"How long until this suit is made?"
[ALERT: Armor 27 is almost complete. Running final tests.]
"Add on tutorial number three."
[CONFIRMED: Tutorial-Mage Type has been added. Adding Mana Control, Basic Shield, and Extra Reserves.]
"That should do it for this one." Sheeva sighed as she collapsed onto the wooden chair at the desk.
It had been over a month since Nix was brought back. She was a wreck seeing her new family member in such a state. She could remember not leaving the woman's side for the first week, though the first few days were a blur with her working day and night to stabilize Nix. Soon, the system told her of Nix's normal habits and what she would do, as if to soothe her and allow her to follow in her Master's footsteps.
With a broken heart, the 10 year old slowly got to work in following Nix's footsteps. Be it making equipment, improving medicines, or finding new ways to improve the village, Sheeva couldn't find a way to put her hands down and wait for Nix to wake up. She felt that if she had, she wouldn't only he betraying her Masters ideals, but also be lost without this work.
The system was easy to understand thanks to Nix's explanation during the creation of the first few sets of armor. Now, if she had a question, she would ask STELLAR for advice and move on from there. Many people had come to check up on her during this time. Most being the familiar faces she was accustomed to, while the rest were those that not only wanted to see Nix and the machine in person, but had heard of what happened and gave their sympathies. This all began to quiet down after a few weeks, allowing for Sheeva to absorb herself endlessly in her work.
The system then beeped, breaking Sheevas thoughts to check the glass pad for any flaws in the equipment she'd made. Seeing nothing wrong, she tapped on the screen a few times to call Drevid, who answered immediately. "Yes Sheeva?"
"Armor 27 is done. Have Vela come pick it up and give it to...who was it again?"
"I believe this one is going to one of Serena's people, Helena I believe. Sheeva, is there any update?" Drevid trailed off, a tinge of worry in his voice.
"Have someone pick it up." Sheeva said before she ended the call. Sighing softly, she placed the tablet on the table before turning around.
Instead of the medicine hall, Nix was brought into her workshop to be closely examined by the system. Though everything on the charts said she was fine, there wasn't any sign of her waking up. Her pale face was fraught with the fading nightmares and sweat from the frequent spasms she would have in her sleep. This barely allowed Sheeva to sleep, as Nix wouldn't be able to relax unless Sheeva held her hand for a long while. The names Nix would call in her sleep brought a deep sadness to Sheeva. Just how much had her Master experienced for her to cry so much, how much loss had this one person suffered for these nightmares to trap her like this?
Sheeva only sighed and shook her weary head as she walked over to Nix and sat in the chair. As her hand gently held Nix's, memories of Nix gently petting her and teaching her all she knew flooded behind the Fox-Kins eyes. As tears welled up, she started her normal ritual in hopes Nix would respond.
"M-Master. Today I've made 30 syringes and finished the third Mage-Type armor. The system called it Mage Mark lll. It seems I still have much to learn from you, as the first two were barely suitable for combat. I'm sure you would approve at how far your creations have come. Ju'Shal came by today as well to get the legs checked. Apparently there wasn't enough out-put, as the system explained it. I wish you were here, what would you say to these experiments? About these minor improvements that don't seem to go anywhere? Would you just laugh it away, or would you be enraged at how slow the progress is?" Sheeva began to ramble on as tears streamed down her face.
As Sheeva's head fell against the table, Drevid and Vela walked into the room silently. The two of them could only bite their lips and turn away at the sight of the sobbing cub. Normally they would try to comfort her, but even they were feeling hopeless now at the sight of their one hope laid so helpless now. They'd first tried to stop Sheeva from continuing Nix's work, only to be met with arguments about what Nix would do and what she would like to see when she woke up. Eventually, they had all given in and let Sheeva work away like Nix had before. They still knew so little about the woman, but Sheeva was quickly following in her new Masters footsteps in helping them improve their village. It was all they could do to soothe the poor cubs heart, as well as their own.
Drevid then gave a soft sigh before looking at Vela to gesture her towards the armor, only to see the Oracians face covered in tears as she covered her mouth with her hand. Drevid found the other hand was pointing at the equipment, his eyes following to see the system beeping and glowing green.
"G-gather everyone. Quickly Vela." Drevid ordered in a hushed voice, dragging Vela out by her arm before closing the door behind them in a hurry.
Sheeva heard the door and slowly raised her head to it. She was in such a state, not even hearing the system beeping behind her. Suddenly, she felt a warm hand on her head, as well as that familiar, soothing voice that she'd begged to hear for so many long nights.
"What's wrong child, you look like you haven't slept in weeks. Did you have a nightmare again?"
The voice caused Sheeva's heart to beat in her ears. The tears in her eyes streamed down faster, but she refused to turn around. She'd been betrayed by her own mind like this before, imagining this very scene so many times, only to see Nix still asleep when she turned around.
"Sheeva, what's wrong?"
The voice behind her began to sound worried, the rustling of the sheets could be heard amongst the deafening silence and far-away beeping. She knew now, this voice was real. It wasn't an illusion that she'd dreamed up.
As Nix sat up with a groan, she was met with Sheeva suddenly spinning around and latching onto her chest. The cub sobbed and rubbed her face against Nix, holding her like Nix would be lost again.
"Sheeva, what's wr-"
"Mother, you're awake." So many times did Sheeva imagine the words she would speak when Nix first woke up. In her delirium, she'd finally recognized Nix as her mother and found a deeper need for the woman to wake up. Of course, she was worried Nix would reject this, but she didn't care now that she'd finally woken up.
There was some hesitation, but Nix simply sighed softly and held the Fox-Kin in a warm, tight embrace. "It's alright sweetheart. I'm here, Mommy's got you."
Nix had imagined many times in her life in having her own child. While it was possible for those of the same sex to have a child in her old world, she never had the chance when Karen died. Since then, it was nothing but a dream for her. Sure she'd taken children in, but they would never see her as their mother, as she couldn't see them as her own kin.
Yet, hearing Sheeva call for her so comfortably and hold her so close broke Nix's heart. She didn't know how badly she needed this kind of relationship, nor how badly Sheeva needed someone to call her family.
The two held eachother silently, occasionally letting out gasps from their sobbing as they bathed in the dim blue light from the equipment. It wasn't until Nix looked up and saw the armor on the table that the silence was finally broken. "Oh dear, what's all this?"
The sudden words surprised Sheeva, who let go of Nix and looked at the table. Her ears then fell as she looked down at the ground, feeling somehow ashamed that she was caught.
"W-well, since you weren't waking up, I decided to continue where you left off. I believe this is the Mark lll Mage armor." Sheeva sniffled as she reached up to wipe her face with her arm.
Before she could, Nix gently took Sheeva's chin in her fingers and brought the cubs face up to look at her. Using the blanket, she wiped the snot and tears gently off of the cubs face with a warm smile. "Seems I've been out for a while. I've only just explained the system to you, yet you've made three more sets of armor."
"Uhm...27..." Sheeva trailed off, looking more sullen now.
Nix was more proud of the fact Sheeva had gotten so far without her than worried from the fact she was apparently asleep for so long. "27 new sets of armor? That's great sweetheart. Can you show me everything you did?"
Sheeva's face immediately lit up into the familiar child-like smile she used to show Nix before. The cub quickly raced over to the other table to grab the tablet after a quick nod, making Nix chuckle softly. She'd tried to follow her, only to find she could barely feel her legs.
She was deeply confused while concern crept in the back of her mind. Looking at the desk, she read the various alerts that showed up after she had woken up.
[ALERT: Users Nix has awoken after 37 days.
ALERT: Due to trauma, user is recommended to go through physical therapy.
ALERT: User is recommended to wear armor until their strength returns.]
Nix could only stare at the screen silently. She hadn't noticed that her hand had gripped the sheets and her knuckles turned white. If it wasn't for Sheeva gently placing her hand on Nix's, the woman would've probably broken down once again. The warmth that she felt made her mouth curve in another warm smile as she looked down to Sheeva and gently shook her head.
"I'm alright child. Just need to work out and I'll be back up and chasing you around in no time." Nix sighed softly as she pat the spot next to her. To her surprise, Sheeva instead hopped onto her lap as Nix swung her limp legs over the edge of the table.
The cubs tail gently tapped the table as she swiped the tablet to bring up some information. While the Fox-Kin wiggled to get comfortable, Nix wrapped her arms around the girls waist and rested her chin on the smaller shoulder to read the screen.
"So here, on the first set I made, the system recommended we first make a set of defense type armor for Vela. I followed the system and scanned her body and got a blood sample, but she came back the next day saying something felt tight in her chest." Sheeva explained as she brought up a projection of the armor. The projection stood proudly in the blue light, a couple of red blotches appearing on its chest and right hip.
"So here, if you look at her age, you'll see that she is still growing. It's vastly important to account for the predicted growth rate. It seems I still have to learn about the various races and their Biology." Nix spoke as she pointed to the tablet before muttering softly.
"Biology?"
"Oh right, let's start there. Biology is, in the simplest term, what makes up a person. Here, let's start with..." Nix stopped as she typed something up on the tablet, bringing up a projection of a DNA strand. "So this here is the main thing about Biology. Think of it like Mana. Without this, you cannot have a person, animal, or plant. DNA is the thing that makes just about everything, no matter how unique they are."
"Is there even DNA in a Dragon?" Sheeva asked with a gasp, turning her head to look up at Nix in bewildered excitement.
This was the first time she'd seen someone so excited to learn such a subject, making Nix laugh and shake her head. "Yes, even a Dragon. Though we will need a sample to see what their DNA is like."
"A sample, like blood?"
"Exactly, though we could easily get it from either hair, blood, or even a nail on the tip of someone's finger."
From the otherside of the room, the door was open just a crack. From this crack, Vela, Jennifer and Drevid was peeking in on the lovely scene before them. They'd all been so worried on what Nix's reaction would be when she'd woken up. However, such a lovely scene couldn't be interrupted, no matter how excited they were to see her awake. After gently closing the door, Drevid turned around to look at the crowd that had gathered to welcome Nix back. People craned their heads to see as Drevid held his finger up to his lips with a reassuring smile. A few signs could be heard among the crowd as they made their way back to either their homes or their duties.
Ju'Shal, who was dressed in a similar armor to that of Jennifer, walked up with a warm smile. "I'm guessing the two are catching up then?"
"They seem to be having a lesson while snuggling up. It seems they've finally accepted eachother." Drevid nodded as he spoke in a hushed voice. Unlike those around him, he didn't have any armor on, simply wearing his traditional shirt and pants that the head of a village would wear.
"Ah, not even married and she's already gotten a child." Ju'Shal chuckled softly as she shook her head.
"Now now, let the family settle in before you have anymore thoughts." Vela rolled her eyes as she whispered, tapping her neck to listen in on the reports being given by the guards on duty.
"Hey now, I'm innocent." Ju'Shal retorted as she held her hand up in defense.
"Says the one who was about as worried as Sheeva." Jennifer smirked before looking away and sticking her tongue out, avoiding the glare that came from the Wolf-Kin.
"So many years and you still act like this." Drevid sighed as he shook his head, walking away and giving a warm smile. "Ju'Shal, since it's your shift, make sure no one goes in until they come out. Not even you."
"Seriously, everyone is going to think I'm lusting after her at this point." Ju-Shal looked a bit offended as she folded her arms over her chest.
This caused a hushed laugh to erupt from the others as they walked away to their own places that they were needed. The moon hung high in the sky, shining brightly down on them with its own grace.
Behind the gaze, another laughter erupted and a stary tear was swept away by a long, beautiful finger. Mother Moon had been watching the commotion from her Temple, gazing in to the water basin that she'd set up to watch Nix with. It took her immense effort to protect Nix up until now, but she felt everything had finally been worth it. Her child not only found a loving family to have, but even people that worried for her more than she did herself. The Goddess couldn't contain her smile, as well as her saddened heart. If she'd intervened earlier, her child wouldn't have suffered so much. But now, she felt Nix was in good hands and wad much better off now.
"Live a life worth living child, Live unfaltered until you come back to my embrace." The woman spoke a soft prayer before standing up and going back to her duties.