer for some unknown reason.
So weird.
Why was Eve acting like this towards her? They'd only just met today, barely an hour ago at that. For the life of her, Mary had no idea what this woman wanted.
Were friends normally like this?
Tanya certainly didn't act this way – for some reason, that thought was strange to her – and Bibi, her wingman back with that mess of a Allied volunteer unit, had been sort of similar to this.
Probably. Mary's memories of that time were blurry for obvious reasons.
"By the way, did I mention how cute your hairstyle is? The braids frame your face really well."
"Uh, thank you."
What could this woman possibly want?
"By the way." Mary said, initiating conversation first for the first time in half an hour. "I'm sure you had somewhere to be, right? Not that I'm trying to get rid of you or anything!"
She hastily tacked on that last part, ignoring the fact that she was 100% trying to get rid of Eve.
"But I'm sure you have better things to do than accompany me."
Listen, Tanya gave her a job to do, so she was going to damn well do it. Tanya trusted her to get this part of their operation done. She didn't have time to be distracted.
But, since Eve had been nice – overly nice, but still – and had bought her lunch, Mary would at the very least attempt to part on amicable terms. Still, if push came to shove, Mary would pull a "Oh my God what is that!" and run when Eve turned her head.
"I could hardly think of anything I'd rather do than accompany you. I feel like I've known you forever."
"We met today, though?"
Eve giggled. "Please never change, Mary. You're like a breath of fresh air after all the fools I have to deal with."
"I- okay?"
"But unfortunately, you are right." Eve's joy disappeared. She sighed. "I do have prior obligations. I should be heading off soon, though I do so hope we can meet up again. Oh!"
She rummaged in her satchel, pulling out a slip of paper and handing it to Mary.
"That's my address! You should definitely come visit sometime."
"Did you just happen to have this on hand?"
"Before I go though, I'm really curious," Eve ignored her question, hiking her satchel's strap higher on her shoulder. "It's been burning a hole in my brain, actually. I haven't seen you around before. What's a cutie like yourself doing traveling around with a sword for?"
"A sword? Well, this is…" Mary hesitated, resting her hand against the hilt of said sword, "I'm actually running errands for me and my friend, Tanya. She and I are… adventurers. You know how it is. There's always things to gather, supplies to prepare and, well you get it."
Mary internally patted herself on the back for that one, at the same time cursing herself for not yet managing to master Tanya's "pocket dimension" spell.
"Tanya?" Eve narrowed her eyes. "Who's this Tanya? Are you two…"
"She's-" Mary thought for a moment, "Well, she's basically my employer. Though we're probably friends, too. It's a bit unclear now that I think about it. We're on friendly terms."
"Oh, well that's relief."
"It is?"
Eve smiled at her, again ignoring her perfectly valid question.
"It is." She answered with a decisive nod, "Now, I should be off then. Don't forget about me, okay? And feel free to stop by at any time."
"Er, right. I'll… do that." Mary raised her hand to wave her off, only to jump as the other woman grabbed it. Eve leaned down, pressing her lips lightly against Mary's knuckles.
"See that you do."
Eve strolled away, leaving Mary standing in the middle of the street, frozen and staring at the lipstick staining the back of her hand.
-=-=-=-
Afternoon
Strategic Military HQ, Xerxes Branch
Xerxes, Eastern Empire
Tanya tapped her foot impatiently.
It had been – she glanced at her wrist, ignoring the fact that she didn't have a watch – some time since she'd been brought here.
The interrogation room, for that was what it was, was small, affixed with a glass wall along one side and outfitted with a singular table. Half a loop of metal was welded to the middle of the table, the purpose of which being obvious considering Tanya's right wrist was handcuffed to it.
For not the first time, she found herself grateful for her growth spurt. There was no doubt in her mind that if she were still the size of a child (as she had been for most of her second life), her arm and shoulder would be stretched painfully across the table. As it was, she just only mildly uncomfortable instead of incredibly so, but only because she wasn't able to get up and stretch her legs.
Her left hand had been left free and her weapons hadn't been taken away, both of which brought a small sense of relief. It was a sign of trust, no doubt, and Tanya had no intention of breaking it.
Again, she was a model citizen. This would all be resolved post-haste.
…As soon as someone actually came and fucking talked to her. She shot an unamused look at the one-sided glass.
As if responding to her – by way of a convenient plot device, one might argue – the door at the other end of the room opened.
"General, please wait!"
"There's no fucking point in waiting, is there?"
"But-"
The door slammed shut, cutting the man off. The person who had so violently forced herself in the room let out an annoyed sigh. She strolled over, pulling out the seat opposite of Tanya and sitting down heavily, one arm thrown over the back and the other pulling a sheathed blade from her belt and placing on the table.
Neither spoke for a moment. Tanya took the time to observe her "guest".
Her hair, a deep ebony black, half trailed just to just above her shoulders, with the other half kept up and stuck through with a long steel pin. A short curtain of her bangs hung half over the right side of her face, a dark eyepatch just barely visible underneath. Her other eye shone brightly in a brilliant, electric purple hue.
A black military uniform covered her form, the front buttoned all the way up its folded over lapels, her shoulders covered by a gold and black and unbuttoned, fur-lined overcoat.
The woman was powerful; that much was evident from a glance. She wasn't particularly tall and largely built, no more than Tanya at least, but the air about her and the manner with which she simply existed could only be described with the word "power".
"Apologies for my subordinates' idiocy." The woman said, resting her palm on the table. "I was only informed of your presence a few minutes ago."
"It's been over an hour."
"I'm aware. That's why I apologized." The woman held out her left hand. "General Lotte Garmstrong."
Lotte?
Tanya took her hand, and they shook.
"Tasha."
"Tasha, huh?" Garmstrong raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's what Charger said too. You're lying."
"I am." Tanya nodded, hiding her surprise well. "But it's close enough, and I have a good reason for it."
"Tell me why you're here, Tasha. I don't believe you're an enemy, but I won't have someone as powerful as you staying as an unknown in my city."
Tanya got right to the point. This woman seemed the type to appreciate that.
"I'm looking for someone, General."
"Who?"
"The same person you're looking for. The one who's creating those Shades you seem to have such a problem with."
Garmstrong leaned forward, placing a hand on her sword. "Elaborate."
"Two people were kidnapped in my city a few months ago. Yesterday, someone else was kidnapped, but we were ready. I followed the trail here, to Xerxes." Tanya made to rest her chin on hands, only to end up pulling uselessly at her handcuffed wrist. She rolled her eyes before continuing, "I confronted the kidnapper, only for him to turn into a shadowy beast. A Shade, I've come to learn. Then, after neutralizing it, a man appeared. He absorbed the Shade, we fought, and he collapsed the building we were in to escape."
Tanya blinked.
"Why did I…"
Garmstrong unsheathed her blade, laying the two-handed broadsword (honestly, a bit like her own sword, just longer and with different colors and symbols, Tanya noted) out on the table. Runic script dotted the grey magisteel blade, a particular array near the base alight with a purple glow.
"Truth compelling." The General answered simply. "Okay, Tasha. I believe you. Tell me about this man you encountered. It seems we have a mutual enemy."
"Why would you have that on a sword…" Tanya muttered, before letting out a sigh. "Fine. He has long white hair, oddly spiky, that-"
They would be here for a while.
-=-=-=-
That Evening
Burnt Clearing
Outside Xerxes, Great Forest of Jura
"Well, it seems our friend Tasha is a bit more thorough than I'd expected."
Nin strolled forward, a dark navy-blue military uniform replacing his all-black everything attire from the other day and his pure white hair's length shortened to the nape of his neck.
"I wish I could have been the one to interrogate her. But alas!" He looked back, a sharp grin on his face. "Does that make you feel bad? It was my visit to you that made me miss her. Now, Garmstrong's definitely got her on her side. That makes things harder, you know? Shouldn't you apologize?"
Heavy booted footsteps left indents in the grass. A tall, powerfully built man stepped up beside Nin, a white button-up shirt covered by a dark crimson waistcoat stretching across his massive shoulders. A matching unbuttoned overcoat ran down to the knees of muscle-tight black pants, which in turn topped a pair of black leather knee length boots. Bringing the entire look together was a crimson tie and a trilby of the same color, sitting atop a head of short and pale blonde hair.
"…Is this why you begged for my presence, Fourth Head?" His voice rumbled out of his throat in a monotone. "To prattle on over a burnt wreckage?"
"Of course not! Would you ever expect me to waste your time?" Nin smirked, "I just know how oh so busy you are. There's no way I would ask for you, if it weren't of the utmost importance."
The man didn't even spare him a glance. Nin's smirk vanished, annoyance flashing across his face.
"Fine, whatever. Shit, no one can take a joke around here." He sighed.
"I can take a joke just fine." The man said, "You simply are not funny."
Nin stared at him incredulously.
"Dick! At least Eve thinks I'm funny." Nin paused. "When's she not, you know, too busy thinking about her newest fling."
"…I'm afraid the Sixth Head was a lost cause, even before you were born." The man finally deigned to spare Nin a glance. "Now, stop wasting my time. I grow bored of this conversation."
"You're always bored. That's your whole problem, being bored. Learn to live a little."
"Hm."
"Right whatever. Let's get to business then." Nin reached into a pocket on his uniform, pulling out a glass vial and placing his index finger over the top. "I have need of your expertise, Octavius. Of the…" The skin over his fingertip split, a few drops of dark crimson dripping into the vial. "…haemo-magical variety."
The blood stopped, Nin's fingertip sewing itself back together immediately. He held out the vial, Octavius wordlessly reaching down and taking it.
"…Blood magic. It's blood magic. 'Haemo-magical' is just being pretentious." Octavius held the vial up to the evening sun's light, tilting it ever so slightly back and forth. "This is incredibly rich in magicules, even being so long removed from the host. But it isn't enough. Whoever's blood this is, I'll need more of it."
"That, or a significant magical signature to tie the spell together, yes?" Nin's maniac grin had returned in full force. "Well now, look no further than right in front of you. The person you're cursing is the same who so helpfully spread their magic signature all across this wreckage."
"Even so, the effects will be minimal..." Octavius stared at the burnt-down husk of a former house. "…Very well. You owe me a favor of equivalent value, as you no doubt realize."
"Jeez, can't you just do it out of the goodness of your heart? Or at the very least, as a fellow Head of Scylla."
Octavius did not deign him with a response. Nin rolled his eyes.
"Yes, fine. You'll have your favor. Now do the spell. Come now, hurry."
The other man nodded, before stepping forward.
Immediately, a circle of bright red magic formed underneath his feet, a smaller circle forming over his empty hand. Runic script, numbers and formulae forming and shattering and reforming at rapid pace within and between Octavius' magical array.
He snapped his fingers, the smaller circle's script freezing in place. It flipped over in his palm, and he grabbed it between forefinger and thumb, raising it closer to his face to inspect his work. A brush of his thumb across its surface exchanged one rune for another, one of the inner circles of magical script on the disc reordering itself.
After a few more seconds of observation, Octavius nodded, before bringing the magical runic disc down and sliding it over the top of the vial in his other hand. As it slid further down the glass, the scant few drops of blood within began to glow, barely at first and then violently in a bright fiery shade of pink and red.
Meanwhile, behind it all, Nin watched in silence, his grin stretching unnaturally across his face.
I warned you, didn't I?
-=-=-=-=-=-
Known Skills List
Tanya:
Common Skill: Thought Communication
Extra Skill: Magic Sense
Extra Skill: Magic Aura
Extra Skill: Voice of the World Communication
Unique Skill: Formulaic Casting
Unique Skill: Tetrabattery Limit Enhancement
Mary:
Extra Skill: Magic Sense
Extra Skill: Magic Aura
Extra/Intrinsic Skill: Physical Enhancement
Unique Skill: [?????]